Did I… fall asleep?
Through a haze of half-consciousness, Inori Yuzuriha felt as though she had been trapped in an impossibly long dream. In it, she wandered alone across a barren snowfield devoid of any sign of life, trudging through the drifts step by agonizing step. Cold and hunger gnawed relentlessly at her will. Her feet went numb. At the very end, she collapsed face-first into the snow with the last of her strength and blacked out.
They say nothing in the world can spike your happiness faster than a false alarm, especially when the torment you suffered turns out to be nothing more than a nightmare dissolving in that shallow layer of sleep just before waking. Well, she had absorbed all that crystallized virus. Some residual resentment was bound to be mixed in, so a nightmare or two was understandable.
She had no idea what time it was. Hopefully not too late, because she had been planning to call a quick meeting at Funeral Parlor tonight, then throw a party with everyone to celebrate their victory.
Let's invite Haruka too. What do you think, Mana?
Mana Ouma did not respond.
She must have been sleeping even harder. The woman was already in her twenties and still lazier than Inori. Unbelievable.
…Still, I'm so sleepy. I just want to sleep a little longer.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
A bright, clear female voice rang out right beside her ear.
The sound hit like a splash of cold water, snapping Inori fully awake. The voice was pleasant enough, but it didn't belong to anyone in her memory. Wariness overriding drowsiness, she opened her eyes.
A clear blue sky stretched above her. Green grassland rolled out in every direction. The air was so crisp and clean it reminded her of the forest park back on Oshima, fragrant with birdsong and flowers.
Standing before her was a rather feminine-looking girl. She wore light makeup and had long pink hair similar to Inori's own, with pale green eyes as clear and bright as dewdrops resting on leaves. Those pretty eyes, however, were currently filled with confusion.
And her hairstyle was… distinctive.
Her shoulder-length hair had been sectioned into numerous small braids, each tied off with a round, magenta bead-shaped hair clip. Just looking at it made Inori tired. That had to take at least twenty minutes to set up before leaving the house. Inori would never in a million years commit to something like that.
"What were you doing out here… camping? It looked like you'd fainted."
Inori squinted at her, thoroughly lost.
Why is she talking like I've been abandoned somewhere? Shouldn't I be in the car with Shu Ouma and Gai Tsutsugami, on the way back to Funeral Parlor? Even if something went wrong on the road, they would have woken me up. But then… where am I? Is there really a place this serene left in Apocalypse Virus–ravaged Tokyo?
A creeping sense of dread began to take root. She feigned a headache, answering in a small, weak voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't seem to remember what happened before."
"Can you tell me your name? And where this place is?"
The pink-haired girl with the six little braids tilted her head, a flicker of suspicion crossing her face. But after a moment's thought she decided a name was harmless enough, and told her.
"My name is Yasuho Hirose. This is Lovers' Cape, in Morioh."
…
…
What?
Did this girl just say… Morioh?
That was the fictional town where JoJo's Diamond is Unbreakable took place. A made-up municipality on the outskirts of Sendai. How could it possibly exist in this world? And she was fairly certain the girl had also just said an incredible name.
"Did you just say Yasuho Hirose?"
Every trace of drowsiness evaporated. Cold sweat was seeping down the back of her neck, because her mind had leapt to a very unsettling possibility.
"That's right, that's my name."
The girl called Yasuho frowned slightly, looking almost offended.
"Is it that strange?"
"…No, I'm sorry. I said something weird."
Yasuho Hirose. Inori studied the girl anew. A blue short-sleeved top, a very distinctive short skirt with a black base embroidered with vivid flowers, loose socks, and black-and-gold sneakers. No mistake. She was unmistakably Yasuho Hirose.
She was the female lead of JoJo's latest and still-unfinished manga, Part 8: JoJolion. Somehow, inexplicably, Inori had transmigrated again, landing in the Morioh of JoJolion.
The shock was overwhelming. She couldn't even begin to think clearly.
It was like a writer who had pulled an all-nighter to finish the final chapter of their novel, only for a power outage to hit at that exact moment, obliterating every word of the unsaved draft. That crushing feeling of being hurled back to square one. She had thought she'd finally beaten fate, never realizing that even that had been part of fate's design.
"Were you attacked by someone? Hey!"
Seeing the pink-haired, red-eyed girl freeze up completely, Yasuho was growing impatient.
"…I'm sorry. I can't remember anything from before."
She needed to calm down. She would check King Crimson's status later. Right now, she had to keep Yasuho at ease. Yes, just like in the previous world when she first met Hare Menjou. She needed to find a way to use her, or at least bring her in as an ally, find somewhere to stay, and then figure out a plan going forward.
"My name is Inori. Beyond that, I can't remember a thing."
Inori lifted her head slightly, letting a faintly melancholic expression settle across her face.
"Inori…"
Yasuho murmured the name under her breath. It felt a bit awkward on the tongue, the kind of rare name so unusual you'd never forget it after hearing it once. And yet there was no denying it suited the girl perfectly, matching both her stunning beauty and the air of mystery around her.
"Do you remember how you ended up here?"
Inori shook her head helplessly.
Yasuho scratched at her hair in frustration, wondering why her luck was this bad. She couldn't even take a walk out here without stumbling into something bizarre. And a girl like this, no less. Flawless features, skin as smooth and white as porcelain, so perfect even Yasuho felt envious.
For someone like that to be found unconscious in a place this remote, with no memory of how she got there, it was hard not to imagine the worst. Men really were the worst! Even going after a girl this adorable was unforgivable! She hated men!
"You should stand up first."
Yasuho didn't know what to do, but leaving this girl here all alone wasn't an option either. She helped Inori to her feet, and only then noticed what she was wearing: a black jacket over long pants with a white tank top underneath. Not exactly typical for a girl her age. The clothes were streaked with dirt and grime, but otherwise reasonably intact.
If a man had dragged her out here and done… that, wouldn't her clothes be in disarray? Maybe I'm wrong about this?
"Let me take you to the police station. Maybe they can help you find your family!"
"…Okay. Thank you, Yasuho."
Inori's lips trembled slightly, but she managed a small smile and agreed.
She didn't want to go to the police station, but refusing now would only make her look suspicious. The police wouldn't find anything anyway. This world was nothing like the last one, where she had been GHQ's top priority target from the moment she woke up.
"Sis! I finally found you!"
Just as the two pink-haired girls were about to set off, a very familiar-sounding boy's voice called out, shouting "Sis!"
It sounded a lot like Shu Ouma. Curious, Inori turned to look and saw a short, gray-haired boy in athletic wear running excitedly toward them.
…?
Inori's crimson eyes locked onto the short boy, and she barely stopped herself from blurting out his name.
Koichi Hirose?!