Am I having some kind of bizarre dream?
Inori Yuzuriha had no idea how to describe what she was feeling. This was insane. What kind of situation was this? How could Yasuho Hirose and Koichi Hirose exist in the same world? Because they were the same person!
JoJo's Part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, took place in the fictional town of Morioh and served as a direct continuation of Part 3, Stardust Crusaders. But after Part 6, Stone Ocean, the entire universe had been reset. Parts 7 and 8 took place in a new parallel world, and aside from character archetypes mirroring the originals, the two continuities shared nothing.
In other words, Yasuho Hirose was the gender-swapped, alternate-universe counterpart of Koichi Hirose. The two of them should absolutely, categorically never appear at the same time, let alone as siblings. Something, somewhere, had gone terribly wrong.
"Koichi, you… I told you not to come looking for me."
Yasuho looked somewhat exasperated at the sight of her brother, clearly not wanting to see him right now.
"I was just worried about you, Sis. Mom sent me. She also told me to tell you not to be upset over some sleazy guy… Huh? Who's this?"
Only then did Koichi notice there was a second person present. He looked up at Inori, who was internally reeling with confusion, and froze. A suspicious blush crept up his face. It was completely involuntary. This girl was simply too beautiful, too adorable. Koichi couldn't even think of a single word adequate enough to describe her. Just one glance had been enough to utterly devastate his young, innocent heart.
Growing up in the little town of Morioh with its population of only fifty thousand, Koichi Hirose had never seen a girl this gorgeous. Looking back on the pretty girls at school, they all seemed plain by comparison.
And she had a similar hair color to his sister. No wonder he hadn't been able to tell there were two people here when he was watching from a distance.
"My name is Inori. Hello. Are you Yasuho's brother?"
Inori suppressed her shock once more and put on a practiced, friendly smile.
"Yes! My name is Koichi Hirose. Pleased to meet you, Miss Inori!"
Koichi recovered his composure quickly, and just as quickly fabricated a reason for Inori's presence.
"You must be one of my sister's friends, right? Thank you so much for being there for her when she's feeling down…"
"That's not it."
Inori knew exactly where his head had gone. She stole a glance at the visibly darkening Yasuho and forced herself to smile as she explained.
"I fainted out here. Yasuho is the one who found me."
"Huh?"
Koichi's jaw dropped.
"Honestly, if you don't know what to say then don't say anything at all." Yasuho's mood was clearly foul, and she wasn't about to spare her brother's dignity even in front of a stranger. Then she suddenly draped an arm over Inori's shoulder, half-joking, half-serious.
"If I had a friend this pretty, you think I'd have gotten played by some man?"
"…Sorry, Sis. I was just worried about you." Koichi hung his head in shame, looking like a scolded child.
"What happened?" Inori asked, reading the tension between the siblings. And what did "played by some man" mean? Could it be that Yasuho had already encountered a certain man with four testicles?
"Never mind that for now." Yasuho turned to Inori, a bright smile breaking across her delicate features. "Let's get you to your family first."
"…Okay."
…
…
Morioh.
A quaint little town with a wholesome, down-to-earth atmosphere. Modest in size but steeped in history, it had undergone rapid development from the 1980s onward. Its population hovered around fifty thousand. The town was best known for its Jōmon-era ruins and samurai-era architecture, with miso-marinated beef tongue as its signature specialty, and a stretch of particularly fine residential villas running along the northeast.
As they left Lovers' Cape, Inori made a point of scanning the coastline. No sign of any Wall Eyes jutting up from the ground. Then, through seemingly idle small talk with Koichi, she casually extracted the current year.
1999. The end of the century.
Based on that, she could say with near certainty: this was the Morioh of Diamond is Unbreakable.
That realization eased her mind somewhat. JoJo's Part 8 was still unfinished at the time she knew it, and she had only a rough grasp of the broad strokes. She had never read it carefully. If she had ended up in that Morioh, she would have been unable to leverage foreknowledge to plan her moves.
But the Morioh of Diamond is Unbreakable was a different story. Inori knew every beat of the anime's plot. She already knew every shadow lurking within this town. Most critically, she knew the abilities of every single Stand that appeared here. In a battle between Stand Users, intelligence was unquestionably the decisive factor, and she had every Stand's weaknesses and counters committed to memory.
With all of that, plus the invincible King Crimson… she could walk through this world without a care. She could march up and punch Yoshikage Kira in the face right now if she wanted to.
But that confidence did nothing to lift her spirits.
Because she had no idea how to get back to her original world. She had promised Hare Menjou. She had made that vow to everyone, and then vanished without a trace. She couldn't bear to imagine how devastated Hare would be if she thought Inori had sacrificed herself. All those fantasies of a peaceful life after eradicating the Apocalypse Virus, gone in an instant like a burst bubble.
Inori's fingers tightened unconsciously around the hem of her jacket. This outfit was Funeral Parlor's team uniform, the only proof left that the world she had lived through was real.
Mana, are you still there?
Sitting in the back seat of the taxi with her eyes closed, Inori reached inward, trying to call out to the other soul inhabiting her body.
No response.
Had the second transmigration erased Mana's existence? Inori bit her lip, sick with worry. But she couldn't let it show; Yasuho was sitting right beside her, and they were on their way to the Morioh police station.
I'm here, Inori.
A cool, clear girl's voice suddenly echoed through her mind, and Inori let out a long breath of relief.
Thank goodness! Why didn't you answer before? I thought you'd disappeared too.
Thank you for worrying about me, Inori. I was just trying to figure out what's going on.
Mana Ouma was wrestling with the same question. She was even more lost than Inori about what had happened over the past few hours. How had they suddenly ended up in Japan forty years in the past? She had never heard of a place called Morioh. And what was even more unsettling was that somewhere in Inori's memories were all these incredible stories about this town.
Is this your punishment for messing with time? Mana asked, half-joking.
I don't know what's going on either. At that point… I just felt really sleepy and dozed off.
But you somehow know things about this town…
Although Mana resided inside Inori's body and could see her surface thoughts, the things buried deep in her soul were hidden from her. She was simply astonished that Inori had known those siblings' names before being told, and seemed intimately familiar with a town she had never set foot in.
It's hard to explain, Mana. Right now, all I want to figure out is how to get back to our world.
If you're asking me, I don't know either.
Mana Ouma let out a long sigh. Her mood was probably even lower than Inori's. After waiting so long, suffering through so much, she had finally been able to watch over Shu and Triton alongside Inori, only for fate to play this cruel joke and drop them into another world entirely.
Think carefully. After you left GHQ headquarters, what did you do?
Despite her dejection, Mana stayed calm. She wasn't the type to panic over something like this. She had been the one to outmaneuver even Eve when she threatened to destroy the world. She was a girl who had seen the worst of it, and spending time with Inori had rubbed off on her too.
Got in the car. Fell asleep.
Inori answered honestly.
Nothing else?
I took off my jacket and covered myself with it…?
Inori's voice cut off mid-thought. She had caught on to a suspicious keyword.
Covered?