-

You'd finally fallen asleep, after about an hour of trying. The clock marked 3:00 AM when you were rudely awakened by the ring of the telephone.

You groan, sitting up and immediately answering the phone.

You mumble out a quick, "Hello?"

"Akira!" Polnareff was on the other end of the line, frantically speeding through his words. "Come quick! There's an emergency! Bring Jotaro!"

"Yare ya-"

You couldn't finish your sentence before he hung up.

You got up, nudging a half-awake Jotaro off of you.

"What?" His voice laced with sleep, he grunts.

"Come on, emergency in Polnareff's and Kakyoin's room."

"Oh great."

He gets up about half as quickly as you do. By the time he's out the door, you're walking shoeless down the hallway with your coat on, gun in hand with finger on the trigger, you picked it up out of habit, not even realizing that you probably wouldn't need it.

When you reach the door, you see Mr. Joestar and Muhammad standing outside.

"He called you two too?" Mr. Joestar was in his pajamas, slippers covering his feet. Muhammad was in pants and a tank-top. He rubbed his eyes. Despite being an early riser, he hated being woken up.

"Yeah, it's gotta be serious," you kick the door in..

Everyone follows behind, gun drawn.

You see Noriaki sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, he too dressed in pajamas, looking unscathed and aggravated.

"What's the problem?" Jotaro asks, he looks around.

"Hm? Problem?" Polnareff smiles cheekily, "what problem?"

"The problem you woke us all up for," Muhammad reminds.

"Oh! That problem! I just wanted to have a get together."

"Get together?" Mr. Joestar questions.

"Goodnight," you walk back out the room.

"Akira! Wait!"

Polnareff chases after you.

"What?"

"There is a problem, actually."

"And that is..?"

"My boredom."

If you weren't so exhausted, you would have entertained the idea of attending this "get-together." But, even in your sleep-deprived state, you realized how valuable this time would be. You were all together, gathered in one place. Who knows if that'll be the case after tomorrow?

You feign sigh, "Yare yare daze, Fine, since you woke me up."

Everyone else looked extremely unsure, giving you wary looks as you drag yourself back in the room, dropping your stuff on the table and jumping onto Kakyoin's bed.

"So, what's the plan, Jean-Pierre?"

Muhammad had shut the door and everyone else gathered around in the room, sitting wherever they could. It was certainly a funny change to see everyone in their pajamas.

"Plan?" He tilted his head, "I... Well, I'm certainly no problem solver, I usually leave it to the rest of you."

"So, correct me if I'm wrong," Mr. Joestar pinches the bridge of his nose. "You invited everyone down here, but didn't plan anything for this supposed 'get-together'?"

"I, well-"

"We're all smart individuals, Mr. Joestar," you defend. "We can think of something."

You lit a cigarette, resting it in between your fingers.

"Ooh! I've got one," Polnareff exclaims. "Do you know any tricks?"

"Tricks?"

"Yeah, can you do any tricks with your cigarette?"

"Do I look like a clown?"

"Do you want me to answer that?"

"You French brat-"

You reach over to slap him, but become distracted by the cigarette slipping from in between your fingers.

"I know some," Jotaro confesses.

He pulls the cigarette up to his mouth, instead of taking a drag, he puts the entire cigarette in his mouth.

"Woah! What are you doing, Jotaro?"

Polnareff looks astonished.

You lean forward in curious amusement. The smoke from the cigarette comes out of his nose. Polnareff whoops in excitement. He seems oddly energetic for the time.

"You look like some dragon!"

"That'd be a great nickname if you were yakuza,"

A silent exchange between Mr. Joestar and Muhammad occurs before the elder is clearing his throat.

"Well, you youngsters have fun."

"Mr. Joestar!" Polnareff calls, "you can't leave!"

"Let them go, the elders need their sleep,"

"Goodnight," Kakyoin waves them off before closing the door.

"Akira, did you bring your tarot cards?"

"I did, I think. Why?"

"Give me one of those readings, I wanna know about my love life?"

"You can't force the cards to predict something that won't happen, bud."

He looked disappointed. Jeez, you didn't mean to hurt his feelings that bad, but you also can't lie on the cards. You have some sort of unspoken oath with them, they speak for themselves and you just interpret the message.

"You know, Jean, I could read your palm."

"My palm?"

"How do you do that?" Noriaki walks to sit next to Polnareff, seeming intrigued.

Jotaro sat next to you on Noriaki's bed, leaning over your shoulder, seeming just as intrigued.

Both beds were in close enough proximity that you could reach out and grab Polnareff's hand without straining yourself.

"The lines on your palms, they're said to tell your life's story," you point out all the lines on his hand and what they mean.

"Oh! So, tell me! My love line, what's it got in store?"

You looked intently, tracing your finger across it. You were only an amateur, but you were no fool. His love line was barely existent, however his life line was strong. You looked into his eyes, he was so expectant.

Fortunately for Jean Pierre Polnareff, you had no oath to this practice.

"you're going to find a beautiful wife, one who loves you dearly, and whom you love just as much."

"Oh my god! Really?!"

"It's fate," you nod.

He jumps up, pumping his fist in the air in victory, boasting to the other two in the room.

"Jean, why don't you take this," you hand a 10 Egyptian Pound Note to him, "and go get some drinks. There's a convenience store two doors to the left. Use up that energy so you're not waking the neighbors."

"On it!" He slips on his shoes and walks out.

You fall back on the bed.

"Was that true?" Noriaki asks.

"No, it was fainter than faint. I just... couldn't bring myself to lie to him."

It doesn't take Polnareff long with the requested beverages, he's back and plopping a six pack on the nightstand.

You take on and pass it to Jotaro, Polnareff does the same for Kakyoin.

You raise your can, "a toast."

"To what?" Jotaro looks at you.

"Hold on, I'm thinking. Uh... to friendship?"

"So cheesy," Polnareff chuckles.

"Fine, come up with a better one then."

"Alright," he rises to the challenge. "A toast, for my future marriage."

"No," you cut him off.

"A toast," Jotaro speaks up. "To making it this far, and to someday making it back home."

"To making it this far," you all clash cans before drinking.

The night progresses, talk about your pasts and what you want for your futures. It was great conversation, you were glad you got to know everyone better through it. Everyone recalled stories, shared dreams, talked about their ambitions, and you couldn't have been more intrigued if you tried.

"I'm glad this trip happened," Polnareff sighs.

"You're glad?"

"Yeah," he nods. "I mean, the circumstances aren't good by any means, but I've never really had friends like this before."

"Me neither," Noriaki admits.

"I guess I haven't either," you agree.

"Yeah," Jotaro looks away.

"It gets so lonely, having no one to relate to, nothing to do. But now, I have you guys, and I always will."

That optimism... you truly were jealous.

"You will," you agree. You were going soft on him, but for some reason you felt he needed it.

Conversation flows, at some point the radio gets turned on.

The topic of dance comes up, and that's when Noriaki says he never learned how to.

"What?!" Polnareff almost seems offended. "Even Jotaro knows how to ballroom dance!"

"My grandma made me take lessons," he defends.

"You know what," you stand up. "It's four A.M., no better time to learn than now."

You grab his hand and pull him up, he attempts to protest but you stop him.

"Ah-ah-ah. It's easy, just follow my lead."

You grab his hand and secure it on your waist, taking his other hand and intertwining your fingers together. You grab his waist. You move your feet. He looks down to watch the pattern of your movements.

"Nope, eyes on me. You'll trip if you look down, just keep your eyes up."

A light shade of pink dusts his features, but in the dim light of the room it was too hard to see.

"Where'd you learn how to dance, Akira?"

"I was in Venice for about three weeks 5 months ago hunting down some rich stand user. He was in the lucrative wine industry, and was traveling cross-country, taking out his industry competitors. I had to sneak into some fancy parties, blend in, that whole thing, so I taught myself how to dance. I'd glue myself to the arm of the first available person I saw. I got the job done, and drank some of the finest liquor known to man in the process."

"Impressive! You know, I'd love to go to Venice, the gondolas," he sighs. "Must be beautiful."

"It is," you agree. The song on the radio changes, and you hear Kakyoin softly gasp.

"What's up?" You stop moving.

"Oh! Nothing, nothing. It's just, my favorite band is playing."

"The Police?" Jotaro asks. "I took you for more of a Japanese Pop fan."

"No, no. I'm more into... how would I describe it... Pop Rock? New Wave? Like, the Police, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran..."

"I love Duran Duran!" Polnareff agrees. "I'm really more into American Rock though."

"British Rock," Jotaro crosses his arms. "Clash, Sex Pistols, that type of thing."

"What about you?" Noriaki asks. You both sit down.

"Uh... well, I don't listen to music much, but I guess I'm fond of Led Zeppelin, any type of Psychedelic Rock. And one time, I snuck into a rock show in Germany. Or, well, it wasn't called rock. I think it was called 'metal', either way I really enjoyed it. I can't remember the name of the band, though. Metal...?"

"Metallica?" Jotaro asks.

"Yeah! That was it! I stole a t-shirt on my way out."

"You've lived quite the life, haven't you?" Polnareff chuckles.

"I guess you could say I have."

Time passes, and you never wanted this to end. You all were having fun, the conversation even bringing a smile to Jotaro's face. Something you were so reluctant in joining a couple hours ago created a memory you would never forget. And if the sun hadn't peered through the cracks in the curtains, it's likely you all would have kept going

"Shit!" Polnareff checks the clock. "It's 5:30!"

"Damn," Noriaki curses. "We all better get to sleep, or else we'll be shot for tomorrow."

You sigh, "you're right. We'll see you both in a couple hours."

Polnareff nods, seeing you both out and shutting the door as you walk back to your room.

"I really didn't want that to end," you mumble.

"There's still time to have another one at some point," Jotaro reassures.

"Yeah, another one."

-

It was now 8:00 A.M., and you all were gathered around a table in the dining room. Polnareff was face down, you and Jotaro were slumped in your chairs, Noriaki was falling in and out of consciousness.

"How late did you all stay up?" Mr. Joestar rests his elbows on the table.

"None of your business, old man," Jotaro sits up.

"What were you even doing?" Muhammad asks.

"None of your business, old man." You reply.

-

To be continued...>