Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 406

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Kakyoin has a plan.
Word Count: 1087
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

 

        “You know Jotaro didn’t mean to upset you,” Rosenberg-chan tries to tell Kakyoin. The familiarity and lack of honorific has to do with the English culture and nothing to do with a conspiracy. It’d sound reasonable if it didn’t also sound like she was trying to downplay his experience, everything he knows. If they aren’t all just looking at him, eyes full of suspicion, wondering if he’s lost it again, if he isn’t dangerous, a liability, can’t be trusted.
        He shouldn’t be taking it personally, of course. This time it’s not even their fault. They’d all been manipulated by a master, the first time, but this time it’s more subtle, more insidious. The paranoia is getting to them.
        He shouldn’t be letting it bother him, but it grates. Still, he has to admit that this effect could not have chosen a better tactic to isolate him. With his irritation against being treated like this again, working with the others is going to be far more difficult.
        Instead, he grits his teeth and allows Rosenberg-chan to catch up to him. She looks a little taken aback at the web he’s already allowed Hierophant to grow to, and he pulls back on that too. Not entirely, of course. In case of sudden ambush, it’s prudent to have an early warning system, but he does his best to conceal it better, put her at ease. If she’s already being affected, there’s no reason to make it worse by behaving in a manner too concerning. “I’m aware. And I know he rarely means to sound so blunt.” He’d be hurt and withdraw further, if Kakyoin pointed out that the words had cut deep, rather than been matter-of-fact and straightforward. That’s hardly his intention, after all, and he still seems, somehow, to be of the opinion that his true intentions and feelings are easy to read for anyone that does not know him. (Johan does not help in this regard, with his Stand, though not for the first time Kakyoin has to remind himself that simply sharing a Stand type does not, in of itself, indicate treachery, not if the same could not be applied to Jotaro and DIO, and it does not.)
        “Well, maybe we should go rejoin the others?” Rosenberg-chan suggests, sounding relieved, and as much as Kakyoin hates to let down a beautiful woman, he has to do so at this point.
        “This isn’t a mere temper tantrum, Rosenberg-chan.” That does not involve controlling or interrogating the townsfolk, no matter how much he desires to do so and prove once and for all that they are plotting against the Joestars. That would merely overplay their hand. No, better to be subtle until the rest are on the same page and ready for an assault, and if the townsfolk move first, well, at least Kakyoin is aware and ready for them. “Jotaro is a scientific man. If he needs empirical evidence, I will get him that evidence.”
        At least Rosenberg-chan doesn’t immediately try to talk him out of it. She does look a little nervous, but that could just as easily be the hostile city and its inhabitants around them, and at least she seems to trust that he can protect her. “What kind of evidence?”
        If he tells her of his plan, it’s possible she’ll relay that to the others using magic, and they’ll attempt to stop him, but not trusting her at all will have the effect of reducing her own trust in return. Better that he be honest and discreet, and let the show of trust perhaps dissuade her from anything rash. “One of the helpers setting up breakfast mentioned something quietly about finding locusts in the back garden. I thought I would confirm his words.” He crouches down, plucking one of several of the insects off the leaves of the backyard maize. “See?”
        “That looks like a grasshopper…” Rosenberg-chan comments, and he allows the other hand to curl into a fist where she can’t see. It’s curiosity in her voice, not disagreement.
        “Technically, Rosenberg-chan, you would be correct. Locusts are a grasshopper species, but not every grasshopper is a locust. You see the bright red in this pattern, as well as the fact that it’s not alone? Only locusts really show swarming behavior, and their entire existence changes when that happens. As well as any life in the region—the tales of biblical plague are no exaggeration.” He drops it, squirming, spitting, and attempting to bite, into the small jar, which he then caps and puts away. “I’d like to confirm how widespread the phenomenon is, whether it’s the beginning of the swarming behavior or whether they possibly traveled here from somewhere else.”
        “So you want to look at the fields? They were...to the East and South, weren’t they?” It’s not bad for just going by memory.
        “East and North, actually,” Kakyoin corrects her, but she smiles and shakes her head.
        “Seems like alongside all their other traditions, they’re following the Mayan style of mapping. They put East at the top of the map.” She suddenly looks a little shy. Or guilty, perhaps. She may have been instructed not to be too helpful and forgot about that in her eagerness to share interesting facts. Understandable, really. It happens to Kakyoin often, and in any case it will be fine. Everyone will see, once he proves his point. “I mentioned that, but it’s not surprising no one was listening, with eating too, and everyone all having conversations at the same time.”
        “I see. I apologize for not paying you the proper attention,” he tells her, enjoying the blush. Yes, he may well get the answers he seeks if he applies just the right pressure—nothing too shady, of course, just a little flirting, a little flattery. “In any case, you have it now. I want to visit the marketplace as well—where better to hear the kind of gossip about this phenomenon or any other that might be of interest?”
        She still appears a little conflicted, though she covers up that with false bravado—an act that might be convincing if not for all the other clues she’s given him so far. “I’d be happy to go with you.” Well, it’s still good for none of them to be alone, and together, he might help counteract whatever spell this place has over her. It’s company he doesn’t mind; probably part of the plan, no doubt, but he’ll play along. After all, he’ll be vindicated in the end.