"Jolyne-chan, are you hungry?"
Gazing at the still-sobbing little girl, Inori put on her sunniest smile.
"Onee-chan knows this amazing restaurant~ They have all kinds of delicious food. Want to go?"
Following Mana's advice, Inori dangled food as bait. She'd actually never been to Tonio's restaurant herself, so this was the perfect excuse to bring Jolyne and Yasuho along.
Food ranked at the very top of Inori's life priorities. Visiting Morioh without tasting Tonio's cooking would be an unforgivable waste.
"Yummy stuff... Do they have cake?"
"Of course!" Inori struggled to lift her heavy skirts and crouched down with a smile. "The chef is Italian, so he makes tons of different cakes. Whatever Jolyne-chan wants, they'll have."
"What about hot dog sandwiches?"
"You like those, Jolyne-chan? Don't worry—they've got everything!"
Inori wiped the last tear from her face. The moment Jolyne's mind turned to delicious food, the crying stopped. Just as Mana had said—no child could resist the lure of a good meal.
"Okay! Now... everyone who wants to go to the restaurant, raise your hand!"
"Jolyne!"
The girl's face still bore tear tracks, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. She raised her tiny voice:
"Inori-onee-chan, Jolyne wants to go!"
"Hehe, that's one for Jolyne-chan." Inori gently high-fived the girl, like a maid who was secretly quite good with kids, letting Jolyne know in a language children understood that her spot was reserved.
"Yasuho, come along."
"Sure—your treat?" Yasuho grinned, arms crossed, watching Inori's expression with amusement.
"...Just this once!"
Inori raised an eyebrow but agreed.
—It's not my money anyway.
"Inori-onee-chan! Inori-onee-chan!"
A small hand was tugging hard at her long skirt. Inori looked down to find Jolyne's face clouded over again. Her heart sank—she thought the girl had remembered that irresponsible father of hers.
"Jolyne's really cold... about to freeze."
She hugged her bare arms and let out a huge sneeze. The tip of her dainty little nose had gone as red as a dot of cinnabar.
"The AC's a bit too strong, Inori-chan," Yasuho pointed out.
Inori had cranked the air conditioning way up since she needed to dance in her heavy robes. Even so, she was still sweating underneath—the moisture had soaked through the undergarments beneath the jūnihitoe, sticky and uncomfortable. And now that she thought about it, there was the other problem: getting out of this outfit was going to eat up a chunk of time. Kids had zero patience. Jolyne would think she was being tricked.
"Take Jolyne-chan outside and wait. I'll be out fast—two minutes."
No time to undo the layers one by one. She'd have King Crimson rip the clothes right off. Afterward she'd get Josuke to restore them with Crazy Diamond—this getup was worth a fortune, and even if it was someone else's money, that kind of waste couldn't be tolerated.
...
...
Josuke Higashikata had been living well lately.
Since meeting Inori and Jotaro Kujo and surviving the battle at the Kira Residence, his understanding of Stands had risen to a new level. Those harrowing few minutes at the brink of death were terrifying, yes, but the experience forged in him a steelier nerve.
When his friend Koichi Hirose was attacked by the Arrow, Josuke stepped in without hesitation, defeated Keicho Nijimura with ease, and befriended his younger brother Okuyasu. After learning the brothers' circumstances, the two sides set aside their differences—though at the last moment, Keicho was killed in a surprise attack by Red Hot Chili Pepper, and the Stand Arrow was stolen.
Red Hot Chili Pepper's user was Akira Otoishi—another troublesome opponent with a 5A-class Stand whose power and speed surpassed even Crazy Diamond. In the end, though, he proved no real threat and was taken down by Josuke and a newly awakened Koichi.
Both Stand Arrows successfully recovered. New friends made. Smooth sailing all around. The air in Morioh was as sweet as ever.
"Huh? Isn't that Inori-onee-san?"
Okuyasu suddenly pointed at two pink-haired girls walking ahead of them.
Their faces weren't visible, but that distinctive hair color and those familiar silhouettes were unmistakable.
"You're right!? Nee-san's here too!"
Koichi spotted the person beside Inori and yelped.
He harbored a particular, indefinable dread of his second sister Yasuho. Unlike their mother or eldest sister Ayana, Yasuho had an overwhelming presence—around her, Koichi always felt like one wrong step would earn him a lecture.
"Your sister and Onee-san really are close!" Josuke laughed, then walked up without a second thought.
"Onee-san!"
"Josuke? ...And Okuyasu and Koichi?"
Inori had been wondering how to get in touch with Josuke, and here they were. Perfect timing.
"I was just looking for you. Didn't you mention some amazing Italian restaurant?"
"Yeah!"
Josuke nodded eagerly.
"You guys want to go? We were actually heading there t—huh? Whose kid is this?"
His excitement cut off mid-sentence. At some point, two tiny arms had wrapped tight around Inori's thigh. She was wearing a white miniskirt, so those little hands were clinging to one long, flawless, very bare leg. An enviable position, to say the least.
"Whoa! Onee-san! You have a kid already!?"
Okuyasu, ever the genius, clapped both hands over his face in shock.
"Okuyasu-kun, that's really rude, even for you... There's no way she could be Inori-onee-san's child!"
Koichi frantically tugged at the clueless oaf. Didn't he know Inori's temper by now? You couldn't crack jokes like that around her—it'd be rude even with a normal girl!
"This is Jotaro-san's daughter. Her name is Jolyne Cujoh."
Inori knew Okuyasu's brain was simply wired that way and didn't bother getting upset.
"...Huh??"
All three boys wore the exact same stunned expression.
"Josuke, you didn't know? Haven't you met your father already?"
Sure, Jotaro did look young enough to pass for a college student, but the man was twenty-eight. Was it really that shocking? They should've been through the Otoishi incident together by now—they had to know him pretty well.
"But I didn't know Jotaro-san's daughter was here too..."
"Come on, Jolyne-chan. Say hello to your great-uncle."
The little barnacle on her leg was starting to tickle. Inori gently peeled Jolyne's hands free, ushered her forward, and prompted her with a grin.
"Pfft." Yasuho couldn't help but laugh. "Great-uncle? That's a bit much, isn't it? What a bizarre family tree."
Unlike the bold, outspoken woman she'd grow up to be, young Jolyne was terribly shy around strangers. But with Inori-onee-chan right behind her, she mustered her courage, put on her sweetest smile, and called out:
"Great-Uncle!"
The girl's tiny voice hit Josuke's soul like a cannonball.
"N-no, no, no... just call me Josuke. Please." Goosebumps erupted across his entire body. One look at Inori's delighted expression told him everything—classic Onee-san, already devising ways to torment him.
"Oh..." Okuyasu, meanwhile, had gotten a clear look at the girl's cherubic face and scratched his head with a dopey grin. "Jotaro-san's daughter sure is cute... I bet she'll be totally my type when she grows up!"
"Inori-onee-chan!"
Jolyne heard him speak and immediately latched onto Inori's leg again.
Okuyasu probably thought his smile was friendly enough, but with a face like his—all hard angles and thug energy—his grin was scarier to a child than anything in Jolyne's horror movies.
"Stay away from me, you yakuza punk!"
—!
Okuyasu heard his own heart shatter. His expression froze. He turned away in defeat—broken by the critical hit from little Jolyne.
"Ahaha, still no luck with girls as always, Okuyasu-kun."
And Inori twisted the knife without mercy.
Laughter filled the cheerful air. Morioh's blue sky was as clear as ever.
Life was that beautiful... and that peaceful.