ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ∆ ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀ ᴢᴇᴘᴘᴇʟɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ∆

∆ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ∆

I now understand why Joseph was so pushy about me getting sleep last night. He’d shoved me into a bed before nine o’clock and ordered me to sleep while I could. Being as exhausted as I was, it wasn’t hard to comply with that demand. And, I’d have to thank him later.

“Faster,” Lisa Lisa called, making me groan.

“I’m not a good climber!” I yelled back, struggling to keep a hold of the brick on the side of the tower.

“You’re going to learn then!” She called again. I sighed and hung my head, muttering something under my breath before grabbing the next adjacent brick and pulled myself up. The tower part of her manor had some bricks that stuck out, and my job was to scale the wall. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it was four in the morning?

I gasped as my foot slipped, and my knee scraped against the rough textured wall. I gripped the brick to keep from falling down, so tight that my knuckles had turned white from the force. If I fell now, I’d probably die. It was so high up, and there were rocks under me. I guess that served as a reminder to not fall. A...dark...and...dangerous reminder. I grunted as I found my footing again and pulled myself up once more. Just a few more and I could reach the top.

“Good job,” Lisa Lisa praised, as I heaved myself over the edge. My arms were shaking as I rolled onto my back, grabbing my pounding heart with one hand. Sweat dribbled from my forehead as I looked towards her and gave a light-hearted thumbs up. Lisa Lisa chuckled and helped me onto my feet.

“Now what?” I panted, looking at her. I felt my eyes go wide as she brushed past me, and I heard a small click in my ear.

“Now you control your breathing,” She replied.

“W-What the-” I tugged on the straps on the mask. How in the hell did she get that on? That was like...half a second! I knew Joseph said she was quick, but I didn’t think she was that quick! I felt my throat close up and I choked out a gasp. Lisa Lisa spun to face me.

“Relax, Y/n. Take deep breaths and even your breathing. Your panting is making the mask lock up,” She said.

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to just slam it on my face without warning! I thought. But, I did as she said and took a deep breath to even out my breaths. Once I was able to breathe, she motioned for me to follow her. She led me through the twisting halls, rounding corners, and walking through beautiful archways; I was certain I’d get lost if I were by myself.

“Woah,” I whispered, as she pushed open the doors to a platform outside, on the opposite side of the manor. The platform itself was big, with two stone pillars that had morning glories spiraling around them. There were a set of thin stairs that led down into what looked like a bath or something of the sort. There were pots of flowers lined along the banister, and below the platform was the ocean.

“Sit on the ground in the center of the space over there,” Lisa Lisa said, pointing towards the end of the platform. I did as she said, walking past her and looking around as I did. I crossed my legs under me and looked at her while raising my eyebrow.

“Okay…” I said. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Breathe,” She stated simply, before turning and waving over her shoulder. “I’ll come to get you in a few hours.”

What? Did she just...did she just leave me here? And...tell me to...breathe? Oh my God. I can see why Joseph got annoyed with her a lot. But then again….Lisa Lisa is his mother. I had honestly forgotten about that.

I heaved a sigh and glared at the door. Why was I doing such boring things? Well, I guess I did just climb a 30-meter tower. Almost fell a few times….

I think I could deal with some breathing for a while.

…

I had no idea how long I had been outside. The sun was high in the sky by now, the bright and hot rays shining down on me. It was actually quite relaxing. Until a bouncy, bubble-headed, loud brunette came running outside and physically tackled me onto the ground.

“Surprise!” He yelled.

“Get off me!” I yelled back, trying to get him off me.

“Hm, no.” He said, pushing more of his weight down on my chest.

“Oh my God, you’re going to crush me!” I wheezed, pushing on his shoulders.

“You’re dramatic,” He stated, rolling off me and laying on his back beside me. He turned his head to me. “By the way, Coach said you could stop breathing. Well, I mean, keep breathing, cause then you’d die if you didn’t but you could come inside. She said you were free for now.”

“Can I take the mask off?” I grumbled.

“Can you use Hamon?” He asked, grinning because he knew the answer.

“Joseph, you have five seconds to start running,”

“Wait, no! I was joking! I’ll take it off!” He laughed nervously as I sat up.

“What time is it?” I asked as he removed the mask.

“Around noon. I came to get you so you could eat something,” He said, standing up and extending his hand to me. I took it and he pulled me onto my feet. “I heard you got an early start this morning.”

“She woke me up at three in the morning and went, ‘Climb that pillar!’. I honestly believe the people in Italy are way crazier than the ones in New York,” I grumbled, rubbing my cheeks from where the mask had pressed against them. Joseph laughed.

“Don’t worry, Y/n,” He said, smiling down at me. “It only gets worse.”

“Worse?!” I exclaimed. “I thought you were going to say it got better!”

“Oh, hell no,” He said, patting my shoulder comfortingly. “You’re going to wish you were dead, buried six feet under, in ashes by tomorrow.”

“I wish I never said this was a good idea!” I groaned.

“Relax, Y/n,” Joseph said, tossing his arm over my shoulders as he led me towards the doors. “The good news is, Lisa Lisa is going to have me and Caesar work with you later on, which means I’ll be your coach!”

“You?” I said, turning my head to face him with a raised eyebrow. “Please, Joseph. You’ve told better jokes than that.” I couldn’t contain my laughter at the sight of his stunned face.

“That was just mean,” He pouted.

“You set yourself up for it,” I shrugged.

“So mean,” He huffed.

“That’s the fun in it,”