Diamonds Burn Gold

Chapter 49: July 15th (Thursday), Part 4

July 15th (THU) 12:05 PM

Rohan and Airi stood on the second floor and watched in fascinated awkwardness as Kinoto crab walks up the stairs. It looked rather painful as he was bent backwards to avoid having his back seen. They questioned how he was even able to do this.

"I'm aware that the upstairs floor sustained fire damage as well. I'll perform the estimate, so please go ahead without me." Kinoto says as he climbs up the stairs. Rohan and Airi were just bewildered that he was going through such extreme lengths to hide his back. This goes way beyond having a quirky phobia.

'What's this man doing? Why's he so obsessed with hiding his back? What'll happen if I look?' Rohan asks himself. Kinoto hoisted himself up into the second floor and when he sees that the couple were staring at him, he laughs awkwardly and smiles. Trying, and failing, to act like nothing odd had happened. 'I have to see it. How can I not want to look after that display? If I have to trick him then so be it.' Rohan shot a look towards his fiancée and they both gave a subtle nod. Airi turned and went to one of the rooms and once she turned the corner, Rohan began reaching behind him.

"Aaugh, how annoying, it's so itchy. If only there were some way or other I could reach this itch. I suppose it would be quite rude of me to ask a person I just met to scratch it for me, huh." Rohan said as he pretended to be unable to "scratched his itch", showing his back to Kinoto. The architect was a little confused by this but decided to help out. Besides, the way he stood, there was no way he could see his back. "I suppose I don't mind helping." He says as he approaches the Mangaka.

Rohan stayed where he was and smirked as he watched Kinoto get ever so closer to the rug. Stepping right on it.

July 15th (THU) 12:28 PM

Out in town, Josuke, Saya and Yuya had located Koichi's backpack and were standing in the last place he was seen. Now with the motorcycle delinquent on their side, they'll be able to find some clues.

"Right, this is the place. We found Koichi's bag laying right here in the open with no explanation." Josuke tells Yuya as he points in the direction of Koichi's home. "His house is only about two minutes up the road there. How did this new Stand user stormed Koichi and snatched him away from a busy street first thing in the morning? Somebody should've seen him."

Yuya stared at the bag and sniffed at the straps. Taking in Koichi's scent to get a lead. However, when he did, his eyes narrowed when he picked up an unusual smell. He began sniffing the air and looked around them and saw something that strikes up his survival instincts. He stays where he was and places down the backpack. "Josuke, our little deal doesn't include me fighting does it? Because when I agreed to come here, I was told that I'll only be used for tracking." Yuya says. Making Josuke and Saya look at Yuya in confusion.

"I won't feel comfortable proceeding until you tell me I won't be fighting anyone." Yuya tells the pompadour-haired teen.

"Why bring something like that up at a time like this?" Josuke asked.

"Because...somebody's been tailing you." Yuya said.

"What?"

"It's that man over there." The teens' eyes widened and quickly turned around and found the man following them just a few feet away. He was a man of average height and slim build. He has light brown skin, his eyes were cyan in colour that fades to purple, and white hair that is styled in a criss-cross pattern, framing his face and curling upwards at its ends. He wore a long, white and brown coat, with gold accessories, closed to the end of his chest. Underneath is a black top wrapped in three gold/brown ornate belts and fitted black pants.