OKOSHI | JOJOLION

018 | soccer ball brothers.

★ . . . WAIT." JOSUKE TRIED TO STOP you but you were already stalking forward, bone dice clenched hard enough in your fist to hurt. The twin restraining Karera looked up at you, his face placid.

"I said to let her go," you yelled. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

"She owes us." From behind you and Josuke, the other soccer twin emerged. You looked between the two of them. Ponytail, you decided—trying to tell the two of them apart—and the one holding Karera was Piercing.

You didn't even want to know what Karera had gotten herself into this time. "I can pay you, whatever it is," you said. "Just let her go."

"It's not that simple," Piercing said. "Unfortunately, this isn't something that can be paid for in money."

What were the odds that these two were Stand users, you wondered?

"Alright then," you said. "If it can't be paid for in money, what about a favour?"

Josuke said your name in a low voice.

"Don't give them anything!" Karera shrieked, managing to pull Piercing's hand from her mouth. "I've got this under control! Just get out of here."

You stepped forward, extending your hand and the bone dice. "If you roll under seven, you let Karera go. If you roll over that, I'll do whatever you want."

The brothers eyed the dice in your hand and then each other, probably thrown by the fact that you wanted them to roll lower numbers.

"Why the hell would we do that?" Ponytail sneered. He stepped forward to grab Josuke's arm but he shrugged him off with a glare.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you're Stand users," you said, forcing calm into your voice that you didn't feel. "I happen to have a Stand myself. By laying out my terms before you roll the dice, I bind myself and you to them. Depending on what you roll, I will be bound to my agreement. My Stand will kill me unless I do whatever you want, should you roll higher than seven."

Karera was struggling to break free from Ponytail. He tightened his grip on her, making her cry out.

"Then if we roll lower than seven, we'll also die?" Piercing said. He was on your other side, his voice menacing in your ear.

You lifted your chin. "Only if you don't let Karera go."

The brothers exchanged glances.

Piercing said your name, and your heart almost stopped. "The one who's been going around with their endless fortune?"

"What a coincidence that you also happen to be a Stand user," Ponytail said. All at once, he shoved Karera aside. In the same moment, Piercing decked you across the face.

Josuke shouted your name and a beat later, you heard the breath get knocked out of him as one of the twins slammed their fist into his stomach.

"You stay out of this," Ponytail growled. "Get that bitch out of here."

Karera barely managed to catch Josuke as he staggered back. Meanwhile, Piercing had dragged you to the car and was grinding your face against the hood.

"Give me the dice."

Through gritted teeth, you released the dice into his hand. You weren't worried. Dancing's Done would protect you. There was no way in hell either of the brothers would roll above a seven.

But then you realized. The terms you'd laid down were null. Karera was no longer being restrained by Ponytail. That had never happened before—a part of the agreement being done before the dice were rolled. What would that mean for you exactly? If either of the brothers rolled below a seven, your Stand would have nothing to hold over them.