21st Century Girl [Dio X Reader]

Chapter Thirteen

The air is stuffy in the dark office. No one spoke to her when she reentered the mansion. Only shifty side glances and frowns of concern before the other maids quickly returned to their tasks. Even with the Joestar mansion maintaining amicable relations across classes, after earning the scorn of the master, not a single servant was brave enough to reach out to her. Or perhaps rather than a class issue, they simply see her for who she really is. Not a poor girl fragile from starvation, but a violent city rat that knows how to bite.

Y/n only lowers her head further when footsteps enter the room. The door shuts and the space that dimmed with sunset is full of light. Mr. Joestar sighs. The fabric of his expensive suit glides against each other as he pulls his jacket tighter across his torso. Another sigh as he takes a seat.

Y/n can feel his eyes linger on her. It doesn't make her itch or burn to get away; unlike what she experienced in London, they are soft and careful, full of concern. Y/n's fists tighten at her side, her nails digging into her palms. Words finally escape from George Joestar's lips. "Sit."

Silence is heavy in the room as Y/n lowers herself into the seat placed facing Mr. Joestar's desk. His dark blue eyes are full with the same concern he gazes at JoJo with. Perhaps with even more of it. It's unfamiliar to her. And it's uncomfortable. Her mouth opens, but long even breath can escape from between her lips. She shuts them.

Mr. Joestar's dark eyebrows pinch together. In the dim lighting, shadows set deep into his features, visually revealing his age for the first time. "Do you understand that what you have done is more than enough to have you fired?"

Y/n stiffens in her seat. She knew this was coming. She was prepared for this. Still her breath hitches in her throat. "Y-yes sir." Her fists clench at her side as she steels herself. "I understand, sir."

"Then why are you still in my office?"

His voice snaps with an edge she's never expected from the man. He never raises his voice. Not at Joseph, not at the maids, not at anyone. Ignoring the twisted feeling in the pot of her stomach, Y/n steadies her voice. "It is too early for me to leave. I need to continue serving the young masters, sir."

"You need to?" The words roll out from Mr. Joestar's lips. Mr. Joestar's dark blue eyes pierce into her, his hands knitting together above his desk as he presses further. Y/n's heart thunders in her chest. "Is that why you assaulted one of them?"

She came here with ulterior motives. She hasn't returned their sincerity from the start.

"I-" Y/n falters. It's too late. Her answer is already too late. "I, it was not my place, but, yes, sir. That was my intention." In London, lies came out more easily than the truth did. Even before London telling lies was never hard. Why is it that only here with Mr. Joestar she can only share the truth? "I do not regret my decision."

"Unacceptable." Mr. Joestar's hand slams down on the table and in a flash, he's standing up. Y/n rushes to her feet, following suit. "Your method of supporting my sons is improper for a maid." Summoned by the commotion, the door opens and the head butler appears in seconds. "Collect her things from the room and get rid of her uniforms. Immediately. "

"Yes M'lord."

Shit. "Please wait!" Panic rises in Y/n. Is she getting fired just like this? She can't. She still has so many things she needs to do. Dio only just arrived. How would one pinch change anything? Shit. Shit. Was this a mistake. The butler disappears from the room. She had a plan. She was going to fix things. If she's not in the mansion anymore, how will she stop the series of events. How will she prevent Dio from wearing the mask? The mask. The mask! If she's going to get fired anyway, then she should steal and bury the mask. At least maybe then—

"Y/n."

Y/n jumps away at the sound of her name, her side slamming into the corner of the study's desk. George Joestar's extended hand falls to his side as he quickly masks the gloss of concern in his widened eyes. "Y/n." He repeats her name again, softly, this time offering a small smile. Now standing by the door, he holds open the door for her. "Come follow me. I'll show you to your new room?"

"Wh- pardon?"

"Your actions were inappropriate for a maid. Naturally, I have no choice but to fire you."

"I understand that, sir." Y/n moves towards the man and the open door. "But new room?"

"Children quarrel all time." Mr. Joestar looks down at the blank confusion on Y/n's face with a warm smile as she finally steps out from the dark room. "You're fired. So you'll be living here just like Dio and JoJo now."

"Sir... pardon?!"

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After a week of being grounded, Y/n was finally allowed out of her room. Just like George Joestar insisted, she is now living in a bigger room on one of the top floors and is getting dressed and fed just like Dio and JoJo. Since she insisted on not being adopted, Y/n instead asked to be able to study trading under Mr. Joestar. She figured that once she prevents Dio and JoJo from trying to kill each other, it would be a good way to support herself so she doesn't have to go back to poverty.

"Y/n!" An energetic voice greets her as she turns a corner. JoJo and Dio are already sitting in the mansion's library. "Are you here to study with us?!"

"Yeah," Y/n smiles. Dio glances up from his book and scoffs. It's a passive reaction considering the fact that she hit him last time they met. She takes the seat in between the two boys and turns her head to Dio. After a week of thinking, she couldn't come up with a good way to act around the guy she kind of likes and kind of punched in the face. "I apologize for hitting you last week." So she decided to act like there's nothing between them. "I hope we can get along as long as we are under the same roof."

"Get along?" Dio slams down his book, his honey brown eyes wild. "You've already put yourself against me. Wait and see if I forget so easily."

Compared to the possibilities Y/n ran in her head, this reaction is rather mild. It's not a fight, so it's fine. JoJo doesn't seem to share the same sentiment. "Y/n just apologized! How could you be so rude to a lady?"

"JoJo, it's fine." Y/n holds her hand up, telling him to stop. "He wasn't even that rude considering what I did to him and I don't see how me being a woman matters here."

"Of course it matters! Gentlemen have to treat women nicely!"

"You should just treat everyone nicely, okay."

JoJo makes a dumb face clenching his eyebrows together releasing all the tension with a snap. "Y/n, I guess you're right."

Dio is too busy thinking to even process the frivolous conversion about treating everyone well. He doesn't get Y/n. First she spends the night with him, then she punches him in the face, and now she's treating him like a stranger. Is she looking down on him? Has she decided that this JoJo boy has what she's after? Why was she even here in the mansion? None of it makes sense to him, but in the end, nothing changes. Dio is going to become the the richest and most powerful no matter the cost. Whether Y/n ends up with him at the end of the game or hurt as part of the costs, that's all up to what side she picks.

"Y/n, it's good to finally have you here." George Joestar enters the library and takes a seat opposite the three teens. Behind him is a chalk board and in his hand is a ruler, likely used for more hitting than measuring. "Let's just see where you are in your studies today and Dio can help you where you need."

"Yes, it would be my pleasure, Father." Dio places down his book and lifts his pen, ready for class. A glance at the book's title tells Y/n that it's one that she picked out for him. A smile curls on her lips.

"Huh, I want to teach Y/n too!"

"You'll have to perform better than me in order to do that," Dio responds cooly.

His golden brown eyes shine just like they did when she played against him in the game of chess at the tavern. The memory brings back a stirring giddiness. "In that case, why don't we make a wager?"

TO BE CONTINUED...