Josuke smirked, as he began explaining. "He's a bit eccentric, but he's not a bad guy, in fact, very few of the stand users I've met so far were bad people. Most of them are just regular folks trying to live their lives." 

 

'The only stand users he should have met by now are us, his biological father Joseph, and his nephew Jotaro, right?'

 

"Out of curiosity, how many others have you met?" I asked him. 

 

Josuke's eyebrows raised and his smirk widened. "Including you guys? I think I've met a total of 9 so far. My Biological father, and a few of his close associates are stand users. His grandson, my nephew, is currently the strongest stand user we know of. " He explained. "As a kid, I learned a lot from him and his family. Which I'm very grateful for. Even if I'm not proud of the way I met them." 

 

"Why's that?" I asked him. 

 

He thought back for a second, before giving me an explanation. "I don't think many other people could understand or relate to guys like us. Society doesn't take topics like 'the supernatural' very seriously. Most people can't even see what we see, so it's a bit lonely…" as he said this his eyebrows tightened and his smile shrank. "Just having someone, anyone else, to reassure you, that what you're seeing is really there, is comforting, you know?"

 

"Really? I never looked at it that way." I replied, honestly.

 

He took a breath and sighed. "Let me tell you a story."

 

Josuke Pov:

I was only about 6 years old when my stand manifested for the first time. 

 

I was all alone at home at the time and I had just accidentally broken one of my mom's fine china dinner plates.

 

As I sat in the kitchen, trembling in fear over the scolding I was sure to get, a strange pink childlike ghost suddenly appeared by my side.

 

First, It bent down beside me and fixed the plate with a single touch. Then it simply stood there, and stared at me. 

 

I was terrified of it at first, but when I realized it didn't want to hurt me, I slowly approached it.

 

I stuck my hand out toward it, and it did the same to me.

 

When I touched it for the first time, I felt its body heat. I knew it was alive in some form, just like me. Even though it was partially transparent, like a ghost.

 

Over the next few weeks me and my ghost friend would do everything together. Everywhere I went he was there, always happy to help, especially if I broke something.

 

My ghost friend and I were inseparable.

 

But I noticed something. 

 

Other people couldn't see it. Even though it was right there by my side. Even when I pointed it out to them, they said there wasn't anything there. 

 

Did you know that a stand carries a part of the user's soul? 

 

Do you know how it felt When the people around me denied it, when they said I made it up, or that I was mistaken? 

 

It broke my heart!

 

It felt like they were denying Me! People said I was a liar, a kid with an overactive imagination. Delusional, crazy, stupid and dumb. That's what the other kids said about me.

 

Even my parents. Even my own family. They didn't believe me either.

 

They told me that I wasn't seeing what was clearly right in front of me.

 

I knew they were wrong, but no one else believed me. No one, except for them.. 

 

Yasuko: POV

Josuke frowned and his eyebrows furrowed as he told us his story, but when he got to the last part of the story, His expression changed, he showed me a real, genuine smile. “It was liberating. For the first time in my life, I felt like someone else understood me…"

 

'Damn! Is that how the original Josuke really felt back then? Would he have felt worse if he hadn't met another stand user until '99? Was this a part of his character that I didn’t know about?'

 

I guiltily smiled back at him. "I only got my stand recently. Thanks to my brother's teachings, I knew going into it, that not many other people could see it. So I can't relate to your experience, but I'm glad you found someone who could understand you back then." 

 

"Wait, you've had your stand since childhood? How did you get yours?" Koichi asked.

 

Josuke turned and smiled at him. "Apparently, I inherited it from my father." 

 

At this answer, Koichi's eyes widened in shock."You can inherit stands!?"

 

"You don't know much about them, do you Koichi? I guess I'll have to give you a crash course." Josuke smiled, before going into teacher mode, and telling him all he knew about stands. 

 

Koichi's eyes narrowed, his expression hardened, and he started taking notes.

 

Most of what they talked about were things I already knew, so I just kept silent and looked around. 

 

We were getting close to school now, and I could see a lot more students around us as we approached.

 

Many of the boys I saw stared at Josuke with undisguised envy, and some hostility. Many of the girls I saw stared at him with undisguised affection. 

 

They weren't kidding when they said he was popular. Every now and then a different pretty girl would  come up, smile at him, and say 'hello'. Josuke would just smile back politely and nod, but he kept most of his attention focused on Koichi and their conversation. 

 

I noticed that not many people stuck around. Even though these girls obviously liked Josuke, they only greeted him politely, and kept their distance.

 

'I guess that has more to do with Josuke's attitude than anything else.'

 

In the manga the only people I ever saw around him, where Koichi and Okuyasu. Josuke was very well known and popular at school, but he still tended to keep his distance from other people. His way of doing so, was actually very subtle. On the surface, he was open and friendly, but he never really let his guard down, unless he was with friends. 

 

Many of the other kids must have noticed this and kept their distance on purpose.

 

I think many of the kids around us might even have been a little frightened of him. Josuke’s disposition was usually pretty good, but he had a bad reputation for fighting. Additionally,  because of his heritage, he was very physically imposing. He stood at a height of about 180 cm (5 '11) which alone isn’t frightening, but when it's combined with his delinquent looks and muscle bound body, it creates a certain impression. 

 

'Did he even have any friends before us? Would he have been alone, if Koichi and Okuyasu weren't there?' 

 

A lot of the people around us started whispering to each other when they saw that I was a part of his group though.

 

(Who Is she?) They'd say as they pointed at me. 

I guessed they might have been curious about the girl that was following the notorious Josuke Higashikata around.