After Koichi left, she came up to me with a seething glare.

 

"What's your relationship with Koichi!" She angrily questioned me. 

 

'sheesh! She got straight down to business, didn't even introduce herself! I wish I had a woman this devoted to me in my past life! Hell, maybe I wouldn't mind one in this life!'

 

I wish I could have said 'it's none of your business!' but judging from the crazed look in her eyes, I knew I would die, if I didn't answer her question correctly.

 

"WE'RE COUSINS!" I shouted in sheer horror. 

 

In response, she tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow, but the murderous pressure did not diminish one bit.

 

"Hm??" She growled.

 

'Shit! Did she somehow misinterpret my terrified shout as a show of dominance?'

 

I panicked and apologized "S-sorry, I didn't mean to shout. Me and Koichi, we're cousins. There is no other relationship!" I repeated, this time a bit gentler, hoping she'd let me off.

 

Her eyes remained trained on me for a moment longer. As if to confirm my real thoughts. The pressure I felt made me sweat bullets. I was a mere prisoner standing before a judge+jury+executioner all in one, with complete power over my life and death.

 

Finally, her horrific expression eased, the murderous aura vanished, and she gave me a shallow smile. "Oh, I see, so you're cousins..." 

 

'Oh thank God! Negotiations are on the table!'

 

I felt like I could breathe again. This was my chance! I had to make things clear, or I was a dead man. "Yes! Exactly! Me and my brother just recently moved down here, and I asked my cousin, Koichi, who happens to be the same age as me, to show me around town!"

 

Her shallow half-smile remained plastered on her face, and I couldn't read her emotions. But I knew she was seriously analyzing every word I said. "Oh, that makes sense. ahaha I see…I…see." 

 

She rubbed her chin and went into thought for a moment.

 

A few more seconds passed. 

'She bought it, right? PLEASE TELL ME SHE BOUGHT IT!!'

 

Suddenly she looked up at me. She had finally made up her mind. The next few seconds would decide my life and death.

 

In the blink of an eye, her attitude made a complete shift and she smiled brightly at me. It was like watching the sun part the clouds after the rain. This smile in my eyes was divine! 

"Ok, we can be friends! My name is Yukako Yamagishi. Nice to meet you." 

 

'YES YES YES!!!!!!!'

 

I did not mind that her personality seemed to have made a complete 180 turn in the span of a minute. In fact, I reveled in it, as if it were a life saving straw. Because to me, it really was one. 

 

I returned her greeting with an enthusiastic smile. "Hello, Yamagishi-san I'm Yasuko Nijimura, nice to meet you!" 

 

Obviously, under normal circumstances, I would not have acted this way. Cowering like a frightened worm in front of a teenage girl. Hell, the original Okuyasu might even have challenged her to a fight, what with his foolish temper and all, but I knew better. This wasn't just a game for me. This was life and death, and I would treat it as such.

 

The reason I behaved in this way was because the woman standing before me was one of the first Yandere's ever. In fact, she helped pioneer the term back in the early 90's when Jojo's 4, was written. 

 

(For those who don't know, The yandere is a very famous trope in Japanese storytelling. It is a portmanteau of the Japanese words 'yanderu' (to be sick) and 'deredere' (lovestruck). Given the words that are used to make it up, one might think that 'Yandere' could describe someone who is lovelorn or love sick, but this is not the correct interpretation. For a yandere, love itself is the disease. 

 

In Japanese storytelling, the 'Yandere' is a term used to describe characters who have gone insane as a result of their obsessive love. Characters with an almost religious level of fascination toward their lover. 

 

The Yandere are not only willing to die for their love, but also willing to kill, and to do so, in very brutal fashion.)

 

This woman is so deeply obsessed with Koichi, that she is willing to kill any other woman that would dare appear beside him, and now, thanks to my sudden gender change, that now includes me.

 

Under normal circumstances that wouldn't be all that scary for me. I'm pretty strong, and very capable of defending myself. Even as a woman, I'm still tall and physically imposing. Plus I still have all Okuyasu's fighting experience at my disposal.

 

Not only that, but I also have a really powerful Stand that can move at superhuman speeds, store things, and punch really hard! All in all, I should be a formidable opponent in any fight. 

 

She should stand no chance against me!

 

Right?

 

Wrong!

 

The problem is, Yukako also has a stand and it is stupid strong. Her stand, Love deluxe, is a bound stand that allows her to control her hair like millions of tiny black tentacles. 

 

On its own, this ability doesn't seem all that scary, but when you factor in the fact that she can infinitely grow her hair at will, and still maintain full control of it, no matter how much hair she grows, it becomes incredibly intimidating.

 

Depending on how much hair she has on command at any given moment, she can over power anyone with sheer numbers. 

 

Not only that, but since it's a bound stand, she will not take any feedback damage no matter how much hair has been cut. What's even worse, is the fact that she can still control her hair, even if it has already been cut off!

 

She can physically beat you with her hair, and if that doesn't work, she can grow so much hair that she can drown you in it! With no consequences! 

 

It's stupid how strong she is!

 

Still, like any other stand, it should have a weakness. Jojo's as a series was written in a way that almost every character is on a level playing field. There should be some way for me to beat her, right?

 

Yes! But with the caveat that the playing field is tilted entirely in Yukako's favor, and she has virtually no real weakness.

 

Because the conditions needed to weaken her are very difficult to trigger, and even if they have been triggered, they aren't very effective.

 

There is a limit to how much hair she can grow and control. The only issue is that it isn't a hard limit, but an emotional one. When she gets so stressed that her hair turns white, that's when she'll enter a  weakened state. She'll lose all control, and the remaining hair will just fall uselessly to the ground. She'll become a normal human being by then. 

 

The problem for me is that due to her insane devotion to her love, her mental state is beyond normal human comprehension. I don’t think anything I could say or do would ever get through to her. I highly doubt I could weaken her in this way. 

 

Even if she has entered this 'weakened state', it is only temporary and she can completely recover her ability with some rest. 

 

If things got to this point, I would probably have to kill her, and I'm just not sure I can do that.

 

With all that said, I don't think I can take her on, in a real stand battle. The Hand is pretty strong on its own, but it has a lot more weaknesses and drawbacks than her Love Deluxe. Maybe I'd win if I got the drop on her, but that's a real hard if. 

 

So I think It's best to avoid pissing her off. 

 

After greeting the now smiling Yukako, I headed for the podium where the teacher was distracted, grading papers. I greeted him in the same way I did to all the other teachers before him, and he pointed to a seat at random and told me to sit.

 

I went ahead and did just that, only to find Yukako Yamagishi sitting right beside me.

 

'Figured no one else would sit beside the crazy…ugh why me ;-; ' I cried bitter tears in my heart while greeting my new desk mate with a very real, not fake, smile. "Ah it seems that we'll be sitting together from here on out Yamagishi-san." 

 

"Indeed it does" she said with a very genuine, not insane smile.

 

I had to pay extra attention to this class. History in general mostly covers the history of Japan. Which was pretty much non-existent in Okuyasu's memories, and Since it wasn't in his memories, it definitely wasn't in mine. I mean history classes in general tend to have a different focus depending on the country you're living in. After all, different cultures find value in different things.

 

‘Fuck’ I cursed internally.

 

I now had to learn the history of a nation whose history goes back thousands of years. 

 

Looking back to my own highschool years, US history in comparison, only goes back about 300 years. 

 

‘Let's see, what did I learn about history outside of the US? Hmm… I Learned a little bit about old Europe, but not much, and we almost completely ignored the history of asian cultures.…oh right, slavery we learned about that too…also racism…not much else huh?’ 

 

See the difference? I was woefully unprepared for everything this class would cover. So again, I had to keep my mind focused for this class.

 

'Now if only I had a desk mate I could rely on to help catch me up.' I thought as I looked to the side only to find myself face to face with insanity incarnate. 

 

"Something wrong?" she asked. 

 

"N-nope everything’s peachy keen!" I replied hoping not to draw her attention.

 

Eventually, class ended. I knew I'd have to focus all my efforts on passing this class in particular.

 

This time instead of going over to Koichi's or Josuke's, I decided to ask my new friend Yukako to help me get to my next class. Honestly, it was more like she coerced me into asking her, I guessed she didn’t want me going to Koichi for help in her stead.

 

We walked silently together to my next class. 

 

Clop *clop *clop*

 

*cricket* *cricket*

 

Eventually I couldn’t take the silence so I decided to speak up.

 

"You know, Yamagishi-san, you are very pretty. I feel a little bit jealous of Koichi for having you all to himself." I said with a smile.

 

Instantly, Yukako's cheeks turn a bright crimson. "H-HOW did you know I like Koichi-Kun!!?? I haven't even told anyone else yet!" 

 

'Jesus with the way she was glaring at me earlier, you'd think she was his wife already! Practically everything she says and does screams 'he's mine!' how can she act so innocent!!'

 

"It's so obvious! Why haven't you confessed yet?" I asked her.

 

"He's so cute! I thought he already had a girlfriend!!" She anxiously replied to me, with upturned eyebrows.

 

'Don't bullshit me! If he had, you would have killed her by now!'

 

"No. No, he's very single right now, I think a beauty like you definitely has a chance!" I cheered her on. For fear that any other response would mean instant death for me. 

 

'Besides, Koichi ends up with her by the end of the series anyway. I have nothing to feel guilty over.'

 

Her blush went up to her ears. "Ok I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna confess!"

 

*doki*doki*

In that moment, the expression on her face was as pure as the sun. 

‘Be still my beating heart! Don’t forget she’s insane!’

 

"Good luck Sister in law!" I said with my thumbs up, as she ran off with a killer smile.

 

I turned back and kept going on my way. Only to realize that…

 

‘Shit…’

 

‘Where's my next class?’

 

I was lost.