Blossoming Bond 5 (Patreon)

Blossoming Bond 5 - or ‘A Nice Gift Changes Everything’ (PPG Doujinshi, OC!Brother to Mandy)

“D-Do you know her?”

Blossom was quite confused as she was sure this individual was not a normal civilian. In fact, something about her ‘inner energy’ felt immensely weird- bizarre.

“No,” Arthur replied quietly, backing away from the amused girl as the blonde stared solely at him. “And I am not interested in what kind of friendship you are trying to offer.”

“Whaaa? But I don’t wanna be your foe… After all, the only way you could have obtained a Stand is… through theft!”

“What?” The boy looked confused at that accusation. “I have robbed no one.”

Considering the previous instances, Blossom was more interested in supporting Artie on the basis that he didn’t give off the air of being a criminal, both in appearance but especially through what kind actions he did recently. Still, the girl was far from done.

“Well, did you obtain the Right Arm of the Saint’s Corpse?”

“...The skeleton arm?”

“Aha! You have it, don’t you! You thief!”

Blossom frowned and turned a quizzical look at the boy. “Did you?”

“I have it, but I didn’t steal anything. It fell off the truck in front of my house and my dog picked it up from the other side of the road. When I took it as I thought it was some tree branch Saliva was bringing me for us to play fetch with, the thing replaced my arm and I got my Stand.”

Blossom instinctively used her x-ray vision and saw that Arthur’s indicated arm bones were… different from the other one. It was older and it had some ‘meat’ stuck to it.

“...I don’t want to sound weird right now, but what is a Stand.”

She had seen some ‘spiritual thingies’ manifest briefly around the two, but as the duo fully manifested those… Blossom felt this gave her far more questions than answers.

“A Stand is the manifestation of an individual’s fighting spirit. While that may sound rather simplistic, in truth there are a few ways to get a Stand. One is no longer available, the other is a secret and the third one is… through the Saint’s Corpse,” The blonde explained cordially. “I am Julia Zeppeli, and my Stand is ｢Honey Roll｣. It’s a Close-Range Stand with the peculiar ability to create… ‘special bubbles’.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Arthur asked, and Julia… smirked.

“Your sister’s friend. Right above her head.”

The bow-wearing brunette turned to see what the fellow girl meant with that. Mandy’s friend was… Olga? As Blossom turned to look above her head, her attention was aimed at the three bubbles rotating over her head.

“Together with my Stand, I have the ability to use a family specialty that allows me to turn even the softest of spheres into a dangerous projectile. Bullets can easily be turned into… bullets.”

Julia’s admission alarmed Blossom as the young heroine was ready to jump in action and catch the ‘bubbly bullets’, but she turned to see Artie and… his lack of panic at the development. Even as he stared at the bubbles, the boy lacked any hint of dread at the sight.

“So, it’s either you come with me so the arm can be retrieved or-”

“You are not going to do that,” Artie established flatly, interrupting Julia and gaining a surprised look from it.

“Oh? You think I am just joking? The Saint’s Corpse is important as it can be used by bad people to cause extreme chaos and deaths. It is imperative it is fully preserved.”

“At the expense of unwitting civilians too? Especially those that have no connection to this case?” Arthur pushed forward, with Julia hesitating just briefly.

“Y-Yes.”

“Liar?”

“I am not,” The blonde replied vehemently, but it didn’t convince Artie at all.

“You picked Olga to create a ‘reasonable stake’ with this ultimatum. If you wanted to really press it without getting a reasonable response, you would have picked my sister,” Arthur interrupted, explaining the logic behind his lack of belief over the threat. “Not only Olga is a recent friend of mine, but she is someone that my sister cares about to a limited degree. At the same time, you are aware of the repercussions of endangering an innocent’s life when there are individuals here at school that would find that act far more extreme than ‘theft’ as you call it.”

“You think I am afraid of others threatening me? I am not alone in this so-”

“Which further confirms you will not hurt her. You have someone watching for you and, considering how you are not just waiting for them to be on standby to help, it means you are trying to peer-pressure the situation into an advantageous one. You are bluffing, Julia.”

Blossom grasped these words without any misunderstanding. The blonde had created a situation of ‘apparent danger’ to try and pull the ‘panic strings’ from both of them. In truth, there were far too many reasons for Julia to not do it. So, as she shedded away any sense of unease, she could see Julia… smiling.

“Woah, that was like talking with Uncle Jotaro! You’re so cool, new amico!”

“...No.”

“Uh?” Julia hummed, sounding nervous. “I was just joking-”

“You called me a thief, then threatened us both that you were going to hurt and maybe kill someone we know and now you are backpedaling on it being a joke. If it is one, then it’s the stupidest one ever.”

“...Sorry?”

Artie growled, finally cracking away from the previous calm appearance of his. “No. Go away- Now.”

Julia looked like she had been slapped with that fierce rejection, but she… just appeared mortified and walked away. Blossom stared at the blonde’s retreating figure, and, while part of her felt it was a bit harsh, she could see that Artie was justified in his anger.

One thing that Blossom had noticed that Arthur hadn’t mentioned was-

“You were upset because it could have hurt your sister too.”

It wasn’t a question, and the words got a curious reaction from the boy. Surprise and… a nod. Blossom offered a tiny smile.

“I would be angry if my sisters were to be hurt like that. I… I don’t want to sound weird but-”

“You want to help. I know.”

Her smile widened a bit at the soft tone adopted by Arthur.

All in all, despite the previous unease, panic and relative peace that this interaction had been all about… Blossom felt like she liked sitting there with the boy.

“Can I stay here for the rest of the break?”

A positive nod came through faster than she had expected. And while the conversation soon diverted into something a bit more calm as the topics turned into mundane ones.

Blossom was soon having a pleasant chat while eating her lunch, feeling like she didn’t have to worry about her heart throbbing for Dexter, or having to deal with the chaotic chore of finding a place where to fit in during those times spent at the cafeteria.

But while the girl was convinced that Arthur felt more like a friend, the tiny seed of interest had been sown as she found his company to be… relieving.

—------d-d-d-d—------

“Are you dating someone?”

This was not a question I expected Mandy to ask me. It was so surprising that I couldn’t refrain from giving her a perplexed frown by turning to stare back at her.

We were walking alone at home- well, mostly alone as Grim was a few steps away from her. Billy had remained behind to play with some of his new ‘friends’ at school, so it was just my sister and I to deal with this conversation.

“I am not.”

“Blossom?”

“She wanted to thank me since I gave her some chocolate a while ago. You know, she was shivering like crazy due to dying… like Grim told us.”

On cue, the Grim Reaper nodded behind us to confirm that bit and yet Mandy appeared… restless. It was quite clear she was frustrated by something about it, but it felt different than the usual cases of irritation I was familiar with.

“What about that blonde? The one you almost made cry?”

“She tried to kill Olga to try and get me to ‘surrender myself’ and remove something that got stuck in my body. The arm I told you that Saliva brought me and is now in me.”

The girl nodded slowly, recalling that conversation herself but… not appearing that satisfied with it.

“You should be careful about these two.”

The warning was a bit off, and I gave her a quizzical look.

“I get it for Julia. What about Blossom?”

Mandy scowled. “She is so cheesy she may end up falling for you too. After all, she is a sucker for such a cynical idiot like Dexter, and you would fit with her preferences.”

“You are making it seem like I am some dolt that would let that happen. Friend? Maybe, but beyond that is ridiculous.”

“...”

I sighed. “You really don’t believe me, don’t you?”

“I think that she may take it as a challenge. Call it a feminine hunch.”

…

“What?”

Mandy just picked up the pace and started to march towards home. “Too tired to deal with guys right now. You can be so… frustrating.”

So yes, today was indeed a very confusing situation between facing Julia, chatting with Blossom and now having some confusing warnings from Mandy.

I swear, it seems like the arm has given me an odd case of bad luck too.

—---------d-d-d-d—------

AN

He is not that wrong. It seems like Misfortune follows him around with some attention.

｢Honey Roll｣
Leitmotiv: The Honey Roll - AC/DC
Destructive Power: C
Speed: B
Range: C
Stamina: D
Precision: B
Developmental Potential: A

Ability: Sweet Bubbles;