Disclaimer: I own neither Jojo's Bizarre Adventure or The Rising of the Shield Hero

A/N: So this was a little idea I had a while ago and decided to try my hand at writing after so many years of just reading fanfics, please enjoy and if you feel like there is some room to improve, do not hesitate to send in some constructive criticism.

Huge thanks to Rage-001, he was behind a lot of the planning for the events of this story as well as making sure I didn't mess up too much, the guy pretty much held my hand through a lot of the world and character building that went into this. Thanks again Rage!
He will be posting some of his own works soon so make sure to look out for his fics.

Without further ado, enjoy!


Château-sur-Meuse, France

Although a relatively small city in the Meuse department in northeastern France, its history is very well known, particularly its decisive role in one of the major battles of the First World War. Almost a century later, it had been turned into a hub of business and tourism, catering to the high society with high-end hotels, restaurants and a local winery with one of the rarest and finest types of wine out there. It could have been called the world's capital of gastronomy if it weren't for its small size. It did, however, possess a university that churned out some of the most famous cooks of the country.

Our story centers around a young twenty-years-old Japanese college student. Naofumi Iwatani was a raven-haired young man with a slim but healthy body, emerald green eyes and was usually seen in fairly trendy clothes. He was blessed with a surprisingly wide variety of talents, from his vast knowledge of eastern and some western pop-culture to his talent in cooking and his flair for business. It was unfortunate that he was never the most motivated when it came to studying, especially when he was born to a couple that demanded high expectations. That had led to his parents practically giving up all hope on him ever attaining any success and dumping their expectations on his younger brother who proceeded to crack under the newfound pressure and resort to imitating the life of a delinquent for a while. It was only through Naofumi introducing his brother to various hobbies and methods of relaxation to destress, that his younger sibling got his life back on track. His parents at the time had been so thankful that they had offered to let him live his life the way he wished with a hefty allowance. The eighteen-year-old, at the time, had surprised his family by expressing his wishes to study abroad, specifically in France, the country known for its gastronomy, in the hopes of refining his talent in the kitchen by learning from the best.

Naofumi had been both excited and apprehensive at the journey ahead, understandably so considering his previously sheltered home life. He was in his second year of studies at the moment and liked to think that he had been doing well and will hopefully continue to do so. But nothing could have prepared him for the adventure ahead of him...


Château-sur-Meuse, "Université Des-Vignes", Faculty of Fine Arts, 2nd of March, 2012

...

SPLAT

Naofumi Iwatani didn't react much, even as a bowl of pureed potato was thrown at his head, the bowl landed food-first into the young man's partially covered raven hair, splattering its contents on his green hoodie before clattering to the ground loudly, getting laughter and even some cheers from the crowd.

He hadn't bothered to dress up today, opting for a simple hoodie and jeans combination. He hadn't really had much energy after yesterday's events. He sat down at a table on the far side of the campus cafeteria, staring blankly at the random assortment of food he had gotten himself. He hadn't cared much about what he picked up and did so in a hurry to get out of the line and get away from the people jeering at him.

"Hah! look at that fils de pute!"

"Serves him right! That cochon shouldn't be allowed here!"

"Why is he not in prison after what he did?! Pervers!"

More insults and taunts rang out over the mocking laughter of the students while the ravenette didn't seem to pay it any mind, he continued staring at his plate and grabbed one of the spoons with a shaky hand, his vision blurring at the right and his mind was abuzz with questions and self-deprecating thoughts.

'I didn't do it'

'Why me?'

'What the hell did I do to deserve this?'

'I didn't do it'

The sound of a plate being put down on the other side of him, he didn't look up as another person sat down, he instead pulled on his hoodie even more as if to hide his face from view. His lunch mate didn't speak at first, opting to stare at him in what he assumed was a disappointed manner. It's the only reason she would even come before him after the rumors circulated around the school, he was afraid of looking at her and seeing a disgusted expression.

"Naofumi, I saw what happened, are you okay?" his lunch-mate greeted him frantically, looking at him worriedly, but frowned when he didn't lift his head.

"..."

"Naofumi?" she asked again, in a softer voice this time, her tea-red eyes looking over him with worry.

"...hey Raphtalia" he answered her meekly and she once again narrowed her eyes at his behavior. She drummed her red manicured fingers, her silver bracelets -that oddly resembled cuffs- clinking against the table as she thought over her next words, raising one of her fingers to her pink, plump lips.

She hadn't been to college yesterday and had come today only to notice a change in the "air" around the student body, people seemed to avoid her while others looked at her with what she assumed was...pity? She overheard the general gist of the events and to say she was shocked would have been an understatement.

After thinking about it, she brushed a lock of her soft chestnut-colored hair behind her ear and spoke up.

"...could you lift your head?" she asked him softly but he seemed to hold onto his hoodie somewhat tighter and pull it further over his head.

"Naofumi...please..." Raphtalia pleaded, her instincts were screaming at her to make sure her best friend was alright, but she needed to see the extent of whatever damage he was hiding. He didn't seem to react to her pleading either, opting to close in on himself, like a child trying to hide their faces from everyone's gazes when embarrassed.

She scratched her cheek, and briefly caressed one of the long pigtails draping on her front over her generous bosom, the latter covered a red-striped, white puff sleeve blouse under a red-colored overall dress that reached to her mid-thighs, fashioned to be both form-fitting and adorned with a pattern of paw prints on the side, it's bands were held together by a pair of pins in the shape chibi tanukis

She finally decided on taking a more direct route, it might have been rushing things a little, but she needed to assess the situation entirely.

"I...heard what happened yester-"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" his shout interrupted whatever his companion would have said and grabbed the attention of the surrounding tables, he didn't want to face a reality where his only friend would turn on him, so he took to the only mode of action he could think of, got up and off the table and almost ran to the door to escape the entire thing, insults and jeers accompanying his retreat.

"Naofumi! Wait!" It had only been for an instant, but his face had been revealed to her in his haste to move away and she had gasped in horror at what she saw. His right eye was almost swollen shut and bruised a blackish purple, his lower lip cut and the wound seemed almost fresh. His left cheek was scratched-up as if he had grazed it on something rough, possibly the ground and she could have sworn his left temple was red and bruised.

The sight of her dearest friend in such a state had shocked Raphtalia into silence, her mouth left open and her food forgotten as she sat and stared at the door Naofumi had left through. She wanted to race after him, but she knew that would be useless at the moment, she needed him to be calmer so that he may understand what she wanted to say to him

With her mind made up, she sat back down to eat, trying to ignore the lingering laughter and mockery targeted at her friend. Instead of eating, however, she found herself poking at her food with a fork, reminiscing a little on the past.

Naofumi had initially come to France months before the start of the college year, wanting to master the language, learn of the customs and successfully integrate so that he may have a relatively normal college life. Raphtalia had met the raven-haired young man barely a week into his arrival in the town's market while shopping for ingredients, he had been having trouble communicating with the merchant and upon recognizing his dialect as the Tokyo-type, she had decided to play the role of translator and lend him a hand, being that her own father was a Japanese immigrant and had seen fit to let his daughter immerse herself in the culture.

He had thanked her for her help but had also been very reclusive and shy at first. Fortunately, it hadn't taken long for him to open up to her, they had hung out together many times over the last two years and quickly developed a friendship with each other.

Many would be surprised at how much time the two spent together, considering their majors were completely different and their classes were rarely the same. Raphtalia had gotten into this university to become a nurse while Naofumi was majoring in the culinary arts, they shared some classes; nutrition, public health, and similar courses and made an effort to share some of the optional courses, if only to spend more time with one another. Their bond had strengthened considerably over time, especially considering they shared similar hobbies and a love for literature, she had helped him improve his french to a point where he had little worries in oral and written assignments, it helped that she was practically the only other Japanese speaking student on campus, and he had many a time cooked them some scrumptious meals whenever he came to visit her home and met up with her parents.

It hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows as they had hit a rough patch six months into their friendship, her father had died to circumstances Naofumi wasn't aware of, but the young man had stuck with her through these times of mourning and sadness, and made a lot of effort to take care of both her and her mother. She truly cherished him as the best friend she could have asked for and she had been filled with worry and righteous fury upon learning of yesterday's events, she wanted to make it clear to him he could still count on her.

She'd just have to give him some space for now...


Naofumi didn't look back, he ran back to his dorm room, shut his door and buried himself in his bed. He simply couldn't face Raphtalia, his one, and only friend, knowing what she must've thought of him after hearing the rumors. He wouldn't doubt her normally, but he wasn't exactly thinking straight at the moment, his thoughts were turning dark and frantic. He didn't know if she was being kind only to backstab him like her and his paranoia was taking over his common sense. He gritted his teeth in frustration, balling his fists and punching the wall adjacent to his bed. He did not even notice the lack of pain from the gesture or the shimmering greenish light on his fist, he was too lost in his own thoughts.

It had happened yesterday, their class had been taken on a field trip to the famous winery on the edge of the city, near the more rural parts of the region. He couldn't be bothered to remember their name at the moment, but the owner had several acres of land around the winery, many of which were vineyards for both white and black grapes. One part of these lands was left as a forest and turned into a sort of 'park' for the visitors. The field trip at the time had joined two classes, his and the one she was in.

Malty S. Melromarc. At one time, this name might have elicited a positive reaction from him as it did for most of the male population on campus. The young woman was revered as the "princess on campus", the one who had a beautiful figure and a "beautiful" heart, the fact she was the apparent heiress of a multi-billion euro conglomerate (Melromarc Inc, if he remembered correctly) based in the region might have added fuel to the fire that was her popularity. The truth of her personality was much darker, something only a few in her entourage, and recently himself came to realize. He should have had some doubts about her intentions when she had started behaving oddly affectionate toward him a month or so ago, she would spend time with him when Raphtalia couldn't, laugh at his jokes, have delightful discussions with him and even hinted at possibly 'liking" him.

He should have known better…

It had all happened so fast that he was blinded by the possibility of having a new friend, one that was the local celebrity to boot.

So blind that he never saw the trap being laid around him.

During the field trip, while most of the class had opted to have lunch in the winery on the invite of the owner, Malty had practically dragged him alongside her entourage to have a picnic in a small clearing in the forest. The affair was a quick one, but he had noticed that Malty had disappeared at one point in the meal and stayed absent for a while. He figured she was answering nature's calling initially and opted to forget about it, but when a few minutes turned into an hour, he made his worries known to her friends, many of which he hadn't realized at the time, were hiding their disgust of him behind smiles. They were all members of the high-society after all, why would Malty ever include a commoner like him in their group, they would never know. His own helpful character decided to take control and he volunteered to go look for the redhead, disappearing into the woods behind her.

An hour of looking and he decided to go back to the table they had set up, make his worries known and perhaps have the police contacted to do a full search. Imagine his surprise when he came back to the picnic site to hear angry mutterings and sobbings, the girl had apparently returned at some point, clothes half torn and her hair a mess, crying a waterfall of tears into one of her friends' chest. When the sound of bushes being rustled by his entrance into the clearing rang out, most of the men in the group snapped their necks in his direction, some of them snarling at him as they did. One of them was bolder and broke from the group in a sprint towards Naofumi, who stood bewildered at the scene, only to be met with a powerful punch to his right cheek, the impact throwing him to a nearby tree, the left side of his face scraping into the bark. He hadn't had time to register what was happening before he was roughly picked up by the pair of hands belonging to his assailant.

The rest after that had been a blur, he had barely registered what the others were yelling at him, some had even punched him in the stomach or kicked his side when he was down. He had asked about the situation only to receive more insults and screams. One of them had been more outspoken, talking about how Malty had come running back saying he had attempted to sexually assault her.

"What the Hell do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"LIAR! As if we'd believe you over Malty! We always knew you were a creep! Enfoiré!"

"I didn't do it! Malty! Malty! Why would you say that?!"

The screaming after that had increased, he had looked at his supposed "victim", looking for any signs of an explanation, only to be shocked by her response. The girl, who had been crying her heart out seconds ago, had discreetly removed her hands from her face, pulled down an eyelid and stuck out her tongue, as if she were a young girl playing an innocent prank on her sibling.

His eyes had widened into saucers at that action, he had wanted to scream, to ask her why she would do what she did but the sight of the others advancing on him, to presumably hold him down and beat him had kicked his "fight-or-flight" instincts into third gear. Before he knew it, he had been weaving through the lower branches of the woods with the aim of running back to the campus. It had taken him an hour without breaks, something he was inwardly surprised by but chalked it up to adrenaline. He had arrived in his dorm room, locked it before dropping on his bed in exhaustion. He had expected the police to come at some point, even if Malty's accusation had been false, he imagined the police would have been called and an investigation would have been opened but nothing happened that night.

He found himself in the exact same position as last night at the moment, except this time, his thoughts were leaning more towards anger at the injustice of it all.

'All this time...was she just hanging with me to backstab me? Was this some elaborate joke she wanted to play? Was I just a toy she could play with then throw away? That...that BITCH!'

His thoughts were filled with nothing but cold fury, he had been mocked, ridiculed and bullied all day today, people had vandalized his assigned corner in the kitchen and had destroyed his tools and ingredients, people who had held any sort of respect for him had coldly shooed him away. In a single day, his reputation and name had been dragged through the mud, any sort of bond he had formed had been broken by the other party and he had been left alone.

'There's still Raphtalia though…'

No...as much as he didn't want to doubt his best friend, his anger had taken the reins of his thoughts, blinding him to rational thinking. She would just hate him like everyone else...Hell, maybe that's the reason she wasn't here yesterday...to let the Bitch get her opportunity…

maybe…

maybe...

He awoke hours later and looked at his clock.

"Ten p.m...damn...I fucked up my sleep schedule" he said to himself, looking with a half-lidded gaze at the custom alarm clock, one shaped like the head of a raccoon. It had been a gift from Raphtalia.

'Raphtalia...'

Now that he had calmed down somewhat, a feeling of guilt enveloped his body, his thoughts drifting back to how he acted with Raphtalia and his subsequent assumptions of her intentions. That girl had been nothing but kind throughout the time he had known her, from helping him integrate into the french way of life, to offering him friendship when he was too shy to seek it. Her kindness could only be matched by her beauty and character, a young woman with a heart of gold and an angelic appearance, strong as well as compassionate, a rare gem amongst the population. It had hit him hard when her father had passed, Mr Shiragaki had been what he might call a second father to him, hell, he'd gladly say the man was better to him than his own father. The newspapers at the time had been torn on how to describe the man's death, some had called it suicide while others, those who had seen the autopsy and knew of the man's profession as a private investigator, had been quick to conclude that the man was attacked. Probably by someone he had put away or a hitman. What had happened to him had rarely been spoken about by Raphtalia, she had been very reluctant to breach on the subject and he had never pushed for her to speak, not wanting to see her return into the state she was in after her father had died.

He shouldn't have snapped at her, let alone doubted her. But a small part at the corner of his mind had been sending him mixed signals, casting a shadow of paranoia over him.

Sighing to himself, he got off the bed, changed his hoodie for another one and opted to go out and take a stroll in town to clear his thoughts.

Half an hour later...

Naofumi walked down one of the less lit roads to avoid unwanted attention, he was busy thinking over the entire situation he found himself stuck in. One detail that stuck out to him was how...underwhelming the reaction had been, as much as it sucked already, he had expected the faculty or the police to get involved at some point. Such an accusation would have no doubt reached their ears, it didn't seem like something to take lightly, sexual misconduct was one of the biggest crimes one could commit in his own country but he didn't expect it to be much different here. The law enforcement would surely want to investigate the issue, it's just not something anyone in their right mind would joke about, well, unless you were the Bitch herself. He stopped himself before he could go back to thinking about his accuser, he needed to clear his thoughts now.

Naofumi took out his earphones, plugging them into his phone and putting the playlist on shuffle. He needed to listen to some tunes to calm down, preferably something classic to get his mind off the whole incident for a moment. A song by one of his favorite western artists Elton John started off, the ravenette hummed alongside the British singer as he journeyed on, not noticing that he had been walking in the direction of his friend's house.

He especially did not notice the multitude of figures following him on both sides of the road and catching up to him.


With Raphtalia, same time…

The brunette sat on her bed, amidst a variety of stuffed animals, most of them depicting a tanuki, and thought over what she had learned today. Just thinking of Naofumi's injuries and his newfound status as a pariah brought out some ugly feelings of anger within her, but these were squashed down by her worry. Just remembering how her best friend had looked emotionally destroyed, just remembering how meek and fearful he had acted with her as if he was expecting the same treatment he had received up from the others. She would have normally been annoyed at his doubts, maybe offended even but she could say earnestly that she could understand part of what he was going through, she's always been somewhat empathetic and very compassionate towards others, something her late father had said was her greatest quality.

Tears sprung up at the corner of her eyes at the thought of her father, what happened to him was unfair and she still blamed herself for his death, even a year and a half later, the mere mention of him could break her down and reduce her to a crying mess. If it weren't for Naofumi giving her a shoulder to cry on and helping her through the first few months, she might have let her own grief control her life.

Thinking of the raven-haired young man brought a smile to her face, he truly was one of a kind, a selfless young man who had entered her life two years ago and brought with him a light that seemed to chase her worries and fears away. It hadn't taken long for her father to practically adopt Naofumi into the family, especially with her mother taking a liking to him and him being so helpful and supportive of her as a friend, she just wished if the woman could stop teasing her about a supposed 'crush' on the young man. Her cheeks reddened at the thought before she shook her head in denial.

Looking at her right, she spied a set of pictures, many of them taken over her childhood and included her father, some of the most recent ones included Naofumi into the mix and one, in particular, stood out to her.

It was an old Polaroid photo dating back to the late nineties, its colors had faded over time and the figures of the two muscular young men posing in it could barely be seen but it still held a lot of meaning to Raphtalia.

'Tou-chan...Tonton…' She thought, referring to her father and her uncle respectively, the latter was a relative on her mother's side but had forged a strong partnership with her father in the decade they worked together in, even with the serious job he had always kept a somewhat goofy and carefree personality, going as far as to insist she call him 'uncle', something she did earnestly, even after he disappeared as well years ago. Both of these men had shaped her into the young woman she turned out to be, they had taught her the importance of walking alongside and compassion for her fellow man.

She looked at the picture as if wishing for some piece of advice or wisdom any of them might give her, she wanted to help out Naofumi, but she didn't know if being too forceful would drive him away from her.

Sighing to herself, she put the picture back in place and straightened out her dress, maybe a stroll in the neighborhood would help her come up with a plan for tomorrow.

Getting down the stairs, she passed by the living room where her mother sat asleep with the TV turned on. She turned the device off before grabbing a nearby blanket to drape it over her mother's sleeping form, bending down to deliver a goodnight kiss to the woman's temple, something she appreciated if the slight upturn of her lips was anything to go by.

"Good night, maman" the aspiring nurse said softly with a smile, no matter how many times she told her not to fall asleep on the couch, the woman still did it. It was a habit for one of her parents to fall asleep in the arms of the other while watching a movie. If it brought her mother some measure of comfort to keep up this habit, she wouldn't stop it.

Sighing once again, she grabbed her purse made of faux reddish-brown fur, put on a pair of knee-high brown leather boots, encrusted with metal studs and went out the door into the night.


With Naofumi, sometime later…

"Ooof" said young man was punched hard in the stomach and fell to the floor, clutching it. His assailants seemed to laugh at his pain, two of them grabbing him and hauling him up so that a third one may throw another punch.

It had taken him by surprise, he had been walking near the market, a place that was almost deserted after business hours, before he was accosted by a dozen or so thugs. They had pulled him into the alley and wrenched his phone from his hands before starting to punch him in the stomach and chest. He hadn't had time to cry out before the pain settled in and his legs gave out from the force, making him crumble to the ground and raise his arms in an attempt to shield himself.

"W-what the h-hell do you want with me?" he managed, stuttering barely as the barrage of strikes stopped momentarily. He was once again grabbed and hauled up against the wall of the alley, a man on each of his arms, almost ten others surrounding him, some of them wielding bats or pipes, with one of them, the apparent leader, stepping forward. All of them were masked as to conceal their identities, but he could practically feel the smirk of condescension that the leader no doubt had.

"We heard what you did to that girl and since the cops are too stupid to do their own jobs, we figured we'd do society a favor and teach you a lesson!" the man proclaimed, getting chuckles from the group.

"I didn't do it! I didn't do anything to that bitch!" Naofumi bellowed in reflex. Just when he thought the day couldn't get any worse, this shit happens!

His response earned him a punch to the gut, getting cheers out of the group and spurned the others to move in. Naofumi couldn't do anything other than baling himself on the ground in a vain attempt to protect his more delicate areas, repeating the same words he did, if only with the faint hope that one of these would believe him.

"Salaud!"

'Why don't they listen?'

"Violeur de merde!"

'Why the hell does no one believe me?'

"Sale crevard!"

'Do they even care if it's true?'

"Fils de pute!"

'They just wanted an excuse…' a shimmering green aura started to form around his body as the blows continued to rain on him, some of those who held a weapon in their hand approached his body. He didn't notice any of this though, all he felt was immense pain, he was pretty sure some of his bones have been cracked, he'd be lucky if he didn't look like a giant deformed grape with the amount of bruising he got. That is if he even survives it.

'These fuckers…' the aura got more pronounced and started taking shape. The bare-handed men made way for the bat and pipe toting goons to deliver their own beating.

'They just wanted to beat someone up' the wielders raised their weapons and brought them down.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

"What the shit?" screamed one of the thugs and for a moment, Naofumi actually believed the sounds to have come from his bones breaking from the beating. Except there was no such feeling of intense pain, not anymore at least.

All he felt was an aura of protection, something akin to a mother embracing her child and comforting him. In fact, he didn't feel any of the blows, it was as if they never even reached him.

"Yo what the hell is this? How did these things break?" exclaimed one of the thugs, bewildered at the loss of their weaponry, it felt like he had hit a concrete wall instead of flesh.

"Must be a fluke, Francois must've got them rusty or rotten or something" answered another man, causing the group to devolve into bickering.

'What is going on?' Naofumi was thinking frantically, still on the ground although he raised his head and looked at his hands, surprised to find a greenish solid barrier covering them, almost becoming completely opaque with what looked like a piece of metal forming over his arm.

'My God, what is this?'

"I got something better to use on that bastard, stand him up boys" the leader spoke over the arguing, quieting the group when he took out a small pistol, he didn't seem to be noticing what was happening to their victim.

'Whatever it is, it's protecting me right now...shit what do I do….I need to do something...' Naofumi trailed off, just as two men came on each of his sides, forced him on his knees and grabbed his hair so he may face his assailant. The man seemed to smile wickedly beneath his mask, he cocked the hammer of his gun back and walked towards Naofumi slowly, before holding it up to the man's forehead.

Naofumi's eyes widened at the sight of the gun.

'Goddamnit, I can't die like this!'

"Here's what we do to pigs around here..." the masked man's finger pushed on the trigger.

BANG


Minutes earlier with Raphtalia…

The brunette was humming softly to herself, walking on auto-pilot while her mind was a swirl of thoughts, most of them centered around her dear friend; she needed a way to make him see that he wasn't alone in this, she would walk with him the whole way until this mess was resolved.

'Just like he did when Tou-chan..' tears collected on the edge of her eyes and she wiped them off quickly. Now wasn't the time to feel sad for herself, Naofumi needed her and she needed to figure out her next steps.

She walked in silence for a few minutes and before long, she had reached the more deserted road of the city, the market where farmers usually came to sell their wares after every harvest. She liked her neighborhood, having been lucky enough to be born into a loving family within a peaceful environment, it also helps that her neighbors' child was something akin to the little sister she always wished for. Hopefully, little Filo-chan could help her comfort Naofumi, the girl simply had an infectiously happy air about her.

She came out of her thoughts as she heard grunts and some shouting ring out from an alley a little ways in front of her, she promptly steeled herself and hunched her shoulders.

'What's happening there? Is someone being mugged?' She narrowed her eyes and moved in slowly next to the wall, taking care not to make a sound or reveal herself and unzipped her purse on the way, taking out her phone to dial 112 just in case. She arrived at the entrance of the alley moments later, back to the wall and hands tensed to her sides, she gripped her phone tightly and peeked around the wall. Her eyes widened at the sight of a dozen masked men in jeans and leather jackets, surrounding a single figure on the ground. One of the men approached the figure, ordering two others to haul them up, and took out a gun from his jacket.

Raphtalia's figure started to glow an eerie red at the sight of the gun, but what momentarily froze her was the face of her friend being revealed by one of the thugs gripping his hair. Her pupils shrunk as the gun was leveled to Naofumi's head, the world around her was suddenly silent, the man's words devolving into intelligible mumbles and the red aura around her suddenly took the form of a humanoid figure behind her.


With Naofumi…

The thug holding onto Naofumi's head suddenly felt someone grabbing his wrist, almost crushing it from the force; before he could utter a scream of pain, his hand was tugged down, bringing Naofumi's head down with it, as the shot of the pistol rang out, the bullet embedding itself into the man's forearm.

His brain finally registered the pain, of both his wrist and the bullet going into the forearm and causing his blood to gush out.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" His scream rang out in the alley as the other men stood frozen at what just happened, before one of them snapped from his shock and bolted at the gunner, tackling him to the ground.

"Henri! What did you just do?" He screamed, wrestling with the leader who started thrashing on the ground to escape his attacker.

"I didn't do shit! Marc's hand was where the fucker's head should be!" screamed the gunner, wrestling against the hold of his attacker and toting his gun back to where he saw Naofumi, still kneeling and frozen.

He fired again, eliciting another scream of pain as the image of 'Naofumi' dissolved and was replaced with the crumpled form of one of the other men, struggling on the ground and holding his stomach from the pain of the shot.

"Grab him!"

"He's nuts!"

The other men scrambled to subdue the gunner, only for one of them to run into the others and tumble them on the ground in a giant pile of limbs. They started punching one another, every one of them seeing something the others weren't and thinking they were being attacked by their friends.

The entire situation devolved into a gigantic brawl, filled with shouts, insults, grunts, and confusion; the self-proclaimed "vigilantes" turned on each other while two of them held their injuries on the ground and started going into shock. Luckily for them, the familiar siren of an ambulance rang out around the corner as said vehicle rounded the corner, surrounded by several police cars.

The situation would be diffused in minutes, the men collectively arrested while the two injured would be transported to the hospital to receive treatment.


With Raphtalia…

The young woman supported the injured body of her friend and walked back to her house at a sedate pace, the police cars approaching and encircling the alley seemed to ignore her presence as if both of them were invisible to their eyes.

"Ra-raphtalia? W-what hap-ppened?" Naofumi's voice whispered into her ears, and if this were any other situation, the brunette would have probably blushed crimson from the closeness, but she needed to focus on getting him to safety without anyone noticing them. Her power was truly useful in these situations, it was a shame that she hadn't been able to come sooner, perhaps her friend wouldn't have received such a beating.

"Shh...don't speak Naofumi, conserve your strength, I'll get you home and patch you up, do not worry about anything okay?" She said softly, putting her nurse training to use and making sure not to jostle the man too much.

'Huh?' Naofumi thought, he looked at Raphtalia from the corner of his eyes and saw something strange. A mysterious humanoid being in a long dress seemed to be hovering next to his friend and following her around like a ghost, he wanted to comment on it but the exhaustion from the entire day was catching back up to him.

'Must be the shock...what...the...hell...' his thoughts trailed off and his vision darkened as he gave in to the fatigue, slumping over Raphtalia completely and taking her off guard.

The girl feared the worst for a moment, she untangled one hand and grabbed Naofumi's wrist. She sighed upon feeling a slow but present pulse, he must have been very tired and went unconscious.

The young lady gritted her teeth in anger, if Naofumi hadn't been in such an injured state, she would have done more to these brutes. They had gotten off easy in her opinion, but that was fine for now, the police would no doubt take care of them and they'll face the consequences of their actions. She was just apprehensive about what would come next.

'We'll get through this Naofumi, together…' She thought determined as her house came into sight.


A mansion on the other side of the city, that same evening...

The mahogany desk occupying almost a quarter of the room was rattled as a fist was brought down on it. The man currently abusing furniture was a fairly tall individual with greying hair and a well-trimmed beard, his outfit consisted of a three-piece gold-trimmed black suit he wore over a purple undershirt, the same color as his eyes with a golden tie to tie up the look together. Aultcray Melromarc (né Faubrey) was a man known as one of the richest people on the continent as well as the Vice-President of the same company a certain bitch claimed to be the heiress of.

"Damn these incompetent fools!" Yelled the man, his face almost purple from the righteous fury taking control of his body. He had just received a notice that the local law enforcement wouldn't be lifting a finger to act against the barbaric animal who assaulted his dear eldest daughter, a fact which had not only confused him but enraged him. He had figured that the upstanding justice system of one of the most developed countries in the world would perfectly uphold the law, especially when it concerned his dear daughter, a young woman of high standing, he wouldn't have ever thought to live to see the day this country would start sinking to the level of one of these third world impoverished hellholes with their wars and crimes and everything of the sort!

"It was horrible papa! I want that dirty pig behind bars! I want him ruined for what he did to me! Uwaaaaa" the Bitch herself was sitting across from the aging man, seemingly sobbing into her hand and shaking in what looked like an episode of PTSD. Aultcray almost leaped across the desk to hold his daughter close, pet her head and comfort her, this spectacle did nothing but drive his anger to new heights. How could he have let this happen to her? His own flesh and blood? How could the police let a foreigner get away with this? Was nothing sacred anymore?

He racked his brain for a possible reason for such a development, it couldn't be that the police were that ignorant or lazy, logically speaking. Could it be corruption? Had that foreigner possessed enough money to bribe his way to freedom? Impossible!

"Don't worry Malty, ma chérie, Papa will make that swine pay for his crimes! I'll make sure he and whoever he paid get locked up for what they did!" Aultcray declared, trying his best to comfort his hysterical daughter, not aware that he was letting the Bitch play him like a fiddle.

Malty was about to respond when the sound of someone clearing their throat reached her ears, she felt a shiver of fear go down her spine upon recognizing who it was.

"Ah, I'm afraid I can't allow that Monsieur Aultcray" a middle-aged bespectacled man walked into the room, a pure white priest's coat over a burgundy suit, white shirt and black tie, the man's face was set in a serene but polite smile that spoke of inner happiness and virtue, he seemed to carry himself with a concise, calm step, his aura itself radiated a feeling of peace that comforted in whoever was fortunate enough to bask in it. The man almost seemed like a saint to the public by appearance alone.

Biskas T Balmus, a French businessman who's own company, "Les Coeurs Bénévoles", was a conglomerate with a net worth almost comparable to "Melromarc Inc", except it dealt more with public health, education and had a hand in most, if not all, charitable organizations across the country, making the man himself one of the most loved and respected figures by the French population. Not only was he a "Man of God" and encompassed all of the virtues of the Abrahamic Faith, but he was also a very successful leader, a philanthropist, and benefactor of various humanitarian projects across the globe. His name was a household one and would soon be known on the political spectrum as well.

"W-what? Biskas? What are you saying?! That animal must pay for his crimes against my daughter! He's already bribed the police into ignoring his debauchery!" Aultcray bellowed holding said redhead close, the young woman having fallen silent while her trembling continued.

"That would be my doing actually" that answer shocked the father into silence "and before you complain, think about it this way. Regardless of how many lawyers you hire, the only evidence for what Malty accused the young man of were her own words, and God forbid if we were to fake some evidence or bribe the judge, not only would we be acting unethically but there remains the chance of her case being revoked by the court as well as the chance of us being found out. Both scenarios would have had disastrous consequences on young Malty's image as well as yours by association, this could very well land you in a sea of lawsuits" the older gentleman explained calmly.

"Then what do you propose we do? Let that pervert do whatever he wants?" Aultcray might have been slightly placated by the explanation, but he was still angry at the perceived injustice.

"Oh no, no, no Monsieur. For you see, criminals like him are easily predictable. He is a foreigner who came to a country with a culture vastly different from his own. Now that he has committed one of the most deplorable actions a man can commit and sees that he can get away with it, it is only a matter of time before he commits a second offense, this time a lot more sloppily and offering us a more solid case. We can then swoop in on the man and bring down the hammer of justice, nay the hammer of the Lord himself on him!"

"Are you suggesting we risk the life and dignity of another young lady just to set up a trap? How do we even know it would work?" the father rebuked him, still looking upset.

"Of course not. From what I remember hearing, Malty claimed to have had an attempt made on her while she was in the woods, alone. Not only is that man idiotic enough to try and commit such a crime in broad daylight and on one of the most known faces of the continent no less, but he was so physically incompetent that your daughter must have been able to either fight him off or escape even when taken by surprise, isn't that right Mademoiselle Malty?"

Said young woman had yet to speak and her trembling wasn't stopping, but she did manage a nod of confirmation if only to get the man to finish his piece and leave.

"Then that's all the confirmation we need. Not only is that man a criminal, but he is also an incompetent one to boot. Surely someone like him will make a faux-pas soon, one that we can swiftly capitalize on to end him." Biskas finished, with a smile stretching a little wider, speaking with such sincerity and confidence, that Aultcray had no choice but to trust him.

"I...I guess you're right Biskas, I'll trust you on this…" the distraught father finally relented.

The religious man only smiled at Aultcray "I understand your reservations completely Monsieur, I would've acted the same had I sired children" his smile, for but a moment, turned almost sinister, his glasses glinting ominously "but worry not, that scoundrel will receive what is coming for him...have faith"


A/N: So that was chapter one, a little introduction to some of the cast as well as putting down the setting for this story. As you can see, this crossover will happen in Europe. You might have noticed that some words outside of the characters' thoughts are in italic; I wanted to sneak in some french here and there. One of JJBA's most charming features is the multicultural aspect depicted mostly accurately, I love Araki for actually putting in so much effort into it.

Stay tuned for an update!

...sometime in the future...