She stayed in Morioh for another three days. Tomoko helped to book Shizuka’s flight, scheduling it for the afternoon. On the morning of the flight, Josuke brings her to Okuyasu’s bistro for brunch.

“Yo, Josuke!” Okuyasu Nijimura exclaims, his voice booming over the heads of the diners as he spots the siblings stepping through the door.

“Hey man,” Josuke replies, raising his hand to his best friend. The tall, gangly man steps out from behind the register counter, his smiles creasing the fine lines that crisscross his face from the corners of his eyes.

“Been a while since you came in, man! What, you think you’re too good for my cooking now?”

“I’ve been busy, man. Keeping the town safe. Speaking of, shouldn’t you be in the kitchen? You’re the chef, right?”

“Hey, if the guys inside can’t get by without me once in a while, what the hell are they good for…?” Okuyasu trails off upon seeing Shizuka, smiling politely at him. “Hey man,” he says behind a raised hand to Josuke, “is it a new police policy to take runaways out to brunch? ‘Cause, like, I don’t need the grief in here…”

“Wha…? It’s not like that, dumbass! This is Shizuka, my little sister.”

“What?! No way!”

“Yes way,” Shizuka says, stretching her hand out, then hesitating, and bowing instead, “it’s nice to meet you, Nijimura-san. Josuke-bro told me all about what you guys would get up to when you were younger.”

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you too!” Okuyasu says, reaching and taking her hand from by her side and shaking it vigorously, “but you know, we did actually meet a long time ago…”

“I know. When I was a baby. I’ve been getting that a lot.”

Okuyasu chuckles. “Go ahead and sit down. I’ll get you guys some menus, and I’ll give you guys a discount on your bill. But only for the girl. You pay full price, Josuke.”

“Bite me, Nijimura.”

They sit down, and Okuyasu comes back with menus, boasting an array of dishes inspired by a bizarre fusion of Italian and traditional Japanese cuisine. Not long after, a waiter brings a jug of water and glasses to drink it out of. Only after Shizuka decides upon the local meats antipasto does Josuke speak up.

“I don’t want you to go to Los Angeles.”

She looks up from the menu and frowns, but he stops her with a raised hand and continues. “I know. You’re an adult, and you can take care of yourself, and you can make your own decisions. I get that. I accept that. You’ve made your decision. Fine. But I still don’t want you to go.

“I’ve seen how strong you are, and I get the feeling you can be much stronger. If someone like Sanjo appears, then I’m sure you can beat them. And the Speedwagon Foundation can take them away, just like they took Sanjo away, so that they can’t hurt anyone else again. But there are worse things in the world than that old geezer. Much, much worse.”

He pauses, looks at the jug of water. His memory stirs, and the water becomes a bottle of bourbon. On the table to the left, Josuke believes he sees a man in a white suit, clipping his fingernails at the table. But when he looks, he sees that he’s only winding up pasta with a fork.

“L.A. won’t be like Morioh. Even excluding Stand users, it’s a city filled with dangerous people. Criminals, junkies and killers. You… you always try to see the good in people. That’s a good thing. It makes you kind. But in a place like L.A., it makes you vulnerable.

“Knowing all of that, and still wanting to go despite it, can you really promise me that you’ll be safe?”

Shizuka looks at her brother for a long moment. A low din of conversation fills the room, as each table concerns itself with their own conferences.

The technicolor girl smiles, gently. “Of course I can’t.”

Josuke sighs. “Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that.”

They order their food, eat it, then say goodbye to Okuyasu, who regretted not having more of a chance to meet Shizuka. True to his word, Shizuka receives a 15% discount on her meal, while Josuke pays full price for his.

It takes them forty-five minutes to drive to the airport. He waits with her until the line through the metal detectors, sparing him one final wave and smile before disappearing within the assembly. Then, he hangs around, not fully understanding why, until he sees the airplane rumble down the runway and take off into the sky, American Airlines emblazoned on the side of the craft.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR