Kilo Staples eyes her, feeling a trickle blood spilling from his own nose. He laughs then, a single, hoarse bark of a laugh, and without smiling. “Fine,” is all he says, straightening up and meeting her gaze. His Stand emerges again and Shizuka prepares to move, but instead of reaching for her, the Stand throws its hands out, clapping them together. There is another explosive sound, as ice appears. Huge sheets of ice, almost seven feet tall, appear out of thin air on each side of Kilo.

Before Shizuka has a chance to register, Kilo’s Stand winds up to swipe at her head. She sees it, and she ducks just in time, the clawed hand sailing through the air over her. It roars as it does so, a piercing howl, “URAAH!!”

Then it swipes down with its other hand, but she sees that too, and jumps back. Her breath catches as her back hits off something, and she glances back to see another sheet of ice behind her. “He wasn’t aiming for my head!” she realizes.

Nor her feet, she realizes a second later when she lands ankle-deep in loose, soupy puddle that used to be solid concrete. Another swipe from the enemy Stand solidifies the puddle back into concrete, trapping her legs. Attempts to escape prove useless. Kilo Staples approaches her slowly, and she glares up at him. Kilo Staples produces more ice sheets until they are totally surrounded in a shimmering ring of cold mirrors. He exhales from the apparent exertion, and looks down at Shizuka.

“Ok, that’s enough,” he says, coolly, “we should quit this before this get any more out of hand. You surprised me, too, you know.”

She doesn’t answer him. Instead, she wipes the blood off her lip, keeping her eyes fixed on him. They eye each other like Wild West duelists, the wind whistling between the ice walls. “Well, never mind, that. You seem like a smart gal, and I don’t want to make a big thing of this. Just do as I say, and nobody needs to get hurt.”

Still, Shizuka doesn’t answer him. A bead of sweat runs down her forehead, but otherwise, her expression remains set. Kilo grimaces slightly, and leans in.

“Y-you know,” she says, then steadies her voice and smiles, despite herself, “I didn’t actually catch your name earlier. You hit my nose, so all I heard was blood rushing through my ears…”

Kilo frowns, narrowing his eyes. “Kilo. Staples.”

“Kilo Staples,” she repeats, as if checking to see how it sounds, “It’s quite a coincidence. The thing is, I actually came to LA to find someone myself. And I figured I’d run into trouble sooner or later, but this is just ridiculous. I haven’t been in town ten minutes yet!”

She giggles, giddy. Kilo glares at her as she calms down. Slowly, she flicks down her sunglasses and says, “Do you remember what I said to your buddy, before? That if there’s anything I hate, it’s liars. Dishonest people. And you, Mr Staples. You are an dishonest person. And that really getting on my nerves.”

Frowning, Kilo gets up to his feet, bringing out his Stand and looming over Shizuka, even as she keeps talking. “Anyway, Mr Staples… In honor of my arrival, what do you say we get started for real now?” The light shimmers through the ice walls and glints off her shades like twinkling stars.

END OF CHAPTER FIVE