JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 9: Silver Soul

Rebel Yell Part 1

Jolene jumped at the motorist's roar.

Jolene squinted, her eyes not adjusted to the noontime sun that bounced off everything outside. The shiny car sped past the window of the Semisonic's Pub and Grill, which itself was an area that had been sequestered off from the rest of the Semisonic Hotel's lobby. The interior kept itself dark compared to some of the other fancy places Jolene had been, probably to give off a romantic, nostalgic atmosphere like the smoky backgrounds of the 1930s and 1940s.

Josuke shifted in his seat. Jolene's table sat in the middle of the dining area, Josuke in front of her, Thoko playing games to her left. The table was intimate for two people, much less three. Jolene knew if Thoko wasn't playing his DS, he'd ask questions about everything without a thought as to who could hear.

Not that she didn't already tell him everything she knew. She was in prison, this Japanese guy bailed her out because they're related, and there's magic punching ghosts that want to kill her. Thoko told her that sounded awesome.

For all the damage Jolene had taken, she was doing pretty good. She'd fixed up her hair, and Silver Lining had taken most of the damage. Scraped elbows were covered up by the jacket she still wore.

Josuke probably took the most damage, but he didn't really care, from what Jolene could tell. He found some glasses on the way to the hotel, which covered the punch to the face Jolene gave him. She couldn't see what he was looking at. Even though he was facing her directly, his thoughts were elsewhere. He's said very little after the fight. Even though she felt he wouldn't, she wondered if Josuke was mad at her.

Jolene sighed and rested her head in her hand. Her attention turned to a team of bellhops tending to customers' luggage at the entrance to the right of the Pub and Grill. She recalled driving by the Semisonic Hotel with her family when she was younger. It always struck her as some type of ultra-wealthy clubhouse that only the elites could buy their way into, but now that she was seated at the restaurant in the lobby, she realized it wasn't that expensive, just a little pretentious.

Behind her, the grand staircase branched into two separate paths to the rooms, an open balcony overlooking the lobby. The ceiling hung high above the geometric tile work, a dusty chandelier giving little illumination to the garish decor. It did a better job of portraying the time period that lives in people's collective imagination than being historically accurate, but people prefer it that way. They want to walk into a memory,

without realizing how much has changed, or how much was never like that in the first place.

Josuke suddenly put both of his hands on the table.

"Do you want to order something?" he asked, "I have to check us in." "Oh yeah," Thoko said, pausing his game.

Thoko grabbed a drawstring bag resting by his feet. Some anime-styled woman with too much hair and too little armor was cheaply printed on the front. Jolene hoped he didn't spend money on it.

Thoko counted his bills and placed seven ones on the table.

"Do you think this is enough to get one of those drinks that come in a coconut?" he

asked.

Josuke sighed and gave him some money. As he was about to leave, Jolene couldn't

contain herself.

"I'm sorry," she said. Josuke stopped.

"I know I had to do whatever it takes to win, but-" she paused. "I didn't want to hurt