Awakening Through Help / Megumi Kato's Stand Ability

Although Stand abilities are uncontrollable and may even have negative effects, they are ultimately determined by the individual's own will, and there are very few negative Stands in the entire JoJo series.

Like the Cheap Trick of Otoishi Akira, before he awakened his Stand, he didn't like people to see his back. He probably had some self-destructive tendencies. The Stand completely amplified this desire in his heart, so he became a purely negative Stand who would drag more people down with him even if he died.

The Miyauchi Family are generally in good mental health. The only problem is that the eldest sister's overly laid-back personality and the second sister's overly eccentric personality make Miyauchi Hiyage somewhat worried about whether their bodies can withstand the awakening of the Stand.

In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, there are quite a few people who have experienced problems due to Stand awakening.

In Part 3, the Stardust Crusaders's goal in defeating DIO was to prevent Kujo Holly from awakening her Stand, because her body and will could not withstand the pressure of Stand awakening.

Both parts four and five mention that Higashikata Josuke and Giorno fell ill when they awakened their Stands. Higashikata Josuke had a high fever and almost died, and Giorno even regressed from having black hair to blonde hair after falling ill.

Miyauchi Hiyage clearly didn't want his family to encounter these problems.

In contrast, the girls who received Diary didn't need to worry about this issue.

One reason is that after they obtained the Diary, they have been using their Reading Points to improve their proficiency with Ripple.

One point of Reading Points is equivalent to a week's training for an ordinary person. After more than two months, even if only 50 points of Reading Points are spent on Ripple, it is equivalent to more than a year's Ripple for a normal person.

This is enough to significantly improve a person's physical and mental well-being. In addition, in the previously discarded setting, Stands were also referred to as "Phantom Ripple," a vague connection that makes it relatively easy for someone to safely awaken a Stand.

Moreover, if you encounter any mental stress, you can easily relieve the effects of that stress by using Reading Points.

Like Gotou Hitori, her awakening was very smooth, and she didn't even feel it herself before she had completed the awakening of her Stand.

The only problem is that, because she herself was unaware that her Stand had awakened, the highly intelligent Stand that she awakened ran away during the Stand awakening period, the most unstable period for a Stand.

Gotou Hitori will probably have to put in a lot of effort to get his Stand to obey, but overall it's not too difficult.

In contrast, the girls who don't have Diary who awaken their substitutes suffer a bit more.

Miyauchi Hiyage's gaze fell on Kato Megumi.

Thanks to her relationship with Miyauchi Kouka, after they joined the newspaper together, because they had to run around outside all day and their physical strength was relatively high, at Miyauchi Kouka's request, Miyauchi Hiyage also helped Kato Megumi master a simple Ripple Breathing rhythm.

Kato Megumi has good talent, but she has only been practicing for a month, so she is about on par with Miyauchi Kouka.

Originally, Miyauchi Hiyage was wondering if it was the Cat's Eye were basically fully mature in terms of mind and body, who had awakened their Stands. She also thought that Eriri Spencer Sawamura, a famous doujinshi artist, could acquire Stand abilities through her drawing skills.

Even Fujiwara Chika, the cancer of the earth, was considered by Miyauchi Hiyage to be the one who obtained a stand-in.

However, who could have imagined that after arriving in Morioh, the second person to show signs of Stand awakening would be Kato Megumi?

Chapter 360: Helping Awaken

Compared to Gotou Hitori her Stand went berserk, Kato Megumi's body was still showing some minor reactions because her Stand hadn't fully awakened yet.

Miyauchi Hiyage only glanced at Kato Megumi realizing that she was currently experiencing a low-grade fever.

However, thanks to the Ripple Chi Kung and Kato Megumi's own personality, her low-grade fever won't have much of an impact on her.

That's why she can now stay in Shiina Mashiro's room and chat with people as if nothing is wrong.

However, once the Stand is fully awakened, and considering the potential for Stand berserk mode when it first awakens, Kato Megumi's body will likely exhibit more pronounced reactions at that point.

When she realized that Miyauchi Hiyage's gaze was on her, Kato Megumi initially felt a little strange, but she still remembered that Miyauchi Hiyage had just mentioned the matter of a stand-in.

So... you mean it's me?

Feeling Miyauchi Hiyage's gaze, Kato Megumi blinked, as if realizing something, pointed to herself in a questioning manner, and asked in a low, unsure voice.

Miyauchi Hiyage nodded slightly to Kato Megumi.

"Although it hasn't fully formed yet, you've already started to emanate that special power fluctuation. If you pay close attention, you might be able to feel the changes in your body."

It wasn't until Miyauchi Hiyage suddenly uttered those words that Miyauchi Kouka realized her younger brother was talking to Kato Megumi. Immediately, her gaze darted back and forth between Miyauchi Hiyage and Kato Megumi several times before she belatedly understood what her brother was saying.

"Ah, you mean, Megumi's Stand is about to awaken?" Miyauchi Kouka said, then quickly began to scrutinize her friend with a keen eye, even reaching out to poke Kato Megumi's ticklish spot to see if she would have any special reaction.

Eriri Spencer Sawamura, standing nearby, was equally surprised. She was still getting used to the fact that her classmate was secretly a superhero with immense power.

Then, in the blink of an eye, I learned from Miyauchi Hiyage that Kato Megumi, who seemed ordinary at first glance, was also about to awaken her Stand.

To be honest, knowing that she would be more likely to awaken her Stand once her skills reached a certain level, she had some expectations for herself.

After all, she started learning to draw from a young age. Although she later embarked on the irreversible path of becoming a doujinshi artist by chance and is still waiting for an opportunity to make it official, in terms of drawing skills alone, she feels that among her peers, only the already famous Shiina Mashiro can currently surpass her.

Compared to other high school student artists, she never felt that her drawing skills were worse than anyone else's. At most, she just didn't have much creative ability and couldn't create a story that everyone would like.

Even someone as strong as Shiina Mashiro has this problem, except that Shiina Mashiro found Miyauchi Hiyage, while she hasn't found the person who can perfectly match her yet.

Therefore, she still felt that she had a fairly good chance of awakening her Stand.

Even before she lay in bed to rest these past few days, she couldn't help but wonder if she should tell Aki Tomoya if she gained the ability to use a Stand.

As a hardcore otaku, that guy still has a bit of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) about him, so it shouldn't take long for him to accept these things.

Perhaps, this could be used as an opportunity to successfully reconcile the two of them?

However, as soon as she had such thoughts, she would remind herself not to let her mind wander.

Because of Kasumigaoka Utaha's reminder, Eriri Spencer Sawamura has been thinking for a long time about her relationship with Aki Tomoya, and what her feelings for him really are.

Perhaps she did indeed misunderstand this broken friendship over a long period of time, due to her inner resentment, and mistook it for another kind of feeling.

But for Eriri Spencer Sawamura now, she still wants to at least turn her relationship with Aki Tomoya from a negative state back into a positive one.

But who would have thought that it was actually Kato Megumi, the guitarist of that band, who was awakened as a stand-in?

It seems she wasn't so lucky after all.

As Eriri Spencer Sawamura pondered this, Kato Megumi looked at her hands with some confusion, seemingly not feeling any special power. She then asked Miyauchi Hiyage why it was her who had awakened her Stand.

She was so ordinary and unremarkable, with no blood relation to the Stand User and no special skills.

My only hobby is probably browsing news and forums on my phone.

Seeing that Miyauchi Kouka was practically shoving his nose at Kato Megumi to sniff her scent, Miyauchi Hiyage simply grabbed her older sister and pulled her away before continuing to speak to Kato Megumi.

"Hui, you've been extraordinary from the very beginning."

Miyauchi Hiyage waved his hand.

"After all, you are very beautiful and have a good personality, but for some reason, not many people in the class notice your presence, and many people even subconsciously forget your name. This already means that there must be something special about you."

Kato Megumi gave a soft "Eh," her face slightly flushed at Miyauchi Hiyage's words.

But it was only a little bit.

Miyauchi Hiyage then briefly explained the abilities that Mai Sakurajima had awakened, "In a sense, your abilities are somewhat similar."

"However, the other party's ability is more direct. It can make everyone forget her existence. No matter what she does, no one will notice. This ability can even be applied directly to the Internet, so that no matter what, people who are affected will not see any content related to her online."

His gaze then fell on Kato Megumi: "As for Megumi, I don't know if your awakened Stand is related to your constitution, but a Stand is a manifestation of human consciousness, and your thoughts will be reflected in the Stand that is not yet formed in you."

This can be considered an attempt by Miyauchi Hiyage to instill the idea of "restraining oneself to acquire more and stronger Stand abilities" in front of someone who is awakening their Stand.

Although no one in the original work had ever done this, Miyauchi Hiyage felt that the chances of success were not small.

Dio had only awakened his Stand a few years ago, yet he immediately began researching ways to go to heaven, eventually coming up with a bunch of secret codes and fancy rituals.

What was the result?

Father Pucci actually succeeded in completing several evolutions of his Stand using these secret codes, gradually growing from the Whitesnake to the final Made in Heaven.

It's certainly not fair to say that Dio's secret codes and rituals were useless, but Father Pucci's own will clearly played a very important role in them.

It was a combination of factors, including fate, that led to the final ending of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6.

Miyauchi Hiyage didn't intend to hide anything from Kato Megumi. He shared his thoughts and, after Kato Megumi had no objections, asked Kato Megumi to reflect on what she truly needed.

If he were to awaken the ability to become a supermodel's stand-in, that would be a good thing, as it would allow him to prepare in advance for the awakening of his family members later on.

Even if he doesn't awaken any outstanding Stands, or even negative ones, Miyauchi Hiyage can still use the hodgepodge of Sealing Technique he learned from his Diary, Jujutsu High, and Tohru to find a way to seal the opponent's Stand, which certainly won't affect Kato Megumi's daily life.

"I understand, I will try my best," Kato Megumi, although she was mostly unmotivated and seemed indifferent to everything.

But now that Miyauchi Hiyage wants her to help, she might as well try her best.

After all, having grown up in a way that she was used to being subconsciously forgotten by her friends and even family, meeting the Miyauchi siblings, who seemed to have never ignored her, was something that made her quite happy.

For the sake of her friends, Kato Megumi maintained a rather positive attitude.

"But don't push yourself too hard. The awakening of a Stand is a test of one's mental will. The stronger the Stand, the greater the impact on your body when it awakens. You already have signs of a low-grade fever. It's only because of the Ripple Breathing that you're able to maintain a normal state."

Miyauchi Hiyage said this, he then gave Kato Megumi some simple pointers on breathing rhythm related to Ripple.

After thinking for a moment, he raised his hand slightly and then silently activated the Projection Magic.

In just a few seconds, a specially made mask appeared in his hand.

"This is a specially made breathing mask. Wearing it can improve your speed of mastering a specific Ripple Breathing. The Breathing Technique adapted to this mask is something I prepared in advance specifically for your situation. You can give it a try."

Miyauchi Hiyage's mastery of Unlimited Blade Works has become increasingly refined, even though the technique only exists in his mind and he has never actually seen its real form.

However, because he understands Ripple Breathing and the composition of this mask, he can freely use the materials that can be projected to forge and transform them into the shape he desires, and then project them directly.

Of course, this only applies to items that have simple procedures and no special powers.

However, those Mana weapons and spell tools, or even treasures extorted from those heroic spirits, are things that Miyauchi Hiyage cannot project into his mind all at once.

Their forging requires more Mana and also requires Miyauchi Hiyage to put in more effort.

For this reason, Miyauchi Hiyage even created a blacksmith workshop for himself in Unlimited Blade Works so that he could Unlimited Blade Works iron in the game.

So now his Unlimited Blade Works does indeed have a lot of miscellaneous items added to it.

It's like trying to transform the Sword in the Stone and the Caliburn into bows and arrows to serve as consumables for the Collapse of Fantasy, or transforming things that aren't swords into the shape of swords, which would both increase their power and reduce some unnecessary consumption during projection.

The work on modifying the arrows with the Sword in the Stone is progressing relatively smoothly, and it should be completed soon.

Unfortunately, the process of transforming the Gae Bolg into the Death Thorn Sword is somewhat tricky. Basically, as long as the projection of the Gae Bolg is slightly modified, it will lose its ability to reverse cause and effect and ensure a direct hit.

However, as Miyauchi Hiyage gradually figured out the principles of Domain Expansion, the development of the multi-functional Unlimited Blade Works with its guaranteed hit effect was progressing quite smoothly, so Miyauchi Hiyage didn't dwell too much on the Death Thorn Sword.

Seeing Miyauchi Hiyage casually pull things out, Miyauchi Kouka gave a somewhat envious but stubborn "tsk" sound.

She knew that her younger brother possessed a magical space with an exceptionally large expanded area, which could also be considered a special storage item.

Clearly, she had been trying to persuade Miyauchi Hiyage over the past few days that she also wanted such a convenient tool.

That way, she wouldn't have to carry so much filming equipment and props around all day trying to get the news from others.

Unfortunately, although this thing can be replaced now, there is only one in Miyauchi Hiyage's hand and one in Jerry's hand. He himself does not have any extra materials to make a new one. He can only wait until he finds suitable materials in Tohru's other world before making one.

In the end, Miyauchi Hiyage could only give the lazy Miyauchi Kouka a higher-level breathing mask, and then remind him that it would take at least an hour to unlock it after he put it on.

After all, he had forcibly used his own Ripple to adjust Miyauchi Kouka's subconscious breathing rhythm for a month, allowing Miyauchi Kouka cultivate for a month.

But who could have imagined that a month wouldn't even be enough for Miyauchi Kouka to develop the habit of maintaining Ripple Breathing? After losing the auto-play cheat, Miyauchi Kouka's progress began to slow down considerably.

With his current Ripple power, he can certainly keep refilling his older sister's cup like this.

But since he had this thing to prank his older sister, he didn't mind using it to push her a little and make her mature a bit.

As for Kato Megumi, this mask helps her focus the opponent's attention on Ripple, so it's more suitable for her now than directly using a cheat code.

After giving the second one, Miyauchi Hiyage glanced at Eriri Spencer Sawamura, who was staring at him expectantly.

Under the somewhat expectant gaze of the other party, Miyauchi Hiyage finally gave Eriri Spencer Sawamura a beginner-level Ripple Mask, leaving the rest for Eriri Spencer Sawamura to figure out on her own.

After doing all this, looking at Kato Megumi wearing the breathing mask, Miyauchi Hiyage also focused his gaze on her and continued to observe the changes in her body.

Chapter 361: Kato Megumi's Stand Ability

These specially designed breathing masks do require some getting used to, but apart from Eriri Spencer Sawamura, who is a complete novice, Kato Megumi and Miyauchi Kouka already have a lot of experience, so they only had a few minutes of discomfort before finding a more comfortable rhythm.

Eriri Spencer Sawamura, on the other hand, seemed a bit flustered.

Even though she had learned some basic rhythms of Ripple Breathing from Shiina Mashiro and Kasumigaoka Utaha before, she was still a long way from making it a subconscious habit.

Now, she gets distracted and her breathing becomes irregular whenever she does anything else.

However, the allure of extraordinary power is indeed very strong for an ordinary person.

Even though she felt very uncomfortable, Eriri Spencer Sawamura never thought of taking off her mask and focused intently on maintaining her breathing rhythm.

Kato Megumi's side is about the same.

In comparison, Miyauchi Kouka had been tormented by Miyauchi Hiyage's auto-play version of Ripple Breathing for a month, so she definitely had a lot of advantages in this regard.

She was also the first person to be able to speak voluntarily without affecting her breathing rhythm after wearing the mask.

Miyauchi Hiyage felt that this didn't actually mean her older sister had much talent in Ripple Breathing; it just proved that this girl really couldn't stop talking. Whenever someone was around, she couldn't help but want to say something.

"So, we're just going to wait here for Megumi to awaken her Stand? How long will that process take?"

Faced with her older sister's question, Miyauchi Hiyage shrugged. "I've never properly awakened a Stand, and besides, it's hard to say about that."