Soft & Wet (Story Arc)
Soft & Wet (ソフト&ウェット, Sofuto & Wetto) is the first story arc in JoJolion.
It narrates the man in the sailor hat and Yasuho's investigation of the former's identity, leading them to Yoshikage Kira's apartment, where they are ambushed by an assailant above them.
Summary
The man found from the ground reveals that he is knowledgeable, but has no memory whatsoever as to his own history.
Yasuho visits the man at a hospital. Set on discovering his identity, they escape. Yasuho realizes the label on the mysterious man's hat, a shop called "SBR", so they head there. Seeing them leave from his hospital room window, Joshu feels jealous and notices the bite marks on his knees before collapsing from a fever.
At the SBR hat shop, Yasuho and the mysterious man show the shopkeeper the hat; they discover that the man bought his hat there three days prior, revealing a record of the sale to a man named "Yoshikage Kira". The shopkeeper also shows the two Kira's address, which is an apartment building. Going to the apartment, Yasuho believes that "Yoshikage" does not suit the protagonist, and nicknames him "Josuke", after her childhood dog.
In Kira's apartment, they find a sailor's outfit that seems to fit Josuke well. Then they hear noises from the bathroom. When they investigate the bathroom they find a young woman bathing in the tub completely naked. Yasuho assumes the girl to be Josuke's girlfriend, but then the naked woman pleads the two for help, to Josuke and Yasuho's suspicion. Then Yasuho finds a photo album. In the photos is the mysterious woman in sordid states of bondage, having intercourse with what appears to be Josuke. Disgusted and devastated, Yasuho flees the apartment, shouting at Josuke to leave Morioh and never return.
Josuke demands an explanation from the girl. She states Josuke was a prisoner with her before escaping three days prior, and that she assumed he had returned to help her escape. She mentions that their captor resides on the floor above them, and that he has a limb-controlling power that activates when his victim is directly underneath him. She is already in full control, and relies on Josuke to save them both.
After saving the naked woman from drowning herself in the bathtub and cutting her tongue off, Josuke reveals his Stand, Soft & Wet, and is violently forced to overcome the attacks targeting him. The naked hostage makes a deal with the Stand user above them for her own safety, tells the man where Josuke is hiding, and leaves Josuke to die. Yasuho returns to the apartment after realizing she must have been mistaken about the photos, only to realize she's been pulled into the situation. Josuke soon manages to grab the attacker and interrogates him.
The man identifies himself as Ojiro Sasame, a surfer seeking revenge against Yoshikage Kira, whom Josuke closely resembles (in dress as well as in body). Ojiro explains how Kira constantly asked him a question which eventually made Ojiro insane and led to consuming his own fingers. In revenge, Ojiro rigged all sorts of traps in Kira's room; he notably captured a woman and set her up naked in the bathroom as bait, and the man in the bondage photos was Ojiro disguised as Kira. Yasuho then points out a photo of Kira with the Wall Eyes in the background, where Josuke first appeared. They knock Ojiro out, and travel to the site of Kira's self-portrait.
Arriving at the Wall Eyes, buried deeper, they discover the body of another man. Narrated after the fact, an autopsy reveals that the body belonged to Yoshikage Kira, who is assumed to have died of cardiac arrest three days prior. The strangest part is that Kira was missing his testicles.
Afterwards, Josuke is adopted by the Higashikata Family, which included Joshu. They all greet him, and give him the name "Josuke", like Yasuho did.
Meanwhile, the woman from before, who fled during Ojiro's interrogation, hides her naked body in a trash can, still lost. She laments about going back home, but ends up humiliating herself in front of two boys who bumped into her.
Appearances
Chapters
- 002 (849). Soft & Wet, Part 1
- 003 (850). Soft & Wet, Part 2
- 004 (851). Soft & Wet, Part 3
- 005 (852). Soft & Wet, Part 4
- 006 (853). Soft & Wet, Part 5
Volumes
- 01 (105). Welcome to Morioh
- 02 (106). The Name "Josuke Higashikata"