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... [ he grits his teeth, grumbling behind his mouth. ] I don't know why he has that. He absolutely isn't related to the Joestar bloodline.

[ dio only has his because he robbed jonathan's corpse like a looted prize. what does it mean that pucci has one? he doesn't know, and he hates that lack of clarity. he's spent the better part of a decade living in irrational fears of dio's friend trying to continue what dio left behind, and now it turns out that man is here. and he's been playing jotaro a fool for the better part of a month. it's grating beyond words. ]

Dio has always relied on followers to carry his will. The man spent almost two months sending Stand users after my friends and I as we crossed the Middle East to reach Cairo. Most of them, after defeated, outright admitted that they were just hired guns promised great wealth. However, a number were devout. They believed Dio to be the ultimate power, and pledged their lives to him. Pucci may very well be one of them.

[ it would make an ironic amount of sense that dio's friend, the one to help him obtain heaven, would be a priest. he doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but if pucci was involved with something involving his daughter, something dangerous, then perhaps he can admit to himself that he's biased. regardless of whether or not he really is dio's friend... the man targeted his daughter. and almost certainly as a means to get to him, as he always feared could happen. ]

You didn't know about me until it was necessary for you to know about me. [ giorno points out, rather annoyed. ] It's very likely that those who become part of the Joestar bloodline, whether through natural or artificial means, can obtain the mark and are therefore are inexplicably tied to this conflict we have in our hands.

[ he lets out a loud exhale. ] It's unfair, you know. All I ever wanted was Naples. I'm sure all you ever wanted was the ocean as well as a few people to call your family. But here we are, about - what, four generations in? And we're still having problems, about a war we never asked to fight in in the first place.

I already fought for my life weeks and weeks ago. I already attained my goal. To find that in the future, something would threaten such hard work I've put in, when almost all of my friends have died to ensure that we see it through the end ....

[ he leans against his chair, arms folded across his chest, throwing his head back as he feels the beginnings of a headache come on. and then he decides to be honest to jotaro: ]

And after all this, we still can't move on from Cairo ...

In Naples, Jotaro, I took over the head of the local Mafia gang Passione and became their Don. The members of my inner circle are Stand users, and we recruited the same kind of users to work for me. The goal is neither here nor there. You can assume as to how those kinds of things get arranged and established.

I believe you know my consigliere, however, seeing as this involves a number of things tangentially related to my father. [ he's seeing a pattern here. ] His name is Jean-Pierre Polnareff.

That Pucci is interested in me worries me. Does he know about who I will become? Here it is no issue - we are all starting from a point where nobody has an advantage of resources over the other, and knowledge doesn't necessarily make you more or less immune about someone's power or tenacity. But I worry, all the same.

Edited 2017-10-14 06:12 (UTC)

[ there's... a lot to unpack in everything giorno just said. giorno being the don of an italian mafia group. that this group is all full of stand users, which puts him at unease. ...that polnareff is alive - he never returned from italy and they never found his corpse, but jotaro was never an optimistic man and was used to friends dying at that point. he's sure this knowledge will keep him awake during the day when he should be asleep, and that will be its own frustration.

he finishes his tea, and shuts his eyes, trying to ease his own growing headache, and then reopens them. ]

I don't know if he's aware of who you are to Dio. You absolutely cannot let them know. Dio only cares for himself, and Pucci may only care for Dio. [ he puts down the cup with a small clank. ] Other than that, act as you always have. I plan to do the same.

[ if he starts avoiding and not speaking to pucci, then the cat is out of the bag. he has to keep this up now. ]

I know. And I will endeavour to do the same.

I have offered to Hermes my aid, if she needs it. I suppose this is a more formal way, as well, of saying that I offer it to you as well, though my condition still stands.
[ regarding his father, regarding killing him. everything else they've spoken about in the beginning. beyond that - a necessary deception in order to maintain the status quo ....

ah, but isn't this no different from the using the same tactics he's perfected from being borne in such a troublesome family? who knew that they'd be useful now? when he was haruno shiobana, he loathed having to use similar methods of pretend to ensure the status quo remains protected while suffering. now that he's years away from that and is living under a different name, he finds himself reaching to that same cache of skills if he wanted to be able to stop a different kind of father, to win a game that is bigger than his dreams have ever been.

but he finds himself thinking of what heaven is to him, and he is worried. people died for him. is that what heaven would be for -

- no. no, that kind of thinking is not his own. it's borne from his anxieties and furthermore, is a product of someone else's fervent obsession with the mystical and the profane. he will purge it out of his mind. he will only include in his thoughts what he views is necessary or what he feels is relevant to his interests.

giorno leans his head on his chin, pensive.

and for all of that to happen, he has to get stronger. he has to. he must. there is no other option. not only for his dreams, but for those who rely on him as well. ]

And ... I'm sorry, too.

[ he hesitates about this, but then quietly, he adds. ] I don't know why I said that. I haven't done anything but be a nuisance to you.

I feel I should say it, anyway. I ... [ "you will never hear it from my father," he wants to say, but then jotaro probably wouldn't want to hear that from him too, and he grows quiet. ashamed as to how, for all of the way giorno talks so much, he couldn't find the words he needed right now, and he feels vulnerable. ]

...Good grief.

[ he sniffs, the mood far too tense and suffocating. he doesn't think giorno has any reason to apologize. though he acts like a childish brat at times, jotaro entertains it because he rather that than giorno turning away from him. turning away and going right into the arms of his father instead, the last thing jotaro wants to see. but, despite all those antics, he can see giorno has a good heart. ...speaking of which-- ]

There's something you should know. Besides Hermes, another Stand user has come here. His name is Josuke, and he's my uncle. Actually, I think he might be only a year older than you.

[ and, going by their absurd family tree, giorno would be josuke's granduncle. ...should he put pucci on the chimera that is the joestar family tree? ugh. ]

[ well maybe you should not put giogio in that family tree first of all? and it's a testament to how quickly giorno adjusts to this whole scenario that he doesn't even question the discrepancy in ages. ]

Josuke? I think I've met him when I was shopping for Halloween costumes. He seems nice. I'll keep that in mind.

[ good that there's more good in here than bad, so maybe things aren't so dire after all. so long as they can count on good people then they'll be alright.

it's starting to feel like home again. if he's not careful, this will be the norm for him and he'll find it difficult not to get attached again. ]

Mhm. He has a good head on his shoulders. Just do yourself a favor - don't say anything about his hair to him. Trust me on this one.

[ just... to give a fair warning, because he knows giorno thinks he's so damn hysterical. he's been on the receiving end of making a ill-timed comment about that pompadour and josuke can switch from goofy to serious in a split second when he gets into things. maybe it's just the way of the joestar blood? ]

Oh? You do it, then, so I get to observe safely when he loses his cool.

[ a slight laugh, and then giorno takes his school bag from the floor. ]

If all goes well, Dio will employ me as a part-time secretary instead. We'll see how that goes.

I won't visit you tonight. I need to catch up on sleep. [ ah. ]

I don't want him ruining another hat of mine.

[ his hats are all precious to him, he will not let one be sacrificed. ]

Do your best to sleep well. I entertain your late night visits, but you know how I feel about it. [ he grabs his own bag, but only to pull out a paperback book of crosswords out of it. ] Tread carefully, Giorno. If you need anything, call me.

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