Archive of Our Own

It was early 1999 when Kakyoin was notified of a rather sudden, and urgent, case from the Speedwagon Foundation. At the time, Jotaro was stationed in Morioh. He had gone to find Mr. Joestar’s son, but decided to stay when things began escalating throughout the town.

With Jotaro occupied in Morioh, Kakyoin was sent the information. It turned out that a few years before their fateful journey to Egypt, Dio had managed to sire a son. The fact that Dio had a child was concerning, to say the least. If this kid was anything like his father he could pose a threat to the entire world. There was no reason for them to believe that Dio had ever known about the boy, so there would’ve been no chance for him to influence the boy. But there was still a good chance the child had a stand, and there was no telling if any of Dio’s vampiric qualities had passed on as well.

Within 24 hours of receiving the information Kakyoin sat in a plane heading to Italy, re-reading the file that the foundation supplied him with. The boy was 13 now, turning 14 in a few months, and moved to Italy when he was four. His name was Haruno Shiobana. But other than that they hadn’t been able to collect much information about him. While they had a few agents that observed the boy from afar, and had supplied them with a few pictures, none of these agents were authorized to approach him. And nothing could be found about where the boy lived, or went to school. But he had been spotted around the Naples airport, acting as a taxi service for tourists.

As he stared at the photos he’d been given it shocked Kakyoin how different he looked from his father. He had pitch black, straight hair. With blue eyes as well, the kid reminded him of Jotaro. He looked more like any of the Joestar family than he did Dio, really. Once he was satisfied that he’d gleaned all the information he could, he set the file aside for the rest of the flight, choosing to relax and sketch instead, as well as taking some time to rest.

The flight passed quickly after that, and soon enough they were approaching the airport. He tightened his leg and back braces into place. Even after all these years he still needed to use braces to walk very far. But with Hierophant he could still prove to be quite nimble when it was called for, and rarely needed to use a cane.

Once the plane landed Hierophant wrapped itself around his waist until it could help support his weight. He grabbed his suitcase and made his way off the plane. Thanking the Speedwagon workers as he stepped off, and started working his way to the front of the airport terminal. As he walked out of the building his eyes caught a young man standing to the side. He had straight black hair, and wore what looked like an old, blue tracksuit of sorts. Kakyoin knew immediately he was looking at Haruno Shiobana. Hierophant unfurled a thin tendril, wrapping it around Haruno’s ankle in a quick move that should have been invisible even to stand users.

Haruno immediately looked up, locking eyes with Kakyoin. For a moment he tensed, worried that the boy really had a stand, and sensed Hierophant’s movement. His worry dissipated as the boy smiled, and moved forward to meet him,

“Buon Giorno! Looking for a cab?”

Haruno’s cheery demeanor surprised him, but it wasn’t enough to have him convinced. He remembered how charming Dio could come across, after all. He smiled back, letting none of his unease show on his face,

“You drive a cab?”

“I do! Only 180,000 lira to get you anywhere you need to go! It’s a pretty good deal!”

“180,000? That sounds a little pricey. I could just take the bus.”

“You don’t want to deal with the bus, signore. Trust me.”

He brought a hand to his chin, pretending to think for a moment, but he already knew he’d be taking up the offer. It was a good opportunity to further test the boy. He looked towards the long line of people waiting for the normal transport, and held out his hand to the boy. Haruno backed away minutely, barely noticeable even to Kakyoin, before he brought his hand up as well.

“Alright. 180,000 then.”

“Perfect!” His smile widened, “We have a deal then Mr.....”

“Tenmei,” it had been the codename he used since the journey to Egypt, “and your name?”

“Giorno. Giorno Giovanna,” he said, finally shaking Kakyoin’s hand.

So he used a fake name? Or maybe he had his name changed. Perhaps that was why they couldn’t find any records on him. Kakyoin decided he would look into it further that night. When Giorno reached for his luggage he pulled it back, “I prefer to carry my own things,” he said. Giorno shrugged, looking nonplussed, and proceeded to walk past Kakyoin while motioning him to follow.

Together they walked towards the edge of Airport grounds, where a small car sat on the side of the road. He pulled out a car key, Kakyoin couldn’t help but notice that there was nothing attached to the keys. No other keys, nor any keychain of sorts. The lack of a house key raised some questions in his head.

“The backseat gets pretty cramped, you can put your suitcase up front.”

“That’s alright. I’d like to sketch a bit on the way.”

The smile fell a little, but was quickly replaced as he moved around to open the car door for him. Kakyoin nodded, a pleasant but fake smile of his own still in place, and ducked into the car, setting the suitcase beside him. He gave the address of the hotel to Giorno as he settled into the driver’s seat, who quickly started up the car and began to drive. The hotel was across town, so thankfully he had time to try and learn more about him.

“So, Giorno, how old are you? You seem young.”

“I’m 13. Don’t worry though, I’ve been driving for quite a while now.”

Nodding, mostly to himself, he asked, “Shouldn’t you be in school around this time?”

“No, I’m not in school currently.”

Kakyoin’s brow furrowed. He knew there weren’t any holidays or breaks at the moment, meaning Giorno wasn’t going to school at all.

“And your parents are okay with that?”

Giorno’s grip on the wheel tightened a little. His knuckles paled a bit from the force.

“With all due respect, signore, that is not your concern,” he said, his voice slightly strained.

‘Well,’ Kakyoin thought, ‘That’ll be something to look into.’ He still didn’t trust him, and he’d definitely not let the kid go unmonitored, but something clearly wasn’t right with the situation. He opened his suitcase, pulling out his sketchbook absentmindedly. A different approach would have to be taken, to make sure the kid didn’t get suspicious.

“I’m sorry. It was rude of me to pry like that.”

Giorno’s shoulders relaxed slightly, “Thank you.”

Opening his sketchbook he decided to revise some of his sketches, as well as add some rough outlines of some of the sights they drove by. The more time that passed the more Giorno seemed to relax. He didn’t try to start up conversation again for the drive, he had already pushed enough for now and putting the kid on edge would do him no favors.

“Here we are,” Giorno said, pulling to the side of the road.

“Thank you. So you know the city pretty well?” He asked, stepping out of the car.

“I do. Anything you’re looking for in particular?” He stepped out of the car as well.

“Where would be the best spots to visit in the city?”

“There’s a popular spot around-“

“No, no. I mean, where are the places that you think are the best? Anyone can go to a tourist trap, where would I go if I lived here?”

“Ah. In that case... do you have a map? I can mark down some places for you,” Giorno said as he lifted Kakyoin’s case out of the car, handing it to him.

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” he grabbed out his map, handing it to the boy. He watched intently while Giorno began circling some places on the map, leaving a few notes of what each place was.

Soon enough the map was handed back with a wide smile. Noriaki took a glance at the map, the handwriting was small and neat. Putting his map back into the suitcase he turned back to Giorno.

“Thank you, Giorno. I look forward to visiting them.”

Giorno nodded, “I’m always happy to help, Signore,” he stepped back into his car, “Ciao!”

Without waiting for a reply the boy had already driven off. So Noriaki shrugged, picking up his suitcase and headed into the hotel. Testing Hierophant’s connection around the boy’s ankle found it was still solid. He made it to the front desk quickly, but when he reached into his pocket, his wallet was nowhere to be found.

He would be impressed that Giorno had managed to take it without him noticing, if it wasn’t such a pain in the ass. Shaking his head, he turned back to the concierge to explain that he would be back to check in. Leaving his luggage there before stepping outside to track the boy down. He closed his eyes, focusing on the tendril around Giorno’s ankle. The kid was still driving. He had made it five blocks or so by now.

Moving behind the hotel he used Hierophant to propel himself up to the roof. The stand carried him from rooftop to rooftop, following the tendril towards the thief.

The direct line through the city made it easier to catch sight of the car as it drove through the winding streets. And it took little time for him to catch up, moving quickly on top of the houses until he was almost directly above the car.

With the distance closing now he sent more strength into the connecting tendril, coiling it outwards onto the brake pedal. He pressed down slowly until the car slowed enough that Giorno had no choice but to pull to the side of the road. At the last second of parking he pushed down completely with Hierophant, causing the boy inside to jolt forward. The kid stole his wallet, afterall, it only seemed fair.

He chuckled to himself a bit as he dropped down from the roof, carried by Hierophant to cushion the impact. Inside the car, the boy was looking down, trying to figure out what had caused his brake to stay so stuck to the car floor. Noriaki couldn’t help the smirk growing on his face as he moved to the driver side window, tapping on the glass.

Giorno jumped, his eyes widened as he saw Kakyoin through the window. He stepped back, allowing the kid to get out. His shoulders were stiff but he still held Kakyoin’s eye as he climbed out of the car.

“Giorno, right? You wouldn’t happen to have seen my wallet, would you?” he asked, smirk still present on his face.

Giorno sighed, he quickly reached into his pocket. He held out the wallet, not quite meeting his eyes. Kakyoin took the wallet back, putting it into a pocket inside of his jacket.

“Signore, I was j-“

“Giorno,” he said sharply, cutting him off. The boy's frame tightened into itself, though he was trying to be subtle about it. He was scared. Kakyoin’s shoulder’s dropped slightly before he continued,

“Why did you steal my wallet?”

“What?” He looked up, into Kakyoin’s eyes. Confusion clear in his eyes.

“You had some reason to steal from me, right?”

“Well-“

“So why?”

Giorno’s brow furrowed as he continued to stare at the man, “Because I need money. Nothing in this world is free, signore.”

“You’re a child, you shouldn’t need to be pickpocketing. What about your mother?”

A small flash of anger crossed the boy's face before it settled back into its usual passivity.

“She is no longer...” he paused, his eyes hardened , “Why are you asking about my mother? Wouldn’t it make more sense to ask about my father? Since it would most likely be him that provided?”

The smirk dropped from his face, and he saw Giorno’s mouth turn upwards minutely in response. He should have expected that, and should have been more careful in the first place. But he hadn’t expected him to be that observant. But the kid was still hardly a threat, Giorno almost definitely hadn’t manifested a stand yet. And while this certainly wasn’t Kakyoin’s original plan, he supposed the more direct route would work well here.

“You’re sharp... Haruno.”

His eyes widened again, the stern look completely vanishing while Kakyoin regained his smirk.

“How did you-?”

“Your name is Haruno Shiobana, right? You were born in Japan, and lived there until you moved to Italy at age four. There’s surprisingly little about you that we were able to find out. No school records, no address. I suppose that’s because you use a fake name?”

Giorno was glaring at him now, hands fisted at his sides, shaking slightly.

“It’s not a fake name. My name is Giorno, and it has been for years. I don’t know who you are, Tenmei, but I won’t be intimidated by you. By ‘we’ I’m guessing you’re some mafioso?”

He admired the boy’s bravery, even if it was naive. Especially if he had been one of the criminals Giorno seemed to think he was.

“I’m not with any mafia, Giorno. I was simply sent here to observe you. But I can’t check into my hotel when my wallet’s been stolen. So, obviously, I had to adjust those plans.”

“Why? Who are you?”

“Well, my name is Noriaki Kakyoin. As for why? Well, that’s a little complicated. Would you mind if we sat down?” He swept his hand towards a nearby bench, “My back is killing me.”

He hardly waited for a reply as he began walking towards the bench. But he wasn’t surprised when Giorno followed after him. He sat down beside Noriaki as he slightly loosened his brace. Giorno watched the process curiously.

“Is there something wrong with your back?” The teen asked.

“Trying to figure out a weakness?” He half-heartedly glared down at him. Giorno’s back straightened, his mouth opening to reply, when Noriaki continued.

“I’m joking, Giorno. Yes, my back was destroyed many years ago. But you still wouldn’t be able to use that against me.”

“What happened?” Giorno asked, electing to just not acknowledge Kakyoin’s last sentence.

He held a finger up, “That is a story that I won’t be telling you more than once. So you’ll have to be patient, there’s a lot of information that I have to tell you before that. You wanted to know why I was here, right?”

“Yes... but I can’t imagine how your back has anything to do with spying on me.”

“Ha. It does seem improbable, doesn't it? Tell me, Giorno, how much do you know about your biological father?”

His eyes widened, “My father? Well, his name was Dio...” he trailed off.

“Right. I expected you to know at least that much. And?”

“I don’t know anything about him, really. She never talked about him. But I do have a photo of him. Though, it doesn’t show his face at all.”

That surprised Kakyoin. His eyebrow shot up.

“Would you happen to have the picture with you?”

He reached into a back pocket and took his wallet out, opening it to face Kakyoin. Inside, there was indeed a picture of Dio. He pushed down the shudder of revulsion he felt. It looked just like the photo Mr. Joestar had taken with Hermit Purple.

The disgust must have been showing on his face, because Giorno quickly closed the wallet and put it back into his pocket.

“Do you know my father?”

“In a way, yes. I knew him.”

“Is that why you’re here? My father sent you?”

“No.” He snapped before he could stop himself, he saw Giorno’s face fall,

“No. I’m... not here because your father sent me.”

“Then... why?”

Kakyoin calmed himself again as he looked at him.

“I’m here... because... well to be honest, I’m here because I wanted to know how much like your father you are.You’re nothing like him. But that’s definitely for the best. There’s a few more things that I’d like to check, and a test or two. But you don’t have to worry about that quite yet.”

Giorno looked away as he finished, a hand coming to his chin, processing.

“Was he responsible...? For your… back?”

Kakyoin was quite impressed by the boy's intuitiveness, “Yes.”

He looked back at Kakyoin, “Will you tell me what happened? I understand it may be a long story, but I want to know what happened.”

“I will tell you, Giorno. But for now, I need to check into my hotel room. I just had to chase a car around Naples. And I am not as young as I once was,” Giorno chuckled a little.

“I’ll drive you back.”

Giorno stood and offered a hand. Kakyoin only hesitated a moment before accepting his help up. Once Kakyoin was standing on his own Giorno turned towards the car, fishing his keys out of his pocket.

This time Kakyoin sat in the passenger seat of the car. Leaning back as they made their way back to his hotel. It only took a minute to arrive back in front of the hotel.They both got out of the car again. Kakyoin looked back at the boy,

“Do you have a cellphone?”

He shook his head.

“Alright. Then I’ll need your address, so I can find you again.”

“Can’t you just track me like you did today?”

“I could do that, but it’d be pretty inefficient if you’re moving across the city with me just chasing after you. And to be frank, I’d rather not do that to my back again.”

Giorno looked down, eyebrows drawing together. But Kakyoin was patient as he stood silent for a minute. Giorno sighed,

“That’s going to be a problem, since I don’t have an address.”

Despite the admission, Giorno now held his head up, looking Kakyoin in the eye. There was no sign of emotion in his eyes again, which seemed worse to Kakyoin. In a way.

“You don’t have an address?... So you don’t have a home? I assumed you’d be living with your mother.”

“I haven’t lived with my... parents for months now. So I’ll be parked nearby, I won’t be going anywhere.”

With that he gave a tense nod, turning to get back in his car. Kakyoin stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Giorno, I can’t in good conscience just leave you to sleep in your car. Come on, we’ll get you a room.”

The young teens brow furrowed again, “That’s really not necessary. I don’t need your pity, signore”

Kakyoin just shook his head. He respected the kids' distaste of pity, but it had been a long day, “Think of it like this then; if I decide I need to ask you more questions sooner, or vice versa, then it’ll be easier to resolve it quickly.”

And before the boy could protest, Kakyoin added, “Now, you can park the car, I should have our room keys by the time you get back.”

He slipped Hierophant’s tendril back around Giorno’s ankle as he turned, leaving no room for refusal. Without looking back he could feel the tendril of Hierophant move with the boy as he moved the car. He was worried he’d just try to drive off, but he didn’t go far and quickly enough Giorno returned. He entered the hotel, looking almost nervous. Kakyoin managed to get their rooms sorted by the time Giorno stepped up to him.

The room he had booked for Giorno was on the same floor as his own, a benefit of having Speedwagon Foundation connections. He handed the key to Giorno, before taking his suitcase and moving towards the elevator. Giorno himself hadn’t brought anything in but his car keys.It was clear that he was going to have to do something about the boy’s living situation. The trip to their rooms was spent in silence, until they came across Giorno’s room. Kakyoin held out his hand towards the door.

“This room will be yours, mine is down the hall, third on the right,” Giorno nodded. “Don’t hesitate to come get me if you need help with anything.”

He handed Giorno the spare keys to his own room before he began moving down the hallway again. From behind him, Giorno said, “Thank you, Mr. Kakyoin.”

Kakyoin smiled as he looked back towards Giorno, nodding in acknowledgment before he moved into his room. Settling in quickly enough, he opened up his laptop on the room’s small desk. He pulled up the foundation's archives, searching the name Giorno Giovanna to see if he could find any more information on the boy. But was disappointed to see that there was even less information on the name than there had been with Haruno Shiobana. There were still no school records, or frankly, anything that was listed with the boy’s information. He had his own suspicions about why that was the case, from what he’d seen and heard from Giorno so far. But he had time now, he supposed, to ask Giorno himself about the lack of documentation. He would start asking him questions in the morning but in the meantime some rest would do them both good. So he closed his laptop, and went to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully for Kakyoin, he supposed that meant that Giorno hadn’t needed help. Or that he had inherited the same stubbornness that Mr. Joestar and Jotaro had. They were related afterall, no matter how convoluted the connection may be. And it would be his luck, to have another stubborn Joestar to worry about.

-----

Giorno had been more than skeptical about Kakoyion. He must’ve been a fool to give Giorno his spare key, stealing from the room would be all too easy. But Giorno supposed that just made him even more of a fool, since he had no plan to try. Instead, he found the bathroom immediately, it had been too long since he had a proper shower and he was happy to get a chance at rectifying that fact.

He spent the night contemplating what had happened to him, maybe Kakyoin was planning more. Why else would someone be tracking someone like him down? There’s no way that this man would just offer him a hotel room like that without ulterior motives. His father had obviously done a lot of harm to him, was he here for some sort of revenge? That seemed most likely. But he could see little point in that. He would never work as leverage. Or maybe he just wanted to kill Giorno for some weird sense of closure.

‘Well,’ he thought,’I never expected to make it this far.’

Long ago he had learned that hope was useless, he carried a dream to rid Italy of drugs, but simply hoping for some change would never achieve anything. To hope that this man would actually just tell him about his father, and didn’t have any malicious intent? For Giorno to let himself believe that would be ludicrous.

Even so, he let himself sleep soundly, he’d never laid in such a soft bed before. He usually had a hard time getting to sleep, tuned in to each sound, each bump in the night waking him in case he was in danger. But the silence of the room and the warmth of the sheets had him sleeping in nearly no time.

-----

In the morning Kakyoin woke up as early as he could, even with jet lag being a hindrance. He made sure the two of them had breakfast before they settled into Giorno’s room for a long talk. Through most of the story Kakyoin could tell the boy was having a hard time believing anything the man was saying. He had to pull up different files on his computer, trying to show the authenticity of his statements. When the story had come to a close he could see that the boy in front of him was still processing a lot of the details, eyebrows furrowed as he scanned Kakyoin’s face with eyes flitting to the computer screen.

He decided it would be best if he let Giorno have time to process it on his own. Leaving the computer, he told Giorno that he was going to get a coffee from a cafe he had seen down the street before returning to his hotel room. It was only two hours later that Giorno sought him out again. After reading through the files over and over again he had come to accept the information within them. But he still wanted to hear about his father from someone who had actually met him, even if there was nothing nice to be said. When he knocked on Kakyoin’s door he felt exhausted, but he needed to talk to him.

When Kakyoin opened the door he could see that Giorno was tired, he motioned for the boy to sit on the bed while he sat at the small desk across from the bed. He hadn’t put his braces back on when he came back to the hotel, so they sat next to Giorno, spread out against the sheets. Giorno’s eyes locked onto them as he sat down.

“It’s Dio’s fault you have to use these.”

“Yes,” He was kind of surprised by the line, they had already discussed what happened to his back.

“He would have killed you without a second thought, he would’ve been happy about it.”

“Yes, I’m sure he thought I was dead when he left me there. I was one of the lucky ones, it’s impossible to know how many people he killed.”

“He was a monster,” it didn’t escape Kakyoin’s notice that Giorno’s hands were shaking.

He stood from the chair, slowly approaching the kid. He realized he had liked the kid not because of any unnatural charm he had gotten from Dio, but because the kid was another victim of the vampires, in his own way. Giorno didn’t look up at him as he knelt in front of him. Kakyoin laid his hand over Giorno’s, stopping the trembling for a second as the boy looked into his eyes. He wanted to draw the kid into a hug, try to stop the trembling, but knew it wouldn’t be appreciated. Not right now. Giorno continued,

“I used to dream that one day he’d come for me. Take me out of that house, save me from everything. It was a useless hope, but I had nothing else. He was the only one.... who hadn’t hurt me. But he wouldn’t have saved me, he was a monster.”

The trembling had gotten worse, but his eyes still didn’t wetten. He flinched back a little when Kakyoin’s hand closed around his more.

“Giorno, Dio was a monster. But look at it this way, if it weren’t for him then neither of us would be here now. Without him, sure my back may be more functional, but I never would have met my best friend. And I wouldn’t be sitting in front of you now.”

“That doesn’t make up for what he did.”

“You’re right. Nothing will ever make up for that. Instead, we make do with what’s left.”

“And I’m what’s left of him, aren’t I?”

“I came here in the first place to see if that was the case. But it’s not Giorno. What Dio did back then… none of that reflects on you. You remind me way more of the other Joestar’s than of Dio.”

Giorno looked up at Kakyoin’s face at that, no tears fell throughout their talk but Giorno’s upset was evident through his shaking, “The file talked about Johnathan Joestar, how Dio took his… The birthmark was his, right?” Kakyoin nodded.

“That means I’m Johnathan’s son too… doesn’t it?”

“It does.”

“But the file didn’t say much about him. What was he like?”

Kakyoin laughed, moving to sit beside Giorno now, “Well, if he was anything like Jotaro and his grandfather, then he was a stubborn guy who always put himself in danger.”

Giorno smiled slightly at that, “I don’t know too much about him. But,” he said, trying to stave off any of the boy's disappointment, “I’m sure Mr. Joestar would be happy to tell you what he knows. He’s getting pretty old now though, we might have to fly out to him if you want to actually meet him.”

When he looked over again Giorno had his hand on his chin, deep in thought, “I’d like to know more about him, and perhaps my other.... relatives? I’m not sure they’d be excited to meet me though, they have more than enough reason to hate me.”

“They might be wary at first, but they’re not going to hate you for what Dio did.”

“Hmm… The file also mentioned something about Stands… My father being a vampire is already hard enough to believe, but Stands?”

“Ah, right. I can imagine how hard it must be to comprehend.”

“You have a stand as well, don’t you?”

“I do, I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.”

“How do they really work?”

“They are a manifestation of your soul. Each stand has a unique power. Dio’s stand, The World, could stop time. I once met a baby who’s stand could kill you in your sleep, but erased your memory if you happened to wake up. Anything’s possible when it comes to stand powers.”

“What about your stand?”

“It’s called Hierophant Green, pretty powerful if I say so myself. Maybe I’ll tell you about what he can do someday, but his main power is that he can control people from the inside out.”

“It puppets them?” Giorno asked, he looked suspicious, “Is that how you tracked me?”

“Oh no, I used Hierophant to track you, but I rarely use that power of his. And not if I can help it.”

“Why not?”

“When it comes to civilians, it wouldn't be honorable to use such power on someone who can’t even fight back. I won’t hold back in a fight, but stand users are harder to use it on as well, they can see him trying to invade them, afterall.”

“So could a stand, say… make plants grow quickly?”

“Yes,” he said somewhat suspiciously, “That sounds completely possible. Why do you ask?”

“Something that happened a few years ago is all. I think I may have seen a man that had that ability.”

“What happened?”

“... Nothing more than that, really. I haven’t seen him in a long time now, he could be dead by now. But he was hiding from some mafioso. If the weeds hadn’t sprouted like they did the men would have found him easily.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the man did have a stand then.”

Giorno didn’t respond, looking away in thought.

“Are you alright, Giorno?”

“I’m… fine.”

“It’s okay if you’re not.”

His eyes flashed to Noriaki, his brow furrowing.

“I… will be fine. It’s simply… a lot.”

“I understand, you probably need more time to process.”

He shook his head, “Time won’t change any of the information.”

“No, but it’ll let you have a clear head. We still have other things to talk about, but I’d prefer if you weren’t too overwhelmed when we did.”

With that, he stood from the bed, leading Giorno up and towards the door, “Now, let me put my braces back on and we’ll get dinner.”

-----

The next few days were spent sending data back and forth from the foundation, and long talks between him and Giorno. During that time Kakyoin had also been looking into what he could do about the kids' situation. Giorno had yet to tell him what had happened for him to end up as he did, but the man could ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. So a week into their growing routine brought his idea to Giorno.

“You want to… adopt me?”

“If I was your legal guardian I could sign you up for school, we could set up an allowance of sorts with the Speedwagon Foundation. You wouldn’t have to live in a car. I already have my eye on a school, and a house nearby that you could reside in.”

The boy sat with wide eyes, stunned at Kakyoin, who smiled back at him. He stood up quickly, pacing back and forth.

“But why would you do such a thing?”

“I’m not just going to have you go back to living on the street, Giorno.”

“But there’s no reason for you to do this. There’s no benefit for you.”

“Of course there is. After all, I get a nice new house in a scenic spot in Italy. And you can’t think that this past week has been all the tests and questions the Foundation wants to ask you, right?”

“... I guess so. But there would be so many easier ways for you. Ones that wouldn’t make you have to take on this burden.”

“It won’t be a burden, Giorno,” He was working to keep his voice level, he’d like to pay a visit to whoever taught the boy to disregard himself like this, “I’m not going to force you to accept this but I can’t just let you go back to living on the street, scamming just to provide for yourself. We’re friends now, and I’d do anything to help my friends.”

He seemed lost at that, “Okay…” He said after a minute, reaching forward to grab the paper again. With one final examination, he set the paper on the table and signed along the bottom.

-----

Things changed quickly after that, while tests were still going on Giorno was now also swept into the chaos of getting paperwork through for Kakyoin to become his guardian. It was a long process since they didn’t want his mother to catch wind. As well as applying to a new school and going with Kakyoin to look at a house. It was close to the school and even though he’d have a dorm, he could easily get back to the house if he wanted. The house itself was nearly picturesque, large enough to accommodate far more people than just the two of them, but it still felt cozy to Giorno. Though he supposed he had little reference for that.

The most overwhelming day by far had been when Kakyoin took him clothes shopping. But he did end up with a few outfits he was rather happy with. It felt strange to him, this swift and sudden change, but he also felt himself settling in. That was a strange feeling to him as well, he knew that it was foolish to just go along with the whims of this man he’d met just a few weeks ago now, and it would definitely be a while before he truly trusted the man. But he found that he wanted to trust Kakyoin.

He let Giorno have first claim of a bedroom, rationalizing that he would be away often enough that Giorno should get the more comfortable room. He also stopped Giorno when he tried to reason how he’d be staying in his dorm a lot of the time. The house was already furnished, which made it easier as well. By the end of the next week they had properly settled in, Kakyoin even made dinner to celebrate, a japanese dish that he explained he’d learned from a woman named Holly. Another relative that Giorno was going to have to meet some day.

Of course, the time eventually came when Giorno started school and Kakyoin was called away on other missions. But they still grew closer, and their trust in each other grew. It was a few months after that that the opportunity arose for Giorno to meet the Joestars. There was a small break from school, and Kakyoin had finished his most recent assignment. He explained to Giorno that the case Jotaro had been working on had ended, and that it was the perfect time to see both him and Joseph Joestar before they went back to America.

So after a long plane ride, they landed in Japan and took a cab to the coastal town of Morioh. Jotaro was already waiting for them at the hotel, Joseph sat behind him as well cooing over a baby in his arms. Giorno stood behind Kakyoin as he greeted his old friends. Jotaro’s harsh gaze turned to him quickly, though. He avoided the man’s gaze, he tried to hide his flinch when he felt Kakyoin’s hand on his shoulder, leading him forward.

“This is Giorno, I’m sure you’ve seen the file.”

“This is Dio’s son?” A tense second passed after that, only to be broken by Joseph

“He doesn’t look like him, does he?” Commented the old man.

They all seemed to ease after that, especially once Joseph’s son Josuke rushed into the room to meet with them. He greeted the younger boy jovially before turning his attention on the older men. Giorno had trouble understanding some of the conversation, his Japanese being very rusty, but listened intently to anything the men said. More than eager to learn about the family. Josuke seemed interested in their stories as well, which made it easier on Giorno since he no longer had to be the one asking questions. As the day went on Giorno seemed to relax more, a look of awe slowly dawning on his face and Noriaki found himself smiling at the site.

The rest of the days spent in Morioh were spent much the same, Giorno let himself be dragged throughout Morioh by Josuke and his friends. Josuke told him stories about what had happened in the town in the last few months, exaggerating many of the details. Kakyoin would meet back up with him so they, along with Jotaro, would get dinner together. It gave the men more opportunity to tell Giorno about their travels, the work they did for the Foundation, and their journey to kill Dio. Kakyoin’s plan had seemed to work, Jotaro had grown fond of Giorno as well. Though he’d never really show that, it was only because of the years they’ve known each other that he could tell.

At the end of the week they had seen Jotaro and Mr. Joestar off at the dock. Giorno looked on as Josuke nabbed his father’s wallet, hiding his chuckle behind a hand. Kakyoin did nothing to hide his own laughter, but grabbed the wallet, winked to Giorno and Josuke as he gave Josuke the money, and gave the wallet itself to Hierophant Green. His stand flew forward until it could hand the, much lighter, wallet back to the old man. On the ship he could see Mr.Joestar take the wallet, shaking his head.

When the time came for him to return to Italy Giorno was almost hesitant, the town had grown on him in the short time he’d been there and he was going to miss it. He had fun running around town with Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi. The hesitation didn’t last long, however, he was missing his own home as well. Josuke surprised him with a lifting hug, as they were on their way to the plane, and he froze at the contact. After a few moments he carefully patted the older teen on the back. It was once Kakyoin put a hand on his shoulder that he set Giorno down. Ruffling Giorno’s hair and nodding a goodbye to Kakyoin, who returned the gesture, before he ran back to where his friend’s stood. Waving towards the two departing. The farewell was nice, it left a warm feeling in his chest that stayed quite a while.

-----

They fell back into a normal routine, Giorno would go to school and stay in his dorm room for the week, then stay at their house over the weekend. He still also carries on working as a taxi service, but now never pulled the scams he once had to. Kakyoin was usually away on various missions, but he tried to see the teen regularly. More than just being with him for any tests the Foundation deemed to conduct, he would sit with Giorno telling him about what had happened on his missions. He made sure to ask Giorno about his schooling, he had quickly realized that Giorno did not volunteer the information unless he asked first. The trust they built over time had done a lot, but it did not mean that Giorno was an open book. There were still plenty of things that neither of them brought up.

It was about the month before his birthday that Kakyoin got a call from him, it was early in the morning in Italy and his voice was frantic. It took a minute for him to calm down,

“Noriaki,” he had started calling him by his given name a few months after they had met, “I think I have a stand.”

The news surprised him, but he had expected it to happen one day, “That’s good, Giorno!”

“No. You don’t understand…”

“What is it? Is something wrong with your stand?”

“No it’s.... my hair…”

“Your hair?”

“It changed. It’s long and wavy and it… I look like him…”

Noriaki’s blood ran cold, it was obvious who Giorno was talking about.

“It’s okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Your hair doesn’t change who you are.”

“But it’s his hair, and my stand… it’s gold too. You said his stand was golden, wasn’t it?”

“It was… but you have a good heart, Giorno. Your stand will reflect that. Do you know what it does yet?”

“I’m not really sure yet… it made me a flower.”

“A flower?” He felt his heart lighten at the thought.

“Chrysanthemum and blue violets.”

“Perhaps it’s trying to tell you something?” He remembered a talk they had had on Giorno’s interest in flower language.

“Friendship… and devotion?”

He chuckled, “Did I ever tell you why it’s called a stand?”

“No… I don’t think so.”

“Because it will always stand by your side, it’s telling you so itself.”

“Oh.”

“There’s nothing to worry about Giorno, I’ll be there in a few hours. I’m heading to the airport right away.”

“It’s.... you don’t have to. I know you’re busy.”

“The other’s can take care of it from here. I’m glad you called.”

By lunchtime Noriaki was walking in the front door, calling out for the boy. He emerged from the hallway with the stairs, his eyes cast down. His hair was hanging down with most of it cast behind him, dropping down to his shoulder blades. It looked just like Dio’s, maybe a little longer. Much longer than it had been less than a week ago, gone was the stark black and straight hair. He was silent for a moment, observing the change in the boy, before he called out Hierophant Green to move towards him. It caught Giorno’s eye as he looked up to view the stand. It reached towards him, and his eyes widened. His own stand emerged, which he seemed surprised about himself. It was, in fact, very golden. He moved forward to get a closer look at it as the two stands came face to face. In a moment the smaller stand had embraced Hierophant. Noriaki could feel the pressure of the embrace, and as Hierophant returned the hug he could tell that Giorno could too, though he looked more freaked out.

“He’s a close range stand. You can feel everything he does, right?”

“Yes.”

“I can too, with Hierophant. He seems affectionate,” Hierophant brought it’s hand to the top of the stand head, “Now we can work to figure out what it’s power is.”

He looked interested in the prospect as he looked back at his stand, “But,” he looked back at Noriaki, “Let’s do something about that hair. You’re not used to long hair, maybe we should do something with it?”

Giorno paled a little at that, toying with the long locks. Their stands separated as Noriaki led him upstairs into the bathroom where he kept his hair supplies. Giorno kept a straight face as he let him mess with his hair, but he certainly wasn’t used to someone else doing anything with it. By the end, however, he had taken over from Kakyoin’s messing around. Kakyoin continued to watch Giorno experiment with the long blond hair until he was happy with how his hair looked, a braid down his back and three victory rolls at the front. It helped keep the hair in place and out of his way, though he’d have to practice doing it now. He couldn’t spend hours doing it everyday, afterall.

“Perfect! Now, let’s grab something to eat and we’ll start figuring out what powers your stand has. Once we figure that out, we can start training you to use it.”

Giorno put on his blue suit, and found that he didn’t mind the gold hair. It looked rather good, if he was being honest with himself. But he was scared to see how Jotaro would react to his new hair, they hadn’t spoken much since Morioh, only a phone call or two between them, but he knew how much he hated Dio. It was useless to worry about it right now, and Noriaki had probably already told him about what had happened.

They stopped by a cafe down the street for a simple dinner, both eating quickly since they were eager to see what the stand was capable of. As they ate Noriaki realized that Giorno hadn’t told him the name that he’d chosen for the stand yet.

“Have you chosen a name for it yet?”

“A name?”

“It’s going to be your partner, you should give him a name.”

“Hmm…” He thought for a minute, “Gold Experience. Gold for short”

Gold appeared again, user and stand stared at each other. A small, nearly invisible smile appeared on the stand’s face as it looked at him. It moved around until it was draped onto Giorno’s back. It was a little ironic, for him to have such an affectionate stand, given that he had only started to accept any sort of affection. But Noriaki had a similar relationship with his stand. His first friend and confidant. He was glad for the teen, and fascinated to see what powers this new stand contained.

After their quick dinner they returned home. They knew that the stand must have something to do with plants, seeing as it had made the flowers that it presented to Giorno. There had to be nuance though, it seemed unlikely that it was simply able to create foliage from nothing. So they sat across from each other as Gold Experience was called out. It tentatively reached out a hand, brushing against a tissue box that rested there, immediately the box shifted form until a frog sat in its place. It picked up the amphibian, presenting it to Noriaki happily, and then handed it to Giorno himself. With another tap of it’s hand the frog turned back into the tissue box. The man considered the stand carefully.

“So it can create plants and animals out of objects, and it’s close range?”

Giorno put a hand to his chin, “Do you remember when I told you about the man I thought had a stand?”

He did, and he could also see the line of logic that Giorno was following, “You think it could’ve been your stand instead?”

“Perhaps.”

“I’d say it’s very likely.”

The possibilities of Giorno’s stand occupied them for a good week, and they spent a lot of time within a nearby Speedwagon facility just experimenting with Gold Experience’s abilities. With the two of them working together they thought of tons of things to test the limits of the stand, but some of the things they learned were purely by coincidence.

They were sparring, trying to find creative ways to use their stands in order to get the upper hand. Giorno had sprouted a tree in the middle of the room, right as Noriaki sent out one of Hierophant’s tendrils. When it made contact Noriaki was knocked off his feet from an unknown force. Immediately Giorno was rushing forward, dismissing his stand and reverting the tree.

“Are you okay, Noriaki?”

“I’m okay. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know. You just hit the tree and it looked like you were knocked backwards.”

Hitting something made by the stand would reflect the force back to the attacker. It seemed like everyday they discovered something new about the stand. Another day they discovered the strange occurrence that happened when someone was punched by the stand.

It seemed to almost have it’s own personality that differed from Giorno, it also seemed that it could be used for healing. It was one of the most complex stands Noriaki had seen in his life. He could clearly see how useful the stand would be for Giorno, and how well it fit him.

The sparring and experimentation persisted even after the week was out, and simply became part of their normal schedule. It ended up helping them grow closer as well, with many hours spent trying to outwit each other it seemed natural that they learned more about each other and their stands over time. Noriaki was proud of how far the boy's training had advanced, and how quickly he became adept at using his stand in fights.

With the revelation of his stand, Giorno started studying biology even more. It was already his favorite subject, but now with his stand the information allowed him to understand and use his stand in more creative ways. He also began studying human physiology, with the thought that maybe he could find a way to heal Noriaki’s back problems. Make up for his biological father’s cruelty. He studied every book he could find on the subject, until he knew the inner workings memorized like the back of his hand. Continually, one dilemma kept coming up. Gold Experience healed by replacing dead or missing parts of the body. So the only way to help him would be to kill or destroy the area and replace it with new living material. It would have been way too risky to actually do, not to mention the fact that Giorno could never hurt Noriaki in the same way Dio did, even if he was trying to help.

He spent the better part of the year researching in his free time, any time he wasn’t spending at school or at the Speedwagon institute, before he brought his findings to Kakyoin. The man was definitely surprised. It was actually on the boy’s 15th birthday that he asked to talk with him. The weekend was supposed to be spent on birthday celebrations for Giorno.

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this?” He asked with a fond smile.

“I’ve tried to figure out how to do it without having to cause any more harm but I can’t figure out a way around it. But I’m sure with the two of us working together we could figure it out.” There was a fire in his eyes, Noriaki could clearly see his determination to figure this out.

“I’m not sure if it’s possible, Giogio.”

“But it has to be. I’m so close, I just have to figure it out.”

“You’re a smart kid, if anyone can figure it out it’ll be you. But promise me that you won’t hold it against yourself if you can’t.”

“I won’t, because I’ll succeed.”

“Are you still doing the taxi service at the airport? You know you don’t need to,” He changed the subject.

“I know, you make sure I don’t. But I still have my dream, and the best way to do that is by getting some local attention. I’m not stealing anything anymore.”

They had had this conversation before, about Giorno’s dream. One that Noriaki tentatively supported. He had made it clear that he’d support his endeavor to help his city by getting rid of drugs, but he had to maintain a moral code. With his ties to the Foundation, Noriaki wouldn’t hesitate to pull Giorno out if he got into trouble.

“I’d ground your ass if you did,” he wouldn’t, but it was fun to act like some strict parent to Giorno sometimes. The boy just rolled his eyes.

“Sure you will, Nori.”

“Maybe I’ll just keep your birthday presents instead then.”

“You… got me something for my birthday?” He looked confused.

“Of course I did, it’s your birthday.”

“But...I didn’t get you anything for your birthday this year.”

“I’m your guardian, I don’t really expect you to. Besides, I never told you my birthday beforehand. Hardly your fault.”

He reached back, pulling a small box from behind his chair in the front room, reaching it out to Giorno.

“Saw these and thought of you.”

Inside the box laid three blue brooches, fashioned to look like ladybugs. He gently took them out of the box, turning them in his hand before he fastened them both to either side of his pink suit and at his hip.

“You like them then?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I got that chocolate pudding that you like as well, it’s in the fridge.”

He looked up from staring at his new brooches, “Thank you, I mean it.”

“I know you do, Giogio.”

The rest of his birthday was spent around town, picking up a few school supplies and new supplies Kakyoin would need for his next mission, along with a few more small items to celebrate, and finally a stop at Giorno’s favorite gelato shop. He ordered his favorite, Pistachio and Chocolate. And they watched the sun slowly set from a nearby bench, letting Noriaki’s back rest before they started their walk home. It was a nice, peaceful weekend before Noriaki had to resume his current case and Giorno went back to his dorms.

The mission went longer than expected, and Giorno was starting to worry. He was studying in his dorm room when his phone rang, Jotaro’s number. Immediately he knew it was about Noriaki, and opened the phone.

“Jotaro? What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Giorno, Kakyoin got hurt on his mission,” he felt his blood run cold, “He’s gonna be okay, don’t worry. The Foundation is sending him home tomorrow, but he’s gonna need someone to take care of him.”

“If he needs to be taken care of, why aren’t they keeping him in the hospital?”

“You know how stubborn the bastard can be. He’s insisting. But he’ll still be in bad shape when he gets there, just take care of him, okay?”

“Fine, when’s he going to get here?”

“Around noon.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

He stood outside the airport gate the next day, until he saw Jotaro pushing Kakyoin in a wheelchair. Both men looked pissed off, and both seemed to avoid looking at the other. When Kakyoin saw Giorno standing next to the doors he turned toward Jotaro,

“Did you tell him to be here? It’s a school day.”

“I’ve already gotten the homework I need to complete,”

“Besides,” said Jotaro, “It’s not like we were any better, how many days did you miss again when you were 17?”

“That’s completely different, and you know it Jotaro.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, “You need help.”

The two men continued to argue as they made their way to Giorno’s car. After helping Kakyoin into the backseat, Jotaro took the car keys. Giorno sat beside him in the back. The car ride home was quiet, and a little tense. The man’s room was on the second floor, Jotaro tried to pick him up but he refused, slowly walking up the steps while clinging to the railing. He couldn’t hide his exhaustion by the time he made it into bed. It was only the afternoon, but he fell asleep easily. Jotaro looked tired as well, so Giorno led him to the guest bedroom, where he also fell asleep. His flight back out of Italy was the next morning anyway, so a little rest wouldn’t hurt. But Giorno had little else to do with the men asleep.

Jotaro left before Noriaki woke up the next morning. His whole body ached, but he had to get up to use the bathroom. He heard Giorno in the kitchen and slowly went down to see him. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he caught Giorno’s attention.

“You shouldn’t be walking around, Jotaro says you need bed rest.”

“And you agree with him?”

“I do… You could have died, Nori.”

“I’m not dead, there’s no point in worrying about it.”

“What if you’re not so lucky next time?”

“Then what should I do, Giorno? Give up my job? I’m doing good things out there, my work is too important to just give up on.”

“... Let me help.”

“What?”

“Let me help with your missions.”

“You’re too young for that. And you’ve had your stand for less than a year.”

“I can already beat the other stand users at the foundation.”

“That’s in a spar. Against stands that you know the abilities of, you’re not ready for field work. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to achieve that dream of yours if you were out hunting stand users.”

“Then let me help research the cases with you.”

“When you’re older.”

“We both know that that’s bullshit.”

He sighed, he was too tired to have this argument, “When you’re 16, then I’ll let you start helping, deal?”

“That’s nearly a year away, you’ll do at least three missions in that time.”

“It’s seven months. Take it or leave it, kid.”

“Fine, but I’m holding you to it.”

Kakyoin knew he meant it, and he knew he’d probably regret making the promise. But for now, he let it go, and let himself rest.

It took a few weeks for him to recover, though he’d forced Giorno to resume school the next week. And it only took a week after that for him to find another assignment. Giorno tried to talk him out of it, he was still having trouble walking long distances. But there was no dissuading the man. He left a few days later, Giorno saw him off, reminding him of his promise.

-----

As Giorno’s birthday grew closer Noriaki did, in fact, regret making that promise. He had gotten the file for his next case, it was a more dangerous one than he’d gotten in a while as well. It made sense since the foundation seemed to be making sure he could heal before giving him the harder cases, but it would make Giorno worried. It was about a week and a half before his birthday, Noriaki decided to go out to some local shops, his mission here was over but his flight back wasn’t scheduled until the next day. It was then that he got the call from Giorno’s school.

He hadn’t been to class in the last week, and he wasn’t found in his dorm when teachers went to check up on him. His planned birthday gift was immediately forgotten, the school had no answer for why he hadn’t been notified earlier, he was furious. Wasting no time, he called Giorno’s cellphone. There was no answer. The plane ride planned for the next morning would have to be moved up immediately then. And the trip would be spent searching down whatever leads he could find. The only flight available at the time was to land in Rome, and he hurried off the plane into the late night.

As he rushed through the street something strange happened around him. He watched as people passing by him seemed to collapse, dissolving into some sort of mold substance. Approaching one of them seemed to be the wrong move, as he reached down his hand started dissolving in the same way as the others. He jerked his hand back in surprise, holding it up to his face, the mold seemed to stop spreading when he did. From much farther within the city he heard the sound of an explosion, it was uphill. He tentatively took a step, looking for more of the mold to grow, but it didn’t seem to. So he quickly made his way forward again, using Hierophant to propel him forward as he cradled his molded hand to his chest. By the time he made it to the street where the explosion clearly came from it was quiet, and the mold on his hand seemed to have disappeared. He lowered it, no mold appeared this time. He looked up to see strong vines holding a smoldering helicopter.

His heart stilled, Giorno must have been here. Hierophant was already propelling him upwards, he had to know if Giorno was up there. There was nothing indicating that he had been there, other than the strong vines. And a large beetle corpse that seemed to have gotten stuck in the vine’s tendrils. There was blood over the plant, as well as puddled on the building's roof. The scene made his heart race, there was only a faint blood trail left, that seemed to lead towards Rome’s colosseum. So he followed the trail, hoping he’d find Giorno in one piece.

A body laid across the street from the Colosseum’s entrance, a strange looking man. But Noriaki wasn’t here to investigate some weird happenings, he rushed forward towards the towering building. It was quickly after he ran into the main archway that a wave of exhaustion washed over him. As he tried to fight it, he simply grew more and more weak, until he could no longer go in. He was asleep before he knew it.

-----

Waking up near dawn the next morning was more than a little confusing for Giorno. First, he was inside of the turtle, and he quickly realized that he had switched bodies with Narancia. Mista and Trish had switched bodies as well. Abbachio laid next to the rest of them, and Bucciarati laid a small way away from them, both of them had yet to wake up. Narancia pulled out Aerosmith, thankfully they still had control of their stands.

A tortoise appeared on a pillar suddenly, he introduced himself as Jean-Pierre Polnareff. A name Giorno immediately recognized from the stories Noriaki and Jotaro had told him. This was the man that had helped kill Dio. What truly surprised him was that Polnareff seemed to know his name, and who all of them were. He must have had files on each of them, but doubted he didn’t seem to know about Giorno’s connection to his old friends.

Diavolo, the name of their foe, had killed him. Narancia confirmed the fact, stating that there was a body on the second floor. Along with an unconscious man, with long pink hair. He seemed to slowly be waking up too, they all rushed up when Narancia told them. Stands at the ready, but Polnareff told them to stay their hands.The unknown man shook his head, looking up to take in the people around him,

“The hell are you all looking at?”

“Abbachio?” Narancia asked, hesitantly.

“Who else would I be, rookie?”

They had to quickly explain what had happened, how they all had switched bodies. Abbachio looked at his own hands, the body he was currently residing in,

“So if I’m in the bosses body, that means that he’s-”

“Movement!” Narancia shouted, “At the eastern entrance!”

They all rushed to the arched opening, Giorno signalling for them to hide on either side as he held the tortoise. The person rushing into the building was perhaps the person he least expected, Noriaki Kakyoin was running full speed, though it seemed to pain him.

“Kakyoin!” He heard Polnareff gasp, “Look! It’s Silver Chariot, behind that pillar!”

As he saw the other’s in his group tense, readying for a fight, Giorno shouted, “Hold on! It’s not the boss!”

In a flash, Sticky Fingers appeared, slicing through the Requiem's arm that was holding the arrow. It was Bucciarati.

“Bucciarati!” Narancia shouted, “You’re back! Nice work boss!”

“I know that cadence,” he said, “Narancia?”

“Yeah! And Giorno’s in my body!”

They made quick work of telling Bucciarati which body they all resided in, including Polnareff.

“If Abbachio is in the Bosses body, it’s natural to conclude that his body-”

“Don’t worry about that,” Mista interrupted, “Hasn’t moved an inch, Seven’s keeping an eye on him.”

“And if I’m in this person’s body.”

Giorno jolted, of course! He shoved Polnareff into Trish’s arms and rushed towards Bucciarati’s body. There were shouts behind him, but he paid them no mind. The person on the ground started moving, pushing himself up. A familiar green stand appearing to help him up,

“Nori!” He shouted, hurrying to his side and crouching beside him.

Noriaki’s eyes widened, taking in his surroundings, the small teenager in front of him who had shouted his name. The people rushed towards him behind the teen. There was Giorno! But among the crowd running towards him was himself, in the same green suit he had been wearing the night before. He looked down, and was met with an unfamiliar set of hands, an unfamiliar body. A back that didn’t ache, he noticed. He looked back up towards the black haired teen beside him,

“Giogio?”

Giorno, surprisingly to everyone pulled the older man into a hug,

“Thank god you’re okay.”

The crowd behind the boy seemed to stop mid-step, eyes wide. Noriaki’s arms came up around the boy’s back as well. He slumped the smallest bit, knowing Giorno was safe. But he pulled back after a minute, he’d never been one for much physical affection either, afterall.

“What the hell were you thinking? Disappearing like that? I had to get a call from your school to know that you’d gone missing? And then you didn’t answer your phone!”

Giorno at least looked chastised. Behind him he heard Mista’s tentative voice, “Is that like, Giorno’s dad?” Kakyoin’s eyes were drawn to the others when Mista spoke. Particularly drawn to Bucciarati, who currently occupied his body.

“You must have a strong will, standing around, running like that.”

The rest of their group's eyes were drawn to Bucciarati, curious as to what the man meant. He did have a slight sheen of sweat covering his skin, but he stood his ground.

“Who are your friends, Giogio?”

“Who the hell are you?” Abbachio asked, “Why the hell are you here in the first place?”

“That might have to wait, your friend over there seems to be waking up.”

They whirled around to where Abbachio’s body laid, to see that he was correct,whoever was in the body was beginning to rouse, “Mista!” Abbachio shouted, “Shoot him!’

“But I could kill you!’

“Just shoot his legs, dammit! Now!”

Two shots rang out, and the figure dropped limp once more, writhing this time.

“Kakyoin!” Polnareff’s voice cut through the chaos, “Thank god you’re here!”

“I know that voice… Polnareff?” He looked down at the tortoise that Trish was holding out towards him.

“It’s been far too long, friend, but right now we don’t have time to catch up. We must retrieve the stand arrow from Silver Chariot Requiem before our foe, Diavolo, can obtain it.”

“We have a problem, guys,” Trish said, “I can’t sense the Boss anywhere nearby.”

“He’s not in Abbachio’s body?”

“No. So he must still be out there somewhere.”

“The Pistols say Chariot’s got the arrow back, he’s heading out of the colosseum!” Mista stated. And together they all started towards the way Bucciarati had entered, as they ran Kakyoin moved beside Bucciarati while keeping Giorno on his other side.

“If you have a stand,” he said as they moved, “I suggest you use it to support your back, I won’t be able to help you, since I’ll need my Hierophant for the battle ahead.”

The man took the advice, Sticky Fingers unraveled it’s own torso,leaving thick zippers to wrap around his torso. It seemed to help as they rushed forward, quickly catching up with the Requiem stand. It walked slowly, the arrow now gripped in his reattached arm. Rome was in chaos around them as the inhabitants began to wake up. Bucciarati walked to the side of the strange stand, observing it. It seemed to pay him no mind, even as he put a foot in front of its path. It tripped, the stand arrow being thrown away from it in the process.

Abbachio darted forward to reach the arrow. But as it was almost in his hand something strange happened, an arm appeared to break through his skin and reach up to close around his throat. Moody Blues appeared above him, rearing its arm back to attack its own user. Abbachio jerked back in surprise, and the stand seemed to disappear again just as quickly.

“What the hell?”

Mista took aim at the arrow with his pistol, firing a shot. Without the help of Trish’s Spice Girl it would have shot him in the head. His stand seemed to be unaware it was even doing it.

“It’s turning our stands against us!” Bucciarati shouted.

The idea shook Kakyoin to his core, the idea that his oldest friend could attack him. As they all took in the situation, Giorno moved slowly towards the arrow. His guardian moved to him, watched as he picked up a rock. He threw it towards the arrow, and Kakyoin barely managed to catch it as it seemed to appear behind Giorno’s head.

“Kakyoin!” Polnareff shouted, “It will deflect any attack from a stand user! But I am no longer a stand user!”

“You mean-”

Polnareff had already picked up the arrow within his mouth, he was unharmed. But Requiem stood quickly, and turned to face him. Sprinting towards the tortoise at full speed.

“Kakyoin, hurry! Take the arrow, and impale your stand!”

He spread out Hierophant’s tendrils, ensnaring Silver Chariot in an effort to hold the stand back from it’s target, Mista brought up his pistol to fire at the stands head. The custom pistol broke apart. And the advancing stand broke free of the green stand’s hold, the shifting material of it’s body seeming to move through the hold with ease.

“Giorno, take the arrow!” He shouted, as he lifted Polnareff. But it was too late, the stand had already taken hold of it again, and was still rushing forward, its sight set on Polnareff himself.

“He seeks to punish me for grabbing the arrow.”

“Nori, run!”

He did, weaving Hierophant around himself to move more effectively and scaled a nearby lamppost. All it took was a moment of lost sight on the strange stand, a bang to the post near his head, and Polnareff was no longer held in his hand. There was a gasp of pain below him. But Polnareff looked unharmed.

“Why did he stop attacking?”

“The next phase of his plan has begun. That is why he stopped attacking. I’ve begun to mutate!”

A small, grotesque head appeared beside the tortoise’s own

They looked around, Requiem moved slowly onward, and the civilians they saw in the distance seemed, indeed, to be mutating as well. The sides of their faces breaking out with new flesh itself. To their side, Mista seemed to be berating his stand.

“Dammit, none of you warned me it was so close to breaking,” Each Pistol, in turn, made excuses. Except for number Five,

“What if it was the Boss?”

While the other Pistols seemed to berate it for even wondering, Giorno and Kakyoin shared a look. He sent a nod to the younger man, approving of his plan. Mista had thankfully picked up another gun on their run here, but his pistol was irreparably broken.

“Requiem’s getting away!” Narancia shouted, the team turned, running back towards the shambling form.

“Hold on!” Kakyoin called, “All of you don’t move, and stay apart from each other.”

“And who the hell are you to be telling us what to do?” Abbachio shot back.

“Listen to him,” Giorno said, “We have a more pressing problem right now.”

“What are you talking about?” Mista asked, “The stand is getting away.”

“This enemies stand, it’s a close range stand, correct?”

“Yes,” Giorno confirmed, “He has the ability to manipulate our perception of time.”

He knew that the stands power would hit home to Noriaki, with his fight with Dio more than a decade ago. It was all the more reason why he had to know. The older man nodded back to him.

“Which means he has to be near us.”

“But he obviously isn’t!” Mista shouted, “It was just metal fatigue!”

“I think it possible that there are two Diavolo’s,” Polnareff supplied, “I saw another man come into the Colosseum. They share the same body, but are two distinctly different souls!”

“Which means that he could cling onto any body that he wanted to!”

“I believe he’s hiding within one of our bodies,” Giorno explained, “And this will be our evidence,” he lifted the broken pistol for the others to see.

“How’s that supposed to help?”

“If it had been metal fatigue then the pieces would fit, but look, it doesn’t.”

“A piece probably flew off!” Number One said.

“That’s why I gave life to one of the pieces, this mole may be blind but its nose makes up for it. And see, it’s found the missing piece!”

“It’s been crushed,” added Noriaki, “That wouldn’t have happened if it had just been metal fatigue. This Diavolo is here with us, and destroyed this gun.”

“What do you propose then?” Asked Bucciarati, “How do we know who he’s hiding in?”

“Giorno,” Noriaki prompted.

He nodded, he brought his hand up to his face, and bit into his finger. With the blood dripping down, he slowly moved toward Noriaki, reaching out his hand until his stand was able to touch his chest. There was a slight glow as the stand analyzed the man in front of him, Giorno kept an eye on the drops of blood all the while.

“I can check everyone,” He explained, “Since I can read life signatures, I can see if more than one soul resides in a body.”

“How do you know that he’s not in you? Huh, Giorno?” Mista shouted, “Can’t exactly test yourself like that.”

“And it could be in that turtle,” Narancia added, “You’d better check him as well.”

“I will, but there’s no way Diavolo would have let his host be attacked by Requiem like Polnareff was. Mista, You were the closest one to the gun, I’m going to check you first, okay?”

“I… fuck, fine.. Just do it quick, or we’re gonna lose Requiem!”

As he moved close to Mista he kept an eye on the blood dripping from his finger, it was when he had nearly gotten to him that the blood suddenly multiplied. Giorno’s arm was suddenly cut off. He yelled out in pain.

“Mista! He was hiding with you!” Trish shouted, pulling out her stand.

“No!” Bucciarati shouted, “He was hiding in your body, Trish!”

Noriaki moved forward, calling his stand out as King Crimson grasped Spice Girls neck, manipulating the body by moving the stand’s limbs. But time skipped once again. Instead of harming any of them further he rushed off in the direction Requiem had been walking. He seemed to be in full control of the body. Giorno was already starting to reattach his arm when the man reached him, but he continued to send out Hierophant. The stand unravelled itself, slithering alongside the others who had continued to run after King Crimson. The 15 year old was obviously in pain, but he also sported a smirk. This Diavolo was no match for them.

The man caught up to the stand quickly, and they observed as he threw a punch. But he didn’t punch the stand itself, and the punch landed behind his head. Silver Chariot nearly exploded from the blow. Diavolo had figured out the secret of the Requiem stand, and he picked up the arrow. It was then that Giorno played his hand, enabling the blood that was left on King Crimson's hand be turned into termites. The insects made quick work of the arrows handle, making the arrow drop back to the ground. Mista lifted his gun again, shooting all of the bullets towards the man.

The bullets were deflected easily. A body appearing before the bullets he had sent soaring to the arrow, King Crimson had predicted the bullets movement. The arrow skid back to his feet. But as he reached down to grab the arrow, however, something ripped through his hand. He hadn’t counted on Trish still being alive, her stand managed to make the bullets rip through his hand anyway, and sent the arrow flying away. Flying right above Mista and Narancia’s heads. They moved to grab it, but before it could land, Diavolo landed a strong hit to his daughter’s stand, sending them both flying back towards the group. And right on the trajectory of the arrow.

The arrow stabbed right through his hand. But instead of transforming the stand, it fell directly through. He was outraged, reaching for it again. Bucciarati caught his attention. Diavolo himself had given him the answer to the Requiem stand’s power, and had begun wrapping zippers around the strange lightsource behind his own head. Trish’s soul had already begun to leave the body, so the only way to save her was to return all of them to their original bodies, it would also return Diavolo to the body Abbachio currently resided in. Farther away from the arrow.

“No! Think about it Bucciarati,” he tried to reason, “Can you think of one person who would be worthy of the arrow?”

The pleading made no difference to Bucciarati, he ripped apart the ball of light and they all began to exit the bodies they were stuck in. returning to their own. When the fog of Requiem’s disintegrating corpse cleared, the arrow sat in Giorno’s hand, and Diavolo was collapsed on the asphalt. He turned, getting ready to run. Until he heard his daughter’s voice, taunting him. And the gun toting Mista was as well, proclaiming he was a coward, running away. He wouldn’t let himself be belittled by people he saw as so pathetic as them. The future had already been laid out for him, the arrow would never accept Giorno. So as the teen pierced his stand, he didn’t worry.

A hole opened itself in Giorno’s chest, he was gasping in pain. He wasted no time in dealing a strong blow, bashing open the stands head easily. The boy fell back as he reached forward to pluck up the arrow. Until suddenly, his body completely froze, and he was unable to move.

“You just made the worst mistake of your life,” A voice came from behind him. It was the one man he didn’t know. Kakyoin, they had called him. But the man couldn’t even get up at that point, his legs seemed to not be working entirely correctly. It must have been the work of his stand. His body turned to look at the man.

He forced himself onto his feet, he was shaking slightly from the strain. But he didn’t even have to move towards the unmoving man, Diavolo’s body moved itself towards him. Kakyoin’s eyes then caught on something behind Diavolo himself. An empty shell of Gold Experience, the stand arrow had disappeared as well. And floating above the pink haired man, was Giorno Giovanna. His braid had been undone, the long blond hair flowing behind him. Gold Experience had changed completely. He could do nothing but smirk at the man in front of him, this would be fun. And while he wanted to hurt the man, for what he had done to Giorno, and done to Polnareff, he knew that Giorno deserved his revenge far more.

Giorno moved forward, a cold look on his face as he moved towards Diavolo. He nodded to Kakyoin, he couldn’t do anything to Diavolo while Hierophant was inside of the man. After a nod back, he slowly withdrew his stand. The long green tendrils flowed slowly out of the man’s open mouth, to the horror of the rest of Giorno’s team. The Boss rushed forward the second the stand was out, punching towards Kakyoin. For a moment it had seemed like the hit landed. That Kakyoin would once again be near death, as he was when he was 17. He tried to use his Emerald Splash, but it was too slow.

Then Gold Experience was landing blows against the man, at unbelievable speed. The man seemed to disappear entirely afterwards, all that was left was a small pile of blood. But not nearly enough for it to show that a death had just occurred there.

“Ah, hell. How’d he get away?!”

“No,” Giorno calmly stated, “He’s gone. For good.”

Bucciarati stood, shocked, “Are you sure, Giorno?”

“Yes. It’s over.”

The man nodded. It kind of surprised Noriaki, that this stranger seemed to just take Giorno at his word. But he was glad. The rest of the team began to celebrate, but Noriaki could no longer keep his legs steady under him. And started to fall, only to be caught before his knees hit pavement. Gold Experience Requiem supported him instantly. Giorno moved towards him, ready to help, until another voice shouted for him.

“Giorno!” Narancia shouted, “C’mon! You gotta go help Abbachio back at the Colosseum!”

“Bucciarati, Mista, will you help Noriaki walk back?” Giorno asked. Not wasting a moment.

Both of the men nodded, moving to either side of Noriaki and helping him stay upright as the stand dissipated. With that settled Giorno, Narancia, and Trish rushed back to the Colosseum ahead of them. The rest of the group had a much slower journey back, picking up the tortoise on the way back as well. Polnareff had stayed in the animal as well, by some stroke of luck. They began talking as they limped towards the stone structure.

“What are you doing here anyway, Kakyoin?”

“I was looking for Giorno.”

“Are you Giorno’s dad?” Mista asked. Polnareff gasped,

“Since when did you have a kid, Kakyoin? When did you get married?”

“Polnareff,” he sighed, “How old am I?”

“You’re… 28, right?”

“And how old is Giorno?”

“15,” Bucciarati supplied.

“16 in about a week. He was already four years old when we went to Egypt. Do the math yourself.”

“So then… Why were you looking for him?” Polnareff asked.

“You mean you really don’t know who Giorno is?”

“Why, should I?”

“If you had bothered to contact any of us in the last three years you would know.”

“So, uh,” Mista said, “How… do you know Giorno?”

“I’m his guardian.”

“So you basically are his father!” Polnareff stated, the accusation clear in his voice.

He sighed. The day had already been exhausting, and it was clearly only going to get longer. It wasn’t even noon yet. His eyes closed, they were starting to burn. But he hadn’t expected to lose consciousness.

-----

The room around him was dark when his eyes opened again. He was laying down, and eventually recognized that the room around him was his own. It was quiet, and the world outside still seemed to be bright, but his curtains were drawn to darken the bedroom. Slowly, he moved to sit up. A sharp pain shot up his spine. It was a painful process just to sit up in his bed, and he was readying himself to stand up when the door opened.

In walked one of Giorno’s new friends. One of the older ones, though he couldn’t remember the man’s name, a book was in his hand as he shuffled in. It took him a moment to see that Noriaki was sitting up. But once he did, he quickly set his book aside and moved to the side of the bed.

“You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. How long have I been out?”

“A little more than a day. Stay here, I’ll go get Giorno.”

Within a minute Giorno was entering the room, and rushing to sit beside him. He hesitantly put his arms around his waist, moving into an awkward hug. The young man was shaking a little in his arms, and so he pulled him closer. He chose to ignore that the man was leaning on the door frame, smiling softly at the sight.

“I thought the plan was to tell me when situations like this happened, Giogio.”

“I know, but I had no time. And I had to earn their trust, I couldn’t do that with you interfering.”

He wanted to argue that he wouldn’t have done that, but it’s true to some point. He would have investigated the group. He still plans to. But their conversation was interrupted as the younger members of the group piled into the room. The smallest one jumped onto the bed beside Giorno, only to be chewed out by one of the others. Giorno looked on the scene with a fond smile as they separated from their hug. It was a rare sight to see, and Kakyoin decided that if they were able to keep bringing that expression to his kid’s face, he’d choose to trust them.