That same day, Jolyne was preparing a quick broth in the kitchen with some chicken for Giorno's stomach. Anyone who saw her would think that she was completely lost in her work, but she was not, or at least not completely.

Her mind wandered back to what had happened a few moments ago. From time to time, she closed her eyes and felt her legs trembling. Why did she feel like this? It was a new feeling, despite not being her first kiss. Anasui had come to steal it from her a couple of years before. However, after she and her dad threatened to put him in a headlock, he never did it again, although the man promised to win her heart, as he once swore.

With Giorno, however, it was different. As soon as she felt his arms around her, her mind went blank, unable to digest anything. She just let herself be carried away by the sudden warmth and the soft touch of the blond's lips that gave off a fresh mint taste. Remembering it, she felt her body tremble and a burning in her face made her blush.

"What am I thinking?" She covered her face in shame.

How much did she like Giorno? Did she like him as a man? She had only known him for a short time, but despite that, she felt that she knew him from somewhere else and that those emerald orbs had already shown her tenderness and perhaps concern before.

"Huh..." Likewise, she wondered why he decided to kiss her. Giorno was several years her senior, and they were of different nationalities, many hours apart, actually, yet within a few days, he dared something few ever got to do, or rather, she allowed.

With some consternation, she removed some of the tangles in her head and stirred the broth with a wooden spoon. It seemed to be almost ready. Meanwhile, she would prepare some water and a cloth for a possible fever.

Giorno remained static, staring into nothingness. He couldn't quite process the last thing Mista had said. Until reality returned to his gaze and he felt his senses change.

"What?" the blond exclaimed, with the phone in his hand, doubting if he had heard correctly. "Are you sure?"

"God dammit, yes!" Mista replied in exasperation from the other end of the line. "Your stupid father is heading straight for Florida, and believe me, he didn't look happy at all."

"And you didn't stop him?!" Giorno said, touching the bridge of his nose. This had to be an awful joke. "You should have stopped him! Do you know what it'll mean to have Dio come here looking for me?"

"What could I do about a six-foot-tall idiot with a shitty temper and arrogance? And Trish isn't someone who could do anything but yell."

'Besides being my girl to protect,' he thought.

Giorno touched his forehead, thinking that this was a nightmare.

"Okay, I get it. And by the way, did he knock or did you hear his hooves in front of the porch?"

"I'm not quite sure, but I think Dio spat on me," he said with distaste, remembering the undesirable entrance of the older blond. "But that said, he had two suitcases with him and from what he said, he intended to live with us for a while."

Giorno blinked a couple of times.

"What are you talking about?"

"What you heard! Your idiot clone intended to stay and live with us."

"Hey! I'll have to remind you that he's still my father."

"I'm sorry, but you have to admit he's a jerk," he said without any qualms. It was not just because Dio had wanted to move into his residence as if he owned everything; Mista knew well all of his friend's history with his father.

Giorno sighed, remembering those young days with regret. He got a faint headache at the news of his father coming to look for him in Florida. For what reason? And why would he so suddenly want to stay with him? He only prayed to the almighty that Dio did not know he was with the Kujos.

"Giorno..."

"Yes?" he replied apologetically.

"Are you all right?" Mista asked worriedly, knowing his friend. That sigh had said too much. "I swear I tried to stop that mastodon, and I didn't say anything important to tip him off about your whereabouts."

"I'm fine. It's just..." Giorno processed the last thing Mista said. "Wait, what did you say? Exactly what happened?"

"Well..." Mista scratched his head. "You see..."

Moments before in Naples, Italy

"I don't know if it's us or Giorno who's screwed," Mista said to Trish worriedly. And in response, she just thought that both sides were in trouble.

"Well?" Dio raised his voice, interrupting them. "Where is Haruno Shiobana?"

"W-we don't know," Trish said.

"Lies!" With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced in circles a couple of times, losing his patience. "Haruno trusts you completely. You can't fool me. Where's my son?!"

"We already told you, god dammit!... Ah!" Mista immediately covered his mouth with both hands, realizing what he had said, or rather, to whom.

Trish put a hand to her face, thinking what an idiot he was while Dio squinted dangerously close to the black-eyed young man. Mista suddenly felt a sharp tug on his shirt before he was lifted off the ground by a few inches and red eyes stared at him sternly.

"What did you say?"

"Let him go!" Trish said worriedly, placing her hands on Dio's.

Mista held his breath, almost paralyzed as he stared at the man who looked like he would spit poison in his face at any moment. Or maybe Dio already had, but he couldn't distinguished that from his intimidation. But when he heard his girl's worried voice, he released the tension in his body and the air out of his lungs, calming his senses. Instantly, his expression changed to a mocking one and he had a lopsided smile, making Dio's face fall back in surprise.

"I said that we don't know where Giorno is. How many times do you want me to repeat myself, old man?"

The other two present were perplexed for different reasons; one with surprise, since almost no one ever spoke to him like that, and the other with more concern than before.

"So that's how you want to play..."

"Mista!" Trish shouted pleadingly, but she was ignored.

As Dio slowly lowered Mista, he smiled and closed his eyes in what seemed to be meditation. Mista and Trish relaxed. That's why they didn't see the loud bang coming as Dio grabbed one of the glasses from the bar and smashed it. He cornered the brunette, pointing the broken glass at him.

"Give it a rest!" Trish tried to pull at Dio's clothes.

"Hey, those are the thin ones!" exclaimed the brunette with the broken glass in his face, though he shut up when it was held closer. "Huh...!"

"You're really brave, brat!" Dio said. "But you're dealing with the demon Dio Brando, and we Brandos always, without exception, get what we want. You will not deny me that valuable information. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Mista kept silent. He knew that this man was not a murderer; he might be an extremist, but not a murderer. However, his line of thinking was not shared with Trish. Out of sheer fear of seeing the man of her heart hurt, she shouted something they would regret later.

"Florida!" she said, still trying to pull the man from behind. He finally paid attention to what she had to say. "Giorno went to Florida."

"Damn it, Trish!"

"Florida?" Triumphant, Dio set the glass down on the bar as if it were still functional and broke away from Mista, now heading towards Trish. He patted her head as if she had done something right. "Why would Haruno go to stinking America?"

"Uh..." The young woman didn't know how to answer, but Mista wasted no time and jumped in front of her in case Dio intended to do something to her. He could bare it if it was with him, but with Trish? Never!

"Don't touch her!"

Dio ignored him and turned his back on them.

"All right, don't say anything then. I think that little bit of information is suffient." Dio fixed his hair and picked up his pair of suitcases calmly. "What did it cost you guys to tell me that? We could have saved ourselves all this useless fuss."

"You like to joke with us," Mista said. Trish grabbed his arm, asking him to calm down.

"Think what you want. I don't have time for you guys anyway!" Heading for the exit, he turned to them one last time. "And please, tell Haruno that his father will be there soon with his milk crate..." The blond crossed the door, disappearing. The youngsters relaxed while still having some latent worry. They had to warn Giorno as soon as possible. "And that's an order!" Dio peeked his head back in, scaring them, only to disappear again. His heavy footsteps moving farther and farther away.

Trish immediately went and shut the door tightly, then leaned her back against it with a distressed face.

"Mista, I'm sorry," she said aggrieved, feeling guilty but at the same time, somehow unapologetic. "I was afraid for you."

He only grimaced and let out a sigh before smiling at her. Approaching her, he pulled her away from the door for a hug.

"It's okay. I had everything under control, but it's okay." She reciprocated the hug by pressing her cheek against his chest; it was comforting. "And you know, I'm glad you did it."

Trish pulled away, with her hands touching his abdomen, and looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you really love me." His smile became mischievous, which made her blush. "You care about me, beautiful."

"I do, you idiot." She broke off completely, crossing her arms. "I wasn't going to let Dio Brando hurt you."

"I know, with that scared little girl face of yours. I just didn't expect you to give Giorno away, I'll admit."

"I said I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, getting even more embarrassed.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Gosh, love..."

Present

Giorno was holding a hand to his face in sorrow. It couldn't be true.

"Mista, I'm so sorry." He shook his head several times. "I'll have to make a huge apology when I get back."

"Don't bother, my friend. We were just victims of circumstance, or rather, of Dio's assholery." He shrugged his shoulders, already downplaying that side of the matter. Now he was only concerned about what was coming. "Worry about that idiot finding you. We know how insistent he is. Well, you know better than we do."

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I thought I wouldn't have any more problems after making a fool of myself at the picnic."

'Aside from that asshole Anasui,' he thought.

"And speaking of assholes..." Mista began. "What about that guy Anusui? I insist that he shouldn't get away with proclaiming Jolyne!"

Remembering, Giorno smiled. What would his friend say?

"Believe me, Anasui is not something I'm worried about right now," he said self-assured.

Mista widened his eyes in dismay; he had not expected that, especially with the way he said it.

"Giorno, what the hell did you do?" he asked, visibly surprised. The blond couldn't help releasing a naughty laugh. "Did you throw up on him or something?"

"Eh... no," he answered, somewhat disgusted. Although, now that he thought about it, that had almost happened the day before. "Even better."

Mista waited for him to finish speaking, something that only usually happened when he was shocked, and even more so when it was with Giorno.

"Well? I'm intrigued, you idiot."

Giorno did it on purpose.

"I kissed Jolyne," he said calmly, although he was dying of embarrassment on the inside.

"What?! You're not kidding, are you?" Mista checked the wall clock to estimate the last time they had spoken.

"No, I kissed Jolyne."

"But, Giorno... We barely hung up. So, the first thing you did was kiss her! Haha! Dude, don't waste your time, leave us something." Mista laughed out of incredulousness, but the blond was already embarrassed. In reality, he hadn't been able to stand the idea of Anasui trying to kiss her.

"It was just an impulse. And besides that, I hit Anasui."

"Who are you and what have you done with Giorno?" he said in a joking way. His friend did all that in such a short time? "I swear the last thing I thought you would do is hit that pain in the ass and kiss your girl."

"I know, I can't believe it either. But I gotta say, he deserved it."

"What happened? Did he try to kiss Jolyne, and that gave you reason to hit him?"

As he had done so many times before, Mista managed to guess, making Giorno think, 'Who are you and what have you done with my friend?'

"Judging from your silence, it's safe to say that I hit the mark," Mista said.

"Yes, how do you do it?"

"Maybe I just know you too well. What does it matter? You gave Anusui what he deserved for wanting to steal your girl and for making you a snotty little shit."

"Anusui... And that, we don't know." Giorno felt his back throb, getting tired of being in bed for so long, even if he still felt a little weak.

"And..." Mista scratched his cheek curiously. "I know she's a little girl, but is she a good kisser?"

"Mista!" He scolded but immediately regained the taste and softness of those lips, then blushed in a pleasant way. "Not only that, she smells good. And her eyes, her eyes, Mista! So deep and bright, you should have seen her reaction, her innocence, her care; they captivated me. I swear, I think it's not the first time I've seen her. Something about her makes me feel like I've seen that expression before, and the taste of her lips..."

"Wow, amazing..." Interrupted Mista with a hand on his chin. It was the first time the blond had ever expressed himself that way about someone. "Dude, you're lost."

Giorno arched an eyebrow, losing his spell out of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that's not bad, not at all. You just blow me away with how much you really like her. Believe me when I say that Trish, the guys, and I got around to thinking you might be gay."

"What?!"

"I mean, there would be nothing wrong with that, but it looks like she and I won the bet." He ignored his reaction, caring little about Giorno's kiss now that money was involved. "And the funniest part is that it's Jolyne, daughter of Jotaro Kujo. How ironic." With that thought, he allowed himself to laugh. "Imagine the look on that idiot's face."

"Mista, what's the bet?"

"Oh! Nothing, nothing." He couldn't wait to tell Trish. "I mean, you do your nation proud, Giorno."

The blond had a blank look on his face. He'd let it go and pretend he hadn't heard that.

"Well, what worries me now is Dio and..." At that, he heard footsteps heading straight to his room; it must be Jolyne. "Mista, I'm going to have to end it here. I'll call you later."

Quickly, he hung up, leaving Mista stunned on the other side. Giorno put down his cell phone and looked away from the entrance. He was nervous; how would Jolyne behave with him now that he had kissed her and implicitly made it clear that he liked her?

"Giorno?" a voice called out, but it was not Jolyne's. He turned around in surprise and saw that it was her mother, Jotaro's ex-wife.

"Ma'am," the blond said, not having expected her, but she was someone nice anyway.

"I'm sorry to bother you. Did I interrupt you? I heard you talking to someone." Mrs. Kujo approached, sitting on the bed as Jolyne had before.

"I was just taking a call. No need to apologize." He calmed down with a kind smile. She looked down as if she was sorry, which he clearly noticed. Then, he noticed what was in her hand as she held it out to him. "My wallet?"

"It was in your clothes. It fell out, and I came to give it back to you."

"I see." He examined it instinctively. At that moment, Mrs. Kujo felt ashamed, remembering what she had done minutes before. "You don't have to be ashamed. I trust you."

Mrs. Kujo didn't pay attention to what he said, as she only thought about the curiosity stinging her. She raised her face and rested her eyes on the blond. She was comparing his face, which despite having green eyes and wavy blond hair, had features too distinctive to be only of Italian nationality and descent. Did it frighten her? Perhaps, as what reason could there be for him to have two different identities?

The woman was so close to Giorno that he started to get nervous, backing up a little.

"M-Ma'am?

"Mom?" came Jolyne's voice behind Mrs. Kujo's back. Giorno's eyes went straight to the figure of the girl. She had a tray of food in her hands and a worried look, looking at both of them. "What are you doing?" she asked seriously with a touch of bewilderment.

Jolyne knew her mom well; she could never think ill of her, but such a scenario unsettled her.

The other two, meanwhile, developed a knot in their stomachs. Her mom turned and separated out of fright while Giorno cursed his luck, fearing that the girl he liked so much might think the worst.

Naples Airport

Dio Brando was handing in his papers and bags to board the plane as soon as possible. With his presence and arrogance, plus enough money in his pockets, he had no problem demanding the tickets and a good place.

Haruno Shiobana was an immature boy who thought he could escape from him, his father, the one who gave him life. He was the son Dio wanted to take back, no matter what.

"Haruno, my dear, stupid son, what business does he have in that place? I've told him many times that he doesn't have to be an insignificant employee if he can be one of my subordinates at Brando Enterprises!" he exclaimed to himself, earning more than one frightened glance.