After leaving behind what his ex-wife had wanted, Jotaro walked quickly towards the street, not really knowing what to do, almost spinning as if he had lost his sense of direction. Giorno and Jolyne had gone to the nearest square thanks to the fact that his inopportune ex-wife asked them to go buy food they would need for later. Remembering Anasui, he took out his cell phone; the mentioned number was on the screen. He felt stupid when thinking about what they had talked about that morning. As if it were an invocation, the device began to sound, with that same boy responsible. He waited at least ten seconds, debating whether to answer or not. In the end, he simply did so, only to receive his cries. He had to detach the object from his ear a few centimeters.

"Mr. Jotaro!" Anasui spoke energetically on the phone. "I just saw Jolyne with the blond dwarf! What's his name? Giordano?"

"His name is Giorno," he said, thinking about what a nuisance the pink-haired boy was sometimes. "And you don't have to shout; I know. My ex-wife sent them shopping together."

"But how could she? How reckless of her!" he said indignantly with a hand on his waist as if it were the worst thing in the world. "If she knows me very well, then she knows that I am the best son-in-law. I'm smart, handsome, considerate..." he said, listing with his fingers, feeling betrayed by his supposed mother-in-law.

"You're actually clumsy and pedantic." Jotaro rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just wait and don't do anything stupid. Understood?"

"But..."

Jotaro hung up, not letting Anasui finish. Although the man didn't show it like the pink-haired boy, he still felt very uncomfortable leaving the pair alone. He wasn't overreacting, was he? He felt anxious, imagining a small, helpless Jolyne with an evil blonde that wanted to steal her. It was a horrible feeling, something that Anasui had never made him feel before even though he was used to his clumsy and inopportune insistence.

About two hours had passed since the pair arrived at the shopping place. Both walked through the gleaming corridors. Florida, being a mostly tourist state, had places that could be considered luxurious, even one of the smallest malls, which was the closest to the Kujo house.

Jolyne looked at the short list, holding a bag with only a few items. Giorno, beside her, carried a couple of larger but seemingly heavier bags. Being a gentleman, he would not let her carry more; she had given in, albeit reluctantly.

Giorno looked around him, noticing that it was the square he once visited with his friends. He barely remembered it; he couldn't tell if it had changed much since the last time, since those were very distant days.

Jolyne stopped squinting at the little piece of paper and sighed a bit wearily, though she was buoyed up by having Giorno helping her. She didn't know why, but from time to time, her attention would involuntarily go to a man in a blue apron with a friendly face giving a big ball of snow covered in sprinkles to a little girl.

Giorno waited for Jolyne to finish checking the list while he appreciated the square, but noticing her delay, his eyes returned to her silhouette. He heard a loud sigh as she remained static, turning to a specific place.

Curious as to what she was looking at, Giorno directed his gaze to where her attention was, finding a marine-themed ice cream and cold drinks stall. He then turned to Jolyne, whose expression was very adorable, like that of a thirsty little girl.

Absorbed, she woke up from her trance, blinking a couple of times. She wanted ice cream, but the funds that her mother had given her were just adequate and she had forgotten her own money. She wasn't usually this forgetful, but the recent stress made her very distracted, causing her to be neglectful of these things.

She wiped the small sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, ready to continue.

"I think that's all for now. The more we hurry the better," she said, looking at the list one last time. She waited for a statement from Giorno but didn't hear him. "Giorno?" She turned to where she thought he was, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Giorno!" Jolyne looked behind her and sideways, eyes searching for him.

"Jolyne." He appeared abruptly in front of her with a radiant smile and somewhat red cheeks. She then looked down at his hand as he held out a cute ice cream cone with two scoops of different flavors and colored sprinkles.

"What's this?" she asked, stunned, beginning to be embarrassed.

"Ice cream. Don't you know what that is?" he answered ironically at Jolyne's strange look. "I saw how you would not take your eyes off that stall, so I took the liberty of buying a pair. Here, this is for you. I figured you'd like chocolate and vanilla."

Jolyne looked at the ice cream and took it slowly, not fully done processing the blonde's gesture. She smiled at him the same way he had done a moment ago.

"You didn't have to."

"It's the least I could do," he said, shrugging his shoulders and then licking his own ice cream before turning around with the purchases. "We already have everything, right? Do you mind if we go?"

He was very mature and serious when necessary, but he was not usually this considerate. However, now with Jolyne, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't used to doing something like this with girls or if it was just with her.

Jolyne watched his back retreat little by little, his steps deliberately slow for her to catch up. With ice cream sticking to her lips, she gave a soft lick and walked in his direction.

They both walked towards the exit with matching smiles. However, a couple of meters away, Giorno visualized a metal bench, one bent and somewhat neglected. For an instant, he saw himself as a fifteen-year-old boy spotting a person sitting there, but he couldn't figure out who it was. Then he paid no attention to the seat and followed Jolyne, looking at her braided head. She hadn't noticed that he had stopped for a couple of seconds.

Two hours later

In the modest but orderly garden that had a small pool, the Kujos and Giorno finally began the anticipated picnic.

Mrs. Kujo had planned the nice outing several days ago, wanting Jotaro to be able to spend a little more time with Jolyne. Even though what she was witnessing didn't bother her, she admitted that it wasn't what she expected, although little by little, she feared for the pair's safety.

The two young people talked animatedly about who knows what. Anyone listening would hear extremely trivial things like the Florida weather. They ate and laughed about silly things and nonsense; that last part was more so what Jotaro thought as he looked at them with great seriousness, especially Giorno. He seemed to get angrier when seeing the boy smile at his daughter and laugh.

Ignoring what he might be thinking, Mrs. Kujo sipped her juice, looking curiously at the kids. She was unable to get out of her head what she had discovered in the blonde's suitcase. She wasn't uncomfortable or annoyed like Jotaro at the moment, but she was extremely intrigued.

She tried to pay more attention to his appearance, his features and maybe his voice. No, it was simply impossible. The young man she remembered had straight black hair and features that were... How to say it? Asian? Maybe Giorno did have a little of that, now that she was paying closer attention to him. However, his slightly curly blond hair and his green eyes puzzled her. Even his last name sounded similar to the one written on that label. Was it just a coincidence? Would Jotaro know something? But more importantly, why should she care? She was seeing her daughter laugh, which she seldom got to see, and it was with the young man she barely knew. She had a warm feeling about it and, in turn, a bit of resentment towards the man sitting next to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her ex-husband's phone. After he verified whose number it was, she noticed that his irritation had spiked to a new level. Wow! Was that even possible? Surprisingly, Jotaro tried to keep his cool. Who could it be to make him act like that? She only knew one person, but she doubted it was him.

Jotaro got up from his seat, speaking under his breath.

"Anasui, what the hell do you want now? It's not a good time," he said, trying to level his annoyance, rubbing his forehead.

"A picnic, Mr. Jotaro! A picnic! And none of you invited me?" He sounded offended. "You all look like a big family, you know. Gioconda laughing like an idiot next to my future wife as if he's her boyfriend, a false son-in-law. I thought we were in this together."

"It's not what you think. It's just a stupid picnic that her mother organized. And how the hell do you know we're in the garden? Are you spying on us?" Jotaro turned to the fence, seeing a head of pink hair quickly vanish from sight, causing a couple of leaves to flutter.

"No..." he answered fearfully, with his legs drawn up on the grass. "I just saw something I thought was very suspicious."

"Anasui, please, don't come..."

"Too late!"

At that moment, the doorbell rang, pulling everyone out of whatever they were doing. Jotaro pinched the bridge of his nose for the thousandth time that day.

"Who could it be?" Mrs. Kujo asked, getting up and going to the door. They were not expecting visitors.

Quickly, she grabbed the entrance latch, but not before looking in the window to see who it was. She only found a small basket peaking out. Still hesitant, she opened the door, only to find a certain unexpected visitor.

"A-Anasui," she said in a low voice, receiving the pink-haired boy. He had a wide, terrifying smile and carried a light basket in his right arm.

"Ms. Kujo!" he exclaimed, hugging the stupefied and somewhat fearful woman.

"No, no. Honey, you shouldn't be here." She tried to push him away, fearing that Jotaro would get angrier than he already was if he saw him. "Jotaro..."

"Ma'am, you don't have to worry about me," he said with a hand on his chest as if captivated by her concern for his safety, although that was not exactly the reason. "Mr. Kujo cordially invited me to this picnic. I even brought some sandwiches."

Mrs. Kujo froze. Had she heard right? It was somewhat ironic actually.

"No sweetie. I do not think that..."

"Of course!" He spoke with more force, resentful of the fact that she didn't believe him. "I can prove it to you! Oh, Mr. Jotaro! Yoohoo!" He called him, almost shouting with his arm raised, waving at him. "Mr. Jotaro!"

His voice could be heard all the way from the garden. Both Jolyne and Jotaro broke into a cold sweat, but especially her. Giorno only rolled his eyes, knowing precisely who it was. They had had such a ridiculous encounter that morning.

There wasn't much Mrs. Kujo could do as Anasui practically forced his way over to his beloved and his "father-in-law".

"Anasui! What the hell are you doing here?" Worried, Jolyne jumped up when he arrived. "Y-you shouldn't be here." Nervous, she glanced at her father, trying to observe his expression or his next move.

Giorno, from his place, watched with concern as Jolyne paled.

"Jolyne..." he called, wanting to divert her attention at least a little.

"Jolyne, darling," Anasui said in an innocent tone when hearing Giorno.

"Go! Can't you see that my dad is here?" She just didn't want any more problems, none the least with her dad.

"It's okay, I invited him," Jotaro said, with his voice full of its typical seriousness. Everyone turned to look at him, including Mrs. Kujo and Anasui, who was naively beginning to be moved. "Anasui, sit down."

"You invited him? Really?" his ex-wife asked, unable to believe it.

Jotaro nodded and took a seat again, watching the large boy wedge himself between Giorno and Jolyne, practically forcing them to separate in order to make room for him. This brought a slight smile to his face.

Jolyne was quite confused. Had her dad really invited him? She didn't pay attention to the fact that Anasui had gotten in their midst. She was too busy anticipating her dad's calm and serious expression which he put on whenever he was so much as close to the pink-haired boy.

"Dad invited him. For me?" she said almost inaudibly, looking at him.

It was the first thing she thought of, as even he knew how much she had always wanted to be with her loved ones in a gathering like this. Anasui himself was important to Jolyne as well. Feeling touched, something warm filled her chest.

"Do you really not see a father within him, not even a little bit?" She remembered the question that Giorno had posed to her earlier that day and even though she didn't know how to act on it, she weighed it with gratitude. Her mom, meanwhile, watched everything with suspicion, arms crossed. She knew Jotaro, knew him very well actually. Her ex-husband was not the kind of person who changed his mind overnight, especially if it involved Anasui.

Giorno, feeling uncomfortable, tried to eat what the kind lady had prepared. He felt Anasui's weight shove into his side, causing his own body to jerk suddenly. Giorno's sandwich slipped and fell on his impeccable clothes. Anasui looked at him out of the corner of his eye mockingly. He returned the look but in a more threatening way. Was the boy challenging him or something?

Frankly, it was a very unusual picnic.