Chapter Text
"Getting ready for your big date tonight?"
Giorno turned a glower toward Mista who was leaning in his doorway, grinning, eyebrows bobbing up and down.
"It's just dinner," he muttered, even as he turned back to the mirror and fixed his tie and collar for the twentieth time.
Mista stepped in and straightened it for him, smoothing down the shoulders of Giorno's jacket.
"You look great. Don't worry about it. I'm just jealous you get to see Trish first. Tell her we missed her."
"She'll be coming back here with me after the da—dinner," Giorno reminded him, quickly catching himself with a slight blush.
Mista grinned harder. "Yeah, I know. You deserve to see her first anyway. Hope you two have a good time."
Giorno exhaled slowly and checked his watch, seeing it was nearly time to leave. He turned to grab his overcoat before he headed out of his room.
"Have a good time, Giorno," Fugo called to him from the kitchen as Giorno passed.
Giorno nodded, fishing for the car keys.
"Don't stay out too late," Mista added.
Giorno rolled his eyes, ignoring the gunman as he left the house, heading for the car waiting in the driveway that Mista had pulled around earlier. Not their usual car, but the Maserati—because of course that's what Mista would pick.
He would be late if he bothered to change it out though. Trish would be taking a taxi from the train station to the restaurant and he wanted to get there before her so she wouldn't have to wait there alone.
Everything worked out. Giorno arrived at the restaurant and a few minutes later the cab pulled up with Trish. She got out, grabbing her bags and spotted Giorno with a grin.
"Giorno!"
He grinned back and went to help her, taking her bags and putting them into his own car. Once his hands were empty, Trish hugged him and he hugged her back with only a tiny bit of awkwardness.
"How was your trip?" he asked.
"Long, but it's good to be back in Napoli," Trish said. "I'm also starving."
"Same," Giorno agreed fondly. "Shall we?"
They headed toward the restaurant and once they were seated, Giorno folded his hands on the table as he leaned forward. "So, how was the tour?"
"Oh, it was great!" Trish said before looking up as the waiter came over with a pleasant smile.
"Good evening, signore, signorina, I'm Antonio and I will be serving you this evening. Can I interest you in the house wine?"
"Please," Giorno said as the man poured two glasses.
"I will be back to take your order shortly," he said.
Giorno sipped the wine and glanced over at Trish, encouraging her to go on.
"Anyway," she said. "The tour went really well. I feel like I'm finally getting my stride."
Giorno smiled. "That's good. I'm glad you're enjoying it."
"How have things been here?" Trish asked after taking a sip of the wine herself.
"Good, things have been good." And he meant that sincerely. Things really seemed to be smoothing out into some sort of normality. Giorno had been working hard to make new connections. Polnareff was currently very busy with a project figuring out new trade routes and options for business expansion. It was a pretty massive project, but it would really pay off once they finally got it all set up. "Good, but busy," he amended slightly. "It's nice to be able to take a night off."
Trish nodded understandingly. "Fugo told me about the plans you and Polnareff have been making. I think they sound like really great opportunities, but I can imagine that they've been taking up a lot of time."
"Yes, but it will be worth it," Giorno said.
The waiter came back and they made their orders. Giorno turned back to Trish after the man had left and asked, "Do you have any particular plans while you're here?"
"Hmm, mostly I'd like to take a bit of a break," Trish said with a soft laugh. "But I'd also like to work on some new songs. And of course help you out with the summer festival."
"I'll definitely need all the help I can get," Giorno said. "I wonder if I've bit off more than I can chew."
"I think it will be fun! Plus, it's just good PR. It doesn't hurt to have as much of that as possible."
Giorno nodded. It had actually been Polnareff's idea to hold a sort of summer festival for the city of Napoli after Jotaro had talked about enjoying Japan's festivals as a child. Giorno couldn't deny that it had sounded like a fun idea, and wanted to use it as an opportunity to raise money for the local orphanages. But as fun as it would be, it was yet another big event to plan on Giorno's plate, so he was very grateful that Trish would be here for the summer to help him out.
Once their food arrived, they fell into a companionable silence for a few moments, just enjoying the food.
"This is so good," Trish said as she took another bite of gnocchi. "This place always makes some of the best dishes."
Giorno nodded in agreement. It was a favorite of theirs.
"So, have you talked to Dr. Kujo any more since he came to visit?" Trish asked.
Giorno took another sip of wine. "We have talked a little. He invited me to go to Japan with him and meet with the other Joestars."
"Are you going to go?" Trish asked.
Giorno shrugged. "I'm not sure. Part of me would like to, the other part…I guess I'm afraid it might be awkward."
"It's always a little awkward meeting extended family," Trish said. "But, look, it can't be worse than my meeting with my father, so there's that."
Giorno huffed a wry laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"It might not be a bad thing to get to know your family a little, Giorno," Trish told him.
"No, you're right," he agreed. "I'll have to think about it a little more."
They chatted for the rest of dinner, and Giorno felt overall warm from the food and wine and pleasant company. It had been a long time since he and Trish had gotten to have some time just the two of them, or, yes, it had been a long time since they'd gone on an actual date. He still wasn't sure what their relationship was currently, but he was content with this.
As they left the restaurant, their waiter gave a small bow. "Have a good night, Signorina, Signore Giovanna."
Giorno nodded in thanks and led Trish out to the car.
"Thanks for taking me out to dinner," Trish told Giorno with an almost shy smile. "It was really nice getting to catch up. Just the two of us."
Giorno felt his cheeks heat just slightly, and turned to the car, fumbling for his keys. "It was nice," he agreed.
They got in and headed back to the mansion. Tonight had been nice, but Giorno knew he would have to get back to work in the morning.
~~~~~~~
He watched Giorno Giovanna, the so-called Don, drive off into the night with the lovely pink-haired girl. Her blood smelled sweet and delectable, but she was not his target that night. There was no need to be hasty. Anticipation, like a long hunt, always made the end result so much sweeter.
Instead he waited until the restaurant closed and the employees began to leave, watching them trickle out into the night.
That was when he saw his target, the young waiter, coming out the back of the restaurant with a bag of trash.
He made his move, slipping quickly and quietly through the darkness until he came up behind the unsuspecting waiter and struck.
~~~~~~~
Giorno woke early to get ready for the day. He had to go to several meetings so he wanted to get started on some work in the office before he headed out.
Fugo was already up and talking with Polnareff in the office when Giorno got there.
"Good morning, Giorno," Polnareff said with a smile, his ghostly form poking out from the top of the turtle.
"Good morning," Giorno said happily. He was feeling quite refreshed from the night before, actually. There was definitely something to taking a bit of a break every once in a while.
"I finished up a couple of the proposals last night if you have time to go over them this morning?"
Giorno nodded and Fugo went to make coffee before he rejoined them to discuss the proposals Polnareff had been working on.
"I think we're on the right track," Giorno said sincerely. "I'll bring up some of the points at the meetings today."
"Good, it will be nice when this project is finally rolling," Polnareff said with satisfaction. "There's still a lot to do, but it's looking closer every day."
Giorno nodded. They'd definitely all put in the work, especially Polnareff. It was nice that the Frenchman knew so many people through his various connections.
After seeing to a few more duties in the office that involved signing off on several plans, Giorno had a quick breakfast with the others and then left to go to his meetings with Fugo and Mista.
"Be ready to work on festival plans when you get back," Trish reminded him.
Giorno reassured her that they would work on the plans that afternoon and then they left.
The meetings went well, though they were somewhat tiering. Giorno was always glad to have Fugo with him to figure out the logistics and keep track of the more financial and business side of things. Most of that admittedly went over Giorno's head, but he was getting better at it.
Still, he was glad to be done with the meetings for a while. Now he could better help Polnareff figure out their new business venture.
"How about we grab lunch before we head back? I'm starving." Mista commented.
"Sure," Giorno agreed, realizing it was almost one.
They left their car for the moment and walked down the street to the area where most of the cafes were. They were heading for a particular deli they liked for quick meals when Giorno noticed some kind of hubbub happening further down the street.
"What's going on over there, I wonder?" Mista muttered.
Giorno was wondering the same thing, especially seeing that there was a throng of people surrounding the restaurant he and Trish had gone to the night before. He slowed to a stop as he realized there were also police cars parked out front, uniformed officers pushing through the crowd.
A weird feeling settled into the pit of his stomach and Giorno found he couldn't shake it.
"Looks like something happened," Fugo said with a frown then, "Hey…Giorno?"
But Giorno was already moving across the street, just barely avoiding a driver who wasn't paying attention due to the commotion.
"Giorno! Where are you going, man?" Mista called after him as he and Fugo hurried to catch up.
"I just want to see what happened," Giorno said as he continued on, pushing through the crowd.
He could hear Mista and Fugo swearing behind him, but he was undeterred. There was just something inexplicable nagging at him about this. Normally, he would let the local police handle anything outside of Passione business. There was an agreement that the two would keep to themselves. But all the same he felt like he couldn't just walk away this time. There was something he couldn't place about this situation that made him want to look into it more.
He got through the crowd and could finally see several police officers standing around the dumpster at the back of the restaurant. He started toward them, when another officer held up a hand.
"No one passes this—ah, apologies, Signore," he said quickly as he recognized Giorno. There was a look of grudging respect on his face.
"What's going on here?" Giorno asked as Mista and Fugo caught up to him, frowning incredulously.
The officer pressed his lips together. "A body was found in the dumpster when one of the cooks went to take the trash out. One of the waiters."
Giorno glanced over at the dumpster where several detectives were peering inside, another man taking pictures.
"You think it was a murder?" Giorno asked.
"More likely a mugging," the officer said. "But it's too early to tell for sure."
"Come on, man, let's go get lunch," Mista said, tugging at Giorno's elbow, but Giorno pulled away from his grip and stepped forward.
"May I see the body?"
The officer frowned but gave a reluctant sigh as he stepped to one side. "I suppose I can't say no to you, Signore," he muttered.
"Giorno, why the hell are you so interested in some mugging?" Fugo hissed as he and Mista followed Giorno across the back lot toward the dumpster.
Honestly, Giorno didn't have an answer for that. He wasn't entirely sure himself. "I was just here last night. I want to see if I recognize the victim. I might be able to help."
Fugo muttered something under his breath but didn't protest again. Giorno stopped by the other officers who turned to look at him with wary expressions.
"He wanted to see the body," the officer Giorno had been talking to said.
The others grudgingly stepped aside and Giorno stood on his toes to look into the dumpster.
A strange sense of unease went through him as a familiar face stared up at him. Sightless eyes wide with frozen terror. The nametag reading 'Antonio' confirmed this was indeed the same man who had waited on Giorno and Trish the night before. What an odd coincidence.
That was when he smelled it. He couldn't really place it, but it almost stung the inside of his nose, causing him to take a step back.
"Do you smell that?" he asked Fugo. "What is that?"
"What, the garbage?" Fugo asked, looking exasperated.
Giorno frowned. "It's not the garbage. Excuse me, detective, what is that strange smell on the body?"
The man looked at him like he was insane. "Probably death, signore. Would expect you to know that." His partner hissed at him in warning, but the man didn't look too apologetic.
Giorno furrowed his brow and decided to ignore the smell. He couldn't possibly be the only one smelling it, but at the same time, maybe he was just misreading the smell from the dumpster. Though this scent seemed to overwhelm the regular smell of the restaurant garbage in Giorno's opinion.
"When do you think he was killed, detective?" Giorno asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because this man waited on me last night."
"We're assuming someone probably jumped him as he was leaving for the night," the police detective said.
"And what about the cause of death?" Giorno asked, looking around.
"We can't determine that yet until the medical examiner gets a hold of him," the man grunted. "Now, Signore, if you please—"
His dismissal was obvious but Giorno found he didn't want to leave. He felt suddenly very protective of his territory and people. He didn't like the thought of random thugs roaming the city killing anyone they came across. Especially since this was a well-lit and populated part of the city with a lot of high-end restaurants. Maybe it was the fact that Giorno might have been one of the last people to interact with poor Antonio, but there was just something about the whole thing that seemed a little too deliberate. Not to mention that odd smell…
He looked around to see if there was anything else that might be causing it but didn't see much more than a few splashes of blood down the side of the dumpster.
"Giorno," Fugo called quietly.
Giorno finally snapped out of his inner thoughts and finally turned back to the detective. "I'd like to see a copy of the autopsy report when your medical examiner has finished it," he said decisively.
The detective glowered, but shrugged. "Fine. I'll have one sent to you."
Giorno finally tore himself away with the others following.
"Guess I'm not so hungry anymore," Mista muttered to himself as they went.
"What the hell was that all about, Giorno?" Fugo demanded. "Why do you care so much about a random mugging?"
"I don't, it's just…wasn't it odd?"
"No, it wasn't," Fugo insisted. "I mean, the location, maybe, but sometimes things like that just happen even in the places you don't expect them to." He stopped and turned to Giorno then with a frown. "You don't blame yourself, do you? Because you saw him last night?"
Giorno pressed his lips into a flat line, thinking. Was that the reason he was so bothered by this? He finally shook his head. "No. No more than I do when anyone is killed in my territory. I guess it just bothers me because things have calmed down a lot lately. I felt like I finally got a grip on the violent crime in the city. I don't want this to become the norm."
"Come on, it was probably just come crackhead," Mista said with a shrug. "You can't really expect to erase crime entirely, right?"
"I guess you're right," Giorno said, sounding unconvinced even to himself. He was annoyed, mostly for the fact that even he didn't understand why he was bothered so much by this. Maybe seeing the autopsy report would help to put his mind at ease a little.
The three of them were quieter than usual as they got their lunch, the dead body having soured the mood a bit.
When they drove back to the mansion, they passed the restaurant again, seeing that by now most of the crowds had dispersed, and an ambulance was waiting to take the body away. Giorno sighed and reminded himself that he was no detective and the police would do a better job at finding out who the killer was than he would. He had too many other things to focus on right now. He didn't need to go hunting down a petty killer on top of it.
~~~~~~~
"So, I was thinking that the main area with all the games and booths can be along this street—so we'll have to have it blocked off. And this area over here on the grass would be good for setting up tables and food stalls, don't you think?"
Giorno watched Trish point to places on the map spread out across the table, putting them to memory.
"Wouldn't that mess with foot traffic, though?" Fugo pointed out.
"Not if we point the stalls in this direction and funnel people through this way," Trish said, tapping another spot on the map. "The street here is wide enough, and the cross-streets will be clear for people to use to get out of the main area if they wish."
"I think that sounds like a good place to start," Polnareff said, taking notes.
Giorno wasn't sure about start. This was currently day two of them sitting in the turtle room making festival plans, and they'd just barely figured out the best place to hold it. At least now they would know where it would be so they could start advertising.
"How is the list of vendors going?" Trish asked Giorno.
He took up his notebook again and flipped to the page he had taken names down on. "I currently have 25 confirmed and 15 other possibilities. Do you think that will be too many? Some of them would be in the food or games area…"
Trish sighed, dropping the pencil on the table. "I don't know. We'll have to think about it some more. I need more coffee, though—anyone else?"
"Please," Fugo agreed.
Trish got up and went to make a new pot of coffee in Polnareff's kitchenette.
Giorno's eyes started to swim as he looked at the names he'd taken down. He really needed to get back with them to confirm their participation in the festival, but he'd been waiting for them to actually pick a location and, well, he'd admittedly been a bit preoccupied the last couple days.
As much as he tried to forget about it, he still couldn't put the killing out of his head. There was just some aspect of it that seemed off to him and he wasn't sure he could let it go until he figured out what that was.
They talked a little more about supplies and themes before deciding they would go to see the location tomorrow before they figured out the actual set up. Giorno headed back to his office to start getting into contact with the vendors who hadn't confirmed yet.
As he sat down at his desk, he saw that someone had put the stack of that day's mail there for him to look at. Giorno casually took the stack, but a quick glance showed that he had received what he had been waiting for.
He tore open the envelope and found the autopsy reports from the killing inside.
Giorno read it through, and then read it through again, frowning.
For one, there was nothing about a strange smell, so it looked like that had to have been the result of something in the trash instead. Though Giorno's instincts, for some reason, were telling him otherwise.
There was also a cluster of three stab wounds in the man's lower back, which was a little odd because Giorno distinctly remembered there being only a little blood on the scene. Of course, it probably had mostly drained into the dumpster.
"Hey, Trish wanted me to give you this," Fugo said as he came into the office with a slip of paper.
"Fugo," Giorno called before he could leave. "Would you mind looking at this and giving me your opinion?"
Fugo furrowed his brows. "Sure, what is it?"
"It's the autopsy report from the murdered waiter," Giorno handed the report over. "Don't you think it's odd that he was stabbed three times without significant blood spray?"
Fugo glanced over the report, studying the attached pictures. "Not really. It was probably all in the dumpster. Or that could have just been the dumpsite to hide the body."
Giorno pressed his lips together. "But according to the report, he lost a lot of blood. Do you think…" Giorno paused, then finally voiced his concerns. "You don't think this could be some sort of Stand attack do you?"
"No, Giorno," Fugo said with a sigh. "Honestly? I think you're overthinking this way too much. You can't just erase crime overnight. It's still going to happen on occasion. I'm sorry the man is dead, but I don't think any of this is without explanation."
Giorno set his jaw, wanting to protest, but at the same time, having no real grounds for the argument. He took the report back and forced himself to put it in the desk drawer. "You're right. Still, keep an eye on any other violent deaths? Stand user or not, if there's a killer out there, I'll see them brought to justice."
Fugo nodded. "I'll keep an eye on it."
Unfortunately, the autopsy report hadn't really done anything to convince Giorno that something odd wasn't going on here. In fact, it had only increased the feeling that there was something he was missing.
But he let it burn a hole in his drawer as he tried his best to concentrate on the work at hand.
~~~~~~~
They spent the next day out at the potential site for the festival and Trish took lots of pictures for better reference. They ended up figuring out the set-up they wanted, though, and Trish was happy to finally be onto the next step of planning.
"I have someone who is going to loan tables for the eating area," Giorno told her.
"Great!" she exclaimed, eyes shining. "Oh, I'm so excited for this! Thanks for letting me help you plan this out."
Her enthusiasm was catching. Giorno was actually getting more excited about the festival himself now. Though it was a little less than a month away and they still had a lot to do.
"I'm going to call the last few vendors today," Giorno said. "But I have some things to discuss with Polnareff first."
"Of course," Trish said. "Don't worry about it. Mista and I are in full festival mode. I know you're working on several different things right now."
They had a late lunch and Giorno went to go over some more plans for the trade routes with Polnareff before they were forced to break for dinner.
He really felt like he didn't have enough time in a day anymore.
So as usual he ended up working late. There was a shipment that would be coming in at the docks that night and there was always a lot of processing he had to do on his end when that happened. With it being semi-illegal, he had to make sure he got the right people working at the right time, as well as pay off others to look in another direction.
By the time he got back to the festival plans, it was too late to call anyone so that would have to be put on his schedule first thing tomorrow.
Giorno yawned, stretching out his back, wondering if he should make another cup of coffee, or maybe have some tea instead. He still had a lot of work to finish before he went to bed.
His eyes traveled to his desk drawer but he stopped himself from reaching inside and pulling out the autopsy report again.
"There's nothing there," he muttered to himself, annoyed that he couldn't seem to let this go.
He was startled slightly as the door opened and Fugo came in, holding his phone, brow furrowed.
"Is something wrong?" Giorno asked him.
"I just got a call from Luca. He said Marino never showed up at the docks tonight and when he went to see if he was slacking in his car, he found him, dead."
Giorno was out of his seat in a second, that same strange sensation of alarm and urgency rushing through him as it had back at the restaurant. "Someone killed him?"
Fugo nodded. "Looks like it."
Giorno headed for the door to the office. "I'm going to drive over there and take a look."
Fugo hurried behind him as Giorno went to get the car keys and his coat. "Giorno! Why can't you just let the police handle this?"
"Marino was one of my men," Giorno said firmly. "He was there on a job for me tonight. This is my responsibility."
Fugo huffed, but followed.
They were silent as Giorno drove toward the docks, hands gripping the steering wheel.
"I'm not sure amateur detective is a good look on the Don of Passione," Fugo muttered.
"That's not what this is about," Giorno said. "It's about PR," he added, remembering what Trish had said during their dinner. "I don't want to be an absent leader like Diavolo. If someone's killing my people I want to know who it is."
Fugo didn't reply, but he didn't look impressed either. Giorno ignored him and continued toward the docks.
He parked when he could see a throng of people up ahead, turning to look warily toward the headlights.
Giorno got out and headed toward the group.
Luca pulled away from the others to meet him, surprise clear on his face. "Signore, you didn't have to come all the way out here."
Giorno shook his head. "It's all right, Luca. I wanted to see this for myself. When did you find him?"
The crowd parted for Giorno and he stepped forward.
The smell hit him instantly, so strong this time, it stung his nose and almost made his eyes water. He instinctively pressed his sleeve over his face.
"Are you okay, Signore?" Luca asked with concern.
Giorno realized that, again, no one else seemed bothered by the smell, so he lowered his sleeve and tried to ignore it. "I'm fine," he insisted. "When did you find him?"
Luca folded his arms over his chest, glancing at the body that had been covered by someone's jacket. "Marino was late so I walked back to the cars to see if he was slacking off and having a smoke break or something. That's when I found him."
"May I look at the injury?"
Luca bent to carefully pull the jacket aside.
Giorno crouched by the body. The man was lying on his face, likely attacked from behind before he knew what was happening.
Giorno's eyes went down the body to the small pool of blood gathered around the man's hip. He then spotted an area near the man's lower back where a hole was made in his shirt. Frowning, he bent closer and saw a vertical knife wound. Giorno frowned. It was in the same spot at the injury the waiter had sustained, but those had obviously been stab wounds and this one was more like a deliberate cut. Not exactly the kind of injury you'd expect to get during a mugging or surprise attack.
"Fugo," Giorno said quietly as his friend stepped forward to look. "Do you think this was made with the same knife as the wounds on the other body?"
Fugo furrowed his brow. "I don't know how to tell," he admitted.
Giorno wasn't entirely satisfied by that answer, but he straightened up, unable to stand being that close to the smell any longer. "Luca, was there anyone strange around the docks tonight? Anyone you didn't know?"
Luca shook his head. "Just the usual crew. That's why it was odd. I didn't hear anything, you know? No shouting, no sounds of struggle. Bastard must have really taken Marino by surprise." He pursed his lips in distaste. "He was even still warm by the time I got here."
A shudder ran unbidden down Giorno's spine at that and he got the sudden sensation of someone watching him. He barely kept himself from glancing over his shoulder, not wanting to come off as paranoid.
"What do you want us to do, Signore?" one of the other men asked.
Giorno exhaled slowly. "Call it in to the police. I'll make sure they don't ask any questions about why everyone is out here. You'll have to bring in the shipment tomorrow night instead."
The men nodded and Giorno turned and headed back toward the car with Fugo at his heels.
"Does that make you feel any better?" Fugo asked him.
Giorno shook his head. "Not really. I think we need to consider that there might be something here we're missing."