JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Thin Air

Chapter Thirty-Two: Il Sapore D'Oro (Part II)

"So... you really are Joseph's... no, Mr. Joestar's daughter?" Giorno said as he bit off a piece of Pizza Margherita topped with Sakura cheese instead of the normal mozzarella. "You don't look like him though."

"That's 'cause I'm adopted." Shizuka said while her companions were enjoying the delicious free food.

"That makes sense. What a fascinating family we have. You weren't born into the family, but you were raised by them. My brothers and I were born into the family, but we weren't raised by them."

"Interesting to think about." Shizuka said.

"Say, where's your brother?" Giorno asked, finally addressing Josuke's presence, or rather, lack thereof. "I expected him to arrive with you. I was told that he'd reached the SPW HQ with you, but he didn't leave it."

"My brother... he wasn't able to come. Something we didn't think would happen came up. But... it's okay. He's being taken care of. He'll- he'll be fine." she said with a learned smile.

Giorno, being a good reader of people, realized that the armor Shizuka had made around herself began to form a crack. She wasn't invincible. No matter how determined she was to complete her mission, a sliver of the affection she had for her dear brother was starting to slip through. Giorno wanted to stop that sliver from getting bigger.

"You won't need your brother to help you deal with that geneticist." he said.

"I... know." Shizuka said.

"Why do you sound so unsure?" Giorno said in a somewhat confronting voice. "It's like... you're trying to tell yourself that you know... but maybe you're just trying to convince yourself that you do when in truth, you might not."

"I do know," Shizuka said, trying to match his positive yet mildly unrelenting energy. "I don't need my big brother to be there every step of the way. I'm not a little girl. Of course, I'm gonna need help. No one can achieve big things on their own. But I'm gonna take charge of my own actions and do what I feel is right. I don't need to do everything Josuke does. I know a man like you understands that, Giorno."

Giorno was momentarily staggered, but quickly smiled, knowing that he'd received an acceptable response to a question that many would've tried to fight off against. Shizuka welcomed his question, and he welcomed her response. He knew that strong connections drove incredible people to do things most people would consider stupid, acts of suicide. That sliver of affection had to be there. It was part of the driving force. But he also knew that incredible people used their own handbooks to guide them, instead of borrowing someone else's. Pleased that Shizuka also realized this, he decided to give her another source of inspiration so that she would stay on her path.

"I like that answer. You're a brilliant young lady, Shizuka. And you know what, I think this young lady would like that answer as well."

He pulled out his phone, and under its clear phone case was a photo of girl who sat on a couch, taken professionally, and a woman who sat beside her, with Giorno standing behind them both. All of them were dressed in elegant clothing. The girl looked to be about nine or 10 years old and had the same blonde hair as Giorno, while her facial features were more similar to the woman sitting with her.

"She's pretty," Shizuka said. "What's her name?"

"Her name is Amorosa. Amorosa Giovanna, my precious girl." Giorno said. Getting married at age 21 and having a child two years later was probably the most normal thing he'd done in his years as the boss of Passione.

"Hah! I won't be Amorosa's role model, if that's what you're saying," Shizuka said boldly. "I'm no one's role model. I just do what I have to do. Amorosa will too, I'm sure. But tell her that no matter what she wants to do, I'm rooting for her. She's still a little girl, though. She has time."