JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Thin Air

Chapter Thirty-Four: Hamon Training

The young woman turned around and approached her new students with a passionate smile on her face. She was just as attractive as she was badass. Monica and Shizuka were both in awe of their new instructor.

"Mi dispiace che tu l'abbia dovuto vedere... ma è l'unico modo per instillare un po' di buon senso in quei bastardi," ["I'm sorry you had to see that... but that's the only way you can knock some sense into bastards like that."] she said.

"Nessun problema, signora. Sappiamo che hai tutto sotto controllo." [No worries at all, ma'am. We know you have it under control."] Monica said, acknowledging the woman.

The woman nodded her head, accepting Monica's remark.

"Ah, allora, voi due..."  ["Ah, so you two..."] the woman said with her hand on her chin, trying to read her students and get a quick picture of what they were like. She did this with all of her students before starting their training. But then, it hit her.

"Aspetta... aspetta un minuto..." ["Wait, wait a minute..."] she said. She moved her face slowly towards Monica. The girl, understandably weirded out, stood still. She kept moving towards Monica until they were no more than two or three inches apart.

"Eh?" Monica said, slipping off of her tongue.

The woman's face reddened with sudden anger and she grabbed one of Monica's ear, repeatedly tugging it.

"Ehi, perché diavolo non sei in Inghilterra, dannazione?! Chi ti ha fatto tornare in Italia, eh?" ["Hey, why the hell aren't you in England, goddamnit?! Who let you back into Italy, huh?"]

"Oh, smettila, fa male!" ["Ow, stop it, that hurts!"] Monica cried out as the woman showed no signs of stopping yanking her ear.

"Oi, cool it, lady! Monica did nothing wrong!" Shizuka said, trying to intervene even though she could only speak the few phrases in Italian that Giorno taught her in their short time together.

"Stay out of this, foreigner!" the woman sharply replied in fluent English.

"Io-non ti conosco nemmeno! Come fai a sapere dove sono andato!?Non ti ho mai nemmeno visto prima!" ["I- I don't even know you! How are you supposed to know where I've gone? I've never even seen you before."] Monica said trying to defend herself, completely confused as to why some strange lady she'd never met randomly began to assault her.

The woman parted her lips as her jaw loosened from a tight clench. She pulled her hand away from Monica's ear.

"Non... non sono passate nemmeno due settimane, Monica. Come hai dimenticato la faccia della tua mamma?" ["It... it hasn't even been two weeks, Monica. How have you forgotten your own Mama's face?"] The woman's voice had suddenly gone from being softer and youthful to something that was more mature.

"Mamma..." Monica said, stunned.

Shizuka continued to observe this situation, albeit silently. She couldn't believe that this woman, who looked like she could've been a college student, was Monica's mother. 'Is this one of the perks of Hamon?' she thought. This 42 year-old woman looked only a few years older than her oldest child, and had it not been for the dusky tone of Monica's skin and the 2b texture of her hair, they could've passed as sisters. Shizuka found it incredible.

"Sono stupito, cucciola. Pensavo che mi avresti riconosciuto prima che io riconoscessi te. Hai festeggiato molto a Liverpool? Faresti meglio a non fare niente di stupido lì." ["I'm astonished, dear. I thought you'd recognize me before I recognized you. Have you been partying a lot in Liverpool? You better not have been doing anything silly there."] Carmen Zeppeli said to her daughter.