JJBA ONESHOTS

(Shizuka-centric) Constellations (lineage)

<major implied spoilers for the end of pt.6! general character personality spoilers for Jolyne and giorno>

Description: Shizuka character study, and pt.6 fix-it!

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"And then..." Joseph waves his arms dramatically. Shizuka shifts deeper into her star-patterned blankets, blinking curiously at him from her bed. "Dio put on the mask...and turned into a vampire!"

"'Waz," Shizuka stumbles over her words, "'waz vampire?"

"Uh..." And he looks so lost that she has to giggle. He looks at her for a moment longer, "Uhm, like..." He forms claws with his hands. "A monster!"

"M'kay," says Shizuka, nodding. "Wha' kind?"

"That's..." He slouches into his armchair. "You'll learn when you're older, alright? As a Joestar you'll probably fight some eventually."

This causes her to pause. "Joestar?"

"Our family," Joseph grins, "we're all Joestars!"

"Huh," she says, looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. And the star wallpaper. "Why?" There's no immediate answer. Curiously, Shizuka shifts to face Joseph, she can't tell his expression by the dim yellow glow of her nightlight. A little more impatient, and suddenly a whole lot more curious, she repeats: "Why Joestar?"

"Well..." Joseph shifts, "We've all got a star on our shoulder."

-

She doesn't think about it too much, there are other things—books, letters, she's learning Italian from her mom, and English from her dad, and Japanese from both of them.

Plus, y'know, the more words she learns, the more things she can say to scare people. (Dad told her it's fine that she can go invisible, but don't leave the house, please.) She has a fun time messing with the mailman.

So, Shizuka's got a lot of things to do. She's got a lot of things to think about.

Shizuka tries not to think about it too much—stars—she's a Joestar because she's here. She's always been here, her parents are here, she's here, and always has been.

-

When Shizuka first meets her kindergarten teacher she's met with a flash of surprise, and a glance between her and her parents, then a somewhat flustered smile. It's never said, but Shizuka hears it anyway: 'You look different.'

-

When Shizuka is six, she meets Giorno Giovanna.

In contrast to her obsidian bob, he's got blonde so brilliant it looks like gold. Blue eyes, too, like Uncle Jotaro, and Josuke and Joseph and—she's never seen him before. None of them have. He speaks Italian, and English, and even fragmented Japanese—no matter the language, his words are flowery, silken; slippery in a way that makes their meaning fall through her fingers. He smiles a lot, too.

Giorno Giovanna makes Shizuka's skin crawl.

Holly calls him 'family.'

Giorno Giovanna is a Joestar.

He was never here before. Never has been.

Shizuka follows him, secretly, invisible and silent. When no one is looking, he slinks into the shadows, and slips out into the cold night. Shizuka manages to slip through before the door closes. She shivers—it's cold outside, biting December weather. It is Christmas after all.