Asphodel

Chapter 1

     Tink. Tink. Tink.

     The noise made by the wind chime sounded throughout the shop as the instrument moved, propelled by the slight breeze coming through the window. It continued, ringing airily until stopped by the grip of a hand that had reached up to grab it, holding it steady until the wind ended. Tentatively, it let it go waiting to hear the tinkling that signaled another gust. 

     Nothing.

     Sighing, the figure made their way back to the desk they had been sitting at, before the wind chime had distracted them. They resumed their previous draped position, head in arms as they stared blankly at the cash register placed on the table.

   
     The name of this person was Giorno Giovanna. An Italian name, despite being mostly English, Giorno was the product of a marriage between a British Governor and a woman who's preferred life was one of a wife with no children. This was made worse by the fact that Giorno's birth was followed closely by his late father's death, leaving his mother single and absolutely miserable. Despite Giorno having next to nothing to do with his father's death, she ignored that fact and did what many people unconsciously do when feeling guilt- she passed the blame.

     Although Giorno's mother was definitely not a good parent, she was not necessarily a bad person. An uncomfortable upbringing and unsatisfactory turns of events throughout her life had changed her, and not for the better, but she was never outright mean to Giorno. She never beat him, although she had come close a few times, and she had paid for his middle school education until their money ran out. Giorno could hardly say he loved the woman, but he still held a certain amount of respect and pity for her, often catching her crying in her room after a particularly hard day.

     His stepfather, however, was a completely different story. He was the owner of Blossoms and Bows, a well-off florist's shop that he ran in a small Italian village. He had met Giorno's mother soon after Giorno left middle school, and they were married not long after. Although Giorno's mother seemed to genuinely love this man, her son couldn't see what she saw in him. The first, last and only slightly positive thing his stepfather had given him was his name, insisting they change it from Haruno to Giorno soon after his mother moved to Italy. After that, the man seemed absolutely bent on making his stepson's life as miserable as possible. He knew Giorno could do nothing about it- his mother worked an all-day job as a nurse, and barely made it back each night in time for supper, and if Giorno told her she most likely would scold him for lying. So he took advantage of this fact, and managed to find something wrong with every single thing his stepson did.

     Giorno worked at the shop from nine am until six pm, usually at either the cash register, placing orders or sweeping. His stepfather judged him harshly, criticizing every mistake with a blow with a fist or belt.  For a sixteen year old boy, mistakes were common, which left him bruised and tired at the end of almost every shift. Crying would do no good, and he knew better than to call the police. So he had resigned himself to this life, wasting away his days in pain and boredom, waiting for some accident to take his stepfather's life so he could claim the shop for his own.

    
     He expected today to be no different than the others. Just another drag as he watched the hours tick away on his watch, trying to keep from falling asleep in the early-morning heat of summer as he waited for the hour hand to reach ten, the scheduled opening time.

     Ding

    The doorbell sounding was not an unusual sound this early- probably just an impatient mother wanting to get flowers for her kid's birthday party. Groaning, he pushed himself to his feet, hurrying to the door with a scowl as the bell sounded again.