Finding Buccellati dead in the Colosseum was a blow to Giorno, Mista, and Trish. Mista was inconsolable. Trish sat beside the ex-capo with her legs neatly folded under her, unable to move or speak, while fearful that the tears she was barely holding back would never stop once started. Buccellati was the one who brought them all together and was the glue that kept the gang from drifting apart. They felt lost without him, as if the next breeze would scatter them like paper down the street.

"It's not your fault, Mista." Giorno was the only one standing. He was the calmest of the three, having been given the 'benefit' of a head start on grieving.

"It is my fault! I'm the one who shot him! I must have accidentally hit something vital. Sex Pistols, which one of you did this?" Mista was violently shaking out the bullets from his gun.

"Not me!" "We didn't do this, Mista!" "It wasn't us!" "We only shot his legs! Only non-vitals!" the tiny bullets wailed back.

"Buccellati was already dead before you shot him," Giorno said cautiously. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

"What the fuck does that mean, Giovanna?" Mista groaned, not in the mood for Giorno's habit of spouting cryptic shit before he bothered to explain anything. He paused, ran his hands over his face, and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little on edge, see? Buccellati was like a brother to me. He saved me from jail, we've been through a lot together, and…" Mista paused to wipe his nose on his sleeve. "I know it's not your fault, but you don't even seem that surprised or upset, which pisses me off."

Giorno swallowed hard. He had to tell them why this wasn't much of a surprise to him. There was a long pause before he began, "Back when Buccellati first faced the Boss, back when we were dropping Trish off at the tower, the Boss killed him. I used Gold Experience to heal him, but it was too late. His soul was barely hanging on, but his body had been slowly decaying since then. He tried to keep it a secret from all of us, but I saw a nail pierce his hand and he didn't even seem to notice. His body was cold and he didn't bleed. Later, while driving with him, I found he had no pulse and he told me- "

"What?" Mista blinked incredulously and slowly got to his feet. "What are you talking about? I never saw any of that." Mista was dumbfounded. How could something like this be possible?

"It's true," Trish spoke up. Giorno and Mista turned to look at her. "I saw Buccellati's leg sliced open on the plane and he didn't bleed then, either. I thought it was a trick of the light or part of the strange things I'd begun to see now that I could see Stands."

"Like I said, Buccellati was already dead when-" Giorno began again.

"So you're telling me – You're telling me that you knew Buccellati was dying this entire time and you didn't say anything?" Mista's temper flared when he saw the composed look on Giorno's face while discussing their dead capo. Sure, the kid did look upset, but to Mista he didn't look upset enough.

"Buccellati told me not to tell anyon-"

"IF I KNEW HE WAS DYING, I NEVER WOULD HAVE SHOT HIM!" Mista roared. With tears in his eyes, he grabbed the front of Giorno's shirt. "DAMN YOU, he could still be alive IF YOU FUCKING SAID SOMETHING!"

"Mista, he was already – " Giorno tried to explain again, louder and more stern this time, though he was also visibly shaken. He was torn up inside, but he could only express it with a bowed head and stiff, slow movements. Besides, as upset as Giorno was, he knew it didn't compare to what Mista was feeling. Giorno had developed a strong bond with Buccellati and his gang, but he only knew them for about a week. Giorno had lost a lot of friends, but in contrast Mista felt as if he had lost his entire family. To make matters worse, none of them had forgotten that Narancia was lying only a few yards away.

"FUCK!" Mista let Giorno go while he paused to think. A memory surfaced. Back when Abbacchio was still alive, he confided in Mista with his suspicions about the new recruit. How "that 15-year old brat" had not only been the last person to receive a Stand from Polpo, but according to the testimonies of Polpo's prison guards, a young blond kid had left the prison minutes before the fat capo offed himself. Back then, no one but Buccellati knew exactly what Giorno's Stand did and Abbacchio suspected someone used the kid to assassinate Polpo. Abbacchio's running theory back then was that Giorno had mind control powers and he was hypnotizing Buccellati into doing something horrible. Mista was relieved when they found out Giorno's powers were gardening and amphibians instead because he had learned to genuinely like the lucky guy. However, that seed of doubt was planted in Mista's mind, where it sprouted during the final battle when they all suspected each other of being possessed by King Crimson. That moment made him realize just how little they really knew about Giorno and how fragile a week's worth of built trust was. Slowly, Mista turned to face the kid again. "Is there anything else you're hiding?"

Under normal circumstances, Giorno would have been able to keep his cool. Lie through his teeth and tell Mista "No, there's nothing else." Instead, the toll from seeing Buccellati dead was too much and he guiltily looked to the side, breaking eye contact with Mista for a second. It was a second too long.

"I knew something was fishy about you!" Mista aimed his gun at Giorno's head. This scene was familiar to all of them, a callback to when Mista threatened to blow off Giorno's limbs while they were chasing Silver Chariot Requiem."And why should we trust you? I've got no way of knowing what your ability can do!" "I can't trust you!" Mista had said. He had been mourning the loss of Narancia while deathly afraid of being the next to die. There had been only four of them left, after all: Giorno, Trish, Mista, and Buccellati. To top it off, the two had only known each other for less than a week. They obviously had a few trust issues to work out, but that's something that can only develop slowly through experience and time.

The only thing Giorno could think about was how he convinced Bruno to be his ally to betray and destroy the Boss from the beginning. This was all his fault. Bruno had warned Giorno he wasn't going to protect him if anyone discovered his plan. Giorno had accepted the possibility of fighting Stand users who retaliated against traitors like him while Bruno stood silently by. He didn't think he'd be facing someone he had learned to trust and respect while standing over Buccellati's dead body.

"STOP!" Trish jumped to her feet. "We're all upset, we're all grieving, but this isn't going to solve anything! Mista, put down the gun. I can soften every bullet you fire, rendering your Stand ineffective. You know my Stand is fast enough, I've done it before."

Trish's intervention gave Mista enough time to pause, think about what he was doing, and lower his gun. "I wasn't actually going to shoot him," he grumbled. "I was just throwing a bit of weight around to get some answers, you know? It's what we do in the gang." He sounded ashamed, though his words were true.

Trish ignored him and turned to Giorno, "And you! If you are hiding something from us, you need to tell us. Right now!"

It was at this moment that a small turtle hobbled into view. "This turtle can't walk very fast and Giorno set me down too far away," Polnareff complained. "What did I miss?"

The trio of teenagers looked at each other, unsure of where to begin.

Author's note:

Hello! Welcome to my very first fanfiction! *throws confetti*
This is a post-Vento Aureo adventure fic, a BFF friendship fic between Giorno, Mista, and Trish, and also slowburn GioTrish. This started as a shippy fic, but 5 minutes in I discovered as much as I love romance, I like action/adventure plots better. And character studies. And deep friendships that evolve slowly over time. Why not have it all?
I already have the ending planned out, it's going to take quite a while to get there, and hopefully this fic won't wildly mutate a new ending along the way. I hope to see you in Chapter 2!