Alright, well, it's happened, I finally wrote a high school AU.
I've had the idea for this one rolling around for a while and now it's becoming this huge story in 4 parts XD
A little breakdown before we start: this is a no stand/ no mafia AU so essentially I'm just pulling all the characters' backstories from the anime/manga and using those as the vague basis for this story. I pushed everyone's ages closer together too so there's only, at most, a couple years between all of them. Other than that, this is just an angsty story about friendship and growing up and overcoming how crappy life can be sometimes, so I hope you enjoy it. (I promise there are also fun and nice things too.)
New chapters go up every Monday and Friday
You can also find me on Tumblr at: lady-wallace and on instagram at: ladyofinkandpaper I'll eventually be posting more art for this story in those places, so if you're interested, stop by and say hi :) I love chatting with you guys.
But without further ado, enjoy!
Time in a Bottle
A JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Fanfic
(Pt 5 High school AU) It's 2001 and Bruno's senior year. Graduation and the rest of his life is close at hand. But life never seems to be that easy. Giorno has just moved to town and finds that he falls away from his usual rule of keeping to himself when he crosses paths with a group of tight-knit friends who take him into their fold. Under the surface, everyone is dealing with their own trials, but sometimes the only thing you can do is savor the good and do your best to survive and help each other through the rest.
Part One
"The Sun Will Set For You"
(Title from Linkin Park's song 'Shadow of the Day')
Chapter One
Bruno woke to his alarm clock, reaching out with a practiced ease to turn it off before he rolled onto his back and just lay there for a few long minutes staring at the ceiling.
His last year of school started today. It just seemed…surreal. This time next year he would graduate and be able to move on to live his life the way he wanted.
But not yet. There was still one year to go.
Bruno pushed himself out of bed and dressed. He could already hear his father up in the kitchen, getting ready for his day as well, the comforting smell of coffee wafting through the small house.
He dressed quickly and grabbed his favorite denim jacket on the way out of his room.
"Good morning, Papa," Bruno called as he saw his father sitting at the small table in the kitchen looking through the paper as he drank his coffee.
Paolo Bucciarati glanced up, his lips curving upwards slightly in the subtle way he offered a small smile. "Good morning. You got everything ready for today?"
"I think so," Bruno sighed as he grabbed some bread to put into the toaster and went to pull the jar of jam from the fridge.
"You'll do fine," his father said quietly, but Bruno felt a little bolstered. He wasn't entirely sure that was true, but he knew he would at least try to do his best if nothing else.
He grabbed a glass of milk while he waited for his toast to finish and then slathered it in strawberry jam, eating it while he prepared his lunch, making an extra sandwich that he put away for his father. By the time he was done it was time to go so he wrapped his lunch and threw it into his school bag that he had packed the night before to leave by the door, slinging it over his shoulder.
He caught his father outside, untangling the fishing nets he'd left to dry.
"Bye, Papa, have a good day," Bruno called as he grabbed his old bike and threw his bag into the basket in front.
"You too, Bruno," his father replied, raising his hand.
"I left you a sandwich for lunch, don't forget to take it with you," Bruno called to him as he mounted the bike and started off. The gears were slightly rusted from the salt air and so the wheels squeaked every time he pedaled.
The salty tang of sea air dissipated as he got further into town and his stomach churned slightly. There was always a certain nervousness to starting the new year even though he knew he had friends waiting for him there.
One of which had already appeared by the time he got there, leaning against a tree by the bike rack, covered head to toe in black as usual, arms folded over his chest.
"Hey," Leone said in greeting as Bruno rode up and reached into his bag to grab his bike lock.
"Hey," Bruno replied in kind, straightening up from locking the bike up. "You ready?"
Leone's black lips twisted. "No, but whatever. It's the last year, right? God, I'm ready to get out of this shithole."
Bruno could definitely agree with that sentiment. He tugged his backpack on as he glanced toward the school steps where the majority of students were weaving their way into the building by now.
"Hey, there you guys are!"
They looked over to see Mista and Narancia making their way over to them, grinning and waving.
"Thought I wasn't gonna get here in time," Mista was saying. "Had to drop the kids off at the middle school today for mom. It was a zoo."
"Kinda wish you had gotten lost," Narancia sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his messy hair. "I just wish I could be with you guys this year."
Mista clapped him on the shoulder. "Yeah, me too, buddy, but it's not like we're that far away."
"Besides," Bruno added. "You've been doing really well with your studies. You might even be able to move up in some of the classes before the end of the year."
"Yeah, well," Narancia sighed tiredly. "I guess it's back to the grind, right?"
They headed toward the school entrance and Narancia glanced over, catching sight of Fugo. "Hey, there you are, Panna!"
Fugo looked up, not exactly smiling, but not scowling either. "Oh, good morning," he said.
"You're always so formal, we haven't seen you for weeks," Mista said, clapping him on the back. "All the rich snobs rubbed off on you again?" Fugo elbowed him away. Now he was scowling.
"Did you have a nice trip this summer?" Bruno asked him. They had barely seen Fugo since his family always vacationed all summer long and Fugo was obliged to go with them; better to show off their genius son.
"It was predictably normal," Fugo replied blandly. "Toured a couple universities I'm supposed to apply for."
Narancia groaned. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about that yet. Maybe I'm glad I have to redo junior year."
Mista grinned at him. "Aw, come on, that's the kind of thing our boy genius has to worry about, you and I are going straight to work to make a living."
"You already work part time," Narancia pointed out.
"Yeah, and most of that money goes into the family coffers," Mista said with an uncaring shrug. "But I'm saving up, and as soon as I graduate, Nara and I are gonna find us a nice bachelor pad, right?"
"You bet!" Narancia grinned.
"Well, you have to pass this year first before you can even think of having a job," Fugo pointed out to Narancia. "And I almost don't want to ask how much you've forgotten over the summer."
"I've been working on it," Narancia protested.
"I'll attest to that," Bruno said with a smile.
Fugo shrugged. "Well, then maybe you have a chance."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Narancia stuck his tongue out at Fugo as they all made their way inside just as the bell rang.
"Well, this is it," Narancia sighed. "See you guys later, I guess."
"See you at lunch," Bruno promised with a wave as they split up to go to their homerooms, hurrying to grab desks.
Bruno and Leone gave a nod in greeting to Risotto, Prosciutto and Formaggio sitting at the back of the classroom as they took the desks in front of them, Leone folding his long legs underneath of his as Bruno set his bag down by his feet.
"You get new contacts?" Leone asked Risotto at the same time Bruno noticed that the goth had red and black eyes today, seeing Prosciutto and Formaggio rolling their eyes on either side of him.
Risotto grinned. "Yeah, wanted to come battle ready today."
"We're betting on if he'll violate a dress code somehow," Formaggio said.
"The bet was whether he or Melone would violate one first," Prosciutto corrected.
"Whatever, it's not like they can take them, they're prescription," Risotto said, leaning back. "So if they want me to be able to read the board…"
"Between you and Melone, I sometimes wonder why we're still friends," Prosciutto sniffed, pushing his already tightly gelled hair back further.
"Because you hate the prissy stuck-up bastards your parents think you should hang out with as much as we do," Formaggio pointed out.
Prosciutto shrugged as if that was indeed true, which it was.
The teacher called for everyone to quiet down and Bruno turned back around in an attempt to focus in this close classroom stuck in the middle of the city.
One more year, and then he wouldn't have to sit in a classroom ever again. He could breathe the sea air all day and be free.
Giorno carefully packed the few school supplies he had into his worn backpack before zipping it up and simply staring at it, sitting there on the bed. He tugged the sleeve of his shirt down, but the cuff was still sitting a couple inches above his wrist so he simply pushed the sleeves up to his elbows so no one would notice. His pants weren't much better, but there was little he could do about that right now. He was hoping to get an after-school job at some point now that they were settled in, but he needed to make sure he could survive the school year first.
Still, any reason to get out of the house was a good one.
Giorno took a deep breath and grabbed his backpack before heading downstairs, the stairs creaking under his feet in a way he still hadn't quite figured out. He caught sight of his mother sitting on the sofa, watching television.
"I'm leaving for school now," Giorno told her as he paused by the doorway.
She looked up briefly. "Okay. Oh, there's money on the table by the door. For lunch and other small expenses. Your stepfather decided to give you an allowance every week for that."
Generous of him. Giorno reached for the envelope and slipped it into his backpack. He didn't dare count it lest his mother call him ungrateful. He knew the only reason his stepfather had done this was so that he could have something to hold over Giorno like he always did when he did the bare minimum and then told Giorno he was ungrateful when he asked for something completely reasonable.
He held back a sigh, glad his stepfather was already gone for the day, and reached for the door. His mother's eyes were already glued to the television again so he left without another word.
The morning air felt good to breathe after the stuffy interior of the house. Giorno tugged his fraying backpack straps more firmly onto his shoulders as he walked, trying to remember the rout he had committed to memory the week before.
He was still barely on time however, getting to the school almost the instant the bell rang, and he rushed towards the front office like he had been told to pick up his class assignments and a map.
Once he had them, he rushed to his homeroom, already getting turned around several times, but when he finally found it, he realized that there were other kids still arriving too so he quietly slipped in.
"Ah, you must be the other new student."
Giorno looked up to see the teacher, a middle-aged woman with a tired, yet pleasant face, glancing over at him from where she was writing on the board. "Please take a desk up front."
Giorno, feeling slightly uncomfortable with being singled out, carefully slid into a desk on the front row. To his left there was a pink-haired girl staring at her nails, seeming to ignore him so Giorno turned back to his own desk, running a finger over some faded graffiti.
The last few students trickled in and the teacher called everyone to order.
"Welcome to the new school year, class," she said. "We'll do some quick introductions in a minute so I can get to know you, but first, we have a couple new students. They both just moved to the city, so give them a warm welcome." The teacher turned to them. "Could you both stand up and introduce yourselves?"
Giorno's face flamed as the teacher motioned to him and he shuffled out of the desk awkwardly, surprised to see the pink-haired girl doing the same, a light blush on her cheeks as she looked at the ground.
"I'm Trish Una," the girl said quietly.
The teacher turned expectantly toward Giorno and he wet his mouth. "I'm Giorno Giovanna."
There was a half-hearted greeting from a few of the students before Giorno and the girl—Trish—were allowed to retreat to their desks.
"Mr. Ghirga?" the teacher called, glancing a few desks over toward a lanky, dark-haired boy.
"Yes ma'am?" the boy replied, eyes wide like he had gotten caught doing something he shouldn't have been.
"I'd like you to show Giorno and Trish around this week, help them out with any questions they might have."
Narancia glanced over at them. "Cool, I can do that!" he grinned, giving them a small salute. Giorno attempted a small smile back, hoping the teacher would stop singling him out now.
Luckily, the introductions went on and everyone got a chance to be awkward. Giorno just put his head down and tried to concentrate as much as possible. Two more years to go, and then he could get out. Maybe even leave his mother and stepfather.
That was what he thought of as he sat down to do his work. That maybe there was finally a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel that had been his life so far.
Giorno managed to survive his first couple classes, and really it was just orientation so it wasn't like it was hard. Just a lot of awkward introductions and an overwhelming sense of just how much impending work would have to be done this year with each new textbook.
The boy, Narancia, popped up as soon as the next bell rang though and grinned at him.
"It's lunch period now! come on, I'll show you the way. You both buying lunch too?"
Giorno and Trish stood there a little awkwardly but both nodded.
"Cool, I'll show you what's good and what you definitely shouldn't get," Narancia said. "Hey, let me see your schedules so I can make sure you know where you're going in case we don't always have the same classes."
Giorno and Trish dug their papers out of their bags and handed them to him. Narancia looked them over as they were walking. "Looks like we have almost all the same classes. Don't hesitate to ask me anything, okay? I actually have to repeat this year so I've done it all before. Where'd you guys move from anyway?"
Narancia talked a lot, but Giorno found he didn't really mind it at all. It was kind of nice to have something fill any possibility of awkward silence.
"Um…not too far away, my…parents just bought a new house," Giorno said. He didn't think that they needed to know he originally had moved from Japan when he had been a child.
"What about you, Trish?" Narancia asked, turning toward the girl.
She was silent for a moment, but she finally answered, "Sardinia."
"Whoa, really?" Narancia asked. "I heard it's real pretty over there, always wanted to go."
Trish looked slightly uncomfortable but they had made it to the cafeteria and Narancia was easily distracted by maneuvering them both over to the line for food.
Once they got their lunch, Narancia looked around before he spotted someone waving from a table. "There they are! Hey, come on, you guys can come meet my friends."
Giorno followed Narancia over to the table, only to have to barely dodge someone standing up too fast. He jerked out of the way just in time and felt his shoulder crash into something as he stumbled back, followed by a curse.
"Watch it, shithead!"
Giorno froze, turning to see a tall boy snarling down at him, his gaze made twice as intimidating by the heavy eyeliner and black lipstick. Despite the fact that most of his lunch was now on the front of his shirt.
Giorno's heart was pounding in his ears. "I—I'm sorry…"
"You need to watch where you're going!"
"Leone, it was an accident," someone said.
"Yeah, and don't bully Giorno; he's under my protection!" Narancia said, stepping between Giorno and the goth dramatically.
"I'm not bullying him, I'm pissed because he ruined my shirt!"
"Come on, Leone, he didn't mean to run into you," a dark-haired boy at the goth's shoulder encouraged, giving Giorno a small smile in apology as he pushed his friend toward the table.
Leone growled and shoved past him to sit, slamming his tray down as a pale blond boy handed napkins silently across the table to him.
Narancia urged Giorno and Trish further down the table and Giorno sat carefully between them, trying to ease his heartbeat, staring down at his tray as he could hear the goth still grumbling under his breath.
"At least you're wearing black, it won't show as much," Trish commented.
"Exactly," Narancia said.
"Easy for you to say, I don't have any clothes to change into, so I'm going to have to wear this shit for the rest of the day," Leone growled.
"I have an extra shirt in my car I think," said a boy with a beanie sitting further down the table.
"If it's a crop top I will kill you."
"Hey, it's not my fault if you're not comfortable enough to show off your pale abs."
"I'm not getting a dress code violation on day one, asshole!"
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to," Giorno spoke up quietly and was promptly ignored.
"Just close your jacket, no one will know," said the dark-haired boy, who was now sitting across from Giorno. He turned to him with a smile. "Don't mind Leone, he's not as mean as he sounds. I'm Bruno, by the way. Are you two in Narancia's class?"
"They're new transfer students," Narancia spoke up for them. "This is Giorno and Trish." He leaned in and started pointing out everyone at the table. "You met Bruno and of course Leone," he said. "But this guy is Mista, and over there is Fugo, the boy genius."
"Please stop introducing me like that," Fugo grumbled.
"Well, you are, and, ya know, it's kind of your most interesting trait?" Narancia pointed out, turning back to Giorno and Trish as Fugo gave him a rude gesture. "He's sixteen and a senior because he skipped two years. It would be great to be smart like that, huh?"
More students filtered in to sit further down the table. Narancia turned to them. "Hey, guys!" He turned back to Trish and Giorno. "That's Risotto and Prosciutto. Illuso, Melone and Ghiaccio down there are in a lot of our classes as well."
Giorno took in the others, trying to put their names to memory. Another tall goth wearing black and a lot of chains; beside him a slimmer blond in what looked to be an expensive sweater vest and blazer—the two of them complete opposites. The other three Narancia had mentioned looked to be on the verge of starting a food fight, getting into a more heated argument before Risotto glowered across at them. "Quit it!"
"Kinda chaotic, isn't it?" Mista asked with a grin. "You two will fit in soon enough."
"You're just used to it so you don't even notice anymore," Narancia told him and leaned back in toward Giorno. "Mista has six younger siblings."
"School is quiet compared to home," Mista said with a laugh. "You two have any brothers or sisters?"
"No," Trish said quickly as Giorno shook his head.
"Well, feel free to borrow mine any time," Mista joked, grabbing an apple out of his bag and crunching into it.
Giorno was trying not to be overwhelmed, forcing himself to eat if for no other reason than to not waste the food. He was having a hard time being hungry though. Between the fact he was starting at a new school and had also already made a nuisance of himself, his stomach was in knots.
He wasn't exactly used to spending lunch with people. At his old school, he had usually eaten lunch outside. He hadn't exactly been on bad terms with the other students but he'd never made friends with them either. No more than passing acquaintances. People tended to ignore him, and Giorno was okay with that. He didn't like making a nuisance of himself, and he didn't want people asking questions or noticing when he inevitably skipped days.
He would probably do the same once Narancia was through with them this week. As nice as he seemed, Giorno couldn't imagine him wanting to spend time with someone quiet and uninteresting like him.
He just really wanted to get through the rest of high school. That was all. If he could do that, then he would be okay.
After lunch the seniors and juniors went their separate ways, which meant that they were heading to math next. Bruno wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He had barely scraped by with a passing grade in math last year and even then if it hadn't been for Fugo helping him out, he probably wouldn't have even had that much luck.
"At least they have the luxury of letting us have full stomachs before they subject us to math," Mista said, yawning.
Fugo flicked him in the back of the shoulder. "If you fall asleep in class it will only make it worse, you know."
"What, we're just doing introductions today anyway," Mista said.
"Not with Signore Campagna," Leone scoffed. "I heard he's the worst."
"You're good at math, though," Mista whined.
Leone shrugged. "Doesn't mean I like it."
"I'll see you later," Fugo told them as they got to the classroom.
"Where are you going?" Bruno asked, frowning.
"Oh, since I can literally do the text book front and back the principal decided to let me skip math class," Fugo said. "I've been assigned as an aide to Signore Pisani during the afternoon history class. Something about experience or whatever." He rolled his eyes.
"So all you have to do is just sit around and watch people read about history?" Mista demanded.
"No, I'll be helping to grade the classes' papers as well."
"Better give me a good grade then," Mista grinned.
"That's not your class, and besides, I don't believe in academic corruption."
Bruno grinned. "Everyone just wants you to get a doctorate by the time you're eighteen."
Fugo sighed. "You're not exactly wrong," he muttered before he hitched his bag further onto his shoulder and raised a hand. "I'll see you later."
Bruno gave the younger teen one last glance before he followed the others into the class room.
Leone was right, they went straight into the textbook that day, and Bruno's head was left spinning from the numbers, trying to retain everything they'd been taught by the time the class was over.
But they survived the rest of the classes and reconvened out in front of the school after the bell rang to go home.
"Ugh, it's only going to get worse from here," Mista groaned as he stretched his arms over his head. "You know what I think? I think we deserve gelato after this."
"Did someone say gelato?"
Narancia bounded over, still with Giorno and Trish trailing behind him.
"That sounds good," Bruno agreed. "I could definitely use something sweet."
"Hell yeah! Hey," Narancia said, turning to the two new students. "You two come along as well. Mista and Leone both have cars so there will be plenty of room for you."
"I can't, I need to get home," Trish said quickly, and clenched her hands tightly into her backpack straps. "Um…thanks for showing me around though."
She hurried off, and Bruno turned toward Giorno who looked unsure. "Would you like to come, Giorno? The gelato stand is only a few minutes away."
Giorno cast a hesitant glance toward Leone who folded his arms across his chest. Bruno wanted to kick his friend for acting like such a bastard, but Mista cut in.
"You can ride with me, if you want."
"I don't think he has a death wish, Mista," Fugo scoffed.
"My car runs perfectly fine!" Mista said, then amended, "Well, when it starts."
"Come on, Giorno, you definitely need some gelato," Narancia insisted, already grabbing the teen's shoulders and pushing him toward the parking lot.
"Well, okay I suppose I would like to have some gelato," Giorno replied, sounding more bemused than anything.
"Let's get out of here then," Leone grunted. "Bruno, you can throw your bike in Mista's trunk."
After getting the bike situated in Mista's beat up old wagon, Giorno and Narancia getting in with him, Bruno, Leone, and Fugo climbed into Leone's vehicle and drove off down the street to the gelato stand.
They all ordered and sat on the low wall in front of the stand to enjoy their treats. Bruno decided that rich chocolate was the perfect stress reducer.
"See, Giorno? I told you this was a good place," Narancia was telling the blond.
"It is really good," Giorno agreed, smiling tentatively as he ate his pistachio and chocolate.
It seemed like Giorno was already warming up to Narancia, Bruno thought fondly. Not that that was a very difficult thing to do. Narancia was friendly to everyone, even the teachers liked him. He had been assigned to help out new students before.
There was something about Giorno's reservation that seemed slightly off though, but then, Bruno had only just met him. He didn't want to make assumptions. There certainly wasn't anything bad about Giorno, but while Trish had seemed normally awkward around them in the way it was when you got thrown into a group of people who had known each other for a long time, Giorno seemed slightly different in the way he almost looked like he wished people wouldn't notice him at all.
Bruno hadn't noticed it before either, but now that they were sitting down, he realized Giorno's clothes looked very worn, and his pants were actually too short. It wasn't like that meant anything, Bruno himself wore plenty of second-hand clothes, but he had to wonder at the fact that Giorno agreed to go buy treats with them, but his parents apparently couldn't afford anything new or care that he went to school on his first day in such old clothes.
"Hey, earth to Bruno."
A nudge to his side had Bruno turning to Leone who was just finishing up the last of his gelato. "You good?"
Bruno shook himself and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"
"Because you have that deeply contemplative look when you psychoanalyze people."
"I don't—"
Leone snorted knowingly. "Trying to figure out the new kid's deal? I think he's just stuck up. Probably popular at his old school so he's upset about having to move."
Bruno frowned. "I don't think so. And you can't stay mad at him forever, you know."
"Whatever." Leone threw the plastic spoon into his empty cup. "As long as he stays out of my way, he's fine."
Bruno shook his head. Leone might be his best friend but he could also be ridiculous sometimes, and definitely held onto grudges.
He finished his ice cream up and stood. "I need to get going, but I'll see you all tomorrow." He stopped in front of Giorno with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Giorno."
Giorno nodded somewhat belatedly in acknowledgement and Bruno went to retrieve his bike from the back of Mista's car.
He rode home in time to see his father hanging out his nets for the day. Bruno hopped off his bike and went over to greet him.
"How was your first day back at school?" Paolo asked.
"It was fine," Bruno said with a shrug. "How was your day?"
"Good haul," his father replied. "There's fresh shrimp for dinner. Do you want scampi tonight?"
"That sounds great," Bruno replied. "I'll clean them for you."
His father smiled and Bruno hurried inside, dropping his backpack off before heading to the kitchen.
One more year.
The gelato was delicious, and Giorno would have to remember this place. It seemed like a favorite of Narancia and his friends. Briefly, he imagined himself coming here after school with the others as a regular thing, but he pushed that thought away. He might be able to afford it with the extra allowance, but he probably wouldn't get invited again.
"Hey, Giorno," Mista called as they all got ready to leave. "You need a ride home?"
"Oh, no, that's okay," Giorno said quickly. He really didn't want to have to answer questions if his stepfather saw someone drive him back. "I don't live too far from here. I can walk."
"Well, if you're sure," Mista shrugged.
"Thanks though, for the ride here," Giorno added.
Mista waved to him and Narancia did as well. "See you tomorrow, Giorno!"
Giorno headed off down the street on his way back home.
Once he got there, he closed the door quietly behind him, but his stepfather was sitting at the table in the dining room right off the entryway and saw him come in anyway.
"You're a little late getting back, aren't you?" he said around a cigarette as he counted money into piles.
Giorno felt the gelato he'd eaten curdle in his stomach, his hand clenching into the strap of his backpack. "I…got a bit turned around on the way back," he lied.
His stepfather laughed. "You got lost? Yeah, that figures. You always were a stupid brat."
Giorno continued toward the stairs and climbed up to his room, throwing his backpack on the bed before he followed it, lying face down and burying his head in the pillow.
He just needed to make it through the rest of school. That was all.
Trish walked through the door, seeing her aunt—well, really her second cousin or something, but it was just easier to call her aunt—sitting in the living room, watching television.
"That you, Trish?" she called.
Trish poked her head in with a small smile. "Yup. Is Mom in her room?"
Her aunt nodded and Trish hurried to the back of the house, knocking quietly on the door before opening it up.
"Hey mom, I'm back," Trish said.
Her mom shifted in bed, turning to smile at her, holding out a hand. "There you are. How was your first day of school?"
"Oh, it was okay," Trish said and came over to the bed, sliding in next to her mom as she dropped her bag on the floor.
"Why don't you tell me all about it?" her mom suggested, as Trish leaned her head against her shoulder.