"You remind me alot about Weiss." Ruby said as they walked along. "Who?" Giorno asked.
"My bestfriend. Like, both of you are so posh and... And..." she drifted off. "Hmm?" the blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Your postures and stuff! Like you were very blue blood and have manners. Things like that. You even wear makeup! I can tell! I think you're pretty well off." she gushed out.
"Well, I grew up in poverty, so that's your theory debunked." Giorno rolled his eyes with a smile.
"Really? No way. Look at you! The way you walk, stand and stuff. And your hair! Has anyone ever told you that your hair looks weird?" she teased, poking his holes in a very suggestive manner, much to his irritation.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked in annoyance. Ruby immediately realized how perverted the gesture was and pulled away with a blush "Ahhh! I didn't mean it like that! It's just... Unique."
Giorno remained silent. No one ever told him his hair was weird, not even Abbachio, and that guy despised him. Although the ex cop had no place to talk anyways since his hair was just as equally as weird.
Ruby didn't know why she was acting so chummy with the guy. Maybe she was just relieved that she immediately found someone she can trust in this strange world. No Grimms, no Dust, no Huntress schools. So bizarre.
It didn't help that he looked very presentable. Plus, he gave her cookies.
They finally reached Ruby's spawn place. It's a grassy field in a park.
"Seems pretty normal." Giorno inspected the ground. He kneeled down and inspected the grass. "Yeah I woke up in this place a couple of hours ago. I mean, it seems normal at first but I feel very dizzy." Ruby told him.
"Gold Experience Requiem..." he whispered.
"What was that? Did you say something?"
He ignored her as his stand stood around and examined the spot. "Master." the stand called his attention.
"What the..." Ruby muttered as she saw Giorno nodding while looking at the air. Even though, there is no one there.
"I see." Giorno replied to no one.
He went on his own devices to analyze her situation once more.
Ruby awkwardly stared at the boy with worry as she fidgeted her hands. 'Sheesh... Who's he talking to..? I thought I was the weirdo here...'
'Poor girl. But without any more clue or evidence that lied around, there is not much I can do. Gold Experience Requiem was right, maybe I should just help her adjust rather.' he slowly stood up.
"Hmm? Found anything, mister?" she asked with a smile. Giorno knew it would be hard to wipe that smile off once more. So he needed to choose his words carefully.
"Ruby. Unless you can tell me more, I won't be much help."
"..."
"I'm not saying it's over. But we won't have much options for now unless your memory becomes clear." Giorno noticed that she started crying once again. "I-I understand. But... You're right. We don't have much to work with unless my stupid head remembers something." she smiled tearily.
"Precisely." he replied. "Mr. Giorno. What would you do if you were in my situation?" Ruby said as she hastily tried to rub her eyes.
"I can't really say I'd relate much to you since I don't have any family left. And while my friendship with two of my most loyal friends were forged with fire, I've only known them for 3 years. I can't empathize, but I can sympathize." he is not really good at comforting others. "O-Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." she weakly replied. She slowly sat down at the grass and remained silent.
Giorno sat beside her.
"Don't worry. You can stay in our headquarters." he said reassuringly.
"Why do you have to be so nice?" she mumbled. "Well. I'm quite fond of 'The Good Samaritan'" he tried humor. "So... So you became one?" she smiled weakly. "Ugh... I should stop crying." she muttered.
Giorno hummed as a light breeze blew. It felt nice.
"Giorno, sir."
"Hmm?"
"What do you do for a living?"
Now it would be weird if Giorno told her that he manages the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy (although the events in 2001 had been giving him ideas to turn the crime heavy portion of the gang such as protection racket, loan shark and prostitution to vigilantism and bounty hunting instead. He did gain alot of money by conquering and seizing lesser mobs with moral compass way worse than his)
But.
It's exactly what he said.
"I am the don of Passione." he bluntly said. "Hmm? What's Passione? Is it a boy band?" she asked with a grin. "No. It's a crime syndicate."
Ruby felt like she was slapped in the face. "WHAT?!"
"It's a long story." he replied.
Should she still trust him? He is basically another Roman Torchwick. Maybe he was just being helpful to recruit her or something, but since he doesn't really look like the scheming type, she figured he deserves a chance to explain himself.
"At a young age, my parents neglected me. And everyone I met was a scumbag. I felt..." Giorno momentarily paused. "Lonely. Everyone treated me as if I am a very horrible human being, and I grew up believing that I am."
She gulped, she can tell that he was telling the truth. Ruby was naive but his sorrowful eyes showed his honesty.
"One day, a mafioso, a gangster stumbled near me. He was on the verge of death. He hid in a grassy alleyway. The three men who did it to him asked me where he went to finish him off. I looked at his direction and figured that he's just like me, we're just lonely. Then, I lied. I didn't think much saving his life but one day, he told me that he would never forget what I did for him. He was honorable. My father stopped beating me, the local kids stopped bullying me, the ice cream vendor gave me additional ice cream. Life was easier. I realized that I can trust people around me." he smiled softly as if it was a fond memory. Ruby returned the gesture, she can tell that he had a rough life.
"One day I saw him walking away from a scene of a murder."
The girl gasped.
"The dead man's child pointed a gun at him and asked him why he did it. He said that the dead man was a scumbag that sold drugs on his turf, even to children. And that he needs to be disposed of. It gave me an idea about his twisted sense of moral. Alas, my dream was born." Giorno stood up as the hood from his coat swirled with the wind along with his braid.
"D-Dream? So... You..." Ruby asked and was curious to why he stood up.
"I, Giorno Giovanna, had a dream I believe was right and just. To save the people from life destroying substance by infiltrating the mob that sells them and taking over. My dream was to be... A Gang Star." putting his fist to his heart, his other hand on his hips, and his feet apart in a stride.
Ruby witnessed her first JoJo pose and it was magnificent in all it's glory.
She can't stop blushing. Admiring how beautiful he is.
His cause was noble, his heart was as gold as his hair. Ruby can't help but compare her to the heroes in her childhood stories. Her heart beats faster and faster, she can't describe how she feels about him.
"Which reminds me, would you like to grab some ice cream?" Giorno stopped posing and offered to help her up. "I DO! I- I uhh I mean... Uhh yeah! Course I do." she lamely tried to play it off but she acted as if he proposed to her or something. She grabbed his hand and stood up.
'Oh geez, what's wrong with me?' she facepalmed after he lets go of her and turned around.
. . .
"No, you hang up!" Mista teased. He was talking to Trish on the phone as he entered Giorno's office. "No, no. Have you ever heard of the phrase 'ladies first'? You do it-" his eyes widened as he saw the screen. Call time: 3:58. It was almost four minutes. "Jesus, okay, I give up!"
He hastily hung up and had a sigh of relief. "That was too close for comfort." he muttered, but then he remained silent once again as he saw an unfamiliar girl sitting on Giorno's desk.
Ruby noticed the strange man with a beanie and waved at him "Hello!"
Mista quickly draw his gun and aimed at her. "Who are you, who sent you?!"
"Uhh let's see... My name is Ruby Rose, and I honestly don't remember how I got here." Ruby replied.
"Who do you work for?!" Mista cocked the gun. "Giorno Giovanna." she smiled at the mention of his name. She was currently organizing the papers he left while he was trying to take care of something upstairs. Mista blinked before lowering his gun, but he was having none of it ans aimed it at her once more.
"What- no! For all I know, you could be an enemy stand user!"
Ruby tilted her head. "What's a stand?"
"BOSS!" Mista screamed and called out for the don. "BOSS, YOU HERE?!"
"I am, stop yelling, please." he heard his voice from the second floor.
"BOSS, WE HAVE AN ENEMY STAND USER!"
Giorno sighed and descended the staircase "What did I tell you about calling me 'boss' Mista? Just call me Gio-"
He saw Mista aiming a gun at Ruby. "Oh, finally. Now let's interrogate this woman, don." Mista said.
"Don is just as bad as boss!" Giorno whined.
"Hello, Giorno! Don't worry, I got this." Ruby said as she neatly arranged the papers and clipped it on a folder.
Giorno then realized something. How is he going to explain to his subordinates who Ruby is? It'd be too much hustle to keep showing them the scroll, he can't afford to waste his time on such useless things. And Ruby's privacy was at stake. So he tried to think of something.
"Hey! Drop the papers, 'Ruby' if that's even your real name." Mista ordered.
"But that is my name, and why would you want me to drop this? It'll make Giorno's job even harder." she reasoned.
"Mista, drop your gun. She's my girlfriend."
"WHAT?!" the two screamed.
"G-G-Giorno-" she stuttered.
"Holy shit! Congratulations! Why didn't you tell me?! I know I'm your underling and all, but I'm still your bro!" Mista wrapped an arm around Giorno to ask him a huge amount of stupid questions. "Since when? Why'd you keep it a secret? Don't worry, I won't tell the others too since they're not gonna stop bothering you-"
"Mista, you're bothering me." he replied irritably.
"Am I?" Mista asked rhetorically.
Ruby was speechless as she watch Giorno try to wrestle away from Mista's grasp. "Get off me, don't make me repeat myself." the blonde threatened.
"My master can't think of anything to say to him." Ruby jumped at the voice inside her head. It was Requiem, but she didn't know that.
'Who are you?' she asked.
"I'm your conscience." the stand sarcastically replied. 'Wow, then why did you call him 'master'? I knew Yang would influence me with that naughty stuff sooner or later.' she blushed to herself.
"I am his stand. A part of him. Giorno respects your wishes not to reveal your origins even to his most loyal subordinates." the stand explained. 'Wait, so are you my conscience or not?' Ruby asked once more.
"I am not." the stand answered. 'Then why did you lie to me?' she asked again. "I was being sarcastic. I am his stand. A manifestation of his spirit." the requiem patiently explained.
'Oh! So you're like his semblance!'
"No. I am a stand."
'Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Look, are you the one that beat those perverts back in the alley?' Ruby smiled to herself.
"Ughh! Get off my case, Mista." Giorno walked away. "Oh come on! After all we've been through, how did you court her? Ooh, I bet she was the one who courted you!" the gunslinger gushed out.
Meanwhile Ruby and GER were having a conversation. "Yes. I was the one." the stand answered with a hint of pride. 'Neat! So, what's a muda? Is it a slang for murder? They both sound alike... Like, 'I'm gonna muda you!' Yeah?'
The requiem gave up and disappeared from her thoughts. 'Hello? Hello?' Ruby scratched her head. But she appreciated that Giorno was willing to kept her origins a secret even to his right hand man. It just caught her off guard, but she can play along. After all, she wouldn't mind dating him.