Part 3: Let's Go Eat Italian Food! (The Sequel) - Chapter 1

Two Years Later...

Mitsuha, now fully attending school in Morioh, is a 3rd Year student. The trouble in Itomori significantly delayed her general education, forcing her to repeat a year, but she didn't mind. That was because luckily, she was placed in the same class as many of her new Morioh friends, allowing her to spend even more time together. And far away in Tokyo, Taki just started his first year of high school, and is now struggling between balancing his waiter part-time job and school.

But, Rohan was starting to feel impatient, as he had hoped for these two star crossed lovers to meet far sooner. Because until those two could meet and possibly fall in love, he would not be able to accurately create his new manga masterpiece, as the conclusion remained unfinished. He was never one to simply let things happen as they did, so Rohan makes a move to line up both of their daily lives, not wanting to wait years before they might just happen to bump into one another.

One day, early in the Fall, Mitsuha received a message from Rohan, inviting her to go to a fairly new Italian restaurant in Tokyo with a few others as well. Mitsuha happily accepts his invitation, wanting to go to a more traditional Italian restaurant, since Tonio's was less than ordinary, to say the least.

So, a few days later, Mitsuha gets dressed, wearing a muted yellow top and an off white jacket, along with navy blue jeans and sneakers. And once she was ready, so goes to meet Rohan, wondering who all would be going on this cool trip...

When Mitsuha arrives, she sees a large crowd, which surprises her. First, Josuke and Okuyasu walk up to her, causing her to smile and say "You guys are coming too? Awesome!"

Josuke casually waves, and says "Yeah, it should be fun. I'm a bit surprised that Rohan invited us in particular, though..."

Okuyasu nods, and says "Yeah, that guy can't stand us. But I can't say no to some good food!"

Hearing this, Mitsuha taps her chin, and says "Maybe he wants to become better friends with you guys?"

They both shrug, as Joseph Joestar walks up, and says "Hi there, Mitsuha... How's your final year going so far?"

Mitsuha grins, then frantically bows and says "Hello Mr. Joestar! School's going good, and I'm glad I'm getting this extra year to be with everybody..." Then she pauses, before saying "Oh yeah! My dad wanted to thank you for those building contracts. He said that it really helped the other old Itomori residents find new homes..."

Joseph just says "Oh, he didn't need to thank me. No one could have predicted what happened to Itomori, and I have no problems with doing a favor for one of Josuke's buddies!"

Mitsuha smiles, but then she says "So does this mean that you're coming as well, Mr. Joestar?"

Joseph nods, and says "That's correct. I lost a dear friend a long time ago, and this is a nice way for me to remember him..."

Hearing this, Josuke leans over, and says "Was this when you and Mr. Jotaro traveled to Egypt?"

Joseph shakes his head, and says "Nope. This was something way back, probably when I was around your age..."

After that, Okuyasu's eyes widen, as he says "Woah! That's so long ago!"

Josuke sighs, and glares at Okuyasu, before saying "Don't just say that, dude..."

Joseph laughs, and says "He's right. It was a long time ago... And it'll also give me a chance to hangout with Josuke and his pals!"

Following that, the three of them walk over to the train station bench, as Tonio and Yuya walk over next...

Once they were in front of Mitsuha, she smiles and says "You guys are coming too! This'll be super cool!"

Tonio nods, and says "I've heard that this is a relatively new Italian restaurant, so when Rohan told me of this trip, I requested to join. I am highly interested in how Italian food is approached in other regions of Japan..."

Yuya grins, and says "For myself, I am always on the lookout for new places to eat. I would never wish for my girls to get bored of where we go, after all..."

Mitsuha smiles again, finding those answers to be completely expected of them, as Rohan walks over next...

Now that Rohan was in front of Mitsuha, he says "It seems that everyone is here. I thought that a trip to Tokyo would be a nice way to enjoy the start of Fall. It's hard to believe that you and your family moved here over two years ago now."

Mitsuha nods, and says "Yeah... There are still some days when I miss Itomori a bit, although I definitely don't miss living in the countryside! I'm really looking forward to having Italian food though!"

Hearing this, Rohan scratches his chin, and says "I can see myself quietly retiring out in the countryside, but not for a long time..." Then he pauses, and adds, saying "Hopefully you have a more standard experience, as Tonio's place is a strange comparison point to have..."

Following that, the group boards the next train to Tokyo, ready to go to the Italian restaurant that Rohan selected for lunch...

And after a relatively short train ride, the group arrives in Tokyo, as Rohan guides them to where they would have their lunch...

When they make it to the building, they see a large and fancy sign with the words 'Il Giardino Delle Parole'. And as they near the entrance, Rohan scratches his chin, and says "My Italian may be a bit rusty, but I believe that translates to The Garden of Words. Am I accurate, Tonio?"

Tonio nods, and says "That is essentially what the name means. It is a nice choice..."

Okuyasu grins, and says "Yeah. It sounds pretty fancy... What does yours mean, Tonio?"

Hearing this, Tonio thinks for a moment, before saying "Well, a trattoria is essentially an informal Italian eating establishment, so that is what I try to represent in my eatery."

Okuyasu shrugs in response, and says "I don't really pay attention to all of that; but the food's always great!"

After that, Josuke sighs, and says "C'mon dude... Just say you like the food..."

Tonio merely laughs, and says "The highest compliment I can receive is about the cooking..."

Following that, the group walks into the building...

When they enter, a young maroon-haired woman dressed in a fancy waiter outfit greets them, saying "Hello! My name is Miki Okudera. Do you have a reservation?"

As Rohan steps forward, Okuyasu leans toward Josuke and whispers, saying "Yo dude... That girl looks super hot..."

Josuke subtly nods in response, and says "Yeah... She does look pretty good..."

But as those two quietly talked among themselves, Rohan says "The reservation should be under Rohan Kishibe..."

While Miki checks the list, Mitsuha stares at her, feeling as if she met her at some point. Miki eventually notices this, so she waves and says "Are you alright?" Mitsuha continues to stare blankly, so Miki continues, saying "Hello...?"

After that, Mitsuha snaps out of it, and starts to nervously laugh and say "Oh, sorry… I spaced out for a second." Then Mitsuha notices a fancy hedgehog design stitched into Miki's skirt, causing her to say "Oh, that looks so cute! Did you do that yourself?"

Miki smiles, and says "Oh, I thought it looks cute too. But one of my co-workers did it for me when my skirt got ripped." Then she mumbles to herself, saying "I still couldn't believe that he had it in him..."

Mitsuha smiles, wondering what she mumbled but not really wanting to pry, so she waits until Miki finds Rohan's name, before saying "Allow me to bring you to your table. I won't be serving you today, so I do hope you enjoy your experience here..."

And once Miki lead them to their table, and they all sat down, she walks away. But as they all chat aimlessly while waiting, two young yet hardened looking Italians were having their own lunch at the other side of the room, seemingly trying to keep a low profile...

But everyone at Mitsuha's table continued to chat until a young high school aged boy walks up, ready to greet them. When Mitsuha sees this boy, her heart nearly skips a beat, as she has the strangest sensation of déjà vu. The boy scans the table first, and when he notices Mitsuha, he freezes in his tracks for a moment, as he was also overcome with a sudden surge of emotions. Rohan watches intently as this unfolds, excited to finally witness the conclusion of his new masterpiece.

But then Joseph suddenly says "Are you okay, sonny...? Need to sit down for a moment...?"

The boy's eyes widen, as he realizes that he'd been staring off into space in front of his next table, before smiling and saying "Sorry! My name is Taki, and I will be taking care of you today. Would anyone like a drink to start?" Rohan silently grumbles, finding Joseph's interruption to be irritating, since that moment could have evolved into something even more interesting. But he did carry respect for Joseph Joestar, mainly due to his lengthy experiences in life, so he simply watches in hopes of another chance.

But it wasn't just out of respect for the elderly Joestar, as he did not want to make Taki uncomfortable by displaying signs of annoyance, since he'd need them both in pleasant spirits so they might actually attempt to converse together over the course of this lunch.

And following that, Taki takes their orders, before walking away, as he and Mitsuha both notice an odd sensation scratching at them at the backs of their minds, one that they can't seem to fully understand...

←To Be Continued

Notes

Now that Part 2 was fully brought to the original story, I can start off with the Part 3 plot content. I won't be available next week, so Chapter 2 of Part 3 will be delayed by a a week or two. Sorry about that.

After this story arc, which will mainly focus on the lunch events, there will be another one that I'm pretty excited for, because it'll bring in a bunch of other JoJo characters that you might not have expected to see. Although, I'm personally looking forward the most to letting Taki and Mitsuha meet up in this new alternate timeline. But this set of chapters will include a few extra JoJo characters who you also might not expect to make appearances in the story. Their full appearances will be in the following chapter.

And for the part with Miki's skirt stitching, that's obviously a reference to what happens in Your Name, but you might remember that all of that happened in the future, in the timeline where Mitsuha does not survive the comet. So technically, Miki wouldn't have had her skirt torn and then fixed yet, although I'll just chalk that up to the weirdness that changing the past can bring. I felt like it would be a nice thing to include, since Mitsuha was the one who did the sewing, even if she wasn't in her body at the time.

And let me know what you thought of this chapter! And don't be scared to leave a review, whether it is constructive feedback or just what you liked or maybe disliked about it.

Take care!