Chapter Text
Giorno and Mista made their way back to the school's campus. They were going to go find some guy Mista knew in the year above him, apparently he was some stereotypical goth who was familiar with the paranormal and occult. Mista tells him his name is Leone Abbacchio. Giorno actually already knew a bit about the guy, he's seen him around the campus before. Usually, he's smoking a cigarette away from where anyone could see him or sitting on a nearby bench just to scowl at the passerby. Giorno, being as keen and observative as he is, also took notice of a particular soft spot the goth had. That soft spot being Bruno Buccellati, a well-known student and a more preppy counterpart to Abbacchio, though also seemed to have his own harsher side. Buccellati was the only person he's seen get into a five-foot radius of Abbacchio and not get smoke blown into their face or spit launched near their shoe. Giorno suspected Abbacchio may have a little 'thing' for Buccellati. By the time Giorno was done surveying the logged information he had on Leone, he and Mista arrived at a tree behind the south-wing building. There stood the man they were searching for, looking up at the pair with a sneer, a cigarette pressed firmly at the side of his mouth between his mauve painted lips.
"Mista, I thought I told you to stop coming up to me when I'm smoking," Abbacchio's voice rang out smooth but slightly rasped towards the end of words, apathy apparent in his tone. "I tried switching spots, but somehow you always find me."
" Yeah, yeah, I'll remember next time or something," Abbacchio let out a particularly harsh breath at that, smoke expelling from his mouth. "That's not important right now though, I need your help with something."
"You just need help in general," Abbacchio murmured with a roll of his lined eyes and a small, condescending smile. Giorno chuckled a bit at that, which caught Abbacchio's attention.
Giorno guesses he didn't notice him before, cause the next question out of the goth's mouth was, "Who the fuck is this?"
"Well, if you would let me explain..." Mista huffed out.
"Fine, you have a minute, go."
Mista does his best to explain Giorno's situation to Abbacchio, making sure to explain each paranormal event to its fullest the best he could with the short time he was given. While Mista rambles on, Giorno takes the time to observe Abbacchio and his mannerisms more while he's distracted by the tale being told. Mista finishes up and Abbacchio's attention shoots back to Giorno, clearly displeased by the staring he picked up on.
"Why should I help when the one who's allegedly 'being haunted' is too busy ogling me to tell the story himself." He took a long drag and blew it towards Mista and Giorno's direction.
Mista opens his mouth to object to both the statement and the blatant act of disrespect when Giorno recalls his earlier thoughts about Abbacchio. He quickly devises a plan of attack and speaks before Mista could even utter a "Hey!"
"Well, that's too bad, however it was worth a try." Giorno turns to Mista, "Hm, maybe Buccellati could assist us, he's quite intelligent, he may know a thing or two pertaining to this topic." Both Abbacchio and Mista perk up at the mention of Bruno, only Mista truly understanding Giorno's goal by mentioning him.
"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea." Mista side glances at Abbacchio, "But he might be disappointed to hear that his good friend Abbacchio wouldn't help two underclassmen in a field he has a good amount of information in." For a second, Abbacchio looked as if his brain was frying at the mere thought of disappointing Buccellati. He had never genuinely disappointed Buccellati before, almost every good thing Abbacchio did had Buccellati in mind. Abbacchio wiped the absolutely gobsmacked look off his own face and replaced it with an even more aggressive snarl than before, evident by his teeth and jaw firmly locked into place. His cigarette looked just about ready to snap.
As the two underclassmen turned to walk away, Abbacchio cursed under his breath. "Ugh, look I'll help you two since you seem so certain that Goldilocks over here has a ghost up his ass," They both turned around, Mista turning so fast he almost gives himself whiplash and Giorno swiveling himself to face Abbacchio again in a more calm, graceful manner. "But don't think it's 'cause I care about what anyone thinks of me, I really couldn't give a rat's ass." Mista pumped his fist as Abbacchio lied through his teeth. Well, half-lied. Abbacchio truly didn't care what anyone thought of him, all except Buccellati.
Abbacchio throws the quarter of a cigarette left on the ground, putting it out with his large platforms. He then turns to his bag laying dormant on the grass and takes a book out. It was a decent size, being around 500 pages in length, give or take.
"Coincidentally, I have been looking into spirits and hauntings, especially since I recently heard the paranormal activity at the east wing's library has suddenly died down." Giorno's eyes widened a bit at that, could that really be true or is Abbacchio trying to mess with him and had this book on him for completely unrelated reasons. Before he could question Abbacchio's statement, however, Mista lunged to swipe the book. He only ended up grabbing air, as Abbacchio had held the book higher and away from him.
"Don't just jump to put your grubby hands on other people's property, what the fuck is wrong with you!?!" Abbacchio heavily sighs. He looks at Giorno and his scowl intensifies. Abbacchio turns back to Mista, placing the book in his 'grubby hands.' "Somehow I trust you more with this than blondie over here."
"Really? You just met the kid and you already don't like him??" Mista was shocked that anyone would trust him over Giorno. Though he was older, Giorno definitely seemed more in control of, well, everything than Mista was.
"He looks too...perfect. No one is naturally like that, he's probably hiding some shit." Abbacchio spoke as if the youngest of the three wasn't even there, snarl still apparent. This statement didn't rouse any reaction from Giorno, however, which just proved to unnerve Abbacchio even further. "Anyway, this book should tell you all the basics on spirits/ghosts and their functions, there's also a shop a couple of blocks away that sells some items you might need for whatever you plan on doing, may that be a cleansing, banishment, etc." Abbacchio scribbles the address on a scrap piece of paper and hands it to Mista.
With each of them bidding their goodbyes, Mista and Giorno were on their way back to Giorno's dorm to research more about the paranormal. As they continued their journey to the dorm rooms, Mista turns to Giorno, inquisitively.
"Hey, GioGio." He cleared his throat, "How didja know about the thing Abbacchio has with Buccellati but somehow didn't know a thing about the whole library situation?"
Giorno pauses, looking up before speaking. "Well, I don't tend to pay any mind to baseless gossip," he turns towards Mista with a deadpan expression, " I prefer to observe people, especially ones that may be useful to me later, and as you can see, it has proved to be beneficial."
Whenever Giorno spoke in a manner such as that, it made Mista shiver slightly. At the beginning of their friendship, moments like this kinda freaked the older boy out. However, he now understood what brought Giorno to this point as a person. He was aware of the former life that landed his close friend in the foster system. The abuse Giorno faced from his former guardians' hands and mouths, he told Mista the whole story with the same straight face he bears now.
"Ya don't say?" Mista gives a simple response, shaking all former thoughts from his mind as he adjusted his pastel yellow skateboard underneath his left arm.
They soon arrive at Giorno's neat dorm room, a bed made neatly in the rightmost corner, a desk and bookcase standing adjacent to it, as well as some shelves on the wall. That wasn't the thing that most people observed upon entering the blond's abode. The main attraction was the abundance of houseplants the boy had. Though he had only been residing in the space for a little more than a month, the room was filled with greenery. The bookcase housed more plants than actual books and the shelves had both potted plants and items to keep them healthy. Some taller plants rested in their pots near Giorno's bed, desk, and door.
Giorno and Mista removed their shoes at the door, Mista also placing his skateboard carefully, right beside the Strelitzia. Giorno then padded towards his bed, removing two satin Fushia throw pillows and placing them gingerly on the floor. The two boys took their seats, Giorno sitting criss-cross and Mista with his legs stretched out.
"Let's begin"
After a while of reading and discussing, Giorno felt a light weight press against his back, as if someone was looking over his shoulder to read with him. He tensed up slightly.
"Gio? You okay?"
"Yea, I just had a chill, I suppose"
VVV Small Sketch of Giorno's Dorm VVV
VVV Bruabba Concept Designs VVV
