FILTHY BASTARD

He would expect nothing less from Formaggio, who seemed to make it his life’s mission to remain as indolent as possible when he was not on a job. The faint curl of amusement that his words inspired would have lifted the corners of Risotto’s lips had his following question not immediately flattened them.

“–We have a new job.” Risotto replied, settling his arm more comfortably upon the table as Formaggio lay against it. He glanced down at his subordinate. “And Polpo is most insistent that we send a single man out for this job.”

It seemed that now, more than ever, that the upper echelons of Passione were determined to stamp out their group. Assigning them jobs with ever-higher risks and odds, as if offended that his team had been capable of surviving even the most outrageously dangerous of jobs.

a frown quickly engulfed the shrunken man’s lips at risotto’s information, head reclining back on the clothed arm and a grunt of disapproval leaving him. he knew it wasn’t some sort of congratulatory reason that they “trusted” them to get the job done so efficiently. 

“ th’ fuck does it matter to polpo who and how many we send? ” he groused, uncaring that he was insulting a capo that way. he spoke freely with risotto and certainly he would be no stranger to formaggio’s unsavoury opinions on the matter. if there was anyone the assassin trusted, it was risotto after all.

“ we don’t tell ‘im how to do his fuckin’ job. ”

he reached over, as if grasping risotto’s thumb with his hand would soothe him, though it was formaggio who needed to calm down.

Without forgetting to keep at least some amount of healthy skepticism about her, Tomoko gave the stranger the benefit of the doubt and allowed an explanation to be given for the entire mishap clearly going on at the time. She listened carefully, arms crossed above her chest whilst keeping that cautious distance from the man, carefully observing him — at first glance, while a little rough around the edges, the man didn’t seem terribly shady nor suspicious, and he deffinitely seemed as foreign as it could be. So, Tomoko didn’t find it too hard to believe that he had mixed up the language he was not native of, his story making quite a lot of sense then. The thought even made her almost smile, for she remembered her child’s father having that sort of small moments where he mixed up japanese words, and the like. And like the curse of a tough woman with a gentle heart, the sentimentalism made her feel just a little nostalgic. Tomoko shook her head, to shoo away those feelings.

“I see…hm, well it’s not your fault then.” She nodded, an understanding expression on her face. “Since you’re already here, I don’t mind if you get that work done sooner than later, so go ahead.”

After a moment of thought, hands shifting to her hips, she finally approached the worker and closed the distance to something a little more friendly. “But can I ask what the hell where you doing poking around our fridge? That’s rude!” Friendly, but certainly not without spunk.  “That food is for my son when he comes home, so don’t touch it. If you’re hungry I can make something for you.”

formaggio found himself relaxing somewhat when it seemed that she was accepting his white lie. he was here on the job, but really, he should know better by now than to break into the house to get it done and over with .. and steal a couple things along the way. wasn’t he supposed to be ‘better’ than that, now? new place, new life?

ah, old habits die hard. his stand was growing soft and lazy without the constant use, though he couldn’t complain too much about the newfound energy he had without having to use said stand.

his relaxation didn’t last long as he found himself chastised by the woman again. he stood up a little straighter, face sheepish and hands open palmed, as if the placating gesture would soothe her rightful ire.

“ ahh, it’s not an excuse, but i was searching for some food. ” he admitted with an awkward grin. he mentally filed away the information that she had a son in the back of his mind, too. was there not a father around..? maybe he was just at work.

“ i’m uh, sorry ‘bout t’at. i promise i won’t go rummagin’ around people’s fridges again.” formaggio placed a hand on his heart to that promise, even if he definitely wouldn’t keep it. he considerably perked up at her offer, his sheepishness vanishing for a genuine interest. at the very least, he managed to refrain his touchy behaviour and withheld the hug he looked like he was going to give.

“that’s right,  you get me,”  despite nodding sagely,  doppio isn’t ready to relent quite yet.  “the second thing is that, in the case you find yourself in dire straits, of course, the boss would rather appreciate it if you left a message of some sort.”

“not that you should seek out a conflict,  or anything,”  it sounds so wrong to put it that way,  passivity is what the boss insisted upon,  not cryptic half-initiation!  somewhere along the line,  his tongue flounders where his mind’s raced ahead.  “it’s only if they engage you first!” 

regaining his composition with the shuffle of his feet and one last round of the cd within his grasp,  he offers the disc out to mr formaggio balanced between thumb and forefinger. 

“and you’re to destroy that when you’re through with it, but you already knew that, right?”  he adds, eyes flickering to check the mental list of notes he’s to deliver today.  “unless there’s anything else you can think of, that just about covers it.” 

when he’s finally offered that damn disc, he all but snatches it out of his hand, grumbling something under his breath about having to bend the knee to someone who barely looked like he’d reached adulthood. it was hard for formaggio to take him seriously, but he knew there must have been dire consequences if he didn’t.

the last thing he wanted was to not only make a bad impression to the don of passione, but also anger him by insulting or harming the boy. so like a muzzled dog, he was on his best behaviour for now.

“ i promise i’m not going to cause a civil gang war. ” he rolls his eyes, tone full of falsehoods. “ an’ i ain’t gonna put myself in a position where i’m up shit creek wiv’out a paddle. have a little faith. i’ll get the job done. ”

in some twisted kind of way, he missed the underground cages. life was simple but brutal, then. fight to live, to survive, to eat another day. none of this shit.

    he could only imagine what it was like & how it likely paled in comparison to half the shit that he was told growing up. hell, some even had the decency ( if one could call it that ) to say it behind his back rather than outright insult him due to the fear that he could impose whenever his hair or his mother were mentioned. josuke couldn’t imagine people being as ‘considerate’ with a foreign. especially not when his japanese wasn’t clearly the best. they likely took that to their advantage.

   “—if it helps, not everyone here is like that.” just with how much time it had taken josuke to let other people into his life; his friends never seemed to mind or even acknowledge the fact he was a bastard until recently. they all had their own baggage to carry. “i’m half japanese, so i know some people made comments that aren’t always nice.” that was a way of putting it, but josuke didn’t think he needed to go into detail with someone who clearly had it much worse. this wasn’t to draw sympathy or pity, but a way to relate to the man to an extent & show him he didn’t need to be so wary about his company.

    his eyes perked up. hearing that this guy is italian suddenly made him think of tonio & tried to find a similarity between their accents. but truth be told, he wouldn’t have guessed with how much thicker it sounded coming from this guy. maybe they were from different areas with different accents? that was as much as he could guess without prying too much about his personal life. however, at the mention of america… “really? how is it there? in the states, i mean. i always see about it from movies. makes me want to go myself to see if anything of it is true.”

formaggio’s brows raise at that. truthfully, he couldn’t exactly tell josuke was half japanese, because it was only recently he even started to live in morioh. it was a little comforting to have someone in a similar situation, even if not exactly the same. he glanced over at him before focusing back on the hedge before him, the ghost of a smile having taken his lips.

“ yeah. t’ere’s a couple ov boys at th’ same garage i work at t’at are like me. foreign. we get along. our boss ain’t half bad, too. ” he comments. considering the last “boss” he had was the don of passione; anyone after him was a vast improvement. he was aware that he was being used for cheap labour, but the effort it took to kill a man versus trim a hedge was night and day.

he couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at josuke’s inquiry into his trip. it was kind of cute, even if he wasn’t going to tell him he was visiting america to smuggle drugs and other contraband. 

“ well, it depends on which state y’visit. each one is like a damn separate country on it’s own. ” he mused. “ but i noticed across t’em all, t’ey like t’eir large food sizes. practically a fast food joint or multi-cultural restaurant at every corner. it always felt alive, night or day .. i personally liked it. maybe you would too. it isn’t entirely like th’ movies, but it’s still somet’ing ”  

finishing the last cut, he inspected his work for a moment before crouching to gather the trimmed leaves into a garden waste bag. “ i recommend y’go to new york or washington. plenty ov tourist attractions t’ere an’ you’ll get to see what america is all about. ”

“… Formaggio.“ The greeting, though curt, was not wholly devoid of warmth as Risotto looked up from the desktop computer he had been working at. He glanced at the man swiftly from head to toe to ascertain his state, before he returned to look at the screen. “You’re up early today,” was added offhandedly.

@frmaggio​

“ don’t get used t’ it, boss. ” came the gruff, yet not unfriendly reply. stifling a yawn behind his hand, the half-dressed assassin padded towards him. truthfully, he didn’t get much sleep at all, which was very unusual for the man that liked the sleep the morning and much of the afternoon away.

when he was at risotto’s table, he shrunk himself down so he didn’t have to split his attention between the screen and him, dragging himself over to where the other man’s arm lay and using it to rest against.

i picture it’s body more like a xenomorph from alien, sort of hunched like it’s got an extra joint in it’s legs. it’s movement is very cat-like and bizarre, because it sort of slinks about. 

when it’s stand potential is fully developed, it will gain a tail exactly like the aforementioned xenomorph -- with one of the shrinking claws as a blade for the tail. pretty much used for at-range stabbing and also strangulating someone. 

is considered in the sentient category of stands! but it’s not very smart, it’s more animal-like in it’s sentience. it doesn’t necessarily display emotion / what formaggio is feeling as it does sort of .. basic examples of it. 

it enjoys being small and a menace to society 

can purr .. kinda. sounds more like a car engine than anything.

ㅤ ㅤ A person in need of help, that was all she saw at first. Steps losing speed little by little, the irresistible force that led her to show kindness to complete strangers putting her towards him before anything could be done about it. That profusion of red living fluid was a warning sign, things could actually be under control right now, but you never know. For better or for worse, his peculiar appearance stayed in the background — evidences that maybe that was not a good idea picked up too late. There are some good reasons behind a bleeding nose, but it didn’t seem to be caused by the dry air or anything like this. ❝ That’s a lot of blood… ❞ A poor, even lame way to justify her mere presence somehow. His crooked smile was an attempt to make things lighter, a very appreciated one by the way, too bad the result was just the opposite. Reimi did not feel comfortable in the slightest, even with his obvious effort not to look as frightening as the weird circumstances implied.

ㅤ ㅤ Truth be told, she thought she would be quickly dismissed. This man could be a bad thing as far as it was possible to know, her sudden willingness to help being interpreted in the most disastrous way possible. One unsuspecting but attentive witness — even if he swore her to secrecy, nothing prevented him from taking measures to draw a veil of silence over the matter. And then those words, a threatening tone so natural for him that it might even have gone unnoticed. ❝ I shouldn’t. ❞ Her voice slow and thoughtful, true meaning still sinking into her heart. Pink-colored gaze searched the entrance to the alley, making sure that no classmates of hers was passing by at the time. He was absolutely right, problems could arise because of that. ‘Sugimoto hangs out with delinquents, she is getting into bad company!!’, her mother would freak out if something like that reached her ears by any chance. ❝ But I can’t pretend I didn’t see this and go away, can I? ❞ Without waiting for an answer she took her schoolbag and opened it, looking for something in silence.

ㅤ ㅤ The alley was part of her way home, never a dangerous place to the point that Reimi would actively avoided it. Of course only during the day, going to and from school, taking a shortcut to the home of some of the children she babysat. This man was not part of the scenario — it could have been just an unfortunate incident and wrong assumptions were already being made. ❝ Here, take my issue. Tilt your head forward, with any luck it will stop bleeding soon. ❞ A hand offered the soft, perfectly white square of fabric to him. Only a palliative measure, maybe what hit him (a punch? something thrown at his face? who knows) damaged a delicate blood vessel, which meant more blood on the way. ❝ There’s a convenience store at the entrance, see? I can get some water to wash your face, if you want. ❞ Her attention turned in that direction once again, checking passersby on the sidewalk. A new concern appeared, what if he was being chased? Or did someone call the police? Better get rid of that bloody mess, the metallic smell was starting to bother her.

formaggio expected that she might’ve found his bleeding nose a frightful look. he’s had much worse back working as a soldato -- truthfully, he’s desensitised to much of the pain and it was only the warm trickling sensation running out of his nose and the coppery taste on his tongue that was troublesome. her question, however, briefly stupefied him. that was absolutely an option. in fact, back in italy, it was preferred.

god knows how many hits and underhanded dealings he saw at her age and the “proper” response to all that was to look the other way. it was safer. but he wasn’t in italy, was he? he was a stranger, injured, and she was just a kind, considerate young lady.

what was a rarity for him was probably nothing more than common decency. not that he came to expect decency; he understood he was a foreigner and really hadn’t lived in the town long enough for his face to be well known, unless one wanted their car repaired on a regular.

“ i wouldn’t hold it against you if you did. ” he finally settled on an answer, more mumbled under his breath as she moved to hand him the tissue. he almost wanted to laugh because he’d tensed up thinking she might pull a knife or something. damn. he really needed to chill out.

formaggio’s hand hesitantly reached out as he gingerly picked up the tissue, taking great care to make sure not even the tips of his fingers brushed any part of her. he followed her instructions almost wordlessly, he wiped up what he could to look a little less like a bloody mess, but only really served to smear the crimson around a little. 

“ ah.. ” he cleared his throat. “ i don’t want t'be too much of a bother, miss. i ain’t got any cash on me. left m’wallet at work. but i’d be grateful being able to clean t’is up a little.. ”

    while josuke wasn’t a stranger to prejudice, it wasn’t something that he thought much about when it came to others. perhaps it was his apparent lack of acknowledgement towards the foreign man what made him come across as clueless & it’s only until he hears his answer that it all just ‘clicks’. suddenly, his hesitation made sense.

    “—well… you haven’t done anything wrong, have you?” aside from, well… the ‘obvious’, josuke couldn’t see an issue with approaching him. & if he really was a threat, then he could easily take him down with his crazy diamond. the days in which he’d allow others to take advantage of him just because he’d rather avoid drawing unnecessary attention were over after all.  “c’mon, it’s not people’s business who i talk to. besides, it wouldn’t be anything new if they talked.” it was how he had grown up to be—used to hearing all kind of comments regarding him & his mother. some, he could take, but the moment someone insulted her, he lost it.

      so far, this guy hadn’t shown any sign to be that type. if anything, being asked about his hair rather than insult it as he was so used to, proved just that. “ah, well… i do like american rock music, but that ain’t the reason for it. this is… well, kinda a way to commemorate someone important.” it wasn’t something he’d want to go into too much detail with a stranger. especially when the guy was supposed to be working & not carrying a conversation. however, something about the comment made josuke curious. brows slightly raising when he asked. “are you american?”

the words of innocent musing had him crack a grin. maybe not in japan, no. he was surprisingly clean, both on his criminal record and on the drug standpoint. that was an issue he was dealing with every day, but it helped that the town of morioh seemed so devoid of gang activity even despite him having better knowledge on the right places to look. 

back in italy, however, formaggio was sure than abandoning passione would have him shot the moment he left the airport. no doubt his old squad would be the ones to do the hit in the first place. he tried not to dwell on them and their status. they all went their separate ways after the death of sorbet & gelato, and his just happened to take him to another country entirely. 

“ i’m used t’people carin’ more bout their own appearance than considering others. ” he offered as some vague explanation of his wariness. “ i don’t mean t’come across as .. uh, unappreciative or weird or whatever. it’s refreshin’ to speak wiv someone who couldn’t give a shit ‘bout t’at kind of stuff. ”

he decided that sooner or later the owner of the house will probably question why he was slacking, so for now he abandoned the noise of the lawn mower and opted to reach for the shears, moving to start tending to the overgrown hedges as he conversed with the other.

“ fair enough. we all have our reasons. ” he nodded, not probing any further. a short hum of laughter did rise at that, and he spoke to correct him. 

Between cause and consequence, one is always to find an empty gap where decision is taken – Tomoko found herself thrown into said gap, given only a small margin to pick one specific choice on what to do in that moment, that second when her eyes met with the shocking presence of an unknown man, a complete stranger, lurking in her kitchen. As a woman of principle – and rash thinking – naturally the instinct of protecting her home came over her as she slid closer to the countertop, hand placed on the clean surface, reaching for the knife block pick a weapon for deffense. Whatever it was to come from that, she thought herself ready, even if frightened, until the man spoke to appease her. “What the hell are you talking about, the door is…?” She turned her gaze towards it, the lack of force making itself obvious right away, which made the idea of a break in impossible, right? Confused she, looked at the man, did she really make that mistake? While still not convinced completely, she withdrew from the knives.

“Even so, you shouldn’t just let yourself in!” He was not wrong about two things: that she had been expecting someone to come fix that leak in the kitchen sink, but that was not supposed to happen until tomorrow. “I was told they would send someone tomorrow, not today…”

at the very least, formaggio had the decency to look somewhat chastised by her words. he’d noticed her approach the knife block and strangely, he preferred that reaction. being a bit of a hot-head himself; it was easier to deal with someone screaming bloody murder at his face and wielding a knife than someone who broke down in tears. time as a gangster had tuned him out of empathy for that sort of thing.

“ sorry, sorry, ” he babbled, sounding more apologetic than he looked. “ i t’ink there’s been a mix up .. i was told you’d be out today so i could fix th' leak for you wiv’out y’worryin’ about some stranger in yer house. guess i kinda fucked - ”

he coughed suddenly, as if that would hide the swear that fell easily into his words. ( naturally, out of all the japanese he learnt first, cursing was chief among them. )

“ -- messed up. i t’ink i got the words for ‘tomorrow’ and ‘today.’ th’ wrong way around..”

which, he didn’t blame himself for. hell, he could barely read when he first joined passione at seventeen, let alone ever aspire to learn another language. though it was far from perfect, he was doing his best. if she let him get on with his work, maybe he could still sneak that free lunch.

   it felt as if he had been standing there for a minute or two. drink in hand & an expression of utter confusion written all over his face in response to the words that came out of this guy’s mouth. what was that supposed to mean? josuke raised a single eyebrow at the man in question. head slightly tilting to the side while he looked down at him with hands slipping into the pockets of his pants.

    “—what do you mean?” he asks in hushed tone. eyes glancing both ways as if to trying to find whoever this guy was referring to. he didn’t see anyone or anything out of the usual. “you seemed like you needed a drink, so i got one for you. whoever hired you should be more considered. it’s freakin’ hot today.” if that was what he was referring to, then josuke didn’t get it. he was doing nothing wrong by being generous & acting more attentive than the owner of the house he had been working for. if that was the case, let them see & realize just how desperate this guy had been for some water, to the point of nearly downing it all in one gulp.

     there was no reason for him to be so tense around him, yet this guy seemed extremely wary of josuke’s gesture. was it the hair again? the word ‘delinquent’ came to mind & he mildly frowned. hopefully, he wouldn’t have to deal with that from him. “is there something on my face? why are you looking at me like that?”

being in a gang previously; he had good experience deducing if someone’s sincerity. although kind gestured shocked him, he could tell, for the most part, if they were conditional or underlined with motives. staring long and hard at him, formaggio couldn’t believe he was settling on the conclusion that he was genuine.

“ well..” really, formaggio didn’t want to explain it. he was just so taken aback that the absence of the usual behaviour he expected of the youth (well, youth in comparison to him) threw him out of the loop. if he didn’t seem to put two and two together by his sun-kissed skin and horribly pronounced japanese, he wasn’t going to point it out for him.

but he figured he might as well, he didn’t want the other to think he was acting ill-towards him.

“ you know what mother’s say ‘bout not hanging ‘round wiv bad influences. ” he explains lamely. “ it’ll be a bad look for you. i’m just surprised, ‘s all .. i don’t exactly receive good treatment around here, even if it was just a considerate drink. ”

he pushed out a sigh between pursed lips as his gaze broke briefly to look at the rest of the garden before him. that particular task hadn’t got much left to do, but he was still expected to strim it and trim the hedges as well.

@hopingforjustice​  // accepting // here

formaggio had ducked into the alley hoping that trouble wouldn’t follow him. bunch of rich kids thinking they can get away with anything. he’d let them have the first blow with a warning -- hence his bleeding nose -- but once they’d laughed in his face and didn’t heed his words, he made sure to make them regret it.

fighting in underground cage matches most, if not all his life had it’s advantages, he supposed. even if he wasn’t doing much but landscaping and fixing cars now-a-days.

“ --ah, ” he hadn’t seen the girl approach; maybe she was in the alley beforehand..? what girl hangs out in alleyways? either way, he tries to offer the closest to a reassuring smile. it’s lost all meaning when it’s blood-covered and showing crooked teeth.

“ don’t worry ‘bout it, uh. miss. ” that’s about as respectful as he knows how to be. damn. he didn’t know how to interact with teenagers, let alone young women. it made him awkward as hell; what was he supposed to talk about? fashion and makeup? or would that land him in deeper shit for just assuming?