Chapter Text
“For the last time, it’s called ‘supernatural investigator’ and it’s an actual job.” Mista yelled. He was getting more annoyed by the minute. It was almost sunrise and he didn’t have enough material for his next episode yet. And obviously he would have to cut all this banter out of the video,leaving even less of his recordings to be useful.
“Whatever, nerd. Can’t you hunt ghosts somewhere else?” yawned Trish and flicked on the light.
Mista groaned and turned the camera off. There was no point in continuing this.
“First of all: I’m pretty sure, this influence is more of a demon that a ghost.” He heard a chuckle from behind him, but continued his explanation: “and second: I can’t help it but your house is perfect. Especially for the upcoming Halloween Episode. The creaking floors, doors shutting on its own, this cold feeling you have, when you enter…” Mista paused when he felt a rush of air on his neck and the arms on his hair stand up, so he held his prickly arm in her face. “See. Exactly this is what I was speaking about! This -“ He stopped. Trish looked like she was trying her best to hold back laughter. One hand in the pocket of her fuzzy pink morning gown, one hiding the smile trying to spread on he face.
Mista turned around and saw Giorno leaning forward and grinning at him. The blond blew into Mista’s face, proving his suspicion that he had also been responsible for the gust of wind he felt a second ago.
“It’s an old wooden house, that’s not shutting out all the wind, which is why the wood makes sounds, the doors close, you feel cold and sometimes there’s a little air blowing you causing your goosebumps. That coupled with your superstition makes you see things that aren’t there.” Trish chimed in, while making herself a coffee “Plus, as much as my dad sucked, I don’t think he would be a demon. He might haunt me, but he wasn’t that bad.”
Mista had sat down next to the counter. If he couldn’t continue his investigation he might as well have breakfast with his friends, even if a little early.
“Trish he tried to kill you.” Mista argued and Giorno nodded. Despite their different beliefs in many areas, this was a topic where they would always agree. Trish’s dad had been the absolute worst.
“No, he just.. It could have been an accident.” Trish argued, but the two boys simply raised an eyebrow each and said nothing.
“Ok, ok. Man, It’s like I’m with my therapist. Also, can you two stop doing this synchronised stuff? It’s disgusting. You don’t need to flex on everyone that you have found your soulmates.”
“Mista is not my soulmate.” Giorno stated in his calm and collected manner, as if he was reading a fact from a snapple cap. He too had sat down at the kitchen counter and was drinking black coffee out of a pink mug with “#1 Mafia Boss” written on it with what was clearly a child’s handwriting. Maybe an old gift Trish had made for her asshole of a father.
“How come that’s where you draw the line? In me being your soulmate? And how come you believe in soul mates, but not in anything else we investigate?” Mista whined. “You don’t believe in God, nor in astrology, and not into anything supernatural, so what’s the deal with soulmates?”
“I never said I believe in it, nor that I don’t believe in the other things you’ve mentioned? I just believe your ‘investigations’ will never show results” Giorno said over the edge of his cup “Plus I just said even if soulmates exist, you aren’t mine.”
Mista felt an emotion dwelling up inside him that he couldn’t describe so he pushed it back down. Why was Giorno so sure? Wasn’t Mista good enough for him? Sure, he didn’t have Giorno’s golden hair or striking eyes, or his muscle definition making the body look like it was cut from marble. But he had other qualities, like his long and thick lashes, or his cooking skills, plus he was a great storyteller and he always had a nice tan, compared to Giorno, who would end up looking like a crab, whenever they went to the beach together.
“You sure, I’m not your soulmate? You don’t see it? You and me? You can’t imagine getting yourself a boyfriend this great?” Mista asked, wiggling his eyebrows and making kissy faces. Something flickered over Giorno’s face, an expression Mista couldn’t recognise, but it was already gone, as soon as Mista noticed, and instead pretended to swoon, putting on his perfect imitation of an old timey British accent as well “Oh, A man like you would bring light to my life, like nothing else. But good sir, I am afraid society will not accept us, for you are far too much out of my reach, shining bright and-“
Puking sounds made Giorno stop. Trish looked at the two. “Disgusting. I said it before and I’ll say it again. None of your weird flirting in this house.”
“I thought we already were soulmates? So why would we still need to flirt?” Mista asked with his shit eating grin.
“I don’t know. You two are weird as fuck. Maybe that’s why. But if you don’t want to get kicked out of my house at-“ she looked at the kitchen clock “close to 4 AM, I suggest you follow my rules. Like for example asking my permission when you wanna film something for your stupid little ghost hunting show. And for the love of God, please tell me how you even got in here in the first place.”
Mista was about to start the earlier argument again. Spiritual investigation was something serious and he was very passionate about it, but a single stern look from Giorno made him swallow his anger. He really didn’t wanna get kicked out and once he was successful with what he did, Trish (and Giorno) would see how this was more than mere ‘ghost hunting’. So instead he decided to tell her how Giorno was surprisingly good at picking locks and how she should really invest in better security.
“Did you know our little friend here,” Mista slapped Giorno’s back, almost causing him to spill his coffee,”is secretly a criminal genius? I tried opening your front door, realized it was locked and then went looking for a possible back entrance.”
“That’s also locked.” Trish interrupted
“Okay, but when I found that out and came back, Blondie just stood there acting all cool and shit, holding the door open.”
“Sounds like a gentleman.”
“Thanks, Trish.”
“Sounds like a criminal.”
“Go cry about it, Mista.”
“Why would I cry? I’m certain your skilled fingers will come in handy several times in the future from now on.”
A silence followed, which Trish interrupted with an “Ew.” and a disgusted face before turning around and preparing a bowl of cereal.
Mista was confused before the realisation of what he just said hit him.“I, What? Oh! No! Oh, no. Not like that. Come on. That’s clearly not what I meant.” Trish didn’t react.
“Gio? Some backup?” Giorno just sipped his coffee and wiggled his fingers, mocking the brunette and his previous innuendo.
Mista sighed and tried to switch the topic back to back to what they were talking about prior to the little misunderstanding. “Anyway, you should really start looking into better locks, or just put a chain lock there. Anything to prevent two unsuccessful college students from breaking in. Or someone worse.”
Trish shrugged, “I have a gun under my pillow and thanks to my dad I’m perfectly capable of shooting. And no Mista, you puppy dog eyes don’t work on me, you can’t try it.” Mista pouted. Trish was well aware of his dream of being a professional marksman, but the only shooting his parents allowed him, were shooting movies, which led Mista to where he was now: technically a college student working on his Master's degree, when in reality he was working three jobs and pursuing a (do far semi successful) YouTube career on the side.
“You’re mean.” Mista said.
“You love me.” Trish responded.
“Unfortunately I do. But don’t be flattered. I love Nara too, and Giorno and even Fugo.”
He wanted to add ‘You’re nothing special’ when Giorno threw a coughing fit right next to him, pounding on his chest. Assumably to get rid of the coffe he must have choked on.
“Shit, you okay, Gio?” Mista asked while smacking his friends back a few times, trying to help him.
“Yeah, yeah.” Giormo said with his voice horse. No need to break my back.”
“Sorry.” Mista’s hand stilled. “You’re done? Everything fine now?”
Giorno smiled at him. “Yes, thank you.”
Mista smiled back relieved before noticing his hand was still on Giorno’s shoulder so he removed it, feeling a weird twinge in his gut. Maybe having breakfast in the middle of the night wasn’t good for his stomach.
“Alright, uhm, I think I’ll get going then, I’m pretty knackered.” He faked a yawn, stretching his arms over his head. “Shall we leave, Gio?”
When he opened his eyes he saw Giorno’s eyes flicker up to his, looking like a deer in the headlights, like he just got caught doing something wrong. The blond cleared his throat and placed his coffe cup on the kitchen counter. “Sure. Thanks for the coffe, Trish. I’ll see you on campus tomorrow? Or later today rather?”
Trish nodded and also yawned. “Sure. I’ll try to also get a couple more hours of nap time. You guys get home safe. And don’t do anything stupid.” She winked at Giorno as she said it, leaving Mista to furrow his brows, confused what she meant with that.
“So, let’s go?” Mista heard Giorno’s voice next to him, letting him forget about what secret Trish and Giorno might share or whatever else that wink could mean.
“Oh, yeah sure, let’s go home.”
Their shared flat wasn’t anything great. It didn’t look like those clean loft apartments from the magazines that Trish liked to read. It wasn’t wide open and minimalistic, but rather old and cluttered.
“Lived in” Mista liked to call it, whereas Giorno preferred “cozy”. They had several plants randomly dispersed through the apartment and even if only half of them were Giornos, his green thumb was keeping all of them alive. Mistas area of expertise was the kitchen. Because even if Giorno knew how to cook the best Carbonara Mista had ever eaten, it was unfortunately the only thing he knew how to cook.
When they arrived at their humble abode, it was already half past 4, leaving less than four hours to sleep. Which on one hand was good, because nothing good could happen if Mista would get four hours of sleep, but on the other hand he was getting even less, which could not be good for his sleep schedule. Realistically the latter was far worse, but nothing could be as bad as having the four connected to anything you did.
Mista was also certain, that falling asleep would definitely cause him to oversleep and the lecture the next morning was a really important one. One of the few he still went to. Not because it was that important for his degree, but also definitely not because it was the only one he shared with Giorno.
Said classmate was looking at him now with his brows furrowed. “You wanna watch a movie before we get some sleep?” Giorno knew of Mistas fear of the number four, so he must have knows, that Mista could never fall asleep in the next 45 minutes or something bad would definitely happen in the morning. So Mista appreciated his concern and smiled at him. “ Don’t think I can make it through a whole movie, but we can watch an episode of ‘Home Renovation’.”
So the both of them made their way to the living room and sat together on their second (or third, or fifth) hand couch and while Giorno was starting up their TV and scrolling through the Watchlist, Mista went to fetch the blankets.
The familiar opening melody came through the speakers and Giorno leaned back, tucking his legs in beside him. Mista handed him his blanket and leaned his head against his shoulder.
This was a common sight in their living room. The two of them not-cuddling-but-always-touching on the couch, looking at white women, cleaning houses and listening to them presenting the newest DIY Hacks. Half of them were dumb, whereas the other half seemed clever but despite being on the mental To-Do list were never copied by them.
“We should do this, it might look cute in the bathroom” Giorno said as the host explained an easy way to decorate a mirror and make it look less boring. It looked atrocious.
But Mista nodded nonetheless. His eyelids were getting heavy and he wasn’t in the mood for arguing. Beside surely Giorno could make it look good. He was almost suspiciously talented at times.
Giorno pointed out a few other things that looked either incredibly ugly or good enough to maybe incorporate into their own home, but eventually Mista didn’t even look at the screen anymore. He was getting more and more tired by the minute. Up to the point where he didn’t even notice that a second episode had started. He had closed, or rather ‘rested’ his eyes halfway through the first episode and was only listening to the voices, causing him to slowly but surely fall into a deep slumber. So he didn’t notice when Giorno turned the TV off, or when he stood up and carefully put his blanket over Mista. And he also missed Giorno’s sigh before he left for his own bedroom.
In the morning Mista was awoken by the smell of eggs and bacon filling his nostrils. Or to be more specific: burnt eggs and bacon.
He groaned and got up from the couch. “Morning!” Giorno was sitting at their table, already dressed for university. Only his hair wasn’t ready to leave the house yet, still having his hair rollers in to give his bangs their signature curls.
“Morning, Gio.” Mista answered and cleared his throat. He was barely functioning, so he headed to the bathroom first, before he was set to deal with whatever might have happened in the kitchen.
20 minutes and a cold shower later, Mista came back into their living room, now also having changed out of yesterday night's clothes and into fresh ones. “Good morning, again.” Mista said, taking the cup of coffee from Giorno’s hands.
“It’s the last pack. We need to buy more.” Giorno explained, but Mista barely listened to him, as the black drink of life warmed his insides and slowly started his mental gears. This really was the fuel he ran on. But what else was to expect from a completely overworked College Student.
“Sure, I’ll grab some after class. Anything else?”
“Dinner for tonight and a new jar of Nutella?”
Mista nodded and grabbed a piece of Bacon from Giorno's plate. It didn’t look burned so Mista wondered what that smell had been.
“It’s vegan. I thought its worth a try. It’s not bad, but also..”
“Not good?” Mista added while he was chewing. Because it wasn’t. Not horrible but also not amazing. And it had a funky smell. But at least it wasn’t burned. The egg on the other hand was another story. “Crispy” Mista said, when he broke off a piece of the egg white.
“Edible” Giorno shrugged. And Mista had to agree.
“Ill go finish my hair and then be on my way. Should I wait for you or will I see you in class?”
Mista made some on commitall grunting sounds with his mouth full of the crispy fried egg.
Giorno let out a small sigh and did as he said. He understood Mista by now. So he knew that he still needed time and more importantly food before he was ready to leave the house.
He arrived to class only 5 minutes late. It could have been less because he stood a whole minute in front of the door waiting before entering, but nobody knew other than him, so who cared. Giorno was waiting on him in their usual seats in the last row.
“Need a sip to wake up?” He asked as he offered him his cup. From experience, there probably was a mixture of 50% double brewed espresso and 50% red bull in there. Even if he was tired Mista preferred the ability to sleep the next three nights, so he refused. “I don’t get how you can drink that and.. not die” Mista whispered.
Giorno took a sip and the very specific smell of coffee mixed with molten gummy bears entered Mista’s nostrils, confirming his suspicion about the cup's content.
“I need the energy” Giorno replied and licked his lips. “And you add three spoons of sugar into your Mokka, I don’t see how this is different. Sweet is sweet.”
Mista was shocked.
“You don’t see how this is different?! It’s miles apart. First of all, it’s not just -“
“Is there anything I can help the two of you with?” Their professor asked them and Mista noticed, that he had raised his voice enough for half of the students to look at him as well as the professor.
“No, Ma’am.” Mista said before turning away from Giorno to get his things out of his back, tuning out how Giorno snickered next to him and continued to fuck up his liver with his caffeine cocktail of death.
“Then I would prefer if you would direct your focus back on the research of Csíkszentmihályi instead of interrupting my class.”
“So, Fugo and I have the dopest idea for a costume this halloween!” Narancia said with his mouthful. Mista had decided to eat lunch in the cafeteria to check up with their friends. He didn’t have any more classes but Giorno had convinced him to stay. There was a Halloween Party coming up, so some things had to be discussed.
Like Narancias and Fugos costumes apparently.
“So, I think I could be Batman and he could be Robin, how does that sound?”
“Doesn’t Robin have black hair though? So it would make more sense that you would be Robin?” Bucciarati asked.
“Yeah, but Bruce Wayne also has black hair, traditionally.” Mista explained.
“Shhh, Don’t reveal his identity, bro!” Narancia shushed him by pressing his greasy finger against his lips. The young man in front of him had loaded his plate up with several slices of pizza stacked on top of each other. Together with the comic book talk he seemed a lot younger than he actually was.
But Mista knew better than to underestimate him. He had several scars that had taught him that lesson.
“You’re also short as fuck. And Batman is a walking muscle suit.” Abbachio entered the conversation. To Mistas Surprise, Bucciaratis' boyfriend seemed actually invested. Maybe the local Goth was secretly a nerd. But of course he had to like the edgiest mainstream superhero there was. Which might actually make him somewhat of a poser.
“What you looking at?” Abbachio sneered at Mista, as if he could read minds.
“I was wondering if you had a costume already? Or are you just gonna shop up in your usual attire and tell everyone you’re a demon?”
Abbachios black painted lips stretched out into a big smile, but not a nice one. “Wouldn’t you like that?” Bucciarati and Giorno both immediately started choking and coughing. Narancia looked up from his phone. “What happened?”
“No clue.”Mista answered. Which was true. “Oh, You sure you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Abbachios asked and looked at him expectantly.
Mista furrowed his brows and started thinking. Him. And demons. Why would he like it if Abbachio was a demon? Then it hit him.
“Oh, has Giorno told you? About the failed recordings for the Halloween Special episode? Yeah, I mean it would be cool if I could catch an actual demon on camera, but I would rather not fake my footage. But thanks for the offer, Abba. I’m sure you’d be a very convincing demon.”
“This conversation did not go the way I thought it would. From start to finish.” Bucciarati said. Abbachio nodded. Giorno was quiet. Narancia held his phone out for everyone to see.
“Okay, if everyone is convinced, that it’s such a bad idea, why is Batman and Robin on Nr.3, huh?”
On his broken screen was a big headline. “Top 100 couple costumes this halloween”
“Did you actually read that?” Mista asked, impressed that his friend had put so much thought into something so small.
“He probably only looked at the pictures, this dumbass.”
“Hey!” Narancia kicked Abbachios shin. “At least it did not take me two years to tell someone my feelings.”
Abbacchio face reddened. Partly of anger and partly embarrassment. Bucciarati just chuckled and put an arm around his boyfriend. “I thought he was very cute.”
Abbachios face got even redder at that.
“What are the other options?” Mista asked.
“Nr. 4 is CatDog from the 90s Cartoon ‘CatDog’.” Narancia read out loud.
“Yeah, Not gonna happen. Show me the rest. Is this a Website for kids or what?” Mista snatched Narancias phone out of his hands from across the table with only minimal protest from Narancia, as his friend remembered he had lunch to eat and classes to attend to. As had Bucciarati and Abbachio who excused themselves and left the table.
“What kind of list is this? Bella and Edward from twilight?”
“Okay, Mista, but don’t you think Giorno could pull off a vampire?”
Mista looked over to Giorno who looked at him with wide eyes and a little dribble of salad dressing on his chin.
“I mean the pale skin and this otherworldly beauty..“ Fugo continued.
“It’s called being mixed, Fugo. I wouldn’t exactly call Japan otherworldly, but since you’re as white as cheese and probably consider Mayonnaise spicy, I’ll let it slide.” Giorno said after swallowing, giving Fugo a fake smile.
“Nice one, Gio.” Mista said and high fived his flatmate.
“This list is bullshit Narancia.” Mista said while throwing his phone back into Narancias hands, who just barely caught it. Not that it would have mattered if it had fallen down with the triple-broken screen. That didn’t stop Narancia from staring at him angrily while stuffing the last slice in his mouth. It didn’t look threatening though and more like a shortsighted hamster that lost its glasses.
“Well, you still have time to figure your costume out. I heard Bucciarati say ‘No Costume, No entry to the party’ so you better start thinking.” Fugo said and left the table with his boyfriend in hand.
“Do you have a costume already?” Mista asked Giorno, who was the only one still left at the table with him. Giorno shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m going to go anyway. I was thinking of staying on and revising some notes from the guest lecture.”
“No way! You have to come, Giorno! It’s the first Halloween since you joined our group. It wouldn’t feel right without you.”
It was weird how in less than a year Giorno had made such an impact on everyone’s life. Mista’s more than the others, but still. It felt weird to remember that Giorno’s snide remarks and wit had not always been part of their group's lunch banter. Even weirder that he had not always lived with Mista.
“I’ll think about it.” Giorno said and gave Mista that specific smile he only ever showed to Mista on rare occasions. Mista’s stomach felt weird suddenly.
“Alright. I’m gonna head to the bathroom and then go shopping on the way home. See you for dinner?”
“Sure.” Giorno said and packed his things.
“Have fun in your classes and hurry back home, alright?”
“Sure.” There it was again. That soft smile. And Mista’s stomach dropped again. He really had to hurry to the bathroom now, so he just waved and sprinted off.