There's No Love Like a Parent's
There's No Love Like a Parent's (親の心子知らずの巻, Oya no Kokoroko Shirazu no Maki) is a short story written by Ballad Kitaguni starring Ghiaccio and Melone.
It was announced in the November 2023 issue of Ultra Jump on October 19, 2023 and was published in the Winter 2023 issue of JOJO magazine on December 19, 2023.[1]
Summary
Chapter 1
Parmigiano-Reggiano vs. Parmesan Cheese
Ghiaccio is taking a walk in the afternoon, having just bought red wine, Parmesan cheese, and dried raisins from an imported goods store. He also bought canned mackerel since Formaggio claimed it tastes surprisingly good with cheap red wine. He heads to the fourth floor of an apartment and enters the room where Melone was staying for his job. The room actually belonged to an employee of a Passione-affiliated casino, but Melone needed to borrow it since it had a view of his target's villa. Ghiaccio invites him to drink wine, but Melone refuses. Disappointed, Ghiaccio points out that it's been two days since Melone started the job and that he's aware of Baby Face being high-maintenance, but feels that it's taking too long this time.
Ghiaccio searches the kitchen for a plate and knife, the latter of which he uses to cut the Parmesan cheese and pry the wine's cork open. He initially considers it fine that other countries don't refer to Parmesan cheese as "Parmigiano-Reggiano", since the cheese he bought is just an imitation which he can buy as a cheap snack, making the authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy feel more special to him. However, after taking a quick bite of the cheese, he immediately starts ranting about the redundancy of calling it "Parmesan cheese" in English. Melone suggests it could just be a French pronunciation, but this angers Ghiaccio more, who thinks they should call it "Parmesan fromage" if it's French. He believes it would at least make more sense to say "Parmigiano-style cheese", furious that everyone is mocking the Italian language.
Annoyed, Melone asks Ghiaccio why he came and to stop bothering him since he's busy. Ghiaccio claims that he didn't come to argue, but the job was originally supposed to be his task. He'd love to have Risotto praise him for finishing the job well. However, Risotto considered Melone to be the one suitable for this job. Melone doesn't want Ghiaccio to interfere, since he believes someone getting involved would complicate things, comparing an assassin and their target to a man and woman in bed. Although Ghiaccio accepts that since he thinks Melone is perfectly capable, he is concerned about why Melone is taking so long, which is unusual for him.
Assassination Target
Melone's target for the job is a movie director called Amaretti Lucano, who specialized in making extremely realistic, violent movies, which were often modeled after real gangs. Amaretti lost his parents when he was a child, as they were caught in between a gang war. He became obsessed with portraying violence after that, and would hire detectives and underground informants who spied on gangs so he could expose their inner workings in his films. His films weren't popular in the mainstream industry due to their nature, but he had a cult following. Ghiaccio also doesn't think his films are interesting, but what matters is that the Boss ordered them to assassinate Amaretti. Three days prior, a detective was caught when he attempted to find which prison Polpo was being held at in Naples. Passione interrogated him and discovered that Amaretti hired him. The Boss could no longer ignore Amaretti trying to research about Passione, as he could expose them in a movie, but it would arouse suspicion if a popular figure like him died in a way that was obviously homicide. Thus, Melone was assigned to handle it, as he could easily dispose of the corpse with his Stand.
Melone stays silent when Ghiaccio asks why the job hasn't been handled yet, but they are interrupted by a communication from Baby Face. Ghiaccio reads Baby Face's screen and is shocked upon seeing the junior's message: "Please refrain from foolish acts like murder". Melone reveals the junior was born two days ago from his mother, but is unfortunately going through a rebellious phase. Melone felt awkward and couldn't report this to Risotto because of it being a unique problem for his Stand which others wouldn't be able to empathize with. Hearing this baffles Ghiaccio, who keeps making Melone repeat himself.
Rebellious Child
Melone divulges that he chose a housekeeper at Amaretti's villa to be the mother. Since Amaretti is married, if both he and the woman disappear without leaving their bodies behind, it would be assumed Amaretti had an affair gone wrong. Ghiaccio wonders whether she ate something strange while she was pregnant with Baby Face, but Melone believes everything about her was perfect, with her horoscope even showing the worst compatibility with Amaretti. Melone hands Ghiaccio binoculars to take a look at the woman, who they both consider to be beautiful. Melone discusses how she's the type of person to not even hurt a fly. They notice a dirty, injured stray cat in the garden, with the woman picking it up to treat it. The consequence of the mother being a good person meant Baby Face had also become a good child.
Baby Face sends a message saying he loves his mother and doesn't want to kill anyone. He doesn't like Melone for ordering him to hurt his mom and her master, so he wants Melone to quit being a gangster and rehabilitate. Ghiaccio is shocked about Melone being a terrible father, but Melone blames Baby Face's defiance on the mother. Ghiaccio tells him to just cancel the Stand and create a new junior, but Melone refuses. Despite being a pacifist, this Baby Face has the most potential for growth in intelligence and stealth. Melone inherently desires to nurture this junior, so that he can see the unknown potential. He also doesn't want to believe that his intuition about the woman being perfect was wrong, since admitting his failure would be admitting his intuition as an assassin and Stand user is failing. Melone feels that there is still hope, as if he can educate Baby Face by the night, then he can finish the job before the next morning when Amaretti leaves the villa to go to his main house.
Melone tries communicating with Baby Face, stating that he was born to kill and his instinct should know that. However, Baby Face rebukes him by declaring that real growth is about developing a personality, where reason controls his instinct. Ghiaccio and Melone are both annoyed about Baby Face's sophisticated retorts, but Melone knows that raising a child requires patience. Melone tries to assert that he is Baby Face's true parent, as he talked with him and taught him everything, whereas his mother has never even met him. Baby Face affirms his stance, stating that although there's a saying about children not being able to choose their parents, Baby Face has gained the intelligence to choose which parent he wants. For him, being used as a murder tool by Melone is far more dreadful than ceasing to exist if Melone erases him, as his pride as his mother's son would still remain alive in that case. Seeing Melone get talked back to by his own Stand, Ghiaccio pities him.
Baby Face sends another message, clearly announcing that his mother is his only parent, and comparing himself and Melone to be as different as the moon and a soft-shelled turtle. This idiom infuriates Ghiaccio, who angrily shouts about the comparison being stupid and why the phrase specifically mentions a soft-shelled turtle when one could compare anything to the moon. Exasperated, Melone tells Ghiaccio to be quiet.
Chapter 2
The night arrives, and Melone still hasn't made any progress in convincing Baby Face. Their time limit was quickly approaching, so Ghiaccio calmly suggests that perhaps they should deviate from the plan and just use White Album to kill the director. Baby Face wasn't complying, or even communicating any updates about Amaretti since he learned the concept of privacy. Risotto had ordered Ghiaccio to step in if Melone couldn't complete the task, so he was prepared to do it. However, Baby Face suddenly transmits a new message. He is scared and asks Melone for help, saying his mom is acting weird. Melone notices a light on in their bedroom, so he asks Baby Face to stealthily open their curtains.
Baby Face complies, so Melone peers into their room using his binoculars. Since Melone stays silent, Ghiaccio takes the binoculars to look for himself. They are both shocked upon seeing that Amaretti is actually in an affair with the housekeeper, and furthermore, they are committing extremely violent acts in bed together. Melone thought Amaretti was making those violent movies out of wanting revenge against gangs, but he actually just seemed to have a fetish for violence and masochism. Ghiaccio is horrified, wondering how being crushed in a pose like Picasso's Guernica painting and holding so many candles to the point of looking like a birthday cake could be anyone's fetish. However, Melone is more surprised about the housekeeper's secret sadistic tendencies, which even Baby Face was unaware of. Suddenly, Ghiaccio sees the woman take out a toilet brush and screams upon seeing what she does with it, describing what he witnessed as a bottomless swamp. Ignoring Ghiaccio's trauma, Melone focuses on Baby Face's messages, who was not able to compute what he was seeing his beloved mother do.
Melone's assessment of Baby Face's mother wasn't wrong in the end, as she really was a woman who would harm Amaretti. However, since Amaretti felt pleasure from being harmed, she was a good partner for him. Nonetheless, Baby Face could not understand this. Melone explains that people have various forms of love, and this is just one aspect of it. He asks if Baby Face hates his mother now, but the junior denies, saying he loves her. Melone is glad, and convinces him that if he wants to love his mother, he will have to learn the way she expresses love, just like she's hurting Amaretti now. Finally, Melone tells him just to rely on his own instincts, rather than being restrained by reason. Baby Face hesitates for a brief moment, but declares that he will "love" his mother.
Chapter 3
Following Melone's detailed instructions, Baby Face kills Amaretti and his housekeeper, completely disposing of their bodies. He made it look as if they eloped by taking some of their money and shoes. Ghiaccio and Melone are still tired in the morning; Melone wants to change his clothes, while Ghiaccio just wants to relax since he is slightly hungover from all the wine he was drinking. As they head outside of the room, Ghiaccio tells Melone to pick a more straightforward woman next time.
Ghiaccio then changes the subject, revealing that Amaretti barely discovered anything about the gang. He feels that their Boss's secrecy is excessive, and there must be some secret that he really doesn't want to be discovered. Ghiaccio suggests that if they ever discover the Boss's secret, then they would be able to deal with how they're treated in the gang. However, Melone interjects before he can continue his traitorous speech. He asserts that for their next jobs, he'll choose simpler women so that they finish their tasks smoothly and Ghiaccio won't have to say such risky things. The two assassins depart from the staircase of the apartment they were in, leaving no trace left of their presence.
Appearances
Gallery
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References
- ↑ Vish (October 18, 2023), "JOJO magazine 2023 WINTER Releases in December With New Novels and Manga", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
