Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 360

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Buffy and Giorno look for clues in the house.
Word Count: 1260
Rating: Teen
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS

 

        Buffy had loved open houses when she was a kid, when her family went for a bigger house in L.A. It’s kind of weird looking back on fighting Dawn for the biggest bedroom and remembering that ‘oh yeah that’s an implanted memory that didn’t actually happen’, but kind of nostalgic all the same. There had been a kind of magic to it, like the salesman had just summoned a freshly finished house out of nowhere with nothing but the power of their position, because it looked so clean, so uncluttered. So unlived in. These days, Buffy definitely looks at places like this and thinks they’re eerie, instead, and maybe it’s just that this is another thing being a Slayer has ruined for her, but places like this with no signs of human life are more just like shells waiting to eat people.
        Just in case, she calms her breathing (which she’s actually had a lot of practice, trying to hide from and ambush supernatural creatures with pretty good hearing) and reaches out, and she doesn’t sense anything. It’s not alive. And there’s nothing else here, moving or lurking or waiting to ambush them.
        Just in case, she decides to ask Giorno. The power of Gold Experience is somewhat similar to the Ripple, right? “You don’t sense anything alive here, right?”
        He hands her a pair of really nice leather gloves, and man there are some definite perks for being friends with a mafia boss, who knew. Though she’d like to say it’s not also putting her in danger, and she could even believe that’s the intent, but if any rival sees her they’d probably decide she was some sort of liability they could exploit. Bring it on.
        Once she’s taken them, Gold Experience shimmers briefly into view, gold sparkles and all. There seriously has to be some sort of connection between it and the Ripple, Buffy’s convinced.
        “Other than our tour guide Anitta and Ludmilla watching the property, the next closest are probably tourists playing on the beach, though we should remain aware of our surroundings—particularly if any of them attempt to approach. Other places of concern would be a boat or someone driving down here, though in that case I would suspect them to be associated with official plans to sell the property, and in that case they might be open to a bribe.” Giorno shrugs, going to pick up one of the small artsy statues positioned perfect and pristine on a table that also looks new. “I would even suspect that any potential traps would have been found by now by cleaning crews and the like, though we shouldn’t let down our guard.” He’s not trying to completely hide the watchful wariness completely, then. Maybe he’d figured out they could sense it. Could he sense Slayers back, and if so, what had he made of it before now? At least he’s a little less jumpy now, a little more secure. Then again, maybe he’s feeling the same thing she is. You’d think you’d get over the feeling of trespassing and being places you’re not supposed to be at times you’re not supposed to be there, but unless it’s an old haunt you just get better at suppressing it, not avoiding feeling it entirely. Hearing and seeing people you know moving around and proving that people exist and aren’t just this vague concept you made up in your head helps.
        “We should ask Anitta when she gets back. Though if somebody died trying to get this place ready, she probably would’ve heard about it.” Hmm. Anything they were trying to hide, huh? Of course, if it’s something like that statue, she hasn’t seen anything, so if one had been here, it’s probably already moved or been sold. Other than that, there’s secret rooms or compartments or things like that. But a quick test says there’s probably no way anything is hiding under the floor—or if it is, short of tearing the entire floor up they’re not finding it. Some of the boards have been replaced—possibly due to water damage, given that it’s one of those houses on stilts and it’s probably been at least at the mercy of high tide. ...Does Brazil get hurricanes, or tsunamis? Buffy’s been lucky enough to live in California, where it’s mostly just the occasional earthquake, but if they’d lived in Florida particularly along the coast like she’s pretty sure Hank suggested at one point, they’d definitely have had to deal with a hurricane or five. She doesn’t have a clue whether hurricanes happen further to the south, though. Something else to ask Anitta.
        “Not necessarily, though you’re correct that happens to be a question for Anitta. They almost certainly would have covered it up if a death had occurred when they’re attempting to sell the house. If they hadn’t gotten surveillance out here immediately a window of possible time would have been open.”
        “Fair enough.” Just staring at walls isn’t going to help, but she’s not like Giles. She doesn’t just carry around paper everywhere she goes. “...Do you have any paper on you?”
        “Yes. As requested.” He pulls them out of a pocket—small but useful. Maybe he uses them to send messages to underlings or something. And of course the pad of paper and pen are fancy. The pen even looks gold, and she gets the feeling that unlike some of the people attempting to show off, it’s actually gold. Maybe just gold-plated, but it’s probably real. She sits down and starts a rough sketch of the walls to see if there’s even room for a single room. It’s fairly small as houses go, so it’s not likely, but she can hope.
        “I’m going to look for hidden compartments. What’s your plan?”
        She spots a pad of paper and pen and rips off a page, starting a rough sketch of the walls. After having examined the few items on the table, Giorno crouches down to examine the table much more closely, running a finger along it and finding no dust.
        “I’m looking for a hair, skin, fingernail clippings, or blood. Though it’s likely most if not all of that will have been cleared by a cleaning crew readying the residence for sale, and anything remaining would be more likely to belong to anyone other than the original owners.”
        She winces instinctively. “Okay, I’m guessing Gold Experience works kinda like witch magic, because otherwise why the hell would you need such gross stuff for?” It’s the fingernail clippings that are getting to her, she decides. Slayer things. Again.
        It’s hard to tell if he’s amused or just neutral. “I can transform it into some type of animal and it will attempt to seek its owner. If it does not, then the owner happens to be deceased. I doubt we will be able to follow it directly to its owner, but even a direction would be valuable information. If we can find contrasting behavior, that could tell us even more.”
        It’s not long before they both feel Anitta approaching, and she walks in on them being entirely silent. “Should I ask?” Her voice sounds a little loud in the room.
        “Depends on if you want the answers,” Buffy responds. She might be getting a little carried away, but whatever, it’s kind of fun and Giorno seems to have the rest of this in hand. Sometimes literally. Speaking of, he pulls out yet another pair of pretty leather gloves and presents them to a bemused (and also kind of amused) Anitta.