This was my favorite chapter to write. Not only did I do research into the Italian language and cuisine, but I also wanted to express how Pinkie can be a voice of reason (which is a little ironic considering it's Pinkie), as well as delve a little into her backstory.

Yukako was now being made a more permanent member of the group due to Pinkie trying to get her open up her perspective. Step one was learning about Stands and just how many there truly were, as well as how they worked. That was the easy part. The next step was getting Yukako out and about with the rest of the group, though for the time being it was better for Koichi's stress levels if they didn't have much contact. Yukako didn't like it but that was the price she had to pay if she wanted to have another chance.

She was also brought up to speed on Red Hot Chili Pepper and the danger it possessed. Naturally, her concern about Koichi getting killed by this mysterious Stand user convinced her to join the fight against whoever it was. And so it was that she, Pinkie, Josuke, and Okuyasu were walking down the street when a sign for a new restaurant caught Okuyasu's eye. "What's this? Looks like they made a new Italian restaurant around here..." "Really?," Pinkie said, "I don't remember that happening." She gave an excited gasp. "Does that mean Morioh has a new resident!?"

"I don't see it around here though," Josuke said. "It says it right on the sign," Okuyasu said, "One hundred kilometers after this turn." "Are you kidding?," Josuke scoffed, "That's where the cemetery is! How do they expect to get customers if the place is so far from the town?" "That's probably how they drag you in," Pinkie noted, "You tend to notice little things like this in a sleepy little town." "Maybe we should try it," Yukako suggested, "I've never had Italian before, and if I'm gonna try new things I have to start somewhere."

"Yeah, sounds tasty...," Pinkie said in a dreamy voice. "I'm already drooling thinking about it!," Okuyasu declared. Josuke sighed. "I'll be honest, I'm not feeling very hungry. But I'm also clearly outvoted three to one, so we might as well go." "Cool," Okuyasu said, "I was hoping to stop by my brother's grave anyway. This'll give us something to do while we're there." "Any change with your dad?," Pinkie asked. "Barely," Okuyasu said, "He seems to understand that Keicho's gone, but that's about it."

They soon reached the restaurant in question, called Trussardi's. "With a name like that the Italian must be authentic," Josuke admitted. "Whoa, check this out!," Pinkie said, "The price tag is only 3500 yen!? That's practically chump change! Although... What does it mean when it says the menu 'depends on the customer'?" "I thought this building was empty though," Okuyasu said, "Oh well, I guess they remodeled." Inside the place looked empty, and only had two tables.

"Well designed," Yukako noted, "But why only two tables?" "It is a small building," Pinkie reminded her. Just then, a foreign-looking chef appeared from the back room. He seemed friendly enough, but Pinkie noted something of a sadness behind his eyes. "Benvenuto," the man said, "Forgive the rather sparse settings but I also double as the waiter for this establishment, so I can only handle two tables at once." "Ah, ciao come va?," Pinkie said. The chef looked surprised. "You speak Italian?" "My dad was Italian-American," Pinkie explained, "He taught me the language."

"Your dad was American?," Okuyasu asked. Pinkie nodded. "Why do you think my first name is Diane? Anyway, table for four, se tu per favore." "Molto bene," the chef replied. As he seated the group, he said, "My name is Antonio Trussardi, owner and head chef of this establishment. Please, call me Tonio." "So you're actually Italian?," Okuyasu said. "Si signore," Tonio said. Okuyasu grinned. "That means the stuff here is gonna be real authentic." "By the way," Yukako said, "Outside it said the menu was based on the customer. How does that work?" "Ah signorina," Tonio said, "It means I take a look at the customer and decide what their meal is. Per esempio..."

He offered his hand. "With your permission. Not to worry, it's only for palm reading." Yukako nodded and allowed him to take her hand, and he started carefully studying her palm. "It seems you have quite a bit of stress built up that has begun to cause insomnia. Also, you suffer from horrible split ends. Your joints appear to be stiff, and there seems to be some issues with your breathing. You also seem to have an impacted wisdom tooth." Yukako gasped. "Yeah... That's right!" Her worrying about Koichi was causing her to lose sleep, and her Stand was still recovering after her fight with Echoes, which also caused some lingering stiffness from the numerous falls she suffered.

She wasn't sure why she was having trouble breathing, but she guessed it had something to do with the oncoming allergy season. And that wisdom tooth had been bothering her for a while. "Oh wow," Okuyasu, "All that from just her palm?" "I have studied up on palm reading during my travels," Tonio explained, "And other forms of medicine. It all plays a part in my cooking. You see, the next step is preparing dishes guaranteed to cure these ailments. Let me see you now, signore."

Okuyasu offered his palm as well. "It seems you've been suffering from diarrhea yesterday," Tonio observed, "The walls of your intestines are acting up. And it seems you also haven't been getting much sleep, only four hours from the look of it. That explains the swollen eyes. You also seem to have athlete's foot, and two cavities. Plus a stiffness in your left shoulder." "Oh wow!," Okuyasu said, "Yeah, that's all right!" "Now me, now me!," Pinkie said excitedly.

Tonio took a look at her palm. "You also seem to be having trouble sleeping. And your front molar is chipped it seems. Also your shoulders have gotten quite stiff. There's some minor swelling in your appendix, and your tonsils are starting to get infected." "I told Mom I need a doctor's appointment," Pinkie complained. "Da non preoccuparsi," Tonio assured her, "By the end of the meal, I guarantee you won't need to worry about that." He then turned to Josuke. "I guess I'll have what he's having," Josuke said, pointing to Okuyasu, "I'm not really that hungry." "Ho capito," Tonio said. He poured out some water for the group and headed for the kitchen.

"You know guys," Josuke said, "These health food places tend to not be very tasty. We don't have to pay if the food's no good." "Josuke, he's taking about curing things normal health food couldn't possibly cure," Pinkie noted, "I highly doubt this is your typical health food place. Plus, have you ever HAD Italian food? Even at its healthiest its meant to be packed with flavor and very filling." Okuyasu listened while sipping the water. "Whoa! This water... Is it... Mineral water? I don't think I've had water this good!"

The others also took a sip. "Oh wow, that is delicious," Yukako said. Okuyasu got excited as he took another sip. "Oh wow, this is like the sort of water a princess in the alps would drink while playing her harp! Or the first water you drink after three days in the desert!" He, Pinkie, and Yukako all downed their glasses. Okuyasu tingled from the flavor. "So good!" "What brand of water is this, I wonder?," Josuke asked. He then noticed the other three were starting to tear up. "Hey, no need to cry over it."

"I don't think we can help it," Pinkie said, "I don't know how, but something just turned on all the floodgates. I don't cry this much even under Smile's influence." "Ah man," Okuyasu said, "Someone get me a handkerchief or something." "I think your eyes are gonna need more than that!," Josuke said, "Your eyeballs are shriveling up!" "There's no need to worry," Tonio said as he came out, "That's only temporary. I would never serve my customers anything that would harm them."

"Then what the hell do you call this!," Josuke demanded. "Ah, permettimi di spiegare," Tonio said, "That mineral water came from Africa's Kilimanjaro. It's actually melted snow from five hundred years ago. It has the effect of washing away dirt and cleansing the eye, while also relieving insomnia. You obviously had a good night's rest, which is why the same is not happening to you." "Josuke!," Okuyasu called out, "I'm suddenly feeling a lot more refreshed, like I just slept eight whole hours."

The girls nodded, and all their eyes seemed to be back to normal, albeit looking a lot brighter. "If we may continue," Tonio said, "I have your appetizers prepared." "Hey, are you sure they're gonna be fine?," Josuke asked, "Those were a lot of tears." "Josuke," Pinkie snapped, grabbing him by the neck, "What's the big deal here? So what if our eyes temporarily shriveled up. We're just fine now. Trust me, a cook is not someone you wanna insult! Besides, don't forget, you drank the same water and nothing happened."

Josuke considered it. "Yeah, I guess you're right." "Molto bene," Tonio said, "For the young signore, we have a mozzarella and tomato salad. The same for the younger girl, and for the older girl, bruschetta topped with prosciutto and basil leaf." "This looks like garlic bread," Yukako noted. "That's essentially what bruschetta is signorina," Tonio clarified, "With the addition of salt and olive oil. Prosciutto is a type of cured ham, if you're curious about that as well."

"So what's this mozzarella?," Okuyasu asked. "It's a type of cheese," Tonio explained, "Semi-soft with all the fat removed. Everyone in Italy eats it. It's considered a staple for the antipasto, or appetizer. The dressing for the salad is my own recipe. I hope you enjoy." "Tomatoes, huh?," Okuyasu said. "Indeed," Tonio replied, "Italians were the first to use tomatoes in their cooking. No one can cook using this fruit better than Italy. This is no boast, but a matter of professional pride. My goal is not to appease the critics, but the customers. To make dishes that will be passed down from one generation to the next."

"There's a story behind those words, I figure," Pinkie noted. Tonio smiled. "Ah, indeed. But it is a story for another time." "Hey," Pinkie said to Okuyasu, "Don't just eat the mozzarella on its own. You have to get in equal parts mozzarella and tomato." "Yeah, well," Okuyasu said, "You gotta remember there's different tastes for people in different countries." "Just shut up and eat the tomato!," Pinkie said, as she dug Okuyasu's fork into the tomato and mozzarella and shoved it into his mouth.

The flavor hit Okuyasu immediately. "So good! This taste! The cheese compliments the tomato, while the tomato compliments the cheese! It's like... Harmony!" Josuke tried a bit of the salad he was served. "Hey, that is pretty good." Pinkie was also downing her salad while Yukako bit into her bruschetta. "This tastes so wonderful," she said with a dreamy look on her face, "The garlic and the olive oil bringing out the flavor of the basil, complimented by the meat without it being overpowered."

"This is wonderful!," Okuyasu said, "I'm so glad I live in this town!" He then rubbed his throat. "Hey, any of you feel hot in your throat?" "Just me," Pinkie said. "I think my knees and elbows are getting tingly," Yukako said, "My hips and shoulders too." "Ah, that would be the food beginning to do its work," Tonio explained, "Signore, I suggest you remove your jacket before you start scratching at your shoulders." Okuyasu did so and started scratching, Pinkie doing the same on both of her shoulders.

"What the hell?," Josuke said, "Something's coming off on your fingers." Okuyasu took a look and saw something slimy sticking to it. "I think that's just dead skin," Pinkie noted as both her shoulders started flaking off. "Indeed," Tonio said, "Right now your metabolism is rising and the blood flow to your shoulders is getting better. The young lady should also be experiencing the same to her joints, but in her case the effect is a bit more..." He grimaced. "Extreme..."

Sure enough, Yukako's body looked like it was doing a great impression of a marionette, her limbs coming loose without detaching and the muscle and bone visible beneath them as massive popping sounds could be heard from the joint area. "This is a little freaky!," she admitted. Josuke looked on in shock as Okuyasu and Pinkie kept scratching. "Guys, careful! I think you're starting to dig into your muscles!" Just as he said this, Yukako's limbs snapped back to normal. "Ah... That feels much better." She got up and did a small twirl, giggling. "I feel light enough to do ballet."

"My shoulders are feeling lighter too!," Okuyasu said as he stretched his arms behind his back an impressive distance. "Finally got all those kinks out," Pinkie noted as she also did some deep stretches. "Yeah, but you both left behind enough skin flakes to make softballs," Josuke complained, noting the two balls of skin. "I'll dispose of these properly," Tonio assured him, a smile on his face, "I need to return to the kitchen anyway to make sure the pasta's boiling properly."

"There's something funny going on with this guy's cooking," Josuke noted. Pinkie glared at him. "What, you think he's some 'evil Stand user' trying to mutilate us with his cooking? You'd have a leg to stand on if the mutilation didn't correct itself after a few seconds." "Well, name one time we've met a Stand user that started out as a nice guy," Josuke said. He then turned to Okuyasu and Yukako. "No offence." Pinkie just facepalmed. "You. Me. Koichi. Jotaro. Fluttershy. Kakyoin." "I said one!," Josuke pointed out.

Tonio then came out with four plates of pasta. "Now for the pasta dish, we have spaghetti alla puttanesca." "Whosamawhatnow?," Pinkie asked, "I've had plenty of pasta dishes but I've never heard of this one." "Supposedly it was created by a prostitute in Italy who threw some things together that just happened to taste good," Tonio explained, "The name comes from the Italian word for such women, puttana. The sauce for this pasta is said to have originated from my home city of Naples."

Okuyasu looked at the pasta. "I'm not sure I can eat the hot peppers in this," he said, "I can't even eat curry unless its mild." Pinkie closed her eyes, grabbed his fork which was full of pasta, and shoved it into his mouth. "Stop being so picky." Okuyasu's eyes lit up. "So good!" "Are you gonna say that every time?," Josuke wondered, "And Pinkie, how can you keep encouraging this when all this weird stuff is happening?" "It's no worse than when my Stand is active," Pinkie reminded him, "And it's helping us get better." She dug into her own pasta while Yukako did the same.

"Oh man this is so good," Okuyasu said, "I normally can't eat spicy things, but I can somehow eat this pasta without any problem. It's like my stomach is opening wide for more." Yukako suddenly yelped in pain as she felt her wisdom tooth explode, causing her to spit out the tooth fragments. Pinkie's chipped tooth and one of Okuyasu's cavities also shot out of their mouths, hitting the table. "Well, that's sudden," Pinkie noted. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the cavity," Okuyasu realized, "I guess this is why my mouth always hurt whenever I drank something cold."

Suddenly, his jaw seemed to unhinge. "Come to think of it," he muttered through the odd workings, "I think I also had a cavity in my lower jaw too!" His mouth opened up to the point the other cavity could shoot out of his mouth into the ceiling. He and Pinkie felt new teeth growing in while Yukako felt the gum where the wisdom tooth had been close up. Pinkie ran her tongue across her new tooth in satisfaction as Okuyasu showed off his pearly whites.

"Okay, now I'm really suspicious," Josuke said, "There's no way a tooth can grow back instantly. Even if Tonio isn't evil, there's still something odd going on with the food here. Crazy Diamond!" His Stand smashed its fist into his own pasta, causing it to revert the ingredients back to their original form. The group looked in shock as several tiny creatures that resembled an onion crossed with a tomato, only with with faces and tiny arms, could be seen among the pasta. The creatures quickly flew into the kitchen.

"Okay, so I'll at least admit Tonio is a Stand user," Pinkie admitted, "But that still doesn't mean he's doing anything bad." Okuyasu started to grab his stomach. "Oh man... My stomach is starting to hurt really bad." "It must be the hot peppers from the pasta," Pinkie realized, "They must be agitating your intestines because they were inflamed. That must be what Tonio's next dish is for." "He's sure taking his time back there," Josuke noted, "I'm gonna take a look."

"Not like that you aren't!," Pinkie called out, "Smile!" Smile grabbed Josuke and pulled out a working kitchen sink. "We go in there without washing our hands and Tonio will flip out," Pinkie noted, "Germs are a chef's worst nightmare in the kitchen, after all." Josuke sighed as he and Pinkie washed their hands before entering the kitchen. "Hello, Tonio?," Pinkie said, "We saw something weird with the pasta. We wanna talk to you about it. Don't worry, I made sure to wash my hands. Josuke's too." "The pasta?," Tonio said as he came out from a side room, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is those little bell pepper men," Josuke said, "That's your Stand, right?" Tonio looked confused. "It's true I do possess an unusual power that boosts the nutritional value of my cooking, but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'Stand'." "Y'know," Josuke said, "These." He and Pinkie revealed Crazy Diamond and Smile. Tonio looked surprised. "Mamma mia! This is the first time I've seen other people with this sort of power!"

"Okuyasu and Yukako are Stand users too," Pinkie said, "Did you get hit by an arrow as well?" "No, no, signorina," Tonio said, "My power, this Stand as you call it, developed as I strove to improve my cooking skills." Josuke and Pinkie looked at each other as they realized Tonio must be a naturally born Stand user. They then heard the sounds of growling, and saw a puppy in a cage eating a hunk of meat. "What's that?," Josuke asked.

"It's the main dish I had prepared for Okuyasu," Tonio explained, "A nice lamb in applesauce. The ingredients are supposed to be secret, so I'm glad you announced yourselves first, so I could hide away the ingredients I used. But I wasn't sure if it was suitable to cure his inflamed intestines, so I wanted to test it on this little cucciolo first. He's been having trouble with his own tummy, you see. Ah, it looks like it's starting to work. Better step back. My cooking is beneficial, but the side effects can get grisly."

Sure enough, the puppy's intestines seemed to spurt out of its mouth and bleed for a few seconds before getting sucked right back in. The dog looked none the worse for wear, even wagging its tail and barking happily. "Bene!," Tonio said, "Looks like its a great success." "I told you so," Pinkie said to Josuke. A bit later as Tonio came out with the main dishes, the lamb for Okuyasu, a pizza margherita for Pinkie, and a beef carpaccio for Yukako, he explained his history.

"I was pursuing a style of cooking that would please any pallet. As I traveled the world to perfect my recipes, my Stand... Hm, I think I'll call it Pearl Jam since it looks so much a pearl onion. Anyway, my Stand appeared during my studies. It wasn't long before I understood how it works. It doesn't make my cooking a cure-all. One dish equals one ailment, thus higher quality ingredients are needed depending on how bad the ailment is. Really much of Pearl Jam's work relies on my own cooking skill, but at the same time it can insure that people will be able to eat things they normally couldn't handle. After all, my dishes can't cure people if they aren't eaten."

"But why come out to Morioh?," Okuyasu said as he dug into the lamb, "You're an amazing chef, certainly you'd do well back in your home of Naples." "You'd think so, wouldn't you," Tonio said sadly, "But the truth is back in Italy I'm considered too young to open my own restaurant. Here in Japan there are no such limitations. Yes there is competition, but also opportunity. Especially here in Morioh, where there are so many farms to get fresh produce and quality seafood brought in daily at the market, perfect for developing my recipes."

Okuyasu coughed as his intestines exploded out of his stomach, Pinkie's appendix doing the same, while Yukako felt her lungs popping out of her back. "Ah, that's another reason I had to come to a quieter town," Tonio said, "I was sure that people would not appreciate my Stand's little equivalent exchange in how it cures ailments, expelling diseased or damaged body parts before growing in fresh new ones. They always go back to normal quickly, however."

Pinkie sighed in content as her stomach stopped stinging after a few seconds. "Man, this food is great!," Okuyasu said. Josuke sighed. "I guess I had you pegged all wrong, Tonio. But at least this explains the odd menu choice, and the palm reading." "Si," Tonio said, "I can't know what to serve my customers if I don't know what ailments they have. Now I must go and prepare the dessert, so that you may all leave healthy." Dessert turned out to be flan for Okuyasu, gelato for Pinkie, and cannoli for Yukako.

Okuyasu tried to play it cool saying a badass shouldn't be eating pudding, but changed his mind when he took a bite and scarfed it down. "Oh man, this is best! I'm so glad I live a town with a genius chef!" Pinkie took a quick second to clear her throat after the gelato expelled her infected tonsils, while Yukako ran her fingers through her now vibrant and shining hair. "Remind me to return here every so often. Since my Stand uses my hair, I think I'll need to be a regular customer." "Hey! My athlete's foot is gone!," Okuyasu said excitedly. Josuke just shrugged, a smile on his face.