Anamnesis (n) - the recollection or remembrance of the past; reminiscence
There was a rumor in the Italian underground of a new up-and–coming famiglia. The Don was a female in her late twenties to early thirties, and her name was Eulalia Savio. Of course, this was just a rumor, but it turned into something else entirely when information brokers began to seek out the family called "Savio".
They did eventually find the one named Eulalia, and it seemed that she had a small group, nothing more. With word from the brokers, people talked to the woman in charge. She held no qualms against becoming a legitimate Mafia Famiglia, her now-named second-in–command agreeing. They became an official Famiglia, only letting the smartest and best trained join their ranks.
Soon, the Savio became much more well-known in the Italian underground, this time not only as a rumor. They were more known for their advanced technology and weapons, and of course, their strategist, occasionally referred to as the "Manipulator". When faced, they had never lost a battle.
But Eulalia wanted more. She wanted power, and lots of it. It was then that she was alerted to the existence of a particular item that no one in the past 400 years had gotten their hands on. Yes, this was exactly what she needed. But how to acquire this, let alone utilize it? She'd let her leading members figure that out.
It was just what they needed to bring down the biggest and most powerful Mafia Family in existence: The Vongola.
At just eight years old, Hayato Gokudera knew what business his father was in. He knew that he was still probably a good man at heart, but the cruel business of the Mafia corrupts. He was okay with that. He just wished that his father had told him sooner about his mother.
To find out that the person a young boy thought was his mother wasn't, and that the person who was kind to him, taught him piano, and even gave him birthday presents, was, but had said nothing: it was overwhelming. But he still knew now. She had died when he was three, yet his father never spoke a word about it. He found out by eavesdropping on the maids, a whole five years later, which is not how a child should find out about their mother.
Yes, he knew what business his father was in, the business that included his older (half) sister. He decided to run away from home that very night. Of course, fate had other plans.
Mukuro Rokudo was ten when he realized the human world was cold. The family he belonged to, the one everyone in that room belonged to, they were all stupidly insane. The adults had made a special weapon and were being hunted down for it. Now they're trying to make another one, but they were killing their own children in the process. Now he's been through hell and back—quite literally—and he surely was not going to put up with this anymore.
He'd finally snapped, and before he could realize what had just happened, all the scientists and Estraneo adults in the room were dead at his feet.
He'd looked up, and realized two others around his age, a blonde with a scar across his nose and one with dark hair and shattered glasses, were standing there in front of him with wide eyes of brown and deep blue. Before he knew it, he was smiling, despite the numerous amount of corpses in the room or the pools of blood soaking into the floor to leave a long-lasting stain, holding a hand out to them and asking the two if they wanted to go with him. To escape.
They'd agreed, and they'd been plotting to kill the Mafia ever since.
It was amazing, Mukuro noted, how much an experience worse than literal hell could change a person.
Tsuna was four when he realized his Dad was not coming back for his fifth birthday. Rather, they had celebrated early in late August to early September, because it was evidently the only time Iemitsu could get off. Tsuna was young, and Iemitsu Sawada didn't expect the boy to understand, but Tsuna had come to terms with this shortly after his realization, if not with a little resentment towards the man he called "Father".
The visit itself was nice enough. The family of three had done a nice hike through the woods. The trees rustled in the wind, with sunlight streaming through the leaves and branches. There was a creek trickling down a path with only rocks as stepping stones to cross it. Tsuna had almost fallen in, but Iemitsu had cheerfully and swiftly bent down to catch him.
Iemitsu payed a lot of attention to his almost five-year–old son and his loving wife. They played catch outside (though Iemitsu was dismayed to learn that his son pretty much sucked at it) and went shopping together, among other regular family activities. Iemitsu went to visit his friend, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, bringing Tsuna along to socialize with Tsuyoshi's son (Takeshi Yamamoto) at their Sushi joint, TakeSushi.
The visit ended nicely, too. A man called Timoteo came at the end of it, wanting to meet the most likely candidate for the position of Don (Or that's what he said. Nana and Tsuna had no idea what that meant, and Nana had told Tsuna they probably didn't want to know, so they ignored it). Timoteo and Nana bonded, and Tsuna stopped hiding behind people's legs long enough to talk with the older man. At one point, he even started referring to Timoteo as "Grandpa".
Iemitsu ended up leaving Namimori as a proud father, not knowing that an enemy famiglia was watching.
It was after Tsuna's fifth birthday when he noticed the men wearing gray and tan trench coats trailing behind him everyday after school. (And was that a gun in gray coat's hand?!) Bad guys, bad guys. A strange part of himself that seemed to always be right whispered to him. Stay away, don't let them get you.
He had no reason to believe they were truly bad, but they'd been following him for a week, and they didn't look nice either. He wanted to run, but he was never good with athletics anyway. It didn't stop him from considering. If they were out to get him, what would they do if he ran?
The men quickened their steps behind him. He tensed.
Go, run, now.
He didn't think twice about it.
Tsuna broke into a sprint, and the men ran after him. Funny how he could never run this fast during the physical classes. The feeling of not being athletic soon caught up to him, making him wish that he had practiced more in running; he was straining himself to even keep the small distance he had before.
The man in the tan coat got him first, and held a funny-smelling cloth to his face.
Everything went black.