Growing up in the mafia wasn't easy. It required you to abandon something that each child should keep until they were unwillingly yet slowly tainted. It required you to abandon your innocence. Sure, it might have not been by choice, but nevertheless you had to.
And it wasn't the kind of innocence slowly stripped away like most.
It was more of a 'bang!' – And you've lost it.
More often than not, the 'bang!' was real; was from a gun.
And that was how growing up in the mafia was.
Lambo and I-Pin had it easier than most.
They grew up around the decimo - someone who was never cruel enough to be mafia – majority of their time as youth.
They did not have to assassinate from young, did not have to infiltrate families as helpless orphans who needed a home. They did not have to be treated harshly, they had a heart.
Sure, before meeting him they had their fair share of real mafia experience.
I-Pin, after all, was on an assassination mission the first time she met Tsuna.
Lambo was there to get Reborn.
They were born in the mafia; they were raised in the mafia.
But unlike others, they had someone to guide them out before they were in too deep.
They had Tsuna.
They could love life, they could run, and they could play. They could be children.
A little bit of innocence was lost, something they could never recover; something that would haunt them for life.
Yet they were the new generation of Mafia. They were the Decimo's new hope.
And it would show in the future, when they grew up to be volatile teenagers.
On their first mission, they were fully prepared with everything they needed- Except they had the wrong mentality.
They went there fully intent on retrieving their target and not kill, but oh how naïve they were.
Their supervisor, Gokudera killed their target in the end, out of self defense.
And the little bit of innocence they had managed to retain from childhood was gone.
They had to kill, they realized.
It was not an option not to, especially in dire circumstances.
I can't do this, he whimpered.
It's impossible for me, she cried.
And so they left.
And their savior from childhood let them go.
They tried integrating into a regular lifestyle, but they, having been raised in the Mafia, could not.
They would always be different, always not fitting in.
And so they went back.
They went back, with the same resolve the Decimo had.
They would not kill, unless they had to.
They would try, but they knew that no matter what, blood would always be on their hands.
No matter how hard they tried to wash it off, not matter anything they did.
And new blood would always get on their hands, but most of the times it could be averted.
And so that was their resolve.
In a way, that was why they were the new hope for the Mafia, the new generation.
After all, they were raised in the mafia.
They knew more than anyone how they could change it, how innocence would be lost, but hope would always be there.
