The Guardian

There was no one in the room except for Dino who was sitting at the table, his expression grim. The blonde teenager looked up and gave his friend a weak smile.

"Sorry about making you enter by the backdoor. I thought it best if my parents didn't see you… Since the Vongola thing, they don't really… I mean, you know…" his voice trailed away as he glanced at Squalo with a shy apologetic look.

"Voii. Don't worry about it" Squalo grumbled as he and Cas took seats. "You said on the phone you wanted to talk about Gioia's… adoption?"

Dino cowered a little under his friend's threatening gaze. "Squalo, you both are orphans now…" he started, saying hesitantly. "While you were absent, the social services started asking questions that I didn't really know how to answer. But then… the Vongola intervened."

"What? WHY?!" Squalo felt cold sweat running down his back. Were the Vongola trying to take revenge on his sister?

"Well, your family attracted their attention" Dino spoke every word with caution, keeping a close eye on his friend's reactions. "First, your attack two months ago. Then, the incident with your father and Gioia. And your family has been working with the Vongola for some time so they know your name. So I think that's why they got curious about Gioia."

"What did they do?" Squalo's unusually calm voice terrified Dino.

"N-Nothing. I wasn't there when they came but I think they just talked to Gioia and proposed finding parents who could adopt her."

"What the fuck?!" Squalo exploded, banging his fists on the table. "Who the hell do they think they are? They won't take her! I won't let them!"

"Calm down, Squalo" Dino put a hesitant hand on his friend's arm. "We can find people who can take care of her."

Squalo suddenly calmed down and stared at his friend. "Dino…" Squalo whispered "Do you think you could… your parents could adopt her?"

Dino's pained expression immediately answered Squalo's question.

"I'm sorry I did it without telling you first… I already asked them but…" Dino tried to hold Squalo's gaze. "I'm sorry, Squalo, they refused because… because…"

"Because of me" Squalo ended the sentence in a soft whisper.

Dino watched his friend's expression growing darker with anxiety.

"Ahem" Cas cleared his throat, making both of them jump. "Sorry to interrupt but like I said to Dino earlier, the law makes adoption something really difficult to get and cannot be considered for Gioia. I think the best solution would be to have a legal guardian for her."

"But it's the same problem as the adoption. I'm still a minor" growled Squalo. "And so is Dino. Neither of us can be her guardians."

"I wasn't thinking about you."

"So what? You would be her guardian?" Squalo shot a poisonous look at the cook. "Fuck no, I don't even know you that well!"

"No, not me" Cas quickly said with a smile. "I was thinking about someone who was taking care of her until recently." Seeing the two young men staring at him, he added: "The person who raised her."

Squalo and Dino turned to each other in bemusement. How could they have even forgotten about him?

Gioia took another step and felt all the muscles in her leg protest because of the tremendous effort it required. She cursed herself in silence. She should have been stronger and should have started the rehabilitation when the cast had been removed. Instead of that, she had let herself go because Squalo wasn't here and she now had to work even harder to be able to walk properly. With a groan, she made another painful step.

"You're really weak, peasant."

Gioia shot a poisonous look at the boy. Bel was apparently having a lot of fun watching her suffer every day. He would come to the rehabilitation center and stay for a couple of hours, regularly making unnecessary comments and randomly throwing knives at her when he got really bored. She was happy to have company but she would have preferred a more peaceful presence like Lussuria, even though "peaceful" wasn't really the word to describe the man.

"Can't you walk faster? I'm getting bored…"

"Shut up, Bel" she snapped. "The doctor says I'm making great progress and that I can leave soon!"

"Then get better sooner" mumbled Bel. "The Prince misses running after you…"

"To slash me with your knives…" Gioia thought with a sigh.

"And you haven't cooked anything for me in a long time!" continued the Prince.

"I get it, Bel. I'll work harder" she promised. "Bel" Gioia asked hesitantly "do you know what Nii-chan is doing? He doesn't come often…"

"I think the captain is getting everything ready for when you leave this boring place."

"Oh… Now I really want to leave this place as soon as possible."

Tanaka Shirou looked at the young man and his sister coming out of the car and couldn't help smiling. He had taken care of both children since they were born and truly considered them as his own.

Tanaka could still remember the day Pastiello Superbi had told him he would have to leave if he didn't want to see Gioia ending up in an orphanage. Tanaka couldn't imagine his little girl being completely abandoned and had decided to leave, not even getting a chance to say goodbye. Since that day, he had been guilt-ridden.

When Squalo had come to him and told him what had happened, he had first felt horrified and then, relieved. She was finally free from that man. Without an ounce of hesitation, Tanaka had immediately accepted Squalo's request and was now the legal guardian of both Squalo and Gioia. Tanaka had to force the young man to accept the offer of being his guardian as well. He had reminded him that despite his important status in the Mafia world, Squalo was still a minor and social services would not leave him alone.

Tanaka watched Squalo offering his hand to Gioia and the little girl's face brightened as she took it. She then waved at Tanaka with a wide smile and the old man felt his heart bursting with joy.

Note:

So here I am with the first chapter of the sequel! Just to remind you: Cas is the cook working for Dino's family and the one who teaches cooking to Gioia :)

Anyway, this is totally NOT what I expected to write. After talking with my friend, new ideas kept popping up and well. I hope I won't disappoint you! (oh and SORRY ABOUT THE SUMMARY. I promise I'll try to find smth better OTL)

I'd also like to thank the people without fanfiction accounts who left me reviews on My Little Sister :)

And thank you for taking time to read this! Have a nice day and see you next chapter! ^^