Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the property of Amano Akira.


Second Moment: Breaking Convention

"…and so, because the Giglio Nero Family has dealings with various groups on an international level, we do have headquarters outside of Italy. Some are in Europe. A few are in Asia," Gamma said as he continued to skim through the notes on his laptop screen.

Wanting to relieve the dryness in his mouth, he reached for his cup of coffee, which was by now completely cold. Well, that was no surprise. He and Uni had been holed up inside this office since eight in the morning, and it was already close to noon.

Since Uni was the new boss, there were obviously some things she needed to know. And since she didn't know anything about the mafia until just yesterday, Gamma pretty much had to explain everything to her from the top. Their family, the mafia world, their business, her position, the war with the Gesso Family…everything.

Normally, a meeting this important would involve all of the high ranking members of the family. However, since they didn't want to intimidate Uni with a big formal conference filled with men ranging from those-old-enough-to-be-her-dad to those-old-enough-to-be-her-grandfather, the family had decided that it would be more comfortable for her to do this on a one-on-one basis, and Gamma was the one elected to do the job.

Half the day was already over, and they weren't even close to being done. He clicked his tongue thoughtfully as he scrolled down the screen. Perhaps he could skip the section on mafia lingo for the time being. Sure, being the boss and all, Uni would need to know what it meant if someone were to say that so-and-so had been 'bumped off', 'clipped', or 'whacked', but that can wait till tomorrow. Still, omitting that didn't really cut it down by much…

Gamma heaved a sigh as he looked across the desk at the poor girl sitting in the leather chair her mother used to occupy. With her head barely peeking over the top of the desk and the back of her chair looming over her in height, she seemed just that much smaller. "Hime…should we take a break?"

The girl simply smiled that gentle smile and shook her head. "I'm fine. If I am to take my mother's place, I need to know this, right?"

Uni had been listening to him all morning without any complaint. Though she was new to all this, from time to time, Gamma got the feeling that she somehow already knew about some of the things he had been trying to explain, and he couldn't help but notice that she had the same mysterious aura that Aria used to have. While that certainly helped to make the process go faster, it was obvious that by now the child was reaching her limits after having to sit in the same spot for so long to take a crash course on Mafia 101. If he were honest with himself, he had already reached his limits about an hour ago. It was definitely time for a break.

"Hime, how about we break for lunch and resume afterwards?"

After hesitating for a moment, Uni finally nodded her head in agreement. Sliding off her chair, she began heading for the door when she realized that her companion wasn't doing the same. "Are you coming, Gamma?"

"I'll be there in a minute," he replied.

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Uni left for the dining room.

Now sitting alone in the office, Gamma rubbed the back of his neck with his hand in thought. He wished the learning curve didn't have to be quite so intensive for Uni. After all, it was a lot to take in, even for an adult. However, with the situation with the Gesso Family being as tense as it was, they couldn't really afford to dally around and let her take her time to learn the ropes. The fact that Uni seemed to understand this as well was somehow heartbreaking. What child her age would want to be stuck inside an office studying? Never mind the unusual subject.

He leaned back in his chair with another sigh as his eyes stared out the window. It was then that the stroke of inspiration hit.


Uni watched Gamma's back as she followed behind him down the hallway. This was the man her mother had placed her trust in, the man that she herself will be relying on from now on. Though she wasn't able to see it too clearly, she dreamed last night. Dreams about him…about herself…about the things to come… It was mostly a haze, sprinkled with moments of happiness and stretches of hardship. She couldn't comprehend it fully, but she did understand one thing: be it good or bad, their fates were now intertwined. That being the case, it was only natural for her to be curious about him.

So engrossed was she with her thoughts, she only just now realized she had no idea where they were going. "Um…Gamma?"

"Yes, Hime?" her Guardian replied without slowing his pace.

"Are we not going to continue the meeting?" she asked, not entirely successful in keeping the hope for that possibility from seeping into her voice. As much as she knew what her responsibilities were, she was not immune to boredom.

"We are," Gamma confirmed.

Her head tilted with slight confusion, her finger pointing somewhere behind her. "But…the office is…" She could have sworn that room was down at the other end of the estate.

"We're not going to the office."

"Then…?"

He looked over his shoulder at her, a small smile on his lips. "Just come. You'll see." Then he opened a pair of doors, revealing the lush garden behind the estate. Stepping outside, he led her to where he had left his laptop and a stack of documents sitting on the grass, and curled up comfortably beside these things were two black foxes.

The little girl gasped in delight at the sight of the animals. "Are they your pets?"

"Actually…" He paused. Actually, they're weapons, but… "Yes." Though box weapons they may be, today, their job was to be Uni's companions. "Their names are Colulu and Widget."

Kneeling beside the foxes, Uni began petting them, laughing as they licked her hand.

Gamma settled in the grass as well, picking up his laptop. "Since it's a nice day today, I thought we could have the rest of the meeting outside," he explained. After racking his brain, it was the only compromise he could come up with.

As though rewarding him for his efforts, the girl beamed with a bright smile, giving her head an enthusiastic nod.

Then a servant brought a tray out to them with tea and a large plate filled with various desserts ranging from cake to crème brulee to chocolate mousse to gelato.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I had them bring some of everything," Gamma said, unable to keep the look of amusement off his features as he watched her wide eyes dart from one dessert to the other with indecision.

Finally settling on a piece of cheesecake, she picked up a fork and took a bite. "It's delicious!" She closed her eyes and thought to herself that this must be one of those rare happy moments her dreaming had foretold. It didn't qualify as anything spectacular or grand, but it was the kind of little things that she had always been taught to treasure. "Thank you, Gamma."

The blonde man smiled. "I'm glad it's to your liking, Hime. Shall we pick up where we left off?"

"Yes," she replied, and their meeting resumed.

Off to the side, two people were watching, each with their own thoughts.

Nosaru had his eyes on the desserts. "That cake sure looks good," he commented to nobody in particular, practically drooling.

Tazaru, on the other hand, was chuckling to himself, finding the sight hilarious. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. Was this really the sight of a subordinate reporting to his boss? Or was it a father spending time with his daughter at the park? He couldn't decide.

With the sound of laughter catching her ear, Uni turned and waved a beckoning hand to the pair, causing Nosaru to bolt forth excitedly while Tazaru silently cursed himself for being noticed. "Would you like to join us?" she asked. "It would be impossible to finish all the desserts by ourselves."

"Really? Thank you, Uni-sama!" Nosaru was ecstatic as he hovered over the selections, repeating his boss's earlier look of wide-eyed indecision as he mumbled his thoughts. "Wah…everything looks so good!...what should I pick?...what should I pick!"

With a bit of reluctance, Tazaru sat down as well as Uni handed him a piece of cake on a plate. Never in his life had he felt as awkward as he did at that very moment. Sitting in a peaceful garden with a dainty plate of dessert in his hand…it was the complete opposite of everything manly and mafia-like.

While Uni and Nosaru conversed happily, Gamma and Tazaru exchanged a knowing glance with a shake of their heads, both chuckling under their breaths at the absurdity of what they were doing. Though their late boss had always been bold and did things her own way, nothing they did with her could compare to the level of unconventionality of the 'meeting' they were having with her successor right now.

"Gamma?" Uni's cheerful voice broke into their thoughts. "Can we always have meetings out here on sunny days?"

Gamma and Tazaru eyed each other once more, this time unable to keep from laughing outright as images of their men…all dressed in suits and armed to the teeth with the deadliest weapons the black market had to offer…sitting amongst flowers and picnic baskets while trying to discuss business invaded their minds.

"If it is what you want," Gamma replied when his laughter subsided, "then it will be so." With their new leader being as young as she was, he was sure they'd be breaking convention every step of the way. He just hoped the rest of the Family would share the same sense of humor about it.


A/N: I've always adored the cover image of chapter 197 with Gamma sitting in the grass working on his laptop while Uni placed a ring of flowers on his head. That is essentially where this chapter came from. I'm so sad that they both died in the end… DX

'Bump off', 'clip', and 'whack' are apparently all variations of kill/murder/eliminate. I don't actually know enough mafia lingo myself. I had to look it up. Haha!

I haven't had time to write much of anything these days, so I'm super rusty. As for this chapter, I started writing it about a year ago and left it unfinished until now, so it feels somewhat disjointed in my head. Hope it still turned out ok.

Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!