Chapter 2

I woke up to find myself in a storage room, still an infant, and still unable to move.

My conversation with the mysterious guy was still clear in my head, but my memories of my past life were slipping away. I couldn't remember my past name anymore.

So I started to call myself Caia.

Being an infant was severely annoying. I was too small, weak and fragile that it scared me to even try forcing myself to move. I mean, come on, dying of a disease was stupid and anticlimactic enough.

Dying of a broken neck? Dude doesn't want to take the risk.

So I found myself lying down with nothing to do but stare at the wooden ceiling above. A perfect start to a life.

It was hours later when i met my supposed mother in this life for the second time. It was an awkward meeting, honestly.

I was thinking about how I could lead an army of one year olds someday and take over the Vongola. I was thinking of using dirty diapers and rattles as weapons, and they would hesitate shooting because we're infants. That would definitely give Reborn a run for his money. I chuckled evilly to myself, exactly as she came in. I then pretended to cry, which sounded oddly like,

"Muhahaha... Hwaaaah!"

Because honestly, babies chuckling evilly would be a pre indication of the Armageddon.

Sadly, she thought that I was hungry. And what go babies eat? Yeah. Mom's Milk. So I'll skip that part. Please.

After the torture, I found out that my mother's name was Argia. I didn't even need proof to know she was my mom. She talked to me a lot, but most of it were cooes trying to make me say Mama.

How'd I know? She used the word every time she could. It was even worse than Colonello and his koras.

"Hello, Caia. I'm mama Argia. Mama has yellow hair, see? Do you like Mama's hair? Mama's gonna take you to mama's garden when you're as big an strong as mama so that mama and you could have fun, do you like mana's idea? Mama wants Caia's first word to be mama because hearing mama's daughter say mama would make mama so happy it would make mama so proud. Does Caia like mama to be happy?"

I bobbed my head in annoyance but she thought it was a yes, and squealed at how smart I was, and more stuff about mama this and mama that.

By the time the conversation ended, I developed a new fear, mamaphobia, the fear of mamas saying mama everywhere.

I wanted to shout at her to shut up, when my rude thought was cut off by the creaking sound of the opening door.

"Mom?" A blonde peaked in, probably not much older than six.

Argia smiled fondly at him, motioning at the boy to come over. "Come and talk to your little sister, Dino."

The boy, who I now know as Dino, the Cavallone boss in the further future, looked at her confused. "I have a little sister?"

Argia nodded, and showed me to the kid. Damn was he cute. His chocolate orbs were large and they were staring at me with pure innocence. Even his voice was squeakily cute.

"She's so small!" He stated the obvious. I deadpanned. I was a baby for a reason. He then looked at Argia. "Why has your tummy grown small again?"

He was so freaking cute I would've glomped him if I wasn't a one month old brat.

"All babies are small, Dino. And they come from their mommy's tummy."

Dino nodded in understanding. "Oh. Then, what's her name."

"She's Caia." Argia replied.

Dino held out his index finger. "Hi Caia. I'm Dino... Brother... Fratello... I'm nii-chan, Dino- nii."

I blabbered more baby talk, holding the index finger held out to me.

Dino smiled, so brightly it can outmatch even Kyoko's.

This was the start of my life with the Cavallone

. *********************

I was three months old when I could finally crawl around enough, without breaking my fragile baby bones. The storage room I was in was full of books, so I had enough material to entertain myself.

So, I grew up in a storage room. It was confusing as hell at first, but being left in a room full of records, it didn't take me long to find out. And no, I wasn't an illegitimate child or anything that dramatic like in those soap operas Argia watches.

It was because I was a girl.

The current Cavallone boss, Dario, wanted another son to inherit the Cavallone, since Dino was a wimp more than half of the time. He pushed on my brother too much, but Dino just doesn't show results. So he gave up, and decided he just wanted a new child.

That was two years ago. Two years later, after lots of science, he had another kid_his last kid_ since the man was around fifty or so. Dario wanted a man to inherit the famiglia, because women weren't exactly known as bosses.

Then came the tragic mess:Me.

That's why Dario hates me to the core.

I hated the guy too, honestly. He was mean to Argia, treating her more of a slave, and even harder on Dino, who tries so earnestly to make a father who only sees him as a heir, content and happy. Dino would come to the storage room upset at times and cry thinking I wouldn't understand him. Sometimes, he would complain to me about how hard being mafia was. I could only reply in stupid baby sounds.

One morning, he had come to the room with a red cheek, saying "Father slapped me because I'm not smart enough," as if it was a normal occurrence. I wouldn't have complained if it was a tutor or something but Dario was related to us by blood.

I therefore concluded I hated him.

When I turned seven months old, I could finally speak like a normal person, except of course, with the voice of an infant. I also started walking around the same time.

Dino was the first to see me standing up, when he dropped by unexpectedly after one of his lessons. I casually greeted him with a "oh, hi Dino-nii", to which he responded with a jawdrop.

The kid ran off calling Argia, who was more than surprised to see me on my feet. I greeted her too, a little unclear since my tongue was still struggling with words.

"Hi Argia." I had decided not to call her mom. It just felt wrong. I couldn't see her as my mother when in another world out there, I had one who I probably hurt by leaving too soon.

She was also in shock, mumbling a soft "how."

"It's easy." I told her, "I'm just supercalifregalisticexpialidocious."

"What?" Dino asked with confused eyes. I rolled my eyes at the seven year old.

"I'm a genius, Nii-chan."

They stopped treating me like I was an infant after that, although I technically was.

For the next three months, I spent most of my days with Dino. It became common knowledge between the two of us that I was the smarter kid between us two.

He had come to me a few times after class, asking for help about simple stuff like multiplication, division and the like. I sometimes answered his assignments for him.

"Caia, isn't cheating bad?" He asked me once.

"I don't know. Is it?" I answered bluntly.

"Well, yeah, because mom said that we should always be honest, so we don't end up in a mess." He replied.

"Will being honest to a group of assassins save your sorry ass?"

Dino was silent.

"I thought so." I finished.

I was a bit hard on my brother most of the time, but that's because he's too innocent and trusting to even survive on his own. He believed in values, even though he was fully aware that the mafia weren't a group of men in rainbow suits riding in unicorns to the sunset together while singing a happy song.

I had told Argia about it since Dino just believes everything she says, but she told me that everything was going to be fine because Dino was well protected by the Cavallone famiglia. I listened to her, since I've been here shorter than everyone.

Until Dino got kidnapped under the nose of said capable men.

My brother was on his way home, when he met this man in black who told him he was working for Cavallone, and that he was a new recruit. My ever trusting brother didn't even look for a seal that screams I'm Cavallone, or ask him who he was. He just came with him.

That didn't end so well. Dino was gone for one whole week, a ransom on his head. It was my brother's luck that rumors spread of his kidnapping, or Dario wouldn't have bothered saving him at all. He saved his own fucking son just to save his pride.

People saw him afterwards as an honorable man who would put his own son before all the problems he face. The famiglia became more loyal to him too. It was disgusting.

But, our funds went low after that. Dino's ransom wasn't exactly cheap. This led to series of debts for the Cavallone famiglia.

That's what came forth the hiring of Romario. It was Argia who had given him the job, a man who had been of service to the family for more than twenty years. The Romario I was shown was younger than the one I see in Canon, probably only in his mid thirties at this point.

A week spent with me and my brother later, Romario had sworn to protecting Young Master Dino with his entire life, until death, as he put it. The dude took his job seriously too, since he followed Dino even to my beloved storage room.

I told the guy he was paranoid to think that a toddler could kill my brother. He chuckled, saying though that he didn't want to take the chance. I looked at him weird and said.

"So frankly, you're expecting me to kill my brother with my very hazardous rattles, stone hard pacifiers, bite him with my sharp gums, and wrestle him with my very strong baby hands?"

"Well, at least I'll be there to protect him if that will ever be the case." He explained.

I smiled. I like this Romario guy. He wouldn't fail my brother, and his loyalty was clearer than the sun. Dino was in safe hands.

"You're a great guy Romario. My brother's safe with you." I told him.

He smiled back, bowing politely. "Thank you, miss."

I grinned at him.

"So you aren't weirded out calling an infant miss?"

Romario gave me a respectful smile. "You are still a heir, after all, and you are Young Master's little sister are you not?"

I rolled my eyes. "Can you just call me Caia?"

"I would be against my respect for this famiglia, Miss."

There was a sparkle in his eyes, saying that it was his way of teasing me.

"Fine." I gave him a smile.

My newly acquired friend smiled back.