Chapter 3
"Ne, Romario, have you ever been out of the country?" I asked the butler out of curiosity.
"I have, but the only country I've ever been to would be France."
"I'm going to go out there someday. I want to go around the entire world." I told him, as we sat down on Cavallone garden grass, playing chess.
Romario had easily became my best friend. As much as he wanted to be with my brother twenty four seven, well, Dino had school in the mornings and would come home by lunch. The man had spent mornings loitering the halls for a few days at first, but after we met each other, we realized that we both had nothing better to do and just started hanging out despite the thirty year age difference.
So for the next following mornings, I found myself in the company of my best friend, my brother's ever loyal butler.
"It's a huge world out there, a wild and crazy one." He said, as if trying to warn me. "You could get lost, hurt, or you could fail. Not ideal at all, Miss"
I shrugged back. "I like crazy. I'm not the solitary type just sitting in the peace watching life go past me. I want to live in the moments." Yeah. I like crazy. Although, Romario may appear crazier at the moment, talking to a well versed infant.
"That, or you may have been watching too much anime again, miss."
I laughed. "Maybe."
I discovered the existence of anime in this world when i found access to internet via an old computer, and a desire to search of the common things i typed on google in my old life. Apparently, anime also existed in this world, except for Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I silently wondered if my past life was a story too, or if I meant even a little at least to the people who read of me and my sorry excuse of a life.
I then requested Romario, who was more than happy to accept the favor, if he could get his hands on a few anime that we could watch together. One morning, he came home with Code Geass, and I invited him to watch with me.
I'm proud to say it changed Romario's life. It kinda made him younger.
We then watched a few things here and there, Romario never missing a show. Once, Dino had even come home, only to catch me and Romario crying over Clannad in front of the tv screen. His reaction to a crying Romario was priceless, although we made sure that we set the tv to sleep timer by the time Dino comes home after that. Dino would watch the anime with us too, although he couldn't understand what was happening most of the time. That, and he was just starting Japanese.
I learned that language when I was four months old.
So, we came to a silent agreement that with Romario, I watch anime and with my brother, we go out and play. Sadly, I couldn't exactly meet my brother's standards of play. I was eleven months old, technically still a toddler. But I was perfect on hide and seek. Dino hates it though, he can't find me, specially since there are at least one thousand cupboards all over the Cavallone mansion.
The blonde liked studying with me though, he said that I explained stuff easier than the adults. Of course. They treated Dino like he was some college dude or something. How would the seven year old understand?
I also started rebelling against Dario, and I made sure that me being rebel was obvious. Argia had once told me that I was too advanced, that I wasn't suppose to rebel like this until I hit puberty. I told her I was too awesome to wait for puberty. She only sighed.
Argia, even though she was my mother from this world wasn't that close with me. She was more around Dario than she ever was around me ever since I started showing off my unique geniusness to the whole famiglia. I rarely see her, but at least she was nice. Dino cares a lot for her though, and wants her around as long as possible, which isn't much, with all Dario's demands and everything else.
The rest of the Cavallone wasn't that bad, although I wasn't entirely as close with them as i was with Dino and Romario. They simply did their jobs, to protect the famiglia, run the Cavallone casino enough for cash, do odd jobs for families here and there, and try to hold off a few more years before we can finally pay off the debt.
My life was closely limited within the confines of the mansion, and the forest that surrounds it. That didn't mean it was less exciting. It was even more exciting than the last life I had, a life which I found slowly fading away as days pass by.
I couldn't bring myself to remember faces anymore, or what country I was even in. Occasionally, I would see myself there in my dreams, but only for brief moments. It was weird, and i always found myself waking up only to try getting used to the world again, seeing as the world I was in had lesser details and was more cartoony.
"Miss, Dino's bound to arrive any minute from now." Romario informed me, as I lost via checkmate.
"Damn, and I was so close to winning." I muttered. Romario was damn good at chess.
As if on cue, Dino came running out from a limousine that stopped by. He was wearing a tux, which looked worn out from what I could call my brother's clumsiness. There was this one day he came home, stating that he fell down the stairs twenty times. His tux had large holes in them, that it looked like he was eaten by a rabid bear. "Caia! I got an A on my math exam! I got the highest score!" He shouted, waving a sheet of paper in the air.
"I guess teaching you did pay off." I complimented him, the blonde boy beside me smiling like an angel.
"Yeah! All my classmates were surprised. I usually get the lowest score but this time I got the best!"
Romario was grinning watching us. "Of course they should be surprised. It's not easy to drill knowledge into your OLDER brother's head." I mocked Dino who pouted.
"You're unfair. Its all because i wasn't born with all the smartness like you were." He complained.
I laughed, jumping on the kid for his cuteness. "Being the pipsqueak Dino you are, I bet you left it all in Argia so I was left to suck it all in."
He pouted even more. "Then for Christmas, You have to give me all my knowledge back."
I rolled my eyes, changing the subject."Now, Dino. What did I tell you about pouting?"
"That it's unbecoming of a Mafia boss to pout?" He answered.
"Or you will get raped." I added.
"Raped?" My ever-so-innocent blonde brother asked.
"Something you'll know in the future." Romario ushered us inside the house. "So, what does the tiny little masters want for lunch?" The butler asked.
"I'll go for a burger." I told him.
"Spaghetti!" Dino shouted
"Miss, you can't eat a burger yet." Romario argued.
"And when did that stop me?"
My butler best friend could only sigh.
Two months later, I turned one. Dario, had surprisingly held a party, although it was mostly just a show, and an attempt to create new alliances with other new famiglias. Dino was happy to know there'll be lots of nice people going to the mansion.
I told him that none of who were coming is nice.
I met Argia again, since its been a month since the last time I talked to her. She had been in China the whole time, killing off this threat for a bit more cash. She had came back last week, but between all the reporting and other stuff, I guess she didn't exactly have time to see us.
But on the day she saw me, lets just say I look like I was about to kill someone.
"There is no way on earth I'm going to wear that piece of trash." I calmly protested at the Cavallone maids who were showing me a PINK dress with a bright PINK ribbon along with a fancy PINK hat.
"It's just a dress." The head maid sighed, trying to coax me into saying yes.
"I know it's a dress. It's just pink. That's all."
"What's wrong with the color pink?" The poor lady asked.
"It's disgusting and vaguely reminds me of the color of puke."
In exasperation, the old woman merely muttered. "Fine, force her into it."
That's how Argia found me a few minutes later.
Looking like an animal out of the zoo and clawing at the maids with my decently cut nails.
"Caia, what's going on?"
"They're forcing me into a dress!" I shouted in reply narrowly avoiding a hand.
"I can see that. But why on earth would you not wear the beautiful dress I picked out for you?" She asked and I stared at her in disbelief.
"You picked it? It's pink, for heavens sake."
"And what's wrong with pink? Girls your age like it."
"I'm pretty sure I made it clear I'm well past my freaking age."
"That doesn't mean you can struggle out of the maid's grasp like a deranged animal."
"I can. Because I'd rather go naked."
She raised an eyebrow at me. "Not a very appealing idea, there are Mafia men outside, after all
"..."
"Well?"
"Fine. I'll wear pink."
The maids' eyes were full of gratitude. And I found out Argia was scarier than I thought she was.
I went to the party in a pink frilly dress, walking around beside Dino, who was holding my hand protectively. There were a lot of people, and the hall was noisy.
Noisy in the annoying way.
I drowned the noise, trying to look around for someone familiar. That's when this huge guy talked to me, well, Dino- since he's the seven year old and all.
"So she's the birthday girl eh?" He said, smiling. I realized he could be no older than fourteen, scrawny and his voice prepubertal.
"I find it odd how people tend to ask that to my brother when the birthday girl they're kindly talking about is simply there." I muttered, surprising the teen.
"Y,you can talk?" He stuttered, somehow reminding me of a certain future boss.
"Well, unless you're deaf-which you're not- I believe you can see that for yourself..." I trailed on. "what's your name?"
"F,Federico."
That took me completely aback. Wasn't that the name of Nono's youngest son?
"Oi! Federico! Enrico's been looking for you everywhere." A boy, around eighteen called out.
'Enrico. He was Nono's oldest son. So this guy must be Massimo then?'
"Fratello, I was just talking to the birthday girl over here."
Massimo noticed me and my brother. "Oh, the birthday girl." He greeted me. "You have a cute sister, kid." He told Dino.
"Honestly, stop talking about me like I'm not here." I complained. Massimo and I went over the whole 'You Can Talk' thing again.
"So basically, she can talk?" Massimo concluded.
"Yes, so suck it up bro, before I hammer it into your head literally." I threatened.
"But, how is that logically possible? It requires experience for a child to talk and..." Federico went on.
"You could say I defy logic." I suggested.
"That's impossible." The youngest argued
"No it's not. Because I'm a genius."
It was around that moment a man around twenty four dropped by, a man known as Enrico.
"Oh. There you are, brats. Father is worried you wandered somewhere far." He scolded.
"So, you must be Enrico..." I greeted.
We stared at each other for long, not really communicating. At last, "You can talk?!"
"Oh I'm so not going through that again." I grumbled.
After I made my brother fully explain to the eldest of my pure, awesome, logic defying geniusness, Enrico was nodding.
"Talking one year olds. The world is really coming to an end." Massimo said.
"It's certainly better than when Federico was at that age and he was all in diapers crying on the floor. I remember that on his first birthday, he puked on his own birthday cake." Enrico elaborated.
Federico whined at them, and they argued, playfully teasing one another. The brothers would have been fun to watch, had I not remembered one crucial fact.
They were gonna die.
My omniscience reminded me of what remained of their bodies in the pictures Reborn showed Tsuna the first day he became his tutor. Back in my own world, I had paid no mind to them, that they were just characters who didn't matter in the story. That, and they had like about thirty seconds of screen time.
But seeing them personally is entirely different. Because here, they weren't just people from a show you love. They were people I knew. And they had lives. People who valued them, and a family beside them.
I knew they were going to die. And I'm not supposed to do anything to stop it, or the rest of the world would be in peril.
Decisions had always been made for the greater good.
I told Dino I wanted to go to bed because the mafia dudes outside were annoying. We bid goodnight to the Vongola heirs, and I watched them as they smiled at Nono, who was younger than I ever saw him. His hair had only started turning white.
Even in the distance, I could see how much he loved his sons.
Never knowing they could be gone the next moment.
When I turned one year old, I realized that my life wouldn't be as comfortable as it appears. Be this the Hitman Reborn World or not, be it an anime, death is inevitable. I'm going to see lots of other people perish before me. I may know who'll die next, but I can't change any of it at all.
The best I can do is to protect the people I know that needs to be there, even if it means that one mistake could be my downfall.
Nobody said that being reincarnated in a comedic anime would be easy, after all.
