Reborn has developed a habit of avoiding the kitchen while Rosa is in it so as to avoid being forced into helping with cooking. He has an absolutely ridiculous aversion to making his own food. Consequently, Rosa has developed a habit of forcing him to help as revenge for putting her through daily hell.
All of it means is that the kitchen is her domain, and that she has the early mornings to herself, seeing as Reborn's breakfast-making avoidance strategies include but are not limited to sleeping in and not showing up until breakfast is on the table.
This suits Rosa just fine. Granted, the kitchen is not the ideal place to figure out what her Flames can do, but it's decently fireproofed and there's no smoke alarm, more importantly it's empty of Reborn, and really? That's all she can ask for.
"Accio," she whispers, pointing a finger at the frying pan. A tendril of Flame lashes out and curls around the kitchen utensil before pulling it to Rosa's hand. She grins in excitement. Why had she never tried out magic? Okay, it isn't magic, it's just her Flames imitating spells she used to be able to do, and not all of it works. It still makes her happy. Magic is a part of her old life she actually misses.
"Wingardium Leviosa," she murmurs, swishing and flicking her hand at a cooking spoon, but nothing happens. Okay, that one doesn't work, that's okay. Hm, what other spells are there? "Alohomora," she intones and points at a door. Flames lash out, but well. They don't have the desired result, and Rosa cringes a bit at inspecting the molten insides of the door's lock. Hopefully Reborn wouldn't notice... it's not like that particular door stays open the whole time anyway.
So far, hardly Transfiguration spells work, it's touch and go with Charms, and the best results she's had with Defence spells. Which is good because she actually knows a number of those, having had to self-study a lot what with the abysmal teaching in her first two years at Hogwarts and the added threat of, if not being murdered by whatever crazy plot, then being hexed in the corridors by whoever hated her enough at the time.
Hermione had approved of her (forced) enthusiasm for Defence research, Ron had looked at her weird but just shrugged and gone to play chess against whoever.
Rosa misses her old friends, sometimes. Hermione more than Ron, because unlike Ron she'd stayed loyal, even if she hadn't really believed her about putting her name into the goblet. And maybe the lack of trust had hurt, but the fact that Hermione thought she was a liar and attention-seeker but still stood by her, supported her, defended her, had meant even more. Ron hadn't, but Rosa still misses the friendship they used to have, his easy-going nature, the way he never judged her until the Triwizard Disaster, and how he followed her into danger even when he thought she was crazy for it. He'd been a good friend. Her best friend even.
Rosa hates being alone.
Sighing, she shakes her head. Reborn would show up soon, she better get started on making food. Just one more spell... "Hm, I wonder..." She calls up a memory of her Papa, letting her ride on his shoulders, both of them laughing hard about a stupid joke he'd made. They'd been so carefree and happy then. "Expecto Patronum!"
In the brief second before it explodes, she manages to see that while the Flame-Patronus is not Prongs, it is a stag. Though exactly what kind it is she has no time to figure out, seeing as she has to dive behind furniture for safety.
...future experimentations would have to wait until Reborn forgot about this incident.
―~~―~~―
The following day Reborn herds Rosa down the mountain into the nearby town. "What are we doing?" she asks listlessly. Reborn and her camped outside the previous night. She had to hunt their food and grill it over a campfire. It's probably punishment for blowing up the kitchen.
She has kinks in her neck and back. Her sleeping mat was not particularly comfortable and the tent was drafty.
"You will see," Reborn replies ominously.
―~~―~~―
"A cooking competition," Rosa says flatly. "Really."
Reborn is suddenly wearing a chef costume. He's also holding a really long and sharp looking knife that doesn't look like it belongs in a kitchen, or in the hands of an infant for that matter. "A Mafia lady needs to feed their family!" he says.
"And you want food," Rosa guesses.
Reborns stomach growls.
"Ugh," Rosa mutters. "Fine, fine." A stray thought hits her at seeing the date on the flyers advertising the cooking competition. "Is this because of Quarto?" she asks.
"What about Quarto?" Reborn asks curiously.
"Never mind."
It has to be said that Rosa is by no means a gourmet cook. What she makes tastes good but is either of the home-cooked meal variety, or a keep-to-a-healthy-diet meal. Nothing that would be served in a restaurant and definitely nothing that will win against professional cooks.
Her life being what it is now, it becomes a moot point halfway through because first there's screams about sabotage (possibly Reborn's fault), then a mysterious food thief (Reborn's fault), and then Rosa gets blamed for everything (definitely Reborn's fault). This somehow leads to her being challenged to a cook duel.
Contrary to her expectations, it doesn't come down to who makes the tastiest dish. No, it comes down to numerous cooks attacking her with cooking utensils, most prominently frying pans and knives. How the hell did Reborn orchestrate this utter bullshit-situation, she wonders as she looks for a decent weapon. Considering the date - there! She grabs a fork.
"A frying pan would have been more effective," Reborn criticises later on their way home. It's just Rosa walking, Reborn is riding on a Leon-plane. He'd normally ride on Rosa's shoulder, but she's covered in flour and tomato sauce seeing as the whole battle turned into an entirely ridiculous and wasteful food fight. She'd won in the end, but it had been damn hard to win a duel against a frying pan wielder with a fork.
She could have just taken a frying pan of her own, but had seeing as it's Vongola Quarto's death day today and he'd been using a fork for a weapon, she hadn't felt quite right about it. Especially since he's her favourite Vongola boss.
Come to think of it, Quarto had liked cooking, too...
Ah, whatever. Today had actually been pretty damn fun. Also, she won, which makes it even better after the fact.
"I thought I'd honour my ancestor today," she answers her tutor's comment. "Vongola Quarto used a fork for a weapon, you know?"
"I'm aware." Reborn studies her.
"It's his death day today," she answers the unspoken question.
"Do you know the death days of all Vongola bosses?" Reborn asks her, sounding somewhat interested.
Her reply is somewhat smug. "And the birthdays, causes of death, the weapons they used, their accomplishments and fuck-ups, the alliances they made and broke-"
"Why?" Reborn sounds mystified.
"My father liked history," she says quietly. Then, louder, "Anyway, I respect the hell out of Quarto for being the best Vongola Boss of all times, so I used a fork today."
Reborn tilts his head. "Why Quarto?"
"He was awesome," she answers without missing a beat.
Reborn somehow manage to make silence sound dubious. It's not very surprising. When it comes to the Family history, people think about Vongola Primo, the saintly founder. His successor Secondo, maybe, too. And Ottavia if one's more interested in recent history, though that bit of history has to be treated with caution. Vongola Nono has to be known by virtue of him presently being in power. The ones in the middle? Kinda tend to be forgotten.
Also, Rosa's grand-father is a fan of Primo's so if he talks about any of his predecessors, Giotto will be the one. Which, fine, the man was amazing, but Rosa's just not too trusting about all the hype. Personal experiences kind of made her wary.
"In what way?" Reborn challenges. "What makes him better than the others?"
Ooh, she could talk about this shit for hours. She was serious when she bragged about her history knowledge. "He's the one boss that managed to actually solve the problems the previous generation left for him. Didn't start any new shit either - no wars between Families, no disgusting crimes against humanity. He and his guardians came up with the plans for Mafia Land, though they were only realised to generations later. For all his life, Quarto worked for advancement and peace in the Mafia. He never really furthered Vongola's power - actually, it can be said that it declined under him. But during his reign, the standard of living in the Mafia was vastly improved, he invested in medicine to the point of building the first Mafia hospital ever. Mafia Cooking Culture became a thing under his reign, he founded several orphanages and charities. He made sure even the lowest of his subordinates and their families were well cared for. I'm not saying he was a saint - he wasn't, and for every bit of progress he enforced there were probably a dozen assassinations - but he was a good man with good intentions for all the right reasons and if anyone did anything to light up the Mafia, it was him."
"What about the others?" Reborn asks, actually sounding interested. Rosa guesses he only knows relevant pieces of history. He isn't exactly part of Vongola, he wouldn't have access to the sources she did. "Primo was said to be a kind man."
"Sure," Rosa answers. "He was. But most sources are also heavily biased due to being written by rather admiring chronists. And I'm not going to lie, he did amazing things and he was a great man - but most sources don't mention that he was fifteen and civilian when he began making a name for himself. That's - not old at all. His friend had found himself in trouble with the law, Giotto jumped in and had no idea what it meant to go against the government at the time. Even if he had, he wouldn't have done anything different, that's the kind of guy he was. But that doesn't change the fact that he was a kid way in over his head. Once he started fighting, he had to keep doing it. People then came to him for protection and he never turned them away and he couldn't stop fighting and he and his were strong, they never lost. Vongola kept growing and growing and he didn't stop it, people got greedy and drunk on power and he - left."
"Hm," Reborn says.
"I do admire him for his resolve to protect his people," Rosa says. "But I don't see Giotto the Saint or Giotto the Hero. He was Giotto the Human, he made mistakes, he had blood on his hands, and in the end? What he accomplished was almost exclusively to the benefit of a select group of people - the Vongola. Everyone else still suffered because he never got to the root of the problems - he just shielded the Family from them. The corrupt regime, the unfair judicial system, the crippled economy - those continued on long after his time. Maybe he tried to deal with them, maybe he didn't, it's not well-documented at all. But what I do know is that after he retired and left? Things got a lot worse."
"Do you know why he left?"
"No one does. The popular theory is that he got scared of the monster he created, tried to dissolve it, and ran when Ricardo Vongola, who then became Vongola Secondo, objected to that course of action." Rosa frowns. "Doesn't feel right if you ask me. Giotto wasn't a runner and things are never that clear-cut anyway. Maybe he was just tired of everyone's shit." She pauses. "My point is, I don't want to be the kind of boss that stumbles head first into a hornet's nest and spends the rest of his life fighting without a clue how to stop."
Like her in her previous life. She hadn't exactly taken on a government, but the Dark Lord everyone else was scared off does seem a comparable danger. And for her friends, she would have taken on the world. Back when they'd taken Hagrid to Azkaban. If she hadn't been so shocked, she'd have thrown down with the Minister in a heartbeat. He was gone too quickly though.
"Tell me about the other bosses." Rosa blinks, for a moment she'd forgotten he was there. Huh.
"Secondo valued power," she then says. "He was left with the monster that the family had become and decided that violence was the answer to everything. He dealt with his problems by making them go away. It was a bloody chapter in the history of Vongola, second-bloodiest from what I can tell. Ricardo Vongola was ruthless and ruled through fear. Can't say it wasn't effective, but out alliances suffered something fierce, and once he was gone? There was an uprising against us. Terzo spent pretty much all his time bribing people into not attacking, having key people assassinated, and trying to salvage alliances. He was a devious one, I doubt anyone else could've pulled off what he did... then came Quarto who was awesome. Not much to say about Quinto, his reign was short... After that Sesto and Settimo who both were masterminds when it came to economy. Like I said, Mafia Land was built on Sexto's initiative because he saw the sheer potential it held, the power it could bring. There was other stuff, they were ruthless and cutthroat but damn if they didn't get shit done."
Rosa falls silent then for a while. "I do admire them," she finally says. "All of them ultimately had qualities that I admire. But if there is one I do not wish to be like at all, it is Vongola Ottavia. My great-grandmother Daniela Vongola."
Reborn looks surprised at that. "Why? I would have thought you would admire her, being that she was the first female boss of the Vongola Famiglia. You were even given her name as a middle name."
Rosa's lips twist. "My being named after her is simply for show. We don't really talk about her and history books got adjusted, so I'm not surprised you don't know... I said before that Secondo's reign was the second-bloodiest, didn't I? Daniela's tops even that. Granted, World War II was going on... but the things she did, the kind of orders she gave, even if they actually had to do with the war, they weren't okay. And her reign continued until two decades after the war, but you really wouldn't see a difference in how she ruled during the war and after it."
He frowns, Rosa sighs. "The Mafia is sexist. Daniela Vongola became boss of the most powerful Famiglia by way of being the only choice left. And she was strong, she could've been the gamechanger. But instead, she spent her entire reign trying to prove that she was not feminine, that being a woman did not make her softer or weaker, and she did that by being more brutal and bloodthirsty then any boss before her. She openly scorned her own gender, the female subordinates she had Daniela openly ridiculed, calling them filthy whores and the like. Don't get me started on the workers at the brothels Vongola operated at the time - previous bosses had always ensured that they were safe and healthy despite their profession. Daniela? Hated them and made sure people knew that and treated them accordingly."
"I didn't know that," Reborn says, a fact he's clearly unhappy about.
"Like I said, we don't speak of her. Especially not my grandfather." Rosa frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "I suspect half the reason for him being so harsh on me is because of her. He saw the damage she did first-hand. And say what you want about him, but he did a good job righting some of her wrongs or at least, compensating for them. I can respect him for that."
Though it doesn't justify her treatment, she gets it. But she is not Daniela Vongola and she's also not Xanxus. She's Rosa and she may have a temper, but she also values peace, and she will do right by the men and women entrusted to her care.
"Enough of this," she decides. "If I have to be like a past boss, I'll be like Quarto. Did you know, he cooked for his subordinates? Not just for his guardians, even. One time, his steward got sick and Quarto visited him at home, cooked an entire meal, helped the wife with housework, and tucked the kids into bed. And there's tons of stories like that about him. I just... think that he was the kind of boss I'd want to follow, if I weren't who I am." Her lips quirk. "Also, I feel an odd kinship with him because his weapon was a fork and mine are pretty much reinforced pens, both of which are kind of ridiculous choices for weapons."
Reborn snorts.
"So," Rosa says. "Which boss do you want me to be like?"
He pulls his fedora down and smirks. "When I'm done with you, Thorny-Rosa, you'll be in a class of your own."
Her lips quirk up, she smirks back. "Sounds good to me." Maybe a bit lonely, but that's what guardians are for, right? If she ever gets any. Anyway, she feels herself soften a bit towards Reborn. He's-
"Err, Reborn?" she asks, looking ahead. "Is that your doing or is the house surrounded by men in suits by accident?"
"It's the Chiavarone," Reborn answers, frowning.
"Aha. Do they know surrounding the house of a future boss while armed is generally frowned upon?"
"They aren't hostile."
"They still have firearms." Rosa sighs. "So, why are they here?"
Reborn looks really unhappy. "I didn't call them here."
"Great. Super fucking great."
Reborn shoots a rubber bullet against her forehead on principle which she tolerates stoically - she's used to that now. "The current Chiavarone boss was my student before you."
"Dino?" Rosa inquires, brow raised.
"You know him?"
"Heard of him." Squalo was reluctantly friends with the guy which involved a lot of ranting at times. An utter loser, if Rosa remembers correctly, but then Squalo isn't exactly the best source of unbiased information. "So he was your student? Like, he actually managed to survive your training? Huh."
Reborn still looks unhappy. "I had to leave him earlier than I was comfortable with."
"Because of me." Rosa rubs at her face before she remembers there's still flour on her hands. Crap. "So, he's here for you?"
"I'm your tutor now," Reborn says sharply.
She rolls her eyes. "So? Am I not going to benefit from meeting a proper boss and fellow student of yours? And it's not like you're forbidden from giving him tips when he's right there."
"...you just want him to distract me from you."
"Correct, but I also want a shower, so while I go deal with that, you deal with them." Rosa raises an eyebrow. "No way in hell am I meeting another boss with flour and tomato sauce all over my face."
She probably should have known better than to jinx herself like that because not a second later, a young man with blond hair comes tumbling down the hill but somehow manages to catch himself by slinging a whip around a tree and lands perfectly on his feet in front of her. "Hi," Rosa says, voice dry as a desert.
"Mio dio, are you okay?" Dino Chiavarone exclaims, grasping her shoulders.
She kicks his shin and extracts herself from his grip. "It's tomato sauce. Not blood. Blame Reborn."
"Oh. Yeah. That makes sense." He scratches the back of his head and laughs sheepishly right before a kick from Reborn nails him into the ground.
"Hello, Useless Dino," Reborn greets.
"Reborn!" Dino cries out. "Ow, stop that!"
"No. Why are you here?" To Rosa, Reborn orders, "Go clean up. Mafia bosses don't walk around dirty."
"And whose fault is the dirt, huh?" she points out crossly. Dino squeaks again. "Whatever."
It's not like taking a shower wasn't what she wanted in the first place.
―~~―~~―
Rosa takes her time with the shower. Or rather, she leaves the water running while practicing her Flame tricks, seeing as the bathroom is now the only place she can practice in private, what with the kitchen having been blown up. It's by no means ideal, but at least she can be sure that the bathroom is the one room where Reborn won't spy on her.
So it's an hour later that she walks out and is met with Reborn telling her that, "We are visiting the Chiavarone Estate."
"Okay," she answers blandly. "For how long should I pack?"
"It's being handled," Reborn informs her. "Get going, the car is waiting and a good boss doesn't make people wait."
She studies him. "You look... happy? By your standards at least." Reborn doesn't have that many facial expressions. She's relying on intuition here.
"Hurry up, Thorny-Rosa!" He lifts his Leon-gun at her. Rolling her eyes, Rosa gets going. No use wasting time and energy on a determined Reborn.
Dino is, well. The same age as Squalo, sixteen years old, but he seems so much younger. The entire drive he chatters away at Reborn, pretty much ignoring her save for a few pleasantries, which suits her just fine. No needless chatter. What does bother her is that Reborn looks almost fond of him. Compared to how he looks at her, well. Room for improvement.
She's just not sure she wants improvement, even if she knew how to go about it. The world she's in, it's not kind. Friendships will be exploited, friends would be weak points, she's not sure if making herself emotionally available for friendship would even be worth it. When she'd been Rose, Harry to her friends, the one she'd called best friend had thrown it back in her face. Pretty much everyone in Hogwarts had, with the exception of Hermione. That's one friend that didn't turn on her out of two that had been close, one among the dozens that by definition of Hogwarts houses should have been her family, one in between hundreds that had claimed to be 'friendly acquaintances' by reason of her being the Girl-Who-Lived.
If friends can turn on her so easily and hurt her that much then she's probably better off without them. Then there's the fact that even if they're trustworthy, losing them hurts almost as much as betrayal. Rosa's got the Varia in this life, but they are Family and never even had to try, and without them it's like the ground under her feet was replaced with treacherous swamp. Then there's Fia - and not being able to see her just hurts like hell. But they are enough.
So yeah, that's a no to quick friendship and instant trust. Unless someone too stubborn and too annoying and too brilliant - like Fia - comes along.
...Criteria which probably fit Reborn, damn. But he's not trying to be a friend, so Rosa's still in the clear. Reborn as a friend would probably be brain-breaking anyway.
Better to focus on the current situation anyway. She has no idea where they're going. The Chiavarone Estate, Reborn had said, but where exactly is that? What would they be doing there? The drive through the Italian countryside tells her nothing. The towns and villages they pass are small and she's never heard of their names.
Doesn't matter that much, anyway. It's not like she's got anywhere to go. Except Varia HQ, but that would be under surveillance and the first place anyone would look for her.
She shouldn't even be thinking about running away anyhow.
―~~―~~―
The drive takes five hours in total, but to Rosa it seems longer than that. Boredom has a way of dragging out the time.
The Chiavarone Estate is gorgeous. Unlike the imposing Iron Fort which is just that, a Fort with iron-enforced walls, the Chiavarone Estate is a baroque palace surrounded by wide sprawling gardens that probably take a small army of gardeners to maintain.
Some guy runs up to Dino to whisper something in his ear, the teenager instantly panics and hurries inside, leaving Reborn on Rosa's shoulder. A footman approaches them to show them to their rooms.
Inside is just as impressive as outside, all polished marble floors and delicate-looking works of art. Lots of mirrors, velvet-cushioned furniture. Opulence wherever she looks, which is surprising since last she heard, the Chiavarone had fallen on hard times if not a financial crisis. Said difficulties don't seem to have touched the main estate though. Or perhaps the previous boss decided to prioritise luxury over the measures that had to be taken? And maybe the rumours were exaggerated and everything wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. Who knows, it's none of Rosa's business anyway.
She and Reborn are accommodated in one of the guest wings, the one meant for important and honoured guests. Looking around, Rosa suspects that it's the only guest wing in use - it seems as if only a small part of the estate is maintained and cared for, probably to save money. Again, none of her business.
Her suite of rooms is nice, nicer in fact than her room back at the mountain house. It kind of reminds her of her old suite at Varia HQ. Spacious, with an elegant desk, a canopy bed, a large closet, a narrow shelf with a few books, and an expensive-looking rug. Large windows let in a good amount of light, velvet curtains offer the option of keeping it out. Little decorations of horses are on the furniture, and a picture on the wall shows more of the animals - to be expected of the Chiavarone, and in no way gaudy or ostentatious. Rosa likes it.
A look in the closet shows that her clothes have already been delivered and her violin case, too, has been placed here, right next to a stack of music sheets and a music stand. Which is funny because she hasn't played at all since Xanxus took her to live with him. Her mother thoroughly killed whatever joy Rosa found in playing her instrument. With a scowl, she pushes anything related to music into a corner hidden by the canopy bed. That done, she looks around and sees nothing for her to do. Everything has already been stashed somewhere, the few books on the shelf are ones she already knows or that she has no interest at all in.
A look in the en-suite bathroom again doesn't present a way to stave off boredom, so with a shrug she ventures out of her suite. Briefly, she considers finding Reborn, but nah. She'll take any Reborn-free moment she can get, and this location should be safe, he wouldn't have brought her here otherwise. Not after the St. Brutus fiasco.
The guest wing seems pretty much deserted. There's a footman stationed just outside though, probably for her and Reborn to call on if they need anything, but that's it. He doesn't stop her from leaving the guest wing. Her and Reborn's accomodations are on the first floor, the corridor they are in opens up into a gallery overlooking the entrance hall of one of the smaller entrances. She can hear angry yells from a distance, coming rapidly closer. The voice is familiar but before she can place it, another speaks.
"And where are you going, Thorny-Rosa?" asks Reborn, dressed up as a potted plant.
Rosa shrugs and moves closer to the balustrade, peering down into the hall. "Just taking a look around, Devilbaby," she answers. "So-" Why are we here? she wants to ask, but the double doors of some room downstairs are thrown open violently and the source of the yells is revealed.
Her startled green eyes stare into the light grey ones of Superbi Squalo, the frantic Dino next to him not even registering. Her whole world centers on this man - mentor, friend, family, teacher - and a tortured noise escapes her. She'd been so lonely, she misses her home, her family, the place she'd carved for herself among the Varia.
Squalo's startled look of recognition fades into one of utter loathing, hatred, and venom. He spits at the ground in her direction, turns, and leaves. The doors slamming shut behind him leave ringing silence.
Rosa stares at the drop of spit on the ground and distantly wonders how it is that she's managing to keep breathing when her insides have turned into ice.