Chapter 2: Nana's Dilemma

Nana Yoshimura did not really remember Basil much from middle school, except as the member of the Terrible Three during her last two years. She was busy mooching off Tsuyoshi Yamamoto to give a fuck about everything.

She recalled having him as her classmate during her first year. Her eye was on Giotto during that time, and Basil often tagged along with him. She best remembered him wearing a red sash on his arm and a ring with a metal chain on his neck. Other days he would bring a stuffed toy with a fedora hat and laughed with Giotto along with it. He was his only friend then until second year rolled around and Lavina came into the picture and, along with her, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto.

Hence those years left a bad aftertaste in her mouth whenever she tries to recall anything regarding it. Unlike most of her batchmates, who went to high schools outside of town, she stayed to work for her father's small restaurant, which was then hell-bent on closing down. She also did other part time jobs like working as a copyreader and as a cashier in their neighborhood bakery.

She was able to finally ship herself off to the nearest high school in Luchi two years later. By then, his father's business began to thrive during the sudden tourist boom, while her elder brothers finally managed to kickstart their own businesses either as juice sellers or as tour guides. Despite also the trail of boyfriends she had, her parents would still ask if she had any news about Yamamoto, their favorite one of the lot.

She would then find out when Primo did get to sign her up on an assignment.

~X~

It was back at a resto run by one of their former classmates when Nana saw Giotto again after middle school. No longer was his hair the mop of times old, all sleeked back to show his scalp, but all in disarray like a big ball of orange-blond fluff. He eerily reminded her of the character Basil often showcased and idolized.

"You look like a fucking hedgehog," was Nana's quip the moment he sat down on the table. He looked at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Wow, we didn't see each other for five years, and that's how you'd say hello?" he replied, raising his hand up to call the waiter. She vividly remembered the pesto linguine she ordered and the puttanesca Giotto had, along with the conversation, which at first centered on their catching up to their middle school classmates up to the matter why Giotto invited her in the first place.

"Working right now?" he asked, his tone light. Nana can only stare at his cerulean pools for a quick while before shaking her head.

"Didn't go to college, remember? Just helping my dad out in his resort business, or helping anyone in my family out when I have time." She had not thought of tomorrow all that much. What mattered to her then was leeching off as much as she could to obtain their favors, poison them and forge the will to get her six siblings out of the way, marry the celebrity she had a crush on, live in a galaxy-colored yacht, and travel the world in her pink private jet…

Looking back now, she felt like some stupid emo kid who can't even brush her teeth properly.

It was a good thing Giotto did not mind. He was a double major in social psychology and political sciences before finishing law school in less than two years. He would later become the youngest councilor in Namimori. Yet in all those years of their partnership, he never did make a snide remark about her dry humor.

"I was thinking of getting your services."

"What do you want me to do?" Like there was anything left for her to have second guesses about. She would have jumped ship immediately even before the words barely left his mouth.

Giotto takes out a brown envelope from his briefcase with a flourish and sets it on the table.

"I want to know everything about this guy- his favorites, his habits, where he parties and shits- everything. I can trust you on that, can't I?"

It's been two years since and Nana can say it was trust well-earned.

~X~

Her mother, of course, was not happy with the proposition at first. All it took was show her the zeroes in her paycheck- that would end up providing for the dowry of Nana's second eldest brother, Quinto.

"And that Giotto would keep you safe, alright?" she added before proceeding to go to town to open their bank account, their first.

Nothing was a problem for her father, who readily agreed to have her daughter work. "And not live like your mother here," he added, which sent them running from her rampage that lasted up till the beach.

She loved her easygoing father, but moreso her mother when she was on her drinking spree. It was the only time she felt being the only girl in the bunch. One time, her mother decided to give her money to go on a shopping spree and buy herself a new pair of shoes from old Talbot's store. It was enough to earn her a spot as prom queen in senior year.

He was the quicker one of her parents to warm up to her latest and one of two significant others she introduced to the family, the other one being Tsuyoshi. When he left, her father and she discussed marriage, much to her bewilderment.

"You're jumping to conclusions again. We've only been dating for two months, please."

"Nana, you're already 22. Pretty soon, you'll think about settling down and I don't think you'll be ready."

"Dad," she says, crooning by his scraggly arm, a technique she learned from her misbegotten cousins who'd leech off their rich fathers from her mother's side. "Both of us aren't thinking about those things yet. I mean, I still haven't earned enough to buy you guys a house. You're my priority right now, not Kyo."

"Aww, baby. Stop pretending like I don't know you. You were acting like someone died when Tsuyoshi broke up with you-"'

"I was in middle school!"

"Ok, but you've got a track record that your mother doesn't know about. Just don't forget that at the end of the day, we'll respect your decision since you're an adult now. And if- if you decide to start your own family, then get the hell out of my house and do it. See how hard it is raising the lot of you hell-raisers."

Nana laughed to hide the tears that reacted from the poignant things his father told her. "Thank you dad. But seriously, we're not thinking that far ahead yet. He also has a family to take care of. Ok let's talk about something else, like the current bills for the hotel-"

"Goddammit Nana, you're just like your mother. Can't we discuss it tomorrow?"

And so, she was laughing along with her boyfriend upon recalling that by the phone. She was going to Giotto's apartment, the penthouse in one of the buildings in central Namimori just a block away from the City Hall. It was in the 40th floor, so she had enough time to bid Kyo goodbye before opening the door with her card, one of the only three Giotto had made for her and Lavina.

Lavina was looking and smelling like morning when she opened the door. Giotto's place had a beautiful 180-degree view of the Namimori landscape, even reaching the oceans at the far horizon. Lavina was busy vacuuming the kitchen in her boxers and tank top, fork in mouth to point at Giotto who was at the table beside the bed. There was an array of papers, daily paperwork given to him by the mayor, who had Giotto become his unofficial secretary. He was already dressed for work, the remaining paperwork just a thin pile beside the obviously finished ones.

"Did you have breakfast already?" Giotto said, not looking up even when Nana takes a seat by his right. Nana always saw Giotto like this in the morning, already filling himself up with work. "Sorry about this," he says. "I really need to pass this by ten. Afterwards, I'll pick you and Lavina up so we can go."

"Who is it this time?" Nana yawned, now used to Giotto's spontaneity. It wouldn't be a surprise if Giotto pulls him into a turf war again, complete with gunshots all around and people getting killed back and forth.

"Basil. We're going to Xan-Xan. Tell your folks you'll be returning tomorrow."

She could not open her mouth to react to Giotto. His blue eyes were serenely boring onto hers and it annoys the hell out of her because she couldn't see whether this guy was smug or just plain bonkers for acting like some wise old dude.

That name though, the image of the guy with ashen brown hair and eyes a different shade of blue stirred something within her.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Tsuyoshi's with him."

"And why would you add that detail?" Nana said, folding her arms. "Like I give a fuck."

"Told you she'd be affected," hollered Lavina from the kitchen.

"Excuse me. I really don't care," said Nana, now leaning back on her plastic stool. She turned to Giotto, whose gaze continued striking her in that annoying way. "Ok, I'll bite. How the hell did you find him?"

"Tsuyoshi or Basil?"

"Basil, Giotto hurry the hell up I didn't book any hotel-"

"We can sleep in the car if ever," said Giotto serenely. "So Tsuyoshi or Ba-"

"Giotto, really any time if you repeat that name again I will really have no hesitation to use that pen to stab your eye out."

"It was Lavina who found him while she was out in Xan-xan for a private mission with our boss," he takes the iPhone in the table and gives it to her. Sure enough, she did see Basil from one of the photos, hair short and just above his ears, like one of those annoying boy cuts reinforced during their middle school days (which Basil did not follow- he was often sent to the principal's office because of this). He was looking at his right, clad in a navy blue hoodie and faded capris. Nana looked again at his fashion choices, a far cry from the conservative polo shirts with vests and loose pants he often wore even during their outings in the mountains.

"Are you sure that's him?" Nana asks, looking at Giotto incredulously.

"That's him."

"You're not kidding?" says Nana, looking at the face in the photo again. Basil's face looked stronger, characterized heavily by the thin line of a mouth. His gaze was sharp, not the same doe-eyed ones as he looks on onto his right, trying to glimpse onto something. The way his body postures also seemed different from the meek Basil she remembered. The way his body arched, and the way his right hand attempted to grab something hidden from the photo emanated some kind of raw power. No, this was definitely not Basil.

"That is Basil. Why would I bother lying to you?" he says. "We finally found him. Now we can bring him back."

"It's been nine years since he left. He could've come back in those years, but he didn't," Nana replied. "Do you think he'd want to be back here?"

"Called it! Like your Reborn will be enough to make him come here!" says Lavina, who was now walking past them and onto the walk-in closet.

"He might be waiting for us to come back…?" Giotto trailed off, managing a goofy smile that had Nana whacking him in the head.

"His dad died here, and if your conspiracy theory might be true, he might not think it's wise to return, with his two brothers-"

"He will. You'll talk sense into him," Giotto smiled, his face still devoid of worry. "That will be your mission until tomorrow."

Nana was too lost for words that he took it as a yes.

~X~

"Yeah mom, I'm going to Xan-Xan. Yes, I'm not thinking of eloping- why the hell would I bother calling you then? Yes, they're with me. Ok I'll eat whatever. Yes, I'm going to see Basil. Do you remember him? Yeah, Iemitsu-san's… Of course. Ok, I'll try looking for souvenirs. Mom, you shouldn't be asking me to look here for things about the wedding… It's in the middle of nowhere and Daniela-san's family can- OK. See you. Yeah," the moment Nana locked her phone, she was beside herself with infuriation.

"Good thing my mother kicked the bucket, otherwise I had to bother with that shit," said Lavina by her right. Giotto was soundly sleeping at the back, feet pressed on the window.

"Sometimes I do envy you," laughed Nana. "But at least I don't have to make do with take-out."

"Please, I'm learning how to cook some major dishes now. I fucking hate Giotto sometimes though. For being such a workaholic, he's a big lug with cooking," Lavina said, as she flipped the last few pages of the book she was skimming. Nana wished she understood how the hell she was able to remember all that.

On cue, both of them looked at a snoring Giotto on the backseat, whose feet were already pressing the windows and to whom Nana was tempted to step on the breaks for to jerk him awake.

"Wonder how you'd put up with a boss like this," Nana said, now slowing down by the checkpoint. Just a flash of her ID was enough to score her ticket. This was one of the things she liked about working for the likes of Giotto though, especially for family vacations.

"He planned this though. I reported this to him three weeks ago. Even he couldn't believe that Basil was just a couple of miles away. He pulled some strings to start the manga reprint. He's also bent on asking some guys to relaunch a new anime season… What? You mad?"

Nana paused mid-frown. "You didn't make me part of the plan."

"We didn't want to stress you out. I mean, you're already stressed out with Quinto-san's wedding and all that."

"Yeah, I'm wondering how the fuck the asshole behind us has tons of time worrying about his long-lost friend when the wedding's around the corner."

"He let Daniela-san handle it. Rather than bumming around the house, he said. And he figured that Basil's the top priority right now."

"What about you? Excited?" Nana said with a touch of sarcasm. More than half of their middle school knew about Lavina's then-infatuation with Basil.

Lavina merely stared at the next book on her lap (something in French by Ranciere) before looking at the window. The corn was a beautiful shade of green against the noonday sun.

"I honestly wish Giotto would just drop it. There's a good reason why Basil hasn't come back."

Nana slows the car down for her candy-popping session with Lavina. This was a good time to knife through her thoughts since she was contemplative that time. It was rare to see Lavina not her fiery self, and she was the only one (as far as she knows) to whom Lavina bares all her insecurities. Not surprising, since Giotto was Option Number 2.

"I don't want to fucking bother the guy ok? Look, I was fucking around with my phone for the target and suddenly, like 'some twist of fate', there's this guy in the crowd. Giotto was easily swayed and said to me that 'Hey that's Basil!' Not even Daniela-san believed Giotto was serious. Even you right? Can you fucking believe that the person-" she now seizes the phone by the dashboard and hands it to her. "-That this person is Basilicum?"

Nana stares at it for two seconds before swerving near the edge. She cursed as she turns the wheel.

"Well, that's a good indication that 'no I don't'," snorts Nana before laughing again. "So you're saying Giotto's nuts? Again?"

"Ok, let's suppose then that yeah, Giotto's right. That guy was Basil and we do find him in Xan-Xan. The question is, will he be so happy that we finally thought of seeing him or would he be pissed off, because we suddenly popped up, ruining his plans for him? Hypothetically speaking, if your father died and you have this crazy conspiracy theory of him being murdered, would you care and put your brothers in peril? Why bother with that risk?"

"Well if this was some kind of movie scenario, that would definitely be cool."

"Then that's a no," Lavina said. "Of course the last thing I need is someone to fuck up my life when it's steering for the better."

"You let Giotto fuck up yours."

"That's different… Mine's a different scenario than his."

"Be honest with me then: do you honestly care about him, or do you think he's just some competition for Giotto's attention?"

"Don't fucking psychoanalyze my motives, Nana. Like I give a shit if Giotto favors him above us. I just don't want Giotto to be obsessed about the past. He should realize that there will be stuff you have to let go of. That not everything goes your way."

"I'll rephrase the question then: How does this affect you? Not Giotto, not Basil, not me."

Lavina bites her lip and takes out a handkerchief to hide her eyes.

"I'm terrified at what he'll say when he sees us. I'm scared that I might ruin someone's life again. But I miss him so badly… God Nana, I honestly… goddammit."

~X~

Nana couldn't say anything else for the whole trip. She was sure when Lavina retreated under her handkerchief that Giotto must be listening the entire time. She already knew how crafty that man could be, and she secretly admired him for it. Sure it was annoying that he'd play those old songs they were obsessed with during middle school when they woke up, but it felt better to see Lavina become her old self and go on a hissing fit to kick Giotto out of the car. She was still uncomfortable of seeing a vulnerable Lavina.

Sure enough, she dropped Giotto and Lavina off to some bar named Renato and began driving to her friend, Aoba Koyo's house—her colleague in her high school paper.

He texted her to meet in the park at the center of town. Nothing too fancy. He was still wearing those baggy pants from high school. The shock of moss green hair was styled in a way that reminded her of those who graduated from military school.

"It's been awhile," he said, extending his hand. Nana slapped it away, making Koyo's coy grin into a confused 'o'. "What the hell, Nana? Are you still mad when I forced you to date Rauji back in freshman year?"

Nana shuddered inwardly as she remembered that dare. She hands a cold gaze at Aoba along with a voice in monotone, "How's Rauji anyway?"

"Dunno, haven't been in contact with any of them since… the last alumni homecoming?"

"I don't have the time to reminisce much, sorry," she said as she extended a hand. "I just came to get what I asked you earlier."

"Don't forget our deal ok? A one-week stay at your hotel in Namimori with my wife and Kaoru-kun," Aoba said as he handed a brown folder from his satchel. "He's one of our top fighters. Good person too."

"Yeah, thanks," Nana said absentmindedly as she stuffed it inside her black handbag.

"I guess that you're recruiting him then?"

"It's classified, you already know it's part of my job," she said. "So where can I see him again?"

"You can come with me later. We still have plenty of time to catch up," he said amiably, walking on ahead, hands stuffed on his pockets. "There's a local café downtown with the best lemon squares."

This bastard. Apparently he still knew her weak spot. She looked at her phone and saw Giotto messaging her they won't be needing her assistance until the evening.

"Hurry up Nana, I wanna hear if you're still with Rauji!"

"Fuck you, Koyo," Nana laughed as she attempted to hit him with her bag.

~X~

Sure enough, she made her way to a thirty-minute ride with Koyo from the restaurant up to the warehouse just behind the forest bordering Xan-Xan from Simon-mon. The number of cars and people on foot were surprising. The noise all the more.

"The police are in on this?" Nana asked as she and Koyo pushes forward in the entrance.

"We're in Xan-Xan. Of course they are as long as we cough up some grand."

"How many grands exactly?"

"That, my dear Nana, is classified. Don't want your boss to shut us down. We're already not the same Famiglia we were back in the wars. Mind your own business, woman."

"I get it, no more questions," she waved off, nearly getting crushed by the burly man attempting to hammer his way inside from the door. "Fuck Koyo, isn't there some VIP entrance somewhere?"

"We're still working on that, sorry."

"You've been managing this place for ten years, what the fuck?" Nana gasps for air as Koyo pushes forward.

"We could use the back entrance, but they won't let anyone in except me and the fighters. Oi, Shitopi!" He says, greeting someone in the front. Nana was startled to see that she wasn't the only woman fighting for her way inside.

"Oi Kaoru! Aoba's here!" the girl called in a sing-song voice that reminded Nana of the hippies back in high school. That quickly vanished when she saw her. The only remainder of hair was her bangs, dyed in salmon pink. She had full lips, a slender figure, and draconian pants. She killed it at first impressions, Nana mused. "Name's Shitt P.," she said shaking her hand. She can feel the scars. "Welcome to our circuit."

With that, she quickly led them up the metal stairs to their right past the entrance, the only source of light was the ring, where a fight was already in full swing. She ignored it straightaway when she saw her seat, and the person sitting next to her.

Basil did not seem to notice her at all when he excused himself down. She could not open her mouth all the more because the pictures did confirm her fears that she might no longer recognize this ex-classmate of hers. All the more when the man he was with earlier stands up and extends his hand at her.

"Byakuran," he says, and Nana was sure not to cry out. She did not know who she was talking to, a first. It made her blood run cold.

"Yoshimura," she quickly replies as she makes sure to mask her fear with a brisk handshake. Quickly she shoots him a quick grin before sitting at the sofa he emptied earlier.

"Aoba-chi, you didn't tell me we'd have a guest right here. I would've introduced her to Basilicum-kun~" he drawls. "Refreshments?" He waves at the assortment of drinks of the glass table in front.

"No thank you," she said, trying to sound as curt as possible without losing her politeness. She had to follow Basil down.

"Oh please do stay, Yoshimura-san. Is this your first time here?" Byakuran's tone was pleasant, but she can hear the straining patience in his voice. She knew how capable this person was of breaking her pretty neck, thank you very much, and proceeded to sit down. However, she vowed to not drink or eat anything offered to her.

"This will be my last night here," Byakuran continues. Nana looks at Aoba, who was too busy looking at the fight downstairs to care. Shitopi was also busy making calls. None of them apparently want to engage with a Byakuran keenly interested in her. "Will you keep me company, Yoshimura-san?"

Nana was quick to move his hand away as it inched closer to hers. "Cut to the chase, what do you want?"

He takes a sip out of the wine glass before answering. "You seem to know Basilicum-kun."

Fuck you for attempting to waste my time like this, Nana thought quietly.

"Don't worry though, we cut ties earlier so I have no choice but to get out of the way," he continues.

"And what do you want from me?"

She could barely hear Byakuran's laugh across the din. "You know who I am, don't you?"

"With the lack of knowledge from the underworld, then I figured it's a good thing not to."

He gave a coy smile. "Does it annoy you?"

"It fucking does. I know plenty of people, and it pisses me off that you intend to kill me."

"I won't. You are not my enemy. Not yet." His Adam's apple bobs as he took a long draught. "Now go. I have one more person to meet."

Nana was quick to obey. With a quick tap on Aoba's shoulder, she quickly wore her coat and descended. As she pushed down the influx of people, she was sure she caught someone she must remember, whom she quickly ignored as she went down.

She wanted to catch up with the past, not the other way around.

~X~

Was that really Tsuyoshi Yamamoto?

She had to make sure to ask her boyfriend just to be sure she wasn't seeing things.

"If another guy was my boyfriend, he probably would've ditched me years ago," Nana says as she chews on her candy, her eyes furiously scanning for a man with hair the shade of ashen brown.

Kyo laughs on the other line. "You're not serious, are you? Then that guy would definitely miss your chicken lasagna."

"More like my mom's."

"No way. So my whole life was a lie?"

"Fuck off, Kyo. I really saw him. Out of all the places, for nine years, really…"

"Is he more handsome than me?"

"O-Of course not! You jelly?"

"Really? We've been together for five years and I did not give a fuck if you were screwing with other guys-"

"Which I did not do-"

"Ok, I give. What does he look like?"

"Well… scruffier I guess? Of course you're much better looking, who do you think I am?!"

Kyo laughed at the end of the line. "That's good to know. Don't forget to give me souvenirs ok? I heard their beef jerky's good!"

"You already know I have no money, right? Giotto's not giving me pay until I get Basil to come."

"I should give him a piece of this sometime."

"Please. Lavina will kill you before you even get close."

"You're seriously underestimating me? I have my colleagues."

"And Giotto has the Chiavarone. Get real here."

"Funny how my girlfriend's not scared of getting shot by the men she works for."

"I'm not affiliated with them, remember?"

"But still… take care of yourself, kay?"

"Thanks," Nana simpers.

"No 'You too'? Come on, woman!"

"I'm not that touchy-feely remember?"

"You don't love me," he says in a small voice.

"Eww, get out of here. I'm turning off the phone now."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't let Giotto boss you around too much."

"Make sure mom doesn't flip if anything happens to me."

"I love you."

He really does keep her off guard.

"Me too," Nana says, just in time as she sees Basil's back and proceeds to press the beep button.

Basil turns in surprise.

"Yo," says Nana. "How's a ride sound?"

~X~

Nana may not look like it but she was a fan of Reborn, especially of Sawada Tsunayoshi's Cloud Guardian.

She told Basil that information during that car ride. Basil did not say a word at all as they drove to his home. Might as well try to break the ice.

"I had a crush on Hibari Kyoya," she says amidst the quiet. Giotto still hasn't contacted her yet. She had forwarded her boyfriend's text awhile ago and she secretly prays that instead of playing games in his phone again, he would bother checking it out. "He was insanely OP, but a friggin' sadist," she laughs.

"It's been a long time since someone mentioned that name to me." It was weird. Basil's voice sounded as if he was chewing stones. "A lot of girls fall for him when all he cared about was his damn school."

The Basil she remembered would not swear.

"He was the brooding, mysterious type. A lot of teenagers love that shit," she attempts to explain. "I just realized that back in college. I fell for the same kind of guy. Rich… almost perfect at everything. Secretive. We didn't work out."

Kyo was the opposite of Hibari Kyoya. Despite sharing the same name, surprisingly, Kyo was her ray of sunshine. Never once had she seen him lose his chill. They argued sometimes, sure, but it was always him who apologizes first and embraces her tightly before leaving.

"My boyfriend now's the opposite though. I wish you can meet him. He's a hardcore fan of Reborn, just like you. You two could spend hours and hours deconstructing each manga chapter."

"That was a long time ago, Yoshimura-san."

Nana felt it. She had felt the land mine explode. She was afraid of pressing on further, but as she was about to retreat, Basil continued talking.

"Does your boyfriend treat you well though?"

She stole a quick glance at Basil. He was wearing a small smile, eyes ashimmer. Somehow it reminded her of that afternoon years and years ago.

"He's one of the best things that ever happened to me, since you know," she could not continue. She had long buried Yamamoto a long time ago.

Basil looks on ahead.

"You've changed, Yoshimura-san. You must have experienced quite a lot."

"Maybe," she can only say. Never as much as you though.

"Is your family doing well?"

"Quinn-nii's getting married. Do you remember Daniela-nee? They'll be tying the knot two months from now."

"That's good news…"

No reaction at all at the sound of Giotto's sister's name. Suddenly the air's growing cold again.

"Have you thought of getting married too?"

Nana suddenly laughs. "Seriously? We don't have any money right now for a house though. We're still saving up. I still have haven't finished paying for this baby," she says, tapping the wheel.

Basil laughs as well. "That's true."

"What about you?"

"Oh definitely not! I still have two brothers to worry about. Maybe when Fuuta graduates I'll be able to start thinking about settling down."

"You think people would still like you though? You'll be, like, old."

He roars with laughter. "Who knows? We'll cross the bridge when we get there, I guess?"

Both of them then chuckle.

"You turn on that corner."

"Ok."

"Yoshimura-san?"

"Nana's fine."

"Alright then, Nana-san. Thank you for talking. It's quite difficult for me to start conversations, to be honest."

"That doesn't sound like the old Basil."

"You miss him, don't you?"

Nana slowed her car as she neared Pickpocket Street and the home she had researched already. "It doesn't matter. I mean, at least I managed to talk to you, right?"

"You don't have to beat around the bush, you know. This might be the last moment I talk to you. I'm not going to Namimori, no matter how hard you try convincing me. This is my stop."

She stops the car. It took quite a while for her to realize how numb she felt.

"Thank you for the ride, Nana-san. Goodbye."

By the time Basil closed the door, Nana can finally feel the tears streaming down as she slams her forehead on the horn. Her phone then rings.

~X~

"Have you eaten already?"

"Gosh, it's a really bad time to call mom," Nana hisses as she wipes her face with her sleeve. She was madly texting Giotto to not mention Reborn to him and find a newer and better strategy to convince him.

"Oh honey, what happened to you? Did that Kyo finally break up with you?"

"O-Of course not!" she sniffs. "I guess I'm just mad at myself. I couldn't convince an old friend to come home with us."

"Are you supposed to tell me these things? Isn't secrecy a part of your job description?"

"It's not a part of my job, ok? Gosh, if I only knew how difficult it is to convince someone. Should I still try, mom?"

"Do you think it's worth trying? And have you eaten your dinner yet? Gosh that Primo, I thought he was a thoughtful kid…"

"Ma, but we're not kids anymore! I-I don't know, I mean- honestly- and no, I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"After crying don't forget to eat dinner, ok? And if you really can't convince your friend, maybe he has a good reason to not come."

"He really does have a good reason to not come, but-"

"But what?"

"But- oh my god, I don't know but I don't- I just- maybe I just miss him. I just talked to him, see and he's really changed. I really want to know why he changed so much. And I want to know him better. I really want to befriend this person again. But I don't know if I can do it. I'm scared, mom. I'm scared that I might push a button to make him explode."

"You've pushed a button, haven't you?"

"I did."

"He'll open up to you. Like your dad did with me."

"Eww, mom. Don't you try thinking I'll end up with him if we do become friends again, ok?"

"But he's the same type you liked remember? The person you want to change and all that stuff you made up when you were with-"

"NANANANA~ I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"But with-"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"Ok fine, FINE. I WON'T MENTION THE NAME. If you really want to talk to him, you will, won't you, either way? Just remember that no matter what happens, come home and EAT. Ok?"

"Just make sure it's dad on the stove. Thanks."

"Don't forget to eat. I have to go and get your father. He's off drinking with his pals again and not giving a damn about his ulcer."

"Take care, mom."

"Make sure you're in one piece after talking to him, ok?"

"Mom, if I could endure Giotto every day, how can I not be able to do this?"

"Good point. Ok goodnight!"

Nana was once more filled with inspiration. She quickly began typing furiously on her laptop the errands Giotto left her to do. As she was off to call Aoba again, a text from Giotto however sends her nearly breaking her device in half.

Guess who challenged Basil to a fistfight? :D

Nana swore.