"According to Romario and Dino, he hit his head really hard and was traumatized during his imprisonment. He can't remember who he is or when he was abducted." I reported, keeping my eyes down and away from Domenico's body that was withering away.

In a wheezing voice, Domenico replied, "And what do you think?"

"I don't have an opinion."

"You must have something." He said, "Otherwise, you wouldn't be reporting it."

"I simply reported it because Romario couldn't come and tell you himself." I grimaced at the coughing that wracked his chest for a long moment.

"Kira… If you cannot be honest with a dying man, when will you be honest?"

I finally looked up, realizing that Domenico was already way past his expiration date. He was just barely hanging in there. His ribs were showing through his skin, he couldn't wear clothes because there were too many tubes in his body, and he was just pale. He already looked like a corpse.

I hesitated and when he smiled, I sighed, "Have you told my mother yet?"

"I've told your father." He said, chuckling when I let the surprise slip onto my face, "It's not my place to tell her."

"My father?" Now something was making more sense. My eyes narrowed, "Koge's not here as a pity ploy. He's watching me."

Domenico laughed harder than I had ever heard him laugh since falling ill, "Yes, Kira. I'm surprised Koge didn't tell you sooner. I mean… Father's are all the same. They just want the best for their children."

"I just want to be left alone." I grumbled, "I'm not the same child I was when I left home. I don't need to be watched like a baby."

And I'm also bitter about being lied to… Koge didn't once think it was important to tell me about his orders. I was the only one who thought we had bonded.

"Well, I understand but I can't have you send Koge away. This family needs him."

I nodded. I understood more than anyone. The Cavallone Family was just barely starting to gain strength. If I sent Koge away now, our success rate would go down and all our work until now would be wasted.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Sitting in a hospital bed, I glared up at the ceiling. How did I get here? My roommate for the stay was pretending to be asleep but he knew exactly why we were here.

"Dino." I growled, "Explain to me why I have to be concerned about friendly fire."

"I didn't know you were there!" He exclaimed, turning onto his side to face me, "I don't know what's going on with me! I was fine all those other times but I thought you weren't there and… and then I don't know! I was suddenly really bad at everything!"

I sighed, glaring at our newest arrival, "You just got out of a hospital bed and now I'm in one. The Cavallone Family is going to be buried in medical bills."

"Heh." Romario chuckled, having heard the story already from one of the nurses, "Just when we thought the little master was growing up. We haven't had one of these episodes in a while."

"Yeah well…" I paused, clamping my mouth shut when I realized there was an extra set of ears listening, "Romario, who is that?"

Smiling quite proudly at my wariness, Romario finally mentioned, "He's our newest family member. He's the guy you rescued… You know the guy who was imprisoned with me."

My eyes narrowed when he stepped into full view. I gave him a once over and sighed, "I thought we were being suspicious of him."

Our new arrival was tall and lean with dark blue hair. He had a clean cut now, less ragged and beat up. His arms were laced in ink, tattoos ran up and down both arms.

"We were." Romario admitted, "But now we're not. He's strong."

I sneered when the man glanced at me almost shyly, "And how does a man get to be strong and forget his memory from being captured, hmm?"

"I swear to you, I'm not a spy." His voice was deep. He wasn't too much older than Dino but he was built differently. He was tall and lean. He possessed the body of someone who trained daily.

"I don't believe you." I said it simply, not amused by the kicked puppy look he was giving me, "Who are you anyways?"

He pursed his lips, shaking his head in silence.

"He doesn't remember, Kira. Don't be too hard on him. He can't even remember his name." Romario reminded me, "We're taking him in. We could use the manpower and if you saw this guy shoot just a minute ago, you wouldn't be turning him away."

"All the more reason to turn him away!" I snapped, "I can't believe you! If he's actually a spy, we're bringing him into the core like a trojan horse! We're-"

"Milady, I swear to you, I would never betray you." He said and I was temporarily stunned by the resolve shining behind his eyes, "I… If I was meant to be a spy in the Cavallone Family, why was I imprisoned by an enemy of your family?"

That is a very good question but I didn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he had rattled me. And what's with the sudden formalities? Milady? Who is he kidding?

"I don't trust you." I grumped, rolling my eyes when Romario gave me the begging hands clapped together, "But it's true that we need manpower. I don't have the authority to turn you away either."

Romario's lips curve upward mischievously, "Well, I suppose you don't have to worry about friendly fire since the boss already hit you. You were planning on being extra careful from now on anyways, right?"

"Hey!" Dino was highly offended, "I didn't hit her on purpose! I didn't know she was there and I swear, Reborn told me no one was around!"

"Oh?" The bespectacled right-hand man to-be was grinning, "I was wondering how you got out alive after making that kind of mistake. Reborn-san saved you, huh?"

I made a noise of discontent but gave no verbal response to the rhetorical question, continuing onto a topic of more importance, "Did Koge complete the mission?"

"Hah! Are you kidding?" Romario snickered, "He never even left the car. Your tech guy isn't meant to leave the car."

"If I was the tech guy…"

"But you're not."

"I can do it." The mysterious stranger said all of a sudden, "If you teach me, I'll be the tech guy who gets out of the car for you, milady."

"What's with this guy?" I grumped, glaring at a laughing Dino, "You shut up!"

"You're his hero." Romario was laughing just as much, "You could've left him there but you carried him out on your back."

"I thought he was one of our guys! If I had known he wasn't, I would've left him there!"

"But you didn't." Mystery Man was grateful… Way too grateful. "It must've been fate. I will offer you my whole life."

I groaned, rolling over as Romario and Dino made jokes together like the losers they are.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Months later, we discovered the reason Dino had accidentally hit me during one of our missions. Dino was totally incapable of fighting for himself. His resolve to fight and even his strength was totally dependent on the reasoning that he was hurting someone for the sake of his beloved famiglia.

I sighed, leaning against an exhausted Koge, "What are we going to do? That's going to be the boss of this family soon."

Dino was oblivious to his handicap. He grinned sheepishly at me, "I must've forgotten to tie my shoes. Cut me some slack! I haven't messed up on the field since that day!"

"Romario, tell this idiot why he hasn't messed up."

"Boss, you can only fight if one of us is watching you." Romario was equally worried about the future of this famiglia, "That means… Well, it's fine. You're the boss. You won't be alone at any time."

"You're too lax!" I complained, "It's true that he's going to be the boss and it's true that we're supposed to protect him but what happens if we all die and he has to fend for himself."

The chorus of voices were filled with resolve as they cut me off, "We won't die."

"You're the strongest fighter this family has harbored in centuries." Romario was extremely confident but for all the wrong reasons, "People finally know we have a dark horse in this family. They won't mess with us lightly."

"That's not the point!" I was really at the end of my rope with these people, "What if… There might come a day when I'm no longer with you! Just like Domenico. So, get it together so you can protect this family with or without me."

"If I may…" Our mystery man who still doesn't have any memories murmured, "I will protect you with my life so if there is ever a day that this family has to go on without you, it will be going without me as well."

"And me." Koge declared, surprising everyone with his will, "I came here to be with Kira. I have no reason to be here if she's no longer with us."

I almost laughed at the sudden mutiny. With this group, it almost seemed as if the Cavallone Family's next boss was meant to be me. Too bad I had no such interest. This family's strength would live and die with me at this rate. I had to do something…

"Well then, I'd better marry you before you leave me." Dino grinned, still not realizing how serious his situation was becoming, "Dad loves you! He'd definitely let me propose to you now."

I rolled my eyes, blushing at the sideways looks everyone was giving me, "We're too young."

"Pft. We're too young to get married but we're not too young to be mafiosos?"

"He has a point." Romario grinned, holding up his hands innocently when I shot him a deadly glare, "But yeah, let's hold off on the marriage until we've got enough money to throw a big party."

Pouting like the adorable herbivore he is, Dino grumbled, "Fine… But once I have enough money to buy a ring, I'm proposing to you! I won't take no for an answer."

The whole room seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for my response. I sighed, averting my gaze to keep the blush at bay, "If we're alive long enough… I don't see why you can't propose to me…"

Cheering and laughter suited this family. I couldn't help but join them in their lofty dreams for the future and that was my mistake. If I had been more strict with Dino on this day, we wouldn't have ended up on the parallel path (the one in a million) leading me in another direction filled with suffering.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Another half a year went by, Dino and I had gone on a second date and a third and fourth and a fifth. We had lost count. We didn't think there was a need to count. We thought we'd spend the rest of our lives together at this point.

The death of Domenico seemed to highlight the need for us to stay together. After Domenico's passing, Dino changed the smallest bit but everyone noticed. The smile that was pure and bright was tainted by the worries and concerns that came with donning the mantle of Don Cavallone Decimo. It was an inevitable change.

Standing at the tombstone with the entirety of our famiglia behind us, Dino and I looked as if we were the heads of the Cavallone Family. It almost looked as if we were already married but everyone in the mafia world knew we were much too young.

Dino had just finished his first year of high school and I was just about to enter the same school. No one expected this family to do well except for our newest allies.

On the day of the funeral, Timoteo approached us. Don Vongola Nono's presence at the funeral was unexpected altogether but since he had shown up, a lot of other powerful figures showed up as well. They all wanted to know who had managed to catch the eye of the strongest mafia family in the world.

They offered us an alliance. No doubt, Timoteo was too kind. He thought, with the passing of our adult leader, we would fall into the gutter again if he left us alone. He was trying to protect some children but we were not a charity case. If it was my decision, I would have declined the offer but it wasn't my choice and I knew just how much Dino's family needed this alliance.

Holding back tears behind a mask of professionalism, Dino shook hands with Don Vongola and agreed to meet again to discuss the terms of our alliance.

Romario noticed my irritation on the matter and let me step away to calm myself.

Glaring at Timoteo, I stormed away. Koge and our mystery man (still couldn't remember his name) came with me. I paused, motioning for them to return to Dino's side before continuing on my way but they didn't listen to my silent orders. They came with me to the edge of the cemetery where I was finally able to sigh.

"The nerve, right?" Koge murmured, grinning when I glared at him, "We know you better than anyone, boss. You wanted lover-boy to say no."

"We can't afford to say no." I grumbled back at him, "This family is too weak."

"This family is strong because of you." He reminded me, "If you leave, this family will fall to ruin."

I sighed because I didn't believe those words anymore. This family will be fine. Dino will guide them into their place with or without me. I used my strength to find a place in this cruel mafia world of ours but Dino was using his social savvy.

There was no time to mourn. An enemy of the Vongola Family attacked us that day at the funeral. As things would have it, we joined the alliance and proved our worth on the very same day.

I broke out into a dead sprint towards Dino, Koge and the mystery man flanked me. We broke necks on the way. Our mystery man was indeed very strong. I already knew from our previous missions and training sessions but whatever this man's occupation was before losing his memory made him incredibly strong.

His weapon of choice was a gun-any gun. He never missed the same target twice even if it was in motion. He was a quick thinker and he never hesitated to kill on my orders.

"Dino!" I called to him and he turned, eyes wide as the enemy surrounded him. Gritting my teeth, I barked orders, "Romario, take the two behind you! I've got these three! Koge, go right!"

Our mystery fighter didn't have a name so I couldn't give orders specifically to him and for the first time, it frustrated me. But I didn't have to give orders. He was quick to put two and two together. He pulled his gun and counted. I had ordered Romario to take the two behind him, I snapped the neck of the closest mafioso and beat down the next two in my proximity, Koge went right. He missed the first shot and the mystery man covered for him.

Timoteo's expression showed the utmost surprise when I shoved him down faster than his bodyguards, a bullet flew over our heads. I growled, turning on the attacker. I lifted my hand and pointed at him, knowing our mystery man was good enough to shoot him down if I pointed him out.

The battle was over. The corpse lying in bloody heaps around us, proved our strength to the world and to Don Vongola Nono.

Ignoring anything Vongola Nono had to say to me, I swept our allies for wounds and to my satisfaction, I found they were all safe. Dino was taking care of speaking to Vongola Nono with a professional smile. He was most likely being thanked based on Timoteo's expression.

"Man…" Koge huffed, "I was scared shitless."

"You did well." I laughed quietly at the way he sprawled out on the ground and pretended to be dead, "Well, I appreciate the effort. Fighting wasn't your forte but you held your ground."

"Yes, boss." He hummed at me without getting up from his spot.

I turned to the mystery man, "And you."

"Yes, milady." He seemed surprised to be addressed.

"I'm mildly annoyed that you still can't remember your name." I huffed, "I would've given you better orders today if you had a name I could've called you by."

He didn't know what to say. He thought about it for a moment and then declared, "I'm sorry… I still cannot remember but if it pleases you, milady, you could give me a name."

Silence grasped our little group, Romario was watching me warily. He knew I didn't trust this man but had today changed my mind?

I sighed. I supposed I had no choice but to change my mind. Don Vongola saw us together. This is a member of the Cavallone Family as far as the world is concerned so yes, I would have to learn to trust him.

"Alpha." I declared, "I can't just call you Mafioso A so… Alpha."

Our mystery man was so pleased with the name, I was embarrassed.

"Alpha, hmm?" Dino had joined us after concluding formalities with Don Vongola. He put out a hand and grinned, "Welcome to the Cavallone Family, Alpha."

"No wounds. We're ready to leave whenever you are, Dino." The basic report had become almost instinctual to me. If I didn't report in, the day didn't feel complete.

Chuckling, he nodded, "Don Vongola was surprised to see you again. He remembers you from the Xanxus incident."

"The what?" I began to shepherd the famiglia towards the limo, motioning for Koge to drive, "I was in an incident with him?"

"You don't remember? When you took me to dinner for the first time and Xanxus chased you out of the building like a maniac? You know? The Varia?"

"Ah… That?" I guess I do remember being a bodyguard to Dino at a dinner where Don Vongola oddly showed up with his adopted son, "Why would he be surprised to see me again?"

"He umm… was kind of shaming me for using a woman on my guard force." Dino grinned sheepishly when I stopped to glare at him as we were getting in the limo, "I mean, I should be protecting you, right?"

"I'm stronger than you." I reminded him, "And if I were you, I would've told that old man off. Where does he get off telling you who you can and can't put on your guard team?"

"If I were a real man, I'd be stronger than you!"

I smashed his face into the window when he closed the limo door, "Are you stupid? If you were a real man? You were born a real man, you herbivore. If you were less of an herbivore, you'd be stronger than me but you're not so shut up."

Muffled by the smashing of his face into the window, I couldn't really hear him but it sounded to be like he was complaining about how he wanted to be a stereotypical knight in shining armor type of man. I just rolled my eyes and showed him some mercy, taking solace in the fact that everyone was laughing.

Domenico just passed away and we were leaving his funeral stronger than ever. The Cavallone Family was definitely going to be okay.