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A sixteen year old shouldn’t be here. A sixteen year old should be out with his friends, roaming the streets and living life to their fullest. Instead, sixteen year old Giorno Giovanna was sitting in a meeting full of the most powerful mobsters in Italy, with a bodyguard standing on his right, gun hidden but fully loaded. Giorno sat on the elegant chair, feet flat on the ground and elbows propped up on the table. His hands were clenched up into fists as he listened to an exasperated Donna rattled off about how he was irresponsible and not suitable for his job.
“You simply cannot make us all stop our drug trades, Giovanna! It’s ludicrous and will make half of us lose our major source of profit to keep our gangs afloat.”
“I do not like to repeat myself, Donna Caprica. You will shut down your drug routes. You must be incredibly blind to not see that you are hurting the youth and women of this country. That goes to all of you who have done nothing about this either.”
“Even if we do that, it’s not going to all disappear in one day. You’re the one not seeing the bigger picture. You think all of this will be gone once we do one thing, but that’s not how the world works.”
“Exactly, therefore you must take the first step and-”
“And why should I listen to a kid who knows nothing about the world, huh!? You are not mature enough to be here, so why don’t you just leave.”
Giorno let out a long sigh as he became annoyed with the woman.
“Obviously, we aren’t going to resolve this tonight. Everyone who disagrees with my plans can arrange a meeting with me personally. If you come to change my mind, don’t bother. You all can make yourselves enemies of Passione.”
Chatter and mumbling started to rise as Giorno dismissed the meeting. It was part of the job and he would get refutes, it was simple to see. Still, it was tiring as he listened to the many leaders try to persuade him to change his mind, then throw insults as he refused.
“Hey, boss, we going back to the villa?” Mista asked, throwing away his professional demeanor as the leaders started to leave the room.
“Yes, I don’t think I have enough energy left for today to continue my work.”
“Aight, then let’s leave.”
They started making their way towards the exit until a voice called out to the Don.
“Giovanna, right?”
The two turned around and were faced by an older man, presumably in his late thirties to forties, with brown hair tied into a ponytail and in a classy grey suit. He had an aura of intimidation surrounding him. It was easy to tell he has been in the complicated game of mobsters for years.
“Yes?”
“I am Don Salvatore Domenico of Iniziare. May we have a chat, privately? I own this estate and there is a balcony where we could catch fresh air.”
Giorno felt like he was inclined to accept his offer. Maybe because it was from the lack of sleep or from the small sips of wine he was offered, but he couldn’t find himself saying no. It was interesting.
“Giorno, please, are you sure you’re okay being on the balcony alone with him? You good?” Mista said, holding and shaking him to see if anything was wrong with the teen.
“Mista, it’s fine. If anything goes wrong, I’ll surely tell you. Don’t forget I am able to take care of myself,” Giorno replied, putting his hands up trying to get him to calm down.
“...fine. I’ll be standing right by the door though.”
“Deal.”
With that, Mista let go of his grip and let Giorno walk outside to meet Don Domenico. The cool air hit his face and he felt refreshed. It had gotten too stuffy in the meeting room. He approached to meet the older man at the balcony’s railing. They looked out into the scenery. It was a quiet city, but it still felt like it was full of life, always having at least one person awake at all times.
“What did you want to talk to me about, Signore Domenico?”
“I wanted to applaud you.”
Oh. Well that was a surprise. Though, there was always a first time for everything, Giorno thought.
“For what?”
“Stepping up for trying to stop the drug trade. Brave of you, for a sixteen year old, to stand up to grown adults. Iniziare is all about starting over again, we were one of the first to defect from the drug trade. Sadly, we’re the only organization strong enough to pull through for all these years. Now that Passione has joined the fray, we might have a chance to live.”
“Passione has enough influence to keep us afloat, I won’t deny that. It has been my dream to stop the drug trade and clean Italy of its stain on society since I was a child. Many people have died to get me to where I am. Now that I am able to make the dream happen, I will honor them as I carry it out.”
“We both lost our people, haven’t we?”
That temporarily ended their conversation. A calm silence fell between them, as well as an understanding that death was something that needed to happen in life for people to move forward.
“Passione was always different. Your men are able to do extraordinary things that none of us can. You were always in hiding, Giovanna. I've already heard your story on how an innocent girl got swept into this life; you helped her out of it by revealing yourself.. I don’t get it. Why did you do that?”
“I couldn’t have stayed silent on that. She was fifteen years old, she didn’t deserve it.”
“So you sacrificed your identity for it?”
“It was the right thing to do.”
“And how can your men do supernatural things? What about you? What can you do?”
“Apologies, Singore, but why are you asking me about this?”
“I have been in this business for twenty years. This never happens, Giovanna. I want answers on the sudden shift for Passione. I want to know the truth. Tell me why a child is the boss of Italy’s most powerful gang. Tell me why I know something else is happening in the shadows of your gang.”
Giorno gripped the rail of the balcony tighter.
“And if I tell you, what do I get in return?”
“You get my loyalty and rule over my territory.”
He needed this. Giorno couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Give the information, gain more power. It was simple. He was only sacrificing his story. He looked over to see if Domenico had any ill intent. He tried to read his expression, but he couldn’t. There were no cracks. Yet, he seemed like he was being truthful. For the second time last night, Giorno couldn’t say no. He took a deep sigh in and looked back to the city.
“I, Giorno Giovanna, had a dream. It all started when I was a child…”
“I never met my birth father. My mother left me alone and scared. My step-father beat me until he was bored with his entertainment.”
“The children bullied me for being Japanese. I wondered if I would fall into the void of drugs and violence around me.”
“One day, three men came up to me…”
“The beatings stopped. The bullies pandered to me. For the first time, I was dealt kindness.”
“I could never read the man I saved. I never talked to him. He just watched over me from a distance."
“He was an inspiration to me and that is when my dream began to bloom.”
“When I was fifteen, I met a man named Bruno Bucciarati.”
“I took a trial assigned by the capo Polpo.”
“He was able to give people abilities called stands and killed an old man during my trial because of it…”
“I killed him.”
“I met my family.”
“We were assigned to guard the boss’ daughter.”
“We betrayed the boss, but one of our team members decided not to join us.”
“In Sardegna, we faced our first casualty of our team.”
“Roma was destroyed by the last of the boss’ guards trying to murder us.”
“We switched our bodies. It was surreal, seeing my own body impaled by multiple metal bars and realizing we lost another of our family.”
“Bucciarati truly died. He gave himself to help us gain the advantage.”
“I sentenced the boss to an infinite death. He will never reach the truth.”
He felt venerable. He never talked to anyone about his life before. He realized how much he actually went through. He was trembling. He had only done that at night alone in his bed now, when his mind wandered to his deceased team members. He grabbed his wrist and steadied himself. Taking a deep breath in, he looked over to the older man. He stood there, eyes wide, mask finally breaking.
“You are that child who saved my life years ago, aren’t you?”
Oh. That was a revelation. The older man soon bent down on one knee and took Giorno’s right hand, placing a kiss on it.
“I swear my loyalty to you, for not only telling me your story, but for saving my life.”
Giorno’s mind was everywhere. In front of him was the man who changed his life, and he was swearing loyalty to him. He pursed his lips..
“Please, stand,” he ordered. “I… I hope you’re proud of me. Of what I did.”
Why was he saying this? Domenico let out a chuckle.
“I treated you like you were one of my own children, back then. I never wanted you to be involved with gangs. But here you are, defying me like a teenager.”
He put his hand on the blonde’s shoulder warmly.
“And yes, I am proud of you.”
“...Thank you."