afternoon tea

OPENING ACT

"(Name), I'd like you to come with me." Timoteo said, a gentle smile resting on his face as you could only raise an eyebrow in suspicion from his demand. "ーand why should I do that?"

"(Name), you rude child!" the head caretaker, Martha, scolded you, and her tone shifted to sound softer than her outburst earlier, "I apologize for her behavior, Ninth."

Timoteo shook his head, "Don't worry about it ー (Name) has the every right to have suspicions towards me."

"You want me to do something, don't you?" you replied with venom lacing in your voice.

Timoteo could only give you a worried smile, his eyebrows knitted for a moment before letting his face rest from all the emotions he has been expressing towards you from the past twenty minutes. "Well, if you'd like to leave this orphanage ー I can help you with that, young lady."

Your eyes widened from his claim; You weren't expecting him to say that, since you have known the man ever since you were brought here. Timoteo is a kind man, but never in your entire life has he told you something about you being able to leave this place.

This place isn't bad ー it's just that you feel you didn't belong here and waited for someone to take you away from here. If that someone would turn out to be Ninth ー you wouldn't know what to do.

There was doubt written in your face, eyebrows knitted tightly with confusion as you could only look at the ground, "I-I.."

"It's alright if you don't want to." Timoteo continued, "I won't force you, (Name)."

"(Name)," Martha called out to your name, you looked at her with confusion glinting in your eyes ー unsure of what to do.

She brought her hands and took hold of one of yours, a gentle tone in her voice as Martha closed her eyes and spoke, "It seems like Ninth has some good plans for you," Martha stated with a calm demeanor, "I won't force you either, but this might be a good chance to do something new."

You blinked, gaze on Martha as you shifted it back to Timoteo. "I-I don't know,"

"I mean, it seems like a big deal to me." Timoteo smiled from your response, impressed that you could sense his plans without him telling it directly to you. "I understand you have doubts, (Name). However, it's not dangerous so don't worry about it."

Silence enveloped the three of you before you could even let out a word to respond, mind full of doubts before calming down and not letting those thoughts cloud your judgment.

Timoteo has been a big part of your life as he would visit the orphanages that the Vongola has founded and loved all the abandoned children who reside on them.

You were one of them, and even with your tomboyish, hot-headed, and impulsive behavior, Timoteo has seen the best out of you. If he would describe you with a few words, it would be clever, helpful, and has a good sense of moral. He wasn't sure if you picked up those attributes from your biological parents or from the orphanage, but from all the children he has seen in the world ー you were the most outstanding one.

So, Timoteo has decided to let you carry this task ー a no ordinary task to where he would ask you a favor to take care of the most precious treasure in his life.

You blinked, "Alright, I'll come with you, old man."

Timoteo chuckled from your response, now seeing the resolve glinting in your eyes as you looked at him. Martha quickly scolded you once again from your way of referring to the mafia boss, but Timoteo told her that it's fine for him.

Afterwards, Timoteo asked you to start packing your things. You didn't really have that much other than some of your personal things, and saw a box on the top of your closet.

Curiously, you took it. The box was full of dust, which made you sneeze a few times before finally opening it. Inside, there were some handwritten letters.

You took your time reading them, and all of them were from a person called doppia croce. This made you raise an eyebrow in suspicion, doing your best to rack up your brain to look for an answer whoever this person is.

To no avail, you couldn't remember who it was. "Not really that important." you let out in disappointment as you massage your temple, "I might remember who they are in one of these days.."

After packing all of your things and closing your eyes to get some sleep, a day has passed and you are now in the expensive looking car with Timoteo beside you.

During the trip to your destination, you noticed how far you got from the city and were brought into this forest-like area. When the door was opened, what welcomed you was the sight of a gigantic mansion behind the gate before you as you could only gape in awe from the view.

"Welcome to the Varia's mansion," Timoteo stated, a smile on his face.

"I'd like you to work here for a while, and if you're in your best behavior for the whole duration, I will consider adopting you or let you leave the orphanage."

The words that escaped from Ninth's lips were unbelievable.