THE WOLF WHO FELL INLOVE WITH RED RIDING HOOD

CHAPTER 1 - The Wolf And The Buckling Bronco

((Omnipotent POV))

Kanisse Lacrima wasn't obviously an Italian. With curly locks of silvery turquiose hair, her lidded orange gaze concealed by her rectangular glasses, she looked up worriedly at her uncle.

"Maa~, Kanisse. It will be fine." He said in Italian, their birth language.

"But Uncle Valentino..."

Her Uncle sighed. "I told you not to call me that name. It's too long. A plain 'Uncle Dino' will do."

She bit her lip, shuffling on her seat. Dino Cavallone and her aren't actually blood-related, yet he had insisted her to call him 'Uncle'. In the end, she shrugged all the retorts off and called him that way. How could she insist? Uncle Dino is a Mafia Boss after all. A goofy one, yet troublesome whenever his subordinates aren't around.

"Y-Yes, Uncle Dino," she said, then heaved a breath for strength to build in her chest. "But, it might be my last---"

"No, no, Kanisse. I wish it wouldn't be the last. Please," he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Everyone loves your compositions. You just inherited your family's greatest talents. Please don't waste it."

"I know. But I think ... I'm tired."

Dino leaned back on the car's seat, closing his eyes. They were making their way through the menacing traffic. Kanisse traveled her eyes toward the heating cars, her mind looking for meaty words. But what for? She couldn't make a song concerning the traffic. Making jingles isn't her line.

Dino opened his eyes, "You know ... I'm tired too."

Kanisse looked at him questioningly, yet calmly.

"I actually didn't decide to be the boss of the Cavallone Family." he droned, "I was a candidate."

"Until that baby came?"

"Until that baby came." Dino finished.

"..." Kanisse's expression softened. "Fate,"

"Maa~, it doesn't seem like fate to me," Her uncle blinked, then smirked.

For the second time she looked again at him with a questioning expression.

"I decided for it," he muttered, "Not to be the boss. Just to protect my family."

Kanisse's confused glance remained. "UncleValenti--"

"I said it's 'Uncle Dino'," he said , the smile on his face appeared. He ruffled her hair and chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll understand soon."

"I am expecting that," she said, fixing her hair with her fingers, then raised her glasses to her eyes. Not the hair, please, she thought.

"So," he started, trying to change the subject, "How was your school?"

.....

Her shoulders tauted, then looked from him toward the car's window. "It-- ... It was fine. Sort of."

Dino's expression hardened. Knowing his niece, Kanisse doesn't necessarily act this way. Not if ...

He tried to shake away the thought. "Really?"

"..." She didn't respond. Her gaze was now hidden behind her glasses, concealing her expression.

"Yes," she said, putting a bright smile on her face as she turned to her Uncle. "It was fun..."

"Kanisse," was all Dino could say. There is somehow different from the smile, and it somehow worried him. He knew it was fraud. He knew there's something behind that fraud curve of her lips. He knew it, because he knows Kanisse well than her parents do. Then....

Continuous flows of tears were now appearing on the girl's flushed cheeks, down to her jaw. It started, Dino thought.

"The wolf ..." the maiden sobbed. "The wolf ... fell ..."