La Prima Luna (The First Moon)

Chapter 7 : The Troublesome After-Effect

It had been two months since they came back from Japan. By the time they parted ways with Ugetsu, he promised to pay a visit to Italy someday. He and Giotto had gotten close during that one week. Even Valentina who had met him first was lost to the blonde, in terms of closeness, with the sword genius—who was also a music prodigy. The two boys admired each other and shared the same view in life. Upon parting with Spia, the silver-haired girl also gave a souvenir for each three of them; a ceramic mug with fire motives—similar to G's tattoo which was obviously for G—a light blue scarf for Giotto, and a kimono for Val—although it was still a little too big.

"I have one for myself as well. Let's wear them together someday when we meet again." Those were her last words to Valentina before she headed back to Venice.

And ever since they got back, Giotto asked G to be his sparring partner and to teach him a thing or two that the redhead delinquent knew of fighting. During that time, Giotto's combat skills were improved. He even figured out a way to enter a particular state, in which a flame would be ignited on his forehead, just like when Cozarto first saw his Sky-class flame.

In times of crisis, Giotto would always be in that state to fight with his all, and then bullets couldn't even stop him as he dodged them all with his swift movements. The hyper effect caused by the dying will flame on his forehead gave Val the idea to name it 'Hyper Dying Will Mode'.

Soon, the thugs who bullied the towns' people were driven away one by one in only two months. However, most troublesome subordinates coming from powerful mafia families still reigned over the town. Taormina's corrupted mayor was to blame; he let the mobsters do whatever they wanted in exchange for his own advantage. Giotto and G alone wouldn't be able to handle this matter. So for the time being, the main problem to overcome, besides recruiting members or allies, was Giotto's physical strength.

As powerful as it sounded, 'Hyper Dying Will Mode' had taken its toll on Giotto's body every time he returned to his normal state. He would either collapse or, at the very least, significantly weakened. It was caused by the after-effect of entering the state—pain within every inch of his body. Then it would take days for him to recover. In the end, such power could be perilous to use, for the enemy might exhaust him to his limit and finish him for good once he collapsed.

Worried by this, Valentina decided to spend her time in her father's library, only to find out the answer to the HDWM. She found out quick that the only way to prevent the after-effect was increasing one's stamina, simply to fulfill the amount of strength the mode demanded. But there were some forgotten information that urged her to re-read books relating to human and dying will flames.

At the same time, G was also filled with no less concern compared with his sister's. He, too, tried to find a way to help Giotto. But not only that, his mind was preoccupied as well with the town's welfare. While the weakest groups had been driven away, the ones who were left behind were the real issues. Given those problems, he felt the urge to become stronger. He was well aware that his martial arts were outstanding, but not enough. These thoughts wouldn't let him rest so he decided on some evening to look for a quiet place. Then maybe he could find the answers he was looking for while smoking his cigarettes.

When the night came, he had earned himself a few ideas after pondering for quite some time. Whether they would work or not, he didn't know. At least he had his questions answered. On his way home, he bumped into a big guy with his gang—drunkards.

"Hey! Watch it, idiot!" yelled the big guy.

He should have let them be and just walk away. However, G was still a young teenager. No less, no more. After all, they were the ones at fault; unable to walk properly due to their drunken state and thus crashed into him first. Ruled over by his own emotions, he picked up a fight with them.