Anger Management [Meloghia]

Chapter 11: Respite

"I've heard these phones are indestructible," Mista said looking at the new Nokia 3310 cellphones on display.

"They have orange!" Narancia ran up to Fugo and pulled his arm.

"That's awesome!" He smiled back. Fugo felt great today. He'd taken the medication he'd gotten from Ghiaccio for the first time. He wasn't sure of dosages so he guessed two pills would be fine. He felt on cloud nine. He put an arm around Mista.

"Which one are you getting?"

"Shit, obviously one of these." Mista pointed at the new phone.

"I mean what color? Narancia said you can get the cases in different colors."

"Where? Show me." Mista followed Narancia to the assortment of colors on display as Giorno approached Fugo.

"I think this was a really good idea, Fugo. It will be so much easier to keep in contact during missions now."

"To be honest, Ghiaccio was the one hounding me for it. He really wanted to text me but I didn't have a phone," Fugo admitted. He was feeling a lot more forthcoming today. Perhaps this is how most people felt all the time when they weren't always angry and unhappy.

"I'm really glad you guys are becoming friends. It's nice to have more cross-squad interactions. We're a rather large syndicate and it's easy to forget many of the moving parts within it. I want Passione to be much like a family to all its members, not just a pissing contest between districts vying for the top." Giorno smiled.

"Yeah. It would definitely help relations within if squads were more cooperative with each other," Fugo agreed. "Giorno? Would you ever consider sending us on missions together?" Giorno cocked his head as he smiled and considered the question.

"You mean you and Ghiaccio?" Giorno asked.

"Or Mista and Formaggio, or even Abbacchio and Prosciutto. Just, like, having more of the teams work together." Fugo felt a little embarrassed at how excited he was at the prospect of being able to team up with Ghiaccio.

"I hadn't really thought about it, but I can't see the harm in it. It might even be better to have one of our own on these missions just to make sure Esecuzioni isn't doing more harm than good," Giorno mused. "I trust they won't turn on me, but some of them I foresee acting of their own accord. Some judgement calls they make are against the way I want things done."

"Then it sounds like a good idea that we do," Fugo concluded. He thought about what it might actually mean if Fugo were to help on Esecuzioni missions. Fugo immediately backtracked as he said it, "I mean, I-I don't mean that I would necessarily go into the field. I could be more of a strategist for missions, that way I wouldn't have to use Purple Haze, but I could still have eyes on the ground."

"You really are afraid of it aren't you?" Giorno said quietly. Fugo was taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. He'd never told anyone that before, his feelings about his stand.

"Well, I mean, I've almost killed you guys a couple times now. I'm not really helpful and I don't really know why you even employ me, to be honest." Fugo thought the Prozac was making him bolder because he certainly wouldn't have made these assertions yesterday.

"Fugo—" Giorno began but was cut off.

"Giorno, I can't figure it out!" Mista ran up to interrupt. "The blue is sick as hell, but the purple matches my gun. What do I do?"

"Giorno! You can put music on this! Can we get the headphones too?" Narancia bounced over to him.

"Get what you guys want. It's a business expense. We're all getting the Nokia 3310 so make sure you're looking in that section," Giorno said as Narancia skipped away cheering.