Chapter 26 : The raid

Gioia, Bel and Fran were aimlessly wandering through the Varia mansion when they passed in front of an ajar door where something caught their attention and made them pause. They could hear Levi happily whistling and they judged that was definitely worth investigating. Sharing a mischievous grin, the three of them drew closer, making no sound.

The Lightning Varia guardian was on all fours, surrounded by paint pots and other tools, and cheerily painting what appear to be a giant flag. By craning their neck, they could only make out "Vongola IX".

"What is he doing?" Bel whispered.

"Who knows?" Gioia shrugged. "But I'm pretty sure it's something we can mess up."

"Ushishishishi, agreed."

They exchanged a last malicious look then left the Lightning guardian to his affairs, already plotting their prank.

"We need to talk, brat."

Gioia sighed but followed nonetheless her brother to his office. She took a seat in front of him and waited for him to say what she had been hearing numerous times for the past few days.

"You can't come."

She rolled her eyes.

"It's way too dangerous" he insisted. "And you'll be useless. You suck at fighting."

"I won't!" she retorted, already losing her patience with him. "And I do not suck at fighting! Of course I'm not as good as you but you're the freaking Varia. I'm a decent fighter. I can defend myself perfectly. And I've been training hard. Both fighting and healing. So I won't be useless! Why can't you see that?"

Squalo said nothing, only eyeing her warily.

"I can help Lussuria and it can make a difference!" she continued. "I really trained hard. I swear. And I need to come. Please."

"Why do you even need to come ?" he scoffed.

"Come on, you can't be that stupid!" she said frustratingly.

"What?" he glared at Gioia but she completely ignored him.

"I want revenge on those bastards!" she stood up and started pacing angrily. "They destroyed so much. They killed so many people, innocent people. And they burned down my restaurant!" her eyes welled up with tears while her voice turned high-pitched. "My restaurant, Nii-chan! I worked so hard to get there, to be a good cook, to work with my mentor, to take praise in my culinary experiments. It was my life!" she choked on her last words, no longer able to stop her tears from spilling.

Squalo, who had gradually felt more and more uncomfortable with her sister's display of emotions, found himself completely out of his depths when she burst into tears. He left his seat to come up to her and awkwardly pat her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

"Come on, don't cry, Gio. I didn't mean to make you cry, goddammit. Now I'm feeling guilty…" he grumbled.

"Well, you should" she sniffed. "You're the worst."

"Alright, brat, I'm sorry. I knew I wouldn't be able to convince you to stay. But you have to forgive me for trying. You're my only family so... I kind of... care about you" he mumbled, looking away.

Gioia looked up at him.

"That was so cute" she whispered, brushing the tears away. "Please say it again!"

"Shut up…"

She laughed softly.

"I forgive you for trying" she said. "But you really can't convince me to stay. I have to do it."

Squalo looked at his younger sister with her eyes reddened but bright with determination. He capitulated, only nodding, which made her smile.

"Thank you, Nii-chan. Really."

He sighed, watching her leave the room.

"And for the record" she said as she passed the door "I love you too."

The day of the attack, on their way to the Millefiore castle

Gioia was looking out of the car's window when her phone rang.

"Did you remember to take the beef?" Squalo asked.

"Yes."

"The chicken?"

"Yes."

"The pork?"

"Oh my god, yes!" Gioia screamed. "You're the one who appointed me as cook! So I'm in charge of the food. And I swear Xanxus will not go hungry! Have some faith!"

"Okay, okay... But what about…"

"Ugggghhhh!"

Gioia angrily hung up.

"Your brother sure doesn't trust you, peasant."

"That's just rude."

"Well, he has his reasons. You're not that reliable."

"How so?!"

"I'm pretty sure you didn't think about bringing some strawberry milk for me!"

All the time glaring at the prince, Gioia furiously took a strawberry milk can from one of the bags and handed it to him.

"Ushishishi, you're pretty impressive, peasant!"

Gioia crossed her arms, sulking, while the Prince happily drank his milk. Their car finally stopped and the young woman looked nervously outside.

"Are we there already?"

"Are you scared, peasant?"

"You shouldn't be scared" Fran intervened. "We won't let you die, you're a top priority."

"Thanks, Fran!"

"We wouldn't last without your cooking and baking" he added.

"... thanks."

Squalo tapped on her window, making her jump.

"Voi, stop chatting and get out of the car. No way we're raiding that damn castle late. You hear me!?"

The three youngsters lazily left the car and followed the Varia captain.

"You remember what you're supposed to do?"

"Yes, Captain" she sighed. "As a support, I will stay behind and heal as many guys as I can. In no way should I charge enemies by myself."

"Good" Squalo nodded before addressing everyone. "Listen to me, you fucking trash. Our Boss pissed me off this morning because he felt like not coming. He doesn't want this raid to last too long or he'll go home. So you bastards better take this castle in less than thirty minutes. Or you'll have to deal with me." He paused, glaring at each and every one of his men. "Now let's move."

The group of men went by pairs or three and scattered in the forest that surrounded the Millefiore castle. Gioia took a deep breath before swiftly following Bel and Fran.

"You know, I'm pretty sure the castle will be taken in fifteen minutes" she mused.

The Prince briefly looked behind him.

"You know, peasant, it's sometimes uncanny how quiet you can be. For a moment, I forgot you were there."

Gioia merely grinned back at him then turned her attention back to all the people running around her. As expected, the Varia was silent but deadly. Already, their path was paved with Millefiore guards, killed in complete silence. As they neared the castle, the number of enemies grew and Gioia finally summoned Kou. The Rain sea lion gracefully floated around her, nudging her cheek, before gliding toward the Varia members who had suffered some injuries. Beads of sweat formed on Gioia's forehead. Lussuria was currently leading a group of Varia members so she was the only one providing healing support at the moment. Despite the Millefiore's effort, the Varia advances without much trouble. Cuts took seconds to close, bones mere minutes to mend. Despite herself, Gioia felt a smile form on her lips. It felt good to be useful and to finally fight back against the damn Millefiore.

Ten minutes later, on a balcony of the Millefiore's castle

"Are you okay, darling?"

"I'm fine, Lussu-nee, thanks" she smiled. "It's just… I wasn't expecting this to be so tiring."

"Well, reality is always different from training. But you did good, sweetie."

Gioia accepted the compliment with a weak smile. In the end, the Varia had efficiently raided the castle in ten minutes. Ten minutes which had felt like ten hours for her. Despite her intensive training with Lussuria, she hadn't counted on the pressure and stress she'd be under during the attack. It required all of her will and focus to support the Varia members. And now that the adrenaline rush had passed, she felt like she'd never catch her breath again.

"Time to take out the flags!" Levi said excitedly.

"Aaaaawww, you brought flags? That's nice!" Lussuria smiled.

Bel and Gioia exchanged a knowing look and watched as Levi got out one giant Varia flag then a smaller one. Levi brandished both flags with pride, not noticing Bel and Gioia's growing delight.

"Levi darling, I'm not sure Boss would be happy to see those flags…"

"What are you talking about?"

Levi squinted at the flags then opened his mouth in horror. On the Varia's flag, the XI had been transformed to X so it could read "Independent assassin squad of the Vongola X" while on the small one "do not" had been crossed out so it now read "I acknowledge the present Vongola X!".

"Ushishishi, peasant, how rude of you to show those flags!"

"You're lucky Xanxus stayed inside" Gioia grinned.

"You fucking trash!" Levi roared at them, hiding the flags before the Varia boss could see them.

"You kids are mean" Lussuria giggled.

"You don't deserve to be here" Levi growled.

Bel and Gioia only laughed at the Lightning guardian's disappointment.

"Captaiiiiin" Lussuria whined. "What are we going to do now? Awww man, I hate this. Raids are so boring…"

Gioia closed her eyes as they all started to complain. She had to admit she wasn't particularly happy about their situation. They had taken the castle but they were now surrounded by a great number of Millefiore and there were only 32 of them. Due to the castle's location, there were only a couple of ways to reach the castle so they should be able to defend their position. Squalo decided to send Bel and Fran to cover the south entrance while Lussuria and Levi stayed behind, in case of emergencies. Gioia would go with her brother to cover the east entrance.

"Can't I go with your sister instead, captain?" Bel sighed. "I might end up killing that stupid frog if he stays with me."

"As if I like staying with you…" Fran said.

"Shut up!" Squalo barked at them. "That's an order so you follow it. He's your responsibility!"

Gioia rolled her eyes as Levi suggested Bel kill Fran thus leading to Bel insulting the Lightning guardian and Squalo getting even angrier and kicking Levi in the stomach.

"We're really a messed-up squad" Lussuria giggled.

"I want to go home" Gioia sighed.

"Stop complaining and let's go!" Squalo roared.

Bel and Fran finally left, the prince still mumbling about being a babysitter against his will. Squalo left final instructions to Levi and Lussuria then nodded at Gioia to follow him. They jumped from the balcony and landed in a tree then made their way down. Squalo started running toward the east entrance, Gioia slightly panting behind him.

"Voiii, you still clearly lack stamina…"

"Sorry…"

"When we get home, I'm going to… Wait!"

Gioia looked up, just like her brother, as she heard a faint cry coming toward them. Seconds later, a Varia member crashed between them.

"That must have hurt" she commented, taking out Kou again.

"Who attacked you?!' Squalo asked as Kou cheerfully healed the fallen man.

"Reporting, Captain. It was Boss."

"What the hell?"

"He wanted to eat some meat but…"

"Wait, we brought meat" Gioia frowned. "There's some good lamb!"

"He wanted beef… I think…"

"I cooked beef as well!"

A second man crashed near them, making Gioia jump.

"Seriously… he needs to stop doing that."

"He wants beef filet" the last arrived man said.

Gioia glared at her sister.

"Don't look at me like that! I made beef filet as well! Have some faith in me! It's not my fault if…"

A third man fell at their feet. A vein popped on Squalo's forehead.

"He threw everything away and said he wouldn't, I quote, 'eat this shit'..."

A vein now popped on Gioia's forehead. The three men cowered under the siblings' aura of rage.

"THAT FUCKING BOSS!" the Varia captain exploded. "Always with a shitty timing, we don't have time for this!"

"HOW DARE HE THROW MY FOOD, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Gioia's eyes threw daggers at the three men. "I'm gonna kill him."

The three Varia victims watched in awe as the two siblings boiled. It was pretty impressive to witness how much they looked alike when they reached the peak of their anger. And that's when a group of unfortunate Millefiore decided to attack them. In seconds, Gioia had unleashed Al, her chameleon, which slowed down the surrounding enemies allowing Squalo's shark to cut down every single one of them.

"Don't look so impressed" Squalo growled, patting the shark's head. "Those low level troops can't defeat me."

The Varia members looked away, a bit ashamed.

"We need to find the remaining funeral wraiths… what kind of dumbass name is that?" he scoffed.

"Please, your name literally means 'shark'..." Gioia rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Joy" he snapped. "Anyway, go back with them to see what the fuck is wrong with that stupid Boss."

"What? I don't want to go with them! It's obvious he's just throwing a tantrum!"

"Of course he's throwing a tantrum! But here's the thing: I can deal with those bastards by myself. But we can't afford that dumbass Boss to kill our men when we're already outnumbered! So, please, go!"

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Gioia nodded, saluted her brother without a word then left with the three men. Squalo shook his head, smiling to himself.

"Why doesn't she always behave like this?" he sighed, watching her disappear among the trees. "Now let's find those damn wreaths."

"Are your injuries okay?" Gioia asked, as she ran alongside the three men.

"We're fine, thanks to you."

"That's a relief" she nodded. "Where is Xanxus? Still in the castle?"

"Yes, he hasn't moved since you all left."

"As expected... " she sighed. "I brought a secret stash of his favorite cookies. That should calm him down for a bit. If only he could just…" a sound on her left alerted her and she stopped, taking out two knives.

The three men stopped as well and stood ready for a fight.

"Stay here, I'll try circling them."

Before they could protest, she disappeared between the trees, without making any sound. As she quickly scanned their surroundings, Gioia took out Al from his box again, counting on her chameleon to slow down the nearby enemies. The little reptile nested on her mistress's shoulder, eyes darting everywhere. With a smile, she finally noticed the four men hiding behind a thick tree. Deadly silent, she approached them from behind while Al disappeared from her shoulder.

"There's only three of them" one whispered. "We can take them down. They don't look like any of the Varia guardians."

Gioia smirked. She followed them as they approached the three Varia men who had stayed alert after she had left. When the Millefiore finally decided to launch their attack, Al appeared on one of them who looked confused as he suddenly started walking like an astronaut instead of running. Without waiting, Gioia rushed to him and reluctantly sliced his throat. She took Al from the fallen enemy then threw him on another, slowing him down effectively so she could take him down as well. The remaining two Millefiore had been killed by her companions.

"It's the first time I see your reptile in action, it's pretty handy" commented one of them.

"It is" she said as she picked up the tiny reptile which was now looking accusingly at her. "Sorry for throwing you, Al. It was an emergency."

The chameleon seemed to shake his head at her apology. She smiled and gently put him back on her shoulder.

"Let's go before Xanxus attacks anyone else."

Xanxus sighed, wishing he was back at the Varia castle, with his favorite armchair and his favorite bottle of tequila.

After they had taken the Millefiore castle, he had planned to leave but they had been surrounded by the numerous Millefiore forces and he had decided to make himself comfortable in a room. But now he was so fucking bored. Lussuria was right, a raid was terribly boring. And it had made him hungry. His stupid captain and his brat of a sister had actually been very thorough about what food they had brought with them. Which had annoyed him. So he had decided to throw everything so that Gioia would be forced to come and keep him company. But right now, he looked longingly at the food scattered on the floor, wishing he had kept at least one dish to eat. He shut his eyes, trying to nap his hunger away.

Sounds of steps made him open his eyes. Xanxus glared at the young woman coming into the room.

"About time, mini-scum."

Gioia glared back at him.

"Why the hell did you throw everything!?" she pointed indignantly at the food on the floor. "How dare you? It took me hours to cook everything so you wouldn't die from hunger and you! You just wasted everything! You should have some respect!"

"Ugh… Brat, you're starting to make me regret calling you here."

"Calling me?" her eyes narrowed at him. "You wasted all that food for me to come? God, Xanxus, was it too hard to just ask me?!"

The Varia boss refused to answer but looked a tiny bit amused.

"I'm so done with all of you, I swear to God. This has to end soon or I'll just… Did you hear that?"

A strange whistling sound coming from outside made them turn to the window.

"What…?"

Three giant spheres could be seen rushing toward the castle, the strange whistling sound apparently coming from them. As they approached, they could see it was actually three huge box weapons aiming at the castle. Panic seizing her, Gioia screamed at the tiny chameleon on her shoulder.

"AL, TRY SLO-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Xanxus tackled her to the ground, feeling one of her ribs crack as his body hit hers. The room exploded around them.

Note:

Hi everyone !

As always, thank you for taking time to read this! And thank you for the last follows and favourites :)

I hope you liked this chapter. I was a bit anxious about writing this chapter because of Gioia taking part of the fight. I don't know if it's too lame and unbelievable. I didn't want to make it as if she was at the same level as the Varia. She clearly isn't haha but the girl can fight!

RomanticRabbit : hi again ! She will not be shot by the bazooka. I've always wanted Gioia to be a secondary character who doesn't influence much what's happening in the original manga. So I judged her not important enough to be shot by the bazooka :) see ya!

Have a nice day and see you next chapter ^^