Beef Up!

Renovatio stepped into the home of Soichiro and Lucia, where he had been sent to train the future Giove boss. He arrived to see an unconscious Soichiro and Lucci slapping his face with a large piece of broccoli. Renovatio ignored them and went to find Lucia, who was cleaning Soichiro's laundry with Hoshika. The two women were making jokes together over Soichiro's "drip". Renovatio cleared his throat to gain their attention and pulled out two photos. He gave them to each of them and sighed, "Simon and Midori Middle. One of the schools is where they will lure Soichiro and his friends. I suspect they have plenty of traps set for them, that also means there is a pretty good chance that the leader is hidden somewhere in the school." Renovatio informed the two women with a serious facial expression. Hoshika held a sai in her hand and pointed it to Renovatio, not making it seem like a threat to hurt him. "Why would they want to harm a few kids? They aren't even that experienced in combat, save for Yoruichi and Odysseus." Hoshika said with gritted teeth. Lucia shook her head with a glum look on her face, why was it that she had to give birth to the next boss? Had she known that having a kid like this would come with so much stress, she would have never let herself be pregnant. "Stella, this is far too sudden. I get that you don't want any of the children to be in harm's way, but that is just the way things is. This was bound to happen, sooner or later. The only thing we can do is prepare them." Lucia said to the assassin and folded Lucci's black jacket onto a stack of clothes. Hoshika's mouth was agape for a moment, hinting that she wanted to disagree with Lucia. But in the end, she she knew that Lucia was right. "Prepare them for possible death matches? Sounds like my kind of thing. However, I am not taking on two students at a time. So, I called in a few favors. You both owe me for this."  Renovatio said before turning to walk away from the women. Hoshika clenched her fist tightly and resumed helping Lucia with the laundry, both not daring to say a word to each other. They knew what the other was thinking at the time. "To do something like this... for what? Soichiro isn't capable of doing harm to anyone, verbally or physically. He's just a boy dragged into the world of mafia." Hoshika had been thinking to herself for some time now. She had doubts that it was a good idea for him to become a successor to Giove XI. He wasn't built for this world at all. "Don't worry, Stella. He'll be fine as long as we cheer him on to do his best. And he has his friends; They'll protect him through the worst of it all. That's how deep their bonds has gotten in such a short time. Instead of doubting him, you should yell 'win!' to give him courage!" Lucia said with a smile and an laugh. Hoshika joined in and the mood was brighter than it had been before. They were still worried for Soichiro and the rest of his family, considering how they didn't know what to expect from this mysterious cult. But, they had absolute faith in them... faith that could never be broken. Devoted to the family, Hoshika planned on doing training to protect Soichiro until he meets the leader of the cult. Lucia, on the other hand, would be watching the battles the family will be facing. She would not raise a finger to help them, unless ordered to do so by Giove XI. "Renovatio knows this is beneficial to Soichiro. He needs to fully realize that he cannot always be protected by us. He breathes, eats, and walks because we are constantly watching him. Steering away any enemies of the family." Lucia thought as she placed the folded clothes into a basket and walked inside the house. She walked to Soichiro's room and placed some of his clothes into his drawer, along with a few hoodies and jackets. She stood in the center of his room and looked all around it, reminiscing the times where he had been a kid. The first memory that popped into her mind was when he had been going to a family wedding. Little Soichiro had been so scared of being around so many people that she had to carry him. Another memory had been of herself watching Little Soichiro play in a sandlot with plenty of toys. The little guy would pretend to be a superhero and make "whoosh! Pew pew!" sounds. "You can have those days back, miss Giove. All I need is for you to leave Soichiro in Midori Middle..." an ominous voice said inside her head. She fell onto one knee and began to groan, she felt so much intense malice being forced inside her mind. "Be a good girl and take a nap, will you? I'll see you shortly." The voice said before leaving her mind. She fell unconscious immediately after the voice left her.

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Soichiro and Renovatio were walking on a path in the woods. Soichiro had no idea on what was going on; he was only told to come with Renovatio. He wanted to ask what was Renovatio doing but he knew he was not going to get a straightforward response. Renovatio is just all about mystery. "You know, I'm not always mysterious. I'm just your average guy whose a hitman!", Renovatio said to the reader (you) and Soichiro scratched his head. Who was this guy talking to? He was talking to a tree. Soichiro believed that Renovatio was definitely insane- wait, who hasn't? He's always doing something weird that even has Kaname confused. Whatever the case, this wasn't the time to think about silly things. Soichiro could just tell by the mood Renovatio was giving out, despite his earlier action of speaking to a tree. Maybe an incident happened? "I wonder if someone died and Renovatio wanted to pay his respects. I mean, we are on the path to Namimori Shrine. Please don't let it be Giove XI, I'M NOT READY TO BE A BOSS! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE ONE!", Soichiro was a bit worried that something might have come up and he was going to be dragged into it. If he was, he could scheme up a plan to get out of it. Like say that Hotaru was having a party and she wanted him to be there. He sighed, maybe lying to someone isn't such a good idea. Lying is the "devil's tongue", thats what his mom says but I'm pretty sure she's lied to him a thousand times over. He didn't notice that he was walking straight into a tree branch until the last second. The branch whacked him in the face and left a red mark. Tears came flowing down his cheeks like a river and Renovatio dragged him by his collar, unaware that he was possibly choking his student. "We are going to Namimori Shrine, I think you know that now. But its not to pay respects to the dead or the guy who built it. Really, its for your training as the successor to Giove XI." Renovatio informed Soichiro as they arrived to Namimori Shrine and stopped in their tracks. Soichiro, now free of Renovatio's grasp, was coughing so much that any nearby animals ran deep into the woods.  "Training? Not by you, right?", Soichiro asked and Renovatio smiled devilishly. From where Soichiro was sitting, Renovatio had a black aura that gave off evil vibes. "Haha, don't worry, Chi-Chi. I'll fill you in once we get to the training grounds in the woods." Renovatio said to Soichiro. Soichiro blinked for a second and Renovatio was on top of Namimori Shrine, pointing at his student. "How about a test run, huh? Follow me through the woods and I'll buy you anything you want for the next five days." Renovatio said before running off, not bothering to let Soichiro get a break from his games. "Screw you!", Soichiro said and turned to walk back to town. He halted in his tracks once he saw a bear 10 meters in front of him. "Oh and I forgot to mention, a few animals escaped from the zoo and they might have came to the woods!", Renovatio shouted to his student. Soichiro's right eye twitched and the next thing he knew, he was running for his dear life. Soichiro didn't have time to think; He had to act! He didn't bother in following Renovatio's direction and ran deep in the woods, attempting to lose the bear by running between trees. It didn't matter what he did, the bear had a sense of smell that could not be rivaled by any human... currently. Soichiro noticed that he was beginning to see less trees as he ran through the woods of Namimori. This couldn't be good. While he was running, the bear caught up just a bit and swiped it's claw for Soichiro's neck. He ducked just in time and kept running forward, not noticing that he was about to run off the edge of a cliff. The bear, being an intelligent creature, stopped chasing his prey and watched him laugh. "Hahaha! The fat bastard couldn't ke—", he didn't get to finish his sentence because he wasn't walking on anything. He was in the air, just him and God's beard. He shrieked and attempted to grab onto a ledge, praying that God didn't take him to heaven today. His left hand did land on a ledge of the cliff but he couldn't hold out, "CURSE MY WEAK ARM!!" he shouted before giving up and falling to his death. Memories of his friends and family flooded his mind, all of them being moments that he cherished. He closed his eyes and let the tears come out, a smile being on his face as he fell. "Good bye... everyone..." he whispered before holding out a hand to the sun.

Then everything went black. For a brief moment, Soichiro felt someone grab him and  his brown hair had been patted. He heard a voice but he couldn't make out what was being said. All he knew was that he felt like he was going to die. "Am I really alive? Is this God's sick joke of death?", Soichiro thought before feeling his body hit a hard floor with a loud thud! He yelped and quickly sat up, yawning and looking around. Where was he? "Ah, your awake. Good, I thought you died when you hit the water." The voice Renovatio, world's greatest hitman, said to Soichiro and pat his student on the back. "Your in the cabin of my old friend, The Freeshooter." Renovatio said before giving Soichiro a cup of hot coffee. He took the cup and downed it, gaining a serious look from Renovatio. "I poisoned that, you know." Renovatio said to Soichiro and the boy punched himself in his gut, trying to make himself throw up the coffee. Renovatio stopped him and laughed, "You believe everything I say, huh? Don't worry, I would never resort to such a cowardly way to kill you. I'd simply pull out my gun and shoot you in your eyes." Renovatio casually said and Soichiro scooted back from him. Renovatio just did not care if Soichiro was a kid, he will tell him the truth. Just then, a man walked into the cabin and kneeled to Soichiro. "Forgive me, Giove XII. Had I known you were in Namimori, I would have came and trained you at the start. Renovatio here beat me to it.", the man said and gained a surprised look from Soichiro. Renovatio pat his student on the back of his head and laughed, "this is my friend that I was talking about. Allister, don't forget to introduce yourself— I just did it for you, oops." Renovatio jokingly said and earned a glare from his friend. Soichiro examined the man's clothes and appearance. He was wearing a tucked white sleeved shirt with his collars up and a black cloak attached to his shirt, along with black pants that had a pouch on each leg. He most likely hid some antibiotics in there. His short black hair was amazing, it resembled Kaname in a way. And his left eye had an eye patch covering it, hopefully something bad didn't happen to it. "Yes, I am Allister, the world's 3rd strongest hitman. I was born in Spain, raised by my English mother and my Mexican father had left me to watch over my younger siblings. Needless to say, I joined the mafia to gain enough money to support my family back in Spain. And I accomplished that goal long ago. All thanks to Giove X and XI. My duty now is to train any boss-in-training, regardless of their status." Allister said to Soichiro and the boy nodded. Wait, does this mean that Allister was to be training him?Well, he looks like he was a bit less enthusiastic on SUPER dangerous training sessions, unlike Renovatio. Then again, everything isnt as it appears to be. "He's letting us train in the woods. Plenty of wild animals are out there so it'd be a good opportunity to gain survival skills. You should also learn a fighting style while your at it, like boxing or martial arts." Renovatio said and Allister nodded, having a smile on his face that gave Soichiro a little courage. But he still didn't want to do all of this training for no reason. Like, he understood that everyone, minus Lucci, expects him to become the next boss. A strong one, at that. But he was inadequate to be a boss of a large organization that has probably killed a thousand people or more. Doubts like this are always in his head, no matter how much fun he has with his friends. "So rest up. At noon, we will train. Got it? Oh, and don't worry about school. I gave your principal a... little incentive to allow you a week off. Same goes for your friends. Kaname, Yoruichi, and Hotaru." Renovatio told him with a smile and exited the cabin. Leaving Allister a nervous Soichiro. "What seems to be the problem, Giove XII?", Allister asked. He could just see that Soichiro was a nervous wreck once Renovatio leaves him alone. He can live without Reno, don't get me wrong, but the guy has a habit of leaving traps in his wake. Soichiro inhaled and took a deep breath, "Well... everyone expects me to be the boss of this family. I don't really think I have what it takes, you know? I'm a walking punching bag... the no-good student of Namimori Middle. My friends see me as Giove XII, a powerful kid who was chosen to lead the family, but not as Soichiro. They don't see a frightened kid who was dragged into this mess. Though, I'm half-glad this all happened to me. I met so many interesting people that I could never tell how much I appreciate them being here with me. If they hadn't, I'd..." he trailed off and looked at his hands. All of those words had been bottled in him for so long that he was happy to have finally told someone. Allister smiled and rubbed the boy's hair, making it a mess. "You know... a student of mine had said that before. He was just like you, lost in the world of mafia and desperately wanted to get out. Thou shall find his own path, one that aligns with the rest of his family's." That wasn't really helpful but it did cheer Soichiro up a bit. A person similar to him, huh? Maybe they will meet sometime. "I should be getting to bed. Where is a room that I can sleep in?", Soichiro asked and Allister pointed upwards, where a ladder was stuck to the ceiling.  Allister pulled it down and Soichiro climbed up into a room. He plopped onto a bed on the right side of the room and fell asleep immediately. Allister sighed, "You'll wish you'd have died once Renovatio gets serious about your training."

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It was morning. Soichiro woke up with a loud yawn. He stretched his arms and got out of bed. Soichiro got back down to the first floor of the cabin and looked around, where was everyone? He walked out of there and stepped into the wilderness. "RENOOOOOOOO! ALLISTER! WHERE ARE YOU!?", he shouted and was hushed by Renovatio. The guy was sleeping on a large tree branch and was woken up by Soichiro... or was he? He had jumped down and tipped his hat to Soichiro, "You ready to get even stronger?" Renovatio asked and Soichiro hesitated to say 'yes'. Why should he get stronger without a clear reason? It'd be stupid if he just trained just to be a boss and no particular motives. Renovatio, somehow being psychic, knew what the boy was thinking and sighed. His teal blue eyes had sharpened and gained the look of a hawk about to capture his prey. "There is a group of mafiosi in this town. They plan on killing YOU and YOUR friends. Anyone who has a connection to Giove XII is said to be eliminated on sight. If you want to die without even putting up a fight, then so be it. I'll plan your funeral right now." Renovatio said with a cold tone in his voice. This was the Reno we all had been waiting for; A serious and even more dangerous Renovatio. He pointed his magnum at Soichiro, who backed away slowly. "If you even think about running to your mommy for help, don't bother. She isn't going to help you win this battle. You will never know the meaning of hardships if you keep staying behind your mother like a puppy." Renovatio continued and fired a round, scaring Soichiro and making the boy fall to his butt. The bullet hit a tree, which now had a hole in it. "Pick and choose, Soichiro. Become strong enough to not depend on Yoruichi and Hotaru to protect you or die along with your friends. It is your choice, do you understand?", Renovatio warned him to choose wisely and let the boy calm down. Soichiro must think rationally about this or Renovatio might kill him, for real this time. "He's right. I'm always depending on my friends to protect me at school, the store, anywhere I go. They are always there to protect me. I rarely came home without a black eye before I met any of them. Now, I come home with a huge smile on my face and friends to support that.", Soichiro thought to himself and stood up. He raised his fist and clenched it. He gritted his teeth as his eyes gave a fierce and determined look. "Not for one more second will I be defended by them. I'll become strong enough to fight my own battles, do you understand that?", Soichiro yelled to Renovatio. The hitman smiled at this and his magnum was lowered. Renovatio was proud that his student was slowly coming to understand his role in the mafia but now was not the time for that. They had a few days to get strong enough to deal with this group or else everyone is dead. "Be prepared to die, Soichiro. I will not be going easy on you just because you are a successor to Giove XI." Renovatio warned him by aiming his magnum at his student once more, prepared to shoot him. Soichiro nervously gulped and prayed that he didn't die in his tutors training. "Oh, and do remember that wild animals will be included in this." Renovatio said and vanished. Any trace of him was wiped off the face of the earth. "Good luck, Giove XII. I wish you the best on your journey." Allister said before giving Soichiro a backpack full of food and clothes. A pistol had been placed in his right hand, was he meant to kill an animal with this? He hoped not and ventured deep inside the forest with Allister disappearing.

Once inside the forest, Soichiro was cold and tired. This place was giving him goosebumps; he could feel something crawl on his leg. He looked down and saw a tarantula on his left leg and screamed. He kicked it off and checked to see if it had bitten him. Nope, it did not. It probably just got on him and he hadn't given it the time to breathe. "What are you doing, Soichiro? Get a move on!", he said to himself before running deep into the forest. He had taken the time out of his day to look at the gigantic trees that were full of green leafs. They were so beautiful, they probably were around in the Heian period. Soichiro continued on his journey through the forest, attempting to remain calm and quiet. He could not let himself be eaten by any animals when he has a lot of people to return home to. "I wonder if everyone else is training. Yoruichi is probably doing his everyday rounds, that means a lap around Namimori. Hotaru... isn't she learning Karate? Yeah, but I hardly know anything about it. Kaname isn't really the type to let anyone boss him around, doesn't matter if its to train him or even save his life. The guy just hates being ordered around. So he's off the list, thats for sure. And what about Odysseus? Probably watching Lucci eat 13 bowls of ice cream in three minutes." Soichiro laughed aloud at that last bit, forgetting that he was supposed to be quiet. He covered his mouth quickly and looked around with wide eyes. His eyes scoped the area, looking for any beasts that could eat him in one bite. He sighed in relief, no one had came to eat him. He proceeded to walk in a straight line, unknowingly following into a trap set by Renovatio. "I should find a place thats safe for me to make a campfire. It's bound to get late soon." He said before stepping onto a twig and cracking it. The crack made a noise so loud that it awoke a boar, who had been in a cave nearby. The boar roared and charged towards Soichiro with all that it had. The only thing going on through that boar's mind was "EAT PUNY HUMAN!" Yeah. The boar wanted all the smoke with Soichiro for disturbing its sleep. I think his heart must have missed a few beats when he saw how large the boar was. The damn thing was twice the size of a grown man, 8 feet tall. Soichiro was super small if you compare it to him. Anyhow, he was forced to run across the forest with the boar following right behind him. I'm starting to see a pattern here. "Should I use the pistol...?", he asked himself as he ran towards a tree and began to climb it at a rapid pace. He was on the highest branch the tree could offer, and it wasn't even close to breaking because of his weight. That surprised him a bit at first but it did the job. He placed the backpack in front of him and took out the pistol, which was said to have five bullets. He pointed it down at the boar, who was trying to make the tree fall over, and imagined himself firing the bullet into its skull. He almost threw up at the image, "Why wasn't I born with killer instinct like Mom?! She has hunted many boars– how is she still alive." He said before a loud snap! could be heard and he saw the boar use its strength to knock the tree over, which it did. Soichiro was panicking, THIS THING WAS STILL TRYING TO KILL HIM! As the tree fell over, Soichiro accidentally fired a bullet at the boar's head, a horrified look was now on his face and the tree hit the ground. A loud yelp was heard from Soichiro and he rushed over to the boar's body once he was done getting all the small sticks and twigs out of his hair. He examined the place he shot the boar at and saw a tranquilizer dart. Had Renovatio known he couldn't kill an animal? Indefinitely, yes. He knew almost everything that was going on in Soichiro's head. This begs the question if the guy was psychic. It doesn't just happen to Soichiro, he can read the minds of everyone else too. "Thanks, Reno. But I should find a place to hide before it wakes up." Soichiro said and ran off, not bothering to take the dart off the boar's head. If he did, he was risking waking the damn thing up again and wasting another dart. Soichiro knew Renovatio was laughing somewhere in this forest, taunting Soichiro and calling him weak. The thought of being powerless to stop the deaths of his friends was enough to piss him off. Their lives were more important than anything else. This did make Soichiro regret being friends with them, because they are now in the mafia and probably gonna die before they reach the age of 20. Soichiro shook his head and kept running, he was bound to find another cave soon. "It better be safe. I mean, I can't keep fighting animal after animal. I'll run out of darts and-" he stopped talking when he stared upon another cabin. LUCK WAS IN HIS FAVOR! He threw up a fist and laughed, he seriously thought he'd die without shelter. He ran to the front door and knocked, a bit too hard but it did gain the attention of the owner. The person opened up the door and his eye twitched when he saw that it was Renovatio. Renovatio waved and ventured into the cabin, leaving a tired Soichiro to drag his feet inside. "I figured you'd be dead by now. You lack the instinct of a killer, you couldn't harm a fly if you wanted to. Your just a frail boy." Renovatio said as he poured Soichiro a cup of tea and gave it to him. Soichiro took the cup and drank it all in one gulp. "After this week of training, you'll be dead by the time we are done. Do not worry about your friends, they are safe for now. Just doing training, like you." Renovatio reassured his student that the rest of the family was safe; That had been a lie. The people that were training them all had been dangerous, so dangerous that Renovatio felt a bit uneasy. All he could do now was pray that the children were safe. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! So what am I supposed to do to get stronger?", Soichiro asked and Renovatio laughed. "First, we are going to build up some muscle for your fragile body! You aren't as durable like Yoruichi or Lucci, surprisingly, so let me get you..." his voice trailed off as he pulled out a wooden box. It looked REALLY old, like a hundred years old. Renovatio opened the box with ease and a light shunned Soichiro's eyes, Renovatio's eyes had not been affected by the bright light and he put his hands inside the box. He then revealed... a pair of boxing gloves. "Just your ordinary pair of gloves. These should help you." Renovatio told his student and handed him the gloves. Knowing Renovatio, this guy would not just give you a pair of gloves and not have done something to them. Soichiro examined the gloves on the ground, analyzing each detail. It didn't seem to be tampered with, so he put the gloves on. His hands fell to the floor and his face met the cold ground, silently crying, and Renovatio laughed. "Forgot to mention that they weigh over 14oz." Renovatio said and lifted Soichiro up by the collar of his shirt. Soichiro glared at Renovatio, although he looked like a puppy barking at its owner, he still attempted to make Renovatio feel fear. Only thing it did was make the hitman find him even more funny, "Okay. Back to the main topic; By using those gloves, you could gain more muscle mass. So let's start off with a punching bag, okay?", Renovatio aimed his magnum at Soichiro and fired a Dying Will Bullet. The bullet entered Soichiro's head and his body fell over, drained of color. "If only I had trained, I wouldn't have died...", he thought to himself as a orange flame appeared on his head. He jumped up and got into a boxing stance, with his left foot in front of him and the right foot behind him. The left side of his body was aimed towards Renovatio, viewing him as the punching bag. "I'LL GET STRONGER IF ITS THE LAST THING I DO!!", Soichiro shouted at the top of his lungs and rushed towards Renovatio. Renovatio laughed and charged at his student, his fist ready to meet Soichiro's face.

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And there we go... Soichiro is training with Renovatio, who probably plans to kill him, and protect Namimori from the mafioso.

Hotaru: Ahem...? When can I get my chance to shine? I'm only used for comedic purposes. LET ME DO SOMETHING EXCITING-

Don't worry. I already have something planned for your impatient ass.

Lucci: So wait a minute, Soichiro is weaker than me? I'm just 10 years old and I'm already surpassing the next boss!!

Kaname: Boss? Anyways, See all of you later. Share the story with your friends or get a taste of my fists. *Camera turns off*