Coin flip of destiny!

Renovatio held a small black box in his left hand. He had stared at the crescent symbol on the lid of it, astonished by the amount of detail put it in. Drifting off into his own line of thought, Renovatio had not been inside the Tsukuba Household or anywhere else. He had been in a limo, sitting on a black leathered seat. In front of him sat a man wearing a black tuxedo whose face could not be seen due to the bright sunlight. "Renovatio, I trust you more than anyone else as of this moment. As the Boss of the Giove, I ask that you hide that box until the time is right. Soichiro and his friends aren't ready for its power... just yet." That man, of course, had been Giove XI. The eleventh boss of the Giove family, whose voice sounded calm and soothing. Renovatio almost fell asleep at his words.

"Yes, of course. But I have a question, are you going to talk to Soichiro soon? Even as his tutor, I think you could talk a little sense into him. Maybe hearing it from you would make him take this a bit more seriously." Renovatio chuckled at the end and Giove XI's smile could be seen. Giove XI clapped his hands together and Renovatio was imbued with light. His very clothing shined so brightly that it began to burn his eyes as he felt his body become weightless for a few moments. Then... he had been inside Soichiro's room, laying on his bed as if he owned it. "I can only contact him through dreaming. Giove XI can project his image and thoughts into the mind of a person who is either asleep or... on their death bed. Doing it awake would cause the average human brain to immediately fry up." Renovatio explained to no one in particular. He exited the room and went to the front door, attempting to go sneak inside Soichiro's school to check up on him.

Suddenly, a knife had been thrown at his chest. On pure instinct, Renovatio moved out of the knifes way and looked at it, remembering every detail of it and downloading it into his brain. "Amazing, Renovatio. I'm here to deliver a message from Lord Bakura." A masked man had said as Renovatio whipped out a revolver from his jacket and pointed it at the head of the new man. Without warning, Renovatio had pulled the trigger and fired three rounds at the man in front of him. The bullets had pierced through the mask and the masked man's body had fell to the ground with a loud thud. Renovatio scoffed and walked up to the corpse and reached down for the mask. A hand had grabbed his wrist and began to squeeze it, a surprised look on Renovatio's face had appeared as the masked man had actually survived the bullets from his revolver. "That's an interesting trick. You didn't die from my gun! How should I reward you?" Renovatio asked as he used his left hand to remove the masked man's hand from his wrist and had jumped five meters away.

"You can call me Joker. I'm here to deliver a message for Bakura... he said 'Your little toys are about to be smashed into a million pieces'. And harsher words that I can not repeat because it would be illegal. He did say to call you a Yokel, whatever that is." Joker said as he turned to walk away from Renovatio. He had stopped in his tracks and smiled underneath his mask. A stack of cards had appeared in his hand by a puff of smoke, a perplexing magic trick I couldn't hope to understand in 50 years. Renovatio fired 5 more rounds from another revolver, most likely retrieving it from his jacket pocket.

Joker threw 5 of his cards behind him and the bullets had made contact with the cards. The bullets were trying their absolute best to pierce through the cards but it was no avail. They bounced off of the cards and were splattered in front of Renovatio's feet. "I've come to deliver a message through the use of my fortunes." The five cards behind him began to rotate into a circle, constantly. Renovatio sighed as he fired 1 bullet at the cards, only for it to be cut into tiny metal pieces upon contact. "Say 'stop!' when you want me to reveal your fortune. When the cards slowly come to a stop, the one you chose will shine with the bright color of gold. After that... I can't wait to see what fate has in store for you." Joker said as he turned around as the two oval-shaped holes on his mask glowed crimson. Blood began to leak out of his mask, much to Renovatio's disgust.

Fate is playing for him now. Renovatio wasn't the type of guy to believe in destiny or things like fate. Most of the time, that is. However, this was a special case. He couldn't change what happens next. If he stops on a card that resembled a bad future, he'll do his best to prevent that from happening. No one was getting in his way of raising the 12th Giove Boss. And that means NO ONE! Renovatio placed his revolvers back into his jacket and held a coin in his hand. "Hm. Can't believe I'll be doing this. Joker, I'll go with heads. If I end up with heads, you'll call off your fortune and fight me. If it ends up with tails, you can tell me my fortune and leave with a bullet in your heart. Sounds fair?" Renovatio asked Joker, who nodded and Renovatio let out a heavy sigh. Lady Luck must be thinking of whether or not Renovatio deserves to know his fortune. Probably not, after all the terrible things he's done in the world.

Renovatio exhaled and gave Joker a thumbs up. It was time to flip his coin and win! "This will be the Coin Flip of Destiny. Now, let's do this." He said before flipping the coin in his hand. The future relies heavily on this coin flip. If it ends up with tails, who knows what kind of future lies in store for Soichiro and the rest of his friends? True, they'll be facing plenty of hardships as young adults but it just didn't sit right with Renovatio that someone was going to dictate their destinies. They, and himself included, were free to choose what they become and how their lives are done. No one was to decide how they lived and died.

Renovatio caught the coin and placed it on the palm of his hand. "Well, this is it. The determining factor of whether or not you'll get to see how our lives plan out. Joker, I hope you are paying attention. It's not good to show a lack of attention-span to an enemy." Renovatio lectured the fortune teller, much to his dislike.

The coin had ended with heads, a chuckle escaped Renovatio's mouth. Looks like Lady Luck had actually worked with him for once. He kissed the coin, hoping that Lady Luck feels his warm lips, and was going to place the coin back into his pocket. Until Joker grabbed it, of course. Joker examined both sides of the coin and growled at Renovatio, who had gotten out his revolver in response. "You filthy cheater, this is a two sided coin! Both were heads, so regardless you would have won. You bastard!" Joker shouted at Renovatio and rushed at him, his hand covering Renovatio's face completely. Renovatio had been taken aback by his sudden boost of speed, why was he now attacking if he could have just done this from the start? What an interesting dilemma.

Joker slammed Renovatio into the ground by pushing his head downwards. The ground cracked as Renovatio's body made contact with it. Renovatio groaned loudly as he raised his revolver to Joker's stomach, firing as many rounds as possible into his body. Renovatio coughed a small trickle of blood from his mouth, he really is getting pummeled so easily as the #1 hitman. Well, there is a good reason for it. Early today, we saw Renovatio talking to Giove XI in his dream. After being dismissed by Giove XI, Renovatio was drained of most of his power and strength because of his conversation with Giove XI. Talking to him in a dream is more than likely going to leave your body tired. It's hard to be able to forcefully contact Giove XI. Stands to reason why he doesn't do this type of messaging anymore.

Joker glanced down at his body and laughed. He had multiple rounds of bullets in his body! Renovatio was surprised to hear him laugh and watched as Joker had been enjoying the pain being sent throughout his body. It was pleasing the man for some strange reason. "Oh, I just can't STAND cheaters! People like you cheat because they can't do anything by their own power or strength. People like YOU should just hurry up and die!" Joker declared as he threw multiple cards at Renovatio. Luckily, Renovatio had gotten up and quickly evaded his attack by ducking to the right. Rolling to his knee, Renovatio reloaded one revolver and aimed for Joker's head. "I don't know how you are still alive, I made sure I hit your heart. But no one can survive a head shot." Renovatio quietly said to himself and fired two bullets at Joker's head.

Joker moved his head to the left and let the bullets pass by. He was about to attack Renovatio once more until he got a call from Bakura. The two were in an argument, with Bakura being the one to likely start it, and Joker was forced to come to Bakura. "Making me retreat, how stupid. I would have killed you, had Bakura not wanted to save you for seconds. You should be glad that my master wants you to stay alive!" Joker said before throwing a card at Renovatio, who easily caught it with his free hand, and disappeared into the shadows once more. Renovatio had been looking at the card, unaware of it's important meaning.

————●————

Three days after Renovatio had fought Joker

Renovatio, Soichiro, and Hoshika sat in his room. Hoshika had been sitting on the bed, wrapping her arm around Soichiro and holding him close, rubbing his brown hair. Renovatio had been sitting on his gaming chair in silence. Renovatio had never looked this serious, at least to Soichiro. Renovatio had a cold icy glare that wasn't directed to anyone BUT himself.

"Soichiro, it's time to stop playing games. You HAVE to take this seriously. Bakura, by any means imaginable, will be sending exceptionally trained assassins to your front door. He'll kill your friends, your family, and take away every joy you've ever had in your life. Don't expect any of us to protect you all the time because we all have targets on our backs that we have to get rid of. If you don't want any of your friends and family to die, you HAVE to get stronger. At any given moment could we all be cornered and expecting YOU to join in the fight. Don't be a coward and hide behind us! Step in and fight like the Boss you really are!"

Renovatio's cold words had really hit close to Soichiro's heart. At any moment, his friends could be killed and he'd be the last one standing. All because they felt obligated to protect him, the weakest of the bunch. Soichiro gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, angry that his training STILL hadn't been enough to gain Renovatio's respect. Soichiro felt warm tears escape his eyes and he let out a small whimper.

"You're right, Reno-san. I'm... a pathetic excuse of a friend! How am I supposed to be on the front lines, protecting everyone when they are really protecting me!? I'm just a little kid; I don't even know what's really going on! Why was I chosen to be the Boss of this goddamn family!?! Why couldn't it have been anyone else..! I never asked for any of this!" Soichiro yelled at Renovatio and fell on the floor, ashamed to look the hitman in his eyes. On his knees, Soichiro felt more comfortable in this position. He was more used to begging for mercy instead of being the one to give it. Hoshika, Renovatio, and his friends outside the door were shocked to hear how he really felt about the mafia. Most of all, Renovatio felt a little bad about what he had said to Soichiro about being the boss. In truth, Soichiro had been forced to accept that he was never to live a boring and miserable life. That he was always to be targeted because of the blood running in his veins.

Truly an inescapable fate. Renovatio swallowed a gulp and watched Hoshika comfort Soichiro, who had been crying loudly about this situation. Renovatio turned to exit the room, where all of Soichiro's friends fell off the door after trying their best to hear his conversation, and he exited the room. Not before Renovatio left one last sentence. "If that's how you really feel, I'll call everything off. I'll tell Giove XI that... you couldn't become the man you needed to be. How disappointing." Renovatio said before leaving the house and the neighborhood. No one was going to search for him, they already knew he was an untraceable man when he put his mind to it.

Hoshika had been comforting Soichiro the best that she could. She tried to sing lullabies to soothe him, though it worked for a bit until she got to a lullaby that was depressing. Hotaru got down to her knees and embraced Soichiro in a hug, making him go completely silent.

"We heard you loud and clear, Soichiro. We all know that you despise being in the mafia; we do too, sometimes. If you quit while you're already so far ahead, will you do the same thing if you live a normal life? Will you still cry and get angry because things wouldn't be going your way at your job? That's no way to live Soichiro. Running away from the future that was already laid out for you, before you had even been born, is impossible. No one can escape their destiny, like yours is to be the boss of the Giove. Although, you can't change your destiny... you can alter the details of it." Hotaru said as Yoruichi knelt down to Soichiro, rubbing his brown hair and smiling. Odysseus sat next to Soichiro, who had been holding back his tears as his friends tried to comfort him the best way that they could. Lucci even joined in and tried to give him some of his ice cream, only for Hoshika to stop him.

"Yeah, Soichiro. It's impossible to tell how things will go from here. But... as long as you are with us, our power can't be stopped." Yoruichi said, as if he was an anime character, and gave Soichiro an enthusiastic shout. Soichiro rose up from his knees and wiped the tears away from his eyes. Hotaru chuckled lightly as his eyes glanced at everyone in the room. Yoruichi the most. Yoruichi held up a hand to Soichiro, who took it and lifted him up, and the two stared at each other. "Yoru... do you think I have what it takes to beat Bakura? Last time... I was just throwing anything at him and hoped that it worked. I just... I just don't want anything to happen to you guys!" Soichiro yelled out as he hugged Yoruichi tightly, damn near almost breaking the blonde's spine.

"And we don't want anything to happen to you. That's why we'll fight whoever Bakura sends at us, because we aren't afraid of him anymore. If I get the chance, I'll rip him limb from limb. You with me, Oddy?" Yoruichi asked Odysseus, who nodded as he held up his electric gloves and caused a crackle of electricity to appear. Odysseus wasn't afraid of Bakura or his little knights. He'd take them all down when the opportunity appears for him. Bakura's obsession with their deaths was causing Soichiro to "malfunction" and lose any confidence in his abilities as he would think of all the possible scenarios that would play out.

Truth be told, Soichiro worries way too much.

"Tomorrow, Bakura will be sending assassin's for each of us. It's best that we don't stay in one place for too long. Whenever you get the chance, train and hone your abilities. You need all the power you can get. I'll go talk with Renovatio, ciao. Don't die on me." Hoshika said as she rubbed Soichiro's brown hair and kissed his forehead, making him look down in embarrassment. Hoshika glanced at Hotaru and the girl nodded, her unwavering will was what made Hoshika glad to have her as Soichiro's friend. She had nothing to worry about... as long as Soichiro kept his friends close.

————●————

Hoshika stood outside the Tsukuba Household. The moonlight shined bright on her. Oddly enough, it fit her. The moonlight had always shined in space, making it the light that lurked deep inside the universe.

Renovatio stood next to a tree, wondering on why his teaching methods hadn't done much for Soichiro. He was frustrated that he couldn't turn a wimp like Soichiro into a winner. A winner who had what it takes to lead his team into a new age. Hoshika stood next to him and waved at his face, trying to gather his attention. "If you would actually look at Soichiro as his own person, instead of the Giove XII that you cooked up in your head, you'd understand him a whole lot better. He isn't like Yoruichi and Odysseus; They've been in the mafia for far longer than he has. He isn't some kid who learned deadly skills at a young age like them! He's just like how we once were: Ordinary. Stop thinking like a hitman, and actually talk with him. You're always talking about him being the next boss, he doesn't want to hear you say that!"

Hoshika informed Renovatio, who had been shocked to hear that Hoshika had understood Soichiro better than anyone else. Even the ultimate assassin had flaws, it seems.

"I... guess you're right. I keep thinking of him as this character I cooked up in my mind. I need to realize that this is reality. This is his life I hold in my hands. In the end, I need to talk to him. Not as his teacher, but as his friend, right?" Renovatio asked Hoshika, who nodded, and turned to face the front door of the Tsukuba Household. He deeply inhaled for a few moments, composing himself before he thinks of what to say. Hoshika grabbed his arm and gave it a tight squeeze, attempting to break it. "Don't think! Let your heart speak for you. Don't be stupid!" Hoshika warned as Renovatio took a few steps towards the front door. It was go time.

————●————

Renovatio walked into Soichiro's room. The boy was sitting by himself, possibly forced his friends to leave his room to be alone. He looked up at Renovatio and sniffed. The poor kid felt horrible for making Renovatio feel guilty about his words from earlier, but a small part of him enjoyed seeing Renovatio look like a fool. "Hey, pal. I'm... I'm sorry. I've been putting so much pressure on you; I've had multiple assassin's try to kill you, you've almost lost your life countless times trying to train with me, and stuff that I can't say. You haven't really gotten a say in anything that's happened to you. I have been making the decisions without considering your feelings, not even once. Soichiro, I'm sorry for being such a jackass. I know sorry isn't enough for the hell I put you through. So if you want, I'll tell Giove XI that you have died and you won't be able to claim your place as Giove XII. The choice is yours." Renovatio said to Soichiro, giving him an uneasy smile and Soichiro lightly chuckled as he looked down at his hands.

"You know, Reno, I just want you to listen to me. I'm... not some guy like Yoruichi or Kaname, I don't really have any super strength. Look at my arms, they're literally bone and meat! Their meat sticks! And everyone I've met has only seen me for Giove XII, the successor to a mafia with... strange powers. They don't see ME for ME. It's just so frustrating when the only thing people ever bring up to you is how you are supposed to be a mafia boss. What if I have other dreams? What if I have a goal that won't let me be a mafia boss? Who gets to decide what I can be when I grow up!? No one should."

Soichiro said as he waved his arms around, demonstrating their weak power. Renovatio chuckled as Soichiro tried to bulge his arm muscles, only for them to remain the same as before. He let out a sigh of defeat.

"You're right, Soichiro. We've only looked at you as 'Boss', never 'Soichiro Tsukuba'. I think its time that we change that. You get to decide what we do from now on, if you still choose to be a successor." Renovatio offered him the chance to choose between whether or not he can still be in a life filled with dangerous mishaps. A life where he'll constantly have to watch his back and his families too. He could forsake that possible future and go with the second choice, a completely ordinary life. A life where he works a 9-to-5 job for the rest of his miserable lifespan. He wouldn't be able to go on any big adventures, and wouldn't be able to make any new friends. The more he thought about it, the worse that future became. It definitely was a waste of existence.

"Hey, Reno! How about we leave it to a coin flip? Heads to decide that I keep training under you, tails to decide that I go with a normal life." Soichiro said to Renovatio, who had a coin in his hand. The two stared at the coin for what felt like hours until Renovatio urged himself to flip the coin. Well, this was surely the coin flip of destiny because both of their futures relied on this coin flip. And whatever side it lands on, the two were to walk down the path it laid out for them.

The coin descended on the palm of Renovatio's hand. He quickly closed his palm before he could catch a glimpse of the side it landed on. Slowly opening it, Soichiro and Renovatio gasped as it turned out to be heads. "Well, I'll be damned. It actually landed on heads for once!" Renovatio remarked as Soichiro wrapped his arms around Renovatio's neck and took the hitman off guard for a second. Renovatio rubbed his back and raised his revolver at Soichiro's head, "You've touched me far enough for one day. Tomorrow, we should train your frail body. Bakura is going to put out all stops to kill you, boy." Renovatio said as he exited his student's room, tipping his hat at him while he left.

The next time that we meet these characters, their hearts will be more in tune than before. Stay tuned until next time!

————————–—–

Ray: And welcome back to our podcast, "WLR "!

Renovatio: Did you just name a podcast after an album by Playboi-

Ray: Man, shut up. I'm running outta ideas so we gotta work with what we got.

Renovatio: Okay man, don't get canceled on Twitter. They went wild last year.

Ray: Anyways, forget what Reno just said, today we bring you the chaos of the 12th family cast. The first one we shall be talking to will be Bakura, the leader of the Black Knights of Death. Say hello to Bakura everybody!

Bakura: Hello there, folks. Yes, I'm Bakura, the main antagonist in the first season of 12th family Chronicles. I hope you all are having a merry christmas... except you, Renovatio.

Ray: So, Bakura... I just have a question. Why did you name your team 'Black Knights of Death'? It sounds like your trying too hard to be a goth.

Bakura: Just like how your mum was trying too hard to slob on my knob.

[connection terminated.]

[System rebooting...]

[Deleted Sick Burn.]

Ray: Answer the question one more time, Bakura.

*Bakura has multiple shotguns aimed for his head*

Bakura: Oh, I just wanted to copy Lelouche from Code Geass. He just comes up with the best names, y'know.

Ray: I thought so. Pussy ass... Anyways, Bakura, what do you want in a woman? What do you prefer?

Bakura: I want her to be at least 30 years old. That's all.

Ray: Dawg, you are not the Milf Hunter. That's not-

Bakura: And I want her to have at least 5 kids already. Trying to be a dad without putting in that work.

Ray: Bro, that's not how it works-

Bakura: WHO DECIDED THAT, PUNK ASS BITCH? I CAN DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT. I'M A GOD! I CAN CREATE WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT ON THIS PLANET! I COULD LITERALLY MAKE AN ARTIFICIAL SUN AND MELT YOU BITCHES!

Ray: Okay, okay, okay. Chill bro. It ain't that serious-

Bakura: THEN PUT SOME RESPECT ON MY MOTHERFUCKING NAME! IT'S BAKURA MOTHERFUCKING YAGI, BITCH!

Ray: And that's all we have for today, folks. I'm just gonna go eat, my head is hurting.

Renovatio: Damn Bakura, you're the first man to force Ray to quit streaming. Take this medal, bro.

[CALL TERMINATED. REASON: BITCH-MADE MAN COULDN'T CLAP BACK.]