oh good god.
they found the body, didn't they? of that burglar from a while back?
as of right now, everything was spelling out 'DANGER' in big, bold letters.
the rifle you were using only mere minutes ago was now clutched in your arms-- as if it were some sort of teddy bear to comfort you, your (e/c) eyes hiding behind blue lenses and avoiding the cold glare from squalo as you passed him.
should you just come clean about it? if you lie to them, who knows what'll happen to you-- no, what'll happen to your father and alois. there was no doubt that they'd find a way to drag them into this if you don't own up to it.
wait- what if they do something to them regardless? perhaps as a punishment for hiding the body instead of reporting the attempted robbery?
"(y/n), my favorite house maid, there you are~!" a shrill voice squealed, snapping you out of your terrified dazed. you had followed tiziano so mindlessly that you didn't even notice how quickly you got to cioccolatas office.
"g-good evening, cioccolata."
"aww, why so nervous? got anything you would like to tell me?" he grinned, leaning against his doorway so casually it made you almost scared. the sudden infatuation he had from the start always made you the slightest bit creeped out, which was understandable from every point of view, seeing as how this man was almost out of his mind.
he was acting as he normally would, and that fact alone was what made you tremble greatly. you couldn't tell if he was curious, pissed, upset, or just surprised by the discovery of the corpse.
"yes, sir, i-" you tumbled over our words before you even managed to get them out, poorly attempting to clear your throat before you died of a heart attack from anticipation. "-i would like to ask that we speak alone in your office, if that is alright."
"oh~ just because she gets all this special treatment from the mad doctor, she thinks she can start bossing people around, yeah?" squalo grunted by the back door, arms folded.
"no, sir, not at all-"
"yes, i suppose that would be fine." cioccolata interrupted, gripping you by the arm and pulling you into his dimly lit domain before briefly glaring at squalo. "as long as you explain everything, then all will be well."
while you should be thankful that he got you out of such an uncomfortable situation, you were still counting the seconds until he would snap and kill you. which, thankfully, never came.
"tell me, sweetheart, why have you hidden this body here, in my workspace? dont you know it's terribly unsanitary? and here i thought you used to be a nurse..." cioccolata dropped himself onto his office chair and leaned back into it's cushion, legs crossing themselves boredly. "... spare me the trouble of having to pry at you, and just tell me what happened."
with the little courage you had left in you, you cleared your throat and spoke, however quietly. "well, sir, i was-"
"i thought i told you to drop the formalities? this would be the third time, yes? dont make me tell you again."
"apologies. i was cleaning up the house while you and the others were out, and someone decided to break in through the window. at first, it wasn't obvious where they were, but after going through scenarios and the likely-hood of what someone would go for first in a robbery, i immediately checked mister doppios office, and was jumped soon after."
smiling both a sinister and warm smile, cioccolata nodded, giving you approval for you to continue. "im not too sure what the man was after, but-but after seeing he was rummaging through mister doppios office with great haste, i assumed it was something important and attacked him. then he, of course, tried to run off, but i stopped him and got rid of him on the sheer chance he saw something he shouldn't have in mister doppios office."
"hm, a wise decision you made... but i had no idea you were such a sadist!" he laughed, kicking his foot and spinning in his chair like a child. "the way you dragged him so mercilessly~! my, oh my, i was on the edge of my seat!"
your breath got caught in your throat from surprise, eyes widening with shock. "pardon me for asking, cioccolata, but what do you mean by all that?"
playing dumb was clearly not the way to go, seeing as how cioccolata pulled out a thin, small disc from his drawer and waved it in front of you with a large grin. "i hope you don't think that we all trust you completely, (y/n). that would just be foolish! utterly foolish!"
"well im sure that no one here does, but-"
"we have cameras, my dear, for situations exactly like this! but after seeing what you're capable of, i do believe that i need not to worry about the security of our base when we're gone. you seem to have a slight turn-on for violence, too, yes? no one would kick a bleeding, vulnerable person down the stairs with such a lustful gaze!"
there was no telling where this was going, and whether you'd be alive by the end of it all. hopefully, you'd be given a quick punishment for the secret and that would be the end of it, but something told you that it wouldn't be that easy. it never was.
"earlier this evening, i heard gunshots outside, and after doing a little investigation, i find you shooting off some bottles in the distance. you have a very sharp eye, yes? perhaps from them being protected by your sunglasses?" cioccolata hummed, propping his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.
"im unsure, but thank you for the compliment."
"it's no problem. i asked tiziano to go fetch you, not because i was upset with you hiding away this little... surprise from me, but because im rather interested in your ability as a sniper. from what ive gathered, your stand can work alongside any gun with ease, yes?"
"as far as i know, it can mainly work with long range, and presumably short range guns, like basic rifles and pistols." you replied, body slowly drawing back into a calm state after finding that he wasn't upset.
"good, this is good. i'd like to make a proposition for you, then, (y/n)." cioccolata purred as he stood from his seat, stalking over to you with his hands in his pockets. "how about we actually have you join this organization officially? last i checked, you weren't employed, and your income is slowly coming to a downfall."
"im-im not too sure about this, cioccolata!" you squeaked, attempting to shift away from the hand that slammed next to your head, pinning you to the wall. "im here to clear off a debt, not to join the mob! and shouldn't you run this through doppio first?"
"im not asking you if you want to, im telling you that if you dont, then i'll just pull some strings and give you a much, much heavier debt to deal with so that you stay permanently. you got that?" he growled in your ear.
this -oh shit- this was not good, not good at all! it was a wonder why he thought you'd be useful to them anyways, since even though you have a well-trained eye and are handy with a gun, you still have almost zero-actual combat training.
though, there was that one time in highschool... but that was more of a rageful fight, with the occasional help from your stand. it wasn't really you who had done the damage.
once more were you stuck between a rock and a hard place, only given the option of bad, or worse. if cioccolata increased your debt somehow, then you'd be working so many hours that you'd most likely never get to see alois again, let alone your father.
but, if you were to actually join cioccolatas squad, then that could give you a higher standing and open up several opportunity's. you could provide your little family a house in a better neighborhood, get alois a good education, and maybe even enjoy your job as a sniper if that's what cioccolata wished to employ you as.
but then again, how would your father feel about you joining the mob for a few measly benefits? surely not too good, seeing as how he barely let you take over the debt he was supposed to fulfill.
it all came down to one thing: how much are you willing to risk for your family?
turns out, everything.
"alright, cioccolata. i'll join you, but i must ask that you speak to mister doppio first to make sure im in the clear." you huffed, feeling your chest tighten by those words alone. there was no mistaking that you would now be involved in life threatening situations, and that there was no guarantee that you would ever get to see alois again if something were to happen.
the one thing that would keep you going, you told yourself, would be the smile on his face when you finally come back to him.
"oh, but he's already given you the greenlight! in fact, he was the first to review the tape and give you a pass, seeing as how you never took anything from his office, and defended his work." cioccolata purred, backing away from where he kept you against the wall, and giving you some space.
"really?"
"really! that little room down the halls is yours permanently, too, so go ahead and modify it as you please. you wont be getting to return home unless the debt is gone entirely, so you will have to stay here until then."
"understood." you responded, holding your rifle closer to your body. "now, am i to receive any discipline for not informing you of the intruder, or the hiding of their body?"
"i'll let it slide for now, but next time, you are to tell me first thing. now, i'd like to run a few... tests. ones on your capability with certain weapons, to be clear."
"of course," you mumbled in response, following him out of his office with glittering eyes, "what will we start with?"
cioccolata pushed past tiziano with ease, not even bothering to look at him as he continued to speak. "firstly, i want to see how well you can handle the gun that i want you to use, which will be a winchester 308. from there, we'll go down the list to find the one that you excel at using. after all is said and done, we'll move onto pistols and such, yes?"
good lord, you could already tell you weren't going to get much sleep tonight.