The Hitman and His Consort

Special Episode II: Childhood Days

Third Person P.O.V: ---

[15 Years ago]

The decision was settled, and the three siblings are to be accompanied by their tía Aura. A car was prepared, and they have been dressed accordingly. Denis is donned in his favorite outfit, a simple beige checkered-style coat over a white long-sleeved shirt, and some matching beige pants and black loafers.

Diana, on the other hand, somewhat believes that she's also required to dress like her brothers. In an attempt to keep them uniform, so she also chose a beige padded jacket that made her appear bulkier, than she is, black jeans, and a pair of slip-on sneakers for children.

And Valya just wore a black shirt that says 'OK', gray jeans, and also a pair of slip-on shoes.

Denis, concerned with his little brother's choice of clothes, suggested that Valentin wear something that could keep him warm. Valentin, trusting his big brother with almost everything he didn't know about, agreed to wear the jacket and to show extra eagerness, picked a cap to add to the mix.

"Wow, always well dressed, our little chico," Aura noted as she spun the car keys on her index finger.

"Me too!" Diana announced, doing a little spin to draw attention to her outfit,

"Ah, our Diana is also well dressed, what about our Val—oh..." her words trailed off when her gaze fell onto the middle child, "That's nice also, Valya," she said with a thumbs up.

Valentin patted his chest where the 'OK' was printed on, "Yeah, it's ok," he said and offered Aura a thumbs up that made the woman snort as she chuckled.

"It is, shall we go?"

"We shall!" Denis exclaimed as all children rushed off to the car and settled in the backseat. Aura settled in her place on the driver's seat and revved the engine a couple of times before driving away to the bustling city to get and munch on some sweet bread.

Aura took note of her surroundings. She was one of Madre Maria's finest assault team and is well versed in both hand-to-hand fighting and a handful of weaponry. She was honed at a young age, coming from a family who's been in this sort of business, it seemed that she was raised to be part of this syndicate.

"Wow, look! The sweet shop isn't even open yet!" Valentin noted as they drove by the building. Aura laughed as she glanced at them through the rearview mirror.

"That's right, because kids shouldn't be eating candies so early in the morning," she joked, making Denis raise his index finger,

"That is why we are going to eat bread," he rebutted in a knowing tone that cued another chuckle from the woman.

"You sure are cheeky," she noted as she resumed the driving.

"I'll eat a lot of bread," Diana announced,

To agree, Valentin nodded, "Me too, I love the fluffy breads, if I eat the breads that looked like clouds, I'll fly like clouds too," he said and Diana scoffed, visibly doubting her older brother's words.

"What? You can't do that! You're heavy! Clouds are not heavy, that's why they fly," she argued, educating Valentin with the extent of her cloud knowledge.

"Huh? No, I'll eat the cloud bread to be a cloud, then I can fly," Valentin corrected, bringing in some more specified details to his defense.

"Hm...I don't know, don't you get heavier if you eat?" Diana reasoned, and Valentin froze as he stared at his sister with a contemplating expression.

"But it's cloud bread," Valentin argued again, audibly losing confidence with his previous statements,

"I don't know Valya... but when I eat cloud bread, my tummy still gets big," she said with a shrug and the conversation seemed to have ended there with Diana free of worry and Valya gradually getting worried.

"Don't worry, Valya, there's still a chance for you to fly," Denis said to lighten up his little brother's sullen mood,

"Really?" Valentin asked with a hopeful glint in his eyes,

"Yeah! Wings!" Denis replied and Diana gasped,

"No way! Really! Could I get wings?" Diana asked with wide, gleaming eyes, but this time it was Valentin who scoffed,

"Now that's stupid," Valentin noted, this resulted in Diana glaring at him.

All the while Aura was silently laughing at the whole discussion.

It only took a few more minutes before they finally arrived at the pastry and bakery building.

Aura parked the car and looked around the place. And it was peaceful. More peaceful than usual and it felt like the day would go out great, people are going on about their lives, the weather is pleasant, and the sound of the siblings laughing and chatting about themselves made her feel that this was a day better than the rest.

"Alright, kids! Straight file line, hold on to each other, and stay—"

"Super close to Aura at all times," the three said in unison, speaking ahead as they now memorized those lines with how frequently it was said to them.

With a chuckle, Aura nodded, "That's right," she affirmed, shutting the engine and getting off the car to guide the kids as they dismount the vehicle, already walking hand in hand with Diana in the middle. Aura locked the car and got into the store. It's a famous shop, so the view of it being filled with hungry and loyal patrons like themselves isn't new.

"Ooh~ it's the strawberry sweet-sweet," Diana gasped to see her favorite flavor behind the glass shelves.

Aura nodded and ushered them close to the selection, also ready to choose for her fill of sweet-bready goodness,

Valentin, however, made a new discovery. Apart from the shelf they always look at, was another shelf at the side of the shop, and it was filled with the 'adult breads' as he thought of it.

Thinking that cloud bread wouldn't even help with his dreams of flight and bring him closer to his dreams of not walking around their massive house, he chose to go with the adult choices instead, perhaps in an attempt to be more sophisticated.

He momentarily let go of Diana's hand, albeit wary about his choice, since he'll be eating the adult breads, he thought he must start thinking like an adult too, and walked to the selection.

They looked tasty, but they were all the same color, "That's kinda lame," he said to himself and a man beside him chuckled,

"Right? They're not cool at all," the man agreed and Valentin nodded, finding it pleasant that an adult also shares his sentiments.

"Hey, you know where the cool breads are?" the man continued, and Valentin gave the man a skeptical look.

"Are you the bread man?" he asked, fascinated that one has such knowledge about the topic.

"I sure am, now follow me quickly because the others can't find out about it," he whispered and Valentin inhaled as he glanced off to his sibling,

"We need to be quick, okay?" he replied, and the man nodded as he held onto Valentin's hand.

By that time, Aura felt that something was off and glanced at the kids, it took a quick double-take to realize that Valentin was out of the picture and her eyes immediately darted to the man leaving the building as he held Valentin's hand.

"STOP THAT MAN!" she shouted as she ran to the exit hoping that someone else could reach the perp before she did, but the man heard her scream and grabbed Valentin's small body like a sack of potatoes, and a speedy getaway van picked them up without effort.

"DENIS! DIANA! COME QUICK!" she yelled, and the kids did just so with Denis feeling the panic from seeing his brother get taken away. She practically threw them in the backseat of the car and chased after the van.

The chase was long and for a fleeting moment, Aura felt like she'll catch up to it until it sped up faster and made sharp turns that eventually lead her to a road crossing where she was left with nothing. Some passer-by's tried to point at the van once they saw her frantic expression but it lead to nowhere.

And when she thought that she'd finally found the van, when she got off the car with a gun in her hand it only crushed her more to find it empty that tears started streaming down her face as she walked back to the car, muttering "sh*t" under her breath as she drove back to the house.

Preparing herself for the worst thing that could possibly happen to Madre Maria and the Hacksaw family.