Like Father, Like Daughter: Squalo

An assassin should be swift. An assassin should be tough. An assassin should be clever. An assassin should not be hard of hearing. 

Most people succumb to hearing loss when they're older and have lived a long and fulfilling life. You, however, started losing your hearing very early in life. You attribute this to the constant shroud of deafening noises around you. During your training as a toddler, your papa always shouted at you despite the fact that you trained in swordsmanship, which is close-combat. So with his constant yelling right in your face, your hearing easily deteriorated. It didn't hinder you that much in life or in combat. You were good at reading lips, a skill you had to learn in order to survive and your eyesight was better than 20/20 in order to make up for your hearing loss. The only downside was that your social skills were a bit impaired but that's only due to most of your conversations consisting of "What was that?" or "Huh? Come again?" 

Not that social skills mattered much anyways. You lived in a big mansion full of burly and stinky men who cared more about drinking than upholding a conversation with a seven-year-old. 

"VOOOII! Brat, it's time to fight!" 

You couldn't hear your papa, but you felt the telltale vibrations of his loud voice under your feet. "WHAT?! What did you say?!" 

You turned around and found your papa standing directly in front of you. "I SAID IT'S TIME TO FIGHT!" 

"OKAY, geez, no need to yell, I'm right here." 

Grabbing the sword by your bedside, you followed your papa out to the balcony. You were debriefed in detail by your papa. All necessary details had to be explained and elaborated on before the mission began since communicating during the mission was next to impossible with your hearing impairment. You had a hard time knowing the volume of your own voice so asking questions through an ear-piece communicator wasn't happening, especially during stealth missions. Plus, ear-piece communicators only go in one ear and the volume they exude isn't strong enough to penetrate your damaged ear drum. So it's just easier that you know the specific details beforehand and remain at someone's side throughout missions. There's also the unavoidable fact that you're seven years old and lack experience and good judgement.

This mission would be a group effort, which was strange since no one around here seemed to know the definition of the teamwork. But the Millefiore were closing in on HQ so all hands needed to be on deck. Your papa was technically in charge so he commanded where everyone went, including you. You were to remain at his side at all times and not wander off while searching for the Funeral Wreath. There were a few bumps in the road, including your papa getting pissed off at some lackeys but so far, nothing exciting or tragic had happened. 

"Tell that bastard that our main objective is finding the Funeral Wreath!" 

The lackeys ran off, but of course they wouldn't dare say those exact words to the Boss. "Don't get mad at them. Haven't you ever heard of not killing the messenger?" 

"VOI, DON'T SASS ME, BRAT!" 

The two of you just glared briefly before heading east again. You caught your papa muttering into his ear-piece or actually, he probably wasn't muttering, you just couldn't hear him. Millefiore members began popping out of the trees left and right. After cutting down at least a dozen men with your sword, you could sort of make out your papa yelling for you. "Go to the south side and help Bel and Fran with the Funeral Wreath!" 

People were getting in your line of vision, so you couldn't read lips. "WHAT?! What was that?!" 

Already pissed off with the turn of events and at the Boss, you could practically see the tick mark on your papa's head. "I SAID GO SOUTH YOU LITTLE RUNT." 

"Alright fine, I'm going. Open box! Rain Jellyfish: Meduse di Pioggia!" 

You grabbed onto the stingers of your jellyfish, Squishy, as he flapped his umbrella [1] in order to float away. Once you got high enough, the wind didn't agree with you and decided to take you back in the direction of HQ rather than south. "Arrgh damn wind! I'll get scolded if I don't help Belphegor and Fran with the Funeral Wreath!" 

But as you said that, three large elephants and two men soared above your head, never taking notice of you. You recognize strong people when you see them, so you decide to keep your mouth shut and let the wind carry you with them. Luckily, the wind really was on your side and you managed to reach HQ before the men. You hopped onto the balcony whilst grabbing one of Squishy's tentacles and dragging him like a balloon. You dashed through the halls, hoping to reach the Boss in time. 

"Boss! There's people on their way!" 

As you said that, the whole HQ was reduced to rubble. Luckily, you were able to launch Squishy directly over yours and Boss's head and pump your Rain flames into him, creating a protective veil over the two of you. As the dust settled, you could see the two men you saw earlier hovering above you. Putting Squishy back into his box, you side-stepped so that you were on the side of Boss's throne. You could tell a conversation was going on, but you had no idea what the heck anyone was saying. However, you knew Boss man had everything in the bag, so you just stood beside his chair, like a good subordinate. Once he summoned Bester, you knew the battle was over. You had never actually seen the Boss fight, mostly because everyone, including yourself, always finished the job before he's actually needed. But watching his unusual flames in a real fight was exhilarating. 

Once the battle was officially over, Lussuria came out of nowhere, in search of his glasses. "Oh my, Boss and [Name]-chan! You're both unharmed! You deserve a nice A+ for your grand effort, [Name]-chan!" 

Slowly but surely, the whole Varia squad assembled, including a very beaten-up Levi. An array of conversation erupted and everyone's lips were moving too fast for you to keep up. Eventually, your papa bent down to eye level with you and began to speak. "Good job, [Name]. You did good. 

For once, he didn't yell. And he was standing right in front of you, so you could easily read his lips. Knowing not to expect a more heartfelt compliment, you smile and dip your head in a respectful bow, as a student to a master should. 

"Thanks, papa! But do me a favor and speak louder next time so I can at least hear some of it!"