Café Munio

Tsuna was well into the second year of high school in Namimori High when he realized that he should probably get a part-time job. Lots of other students had gotten part-time jobs by now, and he supposed that it would be a good experience for the future.

So Tsuna wandered around Namimori for a bit, glancing at shops to see if they needed any extra workers. He'd found two shops: a clothing shop and a Vietnamese restaurant, but the clothing shop already had a list of people who'd applied and the Vietnamese restaurant had a rather unpleasant worker who insulted him multiple times and frequently called him a girl.

Tsuna thought that it would be an unpleasant atmosphere to work in, so he walked away in despair. He was on his way home when he noticed a blonde haired man wearing army-style clothing setting up some tables.

It must be a new shop, Tsuna realized. Perhaps I can find a job here.

Feeling particularly brave, he walked over to the man and said cautiously, "Excuse me? My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, and I would like to know if there are any part-time jobs available here."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi?" the blonde man asked cheerfully. "Sure, we need a few extra hands anyway. My name's Colonello, by the way. You'll need to ask Lal Mirch about the job thing, though, she's the one who runs everything after all."

"A-Ah. I see, so do I go inside?" Tsuna felt his intuition begin to act up, but it was too late to back down anyways.

"Sure. The door's not locked. Lal is probably in there putting up decorations or something," Colonello gestured to the glass door and Tsuna muttered a thanks before entering the shop.

The interior of the shop was rather quaint, with round wooden tables, flowers, and mirrors tastefully arranged all around. It obviously wasn't finished yet, though, as a bucket of paint stood in a corner and there were wooden planks lying in random places on the floor. In the middle of the room a blue-haired woman stood on a ladder, doing something to a hanging light fixture overhead.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for Lal Mirch," Tsuna said nervously.

"That would be me," the woman said, turning around, and Tsuna noticed that she had red goggles over her eyes. Who wears goggles inside? Maybe it was a necessity for whatever it was she was doing.

"And who are you?" Lal Mirch said suspiciously, climbing down from the ladder, which was wobbling precariously.

"Um, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi and I was wondering if I can secure a part-time job here. Colonello told me to find you," Tsuna fidgeted as he felt the woman stare at him.

"Hmph. We need a bit of extra help, anyway. Don't damage anything," and Lal Mirch turned away.

"D-does that mean I get the job?" Tsuna ventured.

"What does it sound like, boy? Yes, you do," the woman snapped, "Go get a form from that room over there, and fill it out. Leave it on my desk and I'll call you to tell you your job information."

"Y-yes ma'am," Tsuna squeaked, and the woman nodded her head, satisfied. He quickly walked over to the door, opened it, and slid inside.

Much to his dismay, there was a man with a fedora sitting behind the desk. "U-um, hello, my name is—" Tsuna began.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, I know," the man interrupted, and Tsuna jumped.

"A-ah, yes." Tsuna noticed a green chameleon sitting on the brim of the fedora .

"This is Leon," the man said, lifting a hand up to the hat, and Leon crawled onto it obediently. Tsuna shuddered. "I am Reborn. The form is over here. Fill it out in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Tsuna squeaked. "But—" he said, panicked, only for the man to cut him off again. "Do it," he ordered. "Or I'll shoot you."

Tsuna watched in amazement as the chameleon somehow morphed into a gun and decided that do first, ask questions later was the better motto to follow in this situation. More like ask questions never, Tsuna thought forlornly. He should have trusted his intuition.

After filling out the form (which had included some strange questions like "Can you throw knives?" and "Are you a patient person?") Tsuna left it on the desk and quickly exited the room, shivering at the feel of the man's cold gaze directed at his back.

The new café was only two blocks away from his house and Tsuna was eternally grateful for that as he hurried home. "Kaa-san!" he called. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back, Tsu-kun. Did you find a job?" Nana asked cheerfully. "I've made dinner, so come and eat, okay?"

"Yes, Kaa-san," Tsuna replied. "And yes, I did find a job. It's at the new café two blocks away."

"Good job, Tsu-kun," Nana was the same as usual—carefree and unassuming.

That night Tsuna dreamt of chameleons spitting bullets and a mysterious man wearing a fedora and sporting two horns on top of his head.

The following morning was a Saturday, and at exactly 9 AM, Tsuna answered the telephone to hear the brisk, demanding voice of Lal Mirch. "Sawada," she barked as a way of greeting.

"Yes, ma'am?" he answered, since he had long since decided that 'ma'am' was the proper way to address this military-like woman.

She sniffed, then ordered Tsuna in a loud voice to 'get that lazy butt of his over to the shop by ten this morning or lose his job and his backpack,' which he had apparently left at the shop. That made no sense whatsoever as Tsuna clearly remembered doing his homework last night, and he ran up to check.

Finding no backpack in his room, Tsuna threw on some proper non-pajama clothes and raced to the store at full speed, to find Lal Mirch holding his backpack in one hand.

"I-I don't understand!" he burst out as Lal Mirch tossed his backpack to him. Tsuna rifled through the bag only to find that his homework was done, just as he'd remembered. He looked up hopelessly, and saw Lal Mirch whistling an innocent tune as she painted the walls a vibrant orange color.

With a growing sense of dread, Tsuna realized that the only way they could have gotten his backpack would be if they had snuck into his room when he was sleeping.

Tsuna was too afraid to ask.

Lal Mirch instructed Tsuna, Colonello and Reborn to meet in the back room at eleven, where Tsuna waited nervously while Reborn sat in a dark corner like a threatening shadow and Colonello wiped the table.

Lal entered with five more people and Tsuna's intuition warned him that he was in a very dangerous situation and he should definitely get out immediately, but Tsuna, naturally, was too chicken to ask.

"Sawada," Lal barked, and Tsuna jumped to attention. "These are your colleagues: Verde, Fon, Skull, and Viper." What kind of names are these? Tsuna thought wildly. "Sawada! Pay attention!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Colonello and Skull are our waiters, Viper is our finance manager, and Verde and Fon work in the kitchen," Lal explained, and Tsuna nodded to show he understood.

"How about you and Reborn-san, then?" Tsuna mumbled, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

"I help out with anything that needs to be done," Lal sighed, "Which is quite a lot of things," she added, glaring at the other colleagues, earning sheepish smiles in return.

"H-how about Reborn-san?" Tsuna asked.

"Don't use the –san, we find it annoying," Lal ordered, and Tsuna complied.

"What about Reborn?" he asked again. Lal paused to think about his question.

"Reborn… is the boss, I think," she finally said. They don't know who their boss is? Tsuna thought incredulously. Oh, well, he thought in resignation, they do seem to be a rather… eccentric bunch.

"What do I work as?"

Lal eyed him in surprise. "That's a good question. You're the cashier, and waiter, if needed."

"Oh. Okay," Tsuna said quietly, deciding that going along with things and not asking questions would lead him to a better fate than opposing would. All six seemed rather intimidating, after all.

"Right, let's get the shop in order!" Lal instructed, clapping her hands once. Colonello seemed startled by the loud clap, and Lal wasted no time in fiercely reprimanding him and telling him to pay attention.

Her method of punishment seemed to involve quite a lot of punches and violent shaking, so Tsuna made a mental note not to annoy her in the future.

Tsuna had been dismissed from work when he remembered that he wanted to ask Lal something. "Ma'am," he said cautiously, "C-can I ask you a question?"

"Speak up, Sawada," she commanded.

Tsuna took that as a yes, and spoke a little louder when he asked, "What does Café Munio mean?"

"Munio is Latin for to defend and protect," she answered in that no-nonsense way of hers. "Now go home. Tomorrow is Sunday and our first day of business. Get here by nine."

To defend and protect. Oh, Tsuna just knew that he'd gotten himself in deep trouble this time.