How to Start a Business with the Child Mafia

Finally, Junchi and Arjean were able to get away from their family. Today was the day for them to start their mafia. Arjean gave Junchi the idea after hearing their moms speak about how there were gangs, mafias, and criminal groups causing trouble. The idea fascinated both of them, especially since those groups seemed to be so famous, yet some had never been caught. Junchi accepted the idea after some pressure from Arjean, with the promise of a more exciting life got him into the idea. This was the perfect secret to keep with Arjean, and he could make so many friends planning this out. Arjean described it as being a "game," which didn't help Junchi's worries considering their games could get... uncomfortable at times. Yet he was promised to be the leader, while Arjean would be the co-leader, and Junchi did love to lead.

Arjean's family was busy doing their fashion stuff, while Junchi's dads were doing their weekly home cleaning. They both took this as their chance to head down to the park carrying bags of art supplies, then dump it onto the grass. Arjean brought the most supplies, which included light storybooks to use as a surface, crayons, colored paper, sparkles, and stickers. Junchi brought pencils, his one-hundred-one marker set (which he was very proud of), and plain paper.

The two mafia leaders didn't hesitate to get to work. First they began by folding all the paper into a hamburger fold, then they began writing out messages on them. Junchi found it easier to write when he was reading out his words. "You have been invited to joi-... Uh... Arjean?" Arjean didn't hear him at first, and it took him a few more tries to get their attention. "Arjean. Arjean. Arjean. Arjean!" He flicked their forehead. "Listen to me!"

The flick and yelling worked and they looked up at him. He could see they weren't happy, even with their convincing smiling. Even while faking their emotions, you could feel the anger radiating off of them, like any moment they would try to pinch you or scratch you. Maybe that's why their family kept their claws shaved. "Yes, Junchi?" they responded in a sweet voice.

"We... need a name..." The expression on their face after he told them his worries nearly sent him into giggles. They quickly dropped their fake happiness look and stared down at their paper, obviously confused from making such a simple mistake.

Their only response was a stuttering "W-We can... u-uh... um... We can... a-ask... our members?" Arjean wasn't that stupid, they had to know that so far the only members they had was them and Junchi. That meant that they should've been discussing this already, and not at the last second. Though Arjean did tell Junchi that there was the possibility of them bringing in another friend they made named Theo. The idea of Arjean making friends without Junchi's presence disturbed him, but this was his opportunity to know who this "Theo" was.

The two sat there quietly, confused on what to do now. Their posters were supposed to be secret messages to give to members they found suitable, but how could they advertise a nameless business? Putting something down like Child Mafia seemed so lame. Junchi's dads would never advertise their shop as just Flower Shop. The best way to go was to find members first, then make a name, but they didn't have any official members other than themselves. Theo wasn't present at the moment, despite Arjean's apparent message to tell him to meet them here, and there wasn't really anyone else. Maybe he was just late, or he decided to just not show up at all.

There was also another issue Junchi realized: how did they keep something a secret if it was written on paper? Lots of things could be a secret on paper, but judging by himself, Arjean, and other kids his age, children weren't the most secretive. They had to pick the most trustworthy members that wouldn't mess things up by being too much of a loud mouth. Junchi already had to deal with Arjean, and he wasn't in the mood to handle a whole group of Arjeans.

"Let's stay here and... um... mmm... watch? Watch other kids. We pick out the good ones," Junchi suggested. Arjean gave a simple nod in response, though they didn't seem to agree with the idea much.

"If they tell, you lie, I make them go away." The idea of Arjean immediately resorting to violence was already a bad sign. The mafia shouldn't start off immediately with trying to kill off people who were denied membership.

"I... can handle that" was the only response he had to Arjean, but that seemed to quiet them down as they both went back to thinking and watching the other kids in the park playing.

(( @BoopDeBoop @Phoebe ))

Nothing. Arjean couldn't think of anything to solve this situations, but that was mostly because they hoped Junchi would have the solution. He was the expert in manipulation and making plans, especially when it came to interacting with people and lying. Arjean lacked the type of social trait he said, and while they liked making friends and meeting new people, it was easier to be around people they knew well. Watching the kids made Arjean desire to get away from them more than anything else. They were all strangers, and so loud too. The amount of kids they had to observe and listen to made them anxious, forcing their body to scoot closer to Junchi and hold onto his arm. He didn't notice though, and just continued thinking deeply about putting the mafia into motion. It would have been nice to have his attention, but he was working, and working hard.

It was then that Arjean realized that the mafia would have to include strangers. Arjean didn't want to be around people they didn't know, and they were already hesitant to trust Theo considering he was also new to their life. For all they knew, he could be a liar and could be planning ways to hurt them and didn't actually care about them. Junchi had to be the one to handle all the people. That didn't even have to be spoken, it was just known. Arjean would be given the role to gather supplies, keep everyone in order, and handle the more gory situations that Junchi was too boring to handle.

Their breathing must have been loud, because when Junchi pinched them out of their daydream they could see a concerned look on his face as he looked down at them. They didn't realize that their eyes were open too, and that they were picking at their skin and feather. Maybe that's why they felt so tired, they were constantly trying to heal themselves whenever they broke their skin, yet didn't realize it until Junchi's pinch. When Arjean attempted to apologize, they were cut off by Junchi as he turned his head away. "Stop. You are fine," he told them in Oscela. That seemed to be an attempt at soothing them, but he didn't seem to care much.

Arjean followed what Junchi was looking at and saw the face of... something... Arjean couldn't tell what it was, and Junchi couldn't tell too. They both stared at it in confusion, trying to figure out what it was. It seemed to be some sort of rodent maybe? Arjean couldn't tell, but they had a feeling they saw it somewhere before. It looked like something Junchi's family would hunt and bring for dinner with their family. Junchi didn't seem to know what it was too though, and when it spoke they both nearly jumped back, but instead they held tightly onto each other.

Junchi spoke first, as always. "Uh... Hello?" Arjean supposed they came off as rude for not also speaking, but they were too anxious about everything: the loud children playing around them, the way the mafia would have to be set up, the strange being that hung right above them, all of it was too much for Arjean to process. They were beginning to hear whispers and felt bugs crawling on them, but when they looked around there were no bugs around, other than the one the rodent thing ate. There was also no one around with the voice of the whispers, but it was common for the whisperers to be invisible and not from just one source.

Finally, they swallowed their spit and squeaked out a small, "H-Hullo..." Then buried their face into Junchi's chest, but made sure to leave enough room to see the rodent thing.

Junchi squinted his eyes at the creature when they announced they meant to scare him and Arjean. Not only were they able to speak despite their animalistic appearance, they also didn't seem to actually mean to scare them. In fact, they looked scared of the situation they were in. Well, they were the one who got themself into it, it was their fault. Junchi had a small feeling it wasn't right to judge him for their appearance though, considering oricenta looked similar to centaurs, cervitaurs, owls, deer, and humans.

That was not an oricenta, or any species similar to one. "What are you?" Junchi blurted out, not caring if it was a harsh response. Before any response could be made though, some boy come running to the group apologizing for being late. He must have been Theo, the werewolf boy Arjean befriended. It was made even more obvious by how Arjean seemed excited to see him and flew over to greet him.

"Hullo!" they said excitedly. Then they pointed at him and said, "He is Junchi." When they pointed at that creature that Junchi was eighty-percent sure was an aye-aye they tilted their head and said, "I dunno. Yes, what are you? I'm Arjean Afolabi-Soie." Junchi could see a subtle look in their eyes that showed they didn't see the aye-aye as a child or anything like oricenta, but instead something on the level of an animal. At least someone they considered on the level of an oricenta or a toy was treated better than their pets, though that varied depending on the person, circumstance, and their emotions.