Gabriel and Juliano

Gabriel (ガブリエル, Gaburieru) and Juliano (ジュリアーノ, Juriāno) are identical twins who work as bodyguards for the Runorata Family. Their rescue of Carzelio Runorata from his kidnappers in 1931 is partially responsible for foiling the Lemures' own attempts to rescue Huey Laforet from prison.

In February 1935, Bartolo Runorata orders Gabriel and Juliano to exclusively serve as Cazze's bodyguards in preparation for the upcoming three-day casino party at Ra's Lance. When Charkie the bear escapes, they track him down on the second day to Central Park; there, they are drawn into a showdown between multiple factions involved with the party.

Appearance
Gabriel and Juliano have blue eyes and light brown hair. As identical twins, they are distinguished by their hair alone: Gabriel's hair is slicked back, while Juliano's hair is less tamed.

They wear matching three piece tuxedos and gloves, an elegant contrast to the black biker goggles perched atop their heads.

Personality
Gabriel is always polite and respectful to those he speaks with, conducting himself in gentlemanly fashion. Juliano, on the other hand, is more boisterous and speaks and acts in the manner of a rough gangster.

Gabriel comes across as more thoughtful and intuitive than his brother, as seen when he purposefully sends Juliano away so that he can deal with Cazze's kidnappers on his own. However, he tends to be the one who asks what they should do next, with Juliano then suggesting a possible course of action.

The brothers refer to each other in the first person (see Trivia) and many people think of them as one person in two bodies. This includes other members of the Runorata Family, most of whom refer to Gabriel and Juliano as "mad dogs" and regard them with fear and hatred.

Such fear stems from the fact that Gabriel and Juliano are trigger-happy by nature, predatory hunters who have little respect for human life – and, like hounds, take honest joy in the thrill of the hunt. However, they detest the "mad dog" moniker and are normally all but taciturn when at the Runoratas' manor, unless in the presence of Bartolo or Cazze – neither of whom fear or hate the twins nor refer to them by their hated epithet.

Consequently, Bartolo and Cazze are the only people for whom Gabriel and Juliano have nothing but the utmost love, respect, and loyalty. They are willing to do anything that Bartolo and Cazze request and anything to keep them safe, to the point where they view themselves as human shields and would willingly choose death should their masters be killed before them. Where their colleagues dream of prestige or climbing the Runorata Family ladder, the twins want only to serve Bartolo and Cazze as tools.

With Cazze, Gabriel and Juliano act more like butlers than security guards, referring to him as "Young Master" and deferentially bowing to him despite his young age. Their treatment is not only borne out of their belief in his worthiness as a future mafia leader, but out of their personal care for his well-being; they are genuinely happy to see Cazze so carefree in 1931 and genuinely furious with those who would hurt him.

1931 ~ Winter: The Time of the Oasis
Gabriel and Juliano first come into the Runoratas' employ as assassins, but are later reassigned as Bartolo's bodyguards after killing one too many unnecessary targets while on the job. They initially believe that their duty is to put their lives on the line for Bartolo Runorata, not the family as a whole, but mechanically do as bid after a long-time bodyguard informs them that Bartolo's family is a part of Bartolo himself and should be treated as such.

Bartolo's first grandson Carzelio "Cazze" Runorata is born in late December 1922, while the twins are on bodyguard duty. On the condition that they must try to never kill anyone in Cazze's presence, they are entrusted with protecting Cazze on multiple occasions in the years that follow – however, yet to see the long-time bodyguard's point, they do so simply out of obligation and without especial care.

They change their minds shortly after Cazze's fifth birthday in late December 1927, when ten-odd people attack a Runorata car carrying Cazze and his father. Gabriel and Juliano slaughter the hoodlums with ease, and in the aftermath are wildly unconcerned over the fact that they committed murder with Cazze as witness. Cazze exits the car and gives the twins an innocent smile, thanking them for saving him. They are astonished by his reaction, and Juliano asks Cazze if he is not frightened of them. Quizzical, Cazze simply cocks his head.

His sincere gratitude causes Gabriel and Juliano break out into smiles of their own, which unnerve Cazze's father into dragging Cazze back into the car. The twins ignore him, dropping to one knee at the same moment. Bowing deeply, they apologize for having treating their protection of him as merely 'work'; from now on, they consider Cazze as much their master as they do Bartolo.

Some time after the incident, a rumor spreads among the Runorata Family that Cazze had won the hearts of the two 'mad dogs' in an instant. The fight for the succession to Bartolo had already been won.

Four years later, Cazze runs away on December 30, 1931 just after his ninth birthday, leaving behind a note that says he intends to return after New Year's Day. His father's subordinates immediately set out to search for him, but the situation worsens when a woman calls the manor and claims to have kidnapped Cazze. She demands that the Runoratas bring ransom money to a specific bungalow near the riverbank, and warns them not to contact the police.

Gabriel and Juliano, who are currently off-duty, approach Bartolo and ask him to let them resolve Cazze's kidnapping. Bartolo points out that not even he has the right to give orders to anyone who is off-duty, but Gabriel reminds him of a rule that says that anyone off-duty can do whatever they want so long as they don't hurt the family. According to Juliano, this means that they would be acting as hunters, not bodyguards.

Bartolo sighs at the dramatics and quips that hunting has always been their main job, not bodyguarding. WIth permission received, Gabriel and Juliano ride out into the night at via their modified motorbikes at top speeds. Although the first few minutes on the road are spent in expressionless silence, they are both burning with excitement over the prospect of a hunt – it having been too long since their last one – and sing an odd song about hunting a rabbit. Despite the fact that they are unable to hear each other over the engine and the wind, they sing in perfectly synchronized rhythm.

Eventually the twins reach bungalow number three, where they find a box located at its entrance. All that the box contains is a note from the kidnappers, which says that Cazze has been left in the company of some random passerby youths by the nearby bridge. The note orders its reader to place the ransom money inside the box and send it down the river. Juliano picks up the box and attaches it to the back of his motorbike before he and Gabriel continue on their way.

Not far from the predetermined trading spot, Gabriel and Juliano briefly park their motorcycles by the near side of the woods and check their wallets: one has twenty dollars and the other twelve, making thirty-two dollars altogether. They shake their heads at the low amount, resolving to 'start the hunt' if the kidnappers refuse to accept the money – and, if anything has happened to Cazze, to kill them all.

Gabriel and Juliano head into the forest rather than continuing down the exposed road, and hide in the trees at the sound of an engine off in the distance. A man dressed in a vaguely militaristic uniform drives an off-road vehicle past their hiding spots a few seconds later; wasting no time, they return to the road and give chase.

Juliano turns off his motorbike's headlights, creating the illusion that their two bikes have turned into one in the driver's rearview mirror. The intentional ploy is successful; the driver only realizes what has happened when Juliano is right next to his door, and when he does, he snatches up his gun and fires a shot in his direction. Instead of moving away, Juliano closes in until he is within reaching distance. Shouting, "Haha, bingo! Yeah, you're no ordinary kidnapper, are ya, punk?!", he grabs the man's wrist and twists as hard as he can, causing the man to crash the vehicle into the trees.

Dismount their motorcycles, Gabriel and Juliano extract the driver, string him via a rope from a nearby tree, and proceed to interrogate him. The man – a Lemur – becomes vicious as soon as they mention "the child" and accuses them of being 'dogs of the government', but ultimately divulges where he was going before passing out.

Gabriel wonders why the man called them government dogs, and Juliano suggests that it might be because Bartolo is on good terms with Senator Manfred Beriam. At that, Gabriel coldly surmises that the kidnappers are so misguided that they somehow believe that Bartolo is below Beriam, and the two ride off toward the bungalows in order to teach the kidnappers a lesson.

Near the entrance of the forest, the twins dismount their noisy bikes in favor of pushing them. They are also wary of possible wire traps, having missed the chance to ask the man about them prior to his passing out. One of the twins (probably Gabriel) asks which weapons they prepared, and the other replies that he has three handguns, including backups. The first says that he has two knives and wire, but only one gun.

Both of the brothers know that they need to reach the bungalows by morning, but on the other hand, they also have the option to first attack what appears to be the kidnappers' base. The two think for a moment, and Gabriel finally proposes that one of them will take all the money and carry out the exchange, while the other invades the base.

He hands Juliano his money, making him responsible for the exchange, and the two go their separate ways: Juliano into the woods, and Gabriel toward the militaristic campsite near the bridge over the river. On his way to the exchange, Juliano (unnamed) stiffens at the sound of a distant gunshot and breaks into a sprint, still pushing his bike. His resolve hardens: If the shot had killed Cazze, he will kill all his enemies and then die himself.

Meanwhile, Gabriel (unnamed) skulks in the shadows near the camp and eavesdrops on two Lemures conversing about a child who is slated to die. The child in question is Mary Beriam, but she is referred to in such vague terms that the twin assumes they are talking about Cazze instead. He emerges from the trees, quietly calls out to them, and presses a thumb to each of their throats as soon as they turn. When the men wake a few minutes later, the twin declares that he will take his time in murdering them – a 'hundred days of slow death' per man – and proceeds to subject them to a brief but brutal round of torture-interrogation.

The Lemures' screams draw the attention of Pamela and Lana (Cazze's real kidnappers), and Gabriel, hearing their voices, hits the Lemures hard enough to cause them to faint. He hides them in the shadow of a nearby car, conceals himself in the shadow of the trees, and watches Pamela and Lana arrive and investigate the militaristic campsite for several minutes. They head down the slope when Pamela mentions that Cazze and Sonja will be worried, and the use of Cazze's nickname is enough to have the twin surreptitiously tail them.

Pamela and Lana come to a stop upon realizing that a situation has unfolded by the riverbank: six or so armed Lemures surround the delinquent youths, with their leader Serges holding Cazze hostage at knifepoint. Horrified, they wonder how they will possibly be able to rescue Cazze, but Gabriel approaches them and politely advises that they refrain from rashness – he says that are the men are not only experienced with guns, it is his job to save the "young master," not theirs.

Lana squeaks and reaches for the grenade, but Pamela holds her back. Gabriel ignores them, busy assessing the situation under his breath: if the men have some sort of opening, he and Juliano can take them out in one go. As he mulls over his plan, he spots Cookie the bear next to one of the trucks down by the riverbank. Recovering quickly from his shock – recovering more swiftly than all others present – he determines that Cookie is exactly the opening he needs.

Cookie and Gabriel make their moves concurrently: while Cookie attacks one of the Lemures, Gabriel takes advantage of the disorder and dispatches two of the Lemures from behind. At the same time, Juliano bursts onto the riverbank via his motorbike, distracting Serges for three seconds – enough time for Gabriel to seize Serges' wrist, flip him to the ground, and move to stand in front of Cazze as a human shield.

In a voice filled with the highest respect, and smiling kindly so as to calm him, Gabriel requests that Cazze make his way down the river and away from the dangerous situation. Meanwhile, Juliano takes a hard look at the surrounding chaos and demands to know what is going on, drawing Cazze's attention. As soon as Cazze calls his name, Juliano dismounts, bows and expresses his relief at finding Cazze safe. It is at this point that Serges finally realizes Cookie and the brothers must have taken care of the other Lemures while he was knocked down.

Once Cazze heads off to join the delinquents, Juliano blithely asks Serges if he actually thought he would accomplish anything by making the Runoratas his enemies. Serges comes to his own misguided conclusion that Bartolo must be "eating out of Senator Beriam's hand," and that he ordered the twins to finish the Lemures off. However, his initial conviction withers in the face of the brothers' strong murderous aura.

Frigid, they comment that Serges has said something 'interesting' and conclude that their first priority is to make sure they never hear his voice again, so as not to disrespect Mister Bartolo. Before Gabriel and Juliano can carry out their threat, however, two armed Lemures arrive on the scene and aim their cocked guns at the twins' heads. Ordering everyone to freeze, the men keep their guns trained on the twins and cautiously approach them, asking Serges if he is all right. Sonja's exclamation that they are holding her guns goes unheard.

Gabriel and Juliano whisper to each other that they will likely have to kill the newcomers as well, which is a problem considering that they are still under orders to not let Cazze witness a murder until he turned thirteen. Juliano points out that Cazze has seen them kill once before, and that if they stall, he might be hit by a stray bullet.

While they confer, Lana retrieves a smoke grenade out of her pocket, pulls the pin, and throws it to the ground. White smoke unfurls from the cylinder and enshrouds all present, and after Cookie the bear attacks the two newcomers, the twins seize the opportunity by beating the Lemures into unconsciousness. They then throw the unconscious men into a pile before Pamela and Lana's eyes.

Juliano asks Gabriel what the hell is going on, complaining that 'putting money in a box', among other things, made no sense. Gabriel smiles wryly and says that they will talk later, since he already obtained information on the men's goals through torture. The implication that the men's goal was not kidnapping Cazze confuses Juliano, and Gabriel explains that the men's target is apparently the train that will shortly pass over the river. Furthermore, the voice over the phone had belonged to a woman, not a man.

With that, Gabriel turns to fix Pamela and Lana a knowing grin. Juliano cracks his neck and thanks the woman for the earlier grenade, calling it a huge help, and then dashes off to collect Cazze at Gabriel's request. Gabriel watches him go before quietly confronting Pamela and Lana, who are obviously not random passersby.

Lana immediately blubbers an tearful apology, claiming that the idea to kidnap Cazze was hers alone. Since the others did not know anything about her, and since she was the one who called in the first place, she would be grateful if the twins turned only her over to the police. Gabriel chuckles and answers politely that it seems Lana is mistaken: he had received a message not to contact the police, and his master had told him that he would leave the fate of the kidnappers in his and Juliano's hands – which means that he can do whatever he wants with the kidnappers.

Pamela steps forward to protect Lana, asking what he plans to do to them. Gabriel chuckles again and withdraws his wallet, which he assumes to be empty after the money exchange, but finds a half-dollar coin in its change compartment. He hands the coin over to Lana and asks if it will be enough to pay the ransom, to which Lana frantically nods.

Gabriel asks her to keep the exchange a secret, since if the Runoratas catch on that Cazza had been recovered at a ransom of a mere fifty cents, they will torture the one responsible for "a thousand days" before the perpetrator is permitted to die. The women accept him at his word when they see the chill in his eyes, but Pamela wonders why he would let Cazze's kidnappers off so easily.

He advises them that it would be best if they thought of it as the twins paying respects to "distinguished criminals" brazen enough to turn the Runoratas against them for a paltry half-dollar, but adds that he and his brother are sincerely grateful for their assistance with the smokescreen; his young master did not need to see any more blood needlessly spilled. Then, quietly, he says, "However, if you get carried away again...you understand, don't you?"

Lana and Pamela feel something "colder than ice" run down their spines at his smile, realizing that this is what true bloodlust looks like. Mustering all her courage, Pamela supports a swooning Lana and thanks Gabriel, whom she and her friends now owe. Gabriel hums to himself and concedes that the twins owe the women in equal measure. As he watches Cazze run his way with Juliano following, he confides that it has been a long time since he and his brother have seen Cazze so carefree.

Sonja joins them, and, from the way Lana is trembling, assumes that she and Pamela have fought again. Pamela assures her that they did not, which Lana affirms before promptly fainting at the sight of Cookie.

Cazze arrives shortly thereafter, looking dejected, and apologizes to Gabriel for making him worry. Gabriel gives him a little smile and says that it is his family's job to be angry with him, not the twins'. If they were to scold him, they would be "making light" of what Cazze's family has to say. Juliano, not speaking roughly for once, advises Cazze that he should prepare for the scolding of his life when they return home.

Still doleful, Cazze looks at the ground and meekly accepts his fate. Gabriel softly inquires if the experience was worth it and Cazze's face immediately brightens; he exclaims that he will remember today for the rest of his life. Gabriel thinks that this is rather excellent, and asks if Cazze would like to at least bring anything back with him before they head home.

Cazze bashfully says that there is one thing - or, rather, a someone. Gabriel stutters, "Oh my, that's quite a thing to say," silently wondering which of the delinquents Cazze could possibly mean. As it happens, he means none of them – instead, he points to Cookie, lumbering towards them out of the dissipating smoke. He rashly explains that they became friends earlier, and asks if he can keep the bear – whom he has named "Charlie" – as a pet. The twins look at each other, smile, and without hesitation bow and give their consent.

February 1935
On Bartolo's orders, Gabriel and Juliano spend the month guarding Cazze exclusively. Thus, when Cazze travels to a Martillo casino in an eight vehicle convoy, Gabriel and Juliano are among the bodyguards accompanying him – specifically, they guard a large truck at the end of a convey from their motorbikes. On the way they pass a car driven by Shaft, carrying passengers Ladd Russo, Lua Klein, Graham Specter, and Nader Schasschule.

Upon reaching Firo Prochainezo's casino, Cazze and his entourage enter the premises with one twin leading and the other twin following as the rearguard. Among other clashes, all present witness a violent reunion between Ladd and Felix Walken. When Melvi Dormentaire leaves the casino soon afterward, Felix, Cazze, and Cazze's people follow; Melvi is approached by Tim outside the building, and though Gabriel and Juliano recognize Tim, they do not intervene as he chastises Melvi.

Later, the Runoratas erect a tent next to Ra's Lance for Cookie. While watching Cazze and Mary Beriam chatter inside the tent, Gabriel and Juliano discuss Cookie's expected arrival and the unknown reason for Mary's presence; since she obviously is not going to gamble at Ra's Lance's casino, it is possible that Bartolo and Senator Beriam have made some sort of deal. If Bartolo intends for her to be present, then there is not a problem, but they cannot rule out the possibility that Senator Beriam is scheming something.

Juliano suggests that they cut off Mary's ear and send it to the Senator if that proves to be the case, but Gabriel refuses on the grounds that Mary is Cazze's friend. Both agree that making Cazze sad is unacceptable. In the meantime, as hunters, they will eagerly wait for one of their masters to tell them the name of their prey.

That night, Cookie's transport suffers an accident while in transit. Cookie escapes and charges off down the New York streets, and multiple witnesses report seeing a monster in the area.

During the three-day casino party, Cazze lives in a grand suite on one of the uppermost penthouse floors of Ra's Lance with Gabriel and Juliano guarding him. On the morning of the second day of the party, Cazze expresses his worry for Cookie's safety to the twins, who attempt to reassure him that Cookie is only a little lost (and, since they told the police he is friendly, he will not be injured). Cazze is not reassured, and the twins decide that they will personally search for the bear for his sake.

Gabriel and Juliano leave without further ado, stopping to survey the dozen-odd bodyguards stationed in the hallway. Gabriel asks Juliano if he thinks someone might try to take Cazze hostage, since plenty of mafia families or the Martillo Camorra would consider Cazze a valuable prisoner. Additionally, neither brother trusts Huey Laforet's collaboration with the Runoratas nor Huey's man Melvi, who seems more loyal to House Dormentaire than Huey himself. Melvi's involvement could mean that the Dormentaires plan on using Cazze somehow.

The twins' search for Cookie eventually leads them to Fred's Clinic, where they find a crowd of rubberneckers and guards in suits in front of the clinic gate. They reckon that the guards are police officers, potentially even with the Bureau of Investigation, and push through the crowd with the intention of sneaking a look inside the clinic. Nearby, a group of men and women emerge from a parked car, and Juliano remarks that they give him a 'bad feeling'.

Gabriel agrees, and identifies the man with the wrench – Graham – as one of the dangerous men whose photographs they were shown prior to arriving in New York. The group (consisting of Graham, Ladd, Lua, and Shaft) head for the gate and are refused entry, but someone inside the clinic recognizes Ladd and invites him inside. In the meantime, everyone else is left to wait for new developments.

Eventually they hear an odd noise reverberating from Central Park that sounds similar to Cookie's roar; the door to the clinic opens, and Cookie himself emerges from the building. Gabriel and Juliano move to reclaim him, but shift gears upon spotting the guards drawing their guns. Dashing forward, the pair retrieve throwing knives from their pockets and throw them at the guards in perfect synchronization.

The knives hit the guards' guns with bullseye accuracy, forcing them to drop their weapons. They demand to know who the twins are, and Gabriel and Juliano calmly explain that they work for the Runoratas and that they've come to retrieve their master's "friend." The guards scramble for their guns just as Cookie barges through the gate; as Graham waxes poetic over Cookie, Victor Talbot emerges from the clinic and draws his own gun, shouting for the guards to restrain Cookie before he causes a panic. Isaac and Miria slip by him a moment later and manage to scramble onto Cookie's back. Ladd follows after them, casually punching Victor in passing.

Gabriel and Juliano mount their motorbikes and take chase after Cookie and his riders, as do Ladd, Lua, and Graham in and on Shaft's car, the bumper of which Victor grabs onto and holds even as he is dragged along the road. On the way, they pass Luck Gandor, Maria Barcelito, Raz Smith, Mark Wilmans, and Alkins. The chase eventually comes to an end in Central Park, where Salomé Carpenter and the Larva and Lamia have been blasting the aforementioned noise from a portable speaker all along.

Soon after the twins and company arrive, so do Luck and his entourage of assassins, Ricardo Russo, and Ricardo's bodyguard Christopher Shaldred. Lamia members Poet and Sickle try to convince Salomé to not engage Ladd, who promptly punches Salomé anyway. Fighting erupts on all sides. Cookie's confused roar briefly stops the chaos, but the arrival of Chané Laforet swiftly leads to a rematch between her and Ladd, which in turn leads to the Lamia and Luck's assassins devolving back into fighting. Gabriel and Juliano stay out of the fray, mostly just concerned with figuring out how retrieve Cookie and deliver him to Cazze.

The chaos is brought to a halt for a second time when Felix uses Salomé's speaker to draw everyone's attention, and Cookie dumps Isaac and Miria in favor of scooping Felix up onto his back. Via the loudspeaker, Felix assures Chané that he loves her no matter what and proceeds to issue a challenge to all those with a grudge against him, Huey, and/or the Runoratas: tomorrow night, he will be guarding a certain room during the casino party at Ra's Lance. He welcomes anyone to fight him there if they so choose, or, if they are cowards, simply have themselves arrested instead.

Ladd immediately tries to attack Felix, but is sideswiped by Cookie before he can get anywhere near his target. Felix apologizes on Cookie's behalf, but Ladd, assuming that he is Cookie's owner, threatens that the owner should be 'held responsible' for what has occured. Gabriel and Juliano take umbrage with this and aim their guns at Ladd, warning him that anyone who intends to hurt Cookie's owner is an enemy of the Runoratas. Juliano adds that they will let Ladd go if he leaves now, but Ladd only grins and replies that they were his enemies from the start.

Victor fires his gun skyward, stopping the fight between Ladd and the twins before it began, identifying himself as a BOI agent. With the gunshot having attracted police attention, everyone present except for Lua, Shaft, Victor, Isaac, and Miria form battle lines: those affiliated with Huey and the Runoratas, including the twins, Chané, Salomé, Felix, and the Larva-Lamia...versus Ladd, Graham, their fellow Gandor-hired assassins, and Christopher.

With teams technically established, everyone scatters before the police can arrest them. Cookie takes off running with Felix and Chané on his back and with the twins following on their motorbikes; over the noise, Gabriel calls to Juliano that it might be prudent to keep Cazze away from the casino tomorrow night if Felix's challenge is met. As for the challenge itself, he is unimpressed – as far as he is concerned, any bodyguard who tells his opponent where his charge will be is a terrible bodyguard.

(To be continued in 1935-E)

Abilities
The two are extremely capable fighters, having proven demonstrably competent in close unarmed combat. At minimum, they know some form of martial force. Although Gabriel prefers knives and Juliano prefers guns, both are able to inflict lethal wounds with any weapon.

Their motorbikes are modified, capable of racing up to more than sixty kilometers (just under forty miles) per hour.

Trivia

 * Bartolo always has an organized team of twelve bodyguards, divided into three groups of four. The groups rotate through protecting Bartolo and his family, so that one group is always off duty. When they are off duty, nobody can force them to work.
 * To elaborate upon the "first pronouns" detail: In the original Japanese, they use the first-person expressions ore (Juliano) and watashi (Gabriel) to refer to each other. In addition, they use kochira and kocchi to refer to themselves. There is no way to approximate this in English, and fan-translators have chosen to take two different approaches thus far in translating their speech
 * One translation has adapted this peculiarity into English with the pronoun "we." In the translation, "we" can mean both 'I', 'you', and 'we.'
 * The other method that has been used goes as follows: when Gabriel speaks, the pronoun he uses is translated as 'I' (e.g. "It certainly is troublesome, I."). The pronoun Juliano uses is translated as 'me' (e.g. "Hey, hey, hey, this is a problem, me.") Unlike the first method, this one (like the original Japanese) makes it clear whom is speaking to whom.
 * According to 1935-D: Luckstreet Boys, Gabriel prefers knives and Juliano prefers guns.
 * "Usually Gabriel preferred knives and Juliano preferred guns, but since they didn't want to cause too much of a scene this time, they both elected to use the throwing knives."