Training. Again.
Although Feliciano Vargas was no stranger to such thing, it was tiring, and the little Italian man was not accustomed to such brutality. The entire process was made especially harsh considering his instructor was Ludwig Beilschmidt, a tough German, a little rough around the edges, but sweet and caring once he bonded with you. Today was grenades. Again.
Feliciano (and by extension, his brother Lovino) wasn't very skilled at the whole 'throw the grenade, keep the pin' concept of being a grenadier, and he'd usually end up throwing the pin, and keeping the grenade. In the past, Ludwig had gotten the active grenade away from them (along with Kiku Honda, their Japanese companion and third wheel extraordinaire) and Feliciano was given a stern lecture on his life and its fragility, followed by a plateful of pasta and beer.
Today was no different than any other training day. He'd been cursed at until he woke up, promptly apologized to, overeaten a breakfast of pasta, slept another two hours and was now chipper as ever, standing at attention with Kiku, on the training grounds. "Count off!" Ludwig called, his voice booming, rattling little usually stoic Kiku, although he collected himself after one yelp. Never quite used to the German style of murderous combat, that one.
"Uno!" Feliciano called, his usual flirtatiousness bursting at the seams, although never quite intentional. "Ni!" Kiku answered, his voice reserved but stern. "Alright. Today we will revisit grenades, this time being the sixth." Ludwig shouted at his students, his voice growing impatient in Feliciano's direction, to which he promptly whimpered, and Ludwig made a tiny apologetic glance at him. This gesture was coupled with a tiny smile from the Italian, the Japanese oblivious to the entire scene.
Ludwig rattled off his usual lecture on staying safe and winning the war and some heroic prattle about Axis Power. Typical. Then they were directed to a box of grenades. Ludwig picked the first one up. "Now, you are going to bite off the pin, aim-," he instructed, doing so, "and throw! Now watch as the enemy is blown to pieces." he said, around the pin. They watched as the explosive detonated, flames blossoming yellow and orange nearby. "Kiku, you're next."
Kiku hesitantly snatched the second grenade from the box, and bit the pin as directed, arching his arm and throwing the grenade. He smiled slightly around the pin in his mouth as the grenade detonated. "Good job, Kiku." he said, patting the smaller man on the back, much to his dismay as he audibly groaned, pushing Ludwig away from him.
Hesitantly, Ludwig motioned at the box. "Feliciano, your turn." he said, and he watched as the Italian man picked up the grenade, putting the pin between his lips. He tugged abruptly. "Careful! It's active now." Ludwig reminded, ready to pull the grenade from his friend's mouth at any moment. The Italian threw the pin a little ways out, and the grenade remained between his lips. Ludwig barked at Feliciano to throw it, but Feliciano tensed up.
Ludwig continued to scream at him, reminding him his life was in danger. Ludwig's head fogged with thoughts of how long it took for a grenade of this type to detonate, before he realized his time was out. He watched as Feliciano's amber eyes looked at him, glossy with tears. How his lips formed words that he couldn't understand around the grenade, and how he waved a little, before Ludwig grabbed Kiku from behind him, landing right on top of him, shielding him from the explosion.
Force rippled throughout Feliciano's body, pushing him backwards. The last thing he felt was the pain that ripped at his facial flesh, as his jaw was ripped from his skull, and the blood that poured onto his tongue. Darkness welcomed Feliciano, as his body hit the ground behind him.
As soon as Ludwig realized that the explosion had stopped, he whispered an apology to Kiku, who accepted it and turned to look at the remainders of the explosion. Carnage meddled with the shrapnel that his body had become, and the shreds of his pale blue uniform, that still clung to the bits of flesh blown about. Ludwig had to dig a piece of Feliciano's skull out of his back.
Large, glassy tears welled in his eyes, as he cried Feliciano's name into the air one last, melodramatic time. Kiku too, shed tears, realizing that Feliciano was gone forever. The last words that Feliciano said to Ludwig, though, bounded around his skull, burning a painful scar in his memory.
"Ti amo, Doitsu."