Chin length whitish silvery brown hair waved in the cold winter wind, mimicking the actions of a black scarf, but on a smaller scale. The man with the silvery hair had his hands in his thick jacket pockets, and he was hunched a little, scowling at anyone who looked at him for too long.
"Nikolai?" A voice whispered from the alleyway behind him.
A girl with hair the same color and a little shorter than his peeked her head around the corner. "Nikolai? Ivan wants to see you." She says.
Nikolai's scowl softens a bit. "Thank you, big sister. Tell him I will meet him as soon as possible."
The girl shook her head. "I would, Nikolai, but he says you need to come now."
The man sighed. "Fine. I'm coming." He turned and looked at her worried expression.
"... Little brother-" She began, but she was interrupted by him brushing past her.
"Iryna." He said in a low voice. "Don't worry. The Belorussian mafia is careful, we don't take risks unless there is at least a seventy five percent chance of success."
Iryna sighed, looking down at her feet. "If you say so."
With that, they both disappeared into the shadows.
In another part of the small town, a once empty house was about to be filled with life.
A blond male got out of a dark green car, sighing in half fatigue, half irritation. "The day we moved just had to be one of the coldest days ever..." the young man, Vash, grumbled. He looked at the house. Well, it looks warm, he thought, trying to assure himself that this was the right decision. He opened up the door and asked, "Are you ready to go inside?"
A figure nodded. It was another blond, although notably smaller and younger than the former. "Yes, brother. I'd like to go inside," Noah told Vash politely.
The two came from Switzerland, although Noah often visited the nearby country of Liechtenstein. They were siblings, very close. Noah looked up to Vash, and in turn Vash protected Noah.
Vash and Noah, holding hands, got out of the car and walked up to the front door. The elder held a set of silver keys, which he fumbled with until he found one and inserted it into the doorknob. A smaller hand grabbed the doorknob and slowly twisted it, and they looked inside for the first time.
"Welcome home, Noah."
Nikolai briskly walked into a dimly lit room, stopping as he noticed the huge table with already filled seats around it. His face went pale. He turned on his heel, and tried walking out before a hand grabbed onto his scarf and pulled him back.
"Noo, let me go! if I had known this was a meeting I would never have come!"
"Oh come on silly little brother~! It's not that bad, da~?"
"Ivan, let go of me!" Nikolai said, still struggling.
Ivan just let out a laugh before dragging Nikolai into an empty seat. Nikolai glared at his older brother as his scarf was tied around the back of the chair to prevent him from escaping.
Ivan just ignored him and addressed the big table. "This is my little brother Nikolai~. He's a little new~, but I have faith in his skills~." His voice suddenly dropped a few octaves. "Any questions~?"
A man raised his hand. How can we trust him with this assassination if he's a newbie? I mean-"
He was silenced by the intense glares both brothers were giving him, and everyone hears him give an audible gulp.
"I am thinking you did not hear me, yes~?" The man sank down in his seat. "I said I have faith in his skills~. If I were to let him go, he could kill every single one of you without leaving a trace~."
The man nodded numbly.
A bit of box-moving and furniture-arranging later, Noah collapsed on his bed. Oh bed, how he missed it!
A person living nearby, Toris, had so kindly offered to help bring in the boxes, and wouldn't accept "no" as an answer. Currently, both Vash and Toris were putting on the finishing touches.
Noah took out a book and started reading. He was pretty good at Russian and Belarusian, but one could never learn too much, correct?
After a bit of threatening and ... persuasion, Nikolai had finally been untied from the chair.
Reveling in his newfound freedom, Nikolai ran out of the meeting hall as fast as he could.
Ivan looked at his retreating back. "My little brother is so energetic~!"
He turned to the man who had voiced a complaint earlier, and began to speak. "Mr. Raivis Galante, please mind what you say~. Nikolai can handle himself, so I'm sure it will be fine~."
Raivis nodded, grateful at least the tall Russian man hadn't done anything to him. "Y-yes sir, Mr. Braginsky sir."
"Good~." Ivan gave Raivis a nod before following his brother.
"That's the last box!" Vash exclaimed, stretching as the contents of the last box (a collection of photo albums from their childhood) was emptied. "Thanks for the help, Toris!"
"No problem," Toris said, smiling. The brunet looked outside and suddenly froze slightly, eyes letting in a hint of fear.
This didn't go unnoticed by Vash. "Toris?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I've got to go. Goodnight!" Toris told Vash, leaving.
"Night..." Vash muttered, still slightly suspicious.
Nikolai ran down the street towards Toris's house. He had to get away from that place, not even noticing that his brother was following him until he called out. "Nikolai~! We've got to go home, yes~? Where are you going~?"
Nikolai froze. "I'm getting something! You can go home without me Ivan. Please tell Iryna I'll be home in a couple hours!" He said, stopping and looking back.
His brother, a couple feet away, nodded and went back. "Be safe, Nikolai~." Nikolai let out a sigh of relief as he disappeared.
Toris was waiting in front of his house. He appeared to be a bit nervous, although most people would wonder about what.
He looked up to see silver-blond hair of a somewhat familiar young man.
"Nikolai."
Nikolai cracked a rare - though admittedly small - grin as he looked at his friend. "Toris. Been a while."
There was a short awkward silence. "... M-maybe it's too much to ask, but... may I come in?"
"No problem," Toris agreed, opening the door for Nikolai. Once he was inside, Toris asked, "What's wrong?"
"I have a new job- and a really big one at that." Nikolai sat in an armchair once he got inside.
Toris perked up slightly. It wasn't every day Nikolai Braginsky got a job, but then why did the Belorussian seem so unhappy about it? "What job is it?"
Nikolai sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I have to kill a drug ring leader by the end of the year. The problem is, he's also a trained hitman, and he's in my class."
Toris sighed. "This does seem like a big job. Nikolai, you are very experienced, and very skillful, but I don't know what your big brother was thinking, giving you that job."
Nikolai ran a hand through his hair. "They still consider me a newbie, Toris. Even Raivis voiced a complaint." Nikolai said, referring to the small Latvian member of the meeting.
"People often underestimate you," Toris said. "I remember that I thought you would be weaker than Ivan when we first met, only to be proved wrong when you nearly punched a hole in the wall. Besides, Raivis is still young."
Nikolai laughed. "Fair point. But this is Alfred F. Jones, the heir to multiple American drug rings. He's gotta have at least some bodyguards."
"It will be easy with someone like you and a target like Alfred," Toris said. "He's a very independent man."
Nikolai muttered. "You may be right, but his brother is surprisingly scary. Anyway, ah..." Nikolai looked at his feet. "T-thanks for hearing me...!" He squeaked, standing up and rushing out.
"No problem," Toris said, but Nikolai was already out the door.
"I'm home." Nikolai walked into the house he shared with his older siblings. He took off his shoes, and walked into the kitchen, where Iryna was making a bubbling pot of something that smelled really good.
"Oh, welcome back, little brother." Iryna said with a smile. "Dinner will be ready in an hour. So get your homework done now!" She said cheerfully.
Nikolai sighed. "Alright, then." He went up to his room, picking his backpack off of the floor, he pulled out his algebra homework and a pencil.
Putting the algebra aside, he took a piece of lined paper out of his desk. "Now, to brainstorm ways to kill Alfred Jones."
Noah woke up to weakly streaming sunlight. He sat up, stretched, and looked outside, half expecting the meadows of Switzerland, but was instead met with the sight of snow-covered streets and other homes. 'Right... We moved... Guess it'll take awhile to get settled in...'
He went downstairs to see Vash eating some soup. "Good morning, Noah," the elder brother greeted.
"Good morning, older brother," Noah said respectfully, sitting down at the table and starting to eat.
After a while, Vash told Noah, "I'll be gone for most of the day, okay? I'm gonna look for a job, so stay here. You can look after yourself, right?"
"Yes..."
"Good," Vash nodded. He and Noah hugged before Vash took the keys and walked out.
Nikolai stumbled downstairs, hair messed up and his scarf only half on. "Good morning..." He said, yawning.
He picked up a copy of Blackbringer by Laini Taylor that he had specially translated into Russian for him. Ivan thought is was too childish since it was about fairies, but Nikolai disagreed, finding the story's dark undertones quite pleasing.
He collapsed on the couch, fully intending to just lay there all day.
Just because Vash had left him home didn't mean that he couldn't go on little walks, Noah had learned after living with Vash for about 14 years. The blond took a set of spare keys, pushed them into his pocket, and walked out of his home, locking the door.
Belarus, he noted, was quite different from Switzerland. Where Switzerland was sunny and grassy, Belarus was windy and snowy. Noah, however, found it beautiful.
"Up and at 'em, brother~!" Ivan's ever so cheerful voice startled Nikolai into jumping up from the couch.
"Ivan! Don't do that! What do you mean by that anyway?!" Nikolai half-shouted.
Ivan winked and threw Nikolai's jacket to him. "We're going to go shopping for Iryna~!"
Nikolai groaned. He couldn't refuse his sister, no matter how hard he tried.
"Fine." He grumbled, putting on his jacket and adjusting his scarf.
Maybe he was a bit weird, Noah finally decided after catching few of the many stares directed at him. No one would really expect a 14-year-old to be walking out in freezing cold weather without a guardian, but Noah was accustomed to it. Besides, the weather wasn't freezing to him at least.
Deciding to go to the nearest supermarket, Noah started making his way to the busy building.
Nikolai sighed a long suffering sigh. "I hate shopping. Hey, brother! Stop going straight for the alcohol aisle! I can see you ya know."
Nikolai dragged his protesting brother to the vegetable area, looking for carrots. "Ivan, get some onions and potatoes."
Ivan saluted. "Yes sir~! Onions and Potatoes it is~!" He wandered off to get them, Nikolai watching him in case he made any moves towards the vodka. Everyone knew they had more than enough vodka at home.
Well, of course Noah didn't know. But he really didn't care, either. All he needed to do was buy a few vegetables and he was good.
Making a beeline headed for the produce section, Noah thought of all of the possible veggies he'd need in the future. Onions, potatoes, lettuce...
He reached out for a good-looking onion and laid his hand on it at the same time as another gloved hand. He looked up to see an older male with striking silver hair.
What was Ivan supposed to say? 'Oh hello, I see we grabbed the same onion, goodbye!' or maybe 'I'm just gonna take this other onion here, good day'?
The resulting silence was an awkward one. "A-ah, sorry." Ivan said, scratching the back of his head. "You can take it."
He began looking through the onions for another one as the silence stretched on.
Thankfully Nikolai popped up right at that moment. "What's taking you so long, brother?"
He then noticed the small Swiss boy standing there and stared.
"Thank you, sir," Noah said to the tall man as he inserted the onions into his plastic bag. He looked at some of the other onions and began making a mental list of things gone wrong with the onions.
"What's taking you so long, brother?" a voice asked, a voice that was definitely not the onion guy and most DEFINITELY not Vash.
Noah turned around, alarmed, and saw a younger man with silver hair the same shade as the taller. They had the same amethyst eyes, although the younger had less shine in his eyes,
Nikolai grabbed a couple good onions and tugged his brother away by the scarf. "Sorry for bothering you." Nikolai addressed the Swiss boy.
"It's no problem," Noah assured the Belarusian.
Nikolai nodded and pulled his brother over to the carrots.
Noah arrived home, setting the groceries on the table.
Nikolai slammed the door open, still lecturing his sheepish older brother. "... You could have at least apologized! Honestly." Nikolai went into the kitchen and set the groceries on the table. "What am I going to do with you. Anyway, tomorrow's a school day, so you better get ready brother. You've been so caught up in work you haven't done your homework!"
"Alright~, alright~." Ivan said. "I'll get to work on that now~."
Nikolai went upstairs, leaving his brother to his homework.
He again pulled out his brainstorm list. So far it read:
Ideas to kill Alfred F. Jones
Poison
Fatal Drugs
Slit his throat? Possible weapons: Knives, cleaver, maybe big brother Ivan has a sword I can use?
He tapped his pencil against the paper, thinking.
As expected, the house was still empty by the time Noah had gotten all of the groceries inside of the fridge. Noah placed all of the change on the counter for Vash and went upstairs to take a nap.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten to lock the door.
A slim young man slipped inside of the Zwingli house stealthily, and quietly.
Nikolai gave up on getting anything else down on his list. He threw on his scarf and coat, calling to his older siblings.
"I'm going for a walk!" With that, he dashed downstairs and out the door.
He decided to go as far as Toris's house. Maybe he could ask where Eduard was while he was down there.
Noah slept soundly inside of his room, unaware of the thief, who was currently taking the change and casually pocketing it.
As soon as Nikolai got to Toris's house, he noticed the open door of the neighbor's house.
He had been aware that people had moved there recently, but he had not anticipated how stupid they would be. This was Belarus! Ranked 39th in the International Homicide rate! Nikolai had heard their family was from Switzerland, so that may have made them lax if they hadn't noticed that those statistics are 4 times larger than Switzerland's!
You can't just leave your freaking door open and expect for nothing to happen!
Nikolai stalked up to the open door, intending to give the owners a piece of his mind.
The young man saw the silver-haired man coming towards the house and started freaking out. What if he found him here? That was not good news...
Deciding to just go for it, he ran out the door, swiftly and quietly,
Nikolai saw the flash of movement, and by instinct, grabbed him and tossed him casually to the ground.