Author has no excuse for this being so late… sorry…

Thank you everyone who reviewed!

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By the time Arthur had arrived at the festival the sky had already turned a dark blue color and the festival had already begun. In the middle of the woods on the riverbank, the Cotton Drifting Festival was held in front of a giant shrine to the god of some forgotten religion. In front of the shrine were many stands selling food, drinks, and allowing games with ridiculous prizes to people who were willing to play. The Festival's lanterns were all lit making the festival glow a beautiful orange color in the night sky. By the large size of the crowd, it looked like every person in town had shown up like Kiku had said.

Arthur quickly dove into the massive crowd, trying his best to blend in. Today Arthur was determined to find out what Kiku was talking about yesterday. Whatever it was, Alfred did not want Arthur to know about it. Earlier that day, Arthur had tried to find information about people disappearing in his town, but everything was guarded off. Websites were blocked. Books had pages missing from them. People disappearing seemed like a very important thing to know about. It was very suspicious to him. Why would such important information be missing or hidden form the public? Why would Alfred want to keep something like this from him? To protect him maybe? No, Arthur couldn't stay in the dark about the town's past any longer. He had to know!

Arthur decided that it was best to try and stay hidden from his club until he got to talk to Kiku alone. By the size of the crowd, Arthur figured it would be easy to stay hidden. Suddenly, he heard a person behind him shout, "Hey Arthur! Iggy! Where have ya' been? We've been waitin' for ya' for hours!"

"Shit!" Arthur cursed under his breath. There goes his plan to stay hidden... He turned around to be greeted by Alfred, waving to him from across the crowd. With his mission blown, Arthur pushed his way out of the crowd to where his club was resting. Everyone was sitting around a small campfire laughing, eating, and having a good time. Feliciano once again was sitting on Ludwig's lap, as they were both listened to a story being told by Toris and Feliks, who were sitting on the opposite side of the fire.

After noticing that a few people were missing from their group, Arthur asked Alfred, "Hey! Where is everyone else?"

"Oh, Lovino and Antonio went to get drinks… They should be back soon!" Alfred answered with his trademark smile and thumbs up.

"Where's Kiku?" Arthur asked, showing no amusement.

Alfred paused for a moment. The others around the campfire continued chatting, oblivious to the intensity of the moment. "He's not coming…" Alfred spoke using a monotone voice, similar to the one he used yesterday.

"Well where the bloody hell is he?" Arthur demanded. Fuck, my plan's ruined now! He cursed inwardly. Then a thought creeped into Arthur's mind. Out of everyone in their club, Kiku was looking forward to the festival the most… and the day before he had said:

"… Everyone in town attends the Festival. Anyone who misses it is cursed…"

Alfred turned around to face Arthur. "Geez Iggy! Calm down! You don't need to freak out just 'cause he's not here..." Arthur glared at Alfred. He was starting to get really frustrated. He didn't want jokes, he wanted answers. "He called before you got here. He said that he wasn't feeling well, so he wasn't coming." Alfred finished with a small smile on his face.

Arthur took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Although he hated to admit it (No! He would never admit it!), Alfred was right. He couldn't get upset or panic just because Kiku wasn't there. It was possible that he did get sick. He could always ask Kiku about it tomorrow.

"We're back, mis amigos! And we brought drinks!" Antonio beamed as Lovino started tossing people their drinks (chucking Ludwig's at his head). Alfred laughed, sitting down and opening his Coke.

"Oh, lo siento, Arthur, we didn't get you anything. You can have mine, if you want?" Antonio apologized after noticing Arthur.

"That's all right!" Arthur chuckled, taking the bottled water from Antonio's hand. He couldn't let what happened yesterday distract him from having fun with his friends now. He sat down next to Alfred, joining everyone at the campfire. "So, what have you guys done without me?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing yet!" Alfred answered for everyone else, "We ate. That's it! We've been waiting for you to get here before we started playing any games."

"Like, oh my gawd! I almost forgot! Isn't this like Arthur's first time here?" Feliks exclaimed after throwing some pink candy into his mouth.

"Oh! That's right! Everyone!" Alfred shouted, jumping up, so he could get their club's complete attention. "Because this is Arthur's first time here, we have to make it his most memorable!" Everyone cheered in agreement. Arthur flushed and smiled from getting so much attention. "So we have no time to spare let's go!" Alfred grabbed Arthur's arm, pulling him up and dragging him as Alfred ran toward the nearest game stall.

"Hey, Bastard! Don't forget us!" Lovino screamed as he and the other members followed behind.

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That night Arthur played (and lost) every game at the Festival, Alfred attempted to eat the food at every the stall, Feliciano convinced Ludwig to win him a stuffed toy, Antonio danced and scolded Lovino when he caught him pick-pocketing after the group spent all their money, and last, Feliks got into a slap fight with some girl.

"Bitch! You don't know me!" Feliks screamed as Toris held him back.

"Calm down! You won! You won!" Toris repeated.

"Damn right I did!"

Arthur laughed. Tonight had turned out great. He had forgotten about Kiku not being there or the people disappearing. He started to feel like nothing could ruin his night.

Then he felt someone tap his shoulder. "Arthur, I almost forgot to introduce you to my brother!" Alfred smiled. How daft did he think Arthur was? He was seriously going to try this joke on him now! Oh well… Arthur sighed, Might as well play along!

Alfred firmly grabbed onto Arthur's arm, leading him through the crowd. They stopped at a similar campsite. Once there Alfred tackled boy holding a polar bear toy. "Hey Bro~ Sorry I forgot about you! You weren't waiting too long were you?"

"Only two hours…" Arthur hardly heard the boy mumble. Alfred quickly stood up picking the boy up with him.

"Arthur this is my brother, Matthew!" Alfred introduced, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulder and smiling. Arthur was shocked! So Alfred wasn't lying…The boy looked exactly like Alfred. They had the same face, same blond hair, and they both wore glasses. The only way to tell them apart was the fact that they were wearing different outfits and that the one was holding a polar bear.

"Hello Arthur. I've heard a lot about you." Matthew's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, very different compared to Alfred's. Matthew held out one hand to Arthur, still holding his polar bear in the other. Arthur slowly shook it. He was tired of being wrong today…

"Nice to meet you Matthew! That's a cute polar bear you have." Arthur said, trying to be polite.

"Thank you! His name is Kumajirou. He's very well trained."

"WHAT !? IT'S REAL!" Arthur's exclamation was drowned out by the sound of fireworks going off. The lanterns went out. Immediately the crowd was silent and everyone started walking towards the front of the shrine.

"Hurray! The Cotton Drifting ritual is staring! Come on let's go get good seats for the others!" Alfred whispered, cutting through the crowd. Arthur moved to follow him, but was stopped by Matthew, who had grabbed his arm and started dragging Arthur the opposite way. Matthew was very strong, but not as strong as Alfred. Arthur probably could of broken out of his grip, but for some reason he didn't feel like doing that…

"Where are we going?" Arthur asked, once they were out of the crowd. Matthew hushed him, saying that it was a surprise. A sense of panic overtook him. "Isn't it bad if we miss the festival?"

"Oh please Arthur! No one believes in that curse eh!" Matthew continued leading Arthur out of the Festival grounds and into the woods. "There's a secret place I want to show you." He said; his voice still quiet.

They stopped in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The cicadas could clearing be heard singing their night songs. Arthur liked the cicadas. He probably wouldn't have minded staying in this clearing with Matthew, but it was so dark Arthur could barely see anything around them. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could make out the form of an old building, covered in vines and moss, towards the edge of the clearing.

"Why did you bring me here?" Arthur asked Matthew. He was very confused.

"I wanted to talk to you some more. Out here no one can hear us. We're all alone." Matthew smiled, blushing a little. Matthew placed Kumajirou on the ground and pointed towards the old building, "This was an old shrine. Many ceremonies were held here years ago until they built the new one near the river."

"What kind of ceremonies?" Something inside of Arthur was telling him not to ask, but he couldn't help it, the words almost flew out of his mouth like he was in a daze. He couldn't help, but feel that something strange was going on. He didn't know whether to be scared or not…

"Cannibalistic…" Matthew said it as if there was nothing wrong with that statement. "The people who lived here long ago were cannibals. Every year they would sacrifice two people to the shrine god. They would torture and eat the one and the other… well no one really knows what would happen to the second person. It was as if they would just disappear…" It almost sounded like Matthew had hissed the last word, but that couldn't be right! Arthur must have been hearing things.

"Arthur! Do you want to sit down? You don't look so well…" Arthur nodded. He suddenly felt very dizzy. Matthew placed both his hands on Arthur's shoulders and led him toward a fallen tree trunk. They both sat down in front of it and leaned against it.

"It must have been something I ate." Arthur mumbled, even though he didn't remember eating anything…

"Arthur, do you have any questions that aren't being answered?" Matthew asked; tone still quiet, but more serious then before. Arthur had to close his eyes. His dizziness had gotten so bad that it felt like the world was spinning.

"Yesterday Kiku said something about people disappearing. What did he mean?" Arthur wasn't thinking. It hurt too much to think. Although his question was finally being answered, he was afraid of what the reply might be.

"No one's told you?" Arthur shook his head "no" to answer. He couldn't speak; his dizziness had gotten so bad. "Well listen closely because I'm only saying this once." Arthur's dizziness lightened up a bit, making it easier for him to focus. "Every year on the day of this Festival, one person is murdered and another goes missing."

"Just like the ceremony!" Arthur interrupted. Suddenly his nausea got worse again. He bent over, covering his mouth.

"Yes… that's what makes it so suspicious…" Matthew said, stroking Arthur's back, trying to comfort him.

"Uh… Why couldn't I find information about this earlier?" Arthur asked, ignoring his new headache and worsened nausea. Certainly, something like this, that happened every year, wouldn't be kept hidden. Arthur tucked his knees in, resting his forehead on them.

"The townspeople don't like to hear about it. It brings back bad memories. That's why so many books are censored." That didn't make much sense to Arthur, but he didn't care. His head hurt so much, he felt like he could pass out any minute now.

"Hey what are you guys doing out here?" A voice shouted from the other side of the clearing. Arthur didn't look up to see who it was.

"Alfred, Arthur's sick! Can you help me carry him home?" Arthur felt someone else touch his back.

"Iggy? Iggy! Don't go to sleep all right?" Arthur wasn't sure if he could. His head hurt, his stomach felt like it was doing flips. He couldn't talk or move without feeling like he was going to throw up. Sleep felt like a good choice.

"Alfred we have to take him home!" Matthew whimpered. Arthur felt himself being lifted up. He wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, trying to balance himself. Alfred and Matthew were talking, but Arthur couldn't focus on what they were talking about. He slowly felt himself slip away. Many thoughts ran through his head before he did.

"… Everyone in town attends the Festival. Anyone who misses it is cursed…"

"… One person is murdered and another goes missing…"

"I wonder who will disappear this year…"

"I wonder who will…" Arthur whispered, before falling asleep in Alfred's arms to the sound of the cicadas singing a distant and forgotten lullaby to him.

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Doo~ Doo~ Doo~ Doo~

Did everyone like that chapter? Your reviews really help me know! So review... now...

I hope I kept everyone in character...

-this has been a tobi production-