Hey there~! Well, here's the third chapter! I'm really glad you guys are reading this story, all 150+ of you :D (I checked July 31st to see how many unique viewers this got~)
I'm proud of this entire story so far :'D It's realllllly rare that I get an idea I 100% love to write :'3
Eh, I should stop the A/N here, read on my children!
Chapter III
After what had happened, Ludwig and Feliciano actually started to become friends. Apparently, to Ludwig's shock, Feliciano actually shared a class with him —Art. That was the one class where the multiple homerooms were mixed together; black polos, for the Scandinavian students; red polos, for the Asian students; green polos, for the Italian, Spanish, and French students; and lastly the blue polos for the German, Dutch, and Hungarian students, were scattered throughout the room. None of the other homerooms were in that class though, and huge chunks were already missing from the ones that were in there. Why, he didn't know, but there were enough students in there as it was.
Feliciano tugged on his sleeve, "Ve~ Ludwig look!" He turned his easel toward Ludwig. Today had happened to be a free day, so instead of all the easels facing the center at what they were assigned to draw, they were allowed to be wherever and the students allowed to draw whatever. The two of them —mainly Ludwig— decided to in front of the windows so that the sun could give them better lighting.
"Ja? What is it?" He asked, looking over at him from his own creation.
"Look Luddy~" He repeated, his dazed expression beaming with joy and happiness.
Ludwig shifted his sight over to the painting; there was a small rabbit nibbling on a carrot. That might sound bland, but the quality was pretty impressive for his age. The animal seemed to be soft enough to pet through the canvas, and the carrot seemed as if it could be plucked right off and eaten. "Do you like it?" Feliciano asked, smiling a little brighter than before.
"...Ja..." He could barely put his feeling into words. The picture was just so...breathtaking compared to his. He had decided to try and draw an animal as well, but a dog instead. Well, that's what it was supposed to look like. According to him though, it was actually supposed to be a cat.
"Yay!" Feliciano flung his hands up, catching on the bottom of the easel and toppling it over alongside tiny glass jars full of various paint hues, a palette, and a paintbrush.
Immediately, everybody in the room swiveled around in a wave-like motion to look at them. Technically not everyone did; Antonio was distracting Lovino, and Mr. Livianus was too busy in the middle of a siesta to care.
"Veee..." Feliciano whined, nearly stepping off of the stool when Ludwig's hand collided with his chest.
"There's glass there!" Ludwig blurted out in an annoyed, angry tone, still somehow sounding worried for him.
"Ve?" Feliciano glanced down at the ground, opened his eyes, and stared at the pieces of shards confusedly. "How am I going to clean it up Luddy?" He cocked his head and looked back at the German.
Ludwig sighed, stepped off of his stool —the side without shards— and started walking over to the teacher's desk —which faced his spot— in the corner. "Ich werde aufräumen Feliciano..." By then the other students had given up interest in the entire situation and had gone back to their own works.
"Eh...?" Feliciano's eyebrows knit together as he put his finger to his bottom lip, "What does that mean?"
Ludwig mentally facepalmed at the fact that he himself didn't know what language he had just spoken in, and answered him while walking away. "I'll clean it up Feliciano."
"R..really? Grazie Luddy, grazie!" His face lit up to how it was before the accident as he sat on the stool waiting for Ludwig to pick up everything.
By then he had gotten to the teacher's desk, and ended up slamming his fist on the table. "Mr. Livianus, may I go get some paper towels from the bathroom?" Ludwig asked calmly.
"N..nyeh?!" Mr. Livianus jolted at the abrupt awakening, only to end up childishly pouting at the child before him. "What is it Ludwig?" He asked, yawning and stretching.
"May I go get some paper towels from the bathroom?" He repeated in a more monotonous tone.
"M'kay~" Mr. Livianus answered, clasping his hands high above his head.
Nodding, Ludwig left the room. As he closed the door though, he heard the other, more irritable Italian fuming.
"FELICIANO!"
Click. The door closed; Ludwig started heading down the hallway to the left, planning how he was going to clean up the mess. The bathroom was fairly close to the Art room, only about a minute's walk away at a slow pace, but that still gave him enough time to think of each thing he'd need to do.
When he reached it, no one else was there, leaving a strange, peacefully ominous feel inside. Ludwig shivered slightly, and proceeded to grabbing the loose paper towel from the dispenser. As he cranked the lever on the side to get more though, he heard someone come in and, because he saw no relevance, ignored them.
Or at least until that someone set their hand on his shoulder.
"Ludwig..." The voice called.
Ludwig instinctively whipped around at the sound, "Was z—?!"
An older boy with chestnut hair and a cowlick stepped back effortlessly, asking him a question in a barely interested sort of way. "Are you okay?"
Oh, it was only Roderich..., "What do you want brother?" Ludwig asked flatly.
"My my, that isn't very nice." Roderich pouted, sticking his head up a degree or two. "You looked as if you were spacing out, so I was wondering why. Never mind now though." He sighed, slightly pinching his nose bridge before walking over to the urinal.
Gott I hate him..., Ludwig inwardly snarled. "Fine. Goodbye." He responded, leaving the bathroom agitatedly.
Despite the fact he left alone, he felt something following him...something strange. There was no other word to really explain it; it resembled what he felt earlier, but somehow different. For some reason though he couldn't put his finger on what was different. Brushing it off, he went back inside the classroom to see the older Italian brother practically strangling the feebler one.
"Idioto! You always do things like this!" He screeched, causing the three remaining students who weren't staring to look over.
"I...I'm sorry Lovino..." At the sound of those words, Ludwig marched over to the brothers.
"Let go of him before you hurt him." Ludwig subtly demanded, stopping next to and gripping one of Lovino's arms.
"You boys play nice or something..." Mr. Livianus mumbled, not only overlooking what was happening, but dozing into a deep slumber as well.
"Get your hands off me Potato Bastard!" Lovino threw his arm in the air in hopes of forcing Ludwig to let go, but he instead causing the grip to tighten.
"Lovi~ Just let Feli go..." Antonio pleaded as a sweat drop traced his face and he tugged on Lovino's free sleeve.
"Hmph!" He excessively pouted, dropping Feliciano onto the ground. "He always makes a mess! He can never focus on what he's doing!" On and on he rambled, but the only one listening was Antonio. Even the rest of the room ended up bored once more from the spontaneous antics.
"Are you okay Feliciano?" Ludwig asked, kneeling down to him.
"S...si...grazie..." A slight blush crept across his face, "You helped me out again." He tilted his head upward to look at Ludwig and beamed, causing Ludwig's heart to flutter.
Gilbert...that's something you would do...it's just like you..., Ludwig melancholically smiled, picking up a few of the glass shards with a paper towel with one hand, and wiping up the various paints with more in the other.
"Ve~? What's wrong Luddy?" Feliciano asked, noticing a change in his friend's normally serious attitude.
"Nothing; I'm fine." Ludwig replied quickly, so quickly that even the oblivious Italian noticed.
"Ve..." Said Italian picked his hands up; blood trickled down from his finger and dotted the cobalt colored floor.
Catching a glimpse out if the corner of his eye, Ludwig looked up from his meticulous work —he had most of the mess cleaned up, but apparently not all— and realized what had happened. Quickly, he picked up the remaining pieces, crumbled all of the towels around them, held the top so it would stay closed, and stood up. "You need to go to the nurse." Ludwig said, glaring down at the other boy with the same distant eyes as when they first officially met.
And once more, the fragile Italian boy felt intimidated and uneasy. "V..ve!" He stood up and cradled his oozing finger with a shining, crimson pellet embedded at the surface.
The German held onto his hand —of the finger that wasn't bleeding— and led him off.
The German dropped the rubbish he picked up into the trash can, then slammed his fist onto the table as he did before. "Mr. Livianus, may I bring Feliciano to the nurse?"
This time though, the teacher barely stirred —most likely getting used to the boy's voice. "Sure sure..."
As they were about to walk out the door though, he realized what Ludwig had asked. "Wait! What happened to my little Feli?!" He asked, springing from his chair and before Feliciano to examine his hand. "My poor baby!" Dramatically crying, he nuzzled the boy's cheek with his own stubbly one.
"Ve~ Lo zio si solletica." Feliciano chuckled, trying to pull his face away.
"He needs to go to the nurse." Ludwig reminded him.
Mr. Livianus then released his nephew and shooed them out the door, "Ai, you're right! Go on, go on!"
Obliging with what he said, Ludwig led Feliciano out of the room and down the hall to the right where the nurse's office was. It was much closer than the bathroom was to their class, but it was easily mistaken since there was another classroom —Asian Languages from what he could tell— across the hall from it. He knocked on the door casually, as if he didn't care much about the Italian's bleeding.
"Yes?" The nurse popped her head out, expecting a teacher at first, but then glanced down and spotted the kids. "What is it?" She blinked her eyes and knitted her eyebrows together in a concerned way.
"He's bleeding." Ludwig stoically replied.
"Well bring him in then!" She hurried the two inside, closed the door, and went into the cabinet above the counter for band-aids and triple antibiotic. "What happened?" She questioned, rummaging through a few other things.
"I—" Feliciano was about to answer for himself, when he was interrupted.
"Glass is stuck in his finger since he accidentally fell on it." Ludwig answered, staring at the back of the nurse's head all the while.
"Tsk!" She twirled around on her heel holding a few things, "You need to be more careful~" Squatting down to his level, she poked his nose. "M'kay~?"
"Si!" Feliciano giggled, causing each of them to smile.
As he seemed to calm down in her presence, the nurse plucked the tiny piece of glass with a pair of tweezers —Feliciano twitched some when she did—, wiped his finger with a disinfecting wipe, spread a small dab of the antibiotic onto the band-aid, and wrapped it around his now sterile finger. "Do you feel better now?" She tilted her head as she stared into his eyes.
"Kinda..." He answered.
The nurse pursed her lips together in thought, then kissed the band-aid. "What about now~?"
"Ve~!" He nodded his head earnestly, "Much better Ms. Väinämöinen!"
She gave him one last smile and stood up, "I'm glad. Now, both of you run along, the bell is going to ring so—"
BRIIIINNG
As if on cue, it did, signaling that children could come flooding out of their classrooms. Which they did.
By the time Ludwig and Feliciano stepped out of the nurse's office, the Asian Languages students all but ran them over. Somehow in that though, Ludwig was able to ram through them and get Feliciano and himself back to the classroom. When they entered, they noticed Mr. Livianus sleeping...still.
"Ve~ Grazie again Luddy!" Feliciano exclaimed, throwing himself onto Ludwig just as he tried to pick up his things.
"Eh?!" Ludwig stood up as straight as he could, "Okay Feliciano, you can get off now." He stuttered at the last bit; his breath hitching in his chest when he realized that.
"But I don't waannnaa!" Feliciano pouted, perching his head on Ludwig's shoulder as best he could.
So many similarities..., "Gilbert get off!" Ludwig commanded, prying the nuisance off so he could get his things.
"Eh? Who's Gilbert?" Feliciano asked, biting the inside of his lip lightly so that Ludwig couldn't tell.
"...No one! He's no one!" Ludwig snatched up his things and stormed out of the classroom.
"Wai— Luddy!" Feliciano called and darted after him, but when he stumbled out the door he couldn't find him; he had already disappeared.
"But Luddy...I wanted to tell you something..." Feliciano muttered to himself, clutching at his chest as he stood with his head hung low. "I really wanted to..."
He dragged himself to his locker a few halls down, yelling at himself in his mind. Dammit dammit dammit! You just lost all chances you idiot! How could you even accidentally bring up Bruder in front of him? He'd realize he's been getting used all this time, no matter how thick-headed he is!, Ludwig sighed as he trudged onward the last few steps. Just calm down and act like it never happened and you'll be fine...
"We've been waiting for a while you know!" An older girl with long platinum hair and a white bow on top, who was also leaning against the locker next to his, hissed.
"We have been..." Roderich replied, stepping out from behind her.
"Well something happened." Ludwig blew off the two as he entered his combination.
"Dad doesn't like when we're late!" The girl hissed once more.
"Natalia, I know that." Ludwig glared at her and gently closed the locker door despite his growing urge to slam it at full force.
"Then don't make us late!" She whipped around, stomping down the hall toward the glass double doors leading out to the side of the building.
"You really shouldn't take so long you know." Roderich aloofly scolded him as they were walking out. "You know my little sister doesn't like that."
Ludwig gritted his teeth together. "Yes I know. I won't do it again."
"Good!" Roderich smiled, opening the door for himself.
"Where were you?" Their father, who was already waiting out there with Natalia standing at his side, asked, tapping his watch impatiently.
"I'm sorry father; something happened." Ludwig answered instantly in a military-like way.
"Well don't let it again." He turned away from him and started walking through the grass toward the parking lot.
"I won't." Ludwig confirmed, following his father behind his step-siblings.
The four of them all climbed inside their black SUV; Roderich in the passenger seat since he was the oldest, and Natalia in the back with Ludwig.
Mr. Leudbald started the engine when he looked at all three of them individually, "Do you have your seatbelts on?"
"Yes." They all chimed in perfect sync.
"Good." He backed out of the parking spot, exited the parking lot, and turned onto the street connecting to their own. "Look, we got new neighbors today according to Mom, so be nice if you see them." He glanced at the rear-view mirror. "Got it?"
"Yes sir." They all chimed in perfect sync.
Ludwig flopped his head on top of his hand and stared out the window. Everything outside of the car seemed so happy, so carefree...
"Why can't Roderich sit back here with me instead?!" Natalia complained, "Ludwig's annoying to sit by!"
"He isn't doing anything; leave him alone." Their father said; he was typically the only one to stand up for Ludwig.
"Don't you want to sit with me Roddy~?" She cooed, trying to coax the answer she wanted out of him.
"No. Not really." He answered, pulling his backpack from between his legs onto his lap to make sure he had his flute case.
"I don't see what's so wrong about it!" She huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at everything outside of the window. "There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Natalia, stop it."
"Fine!" She slid her pocket knife out of her pocket, "I'll find a way to make you sooner or later brother..."
Ludwig's sighed; no one liked him here at his new home. To be exact, it actually wasn't very new to him since he had been living with them ever since his mother's court summons two years ago. When he started thinking back though, he felt that same presence again from the hall and the bathroom. What the..? I must be imagining things..., he presumed, shrugging off any other feeling he had after that.
Soon enough after Natalia's tantrum, they arrived at their house. It was fairly big; there were two stories with matching balconies on each side, immense rooms which included a library lined the inside, and the interior was decorated with only the most lavish of furnishings, but it was so lonely. No matter how enormous it was, or how much it was worth, it couldn't replace the true happiness he felt at his old home with his mother and brother. Nothing seemed to.
They all piled out of the car, grabbed their stuff, and headed off into the house except for Ludwig. Feeling the same ominousity as before paralyzed him in fear, but beckoned him to turn around as well. He couldn't help himself; he turned to see what waited behind him. Standing across the street in their new neighbors' driveway was a barefooted little boy about nine years with an unreasonably furry cat sitting next to him. They just stared at Ludwig and he just stared back at the duo.
They just stared and stared and stared.
[1] Domitius Livianus - Grandpa Rome (I like that name for him :3)
[2] Ich werde aufräumen Feliciano... - I'll clean it up Feliciano...
[3] Grazie - Thank you
[4] Was z—?! - What th—?! (What the hell?!)
[5] Roderich Leudbald - Austria (I know the last name is different from the original -_-)
[6] S...si... - Y…yes…
[7]Ve~ Lo zio si solletica! - Ve~ Uncle it tickles!
[8] Vanla Väinämöinen - Fem!Finland (I LOVE writing for her~! I think we're pretty alike XD)
[9] Natalia Leudbald - Belarus (Yeah, I know the last name if different from the original for her too. They're supposed to be siblings, so please don't get all bleh over it please ._.)
[10] Alfher Leudbald - Germania (I forgot to say that in the second chapter D: Sorry!)
I really hope you guys like this chapter~ ! :D I stayed up until 1am to finish the main part of the editing, and BELIEVE me, there was a LOT of editing to do...
Oh! I already started writing the next chapter~ Typically I don't do much at first, but this time I did since an idea got stuck in my head (stayed up until 4am writing that part XDD)
I really —I mean really really really— doubt you guys will guess who the little boy is :P Google will be your BTT if you want to know early though~ I have a poll up for it on my profile for you guys if you want to guess and see what other people thought though ;D
One last thing, I KNOW the German and Italian are probably wrong DX I didn't want to bother my amazingful German translator since she's in France on vacation, so it and the Italian (one of my buddies who knows some Italian said it was right though :'D? ) were Google Translate'd ;w;
You know what...? I say 'really' way to much XD
Hej då!
