Monday was not normal. It did not go by anyone's plan.

Feliciano noticed that his brother wasn't in class. Gilbert and Francis noticed that Antonio never went to bed. Shortly afterwards, people realised that Antonio's car was missing from its usual spot. Towards lunch, the site of the car crash was discovered.

Antonio and Lovino were dead.

After that, lessons were, for most classes, cancelled. The police said that the car had swerved; suggesting Antonio had been trying to avoid crashing into something on the road, probably a deer.

This did not make anyone any happier.

The day was over swiftly.

Kiku hadn't written his exams.

Arthur had to sleep in Ludwig and Feliciano's room.

Again.


It had been a few weeks since the accident. Feliciano appeared to have returned to normal, but naturally, when night came, it was fairly obvious that he was still deeply upset over the loss. It had only been a week. Ludwig, Kiku and, surprisingly, Arthur tried to help him when night came; but really, time was the only cure for this.

After the accident, Ludwig thought that Kiku would switch beds with Arthur again, so that he could be there for Feliciano. He was wrong.

Kiku was there for Feliciano when night came, but his Japanese friend always eventually went back, across the hall, to Arthur's room. There was always a reason why Kiku couldn't switch back to his usual bed yet. It was sort of… suspicious…

However, Arthur wasn't complaining. In fact, he didn't seem to really mind at all. If Ludwig didn't know any better, he'd say that Arthur quite liked sharing a room…

Well, at least Arthur admitted that he also thought that this whole situation was sort of awkward, what with the vulnerable state everyone was in. Although Lovino was a bit of a loner, he had been friends of sorts with quite a few people at World Academy. His death weighed heavy on their minds.

Besides that, Antonio had also been a friend of many, meaning that, even if some could recover quickly from Lovino's death, as they hadn't really known him, most wouldn't recover quite so fast for the Spaniard. To say the least, everyone was shocked by the event.

Gilbert had become distant from his brother. He and Antonio had been very good friends, heck, Gilbert, Antonio and Francis had formed the now literally legendary group, the Bad Touch Trio, known for causing mayhem at World Academy and causing a great deal of frustration and torment to the student council (particularly its president) and their teachers.

Now it was just the Bad Touch Duo. And apparently, all they did was drink and laze around. He hoped the Bad Touch would get back to their old tricks again soon… The sooner things returned to normal, the better. Besides, if they continued drinking, they'd end up getting kicked out of World Academy, no matter how much money their parents paid. And Ludwig didn't want to be split from his brother. Not really… (not that he wasn't already, what with Ludwig on the top floor and Gilbert near the bottom).

Ludwig rolled over and looked up, at the bed above him. Bunk beds. On the very top floor, there was only room for two rooms. In one room there was room for one bed, in the other, there was room for a bunk bed and a single bed. Feliciano slept on the top bunk, Ludwig on the bottom one. Kiku, now replaced by Arthur, slept in the single bed.

From the low, calm breathing, Ludwig knew that both Feliciano and Arthur were asleep. He sighed. Feliciano's mourning distressed him… But at least it didn't follow the Italian into his sleep. No, Feliciano wasn't burdened by anything in his sleep. In fact, Feliciano always slept peacefully at night, which was… Good. Ludwig didn't know much about death, and while he admitted he was very upset over the losses… Well, he couldn't say it was the same as losing a brother.

Despite Feliciano and Lovino only meeting each other at World Academy five or six years ago, the two had become very, very close. Ludwig couldn't even begin to imagine in what state he'd be in if something were to happen to Gilbert... He certainly didn't believe that he'd be able to sleep so peacefully if that ever were the case. Yet it seemed Feliciano was proving him wrong. Every night, when Feliciano finally went to bed, he would put his head on the pillow and go out like a light. It was actually… Rather strange.

Ludwig had talked to Arthur and Kiku about it and both had agreed that Feliciano's behaviour was off. But then, Arthur pointed out that it wasn't a bad thing. It was better that Feliciano find peace somewhere, instead of nowhere. As long as he didn't get addicted to sleeping. Ludwig commented that Feliciano might already be, what with the Italian constantly wanting to have a siesta… But then Kiku pointed out that Feliciano hadn't been begging for a siesta in a while…

Actually, that was also strange.

Ludwig groaned.

He was starting to question his friend's behaviour. He was obviously tired.

He needed to sleep.

He closed his eyes and did so.


Arthur woke up. He rubbed his eyes and frowned. He truly did enjoy sharing a room with people for a change, but he was beginning to remember why he didn't like sharing rooms. Every time someone shut or opened the door, he woke up. Why had no one fixed that stupid squeaking door? And why did he have to be such a light-sleeper?

He looked at his alarm.

Three something.

He looked over to the bunk beds opposite him, to see who had left. Feliciano wasn't in bed. Arthur sighed deeply. OK, he thought, closing his eyes, I can't really be angry at him, not with that loss and all… Ugh, why did those two have to die in such a stupid way? Oh. Yeah. Because it was totally their fault for dying. Best to continue complaining about being a light-sleeper... Stupid genetics...

His thoughts continued rambling, as he rolled onto his side and tried to enter dreamland again. Luckily he couldn't fall asleep, because a bit later, he heard Ludwig get out of bed and walk out the door. Arthur sighed and waited a while, before pulling the duvet closer to his chin and trying to sleep again. He briefly woke up when Feliciano returned, but after that, the Brit slept right through until morning.


A loud scream is not what you want to wake up to.

It echoed through the stairwells and halls, as students left their dorms to go to their classes.

Arthur, Kiku and Feliciano, the latter still dressed in his pyjamas, rushed out of their dorms, to see what the scream was about. Upon reaching the stairs, they knew.

Ludwig was lying at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in his pyjamas.

The floor was red.

Ludwig was pale.

Ludwig was dead.


That had been the second death within a month. All the police had to say about it was that it, once again, was an accident. Ludwig had fallen down the stairs and gotten seriously injured in the process. He bled to death while unconscious, as it was later revealed.

But even though his death had been declared a tragic accident, rumours had still spread. A small selection of World Academy students were certain that it was a bit too unlikely for Ludwig to die falling down the stairs... Especially since he was a relatively good gymnast..

Luckily, everyone had the brains not to mention these rumours to Feliciano or Gilbert, both of which had gone from bad to worse. Even Francis, seeing Gilbert's drastic change in behaviour, had snapped out of his mourning to try and help Gilbert. But thus far, nothing seemed to be working.

The funeral had been held and much like Lovino and Antonio, Ludwig had been laid to rest. Now, a few weeks later, many were still dealing with the aftermath. Kiku, for example, now absolutely refused to go back to his room. He didn't want to have to sleep in a bed each night that would painfully remind him that a very, very dear friend of his was dead.

Unfortunately for Feliciano though, the Italian couldn't find somewhere else to sleep, so each night he and Arthur would have to enter a bedroom with a decidedly empty bottom bunk bed.

Arthur sighed, massaging his growing headache. Aside from emotional difficulties, there were other difficulties he had to deal with... Such as the rumours. They refused to die and were only becoming more and more outrageous and outlandish as time passed. They were even starting to get to him. Noticing that he had written MURDER? on a paper about topics the school council needed to discuss, Arthur sighed and put the pen down, holding his head in his hands.

He had liked Ludwig. He had been a sensible, responsible guy that helped keep a lid on uncontrollable students. And that wasn't mentioning the times he'd personally helped Arthur out, such as the time he helped Arthur, along with Kiku, fix up the school's secret passages.

World Academy used to be a large castle, belonging to some guy named Lord Aschen or something, until they eventually converted the castle into a school for the children of the rich and famous (well, something along those lines anyway). The castle was enormous, with several main buildings and a few smaller ones around it. Its size was impractical for the servants, who had to run back and forth between buildings and simply couldn't get their chores done on time. Because of this, the castle had secret passages built, so that this would no longer be the case. As such, the castle was still riddled with plenty of them.

Practically no one knew about them though, which meant that they could still be used as secret passages. At first, not even Arthur knew about them, until he by chance found the journal of a former School Council President. A particularly useful secret passage was a stairwell, which led to every floor in the boys' dorm. It started at the top floor and then, after passing each floor, led directly to the building's exit.

It saved time to use this stairwell, but it didn't change the fact that it was still exhausting to walk up and down those stairs every day. So, after Arthur had revealed the secret passages to Ludwig and Kiku and the two had helped him fix the secret passages up. The passage, which started at the top of the building and ended by the dorm's entrance, now had a built-in slide. Upward walks were still a pain, but at least going downwards was no problem…

Arthur let out a deep sigh and slowly lifted his head. He tried not to think about the recently deceased too much. It always made him… Well… Arthur picked up a packet of tissues.

Anyway, never mind those rumours; the Brit could try to silence them later. He placed the discussion paperwork to one side, realising afterwards that it was the only paperwork he had left to do.

Hm… It's time for a break anyway, he thought, getting out of his chair. He walked over to his private library, looking at a series of books on things of personal interest, such as a former School Council President's journal or a book on obscure fairy tale creatures.

He had gathered these books over time, buying them from local markets, discount book-stores, the internet, specialised shops, amongst other things... But he had yet to read all the books he had bought. He pulled out one of the books, which happened to be about ghost-like creatures and sat down to read it. As he read the entries, one particular creature caught his eye. It was called a Blood Spirit, although spirit was, according to his book, the wrong word for this creature.

After being born, Blood Spirits seek out a human to bind itself to. Usually, Blood Spirits bind themselves to babies or toddlers, due to children's undeveloped sense of logic and therefore, gullibility. After being bound to someone, the creature will then reveal itself to the human as a being that only that person can see. Blood Spirits are, due to this, often mistaken as imaginary friends. Blood Spirits typically take on the form of their "host", the person it is bound to, with everything, but the colouring, looking identical to their host. It's theorised that the usually wrong colouring is due to colour blindness, but it's unknown if this is true.

After six years, the Blood Spirit is fully developed and can become a physical being, if its host is willing to allow this. If the host decides to let the Blood Spirit become physical, the host will die, replaced by their Blood Spirit, which allegedly feeds off the life that should have been. It will grow up to be a monster, generally known to be psychopathic or sociopathic.

However, if the host decides not to let the Blood Spirit become physical, the Blood Spirit will remain in its realm and loses its connection to the host. Because of the destroyed bond, Blood Spirits will then recoil into a state similar to a coma, while they try to become self-sustaining. In this stage, the Blood Spirit will die, unless during the years it was connected to its host, the Blood Spirit directly or indirectly spilt blood. If the Blood Spirit survives this stage, it can still become physical. After at least six years, the Blood Spirit can possess the body of its host once again, assuming it can find its host.

Using its host's body, the Blood Spirit can and must kill six humans (to make up for the six years it lost to its host). Through the deaths, a Blood Spirit will then become physical. After this, it is likely for the host to be killed by the Blood Spirit (Blood Spirits are very vengeful creatures).

Blood Spirits have the same lifespan as humans, but reaches full maturity after six years and will stop ageing in its twenties .

Arthur didn't know why Blood Spirits had caught his attention, but they had... He would have to look up more information on them later.

"Ve~ Arthur! There you are!" somebody suddenly said behind him. Arthur dropped his book on the floor, startled.

"Huh, Feliciano?" he asked, hurriedly kicking the book underneath his desk. He had kept his interest in supernatural things secret for a long time. Now was not the time to get caught. Arthur paused, realising what Feliciano had said.

"W-wait, you were looking for me?" he asked astounded. Feliciano smiled brightly.

"Of course! We're friends now, aren't we? We share a room and everything!"

"Uh..." Arthur stuttered, taken aback. He had very few friends. And for someone like Feliciano to so openly claim it... He didn't know how to react. "I-I suppose..." he muttered.

"Ve~!" Feliciano replied, happily.

"... So, uh... What- I mean, why were you looking for me?" Arthur inquired.

Feliciano paused and stared at the Brit blankly. Oh bloody hell, don't tell me he's forgotten... Arthur thought, watching Feliciano look around the room with a rather confused expression.

"Huh... Wait, it'll come to me..." Feliciano muttered, rubbing the back of his head. Arthur resisted the urge to face-palm. Of course the Italian had forgotten. Just as Arthur was about to say something, Feliciano's face lit up and he spoke, cutting the Brit off.

"Ah, I remember! Ve~! Today I want to cook something for myself and Kiku! But uh... The kitchen in this building is locked again... And, well, you're the Student Council President, so I thought maybe you'd have the keys or could get them?"

Arthur was surprised.

"Again? But you're not supposed to use the school kitchen... Why don't you just use the kitchen provided for us?"

"Well, uh... It's... Who ever used it last didn't clean up..." Feliciano replied. "It's... It's really unusable."

"Oh... Yes, right." Arthur muttered. He knew about the difficulties of keeping the student's kitchen clean and tidy. He would help keep it in order, but the student council had banned him from approaching any of the school's kitchens.

He hadn't cooked in so long... Technically you weren't meant to use the school's kitchen, but... he was sure he could make an exception. He so rarely got the chance to cook.

"Oh, uh... Sure, I can open them for you." Arthur said, opening a drawer to get the keys out. "But, uh, may I ask you something?"

"Hm? Sure!"

"... C-could I help you cook? I mean, obviously it's just so I can make sure you leave the kitchen looking like it's untouched! And I don't have to eat with you, if you don't want me to- I mean, I wouldn't be eating with you and Kiku, I'd obviously eat in the cafeteria again! ... By myself... Alone in my corner..."

Feliciano sighed. For a moment, Arthur could see how clearly the Italian didn't want his help. But to his surprise, Feliciano nodded anyway and enthusiastically replied "Sure! My Nonno always said that an extra pair of hands can be useful in the kitchen!"

Arthur beamed. The Brit hadn't cooked in so long, he was going to enjoy this.

"OK, I have the keys! Let's go!" he announced, slamming the drawer shut.

Feliciano gave him a mildly worried smile and followed him out of the student council room.