EDIT: January 5, 2013

Interlude (III): A few years ago…

Unlike basic and secondary education, there were more foreigners in a university setting. Aside from these students who were originally from overseas, there were also students who were from other parts of the country. In this expansive place, there are people who are eager to meet new faces and expand their circle of friends. There are also those who prefer to be left alone while there are others who are indifferent.

Feliciano Vargas belonged to the first category and his older brother, Lovino Vargas, was in the third category.

The Vargas siblings were often mistaken for twins due to their physical similarities and they have an exact gap of one year meaning they have the same birthday. This is where their sameness ends.

The siblings were polar opposites from each other and their dissimilarity was often the cause of fights breaking between them. Even so, it never reached the point of irreconcilability.

This all changed during a Yuletide spent in Berlin.

The Vargas family decided that they would spend Christmas and New Year in Berlin that particular year. When the siblings' parents and grandfather were away, they had a fight. At first it was the usual verbal war but it had escalated into a physical violence.

The siblings were in the kitchen when they had the confrontation.

Feliciano was preparing for the family's dinner after he had cleaned the house and Lovino came rushing in, his face red with anger.

"Feliciano you really are an IDIOT! Those notes were my ONLY COPY and you fucking shredded them!" The older brother looked into the amber eyes of his younger brother. He was glaring daggers and if looks could kill, this was one those looks that could kill.

"Ve~, I'm very sorry Fratello." Feliciano avoided the accusatory gaze by lowering his head. His older brother always said mean things to him but he never really meant them unlike now.

The notes were very important for Lovino because it contained a formula of a plausible medicine or narcotics, depending on the perspective. To a person who had no knowledge of what was written, it would have looked like gibberish: numbers and symbols scrawled on the paper.

The older brother's fist clenched and he intended to punch the face of his younger brother but instead he punched the empty space beside Feliciano's head. On reflex, Feliciano had held tightly a nearby kitchen knife and clumsily swished the object across the torso of Lovino.

The older brother felt a metallic coldness pierce through his skin and murmured a cuss. The wound was not deep but the length of the gnash was what made the bleeding profuse.

Feliciano panicked at what he did and he dropped the knife. The object clattered on the floor, staining the white tiles of the room. Although he was still in a state of shock, his feet brought him to the cupboard with the first aid kit and he applied immediate help to contain the bleeding. The fingers of the younger brother were nimble as he cleaned the wound, applied antiseptic and place a gauze over the wound.

There was only silence between the two of them.

When a car engine's roar entered the garage and shortly died, Lovino rushed to his bedroom and change into a maroon polo to make sure that the gauze would not be recognizable. Feliciano got a rug to cover the blood-stained floor and soaked the knife into a basin filled with water.

By the time they had dinner, neither siblings talked to each other. Grandpa Vargas noticed the stillness between them and dismissed it as another sibling squabble.

When every occupant of the house was asleep, Lovino suck out and left the place with the barest of necessities: legal documents, wallet, a vial and a syringe. He left a single not by the telephone: FAREWELL.

From then on, the older brother had not seen his family.

While walking through the snow-filled streets, the youth was cautious but his wound had reopened. Lovino was afraid to lose the remaining sample of his project so he used his last remaining strength to inject it into his body. The steady blood loss was causing Lovino to feel dizzy and he ended up fainting in front of an unfamiliar place.

In the present day, Lovino had opted for the name Romano.

The young man looked at the scar that this was still in his torso which was already faint. No one would even notice it unless they really squinted,

'The damn bastard made a fine job at stitching it.'

Romano sighed and clothed himself. He wore a plain shirt, having a hooded jacket over it and khaki pants. A well-worn pair of sneakers was added to the mix making him look like an ordinary traveler.

After he had left, he had no idea what has happened to his family. He didn't keep tabs because it would be an irregularity in his network and it might be noticed by his sources.

When he had finished putting on his clothes, he went to the living room and disassembled a transistor radio. Romano removed the contents of the device and exchanged them with well-folded documents encased inside an air-tight plastic. After finishing the task, he sent a message through Gilbert: An omnipotent wave.

Once the message had been successfully sent, he destroyed the mobile phone and threw the parts at different places in the city. The man then walked to their meeting place and placed the radio at an inconspicuous place. By the time he had finished, the dark sky was lit with color.

'Fireworks… Is there a festival?'

Since Romano was already packed for leaving, he decided to track where the firework originated. Unluckily, he was unable to reach the destination he sought. Before the skies could return back into its lifeless nature, a familiar voice had called out. The brunet wanted to leave the bridge but it was somewhat late since the person calling him out was getting nearer and nearer.

'That bastard, always, ALWAYS finds me at the wrong place and time!'

The Italian mentally fumed and when the sky was dark again, he dashed away as fast as he could. He ran to the desolated parts of the city and when he checked that he was no longer followed he stopped. The man gasped for some air and straightened himself before leaving the city. Once he was outside, he walked to the bus stop that was heading for the train station.

After paying for his fare, he seated himself at the middle part of the bus. The young man then put on his hoodie and watched the scenery pass him by. When he had reached the station he bought himself a ticket to Rome.

"What accommodation sir?"

"Economy class."