Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just ship it
Warning: AU, strong language, boy x boy pairings, violence (more so bullying in the beginning), and because this was inspired by the manga Iris Zero, there may be some minor spoilers for it.
It seems like a few of you are a bit worried about the "that day" statement from last chapter. Antonio or Lovino might briefly mention it again, but it will get covered in detail in a few more chapters after we get this Homecoming shindig over.
oOo
Feliciano was always excited about going to World Academy's Homecoming Dance, but he was over the moon when he heard about the homeland theme. His grandfather had always been interested in Roman history and had acquired all kinds of art, jewelry, literature, traditional clothing, and (Romulus's personal favorite) swords over his years of collecting. Romulus had been equally excited about the idea and happily volunteered to help Feliciano put a costume together. His imagination danced over ideas for accessories as he set his dirty dishes in the sink.
"Lovi!" he called to his older brother. "Your breakfast is getting cold!"
"That's because you made pasta…again!" the tsundere shouted back.
"But I thought you liked pasta!" Feliciano nibbled on the serving spoon. "Is there something wrong with the way I make it?"
"No, there's something wrong with the way you insist on making it for every fucking meal!"
Now his fratello was just being silly. Pasta was an important part of breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Still, Lovino had been working hard lately, so Feliciano shoved a few slices of bread into the toaster. After the toast popped up moments later, Lovino trudged down the stairs and sat at the counter to eat. He was in his typical aloof mood this morning, but Feli saw past it.
"Your hair looks nice today!"
"My hair always looks like this, dimwit."
"Yeah, but today it's extra springy!" the younger Vargas waved his hands for emphasis. "And shiny too!"
"Springy and shiny, huh?" Lovino sighed. "You could do shampoo commercials."
"I could!" Feliciano's eyes sparkled. "We could be famous!"
"We?" Lovino didn't share his brother's enthusiasm and nearly choked on the coffee he walked over to pour some.
"Yeah!" Feliciano linked arms with his fratello and strutted back to the counter, pausing every few steps to whip his head around and pose dramatically.
"You're such an idiot," the older Italian rolled his eyes, reclaiming his spot. He allowed the small smile that formed to stay while he ate.
"Ve~ We got the moves~!" cheered Feliciano, raising his hands into the air. The doorbell rang and he spun around. "I wonder who that could be?"
"Whatever, just answer it."
Content with his brother's improved mood, Feliciano scampered down the hallway to see who was visiting them so early in the morning. Maybe Nonno locked himself out and forgot where the spare key was? Maybe their extended family was visiting from Italy and forgot to call first? Maybe he won a prize on his favorite game show and the camera crew was waiting for him outside?
"Ciao!" Feliciano answered the door with the combined enthusiasm of every contestant on Wheel of Fortune from the last decade.
"H-Hello, Feliciano," Ludwig looked a little surprised to see him. "How are you?"
"I'm great! I was just practicing to be in shampoo commercials with fratello!"
"That's…er, nice."
"Are you here to audition too?" Feliciano stepped aside, so Ludwig could enter his home.
"I…what?"
Ludwig accepted the invite inside, if for no other reason that it forced him to gather his thoughts and put them into words. It was distracting enough that the little Italian had begun his strange, but endearing antics this early. He didn't think he was the type to run away from a problem, no matter how nerve-wracking, but it was oddly comforting to think of the closed door as a way to prevent him from escaping.
"Are you here to see me about something?" the amber-eyed boy asked brightly. "…Or maybe you have some Student Council stuff for Lovi?"
Ludwig shook his head quickly…probably too quickly, judging by his friend's laughter. He wouldn't dare approach Lovino on his own for anything without packing red pandas, Feliciano, or both. Those seemed to be the only things capable of defusing the angry Vargas brother when his temper got the best of him. Although, lately Alfred had been making some notable progress. If there was a secret to it that involved not having been the one to destroy the brunette's childhood, he'd love to hear it.
"I was…I was wondering if you had plans for Homecoming at this time," the German coughed. No need to embarrass himself if Feliciano already had a date. The Italian was as popular as beer at Oktoberfest, even if he didn't realize it himself.
"Not yet, but I really, really want to go!" he giggled.
"In that case, would you like to go with me?"
"Eh?!" Feliciano's eyes let up. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"A-As a part of the group I'm putting together," Ludwig quickly amended, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. Had he been too forward? He wasn't quite sure how to take Feliciano's reaction. "Kiku, Kaoru, Lily, Mei, and Yong Soo will be going as well."
"I'd love to go with you and the others!" Feli exclaimed, throwing his arms around the taller boy excitedly.
Ludwig breathed a sigh of relief. He patted the Italian on the back as Feliciano's squeezes tightened. It wasn't exactly a date, but it was a start; and a huge step for the German. He was grateful that Kiku and Gilbert had managed to convince him to ask Feliciano, after all.
From the kitchen, Lovino heard his brother's squeals of delight and tried not to vomit all over his breakfast. If the little idiot wanted to go to the damned dance with the potato bastard, that was his call. He already knew their Nonno was on the list of chaperones, so the macho potato wouldn't do anything too creepy…probably. It might even work out in his favor, since he'd get both bastardos out of the house for most of the night. Lovino couldn't even remember the last time he'd had the place to himself…
Just as visions of peace, serenity, and all the pizza he could eat without the others around began to dance across his mind's eye, his little brother pranced back into the kitchen, bouncing around like a kid in a candy store. He latched onto Lovino and gave him the 'good news' of Ludwig inviting him to go to Homecoming with his group. Feliciano was so excited, he didn't even notice he'd switched over to rapid-fire Italian. From the doorway, Ludwig tried to make sense of it while Lovino pretended they didn't exist and continued munching on his toast.
Maybe if I ignore them both, they'll leave me the hell alone…?
The green-eyed boy focused all his attention on the TV, which Feliciano had left on. A trio of reporters (who looked far too perky for seven in the morning) were sitting behind a long desk. The youngest of the three was happily chatting about her family. Apparently, her little boy just realized what his Iris did and had been entranced ever since.
"It's like he sees the world in a whole new way, now that he knows only he can see the shape stickers on people!" she laughed.
"Yes, it's so cute to watch them try to figure out their Iris!" The woman in the middle agreed. "It can be fun for parents to guess it too."
"My youngest child had us scared because she didn't figure it out until she was five!" the man laughed. "It turns out her Iris identifies a person's age by the color of their eyes."
"How interesting," the younger woman nodded. "I can see how that would have been difficult to figure out until then."
"True, for the longest time my wife and I were terrified she was an Iris Zero!" he shuddered at the memory.
The others were quick to sympathize on the television. The man received a pat on the back and nodded when the older reporter mentioned how dreadful of a time that must have been for them all. Lovino felt his eyes narrow. Breakfast suddenly lost all its appeal as the trio of idiots continued expressing their condolences for any of the parents out there with Iris Zeroes.
Right, because having a child like that would be just terrible…! Those bastards…
Just as he was about to throw his plate through the screen, it was shut off.
"Don't listen to them, fratello. They don't know what they're talking about," Feliciano smiled, setting the remote down. "They can't even get the weather right most days!"
"Thanks, Feli…"
oOo
Homecoming fever had hit the school hard. With the dance less than a week away, students were having trouble focusing and professors were practically tap-dancing to keep their attention. Students and staff alike were quick to take sneak peeks into the gymnasium, which continued to be transformed into a whole new world. Everyone was excited about Elizabeta's homeland theme. It would be so different than all of the dances before it, which were very traditional.
Alfred must have passed at least eight different posters advertising the dance on the way to his locker. The Art club was really going all out and had couples from different countries on each poster. He was particularly fond of the American one, featuring a cowgirl lassoing her cowboy partner. Alfred realized that he didn't even have time to think of a costume with all the people bombarding him with questions and praise left and right. Even now, he had a trail of at least half a dozen people following him attentively.
"Well, to give credit where it's due, Elizabeta was actually the one who came up with this year's theme," he laughed. "I totally support it though! I think it's awesome!"
His posse agreed with him completely. Alfred's fans were trying to soak up as much time with him as possible. He was a hard guy to get a hold of lately with his new responsibilities as the Student Council President on top of everything he did previously. It was too bad, but they still supported him. World Academy had become a much more amazing place ever since he took over his new role. When they asked him what plans he had in store for the pep rally, he brought a finger to his lips and winked. Some things had to be a surprise or it wouldn't be any fun.
…He was a little concerned about the girl who suddenly passed out after he said that, however. Maybe she didn't like surprises?
At lunchtime, Alfred helped Lovino take care of the red pandas in what he was starting to call 'Fort Fire Cat' (he had to change the original name of 'The Panda Garden' after it was pointed out that was already the name of a restaurant chain and Alfred didn't want his babies to think they were destined to become Chinese food). He had tried to show the Italian the cool pictures Kiku had given him of them and the pandas, but Lovino refused to even look at them. His friend seemed strangely upset…more than usual today. Alfred watched him pat the two cubs near him and offer them grapes.
"These animals should be rewarded for not being people."
"Why?" the blonde blinked.
"I hate people."
"Something on your mind?" laughed Alfred, giving his friend's shoulder an affectionate squeeze.
"It's this damned Homecoming thing…At this point, I think the danger the tomato bastard saw around me was the fight I cause when I dropkick the next person who brings it up," he sighed in frustration. "I can't even escape it at home; it's all Feli will talk about!"
"That's too bad…"
"Can you believe that idiot is still trying to get me to go?" Lovino scoffed. "If I didn't go every other year in a suit, there's no way in hell I'm going this year in a toga!"
"You're not going?" exclaimed Alfred, a little louder than necessary. He had always assumed it was fun so everyone went.
"Why would I?!"
"Because it'll be fun!"
Lovino could only think of all the annoying people, the crowded gymnasium, stuffy air, terrible food, awful music topped only by awful dancers, and all the assholes threatening to make him leave if he didn't do so on his own.
"You and I have very different definitions of fun, stronzo."
oOo
Arthur flipped the page of his latest mystery novel as he walked to his next class. By now, he had mastered the art of simultaneously reading and walking in any environment. It had taken some time to perfect (and more than a few snide remarks from his brothers when he crashed into things), but the tsundere kept at it until he reached the point of being able to write his own book on the subject if he so chose.
It also served as a way to distract himself from looking at people and seeing black butterflies.
The majority of the time he saw them, it was on a stranger. To him, that proved to be a perk of being an introvert. The Briton could try to make light of the situation as much as he wanted around others familiar with his Iris, but in reality he became petrified when a black butterfly landed on someone he knew. He had more than one 'freak out' over the years trying to protect his friends and family and a full-fledged panic attack when he saw one of the damned creatures perch on his own head four summers ago. Apparently swimming wasn't his thing, but he avoided what he later presumed to be his death via drowning when he spent the morning he agreed to go fishing in the psych ward of a hospital. The terrible storm that blew in from nowhere passed over the building harmlessly. Some folks on jet skis had been seriously injured in the lake he would have been on, but nobody died that day.
Arthur didn't know what he would do if he saw one show up at school on someone he was close to or even a person he had class with. He occupied himself with books and prayed he'd never have to find out. Granted, he saw more of the cursed butterflies in public places, such as crowded streets, restaurants, and parks than he did his own school, but it never hurt to take extra precautions.
And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of his favorite authors.
"Ah, Arthur!" someone called out to him.
"Yes, Kiku?" the blonde marked his page with a bookmark and faced his friend. Kiku was one of the few people he would willingly put down a Sherlock Holmes novel for.
"I was hoping to get a statement from you about the Homecoming budget for our Student Council records," the black-haired boy informed him. "Would you be available to go over the numbers afterschool?"
"My apologies, Kiku, but I have an important appointment afterschool today," Arthur sighed. "Terribly urgent, you see. I have to go trash a rival business owner in front of the man's own parents under the guise of friendly conversation."
"If anyone can pull it off, I'm certain it's you," Kiku laughed. "Some other time then…"
"Thank you," the tsundere gave a gentlemanly smile.
Kiku was a loyal and trusted friend, but there was no way in hell Arthur was letting anyone see how much over the budget he allowed the Homecoming planning committee to go until after the dance.
Dammit…I knew I shouldn't have let Elizabeta talk me into agreeing to rent that reindeer. He thought to himself. Why couldn't all of her ideas have been as brilliant as building a life-sized TARDIS?
oOo
The final bell had rung for the day. Matthew made his way to his locker which was conveniently (or inconveniently, depending on the day) located next to his brother's, due to a registration error two years ago. The blonde had been in a good mood after his friend had told him how Gilbert had purchased their tickets for Homecoming already…even if the words Francis had used were a little less than friendly…and contained some French words that Matthew was pretty sure he'd never heard before for good reason. Now he just had to wait for his boyfriend to ask him.
Knowing Gilbert, he's probably waiting for the right opportunity to ask me after some 'awesome' stunt.
Really, at this point, Matthew wouldn't be surprised if the albino rode a stampede of polar bears down the hallways, loudly proclaiming his desire to attend homecoming with 'his Birdie' with some kind of German heavy metal music blaring on the intercoms. And it would all be so Gilbert could say he just found out a group of polar bears is called a 'celebration,' so he wants to ride a celebration to the celebration of Homecoming.
Matthew chuckled to himself at the thought, stopping short when he saw his brother leaning against the lockers dejectedly. There was practically a cloud of doom and gloom surrounding him and his wings were spewing out dark, depressing shades of grey and black. The wavy-haired blonde didn't know what caused his normally carefree brother to look so miserable, but if he wanted to leave anytime soon, he'd have to figure it out.
"Hey, Al," he greeted his brother neutrally. "…You okay?"
"Homecoming is ruined, my team didn't win a single volleyball game in gym class, I lost my shoe, and now my locker won't even open…" Alfred sighed.
"Uh, probably because that's my locker, eh?"
"…Oh."
"So…are you going to move or are we going to stand here all night?" Matthew tried to get his brother in gear. He had homework to finish, so he could get to his skype chat with Gilbert sooner. "I can help you if you need—"
"Nobody can help me!" Alfred groaned. "Everything is over…"
"Why don't you tell me about what's going on," sighed Matthew. "Maybe we can think of a solution together?"
"Okay…" the slightly taller blonde sniffed and despaired to his brother about how Lovino refuses to go to Homecoming. No matter how much fun he tried to make it sound, his best friend informed him that an ER trip after eating Arthur's cooking would be a better time than that crappy excuse of a party.
"Uh, there, there…" Matthew tried to awkwardly comfort him, patting his back.
"If Lovi's not going, than I'm not either!" Alfred pouted, chin still resting on his brother's shoulder. "It wouldn't be as much fun without him…"
"Well, maybe instead of not going, you should try to find a way to convince Lovino to go after all?" suggested his twin. "I know you have a pep rally speech to prepare for. Maybe you could inspire him to go using that?"
"That's it!" exclaimed the blonde, enthusiasm instantly renewed. He quickly hugged his brother and took off, his voice echoing down the hallway. "Thanks, Mattiiiiiiie!"
"Welcome…" the calmer of the twins waved, finally able to get to his locker.
oOo
In other parts of the building, a different kind of drama was starting to unfold. It was the same tired tale of a group of hyenas ganging up on a timid calf. In this case, Lily was the calf and a gang of three female classmates were the hyenas.
"You have such a creepy Iris, it had to of been you!" the tallest and possible pack leader pointed an angry finger at the shy blonde.
"Yeah, you freak!"
"You have a creepy Iris because you're such a freak of nature!" the pack leader's subordinates flanked her and took her side immediately. Poor Lily had no idea what was going on.
"I-I'm sorry, but I don't understand…" Lily's voice shook.
"Don't play dumb, you little bitch!" the tallest hyena snapped at her angrily. "You're the only one outside my friends who knows what my Iris does! And it's all because of your creepy stalker Iris!"
"Yeah, you were the one who ratted her Iris out to others!"
"We know you were the one who posted it online so her boyfriend and everybody would see it!"
"B-But I didn't—"
"You're really pissing me off! What makes you think you can just go around blabbing everyone's Irises to others!" the leader shrieked. "Did you ever stop and think that some of us don't want others to know what they are?!"
Lily tried to shrink away from the group of awful girls, but was trapped by a wall. It was obvious to anyone even passing by the scene that Lily was innocent, but the popular girls/hyenas were too caught up in their own screaming match to listen to reason. A part of Lovino wished that he didn't see this happen, but a larger part of him knew he couldn't let it go. The vicious pack of girls only reconfirmed that humans are bastards, but Lily was a good person. She was always first to volunteer to help with the red pandas and was the whole reason they were even still alive. Lovino decided to intervene before shit got decidedly real and Lily got hurt.
"Hey, idiotas!" he had their attention, now he just had to keep it by calling them out on their shit. "Instead of blaming people with Irises that are actually useful, you should be punishing the dumbass that actually deserves it."
"Back off, Iris Zero! We know it was her!"
"Yeah, go crawl back under whatever rock you came from!"
"Really?" he feigned surprise. "Because if you would have stopped and actually thought about it for ten fucking seconds, you'd know it was your so-called friend over there."
"What'd you say?!"
"Basically to back off and go get better friends," Lovino snarled. "There's nothing uglier than a pack of girls ganging up on an innocent person like this. Your BFF's the one you should be bitching at."
"And why would she do that?" the taller girl sneered. "She's my best friend!"
"Because hyenas have cannibalistic tendencies," Lovino responded in a bored tone.
"What?!"
"She's trying to make you look bad so she can attack when you hit rock bottom and steal your boyfriend with you out of the picture."
"How do you know that?"
"Because it's the same stupid plot of every soap opera my idiot brother forced me to watch with him when we were sick and had nothing to watch on TV," Lovino rolled his eyes. "And believe me, you hyenas are nothing short of a daytime television cliché."
The girls seethed and tempers flared up (particularly the traitor among the hyenas), so Lovino casually stood in front of Lily to keep her out of it. As the pack got louder, their boyfriends rushed over. Naturally, the hyenas claimed that Lovino was picking on them, causing the boys to get angry. They were quickly joined by more of their pack until they glared at the brunette and outnumbered him 9 to 1. The tsundere just rolled his eyes and called them names befitting their large stature and low IQ.
"You brought this on yourself, you know!" one shouted back, cracking his knuckles.
"None of this would have happened if you stayed out of sight like a good little Iris Zero!"
"Or better yet, just left this school!"
"You're not welcome here; take a hint you fucking failure!"
"All you do is curse others! Nothing good comes from Iris Zeroes! Just die, already!"
Lovino felt his clenched fingers dig into his palms so hard they nearly drew blood. All of the anger he felt over the years of being bullied, tormented, and verbally-abused by idiots like them was boiling over until he was ready to explode. He was 200% done with running away and letting jackasses like them get away with everything. Alfred made him 'Police Commissioner' of World Academy and these little bastards were about to find out why.
"Fuck you…" he hissed.
"What did you say?" one of the boys replied half-upset and half-surprised. He wasn't used to Lovino talking back so much. Where was the smart-mouthed boy who eventually gave up and ran away when he realized he was outnumbered and about to get beaten to a pulp?
"I'm so fucking tired of letting asshats like you run the school…" he snarled, his voice growing louder. "You're born with an Iris, passable looks, or muscles and you think you're better than everybody else? Wake up, bastards. You're not."
A few people stopped walking by and stuck around to see how this ended. Lovino just continued with his angry, passionate speech.
"Do you know the real reason nobody's stood up to you for so long? It's because they've formed a habit of agreeing with whatever you say in order to feed off your status, save face, or avoid a fight," he carried on. "That's it. You might think people like you for your appearance or sad excuse of a personality, but it all comes down to automatically completing an old habit. Not because they like you. Not because they respect you. People only put up with you because they've become accustomed to it."
Several more people gathered around the group, staring in shock. Only a few confused whispers about what the crap was going on circulated through the crowd of 20 or so students. The rest were struck speechless. Lovino didn't care that he was cornered by a bunch of jocks who liked to hit first and ask questions later. He didn't even care that it was probably only a matter of time before this gathering turned violent and the odds weren't exactly in his favor. He was on a roll, dammit! The tsundere continued to voice the words he had kept inside for so many years.
"The only way bastardos like you know how to prove your so called 'power' is to pick on people who can't defend themselves. Why take the gamble of challenging a fighter? Deep down, you're afraid of losing your fragile claim to fame, so you make an example out of the few decent human beings we have at this school, share some laughs with your buddies about how fun it is to mess with people who can't fight back, and brag about it to keep the other sheep in line. It's disgusting." Lovino spat venomously. "You all make me sick. Since you seem to think it's fun to hit people who are too afraid to hit back, so I'm going to prove to you just how much that will cost you. Starting now, anyone who wants to pick on Lily or any other victim at our school will have to go through me first!"
"You and what army?" the punk sneered, before he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.
"This army!" Gilbert grinned and punched him square in the jaw. The boy fell to the ground with a loud thud and the albino motioned to his cronies. "If you want to die, step forward!"
The remaining boys looked like they were ready to shit their pants.
"Lovino's Army, reporting for duty!" Antonio gleefully shoved another bully away from his cousin.
"No, no, no…" Francis tripped another before they could land a cheap shot on Gilbert. "We're the World Academy Police Force, remember?"
"Oh, right! That!"
Gilbert smacked the final crony around and let him slide to the ground beside his fallen leader.
"So if anybody wants to foolishly attack Commissioner Vargas, they have to face us first!"
The albino finished his challenge and the trio struck an awesome choreographed pose involving some kind of kung-fu stance on Gilbert's part, with Francis and Antonio raising their fists at his side, ready for battle…or possibly a photoshoot. The crowd erupted into a wild applause for the trio. Lovino could only facepalm. It wasn't like he was completely ungrateful for the sudden save, but seriously… superhero poses? He couldn't decide if that was a side-effect of hanging around Alfred too long or if the BTT was already that brain-damaged to begin with.
"…How long were you waiting to use that pose?" Lovino asked.
"So long!" the Spaniard answered.
"Lovino, mon ami, you have no idea…"
"But all that extra practice finally paid off!" Gilbert put his hands on his hips. "Just like I said it would!"
Not for the first time that day, Lovino felt the inexplicable urge to go bash his head into a brick wall.
oOo
A/N – Just when I thought the Bad Touch Trio couldn't get any more ridiculous, they had to go and prove me wrong.
Fun random red panda fact (because I know you're all secretly reading this just for the red pandas) – In 1825, French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier first described the western red panda (which was over 40 years before the familiar black and white bear was cataloged) as the most beautiful animal he had ever seen and gave it the scientific name of Ailurus (taken from the Greek word for cat 'ailouros') fulgens (which means 'fire-colored'). Hence, "fire cat" and the reason Alfred calls the gardens Fort Fire Cat. The more you know…
One more chapter to get these dorks in gear for Homecoming and then the actual chapter about said dance.
-Rajikka
Translations
Fratello – Brother (It.)
Tsundere – A type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. (Jp.)
Stronzo – Bastard or Asshole (It.)
Bastardos – Bastards (It.)
Mon ami – My friend (Fr.)