Lovino sighed as he walked into Doc's. He didn't particuarly want to walk into a place where everyone hated him. Why was he doing this again? Oh, yes, that was right; because his brother just had to fall in love with a freaking gang member. God, Feliciano sometimes. He could be insufferable.
Then again, he was no better. He smiled bitterly to himself. He had always thought that in the event of Antonio's death he would look back and think nothing but pleasant thoughts, but no, it seemed that he felt the same way about Antonio he always had. Love and hate. Amore e odio.
When Lovino pushed the door open, and the little bell at the top of the door went off, everything stopped. Honestly, it was incredibly awkward.
"I'd like to see Doc," said Lovino. Doc was a Polish man who had the tendency to talk like a cheerleader from a stereotypical high school comedy. He was one of the few people in America Lovino liked. One of the Jets (some dork with glasses) glared at him.
"He's not here," he said. Lovino snorted.
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure at a business called 'Doc's', run by a man named 'Doc', I might expect to find 'Doc'. So, where is he?" He put his hands on his hips.
"He's gone to the bank," said one of two nearly identical blondes. The only distinguishing trait was that the shorter one had a ribbon in what Lovino assumed was her hair. The one talking sounded Swiss. It was funny how so many of the people born in America still sounded foreign. For sure, their parents were.
"Sei un coglione! The banks are closed at night. Try again," he snarled. The stunted one spoke.
"You know how skinny Doc is. Maybe he slipped through the night deposit slot." Okay, she was definitely a girl. That or an offensively feminine male. He didn't like her attitude at all.
"And got stuck halfway in," suggested a skinny girl with brown hair. She looked like a street rat. Also, who the hell carried a frying pan with them as a weapon? Idiots.
"Which indicates that there's no telling when he'll be back," said the smart-ass dork with the mole on his face. He pushed his glasses up his nose, as if to accentuate his dorkiness. "Buenos noches, señorita," he said mockingly. Please. His thick Austrian accent did not sound good trying on a romance language. Maybe Lovino had an accent, but so did these "America-born" fools. 'That's Spanish, you retards!' thought Lovino. 'And you just called me a girl.' He glared straight into his eyes. 'Only Antonio speaks Spanish to me and gets away with it.' Lovino stormed towards the cellar.
"Where are you going?" asked the scrawny one.
"Downstairs. To see Doc," he said, but the Jet with the glasses stepped in front of his path.
"Didn't I tell you? He's not here." 'I'm pretty fucking sick of your attitude,' thought Lovino, but he struggled to keep his cool.
"I think I'd like to see for myself," he said calmly. In a snotty tone of voice, the little Austrian who couldn't spoke.
"Say please, now." Fine. He wanted to be a whiny little bitch? Whatever. Lovino could play by his little rules, if he had too. He took a deep breath.
"...Please," Lovino said.
"Por favor," he said, same snotty tone. Okay, he was seriously starting to piss him off. 'That's still Spanish, you idiots. Do I look Spanish to you?' he thought bitterly.
"Let me pass right now," said Lovino testily. He looked up at the sneering, bespectacled asshole who was harrassing him. He hated being short; not because it made him feel weak, but because it probably made people like him feel powerful.
"I think you're too dark to pass," he said. Oh. Wasn't that lovely.
"As much as I'd love to get a heaping helping of racism, I think I've had my fill," said Lovino darkly. He tried to push past, but now the Swiss had gotten up and was blocking him as well.
"Listen, you-" Lovino stopped himself. He hated to admit it, but against all of these guys, plus Frying Pan Chick, he would probably get his ass kicked. He didn't particuarly want to be on the recieving end of a hate crime, especially given the incompetence of the local police force, so he bit his tongue.
"We're listening," said the Swiss guy.
"I have to give a friend of yours a message. I've got tell Ludwig-"
"He's not here," said Glasses Boy. Ugh. If he could just fucking cooperate, maybe they could get something done. Lovino sighed.
"I know he is," he said shortly. The blonde Swiss (the one who Lovino could actually believe was a male) peered down at him. Damn it, here everyone was tall.
"Who is the message from?" he asked. Lovino couldn't detect an ounce of humanity in his tone, but he didn't pick up on any spite or sarcasm, either.
"Never mind," he said stiffly.
"It couldn't be from that little Japanese boy, could it?" Before Lovino could respond, Frying Pan Chick spoke up.
"Rod, maybe you should-"
"Liz, please be quiet while I talk to the nice little foreigner."
UGH! He was such a smarmy asshole! At least now he had a name to put to the face. "It's not from Kiku," he said. "I want to help you, I want to stop him."
Liz arched her eyebrows high. "Antonio's boyfriend wants to help?" Her tone did sound somewhat mocking, but Lovino got the feeling that every time she spoke this happened. Somehow, he felt like she was genuinely surprised.
"Oh, come off it, Liz. Even an illegal immigrant has feelings," said Rod. Okay, he was really starting to piss Lovino off.
"But he wants to help Ludwig," said Liz. Okay, he hadn't liked this girl at first, but Lovino did feel like she was on his side, at least. Rod turned his attention away from Liz, looking straight into Lovino's eyes.
"Antonio's tramp," he said darkly. "Antonio's pig, Antonio's slut." On and on he went. It was horrible. Lovino didn't particuarly care if a group of skinny little white boys had something to say about him, but bringing up Antonio was crossing a line.
"You're all animals!" he screamed. He saw the Swiss boy pull out a gun. Well, wasn't this fun. "You're all filthy creatures! You're vermin! I hate you! You are lower than the dirt I walk on!" That was when Rod and the Swiss boy began to encircle him. The scrawny girl with the ribbon was there, too, holding a pistol. Oh, so she was packing heat, too? Lovely.
"Don't you touch me!" Lovino went on. "If I must die, I want to die honorably, not at the hands of a bunch of bastards like you! Your mothers never loved you. If you were my children, I'd hang myself!" Lovino suspected that he had been moments away from death or major injury, when the door opened.
"Oh, my, God!" exclaimed a voice. Lovino smiled, somewhat meanly. "Like, get away from him! Go on!" Lovino's mean little smile melted into a scowl. He spoke softly.
"Antonio was right." He made sure to glare at each one of them, looking into their eyes as he did so. "He always told me to watch myself. To be kind, but wary. To never trust anyone, but to always-" He stopped himself. He tried not to cry; he hated himself for feeling this way. He tried to make his sadness anger. "If one of you were bleeding in the street, I'd walk by and spit on you!" He headed towards the door, but then turned around.
"Here's a message for your potato-munching friend. Tell the murderer that Feliciano is never going to see him, ever, because Kiku found out and killed him. Stabbed him in the stomach, and all of his guts fell out onto the floor. I had to clean it up," he said, slamming the door shut behind him.
Okay, so it wasn't true. Lovino didn't care. When he was a block away, he let himself cry. They were angry little sobs, not loud beautiful tears like his brother always shed. No, his tears came out in fitful spurts, and hurt.
Antonio always had told him to watch himself while watching others, to be kind but wary, to never trust anyone but to always be someone people could trust. But he had always given him one piece of advice, no matter what the situation.
Lovino could so vehemently swear that he heard Antonio's voice, he even looked up. He could almost swear he heard Antonio's sunny voice telling him to 'ser un sol para todos en un mundo lleno con nubes,' but when he looked up all he saw was a flickering street lamp.
Be a sunshine to all in a world filled with clouds. Now, there were only clouds. Lovino sighed. He didn't have a sunshine.