A/N: Hey guys!

So I meant to post this last Sunday, but eh. Did not have time, to be fair. Anyway, I was wanting to ask you guys something.

So I've noticed that the views for this series have steadily been dropping. At first, I was getting about 70-80 views per chapter. Now it's not even to 20 per chapter. This makes me sad and rather disheartened. And I want to know what it is? Is it because school started? Or is it because of general lack of quality? I'm also not getting new favorites, reviews or followers either, and I want to know why. I mean, I have a lot to deal with as is with college, and I'm finding that the lack of response just makes me feel flat out depressed half the time, and in all honesty, if it doesn't improve, the project will probably be dropped by October. I can't keep working on something that just hurts me so much. I want to keep going with this, because I got some stuff already planned out, but it just doesn't work for me at this point. I've already had enough shit going on with my emotions that I don't want to feel like I'm doing this for nothing, and that I'm wasting my time.

I guess, just tell me how to improve? You guys are the ones reading this. I mean, I'm gonna give it a bit to see if the change of day brings improvement but…I don't know, anymore, really.

But anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Lovino's POV

"What the fuck do you mean, we have to talk about the business? Obviously I have to take it into my own hands, right?"

Potato bastard shakes his head. "Nein, Lovino. You have to fake your death and go to California."

"What the fuck?!" I all but shriek.

Albino bastard shrugs. "Apparently your grandpa had told our Opa that if something were to happen to him and either you or Feli that the other would go to some school in California until you were either out of school or the other got better."

"Bullshit!"

The potato fucker shakes his head again. "Look for yourself." He hands me a letter. Sure enough, it's Nonno's handwriting, saying exactly what Gilbert had said.

"Fuck…I can't just up and leave Feli and Nonno, though!"

Gilbert smirks. "We knew you would say that. And so did Opa. He told us to tell you that he would try to get them over there with you."

"What about the business?"

Ludwig shrugs. "We don't know."

I groan. "When the hell do I leave?"

"We leave when you are well enough to travel."

"Fucking excuse me, bastard?"

"Opa said that Luddy and I are going with you."

"Why?!"

Gilbert rolls his eyes. "Look at yourself, Lovino. Even when you can travel again, you're still going to be weak."

"I can still fucking protect myself!"

"Opa doesn't want any chances."

I groan again.

"Look, we don't want to leave either. It can't be helped." Ludwig cuts in before I can complain anymore.

Before anyone can say anything, Liz comes back in the room, Zero in her arms. "Oh! Was I interrupting something?"

I glare straightforward. "No. Now gimme my damn wolf. Dammit."

Liz laughs. "Fine, fine."

Ludwig suddenly looks alarmed. "Wait. Wolf?"

Liz nods. "Yep. That baby we found a while ago. Remember?"

"J-ja, but do you think it's safe?"

"Zero has been in here every day since Lovino woke up, so I don't see why not." Ludwig is about to say something, but Liz interrupts him. "Look, I don't know what you guys were talking about, but evidently Lovino needs to sleep.

It doesn't take long before the room is cleared except for me and Zero. And my fucking thoughts of course. "Goddammit, Antonio…leaving me all confused and shit…"

Zero's head perks up when I mention Antonio. "Aw, ya little shit, you don't need to worry. He's just some bastard who you won't meet. We're moving soon anyway."

Zero's head tilts to the side. I ignore it. Instead I slowly slip into a sleep.

I wake up to crashes downstairs.

I didn't know what to do at the time, besides go and check it out. Being the curious little shit that I am, that is.

I check to make sure the Feliciano is in bed. He is. Somehow he managed to sleep through the noise. Mamma is also in bed, but I don't see Papa. Or Nonno in his bed either. I wonder where they are?

When I check on Marcello, however, I notice that he isn't in his bed like he was just a mere hour ago. "Shit…" I mumble to myself as I race downstairs. God forbid Marcello broke something.

I try not to think of the other possibilities there could be.

I run downstairs regardless.

That's when I hear whimpers. I rush to where I hear the soft noise.

What I see makes my heart all but stop.

Marcello is sitting in the corner with this huge monster standing above him. There is blood all over the living room. I don't know what I had been thinking, but my big-brother instincts kicked in.

"Hey, asshole! Leave my fratellino alone!" Before I know what the fuck is going on, I grab a vase and throw it at the monster.

It turns towards me and, I run. Of course, who the fuck wouldn't?

I keep running. The monster is gaining on me, I know without actually having to look. I can feel its breath on my neck. I can hear its screeching.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." I keep chanting while I run. I have no idea if it's still following me.

"Lovino! What are you doing?" I hear a very soothing voice call to me.

"M-mamma! We gotta run, that thing! Its! Oh, God, Marcello! I left him in the living room.

"What thing?"

"It's a monster!"

"Lovi, honey, aren't you a bit too old to believe in monsters?"

That's when we hear an inhuman screech along with Marcello's cries of agony.

I wake up because someone is shaking me slightly and saying my name. "E-Eh?"

Antonio blinks at me. "Oh! Lovi! You're awake! You started shaking and mumbling, so I thought that you were having a nightmare or something! Oh…but you probably want me to leave. I can understand that, I probably freaked you out earlier, so I'll just go…"

Before I can think, I sit up and grab his hand. "Ah!"

Antonio looks at me. "Lovi! Don't sit up, you're still hurt!"

"Don't leave…"

"What?"

"I said don't leave me. Bastard…"

"Okay, okay. Just lay back down, please." He suddenly reaches for my face. "And please, stop crying, quierdo. I don't like seeing you so sad." He wipes the tears from my face in a really cheesy fashion, like in those really stupid fucking chick flicks. Not like I would know from watching it or anything like that.

I feel myself slowly falling back asleep. "Bastard…you better not fucking leave me…"

Antonio smiles at me. "I won't. I'll stay by your side, even if you don't realize it."

3 Weeks Later

"I fucking hate you guys."

"We know, Lovino."

"Just making sure you fucking know that, asshole."

"Lovino…"

I tone out both of the German's. There really isn't much of a fucking point to listen to them. Besides, I don't want to be bitching…er…conversing with them when someone finally opens the fucking door.

Nonno had apparently written a mini-will thing that stated that either me or Feli were to go to a specific house in California on the off chance that something were to happen to him.

Or course, I didn't fucking know that it was almost like a fucking orphanage. Pretty much a bunch of kids live in the same fucking house and shit like that.

I knock on the door again. I'm starting to really get frustrated now. Like really really fucking frustrated. It's fucking raining like none fucking other and it's pissing me off.

Finally, someone opens the Goddamned door. He's probably around seventeen or eighteen. He has long blond hair and blue eyes. As soon as he sees Gilbert, his face lights up. "Gilbert! Mon ami, what are you doing here?"

Gilbert, who had been talking to Ludwig, turns towards the voice. "Francis?! That you?" I soon find myself back by Ludwig as Gilbert pretty much shoves me out of the way. "Holy shit! I thought I would never see you again! Man, it's good to see ya!"

Francis is grinning from ear to ear. "I couldn't agree more! But…why are you here?"

"Opa sent me and Luddy to watch Lovino here." Gilbert suddenly drags me forward.

"Lovino? He looks really familiar for some reason…" Francis is studying my face closely. "Have I met you before? I don't think I would forget a face like yours so easily…"

I try to back away slightly. "I…"

Gilbert looks at Francis seriously. "You haven't met him. And if you touch him Elizabeta is going to kill me, so don't screw with him. Please, man. I value my life."

"Did she specifically say for me not to 'screw with him' as you have so creatively put it?"

"Well…"

"Exactly!" Francis grins again. "If she didn't say anything in particular she can't get mad!"

Before Gilbert can continue with what he was going to say, I cut in. "Hey, bastards, can we go in now? I'm fucking cold…"

Francis steps aside. "Yeah. Come on in."

First thing I am greeted with when I walk into the house is a teen jumping in front of me and screaming. "Yo, Francis, who're the new dudes?" He has dirty blond hair that is mostly tame aside from a random strand of hair going up. He has bright blue eyes behind a pair of glasses and a huge grin on his face.

Francis turns and looks at the boy. "Ah, Alfred. Their names are Ludwig," he points to the potato bastard, "Gilbert," points to albino bastard, "and this adorable one is Lovino." He finally points to me.

"I'm not adorable you fuck face!" I growl at him.

Alfred grabs my arm. "Cool! Well, Imma go show this guy around if that's okay with you guys!"

And that's how I managed to find myself on a tour by the self-proclaimed 'hero'.

First, Alfred leads me to the library. There is a group of boys sitting around one of the tables. "Alright! So at the table you got Arthur. He's from England!" He points to a boy with large bushy eyebrows over glaring green eyes with very messy blond hair, "Next to him is Kiku. He came here from Japan." Kiku has black hair framing his brown eyes. Alfred points out a boy with long hair tied back, "That is Yao, Kiku's adoptive brother. He's from China." He then points out a kid with short black hair and a wild curl coming off of his head with what looks like a face in it. "That kid is Im Yong Soo, but everyone calls him Yong Soo. He's Kiku's younger brother, also adopted, and from South Korea." He points out the last kid. He has blond hair and eyebrows like Arthur, but blue eyes. "Finally, that is Peter. He is Arthur's younger brother."

Alfred then drags me off to another room. This one was the living room. There's two people sitting on one of the couches and watching television. He points out a girl with short blonde hair. "That little girl is Lili. Be careful though, he brother will hurt anyone who so much as dares to glance at her." He then points to a boy next to Lili, with hair very similar to hers. "That's Vash, Lili's bro. He has this huge ass gun collection, so I suggest avoiding him."

"And here is the kitchen! Not many people come in here. Mostly just Yao and Francis. By the way, Arthur isn't allowed in here, and I strongly suggest not eating anything he makes."

I nod. "Good to know. Hey, bastard, where's my room?"

Alfred looks at me and grins. "You're rooming with me and Mattie!"

"What."

"Yup! We were told yesterday that some new kids were coming and that one 'Lovino Vargas' would be sharing a room with us! Isn't that awesome!"

I roll my eyes. "Depends on your definition of 'awesome'."

Alfred smacks me on my back. "You're pretty funny, Lovino! By the way, why is there a dog following you?"

I glance down and see Zero next to me. "He isn't a dog. He's a wolf. And that's because he's mine. I adopted him."

"I…see. Well!" Alfred grins and drags me off again. "I'll introduce you to Mattie and then I'll take you to our room!"

I sigh, realizing there really isn't much of a way out of this one. Soon, we're standing in the dining room. Two boys are sitting in some of the chairs, eating quietly. "Yo! Mattie!" Alfred yells. One of the boy's heads snaps up and looks at us. He has wavy blond hair to his chin and a random curl from the top of his head. He has a pair of purple eyes from behind a pair of glasses. In his arms is a little white bear.

"A-Al…I told you not to yell inside…" He has the quietest voice, Goddamn!

Alfred laughs. "Aw, c'mon, Mattie! Hey, this here is Lovino!" He points to me. "He's gonna be roomin' with us!"

'Mattie' sighs. "I know, Al, I was in the room when we were told…"

"Oh yeah. You're so quiet, sometimes I forget where you're at!"

Mattie sighs again then turns towards me. "I'm sorry about him. I'm Matthew. Al usually calls me Mattie."

Alfred laughs again. "That's cause you're my bro!"

I look at the other boy in the room. He's huge, not like fat huge, but like tall huge. He has an intimidating aura around him, and almost seems to be glaring at everything around him. He has blue eyes behind a pair of glasses and short blond hair. "Who's that?" I ask.

Alfred looks over by the boy and then back at me. "That's Berwald. He's really quiet. Pretty much only Tino talks to him." Alfred looks around the room. "Speaking of Tino, I wonder where he went?"

Matthew speaks up. "He went to put his dishes away."

"I see. Oh! There he is!" Alfred grins and waves at a short boy with light blond hair and purple eyes. "Tino! Come meet the new dude!" Tino looks at Alfred and walks over to us.

"Hi! I'm Tino. What's your name?"

"Lovino."

"Where are you from?" Man, this guy is curious.

"Italy. Specifically the south."

"But did you move here from Italy?"

"N-no…I moved here from Chicago. Wait, how did you know that I didn't move here directly from Italy?"

Alfred suddenly laughs. "Sorry, Tino, but we better take this guy to his room, he seems to be tired from the trip!" Alfred drags me out of the room.

Meanwhile…

Francis watches Alfred drag Lovino off to show him around. "Gilbert, what aren't you telling me?"

Gilbert snickers. "What're you talking about, Franny? The awesome me doesn't keep things from people!"

Francis glances at Gilbert. "That kid looks familiar. Like really really familiar."

"So?"

"And there are specific people who come to this house. You know that everyone will get suspicious of him."

"Again. So?"

"And don't think I didn't see Antonio following him. There is something special with that boy, and I will figure it out."

A/N: And that's it.

So I decided on not opening the polls. Because its either going to be Superhero's next or the second part to this story. You guys can choose, just know that if it's the second part to this arc, then the superhero one will not happen. It's all because of some things that occur in the next few arcs.

Anyway, leave a review and I will see you guys next week! Bye bye!