…So my Ipod decides to be a loser and messes up to where I can't use headphones. Something internal, I guess. So I borrow my friend's old one, which hates my Itunes and won't let me put hardly any of my stuff on it. I'm going to have to wait two weeks (read: an eternity) for a new one when my parents get their tax return stuff.
Geez I'm dramatic.
Anyways, enjoy your chapter!
Chapter 36-
"'Maybe we should switch today!'" Lovino sullenly mocked under his breath. "'You hang out with Aria, and Feli and I can do something together! Won't that be nice, Lovi?'"
He felt like kicking the stupid toys lined up before him.
Yeah. Mother-Son bonding. Great.
Aria, of course, wasn't even here. She wasn't even near Lovino. She'd walked off to take a business call at least half an hour ago and, for all he knew, she could have been on the other side of the mall by now while he still stood in the same darn aisle in Kmart. Lovino had not wanted to spend his first real day back home shopping. No, he wanted to sleep.
But there would be none of that, apparently. Sour expression melded onto his face, Lovino paced to aisle beside the one he'd been standing in. More stuffed animals.
…Comfy stuffed animals. Lovino fell back against one- a giant stuffed bunny. It was actually really soft, like a giant pillow. Pink fur surrounded him, soft and obnoxiously… cute.
Yes, he regrettably thought, falling further back into the humongous pale pink bunny. It was cute. All of them were, in a way. With their dark, beady eyes surrounded by pastel pelts, the stuffed unicorns just screamed: "Hey! Look at me! Take me home, Lovi! I'm so CUUUUUUUTE!"
He grumbled out a few curses and closed his eyes in frustration. He hated cute. He hated stuffed animals, anything pink, Kmart, whoever had the gall to call his mother and steal her away, and he especially hated how he wasn't at the hospital right now with Lili! That had been the only reason he'd agreed to this stupid thing, anything. Aria wanted to go shopping (no surprise there) and promised to chauffer Lovino to the hospital.
Going to see Lili did not mean stopping at Kmart for pasta supplies first. Nor did it mean dragging Lovino to the toys, gushing over everything that apparently Feliciano would just love to have, as if expecting Lovino to go and buy it or something. Lovino wasn't about to spend his money on crap for Feli! He had better things to spend his terribly little paycheck on, like tomatoes and-
"There you are!"
Lovino bolted away from the bunny, cheeks blazing. It fell down in the floor behind him, bringing with it ten other various fluff balls. Aria rushed over, grabbing them up in his stead. "Don't don't don't!" she twittered frantically. "You'll hurt your ribs!"
He stood by helplessly, the urge to scream and destroy something nearby growing by the second. When Aria had finally reverted the horrible wall of toys back to its original glory, she turned around with a sigh. "I couldn't find you!" she burst. "I figured you'd left to look at something… manlier than…." His mother vaguely waved at the giant bunny. "…Manlier than pink bunnies."
"IwantedtogetitforLili!" he spewed. "F-for Lili. Not me. Her. 'C-cause, she likes that stuff. Fluffy… pink… bunnies. She likes that."
Aria stared at him incredulously. Then she let out a snort. "Really, Lovi. That is pathetic. You expect me to believe a line like that?"
"You wanted me to get something, didn't you?" Lovino hissed, grabbing its ear. The thing was surprisingly heavy. "Here it is!"
"I meant something like chocolate for Lili, or a sock monkey for Feli," she argued. "This… this is about as big as you are. It'll swallow the poor girl whole."
Lovino froze. Swallow her whole. So fluffy. So cute. Like a giant pillow.
An evil smile unfurled on his face. "Exactly, Mamma."
((((()))))
"OW! I think I pulled something!"
"Ah! Papà, are you okay? GAH! OUCH! YOU FELL ON ME!"
"Sorry, Feli!"
After the two finally untangled themselves and crawled away from the wretched Twister mat, Feliciano and Antonio met each other's wide, terrified eyes. "Twister has never been this dangerous before," Feliciano observed.
Antonio nodded miserably. "But then again, the last time I played Twister, I wasn't in my forties. How about we try Trouble?"
"That sounds good. You can't fall on me in Twister. I'll go get it!"
Standing up with a groan, Antonio pointed to Lovino's room. "It's under the bed," he said. "Lovi never touched it, so it's probably still in the plastic."
Feliciano saluted proudly, then skipped into Lovi's room. The bed was still messy and unmade- Lovino had eagerly gotten out of bed when Antonio brought in pancakes Matthew had made for him, completely throwing manners to the wind. Feliciano smiled at the memory. He'd literally jumped onto Matthew, making the blonde stumble back in surprise. But he'd been happy to see Feliciano too, and offered to make him and Aria pancakes too.
Everyone else had come by, too. Everyone but Alfred, but he was away with his mom. Lovino looked mad, but Feliciano was happy for him. If he wanted to see his family, who was Feli to judge him for that?
He got down on his belly, feeling around under the bed for the legendary game of Trouble. He quickly found it, holding it high in triumph.
This is when he noticed Lovino's phone, carelessly thrown on his bed, half covered by the red, white, and green blanket and sheets. Feliciano blinked in surprise- didn't Lovi always bring it with him?
Oh well, the boy shrugged. I'll turn it off so the battery won't run down.
Carefully placing it back on the pillow, Feliciano clutched the game to his chest and skipped back outside. "Papà, I found it! Can I be green?"
((((()))))
Walking into Red Flower almost seemed as foreign to Ivan as speaking Greek. And he was sure he had never spoken Greek outside of Geometry. People Ivan didn't know personally but recognized from school or in town sat scattered in the dining area, laughing and talking over noodles in jovial, hushed tones. They gave the restaurant a warm feel, making the bright red plastered everywhere stand out proudly and boldly- it just made you want to smile.
Ivan didn't smile.
Natalya was, however, her arms still thrown around her brother's wide shoulders, almost skipping along in sheer joy. Ivan was happy for her, and happy to be home. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring a smile to his face. Katyusha obviously believed something was terribly wrong with him by now, and she nervously twittered about because of it. She looked on the verge of tears when she sat down at one of the long tables in the middle of the dining area.
Beside them, in a booth, sat a young Asian woman. A black fedora was on the other side of the table from her, and there were two menus. Obviously she had a companion. Ivan found it funny how she was Chinese, and chose to eat out at Red Flower. But then again, maybe it wasn't that funny, and he was just showing his crazy again. Speaking of insanity, his mind instantly went back to the weird Indian guy again. He had said Grigori belonged to "Red Flower Productions (and there should be a little trademark after that)". The restaurant was called Red Flower, the lady was Chinese, and the fedora across from her looked suspiciously like the one Deshad had been wearing.
But that had been in Kansas. There was no way that crazy guy- who honestly seemed even crazier than Ivan- could be in Heta.
Ivan half expected Kiku or one of his siblings to pop up and noisily announce his arrival back in town. However, it was man with a thin ponytail on his shoulder, carrying a stack of menus. "Welcome to Red Flower," he greeted happily. "It's nice to see you again, Vash, and…."
The man blinked in confusion. "S-Sadiq? What are you doing here?"
"Yao?" Sadiq burst in equal confusion. "I thought you told everyone that you hated-"
"You're right! Of course I was so happy to get the restaurant!" Yao interrupted loudly, worry in his eyes as he peeked over his shoulder at the Chinese woman beside them. He forced a panicked smile on his face. "I guess you're here to see Antonio and Aria? Kiku tells me they finally made it home last night. Ah, and you two must be Sadiq's adorable kids?"
The look Yao gave Georgio and Karamet was downright creepy. It looked like he was using every bit of his willpower not to jump across the table and pinch their cheeks. The boys instinctively scooted their seats farther away from Yao. "Uh," Sadiq started slowly. "Karamet's my kid. Georgio's my nephew. Persia's boy?"
"Oh," Yao smiled. "It's nice to meet you!"
They weren't thrilled to meet him.
Before they could set to ordering, a loud voice suddenly rang out, "APPAAAAAAA! Tao eun geuga won-yong-eul jujin anh-eulgeoya!"
"STOP SHOUTING, YONG SOO! YOU KNOW WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DISTURB THE CUSTOMERS!"
"Says the screaming woman."
Everyone, of course, turned to see the Wang siblings come bickering in, Kiku sadly shaking his head behind them. Ignoring Xiao Mei's rant, Yong Soo popped up before Yao with a wail. "Tao said he'd win me a dragon if I played air hockey with him, but even though I DID and he won TWO dragons, he won't give it to me! It was even made in KOREA!"
"Soo! I'm trying to take these people's orders-"
"But Tao's being a big fat meany and- Aunty Tohko?" Yong Soo broke off. A wide grin popped up on his face when he looked over his father's shoulder. He waved largely. "Hi, Aunty! I didn't know you were coming in today! I thought you were directing that movie about that husky!"
Ivan froze. Yao's sister… Red Flower… husky….
He miserably groaned, smacking his forehead into the table. "It is that weirdo."
Almost as if on cue, Deshad walked in, carrying two bags filled with various types of fruits and lettuces for making an awesome salad. Tohko jumped up happily, throwing her arms around Yao and Yong Soo's shoulders. "Deshad! This is my brother and the nephew I was telling you about!"
"Deshad? The heck are you doing here?" Sadiq demanded.
"Wasn't he the crazy guy that tried to steal your dog, Ivan?"
"IVAN?" Deshad himself burst, dropping his salad ingredients. He snapped his head around to, in fact, come face to face with the kid he thought he'd lost back in Kansas.
Katyusha flinched at their shouting. "Deshad? Tried to steal your dog? What is going on, Ivan?"
"NO ONE TOUCHES BRAT'S DOG," Natalya snarled, jumping up to her feet. Ivan was right behind her, shouting that he was right, and Deshad had lied about giving Grigori to him! He was going to try and take him away!
A shrill whistle cut through the air, interrupting them all. "Heeeey, Natalya!" Alfred Kirkland happily called from the corner of the room. Across from him in their booth, Samantha dropped her blood-red face in her hands. She made a mental note to never take Alfred out to eat somewhere public again, bored or not. Alfred instantly ran over to join the crowd, smiling at Natalya. She glared in response.
Aside from Ivan's stunned "How do you know Alfred, Natalya?", everyone had thankfully quieted down. Yao set to apologizing to everyone for the terribly rude interruption and herded them outside the restaurant. Vash (upon hearing from Alfred that Lovino was on his way to see Lili) didn't bother to stick around and hear their explanations. He ordered some egg rolls to go, grabbed the fortune cookies Tao handed him, and practically sprinted out of the mall.
"I promise your meals will be half price," Yao said with a sigh and yet another shamed bow. He glared over at his three youngest. "And you all are grounded."
"But Dad-"
"Do you want me to make it two months of dish duty, Yong Soo?"
The boy was silent.
Everyone's focus was turned to Ivan, Deshad, and Sadiq, each looking for an explanation. They decided to start from the beginning. Deshad introduced Ivan and Sadiq to Tohko, then sheepishly told her the truth: he really had found Festus after Morozko stole him, but hadn't brought him back because Ivan wanted him. Ivan quietly put in that Grigori had been his birthday present. Finally, Sadiq gave everyone the kind, filtered version of Morozko finding them. Ivan gave him a thankful, soppy smile for leaving out his little episode with the pipe.
It was hard to judge who was most floored by the story. Tohko's mouth hung agape, a mix of angry emotions floating around in her scowl towards Deshad. Natalya had completely changed her tune about the Indian. He had given Ivan's dog back? She found it infallibly polite and nice, and thus decided not to rip off his head.
Georgio and Yong Soo were cheering over the part where Sadiq "punched Morozko in the face". Of course, that wasn't nearly what had happened, but Ivan wasn't about to correct any details.
Too afraid to tell them you're messed up? Where has your courage gone?
Ivan's breath froze in his throat. Morozko's gruff voice echoed in his head. Better to get it over with than to have Katyusha find you when you're too far gone. But you're too proud for that, aren't you? Too proud to admit to them and yourself that you're just like me.
I may be the only person, but I'm proud of you.
He felt something crack further within him, but on the outside, he was still smiling. Couldn't stop smiling for Natalya and Katyusha! Ivan had to assure them that he was fine and happy to be back home, no matter what the truth was.
Ivan had failed them, but he was determined to make things right without them knowing. In order to hide the fact that his knees were shaking along with his hands, he sat down on a bench at the fountain. Natalya and Alfred followed, sitting on either side of him.
"Dude! I had no idea you came back!" Alfred burst with a bright grin, his voice grating in Ivan's ringing ears. It made the sudden migraine explode at his temples. Ivan quietly ignored it, turning his smile on Alfred. Neither boy noticed the quiet, grateful expression warming up Natalya's face.
"Well, I just arrived this morning. Sadiq drove me home, since Mrs. Dubose was going to stay with her grandchildren a little longer," Ivan explained. Why aren't you leaving me alone? Go away, you stupid oaf. Let me suffer in peace, please.
While Alfred went off on how amazingly heroic Ivan must have been, Ivan politely ignored him in favor of looking back to everyone else. Tohko was practically frothing at the mouth, her nephews and niece fruitlessly trying to calm her down before Deshad broke down in disgraceful tears.
He noticed Yao was staring at him. It wasn't in the strange, endearing way he'd been looking at Georgio and Karamet in, either. It was… apprehensive. Afraid. Afraid of him- for him- for whatever reason. Ivan went cold again. He hadn't accidentally said something that'd cause him to connect the pieces, had he? Saving him from his terror, Yao faintly smiled. It didn't reach his worried eyes. "How about I give you a welcome home gift, Ivan?" he asked. "I'm sure we've got something you'll like from that mess in the backroom. And we've got lots of fortune cookies…."
Who could refuse deliciously not-Chinese fortune cookies? (Ivan had learned they were first made in Chicago, and were in no way actually Chinese. It was the only interesting thing he'd learned in Sociology.)
The second they were out of earshot from the others, Yao finally turned around with a troubled frown. "Please excuse this vulgar question, but what have you been on? Alcohol? Kids don't normally act this, Ivan."
So he had found out. Ivan half expected himself to lash out and yell, but he only found himself standing calmly like he had been. He was just as outwardly cheerful as before. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Wang-"
"I smell it on your clothes," he deadpanned, picking at Ivan's jacket. Yao let his arm drop back to his side. Ivan's eyes trailed him as he distractedly started to pace. Honestly, Ivan found it almost amusing, the troubled, sad look on Yao's face. It was almost like a game. Did he actually care and know for sure, or was he merely going by assumption? Surely Yao wouldn't know anything about how Ivan ached.
Yao spoke again after pausing his walk. "I've been there too," the Chinese man quietly said. "And even though it isn't bad yet, it's going to get worse. I assume you don't want your sisters to know? I'll help you, and I promise not to tell."
Ivan didn't realize that his smile had fallen through. He didn't notice that there were tired tears at the corners of his eyes, just waiting to spill over, because someone else was here to help him too. Someone had noticed.
"I'll tell them you want a job here," Yao mused, wryly grinning at the thought. "That way your sisters won't catch on. I've got a plan, don't worry. And I'll drive you home after the restaurant closes, too, so you won't have to further inconvenience them. You're going to be okay, Ivan. You- oof!"
Yao stumbled back at the force of Ivan's hug. The boy's arms nearly crushed his small frame, threatening to break him in half if he didn't act soon. Yao weakly patted him on the back, trying to wriggle out of the boy's grasp with no avail. Finally Ivan pulled back, allowing Yao the opportunity to gulp in precious oxygen. "Spasiba, Mr. Wang!"
"Call me Yao," the man merely chuckled.
((((()))))
"Stop. Right. There."
At the dark voice, Lovino not only froze as commanded, but also let out a frightened yelp. It made him feel the tiniest bit better when Aria had the same reaction. At the same time, mother and son carefully peered over their shoulders at Vash, looking menacing even when armed with frilly pink pajamas tucked under one arm and a bag of Chinese takeout in the other. The blonde chief of police stalked towards them. "Lili said she doesn't want visitors," he growled. "And frankly, I'm sick and tired of you all running in and out of here, making her worry. The last kid had mental issues, for crying out loud! Lili's still messed up about him!"
"Menta- that stupid Polish dude?" Lovino blinked in surprise. "I heard he'd gone crazy, but I'd no idea he was all fu-"
"Language," Aria snapped.
He further shrank back behind the giant bunny. "…All messed up," Lovino mumbled the correction. However, he quickly went back to practically shouting. "But I've spent all freaking day shopping and prancing through stupid stores, and I'm going to see Lili even if it means breaking down the door!"
Not even a second after this proud declaration, Lovino hid his face behind the giant bunny, finally allowing Vash a good look at the thing. The man gaped, blinking in sheer shock. Where the heck had he gotten that thing?
Vash shook his head. He had to keep on track! Lili said no visitors, so he wasn't going to let this kid ruin her rest!
Busy glaring down at the bunny, hoping to bore holes into it so he could successfully turn his glare on Lovino, neither Vash nor Lovino noticed Aria calmly opening the door. "Hello, Lili?" Aria kindly poked her head into the door. "Lovi came to see you! I think your Papà is here, too."
Lovino and Vash raced to the door.
"-tried to keep them out, Lili, but they-"
"-been trying to get in here, but your stuffy old dad-"
Their mangled, frantic voices trailed away into silence.
Lili stared back at the three of them with wide, deer-in-headlights eyes, her arms frozen in the air above her head. She paled in an instant, quickly finishing tying her scarf back. "I-I'm sorry," Lili stuttered in terror, tears instantly filling her eyes. "I-I didn't you all w-would be coming, so-" a sob cut her off.
Lovino dropped the bunny and ran over to her side. "Lili? Wh-what… I-I- no told me, and- d-don't cry!" he finally burst at last. "Shh! Shh, it's alright! There's nothing to be crying over!"
But Lovino's own voice sounded thicker. His voice broke, and soon they were both crying. "I didn't know you got so badly hurt," Lili thickly muttered, her thin, pale arms circling around him. "I didn't want you to see me." Awkwardly, he returned the hug. It was like embracing a stick, and the realization came crashing down on him, stinging his eyes. Barely a week. Barely a week, and she was next to nothing! How had this happened? How had she gotten so small and frail in just a week's time? There was no way- there was no way she could be this sick. Impossible! Lili kept telling him she was getting better- she was getting better, and she'd be home soon, and she'd see him at school again in no time.
"Lovino, where are your manners?" Aria's voice finally sounded through the near silence. Their crying had turned to sniffles, and Vash had yet to move, his scowl now directed at his shoes rather than Lovino. She picked up the bunny and carried it over. "You know it's impolite to toss gifts away in the floor like that," she kindly chided, her voice soft. "What if it had gotten dirty?"
"Mamma-"
"Don't 'Mamma' me and give her the bunny." This time, her voice held more strength. "What kind of Vargas man are you to be so rude before a lovely young lady like this? You'll have to excuse him," Aria now said to Lili with a theatrical sigh. "His father wasn't exactly a gentleman either."
Lovino grabbed the bunny away with a scowl. "Says the woman who married him!" he snapped. "Here you go, Lili. It looks ready to puke its cuteness out, so you may want to handle it with care."
Lili stared at the giant blob of pastel before her. Then, as if the past five minutes hadn't just happened, her face lit up. "It's adorable!" she cooed, pulling it close to her. "And so soft! Thank you, Lovino! I love it!"
"Told you she would," he smirked.
Aria merely rolled her eyes.
Vash finally took his chance to present lunch. "I got you extra fortune cookies, Lili," he coughed. Everyone caught the smile behind it. The girl rubbed her eyes free of any lingering tears and split them between the four of them as equally as she could. Once Vash broke out the egg rolls, all of the tension and sadness in the room disappeared. They forgot they were hurt or sick and in a hospital in favor of laughing over stories and grumbling Spanish when the aforementioned stories seemed to pick on Lovino.
Lili pretended not to notice how Lovino winced after every shout and every laugh. She tried her hardest to keep from looking at the cast on his arm, too. Likewise, Lovino seemed to look and talk to the bunny rather than to Lili's face, at the fear of facing those gaunt cheeks of hers.
After an hour of this, Aria cleared her throat, cutting Lovino's grumble short. "I think it's about time we head home," his mother said, standing up with a yawn. "Feli hasn't called, so I'm afraid he and Antonio have gotten into a mess they don't want me to know about."
Lovino, for once, didn't complain. He gave Lili a miserable wave, promising to come back soon- maybe with Feli next time if he wasn't being a spaz.
And that reminded Vash. "Aria, I forgot to tell you. Sadiq is in town. He was the one who brought Ivan back."
Aria stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, with sheer horror written on her face, she turned back. "Sadiq? Here? Within a twenty mile radius of Herakles?"
"Yeah, Mr. Karpusi," Lovino answered Lili's question before she could ask. "He and Sadiq are my uncles. They hate each other. At the trial, Herakles put him on the wrong plane and took him to Kansas."
"That's awful," Lili frowned.
"That's my brothers for you," Aria grumbled. "After I get you home, Lovi, I'm going to check around and see if I can warn Herakles to run before Sadiq finds and burns down his house. That's the last thing my sisters need to gossip about…. Goodbye, Lili! And thank you so much for having us over, Officer."
Vash nodded.
"Bye, Lovi!" Lili quietly called as he followed Aria out the door. She quietly bit her lip when they were gone and looked down at her hands. "No one told you how bad he was hurt, right?"
It took Vash a moment to realize that she was asking if Vash hadn't told her everything. He quickly shook his head. "I didn't know anything more than you. But he certainly looked fine, right?"
"It hurt him to laugh," she said with trembling lips. Lili felt old tears coming back once again. "But he laughed anyway, just to make me happy. It's just like with Matthew. He tells me that Alfred's been busy, and that nothing bad happened between them on Christmas. But I know he's lying so I don't worry. I don't want them to be happy for my sake. I don't want them to pretend that everything is okay! Vati, I'm so tired of hearing that 'it'll all be okay' or 'don't worry'. It's not okay, and of course I'm going to worry. I just…."
Lili pulled over the bunny and buried her face in its soft, pale fur. "I don't want to be here anymore, Vati."
"I want to go home."
Translations
Korean-
APPAAAAAAA! Tao eun geuga won-yong-eul jujin anh-eulgeoya!- DAAAAAAAD! Tao won't give me the dragon he won!