(A/N) Phew! Almost missed updating this week. I was super busy all week.

Just a warning before you start reading. Things get a bit dark and somewhat gruesome in this chapter…

End of soccer practice

Giulia and Luna were packing up their things when their soccer practice had finished. Guido had given Giulia some space after giving her his ultimatum. Giulia was thankful for that at least. She did need time to think about his proposal a bit longer and it was nice of him to consider that much. She just wasn't sure if she could make up her mind in a single night.

Giulia looked over at Luna, who was still packing her things. Luna had told her that she had sensed something between her and Guido. Giulia just wasn't sure why she herself couldn't pick up on that. 'But if Luna thought so then maybe I should give it a go with Guido.' Giulia thought. But then there was something tugging at Giulia's feelings, something that sucked for some reason when she thought about Luna telling her to give Guido a chance. Giulia didn't know why that bothered her as much as it did.

For weeks, Giulia had always gotten a certain warm feeling whenever she hung around Luna. The day Luna had been distant had her torn and had hurt her. Then she was so overjoyed when Luna called her up apologizing for doing so that she couldn't wait to take Luna up on her offer to 'hang out sometime'. And she had done so without considering how Guido would think about that. But….the fact that Luna was so insistent that she give Guido a chance just rubbed her the wrong way.

"So, Guido told me he does 'like me' like me." Giulia started.

Luna's body stiffened for a second at that with disappointment but she forced herself to disguise her feelings.

"Oh… Really?" Luna could see by Giulia's blank expression that she had bought her bullshit.

"Yeah. He said that I have until tomorrow to make my decision to accept his offer to take me out on a real date since...yesterday kinda went south for him." Giulia replied.

Luna almost violently zipped up her backpack, now having finished packing up her things.

Giulia noticed the tenseness of her action. She must've been offended by that last comment. "That was my fault! Don't feel bad about coming along. I still enjoyed your company, honest!"

"Nice save…" Luna said with a tiny smirk, trying to lighten the mood. She knew Giulia was being sincere.

"So…, what do you think I should do?" Giulia asked. "Do you think I should say 'yes' to his offer?"

Luna dreaded that question. She had sensed it was coming by how the conversion was going. If Giulia had brought up this whole ordeal then of course Giulia was going to ask for her opinion. Luna didn't know how to answer that , nor did she want any part of doing so. But Giulia was her friend, her best friend. She had to play the part. And she felt she owed Guido this after yesterday. But she knew what she said next was disingenuous.

"Well, I…, I think you should…" Luna answered, rubbing her arm with her other hand and looking away.

"Oh...you think so?"

Luna had then gripped her arm. She didn't understand why Giulia was pushing this further. Pushing her further.

Luna swung her backpack onto her back. "What do you really have to lose anyway, am I right!?" she said raising her voice.

Giulia almost jumped at the sudden change of tone in Luna's voice. It sounded aggressive.

"Well, I…I guess... nothing …" Giulia looked down, feeling stupid. Stupid about asking. Stupid about expecting some different answer from Luna. What did she even want Luna to say? She wasn't sure. She felt so confused.

Luna stepped back a bit at Giulia's reply to her question. Why did that hurt to hear?

"I'll see you tomorrow..." Luna then walked off without another word.

Giulia was left alone. Luna had seemed pretty persistent. Giulia even seemed to have ticked her off a bit by basically questioning her opinion. Maybe she should give Guido a chance if Luna seemed insistent on it, she thought. Maybe it would make her not be ticked at her if she did.

It was too late to give Guido her answer now. She must've just missed him leave for home. She was going to have to catch him at lunch tomorrow.

Watching Bruno make that commanding hand gesture, signalling him to sit in the passenger seat made Alberto cringe.

Alberto turned to Bartolo. "You better come with me and give me a ride right back here afterwards."

"What? Why?" Bartolo asked defensively.

"Because in a way, I'm kinda the boss of you," Alberto said condescendingly, while he cooly put his hands in his pockets.

"Pshh, no you're not."

"I will be," Alberto said with a warning voice.

Bartolo thought about it. Alberto was sort of correct. He also wanted to stay on Alberto's good side because of his future position but had no intention of kissing ass like Ercole had been doing with Bruno.

"Okay, fine. But only because I most likely cock-blocked you today."

Alberto's face almost heated up hearing the term 'cock-blocked' when Bartolo had no idea what the real reason was that he was heading to the library. To think of him and Luca doing something like- 'No! Focus! Mio Dio, che diavolo c'è di sbagliato con te?' Alberto asked himself.

Alberto banished those thoughts from his mind and composed himself. "You're lucky I don't kick your ass right now ,"

"Easy there. I'll follow you guys on my bike."

"Good."

The two boys headed to the parking lot, Alberto almost running to Bruno's car, trying to make things go faster. Alberto got in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt. Bruno started the car and started to drive to their destination, wherever it was. Bartolo had put on his helmet and followed them.

"Bartolo is coming along as well?" Bruno asked, glancing at his rear-view mirror.

"Yep," Alberto answered simply. "Why do I have to come? I've got somewhere to be."

"Do I look like a give a shit? This is important." He turned a corner then he continued. "This is, let's say, a little field trip. You gotta learn about how to deal with people who don't take us seriously. We're meeting with a few others at this guy's house. They better have him ready."

"Ready for what?"

"You'll see."

Back at the school library

Luca had just entered the library. He looked around to see if Alberto was already there waiting for him. Luca's shoulders slumped when he saw that the green-eyed boy was nowhere to be seen. Luca figured it was a longshot that Alberto would be there before him though, so he wasn't surprised to be there first. Luca was pretty sure that Alberto was in no hurry for their session.

He sat down at his favourite table to study and got settled. He liked this table the most since it wasn't so close to the entrance so that whenever people entered the library he wouldn't hear them enter and get distracted. Once he had everything set, he leaned forward in his seat, one elbow on the table, resting his head in his hand. With his other hand, he started to spin his pencil between his fingers, patiently waiting for Alberto to arrive.

Not too long after, Alberto, along with Bruno and Bartolo, reached their destination and pulled up on the driveway. Bartolo doing the same with his motorcycle and taking off his helmet. There looked to be one other car in the driveway as well. Alberto assumed it belonged to the other 'visitors' from the gang. Bruno turned off the engine. Alberto tried opening his door but it was locked. He turned to look at Bruno, expecting him to unlock it, but when he did, he saw Bruno stare right at him.

"When we get in there you do as I say. I don't need you making me look like a fool in front of everyone, got it?" Bruno put bluntly.

Alberto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever…" he started to turn away to try again at the door when Bruno grabbed him by the arm.

"I. Said. Got it? "

Alberto almost recoiled but tried to be brave. "Alright! Got it."

That seemed to be enough for Bruno so he let go of him and unlocked Alberto's exit. Bruno then got out of the car himself.

The house they were headed into looked middle class and standard but the atmosphere in the area seemed uneasy. The curtains were down in every window. The people from his gang not wanting to be seen inside. The three walked up the porch steps and Bruno knocked on the door. After a few minutes, Ercole opened the door for them. Bruno stepped inside without a word.

Ercole watched Alberto walk inside after Bruno. "Ah, Number 2, welcome to the party," he said, gesturing to the inside of the house.

Alberto furrowed his eyebrows at him then he looked at the inside of the house. Once he did, he saw a terrified man tied down on a chair. He was surrounded by others he recognized in the gang. The man had been stripped of his shirt, probably so the gang members who were already there could get better access to his skin. To make their attacks on his body even more painful.

The tied-down man looked to be in his late 40's, maybe early 50's. He was plump and his head looked like it was balding. He had dark bags under his eyes. Looking at the man's face, he didn't look like he was 'all there ' considering his dull blue irises didn't look very symmetrical. Something looked off with the guy. Nonetheless, the scene still made Alberto step back nervously. The man looked seriously hurt already. A black eye was starting to take form on his face, one of his shoulders looked dislocated and he had many gashes and bruises on his bare torso. Alberto assumed that was from the bats that a couple of his gang members were holding.

Alberto suddenly felt a hand push him inside the house. He turned his head to see it was Bartolo. Alberto disapproved of his aggressiveness and shot up his fist at Bartolo threateningly, making him back off. Alberto quietly inhaled and exhaled air before joining the rest of them.

"Hey, boys, you could've waited for us. I hate missing all the fun." Bruno said as he joined the others around the man. Bruno grabbed a nearby chair, pulled it to place it in front of the man and then he sat backwards on it, looking at the man's weakened face. "Ugo, Ugo, Ugo…You look like crap." Bruno started, looking over the man's wounds, no real sympathy in his expression whatsoever. "All of this could've been avoided if you just did what was expected of you."

"ti prego, perdonami… I have a family to help support!" Ugo pleaded, barely able to speak. He coughed, speaking taking too much effort for him after the beating he had taken.

Alberto saw Bruno take out a brass knuckle duster from his pocket and slip it on his right fist. Ugo's eyes widened having noticed that as well.

"That's funny. The whole reason we loaned you money in the first place was that you needed help boosting your stupid fishery business's profits. We have given you many warnings in advance before now. You should have more than enough money to pay us back for our generosity." Bruno said, standing up and walking to stand in front of Ugo.

Bruno then took a swing at his face with the knuckle duster and punched Ugo across the face. Alberto flinched when his fist made contact with Ugo's face. Ugo weakly spat blood from his mouth onto the floor. Bruno looked down at the shaking man as if he were a cockroach that need to be stepped on. A few of the other gang members around them snickered at Ugo.

Ugo, after coughing a bit more and trying to catch his breath, dared to speak again. "I know...but I have employees that need to be paid as well. Please...give me a little more time..." Ugo said in between coughs.

"God, you're pathetic." Bruno then spat on him. But when his saliva landed on Ugo's forehead, Bruno saw something that looked like a blue-ish silver colour on Ugo where his spit had landed. Alberto noticed Bruno's body stiffen. He looked at Ugo's face and also noticed the difference in his skin. No way… Ugo seemed to get an idea of what just happened and froze in fear, his anti-symmetrical eyes started to widen in fear like a deer in the headlights.

Nobody else seemed to see it since they were all standing behind Ugo. Alberto looked back up at Bruno, having no idea what he was going to do next. Bruno was silent for a few seconds then said. "Boys, leave us. I want to have a little one on one chat with our client…"

The others nodded and walked out of the house. Alberto started to follow them, hoping that'd be it and he'd go back to the school for Luca and think about this later.

"Not you," Bruno said, taking a hold of Alberto's shoulder, stopping him from escaping. Alberto forced himself to obey. Now it was just him, Bruno and this weak and vulnerable man.

Ugo started to shake. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Alberto, search the house. See if you can find a bucket somewhere."

Alberto reluctantly complied and looked around for one. He now knew what his father had planned. It took him barely any time to find one in a closet. He went to the sink in the kitchen and started to fill the bucket with water.

Once Ugo heard the faucet turn on he quickly understood Bruno's intent. He started to thrash and panic in his binds. "NO! NO, PLEASE. PLEASE DON'T!" He screamed.

Alberto came back to the scene, the bucket of water in hand. Bruno grabbed it from Alberto.

"Relax, it's just water," Bruno assured him, knowing full well why Ugo was so afraid of what the bucket contained. Bruno doused Ugo with the water. "Sea monster…" Bruno finished with a smirk.

Ugo's sea form was like nothing Alberto had ever seen. Alberto hadn't seen many other sea creatures in his life, but the ones he had, didn't look anything like the way Ugo did.

Ugo looked almost like a weird humanoid anglerfish. He had a glowing blue antenna and his blue eyes now were glowing, making him look even more creepy with his irises not being symmetrical. But the creepiest part of him was that his skin was see-through. Alberto could see Ugo's heart, bones, and other vital organs.

His wounds now looked even more severe in his sea creature form since scales didn't heal as human skin did. Alberto then felt bad for Ugo, realizing that, though he might be left with some scars, his wounds would heal up eventually in his human skin but in his sea creature form, the cuts and gashes were there forever. He knew this fact because the cut that Bruno had given him years ago still appeared as a cut whenever he was in his sea creature form. His scales would never be the same and neither would Ugo's.

"Wow...you are hideous, aren't you? When I saw your scales I was not expecting this monstrosity, were you, Alberto?" Bruno mocked.

Alberto didn't dignify his question with a response.

"Please don't kill me!" Ugo begged.

"I'm not going to kill you, you idiota. You are one lucky son-of-a-bitch. Now that I know what you truly are I suppose I'll give you a bit more time."

Ugo looked up at Bruno in surprise. "Y-you will?"

Bruno's tone became stoic again. "But I'm not going to tell you when your time will be up. We'll surprise you, so you better be quick or else next time you won't be so lucky."

"I will! I'll get you your money, I promise!" Ugo assured him with great urgency in his voice.

"You better." Suddenly a sinister grin appeared on Bruno's face. "How about a parting gift for you before we leave, hm?" Bruno walked over to Alberto then took off his knuckle duster. "Wanna have a go at him, son?" Bruno presented it to Alberto, expecting him to take it.

Alberto looked at it in front of his face. He could see Ugo's blood on it which made a chill go down his spine. He did not attempt to take it. He just stepped back from it and shook his head, not daring to look up at Bruno.

Bruno angrily huffed. "Coward."

"Ah!" Alberto yelped when Bruno suddenly hit Alberto over the head, the force of the strike making Alberto fall and hit the hardwood floor. His eyes widened in shock from the sudden impact. Alberto, with effort, rose from the floor, sitting up. He rubbed where Bruno had hit him, a bump was starting to take shape.

Bruno bent down on one knee to Alberto's current level to whisper in his ear. "You're lucky the others aren't here, otherwise I'd let you have it much worse."

Alberto said nothing, still refusing to look Bruno in the face. Bruno got back up on his feet and slipped the knuckle duster back on his fist. Alberto watched as he went over to Ugo and punched him once again, but this time Alberto saw some of Ugo's dark blue scales come off his body as the knuckle duster scraped across his face. Ugo then coughed up blood.

Alberto thought he was going to be sick. He couldn't take this anymore. He quickly got on his feet and bolted out of the house. Bruno made no attempt to stop him, letting him go. He would deal with him later. Bruno untied Ugo from his binds. Ugo's body was so weak that, when he was free, he instantly fell to the floor making the pain he was going through even worse.

Bruno took the house phone and placed it on the floor beside Ugo. "I'd suggest you don't call an ambulance right away. Wouldn't want anyone to see your current appearance right now. You're soaked. Who knows what they'd do. Call a family member first to help clean you up first. I want you alive next time I see you for my money." Bruno then started to take his leave but stopped right before exiting the house. "Oh, and one more thing," He turned around. Ugo was still writhing in pain on the floor that was now covered in his blood. "I'm doubling what you owe me. It's the least you could do since I showed you mercy today," he said while chuckling darkly.

With that, he left the house and closed the door behind him. Ercole and the other gang members, excluding Alberto and Bartolo, looked at him with confusion.

"Over already?" Ercole asked.

"We're extending his time," Bruno said simply as he walked past them to his car.

"What?!"

"Don't worry. I doubled what he owes us. I'm confident he won't disappoint us this time. It'll be worth it in the end."

"Oh..." Ercole said, more relieved to hear that.

Bruno got into his car and drove off. He didn't bother to question where Alberto went off to. He was going to have to come home sooner or later. He always did whenever he ran off.

At the school parking lot

Bartolo had dropped Alberto off back at the school. Alberto had quickly jumped off the bike. He had felt a bit disoriented from the sudden action but forced himself to push through it. He made a beeline for the library as fast as he could. When he finally made it, he practically busted through the library doors. The place looked to be empty and it was quiet. Alberto hoped Luca hadn't left yet. He frantically looked around for him. He let out a sigh of relief when he found the table he was at when he turned the corner.

Luca had fallen asleep, his head resting on the table. Alberto felt guilty. He had made him wait for so long that he had passed out. Alberto got closer to Luca. The sleeping boy looked so peaceful and adorable. Alberto noticed that Luca's eyelashes were very long and he also got a good look at Luca's perfectly rounded nose which, in Alberto's opinion, was probably his cutest feature. For a second he found himself wanting to run his hand through Luca's dark-brown locks. His hair looked so soft...

'...What the hell am I thinking? ' Alberto mentally asked himself.

He shook out of his questionable thoughts. He didn't want to disturb Luca but he couldn't kill any more time if he had any time left at all. He shook Luca's shoulders as gently as he could. Luca didn't seem to budge.

"Hey, wake up," Alberto told him as he shook Luca's shoulders with a bit more force.

Luca opened his eyes slowly. "Huh? Wha...?"

Luca looked around for the source that woke him. His eyes found Alberto who was very close beside him. Too close. Luca then realized Alberto's hands were on his shoulders. Luca's shoulders tensed up and his face flushed. But then Luca quickly returned to reality. He checked his watch. It had been an hour! The whole tutoring session had passed by. Luca's expression went from nervous and flustered to angry and upset in an instant.

Alberto slightly flinched as Luca aggressively pulled out from his hold. Then he got up from his chair and looked straight at Alberto.

"Where were you?!" Luca spat angrily.

"Luca, I-"

"I expected you to be late, sure, but I didn't think you'd ditch me! Is this tutoring thing a joke to you?"

"No! I tried to come on time but…" What could Alberto possibly say that would be a good enough reason for not showing up? He didn't know.

"'But' what? Have a hard time finding the library or something?" Luca guessed. "Do you never come here?"

"That's not it! I got stopped on the way and had to… run an errand." He said, almost cringing at his half-assed attempt at telling the truth.

"What, you couldn't even let me know that you weren't coming?" Luca started to pack up his things not looking at Alberto anymore. He had had enough. "Couldn't even take a measly minute out of your time to make it so I didn't waste my time, huh?" he shook his head. "Whatever. I'm going home. Let me know when you're ready to take this seriously."

Luca then swung his backpack over his shoulder, heading in the direction of the library doors.

"Luca, wait!" Alberto started to go after him when all of a sudden, he started to feel dizzy and the bump on his head from where Bruno had hit him, started to ache. It was pounding. "Ah!" He hissed in pain.

Luca stopped in his tracks when he heard him cry out. He turned around and saw Alberto leaning against the wall, holding his head in pain.

"...Alberto?" Luca slowly approached him. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just a small bump..." Alberto didn't want to show weakness in front of Luca.

"A bump?! Let me see!" Luca tried to reach up to where Alberto was holding his head but Alberto stepped back.

"Really, it's nothing."

"It's something if it makes you react like that. Just let me see." Luca said, making Alberto sit down on a nearby chair at another table so he could see where the bump was better. Alberto was a bit taller than him. Trying to see it would be easier this way.

Alberto closed his eyes tightly, expecting Luca's touch to accidentally put painful pressure on it. But when Luca's hand finally made contact with the bump his touch was...nice. Alberto opened his eyes, seeing Luca's eyes focused on the bump.

"Mio dio… How did this happen?" Luca asked.

Alberto didn't answer him. He closed his eyes again, shutting out his sense of sight to intensify his sense of feeling. Luca was almost stroking the bump with his thumb. His touch was so gentle and careful not to hurt him. He hadn't felt this kind of touch since his mother was alive. It put him at ease. He sighed in bliss. Luca heard Alberto's sigh. What was that? Luca looked back down at Alberto in surprise. His eyes were closed. Did Alberto like him touching it like this? Luca blushed, biting his lip nervously. He retracted his hand. Alberto opened his eyes again. He held back from whimpering at the loss of his tender touch.

"Where did you go? Did...something happen?" Luca asked again.

Alberto couldn't tell Luca the truth but he also couldn't bring himself to lie to his face so instead, he dodged the question.

"It doesn't matter. The bump will heal eventually…"

Luca sadly looked down in disappointment. "If you say so… take it easy." he turned to leave but then he felt Alberto grasp his hand, stopping him. Luca looked back at him, Alberto's mesmerizing green eyes were staring into his.

"I'm sorry I messed up today. I know it's no excuse but, what I had to do was out of my control. Just...please don't give up on me just yet…" Alberto pleaded.

Luca could hear Alberto's desperateness in his voice. He sighed. "Alright. We'll...try again tomorrow."

Alberto let go of Luca's hand and nodded. Luca then left the library.

Alberto couldn't keep Luca being his tutor a secret from Bruno. He thought he could and almost paid the price for it. And he would have if Luca wasn't so forgiving. He didn't want what happened today to ever happen again and the only way to make that possible was to tell Bruno what was really going on.

(A/N) Luca's uncle is the person the gang is extorting? Whaaaaaaat!? Small world, huh?

This is the first time I have ever written a scene like that. I scared myself. For those who are wondering why Ercole calls Alberto 'Number 2', he calls him that because, to him, Bruno is considered 'Number 1' but as a sign of respect in Bruno's case. But he calls Alberto 'Number 2' disrespectfully.

I tried my best to describe what a human Ugo would look like to the best of my ability. If you can't picture it then just picture how you would picture him in his human form.

Trust me when I say that it hurt me to put my favourite character through a blow to the head like that. But it had to be done to progress luberto. I'm so sorry, Alberto. :(

So here's what we learned about our characters so far that you don't really need me to tell you because it's pretty damn obvious but I'll say it anyway.

Luna self-sabotages. Giulia can't get a clue. Alberto suffers from peer pressure and child abuse (a more serious problem) and Luca is a poor oblivious sweet jellybean.