A/N: First of all, there's some action in this chapter! Yay. Second, I'm sorry for the delay, I had some personal issues. Anyways... ENJOY!
Chapter 4: I Hate Mondays
I pull nervously at the collar of my uniform. I've always hated how tight they are at the throat. Our uniforms are nothing special really. Dark blue plaid pants, a sweater vest that comes in three colours, a white button-up and a dark blue blazer. The girls' uniform is about as simple, a plaid red skirt, blazers that also come in three colours, a white button-up and black socks or stockings. And since it is Monday, everyone's obligated to wear a uniform now.
For some people, the uniform can differ slightly though. Some students their believes or religion requires them to wear the uniform slightly differently. So, the school allowed some modifications, but the basis needed to stay the same. Mainly the colour scheme.
"Bloody uniform," I curse. Kiku looks up from his book and sighs.
"It's not the uniform, Arthur. You pulled your tie much too tight," the Japanese boy points out. I pause and look at him. Then I slowly grab my black tie and slowly pull it a bit looser.
"Good, and now pull your collar a bit straighter," Kiku closes his book as he says that. I do as he says and notice the collar finally doesn't feel like it's suffocating me anymore. I sigh in defeat and shake my head at my own stupidity.
"Thank you, Kiku," I thank him. I shove my finished breakfast aside and grab my notebook from my backpack. Kiku sees me bringing it above the table and his expression turns serious.
"I'll write, you sum up what we know of tonight's attack," he proposes, already grabbing a biro. He doesn't wait for permission; he just grabs the notebook. Kiku looks up to signal he's ready and I start.
"You're not going to write in your own notebook?" I ask him and he shakes his head.
"Then I'll have less room to draw," he simply states before lowering the biro to the paper and looking expectantly at me again. I just accept it and start.
"Alright. First of all, we officially have a serial killer on our hands since they've killed three people already. Second, the same wounds were inflicted tonight," I start. "Except the killer didn't stab Erzsébet in the crotch, reason unknown." Kiku writes it down. "Thirdly, the girls all had headaches when they woke up, except for Laura. Which means they didn't eat anything wrong. It must be from something else that happened after she came back to our room. My speculations are either a gas or a good knock over the head. But both options seem highly unlikely." I count on my fingers. "And sadly enough, no witnesses this night. The girls didn't wake up, none of them," I finish. I realize there really isn't much to note down.
"Are you certain that Erzsébet wasn't stabbed in her nether regions?" Kiku asks as he looks up from writing for a second. I think back to the moment I saw Erzsébet's body. It could have been hidden under the oversized shirt she was wearing; I didn't really dare to lift it. But there should've been blood. And there was only blood around her neck.
"I'm almost certain she wasn't stabbed there," I confirm to the other boy.
"We could always sneak out again to confirm or see if we missed something else," Kiku proposes softly, tapping the notebook with the biro. I freeze and look down at the table.
"Frankly, Kiku-" I sigh and rub with my fingers across the bridge of my nose. "I don't think I'll be able to handle- I don't think I can risk seeing Francis and Alfred again if we do go see Erzsébet's body. I don't think it's a good idea," I admit softly. All of this- everything that's been happening, I've noticed it's been putting a strain on my mental health. I can't sleep at night and I can't think of anything but the dead bodies when there's silence and nothing to distract me.
"We're not getting anywhere, are we?" Kiku asks as he looks at what he's written down in my notebook. Which is about two or three things.
"No, we aren't," I sigh heavily. "I just want this filthy cunt behind bars," I hiss angrily, slamming my hand on the table. From the next table over, I can see three people from South America looking over at the loud noise. I don't pay any mind to them.
"At this point, we're all going to be killed before we can catch the killer. And then no evidence will be left at all," Kiku points out pessimistically. I give him an annoyed look.
"You have really perfected the art of making me more miserable when I'm down," I jab at him. Kiku chuckles humourlessly.
"It's in my charming nature, girls are swayed by it. Haven't you noticed the many girls begging to be my girlfriend?" he jokes. I scoff.
"Right now, I'm thinking a Japanese nerd is the last thing on their minds." I glance over at the table at which the eight girls, who had a sleepover with Erzsébet, are all seated. But someone is missing from there besides Erzsébet herself. Laura. I haven't seen her since this morning. Lin told me she went to her pseudo brothers. I'm worried about her, but I know her brothers are better support to her right now.
My eyes also fall upon a table right beside theirs where the North-African six are talking softly. The five of them are known throughout the school as the most tight-knit band of friends. They do almost everything together. They would probably bathe together two if there weren't three girls and two boys. The five of them are all Muslims and pray a couple of times each day on their mats, but the school has provided them with a room to do so in peace. And it has allowed them to follow their religion without any hindrance, they even provide halal food for them. I just wish they were more open to other people, they're such close friends it's difficult to become friends with them.
"Gilbert and Roderich seem rather down too, this morning." Kiku suddenly interrupts my thinking. I look from the girls' table over to the other table with only five people at it. Ludwig is sitting beside his albino brother, looking rather uncomfortable. Roderich is wiping at his eyes, his glasses on the table in front of him. From Alfred, I know Roderich, Gilbert, and Erzsébet were good friends. It must be hard on them. Roderich is an Austrian boy, a pianist with a secret love of sweets and a dry sense of humour. If he jokes at all.
Feliciano and Lovino are also at the table. Lovino clearly being forced to by his brother. But Feliciano is sitting up close to Ludwig and- suddenly something clicks in my mind. They're holding hands. Was Ludwig the one Feliciano was ranting to me about? Never mind that, are they a couple now? No, never mind that. I've other things to worry about.
"Yeah, I heard from Alfred they were good friends with Erzsébet," I clarify for Kiku. The other merely nods. As we're watching the table, a certain Spaniard and a Portuguese approach the table. Antonio, the Spaniard sits himself beside Lovino. I watch as Antonio entangles his hand with Lovino's behind their back, so the rest of the table won't see. Is everyone at that table suddenly gay or something? João just sits a bit further from everyone, glancing at Antonio's hand before sighing and leaning on the table. João and Antonio are cousins.
"Did you just see what I saw?" Kiku asks me as we look back at each other.
"Aye, everyone at that table is bloody gay. Not that I mind, of course, they do what they do. Nothing wrong with falling for the same sex." I shrug as I say the last part.
"It's kind of adorable, isn't it?" Kiku chuckles as he lays his chin in his right hand. I give him a weird look.
"Don't tell me… you're gay too? How haven't I noticed? You're my only decent friend left here," I blanch. Kiku laughs but shakes his head.
"Don't worry, Arthur. You didn't miss anything. I'm not interested in love at all at the moment. Maybe when I've gotten out of this hell hole of a school," the Japanese boy has now started to look down at his unfinished breakfast.
"I can completely understand what you mean," I agree with him. But my mind immediately betrays me and thinks back to waking up with Laura on top of me. Ah, bugger off, filthy thoughts.
"Are you sure about that, Arthur?" Kiku seems to be reading my mind.
"Yes, I am positive," I quickly say, waving it off. "Anyway, we've got a murder mystery on our hands here," I quickly get back to the original topic of our morning conversation. Because what else would you discuss over breakfast?
"I think we've already-" but the bell of morning classes interrupts Kiku, and I groan. It is still a Monday today. And this bloody school doesn't even bother to quit teaching because of three dead students. Minging bastards. I'm already looking forward to some tea during lunch.
Classes are horrible, everyone is constantly silent. Even the ones who tend to talk through the lessons. The fact that people like Feliks, the Polish boy and Feliciano are silent secretly unnerves me. They are never silent. Even the teachers seem to be noticing. Ms Neumann, the Mathematics professor, notices too and even speaks up about it. Mr Abdullahi also points it out, with an eventual reference to the happenings of the past three nights. He seems rather affected by it too.
During lunch, the Nordics approach me. It's a nickname the students have given the group because all five of them are from Scandinavian countries. Berwald and Tino are a part of them.
"Arthur," Lukas, the Norwegian of the five is the one to address me first. I look up from choosing a table to find all five of them staring at me.
"Can I help you with something?" I ask, already guessing what this is going to be about.
"Follow us," Lukas gestures towards an empty table. I reluctantly follow them to the table.
"Alright, we know Kiku and you are secretly investigating this whole murder ordeal," Tino starts once we sit down. "We want to ask some questions," he points out. I was already expecting this.
"What do you want to know?" I casually start eating, not wanting to deprive me of eating just because I have to answer some questions.
"Have you found out who the murderer is?" Emil, the boy from Iceland immediately throws the question at me. I sigh and chew before swallowing.
"Not at all, the murderer is leaving no traces for mere amateur students to find. The only things we know are not enough to identify a killer," I explain. "Mainly because up until now, the only thing we know about the killer is that they have brown eyes," I add. I think about Matthew, about the moment he told us that. The poor boy is still very shaken about the whole ordeal and is currently sleeping on the floor in Tim and Luca their room. Mainly because Laura begged them to take him in. But luckily Tim, Luca and Matthew get along well. But tomorrow, he'll move in with Herakles, because Matthew isn't allergic to cats. There he will have a bed thankfully.
"We just wanted to know because we don't want to be next," Mathias, the boy from Denmark, clarifies. I understand their worries completely. I only slept well this night because- well, because I felt safe.
"That's understandable," I reply.
"Is there any motive you have found in the killing spree?" Tino questions. I shake my head. I don't want to go into detail on the mutilating of the bodies, so I just deny it. I also don't really want to think about it too much. It makes me sick to my stomach if I think about it for too long. And that would just ruin my appetite. And my tea.
"Why do you think they only killed Erzsébet?" Laura asks me as we're doing homework in our room. I look to my right to see her fumbling with her pen.
"I don't know," I simply reply.
"There was a whole room full of sleeping teenagers and the murderer only picked one to kill," she sounds even worse than yesterday after the situation with Alfred and Matthew. She didn't see Erzsébet, but it still shook her to the bone. In the end, I helped the janitors with keeping students calm and away from the room while they took away the body, wrapped in a blanket. So Laura and the other students only saw the blanket.
"Perhaps they have a list," I suddenly spout out. Laura looks up from her pen, straight into my eyes.
"That's actually genius," she mutters. "Do you think they have a certain pattern or motive the students have to uphold?" she questions. I slide my mathematics book away and my notebook closer. The brunette shuffles closer to me, her chair bumping into mine so she can watch with me.
"Any ideas?" I reply to her question with a question. Laura brings her pencil to her mouth and bites lightly on it. Her vibrant green eyes fixate on my notes as she reads them over.
"Was there anything notable about Francis', Alfred's, Matthew's or Erzsébet's family?" she brainstorms. I go through what little information I have in my mind.
"Not that I am aware of," I mutter. "Alfred and Matthew are filthy rich, Francis too. But Erzsébet her family I know nothing about," I sum up.
"I thought her father owned a logistics company in Hungary," Laura recalls. "She sometimes told us stories about it, Héderváry logistics it was called." The Belgian girl whips her phone out of her pocket and searches on Google for the company. She quickly reads some information.
"According to Wikipedia, the Héderváry family is a famous family in Hungary and have a lot of money," she reads aloud. I note down what we're brainstorming on here.
"So, money could be a motive," I point out. "But it doesn't seem right. If the murderer wanted money, he wouldn't just kill off the students here." I tap with my pencil on the paper.
"Maybe out of anger or resentment?" Laura proposes. I jot it down beside the money motive.
"That would make sense, since the wounds on the bodies seem more out of anger than out of the pure need to kill," I rattle. "And the way everyone has been killed up until now is very professional and clean. One clean cut to kill and another stab in the crotch." I also jot this down. Well, except for Erzsébet again. She really is an odd one out.
"Maybe they've trained for this," Laura seems rather hesitant at the idea, clearly disgusted.
"That would be very disturbing." But I still write it down.
"Hey," Ludwig and Feliciano suddenly appear in the room. Gilbert is on their heels.
"Oh, hello," Laura is quick to turn around and plaster a forced smile on her face.
"Are we interrupting something?" Feliciano asks as he winks at me. I give him a frown. Feliciano looks at Laura and I only now realize how truly close we're sitting. I can feel my face heat up but hide it by standing up from my chair.
"Not at all," I quickly blurt out. I don't dare look at Laura, fearing she might see my red face. "Is there a reason for your sudden visit?" I change the subject.
"Ah, no particular reason, no." Ludwig plops down on my bed as he replies. "We just needed a distraction, and your door was open."
"It wasn't," I point out. Feliciano walks up to me and leans into my ear, standing a bit on his toes to reach my head.
"We just want to distract Gilbert a bit from what happened. He needs it," the Italian whispers. I glance at the elder German brother, he's clearly not with his thoughts where he should be to stay sane. I nod and Feliciano trots over to Ludwig to fall into his lap. I don't bother saying anything about it. But Feliciano gives me a knowing look and a small smirk. I give him a small smile in return. I'm happy for him. Suddenly, an idea pops up in my head.
"You know, I heard the stars are beautiful around three in the morning. I seem to even remember something about Jupiter and Saturn being very visible tonight," I casually comment.
"Oh, yeah, I heard that too," Feliciano immediately agrees, understanding what I'm fishing at. "Luddy, we should definitely go watch them tonight," Feliciano hugs, what I assume to be, his boyfriend eagerly. The subject seems to interest Gilbert at least slightly.
"I don't know, Feli. That murderer roams around at night, I don't want you to get hurt," Ludwig immediately dismisses the Italian. Feliciano pouts sadly.
"Gilbert and I could come with," I propose. At this, the German finally looks like he's distracted from whatever thoughts he was having. "Besides, Feliciano and I have gone stargazing before and nothing happened then, did it?" I assure the tall blonde. But in the back of my mind, I secretly hope that, maybe– just maybe – we can see the murderer tonight. But the chances for that are low and I dismiss the thought.
"Oh, I'll come too," Laura immediately raises her hand enthusiastically. "I love stargazing," she smiles brightly and looks at me expectantly. I feel a bit warm at her smile. It's beautiful. I smile back. But then I immediately shake myself out of it and look back at Gilbert. This is no time to be distracted.
"Alright, alright, I'll come. Someone has to protect all of you," Gilbert clearly forces himself to smile cockily. But I consider it progress.
"Let's all meet in front of the dorms around 3 o'clock, okay?" Feliciano happily smiles.
"It's a date," I joke. Feliciano grins at the inside joke.
"They keep disabling the cameras," Kiku points at the time on the screen again as he works on the computer.
"You've hacked into the mainframe before?" Laura asks us as we watch the screen.
"Yes, after Francis was killed, Alfred was with us then," I tell her. She stays silent after that.
"I want to help with the investigation." Laura suddenly surprises both Kiku and me. I look at the Japanese and he looks at me.
"Well, I don't see any problem with that," Kiku shrugs.
"Me neither, welcome to the team," I say to Laura, she smiles back. She then seems to realize something and grabs my notebook.
"By the way," she flips to the page we were working on earlier during homework, "I was thinking about other possible motives, and I got a couple of ideas. Some were a bit farfetched but some were actually possible," she starts. And that's how we end up brainstorming inside the library until we're kicked out around closing hours. Curfew is around ten, so we continue brainstorming in our room until Kiku has to go back to his room.
"Say, Kiku, don't you want to come stargazing with us tonight?" I ask the Japanese as we assemble our things to leave. Kiku hums in thought but looks rather reluctant.
"I'm really tired and wanted to get a good night's rest," the Japanese says as he gathers everything in his hands. "Maybe next time," he says with a smile before leaving. I feel a bit disappointed he isn't going to come with us. But then I remember Laura will be there and I don't feel so bad anymore.
"I'll put my alarm clock for 2:45 is that alright?" Laura asks as we get ready for bed. I groan, already regretting the star gazing idea as I hear the time. Why can't we go stargazing during the day? The girl laughs at my reaction.
"Yeah, it's fine," I mutter grumpily.
"No one to blame but yourself, Arty," Laura laughs. I look up at her at the nickname. It was one of the main nicknames Alfred always called me. But when Laura notices I'm looking, she just smiles. Maybe it isn't so bad that she uses that nickname.
The silhouette climbs the stairs up to the second floor again this night. The previous liberation attempt was a giant failure, they made a mistake. But now they're going to set everything right. Room 201 is the room with the next targets. They know for certain this time; they checked the headmaster's list again. Not trusting the system anymore. And they realized their mistake. They misread a number, room 101 was never supposed to be a target.
The silhouette reaches the room, the first room on the floor. They easily open the door. The targets are fast asleep. They release the sleeping gas to avoid any more skirmishes with the second victim. The sleeping gas spreads around the room.
When they are certain they won't be bothered they go over to the right bed. A flash of silver. Another flash and a stab. The blood flows out of the boy's dark-skinned throat. Their long dreadlocks soak in the liquid as they squirm, gurgle and cough. One down.
The next target is sleeping with a sleeping mask in front of their eyes. How un-boy like, the silhouette thinks. But they ultimately don't care. A flash of silver, a stab and the second victim of the night goes down. The silhouette feels victorious. No more mistakes, no more mishaps. From now on, they mean business. They now know what to do.
The silhouette wants to exit the room but suddenly they hear footsteps.
"Don't fall," a girl's voice says cheerily. The silhouette listens happily. The girl sounds happy. Then they are happy. They are not a target. The silhouette will wait until the girl is gone and will leave silently. But if that had been a target, the silhouette would have shown no mercy. The silhouette waits until they're sure that no one else is awake inside the building before making their way down the stairs almost silently.
When they come outside, they see a group walking inside the park, almost invisibly. The silhouette immediately hides itself behind the flowerbeds to spy on them. They watch as a boy with white hair runs after the girl she heard earlier. The girl is running from the boy. But the boy is able to catch the girl. The silhouette narrows their eyes on the sight. It reminds them of that night. Their mind zones in on the sight before them. They don't listen, don't smell, don't taste, only watch. Everything zones in on the sight before them.
The boy is on top of the girl. That's when the silhouette decides. They must rearrange their schedule. The silhouette stands up in determination. That boy has to die as soon as possible. They have a good look at them. An albino. There is only one albino in this school.
Gilbert Beilschmidt.
"Arthur," Laura shakes me softly. "It's already time to go, you lazy bum," she pulls my blanket away and I groan in protest.
"Remind me to never be kind to people again," I murmur miserably. Laura laughs softly. I quickly pull on some warmer clothes and grab my phone. It's five to three in the morning.
"I bet Ludwig has already dragged Gilbert outside. Those two are always early thanks to him," Laura chuckles as she grabs her shoes.
"You'd be surprised. Gilbert may not appear to be the type, but he can be just as much of a neat freak as his brother," I tell her in response, pulling on my shoes. When we exit the room, we stay silent until we're outside. I stumble over Laura's feet once when we try to enter the lift. But Laura catches me with a laugh.
"Don't fall," she chuckles. Once outside, we find Ludwig and Gilbert already waiting for us.
"Good morning," the youngest but tallest greets.
"Morning? More like night." Gilbert shivers as he snuggles up to his brother. "Whose idea was this again?" He then looks at me with a glare.
"Believe me when I say I regret this as much as you do," I say bluntly as I shuffle out the doors behind Laura.
"Oh, come on, you sour boys. The one thing I actually love about this island is that you can see so many stars!" Laura throws her hands up to gesture at the sky. The three of us look at her to chuckle at her happy expression. I notice she's wearing a ribbon in her hair again now; she must feel better. Feliciano comes walking out of the dorms then too. In his hands, he has three blankets and I suddenly realize he's the smartest out of all of us.
"I brought blankets," he says happily. "Let's go sit underneath the cherry tree," he doesn't even wait for us. He just strolls forward with a clear goal in mind. We follow him without questioning it. Ludwig is already catching up to his boyfriend to take the blankets from his arms. Feliciano protests, but Ludwig insists.
"Aren't they cute?" Prussia suddenly asks from my left. I look at the albino to find his red eyes twinkling in the starry light as he looks at his brother and Feliciano fondly. Laura is walking somewhere behind us, humming a soft melody. I turn to look back at Feliciano and Ludwig.
"They fit well together," I admit. Gilbert chuckles and slings an arm over my shoulder.
"D'you, think we fit together well too, Arthur, honey?" he says in a sickly-sweet voice while leaning closer to me with touted lips.
"No," I reply curtly while pushing his face away with my right hand.
"Aw, you wound me deeply," Gilbert refuses to let go of my shoulders and I am now pushing him away with both hands. I can hear Laura laugh behind me. Gilbert is laughing too. I am not. I'm finally able to push him off and Gilbert immediately reroutes towards Laura. Ludwig and Feliciano are already at the cherry tree, holding hands and looking up at the stars. Feliciano eagerly pointing at some constellations.
"Laura, baby, will you at least be my perfect fit?" Gilbert is now running after Laura, but the brunette decides she doesn't want to be smothered by Gilbert either and runs from him.
"No!" she wails playfully as she dodges Gilbert's hands. But Gilbert is able to catch her, and they tumble to the ground. They're both laughing as Gilbert hugs Laura tightly.
"You're mine now," the eldest German brother taunts.
"What a tragedy! I have been caught. If only some hero would be brave enough to save me," Laura wails as she wriggles in Gilbert's grasp. I look at the two of them with a smirk.
"Yes, if only someone were brave enough," I taunt Laura, knowing she was talking about me.
"The betrayal!" Laura exclaims. All three of us laugh. I look up from the two of them as I see something move at the other end of the park, right in front of the dorms. My eyes fall upon a silhouette standing upright right by the flowerbeds on the right side of the path we're on. Something clicks in my mind, my smile disappears. I'm reminded of the past again. Of that dark alley and the two cold bodies. Without saying a word, I start sprinting. The silhouette seems to react at the same time as I do, running away from me. This is the moment I was secretly hoping for.
"Arthur?" Gilbert questions as I run at full speed past them. I ignore them and run after the silhouette who has already disappeared out of sight again. By the time I can see over the flowerbeds in the direction the silhouette has disappeared to, I can't spot them anymore. I keep running anyway. They couldn't have gotten far.
I have to find them. I can- I could- Bollocks! I run all the way to the end of the garden. Almost past the dorm buildings. They're nowhere in front of me. They must be hiding behind the corner. I have to find them! I look around the corner of the dorm building. They're gone. How could they have-
"What a brave boy," I suddenly hear someone say from behind. I jerk to turn around but there is a hand stopping me from turning. "Die," is all the warning I get before I feel something sharp and smooth slide into my body. I scream. Bloody hell, it hurts!
"Arthur!" I hear in the distance as I sink to the floor. I try grabbing for the silhouette, but they disappear into the night. I also try following them with my eyes, but the darkness of the night makes this impossible. I end up leaning on my knees and elbows, the knife sticking out of my lower back, more to the right. If I were a girl, the knife would be skewering my reproductive organs.
"Scheiße!" Gilbert curses as he reaches me. I can hear him slide to the ground beside me and I slowly turn my head down in shame. I reach up with my right hand to feel where the knife is. I don't get high before my muscles start protesting from the movement and I give up.
"Bloody fucking bastard!" I curse loudly, feeling the anger boil inside of me. I almost had them! I was so sodding close! "They were right there," I can feel the tears well up inside my eyes. The knife hurts like hell. I don't dare move, fearing I'll make the wound worse.
"Oh God, Arthur," Laura is there too. "We need to get you to a doctor," she frantically says, looking at the knife. I look up at her with teary eyes.
"I don't care!" I bite. "That murderer came from inside the dorms, I'm certain. They were out killing again! And what were we doing? Taking a stroll and gazing at the stars!" I rant angrily as I push myself up on my hands to stand up.
"Whoa, calm down, there, Arthur," Gilbert tries to hold me down. I slap his hand away and stubbornly stand up. I hiss at the pain in my lower back. I ignore it, like so many things in my life. I'm an expert at ignoring. I'm even ignoring the fact that I'm crying from pain right now. I'm certain I can ignore this too. I start to stroll towards the dorm's doors with determination, adrenaline and rage flowing through my veins.
"Hey, stop! You're going to make it worse," Laura tries to stop me, but I gently flick her hand off my shoulder. I'm perfectly well aware I'm limping. But I need to know. I need to find out who the murderer took tonight. I almost reach the doors of the dorm building when strong arms suddenly grab me by the arms and stop me from going any further. I turn around to give whoever it is a nasty glare.
"Stop," Ludwig firmly orders as I look up into his stern blue eyes. He glares right back, just as stubborn as me. "Let me at least help you." His gaze turns softer as he slings my left arm over his shoulder so he can help me walk. I gratefully let him guide me inside.
"Let's start from the first floor," I say, and we walk past the stairs, straight to the door into the ground floor hallway.
A little note: I realize that religion is a sensitive topic but wanted to include something other than always the same old Christian little school, so I made the North African five, they're Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. I wanted to show the variation of the world. And I also know there are so much more religions and so many more countries or regions that consist mostly of Muslim citizens. But don't worry, I have many chapters left where I can include some other religions and countries who haven't shown up in canon yet or who don't get the attention they deserve.