hi im alive

Arthur silently stared at the handwritten note that had mysteriously appeared in his locker earlier. It was written in red paper and black ink with the sides of the paper decorated in tiny knives.

I want to speak with you about your brother's debts

Meet me at the rooftop

It had no signature, so the author was unknown for now.

The Brit heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Luciano Vargas. "A-ah, you? You're the one who wanted to meet me here?" He silently asked, trying to raise his voice a little so that he could be understandable. Luciano simply giggled in response. "You wanted to talk about my brother's debts. What do you want?" The Italian in red walked slightly near the Brit. "I learned about something that could be useful to you." Arthur's green eyes widened in curiosity. "...s-spill it..."

"You are familiar with a boy named "Alfred", right?" Luciano asked. "T-That's! H-He's my ex! What about him?" Arthur could feel a lump form in his throat at the thought of his ex being brought up. "His father roans a loan agency." Luciano stated, seeing shock form on Arthur's face. "H-Huh?!" The Italian went near the railings that Arthur was leaning on. "Alfred's dad is the one extorting your brother." Upon hearing that, the Brit felt tears prick his eyes. "N-No...but, what am I supposed to do with that info?"

Luciano smirked, having already formed a plan beforehand. "Maybe if we hurt him, we can make his father stop bleeding your brother." Arthur gasped. "No! E-Even if Alfred's father is a bad person, I don't want him hurt!" Luciano stepped closer and placed his hands on Arthur's shoulder. "Perhaps he does." Trembling, the Brit made eye contact with the red Italian. "Why? What makes you say that?" Leaning close to the Brit's ear, Luciano began to whisper. "Today... Alfred was bragging to his friends about the expensive gifts his father buys for him. Consoles... video games... gadgets..." Arthur's blood began to boil. "He bragged about how he can make his father buy anything he wants..."

"...if he pretends to cry until he buys it."

Please stop. No, no...

"Everything he owns, even his favorite jacket, was bought with the money that was stolen from your brother..."

Enough please...

"...and he's not even grateful for any of it~"

At that point, Arthur began to ball his fists in rage and growled. Luciano took a step back to allow Arthur to express his anger. "That...that's what my brother suffers for? So that stupid wanker can flaunt about the things he doesn't deserve?" He took a few breaths to calm himself down. "I have a plan." Luciano proposed. "I'll knock him out, tie him up and blindfold him. Then, we'll beat him up. He'll never know who did it."

"H-Huh?! How is that a solution?!" Arthur was in disbelief at how violent Luciano's solution was. "It'll ring a bell to his father. He'll realize he can't keep getting away with what he's doing." Luciano's voice was filled with malice. "He'll close his business down; your brother will earn his freedom." Arthur began to think about the plan for a moment. "...i-is that gonna really work?" He asked. "Of course. I guarantee it." The Italian responded. The Brit stood in silence before mustering up newfound confidence in him.

"Let's do it."

Satisfied, Luciano began to walk away. "I'll notify you." He said. "Hurry please. I don't want to see my brother cry any longer."

Night

Clank!

Luciano opened the door of his warehouse with ease. "After you." He offered to Arthur. Arthur hesitantly walked inside the grim room and gasped lightly. "Goodness!" In front of the two males, was an unconscious, bound and blindfolded Alfred F. Jones. "Hm? What's the matter?" Luciano asked, noticing Arthur's reaction. "I-I thought you were joking!" Arthur answered, stunned.

Luciano went to one side of the room to get the wooden bat he had saved. "Did you forget? This was for your brother, right?" The Italian reminded. "Here." He extended his hand holding the bat to the Brit. "E-Eh?" The blonde male was still in shock trying to process the new environment and aura around him. "You'll need this." Luciano's face was blank, as if he had done this many times. Hesitating, Arthur took the weapon. "I-I don't know, lad. I'm not sure about this anymore..."

"That accent...Arthur?! Is that you?!" Alfred's voice rang. "Really now, me getting kidnapped by some freak who never sleeps like him?" Arthur felt a vein pop in his head at the remark. "W-Who're you calling a freak?!" He defended. "Don't be a dummy now, Brit brat! Everyone knows that you sleep with older men for money!" The American spat. "No! Y-You don't understand! All we do is just eat dinner! Nothing else!" Arthur was trying to keep his composure and calm, especially when it was his ex boyfriend. "Really now? Any boy with a small body like yours knows that all the oldies love it!"

"Come on now Arthur, it's easy to confess! You're a fucking slut." The Brit felt a wave of pain in his body. "I...It's not my fault I was born like this!" He cried. "But I bet you surely enjoy all the money that your girl-type ass is making for you!"

"I don't keep the money! I give it to my brother!"

"Are you stupid? It should be YOU getting money out of your bro, not him doing that on you!"

"I give money to him so he can pay off his debt to YOUR dad!"

Silence.

"Pff HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! That's what THIS is all about? Your broke bro can't pay back my dad so you're taking it out on me?!"

Luciano smirked as he quietly watched the now broken ex lovers quarrel.

"Stupid! Really! You're stupid, so is your red head brother!"

Already wanting to bring the next phase of his plan into action, Luciano quietly sneaked out of the warehouse.

"It's common sense, you know! If you can't pay, then don't borrow! If your cheap brother can't pay back my dad, then he deserves all the misfortune unleashed on him!"

"What's wrong, Arthur? Why don't you keep using your cute body for money? Maybe you'll be rich enough to buy self-respect!"

Hot tears of anger poured down Arthur's eyes as he endured all the taunts from the man he once loved. Gripping the bat tightly, he lunged forward and began to violently swing the bat.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUUP!"

Blood began to spray everywhere as Arthur violently beat Alfred, having had enough of being made fun of, especially his current state that forced him to go for unspeakable measures. The American wailed loudly in pain as he felt the wood come in to contact in all exposed parts of his body, being reduced to pulp by his shame victim. The beatings continued for who knows how many minutes or hours passed. Arthur couldn't count, all he was focused on was reclaiming his dignity from being shamed and humiliated.

As he raised the bat to deliver one more blow, he suddenly came to a halt. "I...n-no..." The Brit's heart began to pound from fear. "...he's not...dead, right?!" Horrified, Arthur covered his mouth, not minding the still fresh blood on his hands. "Good god! GOOD GOD! I...I killed him! He's actually dead!" Frantic, he began to look around the warehouse. "L-Luciano! What are we-" Realizing that the Italian had left him alone, he trembled in fear. "L...Luciano? Where'd you go...?"

Dropping the bat, Arthur's ears began to be filled with the sound of police sirens. His eyes widened as realization filled his head, unable to move his body. The door was broken down as he saw the police point their guns at him.

"FREEZE! HANDS IN THE AIR NOW! STEP AWAY FROM THE BODY!"

Cornered, Arthur hesitantly raised his hands as instructed, body still trembling.

"DON'T MOVE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!"

Police station

"Come on boss, surely that school boy isn't too suspicious for you?" One of the officers asked. "He's clean. There are no concrete evidence present in the crime scene to show that he was involved it." The head answered. "Even if blondie keeps telling us how many times red head was involved, we certainly have no rights to keep him detained if he has no connections to the murder.

The junior scrunched his face. "I know that, boss. But...he feels weird. You can feel it too, right? Something's not right about him." The boss glared at his junior. "Surely you forgot what happened way back? Someone similar to him was arrested due to poor evidence, bad testimonies and unreal theories." Recalling what had happened, the boss sighed. "We got made fun of because he was actually innocent. There is no way we are making history repeat itself."

"Boss, speaking of that, you know who his brother is, right?"

"Are you saying we should suspect him too because his older brother went to trial years ago?"

"No sir! I...forget it. Just get him out of here."

The boss unlocked the door of the room Luciano was locked in. "Young man...we're sorry that we took up your precious time. You may go now."

"Grazie."

Riiip!

Luciano delicately tore out Arthur's spot from the stolen shot he took of him and Lutz exchanging glances while getting canned drinks. He began to delicately caress the picture of his soon to be lover.

"Mi amore, you are safe now."