It's awesome story time with Gilbert! In this chapter, he dives into the past between himself and Ivan. By the way *** means that a flashback is coming on, Italics mean that you are reading about a flashback, and finally Ukraine = Irunya! Enjoy ; )

Arthur and Gilbert had decided to go to the gym together that Saturday. Since Antonio desperately needed help settling an argument with Lovino about the seating arrangement and color themes for their wedding, the Brit thought it would be a good day to bond with his new interesting friend.

"So, do you think Antonio and Lovino will work things out?" Arthur asked Gilbert as they walked in through the front entrance of the gymnasium.

Gilbert laughed as small tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "Oh yeah, they pull this shit all the time. Lovino is a professional tsundere, he's like that with everyone but apparently there's a special side to him that only Antonio has seen."

The blond sighed with relief. "Well, glad the wedding plans will go as scheduled." He formed a mischievous smirk as he turned towards his German pal. "Speaking of relationships, how are things going between you and pancake boy?"

The albino nearly chocked on his own laughter, and a red blush that was the exact color of his eyes crept across his nose. "Hey! I could ask the same about you and Francy boy!"

Arthur only laughed and playfully shoved the other male. "Ah, relax. Just messing with you. And to answer your question, Francis and I are doing great. A-actually, there is something on my mind… and I'm not sure how to break it to him. I'm afraid I'll ruin everything and he'll leave me."

Gilbert's expression turned sympathetic rather quickly. Since he and Francis had been best friends for over twenty years, he wanted to know if there was anything he could do to fix the hardships in his life. "Did you have a slip up? If you did, that's okay. When I was recovering things weren't perfect for me, either. It took me an eternity for me to get completely clean."

The blond shook his head wildly. "No, no! Don't worry, I'm not back on drugs. Let's just say," He paused with a deep sigh. "I owe a certain dealer a lot of money, and I only have a certain amount of time to pay it back to them."

Gilbert looked lost for a moment, and Arthur assumed he was disappointed in him. He had to admit, he did deserve the wrath of Gilbert. However, his response was not what he expected.

"Who's the dealer?" He asked.

"Ivan Braginsky, and his sister, Natalia."

A shiver shot down through the albino man's spine. "Geeze, that's a toughie. I've known them for a while. Believe it or not, Ivan is not the main threat. He's sweet as pie, to tell you the truth, just a poor ol' psychopath who doesn't know what he's doing. It's his sister that's the real threat. Stay away from her as much as you can, for your own safety."

"I take it you have history with them as well?" Arthur asked.

The German nodded. "Yeah, I bought from them a few years back. I couldn't afford what I took and the old broad kicked my nut sack all the way up to my intestines, but I've known Ivan since we were little tots in grade school. Poor kid… I royally destroyed his self – esteem. He was this sweet little fellow who just wanted a few friends, and I kicked his ass to kingdom come on the playground every day. I was an ass." He said with a sad chuckle."

"Why… did you bully him so much?" The Brit inquired. He couldn't believe it, now he was actually interested in how Ivan Braginsky became to be the man that he was today.

Gilbert smiled fondly once more. "In all honesty, I thought he was a little cute back then. I remember when he first came to our school in that ruddy little small town of ours.

'Now class, we have a new student joining us today.' Announced a friendly, young female student. 'Everyone, please give your full, undivided attention to our new student, Ivan!'

The small, rather adorable version of Ivan was so shy by the teacher's announcement and refused to come out of hiding from behind the classroom door. The tiny boy shook his head.

Having dealt with many shy students in the past, the teacher nodded her head. 'It's alright, Ivan. Everyone in the class here is super friendly. Why don't you tell us a bit about where you are from to get things started?'

'W-well…' Stuttered the small boy, who was not much older than five years of age. 'M-my name is Ivan… and I'm from Russia. I didn't like it there, it's very cold. But my favorite part of my country was that there were lots of sunflowers! I hope there are a lot of flowers here, too. I have two sisters! They're not old enough for school yet. I love my little sister Irunya, but my other sister, Natalia is very mean and likes to scare me.' He said with a shudder. 'When I am not shy anymore, I want to be friends with all of you.'

"Wow, it's really amazing how you can remember the exact same speech a small child gave almost thirty years ago!" Arthur chuckled. "Yet you can't remember what Francis made for breakfast."

"Hey! Shut up and listen to my awesome story! You criminal!" The albino retorted. "You are entrusting me with your deepest, darkest secret, after all…" The German warned with a sudden change of voice, with his deep, red eyes slanting and a villainous laugh that would make passer byes believe he was psychotic. The young man cleared his throat and proceeded to continue with his story. "As I said, I was just getting to the good part, so shut up and listen!"

While some students simply smiled and nodded to the Russian boy's introduction, others seemed to cower in fear. There was something about this small child that didn't sit right with them, even though all Ivan wanted was to be liked and accepted just like any other child would.

Some children were afraid, others were oblivious, but one child, a platinum blond albino with glowing red eyes, knew that he had to take a stand and protect his territory from this new comer.

'That is so wonderful, Ivan!' The teacher cheered happily. 'I'm sure you will be very happy here, and that you will make a lot of great friends. I hate to be the bearer of bad news,' She began. 'But the only seat available is at the blue table, next to Gilbert. Please let me know if he causes you any trouble, and I'll make sure he gets a talking to.'

'I'm sure that won't be necessary, but thank you, ma'am.' Said the child with a bow, taking the teacher by surprise.

Ivan then made his way towards the blue table and sat right down in the only available spot next to Gilbert. 'Hi there, I- '

'Shut up! Shut up, you stupid monster!'

Unfortunately, Ivan's plan to develop new friendships was not going as well as e had hoped.