Dzien dobry! That's hello in Polish! Today's chapter has the fight everyone has been waiting for! ...Okay maybe not everyone.

I'm still a little surprised actually. None of you have managed to figure out the major plot twist I have planned. Not even after all the vague foreshadowing I included! I'd like to say I'm some kind of creative genius of master at writing but... That's just too funny XD Plus I don't have an ego the size of Prussia's. (P.S I do mean Prussia's ego, what on earth were you thinking?)

So today's chapter includes more vague foreshadowing! And if I'm feeling generous, I'll help you guys out with trying to crack this thing!

Tanoshimu!

Chapter 8: The missing gift

Where lives are saved and presents are demanded

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Arthur frowned.

"Dude I was born ready!" Hero beamed.

"Alright then. By the way, you're holding that cutlass wrong." Arthur smirked.

Hero looked down and saw he was holding the odd shaped sword on the knife end. Embarrassed, he quickly switched it round, earning a small laugh from the captain.

But the cutlass... The last time Hero had picked one up, he had shamed himself. It was then and there he decided to never become a pirate, to never look like one, to have no affiliation with them whatsoever. Yet there he was now, on a pirate ship, with a cutlass and backed up by pirates. How did this happen? How could he even begin to figure out how this had happened?

But the answer, of course, was very simple. This had all been happening because of the Captain, Arthur Kirkland. The man who he had decided was his enemy, who he had insulted and lashed out at. Things had changed, but were these changes good or bad? Was this for better or for worse?

"There he is!" Arthur called.

Then he saw it: another pirate's ship. It looked like Arthur's, but in Hero's opinion- theirs was grander, prouder and far better than that ship could ever hope to be. They were the villains in this little tale, and it was up to their crew to be the heroes.

"CHARGE!" Arthur roared.

Then all at once, the members charged furiously towards Ludwig's ship (most of them did anyway, Ivan kind of hopped on board and walked over to his enemies with a huge creepy smile). Hero found himself being swept up in the chaos too. He charged towards the lame villains with a burning fire in his chest, one he was planning to release on that evil ship.

Once he got on, he quickly looked about. He watched as Arthur slashed eagerly at the rival captain. He had never seen such passion- such hatred in anyone's eyes. He looked at the other captain with intent to kill, a desire that could never be calmed until one of them rested at the bottom of the deep blue sea.

Then he saw him. Fighting mercilessly off in the distance- it was him. Yao. The man from the harbour. He was fighting just as he had done that day, just with more energy and a new spark which fired him up greatly.

...He was so busy watching Yao fight he didn't notice the person jumping forward to attack him from the side.

?

"HEY EN-!"

"Not so bloody loud!" The other man snapped as he shut his book and slammed it down in annoyance. "You'll wake the entire ship!"

Neither man made any comment on how the second was being equally as loud. It seemed the first had missed the chance for a good hypocritical comment. Not that he cared anyway, after all he was there for one purpose only.

"Dude! How come I didn't get anything?" He whined in a rather child-like way. "Even Mario an' Weegee got somethin'!"

"Last time I checked, the twins were not called that." His companion sighed as he got up. "Honestly, do you bother with any personal details apart from your own?"

"You're changing the subject!" The whiny man complained. "Why didn't you get me anything?"

The taller, whinier and by far louder man was obviously upset- he made no effort in trying to hide that fact. His shorter companion was obviously annoyed. Who wouldn't be when an annoying person barged their way into your room and invaded your privacy? He wanted him out, but he knew from experience that the persistent taller man wasn't one to say no easily.

"That's beside the point of all this." The smaller man sighed.

"Dude, it is the point. Quit tryin' to hide it, hurry up an' tell me!" His intruder demanded.

"I see no reason for why I had to get you something." Sniffed the other rather snootily as he turned away with disgust. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to-"

But the conflicted smaller man was cut off, for at that moment his rude intruder pushed him down until they fell onto his bed. His rude guest now had him pinned down and they were staring at each other eye-to-eye.

"I do mind, as a matter of fact..."

"Ah!" Hero gasped.

Thankfully, he sensed something was wrong and realised he was being attacked just in time. He grabbed the blade between his two hands and stared into the eyes of his attacker.

"You!" Hero gasped.

"It seems you are arive... For now." Kiku muttered.

Kiku pulled out his katana from Hero's grip and glared at him with such fierce and burning rage. Hero drew out his cutlass and glared back- determined to prove he was not some weak pushover, that he couldn't be killed so easily.

"I see you have joined these evil pirates, even though you wanted to be a hero." Kiku mumbled.

"I-I am a hero!" Hero yelled.

"What kind of hero associates himself with evil people?" Kiku frowned. "What kind of a hero are you?"

Then Kiku began to attack again, but this time Hero was more prepared. He defended every attack Kiku made with a simple swish of his pirate cutlass. Now he knew what Yao had felt like the day when he was being attacked by the same man. Kiku really didn't know how to show mercy in battle, to him death did not matter, for he felt no emotion for his enemies.

"I am waiting to hear your answer." Kiku growled as he slashed away. "What kind of a hero are you?"

"I...I..." Hero stuttered.

Kiku had got him again. What could he say? What kind of a hero was he? Then their swords came into contact and while Kiku was pushing offensively- threatening to slice Hero in half, he found his answer.

"I'm... I'm my own kind of hero!" Hero yelled.

Then he pushed Kiku back with such overwhelming force that he barely had any time to process what was going on. Kiku fell back onto his front and turned his head to look at Hero. The boy had a sudden urge to deal the finishing blow.

But... Could he really bring himself to do something that evil?

"ARGH!"

A cry of extreme pain and suffering reached Hero's ears. He turned quickly to see Arthur there on the ground. The rival captain with the cold blue eyes and neat blond hair had his sword raised in preparation for the final swipe.

"Arthur!" Hero called.

Forgetting about Kiku, Hero immediately ran towards Arthur watching in horror as the other captain prepared to strike. In less than an instant, Hero was there to save Arthur and he scooped him up quick like a damsel in distress. He escaped with only a chunk of his clothing missing- cut off by Ludwig's blade.

"Retreat!" Hero called.

All the heads of Arthur's crew suddenly raised and at once they all began making their individual escape plans. Hero smoothly dodged another attack from Ludwig by sidestepping quickly with cat-like reflexes. He looked down at the wounded captain in his arms, staring as his green eyes slowly flickered open.

"Wha... What the-? Where am I?" Arthur asked.

"Retreating." Hero smiled.

"Wha- WHY?" Arthur snapped.

"Dude, you were about to die. I saved your ass dude!" Hero laughed.

"No you bloody didn't! Put me down! I can still take-ah!" Arthur made a moan of pain.

"Looks like you won't be takin' anything with injuries like that!"

"I'll take you in a minute!"

"Somehow, that doesn't scare me."

Then Hero ran back to their ship with Arthur in his arms. He had saved a man from death. If it weren't for him, Arthur- or at least the remains of him would be on Captain Ludwig's ship. He had saved Arthur's life, a fact that he was extremely proud of.

He hadn't even noticed that Francis had also been trying to save the Captain.

Later...

"He gonna be okay?" Hero asked.

"He'll be fine. You're worrying too much." Matthew smiled.

"I-I'm not worryin' about that old guy!" Hero protested.

"If you say so." Matthew shrugged his shoulders.

Hero looked down at Arthur's sleeping form. Most of his wounds had been bandaged up and the occasional plaster was dotted around on his body. He was certainly not in a good state when he had been rescued, but was definitely better now that Matthew had taken care of him.

"That's all I can do for him for now." Matthew explained, standing up to leave the room. "...Are you... Going to stay here?"

"I might for a bit." Hero muttered.

"Well okay. Me and Kuma are going to bed." Matthew explained.

"Night." Hero waved.

Then Matthew left with his polar bear in his arms. Hero looked down at Arthur. Asleep, he didn't look like much of a threat. He looked calm, angelic- maybe even...

"What are you doing?"

He woke up. Obviously the staring was a little too much. It looked as if Arthur had sensed it. Hero struggled to find a good excuse for what he was doing. After all, it isn't easy to explain to someone why you were staring at them as they slept.

"I was uh..." Hero muttered.

"You were watching me sleep, weren't you?" Arthur sighed.

"Nu-uh!" Hero yelled.

"Oh do be quiet will you?" Arthur growled, clutching his head in pain. "Your annoying voice isn't exactly a miracle cure to this blasted headache."

"O-oh... Sorry." Hero muttered.

"It's fine. At least you know now." Arthur sighed.

N'awwwz... Those two are so cute... I was half expecting America to say "I'm one hell of a hero" anyone else? Black Butler is really creeping its way into my writing nowadays, darn that sexy butler...

Okay! Now I'm gonna be generous and point out things you should note when reading this story. It might help you figure out the plot twist. If you don't wanna read this, then I'd kindly ask you to go to the bottom and start reviewing!

Right, first thing to note: the bits in italics that start with '?' Really, pay attention to those because they're important. Second thing, chapter 7 when Mattie meets Hero. Pay attention to the part when he leaves. Third, notice how Arthur is multilingual. Fourth, Kiku has a katana. It's kind of pirate times and pirates aren't generally Japanese (unless it's One Piece but that's anime) so how did he get that katana? The last clue, the voices Arthur keeps hearing. IU would have hoped you guys have noticed that already.

Thanks to Ashe-Kuro, MDWOLFGIRL, Girl-of-Action and escritoria for reviewing!

Sayonara minna-san!

~Neko