Haha, it's been a while since I published anything... ;; Well, now you get an extra long chapter! Enjoy!

Charlotte Grimaldi-Bonnefoy's sharp gaze snapped to her phone, where a green light indicated an incoming call. She carefully placed her glasses on the table in front of her and answered.

"Charlotte Grimaldi." Her voice wasn't unfriendly, but not overly warm either.

"Quoi? You omitt Bonnefoy from your name now?" A familiar French accent sounded in her ears and a tiny frown appeared, lightly distorting her features without eating away at her beauty.

"Grand-frére."

Francis Bonnefoy hummed in response.

"I thought I told you not to call me at work."

"How cold you are," the Frenchman chuckled. "I just wanted to invite you to dinner. I think you might like it, it will be a little less extravagant than usual, with just a few, prominent guests."

"Would two of those 'prominent guests' be Carriedo and Beilschmidt?"

Francis could detect a hint of distaste behind his half-sister's words and another chuckle escaped him.

"I cannot deny that they are invited; Gilbert however," Francis referred to Beilschmidt by his first name, "said he was far too awesome to come - his words, not mine!" he added as Charlotte scoffed. "At the most he'll appear later. Antonio," - that was Carriedo - "on the other hand, said he wouldn't miss it for the world."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. Carriedo was always excessively enthusiastic, but for a simple dinner?

"Planning something grand, Grand-frére?"

"Oh que oui!"

What? / Big brother / Oh Yes!

"Charlotte! Mais, t'es magnifique!"

Charlotte smiled. Francis was her half-brother, so he never tried to seduce her, and he wasn't using his second-most charming, manipulative smile either.

"Merci beaucoup," she said with a small coutsey.

"Dis-moi, how come you're still single?"

"It's probably your fault."

Francis laughed. "It probably is!"

You look magnificent! / Thank you very much / Tell me

Vash Zwingli had to admit that Gustave had a great sense of style.

The suit was tailored and fit the Luxembourgish man like a glove, making him down-right handsome, almost beautiful, even.

Gustave all but disappeared behind a large group of people surrounding him (mostly women) that were chattering excitedly. Gustave served them polite smiles and patiently answered their questions.

"Actually, I prefer working with my media branch, but banking tends to be more rewarding financially..."

Vash smiled at this. If the admirers only knew what kind of 'banking' the four friends did...

Vash didn't look half-bad himself, but Lili had picked out the clothes for him, making sure everything down to the handkerchief sticking out of his pocket looked perfect.

"There's nothing wrong with the way you dress," she'd told him, "But at dinners like these you can't leave anything to chance." And Vash would trust her with anything.

Lili Zwingli looked adorable in her dress. The cloth was a dusky pink with white details; her hat, decorated with a large, loose ribbon, lay in the cloakroom waiting for her return.

She smiled as Vash smiled. She was relieved that he enjoyed the occasion at least a little, Vash never had been much for parties.

A lady she knew by face but not by name giggled, but stopped as Lili turned towards her with a look of polite puzzlement. She raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Sorry," another giggle escaped the woman, "But my friend here and I were just saying how the two of you make such a cute couple!"

Lili blushed a little.
"We're no such thing!" The two other women exchanged knowing smiles. "No really! Vash has done so much for me and I really love him, but more like a brother than anything else!"

"Of course!"

Gustave Nico Engels frowned. Not at Charlotte, who truly looked splendid, but at her brother, Francis Bonnefoy. Mr Bonnefoy was a client of Gustave's - and a rather important one at that - so Gustave treated him with the flawless politeness he treated all of his clients with.

Or, he would have liked to. The Frenchman was grating on his nerves.

They both shared a lot of traits. They were both good, even cunning, businessmen, they could both be very charming and they were both popular among women. And still the damned Frenchman preferred harassing Gustave rather than entertaining the ladies (even though Gustave had heard that Bonnefoy enjoyed that more than was perhaps appropriate).

Right on cue, Bonnefoy spotted Gustave and started making his way over. Fortunately, he was for a few moments obstructed by a few women that insisted on greeting him, and Gustave could send Vash a plea for help.

The Swiss quiclky abandoned the table with drinks.

Vash reached Gustave just after Bonnefoy did, and he could see that the Luxembourger was already starting to panic. Vash couldn't tell if Bonnefoy could, though, because to anyone else, Gustave's polite smile was near flawless. On the other hand, Bonnefoy most certainly wasn't stupid.

"Ah, monsieur Zwingli!" No one could possibly have missed the relief on the short man's face, except for the Frenchman who turned towards Vash, who gave him a stiff smile and a nod.

"Monsieur Bonnefoy."

"J'espére que vous vous amuse?"

"Comment ne pourrais-je pas?" Vash looked about as amused as a stone, but Bonnefoy still smiled.

"Vous étes trop bon..."

"En fait," Vash interjected before Bonnefoy had the chance to speak again, "Je voudrais parler un peu avec Gustave. Entre quatre yeux."

Gustave caught on quick.

"As, de ces comptes-lá?"

Vash nodded and Bonnefoy's smile faded just a little.

"Bien sûr. Je dois en tout cas allér retrouver Toñio, sinon je vais me trouver sans tomates pour le salade."

Luxembourg laughed politely, but as soon as his client left his mask cracked.

"I thought he would never leave!"

Vash rolled his eyes.

"You barely talked for five minutes."

"Yes, and I'm glad there's people around," Gustave muttered.

"Anmeldet ihn denn."

"Und wer würde mich glauben?" Luxembourg scoffed. "Das ist die andere Seite von Geld, Vash."

At that time a servant announced the beginning of the dinner itself and Vash and Gustave had to part ways. Vash had been placed next to Lili, so the dinner would be endurable for his part, but Gustave would have little joy from Charlotte's close proximity, as Bonnefoy would be even closer.

Vash certainly didn't envy his junior.

I trust you're enjoying yourself? / How could I not? / You're too kind... / In fact, I would like to talk to Gustave. Between four eyes. / Ah, about those accounts? / Of course. I need to go find Toñio anyway, or I'll end up without tomatoes for the salad. / So report him (to the police) / And who would believe me? That's the other side of money, Vash.

"Engels!"

Gustave flinched. Et puis qoui encore? I have endured two and a half hours with you already, can't you just let me leave?

Despite his emotions he managed to conjure up a smile and face the source of his grief.

"Oui?"

Bonnefoy handed him an envelope.

"Ne le ouvre pas encore! C'est un invitation; monsieur Zwingli et mesdames Zwingli et Grimaldi y sont invitées aussi. J'aimerais vous revoir au cette occasion."

"...Je vais faire de mon mieux."

"Bien! Alors, bonne nuit á vous!" Bonnefoy said with a wink.

"Á vous aussi," Gustave replied with much less warmth and left as quickly as he could.

What now? / Yes? / Don't open it yet! It's an invitation, mister Zwingli and miss Zwingli and Grimaldi are also invited. I'd like to see you at this time. / ...I'll do my best. / Good! Well then, good night to you! / To you too.

"It can't be this dump."

Vash kicked away an empty can. It made a hollow, clattering noise that echoed around the narrow courtyard.

"It certainly doesn't seem like his style." Charlotte made a face as she noticed a particularly revolting pile of dirt and unwanted things.

"Maybe they gave us the wrong address," Gustave offered.

Lili said nothing; she just wrinkled her nose and stood in the least dirty spot she could find.

"...Let's leave."

"Vee~! We can't let you do that!" A happily smiling Italian stepped into the archway, blocking the only way out.

"I see only one of you," Vash said coolly, taking a threatening step towards the idiot (they all thought he looked a bit stupid).

"How about now?" A man identical to the idiot stepped out next to him, only this one looked a bit sharper.

"I don't answer to kids."

The man we know as 'Lovi' pulled out a gun.

"Kinder fucking surprise!"

"Well, this certainly looks more like grand-frére's style," Charlotte laughed humorlessly.

The room they were in was extravagantly decorated in white, blue and silver, a huge painting of a half-naked woman covering one wall.

Vash eyed it with distaste. The stupid twin noticed and stopped humming.

"Do you like it?" Everyone face-palmed mentally. He really showed proof of exceptional stupidity. "I painted it!"

They all turned to study the painting again. Something was very wrong with the world.

The door opened, and Bonnefoy and an inappropriately cheery man followed. The twins immediately turned their attention to them.

"Toñio, do you like my new painting?"

'Toñio' turned to study it, rubbing his chin and smiling.

"Well, Feli, I prefer brunettes..."

"Oi, bastardo!" 'Lovi' called. "Paycheck please!"

The Spaniard's smile faltered a little, but he pulled out an envelope and handled it to the angry Italian, who left, pulling his brother along with him.

"Bon!" Bonnefoy said after a moment's silence, clapping his hands together. "I bet you're wondering why you're here, yes?"

Charlotte's foot started tapping impatiently and Bonnefoy chuckled.

"Well, we've been keeping tabs on you."

Lili bit her lip.

"And we know what you've been doing. Robbing banks and jewellers like there's no tomorrow for years without getting caught. Now, like a law-abiding citizen I should turn you in..." 'Toñio laguhed. "...But, fortunately for you - or perhaps unfortunately, everything is relative - I'm not a law-abiding citizen. Bref, we'd like to offer you a job."

"We?" Vash inquired.

"Me, Antonio here and -"

Bonnefoy was interrupted by the door suddenly blowing open, hitting the wall and almost hitting the person storming into the room too as it bounced back.

"Gilbert Berilschmidt the Awesome in the house! Kesesese!" The albino screamed.

Bonnefoy winced.

"Gil, what did I tell you about opening doors?" The doorknob had left a deep impression in the wall.

"Oh. Sorry, Francis."

Gustave's eyes narrowed.

"Was ist los?" Vash asked.

"Er spricht Deutsch."

The quartet had been sending messages to each other in German, this explained how Bonnefoy and Carriedo could have found out the contents of the messages.

"Kennen sie sich?" Lili looked shocked.

The albino turned around. Upon noticing Gustave his face split into a wide, mocking grin.

"Nein," Gustave said, disgusted.

"Gustchen! How interesting, you'll be under my command again!"

"I was never under your command, Gilbert."

Gilbert snorted.

"No, you just followed me everywhere and did everything I told you to - even if your brother said no - with sparkling eyes!"

Gustave maintained his dignity. "How's your Bruder doing, by the way?"

"He's fine!" Gilbert snapped.

"Good to hear."

"Sorry to interrupt your catching-up, but let's get down to business, shall we?" Bonnefoy smiled that manipulative smile that Charlotte hated. "You'll work for us?"

"No," Vash stated simply, easily speaking the mind of the whole group.

Bonnefoy sighed and made a sign with his hand. Quick as lightning Beilschmidt locked Vash's arms behind his back and pressed a knife to his throat. 'Toñio' simply unsheathed a sword (no one saw him pick it up) and calmly blocked Charlotte and Lili's way.

"You - " Bonnefoy punched Gustave in the stomach so the small man doubled over,

"Will - " Shoved him down onto the floor,

"Work - for - us... Yes?" Each word was emphasized by a kick to the stomach.

Gustave, despite being in severe pain and gasping for breath, slowly shook his head.

Bonnefoy lifted his foot to kick again.

"We'll work for you! Just stop it!" Vash quickly shouted.

Bonnefoy nodded, satisfied. He helped Gustave sit up. The small man wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and gave the Frenchman a murderous glare.

"Now, now," Bonnefoy grinned, patting Gustave on the shoulder, "Just be glad I didn't hurt your face, hmm?"

Charlotte, though pale, spoke up in defiance.

"Was that really necessary?"

"It was. And, before you ask, monsieur Zwingli is too tough for this kind of persuation, and I don't hit ladies."

"But we do hit on ladies!" 'Toñio' chuckled and winked at Lili.

Before Vash could do any brotherly, protective moves, Lili shocked them all by spitting in 'Toñio's face and ran past him to check up on Gustave.

Beilschmidt lowered his knife and sauntered out of the room, waving a lazy good-bye to his friends.

"Hey, hold up!" 'Toñio' threw his sword away and ran after his albino friend.

Bonnefoy calmly took out his ring from his pocket and placed it onto his finger, not minding the sudden disappearance of his buddies.

"The twins will escort you out." He turned to Gustave. "I do hope we can still be friends."

And with a final smile he left the room.

What's wrong? / He speaks German. / Do you know each other? / No

A note on 'Gustchen' - -chen is German is a diminutive that you can add after a word to show that it is something small. For example, Cat = Katze, Kitten = Kätzchen. All words ending with -chen are neutral (i.e., das Kätzchen), which interestingly enough makes girl, Mädchen, neutral.

So, what did you think of this chapter? Instead of placing all the translations at the end like I usually do, I placed them after each paragraph. Does this make it easier, or do you think it disturbs the flow of the story? The thing is, I'm going to try and include a lot of different language, and it might be better if you didn't have to scroll down to the bottom each time.

I am searching for translators! I might not need you immediately, but it would be nice to have some for all kinds of languages, as I'll try and include most, if not all, characters, and perhaps even some OCs if I see fit. I can deal with all Nordic languages but Icelandic and Finnish by myself, though it would be nice if someone could perhaps check Norwegian and Danish for me. I can also do French and German by myself, though I do appreciate corrections if you find errors. Any other language that you may speak would be a great help for me, and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a review or send a PM if you could help me!

Thank you in advance! :D