A/N Like: 15 times. Aren't I amazing?
He was only suspended for three weeks, but Ivan didn't come back to school until halfway through the fourth week. He seemed even more tired and distant than usual, but he always smiled whenever he passed Yao in the hallways. Unfortunately, this lead to more horrifying glares from Natalia.
Weeks soon passed by, and Yao tried his best to forget about what happened at the Braginski's house and made sure to never tell anyone about it. He was fairly content with the way things were- other than the constant threat from Natalia, Yao didn't have to feel in danger of Ivan anymore. Just a bit wary.
One day, while walking down the hallway, Yao accidentally crashed into a blonde girl. She was too busy texting to notice where she was going and fell to the floor.
"Ow… that like, totally hurt!" The girl complained.
"Uh, sorry?" Yao replied, holding out his hand to help her out.
"Oh! You're like, Yao Wang!" The girl said after getting up. "I've like, totally wanted to talk to you!"
"Do I know you-aru?" Yao sighed. Please shut up, the way you're talking is giving me a headache!
"You like, totally don't remember me? That sucks! I'm the nurses assistant. And I like, totally covered for you!"
"What are you talking about-aru?" Yao asked, getting more annoyed by the second.
"I like, made sure that like, no one fund out you were like, actually a dude!" Yao gasped, and glared at her fiercely.
"How did you find out?" Yao questioned. "You better not tell anyone or I swear I'll-"
"Like relax, will ya? I'm not like, gonna tell anyone. I'm Feliks Lukasiewicz, and I'm like a guy too!" Feliks smiled. "You're like, totally impressive! Everyone like seriously believes that you're a girl!" Yao stared at Feliks in bewilderment, unsure whether or not to be insulted by the statement.
"Why the hell are you dressed like a girl-aru?" Yao finally asked.
"Cause I'm cute!" Felkis answered. " Also, there's like, this guy that I like, totally like! He's like, super cute… but he likes Natalia… so I decided to dress as a girl to like, attract him! Don't you think I'm cute?"
"So… what do you want-aru?" Yao repeated. He was ready to punch Feliks in the face, and he knew he wouldn't feel guilty about hitting another boy- no matter how feminine he was.
"Oh… well, Toris like totally wants me to thank you."
"Toris… Toris Lorinaitis?" Yao said, vaguely remembering the shy, quiet boy from a couple of his classes.
"Yup! He like, totally said that Ivan's been like, a lot nicer to him than usual!"
"What does Toris have to do with Ivan-aru?"
"Oh… whoops! I like, said too much! All I like, know is that Toris's father like, totally owes Ivan's father a lot of money so Ivan like, has to like beat him up from time to time."
"What did you say?" Yao asked, appalled.
"I like, shouldn't say anymore." He grinned deviously. "I'll make you a deal. You like, don't tell anyone about what I like, told you, and I won't tell anyone that you're like, totally a chick. Anyways, I've gotta go." Felicks ran off before giving Yao a chance to accept or decline the deal. Yao stood alone silently, gazing at the spot Feliks had just been standing in, contemplating what he had been told. Ivan… he thought, Ivan did say that he was in a mob…
"Ve~ why are you asking me about that?" Feliciano asked. Yao had caught up with him and Ludwig in the library and asked if he knew anything about the Italian mob.
"It's for a history project-aru." Yao lied.
"Oh, so you think that just because we're Italian, we're all in the mob, huh?" Lovino snapped. He was in the library too, sitting beside Antonio.
"Calm down, Lovi." Antonio cooed. "It's a library; be quiet por favor."
"Actually, fratello probably knows more about the mob than I do." Feliciano said. "He was raised differently than I was and-" Feliciano was cutoff when his brother gave him a brutal head butt to the stomach.
"Shut the hell up! You don't know about me, dammit!" Lovino yelled. Antonio wrapped his arms around him and pulled him apart from his brother.
"Are you alright, Feliciano?" Ludwig asked. Feliciano nodded weakly and the two headed out, not wanting to cause any more trouble.
"Heeeey, Lovi. Why don't you tell Yao what you know? You can show her how badass you are!" Lovino looked up from his frustrated pout hopefully, seeing this as a chance to impress a girl.
"Fine, I'll tell you. But don't expect to get favors from me this easily." Lovino started. "The mob is really just made up of a bunch of families that are in the "business." A lot of the stuff that happens in the movies is over-dramatic, but basically the same types of crimes happen. There's all the gory stuff like kidnappings and murder… but it all comes down to money. That's why mob families either have huge-ass houses, or they're dirt-broke."
Ivan has an enormous house, Yao thought to himself.
"Anyways, I've noticed most of the dirty work is done by the men. Maybe it's just a stereotype from movies, but I guess they just don't like to get their hands dirty."
That might explain why Ivan is always missing school, but Natalia and Katyusha have perfect attendance.
"So… you interested in a mobster?" Lovino asked slyly, a grin on his face.
"What? No. Thanks for the offer-aru." Yao said, slipping the notes he had been writing away.
"Awwww, that's mean!" Antonio complained, hugging Lovino yet again. "Aren't I good enough for you?" Lovino glared and punched him.
"Don't hug me, dammit!" Lovino yelled, forcing himself apart from the Spaniard.
"Thank you for all the help-aru." Yao said. He got up and left the library as Lovino and Antonio continued their love-hate argument.
"Kidnapping…" Yao mumbled quietly. "Murder, too. I wonder if Ivan really does things like that-aru?" He remembered how Feliks had had said that Ivan was being nicer to Toris recently. "When I think about it… Toris did come to school with some suspicious-looking bruises-aru." He sat down in seventh block English and ended his thoughts so Ivan wouldn't hear him.
Halfway through a lesson, Yao noticed a small, crumpled up piece of paper land in front of him on the desk. He unraveled it and read its contents half-heartedly, well aware of where it came from.
You want to ditch class and drink vodka? Yao glared and quickly scrawled a reply and threw it back.
No! Why would I want to do that?
Because we're friends. Yao grimaced at the word. Being friends with Ivan was proving to be much more troublesome than beneficial.
No thank you. Vodka is disgusting.
You've had it before?
Thanks to you I have.
Oh. That was fun, da?
I hate you so much. Ivan was about to throw the paper again when the teacher noticed him.
"Mr. Braginski, would you like to read that to the class?" He sounded irritated. Ivan smirked and stood up.
"I love you too, my Yao-Yao." He read out loud. The class burst out laughing except for Yao. His face flushed to the color of blood, and he sank into his chair.
Luckily, the humiliation did not last long. Outside, large flakes of snow fell from the sky, and soon the students mobbed around the window; the hopes of a snow day on their lips. Yao remained seated, too embarrassed to move while Ivan stared at the whole ordeal with an unimpressed look. He probably gets enough snow where he lives, Yao thought. I wonder what it must be like to be surrounded by snow all day… Yao's thoughts eventually strayed to Ivan's bedroom. And how bland it was except for the ceiling. I wonder what that's all about?
He was again pulled from his thoughts as the paper landed in front of him. Besides the message of I love you too, Yao-Yao, there was a sketch of sunflower.
"Ivan can draw better than I thought-aru." Yao whispered to himself, admiring the drawing. I like peonies better, Yao wrote, adding a sketch of a peony beside it. The class was slowly filtering back to their seats, so Ivan stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket and smiled at the teacher as if he were an innocent angel.
A few days later after school, Yao joined his friends in having a snowball fight. By the tie time the match was over, everyone was coated in snow except for Matthew because no one ever seemed able to hit him. Everyone decided to go to the commons to relax and have some hot chocolate.
"So Yao-Yao," Gilbert taunted, "I heard Ivan loves you."
"Oh shut up-aru." Yao snapped. "It was a joke!"
"But you have been getting rather close to Braginski-san recently." Kiku commented. "I'm worried."
"Wait, you like Ivan?" Francis whined. "Mais! Everyone's supposed to like me!"
"No one likes you!" Almost everyone replied in unison.
"J'aime tu." Matthew mumbled, though Francis didn't seem to hear him.
"Speaking of which, does anyone know where that bloody wanker went?" Arthur questioned. He was referring to Alfred, whom he had been dating for awhile now. Apparently, "wanker" was a term of endearment he used when talking about the American.
"Now that you mention it, it has been rather quiet around here." Ludwig noted.
"Not that I mind. That guy can burn in hell for all I care." Lovino remarked.
"Awww, but Lovi," Antonio said, "You say that about everyone." He tried to hug Lovino, but got a punch in return.
"Ve~ what if he got kidnapped?" Feliciano questioned.
"Be logical." Ludwig replied. "Why would anyone want to kidnap him?"
"To shut him up?" Francis suggested.
"Makes sense." Kiku stated.
"Dudes! The hero is here!" Alfred screamed as he charged into the room. He seemed even more cocky than usual, which Yao thought was impossible.
"You seem rather proud of yourself." Arthur noted. "What did you do this time?"
"What? I was the hero, of course!" Alfred replied.
"Yeah, but what does that mean?"
"Well, I happened to find the janitor's keys outside when I was getting my coat and a certain commie bastard walked by, so I locked him in the storage building out back." Alfred beamed proudly while the others stared at him, too shocked to speak.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Arthur finally scolded.
"'Cause I hate that guy." Alfred replied simply.
"Good enough reason for me." Gilbert said.
"You better let him out." Francis insisted. "Or he'll find a way out and get you." Alfred thought about this for a moment and finally gave in.
"Alright, let's go." Alfred grumbled.
Everyone eventually agreed to go with him so Ivan would be less likely to beat him to death. The storage building was behind the campus and was incredibly small, with only a small window on the roof. Alfred pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, half-expecting Ivan to immediately jump out and murder him. To his surprise, nothing happened and the building was completely silent.
"Ivan? Dude, you here?" Alfred asked nervously.
"Anyone want to go inside and find him?" Francis asked.
"I'll do it-aru." Yao sighed. "He seems to be nice to me." He expected some of his friends to make a sly remark to this, but they were too nervous to do a thing.
"Be careful." Feliciano warned. Yao walked in and began to look at his surroundings. There were stacks of boxes everywhere packed with an assortment of textbooks, papers and other school supplies. After taking a few more steps, he heard a commotion behind him.
"Is everything alright out there-aru?" Yao asked.
"Dammit, Alfred! Don't push me! It's icy!" Arthur remarked.
"No it's not, you're just-" Alfred slipped and fell against the door, slamming it shut.
"You idiot!" Ludwig shouted.
"Where's the key?" Matthew asked frantically.
"Oh god, it fell down the gutter." Antonio sighed.
"Shit. Way to go, dick wad!" Lovino cursed.
"Yao, Ivan…" Feliciano began, "We're going to go find the janitor. We'll be back in a second, okay?" The sounds of the large group bickering slowly began to fade as they walked away.
"They're so dumb." Yao complained quietly. "Ivan… are you here-aru? He decided to walk towards the only source of light, which was the small window in the ceiling. He found Ivan underneath it, sitting against that wall and staring up at the outside world blankly.
"Oh, Ivan. There you are-aru." Yao said.
"Hello, Yao-Yao." Ivan replied without looking up. "Are you locked in here too?" Yao decided with little protest to sit beside him, knowing it was too cold to continue wandering around.
"Yeah. We were going to let you out, but Alfred lost the key and locked me in. What an idiot-aru." Yao shivered. "Why isn't this place heated?"
"I don't know." Ivan took off his coat and handed it to Yao. "Take it. I'm used to the cold." Yao took the still-warm jacket and buttoned it up. It was huge and went well past his ankles and wrists. It looked more like a dress on him than anything else.
"It's huge…" Yao complained. Ivan chuckled.
"You're tiny." He retorted.
"Thanks for the reminder-aru." Yao looked over at Ivan who was dressed in a white button-up shirt and blue, plaid pants. He's smaller than I thought, Yao noted silently. He could see the faint outline of ribs poking out beneath the baggy shirt.
"So, Ivan…" Yao began, attempting to create a conversation. "Why don't you ever take that scarf off?" Ivan slid his gloved hand up the length of the scarf and smiled sadly.
"It's my mother's scarf. It's the only thing she gave me before she left. I can't take it off."
"Oh, I'm so sorry-aru." Yao mumbled. Way to bring up the worst subject, Yao, he silently scolded. "So… how long do you think it'll take them to find the janitor?"
"Well, there's three janitors in the giant school and one of them is missing their keys… so probably an hour at least."
"Aiyaa…" Yao pulled the coat up over his nose to keep warm, but quickly pulled it back down. It reeked of vodka. Yao then realized that Ivan was sadder than usual and seemed unusually exhausted. His usually glowing eyes seemed dulled as he shut them and leaned against the wall.
"Are you okay?" Yao asked, poking him gently.
"Hm? Yeah. I probably won't be at school tomorrow."
"Why's that-aru?" Ivan opened his eyes and sighed.
"It's a long story."
"I have at least an hour, don't I?" Ivan stared back with a frown on his face, his eyes as cold and bleak as the weather outside.
"You can't tell anyone, da?" Yao nodded, and without another word, Ivan began to unbutton his shirt.
"Aiyaa! What the hell are you doing-aru?" Yao screamed. Ivan didn't reply, but continued unbuttoning until his chest was revealed. Yao couldn't help but look, his face a burning, bright red. Ivan's skin was pale-white, and there were small indents where his ribs were. If weren't so tall and didn't wear baggy clothing all day, people would think he were deathly frail. All over the pale skin were ugly bruises and scars that were both recent and new. There was one solitary scar that caught Yao's attention that was in the shape of a heart.
As soon as he had figured that Yao had gotten a good enough look, Ivan buttoned his shirt back up and pulled off his scarf. Underneath it, the skin was nearly untouched except for the deep, red marks that resembled fingers that had recently attempted to strangle him.
"I don't wear all of these layers because I'm cold." Ivan explained. "I wear them to hide things."
"What…" Yao gulped. "What happened to you?" Ivan sighed as he put the scarf back on.
"Where I'm from, it's kill or be killed." And without another moment's wait, Ivan began to relay a long, sad story to Yao.
A/N: Hello! Sorry for the wait. I had a sleepover and I stayed up until 7:30 a.m. watching Hetalia, so... I didn't have much time to write. Also, I tried to add some funny parts in this chapter because from here, it's going to get angsty. Because it has to get angsty. ^_^ As usual, thanks for all of the favorites and reviews.