And finally, after a month of the entire story being crazy, Feli-chan finally asks Charice out!
For some reason, I'm writing them in Himaruya's comic format. In other words, think of each segment as its own comic with an overlying arc. It'll make more sense that way…from what I can understand.
/=+=/
When they went to the party, Rizal saw with surprise that Feliciano was hiding himself from the rest of the crowd, fixing his magician uniform and mumbling something to himself as Rizal headed over to him.
"You do realize that dates usually start when you ask them, right?"
"VEEEEE!" He could've sworn that he flew at least fifteen feet. At least that's how far he ran back to him. "D-d-d-d-d-d-don't s-s-s-s-s-scare me l-l-l-l-l-l-like that!"
"And how do I do that? Shake you or bait you with pasta?"
"…yes…"
He wasn't expecting that "yes". And he really wasn't expecting Feliciano to be serious in his answer. He really should've, now that Rizal thought about it. He decided to drop that topic.
"So…who're you asking out?"
"N-no one…" He answered. He did sound a little cute. "No one of…i-importance…"
"…Feli, if you want to ask my sister out, that's fine."
"VEEEEEE!" Again, fifteen feet. Rizal couldn't help but wonder if he was having breathing issues if he went that high. "H-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-"
"If I'm protecting my sister, I'll notice these things." He grinned. "Besides, I think she would've said yes even if I banned it."
"…y-you approve?"
"Out of everyone in this psychiatric circus, I trust you the most with ate." He laughed. "If anything, I should be worried about you."
"Ve?"
"…you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"V-ve?"
God, I fear for you.
/=+=/
Of course, Charice said yes to the small "date". Rizal took it beside himself to go to Feliciano's room that day (to prepare him for the mass chaos that might end up happening today) and was surprised to find the door unlocked. He slowly pushed it open and saw with some surprise that there was no one inside. He blinked.
Sheesh…if he was going to sleep in Ludwig's room, he would've thought on locking the do-
"VEEEEEEEE! I OVERSLEPT, I OVERSLEPT!"
Five seconds later, someone came barreling into the room and started grabbing everything that was oddly lying out on the bed already. Rizal decided not to say anything as the image started flying around, undressing and dressing faster than the speed of…well, running from the enemy. It was around that time that he finally realized that there was someone else in the room.
"VEEEEEEEEEE! H-how did you get in before me?"
"…you left the door unlocked." Rizal stared at him. "I'm just here to help."
"O-o-o-o-o-okay!"
He ignored all that as Rizal stared at him yet again. If he knew anything about Feliciano past him being Charice's squeeze toy and running away from anyone that had anything sharp or containing gunpowder, it was that he loved to hit on women; he and his brother did it all the time. Yet somehow someone (ELIZABETA) translated that to "secretly being gay for Ludwig". Sure, that would work for Francis, but…Feliciano? From the back of his mind, he found himself imagining if the rather kind and adorable Italian was anything like Francis…
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"V-veee! R-Rizal, there's steam coming out of your ears!"
"Does. Not. Compute."
"VEEEEEE!"
/=+=/
"OK, I'm just here to explain a few things so that you don't get your heart broken by Charice…or torn out by her, whatever comes first."
"Um…OK…"
"Now, when are you two supposed to meet up?"
"Eight in the morning in front of my room…but she's going to be here at nine."
"Nine?"
"She's always a little late." He smiled. "I assumed that she was going to be an hour at the most, so I gave myself time."
"Oh…I see…um…where are you two going to?"
"This nice restaurant that I saw a few feet back. It's rather cheap, so she can eat everything and not ruin her wallet! After that we're going to the fair that's here today!"
"That place? What, to eat again?"
"Most likely, but usually to go on the rides. Charice really likes going on the Ferris wheel and all the scary rides…I don't know why, though…"
"She likes the thrill of it all. Meetings got boring to her."
"Vee…but she doesn't get bored if we sit together…we always talk about what the others are doing and what she was planning on doing that day…"
"Makes sense, I guess. Are you two going shopping later?"
"Not really…Charice doesn't like shopping for clothes for some reason…and even then, she never wants to wear anything blue! Vee…it's too bad because she would've looked really nice in jeans…"
Rizal stared at him, oddly impressed. Feliciano just pinned down everything that he was going to warn him about. Maybe there is hope for him yet…unless he was missing one more crucial form of evidence…most likely he was…
"Feliciano."
"Ve?"
"Did you lock the door behind you?"
"Um…yes."
"…it's unlocked."
"Ve?"
"…from the outside, no less."
"VEEEEEEE!"
"You sure you locked the door?"
"…y-yes…" He whimpered. "W-why can't Charice ever just come in a room when I'm in it…?"
"Because it's more FUN with the surprise!"
"VEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"…I'm just going to…leave…right now…"
And Rizal did so, leaving the poor Italian with the now clingy Filipina. He turned his head only once and saw the smiling Charice nuzzle the back of his head, and for some reason he couldn't help but coo in happiness.
Which made the grip a little tighter.
/=+=/
"Wow…this place looks really fancy, Feli-chan!"
"I-it is…but it's really cheap, too!" He answered. "And it has a lot of pasta!"
"Thinking about yourself again, huh?"
"Ve…"
"Geez, you eat so much pasta…where do the calories go in that body of yours?"
"I-I'm not sure…"
"…I sure wish I had that kind of body…"
Feliciano stared at her for a few seconds before following the waitress down to a small table for just the two of them. They were next to the window, so they were able to see what was outside…and it was a really nice view, now that he thought about it. But then again, he was too busy staring at Charice, a scrunched up look on her face. He couldn't help but giggle; he knew what that meant.
"Charice, this place is really cheap! You can order both of them if you want!"
"Really?"
"I'm going to pay, so don't worry."
Her eyes began to shine before she started skimming all over the menu, most likely going to buy every single thing that she sees as remotely appealing. She looked so happy when he mentioned that he was going to pay for everything. That smile that she constantly has made him giggle and smile in happiness. Nevermind the fact that she was ordering so many things that she would've dried up his wallet nonetheless. He ordered something small and then turned back to the smiling woman in front of him.
"You usually order a lot, Feli-chan."
"Ve~~~we're going to eat a lot more where we're going afterwards." He smiled. "So I want to save my money."
"That's all right. You can share some of my food~"
"Ve~~~thank you…"
"So…how are you and D-" She paused. Public place. "You and Ludwig."
"The both of us are fine, Charice." He answered with a giggle. "He's still iffy about me sharing a bed with him, but I think he's gotten over it."
"Awww…so cute…" She laughed. "You must really like him, Feli-chan~!"
"Ve~~~he's my friend, after all~"
"No, I mean like like him."
"Ve? What do you mean? He's my friend."
"Like…do you love him?"
It was then that he realized what she meant. His face instantly turned red and he looked away with a dark red blush on his face. It was rather embarrassing to hear his crush talk about him being gay. Nonetheless, that alone made her squeak with joy.
"You're so cute, Feli-chan~!"
"V-ve…" He blushed even more. "But…I don't like Ludwig like that…"
"You don't have to admit that to me, you know! You have to tell him, duh!"
"But…I don't like boys. I like girls."
"…hah?"
"I'm straight, Charice."
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"No, Charice! You must resist the urge to drown in your miso soup!"
"VEEEE! Kiku, what are you doing here?"
/=+=/
The shock was a little too much for Charice to handle at first, but she was able to recover once they went to the fair. All of the shooting games were more than worthy of trying to grab her attention, and it was only after realizing that she couldn't hit anything that she started raging extremely and forgetting what Feliciano had said to her.
After a while, the sun was setting and the two of them finally opted to go into the Ferris Wheel. Feliciano needed to be coaxed into getting into the bin, but it was only when Charice held his hand that he finally walked into the small bin and rose upward into the sky. She was cuddling him the entire time that he was shivering.
"Don't worry…Charice will be here to protect you~"
"…ve…t-thank you…"
"…so, who's your type?"
"Ve?"
"Who's your type of girl? I can do some matchmaking if you want!" She laughed. "We don't have that many girls, but I can give you a calling card~"
"…ve…" Feliciano blushed. "I already like someone…"
"Really? Who is it?"
"…well…she's really pretty…"
"Oh, you mean Hungary?"
"No…she's extremely sweet…"
"Ukraine?"
"…no…she's a little clingy-"
"BELARUS? Wow, I never knew!"
"N-no, no no…" Feliciano turned to Charice. "She's very sweet and kind…very normal."
"Liechtenstein is normal!" She grinned. "But I wouldn't be surprised~!"
"…you're wrong…it's not any one of them…" He was blushing at this point. He had hit on girls before, but never fell in love quite this deep before…with the exception of Holy Rome, of course. "She's…the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen in my life…and I never met her before that."
The look on Charice's face made him realize that she definitely realized who he was talking about. But she immediately scrunched up again, definitely not going to believe what she had concluded. She shook her head again and smiled.
"Taiwan? Vietnam?" She tilted her head. "They're very beautiful."
Feliciano knew that she wasn't going to believe herself at all. With a quiet nod and a light blush, he hesitantly leaned forward and kissed her cheeks, feeling her tense up before allowing the second one to sink in. He backed up with a light blush, hiding his face in his fingertips and looking cuter than before.
"…why me?" Charice leaned back, confused. "I'm not pretty…"
"Charice…"
"…fine, compared to the others. Taiwan has the pretty figure, Vietnam has the pretty hair, Ukraine has the…biggest rack out there…I digress, and-"
"They don't mean anything to me…compared to you…" He smiled. "You mean more to me than them."
"Why? Our bosses don't even talk to each other."
"Because you really care for me…you always give me lots of hugs and kisses, coos and cuddles…" He blushed and started shimmying like a shy little girl. "I was scared of them at first, but after a while…I wanted those hugs and kisses…I wanted you to cuddle me more and tell me that you'll only focus on me…"
"…Feli-chan…"
"Ve…I like it when you call me that…"
"Then I should call you that more often."
"…Yes, you should." Feliciano blushed before looking up. "Um…kiss me…? Please…?"
She didn't have to hesitate as she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, hearing him "vee" in response before feeling his fingertips on her cheek and lightly skimming his lips on hers. He sounded so mature when he was with a woman, but he looked so cute when he blushed.
"…I'm not going to hurt you, all right Feli-chan?"
"…ve…all right…" He chuckled. "I'll do my best to protect you too…"
"That's good." She grinned. "Now how about that ice cream cone you promised me~?"
"Ve…of course~" He smiled.
/=+=/
And this is the end of perhaps of the only ItaPiri pairing in the world…or in this username, for this manner.