Hi!
Alright, so yet again some time has passed since I last uploaded, so some time has passed in the story.
Hm... I have nothing to say. Wow. Something must be wrong, cause I always ramble on these things.
Umm... so I'm still working on the christmas special one shot, so keep looking for that. Good chapter, so I hope you enjoy. And holy crap, I thought this story was finally wrapping up, but I realized that there are still so many things that I haven't done yet. And sorry for the lack of pogression lately, I'm sure there are many things you would all like to know. Don't worry, I'll cover them soon.
Alright, I'm done.
Enjoy the chapter!
Feliciano had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation. He was surrounded, in the middle of the night, by at least seven other people. And, while he was using nothing but his bare fists, they were wielding iron pipes. Feliciano growled. Who did they think they were, Ivan Braginsky?*
One, two, three hits. Feliciano couldn't hold them off forever, but usually he could at least have killed them by now. But now, he was getting tired. And they were starting to really get in some good hits. His lip was split open, he had a black eye, a swollen lump on his head, and several bruises, gashes, and lumps all over his body.
Feliciano put his hand out to support himself against the wall. He was breathing hard. Four of them walked up, snickering and laughing, three of them waiting in the back to take their turn. Feliciano could barely see their outline with the black moon shining down, illuminating the pipes in their hands. Feliciano got hit one more time, while blocking two more.
He grabbed the pipe from one of them, swinging around and jabbing another in the stomach, then swinging back around to knock another off their feet. Feliciano kicked the one in front of him back who stumbled into one of the them who was waiting in the back to beat up Feliciano. More like waiting to get beat up by him. What Feliciano wasn't expecting was another to grab a pole and whack him in the back of his head. Feliciano fell hard to the ground, his ears ringing and his vision going red and spotted.
He couldn't see anything. Feliciano put his hands in front of him to get his face off the cold hard asphalt. His hands met something, and Feliciano stopped breathing.
He wanted to catch his breath. He wanted to run away. He wanted to cry for help. But instead he held his breath and listened, being completely and totally silent.
The ones surrounding him were quiet, but not completely. Feliciano listened and located where each one of them was standing and walking. Feliciano swung around.
One, two, three, four five, six, seven.
Seven shots. Seven bodies falling to the ground. Feliciano got on his knees and located the nearest body, still not being able to see anything, and felt for the wound. And there, right in the middle of the victim's forehead, was a bullet hole leaking blood. Feliciano smiled to himself. Pinpoint accuracy was an understatement. Feliciano can shoot someone in the middle of the head while disoriented and practically blind.
Feliciano's whole body hurt. Usually, in a fight, he could handle himself and end it before he even got a scratch. But today... no, for a long time now. He was just slipping. Feliciano leaned against the wall, still sitting down. "Why?" he thought. "Why is this happening?"
Lovino had been searching for Feliciano nonstop for about an hour. All of a sudden he disappeared from the house. Lovino got Antonio and began to search. And after travelling down the dark streets, he finally heard gunshots. Seven, actually. Lovino ran to find the source.
"Feliciano! Feliciano is that you? Where the hell are you Feliciano?" Lovino ran to the alley that he was dreading to go in, and inside, barely visible, was a man sitting on the ground, surrounded by several bodies, although Lovino wasn't sure exactly how many. Lovino knew it was Feliciano by the curl that was sticking out of his hair.
"Feliciano? Are you hurt?" Lovino approached him slowly.
Feliciano's ears were still ringing. He couldn't stop it. It was so loud. He didn't hear Lovino's shouts, or him asking to see if he was ok. All Feliciano heard were the footsteps. Swinging around to the source, Feliciano held out his gun and pointed it straight at Lovino.
"Who's there?" Feliciano said, putting as much demand in his voice as he could muster, trying to sound forceful and threatening.
Lovino was surprised. Feliciano usually knew right away who he was facing. He must have been hurt badly. Lovino knelt on the ground in front of Feliciano. "It's me Feli" he said in a calm, quiet voice. "Lovino. Are you ok?"
Feliciano, at the sound of his brother's voice, relaxed. He put the gun down. Lovino could see him still struggling for breath. He was blinking hard, probably seeing spots. Lovino sighed. "Lovino?" Feliciano asked.
"Yeah. Are you hurt? Come on, answer me Feliciano."
Instead on answering, Feliciano dropped the gun and fell into Lovino's arms. He clung to Lovino's neck, trying not to fall and bring Lovino on top of him.
Lovino could now get a better look at Feliciano's wounds. There were bruises everywhere, but thankfully little blood. Lovino spotted a lump growing on Feliciano's temple, and crept up to touch it.
Feliciano gasped and fell into Lovino's lap. Lovino breathed out heavily. Feliciano must've been struggling for his life. Lovino put his arms under Feliciano's arms and legs, lifting them both off the ground. Feliciano gasped, surprised at the sudden lift. He clung, once again, to Lovino's neck.
"L-Lovino, what are you doing?"
"You're too injured to be walking around on your own." Lovino walked out of the alley and onto the street, going towards where he last saw Antonio. "You can rest. I got you."
Feliciano nodded his head and closed his eyes, hugging his brother tighter.
"Grazie fratello." Lovino smiled.
Antonio was worried that something bad happened to Lovino, on top of Feliciano disappearing. While Lovino went to check the streets, Antonio went to Ludwig's house. Ludwig hadn't seen Feliciano, and offered to help find him. Antonio said that they were fine, and he would call Ludwig whenever they found Feli, or if they couldn't find him.
But it has already been a while since Antonio saw Lovino, and he couldn't find a trace of Feliciano anywhere. He was about to call Lovino, when he saw a figure walking slowly down the sidewalk. Antonio pulled his gun, although he was pretty sure who it was.
"Lovino?"
"Hey Toni. Can you give me a hand here?"
Antonio could barely see two feet in front of him due to the black night and the fog that was beginning to gather. He walked towards Lovino.
"Are you ok Lovi? What happened?" Lovino didn't answer, and Antonio soon saw why. His heart fell. "Dios mio. Poor Feli. Is he alright?"
"Well at least he's still breathing. But he is pretty hurt. Hey, can you take him from me? I feel like I'm about to drop him." Antonio nodded and took the crumbled Italian from Lovi's arms. Feliciano winced in his sleep, but instantly relaxed, probably sensing it was Antonio who was now carrying him.
"Is the car nearby?" Lovino asked, rubbing some dirt off his shirt.
"Si, it's pretty close. Are you ok Lovi? You're not hurt are you?"
"No, I'm fine. Just a bit worried is all." Antonio started walking towards the car. Lovino was walking next to him, keeping an eye on Feliciano.
"How many were there?"
"I only saw about four of them, but from the looks of Feliciano's wounds there was probably more."
"What's happening to Feli? He used to be so good..."
"I know." the tone in Lovino's voice was soft, but forceful. In other words, he was ending the discussion.
As soon as Ludwig got the call, he drove as fast as he could to the house. Some time had passed, and, although most of the members still didn't trust him, they at least let him in the house. Because if Feliciano trusted Ludwig, the others had to accept him. Lovino and Antonio motioned that Feliciano was in Arthur's room. In there, Feliciano was asleep on the bed. Ludwig nearly collapsed at the sight. It hadn't been that bad since they were captured the first time. Ludwig walked over to the bed and held Feliciano's unmoving hand, murmuring into it softly.
"Oh Feliciano... please be ok. Just don't die. Please, don't die. Please, please, be ok..." And so he kept on like that, until he too fell asleep.
"Breakfast is ready!" Antonio called from the kitchen. Everyone found what had happened pretty quickly, seeing as Arthur was awake and making such a commotion trying to find medicine to heal Feliciano. They all went immediately to Lovino, asking what happened. In fact Kiku, who was always a light sleeper, was the first to notice and ask, and even went into Arthur's room to check on Feliciano and give Ludwig a blanket to keep him warm.
And now everyone was called in for breakfast. They already knew Feliciano wouldn't come, so they didn't bother waking him up like they would on a normal day (if he wasn't already awake. He tended to wake up the earliest). So they all sleepily went downstairs to the dining room.
And they were all met with a surprise.
Four people were already seated, laughing to some joke that someone made.
"Alright, seriously, we're getting off track." Lovino laughed.
"I agree. But you know I'm sure any normal German would never do that." Kiku stated, smiling from something.
"Who ever said I was normal?" Ludwig chuckled.
"I don't think that has to do with anything, Kiku. I'm sure Ludwig is just being infected by the Italian ways." Feliciano grinned. Feliciano was sitting next to Ludwig, across from Kiku and Lovino, who were sitting on the other side of the table. All of them had huge, silly grins on their faces, and seemed like they've been awake for some time now.
None of them even noticed the eleven people standing in the doorway with their mouths open.
"So back on track, what happened again? Why were you even out Feliciano?" Lovino asked, trying his best to sound stern. It didn't really work, though, as he was still laughing.
"I got a call."
"A call?" Kiku asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah, a call. From Ludwig." Feliciano didn't look, but Ludwig looked surprised now too.
"What did Ludwig say?" Lovino asked, ignoring Ludwig's confused expression.
"Nothing. I can show you if you want. It was late and I didn't get to sleep yet. Suddenly my phone rang and I saw it was Ludwig's number, so I picked up. I asked what was wrong, but there was no response. The line went dead so I got worried, thinking Ludwig was in trouble."
"But I wasn't. It wasn't me, I didn't call you last night."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Well then who-"
"We can mull over that later." Lovino cut Feliciano off. "What happened after that Feliciano?"
"I went out to check on Ludwig. I guess I should have told you guys that I was going out, but it didn't cross my mind. Besides, I figured I would only be gone for half an hour at the most."
"But you ended up being gone for several hours. Isn't that right?" Kiku asked.
"Yeah. The car wasn't working, so I had to walk there."
"That's right." Lovino gasped. "When Antonio and I went to look for you, all the tires were popped. We had to find some spare ones, which took a while."
"Exactly. I didn't want to waste the time in case I didn't find any spares, so I decided to go on foot. And on the way there I was ambushed."
"Did you ever see who it was?" Ludwig asked, concerned.
"No. It was too dark, and they grabbed me from the back so I didn't see them until I was in that alley. I guess it was pretty stupid of me to not bring my gun."
"And even then" Lovino sighed, still a little frightened. "Why that alley? So close to the Lotta Pista."*
"I have a theory as to why, but it also means I'm accusing a family of something they probably did, but might not have. So I can't tell you that."
"Good choice." Kiku said.
"Is it the Braginsky's?" Ludwig nervously asked.
"Thankfully or unthankfully, no. These guys are much worse, but they usually don't mess with us. I might have just unknowingly passed their territory without permission."
"Do I know them?" Ludwig asked.
"No. And pray that you never meet them." Feliciano locked eyes with Lovino, who understood right away.
After a long silence, Feliciano finally looked up. "Oh! How long have you all been standing there?" The other three looked up now too, to see that everyone had come down, and was listening in on the conversation. "Come on, breakfast is ready. Sit down." slowly they started to move to sit down at the table. Feliciano stood up.
"I'll help Antonio bring in the dishes." he announced, making his way through the people and into the kitchen.
"Is he really-?"
"Yes." Lovino cut off Im Yong Soo. "He's fine. Just needed some rest."
"He still looks like he lost a fight with a brick." Vash stated.
"Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you." Lovino quietly threatened him. Vash merely shrugged.
Feliciano and Antonio joyfully came through the door, holding plates of delicious food. All conversation stopped.
But it wasn't long before they were all laughing again.
"Ok, so really" Elizabeta laughed. "You took on seven guys? How did you do that without a gun until the very end?"
"And how did you, like, shoot all of them in the head without, like, even being able to see?" Felix asked.
Feliciano looked at Arthur, Lovino, Kiku, and Antonio. The four of them, after a second, burst out laughing. The rest were confused.
"Like, what did I say?"
"Nothing!" Feliciano said in between laughs.
"Hey, Feli, can I tell it this time?" Lovino laughed.
"Yeah!"
"Alright," Lovino said, calming down some. "It started when Feliciano was five years old. Back then all of us were in the Braginsky house, just on different levels and all different ages. Kiku, Feliciano and I were all the same age. Arthur was a bit older. Antonio was a few years older, and BEST friends with Gilbert and Francis."
"We were called the Bad Touch Trio back then." Antonio said, interrupting Lovino.
Feliciano laughed and Lovino face palmed. "We didn't need to know that, Antonio."
"Oh, sorry."
"Anyways, even though they were friends, he still hung out with us sometimes. And for a whole year, Feliciano would disappear in the shooting range for hours. Now we all spent a considerable amount of time in there, but you would think that after a year you would be good enough."
"Wrong." Feliciano said. The four of them laughed.
"We were very wrong." Kiku said, barely holding back his grin.
"We were." Lovino continued. "So the seven of us decided to go see what Feli was doing the whole time."
Arthur spoke up. "The seven of us, of course, being me, Lovino, Kiku, Antonio, Gilbert, Francis, and Alfred."
"And Alfred was also, at the time, the same age as me, Lovino, and Kiku." Feliciano said.
Lovino continued, not even getting mad about the interruptions anymore. "So we went. And when we walked in, Feliciano almost shot us in the head." They all giggled, remembering the hilarious experience. "You see, for that whole past year, Feliciano would go into the shooting range himself and set it on auto practice mode, which is basically a bunch of straw filled dummies with targets on their heads and plastic swords glued to their hands on a conveyor belt. They charged at you, and you were supposed to shoot all of them within a certain amount of time."
"And Feliciano" Antonio took it from there. "had been doing that practice run by himself, for a whole year. Blindfolded."
"I wanted to get perfect." Feliciano added, grinning.
"But here's the thing." Kiku smiled. "We walked in, and saw Feliciano hitting the bulls eye of every target, all under a minute. And there were over twenty targets."
"My favorite example of this" Arthur chuckled, "was when we were all on a stake out when suddenly Feliciano was captured. He was blindfolded, gagged, and tied up. He kicked all of them out of the car, undid his ropes, and, still blindfolded, took a gun and shot three people who were sitting on top of a building at least a hundred and fifty feet away."
"And then I took my blindfold off and turned to you, still smiling, and said 'alright, where were we again?'"
Everyone at the table laughed. It was so like him, they all knew, to do that. Feliciano was sometimes just strange and unpredictable like that. Which is what made him a great leader. At least to most people.
They finished their meal and all went their separate ways, doing whatever they wanted. The "organized crime" was being kept on low for a while, since none of them were ready to fight yet with the Braginskys, or anyone else they came across. Feliciano and Ludwig sat on the couch with the TV on, not even watching the show, but simply enjoying each other's presence. Ludwig had one leg crossed, the other on the ground, and his arm lazily slung around Feliciano's shoulders. He looked down at Feliciano, who was curled in a ball, laying on Ludwig, a glass of wine being held within his delicate hands.
"Feliciano."
"Hm?"
"..."
"Ludwig?" Feliciano looked up, his big caramel colored eyes staring up in anticipation. "What's wrong?"
"It's just... I didn't call you last night."
"Oh."
"Are you sure it was my number?"
"...I'm sure."
"Then-"
"Ludwig."
"What?"
"Forget about it."
"What?"
"Please. Just forget that happened. It's..." Feliciano took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his face contorted as if he had physical pain from thinking about all this. Feliciano opened his eyes and slowly breathed out, snuggling closer to Ludwig. "It's nothing. Don't think about it too much. It could put you in danger."
Ludwig wanted to say so much. He wanted to say that it was worth the risk, that he would do anything to make sure Feliciano was safe, and he didn't care what kind of danger he was put in. But seeing Feliciano's beautiful face, contorted with worry, and still slightly bruised, Ludwig held his tongue. Instead he put his head down, trying to get as close to Feliciano as possible.
Ludwig closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to take in everything. Feliciano, like always, smelled like a mix of guns smoke, cigar, and lavender. Ludwig smiled at that. There were the usual mix of background noises; someone at the shooting range, Antonio and Lovino talking in kitchen, the TV on, barely audible, Kiku also in the background cleaning various things, and Roderich playing the occasional tune on his piano. But the thing that Ludwig heard the best, the clearest, was Feliciano's steady breathing as he gradually fell deeper into sleep. Ludwig chuckled to himself. It was so cute. It felt the same way he felt when they first met, those blissful days of Feliciano, before Ludwig knew he was in the mafia. They often spent time like this in those days, sitting peacefully on the bed or couch of Ludwig's small motel (before he had the apartment), sometimes even going out to a nice restaurant or an interesting store, just to do the same thing. Now, a few months later, things were finally going back to normal.
And Ludwig could, for a few moments, pretend that they weren't in the mafia. That Feliciano and none of the others were in any danger, and could be killed at any time. Feliciano breathed heavily and repositioned himself, Ludwig lifting his arm for a moment to allow Feliciano the room to move. Feliciano, like always, was smiling in his sleep, ever so slightly. And Ludwig, like always, wondered what the little Italian was dreaming about.
"I'm not overreacting, Antonio."
"You are. Just admit it."
"I'm not! Now leave me alone you fucking bastard." Lovino tried again to get away from the annoying Spaniard, but Antonio just kept forcefully pulling Lovino back. Lovino was already annoyed. First Feliciano acting like nothing was wrong and curling up, yet again, with that fucking potato eating bastard. Then Antonio's fucking interrogation, never taking a break from asking Lovino if he was ok. And Lovino just wanted to get away, just be left alone, but Antonio was too damn persistent, always bringing Lovino right back.
"Lovi, come on, just tell me what's wrong. It's a simple question, you don't have to make a big deal about it."
"I'm not making a big deal about it. Now shut the hell up, bastard."
"You're so mean to everyone but Feliciano. It's cute. Now tell me what's wrong."
"I'm not cute and nothing's wrong!" Lovino tried, once more, to get away from Antonio. Antonio, with determination, pulled Lovino towards him again, but instead shoved Lovino against the wall, pinning him there. Lovino gasped, surprised at the sudden closeness. Antonio pinned Lovino's arms above his head, and stood above him, their faces so close to each other that Lovino could feel Antonio's breath, and their hair and noses nearly touched.
Lovino held his breath. Two emerald eyes stared intently and forcefully back at him, making Lovino's knees go weak and whole body go slack.
"I know something's wrong." Antonio said, in that beautiful, deep voice. "I can see right through you. Tell me, Lovino."
Lovino didn't respond. Instead he dared to let his eyes wander ever so slightly down, staring at Antonio's tight, waiting lips.
"Lovino. Say something."
Lovino knew what he wanted to do. Exactly what he wanted to say. He's wanted to say this, to do this for only God knows how long. And he couldn't believe he was letting himself do this now.
Lovino leaned in and firmly pressed his lips against Antonio's. Antonio was caught by surprise and took an unconscious step back, letting Lovino's hands go. But Lovino still didn't let his lips go so easily. After a few more sweet, needy, and breathtaking moments, Lovino took a step back, grinning at the look of shock on Antonio's face.
"You want me to say something? You're a pretty damn good kisser. Even for a Spaniard." Lovino smirked, using Antonio's ongoing shock as an opportunity to finally escape.
Alfred hummed happily alongside his favorite person. The slender man in a suit with the British accent and big, bushy eyebrows, smiling ever so slightly next to him.
"Hey." Alfred poked the side of the man next to him.
"What is it?" the man said.
"Can we go get ice cream?" the man looked genuinely surprised at the simple question.
"Ice cream...?"
"Yep!"
"Right now?"
"Duh!"
"But, it's pretty cold out. It's almost winter. Are you sure Alfred?"
"Mmhm! Please, can we go get ice cream?"
He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before smiling and finding his answer. "Alright. Let's go get ice cream." They both stood up, Alfred jumping happily on his best friend, who gladly lifted him up in his arms.
"I just can't win against you, can I Alfred?"
"Never." Alfred snuggled himself happily into the tweed suit. "I love you, Arthur."
Alfred woke with a start. Had he really just been dreaming about that? He stood up, roughly taking a photograph out of his pocket and walking over to the trash can to throw it away. But, out of the corner of his eye, Alfred saw those big green eyes and that amazing smile. Alfred took a step back and unwrinkled the photo, looking at it sadly.
"Damn it." Alfred said out loud, angrily wiping away the tears in his eyes. "Why... why did you have to leave. I told you I wanted some freedom... but that's not what I meant. Stupid Brits." Alfred stuffed the photo back into his pocket and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking."
"Probably. What are you thinking anyway?"
"About someone calling you on Ludwig's phone."
"Yeah. I get it." In other words, shut up.
"I'm not dropping this. You know what it means, don't you?"
"I know Lovino. I said I get it."
Lovino shook his head. "Feliciano..." Lovino sighed, making up his mind. "This is getting too dangerous. For everyone."
"I know. I can handle myself. So can Ludwig."
"...Feliciano. Look at me."
Feliciano turned from his cleaning to look Lovino straight in the eyes. "What?"
"I can tell you love Ludwig. I know he means a lot to you. But if you love him so much..."
"What?"
"If you really love him, then you'll tell him to leave. Immediately." Feliciano's eyes widened. "They know who he is. They know he's connected to you. They will kill him Feliciano. If you really care about him, tell him to go back to Germany. And cut your connections with him completely."
"Lovino!"
Lovino cut Feliciano off, taking a dangerously close step to him, Lovino's voice low and calm, but also threatening. "And if you don't do that, then I will. Ludwig has to go."
Before Feliciano could say another word, Lovino swept out of the room, leaving Feliciano feeling dizzy and out of breath.
Leave Ludwig? How? I know it's for his safety, and I know we both would be better off... but how could I ever just... leave Ludwig?
Feliciano fell to his knees, his head spinning and his breath coming in way too heavy, way too fast. He had no idea what to do.
*"Who did they think they were, Ivan Braginsky?" : a little fun poking at Russia's weapon of choice: an iron water pipe.
*"And even then" Lovino sighed, still a little frightened. "Why that alley? So close to the Lotta Pista.": Lotta Pista: "fighting rink". Basically, territory that the Savages own, where duels take place. Yes it is important, and yes I'll go into it more later.
Well that's about all the time we had for today, like or favorite if you enjoyed, and I'll see you next for whatever I make. Stay awesome. Bye. (sorry, watching lots of Pewdiepie lately. Pewdiepie is epic)
Alright, hope you enjoyed the chapters, bye bye.