Blood to bleed
Chapter 6: do you remember when we were young and wanted to set the world on fire? Well, I still do.
A/N: New chappie! Yay! Thanks to all who reviewed! I love you guys! You make my days better, from being totally suckish to being really awesome!
It wasn't long before Katyusha went to pick up her brother, Ivan was already waiting for her by the door. She smiled at him, but something was wrong, she had a nervous disposition and her smile kept twitching. She signed him out calmly, but her left hand kept twitching and clanking her fingernails on the wooden desk.
They filed outside and a disgusting sight met Ivan's eyes. Gilbert was seated in the driver's seat, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Ivan automaticly turned around and marched back to the school until his sister caught his sleeve.
"Brother!" She yelled and tried to drag him back. They both fought, Ivan shoving in vain to get away while his sister kept grabbing onto his jacket and latching onto his limbs.
Although Ivan didn't know how she did it, he was seated in the backseat pouting. Stupid jerk. Tch, he hated Gilbert now and what was worse, it seemed that the stupid bird was smirking at him.
"Everyone else is already at the airport, your stuff is in the trunk, and everything is all set! Do you have your ticket?" Katyusha asked.
"Da." Katyusha smiled.
"I have such a cute brother." She sighed, despite himself Ivan blushed. These were the moments that he liked the most. When he was younger and everything was okay, Katyusha used to sing him to sleep, holding him like a precious diamond or her own child.
"Eh, whatever. Katyusha, so when will we be getting there?" Just like that the moment was shattered. With a baseball bat. By Gilbert.
"You're the one driving!" Ivan snapped. Katyusha coughed and looked out the window nervously.
"Eh, uh...Ivan...Gilbert will be coming with us..." She said sheepishly.
"WHAT? TURN THIS CAR AROUND RIGHT NOW!" Ivan yelled and tried to unlock the door.
"Brother!" Katyusha said again, she turned around and grabbed his jacket and flung her brother with surprising strength. His back hit the opposite door and knocked the breath out of him.
"I refuse to go if you take that thing!" Ivan screeched.
"What does he have to do with anything anyway? All he does is freeload at our house! Making everyone uncomfortable and taking advantage of you!" Ivan ranted.
"That is enough Ivan Braginski!" Katyusha snapped, Ivan immediately stopped and narrowed his violet eyes.
He laughed, not good-natured laughing, but a harsh barking laughter that sent chills through Katyusha and Gilbert.
"Fine, whatever." He chuckled and resumed looking out the window. So one of his friends was in the hospital, this demon douche was going to Russia with him, and he still hadn't told Arthur nor Alfred where he was going. Wow, he had a headache.
"Having your honeymoon in Russia, aren't you?" He asked scathingly. Katyusha sighed but didn't reply, it would only escalate things.
So they sat in silence for the whole trip to the airport, Ivan glared out the window and fiddle with his phone. He had already sent a text to Arthur and asked him to relay the message to Alfred.
When they did reach the airport they found their siblings sitting in the correct terminal, waiting to board the flight. Toris offered him a sheepish smile, knowing full well that Ivan was angry, Ivan smiled reassuringly back at him, but his lips began to twitch.
"Flight 32, prepare for boarding." The intercom stated and they grabbed their carry-on bags. Ivan looked at his ticket and noticed it was beside Raivis and...Gilbert. Freaking epic.
He sat down gingerly and leaned back, trying to sleep. Raivis smiled and looked out the window while Gilbert placed on a pair of headphone and began to play the White Strips.
Ivan sighed, this was going to be fun. Well, at least he wasn't seated by Natalia like Eduard and Toris. Toris was enjoying it though, while poor Eduard was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
Finally sleep claimed him and his body relaxed, dreaming of ice and annoying yellow chicks.
In Russia~
When they reached the Moscow airport, Ivan had woken and was already trudging out of the plane with his younger siblings in toe. They grabbed their belongings from the converter belt and braced for the outside. In no time they saw the vehicle that the family had arranged for them. They piled in and were driven to the manor, it was just like they had left it, cold and foreboding. They walked into the manor and walked to their original bedrooms. Luckily the couple's kids had already moved out of the manor several years prior.
Ivan threw his bags and fell onto his bag and turned on his phone, he had missed a call, it was unknown but he redialed anyway.
"H-hello?" A sobbing voice cracked into the phone. Alfred.
"Fredka?" Ivan asked into the phone.
" Ivan! I-I-I...Mathew...Matt...H-he's..." Alfred trailed off and was racked with another fit of sobs. Ivan's eyes widened in shock.
"Alfred...I'm sorry...So, so sorry!" Ivan said, despite himself he felt his throat tighten.
"Why? Why him? Why couldn't it have been me? I deserved it more than him...I just...H-his funeral is on Sunday. C-can you make it?" Alfred spoke softly.
"Of course. I will end things early here in Russia and I will come back before Sunday. Alfred..."
"Y-y-yes?" After that Ivan heard incoherent wailing from the phone.
"Please stay strong. I will be back in a couple of days..."
"I dunno i-if I-I c-can. Oh my God! I'm alone!" Now Alfred was just blabbering about being a bastard and having been disowned at the hospital.
"Alfred. Alfred! Listen! You are not alone! I'm coming back as soon as I can, so please, hold on." Ivan pleaded.
"O-okay!" Alfred choked and the line went dead. Ivan cradled his head, he couldn't help but blame this on himself.
"If only...If only I hadn't spoken to him!" With that he gave way to his rage and jumped up from the bed and in two fluid motions slammed his fist into the mirror.
"How...How could I have let this happen!" He practically yelled, he felt warm tracks drip off his face and warm trails slip off his knuckles.
"Alfred...Mathew...I'm so sorry."
Arthur's POV~
I lit up another cigarette, I didn't smoke often, in fact I rarely did. Only when I felt overworked or stressed did I lite up. I had gotten a call from Alfred earlier this evening about Mathew, I stayed calm but the second Alfred hung up I started to scream. My head was spinning and I felt like puking, then I called Francis and told him. He stayed strong but I could hear his voice quiver when he spoke. I twirled the gun in my hand idly. Yes, I had a gun but it wasn't registered in my name, it was my dad's but after he left I kept it for protection. Scotty, the twins, and Peter didn't know about it. Hell, only Scotty knew about my involvement with the Allies. I had debated putting the barrel to my head but I laughed, Alfred needed me. I wasn't going to take the easy way out, this bastard needed to be punished. I stared at the dying embers of my cancer stick, but it became too unbearable. It reminded me of Mathew, how he just died out, faded. I shook my head, if I kept thinking that then I probably would press the trigger. The gun twinkled in the moonlight, I was currently on the roof, somewhere nobody would bother me.
"I wonder..." I sighed, no one would probably ever know who shot him. Unless the assailant stepped forward himself and that wasn't likely.
I was just wanting to know where the law was...Did they have a clue who did it? Did they even care, or did they classify Mathew as one of the 'delinquents' who didn't deserve justice? I scoffed, of course...Labeled as something we practically had no choice over. I plucked the dying fag(A/N: what British people call cigarettes) from my lips and stubbed it out, I flicked it in the neighbors yard.
"Who in their right mind would hurt Matt? Someone cold blooded, that's who..." I trailed off when an idea popped into my head. I growled and jumped off the roof, he wouldn't dare. He didn't have it in him!
My feet pounded down the gravel of the road as I ran to China town. I walked around a bit until I found who I was looking for.
"You!" I screeched and shoved him into the wall with all my weight.
"You and your Yakuza bullshit!" I screamed again and jammed the pistol into Kiku's temple. Kiku began to struggle but once I had shoved the gun to his head he stopped and stared at me with calm eyes.
"Do it." He challenged. I swallowed, I didn't expect that at all.
"Tell me who did it, or I'll shoot you in your legs and leave you in a comma!" Kiku didn't seem fazed, quite the opposite really.
"I'm not afraid of dying, Arthur-San." He whispered.
"Please...Tell me...For Alfred." I choked. Kiku averted his eyes and whispered something incoherent.
"What?"
"A man by the name of Gintoku Saiko, he's not apart of the Yakuza but he does do jobs for them. They wouldn't miss him. He's usually seen selling drugs in the park." Kiku answered again. I faked a grin and released Kiku.
"Thank y-" Before he could finish I pistol-whipped him, effectively knocking him out cold.
"No, thank you." I sneered and took off for the Red Dragon park. It use to be a beauty until thug started to populate it, now the oak and maple trees had graffiti and the fountain contained trash. I easily spotted a man in his late forties harassing two Thai girls, I tapped his shoulder and once he turned around I slapped him with the butt of the pistol.
"You should go." I told the two girls, they nodded and bolted out of the park. I took hold of the unconscious man and dragged him into a dark alley. When he finally woke up I had the gun pressed into his head.
"Talk. Tell me about your jobs and if you're truthful I'll let you go." The stout Japanese man nodded fearfully.
"I didn't do anything! I was just told to kill a teenage trouble maker that's all!" I snarled.
"He wasn't a trouble maker and that doesn't sound like you didn't do anything!" Without a second thought I pulled the trigger and felt a sick satisfaction when I saw his brains spraying the dark walls. Quickly, I ran out and didn't stop until I was in front of a familiar door. I knocked and a very surprised Frenchman opened the door.
"Arthur! What are you doing here? And why are you covered in blood? No! Arthur please tell me you didn't!" Francis ushered me inside and told me to wait in front of the door, after a minute he threw a towel at my face and told me to wipe off the blood. I did so and let him push me into the bathroom.
"I-I had to!" I coughed out, Francis nodded in understanding. He set the dial for the shower and shoved me inside.
"I'll bring you some of my clothes in a minute, just let me call Alfred." He stated and left the room. I slid down the tiled wall and held my knees to my chest.
What had I just done? I killed a man, but he killed Mathew. Innocent, smart, and caring Mathew. Why did he deserve his life when Mathew's was taken from him? He didn't, so that's why I killed him. But now I'm a murderer. I'm going to go to hell.
I heard the door crash open and a frantic Alfred. I closed my eyes and focused solely on the warm drops of water that was splattering on my skin.
I had gotten my revenge so why did I feel so hurt?
Francis quietly came in and left the clothes on the counter, I could hear him trying to calm down Alfred while calling Antonio, Yao, and Alejandro. I finally got out of the shower and dressed, then I walked out into the living room. A flurry of voices assaulted my ears and I noticed that everyone showed up, including Fatima.
"Are you okay, amigo?" Alejandro asked worriedly. I nodded tiredly.
"Yeah, I'm okay." The worry from everyone's faces faded just a little.
"So you all know what happened?" They nodded and I collapsed on the floor in exhaustion.
"Arthur!" Francis, Alfred, and Alejandro yelled and tried to catch me, but Francis was the only one who caught me.
"Who did it?" Antonio asked quietly.
"Kiku put a contract on Mathew, his wannabe Yakuza friend did it." I explained while mumbling.
"This means war." Alejandro hissed. I nodded and blacked out, seeing black stubble before I passed out.
Alfred's POV~
After Arthur passed out and Francis had put him to sleep in his room, we gathered around his coffee table and discussed what would happen if we declared war on Ludwig's group. More of us would get hurt or even die, but this couldn't slide. I refused to look at them, it was because of my feud with Ludwig that we were in this mess. The reason why Mat was dead and Arthur was a murderer.
"Someone is going to die..." I nearly cried, everyone looked at me and moved to comfort me. Fatima reached for my shoulder and I let her. I leaned against her and sighed, she was like a mother. I remembered when she use to make us all lunch but her own parents made her stop.
We all decided to stay at Francis's house since it was past curfew. We all phoned our parents (well except for me) and told them we would be having a sleep-over at Francis's house. I slept in between Fatima and Alejandro since they comforted me.
Still, I cried myself to sleep and hoped that Mathew was watching over us all.
A/N: PLEASE DON'T KILL MEH! I had exams and school's a real pain! X( although now I can update a LOT faster now since my tests are over. I was going to say something but I forgot...Anyway I thank all of you guys! You make my bad days awesome! I think I mentioned this but are any of you guys going to San-Japan? I'm going as China and my friends are going as Japan (maybe since he's scared that the Hetalia fanbase is mean which I took as an insult since the Hetalia community is like one of the nicest!) and my other friend is going in a hand-made Matryoshka jacket. Hope to see you guys there!