(A/N: Okay, so there's a lot of talking in this chapter...but not a lot of Alfred. We learn some new things, though! So that's cool? And look, I updated in less than ten months!

ALSO: If you can write or draw, you should participate in the Romerica Exchange on tumblr! You don't even need a tumblr to participate; just find the Romerica Exchange page on tumblr, and you should see a post directing you to sign up! Instead of a tumblr URL you can put down your fanfiction username (though please note that it's not a tumblog in the notes at the bottom). Sign up ends August 17th. Do it.)

TALA 7

"Come on, you're the only person I can ask!"

"I already told you, I'm not supposed to say anything!"

Lovino crossed his arms and glared at a distressed-looking Antonio. "Says who?" he demanded.

His professor looked away nervously. "Well, Franny mostly, but Alfred asked me not to talk about it with anyone, too."

"Wait, really?" So even Alfred was anticipating people asking about him?

"Mostly because of Kirkland," Antonio confirmed his thoughts. "Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that."

"I already knew about Kirkland," Lovino said impatiently. "Give me something else!"

"I can't! Go ask someone else who hasn't promised not to talk!"

"I told you, I don't have anyone else to ask!" Which was true. Kirkland would probably expel him if he tried to bring up Alfred. Bonnefoy had already proven to be evasive when it came to the subject, and Beillschmidt was...Beillschmidt.

But his Spanish professor was fond of him, and he'd figured that made him the weakest link. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"I promised," Antonio said firmly. Lovino was about to throw up his hands in defeat and storm out when Antonio added, "But..."

Lovino stilled, hardly daring to breathe in case the slightest thing would make Antonio change his mind.

"You could try Väinämöinen."

"Uh, what?"

"Not what, who. The Finnish student. Find him."

Lovino hesitated, but it wasn't like he had much choice. "Vaina-what?"

"Väinämöinen. He'll probably be outside the geography building. With a really tall scary guy nearby." Antonio stood up on tiptoe and made a face in an impression of said scary guy.

"Right," said Lovino, unimpressed. He turned to leave but paused in the doorway. "Thanks," he said, only a little grudgingly. "Bastard."

Antonio just sighed. "Be careful, Roma."

Lovino nodded and left.

What was there to be careful about, though?

Okay, so his professor's imitation of the big scary guy hadn't been a ridiculous exaggeration. In fact, it had been a (still ridiculous, admittedly) understatement.

Lovino had spotted Väinämöinen outside the geography building, just as Antonio had said he would. Besides the big scary guy, he was the only other person around. The problem was, the big guy was too scary. Lovino had been determined, about to march up to this Väinämöinen guy and demand answers, when he'd spotted his companion and veered off to hide around the corner instead.

Seriously, this guy was terrifying. Besides being freaking huge, he had this extremely intense expression on his face like he was contemplating murder or something.

Lovino made a couple circuits around the building, trying to work up the nerve to approach. What was such a happy-go-lucky-looking person like Väinämöinen doing hanging around with someone so intimidating? On his fourth go-round, however, the scary guy noticed him and his glare intensified (how was that even possible?). He muttered something to Väinämöinen, who turned and caught Lovino's eye with a smile.

Fuck, now he had to go over. Steeling his courage, Lovino finally completed his determined march as though he'd never taken that detour.

"Hey, you're Vaino-Vaina-"

"You can just call me Tino," the Finnish student said mildly, as though he were used to the butchering of his last name (as well he should be, having such a ridiculous one). Scary Guy just glared. "And this is Berwald," he added, noticing the nervous glances from Lovino. "My fiancé."

"Congratulations," Lovino said, not really caring. "Do you know someone named Alfred?"

His bluntness didn't seem to faze the Finn either. "No, I don't think so." He looked up at Tall Scary Guy-Berwald. "Does the name Alfred ring any bells, Be?"

"No," was the short reply.

Lovino blinked. "You sure?"

They both nodded.

Why the fuck had that bastard sent him here, then?

Suddenly something bumped into the back of his knees, causing him to stumble forward.

"Who are you? Why are you asking about Al?" an overly-loud voice asked. It was coming from somewhere below him.

Lovino turned and looked down. A small blond kid in a funny hat glared back up at him.

"Peter, don't be rude," he heard Tino admonish from behind him, but he ignored this in favor of staring the kid down.

"I'm Lovino. Who're you?" he demanded.

The kid puffed up, kind of like a cat trying to look bigger. "I'm Peter! And I'm Alfred's friend!"

"Peter, you know someone named Alfred?" Tino asked. Lovino ignored him as background noise once again, too intent on the staring contest between he had going with the kid to acknowledge him.

"I'm Alfred's friend, too," he said, unimpressed with the kid's posturing. Peter looked as though he didn't believe him.

"Why're you asking about him, then?" Peter challenged.

Lovino wasn't quite sure how to answer. He didn't think this "friend" of Alfred's would take 'I'm doing a background check' as a good answer. "It's a secret," he said finally.

Peter lost some of the attitude and perked up eagerly. "Like a secret mission?" he asked excitedly.

"Sure," agreed Lovino, pausing for a beat. "Secret mission. Exactly."

Peter nodded. "Got it," he said, suddenly quiet. "Hey Mama, me and this weird guy have to have a secret conversation for our secret mission."

Tino and Berwald shared a look as Lovino raised an eyebrow at the kid. 'Our?'

"Alright," Tino said finally. "Berwald and I will sit over there. Stay in our sight, okay?"

"Yeah, okay!" Peter grabbed Lovino's hand and pulled him over to a clump of bushes, where they crouched. Berwald and Tino sat on a bench and pretended not to be watching.

"You know," said Lovino, "it's not very secretive if we're outside the bushes."

"I'm supposed to stay visible, remember?" Peter rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Right. Whatever. So how come you know Alfred, but your parents or whoever they are don't?"

"They're my adoptive parents," Peter explained. "Alfred left the orphanage before they came and adopted me, so they didn't meet him."

Hold up. Orphanage?

"Have you...seen him since he left?" Lovino asked slowly. He wasn't sure how much Peter knew about Alfred's current situation, and at the same time he didn't want to reveal how little he knew about Alfred's past.

Peter's nose scrunched up as he thought. "He visited once after school, but that's it. One time I thought I saw him hanging around with Ivan, but it can't have been him since the stuffy English guy and the Frenchie'd already adopted him n' Mattie by then."

Lovino had to reach out and steady himself, hands on the ground, to keep from falling over from his crouch onto his butt.

That's gotta be Kirkland and Bonnefoy, he realized. Holy shit. Kirkland and Bonnefoy adopted Alfred! So what the hell happened?

"But he didn't take either of their last names," he said slowly, fishing for more information.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he kept Williams as his last name."

That threw him for a loop. "Alfred Williams?" he asked. "Not Jones?"

Peter gave him a weird look. "Of course not! The Joneses were the ones who adopted him the first time."

"And that didn't work out...?" Lovino prodded.

"I knew it wouldn't," Peter confided with a nod. "They didn't adopt his brother so he just came back. Al is really loyal. And protective. And he was always super nice to the younger kids."

Lovino hmm'd, nodding gravely. This seemed to please Peter; he must not be taken seriously very often.

Okay. So Kirkland and Bonnefoy had adopted the brothers Alfred and Matthew Williams. Somehow, Alfred had ended up on the streets, calling himself Jones. His brother must have been the student Beillschmidt was talking about (fucking Christ, he'd had that lead for weeks but the last name had thrown him off), which meant he was still in school and presumably not homeless.

So once again Lovino had to wonder: what the fuck happened?

"Alright, are there any other details you can remember?" he questioned Peter, lowering his voice to sound secretive. "Like from when he visited after school?" Because when Alfred had been in school, he still would have been living with his brother and adoptive family.

"Well, he was wearing a school T-shirt," Peter recalled. "One for a science club or something."

"Do you remember what the school was?" Lovino asked eagerly.

Peter shook his head. "No, but it was purple and yellow. Those are probably the school colors, right?"

"You're right," Lovino said, unable to help sounding impressed, because he was.

"And the logo!" Peter exclaimed, excited as he remembered something else. "Their school mascot was some kind of bird."

Lovino smiled despite himself. Now he was getting somewhere.

"You've been really helpful," he said, dropping back to a whisper and leaning in conspiratorially. "I trust the entirety of our conversation will remain top secret?"

Peter gave him a quick salute and then a grin before he jumped up and darted off back to his parents. Lovino gave them a small wave, then beat a hasty retreat.

Okay, so the kid was kinda cute. And he'd gotten out of there before Peter thought to ask why he was questioning him about Alfred again.

Fuck yeah, he was good. And he had a new lead: Alfred's high school. Some of his classmates or friends were bound to have ended up at Gakuen College; if he found them he could find out more about the time after Alfred left the orphanage. He'd have to look for that elusive brother of his, too.

He ended up finding one of Alfred's schoolmates first. And it happened, of course, in the library.

It was a Thursday, almost a week after he talked to Peter, so he was working in the library after Spanish class. He'd been mindlessly checking books out at the front desk, not really paying attention to the individuals in the long line of students. The only reason he'd even looked up was because he was looking for one of the other aides-seriously, how come every time a line built up he was the only person up front? Fucking annoying.

But lo and behold! His coworkers' slacking paid off because when he looked up, the student he'd just started checking out (biochemistry texts, ew) was wearing a purple T-shirt with a gold bird on the chest. Lettering underneath identified the mascot as belonging to F. F. Rex High School.

"Fuck yes," Lovino said.

The student, a brown-haired fellow with a rather large backpack, stared at him. "So I...can just tell you my ID number?"

Oh. Apparently he'd been asking a question. Which he'd inadvertently given a very enthusiastic answer to. Probably the kid had forgotten his library card and wanted to check out the books using his student ID number. This kind of thing happened very frequently, and Lovino was notorious for refusing to let students check out without their cards. But in this case he could make an exception.

"Yeah, what is it?"

The kid rattled off a number. Lovino typed it in, confirming his identity with the ID picture that popped up on the computer screen.

So...Toris Lorinaitis.

"Random question," he began as he ran the books' barcodes under the scanner. "You know a kid named Alfred Jo-uh, Williams? I think he went to that high school."

Toris paused before his face lit up with recognition. "Oh yes, Alfred went to Rex. He was in the year below me. I talked to him at lunch a lot. He's a very nice person." He frowned. "I heard he dropped out, though. I can't imagine why; by all accounts he was a gifted student. He was in the Science Olympiad club, I think."

"I'd heard he dropped out, too," Lovino nodded, trying to act casual. "In any case, I was trying to get a hold of him. Do you know anyone I could ask about him...?"

Toris took the books he handed over the counter, looking thoughtful. "I think his best friend goes here now, but I don't know if they're still in touch. They were in Science Olympiad together, too. His name was Kiku Honda."

Lovino forced a smile. He was Alfred's best friend, dammit. Still, finding this Honda kid was probably a good idea.

"Thanks, you've been very helpful," he said. Toris smiled back at him.

"Thank you," he said, putting the books in his already stuffed bag. "Have a nice day." And then he left. Polite motherfucker.

"Hey, can I check out using my ID number, too?" the next student in line interrupted his thoughts.

"No," Lovino snorted.

"But-"

"Shoulda remembered your library card," he told her. "Next in line, c'mon!"

After a few more minutes he was able to snag one of his coworkers and force her to take his place. Then he went to look for Kiku Honda. He figured the guy was Japanese, so he basically accosted all the Asians he spotted (and there were a lot of them in the library, for some reason) or hissing "Hey, Honda!" from a few feet away to see if he got a reaction (which he did-a few times from people who were wondering what the hell he was doing, and once from a guy whose last name was actually Honda, but wasn't Kiku).

Still, his search did not lead him to the Honda he was looking for. Lovino huffed in frustration. He'd have to keep checking.

It was a Saturday, which meant he was in a relatively good mood despite his frustration with not being able to find Honda over the course of the last two weeks. He'd come to the library to pick up a book for an astronomy project that had been assigned in class the day before. He actually liked astronomy, which was rather unexpected-he'd only taken the class because it filled a general ed requirement.

He meandered past the language section, spotting the book that Alfred had checked out all of those weeks ago. It figured it would be back by now; the due date had probably been a while ago. And of course, with Lovino's tutoring, who needed the stupid book? Alfred's lessons were going very well. They could have basic conversations now, though only about a limited range of topics. Alfred always surprised him, however, with his creative use of what he'd learned so that they never had the same conversation twice, despite these limits.

Alfred had said he used his brother's card to check it out, he remembered, tapping the spine of the book as he went by. He really should try to find this Matthew Williams.

He hurried on to the physics section to find his book, still thinking about the mysterious brother, but his musings were cut short when he rounded the corner to see a petite Asian student sitting at one of the desks, clicking away at a laptop.

He was wearing a purple and yellow Science Olympiad T-shirt with a gold falcon on the front.

"Hey!" he called, a bit too loudly. The student jumped, startled. Lovino was a bit startled himself; he hadn't consciously thought about addressing him. "Hey," he said again more quietly, approaching. "You're Kiku Honda, right?"

"Yes," Honda confirmed warily. "And you are?"

"Lovino Vargas." When Honda continued to stare at him impassively, he added, "I work here. Not today though." As though somehow that made him more legitimate.

"I see," was Honda's succinct reply. "Can I help you with something?"

"Do you know Alfred Williams?" he asked bluntly, leaning forward with his hands on the top of the desk.

Honda's eyes widened, seemingly startled again. "Alfred? Have you seen him?"

For some reason, the concern in Honda's voice was pissing Lovino off.

"Yeah. You haven't?" he challenged. Not the best way to get information out of the guy, but...okay. He was jealous. Okay? Jealous over the idea of this "best friend" of Alfred's from high school. So sue him.

"Not since the graduation ceremony," Honda said. "He came to watch because I was graduating a year early. Alfred could have graduated early, as well, but he transferred at the last second due to family troubles. Is he okay? He seemed upset when I saw him, even though he tried to hide it."

Family troubles...now what could that entail? And apparently, Alfred had told his friends some kind of lie about transferring.

"That idiot," he growled. "Always covering up what's wrong."

"He doesn't like for his friends to worry," Honda defended.

Lovino narrowed his eyes, annoyed. "People have a right to worry about him," he said shortly. "Thanks for the help." He walked away briskly.

"Wait!" Honda called after him, but he didn't. There was a sick feeling in his stomach, and it wasn't just the jealousy. He wasn't quite sure what it was, actually.

But he didn't like it.

The next week was Thanksgiving break, which was a long time coming but really only consisted of Wednesday through the weekend. He tried to convince Alfred to spend Thanksgiving Day with he and Feliciano in the dorm, but Alfred refused.

In a rare display of openness, Alfred explained he'd probably spend the day at a shelter with some younger kids he'd promised to hang out with. He seemed pleased by the invitation-but he was even more pleased when Lovino didn't push the issue and fuss over him. Which was enough to make the diatribe about Alfred needing a coat now that it was November die on his tongue, unspoken. It made the sick feeling worse.

He did manage to get Alfred to spend the night the day after Thanksgiving so he could foist leftovers on him. So that was something.

It was the week after break, on an unremarkable Friday, when he was once again checking out a line of students, that he glanced at the library card he'd just been handed and saw the name Matthew Williams.

His head snapped up and he stared at the student who could have been Alfred's twin except his hair was a bit longer and his eyes more violet.

...how did he always end up finding these people in the library?

(A/N: So this chapter is dedicated to Science Olympiad, I guess? Anyway, I dunno how I feel about Japan's voice. It's hard to tell because I want to show him kinda from Lovino's perspective, and Lovino doesn't really like him (although in canon I believe they're supposed to get along just fine). Tell me what you think!

Also, if you have free time and like piano medleys, I have an absurdly long one up on youtube called "84 Song Medley for People With Nothing Better to Do." You know, if you're interested.

Coming soon! Serious conversations! Romance under the stars! Academic career choices! A bloody nose and a haircut! The mysterious brother gets pissed!)