Chapter 7 is here!

In this chapter, two characters will have guests when they least expect it.

And a certain bird will make his appearance in this chapter!

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

-7:30 A.M., 4 days since the disappearance-

Francis had never been up this early before.

All he had done for the past few minutes was sit by his window.

He was going through stress like never before, and felt tired all the time. In addition, he didn't talk very much, and wasn't even in the mood to flirt with anyone, much to the shock of the other nations. For once, they all prayed for Francis to go back to his romance-crazed self.

"Chiiip! Chip! Cheeep!" Francis looked over at Pierre. The little bird was also acting strangely, and nearly flew into the window a couple of times. This morning was no exception. He was chirping and pecking at the window, and got so obnoxious that Francis couldn't take it any longer.

"Fine, go! Just leave me alone right now!"

As soon as Francis opened the window, Pierre flew away at high speed towards an unknown destination.

His owner sighed. "Oh, what do I do now. I don't even have Pierre."

Francis put on his coat, preparing to leave for Alfred's house again.

"Maybe the gathering might do me some good. My social life's going down the drain."

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's getting quite lonely here."

Although he had gotten peace since Karey left a few days ago, now he wasn't so comfortable being alone.

He had no one to talk to, except the wall.

Although he usually liked talking to inanimate objects, it was getting boring.

"Harry?"

He lifted his head up at the voice. Karey was standing outside the door, which he'd forgotten to close.

"K-Karey? What are you doing here? I thought you were angry at me."

"Well, I was, kinda. But I can't really stay mad at you, you know."

"I'd never thought I'd say this, but it's nice to have you back for a change."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Here, a neighbor found this near the house."

She handed him a white envelope. It was a letter...from his former best friend.

"Oh. It's that letter I kept as my so-called prized possession. I don't want it anymore."

"Wait, is that why it ended up half-buried outside?"

"Obviously! It was from the day he told me off about being emotionally unstable!"

"No offense, but you really were."

"Thank you soooo much. That helped A LOT." His voice sounded dangerous at the last two words.

"Uh, I gotta go. I have to make plans with Gwen for tomorrow."

Pierre would normally land anywhere to rest from flying.

Today, he landed on the best spot of a gray building.

He made himself comfortable and chirped away happily. Being outdoors made him feel free from Francis's new erratic behavior.

"Shut up you damn bird!" A stranger yelled, looking at him coldly.

Angry, Pierre flew towards an open window and mocked him.

Quite by accident though, he flew into the house. He was about to fly out, when he sensed something familiar.

"Chip! Chhhhhhiiiipp! Chippp?"

At the sound of his chirping, someone weakly responded, "What's...going on? Who's there?"

The bird moved closer to the person, and confirmed his identity as Toris lifted his head.

At first, the teen was astonished to see him, but slowly smiled and said, "P-Pierre? I-is that you?"

The songbird chirped happily, glad that he remembered his name.

"Listen, I need you to go back...and tell them where I am. You gotta be quick, though."

The sound of footsteps struck fear through both of them, but Toris managed to say:

"He's coming! Quick, you gotta get out now!"

Pierre seemed to pick up something in his beak. Before flying off, he gave Toris a last desperate look.

"Go!"

The bird flew off into the distance, knowing what to do.

At Alfred's house, everyone was discussing what they should do if they ever ran into their suspect.

"I say we beat the crap out of him and tell him what for!"

"But what if he's really tough? You can't do this by yourself, you know."

"Yeah, that's why I called in some backup."

"Really? Who'd you call?"

"Er, I don't know. The guy just yelled 'RIGHT AWAY! THOUGH I'M RELUCTANT' and hung up."

"What? You mean you just found a random number in the phone book?"

There was a knock on the door. Raivis ran to open it.

"You called for backup?" A firm, serious voice drew everyone's attention.

In the doorway was an 18-year-old blond boy with a gun in his hands.

But wasn't he supposed to be neutral?

"Vash?"

Because the idea kept bugging me, I decided to put Pierre into this chapter.

He'll be in the next one as well.

Tune in next time for Chapter 8.

Stay tuned,

Blue Cotinga Girl