Ten-Faced

Chapter 6 – The Sixth Face – Tactician

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I don't own any of it; I'm just in it for the Romerica ;)

Warning: MPD/DID!Lovi, male x male pairings, harsh language, and AU.

Thanks again for the support! I love reading each review :) Tactician will appear here and may or may not confuse you. I drew from Lovi's mafia/war strategist mindset when creating this Face. He seemed a little odd to me because he's less emotional than the other Faces, but I wanted to make a variety of Faces based off Lovi's overall personality. We'll see how it goes.

A few people have asked, so here's a list of all the identified Faces so far: 1 – Lovi, 2 – Shy, 3 - Charisma, 4 - ?, 5 - ?, 6 - Tactician, 7 – Fighter, 8 - ?, 9 – Sweet, 10 - ?

oOo

It was early at the Jones house, but both boys were early-risers. As they set their post-pancake dishes in the sink, the brothers made small talk.

"How did football practice go yesterday, Al?"

"A lot more eventful than usual!" The taller brother grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"Practice was about the same, but the soccer team was crazy yesterday!"

"Huh?"

"They were down some players, so Lovino helped them out," Alfred explained. "I knew Lovi was a good player a few years ago, but he wiped the floor with the current team!"

"Wow, that does sound exciting," Matthew smiled and started rinsing the dishes, so his mother wouldn't have to later. Syrup was a pain to get off after it had dried.

"It was amazing to watch! Lovino was a one-man show out there!"

"A one-man show, huh…?"

"Yeah, lately he's been full of surprises," Alfred scratched his head, thinking over the last week or so. "It's almost like he's a different person every time I see him."

"That must be hard, not knowing what kind of mood your friend will be in," Matthew mused.

"Nah, it's kind of fun. Like a mystery!" the American smiled. "That's what draws me to Lovi."

"Oh?" Matthew smiled knowingly. "So that's what draws you to Lovi, eh?"

Alfred blushed like a southern belle, upon realizing what he just said. He responded in true brotherly fashion by chucking a pillow at Matthew and making him swear never to repeat that.

oOo

Halfway across town, Lovino sat in his chair, looking over his schedule. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered getting up so early, but he had another Face working. As he glanced through all the afterschool appointments, he placed a domino piece on his desk. The pile was decreasing and weaving into a spiral of lines and rows, but wasn't shaping any definite picture yet. The newest Face tapped another tile in annoyance.

Tactician couldn't believe he had to start going back to soccer practice 3 days a week to cover for Miller. He knew VII was excited, but he didn't see the point of kicking a ball around for hours on end. At least it had gained Alfred's attention.

"I suppose it'll be worth it if Alfred responds favorably…" Tactician smirked.

He didn't ensure Miller would break his leg for nothing, after all.

Anonymously tipping off the media club from a rival school had been worth it too. The video of Lovino destroying his old teammates had gotten several hundred views within a day. He hadn't been wearing a World Academy soccer uniform in the video, so it looked like some random guy showed up out of nowhere to rub their faces in the dirt.

Number VII was difficult to deal with and left the body tired after, but he did get results, if the video was anything to go by. If only he was as easy to manipulate as Number II, their situation would be ideal. Tactician sighed. Working with the other Faces wasn't always easy, but they were the only allies he had at the moment…and even that was a stretch some days.

Lovino didn't really have anyone close to him. His parents died when he was a kid, his Nonno was always at work, and his brother, while kind to a fault, didn't realize the hell he was putting him through by constantly up-staging him at nearly everything he tried. His other friends at school were more Feliciano's friends than his own. They all loved Feli and were only nice to him as an extension of that.

All he had were his feelings for Alfred. The feelings that made warmth spread throughout his body. The feelings that encouraged him to take on the world, no matter how bad it got. When he was around Alfred he didn't feel lonely anymore. That alone meant everything to him.

oOo

On his way to the lunchroom, Lovino ran into several slightly bruised-up soccer players. He inwardly smirked, knowing that he was responsible for most of those injuries.

"Uh…hey, Vargas," they greeted him awkwardly.

Tactician curbed his desire to smash his tray over their heads and merely nodded in acknowledgement. He had to get along with these idiots, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. As long as he was civil, he would get the best use out of them and their disgusting team.

"I, uh, we…we wanted to talk to you…if that's alright?"

Lovino arched an eyebrow, noticing the worry in the boy's eyes. He was afraid of him. He should be.

"Look, I know we didn't…when you were on the team last, we kinda…"

"Treated me like some kind of animal?"

"Uh, yeah…s-sorry…" the boy in the center cringed at his choice of words, but wasn't able to deny them either.

"Hey, he said we're sorry about all that!" the bulkier boy exclaimed, clearly not used to giving apologies. "So let's just put it past us and all! What's done is done, okay?"

"What?" Lovino asked, unable to believe his ears. Were these bastards ordering him to forgive them?

"We, uh, we were hoping we could, y'know, bury the hatchet," the boy in the center offered. "You can even sit with us at our table for a change. We'll start over. You'll be a part of the team for real this time."

This pissed Tactician off, but he was glad it was him in control. Shy would have ruined everything by giving in and had Fighter been active, he would have smashed their faces into the brick wall.

"No."

The three soccer players gaped at him. They didn't really expect him to turn them down.

"What'd you say?" the bulky one asked, unused to not getting his way.

"I said 'no' you fatass, piece of shit cafone," the Italian said in a cold voice. "If you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid, wouldn't you?"

They looked at each other in disbelief. The three of them had a feeling he wasn't phrasing it as a question, but were cut off before they could complain about it.

"You put me through hell two years ago and I'm not about to forget about it…" a low rumble escaped his throat. As he leaned in, the terror in their eyes fueled him further. "I suggest you don't forget that either. I'd like for you to remember the reason you're suffering by the time I'm done with you."

The jocks quickly took off without another word. Fear was a powerful motivator.

Lovino carried his tray over to the table Feliciano and the others were at. He normally would have gone somewhere else, but unlike Shy and Fighter, he enjoyed gathering info…it also didn't hurt that Alfred was sitting at their table as well. When Lovino got closer, the table began to applaud him. He feigned surprise, knowing all too well the rumor of him replacing Captain Miller had spread like wildfire.

"Fratello! I'm so excited for you!" Feli hugged him. "I know how much you missed playing football!"

"You definitely earned it!" Alfred was too proud of his friend to correct Feliciano. "Miller was an ass."

"Buon'anima," Lovino smirked. "But you know, it's just a temporary arrangement, right?"

"I'm still really proud of you, Lovi!" the younger Vargas brother insisted. "We should all go out to celebrate tonight!"

The others were all for it. Feliciano tried to make plans for just himself, his brother, Ludwig, Alfred, and Kiku, but somewhere during the conversation of which restaurant to visit, Gil waltzed over. Deciding that it wouldn't be awesome enough without him there, he invited himself. He sent a text to Antonio to brag and within minutes, the Spaniard was over, pestering Lovino until he was also invited.

Feliciano sighed. Maybe he could still pull this off? No, he had to! Feliciano knew that his older brother was a really nice guy deep down, but had trouble expressing his emotions sometimes. Lovi needed his help to get close enough to Alfred for the blonde to see that too. He might not be as good with romance advice as Francis, but with his fratello's love life on the line, he would give it his all!

oOo

Later that night, Lovino joined his group of six friends at Tino's Family Restaurant, the closest thing Feliciano accepted as fast-food. The boys had been seated in back after two tables had been pushed together. Lovino had been here a couple times before with Feliciano and occasionally their grandpa, but wasn't exactly a regular. He may have taken more notice at the head cook poking his stoic (and somewhat scary) face out of the kitchen if Tactician was still in charge, but he was back in his Fighter Face, so he could talk soccer with ease.

Feliciano watched his brother arguing vehemently with Antonio about the 2010 World Cup with a slight pout. He had hoped to create a different kind of mood to bring his brother closer to Alfred, but couldn't. Lovino was too busy threatening to beat the crap out of Antonio (after all, Italy had won four World Cup titles to Spain's one measly fluke of a victory) while Alfred and Gil cheered them on.

He started to wonder if someone spiked Lovi's milkshake. The brunette wouldn't sit still for anything and was acting wilder than he had in…well, forever. Feliciano hoped he could somehow take the focus off soccer before his double-date plans crashed and burned around him.

Meanwhile, Lovino continued having a good time with the equally wild Alfred, Gilbert, and Antonio. They had just made a bet to see who could steal the porcelain swan on display first and Fighter planned on winning. He couldn't help but accept any challenge sent his way. Competition was in his nature.

"But Gil, you just asked me what looked the most valuable in here," Alfred furrowed his brows. "Stealing it's something else entirely. Way un-heroic."

"Then you can be the hero and return it later!" Gilbert waved his hand dismissively.

"I guess that works," the American grinned. "Okay, see which one of you can snag it first. That's the bet."

"What do I get when I win?" Lovino smirked.

"Kesesese! You're pretty confident today, punk," chuckled Gilbert.

"When I'm up against you two idiots, it's hard not to be," the Italian snorted at the German (Prussian, according to the albino) and Spaniard. "So what do I get for winning, Alfred?"

"Hmm…losers buy dessert?"

The troublemakers cheered. Loudly. Several other patrons shot them confused or annoyed looks.

Feliciano gave an apologetic smile and wave to their waitress as well as the scary-looking cook sending glares their way. He'd have to make sure everybody tipped well or else they might never be allowed back. He knew it was a bad idea to let them sit together. Maybe he should have let Ludwig sit by his crazy brother (to keep Gil in line) after all. What were those four talking about anyway?

"If I can talk a stripper into giving me a lap dance, I think I can talk my way out of a ticket!"

Feliciano sweatdropped. The Italian really didn't want to know where this was headed. He decided to pull his fratello away before this went from bad to worse. Claiming he had to talk to Lovino, he asked his brother to join him for a minute. He was a little surprised at how easily Lovino agreed and followed him to the back of the restaurant, near the restrooms.

"Thanks for coming with me, fratello," smiled Feli. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you about…"

"Can't talk, doin' stuff," Lovino replied over his shoulder as he fiddled with some of the condiments at an empty table.

"Why are you dumping pepper into a coffee filter?"

"Have you ever seen a grown German cry?"

"No…"

"Well, you're about to."

Feliciano watched helplessly as his brother tossed the pepper bomb over the large shrub divider blocking his view of their booth. Seconds later, he saw a large cloud of pepper and other various spices explode. Biting his lip in worry, Feli joined his snickering brother in glancing around the large plant display. Lovino's homemade pepper bomb had exploded in front of Gilbert, launching him into a coughing fit. The assault on his sinuses also caused tears to stream from his eyes and curses to stream from his mouth. The self-proclaimed Prussian was not happy.

And when Prussians aren't happy, they let everybody know about it.

"What the hell, Toni?!" the albino flailed around the table for some water to clear his eyes. He figured the only one there with the balls to try to blind him with pepper would be his best friend and often co-conspirator. The restaurant probably served churros or some stupid Hispanic dessert. Antonio always got serious when Spanish pastries were on the line. "Did you really have to go and fucking blind me for this?!"

"It wasn't me!" the brunette replied, furiously scrubbing at his eyes. He hadn't fared much better when the pepper bomb went off.

The restaurant quickly became lively. Two waitresses and the blonde owner of the restaurant rushed over to the table with water and tissues for the bombing victims. Because even if they were kind of a loud/obnoxious table, they were still patrons.

Fighter watched the chaos with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Finally! With both idiotas out of the way, white-glazed, porcelain swan victory would be his!

Except it wasn't. Lovino's plot to incapacitate his rivals and distract the crazy-looking cook in order to steal the restaurant's swan had failed in the end. While the majority of the restaurant was preoccupied with the results of the pepper bomb, the cook was nowhere in sight. As both Vargas brothers were lifted off the ground by the scruffs of their shirts, they realized where he disappeared to.

Of all the times for this beast to take a dump…

"Wh'ch one 'f you thr'w th't?"

Feliciano couldn't understand what the man was asking him or why his brother was grinning about it.

"This guy here," Fighter gestured to his brother.

"W-What?!" Feliciano sputtered, shaking like a leaf under the large man's disapproving look.

"Alri't, th'n…" the cook dropped Lovino, who waved semi-apologetically towards his brother and quickly joined the others.

Lovino still wasn't sure why it was so important to Alfred to swipe that glass swan figurine, but if he wanted it that badly, it would be his. Fighter would make sure of that, no matter what. He was sure Feli would eventually recover from what was probably going to be the scariest lecture of his entire life. Life wasn't fair and some people were bastards. This would be a valuable lesson for his naïve little brother. He should be thanking him.

With everyone successfully distracted at the moment, it was a piece of cake for Lovino to walk right up to the wooden shelf, containing a few Nordic knick-knacks and grab the palm-sized swan. He then casually walked back to the table and proudly showed off his victory.

"Looks like you won, Lovino!" Alfred smiled, high-fiving his friend.

"Not yet," the Italian smirked, sitting between the duo of Gilbert and Antonio, who were still hunched over the table, crying their eyes out into the mountain of tissues the wait staff and brought them. He took out his phone and held out the swan in victory. The phone flashed as Lovino shot it a winning grin. "Now I won."

"You are such an ass…" Gilbert growled, glaring at him with swollen, red eyes.

"Loviiiiii, how could you do that to us?" Antonio pouted.

"Because you challenged me to a bet," he patted them both on the head mockingly. "Never go against an Italian when food is on the line."

"So what are you going to make them buy for dessert?" Alfred asked, curious.

"Eh, Feliciano can decide," Lovino cast a glance in his brother's direction. The poor boy was still getting lectured. "I think he'll be needing chocolate therapy in the near future."

"What do you mean?" Ludwig asked, handing more tissues to his older brother. He gestured to Kiku to go ask the owner for more. "…Why didn't Feliciano return with you?"

Instead of responding, Fighter saw something outside and stood up quickly, excitement in his eyes.

"C'mon! Let's go!" he stood up, pulling Alfred with him.

"Where to?"

"There's an arcade across the street! I kick ass at Street Fighter!"

"And here I would have pegged you for a DDR kind of guy…" laughed Alfred, placing his share of the bill on the table (leaving the tip underneath the porcelain swan like a paperweight) and following his friend outside.

"Ha, that's way too easy!" Fighter smirked, dashing across the road without a second glance. "I figured I'd go easy on you, not destroy you!"

And so the great DDR battle of the night began. For the first time in his life, Fighter didn't feel the desire to battle tooth and claw for victory. The Face was even okay with it the few times Alfred had beat his score, offering him a fist bump and demanding a rematch with a grin. Had it been anyone else, Fighter would have put his fist through their face until they admitted to cheating somehow. For the first time ever, he felt like he was actually competing just for fun. Not avenging himself on the soccer field or gaining enough attention to pull out of Feliciano's shadow in anything from academics to cooking to art. He was just playing a few matches against someone he felt comfortable winning or losing against. It felt…nice.

By the time the others had made it over an hour later, the blonde and the brunette were still going at it. Flurries of 'Perfects' and 'Marvolouses' lit up the screen as the two powered through song after song. Feliciano did his best to pry his brother away from the dance pad, dragging Kiku along too after seeing the black-haired boy's face light up at the promise of DDR (or was it the opportunity to watch Alfred and Lovino work up a sweat together?) Either way, it had been a long night and the younger Vargas was exhausted. Match-making was hard work!

Alfred was glad his friend had gotten more of his spunk back. In fact, it looked like it was back in spades. Even he was having some trouble keeping up with Lovino, party animal personification.

Fighter was glad he was finally able to cut loose. He had felt so cramped up in the back of Lovino's psyche. Destroying the assholes who tried to run him out of school and then joining Alfred in the afterparty was just the release he needed.

He never wanted to leave.

oOo

A/N

I wanted to point out that Tactician refers to the others by number, following the order in which they were 'created.' This order is the one I listed at the beginning of the chapter as well as in the chapter titles. Sorry if it's confusing, but I wanted to make the way Tactician views the other Faces as more of a statistical/logical standpoint or something of that nature. And of course, because he believes he's the one pulling all of the strings, he sees himself as the 'real' or 'rightful' Lovino/The True Face.

I wasn't completely happy with the way this chapter turned out, but you guys were long overdue for an update and I wasn't making any progress rewriting and adjusting it. Maybe I'll redo it later…

And the Whooper Swan is apparently the national bird of Finland. Which is why Berwald (the scary cook) was so protective of the ceramic one on display.

The next Face will be one that many of you were asking about since the first chapter ;)

-Rajikka

Translations:

Fratello – Brother (It.)

Bastardos – Bastards (It.)

Cafone – (It.) slang term for a 'gavone' which is a phony or otherwise sad excuse for a person.

Buon'anima – (It.) roughly translates to "Rest his soul" and sometimes used sarcastically by the mafia after killing someone.

Idiota – Idiot (It.)