"Well, not that I care one little tiny bit, but I still can't believe that they're doing this to me!"
Victoria Laurinaitis sighed, her fingers deftly tracing the contours of the spiral spine of her notebook as she listened to Alyssa vent her frustrations while their History project slowly faded away from attention.
"Well, I suppose you're frustrated—"
"Damn right I am frustrated!" the Lithuanian flinched at the volume. "Plus I have to see his face all the time after that!"
"Um, it's not really Arthur's fault that he lives next door to you…?"
History was never going to be finished today. Not at this rate.
"But Toria~!"
Alyssa had started to whine, which meant this was going to turn into a very long session of complaints and unheard answers and logic ending up being thrown out the window. Yes, history was out of the question.
Toria—the particular nickname stuck when her youngest brother had been unable to pronounce her full name in his toddler years—was never good at handling people. More specifically, she had never mastered the art of talking logic into people with dominant personalities. Alyssa was one example.
Ivan Braginsky was another.
Born into the richest family in the entire town, with the Christensen family running up as a close second, Ivan Braginsky had been the terror of the neighborhood ever since he had grown old enough to speak coherently…and grip a pipe in a single hand.
Toria and her two brothers had been a rather poor off family, on the opposite end of the spectrum from Ivan, and she never really had to cross paths with him until middle school. Middle school was simply awful. The economy had broken down for the whole country, and their town had suffered consequences. Many people moved away. New people moved in.
The few families that were financially blessed—the Braginsky family, the Christensen lot, the Edelstein folks, the Karpusi household—didn't even suffer the slightest blow. Toria's parents, on the other hand, had been overwhelmed. They worked extra shifts, spent less time home, added an extra odd job or two...
Then they died.
It was during her seventh grade year when Toria's parents, tired from work and too fatigued to realize that their car was not fending too well in the snow, slid off the road and fell into a ditch. They were rescued the next day, but it had been too late.
They had no relatives, since the family had immigrated to America when Toria was a toddler, and the three siblings had nowhere to go.
When the Braginsky family decided to take them in, Toria was grateful.
The first few days were mild enough; no boundaries crossed, nobody angered, everyone was fine. Except there was a problem.
Toria fell in love.
No, not with Ivan (never Ivan). Not with the nice Swiss boy down the road. Not the polite Egyptian boy who she sat next to at school. Not any of the boys in the town. Not a boy at all.
She fell in love with Natalya Arlovskaya, Ivan's own little sister.
That was when Toria realized that she liked girls. It was also when Ivan started dragging her more and more into the alleys. After the economy shattered, many teenagers slunk into the alleyways for the hell of it. The kids around Toria's age were especially gifted in the fighting department, which meant that she had classes with some of the scariest kids in town.
And she lived with the worst one of them all.
"Toria?"
She snapped back to attention.
"Yes?"
"So what I was just saying... uh, what was I saying again? Oh yeah. So I was just coming here fifteen minutes ago, and guess what?"
Toria did not want to guess at all.
"Mathias. Mathias says he's running for president too! This is a conspiracy!"
Mathias Christensen, formerly known as the king of the northern alleys, running for student council president? Oh dear lord, what was going on? First Gilbert Beillschmidt, the German dictator who had pretty much crippled every kid who dared as much as raise their voice against him (not anymore, but the record was not one to be forgotten) in middle school. Then Alyssa, the physically strongest girl in the entire neighborhood. Now Mathias?
Was this school going to stay standing by the end of this?
"—Not that he can stop me, but you know…"
If only Aly knew what a terrifying kid he was! The young Christensen and Mia Johansen had ruled the northern alleys, along with Berwald, the terrifying Swedish boy who lived with sweet Tina. Those people had sent even high school students to tears, and they had been middle school kids back then.
Then again, Aly only moved into the town after Mathias was nearly killed. He had quit fighting after that.
On the other hand, Ivan was still a terror to town. At least Toria had moved out, with her brothers in tow, into her best friend's house, but Ivan still wanted to be friends with her. He thought they should be more than friends.
He though she liked him back!
Hell no.
Toria was not into Ivan Braginsky. She was not into boys. She had even somewhat overcome her crush for Natalya (Heaven forbid Ivan ever found that one out) a year ago.
She had moved on.
"Oh hey, there you are! I was, like, totally looking for you, Tori!"
Felicyta "Feliks" Lucasiewicz, Toria's best friend since diaper years and current host family, had entered the classroom without warning. Decked in pink skirt and checkered blouse, the Pole sauntered over to hug Toria from behind.
"Oh hey Feliks!"
Aly waved with the energy that had started to burst ever since the complaints had started, and Feliks returned the wave with an enthusiastic one of her own, another arm still around Toria's neck. Toria's face burned.
"Oh hey, nice new ring you got there!"
Feliks grinned and flashed the silver band at the American. "Isn't it totally fab?"
"Well, it's sorta less flashy then what you usually wear…But I guess it's pretty."
Toria squirmed and folded her hands in her lap.
She prayed with all her might for Alyssa to not notice that Toria wore an identical ring on her own hand.
Katyusha prayed with all her might for Ivan to change his mind.
"But, but Vanya…" She faltered a little when he raised an eyebrow. "Isn't…student council a little…strict? You need to meet requirements, don't you?"
He smiled. "My grades are fine. And I am sure my teachers will be kind enough to write for me."
"But, but…Vanya, I'm sure the work will be very hard." She was running out of reasons!
"It's okay, da? I will be fine."
Oh, Katyusha hoped all would be fine. She hoped very much, because while Ivan was such a sweet little brother and a nice boy, others did tend to be a tad bit fearful of him…
Well, that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was that Ivan was going to compete against Gilbert, Alyssa, and Mathias. They were the people he should not be getting into any arguments with! Ivan had already been suspended from school for three weeks in middle school when he kidnapped young Tina and hurt Berwald. Then he'd been suspended again when he broke Gilbert's arm, along with a few other bones. Ivan had finally started to be a good student again, meaning that at least he wasn't getting suspended any more, since high school. But what if he got into a fight?
What if any other people tried to hurt him? Ivan could not risk making отец angry again! отец had been so angry last time, when Ivan had come back home with blood on his clothes and complaints from a particularly brave teacher, who was soon removed to another city. If отец found Ivan getting into a fight again, he might hit Ivan! отец's temper was getting steadily worse these days. Oh, if only Мать was alive…
"Vanya, please take care of yourself." Katyusha pleaded. Her brother had a knack for attracting trouble, and it worried her so much. Then there was Natalya….
Natalya!
"Vanya, does Natalya know this?"
"This?"
"You running for student council president?"
"Ah." That was a no.
"Vanya—"
"Don't worry, Kat! I will make sure she does not make too much trouble, da?"
But Natalya was never one to listen, especially if she thought that she could help Ivan. Natalya loved Ivan after all
…albeit a little too much.
"Make sure of that, please. We don't want отец to be angry with her."
Not that Father ever got angry at Natalya.
He ignored her completely. отец treated little Natalya like she was dirt on a carpet: unwanted, annoying, and filthy. It was not Natalya's fault that мать had died giving birth to her, but отец acted like it was all Natalya's fault. He hardly even spared her a glance. Katyusha and Ivan had taken care of their baby sister as much as they could, but surely Natalya was lonely?
It really explained why she liked Ivan so much.
"I will, Kat. I will."
He walked away, leaving her with promises of no trouble and a pacified Natalya.
In all honesty, Katyusha could not bring herself to find relief in those words. Ivan and Natalya did have a bad habit of wandering into messes after all, and Ivan had a hard time trying to make Natalya listen these days.
Katyusha missed the times when the house, which was so big and empty and cold nowadays, was a little less empty, with Toria and Eduard and Ravis living with them. Отец had been less strict those days, ever cordial to the young children staying in his home, and Ivan and Natalya had both seemed a little less lonely during those years…
Katyusha walked into something solid.
"Whoa, sorry Katyusha! You alright there, eh?"
Katyusha rubbed her sore nose and looked up into violet eyes and blond hair. For a while, the name escaped her, and all she could do was stare up at him. …Really, what was his name again?
"It's Matthew, Kat."
Oh.
"I'm sorry!" She cringed as if stung, and prepared for a string of apologies when he held up his hands and stopped her before the waterfall of words fell out.
"No worries, eh? I don't mind. I was just looking for Ivan, you know."
A little calmer now, Katyusha craned her head around to check the direction Ivan had walked off in a few minutes ago. He was nowhere in sight.
"He just left, but if it's anything I can tell him, I can tell him at home."
Matthew scratched the back of his beck.
"Well, it's about the hockey team…Since the season is over and all, I was going to ask if he was coming to the post-season party."
Right, Ivan was in the ice hockey team.
"I'll make sure to ask him."
"Thanks. And tell him he needs to keep his cell phone on, eh."
Katyusha nodded. "I will."
"Great! Yong Soo was really hyped up about the party, what with the season record and all."
She was sure she had heard about that sometime ago. "Oh, Vanya said that you had a good season."
"All wins with only two losses, eh. Plus we made it to the semi-finals this year. We'll make the championship next time."
Matthew was such a nice boy. He had revived the ice hockey team, which had no members for a few good years until Matthew came along, and had asked Ivan straight away to join the team. Very few people liked to talk to Vanya, and Katyusha had been overjoyed when Matthew came and asked to see Ivan Braginsky over a year ago.
He was a smart boy too. He had smoothed things over between Berwald and Ivan so that there were no past grudges held (or at least, that's what she hoped), and he never seemed to be in trouble. He always took care of his sister, too. What a sweet boy! And a strong one as well, because Katyusha still remembered how Matthew fought on the ice rink, strong enough to put up with Ivan…
An idea clicked.
"Matthew!"
He jumped a little, since she had suddenly clung to him with newfound strength and desperation.
"Yes?"
"I have a…favor to ask."
She clutched his arm tighter to herself, and for a moment his face seemed to flare up a bit. Was he mad at this sudden request?
"Um…what is it?"
Katyusha tried to give him her most pleading look.
"Could you please look after Vanya?"
He blinked.
"Vanya wants to run for student council president, and I don't want him to get into trouble, please? You could make sure he doesn't get into any fights, and he listens to you, so…Just watch out for him, Просьба?"
Matthew slowly repeated her request, as if reality were slowly dawning upon him.
"You want me to…look after Ivan? ...Wait, president? Him?"
Katyusha nodded vigorously.
"Oh, well…." Matthew's face reddened further as Katyusha tightened her grip slightly. "Okay then. I guess I can do that much."
Heaving a great sigh of relief, Katyusha smiled. "Thank you, Matthew! I really must repay you."
The boy laughed a little awkwardly before shaking his head. "No Kat, I'm fine. Just, er, may I go now?"
Oh. Katyusha released his immediately, feeling a blush make way to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry! Please, don't let me hold you up!"
After Matthew had taken his leave, Katyusha leaned against the corridor wall, glad to have somehow accomplished a task for Ivan's own good.
Hopefully, Ivan would not get into any trouble now.
Mathias was in trouble big time, and he was going down for it.
Mia scowled, rather regretting her own words from a mere thirty minutes ago, as she walked through the school hallway with a load of papers in her arms.
Stupid, dumb, simpleton Mathias! How dare he leave her behind with the entire project and work to do! Of course, she was the one who had given the go ahead sign to sign up as candidate for student council president, but she hadn't meant for him to run off in an ecstatic state as soon as she agreed to join him. He really should have his head examined.
Well, this was no time to start on a long quest of wondering exactly how idiotic this childhood friend of her was. She had just received a text message from Kaya. Apparently, she needed to be picked up from the school infirmary.
Probably sick again; Kaya was just like their Mor, in the aspect that they had innately weak immune systems, making them common recipients of colds or other such diseases. Mor, who was too sick to even come home.
She would not let Kaya become like Mor.
Mia opened the door to the infirmary. "Kaya?"
Instead of the usual clipped greeting from the school nurse or Kaya's voice, Mia was met with an enthusiastic, loud shout of happiness.
"Ve, she's here!"
Oh great, the Vargas girl.
"We get it, Feli! Stop making such a big fuss about it!"
And the Vargas boy.
Kaya sat on the infirmary bed, shooting Mia a look that plainly read get me out of here now. Being stuck between the Vargas twins was like doubling hell, if Kaya's face expression was anything to go by. Then again, Kaya though that everything was annoying, including soggy breakfast waffles. So perhaps it was not that bad.
Not that Mia would ever be willing to take Kaya's place between the two Italians.
"Ve, she had a fever a few minutes ago, but it went down now~. Just make sure she doesn't eat anything too cold today!"
All smiles and cheerfulness, Feliciana Vargas was a rarity in this town, which had started recovering starting from a year ago from the economic crisis. Especially since this particular neighborhood had produced a sufficient amount of hoodlums in the past few years. It was a miracle that a girl like this was alive and well in the midst of such chaos. It probably had something to do with that monster of a German she had wrapped around her finger.
"Thank you, but where is the nurse?"
Vargas (male) decided to answer: "She had to go to the chemistry classroom. Apparently something exploded."
Aha. "I see. Thank you for taking care of my sister."
The female Italian beamed. The male one simply snorted.
"They didn't take care of me." Kaya grumbled, but the comment was overlooked.
The happy Italian leaned down to smile at Kaya, who seemed a little grudging because she wasn't being hauled away from these carriers of the happy virus and the angry virus right this moment.
"Now that your sorella is here, you will be fine, ve?"
A shade of red colored Kaya's cheeks, and Mia held back a smirk. Kaya had always been too independent for her own good and relying on her sister had never sat well with the younger girl.
"Kaya, be polite." Mia (mock) chided her sister. Kaya shot a withering glare at her.
"…Thank you." Kaya looked like she had just chewed some glass.
"Hmph." That was the bad-tempered Italian harrumphing in reply. Not that she or Kaya was offended by the behavior; Lovino Vargas was a known feminist (though his personality prevented him from being as charming as a girl would like him to be) who treated females significantly better than males. The only girls who were on the receiving end of his profanities had been the girls who had bullied Feliciana in middle school, but Mia approved of that. No person who harmed little sisters should expect to escape unscathed.
"Fratello, you're so grumpy today~!"
"Shut up, I'm not."
"Ve, but you are! Is it because of Gilbert's bet?"
The name of the German caught Mia's attention. She listened to the conversation, conveniently ignoring Kaya's increasingly intense look that told her let's beat it, NOW.
Lovino scowled. "Stupid potato bastard, thinking that I'd be dumb enough to fall for such a trap!"
"But you did, fratello."
"You're not helping!"
"Ve? But doesn't fratello like Antonio? He is very nice!"
"I don't care about that tomato bastard! Fucking idiot, always smiling and pretending that everything's fine…!"
Where was this conversation going?
"But fratello, Antonio likes fratello very much~. That's why Gilbert is helping, along with Kiku and Arthur and Ludwig and Francis and—"
"It's all a trick! The fucking albino bastard is just messing around because he just needs an excuse to win the elections."
Now that was something that sounded very interesting.
"Excuse me."
Both Italians turned to stare at Mia. Kaya groaned and buried her face in her hands, another action that went ignored.
"Could you please explain what you meant by that?"
It was best to have plenty of dirt on the German; who knew when it might come handy?
Mia had made up her mind a long time ago to make Gilbert Beillschmidt pay for what he had done, what he had dared to do to Mathias.
Payback was going to be a bitch.
/ Toria's first crush was Natalya, and only Feliks knows this. The two nicknames have stuck since childhood, both courtesy of toddler!Raivis.
Yes, Ivan did kidnap Tina to lure Berwald in middle school. Being born in the richest family saved his ass from being expelled, but his father wasn't pleased. And even then Kat thinks Ivan is just a sweet boy...
Feli and Lovi are both famous as the medical twins in town. Their parents are a doctor and nurse, so a reasonable amount of bad boys used to visit them for injury treatment.
Wow, lots of Mathias and Ivan in this story. And here I thought we'd finally get some Spamano action :D But at least Lovi is back, along with Ivan running for president as well... Next chapter, we'll have the BTT back in action, along with a nervous Ludwig and brutal campaigning! I have final exams next week, so we'll see how fast I update...