Author's Note: In this chapter, Gilbert's 12, and Ludwig's 8.
Chapter 3: Home Zoo (or Animal House)
One day, Gilbert was walking home from school with his best friends, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy. The three had been best friends since…well, since forever, and they called themselves "The Bad Friends Trio".
Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis were talking about stuff they wanted to pull on a neighbor they didn't like when they heard an injured-sounding squeak coming from a bush.
"What was that?" said Antonio.
"I don't know," said Gilbert. "Come on, let's go check it out."
"I don't wanna, mon ami," said Francis. "What if it's a rabid raccoon or something?"
"I'll take my chances," said Gilbert. The youngest of the trio then looked behind the bush and saw an injured squirrel.
"Aw, you're hurt," Gilbert said sympathetically, and, picking up the cute animal, took off his hoodie and wrapped the squirrel in it.
"Uh, Gilbo?" said Antonio. "What is it?"
"It's a squirrel," said Gilbert.
"Put it back!" said Francis.
"No, he's hurt," Gilbert said. "I can't put him back. He's coming home with me."
"Uh, amigo, are you sure your family'll be okay with that?" Antonio asked his friend.
"Of course!" said Gilbert. He, Francis, and Antonio were just about to continue on their way when they heard Ludwig and his friends shouting for them to wait up.
"Gilbo!" Ludwig shouted. "Wait for meeeee!" The younger Beilschmidt brother was carrying something in his jacket.
"Francis, Tony, waiiiiiiiit!" shouted Feliciano, catching up to his cousins. His older brother, Lovino, caught up to them soon after.
"Dummy, why didn't you slow down?" the older Vargas brother demanded, his face red with anger. "For that, I'll take your pasta!"
"No, not my pasta!" Feliciano cried and defended his backpack.
"Come on, Lovi, don't pick on Feli," said Francis; Lovino didn't listen to him, though.
"Nobody's taking anyone's pasta," said Antonio. He then noticed Lovino's red face.
"Lovi, you look just like a tomato!" he exclaimed, and hugged Lovino.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" said Lovino.
"Awwwww, Lovi, you're so cuuuute!" Antonio said and continued to hug his struggling cousin.
Gilbert decided to change the subject and turned to his little brother.
"Hey, West, what's that you have in your jacket?" he asked.
"Oh," said Ludwig. "It's a raccoon." He showed Gilbert the animal he had wrapped in his jacket. "He can't walk 'cause he's hurt."
"Well," said Gilbert, "let's bring him home. I'm taking a squirrel home."
"Will Mommy, Daddy, and Grandpa mind?" Ludwig asked.
"They won't mind," Gilbert said. "Come on, let's go home." The Beilschmidt brothers and their friends made their way home, and Gilbert and Ludwig ran into their house.
Once inside, the brothers unwrapped the injured animals, got out a couple of old shoeboxes, and made beds for the animals. Then they took some bandages, cleaned the injured areas, and put the bandages on the animals' injuries. After that, Gilbert and Ludwig placed the squirrel and raccoon in their makeshift beds.
An hour later, Roderich showed up so he could make sure Gilbert and Ludwig didn't kill each other. Even though he didn't have to watch them, Roderich had been uneasy about leaving Gilbert and Ludwig home alone ever since he and Elizabeta moved into their own apartment.
"Gilbo? Lui?" he called. He saw the boys' bedroom door open and went inside.
"Hey, guys," he said, but then got shushed by his cousins.
"What?" he whispered.
"You'll wake them up," Gilbert said firmly.
"Who?" said Roderich.
"Meeko and Squirrelly," Ludwig said, and indicated the animals in the shoeboxes.
Roderich took a peek inside the shoeboxes and looked at his little cousins in disbelief.
"What in the world possessed you imbeciles to bring home two wild animals?" he said, careful not to wake the animals up.
"They're injured, Roddy," Gilbert said with big puppy eyes.
"Yeah," said Ludwig with the same puppy eyes as Gilbert. "They need us."
"Well, Grandpa and your mom and dad aren't going to be too happy about this," said Roderich.
"They won't mind," said Gilbert.
"Fine," said Roderich. "But once the animals are healed, I think you should let them go."
Hours later, Germania, Claus, and Elise came home, and Roderich was finally free to go back to spending time with Elizabeta. Elise went into the boys' room and immediately came out of the room, looking confused.
"Uh, Claus?" she said. "There's a squirrel and a raccoon in the boys' room…and they're in little beds."
"What?" said Claus, and went to Gilbert and Ludwig's room. He, too, came out of the room with a confused look.
Germania, seeing his son and daughter-in-law's confused faces, got up and went into the boys' room. He saw the animals and came back out of the room.
"Uh, kids," he said to his grandsons. "What the heck are those animals doing in your room?"
"They're hurt, Grandpa," Gilbert and Ludwig said at the same time, and gave their grandfather big puppy eyes.
"Well, it's not up to me whether or not they can stay," said Germania, and looked at Claus and Elise.
"Pleeeeeaaaase?" the boys pleaded to their parents.
"Well, okay," said Claus. "They can stay."
"But once they're better, they need to go back to the wild, okay?" Elise said.
"Okay," said Gilbert, smiling.
Author's Note: Whew! *wipes forehead* I know I said that the fics were gonna be short, but I just had to put a lot of stuff in this one.
Oh, yeah, in my headcanon, Francis, Antonio, Lovi, and Feli are all cousins ^_^
Mon ami- My friend (French)
Amigo- Friend (Spanish)