Backstory 1. My Sunshine Part One.
(A/N: So this got kind of complicated with time skips, just know that a line is a long time skip, anything longer than a few days, and a star is a short time skip. It'll help things move along because of how this turned out.)
Antonio had heard about them. He was cleaning his gun, lounging on top of a roof with a few other soldiers when he heard about them. The "newbies", the "crybabies", the ones that couldn't handle it as soldiers. Antonio continued to watch as the people milled around. His job was to shoot those that strayed from the path. It was only a few minutes until 9, when everyone had to be at work. If he saw anyone out past that, he had full license to shoot. He was such a good shot, all of the other soldiers left that business to him while they just talked around him. He was never much of a socialite.
"I heard they just run away from any old battle," one of the soldiers snickered. "They're told to sit on the front lines of the border and they'll start cryin'!"
It was 9 o'clock now. Antonio shifted as he looked carefully through the scope of his gun from the top of the building. He was the best at sniping, normal guns were alright, but he was more comfortable with his rifle.
"They're brothers, but they're in different troops, right?" another one asked.
"Oh, I heard that they're crying for each other all the time!" they all howled with laughter.
Antonio winced at the sound. There was someone on the street that had been trying to sneak around. They looked up at their group at sound of their laughter. Antonio sighed and went ahead and shot the man. The shot rang out loudly in the empty street, most likely scaring away anyone else that was trying to sneak around. He shifted the gun onto his shoulder to look at the others behind him. They had jumped slightly at his shot but they were back to normal now, continuing their conversation. Antonio wasn't about to intrude.
"I heard one of them tried to flake out," one soldier smirked. "Tried to leave, the little traitor. I say he shouldda been sent to that capital building so he couldda been killed."
"Don't most traitors go there anyway?" another one scoffed.
"Nah, he was sent to the border, far away from his brother," a soldier shook his head. "Guess the king was too busy to deal with 'em."
"Don't you know anything?" a soldier laughed. "The king doesn't do it himself. He's got his secret service to do it for him."
"You know what I heard?" a soldier leaned in closely and the others followed suit, like they were keeping a secret. "I heard that it's kids, he's got there killing people?"
"What the hell have you been drinking?" another one scoffed, leaning back. "No way there's kids there."
"Well, I mean, they're probably grown up now," the soldier shrugged.
"Whatever, doesn't matter who's there because I'm sure as hell not going," another soldier stood up and stretched, looking at Antonio. "You finish our job or what, Toni?"
Antonio simply nodded, glancing at the street. Other soldiers had already cleaned up the body. No others would come out if they knew what was good for them.
"Quiet as ever," another one laughed as the rest stood up. Antonio followed suit, allowing his gun to rest against his shoulder as he did so. "I don't think I've ever heard you say anything since I met you!" They all chorused into laughs and Antonio simply shrugged. He had nothing to say, what was the point in saying anything?
"Let's get going back, we should report in a few minutes anyway," another one shrugged.
"How much you wanna bet that they're gonna run for it again today?" a soldier laughed as they walked on, down the building. Antonio did wonder about those soldiers they had talked about. They were thinking about deserting? Afraid of fighting? They must have been drafted, that wasn't a question. But the true question was…what were they going to do next?
"Antonio Carriedo?" the voice rang out clearly in the large hall, where Antonio was eating. His gun rested in its case beside him as he sat around his small troop. Their work for the day had been done for a while. It was a week since Antonio had first heard about those mysterious soldiers and he hadn't received any news since. Everyone in the hall quieted down to look at the commanding officer at the doorway. Antonio simply stood obediently. "Come with me," the soldier nodded into the hallway and Antonio nodded, following after him, carrying his gun delicately with him. Conversation resumed almost immediately afterwards.
"Yes, sir?" Antonio asked as he followed the soldier through the hallway.
"New recruit," the man said simply, as if he really didn't want to be there. He was obviously used to being in the capital building. "Well, not exactly new. He's been re-assigned. You're in charge of insuring he gets acclimated properly. His name is Lovino Vargas."
Antonio nodded and followed the man to the end of the hallway. There, standing beside the door to outside, was a soldier. He was leaning against a wall with a slump that made Antonio question if he was actually a soldier. He had dark brown hair with a single curl that peaked Antonio's interest and bored amber eyes that held a fire in them he hadn't seen before. The higher ranked soldier left without another word and Lovino scoffed, shaking his head.
"Fucking figures, leaving me without a second thought," Lovino grumbled before looking at Antonio, taking him in. "So, who the fuck are you? You in charge of me?"
"Antonio Carriedo," Antonio said dutifully, nodding.
"Whatever," Lovino rolled his eyes. "Won't be here for long, anyway."
"How come?" Antonio asked curiously. Sure, there was food waiting for him to finish eating, but he was curious now. Just who was this man?
"None of your business," Lovino sneered. "So, what now?"
"I don't know," Antonio shrugged and Lovino simply blinked at him.
"What? No big fucking mission to go kill some idiots or something like that?" Lovino scoffed. "Isn't that what most of you do in the capital?"
"My time to kill people already passed," Antonio shrugged and Lovino blinked at him.
"You're kidding, right?" Lovino stared at him.
Antonio just shook his head. He couldn't help but smile a little. This was…kind of fun. When was the last time he had fun? No situation really came to mind.
"How many did you kill today?" Lovino asked, narrowing his eyes. It was like he was testing him…
"Hm," Antonio muttered, making a show of thinking it through, tapping his chin. In reality, he could come up with the number in an instant, but it was growing to be fun to mess with Lovino. "Three."
"And what'd you kill 'em for?" Lovino asked. Distrust laced his voice and Antonio realized just how tired the man was, bags tracing under his eyes. But he shifted in the light so it was hard to tell.
"They were supposed to be at work at 9," Antonio said. "They weren't."
"And that means you kill them?" Lovino stiffened, glaring harshly at him. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Because it was an order," Antonio answered easily. "That's what soldiers do."
"Fuck you," Lovino spat out, glaring at the ground with his tired eyes. He looked about ready to fall asleep at any time. "I can't wait to get out of here…"
"Perhaps we should get you some rest first," Antonio said simply. This was quite possibly the longest conversation he had ever had. He had never talked much, even with his family, when they were alive. Most of the time, he was alone. Joining the military simply gave him something to do, rather than be alone and do nothing. It at least taught him that he had a skill; killing people.
"I don't need to take orders from you," Lovino snapped, stepping away from him, like Antonio would force him to do it or something like that.
"Okay," Antonio smiled at him and Lovino looked at him like he had three heads. Antonio couldn't stop the small smile that wormed its way onto his face.
"Good," Lovino muttered, pushing himself off of the wall. "I'm…uh…gonna go to my room."
"Want any help finding it?" Antonio offered, knowing just the reaction he would get.
Lovino stiffened and glared at him. "No," Lovino growled out before walking down the hall where all of the rooms for the soldiers were. Antonio hummed contentedly. Lovino would report to him tomorrow, now that would surely be interesting.
*Time Skip*
And it really was interesting. Lovino didn't say a word to him in the morning and just followed him as Antonio joined with the rest of his troop. He was…oddly silent as they walked through the city, along the backstreets no one should walk through. They made their way up a building that had been mostly destroyed in the revolution. No one lived there, at least no one should. Once they were on the roof, Antonio wasted no time in setting up his gun.
"So, this is all you do, is it?" Lovino scoffed once the other soldiers started talking. He spoke quietly, like he was afraid of the others listening. "Shoot people?"
"Yes," Antonio smiled slightly, adjusting his scope. He looked at the clock. He had a few minutes before he had to shoot people.
"Why?" Lovino asked.
"It's orders," Antonio shrugged.
"So just because the king fucking says it, means you have to?" Lovino snapped and Antonio looked at him.
"Yes, I believe so," Antonio nodded thoughtfully.
"Holy shit, is he talking?" a soldier behind them asked, stopping their conversation. It was only about a minute until 9. Antonio really didn't have the time for this right now. He couldn't fail this mission, everyone knew what that resulted in.
"What, this guy doesn't talk to you?" Lovino scoffed. "Fucking talks just fine to me…"
"What's he talk about?" a soldier laughed.
"Please shut up," Antonio sighed once it was 9 o'clock. There were a few people still walking around, though there was a single one that was definitely up to no good, acting purposefully sneaky. Antonio's shots rang out clearly and he shot fast, hitting three of the four people. He allowed the one that was running to get to work on time his life, at least for today. It was painfully quiet around him afterwards and he looked up from his gun, glancing back at his troop. Lovino looked surprised, to say the least, and the rest of the troop seemed speechless, though that was mostly because that was the first time they had heard his voice. "What do you want me to talk about?"
*Time Skip*
"You just…killed them?" Lovino snapped, gripping hard onto Antonio's wrist before he was able to walk into the cafeteria. Antonio allowed himself to be dragged to the side.
"Yes," Antonio nodded.
"Why?" Lovino growled at him. He didn't look mad at Antonio, in general, more like pissed off about his situation.
"Orders," Antonio shrugged. Lovino rolled his eyes.
"That's it?" Lovino asked. Antonio shrugged once again. "Don't you think that's a little fucked up? You're killing people for not getting to work on time!"
"Yes," Antonio shrugged. He wasn't exactly stupid, he could realize how bad the situation is. But everything required sacrifice. This country went through a revolution only a few years ago, sacrifices had to be made in order to keep the peace.
"Then stop it," Lovino said, nearly shouted, but he was smart enough to realize that that kind of talk wasn't good, especially around this many soldiers. "What's the fucking point in doing this? It's wrong. I…if you know what's going on and that it's wrong, why don't you join those revolutionaries?"
Antonio sighed, a hand on Lovino's, and pushed him away.
"I believe in a sense of loyalty," Antonio said, clearly. "Regardless of who is right and who is wrong."
"Do you know what I'm loyal to?" Lovino snapped. "My ideals. What I think is right. I'm not loyal to this shit fest, and I refuse to fight for them. I'm just waiting for the day they decide to kill me. I'm risking my life just for my fucking brother and you're sitting here killing people because you got swept up in this mess and you refuse to break loyalty?"
"For now," Antonio nodded.
"Then go fuck off," Lovino growled, walking away from him. Antonio blinked, watching him go. He had no idea what the man would do on his own, but it also seemed like he had no intention of being alone. The way he looked at Antonio, especially when he talked about his brother…he was lonely, he was afraid. He was the most human person Antonio had ever met. He just might change his mind about something…
"I'm running."
"I don't see why you're telling me this."
"I mean it."
"Did you mean it last time, too?"
Lovino glared at him. They were on another roof, waiting for nine o'clock. It had been a few weeks since Lovino had tried to convince Antonio of switching sides. He had said he would leave multiple times and Antonio continued to keep him out of trouble when he failed. Antonio didn't know what came over him, but he found himself cleaning Lovino's messes before they could be seen, blaming things on random citizens to protect him.
"I swear," Lovino muttered. "I was able to contact a revolutionary. I know what I'm doing."
"Will another revolution truly help this country?" Antonio asked him. The other soldiers had long since lost the marvel of seeing Antonio talk. They were now off on their own, talking about nothing in particular. Antonio didn't quite care what they did, they were all the same.
"It's better than nothing," Lovino grumbled. "But I'm fucking doing it. You bastards won't be able to catch me."
"I bet I could," Antonio smiled slightly. "I would be able to see from very far away."
"Would you really shoot me?" Lovino asked, staring at him.
"I don't know," Antonio shrugged. "Maybe. I guess we'll find out."
"Just…think about it, okay?" Lovino snapped. "I mean, you've been helping me, you don't want me to get caught. I know a part of you wants to do this! You're a fucking idiot, but you're not stupid."
"You really got a revolutionary willing to meet you?" Antonio asked curiously. It was nine. He looked through his scope. He couldn't find anyone today, oddly enough. That was good.
"I've got a dinner party," Lovino sighed. "And I've got a face to look for. He knows I'm coming, he won't care if there's another person."
"Why haven't you really left before?" Antonio asked, looking him in the eye, but not taking his finger off the trigger.
"I…" Lovino glared at the ground under him. "I can't do it on my own, okay?" Antonio blinked in surprise. Lovino must have swallowed quite a bit of pride to get that out. "Someone's gotta come with and you're the only bastard around willing to do it."
"How do you know I'm willing?" Antonio asked.
"You haven't shot me yet," Lovino shrugged.
Antonio sighed, resting his gun on the ground. This man was going to be the death of him. He pulled out his pistol that he was required to carry with him. The soldiers behind them weren't even looking. He stood up and barely even bothered to aim before shooting all of them. No one could tell the difference between the other gunshots across the country at this time of day.
"Hurry before I change my mind," Antonio said, kneeling down to pack up his rifle.
"Did you just…" Lovino stared at him with wide eyes.
"Yes," Antonio nodded. "We can't change that decision now. And you can't take it back."
"Fine," Lovino cleared his throat, kicking at the ground. "The party's at 7."
*Time Skip*
Antonio discovered very quickly that he didn't like parties. He was a man that lived in a town where there wasn't much to it. The people there grew up to work or go into the military. There were no nobles where he came from. And yet, he stood there in a stolen suit beside Lovino, also in a stolen suit, with a glass of champagne in his hand.
"You look uncomfortable," Lovino noted, happily drinking most of his champagne in one go. "You know, I'm not used to this shit, either."
"I'm worried about my gun, mostly," Antonio muttered. They had stored it in a place they both assumed no one would go near, as he obviously couldn't carry it into the party with him. In some alley behind the most disgusting trash cans Antonio had ever seen. He really was worried about it. If someone were to steal it from him, they probably wouldn't even know how to use it and Antonio didn't know what he'd do if someone misused his gun.
"It'll be fine," Lovino shrugged. "Two fucking seconds finding this guy, talking to him, and then we're good to go. Nothing to worry about. You'll get your gun in a few minutes, I swear."
"What does this guy look like, then?" Antonio asked curiously.
"Long, blonde hair," Lovino sighed, looking around. "Blue eyes, looks kinda like a douche, if you ask me. He's not hosting it, but he's pretty popular, there's gotta be a lot of ladies around him." Antonio took a swig form his drink. It definitely wasn't strong enough. He didn't enjoy being very social, especially not at events like this.
A new song started at their little dance and Antonio sighed. All of a sudden, a girl quickly walked up to him and he blinked in surprise. She looked like a young girl, probably didn't know anything about what the soldiers were doing or all of the death around her just so that she could go to parties like this without a care in the world. She was shy.
"Um, excuse me, if you don't mind," she muttered, barely making eye contact with him, "would you…please…dance with me, sir?"
Antonio had no idea what to say. He didn't know about the etiquette for places like this. Not at all, and there was a huge chance that he would maybe mess something up.
"You go ahead, lover boy," Lovino rolled his eyes. "I'm going to look for our guy."
"Um," Antonio muttered, looking after Lovino as he walked away. Antonio didn't know how to dance. He looked back at the girl. Who was he to say no to such a pretty, innocent girl? "Sure," Antonio flashed the best smile he knew (completely oblivious of the fact that it made the girl blush even harder). He handed his half-full glass to a server that passed him by. He could figure this out, he was a soldier after all. He was used to dancing with weapons, in a fight. This was sort of the same thing, he figured. He glanced around at the other party guests and they assumed the right position, swinging right into tempo. He was pretty good at this, if he did say so himself.
"You're new, I don't think I've seen you before," the girl said, hoping to start conversation and Antonio nearly flinched. He wasn't good at this. He was hoping they could be quiet, that was what he was best at.
Regardless, Antonio offered a laugh. "I'm just not from the capital," Antonio offered. "My family lives a little closer to the border with Merkatus. It was my idea to go to the capital tonight."
"Well, I'm glad it was your idea," the girl blushed slightly and Antonio smiled. So, he wasn't bad at this socializing thing. Okay.
"Me, too," Antonio smiled. They continued into idle conversation and Antonio actually lost track of the song. It wasn't long until the song ended and the girl departed with a small curtsey. He bowed in response, blinking after her.
"My, my, you are quite good at this," a man chuckled behind him and Antonio looked back, jumping in surprise. The man seemed perfectly relaxed, two glasses of champagne in his hand, one of which he offered to Antonio. He had long, blonde hair and blue eyes, though Antonio wasn't going to immediately assume anything about him. "For someone who's not a noble."
"Do I really come off that way?" Antonio laughed easily, gladly taking the drink. Maybe that would make this even easier… He took a swig.
"Not obviously," the man shrugged. "It helps when you have the posture of a soldier and you walk in with someone who's looking for me."
"I'm afraid Lovino is a little easier to spot," Antonio shrugged. "He sticks out way more than me."
"Indeed he does," the man nodded. "Now, would you mind telling me why two soldiers are trying to contact me about joining the revolution?"
"I personally don't know much about it," Antonio said honestly, drinking more. It was definitely making this easier. "I'm following my friend."
"And he convinced you?" the man raised an eyebrow.
"So far, I guess we'll find out," Antonio mused. He finished off his drink. He could definitely use a little more. The man in front of him had only sipped at it delicately. The man nodded thoughtfully.
"Can I offer you another drink?" the man offered after a short while. "The night is still young, my friend, and I believe I need a few drinks in me before we talk a little more about this."
"Why not?" Antonio laughed slightly. He was more than willing for a little more to drink.
In a matter of about two hours, Antonio discovered a few things. With an unlimited supply, champagne can definitely get you drunk. Also, he grew a lot more talkative than usual when he's drunk. Then there's the fact that he was sure that Francis (he learned that name after a few drinks) could be a good friend, given different circumstances. Maybe these were good circumstances, Antonio didn't know.
"I believe you could be very useful," Francis chuckled as they lounged on two couches off to the side of the dancefloor. He had a healthy glow to himself that told Antonio that he, himself was drunk as well. "How many girls have tried to talk with you?"
"The only I've counted are the ones that wanted to have sex with me," Antonio snickered. "And that was about six, I believe."
Francis laughed and looked at some random direction. He'd been doing that a lot, but Antonio was five glasses past caring. "Well, I believe it's finally time for us to get moving, hm?"
"Yeah?" Antonio asked. "Why now, all of a sudden?"
Francis simply smiled and stood up, offering Antonio a hand, which he gladly took. He wobbled slightly, noticing that Francis was definitely less drunk than him but not quite caring. He followed Francis through the crowd that had only grown bigger, rather than dwindling like it should have at this hour. They left the hot room and into the cold night air and Antonio sighed happily. That is, until he heard the shouting.
"Don't fucking touch me, you bastard, I'm here for a damn good fucking reason!" It was Lovino and Antonio couldn't stop himself from laughing. He followed Francis until they turned into an alleyway and Antonio could see, in the dim lighting, Lovino with another man with short blonde hair, green eyes, and…what the hell was crawling on his eyebrows? "Do you want to fight me, 'cause I'll sure as hell win!"
"Hey, Lovi, you having fun there?" Antonio laughed and Lovino caught his eye, glaring.
"You!" Lovino snapped. "I go around for hours looking for these fucking idiots and you get fucking drunk?"
"Free alcohol," Antonio shrugged, giving a lop-sided smile.
"And what the fuck is that name?" Lovino growled and Antonio shrugged.
"This is the other one?" the other blonde huffed, looking at Francis questioningly.
"Looks like mine was a little easier to handle," Francis chuckled and the shorter blonde shook his head, glancing at Lovino. There were a few bruises on both of them.
"Now, kindly tell me what two soldiers want with us?," the shorter man huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He was obviously a party guest, but Antonio hadn't seen him. "Are you going to go back to your superior officer?"
"Sadly, my fucking superior is right there," Lovino grumbled, glaring at Antonio, who waved happily to him. "I'm not here to do anything, I swear."
"Yes, and I suppose you actually want to betray the king and join us," the short blonde scoffed.
"Strange, I thought that really was what we were doing," Antonio mused. The short blonde let out a sigh and pulled out a pistol, pointing it right at Antonio, who didn't hesitate to pull out his own, which he was hiding in his pants, and aimed it right at the man's head. Francis pulled his own on Antonio and Lovino had his on Francis shortly afterwards. "I might be drunk, but killing's what I do. Can't be that hard, especially with my target so close."
"If I knew you two would be this fucking stupid about it, I'd have gone somewhere else," Lovino snapped.
"We have to be careful, I hope you understand," Francis shrugged. Antonio had to admit it was rather clever; Antonio was quite obviously the more dangerous of the two. Getting him drunk gave them a little edge, if nothing else. "A revolution in a country like this isn't exactly a popular idea."
"I can imagine," Antonio shrugged. "I understand. No hard feelings."
"No fucking hard feelings?" Lovino snapped. "I've got half a mind to shoot both of these fuckers right now!"
"Then tell me why you're searching for us," the short blonde sighed impatiently.
"My brother," Lovino said, his voice low. "Feliciano Vargas."
"That makes you Lovino Vargas?" the blonde sighed hesitantly. He looked about ready to put his gun down.
"No shit," Lovino rolled his eyes. "I want him back, I don't give a shit how I'm doing it, and it doesn't fucking matter if it's through you or not."
"And you?" Francis asked Antonio curiously.
"I'm just following him," Antonio shrugged. "Right now, he's all I have to place my loyalty on. You get him and I'll stay."
"Not very convincing," the blonde sighed, shaking his head. "I'll give it to you that you at least look like what I've heard of Lovino Vargas. I still need proof."
"What you want a fucking blood test or something?" Lovino scoffed. "I know where he's stationed on the border, we can go there and you can test it out for yourself, I don't fucking care. You leave me and I'll just find some other way to get there, I don't care."
"Aw, calm down, Lovi," Antonio shrugged and Lovino glared at him. "They don't mean any harm. Francis' gun isn't even cocked, let alone loaded."
Francis lowered his gun in surprise.
"How could you tell?" the short blonde asked.
"I kill people for a living," Antonio shrugged. "I know what a loaded gun looks like when someone's holding it."
"Even while he's drunk," the blonde shook his head, storing his gun, which actually was loaded, but not ready to be shot, by any means. "Fine, we'll take you to our hideout. We'll working on getting to Feliciano Vargas as soon as we can."
"Finally," Lovino sighed, putting his gun down. Antonio was the last one to lower his gun.
"I give you one warning," the short blonde said clearly, looking at both of them in the eye in turn. "This group isn't the kind where we do protests or speeches. We won't get any spotlight, we stay in the shadows, am I clear? The second you two become members of this group, your job is to kill people. You will be assassins. You can back out now."
"Doesn't change anything," Antonio shrugged and looked to Lovino, who paled just slightly with the suggestion.
"Whatever," Lovino grumbled, storing his gun back where it came from. Antonio smiled slightly. Anything for the sake of his brother.
Okay, so this is getting two parts because this is turning out a lot longer than I thought it would. Seriously, I started and I was like, this is fun, OMG, let's keep going. It is the backstory for three characters, Lovino, Feliciano, and Antonio, so they can get two chapters to themselves. Whew, anyway, this was intense and more than half of this was not expected to come out of me. Anyway, regardless, this first half is done and the next part will come shortly. Also, in regards to any Spamano questions; they're just friends, really close friends, but by no means in love. None of that characterization is anywhere close to happening. I don't mind shipping it, it's just I don't find a place for it in here. Lovino's got other shit to do, man.
And how is it that I only just learned that Romano has, like, 3 different canon eye colors? I was going for a descriptor and realized, shit, what the hell is this? Green/hazel in the manga and amber in the anime? Who does that?
Please review! And I'll come back again sometime soon!