A/N: Hey guys! First of all thank you so much for the fic recommendations. Unfortunately, school has prevented me from getting to them all (it's exam time for me) so I'll have to delay the recommendations for now. I've been contributing to the fandom more actively on tumblr by recommending blogs and such :)
Initially, I wasn't going to upload today, as this is unedited, but it's been too long. Again, school has prevented me from editing the loads of pre-written chapters that I have in my docs folder :( I'm organized, I just don't have time! Anyways, here ya go! Best of luck to those entering finals season. Have a good day/ night :D
Also, quick side note. USERNAME CHANGE! I'm now known as Ellawritesficssometimes! It matches my tumblr name, since I receive far more interaction with other Hetalia fans! I post a lot of theories there if you're interested in checking it out!
-Ella
Lovino's POV:
There was an unnerving and unsettling mood lingering in the air. The café was unusually quiet. Hell, I can't remember the last time it was this empty either. Only the regulars had showed up today, brave in their will to give us employees some well-needed solidarity. It had been two days since the Valentine's Day incident, and none of us were quite able to remove ourselves from the horror of it.
I've never felt so…betrayed? I mean, I know that not everyone is necessarily accepting of our community, but this… this was just so malicious and cruel. You could hold an opinion, hateful as it is, without having to express it with the intent to hurt others.
Being the first one to see the discriminatory act of vandalism, I was and still am more affected than what I would like to admit. I'm angry, and yet, I've never felt so defeated in my life. I'm completely drained, but also fearful and in high alert should something like this happen again.
We were all fearful that something like this would happen again, except we didn't voice these concerns. Like wilful automatons, everyone set about their duties and tried to carry on as normal, no matter how hard it was to ease ourselves back into a routine.
Ludwig was taking the dogs around the front in the hopes that they could pick up the scent of the vandalizer. Since two days had passed, and winter was in full-swing with strong gusts of wind, I didn't expect him to find anything incriminating. Still, Ludwig was adamant on trying. He carried our hopes for justice on his shoulders, and more importantly to him, Feliciano's.
Feliciano scared me the most. He was awfully quiet at home, and spent most of his time here in the kitchen. He always did this when he was upset. He would busy himself with as many tasks as possible, anything that would help him forget about what was troubling him.
The others weren't faring much better. Gilbert sat with a murderous, wild expression on his face. Several balls of scrunched up paper littered his booth. He had spent the good part of the afternoon trying to come up with potential suspects. Matthew swept in every now and then to give Gilbert something to eat or drink, but never stayed for long. Like Feliciano, Matthew kept to himself when he was upset.
For once, Francis and Arthur weren't arguing. They sat solemnly together, miraculously on the same side of the booth they shared. Francis rubbed Arthur's knuckles while Arthur brainstormed and poured over possible subjects given the evidence he had collected. The Brit had taken several photos of the crime scene, and was now closely analyzing them on his laptop.
The camera feeds showed that the person who had vandalized the café was tall and had cleverly worn a large hood to cover their face. The lighting was mediocre. Unfortunately, all the other restaurants in the strip had closed down for the night at the time of the incident.
Liza had been religiously re-watching the tapes non-stop these past couple of days. Not only was she furious, but she was also devastated. Several times already she had broken down crying, from both sleep-deprivation and frustration.
"Agh!" she groaned, and then moved to rub at her eyes with the insides of her palms. She did this to stop any tears that dared to well. It was really hard to see her like this. This wasn't the Liza I was familiar with, and honestly, it terrified me.
"The figure is too blurry! This is no help at all! I've looked at it how many times now, and still…nothing! For the love of God, please! Give me a sign!" she said and looked up to the ceiling as if searching for answers. "I refuse to allow this to go unpunished."
"Beta," Roderich chided quietly at her side. "I'm sure we'll find out who it is eventually. Shouting at the ceiling isn't going to help with anything."
"Neither is not letting me vent either, Roderich!" Liza snapped. Roderich flinched, but held his ground. Two seconds afterwards, she sighed, slumped her shoulders, and gently placed her hand on Roderich's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Crap! I'm sorry," she repeated. It wasn't long before sniffs turned into sobs and she had her head resting against Roderich's chest.
Roderich tucked his chin over Liza's head and began to hum to her softly. His hands delicately rubbed up and down her back. "That's quite all right, dear. I know how much things like this bother you. Perhaps this is horrible timing, but did I not warn you that something like this would eventually happen when we first opened this establishment?"
Liza grabbed Roderich's blouse tightly, balling and wrinkling the fabric much to his disdain. He chose not to say anything, and prioritized comforting his fiancée instead. It showed a lot of progress in their relationship. Roderich had actually been quite selfish before he had begun dating Liza, but now he allowed for plenty of compromises between the two of them.
"That's far from the point, and you know that!" Liza said. "It doesn't change the fact that what happened is wrong and disgusting. I shouldn't have to live my life or run my business dancing around the fear of something that shouldn't have even happened in the first place. We've argued over this many times, and my answer will always be the same. I'm not shutting this place down, no matter what."
"And that's where we'll always disagree," Roderich murmured. "If you're put in any sort of danger, I'm afraid that I'll have to take over. I hate using this over you, but please remember that this is my business just as much as it is yours. I will not allow you to compromise yours, let alone anyone's safety here."
"Don't you dare threaten me with that!" Liza squeaked. "I can take care of myself, all right?!"
"Shhhh," Roderich said. "Take a deep breath. We're in no rush. And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that you can take care of yourself, more so than I will ever be able to. All that I'm suggesting is that you think rationally here. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. You've already proven that you're competent as a business owner. Maybe it's time to move on…"
"I can't! I would be letting everyone down, and I won't let that happen. This isn't a time to give up. It's time to stand up for what's right. I'm not going to let one douchebag ruin this place for everyone."
Roderich pursed his lips and pondered for a moment. He was now accustomed to her use of 'foul' language, and had long given up on correcting her for it – not that he needed too. "I see that there will be no changing your mind over this. Fine. But, if things get worse, I will have to take extra measures. It would destroy my conscience if you got hurt just because of that stubborn pride of yours."
"You don't get it," Liza said. "Like you said, we've overcame this before, and we'll do it again. I don't care how, but the minute I find out who this person is, they're dead. I'll spare them no mercy! I'll… I'll… I'll show them what love means, no matter the shape or form. I'll make them understand, even if I have to use force to do it."
Oh yeah, that's right. This isn't the first time that something like this has happened at the café. I hadn't started working here until a few months after its initial opening. Rumour has it that she had received several anonymous threats. Once the café's popularity took off, and she had a large number of allies on her side, no one bothered to mess with her. That is, until now.
"Oh my. Please, think things through more. I know you can be rash sometimes, but this is really pushing the limits. It'd be awfully embarrassing to have a wife with a criminal record."
Liza pulled away from Roderich to glare up at him.
"That was a joke, schatz," Roderich's lips curled into a hint of a smirk, a rare occurrence.
"Oh," Liza smiled faintly. "Oh, ha," she said again as a single tear streaked down her cheek.
"What am I going to do with you?" Roderich teased as he stood up from the booth, but not before wiping at her cheek with his thumb. "All right, I won't make any hasty decisions just yet. I'll also probably have to invest in security guards. Something other than those…canines," he remarked with disdain.
"Good, because you'll have to pry this business away from my cold, dead hands," Liza giggled lightly. It was the first time she had laughed since the incident.
"Mhmmm. We'll see about that. I'll be right back. You appear to be in desperate need of a tissue." Roderich turned on his heels and set off towards the bathroom. Since his sense of direction was shit, he somehow ended up at the front entrance.
"The bathroom is in the opposite direction," I called out.
"Yes, you fool," Roderich growled. The blush on his face betrayed his embarrassment. "I know that!"
"Indignant jackass," I muttered under my breath.
Roderich promptly turned on his heels and accidentally headed into the kitchen before being redirected by Alfred.
Clumsily, Alfred slid into Liza's booth when he was sure that Roderich wasn't going to get lost again. "Hey, gal. Any luck finding out who that criminal is?" he asked her.
Liza wrung her hands nervously. "No such luck, Al. I was thinking of maybe getting that Estonian kid to help me increase the clarity of the frame. Otherwise, I have no clue what else to do."
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Alfred admitted. His eyes ominously clouded over as he bent forward to whisper to her. "I'll freaking kill them for even thinking about touching this place. You've given us all a space to be ourselves, and have helped a lot of people get through some really tough times. I'd be happy to return the favour by punching that son of a bitch's face in."
Liza nodded her head. "I'd hold up on that last part until we figure out what the person's motive is. We don't know who they are or what their circumstances are either. But thank you, I really appreciate how dedicated you are to this. And don't think that I haven't noticed you and Matthew playing detective when I'm not looking. I have ears like a hawk, in case you didn't know."
Alfred shrugged. "Hey, we grew up with Arthur reading us Sherlock Holmes as bedtime stories. Figured we'd set out our skills to use. And yeah, you have a scary talent for figuring out people's secrets."
"I'm glad," Liza said gratefully. "Just be sure to tell me anything you find out."
"Of course!" Alfred said eagerly. "I want justice just as much as the next guy. It doesn't help that campus security is doing next to nothing. Geez, you'd think they'd be less obvious about their homophobia."
"Some world we live in, huh," Liza said, sadly.
"Yep."
Alfred leaned forward. "Anyways, I think you should go home and get some rest. By the looks of it, I don't think you've slept all that much lately. The rest of us can take care of things from here. Maybe some alone time with Roderich will help keep your mind off things too," he suggested.
"The sleep sounds nice, but I don't want to leave you guys here. It'd seem selfish to take time off while everyone is worried sick."
"Nope, none of that now, ya hear?" Alfred lectured. He helped Liza to her feet and politely, albeit firmly, began placing her in her parka. "You're going home for a nap. Feel free to come back later, but you're no use if you're tired. Roderich agrees with me, don't ya?"
Liza was too fatigued to protest, and let Alfred move her arms for her.
Having come back from the washroom, Roderich dabbed at Liza's face while Alfred zipped up her coat. "Oh yes, quite," Roderich replied.
"Fine," Liza grumbled. "I'll be back before six."
Liza and Roderich left the café soon afterwards with the latter fretting to the former like a squawking mother goose.
It was my turn to become maternal when Feliciano exited the kitchen with a grand sigh. Silently, he shuffled up to me and put his head on my shoulder.
I instinctively wrapped my arm around him and began petting his hair. "What's up with you lately?" I asked. "You're so quiet. It's beginning to scare me."
Feliciano gave another noncommittal hum and closed his eyes.
"Seriously, Feli. You're really beginning to scare me."
No response.
Unsure of what to do, I nervously babbled on.
"Your boyfriend is useless, you know that? He hasn't found anything."
No response again.
"Oh come here, you big baby." I murmured and brought Feliciano into a full hug. "It's okay, you're all right. You're safe, and everyone else is safe too. We'll find that fucker who did this, and they'll receive hell for it, believe me. I'll make sure of it, and so will…so will Ludwig."
"I'm scared, Lovi," Feliciano finally spoke. "Not for me, but for everyone else. What if there's someone out there, someone here, who hasn't come out yet? How are they going to feel seeing this? How is those who have already come out going to feel having to walk around this campus in constant fear of being attacked. It's not…it's not fair, and I hate it."
My eyes widened. "I don't know. I wish I had an answer for that. Of course, it's unfair. Life never is, but this is something that we can and will fix. I promise."
"You can't promise that. Don't lie to me," Feliciano said.
"What is with you today?!" I spluttered. I had no idea how to react to my brother being so depressing. This was worse than Liza. Sure, Feliciano was a bit insecure about what others thought of him and had a bad habit of blaming himself for unrelated incidents, but this was seriously beginning to become concerning.
"I could ask the same question about you," Antonio said. He had just come back from his evening class judging by the rosiness of his cheeks and thin layer of snow crusting the top of his head. He placed a gloved hand on the counter, patiently drumming his fingers as he waited for me to respond. I didn't.
"Lovino," Antonio said sternly. "You've been unusually calm about what happened, and whenever I ask you about it, you always brush me off. It's okay if you want to talk about it. The same goes for you, Feli. We're all supposed to be here for each other, especially in times like this."
"You're right. I just... need more time to process this. I can't even think of where to begin, but I will talk to you about it eventually. I think we all need to," I admitted and reached out to place my free hand over Antonio's.
"Good, that's all I needed to hear," Antonio smiled. We were still working on communicating better, but he appreciated my effort. "Because, when we do find out who the person is, and we will, I'll personally make them pay for it. They made my boys upset, and absolutely no one messes with my family without suffering greatly."
A sheen as a sharp as an ax flickered across Antonio's eyes.
I almost pitied the vandalizer, almost.
…
When Liza got back from her nap, we held a staff meeting. She seemed a lot more alert and focused than she was before. Seeing that definitely gave me some relief. Crazy aunt figure or not, I still cared dearly about that homicidal demon.
We pushed several tables together, and there were plenty of snacks and plates being handed out. Knowing how argumentative everyone was, it would take a long time before we had all reached an unanimous decision.
Liza cleared her throat. When that didn't work, Ludwig banged his fist against the table. That sure shut everyone up. And no, I didn't flinch. Okay, maybe a little.
When he was sure that everyone had their full attention on Liza, Ludwig went back to stroking his thumb over the back of Feliciano's hand. Feliciano was slowly coming to, but he had to a tendency to feel a lot more deeply than other people. He never thought about himself, though. It made me proud to call him my brother, affectionate dumbass and all.
"So, I'm sure those of you all know that we can't let this incident go unpunished," Liza started.
Everyone nodded their heads, snorted, and gave angry hums of agreement.
"I've gone over the footage, and it looks like whoever we're dealing with knows what they're doing. They knew the exact angles where to stand without being too close to the cameras. It didn't help that they were wearing a hooded coat, or that all the lights on outside had been turned off. The only thing we do know is that they're very large in size. Has anyone else found something new?"
Ludwig raised his hand.
"Yes, actually. The dogs picked up the scent for two blocks before it went cold. It looked like they were either heading for or heading from the Arts building," he stiffly informed us.
"Thank you, Ludwig. That's very helpful. Anyone else have something to add before we decide what to do? Right now, I'm working on clearing up the picture quality of the tapes… How about any potential suspects?"
Gilbert spoke up. "I wouldn't have figured this out without Mattie's help," he paused to aim a proud glance at the Canadian before continuing, "but I think it would be smart to assume that whoever this person is, they've been here before. Or, at the very least, they've been watching the café and scoping out the outside area. This was deliberately planned. I don't think it was a spur of the moment type of thing."
"It was a team effort, actually," Matthew said softly.
Roderich crossed his arms and muttered to himself. "If only he focused this much on his studies…"
"OI!"
"Agreed," Natalia said. "They would have had to have seen everyone leave the party. Doing something as atrocious as this would require a lot of time. My best guess is that this person is an artist of some sort. I mean, just look at the photos Arthur took. You honestly can't tell me that that isn't calligraphy. The letters are all so carefully crafted."
The whole group but Bella jumped due to Natalia's unprecedented appearance. Since Bella and Natalia were dating, it made sense for Natalia to come for support. No one had seen her enter the café, but then again, when did anyone ever?
Either way, Bella's business had a stake in finding out who this person was too, and it wasn't just because she and Liza were good friends. Her bakery was also friendly to our community.
Arthur rustled through a stack of papers, licked the tip of his finger, and then procured a single sheet. On it, he had drawn a messy, near-unreadable diagram.
"To add to that, I've compiled a list of suspects. Shall we go over them?" he asked.
"Yes, please," Liza said.
"Now, I'm not accusing anyone of anything," he started, hands raised. "In times like this, it's best to assume that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Still, we should also be considering everyone at the same time, just in case."
"Isn't it guilty until proven innocent?" Francis chimed in.
"No, that's how continental European courts proceed. This is Common Law," Arthur said bluntly and rolled his eyes, as if this was obvious. "Anyways, whatever, that's not the point. Let's go through the names now…"
For the most part, it was easy to deny those here as guilty. It would make no sense not to, but Arthur was very much a tedious, process-driven person. He wanted to eliminate all possibilities.
"I already know this one can't be true, but what about Vlad?" Arthur proposed. "Or any one of his employees?"
"NO!" Ivan burst out.
Everyone turned to him in question.
"I mean," Ivan fiddled with his hand, ignoring the concerned glance Alfred spared him. "I may not know Vlad personally, but Eduard and Raivis do. I know they wouldn't be associated with someone like this. They both have very good hearts."
Toris silently nodded to himself, grateful that Ivan, his older cousin, was protecting their younger cousins so adamantly.
"Correct as that may very well be, it's irrelevant if you're unable to prove it," Arthur stated. "Either way, I know Vlad, and grating and cocky as he is, he wouldn't pull off something as petty and morally reprehensible as this. Moreover, it's easy to want to blame your rival, but it's important that I remind you all that he's part of our community as well."
"Arthur, chill! You don't have to be so dismissive. He was only giving his opinion!" Alfred growled.
"Why, I am chill," Arthur leered. "You're the one sending spittle everywhere, throwing a tantrum. If you can't be rational and have a composed conversation, then feel free to leave. I for one intend to crack this case."
"Angleterre?"
"What?"
"You have something on your face."
"Huh?"
And that was the end of Arthur's speech, as Francis had covered a napkin over the Brit's mouth, holding him at cloth-point. Alfred smugly snapchatted this with the intent to cheer up Ivan, but Ivan was more interested in picking at a button on his shirt.
"I still say that we check in with Vlad," I suggested. "He might have seen something. He was one of the first people to leave the party. Maybe he saw someone weird standing outside?"
"I agree!" Antonio grinned.
"You agree with everything I say," I deadpanned.
"No! If you wanted to jump off a cliff, I wouldn't be stupid enough to join you," Antonio countered, eyebrows waggling in challenge.
"But you would be stupid enough to film your precious tomatito in his last moments if it was too late to save him."
Don't ask me why I was speaking in third person.
"…"
"That's what I thought," I said, proudly.
"Ahem!" Liza piped up. "I like that idea. Lovino, you'll come with me to Vlad's café tomorrow. I'm going to need the sassy, emotionally unstable support as an extra edge. I need to ask that Eduard guy for help anyway. Kiku, Mei, I'll also need you guys to do reconnaissance beforehand."
"Hai!"
"Sure thing!"
"WAIT WHAT?!" I spluttered.
Liza ignored me and clapped her hands.
"All right, I guess that's it, everyone. Please remember to pair up if you're closing tonight, and to never let your guard down. Roderich should be hiring security guards soon, but we can never be too careful. If you find out anything more, come straight to me. Let's find out who this asshole is, yeah?"
"YEAH!"
"Dismissed!"
…
Feliciano and Ludwig had left five minutes ago, so it was just Antonio and I left in the café to lock up.
"You know, you could have gone to the apartment already," I sighed, knowing full well that his eyes would be glued on me until we were safe at home.
Tito was curled around my leg, short, stubby tail nervously wagging. He was totally aware of what was going on, even if he couldn't fully understand it.
"Nope, not going to happen. I'm not leaving you alone again. Remember what happened last time?" Antonio countered. "No one's going to be touching a hair on your grumpy little head."
I walked home with Antonio's arm draped over my shoulder, and when that wasn't good enough for him, he carried me the rest of the way. The bastard was just lucky his parka insulated him from my fists. Even so, it was nice to have moments of humour during stressful times like this.
It's why I loved him so much.
…
Alfred's POV:
With Liza's meeting done and over with, Ivan and I headed for our late evening Poli-Sci lecture. This was a mandatory class for my program, whereas Ivan was taking it as an elective.
We always sat together, which worried a lot of people, especially since we were now learning about the Cold War and were comfortable debating with each other. Usually said debating involved screaming, but hey, that's just how we functioned sometimes. Okay, I screamed and he had an infuriating smug grin on his face, same thing.
On the trip here, he was unusually quiet, and kinda pale now that I think of it. Mid-lecture, he had left for the washroom. He hasn't come back since.
Concerned, I slipped out of the auditorium to check up on him. I quietly entered the washroom and found Ivan hunched over the counter. He had the sleeves of his black turtleneck rolled up pretty far to wash his hands, but rather than doing so, he was just staring at himself in the mirror. The water from the tap was still running.
Even without the fluorescent light, he did have some noticeably dark purple bags under his eyes. Like a true artist, he had weird sparks of spontaneity, and they often happened in the late hours of the night. It was kind of cute, if you ask me.
"Uh, Ivan? Are you all right there, big guy? You've been here for a while."
Ivan gave a small yelp and immediately rolled down his sleeves, accidentally getting most of his forearms wet. "Fedya?" he whispered coarsely.
"Yeah, buddy, it's me. I just came in to check up on you. We're missing some pretty important stuff back there. The prof's supposed to go over what's on the midterm soon."
"Oh, da. I guess I'm just tired, and forgot where I was…" Ivan chuckled at his absent-mindedness. While he dried his hands with a paper towel, I leaned against a nearby wall and stared at him, biting my lip in thought.
It was strange not seeing him wear his beloved tan trench coat, but at the same time, I'm glad that he didn't. I was pretty envious of how muscular he was, not going to lie. No matter how much I worked out at the gym, I just wasn't built to be that broad. Oddly enough, he never departed with his white scarf. That was something he always had wrapped around his neck.
Honestly, he looked really hot right now. And man, how easy it was to get lost in those gorgeous violet eyes of his, like a field of lavender. Looking at him made it effortless to forget about everything else that was going on, the stress; school; bills; everything.
OH SNAP, ALFRED! AWAY WITH THESE TOTALLY GAY THOUGHTS! NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO GET HORNY. YOU STILL HAVE HALF A LECTURE TO GET THROUGH. DARN! DARN! DARN!
"Thanks for coming to get me," Ivan said. "That was really thoughtful of you."
"…"
"Alfred? What are you staring at? And why are you biting your lip? You're drooling too? Did you not eat something before you came here? Nyet, that can't be it. You ate a lot of snacks before we got here…"
"Yummy…" I mumbled, vaguely.
I wanted to touch his hair. To cup his cheek. To get him to speak to me and look me in the eye instead of avoiding me half of the time.
Speak to me, please. I'm right here.
"Has your blood sugar dropped?"
"Mmm candy."
(I had meant to say man candy. I'm really glad that I didn't.)
Next thing I knew, Ivan had towed me over to a vending machine, and was buying snacks for me that he really couldn't afford. By the time I had realized this, I felt horrible, and even though I wasn't hungry, I still forced them down.
Ivan gave them to me, damn it. And that made them taste all the more better…
Lovino's POV:
Shoulders squared, teeth gritted, and firm, menacing grimaces in place, Liza and I stood in front of Vlad's Maiden and Cosplay café. I had never actually entered it before, and it had been a while since Liza had visited the place herself. Sometimes her program held get togethers, and they would rotate which business to host them at.
The front sign had two large neon fangs protruding from it. The windows were blocked off with black curtains, and the faint glows of candles and other shadows ominously shot through the fabric. The front door was painted a shiny steel colour, reminding me of the iron maiden torturing devices that priests used to interrogate and torture witches with during the Middle Ages. As if that wasn't unnerving enough, I could hear the muffled sounds of rock metal playing.
"Ready?" I exhaled, a little puff of vapour escaping into the dry winter afternoon air. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked in anticipation, like a dog whose instincts were telling them to run far away.
Liza nodded her head and then reached up to ruffle my hair. There was a determined gleam in her eyes, shinier than the large banks of snow clumped around us. "Yep, let's get those bastards to spill everything they know," she faltered.
"I, uh, sorry. What Arthur said was right. We shouldn't be accusing people so easily. Let's just go in there and see if we can find out anything useful. I honestly doubt that Vlad would do something like this. It'll also be good to have more eyes around campus, seeing as how security isn't taking this incident seriously…"
I looked down at Liza, proudly. "Aw," I teased. "Mi bella crazy psycho is finally growing up. Last year, you would have broken Vlad's nose before stopping to ask him any questions. Bah, we don't need security anyway. Your pan is a deadly enough weapon."
Liza teasingly sent me a warning glare. "I'm a year older than you. Gay or not, I won't let another man patronize me."
"Zip it, missy," I snorted. "Oh, and there's something on your face."
"Well get it off then!" Liza said, indignantly.
I bent forward, and surprised her by softly pecking her cheek. "We'll find out who's doing this, Liza. I promise. Now, let's get this the hell over with. Literally," I scowled, aiming a disgruntled glance at the fake spikes glued on the handles of the front door.
Liza and I exchanged meaningful looks.
"Thanks, Lovi. I know I can always rely on you."
"Mmhmmm."
Wordlessly, I opened the door for Liza and let her go in first. The door swung shut with a heavy thud. I blinked, but was still blinded as my eyes failed to adjust to the darkness of the room. The air was hot and stuffy. I felt padded carpet underneath my feet. Just in case, I reached out for Liza until I found her arm, and then towed her along.
Just as our eyes began to adjust, a large creak echoed in the front waiting room. There was a wooden podium to seat guests, but no one was there.
It all made sense when a hidden coffin opened up from the wall to our right. "Velcome to my maiden and cosplay café! How many bloodlings vill I be seating today?"
Vlad received no coherent response, as Liza and I were too busy shrieking our heads off. Somehow, I had ended up in her arms, bridal style. I must have jumped into the air, although I don't remember doing so.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I spluttered.
"DON'T TOUCH MY DELICATE TSUNDERE BABY!" Liza bellowed. She protectively tightened her arms around me.
Vlad casually hopped out of his coffin, and it wasn't long before he doubled over with laughter. "Oh man, I knew the coffin thing was a good idea. It gets the customers every time!"
He was wearing a large black cloak that was red on the inside. His equally red eyes looked even more devilish under the UV rays that lit up the café from the waiting room onwards. As always, he was wearing a fake set of fangs to complement his already unnaturally sharp canines.
Liza set me on my feet. Like a coward, I grabbed her arm and half hid myself behind her.
"You didn't pull that trick the last time I came here!" she shrieked. "No wonder your numbers aren't all that great. People want to come to have a good time, not to be attacked, you lunatic!"
"Tsk! Tsk! Is that really all that you came here to do? To yell at me and insult my business?" Vlad puffed out with an obnoxious sigh. He must have had a lot of time to practice his lines.
His act would have been a lot smoother had he not have had to kick the smoke machine several times to get it to work. "Come on," Vlad grunted under his breath. "Ah! There we go! Wonderful~!"
"No, we came here to ask you if you saw anything suspicious before you left the party Saturday night," Liza asked, only to break down into a fitful cough. My eyes watered. The smoke machine spluttered and began to release too much smoke. Soon, we were all coughing.
"Fucking hell, turn it off!" I bellowed.
"Oh, Lovino, my love! I didn't see you there – cough – Were you hiding behind Elizahag this whole time?"
"JUST TURN IT OFF DAMN IT!"
"Yes, that's definitely him… I'd recognize that perpetually pissed-off voice anywhere…"
It was Liza who ended up kicking the smoke machine hard enough to make it stop. We made quite the sight as we all came pouring out of the waiting room, hacking and rubbing at our eyes as grey mist billowed into the rest of the café.
Boris looked up from the front counter and shook his head, as if he were used to Vlad fucking things up. He must not have been that concerned because he returned to serving Natalia (?!) a strange martini that had several olives in it and a deep crimson liquid. She was seated on a bar stool, slim nylon-covered legs dangling several feet from the air.
Strangely, the front counter had been combined into a bar area, as Boris then set off to decorate a cupcake that had been dyed black. He squeezed frosting onto a plate in the shape of a spiderweb. When it hardened, he peeled it off and spread it over the cupcake – I had heard about their edible frosting before. It was one of the only good things they were known for.
"Boris, dear, we have guests!" Vlad called out.
"We won't for long if you keep suffocating them," Boris replied dryly.
This must have triggered a hostile reaction in Vlad, for his pride wouldn't allow it. He straightened, flicked his cape over his shoulder, and then stretched out his right arm. "Right this way, my lovelies…ah,.. lovely."
He ignored Liza's glare and led us to the front counter. Natalia turned away, not in the mood for conversation. I respected her wishes and sat three seats away from her. Since we weren't staying for long, we didn't ask for a table.
Liza heaved herself onto a stool beside me. Her eyes were still red from coughing. "You good?" I asked her.
"I'm fine!" she panted. "He's doing this on purpose just to manipulate you and get inside your head. Don't let down your guard!"
"Okay, now you're just being dramatic," I smirked.
Vlad joined Boris behind the front counter. "So, what can I do for you two?" he asked, comfortably draping an arm over Boris's shoulders. His cape nearly swallowed Boris. "Other than charging you for the broken smoke machine," he continued.
"Were you not listening to us?" Liza deadpanned. "And don't give me that bullshit. We both know that that machine was already broken well before we came here."
"He was probably too busy listening to the sound of his own voice," Natalia said slyly before tuning out of the conversation again.
"N-no! Well, maybe, but that's not the point! And who even asked you, Nat?! Some loyal customer you are!" Vlad fumed. Natalia had already shifted her attention elsewhere.
Boris shrugged out of Vlad's grip, rubbing at the dust and smoke stains that now coated the arms of his leather jacket. "If I heard correctly, they're here about that vandalism incident."
Vlad's expression softened. "Oh. Yes, I was very sorry when news reached us about that. I thought about going over for a quick visit to send my condolences, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Now that you're here, I guess I don't have to."
I inhaled sharply. This guy was the epitome of an asshole.
Liza didn't say anything, and I followed her lead. She was up to something, all right.
Mercilessly, Liza stared at Vlad, unblinking.
"Aren't you…going to say anything?"
Silence.
"My devil, woman, stop staring at me like that."
Silence.
"If you're here to accuse me of anything, save it!" Vlad stammered. "I don't care for that look on your face. You're only adding to my suspicions that you descend from a line of witches."
Having received the response she wanted, Liza leaned over and cupped her chin with gloved hands. "He's clear, Lovi. Vlad always bites his lip when he lies. He also looked me straight in the eye. He's telling the truth. They're not the ones we're looking for."
Boris raised his eyebrows, shocked, but also a bit perturbed. "Did you really suspect us of doing something as awful as that? Vlad may not like you, nor I to be honest, but we would never engage in such appalling behaviour, ever!"
Liza flicked her hair over the hood of her parka. "I thought so too, but you can never be too sure. Actually, I came here for two things. One, I was wondering if I could have the footage from your own cameras outside. I also wanted to see if Eduard was around. I could really use him to help strengthen the clarity of the frames."
"That's certainly asking for a lot," Vlad said, crossing his arms. "And what do we receive in return?"
"Or, maybe you two can be decent human beings and help us out without expecting something. This affects you guys too, whether you like it or not. Our whole community here is under attack if you haven't noticed," I growled.
"He's right," Boris admitted reluctantly. "Would you guys like something to eat? It's on the house. I have a feeling we'll all be here for a while."
Without Vlad's approval, Boris left and entered the kitchen anyway.
"Wait up just a minute!" Vlad exclaimed, waggling an index finger at Liza. "We'll help, for free, but I still want you to do something for me. I don't think it's out of my place to ask."
Liza groaned. "Yes?"
Vlad fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve. "I want our cafés to do a coordinated event. Once upon a time, you used to work at this café too. As much as I hate saying this, I could really use some help. Anything really. I'd even take suggestions. I still…consider us to be friends, even if we are rivals now. Perhaps we could even get back to what we used to be… before we went our separate ways."
Liza flinched in memory of her past as a tarot reader here. She had worked as his assistant, but since they were both hard-headed, stubborn, and very opinionated, things hadn't ended very well between them.
Come last year, she opened her own business, and her success had put another large wedge in their relationship. What surprised both of us just now was that Vlad had referred to her as a friend. Their fight last year has been pretty brutal.
Liza took off one of her gloves and reached over the counter to shake hands with Vlad. "You bastard," she smiled. "It took you a year, but you finally said it. That's all I've been waiting for. Of course, I'll do an event with you. Heck, I'll even help you change up a few things around here. You're really behind on the trends, you know."
Vlad sniffed in disdain. It took him a solid minute before he pulled off his own glove and shook hands with Liza. "Yeah, well, people change."
"Not really, you're still an asshole," Liza laughed. "But! It's what I used to love about you. Correction, what I love about you. This is your last six months here before you graduate, I'd hate for us to be fighting all the time."
"Agreed. We'll help you with anything you need."
Liza narrowed her eyes at me after letting go of Vlad's hand. "Are you seriously snapchatting this right now?" she asked, incredulously.
"No would believe me otherwise," I laughed.
"Oh fine, whatever," Liza grumbled, blushing. She gratefully accepted the martini Vlad offered her and took a sloppy chug from it. I left them to catch up with each other.
I needed to find that Eduard guy.
I found the Estonian taking a break in a booth near the back. He had his laptop and several calculus textbooks in front of him. His work cape was draped across the back padding of the seat. I could see how easy it would be for it to get in the way. Although, given how dim the lighting of the chandelier dangling above the table was, this wasn't exactly a prime place to get some schoolwork done.
"Hey," I greeted and neatly swung into the opposite side of the booth.
Eduard glanced up from his books. "Oh, hello. You're that waiter from Liza's place, right?"
I nodded.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"We came to ask for your help. I'm sure you heard about, you know," I replied and waved my hand to fill in the blanks.
The uncomfortable expression on Eduard's face told me that he understood what I was referring to.
"Yes, I'm very sorry about that."
"Don't be," I said evenly. "Your boss just agreed to help us out."
"Really? They're not…fighting or anything?"
"Nope," I smirked. "I'm surprised too."
"I see. So, what can I do for you? I still feel bad about that whole spying incident, and would like to make up for it," Eduard admitted. He nervously pushed up the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
"That's actually why I came to see you. Liza needs you to do two things. First, we need you to pull out your own security footage from Saturday night. You don't have to give us the original tapes, a copy would be just fine. Also, are you able to increase the clarity of the footage? Our own tapes are too blurry for us to make out the face of the suspect."
I pulled out the tapes from my coat and laid them out onto the table.
"Yes," Eduard said almost immediately. "That's not a problem. I can have those back to you tomorrow morning." Even though he was shy, I picked up on a slight hint of pride in his voice.
"Great. Thanks so much. I'll leave you to your studies then. It looks like mid-term season isn't sparing you any mercy, damn."
"It's really no problem at all. And I'll survive, but my sleep schedule sure won't," Eduard joked. "Thanks for being so forgiving by the way. I really am sorry about what I did. I just didn't want to get fired."
"No worries, I understand. Take care."
"Good luck on your mid-terms too!"
I grunted non-committedly, and left Eduard feeling proud and accomplished myself.
When I found Liza and Vlad again, Liza was already tipsy. How did I know this, might you ask? Well, her cupping poor Raivis's cheeks and tucking him under her armpit was a pretty good indication.
Vlad sheepishly made eye-contact with me. "She drank four of them before I could stop her. She's always been a heavy drinker, I should have known…"
Raivis struggled to free himself. "I'm not cute!" He wailed. "I'm a vampire! I could kill you if I wanted to right now….rawr!" He bared his fake fangs and made a failed attempt to hiss.
I coughed to hide my laughter.
…
I stumbled to drag Liza back to our own café. "Honestly, what's Roderich going to say when you come back to him piss drunk? What would you have done if I wasn't here, huh? You need to be more careful."
"Honey, I can only stand Vlad when I have a shit-ton of alcohol in me. This was no accident. And I'm not drunk, just a little…loopy. And relax, we got what we wanted, didn't we?"
Sighing, I ignored her as she broke out into another fit of giggles.
"You're drinking two bottles of water when we get back, no excuses. I'm not letting you embarrass yourself. It's Monday afternoon for fuck's sakes."
"Mmm fine," Liza wriggled her hand free.
"Cup my ass, and I'm abandoning you right here," I threatened.
Liza pouted, but didn't say another word.
…
Later that night.
Alfred's POV:
It was Matthew and I's turn to close tonight. Ludwig and Feliciano had just left, so there wasn't anyone else left in the café. Sunday, the café had been closed, and thinking along the same lines, we were both worried that the vandalizer would come back for a second round.
We agreed on staying back to investigate this for ourselves. After doing our routine clean-up, we turned off all the lights and hid ourselves from view. The dim street lights outside allowed us to see; well, somewhat.
I was behind the front counter, while Matthew was hiding at the side of the café, situated underneath a booth. I lit up my phone for a quick moment, which caused Matthew to hiss and snap at me to turn it off.
"All right, all right," I relented, whispering. "I'm just making sure that you still want to go through with this. Man, I hate to bring up the guy, but Gilbert isn't going to like it if he ever finds out about this."
"Gilbert and I aren't attached to the hip," Matthew retorted. "I don't need his permission to do things. And don't you dare tell him about this, Al. If we don't catch the guy, it'd go better unspoken."
"Fine," I said. "Your call. So, do you think the guy is going to come or what?"
"He's not going to if you keep flapping your fat mouth."
"Hey!" I protested. "I'm just saying… If he does come, I'm going to try and catch him. You in?"
"I don't know… what if he has a weapon?"
I had to crane my ear to hear Matthew. He was being too cautious, as always.
"Nah," I said, more confidently than how I truly felt. "It's just some hateful idiot. I don't think they'd have a weapon on them. They're doing this when they think that no one will be around."
"That's true. Okay, yeah. Let's put a stop to this."
We fell into an unnerving silence. A half hour passed, and just when we were about to call it a night, Matthew sent me a text. He was slowly poking his head above the booth to get a better view.
Matt: There's someone standing outside the front.
Matt: He's large too. At least I think it's a he.
Matt: Don't make it obvious, but try to see for yourself.
I glanced across the room and saw Matthew pointing upwards. Slowly, I rose above the front counter, careful not to make my movements too obvious to spot.
I deliberately held my breath and tried not to panic when I found the large figure Matthew was looking at. Quickly, I ducked back into hiding. I fumbled to reply back to Matthew.
Alfred: WTF?! They're huge.
Alfred: What do we do?
Matt: Wait until they do something. We need proof.
Alfred: Gotcha.
We waited in baited silence. I was too scared that if I showed myself again, then the person would see me. This hesitation ended up costing our chances of catching them.
CRASH!
My head whipped in Matthew's direction when I heard him scream. A rock came skidding across the tiled floor and stopped just before my knees. The window Matthew had been sitting near had just been broken. Glass was everywhere and a cold chill swept into the café.
"MATT!" I yelled.
My limbs became numb as I scrambled to my feet. "I'M FINE, AH!" Matthew grunted. "GO! CATCH THEM BEFORE THEY GET AWAY!"
"Matt, I…"
"I SAID GO, I'M FINE!"
Next thing I knew, I had pushed open the café's front doors and was in hot pursuit of the person. There were too far away, and were surprisingly quick for their size. My vision blurred as the freezing cold wind tore at my face.
I swore and said all kinds of things I never thought I had in me. It soon became clear that I wasn't going to catch the person, as they had ducked behind a building a couple of blocks ahead. I slowed to a stop, heaving in fury.
"YOU HATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT! YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL, JUST YOU WAIT. AND ONCE YOU DO, I'll PERSONALLY BE THE ONE TO KICK YOUR ROTTEN FACE IN."
"Shit…" My eyes widened with realization. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! MATT!"
I skidded into the café two minutes later and found that Matthew had already turned the lights back on. He was holding a bloodied towel to his face. His hand was shaking.
"Matt!" I said hoarsely.
Matthew smiled weakly. "It's fine, I already told you. It's a shallow cut at best. It won't scar. I'm more worried about that."
I followed his gaze and inhaled sharply at the sight of the broken window. Whoever had thrown that rock was strong; there was hardly any glass paneling left.
"I'm guessing you didn't get the guy?" Matthew asked.
"No, but forget that. Let me see your cut."
Gently, I lifted the towel from his face. The cut wasn't bad like he said, but I was still livid about it.
Matthew must have sensed this. "Al, calm down. It's all right. We just… uh… we should probably call the cops." His voice trailed off. He was still in shock from what had just happened.
"No, IT'S NOT OKAY!" I exploded. "STUFF LIKE THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. IT'S 2017, DAMN IT!"
Frustrated, I kicked over a nearby garbage can.
"Al…"
I kicked the garbage can again.
"AL STOP!" Matthew shouted.
I froze when Matthew wrapped his arms around my waist.
"You need to calm down. Getting angry isn't going to help, valid reason or not. Go, sit down. I'll call the cops and then Liza."
"I'll calm down, but it's scaring me how you're dismissing this so easily. We're all in danger now. Who knows what they'll do next."
Defeated, I flipped over a chair resting upside down on a nearby table, straightened it to ground level, and sat in it.
Matthew walked over to place a hand on my shoulder. It should have been me comforting him.
"Al, I want to catch this guy just as much as you do. I know it's hard, but be patient, please. Sooner or later, we'll find something. I think we know better now than to do this on our own. We need more numbers if we're going to put this to an end."
"You make it seem so easy," I sighed.
"Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say that."
"Fine. I'll call the cops. You should wash out that cut. It's still deep enough to get infected."
Matt nodded and headed for the backroom.
After calling the cops and Liza, I raked a fist through my hair. Uncertainty and fear lingered in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't remember the last time I had ever felt this miserable or helpless.
To be continued...