Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just ship it
Warning: AU, strong language, boy x boy pairings, violence (more so bullying in the beginning), and because this was inspired by the manga Iris Zero, there may be some minor spoilers for it.
Glad you all seemed cool with a little backstory followed by gratuitous amounts of geekery in the last chapter! This chapter will bounce around a little more to reveal more Irises and maybe even further the plot (what plot?) if we're lucky! XD
oOo
After dealing with enough of Elizabeta's craziness to last him a lifetime, Feliks's overwillingness to feel him up with tape measures, and what had to be blackmail photos taken by Kiku all resulting from Alfred's stupid plan to make him 'Police Commissioner' or whatever, the Italian tried to avoid his loud, overly-energetic friend for awhile.
That didn't mean he didn't think about him from time to time, however.
Lovino currently found himself sitting in his culinary class daydreaming about watching the clouds drift by from his rooftop. Somehow Alfred managed to barge into his daydream (as he often did in real life) and began tap dancing. This was very strange (and therefore right up the American's alley), so dream-Lovino yelled at him to stop acting like an idiot. Alfred complied, but didn't stop dancing. Instead, he swept Lovino into his arms and waltzed him around the rooftop with surprising ease.
Even though it was all in his head, Lovino could feel a faint blush race over his face in reality, matching his dream-self. Why would he be thinking about this of all things? He didn't care about the hamburger bastard at all! Not his toned body, broad shoulders, or the way his wheat-blonde hair fell perfectly over his stormy blue eyes. And he especially didn't care about the firm, yet gentle hold the dream-American had on his own hand and lower back. Nope. He didn't care at all. Not one bit.
Dammit! Why hasn't class started, yet?! He mentally cursed, needing something to distract him.
Bella Mertens walked into her classroom, trying to ignore her Iris. Seeing labels other people placed on you like stickers was never easy, especially in a high school. She loved her job, but could really do without the drama. Teenagers were labeling each other left and right, often without realizing it. Bella typically tried to pay it no mind, becoming used to the ridiculous stickers spawned via gossip.
The only one she had difficulty ignoring was Lovino.
That boy had everything from "disgrace" to "devil" and "bad luck" to "cursed." Bella felt horrible for him. Lovino seemed like a nice enough kid, despite his temper. She figured that if she was surrounded by people who thought she was a walking curse, she'd be angry too. Bella made her way to the front of the room as her students were quickly settling onto their seats as the bell rang. At least she had good news for them.
"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted them brightly, most responding back positively. It was hard to hate a class where the teacher was cool and eating was part of the curriculum. "We have a new face joining our class, starting today."
A quick buzz went around the room over who it could be. The doors opened and the newest addition to their class was met with cheers. Lovino dropped the pen he'd been twirling and stared in disbelief. His ears began to feel hot when the person he'd just been thinking of casually strolled in and greeted everyone. This had to be an invasion of privacy or something! Was Alfred reading his mind now too?
"You can take any of the open seats," Bella informed him. "Whoever you sit next to will be the person you work with."
"Cool," their President nodded. "Now, who should I sit by…?"
Several unassuming students were very nearly shoved off their seats in an effort for their partner to make space for Alfred. One or two actually succeeded. Alfred glanced around the room. The blonde flashed a smile that lit up the entire room when he spotted Lovino. Alfred happily bounded over to his friend and sat beside him.
"Hi, partner!"
Despite Lovino's colorful protest, Bella couldn't help but smile when a new label appeared on the Italian. The second Alfred sat down 'My best friend' materialized, spreading across his chest. The Belgian professor willed herself to return to teaching and began the daily lesson on Belgian spice cookies, otherwise known as speculoos.
"Why are you here?" Lovino angrily hissed at his partner.
"Roderich was getting on my back about taking a study hall this semester," Alfred admitted. "It didn't set the right example for the Student Council President or something…"
"So of all the classes you could have taken, you chose this one?"
"Yeah, I agreed to drop my study hall for an actual class and figured this one sounded fun!" the American whispered back enthusiastically. "We get to make food, right?"
"…That explains it," sighed Lovino.
Alfred was a man of many talents. He could build and rebuild everything from bookshelves to broken relationships. The blonde had the strength of someone twice his already muscular size. And optimism? He could sell his positive outlook on everything to the entire student body and still have enough to walk the halls with a bounce in his step and a grin on his face. His charisma had also won him many fans and admirers. As if that wasn't enough, he had the luck of the devil and the brains of a professor (when motivated enough).
One thing he could not do was cook.
Even that was an understatement. When even collecting the proper ingredients gave him trouble (being an experimental chef, Alfred grabbed whatever caught his eye instead of following the recipe list); an angry Italian was about to kick him out of their kitchen workstation and take over the entire project, but Alfred was insistent he help in some way. He didn't want to stick Lovino with all the work.
"You're being stubborn, Lovino…" he pouted when given the task of washing dishes.
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are," Alfred whined. "Why won't you let me help? I want to do my part of the assignment. We share the grade, don't we?"
"There will be nothing to grade if I let you handle this."
"What about stirring, Master Chef Lovi? I promise I won't screw that up!"
"You'll find a way…" Lovino frowned, but eventually shoved the bowl filled with eggs, creamed butter, and brown sugar in Alfred's direction. "Remember, bastard. Slow."
"You got it!" the blonde's face lit up again. He caught a smirk fighting its way to the corners of Lovino's mouth, causing his enthusiasm to return tenfold. Alfred liked it when his Italian friend smiled. He wished it happened more often.
Alfred obediently whipped the batter with enough force to mix the ingredients together smoothly, but not enough to send them flying all over like his previous attempt. Lovino kept a paranoid eye on him while he simultaneously buttered the baking sheets and preheated the oven.
By nothing short of a miracle, they completed their cookies and set them aside to cool. Lovino placed one on a tasteful plate to turn in to their instructor, reminding Alfred to let the cookies cool before he devoured them like a starving lion. The blonde had been trying to persuade his partner to take the cookies out early for the last ten minutes, so he could sneak one or two (or ten) because they smelled soooo good. With everyone else baking the same thing, the tantalizing aroma of ginger, cloves, and chocolate had filled the entire room. Alfred's mouth was watering, but he promised to save Lovino enough to hold his own cookie killing spree.
In the time it took the brunette to walk away and return, Alfred had been swarmed by other students. While the Iris Zero was present, they had made themselves sparse, instead settling on giving the brunette dirty looks and making rude comments to each other. With him temporarily on the other side of the room, Alfred was free game. Overlooking the fact that Lovino had done most of the work, they were all eager to try a cookie from the batch Alfred was holding. He said he'd share as long as he had enough for everyone.
Hands were flying, so Alfred set the cookie tray down on the counter. Unfortunately, in his attempts to ask for more space, he knocked over the canister of salt, completely coating the fresh speculoos.
"Crap…" Alfred's heart sank. The first thing he and Lovino cooked together and he had managed to cover it in more salt than a demon hunter at an exorcism. "I ruined it…"
The other students surrounding him were quick to dust off the cookies and force themselves to take small bites, insisting through pained looks how they were still good. The blonde looked relieved. A little salt never hurt anyone! Maybe there was still hope for them after all? …But why were his taste-testers crying?
Lovino facepalmed, thanking his lucky stars he had decided to take the sample for Professor Mertens right away. Partially to make sure it reached her safely, partially because his classmates had a nasty habit of knocking his dishes to the floor or throwing his food out before he got back. Lovino tried to hurry back before his partner started bawling. Oh, the perks of working with a kitchen klutz.
Just before he made it back, a student from the adjoining kitchenette recklessly swung his cookie sheet in Lovino's direction on 'accident.' The brunette could feel the heat rising from the tray as it nearly grazed him, but he managed to get out of the way in time. Unfortunately, he bumped into another student and took a spill to the ground. The original reckless chef then proceeded to be 'surprised' and drop the still-toasty tray towards the tsundere.
Lovino tried to scramble out of the way, but was pinned in by the countertop. He braced himself for the burn that never came.
"Careful there," Alfred said, eyes darkening slightly at the 'clumsy' senior. He had managed to catch the tray in his still gloved hand inches away from Lovino's exposed arm. "You almost hurt my friend."
Alfred set the tray on the countertop and silenced the rush of crappy excuse after crappy excuse with a stormy look. The upperclassman wisely backed off and hastily returned to his station. After helping Lovino up and looking him over quickly, satisfied there were no injuries, Alfred's sunny expression returned and remained for the rest of class. With the Iris Zero's arrival, their other classmates returned to their own stations too.
Low exposure shot to hell, Lovino spent the rest of the period insisting to Alfred that he didn't need his help and had the whole thing completely under control.
"Of course you did," Alfred chuckled. "I'd just hate to miss lunch because we had to take you to the nurse's office."
"Like I'd ask you to take me!"
"Admit it, you'd be lonely without me~!"
"Like hell I would!" Lovino snapped back. Bored maybe, but he didn't get lonely. He was better than that. He might not be a fighter like Alfred, but he could take care of himself, dammit. He'd gotten this far, hadn't he?
oOo
After class, Tim, one of the physical education teachers, popped in to ask Bella something. Lovino caught his eye, causing him to turn and get his attention.
"Hey, kid! Tell your lazy hermano that if he skips my class one more time, I'll flunk his ass!"
"If you're going to make a racist joke, at least do it right, jackass," Lovino snarled. Normally, he tried to at least be civil to teachers, but he wasn't a fan of this particular one. Tim had a power complex. He believed that his whistle made him their god.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the large blonde lowered his shades with as much malice as he could muster.
"Antonio's not my brother and I'm not his keeper, dammit."
Tim was about to threaten his ass with detention when Bella stepped in. She began chiding her older brother about the way he talks to students, giving Lovino a chance to give him the stink eye and be dragged off by Alfred. Bella continued to lay into him about picking on the Italian, who was already bullied enough by his peers and didn't need Tim to set an even crueler example for them.
"It's his cousin I don't like," the blonde defended himself. The fact that his sister was half his size made her no less intimidating when upset. "I don't have anything against the Iris Zero himself."
"His name is Lovino," she huffed. "He's your student too; you should at least know his name."
"I have a lot of students," he waved off her concerns. "I can't be expected to remember all of their names."
"You could at least try." Bella heard him make some half-assed excuse and somehow escape her disapproving glare. He always was good at running away.
oOo
Feliciano excitedly left the classroom in the opposite direction of the others. A few classmates asked him where he was going, extending him lunch invites of their own. He was especially popular with the girls who thought he was cute and sweet…so roughly about half the girls he went to school with.
"Sorry!" He apologized with a friendly wave. It was the first day of the month, which meant a long-standing tradition he persuaded Lovino to accept. If puppy eyes, crying, moping, and endless begging counted as persuasion, anyway. "I get to have lunch with my brother today!"
"O-Oh. Really?" a disappointed student sulked.
"That's too bad…"
"Yeah, I feel really bad for you, Feli!"
"What are you talking about?" Feliciano laughed. "I get to eat with my fratello! I even made pasta!"
The others watched him hold up a tupperware container with great flourish.
"Are you some kind of saint or something?" a guy spoke up.
"He must be!" A long-haired girl agreed.
"Huh?" Feliciano was confused. Did he say something strange? True to his heritage, the Italian loved cooking, so it's not like he went to any extra lengths with making their lunch…he made it most of the time, anyway.
"You'd best hurry or you'll keep your brother waiting, Feliciano," Ludwig finished gathering his books and came to his rescue.
"Ah! You're right! I don't want Lovi to be mad at me!" he gave his friends a final wave and skipped off happily. "Ciao!"
"I don't know how he does it…" the other students stared after him.
"No kidding…"
"I wouldn't even look at the Iris Zero if he was my brother…Forget living with him…"
The group's laughter was interrupted by the German in the doorway.
"He was telling the truth."
"Huh?" the group of five or so scumbags was caught off-guard. Most of them were surprised Ludwig was still there and actually talking to them. With real words and stuff!
"Feliciano was happy to go have lunch with his brother."
"You're kidding right?" a taller boy laughed, thinking it was some kind of joke. He was met with a stern look and shuddered slightly.
"I guarantee it…" was all the blonde said before walking off.
oOo
Alfred had ended up joining the Vargas brothers for lunch after hearing what was on the menu. He'd thrown his arms around Lovino and refused to let go until the flustered brunette finally agreed to let him come too. Lovino began snarling about him compromising his 'Low Exposure' and being a 'stronzo' …Whatever that was. Not for the first time, Alfred found himself wishing he knew more Italian, so he could understand everything his friend said. Until then, he'd make his own translations… 'Stronzo' equals 'Superhero!'
Feliciano met the duo on the hallway leading to the roof. His head tilted to the side when he saw Lovino approach with another person, trying to wrap his mind around the situation. Was he imagining things? It had taken him forever to convince his fratello to eat together with him and they were family. The younger Vargas brother's surprise at the realization Alfred was joining them for lunch evaporated into excitement soon after. It was his idea to have the blonde text his twin brother and they'd make it a brothers lunch theme. Lovino insisted their lunch didn't need a theme, but Alfred was all for it.
Feliciano walked behind the others with a huge smile on his face. He was happy that his brother was finally making friends…and all on his own, too! Feli shuddered when he recalled how disastrous the 'playdates' he and Antonio arranged for him ended.
Oh, that's right! 'Toni needs to see this too!
Feliciano may not have the level of skill his Japanese friend did with a camera, but he had no problems sneakily snapping a photo or two of Alfred guiding Lovino by the shoulder to the stairs leading to the roof, like he knew where he was going. (He didn't. The Vargas brothers corrected him twice.) The blonde was sporting his signature crooked grin the entire time, but the redder Lovino's cheeks got, the shorter his temper got. Feli smiled as he looked over the newest additions to his gallery, sending a few of his favorites to his older cousin. Within seconds, Feliciano's phone burst to life in a never-ending stream of hearts, smiley faces, and exclamation marks. The two ahead of him turned around to see what the commotion was about.
"Hehe…sorry," Feli smiled, silencing his phone. "I left the sound on."
"Who are you texting?" Lovino narrowed his eyes.
"Um…'Toni," the brunette replied. Lying wasn't one of his strong suits.
The older Vargas brother eyed him suspiciously. He hoped those two weren't playing House again and acting like his fucking parents. Didn't they remember how bad the last little 'playdate' they arranged ended? He still couldn't believe nobody pressed charges or called the cops. Hell, it was a small miracle everyone survived the whole ordeal.
They gathered on the roof, despite it being off-limits. Nobody had ever bothered Lovino up there before and even Feliciano didn't mind risking a lecture if a teacher came by (much to his fratello's chagrin when he first tried to get his younger brother to leave him alone by intentionally eating up there). Having Alfred there made them even higher above the law. Who was really going to chew out the Student Council President, after all?
"So Alfredo, tell us more about your younger brother!" Feliciano smiled after they'd all settled into their bowls of spaghetti. "He's in a different class than us, right?"
"Yep! I'd bet you'd recognize him, though! We look a lot alike."
"No, you don't," Lovino rolled his eyes. The other two turned to look at him, putting the tsundere on the spot. "Y-You both have blond hair and a similar build, but his hair is longer and your eyes are blue."
"I guess so…" Alfred smiled. "You're very observant, Commissioner Vargas!"
"And I won't even get into your difference in volume."
"I guess we really do have more differences than similarities," the blonde scratched his head. "We don't even have the same last name."
"Why's that?" Lovino asked.
"Our parents' messy divorce."
"Ah."
"So what's his Iris?" Feli tactfully changed the topic.
"Oh, it's really cool!" boasted Alfred. "He can see wings sprouting from people's backs that show their current emotion!"
"Um…" the amber-eyed boy looked confused.
"Do they change color like a mood ring?" Lovino asked, trying to make sense of it.
"That's one way of looking at it, yeah," the hero laughed, the Skittles candy he was eating gave him an idea. He dumped a few candies in his hand and began naming the colors he remembered. "Red is angry, purple is calm, blue is happy…"
"That is really cool!" Feliciano exclaimed, now that he understood it.
"Yep!" Alfred popped another candy into his mouth. "I can taste the rainbow, but Mattie reads the rainbow."
oOo
The sun was shining brightly above them, but it didn't bother the tsundere. He'd take heat over cold any day. Lovino leaned back against the cool brick of the building, perfectly content to let the chatterboxes ramble while he ate their share of the spaghetti. They went on and on about their current essay debating whether Irises were chosen specifically for the individual or not.
Lovino remembered that assignment. He hated it.
Alfred said there might be something behind the selection, since many Irises suit their user. For example, he considered himself a good judge of character, so his Iris only helped that. Matthew was his second example, as it made sense that someone who was practically an angel himself could see angel wings on others. Feliciano countered that not all Irises made sense, citing several ridiculous abilities he'd come across – seeing what's for dinner, seeing a person's favorite number on their forehead, and seeing a person's favorite animal via tattoos (while being unable to distinguish them from real tattoos). Then, there was the obvious example – Iris Zeroes. Why were some people like Lovino born without Irises if Irises were destined and pre-selected for the majority of the population?
"Oh, that's easy!" Alfred smiled brightly. "It's because he doesn't need one."
"Huh?" both brothers responded.
"Because he's perfect the way he is!" the blonde explained with ease.
Alfred's blunt honesty had two distinct effects on the Vargas brothers. Feliciano erupted into happy giggles and was quick to agree with his classmate. Lovino turned several shades of red and punched him in the arm, ordering him to stop spouting stupid things. When Alfred only laughed, Lovino punched him again. Not long after that, Matthew showed up.
"There you are, Al!"
"Yo! What kept you, bro?" Alfred asked, making room for his twin by scooting closer to Lovino. "I would have thought sneaking up here would be no problem for you."
"It was awful. Roderich thought I was you again and tried to get me to sign a bunch of paperwork."
"That idiot…" Lovino shook his head.
"Ve…"
Matthew sighed and glanced around. Feliciano was his usually bouncy blue of pure blissfulness. Lovino on the other hand…well…Matthew hadn't spent much time with him, but hadn't gone out of his way to avoid him either. He didn't believe in all the 'Iris Zeroes suck away your own Iris' nonsense. Although if it were true, he wouldn't complain much. He tried to smile politely, noting Lovino's cautious yellow wings flicker to life. The other Italian wasted no time in talking a mile per minute about Matthew's cool Iris.
Matthew indulged him until Roderich broke up their happy lunch. Apparently he had been looking everywhere for the elusive Student Council President and wasn't happy about it.
"You were supposed to sign the Homecoming budget papers this morning and never showed up!" he scolded. "Do you know what kind of example that sets to the rest of the council members?"
"…That I like to sleep in?"
His humor was met with the makings of a five-hour lecture on tardiness and proper presidential etiquette. Alfred's insistence that he was having Arthur help him out with that fell on deaf ears.
"And another thing, what in the world do you think you're doing on the roof?" Roderich frowned. "You know it's off-limits to students!"
"I guess that makes you a rule breaker too…" shrugged the blonde.
"Hardly! I was just taking the necessary steps to locate you!"
"It's okay, Roderich!" Feliciano tried to patch things up. "We were just having lunch, nothing bad!"
"I find that difficult to believe…" the Austrian's gaze fell on the older Italian. He then looked away in disgust.
Matthew watched Lovino's emotions flicker through his wings – angry red, a pang of grey grief, and finally cruel black. The tsundere walked past Roderich, casually touching him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, we wouldn't even think of trying again…" The sarcasm was so heavy in his voice, it was practically tangible.
"H-How dare you!" the senior jumped back, as if he was burned.
Lovino smirked, but continued on his way, semi-apologetic Feliciano following close behind. The Austrian opened his mouth to say more, but Alfred cut him off.
"Chill out, Roddy, where's the paperwork you're so dead-set on me signing?"
Matthew, ever the spectator, watched the scene play out before him, feeling a little bad for Lovino. Roderich's wings had turned yellow the instant Lovino touched his shoulder. Maybe the stereotypes and discrimination people held towards Iris Zeroes ran deeper than he thought. His violet eyes flickered back to his brother, who had come to his moody friend's aid without a second thought (and in a surprisingly non-aggressive way). Roderich was quick to judge someone based off society's view, but Alfred preferred getting to know the person before judging them too harshly, despite being raised with the same stereotypes the Austrian was.
Maybe there's a reason Alfred is President and Roderich isn't?
Matthew smiled.
oOo
A/N – We're just gonna ignore the fact that in real life, speculoos have to be chilled for an hour before they can be baked. I took creative liberties to make their assignment fit within a single school period.
I couldn't remember exactly what emotion went along with every color Nanase mentioned in the Iris Zero manga, but remembered that not every color was identified yet either. I plan on revealing more of Matt's color keys within the next few chapters, so instead of waiting around for Iris Zero updates (and keeping it 'canon') I branched out to use basic psychological properties of various colors instead. That way, things are simplified and I can keep the colors consistent throughout the chapters.
And while I prefer Feli actively standing up for his brother, he doesn't always catch the double-meanings or understand the subtle bullying from his classmates, who he considers friends (and therefore doesn't realize they're just as bad as Lovi's classmates in terms of bullying). That said, when it's someone he's less familiar with or someone who openly says something not nice about his fratello, he's more likely to jump to Lovino's defense. This will change over the course of the story as Feli becomes less naïve about others around him.
-Rajikka
Translations
Fratello – Brother (It.)
Mertens – A common Belgian surname, since Belgium doesn't have a canon human name. Since they're siblings, Netherlands also got it by default in this fic.
Hermano – Brother (Sp.)
Stronzo – Bastard or Asshole (It.)
Tsundere – A type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. (Jp.)