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.

This chapter centers around Antonio and sheds a little light on "that day" he and Lovino mentioned a few chapters back. See? I told you it would turn up eventually XD

oOo

Isabel Carriedo was many things – mother, dancer, master chef, music studio owner, loyal friend, and teacher. The beautiful brunette was tall and graceful, but she could make a beefy man twice her size tremble if there was ever cause for a disagreement. Most commonly, she got into arguments over social inequalities and politics. She was a defender of Iris Zero children even before her nephew's diagnosis. Isabel hated living in a society that treated others cruelly based on genetics. To her, it was no different than discriminating against someone based on his or her race, gender, or nationality. This was one of the most important lessons she passed on to her youngest son, Antonio.

"Mama! Mama!" her five year old son raced around a tall, horseshoe-arched corner of their Neo-Mudéjar style home, latching onto her leg. "Guess what? Guess what?"

"What is it, chiquito?" she smiled, used to her son's energy.

"That was Abuelo on the phone! He said he's coming to the family dinner tonight!"

"Thank you for delivering such wonderful news, Toni," his mother gave him a hug. "It's been awhile since you've seen Romulus, hasn't it?"

"Si!"

"Would you like to help me make churros for the occasion?"

"SI!" Antonio exclaimed. He bounced around the kitchen for a bit, then turned back around with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Mama…?"

"Yes?"

"If the whole family is meeting for dinner, will Lovino be there too?"

Isabel knelt beside her son and embraced him. It wasn't too long ago that the family heard – Carmen and Romeo's eldest son was born without an Iris. Lovino was an Iris Zero. The reaction had been harsh. Most of the family refused to even look at the boy now, despite treating him no different than his brother just weeks before. Several of the adults even accused Lovino's parents of hiding it from them and exposing everyone to whatever misfortune followed those cursed Iris Zero. It had been awhile since Lovino was able to attend any family gatherings.

"I don't think so, amorcito…"

"Is…Is there something wrong with him?" Antonio asked, eyes filled with concern.

"No…No there isn't," Isabel bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back her temper. Her son must have seen the way they treated the younger boy. "There are people in this world, foolish people, who would disagree, but that's just their stupidity speaking."

Antonio tilted his head, not fully understanding what she was trying to say.

"Mijo, lots of us have something called an Iris inside our eyes. It helps see the world in a different way," his mother explained. "Your Iris helps you see dogs and Feli's Iris helps him see names."

"What does Lovi's Iris do?"

"Lovino was born without an Iris," continued Isabel. "He doesn't see dogs, names, numbers, or colors that aren't visible to others."

"Oh…"

"It's not a bad thing to lack an Iris, but there are some people who think anyone without Irises are bad luck."

"I-Is that true?" Antonio's eyes widened. Was his cousin in danger?

"Up until a few weeks ago, everyone thought Lovino had an Iris…He was treated no differently than people with Irises," Isabel looked at her son, square in the eye. "Do you think Lovino somehow changed when the doctor told us he was an Iris Zero?"

"Um…no," the boy furrowed his brows. "Lovi's always been Lovi…right?"

"That's right, Antonio," she hugged her son, proud that a five year old could make sense of a topic a 35 year old struggled with. "There are people who judge Iris Zeroes harshly, but they are the ones who are bad, not people without Irises. People tend to fear what they can't understand."

Antonio nodded.

"That's why it's important that you don't judge your cousin like the rest of the world will," Isabel held his hand. "Lovino will have enough people turning on him throughout his life for something he can't control. What he really needs is for someone to be on his side…Do you think you can do that, mijo?"

"Yeah!" the green-eyed boy cheered. "I won't let them bully Lovi! I'll be his friend, no matter what!"

oOo

Back in the present day, Antonio had done his best to keep his promise to his mother all those years ago. Lovino hadn't exactly made things easy for him, with the Italian's tendency to hide his pain and refuse to tell even his cousin when things were bad, but the cheerful Spaniard had prevailed…and made life difficult for several bullies along the way. Recently, Antonio had begun extending that protection to others who were finding themselves targets of the cowards who attacked others in packs to feel powerful.

Speak of the devil…

"Do you see what I see, amigo?" Antonio nudged his albino buddy.

"Some high and mighty prick just begging to be brought down a few pegs?" grinned Gilbert, glancing over to the group of three upperclassmen picking on some freshmen. "Kesesese! Must be our lucky day!"

The duo made their way over to the scene, interrupting whatever second-rate insult the leader of the trio was attempting to string together with his limited brainpower. The black-haired boy's mouth hung open as his words trailed off. By now, everyone in the school recognized the shield-like badges worn by the World Academy Police Force.

"Hey there slack-jaw, what's goin' on over here?" Gilbert asked with a cheerful tone and an evil grin.

"You wouldn't be…threatening these freshmen, would you~?" Antonio mirrored his friend's tone, something dangerous flashing behind his emerald eyes.

"I, uh, we…we're, um…" The instigator and his cronies tried to babble something back, but the words died in their throats. Much like their dignity.

Not all the practice stealing lunch money in the world could prepare them for when the tables were turned and they were the ones in danger. The three boys were all bark and no bite, so the Police Force reps barely had to flash their muscles to get them to back off. All three upperclassmen ran away, tails between their legs the second they were given the chance. The freshmen couple tried to thank their saviors, but the duo was too preoccupied striking a sequence of elaborate poses to music cued up from the albino's phone.

"See? See? I told you it was worth practicing without Franny!" Gilbert continued flexing his biceps, long after the finale was over.

"You still stepped on my foot…" Antonio pouted, finally dropping his hands from their outstretched position above his head.

"You're a tough guy, you'll get over it!"

"You stepped on my foot three times."

"Well, your foot shouldn't have been there, kesesese!"

"I could practically flamenco before I could walk, Gil. I don't think my footwork is the problem."

"Are you trying to say that the Awesome Me has two left feet?" the albino was shocked.

"Of course not~!" Antonio smiled. "You have three left feet~!"

Both continued squabbling over poses and footwork. The freshmen stared and began to question their choice in heroes.

Not long after, the bell rang and Antonio found himself in biology class, zoning out as usual (if there wasn't talk about cute animals to keep his attention, he was a permanent resident of Daydream Central). The Spaniard continued thinking about the past, dozens of images swirling together. He was planting a garden with his family as a child, then watching his father and older brother walking out the door when he was barely three. It was one of his earliest memories and far from his fondest. Fortunately, he had lots of other happy memories to ease the pain, such as cooking with his mom. She had even bought him a stepstool, so he could reach the counter. After that memory faded, one of him extending a hand to his crying cousin came into view. This too faded, for one of him cooking with his mother and little Lovino (who was using his old stepstool). Antonio started mumbling something about churros in his sleep, before he was rudely brought back to reality.

"Geez, wake up already!" Gilbert hissed, shaking his spacey friend. "We have to hightail it to our next class if we're gonna make it on time."

"But we're on the Police Force…" the brunette rubbed his eyes sleepily. "We'll be alright."

"Huh, I suppose that's true," the red-eyed boy blinked and clapped Antonio on the back. "I guess you're not as out of it as you look!"

oOo

Lunch hour was tense today in the farthest corner of the cafeteria. Even students picked up on the bad vibes and steered clear of the surrounding tables. The hero was a little surprised. He hadn't seen a reaction as strong as this, since the bake sale Arthur unknowingly sabotaged. What could cause such a response? To use Lovino's words - potato bastards. Alfred had been trying to get to know Gilbert better for his brother's sake, he really had. Mattie just didn't understand how difficult that was…

"—And then I showed the arschloch my awesome muscles and he ran off with his groupies, crying like a baby!" the albino recounted his heroic tale from this morning. "You would have been proud of me, Birdie! The Awesome Me didn't even have to pick a fight! I won by just being awesome!"

"I'm missing lunch with Lovino for this…?" Alfred muttered, poking at his food.

"Did you say something, Al?" his twin brother asked.

"Nope."

Gilbert didn't seem fazed by the interruption and went right on with his story. According to him, the twelve or so upperclassmen (who were members of a biker gang now) were heavily armed with chains and crowbars, but cowered in the face of Awesome. Both blondes noticed the number of deadly foes kept growing every time Gilbert described them. Matthew laughed at his boyfriend's exaggeration of his epic tale of good versus evil. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"So, Birdie, what did you think of the—"

"Why do you call him 'Birdie' anyway?" the Hero interrupted, willing to take any excuse to change the subject before Gilbert's story turned into a Michael Bay movie. "That's a weird nickname…"

"Because he can see wings on people and has an awesome pair himself," Gilbert raised his eyebrows and laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Y'know? Like a bird."

"And Gilbird likes me," added Matthew, the yellow bird on his shoulder chirped in agreement.

"He's not the only one…" the albino winked.

Matthew blushed slightly and gently interlaced his fingers with Gilbert's. It was a sweet, tender moment. Times like these proved that the self-proclaimed Prussian had a romantic side and Matthew treasured every gesture, compliment, and piece of affection Gilbert showered him with. Too bad they had invited Alfred…

"Any more sap and you guys'll be making maple syrup…"

"Hey, we aren't sappy, we're awesome!" Gilbert was quick to defend his boyfriend. He pointed an accusing finger at Alfred, nearly poking him in the nose. "Like you and Lovino are any different!"

That struck a chord with Alfred and the two were at each other's necks in seconds.

"Stop!" Matthew broke them up by diving between them. "Stop it, you two!"

"He started it!" they shouted indignantly in unison. "Shut up! I did not!"

The wavy-haired boy sighed, slumping back into his seat. Maybe lunch wasn't such a good idea, after all… There was too much drama at school. He needed to bring the two hosers together in a tamer, more relaxing environment. Somewhere the stress of World Academy didn't distract or provoke them. Yes, Matthew just had to take them both somewhere peaceful…

Or shoot them both with a tranquilizer gun.

oOo

Like his cousins, Antonio had a knack for getting himself into hopeless situations. If there was a way to aimlessly wander into a restricted area of any store, he and Lovino would find it. When spending the night at the Vargas house, he and Feliciano had a bad habit of staying up too late watching infomercials and discovering all kinds of product they never knew existed, but now couldn't imagine life without (the two were also on a first name basis with many of the local FedEx workers). Serious conversations? He'd barge in, none the wiser, and most likely ask if anyone wanted to join him for a walk because it was so pretty outside. Telemarketer? Became his friend over the length of a phone conversation, regardless of what it was originally about. Lovino had even forbidden them to answer the phone if they didn't recognize the number. Unfortunate situations and Antonio were old friends.

The one he currently found himself trapped in involved a dead end, a lunch hour ticking away, and an overly-confident girl listing all the things she supposedly loved about him. Normally, the Spaniard loved talking to pretty girls, but there was something about this one that made him feel... uncomfortable. Was it the way she smiled? He couldn't help but notice she had really big teeth. Distractingly big. British big.

"Are you sure you really feel that way?" Antonio asked, forcing a smile.

"Of course I am, silly!" she giggled, flicking her strawberry blonde hair behind her. "You're so cute…and dreamy…and strong!"

They both sighed, but for different reasons.

"And you know my family is another big name in the music industry, just like your mom!" the girl smiled, her beaver teeth on full display. "So you should go out with me this Saturday! It'll be fun!"

Antonio could see where this was going and declined. For one thing, he had a huge crush on Bella, for another, he had already made plans Saturday with Lovi and Feli. Not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings, he tried to explain as politely as possible that he wasn't dating right now.

"Then it won't be a date. We'll just go as friends!"

"Um…I already made plans. Sorry."

"With who?" the girl pressed the issue, her true colors beginning to show.

"My cousins," he replied, rubbing his neck. Antonio bit back his urge to chuckle when he realized he was subconsciously rubbing away the pain in the neck courtesy of the pain in the neck standing in front of him. "I already promised them awhile ago, so I can't back out at the last minute."

The senior girl was furious. Her face contorted into a frown and she crossed her arms tightly. The Spaniard could've sworn he saw a vein or two start pulsing on her forehead. Why was she so angry? Was she one of those overly-attached girlfriends Francis warned him about? Scary…

"Feliciano I understand, but why waste your time with Lovino?" she fumed. "He's an Iris Zero, Antonio. I shouldn't have to tell you how bad it looks to hang around those kinds of people..."

Antonio suddenly lost all traces of kindness after she said that. He came to his cousin's defense, growing angry and tense himself.

"I don't deal with anyone trash talking my family," he warned her. "If you like me for my carefree side, you'd do well not to piss me off. Comprendes?"

"W-Why do you always go out of your way to stand up for the Iris Zero?!" the girl shrieked.

"People with Irises aren't better than others…"

oOo

"People with Irises aren't better than others," Isabel told her five year old son while they sat on the porch together. "Some are even worse off."

"What do you mean, Mama?" Antonio asked with wide green eyes.

"Some have scary Irises, like my sister," her eyes lowered sadly. "Your Aunt Carmen's Iris tells her when someone is going to be murdered."

Antonio thought that was awful. How could anyone stand to look at a loved one and see they were dying? Is this what people thought was better than not seeing anything different at all? He still felt bad about the way people treated Lovino, but he was also glad that his little cousin didn't have to see anything terrible like that. The next time he visited the Vargas house to play with Lovino, he would have to remember to give Aunt Carmen an extra hug.

The boy had done as his mom had asked and befriended Lovino. While it was true he was following his mother's request, Antonio was always happy to play with his little cousin. Even as a kid, he could see how much Lovino hated himself. The boy used to be able to light up a room with his smile, but now often locked himself in his bedroom and avoided playing with other kids his age. Lovino even seemed afraid to be around Feliciano after several adults told him just his presence could hurt someone.

Initially, it had been difficult for Lovino to trust even his own cousin. At first, Antonio thought it was because the tsundere didn't trust others. He told his little cousin over and over he would be fine. His own Iris told him when there was danger. The Spaniard worked hard to convince Lovino that if he couldn't trust him, he could trust his Iris. For some reason, this always made the boy without an Iris sad. Didn't he believe him? It wasn't until later Antonio realized it was because the Italian didn't trust himself. Lovino's life was a sequence of doors shutting and people leaving because he was an Iris Zero, a failure. How could anyone love him? His own family despised him.

Antonio, Feliciano, and their grandfather worked hard to undo the damage that had been done, but it was a long process, especially after his mother died. Society constantly reinforced rejecting Iris Zeroes and now even his own father followed suit. When Lovino was at home, he spent a lot of time alone, so Antonio tried to visit whenever possible.

They played at the nearby park often. It had a large playground and swings shaped like different animals. Antonio liked hopping on a swing and making the wrong animal noise to get Lovino to laugh and call him an idiota. When other kids overheard their parents talking about the Vargas boy being an Iris Zero, they avoided the two. Antonio never let it bother him and told Lovino to do the same. So what if the other children ran away from them? It only meant they never had to wait in line for the swings or slides. Kids came and went until one day they met Arthur.

The blonde was short for his age, but Antonio recognized him from school. He was in the other first grade classroom, making Arthur seven like him. The Spaniard recalled hearing another student mention Arthur's Iris…the ability to see when a person was near death. It was a lot like his late Aunt's Iris and Antonio knew people avoided Arthur at school for fear he'd see a butterfly on them. He couldn't help, but sympathize. Arthur walked past them without looking up.

Antonio's sympathy turned to a desire to help when he noticed a small, fully awake Grim trailing behind the blond.

"Hey, Arthur!" Antonio waved him over, smiling at his cousin when Lovino shot him a worried look. He didn't have time to explain to Lovino that the blonde was in danger. Whatever it was would be happening soon…

"What do you want?" Arthur addressed him coldly.

"We were gonna go on the swings," the taller brunette brushed off the attitude. He had plenty of experience with tsundere moods, thanks to Lovino. "You wanna come too?"

"Why?" the blonde's lips closed in a tight line. People were never nice to him for no reason…they always wanted something.

"For fun!" Antonio laughed, raising his hands with his Lovi's. He squeezed his cousin's hand to reassure Lovino everything was okay. "I've seen you around at school and you look like you could use some fun!"

"You…go to my school?" Arthur began putting the pieces together. "…Then you know about my Iris. Why do you want to play with me?"

"For fun, like I told you!"

Arthur caught the look of sympathy in Antonio's eyes and bristled. If there was anything he hated more than people being afraid of him, it was people who pitied him.

"Go away!" Arthur suddenly shouted.

"But we just want to be friends," the brunette nudged the smaller boy next to him. "Right, Lovi?"

Lovino nodded slowly, but Arthur refused to believe them. This had to be some kind of trick. Like how his brothers pretended to care about him just to hurt him later. No human was that nice in real life.

"I don't want your pity!"

"Whoa, whoa, I'm not trying to pity you, I promise," the Spaniard waved his hands. "My Aunt had an Iris like you. She could tell when someone was going to die—"

"Liar!"

"It's true…" little Lovino chipped in. "My Mama could do that."

Arthur still thought they were trying to make fun of him somehow, just like his big brothers. This was definitely something they'd do. It made sense for other people to do that too. He wouldn't put it past Alistair to even pay someone to hurt his feelings. However, a part of him was still curious about someone with an Iris like him…

"…What happened to her?"

"S-She…" Lovino stiffened, but managed to answer. "…She died right in front of me last year. A-A man hit her with his car on purpose."

"If she really had that Iris, she wouldn't have died then!" Arthur snarled, the words escaping his mouth before he could stop them. "She only died because you were the one who was supposed to die, not her."

All the guilt and blame that Antonio and the others had tried to undo for an entire year suddenly came back with a vengeance. Tears fell from the Italian's eyes and his tiny body shuddered from the sobs that started overtaking him. Antonio saw this, immediately punched Arthur square in the jaw, and led Lovino away from the sputtering Briton. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Grim following Arthur had vanished. How ironic that the danger he had foreseen was himself. Yet, Antonio didn't feel guilty; far from it.

He swore to himself he'd never forgive Arthur for as long as Lovino blamed himself for his mother's death.

oOo

After finally ditching the bitchy girl who thought Iris Zeroes were the embodiment of all destruction, Antonio tracked down the table he, Francis, and Gilbert invaded during their freshmen year and ruled from ever since. Hanging out with them and getting some actual food in his stomach would be just what he needed to put the ugly scene out of his mind.

"Antoine, try these new wafers with me~!" Francis shoved a cookie into the brunette's mouth before he even sat down.

"If this is from one of your crazy fangirls again…" Antonio still recalled the last time his friend made the mistake of sharing the homemade desserts a fangirl had made him. Poor Gilbert and him were angrily stalked by her for a solid week after.

"Non, non! It's one of my recipes!" the blonde laughed, offering him another, this one layered with chocolate. "I made a dozen during my culinary class earlier. I can't risk eating so many if I'm to keep up my magnificent appearance, so I thought I'd share them with you and Gilbert!"

"So, it's okay if Gil and I get fat as long as you keep your girlish figure?"

"Oui! Normally, I'm fine since Arthur can't cook to save his own life!" Francis chuckled. "I certainly don't have to worry about him fattening me up."

The two laughed and waited for their albino friend to arrive. The lunchroom was filling up quickly. It was unlike Gilbert to miss out on food. Antonio munched on another wafer. The brunette briefly wondered if he made last minute plans with someone else. Oh, well…more cookies for him.

"Lovino!" Francis greeted the boy standing behind Antonio. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I'm here to ask you idiots something…on behalf of the Student Council," the Italian quickly added that second part.

"You got it, Lovi~!" his cousin hugged his waist, happy to help. Friends, food, and family could always raise his spirits.

"I bet it has to do with our stunning good looks and specialty with handcuffs..." smirked Francis.

"Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither." Lovino glanced around while prying Antonio off him. "Where's Potato Bastard #2?"

"Oh, he's off with Matthew, having lots of great—"

"—Forget I asked."

"We can still help though, Lovi!"

"Unfortunately, this is a job for all three of you. I'll catch up with the albino idiot later," he sighed, already not looking forward to that conversation. "How would you feel about joining a Host Club for a week?"

oOo

A/N – The Spanish endearments are taking over this story, as well! XD

And the second-to-last scene ended up morphing into more of a group flashback, than just Antonio's. I originally wrote it just from Antonio's perspective, but Arthur ended up sounding like a complete arse, so I changed it to only make him a partial arse. As confusing as they were, Arthur did have his reasons for what he did…but I didn't have another way of revealing those at this point in the story, so you got a group flashback. Just let me know if something didn't make sense.

Sorry, we didn't get to see the bunny...she was originally in this chapter, but it didn't flow right, so she'll pop up in the next one.

Next chapter is the first day of the Host Club~!

-Rajikka

Translations

Chiquito – Little boy (Sp.)

Abuelo – Grandfather (Sp.)

Amorcito – Little love (Sp.)

Mijo – short for "Mi hijo" which means "My son" (Sp.)

Fratello – Brother (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.)

Arschloch – Asshole (Ger.)

Comprendes – You comprehend/understand? (Sp.)

Oui – Yes (Fr.)