Another week, another chapter and two brothers are reuniting! Here we go!
I don't own Hetalia!
Demonic Romeo Vol VI
Rutovu~ihi stared at someone he had not seen in years but he remembered the silver/white hair and the crimson eyes. He did not remember the red horns and white, reptilian wings but he should have expected that, seeing as he knew Girubāto was a demon.
His little brother had grown up since his death, was Girubāto's first thought when he saw Rutovu~ihi. The last time Girubāto saw him, he was a gawky teenager, now Rutovu~ihi was taller than him and ripped with muscles. A pair of magnificent, white wings sprouted from his back.
"Hello, bruder!" was the only thing Rutovu~ihi could think of to say. Of all the things to happen, this was what he was the least prepared for.
"Hello, kleiner bruder," Girubāto replied, although it felt a little strange to call someone who was bigger than him 'little'. Then he sighed. "This is so unawesome! I never wanted you to see me like this!"
"If Mashū can cope with his brother being a demon, Girubāto," Rutovu~ihi commented. "So can I! It's good to see you again!" And he hugged Girubāto who hugged him back.
"I've missed you!"
"Right back at you, bruder!" They broke the hug and stepped back, the suspicion of a tear in the corner of their eyes.
"That being said," Rutovu~ihi continued. "Talk to your friends and make sure they know that the Vargas Brothers are off-limits! First, I have to save Ferishiāno from this groping pervert." He indicated toward Furanshisu who blushed. "Then I find this one, putting moves on Rōman!" He pointed at Ansonī.
"We are demons, Rutovu~ihi!" Girubāto pointed out. "That's our task, what Hell demands of us."
"Nevertheless," his brother replied. "If I find them trying again, I will act accordingly, your friends or no!" Girubāto nodded. This was an accepted hazard.
"What are you doing here, any way?" Āsā asked as he gazed over the little group. Arufureddo came to stand in front of Āsā.
"I heard that you had a run-in with Iwan," he replied. "I had to see if you were all right!"
"Don't worry about me!" Āsā smirked. "I wasn't the one who had a crane dropped on him!" Girubāto began to laugh.
"Kesesese!" he chuckled. "That really happened? No wonder Iwan was pissed! Oh, this is awesome!"
"He was that angry?"
"Let's put it this way," Girubāto replied. "One demon is yet to wake up and half of Hell is still in hiding!"
"Which means you'll need to be careful," Arufureddo said to Āsā. "Iwan will be gunning for you now."
"He already is," Āsā replied. "Iwan deliberately sought me out! At first, I thought he was delaying me so Ansonī could get to Rōman but it became quite clear that he was nothing to do with Ansonī which can only mean Iwan came after me!"
"That's a problem!"
"Why are we standing around, talking like we're all friends?" Ansonī asked, confused at the almost camaraderie of the gathering. Arufureddo looked at Girubāto and Furanshisu and nodded. Time to bring Ansonī into the loop.
"The angel that Furanshisu and I were fighting," Girubāto explained. "Turns out it's Arufureddo's little brother, Mashū. Āsā's been setting up meetings for them and I've been acting as lookout. No way do we want Iwan finding out about that!" Ansonī felt a little hurt that Arufureddo had not confided in him about this.
"Why didn't you tell me, amigo?" he asked with a pout. "I would have backed you up, you know that!" Arufureddo put his hand on his friend's shoulder to reassure him.
"If Iwan thought you knew something," he replied. "You would have been a target for him. There's no telling what Iwan would have done to you to find out what you knew. Sorry, man! It was for your own protection." Ansonī shrugged.
"Si, it's okay!" he replied. "I get it!"
"You will if you go near Rōman again," Rutovu~ihi warned. "He's under my protection, as is Ferishiāno! So be warned!"
"Shame!" Ansonī declared. "I like Rōman! He's cute and looks like a tomate when he goes red! I think I could have had something there!"
"Not his soul!" Āsā snapped. "He's under my protection too."
"We'll stay away from the Vargas Brothers," Arufureddo said, giving the other two demons a meaningful stare. He would talk to them later but he had a bad feeling that the Vargas Brothers were going to be a flash point in the future.
"We better depart before we're spotted by either side," Furanshisu advised. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea and began to separate while Arufureddo turned to Āsā.
"I'll see you and Mashū tomorrow," he promised. He did not dared kiss Āsā in front of the other demons, Girubāto gave him a big enough headache about it so he just gave Āsā's hand a squeeze before following his friends into the air as Rutovu~ihi and Āsā returned to the restaurant.
"Do you think it's possible to redeem a demon and bring him into Heaven, Rutovu~ihi?" Āsā asked the arch-angel. Rutovu~ihi gave it some thought.
"I've never heard of it happening," he admitted. "Perhaps you should talk to Romyurasu or my grandfather. They might know more." Āsā nodded.
"I will!"
Mashū sighed with relief as he left from meeting with the Higher-Ups who had tried long and harder to persuade him not to meet with his brother again but Mashū adamantly refused. In the end, they gave up and just accepted that Arufureddo was going to be a part of Mashū's life whether they approved or not. They finally allowed him to leave with a note of caution and that Rutovu~ihi would now accompany the meetings. Mashū could live with that!
As he made his way to his chambers, he saw that Āsā had returned and was making his way to the Heavenly Records temple.
"Āsā!" he called out to his mentor. Āsā stopped and looked round at Mashū.
"Hello!" he greeted the younger angel. "How did the meeting go?"
"They tried to get me to stay away from Arufureddo," Mashū replied. "I said no! How was your day?"
"Eventful!" Āsā admitted. "I'm going to see Romyurasu and U~Orufugangu about it and ask them something. Maybe you should come, it concerns you!" Mashū followed Āsā, full of curiosity.
The Heavenly Records Keepers agreed to see them and Āsā related everything that had happened.
"You're sure that the Soul Thief deliberately sought you out?" U~Orufugangu asked. "That he wasn't just keeping you busy for the other demons?"
"That's what I thought, at first," Āsā replied. "But the demon Ansonī was quite adamant in his denial and I believe him. In fact, I would go so far as to say that all four demons actually hate Iwan. It seems he has enemies, even in Hell!"
"Why would he target you?" U~Orufugangu asked. Āsā knew the Romyurasu was not going to like this.
"It seems that I'm Iwan's big failure," he replied. "Iwan never failed to get a soul until he tried to take mine when I was alive. He failed and it seems I'm known as 'The Uncorrupted' in Hell!" Romyurasu frowned and turned to U~Orufugangu.
"This is a troubling development," he commented. "Āsā is Rōman's guardian. If the Soul Thief is targeting him, not only is he in danger but my grandsons could be at risk too. Perhaps we should have someone else assigned to Rōman for a while."
"I can do my task!" Āsā said, offended that they would think he was a liability. "And I'm not afraid of Iwan."
"But there's the question of the other demons," U~Orufugangu pointed out.
"I don't think they'll be a problem," Āsā replied. "Mashū's brother, Arufureddo said he'd talk to the others and one of them is Girubāto, Rutovu~ihi's brother and your grandson. He won't attack his brother!" U~Orufugangu hoped Āsā was right, that Girubāto had that much humanity left in him.
"Are you sure of that?" Romyurasu asked. "That Ansonī demon sounds a little too interested in Rōman."
"He can't do anything while I'm there," Āsā replied. "And he's no match for Rutovu~ihi. Please! Let my do my job!" Romyurasu sighed.
"Very well," he agreed. "But the moment you think your presence is endangering Rōman and Ferishiāno, you leave, understand!" Āsā nodded.
"There's something I want to ask," he said. "Is it possible to redeem a demon and bring him to Heaven?" Mashū stared at Āsā. Was he talking about Arufureddo?
"I'm afraid not!" U~Orufugangu replied, adamantly, crushing the hope. "Demons can't come into Heaven."
"Why not?" Mashū demanded. "Demons can grab angels and drag them to Hell to be tainted into demons, why can't we take demons, purify them and make them angels?" U~Orufugangu sighed.
"If we could, don't you think we would," he replied. "Especially victims of Iwan! The difference is that angels own their souls, demons don't and you need a soul to pass into Heaven. Hell would have to relinquish ownership of the demon's soul for the demon to have a chance of Heaven and that has never happened."
"Is there any way to get Hell to relinquish ownership?" Āsā asked. "Anything we can use?"
"Hell could relinquish ownership of its own accord," Romyurasu replied. "Not very likely or someone from Hell could break the rules between Heaven and Hell, in which case, Hell would have to forfeit something of our choosing. But Hell is very careful about its denizens sticking to the rules. Any demon who broke them and cost Hell souls would face …... severe penalties!"
"What rules?"
"Demons cannot take a soul that is uncorrupted or acceptable to Heaven," U~Orufugangu stated. "They can't take the life of a living uncorrupted and the souls of children are off-limits since they have not lived long enough to taint themselves."
"So that's why Iwan tried to get my soul, rather than Pītā's," Āsā mused. "There's no other way?" Both angels shook their heads.
"Thank you," Āsā and Mashū bowed and left the room. Well, that was disappointing! Unless they wanted to trick demons into taking some poor, innocent soul, thereby corrupting their own, they had no way of saving Arufureddo. They could only hope that they caught some demons breaking the rules on their own. Mashū summed it up.
"This sucks!"
"Ve~ Do you think they'll come back, Rōman?" Ferishiāno asked as they dressed for bed. His voice was muffled as he pulled his pajama top over his head.
"Who cares!" Rōman snapped as he pulled a comb through his hair but he was wondering the same thing. Would the Tomato Bastard return? Some part of him hoped so!
"Isn't Rutovu~ihi handsome?" Ferishiāno continued to gush about his gorgeous German. Rōman sniffed.
"The bastard certainly likes his potatoes," he muttered, remembering how many Ferishiāno's new friend had consumed. And sausage.
"I think you like Ansonī too," Ferishiāno smiled at his brother. Rōman turned bright red at Ferishiāno's observation, mainly because it was true.
"What do you mean, idiota?" he denied, hotly and unconvincingly. "There's no way I give a damn about that Tomato Bastard. Don't be such a moron!" Ferishiāno decided it was time for Rōman's next treatment.
"HUG THERAPY!" he shouted and glomped his brother. Rōman freaked out as his brother's arms enclosed him and hugged him tight, Rōman trying to untangle himself from Ferishiāno's embrace.
"WILL YOU STOP WITH THE STUPID HUG THERAPY, YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, smacking Ferishiāno upside the head and escaping his clutches. Ferishiāno rubbed his head and then forgot his brother had ever hit him.
"Ve~ I know you like him," Ferishiāno replied. "You never would have invited him for lunch if you didn't." Rōman snorted.
"I was just saying thank you," he lied. "Like you were with the Potato Bastard."
"And because I liked him," Ferishiāno admitted. "I wanted to get to get to know him better. Are you sure you don't like Ansonī just a little bit?" Rōman gave Ferishiāno a shove.
"Just go to bed, idiota!"
Everyone had gathered in Arufureddo's room in Hell, discussing the situation now that everybody was on the same page, although Ansonī was still in the dark about certain romantic aspects of the whole situation.
"We have to stay away from the Vargas Brothers," Arufureddo said. "I don't want anything jeopardizing my meetings with Mashū. Attempts on their souls might make Heaven ban all contact with me."
"For who?" Girubāto asked, sarcastically. Ansonī gave Girubāto a confused look.
"Do you want to be banned from seeing Rutovu~ihi?" Arufureddo asked him. Girubāto shook his head. Wanting to see one's brother was something Girubāto understood now he had seen his own.
"I still want to see Rōman!" Ansonī declared. "He's too cute to let go. I like it in his company!"
"Someone else who's love-struck," Girubāto sighed, although he had to admit that Mashū was awesomely adorable. He shook his head. He was getting as bad as Arufureddo.
"I would have loved to get that cute little Italian," Furanshisu said with a hint of sadness. "Ah well, c'est la vie!"
"I can't stop ya from approaching Rōman Vargas," Arufureddo said. "Just don't try to corrupt his soul or you'll have to deal with Rutovu~ihi. Remember, he's an arch-angel."
"Gracias, amigo," Ansonī replied. "I promise I won't touch Rōman's soul. I won't do anything to restrict your time with your brother. Or yours." Ansonī turned to Girubāto.
"Danke, mein freund," Girubāto said. "But what about the other problem, Iwan! He's out to get Āsā which puts both Mashū and Rutovu~ihi in the firing-line too."
"Then we have to protect them without Iwan realizing it," Arufureddo replied.
"Protect angels!" Furanshisu was shocked. "Just how do we do this treasonous act?" Girubāto had an idea.
"We pretend that they're our prey," he announced. "I'll pretend to be after Mashū and Arufureddo pretends to be hunting Āsā. That way we can stay close enough to protect them but throw Iwan off the scent."
"That might backfire somewhat, mon frère," Furanshisu warned. "If Iwan has his sights on Āsā, that will bring him into direct competition with Arufureddo." Girubāto and Arufureddo had to concede that Furanshisu had a point.
"It'll give me a reason to fight him," Arufureddo smiled. "I'll be protecting Āsā but Iwan will think I'm defending my territory."
"Fighting Iwan didn't turn out so well, last time," Girubāto pointed to Arufureddo's black hair, a souvenir from his last battle with Iwan.
"I wasn't quite a demon then," Arufureddo replied. "I'm stronger now, Iwan won't find me as easy a target this time." Girubāto admitted that was true and Arufureddo was one of the strongest demons in Hell. But Iwan was one of the most devious.
"I can't believe we're going to do this," Furanshisu said. "Guarding angels instead of corrupting souls! The universe has turned on its head."
"If you can't do this, Furanshisu," Arufureddo told him. "I won't ask you to."
"Mon frère, of course I will do this," Furanshisu replied. "You're part of the Bāto- tatchi- karutetto. We back each other up, no matter what!"
"Then we have a plan!"
Next day, while Āsā and Mashū kept watch from the roof of the restaurant and waiting for Arufureddo, Rutovu~ihi watched Ferishiāno move between the tables, delivering meals to hungry customers, smiling with his bright smile. Customers could only smile back in response and Rutovu~ihi had to smile too. The younger Italian had the purest soul, outside of children, that Rutovu~ihi had ever seen and would see in Heaven, one day. Hopefully not for a long time.
A group of satisfied diners stood up and left with a thank you and a huge tip. Ferishiāno put the tip in the tip jar to be shared among all the waiters and waitresses. Another selfless act! One thing Rutovu~ihi noticed that, while Rōman made fun of Ferishiāno for doing that, he did exactly the same thing.
The door opened and Ansonī walked in, disguised as a mortal. He saw Rutovu~ihi stood in the corner, invisible to everyone else, as he turned and glared at Ansonī. The demon smirked, knowing there was nothing the arch-angel could do about it although Ansonī had every intention of keeping his word to Arufureddo, as he explained to Āsā when the angel challenged him on the way in, but Rutovu~ihi had no way of knowing that!
"Ansonī!" Ferishiāno gave a happy cry as he spied his fratello's new friend. "You're back so soon! You want to see fratello? He's in the kitchen, why don't you go see him?" Ansonī thanked the exuberant Italian and pushed the kitchen door open.
"Hola, Rōman," he called from the door. A disgruntled voice sounded from the kitchen.
"Came back, did you, Tomato Bastard?" Rōman groused. "Well, if you're coming in here, put this on!" A hair net hit the demon in the face. Ansonī laughed, put it on and went into the kitchen. Rutovu~ihi was not happy with the Vargas Brothers accepting Ansonī so easily. There was no way they could know he was a demon but he was a stranger they had known for a day, if that and he decided he needed to be a physical presence in the lives of the two Italian brothers in order to protect them.
He left the restaurant, found a deserted a corner and hid his wings. He took on a visible form and returned to the restaurant where he was almost knocked down by a glomping Ferishiāno who was ecstatic to see his new crush.
"Rutovu~ihi!" he cried. "I'm so happy to see you again. Have you come for a meal? I'll find you a table!"
"Nein but danke!" Rutovu~ihi replied. "I was passing and I thought I would stop by to say hello."
"Ve~ That's so nice," Ferishiāno replied. "Ansonī's here too. He's talking to fratello in the kitchen." As a waiter came from the kitchen, carrying a couple of meals, Rōman's irate voice followed him out through the door.
"DON'T TOUCH MY CURL, JERK!" Rutovu~ihi frowned. Just as well the diners were far enough away not to hear that!
"What's going on in there?" he demanded. Ferishiāno sighed.
"Fratello really should be nicer to people," he said. "I think he needs more Hug Therapy!" And he moved toward the kitchen while Rutovu~ihi followed, wondering what Hug Therapy was. As they entered the kitchen, Rōman was slapping Ansonī's hand away as he reached for Rōman's curl again and Ferishiāno went up to Rōman.
"HUG THERAPY!" he cried and threw his arms around Rōman. Both Ansonī and Rutovu~ihi could not help but chuckle as Rōman tried to wriggle out of Ferishiāno's arms and cursed his 'Hug Therapy' up one side and down the other. The brothers were too cute for words.
Ansonī caught Rutovu~ihi's eye and conveyed the message that he was not a threat to Rōman's soul. Rutovu~ihi got the message.
But he was not about to drop his guard!
Mashū searched the skies as he and Āsā perched on the roof, looking out for demons, one in particular. Mashū wanted to see his brother, hoping to have more time with him this time. The idea was that, when Arufureddo arrived, they would take human form and have a meal inside the restaurant, that way they could meet out of sight of other demons who might relay that information to someone they would rather not know and also guard the Vargas Brothers while they were there.
"Did we do the right thing, letting that Spanish demon into the restaurant?" Mashū asked Āsā. "I know he said he's not here to corrupt Rōman ….."
"I know!" Āsā agreed. "But Rutovu~ihi's in there and when Arufureddo arrives, we'll be there too so the brothers will have plenty of protection." Then Āsā's eyes narrowed on a couple of specks coming toward them and it grew into two demons that he recognised as Arufureddo and Girubāto (Furanshisu stayed in Hell to run interference and distract Iwan plus having him run into Ferishiāno was a big no no!) and he nudged Mashū.
"They're here!" he said and Mashū turned to watch his brother and his friend glide in. Both he and Āsā drifted down to a deserted corner and the two demons joined them.
"Hey, bro!" Arufureddo enclosed his brother in a hug and Āsā felt slightly jealous. "Girubāto's joining us today. I'll explain when we get inside."
"Everyone ready?" Āsā asked. Everyone nodded and took on human form. Āsā was wearing a shirt and tie, covered with a green sweater vest and brown trousers while Mashū was wearing jeans and a red hooded top. Arufureddo was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a Captain America symbol on it while Girubāto wore black, skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Quite an eclectic little group!
"Okay!" Arufureddo clapped his hands together. "Let's eat, I'm starved!"
And they went in to the restaurant, not noticing the little demon with short, blonde hair, violet/blue eyes and maroon-red wings and horns, spying on them as he trembled.
Huh oh! Guess who this little demon is! And it looks like The Bāto- tatchi- karutetto are coming over to the 'Light Side' but the chances of Arufureddo making it to Heaven look slim. You have to wait and see it that happens!
To PureNinjaOtaku – Thank you! :D Yeah, I'm considering rewriting the summary because, looking at it, it seems a bit boring but I'm glad you gave this story a chance. I wanted to write an angel/ demon story and I love all those ships so they were going in somehow :) I wonder if we're talking about the same Manchester as I live in Britain. My grandad used to call it The Rainy City and, by strange coincidence, it did :P
To Scarlet Phantom – Yeah! Brotherly reunions are sweet :3 I'm afraid there won't be any more, I'm trying to keep up with the ones in this already, sorry! :'( but there will be a few more familiar faces though, after all Iwan doesn't work alone DX Iwan's biding his time but you can bet he's not slacking off. All will be revealed in time! O.O
To themusicalcat – Tell me about it! And may Hetalia ships continue to sail XD
To ArtemisIsis13 – Sorry about the cliffhangers but, you know, evil! XP Yup! The bros are together now and, with 'Ruto' guarding Rōman, they'll be seeing each other a lot more. Yeah, all that could have happened but they can't give themselves away so that was a good thing. I had to have a way to get that particular ship out there so it was Ruto to the rescue! XD and Furanshisu can indeed thank his lucky stars. Ouch! And you can bet Iwan's not finished with Āsā just yet and the crane! I bet that hurt!:D And the reunion! It was all the above XP Writer's Block still giving me grief but I won't give up, I promise!
Four more angels and demons meet up for dinner and a new ship docks in Hetalia Harbour ;P I think you know who the little demon watching them is and Iwan has some unpleasant plans for Āsā. Now for some shameless story promotion, I have new story out called Just Which Anime Is This, Anyway! Check it out!
Till next week,
Hasta la Pasta!