AN: Here you are, loves, a new chapter.

To those who reviewed:

Spamano4ever: Indeed. Protective!Vash is just normal Vash. But it is adorable when he gets protective, anyways.

Penguin Braginski: I'm glad you liked the Gerita moment. And as for songs? Well..I figure this one time, it'll be skipped over. Mostly because my sleep deprived brain doesn't want to work with me on that.

ThatRandomReview: Mattie..well, he wouldn't die. He wouldn't be happy, but he'd still live. And Vash..he'd only put Gil in the hospital for messing with his kleine Schwester.

Enjoy.

The performances went without a hitch, and Lovino could finally relax.

The following morning, Lovino avoided the angel wings. He'd gotten so tired of wearing them yesterday, but he didn't object when Antonio threw him one of his own tee shirts to wear. It still smelled like the Spaniard, though Lovino knew it had been washed just a couple days before.

The group was quiet on the way to school. When Vash entered, carrying Lili, Lovino grinned brightly.

Vash let the eight year old down near Lovino and took a seat with Roderich nearby to keep an eye on the girl.

Lili immediately gave both Feliciano and Lovino tight hugs in greeting.

It took a moment for Lovino to convince her that Antonio was alright though. When Lovino couldn't, Vash stepped in. "Yeah, Toni's alright, Lili. He's with Lovi, and Lovi'd never stay with someone who'd hurt him or his family."

Lili met Vash's eyes before looking at Antonio and giving a faint smile.

While she had yet to say anything, she had definitely made an impact on the group.

Raivis jogged up to them then, grinning. "Guys! I have good news!"he said, then caught sight of Lili and blinked. "Aw, who's this little one?"

Lili shied away from the Latvian, making Lovino chuckle and Raivis frown.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Lili, this is my friend, Raivis."he said quietly. "Raivis, this is Lili. She's Vash's kid sister,"

Raivis nodded.

"So..this good news..?"Lovino asked after a moment.

Raivis's grin showed up again. "Oh, yeah! I just talked with Eduard. He's been speaking with someone from the police department this morning. I told him you wouldn't want to press charges on anyone for the past..but he did anyways. But the good news is that they have actually gathered the 'ringleaders' off the streets again."

Lovino blinked in surprise and frowned in confusion before he understood. He grinned brightly. "Are you kidding?"he asked.

Raivis shook his head.

"Where is that bastard, I need to give him a hug for this."Lovino said softly.

Raivis laughed softly. "I'll drag him by at lunch. He's attempting to do some last minute studying in the library right now."

Lovino nodded in understanding.

Feliciano raised an eyebrow. "Happy?"he asked the two.

Raivis nodded, flitting off again in silence. Lovino smiled. "Best Valentines ever."he said softly, leaning against Antonio and playing with Lili's hair quietly. "Li, do you want me to braid your hair?"he asked softly.

Lili nodded once.

While her hair wasn't really long, it wasn't very short, either.

Vash smiled faintly as Lovino set about braiding Lili's hair. He still didn't know how to do it. It was always Lovino who did it.

The Italian shifted so he wasn't leaning against Antonio anymore and was quick about braiding Lili's hair, placing a hair tie at the end before he smiled faintly. "There you go."

When Lili looked back at Lovino with a smile, Francis gasped in surprise. A perfect French braid. He had yet to see someone who was able to do one, especially so quickly.

Vash laughed at the frenchman's expression. "Lovino learned when he was little how to do a French braid, and he's just gotten better at it through the years. He used to help Lili torture me a couple of years ago."

Lili laughed quietly. "Only because it was fun to mess with you, big brother."she said with a bright smile.

When the bell rang, Lili gave Vash a hug, gaining a promise from Vash that he'd see her at lunch before she allowed Lovino to pick her up so she wouldn't get trampled in the halls.

Antonio walked them to Lovino's first block, keeping a steady stream of words going and getting a few laughs out of both of them.

When Antonio stopped outside of the classroom, he smiled softly. Lovino let Lili down again now that he was sure she would be okay, but still kept ahold of one of her hands.

Antonio smiled again and spoke softly. "I'll see you at lunch, Lovi."he said softly. "Love you."

Lovino smiled softly at him. "I love you too. Get to class,"

Antonio pecked Lovino's lips before disappearing and letting Lovino lead Lili into the classroom. He quickly explained to the teacher what Lili was doing there and set to work, keeping Lili occupied as well.

By lunch, Lovino was laughing lightly at the constant stream of German out of the eight year old's mouth.

"Vash, get her. I can't understand a word she's saying,"Lovino said when he saw Vash.

"Bull,"Vash countered, but grabbed his little sister anyways. "You're fluent in German as well. I know both Feliciano and you are."

Lovino huffed and settled down against Antonio's side tiredly.

Vash noticed and laughed. "Oh, has she tired you out already?"

Lovino glowered. "Shut up, it's just time for my siesta."

Antonio ran his fingers through Lovino's hair gently. "Go ahead and take a nap, Lovi."he said softly.

Lovino nodded and settled down.

At that moment, though, Raivis showed up, pulling another boy along behind him.

"Lovi!"

Lovino cursed under his breath in Italian and glanced back.

Raivis gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry to disturb your rest,"

Lovino shrugged, turning his gaze on the other boy. He knew him, of course, in passing. Through Feliciano, who was friends with basically everyone at the school. "So, Raiv told me what you did. Thank you. So much."

Eduard shrugged, looking down. "It's not such a big deal."he said.

Lovino nodded for the two to take a seat before settling back down for a nap.

As soon as Lovino drifted to sleep, Antonio smiled faintly. "Well, today's been interesting so far.."he commented.

And of course, it had been. It was one of the more interesting days for the group in a while.

Here. I'm tired, so it's time for bed. Gute Nacht, loves.