I'M FINALLY ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. FINALLY. BUT IT'S EXAMS. SO THAT SUCKS. BUT THE LAST DAY SO THAT'S AWESOME! SO... TODAY IS NEUTRAL, I SUPPOSE.

Seeing as most of the group was already together at the shop and missing only a few people, they decided to hold a meeting of sorts. As Alfred was still uselessly mumbling to himself in the chair he had been placed, everyone gathered in the living room, leaving him to rest in the corner.

Ludwig frowned lightly as he glanced around the room. "No one was able to get in contact with Arthur in any way?"

Francis shook his head no. "Sadly no. Alfred mentioned how he couldn't find him..."

"Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Lovino snapped as he kicked the wall. "Just what the fuck is all this?!"

"Perhaps we are being hunted yet again," Feliciano put in from his spot on the floor where he was leaned against the couch next to Ludwig's leg. "It seems we have stumbled into an unfortunate, unending loop of cat and mouse." He sighed. "We shall spend the rest of our lives being chanced to the ends of the earth for reasons incomprehensible to us..."

Everyone stared at him.

Lovino rolled his eyes then looked over at Yao. "Well, bastard? Any damn explanation for this shit?"

"No, not yet," Yao said, pulling his gaze from Feliciano to look at the other. "The only thing that comes to mind is some kind of magic, though I'm not sure what, as I try to stay away from sorcerers; apart from Arthur of course."

"WHAT?! So we're fucking stuck?!"

"For now, it seems that way," Yao said calmly.

"I don't want to be a fucking DOG!" Lovino screeched as he stomped his foot.

Ludwig cut him off by saying, "Er.. Yao? Would you at least be able to wake the others up? Perhaps they can offer some insight into this."

"I'm afraid not. Having magic knock you out is different from a chemical substance or being hit over the head. If it was a wound, I could heal it, if a chemical, I could get it from their body. But with magic, natural remedies can do nothing. We have to just wait."

"…. I see," Ludwig sighed. "Is it alright with you if we stay here for the time being? At least until they wake up?"

Yao nodded. "Of course. I was going to suggest something of the like. It would be safest if you all stayed together than separate. I have a few guest rooms, and that couch is a pull out. You all can find out what arrangements you would like. I am going to put Kiku in his room."

Standing, Yao crossed to where Kiku had been lain in an arm chair, picked him up, then disappeared down the hall.

Feliciano turned to Lovino. "I am assuming for the time being that you would be far happier should we room together than if I was to love with my beloved, is that correct?" he said, sending a quick glance at the German vampire.

Lovino glanced at his brother and shrugged. "Do whatever the hell you want to, dammit."

Obviously, this surprised the younger, though the shocked look quickly disappeared. "Very well. If I stay with my beloved, you may now stay with your own."

"Like I need fucking permission," Lovino grumbled under his breath. "I look like a fucking dog to you or something?"

The younger Italian raised an eyebrow at this, giving his brother a skeptical look.

"What?!" Lovino growled as he crossed his arms.

"Dear brother, please think about what you just said and the current events happening now. Do you see why I have the unstoppable urge to give you such a strange look?" Feliciano reasoned.

Lovino blinked as he thought it out and processed it in his head. "Oh, just shut the fuck up about it, dammit!"

Feliciano held up his hands in surrender. "I am simply interacting with the natural environment around me. That is what you have wanted me to do since asking me to go to lunch and stopping by the butterfly house, no?"

"Ugh…. YES!"

"Then there are no qualms for my giving you such looks?"

"…. Do whatever you fucking want to…."

"Very well." Feliciano shuffled to his brother's side, giving him a heartfelt, but somehow sad, hug, then moved to Ludwig's side.

Lovino blinked in surprise and followed after him. "What the hell was that?!

"What do you mean, dear brother?"

"You gave in WAY too damn quickly! A-And it seemed sad too! What the hell's wrong?!"

"Many things are wrong, but they are the same things that have always been wrong, so I suppose I shall say nothing is wrong," the smaller teen answered.

Lovino scowled as he glanced away then mumbled, "Stay."

Feliciano watched his twin closely. "You would prefer me to stay with you?"

Lovino didn't look back as he nodded.

"Then I shall."

"… fine. So what the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Feliciano glanced around. "Perhaps locating Matthew wouldn't be out of the question?" he suggested.

Lovino looked around too. "Actually… where the hell IS that bastard…?"

Antonio finally spoke up. "I haven't seen him in a while. Gil went out today to go meet up with him. Since that didn't happen, maybe Matthew went looking for him?" He looked at the others in the room. "Someone should call him and get him here as quickly as possible."

"I will," Ludwig answered. "But… er… Antonio? I think you better work with Lovino. Try to see just how much he WAS changed. And perhaps Feliciano should help you too, Lovino is his brother after all."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean asshole?!" Lovino snapped at him.

"Calm, dear brother," Feliciano said gently, lightly setting his hand on his brother's shoulder. He then looked to Ludwig. "Do retrain yourself from such comments in the future, my love."

"I'm sorry," Ludwig nodded. "I should have said it in a better way. But I still believe that we should check to see what damage whoever it was did to him."

"Si, but how?" Antonio asked.

"Er…." Ludwig bit his lip then whispered to Antonio. "Do things you might do around a dog… like throwing sticks or something like that. Observe how he reacts to it."

"I don't want to treat him like an animal, Ludwig," Antonio hissed back.

"I know you don't. But we need to find out exactly what they did to him."

"Ugh… Can't fucking believe this shit but I guess we DO have to do it." Lovino, who had heard the two, commented. "Maybe you can make me sic the potato bastard or something. That should be interesting."

"I must request that you do not do that," Feliciano cut in.

"Stay out of the way, Feliciano," Lovino ordered his brother with an annoyed growl.

"I must inform you, dear brother," he continued. "I do not feel the push to obey you as I usually do. I suspect this is due to the fact that, if we were in our wolf forms, I would be able to easily over power you and take control of our pack. Not that I would ever do that to you."

"What?!" Lovino growled as his teeth began to lengthen slightly.

Feliciano sighed. "Oh, I have been cursed to speak so hurtfully without intent to..." he murmured sadly.

Lovino groaned as he dragged a hand down his face, trying to force himself to calm down. "I have to go do something with the tomato bastard… Be right back." Then he grabbed Antonio's arm and dragged him away.

Antonio allowed Lovino to drag him away. Once they were out of hearing range, he spoke. "What are we doing, Lovi?" he asked.

Lovino shrugged in reply as he let go. "What do a bunch of damn dogs do? Figure something out from there."

"I never had a dog, I don't really know what they do..." Antonio said. "I just like turtles..."

"Well, I don't fucking know what to do either!"

"Well... There is... one person who would know what to look for..." the vampire said slowly.

Lovino shot him a wary glare.

"You... aren't going to like this."

"…. What is it?"

"We... We will need Ludwig's help."

"NO! NO FUCKING WAY! EVER!"

"Lovi, please. I know you don't like him, but we need him. He's the only one who knows how to handle dogs, he would know how to help you!" Antonio begged.

"Making me go to him IS treating me like a fucking dog!"

"He really isn't that bad of a guy, querido, really!" the Spaniard whined desperately.

"He's an asshole! Fuck you!"

"Lovi... Please... Just do it. For me?"

Lovino growled to himself and cursed but nodded. "Fine! I'll fucking do it! But JUST this one damn time!"

"Gracias, mi querido."

"Hmph," Lovino snorted as he headed back inside.

Inside, Feliciano and Ludwig were sitting side by side on the couch talking. Or trying to. Ludwig seemed rather uncomfortable and put off by Feliciano speech pattern, but if Feliciano noticed this, he declined to make a comment. Ludwig had realized he didn't have Matthew's phone number, but Alfred and Gilbert had both lost their phones, the only two with the Canadian's number.

Grumbling to himself, Lovino walked over and gently kicked Feliciano in the leg to get his attention. "Come on, dumbass. The tomato bastard doesn't know shit about dogs. It's your damn turn."

"I do not think I would be of much more help," he said, looking up at his twin. "Though we are wolves, I do not understand the way dogs are. However, my beloved Ludwig could surely help us, could you not, my love?" He turned back to Ludwig as he spoke, giving him a questioning stare.

Ludwig blinked then nodded. "Er… J-Ja…"

However, Lovino shot him a dirty glare. "Fuck no. JUST you, dammit. Like hell I want that bastard to do anything. Just make some shit up."

Antonio walked back into the room just in time to hear this. "Lovi, you said you would let Ludwig help," he reminded him.

Lovino flinched as he glanced away and cowered back. "D-Don't want to, dammit…."

"I know," the vampire said gently, moving to his side and hugging the Italian close. "I'm sorry, querido, but we don't have any other option. Ludwig is the only one who can help us at this point." He gently brushed Lovino's hair back, kissing his forehead.

"… fine," Lovino muttered as he nuzzled back and buried his face into Antonio's shirt. "So what the hell are you going to do while the bastards doing that testing shit?"

"I'm going to go find Matthew, make sure he's okay. No one can get a hold of him," Antonio answered, rubbing Lovino's back gently.

Lovino sighed softly and nodded. "…. Just… be careful. Okay, bastard?"

Antonio nodded, smiling a little, feeling touched at Lovino's concern. "I promise. I'll be back with him soon. For going along with this, I'll get you some delicious tomatoes~!"

"Hmph. It better be SO fucking many tomatoes that you can't even carry the damn things," Lovino huffed.

Antonio laughed, kissed his cheek, then left Yao's shop.

Feliciano approached him again. "Are you ready, brother dearest?" he inquired.

Lovino scoffed slightly and nodded. "Let's just get this shit over with…."

Feliciano nodded, then motioned for the two teens to follow him as he led the way back into the yard. "Dear brother, do try to resist attacking my love, it is important that you allow him to help. I beg of you to let him assist us."

"I will if that asshole fucking watches it! And doesn't try to piss me off!"

The werewolf next turned to Ludwig, simply saying, "I implore you to not piss him off."

"Ja. I promise," Ludwig answered with a nod as Lovino scoffed.

"Just do this shit already will you?! I want it over with!" The werewolf, now turned dog, snapped.

"Brother, dear brother, to do anything we require you to enter your dog form." Feliciano reminded him.

However, Lovino glared back and crossed his arms. "Fuck. No."

"Then how do you proclaim we 'do this'?"

"How the fuck should I know that!?" Lovino growled. "I'm the 'inferior creature' now, right? You're the fucking smarter one."

Feliciano sighed sadly. "Ah. I see now. You are angry with me."

"NO," Lovino retorted. "I'm angry at that asshole!" He pointed at Ludwig who only sighed in response.

"You are angry with me. I apologize, I did not mean to upset you by calling you inferior in any way. I was not referring to you yourself, but your non-mortal form of the dog," the Italian said.

"… Not like I have any fucking clue how to change like this anyway… It feels weird," Lovino muttered as he glanced away.

His eyes softened and Feliciano gently touched Lovino's shoulder. "It is alright, dear brother. We will find a way."

Lovino sighed and glanced back at Feliciano. "How did I change the first time? I was too damn distracted then to notice."

"Someone knocked on the front door."

Lovino thought about it, then facepalmed. "… Shit… Go find a squirrel," He said through gritted teeth.

"Like the one from earlier that you had convinced yourself was taunting you?"

"That little fucker WAS taunting me. And si! One of those bastards!"

Feliciano raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps simply thinking of this injustice will be enough."

"What fucking injustice?!" Lovino snapped. "He WAS fucking taunting me, dammit!"

"If you say so, my dear brother."

"What's that shit supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, brother."

"No! You're implying something, dammit! Out with it!"

"I meant nothing by it, I swear on my meager existence."

"…. Whatever," Lovino grumbled. "Dogs chase shit. Find something for me to chase after. That'll probably do it."

Feliciano nodded and looked around Yao's yard. Since it was boarded by the forest, there were plenty of sticks to pick from. Taking one in his hand and held it out to the other two. "Shall this suffice?"

Ludwig nodded. "Ja. It will. Throwing sticks is a common thing you do for dogs."

"Shut the fuck up, asshole. No one asked for your damn opinion," Lovino growled as he glared daggers at the vampire.

"I'm afraid that you are wrong, dearest brother." Feliciano said softly. "I requested his knowledge."

"What the fuck ever. Just throw the damn thing or something will you?" Lovino retorted.

Feliciano looked at his twin, obviously hurt by his sharp dismissal.

Noticing this, Lovino bit his lip and stuttered, "S-Sorry..."

"It is…. fine," Feliciano mumbled, turned, then threw the stick as far as he could.

Lovino ignored the stick, instead inching up to Feliciano and hugging him from behind. "You're lying, dammit…" he mumbled as he buried his face into Feliciano's shoulder.

Realizing something was different from his brother's reaction, Feliciano decided to act on his instinct, though he felt his heart break a little for being so cruel. "N-No," he stuttered hesitantly. "Bad Lovi."

Lovino whimpered a little as he let go and curled back. "W-What…?"

"B-Bad. Do n-not be mean to me," Feliciano continued.

Lovino whimpered again and cowered back, his eyes flashing slightly as he began turning into a dog. "I-I'm sorry…."

"Bad," he repeated, his voice gaining strength. "Very bad. No being rude."

Lovino continued to whimper and cower until he was curled up in a ball as a dog, trying to hide himself from Feliciano, although that was a bit hard to do in the large, wide open yard.

Instantly, Feliciano gently scooped Lovino into his arms, holding him close to his chest. "I am so so sorry, my sweet brother," he whispered sadly. "I had to do it. I promise, I swear on my very soul and life's breath, that I did this for your own good." He gently brushed his twin's head with the tips of his fingers, hoping to cheer him up, even a little.

Lovino blinked as he nervously glanced at Feliciano's face, then whined softly as he started licking the finger tips.

Feliciano gently slid Lovino's glasses from his face, folded them, and put them away so they wouldn't be broken. "I am not angry with you," he said gently. "You are not bad."

Lovino stared at him, then leaned closer and licked Feliciano's nose, his tail giving a small wag, hitting Feliciano's arm.

A very tiny smile appeared on Feliciano's lips, the first that had been there for a long time. While it was small, it was something; it was the beginning of progress.

At the smile, Lovino's tail wagged faster and he began licking his brother's face with more enthusiasm.

"Aww, brother, we must press on now," Feliciano said, turning his head slightly. "There will be time for this later."

Lovino whined at the comment but stopped and pulled away.

Choosing a new stick, Feliciano had it approved by Ludwig, then held it up for Lovino to see.

"Brother." He turned and threw the stick as hard as he could. "Fetch!"

Lovino's eyes followed it for a few seconds, then bolted after it.

Antonio walked down the street, wondering where the ghost teen was. He wonder if he was home, then realized he had no idea where Matthew lived. The Spaniard cursed under his breath and stopped were he was on the sidewalk, not knowing where to go now.

A second later, a man reached out and shoved Antonio back up against the wall. "I found one of the blood suckers! Use the spell before he retaliates!"

Antonio's eyes widened, then he snarled, his instincts kicking in faster than Gilbert's, his green irises shifting to blood red.

"Fuck! Get the spell!" another one yelped.

A third member of the group ripped out the spell-book and started reading off the spell, filling the area with light and covering Antonio with it. "Got him!"

Antonio hissed and managed to sink his fangs into the man holding him before his eyes rolled back, his fangs disappeared and he collapsed limply to the ground.

Back at Yao's house, Lovino brought the stick back for the tenth time in the row and gently pawed Feliciano's leg, wanting him to take it and throw it again.

"No more of this, brother. It is time to move on to another activity," Feliciano said gently.

Lovino whined and nudged his brother's leg with the stick again before tensing up and staring at a tree.

"Lovino, what are you looking at?" Feliciano asked.

Lovino continued staring at the tree before bolting towards it, chasing a squirrel around the entire yard, trying to catch it.

"Ludwig… I don't understand. What is he doing?" Feliciano asked.

"Er... Well..." Ludwig answered as he watched Lovino chasing the squirrel and barking at it. "Some dogs were bred not to hunt, but they still have a prey drive causing them to chase down prey. But... if he does end up killing it, he won't eat it himself. He'll probably give it to you and expect praise."

Feliciano nodded slowly. "Though I can speak to him, I must tell you I do not understand dogs, my love."

"Nein, I understand," Ludwig replied as Lovino ran back over to Feliciano and began tugging on Feliciano's pant leg with his teeth.

"I'm not going to chase the squirrel with you, brother. This is what you do, not I."

Lovino whined and tugged harder as he smacked Feliciano with his paw.

"Go play, brother. I must continue to observe with Ludwig."

Lovino stared at him, then plopped down right in front of Feliciano, giving him puppy eyes along with another whine.

Feliciano shook his head. He was immune to the looks, seeing as he had mastered them at the age of seven.

Lovino stopped with a slight glare on his face before standing up and slipping behind Feliciano, then jumping up onto his back and sitting on his brother. When they landed, as he stared down at him, he gave a small bark. "{Chase the damn squirrel! It's fun, dammit!}"

Feliciano froze, splayed out on the ground, looking shocked.

Realizing what he did, Lovino quickly jumped off and moved around in front of Feliciano whining and nudging his face. "{F-Feliciano?! S-Shit! I-I'm sorry, dammit! D-Don't be mad!}"

Feliciano was silent for a moment. Then suddenly, a soft sound began to escape the younger brother.

It was giggling. Feliciano was giggling.

The pair stared at him in surprise as the sound slowly grew louder until Feliciano was simply laying on the ground, laughing. Neither had heard his laughter since before they had begun to study for their final exams and now, out of the blue, it had finally returned.