Gifted & Talented

Chapter 6: Easing Tension

Lovino stared intently at the ceiling, partly due to the overriding guilt that weighed heavy on his heart from his loose tongue and partly due to the fact every time he moved his back ached unmercifully. He rolled his eyes and sighed believing it to be some form of punishment for not being a good friend. Forcing himself onto his sighed he looked over to the wall and closed his eyes willing himself to at least fall into semi-consciousness so the night would pass.

He'd apologise to the bastard tomorrow he swore he would.

He somehow managed to pass the night and slowly, and very lonely made his way along the corridor. He was groggy and suffering deep dark patches beneath his eyes and several times nearly got into accidents but the Italian was determined to find his target.

"you moron…do you know where Antonio is?" the accusing finger prodded at the sleeping albino's head as he and the French teen sat in the cafeteria, the blond looked up and quirked an eyebrow at the sight before him

"good morning Lovino, did someone have a nightmare without his Spanish teddy bear?"

The Italian grumbled something under his breath and still managed to pull off a successful glare that with the added effect of lack of sleep created a ghostly appearance. Gilbert unfortunately looked up half asleep himself and saw the sight before him screaming loudly and toppling off his stool backwards. Laughter followed as the attention was drawn to the three for a small amount of time before they went back to their own meals.

The Prussian pulled himself back up muttering about the unawesomeness of the situation before taking in the brunette fully.

"so…you didn't sleep well then?" he sniggered a little to himself. Lovino had to hold back the urge to smack him right across his empty head but he asked again.

"where is Antonio?" the two looked to each other trying to judge the situation before Francis sighed.

"he was here but he went to an early morning tutoring session of something, said he needed to let off steam or something"

"ja he seemed upset about something" seeing the Italian physically flinched they exchanged looks again before noticing Lovino moving away from the table

"good luck in your search" Francis called after him as he passed. Pushing the doors open at the other end of the hall he realised he had no idea where Antonio got his tutoring. Frustrated and tired he strode away from the door and headed for the building on the other side of the courtyard.

Antonio wasted no time in making his way to the classroom, feeling a little too sick to his stomach for breakfast that morning and his irritation levels at snapping point. He felt betrayed, hurt, slightly used, the list was endless in his mind, the mere thought of the person responsible made his heart raced and his palms itch. He just need some stress relief, maybe using his power was the best thing right now.

But it was evil right? It was horrible and bad and rotten and all things wrong in the world!

But in his mood he felt he could do anything and not give a fuck, he pushed open the door harshly and didn't even recoil as it smacked almost off its hinge and slammed shut again.

Councilman Matlal peered up from over his notes to see the mop of brunette hair practically stomp in and broad in the centre of the room. He blinked questioning this as the same boy who yesterday had laughed off the ideas he had presented. The darkening aura around the teen was strange and he longed to see if this would work to his advantage.

"Good morning Antonio, did you sleep well?"

The boy looked up with acid filled eyes not really answering further than a grunt as he came to stand in the middle of the room in a more reluctant pose than anything.

"Good" the man smiled leaving the paper in a perfect pile on the desk before walking with a confident step round the front to face the boy. Antonio felt some of his anger ebb away slightly; the other seemed so impressive it was a little intimidating "today let's see what you are truly capable of"

"What do you want me to do?" he questioned, itching a little to get started. Seeing this, the other smiled and pulled up a man sat in a seat just behind the blackboard. The man was unidentifiable; he had a bag over his head and sort of stood loosely swaying against the support of the other. The councilman tried to gauge the other's response as he looked at the man.

"Who is this?" he finally asked trying to piece together some form of identification. The councilman let the man go allowing him to somehow stand on his own two feet.

"This man is a volunteer Antonio, I want you to show me what you can do on him" he stepped back and took up a clipboard.

"I…" he faltered hand half raised as he looked over the mystery man "won't it hurt him?"

"No the man is sedated there will be no pain for him" he noted onto his clipboard "now just express your power, if you are having trouble try and draw on your emotions."

A little shakily he raised his hands and tried to will himself to use his power. The volunteer twitch a little.

"Just think about a time when you were angry"

The Spaniard began to try and fuel his actions from the emotion he was given however even after all the times he had felt it, it didn't spark the same reaction, like a weak aftertaste of the main event.

"when it felt like someone had betrayed you, when you were upset beyond all, frustration against an event that makes you want to do anything to feel better"

That stoked the fire that had been slowly going out, strangely enough, the accusation flew straight back into his mind, the look on Lovino's face, the hurt he felt. It was enough to push the boy's conscience away long enough to raise both hands confidently and manipulate the man before him.

It was strange, before when he had done this there had been almost bile up his throat, but when he fed off the negative feelings like now it was an almost giddy sensation instead. It was strange to say the least and only stopped when the councilman raised his own hand.

"That's good Antonio, now you have always manipulated full limbs but have you ever tried just single muscles"

"Just the muscles?" he asked panting a little in anticipation, the lesson was actually shaping up to be a lot of fun. "How do I do that?"

Seeing the eagerness in his student the elder smiled and placed the clipboard down "simple you just need to focus your energy on the area." He unclipped the sheets from the board and showed Antonio sheet showing the muscles of the body "now let's begin shall we?

A few hours passed and Lovino had gone almost further than the point of caring- right now he just wanting to curl up in some dark corner and sleep the rest of the day away. He'd already tried it a few times but his back refuse to let up as he continued down the hall.

He bumped into someone coming the other way and growling slightly daring the other to mess with him carried on walking out the door at the other end.

The boy he had bumped into was in fact Arthur who was a little more than surprised that the boy growled at him.

"Some people just don't have manners" he muttered as he continued on his way dusting the shoulder in the collision that had been touched by the other. Then he thought about it, he wasn't usually without the lap dog but he hadn't seen him either that day.

A door opening caught the Brit's attention and low and behold Antonio wandered out bidding his tutor goodbye before leaving, there was a brief look between the two but the other was more interested in leaving the opposite way. Arthur wonder for a moment what could be going on between the two he had seen, neither seemed like their idiotic selves and for once he had nothing to do with it.

He came closer to the room and the door being left open he heard something from within.

"…yes I understand but the council refuse to agree"

Curious as ever he came closer to the gap and leant into it best he could. The councilman appeared to be on the phone to an outside source.

"I understand sir, yes I agree the children's only choice is with your organisation…and I think I found a way to convince them of your cause" he seemed pleased with himself "indeed I have an example I am…tutoring right now, if you give me just a little more time with him"

So, it seemed there were some people in school who weren't all they appeared, maybe this would be useful to know. Arthur wasted no time in rushing away and back towards the dorm area.

Antonio held the diagram in his hand. The lesson was amazing he never figured anything like this before. Suddenly he began to see the lighter side of his ability. He began to imagine what Lovino would think when he stopped himself. He didn't want to think about him right now.

"Bastard!"

The voice made him turn and over the other side of the shrubbery by the path he could see the Italian looking down on him from a wall on the other side. Antonio decided to ignore him, right now was not the best time for them to talk. What he didn't know that Lovino was perched on the wall on his tip toes, balancing in his groggy state, and as the other moved away he tried to move to follow him. He tripped over his feet and slipped from the wall landing on his side and yelling out in pain.

Antonio heard him hit the ground, his heart skipping a beat as the previous thoughts of ignoring him were forgotten and he rushed around the wall and tried to help the boy up. Again he yelled out in pain as he was brought to his feet.

"ah! Lovi what's wrong are you ok?" he fused "are you hurt?"

"my back is being a bitch is all" Lovino whined "now don't just stand there get me to my room!"

Antonio nodded dumbly and help the boy along being his support, his bit his lip and all the way his eyes kept dropping to the autonomy sheet he had been given, each noise of pain drew him closer to a decision.

"you want to do what?" Lovino asked as they sat on the bed.

"I…I can fix your back…with my power" Antonio muttered "it's safe I swear!"

He expected a backlash from the other after the last argument, but Lovino was just nervous, his voice shaking as spoke.

"a-are you sure" he spoke shifting his hands over his shirt "and nothing…bad will happen?"

Antonio was surprised at the response and yet found himself smiling. Lovino was scared, Lovino was terrified, but he didn't want to tell the other he was a monster, or evil, or anything else. Lovino cared enough to go along with it, he cared enough about him. It made him happy.

"I promise…" he whispered. He leant forward and slid his arms around Lovino's waist. The Italian went a beautiful red colour as he buried his head into the other trying to imagine it wasn't as awkward as it seemed in the strange hug.

Suddenly it felt like a massage on his back but one that was a miracle slipping the knots out of his back and peeling away the tension. He became more putty like in the other's arms closing his eyes a little as he was finally able to relax.

"how does that feel?" he asked feeling a large amount of tension along his spine and slowly unwound it feeling the other gasp against him.

"that is amazing…" Lovino hummed as he let Antonio continued "why aren't you a doctor?"

The absent minded comment hit a cord in the Spaniard's head and made him smile. Not all routes led to evil, something's just asking for directions can light the right way.

To Be Continued...