Here I Am

Chapter 4

Eventually Germany was able to go to sleep, but only for a few hours. 

He remembered the nights Italy would be scared of something irrational and he'd ask to sleep with him. He'd grown used to the Italian's small frame curling up beside him. After about an hour of trying to go to sleep on the bed, but constantly being reminded of Italy, he decided to try to sleep on the couch. Exhaustion took him over and he slept, his dreams haunted by the things Italy might be going through. 

When he woke up a few hours later in a cold sweat, and couldn't get back to sleep, he decided to go out and try his luck with the posters. He grabbed up the completed ones, mentally complimenting how well Japan had captured the abductor from just Germany's description. He pulled on his coat and walked into the night air. 

Germany walked around and would approach a random stranger every now and again, asking if any of them had seen or heard anything about the man matching Japan's drawing and the verbal description he gave every time. No one seemed to know, or no one seemed to care to give him the time of day, or both. He was about to give up for the day when he spotted a odd figure among the crowd.

It... Looked like Italy. The only differences being tan skin and this male's hair was a little darker. Germany's brows furrowed when he spotted the last difference -- magenta colored eyes. Immediately Germany thought of the abductor. Those eyes looked almost the exact same, with the same odd aura about him. He was even carrying a shopping bag in one hand. Taking a deep breath, the German marched over to him.

The Italy-look-alike turned his head to meet Germany's gaze when he heard someone approaching. He narrowed his eyes, looking him up and down, before he kept walking. Anger bubbled in Germany's gut, and he sped up his pace. Once he was a good distance behind the male, he grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "You saw me walking towards you. I'm not going to be long, just--" He stopped as the male in front of him grabbed Germany's shirt collar and pulled him closer and down slightly, since he was shorter than the German. 

"Excuse me, but I don't take orders from you, soldier." The male spat at Germany's feet and pushed him away. Germany stumbled and dropped some of the paper's. The main reason he was so clumsy up until that moment was because of the resemblance Feliciano and this male had. But it vanished when he saw how he was acting. That wasn't Italy, and Italy couldn't act that way if he tried. 

The male did pause before leaving again as the paper's dropped, and he scanned over them. "Why do you got pictures of Luther?" He asked, looking back up at the German. 

"Luther? That's his name?" Germany asked, hopeful, before a thought occurred to him and his expression hardened. "Wait. How do you know that's his name? Do you know him?"

The male paused for a moment before shaking his head. "No. Not directly, anyway. If you pay attention to certain news scoops, you get some information not everyone knows." He pointed at the papers. "That's Luther. I take it you're missing somebody. That's Luther's gig, kidnapping people." He laughed. "If your friend was kidnapped by Luther, you ain't ever seeing 'em again." 

Germany narrowed his eyes, restraining himself from punching the pipsqueak in the jaw. "We'll see about that. What's your name?" 

"Luciano. Don't bother with the return name, I know who you are." The male said, pointing somewhere behind Germany. Germany turned his head to look, and heard the male say, "Ludwig."

When Germany whirled around again, Luciano wasn't there. His eyes were wide, trying to piece the information he had together. Luciano sounded a lot like Feliciano. Then he remembered the guy in the paper, who Luciano had identified as Luther. It started with the same letter of his name, but he dismissed it as picking at clues that didn't exist. 

Germany was discouraged from asking anyone else information about Luther. He was convinced that was all they were going to get. So, Germany headed back home. About half way back, it began to drizzle. Germany sped up his walk, not wanting to get the paper's soaked. Just as the house came into view, a loud clap of thunder echoed in the air, and it began to pour. Germany darted to the doorstep and hurried inside. When he looked down at the paper's, they were wet, but overall they were fine. Not wet enough to be ruined. 

Setting the paper's down on the coffee table, Germany sat down on the couch and rubbed his temples. Luther. He kept running the conversation he had with Luciano over and over in his head, as if doing so would give him more information. The same questions and answers kept reappearing, nothing changing. 

"We'll find him." 

Germany looked up to see Japan, who had stayed the night, standing in the hallway entering the living room. He nodded, and looked back at the paper's. Japan walked over to him and sat down beside him, staring at the paper's with him in complete silence. Germany would tell Japan what had happened, this time not leaving anything out, but not yet. Right now he just wanted to soak in the silence, and not say anything. He was glad Japan seemed to get that, and was deciding to experience it with him. 

"We'll find him." Germany repeated at one point. Japan didn't reply, he only nodded. 

Germany wasn't sure when Japan left or when he fell asleep, because he lost track of time. He was lost in worry, doubt, and images of the unknown plaguing the back of his eyelids every time he tried to close his eyes.