I See Emeralds

Chapter Twenty (Lovino's POV)

"Stop stealing my food," I say and swat Antonio's hand away. 

"I'm hungry!" 

"You have your own!"

"I already ate it all!"

I give up and slide my tray over to him. I'm not that hungry anyways. He's lucky today. He grins widely as thanks.

"Change of plans. I'm never speaking to Mathias again. He's a jerk." Tino's come? I thought he was with his old friend for lunch today. A really tall and intimidating guy sits down next to him in the last empty seat. Scary!

Kiku, who is stuck on Scary Dude's other side, glances nervously at Alfred. "Aren't you Berwald Oxenstierna?" Alfred asks. 

"How do you know my name?" Scary Dude asks. Even his voice is unnerving!

"Everyone does. You're the new most popular guy in school." Sounds like somebody's got a bit of a grudge. He practically spat out the explanation.

"What?"

"It's what you're being called. Everyone thinks you're oh so cool." He takes a sip of his grape soda with an angry look.

"Alfred, even he doesn't know what you're complaining about," Kiku says. 

"I am not complaining! Or jealous, for that matter."

"Sure." Kiku smirks. It's pretty obvious to all of us that Berwald taking his position is frustrating Alfred.

Alfred takes another angry sip and crosses his arms. Kiku whispers something to him and Alfred nods, then calms down. Those two sure whisper a lot.

"What did Mathias do?" Gilbert asks. 

"He seems to only want to talk to me for some weird thing he wants to do. He didn't go into detail, he just pestered me about soulmates. Asked if you guys knew yours too. I didn't give him specifics," Tino explains. 

"Thanks," I mutter. Antonio flashes me a hurt look. 

"How offensive Lovi! I'm right next to you!" 

"Our status doesn't need to be publicly broadcast," I say.

"Status?" Berwald asks. I cringe. Stupid me. I could've kept my reputation slightly pure with this guy.

"We're soulmates but he denies it," Antonio tells him sadly. 

"I don't deny it. We just haven't done anything about it," I say. 

"What do you want to do about it?"

"Nothing." 

Antonio sighs. Everyone is used to my protesting by this point.

"I think I'm better off without him," Tino says, redirecting the conversation back to Mathias. "It's not like he cares anymore. He has a new group." 

"They're gone," Berwald announces. Tino looks at him.

"Huh?"

"They're not at their table anymore," Berwald specifies. Tino leans back and looks in the direction he came from. He nearly falls off his seat before Berwald steadies him. A sudden question enters my mind. Why exactly is Berwald here? Is he one of Tino's new friends...or something else?

"You're right. I wonder where they went," Tino ponders.

"Hey Berwald. Who are you?" I ask. I can't resist voicing my question.

"What do you mean?" He raises an eyebrow.

"In relation to Tino. Like why are you sitting with us?"

"Oh. Well..." He thinks over his words. "He has purple eyes." Tino nods shyly. So they are soulmates! I knew it!

Francis squeals and claps obnoxiously just like he did when he found out about me and Antonio. According to Kiku, he did that for him and Alfred too. "Perfect! It makes sense. Speaking of soulmates, let me tell you a thrilling story about Arty from this morning. Nobody spoil it." He begins to recite his kiss-for-a-coat adventure again.

"I don't know what to do. What does it even mean?" he concludes. Tino gazes upward, a sign that he's thinking.

"He's embarrassed about the fact that he's starting to return your feelings," he decides as he takes a bite of his sandwich.

"I think you hit the nail on the head. Sounds like something Arthur would do," Gilbert says. I only really know Arthur from stories, so I can't make any conclusions on the situation myself.

"Try talking to him, but be less pushy than usual. Act like a normal human being. Like a friend," Tino advices.

"Are you kidding me? I am not pushy! And I'm pretty much Arty's bestie because Alfy hardly speaks to him anymore!" Francis insists. Alfred looks around awkwardly.

"You're pushy," I say. "Based on what I've gathered from your stories, that's what's drawing him away." I never assist with the topic of romance, so everyone is looking at me like I've sprouted a second head.

"You think so?" Francis asks.

"I know so. You can be overbearing. Tone it down a little bit. Forget he's your soulmate when you talk to him and treat him like a friend instead. Treat him the way you treat us," I continue. More shocked looks. "That's just my two cents."

"Thank...thank you Lovino. I'll try that," Francis sounds surprised but smiles. 

The bell rings and Tino frowns. He's supposed to have his next class with Mathias, who hasn't been present in quite a while. Apparently he's been telling teachers he has an illness. That's how he's getting out of class. Mathias sure is going to have a lot of make-up work when he gets back.