Amusement Park Interlude (2p! Italy)

Part Four~

"I can't be on the battlefield anymore," I admitted to everyone.

We had taken Brian back to Alfred's house. He wasn't injured, which I was extremely glad for. The most he had was a concussion from how Luciano had hit him to knock him out. I made sure to carefully examine him just in case, though. Now we were gathered in Brian's room so that we could all discuss what had happened.

"Bella, are you scared?" Feliciano gently wrapped his arms around me. "I don't want Luciano to take you away....If you not being with us will prevent that..."

Ludwig nodded. "We have talked about this before. I agree that your decision is for the best. We can't always protect you. This will make you safer, and will also ease our minds. You can still do your job even if you aren't with us."

"Yes," I agreed. "When a fight starts, I will be prepared to help everyone. Afterwards, I will rush to you all and treat any injuries."

"That is the best way to go about this," Kiku replied.

"I know you always want to be there to help," Brian looked like he was racked with guilt. "This is my fault. If I could protect you properly, something like this would never happen."

"It isn't your fault," I shook my head. "You did the best you could. Neither of us could have expected him to sneak up on us like that. That's why I'm going to stay away. It's what's best. Nobody will have to worry that I am in danger."

"I guess you're right..." Brian muttered.

~~~~

"You've been seeing Luciano less lately," Kayla turned to me.

It was Sunday. Almost a month had passed since the incident during the fight with Luciano. I couldn't deny her words. Before then, I had spent at least a small amount of time with him every Sunday. The two of us still talked like we had plenty of times throughout the week. But when the end of the week would roll around, I would panic.

I knew he would want to spend time together. And...I would always want to see him. That's why I couldn't. The more I wanted to see him, the worse off things were. I couldn't blind myself to the reality of our situation anymore.

"I know..."

And so, I explained everything she didn't know about what was happening between me and Luciano. By the end of it, she understood why I was hesitating. The problem was, she still wanted us to be together. She wished that it was possible for me to forget my duty to Feliciano and the others so that we could date freely. But that was impossible. It could never happen. The second players would always be fighting their counterparts. As long as they were fighting...it was impossible...

~~~~

The gun went off, sending a jolt through my arms. Across the room was a target practice dummy that had a human's vital spots marked so you knew what to aim for. When I looked to see where it hit, I let out a frustrated sigh.

"At least it actually hit the dummy this time..."

I had been at this for weeks now. Every Sunday when I didn't have plans with Kayla or Brian, this was where I would be. Instead of letting my mind be preoccupied on how much I missed my Sundays with Luciano, I focused all of that attention on this. Kayla was really worried, probably rightly so. Brian, on the other hand, thought it was good that I was learning to defend myself.