365 Days

Chapter 9

"Ludwig Beilschmidt, to the office. Ludwig Beilschmidt, to the main office." The intercom blared. Suddenly, the entire locker room seemed eerily quiet. I looked around, and made a barely audible gasp. Everyone had begun to train their eyes on him, and, to an extent, on me. The loud conversations ceased, and it was so silent, one could hear a pin drop.

"Oi, bruder!" Gilbert shouted, as he strode up to the blonde. The albino glanced over his shoulder to see the rest of the students, before he addressed them. "Vhat?! I can't have a zalk vith mein own awesome bruder? Mind zour own business!" He spoke, before a scoff escaped him. Surprised by his behavior, the others soon began to chatter once more, which left us some time to actually speak.

"So, I heard jou punched zhe living shit outta zhat American boy. Is zhat right?" He asked, before he crossed his arms. Ludwig responded with a sigh, before he nodded in agreement.

"Ja, bruder," he paused, and took a glance at me, before he continued. "But it vas only because zhey vere hurting Feliciano. I couldn't just stand around und vatch as mein friend got hit, now could I?" My eyes widened in slight shock. I knew he wanted to help me, but to that extent? A small smile flickered onto my face as I finished getting dressed, just as Gilbert was about to speak again.

"Vell," the shorter brother sighed. "As long as zou know vhat you did vas right, I'm OK vith it. I'm so proud of mein awesome bruder! He finally found someone he vants to protect, especially someone as cute as Feli-chan! Gutt job, bruder! Maybe someday, jou'll be as awesome as me, Kesese! Now, go see vhat zhey vant vith jou!"

"Ja, Ja. Just stop being so loud," He mumbled, though a small smile had planted itself on his face. "I'll be back," He said, as he turned his head towards me. I blinked in surprise, before my head gave a large nod. Soon, he had begun to walk out the locker room. A strange feeling panged in my chest, one I had never felt, before. It urged me to run after Ludwig, though as to why, I didn't know. But, it just wouldn't stop. Eventually, I couldn't ignore it, and my legs moved on their own.

Just before Ludwig could walk out the door, my arms wrapped around his larger torso as I hugged him tightly. "Grazie, Ludwig! I'm sorry I didn't say it before! Ve, I hope you don't get in trouble because of me, ve! It's just that I'm really grateful for you helping me earlier! Ve, I'm so sorry!" Sniffles sounded as I buried my face into his shirt. I didn't want him to get in trouble because of me. That would just be horrible.

A cough escaped him, as he began to pry my arms off of him. "Um..Ja. It's um..It's OK. Ja, it's alright. Jou don't need to apologize for anything. But I still have zo go to zhe main office." He spoke, before he finally got me to let go. I watched as he left the room, before I turned away to leave.

As everyone began to jog towards the exit door, I took one last glance at it, before I fell in line with them. As we filed out into the track, my eyes drifted up to the sky. Not a single puff of white littered the sky. It was crystal clear. As I stared at the beautiful sight, a pang of melancholy rammed into my heart. I didn't understand why, until I turned my head over to Gilbert, who had already begun to jog around the track.

Eventually, I wouldn't be able to see this sight anymore. I wouldn't be able to see Gilbert again. Or Francis, or Antonio, or even Lovino.

Eventually, I'll be dead.

The thought made tears prick at my eyes, as I took a deep breath. That's months away. I didn't need to worry about it..I shouldn't, right? Things would be alright! In seven months, I'm sure they'd have a cure for me!

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vargas...While there are many cures for cancer, your case has none."

Those words might as well slapped me in the face then and there. My eyes stared at the rest of the students, whom were had all begun to jog around the track, most on their third or fourth lap. While I dragged my feet to the bench, my mind replayed the horrendous scene at the restaurant. My bottom lip quivered as I thought back to what I said to Lovino. God, I was horrible! I shouldn't have ever snapped on him. He was just looking out for me. He probably didn't know the reasons behind me forgiving Grandpa, anyways.