Hetalia Ghoul

Persecution

- Ivan's POV -

As soon as Yao confirmed that he still wanted to have Kuro captured and killed, I had someone sent to get Feliks.

Yao and I waited in silence. He continued to stare at the blurry image of the ghoul he waited years to see. He suddenly broke out of the trance, "Why are you helping me, Ivan?"

I looked up, feeling weird yet warm at the fact he called me by name, "What do you mean? It's part of the deal,"

"I know but..." He hesitated, "No offense to your sister, but in the ten years I've been working under her, she never did anything to help me on her part. I kinda came into the conclusion that I sold my soul to the devil for false hope. But ever since you knew about my goal, you never fail on telling me of your progress every time we meet, even though the past were basically just you saying you have no updates. But it was nice to know you would let me know. And now you did. One can say that's foolish of you. So why?"

He sounded genuinely curious, which made me want to answer as genuinely too, "I like you,"

I could see his body freeze and after a moment, he stuttered, "What do you mean? Like as in like or..."

I tilted my head, amused as his response. I simply smiled, "The truth is that I don't know either. But it's been so long since I've liked anything. I've spent my whole life trying to survive. My sister taught us to forget all about emotions. And everybody in the clan is afraid of me. My younger sister has grown cold and cruel. She cares about me but it's like I don't know her. I have no one, really,"

"That doesn't mean you like me, you idiot," Yao responded but it wasn't in a mean way, "That just means you're lonely,"

I looked away, "You make me feel less lonely,"

I glanced at him. He had a slight red tint on his face but he was frowning, "You do realize I'm only here to do the job, right? I'm not your friend, Braginsky. I'm only stuck here for a stupid deal and once I kill that ghoul, I'm never coming back. That is the deal. Do you understand?"

"That may be true," I simply smiled at him, trying not to show that his brutal honesty hurt me slightly. Because deep down, I knew he didn't mean it, "But I'll get my way,"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. It wasn't a convincing act. He didn't dare to look my way after that. It wasn't much longer until Feliks entered the office.

I sat up, "Finally. Come closer. You're not in trouble,"

He was hesitant but approached the old desk. He stood closer to Yao, "I thought you left earlier,"

Yao simply nodded his head towards me, "Your leader wanted to tell me something,"

Feliks understood, "The photograph,"

"Da," I clarified, "You were the one who found it, right?"

"Where did you find it? Who took this image?" Yao impatiently asked.

Feliks hesitated again. But one glance at me and he knew he was expected to tell the truth, "Yes, I did. I found it in the junkyard when I was ordered to leave Raivis behind. I know you ordered me to just leave him but he begged me to help him. And so I was explaining to him where he could stay..."

He seem like he was trying to choose his words carefully, "While we were talking, I heard noises in the distance. It sounded like two teenagers watching from afar. They tried to be subtle but they weren't,"

"And you didn't kill them," I stared into his eyes.

"No..." Feliks answered quietly, "I was already dealing with Raivis. I wasn't going to take anymore risks,"

"You take a risk in defying the rules, Feliks," I said, "You were ordered to leave the boy behind and you didn't. The Kol Clan rules state that you must kill all witnesses. I'm starting to think your loyalty is weakening-"

"If I may interject," Yao spoke up, "We're getting off tracked,"

I noticed an expression of relief from Feliks. I knew he was friends with Yao, or at least Yao tolerated him. So I let the subject go.

"As I was saying..." Feliks continued, "I left with Raivis to take him somewhere safe. I don't think the two humans followed us. When I came back, I went to make sure they were gone. Sure enough, they weren't there but I found the photograph laying on the rubble. I thought it seemed familiar,"

"Do you know where those two kids went?" Yao asked, "They must know where Kuro is,"

"No," Feliks shook his head, "But..."

"But what?" I impatiently asked. It was not like Feliks to be secretive.

"I've seen him before," he admitted, not looking at Yao, "At that junkyard,"

"You what?!" Yao stood up, facing Feliks, "And you didn't say shit about it-"

I held him back from going towards the ghoul. Feliks stepped back in cowardice, seeing Yao's expression, "I wasn't sure if it was him. It was when Toris and I went to hack into the CCG's online system to find out about what happened to Katyusha... I killed a random person passing by the junkyard and he happened to be there. We thought he was human so I attacked him. Toris pointed out he was a ghoul but he didn't want to use his abilities. Before I could kill him, two Doves came and fought Toris and I. I'm pretty sure he didn't know the other guy was a ghoul too,"

Yao's eyes grew wide, "Do you happen to know who they were?"

"The Dove who fought me was blonde, wore glasses, and was like, obnoxious and loud,"

Yao thought for a second and then exclaimed, "Alfred,"

He turned to me, "Alfred F. Jones. The annoying son of Arthur, of course! He never shuts up about anything he does. I'm sure he probably talked to Kuro. The idiot likes to make friends,"

He had a contemplating look, but eventually smiled, "I'm finally going somewhere..."

He glanced back at Feliks, "Thank you,"

He headed to the exit, but stopped at the doorway and turned around, "Thank you, Ivan,"

I couldn't help but smile back, "Anytime... Uh, Do you need me to help you track him down?"

Yao shook his head, "Too risky. I can deal with the American boy myself,"

He left without saying anything else. Of course he had to leave, it was almost sunrise.

"That almost looked genuine on Yao's part," Feliks crossed his arms, guessing what was on my mind, "You two are playing a risky game, if you ask me,"

"Well I didn't ask," I sighed, placing my chin on the old desk, "But I'll get my way... I always do,"

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A/N:

Guess who's back fuckers

I started college so I need to write papers instead of this. But my realistic goal is to write a part every month so please have patience. (This story has been going on for like two years now holy shit)

I promise Feliciano's and Gilbert's storyline will comeback (and so are the Nordics , I bet you forgot about them too)

Let's do something fun: Character Q and A!
Ask any character a question and they'll answer it in the next part's author note. I just want to interact with y'all more. You have no idea how much I love giving to this fandom!

I appreciate all comments and votes and I'll see ya next update!