LOVINO:

"Papa, what's a 'soulmate'?" Lovino was watching from the doorway while his little brother, Feliciano, questioned their father. "See this?" Their Papa pulled up his shirt sleeve to show off a small tattoo of dice on his shoulder. "Mama has the same tattoo. But you can't see hers, because she's still in the hospital."

He smiled weakly. "A soulmate has the same tattoo. You have one, see?" He pointed to Feliciano's hand, which had a small paint brush on it. "Your soulmate will have the same tattoo." Feliciano grinned and touched his hand. "Will I love my soulmate?" The small boy asked quietly. "Yes, you will. Just like I love Mama."

He flashed a smile before wincing in pain. "Papa, are you okay?" Feli asked. Lovino watched as their father nodded. "Papa, your tattoo..." The tattoo had begun to fade. "Maria... Feli, when the tattoo fades... That means your soulmate has died." Lovino felt a tear slip down his cheek.

His mother had just died. In the other room, Feliciano, crying, asked, "Why doesn't big brother Lovi have a tattoo?" "He does. It's just on his neck under his hair, where no-one, not even him, can see it." Feli smiled and walked to his and Lovino's bedroom. Soon he was fast asleep.

"RING RING RING"
My alarm clock rang as i opened his golden-brown eyes. "Lovi Lovi are you up yet?" Feli asked excitedly. It was the first day of school at Hetalia High, and Lovino was not happy about it. Of course Feli was, he was Feli.

Feli kept going on about how he just knew he was gonna find his soulmate, and kept saying how they would love art and would be in his art class yada yada yada. I just didn't care.

I can't see my tattoo. It's on my neck under my hair, and even in a mirror I can't see it. And the soulmate tattoos for some stupid reason don't appear on camera. After I showered and got dressed, I ran to the fridge, grabbed a tomato and my bag before running out to my bus stop.

When I arrived, the usual Bad Touch Duo was sitting on a bench. The BTD consisted of Francis Bennefoy and Gilbert Beilschmidt, two perverted idiots that somehow got the ladies, and gay guys, drooling. They were just chatting about the new kids.

"So I heard there was this new kid from Spain with long hair we should have accompany us." "Cool let's do it!" Oh no. Another Bad Touch Idiot. I walked away and waited for the bus to arrive. When it did, I sat at the front and waited for the vehicle to move. When we arrived at school, I hopped off the bus with Feli (he was there) and started walking towards the school...

Until he fell off the bus.

And into some guy.

"Oof!" I looked over to see Feli staring at the guy's hand. Wait... The dude, a tall blonde guy with blue eyes, stood up and helped Feli up. They walked a bit way from the bus and I stood off to the side, watching them. The blonde had a matching paint brush tattoo on his arm. Holy shit. Feli found his soulmate. This dude is lucky Feli is bisexual.

Hopefully, my soulmate won't be a girl. I'm gay, so it would not be really rewarding anyway... Oh well. I walked over to Feli and his soulmate. I tapped Feli on the shoulder. "Lovi look look look! He has a paintbrush too!" I nodded. "That he does." The blonde cleared his throat and said, "Hi, um, I'm Ludwig."

I held out my hand. "Lovino Vargas." He shook my outstretched hand firmly. "Ve~ I'm Feliciano! But you can call me Feli if you want!" My brother introduced, overexcited as always. Ludwig, who judging by his accent was German, looked me over. "What's your tattoo of?" He asked. I winced and Feli grinned. "His tattoo is on the back of his neck under his hair where no one can see it, so nobody knows where it is but our Papa!"

I frowned. "I don't care. Can we just get to class now?" Feli grinned and grabbed Ludwig's hand. The German Bastard's face was red like he had been or out in the sun too long. "Ve~ fratello, what classes do you have?" We compared schedules and walked to our classes.

ANTONIO:

"Mami, the boys at school all have pictures on them, why don't I?" Antonio asked his mother. She smiled at him, the bruise on her left cheek had faded a bit from when she'd received it so she looked genuinely happy. "You have one mi amore, it's just hidden." She put her hand to the back of her son's neck, tracing one of the scars. "It just means there is someone out there who is perfecto for you." Antonio smiled a big smile and grabbed his mom's hand. "Mami, is papi perfecto for you?" She frowned a bit. "No Antonio. The person who was perfect for me must have died very early in life." Antonio put his hands on his mother's cheeks. "Mami, you always tell me 'sigue sonriendo, keep smiling.'. Take your own advice Mami." The woman smiled and felt a tear slip down her face. "I just don't want you getting hurt anymore. Your Papi gets drunk so much, I'm scared of what it's done to this family." Antonio grinned. "Don't worry Mami, everything will be fine. Sigue sonriendo."

(Three years later)

On the morning of Antonio's seventh birthday, he woke up to hear his father throwing beer bottles at the wall. Antonio ran into his parent's room to see something that made him wish he had never gone in at all. His mother was hanging from a cord of barbed wire attached to a hook on the roof, blood dripping from her throat, down her dress, and onto the floor, forming a crimson puddle. His father saw his son and grabbed Antonio's wrist.

"This is your fault, boy!" He punched his son in the face. Antonio heard a crack and felt a rush of blood flow through his nose. "Que Papi?" He asked softly, holding his nose. His father growled. "She was always so protective of you! She wanted the best for a little shit like you!" He slapped Antonio, then reached down and picked up a shard from one of the many beer bottles in the room. "You know, I've always hated little kids." He sharply made a cut across Antonio's face, dangerously close to his eye. "So you're gonn-" "Police, open up!" The voice came from the front door. "Go in the closet." Antonio's father hissed, pointing at the wardrobe beside the bed. Antonio scampered in and looked through the crack between the doors to see a blonde man walk in. "Hello sir, my name is officer Davie. We received a call from an anonymous number that said to come he- what happened in here?" Antonio watched as the policeman saw the body hanging from the ceiling. "She killed herself." His father replied to officer Davie, feigning sadness. Antonio was looking intently, but leaned a little bit closer to the door and fell out of the closet, landing on the blood-stained hardwood. "Oww..." He complained, sitting up.

After a long investigation, the police found out about the abuse and arrested Antonio's father. Antonio himself was sent to an adoption center, where he was adopted by a kind lesbian couple.

(Seven years later)

"Antonio, wake up!" One of my adoptive mothers, Katyusha, was lightly shaking me. "School starts today!" I grinned and sat up. I greeted my Ukrainian mother and got up to get dressed. Later that day, during breakfast, my other mother Valeska asked, "Are you excited about your first day at Hetalia high?" I smiled. "Yeah! It'll be fun!" Valeska grinned and poked Katyusha. "Maybe he'll meet his soulmate!" I blushed. "I dunno, I mean, I don't even know what my tattoo is, so I wouldn't be able to know if they are my soulmate or not." Valeska's phone buzzed. She picked it up and grinned. "Kat, i'm going shopping with Nari (KonekoNari) today, I'll be back around five. She kissed my cheek, and then Katyusha's. "Bye guys!" After eating breakfast, Katyusha drove me to the school I was going to. Hetalia High.