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The Hunted, Haunted and Forgotten - Part 9

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Pairing: Battle Maniac x fem!Reader

Word count: 6.7k

Summary: You re-evaluate your relationship with a certain Rabbit. Or do you...? Doesn't matter, it's swamp time!!!

A/N: (ouuggghhhggh i'm sick so translating this chapter was major struggletown. if you find any mistakes/weird grammar- no you don't<33) finallyyy we spend some time w the eldest wooo been about time!!! also ofc i have them go to the barren swamp, i'm nothing if not predictable at what i pick from the game canon lmaoo not that there's much rabbit canon to begin with..but you know what i mean. anywayy i hope you have fun reading xoxo i'm going back to bed

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Part 9 - A rabbit-shaped elephant in the room

Massimo actually kept his word as far as your clothes were concerned. However, you were still suspicious... It seemed too coincidental that you only got them back once the jokester couldn't think of any new lines to tease you and Matteo about your "teacher look".

It made your ears burn with embarrassment as you left their place in the evening, all the more grateful to finally be on your way home. The events surrounding Moonlight Town had left you feeling more exhausted than ever before in your life, and you would have loved nothing more now than to just lie in your bed and sleep for a couple of days.

...At first, anyway.

For a single day, to be precise.

Because on the second one, you were already pacing up and down your apartment, restless. Which in itself was no surprise really, as you'd never been one to sit around and do nothing. This time, however, you couldn't just make do with some spontaneous cleaning or another night-time supply run, no; your mind could only think of your next treasure hunt, positively itching to jump right back into action.

And not just for the sake of your necklace, which was actually the thing that worried you the most about all this, and made you want to bang your head against the nearest wall to get it to work like it should.

Because what the hell was wrong with you that less than two days had passed and you were already missing their company! It just had to be the disease messing with your head, you couldn't explain it any other way...

You had never minded being alone before. In fact, you had often sought it out even, when your life had once again come crashing down on you. When you had woken up as a young girl and, instead of going to school, had had to play housekeeper because, even years after your mother's death, your father had still refused to accept reality. When you had looked in the mirror and the only thing looking back had been utter exhaustion. Skin as dull as if it had never seen the sun. Eyes as tired as if they had seen half a lifetime already.

The luxury of dreaming had been taken away from you at an early age. And by the time you could have allowed yourself to do so again, when your father had finally found it in himself to start parenting you instead of the other way around, you'd been in that state for too long for it to have changed anything. And so you had simply resigned yourself to what was, and would never be. Leaving Krat. Getting a decent education and later a good paying job. A home of your own. Finding friends, a life partner. Maybe starting a family even...

You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

Leave it to me, someone who already has one foot in the grave, to start developing hopes and aspirations. While the damn world is ending, you thought sourly.

But all the sarcasm in the world didn't help. Neither did the repeated attempts to remind you that you were once again about to throw all your moral principles overboard. Over the past few weeks, you had simply become too accustomed to what it meant not to be alone... So much so that your own little apartment had never seemed so big and empty as it did at this moment. That its silence had never been louder.

And that on the third day you turned your chair towards the door so you wouldn't miss the Rabbits leaving you another message.

They did so the following night. The two days you had to wait before your next meeting seemed like an eternity. But finally the time had come, and as you left your apartment early in the morning and made your way to their headquarters, you were almost giddy with anticipation. The rabbit ears of your mask bobbed in time with your lively steps as you skipped across the rooftops and finally turned into the finishing straight...

Only to immediately slow down as soon as you spotted Massimo and Vito standing at the gate to the plaza.

"Don't tell me Matteo's had a change of heart", you exclaimed incredulously when you were within earshot, returning Vito's greeting with a wave of your own.

"Hard to believe, eh?", Massimo replied. "Miracles truly never cease, even when the world's going to hell in a handbasket. So!" He clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Ready for your maiden voyage with the best duo??"

Vito gave an amused snort, while you just raised an eyebrow. "You know, I have a feeling the others might have something to say about that..."

"And that would be well within their rights and have my full support! Freedom of speech is very important to me after all."

"Uh-huh...", you said skeptically, but couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

"Not that it would change anything, of course", he continued, "because a fact is a fact, really. Big brother and I are the perfect team! I'm a once-in-a-century artistic genius, he rather tries his hand at writing. I'm an extremely talented speaker, he's more the silent type. I'm an outstanding cook, he manages to mess up fried eggs even-" At that, Vito swatted at him, but Massimo seemed to have anticipated it and dodged skilfully. Then, raising his index finger in the air, he added: "Besides, everyone knows that a good team always needs both a close and a ranged fighter!"

"...You use a spear."

"Indeed I do!"

"So how exactly does that make you a 'ranged' fighter...?"

"You can throw a spear, no?"

"Which you never do", you said dryly.

"Ah, pish-posh." He dismissively waved his hand. "Details! Wholly irrelevant. At the end of the day, it's the very possibility that makes me the best range fighter among us."

You opened your mouth... and then closed it again. He actually got a point there. Huh.

Sensing his triumph, Massimo put a heavy arm around your shoulder. "Now, let's try that again: Are you ready for the best day of your life, girlie??"

It was impossible not to be infected by his excitement, so you finally relented: "As ready as I'll ever be", and grinned at the cheers that followed.

The "best day of your life" ended up falling just short of expectations, but it was still exactly what you needed: a distraction. From your overwhelming loneliness and the ghosts and demons in your head. But also from the slight twinge of disappointment you had felt after Massimo and Vito had introduced themselves as your companions for today...

It was a completely different story, however, the next time you went to the rendezvous point, just over half a week later - when you were once again greeted by the "best duo". It wasn't that you were opposed to this grouping; they were both pleasant enough company and quite entertaining. And yet you couldn't help but dwell on Matteo's continued absence... Not that you were complaining, no, definitely not. After all, it had been your wish from the start to get a little time off from the moody Rabbit.

But you did find it a little strange. Never once had he missed an opportunity to annoy you during the treasure hunts. And then he suddenly made himself scarce? No announcement, no nothing...?

Of course, it was quite possible that Massimo had simply gotten through to him during their last argument, and that Matteo had decided to do his brothers and sister the favor of slowing down a little. And stop overworking himself. Seemed only logical, right?

Right. If it wasn't for the following evening, when you and your two companions returned to the Town Hall after completing your mission to find your welcoming committee reduced to just one person. No sign of Matteo anywhere, not a trace. Giulia eventually explained that he was in his room. A trace at last, but you still didn't feel satisfied, not in the slightest. For the scarf wearer remained a no-show throughout the entirety of your stay at their headquarters. Even though there was literally no chance in hell that he had missed your arrival; the walls of this building were barely soundproof, you knew that only too well by now.

Which made the whole thing just plain weird. And also completely out of character for him, the stickler for their rules and traditions, which inevitably made you wonder again... (Of course you could have just asked the others, but you had quite enough of being the butt of even more jokes, thank you very much.)

For all intents and purposes, you should be happy about this unexpected development! Overjoyed, really! By all appearances, it seemed that Matteo had finally begun to trust you and realized that it wasn't necessary to keep you under constant surveillance. Which was only to be welcomed; after all, you had been fed up with his incessant antagonism towards you since day one.

So why then were you so damn preoccupied with this whole ordeal??

The answer to that question was both simple and incredibly confusing, at least in its implications. And you got it about a week later, when Matteo didn't turn up to the next treasure hunt either, let alone to the subsequent celebration of yet another successful mission. Again, according to Giulia (who was finally on the mend and happy as a clam at high tide about it), he had disappeared into his room some time ago. Again, you didn't get to see him, not once. For the third treasure hunt in a row. For more than two weeks now... Which, in your opinion, could only mean one thing:

He was avoiding you.

A conclusion that immediately sent your brain into overdrive as you lay in your bed that night, staring up at the dark ceiling. Earlier, you'd still dismissed the whole thing as bad timing, not wanting to jump to conclusions. A misinterpretation. A misunderstanding born of your conflicting emotions as of late. But now...? You felt your suspicions all but confirmed and couldn't even entertain any other explanation. No, Matteo was definitely avoiding you, for whatever reason.

Not that it bothered you...

But it bothered you.

A lot.

Even though part of you knew how stupid that sounded. But the other, offended part dug its feet in the dirt, crossed its arms in defiance, and refused to just accept it without a word of explanation. No, you definitely deserved an explanation. And if he wasn't there to give it to you, well, you'd just have to work it out for yourself!

Of course you could think of a number of things that might have caused the Rabbit to behave as he did. But only one event kept coming back to you over and over again - even though you had done everything in your power over the last few weeks to erase it from your memory.

The mere thought of it made your cheeks glow. It seemed to you like the opposite of a dream, an anti-dream. A haunting. For the more you tried to remember a dream, the more it slipped away. In contrast, you did your best to forget your little rendezvous with Matteo in Giulia's room, but that only seemed to make it all the more present...! Argh, it made you want to tear your hair out!!

Suddenly you wondered if he felt the same way. Was that why he was avoiding you? Had you done something wrong? No, as far as you remembered (and by now you remembered better than you would have liked...) he was the one who had set everything in motion. You had just reacted to it! And besides, the next morning everything had been back to normal, no? Why else would he have returned your knife? None of it made any sense!

Unless...

Your breath caught in your throat as another unpleasant thought occurred to you. The Rabbits may have installed filters in the Town Hall to neutralize these strange "spores" that they claimed were responsible for the Petrification Disease. But even the best filters were useless if you were almost nose-to-nose with an infected person, right...?

You sat up with a start, heart racing. Your mouth was suddenly bone dry and your ears were ringing, but you didn't notice. Your eyes were unseeing as an unsettling realization dawned on you.

Maybe Matteo was sick... and you were to blame.

But the others would have let on, wouldn't they? You could hardly imagine them making their usual light-hearted jokes otherwise. And only pretending in front of you the entire time. No, they had a wry sense of humor, true, and were also quite cunning... But this just didn't seem like something they would do, at least judging by how you'd come to know them over the past few weeks.

...Unless they'd been kept in the dark, too. But on second thought, that seemed even less likely. After all, that was Matteo's whole thing, "keep the family safe, whatever the cost". He would never hide this from them and risk them catching the disease as well. Especially as he only seemed to vanish into thin air when you were around... Which, in the end, made your theory that you had infected him rather unlikely.

And yet you couldn't help but continue to worry... while feeling like the world's biggest clown.

Because wasn't that exactly what you'd set out to do? Wasn't that your bloody plan all along, to infect the Rabbits one by one and make them pay for what they had done to your home, to your friends and family? And now you were worried that the worst of them might have caught it??

You bit your lip until it hurt. Your heartbeat sounded like wild drumbeats in the darkness of your empty room.

So far, you had been quite successful in ignoring the rabbit-shaped elephant in the room, namely that your feelings towards the Brotherhood had obviously changed quite a bit... And you spontaneously decided that you would continue to ignore it. Your emotional turmoil was already complete, without you trying to deal with what exactly it meant that you had somehow grown attached to a bunch of lunatic criminals.

And speaking of emotional turmoil...

To distract yourself and give the floor of your apartment a little rest from your nervous pacing, you found yourself back on the rooftops of Malum the following night - but you'd better kept on torturing your floor.

Because, of course, things happened as they had to, and you ended up being too distracted from your distraction. Which increased your clumsiness tenfold, and resulted in you missing a ledge while climbing a building and falling two stories onto a pile of wooden crates. You were lucky that there'd been no Carcasses nearby... But that was where your luck ran out. For it seemed that you had dislocated your right shoulder in the fall. Or, well, it felt that way at least. Aka it hurt like all hell.

So you weren't quite as happy this time when you returned home to find a new message from the Rabbits, setting your next meeting for tomorrow.

When the time came and you were making your way through the narrow back streets early in the morning, you carefully rolled your shoulder. The pain that followed made you grit your teeth. You still couldn't believe you'd been so careless. Never before had you made such a mistake during your nightly supply runs, and all because of...

All it took was a vague allusion and you felt your stomach twist into a tight knot.

So much for that "distraction"..., you thought grumpily as you slowly lowered your arm again. In the end, all this stunt had gotten you was a busted shoulder/arm combo on top of your already existing stomach ulcer.

As you walked on, you did your best to steer your thoughts in a different direction. Away from Matteo, away from illness and death... Which kept you busy until you finally turned the last corner and raised your eyes towards the wrought-iron gate...

And the misshapen red spot in front of it...

You stood stock-still for a moment. Your heart was pounding in your throat as you stared at Matteo and Vito, who, judging by the latter's rapid hand movements, seemed to be engaged in an animated conversation. Which, of course, fell silent as soon as you were within earshot.

"Good morning", you greeted as you joined them, taking great care not to stare at the scarf wearer any longer than was polite. Staring openly, that was; out of the corner of your eye was fair game, you decided.

Not that there was much to see, really, the Rabbit seemed to be his old self. Which didn't have to mean anything, of course. After all, you yourself were the perfect example! At first glance, no one would suspect you of having the Petrification Disease either. Nor on second glance.

But him being here, back in action, was already enough to ease your mind. So much so that even his usual sarcasm could not dampen your spirits.

"If there's one thing you can count on, it's your tardiness."

His words made you feel strangely giggly, which you tried to hide with a quiet cough. Still, Vito tilted his head slightly, and you thought you could also feel Matteo watching you a little more intently afterwards.

Once again you felt your cheeks grow warm as you began: "Well, that's because..."

I had to take another detour because I was so worried about you that I wrecked my shoulder, which makes climbing a bit difficult now. You're welcome, you finished in your mind. But you certainly didn't plan on rubbing his nose in it, so you sincerely hoped that any climbing would be kept to a minimum today...

"...there was something I had to do before I came here", you finally concluded aloud, and then quickly added: "A-anyway, what are you doing here? I thought Moe- err, I mean, Massimo was-"

"Indisposed. Spontaneous change of plans."

That was all he said. Vito signed something, but he too was met with nothing but stony silence before the scarf wearer suddenly turned around and entered the Town Hall Plaza. The bigger man chuckled softly and then followed him.

You, on the other hand, didn't move an inch. Instead, you called out: "Wait, where... where are you going?"

During the last treasure hunt, you had told Massimo and Vito about today's destination. And you had assumed that they'd told Matteo as well. So you didn't understand why the Rabbit was now walking in the exact opposite direction to where you were supposed to go... After all, the only way to get to the Barren Swamp was by tram (unless they were planning on climbing the mountains, which you very much hoped they weren't).

"Shouldn't we...", you began, pointing behind you - but then Vito suddenly turned and motioned for you to follow them.

You slowly lowered your arm again, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, but then just shrugged and did as you were told. You would be lying if you said that you weren't at least a little curious by now about what your companions were up to...

Each of your steps made a smacking sound on the damp stone. Judging by the cloudy, grey sky, it looked like it was going to be another wet day. You even thought you could feel the occasional raindrop already.

Great..., you thought, scowling. Just what you and your useless arm needed. That everything got even more slippery...

Contrary to your expectations, Matteo did not walk towards the Town Hall building, but kept to the right, eventually heading for the dilapidated building next to it. Some stairs, half blocked by all sorts of rubbish and debris, led to an old wooden door surrounded by crumbling brickwork. Your eyebrows moved towards your hairline as you tilted your head back and looked up at the building. However, you couldn't make out much more than the wooden skeleton of a roof against the backdrop of the huge rock formation and the foothills of the massive city walls.

When you looked back down, Matteo had reached the top of the stairs and was now opening the door at its end. The opening behind it was so dark that it seemed to lead absolutely nowhere, making you hesitate once more...

Then you suddenly noticed Vito signing something in your direction. This was followed by a resigned sigh from his brother before he translated concisely and in a monotonous voice: "This is a shortcut."

Very concisely, considering how long Vito had been talking. And also judging by the annoyed look he gave Matteo the next moment.

"What?", the scarf wearer said, shrugging his shoulders. "Told you, I'm not gonna play translator all day. That's Moe's thing."

Now it was bigger man's turn to sigh and shake his head disapprovingly, but by then Matteo had already turned away and disappeared into the creepy doorway. You watched as Vito soon did the same. Then you took one last longing look at the brightly lit windows of the Town Hall, which seemed so much more inviting than the dark hole in front of you... before you swallowed and finally followed the two Rabbits inside.

As you plunged into the darkness, your eyes struggled to adjust. But eventually you spotted your companions crossing the empty, dusty room and then disappearing into a corridor further back. You hurried to catch up and soon found yourself surrounded by cold, damp stone, and the "corridor" turned out to be a tunnel carved into the rock. Your footsteps echoed off the walls with a slight delay, making you sound like a small army. The only light in here came from scattered, dim ceiling lamps, hung so far apart that most of the time you were still moving in the dark.

You asked yourself for what had to be the hundredth time how this could be a "shortcut". A shortcut would have been the hotel above, but you knew about the rather... tense relationship between the Rabbits and the hotel guests, so you very much doubted that was your destination. Your way to work had always been through Elysion Boulevard. There had been talk of extending the tram line to the Malum District, but unfortunately that had never happened before everything went to shit.

Sometimes you wondered if it hadn't all been inevitable, all that catastrophe and ruin... However, you didn't mean that in a "Last Judgement" sort of way, like those religious nutjobs who saw it as the just punishment of all sinners and non-believers. No, you were rather thinking of how quickly Krat had transformed from a simple fishing village into a booming metropolis thanks to the industrial Puppet revolution - and in such a short time that you could still remember the very first models. And where there was a quick rise, well... there was usually also a quick fall. And a steep one.

Speaking of rising...

You were torn from your thoughts when the tunnel suddenly opened into a small, circular room with a stone spiral staircase leading upwards. Your two companions didn't hesitate for a second, but immediately began to climb. The ceiling lamps remained behind you, but here and there were small window openings in the outer wall that provided some light. As you passed by the first one, you curiously looked outside. Thick bars and cobwebs obstructed your view, but it didn't really matter, there wasn't much to see anyway. At least if you didn't count the endless ocean.

You gave the tall man in front of you another puzzled look, but decided to keep your questions to yourself. After all, you imagined you would find out soon enough what they were up to.

And so it was. After a climb that almost robbed you of all feeling in your legs, the staircase finally spat you out into the open - and into the middle of a paved courtyard lined with lush greenery.

However, you only caught a brief glimpse of it, as Vito suddenly stopped in his tracks and you promptly collided with his broad back. You quickly apologized, but fell silent again when Matteo hissed at you to shut up. He too had paused, his arm raised, evidently listening for any danger. But eventually you saw him relax again and give you the all-clear.

As it turned out, the staircase you had just climbed had been in one of the towers of the city wall and had led you straight to the hotel, or at least very close to it. You couldn't help but glance anxiously at the huge building as you slowly followed the two men across the courtyard, staying close to the walls.

For as long as you could remember, Hotel Krat had been a constant companion, albeit a distant one. Due to its prominent position above the city, there was virtually no place in Malum where it wasn't part of the eternal backdrop. That was how you got to know each other and how you remained (to this day, anyway). After all, people from the slums weren't exactly its preferred clientele, which made you feel terribly out of place up here, even now.

And extremely on edge. For you knew who was said to be currently residing in the creepy building: Giuseppe Geppetto, the "Father of the Puppets" himself - and public enemy number one according to the Rabbits, who saw him as the cause of all evil, especially the Puppet Frenzy. A reasonable assumption, in your humble opinion. And something that made the brightly lit windows of the hotel look like spotlights to you now. You couldn't help but imagine what would happen if you were discovered; an army of killer Puppets seemed like the most pleasant outcome...

Vito, ever so attentive, noticed your growing nervousness and gestured for Matteo to translate for him again. Perhaps the latter was also a little tired from all the stair climbing, because to your surprise this time he complied without a murmur.

"It's fine. Been a long time since one of them showed their face around here."

Just then you took a closer look at your surroundings and noticed just how neglected they looked. Evidently he was right, and it had indeed been quite a while since anyone had looked after this part of the premises - not that anyone could do so now, nor would it be of much use. You very much doubted that Krat would see any tourists in the near future...

"But I still wouldn't recommend sightseeing", the scarf wearer added dryly.

At first you wondered if he had read your mind. Then you realized that you'd been so lost in thought that you'd stopped walking, and hurried to catch up with the two Rabbits once again, your head hot with embarrassment.

Still, you couldn't resist another curious glance through a high wrought-iron gate you passed soon after. It was rusty and overgrown with ivy, but it still radiated the splendor and wealth for which Krat had become known in the years before the disasters.

The area behind the gate was so overgrown that it could only be a small, forgotten garden, in the middle of which you could make out an odd-looking tree. The trunk was strangely deformed and bulbous, and it looked as if someone had grabbed all the branches at the top and bent them so that they now grew in a tight bundle towards the ground.

For a brief moment, you thought you saw a golden glow emanating from them...

Before you blinked, and all that remained were bare branches and a strange sadness in your heart.

And then you had already walked past it and rather focused your attention on the path ahead, for shortly afterwards you reached another set of stairs, only this time it went down steeply. You swallowed. The wind up here was no joke. It had also begun to drizzle by now, making the stone beneath your feet glisten dangerously. You had never been more grateful for a stair-railing (and for the fact that the two men in front of you didn't have eyes in the back of their heads to watch your pitiful descent...)

In the end, however, all went well and you arrived safely at the bottom of the stairs, where a huge stone archway partially blocked your view of the other side. It was barricaded with various crates and wooden slats, but that wasn't much of an obstacle. You did feel a slight tug in your arm during your climb, but that was rather easy to ignore and cover up. Immediately, you sent another prayer to the heavens to keep it that way for the rest of your journey.

The other side of the gate finally brought you to the foot of the hotel grounds. You had to lean back quite a bit to still have a full view of the huge building to your left. Its entrance was out of sight, one step above; the steep stairs from earlier had apparently led you straight to the exit, filling you with happy relief. You couldn't wait to leave this place behind. It wasn't as infested with Puppets as one might have expected, given its famous guest... but you would be very careful not to let your guard down just yet. After all, you were still in enemy territory.

But what isn't enemy territory nowadays..., you thought grimly, before picking up the pace again so as not to fall too far behind your two companions, who continued on as if this was just a nice little walk in the park.

To your right, the hotel grounds fell away in a steep cliff towards the sea. Neatly arranged bushes and scattered trees lined your path, their gnarled branches swaying back and forth. But all you could hear were the wind-swept waves below. A broken carriage lay beside a disused fountain, the light from a street lamp right next to it made its spokes gleam and reflect in the puddles on the ground. You were glad that the horses had found their final resting place somewhere else...

Your gaze moved on to the large building just beyond. It spanned the entire length of the square, but also served as an exit to the hotel grounds, having a large gate in its center. One of the banged-up gate wings had been torn from its hinges and the other was barely hanging on. But you didn't care much about that at the moment, nor about the many posters and wooden standees surrounding it, advertising the "Marvelous Puppet Show!", a circus festival celebrating the Grand Exhibition - whose visitor numbers had fallen far short of expectations in the end. For... obvious reasons.

Your legs automatically began to move a little faster now that you were finally this close to the long-awaited exit...

When suddenly Matteo stopped dead in his tracks and you almost ran straight into him. At the very last second you managed to swerve out of the way, immediately following it up with an angry: "Hey! How about a little heads-up next time??"

"How about a little more distance next time?", the Rabbit countered.

Unable to think of a fitting response, you just crossed your arms in a huff, while he tilted his head back to look up at the tall building in front of you. For a long while. A suspiciously long while...

Oh no..., you thought in alarm as you felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

"You can't be se-", you blurted out as soon as it dawned on you what he was planning, and raised your arm to point at the passageway. "There's a perfectly acceptable gate right in front of us, why the hell would we go over the roof?! And don't tell me it's another 'shortcut'."

He didn't, but he also didn't say anything else.

He simply ignored you.

You felt the familiar anger boiling up inside you. Suddenly, it was a mystery to you how you could ever have felt genuine happiness at seeing that bastard safe and sound. All you wanted to do now was grab his stupid scarf and wring his neck with it.

"No. No, you know what?", you said, walking straight past him and towards the gate. "You do you, I don't care. I'm staying down here. We'll see which one of us gets the last... laugh..."

You trailed off before falling completely silent. Because just then you'd stepped under the archway, which allowed you to take a look at the other side. At the rectangular courtyard with its many standees and garlands and fairy lights strung across it, making it almost look like an arena...

An impression only reinforced by the gigantic Puppet standing right in the middle, perfectly staged.

It had its back to you, so all you could make out were two massive arms with claw-like hands, a red coat(?) and a huge cage strapped to its back. But that was all you needed to know, really. Especially after you spotted something dangling between the bars of the cage... Something that looked suspiciously like human limbs...

It was unlikely that the Puppet would hear you over the now fairly moderate rain, and yet you didn't dare move too quickly as you made a carefully considered retreat.

"You were saying", Matteo greeted you upon your return.

"Oh, shut up. You could have told me about that thing..."

"Where's the fun in that?"

You rolled your eyes. "Whatever, man. Why don't you just kill it? What happened to" You cleared your throat and tried to match the tone of his voice. "'The only good Puppet is a dead one'?"

Vito was very amused by your terrible impression - Matteo less so.

"We haven't got all day", he said curtly, before raising his arm and pointing the grappling hook at the roof...

Which immediately made your heart sink into your stomach.

"Wait, what about me?", you blurted out.

And felt instant regret. Your ears were burning with embarrassment, but you'd rather be embarrassed about that than your fucked-up shoulder. Especially since admitting to that would also mean admitting that Matteo had been right all along about your all-nighters before missions... And you'd really rather not.

"You've got two perfectly good arms, no?", the Rabbit replied nonchalantly. "How about using them."

Then his grappling hook made a loud whirring sound, and you could only watch with your mouth hanging open as he zipped off towards the roof.

He knew. He fucking knew and now he was taking the piss out of you, all smug and gloating and-

"You waiting for an invitation or something?"

I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him...!!!, kept running through your head as you let your eyes roam over the facade.

The irony of it all was that if you'd been in top form, climbing this building would have been a piece of cake; you could see plenty of spots that would have given you both an excellent grip and foothold. As it was, however, you couldn't even see yourself reaching the first row of windows. And that wasn't even you being pessimistic.

So much for the prayer earlier, you thought morosely, but entirely unsurprised. If you were a Saint, you would have also left this cursed place a long, long time ago...

Resigned, you closed your eyes and mentally prepared yourself for the humiliation of having to ask for help...

When suddenly you lost the ground beneath your feet.

It happened so quickly that all you could do was let out a startled squeak as the world lost its balance for a brief moment... until it came to a halt just as quickly and you found yourself in Vito's arms. Or rather his arm, for the man was so strong that he only needed one to carry you. Nevertheless, you immediately wrapped your own anxiously around his neck, even though his hand had a firm grip on your thighs.

At first you were simply speechless. And when your mouth finally remembered how to form words, you promptly swallowed them as the Rabbit pushed himself off the ground all of a sudden and landed on a crate next to the broken gate. This was repeated a few more times as he single-handedly made his way up, climbing over balustrades and pulling himself onto balconies. With each leap, your heart beat faster and your grip on his neck tightened even more, while he didn't seem the least bit out of breath. Your legs dangled uselessly and yet they still felt like pudding at this point. How you were going to stand upright in this state, without falling off the roof, was a mystery to you...

A mystery that would forever remain unsolved, however, for as soon as you reached your destination, Vito showed not the slightest inclination to let you go, oh no. Instead, he simply started walking, and was soon carrying you across the roof.

"You... You really don't have to do that...", you laughed awkwardly.

But the Rabbit only gave a quiet snort and waved your concerns away with his free hand. At the same time, he gripped your legs a little tighter, as if to say: "Don't worry, I got you."

You wouldn't be surprised if your face was so hot by now that the rain on your mask was evaporating. You quickly turned it away from the Rabbit and instead looked in the direction you were going. Your position meant that your field of vision was relatively limited, but that didn't matter. You had no desire to take another look at the horrifying Puppet down below (which apparently couldn't see you up here, thankfully), and the other direction, where Matteo was walking, was even less appealing.

It felt like hours until you had finally rounded the courtyard and reached the other end of the rooftops, where Vito did not hesitate long before holding you a little tighter once more and then leaping down the building. The jolt that went through both of your bodies when his feet hit the ground made your teeth chatter. As he set you down, he thankfully held out his left arm to support you, otherwise you would undoubtedly have collapsed on the ground. So much unexpected courtesy briefly made you forget the embarrassment you had just experienced...

At least until Matteo suddenly appeared right next to you and grumbled: "Did you really have to carry her all the way across that bloody roof? It's not like she can't walk..."

Vito simply chuckled.

As soon as you regained your footing, you let go of his arm and moved the fingertips of your outstretched hand to your chin and away again, a gesture you had come to recognize as "Thank you". You didn't know if the eldest of the Rabbits knew about your injury too. But either way, you appreciated his help and wanted to respond in kind.

There hadn't been many opportunities for you to try out the little sign language you'd picked up so far. So when Vito didn't react straight away you immediately felt self-conscious. Had you made a mistake and offended him? Or misinterpreted the gesture even...?

You had just opened your mouth to explain yourself when suddenly the Rabbit's shoulders began to shake with laughter. Then he returned the gesture, and you breathed a sigh of relief, before giggling as he raised his big hand to pat you gently on the head.

Turning around soon after, you caught sight of Matteo who'd already walked ahead, towards the open city. Cerasani Alley, to be precise; or, well, what was left of it anyway. A first taste of what was to come in the "City of the Future"... and all the horrors that now called it their home.

The thought made you gulp. You had a feeling that moments of laughter would be few and far between from now on...

***

i wanna be carried around by the eldest tooo, these last two chapters are pure wish fulfillment on my end lmao😭♥️

anyway, while writing this chapter i had a let's play in the background and when the guy got to the malum town hall i thought "wait!!! you missed something!!! you didn't explore the building to the right!!!" 💀💀💀 i literally forgot that i made that up for my fic lmaoosjdjdkd (i blame my cold)

thank you sm for readingg, i hope you enjoyed it!! feedback is welcome and very much appreciated~

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anyabathory-blog · 2 months ago

Text

The Hunted, Haunted and Forgotten - Part 8

[Prev] [Next] [Masterlist]

Pairing: Battle Maniac x fem!Reader

Word count: 5.5k

Summary: You get to know the Rabbits a little better and keep wondering if you're okay with that...

A/N: I DID IT I WROTE SOMETHING YOU GUYSSS AND IT'S FLUFF YOU GUYSSS LIKE CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? NEW YEAR NEW ME FRFR WOOOO💃💃 hrmhrm anyway,, i'm here with more headcanon lore for our dear wabbits bc it's what they deserve🤲♥️ hope you enjoy the fun sib shenanigans~! (before the inevitable Return of the Angst)

***

Part 8 - If only for a moment

In the morning light, Giulia's room had turned out to be a fascinating mixture of "boring old bureaucrat" and "teenage girl goes delinquent".

The former office was not very large, so the dusty secretary and various other office paraphernalia had to be moved into a corner to make room for a bed and other very important pieces of furniture - a (very messy) dressing table, for example. Others were simply repurposed: All the drawers and shelves had been removed from a large cabinet on the left-hand side of the room and unceremoniously stacked on top of the desk. The resulting space was now filled to the brim with clothes, from all kinds of shoes and fancy hats to ruffled dresses and heavy coats. It didn't make it particularly hard to guess what seemed to be the Rabbit girl's favourite haul.

And also a cherished hobby, judging by the dressmaker's dummy (which looked suspiciously like the dismembered torso of a Puppet, something you were only too happy to ignore) equipped with various colored pieces of fabric and other sewing utensils. The preparatory work for this undertaking could be found just behind it on the wall, which was effectively covered with sketches and illustrations of Giulia's creative outpourings. Here and there, due to a spontaneous lack of paper you presumed, the wallpaper itself had served as an alternative even. Most of the drawings were in the same hastily scribbled style, but some were almost professional in character, which was probably Massimo's doing.

You couldn't help but think it was sweet that he was so supportive of her passion.

The opposite side of the room wore his handwriting as well; there were a couple of shelves on the wall right next to the bedside table, which were completely surrounded by all sorts of drawings. Some were rather simple, like a butterfly or a pretty field of red flowers under a blue sky. Most, however, were of the four Stalker siblings, ranging from more elaborate portraits to sketches of everyday life. A little variety was provided by framed insect specimens and a poster advertising the production of "The Witch's Tower And Princess" starring Adelina Corday, as well as a Wanted poster - starring the Rabbits themselves, of course.

The shelves were littered with so many knickknacks it was hard to take it in all at once. There was a purse in the shape of a frog, a ship in a bottle and a music box with a dancing ballerina in the middle. A shiny comb lay beside a gilded box; it stood open, revealing a whole mountain of jewelry, on top of which was the brooch Massimo had gifted the girl after your very first treasure hunt together. This was followed by an impressive collection of shells, a feathered fan leaning against the back wall, and some tattered picture books, judging by the titles.

Most of the shelf space, however, was taken up by a veritable army of stuffed animals, dolls and figurines, of which you were particularly taken with a small mechanical rabbit on a bicycle - that was, until you vaguely remembered Giulia telling you that Matteo had made her a toy rabbit just like that for her last birthday...

At which point you promptly decided to end your little expedition through the teenage girl's room.

Currently you were standing in front of the full-length mirror next to the dummy. Dim light fell through the pretty curtains in front of the windows onto your scowling face as you plucked at all the fabric hanging from your body. By now you realized why Massimo had described the outfit he had chosen for you as "creative"; although you felt that this time his artistic mind had overshot the mark a little. A little much. So much so that at first you even thought it was a joke.

Because part of it had actually turned out to be a skirt.

Not an ugly one, mind you; in fact, before the disasters, the auburn, calf-length piece with the decorative buttons would have been right up your alley. But that was just the thing, before the disasters. Now you couldn't think of anything more impractical. At least it was floaty enough not to restrict your movement too much... And you'd only have to wear it until your own clothes were clean again, which, according to Massimo, shouldn't take too long (if that hadn't been another joke...).

Still, you didn't understand why he hadn't just given you a pair of men's pants and a belt if Giulia didn't have anything suitable at hand. Especially since he had done exactly that regarding the top of your outfit, which was nothing more than a loose, cream-colored, wide-sleeved men's shirt. Although it was showing signs of wear, the fabric was still thick and sturdy, so you didn't have to worry about it being see-through - the first thing you'd checked.

As soon as you recognized it as a man's shirt, the question of its actual owner came to mind. You could definitely rule out Vito because of his size, and Matteo...

You grimaced. You wouldn't put it past Massimo. Especially since it would effectively kill two birds with one stone: embarrass both you and the scarf wearer. However, you could hardly imagine (and didn't want to either) that this shirt would suit his style. It was way too light, way too casual, way too... romantic.

The thought hadn't even taken full shape before the images, memories, feelings that had kept you awake at night (and that you had tried so hard to ignore away) came flooding back.

No, no, no, you said to yourself, shaking your head vehemently, it's Massimo's, gotta be.

You knew it was mostly wishful thinking, but you quickly decided to ignore that too, as you set about tucking the shirt into the waistband of your skirt. You couldn't allow these thoughts to follow you into the new day even. It was one thing to have to deal with your sick brain (quite literally) when you were alone in a pitch-black room, but another when you were surrounded by the very last people you wanted to know what was really going on with you...

As if to draw a line under it, the next moment you smoothed your skirt, sorted out your shirt collar and sleeves, and gave your reflection a final, determined nod. Then you turned around and marched with firm steps toward the door...

Only to pause and turn back toward the open space when you realized that you had almost forgotten the most important thing.

Quickly, you approached the bed again and fumbled for the piece of paper on which you had written down the locations of the treasures. And which you had unceremoniously stuffed between the pile of pillows while changing, just in case. Now you shoved it into your left boot as far as it would go; that seemed much safer than putting it in the breast pocket of your shirt. After all, you never knew when you'd be standing chest to chest with a Rabbit again...

As soon as the thought crossed your mind, you wanted to slap yourself, but then just hissed: "Bloody stop it already!!" before crossing the room once more.

This time, however, you didn't spare your reflection a second glance.

+++

You had barely stepped out into the hallway when you heard someone calling your name. Someone who soon turned out to be Massimo, leaning against the wall by the bathroom door with his arms crossed. He was wearing his bucket helmet/mask, which could only mean that one or more of the Rabbits had gone out (there was no question who you were hoping for).

"Back among the living, eh? I was just about to send out a search party to make sure you weren't buried under Mt. Pillow."

You rolled your eyes as you joined him, but couldn't help the small smile. "Good morning to you too."

You were about to ask him why he was standing here all dressed up and with nowhere to go, when he nodded towards the bathroom and said: "I'm supervising Giulia on her little pee trip." He turned his head toward the door and continued in a loud voice: "Emphasis on pee! Oi! I don't remember agreeing to listen to you unloading in there!"

"Am not!", it sounded indignantly from behind the door. "It's all just... a bit more annoying when you only have one working leg!"

"What do you need your legs for when you take a shit??"

"No, the problem is..." A pause. "Oh piss off, Moe!!"

The Rabbit chuckled before turning back to you. "She refused the potty..."

"Yeah, cause it's disgusting!", you could hear Giulia's muffled voice once more.

"...so it can only be a matter of hours", he finished with a shrug. "Sorry."

You waved it off. "Never mind. I freshened up earlier, right after I got up."

"Smart." He nodded approvingly. Then he seemed to take a closer look at you and asked: "By the by, how do you like your new outfit? Pretty, isn't it?"

"Pretty impractical perhaps..." The laughter you got in response was definitely not remorseful enough for you. "Didn't you have some extra pants lying around?", you added with a grumble.

"Oh, no yeah I did." You could well imagine his grin stretching from one Rabbit ear to the other by now, just like the painted version on his bucket. "But they weren't as pretty~"

This time you held the smile as you rolled your eyes. "Oh, har, har..."

The next moment, the bathroom door opened. As soon as she spotted you, Giulia gave you a beaming smile - until she suddenly stumbled over the threshold, her face almost greeting the wooden floorboards if you hadn't reacted on instinct and grabbed her arm. Something you half regretted not one second later when the girl grabbed your arm in return, causing a sharp pain that made you grit your teeth.

Which, of course, had not gone unnoticed. After all, you were dealing with a bunch of unnatural freaks here.

"Oh, that's nasty looking", Massimo exclaimed promptly, as soon as Giulia had stood up straight again, albeit still a little wobbly. "Is that from yesterday??"

You wanted to quickly pull your sleeve over the bruise, but he was quicker and soon held your wrist in front of his goggles to inspect it more closely. Something that immediately gave you another annoying déjà-vu and made your heart skip a beat - which annoyed you even more.

"It's fine", you said curtly and tried to take your arm again, but the man in front of you wouldn't let it go.

In two ways.

"If this is 'fine', I don't wanna know what 'not fine' looks like to you", he said doubtfully, "especially since it seems to hurt quite a bit."

You sighed. "Not really, I just- Ow! What the hell?!", you blurted out as he suddenly pressed his fingers directly on your discolored skin.

This time you managed to snatch your arm back, while he just gave you a smug look. "You were saying?"

Oh, that little...

"Okay, fine! You made your point", you grumbled. "Happy now?"

"I will be, if you stop being such a stubborn pain in my arse. One is more than enough."

That shut you up for good.

A state that continued on even minutes later when the three of you found yourselves in the main room of the Town Hall, with Massimo busy rubbing a thick, pain-relieving ointment on your forearm and then applying a fancy (and, in your opinion, completely unnecessary) bandage. You were sitting opposite each other at the table, while Giulia had moved back to the sofa and was now tinkering with something you couldn't quite make out from where you were sitting.

The Rabbit across from you let out an impressed whistle as he held your arm up to the light. "Blimey... Must've been a fresh one, or it wouldn't have had the fine motor skills left."

"A fresh one...?" You frowned uncomprehendingly, your mind elsewhere for a moment.

"Your Carcass admirer, the one that gave you this lovely bracelet", he explained before he flexed his fingers and then began to carefully wrap your arm in the cloth of the bandage. "They quickly forget how hands work. So I think this fella here can't have been back on its feet for long if it still remembered how to hold on to someone."

Ooh. That's what he meant.

You shook your head. "That wasn't a Carcass. Got your dear brother to thank for that one."

No sooner had you finished speaking than the man in front of you suddenly froze, and out of the corner of your eye you saw that Giulia had done the same.

You looked from one to the other. "What?"

"You mean... Matteo did this?", Massimo asked slowly and with a strange undertone in his voice.

It made you frown again. "Yeah...?"

Until it finally dawned on you.

"Ooh, you mean...! No, no, that... It wasn't on purpose", you rushed to explain, "just in the, uh... heat of the moment, basically! We also already sorted it out yesterday - well, sort of... So there's nothing to worry about, really!"

It briefly occurred to you how wrong it felt to defend the scarf wearer in this way, when usually you liked to blame him for the bad weather even. But this wasn't really about him, after all. You just wanted to set the record straight, nothing more!

Massimo crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "'In the heat of the moment', huh? That so..."

You thought you could feel him piercing you with his gaze; it seemed as if he was trying to see inside your very soul. Though at the same time, you didn't get the impression that he didn't believe you, oh no. Rather, it sounded as if he knew something you didn't. As if he was hinting at something...

The thought made you gulp. It couldn't have anything to do with what had happened- had almost happened between you and Matteo yesterday, right? He couldn't possibly know about that.

...Right??

"I-I mean", you stammered, while trying to keep the temperature of your face at a normal level, "of course I was a little... startled at first. After all, he's not usually the... emotional type, I guess you could sa-"

"'Emotional' you say?", Giulia interrupted suddenly.

"'Emotional' how...?", Massimo joined in.

Again, your eyes darted back and forth between the two, now incredibly confused by their strange behavior. "Well, that was... when we were stuck in the ravine, Giulia and I. Right after Matteo found us. He was worried that something had happened to us-"

"'Us'? More like you", the Rabbit girl corrected. "You would've been skewered if Teo hadn't shown up!"

"...Right", you said slowly, not really in the mood to think back to your near-death experience (and slightly weirded out by her strange excitement about it). "I guess he thought I was seriously hurt... which would have been rather inconvenient, of course. Our situation was already bad enough with Giulia's injured foot. So it's no wonder really, that he got a bit carried away ther- Okay, what is this?", you interrupted yourself as the Rabbits exchanged another indefinable look.

Suddenly Giulia started laughing and exclaimed: "See?? I told you!"

Massimo only responded with an incomprehensible grumble.

"Told him what?", you asked, irritated.

But Giulia just kept on giggling, while her brother gave you a no less revealing "Hm?", as if he'd just remembered that you were there, too.

You deadpanned. "Are you serious?"

"Nah, I'm Massimo. Why?"

You felt your temple twitch with irritation, and put as much sarcasm as you could into your next words. "Oh, I don't know... Maybe because you're acting even weirder than usual??" You narrowed your eyes. "Like you're up to something."

"Where did you get that idea?" Giulia asked, sounding about as innocent as a child trying to talk its way out of stealing cookies with its hands still in the cookie jar.

Which didn't do much to dispel your suspicion that they were just fucking with you after all, and only made you more annoyed. But before you could open your mouth again, Massimo finally took pity on you.

"It's just a little... surprising. That's all."

You waited for him to continue. When he didn't, you pressed on: "What is??"

"Wellll", he said at last, "it's true, our dear brother is about as touchy-feely as an Alchemist is honest. Unless..."

"Unless...", Giulia repeated in the same conspiratorial tone.

You raised your eyebrows. "...Yes?"

Before he went on, Massimo continued to work on your bandage. "You see, Matteo's developed this... habit. Back when this whole shitshow started and we lost the HQ and he was..." He took a deep breath. "Well, I'll spare you the details, but believe me, it wasn't pretty and really messed him up. To the point that every time someone he cares about is in danger now, he just freaks out until he's made sure they're all right. And since he's usually not quite in his right mind at those moments, this can be a bit, er... a bit forceful, you might say."

He hadn't even finished speaking before you were already scowling - but not at Massimo.

"You put him up to this", you accused the girl sitting behind him.

"Wha- Did not!", Giulia blurted out, before turning to her brother and explaining (with a big eye roll, judging by her tone): "She thinks Teo 'hates' her."

It was quiet for a moment.

Then Massimo burst out laughing, and your scowl deepened.

"Hates you?", he finally gasped. "Oh believe me, you'd definitely know if he hated you."

"That's what I said!", Giulia exclaimed excitedly.

You, however, could only snort loudly. "Well, he has an interesting way of showing that..."

An extremely interesting way, suddenly flashed through your mind, along with some extremely interesting images from the previous night... Which you hastily shoved back into the farthest corner of your broken brain before they could unfold their full annoyance once more.

Massimo chuckled softly as he picked up a pair of scissors. "And right you are. But even if he comes across a bit... constipated a lot of the time-"

"And like a big old know-it-all", Giulia added.

"Humourless too."

"And stingy!"

"Arrogant."

"Mean."

"Stubborn."

"Unfair."

"And has absolutely no sense for the arts..."

"Wow, you're really selling the guy", you commented dryly.

"...he's not a bad bloke", Massimo finally concluded. "Just needs to work through a few things."

"Yeah, well. We all do."

"Exactly."

You raised an eyebrow. "So what was yesterday all about then?"

"Ah, what can I say... As much as my fingers sometimes itch to impale him with that toothpick he calls a weapon..." He shrugged, and you could hear him grinning. "We're Rabbits! Family. At the end of the day, we always got each other's backs, no matter what."

"Aww! How touching, bro!"

"...except for Giulia, because she can't reach that high."

He let out an ugly cackle as she complained loudly and puffed out her cheeks. Then he turned back to your bandage and put the finishing touches on it before announcing: "Et voilà! All done!"

"Thank you..." you murmured, but were still thinking about his earlier words, about the all too familiar feeling that they had stirred within you...

And that you wished you could forget, because every reminder created a longing that tore your heart in two.

You quickly tried to distract yourself by taking a closer look at Massimo's creation: First you moved your arm back and forth, then you opened and closed your hand to test if the bandage restricted the movement of your fingers. You were pleased to see that it did not. The Rabbit had really done an excellent job.

Still, you couldn't help but give him a skeptical look before saying: "But was the bowknot really necessary?"

"Very much so, sugarplum", he replied, gently patting your arm. Then he suddenly pushed his chair back to give himself enough room to stretch his arms and legs, and groaned loudly: "Fuck me, so much work in the morning is really wearing me out...! I'm gonna grab a bite. You want anything?"

You had barely opened your mouth when he nodded, jumped to his feet and dashed past you towards the pantry. Perplexed, you closed your mouth again.

"I like it! Looks like little bunny ears~", Giulia commented on your artful bandage before raising her hands above her head to wiggle her own.

You couldn't help but smile back at her.

A little later, the girl had resumed her mysterious work, though now she also occasionally nibbled at a strawberry jam sandwich. You had your breakfast laid out before you as well: a buttered cheese sandwich, tomatoes, an egg and smoked herring. Fish had always been a staple food in the surrounding coastal region - at least as long as people could go fishing. Instead of being killed by bloodthirsty monsters or joining their hivemind.

In the early days of your dealings with the Rabbits, you had regularly refused their offers to share in their hearty meals, but now your guilt had subsided somewhat. You still liked to think that all you were really doing was preventing the food from going to waste. After all, that wouldn't have helped anyone either! But in reality, your lowered inhibitions in this matter were simply due to your growing awareness of your impending demise. And because you thought this deserved the odd indulgence of questionable character, if only for a moment.

Something you would never admit out loud, though. You wanted Matteo to believe that you had taken the "goody-two-shoes" - as he so nicely put it - to your grave.

As you took another sip of your tea, you noticed that Massimo had put down the egg he was peeling and started massaging his fingers instead. You were about to tease him by asking if he needed any help, when you suddenly heard noises from outside and, not a second later, the front door opened to reveal the two missing Rabbits.

Matteo was already unbuckling his mask as he stepped over the threshold, so that he could pull it off as soon as he reached your table. Meanwhile, Vito closed the door behind them and leaned his monstrous weapon against the adjacent wall before following the scarf wearer.

It was as if his eyes were magnetic. But no sooner had you made contact than you quickly averted yours, suddenly extremely worried about what Matteo would read in them... Which was simply ridiculous, and for no reason at all! Whatever had happened between the two of you yesterday meant nothing, absolutely nothing. Either the Rabbit had really just been pulling your leg (in which case this whole thing was even more irrelevant), or it had simply been a small slip-up caused by your fatigue. After all, you'd had a long day and your nerves were pretty frayed - ideal conditions for doing things you didn't really mean. Especially when, as in your case, you were also slowly but surely going insane.

So pull yourself together, for Saint's sake, you ordered yourself and willed your heartbeat to calm down again.

"You got it?", Massimo asked the next moment, running his fingers through his hair - now that the Rabbits were reunited, they had all taken off their masks, as was their unwritten rule.

In response, Matteo simply raised his right arm and dropped a small bag onto the table, where it landed with a loud clink. Then he said: "Naturally. Was a walk in the park after the tin cans had settled down."

His brother let out a small cheer and grabbed the bag to inspect its contents. Meanwhile, you gave the scarf wearer a surprised look.

"Wait, you went to Moonlight Town again?", you blurted out, even though the answer couldn't have been more obvious. To sound less stupid, you hastily added: "A-and you're back already?"

Matteo turned away from you, fiddling with something at his side. "Perks of having a competent colleague for once."

...Yep. You still hated him, all right. Shooting him an annoyed look, you started to protest-

When suddenly he turned around again and made you jump. Then you just sat there for a few moments with your mouth half open, blinking in confusion at the object the man was holding out to you. And which your brain eventually recognized as your lost knife.

The Rabbit raised an eyebrow and gave it a little shake, a clear invitation.

"You... What... But how...?", you finally stammered, accepting it almost reverently.

Vito signed something, which Massimo immediately translated out loud: "The knife was harder to find than the treasure."

"Not really", Matteo grumbled. "All you had to do was follow the trail of destruction..."

You were far too happy to have your knife back to pay much attention to the sarcasm in his words. Instead you simply looked him in the eye again the next moment and said sincerely: "Thank you. That... I appreciate it."

He held your gaze for a few seconds, silently. Briefly, you thought you saw something flash in his gray-green eyes... But then he looked away, clearing his throat. "I owed you a favour, didn't I?"

You frowned. "Wait, I thought I could choose what-"

"Yeah, well. Change of plans", he replied curtly before sitting down at the table next to Vito.

Of course..., you thought morosely as you watched the two of them loading up their plates as well.

You were, however, not particularly surprised and therefore not particularly angry that Matteo had changed his mind about that one. Getting your knife back was far more than you had ever hoped for from this "favor" of his. In fact, you had expected him to forget about it all together (or pretend to)...

"Alright, alright", Giulia suddenly said. "Listen up! You may have beaten me to the punch, bro, but we'll see who got the last laugh! Ta-daah!! It's done!"

Everyone's heads turned in her direction as she finally presented what she had been working on all this time: your mask, which you had been missing since last night.

And which had now been given a Black Rabbit makeover, including two protruding rabbit ears.

"I used one of my black velvet cushions", she explained, pointing first to the inside of the ears and then to the black bow at their base. "The lace around the edges and the little stars are from my last dress, so I had plenty left over. Can't say the same for the wire though, which is why the left ear is so droopy... But honestly? I think it looks even cuter this way!" She gave you a big smile and, when you failed to react, asked curiously: "So? Do you like it?? It was something of a tradition for the senior Stalkers to pick out the masks for the newbies. And since you're basically already part of the family..."

If you had taken a sip of your tea at her last words, it would be anywhere but in your mouth now. Instead, you just blurted out: "Well, I don't know about that..."

Right as Matteo said: "Absolutely not."

The two of you exchanged a quick glance while Giulia pouted. "But why not?"

"Yeah, bro." Massimo propped his chin on his hands. "Why not...?"

Vito also looked at him expectantly and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Because it's weird", the scarf wearer finally said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I bet it is..." Massimo's shit-eating grin turned into a laugh as his brother threw a grape at him.

Meanwhile, you were still quite dumbfounded. Not so long ago, you would have rather thrown yourself out of a window than be considered part of the Black Rabbit Brotherhood. Alright, you had to admit that you had misjudged them in some respects. And it was also true that you had come to see a certain... appeal in their company. But that didn't mean you wanted to fraternize with them...!

And yet your resolve faltered the second you looked into Giulia's disappointed face. It made you feel absolutely miserable that you were the one responsible... And ultimately made you rationalize that after yesterday (and the prospect of a week or two of mind-numbing boredom), it couldn't hurt to cheer the girl up a bit. So what! What difference would it make if they thought you were starting to come around? No one but you would ever know.

True to the motto: I already play the part, I can play another.

"I like it!", you announced loudly the next moment, giving the girl a smile. "I think it's really pretty, thank you."

Her face immediately lit up like a second sunrise, and you admittedly felt quite pleased with yourself.

"Really?? Oh, I'm so happy!", she exclaimed, beaming with joy. "The design gave me a bit of a headache at first, I did the first sketch ages ago, back then I was still wondering if I should go for ruffles instead..."

As she babbled on, Vito made a few discreet hand gestures and Massimo mouthed: "You probably made her day."

You returned their smiles and thought you also saw the corners of Matteo's mouth twitch upwards for a fraction of a second... But weren't sure if it wasn't just your imagination.

Especially when, in the next moment, you stood up to accept your gift, and suddenly there was a choked cough behind you, followed by: "What the hell are you wearing??"

"Oh, I almost forgot!", Massimo laughed, "You don't like it? I for one think she looks just lovely!"

When you turned around, Matteo looked like he wanted to throw his butter knife next.

But his brother just ignored him and explained to you with a grin: "You know, back in school we had a teacher..."

"Don't", the scarf wearer growled.

"...who dressed really similarly..."

"I'm serious, Moe."

"...and who turned the heads of many a boy~..."

"Don't."

There was a brief silence as they eyed each other. Then Massimo's grin widened and he finished quickly: "Presentcompanyincluded-"

Immediately Matteo jumped to his feet and lunged at his laughing brother, who dodged him and then took off in the opposite direction. You quickly stepped back to get out of the way, raising your hands defensively as they began to chase each other around the table. Vito, meanwhile, just shook his head with a grin and spread some honey on a slice of bread, completely unfazed.

The only other person who seemed to have no love for all the chaos was Giulia.

"Ughh, who cares!", she complained loudly before looking at you. "You better say which present you prefer! Mine or Teo's??"

The latter looked up briefly at the mention of his name and met your gaze... but then turned away again to put Massimo in a headlock without paying any further attention to you.

You didn't have to think twice. "Well, since Teo didn't have to go to much trouble to find my knife, according to his own words..." You closed the gap to the sofa, grabbed your mask and held it up to your face. "I hereby declare Giulia the winner!!"

The girl cheered loudly and clapped her hands.

"That's just...", Massimo said a little out of breath after Matteo had let go of him, "because I... didn't participate! So watch out!! Next time... I'm gonna beat you both!"

"Oh, no, please don't", you hurried to say, waving him off with a laugh. "No more presents please, at least not any time soon!"

"You hear that, bro? No more cheap shortcuts! From now on, you gotta work a little harder if you want her to-"

Massimo didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Matteo had grabbed him again. As the two continued to wrestle, Vito took an amused sip of his coffee and Giulia cheered them on from the sidelines...

And that warm, familiar feeling spread through your chest again. Only this time, the expected pain didn't come. You had already prepared for it, instinctively looking for another distraction, so you could wrap yourself in a cloak of indifference once more. But now, that you felt nothing more than a slightly unpleasant tug... It made your heart beat faster, because there it was again, the temptation to just indulge. To forget about everything and just enjoy life like you would a good meal...

...if only for a moment, you thought, as a small smile formed on your lips and your fingers tightened around your Rabbit mask.

***

I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR!!!!!!! i always wished i had more sibs so this is like, the ultimate form of self inserting to me ngl skdkd♥️♥️

thank you sm for readingg, i hope you enjoyed it!! feedback is welcome and very much appreciated~

#im not in the fandom but ill support whatever da fuck my bestie loves #read it #fic rec #lies of p x reader #lies of p fanfic #YOU GOOO GALLL

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