Toris sighed and wiped sweat off his forehead, closing the car door behind him and locking it. It was hard to do with the towering pile of books and papers in his hands, but he managed somehow, like always. Toris Laurinaitis worked as a 1st grade teacher in a nearby elementary school. It was a busy and stressful but Toris was happy with it and wouldn't trade it for any other job. He could kind of be a pushover to the kids but they liked him and he liked them as well. Despite how troublesome they could be, he found helping them grow very rewarding.

He shifted slightly, trying to ease the papers into a neat pile against his chest. It was hard enough to trudge through the inches of snow covering the walkway to his house without them. It had been a particularly hard winter on him this year; he had just shoveled the sidewalk and walkway this morning before he left and it was already covered in snow again. He had on a simple white and green striped scarf with his old, thick brown coat, gloves and two layers of clothes on to help combat the cold but even with all that he could still feel Jack Frost nipping at his nose. He just dealt with it though, teeth clenched but chattering. He looked down at his pile of books and papers, looking over the first paper to plan the corrections he'd make to it when he got inside.

He groaned softly to himself when he noticed Alfred had once again put "The Hero" as his name on his paper. He was lucky Toris wasn't one of the teachers who threw your paper out if it didn't have your name on it. He supposed it was his own fault for not making a bigger point of it to Alfred or taking points off, but Alfred needed all of the points he could get. Plus Alfred could be painfully stubborn about things when he wanted to. It would be hard to convince him to put his actual name down. If he didn't stop the next time Toris asks him to he'd probably have to speak to Arthur about it...

He was so absorbed in the paper he almost walked right into the front door, and he would have if he could, actually. The door was already open though, and Toris ended up going right through the doorway. He didn't really notice he was inside until he realized the background noise of his boots crunching the snow was gone. He paused for a moment and turned to look behind him, right through the doorway. He frowned, a puzzled look on his face. The door was open? How could that be?

He always made sure to check three times to make sure all of the windows and doors were closed and locked before he left his house. Call him a bit paranoid, but it was a habit that was hard to break, and better safe than sorry, right? How could he just forget to check it? He was 99.9% sure he checked it just like he did every other day... Unless...He didn't forget to lock it and someone had broken in.

With this new information realized Toris froze in his tracks, still staring at the tiled floor directly below him in shock. Someone might have broken in. Someone might have tried to rob him. Someone might have tried to...He shook his head, trying to shake off all of the thoughts racing through his mind, many of which he didn't want to have. He took a deep breath, slowly relaxing as he tried rationing with himself.

It was probably just his brothers visiting or something along the lines.

Though...they weren't known to have surprise visits very often.. Raivis was very forgetful, he might have just forgot to close the door. Yes, that was more likely than someone breaking in Toris tried to assure himself. He'd just have to go farther inside and he'd be greeted by his brothers.

He'd scold them for coming uninvited, then Raivis would start apologizing

profusely and shaking with his effort like he always did. Toris would assure him it was alright and try to calm him down. Life would go on as normal and Toris would feel silly for ever worrying about it. Him and his brothers would get on with their visit and everything would be fine. Right?

And that's when he saw it. He was too worked up to notice it at first, but now that he was starting to calm down he noticed the bright red in the corner of his eyes. He froze for a moment before slowly turning his head to look in its direction. His whole body went rigid, eyes unbelievably wide in shock, all of the books and papers he had been carrying falling unceremoniously to the floor.

Loose papers flew everywhere in the room, some of the unlucky ones landing on the bright red and sticking to the floor, the whole paper slowly turning into that unmistakable blood red. The red was pooled on the tile, a small river of it extending further from the puddle and running toward the door, extending its reach as it went. The deep red shined like rubies with the sunlight drifting in through the door, made even brighter by the snow reflecting it.

Everything was silent now, even Toris' thoughts, for once. It cast an eerie feeling around the place, as if there wasn't already one. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself yet not able to lift his head to see any farther of the puddle. His mind was filled with so many possibilities and he'd rather not see any of them. There was more deep breathing, but it didn't belong to Toris. It was more ragged, yet matched the time of Toris' breath perfectly. So perfectly Toris didn't even notice it. That is, at least until he finally managed to get the courage to look farther, convincing himself it was necessary. He couldn't just stay here forever.

His head hesitantly lifted itself. As soon as it did his forest green eyes met with cold violet ones. Those violet eyes seemed to pierce right through his very being, the unusual color making the hair on the back of Toris' neck stand straight up and shivers run down his spine. The eyes held him there, unable to look away or even blink for quite a while, mesmerized by their depth. Toris' whole body didn't move and inch, a bead of sweat running down his forehead.

These eyes did not belong to Raivis. They did not have his timidness, his frailty in

them. They were cold eyes that have seen many things and no longer held love or fear in them, only indifference. They could not be described more accurately than the 'eyes of a killer'. They belonged to neither of his brothers. He took a breath and finally let his eyes trail downward once more to see past those violet hues.
He was met with the sight of a bloody body with a crushed skull, far beyond being able to be recognized as anything other than a mound of flesh in the middle of a pool of blood. Toris was also met with the shaking body of a child, a body shaking with each heavy breath he took. Toris' own breath stopped and he definitely noticed the heavy breathing that did not belong to him, but he said nothing of it. It was obvious, no matter how much Toris wished otherwise, that this man was dead, pulverized. And in his kitchen. With...the killer? standing above the broken corpse and staring into Toris. No, not at Toris, but into him. Toris couldn't shake the feeling that those eyes could see right through him.

It...it was only a child though...His eyes stared blankly at Toris, no emotion showing through his face but his whole body shook with each breath. In one of his hands was a heavy looking pipe and his grip on it looked painfully tight, as if his life depended on it. The child slowly walked towards him, each step unsteady and the pipe dragging behind him. The sound of the metal against his tiled floor made Toris wince.

What surprised him most though was that as soon as the killer got closer he dropped the pipe, letting it fall to the floor with a loud clank and wrapping his arms around Toris' leg with that same painfully tight grip he had on the pipe. He slowly looked down at the child who was currently nuzzling into his thigh, movements almost desperate and his emotionless facade long gone. The child felt cold, almost as cold as the snow outside, his eyes closed as he continued to cling to Toris. Toris could feel his pants getting wet with what he thought were tears. There was only one thing heard throughout the mostly silent room.

"Мне больно ... "

Toris was in shock as the small, bloody child clung to his leg and his mind completely froze; his mind was completely blank and he had to take a few moments to try and clear his thoughts so he could think properly. His body, however, did not need this pause.

His parental instincts cut in and his body did exactly what it would do for any of the

children in his class. He hugged the small child, rubbing comforting circles into his back and humming a soft, Lithuanian melody he had heard often when he himself was young. Soon enough he was holding this small, bloody child to his chest and nuzzling into him, gently rocking and cooing, doing everything he absolutely could to soothe him. Everything else could wait until later, the child's happiness and safety came first.

It took an hour or so of this until the small child's soft cries had died out and he calmed in Toris' arms, yawning tiredly after how worked up he got. His eyes were red and puffy still and his expression seemed...broken. As if happiness was sucked right out of him. For right now he was

mostly calm though and his face was nuzzled into the very motherly man's warm coat. Even though he was calm now the comforting continued as Toris slowly carried him into his room, no questions asked. Nothing was needed now. Toris didn't know what it was but when it came to children...they needed to be happy. He was the teacher who tended to get taken advantage of with puppy pouts and fake tears. He really needed to get his priorities in order yet... It's easier said than done. Instincts were hard to ignore

Soon enough Toris had the child safely tucked into his bed, swaddled in the blankets far too big for him. He smiled softly as the child fell asleep within moments and gently brushed his light blond hair to the side. Now that the child was taken care of he had to face his own, real problems. It took a while to man up to them, but man up he did and with caution and relunctance he made his way back the the dreaded kitchen.

There is where it had happened. There was where it still was, cherry red pools gathered on his floor near it.

He took a deep breath to try and calm his shaking body as he stepped carefully over the body,

his breath hitching as he did so. When his hand reached out and grabbed the phone he almost

dropped it with how shaky his hands were, barely able to dial the number. He had never processed the small words the child had spoken to him. Even if he had, they would have meant nothing to him. Empty words are what they have become, nothing but a plea on deaf ears. Toris did not understand any Russian except for maybe a few simple words. Hello, yes, no, how are you...things like that.

He explained what had happen over the phone and waited patiently until the police finally arrived. Only one had went inside though.

"And you just found him like this when you came home, no one was here or anything that pointed to them being there?" asked a certain gentlemanly officer. It just happened to be a father to one of the kids Toris taught, Alfred Jones. Toris has needed to have a conversation with him on more than one occasion thanks to said child so they were very familiar with each other. Except this time, it was Toris' 'child' who was in trouble and his job to get him out, not the other way around.

"N-no...There was... a child here but...he was just really upset and crying when I came home." was Toris' evasive response, trying not to show how much the signs pointed to the child being the murderer, his eyes averted. It couldn't possibly be that sweet child, could it? Yet, those eyes... Arthur, the police officer, picked up on it but just nodded and took notes before sighing and announcing he had to go and the identity of the body would be announced in a few days time.. Toris didn't have the heart to look close enough to double check if he could recognize anything about the body.

He could finally relax when the police officer left with the body, his kitchen floor already cleaned off for evidence. At least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about. He took a deep breath before closing the door and going upstairs to check on the child he had just carried up there and put to sleep. He didn't even know his name right now, come to think of it. He'd have to ask him when he woke up.

Toris gently brushed a piece of hair away from the boys face and smiled. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He must have been tired to be sleeping this well in a strangers bed. It's not like Toris' was the most comfortable bed either. He let himself just pet the boy's hair and enjoy how serene the moment seemed before reluctantly getting up and setting up a bed on the couch for himself. Despite how calming it had been he certainly didn't want to wake the poor boy up. Needless to say he didn't sleep too well that night. He wish he did, though. He had a lot of work to do the next day. He had to find out what he was going to do with this child, and that was enough work all on it's own. He had to figure out who he was, where he came from, where his parents were... He had to try and get him into the school Toris taught so he could keep an eye on him...He was going to need to find him someplace to sleep... He really needed to get sleep for tomorrow, but with all that on his mind he couldn't possibly sleep all that well. Toris was always the type to worry about things way more than he should at the worst possible times.

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Toris' eyes stay closed tight even though the ability to sleep had left him quite a while ago. He tried to fight off the full wakefulness that threatened to take him over to no avail; It was stealing away any chance of getting more sleep that he had. The task was becoming rather difficult, evident by the wrinkles of concentration on his forehead, and all it was accomplishing was to add to his already huge headache. He should be getting up and embrace the day ahead of him but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Not yet anyway.

The chores and stress of the day were an ominous threat looming over his mind, making sleep all the more tempting. He'd much rather succumb to sleep once more and completely avoid the endless stress that came with each new day. So there he laid, unable to fall back asleep but trying nonetheless, eyes shut and curled up into a tight ball on the uncomfortable couch. The couch certainly wasn't helping his situation and for a moment Toris felt a twinge of irritation at having to sleep on it; He slept bad enough on his normal bed! It didn't last very long though.

Instead, Toris found himself thinking of why he was sleeping there in the first place and of the adorable, helpless child who had desperately clung to his leg, crying his heart out. His resolve to be mad about the couch dissolved instantly, leaving behind a little feeling of embarrassment about being mad in the first place. It wasn't the child's fault he was sleeping on the couch. He should be happy that the child is comfortable in his bed right now instead of him. At least, he hoped the child was comfortable. He wasn't quite sure. The little one had seemed to enjoy it last night, but he was really tired then. Toris wouldn't be surprised if he would have been comfortable sleeping on a hardwood floor as long as he could sleep at the time.

The child, Toris suddenly realized. What would happen if the child woke up and nobody was there? He might get scared...Toris certainly didn't want that to happen! Toris finally found motivation to get himself up. He made his way half way up the stairs before pausing. Well...He didn't hear any noise yet...so he supposed to child was still asleep... It would be rude to go up and chance waking him up if he didn't at least have breakfast with him!

Toris found himself walking back downstairs and into the kitchen that he had been so afraid to go in yesterday. He hummed softly to himself as he tried to think of what he should make for their breakfasts. Their. The word felt odd, even in his thoughts, but it was nice. He hadn't been able to say any plural form of anything at home anymore, ever since Raivis and Eduard decided to move out.

Something about the boy had reminded him of Russia so he decided to make blini for the both of him. He hadn't made blini in a while...Maybe some of the words did soak into him. The humming continued throughout his cooking but it paused every so often to make sure there was no crying or anything similiar coming from his room upstairs. He debated it a while when he was finished but he decided to take his plate upstairs with him as well. The child could have some of his as well if he was still hungry and he could stay up there while he ate.

He made his way upstairs, careful to balance both of the plates so they didn't fall on his way up. Much to his surprise, the child was already awake when he got there. He was just staring out of the window, not moving or saying anything. Toris could barely even hear him breathing. He knocked nervously on the door to get his attention. The boy slowly turned to face him, his face emotionless just like it was last night. It noticeably made Toris more nervous.

"Uhm...I'm really sorry for bothering you, dear...but um...are you hungry...?" He tried to push the nervousness out of his voice and give the biggest, most comforting smile he could manage. There was a long pause of silence and it made Toris even more nervous. Did the foreign boy even understand what he was saying? Stupid Toris! Why would someone that young who was obviously foreign know a second language already? But then...why was he here in the first place...? Then he finally spoke up, a carefree smile much more befitting of a child appearing on his face. Somehow, it didn't feel right, something was off with it.

"Da." he frowned slightly in though before continuing, "Thank...you...?" it was obvious he had trouble speaking English, and he had a thick russian accent but he still managed. Toris was surprised he understood at all. He just nodded and offered the plate out to the boy. He happily took it and started to eat it, but was a bit clumsy about it.

"Ahh...I hope you don't mind me asking but...Would you mind telling me your name...?" Toris asked hesitantly. Ivan nodded and Toris thought it meant he minded before he spoke again.

"I...ivan.." He answered with a small bit of difficulty, refusing to wait until he swallowed his food to answer. Toris smiled warmly at him and the child...Ivan.. moved his hand up to wipe away some jam that got on his cheek. Unfortunately it ruined the grip he had on the plate and it went falling to the floor, Ivan giving a small gasp.

Toris tried to catch it but missed, only managing to block any of the shards from hitting Ivan when it shattered against the floor. Unfortunately, all those shards that he made miss Ivan found their way imbedded into his hand. He winced and worked on getting them out of his hand, blood welling up from all of the cuts they caused.

"Ha...s-sorry...My n-name's Toris...I'll get this cleaned up..." He laughed nervously. Ivan's face once again became expressionless as he stared at the blood on Toris' hand. Then it broke out into an even wider smile, practically a grin as giggle after giggle tumbled out of his mouth, his hand taking Toris, wiping the blood away from Toris and onto his own hand. He held his hand up to the sunlight.

"Toris~ Toris~ Look~ Isn't it so pretty~?" The english words tumbled out quicker and more fluent in what seemed like excitement though every word was still heavily accented. Toris couldn't even move as he slowly processed what Ivan had just done, jaw slightly agape.

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Мне больно - It hurts

I finally started working on this :D Unfortunately, it's going to take second place to my newer fic, Unacceptable because my friend is practically holding a gun to my head for me to work on it. I promise to work on only this on the weekends though~ The other story I'll work on during weekdays. Hopefully I'll update more often now that my chapters won't crash anymore. (I started using google docs) I'm going to try to update at least once a month.

I'm also going to be starting up one more story~ (gah) Maybe m rated. I don't know what pairing to do though, so tell me which one you'd want and whether you'd want it m rated or not. Please don't ask for RussLiet though since all my fanfics have them so far. xD The one that gets the most requests when I'm ready to start writing it will be the pairing and rating it will have~

Reviews are loved, Constructive Criticism, Compliments, Ideas, votes or otherwise~