Break the Blade:
Nihon no Oji- Kiku Honda
X-x-X-x-X
To say that everything changed was an understatement… To say the world as they had known it had been destroyed is a more accurate description.
X-x-X-x-X
The pale pink petals of the cherry blossoms danced in the air before falling to earth like an aromatic snowfall. Overhead, the sun was a blazing sphere of light hovering in a white-streaked sky of eggshell blue.
Sighing, the light wind gently tussling his ebon locks, Kiku glanced upwards, surveying the baroque building before him with his brown eyes.
So this is the place? Adjusting his hat, Kiku set his briefcase down and opened it, rummaging through the contents. The acceptance letter should be here somewhere… He withdrew a folded piece of paper and unfolded it, surveying the contents of the letter. He put it back inside the briefcase and closed it, securing the clasp with a light click.
Kiku approached the black cast-iron gates and cleared his throat. "Uhm… Hello? Can anyone open the gates please?" he called out, looking up to the sky. There was a moment's silence, then-
"Who is there?" a cool female voice enquired. Kiku startled, looking around for the source of the voice.
"Don't bother, I'm inside the building and talking through you via the transmitter," she sighed.
"Ah, my apologies," Kiku performed a brief bow, "I'm Honda Kiku, a new student here."
"Oh yeah, we were expecting you," the voice replied. "New student, eh? Let's hope you're better behaved than our current batch," she chuckled.
"Hah," Kiku smiled weakly, adjusting the brass buttons of his white shirt.
There was a loud bzzt, and the gates opened, groaning loudly. "I wish you the best of luck," the voice said as he stepped through the gates.
"Thank you." Kiku's words were lost in the deafening clang! of the gates as they swung shut.
"Now word of wise to you newbie- don't do anything stupid and you should already be ahead of the curve here," she stated.
Kiku nodded his head, "I shall keep that in mind," and walked down the cobbled pathway to the building.
Seraphim Academy was an old and intimidating building. Brick towers soared upwards, white flags embroidered with black angel wings whipped about in the breeze, and the trees in the courtyard whispered to each other.
A chill ran through Kiku, prickling his neck. This place was special, magic- an art once long forgotten- permeated the air, protecting this establishment and concreting the school's identity as a place where fighters were trained.
Kiku grabbed the bronze knocker that adorned the heavy oakwood doors and knocked once. Silently, they opened, and quietly they closed as he stepped through them.
"Hey! Potato bastard! What the fuck happened to my books?"
Kiku's gaze shot to the source of the angry demand. A young man with dark brown hair and hazy eyes was shouting at a tall and exasperated male with slicked-back blonde hair and blue eyes, hovering nervously between them was another young man. He looked exactly like the angry one except his hair was a lighter shade of brown, his eyes were a bronze color, and his expression was nowhere near as angry. All of them were clad in the standard black uniform of the academy.
"Ah, brother, c-can't y-you please calm down? I'm sure Ludwig hasn't done anything to your books! He's not that type of guy!" he cried, wringing his hands nervously.
"Shut up, stupid!" the other man stormed, whirling to face his brother.
The blonde (most likely Ludwig, Kiku deduced) snorted and placed a hand on his head. "Are you sure you didn't leave it behind in class, Lovino? That would be most likely." He shook his head, rolling his eyes as he did so.
"Damn macho potato! Are you saying I'm a forgetful retard?" Lovino fumed and stamped his left foot against the ground.
"H-he isn't saying-"
"Shut up Feliciano!" Lovino bellowed.
Feliciano recoiled, taking a step backwards.
Grimacing, Kiku took a tentative step forward. "Excuse me," he said in the taut silence that followed.
"Huh?" Feliciano turned his attention to Kiku. "Hey, you aren't wearing the school uniform," he observed. Lovino hmphed, placing his hands on his hips.
"Well, no shit. He's obviously new," he drawled.
"Congratulations, you figured out something," Ludwig retorted drily. A vivid red seeped through Lovino's face and he curled his hands into tight fists. "Be glad that Feliciano is here or I would kick the shit out of you," he grumbled.
Ludwig rolled his eyes, ignoring Lovino's statement. "Can I help you in any way?" he asked Kiku.
He nodded, "Yes, thank you," he said softly, "I'm looking for the headmaster. The letter- it said that my things would be taken care of and that I should consult the headmaster for what to do next."
Ludwig jerked his thumb towards the sweeping, velvet-covered, grand staircase at the end of the large hallway. "He's on the third floor, room 321. Make sure to knock before entering, he doesn't like to be interrupted while… nevermind. Just knock."
"Thank you very much," Kiku replied appreciatively and gave Ludwig a polite bow.
"No problem," Ludwig responded as Kiku made his way to the staircase.
While ascending the staircase, Kiku's cellphone went off. Frowning, he withdrew it from his pocket and checked the caller ID- Im Yong Soo. He sighed and answered it.
"Ohayoo?"
"Ah, thank goodness you picked up! Do you mind helping me out a bit? There's a bit of an emergency concerning Xiao Chun…" Yong Soo's voice came out crackly and unclear, more than likely due to the magic current in the air in this area.
"Oh dear, what happened now?" Kiku shook his head.
"The air purifier broke and you know what it's like back at home! If we don't fix it, he'll start wheezing and have an asthma attack! Not to mention he'll start complaining! Do you know how distracting it is, having him moan on and on about how he can't breathe while I'm trying to play some LoL?" Im whined.
"Can't you talk to the landlord about it? I'm sure-"
"Very funny, bro- seriously, help!"
Kiku buried his face in his right hand and sucked in his breath. "I think there should be a spare one in the supply cupboard, just take the broken one off and put the new one in the plug," he stated.
"Ok, thanks! Well, bye!" Yong Soo hung up.
Kiku sighed and pocketed his cell, pursing his lips into a thin line. I can only imagine how Yong Soo is handling the household, but there's really no other choice… I have to move on with my life too and get a job to help support the three of us. Chun is too sickly and withdrawn to get a decent job and Yong Soo… is well… Yong Soo… he does alright with computers I suppose and his website isn't doing half-bad, but it's barely enough to cover the bills…
Kiku paused as he entered the third floor corridor, surveying the spacious hallway with it's crystal chandeliers and old oil paintings. So room 321, was it? He looked at the brass plaque on the closest door.
Room 301… It should be about ten doors down. He walked a little down the hallway, shifting his briefcase between both hands. So this is the famous Seraphim Academy? he thought as he walked, It doesn't look that bad, but for being a place that claims it's on the 'cutting edge of technology' I expected something a little more… I don't know… Futuristic?
He paused briefly to stare outside a cavernous arched window, admiring the scenery. Well, at least it's located in a nice area.
He continued walking down the hall, inspecting every plaque as he went. Room 309… 311… He walked a little further. 315… 317… 319…
He came to the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a pair of large rosewood doors engraved with intricate pictures. "Room 321," he read aloud, "this must be it." He raised his hand up and gently knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
Kiku took a deep breath before replying, "I'm Honda Kiku- the new student- I believe you were expecting me- right?" he answered. There were some shuffling noises and then: "Come in."
He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, stepping inside the headmaster's office.
Lounging on a plush chair behind his desk was none other than the headmaster- a wiry middle-aged man with frazzled gray hair that stuck out in every direction and a prominent nose. "Come on in, I'm not going to bite you unless you do something stupid!" he snapped impatiently, motioning for Kiku- who stood hovering nervously in the doorway.
"Ah, my apologies, Sir," Kiku bowed.
"Take a seat, take a seat," the headmaster gestured at the pair of wooden chairs placed near the front of the room. Kiku nodded and sat down, setting his briefcase down next to him and placing his hands on his lap.
"Well, what do you know? We finally got a student who has some manners! Praise the Archlords!" The headmaster threw his hands up in the air. Kiku stared at him curiously.
"Well, that will save us some time since apparently, I won't have to give you the whole lecture about respecting me and all that lovely crap, so I'll cut to the chase. I'm Mr. Scholasticus, the head here." He got off his chair and walked over to the filing cabinets which were shoved up against the wall in the back of the room. He opened a drawer and rummaged through the files before extracting a manilla envelope and throwing it at Kiku, who deftly caught it.
"In there is everything that you need to know except which Unit you'll be in for practical lessons and field trips," Scholasticus explained as he took a seat.
Kiku raised an eyebrow, opening the envelope and withdrawing a thin packet of paper. "My… Unit?"
"Yeah, the group you'll have for your entire career here. Since you're new here, you won't be assigned a Unit right away, we need to determine if you're ready for practical missions and then fit you into a group, which is headed by an older student- may the lords have mercy on you."
Kiku nodded, flipping through the pages, "Ah, thank you for clearing that up for me."
Scholasticus dipped his head briefly and drummed his fingers against the surface of his desk. "You'll get it as you continue to stay here, it's not that hard to grasp in all reality. A bright kid like you. Who knows? If you're half as smart as you are seemingly mild-mannered, you could easily wind up a Unit leader."
Kiku smiled abashedly and bowed his head. "I'm… flattered Sir, thank you for the compliment," he mumbled.
Scholasticus snorted. "Don't be- the attitudes of some of those cheek little snots these days… Urk… Is decency dying alongside intelligence in today's youth?" he griped. "I'm forced to put idiots in charge of squads nowadays! And it's driving me insane!"
"Ah…" Kiku opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.
"Anyways, check the packet for all the info you need, your room and schedule should be there. All your stuff should be in your assigned dormitory as well. For today, just walk around and explore the school, familiarize yourself with the environment," the headmaster said, leaning back in his chair. "You're dismissed," he added with a lazy wave towards the doors.
Kiku nodded and stood up, putting the packet back into the envelope. "Thank you once again Sir. I shall take my leave."
Scholasticus yawned, "Yeah, yeah… Whatever."
Once he had left the office, Kiku examined the packet more closely. "Ah, there…"
Assigned dormitory: 513
Roommate(s): Arthur Kirkland- Second Year, Alfred F. Jones- First Year.
He shuddered as he recalled the memory of Lovino. Hopefully, they're more polite than him. Not that I couldn't make peace and get along fairly well with them if they were, but it would make my life easier if they had some manners. He flipped the page, looking at his schedule.
Schedule:
First hour: History- Ms. Verity, Room, 308
Second hour: Arcane theory- Mrs. Yayoi, Room 116
Third hour: Practical mathematics- Mr. Clover, Room 101
Fourth hour: Lunch
Fifth hour: Practical science- Mr. Mutsuki, Room 215
Sixth hour: Literature- Mrs. Smith, Room 313
Seventh hour: Combative tactics and application- Ms. Siegheart, Room 001
He released a soft sigh and put the packet back in the envelope. Hmm… 001… Could that possibly be a basement of sorts? I'll ask later. Anyways, off to my dormitory.
Kiku placed the envelope in his briefcase and headed towards the stairs, clasping the briefcase's handle, tightly. At the very least, this will be an... enlightening experience. Get outside, explore the world… Yes, that's all very good.
Hello! It's me RC, coming out from FF retirement to write a Hetalia FF featuring my favorite pairings! Italy x Germany, USUK, Lichtenstein x Switzerland, Austria x Hungary, Romano x Spain, Prussia x Japan (I like this pairing, sue me) and so on.
To anyone who knows me from the Elsword archives, well... I'm sorry, but all the Elsword stories are still in a stasis crystal... I only wrote this FF after watching HetaOni and Dagantalia playthroughs, and then discovering the lovely pairing of Prussia x Japan *Fangirl squeal* and the lack of it on the Hetalia archives.
To all the people who don't know me, please be polite, no flaming, constructive criticism is always appreciated, brace your feelz, and if you have the time, remember to R&R! :DD I hope this story was of a good quality! Hmph... Once I started writing FFs again, it's like I never stopped! Just be warned of mildly slow updates from me! OwO Ja Nee!
P.S. This is an AU, so the characters are not countries, just humans, ok? So that's why I'm using their human names! Can anyone guess who Li and Im are though? X3