A/N: This is a one-shot for spiritualnekohime4, who was the 250th reviewer of my story, Hogwarts and Hetalia. Thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I don't own hetalia or the tiger who came for tea
Matthew clutched his papa's hand for dear life as they entered the classroom. Children ran around, shouting and screaming. There were a few parents watching, but this did nothing to reassure the child. He cowered into his papa's legs.
"Mathieu. Mathieu, look at me." Matthew looked up to see his papa's smiling face. "Everything will be alright. I was nervous on my first day of school, and I'm sure Alfred is as well."
Matthew tried to smile back, but it came out as more of a grimace. He took comfort in the fact that his more outgoing brother was just as nervous as he was.
"Bye dad, bye papa!" Alfred shouted, running past the two to play with the other children. Matthew's face fell. Alfred didn't look nervous at all.
"We have to be going now, alright Mathieu?" Francis crouched down so he was at the same height as his son.
"Don't worry lad, everything will be fine. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends." His dad did the same thing. Matthew looked into his dad's green eyes and saw them glistening with tears.
"Dad… are you alright?" He asked timidly.
"I'm fine Matthew… it's just that my boys are growing up." Arthur smiled, kissing Matthew on the forehead. "Have a nice day son."
Then they were gone, leaving Matthew with a group of noisy strangers.
He felt lost. What was he meant to do? How did dad and papa expect him to make friends? How do you make friends?
He looked around for his brother. Alfred was running around with a group of strange boys, all of whom looked just as outgoing as him. They appeared to be playing cops and robbers.
Matthew didn't like playing games like that. He much preferred to sit down quietly and draw, or read. But he didn't know where he could find a quiet spot in this very noisy classroom.
Thankfully, he was spared from making a decision by the teacher walking in.
"Good morning class!" He greeted cheerfully. "If you could all find a seat, then we'll introduce ourselves."
Everyone scrambled to get a seat next to the friends they had already made. Matthew just waited until everyone had sat down, then quietly slipped into a seat in between a boy with white hair (wasn't it only grannies and grandpa's that were supposed to have white hair?) and a boy with slightly curly brown hair. The two were so engrossed in their conversation with another boy that they failed to notice when Matthew slipped into the seat between them.
"Alright class!" At this, everyone went quiet and looked at the teacher. He had slightly curly brown hair that had weird little curls coming out of it. His brown eyes looked very happy, and he was wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "I'm Mr Vargas, and I'll be your teacher this year! I have two grandsons and I like to paint! Now, why don't you introduce yourselves to everyone else at your table? Say your name, about your family and one thing that you like!"
Immediately, the boy the two people next to him had been talking to spoke up.
"I'm Elizabeta Hedervary, I have a mummy and a daddy and I like to climb trees!"
"Elizabeta?" The boy with white hair asked. "Isn't that a girl's name?"
"Is not! It can be for both!"
"I'm Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, I have a mummy and a daddy and an older brother called Julio! I like tomatoes!" The boy with brown hair chirped. Seeing as the boy with white hair was still arguing with the other boy, Matthew decided to introduce himself.
"I'm Matthew Bonnefoy-Kirkland… I have a dad and a papa and a twin brother and I like pancakes and my toy polar bear Kumajiggy..."
"Whoa!" The boy with white hair spun around to face him. Matthew now saw that he had pale skin and red eyes. "Where did you come from?"
"I've been here the whole time…" He muttered, looking down at Kumamuma.
"Gilbert, who are you talking to?" Elizabeta asked, peering at the albino with green eyes.
"I'm talking to Matthew!"
Antonio looked at the space where Matthew was.
"There's no one there, amigo."
"Yes there is! Hey Matthew, I'm the awesome Gilbert Bielschmidt! I have an Opa and an unawesome little brother and I have a pet bird called Gilbird!"
"Hi Gilbert…"
"Now then class, I'm going to read you a story before play time! So if you'd all come and sit on the story mat, then we can get started!" Mr Vargas announced.
"Come on Birdie, let's go get a good spot!"
Gilbert grabbed Matthew's hand and dragged him off to the story mat.
"But what about Elizabeta and Antonio?" The Canadian asked, looking back at where the other two were just getting up.
"They're not as awesome as you!" Gilbert told him, sitting down right in front of Mr Vargas. "Come on, sit down!"
Matthew did just that, settling down and crossing his legs. He sat Kumajigsaw on his lap, making sure he could see properly.
Once all the children were settled on the mat, Mr Vargas took out a book.
"This book is called, 'the tiger who came to tea'" He said, smiling at the children, who were staring at him, wanting him to start the story. "Once, there was a little girl called Sophie…"
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"…In the morning, Sophie and her mummy went shopping, and they bought lots more things to eat. They also bought a very big tin of tiger food, in case the tiger should come to tea again." Mr Vargas closed the book just as the bell rang. "Playtime children! Go outside and enjoy yourselves."
Gilbert leapt to his feet like everyone else, whereas Matthew stayed seated.
"Come on Birdie, let's go play!" Gilbert exclaimed, dragging the Canadian out to the playground.
The playground was full of children, not just his age. There were children much older than him running around with their friends. They scared Matthew. They were so much taller and noisier than him!
"What do you want to play, Birdie?"
"Birdie?" Matthew asked. Gilbert had called him that a few times.
"Yeah! An awesome nickname for an awesome friend!"
Friend. Gilbert had called Matthew his friend.
"Why Birdie?"
"Because you're cute, just like a little Birdie! Now, what do you want to play?"
"Can we play in the sand pit?" The boy asked, looking at his new friend to see whether he liked his choice.
"Sure thing!" Gilbert pulled him over to the wooden box filled with sand. There were a few other children his age, but they didn't look up when the two sat down.
"… If you call me Birdie, can I give you a nickname?" Matthew asked, piling the sand in a neat little pile.
Gilbert gathered sand from around him and added it to the pile.
"Of course you can Birdie! Why wouldn't you?"
"You can be… Gil!" The Canadian decided.
"Awesome!" Gil yelled. "Let's build a sand castle!"
"Yeah." Matthew agreed, smiling at his new friend. Gilbert smiled back, opening his mouth and showing a pair of missing front teeth.
When the bell rang announcing the end of play time, the two had built an awesome sand castle. It had turrets and a moat and everything!
"There!" Gil said, rubbing the sand off his hands. "An awesome castle!"
Matthew couldn't help but agree.
Once back inside, Mr Vargas told them that they would be learning the alphabet.
"Now, repeat after me! A." He pointed to the board, where a big A and a little a were written.
"A!" The children repeated.
"B." He pointed to the little b and big B.
"B!"
This went on until they got to Z.
"Now, I want you to write your name on a bit of paper, using the letters on the board!"
Matthew stared at the bit of paper in front of him. He picked up the pencil and gripped it in his left hand. How did papa say his name was spelt again? M-a-t-h-i-e-u!
"Whoa, Birdie! How'd ya do that?" Gilbert asked, peering at the slightly wobbly letters on the piece of paper.
"I spelled my name in my head, and then wrote the letters on the page!" Matthew said, a bit louder than normal. He felt more confident around Gilbert, more so than with his own brother.
"Let me try! G-i-l-b-e-r-t!"
The letters on Gilbert's sheet were more wobbly and slightly larger than Matthew's.
"Do you have to do your last name?" Matthew asked his friend.
"I think so. Aww, my name's hard to spell! Bielschmidt!"
"I can't even say it!" Matthew giggled. "Mine's longer. Bonnefoy-Kirkland!"
"But at least it's easy to spell!"
The Canadian picked up his pencil again. Papa always had to spell his name to people, because it was so long. How did he say it? B-o- double n-e-foy, dash, Kirk for captain Kirk-land!
Mr Vargas was walking around the classroom, looking at the work that people were doing. When he got to Matthew, he looked at the page in surprise.
"Very good Matthew! Why, we might just have a little scholar here!"
Matthew smiled, even though he didn't know what a scholar was.
"Mr Vargas!" Gilbert piped up from next to Matthew. "How do you spell my last name?"
A few people giggled, but were silenced by Mr Vargas' glare.
"It is a hard name to spell. Hey, I don't think even I can spell it!" He quickly checked the register. "It's spelt B-i-e-l-s-c-h-m-i-d-t. Alright?"
"Yes sir!"
Mr Vargas moved on to other people.
"You're really good at writing, Birdie!" Gil exclaimed.
"Thanks Gil, but you're better at drawing." Matthew pointed to a drawing of a bird that Gilbert had done near his name.
"Thanks Birdie! This is Gilbird, my awesome pet bird!"
"He looks… awesome!"
"He can understand me! When I ask if he wants food, he chirps! I'm training him!"
"That's stupid!" Elizabeta shouted. "Birds can't understand people!"
"You're stupid!" Gilbert retorted. Elizabeta huffed and turned away to talk to another boy with dark hair and a weird curl a bit like Alfred's.
Gilbert looked at Matthew. Matthew looked at Gilbert. Red eyes met lavender. They both burst out laughing.
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When Francis and Arthur came to pick the boys up, they were both off playing somewhere.
"Matthew! Alfred!" The Brit yelled. Alfred waved goodbye to his friends and came running over.
"Hello Alfred, how was your first day?"
"It was cool dad! I made lots of friends! There's Mathias and Kiku and Lovino and Ivan! Lovino is Mr Vargas' grandson! It must be weird having your granddad as your teacher!"
"Where's Mathieu?" Francis asked. The Canadian still hadn't come running to them. "Mathieu!" He called again.
He spotted the child. He was with an albino boy, and both looked like they didn't want to leave. He saw Matthew give the boy a huge hug.
"Bye Gil." He said softly.
"Bye Birdie. I'll promise to ask Opa if you can come see Gilbird some time!"
"I'd like that." Matthew said. "Au revoir!"
"Auf Wiedersehen!" Gil waved goodbye.
Matthew came running over.
"Bonjour Mathieu! How was your day?" Francis asked, looking down at his son.
"Bon!" Matthew replied, a huge smile plastered on his face.
"Did you make any friends?" Francis asked, even though he knew the answer.
"Yeah! Gilbert! We're going to be best friends forever!"
A/N; Hope you all liked that. A lot of fluffy PruCan for you there.
Please R&R!