Legato

A/N – Sorry, horrifically long A/N coming up… Right, this is my first time writing a serious fic (apart from a failed project ages ago), and there are a lot of things I haven't completely figured out yet (plot, pairings apart from Spamano, which hemisphere I'm going to set this story in…), so if anyone has any feedback for me, then that would honestly be appreciated. I need to improve as a writer, and I'm not going to be able to do that without constructive criticism. So please, read and review! I might even become less of a crappy writer if you do!

This is probably a bad idea, and I probably should just stick to writing crack, but this idea has taken over my brain and I really want to try it.

Now for the technical stuff!

Summary: In Indigo City, vast crowds flicker and fade, their individual lives as brief and disconnected as solitary musical notes. But there are ties that bring people together, and the music of the city has its own special magic...

Pairings: Spamano, not sure what else. I'm open to suggestions here.

Warnings: At least one male/male relationship later, but probably no smut. I can't write smut. Also, human AU, human names used. Added warnings as the plot progresses, for things like violence and character death, which may or may not end up actually happening.

Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya and the song "Things Between People" belongs to Holly Throsby. I think.

Chapter I – Afternoon

Lovino had been watching the busker for quite some time. He didn't realise he was doing it, of course; he'd only paused to listen for a moment as the man's warm, mellow voice washed over the train station's platform, entwined with warm guitar chords that wormed their way into Lovino's mind and forced his hurrying feet to a halt.

He'd only stopped for a moment, just to catch the next line of the song, but somehow the moment stretched. Gradually, Lovino found himself lowering his briefcase to the ground, leaning against the grimy wall to watch the smiling, dark-haired man as he sang.

Lovino had made up his mind to leave when the song was finished, but he hadn't quite been able to turn away before the busker launched into his next song, seemingly unaware of his one-man audience. Instead, Lovino reached for his wallet hesitantly, taking a ten-dollar note and moving over to the open guitar case. Quickly, he glanced over at the busker, who was staring out over the train tracks as if they held the answer to all of life's questions. Furtively, with an air almost of embarrassment, Lovino dropped the note into the guitar case. It was a lot of money to waste on a busker, and he probably couldn't afford to do so, but it felt like the proper thing to do.

"And every day feels the same," sang the man, his voice laced with a soft, nostalgic tone.

"And every day feels the same,"

"Every day feels the same…" Slowly, the song faded away, and the man turned to Lovino. Green eyes locked onto startled brown ones, lighting up a little as the busker smiled casually.

"You've been here for a while," he remarked, dropping to his knees to pack the guitar away.

"Are you leaving?" asked Lovino, a little more abruptly than he would have liked. The busker chuckled, and Lovino turned a little red.

"Only for today," he answered. "Good to know that you liked my singing, though. A few more fans like you and I might make it big." He winked, and Lovino rolled his eyes.

"I've just heard those songs somewhere before. That's all," he replied, turning to leave. He'd already stayed here far too long. He took a few steps away before hearing the sound of hurrying footsteps as the busker ran up beside him, swinging the guitar case over his shoulder as he did so.

"Hey! Don't be in such a rush to leave," he cajoled. "It's not often that I get someone listening to me for as long as you did."

"I'm not surprised. Nobody wants to get stalked by a busker," replied Lovino irritably. His unwanted companion laughed.

"Stalker? I was just being friendly," he replied warmly, before holding a hand out. "The name's Antonio, by the way. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. Nice to meet you."

"Lovino Vargas," replied Lovino shortly, ignoring the outstretched hand. "I'm sure we'll never see each other again. Goodbye." He walked a little faster, shaking his head. Creepy bastard.

Natalia brushed through the late-afternoon crowd of people rushing home, shrewd blue eyes darting to and fro as she searched for likely targets. There were a few at this time of day; oblivious businessmen and women, mobile phones held to their ears as they were jostled through the street, one hand over their open handbags, a gesture that undoubtedly gave them a lovely false sense of security. Smoothly, Natalia pushed a strand of long, pale blonde hair out of her face, lightly dipping into the handbag of a passing businesswoman as she did so. Her hand caught a soft, rectangular object, and quickly she drew her hand out, now holding an ornate leather purse. Without any change of expression, she pushed through the crowd, heading for a side alley before stepping into the shadows, a slight frown plastered on her face.

"Where did that receipt go?" she muttered, opening the purse and examining its contents.

Sixty dollars and some spare change. Not bad…

Quickly, she slipped the cash into a pocket hidden at the top of her apron, smoothing it out carefully before moving back into the crowd. Keeping her eyes straight ahead, she let the empty purse slip out of her hand and onto the ground. It wasn't like she had any use for it now, after all.

It was midafternoon; she should be going home soon. It wouldn't be advisable to stay in the area after a successful theft, anyway; she didn't want to draw suspicion to herself.

"Excuse me," called a slightly flustered voice from behind Natalia. She ignored it, continuing on her way.

"Hey! Wait a second!" continued the voice. A hand stretched out towards Natalia's shoulder, and she turned around.

"What is it?" she demanded, glaring at whoever it was who had dared to stop her. The intruder, a tall young man with blonde hair and glasses, held out the purse, blue eyes shining contentedly. Natalia froze.

"You dropped your purse," he informed her in a friendly tone.

"Oh…" said Natalia softly.

Please-don't-look-inside-please-don't-look-inside-

"…Thank you," she continued slowly, taking hold of the accessory.

"No problem!" replied the stranger, cheerfully and a little too loudly. Natalia flinched. "Just happy to help!" He flashed Natalia a grin and a thumbs-up before turning and striding back through the crowd, head held high with enthusiasm. Natalia winced internally.

Thank you for drawing attention to me, mysterious stranger, she thought venomously. How kind of you. She sighed, and turned to continue her interrupted journey. She'd have to drop the purse in a bin sometime; it might draw suspicion if she let it fall out of her hand twice.

Oh, how she loved being interfered with. Not.

It was really quite fortunate that Yong Soo had chosen to sit next to Lilli Zwingli.

The Korean boy had only been in the school for five hours, but he had already managed to gain a reputation as being "strange."

This perception of his character was mostly drawn from a number of isolated incidents that had occurred throughout the day, most of which had culminated in the teenager tackling a student or teacher in an overly enthusiastic display of joy and affection.

It wasn't his fault, really. He may have gotten a little excited when another student enquired about the music on the (now confiscated) iPod he had been carrying around that morning, and it was true that he had probably overreacted when a slightly flustered history teacher admitted that, yes, taekwondo really was invented in Korea, but anyone who knew Yong Soo would have been able to explain that he was normally a good kid.

Well, an OK kid.

Well… he meant well, at least.

And after all, Yong Soo really was only trying to be friendly, which is why Lilli found her left ear under a barrage of constant chatter from the new student as he told her what seemed to be every thought he had had since his arrival in Indigo City. Yes, all in all, it was really quite fortunate that Yong Soo had chosen to sit next to Lilli in IT, because a less patient classmate would probably have socked him in the face by now; the tiny teenager, with her doll-like looks and soft-spoken manner, had her own reputation for tolerance.

"It's kind of weird that you get in trouble for hugging people here," the boy added as an afterthought, dark eyes turning slightly puzzled for a moment before shining with renewed cheer. "It kind of reminds me of how my bro acts whenever I hug him! He's really shy about these things."

"I don't really think you're supposed to hug teachers…" Lilli ventured to point out, her wide blue eyes fixated on her computer screen as she tried to keep track of the huge block of programming text scrolling across it. "Actually, I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"Nah, it's only illegal if they hug you back," replied Yong Soo, waving a hand dismissively. "At least, I think that's right. Anyway, that's a stupid law." There was a pause.

"…Yeah, I guess…" murmured Lilli, sinking deeper into her chair.

"What's your name?" asked Yong Soo abruptly. Lilli frowned.

"You've been talking to me for half an hour and you haven't bothered to ask me that?"

"Hey! I got distracted!" replied the other teenager defensively. "Anyway, what is it? Have I told you my name? I'm Yong Soo Im. Now you have to tell me your name."

"Lilli Zwingli," replied Lilli. "And… you already told me your name before…" Yong Soo blinked.

"Did I?" Lilli nodded, and Yong Soo shrugged, "Well, at least it'll be easier to remember now!" He grinned, and Lilli smiled in return, a lock of short blonde hair drifting across her face as she turned back to the computer screen. A moment later, she could literally feel her neighbour's face as he craned his neck to stare over her shoulder at the screen.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "So that's what we're meant to be doing. Right. Got it!" And with that, he turned back to his own computer, typing furiously away. Lilli stared at him bemusedly.

"I could have told you what we were doing, if you didn't know…" she ventured. Yong Soo shook his head, a stray curl of black hair dancing through the air near his head as he did so.

"It's fine! I can figure things out for myself. I practically invented figuring-stuff-out-for-yourself," he bragged. Lilli glanced at him for another moment, before turning back to her own computer screen.

"OK then…"

Somehow, they managed to pass the rest of the lesson in relative silence, mostly because Yong Soo had gotten bored and ended up browsing a series of wikis relating to Korean dramas. Lilli continued working, glancing over at her neighbour every so often.

He was definitely a little strange, no doubt about it. She just wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not.

A Note on the Names:

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo = Spain.

Lovino Vargas = Romano.

Natalia Arlovskaya = Belarus

Yong Soo Im, Im Yong Soo, whatever order you like to put his name in = S. Korea

Lilli Zwingli = Liechtenstein.