Chapter One

'So this is Hetalia Academy,' thought Feliciana as she got out of her sister's car. 'I hope I fit in okay and everyone is nice to me...'

"Are you gonna help me or what?!" barked Roma, Feliciana's twin sister.

"Yeah, of course," Feliciana answered absentmindedly. She walked around to the back of the car and started getting her bags out of the trunk, all the while thinking about her new school and how nervous she was.

Hetalia Academy is an international school in a remote area of Italy. All of the students come from different countries, which can make things difficult during times of war or strain between certain countries. The goal of the school is to give students new experiences and broaden their horizons.

Feliciana and Lovina (a.k.a. Roma) Vargas are Italian. On a whim their grandfather decided to send them to HA for a better education. Neither one of them really liked the idea in the beginning, but as the first day of school drew nearer they began to realize that Grandfather wasn't going to change his mind.

Once all of their suitcases and bags were out of the trunk Roma got back in the car to find a place to park. This meant that Feliciana was left on her own to guard their stuff.

'Please don't steal our things, please don't steal our things,' Feliciana silently pleaded over and over again. She glanced at some students huddled near the main entrance and hoped none of them would notice her.

Suddenly one of them, an older boy, turned and looked her right in the eye. She froze and stared at him as he left the group and began to casually stroll towards her. As he came closer she took a good look at him and noted how strange he looked. He was very tall, with purple eyes and grey-blonde hair.

'Ve~ he's really scary...'

"Hello," he said with a thick Russian accent, "my name is Ivan. You should become one with me, da?"

"Um... I-I don't r-really want to," Feliciana said nervously.

Ivan was about to say something else when one of the girls in the group he had come from jumped up and ran towards them.

"Ivan! Get back over here!" she shouted angrily.

Ivan sighed. "I'm very sorry, my sister is crazy." And with that he trudged back to the crazy girl. Feliciana took a deep breath and waited for her sister more anxiously. 'Why is she taking so long? I hope she gets back soon...'

~o~

While Feliciana waited and hoped no more crazy people talked to her, Roma was having trouble finding a place to park.

"These people are from far away countries, why do they all have cars?!" she muttered to herself as she drove down another row with no empty spots. Just as she was about to give up she saw an empty space.

"Yes!" she cried triumphantly, but just as she was about to pull in, another car came flying out of nowhere and rear-ended her. She sat in her car, boiling with rage, as the other driver got out and hurried over to her.

"I'm so very sorry, pretty lady, I shouldn't have been going so fast," said the cute Spanish boy who hit her.

"OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN GOING THAT FAST, YOU BASTARDO! IT'S A DAMN PARKING LOT, NOT A RACE TRACK!" Roma then began to shout at him in Italian. The poor boy tried to calm her down and explain himself, but she just kept yelling at him and calling him some very nasty names.

Eventually Roma ran out of breath, so she just glared at him as he told her what happened.

"My friend Francis bet he could find a better parking spot before me, and I can never turn down a good bet, so I was racing to find an empty spot. I'm very sorry about your car, I will pay for the damages." He flashed his most adorable smile at her, hoping it would help, but really all he did was make it worse.

"You are so stupid! Why would you assume an explanation like that along with a stupid smile would make it all better?! Idiota!" Roma got out of her car and slammed the door shut. She gave the Spanish idiot one more glare before storming off. She would report it to the headmaster and let him deal with it.

As she made her way back to where she had left her sister, she realized that she had left Feliciana for much longer than she thought. 'Oh no, she must be freaking out.' With that on her mind, she began to sprint back to the main entrance.

~o~

Feliciana looked up to see Roma running towards her. She jumped up from the suitcase she was sitting on to give Roma a hug.

"Roma, what took you so long?"

"Some idiota rear-ended me in the parking lot." Feliciana looked at her sister in shock.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" asked Feliciana worriedly.

Roma replied calmly, "Yeah, but the car isn't. I'll talk to the headmaster about it before we get settled in." With that Roma grabbed as many bags as she could carry and headed up the steps. Feliciana grabbed the rest and followed, making sure to stay close to her sister.

When they went inside, someone was already waiting for them.

"Hello, ladies. I'm Mr. Russo, the headmaster," said the kindly middle-aged man. "If you'd be so kind as to follow me, I'll take you on a tour of the school and show you to your dormitories." The twins nodded, one eagerly, the other begrudgingly.

The school was very large, so Mr. Russo had to go at a fast pace to be sure they could get through the whole thing in a timely manner. He introduced them to a few teachers, described some of the classes and clubs, and then finally led them to the dormitories, which happened to be in a different building.

When they got to the dorm building, Mr. Russo stopped.

"This is where I must leave you," he said, "Inside you'll find the main lobby. Go to the desk and give them your names and grades. You'll be given your keys, room numbers, maps of the school, schedules, and other important papers. Do you have any questions before I go?"

Roma quickly explained the accident in the parking lot and described the boy who hit her.

"Ah, that'd be Antonio Carriedo," Mr. Russo said with a half-smile, "he's a good kid, but still makes a lot of trouble. I'll sort it out and have the car taken for repairs. Don't worry about payment; I'm sure Antonio's family will gladly pay for it all."

After that Mr. Russo went to call a tow truck and run some errands, and the Vargas girls were left to settle in.

When they entered they were bombarded with some sort of pop music and the sound of several teens talking in different languages.

"Ve~ it's really loud in here," said Feliciana.

"You'll get used to it eventually, Feli," Roma replied, trying to comfort her sister.

Together they walked up to a large desk that had some people working behind it. There was already a line of students getting their stuff, but it was small, probably because most students were talking and catching up with old friends.

Soon they received their keys and a packet of papers stapled together. Luckily they would be sharing a room, but it appeared they were sharing it with a third person, some girl named Elizaveta Héderváry.

'What a strange name,' thought Feliciana. 'I hope she's nice.'

~o~

Ludwig ran his fingers through his hair as he looked for his room. This was his second year at HA, but that didn't stop him from finding his room easily.

"Where the hell is mein room?" he mumbled to himself. If Ludwig hadn't been so focused on searching for the right number on the doors, he would've noticed that he was in the girls' wing before someone else did.

"Um, excuse me," said a quiet voice.

Ludwig turned and was caught off guard by the pretty girl behind him. She had beautiful auburn hair and big amber eyes, and the sight of her made his heart pound.

"Ja?" Ludwig replied.

"I think you're in the wrong part of the building..." she said shyly. Ludwig looked around, only now realizing how many girls were in this hall. He began to blush profusely and started to mutter something about how confusing the building was.

"It's okay," the pretty girl giggled slightly, "I get lost all the time. I think the boys' wing is on the other side of the building." She pointed in the other direction.

"Thank you," Ludwig said with a small smile. The girl really was very pretty. "What's your name?"

"I'm Feliciana," she said with a grin. "What's yours?"

"Ludwig," he replied.

Feliciana reached out to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ludwig."

"Same for you, Feliciana," he said, taking her hand. They stood there a minute, neither one really wanting to let go. Then Feliciana jumped when she heard someone calling her name.

"I have to go, I'll see you around," she said as she ran towards a girl who looked a lot like her.

'They must be twins,' thought Ludwig. He smiled as he headed towards the side of the building he was supposed to be on. 'Feliciana, what a pretty name...'

~o~

"Who was that?" asked Roma while she and Feliciana unpacked. The other girl had come and gone before they even got there, so they ended up choosing between the other two beds, which were on opposite sides of the room.

"Ludwig," Feliciana replied dreamily. She had taken the bed by the window, hoping that the light from it would help her wake up in the morning. She had a bad habit of over sleeping.

"Could you be more specific?" Roma said, sounding a little irritated. She would never admit it out loud, but she was very protective of her sister.

"He accidentally ended up in the girls wing while looking for his room. I just pointed him in the right direction."

Roma sighed, "Right, I doubt he was there 'accidentally,' the bastardo was probably just being a perv."

"I thought he was nice," pouted Feliciana.

"Whatever, just be careful," Roma said with a glance at her sister. Feliciana had barely put any of her things away. "I'm gonna go see if I can find that Elizaveta girl, you stay here and unpack."

Roma then left the dorm room and headed to the elevator. As she was waiting for the doors to open, she heard a familiar voice.

"Francis, that isn't fair! You can't make me fork out $50, I wrecked. I'll need the money to pay for repairs!"

Roma turned to see the Spanish boy, Antonio, talking to a boy with long blonde hair.

The blonde haired boy, probably this "Francis" guy, put a hand on Antonio's shoulder, "Sorry, mon ami, a deal's a deal." He laughed and put out his hand for the money.

Before the French guy could get a penny Roma had walked over and spun Antonio around.

"We have unfinished business," she hissed. Antonio looked terrified, but then Francis stepped in.

"Oh, mon cher, there's no need to get violent, although, I do like that in a woman." He smiled and took the hand holding Antonio's arm.

"Get away from me you creep," she said, aiming a glare at him and yanking away her hand from his grip.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted." With that he sauntered off towards the girls' wing.

"Thank you, señorita," Antonio said.

"For what? I'm about to give you the ass-whooping of a lifetime," Roma said with a smirk.

Antonio didn't think she was serious, so he just laughed. He really shouldn't have done that, because Roma hates it when she's not taken seriously. So, as penance for his laughter she punched him in the face. Hard.

Antonio went down instantly, and Roma watched with an evil smile that would make most people run for cover. Before Antonio could get up he heard the dorm supervisors coming.

Roma heard them coming too. 'Damn, first day here and I'll already be serving detention.' She wasn't happy about it, but she couldn't act like she DIDN'T punch Antonio in the face.

Soon the supervisors were there, one, a girl a little older than Roma, fretting over Antonio, the other, a young man of about the same age as the girl, waiting for Roma's explanation, but before she could say anything, Antonio butted in.

"It's my fault," he said with a grimace as he got up, "I thought she was someone else and I grabbed her arm. She was probably just protecting herself, sí?"

"Sí," she replied wearily. "Sorry about that." The supervisors looked at each other for a moment.

"We'll let you off the hook this time, but don't let it happen again," said the man in a strange accent.

"Roderich, we should probably get this boy to the nurse," the girl said. The man, Roderich, nodded, and they helped Antonio up and lead him to the nurse's office.

As they were leaving, Antonio looked back and winked at Roma.

"Idiota," she mumbled, and then went back to her room, deciding she had had enough fun for one day.

~o~

"Roma, you're back earlier than I thought you'd be," Feliciana said.

"There wasn't much to see. Did you unpack all your stuff?" Roma asked.

"Almost," Feliciana replied. Truthfully she hadn't gone much farther than when Lovina had left, she just couldn't stop thinking about Ludwig. How could she possibly focus on anything knowing such a cute boy was in this very building?!

Feliciana always had boys on her mind, but there was something different about this one. Maybe it was his muscular arms, or the way his hair was perfectly slicked back, or the way he blushed while they were talking. Whatever the reason, Ludwig stood out above the rest.

Finally Feliciana got all of her stuff unpacked and put away into drawers or in the closet. It wasn't tidy, but it was done.

"Ve~ I'm done unpacking, Roma!" Feliciana said to her sister who was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.

Around a mouthful of toothpaste Roma answered, "Bout time, I was thinking I'd have to do it for you." She spit out the rest of the toothpaste and gargled some water. When she was done she said to Feliciana, "You should start memorizing your schedule and the map, classes start Monday."

Feliciana nodded. She grabbed her packet and started studying closely, but soon she fell fast asleep, the papers lying on her chest as she made little snuffling sounds.

~o~

Roma looked up from her own schedule when she heard someone sliding a key into their door. A second later it opened and revealed the supervisor girl who had showed up after Roma had punched Antonio in the face. They both stared at each other in shock.

"Why do you have a key to our room?" Roma demanded.

"Probably because it's my room too," the older girl replied with a smile. She had gotten over the shock and was being her normal friendly self. "I'm Elizaveta, your roommate."

'Great,' thought Roma.

"What's your name?" Elizaveta asked after a moment of silence.

"Roma," she replied reluctantly. She didn't exactly want to talk to this weirdly nice girl.

Elizaveta just smiled some more. "That's a pretty name. Italian, right?" Roma nodded. "I knew it. You look very Italian. I'm from Hungary."

'Does this girl ever stop talking?' Roma wondered. Elizaveta did stop talking eventually, but not until she had told Roma all about the school, her job as a supervisor, and her boyfriend, Roderich. The same Roderich who happened to be the other supervisor from the punching incident. She was finally quiet when her head hit the pillow and she fell fast asleep.

Roma stayed up for a few more minutes, taking one more glance at her schedule, she removed her sister's and placed it in a proper spot, and then she turned off the lamp on her nightstand.

~o~

Ludwig woke up the next morning to the sound of Fur Elise. His roommate, Roderich, was playing piano on an electric keyboard he brought with him. 'Is this what it will be like every morning?' he wondered as Roderich set his keyboard to the organ setting and began to play that one song from Phantom of the Opera.

"Would you turn that gottverdammten thing off?!" Ludwig shouted.

"Fine, all you had to do was ask," the Austrian said as he hit the power button.

"Thank you," said a small voice from the bathroom. Ludwig looked over at his other roommate, a Japanese guy named Kiku.

"Ja, no problem." Apparently he wasn't the only one annoyed by Roderich's talent.

"Would you like to come with me to get breakfast?" Kiku asked.

Ludwig thought a minute. "Ja, why not? Just let me get dressed."

Kiku nodded and sat on his bed while the German got dressed and slicked his hair back into place. He hated how it always got so messy while he slept.

Ludwig and Kiku then went over to wait by the elevators. The cafeteria, known to its students as The Court, was in the main building along with the classrooms, nurse's office, and the headmaster's office. The only other building besides the dorms was the gym, which was fully equipped with a basketball court and weight room.

When they reached the lobby, Ludwig thought he saw Feliciana, the pretty girl he met last night.

"Just a moment, Kiku. I'd like to go speak with someone quickly," Ludwig said to his companion.

"Of course, I'll wait here," Kiku replied.

Ludwig walked over to the girl. It was definitely Feliciana. He tapped her on the shoulder and the she turned around so quickly she tripped over her own feet. Ludwig caught her before she could fall, and he put her back on both feet.

"Ve~ Ludwig!" Feliciana said with a grin.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he said, "I just wanted to see if you would like to join me und mein friend for breakfast." That wasn't actually what he was going to say, but it just sort of slipped out. 'Oh well, too late now,' he thought.

"Well, I was gonna eat with my sister..." she said slowly. Ludwig's small smile faltered and he saw a slight panic in Feliciana's eyes. "But maybe she could come too?" she asked hopefully.

"Ja, I don't mind," Ludwig said happily.

Feliciana's eyes lit up, and she ran over to her sister who was talking to someone at the front desk. Ludwig watched as the other girl glanced his way and whispered something to Feliciana. Feliciana stopped smiling and gave her sister a very convincing puppy dog face. Obviously her sister wasn't buying it, but she came back with Feliciana anyway.

"Hi, I'm Ludwig," he said, hoping he was making a good impression on Feliciana's sister. She was clearly overprotective of her.

"I'm Roma," she said wearily. She looked a lot like Feliciana, but her hair and skin were much darker.

"Ve~ let's go get breakfast!" Feliciana said cheerily. Ludwig led them back over to where he had left Kiku.

Ludwig introduced everyone. "Kiku, this is Feliciana und Roma. Fräuleins, this is Kiku, mein roommate."

Kiku shook hands with the sisters, and then they all walked off towards The Court.

~o~

"Where are you from, Kiku?" asked Feliciana as the four of them sat down with their breakfast.

"Tokyo, Japan," Kiku replied, "where are you two from?"

"Rome, Italy," Feliciana said before she bit into her biscotti. Roma stayed silent as she sipped her coffee and watched the German chow down on his sausage links.

"You're German, right, Ludwig?" Feliciana asked.

"Ja," he replied.

A few minutes passed in semi-awkward silence as the group tucked into their food. Soon, however, Feliciana got tired of the quiet and began asking more questions.

"Who's your third roommate?"

Ludwig replied with a scowl, "Some Austrian guy named Roderich."

Roma nearly spit out her coffee. "Roderich? As in the guy who's dating our roommate Elizaveta?"

"You know that arschloch?" Ludwig asked.

"I ran into him once yesterday. I got into a bit of a situation and he showed up."

Feliciana looked at her sister with concern. "You didn't tell me about this, Roma."

"I didn't want to worry you, Feli," Roma said quietly.

"Well, what happened?" Feliciana asked anxiously.

Roma sighed. 'Why did I even bring it up?'

"We'll talk about it later. In private," she added. Feliciana pouted a little, but she at least dropped the subject. Ludwig and Kiku also got the hint and tried to switch topics.

"What classes are you taking this year?" Kiku asked, trying to keep it casual.

Feliciana answered eagerly, "I'm taking algebra, classic literature, world history, biology, home ec, art, and health. Roma is taking the same, except she chose P.E. instead of health."

"I have art and classic literature as well," Ludwig said with a smile. "What hours do you have them?"

While Ludwig and Feliciana compared classes, Roma watched them interact with each other.

'He seems okay,' she thought wearily, 'but he's too rough for Feli. He'd probably hurt her, whether it was accidental or on purpose. He also eats too much, especially potatoes. Potato bastard.'

Eventually they all had to go back to their dorms. Roma watched as Ludwig pulled Feliciana aside and whispered something to her. She giggled and said something back, but Roma couldn't hear a thing. Finally Feliciana walked back over to Roma and they headed up to their room.

"What was Ludwig saying to you?" Roma asked nonchalantly.

Feliciana just smiled and shook her head. "It was nothing, Roma."

'You always were a bad liar,' thought Roma.

~o~

"We should do a walk-through of our schedules," Roma said to Feliciana.

"Ve~ good idea, Roma!" Feliciana said excitedly.

They both grabbed their schedules and headed for the door.

Roma called out to Elizaveta, who was on duty in the commons on their floor, before they left.

"We're going to the main building to get another look at the classrooms; we'll be back in about half an hour."

Elizaveta nodded and went back to her conversation with some older students.

The girls walked slowly, taking their time and enjoying the late summer air. A soft breeze was blowing and late roses were blooming in the school's garden.

As they walked through their schedules and made sure they were able to find their classes okay, Roma continued to think about Feliciana and Ludwig. She knew her sister wasn't emotionally stable enough for a normal relationship, whoever dated her had to either be desperate or really in love. She still didn't know enough about the German to figure out if he just wanted to get in Feli's pants or if he actually liked her. These thoughts haunted her all through the school.

When Roma thought Feliciana had a basic grasp of where she was going, they headed back to the dorms. As they walked, Roma noticed her sister looked a little anxious.

"What's up, Feli? Why are you acting so weird?" she asked.

Feliciana looked a little hurt when she answered, "Nothing's up, I'm not acting weird! Why would you think that?"

'Okay,' thought Roma, 'that seems a bit suspicious.'

However, Roma dropped it and let her sister do whatever. Sometimes Feliciana just acted weird for no reason, and their first day of school was tomorrow. Even Roma felt a little nervous at the prospect of all these new people she would have to interact with.

They opened the front door of the dorm building together, and were immediately pounced on by Elizaveta.

"Where were you guys?! It's been way over half an hour!"

Roma looked for a clock. It turned out they had been gone for nearly an hour.

"Whatever," said Roma, "we just lost track of time. It's not that big a deal."

Elizaveta opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again after deciding against it. She knew she would get nowhere starting a fight with Roma.

"Please don't be angry," Feliciana said quietly.

Elizaveta looked down at Feliciana and saw that the poor girl was near tears. Her heart instantly broke for the Italian, and she decided there and then that she would help her out, always.

"It's fine, Feliciana, I was just worried, that's all. Don't cry," she said reassuringly.

Feliciana sniffled a little and smiled at Elizaveta. Roma looked at the pair of them with contempt, and maybe a wee bit of jealousy.

"I'm going to our room to get ready for bed," she said coldly.

"I'll come too, Roma. I have to choose the perfect outfit for tomorrow!" Feliciana said excitedly.

Elizaveta quickly agreed, and the three of them went up to their room to prepare for the first day of a new school year.

~o~

Late that night, around 10:00 p.m., Feliciana quietly slipped out of bed and padded to the door. She turned the doorknob ever so gently and opened the door to their room. Taking one last look back at her sister's and roommate's beds, she stepped outside and silently closed the door behind her.

She tiptoed down the hallway to the commons area, where there was a bookshelf filled with novels, some comfy couches and chairs, and a few vending machines. Wrapping her robe around herself, Feliciana peered into the darkness.

"Ludwig?" she whispered hopefully. At first she didn't hear or see anything. Then a soft rustle came from down the boys' corridor.

"Feliciana?" she heard the German say quietly.

"Ludwig!" she said happily, "You came!"

"Shhh!" Ludwig warned, "Yes, of course I came." He smiled a bit and took Feliciana's hands. "I would never abandon you."

Feliciana blushed at the comment, but was unaware that her companion was turning a deeper shade of red than herself.

Ludwig led her over to one of the couches where he sat and pulled her down next to him.

"Ludwig, why did you ask me to meet you in private?" Feliciana asked worriedly.

"To be honest, your sister scares me. I don't think she likes me very much," Ludwig replied softly.

Feliciana stared at him for a long time. She could see why Roma would scare most people, but Ludwig? Surely he was too tough to be frightened by her?

"I should head back to my room Ludwig; I need to get as much sleep as possible, big day tomorrow!" Feliciana said with a half-smile.

Ludwig nodded and helped her up from the couch.

"I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast, ja?"

"Of course," Feliciana said happily. With that they both tip-toed back to their rooms and tried to sleep as their last day of summer drew to a close.

~o~