(Ships: - Ameripan (Main) - PruCan - Spamano – Gerita – FrUK - AusHun (and some unrequited PruHun, at first!) – PolLiet – RoChu (if I can think of a way) – DenNor – SuFin - HongIce - SeaWy.)

A quick note : This story is a College AU and some of the sibling/parent pairs in canon Hetalia have been split up for easier writing - however, some of the dynamics shared between certain characters still stay. Seeing as I don't live in the US and have never actually been there, I'll leave real-life locations out unless required. Most of the story is set in an ambiguous part of New York (the state, and also the city).

Warnings will be in the top A/N if anything that may be triggering occurs in the chapter. For simplicity's sake, there will be translation for foreign words. Each time a new character is introduced, the country they represent, their age, and a short description will be included at the end of the chapter. As always, Hetalia isn't owned by me.

Kiku stood awkwardly at the airport, awaiting whoever was sent to pick him up. Having just arrived from his quaint traditional home in the city of Tokyo, he had absolutely no idea what exactly he was supposed to do in a new land. After going through the customs and collecting his baggage, he waited in the Arrival wing of the airport as the rest of the world milled about him. For the first time in his life, he was actually in a Western country, far away from the Eastern world he came from – and all the more, he was alone. The quiet eighteen-year-old kept a look out throughout the area, trying to locate… exactly what? All he knew about the person was that they had blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a pair of silver glasses – and that their name was Alfred Kirkland. He wasn't given a picture, and that description applied to so many people in the middle of an American airport. How was he to know the name of a person he's never met?

It was not too long ago when Kiku sat outside the office, awaiting his interview. He had silently watched as others entered and exited the interview room in varying states of panic and disarray. Of course, Kiku himself wasn't completely calm, but he had finally decided to take his family's advice and try something new with the skills he already had. In the end, he decided to submit his application, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was shortlisted for the interview. During the interview, his calm polite demeanour gained favour with the interviewers. Finally, he got accepted into the famous American college as a scholarship student, filled to the brim with people from all parts of the globe. However, this meant he had to leave to a new land on his own, and that resulted in the situation he had inadvertently put himself into. To some extent, he was stressed out by the new situation after being cooped up for so long, but this was the "poison" he'd picked. Coming back to reality, he gathered his baggage and began moving towards the exit.

Before he had time to consider finding another place to sit and hide from the bulk of public eye, the voice of a loud and boisterous man interrupted his thought process and called out to him. "Hey, dude! Are you Kiku Honda?" Startled to hear his name, Kiku looked around, attempting to find the source of the voice. He quickly associated it to a young-looking male who was approaching him. "I-I… eto…" While his English wasn't bad – in fact, it was one of the reasons why he could get the scholarship in the first place – he was definitely not used to suddenly being greeted out of nowhere, and by a stranger, no less. Regaining his composure after some time, he properly replied the strange American (or that was what Kiku presumed, at the very least), whilst comparing the facial features of the male to the description he was given. "…Yes, I am Kiku Honda. Might you be Alfred Kirkland?" Blonde hair… yes, his hair is blonde and just a little messy. Light blue eyes… yes, and framed with silver glasses. A match to the description I got just before my flight. Although, the surname 'Kirkland' on an American is rather strange.

"Sweet! I was right, first try! Yes, I'm Alfred Foster Kirkland. I'm the one they sent to bring you to the dormitory! It's nice to meet you, Kiku!" Already shaking hands with Kiku fervently, Alfred exclaimed out all his words in a cheerful manner. It was almost all too overwhelming for the reserved Japanese, but that slipped past the notice of the bubbly American. Quickly dragged into the quick bouncy pace of Alfred Kirkland, Kiku simply followed along as the former guided him around the airport to his car, dragging his luggage along. Never having been particularly athletic, due in part to his reclusive nature, it took Kiku all his effort to follow the quick-footed man while squirming through the crowd, even with his useful advantage in weaving through the crowd.

Nevertheless, the duo reached the carpark in no time, Kiku trying to catch his breath. Putting the luggage into the trunk of the car, Alfred attempted to make conversation with his new 'friend'. "So, what course are you taking? I heard you have a scholarship, but never found out for what." When compared to the scrawny and slim Japanese, Alfred looked like a big buff giant, and Kiku wasn't particularly comfortable around him yet. For a Japanese man, Kiku was already of a smaller stature, so the difference in height was significant. "I'm getting a degree in Game Design, but I'm also taking some Law and Politics classes."

"Whoa! I'm in Law, so maybe we'll be in some of the same classes. How old are you? I'm nineteen, and I'm also just starting university this year." Alfred seemed pretty easy to approach and was friendly, if overwhelmingly so. Kiku decided he didn't quite mind the man, and they continued to converse throughout the car ride, talking about everything under the sun – from the upcoming university year ahead, to life in their respective countries, and to small talk about the weather.

Looking out of the car window, Kiku admired the view outside. As the weather was slowly turning colder and summer turned to fall, the outside was still relatively bright and colourful, even as multiple shades of brown appeared in small clumps, scattered around. "I have a little brother, Peter, who's always merry. He's still in high school, but he has a huge crush on this one girl from his class. He's always denying it, but it's obvious. And my older brother, Arthur, recently graduated from university. He's currently working as an editor for the newspaper, and is all fussy about proper spelling and stuff. Once, I played a prank on him by putting all the teabags in the bathtub and filling it with water…" Alfred went on with his long anecdotes about the mischief he got up to, and the punishments he got as a result. Kiku listened with slight interest, and was frankly amused by some of them. Not once did he interrupt his fun, as they made their way to the university campus.

"…Actually, Peter and Arthur are both from the UK, along with the rest of the Kirkland family. Their mother was a longtime friend of my parents, so when they died the Kirklands were more than happy to take me in as their own. They moved here soon after it happened." At this point, Alfred's voice got noticeably sadder, and he went silent, most likely recalling his parents. Kiku was intrigued by this fact, but hearing the lull in the conversation, decided against probing into details. He stayed silent, unable to think of a suitable answer for the situation. The duo stayed in the awkward silence.

Eventually, Alfred, in an attempt to lighten the mood, said, "Well… enough about me. Don't you think New York's pretty? It's still early in September, so the summer's still making the weather warm, and everyone's out there, enjoying it." Kiku agreed, and they continued such small talk for the rest of the trip.

Well, this is certainly a new beginning, thought the Japanese, wondering how his next few years as a university student in America would play out.

Eto : Equivalent to a Japanese "um" or "uh".

Characters :
Kiku Honda, 18. Japan.
A scholarship student from Tokyo, he is reserved and quiet. His name means "chrysanthemum", which is his mother's favourite flower and tea. Kiku enjoys playing video games, and was almost a hikikomori (except he attended school). He has a rocky relationship with his brother (China) but ultimately still loves him as part of the family too.

Alfred Foster Kirkland, 19. America.
An American student, he lives in New York with his foster family. His parents died when he was 12, and was since taken in by the Kirkland family. His original name is Alfred Franklin Jones, and he keeps a precious heirloom given to him by his father. When sleepy, he slips into a Michigan accent, due to having grown up there.

Peter Kirkland, 15. Sealand (from England).
Overly confident in himself, he has the mixed personality traits of his two older siblings. He has a crush on Kaelin Smith (Wy), and fervently denies it. Frequently annoys his eldest brother with Alfred, and is shockingly strong for his size. Peter loves to claim that he can solve college-level problems, but he really cannot.

Arthur Kirkland, 22. England.
A tsundere, he has been frenemies with Francis Bonnefoy (France) for years upon years. He truly cares for his two siblings, but dislikes his cousins (Scotland and Ireland). He loves drinking English Breakfast tea, and is guilty of loving fantasy novels. He works as an editor, but writes stories in his spare time.

Thank you for reading this first chapter! Please review it if you liked it. I also have other (frankly incomplete) fanfictions, if you want to read them.

Edit : Veto'd Kiku's course, because game design made more sense (and because I temporarily forgot that it was the course I wanted him to take in the first place).