Feli
Despite his normally cheerful attitude, as Feliciano Vargas stood in front the mirror in his new school uniform he felt only apprehension. Not fear or anxiety yet, merely...concern. Straightening his tie, the thirteen-year-old stared at his reflection, checking for problems. His 'stupid hair', as Lovino had nicknamed it, was sticking up again- he never could get it to lie straight. Nonetheless, pushing it down with his thumb, he gratefully noted that the rest of his appearance was perfect; and in the charcoal grey jacket, dress shoes, and collared shirt he truly felt that he'd fit in with the students at a private school, as someone on their level, not just the poor kid.
The scholarship students. Yup, that was them.
"Feliciano! Stop staring at yourself, we're gonna be late!" Lovino called from the doorway, wearing the irate expression he usually assumed around his younger brother, and Feli couldn't help but flinch.
"Coming, Romano!"
"And don't call me that at school," he grumbled as his brother grabbed his lunch- his favorite pasta, made from an old family recipe. "We're the new kids. I don't need people to start calling me by your stupid pet name. We're poor kids and newbies, so we've got to be perfect." They'd been speaking in Italian, but for the last sentence Lovino had switched to English. He didn't have as good of an accent as Feli, but he spoke it more. The younger was terrified of forgetting his Italian and spoke it whenever he could.
"We're not poor! And we're not 'newbies'." He too switched to English. "Big brother Francis goes there, too!" He'd been delighted to discover that the exchange student who'd stayed with them once would be attending as well, admittedly as a high school student.
"He's a perv and totally in the closet," the other muttered. "Also not your brother, dumbass. I don't want you talking to him. Now, stand up straight, keep your hands out of your pockets, firm handshakes with eye contact, speak in English, be polite to the older kids, and whatever you do, don't pull a spaz attack."
"Y-yes sir," Feli whispered, feeling overwhelmed. He'd been so excited that morning, but now his anxiety surfaced as a wave of terror. What if he messed up and made Lovino angry?
"I'm serious. Shout 'Pasta!' one time, you bastard, and I will- what the fuck are you wearing?"
He smoothed the grey knee-length skirt nervously. "Th-they didn't stock uniforms my size, so I b-bought a-"
"Girl's uniform! Get the fuck home and change right now!"
He looked so furious that, before he was even conscious of the decision, Feli found himself breaking out in a run. And so it was that, on Feliciano Vargas's first day at the Himaruya Academy for the Sciences he found himself running to school, chased halfway by his brother Lovino shouting curses at the top of his lungs, until the later decided to salvage his dignity by dropping out of the race and walking the rest of the way to school.
Roderich
The Himaruya Academy for the Sciences was a prestigious school, a famous school, an academically focused school- an expensive school. Its students were the children of the rich and famous, the sort of people who would settle at nothing less than the best for their little darlings. The sons of Russian oligarchs rubbed shoulders with the little siblings of famous movie stars and pop idols. Politicians, diplomats, billionaires- all sent their children to the Academy to be educated. The student body was composed of the most intelligent, focused, and privileged teens in the world, and it was not in the habit of accepting random middle-class students, no matter how much they'd achieved at their grubby little public schools.
Which was why Roderich Edelstein was astonished to hear that two scholarship students from Italy had recently been accepted into the Academy's Junior High. And even more astonished when one of aforementioned scholarship students- a poor kid, for goodness sake!- sat down at his table at lunch.
"Hello! I'm Feliciano Vargas! I'm new here." Startled, Roderich stared at the girl, mouth opened but nothing coming out. She was a seventh grader, and quite a small one too, staring at him with wide golden eyes and a cheerful smile. "I promise to work very hard and be a credit to this school!"
Finally he managed to find his voice. "I am Roderich Edelstein," the high-schooler said, fixing her with a stare from cold violet-blue eyes. "My friends call me Roderich. You, however, being a middle schooler-" and a lowly scholarship student- "may refer to me by my last name. And at Himaruya Academy, junior high students do not sit with high school students unless they are invited- which you were not."
"Roderich!" That was Elizabeta, glaring at him and stepping on his foot hard. His girlfriend beamed at the intruder. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Feliciano. I'm Elizabeta Hedervary. You're welcome to sit with us whenever you like, right, Roderich?"
And, well, when two girls were staring at you expectantly, one of them a hopeful looking little girl, and one your girlfriend, who was strong enough to beat you up with one hand behind her back...well, what were you supposed to do? Leaning back in his chair, the Austrian found himself muttering something like "Welcome to our table."
"Th-thank you!" Feliciano squeaked, perking right up, and she and Elizabeta immediately began chattering away while he ran his fingers exasperatedly through his hair and wondered what on earth the world was coming to.
"Tell me Feli- I can call you Feli, can't I?- are you one of the scholarship students we've been hearing so many wonderful things about?" Roderich couldn't help letting out a snort at that.
"Yeah! Me and my brother Lovino just moved here from Italy!"
"Do you like the U.S. so far? You know, most of the people who go here are from other countries too."
"Hey, who's this?"
Roderich turned around and found himself staring into the blue eyes of his cousin Ludwig. "Roderich?"
"Ah, yes. This is Feliciano Vargas, our new...friend. Feliciano, this is my cousin Ludwig Beilschmidt. He is, in fact, in the same grade as you." Hopefully Ludwig would put a stop to all of this, and order the newcomer to leave. And yet, as the blonde young man muttered an abstracted greeting, it could not help but be noticed that he was staring at the auburn-haired stranger with a strange expression on his face. Something that, if he hadn't known better, the older boy would have called...adoration.
Roderich Edelstein suddenly realized that his life was about to become very strange.
Very, very strange.