After Today
A/N: Inspiration strikes at the most unexpected moments. And this happens to be one of those moments.
I must say now that "After Today", sung by Max in A Goofy Movie is so catchy, it should be a sin. It is stuck in my head and has resulted in me writing this oneshot here. I hope you all enjoy!
Summary: Waking up late is never a good thing, especially for geeky little Arthur Kirkland. But of course, today is the day he's finally going to get things done! And he'll be damned if he doesn't sing a catchy song as he does it...
Warnings: None at the moment...
Pairings: USUK, others if you squint.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia nor A Goofy Movie.
Arthur Kirkland stood in a beautiful meadow, a gentle breeze ruffling the locks of his ashy blonde hair. Fairies gently floated amongst the wildflowers, lazily drifting between tall blades of grass. Green eyes sought out a familiar mint-green, winged bunny and thin lips smiled as the little creature approached him.
Flying Mint Bunny seemed to be especially excited today. He floated around the Briton's head, tugging on the sensible sweater vest the young man war, as if trying to pull him along. Arthur laughed and complied, allowing the flying rabbit to lead him deeper into the meadow.
They came upon a large rock, where Arthur could barely make out a figure standing atop it. This figure was tall and broad-shouldered, with wheat gold hair tossed about in a rather messy way. A single cowlick stood up against gravity, giving him the look of a child stuck in a teen's body. As Arthur and Flying Mint Bunny approached, this young man turned around and faced them, gazing lovingly at Arthur with eyes the color of the sky.
The Englishman's breath hitched in his throat. Never before had he seen anything more beautiful in his life. The taller male, framed in a halo of golden light, slowly descended from his perch and walked over, holding out his hand for the Briton to take. Arthur inhaled the sweet scent of coffee and burgers before he reached out and took the offered hand. They stepped together, staring into each other's eyes, and leaned in.
Their lips met...
"OI! ARTIE, YA BASTARD! WAKE UP!"
Arthur gasped, his body jolting awake suddenly as he rolled to his side and fell off his bed. Loud laughter filled his ears as the young man untangled himself from his blanket. Growling irritably, he whirled to face the red-haired, green-eyed male that had so rudely woken him up.
"Have you ever heard of knocking, Scott!?"
His older brother laughed again and patted the young man's head. "Well, Artie, it is seven-bloody-forty-five in the morning, so I thought that-"
WHAT!?
Arthur glanced at his clock and, to his horror, he saw that he had vastly overslept. The World Academy started at eight, for crying out loud! If he didn't get a move on soon, he would certainly be late! And it would be more than just a blow on his reputation of Student Council President!
Without even bothering to further reprimand Scott for his rude awakening, Arthur immediately leaped out of his sleeping clothes and donned his uniform, brushing his teeth as he slid down the stairs of the modest home. He was already done brushing said teeth by the time he reached the kitchen and shoved a scone in his mouth, washing it all down with a (cold) cup of tea. His pack and shoes were, thankfully, by the door. Without another thought, he yanked open the door and dashed outside, putting on his shoes as he went.
"OI! WAIT UP!"
Arthur skidded to a halt just in time for Scott to run up, waving around his Book of the Occult. That's right... he forgot the damn thing on his desk. Good thing Scott remembered, otherwise, he would look quite foolish during the Black Magic Club meeting today.
Scott Handed him the book and, as if to spite him, planted a sloppy kiss on the middle of the Briton's forehead, right in between the rather large eyebrows. Of course, just at that moment, a group of five students known as the Nordic Five chose that moment to drive by in their car. If the chortling didn't give anything away, Arthur's beet red face did.
Scott smirked and gave Arthur one last pat on the head, ignoring his younger brother's enraged sputtering. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and went back into the house, closing the door behind him. Arthur, using what little dignity he had left, spun around and made his way to the sidewalk. His anger at being laughed at, however, never subsided.
"They've been laughing since I can remember," Arthur seethed, wrenching the gate open and slamming it shut. "But they're not gonna laugh anymore." he walked down the street, not bothering to look at the ground, where his youngest brother, Peter, was playing with toy trucks. "No more 'Artie the Geek', no more 'Europe's Black Sheep', like before!"
Arthur realized too late that he had walked right in the middle of Peter's toy trucks. He stepped on one of them, losing his footing and causing him to slip forward. He flailed his arms and desperately tried to regain his balance, only to be propelled forward, right into two young men walking to school. The Briton dimly recognized them as Matthew and his boyfriend, Gilbert.
"No more Algebra tests 'til September!" Matthew sang happily, ripping said tests in two. Arthur would have slammed into them, had it not been for Gilbert's quick reflexes in catching him.
"No more unawesome losers like him!" Gilbert said, glaring at the Brit with his red eyes. Before Arthur could apologize, he was pushed aside, right into yet another pair walking down the street. This time, he recognized them to be Antonio and Lovino, Captain of the Soccer Team and "Mr. Tomato Bastard Italian Person Thingy Oh My God He's Not Feli".
"No more havin' to cheat!" Antonio said cheerfully, green eyes sparkling with glee. Antonio may have been Captain of the Soccer Team, but that didn't mean that he had a completely free record. This only confirmed it for Arthur, who made a mental note to report the Spaniard later.
"No damn mystery meat!" Lovino spat, tossing a tomato in between both hands. The Italian was famous for his bad mouth, something which his twin, Feliciano, seemed to lack. He was also quite famous for his love of tomatoes.
Arthur was just about to continue on his way when, suddenly, he saw Raivis running down the street holding what looked like a pair of underwear. Before Arthur could either scold the Polish boy or question why he had said underwear, Raivis decided to launch the garment at a nearby tree. As the thing sailed past the tree, Toris suddenly appeared from behind it and shot another pair of underwear towards a mailbox. From behind that mailbox, Arthur saw Eduard launch his own pair of underpants straight towards Feliks, who was walking down the street. Each time the underwear was shot, the teens each hummed the same line.
"No more gym!"
"No more gym!"
"No more gym!"
Feliks grinned and he shot the underwear at Arthur. "NO MORE GYM!"
Arthur tried ducking, but only managed to get the underwear stuck in his unruly hair. Cursing up a storm about "stupid Polish idiots", he threw the underwear aside and kept walking, praying that there would be no one else randomly singing. Much to his pleasure, he saw Elizabeta and her boyfriend, Roderich. They were a nice, respectable pair, who would never be caught dead singing.
He was dead wrong.
"Gonna move to the mall!" Elizabeta sang as she spun her boyfriend around. Her boyfriend, a pianist, straightened his pristine uniform and rolled his eyes.
"Gonna live on the stool."
Arthur sighed. "Gonna talk to Alfred and not feel like a fool."
Sadik sailed past him on a skateboard, still wearing that ridiculous ski mask he had been wearing since Halloween. Arthur couldn't help but wonder by he seemed to be trying to go for the "creepy masked robber guy" look. Even more confusing for the Brit was the fact that the guy was freaking singing as well!
"'Cause, after today I'm gonna be cruisin'!"
"After today, he'll be mine," Arthur whispered.
"After today, my brains will be snoozin'!" Francis sang as he walked past a bench, blowing a kiss to the older women on the bench. Much to Arthur's disgust, they nearly swooned at the Frenchman's charm.
Speaking of swooning...
"If I don't faint, I'll be fine!" Arthur said, trying to encourage himself. He ran towards the Academy now, passing by the outdoor cafe where he saw Feliciano, Kiku, and Ludwig sharing breakfast. Feliciano eagerly waved a spoon and a pan around.
"I've got forty more minutes, until I make some pasta!"
Ludwig gave the Italian a small smile. "Then it's down with the textbooks."
Kiku held up a large, large, large stack of books. "And out with the manga!"
Arthur ran up to Yao, who was reading a Chinese magazine, and grabbed the man by the shoulders, shaking him. Yao dropped his reading material in surprise, then attempted to throw the nervous Brit off. By the time Arthur was done shaking Yao, he was even more nervous than before. At Yao's questioning glare, Arthur wrung his hands.
"Just think of all that time I've been losing, finding the right thing to say!"
Yao smiled. "But things will be going your way, after today."
Arthur glanced up and saw the familiar flash of wheat-gold hair. Alfred was walking. And he was walking so close to their location. The American had both earbuds in and a shake in his mouth, an expression of pure content on his face as he walked.
Arthur's heart pounded as he lifted his hand to wave hello, but his courage soon faltered as the American passed. He didn't even glance in their direction as he walked by. Arthur lowered his arm and sighed.
"He looked right through me... and who could blame him?" Arthur glanced down at Yao's discarded magazine, catching sight of a young male with unruly hair and a numerous piercings and tattoos, clad in black clothes. A truly devilish smirk was creasing the youth's face. "I need a new me... and maybe some shit so that I'm not just a git!"
"And after today, I'm gonna be cruisin'!" Jett shouted as he ran into the school entrance. He seemed quite excited over the fact that yes, this was the last day of school before summer vacation began.
"No more pep rallies to cut, bleh!" Natalia snapped as she searched the bushes for her brother, Ivan. Arthur felt pity for the Russian. After all, even though he had a tedency to be a bit creepy, no one deserved to have Natalia as their sister.
Im Yong Soo suddenly popped up between Yao and Arthur, earning a shout from both of them. "After today, my brains will be snoozin'!"
Ivan then popped up right next to Yao, much to the extreme creeped-out-ness of all three of them. The tall Russian let out a menacing purple aura as he smiled down at Yao. "I'm gonna sit on my butt."
Arthur separated himself from the other three and glanced at the clock. It was 7:55. He proceeded to run towards the school entrance. "I've got less than an hour and when this is ended, I'll either be famous..."
He ran past Vash, nearly causing him to drop his books. "Or you'll be suspended!"
He saw Alfred, surrounded by a gaggle of cheerleaders and jocks, laughing his usual obnoxious laugh. Out of his mouth flowed an entire babble about heroism and all of that. His voice was so loud that, as Arthur ran past, he could still hear a lot of the conversation. Arthur increased his speed, hoping that his blushing face would not be noticed as he dashed into the Student Council Room.
"Just think of all that time I've been losing, waiting until I could say..." here, the American paused dramatically. "Gonna be on my own, kiss the parents goodbye, gonna party from now 'til the end of July! Things will be going my way, after today!"
Arthur yanked the door to the Student Council Room open and slammed it shut, leaning against it. He was dripping in sweat, both from the run and from how damn gorgeous Alfred looked today. In the distance, he heard the bell ring, signaling that it was time to head to class.
"I wish that this was the day..." Arthur whispered, hugging his things close. "After today..."