A.N- This is my second attempt at a multi-chapter fic. Hopefully this one goes better! Also, this is my first go at writing RoChu, so constructive criticism is definitely welcome. I own nothing!

Chapter One

It was the first day of the new school year, and Yao Wang had never been so glad for its arrival. After the chaos of that summer, it was good to get some order, even if it only lasted in school. They'd had to walk, since their father had gone to work early today, taking the car with him. Yao looked at his siblings. Mei seemed happy to be going back, seeing how she was talking so much about seeing her friends. It was wonderful to see her like that. She'd been so quiet the last few weeks. Li looked annoyed about having to go back, but that wasn't really anything new. He'd probably cheer up if and when he saw his best friend, Emil. Turning to Kiku, he saw that his step-brother was doing alright. At least, he looked like he was. Whether or not it was true, that was a different matter entirely. With everything that had been happening lately with their parents, it was completely possible that Kiku could be pretending that he was okay. The sound of the bell brought him back to reality. They all ran into school, fortunately making it just in time. Yao and Kiku went one way, Li and Mei the other, all four making plans to meet up at lunchtime.

By the time Yao and Kiku made it to class, everyone had already chosen their seats. Their teacher this year had chosen to have rows of single desks rather than groups. This wasn't so bad, except for the fact that there were only three empty seats. One was near the back, next to Kiku's friend Heracles. Another was on the far left, next to Basch Zwingli. Basch was alright, just rather quiet. He didn't really speak to anyone except his younger sister, Lili, which he seemed happy with. The last seat was near the centre of the room, next to Ivan Braginsky. Ivan was tall, possibly the tallest kid in their class. He was also quite easily the strangest kid in their class, which, considering the competition, was saying a lot. He always wore a scarf, even in the summer, and not many people liked him, with the exception of his sisters. Still, all of that wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for one little thing. Ivan couldn't seem to leave him alone. He claimed he just wanted to be friends, but Yao wasn't sure he could trust him. Just as he was debating which of his three options was better, Heracles took it upon himself to narrow them down. Raising his hand in a gesture that could easily have been mistaken for a stretch, he called over to Kiku, asking him to come and sit down before the teacher returned from her errand in the office. He sounded calm, relaxed even, despite all the noise their classmates were making. Of course, this was pretty much normal for Heracles. He didn't normally get openly excited, even when cats were involved. It was easy to see how he and Kiku could get on so well. With his brother now seated, Yao decided to try sitting next to Basch. When he got over to the desk, though, a dark blue backpack was resting on the empty chair. Glancing up at him, Basch sighed.

"Not this time, I'm afraid," he didn't look happy to say it.

"Why not? If I don't sit here I'll have to sit next to Ivan, and I don't want to be stuck with him again."

"I know that. Trust me, I'd probably do the same in your case. The thing is, there's a new kid starting today. They're gonna come in and there will be one available seat. They'll either have to sit next to me or Ivan. Personally, I wouldn't mind giving up having a solo desk if it meant they weren't stuck with Ivan. You see?" Yao sighed. He did have a point.

"Okay, I'll do it," he paused. "Do we know anything about the new kid yet?"

"Not really. All I know is that they're some sort of musical genius from Vienna, or somewhere like that," Basch didn't sound too impressed.

"Cool," with that he turned away, figuring the teacher would be back soon, and went to sit down next to Ivan. The taller boy smiled.

"Privet, Yao. Did you have a nice summer?" Yao looked straight ahead. He wasn't going to look at Ivan, no matter what.

"I don't speak Russian, Ivan, we've been over this. Also, my summer was alright," it hadn't really been alright, but that was none of Ivan's business. Ivan opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the door opened. In came their teacher, followed by a boy with dark brown hair- neat except for one random curl sticking up- and glasses, wearing a blazer, shirt and tie, which was unusual. The rest of the class wore dark green jumpers and white polo shirts. Clearly, this was the new kid.

"Class, this is Roderich Edelstein, from Vienna, in Austria," everyone looked at him. Foreign kids weren't unusual in their class, by any means, but they hadn't expected a new one to join at this stage. What if he didn't speak English? Would Gilbert or Ludwig have to translate until he learned? They'd find out soon enough. Maybe eight wasn't too old to fit in somewhere else. As Basch had predicted, the new boy did end up having to sit next to him. It had better be worth it. Glancing at the boy next to him, he sighed again. This was going to be a long year.