A Rose of Passion

He Hated it

The green emerald eyes stared in the olive green ones angrily.

Nobody in the room dared to speak. Gently, Belle leaned over her table and tugged on Arthur's arm. He almost immediately calmed down. Realizing what he had nearly done, Arthur scolded himself. He glared back at the smiling Spaniard before returning to his seat. He dropped himself slowly next to Lovino, his emerald eyes still shinning with rage.

Antonio's smile wavered as he saw the blond boy whisper with little Lovi. His bottle green eyes lost their usual cheerfulness and were staring, emotionless, at the angry English boy. Yes, he was right to be angry. He should be angry. After all, Antonio had not been fair with him. But he didn't fight back. He held back his rage. And Antonio hated it. He hated how this arrogant boy dare stand up against him. He hated how he stole Lovi and Belle's attention, his two favorite students. He hated that messy golden hair of his. He hated his clean white skin. He hated his thick and bushy eyebrows. And he hated those shinning emerald eyes that made his own look shameful. He hated it all. He hated him. Antonio hated it.

"Arthur? Are you ok?" Belle asked quietly as to not attract professor Carriedo's attention.

"I'm fine. Bloody bastard …" Arthur mumbled. He didn't understand why his Spanish teacher hated him so much! What did he ever do?

"Don't bother about him, he's always been freaking crazy! I mean, the guy thinks I'm madly in love with him for some reason!"

"Aren't you?" Belle teased him.

"What? Are you out of your mind? Who'd love that crazy tomato bastard?" Lovino answered angrily, raising his voice accidently.

"Watch it! He'll hear you!" Arthur hissed warningly.

"Shit! Sorry!"

"May I ask for the reason for this disturbance … Mr. Kirkland?" Antonio asked with his face merely inches away from Arthur's ear. How did he get here? Arthur was sure that he had seen him walk to the back of the room as he was dictating something. And why in the world was he accusing him? Arthur jumped at the sudden closeness of Mr. Carriedo. He turned to face his teacher's questioning green eyes and glared back spitefully with his own. Antonio smiled. Arthur's glare darkened with fury. This man was enjoying himself! He enjoyed tormenting him! But he will not give him the satisfaction of losing control of his anger! So, all Arthur could do was to pour all of his hatred towards the man in his glare. If people could get killed by just glares … then professor Antonio Fernandez Carriedo would have already died a thousand times per second in this just one glare.

"It wasn't Arthur's fault, Mr. Carriedo! It was mine!" Belle pointed out before Arthur could get punished.

"No! She's wrong! It was my fault! I spoke too loudly and Arthur was just warning me about it!" Lovino blustered out suddenly. He hated it when Arthur was the one getting the blame for his mistakes. Even though he would love to see that annoying Belle in detention, it was his fault for being too loud.

"But I was the one who distracted Lovino so it should be my fault! I'm sorry! Please don't blame Arthur!" Belle pleaded. She didn't want Arthur to be blame because of her selfish teasing of Lovino. Arhtur was so nice … she was such a bad friend to him.

Antonio stared at them both. His confident smile twitched with annoyance. He looked back at Arthur who was still glaring at him. How he hated it. He hated it so much …

"Well, Mr. Kirkland? Is this true?"

Arthur continued to glare at his monster of a teacher before smirking sarcastically.

"I don't know what they're talking about."

Antonio's face froze with his smile. He saw Arthur's smirk directed at him. He hated it. Antonio had known all along that Arthur wasn't the one to blame. He had wanted to tease him, make him snap, and make him protest about his unfairness. When his friends had defended him, Antonio had been a little annoyed but had hoped to see the blond admit the guiltiness of his friends. He hated it. Antonio hated how the boy never flinched or backed down but also how he never crossed the line or caused trouble. He hated how he would always take the blame of others instead of backing down. He hated how he always acted so gentlemanly and almost chivalric. He hated that sarcastic smirk on the boy's face. He hated how Arthur always acted so arrogantly and superior. He hated it. He hated him.

"I see. Then I shall see you in detention after class … for a week." Antonio smiled lightly as if they were discussing the weather.

"What? A week? But that's not fair! It wasn't even his fault!" Lovino shouted while getting up from his seat. Antonio looked at him with cold eyes and Lovino felt a shiver running through his body. He had never seen Antonio look at him like that.

"Lovi – no! Would you please mind your own business and if you have nothing else to share with the class, I suggest you sit down." Antonio told him off cheerfully with a broad smile. His eyes were icy cold. Lovino slowly sat down, unable to understand Antonio's strange change of attitude. He'd even called him by his full name and not 'Lovi' like he usually does. What was going on? Why was Antonio so … tensed and acted like such a bastard recently? He had always been the coolest and relaxed teacher of the school! And always nice and honest and … fair. Lovino remembers Antonio complaining at other teachers and their unfair behavior towards the students. He would always defend the pupils. So why was he being such an ass to Arthur! Even just now, Arthur had done a faultless exam (unlike himself) and Antonio still gave him an average mark. He had completely invented mistakes that weren't there and had insulted Arthur's work in front of the whole class! Why? That wasn't the first time. Ever since the beginning of the year, when Arthur started to attend our school, Antonio had been acting weird. In class, Lovino noticed that Antonio would often stare coldly at Arthur when nobody else was looking. Why? Why? Why?

Lovino turned to look at Arthur and apologize to him. Once again, Arthur was taking the blame for him. He looked at his best friend with surprise. Arthur was smirking towards Antonio. An angry, devilish smirk. Lovino always found Arthur scary when he smirked like that … it looks a bit … pirate – like. Belle, on the other hand, found it sexy … that's girls for you. Lovino was now very worried for his friend. He had never been a very social person and only talked to Belle (which most of the time ended up with her teasing him) so when Arthur came and they had started to hang out, Lovino had finally felt appreciated. For once, he hadn't been judged or compared to his brother. Arthur had been brutally honest with him while remaining perfectly polite. That's what Lovino appreciates the most in his friend. He doesn't judge people without knowing them first. He is a bit annoyed because ever since he became best friends with Arthur, Belle has been hanging around with them too. She seemed to be into the English boy and would always try to get his undivided attention which slightly pissed Lovino off. He didn't want his best friend to be taken away by, of all people, Belle. Not that Arthur was interested anyway.

"Arthur … I'm sorry." Lovino whispered apologetically.

"Don't worry about it." Arthur replied gently.

Lovino liked the way Arthur always would defend him and take all the blows for him. May it be in a fight or when he would get into trouble. But what Lovino loved most about Arthur was his gentle smile when he told him not to worry.

Antonio watched his little Lovi's face lighten up at something Arthur had whispered to him. He hated it, oh, so much!