First Hetalia fic, based off of a picture I saw once. Hopefully it isn't too bad. All comments are welcomed, whether it be good reviews or harsh criticism. Flaming is allowed, too, since some flamers actually do have some sense to detect the little problems in, er, stuff. Anyway, let's get on with it.
Everyone's had one of those days where you just feel like throwing yourself off of a cliff, going completely emo and just cutting little slits in your wrist. Arthur Kirkland was having one of those days. The British man had gone to Virginia for a business trip originally, but even then, bad luck decided to follow him. His plane ride to reach his desired destination had been delayed, thus causing him to be late one day for his business trip, which had been told to him at the very last minute from one of the new employees at his workplace. On his bus ride to the meeting place where the business transaction was to occur, he had succeeded in soiling his good suit whilst spilling his tea all over himself and his paperwork, losing his wallet and later on his briefcase, and getting a sound beating from an old woman for cursing out loud with children in the bus. This all happened, and he hadn't even gotten off the bus yet. More problems just continued to occur for him, and by the time he had reached the place he wanted to get to, he was less than presentable in front of his important client. He was promptly fired the moment the meeting ended.
So now, he was unemployed, staying in a cheap hotel room, and had no money on him. He was just lucky that he wasn't in a foreign country where he couldn't understand a word the people were saying. Arthur had just returned from a walk around the town and plopped himself down on his small lounge chair, thinking over the past few days. In just a grand total of three days, he had proceeded to ruining his life of employment and losing his money, all the while staying in a country he didn't feel quite comfortable in. After all of that, he concluded that his day had been terrible and that he needed some rest. Eventually, a job would be on that list of things he needed to do. He couldn't bother himself to change or move himself over to his bed, so he fell asleep on his lounge chair.
The next morning, he awoke in a foul mood. He felt there wasn't much to wake to, other than to search for a job in order to make enough money to go back to Britain, back to his home. He left his hotel room in order to find a newspaper lying around in the street. Luckily, it didn't take long for him to find one, though it was slightly crumpled and had several footprints over it. He checked the job section and browsed his options. He was disappointed to find that the only interesting choices were a job as a waiter at a restaurant for its grand opening and an employee at a fast food restaurant near the area.
To Arthur, there was no competition. He would try out the job as a waiter. Fast food restaurants weren't very appealing to the Brit, making him barf when he even thought to be near the stuff for more than a few minutes, much less a few hours. The restaurant turned out to be a buffet, more specifically "The World Buffet." Arthur felt himself thinking how unoriginal that title was, but figured that he would have to get used to it. The grand opening banner was splayed across the top of the building with bright glittery effects and neon colored letters. Arthur almost wondered how he had managed to walk through the town without noticing it.
"Best of British luck, I guess. Though what luck have I really got left?" The Brit told himself cynically as he pushed open the glass door, only to notice the automatic door just to his left. He just groaned silently to himself and continued in. There didn't seem to be anyone inside, so he stopped in his tracks.
"Nobody in, so I think I'll just leave." Arthur quickly turned and was about to head out the door when a hand grasped his shoulder. Arthur flinched for a split second before daring to turn himself around. He was welcomed with a not-so-welcoming, stern face from a tall man with slicked back blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Arthur shivered just looking at him.
"Are you here for a job application?" The man asked in a gruff voice. Arthur just stiffly nodded as the man just quickly nodded back and pulled a clipboard from seemingly nowhere.
"May I ask your name?"
"Arthur Kirkland." The tall man wrote something down on the clipboard as he tore the paper off the pad and neatly folded it and tucked it into his pocket.
"Follow me in order to sign the necessary pa—"
"Ludwig!" All of a sudden, a short brunette with a strange hair curl bounded from out of nowhere and latched himself onto the tall man who was obviously named Ludwig. He had tightly hugged the tall man and was dangling just off his shoulders. Arthur decided it best not to ask any questions.
"Feliciano! I've told you time and time again, you will not interrupt me when I am helping new employees with job application papers," Ludwig said sternly his companion, who just pouted and looked at Arthur, now ignoring Ludwig.
"You don't need to do any paperwork! As long as you work for the manager, you get paid!" Ludwig just pinched the bridge of his nose and used his other free hand to rub his temple. Arthur just slowly nodded, not sure of whether to believe the brunette named Feliciano.
"Let's take him to the manager, Ludwig!" The tall man just nodded in consent, and the three of them headed threw some double back doors. Along the way, Arthur had learned that the man named Ludwig was German, and that Feliciano was Italian. Just as they got through the doors, a large body jumped out at Arthur and knocked him down. When he had decided to open his eyes, the Englishman found a tall, thin man with blonde hair standing above him, his left hand on his hip and his right holding a rather large and fattening hamburger.
"So, you're the new employee, huh?" The man with the glasses took a large bite out his hamburger, spilling the grease on the floor as he savored the many flavors. Arthur almost gagged. He found the energy to simply nod once.
"He's our new waiter!" Feliciano piped up, but the blonde man seemed to be ignoring him. Arthur had found his energy and sat up. Ludwig had helped him stand back up as he dusted off his outfit. The man with the hamburger had finished his hamburger (In two bites?!) and held his hand out.
"I'm Alfred F. Jones, the manager! It's nice to meet you!" Arthur took one look at the greasy hand offered to him and quickly declined the offer. This man named Alfred was so…happy-go-lucky. It made Arthur want to throw his hands in the air and just be pessimistic, just for the heck of it.
"Alright, so, I'm guessing you want to know your job and stuff, right?"
"Well, obviously," Arthur retorted, but he hadn't caught himself on time to correct his rude statement. Alfred, however, didn't even seem to notice Arthur had said a word.
"Alrighty then! Well, the way this buffet works is that we work in pairs! Except me, of course. I'm in charge, so I don't need a partner! I'm just that amazing. I work the cash register, I manage the buffet, I—"
"Are you going to tell me how the system works or not?" Alfred seemed to have caught himself and realized that he had been rambling, though it didn't bother the American one bit.
"Oh, right! Well, we work in pairs of chef and waiter or waitress. So, you'll be assigned to a chef and will be responsible for serving food made ONLY by your assigned chef, unless in case of an emergency. Sound simple enough?"
"Yes, I do understand. But, isn't this a buffet? You really don't need that many waiters. People usually get up and get their food, do they not?" Alfred, however, wasn't listening.
"Don't bother, Kirkland. He won't bother listening or answering that question," Ludwig informed Arthur, who just sighed. Already he wasn't really liking this guy. It made him wonder if this restaurant would survive. Arthur just sighed once more, about ready to just go home and take a nap.
"So, who is my chef?" It didn't sound as enthusiastic as Arthur had wanted it to sound, but at this point he didn't really care much.
"Mm, hold up one second. Er, Kiku! I need you for a second!" In about five seconds, a somewhat medium heighted man with dark hair and eyes came out wearing a chef's outfit. He was wiping his hands on a napkin and had a rather unreadable expression on his face.
"Yes, Jones-san?"
"Mm, you're really smart, right? I need you to tell me which chefs are open for a waiter." It took about a second for the, obviously, Japanese man to answer.
"Currently, I am the only one open other than Bonnefoy-san." Arthur's ears perked up when he heard 'Bonnefoy.'
"Bonnefoy? As in Francis Bonnefoy? That French bastard works here?"
"Oh, I see you two are acquainted! Well, that's good to know!" Alfred commented from the side. He seemed to have ignored every inch of negativity from the statement.
"Yes, um…"
"Arthur. Arthur Kirkland."
"Yes, Kirkland-san. A Francis Bonnefoy works here as well and is in charge of French cuisine."
"Bloody hell I'll work with that bastard."
"That settles it then! Kiku, your new partner is Arthur! Make sure to get along now. Work starts tomorrow morning at 4 in the morning, so don't be late, okay guys?" Arthur almost broke his jaw as he gaped at the American man.
"4 in the bloody morning?! Are you bloody barmy, you git?!"
"Name-calling is low, Arthur. Salary deduction!"
"What?! I haven't even violated any rules yet!"
"Yeah, you violated rule number one! Kiku, what is rule number one in the official employee's guidebook?"
"To properly wash your hands after usage of the washroom."
"No, the OTHER rule number one!"
"Jones-san, alternate rule number one A or B?"
"Um…B."
"To respect the manager and use only words he himself will understand. The add-on to Alternate Rule Number One B as of approximately 5 seconds ago states that troubling the manager in any way, including physically or psychologically, will result in salary deduction."
"Who came up with that idiotic rule? Wait, forget I asked."
"If I may, Jones-san, Kirkland-san cannot get a salary deduction if a)he has not worked yet or b) he has committed the offense, but does not really have a salary in order to deduct from. In this scenario, both rules apply." Alfred stood for a moment to think it over.
"What? Kiku, you've just directly violated the rule you just stated! Salary deduction! Anyway, for the rest of you, get up bright and early to come in and clean up the restaurant. I want it so squeaky clean, the floor is able to comprehend my radiating authority and awesomeness."
"Will you be doing any of the cleaning?" Arthur ventured, though he could almost guess the answer. Alfred looked at Arthur in horror.
"Arthur! Do you really think that my hands, which are full of amazingness and awesomeness, are meant for cleaning?!"
"Um, yes?"
"Eh-eh! Wrong answer! My hands are just so much more awesome than you guys, they don't need to clean. My magic hands of radiating awesomeness are only used for managing and doing more important stuff. Now you all go home!" As this statement was said, they all dispersed and left the building. Arthur was walking towards his hotel, only to notice that Kiku, Ludwig, and Feliciano were all going in the same direction.
"Hey, you live down this way too?" Feliciano asked happily. Arthur just nodded. The Italian seemed to become even brighter with happiness, if at all possible. The four walked in silence for a few moments."
"Hey, um, Kiku, was it?" I'm really sorry for getting your salary deducted."
"It is okay, Kirkland-san. There's really nothing to worry about."
"It's true. The manager says he'll deduct your salary, but by the time you remind him of it, he won't even remember why he was deducting your salary to begin with," Ludwig explained. "He doesn't even pay you that much to begin with."
"Oh, this is where I and Ludwig leave. We'll see you both tomorrow!" The Italian called excitedly.
"More like in eight hours," Arthur mumbled to himself. He was left to walk with his assigned partner for a while. The walk was mostly filled with awkward silence between them, simply because neither one had anything interesting to say.
"So…how's your day been, Kiku? Have you been working under that idiot for a long time?"
"I have not worked for Jones-san long, only about three days. It has given me the necessary time in order to learn how the business works. My day went quite normally today. To say that the biggest event today would be your hiring would be an understatement. What about you, Kirkland-san? How is it so far for you?" At this point Arthur gave a loud sigh.
"My day…it wasn't so great, I guess." Arthur proceeded to tell Kiku of his many encounters with bad luck that day while the other man listened attentively.
"Mm, that sounds very unlucky, Kirkland-san. I think you should go home and rest. Instead of walking, why did you not take a taxi or a bus?" Arthur scratched the back of his head, obviously embarrassed.
"Well, during that bus ride I was telling you about, I seemed to have lost my wallet as well. That's exactly the reason I decided to find employment."
"Would you like me to pay for a bus for you?"
"NO! I mean, it wouldn't be right for me to just take money from you. Of course, I'm not saying that just to be polite! It's all for my benefit, for my image!" Kiku just stared at him oddly, obviously confused at the sudden change in attitude.
"Kirkland-san, you are quite a blunt person." With that last comment, Arthur found that he had reached his hotel. He bid a silent farewell to his working partner for the duration of his stay and went up to his room. That night, he fell asleep the moment he hit the hay.
God, that took awhile. Tell me if anyone is OOC! If they are, tell me how to improve their character. Appearances from the other countries next chapter, as well as the first day of work! Let's all wish Arthur some luck towards his new job working under Alfred. Any pairing ideas, anyone?