Chapter one: Roderich's problem

Throughout the student council meeting, Roderich felt uncomfortable. In fact, the whole day he had been feeling uncomfortable though he had yet to rightly place what it was. Shifting in his seat slightly, he never took his eyes off of the young man who was speaking next to him, explaining something to the rest of the council. Looking as though he was paying attention, in actuality, Roderich was trying to pinpoint why he felt uncomfortable. Could it have been what he ate for breakfast? No it had nothing to do with his digestive tract…maybe-

"Any thoughts Secretary?" interjected the Student Council President. His eyes cleared up, letting him fully focus on the young man next to him; blonde hair smoothed back on square forehead, tall and athletic looking, Ludwig could have been a young underwear model thought Roderich, jealously wincing inwardly at the thought.

"Oh. I think it's fine, I suppose." He said without thought. Ludwig stared at him in slight annoyance but mostly amusement.

"So you think it's fine that more than half of the homeroom classes have yet to decide on what they plan to do for the School Festival?" Rodrich's ears turned red as chuckles echoed throughout the small classroom.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled looking down at the neatly stacked papers in front of him and taking it upon himself to once again shuffle them neatly.

"Next time pay more attention, will you?" Ludwig said with a soft baritone chuckle, "Okay, I think that's enough for today, thanks for everyone's hard work!" this time addressing the rest of the council members.

Voices soon bounced off each other, talking about plans for the weekend or whatever new pop song happened to have caught their eye that day, Roderich barely acknowledged anyone else as he stiffly picked up his shoulder bag and walked to the door. Feeling a warm hand on his shoulder he turned around to see Ludwig standing over him, this time the other blushing a slight pink. Cocking an eyebrow, Roderich waited for the young man to say something only to see him stammering, eyes cast downwards.

"Y-you have a…erm", coughing harshly, Ludwig blushed slightly deeper, "A rather large hole in the back of your pants." He said firmly before turning away. Roderich grabbed at the seat of his pants oh god was all he thought as he rushed down the hall, whispers falling on deaf ears as he went to find the nearest mens room.

Roderich sighed, craning his neck over his shoulder to look at the bathroom mirror; he glared at the gaping hole in his school trousers. Right on my…my ass He thought wistfully, no wonder I felt so uncomfortable. Unbuttoning his navy cardigan he faintly recalled feeling his pants catching on something when he sat down in the dining hall but must have forgot about it once getting up for his first class. Wrapping the garment around his waist he walked briskly to the Boys' dormitory, every so often looking around; making sure no one noticed his ruined pants, even with the cardigan over it.

Gingerly taking off his pants, his eyes darting to the locked door, he sat down on his bed heaving yet another sigh. Roderich tensed up at the sound of a soft knock,

"Who is it?" he called out still inspecting his pants.

"It's me." a slightly muted feminine voice came through the door. He opened the door though still hid slightly behind, motioning the petite brunette standing at his door inside. It only took a moment for her to start laughing, it wasn't every day that one got to see the normally uptight Roderich in his underwear, and the girl reveled in the sight.

"Oh shush, and help me." He said exasperatedly, pulling out a wooden chair for her. "Even in your underpants you are still a gentlemen" she teased, taking a seat, "Ludwig called me out in the North Hallway, mumbling something about your pants, so I brought a present for you…" she said digging through her back pack, handing over a small sewing kit. Gratefully taking it, he shot a sheepish smile at the girl in front of him before sitting back down on the bed. Roderich always felt at ease around Elizabeta, around so many unfamiliar people during their first year at this private high school, Elizabeta was his anchor. They had known each other since childhood. Living near the Hungarian embassy had its perks; Elizabeta was the only daughter of a prominent diplomat and often came with her parents on visits to all the embassies during time off from school. She often brought him small presents from afar, pounding on his door the first chance she could get away from her parents. They spent hours together causing mischief, something that Roderich never did without her by his side. Smiling at the thought, he pushed the needle through the pants fabric. "Remember the time we ran through your neighbor's garden and your foot went right through a rotted pumpkin?" she blurted out, almost as if he was reading his mind. They laughed, causing him to prick his finger, cursing, he watched as a small bubble of blood formed on his thumb. "I'm always saving you, aren't I?" she chuckled, bringing out a Band-Aid and handing it to him. He put it on, and quickly resumed his work. While finishing up his pants they talked jovially into the early evening.

"Not the best sight. But it certainly looks better than before" he grumbled as Elizabeta looked over his shoulder at his handiwork.

"I don't know it's better than I could do…" she chirped, ruffling his hair lightly. Grunting, he smoothed his hair back down as he stood up. Hearing the dinner bell, they left the boys' dormitory; being prompted by Elizabeta's growling stomach. Ludwig nodded in their direction as they joined him in their usual place at one of the many long dining tables. As always, Ludwig was using a knife and fork even though tonight was hamburgers and French fries. Something about German dining customs, Roderich recalled Ludwig explaining during the first time they had pizza in the dining hall. Ludwig, Elizabeta, and Roderich conversed throughout dinner; Elizabeta continuously poking light jokes about Roderich's "hole", Ludwig gruffly laughing but refraining from speech, and Roderich was trying to maintain order.

Over the weeks at school, Roderich had become accustomed to hearing vastly different languages intermixing loudly across the tables; this private schools main reason for being was to bring students from all countries together, an attempt by the UN to bring about international understanding through the next generation. So far, it has been a success and the private school was considered one of the best places for schooling after being established 20 years ago. Talks of expanding to a college were mere blueprints on the table but the upcoming School Festival could change all that. The main topic in the dining hall was of plans for the festivities that were supposed to happen in a few weeks. This gave Roderich a continuous headache, seeing that things were barely ready and there was so much left to do. The other thing that seemed to be hurting his brain was-

"Yo! Miss me Specs?" someone yelled right into his ear as he felt an unnerving pinch to his shoulder.

Wincing, Roderich turned to look at his roommate. The albino boy loomed over him, cackling loudly, drawing attention to himself as always. Brushing his ill-mannered hand off, Roderich pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the other, letting his focus rest on the two young men behind his roommate. Antonio he knew fairly well, but this Francis guy was a complete stranger, and someone he always felt slightly uncomfortable being with. Both young men were always hanging around his roommate, it had become sort of a nuisance, especially when they all barged into Roderich's room unannounced; settling wherever they could find, disturbing his studies or sleep as they opened smuggled in bottles of beer, played video games, or did whatever the hell those three wanted to do, no matter what time of the day or night it was.

"What do you want, Gilbert?" he sighed looking wearily at his roommate again.

"Nothing, just wanted to talk with my buddy! I can tell that you missed my awesome self, it's kind of obvious" the young man in front of him chuckled, bumping hips with Roderich to squeeze in between him and Ludwig. Gilbert had taken to using a fine amount of slang around practically everyone. Complete with his over the top confident attitude, it had become quite an annoyance to both Roderich and Gilbert's teachers who Roderich sympathized with for having to put up with such an ass. "Yo, bro!" was all Gilbert greeted his younger brother with before turning to practically suck in Roderich's supper. With a look of disgust, Roderich slapped Gilbert's hands away from his dwindling pile of French fries.

"Hands off! Those aren't yours." prompting yet another attack on his fries. Roderich had been surprised to find out Ludwig and Gilbert were brothers, even more surprised to find that Ludwig was younger by a year, having joined high school early due to skipping a grade. Complete opposites, Ludwig was both the smart and mature one of the pair, something which Gilbert endlessly teased him about.

Gilbert looked gleefully at Roderich before snatching one last fry from him, winking towards Elizabeta, softly whacking Ludwig over the head, and running off with his friends down the dining hall. Scowling, Elizabeta shot a look of sympathy to Roderich, "I don't know how you can stand that jerk. Sorry Luddy." She said quickly to Ludwig then turned back to her food. All three continued as if nothing had happened, it was something of a normal occurrence for Gilbert and his friends to interrupt whatever they were doing. During a dry spell of conversation, Roderich looked uncharacteristically mischievous, half teasingly half curious he said in hushed tones

"You know, I swear, Gilbert is making eyes at you. Romance blossoming perhaps?" Snorting incredulously at the thought.

"Oh please, he flirts with anything that has a pulse. I swear, sometimes he even flirts with you!" At this, everyone broke out in laughter and the conversation was dismissed.

Elizabeta waved back at the table where Ludwig and Roderich still sat, discussing plans for the School Festival. Roderich had met Ludwig during the first Student Council meeting surprised that the President was a first year like himself, but even then he could see why he was picked; studious and with a serious demeanor, he fit the image well. They became fast friends, and soon Ludwig joined him and Elizabeta during meals and whatnot. It wasn't until Gilbert dragged him into their dorm room one day that he found out they were brothers. Ludwig was fairly reserved about information regarding anything in his past; it had taken a while before he opened up, divulging that both boys came from Germany but due to a divorce between their parents, Gilbert had moved to Canada with their father around their early teens. The fact that both got into the same school was somewhat of a mystery, but being back with his brother seemed just like old times Ludwig said with a small smile once.

"Do you have romantic intentions towards Elizabeta?" Roderich sat there, momentarily stunned. He knew Ludwig was direct but this was somewhat uncharacteristic. Unfortunately, it wasn't only himself that heard the question; the dining hall had suffered a moment of silence just when Ludwig had blurted out. Roderich shifted slightly, ears turning a light pink, as people slowly turned away from the source of the loud noise to start talking again. Ludwig ducked his chin in apology and said in lower tones.

"Do you?" Sighing, Roderich gave a look of pity to the German student, "Elizabeta hasn't told you yet?" he asked, directly looking into the German's eyes. Seeing the look of confusion played over Ludwig's face, he looked around again before leaning closer to him, "I'm gay, and I thought Elizabeta would have told you by now or someone else really. It's not a well-known fact since I normally don't tell everyone what I do sexually or otherwise but it's not a big secret." Ludwig's eyes widened in surprise and what looked like a slight blush blossomed on his face.

"I-I'm sorry, fo-forgive me" he stumbled awkwardly causing Roderich to give him a small pat on the knee.

"Not a real issue, but I do hope you keep this information to yourself for the most part?" Ludwig almost winced at Roderich's touch before nodding in agreement to Roderich.

"I should go." He said, picking up his tray to leave, "Oh. And Ludwig?" the boy turned to look at him again, looking almost uncomfortable, "Please don't tell Gilbert. I don't want any more reasons for us to fight." He said imploringly. Another nod from Ludwig, Roderich turned to go back to the boys' dormitory. It would be a long night of studying and planning for the School Festival.