Chapter 1

Of all the subjects in school, math was the one Feliciano hated the most. The teacher made it so simple in class, but as soon as the homework was given to him, it was like he was made to compare apples and oranges from the problems in the school and what's given to him to work on at home. With a sigh, the brunet looked through the pages the teacher listed as homework in front of his locker, placing bookmarks on the pages and writing the numbers he was asked to solve.

One more class to go, and he was free for the weekend. He had no plans, other than doing the stupid math equations of course, but wasn't necessarily bothered, either. He could always visit Francis' dorm and asked for help there; he seemed to not care too much about him visiting. Nodding to himself, figuring the two could make some lunch and drink wine while working on their homework, Feliciano opened his locker. That's when he suddenly heard a bang and the metal trembled in his hand, making the boy yelp in surprise and quickly look behind the door he opened without care, wondering what he slammed the door into.

"I-I'm sorry! Are you okay? I wasn't paying attention and-" Feliciano started, panic in his hues as he eyed the man who was holding his face and hissing. Feliciano found himself stopping in the middle of the apology, however, when he realized he didn't recognize this strange male.

The highschool wasn't necessarily a small one, but the students pretty much knew each other all together pretty well. Call it social, if one might describe, so when a stranger appeared, it was hard for Feliciano to not realize this strange situation. He whimpered, placing his books into his locker and glancing up to the taller male.

The man definitely was a different one. He had silvery blond hair, almost white, which of course was the first to catch the Italian's attention. He could tell by looking at his hand that the man owned a very pale complexion, and he was much taller than him. No, Feliciano wasn't short, he was average if anything… But the man was slightly taller.

Wanting to see the injury he caused, Feliciano reached his hand up slightly to pry the man's hand away from his face, hearing him hiss once more. The boy whimpered, but couldn't help but to widen his amber eyes when he saw what snuck a peek back at him. The crimson violet hues made Feliciano take one step back, taken aback from the unusual color. He however quickly recovered and went back to studying the reddening face.

"Veh… I'm sorry…"

The muttered apology was repeated several times before the victim stopped groaning and hissing and pain. After a long sigh, the man spoke back, and Feliciano couldn't help but to realize the scratchy voice that passed the man's lips.

"No, it's fine… I wasn't looking where I was going, either…" The man muttered, and Feliciano felt his shoulders relax a bit. At least the other wasn't as angry as he would imagine most people would be… The man however continued when Feliciano was about to apologize once more, just to make sure. "Just… I don't recommend slamming doors open, though… Ugh…"

"I usually don't…" Feliciano countered with a small laugh, happy to see that the man at least, wasn't bruised or bleeding. Thank goodness he didn't end up with a broken nose or something. "Um… I've never seen you around here before…"

"Oh yeah?" The stranger laughed a bit, rubbing his nose in hopes to numb the still lingering pain. "Then I guess you're in the first grade… I don't think the awesome me made my name known to the squirts."

Squirt…? Feliciano furrowed his brows, but didn't say anything just yet.

"My name is Gilbert… Gilbert Beilschmidt. I transferred here into the third grade."

Third grade was the highest grade in this high school; elementary was 6 years, middle school was 3 years and high school was the same. Feliciano gave it some thought; that meant the man knew Francis, or at least, was in the same grade as him.

"Gilbert… Huh?" The brunet repeated, making sure he pronounced the name correctly, and when he saw Gilbert nod and chuckle, Feliciano felt himself frown. What was so funny? There was nothing funny about him trying to remember a name… "…Well, mine is Feliciano, and I'm in the first grade…"

"Ahh, Feliciano? I hope I'm saying that right… People here have very strange names. If you're in the first grade, that means you will meet my brother soon. He's in first grade, too, but couldn't come today. It's our first day, and he had to stay home and take care of some stuff around the house instead. Shame, eh?"

"I guess?" Half-heartedly, Feliciano muttered back, now gently reopening his locker door wider to put in the books he was still holding in one arm. He tried to remember what class he had next, and it didn't take him longer than a split second to catch up with his routine and grab his history textbooks. Finally, a subject he actually enjoyed for once. He sighed when the man continued to talk, though in all honesty, none of it came to register into the boy's head, until he was asked a question. Well, he was asked something in a questioning tone, and Feliciano was snapped back to the conversation. He blinked, having not been paying attention to the actual words, and tilted his head a bit. "…Huh?"

"I was asking, are you free this weekend?" The albino repeated, no irritation showing in his actual voice. That, or Feliciano was unable to pick up on it, either or really. It didn't really matter much. Feliciano responded with a simple shake of his head side by side, finding no reason to lie. His only so-called plan wasn't even a solid one; one he just happened to make up just now. It even required the other party to also not have any plans, and now that Feliciano thought about it, it was rare that Francis happened to have zero plans for the weekend. So hey, no lost there.

Gilbert's eyes seemed to light up and Feliciano stepped back when the upperclassman's grin only grew wider. This strange, creepy grin this man owned made Feliciano far from comfortable, but he tried to not show it, simply closing his locker door and putting the tiny lock back in place. "What?"

"I am having a birthday party this weekend," Gilbert responded, excitement clear in his voice, "It's my 18th birthday; you should come! I don't really have many people I know of yet around, so have just been inviting random people as I meet them, but that's still fun ja? There's going to be a few games, snacks, an awesome cake… And get this," the man leaned in, the same smug smirk dancing on his pale lips, "My new house has a pool, and it'll be open for all! Doesn't that sound like an epic party? You should feel honored that you're invited!"

Feliciano had to control himself, holding himself back from rolling his eyes, though a small smile showed itself on his own features. "…Didn't you just say you are asking everyone you meet this?"

"Well… Ja, but I think you're the first Squirt I asked." Gilbert countered, raising his arms and weaving his fingers behind his own head, leaning back on the cushion of his own palms. "So, what do you say?"

"…I'll see. I have to see how much time I have, first." Feliciano responded after a small pause, his eyes widening when he heard the bell give off its first ring. Gasping, the brunet held the books with both hands and began walking past Gilbert, who let him go with just a small glance his way.

"…Alright. I guess I'll see if you have time if you appear at my party or not, then." Gilbert mused, raising his brow. "But I didn't give you my address. Here, give me a minute, and I'll write it out for ya somewhere-"

"Sorry, but that bell means the class starts in five minutes, and I have four flights of stairs to climb up." Feliciano interrupted, grinning back playfully when Gilbert gasped, rushing to his own locker. "I'll find you if I find out I have the time to go this weekend… Does that work for you?"

"Ja, that's perfect." Gilbert quickly said, his fingers struggling to open the lock for his locker. Feliciano laughed softly and just turned around, heading for his own class.

"So you met Gilbert?" Francis asked as he sat in his room, flipping the page to reveal more problems he was required to solve for school. Feliciano came over as he did almost every night for his company and help with homework, comfortably sitting at the dining table with his own textbook opened. The brunet blinked at the question that was thrown at him at first, making him look up slowly and tilt his head to the side curiously, before laughing a bit and going back to focusing on his own work, though he opened his mouth to respond to the French male as he did so.

"Si, I did. He's a weirdo."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Francis commented back, turning his head to the door, prying his vision away from the numbers when he heard it open. He greeted the man who joined the group with a simple nod of the head, acknowledging his presence as so. "I thought you were going to stay at Alfred's to study there?"

"I would've, but Alfred decided American football was more important than his schoolwork." The newcomer responded with a sigh. Feliciano simply gave the man one glance before he focused back on his seemingly never-ending schoolwork.

"Ahh, of course." Francis chuckled softly, stretching his back by leaning against the back of the chair he was sitting on, "Knowing you, though, you already finished your own homework, right, Arthur?"

Arthur replied to the remark with a small snort, plumping himself down on the couch and making himself at home by stretching out his own limbs to dominate the furniture. He sent a small smirk to the way of the other two in the room, it all needing to show to give Francis the answer to his question. At this, Francis simply sighed once more and turned back to his own book. "No fair… I need to finish this so I can go to the party…"

"Party…?" Arthur asked, raising his thick brow. "What party?"

"Gilbert's?" Feliciano asked as well, looking up to set his eyes on Francis again. The Frenchman grinned and nodded, using a single hand to move his long bang out of his eye. "Ah… I was invited, too."

"Lovely~ We do need some community hours, after all." Francis responded, giving up and closing his own text book finally, figuring he couldn't focus on equations when he had guests over. "So I'm planning on going… I'm pretty behind this month."

"Me too…" Feliciano nodded. At this, Arthur finally pulled himself up and leaned on the back of the couch to speak to the other two, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Wait, I wasn't invited...! What party!?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt's." Francis replied, leaning his chin into the palm of his hand as he spoke, relaxing on his table. "Well, I knew him, so I was already invited from the moment the party was decided upon… I'm surprised you were invited, though, Feliciano? When did the two of you meet?"

"Today." Feliciano replied honestly, laughing softly at how foolish it seemed, almost, "It was sudden, really… We were talking, and then he was like, 'please come to my party!', so I was thinking about it… You're right, though. I am behind on my community hours, so I should go for that…"

"That, and it'll be a blast to be at." Francis added on, ignoring as Arthur gaped at the fact he got no invitation when even the younger student received one. He finally closed his mouth after a bit to get back up from the couch, huffing. "Oh, Arthur… Don't be that way. You spend more community hours with Alfred these days, anyway, oui?"

"Parties would've tripled my hours." Arthur responded with a snort, walking out the door. Francis and Feliciano both flinched at the slammed door before the blond male broke the tense atmosphere with a small laugh. Hearing that, Feliciano too relaxed a bit, rubbing his head slightly.

"…You said you're behind on community hours?" Francis asked after the small laugh, and Feliciano nodded grimly. "You really should go to the party, then. I would hate for you to get in trouble… Again."

"I'm used to it…" Feliciano lowered his head a bit, sighing. His hands clenched at his pants slightly, wrinkling the uniform the school provided for their students to wear. Francis caught the action and tapped his own fingers against his chin a few times, seemingly in thought, before he opened his mouth to speak again, only to have the boy speak before he could, making him simply close his mouth again instead. "I know, it's not something I should get used to… But it's just been hard to communicate with mortals, you know? I've just not been up and in the mood for it…"

"…I know. Trust me, I don't blame you at all and I get it. But I would hate for you to be disposed of." Francis muttered quietly, closing his eyes finally when the mood was brought down significantly. "…Just try to be more social, oui? Simple conversations are usually more than enough to count towards your community hours. If you need help, I could even bring you around with me, and-"

"No, I'm fine." Feliciano interrupted firmly, causing Francis to simply stop in the middle of his sentence and respond with a small nod instead. "…Grazie, though."

"No problem."