The teacher looked at his class, fresh from the Christmas Break. He smiled encouragingly. "This semester of World Literature was going to be Brit Lit…"

"Awww," the class let out collectively.

He continued. "I then found that a lot of high schools focus on that their last semester of 12th Grade. So I looked through our textbooks. I find the selection disappointing."

He paused as the class looked through theirs to see what they could possibly be studying.

"We won't be in them much. This semester is mostly book assignments, starting with…"

The class drew a breath and held it, waiting.

"Crime and Punishment."

The reactions were instant.

"WHAT?" Alfred F. Jones shouted.

From two seats down Arthur Kirkland put his head on his desk. There was a quiet giggle from the back of the classroom.

"Mr. Braginski, what is so funny?"

"My classmates' reactions, da."

"Oh, yes. They are hilarious."

He assigned everybody their copy of the book. "Kiku Honda, you have book number 1." He went down through the list, finally ending with "Ivan Braginski, book number…"

"I have my own copy."

"Oh. Okay."

The bell rang. "Read Chapter one for tomorrow!"

Alfred filed out beside Matthew Williams and Arthur. "I'm going to fail this semester." He complained to them.

From behind him a voice said. "You never know, da? You could pass at the top of the class."

"Shut up, Braginski. You already know you will be at the top. Is that any fair?"

"It is about as fair as our studying American literature all last year." Ivan commented as he brushed past them.

Alfred blushed.

"Arthur, mon cher, can we read the chapter together?" Francis Bonnefoy asked, as he waited for them at the water fountain.

"NO!"

Ludwig Beilschmidt and Feliciano Vargas passed them, chatting excitedly about the assignment. Lovino Vargas and Antonio Carridies trailed after them, Lovino sulking. Gilbert Beilschmidt ran over to grab Matthew's hand.

"Mattie, please remind the awesome me to read the chapter."

"Of course, Gilbert."

They entered the cafeteria and joined the line.

"Alfred?"

Alfred sighed. It was Ivan again.

"What is it now?"

"Your nose."

"You can't have my nose!"

"Nyet. Silly Alfred. I do not want your nose, as it is bleeding."

Alfred watched him walk away with his food to sit as his usually empty table. He turned to Matthew.

"You do have a nosebleed." His brother said kindly.

"Fuck. I will just go stop it then."

"Do you want us to get your food for you?"

"No, I will just sign out early and go clean up before I have to work." Alfred exited the cafeteria, thankful that he only has to take three classes before lunch and then he was done for the day.

"Alfred, are you okay?" The school secretary said kindly as he walked up to her desk to sign out.

"Yeah, just unhappy with my English assignment."

"What is it?"

"We're studying Russian lit this semester."

"Think of this way, it's kind of like math. Once you finish studying it, you never use it again. That also applies to all literature."

"Thanks, Ms. Linda. That makes me feel much better." Alfred smiled at her as he left. He hopped on his bike and pedaled away, glancing at his clear backpack in front of him, Crime and Punishment snuggled comfortably inside. He glared at the book.

He coasted up his driveway a few minutes later. He put his bike in the garage and cleaned up. As he left, he found that Ivan's sister Katyusha was waiting for him.

"Hi!" She called. "What's with the unhappy face?"

"World Literature."

"Oh, that class is hard." She and her sister, Natalya, attended the All-Girls high school two blocks down the street, while Ivan attended the All-Boys high school where he obviously went.

"Yeah, what are you studying this semester?"

"British Literature."

"Russian Literature."

"Vanya must be happy!"

"He is. I'm not."

"Aww, is the world coming to an end because Alfred has to study Russian lit?" She teased.

Alfred blushed. "Come on, let's go to work." He took a glance at his house as he left. He and Matthew had been orphaned at a young age and left on the street. There they had met Arthur, who had been abandoned by his parents when they fled back to Britain after his father had robbed a liquor store. An elderly couple had taken them in and after she died, he insisted they have the house when he went into a nursing home. He then looked at Katyusha, as she happily skipped along beside him. She was Ukrainian, her parents had moved to Russia when she was little to have Ivan. They lived there for several years before their mother had gotten pregnant again and moved to Belarus to have their last child. He frowned. He had thought that being born on the US/Canadian border was bad enough, but those three had had it worse. After Natalya was born, they moved to the United States and there their parents had died, leaving the three in the house across the street on their own. They were all super smart, though. That was something. All of them were in the same grade.

It had become a morning ritual. Katyusha was the first one awake, and she would make them all breakfast, and after getting ready for school, she would wake her siblings up and then go across the street and knock on the door. They would wake up and Matthew would open the window. "Hey, best friend!" He would holler down to her. "Matthew!" She beamed back up. Matthew would dress and fly out the door. Arthur would be the next out; arriving at the same time as Natalya on whichever porch they were eating on that day. Alfred would join a few minutes later, and then Ivan would stumble out the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Alfred always brought the coffee and Styrofoam cups. He would toss the cups to Ivan, who occasionally didn't catch them, letting them land in Natalya's lap, who passed them to her brother, calmly. Then Alfred would toss the thermos of coffee, which Ivan always caught, pouring himself the first cup. Alfred would comment on how Ivan never burnt himself on the thermos as it was passed around the circle. Katyusha always gave the same reply, which was that Ivan couldn't feel heat. One day Ivan had added it was some kind of defect he was born with. Alfred never mentioned it again. Instead he would pour his cup and marvel at his sometimes friend's ability. The six would eat, chatting about their plans for the day and go to school.

"Alfred?" Katyusha asked. He looked at her. Their shift had ended, having passed by as if he was in a daze.

"Let's go home." He said with a smile. They walked home, where on one side of the street Arthur and Matthew would be waiting on their porch and Ivan and Natalya would be waiting on theirs on the other side. Katyusha unlocked the door to let her siblings in.

"Whose turn is it to cook tonight, eh?" Matthew asked.

"It is Matthew's." Ivan replied.

"Be over here by seven, okay?"

"Da."

Alfred unlocked the door and the three walked into their individual rooms to change and do their homework while Matthew cooked. He always enjoyed it when either Katyusha or Ivan cooked. They always made meals from their respective countries. Arthur couldn't cook, something always exploded when Alfred was in the kitchen, and Natalya wasn't trusted in the kitchen at all. She would steal knifes and hit people, usually Alfred, with a frying pan when confronted. Katyusha always made her return them eventually.

At 6:55 Alfred opened the door. The three siblings slipped inside with their quiet 'thank you's.

"Tomorrow is our once monthly 'eat fast food' day." Arthur reminded over dinner. "It is Ivan's turn to pick where we are going."

Ivan swallowed his mouthful of food. "I have always wanted to try Mexican food!"

"So Taco Bueno, okay." Alfred murmured.

"Why not Taco Bell?" Katyusha asked.

"Alfred always gets sick there, but it's Ivan's decision. If he wants to go to Taco Bell, we'll go there." Matthew told her, sadly.

Alfred felt Ivan's eyes on him as he stared at his plate.

"We will go to Taco Bueno. Has anybody read their chapter yet?"

Matthew and Arthur nodded. Alfred looked up and into Ivan's eyes, daring him to question why he hadn't read it. Ivan smiled and refused to break contact. "I think we will have a pop quiz over it in the morning."

Alfred looked away.

"You lost," Ivan told him.

"It wasn't a staring contest!"

"You always say that when you lose."

"Which is every time."

"Da, it is."

Matthew sighed. "Why can't you two admit to being best friends?"

"We are not!" Both protested at once.

Katyusha covered her mouth as she laughed. "You two are, but just cannot see it."

Alfred took his empty plate to the kitchen. All waited for an explosion but for once none occurred. Ivan took his plate in also and Alfred dropped his with a crash. Matthew winced at the sound.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I am sorry, Alfred."

Alfred stormed out of the kitchen, through the dining room and into his room, which he locked behind him. 'Damn him,' he thought. 'Why can't we just act like we do in school all the time? That pretended rivalry. It is so much easier to keep up then to be the best friends we are.'

The semester flew by. They finished Crime and Punishment and test time drew around.

"This test is mostly essay. It has four essays, ten multiple choice, and ten fill-in-the-blanks." The teacher said as he passed them out. "You may begin."

Alfred stared at the test, thankful he hadn't given the book back yet. He hid it in his lap. He guessed at the answers for the easy part. Halfway through thinking of his first essay, Ivan turned his test in. He walked back to his seat, tripping over Alfred's backpack. Alfred felt Ivan's hands brush his legs and when Ivan righted himself, he smiled and apologized, returning to his seat. Alfred mentally cursed; he had taken the book from his lap. To top it off, Ivan had 'lost' his copy, bringing him to borrow one of the school's copies. Alfred watched him turn in two books. He watched the teacher grade Ivan's test, his pen making what looked like a one and two zeros on it, beside an A+. Alfred starting making shit up.

The next day his test came back. He took it home, knowing the four would want to compare grades. Sure enough, Arthur and Matthew laid their 85 percents on the table for all to see. Ivan quickly put down his 100 percent. They all looked at Alfred as he slowly brought his out. Ivan took it from his hands, so that all saw the 9 scrawled on it. He then began to read it. Alfred glared at him.

"You did not read the book, did you?"

"I didn't want to."

"Alfred, I could not let you cheat. That is why I stole the book from you."

"Thanks ever so much."

"Alfred." By then Alfred was already in his room. 'I didn't write freaking short stories for essays. That must be why he scored 100.'

The next day the teacher walked in with a stack of scripts. "For extra credit, while we study the works of Anton Chekhov, the playwright, not to be confused with the fictional character Pavel Chekov, from Star Trek, Mr. Jones, those who want to can read different parts from various plays of his. The nine percent on the last test is required to."

Alfred was among the first to raise his hand to receive a script, as he turned to look back at Ivan, who smiled at him and slowly raised his own hand. His blush deepened as he turned back around.

"Mr. Braginski, you do not need the extra credit?"

"I do not but I will do it because somebody else is."

From several seats over on the first row, Toris whimpered, but still held his hand up. Alfred sighed. 'It's what a best friend would do.'

Having handed them out, the teacher returned to his desk. "I am also assigning people to groups of two to four and giving them a book to read and do a project on."

Alfred tuned him out as he paired people and gave them copies of the book they were to work on.

"Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones."

Alfred snapped out of it. "Yes, sir?"

"You are paired with Mr. Braginski. Please make your way to the seat beside him where I will give you two your book."

Alfred picked his stuff up and moved to sit by Ivan, who again smiled at him. 'Take it slow, you look at me and seem to know the things that I'm afraid to show and suddenly I feel this glow.' He looked down the book they were handed. Doctor Zhivago. 'Shit.'

He stood up. "May I request that I…"

"You cannot switch partners, Mr. Jones. I assigned you two together for a reason."

"Switch books?"

"Oh, I am sorry, Mr. Jones, you can only if your partner wants to."

Matthew, Gilbert, Arthur and Francis showed them their book, Anna Karenina. They mouthed 'switch, please!'

"I do not want to."

"Thanks for your support." Alfred huffed as he sat back down.

The semester started flying again. They were working on their project when Alfred threw his part aside. Ivan put his half down and looked at him.

"I can't do this!" To Alfred's surprise, he started to cry.

Ivan sighed, watching Alfred cry. "Alfred, you are passing this semester now."

"It's not that, it's just this project."

"It is almost done, da? You can finish it."

Alfred moved away. 'Damn it, he would have to look at me with those brilliant purple eyes right now.'

"Alfred. If I could your part for you, I would. Only to help you pass."

Alfred only sobbed harder.

Ivan moved to hug him. His breath caught in his throat.

"What are your plans for after we graduate?"

"Arthur, Mattie and I are selling the house and moving to New York. Those two have been accepted to different colleges there and I will be working full time. We want to buy a house but we will need two full time workers to do so."

"Natalya, Katyusha and I have similar plans. Natalya and I will be attending college in New York while Katyusha works."

"Get right out of town. Maybe the six of us could share one big house? I would hate to be…"

"Da, I would hate for us to be separated also."

They went back to working on their project. At one point, Alfred put his half down again and looked over at Ivan, who was looking at him.

"Help me to decide," the radio played. "Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever. Everybody wants to rule the world."

Alfred scooted closer to his companion. They leaned towards each other. He remembered studying Dante's Inferno and the story of two lovers. Then lips met in a soft kiss.

"All for freedom and for pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever."

Alfred pulled back. "Is this the part where one of your siblings comes in and kills us and we find ourselves in the second circle of Hell?"

Ivan laughed. "Nyet, Alfred. Katyusha is at work, and Natalya is helping Matthew, Gilbert, Arthur and Francis with their project over at Gilbert's"

"Oh. How did you figure that out?"

"What? Where my sisters are?"

"No, that I…"

"I knew all along. It became obvious when you, Matthew and I sang at the talent show earlier this year."

"I didn't know back then."

"You didn't know until just now."

"Damn it, why do you always have to be right?"

"Alfred, I am not always right. I was wrong when I told our Literature teacher that his plan to bring us together and have you graduate with a good GPA by using literature from my country would never work."

"Somehow, the fact that he planned this doesn't surprise me. He is Wang Yao after all."

Ivan smiled, a genuine smile he seemed to reserve only for Alfred, and gently kissed him. "Indeed, he is."

They finished their project and Ivan made to leave.

"Hey, Ivan?"

"Da?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Arthur and Matthew had heard the exchange, and stood in the living room with shock as Alfred walked Ivan to the door. They kissed each other goodbye.

"See you in the morning."

Alfred turned to his siblings. "Our families will be living together when we move to New York."

Arthur smiled. "Good, that means Natalya and I won't have to separate either."

Matthew looked shocked. "You mean all along I've the only one that has been in a relationship that wasn't a secret?"

"Hey!" both Arthur and Alfred said. "We just only told the other tonight!"

The next class period, Alfred sat with Ivan.

"Mr. Jones, Mr. Braginski, do not make me report you two for public displays of affection, aru."

They smiled and pulled their hands apart.

"No more PDA from us, we promise. Now Kiku and Heracles is the couple you need to watch." Alfred smiled.

The Japanese boy and the Greek boy blushed and moved several seats away from each other as a bemused teacher rounded on them.

Feliciano hugged Ludwig when Yao's back was turned. Gilbert kissed Matthew on the cheek. Yao walked to the front of the room. Arthur slapped Francis.

"Mr. Kirkland, do not slap people, ahen."

"He touched my arse."

"Mr. Bonnefoy, molest somebody one more time and I will send you to the principle and make sure it takes you four more years to graduate."

Francis kept his hands to himself for the rest of the semester, in which Yao let people hold hands in his classroom.

Graduation rolled around and various teachers had awards to give out to the seniors.

Wang Yao took the stage to give out his awards. "The Virgil award for the epics semester goes to Roderich Edelstein for his one man performance of a retelling of Beowulf."

The Austrian accepted his award graciously. From the portion of the room that was dedicated to the all-girls school, for they were graduating together, someone clapped very happily.

"The Alexander Pushkin award for excellence during the second semester, the Russian literature semester, goes to two people."

Everybody waited with bated breath.

"It goes to Ivan Braginski for holding the best grade all throughout the semester."

"Of course!" Alfred shouted, clapping so hard his hands became sore.

"It was not easy to maintain for him, however. I remember sitting there to calculate everybody's grade for that class and finding one unexpected student right on his tail. There is a slim margin that kept Ivan in first place through. His final grade was 99%. The second recipient had a grade of 98.9%."

"Wow," a voice said. "That's practically the same grade though."

Yao ignored Tino's statement. "That is why the second recipient is receiving this award, for pure determination in going from the worst grade to the second best. This person is Alfred F. Jones."

The room erupted in cheers as the two accepted their award.

It came time to throw their caps and they all did so with grace. Alfred, Arthur and Matthew slipped out after they marched. Ivan, Katyusha and Natalya were right behind them. The six walked home.

"We'll remember always graduation day."

I realize Crime and Punishment isn't broken up into chapters. My bad, I'm sorry.

Alfred's thoughts 'Take it slow,' and so on comes from the song My Eyes/On the Rise from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

I was going to Head over Heels by Tears for Fears for when they kissed. I was going to have Alfred sing "Don't take my heart, don't break my heart, don't throw it away" to Ivan but when I listened to the song on my iPod Everybody wants to Rule the World came on first, so I put that in there instead.

The last line came from the song Graduation Day by the Four Freshman.

Look for a prequel and maybe a sequel to coming soon.