The 6 year old blond with gasses was excited. Today he would start school. His father, Arthur, was driving him to school. The younger couldn't contain his joy. He looked out the window as they neared the school. When they arrived, Alfred practically jumped out of the car and was going to run into the school but was stopped when a British accent called his name. The boy's sapphire eyes turned to meet emerald eyes.
"Don't get into trouble!" he said sternly. Alfred smiled and made a peace sign winking
"Don't worry." Alfred turned and walked into the school and surprisingly found someone he knew. It was Matthew. Matthew was his brother. They had the same mother but different fathers. So when their mother died they were separated. He ran to Matthew who was in the same class as him.
"Matt!" he shouted as he pounced onto the other boy. A startled yelp escaped Matt's mouth as he fell to the school ground and huge weight on him. His purple eyes widened when he saw blue eyes behind glasses like his own.
"A-Al?" his voice sounded like its usual whisper. Alfred smiled as his blond hair fell into his eyes. Al quickly got off of his brother and helped him up. "I-it's been so l-long, how a-are you?" Matt said very excited to be going the same school as his brother.
"I'm fine. What is it like living in France?" Alfred asked enthusiastically
"It's nice, t-there is a-a lot of nice c-clothes and n-nice food. What about England?" Al thought for a while before replying.
"Well they aren't good cooks but dad knows how to make hamburgers! I'm going to learn how to cook so that I could do something for dad!" Matthew chuckled a little at Al's normal loud voice. They were polar opposites but yet they looked exactly alike. They both had white skin with blond hair but Matt's hair was a little longer and curly and had violet eyes, Al on the other hand had straight blond hair that was short and had cerulean eyes. Matt was shy and quiet but Al was loud and outspoken. Matt looked to his brother and noticed the American bag which was full of utensils for school.
"The class is this way," Matt said as he pulled his brother towards the door to their large classroom. The red Canadian bag was on the back desk and they both moved towards it.
"Why are you in the back?" Al asked as he rested his bag on the desk. The Canadian looked at the floor. "You ok?" Al asked and Matt opened his bag and showed Al the thing he reason why he's in the back.
"I-I'm afraid t-they laugh a-at me," he stuttered. Al looked surprised.
"Don't worry. Come to the front and if they laugh at you I'll deal with them myself!" Al said proudly.
"Are you serious?" Matt asked.
"Yes I am!" Alfred declared. Alfred pulled him to the front of the classroom and pushed him gently onto a chair and then he went for his and his brother's bag, when a group of boys entered the classroom. They all wore black. One of the boys went up to Matthew and slammed his hands on the desk.
"You're in my seat!" he shouted and Matthew was a little scared but stayed there. "Didn't you hear me?" he said. Al went to the desk and simply stood next to his brother. "I said get out of my seat!" the boy was a little annoyed but made sure they couldn't hear it in his loud voice.
"No! He is going to sit right there and I'm gonna sit right next to him and there's nothing you can do!" Alfred protected his brother and felt rather happy with himself. The boy left them alone and went to a next seat. Al went to the seats in the back, zipped Matt's bag, picked both bags up and put them in the seats. The boys left the class and the brothers were again left alone.
"M-merci" Matthew said as Alfred sat in the seat next to him.
"No problem! That's what brothers are for!" Alfred said giving his signature smile, "let's go explore the school."
"Y-yeah" Matt smiled as they left the class and went outside. There were a decent number of students in the school already. The boys walked aimlessly around the school as more children came onto the compound. After about 30 minutes the bell rang signalling that it was time for school to start. Everyone went into their respective classes and took their seats. Their teacher came in and to Matthew's surprise it was Antonio Fernandez, one of his father's friends who would always have a smile on his face no matter what.
"Buenos Dias!" the cheery Spaniard said, "me llamo Antonio Fernandez. I will be your teacher and I hope we can all get along. So let's get to know each other." After he said that many cheerful children raised their hands begging to start. "One at a time," Antonio said pointing to a girl in the first row at the end, "starting with you chica."
"Okay!" she jumped up and started to introduce herself. It turns out that Matt and Al were foreign. Almost the whole class was foreign. It was finally Matt's turn to introduce him. Spain smiled warmly at him knowing he was a quiet and shy.
"M-my name is Matthew Williams and I-"
"We can't hear you! Can't you speak louder!" a familiar voice yelled followed by laughter from the group of boys from before.
Alfred was getting really angry. He stood up and shouted at the boy, "Well if you would shut your damn mouth for once and listen then maybe you could hear him!"
"Please calm down," a Spanish accent said trying to calm down the two students. Alfred counted to 5 in his mind (something taught to him by Author to keep his bad temper in check) before turning to the class and repeated what his brother had said. He then introduced himself and the bell rang. "Go for recess and come back after the second bell" Antonio said and watched as his class filed out. After everyone was out of the class he let out a sigh. After some minutes Matthew came back in the class to talk to Antonio. They chatted until the first bell. "Go and maybe make some new friends," Antonio said smiling. Matthew nodded and left the class to make some knew friends. He found the cheery Italian, Feliciano, playing with his older brother, Lovino. He decided that maybe they could be his first friends.
He walked over to them, "s-salut." Both Italians looked up from playing Bocce in a small area away from the other kids on a flat piece of land.
"Ciao! You're Matthew si?" the bubbly Italian asked getting up and walking a little closer to the shy Canadian.
"Oui, t'appelles Feliciano et Lovino?" Matt said softly.
"Si, do you want to be our friend?"
"Oui," Matt said excitedly.
"Come play with us! We're playing Bocce, a traditional Italian game! Fratello and I will show you how to play it" Feliciano was talking the whole time while Lovino was there grumbling his usual swear words under his breath at his brother's cheerfulness. As the three played, the group of boys were watching them. Alfred made a lot of friends. Finally, the second bell rang and all the remaining students ran to their classes.
"Has everyone made friends?" Antonio asked and there were a lot of nods of approval and smiling faces. The brown head Spaniard smiled and stood up. "Okay since it's your first day of school and we only have 30 minutes extra you guys can do as you like but please be kind to each other." Once again there were nods throughout the class and everyone was chatting with their new made friends. Alfred was in a group and Matthew was sitting at his desk. Every now and then Al would glance at his brother to make sure he was ok and return back to the group. 27 minutes later Antonio had to do something. Alfred forgot about Matthew for a minute until he heard a small cry and laughter. He looked at his brother who was crying softly and the boys who were laughing at him. Alfred's blood boiled and left the group and went to his brother. His brother refused to tell him what happened, knowing what would happen. Matthew calmed down and bell rang indicating lunch. Al made sure to stay near Matt when they left the classroom. Al led him to the taps and watched him washed his face. They left and went to the cafeteria and the boy who kept bugging Matt and told him something that made him tear up again. That was it!Alfred snapped and attacked the boy, beating him up. The boy got a black eye, burst lip and swollen cheek as for Al he only got a few scratches and his clothes were roughed up a bit.
"Alfred stops!" Matt said in his soft voice. Al heard him but pretended he didn't. The fight got a little intense for 6 six year olds. Al dragged the boy and slammed the boys head on the wall. There was already a crowd and it got bigger as they fought. Finally, Antonio and Gilbert, another teacher, came to break it up. It was hard to pull Alfred away and not get hit but he finally calmed down. Antonio and Gilbert brought both boys into the principal office and made sure they were away from each other. Gilbert went to talk to the principal while Antonio looked at the two boys. He was one to spoil children because of his kind nature and seeing his two students like it shattered his heart. Al was a little scared as to what would happen. What was Author going to do him for beating a boy? He couldn't think properly and tears started welling up in his eyes. A soft knock was heard from the closed door and Antonio went and opened it. To his surprise it was Matthew and he looked scared for some reason.
"What's wrong Matthew?" Alfred looked towards the door to see his brother in the doorway.
"Can I see Al please?" the little boy asked.
"Sure," Antonio ushered him to his brother.
The white-haired boy looked up and scowled. The brothers decided to ignore it as Antonio took his place back leaning on the wall waiting for Gilbert. The boys exchanged looks and Matthew felt like breaking down tears already forming. Al noticed this and hugged his brother. Matt was feeling guilty about getting his brother into trouble and was only whispering apologies. Matt calmed down and hugged his brother back. The sight would melt anyone's heart. Gilbert came back for the boys and left once they were in but Antonio stayed. "What happened?" Al stayed quiet and the boy took this opportunity.
"We were in the cafeteria and he attacked me!" Al glared at the boy but stayed quiet.
"Is this true?" The Chinese principal asked.
"N-not entirely," Matt's voice was heard.
"Okay then why not you tell the story." The old man asked.
Matt thought for a while before obeying, "Um…what happened was we were in the cafeteria and he said some things and my brother confronted him."
"I'm going to need to talk to your parents." the principal said before pulling out a book of the student records. Alfred couldn't breathe. Author was going to kill him! The Chinese man took the landline and dialled a number. It rang twice before someone with a British accent answered the phone. "Hello, is this Author Kirkland? I need to speak with you about your son's, Alfred's behaviour." Then they hung up. Al's heart stopped. He was mentally freaking out. The principal called the Russian's mother but Al blocked out all sound. Matt being the good big brother that he is, went and tried to calm his brother down. His brother started to shake as tears started to roll down his feverish cheeks. Al tried to calm down and with his brother supporting him he was able to do it after some minutes.
After he completely calmed down, the school bell rang indicating lunch was over and Matt had to return to class but Al didn't want him to go. "C-can Matt s-stay here?" it was the first time Alfred F. Kirkland had ever stuttered. To say Matthew was surprised was a little of an understatement.
"Sure," the man said simply. Al got up and Matthew got the message and sat on the chair and his brother sat on top of him. Matthew being taller did give advantages to Alfred. Matt sat hugging his younger brother. A car was heard and a few minutes after a British voice was heard from the other side of the door. And Antonio knocked lightly on the door. Al got up when he heard the door open and Matt did the same when he saw the blond hair. Author tried his best to deem kind and professional.
"Good day," he said as polite as possible with his native tongue. Not long after a Ukrainian woman with a 3 year old girl came.
"Big brother!" the little girl jumped into her big brother's arms with a huge smile. Her smile faltered when she noticed how badly he was beaten, "why are you hurt big brother?"
"Ivan is you alright?" the woman asked
"Yeah I'll be fine," Ivan answered trying his best to assure a panicking mother. The boys were asked to leave the room as the adults talked. Alfred was afraid and couldn't let go of his older brother. Another bell rang and Matthew was really worried. One more bell and school will be finished. They would be separated. He didn't want his brother to get licks because of him. Cars of parents came into view and Matthew could see his father, Francis. Francis looked and saw them both. He easily figured out the situation and a genuine smile was plastered on his face. His blue eyes were glistening in the afternoon sun. Matthew hugged his brother again.
They stayed so until the bell rang. When the final bell was heard both parents walked out the door. The woman took her son and daughter and left the building. The school was almost empty already. When Alfred saw the look in his father's eyes, he snuggled closer to his brother. Arthur grabbed his son arm and pulled him away from his brother separating the two once again. Alfred let a whimper escape his lips at the pressure that was on his arm. Matt jumped up and held onto Alfred's other hand, trying to stop the furious adult. When Arthur felt something tug his hand a bit, he turned and saw Matt with tears in his eyes. Matt tried his best to gather some courage to speak and said 3 words that enraged him a little more. He was gonna raise his hand but was stopped when an all too familiar French accent came from behind him.
"Venir, mon petit lapin, il est temps que nous laissons," Francis said looking into scared violet eyes. Matt was about to say something but quickly let go of his brother and went next to his father. "It was nice seeing you again Arthur, au revoir!" and with that he turned and walked. Matt looked directly into his brother's eyes before turning and running to catch up with the Frenchman. Arthur mumbled under his breath before he started to drag his son to their car. When they arrived, Al got into the back seat and farthest away from the drivers' seat. The drive home wasn't as long as Alfred hoped it'd be. When the car was in the driveway Alfred was shaking, he didn't want to come out the car but the look Arthur gave him told him otherwise. After some seconds, which for Alfred felt like hours, Arthur got out the car and opened the front door and waiting for Alfred to come out the car. Alfred reluctantly jumped out the car and hesitantly walked the the front door. When he arrived at the wooden doors, Arthur pulled him inside and locked the door. The sun shone brightly through the white glass on the wall. Alfred landed on the floor and immediately tried to run but was stopped when leather made contact with his back. He yelled out of surprise and pain. That wasn't it, there was more.
Arthur beat Alfred until crimson liquid was visible. Screams were heard but no one helped him. They were too busy to pay attention to a screaming kid. This wasn't the first time Al got beaten but it was rare. Alfred's throat burned from all the noise he was making so he lied on the floor panting heavily and not uttering a word as his cheeks were stained with tears. The beating had stopped and he was worn out. He had marks on his back and got a few hard hits to his head and the fight he was in was finally taking its toil leaving an aching boy lying almost lifelessly on the floor.