Hello people!
I started writing this thing a long time ago and finally finished it today because of boredom.
This is a band fanfiction, and I've tried to explain things really well, but if you're confused about anything, anything at all, don't be afraid to PM me.
This is also a USUK fanfiction, but I might throw in a few side pairings that I haven't decided on yet.
Disclaimer: Tealgirl713 does not own Hetalia. Or any pieces of music mentioned in this fanfiction.
"Hey, Artie! Artie! Look, I'm a trumpet player, too!"
Arthur Kirkland watched un-amusedly as Alfred Jones pulled the mouthpiece off of his saxophone and blew into it, causing a terrible noise to emit from the horn. The entire band room covered their ears.
"Alfred Jones, if I ever hear that noise coming from that instrument ever again, I will personally see to it that you are expelled. Do you understand me?" came the voice of their band director.
"Yes, Mr. Edelstein," Alfred said tiredly. He flashed a grin at Arthur. "Sounded pretty good though, right?"
"If by 'pretty good' you mean like a beached whale, then yes, I suppose it was 'pretty good'."
"Sweet! Thanks, dude!"
Arthur could only roll his eyes as he turned back to his sheet music. If only he didn't have to sit by that insufferable American every day in band. But Mr. Edelstein had assigned them seats at the beginning of the year, and he hadn't changed them, even once. Arthur sat the farthest right of the trumpet players, right next to Alfred, the farthest left of the alto saxophones. It was an unfortunate arrangement for Arthur, as the lot of the saxophones sounded like dying cows.
He turned to the trumpeter sitting next to him, Yao, with whom he got along with fairly well. "I swear, Alfred has no grasp of sarcasm at all."
Yao nodded in agreement, but before he could respond, Mr. Edelstein called for attention from the band. Everyone turned to the front to face him.
"Now that we are all paying attention for once, I would like you to get out Second Suite in F and get ready to play the fourth movement, Fantasia on the Dargason."
The class obliged, pulling out their individual copies of the piece from their music folders. Arthur was smiling. This was one of his favorite pieces of music, and even though it was hard, it was still immensely fun to play. As an added bonus, it was British. Arthur always had a sense of pride in British things. Probably because he had lived in London for most of his life.
Alfred, however, did not feel the same way. "Aww, do we have to play it?" he complained. "It's too hard!"
"It wouldn't be so difficult if you actually practiced it," Arthur said.
"Hey! I do too practice! Just, y'know, not a whole lot."
"I'd be surprised if you even brought your instrument home."
An angry voice was heard from the other side of the alto saxophone section, where Mr. Edelstein was chastising one of them for forgetting his music.
"Gilbert Beilschmidt, this is the second time this week you haven't had your music with you in class!" he said. "How do you expect to get better at playing your instrument if it just sits underneath your chair during class?"
"I am way too awesome to play this stupid music!" Gilbert said grinning evilly up at the teacher. Mr. Edelstein just rolled his eyes and walked back up to the front of the room. There was no use arguing with Gilbert when he was like this. It was widely known that Gilbert was used to being able to do whatever he wanted to in class, seeing as his father was the principal.
The class waited in anticipation as Mr. Edelstein raised his baton. He counted them off, and then the saxophones began the piece with the first couple of notes. Or at least tried to.
Arthur had to admit, they were doing a little better than usual today. But not by much. A couple of them missed their cues at the beginning and they had to start the song over multiple times before Mr. Edelstein was satisfied. Thus Arthur was angry. Didn't the saxophones realize that they weren't the only people in the band? Yet every band period, they monopolized Mr. Edelstein's time and hardly anyone else got to play.
Finally, miraculously, the saxophones managed to get through the first sixteen measures without screwing up. Arthur raised his trumpet to his lips a few beats early in anticipation, and joined in with the melody. The notes were high, but Arthur hit them with practiced ease. He had gotten quite good at the trumpet, back when he lived in London. His family moved to America right before the start of the school year, and he had signed up for the school band right away.
They hit a trouble spot in the piece, the first euphonium solo, and Mr. Edelstein stopped the band. He went to the back of the room to help out their euphonium player, Kiku Honda. Arthur always wondered how short, little Kiku was able to support the large, brass instrument, but he managed to hold his own.
Once Mr. Edelstein was completely absorbed in helping Kiku, Arthur got up to get a drink of water from the sink that was unfortunately placed all the way across the room. When he got back to his seat, he noticed two things. One, his trumpet was gone. Two, Alfred was grinning like a complete lunatic.
"Alfred," Arthur began, his eyes flashing dangerously. "What did you do with my trumpet?"
"What d'ya mean, Artie?" Alfred asked, giving him a too-innocent smile. "I didn't even notice it was gone!"
Arthur had had enough of the stupid American's antics. Checking over his shoulder to make sure Mr. Edelstein was still occupied, he reached forward and grabbed Alfred by the collar, bringing him right up to his face.
"You tell me where my trumpet is right now, Alfred Jones, or I swear to God I will castrate you."
"Fine, dude! Jeez!" Alfred said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "It's in the cabinet over there."
Arthur let go of him and rushed over to the cabinet Alfred had pointed at, pulling out his trumpet and checking it for the smallest hint of damage. Luckily for his sanity (and Alfred's health), there wasn't a scratch on it. Arthur had brought this trumpet with him all the way from England. He would be crushed if anything bad happened to it.
When Arthur returned to his seat, Mr. Edelstein was up in the front of the room again and ready to conduct the band. "Alright everyone, let's start at Kiku's first solo. Kiku, remember to play loudly. You are the only person in your section."
Kiku nodded back at him, and then they were counted off again. Arthur counted the rests to his part in his head, ignoring Alfred doing the same thing out loud. Didn't the git know he was distracting everyone else around him?
The rest of the band period passed without much incident, with the class practicing the same song over and over right up until the bell rang. There was a flurry of movement as everyone gathered their things together. The students left in small groups, laughing and talking. Arthur found himself to be one of the last ones in there, along with Alfred and a few others. His eyes met Alfred's for one moment before the other winked at him, and reached down to grab Arthur's trumpet case, now containing his trumpet.
"Alfred," Arthur warned. But it was too late. Alfred was already halfway out the door.
"Bollocks," he cursed, picking his backpack off the ground and hurrying after Alfred. His next class was already at the opposite end of the school. Alfred was just going to make him late now.
"Alfred!" Arthur shouted as he weaved his way through the congested hallway of the school. He spotted Alfred right away by his height, and managed to push by everyone in between them, finally walking at a brisk pace beside him.
"Alfred, give me my trumpet back."
"No!" Alfred laughed and sped up, obviously trying to lose Arthur in the crowd. But Arthur would have none of that. He huffed in a breath and followed right behind him, making desperate grabs at his instrument.
"Give it back!" he said, once he finally managed to get a hold on the side handle. "Alfred, I'm going to be late for my class!"
"Luckily for you, we've got the same second period class!" came the reply, hard to hear over all the other conversations in the hall. "So you're only late if I am!" Arthur had forgotten about that. He had his first, second, and sixth period classes with that git. Lucky him.
Alfred laughed to himself as he ascended the stairs to his history classroom, Arthur close behind him. It was so easy for Alfred to tease him.
"Git," Arthur said as Alfred entered the classroom, still holding the trumpet. The two boys sat on the opposite sides of the classroom, and they split to go to their respective seats.
Alfred tried really hard to concentrate on the lesson, but history really wasn't his thing, what with all the dates and times you had to memorize. So during the lesson he kind of zoned out, focusing instead on Arthur, who was sending him a death glare from across the room. It made him feel like laughing, at least.
Once the class was over, Arthur wasted no time in walking straight over to Alfred.
"I want my trumpet back," he demanded. Alfred chuckled. It was cute that he was still trying.
"How about I give it back to you at the end of the day?"
"You-"Arthur started, but he was cut off by the teacher walking right next to the two of them. Arthur wasn't anywhere near academically suicidal enough to swear in front of a teacher.
"See ya later, Artie!" Alfred said, grinning at him one last time before walking to his next class. Arthur was left there to sputter and yell back,
"Don't call me that!"
And there you have it, folks. The first chapter of my new fanfiction.
The song they're playing, Fantasia on the Dargason, is a pretty dang famous piece of music. If you haven't heard it, you should go look it up on YouTube.
Reviews are greatly appreciated, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me with them.
Oh, and try to see if you can figure out what the title means! It actually does have a significant meaning in the story.