Pre-note: I hope I didn't make anyone OOC in this. This is the first time I've written a story like this (slash) and so I hope it turns out well. Reviews are very, very encouraging and are loved very much! 3
Also here are the side-pairings: Austria/Hungary, Sweden/Finland, Japan/Taiwan, France/Seychelles, Spain/Romano and I believe that's all. I might have missed one or two, sorry. ^^;
Enjoy!
Hidden In Your Eyes- Chapter 1
By Stonefang
Chikyuu High School-Day 1
"This is going to be so awesome!" shouted Alfred. The boisterous blond slapped his friend Arthur on the shoulder.
"Isn't this going to be great? We're even in the same homeroom, 1-3." Alfred's blue eyes danced with excitement. He was pretty tall for his young age and wore the school's uniform which consisted of a crisp, white shirt, navy-colored jacket and black pants. He also wore a dark blue tie with the school's insignia on it to his outfit. His child-like behavior was really getting on his friend's nerves.
"Will you quit it already?" Arthur scowled. Alfred's childhood friend was slightly on the short side. He had light blond hair and green eyes but the one thing that made him stand out was his bushy eyebrows. Arthur also wore the same uniform as his friend.
"Why? I'm so excited!" Alfred said with a grin.
"I don't care, you git. You're being obnoxious and if you speak any louder the whole world is going to be able to hear you." His friend grumbled.
The taller blonde's optimistic smile disappeared. What had happened to Arthur? He used to be so nice. Now he was just really touchy about almost everything and he didn't smile as often as he used to. Alfred missed that.
The two walked into the school with silence at their shoulders.
***
Period 1
History class was louder than Arthur thought possible. Students clamored about to sit next to friends only to be escorted, by the teacher, to a chair across the room. Once everything settled down, he sighed. Why were people always so restless on the first day?
A blonde and a brunette sat in front of Arthur. The blond was talking rapidly to his friend, who had tanned skin and olive green eyes. He couldn't really see the blond as he was facing away from Arthur.
This is going to be so much fun. He thought sarcastically.
It's a good thing Alfred's not here or it would practically be hell.
High school had torn away their friendship and replaced it with this strange mixture of emotions. It was wall that prohibited from anything getting through.
The blond who sat in front of Arthur was really starting to get on his nerves. He had stopped speaking to his one friend and had proceeded to flirt with one of his female classmates. The girl and tan skin, albeit darker than the brunette's, and thick black hair tied into twin pigtails with red bows. The blond leaned closer to her and whispered something into her ear and she blushed.
"I don't think you've introduced yourself to him yet, Francis." She said, pointing at Arthur.
"Oh, I didn't notice you come in. Bonjour."
"Huh?" Arthur had been trying to ignore Francis but his French accent got in the way. He remembered a rather annoying, perverse boy from his childhood who was French. And-oh god- it was the same boy except older, of course.
Arthur had looked up from his book right in time to see a frighteningly familiar face. The boy from his childhood, Francis Bonnefoy. His blond hair was longer and wavy and his eyes were that same fierce blue he remembered. The two, Francis and Arthur, had never got along well. The two fought viciously and Francis, being the pervert he undeniably was, did many things that Arthur did not want to remember. Like the one time at the school fair in seventh grade. He shuddered at the memory.
"Oh look, it's Arthur Kirkland, the kid who still believes in fairies and crap."
"Hey, they're real!" Grumbled Arthur.
He had forgotten Francis knew about that. Only Francis and Alfred knew. Oh, and Alfred's younger twin, Matthew. That was three too many people.
"That's…interesting." Said the brunette to Francis' right.
"It's pathetic, Antonio. Everyone knows that kind of stuff isn't real. There are no fairies and unicorns. I say he has some sort of mental problem that makes him see things. But it could be quite…attractive."
"Shut up." Arthur glared at the two before returning to his book.
"You're always reading, Arthur. You should do something more fun. Seychelles here knows what I mean." He reached over to the girl and groped her.
"Hey!" Seychelles cried slapping Francis in the face. Upon seeing the red marking her hand had made she murmured, "Are you okay? I-I'm sorry for hitting you. So sorry. I just-"
"No need to worry, ma chèri." He said in a calm voice that would be attractive if Arthur didn't know the person it belonged to so well. Seychelles turned a little red in the face.
"You three in the back, quiet down!" shouted the teacher who was looking directly at Francis, Arthur and Seychelles. Antonio looked relieved not to be in trouble.
"Now, I am going to assign you each a 'partner'. This person is who you are going to pair up with on projects throughout the year. I'll begin with Galante. Come up here and introduce yourself. Your partner will then come up and do the same."
A boy stepped up to the front of the class room, timidly. He had short, sort-of spiky brown hair and blue eyes. His eyes were slightly red and puffy as if he'd been crying.
"I-I'm Raivis Galante. N-nice to meet you. I-I'm from Latvia. I-I…"
"Hurry up, Galante. We don't have all day."
"I-I..."
"Okay, time's up." The teacher looked at the clock with a stressed expression. "Your partner will be Braginsky, but since we are short on time I'll excuse everyone from introductions. That can be for tomorrow." She pushed her glass farther up her nose and glanced down at her list of names.
"Okay, Kirkland. I'll pair you up with Victoria."
"Victoria?"
"That's me, eyebrows." Said Seychelles who had turned around to look at her partner and had noticed, not surprisingly, his rather bushy eyebrows.
"Bonnefoy and Carriedo will be partnered together."
The two friends exchanged smiles.
The teacher continued to list off names and Arthur returned to his book. Just as his finished the chapter he was on he heard Francis whispering to Antonio.
"I feel bad for Seychelles, being stuck with Arthur and all. Don't you agree?"
"Umm…sure?" Antonio seemed unsure.
"You know I can hear you two." Growled Arthur.
"That's the whole point, sourcil." Arthur tried his hardest to ignore Francis.
***
Period 2
"Hey, Arthur!" It was second period, Algebra, and Fate had decided to play a dirty trick on Arthur's heart by placing him and Alfred in the same class.
"Oh, hello." Arthur said half-heartedly, the strange feelings boiling up.
"Geez, what's wrong with you these days? PMSing or something?"
Arthur just glared at his way too cheerful, blond friend. Those blue eyes were watching him in a concerned way. Alfred seemed both worried and confused. He hadn't done anything wrong, not directly anyway. But it was his fault for making him feel like this.
Maybe I'm sick. Yeah, that's it. It'll go away soon.
The two took seats in the back of the room next to a girl and boy. The girl had light brown hair that was long and wavy, down to her chest in length, along with green eyes. The boy next to her had dark brown hair, including one stubborn curl, and he wore glasses in front of his violet-blue eyes. His outfit was impeccably neat.
The girl wore the female uniform which consisted of a white blouse with rather puffy sleeves, bold red pleated skirt and dark red jacket which she had slung over the back of her chair. She had also added a red tie, the same color as the jacket, to her outfit.
"Is it okay if we sit here?" Arthur asked politely.
"Of course it is. Who wouldn't want to sit by the awesome me?" Alfred and another boy said in unison.
The other kid sat next to the girl. He wore his uniform rather loosely and he had striking silver hair and purple-red color. The boy had a cocky grin slapped across his face making Arthur scowl inwardly.
I never thought I'd meet someone with an ego as big as Alfred's. And he's probably just as obnoxious as Al, too.
"Who are you?" Alfred asked as he sat down, the silver-haired boy watching him with the cocky grin still plastered on his face.
"I'm Gilbert the Awes-"
"Quiet, Gilbert." Warned the girl with a glare. "No one wants to hear you talk about yourself and all your amazing 'triumphs'."
"Oh," she noticed the two boys sitting down next to the brown-haired boy. "I'm Elizaveta and this is my friend, Roderich. He probably can't hear you. I believe he's listening to some music right now. Bach probably." She shrugged.
"Oh, I'm Alfred and this is-"
"I can say my name perfectly well thank you. You're not nearly as awesome as you like to say you are. I'm Arthur." The grouchy blond introduced himself.
"I think this is going to be an interesting year guys." Elizaveta said, smiling but watching Gilbert out of the corner of her eye. He was sulking because she had yelled at him and began to doodle chicks on his notebook.
***
Period 3
Next up was Biology. Arthur entered the room only to find a familiar face sitting next to one of the only empty seats. Francis.
Oh god. It's good I don't have Alfred in this class but Francis?
Heaving a sigh Arthur took the seat next to Francis. He opened his book swiftly in hopes of Francis ignoring him. That went about as well as asking Alfred to quit eating hamburgers for the rest of his life. In other words, it was impossible.
"Hello, sourcil." Francis said with a wicked grin.
"Leave me alone, beard." Arthur kept reading his book trying to keep his thoughts off of certain things.
Of course, Alfred then decided to barge into the class making Arthur's heart tremble.
Crap. What's he doing here? I thought he had English. Not that it'd do him any good since he's always using words incorrectly. Stupid American.
"Where am I supposed to sit?"
"Somewhere far away from me."
"Huh?" Alfred adopted a sad expression.
"Never mind. Just sit somewhere. Class is about to start, git."
The blond set off in search of a chair and came back with a stool that had been placed in the back of the classroom. He set it down next to Arthur.
"I told you to sit far away from me but no you never listen to reason."
"Well, at least I don't believe in fairies!" On accident he had shouted it a little too loud.
Now everyone was staring at the two boys who argued like an old married couple. Arthur's face was completely red in embarrassment and fury. He refused to look at his friend for the rest of the class. Whispers were brought to his ears but he ignored them; another impossible task.
"You do know they don't exist, Arthur?" Francis teased. "It's pretty childish thinking. Right, Alfred?"
"Umm…yeah. It is, I guess." Alfred looked pretty sorry for what he had said earlier but he was still willing to tease Arthur. And if he had to gang up with Francis, then so be it.
This is going to be great. Arthur mused as time passed.
***
Period 4
English passed by swiftly without a problem. There was no Alfred or Francis in sight. This relived Arthur greatly. He narrowed his green eyes as he concentrated on the syllabus the teacher had handed out.
"Ciao," said a cheerful voice, reminiscent of Alfred's in a way.
A boy with cinnamon brown hair sat next to Arthur. He had a stubborn curl sort of like Roderich from Algebra, except much worse. His small, curious eyes were a brownish-amber color. He had an incredibly hyper visage and was smiling broadly.
Does everyone here speak two languages?
"Hello," said Arthur with a sullen face.
"My name's Feliciano. Who are you?"
"Arthur," he replied but before he could keep reading he was interrupted by Feliciano.
"So, whatcha reading?" His eyes were wide open and looking at the book on his desk; his hyperactive personality a lot like Alfred's in a way.
"Harry Potter."
"Ooh…"
"Hey, who are you talking to Feli?" It was a familiar Spaniard, Antonio. Next to him stood a boy who could've been Feliciano's twin almost except his hair was slightly darker, his curl was on the other side of his head and his eyes. They were a bright green, not unlike Arthur's. He had a scowl on his face.
"Oh hello, Arthur." Antonio waved at him before sitting down next to Feliciano.
Arthur was spared having to talk to the talkative Italian for the next few minutes. The end of the class couldn't come soon enough.
Well, it could be worse.
"Quiet down. Now for the first day, we are going to get into groups and introduce ourselves."
Why does every teacher do this? It's pointless.
"Come on, Lovi, Feli." Antonio gathered the two Italians together.
"Umm, can I join you? There aren't any other groups so…"
"Sure." Antonio smiled benignly at Arthur.
"Tell me we don't actually have to do this introduction shit, Antonio." Grumbled the scowling Italian.
"Of course we do, Lovino."
"Oh god…this is going to be fun."
At least someone here agrees with me.
***
Period 5
"You're so going to flunk this class, sourcil."
"Shut up, Francis. My cooking is not terrible."
"If you say so," Francis winked.
"I agree with Francis on this. Remember those scones you made for my birthday last year? Well, I didn't eat them. I tried one and…"
"What? You just threw away perfectly good food! I worked hard to make those," Arthur's face turned a little red at the last words which had come out in a half-whisper.
How dare he! I really worked hard on those. I…what am I thinking?
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken this class, Arthur." Alfred offered.
"It wasn't like it was a choice, Alfred. It's a mandatory class."
Alfred snickered and resumed picking on Arthur's cooking with Francis until the teacher arrived. Then the two quit talking and Francis went back to his seat next to Seychelles.
"Just…shut up, Al." Arthur said under his breath.
Their first assignment in Home Education was something simple: eggs. No one could burn that. The teacher said. She hadn't met Arthur yet. Arthur could burn anything he cooked.
"I bet you could even burn water," Alfred teased.
"That was only one time."
"Wait, you HAVE burnt water?" Alfred began to snicker.
"I didn't burn it. I just heated it too much…or something like that."
Alfred kept laughing as he cracked the eggs and poured them into the pan. His blue eyes were alight. He seemed so happy.
How can he be so happy when I'm so miserable?
Class had come to a halt as the scent of burnt food wafted through the room. All eyes gazed at Arthur who stood, rather huffily, by his stove. The black, spongy mass in the pan was the eggs he was supposed to make.
"They're fine." He retorted.
"Better than that greasy stuff you eat all the time, Alfred."
"But you like McDonalds too!" The American said in response. Arthur did not look amused and kept glancing at his "food". It was barely recognizable as scrambled eggs. In fact, it looked like a pile of sponges covered in soot.
Arthur sighed.
***
Lunch
"Let's sit over here, Arthur!" Alfred shouted enthusiastically.
"Sure, but you know you don't have to yell. I'm right next to you, moron."
"I just wanted to make sure you heard me." Alfred beamed, his blue eyes catching Arthur's green ones for a second.
"Hey, Arthur. I haven't seen you in awhile. You never come over anymore." It was Matthew, Alfred's younger twin.
Although they were twins they didn't look too much alike. Matthew's hair was blond but it was longer than Alfred's and wavy. A stubborn curl peeked out from beneath the aviator goggles he wore fondly. His eyes were a lighter, powdery blue than Alfred's.
"Oh, hi Matthew. I've just been busy." Arthur said who was still red in the face as he sat down next to Alfred.
"You should come over this weekend then!" Alfred offered cheerfully. "I just got a new game, too. It'll be fun!"
"Uh, yeah…" Arthur poked his food with his fork. It wasn't like the idea wasn't tempting it was just…these feelings. They made the idea of going to Alfred's house so much more nerve-wracking.
It's not like I like him or anything. It's…ah hell! I don't know what I'm thinking about.
The two brothers chattered away in the background as Arthur pushed away his thoughts. He really didn't like where they were leading.
Me in love with a guy? Preposterous!
"Hey, can we sit with you guys?"
It was Elizaveta, from Algebra. The two guys who were also in the same class, Roderich and Gilbert, were with her.
"Sure." Arthur replied, still poking his food.
Once the three had settled down, conversation perked up. Gilbert and Alfred even got into a heated argument about who was more "awesome". Matthew sided with his brother, well Elizaveta and Roderich remained neutral instead of agreeing with their egotistical friend. Arthur just remained silent.
"You're rather quiet, Arthur," Elizaveta commented. "So, how are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Aah, I see." Silence lingered longer than they would've liked. The only noise at the table was the shouts of Gilbert and Alfred. Eventually, Arthur couldn't take it anymore.
"Why don't you both shut up? Oh, and Al is definitely…"
Idiot!
"I'm definitely…?" Alfred raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"N-never mind." Arthur stood up suddenly and left to empty his tray. He hadn't eaten anything at all.
"I guess he wasn't hungry," Matthew sighed, but no one paid attention.
***
Period 6
Gym class. A class for idiots.
Especially ones named Alfred. Or that was at least how Arthur saw it.
He found no particular joy in hitting balls over nets or throwing them to others. He'd much rather settle down with a good book. But he had no choice.
"Hey, you should put your locker next to mine!" Alfred said slapping Arthur on the back. Arthur looked up at his friend who was grinning broadly.
"Uhh…sure."
The two blonds began to set up for gym. Alfred began to undress.
"WH-what are you doing?" Arthur's face turned red. He turned away in embarrassment.
"Uh, getting dressed." Alfred looked at him with a worried expression.
"Right."
Gym class began with a rather tedious lecture on the various units they'd participate in throughout the school year. Following the lecture was a competitive game of volleyball. Alfred grabbed Arthur and pulled him over to where Matthew stood so quietly he might as well have been invisible.
"We're going to win!" Alfred's voice was filled with childish optimism.
Well, if Alfred's on our team we might have a chance…
On the other side of the net stood four students. The first one had short, black hair and thoughtful brown eyes. Next to him was a girl with very long, straight black hair. A strand hung away from the rest. Her bright eyes shone with athletic determination. On her other side was a taller boy with long hair tied back into a ponytail. The final team member was another boy with short, gray-blond hair and wide, child-like violet eyes. He was bouncing the volleyball on the slick gym floor repeating "da~" over and over to himself quite loudly.
"We need one more person," said Alfred, who was scanning the gymnasium with his blue eyes.
He spotted an older boy wandering about, alone. Most of the teams had been filled up and wasn't in one. He had slicked back blond hair and eyes like chips of blue ice. He was mumbling to himself about an annoying Italian.
"Hey, will you join our team? We need one more person." Alfred said well putting out his hand enthusiastically.
The older boy looked at him and nodded curtly well saying "Sure, I guess."
He promptly shook hands with the boisterous American and joined them on their side of the net.
"Okay, let's begin. Since I'm the hero, I'll lead our team to victory!"
The game commenced. At first it was a tie between both teams. The girl, who introduced herself as Taiwan, was a fierce player. Whenever the ball got too close to Kiku, the first boy, she would hit it triumphantly over the net. In the end, Alfred's team lost but only by a little.
"I'll accept defeat but only because I'm a hero."
When was he going to give that up? He's no hero.
Arthur sighed.
***
Period 7
"Ahh literature, good old literature." Arthur was excited for this class. Any class where you discussed classic books was wonderful to him. He plopped his bag and books down in the front row.
"H-hello," said a quiet voice.
"Hmm?" Arthur turned to see who spoke.
It was the boy from History class, Raivis. He had spiky, blond-brown hair and wet blue eyes. He was clutching a rather ancient-looking book tightly. The timid Latvian smiled weakly.
"Hello, I'm Arthur." He smiled back, a bit unsure of what to say to him
"You're in my History Class!" Raivis realized.
"Yes, I am."
"And so am I, da!" cried a cheerful, child-like voice. Standing behind Raivis and Arthur was a tall Russian boy, Ivan. He was in both Arthur's History and Gym Classes, and now his Lit. Class as well apparently.
"Y-yeah, g-guess you a-are, I-Ivan." Raivis stammered.
"Heehee," He giggled, like a little kid. "This year's going to be fun right?"
Ivan sat down in a seat next to Raivis which seemed to frighten the poor Latvian even more. It almost looked like he might cry.
This is going to be a very interesting year
***
Period 8
Last class and I can go home and be Alfred-free. Although I am now since he has History.
"There aren't any more tables so may I sit here?" another boy asked politely. He had very pallid blond hair, equally pale skin and blue-violet eyes. On his head he wore a beige cap. His arms were full of books and Santa-styled back pack was slung messily over one shoulder.
"Of course you can. It's not like you can just sit on the floor."
The boy smiled lightly before pulling out a chair and settling down. He heaved all his books onto the table with a resigned sigh.
"I have so much homework and it's just my first day."
"I'm sure everyone does," Arthur's eyes didn't move from his work that was placed neatly on the table.
"My friend might come over and join us. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not."
"Oh, here he is. Sit over here, Berwald!" The blond boy called out, pointing at the one remaining chair. The librarian hissed at him for being so loud. The boy murmured an apology.
"H'llo, Tino." Berwald was very tall in contrast to his friend. In some ways it was like Alfred and Arthur, as in one was quite taller than the other. His hair was blond and his eyes were blue, traits of a person of northern descent. He wore glasses, too. Berwald sat down in the chair next to Tino and began to speak in his voice laced with a Swedish accent.
"Who's th's?" He gestured to Arthur. Tino hadn't really gotten to know Arthur so he said nothing.
"I'm Arthur. Nice to meet you." For once, he looked up from his papers.
"N'ce to m'et you too," was Berwald's response.
Tino introduce himself as Tino Väinämöinen and he was from Finland. He had been Berwald's friend for a long time, another similarity to Arthur and Alfred.
Berwald didn't speak at all for the rest of the period except for the occasional whisper to Tino. He was not the most talkative person in the world.
Finally, it's over. Now, I have to go find Alfred because lord knows he can't walk home without someone to talk to other than Matthew.
***
There you are, Arthur!" Alfred shouted enthusiastically as he ran over to his childhood friend.
"Hey, Alfred." Arthur gathered his books and closed his locker. He slung his backpack over both shoulders and began to head for the exit.
"Wanna come over today? Matthew and I-"
"No thanks. I'm too busy. We have a lot of work." Arthur replied firmly.
"Oh, come on, Arthur. You haven't been over in ages. We even might have some tea for you to drink since you refuse to like coffee, even though it's delicious."
"It's not delicious and besides…" Arthur glanced at his friend and wished he hadn't.
Alfred was given him that puppy-dog look he had perfected when was younger. Somehow it always worked on Arthur. He was getting soft as he got older. He used to be tough and daredevil as a little boy, but it had changed as he began to fall in love. Although, that's not what he believed it was.
"Oh fine!"
"Yay!" Alfred cried out and slapped his shorter friend on the back.
Author's Note: Oh dear god that was long. To some people might not be but this is the longest chapter I've ever written for a fanfiction so I'm pretty damn proud of myself. Hopefully, I didn't butcher any of the characters. This chapter is like an introduction to the series so it might've been a little dull. I'm sorry about that. Basically, I wanted to introduce all the characters into one chapter, but more will probably appear sporadically throughout the storyline.