Act 00

- Not An Ordinary Life Anymore -

"Hyagh-"

Arthur huffed as his face got hit by his sister's hand. This made him squint his eyes and force them to open up. He looked around the room and to the window, to see that it was still dark.

It was in the morning, around 6am, could have been.

He blinked at the window aimlessly, before turning his attention to his sister, who was lying in his bed next to him.

She was curled up, her hands against her mouth.

Without making a ruckus about this, Arthur rose up and sat on the bed for a while, still watching her. He could have been sitting there for almost about 15 minutes, before he noticed the rain knocking on his window.

He sighed silently as he looked down at the sheets.

Within a few minutes he was already making tea, and during that, he changed into his Academy uniform. Washing his face and fixing his messy hair, he headed out from the bathroom. His bedroom was exactly across, and the door was open, yet his sister wasn't in it anymore.

While walking through the hall to the stairs - that lead down to the living room and the kitchen, his eyes turned to Esther's room. He caught a glimpse of her in her undergarments while pulling her skirt up with hurry.
Arthur's face heated up and he turned his eyes away immediately, hurrying down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

He smiled to himself while spreading butter on the toast bread that he just freshly got out of the toaster. It was a bit burned, he had to admit it to himself, but he tried to keep it cool...

Rash footsteps came from upstairs, the sound of her rucksack hitting continuously against her left thigh, finally arriving.

She placed the item in front of the door; as a means that if she had to be in a hurry, she could grab it from there immediately.

"Good Morning, Esther." Arthur called with interest of seeing his sister, but she didn't answer. She didn't show up either...

She was in the living room, searching for something, but she couldn't find it, no matter how many cupboards she opened and scanned through.

'I wonder if I still have it... but I put it there... Somewhere.'

After a few minutes of no answer, Arthur put the butter knife to the side, wiped his hands into his apron and walked into the living room.

"Hey, what are you looking for? You didn't even greet me back."

He spoke a bit upset. Esther was currently kneeling, while having a cupboard open. She turned her head back and watched innocently with those green eyes that she inherited from her brother.

Her lips suddenly turned into a nervous smile, as she closed her eyes; a drop of sweat appearing on her cheek. She totally ignored her poor brother.

She mouthed 'Sorry!' accompanied by her hands signing it for him to be able to catch up.

She got her cellphone out and opened a text file on it.

Arthur wasn't really smart when it came to sign-language. He only knew a few words.
He curiously eyed Esther as she typed something into her phone. Her lips were pushed against each other, forming a smile. She was focusing on typing fast, to not keep her brother waiting any longer.

She got up and skipped to Arthur, showing her cell phone to him.

It read:

"I am in a hurry- I can't find my brown pen case. Did you see it somewhere...? I have been looking for it everywhere!"

"Hmm..." The boy wondered as he raised his hand to his chin.

Esther was watching him with eyes full of hope, before Arthur finally got it.

"Did you look in the storage? You put your books and notes in there... it's probably there."

The girl's eyes widened as she turned her phone to herself and began to type again.

"That's not true. I already turned that place upside down! What should I do...?"

The brother sighed and began to walk to the kitchen.

"I'll buy you one on our way to the Academy. Now hurry up and eat breakfast, alright?"

The girl watched a bit, until she tensed up and hurried after Arthur. She skipped to the table and took a seat across where Arthur usually sat.

She smiled with utmost energy and pride, as her brother brought her plate and placed it in front of her.

"Here you go."

He muttered as he sat down himself, and began to eat.

Esther smiled playfully as she took a bite of her toast and began to munch on it. She stopped all of the sudden and turned her toast around to see the back, slightly burned. She blinked at it, as if she has never seen anything like that before, but went ahead and continued eating it.

Arthur saw that, and became uneasy.

'Why is she eating that if she doesn't like it...? Well, she didn't say anything so... maybe she doesn't mind...'

After eating up, Esther jumped up from her seat and took her plate to the dishwasher. She put it in, and then looked for some cups.
Once she found the one she liked, she poured some tea in it, and headed back to the table, giving one to Arthur.

"Thank you... but I could've gotten it myself."

He trailed off as he watched Esther. She smiled brightly as she put her hand on her chest and bowed slightly with her cup in her other hand.

That sign meant "You're welcome", or also "I did it gladly for you". It was a general term of doing something from the heart…

He smiled back at her, his face flushing a bit.

Finished with the morning preparations, Arthur put his jacket and his scarf on. Before he even laid his eyes on Esther, he almost flipped out.
His eyes turned white, seeing that she wanted to head out with her uniform on, only.

"What do you think you're doing? It's cold out there. Come here and dress properly at least!"

He scolded, pointing to his feet to get back to him.
The girl turned her head and watched with her eyebrows furrowed together. She stepped back to him as England got her jacket and her scarf, dressing her up himself.

"There... ", he said with a stern voice.

Getting his keys and his bag, he closed and locked the doors to their manor.

He watched his house, before being pushed roughly from behind by his sister, who was grinning now wearing her rucksack.

"Heheh, now you wait! When I'll catch you, you'll be handed over to the dwarfs!"

He grinned, giving in and chasing after his sister, who was smiling widely, hurrying up on the road to not be caught by the wizard.

She slowed down before getting to the crosswalk, turning around and waving her hand in front of her, with a lazy expression and a smile; she wasn't really afraid of the dwarfs, nor her brother.

"Oh you just wait until you see them in the middle of the night, dragging you away from home!"

He called as he caught up. He smiled at Esther and ruffles her hair wildly, making her smile back at him as well.

After an hour ride by train, Esther and Arthur got off, and headed to the Academy.

On their way, Esther made sure to show his brother to not forget her pencil case, by moving her hand as if she was writing in the air.

"Ha? Ah, your pen case... sure."

He took her with him, into a store nearby and there she picked out the one that looked the closest to her case. She also picked up some markers, pens and eraser along the way.

Arthur smiled and gladly paid for them.

Esther, holding her new brown pencil holder, was high spirited. She kept smiling at her brother and tried to contain her excitement.
But as they got closer, Esther became nervous.

Arthur noticed this by her expressions and spoke up.

"Everything's alright Esther?"

She shook her head and looked up at him with a shaky smile. She was very nervous by now.
He became worried and stopped walking. Esther stopped as well and made eye contact.

"Don't worry. Your brother is here, and I won't leave you alone, alright?"

Esther tried to nod, but it didn't really solve her nervousness.

Once in, Arthur decided that it would be okay for Esther to have her own locker, so he chose two that weren't still taken, and were next to each other. He put his outdoor shoes in and got his indoor ones.

Esther tried to change fast so that she wouldn't hold her brother up.

"Take your time, Esther. We still have a few minutes left..." he spoke gently, touching her shoulder.
She looked to him and nodded, hurrying to close her locker.

While walking close to Arthur, different people were passing by.

"Kesesesese!"

"Wait up, Prussia!"

"Hey, the two of you, no running in the halls, you hear?!"

England snapped as he saw Prussia and Spain race through the halls.

"Bonjour, England~" France cooed as he ran past, but in mid-turn, he stopped and stepped back to the two siblings.

"Ah~ you have a very cute companion, who is she? She looks very much like you...!"
He wondered as he leaned down to Esther's height.

"My little sister, London." He spoke with pride emitting from his voice.

"Ua~ she doesn't have your ugly eyebrows! How good for you, Milady London."

He chuckled and put a hand in front of his mouth, rising up.

"Shut up you wine bastard!"

"Don't be so rude in front of your sister, Arthur~. We'll see each other in class~!"

He called as he rushed off before Arthur could rip his head off. He was clearly pissed off by the Frenchman, which Esther noticed.
She smiled reassuringly, and pointed to her eyebrows, before making a heart shape with her hands.

Arthur huffed at her with a blush and proceeded his way to their classroom. Esther followed, not being sure if her brother got what she meant, now slightly worried about him...

Finally in class, Arthur sat down to his regular place, while Esther had to find a place herself. She sat on the front, a row before him, to his left, by the window. Arthur eyed her suspicion, wondering if Esther was alright by herself.

She turned around to look at him, and gave him a smile. She formed a circle with her index and thumb finger, while extending her remaining fingers; this meant "Good", implying that she was fine.

The boy sighed - not sure if because enlightenment or disappointment - and before he knew it, class started.

The teacher came in and motioned everyone to sit down. Except for one; London.

The teacher called her to the blackboard and told her to introduce herself.

London swallowed nervously as she stepped forward, alone. England watched with wide eyes, and he seemed to want to protest or say something, but his sister smiled at him with her eyebrows rose together, patting the air with her bare hands; it meant to wait.

She looked at the others, as her face got red due to the excitement and turned around to write her name and capital she represents.
The rest of the Europe class was staring at the girl who turned around and gripped her skirt nervously.

"Wait, why is she writing that up? Can't your sister speak?"
Prussia wondered out loud, which caused the rest to become pretty noisy. Sealand suddenly raised his hand, exclaiming following;

"Ah! Big sister London can't speak!"

London felt the awkwardness suddenly arise, as small drops of sweat began to appear on the side of her cheeks. Her lips began to tremble as she forced herself to smile at the others. Her radiant green eyes escaped to those of her brother's, who tried to find comfort.

His eyebrows rose up and he smiled in concern at her. England tried to calm her this way, but the others were now muttering to each other and what not.

"Alright now, everyone settle down. Why not sit down, Miss Kirkland? It happens even to me, that I lose my will at speech now and then." The teacher spoke loud enough for the students to hear – which made them become silent.

London turned her head back to face her brother and it seemed as if she was about to tear up for the embarrassment that she had caused. She was very much under the pressure of not being able to speak…

"Don't worry London. It's going to be fine." He told her before the class continued.
It was a pretty challenging start for the two…