Ivan sighed sadly and looked down when he saw the reflection of his clothed body in the mirror. He was dressed in his uniform and still looked horribly chubby, and the voices in his head made sure to tell him that every time. He had been hearing voices in his head that told him all his flaws for a year now, and his mother had already taken him to a psychiatrist who had prescribed him several pills and a traumatic psychiatric hospitalization. It had happened a couple months ago, and yet, it was still fresh in his mind.

"Come on, brother, we will be late for school!"

Ivan sighed once again and slowly walked down the stairs and out of the house after saying goodbye to their mother. In the bus, he sat at his usual place: the back, surrounded by his sisters. Natasha was sitting dangerously close to him and put her arm around his waist, and Ekaterina was looking out the window, absentmindedly.

"Hey, commie"

Alfred said, sitting down in the row in front of him with his brother, Matthew, who was always ignored by everyone except from Ekaterina, who had a small crush on him and Ivan though that it was reciprocated. Anyways, Alfred was the most popular guy in his class and was Ivan's crush, and had been for quite some time, ever since he moved in from Russia, more precisely. He always bothered him about communism and the old rivalry the United States and the Soviet Union; basically, he was almost always a jerk, but a respectful jerk. He had never mocked him for his weight, thank God.

"Hello, Alfred. How are you today?"

"I'm fine, and you?"

Alfred asked, without caring for the answer. Natasha tightened his grip around his brother's middle and he just tried to scoot away from her. She had a creepy way of loving him. Natasha loved him the way he wanted Alfred to love him. He had confessed his feelings for other boys to his sister and his mother, but the latter had decided to stay in denial and said she would only be convinced when he introduced him to a boyfriend. He had laughed and said that it would take a long time for that to happen, with sadness in his voice. His sister was different. She had said that she had already known it for some time and was relieved when he confessed to her. She had supported him. He had yet to tell Natasha. That would be something. Suddenly, when he was about to answer Alfred's question, the voices began yelling at him.

"You will never have him! He is perfect, and you are fat! You will die alone in a flat living with your cat! Face it!"

He covered his ears and pulled his knees up against his chest, surprising both his sisters and Alfred who was about to turn around to face the front when Ivan began... he didn't even know what was happening to him. Ekaterina rubbed his back soothingly and Natasha hugged him protectively, making him feel more uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, commie?"

Alfred asked, genuinely concerned. His brother Matthew turned around and was surprised, too. He had seen Ivan running off from the classroom once, during Geography class a couple months ago, just before he started skipping school for a very long time, or going sporadically. He had always wondered what had happened to Ivan to make him act that way. He had always been a sick kid, several times in the past he had skipped school for health issues and he had even used a walker for half a year. Natasha hissed at Alfred to leave him alone like an angry cat.

It was going to be a very long day.