CHAPTER 2: Vodka

At lunch, Yao sat down with his siblings, and much to his dismay, Ivan took the seat next to him. Ivan smiled cheerfully at Yao, and Yao forced himself to smile back at his new friend. "You are so cute, da!" Ivan murmured.

"What, aru?" Yao looked down as he felt a pink blush creep over his cheeks again.

"Hey, you took my seat!" Im Yong Soo whined as he came into view. He pointed at Ivan furiously. "That's my seat, da-ze~!"

"Kolkolkol... You have a problem with that?" Ivan asked, his eyes gleaming.

Yong Soo cried out, obviously frightened by the scary Russian, "Aniki~! Help me!" He glomped his older brother Yao, hugging him from behind.

Yao shrugged off his younger brother before he could try groping his nonexistent breasts and sighed, "Calm down, Yong Soo aru! He is not going to hurt you; he is my friend aru!"

Ivan grinned as he thought, I am his friend!

"A friend?" Kiku asked. Hong-kun and Kiku both gave Yao a look as if to say, "We have never seen him before in our lives..." Hong-kun nibbled on his meat bun quietly.

"Yes, a friend aru!" Yao confirmed. "He is a transfer student from Russia, aru!"

Kiku nodded in understanding and picked up his chopsticks, saying, "Ittadakimasu!"

Mei-mei ran over to Yao, her pink skirts a-swirling about her legs as she sprinted over, and whispered in his ear, "Who is that tall man? What did I miss?"

"A friend aru..." Yao whispered back to her softly.

"Your boyfriend?" Mei-mei squealed into her brother's ear.

"NO aru!" Yao shouted. "No, nothing of that sort aru!" His face turned completely red, his cheeks flushed with embarrassed heat. I have just met this guy, for crying out loud, aru! Yao thought to himself in frustration. He loved his little siblings, but sometimes they were just way too nosy in his business! And Mei-mei liked to jump to conclusions sometimes.

Ivan grinned, and kol-kol-kol-ed to himself softly. He had over heard what Mei-mei had said, and it made him happy that he and Yao looked like a couple. He had just met Yao, but he was already quite infatuated with him.

Ivan pulled out a bottle of Vodka from seemingly out of nowhere, and started to gulp down a few mouthfuls.

Yao gasped, "Is that... alcohol aru?"

Ivan smiled and asked, "Da! Want some?"

"No, no, no aru!" Yao jumped up from his seat in shock.

Yong Soo raised his hand and shouted, "Can I try some? Da-ze~!"

"No, Yong Soo, no aru!" China scolded, whacking him lightly on the shoulder with his hand. Kiku just ate from his bento box quietly, surveying the scene unfolding before him. Mei-mei had already began eating her lunch and chatting with Hong-kun, not really paying attention to Yao anymore.

Ivan innocently looked around and asked, "What did I do?" He took another gulp from the bottle of vodka, feeling it warm his face.

China stormed off with his backpack slung over his shoulder, fuming as he left the cafeteria. He thought to himself, Vodka, aru! That delinquent brought alcohol to school; this is horrible aru! Yao decided not to turn Ivan in to the authorities, but he concluded that he must keep his distance from this new "friend." He could not let this new transfer student negatively influence him, or his younger siblings. "Yes, I must stay away from him, aru!" China mumbled to himself.

The last period bell rang. Finally, the day was over. And, this whole day was mainly spent with Ivan trailing Yao, following him to every single class. Yao wondered if Ivan really did have all the same classes with Yao or if he was simply skipping his real classes.

Yao walked leisurely through the hallways, heading for the Calligraphy Club room. He heard Ivan's footsteps padding along behind him. It was clear that Ivan was not heading home.

Yao spun around and was about to demand an answer from Ivan, but he gasped, "Ivan, why are you drinking your vodka so openly aru?" Yao snatched the bottle from Ivan's hands and scolded him, "This is against school rules in the first place aru! You cannot –"

Yao was cut off as Ivan pouted, his violet eyes growing wide and… strangely adorable. Yao sighed, and looked down at the vodka bottle. It was almost empty anyhow, so he decided to hand over the bottle. Ivan has such cute puppy eyes aru… I just can't –oh wait aru! What am I thinking aru? Yao threw the bottle at Ivan, and Ivan caught it without any difficulty.

"Hey, Yao, no alcohol is allowed in school! You should know that!" a familiar voice yelled. "And I, the hero, actually believed you were a conscientious student!"

"Alfred…" Yao groaned. "It is not what you think, aru!"

"Tsk tsk tsk," Alfred said with a waggle of his finger. "You're going to be in so much trouble!"

"No, no, he should not be in trouble!" Ivan exclaimed. "I was the one who vodka in! It was me, da! Not Yao-yao…"

"Yao-yao?" Alfred cocked an eyebrow, glancing from Yao to Ivan, then back at Yao. "Oh, whatever… I can't deal with this crap. I'm off to the Awesome Club!" Alfred continued walking in his own direction, whistling cheerfully as he took a bite from his double-decker hamburger.

Ivan smiled and murmured, "You're not in any trouble, Yao!"

Yao sighed, "But that isn't the point aru…"

Ivan chugged down the rest of his vodka.