Chapter 2

Arthur was awoken once again by his siblings screaming downstairs. He groaned annoyingly, rolled off his bed and shouted at them to shut up. They didn't hear them, instead they continued their shouting contest and it seemed to get louder and louder.

Arthur walked down the stairs to see what they were fighting about. He saw Alistair choking Gavan to death while Sean was minding his business by watching TV. Bridgette looked like she was having a headache because of the two. Arthur sighed and walked in the kitchen. He prepared his breakfast and sat on the table. He ate while he watched the show that was being performed in front of him, aka his brother trying to kill each other. Bridgette finally had enough of the two and shouted at them, and they shouted back. Now there's three people in this house having a shouting party, how great.

Arthur finished his breakfast, placed it gently in the sink, ran upstairs and gets himself ready for school. He glances at his green guitar. His urge to play it grew a bit stronger so instead of staring at it he grabbed the guitar, sat on his bed and played a few chords. He started to get his flow and played one song, but quickly stopped when he realized what he unwittingly chose. It was a British song his mother thought him, one of the first. Tears started to well up again as he placed his guitar back on its stand. He wipes his tears away and runs downstairs.

On his way to school he kept thinking about not thinking about his mom, and thinking about not crying till the end of the day or till he found a sequestered spot where no one would find him. Fortunately his train of thoughts were interrupted. The unfortunate thing is it's been interrupted by the unholy being of the universe: Alfred. He was calling him in the distance and while Arthur was trying to ignore him and walk faster than him, he caught up and put his arm around him. Arthur flinched at his touch and brushed his arm off. He looked at Alfred, who flashed a face of hurt but quickly smiled cheery. His eyes were saying sorry.

"Morning!" He exclaimed with joy. How could he be so happy in the morning? even so early in the week?

"Morning." He muttered.

They didn't talk the rest of the way. Correction: Alfred only talked to him and he just nodded, pretending as if he was listening. He tried to listen to his chain of words that were being thrown out of his mouth, but he couldn't focus. It was just too much nonsense to bear. Football, baseball, more America sports, hamburgers, frog fries – he doesn't like saying the word French – , more American food; school, subjects and more things he wasn't interested in.

Finally saved from Alfred's endless talk he walked to his class, gym class. He wasn't fond of gym, let alone anything athletic. But he was well muscled, and he had a good condition. So he wouldn't be known as the worst runner of his class. So far he wouldn't be teased for anything, yet. Just wait and see music class, where he is a wimp for playing a god damn guitar and will most likely cry the moment he touches the strings. Luckily he has a backup instrument, piano.

After P.E he had science, and guess who's there? Alfred. He had to sit next to him, again. And suffer through the whole class. What's worse? He was his partner.

Arthur wanted to face desk multiple times till he was dead, jump out of the window, drink the concoctions in front of him, literally anything just to get away from his boisterous partner. But he couldn't escape, no matter what he wants couldn't escape from this bloody hell he sits in. As if the wish god had turned his back against him.

"Hey, Art? You look pale? You okay?" It took him a minute to realize that it was Alfred that was talking to him.

"My name is Arthur, and yes I am okay, thank you very much." He spat softly. He didn't notice the venom in his voice, surprisingly.

"Okay, Artie." He winked. Arthur could feel his cheeks turn red and looked away. That ungodly being just winked at him!

"Arthur" He muttered. He glanced at him, a big grin was plastered on his bright and cheerful face, which seemed to calm him a bit.

"You don't like nicknames?" He shook his head.

"Arthur is good enough, thank you."

"Okiedokie." He said, before focusing at the teacher. Guess Arthur had to focus on the teacher as well.


Finally break. Arthur could finally enjoy some time without chatter and . Without Alfred, without frogs, without anyone. He sighed happily when he found his spot beside the school, in the shade. He sat down and grabbed his biscuits. He watched the upperclassmen playing soccer. He was rooting for the blue team, but they lost, to his dislike.

His peace was interrupted by Satan, again.

"Hey Arthur!" He was using no nicknames, which was good.

He ran up to him, a big smile on his face. Arthur mentally rolled his eyes at him. How can he be this cheerful? It's like he had an infinite supply of happiness. Arthur also wanted that infinite supply of happiness. To achieve that this school had to be demolished with C4s and his siblings should just be under his command and call him 'Captain Arthur'. 'Captain Arthur'...He liked the tone of that.

Alfred grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Arthur ripped his hand away. "What?" He said. Alfred was still grinning. "Come with me, please?" He did puppy eyes, and to be honest he was good at it. But Arthur wasn't affected by puppy eyes. So he shook his head. "Why?" He asks, while packing his bag. Alfred was nearly jumping up and down. "Please just come, you'll see!" Arthur sighed and gave in.

"Okay."

He was lead by Alfred to a group of students, including the stinky frog. This time he smelled like red wine, which was less worse than Camembert cheese. "So guys! The allies is finally complete!" He exclaimed happily. Arthur raised an eyebrow, confused of what he meant. He looked at the strangers, who seemed to also not understand what Alfred was babbling about.

"Alfred, what are you talking about." Said Francis. Oh my god just by the sound of his voice Arthur just wanted to strangle him.

"We are the allies now of World War II! Francis is France, Ivan represents Soviet commies, Yao is the embodiment of China, I am the great America and you will be England!" He beamed. Arthur raised an eyebrow. Was that why he was fangirling yesterday? Another question is why is he mentioning China, it didn't belong in the allies, right?

"China wasn't a part of the Allies, right?" Alfred gasped in such a shocked manner, staring at him in disbelief. "Arthur, you need to study more history. Of course China was a part of the Allies! They were allied with the Americans!" He waved his arms around in an over dramatic way. Arthur crossed his arms and huffed. "Sorry to say, mister History freak." He taunted. He was pretty good at history as he says so himself, more specifically European history. Alfred had this determined smirk on his face. "Try me." He crossed his arms and stood face to face with Arthur.

Wait, why was he doing this? Why was he still here? With Alfred? Playing a stupid game? Why was he challenging him to a History quiz? Why did it feel like he befriended the stupid frog? Whatever reason it was, he was glad. It was better than being a loner eating at the dark side of the building. He took a deep breath and thought of a question. Maybe he should start with something easy.

"Revolutionary war of America, year dates."

"1776-1783" He answered with the speed of sound. Wow.

"80 years war, dates."

"umm..." He tilted his head, thinking hard. Well, guess he didn't know much about European history aside from World War 2.

"1568-1648"

"What was Columbus searching for?"

"India"

"When did Prussia dissolve."

"1947, 25th of February."

Arthur was surprised by his knowledge. He did know a lot.

"Name every single colony the British had his hands on. Also known as the British Empire."

"Shit..." Arthur smirked. He can't know them all. The other just watched them in awe. The frog seemed like he was rooting for the American; Ivan was smiling, his face was really creepy and Yao had his - or her, he couldn't tell - arms crossed. He kept muttering something inaudible. Arthur wondered if he was insulting them or just tagging along.

"Tick tock~" Arthur teased. He smirked when the American looked at him, panicked. "Wait wait wait wait you can't do that!"

"twenty seconds." He stuck up his middle finger. "Fuck you."

"fifteen seconds." He stuck up two middle fingers. "Fuck. You."

"Ten seconds~" Alfred was pulling his hair out of his scalp. "Stop!"

"five-"

"Aden, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Bermuda, British East Africa, British Cameroons, British Guiana, British Honduras, British Somaliland, Brunei, Canada, Cayman Islands, Ceylon, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gambia, Gibraltar, Gold Coast, Grenada (Windward Islands), Hong Kong, China, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaya, Maldive Islands, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Borneo, Nyasaland, Papua, New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Rhodesia, Sarawak, St. Helena, Ascension Isl., Tristan da Cunha, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Seychelles, Sierra, Leone, Singapore, South Africa, South West Africa, Sudan, Tanganyika, Tonga, Trinidad, Trucial, Oman, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda and Zanzibar" He said in one breath. Arthur was amused at how he just said that in one sentence. That was a mouthful, but Arthur couldn't help but snicker softly. As Alfred caught his breath he looked at him confused.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You forgot one."

"WHAT?" He yelled, grabbing other people's attention.

"You forgot Australia." At that moment he wanted to jump around and laugh at his face.

"No way..." He knelt on the ground, looking defeated. Arthur laughed shortly. Alfred looked up and his eyes widened. "Whoa...wait...You're laughing!" He gasped. Immediately Arthur looked away and huffs. "I did not." He muttered. Alfred smiled brightly looked like he was about squeal like a maniac again. Arthur glanced at him. His eyes were sparkling.

Then the bell rang.

That was the moment Arthur had to sprint for his life.


Arthur panted heavily when he stood on the door frame, the whole class turned its heads to his direction, some snickering, some showing pity. The teacher slammed his hands on the table and yelled at him. Arthur didn't quite hear but he already guessed it. Detention. He nodded and slumped to his seat, still out of breath from that run. Alfred and the others also sprinted quickly, most likely also has gotten detention. That means he'd have to suffer one hour after school with the so called 'allies'. Arthur groaned while grabbing his books from his bag. Well, at least they weren't in the same class...For now.

He didn't notice that he sat beside an albino, whose red eyes were staring deep into his soul and his white teeth baring at him. Arthur grimaced. "What." He whispered. He looked hurt, then grinned. "Arthur, right?" He nodded slowly and carefully. "Alfred's been talking 'bout you. Says you're quite handsome." He snickered. The teacher shouted his name and he shrunk down in his seat and nodded, then rose back up so he was in eye level with Arthur. "He said I'm handsome?" Arthur whisper-asked. He nodded. "Don't know why. You're just an average dumb blond." Arthur huffed. "Says who?" "Says me, the great and awesome Gilbert from Prussia." Arthur scoffed. Prussia? That doesn't exist anymore! "I don't know with you but I think you're map is outdated." He joked, causing those red eyes to glare harshly at him. "Prussia exists within the hearts of people who believe!" He hissed rather loudly. Head turned at their direction, so did the teacher.

"Mister Beilschmidt, if you mind this is Math not History." The class started snickering at their teacher. Gilbert looked around and sank down to his seat, half hiding his face. Arthur kind of felt sorry for him.


When he was on his way to his peaceful corner he was rudely disrupted by the same albino from his Math class. His red eyes were fierce with anger and fury, and his face showed no sign of friendliness. Arthur's heart stopped beating the moment he was slammed against the wall. Those red eyes were still piercing through his skin.

"So, little Brit, care to talk?" He grinned and Arthur knew that by 'talking' he meant 'beating you into a pulp'. So Arthur nodded and shut his eyes close, embracing for the punch coming at his way.

"Hey! Stop it dude!" He heard someone yell across the hall. Arthur opened his eyes to see who this voice belonged to. Alfred. Of course, it was god damn Alfred. He pushed Gilbert off, a little too harsh actually. "Alfred, sure you are a great gaming buddy but back off now before I punch the both of you." He spat with fury. Everyone stopped in their tracks just to watch the scene unfold before them. Others came with a few bucks in their hands, shouting 'fight! Fight! Fight!'. There were people who were urging to call the council to stop the fight; Majority just watched them in awe. Then that German came, with the Italian clinging on his back trembling of what he might have seen if Alfred wasn't here to rescue him.

"Bruder, stop." He calmly said, placing his hand on Gilbert's shoulder. Soon after the frog and a guy he didn't know rushes in, grabs Gilbert's arms and drags him away, giving apologetic looks to the crowd of students. For a brief second he could see him glancing at Alfred, mouthing a thank you before throwing Gilbert into the male's restroom. And gone were the three. People continued their business and there he was left with Alfred.

"You okay?" He asks. Arthur nods, grabbed his bag he dropped on the floor when he was slammed against the wall and walked away. He could feel a hand being placed on his shoulder. He brushed the hand off immediately, only to realize it was only Alfred. He looked partially shocked but mostly confused. Arthur said a quick apology and rushes off outside, leaving Alfred confused in the hallway.

He sat in his normal spot, under the shade and a good view of those muscular sweaty jocks playing soccer. He fished the lunch pack from his bag, but didn't have much of an appetite since the event. He sighed and puts it back. He looked up to the beautiful, clear sky and sighed again, leaning against the wall. He wished that weather would be like this back in England. But it would never go the way he wanted. It's always one-minute sunshine and three hours of rain. He's gotten used to it, like all the English men who lives there. But he never got used to thunder. Every time when he hears the loud boom crashing in the distance he would crawl under his thick woolen blanket. Then his mother would come in and comfort him, singing a soft lullaby song, lulling him into a contented sleep.

He didn't notice the shadow that was inching closer to him. He looked up to the familiar face of Alfred, who had a hand in his hair. He bit the lower right corner of his lip before he started to say something.

"Uh, sorry..." He muttered, glanced back at whoever then looked at him. Arthur was confused for what he was apologizing for but shrugged it off and accepted it. At least this American was being nice for once. Then they stared at each other for a while. One minute, two minutes, three minutes until Arthur snapped out of his trance and looked at the players. Alfred left and now Arthur was alone. What was that about?

"I have a question..." He looked around nervously before kneeling in front of Arthur. "Do you have a problem...with people touching?" Arthur blushed brightly and looked away. He shook his head no. "I don't mind...from certain people." He uttered. Alfred nodded and left him alone for the rest of his lunch break.


Arthur slouched to the detention classroom, seeing the 'allies' huddled in one corner. Alfred brightened the moment he sees Arthur and gestures him to sit next to him. Arthur ignored him and sits on the opposite corner. He could see Alfred frowning in the corner of his eye. He stood up and walked to his table, sat beside him and smiled. Arthur rolled his eyes and groaned. He grabbed a Harry Potter book and started reading with his back turned against Alfred. He could hear Alfred grabbing his bag and moving back to his plave within his group of friends. He heard them whispers, occasionally hearing his name. He didn't mind. He didn't care. He didn't want to hang out with them anyways.

After an hour of hellish detention he arrived home. He slammed the door opened, yelling I'm home and not expecting a reply. Alistair already told him no one would be home when he is. So he wasted his breath for nothing.

He ran up to his room, dumped his bag on the floor and dumped himself on the bed. He groans. Two days of school and he's already surprised by this school's strangeness. Also the fact that it's called World academy and the amount of different nationalities this school holds is just great. Maybe that's why it was called World Academy. It was amazing that he hasn't met someone yet from Turkey.

He heard the bell ring downstairs. Arthur groaned and rolled out of his bed, fixed his hair and ran to the door. He opened it, surprised by who he sees in front of him. Alistair.

"What's wrong?"

"Work's wrong." He sighed and slammed the door shut behind him. He flopped on the couch, a hand rubbing his temples. Arthur sat beside him.

"Fired?" He nodded. "Coffee?" He nodded again, then shooed him away to the kitchen. Arthur wasn't really the fond of coffee, but he was great at making it. 'not so great at being a brother but exceptional at coffee', his siblings would call him. He thought it was flattering yet at the same time it was quite painful. When he first heard it he only thought his siblings only love him for his coffee. So he ran away, once, only to be found by Alistair in the woods. He was scolded at but they also told him how worried they were. Back then he thought it was lies.

He came back to the living room and placed the steaming cup of coffee on the table. He ran upstairs and went to his room. Like this morning his gaze falls on his shiny, green guitar. It was telling him to play it, to pluck those strings and create a beautiful melody. Step by step he inched closer to the guitar. His hand reaches forward to the neck, about to grab it. He clenches his fingers around the neck, picked it up slowly and sat on the bed. He balanced the guitar on his thigh and he thought of a song. Any song, something that wouldn't bring him to tears. But nothing came up except the songs he learned from his mother. He sighs and puts his guitar back to its stand. He hated himself for not being able to play his god damn guitar. He leaned his back against the wall, hugged his knees close to him and buried his head in between. Why can't he be over it?

Hours later when he was done crying and pitying himself the rest of his siblings were home. They started their routine of depressed drinking again and believe him, you cannot control animals that have gone wild.

He went downstairs, this time Sean joined the party. Bridgette was no where to be found so Arthur was stuck there with the three drunk animals throwing empty beer bottles to every direction possible. When he was about to leave Gavan grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and offered him a drink. Arthur shook his head now, yanked his sleeve away and sprinted up to his room as fast as he could. He shut the door behind him, out of breath. If he had to suffer another night of noisy inhuman monkeys he might as well put on his headphones again, listen to childhood songs and cry himself sleep. So he did.

Until his beautiful sleeping-beauty-like sleep has been disrupted by Alistair slamming the door open and drunkenly walking in with a half-empty bottle in his hand. Arthur grabbed his phone to check the time. It was god forsaken 3 AM. He looked at his brother and groaned. "What in the bloody fuck, Alistair." He sat up, turned on his night lamp and glared at Alistair. Alistair didn't seem to be affected and swung his arm around Arthur. He was so close Arthur could smell his alcoholic breath. He shivered.

"How's mah littah brothah doin', aye?" Arthur removed his arm. "Good and lacking sleep." Alistair chuckled. He sat on the bed beside Arthur. "Ya know, Artie? I found a job again!" What? So fast?

"I work in a gay bar sucking dicks!" Arthur felt a bright red blush spreading across his cheek. He pushed his brother away, who kept giggling like a little girl. He rolled his eyes at him, grabbed his collar and dragged him across the hall to his room. He threw him on the floor and shut the door. He walked back to his room, put on his headphones and attempted sleeping. No use. After at least an hour he sighed and gave up. He removed his headphones and opened his window. The cold night wind breezed into his room. It was Autumn and it was cold, but he didn't mind. He rested his head on the palms of his hands and stared at the bright white moon. It was a clear night, like the clear day. He could stare at the moon forever but he could feel his eyelids getting heavier by the second. In a flash he was asleep, with his arms dangling off the window.