Disclaimer: I, in no way claim any rights to or profits from Axis Powers Hetalia, those belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and the companies that print and distribute APH, and justly so.


Chapter 2: By the Water

Ivana set down her pencil and rested her head in her hands, closing her eyes with a tired sigh. She had given her message to Ludwig only a few days ago; yet today, on top of all the work she had to do, it seemed more like a week. Ivana raised her head slightly and checked her watch, it was 6:30. She had been working on her homework in the library for almost three hours now in an attempt to give her roommates a little breathing room. She was living in a campus apartment meant for four but had only two other roommates who shared the other bedroom. Feliciana and Lovina Vargas were both Italian exchange students, and had moved in a day after Ivana had. Despite being sisters, or perhaps because of it, Feliciana and Lovina were as different as two people could be. Ivana had almost immediately taken a liking to Feliciana, a culinary arts major who was open-faced, friendly and quickly insisted on cooking them all pasta for dinner. Lovina, a fashion design major who was cross, foul-mouthed and scowled often, would take some getting used to.

Apart from an obvious familial resemblance in haircurls; Ivana soon discovered that both of her roommates were also very loud in everything they did, whether it was cooking, cleaning, studying, talking, and even sleeping. But, as she had discovered the night before, most especially when they were fighting. After listening to them argue for half an hour as she was trying to do her accounting homework, Ivana had marched into their room and told them calmly but very plainly that if they didn't resolve their differences or take their fight elsewhere she would not be held accountable for what she would do to them. After that she hadn't heard so much as a peep from them all evening, or the next morning. When she'd returned from class at noon she'd run into Feliciana in the hall, but Feliciana had backtracked before Ivana could even say hello.

So after her last class today she had decided to give them the run of the apartment and do her homework at the library instead. Maybe when she got back tonight she could talk to them about last night. She really did want to be friends with them; but, it seemed the same thing that had happened in Russia was beginning to happen here too. There was something about her that put people off. She'd noticed it when she was around other children after her parents had finally split up. They had just treated her sister and her differently. Yekaterina had overcome it as she'd grown older. But she had always been the sweeter one, the more vulnerable one. For Ivana it had just gotten worse as she'd gotten older.

She sighed and picked up her pencil. She only had a few more practice questions from her accounting homework then she would be finished with all her homework for the evening and go home and make something to eat. Her pencil hovered over the paper but Ivana couldn't see it. She felt hollow, as if a black hole had opened up inside her and was determined to suck everything into it. She was so ostracized from everyone around her, both the strangers here in America and even the people she cared about back in Europe.

She did not notice the footsteps until they stopped behind her. "Hey, Ivana." said a familiar voice. She looked up, the pull of the loneliness forgotten, to see Alfred smiling down at her, a backpack over his shoulder.

"Mind if I join you?" Alfred asked.

She stared at him a moment then shook her head. "No, I don't mind. I was just working on some homework."

"That's just what I need to be doing," said Alfred with a laugh as he sat down on the other side of the table, "Don't worry. I won't bother you."

She nodded and started working on her equations again as Alfred unpacked his books. They studied in companionable silence for a few minutes. Then Alfred began to fidget. At first she ignored him, but when he began to tap his pencil, jiggle his foot, and hum at the same time she looked up at him.

"Sorry." he said and stopped. "I'm just trying to think."

She nodded and returned to her equation. A few minutes later Alfred said, "So, I heard that you stopped by the café a few days ago."

She looked up at him, "Yes I did."

"I'm sorry I missed you. Um, Francis gave me your message." He looked nervous. "Would you mind telling me it again?"

She frowned at him, "I only told Ludwig that I said 'Hello'. Why?"

"Oh", said Alfred looking a little relieved. "It's nothing; it's just that Francis has the tendency to exaggerate sometimes so I wasn't sure."

"I see." Ivana didn't understand what exactly he meant but if it had anything to do with the look Francis had given her a few days ago she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Quiet filled the void left by her words, until he began to tap his foot again. But it was only his foot this time. She began to work faster, the rate of her writing matching his tapping. Soon she had finished her equation. She looked up to see Alfred staring at his own paper and frowning.

Feeling obligated to start the conversation this time she said, "What are you working on?"

He looked up and the tapping stopped. "Just stats, math's not my thing, but I have to take it so I'm trying to get it over with. Are you good at math?"

"Yes." She hesitated but decided she might as well offer, "Would you like some help?"

"Sure." He turned the book around so she could see the problem and began explaining what he had done so far. She saw the mistake at once and tried to think of the nicest way to explain that he'd forgotten to make a certain number negative instead of positive.

"Shit", he hissed as he fixed the problem and reworked it. It came out correctly this time. "Thanks a lot. I'm always doing dumb stuff like that. I hate math."

"What's your major?"

His lips twisted in a sarcastic smile, "Business management, with a minor in Archeology. You?"

"Accounting."

"How appropriate, do you like it?" he leaned forward, folding his arms on the table.

"Yes…I like being able to put all the components together to create something new. It's interesting to see how the numbers work with one another, like it's a puzzle. Things are straightforward; you either add, subtract, multiply, or divide."

She blinked and realized she'd been staring into space. She never rambled, let alone about accounting, to anyone. Alfred was smiling.

"Yep, sounds like you like it a lot. So, you're going to become an accountant?"

"Yes, I'm going to work for an agency or a business. What about you, do you like business management?"

"Oh," he drew the word out as if considering what to say next "It's alright." He shrugged.

"It sounds like you don't like it."

"I like working with people. It's just the classes that make it seem so dry and boring, and there's so many rules. But it should open up job opportunities."

"What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged again. "I'm sure something will come up."

"What about the Archeology minor? That doesn't seem to fit with business management."

"No it doesn't. It's my hobby. I love that sort of thing, studying other cultures, their people, and their history. I'd do a minor in history too if I had enough money and time. But as Francis would say: 'C'est La Vie'", he said with a grin, pronouncing the French with a guttural, overdone French accent.

They worked in companionable silence a little while longer, breaking it only to discuss Alfred's statistics questions. Finally she stood up and packed her bags.

"You're going?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm finished."

He got up and began to pack too. "Can I buy you a coffee?"

She zipped up her bag, hesitating.

"As repayment for helping me with my stats homework", He added "Don't worry; it's not like a date or anything."

A small anxious knot in her chest relaxed at those words, "Sure."

After they had gotten their drinks from the shop next to the library, black coffee for Ivana and mocha for Alfred, they walked outside into the waning warmth of an autumn evening. Ivana was about to walk straight towards the intersection when Alfred put a hand on her arm.

"What?"

"Uh, do you want to take a different way home?"

"What do you mean?"

He pointed to the left: further down the street was the entrance of a paved trail. "That's the Coastal Trail. It leads down to the beach and then curves back toward the city. There's a little side trail that comes out by the café. It will take a little longer but the walk is really beautiful and the view of the ocean is spectacular."

"Дa, yes. Let's go. I've never seen the ocean up close."

They walked past the intersection and onto the trail. It curved away from the street and soon they were surrounded by trees. The traffic noise became muffled, then distant as they traveled further from the street. Ivana sighed, feeling the stress of that week drift away in the quiet of the trees. The awkwardness between her and her roommates seemed more trivial now. Alfred was also quiet and his step was intent. When they began to hear the distant crashing of waves he began to walk faster. As they neared a bend where the trees thinned he grabbed her hand and began to pull her with him. Her long legs easily matched his strides. She glanced over at him, about to protest, but hesitated when she saw the look of excitement on his face; it reminded her of a kid anticipating treat. They rounded the bend and he stopped just beyond the trees releasing her hand as if he never realized he'd grabbed it. She forgot what she'd been about to say as she walked a few steps past him, entranced.

It was beautiful. The beach was a wide, gentle slope made up of sand and small gravel. The trail kept its back to the tree line and turned back towards the city a mile or two down the beach just as that land rose into some sea cliffs.

"Do you want to walk down to the water?" asked Alfred, his voice full of quiet reverence.

Ivana looked down at her boots. They were spiked heels, not practical for walking in loose terrain. "Perhaps I should stay on the concrete for now. But I will come back. It is beautiful here."

"Do you want to meet here tomorrow or Saturday? I could come down during my lunch and we could hang out."

Ivana looked into those blue, blue eyes. She wasn't going to fall in love with him. She had too many important things to worry about, and she knew better. But there was something about Alfred that attracted her to him. Whatever it was that put others off didn't seem to bother him, if he had noticed it at all. He also hadn't tried to seduce her or get her to sleep with them like other men she had met. He was just a nice guy who wanted to be her friend. She certainly wouldn't turn him away on those grounds.

"I'd like that," she said with a small smile, "What time do you have lunch?"


Authoress Babble:
They drink coffee like it's water! They must be college students. Oh and before you say that Alfred is a complete idiot, let me confess that I too have mislabeled numbers when doing formulas. I tell you it makes using the quadratic equation a bitch. Which is why I'm not majoring in Math... ; D
Also, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and faved and alerted for this story after just one chapter! I really loved hearing from you all and I'm so glad you all enjoyed the first chapter. Here's hoping you enjoyed this chapter, but loved it or hated it I'd love to hear from you. Please review~!

Coming up next chapter: The lunch date and an indication of some of the minor pairings. Plus you get to see Ivana's noisy roommates in action.

Translations:
French: That's Life

Russian: Yes