Well, chapter 2 is here! Sorry it took long. I had exams and revision and...stuff. But I've finally got it typed up and edited!

Build A Rocket Boys!

Hetalia AU fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia Axis Powers. All characters (c) Hidekaz Himaruya

Chapter 2: Lippy Kids

'One lone June
I came down from the trees
And kerbstone cool
You were a freshly painted angel'

Lyrics from Lippy Kids by Elbow

Yao and Im Yong Soo had the advantage of being in the same form, which was 9A ("'A' for amazingly awesome da-ze!" Yong Soo would say.) Their form consisted of idiots, smart-ass kids and weird kids. Yao's group of friends were normal. Well they were the most normal…but still far from it. Yong Soo was obviously included. The others were Alfred F. Jones (an immature American brat), Arthur Kirkland (An English kid who couldn't cook for his bloody life) and Francis Bonnefoy (The class pervert. Sometimes he would be with his friends, Gilbirt and Antonio in their group called the Bad Touch Trio…or Bad Friends Trio, whatever you felt like saying.). But there was someone who was outside the group whom Yao was friends with. That boy was called Kiku Honda. A small Japanese boy with short black hair and had such sweet brown eyes. He was popular (one thing Yao wasn't) with everyone especially the girls. Everyone (including teachers) would call him perfect, smart and polite. But he was rather stoic at times. But apparently it added to his loveable personality.

Even though they were friends. Over the years they had slowly grown apart. But they would still email each other at least…once a week. Yao would usually send a long rambling email and Kiku would reply with one sentence which would piss Yao off.

"We're here~!" Yong Soo proudly shouted to the members of the form. A few turned their heads to look, other just whispered amongst themselves. Yao simply sighed at sat down at his desk. Well things could be worse. Like the time they were late and then went into the wrong classroom and Yong Soo shouted something stupid that only their class would get. But it seemed as if everyone but Yao forgot about that. Miss Hédervár, their form teacher began to take the register. She spoke in a thick Hungarian accent, which sometimes made it a little difficult to understand her. She was a sweet and cheerful teacher, but when she lost her temper it was scary. Nevertheless she was pretty.

This gave Yao the opportunity to glance around the class, to see who was in, who wasn't and who he was going to avoid. Yong Soo was on his new smart phone (that everyone had apart from Yao), on an instant messenger application talking to Alfred. Then there was Ivan, who had his eyes closed and was smiling. Smiling at Yao.

Ivan had always been the source of everything bad in Yao's life. He would always pick on Yao for no reason, yanked his hair, and made fun of his accent and culture. He would find every single little flaw and exploit it to the world. Yao suffered humiliation and he couldn't do anything to stop it. His school was filled with sick, mindless, heartless bastards. He could only carry on and do his best to ignore it.

Yao quickly turned away to look stare into space somewhere else. Then, his attention was turned to Kiku who nervously opened the door to the room. "I-I'm sorry I'm late miss." He politely said and took his seat, which was opposite Yao.

The two had met a few weeks after secondary school had started. Yao had found Kiku sitting on his own looking into space. He seemed depressed, and Yao didn't have many friends then so he thought he might as well say hi. It turned out they had a lot in common and they became very close. But even with so many similarities there were differences. Like the fact Kiku was popular and Yao wasn't. And Kiku always looked presentable, unlike Yao. But these differences were small but they seemed to impact Yao a bit. For example, if Yao was trying to talk to Kiku, suddenly someone (normally a girl) would interrupt and suddenly Yao became non-existent. And some people would always question Kiku why he would be hanging out with a scruffy kid such as Yao.

Soon after, Kiku wanted popularity, he wanted to get stronger and he wanted to get known. Sadly, this meant ditching Yao and talking to him as little as possible.

Because who wanted to be seen with an unpopular, scruffy, effeminate looking, small for his age, weak boy such as Yao?

Oh how Yao wished for those golden days.

It was lunch break and Yao was in the library. He didn't eat lunch…he wasn't hungry. He knew it was bad for him however he didn't really care.

The library was quite large. There were several tables and chairs in neat little rows and a labyrinth of bookshelves. Yao was sitting in the corner at a table. Alone. The seat next to him was empty. He sighed and took out a thick black sketchbook and flicked through it. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" A sweet voice asked. Wait…that voice could only be…Yao swung around on his chair only to meet eyes with none other than…"Of course not aru! Well, it's nice to see you…Kiku."

The Japanese boy chuckled and sat down next to him. "You haven't said that in a long time Yao-san."

"I-I wonder why…aru…" It was true. Ever since Kiku became friends with the German and Italian kid, ever since he stopped seeing Kiku's face…he stopped the cute little suffix at the end of his sentences. But he still didn't have a clue to why.

"So why did you decide to

"Well we haven't talked in a while Yao-san," More like four weeks. "I thought we could use the time to catch up, I have some time." He smiled.

"That would be nice aru!" Yao grinned. Why was he so happy?

Time passed quickly and Yao found his eyes fixed on Kiku's lips as he talked, his eyes his… "Kiku! There you are! Help me!" A certain Italian came running over to them, waving a math textbook in front of Kiku's face. "I need help with my homework ve! Help me per favore!"

"Of course..." Kiku turned to Yao and bowed his head apologetically, "I'm sorry Yao. Maybe next time?" Of course the last time Kiku said that was…four weeks ago. Kiku stood up and began to walk away with Feliciano. "Yeah…next time." Yao frowned, hoping Kiku would turn his head and smile sweetly at Yao. But he didn't even look back. He looked at the floor and slapped himself. Seriously, why was he acting like this?

"Yao~!" A Korean voice called out to him from behind. Yong Soo happily ran over to Yao, clashing shoulders with Kiku, nudging him with force. Kiku flinched. He wanted to say something but politely held his tongue and carried on walking. Yong Soo sat on the empty chair next to Yao. "Ni hao…" Yao was still looking at the floor; he spoke in a dreamy voice.

"…Is there something the matter…? You don't seem to happy to see me." Something changed in Yong Soo's voice that sent a shiver up Yao's spine and made him snap back to reality. "I'm fine Yong Soo." This time, the response was firm and clear. Yong Soo shifted closer to Yao before grabbing his ponytail and forcing him to look up. His hands were cold and dry. It made Yao gasp. Why were they so cold? It was summer…not winter. "You were with him weren't you?" Yong Soo's voice dropped an octave. "Yes. So? Do you have a problem?" Yao's tone of voice was harsh. He didn't normally speak like this. It made Yong Soo's eyes widen a bit. This gave Yao the opportunity to free himself from Yong Soo's grasp. Yong Soo smirked at the question. He was never like this…why now…he seemed so- "Yes."

That one word shot right through Yao. He couldn't say anything. And despite being clever and an 'A* student' he could not sense the jealousy in his friend's voice. Yong Soo stood up and looked down at Yao with cold, piercing eyes. "Yao…" Yong Soo frowned. His voice now sounded childish, "How comes you don't say 'aru' to anyone but him? Is he special to you? What about me?" Wait…when did…

"None of your business!" Yao snapped at him, "And what were you doing? Spying on me?"

His 'friend' simply laughed. "Yes. So? Do you have a problem?" Yong Soo turned away and didn't say a word after that. Yao couldn't believe this…how dare his friend do that to him! "What's your problem Im Yong Soo? TELL ME!" In pure anger, he grabbed Yong Soo's shoulder and clenched it tightly. Forcefully, he turned Yong Soo around only to be greeted with a scared and confused face.

"Ouch…Yao what're you doing? I-It…that hurt you know…"

Yao didn't know what to say. He didn't know what just happened. He just stood there looking at Yong Soo. "A-Anyway hyung, there's nothing wrong with me…but is there something wrong with you? You don't normally raise your voice like that…but please calm down…people are staring…" Some people were in fact staring at them. Some looked confused, some a bit scared and some were pointing. Yao blushed in embarrassment. Shit what did he do?

"I'm sorry Yong Soo…I didn't know what came over me…" He looked down at the floor. Yong Soo smiled brightly in response. "It's okay hyung. I'll forgive you!"

The rest of the day continued normally. As if that event had never taken place.

And Yao intended for it to stay that way.

Wow that took some time.
Over all I really liked this chapter.

'Per favore' means 'please' in Italian by the way.

Explaining time!
Right you know how Japan wanted power and kinds ditched China? I've applied that to the story. So he wants popularity and he believes Yao will drag him down.
Actually it happened to me so yeah I know.
I also liked the idea of giving Yong Soo a split personality. To show North and South if you get what I mean.

Please look forward to the next chapter! Reviews are much appreciated~

-Lemonade from Darkness