Chapter 2: August week 2

The suitcase was bulging with clothes and various other items I had succeeded to cram in. It was almost too hefty for me to carry on my own and I was glad to see it gone for the next couple hours.

We arrived at the departure gate, and my mom hugged me for the tenth time today. She had slipped away early from work today so she could send me away. Proud tears lined her eyes as she squeezed my hands. "Good luck. Have fun and take good care of yourself. I'll miss you. Don't forget to call back home as soon as you get to school, okay?"

"Of course," I replied, trying hard not to let my voice crack. It was difficult. Tears began to spring in my eyes when I realized I won't be seeing her until next summer. I hugged her tightly, letting the torrent of warmth and love flood into me for the final time today. "Take care, mom. A year will pass before you even know it." We exchanged smiles and broke our embrace. I turned to my dad and gave him a hug. "I'll miss you too, dad."

His hand hovered behind my back for a moment's hesitation. My dad was never the sort to be close and cuddly, but he stiffly returned my hug and echoed with a small smile, "I'll miss you too. Good luck out there."

I drew back my arms, and raised a hand to wave good bye. My parents returned my wave, and I hastily turned my back. I marched through the departure gate, not even glancing behind as I distanced myself from my parents with each long, determined stride. But I admit, if I had happened look back even once, I beyond any doubt would've bawled my eyes out.

I finally reached Japan. The last hours had completely drained my energy. Other than the fact that I had to constantly divert myself from getting homesick, being alone on a plane was equally stressful. Now that I've landed, I pulled out the instructions that arrived with the letter.
There will be a second-year student waiting for you after you have passed the security screening.

I whirled around, trying to find someone that should stand out as a student within the throng of a few hundred people. The crowd eventually dispersed after several long minutes of searching, and I think I've found my target. His ruffled hair was yellow as straw and underneath those messy fringes were the thickest pair of eyebrows I've ever seen. I don't know what stuck out so much about him to make me think he was the one, but he was calm and collected. His nonchalance was stark contrast to the swirling mass of hasty people around us. If he wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere then he could be waiting for someone, right? I nervously padded towards him. He lifted his bright green gaze from the open book in his hand to me. He looked stern and rather… genteel.

"A-are you from World Academy W?" I stuttered.

"Yes, and you are [name]?"

I stood there, completely baffled for a moment before I commanded my head to nod. This guy's accent screamed British and no one –if there was anyone- could convince me otherwise. I guess that was where this gentlemanly air came from. He stuck out a hand and I shook it politely.

He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. "Arthur Kirkland, president of the student council, pleased to make your acquaintance. How are you?"

"Um… I'm good, thank you." It was hard not to stumble over my own words of courtesy. It's not every day that someone so young asks me "How are you?" in such sincere, mature formality. I wasn't wrong to have 'genteel' as one of my first impressions of him. I shifted uneasily under the glow of his eyes, and cleared my throat. "And, uh, how are you?"

He allowed himself a little smile of approval. "I'm fine, thank you. Nevertheless, I know you are tired, but we will have to walk back to another gate for another person to arrive. Though he landed before you, I still haven't seen any sign of hi-"

"ARTHUR! THERE YOU ARE!"

Arthur shut his eyes and hissed under his breath as if that voice grated his ears. "Oh, bloody hell. I was just hoping that there would be another Alfred F. Jones in this world, but no, it had to be you."

"You don't change at all do you, Arthur?" Alfred laughed. He ran a hand through his sandy blond hair, which was uncombed and messy from sleeping on the plane. I blinked at Arthur and Alfred. Apparently the two had known each other before, and Arthur seemed to have dropped his welcoming smile to an irritated scowl. Alfred captured my gaze flicking between the two of them and winked. "Hey, I'm Alfred. What's your name?"

"[name]," I said, moving in for a handshake. I stopped when he raised a fist, and I stared at it quizzically before realizing he wanted a fist bump. Well, this is embarrassing. We exchanged a rather awkward fist bump, but he thankfully didn't seem to mind. "Uh… nice to meet you, Alfred."

"Nice to meet you too, dudette." He grinned and turned back to Arthur. "Are we waiting for anybody else?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, fed up. "We were waiting for you, Yank. And how did you find me here, anyway? Why didn't you wait at the place you were supposed to?"

Alfred just laughed. He seems to be quite a carefree, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. "Oh, I just got something to eat. The food on the plane was horrible and I was a starving by the time I landed. So while I was walking back, I happened to see you."

"Well, you could've waited for a bit," Arthur sighed. He glanced at his wristwatch. "Let's get going. Everybody else is probably waiting for us."

Arthur led the way out of the terminal and sauntered toward some other gate. We clearly weren't heading out of the airport just yet. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going on a private plane that will take us to our island."

"Our school is on an island?" Alfred gawked, his eyes sparkling. "And we have a private plane?"

Arthur drew a hand through his hair in frustration. "Shouldn't you know that by now? It's basic information about our school. Seriously though, what was the headmaster thinking, letting you in?"

Alfred shrugged. "I have no idea how I managed to get in, but here I am."

"Me too," I added. "I never thought I'd possibly get in."

"Well, they do say the people least imagine it get accepted," Arthur said. He began picking up his pace when we entered our terminal gate. There were people already waiting at the seats.

"My, my, Arthur, making everyone wait isn't so very gentlemanly of you is it?" A man with gorgeous, shoulder-length blond hair called out, pompously shaking his head at Arthur. I'm surprised his hairstyle was allowed in such a school.

"You know [name] is the last to land right, frog?" Arthur scowled. The Brit sadly didn't seem to be getting along well with anyone I knew so far. "You can't blame me for being late."

The man rose from his seat. With a heart-stopping smirk tugging on his lips, he steadily held his indigo gaze at me. "Mm, so you're telling me to blame [name] instead?"

Arthur glared at him. "Bollocks. That wasn't wha-"

"Bonjour, Francis Bonnefoy, at your service." He winked, and suddenly grasped my hand to plant a kiss on my knuckles. I immediately flushed scarlet. Was this sort of behavior acceptable in this school too?

"Oh, for God's sake, behave for once!" Arthur shouldered Francis away from me. "Do you flirt with every girl you meet?"

Francis chuckled and sent another wink my way. "Oui, which is something you obviously can't do with those hideous eyebrows of yours."

The Frenchman had crossed the limit. I knew that even though I've been with them less than a minute. The signs were rather apparent. The color instantly rose on Arthur's face and the eyebrows in question twitched. "You bastard-"

"Hey, you two cut it out!" A girl marched towards us, her green eyes sharp and b
lazing. "Arthur, you're our student council president and you still act like a five-year-old! And you, Francis, don't frighten the new girl when we haven't even started school year!" She whipped around to face me and the commanding flare in her eyes instantly vanished. "I'm Elizabeta," she said amiably with a smile. "You and the new boy over there should get on the plane. We're leaving as soon as our luggage is loaded."

"Y'know, people here have definitely gone bonkers," Alfred commented as we walked through the jet bridge.

"Well, they're not bad, I think." I grinned as I stepped into the passenger compartment. I stopped in my tracks. There were only two seats left at the back. We exchanged a glance. "Looks like we're sitting together for the next two hours," I said.

"That's not a problem for me." He smiled widely. "Hope it's not for you, too."

"Oh, uh, sure, not at all." I was slightly taken aback by his frank, yet unperturbed reply. We squeezed through the narrow walkway and I seated myself by to the window. I turned to Alfred. "Say, you're the representative from the United States, right?"

The overhead compartment above him clicked shut and he threw himself down on the seat. "Yep, how'd you guess?"

I watched the bright curiosity swirl in his eyes and giggled. "Other than your oh-so American accent, you're wearing a bomber jacket with the number 50 at the back for the states, and not to mention a Captain America shirt."

"But anyone can wear a Captain America shirt!" Alfred pinched the collar of his shirt and peered at Captain America's shield print on it. He shifted closer the armrest that barred us and craned forward. "That aside, where are you from?"

"[country]."

There was a pause as my country's name clotted the turning gears in his brain. "Oh… um, right." He pressed his lips to a thin line and crossed his arms. "I totally know where that is."

The moment my seatbelt locked in place, the plane began rolling forward. After a few minutes maneuvering around the runway, it gradually gained speed and lunged into the air, rapidly soaring high into the sky.

"Whoa, look at that! Everything's getting small so quickly!" Alfred was pointing out the window, his shoulder leaning against mines as he did so. A jolt tingled up my spine and I was staring at him, openmouthed in bewilderment. He didn't seem to take any notice of that. He was too engrossed with the view outside. When there was absolutely nothing to be seen but clouds, he subsequently withdrew back to his seat, still utterly oblivious his previous behavior. He sat back in thought for a minute, his bottom lip slightly protruding, and then he brightened up again. "Hey, [name], are you into anime?"

"Oh my god, yes!" I squealed, earning a couple of curious glances from the other students. I lowered my voice. "And manga, too!"

"Sweet!" He propped his elbows on the armrest of his seat as a dimple dented each cheek. "Looks like we have something to talk about for the next two hours!"

Alfred and I chattered nonstop for the whole ride, only putting a hold on our conversation when the plane made a touchdown. Man, he could talk, alright. He kept coming up with new topics to talk about and never let a sliver of boredom show in my voice.

"Thank god that's over," Arthur muttered as he retrieved his bag from the overhead compartment next to us.

Alfred flashed a smile, not at all sorry for our two-hour long droning. "Oh come on, Arthur, we're just getting to know each other." Arthur just snorted in reply. Alfred opened our compartment and tossed my backpack over to me.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem. It'll be so awesome if we can talk together all the time," he said cheerily.

"Well, we have all year, don't we?" I grinned. "We might even have classes together."

"You two lovebirds at the back, it's time to go!" Elizabeta was waving her hands at the door of the plane. I realized with a jolt that everybody was gone but me and Alfred.

"Lovebirds?" I spluttered shrilly, a light blush invading my cheeks. "We're not-"

Elizabeta chuckled good-naturedly "I know, I know, I was just kidding. Now let's get off the plane. And don't worry about your suitcases. They'll be delivered to your dorms in an hour or so."

I shuffled past the aisle and down the stairs connected to the plane. After Elizabeta's jibe, I didn't dare glance back at Alfred. For some reason, I was too embarrassed to face another of his sunny, lighthearted grin. He probably didn't concern himself and pushed the jab to the back of his mind already.

I breathed in the fresh air of the Sunday evening. I had no idea the sun was already setting. My wristwatch had not been set after the jump from one time zone to another, and I had closed the shades while I was talking to Alfred. Everybody filed towards the a bus parked nearby, but since there were many students to cram in, I had to wait for my turn in awkward silence beside Alfred.

He was a nice guy, I admit. It was a good start to making friends in this new place. Judging by Arthur's demeanor towards Alfred, the American was probably an airhead at times and frequently irritated others with his passionate obsession of superheroes. Nevertheless, he was an upbeat, effervescent person. His radiant attitude was kept buoyant by the constant grin on his face. He was very talkative, a bit conceited in his speech, and hard to shut up. He was loud and obnoxious and often not aware of the level of his voice, but he was a good listener when he needs –or wants- to be.

The bus returned to the plane in a surprisingly short time. The school probably wasn't so far off. I climbed into a bus, my nerves tingling when I realized Alfred was right behind me. It's not like I didn't want him here or anything like that, but I was still disconcerted that Elizabeta called us 'lovebirds'. I don't want others to think that we were already getting affectionate on the first day here.

"Hey, can I have your phone number?" Alfred asked out of the blue.

"Wh-what?" I stared at him wide-eyed.

"Just in case I get bored and need someone to talk to."

I blinked. "D-don't you have the whole boys' dorm if you need someone to talk to?"

"Still." He leaned on his seat and crossed his arms. "Do you really think someone like Arthur would satisfy my boredom?"

"Probably not," I agreed. "Okay, it's [phone number]."

He keyed in my number. "Gotcha, thanks."

In less than ten minutes, we passed through the school gates and entered the central lane directly leading under an arch and cutting through the front side of school. On either side of the road were gardens, the grass abundantly green, and each bush and tree intricately pruned. The school was square-shaped with an empty hollow in the middle serving as a cobblestone courtyard. The lane ended under the arch and emptied into the courtyard. Opposite of the arch and looming above the school was a clock tower, flinging a long, intimidating shadow over the clearing. There was a fountain that not functioning at the moment in the center.

"The girls' dormitory is to the right of the courtyard, and the boys are on the left," Arthur announced when everyone had arrived. "We'll begin touring the campus tomorrow morning and we'll meet right here in the courtyard at 10 AM sharp. Right now it is six o'clock. Dinner starts in half a hour and your dormitory heads will take you to the cafeteria when it is time. Breakfast tomorrow starts at half past nine. That is all for today. Get rested tonight, do not be late tomorrow, and we'll see each other again at 10 AM. You are dismissed."

"Whoa, what is this?" Alfred hissed next to me. "Were we thrown into military boot camp?"

"Seems like it." I grinned along with him. "It suits your thing for Captain America though."

He snorted a short laugh and raised his right hand in a mock salute. "I'm off to my barracks then. See you at the cafeteria."

I returned his salute, smiling like an idiot, and ran to catch up with the other girls heading towards the dorm. The boy-girl ratio in World Academy W was quite drastic. We were a straggling group of seven compared to the raucous horde of boys strolling and laughing to their respective dorm.

The dorm's common room was neatly furnished with the usual designs. The floor was carpeted, and we had to take off our shoes so the material wouldn't get dirty. Three couches were centered in the room. There was a wooden coffee table in between, and by that lounge area was a widescreen TV embedded on the wall. In the corner was a little refrigerator and next to it was a staircase that led to the rooms upstairs.

Elizabeta clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, so as some of you may already know, I am Elizabeta, representative of Hungary and head of the girls' dorm. First off, I'll be telling your roommates and room number so you can go up and keep your stuff. Natalya, you'll be with your older sister Katyusha in room 1. Bella, Michelle, and I get the big room. We're in number 2. [name] and Lili, you're together in room 3. The doors are unlocked right now, but you should find a key each within your room. Go settle down in your rooms for about fifteen minutes and then come back down. We're going to get to know each other a bit more until it's time for dinner."

My eyes came into contact with a girl with chin-length blonde hair and a petite build. I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "Are you Lili?"

She nodded and gave me a little smile. "Should we take a look at our room?"

"Sure. Anyway, where are you from?" I asked as we strode up the stairs.

"Liechtenstein."

I frowned, a bit abashed for never having heard of her country before. "Um, sorry, but where is that?"

"In between Switzerland and Austria," she explained affably. "My country is really small, I'm not surprised people don't know much about us."

"What is it like?" I continued to query, relieved that she hadn't taken any offense.

"It's a quiet, peaceful place. We're surrounded by the Alps so it's very beautiful too. Where are you from, [name]?"

"[country]," I answered just as we reached our room. I turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

Our dorm room was simply rigged, however it was more spacious than I thought. There were separate beds, desks, and closets for the two of us. In the closets were uniforms for us each. We had our own bathroom, rather small but clean and nice. We also had a little balcony facing the football field behind the school building, and the rail was entwined by blossoming climbing plants. I dumped my backpack on one of the beds, and grabbed the key placed on one of the desks while Lili pocketed the other available key.

I sighed and laid on the bed. "This place is better than I thought."

"Well, it is a world-renowned academy after all," Lili said. "I heard that the headmaster funded all of this."

"The headmaster? Is it that Himaruya person that sent us the acceptance letter?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's him. His choice of qualifiers is also quite strange. Some students seem to have known each other before, and some are even relatives."

Oh, so that settled some questions about Arthur and Alfred. They did indeed know each other before coming here. "You seem to know a lot about this school," I remarked.

She giggled and sat down on her bed. "A close friend of mine also attends this school. I knew him back when I lived in Switzerland for a few years. He's a second-year student right now."

"So I guess he's the representative of Switzerland then?"

"That's right. His name's Vash and um…" There was a pause and I raised my eyes to look at her curiously. "And if you happen to meet him, please don't touch his stuff."

"Why not?"

"He could be very protective of his belongings, and he's not the best in socializing, too. He's also quite trigger-happy if he has a gun in his hand," she said with a smile, "but he has no serious intention to hurt anyone though."

"Uh, I'll keep that in mind," I said weakly, not sure whether to feel a bit reassured or be wholly horrified. Perhaps Alfred was right. Some people here have definitely gone bonkers.

Back at the common room, the other five girls were already present and we quickly took our seats on the couches.

"So let's actually start introducing ourselves," Elizabeta said. "You already know me. There is another second-year student here, so let's start with Katyusha."

"O-okay," stammered the short haired blonde sitting on the same couch as me. "I'm Katyusha, representative of Ukraine. I have a younger brother named Ivan, and this is Natalya." She gestured to the scowling girl next to her. "They're both first-years in this academy."

"Alright, Natalya, it's your turn," Elizabeta coaxed.

Natalya's dark blue eyes glowered at the Hungarian. "You already know my name, what else do you want?"

"Where you're from maybe?" Elizabeta suggested.

"Belarus."

"Belarus?" I echoed in puzzlement.

Natalya narrowed her glaring eyes at me. "Got a problem?"

"Well, if Katyusha's from Ukraine, then why are you Belarusian?" I asked, shaken by her harshness and hostility.

"We were raised in separate places by different family members," Katyusha explained. "I was raised in Ukraine, Natalya in Belarus, and Ivan in Russia."

"Now, how about it's your turn, [name]?" Elizabeta suggested.

"Um, I'm [name], from [country]."

"That's it? Want to add anything more?" she asked. When I shook my head, she continued, "Okay, next."

"I'm Bella, representative of Belgium!" chirped the cheerful brunette. Her lips were strangely curved and it distinctly resembled the mouth of a cat. "I have a brother in this school as well and he's the representative for Netherlands."

"My name's Michelle and I'm from Seychelles," said the dark-skinned girl with long, black pigtails.

"I'm Lili, representative from Liechtenstein."

"So this sums up our basic information of each other. Since the majority of the students are boys, the seven of us will have to stick together throughout the year." Elizabeta glanced at the clock and stood up. "Now then, time for dinner. I'm sure all of you are hungry."

I hurled myself on to the bed. Although my freshly washed hair soaked the pillow, I was too tired to care. My suitcase, which arrived after dinner, lay strewn in a corner due to my laziness to start organizing my things. Dinner had been quiet and rather tense. People were both exhausted and new students were still unwilling to speak to each other. I hadn't seen Alfred in the cafeteria and I was slightly disappointed. I was hoping for someone fun to talk to.

I rolled over to the side of the bed and reached down into my backpack. I had promised my mom to call back and I almost forgot about it. Yawning as I waited for her to pick up, I slumped back against the pillows.

"Hello?"

I felt a pang of loneliness when I heard her voice. It was just the first day and I missed my parents terribly. "Hi, mom, you told me to call back when I had settled down."

"Oh, so how is your school, honey?"

"It's definitely big," I said, peering out the sliding glass doors of the balcony. Night had fallen and it was completely dark except for the warm yellow glow of street lamps by the field. "We'll be touring the school tomorrow so I'm sleeping early today."

"How are the other students? Made any friends yet?"

"They're all nice, some a bit strange, but still good," I said with a little smile. "Though I can't say I have any close friends yet, I did talk to this guy called Alfred for two hours on the plane."

"What did you talk about?"

"Anime, mostly."

She laughed. "Well, what did I expect? Anyway, you sound like you're going to drop dead any second, so I'll hang up for now. We can talk whenever you're free to do so."

"Sure. Bye, mom."

"Sweet dreams, honey."

I turned off my phone and placed it on my desk. Lili was already fast asleep on her bed, so I tiptoed over to the light switch and flicked it off.