Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just ship it.

Warning: swearing, male x male pairings, AU, and a touch of OOC (which I'll try to avoid the best I can).

Wow! Thanks for all the support! I'm really glad you guys liked the concept more than I thought you would :)

Here's Alfred's chapter to go along with Lovino's. I always seem to make him play American football, so in this fic he's a baseball player.

oOo

This city is just like all the rest.

Being with them is fun. More fun than being with people.

Nobody comes outside anymore. There are no people in this city.

I will leave this city and go to another one.

I hope that I will meet someone. Someone just for me.

-CLAMP (A City With No People)

The world is a strange and sometimes lonely place. People used computers to communicate with people halfway around the world. They used their phones to talk to loved ones without seeing them face to face. The internet alone helped bring all the information in the world to the user. It was more convenient to rely on something so simple to do all the work for them; a tool to make life easier. They relied on it just as much as they relied on heart pieces to bring them their soulmates. The world is a strange and sometimes lonely place.

Alfred F. Jones was excited.

Some would argue that he was always excited, but today was a special cause for his crazy caffeine- induced antics. Today, he was transferring to the one and only World Academy with his twin brother! To most, it would be nerve-wracking and overwhelming to be able to attend such a prestigious school, but not to Alfred. To him, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to play for the best high school baseball team in the nation. World Academy was his way into playing for a good college team and then professionally if all went well.

He was way too excited to be nervous.

Alfred wasn't a child anymore, so he tried to act like the mature young adult he was becoming. He started by waking up at the crack of dawn to jump on his bed for a half hour before stopping long enough to make coffee and return to doing backflips off the bed.

Not for the first time in their lives, his parents were grateful they had high ceilings at their place.

The Jones family lived in a modest countryside home in a rural area, miles away from the big city. Both boys had grown up there. They knew everyone in town and everyone knew them (when Matthew was visible, of course). It was the blessing and curse of being born and raised in a small town.

He had always wanted to move to a bigger place like Sekai City. Alfred didn't think there was anything wrong with his old town, he just needed to be surrounded by people and things to do every second of the day. Boredom was like poison for the energetic American.

The blonde drained his coffee and changed into his new school uniform. He haphazardly buttoned up the stiff shirt, but ignored the top three buttons near his collar and slipped on the tan sweater vest. The black tie was ignored completely. Alfred figured if he was going to be traveling three hours today, he may as well be comfortable. With that logic he donned his bomber jacket and headed towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

While brushing, he stared at his reflection and wondered what his special someone looked like. Were they tall and lean like him or short and cuddly? Maybe his soulmate was tall and cuddly? Alfred hoped they liked hugging with all the hugs he liked to dish out. If that person was really his soulmate, he was sure hugging him or her all the time would be okay. He spat out his mouthfull of toothpaste and smiled again. He was looking forward to meet his true love one day.

I wonder what Robin's doing right now…?

He wiped his mouth and rinsed off his toothbrush.

Are they brushing their teeth like me? Or maybe Robin likes to sleep in?

Ever since he was six (and became obsessed with Batman) Alfred's codename for his soulmate was 'Robin.' He had since been spoken to by his brother that a 'soulmate' was different than a 'sidekick,' but Matthew still had doubts whether he really got through to him or not.

"You have to be their boyfriend, not their BFF!" he always told him.

Over time, Matthew had gotten the concept through Alfred's thick skull, but the endearing codename had stuck. Eventually, everyone gave up correcting him and just went with it, hoping he'd find his special someone soon.

In fact, Alfred had been diligently searching for his soulmate his entire life. The first 15 years had been a bust, but he was just as determined as ever to find him or her. It was his heroic duty! He had vowed never to give up! He was sure his soulmate was feeling sad or lonely because it was taking Alfred so long to find them…and that made him feel a little sad. The sooner he found Robin, the faster they could be happy together!

oOo

By the time the rest of the population had woken up (and got out of bed without doing backflips), the townsfolk had been in and out of Alfred's house to wish him and his brother the best on their trip. Since the boys would be living in the school dorms, they wouldn't see their hometown again until Christmas.

"Now you take care, young man," Yao poked at Alfred's heart piece with a smirk. "Find the person who completes this, because you and I both know you're no angel, aru."

Alfred grinned, fond memories of chasing Yao's pet panda down the road, sneaking extra portions at his Chinese restaurant, and convincing customers that the people who tried to dine and dash were the secret ingredient in Yao's egg drop soup flashed through his mind.

"Yes, sir!" the blonde mock-saluted.

It was almost an inside joke Alfred had with his former boss about his heart piece. Alfred showed off his intricately curved necklace with great pride. The upper tip resembled an angel's wing. When he was younger, people assumed it was given to him because he was an angel.

But even then he knew better.

Alfred was a hero and always helped a person in need, but he was also a joker who loved pulling (mostly harmless) pranks on others. He knew without a doubt that the angel wing symbolized the person he was going to share his life with…Someone sweet, kind, and fun.

Even now, people still believed he had it because he was such an innocent, caring guy. He was the boy who lived down the road who knew how to fix cars and walk down the street, groceries in one hand, elderly person in the other. The nice kid going to school on a baseball scholarship, who would never dream of causing trouble. No, sir. It was always funny to watch Yao (and occasionally Matthew's) reactions to people calling him a saint or an angel.

He half-expected his soulmate to have a devil wing or something on his or her heart piece to represent his troublemaking nature.

oOo

Because the boys were moving into the dorms, their mother and father took off work to drive them to World Academy. They wanted to see them off, Matthew needed the car ride to let it fully sink in, and Alfred needed the car space to fit his video game collection and life-sized model of Captain America's shield.

"You boys are going to have so much fun!" their mother beamed.

"It's not fair," Matthew pouted. "I already lived with Alfred for 15 years and now I have to be his roommate at school too?"

"Son, we already discussed this…" Mr. Jones tried to keep his straight face, but ended up grinning. "Your roommate is a good kid."

"My roommate is a slob."

"Your roommate can hear you and takes offense to that," Alfred jokingly punched his brother's arm.

"Ow! Al! I already told you that you don't know your own strength!" Matthew pouted. "I take it back, my roommate is a slob and a brute."

"How can you say that, bro?"

"How can you bring every single video game you own with us to school?" sighed Matthew. "You know our dorm room is only so big, right?"

"But what if I meet my soulmate and they want to play a specific game?"

"If he or she even likes video games…"

"Don't say that, Robin is going to be totally cool with my library of awesomeness!"

"Do you think you're funny or something?"

"I think I'm adorable."

At that point, Matthew decided it was faster to pass the time by ignoring his brain-damaged brother instead of arguing with him. That got him nowhere and his arm still hurt from Alfred's initial 'playful' punch. The hoser.

oOo

Not long after they passed through the school gates, Mr. Jones was directed towards the dormitories. He drove his family there after pulling over to remind his oldest son to refasten his seatbelt and stop bouncing in his seat. Alfred was able to click his seatbelt back in, but couldn't control his excitement at seeing his new school. He was like a puppy in a tennis ball factory. It was huge! There were people his age walking all over the campus with smiles on their faces, one of the study halls looked suspiciously like an arcade, and the baseball field…oh, man. They only caught a glimpse of it, but it was enough to convince Alfred that he had died and gone to heaven. Or possibly Iowa.

In the main lobby of the boys dorms, the twins were given their room number and a set of keys. The Jones brothers were on the second floor, but that didn't seem to faze Alfred. He had three-fourths of his stuff unloaded into the dorm room before the Resident Assistant even made it to their room to introduce himself…well, reintroduce himself.

"Bonjour!" a cheerful voice came from the doorway. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that little Alfie and Matthieu all grown up?"

"Holy crap, is that you, Francis?" Alfred laughed, setting down another box. "How's it going, man?"

"It's good to see you again," Matthew found himself swept up in a hug from his cousin. He had forgotten how touchy the boy was. Luckily, he managed to squirm away before Francis's hands traveled too far for his liking.

"Oui! What a treat to see my famille here at World Academy!" the Frenchman smiled, moving on to hug everyone in the room. "Auntie! Uncle! How do you manage to stay so youthful? You haven't changed a bit since I was a child!"

"Oh, Francis, that's so sweet of you to say!" Mrs. Jones gushed. Her husband wasn't as pleased.

"You haven't changed either…" he mumbled.

Francis began talking with them (in order to do the bare minimum of lifting boxes to help his cousins move in) about how he just informed the building coordinator of their arrival. A student guide would be on his way within the hour to give them a tour of the school.

"Naturally, I would have loved to give you the tour myself, but this floor just can't seem to function without me!" boasted Francis. "I'm sure they'll send someone nice though."

Alfred and his mother were impressed. Matthew and his father knew he was full of crap, but were too polite to call him out on it.

After everything had been moved in, the Jones brothers said goodbye to their parents. After promising to call and write (texting counts, right?) the boys waved them off in the main parking lot. While Mrs. Jones stood strong, her husband had the misfortune of getting dirt in his eye. Or was it allergies? He changed his excuse too many times to keep track. The blonde tried to take some comfort in the fact that he was almost positive he'd be getting a phone call within the week from campus police over some crazy stunt his son had pulled (releasing all of the frogs from the science labs into the cafeteria, adding hundreds of instant Jello boxes to the pool, anything was fair game, really. Alfred was creative), so he'd just have to show up in person to discipline him. Mr. Jones regained his macho pride when his wife offered to drive for the first leg of their trip home, honked twice for the boys, and drove off.

"Uh, Francis…?" Matthew said reluctantly.

"Yes, mon ami?"

"You know that we're cousins, right?"

"Of course! Why?"

"So, please remove your hand from my back pocket…" he asked uncomfortably.

"You're so cute!" Francis patted his shoulder affectionately, but did as requested. "You both will have to rely on me to keep the other students from falling in love with you! Henceforth, you may both call me Big Brother Francis!"

"Cool!" Alfred beamed, having missed the first part of the conversation. He had been rocking on the heels of his feet, debating whether he should blow off the school tour and try to find the baseball field on his own.

"B-But I already have a big brother…" Matthew sweatdropped. "And he's a handful on his own."

Ignoring this, Francis guided them back to their dorm room, flopped onto their bunkbed, and began chatting their ears off. Alfred sat beside him, while Matthew pulled over a desk chair.

"I know you'll love it here! Lots of lovely ladies and gentleman to choose from!" he winked. "You may even find your true love!"

"Huh?" Alfred questioned. Relationships weren't really his area of expertise.

"You're soulmate, of course!"

"How did you know we still haven't found them?"

"Because your heart pieces are still dark grey!" Francis laughed. "Surely they at least taught you that in your small town?"

Alfred blushed a little and noticed the small heart shape his cousin wore around his neck was a beautiful silver.

"Wait, why is yours a different color?"

"You poor thing!" Francis hugged him. "They really didn't teach you anything out in the boonies, did they?"

"It's silver because he already found his partner," Matthew responded.

"Ohhh…" Alfred nodded in understanding. He must have forgotten. "Congrats, dude!"

"Thank you!" Francis smiled with pride. "I shall have to introduce you both to Arthur sometime. He's a bit of a spitfire, but he's great in—"

"—Ahem."

A stern voice greeted them at the door. An older boy with dark brown hair immaculately swept off to the side and a perfectly pressed school uniform looked at them like a disappointed father. Alfred couldn't help but notice the strange mole the new guy had too.

"My name is Roderich Edelstein," he nodded to the two newcomers. "I've been assigned to give you a tour of the school grounds."

"Nice to mole you," Alfred realized his mistake too late. "I mean meet you!"

Francis chuckled while Matthew buried his face in his hands.

oOo

Fortunately, the tour had gone off without a hitch. Roderich was clearly annoyed by Alfred's constant questions and obsession with the baseball field as well as Matthew's rather bizarre tendency to get lost in a crowd, but he was able remain composed. If Francis had set the standard for students attending World Academy, Roderich had to raise it from sleazy to sophisticated. If these two newcomers were going to fit in, they needed to act like young adults, not like Francis or his two obnoxious friends. The brunette made a decision to keep the Jones brothers as far away from the Bad Touch Trio as possible. They, especially Gilbert, would be a terrible influence.

"So, uh, Roderich…" Alfred began. "About how much longer until we get to see the baseball diamond?"

"In due time, Alfred," their guide sighed. "We need to finish up visiting the classrooms on your schedules, so you know where to go tomorrow."

"Fine…" the blonde pouted. "But are we almost done, because I really want to see the—"

"—Indeed," Roderich said through gritted teeth. His patience with the hyper 15 year old was beginning to wane.

"U-Um…" Matthew stammered.

"What?" Roderich replied a bit too sharply. He softened when he saw the younger brother flinch. "That is, what is it, Matthew?"

"I-It's nothing really, but didn't we pass this hallway already?"

"Eh?"

"I remember this wall of paintings," he gestured to the art display. "I was admiring the winter landscape piece earlier…"

"Yeah and I remember this one!" Alfred gestured to a cool-looking fiery sunset by someone named L. Vargas. He had wondered how the artist had made something so unreal look so natural and wouldn't it be awesome if the actual sun exploded into a new sun each sunset? He already liked the artist. Maybe they could be friends?

"…Oh."

"Roderich?"

"…Are we lost?!"

oOo

Despite insisting they were right where they needed to be, Roderich knew they were completely and utterly lost. It wasn't his fault he very rarely went inside the Science wing of the school. His studies all focused on music. He knew that area the best. Why would anyone take a class about dissecting rodents when they could learn the masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven? Even Chopin was better than this!

"What should we do?" Matthew asked.

"Don't worry bro, just leave it to the Hero!"

"Oh, boy…"

"You, there!" Alfred walked over to a group of students. "Could you tell us how to get to the—ack!"

Before Alfred could finish his question, his tour guide hastily grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and pulled him away. During their brief scuffle, Alfred couldn't help but notice the silvery heart piece necklace around Roderich's neck. It was a strange circle shape with two smaller circles cut out of the middle and connected by a thin line. If Francis was right, that meant that he had already found his soulmate. Silently, Alfred wondered what kind of person could deal with their tour guide's uptight, stick-up-his-ass behavior.

"We can't just ask someone!" the brunette hissed.

"Why not?" the blonde asked. "We're lost, aren't we?"

"W-We're not lost! I'm just reacquainting myself with the Biology hall before we move on!"

"Still as stubborn as ever, aren't you Roderich?"

The three boys turned their heads to the new voice, belonging to a tall, beautiful girl with long brown hair and bright green eyes.

"Elizabeta," the guide coughed, blushing slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I sensed my darling was in danger and came to help."

"Really?" Alfred asked. That was a pretty cool superpower.

"No!" Elizabeta laughed. "I happened to see Roderich walk into the Science wing of the building and figured something had to be horribly wrong."

"You weren't far off…" he mumbled. "I was assigned to show these two around, but I'm…I'm less familiar with this area of the school."

"Oh, well in that case, let me help you!" she beamed, knowing Roderich was too proud to ask for help. "I've had a few classes here before."

She glanced over the class schedules and was immediately able to get them back on track.

"Thanks Elizabeta!" Alfred grinned. "You really saved the day!"

"Yeah…" Matthew chimed in.

"You're assistance was appreciated."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie!"

Alfred couldn't help but laugh. The two upperclassmen were like a comedy act. He didn't think anyone could loosen up their stingy guide, but the laidback girl did with ease. When he tried to explain it, Elizabeta joined in on the laughter while Roderich shot him another disapproving look.

"Of course we get along!" he snorted. "We're soulmates after all!"

"Really?" both Jones brothers asked.

"Yep," Elizabeta happily fished her heart piece necklace out from under her uniform. "Roderich is the someone just for me!"

Her necklace was a beautiful silver music note. He wasn't sure, but Alfred thought it was a treble clef. Regardless, it fit in perfectly with the odd-looking circle cut out Roderich was sporting. Alfred had a whole new level of respect for the girl.

This level of respect reached the stars when she informed him they could go see the baseball field next.

oOo

This was perfection. The cool grass beneath his toes, the field that was bigger than his entire middle school, the gentle breeze carrying the smell of the ball park…In his mind, Alfred could see the stands around him filled with people. They were cheering his name as he hit the home run that won his team the game. Then his special someone would run down from the stands to congratulate him on his win. He'd hug his soulmate, dip them low over home plate, and kiss them like they'd never been kissed before.

"Is…is he okay?" Elizabeta asked, more than a little worried. Alfred had been lying motionless in the grassy field for awhile now. She and the others watched from the dugouts, mildly concerned as the blonde's wide grin only grew.

"He'll be fine," Matthew replied, playing around on his phone.

"But he's been out there for…at least 15 minutes…" Roderich glanced at his watch. "That can't be healthy."

"I didn't say he was healthy, I just said he would be fine."

oOo

After having toured over half of the campus, Roderich and Elizabeta brought the boys to the library. It had been an impressive area with seemingly endless towers and shelves of books. Matthew was in bookworm paradise and after ten minutes, Alfred was bored out of his mind. He loved books, he really did, but standing around and listening to Roderich drone on about when the library was built, each year additions were made, and when they installed a computer lab was putting him to sleep. Since they had already explored the baseball field, there was absolutely nothing motivating Alfred to pay attention. He needed a distraction before he was tempted to pull the fire alarm to escape Roderich's less than entertaining lecture.

His prayers were answered in the form of a small yellow bird.

"Wha-hey! My pen!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Huh? Where? Did you get mugged?" Alfred sprang out of his half-dozing state, looking around for suspicious people.

"That bird stole my lucky pen!"

The group stared at Matthew in disbelief.

"Uh…what?"

"That bird stole my lucky pen!" Matthew repeated. "There he goes, don't lose him!"

The group stared at Matthew take off after the speedy yellow bird before reluctantly following.

"Bro, it's just a pen!" Alfred said in a half-shout half-whisper, Elizabeta had already warned him about the crazy librarians.

"You don't understand! It's my lucky pen!"

"I thought being eccentric was my gimmick!"

"Shut up and help me catch him, hoser!"

Sadly, the yellow-feathered pen thief made use of the fact that humans can't fly without the jet packs his owner and buddies were trying to create. He flew out the highest window, pen nestled in his beak, leaving a very distraught Matthew behind.

"My pen…"

"Sorry, bro…"

"But it really was just a pen," Roderich pointed out.

"Yeah, I'll lend you another one if it's such a big deal," Alfred offered.

"No, you don't understand…that was my lucky pen," Matthew's face fell. "The one I passed the World Academy entrance exam with…"

"Sorry, sweetie…" Elizabeta gave him a hug. "We can try to look for it again once we get outside. Maybe he dropped it somewhere?"

"O-Okay …"

oOo

The tour was great, but it felt nice to be back outside. Alfred let the sun warm him up as he stretched his arms. It must have gotten warmer since they went inside the main building, Alfred could feel his entire body tingle as the sun rays hit him.

"There he is!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Who?" Alfred looked around.

"It's the bird who took my pen!" the younger Jones brother pointed at the mischievous bird sitting on a bench with Matthew's ballpoint pen clenched menacingly in its beak.

"If you're going to go chase it down again, I'll wait for you here."

"If you were a real hero, you'd help me catch it…" Matthew glared at his brother.

"That's low, bro…" Alfred frowned. "…Fine, I'll do it. You take point and I'll flank him."

Matthew nodded and took off, serious expression on his face. Roderich tried to convince them both how childish it was to go chasing off after a bird, when he realized who's bird it was. Where there was Gilbird, there was Gilbert. The worst possible person to introduce the two young and very impressionable transfer students to. Without a word, Roderich ran after Matthew in order to avoid a run in with the delinquent albino. The blonde didn't seem to notice and continued chasing after Gilbird, who hopped off the bench and into a tree. Matthew stood below it, trying to call the bird down.

"Poor kid," Alfred sighed, noticing it got remarkably warmer the longer he stood outside. It was strange that nobody else seemed bothered by it.

"Does this happen a lot?" Elizabeta asked with a giggle.

"Yep, he's lucky his big brother's the hero!" Alfred grinned. "I'm always bailing him out of trouble."

"How very noble," she laughed. "Are you okay? You look a little flushed…"

The blonde reached for his shirt to undo a few more buttons. The sun must have really been beating down on him. His entire chest felt like a furnace. He was way too young for heartburn, right?

"I'm alright, just a little warm ever since we got back out…side…"

As he popped open a button, his fingers brushed against his heart piece necklace. It was no longer cold.

"Alfred?" Elizabeta waved her hand in front of his face. It was like the baseball field all over again. "Alfred, you okay?"

"M-My necklace…it's warm!"

"Really?" Elizabeta exclaimed, bouncing in excitement. She instinctively reached for her camera.

Let it be a hot guy… Let it be a hot guy… Let it be a hot guy… Let it be a hot guy…!

"Elizabeta!"

"Y-Yes?" she startled a bit, pulled out of her thoughts.

"How will I know which one's my soulmate?"

"When you see him, you'll just know…" she smiled.

Alfred took out his necklace and walked a little farther, feeling it grow warmer and warmer in his hand. His own heart began to beat faster. He'd been waiting so long for this moment. Somewhere in the courtyard his soulmate was waiting for him. Just for him! But who…?

He locked eyes with a handsome brunette boy. Everyone around him seemed to blur together but the sun-kissed boy was crystal clear. The blonde couldn't pinpoint it, but something about him was different than the rest. He was special. The American crossed the grass, walking closer and closer to the brunette. Alfred still didn't know if this person was his soulmate. He didn't even know his name. All that he knew was the distance between the two of them was moving; and he wanted it to be smaller. He wanted to be closer.

The mystery boy's lips parted slightly as if he was about to say something to him. Alfred felt his pulse quicken. In addition to having the most amazing green eyes Alfred had ever seen, the boy was holding what looked to be the perfect fit to his own heart piece necklace.

"Robin…?"

There is only one person just for me...

...and I still have not found him…

Are you…the person just for me?

oOo

A/N: Chapter 2 down! Alfred's always so different to write than Lovino! Still fun, but bizarre in comparison XD Sorry this jumped around so much. I had a lot of time/info to cover and only a chapter to do it.

Now I just need to finish the final chapter about these two cuties actually meeting before Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day!

-Rajikka

Translations:

Sekai – World (Jp.)

Bonjour – Hello (Fr.)

Oui – Yes (Fr.)

Famille – Family (Fr.)

Mon ami – My friend (Fr.)