Ankoku: The title of this chapter may be mystifying, but it fits. First friend, first day at school, first person to really know that I'm half Estonian and half Japanese, first sign of something going on... and so on. I don't own Hetalia, but this chapter was entirely original. It may seem like a one-shot, which it probably is, but I was anxious to jump into the action as soon as possible, starting with the next chapter. So here it is—Chapter 2.

I stood at the door of my first class with some degree of uncertainty. Science was something I did not particularly excel in, unless it was computer science. I liked it, but it didn't come naturally to me.
Some of my other classmates had gathered in groups at the door. Then I noticed a short, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who seemed somewhat confused. He was holding a piece of paper―his schedule, I presumed―and examining it with a frown on his face.
"You're new here, too?" I asked him timidly.
"No, I was here for the lower school." He looked up from his schedule. "Are you from 7-7?"
"Yes. I think so." I fumbled in my bag for my own schedule. "I am."
"I think I got transferred into your class." We studied our schedules, side by side, and I think we realized at the same time that he had indeed been transferred into my homeroom.
"I'm sorry." I smiled and straightened up. "I don't even know your name. I'm Mayonaka Ankoku Tsukino, but I usually go by Ankoku."
He looked up again from his schedule and leaned on the door frame. "That's a long name."
"How short is yours?"
"Alex Hill. Eight letters."
We were both silent for a while before he asked me, "Have I seen you around before?"
I tilted my head to the right and examined him. He did seem familiar, but…

I stepped out into the small garden of my home in Japan. It was perhaps four in the morning, and I had woken up early to study more Japanese with my mother.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Mayonaka." My mother turned from a small table in the center of the garden. She had a brush in one hand, and a small inkwell was set on the table.
"May I read it?" I stepped forward to peer over my mother's shoulder. "That's beautiful, hahaoya," I told her, then crossed over to the other side of the garden. Beyond the cherry trees stood a car, the only sign of a modern civilization.

"Bye, father..." I trailed off as a young man, perhaps about twenty, stepped out of the car. He had sandy blond hair and wore glasses. A certain curl of hair stuck almost straight up, which seemed both informal and impossible. Sky blue eyes traveled to the cherry blossoms, to the crumpled bag in his hand, to the slightly opened door.

That was who Alex looked like... without the glasses, of course.

"I don't think so. Unless you've been to Estonia or Japan before."
"Well, I've been to Japan before with my father, but I've never heard of Estonia." He bit his lower lip as if trying to remember whether or not he had heard of it before. "Why? Are you Estonian?"
"Half Estonian, half Japanese." He seemed somewhat surprised at my heritage. It must have shown on my face that I had noticed, because he hastily said, "Sorry. I'm just all American."
I smiled. "I've know a half Mexican, half Italian person and a half German, half Japanese person. Is that equally strange?"
"Well, at least I've heard of those places." We laughed and he said, "It's not my fault I don't know my countries!"

Well, by the end of that day, we would have to know them. And there was a reason why these things were linked.

Ankoku: I know that there are some things I'll have to explain. First, the 7-7 is a reference to the fact that both of my parents have names that are seven letters long. (Not really, but for the purpose of the story.) Combine that with the fact that I'm in the seventh grade, and it makes sense. Also, "Ohayou gozaimasu, Mayonaka," translates quite literally into "It is early, midnight." Try figuring out what exactly that foreshadows. And I should mention that I know that Alex Hill is a famous musician, but for the purpose of this story, he is simply your average American seventh grader. Oh, and I actually do know people that are Mexican-Italian and German-Japanese... but I seriously cannot imagine Germany and Japan without Italy in the middle. Read and review! Bye!