Oh my god. I did it. I wrote more than 5,000 words today, but I somehow managed to finish it. And I'm happy with it. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE! I didn't think I would actually do it. I thought 'Oh, Monday it'll be up! That's okay!' But NO! No, Gilbert and Lovino and Alfred told me. WE WANT TO BE WRITTEN NOW AND YOU WILL WRITE US. So I did. Because you never argue with the voices in your head. Nuh-uh. Bad idea there.

I would like to thank my ten reviewers. I GOT ANOTHER TEN REVIEWS CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? THAT'S TWENTY REVIEWS TOTAL! You guys make me so happy! This chapter would not have been done on time without you. I LOVE YOU ALL.

We arrive at Marukaite! Fasten your seatbelts, because you are in for a bumpy ride.

WARNINGS: Swearing, inability to remember Canada, slight bashing of certain US states, Alfred's stalkerish tendencies, possibly OOC Denmark, Antonio being creepy, and Lovino's violent and overactive imagination.

DISCLAIMER: *weeping*…I also do not own Catcher in the Rye.

…

Alright. Okay. So. Obviously, Lovino had perhaps maybe been exaggerating about the state of Marukaite School of 'Higher' Learning a bit. But it hadn't been on purpose. Rumors had the nastiest habit of holding only the tiniest grain of truth to them.

He hung his head out the window of their car, gaping at the giant building looming in front of them. It was not particularly shoddy or rundown, at least not by his standards. Granted, it wasn't garish and flashy by any stretch of the imagination; the paint was peeling terribly, especially around the windows and it was pretty apparent that no sort of renovation had been done on it in maybe thirty to forty years. But it definitely had a homey, familiar sort of quality to it. It reminded him of the cabin Roma used to rent so that they could go camping, back when he and Feliciano were six and still enjoyed family time (to tell the truth, Feliciano did still enjoy family time. But that's irrelevant). Except, of course, on a much larger scale.

Of course, this wasn't a camping trip with his fratello and his nonno. There were idiots here. Which isn't actually a good reason as to why it was different. Well. There were a lot more idiots here. There. That worked.

"Put your head back in before something slices it off," Francis sniffed from the front seat, irritation nipping at the edges of his voice. The Frenchman was still smarting from how their reverse tag game had ended up. Somehow, Lovino had managed to make it inside one of the reserved cars (yeah, it sounded great, but the Hetalia kids got actual limos) before any of them could reach him. The game would have probably ended there, had the three of them not been going so fast and been so close behind. Francis and Antonio had been neck and neck, literally a step behind him, and they ended up getting stuck in the car door, shoulders ramming together to block their entry. Before they had managed to disentangle themselves, Gilbert (who had had to stop to put his sunglasses on and therefore had lost his early lead) smashed into them from behind, causing their backs to make some rather ominous cracking sounds as they were physically forced into the car. Gilbert, not caring about the fact that he had possibly just cost his friends the use of their legs in the least, had merely reached out and tapped Lovino on the shoulder with a grin.

Even Antonio's constant smile had been a little forced after that. He seemed to be mostly back to his normal oblivious self by now, but he was still rubbing his shoulder and looking pointedly at the albino every once in a while. Francis, on the other hand, was holding a much less subtle grudge. And, through some twisted logic, he had chosen to take his irritation out on Lovino as well.

Lovino couldn't tell if Francis's warning had been meant as a threat ("I'm going to cut your head off!") or a genuine statement of concern ("There's a telephone pole coming up and it might just catch you off guard."), but he hastily pulled his head back in anyway. Gilbert tried to elbow him in the ribs from the seat beside him but couldn't quite manage it. The backseat of this vehicle had obviously not been made with three teenage boys in mind, especially when two of them took up as much space as Gilbert and Antonio did. The albino settled for an amused grin instead. "Admiring the shithole you now must call home?"

"It's not that bad," Lovino mumbled, slightly embarrassed to admit it. All three of them laughed and he sent them an intense glare. "What?"

"That's what all the newbies say when they're driving up," Gilbert cackled, now trying to slap him on the back. He ended up almost karate chopping him in the neck. "They usually change their minds when the first light attempts to fall on them."

Lovino eyed him warily, trying to determine if he was serious. "Falling lights?"

"Don't worry, Feli!" Antonio practically sang from across the car. "It's like a rite of passage! I'm sure you'll be able to dodge them easily! After all, nobody's died yet!"

Lovino tried to slink down in his seat even farther than he already was. He was definitely not looking forward to having to avoid falling objects. He was fast, yes, but that did not mean that he had the best reaction time. It was possible that they were joking though. He hoped they were joking. Gilbert gave a jerk, as if he was suppressing himself from moving. He'd probably been about to pat Lovino on the head or something, but had realized that in this space he'd end up poking the Italian in the eye. The self-control was silently appreciated

"We'll be arriving shortly," their driver informed them. His voice was robotic; he had probably been forced to say this spiel millions and billions of times. But if Lovino listened close enough, he could hear the faintest note of derision to it that made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle slightly. "When we arrive I ask that all freshman head to the administration office, all sophomores head to the lower gym, all juniors head to the cafeteria, and all seniors head for the auditorium. You will listen to a speech by one of the student council officers, as well as receiving your room assignments. After this has concluded, you will be required to head directly to your new room. Your belongings will have already been brought up."

"Thank you, Mr. Driver Man!" Antonio cheered. So-called 'Mr. Driver Man' gave no response. Lovino couldn't find it in him to blame the guy for that.

"So, how do you get to the lower gym?"

For the next five minutes of the ride, the Bad Touch Trio attempted to answer this question, but they predictably found it hard to agree on the best way to get there. The Italian started to regret asking after about a minute of listening to their argument and attempted to tune them out. It proved more difficult than he had anticipated.

"You have to go in and take an immediate right-"

"Oh, yeah, definitely, if you want to take the most unawesome route possible, then yeah, listen to super smart Francis over there."

"What are you talking about, Gilbert? It's the quickest way to get there!"

"I'm sure it's the quickest way to get somewhere, Fran, but that somewhere is not the lower gym, trust me."

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me, pick me, I know this one! You definitely take the second right."

"Toni, that's the way to the auditorium, not the lower gym."

"Oh. Right."

"So, Feli, listen to the awesome me, alright? You just want to keep going straight until you get to the cafeteria. Then, you've got to take the first left you see. It should be on-"

"Left? It's definitely on the right side of the school!"

"No, no, I'm positive that's the way to get there! It's a short cut!"

"Gil…It sounds like a longcut, not a shortcut. Is longcut even a word? Hm…"

"Antonio, is now the time to be musing on the existence of words? We're supposed to be giving Feli some directions here."

"No, seriously! There's a short cut and there's a cut. But is there such a thing as a longcut?"

"I think it's called a detour."

"Ahaha, that must be it. Thanks Fran! But, Gil, man, the lower gym is on the right side of the school. You turn to the right at the cafeteria, I think!"

"Left!"

"I'm telling you, it's the first right!"

"Is all you guys ever do argue?" Lovino seethed finally, hands pressed flat over his ears. The squabbling came to abrupt halt, but he didn't give them time to answer. Instead he leaned forward a bit, reluctantly addressing the driver. "Do you happen to know how to get to the lower gym?"

The driver sniffed haughtily, not looking away from the road. "No. I've never been inside the building, nor would I ever care to."

Antonio, surprisingly, visibly took offence to his comment. "You-"

"We have arrived. I must ask you to vacate your seats."

It was spoken in such a condescending tone that they spared no time in doing exactly as he asked, although Francis did shoot him an icy glare as he did. Lovino followed the other three's example in leaving his bags in the car, but he did pause to look over them worryingly for a second.

"There are people who bring them up for us," Gilbert patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Thank the gods for all the rich Hetalia parents who take pity 'the less fortunate' and shit. And only about three people's things are stolen every year, so don't dwell on it too much. They usually get them back in about a semester or two anyway."

Somehow, this did not succeed in soothing his worries.

Nevertheless, Lovino left his bags in the car with their ha-ha-I-am-superior-to-you-so-what-I-drive-a-car-for-a-living driver and turned to face the building. He had to admit, it did not look as good close up. Gilbert squeezed his shoulder again (Lovino suppressed the urge to shrug his hand off violently), pushing him forward towards the old partly painted doors. "Remember to watch out for the falling lights. Don't want you to get killed on your very first day, kesesese!"

They entered the building. Now, Lovino thought, this was what I was expecting coming to Marukaite.

THE GOOD OL' US OF A WILL ALWAYS COME OUT ON TOP IN THE END

(THE VIETNAM WAR SO DOES NOT COUNT!)

It was a mess to put it nicely. Most of the ceiling panels were missing, and those that were still there looked ready to fall apart. Lovino could see every rusty pipe and every tangled wiring that hung above him, which was not exactly inspiring in him feelings of safety and security. The floors were brown. Whether that was because they were currently dirty or if they just had been permanently stained from being dirty too often, he didn't know. Probably both. Lights flickered ominously and the previous warnings he had been given suddenly seemed less like a joke to tell new kids and more like fact. The walls were chipping and cheap. The door creaked shut behind them. Delinquent look-alikes mingled in the halls in front of him, some with cigarettes hanging from their mouths, and all of them eyeing them maliciously. Oh yes. Now this had been what he had been expecting when he'd switched places with Feliciano. This was Marukaite.

He shook off his stupor as Gilbert and Francis bid him goodbye, the albino with a quick (but still suffocating) hug and the Frenchman with a slightly-too-hard pat on the head, taking off straight towards to cafeteria. He scowled after them, not noticing that Antonio had lingered behind until they had disappeared from his view. The boy was frowning at him, the expression looking unnatural on his face. Lovino instinctively took a step back, not liking the suspicious gaze he suddenly found himself being scrutinized by. Neither of them moved until Antonio finally scratched the back of his neck, averting his eyes to the side before looking back again.

"Well. Good luck then. You'll need it," his lips quirked slightly upwards as he eyed him once more. "…Feliciano."

There was an odd note of mirth to his voice on that last word that immediately set Lovino on edge. Antonio was back to his usual grin now, but it looked cheap and fake on his face, not reaching his green eyes the way his previous ones had. "See you later, Feli! Think about my offer will you? The Henchmen always need more members!"

And with that, he skipped (literally skipped) off towards the auditorium. Lovino stared after him, a chill on his spine. For a second there, he had thought…

No. That was ridiculous. He was being paranoid. There was no way…

Whatever. He put Antonio's bizarre amusement over his fake name to the back of his mind. There were more immediate issues to focus on here. Such as, where on earth was the lower gym? The Bad Touch Trio had never reached a consensus, and he doubted he would have trusted them even if they had. Relying on his own sense of navigation was out; it was questionable at its best. The only other solution he could think of was to find another sophomore. It sounded pretty reasonable. There was only problem.

He didn't know any other sophomores.

He was quickly distracted from this dilemma by yelling voices. He half-expected it to be Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio again, despite the impossibility of it being. He located the commotion behind him. Piercings and Leather (Arthur and Alfred, he suddenly remembered) were the ones causing it. Arthur seemed to be trying to rip his arm away from the other's grip, while Alfred looked like he wouldn't let go until said arm actually ripped off in his grasp.

"But Arthur! What if you get lost without me?"

"I've been going to this bloody school for a whole year longer than you have, git! I think that I'll be fine!"

"But Artie!"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, you bleeding wanker? Let go of me!"

Lovino wondered what it was with this school and stupid arguments. For the sole reason of not wanting to get covered in a shower of blood (and hadn't Gilbert said that Alfred was a sophomore?) he approached them cautiously.

"Do either of you know how to get to the lower gym?" he asked, the first thing that came to mind. Arthur ignored him, but Alfred glanced up, hold suddenly slackening. Arthur took the chance to take back his appendage, probably reaching record breaking speeds in his haste to get away.

"Artie!" Alfred called after him, but half-heartedly. Lovino, seeing the expression on his face, felt a little guilty. "Damn it."

If Lovino had been a polite and normal person, he would have probably have apologized to the other boy at this moment. However, Lovino was not a polite or a particularly normal person, so he instead said, "Lover's quarrel?"

"I wish…" Alfred sighed, still staring wistfully at the place Arthur had disappeared. Lovino blinked. That hadn't exactly been the response he was expecting. A few moments of silence passed before Alfred perked up and gave him a mega-watt grin. Lovino felt the urge to squint. "So, you wanted to know where the gym is? I can take you there? Just follow the hero!"

He took off, the shorter (why the fuck was everyone taller than him, damn it!) struggling to keep up with his long strides. Alfred was not quite as tall as Gilbert, although the weird cowlick sticking up from the top of his head probably about equaling their heights. His shoulders were broader though and, unlike the albino, he looked like he ate things. Rectangular glasses kept slipping down on his nose and he pushed them up every few seconds. And then, of course, there was the ridiculous amount of leather he was wearing. His shoes and his glasses were perhaps the only non-leather thing on him. Somebody should really tell him that it looked kind of weird…and that it made him smell very strongly of the stuff. Not the best way to smell. At least in Lovino's opinion.

"So, you're a sophomore?" Alfred asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose again and surveyed him. "You don't look familiar."

"I just transferred here," Lovino mumbled. He was getting tired of having this conversation already. He wondered how Feli was doing. Hopefully he hadn't slipped up yet. "And yes, I know that you don't get why I would transfer here and isn't it awful and blah blah blah, so let's just skip that shit okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Alfred stared at him incredulously, before breaking into another grin. Lovino was beginning to suspect that this school attracted people who had stupid arguments and stupider smiles. Gilbert, Antonio, Alfred… There was no way it was just a coincidence. "I love it here!"

That got Lovino's attention. "Huh?"

"This school is awesome!" he said, spinning around, hands behind his head, he was walking backwards now, facing Lovino. "I'm Alfred, by the way, hero of the school. Pleased to meet you!"

Lovino resisted the urge to say 'I don't care'. He then resisted the urge to say 'I know'. And then he resisted the urge to say 'Lovino'. This was getting sickening. He hated lying. "…I'm Feliciano."

"Cool! You like Italian or something?" Alfred asked, turning just in time to avoid tumbling over a randomly placed stair. He immediately returned to his previous position after climbing it. "I've always wanted to go to Italy. Although, America's obviously the best country out there."

Lovino smirked a bit. "I take it you're American then?"

"Born in Washington, DC, baby!" Alfred pumped a fist in the air, before tucking his hands into his pockets in a more subdued manner. "Which is actually not nearly as cool as New York, but whatever. So, answer the question. Are you from Italy or aren't you?"

"I'm Italian, but I was born in Arizona," Lovino shrugged. "Moved to New Jersey to be with my grandpa when I was four or five. Not very fucking fond of either place, to be honest."

Well, at least this school hadn't corrupted him yet. He was a long way from being a smiley idiot yet. Alfred's mouth hung open comically and he almost ending up tripping over his own feet. He pushed his glasses up again. "Don't say that! Every part of the United States of America is made of amazingness! You probably just don't like it anywhere!"

"Not true. I like Italy. New Jersey, however…not so much."

"Well then, you obviously just thought you were in New Jersey. You were probably actually in that country that's above us. Can…Cana…"

"Canada?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

"Canada's much cooler than the United States."

"No way did you just say that!"

It dawned on Lovino, belatedly, that he was having a stupid argument with someone. This realization, along with the fact that he was finding it relatively enjoyable, horrified him a little.

They arrived at the gym a few minutes later. It turned out that Gilbert had been right after all; Francis and Antonio's ways took you to the upper gym rather than the lower one. Lovino could only imagine what their resulting argument might have been. Probably something about why the upper gym should be called the lower gym instead. No lights had fallen during their walk. Alfred had informed him that only one had fallen during his previous year at Marukaite, and that most people had been at classes during the time. When Lovino had asked if anyone had ever been hit by one, the conversation had been hastily changed.

He was really starting to get worried about these lights.

But he was getting off topic. When they entered the gym, Lovino was surprised to find himself on the receiving end of about half the room's best evil eyes. Well. They weren't actually looking at him (he hoped they weren't anyway). No, he was just blocking the way to Alfred. The American did not seem concerned about the murderous atmosphere he now found himself in, instead choosing to grab onto Lovino's arm and drag him across the room.

Someone should tell him that he shouldn't yank on people's arms like that. Preferably the person who told him not to wear so much leather. Lovino wasn't about to be the one to do either.

It soon became clear that Alfred was bringing him to one of the only empty spaces left in the crowded area. The lower gym was obviously not meant to hold this many students. The space wasn't as empty as Lovino believed it to be however; when he looked again, the mysteriously appearing boy from earlier on the train was there. Ninja Boy was crammed into a space between the folded up bleachers, curly blond hair falling over his downturned face. One hand held open the book on his lap, while the other propped up his head, elbow resting on his knee.

"Mattie!" Alfred called out. Violet eyes looked up, hidden behind similar glasses to Alfred's. He smiled slightly at them as they approached. "Guess what? Artie almost let me walk him to the cafeteria!"

"That's lovely, Alfred," From his voice, Lovino could tell that he was just as skeptical of that story as he himself was. The situation had not looked nearly as promising form his perspective. The boy soon caught sight of the Italian standing slightly behind Alfred. "Who's the guy behind you?"

"This is-"

"Feliciano," Lovino interrupted. The name was coming more naturally now, but it still sounded a bit foreign in his mouth. "I just transferred here."

"Yeah!" Alfred enthused, nodding his head. "This is my brother, Matthew. He's from that country that's above us!"

"Canada," Matthew and Lovino both said at the same time. Alfred nodded again.

"Right. Canada."

"Wait," Lovino eased himself down to sit beside Matthew. The murderous glares had lessened as they got nearer to him, so he deemed it safer to be as close to him as possible. "If you're brothers, why are you from Canada and Alfred from America?"

"We're stepbrothers to tell the truth," Matthew said, dog-earing his book and closing it. He had been reading The Catcher in the Rye. Lovino had read it before when he was younger, and the only thing he could remember about it was that he had absolutely hated it. All the guy did was whine about how unfair life was and say goddamnit a lot. Which was admittedly not that different from what he did, but somehow still rubbed him the wrong way. He quickly tuned back into the conversation. "My mom and I are from Montreal and-"

"Me and my dad are from America!" Alfred plopped down on Matthew's other side. "But they got married when we were like four, so I can't really remember life before. Therefore, we're brothers. No step needed!"

"It's 'my dad and I' not 'me and my dad'," Matthew said quietly, cheeks red.

"Whatever!"

Matthew made to say something else but was cut off when a big booming voice rang through the room.

"SIIIIILLLLLEEEENNNNCCCCCEEEEE!"

Lovino's eyes snapped to the front of the room. A familiar looking boy stood on top of a pedestal, megaphone clutched in his hands. He so did not squeak when he recognized him as being Axe Murderer boy from the train. Matthew was just glancing at him like that for some other reason. Yeah… Axe Murderer grinned, folding his arms. Lovino tried not to imagine him going all rampage-y on them. "You know, I've always wanted to do that!"

He scanned the crowd for a second before his eyes lit up. "Hey Ice! How're you doing? Have a good summer?"

There was a mumble of something that sounded vaguely like, "Shut up, Mathias."

"Anyway, I'm your student council secretary, Mathias, at your service," he took a bow, barely keeping his balance on the precarious stool. "And I'm here to give you your welcome back to school briefing and schedules and room assignments and stuff."

Alfred was glaring up at the student council secretary, muttering stuff under his breath. Matthew had opened his book again. Lovino was too busy convincing himself that this guy was way too much of a moron to saw his head off with his pocket knife to notice either of these two things.

"You have no idea how glad I was to get the sophomores," he shook his head. "I don't have to take this seriously like Tino with the freshman, I don't have to deal with advising people to start think about college like Francis, and I don't have to deal with people who are older than me like Arthur. Although I guess that seniors are my age, huh? So I wouldn't even have to do that. But still."

Lovino was slightly shocked to realize that Francis was on the student council. It sounded like a recipe for disaster.

"But I should probably get on with this. I haven't even talked to Norge yet today."

"Stay away from my brother, moron!"

"Aw, I love you too Ice!" Mathias cackled, almost falling off his platform again. "But, yeah! Welcome back to Marukaite you guys! Best school ever, am I right? Just kidding, just kidding, this place sucks!"

He sounded strangely happy about this fact.

"You're sophomores now, so that means that you're in harder classes and stuff. Get your work done. They told me I had to say that; personally, I don't care what you do. Um, let's see. Oh! You're supposed to be in bed by ten, but nobody really does that. If you hide in the library until eleven, they won't catch you. You didn't hear that from me though. You can eat lunch whenever you want. Just not in class, because teachers generally get mad at you for that. Especially science classes. What else…You'll probably be rooming with either a junior or a freshman because our school does weird stuff like that. Be prepared. Be nice to them or they will make your life living hell. Seriously. Oh, I hope I get to room with Norge…No offence or anything, Ice."

He continued rambling on like that for upwards of ten minutes. Lovino, having calmed his initial fear of being killed by an enraged Viking and was now bored out of his mind had begun in desperation to read Matthew's book over his shoulder, hoping it was better than he remembered. It wasn't unfortunately, but it was better than listening to this guy talk. On the plus side, he wasn't nearly as scary as he had been at first.

He only looked up when he heard the words 'room assignments'.

"Alright, guys, here's how we're gonna work this," Mathias fished a huge stack of papers out of the messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. "We're gonna go one letter at a time. You'll get your room assignment, go straight there. Schedules will be on the envelope on the door. You'll find out who your roommate is when they show up. OR you can peek at the other schedule in the envelope. Either works. Sound good? Great! If your last name starts with an A, come up here please."

Alfred huffed. "This is going to take forever."

"You're one to talk," Matthew said calmly, flipping the page of his book. "Your last name starts with a J. Mine's a W. I'm going to be here way longer than you."

"That'd be true if I didn't have to wait for you guys," Alfred sulked, folding his arms across his chest and slouching. "But since I am, I'll be here just as long as you. Oi, Feliciano, what does your last name start with anyway? Please tell me it's before W."

"It's Vargas," Lovino answered. Alfred groaned. "What? It's before W."

"Only just though!"

"What does that matter?"

Despite Alfred's moans and whines, the sophomore class appeared to be relatively small. Or, perhaps all of their names were just in the lower end of the alphabet. Or maybe Mathias was just a room assignment giving machine. Whatever it was, it was only another seven minutes before he called out, "J's!"

Alfred stood up, fingers crossed. "Wish me luck?"

"Luck," Matthew said automatically, not looking up from his novel. Alfred flashed Lovino a thumbs-up before bouncing off towards the podium. Lovino watched him go.

"You're not very similar, are you?" he mused, more to himself than to Matthew.

"You'd be surprised," Matthew answered. Lovino starts, having not expected him to respond at all. He closed his book again, gazing out into the crowd. "True, he's a bit louder and brasher than I am, but we like the same music and books and movies. That's really what matters. And, related or not, we're brothers. You know what I mean?"

Lovino thought that perhaps he did. It was the whole reason he was here in the first place, after all. He clutched at the crucifix around his neck.

"Religious?" Matthew asked, his voice a bit brighter than before.

"You could say that."

They make idle conversation until Alfred came back to join them, muttering something about how Mathias was acting weirder than usual today. Lovino found that he liked Matthew's company. He was good at sensing when the conversation was heading in a bad direction and steering it away, a trait he appreciated. He was pretty sure that Alfred would not have quite the same amount of tact as his brother. The three of them waited for another fifteen minutes until V was called. Lovino went up with no small amount of trepidation. Complete imbecile or not, Mathias still had a pocket knife somewhere on his person and a battle axe back at his home. The secretary smiled at him, recognition flashing in his eyes. "Hey, you're that guy Gil was chasing! What's your name, man?"

Lovino was not sure how he felt about being known as 'the guy Gil was chasing'. "Feliciano Vargas."

"Gotcha right here!" he looked down at the paper in his hands, a grin coming to his face. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving Lovino feeling unnerved. "Your room is up the stairs and, uh… I think you go…Left? Wait, you're sitting with Jones, right? Just follow him. He's got a room near yours. I'm awful with directions."

Lovino snatched away the paper, ignoring the cry of "Good luck, dude!" from behind him. By the time he got back, W had already been called and Matthew was from his seat, book having been left behind. As he sat down, Alfred immediately scooted over to beside him. He peered down at the paper in Lovino's hands, before looking down at his own. He adjusted his glasses and did it again, squinting as he did so.

"It's near yours," Lovino offered, guessing at what he was doing.

"Awesome, man! We should throw some parties!"

"No."

"So cold!"

"Why did Mathias wink and congratulate me?" Matthew asked blankly. The other two jumped, not having noticed him arriving back. Alfred recovered first and shrugged.

"I didn't say anything. He probably knows who you're rooming with," he said nonchalantly. Matthew appeared vaguely disturbed at this news and didn't resist when his room assignment was ripped from his hands. "Dude, cool! You're only like one hall over from me and Feliciano!"

"Let's just go," Matthew said hastily, grabbing his book off the ground and ushering them towards the door. Mathias watched them go cheefully, chuckling to himself.

"They've got like the perfect roommates ever! I wish I could spy, but Norge would kill me," he confided in the girl in front of him. She nodded slowly, obviously not knowing how to respond. "Never mind. What did you say your last name was again?"

…

Alfred knew the school like the back of his hand. Apparently he had taken Mathias's advice about hiding in the library whenever he couldn't sleep and had used his insomnia to explore every nook and cranny of the building. "It's like a labyrinth in here. I'm pretty sure whoever made it hated kids and wanted them to get lost and stuff. Probably a jerk."

"I'm sure he didn't hate kids," Matthew said as they rounded another corner. "He was probably just a really crappy architect."

"I'm tempted to agree," Lovino remarked as they came to another intersection. "So what's the secret to getting around? This is not a school that I'd ever want to get lost or shit in."

"I don't think there's really a secret," Alfred said as he led them to the right. "The first and third floor have classrooms and the second and fourth floors have living areas. Doesn't make any sense, but that's how it works. I don't know why you wouldn't put classrooms on the first two levels and rooms on the last two but whatever. You're right, Matt. He was probably a crappy architect as well as hating all teenagers."

Lovino was getting surer by the minute that he'd made the right decision in coming here. Feliciano would get lost and starve and die. He at least had a chance of surviving.

As they neared their destination (or at least, Lovino hoped they were near their destination by now), Alfred threw out a hand to stop their progress. The Italian gave him his patented what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look. Alfred just held a finger to his lips. "Listen! Do you hear that?"

"…stupid bloody door open! I don't know why we didn't replace these locks fucking ages ago, impossible things…"

"Oh, no," Matthew murmured. Alfred took off, rounding the corner. Lovino followed him hastily, Matthew trailing behind him in trepidation.

"Arrrttttiiiiieeee!" Alfred cried. Arthur froze. Not the best decision on his part. Alfred tackled him, sending them both to the floor with a painful sounding crack. "Artie, can you believe it? We're roommates! Isn't this amazing?"

"Get off me you- ow!"

Matthew heaved a sigh. "This is not good."

Lovino had no chance to respond, because the door to his own room flung open and a white haired blur flew out.

"Feeeeelllllliiiiiii!" Gilbert cried. Lovino froze. Not the best decision on his part. Gilbert tackled him, sending them both to the floor with a painful sounding crack. "Feli, can you believe it? We're roommates! Isn't this amazing?"

"Get off me you-ow!"

Matthew stared for a few seconds before deciding to just pretend that this hadn't happened. He stepped over the two piles of bodies and proceeded to his room.

"Ah, mon ami, it seems that we will be sharing a room for the year! I am quite looking forward to it."

Shit. Oh, excuse him. Perhaps merde was more appropriate for this situation.

…

"So how has the school been so far, Lovi? Everything you hoped for?"

"Is there no one in there with you?"

"Nope! My roommate hasn't gotten here yet! So I can call you Lovi until he comes right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Lovino reclined at his desk chair, phone pressed to one ear. Gilbert sat on the end of the bed across from him, periodically stuffing popcorn into his mouth. Lovino scowled and swiveled from left to right. He still hadn't quite forgiven him for tackling him earlier. He had suddenly felt a lot more sympathy for Arthur. Finding all of his stuff all in order and in his room had started to make him feel a little better however, and he was secretly pleased to find that he had classes with both Alfred and Matthew, as well as a few with Gilbert. He didn't know about Antonio or Francis, but he doubted that they were in any of his. Francis was apparently some sort of genius (who knew?) and Antonio was two years older than him, so it was highly unlikely they would share any. He had decided to call his brother after settling in, and since there wasn't a television in their room, Gilbert had settled on the next most entertaining thing. Lovino.

"Yay, okay, Lovi!" Feliciano cheered. Lovino was glad that he didn't seem traumatized. It really must be better over at Hetalia than it was here. "Is your roommate there yet? Is he nice? What's his name?"

"His name is Gilbert," Lovino ignored the piece of popcorn hitting the back of his head. "And he should pick that up if he wants to live."

Gilbert stuck out his tongue, but bent to pick it up anyway.

"Ooh, can I talk to him?" Feliciano didn't wait for his brother's answer. "HI GILBERT. THIS IS LOVINO. HOW ARE YOU?"

Lovino pulled the phone away from his ear a bit late, hoping that he hadn't just gone deaf. Gilbert took the opportunity to grab the cell. "Hi, Lovino! You know, I think you and your brother should switch names. You seem more like a Feliciano."

He didn't know how right he was.

"Yeah, don't worry, Feli's being plenty nice to me!" Gilbert laughed. Lovino, coming to his senses, lunged at him. He was easily avoided. "He made me pinky promise to be his best friend forever."

"I did not!"

"Don't worry about your brother, he's in good hands," Gilbert reassured the boy on the other end of the line, jumping onto the bed in his pursuit to avoid Lovino. Stupid albinos and their stupid height! "He's already befriended the student council president, his lover, and his lover's brother. All wonderful people. Except the lover. Thinks he's so much more awesome than me, but he's wrong! So so wrong!"

"Give me back the fucking phone!"

"How about you? Do you know who your roommate is yet? They better be as awesome as me, because you sound like you deserve it!"

Lovino made another lunge for the phone. He had expected Gilbert to dodge it, but something had made the other boy suddenly stop moving around. He ended up ramming his head into the albino's chest, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Thankfully, Gilbert had been standing on the bed at the time, so they landed on the mattress rather than the hard wooden floors. Not as thankfully, Lovino had, through some trick of fate, ended up inches from Gilbert's face. It would have been awkward. It should have been awkward. But although Gilbert's red eyes were locked onto his, he didn't seem to be seeing him there. There was a strange expression in them, the same one he from the train. "D-Did you say-?"

His eyes flared suddenly, and he shoved Lovino off of him, throwing the phone at his chest as he bolted out the door. Lovino stared after him, wide-eyed, not hearing his brother's worried cries from the cell in his hands. His heart was banging against his rib cage noisily, that strange expression (Pain? Hate? Fear?) burned into his mind.

What was that?

…

Hm…I wonder what could have caused Gilbert to react so violently? Could it possibly have to do with the identity of Feliciano's roommate? Who is Feliciano's roommate anyway? Why is Antonio so creepy? Why is Mathias so creepy? Why does the world hate Arthur? Why is the school so fucking confusing?

Some of these questions will be answered next chapter! Which, again, will hopefully be up by next Sunday. Reviews make me work, so please please review.

See y'all next time on GEMINI!

Italian

Check the first chapter.

French

Mon ami- My friend.

Merde- Shit