Longest chapter so far. Sorry it took a while ^^;

Chapter 3~

A clock ticked idly somewhere in the immaculate office, the steady rhythm seemingly in keeping with the orderly feel of the room. At a large, over-polished desk in the left corner, a middle-aged man with long golden hair glared, unforgiving, with cold blue eyes. On the table before him was a silver plaque reading 'C. Beilschmidt, Vice Principal'. As if the name wasn't enough to go by, the shape of his face and bone structure suggested he was of Germanic decent, a fact that Arthur didn't find particularly comforting. There was an impatient shuffling to his left. The green eyed teen turned to glare at the American next to him, who appeared to have decided that the two were now friends, and therefore would not, under any circumstances, leave the Brit alone.

It had been to his utter dismay that, after accompanying him to the Reception, Alfred had insisted on staying with him even after Francis and Matthew had departed. It wasn't as if he hated the younger boy, exactly; how could he, they'd only just met? It was more the fact that there was something about him that Arthur found incredibly infuriating....he would even go so far as to say that he made him uncomfortable...unexpectedly, his cheeks flared up at this thought. He chided himself for the irrelevant reaction.

The sound of a throat being cleared recaptured Arthur's attention, and he looked up to see that the Vice-principal had now stood up and was pointing towards a door at the back of the office.

"You can see him now," the man spoke, voice completely void of all emotion, and with slight confusion as to how this German could possibly know that with, apparently, no form of contact whatsoever, Arthur nodded his thanks and stepped through the door marked 'Principal's Office'. Exasperatingly, Alfred half skipped after him without so much as a seconds hesitation. The door shut behind them with a soft 'click'.

Immediately, the atmosphere calmed considerably. This room was painted with warm colours and deep, earthy reds, as opposed to the almost clinical décor of the previous office. Various photos hung on the walls, depicting everything from school festivals to family picnics. Intrigued, Arthur wandered over to a particularly interesting picture, showing a grinning man with two young children balanced on his shoulders, one with a blissful smile on his face while the other was pouting. The sense of family affection was so strong that, momentarily, he felt a bitter twist in his stomach, and was forced to look away. He jumped when he saw that Alfred was leaning over his shoulder, giving him an odd look.

"Hey, something wrong...?" he asked, bemused, and Arthur realized with sudden shame that tears were stinging his eyes. Absolutely mortified that just staring at a stranger's photo could provoke such a reaction, the Brit was, thankfully, spared the trouble of having to answer as a tall, powerfully built man abruptly strode in. This also created an opportunity in which to quickly clear his eyes.

"Ah, there you are!" the man exclaimed, rubbing his hands together with apparent glee, before practically throwing himself into the padded chair behind an oak writing desk. He shuffled through a number of papers for a moment, muttering to himself before giving a cry of victory, brandishing a piece of paper triumphantly. "Knew it was here somewhere," he chuckled, then turned his attention to the two teens. "Alfred, I see you've taken the new student under your wing, as it were?" he smiled approvingly, and Arthur noted how Alfred seemed to swell with pride; obviously, he had some respect for the Principal. He then turned his smile to Arthur, and held out a hand, which the blond promptly shook. "Kirkland, isn't it? Arthur? So sorry I couldn't meet you earlier, busy schedule and all that. Well then, I'm Principal Rome, as I'm sure you're well aware," he paused to laugh for a moment. Arthur was a little taken aback by the Principal's rather brash personality, but found himself warming to him despite this. Although he was a little older, judging by the friendly brown eyes and dark, unruly hair this was the same man as in the photograph.

"So, I trust you're settling well into the Academy?" Principal Rome asked, hands resting against each other to form a steeple. "That is to say, if you're instant friendship with Jones here is anything to go by," he winked. Arthur felt like correcting him on the term friendship, as it was hardly reciprocated, but thought better of it, nodding instead.

"From what I've seen so far, I'm sure I'll be very happy here," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. He wasn't lying; the Academy was like a d ream come true for him. Well, apart from one particular annoying American, of course.

The Principal laughed. "Good, good! Well, I won't keep you long. Lessons have started, after all." He glanced thoughtfully at Alfred for a second, who had been leaning casually against a polished display cabinet whilst their exchange had taken place, then his voice took on a more authoritative tone. "Alfred, would you excuse us for a minute?" The American glanced up, apparently a little confused and wearing, bizarrely, an almost crestfallen expression, but shrugged nonetheless and let himself out of the sunny office.

Rome watched him go, face pensive, then scanned the paper he'd been so pleased to uncover moments earlier. Arthur couldn't help but feel the tiniest sensation of apprehension. After a moment or two, the Principal took in a short breath, and stroked his bearded chin thoughtfully.

"Arthur," he spoke suddenly, breaking the silence. "From the vast amount of praise I've received about you, I'm completely confident that you'll do perfectly well here, academically speaking." The way he spoke suggested there was something unpleasant to come. "However," he continued, and Arthur almost chuckled bitterly. There's always a 'but'. "I'm just a little concerned about your...well...background."

Here we go...Arthur lamented. It's always the same.

"Now, I'm certainly not saying that you won't be welcome here. As you've already seen, the majority of our students are exceptionally amicable. Nonetheless, I believe it's important that we make sure you don't risk any serious conflicts with your fellow pupils, and so I urge you to be especially careful as to who you confide your past to."

His dark eyes had been focused on the young Brit for the entirety of the short lecture, both sympathetic yet implausibly uncomfortable at the same time, and though Arthur appreciated the effort, he also couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by the pitying tone in the Principal's voice.

"Thank you for the advice, Sir," he replied, slightly icily, "but with all due respect, I think I can handle it." The older man gave him a slightly saddened stare, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.

"Yes. I understand, Mr. Kirkland," he inclined his head, then slid his chair backwards and stood up. "Very well, that'll be all. If you'd like to make your way to your first lesson..." he gestured towards the door, and Arthur shook his hand once more before turning to leave.

"Oh, and Arthur? One last thing," the teen paused at the door. "That Alfred. He's a good boy. I think you should perhaps lend him a little more trust..?" the Principal smiled softly, then returned to whatever work needed to be done.

Blinking once, Arthur left the room.

Lame attempt at a meaningful speech is lame . Wasn't too sure about how I stole Prussia's surname for Germania (who is the Vice Principal, if you didn't guess), but I couldn't think of anything else.

I wrote this in three seperate sessions, and was too tired to read it through properly, so please tell me if it gets a bit confusing in places!

Please review~ I'll give you some more angsty Iggy~

~Chinquix

Note: I have an art exam going on all this week, so the next chapter may be delayed ever so slightly.