Friday morning Matthew wakes with a loud yawn. He lazily throws his hand to the side and lifts it up in a swooping arc near his face. A splash of cold water hits him hard. He sits up breathing heavily. He shakes his head to shake some of the water from his hair. It's the most brutal alarm clock he could think of to get him out of bed. He glances at the swirling pool of water in the corner of his room. All the elementals have rooms special for them. The air types have their rooms near the roof for easy access and plenty of windows. The water types have a small pool. Earth types have dirt floors on the ground levels. Fire types, from what he's heard, have fireplaces.
He stretches lazily. Today is going to be bustling with so many people. He doesn't know how many new kids are coming. He's sure none of them will be super old. No one hides from the government that long. They are all found eventually. He slips out of bed and floods the floor. He soaks up energy from the water, letting it swirl around him and clean his body as well as wake his muscles from their sleepy state. He throws on a regular pair of jeans over his swimsuit and a baggy t-shirt. He doesn't wear shoes today.
He walks lazily to the wing where the rest of the older kids are milling about and talking in whispers. There is no way the school wouldn't find out about the newcomers. Yao told his student when it got confirmed anyway. Maybe Matthew had something to do with the news spreading, but that's just details. He flops against the locker where Francis is looking at a notebook with disgust.
"I do not like the way this teacher teaches." He says bitterly. Matthew snickers and smiles at him. Even though Francis has control over the water and his personality reflects that calm, Francis sometimes turned into rapids when something bugged him. Most of the time it took a lot to get a water type angry. Francis may very well be the exception to that generalization.
"MATTIEMATTIEMATTIE" Matthew closes his eyes tight, a strained smile on his face, waiting for the impact cause he knows it's coming. And does it come. He's thrown off his feet at Alfred barreling into him full force with a gust of air. Luckily, Alfred now has the common sense to cushion their fall instead of letting Matthew just crash. He smiles up at Alfred staring wide eyed at him with excitement. Before he can ask what Alfred is so hyped about, hyped more than normal, Alfred is yanking him up to his feet and grabbing Francis on the way.
Alfred uses some of the air around them to lift their steps higher to give them more speed. Matthew is laughing now as Francis complains about his hair. He looks to Alfred as a little brother. He took the air type under his wing so to say when he first came. Alfred had been on the younger end as well, just turning five while most of the kids that enter the facility are seven or eight at least. He helped Alfred with his powers until a regular teacher took charge. Alfred is one of the few air types with amazing control over his ability.
Alfred drags them to the front of the building. Arthur is there and so is Ivan. Yao is waiting along with another teacher, Ms Elizabeta, another air type, with a small affinity for earth. She greets them politely with a smile on her face. There are few of the older kids with them. Matthew knows now what is happening. They are the welcome party. Matthew has an easy smile on his face when the bus rolls up to the doors.
He watches simply as the kids pile off the bus. Alfred is bouncing in his spot far more than normal. He can tell which kids belong to which group easily. The ones smiling and bouncing are air. The ones looking around uncomfortably are earth. The rest are water, waiting for whatever comes next. They enter the building and Alfred can't take it anymore. He skips forward, the air behind him twirling violently. He rushes up to a kid who is also jittery, glancing around at everything. The two hit it off instantly. Matthew rolls his eyes and steps forward, placing a hand on Alfred's shoulder to calm him.
"Sorry about that, he gets excited," Matthew laughs easily. Alfred's blue eyes are shining brightly. The kid in front of him laughs loudly, tossing his head back. His hair is white and he's shaking from enjoyment. He regards Matthew happily with red eyes.
"This is the awesomest fucking thing I've ever seen and there are so many people and that vortex thing was so cool you need to teach me how to do that. This is so cool, I'm Gilbert," The boy says extending a hand. Alfred takes it shaking it wildly. Ivan walks past them with a sigh, walking up to Arthur and another boy with blonde hair slicked back. Matthew makes his exit from Alfred towards them.
"I'm Ludwig," He hears the blonde say stiffly, shaking Arthur's hand, then Ivan's. Matthew holds out his hand as well, though Ludwig takes it apprehensively.
"Matthew," He says. He can feel the dirt on Ludwig's palm, further confirming his suspicion that the boy is an earth type. He relaxes at the name given to him. They exchange welcomes before Matthew is off again to stand next to Francis and a boy who is smiling widely at everything and nothing.
"And I used to have a turtle, but mama says he ran away but I think he got eaten because that's what happens to turtles when they run away," He says a matter o'factly, nodding his head vigorously, still a smile on his face despite that his topic is macabre. Matthew giggles and introduces himself quickly.
"Antonio!" He says happily in return hugging Matthew instead of shaking his hand. Matthew lets out a noise of shock. Francis pulls the boy off him to distract him more. He says hello to a few more new students, talking softly to the younger ones who do not have someone of their age to greet them. They warm up to him and his gentle smiles. He peeks over his shoulder, still kneeling on the ground where he accepted a hug from a very shy earth girl. Alfred is talking wildly, gesturing his hands to Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis. There's a small whirl being produced in his hands, though Matthew's not sure he notices.
Suddenly Alfred pauses and shrieks, rushing past Matthew on the ground to someone else. Matthew follows his gaze to two boys, holding hands, looking extremely similar. Matthew stands, catching his balance as the other three follow after Alfred's trail of gust. He saunters up next to them. Alfred is holding hands now with one of the boys, both wild excited smiles on their faces. The other one, is scowling to the side, his arms now crossed. Matthew almost calls Arthur over to talk to the earth type, but something stops him.
"Feliciano! And this is my brother Lovino," Shouts the one holding Alfred's hands. He giggles and gestures to the grumpy one next to him. He grimaces, not looking at them, holding tighter to himself.
"I don't think we've ever had siblings before," Matthew muses absent mindedly. The others turns to him and nods, now talking excitedly about the twins. The amount of air types around him is getting a little unnerving. Matthew sighs and takes a step back and around them to talk to the one glaring at the ground. Before he can utter a word, the one who introduced himself as Antonio starts talking to the one named Lovino.
"Oh it's so nice to meet you! You're really cute, I'm an air type what-"
"Don't fucking call me cute," The boy snaps, glaring hard at Antonio. The air type is unfazed, grabbing Lovino by the hands, yanking his arms out of their crossed position. Lovino's eyes go wide. Matthew watches with anticipation as the ground near Lovino starts to smoke. Antonio takes no notice at how ragged Lovino looks trying to get away from him. He's twisting his arms violently, forcing his hands out of the air type's hold. The air around him is fogged with smoke now. Feliciano is cooing at him, making Lovino scowl more. He's shaking. Matthew barely has time to shout out. He throws up a wall of water from the nearby fountain in the room, just in time to block the fire raging out of Lovino's hands.
Matthew steps through the water wall. Everyone else is safely tucked behind him. The fire is gone now. Matthew is staring wide eyed with his arms still up at Lovino. The boy is glaring at him, almost snarling. Matthew lets his hands drop. The room is quiet. Yao awkwardly clears his throat.
"Well, why don't you show your new classmates their rooms." He ushers everyone quickly out of the room with a few strong winds. Elizabeta flicks up the ground at their heels for good measure. Everyone is gone, besides Matthew, the two teachers, and the brothers. Feliciano is crying, clinging to Lovino hard, though the other looks like he would rather be anywhere else. He's clenching and unclenching his fists, little puffs of smoke escaping each time.
"What is your name?" Elizabeta asks gently. Yao comes over to Matthew and places a hand on his shoulder. Matthew just looks at the ground. His mind is a whirlwind of thoughts. Fire. Fire had come from Lovino's hands.
"Feliciano," The air type says. He's sniffling but smiling up at Ms Elizabeta. She turns her gaze to Lovino now. He glares at her.
"Lovino." He spits out. She doesn't let his tone bother her. She glances over and waves Matthew forward. He obeys.
"This is Matthew. Lovino, you are going to be under his care while here," she smiles sweetly. All the eyes turn to her wide with shock.
"What?!" Matthew and Lovino say at the same time, though Lovino sounds more angered than Matthew could ever attempt. Ms Elizabeta simply smiles.
"Matthew is the most proficient water elemental in the whole school. He will stay with you to help you and train you an-"
"I don't fucking need help," Lovino snaps at her. Elizabeta lets her smile drop slightly. Yao is shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"Don't think of it as help," Matthew says with a shrug. Lovino turns his fiery glare to him. Matthew doesn't shrink away from it. He's used to Ivan's icey eyes, this is just completely opposite.
"How the fuck is that supposed to work?" Lovino says, stepping away from his brother and right into Matthew's face. They are the same height. Matthew just blinks calmly at him. He smiles gently. The action makes Lovino bristle.
"I don't know," Matthew says honestly. He just had a thought and said it. Lovino growls and pushes roughly at his shoulders. Matthew stumbles back, his clothing searing at his body. He glances down at his shirt. Two holes in the shape of Lovino's hands are burning themselves onto his skin. He hisses lightly. Feliciano begins to fuss how mean Lovino is. Matthew swirls his hand and a coat of water circles it. He places it against his shoulder and focuses his energy in healing it. The water cools him just enough to make the burn less worse.
He glances at Lovino. The boy is now glaring at the ground, his arms back crossed over his chest. Matthew can see the pain in his expression. He just doesn't know why it's there. Mr Yao guides Feliciano to his room. Matthew wordlessly leads Lovino to his room, the only occupied room in the fire wing. Matthew is about to tell Lovino that he will be outside his door tomorrow so he can show him around the school but Lovino slams the door in his face. Matthew sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He walks off down the hall slowly. He glances back at Lovino's door every so often. He's worried.
He finds himself at the pool. He strips down to his swimsuit mindlessly. There's only a few other students there, splashing on one side of the pool. Matthew dives in and swims to the other side easily, then back, and back, and back again without coming up for air. When he finally does he hears a rather loud voice.
"Hot damn I thought you died and yet could still move your body how did you not come up for air that whole time?" Matthew blinks his eyes up at Gilbert laying on his stomach at the edge of the pool, resting his chin in his hands. Matthew smiles gently at the newcomer.
"In case you haven't noticed, water is kind of my thing," Matthew says teasingly. Gilbert snickers and splashes at the water.
"So I heard, yes I heard already, I'm just that awesome, that you're going to be looking after the fire dude right? Well Toni said he was sorry he didn't mean to cause such a fussery," Gilbert says sticking his tongue out. Matthew rolls his eyes.
"I will let Lovino know," He smiles at Gilbert once more, before letting the water pull him down. He sits at the bottom of the pool, then shoots forward to the other side. He's vaguely aware of the small whirlpool that follows him. He surfaces and spins it around his finger. Alfred may be able to create a tornado, but whirlpools are cool too. He tosses it in the air and lets it come undone, raining down on the other people there. They are smaller so they cheer with glee at the show of power. Matthew smiles and sinks back down to the bottom of the pool. Dreading the next day deep down in his stomach.
