Author's Note: Welcome back to Gakuen Hetalia! I realize that a lot of you probably already read this track when I released it as a single, but I edited it a bit and added an omake at the end. Enjoy!

Title: Born This Hetalian Way

Song: Judas

I was born a lover.

Motorcycles flying down the street.

A funeral.

Two funerals.

Two toddlers' eyes locked.

"...Go inside with your brother, Feliciano."

"Grandpa?"

A set of red eyes stared at Feliciano and then looked back.

Blue eyes.

"Rome?"

Grandpa Rome turned to see Germania standing behind him. The man was frowning, as usual, but his expression had a tinge of concern to it. Rome looked down to the wooden floor blankly and then looked back up to his friend.

"I'm fine," he said, "I was just lost in thought."

Germania raised an eyebrow. "'Lost in thought?' That's strange for you."

"Look, I know it's rare, but it does happen to me sometimes."

Germania rolled his eyes, but he seemed satisfied nonetheless. "Then I think you should get out on stage and welcome the students." He turned his friend back around and pushed him onto the main stage, heaving a great sigh backstage.

Rome quickly recovered from the push and mentally reminded himself to kick Germania's ass sometime in the near future. Smiling wide, he waved to the crowd of students as they applauded him.

"Thank you!" he said into the microphone. "Thank you very much! All you upper-level students already know me, and you first-year students can call me 'Grandpa Rome.' I am one of Hetalia Academy's vice principals. Principal Himaruya could, sadly, not be here today, so I am going to be giving the welcoming speech. So...I welcome you! Ha!"

Germania face-palmed.

"Anyway," Rome continued, "I think that this will be a fantastic year for our school. Not only does the incoming class look great, but we will all be welcoming two new teachers, who will be leading two new programs! I'd like to introduce Ms. Karpusi, from Athens, Greece." Rome motioned towards the woman who walked out onto the stage. "Ms. Karpusi is one of the most influential, well-known philosophers in her home country, and she will be teaching an intro class on philosophy! Actually, her son, Heracles Karpusi, is a former student of Hetalia Academy and will be her assistant teacher for the year.

"The other new teacher is Ms. Hassan, who has written several books on mythology." Another woman walked out onto the stage and joined Ms. Karpusi. "She hails from Cairo, Egypt, and will be teaching an intro class on mythology. Her son, Gupta Muhammad Hassan, is also a graduate of Hetalia Academy and will be joining her as her student teacher. Let's give them both a round of applause!"

Rome smiled as the students clapped for the new teachers and saw that the two women seemed to be especially happy to be there. Yes, this was definitely going to be a good year.

"Speaking of student teachers," Rome continued, cutting off the applause, "several of our former students will be returning to the academy as student teachers as part of a new program Hetalia Academy has founded. Former students now in college come back to the academy as teachers for real-world experience and college credit. So many of you upper-level students will be seeing some of your old friends walking around campus!" A few excited murmurs could be heard among the audience.

"So let's have a great year, okay?" Rome laughed as he finished his speech. "Here at Hetalia Academy, we aim for academic excellence, but we also like to have a lot of fun. Good luck to all of you, especially our first-year students and our seniors. You all have your schedules, and first period is about to begin! Have fun, study hard, and do your best, everyone!"

The students applauded once again and began to file out of the auditorium. Ms. Karpusi and Ms. Hassan thanked Rome for the introductions and left the stage for their classrooms. Rome then exited the stage on the opposite side and joined up with Germania.

"That was a pretty good speech," the German sighed. "Now it's back to the office."

Rome frowned. "Aw, I wanted to go out and spend some time with the kids."

"You just said that they have class, you idiot."

"...The first day doesn't matter so much."

"You're hopeless."

Germania yanked the Italian by his hair and dragged him out to the hallway, back to their office. Once there, he set the man down at his desk and sat in his own, ready to get a head start on the work already needing to be done.

Rome just continued whining. "You never let me have any fun."

Germania stayed silent, the only sound heard being the clicking of the computer keys.

Rome rolled his eyes and groaned. He felt like one of the students; he wasn't ready for the school year to start. Summer wasn't long enough.

But then he smiled. "Well, it'll still be a great year."

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was a scream. "GRANDPA! GRANDPA!"

"Feliciano?"

"Was that Feliciano?" Germania asked, turning to the other man. "He sounded upset."

"GRANDPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The office door slammed open, and there stood Feliciano. A sobbing, sweating, coughing, shaking, pink-cheeked, glazed-eyed Feliciano. For a moment, all stood still in the office, but Feliciano kept crying. Then, instantly, he jumped forward and grabbed his grandfather, wrapping his arms and legs as tightly around him as he possibly could. Rome was stunned at first. It wasn't so odd to find Feliciano crying or looking for attention, but this was a bit extreme.

...Very extreme.

"Feliciano!" the grandfather finally managed to say. "Feli, darling, what is it? What made you cry?" He wrapped his own arms around his grandson, hoping to calm him but to no avail. Feliciano kept crying for a few good minutes, and anything he tried to say became lost in the sobs. Even Germania couldn't help but be a little concerned.

Finally, the little Italian calmed down enough that he could be understood well enough. "Grandpa!" he coughed. "Grandpa...I...I-I...d-don't know what I...hic!...did wrong!"

"Feli, what are you talking about?" Rome asked cautiously, not wanting to upset his little grandson further. Whatever this was had to be a big deal.

Feliciano pulled away from his grandfather and looked him in the eye. Tears continued to stream down his face, but he said the next sentence loud and clear.

"LUDWIG BROKE UP WITH ME!"

The world seemed to stop spinning. Rome and Germania stared at the boy as he broke down once again, burying his face into his grandfather's shoulder and sobbing his eyes out. Rome was completely frozen and couldn't even try to comfort his grandson. He shakily looked towards Germania, who was just as stunned. Germania tried to stay out of his grandsons' lives as much as he could, but even he knew that Ludwig was head over heels in love with Feliciano. That was a fact that the whole school knew.

But now...all of a sudden, he wasn't?

"What the hell is wrong with that boy?" Germania finally asked, his eyes narrowing and turning steely. He rose from his office chair and opened the office door. Sure enough, his youngest grandson was walking down the hallway to his first class. "Ludwig Beilschmidt!" he shouted. "Get in here! You have a lot of explaining to do!"

Ludwig looked at his grandfather for a moment, raised an eyebrow, and kept walking, completely ignoring the man's order. "I don't have to explain anything to you," he said.

"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"

"What does it matter to you anyway?" Ludwig asked. "It's not like I hurt Feliciano. I just broke up with him. I don't love him anymore."

Feliciano wailed even louder.

Germania's face turned red with anger. "You seriously think you didn't hurt him?" he asked through gritted teeth. "There are many different definitions for the word 'hurt,' Ludwig."

The boy just shrugged and kept walking. "He'll get over it."

Germania was so flabbergasted at his grandson's reasoning that he couldn't even find the words to continue scolding him. It wasn't like it mattered though, because Ludwig was already out of sight. Finally regaining his senses, Germania walked back into the office and stared at Feliciano, who was still a sobbing mess in his grandfather's arms. Said grandfather wasn't having a lot of luck comforting him.

"Shhhh, shhhhh, Feli," Rome hushed quietly, wrapping one arm around the boy and the other around his upper back. He tried rubbing his hands against the boy's back in an attempt to calm him down. "It's okay, Feli," he whispered. "It'll all be okay."

"No, i-it won't!" Feliciano cried out, gripping his grandfather's suit jacket for dear life. "It'll never be okay! I-I love Ludwig s-so much! And w-we LIVE TOGETHER! I have to s-see h-him EVERY DAY!"

Germania nearly gasped. "This makes no sense," he muttered. "Feliciano and Ludwig do live together in one of the small houses the academy owns and rents to students. If Ludwig knew he was going to be living with you, Feliciano, why would he break off the relationship so suddenly? That makes no sense at all..."

Feliciano turned to the German man, still clutching onto his grandfather. "Ludwig j-just woke up this morning and s-said that h-he didn't l-love me anymore. He said t-that it would b-be better if we weren't together..."

Germania shut his eyes in annoyance. Leave it to his youngest grandson to be blunt and tactless in every situation.

The little Italian turned back to Rome, tears still rolling down his face. "Grandpa..."

"We'll figure this out somehow, Feli, I promise," Rome whispered into his grandson's ear. "I'll help you however I can. But..." He started to hate himself for what he was about to say. "...I can't let you stay here, and I can't let you go home either. You have to go to class, okay?"

Feliciano hiccuped. "I don't want to."

"I know you don't, but you have to. What's your first period this year?"

"...Music."

"You like music class, right? I hear Roderich Edelstein is student teaching all the music classes this year. You like Roderich, right? He was so nice to you when you were a new student here."

Feliciano nodded and almost smiled fondly at the memories.

"Then you should go and see Roderich at the very least," Rome murmured, setting his grandson down so he could stand. He put his large hands on his grandson's shoulders in one last attempt to comfort him. "Try not to think about what happened this morning, okay? Germania and I will try to figure all this out."

Feliciano nodded through tears.

"Good boy. Now go clean yourself up and go to class, okay? I'll come get you at the end of the day, and you can stay in my apartment for the time being."

Hesitantly, Feliciano nodded again. "Okay," he agreed quietly, wiping away the remaining tears on his face with his uniform sleeve. Without another word, he walked out of the office and headed for the men's room down the hall.

As soon as the boy was gone, Rome let out a huge sigh and nearly collapsed in his chair. "For the love of Spartacus," he muttered, "this is NOT how I wanted the school year to begin."

"That boy is in so much trouble next time I see him," Germania growled, sitting back down in his office chair. "What in the world could have made him act this way? I KNOW that he's in love with Feliciano. I don't understand why he would break up with him on the first day of the school year when the two will be LIVING TOGETHER throughout this entire year! It doesn't make any sense! And, by God, if Gilbert finds out about this..."

"I don't even want to think about that!" Rome interrupted, his voice alarmed and worried. "I love your oldest grandson to pieces, Germania, but he does NOT need to know about this!"

"...We'll see how long it stays a secret."

"...Shit."

The two sat in silence.

"I'm a terrible guardian."

Germania looked up at the other man. "What?"

Rome frowned. "I don't understand why my daughter and her husband left the boys to me," he explained. "We have other relatives. Why did they pick me? I can't do anything for either one of the boys..."

Germania sighed. "Don't say that. If your daughter and her husband were still alive, they would be facing the same problems...just like if my daughter and son-in-law were still alive." He looked away sadly.

Rome looked towards his friend. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's alright. It just still hurts."

"I think it always will...for all of us."

Silence.

"Raising two boys at our ages isn't easy," Rome suddenly sighed, "especially since we both raised them from when they were really young. But I'm almost happy they were so young. They don't remember the tragedy."

Roderich's first lesson was on an Italian composer, but Feliciano couldn't pay attention.

I was there for him whenever he needed me, he thought. I would do anything for him. I'd wash his feet with my hair if he needed it. I forgave him for all his mistakes. I did so much for him...but he broke up with me. Why? Does Ludwig really not love me anymore? I didn't think it was possible...

This is like that time...so long ago.

I told him that I loved him, and he told me that he loved me, too. We agreed to meet one last time before he had to go home, but he never showed up. He betrayed me...just like Ludwig did. I've been betrayed three times. I hate him so much for leaving me, but I'm still in love with him. Is this punishment for being with someone when I'm still in love with someone else?

...It's like I'm in love with Judas.

Feliciano was so lost in thought that his blank expression was even distracting Roderich. The Austrian was used to Feliciano being lost in thought, but that usually involved a goofy expression and lots of talk of pasta. This was definitely not Feliciano's usual distracted self.

Roderich was just about to say something when the bell rang, signaling the end of the first class. The students grabbed their bags and filed out of the classroom, but Feliciano stayed in his seat as if he hadn't heard the bell. Roderich, noticing this, tried to approach the little Italian.

"Felici-!"

"HEY, SPECS, MY FIRST CLASS WAS SO MUCH MORE AWESOME THAN YOURS!"

Out of nowhere, Gilbert burst through the classroom door and shouted at the top of his lungs, snapping Feliciano out of his trance. The German laughed obnoxiously and slapped Roderich on the back. "So? SO? The first-years are SO FREAKIN' EXCITED to learn German with me! I bet that all YOUR students were NOWHERE near as excited as mine were. Kesesesesesese!"

"Just when I thought I had finally gotten rid of you," the Austrian muttered, pushing the German away. "Please, Gilbert, give us a few moments of peace. I want to talk to Feliciano."

"FELI!" Gilbert nearly squealed, rushing towards the little Italian and scooping him up into a hug. "Oh man, Feli, it is AWESOME to see you! Summer vacation was WAY too long. I missed you too much!" He squeezed the little Italian again and then let him go, placing his hands on his hips and grinning. "So? You get some first day of school sex from my little bro?"

That did it. Feliciano burst into tears and pushed Gilbert away so he backed up into Roderich. Wailing loudly, Feliciano buried his face into his palms and curled up in his chair. "Shut up!" he cried. "I hate your brother!"

Gilbert and Roderich blinked. Once. Twice.

"WHAT?" they both shouted.

"LUDWIG BROKE UP WITH ME!"

The two Germanics stared at Feliciano, not believing their ears. "West...did WHAT?" Gilbert gasped, thankful that he was leaning on Roderich, or else he would have fallen over. Roderich stayed quiet, unable to comprehend what he had heard.

"Impossible..."

Suddenly, Gilbert looked towards the classroom door and saw his brother pass by. Ludwig stopped for a moment and looked up but didn't say anything. He just shrugged and kept walking.

After a tense moment of silence, without thinking, Gilbert raced out of the classroom and grabbed his little brother's shoulders. Ludwig, not having time to react, soon found himself up against the wall. "What the hell!"

"YOU BROKE FELI'S HEART!" Gilbert nearly screamed, slamming his brother against a row of lockers. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU BREAK UP WITH HIM, YOU JACKASS?"

"That's none of your business!" Ludwig shouted back, pushing Gilbert away. "It was MY relationship to end. I can do whatever the hell I want with my relationships!"

"You can't do that if you're MESSING WITH PEOPLE'S HEARTS!" Gilbert grabbed his brother by his uniform jacket. "I don't like this, West. I DON'T LIKE IT AT ALL! I don't like what I heard!"

Ludwig frowned angrily. "Then wear an ear condom next time."

Gilbert's eyes widened in rage. Somewhere in the background, he could still hear Feliciano sobbing. That mixed with the uncaring tone of Ludwig's voice was too much.

He snapped.

Without thinking, Gilbert slammed his brother against the lockers again, this time with all his might. He aimed to land a punch in Ludwig's face but missed when his brother twisted away at the last second. Then, out of nowhere, Ludwig raised his fist and punched Gilbert in the head with so much force the older brother's upper half seemed to twist all the way around painfully. In a second, Gilbert was on the floor, a good ten feet away from Ludwig. Feliciano and Roderich both gasped and ran out of the classroom to Gilbert's side. It took a moment, but Gilbert was able to pick himself up, though he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Feliciano gasped at the huge, red mark on the side of the man's head.

Roderich stared at the young German. "How could you?"

Ludwig, wide-eyed and panting, ran from the scene to his next class.

"I can't believe Ludwig did this," Germania gasped when he saw his oldest grandson's injury. "What the hell is that boy thinking? What the hell is going on with him?"

Gilbert scowled. "He's just an asshole, plain and simple. An un-awesome asshole." He flinched slightly as the school nurse placed a few bandages over the wound and then taped an ice pack to his head.

Roderich frowned. "I feel as though I have missed something. What exactly happened here?"

Germania was about to speak when he noticed something. "Where is Feliciano?"

Screw the rest of the day. After all that, Feliciano couldn't stay. He sat in his room in the house he and Ludwig shared, suddenly realizing that he would have to sleep alone in his own bed. Quietly, he reached into a drawer and pulled out an envelope. Slowly, he opened it and pulled out a letter. He couldn't stop the tears as he unfolded the letter and began to read.

To my future self:

He betrayed you a long time ago. Please do not be angry with him. He left you, which means that he's not good for you. Don't stay in love with him. Find someone else.

Love,

Chibitalia

"Little Feliciano"

Feliciano dropped the letter and looked away.

"I'm sorry, little me..."

Sob.

"I'm just a Holy fool. I tried to find a new person. I tried to find my Jesus."

...

"I'm just in love with another Judas."

OMAKE

"Dammit!" Gilbert swore as he peeled the bandage off in the boys' bathroom later that day. Luckily, the school nurse had applied the bandage and given him an ice pack early enough that the wound had not swelled up or gotten any worse. It was still bright red though, and Gilbert made a mental note to apply another bandage when he got back to his apartment.

Sighing angrily, the albino walked out of the bathroom and headed for the stairs leading to the lower level of the school. Located on the basement level were many club meeting rooms as well as general meeting areas for students. Gilbert walked into the first one he saw and was greeted with gasps from his old friends.

"What happened to you?" Francis asked, his eyes wide. Antonio got up from his seat to get a closer look at the wound but sat back down when Gilbert turned away.

Elizaveta frowned sadly. "Gilbert?"

"West did this."

The Hungarian gasped and turned to Roderich, who was sitting next her and nodding. "Indeed. I saw him do it. The two got into a fight, and Ludwig punched Gilbert in the head. Gilbert was knocked back about ten feet and had a hard time getting up for a few moments."

"Why would Ludwig-san do that?" Kiku asked, his voice breathy and disbelieving. Ludwig was one of his very good friends along with Feliciano. While the German was known for being physically strong and having a bad temper, Kiku had never seen him physically hurt somebody on purpose.

Gilbert sat down in his own chair and closed his eyes lightly. "I have some sad news," he announced. "Prepare yourselves for this one. It's not awesome."

The group did so and waited with baited breath.

"West broke up with Feliciano."

Silence fell upon the group. Gilbert didn't bother opening his eyes, for he already knew the expressions on his friends' faces. Pure shock.

"No," Elizaveta gasped, "that's not possible."

Ivan, who sat on the other side of the room, opposite of Gilbert, nodded. "Da, Ludwig is too much in love with Feliciano to break up with him. Everyone knows that."

"I'm afraid that he has broken up with him." the German continued, finally opening his eyes. "Trust me, I was just as shocked. West then said some un-awesome shit, and I lost it. I started the fight with him, and I wanted to beat his ass so badly. But I forgot how damn strong he is. What Roddy said is true. My whole damn head still hurts."

Click! Cha-ching! Vash prepared his handgun. "I don't normally take sides on these kinds of things, but I feel as though I even need to become a part of this."

"...Seriously, are you even allowed to have a gun on campus?" Gilbert asked, honestly confused. But he was glad to see everyone taking this so seriously. If even Vash, the neutrality-loving Swiss kid, was willing to pick a side and fight for it, that meant that everyone else was bound to as well.

"Poor Feli," Antonio sighed. Francis nodded, unable to form the words to express his sorrow and surprise.

"This is why I called you all here," Gilbert said, narrowing his eyes. "I want to get to the bottom of this. It makes no damn sense for West to break up with Feli at the beginning of the school year when the two will be LIVING TOGETHER for the entire year! And we all just agreed that West is in love with Feli, so there must be some other reason. I have picked you all because your individual strengths can help us solve this mystery." He first turned to his Bad Friends. "Francis, Antonio, you guys are to keep close to Feli. He loves you guys. Antonio, I know that you're student-teaching all the Spanish classes, and, Francis, I know that you have to split your time with Arthur for the home economics classes, but you should still be able to see Feli at some points throughout your days."

Francis nodded and found his voice again. "I only teach the cooking portion of the home economics classes. Arthur teaches the sewing portion. I will be able to take off to see Feliciano during those classes."

"And Feli is taking the European history class that is taught right next to the room where Spanish is taught," Antonio added. "It'll be easy for me to see him."

Gilbert nodded and turned to his next friends. "Roddy, I'm sure that you know your job. Your music class is Feli's first class of the day. And he'll talk to you. He trusts you. So try to get all the information you can out of him in the morning."

The Austrian nodded. "I will."

"Elizaveta, Kiku," the albino continued, "the two of you are co-teaching the photography classes this year. You are to photograph and record any evidence or events that we can use to our advantage. Kiku, you should keep an eye on West and photograph him. Elizaveta, Feli."

Elizaveta turned to the Japanese boy sadly. "These weren't the kinds of photos I wanted to take."

"But I want my friends to get back together," Kiku replied. "I will do whatever it takes." Of course, if the two don't get back together, I'll lose my primary source of, uh, inspiration, he thought.

Then Gilbert turned to the Swiss boy. "Vash, you have the advantage of still being a regular student here, not a student-teacher. Plus, you're the second-most intimidating student on this campus. We'll use you as a last resort, in case West won't talk. You'll be the one to force it out of him. But you're not allowed to shoot him. I reserve the right to do that."

Vash nodded and mentally frowned, upset that he wouldn't get to shoot the guy who was causing so much trouble.

"And, finally," Gilbert finished, turning to Ivan, "you are to use those Russian spy skills of yours to listen in on West. Record your sessions. If he says something we can use to our advantage, we'll need to keep it around as evidence."

"Da, I understand, Comrade."

Quiet.

"...BROTHER."

The group screamed loud enough that the students on the upper floor of the school could probably hear them. Ivan froze and fearfully looked down underneath his seat, only to see his little sister Natalia staring at him.

"How did you get in here!" he nearly cried. "The door is locked, there are no windows or vents in this room, and no one saw you come in."

Natalia narrowed her eyes. "I have sources."

Ivan shivered.

As did everyone else, including Gilbert. "What the hell are you doing here anyway, Natalia?" he asked. "I thought you dropped out at the end of last year."

Ivan shook his head, fear still visible in his eyes. "I am a student-teacher this year because it was the only way my family could convince Natalia to go back to school."

At this, Natalia stood up and clung to her brother's arm. "You guys are planning something. Some sort of game?"

"Uh, no, we-!"

"I WANT TO BE ON BROTHER'S TEAM."

"OKAY, FINE," Gilbert shouted. "Be on your brother's team! Just stop being so creepy!"

Natalia smiled victoriously at her brother. Ivan died a little inside.

"Anyway!" Gilbert groaned, bringing the attention back to the main point. "We have to work together if we're going to find out what's behind this break-up. Something tells me it's something totally not awesome." He closed his red eyes for a moment and then opened them up again. "I heard Feli whisper something about West being Judas when he was trying to make sure I was okay after West punched me. Well, if West is Judas, that means he betrayed us."

Roderich dead-panned. "Are you trying to say that you're Jesus?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "It's a metaphor, Specs. Spare me your criticism for once."

Surprisingly enough, Roderich complied.

"But we are like Jesus and the Apostles," Gilbert agreed. "We will figure this out for Feli."

"For Feli," the group agreed.

Gilbert frowned. Just you wait, West. I'll bring you down. You think you can do whatever you want like some kind of king? Well, I don't see a crown on your head. You're beyond repentance by this point, little brother. I'm speaking in future tense here. I...We...We will bring you down.

I'm just a Holy fool.

Oh, Baby, he's so cruel,

But I'm still in love with Judas, Baby.

I'm just a Holy fool.

Oh, Baby, he's so cruel,

But I'm still in love with Judas, Baby.

Oh, oh, oh, ohoo, I'm in love with Juda-as, Juda-as.

Oh, oh, oh, ohoo, I'm in love with Juda-as, Juda-as.

Judas, Juda-a-a, Judas, Juda-a-a, Judas, Juda-a-a, Judas

GAGA!

END