A/N: This fic contains nyo! and fem! characters, so, for your convenience, I'm adding a list of names here at the start.

Genderbent characters: Alice/Artie (England), Françoise (France), Julchen (Prussia), Isabella (Spain), Monika (Germany), Sakura (Japan), Chun-Yan (China), Hera (Greece)

Non-genderbent characters: Feliciano, Lovino, Alfred, Ivan, Matthew, Allistor (Scotland)


Artie showed up to Sakura's house a bit later than they had arranged.

"Hello?" she called after knocking at her front door.

The door was opened by Chun-Yan, who looked ready to go out. "Oh, you're here to see my sister, aren't you?" Artie nodded. "She's in her room. I'm going shopping with Ivan, but you can try on the dresses in my wardrobe if you don't fit Sakura's," she yawned, patting the Briton's shoulder and then shuffling out past her. "Zàijiàn."

Puffing out her cheeks, Artie stepped inside and closed the door behind her. This whole idea of dresses frightened her, to put it lightly. At least she knew that Sakura wasn't one to voice opinions that openly. Then again, Artie wasn't sure if that was a plus or the opposite. Silence was just as daunting as any comment, perhaps more so.

"Sakura? Erm, good morning," Artie murmured, knocking at the girl's bedroom door.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, I'll be with you in just a moment." She replied, and a bit of shuffling about could be heard from inside the room. The door opened, and Sakura put on a little smile. "I am sorry that I didn't greet you at the door, but I only just woke up, as my alarm didn't go off," she murmured.

"I'm guessing you won't mind me being a bit late then, right?" Artie chuckled quietly, going into the room as her friend motioned for her to do so.

"It's fine." She hummed. "My apologies that my room is messy, as I have not had the time to clean," Sakura stated, scurrying about and trying to tidy up what she could.

"I really don't mind at all," Artie laughed quietly, putting a hand to her hip. "When you live with three rowdy brothers, you tend to stop caring about the cleanliness of people's rooms."

"Still, I should have cleaned earlier. I'll make some tea as an apology," she pouted, dipping her head and starting to move out of the room.

Artie followed, as she had no desire to be left alone while in someone else's house. "It needn't be as an apology, but tea would be nice." At least their love of tea was something that they had in common. They made smalltalk – mostly awkward, as Sakura had a habit of going silent when she didn't have anything to say – and sipped their tea. Once both of them had finished their drinks, they headed back upstairs to Sakura's room to start with the dresses.

They went through the tedious process of trying to squeeze Artie into various dresses, none of which would fit her properly. As scrawny and skinny as Artie was, Sakura was slim and had a different body type entirely.

"Chun-Yan separated the dresses she's willing to lend to the ones she's not," Sakura murmured, leading Artie into her sister's room. Oh, how nice, the ones that she would allow Artie to borrow were even put out on the bed. "I think her size would suit you better than mine."

"Mm, I hope so," Artie mumbled, feeling quite downed at this point. Was it that she was more bony or something like that? She bit her lip. The dresses laying on the bed were all beautiful, much too beautiful for her. There was a total of three. The first was dark red, with black ruffles and lace around the skirting and top. It was quite different to the second. This garment was black at the top, with loose and flowing material around the top. One side of the top segment was to be looped over the shoulder to support it. From the midriff of the dress, pale green ruffles rested in layers. The final piece was pure white, excepting the pale pink bows that were aligned with the bottom of the skirting; it was strapless, which was something Artie had hoped to avoid.

"Well, left to right, I guess," she murmured, to which Sakura nodded. Artie picked p the black and red garment and shuffled off to get changed. Thankfully, it fit around the waist and hips. The only problem was the upper torso. It was made something like a looser version of a corset, made to be somewhat tight around the waist in order to push up and highlight the wearer's chest. How it rested against Alice's quite flat chest was embarrassing; she dared not step outside of the bathroom where she had changed. Just looking at herself in the mirror caused her some level of shame. It wasn't like she could dance in something like that, anyway. Well, implying that she could actually dance. Which she couldn't.

"Erm, Sakura, could you bring in the next one?" she called, hesitant to go through the whole process of undressing and dressing only to have to repeat the process. As asked, her friend knocked at the door. It was only opened the tiniest bit by Artie, who took the offered dress and closed the door again. "Thanks. The first one wasn't really very fitting at all."

She changed out of the first dress, and quickly into the second one. It was a lot more comfortable, sitting on her meek figure rather kindly. It bothered Artie slightly that only one of her shoulders was covered, but it was better than nothing. Shoulders and arms seemed to be a part of herself that she wished not to show off, but it seemed like she would have no choice in the matter. She also wasn't fond of how much of her legs the jade ruffles failed to cover, but shook those thoughts off. Honestly, this was probably the best she was going to find.

"I think this is the one," Artie hollered out of the bathroom, knowing that she would have to show Sakura. She forced some confidence into herself and opened the door to step out.

Sakura creased her lips in a small smile. "I think you look nice. The green matches your eyes."

"Erm, thank you," she dipped her head, timidly giving the garment a little twirl. The benefit of the upper material being loose was that it seemed to hide the fact that she was flat-chested, and Artie praised the gods above for that. "I'll go change back now," she nodded, gaining a little assurance from Sakura's compliments. "Oh, and Alfred would get upset if I didn't take a photo."


Sunday was spent with Alfred, who had insisted on taking her out to buy some cute things to go with the dress that he wouldn't shut up about – he'd keep running his mouth about how perfect and charming Artie looked in it, and Artie would just hit him. After a long and painful hour of trudging through various accessory and clothes stores, they ended up with a black hair bow and pair of flats, Alfred's treat, of course.

The first three days of the week were slow and dreary. The only real highlight was Tuesday afternoon, where it poured down rain and Alfred ran about it it, forgetting that he had a class up next. Consequently, he had to sit through aforementioned class while soaking wet with a towel draped over him. Artie had scolded him accordingly for his foolishness. He showed up Wednesday, although he was complaining about a runny nose and a fever all day.

Alfred was absent on Thursday, reducing the group's numbers down to Matthew, Sakura, and Artie.

"I bloody told him," Artie muttered as she walked through the school's gate, Matthew and Sakura to her side. "I swore at him to get out of the damned rain! He's an idiot through and through." She puffed, crossing her arms and huffing. "Not that I'm complaining about a day where I don't have to be cursed by his insufferable presence."

"Alfred-san isn't really one for following regulations, is he?" Sakura mused, allowing herself a quiet second of laughter.

"If there's some school rule or social code he hasn't broken yet, it's a miracle," joked Matthew. Even Artie laughed at that one.

"Oh, Monika asked if I wanted to sit with her and the Vargas brothers today," noted Sakura, glancing to the pair beside her. "If I had known Alfred wouldn't be here today, I would have declined."

"Oh, right," Artie mumbled. "Damned idiot gets sick and leaves me to sit alone," she spat under her breath, words laced with venom. "You go and sit with that lot, I'll be just fine on my own." The Briton conceded, crossing her arms.

"Françoise said to tell you that you're free to sit with her anytime," Matthew offered, giving Artie a little nudge. "You don't have to sit by yourself."

"Mmh.. I want to say no, but it's probably best to be kind, at least until this whole prom business is over." Artie sighed.

The lessons were ones that seemed to speed by, and before Artie knew it, lunch break had crept up on her. Matthew caught her soon after she left the classroom.

"Hey, how was class?" he chirped, pleasant as ever.

"It was alright.. But you know how drama is, and how the teachers insist on being loud and pretentious," Artie muttered, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "And now the joy of sitting with Françoise."

"She isn't as bad as you make her out to be, you know," mused Matthew. "Maybe a little arrogant at times, but other than that, she's a real sweetheart. Very kind."

Artie scoffed in laughter, much amused by Matthew's buttering-up of Françoise. "Maybe you and Alfred could go as a pair of stand-up comedians when you're older."

They reached the table, and sat, Artie and Matthew opposite to Françoise and Julchen.

"We need to switch," the French girl whispered, nudging Julchen, who groaned and stood. "So we can sit next to our guys,"

"Wrong seat, eyebrows," she sneered, moving around and practically shoving Artie out of where she'd just been sitting.

"Julchen!" Françoise puffed, shuffling over and helping Artie back to her feet. "Be civil, s'ilvous plait! Artie, are you okay?"

"Just dandy," she mumbled, slotting down beside Françoise. She had ended up not buying any lunch for now, as she felt a little ill for eating. Julchen's attitude, as much as she wouldn't admit it, intimidated her. Perhaps she was a more tyrannical and destructive lady version of Alfred. Artie dropped that thought in a second; the two were very much different.

"It's great that you're sitting with us today, Artie," Françoise chirped, poking at her meal with a fork. "Especially since Isabella's trying to ask out that Vargas boy today,"

"I don't see why she wants to hang out with Lovino all day, he's such a grump," Julchen puffed, mouth half-full of spaghetti. "His brother is a completely different story, what a cutie!"

"I'm sitting right here," stated Matthew, raising a brow.

"Not as damned adorable as you, birdie," Julchen teased, pinching his cheek.

Artie tried to block out the conversation and focus on something different. This kind of conversation, this gossip about other people, it made her feel a little sick in the stomach. She already missed just casual conversation with her actual friends, when they would discuss anything from the alternate uses of umbrellas to their favourite types of jam. That whimsical banter cheered her up most of the time. Talking about other people behind their backs, judging them, laughing at them, it unsettled her greatly.

"Is that okay, Artie?"

It was when she was addressed that Artie realised that she probably should have been paying attention. "Oh, uh, sure," she mumbled, glancing away. She almost jumped out of her seat when Françoise's lips pressed against her cheek. "W-what the hell-" she squeaked, tensing up and lifting her arm on instinct.

"You literally just said I could," Françoise pouted. "You know, because we should get closer before prom night."

"Oh," Artie mumbled, cheeks turning scarlet. "Right, I certainly did." She laughed awkwardly, refusing to look at anything but the table in front of her.

"Look at you, red as a rose," Françoise cooed in adoration.

"I am not-" she went to interject, but at Matthew's snickering realised that she most probably was. "Bugger it all," Artie mumbled. She quickly came to bury her face in her hands, embarrassed once again. "Erm, I'm probably embarrassing you, sorry," she murmured. That was her first kiss of any kind, and it was shared with Françoise, of all people. Artie didn't know what to think of herself at this point.

"No, no, not at all," Françoise hummed, patting lightly at her crush's back. "I think it's cute." The flirting just didn't stop, did it?

After a squeak and five more minutes of hiding in her hands, Artie figured she needed to get away now, or else she might just die of embarrassment and painful awkwardness. "Erm, I'm going to go and get a drink," she murmured, forcing her hands back down to her sides.

"You can have some of my iced tea, if you'd like?" Françoise offered, pointing to a half-full bottle on the table.

"Oh, uh, I don't like iced tea," lied Artie, giving a queasy smile. "I'm just going to the bubblers."

Matthew caught Artie's faltering with ease, but was intelligent enough to understand her motives. "See you when you get back, then," he mused.

Artie grabbed her bag and shuffled off as quickly as she could, feeling like she was going to explode due to her racing heartbeat. Once out of sight, she leant against a wall and tried to calm herself down. Deep breaths eventually helped regulate her previously raggedy breathing pattern, and she puffed out a sigh. She dreaded Alfred finding out about this. As she had said, she headed to the bubblers, being as slow on her feet as she could. Thankfully, as she began to toddle back toward the cafeteria, she was saved by the bell.

Thankfully, the next classes she had for the day weren't core, and therefore she didn't have to share them with Françoise. Tomorrow frightened her, to say the least. Did Françoise seriously think that she and Artie were going to end up in a relationship just because they would be going to the prom together? It was something Artie feared, for various reasons, too. Romantic relationships were completely alien to her, and she didn't want her first to be one that would end badly when Françoise's little crush faded, as it surely would – that was how popular girls and their loves were, after all. Artie bit her lip and headed toward her next lesson.

The day ticked on, until second break came about. Artie had asked the teacher of her Home Economics class if there were any extra tasks that could be done through the break – luckily, there were – and she did them just to have an excuse for not sitting with Françoise.

Finally, it came time for the last bell to ring, and after it did so, Artie made her way to the front gate. When Matthew appeared, she accompanied him home. They went inside, as per usual, and Artie went to put on the kettle before anything else. Matthew had gone upstairs to greet his brother already.

As she poured water from the kettle to the cups, Artie found herself humming something quietly. She felt quite at home here, even though it was not her house. Smiling to herself, she turned to fetch sugar from the cupboard on the opposite side of the room. She jumped at the sight of a weary Alfred leaning against the doorway.

"Give a girl some warning, bloody hell!" she exclaimed indignantly, having not been expecting him to be there.

"I was going to say something, but I got lost in how cute your song was," Alfred shrugged. He gave a little smile, too. His cold was apparent in the slight droopiness of his words, and his slightly-hoarse tone.

"You bastard," Artie mumbled, getting the sugar as she had planned to before he showed up.

"Besides, this is my house. You should give me some warning before you bless me with your lovely presence."

"I'll rip off your lips if you don't stop talking nonsense about me," she threatened, giving him a glance to say that she was almost serious.

"Oh, Alice," he laughed, stumbling forward and throwing his arms around her in a loose hug.

"Get off of me, you fobbish twit," she scolded, trying to go on making the drinks regardless of his embrace. "I'll get sick if you're a clingy idiot today,"

"My bad, sorry," he hummed, releasing her and taking a step back.

"Thanks to your idiocy, I had to sit with Françoise's group today," she puffed, finishing with Alfred's coffee and handing the mug over on a saucer. "I kind of accidentally agreed to letting her k-.." she trailed off, starting to get embarrassed again, and nervous on top of that. This wasn't something she had meant to mention in front of Alfred. "Uh, letting her kiss me." Artie murmured.

"Oh," Alfred mused, acting as if he wasn't affected at all. Whether he actually was, or if he was just acting, well, that was forever unknown by Artie. "Good for you, I guess," he laughed quietly before sipping at his coffee, realising it was too hot, and almost spilling it everywhere.

"Uhm, I made you something during Home Ec today, but only because you're sick and I'm a generous soul," Artie laughed softly, desperate to change the subject and kill the awkward air. Alfred gave a nervous chuckle, nodding.

"Well, you know how much I love your cooking."

Before he knew what was happening, a little parcel was shoved into his hands – one that Artie had pulled out of her bag only moments before.

"Should I ask what it is?" Alfred murmured, cautiously feeling the parcel. It seemed to be a chunk of rock if he was to judge just by feel.

"Sugar biscuits, they're supposed to go well with coffee, so," huffed Artie, passing Alfred to try and locate his brother.

"Right, biscuits.." he mumbled, putting the 'food' on the bench for now. "I'll have them with my morning coffee tomorrow, 'kay?"

Artie rolled her eyes and wandered upstairs with her cup of tea and Matthew's coffee. Now that she thought about it, she did kind of seem like the Jones' maid sometimes. "Alfred, you had better stop following me and pretending you're a ninja, and go the hell back to bed," she scolded, turning to see Alfred peeking out from a wall with the guiltiest face ever.

"Come on, it's hard not to be a ninja when you're wearing pajamas as kick-ass as these." He smirked.

"You aren't that sick, are you?" Artie grumbled after delivering Matthew's coffee. "Tell me next time you're going to wag school, and I'll try and stay home as well, so I can visit," she puffed, trying to chase the boy back to his bedroom. God, he was just like a little child.

"I have the sniffles and it's a Thursday, Alice, don't be so mean," he whined as he trudged back to his room, Artie on his heels. "But that thing you said sounds cool."