"This campus is huge!" Arthur exclaimed, looking around in awe. World Academy had a distinctly gothic style to its architecture, with long walls, huge windows and impossibly high ceilings. Every building looked like a super-size cathedral, and was a few stories tall, to boot. "I'm impressed! Although I guess, if the school can afford to have the whole surrounding neighborhood be student housing, I shouldn't be surprised."
"Mm." Alfred agreed half-heartedly, fuming silently beside him. Arthur turned and crossed his arms, scowling.
"What is your problem? You've been sulking like a ten-year-old ever since we ran into that boy..."
"You mean the would-be rapist? Yeah, I think I have a reason to be pissed off that some French pervert just tried to molest my best friend!" Alfred snapped, pouting unconsciously. Arthur stifled his laughter at the immature expression on his face. "Arty, it's not funny! You're a second year! I won't always be there to punch the fucker out!"
"Watch your language, Alfred." Arthur said exasperatedly, as a trembling trio of first years passing by jumped at the strong language and stared in fright. Arthur's expression softened and he grabbed Alfred's upper arm reassuringly. "I'm fine. And what are the chances that I'll run into him again at this school? There are at least two thousand students spread through the three years." Alfred became a little less tense and sighed, covering Arthur's hand with his own.
"I guess you're right. I'm just overreacting, maybe." The two shared a rare second of non-bickering, amiable silence, before it was broken by an ungodly noise.
It was very loud, and could only be described as:
"SQUEEEEEEE!" Alfred and Arthur jumped in alarm.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Arthur exclaimed, looking around for the source. Suddenly, someone popped up beside them from seemingly nowhere.
"Oh. My. GOD. Are you two a couple?"
"... What." Alfred and Arthur said simultaneously, too shocked for more words. The person who had asked them was a brown-haired girl with green eyes and a flower in her hair. She stood there and grinned with a smile that creeped both of them out.
"My name's Elizabeta Hedervary. Call me Eli. Now answer the question; are you two a couple?"
"... A couple of what?" Alfred answered thickly, unable to process what she was asking. Arthur was feeling the same way. Eli rolled her eyes and started in again, slowly this time.
"You know, a couple. As in, dating. As in, are you or are you not..." she directed this part at Alfred. "Tapping that?"she indicated Arthur.
At this point, both boys were at a complete loss for words. It took them a few seconds to reboot before their matching sets of denial set in.
"N-No! Of course not! That's absurd! We're not..."
"I-It's nothing like that! We're just friends, we're not..."
"Aw, that's too bad! You'd be so cute together, too!" Eli sighed forlornly, having the nerve to look disappointed by their answer. Both blondes were now beet-red, and not looking at each other. "So anyway, Eli Hedervary, second year. You are?" she said cheerily, reaching out her hand to no one in particular. Arthur looked at her incredulously, but decided to take it.
"Arthur Kirkland, second year." Arthur said stiffly, shaking her hand.
"Ah, right, that British diplomat's son! Pleased to meet you! With some luck, we might be in the same class." She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy. "And you?" Eli said, reaching her hand toward Alfred next.
"... Alfred F. Jones. First year." He said, warily shaking her hand as well.
"Wow, a first year? But you're so tall! Especially compared to Arthur!" Eli giggled quietly as Arthur scowled at her. "Oh, no need to look at me like that, I'm only kidding. Mostly."
"I'll have you know that I am only two centimeters shorter-"
"Are you new to Academy too?" Alfred asked, stifling his own laughter to avoid incurring Arthur's wrath.
"I am! My friend Sesel and I... Oh." Eli looked like she just remembered something, and looked over Alfred's shoulder. "Sesel, you're too slow! Hurry up!" she called to a person running towards them from a distance.
"E-Eli! Don't run ahead of me like that!" Sesel shouted, pigtails streaming out behind her as she sprinted toward them. She came to a halt beside Eli and hunched over, completely out of breath.
"This is Giselle Kensington! She's a first year. Just call her Sesel. Sesel, this is Arthur, and this is Alfred."
"P-P-Pleased to meet you..." Sesel panted out. Alfred gave her a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed to catch my breath, is all." She said finally, straightening up and fixing her uniform ribbon, which had flown askew during her sprint. "I have less stamina in Europe than I do at home, after all!"
"Sesel's been living with me in Hungary for a year to get used to Europe, but she hails from Seychelles. Very small island above Madagascar." Eli explained nonchalantly, clapping a hand on Sesel's shoulder.
"Seriously? That's so cool!" Alfred exclaimed in honest excitement. Arthur rolled his eyes, recognizing his friend's obsession with island cultures and exploration flaring up yet again.
"Well, like I was saying, we're also new to Academy. It's a very impressive campus." Eli said appreciatively. "Any idea where the assembly hall is, by the way? Because we have about three minutes to be there." She said, checking her watch.
"I think this is it, actually. I hope they didn't start early!" Arthur said, indicating the building in front of them and feeling foolish for having forgotten amidst the introductions.
"Excellent!" Eli grinned impishly and grabbed Arthur's hand. "Let's find seats together, okay?" she stated rather than asked, giggling and pulling him up the stairs.
"W-Wait just a second!" Arthur weakly protested as he was dragged along. Alfred stood with Sesel at the foot of the stairs.
"A-Ah... Is she always like this?" he asked, amazed at how fast Eli was moving with a protesting Arthur in tow.
"Oh, wait until lunch time. That is when the true horror begins." Sesel stated grimly. Alfred couldn't help but laugh a little as they started walking up the stairs at a much more leisurely pace.
"Does that mean we're eating lunch together, then?"
"Are you kidding? Eli isn't going to let you two out of her sight. Once she meets someone she likes, she's determined to get to know them better." Sesel laughed this time, and Alfred smiled uneasily.
"She seems very... outgoing." Alfred stated truthfully.
"I know you probably think that she's pushy and annoying, and crazy, and scary. And... she can be, actually, not going to lie." Sesel shrugged, but looked up after her friend with a soft smile. "But the truth is, she's one of those people that brings out the best in you, the longer you stay with her. And she's naturally attracted to people with that potential, as well." Alfred smiled at her.
"You love her a lot, I can tell."
"I could say the same for you and Arthur, Mr. Jones~." She said with a playful smirk. Alfred tripped on the step he was currently stepping upon, and began to splutter and turn red.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sesel broke down into uncontrollable giggles at his reaction.
"I don't know, what do you think it means? Come on, come on, we're down to two minutes!" Sesel said, laughing heartily as she pulled Alfred up by his arm and they raced up the stairs together.
Hello hello~! Look, a breather chapter Stella submitted to show that she is writing feverishly, in which there is no Bad Touch! D: Shocking, I know. Don't worry, the boys will be back shortly. :3
Giselle Kensington is the fanon name that I came up with for Seychelles. I think it's rather cute, and convenient because her nickname can be "Sesel".
So yeah, if anyone was wondering why the heck the students live in houses by themselves instead of dorms, the school owns the entire neighborhood surrounding it. So in a way, it's like its own little town! They even have a business district somewhere, with little shops and places to eat~!