THE RED STRING OF FATE...
Chapter 4
In the beginning of his final year of high school, Arthur thought things would go smoothly. However, Yao made sure to make him feel as guilty as possible.
"You really expect me to forgive you?" Yao said, early one morning at the dining-table.
Arthur, making sure that there were no sharp objects within Yao's reach, stated, "I can't believe you still holding a grudge about what happened at last year's school festival." Yao glared at him.
"Of course, I'm still pissed!" he said. "Our class made and sold your class the best products while your class decided to cheat us and make a profit by giving us cheaper products. We're suppose to be a family; how could you do that to me?"
"You can't blame all of that on me," Arthur replied. "It was our class representative's decision." Yao threw his dishes in the sink.
"Oh yes, I can because you were a part of it," Yao exclaimed, "and in the end, even Xiang started taking your side." They both looked at the stoic 5-year-old, still sitting at the table.
"Dai-Ge, the only reason I sided with Arthur-Ge was because he bribed me with good quality chocolate," he replied with his usual sense of apathy. Yao looked at him dumbfounded.
"Unbelievable, aru." Yao grabbed his books for school, leaving Arthur behind with the unemotional toddler.
"What happened to the 'You can count on me to pacify Da-Ge's attitude', you ninny?" Arthur asked him, frowning. Xiang shrugged.
"That stopped the moment you stopped supplying those chocolates," the toddler said with a deadpan expression. Arthur sighed.
"Xiang, it's not like Vash or Bella will always provide the goods," the Brit said.
"That's too bad for you," Xiang retorted.
"Tell me again why I love you?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I'm cute, and you know it," Xiang replied, with a slight smile not often seen. Arthur shook his head and kissed Xiang's forehead.
"Well, I'm off. Try not to cause any trouble."
Arthur rushed to go to school, hoping he wasn't late. On his way, he saw Bella, her shoulder-length blond wavy hair held back with a ribbon headband, coming towards him.
"Good morning, Artie. Before I forget, here you go." She handed a box of her finest Belgium chocolates to Arthur.
"Bella, you knew I was kidding when I said that I want chocolates as payment for helping you hook up with Vash, right?" Arthur asked.
"I know," she replied, "but I can't thank you enough. That trigger-happy Swiss bastard completes me and fulfills all my fantasies."
"What fantasies?" Arthur asked, intrigued. Bella flashed him an intimidating smile (the only time she resembled her older, rowdier brother, Orlando).
"Arthur, that question is best left unanswered unless you want a bullet hole through your head," she said. Arthur flinched.
"Warning heeded. Thanks for the chocolates," Arthur said. "Xiang will be thrilled, in his own way." Near the school gates, Arthur met Kiku and YongSoo.
"Good morning, Asa-san. Is Yao-nii not with you?" Kiku asked.
"No, he's still upset about what happened last year's school festival, so he left early," Arthur replied. "Do you think he'll eventually forgive me?" Kiku shrugged.
"I don't know," he said "I mean, he hasn't exactly forgiven me when I decided to switch from his debate team to Feliciano-kun and Ludwig-san's team. Right now, I think I'm maybe about 70% forgiven."
"Hold on, didn't that happen, like, 2 years ago?" Arthur asked, sweating slightly. Kiku nodded.
"My point exactly, Asa-san," he replied. They both then began wallowing in self-pity.
"Cheer up, daze," YongSoo said. "Sure, Yao-Hyung can hold grudges for a long time, but whenever you are in trouble, he is the first person who will try his best to help out without asking for anything in return . . .Waahh, I am late for class. Bye."
"I guess we had better hurry too," Arthur said to Kiku. Arthur and Kiku rushed to their classes, both secretly hoping that YongSoo was right about Yao.
x
x
A few weeks later, Arthur woke up feeling not like himself. He couldn't shake off that feeling for the rest of the day, even while he was in his element, playing soccer.
"Arthur!" the coach bellowed. "Is this how the forward of team suppose to react? Concentrate, will you?" Resisting the urge to flip off the coach, Arthur tried to focus. Just barely managing to play well enough for the coach to be satisfied, Arthur stretched to see if all his extremities were all right.
Then he saw it: the infamous 'Red String' was now around his own left ring finger.
Blow me! Is my soul mate here? Is she watching me play? the Emerald-eyed teen thought, trying to see who was at the other end of the thread. Without thinking about where he was, Arthur became rooted to the soccer field.
"AIYAA! Arthur, watch out!"
Arthur turned his head towards the other side of the field to see Yao frantically moving his hands up and down like Feliciano would usually did.
THUD
The ball hit his head so hard, he thought his neck would snap. Why do I keep getting hit on my head? Is a bull's-eye painted on there? he thought as everything went black. Next thing he knew, he awoke in the infirmary with Kiku sitting anxiously beside his bed.
"Ah, Asa-san, you are finally awake," Kiku said. "That's good." Arthur sat up, feeling a bit woozy.
"Kiku, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't you suppose to be at kendo practice right now?" Kiku nodded.
"I was at the dojo, but Yao-nii came in screaming that you were injured," he said. They both looked over to Yao who was sitting on the other side of Arthur's bed. Yao blushed.
"Well, you were, uh, bent at a funny angle," he said, coughing. Arthur smiled.
YongSoo was right about Yao, he thought, smiling. No matter how pissed he is at you, if something bad has happened to you, he'll be right there to try to help you.
"I wonder if every time you scream, something hits me," Arthur said, chuckling. A vein popped on Yao's pretty forehead, and he lightly hit Arthur on the head.
"Well, that just disproved your theory." The Amber-eyed teen folded his arms.
Kiku, obviously trying to keep the situation from going from bad to worse, said, "You seemed preoccupied today. Is there something troubling you?"
"I guess one would seem troubled when they can see their own Red String of Fate," Arthur stated. Kiku's eyes grew wide.
"Really Asa-san? You saw your soul mate?" he asked excitedly. Arthur shook his head in disappointment.
"No, but she was there while I was playing soccer," Arthur said, "because that's when I saw the thread."
"Was that the reason why you looked like 'a deer caught in some headlights'?" Yao asked with concern in his eyes. "I was wondering what you were doing; you looked so confused during the game."
Arthur smiled again, maybe Xiang really did talk to Yao -
That morning, wanting try once again to make peace with Yao, Arthur had hurried downstairs to find only Xiang sitting at the table, his mouth full of chocolate. "Did Yao leave already?" he had asked his younger brother. Xiang, unable to say anything with his mouth full, had just nodded. "You know, your teeth will rot if you keep eating all that chocolates, right?" Arthur had scolded.
Xiang had gulped loudly and said, "Arthur-Ge, you and I both know my teeth are in a far better condition than yours." Arthur had glared and replied, "Continue with the attitude, and no more candy for you."
This threat hadn't bothered Xiang at all; at least that's what his expression had said."That's a pity, considering that I spoke to Dai-Ge this morning imploring him to forgive you," Xiang stated, shrugging. "I guess you don't want me to continue my efforts."
Arthur had pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe that he was in debt to a preschooler. "The goods will be on their way," he'd said as he walked out the door. "Keep up the good work."
"I had an odd feeling when I woke up this morning," Arthur said, "but it was still surprising for me at first to see it on my own finger while on the field." He didn't care what they thought; he was happy that Yao was speaking to him without a hint of malice.
"What do you think your soul mate looks like?" Kiku asked. This caught Arthur by surprise because he hadn't really thought about it.
"Someone with beautiful, wavy, blond hair and big, blue eyes would be nice," the Brit said, winking.
"Oh, Asa-san, that sounds so moe!" Kiku said, eyes sparkling. "Maybe later, you both can go on double dates with me and MeiMei."
"Whoa Kiku, I was just joking," Arthur said, holding up his hands. "I really don't know who she is! Although, I must say I'm starting to get drunk on your excitement. After pairing others with their destined lovers, it only seems right that it's my turn now, so I guess I shouldn't be that troubled after all." Yao stood up.
"Well, if you're feeling all right, I suggest we leave," Yao said, stretching. "Mother probably is worried that we're so late getting home." Arthur checked himself out of the infirmary and left with the others.
Upon reaching the boy's locker room, Arthur met Gilbert, "Hey Artie, how are you feeling?". The crimson-eyed teen asked Arthur, hitting him hard enough on the back to knock the wind out of his lungs. Arthur wheezed and couldn't reply, but that didn't stop Gilbert from continuing to ramble on, "I heard the 'Cupid' was responsible in making another couple. I cannot believe that you came up with the combination of Natalia and Toris. I mean, when I heard that the first time, I thought you were sending Toris to his deathbed."
This pairing, in the beginning, surprised Arthur as well -
Toris was a shy, gentle boy while Natalia belonged to the school delinquent, Ivan's, ax-crazy family. Arthur had always wondered how she was able to hide so many knives under her skirt. So, when he had seen the red thread between them earlier that week, he had decided not to do anything about it, fearing for Toris's life. Kiku, on the other hand, had disagreed with him, scolding Arthur that "one shouldn't interfere with fate". Yao, still sore about what the others had done to him, had given his advice later: "Wait it out. . . unless you don't mind Natalia crushing your fingers."
"Arthur, do you think that Natalia and I could be a good match?" Toris had asked him not too soon after Yao's advice. Arthur had almost choked on his surprise. "Why?" was all he could get out. Toris had blushed and explained that he had always liked Natalia and didn't mind her various quirks. Arthur had told Toris it was his funeral, but to proceed with caution. Several knife-throws later, Toris and Natalia had started going out, which everyone soon welcomed. After she hooked up with Toris, the number of knives she carried lessened, and by default, so did the number of people who got stabbed each day.
"So, since you're going and hitching everyone up," Gilbert continued. "How about hooking me up, preferably with Lizzy."
"Gilbert, you have a snowball's-chance-in-hell with Elizabeta," Arthur stated, still wheezing.
"Aha, so I do have a chance!" Gilbert gushed, not really listening to Arthur. "Go do your magic and make it happen," he demanded. Arthur rolled his eyes and sighed, slightly irritated. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
"Are you even listening to me?" the Brit said. "It's not going to happen, no matter how much you beg." Arthur looked up and saw nothing but empty space. Gilbert was long gone.
Realizing that Gilbert was a lost cause, Arthur changed out of his clothes, wondering who his future soul-mate was, how she looked like, and various other related things.
Hmm, Kiku was rightâwavy blond hair with big blue eyes sounds really cute, he thought, reflecting on their previous conversation. Arthur also wondered when he would get to meet his mystery character. He could only hope.
x
A/N: I tried to compare the argument about the school-festival between Arthur & Yao to the history involving the "Growth of the Opium Trade". According to history, HongKong became a colony of Britain after the Opium Wars; hence, why I decided to add Xiang siding with Arthur (since historically, it wasn't exactly done willingly, I thought Arthur giving chocolate to Xiang to bring him on his team, sufficed).
Explanation for Yao being angry with Kiku- according to the comics, Japan betrayed China by attacking him with a katana because he wanted to become more powerful . . .so, I decided to incorporate this in the story where Kiku leaves Yao's debate team to join the Axis Powers' debate team because Feliciano & Ludwig are excellent in debating.
A guide to characters' names -
Bella & Vash - Belgium & Switzerland
Orlando - Netherlands
Natalia & Toris - Belarus & Lithuania
And *drum roll*, the mystery character in this chapter is. . .finally going to appear in the next chapter! Yes, I like to tease :P