(Mathias' POV)

I don't know what was going on at the moment. The hallway was sorta crowded and there was a lot of noise. There must be a fight happening. Fights aren't that rare at school, but they aren't that common either. I don't really care much for fights. It's best to avoid them when you are labelled as a nerd.

Not because we are weak. HA. No, no, we avoid it because we don't need the world knowing of the many battle cries that you can make when you take a swing at your opponent. Like I have mentioned, we lift books all day. We have more muscle than one takes us for. We just uhhh choose not to use it for dangerous sports like football or soccer. Very dangerous. Some of us do, butttt not me.

Anyway, so back to what I'm currently doing: avoiding possible fights and getting through a crowded hallway. Passing a few people and getting shoved about isn't great, but it had to be done. I was on my way to the library after all.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see a fist being thrown at someone. I don't think much of it but, then curiosity got the best of me and I turned to see it was Berwald's crush punching one of those bullies that no one really likes. In the face. Without second thoughts.

Here is a thing. We don't mess with them because they aren't to be messed with. Last time someone did, they ended up in the hospital, and rumours spread about them faster than the common cold. There were three of them and they messed with whoever they want. One of them was called Daniel. He was the tallest one with brown hair and freckles. He was always sorta slouched. Then there was Kevin. He made the stupidest comments you could imagine. He also had brown hair but it was darker than Daniel's. And then, there was the short one that was the one who ignited the flame. His name was Terry. He always looked smug, like he's got something on you, but I don't think so.

So, Tino and Kevin, by the looks of it, were staring at each other with dark auras around them. I had never seen Tino that angry. From what I have seen and heard Berwald say, he is usually the type of guy that smiles a lot and wouldn't start trouble. It looked like built-up pressure being released by the way they were glaring. The crowd even felt the tension. Yao pushed through the crowd with Ivan Braginski and stood between them.

"Perhaps we can talk later then," Kevin said calmly.

Tino glared at him. "I'm not talking to you, and don't you dare hurt them." He fixed his shirt and left the scene.

The crowd dispersed all at once. Everyone was mumbling and whatnot. Don't hurt them, he had said. Those were odd words to say, but it made me too curious for my own good. Then I remembered that I was rushing to the library to meet with Lukas. Weird happenings would be diverted with quality time with Lukas.

-Meanwhile with Yao, Tino and Ivan-

"What were you thinking?" Yao scowled at Tino with worried expression. Tino kept walking furiously towards their table in the cafeteria. He sat down and rubbed his face. Yao sat down next to him, and Ivan stood behind Yao.

"He was talking about messing with Lukas and Emil again. He said if I got involved, he would start shit with me." Tino sighed a little. Yao and Ivan looked at him worried.

"I could help. I could get my pipe—"Yao stopped Ivan in the middle of his sentence.

"It's not wise to add fuel to the fire. We just need to wait until the right moment," he proposed, a bit wary.

"Thanks for the offer though, Ivan." Tino thanked Ivan. The two had had a bad history, but they'd still managed to get things fixed and be on speaking terms.

"No problem. Friends look after friends," Ivan replied with a smile.

Alfred came in, running straight at them, with Arthur not too far behind. Arthur looked like he had run a marathon whilst Alfred was bouncing with excitement like a child on Christmas morning.

"Hey dudes, heard the news you punched Kevin! Sick, bro!" He patted Tino on the back. Tino smiled awkwardly. You really couldn't do anything in that position. It felt great to be able to punch someone that had tormented kids since grade school.

"Jesus, Alfred, how many times have I told you off for running in the hallways?" Arthur huffed out as he finally caught up to him.

"About 137… This week… And it's only Tuesday, sooo... Not as many times as last week," Alfred replied with a grin. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Git."

His attention shifted to Tino, who flinched a bit. He knew he would get into trouble, but he really didn't think it was fair.

"Well, I suppose I'm supposed to be handing you this note with your detention time on it." Arthur took out a slip of paper from his pocket. Tino sighed, ready to face the detention teacher.

"Oh come oooon, Dude! That punch was totally fair, and it looked super painful too!" Alfred complained.

"Oh hush up, I'm not finished," Arthur scolded Alfred yet again. He sighed and ripped the paper up. Tino looked shocked but relieved. "After some persuasion and history checks, I managed to pull some strings." Alfred looked like he was about to interrupt. "…With some help from Alfred."

Tino looked at the pair and smiled. "Thanks guys. It means a lot."

Alfred chuckled and patted him on the back. "No problem, dude!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "It's not really us that you should thank." He tilted his head toward Berwald that was sitting at a table nearby with the rest of the 'nerds'. Even if he was sitting there, he didn't really look like he would be one to talk much. Tino stared at him a little curiously. "He was rather persuasive." Arthur added.

"Oh, Ivan, man, you coming to practise tonight?" Alfred seemed to be back to his talking about football.

Tino spaced out, still curious. He knew they were partners but they didn't really talk much. He never thought that a simple friendly 'hello', a smile, and his failed attempts to talk to that guy would get him out of a possible suspension— he was thankful for that.

-In the library-

[Lukas POV]

"So, I got started on some cool research about the Vikings," Mathias said excitedly, whilst he followed me around the aisles of books in my search for something worth reading about.

"I found some old books in my dad's library. They are super handy and stuff." He babbled on I simply nodded and listened anyways. It didn't hurt to know what kind of family he was from. His clothes were always neat and clean so I could guess he had a nice home. Ah, again with the wandering mind.

"They had some cool stuff about their battles and how they lived. It was so cool. I think there was an actual blood stain on the page." How did he even have so much to say about a book he found in his dad's library? It was hard enough to know how to properly say 'hello' to someone, yet this guy could probably recite a personal memoir in under 5 minutes. Not saying that he doesn't have much to say that's personal, he just talks so much. It's kind of annoying, but amazing at the same time.

"So, what are you looking for?" His attention was now fully on me. I needed to look at what aisle I was in, because I had no idea what I was doing. I had spaced off thinking about how much this guy talked. Great.

I shrug a bit. "A book." I was in the maths section it seemed. The History of Maths. Maths: the Modern Edition. I internally laughed inside at the title of these books. Mathias chuckled a bit.

"Are you looking for maths books?" He asked curiously. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. It's not that I didn't like maths, I just didn't want to admit that his talking made me space out. I'm still not admitting to that.

"Well, what are you looking for? Maybe I can help." He always sounded happy, but now he seemed even happier than before. I turned to stare at him. He didn't just sound happy, he looked it too. Why was he so happy? He seemed to suddenly become nervous and began fidgeting with the book he was carrying. "I-I mean, if that's okay with you." I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't not sure if I was skeptical or surprised. Normally people didn't even try to say a quarter of what he had to me.

"I don't really mind." I replied, a bit happy that he was willing to talk to me, I suppose. He blinded me with his radiant smile before bouncing about and suggesting novels. I didn't know what had happened, but that guy had so much to talk about, and such a nice smile. I could feel myself blush, so I looked away as he was talking about a novel.

"So, what do you think?"

I looked up at him. I had no idea what he had been talking about for the past 5 minutes? I lost track of time. "I don't know.." I answered to be polite. This poor guy had been explaining to me what the book was about and I wasn't listening. I knew if it was me I would probably leave. I could see his slight disappointment in his eyes. I sighed and grabbed the book he was about to put back. "I'll give it a try." He smiled happily once again, only this time it seemed so much sweeter. I stared at him for a bit and sighed before heading off to one of the tables.

His smile never left that day.

Things are getting heated~

SuFin is also getting started. I'm debating whether to have subtle Rochu or not. Next chapter will probably have some HongIce. I'm also debating whether USUK or FrUk but either way I love both ships so I might write one in this series and the other in Mischief.

I'm sorry for the slow updates TT 3 TT

I have been having the biggest writer's block and can't think.

Alas, I'm back now and should be back to updating frequently... should be.

(TT 7 TT)9

||Ame