A/N: Hello readers! Finally, a new chapter for this story! It's still not matching up with the other ones, but I wanted to give you guys more glimpses into Arthur's and Francis' life before jumping into it.
Here are the nations who make an entrance (or are talked about):
Mogen Lars - The Netherlands
Emma (Lars) - Belgium
Krishna Rangarajan - India
An Dao - Vietnam
Eduard von Boch - Estonia
Romulus Vargas - Ancient Rome
Alaric Beilschmidt - Germania
Amanika Okafor - Kenya
Anyway, thank you so much for being supportive and continuing to read this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter~
This is the fifth time I've read them write 'they're' than their', Arthur thought grudgingly, circling the word on the paper in front of him with a red pen. I'm going to give them a piece of my mind tomorrow.
It was nearing the end of the school day and Arthur was his classroom -the classroom officially dubbed his classroom because that's where he teaches all of his classes for the past few years at the academy- correcting his homeroom students' essays. The theme of their essay was a personal event that directly affected them in their life, in the proper essay format of introduction, body, and conclusion. He knew first year students weren't good as advanced with writing essays, and this was a way for him to understand what level of writing they're at.
His desk sat in front of the blackboard that cover one side of the classroom wall, with the desks being put in a U-shape in front of his desk, with space for students to stand and do their presentation. The front half of the class where Arthur's desk sat as lit up, with the other half being exposed to whatever light entered through the windows that lined up along one side of the wall. The windows were left opened, allowing the fresh spring air to enter and ventilate the room.
It was fourth period (the academy doing a four period system per day), and Arthur had that block of time off. He would usually go home when he was free at the end of the day, however he would stay behind even past fourth period so he could get more work and corrections done; when Alfred was home, he would find himself more distracted due to all the noise his son would make doing god knows what.
This semester, he was mostly handling the lower years. God did he hate it. Usually his classes were filled with well-behaved students, but this semester, he had the luck of teaching two Year 1 English classes in the first half and one Year 4 Creative Writing class that was during third period. His Year 4 class was well behaved, being the eldest students and having gotten over their immaturity from the previous years, but his Year 1 class was a complete 180 from what he usually had.
Especially his homeroom class. He had the unfortunate luck of teaching the vice-principle's, Alaric Beilschmidt, infamous first year grandson – Gilbert Beilschmidt. It wasn't like Arthur didn't handle troublesome students before; he had plenty of practice throughout his 10 years of teaching.
He had to teach Lovino Vargas, the grandson of Romulus Vargas, the founder and principle of this institute, during his first two years at the academy. Not even Lovino was as bad, though. In fact, it's incomparable.
Sure, the little Italian had a potty mouth, and he was crude and feisty towards his male peers, but he got along well with his female peers who he mostly talked to during class, and he didn't directly cause Arthur a major headache as Gilbert did. At least Lovino handed in his assignments on time and shows up to class.
He's never had to teach Mr. Beilchmidt's punk prior to this semester; but from what Krishna Rangarajan, the science teacher Arthur is friends with and speaks to often, he's told him enough about Gilbert's behaviour throughout his Year 1 Science class to trigger Arthur to consider to going to a church.
Not to say that Arthur can't handle his type before. He's had students who were slackers, who skipped classes, and who were feisty but Gilbert had his own little problems; the amount of times that he told Arthur to "fuck off" and almost threw a punch at another student for cussing at him within the first month was horrendous.
Arthur is tough to the core, and all the students know how cruel he can be; with his tough deadlines and marking, the way he shuts a student down cruelly when they attempt to be a smartass, and mastering the scowls that sends shivers down ones spine, no one would ever dare backtalk to him. Except for Gilbert, of course.
A little boy doesn't scare him at all, although now every morning he has to pray Gilbert doesn't do anything if he decides to show up to class at all. As his homeroom teacher, he has a bit more responsibility over what he does than other teachers; it's just a thing that happens at this school apparently. If something happened to a student or they do something troublesome, then the homeroom teacher gets notified about it right away.
Today, Gilbert didn't show up to class for most of the time until the last five minutes to give Arthur his essay piece.
"Where were you for the first hour and thirty minutes?" Arthur asked sternly, standing up with his arms crossed. It was only him and Gilbert in the room. The students already filed out to get to their next class. The boy stood there, his eyes squinting, his red eyes glaring back. One hand was in the pocket of his black uniform pants, with the other one pushing back his spiky silver hair back. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Does it matter, sir?" He said, maintaining eye contact, his mouth forming a thin pink line on his pale ivory face. He wasn't as tall as Arthur, but the way he was standing made it seem like he was making himself bigger, in a more intimidating way.
"I can't accept this, Gilbert," Arthur replied, pushing his essay towards him. "How do I know if you actually did the work? You were never in class when you were supposed to be working on it. I haven't even seen a single draft-"
"Fine. Take it in or don't, I don't care. It's un-awesome that I did all that work, but, it's not my problem anymore, so you can stop bugging me if I'm working on it or not," Gilbert replied, turning around.
"Excuse me?" Arthur asked gravely. How rude! "You do not speak me with that sort of attitude-"
"Who are you, my dad?" Gilbert replied quickly. "I gave you the assignment, now leave me alone, fuck."
Before Arthur could say anything, the boy left, leaving Arthur in the classroom alone.
"I hope neither Alfred and Matthew turn out like that," he mumbled to himself. Once he found out that they both will be attending this academy, he was happy that he'd be able to be around them more, but now was slightly worried for them being near a fighter like Gilbert. He put the finished essay to the side, and picking up the next one. Just his luck; the next essay he picked up was Gilbert's. He glanced at the clock hanging above the door. Suddenly the bell rang, signalling the end of the day.
Well, I made good progress for an hour and half of work, he thought, looking with satisfaction at the small pile of essays he had finished correcting. He could hear the sound of the chairs squeaking from the classroom above his, and the stumbling footsteps of students leaving their classroom to go into the hallways. It was barely a second before he could hear talking and yelling from the students in the hallways.
Can't they be a bit quiet? Arthur sighed, rubbing his temples at the sounds. He decided to take his time packing his things; he rather not try getting through a pack of pheromone exerting students to get to his car in the parking lot.
He got off from his chair and started to put all the essays in his brown messenger bag, along with a few files, his laptop, and travelling mug in the side sleeve. It was a Friday, and he knew that students would be leaving the academy quickly to embrace the weekend. He put on his thin, navy blue trench coat, taking out his keys from the pocket and grabbing his phone from the desk.
He opened the door and he watched as the students passed by. The hallway was sparsely filled with students, most at their lockers that lined up in front of his class.
"Hey, Mr. Kirkland, aru!" said a student he recognized quickly.
"Yao, hello," he replied to the boy. Yao Wang was a Chinese international student he had the previous semester for Year 3 English. He was a short boy, with cream skin and long dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing the typical uniform with the sleeves of the collar white shirt slightly longer that it covers his hand, tucked into the beige pants. He was accompanied with another student that was in the same Year 3 class: a domestic student named Sadik Adnan. He was taller than both Yao and Arthur, with tan skin and dark brown hair, cut short. "And Sadik. Where are you two off? Going straight home to finish your homework?"
"Yeah right," Sadik laughed. "We've both got a club meeting right now."
"For what exactly?"
"The Gourmet Appreciation Club that just started up, aru!" Yao exclaimed, grinning.
"The one Mr. Rangarajan is running?" Arthur asked, amused at the name. It's a new club he heard Krishna talk about. He found it an uncanny club, but he didn't voice his opinion to Krishna at the time. Especially since he knows Krishna would argue that the Black Magic Club he ran was also equally uncanny. "Don't all you guys do is eat bloody food in that club?"
"No, we also learn how to make the food too, aru! Today, we will be tasting the gourmet cuisine from France!" Yao said, excitement evident in his voice. Something triggered in Arthur hearing the word 'France' but he didn't show his distaste in in front of his students.
"Well, I'm not going to keep you here," Arthur said, closing the classroom door behind him and locking it. "I've got essays to correct. Have a good time."
"We will. Later, sir!" Sadik replied. With that, the two walked away towards the double doors to the staircase. Arthur was about to the walk down the hall that led to the foyer, before he heard something heavy fall nearby the same staircase doors.
"Ms. Braginski, are you alright?" He could hear Yao ask.
Arthur turned around, to see Katyusha, his long time friend and fellow Social Science teacher, kneeling to pick up a box that was on the ground, while holding another equally big box in one arm. Sadik was picking up the box that had fell, and Yao stood nearby, worry on his face. Arthur felt happiness seeing his close friend, and walked up towards her.
"Aiyaah," Yao said worryingly. "Miss, for someone who told us to be careful with holding things properly, you really aren't careful, aru."
She laughed at Yao's comment. "I only said that because you couldn't hold onto the robotic baby properly. Oh thank you Sadik."
"Do you need help with that Miss?" Sadik ask, holding onto the box.
"It's alright, Sadik. I'll take care of it," Arthur replied as soon as he was nearby. Sadik handed him the box, and Arthur fell forward by the sudden weight. What is she carrying in here? Holding the box with two hands.
"Thank you Arthur," Katyusha said kindly, holding onto the box she had with one arm still.
"Okay, then we'll see you around," Sadik said, and with that, him and Yao took the flight of stairs to the floor below them.
"You shouldn't be carrying all these things, Kat," Arthur said with a worried voice. "You can really hurt yourself by carrying too many heavy things."
"Oh, Artie, you worry too much!" Katyusha said with a laugh, extending an arm towards him to take the other box. "I'm strong enough to carry these two by myself! I just lost balance!"
"Don't tell me you intend of bringing all these things by yourself to your car?" Arthur asked, not giving it to her. "At least let me help you. Why didn't you message me that you needed help?"
"Well, I didn't need help, one," Katyusha replied, fixing her white, one strap bag. She pushed her blonde hair bangs to the side. "And I assumed that you went home right away, since you had fourth period off. And a Friday. I thought you'd retreat home to start watching that show Misfits."
"I did, but I had to correct essays," Arthur replied, starting to walk. Katyusha followed. "And if anything, I wanted to hang out with only you more out of school Katyusha. Feels like we've only hung out during lunch and for coworkers outings to the bar."
"Well, things have been really busy with me," Katyusha replied. "Ivan and Natalia have been quite a handful lately-"
"And running the bar while your father is sick," Arthur sigh. "And working as a teacher. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I've got my hands full with Alfred and Matthew too, but not as much as you."
"No, it's alright Artie," she said, smiling. "I've been wanting to hang out with you to. Why don't we do something this Sunday? I'm mostly free this weekend, but I think we could both go out Sunday? I have to go to church with my dad, and afterwards drop Ivan to his doctor, but I can hang out from the afternoon on?"
"Yeah, Sunday's good for me too," Arthur said with a smirk. "Besides… I have a date tomorrow."
Katyusha stopped. "No."
"Yes."
"You have to tell me everything that happens when we get to the parking lot!" Katyusha exclaimed. They were now near the end of the hallway entering the foyer. To get to the parking lot, they would have went to the hallway that led down around the foyer straight to the doors to avoid the groups of students that clogged up the main area, but it was faster to cut through the foyer.
For some odd reason, though, the foyer area was crowded with more students than usual. They could hear yelling coming from the area closest to the doors that led to the auditorium.
"What's going on here," Arthur muttered to himself. He heard one of the security guards speaking through a communicator, heading straight the other side. He could see the Dutch gym teacher, Mogen Lars, walking towards the security guard with a glare. Some students were passing by Katyusha and Arthur, seemingly escaping the crowd, including the Romanian student that was apart of the Black Magic Club Arthur ran and a student in his homeroom class, Vladmir Lupei.
"Vlad," Arthur called before the Romanian could scurry away.
"Hey, sir!" Vlad said cheerfully. "What's up?"
"Do you know what's happening?" Arthur asked, keeping an eye on what Mogen was doing. A mischievous smile grew on Vlad's face.
"Oh, just Gilbert fighting some upperclassman."
"Wha," Arthur sputtered. "What do you mean fighting; with who-"
"Arthur, Katyusha, come here!" he heard Mogen call out to him.
"Ah, I don't know if you know him; some guy named Ivan?" Vlad said with a shrug, before briskly walking away from the two teachers, who were left flabbergasted.
The duo walked up to Mogen, putting the boxes they were carrying to a save corner. Arthur realised that the students formed a semi circle around the two, chanting. There were a few holding their phones, video tapping what was happening.
"Fuck him up, Gilbert!"
"Look at that height difference; the shorter one's going to get fucked up man."
"Take your bets right here ladies and gents! It is currently 5:3 for Ivan!"
"Heard it was bloody Gilbert and Ivan who are in the middle," Arthur asked once he reached Mogen.
"Heard that too; no time to talk, backups coming, you and me are going in to stop those two before anyone can do anything. Katyusha, help clear the students please. Let's go."
Off all the things to happen to me on a Friday, Arthur complained in his mind, trying to get through the students that were blocking his way. They could hear the two students yelling at each other.
"What's your problem?" Arthur could hear the medium tone, Russian accent in the voice, and he knew it was Ivan.
"My problem? What's yours Braginski?" He then heard the familiar voice of Gilbert yelling back. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you wanted to fight, you creep."
"You're imagining things Gilbert, you're crazy!"
"Oh, I'm the fucking crazy one?!"
"Knock it off, Gilbert," Arthur could hear a female voice from the centre, but couldn't pinpoint who it was. "Just ignore him-"
"Move, Eliza."
Arthur caught a glimpse of the centre of the semi circle, close to the auditorium doors. There stood Gilbert, along with Katyusha's younger brother, Ivan. Ivan was a rather tall fellow, noticeably taller than Gilbert. He had pale white skin like Gilbert, and the blond silvery hair that almost resembles Katyusha's. There was a girl with long brown hair that stood behind Gilbert. She was wearing a pink flower clip to the side, and the long sleeve shirt with red vest tucked into her black pants. Arthur caught a glimpse of her face, automatically recognising her as Elizabetha Héderváry, the school's residential photographer.
Ivan started to laugh. "Man, Gilbert…You're crazy! Is this all because of what happened with Lovino?"
"So you do know," Gilbert replied. "You're fucked up-"
"It was nothing; and if anything he had it coming. He deserved it-"
Before Ivan can say anything else, Gilbert ran up and swung a punch square on his jaw. Some student cheered at that moment, with Elizabetha being pulled back by another boy with short brown hair and glasses. Ivan reeled back, surprised by the attack. He touched his mouth, a bit of blood come out, and the area that was hit a raw red colour.
"Oh you've done it now," Ivan hissed. Gilbert stood, ready.
They parried, Ivan throwing a punch, which Gilbert blocked. Ivan's other hand punched upwards hitting him on his chin. Gilbert grunted, and Ivan pushed him off, before kicking him straight in the stomach when Gilbert was trying to shake off the shock.
"Put your phones away," Mogen barked. Both him and Arthur was in the middle now, the two boys punching each other and pushing each other on the wall. Gilbert somehow managed to hold Ivan against the wall, his hand on his shirt, and started punching him wherever he could.
"Ivan stop it right now," Mogen said, as Ivan pushed him away again. They were going to rush at each other, before Mogen, being the more muscular one, took hold of Ivan by the stomach, pulling him back. Arthur stepped in between the two mostly facing towards Gilbert.
"That's enough, both of you," Arthur said, Gilbert stopping on his tracks.
"Kirkland," Gilbert said, panting. "Move out of the way!" Gilbert tried going around Arthur, but Arthur managed to grab a hold of around his stomach with one arm, his other hand holding the arm he was going to swing towards Ivan.
"No, no you bloody don't," Arthur said calmly, dragging him back as he struggles to get free. "And don't you dare think of punching me. Calm down."
"Don't tell me what to do," Gilbert hissed, but he started to stop struggling, so Arthur let go of his arm. Arthur looked over to Mogen, who had let go of Ivan at that point. Arthur could see purplish blue bruises forming along Ivan's jaw and left cheek, his mouth covered by his hand as he lay against the wall. He leaned down to where his backpack sat, taking the pink scarf and tan trench coat that hung over it and slowly putting it on.
Gilbert was panting, catching his breath, and Arthur gently let go off him. He fell to his knees, the adrenaline slowing down, and the impact of the attacks finally hitting his body. The girl with brown hair, Elizabetha, rushed forward, along with the boy with glasses who pulled her aside, who Arthur realised, was Roderich Edelstein who was in his second period class. He decided it wasn't his place to make contact with the boy, and he allowed the two to help him up.
Gilbert wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, a smudge of blood staining through the white fabric.
"Sir, we got this," Elizabetha said, getting down on knee, holding his arm. "Are you alright?"
"Does he seem alright, Eliza?" Roderich said, frowning at Gilbert as he held on to his other arm. "C'mon, get up."
"No need to be sassy," Eliza replied back, and they both hoisted him to his feet.
Mogen was telling the students closest to put away their phones and to disperse, with minimal efforts. Some from the outer circle were starting to leave, Katyusha telling them to get on with their day, but there were still students nearby, loudly chattering and yelling.
For god's sake, Arthur thought, annoyed at how there was more noise than before. He was going to join Mogen, but before he could say anything, they heard a voice.
"What is going on here?" The deep, stern voice said in a loudly behind the crowd. Everyone fell silent. Everyone recognized the tone of that voice; they especially recognized the light German accent accompanied with it. Everyone turned around towards the direction of the voice.
A tall, male figure stood there, his arms behind his back, his legs slightly open like a military stance. The presence the man exerted was one of a strict lieutenant. Arthur noticed himself straightening himself slowly, and he noticed students were doing that same.
The man had long, blonde hair with a braid twisting back. He had white skin, more peachy than Gilbert's, and piercing, clear blue eyes that scanned the scenery that lay before him. The air was suddenly tense, and Arthur held his breathe.
This was the sort of power that Alaric Beilschmidt had over people. He was actually a decent, level headed man, however, when he was serious and there was a disorderly situation, much like the one right now, well…he could be quite cruel. Cruel in the most professional way possible. Arthur never experienced it from him, but he's seen students experience it and he's usually happy he was never on the receiving end.
"Didn't you hear what Mr. Lars said?" Alaric said, his voice still maintaining a calm tone, but was still sharp and loud enough for everyone to hear. "There's nothing to see here. Please leave the school in an orderly fashion. Do not make a mess while you leave. Also remember that resident students have a curfew of 10 o'clock tonight."
And with that, the students silently dispersed, going down certain hallways and exiting through the front doors.
Alaric walked up towards them, taking his time. He observed Gilbert, then observed Ivan, who had Katyusha by his side, silently talking to him.
"Who started it?" Alaric turned to Arthur and Mogen, no explicit expression on his face. "Arthur?"
"I don't know, sir," Arthur replied. "Katyusha and I just arrived when they started brawling with one another."
"According the security guard and few students, they said that it was Gilbert who started it," Mogen said right after Arthur.
Alaric looked over towards Gilbert, who looked down. Again, his face was expressionless, though Arthur noticed his mouth formed a thinner line.
"Very well," Alaric said. He looked at Roderich and Elizabetha. "You two should return to the dorms. Gilbert, Ivan; follow me to my office to discuss your punishment. Arthur and Katyusha; you two come along as well."
And with that, he turned on his heel, and started to walk across the foyer towards the hallway that contained his office.
"We'll see you later," Elizabetha said to Gilbert, and Roderich mumbled an agreement. With that, the two walked towards the exit.
"I have coach the boys' hockey team, so I can't come along," Mogen said to Katyusha and Arthur. "I'll see you two for Monday's morning meeting, yeah?"
"God, don't remind me of the bloody meeting," Arthur said, trying to sound a tad bit cheerful.
"We'll see you then, Mogen," Katyusha said, trying to sound calm. Mogen then left, leaving the two teachers with the students.
"Alright, go on ahead," Arthur said to the two boys. They both glared at each other, before dragging themselves down the hallway.
This is not how I want to spend my Friday right after school, Arthur grudgingly thought, but followed them to Alaric's office.
"Hey, An," Arthur said as he approached on of the administrators desk that sat at the back of the office. The female teacher, he was referring stood in the catwalk between the desks, her arm leaning over the countertop. She craned her neck to look over at Arthur, and Arthur noticed a male teacher standing in front of her, presumably talking to. "Eduard, don't you have a musical rehearsal today?"
"Hey Arthur," the woman said with a soft smile, her voice carrying a Vietnamese accent. An Dao was one of the IT teachers at the academy, alongside the male teacher she was talking to, who Arthur realized was Eduard von Bock. She had long, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wispy bangs that framed her small face. She had big eyes with golden brown pupils, an ivory complexion, and was slightly shorter and slimmer than Arthur.
The man, Eduard, was a tall, average shaped man with a thin face that sported round, blue eyes behind round glasses. He had a peach white complexion, and dirty blonde hair that Arthur noticed must have been cut short very recently.
"I do, and I actually just came in to do an announcement to get all the students to the auditorium," Eduard replied, an Estonian accent in his voice, a tired look on his usually happy face. "Man, some of these students can be so irresponsible. I was just about to leave, when I saw An. We were thinking of taking some of the Year 4 comp sci students who want to continue in the field to a Hackathon that's happening at the University in the next town over."
"Sounds like fun," Arthur replied, not wanting to get into a conversation with Eduard and An over these things.
He was never a techy guy to begin with; the closest thing he does tech wise was typing on his laptop or using his smartphone to play on apps. If something was broken, well, he either consulted An about it, or he'd ask Alfred (who would ask 'did you try turning it off and on?'). There was a reason why he got a major and minor in two things that didn't come close to the IT field.
"Is Amanika in?" Arthur asked, tilting his head towards the slightly opened door that was at the end of the hall. A silver sign was plastered on the door, with the words etched in 'School Nurse Amanika Okafor' on two separate lines.
"Yeah, she just is," An replied. "I think she finished an appointment with a student just now."
She glanced over Arthur's shoulder, looking at the front of the office, where the chairs for guests were. There was the slightest hint of a cheeky grin on her face.
"Did your favourite student really fight Katyusha's brother?" She asked, leaning back. Eduard, looked over to where she looked, and tried to hold back a laugh. Arthur knew she meant it as a joke, but he didn't want to be reminded of what just happened.
"Your jokes never ceases to amuse me," Arthur grumbled, folding his arms. "Mr. Beilschmidt asked me to get Amanika to check up on him. Between him and Ivan, he was the one who got battered up the most."
"We'll leave you to it, then," Eduard said, starting to walk down the hallway.
"I'll walk out with you," An said, following Eduard. "Krishna wanted me to go watch this new, action Bollywood movie that's out. My favourite Vietnamese actor is in it, so I'm tagging along with a few other teachers. That being said, I have to go home and get ready; I'm going to die if I'm stuck in this shirt any longer."
They bid each other farewell, Arthur knocked on the door to the Nurses' office.
"Come in," a woman's voice called from within. Arthur opened the door, and saw a woman sitting on a chair nearby the bed, looking down at a paper with a pen. The woman was wearing blue srubs, a stethoscope around her neck. She had curly black hair that was pulled back in a bandana, and a glowing dark brown complexion. She looked up to Arthur with her cool, brown eyes, before standing up.
"Oh, it is just you Arthur," she said kindly, a Kenyan accent in her voice. "How can I help you today? Do you need Advil for a headache?"
"No, thank you for the consideration though, Amanika," Arthur replied. "I just wanted to grab an ice pack. And I also got two students who needs to be checked up for any cuts and whatnot."
"Oh my," Amanika said, getting up to go to the mini freezer near her desk. She opened it to grab an ice pack, while continuing, "What happened?"
"Just two students decided it would be a good idea to get into a brawl," Arthur replied with a sigh. Amanika walked up the door, a big ice pack in hand, wrapping it with a white towel. She handed it to him. "Hands and legs were swung today. Mr. Beilschmidt wants you to check on them."
"Teenagers these days," Amanika said with an 'tsk', as Arthur moved so she could walk in front of him down the hallway. "When things like this happen when I was growing up, they would've been stitched back together only to get a corporal punishment from the teacher for acting up. They should introduce it here."
"I went to school in Britain and here, and unfortunately they don't have it," Arthur agreed, following her down to the guest area.
On the chair sat Gilbert. Ivan must have been inside Alaric's office at the moment, discussing his punishment. There was a more noticeable blueish-purple bruise that covered half of his face, and there was swelling one of his cheeks. He had a cotton ball stuck in his mouth so it could absorb blood from the cut that was along his bottom gum. Gilbert didn't look their way when they entered the guest area.
"Here, put it on your face," Arthur said, handing him the packet. Gilbert looked at it for a second, before putting it on his face.
"Is there anything hurting at the moment?" Amanika asked, inspecting the swelling on his cheek.
"Other than my entire face? No. I don't think anything's broken either," he replied, while she nodded.
"Where did you get hit other than your face?"
"My stomach."
"I don't see anything that would pose a threat to your health, but you might experience discomfort from you stomach," she replied.
At that moment, Ivan and Katyusha emerged from outside, with Alaric walking out behind him. Ivan had similar injuries to Gilbert, but on a lesser scale.
"I'll grab you an ice pack too," Amanika said, before disappearing down the hall to her office.
"Have a good night, Katyusha, Ivan," Alaric said to the two, as they walked towards the door.
"I'll see you on Sunday, Arthur," Katyusha said, and with that, they left the office, leaving Arthur and Gilbert.
"Gilbert, to my office," Alaric said. "I'm sorry Arthur, but I would like you to come too."
The two followed Alaric into his office, which was right across Romulus' office. Arthur rarely ever went to his office, but when he did, he felt uneasy. The office was spacious, with a huge desk, a bookshelf and a filing cabinet to one side. It was orderly and proper- a bit too proper for Arthur's taste. The floors were spotless and not a single book was out of line. Even the pen he was using sat straight beside the form he was filling out. There was a single plant in the corner, but that was really the only pop of colour that was in this office.
"Sit," Alaric said- or more like demanded - to Gilbert. If Gilbert was afraid of anyone in this entire world, it must have been his grandfather; Arthur noticed how he immediately sat down. Arthur decided to stay standing, knowing it wouldn't take long. There was silence between them, and Arthur had to loosen his tie to breathe in this tense atmosphere. There was still no expression on Alaric's face and Gilbert only stared blankly at the plant.
"I didn't start it," Gilbert finally said, his voice cracking. "He was antagonizing me-"
"Don't speak, only listen," Alaric said coldly. "From what Ivan said, he said that you hit him first."
"Okay, I did, but –"
"I don't want to hear it Gilbert," Alaric said. "All I care about is who instigated the physical part. And from what Ivan, Mr. Lars, and Mr. Kirkland have told me, I know for a fact that you were the one who started it. Ivan will not be punished as severly, but I have given him cleaning duty for 2 days. As for you, you will have 2 week of cleaning duty, along with detention during lunch."
"Wollen Sie mich veräppeln? Are you kidding me?" Gilbert exclaimed, not realising he slipped into German. "Ich kann nicht glauben, dass Sie mit dieser Bastard! Er war gegen mich! Er sah mich spöttisch, und er begann die ganze Scheiße zu sagen - I can't believe you're siding with that bastard! He was antagonizing me! He was looking at me mockingly, and he started to say all this shit-"
"Ich sagte Ihnen nicht zu sprechen! I told you not to speak!" Alaric yelled loudly, his voice booming over Gilbert's as he stood up. Gilbert pulled back his lips, and sat back, but rolled his eyes while doing so.
Arthur had no idea what either of them said, but when Alaric yelled, he was shaken but how scary and powerful he sounded. This was the first time he's ever heard him well, and he was shook to the core. He was worried when he saw Gilbert's reaction. How could he still give him attitude after yelling at him and looking like he was going to murder him?
Alaric took a deep breath, and sat back down in his chair.
"Arthur," Alaric said suddenly, and Arthur straightened himself up. "If Gilbert doesn't attend homeroom again during those two weeks, notify me right away. If he does it after those two weeks, then send him off to detention after school. Understood?"
"Yes sir," Arthur said, trying not to sigh. Great more responsibility over him. Arthur looked over at Gilbert to see his reaction, but he went back to staring at the plant.
"What's done is done. Wait outside for me," Alaric said to Gilbert, and he turned to face Arthur. "Arthur, you may leave too, but I just wanted to tell you quickly; since your sons have accepted the admission to this academy, make sure to take their measurements, write it down in the form, and send it in. The sooner, the better. See you at Monday's meeting."
With that, Alaric handed Arthur a big yellow envelope, which he then placed in his messenger bag.
I think I'm going to hug Alfred and Matthew when I see them, Arthur thought as he walked out. After witnessing how Gilbert was, he was suddenly grateful his sons were not as troublesome.
"Wait you have two sons?" Gilbert asked as they enter the guest area.
"Yes," Arthur said, finally releasing the sigh he was holding onto. "They'll be attending coming fall."
Gilbert just nodded, and sat down on a chair.
"Well, I'll see you in class on time, Gilbert," Arthur said as he opened the door to leave.
"You too, sir," Gilbert simply replied back, placing the ice pack on his face.
Arthur left, and made his way through the school to the parking lot. He was near his car when he felt his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out, and on his screen was the name Alfred, accompanied with multiple emojis that didn't make sense to Arthur.
He's been on my phone again, Arthur though, as he picked up the call.
"Hello?"
"Yo Dad!" His son exclaimed through the phone. "Where are ya?"
"Yo, Al," Arthur replied, copying his American accent, annoyed at his use of 'yo'. "Where are you?"
"Haha, your accent is so bad," Alfred laughed. "I'm at home, and we don't have any food!"
"Whu- Yes we do. I made food yesterday! Eat that and I'll prepare dinner when I get home!" Arthur replied, opening the car door, before proceeding to start the engine.
"Sorry to say this Dad, but your cooking kind of sucks," Alfred complained. "And I checked the fridge, and the food's gone bad."
"Alright, then," Arthur said, not wanting to argue with Alfred at the moment. "I'll grab some junkie fast food on my way home. But I better see you doing homework once I enter through the door."
"Aw, you know me! I always do my homework," Alfred said. "But thank youuu. I'll see you at home~"
"Be safe, love, don't open the door for stranger. I-" Arthur started to say, but Alfred hung up on him. I love you, Arthur thought. He pulled out of the parking spot, and started driving.
I think I'm going to grab a glass of whiskey, sit in the tub, and watch reruns of Coronation Street on the laptop.