Alfred was nestled between his best friends, Kiku and Ivan. The Russian boy still didn't talk much except to Alfred, so he and Kiku rarely conversed. Alfred cringed at his sandwich. His father was never more intent on weaning him off of sweets, so the peanut butter and jelly had no extra sugar and the bread was made of whole wheat that felt grainy against Alfred's tongue.

Daddy had a knack for making everything that was supposed to be fun dull as world news on tv. This peanut butter and jelly sandwich was too gross to even deserve its title. It was more like a peanut butter and yucky sandwich.

Kiku had what he called a bento, which Alfred would guess was just another word for a lot of rice and some pickled veggies. He would ask to trade except Kiku's lunch sounded even less appealing.

Ivan, on the other hand, had something weird. It looked like a big round loaf of bread that had some cabbage and other things stuffed inside it. What was really strange was how much of it he had, even Alfred didn't think he would have been able to eat all of it by himself. Kiku dared to ask about it.

"Ivan-san, why do you have so many piroshiki?"

The Russian boy frowned at his friends.

"My big sister learned how to make it and now she insists on cooking for me. She's always afraid of me being hungry, so she made all of these."

"They look good for someone who just learned how to make it," Kiku commented.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Alfred said suddenly.

Ivan finished chewing and swallowing before speaking.

"Yeah. I do. Her name is Irina. She's nice, I guess. But always overprotective."

"That's so cool."

"Alfred-san. I find it unusual for you that you have yet to eat anything. You're usually finished with your lunch by now."

Alfred turned to Kiku with a sad smile, then looked down at his meal. He was in no hurry to eat this monstrosity even though he was hungry. It just tasted too weird. Ivan stared at him intently.

"Do you not like your lunch?" asked the young Russian child.

Alfred just shook his head sadly, then explained to them about how his father made it differently today. The sandwich was all wrong without any sugar.

"The jelly should have some sugar. If it's made from fruit," Kiku offered.

"It's not enough!" Alfred cried.

"How much sugar do you need?" Kiku exclaimed.

Ivan seemed to sense bad tension, so he offered one of his many breads. Alfred thanked him out of politeness and stared at it. He never had whatever this was before. What did Kiku say it was called? Piroshiki? He took a bite.

And then happily munched on it. It wasn't sweet with sugar or anything but it was much better than his peanut butter and yucky sandwich. After he was full up, he thanked Ivan.

At the end of the day, he proposed the question. Ivan was more than happy to spend the night. This was going to be awesome.