A/N: I NEED TO WORK ON BROTHER COMPLEX-

Onwards!

Chapter 9: Irony

It had started out as a desperate attempt to make a friend.

Arthur could tell that –even though he was only semi-aware of his unconsciousness- what he was seeing was a dream. The scene was a hauntingly familiar but the background was vague and dark which allowed Arthur to understand this was in fact a dream. In front of his stood his ten year old self –who was completely unaware of Arthur's presence (but then again Arthur wasn't even sure what state he existed in) – preparing for the worst mistake Arthur had ever made in his life.

Arthur felt physically and violently sick as his younger self began to chant the words to summon his soon-to-be "friend". He could sense Jeanne (not on his form but on the rock nearby the circle) protesting profusely but he knew that his younger self couldn't hear her. Back then he hadn't been aware enough. The full moon's light filtered through the tree leaves and into the circle younger Arthur had created to bring the creature to life in this world. An unwillingly impressed part of Arthur noted proudly (not for the first time) the strength and amount of magick his young body had contained considering usually it wasn't until a person was twelve or eighteen did they become magickally adept.

The wind around them began to gust as horror pulsed through Arthur's form as his younger self –blissfully naïve- continued his chanting. "Stop!" Arthur cried futilely. He couldn't even move closer. Something was already coming. The sounds of the animals and night time did not exist in this dream. The dream skipped ahead suddenly –almost as if Arthur had looked away from a television show for a few moments and then looked back.

He was inside of the house now. The door was locked and now he was his younger self. His body moved as if pre-programmed. His form was trembling as he peeked through the window, already knowing what he would see outside. The figure out there seemed to take on the shape of the darkness, wiggling and reshaping itself as it became acquainted with this new world that it was suddenly in. It didn't have a vessel which was usually a necessity when summoning a daemon but Arthur hadn't exactly been the smartest child as he had tried to do dark magick far above his level –magick that he shouldn't have even done to begin with. The form continued to shift before it finally grasped onto Arthur's presence. Arthur could feel the connection between them –the promise Arthur had made with the creature unknowingly. His child self couldn't have known what he had sacrificed to bring the being into existence in this world. It was only through self-study as he had looked up ways to protect himself did he realize what he had given up.

The daemon's form stopped shifting and instead settled into the form of a young girl, who slowly turned to meet his eyes. Arthur's knees nearly buckled under him, emotional and mental pain filling him and nearly crippling him. Only self-preservation kept him up by this point. The girl had been a person who would've been –under more normal circumstances- considered Arthur's first love. As it was the girl had betrayed him –had broken his heart- and left him further in his pit of loneliness and despair. He cringed whenever he thought of her. She had been the one to break his fragile trust in people at such a young age. Naturally a daemon meant to take on the form of a person's worst fears would take on the form of his loneliness and insecurities.

The girl's eyes were black in the sclera and the irises were red. She smiled sinisterly and Arthur could almost hear a voice whisper, "I can't wait to see you up close."

His legs felt like jelly as he backed away from the window. His pulse was thick in his neck. He had to run. He had to hide and somehow call his family. Where was the phone? What was his grandmother's number? She would never make it there in time. Arthur looked around rapidly, tears in his eyes, when the doorbell rang. He froze, ice water running through his veins. He couldn't bring himself to look at the door. It rang again and he could sense the creature asking to come in. He ran and barely made it around the corner when he heard the door open by itself.

Air puffed from his chest as he threw stuff in the path of the daemon, petrified. He grabbed a knife and threw it at the daemon, who was walking casually towards him as if this was a simple child's game and smiling all of the way. The daemon dodged the knife. Arthur sobbed. "Get away!" He screamed and turned tail and ran upstairs as fast as he could. He had no choice: he had to hide. He knew he wouldn't escape. This was his end. He was going to die. He slammed into the bedroom and closed the door locking it before looking around quickly for a place to hide. His heart's pace was so fast it was a miracle he hadn't passed out. There was no place to hide in his tiny bedroom. The bed wasn't tall enough to slide under and he didn't have time to hide behind the desk. His tiny closet was his only choice so he ran into it and shut the door locking it tight.

He bit back his sobs fearful of being heard as he covered his head and tears dripped from his shut eyes. He could hear the soft footsteps of the monster girl in the hallways of the house searching for him. He just needed to wait things out behind the clothing. Maybe he could survive. He prayed to the gods to save him and he apologized for everything that he had done. The scent of piss faintly wafted through the air but at that moment he didn't care that he had soiled himself. He wished that his brothers were there. He wished his grandmother was there. She would always sing to him when he was scared. He wished that he had his stones. Why had he summoned that daemon? He was an idiot.

Knock knock. Arthur's body stiffened as he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He held his breath. He couldn't understand what the daemon was saying as it spoke (was it even speaking?) in another language. The doorknob turned and with a dreaded squeak of the hinges the door opened. Footsteps entered the room and paused before searching around. Arthur knew this was it. The door to the closet opened slowly and he sobbed once before the creature whispered, "I found you." The eyes of the daemon brightened considerably and the smile widened. "You're it."

Cold seeped into Arthur's body causing him to gasp and collapse to the ground. He screamed, feeling something overcome him. He was losing control. He was scared. He was afraid to die. He didn't want to die. Don't worry. A voice whispered in his mind and they sounded terrifyingly like his own although he knew they were not, I'll make sure you live a happy life. It was the last thing Arthur consciously recalled.

Arthur woke up from his nightmare with a stiff body staring at a dark ceiling. Tears trailed from his eyes and his bed was wet with a mixture of sweat and what he was sure was piss. He rolled out of bed swiftly to cough and then vomit up the contents of his stomach onto the floor. His body shook with spasms and he couldn't keep still. He rolled onto his side but a creak of the floors had him jumping to his feet only to cough up more vomit and send him back to his knees. He couldn't clear his throat's passageway fast enough for the hysteric sobs trying desperately to break free from his chest. He fell to his elbows and knees and gripped his hair as he sobbed but realized quickly that he couldn't be so loud or he would wake Allistier. He couldn't wake his family with his problems. His problems were his own to solve.

He yanked his pillow from the bed, causing Jeanne –who had been underneath of it, to land on the floor near him. She hadn't broken but Arthur cradled her as if he had hurt her even though he knew he hadn't. He gripped her tightly in his palm, the metal of the design wrapped around her stone digging into his palm as he buried his face into his pillow and heaved muffled sobs, practically screaming his pain into the material. There were no words to describe his pain so he wailed nonexistent words into his pillow in hopes that it would hear them and hold his secrets as it had for so long.

In his mind he could see Jeanne and he allowed for the distraction on focusing on what she looked like. She was a lovely young girl with light brown hair and worried but kind blue eyes. She was wearing a pale pink-almost-white sun dress that reached her knees and had a frill trim down the sides and circled the hems and the straps. She didn't wear shoes while they were inside. She kneeled next to Arthur and didn't say anything as she took him into her arms. She couldn't have been older than Arthur himself –she looked like she was probably younger, actually, but she changed her age often so it was difficult to tell- but she held him as a mother would. He imagined that he could feel her warmth as he loving aura made its way around his body in warm but thin and small sheets that settled over him like down. She was trying her best to soothe him.

Arthur cried into her arms wondering why he even bothered to live. Why should he continue living? Why did he bother sleeping? The pain of both was excruciating. "Don't say such things." Jeanne reprimanded softly as she stroked his hair. He felt embarrassed that she was seeing him in such a state but he had grown up with her and she had seen him in possibly every state possible besides perhaps bliss and death. Arthur wondered why he shouldn't think such things. They were true, were they not? "Of course not." Jeanne read his thoughts. "You're wanted and loved here. You need your sleep." Before Arthur could contradict what she was telling him, she began to sing softly the same song that his grandmother would sing to him to calm him down. It worked instantly, causing his limbs to slowly unwind and relax. His sobbing began to gradually subside and by the end of the song his tears had stopped although his body still shook badly.

"Thank you." He whispered and pulled his face back from the pillow. He still felt her presence but her form was faded now in his mind as he didn't concentrate on her. He stood on his legs and nearly collapsed again as his one leg had fallen asleep. Had he really been sitting there that long? He shook out the numbness and waited for the pins and needles before he painfully limped towards the bathroom, stripping along the way. He pulled his pants off after his legs were back to normal and he discarded his soiled clothing to the side. He could do the wash later. He still had a few hours before the sun would even rise, let alone before he had to go to school. He glanced at his bathroom clock and saw that it had only been roughly two hours since he had fallen asleep. That horrible nightmare had lasted less than two hours. Why did dreams have to feel like millennia?

He stepped under the hot spray of the shower and allowed himself to soak in it gratefully. Water was not his element but he cherished it like it was his element. Water was healing and flowed effortlessly but not as carelessly as air did. It washed over rock and smoothed out its bumps and calmed fires. It wrapped Arthur peacefully in its flow and he concentrated on cleansing himself with the hot water. He let his negative emotions run off of him but still his limbs trembled. He didn't expect them to stop anytime soon. He finished his shower after bathing and then went downstairs to do some chores to distract himself. When he started the washing machine he made himself some tea before he sat down to read over spells he had long since memorized. He sighed gently into his tea. It would be once again be another restless night.

Arthur could barely drag himself to school later on that morning. The sun burned his eyes and his bag felt more cumbersome than it had felt on previous days, as if someone had shoved rocks into the very fabric of the bag. He twice nearly walked into people but dodged around them at the last minute. He couldn't wait for the day to end already. He wanted to sleep but couldn't. An arm wrapped around his shoulder and he looked tiredly to his side to see Feliciano grinning at him.

"Ciao, Arthur! Oh!" Feliciano opened his eyes to gaze at Arthur worryingly. "You look exhausted!" Arthur only nodded and moved to head towards his classroom which was his usual route but a gentle tug had him following Feliciano to somewhere at random. He couldn't even summon the strength to fight against him. He was led to a pavilion where there were lunch tables. The air was chilly but the doors to the school were open so the tables nearest to the open doors received heat. This was where Arthur was sat down. With a start he realized he had zoned out and discovered himself sitting next to Vash, Lili, Matthew, Gilbert, Ivan, and Alfred. Alfred sat to Arthur's immediate left, sharing the two-seater bench with him. Arthur allowed Alfred's warm and active aura wrap around him graciously, not even caring that he should be more attentive of what he was doing. He found himself slowly leaning towards the boy, unconsciously seeking him as his eyes drifted shut. He couldn't even focus on what his friends were saying.

"You don't look so good, Artie." Arthur started awake and jerked away from Alfred, realizing that he had been leaning on his chest. Alfred hadn't seemed to have been complaining but Arthur mentally berated himself for doing something so stupid. He needed to stay awake while at school.

"Arthur, have you been sleeping well?" Lili asked, concerned. Arthur discovered that the rest of their group of friends –Vladimir, Elizaveta, Ludwig, and Kiku- had shown up at some point during Arthur's dozing.

"No." Arthur admitted and rubbed his eyes, widening them in hopes it would help keep them open.

"You have appeared to be more tired than usual." Vladimir said, gazing at him curiously. He watched each of Arthur's moves as he dug without looking into his bag for something. He pulled out a can of coffee moments later and started drinking from it.

"Insomnia?" Ivan asked, leaning his large body forward to look at Arthur more directly.

"Yes."

"Here." Ivan pulled from his pocket a small bottle of pills. Arthur took them gingerly and read the bottle. They were sleeping aids to help with insomnia. They didn't appear to be prescription so Arthur felt a little safer. "You may have some. They are quite helpful." Arthur looked at the Russian, touched by his concern but slightly suspicious of him.

"Why would you need them?" He asked as he popped off the cap and pulled two of the pills out before handing the bottle back.

Ivan smiled at him. "It is difficult to sleep in my house, is all." He said. "I've have been an insomniac since I lived in my country."

"…Thank you, Ivan." Arthur said sincerely. Alfred made a face at the pills, as if he didn't trust them. He passed Arthur his carton of milk that he had gotten with his breakfast. Arthur didn't exactly like the idea of drinking after him but then again Alfred had already kissed him before so what was an indirect kiss? He blushed slightly as he remembered the kiss and quickly downed the pills. The bell rang then, initiating the shift in the student body towards their respective classrooms. Vash and Lili stood with Vash holding her hand.

"I'll take you to your class." He said to her with a soft smile Arthur knew was reserved only for her. He felt that a tension between them was gone now that they were dating. Lili nodded and waved goodbye before she was led off by her brother. The rest of the group walked together, discussing stuff that had happened last night. Arthur ignored their chatter instead focusing on the feeling of belonging. He actually had a group now to call his own. An arm was wrapped around his shoulder and he could tell simply from the feeling of it that it was Alfred. He nudged him hard in the ribs with his elbow in order to get him off.

Alfred grunted. "Watch it, man. I'm trying to help Sleeping Beauty to class."

"Shut up, you oaf." Arthur muttered and shook Alfred' arm off, stubbornly refusing the help. He could make it to class without being led like a dog. Alfred made a face at him which got a couple of giggles from Gilbert but Arthur firmly ignored him and said goodbye to his friends as he and his classmates walked into Allistier's classroom. He took his seat with Kiku behind him and Alfred beside him and turned to Kiku. "How have you been?" He asked, wanting to start up some idle chat while they waited for the final bell to ring.

Kiku chuckled softly and patted Arthur's hand. "I've been fine. You haven't been taking care of yourself, though."

Arthur flushed slightly. "It can't be helped." He murmured. "I can't control my dreams."

"Oh? Seitekina yume? Alfred wa?" He teased. Arthur looked at him bewildered, not understanding what he had said but knowing that he had teased him by his tone of voice and that Alfred had been involved.

"Hey, I heard that!" Alfred turned around and shot a look at Kiku with slightly pink cheeks. Kiku chuckled softly behind a hand. "Jeez, don't say embarrassing stuff like that!"

"What did he say?" Arthur asked, curious.

"Nothing!" Alfred said and turned back around refusing to answer Arthur no matter what. Kiku only shook his head when Arthur asked him too, leaving the British boy frustrated. It was of little consequence anyway.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese." Arthur asked Alfred, looking at him.

"I know a little bit of most of the languages in this school." Alfred told him, looking a little proud of himself. "I can read in Japanese and speak it somewhat. I know some German. I'm sketchy with Hungarian but I'm good at French and I know enough Russian to get me past in a fight with Ivan and to know what shit he's saying behind my back." Arthur felt slightly impressed by Alfred.

"You must be good with languages."

"Yup!" Allistier arrived later than the bell and began setting up a PowerPoint, turning off the lights. Arthur could feel drowsiness seeping into his limbs and being. He had to keep awake. Allistier would kill him if he fell asleep in the middle of his class. But Ivan's pills seemed to be kicking in quickly. By thirty minutes into the class, Arthur could barely support his own head. He felt as if gravity was working against him and he certainly couldn't keep his eyes open. He had been sitting for a good five minutes already with his eyes basically glued shut. He couldn't open them to save his life.

He felt a warm hand brush his fringe up and he turned his head slowly to look at Alfred but kept his eyes closed. Alfred laughed softly, his laugh warm and happy. "You're falling asleep." Arthur tried to say something sarcastically along the lines of, "Am I really? I couldn't tell" but it came out as a mumble of words that even his own ears couldn't comprehend. "Here, lay down." His head was led tenderly down onto what felt like a jacket and Arthur grasped that it was Alfred's letterman jacket from football. "I'll cover for you. You need sleep." Arthur didn't have time to thank Alfred before he fell under sleep's spell.

Darkness surrounded Arthur on all sides as he walked. He wasn't sure of where he was but he had a foreboding feeling. Dreams like this tended to turn into nightmares. A figure appeared up ahead so Arthur moved towards them. He slowly began to recognize the figure and the ghost of the scent of cinnamon caused joy to radiate within him. Still he did not speed up and eventually he arrived to stand with his grandmother. He wasn't sure what to say. He opened his mouth to greet her when a disappointed look overcame her withered face.

"Oh Arthur, what have you done?" She whispered, her clothing shifting to become new clothing occasionally but no mind was paid towards it. Arthur was alarmed.

"Wha-What?"

"You killed me."

"I-I didn't!" Arthur stammered as he took a step backwards. His grandmother matched him by stepping forward.

"You killed all of us." Arthur whipped around and saw the gory and mangled forms of children and adults alike. He knew all of them despite their states. They would've made good fodder for a zombie movie. They moved towards him, angry as they encircled him.

"I just wanted to make you happy." Arthur turned to his right to see Miss Hersley, a young bachelorette who couldn't have been more than twenty-five. Short and curly golden blonde hair highlighted her heart-shaped face. Her chest was completely ripped apart and he could see that her arms were twisted and broken. She had died from falling off of a building after being violently attacked by "something". Arthur remembered his tender days at fifteen when this woman would bake him sweets and calmed him during his "angry" phase in life. He had been there to experience her death having not been strong enough to have been able to stop his daemon.

Arthur bit his hand and backed away, tears flowing down his face. These were all people that he had known and some of which he had cared about. But that was the reason they had to die. "What did I ever do to you?" Arthur shivered at the soft voice next to him and looked to his right. A young boy no older than twelve stood there, his eyes gouged out and an arm missing. His black hair dripped with blood from where his skull was exposed and broken. Claw marks were around his eyes. "I was bullied like you. I never hurt you, so why did you kill me?" Tears ran from the eye sockets, blending with the blood on his face. Arthur felt like vomiting.

"I didn't!" Arthur breathed out as more of a feeling that his lungs were deflating the hot air. He couldn't breathe back in.

"You did!" All of the corpses accused. Arthur covered his ears, unwillingly remembering the boy. His name had been Augustus which had caused the other kids to tease him mercilessly about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory exclaiming he had tainted their chocolate and would throw the half-eaten sweets at the child. Augustus hadn't even been particularly fat but he had been growing out of his baby fat. Arthur and Augustus had been bullied together being called fags with each other and such. Augustus had been the closest Arthur had gotten to a friend.

Augustus had been possessed by the daemon and clawed his own eyes out at the horrors he thought he saw while Arthur had tried desperately to stop him but the door to the classroom had been locked and nothing he could do could've opened the door. Arthur hadn't stayed around long enough to see the boy's arm ripped off as he had tried to find a weapon to bash the door open. By the time he had come back, Augustus had been lying in a pool of his own blood deceased. Arthur knew from the reports on the television that Augustus had bashed his own head against the corner of the desk until he had died.

"N-no…!" Arthur whimpered and tried to get away from them, afraid of seeing and facing his past. Hands grabbed him and the people taunted him, mocked him, and lamented their deaths. At every turn Arthur was blamed and reminded of the horrors his "friend" had committed. The hands started shaking him and screamed his name. He covered his ears again but they were pulled away. He struggled and saw his daemon approaching him grinning in a form Arthur thought he recognized and felt personally close to but he couldn't comprehend who it was. He realized these people were trying to sacrifice him to the daemon. "No!" He cried, desperately struggling.

"Arthur!" Arthur's eyes snapped open and all he could comprehend were the very real hands gripping him. He shrieked and threw himself away from the hands, bringing down his chair and desk with him with a loud clamor. He scrambled to the wall, groping frantically for an exit. He could hear his name being called and he whipped around to press himself back flush against the wall, mad eyes whipping around wildly. The class had crowded in front of him but most were faceless blurs. His eyes found Alfred but his mind –still hazy from his dream- saw a mutilated version of the boy. Despite anxious eyes his hair was covered with blood along with his hands and his chest had a gaping hole where his heart should've been. Beside him was Kiku, who looked like he had been mauled to death by a rogue animal. Arthur comprehended to his sheer terror that the headless figure next to the Asian was his friend Vash. Ivan stood nearby also with worried eyes but those eyes were that of the daemon –only the irises were luminescent purple instead of red- and that caused Arthur to scream again, startling them. He ducked his head and hid in a fetal position, sobbing relentlessly and whispering pleas.

"Get out o' the way!" Allistier barked and shoved past his students quickly. "He needs room!" Allistier fell to his knees in front of Arthur and shook him but that only caused Arthur to curl in more on himself. "Arthur! Arthur, ye bloody idiot brother, look at me!" Allistier grabbed Arthur's hair and yanked. Arthur whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut only to find himself with a face full of water. He gasped and his eyes shot open, coming to his senses a bit. A moment later a sharp slap caused his face to scream and he cried out. "Calm the fuck down." Allistier commanded seriously and Arthur stared at him with widened eyes. Allistier released his brother's hair and instead gripped his shoulders firmly. "You're safe."

Finally Arthur snapped out of his disillusioned state and gazed around the room in slight confusion. The class had listened to their teacher and had backed up to give Arthur space. Nobody was dead or injured. Alfred, Ivan, Kiku, and Vash all looked normal and unharmed. That of itself almost made Arthur sob with relief. Nobody spoke as the boy gathered his bearings. Finally he turned his head to see his brother rise and scan his students. "Kiku," he said.

"Hai!" Kiku stood stiff at attention.

"Take Arthur to the infirmary."

"I can take him!" Alfred volunteered but Allistier shot him down.

"I already got someone." Kiku moved forward and gently grasped Arthur's arm. Arthur grunted.

"I can stand myself." He murmured and climbed shakily to his feet. His legs were still trembling violently and he almost fell again. Kiku quickly caught his arm and gently held him.

"I will only help." Kiku promised softly. Arthur gazed at him with watery eyes, his emotions running rampant. He wanted to cry simply because of Kiku's kindness. He sniffled once and lowered his head some to hide his face in shame before allowing Kiku to lead him out the door. As they exited they heard Allistier command the class to sit back down. There were concerned murmurs. They walked quietly with Arthur for the most part supporting himself. Neither boy spoke for a while until they reached the stairs. Kiku held Arthur's hand (Arthur refused to believe that he was blushing from the touch) and Arthur held the railing with his other hand as they descended.

"Are you feeling better?" Kiku asked after they reached the bottom and moved to go down the second set of stairs.

"Yes, thank you." Kiku gripped Arthur's hand just a bit tighter kindly and smiled at him. Arthur's heart jumped a little and hid his face again, allowing to be led by the hand.

"That was quite a nightmare."

Arthur chuckled sardonically. "You have no idea." He muttered. They continued their walk in silence. Arthur didn't really need Kiku's physical support any longer but he liked knowing that the Asian boy was there for him. His hand was smaller than his and warm. He could feel his soothing aura spreading into his own hand calming him more.

Kiku opened the door and both boys walked into the infirmary. He had expected it to smell almost similar to a hospital or a doctor's office but instead Arthur discovered that it smelled of herbs. The room wasn't very large with a few seats placed against the wall next to the door to allow students to come in and sit down. There were five beds with three of them looking similar to the chaise joked about in movies. Two of the beds had privacy curtains that wrapped around all of the way. Behind a desk to the left sat a cabinet filled with medical needs but most were surprisingly just herbs. A pot of tea sat steeping on the counter with a stethoscope near a microwave and sink.

Arthur read a couple of the bottles in the cabinet. "Some of these medications aren't suitable for a school nurse." He mused out loud.

"He serves as a doctor as well." Kiku informed him, glancing around for the doctor. "There isn't a hospital in this town so people need to go out of town for major problems, but Yao-san is certified to be a doctor." Arthur turned to him recalling hearing that name somewhere before. He was about to ask where from when another student walked in. His dark brown-black hair was tied in a loose ponytail and he wore the uniform without the school blazer. His vest was more of a golden tan than white like Arthur's was so he recognized that this person was of Asian origin (even though it was obvious by the person). Instead of the plaid pants he wore dark blue slacks. Technically it was out of dress code but Gilbert practically blew off the dress code so Arthur didn't really care. On the boy's back was some type of basket backpack that he recognized as items used to gather plants in. Inside of the basket was a panda doll. By guessing Arthur assumed he was Chinese. He looked to be Arthur's age or perhaps younger. Arthur quickly released Kiku's hand.

"Zǎo ān." The boy greeted and turned to Kiku. "Are you sick? I told you to watch your salt intake-"

"Ah, it is not me." Kiku denied quickly, appearing embarrassed and faintly annoyed by it. "Yao-san, this is Arthur." He introduced. "Arthur, this is our local doctor."

Arthur was floored. "You're the doctor? But you're far too young!"

Yao ignored Arthur's blatant rudeness and sat him down in a chair before going over to the pot and pouring a cup of tea into a cup decorated with intricate designs depicting dragons. He picked up the stethoscope and said, "I get that a lot-aru." Arthur blinked at the verbal tic. Great, he thought, even the doctor is weird. America was outrageous, he decided. "What seems to be the problem?" He sipped his tea.

Arthur was half-tempted to ask for some. He could smell some lemongrass in it. "Nothing…I just need to sleep…"

Kiku frowned in his direction as Yao raised an eyebrow. Arthur could practically read what he was thinking. Kiku spoke up instead, "Arthur has been having bad nightmares, which have been keeping him up."

"I see." Yao went to the cabinet and Arthur sighed realizing that he would have to take more pills. He would rather not. He didn't like pills. Instead Yao pulled out various herbs and began to blend them. Arthur couldn't help himself and walked over to join him, wanting to know what he was going to be drinking. He recognized lavender, St. John's Wort, and poppy, but there were a few others he didn't recognize. They were probably herbs from the East that Arthur was still patchy on.

"Are you an herbal doctor?"

"I can use either method." Yao informed him absentmindedly as he worked. "I prefer to use herbs if it is for such things like sleep." He began to grind the herbs and a fresh and spicy scent began to fill the room. Arthur walked over to join Kiku who was sitting on one of the beds. The three sat in a comfortable silence. Arthur dozed with his head dipping on occasion but he refused to fall asleep. He couldn't risk it again. Yao's voice snapped him back to consciousness, "This mixture," he said as he began to boil the herbs, "will allow you to sleep dreamlessly." Arthur felt his anxious bubble within his chest pop in relief.

"Okay." He responded. They waited for the tea to seep completely in a separate pot from Yao's tea before the doctor poured it into a cup and brought it to Arthur.

"Drink it straight." Arthur nodded and carefully began to sip, mindful of the heat. Kiku watched him as he drank and Yao took a seat in a chair nearby, pulling out his panda and toying with its ears.

Arthur decided to bring up a topic while they were waiting for him to finish the tea and for the effects to kick in. "Why do you dress like a student?"

Yao shrugged. "Because I can." He stated. "They're my old clothes from when I went here." Arthur then recalled where he had heard Yao's name before. Was he acquaintances with Ivan and Alfred? Unconsciously he tucked his growing hair (he would need to have it cut soon) in front of his dragon earring, self-conscious and protective of the jewelry.

When Arthur finished his tea he lay down in the bed and removed his shoes before he pulled the blanket over himself. He removed the blazer as well as Kiku smiled a little at him. Arthur gave him a thankful look before he lay back down and closed his eyes. His body was thankful that his heavy eyelids had finally closed and he knew he wouldn't be able to open his eyes again without much struggle. He could already feel himself falling. The taste in his mouth was somewhat bitter but familiar. He fell asleep before he heard Kiku get up to leave. As Yao had told him, he slept dreamlessly. At first he didn't sleep very deeply as he drifted in and out, up and down, deeper and shallower in the darkness. It was comfortable. At times he heard others' voices but most he didn't recognize. Some of them he applied to faces in his mind. Elizaveta had come to visit him and check in as well as he thought Allistier had as well (although that hardly seemed possible). Alfred and his friends visited, causing Arthur to stir some and be drawn out of the watery depths of sleep. However before he fully woke up, Yao rushed the company out. Soon after Arthur fell into a deep sleep.

Murmured voices broke through his slumber. "Don't you think he's been asleep long enough?"

"Yeah, probably." The voices drifted out for a moment before they came back. "Alright, wake him up. I gotta go back to…"

"Alright. Arthur?" He felt a hand gently shake his shoulder and Arthur stirred, his eyebrows wrinkling. "Arthur, wake up." Reluctantly Arthur blinked his eyes open. He blinked sluggishly before he turned his head towards the voice. At first he had thought it was Alfred but he placed the voice to the name and remembered that it was Matthew.

"'Ello…?" He mumbled, confused. The room didn't look like the infirmary. "Where am I?"

Matthew smiled at him, standing over Arthur's bed. "You're in our dorm room."

"Dorm room?"

"Mine and Alfred's."

"How did I get here?" He sat up and looked around the room, rubbing an eye and frowning. The warm smell of oil permeated the air along with the crackling of cooking. Something was being fried and from the smell of it, it was probably chicken. There were other foods as well but he couldn't tell what they were over the heavy scent of fried chicken. The dorm room was about the size of Arthur's living room with the bed he had been sleeping on pressed to the far left wall of the door and a bed was above him. The opposite wall held a dresser and small closet door. The back wall opposite of the front door contained a kitchen with a table in it and where a shirtless and damp Alfred stood cooking. A bathroom door stood off to the side wide open. There was a hamper in there piled with clothing. The walls were covered with posters from various places from Canada and America with an assortment of sports teams, bands, and a flag from each of the countries.

"I carried you!" Alfred called and turned from the stove to grin at him. "You must've been exhausted if you couldn't even wake up!"

"Why would you carry me here?" He asked. There were other places he could've gone. Couldn't Allistier have brought him home? Had he really been sleeping that deeply? "Why didn't you just leave me there?"

"Yao had to go to his office so we decided to bring you here."

"More like you did." Matthew contradicted him, rolling his eyes and moving over to the dresser to sip from a glass that was sitting there. "You wouldn't even let me help carry him."

"He wasn't heavy."

"You almost fell down the stairs."

"No I-OW!" Alfred hissed and jumped back from the stove and rubbed his chest. Arthur watched the boy's hand intently as if it was drawing a beautiful picture on a beautiful canvas.

Matthew laughed at him. "I told you to put on a shirt if you were going to skillet-fry chicken." Alfred scowled at him.

"I didn't want to! You know I don't wear shirts after showers."

"That's your life decision, bro."

Arthur finally tore his eyes away and stood up to yawn widely. "I suppose I should be going home then." He wondered how late it was and dug into his pocket to look at his phone. It was nearing seven in the evening. Oh damn, he didn't think he had slept that long.

"Really? I would think you're hungry since you skipped lunch." Alfred scooped out a plate of the chicken and placed it on the table as Matthew walked over to put the mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans into separate bowls. Arthur's stomach growled violently, angry that it had been neglected for so long. Arthur fidgeted, unsure if he wanted to join them. But the food looked good and he knew it was homemade. Alfred smirked at him and waved his hand over the chicken so that the scent would waft towards the British boy, taunting him. Arthur glared at him a bit before he joined them at the table, sitting down with a plate placed in front of him. Matthew poured him some lemonade kindly as Alfred grabbed silverware.

"Do you always cook meals like this?" Arthur asked as the boys joined him at the table. They started spooning out their plates and after a moment Arthur joined them grabbing his fill.

"Only about once a week." Matthew said. "We take turns and it was Al's."

"We like having homemade meals once in a while, you know?" Alfred agreed, ripping a chunk off of the breast of his chicken. Arthur calmly stabbed his beans and popped them into his mouth. "Plus I don't want to have Canadian food all of the time."

"You love my food." Matthew accused. Alfred grumbled something under his breath that Arthur thought sounded something along the lines of "Bagged milk" and "bullshit".

"That reminds me." Arthur glanced around the room. "I thought you two were brothers? How is it that you're from two countries?"

Both of the brothers laughed. "We're not brothers." Matthew said. "We're actually cousins. Our dads are twin brothers and we kind of inherited their traits, which is why we look alike."

"Even though I don't think we look alike at all. Look at his girly-ass hair!" Alfred pointed at him with a fork. Matthew ignored him. The three of them talked about idle things as they ate. Arthur was half tempted to smile but he couldn't fully bring himself to. The gory image he had seen of Alfred earlier in his class had left a scarring impression on him. He was scared for himself and his friends all of the sudden. Would they be alright? Was this some type of premonition? He didn't like it at all. He didn't like coincidences such as that. Why was it always when he'd been away from his daemon for too long he started having nightmares like that? He shuddered.

Alfred caught his shudder and paused, watching him momentarily. "Are you alright, Artie? What happened earlier…that must've been some nightmare."

Arthur looked away. "Yes…it was…"

"What did you dream about?" Arthur didn't want to say. He could feel himself closing off fearfully. He felt like he was a clam closing himself away from the dangers of the world. He didn't want to recount it.

Matthew seemed to realize this. "Al, don't push him…" Alfred met his look frowning, dejected.

"I was…dreaming about my grandmother…" Arthur whispered, catching the boys' attentions and startling himself.

"Oh really? Did you not like her?" Matthew asked lightly, wanting to keep the conversation light-hearted even if they were talking about a nightmare that had scared Arthur enough to cause him to wake screaming.

"I loved her." Arthur shook his head. "But…I killed her." A tense silence hung in the air, shock causing both Alfred and Matthew's auras to whip in sudden astonishment. "…Not directly." He added, not wanting his friends to think him a murderer even though he thought himself one.

"It's okay, Artie." Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand and squeezed it. Arthur looked at him. "I'm sure it wasn't on purpose."

"No, it's not okay!" Arthur whipped his hand away and stood up quickly, his anger at himself causing him to react. His eyes welled with tears and he wished that he could kick himself, beat himself, hurt himself in some way; any way that would take away the emotional pain. "Don't you understand? I killed her! I killed my own grandmother! It's my fault because I was an idiot! I just had to go and become 'friends' with him!" Tears jumped from his eyes as he shook his head back and forth furiously before he fell quiet, wiping his eyes quickly. He needed to calm down. He was just going to make himself feel worse. He was suffering enough damage without adding to it himself.

Matthew and Alfred watched him silently, letting Arthur get it out before either spoke, "Okay." Alfred said and stood up to go wash his plate, finished with his dinner. Arthur waited for him to continue but the boy didn't say anything else. He walked over to the dresser and pulled on a shirt before he walked over to Arthur, stopping in front of him a bit too close to be entirely friendly. He smiled at him compassionately and took his hand again before he gently tugged him a bit closer. "Do you want to go home now? I can drive you if you want."

Arthur gazed into Alfred's eyes. He felt something heated between them; electricity sparked between them. He couldn't bear to break the contact. His heart pounded in his chest and in that moment Arthur found he wanted to kiss Alfred. Unconsciously he leaned forward just a tiny bit. Alfred's eyelids lowered, his eyes dilating a little. Alfred tilted his head down, granted Arthur the invitation the boy had asked and Arthur would've happily taken it when from the corner of his eye he saw Matthew stand silently and Arthur broke the contact to look at him.

Matthew looked like he had been caught doing something bad. "Ah…" He didn't know what to say. Arthur flushed, realizing exactly what predicament they had just been in. He had wanted to kiss Alfred. He was an idiot. He couldn't stay in Alfred's presence any longer. The boy's aura was doing something to his nerves. Damn the fact that he was a water element; the damn America always knocked his guard down.

Arthur cleared his throat and stepped away from Alfred's heated touch. "No, I think I'll walk. The cool air will do me good." He didn't even wait to hear Alfred's protest as he grabbed his blazer and backpack and called a quick goodbye before leaving the dorms, blushing.

A/N: So I decided to give my readers a head's up:

This story will have a total of THREE endings: A Bad End, Good End, and True End. The Bad End will be pretty obvious to everyone which that is but for the "Good" and "True" end I'm gonna leave that up to the readers to decide what they are. Basically I'm gonna end the story one way and then go back in time a bit, tweak one essential part that changes the whole outcome of the story and head towards the new end. You guys can choose which end you like the best. :3

In other news, this chapter's song is "Irony" by Miku Hatsune.