Disclaimer: Me no own Hetalia. Me no speak like caveman in real life too. But me can type caveman talk, so yeah. XD
A/N: And before anyone asks, I have a good explanation on why I didn't update sooner. I had an Avatar: The Last Airbender marathon and went out a lot this week. XD But to make it up to you guys, I made this chapter longer. And I guess I am going to keep writing long chapters, so that even though I might not update as fast as I used to (I'm going to return to school in June and I have a ton of studying to do), I would still update. :)
Thank you to the awesome Prussias who read, faved, and alerted! And shout outs to Valkyrie99, Japanese Sinister, XxFallenAngel428xX, Nanamii148, Yanelle, Akatusukifreak, ImagineSerenity, Syrus07, The UK's Only, and coolbunnyboo for being awesome-like-Prussia reviewers! I hope this chapter is not a total fail. And yes, Arthur is in this. :D A sneak peek, but I promise he'll turn up again. I mean, this is USUK, after all.
Finding Arthur
Chapter 14
Secrecy and Affinity
"Why?"
"Do you want me to prove that magic is real or not?"
Alfred scoffed. "Geez, Alice! You're too desperate! You're standing in front of me after more than ten years looking exactly like how you left me years ago, and you still want to prove that magic is real? I already said I believe it, okay?"
The girl's brows knitted together as she walked towards him with an intimidating stare. "Alfred, I gave you the book. The least you could do is show it to me again."
"And why should I?"
"That was a gift from my mother."
It was inevitable that Alfred would give in eventually. How could he resist the girl he waited for so long? She used the "mom" card too, and he would end up guilty if he denied Alice. He also had to solve the mystery of the note. Matthew's fear of magical instances made him even more determined to unravel the truth that Alice (and Kiku and Yao, apparently) hid for so long.
Alfred had to rummage his bag in front of the impatient girl tapping her foot behind him, hoping she would stop criticising him silently if ever she was doing that. He threw out a couple of chocolate bar wrappers ("Sloppy..." he heard Alice whisper), his PSP case, and Matthew's comb before finally reaching the golden, leather-bound book. Before Alice could grab the book, Alfred swung his hand away from Alice.
"It's still my book," he teased. "Tell me something first."
Alice almost sulked in a corner if not for her determination to hold the book in her arms again. "And what should I tell you?" she snapped.
"Tell me everything." Alice grimaced. "Tell me why Yao's immortal, why Kiku never told me he knew you, how you know Francis–"
"Wait! How do you know I know Francis?" she asked in a panicked tone. Alfred sniggered.
"I saw you kick his butt earlier. For a girl, you're pretty tough."
And it amused Alice because Alfred's deduction was half-true, yet she had conflicting feelings on what she planned to reveal to him.
"Alfred, please. If you give me the book, then I would explain everything to you," she answered. "And you would be surprised on how far back Francis and I were acquainted with each other. But I'm not too proud. He's a bloody frog."
Alfred shrugged and returned the book to Alice in hesitation, but reasoned to himself that he would finally get the answers he longed for. Alice tried to lock him out of her room, failing because Alfred was stronger than he looked. And he looked pretty strong to start with.
"Come on, Alice. Why do you want this book back?"
"Can I just explain once we get in it?" she barked, dropping the book on the floor. She slowly positioned herself in front of the open page and placed a hand on it. Alfred's brows knitted out of curiosity, doubting the girl's move until she shot a glare at him.
"Well?"
"Well what?" Alfred retorted.
"Don't you want your answers?" she barked. Alfred stood up and crossed his arms.
"What the heck, Alice? What is this anyway? Are monsters going to fly out of your book or something?" Alice sent him a smirk. "Not that I want them to!"
"No. No monsters. Just take my hand."
Alfred sceptically seated next to her and held her open hand while staring at the book. "Remember when I asked you to close your eyes before?"
"I won't do that now," Alfred answered. Alice pouted in a way that made Alfred smile.
"Very well then." She tightened her grip on Alfred's fingers, surprising the boy who didn't bother to complain. "Intrare."
Blinding light enveloped the entire room, but Alfred kept his eyes open and felt his body sinking and had nothing to cling on except for the warm hand holding his. Memories of his previous visit in the book flashed before his eyes, dazing the American before he could grasp reality again. He finally shut his eyes and felt himself land on a field of grass, just like the first time. The nostalgia overwhelmed him as he felt the same atmosphere that reminded him of the last day he spent with Alice as a child. A strange feeling erupted within his mind, and Alfred's senses slowly faded into unconsciousness.
"Alfred?"
Silence.
Alice turned to her side to find Alfred unconscious with a loose hold of her hand. She sighed and took her time to look at Alfred's face, which was something she hadn't done for years now. His cheek bones were more prominent and his hair was still messy, yet enough to pass as clean. A feeling of wistfulness swept her as the face of a younger Alfred flashed in her mind. Now that she thought about it, he didn't change that much. He was still baby-faced and dynamic, always leaving her baffled with unforeseen things he would do. She couldn't admit how much she missed him and how curious she was on how he was. But as her soul remained trapped in a female body, her magic continued draining her abilities and Alice had a limited way to find out how he was doing. Once, she managed to control a crystal ball to show her a nine-year old Alfred scrape his knee, but Peter accidentally knocked the artefact over without knowing how hurt his sister was. She stroked Alfred's hair and smiled.
"I missed you," she whispered. "But I miss something even more."
Alice stood up and took a deep breath, feeling the magical energy of the book envelope her. She released a hearty laugh and watched her hands glow silvery white, reminding the girl of her days with magic.
"I miss being Arthur."
And with the sudden burst of power within her, she waved a hand in front of her and thought of her former self. In a matter of seconds, her hair cropped itself and her body transformed into the familiar figure she longed to be in again.
"If only I could stay like this."
"Alfred, open your eyes."
Alfred did, and found himself staring at a pair of familiar green eyes.
But it wasn't Alice.
It wasn't her voice either.
He backed away and stared at the man in front of him. Alfred couldn't tell how familiar this one was, eyeing down the dishevelled blond hair with a messy fringe and hair sticking up in many places. He looked smaller than him, but the sharp look in his eyes warned him to avoid underestimating him. But what caught Alfred's attention the most was the bushiest eyebrows he had ever seen! He stifled a laugh, knowing it might offend the stranger.
Stranger, he was, until Alfred glanced at his eyes again.
"Who the heck are you?" Alfred squeaked. He cocked his head. "And why did you steal Alice's eyes?"
The man in front of him gave him a disproving look that reminded him so much of Alice. "Don't tell me you're that daft, you idiotic twat!" he barked. The uncommon thought slapped Alfred in the face.
"Alice? Why did you turn into a guy? I already told you I believe in magic!" he said. He scanned the man down from head to toe and smirked. Alfred stopped thinking about anything else while taking in every detail of him and saw the resemblance. Besides the piercing emerald orbs, the shade of his locks was similar to Alice's and he shared the scowling expression that always appeared on her face. Alfred wondered how a sweet babysitter turned out to be such a grump, but that wasn't the case at the moment. The man crossed his arms as Alfred examined his companion's build and asked to himself why Alice decided to transform into a boy. Her desperation to prove magic was real was quite cute to Alfred, yet the boy had no idea about the truth... yet.
Not bad, was all he thought. He stood up and smiled.
"Why are you smiling like that?" the boy spat. Alfred snorted.
"Hey, maybe you should stay a guy because you're taller," he joked, receiving a sharp glare from him. "But that would just ruin my chances with ya, wouldn't it?"
"Excuse me?" If the redness of his face didn't convince Alfred of his anger, then there must be something wrong with the American. Alfred, however, kept silent on what he truly meant. He released a laugh and wrapped an arm around him.
"I'd be convinced if you turned into an alien or something! And dude, remove the brows. You look funny! So, why a guy?" Alfred teased.
"Because this is who I am," he replied.
"Who you are?"
"I'm not Alice Kirkland. I'm Arthur Kirkland."
Arthur expected Alfred to laugh at him, and the latter did.
"Are you Alice's twin brother who got trapped in this book or something?" Alfred asked. If Arthur said that he was who he was, then he and Alice might be separate entities, right? There was no other possible explanation for Alfred, for was too narrow-minded in this situation to search for other reasons. Arthur gawked at him in anger.
"I was not born a twin! There was no Alice Kirkland to even begin with! I was born as Arthur Kirkland, and this is who I really am. And it feels good to be Arthur again."
He watched the pale expression on Alfred's face worsen.
"Is this a joke or something? Come on, Alice! I know you're a bit annoyed at me because I keep bugging you, but this is just too much," Alfred chirped. He slowly backed away, unaware of the trouble he might land in, literally. Arthur slowly approached him, hands warily in front of him, and told him to calm down. Alfred didn't listen and continued backing away.
"Alfred, I'm serious. I wanted to tell you when you were younger, but telling a child that I was formerly male would be over the top, wouldn't it? And stop walking! You'd fall into the–"
The splashing sound followed by Alfred's yells for help made Arthur wonder if it was right for him to tell Alfred about this.
"AGH!"
"Al... you're awake."
Alfred blinked for a few moments, hoping the blurriness of his eyesight changes into a clearer vision. He almost forgot that he needed glasses to attain the clearest perfection for his eyesight and started patting the bedside table, finding his spectacles folded. He proceeded to wear them until realisation struck him.
"Wait! I fell in water! How did I wind up here?"
He sat up, pushing his blanket away, and became surprised that he was wearing blue pyjamas and was back in his own bedroom. Matthew was seated on his own bed, staring at Alfred worriedly.
"What happened?" Alfred asked groggily, feeling a twinge of dizziness on his head.
"I think I should be the one to ask that," his brother answered, giving him a look of apprehension. "What happened with Alice? We found you sleeping while she was busy fixing up her things."
Alfred felt his jaw drop in horror. There was no way he fell asleep just like that. He tried to gather up in his mind the events that happened earlier, but only remembered the blinding flash of light and the memories of his past pouring into his mind. Before he could even push his recalling even further, he felt his head throb unnaturally, only glimpsing familiar green eyes and a messy fringe.
"Argh! My head!" he screeched, clutching his hair in aggravation. His head continued aching abnormally until he released his want to remember what happened earlier. Matthew rushed to his side and placed a hand on Alfred's head on impulse, hoping to comfort his brother in one way or another.
"What happened? What do you remember?" Matthew squeaked.
Alfred, despite the discomfort, wanted to tell Matthew what occurred earlier. "I remember Alice borrowing the book she gave me years ago. She told me to hold her hand while she placed her hand on one of the pages of the book... just like when we were kids... and I didn't close my eyes. There was this totally bright light and all my memories with Alice and you flashed before my eyes... and then I – AGH! My head!"
Matthew begged Alfred to stop thinking for a moment. "M-maybe trying to remember caused this..." he whispered.
"Y-yeah," Alfred sighed. "I can't remember anything after that. Except for falling into water and seeing green eyes."
Matthew knitted his brows with a sceptic expression. "That might be Alice."
Alfred shook his head. "No. That can't be. Those could be her eyes... but the hair... it was a dude's. And Alice is–" He broke off when the figure appeared in his mind again. His vision of the person was still blurry, yet the eyes were as clear as crystal, and Alfred never mistook those eyes for anyone else's.
He felt a light stab on his head similar to his momentary headache, but was thankful that it wasn't as long as the previous ones. Alfred turned to his concerned brother and faked a laugh in hopes to see Matthew calm down.
"What time is it, Mattie?"
"Twelve. Kiku, Yao, and I had to carry you here. You were seriously knocked out or something, eh. Did Alice use magic on you?"
The thought hadn't occurred to Alfred until now. Maybe, she might have. And Alfred's determined to find out if she did.
Alfred was aggravated that he had been denying that he wouldn't care when she walks back into his life. Who was he kidding? He knew he wanted her back in his life. He needed her back in his life. And he was determined to uncover every secret she hid from him.
"Why in heaven's name are you seated next to me? Shouldn't Roderich be my seatmate?"
"I lied," Alfred answered with a grin, ignoring the green eyes that sent him a piercing stare.
"Alfred Jones, I told you to never lie," she barked. Alfred snorted and bit his chocolate bar that he conveniently snuck in with thanks to his bomber jacket's pocket.
"Well, if you didn't leave, maybe I would have never learned how to," he answered, his lips curving into a smile as he saw Alice grimace and look away from him. He had to admit that he was fond of teasing her now, reasons a myriad for him to mention. It was not a complete lie – Roderich practically wanted a seat closer to the window because he disliked Gilbert's loudness. It wasn't because Alfred bribed him with a piano book he confused with one of his comic books. No, it really wasn't because of that.
The girl continued avoiding him and greeted their other classmates, enjoying her acquaintance with Feliciano and Lovino. The Italian brothers were still befuddled by her familiarity in their eyes, but shook it off and introduced themselves with a smile from Feliciano and shyness from Lovino. "So this is the little boy I confused for a girl? He's so sweet," Alfred heard her whisper. He looked at Feliciano, who was busy enjoying a conversation with Bella, and frowned.
Alice still refused to converse with him and greeted her soon-to-be dorm mate, Elizaveta. Alfred shrugged and joined in Kiku and Feliciano's conversation about being separated from Ludwig. He very well knew that the three of them were inseparable, yet it amazed Alfred that Kiku was one of his closest friends even though he was more inclined to spend time with Feliciano and Ludwig. Alice, meanwhile, enjoyed the little chat she had with Elizaveta.
"Zo just ignore me vhen I start ranting," the Hungarian said with a smile. "Gilbert told me I have a very bad temper, vut I just vanted to clear tings out with you."
Alice returned the smile. "Oh, no, I'm fine with that. I should be the one to apologise. My younger brother did say I have the tendency to be a potty mouth."
"Psh, no vone in zis high school maintained speaking ze clean language. Trust me," Elizaveta replied with a wink. "Especially zat Gilbert. If I vere you, steer clear of him."
"Why?"
"He'z a bully. He'z supposed to be in ze Senior class now, but he vas too stupid and humiliated our principal in the last day of ze last school year," she answered, shooting a glare at said student. "He also picks on ze others, especially Roderich."
Alice noticed the bitterness of Elizaveta's tone and wondered why exactly she emphasized both Gilbert and Roderich in their topic, yet shook the thought away and continued listening to her interesting rants.
"Oh my, I'm doing it again, aren't I? I'm so sorry!" Elizaveta apologised, realising that she had given Alice a taste of her ranting. Alice simply laughed and placed an arm on Elizaveta's shoulder.
"It's alright. Once we're dorm mates, you're going to hear a lot from me as well," she answered in reassurance.
"Hey, Liz!"
Alice scowled. Alfred was back and he literally looked ready to push Elizaveta out of his seat.
"Oh, hello, Alfred!" she replied in a chipper tone. "Did you know I brought my frying pan today?"
Alfred gave a nervous chuckle and gave a lame joke before leaving them in peace again. "I know he wanted me to leave his seat."
Alice stared at her in awe. "You're amazing. I thought I was the only one thinking about that!"
"Vell, girls are better at reading ze atmosphere, aren't ve?" Elizaveta joked. "Anyvay, I have noticed someting funny about ze both of you. Do you know each other for a long time?"
Alice felt heat invade her cheeks. "Err... no. Not really." And yet she accused Alfred of lying.
"Really? Because yesterday, he coughed vhen he heard your name," Elizaveta said, hiding a smirk from Alice by turning away. "Vut, of course, you vere not yet here at zat time. And vhen I passed ze Literature classroom, I saw you run out vhile Alfred had zis desperate but happy look in ze room."
"He just enjoys annoying me," Alice retorted, praying to God that her face wasn't all that red. She could not decipher whether she was flustered because of annoyance or embarrassment. Elizaveta returned her attention to Alice, thankfully not noticing the redness of the girl's face, and continued her said observations.
"Vell, I can see zat. Yesterday, he vas seated by ze window," she added.
"That plonker!" Alice screeched. Hopefully, it was soft enough to avoid drawing attention. She noticed the new devious smile on Elizaveta's face. "Wh-what? You said that everyone in this academy's high school swears."
"Not zat. I tink Alfred likes you," Elizaveta replied.
"What? No! Abso-bloody-lutely not! Elizaveta, I–"
"Good luck! I'm excited to have you as my dorm mate!"
Elizaveta's exit irritated Alice as she watched her sit next to Toris, a kind Lithuanian who introduced himself to Alice during her Chemistry class the previous day, and felt flustered when Elizaveta pointed at Alice's direction. She and Toris waved at Alice, leaving the girl with no choice but to wave back.
"So you know Toris too?"
Alfred seated himself beside her and grinned. "C'mon, are you still mad? It was just a white lie! At least I didn't lie about a worse matter!"
"So you didn't lie about Roderich being my seatmate, but why did you switch seats with him?" she snapped. An expected grin with matching laughter came before the answer.
"Well, I wanted to."
Well played, she thought. Although she required the real reason, yet she was too afraid to find out, just like how scared she was if Alfred figured out the events that happened the previous night.
Her attention quickly moved to their homeroom adviser entering the room.
"Today, we will give you your locker assignments and keys, as well as deliver your books. Tomorrow, we will start moulding your minds!"
Groans emerged from almost everyone in the Junior's Class A, the loudest from a certain silver-haired German. The professor started reprimanding them about the importance of school, frustrating them even more. Even Alice found herself resting her head on her desk.
"Be thankful that I'm a kind homeroom teacher," their professor said.
"Yeah, yeah, ve know that, Professor Prissy," Gilbert cackled from behind.
"It's Pritzy, Mr. Beilschmidt!"
The classroom exploded with laughter with the loudest coming from Gilbert himself, and even became surprised that their homeroom adviser joined the fit of hilarity. The previous tension Alice felt in herself slowly vanished as she allowed herself to enjoy a laugh with her new class. It had been years since her last attendance in a school, and she might as well enjoy it again.
"Oh, Mr. Beilschmidt, you are so hilarious! You know what's funnier? Detention!"
Gilbert's laughter faded away, yet the rest continued laughing at his demise. "Vhat? It's only ze second day of ze school year!"
After fifteen minutes of loudness and hooting students, Professor Pritzy settled down the class and began lecturing them on the basics of Geometry. Alice heard Alfred mutter to himself that he was glad that his Geometry classes were only held during Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Afterwards, each of them was given a small, folded piece of paper wrapping a small key. It was their locker assignments and keys, and Professor Pritzy dismissed them earlier to allow them to check up on their lockers. They left into the hallway and glanced at the long line of metal cabinets.
"Ai yah, Kiku! Why is my locker next to you again, aru?" Alice heard Yao ask. She turned to face a pale-faced Kiku, who seemed as if he was the one who deserved to complain. She sighed and unfolded her paper while slipping the key into her jeans pocket and saw the number "27" on it. It would be easy to assume it was her locker number, and the girl started searching for the one assigned to her.
Not so far away was Alfred, who was busy watching Alice unlock locker number twenty seven. He quickly unfolded his paper and scowled.
"Fuck! Thirty nine?" he thought angrily.
"Al, what's wrong?" Matthew carefully walked towards his brother, hoping that he wouldn't enrage him even more. Alfred exhaled and forced out a smile again, grabbing Matthew's paper and key. A horrifying smirk unravelled itself on his face, tensing his brother into a wince.
"Can we switch?"
"W-what?" the Canadian stammered.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Alfred shoved his key and paper to Matthew and grabbed the latter's items, dashing off to Matthew's supposed locker. The Canadian watched in helplessness as Alice started shouting at Alfred because he yanked one of her long pigtails.
"What's wrong, Matthew?"
"Kiku, my brother is nuts," Matthew sighed, lifting the key his brother forcibly swapped for his. Overwhelmed by the sudden tiny smile that appeared on Kiku's face, Matthew held back a yelp of surprise.
"Rearry now, I think we shourd let him be," the Japanese whispered, mocking a wise-looking expression. Matthew's brows furrowed in curiosity at Kiku's sudden change of attitude and voice, remembering something familiar that Kiku once said. It was almost related to this...
"Kiku, you knew Alice since before, right?" he inquired. A questioning look from Kiku distracted him before the Japanese boy decided to answer.
"Yes."
"So that meant you knew she was babysitting us."
"Yes."
"And that means that you knew Alice is coming back, and you knew that she took care of Alfred."
"Where is this going, Matthew-san?"
"Is this what you meant by Alfred stopping his girl-hopping days? You knew he would fall for Alice?"
An inquisitive smile emerged on Kiku's face. "Perhaps, Matthew-san. Aren't you happy about that?"
"Happy? It's weird, Kiku! I know that Alfred loves Alice, but is fate really that kind to him? It's too simple, Kiku. There must be a twist!" he snapped, his voice almost hoarse.
"There is a twist, Matthew-san. You wirr not understand now, but please, just ret them be. Your brother is happy with Alice-chan, and Alice-chan is happy with Alfred-san."
Matthew snorted, putting on a face of mixed hilarity and disbelief. "Happy? She's so annoyed with Al. I don't blame her, though. Al's too loud for his own good."
Kiku smirked. "Trust me, Matthew-san. I know Alice-chan more than you do."
The Canadian sighed in defeat, not wanting to play more mind games with Kiku and his mysterious ways. He started searching for his "new" locker, receiving a prying look from Kiku.
"Ah, you're near my rocker," he murmured. "But I think the one next to your rocker is Francis-san."
Matthew gawked in surprise. The school romantic had a locker next to him? "W-what? N-no, Kiku. I don't think so, eh."
"Werr, that's what Gilbert posted on rocker number thirty eight."
Matthew turned to see the said German plastering a piece of paper on the locker next to him with Antonio trying to hold back a snicker or two. The paper read, "French Property – Touch it and Lose Awesome." It was completely senseless of Gilbert, but it was completely expected of him and Antonio.
"Zat idiot iz stupid. Not coming to school vithout telling us! He should have told us so I had a good reason to not come today!" Gilbert screeched. Antonio raised a brow at him.
"What? Mi amigo, don't tell me that we have to be absent when Francis is. He always has random absences every year! Dios, I don't want to have a lot of absences!"
Gilbert shot him a frustrated look. "'Tonio, you take everything I say too seriously! It's flattering vut you also have to think! You're always naive and this is vhy you don't attract chicks!"
Antonio looked at him, flabbergasted. "At least I don't attract baby chicken!"
The two members of the school's infamous Bad Touch Trio started throwing punches at each other, making Matthew question how on earth they called each other friends while acting that brutal to each other. It was too much, for it was at the point where they actually injured each other. Matthew quickly pulled Antonio away from Gilbert and begged him to stop. The Spaniard only listened when a certain Italian started screeching, "Haha! Stupid tomato bastard!" repeatedly while "rooting" for his demise against Gilbert. In the end, the two friends shook hands and acted as though they never had a quarrel, surprising the Canadian.
"Hey, you're Matthew, right?" Gilbert asked, snapping the Canadian out of his awe-related trance. He simply nodded and received a cocky grin from the German.
"Matthew's too long, iz it not? I'll call you Mattie instead!"
"That's what my brother calls me," he replied with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, right. Jones iz your brudder. Ahh, vell, you look more awesome than him. No vonder Francis likes being friends vith you. Anyvay, we're off. Don't touch zat Frenchie's locker or you'll lose ze awesomeness you already have!"
As the German and the Spaniard left, Kiku laughed softly. "I don't understand how Gilbert-san is rerated to Ludwig-san."
While Matthew and Kiku busily conversed with each other (totally ignoring glares from a neglected Yao), Alfred immersed himself with forcing Alice's attention to turn to him, hoping she would confess about the previous night's happenings. He even pulled her ponytail even with the knowledge that she hated that.
"Why am I bloody stuck with you all the bloody time? You're my seatmate in two of my bloody classes and now we have our bloody lockers next to each other? Fucking arse!"
"Whoa, and you say I swear a lot? Take a chill pill, dude. But even so, you look cute when you're mad," he jeered, poking her cheek for more effect. The girl quickly swatted away his hand and punched his shoulder, yet Alfred seemed very unaffected by the "harsh" contact.
"Haha! You're even cuter when you try to punch me!"
Another fist came flying towards his arm, but he quickly caught them and pushed Alice a bit farther from where they stood and peeked at her locker. And as expected, she had the leather-bound book. He felt a small throb on his head as the messy blond fringe appeared in his mind again as a blurry vision.
"You took the book," he sneered. "Give it back."
"Not a chance, Alfred. I need it," Alice hissed. She tore away from Alfred's grip and slammed the door of her locker shut, smirking. "You don't know the combination, so don't try anything too hasty."
Alfred slammed his fist on her locker, gaining shocked looks from his other schoolmates. The girl knew he wanted to uncover her secrets, and he needed another way to get the book back. Somehow, it was the only key to unlock the knowledge he sought for.
But aside from that, Alfred felt an overwhelming feeling of amazement. Alice was feisty. In a way, Alfred knew his affections for his babysitter were strengthening. It might sound twisted to others, but he couldn't deny it. It might be fast, but it was better than love at first sight. Alfred loved Alice as a child, and fate decided to return her to him in a way that he could win her over. As Natalia passed by him, he knew that his feelings were changing. He wanted Alice – she was filled with mystery and spirit that balanced with her beauty and passion. She was a challenge he would never back down from.
"You stole that book, aru?"
"Yao, keep it down! Thank God that I don't have Advanced Algebra class because Matthew might know about it," she hissed. "And I didn't steal it. It was mine. My mother endowed it to me. I just simply left it in Alfred's care. That bloody git should be thankful too. If I didn't give him that book, he wouldn't see me again."
Yao sighed. "Ai yah, you're giving me a headache. Why did you block that memory, aru?"
"Because he wasn't ready to find out the truth. He mocked me at first, and I saw that dreadful look on his face when I confirmed my true identity. It's best to leave it alone."
"But you cannot wipe out his memories that easily, aru. I know your magic is weaker, aru. Even in that book, you can't cast the strongest spells you know. You just seep in its power to form illusions, aru. You must have casted a charm on him. And he might break it," Yao warned.
"I know. That's why the charm I casted upon him would ensure that he would never find out I'm Arthur."
"And what is that charm, aru?" Yao asked. Alice fell silent and looked away from Yao.
"Good morning, class. I am your professor in Political Science."
The Chinese man, although Alice didn't say anything, had a clue on the charm Alice casted on Alfred. And he knew that Alfred could break it, because in a way, Alice wanted Alfred to know that she was Arthur. And that charm also hinted what Alice truly felt for Alfred.
He hated Kiku at the moment. The Japanese boy's plan was working perfectly.
A/N: Kiku's plan! The charm!
I'm being too vague again. Haha, but I love suspense and comedy together. XD Oh yeah, Franada or PruCan, guys? Which one do you prefer? And why do you think Francis has regular "absences" in school?
Ahhh, I still think the romance in this thing is crapola! Seriously, I love saying crapola because it's awesome and it's from Romano. XD Ahh well, I did my best on this chapter. I hope it's good enough. Dammit, that was a song reference. XD Anyway, thanks for reading! Reviews are nice and I have a fire extinguisher for flames. Stay tuned because I have no idea what will happen next. And that was bad sarcasm.