Reflection

Birds were chirping. A light breeze was blowing outside. A gentle ray of light peeked through the windows and curtains. A clock was ticking in the background.

"Wake up..."

I felt someone poking my forehead.

"Wakey, wakey..."

I rolled over. What time is it..?

The person kept poking me.

I reached over for my clock and looked at the time. The time…

"Crap!" I bounced out of bed only to trip over Ivan, who was either trying to wake me up or poking my head just for his amusement.

"Calm down padrooga. You're not too late, da?"

I rubbed my chin. "If I want to eat breakfast and take my time walking then I'm late." I got up and ran to the restroom. That's right. Arthur fell unconscious last night and hasn't woken up yet... Just my luck because he usually wakes me up when I oversleep.

After Arthur collapsed, apparently Alfred and Francis had heard me shouting. They helped me get Arthur into his bed and Yao examined him to see the cause of his sudden fall. He said it was just fatigue and that it wasn't a serious case. I still couldn't help but to remain worried and ended up staying up for a while. Who knows when I fell asleep…

When I was finished, I changed into my uniform, grabbed my bag, grabbed my lunch and dashed out the door.

"Have a nice day at school, aru."

I waved at Yao as I ran past him down the street. Was he taking a walk?

The final bell rang as I got to my seat. I sighed in relief and rested my head on my desk. Made it on time...

The rest of the day dragged by as usual, but Arthur never showed up so I felt a little insecure. I hope he's okay...

"Lunch, finally." I plopped down onto the grass and took out my food. Skipping breakfast and having no snacks were clearly not smart choices.

I took a bite from my sandwich and stared at my leg. It had a bruised from playing soccer. I see why people wear shin guards…

I sighed and read through the lunch notes my units left in the lunch bag.

"Ve~ I made sugar cookies from the recipe Lombardi made. Hope you like them!" I mimicked Feliciano's voice as I read it. I smiled to myself and moved onto the next one.

"Ow!" I flinched and swung around to see what hit my head.

Kyle stood there grinning with one of his crutches raised up. "Hi."

"What was that for..?" I rubbed my head. "And what do you want?"

"Another quiet lunch time I guess." He sat down and set his tray on his lap.

I stared at him as he unwrapped the foil for his corn dog.

He glanced over at me. "I see the girls didn't think twice about kicking you when you had the ball."

I placed my bag over my leg. "W-well playing sports isn't fun without some roughness..."

He swallowed his food. "It's not fair though."

I just continued my lunch. I know it wasn't. But I just decide to let it happen. It's my own consequence.

Kyle sighed and moved his ankle around.

I packed my lunch away. "I see you're healing."

He nodded and smiled. "If I'm lucky I'll be able to play football again next year."

I nodded lightly. That's good to hear...

The bell rang. Kyle started to get up to throw out his trash but I took it and threw it away with my own. I grabbed my bag and turned away to leave.

"Thanks, bud."

I blushed and marched on. Bud...

"Ma cherie~" Francis glomped me after class ended and everyone left.

I squirmed out of his grasp and held up my hands. "Whoa, whoa. Personal bubble, s'il vous plait {please}."

He chuckled. "I'm sorry but I've had such a 'tres bien' worthy day."

I packed my stuff and made sure Ryan's were in there too. "How come?"

"That grumpy Brit wasn't here to bother me all day." He started to hum and packed his own papers.

"Ah sou {Is that so}." I organized the seats and desks. I went past where Lilia sat and found a note on the seat. To: Nana… I took it and slipped it in my pocket.

"Ready to go?"

"Guess so."

I kicked at a rock as we walked down the street. "What should we do about the unit bill?"

He sighed. "Collecting $450 in three months is a bit rough. About $125 per month."

I kicked at another rock. "I think I should cut French class to work again."

Francis sniffed. "That would make Big Brother sad."

"Too bad."

We walked inside the house and smelled something odd.

"I-I think something's burning..." I dropped my stuff and headed to the kitchen. "What's going-"

Arthur held up a pan of... something and raised a brow.

"-on..." I laughed nervously and waved at him. "Hi Arthur... How are you feeling?"

"Well, I was feeling hungry and no one was around when I woke up." He plated his dish. "So I made something for myself."

I stared at the dish. What is it..?

He grabbed a fork. "If you want some too then I wouldn't mind sharing."

I snapped out of my daze. "It's okay. I... had a little snack earlier."

Francis came into the kitchen as well. "Ah, figures."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Arthur scowled at him and took a bite.

I stared for a moment and shook my head. "Anyway, what happened last night?"

He just sat there as if he was trying to remember and just shrugged. "I suppose having to deal with rabid fan girls at your school along with the frog and Alfred worn me out."

"Oh." I guess those girls were crazy; enough to wear him out to blacking out. I scratched my head. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yes yes. I'm feeling quite better. Yao gave me some remedies so those helped." He sipped his tea. "Now, I would like to eat in peace."

"Right, um, sorry." I rubbed my neck. "I'll be in our room."

He nodded and I dismissed myself.

"Homework homework, oh how I despise thee." I scribbled answers in a workbook.

There was giggling behind me. I gasped and saw Ivan dropping off Arthur and my laundry.

I twirled the pencil in my hand. "How was work today?"

"It was good." He smiled. "The sunflowers were healthy."

Of course, the sunflowers. "Do you like your job?"

He nodded shyly. That's good. "But there are weird people out there. They sometimes ask for pictures with me even though I didn't do anything."

Fan girls... Luckily he works inside most of the time... I smiled. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

He nodded and picked up the basket. "Well, be a good girl and go back to work."

"Da {Yes}..." I spun the chair back towards the desk. Ivan ruffled my hair and left the room. Wait... I stared at the clothes he left. Who does my laundries..? I blushed at the thought and shook my head. Stupid thought... but still...

"Nana~" The door swung open and Feliciano was holding a bowl of ice cream.

I leaned back in my chair. "Mr. Ciro let you take some ice cream home again?"

He grinned and nodded. He set the bowl down on my desk. "Bon appetite!"

"Grazie {Thank you}." I took a bite. Ice cream... I glanced at him. "How's work?"

"Ve~ it's great. I get to eat all the ice cream I want and be with cute girls."

Of course. "I wish I can work with you again." Desperately needed money…

Feliciano nodded. "Me too! But Alissa keeps me company, and helps me out when girls try to take me away."

I choked. Take you away? Those rabid fan girls... "I'm glad she's being a big help."

His face lit up as usual. "Yep!"

"Feli!"

The Italian unit looked out the door. "Oh, Alfred is calling me. I'll leave you alone to do your homework now." He waved at me as he closed the door.

I sighed a little and continued my snack. Fan girls... Why didn't I think of them earlier..? I stared out my window, which was still broken from when Ryan threw the rock at it. I wonder if anyone else out there owns units like I do..? I wouldn't mind having someone to share this feeling with… I stretched in my seat. Gotta go with what I have I guess. I went back to my work.

"Dinner, aru!"

I slammed my textbook closed. Finished everything just in time, yay. I went to the dining room and joined the guys at the table.

Yao set the main dish down at the center. "Stir-fried chicken and rice; enjoy, aru."

I muttered grace to myself and helped myself to the food.

Arthur cleared his throat a little. "Say Nana, have you had the chance to explore your phone yet?"

I swallowed. "No, not yet. I guess I will after dinner." Completely forgot...

"Ve~ we can call you now."

"Don't call at the wrong time though, mon petit frère {my little brother}."

I hope it was simple to use. I never had a phone yet or even used a cellular one for a long time. I'm so slow with the times. I wiped my mouth and scanned the table. Feliciano, Alfred, Arthur, Francis, Yao, and Ivan… There were six units already and only three bedrooms. I guess I could call the living room couch a bed but it's not very pleasant. Yao's been sleeping on the couch on the most part, sometimes switching off with whoever lost rock, paper, scissors against him. It's so cramped... Maybe we should move... I'd hate to leave this place but it's hard to keep everyone comfortable...

"Hey, dude."

I looked up to my right at Alfred.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

I smiled faintly and slid my plate at him. "I'm good. You can have it." I got up from my seat. "Thank you for the food, Yao. I… still have work to do so I'll excuse myself."

"Are you feeling unwell?" asked Francis.

"No, I feel just fine." I cleared away my things besides the plate and went to my room. Great, I lost my appetite from worrying about things too much.

I sighed and sat on my bed. Almost forgot again! I searched in my skirt's pocket and pulled out the note that Lilia left.

"I'm sorry about the interruption. Sometimes teachers can be like us, argue over the most pointless things. Anyway, I would like for us to meet up and talk again. I didn't want to tell you my assumption on the note just in case someone else received it. Please meet me in the library during lunch tomorrow. -Lilia"

I put it back in my pocket. I hope nothing will get in the way this time. Who could it be..? My guess would be that obnoxious 'leader' chic…

I crawled to my desk and grabbed the box with my phone in it. I unpacked everything and after ten minutes of going through the manual, I was adding the home phone number to the contact list. I felt accomplished and smiled to myself. It was simple enough to use so I felt relieved. I went ahead and added any other numbers I could think of and finally went onto playing with the settings.

"I see you are enjoying it."

I was startled and looked up from the device. Arthur had a towel around his neck with his hair sloping down from being wet. I just nodded and closed the phone. Unspikey hair… that's new…

He gave an approving nod. "That's good, but make sure it will not distract you from your schoolwork."

"Yes, yes." I yawned and searched for my clock. Apparently I've been playing with the phone for almost an hour.

Arthur sat on his bed. "Since you seem to be done with your work, you should go ahead and get to sleep."

"But it's just nine," I protested. "Besides, I think you should get rest too so you won't collapse from overworking again."

He ruffled his hair with the towel. "My business is only for my concern. I know my body and I'm sure it's fine now."

"I could say the same for mine." I crossed my arms.

"Don't push yourself either." He sighed. "At least go wash up before the others raid the shower first."

I was about to decline but I decided to take up his idea. I grabbed my clothes and towel and rushed to the bathroom. 'My business is only for my concern'..? What's he doing behind our backs?

Yeah, another chapter update. I felt like posting more so here's something like a "filler". Just basically background stuff I guess. The next should be more eventful. I apologize for the time cuts and lapses. I really didn't plan this chapter so just went on typing and typing and ended up with this.

Do you remember the first time you got a phone and played with all the settings and stuff? Because I know I did that XD

I added Alfred, Feli, and Ivan, yay! I didn't forget you guys D:

I decided to call this "Reflection" to 'reflect' back on what's going on as of now (I know I didn't get every single one but it's most of it) since it's the (real) 25th chapter.

Who's curious? Who's bored? Please let me know how this school arc's going so I could change it in the next chapter! (Too slow and repetitive, good so far, too confusing, etc)

Thanks for feedbacks in advance!

-Miracle