Moving on.


.

.

Matthew sat on the front steps of the school building, overlooking the schoolyard while waiting for his friends to mingle in. It had definitely been a stressful couple of days (which had seemed to last the entire week). Yesterday had been the worst by far with the news of Gilbert, but he managed to keep himself held together (for the most part, there may have been some household items that ended up being broken in a fit). He blinked when Arthur came into the schoolyard, lifting up his arm to give a small wave.

Arthur returned the wave with a less-than-enthusiastic look on his face. "I can only imagine the trouble I'm in for skipping class." He joined Matthew and leaned up against the brickwall beside where the other blonde was sitting.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. No doubt the principal said something to your teachers already." Matthew smiled, "Any bets on how long it will be until Alfred gets here?"

"You didn't wake him up before you left, did you?" Arthur shook his head but couldn't help but laugh.

"Nope. He can get himself up." Matthew leaned against the steps, "If he's going to leave me to get in trouble for being late, he can get in trouble for being late. Oh, so how upset were your parents?"

"Uh…let's just say Reilly, Allistor and myself are all grounded for sheer stupidity." Arthur forced a smile, "Nothing like family togetherness. For an indefinite amount of time."

Matthew winced and sighed, "Ouch. Good luck with that one. Any word on how Ludwig or anyone else in his family is doing?"

"I haven't seen them since yesterday morning. Though…Ludwig is here apparently. He seems to be fine." Arthur motioned with his good hand to the opposite end of the schoolyard where Ludwig had just appeared from around the corner.

"Oh, that's good. Hopefully his parents are okay…" Matthew tilted his head, "I'm not sure if I should ask or just not bring it up…"

"If the argument was any indication, I'm certainly not asking how his parents are doing. I was stuck in that room during that entire thing, there is no way I'm saying anything." Arthur blinked as Cruz and Antonio appeared a minute later, "They came to school together?"

"Apparently." Matthew blinked a few times, "Eh? Oh. That's right. Cruz did post an update yesterday about living with relatives while his parents were out of town. I guess Antonio was one of the relatives."

"…Talk about polar opposites." Arthur muttered.

"A bit." Matthew nodded.

"Morning." Ludwig glanced at both of them on his way past, "You haven't seen Roderich yet, have you?"

"I haven't. I've been here a little while now. Not unless he got here really early." Matthew looked up at Ludwig, "…Are you okay?"

"…I'm fine." Ludwig managed a smile, "Maybe Roderich is in the student council room…" He headed into the building without any further comments.

"More power to the both of them for signing up for that this year." Arthur made a face, "Last year on the council of two was bad enough."

"Morning." Cruz interrupted.

"Hiiii~" Antonio waved with much more enthusiasm.

"Morning." Arthur gave a half-hearted wave.

"Good morning." Matthew smiled cheerfully, "Feeling better, Antonio?"

"Huh? Why?" Antonio tilted his head.

"Eh, word got around that you weren't feeling yourself yesterday." Matthew laughed.

"Wouldn't know how that happened." Cruz smirked and looked away.

"What'd you say~" Antonio hit Cruz on the arm, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat~"

Mr. Smith peered out the doors at the mingling students in the courtyard, "There's going to be a LOT of people in the office if some movement doesn't happen soon!"

"I can move to leave." Cruz glared at the principal.

"Movement towards the classroom. You know what I meant." Mr. Smith motioned towards the doors, "Move it!"

"Sheesh." Matthew picked himself up off the steps and headed into the building, "Can't even sit outside in the morning before the bell rings!"

"Please let this day be better than the last time I was here…" Arthur climbed up the stairs and headed into the building.

"Don't hold your breath." Cruz muttered, "You'll pass out."

"Don't be mean." Antonio hit Cruz on the shoulder again.

"You want a fight?" Cruz glared at his cousin before moving down the hall.

"Alfred's gonna be late~" Matthew laughed.

Arthur shook his head, briefly wondering if Alfred had even set his alarm for the morning. 'Maybe I should send him a message…' He pulled out his cell phone and tapped in a quick message to Alfred. '…Of course that's only going to do something if he's actually semi-awake enough to hear it go off.'

Arthur: Alfred, you're aware school is starting right? You had better not still be in bed.

Alfred: O_O CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP. I'M LATE.

Matthew: XD I'm not~

Alfred: Mattie! You're so mean!

Cruz: :) Have fun in the office, Jones!

Antonio: D: Hurry up Alfred~

Roderich: Why are you all so energetic in the morning.

Ludwig: … Gott. Run Alfred!

Alfred: I'm running, I'm running!

Allistor: ****. Hey! Brother! At least make sure the rest of us are up next time!

Arthur: …I thought your alarms were going off.

Matthew: XD

Cruz: XD

Antonio: D: Run people~ Run like the wind!

Lovino: Yeah. Run away. Before the principal catches you all and yanks you to the office.

Antonio: :D Lovi! Are you at school already?

Lovino: No. I'm skipping.

Antonio: D:

Arthur: XD

Roderich: …You people…

Ludwig: I'm not sure how to respond to any of this…

BigStiff: GET TO CLASS.

Ludwig: Oh, hallo Vati

Arthur: Oh, hello.

Cruz: It's all fun until a parent steps in. :P

Roderich: *large sigh* I'm in class already.

Alfred: Working on it!

Allistor: To hell with this. I'm walking, not running.

Reilly: Screw this crap.

Arthur: XD

Arthur looked up from his phone at the teacher. Mr. Specks was currently giving a lecture on…something. If he had heard correctly, it had something to do with the Civil War, but he hadn't been paying much attention at the start of class. Arthur leaned back in his chair and glanced at the notes across the board. His eyes slowly went to the corner and a smile appeared across his face. There was a small amount of graffiti drawn on the corner.

Arthur: XD I wonder if the teacher noticed

Roderich: ?

Arthur: The corner of the board says 'someone way awesomer than this annoying crap teacher was here'

Ludwig: *large sigh*

BigStiff: He didn't…oh mein gott.

Cruz: I'm betting the teacher didn't notice.

Arthur: Well. It'd be pretty hard to erase. It's marker on a chalkboard.

BigStiff: …what.

Cruz: I heard you laugh Ludwig.

Ludwig: Couldn't help it.

Antonio: He has left his mark for everyone to see~

BigStiff: That's destruction of school property.

Arthur: XD

Arthur smiled and watched as Mr. Specks' attention was slowly drawn to the corner of the board. The teacher picked up an eraser and tried rubbing over the marker, only to find nothing happening.

"Who did this?" Mr. Specks pointed to the board.

'I wonder when he did that…' Arthur tilted his head.

"That is destruction of school property! Marker can't be washed off a chalkboard!" Mr. Specks snapped.

Arthur looked upwards towards the ceiling, "It's not like you're going to be using the whole board. You erase it every five minutes."

Several heads turned to look at him before Arthur had even realized he had said that out loud.

"I know. I know. To the office with my sarcastic comments." Arthur smiled before Mr. Specks could say anything, "I'm going." He stood up and walked out, carrying his books in one arm, "And for the record, the person who did that isn't here today." Arthur smiled and disappeared out into the hall, glancing down it to see Alfred running around the corner.

"Oh hey!" Alfred waved, "Where you going?"

"I got sent to the office for my sarcastic comments." Arthur shrugged.

"That started early." Alfred slowed down to walk next to him, "You okay?" He leaned forward to peer at Arthur.

Arthur glanced at him with a questioning look, "I'm fine. Why?"

"Dunno, you seem depressed." Alfred rubbed the back of his head uncertainly.

"Yeah well, maybe it's just the events of the last few days." Arthur stopped in front of the office, "Good luck in math, though I'm sure you'll be back shortly."

"Yeah…I know…" Alfred wilted, "Maybe I should just save time and head in there now…"

"Entirely up to you." Arthur smiled and headed into the office, updating his status as he went.

Arthur: In the office. Surprise. Couldn't keep my mouth shut that time.

Allistor: Way to go, idiot.

Roderich: I don't even want to know…

Arthur: I told him he wasn't using the whole board so one little corner didn't matter.

Antonio: XD

Lovino: Oh for…

Alfred: XD At least the trip to the office was worth it!

Arthur: Quite. :)

Reilly: Remember that when you get home after the principal tells on you.

Cruz: XD

Ludwig: What is with our gym teacher this morning?

Cruz: I'm in class :P He's still mad at me for yesterday.

Matthew: XD

Ludwig: :I He's making us run eight laps!

BigStiff: What the heck…

Lovino: I'd be in the office already.

Roderich: …I'm agreeing with Lovino. There is no way I'm running that many.

Antonio: XD

.

.


"MOVE IT!"

Cruz glared over at their gym teacher, putting his phone away for a moment, "Why don't you move your sorry hide onto the running track!"

Ludwig: Oh he's moving it now.

Cruz: Oh **** RUN!

Ludwig: OH GOTT.

Roderich: ._. What did you do.

BigStiff: ._.

Arthur: Should I tell the principal to go down there?

Cruz: GEEZ. SOMEONE NEEDS TO TAKE A CHILL PILL THIS MORNING.

Lovino: Yup. Avoid gym class.

Roderich: Noted.

Antonio: o_o Run Cruz~

Cruz bolted across the track with Ludwig only a few steps behind him, "Geez!"

"Next time, don't say anything!" Ludwig called, staying right behind him.

"Oh sure. Next time I don't plan on being here." Cruz grumbled.

Mr. Howard continued chasing them across the asphalt, oblivious to the other students that stopped and were now watching the three tear around the grounds.

"Can we just save time and our breaths and head to the office?" Cruz glanced back at Ludwig.

"I'm not stopping to discuss that option! Run down there!" Ludwig responded, bolting through the changing room doors after Cruz.

"I wasn't planning on stopping." Cruz rolled his eyes and hurried into the hallway, barely pausing when he hit the door, "Office would be safer right now anyway!"

"He's still chasing." Ludwig glanced over his shoulder as they rounded the corner.

"The hell is his problem?!" Cruz grabbed the handle to the office and ran in, slamming it shut as soon as Ludwig bolted after him.

"Feels like I just saw you two." Arthur looked at them with an amused expression, "Did he chase you two the whole way down here?"

"Shut up, and yes." Cruz snapped, "Geez." He hurried over to an empty seat and plopped down, letting out a long sigh, "That covered my running for the week."

"Don't aggravate him." Ludwig sat next to Cruz, "Now I'm in trouble and I didn't even do anything."

Mr. Howard stalked into the office and glared at both Ludwig and Cruz, "You two are the most disruptive idiots I have had in my class!"

"Disruptive?" Ludwig stared at him, "I didn't even say anything! You were the one chasing us!"

"Idiots?" Cruz blinked, "Is that really the best retort you can come up with? All I did was tell you to move it instead of yelling at us all the time."

Alfred leaned forward to peer around Arthur, "… It's gotten quite a bit louder in here…"

"Yeah. It has." Arthur sighed.

Mr. Smith walked out of the office, raising an eyebrow to the three arguing with one another, "Mr. Howard. If you're down here, what is your class doing?"

The gym teacher stared at the principal for a moment before looking back at Cruz, who just grinned and waved at him.

Ludwig let out a long sigh.

"Last time I saw, they were just standing on the running track with shocked looks on their faces." Cruz smirked.

"Get back to your class!" Mr. Smith sighed in frustration, "You don't just leave in the middle of it without finding a substitute!"

"Ja, really. And you didn't have to chase us the whole way down here either." Ludwig added.

"…" Mr. Smith looked at Ludwig then back at Mr. Howard, "You were running down here?"

"He can move when he has motivation." Cruz leaned on the armrest.

"You're gonna end up suspended…" Alfred whispered, "Shhh…"

"Like I give a crap." Cruz snapped.

"You chased your students down here." Mr. Smith stared at Mr. Howard in disbelief.

"Those two are constantly disruptive!" Mr. Howard retorted.

"I haven't even said anything!" Ludwig raised his voice, "Not once!"

"Yeah, just me." Cruz looked with a bored expression back and forth between the two.

"Clearly there are a lot of guidelines that need looked over…in the meantime. Out." Mr. Smith pointed towards the door, glaring at the gym teacher, "Disruptive behavior is one thing, chasing students down a hallway is another. Go back to the rest of your class, if they're even still there by this time."

Mr. Howard opened his mouth as if to protest and the principal cut him off, "NOW."

Cruz watched the older male stalk out of the office. "…"

"What are you two down here for?" Mr. Smith looked at Arthur and Alfred in exasperation.

"Not keeping my mouth shut." Arthur commented.

"Laaaate…figured I'd save time and just come straight here instead of going to class…" Alfred gave a grin.

"You all…are going to be the main cause for any of my hairs going gray." Mr. Smith glared at the four students, "Especially you." He motioned to Cruz before stalking into his separate room.

"How rude." Cruz scoffed, "Course if that was our teacher today, I don't even want to see him tomorrow. Or the rest of the year."

"SCHEDULE CHANGES." Mr. Smith snapped, leaning out of the room again, "Since obviously there's going to be repeated problems with you three and your first class."

"All I did was open my mouth one time…" Arthur started.

"And walk out of class." Mr. Smith added.

"He opened the invitation." Arthur spoke up in his own defense.

Alfred burst out into fits of laughter.

"Either way, expect schedule changes to be handed to you during lunch, and while we're on the subject…" Mr. Smith glared at Cruz, "Absolutely NO food fights."

"Why are you always looking at me when you say something else?" Cruz raised an eyebrow, "I didn't even start that."

"I'm certainly not going to be doing a food fight." Ludwig made a face.

"What else are we supposed to do with something that's inedible?" Alfred blinked.

Mr. Smith heaved a huge sigh and hit his forehead against the doorframe.

"Alfred. Hush." Arthur smacked him on the back of the head, having to turn almost completely in the chair to do so since Alfred was sitting on Arthur's left side.

"Just…sit there. Until the first class is over, and TRY not to get sent down here again. This is ridiculous." Mr. Smith disappeared into the room again and shut the door behind him.

"I wonder how many more years he has until retirement." Ludwig blinked.

Cruz smirked, "I'm sure if you asked he could give you the exact number of years and days."

"That's pretty sad." Alfred sighed.

"The fact that we're all sitting down here like it's normal is sad in itself." Arthur commented dryly.

"Speak for yourself, we were chased by a madman." Cruz grumbled.

"Ja. Literally chased. He was sprinting after us the entire time." Ludwig leaned against the back of the chair. "Should one of us say we made it safely?"

"Probably." Cruz shrugged.

Arthur pulled out his phone and typed in a message since neither Cruz or Ludwig had bothered taking their phones out.

Arthur: Ludwig and Cruz are unscathed in the office.

Matthew: Oh that's a relief. Teacher didn't catch them?

Arthur: Oh he caught up to them. But the principal came out, so they're fine.

Roderich: …he wasn't seriously going to do something was he?

Alfred: Thankfully we will never have to know. Good luck in gym! :D

Roderich: You have it before me. Next bell in fact.

Alfred: I'm so skipping D:

Antonio: XD

Feliciano: I'm not going by myself! Don't skip!

BigStiff: If the teacher is that bad, don't go. :I

Ludwig: Vati seal of approval. ._.

Roderich: Works for me.

Arthur: XD

Allistor: Somehow I doubt our parents or the principal is going to go for that.

Arthur: We're already grounded, couldn't possibly get any worse.

Reilly: He's got a point. I'm not going.

Allistor: Everytime someone says that, it gets worse. I'm going.

Cruz: XD

Alfred: Good luck!


.

.

Second Bell

Alfred shivered, bouncing up and down to try and keep warm while standing outside. "Seriously! It feels like it's gonna start snowing anytime now!"

"Waaaaah, he's in a seriously bad mood!" Feliciano cowered behind Alfred while their teacher went back and forth ranting (completely ignoring the entire class).

"Yeah this is kinda scary…" Alfred laughed nervously, "M-maybe we should start running now… before he turns and sees us all just standing here…"

"Can we just sneak back in the building? Maybe he won't even notice we're here~" Feliciano tugged on Alfred's arm, "Let's just go back in…"

"It was your idea to come out here in the first place!" Alfred protested, "I was fine with skipping!"

"You all aren't in this class to stand around gawking like a bunch of idiots! Get running!" Mr. Howard suddenly snapped at the entire class.

"Eep!" Feliciano darted past everyone and hastily started going around the track.

"Aw, man, and I was seriously going to leave…" Alfred sighed and jogged after Feliciano, "I should have just skipped…"


.

.

Miss Summers sat at the table with Arthur, both of them just staring at the other person without saying anything. Arthur remained unfazed despite the overcheerful smile on his teacher's face and quietly waited for her to be the first to say something (anything at this point).

"So…this is a small class." Miss Summers started.

"Yeah." Arthur agreed, "And between the two of us, we only have three hands."

"Which takes out pretty much anything on the class curriculum." Miss Summers wilted and laid her head down on the table, "What are we supposed to do~"

"You're the teacher." Arthur rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Let's go on a field trip!" Miss Summers stood up suddenly.

"Wait, you just lost me." Arthur stared at her in horror, "We're doing what?"

"FIELD TRIP!" Miss Summers twirled over to the closet and pulled out her coat, "Let's go!"

"Waiiiiiit, where are we even going?" Arthur panicked but quickly hurried after her, "Is this allowed?"

Miss Summers skipped down the hall, swinging her arms like a small child would, "Of course we are~ Life is much too short to follow all the rules all the time~"

"…" Arthur followed along behind her silently. 'Who does she remind me of…'

"So where should we go…?" Miss Summers tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "It's a beautiful day outside…oh. We should stop and get your coat first. Where's your locker?"

"We're going outside…" Arthur whispered, "Uh…just up this way…" Arthur motioned to an adjacent hallway.

"Great, we'll go out the side entrance then~" Miss Summers followed Arthur towards his locker, "Ideas, ideas…where to go…"

'How did home education turn into a field trip…' Arthur cried inwardly. 'Doesn't this count as skipping?!'


.

.

Lovino stared at the back of Ludwig's head. Well, it was all fine and just damn peachy that he was able to attend school, but Lovino certainly didn't want to be here. He stared at the board for a while, letting his mind wander instead of paying attention.

"Well I'm sure at any rate that you tried your hardest on the homework…however… that's not even close." Mrs. Rose looked at the student at the board and picked up a marker to correct him, "Here…"

"…I don't even want to listen to this." Ludwig suddenly laid his head down and heaved a huge sigh, "My mind is not focused on math right now."

"Great, neither is mine." Lovino slumped in his seat.

"Do you two want to play cards?" Ivan leaned over, holding out a small deck, "Yao and I were about to deal again."

Ludwig stared back at Ivan in disbelief, before his gaze went to the Chinese boy sitting in front of the Russian, "…You two have been playing cards this entire time…"

"Well it's not like there's anything else to do." Yao shrugged.

How Lovino hadn't even noticed that Yao was half turned in his chair towards Ivan for the entire time, he had no clue. "I really have been spacing out…gah." Lovino buried his face in his hands before hitting his head against the desk.

"Ah." Ivan blinked, "Are you okay?"

"Just freaking peachy." Lovino scowled.

"…What game are you playing?" Ludwig leaned closer to Yao's desk.

"Ivan cheats at poker, so we're playing go fish." Yao glared at the taller male sitting behind him.

"I do not cheat. You are just sore loser." Ivan smiled cheerfully.

"…I'll play." Ludwig moved his desk closer and took the cards offered out to him.

"Gimme." Lovino finally reached over with an open hand.

"Okay…then Lovino can go first and we will go clockwise from there." Ivan smiled.

"Ugh fine… uh… you have any fours?" Lovino raised an eyebrow at Ludwig.

"Nein…" Ludwig shook his head.

"There are only four?" Yao tilted his head.

"Nein means no." Ludwig's face reddened.

"I knew what it meant!" Lovino snapped, drawing a card.

"This is so much fun~" Ivan laughed.


.

.

Roderich, having spotted the graffiti that Arthur had mentioned over the phone upon his entry of the room, kept his notebook open on the desk, calmly scratching out the words that their teacher was writing on the board.

Cruz propped his feet up on the empty chair in front of him (apparently the usual person who sat there was absent today) and made no attempt at all to even look like he was paying attention.

Matthew had his notebook open, holding his pen as if he was about to take notes, but he just stared at the board with his head tilted to one side. "…This feels familiar…"

"Hm?" Roderich looked at him questioningly, "Familiar? Like a déjà vu moment?"

"No…like we learned this last year." Matthew blinked, "I feel like I already know this…"

"All the more reason to not pay attention at all." Cruz said flatly, eyes closed.

"Don't go to sleep!" Roderich hissed.

"Why not." Cruz opened one eye to glare at him around Matthew's head.

"Eh…" Matthew let out a quiet sigh, "This is just one of those days that's going to drag on…"

Roderich let out an angry huff of air and shook his head, returning his attention to the board, only to find it had been erased, "Ah."

Cruz let out a muffled laugh behind his hand, receiving an icy glare from Roderich in retort.

"…" Matthew looked between the two before letting out another sigh, "Why did I choose to sit in between you two…" His gaze drifted towards the door, staring in confusion as Miss Summers and Arthur went by, "…" 'I wonder where they're going…'


.

.

"Keep running!"

"Whaaaat!" Feliciano cried but kept going around the track, "We've been running for so long already!"

"Okay, that does it. What the heck!" Alfred stopped in the middle of the track, gasping to catch his breath before stalking off the track and over to the teacher, "How many laps do we have to run?! You're gonna make us pass out, seriously! Some people in this class can't run that many!"

Feliciano peered over his shoulder to watch the confrontation between Alfred and Mr. Howard, "He's really brave."

"Get back on the track, Jones." Mr. Howard pointed to the area Alfred had just left, "You want to be in charge, you go to college and become a teacher!"

"If I go to college to become a teacher, it's not going to be anything like you." Alfred didn't budge from where he was standing, "You're being completely irrational!"

Feliciano made his way around another corner of the track, still watching the argument. It seemed to be escalating, he could hear the words being said from the opposite side now, "…I hope this doesn't get any worse…"

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to a student insulting me, get out of here!" Mr. Howard pointed towards the locker rooms, "If you're not going to be doing anything for this class then get out."

"Well you sure aren't doing anything for the class! All you're doing is standing there telling us to run all the time! What the heck is with you and running?!" Alfred scowled, and still didn't move.

"…Oh he's running now." Feliciano blinked, "Oh no, run Alfred~" He waved his arms around as the blonde scrambled away from their livid teacher, "Run for it!"

"Oh like this is gonna help your reputation of a crazy person!" Alfred yelled back towards Mr. Howard, "Chasing students is really going to do a crapload for your job security, too! Shoot yourself in the foot why don't you?!"

"Oh man…he's gonna get himself in big trouble…" Feliciano wilted, pausing to catch his breath at the starting line, "…I wonder if I should go get help or something…"

"I'm getting out of here!"

Feliciano turned and saw several students make a break for the changing rooms, vanishing from sight beyond the wooden doors, "…But…we can't just leave Alfred…" He looked back towards the teacher and student still running around, "…Well. I suppose I can just do what Antonio did~!" He waited until Alfred darted past him before sticking out his leg.

Alfred turned when he heard the loud yelp, "Huh?" He paused in his running upon seeing Mr. Howard with his face planted in the grass while Feliciano hopped around on one leg while holding the other one.

"He weighs a lot~" Feliciano cried, "Owwwww~"

"Oh man." Alfred grabbed Feliciano's arm, "Run for it!" He tore into the changing room, dragging the crying Italian behind him, "Just run through the pain, man! We're gonna be feeling a lot if that guy gets up before we make the lobby!"

They ran past several of their classmates, "Ve~ Run for it!" Feliciano cried, waving his arm at the other students, "He's really really mad! Alfreeeeed, I think I broke my leg!"

"You couldn't run on it if it was broken!" Alfred argued, "Just keep going! If we make it to the office, we're safe!"

"Now I know how Cruz and Ludwig felt in their last class~" Feliciano cried, "Hey…I wonder why Ardrich didn't run with them…"

"He probably kept his mouth shut, and wasn't running with them more than likely." Alfred laughed, "That guy doesn't know how to have any fun!"

"What part of this is fun?!" Feliciano wailed.

Alfred made a face, "Just imagine a goal line… like we're sprinting for the top prize!"

"Does the top prize not involve pain? Cuz he's gaining on us." Feliciano cast a glance over his shoulder.

"YOU COULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT." Alfred quickly sped up, "Legs don't fail me now!" He hurried down the hall and grabbed the doorhandle to the office, yanking Feliciano inside before slamming the door shut and throwing a chair in front of it.

"I don't want to know."

Feliciano burst into tears upon seeing the principal leaning on the secretary's desk, "Our teacher is so mean! He was chasing us down the hall!"

"That guy has some serious anger management issues!" Alfred yelped, pointing at the door, "Seriously! I thought he was gonna punch our lights out!"

"A teacher?" Mr. Smith raised an eyebrow, "Which one was this?"

Alfred opened his mouth to answer when the door crashed open, sending the chair across the room (barely missing Feliciano), "That one." He scrambled to hide behind the secretary's desk while Feliciano hid behind the principal, "All yours."

"This is the second time now you have chased two students down here." Mr. Smith glared at the gym teacher, "And…how did you get mud all over your…"

"That idiot tripped me!" Mr. Howard snapped, pointing to Feliciano.

"You were chasing Alfred!" Feliciano cried, "I was trying to get you to stop!"

"Oh for…" Mr. Smith let out a hiss through gritted teeth, "This is ridiculous. Jones, Vargas, you both sit in those two seats, and do not move." He glared at both of them, "Mr. Howard, in my office." He motioned to the room and stalked inside, followed by their teacher (after glaring at both Feliciano and Alfred).

"Well. I'd say we're in trouble." Alfred sat down and rested his hands in his lap.

"He's really scary~" Feliciano whimpered.

Alfred: Well. We're either really screwed, or getting a new gym teacher.

Feliciano: He's so mean!

Cruz: I'm not even going to ask.

Roderich: …Two more reasons to skip that class.

Matthew: …Did you two get chased too?

Alfred: All over the field and the whole way down to the office. Man he sent that chair flying across the room when he opened the door…

Allistor: Never mind what I said earlier. I'm not going to that class.

Reilly: Common sense prevails.

Arthur: …Well you all sound like you're having fun.

Matthew: Eh, where are you anyway?

Allistor: brother is in home ec?

Arthur: …nope. Keep guessing.

Cruz: ._.

Roderich: ._. ? Where are you at? Did you skip?

Arthur: Not intentionally.

Allistor: What? You're not in the hospital again are you?

Arthur: No.

Reilly: Well that's a relief.

Matthew: Eh…hint?

Arthur: Um…I see…a bridge.

Alfred: What? Are you in the park?

Allistor: The ****?

Arthur: No. Keep guessing.

Cruz: What the ****. How did you not skip intentionally? You're not even in the damn building are you.

Arthur: No I'm not.

Reilly: Mother will be pitching a fit.

Allistor: I'd more worry about father's fit.

Arthur: -_-

Alfred: D: Arthur~ Come back~

Arthur: I told you, it wasn't my idea to come out here.

Matthew: bridge… hm? If you're not in the park, where else is there a bridge?

Cruz: The highway bridge?

Arthur: There you go.

Allistor: What. The. ****.

Reilly: How did you get the whole way across the **** city?

Arthur: Well obviously my teacher is driving.

Alfred: ._. What.

Roderich: …What kind of teacher just goes for a drive?

Arthur: One who wanted to go on a field trip. Someone save me. Where are we even going…

Allistor: XD

Reilly: That's not even funny! Tell her to get back here!

Lovino: At least you're doing something entertaining with your teacher.

Ludwig: Ja. But we have cards. :)

Lovino: -_-

Feliciano: D: I wanna play!

Lovino: You're not in our math class. :P

Ludwig: I like playing Go Fish…

Lovino: I swear Ivan is cheating…

Ludwig: Ja, he is. He keeps taking cards out of his sleeve.

Lovino: I knew it.

Antonio: :D Lovi~ Hey hey, by the way, what ever happened to your notebook? Did you get it back?

Lovino: I wouldn't know. ASK MY PARENTS THAT.

Antonio: D: Oh man, sorry!

Ludwig: ._.

Roderich: So are we just pretty much not paying attention anymore?

Matthew: I don't think we're missing anything.

Cruz: Not a **** thing.

Matthew: XD

Arthur: Oh. Now we're going over the bridge.

Allistor: ._.

Reilly: Wait, where are you two even going? And who else is with you?

Arthur: Uh…it was a class of two including the teacher with Gilbert not here now… so it's just us two.

Allistor: ._.

Alfred: You're on a date with a teacher?

Cruz: XD

Arthur: NO NO NO AND NO.

Allistor: XD

Reilly: XD

Arthur: **** it Alfred. NO.

Matthew: Oh geez…

Roderich: Well I'm pretty sure it's not allowed anyhow…

Arthur: And she doesn't know where we're going.

Roderich: …what.

Arthur: She just wanted a scenic drive. So we're driving. And it's…scenic.

Cruz: Well have fun with that.

Matthew: what about her next class?

Arthur: I'M IN HER NEXT CLASS.

Matthew: Oh well that's okay then.

Arthur: HOW IS THAT OKAY?!

Alfred: XD

Feliciano: I wish we could go on a field trip… I'm kinda scared…and my leg really hurts D:

Lovino: You didn't trip did you?

Feliciano: I tripped the teacher :D

Antonio: …I wouldn't …recommend that….

Cruz: Way to go. Thumbs up.

Matthew: NO. Thumbs down! You're not supposed to hurt a teacher!

Roderich: This day is just going downhill…

Allistor: …Like a barrel full of building bricks.

Alfred: Well there's an interesting comparison.

Reilly: XD

Arthur: Maybe I'll be happy I'm not at school…

Roma: Hm? Where are you at?

Lovino: O_O Grandpa!

Roma: :D Hi Lovi~

Ludwig: Oh you're awake. Hallo

Roma: Hiii~

Arthur: On the bridge to nowhere.

Feliciano: in the office with a hurting leg.

Alfred: in the office waiting on the grim reaper.

Cruz: Those messages escalated quickly.

Roma: …What. What is going on… I'm so confused. DX

BigStiff: …I'm not even going to ask. Ludwig, how are you texting during class?

Ludwig: Oh it's fine. I'm just playing cards with classmates.

Lovino: One of them is cheating!

BigStiff: …what happened to the teacher's lesson?

Ludwig: oh she's still teaching, don't worry

Roma: XD

BigStiff: ._.

Roderich: What's the point of us being in school if none of us are even paying attention?!

Cruz: So can we leave? :)

Matthew: I don't think we can make the door before Mr. Spectacle stops us.

Roma: …I think that's Specks…

Arthur: Oh…now we're stopping.

Allistor: Oh great. Where you at?

Arthur: …in a traffic jam.

Reilly: XD

Arthur: Can someone please get me out of this car…

Roma: Who are you even with?

Arthur: ? Miss Summers

Roma: … you're on a field trip?

Arthur: Apparently.

BigStiff: don't parents have to sign off on those…

Roma: U-usually…

Arthur: Well they certainly didn't sign off on this one.

Alfred: The grim reaper cometh…

Feliciano: WAH~ T_T

Lovino: The principal or the gym teacher?

BigStiff: What?

Roma: …

Alfred: Principal… is he gonna reap or is he gonna let us go…

Roma: …why are you calling him that…

Cruz: Yeah I think the reaper is more fitting for that idiotic gym teacher.

Ludwig: Ja after the first class fiasco.

Feliciano: They're both reapers!

Roma: What happened first class?

Ludwig: Oh nothing. We just got chased by the teacher the whole way to the office.

Roma: …

BigStiff: …

Antonio: :D Makes me think I should have switched gym class out instead of science.

Roderich: CRUZ!

Cruz: Yeah?

Matthew: XD

Roderich: You idiot! Don't do that!

Matthew: XD

Cruz: :) He didn't even see it was me. Chill.

Roma: Oh man…

Lovino: ._. what is going on over there…

Ludwig: I can hear the teacher…

Roderich: way to go.

Cruz: Geez. Lecture time.

Matthew: He's so loud…


.

.

"You all are high-schoolers! Throwing something like a paper airplane is juvenile behavior I would expect out of elementary school students!" Mr. Specks yelled.

Cruz rolled his eyes and leaned his head back to look towards the ceiling, "Long-winded lecture time."

"You started it." Roderich hissed.

"Yeah yeah." Cruz shrugged.

"…" Matthew stared at the teacher in silence.

"This behavior is exactly what started the moronic activities of last year!" Mr. Specks continued.

Roderich's mouth dropped, "Ex-cuse me!"

"Moronic?" Cruz stared at him shock and disbelief.

"…" Matthew looked back and forth between the two, "You two are actually agreeing on something."

"The water balloons flying, the attack on the school board… those students should have been expelled. What they did was nothing but reckless behavior…" Mr. Specks started.

"Oh, no he did not." Roderich fumed before standing up, slamming one of his textbooks, "EXCUSE YOU."

"Aren't you going to say something?" Matthew looked at Cruz.

"Nope. He's got this one covered." Cruz smirked.

Roderich stalked to the front of the room and glared at Mr. Specks, "For your information, I'M the one who started that water balloon war in the classroom last year! There was a reason for the incidents towards the end of last year, and I am not going to sit through your stupid lecture listening to you claim all this crap that you know nothing about!"

"This is going on video." Matthew held up his cell phone and recorded the argument, "This is pure gold."

"This is going to make me laugh." Cruz grinned, "This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

Ludwig: Now the voice sounds like Roderich…

Lovino: Yeah it does.

Cruz: That's because it is. This is hilarious. :)

Ludwig: ._.

Lovino: Oh great. The whole school is going to be up in arms.

"Obviously you are not teaching a damn thing that we don't already know, so you go sit down!" Roderich pointed towards an empty desk in the front row.

"Oh no. Roderich's taking the classroom." Matthew held a hand over his mouth while he was laughing.

"Oh this should be good." Cruz leaned forward slightly, "Now…I'll pay attention."

Roderich waited until the (completely dumbstruck) teacher sat down in the empty desk in confusion. "Now, since we obviously have some discrepancies over the reasons for last year's incidents, I would like to take this time to explain it." Roderich forced a smile towards the classroom. He picked up a ruler and idly tapped it against the desk while he was talking.

"This is going on videotape or dvd for Gilbert to watch when he wakes up." Matthew giggled.

"I'm sure it'll cheer him up in no time flat." Cruz smirked.

"Last year, as I'm sure you all recall, we had that wonderful speech by the guest speaker on the rates of teenage suicide. Not twenty-four hours later, we were informed that three classmates had committed suicide and one had died an early death due to an illness that was out of control. The rigging of the classroom with water balloons occurred only a short time later." Roderich glared at the teacher, "Why? Because it was something Gilbert would have done. Sitting through boring lecture after boring lecture was something he hated with a passion, it's why he always acted out during class. So with Gilbert no longer present, someone had to take that role." Roderich paced the front of the room, still waving the ruler around.

"I didn't hear the long story-telling version of it. This is nice." Cruz laughed.

"Eh…" Matthew looked at him uncertainly, "It feels kinda weird to me. Especially since I was one of the three!"

"So, yes, I did rig the classroom to send water balloons fly around on a timer. It was something that will never be taken off my record, and I am perfectly fine with that." Roderich smiled cheerfully at the teacher, "It was quite worth it. For one short amount of time, the entire class was laughing. The depressed air that was in that classroom for some time actually lifted during the ten or fifteen minutes that my idea lasted. I'm not going to apologize for what I did. Not once." He spun the ruler around in his hand and walked around the desk once more.

"The second prank, was not my idea. It was actually the idea of Alfred to duct tape his entire classroom. I thought it was quite creative, actually, granted it did disrupt the taking of a test. But his class cheered up, even if his teacher got a few more gray hairs." Roderich sat himself on the corner of the desk and stared out at the faces of his classmates, "Antonio inflated beach balls and knocked them around during a slideshow presentation. Neither one of them, nor myself even, had to stand up and take credit for what we did, there's no way the teachers would have found out, because our classmates wouldn't have said anything. But we did anyway, which is probably why the principal left us to remain in school."

"And he said that he gets nervous when speaking in public." Cruz scoffed.

"He has his anger fueling him." Matthew whispered.

"And of course, the prank you mentioned." Roderich looked towards the teacher, "Where we retaliated against the school board, because they called our school one of the worst-behaved ones in the area. Despite us having top grades, it didn't matter, because we weren't well-behaved. So yes, we did act out against the school board. Shot arrows at them from windows on the second floor, rigged an onslaught of beach balls when they tried to give chase, threw tomatoes when they tried to chase us again, rigged the school board meeting room with water traps so they couldn't hold their meeting, and though unintentional, deflated the tires of one of the cars they came in."

Roderich stood up again and continued pacing around the room, "And yet…" He stopped and looked towards the teacher once more, "We made it back to class. No one caught us. But two, stood up and took the fall for it. Alfred and Antonio took the blame for the entire incident, and they're still in school, because the principal recognized what we were doing. We may have been acting out, but it was for a perfectly good reason, not just for the fun of it as you were implying." Roderich waved the ruler once before setting it down once more, "And it worked. The four students who had departed came back. So you cannot just stand up here and tell me that what we did was sheer stupidity. And don't you dare call our acts juvenile." Roderich scowled before stalking to the back of the classroom and returning to his seat.

"Very nice." Matthew clicked off the recorder.

"Yeah, really." Cruz nodded.

Roderich folded his hands on top of his desk and smiled to himself while silence settled over the classroom, "I'm expecting a retort of some kind…"

"Eh…" Matthew blinked, "Actually…"

Cruz tilted his head, staring at the front of the room, "Huh?" He blinked several times when he realized Matthew was suddenly standing next to the teacher's desk. Looking towards the now empty desk, Cruz turned his head back and forth between Matthew and his empty chair, "That was fast!"

"Hm?" Roderich blinked several times.

"J-Just to add on to what he was saying…" Matthew's face reddened a bit, he had seen the teacher about to get up but had stopped when Matthew had scurried to the front, "I wasn't here during that last year, so I didn't witness what some of you may have, but I did feel the effects of it. And…it's okay that teachers give lectures, don't think that's what the point of this was, but it does get hard to listen to on a daily basis. When we have to hear a lecture-style of teaching in every class, six or seven times a day, five times a week, it gets really repetitive and kind of boring…there are times now and then when someone needs to have some kind of fun to balance out their day, which is probably the main reason for some people, like Gilbert, acting out. Some people need more fun than others…"

"He is talking out more." Cruz looked towards Roderich.

"Yes he is. I'm impressed." Roderich raised both eyebrows.

"When life gets unbalanced and it feels like mostly nothing is going your way, coming to school can feel like a heavy weight is bearing down on you. You start to dread coming here because in the hallway you're just someone in somebody else's way, and you get pushed around a lot… it's nothing personal against you; they're just trying to get to their classes on time. It can feel like you're invisible, like no one can hear you or see you, like no one cares at all… and when that kind of thing happens on a daily basis…you forget. You forget that there are people who care, and just because you don't see them after class all the time, it doesn't mean they forgot about you. They're waiting in that class that you do have together, it's just hard to hold on until then sometimes. And it's not going to help to think that life isn't worth it… it's just not. If you keep thinking life isn't worth it, you're going to start believing it like we did. We went away last year because that's where our mindframes were. But we came back because there were people here who showed that they did care, and they did save us in a way, so…thank you." Matthew smiled towards Roderich and Cruz before retreating to the back of the room again.

"Well." Cruz blinked.

"That was not the response I was expecting." Roderich watched as Matthew sat down, "You're quite welcome."

Matthew let out a long sigh of relief, "I'm never doing that again."

Cruz grinned, "Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes the teacher to stand up?"

"We shall approach this in a calm and mature manner." Roderich looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze towards the front of the room.

Matthew looked at Cruz before looking back at Roderich.

"…Five minutes. Ten dollars." Roderich drummed his fingers on the desktop.

Cruz let out a short laugh, "Calm and mature manner!"

"Eh, I'm gonna say two minutes, ten dollars." Matthew smiled.

Cruz grinned and set his watch timer, "I'm going to say three and a half and settle in the middle."


.

.

"Hmm…in hindsight, this probably wasn't a good idea." Miss Summers tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

Arthur hit his head against the passenger-side window.

"Clearly we should have gone the backroads." Miss Summers peered out her window and glanced up and down the road.

"Well it's too late to do anything about it now." Arthur sighed.

"No it's not." Miss Summers smiled cheerfully, "Nothing coming in the oncoming traffic lanes~"

"Please tell me you're not about to do a u-turn on the middle of-aaaaaaaaaaaa!" Arthur held onto the doorhandle as his teacher accelerated into a sharp turn, skidding across three lanes before flying down the highway in the opposite direction, "That was illegal!"

"I didn't see any signs that said I couldn't do that!" Miss Summers laughed.

Arthur continued holding onto the door handle and managed to type out a message with one hand while the car bounced down the road.

Arthur: Where did she even get her license?! Can someone please tell her that making a u-turn on a bridge is illegal!

Roma: It's only illegal if there's a sign that says you can't :D

BigStiff: … Where did you get YOUR license?

Ludwig: I'm not sure I want to drive anymore…

Lovino: I'm seriously about to call this stupid cheater…

Ludwig: I wouldn't do that if I were you…

Arthur glanced up at the road, watching the blurred scenery fly by, "Where are we going…"

"Backroads!" Miss Summers yanked the steering wheel to the right and went skidding around a corner.

"Could you at least keep all four wheels of the car on the ground?!" Arthur yelled.

"All four wheels were on the ground!"


.

.

Regis shook his head at the comments on his phone with a sigh, "Was school like that when we were still there…"

"Not that I can recall." Roma commented, looking more towards the ceiling rather than his bedside visitor.

"How did you get here anyway?" Regis glanced at the papers on the opposite side of the bed from where he was sitting.

Roma's face reddened a bit, "Car accident."

"Gott." Regis buried his face in his hands.

"It wasn't even my fault!" Roma protested, "Some other person ran the redlight! It wasn't because of my driving!"

"Ja, ja. I believe you…" Regis patted Roma on the shoulder, though the facial expression wasn't comforting in the least.

"You do not." Roma crossed his arms and sulked, "Sheesh."

"Well there weren't any bridges involved in your accident." Regis glanced at his phone, "…I wonder what happened with the gym teacher…"

Roma shook his head with a quiet sigh, "Whatever is going on, principal will take care of it." He closed his eyes and relaxed a bit, listening to the faded voices in the hallway.

Regis tilted his head slightly, letting silence fall between them. He glanced down at his phone again and made a face at the chatname that kept popping up every time he would send a message to someone else, "…How do you change the username on here?"

"You don't like your username?" Roma smiled, "I thought it was rather funny."

Regis made a face and scowled, "Not particularly fond of being known as 'big stiff'."

"I think most of Gilbert's friends would have heard that by now anyway." Roma opened one eye to glance at him.

Regis let out a long sigh of defeat and leaned his head against the wall.

"…Did you read the wall hanging he had made for his home education class?" Roma asked quietly.

"Ja. Too many stiffs in the family." Regis didn't look up from his phone.

"Did you read the second line?" Roma sighed and closed his eye again.

"There was a second line?" Regis raised an eyebrow and looked at Roma in confusion.

"Apparently not." Roma answered his own question and just shook his head.

Regis blinked several times, "?"

BigStiff: there was a second line on Gilbert's wall hanging?

Roderich: Yes.

Ludwig: There was?

Arthur: ...yes…

Matthew: Eh…did no one else notice?

Cruz: I barely looked at any of them.

Roderich: 'but I love them anyway'

Ludwig: ._.

BigStiff: ._.

Matthew: I know the words were smaller than the first line, but I still saw it…

Ardrich: I turn on my phone for the first time and the notifications are completely full! What the ****

Cruz: Oh terrific. Mini-idiot.

BigStiff: …

Roderich: I think that's Mini-stiff.

Cruz: Whichever.

Ludwig: …

Allistor: You really didn't miss all that much except for the gym teacher fiascos.

Ardrich: I was in the first class when he chased Ludwig and whats-his-name down the hall.

Matthew: Oh look. Someone who actually doesn't know your name.

Cruz: I'm amazed.

Roderich: So am I.

Ludwig: Ja. Thanks for the support. Just keep running and ignore us.

Ardrich: I left after the teacher did. Forget running.

Cruz: XD

Roderich: That was probably a good idea.

Allistor: Brother~ Where are you?

Arthur: No idea.

Lovino: Why did it suddenly get really loud?

Cruz: Whoa.

Roderich: … who was closest on the bet?

Cruz: Matthew.

Matthew: I won :D

Roderich: I think we lost back here actually. Don't tell me now we're sitting through another lecture.

Cruz: …No. We're not.

Matthew: Please don't do something stupid!

Arthur: What the heck is going on at the school?

Allistor: Haven't the faintest idea. Quiet on this end.

Reilly: Yeah. Real quiet.

Ludwig: Anything but quiet over here.

Lovino: Oh man. It's rather creepy when you can hear the teacher yelling through the wall.

Antonio: D: Be safe you guys!

Roderich: Oh sure.


.

.

Matthew trembled in his seat a bit and shrank down lower as the volume of yelling escalated, "M-maybe his last nerve is shot or something…"

"Ain't the only thing that's gonna be shot soon." Cruz snapped.

Roderich rolled his eyes and began searching through his bag on the floor, "Do I have anything in here…"

"Are we seriously getting a lecture on how teachers are supposed to act and how students should be acting…" The classmate in front of Matthew sunk in his own seat, "This is stupid."

Matthew leaned forward and watched as Roderich pulled out an airhorn, "Oh."

Roderich looked across at Matthew and Cruz, "I think this was pretty much called for."

"Go for it." Cruz put both hands over his ears.

Matthew quickly covered his as well as Roderich blew the air horn, silencing the teacher instantly.

Mr. Specks leaned on his desk with one hand, both eyes closed, drumming his fingers on the desktop.

"…I think he's counting to ten." Matthew whispered.

"He's going to need to count a lot higher than that." Cruz grumbled.

Roderich put the airhorn on his lap and waited for the blowup that he was expecting to follow, "In retrospect, we should have known that some teachers have short fuses."

"Then why do you keep lighting it?" Matthew cried.

"Because I can." Roderich smiled cheerfully.

Cruz grinned and looked towards the front of the classroom again.

"I did not attend a college to be made a fool of by a couple of delinquent students!" Mr. Specks snapped.

"Delinquent?" Roderich blinked, "Who of us is…"

"I think that could be applied to me." Cruz rolled his eyes.

"But he said a couple…" Matthew tilted his head.

"The classroom is a place for learning, not games! We are here to teach and should not have to put up with the damned attitudes of a couple of stuck-up students who can't keep their mouths shut while other people are trying to learn!"

"Stuck up…" Roderich whispered.

Cruz blinked a couple times, "Well."

"And I will not stand up here and try to talk over you idio-"

"Then shut up." Matthew stood up.

Cruz turned his head and looked up at the blonde in shock.

"Whoa." Roderich looked up at Matthew, "Uh…" He reached up and tugged on Matthew's sleeve, "Now who's lighting the fuse…"

"Did everything that was said just go in one ear and out the other? We were not talking down on your way of teaching! We were saying that it gets really boring to listen to! We are not delinquents, we are not stuck-up!" Matthew snapped, ignoring the tugs on his arm.

"School is a place of learning, not a funhouse!" Mr. Specks retorted.

"Why can't it be both? Why can't teachers at least make an attempt to make learning fun for the students? If it's the same thing day after day, who's going to even try to listen? It's the same thing day after day! You could at least do something interesting so school isn't such a chore!" Matthew glared at the teacher, fast becoming frustrated with the response he was getting.


.

.

Ludwig looked up upon hearing a loud crash through the wall, "What the heck?"

"Uh, excuse me." Mrs. Rose hurried out of the room.

Lovino looked at the wall, "I wonder what happened…"

"Your friends are over there?" Ivan blinked, "Maybe you should follow."

"Ugh…I have a feeling I'm going to regret this." Lovino got up and hurried out the door, followed by Ludwig. Lovino peered around Mrs. Rose who was standing in shock in the doorway to the next classroom, "What happened?"

Ludwig peered around Mrs. Rose's right shoulder and saw Matthew standing at the back of the classroom, eyes widened in shock. Cruz was standing next to him, glaring daggers at the teacher who stood in front of the room.

Roderich stood up, "Now that was just uncalled for." He walked behind where Cruz was standing and picked up a textbook, "Throwing something at a student?"

Mrs. Rose looked back and forth between the three students in the back and Mr. Specks, "Please tell me you didn't…"

"What's the point of school again?" Lovino whispered, looking at Ludwig.

"Uh…" Ludwig hesitated.

Mrs. Rose looked around the room, lost on what to do, "Okay…well you know what. Class is almost over anyway. Everyone out. Out, out." She motioned towards the door.

Roderich huffed and left the room, following behind Cruz and Matthew, "Talk about annoying! What a rude teacher!"

"He threw a textbook at me…" Matthew whispered, "He actually threw something at me…"

Cruz scowled, "What kind of requirements is needed to teach at this school? We need some new teachers, geez! Gym teachers who chase you down the damned hallway, and a history teacher who throws the textbook!"

"Are you three okay?" Ludwig looked at them in concern.

"That was loud." Ivan appeared suddenly next to Lovino.

"Geez!" Lovino jumped, "Where the heck did you come from?"

"From class!" Ivan laughed.

Yao sighed in frustration, "Lost again at cards."

Ludwig and Lovino exchanged glances before they both shook their heads.

"We're fine." Roderich sighed.

Matthew nodded in silence.

Cruz continued scowling, "Still one more class before lunch…"

"Yeah but you get Mrs. Rose!" Lovino motioned to the classroom they had just left, "We get stuck with your teacher!"

Mrs. Rose made a face, "I'm standing right here. Everyone is more than welcome to just stay in my classroom."

"…" Lovino looked at Ludwig, "What do you want to do?"

"I am not going in there." Ludwig headed back to the math classroom, "I'll just sit on the floor in the back."

"…I have gym." Roderich hesitated.

"Eh…I have science." Matthew wandered down the hallway, "See you at lunch!"

"Yeah, sure. Good luck with gym." Cruz followed Lovino and Ludwig into the math classroom.

"Oh, like I'm really going!" Roderich snapped and stalked off down the hallway. 'I might as well find Antonio since he also has gym…'


.

.

Alfred glanced hesitantly at the paper in front of him, "…Okay…I think I filled this out right…"

"I can't believe we had to write down what happened…" Feliciano cried.

"I guess it has to go on record…" Alfred slid the paper across the principal's desk. "I wonder where he went."

"Something about another teacher acting out of line." Feliciano shrugged and put his paper on top of Alfred's, "I have world history now, I should go…"

"I have…study hall. With a teacher who ran away with Arthur." Alfred sighed and trudged out of the office, "What the heck am I supposed to do?"

"You can always come to my class!" Feliciano laughed, "Or maybe you should just spend time in the library…"

"Yeah I dunno." Alfred scratched the back of his head, "I mean, I guess I can just go to the study hall room anyway, but if there's no teacher there, there's really no point…"

"Hmm…" Feliciano tilted his head, "Oh there's…ve?" Feliciano stared at the closed door that had a note taped to it. "Mr. Specks has taken the rest of the day off, any student in this class is free to come to Mrs. Rose's classroom next door."

"Well." Alfred blinked, "I wonder what happened."

"Oh well! I guess I'll just go to the math classroom then!" Feliciano skipped up the hall and into the open classroom door.

"Empty study hall classroom here I come…" Alfred sighed and walked down the hallway.


.

.

Matthew stared at the teacher. The empty desk next to him felt worse than normal due to the conflict in the last classroom. 'And now I'm stuck with his wife!' Matthew sunk down in his chair. Hopefully they hadn't had any contact with one another, otherwise this was going to be the longest class of the day.

Mrs. Specks, instead of getting up, remained sitting in her chair when the bell rang. She surveyed the classroom without saying a word.

'I think they talked.' Matthew pulled at his sweater sleeve, worried.

"So…" Mrs. Specks leaned back in her chair, "Since someone was nice enough to hide my curriculum notes…would someone else like to lead the class today?"

"Eh." Matthew blinked. 'Who did that?' He glanced around the classroom, but everyone looked just as confused as he was.

"Come on, someone come up here." Mrs. Specks motioned to the front of the room.

Matthew glanced around as no one moved. 'Might as well get this over with.' He stood up hesitantly and made his way slowly to the front of the room, standing awkwardly at the board.

"Oh there we have someone." Mrs. Specks looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Um…" Matthew glanced at the classroom, getting quite a few deer-in-the-headlight expressions in return.

"So what's the lesson plan for today?" Mrs. Specks watched Matthew with a look of keen interest.

"W-well if it's alright with you…" Matthew looked towards her, still hesitating.

"You're leading the class. I'm a student right now." Mrs. Specks waved her hand.

'This is so confusing!' Matthew panicked inwardly, "Um, does everyone have a paper to write on?" He looked around the room, only mildly surprised when most students pulled out notebooks. Matthew spotted Mrs. Specks also pulling out a sheet of paper. 'I'm seriously teaching this…'

"Okay then…" Matthew picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board.

"Today I died and I never got the chance to tell you…" Mrs. Specks whispered.

"Most of you know that I was one of the students in the assembly last year. While I was at the counseling facility, it became clear to me that many of the friends I had year didn't know how I felt about them after I was gone. Some of you may not have even thought about it at all, I'm the one of the few who reflected on that. So if you were to not return home today, what would you want your parents or your friends to know?" Matthew tilted his head, "That's what the paper is for."

"Well this is certainly a change." Mrs. Specks raised both eyebrows, "Hm…" She tapped her pencil on the desk a few times before she began writing.

'S-she's actually writing…' Matthew watched as his classmates exchanged glances with one another before they started on the papers laying on their desks. 'Should I write something?' Matthew looked at the board and started writing his own.


.

.

"Are you really so surprised by that?" Roma asked.

"A bit." Regis commented quietly, "He pushes himself away so much it seems that he doesn't want to have anything to do with us."

"He pushes himself away because that's what he's used to. He didn't want his mother seeing him suffer so he would spend more time away from home. When it resurfaced, he returned to that mindset and forced himself away from everyone. Gilbert tried to push himself away from his friends, but some of them proved more stubborn than they were last year." Roma smiled faintly.

Regis leaned on the bed, staring at the door for a few minutes, "…I know your son was here while you were sleeping…but your wife hasn't come by?"

"No. And she won't." Roma turned his head to look out the window.

Regis looked at him in confusion, "Did you two have a fight?"

"Technically, no." Roma kept his gaze on the window.

"Then what…" Regis started.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Roma said flatly.

"I swear, if I had a dollar for every time you've given me that response." Regis sighed.

"Shush." Roma smacked him on the shoulder, "Don't be mean!"

"We're here!"

Roma gaped at Miss Summers and Arthur, "I can see that."

"Oh, is that where you two went?" Regis raised both eyebrows.

"No." Arthur held up a bag of carryout, "Apparently her favorite restaurant is on the other side of the river."

"Ahahahaha!" Roma burst out laughing, "You and your cravings!"

"They were having a sale. You two want some?" Miss Summers plopped down in an empty chair and began pulling the trays out, "I got extra!"

"I can't believe you skipped school to grab carryout." Regis grumbled.

"I can. What'd you get?" Roma managed to get himself into a sitting position.

"Should you even be eating this?" Regis gaped at him.

"Life is much too short to follow all the rules all the time." Roma responded.

"That's who she reminds me of." Arthur whispered.


.

.

Fourth Bell

"So now what?" Matthew blinked over his shoulder, heading into the cafeteria, "If the food is inedible, no food fights? We just throw it away?"

"Well I don't plan on even trying." Cruz grumbled.

"Ahahaha, I'll attempt." Antonio smiled cheerfully, "I think I'll skip out on the salad though."

"We can always hand it right back to the monitors if the food looks inedible right?" Alfred tilted his head.

"Hell with handing it back. Throw it back." Cruz wandered over to the usual table in the corner of the room, still not up to trying anything in the food lines.

Matthew looked at the tray he was given, "…" At first glance, the food looked normal enough. Seemed to resemble some kind of broccoli on the side. Matthew leaned back to look at the menu of the line he was standing in. "On second thoughts, I think I'll pass." Matthew put the tray back on the counter, "What resembles broccoli shouldn't be according to the menu." He turned and walked away, leaving the student after him looking at the tray with an expression of doubt.

Alfred picked up the top part of the bun and glanced at the hamburger underneath, much to the annoyance of the cook behind the counter, "Dude. You're sure this was a hamburger and not a piece of charcoal?"

"Just leave it Alfred." Matthew sighed, walking by, "I'm heading to the table."

"Coming." Alfred dropped the bun back down and headed after Matthew, "No food fights~"

When Antonio made it to the table, he found Alfred, Matthew, and Cruz all sitting with no food trays, "Did you guys all decide not to?"

"The broccoli shouldn't have been on the tray. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not trying it." Matthew sighed.

"I'm still not sure that wasn't a piece of charcoal." Alfred glanced at his phone, "At least Arthur got take-out food. That's guaranteed edible."

"Don't be so sure about that." Cruz scoffed.

Antonio was about to take a bite when Lovino dropped into the seat next to him, "Lovi~ Why are you in our lunch?" He blinked several times in surprise.

"Because I have gym at this time, and no thank you." Lovino leaned on the table, "I'll pass, this was the only other place I could think of to come."

"Yeah. The room of inedible food." Matthew gave a sideways glance towards Antonio's tray, as if he was expecting to see something move.

"I'm the only one eating~" Antonio laughed.

"I'm not dragging your sick ass home." Cruz glanced out the window.

Antonio paused before taking a bite again, "You're so mean! And Lovi, what happened to you skipping earlier?"

"I showed up." Lovino sighed, "Didn't want to, but I'm not looking to get grounded here."


.

.

"You're going to get in a lot of trouble…" Roma looked towards the teacher still in the room.

"You're going to get me in trouble." Arthur grumbled.

"Ah, the principal has his hands full already. He won't even notice~" Miss Summers laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he will." Regis looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Arthur leaned back in the chair. At least he didn't have to deal with the problems that everyone else seemed to be encountering during class. Today definitely seemed to be the day where most of the teachers were breaking down.

"Besides, as long as Arthur's with a teacher, they can't give him too hard of a time~" Miss Summers patted Arthur on the shoulder with a grin.

"That's a huge comfort." Arthur said sarcastically, "I'm still going to be grounded for the rest of my life."

Regis glanced towards the clock on the wall before looking towards the half-closed door. He was beginning to wonder where Roma's son had vanished off to. It was certainly a long time to be gone just for a food run.

"He had to run out on an errand." Roma commented, as if reading Regis's mind.

Regis just nodded in silence, but didn't look like he believed Roma's words at all.

"The school year is half over already…" Miss Summers gazed out the window with a far-off expression on her face, "It's kinda hard to believe…"

"Speak for yourself." Roma made a face, "You try sitting in the guidance office for students coming down all the time."

"I might as well. I might see more students that way!" Miss Summers sighed.

"That class is going to be really interesting with one student." Arthur tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah, I don't know what we're gonna do. I suppose we can still do the normal class curriculum, it's just more one-on-one teaching style." Miss Summers mimicked Arthur by tilting her own head.

"That's a small class." Regis looked at her doubtfully.

"She always has small classes." Roma laughed.

"Maybe it's my teaching style." Miss Summers hung her head.

"It's certainly different from most other teachers." Arthur commented.

"By the way, what are my other two sons doing in your class if you're here?" Regis glanced at her.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Miss Summers stared back at him.

"…You should probably head back." Roma sighed, "You didn't even get a substitute…"

"Like I said, the principal had his hands full already." Miss Summers leaned back in her chair.

Regis glanced at the phone, but there was a lack of messages from Ludwig and Ardrich, "I wonder what they're doing?"


.

.

"You know…you could at least follow the instructions." Ludwig glanced at Ardrich, motioning to the cooking book.

"They're impossible to read! Why do they print them so damn small!" Ardrich snapped.

"Just get glasses!" Ludwig retorted.

"People look old with glasses!" Ardrich yelled.

"You're saying Roderich looks old? Und Alfred? Und Matthew?" Ludwig stared at him, "You're going to get hit if you say that to their faces."

Ardrich scowled and picked up the cookbook, staring at it with a fierce intensity, "I will read this without glasses."

"Ja. Sure you will." Ludwig sighed and patted his brother on the back, "I can just read it off rather than risk burning the whole school down…"

"It's not gonna burn!" Ardrich kicked him and shoved the tray in the oven, "Now it says here to heat to…" Ardrich squinted, "Uhm… 850?"

"NEIN! That says 350!" Ludwig covered the dial, "You really are going to burn the school! The dial doesn't even go that far!"

"Then there was nothing to get all worried about!" Ardrich hit him with the cookbook, "Just turn the damn thing!"

"We shouldn't even be cooking without a teacher…" Ludwig sighed, but turned the knob anyway.

"She's not here. Deal with it. At least we can't get in trouble for skipping." Ardrich stared at the pile of dishes in the sink, "…"

"We should clean those while we're waiting, how long do we wait?" Ludwig moved towards the sink, rolling up his sleeves.

"Uh…"Ardrich squinted at the book, "Thirty minutes."

"That should be enough time then!" Ludwig put the dishes on the counter and started filling the sink with hot water, "Ja, this is nice. This feels like we're living on our own!"

"No offense, I'd rather have that feeling with someone besides mein bruder." Ardrich gave him a look of doubt.

Ludwig glared at Ardrich, "You know what I meant. Now help." He flung the dishtowel at Ardrich, "You dry."

"Fine." Ardrich huffed and waited for a dish to be set in the dishrack.


.

.

Regis tapped his foot idly on the floor. Roma appeared to have fallen asleep now, leaving a silence to fall over the other three in the room.

Arthur looked hesitantly back and forth between the two adults who were awake, "…" 'What is this feeling of tension?!'

Arthur: Why…it feels like the air is really tense in here…

Ardrich: ? Where are you at again?

Arthur: The hospital

Allistor: What

Reilly: Again?

Arthur: NO! I'm visiting in the hospital! I'm not a patient!

Alfred: Oh that's a relief. I thought something happened again.

Lovino: Who are you visiting?

Arthur: Your grandpa, apparently. Here we sit.

Lovino: :D How is he?

Arthur: …sleeping.

Lovino: … with visitors? How rude.

Antonio: Uh…guys…this salad…

Cruz: Just say it out loud before you make more people than necessary sick.

Alfred: XD I don't think he can

Antonio: :D I'm gonna go be sick now. Bye!

Lovino: Wow he runs fast.

Cruz: Idiot.

Alfred: Should one of us follow?

Roderich: Don't bother. He just ran into me. Literally.

Matthew: Oh, hello! You weren't in class?

Roderich: No. Strange. I got to the room and there was a note that said the class was cancelled.

Matthew: Eh?

Cruz: What class?

Roderich: Science. Taking Antonio to the nurse now.

Matthew: …I just had that class…the teacher was there…

Arthur: Did something happen?

BigStiff: Ardrich? What are you and Ludwig doing?

Ardrich: Dishes.

BigStiff: ._. What?

Matthew: no…the class went fine. Nothing happened.

Cruz: Huh. That's odd. Maybe she left with her husband.

Matthew: maybe…

Ardrich: We're doing dishes. How difficult is that to understand?

BigStiff: Why are you doing dishes? Where are you?

Ardrich: Home Education.

BigStiff: Without the teacher?

Ardrich: Uh…ja?

Ludwig: We're watching the food in the oven. :)

BigStiff: ._.

Alfred: Oh great! Bring some down here! I'm starving!

Matthew: XD

Cruz: Maybe we should just head over there.

Lovino: there's an idea.

Arthur: Well. I'm glad to hear your food dilemmas were solved.

Ardrich: Hey uh…question

BigStiff: ?

Ardrich: Is it supposed to be black?

Cruz: On second thoughts, let's just stay here.

Matthew: Um…

Ludwig: Why is it black? You said thirty minutes right?

Ardrich: Ja. That's what the book said.

BigStiff: ._.

Ludwig: GOTT! Turn it off!

Alfred: …I don't need food anymore. I'm good.

Ardrich: D: Which way does the dial go?! Left? I can't see in the smoke!

Roderich: YOU IDIOTS! THERE'S SMOKE IN THE HALL!

Ludwig: Gott, it's hard to see in here!

BigStiff: THEN LEAVE!


.

.

"Oh mein gott!" Ludwig flailed his arms around in front of him while coughing.

"I am never cooking again!" Ardrich yelled, also doing the same thing, "Where's the damn dial?! Did I turn it off?!"

As if in response, the smoke alarms above their heads started going off in shrill tones.

"Nein." Ludwig sighed, "There it goes." He grabbed two potholders off the counter and yanked open the stove, pulling the burning food out of the oven and flinging it into the sink.

"Gah!" Ardrich coughed several times, still waving his hands around, "Can't even breathe in here!"

"Then move!" Roderich appeared through the smoke and dragged them both out of the room, hurrying down the hall.

"My eyes are watering!" Ardrich cried, "I can't even see!"

"Well that's not much different from before then! Why did I even trust you to read off how long it was supposed to stay in!" Ludwig snapped, coughing.

"Wow this is not helping my stomach." Antonio scurried behind them, "Siiiiiick…"

"Don't stop to throw up!" Roderich snapped.

Matthew: All the smoke alarms are going off…

Cruz: Evacuating.

Alfred: D: Run!

Antonio: Roderich dragged Ludwig and Ardrich out of the Home Ec. Room!

BigStiff: Oh good. Danke Roderich.

Arthur: That cooking turned out worse than mine usually does…

Allistor: Yeah. Yours doesn't set the alarms off in the kitchen.

Reilly: :P Usually.

Alfred: XD

Lovino: Can you pick some other time to start a fight! Geez!

Cruz: I think we should have picked a different route.

Alfred: Yeah, let's just turn the other way now. It's getting really hard to see.

Arthur: …are we going to be holding a funeral again?

Alfred: NO.

Matthew: I hope not!

Lovino: Don't even joke.

Roma: …Now what did I miss?

BigStiff: -_- You're awake now.

Arthur: A fire apparently.

Antonio: No flames, just a lot of smoke.

Roderich sat down on the hill outside away from the school, gasping for breath after running.

"Gott…" Ludwig laid down on his back, letting out short coughs now and then, "Stupid smoke…"

"Never cooking again." Ardrich wheezed.

Antonio blinked at the school, "Man…I wonder if there really is a fire…"

"I hope not." Ludwig sighed.

Roderich looked down at the two blondes, "Did you manage to turn the stove off?"

"I don't know…I don't think we…" Ludwig looked back at the school in time to see the windows in the Home Ec room shatter, "…"

"No." Roderich sighed, "Now there's a fire."

"I think that's more of an explosion. Maybe there was something wrong with the stove." Antonio suggested, "Like a clog in the gasline or something."

"That could be." Roderich blinked.

Ardrich hesitated, "D-Did everyone get out?"

"Uh…" Roderich looked doubtfully towards the school, "I hope so…"

Ludwig paled, "Oh gott, please don't let anyone be near there…"


.

.

Feliciano coughed several times and followed his classmates through the hallway, "It's really hard to breathe!"

"Oh come on!" Elizaveta yanked on his arm, "We can't stop!"

"I don't wanna die in here!" Feliciano cried.

"We will not die!" Elizaveta protested, "Don't even think that!"

A loud crash behind them brought both their second winds back and they ran past their classmates.

"Run!" Feliciano cried.

"Screw calm and orderly!" Elizaveta tore out the fire exit, dragging Feliciano right behind her.

"Oh man! What even happened!" Feliciano looked over his shoulder, watching as the rest of their class made it out, "Oh, there's Ludwig!"


.

.

Roderich's eyes narrowed as Feliciano came over, though he was more glaring at the female right behind the Italian.

"I thought we were done for!" Feliciano collapsed beside Ludwig.

"Fire department showed up…" Ludwig whispered.

"Ugh." Ardrich coughed, still laying down while his brother had sat up.

Elizaveta plopped down beside Ardrich, "That was hectic!"

Roderich just shook his head and turned his gaze away to the other students moving to a safe distance from the school. 'Everyone made it out right?'

Roderich: Is everyone out?

Alfred: The lunch crew is out! :D

Cruz: GEEZ.

Matthew: Oh man, what a mess.

Lovino: Whoa…flames and smoke…

Roma: D:

Roderich: Feliciano is here with us, no worries.

Lovino: Oh that's good.

Arthur: Oh second thoughts, I'm glad I'm not there after all. Allistor, Reilly, are you two okay?

Roderich stared at the phone for a minute. '…They're not responding…'

Ludwig looked at his own phone and back at Roderich, "They're not still inside are they?"

Elizaveta looked up startled, "Huh? Who?"

"Arthur's older brothers aren't responding…maybe they're still on their way out…" Ludwig tilted his head, "That or they're not aware their phones are going off…"

Alfred: D: I'll run around and see if I can find them outside!

Matthew: I'll go in the opposite direction then.

Cruz: I don't believe this. Now we're looking for the two redheads?!

Arthur: OF ALL THE TIMES FOR THEM TO NOT ANSWER THEIR PHONES!

Roma: really.

BigStiff: Gott…

Roma: Where did Miss Summers go anyway?

BigStiff: Said she was heading to the cafeteria for a coffee…good thing she's not here.

Roma: Uh-huh.

Roderich stood up, "I'm going to see if I can find them…" He hurried off down the hill, towards a large group of students that was to the right of where they were sitting.

"We should help." Antonio blinked and stood up, heading in the opposite direction, "Charge!"

"I'm just gonna stay here and cough up a lung." Ardrich said flatly.

"Ja." Ludwig nodded, "It hurts…"

"You two were near the room?" Elizaveta looked at them worried.

"We were in the room!" Ardrich snapped.

"…" Elizaveta looked back and forth between the two, "…The ambulance is that way." She pointed towards the parking lot.

"It's not that bad." Ludwig looked towards the parking lot, "Nein, danke."

Ardrich just coughed from the ground, "I'm considering it actually."

"Oh for!" Elizaveta stood up, "I'm telling them to come over here!" She took off towards the parking lot.

"She's not serious." Ludwig said flatly.

"She's serious…and kinda cute." Ardrich blinked.

"What." Ludwig looked down at Ardrich, "Your eyesight is seriously bad."


.

.

Roderich glanced to the left and right, standing on tiptoes to peer between the crowd of students, "Uh…has anyone seen Allistor or Reilly Kirkland?" He tapped Mathias on the shoulder.

"Hm? The two redheads? Uh…" Mathias looked around, "I don't see them here, are they missing?"

"Well they're not answering their phones…" Roderich sighed.

"Oh man. Guys~ Help us out here!" Mathias tugged on the two nearest him, "We're looking for two students!"

"Oh, okay." Ivan turned, "Who for?"

Roderich glanced up at the taller male, "Arthur's older brothers, the twin redheads with the foul tempers."

"You'd think we could hear them cursing if they were outside." Yao scanned the people around them, "Maybe with the seniors?"

"Let's go!" Mathias cheered, charging off.

Roderich shook his head and hurried after, with Ivan and Yao right behind him, "The help is appreciated…"


.

.

Alfred made a face. So far, no luck. "Man where are they at." Alfred tilted his head, "Reilly should have been in lunch with us…but I don't recall seeing him now that I think about it." Alfred sighed and glanced at his phone. Still no updates.

Arthur: Where are they…

Roma: D: Don't cry!

BigStiff: I think he has every valid reason to do so.

Arthur: You idiots! Where are you?!

Alfred: D: Don't cry Arthur! We're looking!

Roderich: Mathias, Ivan, and Yao are helping me look around the back of the school…

Cruz: Well I'm not seeing them here on the west side.

Matthew: Neither am I. Maybe one of us should insult them.

Cruz: Go for it. That'd get 'em to respond.

Alfred: I don't see them over here.

Lovino: I can't find them on the front side either, maybe they went to the parking lot?

Roderich: They would have had to go right by Ludwig and Ardrich. We were on the hill.

Alfred gritted his teeth and took off again, "Where are they at?!" He spotted the principal up ahead, talking with a police officer and ran over, "Mr. Smiiiiiiith~"

"Hm? What's wrong?" Mr. Smith blinked, surprised by the interruption.

"Sorry! You haven't seen Allistor or Reilly around anywhere have you? I can't find them and I don't remember seeing either one in lunch either…" Alfred gasped for a moment to catch his breath.

"Uh." Mr. Smith glanced around, "They were in the office the last time I saw them, but I don't know where they went when the fire alarms started going off…" He glanced around the schoolyard and sighed, "Oh great…and teachers can't even find their classes to take a role call…"

Alfred looked around in desperation, "Where are they at…"


.

.

Elizaveta hurried back over to Ludwig and Ardrich, "Okay! Emergency personnel are right behind me!"

"Terrific." Ludwig commented sarcastically.

"Oh good." Ardrich looked up towards the adults moving towards them in neon yellow suits, "Firemen with stretchers. Yipee."

"Gott. I can walk. I draw the line at the stretcher." Ludwig coughed again and stood up, half-glaring at Elizaveta when she made an attempt to help.

Ludwig walked towards the parking lot, while Ardrich didn't even attempt to get up and just got carried by on the stretcher. "I have my dignity, danke." Ludwig grumbled. He paused by the ambulance to see Allistor sitting in the back of one, holding an ice pack to his head, "…What…what happened?"

"I was running down the stairs and slipped." Allistor snapped, "Shut up."

Ludwig sighed, "Ist Reilly with you?"

"Yeah. He's laying down. He was in front of me." Allistor motioned behind him, "Took him out with me."

Something started nagging Ludwig, but he couldn't think of what he was forgetting and just sat where the fireman was motioning to. 'What am I forgetting…it was something important wasn't it?' Ludwig squinted to a distant corner of the parking lot, trying to remember.

Elizaveta looked nervously towards Ardrich as he was put in one of the ambulances, "I-is he going to be okay? He is, right?"

Ludwig heard the fireman loading him mention something about smoke inhalation before turning his head away. 'Gilbert…you're really missing a huge mess right now…'


.

.

Lovino hurried into the parking lot, spotting Ludwig sitting on the back of an ambulance, "Huh? Are you okay?" He peered in front of him, worried.

"Ja, ja. Elizaveta was freaking out." Ludwig waved a hand nonchalantly, "I'm fine…"

"You don't seem fine. You seem a little out of it." Lovino waved a hand in front of the blonde's face before turning his head to see an ambulance pull away, "Oh."

"They want to make sure Ardrich is okay…smoke inhalation…" Ludwig said quietly.

"Man…this is insane." Lovino scanned the parking lot, "And I can't even find those two. How hard is it to spot them in a crowd?"

"Who are you looking for?" Ludwig blinked up at him.

"Arthur's older brothers…they're not answering their phones at all…" Lovino sighed. Geez he really is out of it.

"…" Ludwig turned his head and looked around the corner of the ambulance at the vehicle that had just departed, "That's what I was forgetting."

"What?" Lovino stared at him.

"They just went that way with Ardrich." Ludwig pointed, "Allistor slipped and ran into Reilly, and both of them fell down the stairs."

Lovino heaved a heavy sigh and pulled his phone out.

Lovino: Allistor and Reilly have been found. =_=

Arthur: Oh thank god. Are they okay?

Lovino: Well you'll know faster than us.

Roma: ._.

BigStiff: Oh great. More people.

Arthur: What? What happened?

Lovino: According to Mr. Vague Stiff here… Allistor and Reilly fell down the stairs.

BigStiff: Vague stiff.

Roma: XD The second part wasn't funny, but that first part sure was.

Roderich: Who is vague stiff?

Lovino: Ludwig. =_= Mr. Spaced out.

Roderich: Oh for…

Lovino: And Ardrich is also en route to hospital for smoke inhalation.

BigStiff: IDIOT.

Roma: D: *flail*

Lovino: Ludwig will be en route shortly. He's arguing with the staff.

BigStiff: Tell them his father told them to drag him here.

Lovino: Can do. :)

Roma: XD

Lovino looked up, "You have his father's full permission to drag him to the hospital if need be."

"Whaaat?" Ludwig heaved a huge sigh.

"Oh good. Off we go." The fireman motioned to the stretcher in the ambulance, "Hop on."

"Gott. Why me." Ludwig climbed into the back and grudgingly laid down on the stretcher, "I am not happy about this."

"Noted." Lovino commented, "I'll be sure to pass that message on."

Lovino: Okay, twin red idiots found, anyone else missing that we know of?

Cruz: I don't think so.

Matthew: I think we're all okay then… it doesn't seem like anyone is running around trying to find anyone else…

Alfred: :D Oh good. Now we can collapse right?

Matthew: Sure.

Roderich: He didn't mean that literally!

Arthur: Alfred don't you start!

Matthew: O_O Eh! Alfred! Are you okay?

Alfred: I'm so tired…

Feliciano: D: Lovino, where are you?

Lovino: In the parking lot, why?

Feliciano: I'm coming over!

Lovino: WHY?!

Antonio: XD

Roma: Sibling love~

Cruz: That would explain why Matthew just ran about mach two over to where Jones was.

Roderich: Never seen him run that fast.


.

.

Miss Summers skipped back into the classroom, "Boy, the hallways are busy all of a sudden!"

"Might have something to do with the fire at the high school." Regis commented.

"Huh?" Miss Summers blinked, "What happened?"

"Apparently a stove caught fire." Regis looked at his phone, "I should go see if I can find Ludwig und Ardrich."

"Good luck!" Roma waved cheerfully, "I'm sure they're fine~"

"Ja ja." Regis waved and exited the room.

"…" Arthur glanced towards the door, "I wonder if they'd let me see Allistor and Reilly…"

"Well they should. You're family." Roma commented.

Arthur stood up and sighed, "Sorry, excuse me." He hurried from the room before his teacher could protest, leaving Miss Summers with Roma.

"Must have been some fire." Miss Summers plopped down in Arthur's now-empty chair.

"Apparently." Roma leaned back against his pillow, "There was quite some commotion until they actually did find Allistor and Reilly. Hopefully Arthur's okay…" He turned his gaze towards the door.

"Maybe I should follow." Miss Summers looked towards the door, "…Oh. I can just call his parents. They would be best." She pulled out her phone and dialed the number, humming.

"…You know their number?" Roma blinked.

"Of course. That's how I got permission to do the field trip!" Miss Summers grinned.

"Well at least you got permission." Roma sighed.

"Hello? Mr. Kirkland? Me, again! Allistor and Reilly I think just got taken to the emergency room, Arthur ran to see if he can find out how they're doing, but Roma and I are worried about Arthur, could you two come by?" Miss Summers listened for a moment before shrugging and hanging up.

"What'd they say?" Roma blinked.

"No clue. There was some swearing and the line went dead." Miss Summers tilted her head.

"I would take that to mean they're coming." Roma laughed.

.

.


One o'clock in the afternoon (about an hour after fourth bell would have let out)

Lovino sat in the parking lot, watching as cars milled in and out of the driveway, "…"

"I can't believe they called everyone's parents." Cruz scowled, "Now we all have to sit here? Couldn't we just walk home?"

Antonio looked at him, "Don't worry! Mom and dad will be here soon!"

"Like hell I was worrying." Cruz snapped.

Feliciano remained latched onto Lovino's arm, hugging his older twin, "I wish mom and dad would hurry up and get here!"

Lovino sighed. For one rare moment, he was actually in full agreement with Feliciano. Sitting here felt rather strange. Lovino glanced over his shoulder at the school where firemen were still moving in and out of the entrance, "I wonder if we'll ever know what happened…"

"Besides Ludwig and Ardrich setting fire to a stove?" Alfred blinked.

"I meant if something was wrong with the stove!" Lovino snapped.

"Gilbert's going to have a lot to catch up on when he wakes up." Roderich commented, leaning with his back up against a tree.

"Yup." Antonio nodded.

Matthew stayed sitting near Alfred, leaning forward to glance at the others, "…I wonder if the principal is considering retiring early…"

"So I have to deal with someone I don't know on a daily basis? Terrific." Cruz scoffed.

"Oh! Mom and dad!" Antonio waved enthusiastically, "Hiiiiiii~"

Cruz leaned away from Antonio so he didn't get hit by the moving arm, "Idiot."

"We sound a lot alike." Lovino blinked, glancing at Cruz, "I just now realized."

Matthew burst out laughing.

Antonio pouted at both Lovino and Cruz, "Just because you both call me idiot!"

"There, there." Cruz patted him on the shoulder in a mock display of sympathy.

"Just out of curiosity, does a normal school day ever happen here?" Ana asked, coming over to where they were all sitting.

"Nope." Cruz smirked.

Matthew glanced over his shoulder, "This isn't normal?"

Alfred grinned, "Well at least there were no serious injuries~"

Roderich nodded in silent agreement, though he was still watching his phone for any updates from those that had been taken to the hospital. So far there was a just a comment from Arthur that his brothers were fine and going through the process of being sent home now. Still no word from Regis though (if the tall stiff had even thought about updating).

Roma: A nurse was kind enough to tell me that while they're being held for observation, Ludwig and Ardrich should be fine.

Roderich: Oh good.

Lovino: Finally get an update.

Roma: I believe Regis is having an emotional breakdown.

Roderich: ._. I kind of want to see that. But on the other hand, I really don't.

Roma: I understand that feeling quite well.

Arthur: You don't want to see it. I'm stuck watching it and I wish I was somewhere else.

Feliciano: D: Cheer up Mr. Beilschmidt!

Lovino: Like he's gonna see your message…

Roma: I'm sure Arthur can pass the message along :D

Arthur: You're going to make me talk to him? ._.

Alfred: You can do it Arthur~

Matthew: :D You can!

Cruz: Yeah. Goodness knows Matthew spoke up a crapload today.

Matthew: I should have kept my mouth shut in those situations.

Roderich: =_= Those teachers had it coming.

Roma: XD

Matthew: Still. I feel like we should apologize whenever school's back in session.

Cruz: Like **** I'm apologizing.

Arthur: XD

Antonio: I don't think I've seen Cruz apologize once. :I

Matthew: Eh? I have. ._.

Alfred: =_= Of course you have.

Matthew: What was that supposed to mean?!

Cruz: Just because we left, doesn't mean I can't hit you when I see you next!

Alfred: Ha ha~ :P

Roderich: Don't worry about it. Matthew hit him for you.

Cruz: Oh. Thanks! :)

Matthew: No problem. :)

Alfred: D: You guys are mean!

Antonio: :D Someone agrees! Oh but I don't think Matthew is mean.

Cruz: ._. I'm sitting next to you.

Lovino: You're all idiots.

Roderich: Well today was interesting. But I think I'll go to bed early and catch up on lost sleep.

Roma: Good idea. Sleep is always healthy :D

Arthur: …usually.

Roma: =_= You know what I meant.

Feliciano: Grandpa~ We're coming to visit!

Roma: Oh, okay.

Lovino: Mom and dad are with us.

Roma: I kind of figured they would be. Someone has to drive.

Antonio: XD

Arthur: Still. Despite the chaos I think today was a good day.

Lovino: How the heck do you come to that conclusion?

Arthur: Just a feeling.

Roma: :D

Matthew: Yes. I can speak up when I don't want to and can't open my mouth when I should. Good day.

Roma: XD

Alfred: Baby steps. XD

Cruz: =_=

Roderich: Some of us should probably work on keeping our mouths shut.

Cruz: That was directed at me wasn't it?

Matthew: Sassy Cruz :D

Cruz: ._.

Alfred: XD

Arthur: Well…see you all tomorrow then. We're heading home.

Alfred: kay! Bye Arthur!

Matthew: Bye!

Cruz: We're already home. :P

Antonio: Home sweet home! :D

Lovino: We're at the hospital. Perhaps we can all sit in the same room without fighting this time? :)

Roma: or everyone can get thrown out again. I don't care.

Lovino: =_=

Arthur: Have fun sitting through round two lovino.

Alfred: ? Round two?

Lovino: Yeah. Loads of fun. Thanks.

Feliciano: No fighting! I'll kick mom or dad if they start :D

Roma: Oh thank you :D

Lovino: YOU ARE A BAD INFLUENCE ON US ALL.

Cruz: XD

Alfred: XD


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And thus is the end. I had a lot more chatroom chapters than I remembered. . _.; but oh well~ it's back up again!