AUTHOR: hoshiko2

29th of November, 2014 - Pedal Heart

I took what you were to me and made it into a song. So let us sing in the key of E! Pedal Heart.

Every day after school Alfred would wait, and every day Arthur would find him. Alfred would offer Arthur a bike ride home, and Arthur would accept. It was a tradition. They had been doing it since they first started secondary school. Alfred first offered, and Arthur rejected. It continued for the next month, until Arthur resigned himself to just accepting the ride. He knew that Alfred was a persistent American, so it was best to just give in before things became frustrating.

"Arthur! Hey Arthur!" Alfred waved frantically. Arthur pretended to look irked by his enthusiastic antics, but he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "Hey!"

"Afternoon Alfred," Arthur replied softly. He glanced at the bike subtly. Then, his eyes flickered to the cherry blossom trees that lined the street outside of their school. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

Alfred looked over as well and smiled. "I love those trees. It was nice of our sister school in Japan to send them to us so we could plant them."

"I hate them," Arthur snipped. He held up his hands to frame a few pink petals that flittered down to their feet. "They look like hearts, and when they're falling, it gives such a bad feeling. Hearts falling to the ground. How sad."

Alfred didn't say anything in reply. He looked at Arthur out of the corner of his eye. Then, he mounted his bicycle. "Ready to go?"

"Oh, yes." Arthur got on the back of the bike and held onto the back handles.

Alfred had learned to be a steady rider. He didn't go too fast as he'd earn a smack on the back from Arthur for scaring him. He also made sure not to hit any potholes or go over any unstable terrain; again more back slapping from Arthur. They'd talk about their day in school or whatever was happening at home or even plans for the weekend, if they had any. They rarely saw each other in school, only during the once every so-often times they paired up in English or the one time in Maths when Alfred came in to help some struggling students; he was unable to help his laughter at seeing Arthur there, a nervous wreck for having to ask for help on anything, and personally offered to tutor him.

And yet, they seemed to gravitate to each other.

"Oh, I forgot that today we have to go a different way." Alfred looked over his shoulder as they stopped at a stoplight. "I have to stop by the pharmacy and pick up some medicine for my mom. She has allergies."

"That's all right."

"Well…" Alfred looked away. The tips of his ears were red suddenly. "See, we have to go up this hill and I don't know if I'll make it or not… So, um, why don't you give me a kiss on the back? I'll make it then."

Arthur coughed, fumbling between answering and laughing nervously. Alfred usually said blunt statements that confounded Arthur, but today was the most sudden thing he had heard from his friend. Neither remembered when exactly they had started this journey back home together. They never met up before school to ride together. It was always after school and always to Arthur's home where Alfred would drop him off and then continue on his way home. Overtime it had become a tradition that neither questioned anymore.

"Hey, d-did you hear me?" Alfred asked. He didn't look over his shoulder at Arthur.

Arthur said nothing. He leaned forward and pecked Alfred's back, right between his shoulder blades. Alfred began pedaling after that. He breathed a soft chuckle. He hummed as he started up the hill. Arthur clung to the back of his seat, leaning slightly over the side to around Alfred. It wasn't too steep a hill, but it still looked difficult. Alfred didn't seem to have any problem with it as he hardly missed a breath of whatever song he was humming.

They reached the top of the hill and looked down. The line of cherry blossom trees had extended all the way down and around the curved corner. Petals littered the ground, covering the entire area in a bright pink.

"H-hey, um…" Alfred's ears were red. He didn't look back over his shoulder at Arthur. "I, uh… wanted to tell you something…"

"Yes?" Arthur wanted to see his face. Alfred wasn't the shy type; was he? Somehow, this made Arthur chuckle at such a thought that this usually boisterous boy could actually become shy suddenly.

"Well, um… To me, you are, well, me. And I hope you kinda, well, um, think, I'm a little like you. And when you, you know… When you laugh… It feels like the whole world is laughing with you…"

Alfred gripped the handlebars and turned around in his seat to face Arthur. His face was flushed, possibly from the trek up the hill but more likely from embarrassment at his confession. His blue eyes stared right into Arthur's wide green eyes. Both were immobile.

"If I have even just a little of you, I fall more in love with you and t-then someone can laugh too." Alfred smiled up at the pink cherry blossoms petals that fluttered down between them. Arthur ignored them. "The world you wish for is right here, and well…"

Alfred looked back at Arthur. His resolve had strengthened the longer he spoke, but his eyes grew softer. He reached out to pull a stray petal from Arthur's hair that had landed on his head. He took that chance to run the back of his hand down Arthur's cheek. "And the world I wish for is right here as well…"

By now Alfred felt his heart pounding in his chest. Then, Arthur's face slowly broke into a smile. Alfred began to laugh, relieved that Arthur hadn't jumped off his bike and run the opposite direction.

"Hey…just as you hate the cherry blossoms so much, I love you more than anything else in the world."

Arthur began to laugh, his face blossoming like a cherry petal. He removed his hands from the back of the bicycle to wrap around Alfred's middle. Alfred watched him with a wide smile and nervous eyes.

"Well, I certainly do hate those cherry blossoms quite a bit." He nodded down to the bottom of the hill. "Shall we?"

Alfred laughed once before turning and placing his feet back on the pedals. Together, they flew down the hill, a trail of pink heart-shaped petals swirling behind them in their wake.