A/N: Hello, and welcome to the next chapter of Gakutalia! Meanwhile, in the world of XOs, I've now been watching 'Bleach' (again) so to introduce it to my friend so far! She likes it! I really love Bleach; it's the first anime I watched, and I learnt very quickly that, without the fillers, it's actually a good anime. Watching it with her reminded me that I really need to continue the manga for that! Also, has anyone been reading World Stars? I think the chapters on France's fashion around the time of the Revolution is so cute!

Without further ado, the next chapter of Gakutalia!


Chapter 28

A.K.

He was awoken suddenly and abruptly by his phone ringing on his bedside table. He needed to really stop leaving it to charge right beside him, when the smallest of alerts would end up waking him up. Sitting upright, he tiredly reached out and answered the phone.

"What do you want, you git?" he scowled.

Francis chuckled melodically. "Have you forgotten our mission, Arthur?"

His brows furrowed. "Huh?"

"I'm waiting outside your house right now and myself nor Elizabeta are particularly impressed by your performance, so far," Francis replied. "Get up and get ready for your date."

"Huh?"

"It's Valentine's Day, and if we're going to make Roderich seethe with the ultimate jealousy, then we need to have a date that'll make him extremely annoyed," Francis explained carefully. "That's why I've booked tickets for the pair of you to go to see Elizabeta's favourite band later on today. She needs to take enough pictures of the pair of you to put on Instagram and Facebook so Roderich will see you both going out and doing things that he would normally do with her."

"Well, sure," he swallowed.

"Also, you've planned lunch in the city today, and you're taking her to an ice skating rink," Francis explained. "Dress for the occasion."

"Ice skating?" Arthur knew that was going to be a disaster.

"Come on, otherwise you won't have time to eat lunch and ice skate," Francis insisted. "You have five minutes to make yourself presentable."

His friend disconnected the call and he groaned. He would've liked to stay home and keep an eye on Peter. However, as things were, he had agreed to help Elizabeta with Roderich, and he could hardly refuse when she was waiting in the car outside with Francis. Not only that, but Francis had booked an entire evening of events for them. He was going to be tired for school tomorrow.

I.B.

He was eating breakfast when he saw Natalya hurry downstairs, dressed up as if she was ready to go out. His brows furrowed as he watched her head towards the front door.

"You going somewhere today?" he asked through a mouthful of cereal.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she grimaced, but walked over. "And yes, I'm out in the mall with some friends. It's an anti-Valentine's thing we're doing."

"That sounds a bit depressing," he commented.

"Well, when none of us have a boyfriend to spend the day with, but there's all sorts of advertisements on TV, you feel you need to do something," she shrugged. "It's just to preoccupy the time."

He was fairly sure she didn't have any friends, but was too afraid to ask, because Natalya was extremely scary when she was mad.

Instead, he chose to be passive. "Have fun, then…"

"Yeah," she briefly hugged him before heading out, closing the door with a slam behind her.

He had forgotten to offer her a lift; she'd probably booked a taxi at this rate, although she hadn't asked either. Perhaps one of her friends had learnt to drive relatively quickly? He went back to his cereal when he received a sudden text. Tiredly, he glanced at it, expecting it to be Natalya asking for a lift, but saw Mei's name instead.

He read it: "Help!"

He wondered what that could mean and responded with concern. Her response came almost immediately, and he shouldn't have been surprised to see what she said, although he was.

"I can't ask Kiku to spend the day with me but I told my mum I was busy and don't want to go to the garden centre with her! Can you?"

Inwardly groaning, he was too nice, and replied he would. He had wanted to spend the day at home, relaxing and readying himself for his exams in about two or three weeks. However, he would always stick up for his Buddy when she needed him. He found he was spending almost every weekend with her now… His time was more focused on Mei than it was on himself. If there was an award for the best friend, Ivan was fairly sure it would be given to him.

A.J.

He had headed to the mall early, and he was extremely nervous. He wasn't sure why he was so anxious, when Natalya had been round his house almost all day yesterday. However, he was worrying a little. He watched a taxi swing round and she stepped out. She looked very nice, dressed in sleeveless polo neck shirt and a pastel blue skirt. She wore a grey coat and trainers with dark tights. Her shimmering platinum hair was tied back.

"Hey," he began, just as she kissed him briefly upon sight and took his hand.

"Let's go," she said and led him into the mall.

There was a major theme of pink, white and red in the mall, with hearts and banners decorating almost every shop. There were all sorts of promotions urging people to buy things to make the best Valentine's around. Alfred was just content to have Natalya by his side as they wandered past other couples in the mall.

They stopped before the pizza place which Natalya urged him to inside. He had never been here before, even though he'd seen it several times in the past. It always looked pleasant, with loads of people inside, and today was no different. They were relatively early for lunch, so there weren't too many people, and Alfred guessed only students would be having pizza for Valentine's Day, because the majority of faces in here he could see so far were those from high school to university ages.

The pair of them settled down, ready for their pizza.

F.V.

"Look, I'm going out again today, but you need to tell Papa I'm doing it for studies if he asks," Fel said.

"He won't care," Lovino insisted.

"That's not the point," Fel sighed. "I'm spending the day with Michelle today, and I don't want to ruin it like I did yesterday with Kiku's birthday."

"That's wasn't necessarily your fault," Lovi mumbled.

"Yeah, well, he thinks you messed up your lunch," he scowled. "He was cool with it; I apologised later on over the phone and he insisted everything was fine. He's going out with his parents today. But I'm spending the day with Michelle, because I promised."

"Why don't you just tell your friends the truth?" Lovino suddenly said as Fel headed for the front door.

He froze on the spot, hand cradling the door handle, and he stared at the wooden surface in front of him, not daring to turn and meet his brother's gaze.

"I mean, once I told Antonio, things got a lot better," Lovino mumbled. "I mean, I'm still here, but it made things easier."

Feliciano stared at the door, feeling the corners of his mouth tugging down with misery. He didn't need this right now. Not when he was about to have a date with Michelle and embrace the spirit of Valentine's Day.

"I don't want to worry them with things there's nothing they can do about," he said plainly, before throwing open the door and slamming it shut behind him.

He may not have been able to drive yet, but he said he'd meet Michelle at the train station, and she had agreed to that.

F.B.

He stepped out of the car after they stopped by a train station. Arthur and Elizabeta both gave him questioning stares as he adjusted his coat.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked, mild panic in his voice.

"I can't stay with you," Francis said, aghast. "Besides, I have plans for the day. You needn't worry; you're in good hands."

Considering the man driving the car had been the same one to help them escape a group of criminals in October, Francis was surprised Arthur didn't feel perfectly safe under his watch.

"Will you be fine, Mr Bonnefoy?" his chauffeur asked pleasantly.

"I'll be perfectly OK," Francis beamed. "I'm just going to take the train back down and meet Lien for a nice lunch."

"You're doing what?" Arthur blinked.

"I texted her and she agreed," he winked. "I really think she's falling for me."

"Right…" his friend scowled. "And what do we do?"

"Stick to the plan," Francis instructed, buttoning up his coat from the cold. "Have lunch, go ice skating and then have dinner, and go to the concert. My man has the directions, so don't worry about that, and Elizabeta has all the timings on her phone. Be natural."

"Fine," Arthur sighed.

"Au revoir," Francis twiddled his fingers as he closed the door, and watched the car continue on its path and disappear from view.

He walked towards the train, checking to see if his shoes were clean and was pleasantly surprised they were even shining. Francis was all about presentation, and he would make sure Lien would attend the Charity Ball with him by the end of the week.

I.B.

He was getting more used to hanging out with Mei, despite their extremely rocky start. Now that he could drive, he was more flexible, and had offered himself to pick her up from his house. His experience now meant he knew to just dress casually and that was deemed perfectly acceptable. He had become oddly attached to the scarf his sister had given him, even if it was only because she herself didn't wear it anymore.

He stopped outside Mei's house, a cute little place located amongst other houses that were very similar or identical. Stepping out of the car, he took a deep breath. The last he had seen any of Mei's family, it had been her father, sending him daggers from the seat of his car. With every ounce of confidence he could muster, he walked to the door and knocked, before noticing the doorbell. Clumsily, he pressed it, then completely regretted it, because they had probably heard him knocking. Now he seemed rude, insistently knocking and ringing the doorbell.

The door opened to see the same haggard man from before, a tired frown on his face. His eyes travelled up to his Ivan's face and his eyebrows rose on his forehead. It was almost comical, to see the short man inhale deeply at the very sight of him, but Ivan didn't particularly come here to terrify Mei's relatives.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. "Is Mei in?"

Instantly, the man's – Mr Xiao's – countenance changed. His eyes hardened and he became very steely. The gaze he cast over Ivan became suddenly judgemental, and a frown twisted across his face, mirroring the same expression as before. Ivan was greatly surprised at how protective Mei's father was, compared to his own father, who granted Natalya more freedom than he ever did with Katyusha.

"Ivan, hey," she suddenly bustled down the stairs, wearing a cute, black dress with a denim jacket and platform shoes. "Sorry, I just left my bag upstairs. Hey, dad. I'm having lunch with Ivan at the mall; I'll probably be gone a while. See you."

The poor father opened his mouth, but Mei just kissed him on the cheek and bustled Ivan down the drive. He cast a wave over his shoulder, but saw the terrifying look on Mr Xiao's face and winced away. Mei was seemingly unaware of the vicious looks her father was sending him, because she gazed at Ivan's car with a look of awe on her face.

"This is so cool," she looked dwarfed compared to the large vehicle, even with the high shoes on.

Would she need help getting in? Apparently not, because she had already rounded to the passenger seat and climbed in. Ivan got into the driver's seat and saw one angrier glare from Mr Xiao before he started the engine in his fear and blitzed away from the drive.

"You're a fast driver," she commented, but that was it, and it wasn't a complaint either.

Ivan just nodded, allowing her oblivion about how much her dad hated him continue for just a little longer.


A/N: Sorry, it's a teensy bit late. I guess I forgot it was Friday, if I'm honest? The days are blurring together. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a review, and until next time!