A/N: Another week, but here I am to bring another chapter of Gakutalia to you! I've currently returned home from uni for Reading Week, which means I need to be getting book smart for my essay due in a week and a half... What a drag!

The trains were very hectic today! There was a problem on one of the rails, so there's been delays. Mine wasn't late, but half the carriages were sent elsewhere, so it was too small and overcrowded for the amount of people who needed it. Not only that, but the carriage with my seat on it didn't actually arrive, so I had to settle on for the floor with a few others. We were right next to the toilets, too, which sucked! It was quite nice that we were all in the same position, though, so it was a good opportunity to bond!

Also, if you think you've got it bad, I've been given jury service! That means you have to go in and sit a jury- kind of like obligatory community service to show our judicial system is democratic. Unfortunately, it's during the Christmas holidays! What a way to spend my break... With any luck, it won't be a long case, or they won't pick me.

On a side note, I want to say a massive thanks to all of you who have read Gakutalia! This Fic has now received 5,000 views, which is absolutely amazing! I'm overjoyed that so many have stuck through not just this Fic, but also this series! The year began slowly, but I've been so much more motivated upon returning to uni, and despite my busy week, I feel so positive about Gakutalia in general! Thank you for reading Gakutalia: LIITA, everyone!

Anyway, without further ado, the next chapter of Gakutalia!

Chapter 35

L.B.

He ensured both he and Germaine arrived relatively early. As they had contributed greatly to the organisation of this event, he deemed it was only natural that they should arrive earlier to precede over what happened at the beginning. He suspected his friends wouldn't be there already, but he had the pleasant surprise that the other four who had made the Charity Ball come to life were already present.

Tino was the first to notice him, and waved him emphatically over with a bright smile on his face.

"I'm glad we're not the only ones here," Germaine admitted. "That way, all of us as a team will be able to discuss how things turn out."

Ludwig could only agree. He wanted to share the moments of arrival with the rest of his team. Whilst pink was not exactly his own colour of preference, it was predominantly the colour that built up the theme of the Charity Ball. Ludwig had let Germaine avoid all the tacky decorations, and she had done a wonderful job of selecting the finest roses to embellish the room with. Ludwig could certainly praise her for having done such an excellent job.

"I have to say, this has got to be the best Charity Ball ever," Tino said as they neared, and gestured towards the champagne glasses waiting. "Have one. We're entitled to start the drinks earlier, since we're here first, but also because we've organised this whole thing."

Ludwig liked the sound of that. He lifted one of the glasses and held them up amongst the others.

"We can hide these glasses," Matthias chuckled. "Then no one will judge us for having a second one."

"Mm," Berwald nodded.

"I'll judge you both," Lukas said.

"Hey, tonight everyone's supposed to enjoy themselves," Tino smiled. "Even if that means sneaking an extra drink- and I won't lie, I'm not about to hold back."

"Cheers to a successful evening," Ludwig said, glad to have everything finally done.

"Indeed," Tino said, and the glasses clinked as they all met one another.

F.V.

Emma had liked the rose, and she wasn't averse to the walk, either. He had to admit, since she was wearing heels, it probably wasn't the most comfortable trip to do. However, he wasn't strong enough to scoop her into his arms and carry her to the Charity Ball. Not only that, but he was sick. Sick with guilt. Each moment he spent with Emma was only a reminder of how Michelle remained ignorant of the entire event. He hadn't told her. It would've been stupid to have done that, otherwise she'd have expected him to take her.

It was still cold, as expected of February, so the least Fel could've done was give Emma his coat. He felt he had done a very good job so far of fundamentally impressing her.

There had been no trouble with the trains, for once, but he'd been too anxious to text Ludwig about that and was sure he wouldn't remember by the time they reached the venue.

"You seem a little distant," she noted, glancing sideways towards him, her lips curving into a faint smile. "Are you OK?"

He had to push back the guilt for the night, otherwise it would ruin his enjoyment. Instead, he had to focus on the reasons why he was here with Emma. She was so nice, and she was very pretty, too. She was funny, and full of energy. She made him feel more confident as a person. That was why he was here with her. He did love her, truly, and he didn't want to lose her. He wanted to spend this evening with her because he knew they would both enjoy it.

"It's nothing, really," he shrugged. "I'm just…"

He thought back to Lovino's words. Apparently, girls succumbed to anything remotely sentimental…

"I'm glad to spend tonight with you," he smiled back at her, and watched her green eyes alight. "Kiku and Ludwig aren't quite the same."

That brought out a small laugh. She reached out and took his hand in hers. Her skin was soft, her fingers slim and delicate. Fel had to treasure these times, because he knew that, eventually, the time would come when he would have to say goodbye to somebody.

I.B.

Mei kept looking in the mirror as he drove. She was extremely distracted, and Ivan was just as preoccupied. He knew that he was going to die the minute Yao saw him. This seemed all too planned. Prior to this, he had distinctly told Yao to wait after the Charity Ball. Then what had happened? Mei had asked him to come with her. It looked like he'd purposely made Yao hesitate just so he could sweep in. Obviously, he knew the truth, but there was no way Yao would take any of his excuses. Did Mei realise just what damage she had inflicted? Probably not, because she had no idea that Yao liked her. That was on him, too, because he had lied to Yao by misinterpreting Mei's interest in Kiku.

He had screwed up majorly.

"Thank you so much for this, by the way," she smiled over at him, oblivious and naïve to the chaos she was about to cause. "I just think this is the perfect way for me to properly meet Kiku without him seeing my terrible art skills."

"It's no problem," he kept his eyes focused solely on the cold road ahead of him.

Y.W.

He arrived, awkwardly, at around the same time as Kiku. He watched the Japanese student climb out of his car, just as he got out of his. It took him a moment to realise that, actually, he had begun to mend his friendship with Kiku. This was probably the perfect opportunity to speak with him some more.

"Oh, Kiku," he waved, locking his car behind him.

The other student raised his head and looked over, dark eyes wide with surprise, but his expression quickly turned to that of being relaxed once more. Yao watched in relief as he stopped walking and waited for him to near.

"Not coming with anyone?" Yao asked.

"There was no one I thought to bring," Kiku admitted.

"No, I know what you mean," Yao raised his eyes to the darkening sky above them. "I was going to invite someone, but then… I thought it would be better to make this a night about myself."

Kiku nodded. "I think I shall join you. Both Ludwig and Fel are with people…"

The pair of them walked inside. Yao gawked in amazement at the incredible designs of pink and white floating around in balloons, candles, roses and the sweet smell of perfume in the air. The committee had done a good job of organising this event. Yao suddenly felt it was a shame he hadn't come here with Mei. She would've liked this. Maybe she would've agreed to come with him after all?

Kiku was drawn towards the rows and rows of champagne glasses sat at a welcome table. Automatically, Yao followed him, because none of his closest friends were present at the moment. He would gladly spend the evening with Kiku, especially as he, too, had been abandoned by love-struck friends.

"Welcome, moi!" Tino appeared at the table with them, a wide smile on his face. "Help yourselves to champagne and food will be brought out within an hour."

Yao was glad to hear that. He was hungry.

"Thank you very much," Kiku nodded appreciatively as he lifted a glass in his hand- Yao copied him. "And thank you for setting this whole thing up."

"Did you organise this, Tino?" Yao gazed around, amazed.

"Oh, with the team, yes," Tino smiled, gesturing towards a few others, which included Ludwig. "And you're welcome, Kiku."

"You've all put so much effort into this night," Kiku said pleasantly. "And for that, I hope it goes well."

"I can't see any reason for error," Tino smiled, and returned to his friends.

Yao dearly hoped, for the sake of Tino, that everything would be fine.

A.K.

Elizabeta had been widely impressed by the chauffeur. He truly felt Francis had overdone it, but at least this could remotely make up for Roderich being completely oblivious. He had come to find Elizabeta's company natural. At first, it had been a little awkward, but he had become accustomed to it. Needless to say, Arthur had acquired a new friend out of all of this.

They stepped out into the cold air, and she wrapped her pashmina closer to her shoulders. Elizabeta knew how to dress. She wore a long, emerald coloured dress that hung close to her waist, before rippling out to the ground in silky waves. It was strapless to an extent, with a lace halter neck arching up to her throat, a transparent green that left her shoulders exposed but also emphasised her figure. She wore silver heels, with a silver bag and pashmina. Her chestnut hair was piled up into an arrangement of fanciful curls, for which Arthur was dumbfounded that hair could even do. Roderich was seriously missing out, and Arthur was glad of that.

He took her arm as the chauffeur sailed away. "Well, this is probably going to be the most conflicted night of this year."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You know how our year is," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Francis will do something, Alfred will do something, and Ivan will be involved, somehow. It might not be catastrophic, per se, but there's surely going to be drama."

"Have things been…" she looked uncertain.

"It's still very heated between Ivan and Alfred," Arthur admitted. "As for Francis? Well… the frog's a package deal of drama. He can't avoid it."

"You guys are a mess," she chuckled as they headed towards the venue that promised warmth and light. "Although, who am I to talk? My best friend is also my crush."

Talking about Roderich no longer seemed to sadden her, and Arthur was relieved for that. It was likely one of the stages of healing, and Elizabeta really needed that right now.

An engine hummed and he turned his head to see a flashy, bright aqua blue sports car. A white strip ran across the bonnet, but the roof had been lowered to reveal Francis blasting some kind of French dance pop, wearing a smug smile on his face. This was the item he'd wanted to show Arthur… and he couldn't help but feel a little impressed. Some part of him wanted to jump in beside Francis and test the speed limits of the car. However, now was not the time, so he was obliged to act disappointed in his best friend.

Francis neatly parked the car and leapt out, pressing a button that raised the roof, then another to lock it. "What do you think, Arthur?"

"Bloody irresponsible," he shook his head. "You're going to crash that."

"We need to take it for a test run at some point," Francis winked, and Arthur knew that his wish would be fulfilled.

He had to pretend he didn't care, though, for Elizabeta's sake. "Do what you want. We're going in, because we don't want to stand in the cold, talking about cars."

"Allow me to join you," Francis joined the line. "I hope there's champagne."

"I hope there's a drink, full stop," Arthur grumbled. "Mind you, only half the year's eighteen, so I doubt they'll let us go mad."

"You don't want to go mad," Francis said. "You'll want to be sober to see what plays out tonight."

"What do you mean?" did the frog know something.

Francis looked at them both with a glint in his eye. "Well, for a start, Alfred's coming with Natalya. Need I say more?"

"So, he stuck to that decision, huh?" Arthur said.

"Natalya?" Elizabeta said. "As in, Ivan's younger sister?"

The pair of them nodded.

"Well, he kept quiet," she noted.

"Probably to save his voice for later," Arthur mumbled as the trio entered the venue.

A/N: And I'll leave it at that! Thanks for your patience, and please leave a review! I love hearing what people have to say about what I've written, especially with such a crucial moment! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have pizza to eat and Prosecco to drink! Until next time!