I had this already written, so I'm posting it along with the first chapter.
Disclaimer: Hetalia does not belong to me.
Enjoy the story!
My alarm clock yelled at me and I hissed back. Waking up at six in the morning was not on my to-do list. I mustered up all the strength I could just to reach over and silence the insufferable contraption.
Yesterday was unusual and quite alarming to say the least. Reflecting on it all had left me psychologically drained, yet in spite of that, my body refused sleep until midnight.
I changed into what was a simple, bland uniform: a pale white shirt, black trousers and striped tie, as well as a navy blue blazer, which was a size too big as the sleeves draped over my hands. When I whined about it to my mother, she told me I would grow into it, but with almost four years of wear, it was clear that wasn't going to happen. I recalled that one distasteful day in Year seven, where my eleven year-old self was picked on by the older children because of my bloody jacket looking very big and very stupid. I grimaced at the memory, at least it wasn't so bad right now… well, sort of, I still had that damn Frog taking the mick when he felt like it, which definitely did not help.
When entering the kitchen, my older brother, Scott, was pouring some Shreddies into his cereal bowl. I poked him in the back so as to alert him to my presence.
"Mornin' squirt." He greeted, his voice deeper and more intimidating than my own.
"Good morning Scott." I sighed. Scott started to fill the kettle. "Make me some tea as well, please."
"Sure." I poured myself some cereal and began to eat. Soon after, Scott set a tea-filled mug beside me and I muttered a brief 'thanks' in response. We finished our breakfast fairly quickly and set out to leave for school. Scott was a good three years above me, already preparing for Uni, but nonetheless, we walked to school together. I pulled on my rucksack and shoes before we left at around 6:45.
It was almost half-eight as I walked into the classroom. Beside my usually isolated seat in the corner of the room sat an unfamiliar boy, shoulders hunched over and wavy dirty-blonde hair concealing his face. His arms were secured between his two legs and his head was turned to the side slightly, facing away from the other students milling about in the form room. I placed my bag on the floor beneath my seat, causing the boy to bristle slightly at the sudden movement close to him.
"Sitting like that can't be good for your back." I commented. He shot me a perplexed look, clearly not expecting such a statement.
"O-oh, um…" He straightened up, revealing his face, which sported deep violet eyes, shaded by rounded glasses. I let myself be seated next to him with a sigh.
"Well anyway, welcome to World Academy." I turned to him. "I'm Arthur by the way."
"Ah, well it's nice to meet you Arthur. I'm Matthew."
"I wish you the best of luck here, Matthew." I scoffed slightly. "You're going to need it, this school is filled with tossers – as you can see." I gestured to the students scattered about us, causing quite a racket. They talked endlessly about the most trivial of matters, all while filling themselves to the brim with junk-food, feeding on 'tear-and-share' packs of skittles and all sorts of rubbish, all by themselves. It said 'tear-and-share' for a reason. And not only that, but when finished, they carelessly disposed of their rubbish on the floor, when there was clearly a bin nearby. Our tutor was most definitely going to be fuming when they-
"Good morning!" Everyone rushed to their seats and slid off of the tables that they were once sat on. Matthew let out a silent snicker at the sight. I reclined in my seat, arms held behind my head and a smirk on my face as our tutor gave the students a good scold. but in the process, it seemed that they had forgotten to formally introduce the new student sitting beside me.
"Do you want me to tell him…?" I offered, sighing in exasperation.
"No, it's fine, I'm not exactly a fan of attention."
"Fair enough." I agreed, I wasn't exactly fond of gathering attention from students such as these either. "What do you have first period?" Matthew fumbled around in his bag and pulled out his timetable. He scrutinized it briefly.
"English, I think." I brightened slightly.
"Oh really? I think we might be in the same class."
Matthew and I got along quite well – his introverted nature proved to be quite refreshing and he only talked when it was required - I found it difficult to be wound up by him. At lunch, he found himself joining myself… and Francis. The bloody frog who never ceased to vex me, a person who I had claimed to despise, even though, I knew that deep down, he was an invaluable friend. He wouldn't catch me dead saying that to his face though. I sat down in the seat opposite his, my lunch laid out in front of me (which was very edible, by the way).
"Bonjour, eyebrows." He placed his chin in his palm, the usual cocky grin stretched across his face. Oh how I wanted to punch it off of him.
"Greetings, beardie." I narrowed my eyes into a fiery glare, a deep growl forming at the pits of my throat. Then, the wanker's eyes fell upon Matthew and they glistened with excitement. Matthew seemed slightly uncomfortable at the sudden attention.
"Who is this new friend of yours?" He grabbed the Canadian's light hands quite enthusiastically, which resulted in him yelping in surprise. "He is… parfait." Matthew's cheeks went a dusty pink and then darkened slightly when Francis decided to follow his flirtatious statement with a wink. I gagged internally, the frog's romantic nature made me ill.
"Francis, for the love of the queen, could you please leave your flirting for another time."
"Beauty should be appreciated, non? But you wouldn't understand, you Brits are far too sexually repressed." I curled my fists. The nerve. Insulting my nationality like that-
"I'll kill you!" I lunged at him, knocking his lunch off of the table in the process.
"Sacre bleu, my food! You are too evil, that was the finest French food and you wasted it all!" Francis threw himself back at me. Our verbal fight had broken into a heated wrestle across the table and we forgot about Matthew, who observed quietly, both amused and mortified. We broke apart, both fuming.
"I hate you."
"Don't steal my lines, eyebrows!" He protested. Moments passed before he made the stupid decision of opening his filthy mouth again. "Ah oui, I forgot to ask, what is your name?"
"Oh, um, Je m'appelle Matthieu." Francis was taken aback, clearly not expecting such an answer.
"Tu parles Francais?" Here we go.
"Un peu…" Matthew answered shyly, averting his gaze a little. Francis grinned like an idiot - which he was – in response. I cleared my throat: this was far too sappy for my liking. "Oh sorry Arthur." Matthew laughed a little.
"It's fine." I huffed, puffing my cheeks ever so slightly
When the bell rang, I was left alone as Francis opted to show Matthew to his next class and so, they left together. I was used to solitude though, so it wasn't a huge problem. I made my way to physics, filtering myself through the dense crowd of students like sand in a funnel; my shorter, less bulky form made it easier to weave in, out and in beneath everyone. I pushed through some brainless pupils who deemed it intelligent to clog up the staircase by standing still and making informal conversation. It annoyed them but I paid them no mind, even as they threw insults at me up the stairs. I didn't have time for arseholes like that.
My physics class was just ahead. I sighed – It wasn't the most preferable of lessons in my opinion. I was perfectly fine in the subject and my grades were great but it took a lot of effort and hard work to keep those up. For a subject that I didn't enjoy, that was far too much. I didn't like science overall but it was better than a subject like P.E any day. For someone like myself, who had no physical capabilities whatsoever, P.E. lessons proved to be quite stressful and I spent a lot of my time staring enviously at those who were actually sporty.
I sat down and placed my books and stationary on the desk. Our physics teacher hushed the class, who were engaged in chatter. With her soft voice, it was difficult to get everyone to shut up.
"Okay, we have someone new today, I'd like you to make them feel welcome- where is he?" Miss Zwiligi rubbed her head in bafflement. I felt similarly but for different reasons, Matthew said he had food technology now, so who-
"Have no fear, the hero is here!" The door burst open, revealing a tall, tanned boy, with soft, neat, dirty-blonde locks, with an obvious cowlick pointing upwards. His cheesy smile was entrancing and hypnotic – made even more beautiful by the merry spark in his eyes, which were so blue… He looked… stupid. I, Arthur Kirkland, was most definitely not checking this boy out like some of the hormonal teenage girls in my class were. First of all, I was certainly straight, not gay but straight and I was very happy being straight, perfectly, perfectly happy.
'Yeah, keep telling yourself that Arthur.' That ugly voice in my head was so funny sometimes.
"A-Alfred F. Jones, could you please come in on time next lesson? I don't want to give you a detention..." Miss Zwiligi trailed off towards the last part. Bless the poor woman, she was so nervous sometimes but she was a good teacher when our class were bothered to show some respect and keep their mouths shut but she was otherwise pushed over effortlessly. "Now where should you sit…"She pondered, looking frantically around the classroom, her hands clasped against her chest.
"Anywhere is fine!" He exclaimed. The American's high-pitched, accented voice hurt my head. Why did he have to be so loud…? Miss Zwiligi's eyes settled on the empty seat beside me and lit up. Oh no.
"Why don't you sit next to Arthur?" I let out a small 'tsk' of displeasure. She pointed in my direction and Alfred headed towards me. He exhaled as he sat down. I felt my heart beat faster and harder. How odd…
All was good until he decided to open his mouth.
"Oh my goodness, dude, your eyebrows – they look totally hilarious!" He started to cackle, ignoring Miss Zwiligi as she began to teach the lesson. I scowled: were my eyebrows really that bad?
"If you're going to be rude then I will kindly ask you to bugger off." I spat, turning away with a small 'humph'.
"Nah, this is the only seat left, so you're stuck with me." He gave a tantalizing smirk, jeering at me. Who did this wanker think he was? Insulting me out of the blue like that…
"Well, don't expect me to talk to you then." I scoffed. Alfred raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Sorry dude, I didn't know you couldn't take a joke."
"Apology not accepted." And with that, he burst into laughter again.
"Wow, your'e such a joker, oh my gosh." I blushed at what seemed to be a compliment. "What's your name again?" Had he forgotten after Miss had mentioned it only moments earlier?
"Arthur."
"Arthur…" Oh goodness, that sounded so sweet coming from his lips. "That's a cool name."
"W-what- why?" I sputtered, going beet red.
"Dunno, it suits you I guess." Okay…
"You're an idiot." The fact that he refused to take notes off of the board, furthered that notion. "Aren't you going to write anything down?"
"Nah, Physics is one of my good subjects." Well the lad certainly had confidence.
"Whatever you say." I exhaled as I wrote a keyword across the lined paper, and its definition alongside.
The bell rang, signalling the end of school. When I went outside, I saw that Alfred happened to be conversing animatedly with Matthew, and I noticed that they looked quite similar stood side-by-side. I decided to approach them, curious.
"You know him?" I asked Matthew, gesturing to a confused Alfred.
"Yeah, we're brothers."
"Adoptive brothers, well, technically. But Matt and I are close anyway." Alfred interjected. I was quite surprised. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they were twins.
"Adoptive?" I regretted the question as they stilled slightly. "Oh sorry, I didn't know…"
"It's cool man." Alfred dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Which way are you walkin'?"
"Through town." I shrugged.
"Really?!" Alfred brightened. "Me and Matt are goin' that way too!"
"It's Matthew and I." Alfred refused to acknowledge my kind correction of his atrocious grammar. I reverted my attention back to the subject at hand. "Why do you ask? Are you offering that I walk with you?"
"Yeah, why not?" The American shrugged. I hesitated, then agreed, causing Alfred to brighten slightly.
"Which way does Francis walk?" Matthew asked, curious.
"Walk?! Ha! That frog says he's too 'classy' to walk. His parents even paid someone to drive him home every day. That arsehole is filthy rich." I scoffed.
"Who's Francis?" Interjected Alfred.
"The biggest idiot to have ever walked this earth." I frowned in distaste and Alfred merely laughed.
"Well actually, I think he's quite nice." The Canadian beside me argued, smiling slightly. "I'm pretty sure that you feel the same, Arthur… deep, deep down."
"As if!" I snorted, how absurd. "Should we go?" And then we started walking.
Walking with Alfred was the worst idea I had ever had. For some reason the American seemed to never stop talking. Not to mention that he had been eating a rather large fucking bag of tear and share, sour Starbursts and refused to offer any to Matthew or myself.
"Okay, so the other day, I went to a British McDonalds for the first time and I have to say, it was the most painful experience of my life. Like dude, why are your large fries so tiny?!"
And he continued to talk about mindless rubbish like that for half an hour. His mouth didn't shut on the way to the bus stop and when we caught the bus, that was a whole other story. Okay, so the bus had two decks, which wasn't the most exciting of things but Alfred seemed to think that it was the 'coolest thing ever'. I inched away from him as he started to take 'selfies' of himself left, right and centre, and posting them on various social media. I put a hand over my face, so as to not be making a cameo in any of his photos.
Relief washed over me when it was time for us to split.
I parted with the two brothers, red-faced as Alfred pulled me into a tight, friendly squeeze before he left, walking the other way. I tried not to think about how nice his arms felt around me. Such thoughts were unwelcome. With a shake of my head, I continued along my usual route home.
As I approached the odd footpath from yesterday, I wondered whether a repeat of the day's events would occur. I walked through, on alert, hands clasped toughly around the straps of my backpack. When I set a foot on the other side, I stole a suspicious glance behind me. My bag felt heavier as I remembered that inside it, was the strange book., which constantly reminded me that yesterday was anything but a dream.
I crossed the road and continued to walk along the pavement. Ahead of me, stood a park gate. I pushed it open and it made an audible creak as I did so. I entered onto a field, which was surprisingly empty all around. Only the wind and gentle rustles of the trees bordering the edges could be heard. I didn't understand – the field, generally, was loud and full of life; parents and primary-school children used to always go here in the afternoon. Was the park closed? No, that couldn't be, or the gates would have been locked. I took perplexed steps across the grass, which was like a great viridescent blanket, neatly spread across the ground. As if nothing were wrong, I crossed in a diagonal line, heading for the other side of the park, where another gate resided.
Then, I noticed a figure had positioned itself ahead of me. My eyes narrowed. Was that a person in front of me? I couldn't tell. From here, it looked like a black flame was burning on the other side. I seriously taken aback when it seemed to grow, using the ground as leverage to spread around, surrounding my. I darted for the opening, hoping to escape the bizarre scene before I found myself trapped. Was this some kind of sick joke? I skidded to a halt as my exit had closed, leaving no way out. In an attempt to get as far away from the flames as possible, I turned back towards the centre of the field, which was thankfully clear.
I unconsciously reached into my bag, which I had placed on the ground, and pulled out the book from yesterday, as if it were able to protect me. When I came back to my senses, I looked slightly baffled at the object; what did this have to do with anything? Before I got a chance to open the book in my palms, I was grabbed from behind, an arm tying itself forcefully around my neck, securing me in a firm headlock, which made me drop my book. My breaths, which were already panicked, grew shorter and even more terror-stricken. My captor drew a blade clad in dark flames much like the ones drawn neatly around the edge of the field. They moved their arm, so as to leave my neck open and vulnerable. The blade drew closer and I desperately tried to wriggle free, but it was to no avail as the already fierce grip on me had tightened. The blade had almost pressed itself against my neck…
It dropped. The thing behind me winced in pain, as if it had been punched and then, once again, out of thin air, the boy from yesterday had appeared, a small knife in hand. He then ran towards me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me away from the… I didn't know what it was. The creature, now pulling themselves to their feet, wore a mask akin to that of a masquerade and a cloak, which covered their whole body besides their hands, or claws. They were thin and hunched over in a predatory stance and despite me being right in front of him, he couldn't seem to see me. The boy from yesterday turned towards me and returned my book by shoving it into my arms.
"Open the book." He commanded, his voice stern. I complied. On the first page appeared what seemed to be a contract. "Sign at the bottom."
"What, why?!"
"I'll explain later. Look, I can't keep us safe for long, so I need you to hurry up." He fumbled through his trouser pockets. "Here, use this pen." I took the pen from him and drew my signature across the page, at the bottom. When I finished, I was blinded with light and fierce pain settled on the side of my neck. I screamed in agony until it was finally over.
"What the bloody hell was that?!"
"You'll see – turn to the next page!" The boy seemed to be growing tired. I turned over to see another page filled with writing. "Read the first spell…!" And then, the boy fell limp and unconscious onto the ground. At that moment, my attacker started to throw himself towards me. I dodged and moved far backwards. In such a situation, my only choice seemed to be listening to the boy's advice and so I started to read the first spell on the page.
"O' light from within, grant me a sword!" My book pulled away from my hands and suspended itself in the air as a bright light appeared above. It contorted into a long, scintillating sword that started to gradually fall. I held my palms out and it settled inside them with grace. I was shocked at the weapon's lack of weight despite its sturdy feel. Instinctively, I readied it and began to charge forward. I got into range, drawing close to the creature's body.
The light of my sword pierced the darkness that was my enemy. With a great howl, the creature died out like the flames surrounding our battlefield.
At that moment, I, Arthur Kirkland, began to venture down a new path.
*Cringes at chapter* I don't know how to feel about this. It's a little on the long side, I think. I feel that some of this is a little on the cheesy side. Tell me what you think! If any of you are reading this, haha.
*Cue tumbleweed*
Bye for now!