Denouement of the Heart

by mysticOlive

Kiku moves to America only to be thrown into a new school and new environment. He meets an odd set of characters from attending including the ever fighting Francis and Arthur, the familiar Ludwig and Feliciano, the loud Gilbert and his (almost) scary girlfriend Elizabeta, the handsome football player Alfred and many more This description is way worse than the story! (Ameripan)

4. Chapter 4 Let's Run Lines

Chapter 4: Let's Run Lines

Kiku knocked on Alfred's front door, he looked back at Gilbert's red truck. He and Elizabeta were sitting in the front seat. They were waiting to make sure Kiku got in safely. Kiku waved at them as he stood on Alfred's stoop and tried to keep himself warm. Both of them waved back, Gilbert laughed and Elizabeta elbowed him, and then he looked hurt. Though he didn't look really hurt, more like he was acting. Kiku kept watching them, he had nothing better to do while he waited for someone in Alfred's family to answer the door. Gilbert took Elizabeta's hand and started kissing up her arm, she laughed and tried to swat him away though he was saying something and kept kissing up her arm. She continued to laugh and brush him off until finally she did give in and kiss him. They fought a lot, like Arthur and Francis, (well not that much) but they had something special. Arthur and Francis had something special too. You could see it in their eyes. The door opened. Kiku turned around.

Alfred's mother stood at the door, her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Alfred's was only a little lighter and more golden. Kiku heard Gilbert drive away. Now he was really here, he couldn't change his mind. Alfred's mother smiled at him, but it wasn't a warm smile; it was that kind of smile people made when they felt sorry for you. Kiku's stomach was in knots. He took a deep breath and tried to speak, but before he could Mrs. Jones's smile dropped. "Kiku, oh my goodness what happened to you?" She frowned more and stepped outside to look at him.

Kiku remained silent.

She continued. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to pick you up. I should have come, you got hurt. I've been on the phone with Alfred's father all day trying to calm him down. He doesn't like it when little Alfie gets into fights with other kids but I don't want him to be punished for defending himself. Here Kiku, come in. We should get you cleaned up." She opened the door wider and Kiku stepped in slowly. He held on to his backpack tightly and took his shoes off, sliding them into a corner neatly with his feet. Mrs. Jones kept talking.

"You heard about the fight I'm guessing? You weren't involved were you?" She turned to Kiku and he shook his head, still unsure as to what he wanted to say.

"Thank goodness, it was awful what happened, but I'm glad that's not how you got hurt. Such a shame isn't it? I know Alfred said he'd tried to contact you but you never texted him back." She walked into the kitchen, Kiku continued to stand awkwardly in the hallway. She looked up at him. "Come on into the kitchen and sit down for a bit, Alfred is taking a nap upstairs I'm sure he'll be down soon. For now we can clean and bandage some of that."

Kiku nodded again and walked into the kitchen, He slid his backpack off of his shoulders and sat awkwardly in one of the wooden chairs. Mrs. Jones set down a plate of cookies by Kiku. Before he could take one, she came over with a small first aid kit. Kiku didn't really know what to say. She quickly cleaned and bandaged up his injuries. Afterwards she pushed the plate of cookies toward him.

He bowed deeply "Thank you very much, that was too kind of you."

He took a cookie hesitantly. Kiku spoke again. "Sorry I didn't text Alfred back, my phone died during school."

"Oh no, I wish I had known I would have come right down and picked you up."

"It's okay" Kiku smiled a little. Alfred's mother was really kind. His mother, it seemed, was never so warm. "I found a ride."

Mrs. Jones sighed and poured herself a hot cup of coffee. "What a hectic day, would you like a glass of milk?"

Kiku nodded, realizing just how thirsty he was. He hadn't had anything to drink since lunch.

"Yes ma'am, some milk sounds like it would be nice right now, if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh you're so polite. I wish Alfred was like that more often." She chuckled and opened the refrigerator, she took the carton of milk out and poured it into a green glass.

Mrs. Jones came around by the table and put his glass of milk by the plate of cookies, she sat across the table from Kiku with her coffee and smiled at him. He smiled back.

"So" She said and took a sip of her coffee. "What do you know about the fight?"

Kiku blinked. "I'm sorry ma'am but I don't really know what kind of a question that is. Didn't Alfred tell you?"

She sighed. "Yes, he did tell me, but I want to know how much you know. You and Alfred have been really close since school began and I heard about the casting as well…"

He could feel his face getting hot. "M-Ma'am-"

"Mrs. Jones…" she corrected him. "Ma'am just sounds a little too old for me."

Kiku cleared his throat. "Mrs. Jones, are you asking me if I think Alfred is gay or not?" His voice squeaked a little on the last word. Quickly he drank his milk. This conversation got uncomfortable very quickly for Kiku.

Mrs. Jones leaned forward. "Kiku, I'm not asking whether you think it or not, I'm asking you whether you know it or not."

Kiku pursed his lips. He didn't want to speak. Mrs. Jones was staring at him intently.

"If it makes you feel better…" She spoke. "I know the answer."

He breathed. He realized that he hadn't been doing that a few seconds ago. Something about the way she looked at him told him this woman wasn't lying. It wasn't a trick to find out whether her son was gay or not behind her back. She was truly asking Kiku, for his own good, so he wouldn't be uncomfortable during the kiss scene at the time of the show.

He still hesitated though, this conversation was still weird. It would never not be weird. Alfred's mother couldn't go and take everything she'd just said back now. He looked at the clock on the stove, maybe wishing that he hadn't come now. That he should have asked Gilbert to just drive him home. But he pushed those feelings down. He was here to talk to Alfred because he had to. He needed to. And if that meant suffering through one weird conversation with his mother so be it.

He finally spoke. "Yes. I know he's gay."

Mrs. Jones sighed with relief. He shoulders relaxed and she brought her coffee up to her lips. She didn't drink it though, she just let the steaming cup rest on her lips. Finally she spoke, a smile broke on her lips. "That saves me a conversation then."

Kiku looked down, he still didn't like the conversation and he still wanted it to be over, but Alfred's mother continued. "Alfred's father doesn't know."

Kiku raised his eyebrows, and looked up at her. He wasn't usually one for much gossip but he couldn't contain his curiosity on Alfred's father. "Oh?"

Mrs. Jones shook her head. "No, he can't know. Alfred's father was raised in a very…different home. He's a bit uncomfortable with such talk."

"I see." Kiku mumbled. He had the feeling that Mrs. Jones was still hiding something, but it wasn't his place to pry.

"You just need to keep it quiet. And if he asks about the role, tell him you've got a sister who got that role. It would save us a lot of grief."

Kiku swallowed and nodded, this topic was obviously touchy in Alfred's family. Kiku had never really talked to his parents about it, nothing was ever directly said anyway. Kiku felt like his parents knew though, they never said anything and neither did he. That's how it was in Kiku's family.

Alfred's mother didn't look like she wanted to say anymore. She glanced down for a second then leaned back in her chair, clutching her coffee tightly. Kiku wasn't sure if she'd ever taken a sip.

There was a soft padding down the stairs. "Mom? Did you make cookies? They smell good." Kiku heard Alfred say as he rounded the corner in socks and sweatpants. He had bruises on his arms and his cheek, his lip was cut a little, and so was his forehead. His arms had minor scrapes on them. The fight must've been pretty bad. As soon as Alfred saw Kiku his face brightened, but fell quickly. "Kiku, what happened to you? You look awful!"

Kiku smirked a bit. "You don't look all that well yourself."

Alfred laughed "Touché. Why are you here? I mean I'm not mad but I thought you'd just go home when you saw my texts."

Kiku shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He was surprised that it only had minor scrapes from the beating earlier. "My phone died during school, I never got your messages."

Alfred blinked "You let your phone die? That doesn't sound like the Kiku I know!"

He sighed. "I forgot to charge it last night because I was so nervous about seeing casting today."

Alfred's face fell when he heard the word "casting". He looked down and shuffled his feet, a slight blush spread across his face. Kiku thought this must be embarrassment. "Oh, the casting. Did you see it?"

Kiku pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

Alfred looked almost pained. His mother got up and started fiddling with the dishes in the sink. Slowly, Alfred spoke. "Well, what did you think?"

"I think we need to talk about this, Alfred." Kiku said as he clenched his jaw.

Alfred just nodded and glanced at his mother. "Let's go up to my room…"

There will be more privacy there.

"Okay." Kiku grabbed his backpack and the plate of cookies, knowing Alfred wouldn't want to waste such a thing. He did come downstairs for the cookies after all.

Alfred nodded curtly and shoved his hands in his pockets. He quickly turned on his heel and started walking upstairs. Kiku followed him briskly. "Thank you very much Mrs. Jones…!" He said as he exited the kitchen. He couldn't look her in the eye, though.

"Anytime, Kiku. I'm glad I could help."

Alfred was already in his room by the time Kiku had made it up the stairs, he waved Kiku in and then shut the door quickly after Kiku had walked inside. Kiku put his backpack and the plate of cookies down. He sat down on Alfred's floor and leaned against the closet. Alfred sat across from him.

"You can sit on your own bed you know." Kiku said, frowning slightly.

"So can you."

"Yes but that feels so awkward, I'd rather have you be comfortable."

"The floor is fine."

"But the bed is finer."

"No way Kiku I'm staying here. Besides you're just avoiding conversation aren't you?"

Kiku frowned. "Not really."

Alfred just rolled his eyes. "Obviously we have a lot to talk about, like…well we both got in fights and the casting and stuff."

Kiku nodded. "Yeah, which do you want to start with?"

Alfred thought for a long moment. He leaned against his bench and scratched his chin.

Finally he spoke. "The fights; I don't think that's as big of a thing."

"Okay. How did yours start?"

Alfred sighed heavily. He ruffled his hair and then scrunched his face in his hands. "Nastaran saw the casting list…"

"Can you start by telling me who Nastaran is?"

"He used to be a really good friend of mine. I don't know though, we just grew apart. He started taking steroids and all that nonsense, we just eventually grew to not like each other anymore. I guess I'd be friends with him still if he wasn't so blocked off to the idea."

"I see"

"Well anyway, Nastaran saw the casting list. He knew who you were from some of the football games. Well he called me gay. Not only that but he called the both of us gay, started making a big scene. I couldn't let him be saying that sort of thing- so loudly especially! So I punched him, and it just got worse from there…" Alfred looked down and fiddled with his fingers. "Your turn."

Kiku's throat went dry a bit. "Oh you know just that same group of boys who usually pick on me in school. I guess since no one was around today they figured it might be a good day to actually beat me up." He didn't realize how sarcastic he'd been sounding until the sentence was finished.

Alfred looked surprised. "Kiku, you've been getting picked on?"

Kiku nodded "Well I was going to talk to that other foreign student about it. I think you might know him."

"Oh? Which one?" Alfred cocked his head like a puppy dog again.

"Ludwig"

"Oh him…yeah I don't know him very well. I heard he used to be really mean, very scary. I mean apparently you would have guessed that the guy came right out of Nazi Germany the way he used to go around."

To Kiku it just sounded almost the same as when he was younger. Maybe he would have more in common with Ludwig than he had originally thought. He smiled slightly. "I don't mind all that stuff, I'm sure we'll get along fine." Kiku was convinced that they might have been good friends as kids anyway. They might have been allies.

"Really? Man I feel like I should know more about your past." Alfred stretched.

Kiku could only chuckle "That's for another time I think, I don't like to talk about it much anyway."

Alfred frowned slightly. "Oh? Well I won't force you…Another time then."

"Another time" Kiku repeated.

Alfred cleared his throat. "So…the other problem."

Kiku pursed his lips. "I don't think it was ever the other problem…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well don't you think that the reason either of us got beaten up because of that casting?"

Alfred scowled. In all the weeks Kiku had known him, he'd never seen Alfred scowl. He hardly ever frowned. "I guess."

"You guess or you know?" Kiku wanted to prod him.

"I know" Alfred said and scowled more. "How could Mr. Densen do this to us? It's like…he had it in for us all along."

"Why can't the world be more accepting?"

"That's for sure."

"So what do you want to do?"

"About the scene? I have no idea…"

"Well…"

"Well what?" Alfred asked, he leaned in toward Kiku, though Kiku didn't know what Alfred wanted to hear.

"W-We could ask Mr. Densen to cut it."

"You mean, cut the scene? Right out of the play?"

Kiku nodded, it had been the only thing he was able to come up with.

"I guess we could, but I don't think that's very smart…" Alfred trailed off, he didn't look at

Kiku though. Instead he stared at his feet and wiggled his toes in his socks.

"What do you mean it's not smart? It's our only option."

"Not really…"

"Why, have you just thought of something?" Kiku pursed his lips. He wanted to know what Alfred had to say. What he really wanted out of the situation. In his heart Kiku knew it probably wasn't the same as he wanted but he wanted to hear it anyway.

"Well it's not exactly what I'd call a fresh idea."

"I don't understand."

"Don't make me spell it out man."

"I'm still not following."

Alfred licked his lips and leaned way forward he grabbed his feet and paused for a moment before turning his head and looking Kiku directly in the eye. "I mean…I mean we keep the scene the way it is."

Kiku's eyes widened "Are you joking with me?"

Alfred shook his head slowly. "I'm not. I mean what if that's what Mr. Densen wanted all along anyway? For us to come up to him asking to change the script? Then what would he do? Tell us the play was unchangeable under copyright purposes, then fail us because we wouldn't participate? No way, I want to graduate this year."

"What about the other kids? And the beatings?"

Alfred flung his hands up into the air. "Fuck them! They know what the pressure is like to graduate, we tell them that. It's the truth isn't it?"

"Well I mean-"

"Besides," Alfred cut Kiku off. "I-I didn't really want it to happen this way but I guess this is happening so I'm going along with it."

"Going along with what?" Kiku's heart was pounding, he could hear it in his head and feel it all over his body. He was nervous, and he had no idea what Alfred was about to say.

"Well, when I first saw the casting, I got excited because I thought I'd have an excuse to kiss you without having to tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"That I like you! Without having to tell you that I like you!" He huffed and rubbed his face with his hands. Kiku was speechless. All his dreaming had come true and now he had nothing to say. Alfred scrubbed his face. "I freaked you out didn't I?" He laughed weakly. "I knew it was silly to think you had the same feelings…"

"No it wasn't silly…"

"Then it was stupid." Alfred's face was getting red. "I'm embarrassed, let's just pretend I never said anything. We'll go along with your idea alright?"

"N-No! Alfred wait a minute, you haven't given me a chance to say anything."

"What can you say?"

Kiku was quiet for a moment. "I can say that I feel the same."

"That's a laugh!"

"No it's true! Really Alfred I was just shocked you felt that way too."

"I don't know if I believe you Kiku. I want to but… you were quiet for so long. I mean did you see the look on your face when I said what I did? It wasn't happy or angry it was like disgust."

"You're confusing disgust with surprise."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Then…prove it!"

"What? How?!"

"I don't know" Alfred scoffed and turned away from him, he was still so boyish sometimes. "That's for you to figure out and prove to me."

Kiku was frustrated. More frustrated than he'd been since he first came to America. He was sure that this was almost the most frustrating moment of his life. He liked Alfred a lot and now that he'd finally told him, young American didn't believe him. "Fine" He muttered and crawled over to his backpack.

Alfred turned around. "What are you doing?"

"Proving it to you." Kiku grunted and unzipped it harshly. "Get your script."

"What?"

"I said get your script out. Do you want me to prove it or not?" Kiku stopped and sat back on his heels, he put his hands in his lap and stared at Alfred.

Alfred pursed his lips and slowly went to his backpack. Kiku had hoped that he would scramble for it. That was how he imagined it anyway. That Alfred might jump and the chance and run to his backpack, excited to see what Kiku might do. But instead he just kind of slowly crawled over, and opened his backpack very deliberately. He lazily pulled his script out, well the motion was meant to look lazy but Kiku could see he was gripping it tightly. "Now what?" He spoke quietly.

Kiku took a deep breath and went back into his backpack. He fished his script out from the bottom, where he'd thrown it after the audition Monday. He faced Alfred and sat back on his heels again after finding it. He placed the script on his lap. "Let's practice."

"Practice what?"

Alfred was playing dumb. "You know very well what, the scene. Let's practice the scene."

Alfred's face started to turn red again. "Wh-What?"

"The scene, the kiss scene. I want to practice it. I want to kiss you Alfred."

"R-Right now?"

Kiku pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. He scooted closer to Alfred. "Right now."

Alfred licked his lips a little. He looked like he wanted to say something, but all he did was nod.

Kiku flipped to the scene in his script. Alfred followed him. Kiku was anxious, he stared at the lines on the page. He'd read over them maybe two or three times. He didn't know them very well, and he knew he might stumble on them. His mouth felt dry and his whole body tingled.

"You have the first line." Alfred said after a while.

"Oh yeah, I do." Kiku said as if he hadn't known it.

"And I," he started "one of the lovely maidens, looks out to find thee a fine knight at my tower. What be your purpose fine knight?" Kiku looked up at Alfred.

Alfred swallowed heavily. "I find thee fair maiden, to be the most beautiful in the land to mine eyes and though I am no wealthy prince, I would like to declare my love for thee." Alfred chuckled a little. "Arthur would have a fit reading this."

"Why?" Kiku asked.

"Because the English is all mixed up, its real old but also not in the right order to be like old English so…never mind. Just keep reading."

Kiku nodded curtly. "Okay then." He cleared his throat. "Why fair Knight, I wouldn't care whether you were a rich prince or a poor pauper, you are my fair Knight. I accept your declaration of love and return it with my own."

"Then fair maiden, might I come up your tower to claim you?"

Kiku paused. "Claim me? What sort of show is this?"

Alfred shrugged, a small smile played on his lips. "It's cute I guess"

"Cute? It's kind of sexist…"

"Uh it takes place in like, I don't know sixteen something? So of course it's sexist."

"You said it wasn't accurate."

"Well…."

"If it's not accurate then why did they keep this part accurate?"

"Kiku I really don't think this is such a big issue, first of all I don't think a lot of people are going to notice the inaccuracies in the language. Probably just English snobs like Arthur. Secondly, the language and time period research are completely different. Thirdly, since when do you care so much about this stuff?"

Kiku huffed. "W-Well usually I don't…Ever since I've been being treated as a woman by Mr. Densen though I've been noticing it a lot more. It's just starting to bother me."

Alfred shook his head. "You're starting to sound like the people on tumblr, just relax Kiku. It's only one play that was written in who knows when, probably the nineties or something."

Kiku took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah I guess you're right, I need to relax a bit about this. It's like you said, it's unlikely that Mr. Densen will change his mind and both of us need to pass to graduate."

"Right." Alfred smiled. "Back to the script then."

"Okay, can you just read your last line again, we can pick up where we left off."

"Got it." Alfred took a deep breath. Kiku watched his chest rise up and down. Though now he knew Alfred liked him, what he was doing wasn't strange or risky anymore. It was the type of thing a person did when they liked another person. This time Kiku could admire freely without anything to worry about. "Then fair maiden, might I come up your tower to claim you?"

Kiku cleared his throat and pushed himself past the line. "Please do good sir, please come and take me from this place."

"Now what?" Alfred asked, as the next few words were stage directions.

"I don't know…Read the directions?" Kiku suggested.

"Uh okay…" Alfred cleared his throat. "The brave knight goes up the tower and picks up the maiden, he carries her down the tower. He then stands before the audience and looks at the fair maiden lovingly."

"This is a weird script" Kiku grimaced.

"No kidding, looks like you have the next line."

"Oh brave knight, let me hear your name again so I may not forget it."

"My name, fair maiden, be that of many days old. You may call me Joshua. And you fine maiden what might I call you, so that name may never leave my lips or my heart."

"You may call me what you like. Long as the name stays in your heart when you think of me. Call my by the flowers or the moon or what you think is beautiful, lest it not be another woman. And when you cannot think of something more beautiful than my name, than call me Josephine."

"All well then Josephine. On this eve I pledge my love to a face as fine as yours. One so exotic and beautiful."

"And I too pledge my love to you Joshua, brave knight who came for me."

There was a pause between the two boys. The next stage direction read: "Joshua sets Josephine down, looks at her lovingly, and kisses her passionately until the main light goes off. Scene End". They both read it in their heads and looked at each other oddly. Not quite knowing how to go about it, or how they wished to go about it. Kiku looked at Alfred, their eyes caught and both looked away blushing. Alfred looked at Kiku and the same happened. It was awkward. It was more than awkward it was completely uncomfortable. Kiku felt squeamish, Alfred looked squeamish.

Kiku balled his hands in and out of fists. He was the one who had to prove he liked Alfred back so he would have to be the first to make a move. He nervously closed his script and put it by his side. He licked his lips, almost excitedly. Alfred was now staring at him. Kiku slowly scooted closer to him, his knees bumped Alfred's. Alfred looked nervous up close, more nervous than he had before. Kiku clenched his jaw and leaned forward awkwardly. He was fairly sure this wasn't how kisses were supposed to go.

Another paused moment. Kiku was centimeters away from Alfred's face. He could almost feel their noses touching. He could feel Alfred's breath on his mouth, he noticed that he was forgetting to breathe himself. Kiku was thinking too hard about this, he was concentrating on all the wrong things it felt like. Finally he closed his eyes, leaned in and closed the space between them. A rush went down Kiku's body. He was kissing someone he liked, really liked. Sure he'd kissed people before. One time a girl, it never really felt like anything compared to this. This was wonderful. Alfred's lips were soft, they weren't dry and his lip had opened partially. He could feel his teeth through his lips.

Alfred had been surprised at first that Kiku just kissed him like that. Eventually though he relaxed a bit. He pulled Kiku in closer by placing his hands on his face, two of his fingers went behind Kiku's ears and his large palms clutched Kiku's chin. Kiku moved with Alfred's hands pushing himself further into Alfred. It was a gentle, innocent kiss that only lasted a few seconds

Kiku pulled away and opened his eyes. He grinned, he felt wonderful. Adrenaline pumped through his body. Alfred was smiling back at him. Kiku brought his hand up in Alfred's hair. "Did that prove it to you?"

Alfred smirked and bit his lip. "I don't know if it proved it quite enough."

A small chuckle was all that Kiku could muster before tossing away the rest of his fears and wholeheartedly tackling Alfred. Alfred laughed as Kiku hurriedly kissed up Alfred's neck, on both of his cheeks, and on his forehead. He took a break and looked at Alfred, who was looking back at him gleefully. He had been waiting to do that for weeks. Then as if both of them had the same thought they came together locking lips again.

Alfred ran his tongue against the bottom of Kiku's lip. Kiku opened his mouth and let Alfred dart his tongue over Kiku's. Kiku felt good, he felt magical. Usually when he kissed someone he felt close to nothing. But with Alfred he felt excited and wonderful, he could hear his heart and feel the adrenaline. He really, really liked Alfred. More than anyone he'd ever liked before.

It lasted maybe 15 seconds. Kiku was on top of the world. He clutched Alfred's shirt and rolled down on the ground next to him. He panted a little but he couldn't help but grin. Alfred was grinning too. Kiku gently snuggled up next to Alfred.

"Okay" Alfred said and put his arms around Kiku. "I believe you now."

Kiku smiled into him. "I should hope so."

"Mmm" Alfred mused. He laid there for a moment.

Kiku sat up. "So," he pursed his lips and tilted his head at Alfred, "what does this make us now?"

Alfred sat up with him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…are we a couple?"

"Do you want to be? I mean…I don't know I thought that made us one."

Kiku blushed, he really never thought this day would come. "Yes of course I want to be, and you want to be a couple too?"

Alfred nodded and grabbed a cookie. "If I didn't want to be a couple I wouldn't want to kiss you so much."

Kiku beamed and hugged Alfred "Thank you!"

Alfred only laughed and patted Kiku's shoulder. "Don't thank me, it's something we both wanted right?"

Kiku nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."

The next day in school Kiku felt really good. Sure, his mother had scolded him a bit for letting himself get so beat up and he was still pretty bruised, but today he didn't care. Today Kiku felt like he was on top of the world. He and Alfred were together. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong. Not on this day anyway.

Today Kiku planned to talk to Ludwig. He really wanted to know if he got the same bullying that Kiku got. He only had one class with Ludwig and that was chemistry. Ludwig was only a seat behind him too so it shouldn't be hard to strike up a conversation. Kiku would just have to get past his shyness. Either way this was going to be the first day in school where he didn't feel so awful about himself. He was going in with a smile, and determined to go out with one.

First period was rough, there were jokes at Kiku and Alfred. Mr. Densen was laughing with the other kids but Alfred explained it really well to them. About their graduating and all that. Kiku made himself scarce while Alfred, who was quite the entrepreneur, calmed the jokes down to almost none. Mr. Densen looked pretty frustrated when the kids stopped laughing, but Kiku was really grateful. He wanted to hug and kiss Alfred and thank him for getting them out of the situation, but Kiku knew better. He knew they had to be secret.

The rest of his classes breezed by fairly quickly. Whenever a kid tried to joke about casting he just repeated what Alfred had said in first period. That seemed to calm the brunt of them down. By the time chemistry rolled around, there were almost no jokes circulating about the school play. In fact a new vicious brand of joke had arisen after a young boy had gotten some lemonade spilled on his pants after third period. One could only imagine the harassment that kid was getting. Kiku sat down in his chemistry class. He stared at a new turtle tank in front of him. There had to be a least three in the room already and Kiku couldn't believe there had been another one added. A few turtles milled around inside. He shook his head and sat down. Kiku would never understand Mr. Fernández Carriedo's obsession with turtles. He frowned at the boy sitting next to him, he'd never seen him before in his life. The boy had dark brown hair and looked a lot like someone Kiku had seen before. Something about the way his hair curled was so familiar. His skin was a little darker but more olive toned than anything. His eyes were very dark brown just like his hair.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" He said suddenly.

Kiku blinked in surprise and looked away and down. "N-Nothing! I-I mean I've never seen you before in this class…! Are you new?"

"What the hell do you think? I've been invisible all this time? Yes as a matter of fact I am new, well not quite. I used to be in fifth period but I had to transfer."

Kiku looked back up at him. He was trying to push his bits of embarrassment down. "Why did you have to transfer?"

"None of your damn business!" He shouted and looked away from Kiku. A moment later he spoke again. "I kept fighting with my brother."

"Brother?"

"Yeah you've probably seen him. He's stupid and looks exactly like me. His name is Feliciano and he's…" Loving shivered, as if utterly disgusted. "And he's dating potato bastard"

"Po-"

"I'm right here Lovino, and I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that." Both of them turned around to see Ludwig setting his backpack down and taking a seat.

"What the fuck are you doing here you fucking, Potato Bastard!?" Lovino practically screeched. He obviously had a problem with Ludwig for some reason.

"This is my Chemistry class, I suppose it's yours now too."

Lovino looked as if he was about to burst. He wheeled around in his chair and kicked the desk he and Kiku were sharing. "Fuck this! I can't switch classes again! Fuck, fuck, fuck my life!"

Kiku swallowed hard. How had this day taken such a turn for the worst? He didn't really like Lovino from first impressions. Feliciano, from the one time Kiku had seem him, seemed a lot nicer.

Mr. Fernández Carriedo walked up to the desk, a usual smile played on his lips. "Now Lovi, is that any way to talk during school hours?"

"Get away from me you fucking, Bastardo! And don't call me Lovi!"

"Mr. Fernández Carriedo looked unphased. "Do you want detention again?"

"I don't care! See if I care if I get fucking detention or not!"

"Lovino you're acting like a 7-year-old."

"I don't care! I'm 19! I can act whatever age I want to!"

"You should act like a 19-year-old."

"I don't want to! Fuck off!"

"Detention it is then." Mr. Fernández Carriedo pulled out some pink slips from his back pocket. He quickly filled one out and stuck it on Lovino's forehead. "See you in detention, Lovi." He smirked and ruffled Lovino's hair before walking away. Mr. Fernández Carriedo usually gave the kids ten minutes after class started to get "settled in". Kiku just thought that he didn't really want to teach yet. He was a good teacher though so Kiku didn't mind the free ten minutes.

"Fucking pervert." Lovino mumbled and crumpled the detention slip. He quickly shoved it in his pocket.

Kiku didn't want to think about Lovino anymore. He'd seen enough of him today and was really unhappy to be sitting next to him. He wondered where the other boy he used to sit next to went. That boy had been really nice. His name was Ravis. Kiku liked him, he needed a lot of help but he was never obnoxious about it and Kiku was always glad to come in and aid him. Now Lovino was next to him. Lovino took Ravis' spot and Kiku was unhappy about that. He didn't know what to do though. Despite Mr. Fernández Carriedo's knowledge on the subject of chemistry and his excellent teaching skills, he was pretty strict about where his students sat for some reason. It was odd because other than the one detail, the man didn't care about much else that you did in class.

Kiku turned to Ludwig, as Lovino pouted and sniffled in his seat. Ludwig's blond undercut showed not one hair out of place in its usual slicked back styling. His clothing was far from wrinkled but he wore it very stylishly. He was very well put together. "Hey." he said. It was all he could think to say anyway. Kiku hated being the first one to initiate conversation and he didn't exactly know how to start one that would be so heavy.

Ludwig looked up. "Hallo." He had a heavy accent, just like his brother Gilbert.

Kiku pursed his lips, then decided to speak again. "I heard you are from Germany, I know your brother Gilbert."

Ludwig's face went a little grim at the mention of his brother's name. "Oh yeah I am from Germany," He hesitated before continuing. "My brother Gilbert isn't really like…well he's a bit embarrassing I mean. The guy is a year older than me and still in high school, what does that say about him?"

Kiku chuckled a little. "At least he's not like my older brother, Yao, he was always such a know-it-all. I was always told to be more like him but I just couldn't."

"Well, I guess we're just both better products of our cultures then."

"I guess so…" Kiku trailed off and scooted a little closer to Ludwig to be away from Lovino, who was just crying now. "Speaking of culture, do you ever get picked on because of that?"

"What do you mean?" Ludwig looked at him sternly.

"I mean…do they ever call you Nazi or Kraut or something?"

Ludwig pursed his lips. "I see…No, not anymore. Only him." He nodded his head toward Lovino. "And he just doesn't like me because…" Ludwig got quiet, as if he was ashamed of what he was about to say.

Kiku decided to finish the sentence. "Because of your relationship with his brother?"

Ludwig blushed deeply. "Ja das ist…I mean yes, because of my relationship with Feliciano."

"Well, if it makes you feel better I don't really care if you're dating another boy. He seems really nice and from what I've heard from Gilbert you guys really like each other."

Ludwig blushed more, if it was possible, and leaned forward. "Yes he's nice but I'd prefer it if we didn't talk about it here. I mean…I know everyone knows but I'm just not a very public person."

Kiku nodded. "Of course, I'm the same way."

Ludwig grunted. "I'm embarrassed to ask you this but I don't really know your name…"

"Oh!" Kiku blushed a little. In his rush to ask the question he'd forgotten to mention his name. "I'm Kiku. Kiku Honda."

Ludwig smiled a little. "Nice to meet you Kiku, I guess you know my name already."

Kiku nodded.

"So, why were you asking me about name calling? Have you been having a problem?"

Now it was Kiku's turn to blush. "W-well…yes."

"Is that how you got hurt?" Kiku nodded in response. "I see…" Ludwig continued. "It did happen to me a lot when I first came here but it will die down. Something new will come around and they'll forget about you. Until then just try to stay away from them and ignore it."

Kiku nodded, it was reasonable advice. "Thank you, Ludwig."

"You're welcome." He smiled.

Kiku wanted to say more. He liked Ludwig. Not in the way he liked Alfred but he felt as if he and Ludwig could be good friends. He felt a connection with him on some level, though he couldn't explain what.

"Hey, why don't you and Feliciano have lunch with us today?"

"Do we have the same lunch?"

Kiku nodded "I've seen you around, you guys are usually sitting alone right? I sit with a couple of guys…Maybe you know them, Francis Bonnefoy and Arthur Kirkland?"

Ludwig chuckled a little. "Oh yeah I know them, Arthur and I used to be horrible enemies. We made up now but I never really liked British people that much anyway. As for Francis he's afraid of me. Well, more afraid of my dogs than of me, but still…"

Kiku deflated. "Oh so probably not then?"

"No, I'll sit by you; I like talking to you Kiku. Besides Feliciano is friends with the two of them. Even if Francis does get too cozy with him at times. Is there anyone else you sit with?"

Kiku nodded. "Alfred Jones comes by about halfway through, and sometimes your brother and his girlfriend, Elizabeta, sit by us."

"Quite a crowd."

"No kidding."

"Okay, we can join you, I think Feliciano has been feeling lonely at our table anyway."

"Great!" Kiku smiled. "I'll see you then."

"See you then." Ludwig said.

Kiku turned around, he'd completely forgotten about Lovino. Lovino, who was now looking directly at him-very intensely. "What the fuck did you have to say to him?"

Kiku blinked. "Um…Well I just had a few questions to ask a-"

"Did he say anything about my brother?!"

"N-no not really, I mean just that he was really nice…"

Lovino scowled and turned away. "Kraut-bastard."

The last part of what Lovino said was cut short by Mr. Fernández Carriedo's bell. He always rang it when the ten minutes were up. There was a turtle on his shoulder, there always seemed to be a turtle on him and Kiku couldn't figure out how they always got there. From the looks of it neither could Mr. Fernández Carriedo. Class began, and Kiku began to focus on his notes.

Lunch found Kiku quickly. He was rather hungry by the time it came around which was unusual to him. He'd been bouncing in his seat almost all day. He was constantly fidgeting and double checking things. It was as if he were on some sort of sugar rush.. All that was on Kiku's mind was Alfred. He knew it probably wasn't very healthy, but he just couldn't help himself. Maybe it would wear off after a while but for now he was going to have to live off this short "life-high".

He sat down at his usual table, in his usual spot at the end. Francis and Arthur were already there.

"Just let me make you lunch one day of the week. Then maybe you wouldn't be so horribly thin!" Francis huffed and picked at Arthur's food.

"Get your hands off of that!" Arthur slapped him away. "No, you can't make lunch for me any day of the week! I can cook just fine by myself."

"I beg to differ."

"Oh, do you now? And how would you know so well what's good for me and what isn't? Maybe I like my food. Did that ever cross your mind, nit-wit?"

Francis snorted. "Okay, so those times I saw you gagging after eating some of your own…'food' that was you actually loving it?"

Arthur scowled. "Shut up, Frog!"

"I own a restaurant, Arthur. It wouldn't be any trouble to make you something or get you something…"

"Correction! Your family owns a restaurant, not you."

"So you'll take the help then?"

"I never sa-"

Ludwig came over and put his lunch down beside Kiku. It was potatoes and some spaghetti with sauce on it. "Hey." He grunted and sat down.

Francis yelped and hugged Arthur. "Ai ! What are you doing here ?!"

Ludwig frowned at him. "I came to join your table, not to frighten you."

Francis relaxed only slightly. Arthur looked calm.

Feliciano bounded over soon after Ludwig. He put his things very close to Ludwig and sat down beside him, leaning against his shoulder. "ve~ Luddy I almost couldn't find you! You're sitting by people." He sat up for a moment and looked around. "Hey, Arthur and Francis! How are you?"

"Just fine." Arthur pouted and picked at his food.

Francis smirked. "Well I'm just great since you arrived Feliciano, would you like to sit next to me?"

"Sit next to you? Well can Ludwig sit by you too?" He happily pulled his lunch out, which Kiku noticed was a somewhat large Tupperware of pasta.

Francis' face had grown grim again. "N-non. You know what, you can stay where you are. Why go to all the trouble of moving?"

Ludwig and Arthur both smirked. Ludwig wanted to keep Feliciano by his side and to keep him away from Francis, and Arthur wanted to keep Francis to himself and to keep him away from other people.

Feliciano grinned, he didn't seem like the type of person to catch on very quickly to what was going on. "Okay!" he turned to Kiku. "Hello! You're new right? I'm Feliciano. Do you like pasta? Wait, I don't even know your name!"

Kiku blushed a little, overwhelmed by Feliciano's energy. "O-Oh hello, I'm Kiku Honda but you can just call me Kiku."

Feliciano frowned a little bit. "Kiku…I feel like I've heard of you before. Oh well! I'm

Feliciano Vargas but you can call me Feliciano!" He laughed "You're Japanese right?"

Kiku nodded, "Yes I am Japanese."

Feliciano instantly brightened and hugged Ludwig. "Luddy did you hear that?! I guessed it right! I bet you weren't expecting that!"

Ludwig blushed a little, but didn't move. "Good job Feli, why don't you sit and eat now though."

"Aww but I want to talk to Kiku more."

Kiku looked at Ludwig. "It's alright, he seems really friendly."

"I am friendly!" Feliciano draped himself over Ludwig so that he was face to face with Kiku. "You never answered my question, do you like pasta?"

Kiku smiled a little. "I don't eat it very often, mainly rice…but sure, pasta is fine."

"Great! Then you're in the good with me!"

"Um okay…" Kiku looked at the others but Francis and Arthur were bickering about Arthur's food again and Ludwig looked like he was trying to eat while under the weight of Feliciano.

"Maybe we could exchange recipes some time!"

Kiku smiled, he was glad that he met both Feliciano and Ludwig. "Yeah that sounds fine."

"Oh, oh, and maybe you can come out sometime with Luddy and I! Wouldn't that be fun Luddy?"

Ludwig glanced up in the direction of Feliciano. "Yeah I think it would be a good opportunity to get to know a new friend."

"Yaay!" Feliciano looked back at Kiku. "Did you hear that Kiku? Luddy wants you to come too! Will you please come out with us?"

"Uh, okay, I'd be happy to." Kiku smiled a little, he wasn't used to having so many friends. Or people that wanted to even invite him out for that matter.

"Horrayy!" Feliciano cheered and threw his arms in the air. He then quickly toppled off of Ludwig and onto the floor. "Oof!" Kiku was afraid that he might cry but instead he just stared blankly at the ceiling in shock.

Ludwig shook his head. "Feliciano are you alright?"

Feliciano stayed frozen on the ground, arms and legs still sprawled out. "ve~ yes I think I'm okay. Just a little shocked that's all." He laughed weakly.

Ludwig held out his hand. "Come on grab my hand so I can help you up."

"N-No! I want to be strong like you are, I don't want your help."

Ludwig looked surprised. Feliciano slowly got himself up off the ground and brushed himself off. He wasn't shaking, Kiku thought he might shake but maybe he had accidents often.

Suddenly Alfred came over to the lunch table. He stopped short and stared at Ludwig intensely. Ludwig was sitting next to Kiku, where Alfred usually sat. He stared for a long time, a really long time. It was making Kiku uncomfortable, Ludwig thankfully didn't notice until at least after a minute. Finally Alfred spoke. Kiku breathed. "Hello."

Ludwig smiled at him weakly. "Alfred, we're not enemies anymore, you can sit down."

Alfred sort of danced in his place and shook his head. "That's not it, you're just sitting where I usually sit."

Ludwig blinked. "Well, I was here first."

Alfred's lip twitched a little with disdain. Hardly noticeable to the eye. "Yes, I understand that, but I just had something important to tell Kiku."

"And why can you not say it in front of us?"

Alfred huffed. "Because it's personal! Could you please move to the other side of the table?" He furrowed his brows together in frustration.

Kiku was now blushing, he tried to focus on his food. Arthur and Francis had temporarily stopped bickering and were looking at Alfred. Everyone but Kiku was looking at Alfred, and Kiku was looking at his lunch. Ludwig didn't seem like he wanted to argue. He looked over at Feliciano. "Feli, do you mind changing seats?"

Feliciano pouted for a second, and then shrugged. "Well…I guess I'm already up." He slowly began to pack up his things. It almost seemed typical of Feliciano's nature to be a little slower. Kiku thought he seemed a bit more like a chore than a boyfriend but Ludwig didn't seem to mind. He was on the other end of the spectrum though, much more quick and efficient. By the time Ludwig had gotten to the other side of the table, Feliciano had just finished zipping his backpack up.

Alfred bounded over and sat down next to Kiku. He set his lunch down at the table and looked at him, quickly he grabbed Kiku's hand under the able and grinned. Kiku smiled back even if he felt a bit embarrassed that Alfred was so enthusiastic. "What did you have to ask me?" He asked.

"Oh!" Alfred leaned over and whispered in Kiku's ear. "I got invited to a party, I want you to come with me."

"A party?" Kiku pulled away from Alfred so he could look at him. He forgot it was supposed to be a secret. "What kind of party?"

Francis perked up, and was of course the first to speak. "Party? You mean the one on Saturday?"

"You know about it?" Alfred seemed surprised and maybe a tad hurt.

Francis just scoffed a bit and looked at Arthur who just rolled his eyes and scowled. "Well of course I knew about it, I know about every party." He smirked a bit. "Arthur and I were planning on going."

"Ve~! Us too!" Feliciano spoke up and clung to Ludwig's arm. "Gilbert invited us!"

Ludwig frowned, he didn't strike Kiku as much of the party type. Maybe Feliciano, but Ludwig seemed so straight laced. Truthfully, he didn't know that much about the Germans though. Only that they liked beer, and Ludwig, being a senior like Kiku, was old enough to have beer in Germany. In Japan Kiku wouldn't be able to drink until he was twenty.

Ludwig sighed, "We won't be staying long though."

"Aww, but Luddy, parties are fun~!"

Ludwig pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd probably had this conversation before. "Things can happen at parties Feliciano, we can discuss this later."

Feliciano looked down. "Oh…yeah you're right. Okay." He looked up at Kiku who began to pack up his lunch. "Well since the party is on Saturday, how about we all hang out Friday?"

"That sounds fine." Kiku zipped up his backpack and smiled at Ludwig and Feliciano.

"Shall I just meet you after school then?"

"Wait a minute." Alfred stopped eating for a second, he froze with French-fries in his hand.

"What's going on this Friday?"

"Ve~ Kiku is going to come out with me and Ludwig! Isn't that great?"

Alfred's usual smile faltered. He looked at Kiku. "Weren't we supposed to practice our lines on Friday?" His lip tightened.

Kiku looked down. "Alfred as much as I'd like to practice lines, and I really would, I'd also like to have a chance to go out with some new friends."

"Oh." Alfred let go of Kiku's hand under the table.

Ludwig could see that Alfred was bothered but it wasn't clear if he knew why. "It will only be one day, I can see you and Kiku are close but he does need more than one friend."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Francis and Arthur looked insulted. "Uh excuse me," Francis interrupted "but what are we, chopped liver over here?"

"Yes, I think we've spent enough time with Kiku to also be friends with him." Arthur folded his arms and leaned into Francis a bit, who nodded along with him.

Kiku was getting worried. "You are my friends," He said and turned to them. "I-I don't think he meant to say something like that. I mean he's only known me a little less than a day."

Ludwig grunted. "Yes Kiku is right, I didn't mean to make such assumptions." He tuned to Kiku, "Friday after school is fine, Feliciano and I will wait for you at the stop sign by the history classrooms."

Kiku smiled. "Okay!" He turned to Alfred. "It's just one day out of the whole year that I'm making plans or will make plans over plans I have with you. Is that alright?"

Alfred furrowed his eyebrows together, like he usually did when he was frustrated. "Alright, I'll just invite some football friends over then."

"Okay." Kiku said cooly, finally calming down a little. He turned back to Ludwig and Feliciano. "See you both on Friday then."

Friday came faster than Kiku had expected. It had only been Wednesday when they made the plan, though, so in a way the speed of the day coming was inevitable. Practically all of Thursday either Ludwig or Feliciano found themselves at Kiku's side; as they saw him walking to class they would join him by his side and begin talking. Kiku didn't mind the company, Alfred was usually with his football friends anyway in passing period. He liked talking to both of them, it was as if they had been friends forever. They joined him at lunch on Thursday and Friday as well. By the time Friday had rolled around Kiku already felt like he knew the both of them better than he knew his friends in Japan.

Somewhat impatiently, Kiku waited by the stop sign. He checked his watch, Ludwig and Feliciano were late. Kiku had the impression that it was Feliciano holding them up. Ludwig wasn't really the type of guy to be late. Kiku sighed and adjusted his backpack. Finally he heard their voices coming from behind him. He turned around just to see the two of them coming, though Ludwig faster than Feliciano.

"Come on Feli, we're late!"

"Aw, I bet Kiku doesn't mind!"

"It's rude Feliciano. Come on, hurry up."

"You're walking too fast!"

Maybe you're walking too slowly. Kiku thought, as he watched the both of them walking toward him.

"I'm not, I'm just trying to get over to him! Look he's already there."

Feliciano looked past Ludwig so he could see Kiku. His face lit up and he broke into a jog toward Kiku, surpassing Ludwig and bringing Kiku into a tight hug. So much so that it lifted his feet off the ground. "ve~ you were here before us!" He laughed and Kiku blushed in his arms.

"Maybe you could put me down…?" was all he was able to squeak out.

Feliciano laughed again. "Sorry, I just get so excited! I'm glad you really came! Not many people usually come around with us." He twirled around with Kiku once and then set him down. His face was beaming.

Ludwig caught up to them. "We didn't keep you waiting too long did we?"

Kiku shook his head. "No, not really. Where will we go?"

Ludwig smiled a little. "We thought that it might be fun to go to the petting zoo."

"Petting zoo?"

Feliciano grinned and grabbed his hands. "Yeah! It's fun and the animals are all so cute!"

"I-I haven't been to a petting zoo in years, I don't know…"

"Come on Kiku! Please?"

Ludwig spoke up. "Really, we thought it might be fun to do something more light-hearted. Well…Feliciano thought it was fun, he managed to convince me though."

Feliciano smiled. "It'll be fun Kiku! Besides, can you think of anything better to do?"

Kiku rocked back on his feet. He was living in New York but he really couldn't think of much that he really wanted to do. He didn't feel like going out someplace to eat, and he didn't have money to shop. He'd been to the movies quite a few times with Arthur and Francis and after that there weren't really many other options. The only other thing he could think of was a bookstore. He shook his head at Feliciano. "No, I can't think of anything else. Alright let's go."

Feliciano beamed. "Yay! Come on, let's leave now so we don't miss the bus!"

"Oh, now you want to be fast?" Ludwig smirked and folded his arms, but Feliciano wasn't listening. He was trying to pull on both Ludwig and Kiku's arms.

The two of them quickly complied and walked down the pathway with Feliciano who ran. When they got outside it was sunny but very cold. Kiku had thought to wear a better jacket today though, it was blue and more meant for winter. He zipped it up when they got outside. Ludwig didn't seem to be phased much by the weather at all and Feliciano clung to him like glue. They walked to the bus stop hurriedly, both Ludwig and Feliciano chatting at Kiku. It was really mostly Feliciano though.

It was a while before they got on the bus but it was a lot warmer. Kiku was able to unzip his Jacket and Feliciano shied away from Ludwig a bit, though he still clung on to his arm it just wasn't as tight.

"How long is the ride?" Kiku asked.

"Not very long, maybe twenty minutes." Ludwig looked at his watch. "We'll be there at around three."

"Okay" Kiku nodded quickly, "that sounds fine."

Twenty minutes was an understatement. There had been some accident, it held up all the roads. They didn't get there for another hour and then they had to walk for ten minutes. Feliciano was complaining that he was hungry and that his feet hurt. He asked Ludwig to carry him once or twice, though Ludwig refused both times because he said it was socially unacceptable. Feliciano looked disappointed but continued to walk and complain. When they finally reached the place, a deep onset of embarrassment rushed through Kiku as he looked around and saw that there were only mobs of children. They must've been the only ones over twelve. Feliciano ran up to the gate by the children.

"Yaay! We're finally here!" He immediately began making conversation with as many children as he could, talking about all the animals he liked and how he'd been here a lot of times. He really seemed to be good with children. Ludwig was looking at him very lovingly. A small smile played on his lips.

Kiku bumped him lightly. "So I take it he's good with children?"

Ludwig looked over a Kiku after a moment. "Huh? Oh yeah, he volunteers at the community church nursery, you know. They helped his family out when they first came here to America and he likes spending time with the kids. They all love him."

"Do you ever stop by to visit him there?"

"Oh yeah, I do. He talks about me sometimes I think because they're not as scared of me as most kids are when they first see me." He laughed a little half-heartedly.

"I see…" Kiku inhaled deeply. "Maybe we should go in now before it gets too late." He smiled a little, in his own moment of a little smugness, knowing that he was right.

"Yeah, good point." Ludwig began walking toward the gate. "Come on Feli! Time to go inside."

Feliciano brightened at the sound of his name and jogged over to Ludwig. He looked like he was almost ready to burst with excitement. "Kiku I can't wait to show you all the animals!" He grinned and latched himself on to Ludwig's arm where he usually was.

Kiku walked on the other side of Ludwig. "Oh, really? What sort of things do they have?"

"Lots of animals! Not as many as a zoo but their domestic area is my favorite. You can pet stuff there!"

"Ja but, please don't get lost again this time Feli." Ludwig pinched his nose again. "I got so worried."

"I wooonnn't" Feliciano whined. "Besides I was safe! I was just reading to kids in the daycare center."

"Feliciano I didn't know where you had gone! You could have gotten hurt."

"I wouldn't have…I can take care of myself."

Ludwig just grumbled and continued walking. He obviously thought differently. It must've been somewhat obvious because Feliciano pouted all the way to the gate.

The woman inside the ticket box looked them over as if she knew they were too old to be there. She sort of rolled her eyes in an unimpressed way. Kiku didn't really care though, it wasn't as if he was trying to impress her. He knew for sure Ludwig and Feliciano weren't. She leaned forward in the most careless way possible and spoke into the microphone.

"And how many tickets will that be…gentlemen?"

Ludwig's lip tightened, he knew that she was speaking rudely on purpose. "Three adults." Kiki began to pull his money out but Ludwig stopped him. "Nein. I mean- no. This is my treat I'll pay for you."

Kiku wavered a bit. "I don't think I could let you pay for me Ludwig."

"No, really let me cover you. We wanted to take you out, it feels wrong to make you pay."

"I don't know, I ju-"

Feliciano leapt forward and grabbed both of Kiku's hands and looked into his eyes. Kiku backed up a bit, uncomfortably. "Kiku! Let us pay for you please! Please, please, plleeaaseee…! We really want to do this for you."

Kiku hesitated again. "…Fine but I'm not very comfortable with this. If anything I should be paying for you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Ludwig put his money on the counter.

Kiku stayed silent and the lady slid the tickets out to them. "Have a good time, try not to get bitten by any of the animals." She said, her words thick with sarcasm.

The three boys pretended to ignore her and they all walked in. Immediately all the children Feliciano was talking to surrounded him. They were shouting things and clinging to him. He laughed but a little nervously but talked to them just like he was before. He ran over and bought some food for the animals. He quickly passed it all out to the kids, and kept three packs. One for himself, one for Ludwig and one for Kiku. He walked back over to them and handed them bags.

"I hope you don't mind if we have a few people joining us!" He grinned, and before waiting for an answer walked off with a line of kids behind him.

"Does this happen often?" Kiku whispered to Ludwig.

Ludwig just shrugged. "Occasionally. He brings a lot of happiness around with him."

"I can tell!" Kiku remarked, watching how long the line of kids was getting. "We should probably follow him."

Ludwig chuckled and shook his head. "That's a funny thought, following Feliciano. Usually he's just a follower himself."

"Hmm, well I guess there is a first time for everything." Kiku said and marched forward, attempting to weave his way through the kids and catch up to Feliciano. Ludwig followed close behind him. Finally all three were at the front of the line. Feliciano was acting like a tour guide. He told all about all the animals they were passing, though Kiku wasn't sure if all that he was saying was completely true.

It took them a while because the kids had a lot of questions, but they finally reached the interactive part of the zoo. Kiku wasn't always good with animals but with Ludwig and Feliciano he felt fairly good. Feliciano was helping the kids in one corner of the zoo with goats. Kiku went over by some llamas and approached him cautiously. Gently he began to pet the animal. His self-consciousness sort of drifted away. He sort of forgot he was eighteen for a moment, it was almost like he was ten again. Carefully he took out his little bag of food and put some in his hand. He gingerly opened his hand to the llama who nibbled the food out of it. Kiku smiled, maybe he wasn't as bad with animals as he thought he was. Unfortunately for him, the thought ended quickly when the llama bit his finger. He jumped and bit his lip. The llama was squeezing his finger really hard. He laughed nervously. He knew he couldn't pull his finger because when you did that the animal's grip gets tighter. He cursed to himself under his breath. Really unsure of what to do. He didn't want to call for help, that was for certain. He couldn't let this go on for much longer though. The pain was getting worse, tears pricked in the corners of Kiku's eyes. He had to think of something rather quickly. He tried to think clearly, but the only idea he had was to tickle the llamas chin with his other hand. It was the only idea he had so it was the only one he would act on. He moved quickly, bringing himself closer to the llama and then utilizing his other hand. He did the best he could and scratched under its chin in the most affectionate way he could think of. The llama freaked out a bit and let go of Kiku's finger. He briskly shoved his hands into his pockets and moseyed away from the llamas.

Ludwig was by Feliciano. He was trying to be nice to the kids but they shied away from him and hung on to Feliciano. They were having a nice time. Kiku went over by them and spent the rest of the time by them. Ludwig ended up getting kicked by a goat, all the kids laughed. He had chuckled weakly but you could tell he knew he'd have a pretty bad bruise tomorrow. Despite his finger being almost bitten clean off Kiku had ended up having a really good time. He found out a lot about his new friends on this adventure. Feliciano was really funny and he really liked to cook. Apparently he was quite the artist too. Ludwig had a few photos on his phone and Feliciano had some too. Kiku could really only draw manga but he was pretty good at it he thought. Ludwig was pretty incapable of doing art himself but it turned out that he was good at a lot of academics. Really smart, and not only that but he was also really fit. He spent a lot of time working according to Feliciano. Feliciano had tried to work with him at some time or another but he gave up fairly fast according to the both of them. Kiku had only laughed and suggested that maybe they work out altogether sometime, he'd would like to get in shape too. Feliciano had thought that it was a great idea whereas Ludwig looked unsure.

By the end of the day Kiku was very grateful that he'd gone out with them. He really liked the both of them and wanted to spend more time with them. All of them, including the kids went out to dinner at the zoo. Kiku helped cover the prices but it had been fun. After a few hours Feliciano had reluctantly said goodbye to the kids and they all left the petting zoo laughing.

"I can't believe one of the kids thought you invented ketchup since you're German!" Feliciano practically buckled over. "Imagine that! It's so messy!"

Ludwig laughed with him, his laugh wasn't quite as cute as Feliciano's. Ludwig's laugh was loud and could scare someone almost. Feliciano clung to him though and never seemed to let go. Ludwig spoke "I know! They were cute weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were." Kiku wiped a tear from his eye. "The whole thing was pretty hilarious."

"Oh, yes I know. We'll have to do it again sometime." Ludwig straightened out. "But it's getting really late." He looked at his watch. "It's probably time to say goodbye."

"Awww but Luddy I'm having such a good time!" Feliciano rolled around on Ludwig a bit.

"I'm sorry Feli." He gently pecked the top of Feliciano's head, making Feliciano's face light up in a way that Kiku hadn't seen it light up before. "We'll see Kiku again soon…"

"Mmm yeah…! Like tomorrow night!" Feliciano grinned at him. "We will see you at the party right?"

Kiku nodded. "Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again, thank you for taking me out tonight."

"Of course." Ludwig nodded at him.

"Yeah~! It was a lot of fun!" Feliciano practically bounced with his words.

"It was." Kiku bowed. "I will see you both tomorrow, thank you again for your kindness."

Feliciano giggled. "Of course! See you tomorrow Kiku."

"See you tomorrow." Kiku waved as the two of them got on their bus. Ludwig gave him a short wave and nod and Feliciano happily wagged his arm back and forth.

It was ten more minutes until Kiku's bus came around. He climbed on board tiredly, but happily. He thought back on the events of the day and how much he was looking forward to tomorrow. He wasn't much of a partier but he wanted to see his friends, and Alfred again. He reached for his ipod and put on his music. He set his head back and closed his eyes, the bus ride home was going to be long and he was going to have a big day tomorrow.

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Okay, this is chapter 4! It's a big one too, took me forever to finish. I hope you like it. I know the end is a little rushed but I'm trying to meet a deadline. :P thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews and favorites it means a lot to me!
I hope y'all have a wonderful week
M.O.