We went to our desks and placed the bags on them before moving to our little corner to talk. Miss Elizabeta walked over and talked to Mr. Roderich, since we still had a while before class officially started.
"Who's he?" Ludwig asked, nodding at Francis.
"I'm Francis," he said, holding out his hand to shake. It was clear in his expression he wasn't expecting Ludwig to take it, so he was surprised when Ludwig did.
"I'm Ludwig," he replied, pulling away.
Francis nodded, asking, "You lived at the orphanage?"
"Up until a few days ago," Ludwig replied. Then, he turned to Yao, before thinking better of it and directing the question at Alfred. "What happened?"
Yao whimpered, and Alfred pat Yao's back. "The principal," Alfred replied simply.
I whispered in Ludwig's ear, "He was at the orphanage last night and…"
I didn't need to finish. Ludwig's eyes hardened in understanding. The majority of people we had arrive were people we'd never see again, especially outside the orphanage, so having it be someone you saw multiple times in one day would really take its toll on Yao.
We looked up when the bell rang. We hadn't realized so much time had passed, so we went to our seats.
Miss Elizabeta smiled at Francis as he stood at the edge of the classroom, looking confused on where to sit. "You must be Francis," she said, kneeling in front of him.
Francis nodded. "I am, are you Hungary?"
"Yes," she replied, smiling at Francis. "Have you gotten a country yet?"
"France," he answered.
"The country of romance," Hungary said. She looked at the seats and said, "Choose anywhere while I get you the lyrics for your version of our song."
He took the desk next to me and looked at me. "What lyrics is she talking about?" he asked as Hungary walked into her office.
"For Marukaite Chikyuu," I replied. Then dropped my voice lower so Mr. Roderich wouldn't hear me, and explained, "It's the song you heard us singing last night."
Francis nodded and took the sheet of paper from Hungary. He looked down and frowned.
"I can help you understand them," Kiku said from Francis' other side.
Francis nodded as Hungary had us sing Marukaite Chikyuu. We agreed on one fact, Francis was a natural when it came to singing it. He already had the chorus down and just needed to learn the parts that were exclusive to France.
Hungary leaned against her desk, staring at us for a few moments.
I blinked, worried she might think there was something wrong. Not that anything was right outside this class, but I didn't like the way she stared at us.
Finally, she said, "We've been asked by the other history classes to reenact the American Revolution. Considering this fight is mostly between America and England, we're going to have the rest of you act as backup cast for the moment."
We nodded. One of the reasons we opted not to perform the American Revolution was because it was only between America and England. We tried picking ones that involved as many of the countries we had as possible, like the World Wars.
"We're going to start on that tomorrow," Miss Elizabeta said. "For today, I think it would be fine for us to show Mr. Roderich and Francis what it is we do in this class."
Again, we nodded. Francis already had an idea about what we did from our explanation, but we weren't sure what Mr. Roderich was told.
I raised my hand. "Yes, Veneziano?" Hungary asked.
"What would you like to have us show Mr. Roderich?" I asked, trying my best to ignore the double meaning behind my words…he seems so nice, I would hate for him to show up at the orphanage because he was here for what we thought he was.
"I was actually hoping to see the performance you kids did yesterday," Mr. Roderich said. "From what Elizabeta tells me, it was quite a sight to behold."
We nodded and grabbed our bags, pulling out the outfits we wore yesterday.
It was easy to tell we had surprised and pleased Miss Elizabeta. "Did you guys make these all by yourselves?"
"Yup!" we cried, grinning.
She walked over to my desk and took a closer look at mine. "And you even put the flag on it. How wonderful!"
I'm willing to admit it, Miss Elizabeta's compliment made me feel proud. It was such a happy feeling in my chest I couldn't even begin to describe it.
Now Arthur raised his hand. "Yes, England?"
"Maybe we could improvise on what we did yesterday," Arthur stated.
"Who agrees that's what we should do for today?" Hungary asked, looking at the rest of us.
Our reply was instant. We all agreed and Yao, Ivan, and Alfred gave verbal agreements.
"Then England, Veneziano, Romano, be out on the stage ready in five," Hungary said, moving to talk to Mr. Roderich again.
We huddled in our group and made our way to the door, talking to each other about possible revisions. I took one last look at Mr. Roderich and Miss Elizabeta before entering the auditorium and found Mr. Roderich staring intently, and I shuddered.
xxx
Ludwig was out on the stage wandering around again, and it was already clear we were taking the improvision for all it was worth. Instead of white light flashing when Fratello and I 'disappeared', it was a bloody red and Ludwig was currently cast in a light of the same color.
Again, Arthur joined us.
"You didn't-" I started
"No, these are just copy, my real ones are fine," Arthur explained, motioning to the tattered clothes that appeared to be his Britannia Angel outfit. He grinned and stated, "Looks like the Britannia Angel found some trouble."
"No kidding," Fratello grumbled.
Again, I checked the wire and nodded. Arthur jumped over the edge and slowed to a stop.
"Germany-" Arthur muttered before collapsing to the ground.
Ludwig ran over as Alfred and Kiku joined him on stage, this time along with Francis.
"What happened?" Francis asked, staring at Arthur.
Ludwig shook his head. Kiku looked at the other end of the stage and said, "Don't look now, but we've got company."
"You'll join Mother Russia, da?" Ivan asked, standing there like it was natural.
"Like hell we will!" Alfred cried, pulling out a makeshift sword and running for Ivan.
I tugged Lovino's sleeve and jumped over the edge, shouting, "Rosario Impale!"
Yao must've played with the lights some more, because this time everything went dark like my attack was black.
I liked how they made it seem like I had attacked Ivan instead of Alfred, because Ivan let himself get covered in fake blood, but he just stood there grinning.
I glanced at Francis. He just stood there, wondering what to do. He looked at me in question and I simple nodded, motioning for him to try something.
"H-hey!" Francis cried, visibly shaking, no doubt from the nerves. "What's going on here?"
"Do you not like it?" Ivan asked. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
I had to force myself to not grin when Lovino came down next to him, looking as controlled as ever. "Romano, what're you doing?" I cried, frowning instead.
"Helping," Lovino replied, holding up his hand.
"Rosario Impale!" we cried at the same time. This time while both lights flashed, I cut my own wire and landed on the ground, walking up between Ludwig and Kiku.
Kiku was simply standing there watching. "You think what you're doing is right?" Kiku asked, staring at Ivan.
"Da," Ivan replied. "Though it seems like my experimenting hasn't fully paid off if you've still got Veneziano on your side."
"I could never betray my friends!" I told him, holding up my hand like I was getting ready to attack again.
Only this time Lovino beat me to it. "Rosario Impale!" he cried, swinging his hand at Ludwig.
I jumped in front of Ludwig and let myself be the one to get covered in our fake blood.
"Veneziano!" Ludwig gasped from behind me.
I looked at him, smiling, keeping one of my eyes closed and slightly wobbling on my feet to add to the effect of just how bad the attack was. "I said I wouldn't betray you…" I muttered before joining Arthur on the ground.
"H-Hey! How could you do that to your own brother?" Francis cried, clearly trying to talk to Lovino.
Looking at me, grinning like a fool and laughter in his eyes, was Arthur. He was supposed to be unconscious, but I joined him in grinning anyway. We always enjoyed changing what happened with plays we had already completed, and this was just plain fun! Besides, it wasn't like anyone in the audience would see our faces.
Arthur mouthed, I wish I could go change back into England and join them.
I simply grinned in reply, wishing I could do something to help them now that I was supposedly 'dead'.
"Aiyaa! What happened here?" Yao asked, running onto the stage. "I tell you guys to wait for me, that I'm running late, and you come ahead anyway?"
"Well, sorry," Alfred replied, the sarcasm in his voice clearly saying he was anything but sorry.
Arthur winked at me, mouthing, Follow my lead.
Yea, I replied, almost positive I knew what Arthur was going to do.
Ivan said, "It won't matter if you have a hundred people on your side, they're all going to fall against me and Romano."
Arthur twitched, before groaning and sitting up. In the few moments that passed, his gaze turned into a crazy person's. He stood up and muttered, "Payment must be paid…" before jumping at Alfred.
"Whoa! What're you doing?" Alfred cried, barely dodging Arthur.
Ivan smiled, saying, "Why, what I wish, da?"
"Yes…" I muttered, sitting up also, letting the blank look I had practiced for our actual performance overcome my face. "Whatever you wish…"
"Veneziano, don't do this!" Ludwig cried, stepping backwards.
Kiku followed, saying, "Please, you don't need to!"
"But I do," I muttered, holding my hand up and saying, "Rosario Impale."
At the same time, Lovino motioned at Yao and Francis and said, "Rosario Impale…"
There were two flashes of light and the only ones standing were Ivan, Arthur, Lovino, and me. Everyone else had pretended to crumple to the ground.
"Now we can create this world the way we want, da?" Ivan asked.
All three of us turned to him, saying, "Yes…"
We let the curtain fall shut and started helping everyone up. Now that we had finished, we were all laughing and cheering and just having a great time about what happened and congratulating others on their improvision ideas.
Alfred told Arthur, "The idea to come back as Ivan's henchman was genius!"
"Jumping down to help us was brilliant," Ludwig told me.
I grinned, piping up above all of them, "My favorite one was Francis asking Fratello how he could harm me."
Francis blushed, shaking his head. "It wasn't as great as what you guys did!"
"Are you joking? That was great!" Yao agreed. "It was like challenging his humanity and sense of morals."
"What morals?" Lovino replied, and we all broke down laughing.
Miss Elizabeta and Mr. Roderich walked up. "Oh, that was a splendid," Miss Elizabeta said.
"It was indeed," Mr. Roderich agreed. "I look forward to seeing what you kids can do in the future."
"Thanks, Mr. Roderich!" I said.
Miss Elizabeta grinned. "Mr. Roderich is going to be here for a few weeks to see how you guys progress and help if any of you have problems."
"Well, you can't remain around that long without a country name!" Alfred said.
Mr. Roderich chuckled. "Well, what do you think would be good for me?"
"Austria!" we cried at once, causing all of us to break out in fits of giggles again.
Miss Elizabeta clapped, whispering something Mr. Roderich who smiled and nodded.
Then, again, the bell rang.
xxx
By the end of the school day we were still talking about the improvisions we did earlier that day and coming up with possible ideas to improv the Revolutionary War. The one we all liked so far was everyone else randomly falling off the rafters above the stage looking like we just had a major party and asking England and America what they were doing. Our other favorite was Ivan wandering onto the stage asking for directions to Narnia to prove a point to Yao.
It wasn't up until we had to say goodbye to Ludwig we actually remembered where it was we were returning too.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Ludwig promised.
I nodded, saying, "And we will too!"
Everyone else chimed in agreement and he went in the different direction.
I looked up, frowning. "I don't like the clouds…" I muttered, staring at the darkening gray sky.
"Looks like it's going to rain," Arthur stated.
We looked at each other before running. We didn't want to get caught in the rain.
By the time we got back to the orphanage, it was raining, and the drops were really starting to come down hard. We went inside, dripping wet, and quickly made our way upstairs so we could get some dry clothes.
"Well, at least we know the bags work," I said, opening mine to see that my clothes were still dry. I gathered everyone's bags and hid them under the bed so the matron wouldn't take them.
Once we were all sitting, Francis joining Alfred and Arthur at the chess set, we started talking about some more ideas on what we could do to change the Revolutionary War. We had already agreed it would be boring to make it seem like England was the one that won.
We stopped when we heard footsteps coming, and stared at the door. The matron walked in and sniffed, saying, "Feliciano, Lovino, there are some people here."
We perked up. People here before nighttime meant they were looking to adopt. We jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, though I didn't miss the look of hope that passed over the faces on everyone else in the room.
We had to try and calm ourselves down. We walked into the interview room, which wasn't terribly well kept, and sat down opposite the couple across from us.
Just by looking, they appeared to be newly married and, mostly likely, just finished their honeymoon.
"Hello," the female greeted us. She had a warm smile, slightly tinted cheeks with freckles on them, and brown hair held back in a bun. Sitting next to her was a male that appeared to be rather intimidating. His mouth was set in a surly frown as he examined us and his blond hair looked like it wouldn't dare move out of place.
I looked at his gaze and couldn't help but shudder, though I was able to give a meek 'hello' in return.
"You two must be Feliciano and Lovino," the female said warmly. When we nodded, she smiled, saying, "I'm Angie, and this is my husband Bert."
"It's very nice to meet you," I said, keeping my eyes trained on Angie, because I didn't want to look at the gaze Bert had.
Angie looked down at two papers sitting in front of her, saying, "We weren't given very much information here about you two. What are you two interested in?"
"History," we replied at the same time.
I quickly glanced at Bert, and felt my nervousness increase on the look of disdain in Bert's eyes.
"Really?" Angie asked, trying to act interested. "What is it you find so interesting about it?"
We fell silent. This is where things normally started getting awkward, because how could we explain that the reason we enjoyed history was acting everything out like we were there, and that it was the only class that could allow us to forget everything that happened here?
Angie blinked, looking at Bert.
Bert looked back, before turning to us and asking in a voice that sounded like a growl, "You two into sports?"
We glanced at each other. We had played different sports in Gym, and we didn't like a lot of them. I had written off anything having to do with a ball or a Frisbee that could be sent flying your way, and that was nearly every sport. I wasn't sure about Lovino's reasons, but I knew he didn't particularly enjoy them either.
We shook our heads no. "We're not really the sports type," Lovino growled. I could tell he made sure he didn't include bastard on the end of that statement.
"What do you guys do in your free time then, instead of tossing around a ball?" Bert asked.
We fell silent again. We had learned to ignore it, but when we first started school and our peers realized we sang, they taunted all of us ruthlessly…until Ivan sent a few to the hospital. How would these two react to us telling them that we sang and performed?
We sat there like this for a while. Angie, at one point, moved closer so she could see us better. She looked at me and asked, "Are you getting enough sleep?"
"Of course," I replied, the lie coming readily to my lips.
Angie looked at me for a few more moments before moving over to Lovino, asking the same thing. Lovino said he was as well, and Angie moved back to her seat. It was easy to tell that she didn't believe us by the concern that was written on her face.
It was also easy to tell we weren't going to be adopted.
Finally, Bert looked at the clock and said, "Well, we really must be going. We'll think about it and get back to your matron on the matter."
We nodded and turned to leave. As we were walking out the door, I heard Angie muttering, "Those poor kids aren't getting enough sleep. They've got symptoms of someone who's got a lack of sleep…and something else…"
"Well?" Alfred asked when we reentered the bedroom, but our downtrodden looks must've said it all, because he fell silent again.
We returned to our bed and sat back down. I let out a huge yawn, and almost immediately everyone else followed, complaining about it.
Nighttime came, and we heard the front door opening.
"Another night," Arthur muttered.
Alfred replied, "Another hell."
Lovino muttered something that sounded like an agreement.
Soon enough, the matron was standing there, list in her hand, looking at us. "We've got a busy night tonight," she stated.
We shuddered. That was never a good thing. "Arthur and Francis are in the downstairs bedroom, Arthur on the left and Francis on the right. Feliciano and Kiku, you're both on the other end of the hall, Feliciano on the left and Kiku on the right, and Yao is in the upstairs room."
/AN
Angie and Bert are random people and I randomly made Angie a nurse-in-training.
R&R Please!
AN/