Arthur knew that whatever he was looking for was not in Alfred's apartment. He had checked everywhere! Each and every room. Met all the neighbors.. It's been at least 3 days and everyone knew his name and would wave at him when they saw him wandering around.

"Eh? You want to come to my office?" Arthur nodded. Whatever he was looking for was not in their apartment. He was sure.

Alfred quirked an eyebrow. Arthur had stayed home for the past 3 days and suddenly he wants to see his office. It was a bit strange... But it was none of his concern. If Arthur wanted to come with him, then sure. He considered Arthur to be his friend and trusted him enough to leave him alone during work.

"Sure, why not? Just don't cause any trouble. My boss is pretty hardcore when it comes to punishment..." he shivered, remembering his boss, Elizaveta Héderváry. Dear God, was that woman good with a frying pan, and not only in the cooking sense...

Arthur smiled. Everything was going smoothly so far. He noticed Alfred shiver when he mentioned his boss, but he shrugged and ignored it. Of course he wouldn't bother Alfred. He'd be too busy looking around, after all.

Arthur had gotten used to living with Alfred, who now permanently took the small couch in the corner while he slept on the bed. They would squabble every night, for Arthur kept insisting that it was impolite of him to take the bed while he took the couch. It was quite absurd really. Alfred was taller than him and would obviously never find comfort in that small, cramped couch. But Alfred insisted, every time, that Arthur take the bed and he would end the argument by going over to the couch and willing himself to sleep.

'How the bloody hell does he do that anyway..?' Arthur wondered idly. He barely noticed Alfred grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the building. He called for a cab and got in, pulling Arthur with him.

"So this is how you get to work.." Arthur mumbled

"Heh, yeah. I don't have enough money to manage a car. Not everyone in New York is rich an famous y'know?" Alfred chuckled, sighing to himself.

"I see.. You're either on top of the world or in a bottomless pit?" Arthur sighed as well. Humans were always like this.. Driven by money and power... Nobody ever did anything for the sake of kindness anymore.

"Huh, never thought of it that way..." Alfred quirked an eyebrow. That was a pretty deep conception.

They stayed silent for a few minutes before Arthur spoke up again. "So... What do you do for a living?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm just a worker.. You know.. Sending alerts to subscribers of our company's magazine."

"Magazine? What's the magazine about?"

Alfred chuckled "Boy love. Yaoi. Anti Homophobia. Anything related to Homosexuality."

Arthur raised an eyebrow "Who the hell would buy such disgusting-"

"Oh you'll be surprised. Our company is pretty successful.. It's pretty scary, actually."

"But who would-"

"Girls of ages 13 onwards. 'Otakus' as my coworker, Kiku Honda, says. He's pretty crazy over the magazine himself... And he gets along extremely well with my boss." Alfred was not going to mention the disturbing stares he got from the two. Elizaveta would stare at him, then his Russian coworker, Ivan Braginski (creepy bastard). Sometimes Kiku would eye him and the French secretary, Francis Bonnefoy (pervert). And when both of their noses bleed, Kiku would grab a pencil and some paper and start drawing. Elizaveta would go to her laptop and start typing away. Strange pair of friends they were...

"Is it, at the very least, not rated 18?" Arthur shuddered. If this was Alfred's job, he must have been desperate.

Alfred shook his head. "Damn, do I feel oh so very sorry for the proofreaders of the magazine.." an Austrian, Roderich, and someone from somewhere in Germany (he claims to be Prussian), Gilbert.

And Alfred left it at that. He had a hunch Arthur didn't want to know the rest. So they sat in silence for the last few minutes of the ride.


"Okay is everyone here?" Elizaveta yelled, instantly grabbing all her employees' attention.

"Hai." the Japanese man nodded. "Alfred-san, though, is late. As usual."

The woman smiled "Then there are no abnormalities today! Excellent!" and she quickly strolled over to where the Japanese man was sitting.

"Hey, Kiku, have you noticed anything different about Alfred for the past few days?"

Kiku nodded "Yes, Elizaveta-chan. He seems to be happier. I've never seen him smile so much before. When I asked, he simply said he did not notice."

A devious smile appeared on the woman's lips. "Maybe he's in love."

Kiku snickered "Hai. If he is, we should ask him to bring his lover over some time. I have to thank her for making Alfred-san smile."

"Hey guys, sorry i'm late! I brought a friend over, do you mind?" Alfred burst into the room, and as usual, he was exactly 5 minutes late. Kiku and Elizaveta whipped their heads around to look at Alfred, only to have their usual greeting words die in their mouths as they saw Alfred, hand in hand with another man.

They were quiet for a few minutes before the Hungarian quickly ran over to Alfred and clasped his other hand with both of her hands.

"Since when!? Why didn't you tell me! I would have given you a raise if you only told me!~ Since wheen?~" she sang, a sparkle in her eyes as she desperately shook Alfred's hand.

"Since when what?!" Alfred exclaimed, not really sure what she was talking about. Except whatever he had done, if he had done it, was his ticket to getting a raise.

She eyed Arthur's hand which was in Alfred's in a tight grip. At that moment, Arthur understood and turned a dangerous shade of red, pulling his hand away from Alfred's.

"N-no! You are sorely mistaken! It isn't like that! I'm just his friend..." Arthur stammered.

Eliaveta's expression fell immediately and she quickly released the grip on Alfred's hand. "Oh.." She simply stated. She turned around and walked towards the hallway leading to her own office.

"He may stay. Just make sure he doesn't disrupt your working pace." she waved her hand dismissively and slowly walked away.

"Ah, damn. And I was about to get a raise for it too.." Alfred sighed. Maybe if it was an easier requirement, he would have gotten that raise. But, oh well.

"I-I'm sorry about that.. I- I didn't mean to get rid of your opportunity to-"

"S'okay. Follow me, i'll show you where I work." Alfred gave a small smile and walked towards his work space. He passed Kiku and his smile widened. "Hey Kiku! This is Arthur. He's my new temporary roommate!"

Kiku bowed respectfully "Hello Arthur-san. My name is Honda Kiku. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, yes.. Hello." Arthur nodded.

Kiku gave a friendly smile before going back to his workspace and typing away.

Alfred chuckled and walked into his own workspace which was, Arthur noted, as messy as his room. Doodles of himself in hero costumes were posted on his little bulletin board. His files had similar doodles. Arthur sighed, this man was probably the most disorganized bloke he's ever met.

"Well, here's my workspace. If you need anything, just ask around. Everyone here is kind- just don't go near the big guy with a pink scarf. And don't ask the secretary for anything. Don't even look at his direction. That's all you need to know." Alfred winked at Arthur before turning on his computer.

Arthur nodded but stayed inside the workspace, curious as to what Alfred really did in this company. When he entered the building, everything seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. But they were cleverly disguised.. The name of their company was "Hungary's Official Magazine Organization". Take the first letter in each word and it spells HOMO. Brilliant in some sort of twisted way..

Arthur looked over Alfred's shoulder, watching Alfred type in message after message. 'Heh, the kid's pretty good at writing if you look closer..'


Alfred was 17 back then. He was in his room, writing a letter to his father after they had an intense argument.

'Dear dad,' he wrote, 'If you're reading this, i'm probably already on my way to school to drop out.. Matthew and you would probably be better off without wasting money on me for school, seeing as though all you do is yell at me and curse at me for failing school. So what if i'm not as smart as Matty? I'm not like him, dad. Matthew may be smart, but i'm physically stronger, can adapt faster.. Come on dad! You should have just let me drop out of school and work.. I'd be more useful that way... Please, dad... I hate seeing you suffer... I've seen you take those pain killers... And I don't like seeing you come home drunk... I hate dragging you up the stairs, setting up some aspirin next to a glass of water for you in the mornings... Matty hates it too, he's just too shy to complain. But, as i've said, i'm not Matthew. I'm doing this because I lo-'

That was all he could write, before he heard his brother's scream and a crashing sound downstairs. He arrived at the scene of his brother, holding their father in his arms and screaming at him for help, with his father on the floor, barely breathing.


"Alfred? It's your lunch break... Hello?" Arthur waved a hand in front of his face, making him blink in surprise.

"Sorry, spaced out a bit back there." Alfred smiled. 'Where'd that memory come from?'

Arthur was reading Alfred's work and he quirked an eyebrow.

"I thought you made messages for the company. Not write novels.." he proofread it. Surprisingly, it had no errors. Not even a typo.

"Impressive.. No errors so far. And the story is based on romance, correct? A boy love story.. Hm, is this made up?"

Alfred nodded. "It's one of my requirements. Just in case we can't find a good story, the employees have to make one each and submit it, then Kiku will read through it and choose the best ones with awesome story lines. Then he sends it over to the proofreaders and finally, it goes through Elizaveta. She decides wether we publish it in the magazine or not."

"Interesting story... I'm surprised. But when did you shift from typing messages to typing up that novel?" Arthur had left to investigate the other workspaces. Quite interesting but nice people, though they didn't have what he was looking for. He went back to Alfred when he heard the lunch bell, only to catch the bloke spacing out in front of the screen. But the look on his face looked.. sad. Almost like he was about to cry. Arthur's heart felt as if it was being weighed down again. For some reason, he hated seeing Alfred cry.

Alfred smiled. "I finished sending the messages to all the subscribers assigned to me, so I had free time to work on the novel."

"I see.. Shall we go to lunch then? I'm absolutely famished." Arthur chuckled, offering his hand out to Alfred, who took it all too willingly and hooked his arm around the Brit's.

"Okay then, lunch it is! Let's go to McDonalds, i'll buy!" Alfred grinned, one of the most genuine smiles Arthur has ever seen from the man.

Arthur blushed and weakly pushed Alfred away. "Fast food? I beg to differ, but since you're paying... I'll play along." he smiled.

Alfred winked and dragged Arthur towards the elevator. "Okay then, it's a date!"


Author's Note:

OHOHOHO. It's the date next, yezzur. 8D

Please tell me through reviews what you want them to do during their little date!

I don't own Hetalia **will forever sob until she owns it** 8D