CHAPTER 2

Someone was missing from the Student Council room. Someone who never missed a meeting yet. Everyone seemed to carry on with the meeting, as usual, but one person noticed someone was missing. Ivan scanned the room, looking for one particular Asian student. There was Alfred standing at the front of the room, buoyantly sharing his ideas for the next school dance. He was holding a hamburger in one hand, and a soda in the other, and jumping up and down excitedly while yelling. Arthur sipped his cup of Earl Grey Tea while sighing, and shaking his head, getting annoyed with the American's antics. Francis sat next to Arthur, and leaned on the British gentleman's shoulder, blatantly flirting. Arthur gave him a swift kick from under the desk, and Francis flinched back from Arthur. Ludwig was actually listening to what Alfred was saying, but it was clear that he disagreed with most of Alfred's plans for the End-of-the-Year Dance. Feliciano was hugging Ludwig's arm, obvious attached to him. "Doitsu~!" he called out. "I want some pastaaaaa please?" Sitting next to Feliciano was Kiku, and he silently and calmly sat in his seat, in perfect posture, and raised his hand politely to offer his own contribution to the discussion. The school desks were arranged in a semi-circle arc facing Alfred and the white dry erase board, and everyone was seated in their seats. Except for the person who was supposed to sit next to Ivan.

Where is Yao-Yao? Ivan wondered. He should be here, da? He has never missed a Student Council meeting before!

Ivan grew worried, and he tapped his foot nervously. He glanced at the clock; it was already half an hour into the meeting, and Wang Yao still had not arrived. This was beyond being late. This was skipping the meeting. Or, something bad had happened to Yao. Ivan felt his stomach clench nervously.

Tick-tock. Ten minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Yao. "That's it!" Ivan announced, standing up from his seat. "I am leaving!" He turned on his heel and exited the room. The rest of the student council glanced at each other and then shrugged.

"Just leave him be!" Alfred declared. "I am sure he has his reasons..." Plus, even though I'm the hero, that Russian can get pretty scary! Better not to ask him too many questions...

Ivan walked through the halls, glancing this way and that, keeping his eyes peeled. The school was huge, and he doubted he would get anywhere just searching every hall and every room. I will just have to ask around, da? he concluded to himself silently. Ivan heard whistling, and as he turned the corner, he saw Roderich, who was carrying sheet music and a music stand. "Roderich!" Ivan called out. "Have you seen Yao?"

"No, sorry," Roderich replied. "Shouldn't you two be at the Student Council meet?" Ivan didn't respond, and simply walked away, heading down another hallway.

He asked Gilbert, Antonio, Vash, and Berwald, but so far there was no luck. Ivan also bumped into Raivis, but the poor boy ran away screaming. Hm... maybe I shouldn't have scared him so much on his first day of school... Ivan thought. He really had traumatized the poor thing.

Ivan sighed, and made his way to the front of the school, in front of the main office. Feliks bumped into him, and Ivan grabbed him, asking, "Have you seen Yao?"

"Huh, have I like seen Yao? Like totes! I totally saw him eating something Asian at lunch!" Feliks declared.

Ivan slapped his palm onto his forehead, and clarified, "Not at lunch! I mean recently! You've seen Yao after school, da?"

"Ohh, after school! Yeah, like totally! He's like outside right now!" Feliks pointed out the front door and then skipped away.

Ivan noticed that Feliks was wearing the girls' school uniform. Why...? he started to wonder. It is probably better not to ask.

Ivan walked straight toward the front doors, pushing them open quickly and stepping out into the rain. His umbrella opened up above his head, keeping him nice and dry as he looked for Yao. It did not take him long to spot the Chinese man on the ground. Ivan's breath caught in his throat; his Yao-Yao looked so melancholy, and had he been crying? It was hard to tell through the rain and all, but Ivan could have sworn Yao's cheeks and eyes looked red. Ivan took in a deep breath, and walked straight toward the Chinese man.

Wang Yao heard footsteps approach him. He looked up slowly, and saw a tall figure standing before him. The tall Russian stared down at him silently. He was pretty dry, carrying a sleek peach-colored umbrella. The raindrops rolled off the edges of the umbrella just like they should, painting perfect little lines of wetness to trail across the surface. Ivan's pink scarf was wrapped around his neck snugly, and Yao noted how cozy it looked. The fabric was soft and dry, and the pink color was comforting. Then Yao noticed the soft, friendly smile that was planted on Ivan's face. Ivan was sometimes creepy, with his KOLKOLKOL and all, but at this moment, there was nothing intimidating at all in Ivan's face. His shimmering violet eyes reflected no maliciousness, no negativity. It was just simple and pure kindness and compassion... and perhaps even love.

Ivan held out the umbrella, and Yao realized with a start that the rain halted its rhythmic beating upon his back and head. The only wetness Yao felt was the water that was already soaked in his dark hair and school attire. Yao looked down at the ground again, and tears welled up in his eyes. He blinked them back, and then looked up at the umbrella over his head. It was beautiful; the peachy color had shades of soft pink and sunflower-petal-yellow blended in. It reminded Yao of serene spring times and beautiful summers. Yao looked at Ivan, and the two of them made direct eye contact.

Ivan whispered softly, "I'll keep you dry."

--Author's Note--

I hope you enjoyed the fanfic! This is the first fanfic I've written in a long time, and it is my first Hetalia one... so I am not sure how well I did. Comments are always welcome!