Chapter One
Before heading to my class, I went back into my dorm and looked at myself in the mirror, making sure that my uniform was on correctly. For the boys, the uniform consists of: a white dress shirt, a blazer with an ensignia that goes with our grade, slacks and loafers. The girl's uniform is similiar, except they wear jumpers. The blazer is a dark blue, while the dress shirt is white. Both the slacks and the jumpers are gray, while our loafers are either black or brown. We can wear either the blazer or a sweater, but mostly everyone wears the blazers. Boys wear a black necktie while the girls wear a bowtie. Some say the uniform's too formal, others say it's just right. I couldn't care less, as long as I look presentable.
I fixed my collar and adjusted the insignia on my blazer. It had the Roman numerals "XI" to show that I'm a junior*. I gave another glance into the mirror and sighed. This was as good as it'll ever get. I grabbed my bag that was resting on the floor by my bed, and walked to class.
The room was already crowded, for the most part. Most of the girls were huddled together, with their usual morning gossip. The other guys in the room were basically scattered across the room, talking about the upcoming monthly rally. I sat in my usual seat for first period: first row, second to last seat, which is next to my lab partner, Yao Wang. He's a Cadet Major in the JROTC program and prepares all of the neccessary ceremonies. From my understanding, he's hardworking and and very smart. As usual, he was too busy cramming to notice that I had just sat down next to him. I glanced over at his papers and sighed.
"Forgot to do the homework again?"
He never took his eyes off of the page. "It's not like I forgot," he said. "I was just too busy at work."
Oh, that's right.
You see, Yao is the son of a government official. His father has been in the hospital for years now, and hasn't been paid since. Due to this, Yao has been working himself to support his family. After filling out several forms, he was given a scholarship. However, he split the money amongst his siblings-and his cousin, who also attends this school-while he works to pay off his own tuition.
"But Yao, this is the fifth night in a row."
"I know that!" he snapped. "S-Sorry, but I can't afford to lose my job.
He quickly scribbled a few more sentences and set down his pen. "There, that should do it. Just on time, too," he said as the beel rang and our teacher, Ms. Roux, walked in. She had golden hair and smoke gray eyes. As always, she wore a light blue blouse with a dark blue skirt that went down to the middle of her thighs...Let's just say that there are a lot of guys in our class that like it when she bends over to pick up something.
"Alright, settle down everyone." Ms. Roux said as she placed her briefcase and her water bottle on her desk as everyone else sat down in their assigned seats. "We have a lot to cover today, and to top in all off, we have a transfer student." The room exploded with whispering. After all, we aren't used to transfer students. Actually, the test given to those who are planning on transferring into this Academy is extremely difficult. Yao, others in the JROTC program and myself took the test for fun. None of us got a passing score. It was then that I was thankful to have my grandfather working for the government. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here right now.
Wait...she said "transfer student," right? Didn't Col. Luciano just tell me about having a grandson transferring into this school. It can't be the same person who's attending the same class as me, could it?
Ms. Roux proceeded to delicately take out a piece of chalk and wrote down basic things on the board: month, day and year. "The Headmaster hasn't told me much about him, but I do know that his first name is Feliciano," she said as she wrote down his name on the board. "Now, this being his first class of the day, I want you all to give him a nice, warm welcome. Any questions?" Ms. Roux looked out into a sea of blank faces, her smile persistent. "Alright then. I guess it's time for all of you to meet him." She walked over to the door, motioning for someone to come in.
As he walked in, most of the girls in the class started to cheer. I noticed that Yao, along with the other guys in the class-excluding myself- rolled their eyes at this.
In front of us was a boy with auburn hair and ambitious amber eyes. His skin had a golden tan and his smile was warm. There's was something familiar about this guy, but I couldn't figure out exactly what is was.
"Hello everyone. It's realy nice to meet you. My name is Feliciano. I hope we can all get along."
Ms. Roux cleared her throat. "Now, does anyone have any questions for Feliciano?" One of the girls in the middle of the classroom raised her hands.
"Um, what homeroom are you going to be in?"
Feliciano smiled. "I'm in homeroom 9-A."
The whole class, including myself, stared at him with wide eyes. Yao leaned over towards me. "Isn't that a freshman homeroom?" he whispered. I gave him a confirming nod. "Aiya, what's a freshman doing in a junior class?" he muttered. I slightly chuckled at his annoyance. I tried to glance over at Feliciano's blazer. No ensignia. Damn.
Ms. Roux looked around the room. "Now, where to have you sit..." It was at that point where she looked at Yao, and then at the empty desk behind him. "Yao, please raise your hand." Yao grunted, doing so. If it was me, I'd probably feel the same way. However, I probably would hide it better than Yao. Ms. Roux then turned to Feliciano. "There, you can sit behind Yao over there." Feliciano gave a light nod and a polite smile as he walked over to his assigned seat. Yao was muttering something as Feliciano passed by some of the girls, who couldn't keep their eyes off of him, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Yao, I want to work with him along with Ludwig. Understand?"
"Yes, Ms. Roux," Yao and I replied, both of us trying not to sound irritated.
"Alright, now open your books to chapter five," Ms. Roux said as she opened the teacher's edition of our textbooks. " Yao, can you lend your book to Feliciano for this class period and share with Ludwig?" Yao grunted before clearing his throat. "Yes, ma'am," he replied as he passed his book to Feliciano and looked over at my book.
Ms. Roux took out the same piece of chalk and began to write down some things on the board. Everyone took out a sheet of paper, the sound of each page cutting through the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something white fluttering down to the floor and heard the sound of a quiet struggle. I turned around to see a sheet of paper on the floor and a stretching hand. I reached down quickly to pick up the paper and handed it to Feliciano. He smiled back and mouthed "Thank you," leaving me to nod in response and face forward.
Ms. Roux had finished up what she was writing and inderlined the word "genetics." She cleared her throat and stood to the side of the chalkboard.
"Alright, as you can see the topic for this week is Genetics. Now, genetics is the study of heredity, where traits are being passed from parents to their children. Today, we'll be covering chromosomes and take a quick look at the human geome." Ms. Roux took out her water bottle from her desk and took a sip before continuing. "Chromosomes contain the genetic material of a cell. They are composed of deoxyribonucleic acid and protein. They exist in pairs except in gametes, which are the male and female reproductive cells. With that in mind, one chromosome from each pair is given by the male parent, while the other comes from the female parent. Now, if you turn to page fifty two, you'll see a graph that lists all of the chromosomes in a normal human body."
Everyone shuffled through the pages of the textbook as Ms. Roux continued. To be honest, I was never really all that good with this kind of stuff. Hell, the only thing I really remember in Punett Squares, and that's only because they're the easiest thing in the world to understand. At least, that what everyone in this class says.
"Alright, as I said, this is a chart of a normal person's chromosomes. A normal cell contains twenty three pairs of chromosomes. Twenty two of those pairs are sets of homologous pairs that contain genetic information. The twenty third pair is composed of sex chromosomes, which determines the gender. It should be noted that XY is male and XX is female."
Now, given that Feliciano's introduction and Ms. Roux's lecture up to that point had taken only a mere fifteen minutes, I found myself rather bored. I stared at the clock, hoping that time could go a whole lot quicker. Did I mention that I find this kind of stuff boring? After listing some diseases that were caused by chromosomal abnormalities and talking about the human genome, Ms. Roux erased the board.
"Alright, this Friday, we'll have our usual ten question test on what we've learned today and the rest of the week. For homework, there is no formal assignment. However, I strongly recommend that you study." She looked over at the clock, then back at us. "For the remaining several minutes, you can relax. You all did well today."
I glanced over at Yao, who looked as if he was going to fall asleep at any given moment. He turned around, feeling something poking his back.
"Thank you for lending me your book," Feliciano said as he handed back Yao's book.
"No problem..." he mumbled as he put his book in his backpack. "So...what school did you go to before you came here?" As curious as I was, I turned to face both of them, listening to their conversation. Feliciano gave a thoughtful look. "Well, I was traveling abroad for a while, but I decided that I wanted to settle down in a school for once."
"Hm, what countries did you visit?" I asked.
"Let's see...I travelled all across Europe. From there, I travelled to North America and made my way down to Central America. Now...well, I'm here talking to you two~! Although, I wish I could've gone to Asia. If I wasn't here, that's where I would've gone to. But maybe I will in the future."
"That sounds nice," I commented. "I wish I could travel." Feliciano nodded. "Yeah, travelling's really fun. You see different people, and everything!"
Yao yawned. "If you were going to Asia, which country woud you go to first?" Feliciano let out a curious sigh. "Hm...I haven't given it much thought...but I think I would've gone to the Philippines first."
Yao raised his eyebrow, then smiled. "That's interesting. Usually, everyone goes to China or Japan. So why the Philippines?"
Feliciano shrugged. "It just seems interesting to me, that's all. Isn't that a good enough reason to go?" Yao nodded. "I understand. After all, I have a cousin from the Philippines. I've been there a few times. If you ever go, I recommend that you wear something really light. I made the mistake of wearing a jacket." This was the most I've ever seen him talk to a stranger. And to think that in the beginning of class, Yao and I were slightly annoyed with him.
In an instant, the bell rang, signalling for us to go to our next class.
"Well, it was nice talking to you two." Feliciano said with a smile. "I hope we can talk some more."
"If you need any help," Yao began, "you can ask us. We're usually in the old science building by the main gate at lunch. If you're having trouble, you can go there and ask for us." Feliciano nodded as he walked towards the door. I let out a small chuckle, making Yao stare at me. "What's so funny?"
"You're usually not that nice to strangers."
"Well, neither are you."
I shrugged. "Oh well." After all, this Feliciano guy might really be Col. Luciano's grandson. But what are the possibilities?
After fourth period had ended, I decided to head straight for the old science building, which is now the JROTC building. But because we've had the JROTC program reinstated only three years ago, a lot of the other students aren't used to calling it the "R.O.*" building. So we're stuck calling it the "Old Science Building." I was taking the usual route to the R.O. room, which was through the back door. I found this route to be somewhat fun, since the back door leads through a series of hallways. I guess you can say it's like a labyrinth. We usually use those hallways for "training," but I like to use them in my free time. Other than the school library the room known as the Dungeon, and the room know as the Boiler Room, this was the most quiet place in the whole school.
"Wah!"
...what?
For some reason, I found that I was moving towards the echoing screams. I dashed down the hallways and found myself standing behind a group of juniors. I stayed quiet, trying to listen to what was going on.
I didn't recognize most of the juniors, but I noticed that one of them had brown hair and green eyes*. There was something about this guy I didn't like, but I didn't know why...
He kicked something, or rather, someone. That person let out a small squeal.
"Tch, just because you're his grandson doesn't mean you deserve special treatment."
Another kick. Another squeal.
"I-I don't u-understand why you're d-doing this..."
That voice.
I immediately pushed through the crowd of juniors, not caring how hard I shoved them out of my way. There in front of me was a boy with auburn hair lying on the ground...and someone with brunt skin with their hand balled into a fist. He turned around and face me.
"What do you want, Beilschmidt? This doesn't concern you."
I felt the blood rush to my face. The next thing I knew, my fist made contact with his face.
"What gives you the goddamn right to beat up on him?"
The other guy smirked. He was really starting to piss me off. I walked over to Feliciano and helped him up. He was still shaking, and blood dripped from his mouth to his jaw then finally staining his shirt. I positioned myself so that he was behind me.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," I whispered. He nodded back in response as the other guy scoffed. "Tch, do you not know who that kid is? He's Lovino's younger brother, and I got a bone to pick with that guy! Him and that bastard friend of his*."
Lovino...that name sounded so familiar...
Oh! He's the platoon leader of the JROTC program. We never really did get along. Wait...Feliciano's his younger brother? That means that...Feliciano, the guy standing behind me right now, is Col. Luciano's grandson...
"Feliciano, listen to me," I whispered, "continue down the hallway and make a right. That'll lead you to a flight of stairs. Go upstairs, and ask for a guy named Gilbert and a guy named Alfred. Can you remember that?" Those two are in Raiders*, so I know they'll be of help. He nodded and whispered back. "Down the hall, make a right, up the stairs, ask for Gilbert and Alfred."
"Alright, now go."
As he fled somewhere behind me, fists were flying at me. At some point in my blurry vision, I saw Feliciano running back towards me.
"Just go!" I shouted back at him before I started feeling pain in my stomach. I could barely make out his silhouette turning back. Then after a while, I couldn't feel much anymore. All I heard was someone calling my name.
That's all I could remember.
A/N:
*Roman numeral XI- The Tesoro Academy goes from Kindergarten to College. To know what grade level a student is in, they have an ensignia, in this case, a Roman numeral, pinned onto their blazers. Kindergarten doesn't have a Roman numeral, so students get one starting in the first grade.
*R.O.- When I was in JROTC, I remember that we just called it "R.O." I think they do that everywhere...
*One of them had brown hair and green eyes - If you can guess who that is, you get cookies :D
*That bastard friend of his- Lol, guess who
*Raiders- It's this program in RO where you work on physical and mental strength...there's a lot of weight lifting...so it was awesome to see all of those guys work out :D I was actually asked to join...but I couldn't. Oh well.
So in conclusion: Feliciano's really Col. Luciano's grandson! But he just transferred in and he already made an enemy! But just who is this enemy? And what does Lovino have to do with this? And can Alfred and Gilbert save Ludwig on time?
I hope you guys enjoyed this! Until next time.