A/N: Ah here we are with the second chapter of Catalyst! Thank you to those who reviewed, faved, and didn't think my work was crap! :D Reviews are encouraged because I would love to hear feedback from you guys. Also, because school is evil, I will probably be updating irregularly (1-2 weeks at the most) Sorry for any inconvenience! (and sorry for the shortness of this chapter) Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, but I do plan on it.

"So your older brother sounds a lot like mine," Mei laughed. Mei and Xiang were leaving the deli and were making their way back to the dance company to find out the audition results. The two were talking about their childhood and family and coincidentally, they both live with their older brothers.

"Hmm? How so?" Xiang inquired.

"Old, boring. Pretty much no fun at all~"

Xiang couldn't help but to chuckle. "That is so true. But with the oldness comes experience and good advice."

Mei smiled and shrugged. "They're still old."

They continued to chat as they approached the dance company. A few young men and women were waiting outside, crying and disappointed expressions on their face. Mei saw this and became noticeably discouraged. Xiang placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a look that seemed like he said "I believe in you". Mei swallowed to get rid of a lump that formed in her throat and began walking to where the results were posted.

"Hey, I'm about to go tell Mr. Honda I'm back. Good luck," Xiang said before he and Mei parted.

She approached a sheet of paper, hanging on the wall. Surrounding this paper was a group of people with saddened faces. Mei managed to push her way through the crowd to where the sheet was located. Before taking a good look at the paper, she took a breath and closed her eyes. 'Here goes nothing…'

She opened her eyes and her mouth went agape. The only thing printed on this sheet of paper was.

Taiyo Dance Company 2011 Incoming Dancers

Natalia Arlovskaya

Meimei Wang

Congratulations! See you next week for the first dance session.

Mei stood there for a while. Her mind did not believe what her eyes saw. This was it. This was the opportunity to make a name for her, doing what she loved. Mei didn't even acknowledge the fact that there were only two names printed on that sheet.

The Taiwanese girl was so busy gawking at the sheet; she did not notice that Natalia was standing next to her, looking at the sheet silently.

"Excellent," Natalia mumbled.

Mei became a little startled at the sudden speech. She snapped out of it and turned towards the girl. "Oh… isn't it? I can't believe we made it!"

Natalia nodded. "I think we were the best."

"Right! Hey, by the way, where did you run off to so fast?"

"Oh. I wanted to go find my older brother. But, unfortunately, he departed earlier than I expected." She sighed and paused for a moment. "He would be pleased to find out I made the cut."

"You two should celebrate," Mei suggested. "That reminds me… I need to get home! I'll see you Monday, Natalia." She smiled and waved as she walked off. Natalia nodded curtly, bidding the fellow dancer a farewell.

Xiang went back to the dance studio room to look for Kiku who wasn't there at the time. He grew bored as he waited and sat at the piano and began to play some chords.

"Xiang? Why are you here?" a voice called out to the Asian boy. He looked up and saw it was his boss and the conductor of the Taiyo Symphony Orchestra, Roderich Edelstein. Roderich was around the same height as Xiang, but older by at least a decade. He began to unbutton his jacket as he approached his pupil and employee.

"Oh… I was helping out with the dancers today," he replied.

Roderich nodded. "Oh, yes. I remember now. How did they do?"

"They all were good," Xiang commented. "But I think only a handful made the cut. I haven't seen the results yet."

"Hmm. It's just like Kiku to break these young kids' hearts," Roderich sighed and shook his head. "Speaking of, where did he run off to? We have business to attend to."

"Uh, I have no clue. I was waiting for him myself."

"I see. I think I'll try and find him. See you Monday, Xiang," Roderich said as he began to turn around and head off elsewhere. Before he could leave, Xiang stood up and shouted, "Mr. Edelstein, wait!" Roderich turned around and raised his eyebrow, impatiently. "Hmm?"

"I, uh, I have something for you," Xiang said, in almost a whisper as he fumbled through his folder of sheet music. You could tell that he was nervous. His hands were shaking slightly, his breathing grew a little uneven, and an expression of worry grew on his usually calm face. Xiang pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Roderich.

Upon looking at the paper Xiang gave him, Roderich sighed in frustration. "Another one, Xiang?"

"Please hear me out..." Xiang began but was cut off by Roderich giving him back the paper and replying, "Xiang you are an amazing musician and composer but I do not think that this music is suited for our orchestra. Continue writing and I'll know when your work is ready to be played by us."

Xiang nodded silently as Roderich departed. He sat back down and looked at the piece of music that he spent so many weeks writing, perfecting, just to get it denied performance by the orchestra, again. Xiang put his all into writing music but unfortunately for him, his all wasn't good enough for his boss. He sighed and balled up the sheet of music and threw it on the ground in a sharp motion.

"Ugh… and he says Mr. Honda breaks people's hearts…" Xiang grabbed his papers and jacket and began to head out. It was an exhausting and disappointing day. All he wanted to do was lay in bed until rehearsal Monday. But first, Xiang wanted check and see if Mei made it into the company. She was a pleasant person and she brought out the extrovert in Xiang (which was hard to do). Maybe having her around wouldn't make things so miserable and dull around here, he thought.

He walked to the listing and hoped for the very best, for his new friend and his own sanity. His eyebrows were raised in when he saw the names. He wasn't surprised, instead, pleased and happy for the both of them. Xiang began to walk to his car so he could go home and tell his older brother about his day. The weekend would be boring as usual but Monday, however, would bring some sort of variety.

R&R :)