A/N: Hey readers! Thank you guys so much for reading the prologue and had decided to continue reading (even though this chapter came really late)! Also, thank you to those who decided followed, favourited and reviewed! ( NatureLuvMaple thank you, and I agree, Suisen is acting like total a jerk -3-) Hopefully, you guys will enjoy this chapter :)! Um, yeah, that's really all I wanted to say so...we'll see about next chapter! Later, and thanks again :D

Chapter 1

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

The thirteen year old blonde stirred around in his bed, turning over to one side and putting a pillow over his head, trying to ignore the annoying shrills of the phone. Unfortunately, the ringing continued on for a while, and he was forced to crawl out of bed. He tiredly made his way towards the living room, and picked up the house phone.

"'Ello?" He barely mumbled into the phone tiredly, laying his head against the wall to keep himself up as he closed his eyes.

"Hello, Dad?" Asked a familiar, quiet voice over the line.

"Mattie?" Alfred asked the caller.

"No, wait, Alfred?" Matthew replied back.

"Yeah, dude, it's me. Bro, do you even know what time it is? It's way too early to be calling at this time! Especially on a Saturday!"

"Yeah, I'm SO sorry for waking you up at 9 in the morning," he heard his brother snap back, but Alfred couldn't take the hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"…Wait, are you serious when you say that?"

"No, I'm not seriously sorry," Matthew replied teasingly, as if Alfred was being incredibly stupid for believing.

"Hey, that's not nice dude! How can you be so mean to me when you just woke me up-"

"Okay, calm down," Matthew said with a sigh, not wanting to hear Alfred's rant, and seemed to be a bit impatient for some reason. "I was just wondering, but did you receive any mail addressed to you?"

"Uh, dude, I just woke up, so how would I know if I got mail?"

"No? Can you check your mailbox?"

"Bro, why should I do that? I want to go back to bed!"

"C'mon Alfred, please? And if there is, can you also open it, too?" There was a slight pause between the two.

"Fine," Alfred grumbled, annoyed that he couldn't go back to sleep, as he grab the keys his Dad had left on the coffee table. "But I don't know why you want me to go check."

He quickly opened the closet to get his sandals out (since he was too lazy to take the time to put socks for his shoes), before realising he was still in his pajamas. These pajamas that he wore were by far his favourite, consisting of a blue shirt with the big Superman insignia right in the middle, along with the matching pants. He just shrugged to himself, not really caring that he was still wearing that, and opened the front door. One would call this very childish for still liking those comic books or even a geek, but he calls it being heroic…with style.

Alfred had left his glasses on the stand where his cell phone was also there. Should he go and get them? …Naw, Alfred thought to himself. I'm just going downstairs. I highly doubt I need it. The blonde silently closed the door behind him, and locked it with one of the keys. Luckily, the apartment he lived in was only on the third floor, so he could just take the staircase to the bottom floor.

"Yo, dude, I'm downstairs already. Can you please tell me what I'm looking for and why you're making me check?" He asked, crossing the empty lobby to the mailbox area. He opened their mailbox, and started to leaf through the letters that were inside. They were all directed towards Arthur, which Alfred was pretty sure they were all for paying taxes and rent. But, then, his view landed on a brown envelope that was bigger than the others. He looked at who it was addressed to, and found out it was for none other than himself.

"Why?" his brother echoed. "Oh, well because I got a letter from R.I.A, and guess what?"

"What?" Alfred exclaimed at both his brother and to the letter he held, as he looked at the sending address, and his eyes widened.

It was a letter from the international school that was in the town he lived in: Roma's International Academy (also known as R.I.A).

This academy is a very well-known international boarding high school, funded by a man named Romulus Vargas, who is also the principal of the school to this day. The school accepts students from all around the world, but only accepts them in the two of the most popular cases- the first being that you pay the yearly tuition fees, which can go up to $100 000, or even more. The second option is by receiving a scholarship that the school offers, which many aims for. The school offers plenty scholarships like for sports or arts; however, Alfred just went for the regular academic scholarship, by taking the exam and passing with more than 95%.

"Dude, I got one too! Hold on, before anything, let me just check it out!"

"Okay, okay, I'll let you open your letter first," Matthew replied, and Alfred opened the top of the letter. He stood there, hesitant about looking inside. What if he didn't get in? Stop thinking this way, Alfred! He thought to himself. Think positive!

"…So?" Matthew asked, breaking the long pause between the two as Alfred read the paper.

"…I got in," Alfred replied, with the most bewildered expression on his face. "Yo, Dude, I got in!"

"You got in?! Oh that's wonderful!" Matthew replied happily over the line. "I got accepted to the scholarship too! I guess we can finally go to the same school again!"

"Yeah," Alfred said softly with a smile. "We can…" Ever since they were 10, the two brothers were separated to live with either one of their fathers. Matthew ended up staying with their Papa, Francis, while Alfred stayed with Arthur. Although, the two always see each other and could stay at each other's house, they had to attend two different schools due to the distance.

"I'm surprised," Matthew continued, and Alfred started to lock the mailbox door. He soon made his way towards the door that led to the staircase, carrying the mail under one arm and the phone on his opposite hand.

"About what? Getting in?"

"Yeah, kind of," Matthew replied, followed by a nervous chuckle. "I was a bit.

"I don't know why you were worried, because you're, like, crazy smart and would have owned the test like a boss! Just be all like, 'Chill, dudes, I got this!', and just zip through all the answers faster than the Flash!"

He heard his brother chuckle on the other end of the line. "You're so odd at times, you know that?"

"Hey, being odd is what makes me lovable."

"Mhm…Hey, is it alright if I can come over at this time? I could come a little later, you know, if you want to go back to bed-"

"Yeah, bro! Come over right now!" Alfred yelled into the phone.

"O-Ow…Alfred, tone it down a bit!" Matthew replied. "Goodness, those crabby neighbours are going to kill you if you keep yelling."

"They can't do anything," Alfred said, swinging open the door to the third floor, and strolling down the hallway to his apartment room.

"…Okay, hey, Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll call you back, okay? I'm using the house phone right now, and I just need to get ready. I'll call you later with my cell, alright?"

"Totally fine by me, brah. Later," Alfred replied, before clicking the end button on the house phone. He placed it into in its usual place, while placing the letters on the coffee table. Alfred still had time, so he decided to at least tidy himself up for the rest of the day.

Alfred dragged himself into the bathroom, and did his usual quick morning routine. Brush his teeth; taking his time in the shower… the things one would do in the bathroom.

He came out of the bathroom after a while, and started to make his way to his room to put on a fresh pair of clothing. He passed his Dad's room, and slightly looked through the half open door to see if he was awake. He could make out the outline of his Dad still sound asleep on his bed, curled up in a cocoon of blankets.

He gently closed the door and continued to make his way to his room. Dumping his clothes into his laundry hamper that was against one side of the wall, he quickly changed into a T-shirt he favoured along with other shirts he owned (it was the one with the Green Lantern insignia on it), before putting on a pair of pants he found comfortable enough to wear around the house and his red-framed glasses. It's not like he plans on going anywhere outside, so he was going to have to dress cozy.

Alfred caught a quick glimpse of the outside from the window in his room. They were in the month February here in the town where Alfred, lived in Canada. It was said to be snowing last night, and he could see a fresh patch snow made it on their balcony sill, and maybe even some blew in to the balcony. He had heard during the previous night that today would be even colder than it was yesterday which is a total bummer for Alfred. He had always had a sort of disliking for the winter (especially the chilling temperatures), but as long as he gets to stay inside and cozy himself on the couch wrapped with a thick blanket with a mug of hot chocolate, he can get through it.

That was, actually, what he was thinking about doing for the rest of his day with Matthew. Maybe even play a few video games while they were at it. Or, actually, they could watch a bunch of horror movies together, but he'll reserve that part at night …even though he admits that he gets scared shitless from those movies (Matthew found the movies incredibly ridiculous, which makes Alfred think that Matthew is the one who was ridiculous for not being the least bit scared).

Hey, what's today's date? Alfred thought randomly, when he checked his phone. February 10th. It was February 10th that day. That would mean tomorrow would be the 11th. Huh. It was weird, but Alfred felt that something was happening the next day…

He didn't think too much about it, since his phone started to ring, and he answered, knowing who it was.

"Yo-yo yiggity-yo?" Alfred asked as he walked out of the door of his bedroom. He started to walk towards the kitchen, going to get something to eat that morning. He opened a few cupboards above the kitchen sink, peeking through.

"Hey, I'm on the bus," his brother whispered, and he could hear the mono-toned voice of the lady in the background announcing the next stop.

"Hey, doesn't Papa have a car? Couldn't you have asked him?"

"Yeah, but he had work the previous night, so I didn't want to ask him. And anyway, it's not big of a deal for me to take the public bus and walk."

"How long will it take you to get here?" Alfred mumbled, and saw a box of Fruit Loops. He then looked into the fridge, to check if there was anything else he could eat.

"It's not going to take me that long, I'm pretty sure about that."

"How's it like outside?" Alfred asked, sighing disappointingly when he saw that they had no milk in the jug. He then spotted a McDonald bag that sat beside the cans of soda he hasn't (surprisingly) finished. He had bought some burgers the previous day and he was pretty sure that it was not spoilt. Or, at least, he hoped it's not spoilt. He really didn't want to eat cereal without the milk.

"It's not that bad," Matthew replied. "It's actually decent."

"Decent…right," Alfred sarcastically said. "Why am I even asking you this, dude? You're the one who would say that it's decent outside even if there were 20 centimeter of snow that fell and the temperature below -22 degree Fahrenheit!"

The boy opened the bag, and sure enough, there was a perfectly wrapped hamburger in there. He took it out, and examined it. Maybe he shouldn't eat it. But, then again, it is a hamburger…and it should be alright, especially since he bought it the previous night…

His stomach let out a low growl, signaling that Alfred desperately had to eat. Alfred shrugged to himself, and placed the hamburger inside the microwave to warm it up. He waited for the microwave to finish warming up his morning meal as he talked with Matthew.

"Do you mean the temperature is below -30 degree Celsius?"

"Yeah, yeah, what you said."

"You know that we don't live in the U.S, right? We use Celsius, not Fahrenheit…"

"Whatever. Saying it in Fahrenheit is so much easier for me."

"…You're such an American."

"H-Hey! Is that supposed to be an insult?!" Alfred shouted into the cell, and soon received a scolding.

"How many times do I have to tell you to quiet down your voice, Alfred?!" Matthew exclaimed (said). "You're always yelling instead of talking in a normal voice! The whole building can hear you, and you'll wake people up!"

"Well, sorry if my normal voice is so loud, dude," Alfred snapped back, and heard the microwave beeping, indicating that it was done with the job. He opened the microwave's door and took out the hamburger. "And it's not like someone is going to walk up just because of my-"

All of the sudden, Alfred heard the sound of a door opening at the end of the small corridor where one would find the bathroom and the rooms. The blonde leaned out of the kitchen, and tried to look down the corridor. Alfred was able to see his Dad, with his blonde hair flying everywhere and the towel that hung on his shoulders, trudging towards the bathroom as he muttered a string of curses under his breath, and slamming the door behind him. Oops. Maybe he was being a bit too loud…

The youth then proceeded to exit the kitchen and into the living room, and sat square on the black couch. On the opposite wall from where the couch laid was the T.V. they received from one of his uncles, who had replaced it with another one. Beside it, there was his Xbox he had received as a gift for his previous birthday, and stacks of DVDs, old VCRs, and video games on the side.

"It's so nice outside," he heard Matthew sighed cheerfully.

"Are you blind, dude? Do you need your glasses fixed?" Alfred asked, returning his attention towards his food, and unwrapped the small packaging of the hamburger. He then took a big bite from the hamburger. Hm. It didn't taste bad at all. He then proceeded to say, with his mouth still filled, something that sounded like, "Dere's so mus sow ouside!"

"What?" Matthew asked, not understanding a single word he was saying. Alfred started to chew furiously and swallowed the food.

"I said, 'There's so much snow outside!'" Alfred repeated, continuing to munch on his hamburger.

"What did you even say earlier? It sounded like your mouth was full."

"It was. I'm eating a hamburger, bro."

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting and discourteous."

"Yes, Father," Alfred said with a tone of sophistication, doing an eye roll. "Can you speak in English, Matt?"

"…What do you think I'm speaking right now? Do you think I'm speaking in French?"

"No-o, it's just that the way you talk is so weird. You just use all these big words that Dad would always use."

"What sort of words?"

"Like discourteous! What thirteen-year-old uses that? And what the fuck does that even mean?"

"It means impolite. And it's also discourteous to swear all the time, Al."

"Okay, don't play that swearing card on me like I always swear. And, I should be telling you this instead! You swear way more than me."

"No, I don't. You swear way more than me."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Right. You keep- Ah, fu-frig!"

"Dude?" Alfred asked, fully alert at the small yelp.

"I'm sorry, sir!" He heard Matthew say to someone else.

"Yo, bro! What happened?"

"Oh, uh…Just some hoser who shoved past me when I was getting off the bus and I almost fell unto the snow," Matthew muttered, with a hint of annoyance and anger in his voice. "He just pushed pass me like I wasn't there…"

"…Dude, did you just apologise to that idiot?"

"U-uh…well…yeah, I kind of did."

"Why'd you even apologise when he's the one who should be apologising?"

"I-I don't know…It just came out of my mouth…"

"…Geez. It's like you have a default to say 'sorry', even when you shouldn't even be the one apologising. You should stop saying 'sorry'."

"…I'm sorry…."

"…Seriously, bro? You're apologising for saying sorry? Stop apologising like that!"

"…I'm sorry…"

"…Now you're saying that on purpose, aren't you dude?"

"Yeah," Matthew simply replied, with a chuckle. "I am."

"Alfred, why are you up so early?" Alfred heard someone ask him suddenly with a familiar British-accent. He drew his attention away from the hamburger he was still in the midst of eating and his brother on the other side of the line, and took notice of his Dad.

"Yo, Dad!" Alfred exclaimed, as he heard Arthur sigh while passing by him to get to the kitchen.

"Can you at least say a 'good morning'?" Arthur said to him wearingly from the kitchen, and the sound of the tap water running can be heard.

"What, doesn't a 'Yo' count as a 'Hello'?" Alfred asked, craning his neck slightly back.

"Wait, what? What are you even talking about, Alfred?" Matthew questioned over the line.

"What?" Alfred repeated to himself, pausing for a moment. "Oh, sorry, Mattie! I was talking to Dad."

"Oh, he's awake, now? Then you can tell him the news right now, Alfred!"

"Tell him the news? What news?" Alfred inquired, not knowing what Matthew was talking about.

"The news about us getting into the academy," he heard Matthew say in a way that couldn't have translated to 'you forgot, didn't you?'

"Oh!" Alfred exclaimed, suddenly remembering what had happened earlier in the morning. "Right, dude! I'll tell him. Or do you want to talk to him?"

"No, it's alright. You can tell instead."

"Yeah, I'll tell him then. How long will it take for you to get here?"

"It shouldn't take that long. I'm walking towards the building right now. It's only going to take me a few minutes, so I'm going to hang up now. I'll see you in a bit, Al. Later."

"Oh, okay, bye bro!" Alfred replied, and heard the sound of the ling being cut off. He pressed the End button on his cell phone, and stuffed it into the pocket of his pants. He finished the remaining hamburger, and crumpled up the wrapping paper into a ball.

He got off the couch and went towards the kitchen to throw the wrapper into the garbage bag. That and he was a bit thirsty. He figured that he'd be able to find something to drink. He stood at the entrance of the kitchen, and took aim towards the can that was on the other end. He bent his knees for a minute, making sure that his form was correct, before shooting it towards the bag. The wrapper flew across the kitchen, and he was so sure that it would go in, but it landed just beside it.

Alfred groaned, knowing that he was going to have to go pick it up from the ground. He lazily made his way to the wrapper that lay on the ground. He forced himself to bend down to pick up the wrapper and dropped it into the bag.

He turned around and went directly to the fridge again, passing by Arthur who was in beside the stove, in the midst getting a tea bag from the top cupboard.

"Matthew's coming over," Alfred said all of the sudden, while rummaging through the fridge. He was sure that there was still a can of pop inside there, and that he could drink…And there was! Alfred took a can of coke out of the fridge, and closed the door. "Is that fine?"

"Oh?" Arthur said, stirring a packet of tea with the boiled water from the kettle. "Matthew's coming over? It's kind of cold outside, isn't it? You sure he'll be fine outside?"

"Whoa there Dad," Alfred interrupted him. "It's too early on a Saturday for so many questions!" At that, Arthur glanced at him, and saw the can of coke that he held. He walked up to Alfred and snatched the coke out of Alfred's hand, to which Alfred said a small, "Ah!" of protest.

"And it's too early on a Saturday to drink pop," Arthur said, putting the coke back in the refrigerator, making sure Alfred wasn't in reach. Alfred then tried to do the attack he always did whenever he wanted something – he put on his big puppy eyes, putting on a face that was similar to a pout. But from the way his father looked at him, he could tell Arthur was not going to give in to his begging face.

"So, Matthew's coming over? Will he be walking here?" Arthur asked while turning his back away from Alfred to his tea. While he did that, Alfred quickly took back his coke, hiding it behind him.

"Yeah. He says he'll just take the bus and walk. He doesn't want to ask Papa," Alfred quickly added the last part. Suddenly, Alfred could see Arthur had stopped stirring the sugar he had just put into his tea. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned his other father in this conversation.

"Why doesn't he ask Francis? What's he so busy with?" Arthur asked, his voice suddenly cold. Alfred heard the venom in his voice when he said Francis, his Papa, and he tried to think of something to say.

"Papa had work last night, and he worked for a long time-" Alfred proceeded to say with caution, but Arthur cut him off.

"Pfft. As if he was 'working'," Arthur huffed in a quiet tone, placing the spoon into the sink. He took a sip from the mug he had, still not turning towards Alfred. "He still works at the bar, right?"

"Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask him yourself?" Alfred said, with a shrug, not feeling the need to answer directly. It wasn't, however, the smartest thing for him to say.

He knew the relationship between his parents, and he knew how Arthur was whenever Francis was slightly brought up in any conversation. You can simply mention him, and he would turn extremely cold and annoyed. And what he said was crossing the line. But, honestly, Alfred was getting tired by the way Arthur was behaving. He won't even simply talk to, and it's been three years. He should be able to get over whatever happened between them.

Honestly, though, Alfred found the situation incredibly stupid. He still didn't know for sure the reason that their parents separated. He had over-heard from Arthur that it was because Francis was cheating behind his back, but Alfred didn't believe in him. He couldn't. It didn't sound right at all. Even though he had heard this from Arthur himself, he didn't think it was right, and never told Matthew about it either.

Now, Arthur turned fully towards Alfred, and his green eyes narrowed down. Alfred could feel his heart skip a beat, knowing he was entering dangerous waters, but he wasn't having any plans to back down.

"Really, Alfred?" Arthur said. "You're his son, shouldn't you know-"

"And you're his husband!" Alfred countered back. "Or, ex-husband…But still!"

"Alfred-"

"Why don't you talk to him yourself, if you care so much?" Alfred interrupted. "Hasn't it already been too long for you to stay mad at him?"

"Alfred!"

"What, Dad?" Alfred irritably snapped back.

"I only simply asked you one question. And do not speak to me in that tone. Understand?" Arthur said sharply, looking dead serious.

"…" Alfred would have liked to continue this argument, but he knew that nothing was going to come out of it. There was no point. Plus, what else can he say against Arthur? He just walked out of the kitchen, and went back to his place on the couch.

"What is it that you were about to tell me?" Arthur asked in a calmer tone after there was a pause amongst them, and stood out of the kitchen entrance to look at Alfred.

Alfred looked back up at him blankly. "I was going to tell you something?" Alfred put on his thinking face, and looked up for a minute. It once again came back to him what he was supposed to tell him, and he snapped his fingers together. "Oh, right! You know how me and Matthew-"

"Matthew and I," Arthur interrupted. Alfred restrained himself from groaning. He hated it whenever Arthur would correct him on the smallest of things.

"…Yeah, how me and Matthew took the exam to go to R.I.A? The international academy you teach English at? The one near here?" He heard a small noise coming from his Dad when he finished his question.

"Yes," Arthur mumbled, rubbing his temple, urging Alfred to go on.

"Yeah, well, guess what?" Alfred asked happily. "We got in."

To this, Arthur stared at him for a moment blankly. "…What?"

This response took Alfred a back a bit, and he started to say, "Um, me and Matthew-"

"Matthew and I."

"-got in. We passed the exam!" Alfred said, looking at his Dad with hesitation and confusion. "Aren't you happy?"

"Y-Yes, of course I am!" Arthur said, but he looked more surprise than happy. "I mean, I understand Matthew getting in, but I never expected you to!"

"…Wow. That was super harsh and blunt of you, Dad." Alfred mumbled, looking away with annoyance. That's the best thing he could have responded with?

"I'm not the one with the terrible grammar…" To this Alfred glared at him, and he could see a smile playing on his Dad's lips. "Oh, I was just joking, Alfred! You know that." Alfred still didn't stop glaring at him. "Really! I'm glad for both you and Alfred-"

"Shouldn't it be 'Matthew and you'? Since I have to say 'Matthew and I'." Alfred asked, seeking an opportunity to show him up. But, that didn't work.

"…No, sweetheart," Arthur said. "It's fine to say, 'you and Matthew'. Please, can you not correct the English teacher who has more knowledge in the English language?"

"The only reason you sound smarter is because of your accent," Alfred muttered under his breath.

They both heard a click of the front door unlocking, then it opening and closing. Both Alfred and Arthur looked up towards the door, and they saw Matthew trying to take off his boots.

"Oh," Matthew whispered when he noticed Alfred and Arthur looking at him. He smiled warmly at both of them, while whispering a "Good morning." They could see how red Matthew's face was as he took off his hat, then his jacket and gloves.

"Good morning Matthew," Arthur said in the most cheerful tone he could muster up, as he walked up to his son and gently placed his hands on both of his cheeks. "Oh! Mattie, you're freezing! Why did you walk here? Couldn't you have asked Francis?"

"Um, n-no," Matthew stumbled on his response, and he glanced over at Alfred with violet-eyes pleading him to help. He too knew how his Dad was about Francis, and he didn't want to get stuck answering his questions. "He was tired, so I didn't want to-"

"If you really want to know, Dad," Alfred interrupted, coming to the rescue. Then maybe you should just talk to him." Arthur didn't say anything, but a thin line formed on his lips, un-amused by his response.

"So, I heard you got accepted!" Arthur said, changing the subject. "Good job, Mattie! As a celebration, I shall make some scones. It'll only take a few minutes, now!" Arthur then made his way directly to the kitchen.

Alfred and Matthew made eye contact with each other. Quickly using their brotherly 'psychic' power they had used countless times in many situations where their parents were present and did not want their parents to hear what they were saying, they said:

The bedroom? We can lock the door, just in case, Alfred asked quickly, not liking the sound of their Dad making scones.

Yes, please, Matthew replied while nodding, and they both went into Alfred's bedroom to seek refuge for their own safety.

"Kiku, a moment, please?" The thirteen year old looked up from the textbook he was reading from and towards the entrance of his bedroom. There stood his father, looking at him with that always serious-face of his. It was late into the Saturday night, almost 12 A.M., and the entire household was silent. The house-workers have already retired for the day, and Kiku was the only one who was awake at this time.

"Yes, Otou-san?" Kiku replied in his calm manner, setting down the pencil he held beside his notebook.

"It seems like you're busy at this moment. What are you doing?" Suisen asked, walking up to Kiku's desk, pushing up his glasses, his brown eyes looking at the textbooks that were there.

"I was just finishing my school work," Kiku said, allowing his father to look at his work thus so far.

"I see," Suisen replied. "You do remember that we'll be having guests tomorrow afternoon? I expect you to be ready by 11 and present."

"Yes, of course I remember. I'll make sure to be prepared by that time," Kiku replied politely.

"Good," Suisen said while walking towards the entrance of Kiku's room. He started to close the door, before adding, "I just wanted to make sure. I'll retire to my room then. Good night."

"Goodnight, Otou-san," Kiku said with a small polite, often used, smile, with a quick nod of his head, and the door shut completely, leaving Kiku alone. There was a small moment of silence and no movement in the room, as Kiku heard the footsteps of his father getting further and further away from his room. When he couldn't hear any sounds, Kiku closed both the textbook that was in front of him and sighed in relief.

He was able to cover up what he was really doing just in time. He wouldn't want Suisen to find out the real reason why Kiku was still up at this time, for he knew what would happen afterwards.

Now, to finish what I started, Kiku thought, as he opened the one of the drawers that was attached to the side of his desk. There sat a manga, which he quickly took out and started to leaf through the pages. He didn't mark the page he was on, since he could hear the nearing of footsteps, and he hastily tossed it into the nearest drawer, before scrambling to get a textbook and notebook and opening it on a random page.

This lovely piece of fiction was something that Kiku was able to buy from a small book store from his way home from school without being called out as Honda's kid, and sneak it into the house by wedging it tightly between his textbook in his school bag. Kiku was actually up finishing his homework, but he was finished that an hour earlier. He desperately wanted to know what was going on, so he decided to read it till now.

Kiku finally found the page he had left off of, and started to read through the panels filled with black and white coloured pictures, and dialogues. He was captured in the world of the manga he was reading, while paying close attention from the words the character spoke to the finest of details in every panel.

This manga he was reading is a particular romantic genre of manga that is targeted mostly towards girls, and he was quite embarrassed to admit that this type was actually one of his favourite types. It's just your typical romance manga, with the typical plot of the heroin and hero falling in love, and them going through different trials in order to see if their love can even last. Although Kiku denies this often, sometimes he would wish and dream that his life would be just like those in the manga, where he'd be the center of someone's attention and that he'd be so in love with them. But, there are plenty of problems with that sort of fantasy that would be disapproved by so many (especially his family), and he knew that the possibilities of that happening are very, very slim.

By the time he reached the final page and ended his reading, there was only 10 minutes left till the clock struck midnight. Kiku sighed to himself, he got up and walked towards his dresser as he opened the bottom drawer and placed the manga inside, along with the others he had hidden underneath the folded clothes.

He then turned off the lights, and went to sit on his bed. The moonlight shone through the window that was beside his bed, illuminating the room a bit. Beside his bed was a small drawer, where his alarm clock sat along with a lamp. He turned on the lamp, and he also saw his teddy bear Mio sitting there.

Kiku stared at the bear for a moment, having an internal conflict. He doesn't need to sleep with that thing. He's going to be fourteen, and he knew that that was already past the age you didn't need to sleep with a stuffed toy for comfort at night. Maybe he should learn to sleep without it anyway…

Without another thought, he took the teddy bear and held it in his arms as he slipped underneath the covers of his bed. He leaned over to turn off the light quickly, and snuggled into the blankets, holding Mio close to his chest.

Oh, who was he kidding? He knew that there was no way he can ever let go of it. It was extremely embarrassing that he still needed something in his arms just so he can get through the night peacefully. He really needed to let go of the habit, by at least August, before September.

Especially since he'll be attending an international boarding school for the next four school years, and he'll be living in the dorms the school along with other boys his age and older. Suisen had heard a lot about of the academy from various people, who had said that the education there is excellent and they offered plenty of diverse courses. Even Yao Wang, Kiku's cousin from China who will be attending his fourth and final year at the academy while Kiku's in his first this September, has said that it was a great place to go with excellent teachers, and that the people and the location of the school was also generally a safe area. After doing some more looking into it, Suisen had deemed it a good place for Kiku to attend the school. But, Kiku had two problems with this.

One- Roma's International Academy (the international academy) is located almost half way across the world, in Canada. Two- Kiku's expected to go there…all alone…and live in the dorms that they offer…which he had to share with other people. Other people. The mere thought of it made Kiku uncomfortable. He was never the type of person to be surrounded by a lot of people, especially strangers, preferring to keep to himself (maybe that's why he doesn't have any friends at school). Not only that, but he was going to adjust to the different way that they lived there, as well as speak in a different language. He wasn't exactly bad at English- that was one of the classes he aced- but, that doesn't mean he was comfortable to speak in the language. How he spoke wasn't fluent, and the last thing he needed was to embarrass himself by making a mistake.

Already they had received a small package they had to fill out, and his father already pre-paid for that year, so it was obvious that Kiku would have to go there, whether he wanted to or not. But, it wasn't like Kiku actually had an opinion on the matter to begin with.

I wonder how it would be like there. Kiku thought as he stared at the ceiling. Are the people nice? Oh, but I heard that in Western countries, the people there were quite…rambunctious. He knew that he wasn't exactly going to be alone while attending. Yao was going there…along with his other cousins from the various countries in East Asia. But, Yao was in grade 12, and Kiku did not want to be surrounded by people way older than him. Im Yong Soo, his cousin from South Korea, was the same age as him and most likely they'll end up having the same courses together but…Yong Soo will mostly be the out-going one who would hang out with others rather than Kiku. There were his other relatives too, but Kiku highly doubt they'll be with him.

Oh well, Kiku sighed to himself, turning to his side to look at his clock. What's done is done, I guess. I'm just going to have to see what happens then. I still have eight months. Kiku kept staring at the clock, checking the time and date. February 10th, 11: 59 P.M.

Kiku held his breath for a split second, when a sudden thought struck him. That's right. He had almost forgotten what tomorrow was. He checked how many seconds left till the clock struck 12.

10 seconds… He noted, before starting to count down along the clock in his head. 9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1. The numbers change, and now it read: February 11th, 12: 00 P.M.

Happy birthday to me, Kiku thought to himself (even though he felt weird telling this to himself), as he rolled to his back looked at the other side, at the window. Well, now he was officially 14 years old.

One would expect that the boy would be happy and excited that it was his birthday, but, to be truthful, Kiku actually dreaded his birthday at times. Yes, he was happy (in a way) that was older, but sometimes, he couldn't help but feel a sort of pain on his birthday, even thought it was supposed to be a joyous day.

The usual 'congratulations' or 'happy birthday' would be said to him during the course of the day, and maybe his cousins would call him just to say that. Suisen used to buy gifts for Kiku, but as he got older, he'd usually get money instead, and Suisen would simply tell him to get whatever was necessary for him (Kiku guessed that he was simply too busy to get him anything himself). He would have a birthday cake that the cook would bake him, and that was basically all that goes on.

He wasn't ungrateful for any of that. He was very much thankful for all that he was given during the day.

The only thing he was ungrateful for were the memories that he would creep into his mind. They weren't bad memories. Contrary, actually, they were very happy memories that were meant to be cherished, yet, whenever he remembers those cherished thoughts, he can't help but feel…sad…

He'd always have memories of her. He would always remember what she would usually say and what she would do. It was like that almost every single day, from the time he woke up and saw her photo, till the night where he would say goodnight and go to sleep.

And, even though time has passed and maybe he should start to get used to it, he just couldn't exactly grasp the concept that she wasn't there. He could still remember every single detail of her, and they were always fresh in his thoughts, even if it were so long. And the more that he thought about her, the more that void of pain grew.

His birthday brought most of these memories. He still remembers how she would go through the trouble just so that day would feel special. The first one to come up and welcome him in the morning would be her.

He glanced down to Mio, the stuffed bear he held. He felt a blanket of nostalgia come over him, and cuddled in closer to the bear, whilst closing his eyes. No, he wasn't going to let go of her. Not yet. And not ever. He couldn't exactly explain how he felt about the bear when he slept, but he felt that same…safety he once felt in his mother's arm.

Kiku started to breathe in and out slowly, and soon, drifted into a deep slumber.