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Disclaimer: No, I don't own Hetalia. If I did the sexual tension between America and England would've been resolved with both of them er... better not continue. Still don't own Hetalia though. ):

! Refer to AN below for any confusion concerning what Year or age or any stuff in this chapter.

Chapter 2

Christmas break had just ended and it was the start of a new school year. Which meant that Matthew was now in Year 11 and so was Alfred.

And every year, due to the school accepting several new students from around the world into their wings it meant that they usually had a "Welcome back to School" cum "Welcome to Hetalia Academy" assembly. For the older students, after a few years it became quite a boring and tiresome 1 hour long of speeches and mundane introductions.

The objective of the assembly was basically to as their principal said every other year, an event in which the whole school could come together and increase their morale looking forward to the year ahead while at the same time providing a warm welcome for the new students to their school.

How cliché, Matthew thought. It was always the same for all schools he had gone to. Obviously they did want to provide the best for their students (he assumed), yet their intentions were always veiled behind words and speeches that truthfully, no one gave a shit about.

Alfred had already gone to mingle with his friends among them his besties, Ivan who was from Russia and (his boyfriend) Wang Yao, which Matthew both kind of disapproved off. Frankly, Ivan was just plain weird. He would always smile to you in that childish way of his but then when he produced a lead pipe out of nowhere and would give you that kolkolkolkolkol~ laugh of his which wasn't even funny, all this while wisps of air a potent purple colour would curl around him. Matthew always wondered why Yao like Ivan, maybe it was his liking of all things cute. But Ivan? Cute? Matthew shuddered at that thought.

Matthew was currently sitting on a chair that was on the relatively far end of the hall. He knew that during these assemblies, rather than standing at the end of each row of the chairs in the hall, the teachers would be seated which meant that the students, especially those particularly skilful at identifying the seats in which the teachers wouldn't notice when you made a nuisance during assembly had an advantage in surviving the assembly. Matthew was one of them.

As usual, he had his messenger bag on him; it was his "lifeline". It was a plain black bag with a strap that was given to him by his father on his 12th birthday and it was personalised with a grunge Canadian flag on it by Matthew. Inside, held his precious sketchbooks, pencils, textbooks, exercise books and whatever else needed on a school day. He was sitting alone, which wasn't unusual for him. He did have a couple of friends, namely Kiku, a quiet Japanese boy who was related to Wang Yao and was also an otaku and an avid gamer and…well that was pretty much it. There was also Carlos, but he more than often mistook him for Alfred…so it wasn't really counted.

He had his headphones plugged in again, now listening to This Is How I Disappear. Pupils were filing in the doorways and taking their seats. The assembly was going to start in a few minutes time. Matthew glanced with disinterest around him. There was his brother, surrounded as usual by his many friends.

And here I am the pitiful brother, alone Matthew silently and bitterly thought. Kiku was probably off with Heracles, a rather lifeless looking Greek that Matthew thought Kiku liked. He didn't blame him, it was hard being friends with Matthew, he hardly spoke, but then again so did Kiku. They were both outcasts that didn't really fit in anywhere, but now even Kiku had found someone.

The principal gave his usual address to the school and tried to quieten the rowdy audience of teenage students.

"Welcome to the new school year of 2011! I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas breaks and are now ready for a new school year ahead! This year we have decided to meet the demands of some of our students to open a 2nd Drama club for those who want to try out drama for the first time and also a MUN (Model United Nations) Club! As you know, we are a multi-cultural school and thus we shall also actively participate in matters concerning countries of our fellow peers and ourselves." said the principal in an overly excited voice which was perfectly normal for him.

The audience politely gave a small round of applause.

"And now we shall introduce our new batch of Year 7 students this year!"

Principal Vargas then proceeded to read out the names of each and every new individual that were beginning their first year of high school here. Matthew didn't really pay attention but there was a blonde with short wavy who went up shivering and another overly excited blonde with rather big eyebrows and a sailor's cap.

After the Year 7s he then read out the few names of those that were coming in for Years 8, 9, 10 and 11. In Year 8 there was Toris, a Lithuanian and Eduard an Estonian. Both of them were exchange students and would be staying with the school for 3 months. In Year 9 there was Michelle, a half French-half Seychellois girl, Fatimah a Malay girl and another fellow Canadian, Jacques from Quebec. There was Arthur Kirkland from England, Year 10 and there were a few from Year 11. Matthew couldn't care less about who they were but he might as well know who he was going to get ignored again by.

Principal Vargas introduced them one by one. There were a few of them as they had transferred here after taking their School Leaving Certificates. There was Francis, obviously a Frenchman, Antonio, a Spaniard and the last one, Gilbert, a German of Prussian descendant. The three of them were from previously the same school but they looked and behaved totally different from one another. When Francis's name was called out to join the newcomers on stage, he walked with swag and winked at the crowd. Antonio was full of…joyfulness? The Spaniard seemed to have some kind of happy-o-meter around him. Gilbert looked quiet and dark. His eyes were ringed with black eyeliner, a contrast to his crimson eyes and his tousled silver hair. He wore red plaid skinny jeans (plaid was a requirement for their school uniform) and a rumpled white button up tee. An Iron Cross on a chain was hanging on his neck. His hands were in his pockets and he kept his head down in a mysterious way most of the time.

Well, that's it I guess. Matthew thought. The albino still held his fascination though. He didn't seem the kind who would like sports or drama or anything much for that matter.

When Matthew replayed this event in his mind later on, he didn't remember Principal Vargas droning on about welcoming and accepting the new students, all he remembered was Gilbert's eyes flickering up to meet his through his bangs. It was as if he knew Matthew was there in the crowd, looking at him. His crimson orbs lingered on him for a moment, filled with a certain sharpness and a hint of sadness and longing and then they blinked and flickered down again.

Yay! Now for the massively long AN.

Christmas break and the school year-

This fic is meant to be set in America (I think) but after googling the American School Semesters, I found it majorly confusing so I just went with the Australian one. For Australia, the school term starts after Christmas/Summer break which is around 31 Jan or so (cuz Australia Day is on 26 Jan)

Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12- Matthew is in Year 11, the 2nd last year in High School. In Australia, most people go through kindergarten, Primary School which is basically Year 1-6 roughly 5-11/6-12 years old, High School Years 7-12 roughly 12-17/13-18 after that comes University.

In Year 10, we take the High School Certificate (equivalent to GSCE 'O' Levels) and in Year 12 the High School Leaving Cert. (equivalent to 'A' Levels and SAT- I think).

And schools accept new students in most years.

Carlos is Cuba, Michelle is Seychelles etc. it should be easy to figure out.

And the 2 Year 7s I mentioned. Guess who they are! (Should be fairly easy)

MUN-Model United Nations

It's when people represent different countries and attend conferences and discuss world issues and stuff we have one of these in my school.

And yes, Grandpa Rome is the Principal. Other countries and stuff will appear later.

And LE GASP. Gilbert wears guyliner! How smexay.

If you have any other questions and etc. just drop the story a review.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! (or Gilbert will stop being dark and mysterious!)

Hope this chapter wasn't that bad.