Disclaimer: Don't Own. Hetalia.

Shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, Matthew stood, his back against the door he had just gently closed behind him- waiting for the man sitting at an elegant-yet-plain steel desk at the other end of the room to notice him. Said man was too busy rustling through the papers scattered across the cool metal surface of his desk to notice the quiet, nearly invisible boy who had just entered his office. Pushing up his glasses and blowing the odd lock of hair that always fell in his face out of the way, he continued to look for whatever it was he needed as Matthew continued to wait.

"Ahem," Matthew tried- and failed- to draw attention to himself.

He tried again. "Excuse me," Matthew whispered, holding his hands together in front of him and catching the eye of the nurse who had finally glanced up.

"Oh my," Mr. Edlestien said as he pushed back his chair and stood. "I didn't hear you come in. How can I help?"

Matthew gave a weak smile and timidly walked further into the room. "I was wondering if I could have a new bandage," he stated in his quiet voice. He raised his injured hand so Mr. Edlestein- who was straining to make out what the quiet boy was saying- could see. By now the bandage was completely soaked- thick red lines of blood slithered down his wrist where it turned the blue of his sleeve to a wet purple.

"Oh my!" Mr. Edlestien repeated, quickly moving out from behind his desk and over to the medicine cabinet against the wall. "Sit down over there, silly boy!" the nurse gestured towards several squishy-looking chairs near the wall across from the beaurue. Matthew silently padded across the carpeted floors and settled in one of the chairs while Mr. Edlestien gathered a basket of supplies and a bowl of warm water from the faucet next to the cabinets. Rushing over, Mr. Edlestien set his tools on the coffee table next to Matthew and started to unwrap the used bandages from the boy's hand. With a quick demand for Matthew to stay still while he works, Mr. Eldestien began to gently treat the wound.

Using a soft towel, the experienced nurse wiped up all the blood from the area before treating it with hydrogen peroxide (Matthew winced a bit at the initial sting, but then recovered) and placing four butterfly bandages on the cut that had been hidden underneath the blanket of red liquid. Once he was sure the cut wouldn't start to bleed again he began to wrap it with a fresh bandage.

"Are you going to tell me how you attained such a sever wound? And why you didn't go to the hospital? I would have preferred to give you actual stitches," Mr. Eldestien said, annoyance at this total disregard of proper health protocols clear in his tone.

"I-I cut myself in the kitchen, sir," Matthew answered in his hushed voice.

The nurse threw him a sceptical glance- he knew this wound wasn't an accident. It was deliberate and dealt out with something much more precise that a kitchen knife. With a shrug and a frown Mr. Edlestien continued to tie off the bandage. If the boy didn't want to tell him the truth, there was no way to make him. He pushed the stained sleeve of Matthew's shirt back to the boy's elbow- so he could examine his wrist without it's interference- and revealed a mingled array of fading and fresh bruises that covered the small boy's arm with blooming purples and sickly yellows. The colors seemed to completely cover the slight Canadian's fair complexion. Mr. Edlestien's eyes widened with shock as Matthew gasped and jumped to his feet, ripping his arm out of the nurses grasp.

As he pulled his sleeve down and slowly backed up towards the door Matthew said in a stronger voice than usual "Thank you for your assistance, but please do not form your own ideas about my situation, or take action upon those opinions," becoming formal in his anxiety seemed to be another quirk. With a fearful look in his eye, Matthew opened the door behind him and before leaving added in a tone that could almost be described as begging, "S'il vous plaite!"

With that Matthew fled the room, closing the door as he left.

That left Mr. Edlestien standing in an empty room, with nothing but his thoughts. Sighing, he collapsed in the chair the young Canadian had just vacated and tried to decide what he should do. Would it hurt or help the boy to bring this situation out into the open? With another sigh he placed his head in his hands and sat in silence until a freshman with a paper cut came looking for a Band-Aid.

For the first time in years, Matthew actually hoped the people in the room he was about to enter wouldn't see him. Although the neglected boy wished for people to notice him, he didn't like the idea of being the center of attention.

Might as well get it over with, Matthew thought to himself, trying to build up the courage to open the door and step inside. Taking a deep breath he gently took hold of the doorknob, turned the smooth brass, and walked into the room.

"-ose are the four sections we'll be covering this year," the teacher was saying as he stepped inside, his hand posed over the white board as he scribbled some nearly unreadable notes. "Ah! Nice of you to join us Mr . . . .?" he trailed off

Even my teacher doesn't remember me. He had me last year . . .Matthew thought.

"Williams," Matthew managed to get out. "Matthew Williams."

"Well, Mr. Williams, please take that seat in the back," the teacher turned back to the white board he was writing on. "And remember, I will not excuse anymore tardiness."

Other kids snickered as he walked past, but the moment they couldn't see him they forgot all about the odd, girlie boy who came in late on the first day of school.

Doesn't matter, Matthew thought as he took his seat in the very back and placed his physics book on the wooden surface in front of him. Just another school year. Just another battleground to survive. Matthew found a crumpled piece of paper in his backpack and on auto-pilot began to scribble down everything the teacher said. He slipped into a daydream as the teacher assigned the first work of the year. Work out of the book. The rest of the class groaned, but Matthew just gave a weak grin and started writing down the questions and their answers in a neat script. Easy as it gets.

"Hey!" a voice hissed nearby. Matthew tuned it out and continued to work, but it came again. "Hey! You! Verdammt- you, girly boy!"

At that Matthew raised his head from his paper- which contained an almost perfect finished product of the assignment- to see who was talking and locked eyes with the speaker- with his vibrant red eyes. A look of shock swept across the Canadian's eyes before he whispered a muted "Yes?"

"Zhe awesome me has forgotten hiz book and I assume you would be willing to lend me yours?" the other boy said, his words showing his thick German accent. He flicked his shaggy white hair out of his eyes and waited.

This is Francis and Antonio's other friend- the albino German, Matthew thought as he silently handed the odd boy his Physics book- he didn't need it anymore. The German gave him a giant smile as he took the heavy book, causing a slight blush to spread across Matthew's cheeks.

"My awesome name iz Gilbert."

"Matthew."

"Well, Mattie, I feel like getting to know you a little better. Letz have a good school year."

Translations:

S'il vous plaite!- Please! (French)

Verdammt- Fucking (German)

Authors Note: There you go- Prussia has finally made his entrance. As always, I'll apologize on Google Translate's behalf if they effed anything up. Right now I'm having an internal debate between having USUK or FrUk as a side-story, so leave your opinion in the comments if you want a say! Other than that, I- as always- humbly beg for comments and critics. I can't ever get better if you don't say anything dears.