Shorter chapter is shorter. TT7TT
But, well anyway - HUGE thanks to 0- Jougen Knight -0 for the fave, follow AND review! 8D seriously, you're awesomer than Prussia! *dodges bullets*
0- Jougen Knight -0: Thanks! I really love this couple - they're my Hetalia yaoi OTP. :) ahh, really? That's a shame about your experience in the UtaPri fandom; I myself am not too involved with it, but the story itself seems interesting! :D
Hope you enjoy! =^^=
[Music Recommendation: Guess Who by Kevin MacLeod]
"Oh wow, really? So you have a sister, Magdalena?" Antonio asked eagerly, grass-green eyes glowing.
"Yeah," Madeleine smiled weakly. "She's more into sports, though."
"Oh, really? What kind of sports?"
"Well, she's more into baseball, but she loves playing volleyball, basketball and soccer, too," said Madeleine thoughtfully.
"Soccer? Oh, you mean football."
It was already a few minutes, and Quan found that the idol he and Madeleine were working with had a motor mouth on him that just wouldn't shut up. Immediately, the Vietnamese boy found himself starting to get headache from the constant chatter that the Spaniard (he had told them that he was one beforehand after Madeleine questioned about his accent, and he in turn questioned her about hers) was making. So instead, he tried to settle his sore head by glancing around their surroundings as the three of them were wandering aimlessly around the school.
"So, does she want to be an athlete someday?"
Madeleine nodded, "Yes, she does. She's actually in a school that specialises in sports."
"Wow, really?" Antonio looked thoroughly impressed. "¡Muy bueno! How about you? Can you play any sports, Magdalena?"
Here, the Canadian girl flushed, "Actually…I'm not that sporty. I'm not that good at all; the ball always ends up in my face…"
Antonio gave a laugh, "Well, don't worry! You're here to be a composer, not an athlete; I'm positive your song-writing and compositions must be amazing! After all; you are here." It was then that he craned his head a bit and spoke up, "How about you, señor Quan?"
Here, Quan blinked a little; just realizing that the Spaniard had diverted his attention to him. "What about me?" he inquired in a cautious manner.
"Can you play any sports?"
Quan simply shrugged his shoulders in response.
From that, a rather awkward silence suddenly hung around in the air. Madeleine nervously shuffled her feet, but Antonio didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, the bubbly brunette pushed forth with another question this time, "How about siblings? Have you got any siblings?"
"Younger brother and younger sister," Quan answered curtly.
"Ooh, really?" Antonio grinned. "How old?"
"Brother is fourteen, sister is eight."
Quan was seriously wondering on why this guy was spouting so many questions; it wasn't like he was actually going to remember them. After all: he was an idol – idols were obsessed with their work and were going to have the majority of their time spent on that very work. They had an image to maintain, and were constantly achieving for the highest of stars…
'…even if it means sacrificing a lot and leaving it all behind on earth…'
"Oh, that sounds so cute!" beamed Antonio. "Do any of your siblings want to come here?"
"They both do," responded Quan, now starting to feel agitated from the questions poking at his private life.
"Wow! That'd be awesome if they could come! Haha, I sounded just like Gilbert for a moment there! Do they both want to be stylists, too, or something else? Will you also be staying in a dorm here?"
"Why are you asking me so many questions?"
Antonio blinked in confusion at the cold response, "¿Qué?"
"I said – why are you asking so many questions?" Quan repeated. He didn't even bother to face the one who questioned him.
This caused Madeleine to stare at him in surprise; he wasn't this cold when he spoke to her. Sure, he was quiet and a bit brusque with his responses, but he spoke to her, and he didn't seem to exude that coldness that he was emanating right now. Heck, they even had a nice conversation together, and Madeleine felt that she had made a new friend who she can turn to. It made her feel very uneasy and wary on how he was acting right now; perhaps there was another side to him? Maybe he wasn't what he was back at the front desk and was now showing his true colours? Or perhaps he just hated being asked too many questions?
"Well, I just want to know more about you, that's all," answered Antonio. "After all, we'll be working together for the rest of our school lives."
"An idol caring about a stylist's personal life?" Quan quirked an eyebrow, his pace unstopping. "You do not need to pretend that you actually are interested about me, or anyone else." Here, he looked pointedly at Madeleine who shuffled her feet nervously at his frosty, yet not necessarily untrue, words, "Our relationship is strictly professional; you sing and do your performances, and it is my job to make you look good while you do it, exude your style so that others will recognize you, as well as have them follow you. End of story. My personal details should be of no concern."
"Pretend?" here, Antonio was even more perplexed. "I'm not pretending anything! I truly do want to know more about you – after all, wouldn't we work even better together if we know about each other more?"
Quan simply snorted, "Do what you want; I'm only here to make it as a stylist. Likewise, you are here to become a successful idol. That should be the end of the story."
With that, Antonio was at a loss for words – simply because he didn't know how to respond. Just what can you say to somebody who was so cold and closed off? Never in his life had the Spaniard ever met such a cynical, nonchalant and reserved guy before.
"Um…Antonio, what kind of music do you like?" questioned Madeleine quickly to try and dampen the unfriendly and tense atmosphere.
Snapping back from his momentary daze, Antonio looked down at the female composer, "Huh? I'm sorry…what was that?"
The bespectacled blonde gave a tired sigh, "What kind of music do you like? What songs? What particular genre do you like and not like?"
"Oh," a smile instantly spread out on Antonio's tanned face upon hearing the inquiry. "Well…" here, he began rubbing his chin as he pondered. "I like pop a lot, but I love playing my guitar while singing, too!"
"You play guitar?" Quan this time questioned as he quirked an eyebrow.
Antonio was a bit surprised from the Asian's showing interest, but flashed him a cheeky grin, "I thought you didn't care about personal details, señor?"
"I didn't say I cared not for your personal details," murmured Quan as his eyes narrowed. "It is my personal details that do not matter. Sadly, I have to hear about yours since I am your stylist. Knowing about your details, despite how much you spout out, is imperative to determine what kind of style suits you. Still, not everything has to be mentioned to me: I can work with small pieces."
"Oh…" Antonio blinked again at the frosty response. "Well, okay, then…"
"S-so…where are we, anyway?" inquired Madeleine as she began looking around.
Likewise, Antonio turned his head from side-to-side inquisitively, "Honestly, I have no idea…"
"Cafeteria."
"¿Qué?"
Quan heaved a heavy sigh as he pointed at a sign with what appeared to be a bowl of pasta drawn on it, "It says right there – cafeteria." It was right beside a large, red door that looked like it was recently applied a fresh coat of paint.
"Oh, okay!" Antonio beamed. "Nice one, Quan!"
'Nice one?' not so long ago, Quan was confident that his cold demeanour and sharp words had put off the green-eyed idol so that he wouldn't try and get close. He certainly looked confused and unsure. But where the hell did this come from? It was as if the bubbly brunette had forgotten about his antagonistic behaviour.
"So, shall we enter?" by the time Quan brought himself back to reality, he saw that Antonio had already opened the cafeteria's door and gestured to the both of them; smile still present on his face.
'That smile…it's always there…' the Vietnamese boy thought to himself as he nodded at Madeleine; beckoning her to enter first. The blonde's cheeks took a tinge of cherry red while looking momentarily taken aback. However, she nodded and entered through the door with her hands clasped at her front. Antonio himself made a gesture at Quan; ushering him to go inside before him while still smiling brightly. 'Is he mocking me?'
The cafeteria was a rather spacious room that seemed to be made of two levels with stairs bridging between them. The floors were tiled and completely clean, the walls were a lovely sea-green colour and the white ceilings had crystal chandeliers twinkling proudly from above. The windows were wide, and framed with vibrantly patterned curtains. The tables were all round with white cloth over them, and the chairs appeared to be cushioned, too. There was the part where you got the food, however instead of trays, there were plates and silverware already lined up and ready.
Finally, the most interesting of all, there were several instruments that stood at the very front of the room right below the banister of the second floor – there was a grand piano at one side, a drum kit at the rear, a few seats at the side with music stands and amplifiers, and a microphone in its stand at the front.
Upon catching sight of the instruments, Quan noticed that Antonio's already bright eyes were lighting up some more: causing them to spark a bit.
"A stage in the cafeteria?" Madeleine wondered, totally surprised.
Quan half-heartedly shrugged a shoulder, "Practice, perhaps?"
"Whatever it is, I can't wait to play guitar here!" piped up Antonio excitedly. "The amps look really new!"
Gazing around a bit more, Quan's golden orbs finally settled upon two steel doors where his nose detected a delectable aroma that wafted just through the seeping crack. It was crisp, warm and made the Vietnamese boy's stomach suddenly start to give a little growl. Upon catching another whiff, the dark-haired stylist felt his mouth suddenly start to water, however he quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it. Noticing that Quan seemed off, Madeleine took a sniff herself and looked highly content, "That smell…"
"Smell?" Antonio sniffed, and after doing so, gave a big sigh of contentment as well. "Wow…that smells so good~"
Sadly, their enjoyment of basking their noses in that smell were cut short when the doors suddenly slammed open, and out came a rather familiar face that was spouting words that would make a sailor blush.
"Who the hell does that fucking bastard think he is?! The Prince of Nigeria?!"
Upon exiting a white room with what appeared to be a silver fridge, there came Lovino who was ranting angrily at a violet-eyed blonde who was wearing a white beret upon his head. He looked a bit nervous at the Italian's foul language, and gave a sheepish chuckle to express it. However, upon catching sight of the three who entered the cafeteria, he blinked curiously for a second before his slightly full face broke out into a smile.
"Hello there!" Quan noted that he had a slightly feminine manner of speech, and his pitch a bit higher than a typical male's, but still male nonetheless. There was also an accent laced there, but he wasn't sure what country of origin it would be.
"¡Hola!" greeted Antonio as he waved happily.
"What the-? Oh, you," Lovino snorted dismissively in Quan's direction. However, he smiled a little in Madeleine's, "And you, too, Madeleine. Nice to see you again."
"Um…same to you, too?" Madeleine herself looked unsure of what to say since she noticed the Italian clearly be rather nonchalant to her stylist's presence.
"Ooh, you know each other?" Antonio looked excited. "Is he your boyfriend, Magdalena?"
"B-boyfriend?!" the bespectacled composer squeaked at the word. "N-no, he isn't!"
"They just met," added Quan.
"Well, it's nice to meet you!" the blonde boy with Lovino spoke up. "I'm Tino Väinämöinen and I'm a composer student! And you?" he brought his arm out in offering straight to whoever was the closest to him.
And that would be Madeleine.
"I'm Madeleine," she said with a small, shy smile as she took his hand and shook it. "Madeleine Williams; I'm also a composer."
"Really?" Tino looked excited upon hearing that. "That's great! I'm looking forward to having classes with you!" he then turned to Antonio and stretched his arm out again, "And you?"
"I'm Antonio!" beamed the Spaniard. "Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo! Idol student!"
"Idol? That's amazing!" Tino's violet eyes sparkled as he shook hands with the brunette. "I wish I could sing."
Antonio gave a hearty laugh, "Anyone can sing!"
Quan narrowed his eyes to the size of poison darts upon hearing that, as well as causing one of his eyebrows to quirk up again. He must've looked visibly intimidating, for Tino seemed rather nervous upon facing him.
"Ah…u-um…"
The Vietnamese boy snapped his head in the blonde boy's direction to show that he captured his full attention. "Yes?" he asked politely. Noticing how frightened Tino looked right now, made Quan soften his expression just a fraction.
"And you – what's your name?" Tino hesitated at first, but pressed on.
"Quan," the golden-eyed stylist replied as he stood straight and this time turned his body in direction with his face to provide his full attention. "Quan Nguyen. I am of the stylist class."
"Stylist?" Tino's tone was rather surprised…
…and Quan didn't like how surprised that tone was, "Yes, stylist. Why?"
"Nothing! It's nothing!" Tino cried quickly; he definitely didn't want to anger somebody like the Asian who stood before him. Glowering at him with those blazing, golden orbs, and that cold face, to boot.
"Great, so I'm sharing classes with you, then?" Lovino heaved a sigh as he shook his head. "And I'm also with that vampire looking bastard."
"Vampire looking bastard?" Antonio asked curiously. "Who's that?"
"None of your fucking business!" snapped the Italian.
Here, Antonio looked ever more taken aback at being openly sworn at. The Spaniard's emerald eyes widened as he gaped, "E-Excuse me…?"
"D-don't mind him, Antonio," Madeleine spoke up. "I've only met him today, but he always swears; he swears at everybody, actually."
Tino nodded, "Swore at me, too!"
"Not exactly everybody," here, to everyone's surprise, Quan was the one who spoke up. His golden orbs weren't blazing in a warning manner like before; instead, much to Antonio's surprise, they seemed to be…glittering. Glittering in a sort of tone that was more subdued than the previous flames that the Spaniard had seen today upon their first meeting. No, the flames here were small and seemed more like flares. They also shone with something else…
Antonio wasn't even sure if he was correct, but he could've sworn he saw amusement in those eyes.
"Who does Lovino not swear at?" inquired Tino curiously.
"He doesn't swear at women," Quan responded evenly.
Lovino snorted, "You make it sound like as if it was a bad thing, bastard."
"It's not necessarily a bad thing," remarked Quan coolly, though by now it was obvious that he looked like he was enjoying himself at the moment. "It's just something interesting to take note of."
"Interesting?"
"Yes, interesting."
"What the hell's so interesting about that?!"
"Er, anyway," Madeleine spoke up upon noticing that the Italian did not look impressed with her stylist's words. "Who were you talking about earlier, Lovino? There's somebody who you're not happy at?"
"Damn straight," Lovino growled. "Bastard thinks he's top-notch and shit just because he's an idol…ha! Idol my ass! I'll only believe it once I hear that motherfucker sing!"
"An idol student? How am I not surprised?" Antonio inwardly cringed upon feeling the venom actually poke out in small, but multiple tips from the dark-haired Asian's otherwise calm words.
"He sounds horrible," said the Spaniard, not letting Quan's frost freeze him. "Who is it?"
"Lars van Stein! That fucking prick of a scarf bastard!"
Antonio gaped, "Lars?!"
"You certainly sound surprised," Quan noted. "You know him?"
"S-sí, I do," gulped the Spaniard; he could just feel the accusing glare from the Asian. "He's a childhood friend of mine."
"Childhood friend?" Madeleine gasped. "Really?"
Antonio nodded, "I haven't seen him in such a long, long time! I didn't know that he was an idol here, too!"
"A friend of yours?" Lovino seethed. "Well, that definitely settles it! Don't you come near me, bastard!"
"H-huh?!" Antonio cried. "B-but what did I even do?!"
"You're friends with that prick, so you're probably a prick yourself!"
"B-but that doesn't even make sense!"
"Let's get outta here, beret bastard," and with a huff, Lovino suddenly grabbed Tino's shoulder in a rough hold and marched straight out of the cafeteria. The violet-eyed blonde looked highly flustered upon being forced out by his stylist, but flashed the trio that stayed behind a sheepish smile before finally disappearing into the hall, and out of their sight.
Another really awkward silence filled the room, and it continued even after Madeleine prompted them all to look around the school a bit more.
Throughout the whole thing, Quan remained scarily silent.
Though Antonio tried to engage the Asian stylist a couple of times into the conversation, he didn't respond with words – rather he gave a small nod or shrug of his shoulders. When Madeleine did speak to him, however, the golden-eyed boy would finally choose to talk, albeit with rather short and simple answers and choice of words.
Naturally, that made Antonio rather irritated. And so, when it was finally time to go home after searching and exploring around the impressive academy, Madeleine waved awkwardly to the both of them while Quan left with a simple nod before making his way to the train station.
During that, Antonio glared angrily at the back of Quan's short, dark hair. 'What does he have against idols, anyway?' the Spaniard thought to himself in frustration. However, upon seeing that the Vietnamese boy looked rather withdrawn, the green-eyed brunette then began to wonder, 'Why does he hate idols so much? Why even come to this school if he hates idols? Is it because he just wants to be a stylist? Or…maybe he doesn't hate idols?'
A bunch of questions of the sort popped up in Antonio's mind as he tried to wrack his brain upon the possible reason why his stylist seemed to dislike idols. And pretty soon, the anger and irritation that had borne from before had begun to get easily replaced with curiosity and determination.
Instead of getting upset at Quan for his seeming prejudice against idols, Antonio reversed it – he was going to continue doing what he was doing from the very beginning.
Get to know him better, be nice to him, and include himself in his life.
He was going to prove to the Vietnamese stylist that not all idols were horrible, spoiled and arrogant people who cared naught for those who helped and contributed to their career.
No, he would show him; he would definitely show him.
He was that determined.
Shorter than how I wanted it to go, but well...TT7TT future chapters will definitely be longer! :D
Characters:
- Tino Väinämöinen = Finland
- Lars van Stein = Netherlands
Translation/s [in order of appearance]:
- Magdalena = Spanish form of Madeleine
- Muy bueno! [Spanish] = Very good!
- señor [Spanish] = Mr
- ¿Qué? [Spanish] = What?/Huh?
- Sí [Spanish] = Yes
Anyway, drop a review if you want - I'd love to hear what you think about this. =^^=
Peace out,
Hebi-Kazechi-10
