Hex: sorry if the next chapter is late!

fantasia: Yep sorry. Hex your turn.

Hex: oh rigth

~disclamer~Hetalia does not belong to us~

Chapter 2

~one year ago~

"Students shall be exiting to the far left, and have a good summer vacation."

Monotone cheers went up as the students poured out of school, and into the bustling city. The white buildings with their blue windows jutted to the grey, cloud-filled sky, piercing it like a sharp sword enters a piece of cloth. The streets were white as snow and smooth as plastic, and the sidewalks were the same but placed a couple inches above the road. Cars zoomed at impossible speeds, leaving a blue crackle of electricity in their wake. Crossroad rules had to be taken seriously, otherwise car accidents would be inevitable.

The sidewalks weren't crowded like they had once been, oh, maybe a two centuries ago, since teleportation had been invented and become surprisingly affordable, but Arthur Kirkland decided to walk instead.

Alfred F. Jones, another schoolboy and crush of Arthur caught up to him, laughing as he ran ahead of him, pulling poor Arthur along.

"Alfred! Stop! I can't run as fast as you!"

The teen laughed at Arthur's pitiful speed, but for good reason: at Arthur's quickest, he was about as fast as a person running in slow motion.

"All right, but only since I'm the hero and have to protect you!" Again, Alfred laughed, a combination of joy and childish excitement, loud and clear, sending the few people on the sidewalk scurrying at the sudden noise.

Alfred easily fell into step next to Arthur, who was still trying to regain his breathe after being dragged five blocks, and jubilantly put his arm around Arthur, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze of comfort.

'He looks like he was wearing springs...' Thought Arthur, blushing furiously and looking at their feet, footsteps just seconds behind each other. 'So incredibly happy... He's sixteen and yet he still acts like he's ten, so carefree and happy... Happy...' Happy wasn't really allowed in the city, only a sheen of obedience and showing hardly any emotion.

Citizens were required to take medications every day to take on these effects, but Alfred either forgot his everyday, or it, somehow, incredibly, didn't work on him. His parents definitely noticed, and kept giving him higher medications, until one day he fell into a coma for a month from taking too high of a dosage, and Arthur had cried every night during that time, sometimes cutting himself on purpose with a blade in the process. Sadness wasn't allowed either, and Arthur had had to also up his doses. Pitty the meds wore off by nightfall, when Arthur had began to cry again.

Arthur shook himself, and said quietly. "Why are you so...?" He searched for the right word.

"Jubilant? Joyous? Merry? Just plain happy?" Said Alfred, finishing his sentence, and leaped happily into the air, landing a foot in front of Arthur, stopping the youth in his tracks, then put his hand on his hips. "Is that a bad thing?"

Some people nearby stared at the excited Alfred, and their eyes went wide with one of the few emotions that WAS allowed: fear, and absolute terror

Arthur was about to protest, and tell him off, saying that expressing the emotion of happiness WAS a bad thing, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The sparkle in Alfred's eyes were so contagious, Arthur couldn't help but smile slightly, even under the medication. "No... I guess not. But be careful."

Alfred skipped down the sidewalk, yelling back.

"Ah come on Arthur! Loosen up a little bit! Have fun!"

He started walking backwards, whistling a random and unknown toon, when he bumped into someone behind him. Arthur's eyes widened. A BIG someone.

Alfred turned, apologizing at the same time.

However, his words died in his throat as he saw who he was apologizing to, his skin going pale.

A man in white suit and glasses, and a shaven head. This is an officer of the CIE (City Inspector of Emotion), and had to shot to kill or take a citizen to the lab, if showing any sign of emotion. He pulled something out of his pocket, a scanner. A beam of white light bathed Alfred for a second before turning red and beeping.

"You've had your medications." His voice was deep and gravely, showing no sign for mercy.

Alfred weakly nodded. "Y-yes sir."

In all the time Arthur knew Alfred, he had never, EVER heard Alfred stutter, almost like his identical twin brother Matthew.

The man in white nodded. Then he pulled something else out of his pocket...Alfred backed up, to turn and run-

There was a sharp 'crack'... And Arthur wanted to scream, to cry out in sorrow and shock, but the medication made him suddenly feel numb, and as though he had lost the ability of speech and movement...Alfred had gone limp, and fell to the ground... He lay there, unmoving, blood oozing from cuts...

And the hole near his heart.

Hex/Fantasia: we hope you enjoyed see you next week