What's in a Name
Chapter Two
England was tired. He'd spent the entire day working, picked Peter up from school and just when he'd thought he could get some rest the idiot had called, leaving him no choice but to grab his helmet and stalk back out of his apartment.
It had been an uncomfortably humid day, and England was grateful to be on his bike with a cool wind flying past him as he rode through the twilight.
He was met by his group around the corner from the apartment block, scoffing at him for being late, but laughing (tsk... they're just like cats...) all the while.
The night air was refreshing, their headlights flashed around the dark streets as they sped down roads and alleys, and they made sure that the made as much noise as possible. Everyone had to know that they were there and prepared to wake the dead if they had to.
It was then that England spotted him. The tall figure peering around the corner of the alley that they'd stopped down. The others had noticed him too; shoving helmets back onto heads and making smug motions towards the evidently confused bystander. The biker to England's right revved his engine and his bike screeched into life, closely followed by the other three, speeding down the alley toward the man who had backed his way into a corner, the light from the bikes flashing in his glasses.
"Hoh? Now what do we have here?" England's companion lifted his visor, red eyes flashing menacingly in the bright lamplight, "A mouse stuck in a trap?"
"He's hardly a mouse, Prussia." One of the others piped up, removing his helmet to reveal a slightly tanned man with brown hair and amber eyes. "He's taller than you." He laughed heartily at the other biker's expense.
"Shut it, Spain." Prussia growled, jerking off his helmet and running his hand over his head to make sure his almost white hair was in the right place.
Alfred stared at the men surrounding him. They seemed to be an unorganised bunch of riders, already ignoring the one that they had cornered and arguing between themselves. He'd normally have found this kind of scene funny, if he hadn't been the one who was trapped in the middle of the group.
By this point the third member of the bikers had thrown his helmet aside and was shouting at the other two men, evidently furious at whatever remark they had just made. "At least I'm not as full of myself as you are, Prussia!" His hazel eyes glared at the smirk on the first man's face. "I'm surprised you can fit your helmet over your fat head!"
Alfred barked out a laugh unintentionally, he just couldn't hold it in anymore. This was a mistake. The group, however strange they appeared to be, had turned their attention back to him, the three not donning their headgear eyeing him up dangerously.
"You got a problem, blondie?" The third said, his brown hair flopping over his eyes.
"Now, now, Romano." The second stepped towards the smaller man, "Don't be rude." He hung his arm around Romano's shoulder, reminding Alfred of Francis's antics earlier in the day. "After all, he is a guest in our alley."
"An unwelcome guest." The first's lip curled around the words.
Alfred took this as his cue to leave, "W-well then, I should show myself out then." He tripped over his words, causing Prussia to collapse into a further fit of cackling.
"Oh, we can't be having that." He leant on his bike, smiling evilly over to Alfred, who'd backed further against the wall. "It just wouldn't be proper to just let you leave without a proper greeting." He pulled out a metal bar from his bike, propping it over his shoulder, smiling all the while.
Sweat slid down Alfred's cheek as he searched for an exit passed the four men. The one with the bar was getting closer.
"Stop it, Prussia."
The fourth man had spoken. His voice slightly muffled from under his helmet, but his accent was still evident. Alfred recognised him, slight in figure, not tall but not overly short.
He pulled his helmet off his head, sandy blonde hair falling back into a mess around his face, bright green eyes glaring out from under thick brows.
"Aww! You're no fun, England!" Prussia leant back on the bar, pouting over at the smaller man. "Can't I greet him? Just a little?"
"Look at him." England scoffed, rolling his eyes at his fellow biker, "Do you honestly believe he's worth the effort?" He glanced over at Alfred, who had relaxed slightly. His lip curled up in one corner and he raised one of his abnormally large eyebrows, "He's just a brat."
"Hey!" Alfred jumped up from the wall, "Who're you calling a brat?!"
"Well, only a brat would need to ask. And you're obviously younger than we are." England retorted, turning back to his bike.
Prussia was laughing again, something that Alfred was beginning to find annoying. Spain and Romano were also smirking unceremoniously over at him, making him feel like a kid being bullied for lunch money.
He glared at England, who was too busy putting his helmet back on to notice. Alfred was starting to develop a deep hatred for the man he'd just met, along with other three bikers that had accompanied him (laughing hyenas...).
"Will you damn well shut up and get you arse back on your bike!" England shouted at Prussia, who was still giggling slightly at the insult Alfred had received. He complied, rubbing the tears from his eyes before hiding them behind the visor of his helmet. "And you," he pointed a gloved hand at Alfred, "watch where you're walking. If you don't want to be mugged then stay on the main roads." He looked to see if the others were ready, then hit the throttle on his bike, speeding back off down an alley, closely followed by the other three, one of which, Alfred guessed to be Prussia, was showing off horribly by pulling wheelies and driving much too close to the walls.
It was only then that the thought crossed Alfred's mind. Wait... THAT was England?!
"That wasn't like you." Prussia said removing his helmet once they'd stopped again. "Normally you'd let me bash them up a bit."
England leant on the handlebars of the bike, not replying.
"Something stuck in your pants?" Prussia appeared in front of England, his smirk overly evident on his face thanks to the shadows from the nearby streetlamp.
"Fuck off." England grumbled from under his headgear.
"What's that?" Prussia added oil to the fire, "I couldn't quite make out-"
"Fuck off!" England yanked his helmet off and threw it at the cackling man, who dodged it easily.
"Whoa! Calm down, dear!"
"Leave him alone, Prussia." Spain intervened. He leant in front of England, looking up into his scowling face, "You're worried about Peter, right?"
"You're brother?" Romano joined Spain.
England avoided looking at the two, while Prussia danced about behind them, deliberately trying to annoy England further.
"Go home." Spain smiled. "It's late, and we're done."
"But the boss-" England looked at Spain, the worry on his face made all the more obvious.
"Relax, mate." Spain clapped England on the back, "We've got it covered. Your bro's more important."
England looked between his two friends, still ignoring the third, the older of the two had his arm draped around the younger who had chosen to pretend not to notice. He made sure Prussia wasn't watching, smiled slightly at the two of them, and grabbed his helmet up from the floor. "Thanks." He said, pulling it back over his face.
"No problem." Spain stood up next to the bike, clapped his friend on the back and watched as he drove off down the street.
"You're a pushover, Antonio." Prussia punched the man lightly on the shoulder, taking note of the resultant glare he received from Romano, "So are you, Lovino."
"You just bully him too much, Gil." Spain sighed. "C'mon, we need to make up an excuse for the boss."
Alfred slumped through the door of the apartment building, dragging his bag of shopping behind him. The ordeal had tired him out almost as much as his hunt around the town trying to find his way back to the block. Climbing the stairs felt like climbing a mountain compared to earlier when he'd been carrying much heavier goods up them.
He turned the corner onto the fourth floor and almost walked straight into Kiku, who had been unlocking the door to his flat. "Ah! Oh, sorry." Alfred said, regaining his balance. He hadn't actually hit the smaller man, just startled him.
Kiku merely nodded, smiling slightly at the appearance of the blonde, "Are you alright, Alfred? You're covered in dirt."
"Yeah... uh." Alfred stammered, not wanting to offer an explanation.
"Did you get lost and run into trouble?" Alfred nodded, "I meant to offer to show you to the store, but I didn't see you leave."
"It's not your fault!" Alfred rushed, "I just have no sense of direction!" He grinned at Kiku, waving his bag slightly in his hand, "Serves me right for being a major space-case." His laugh was interrupted by the front door banging and someone groaning as they began to climb the stairs.
"You wait right there!" Francis's voice emanated from the ground floor.
Alfred stuck his head back around the corner to see what was going on, followed by Kiku, which Alfred hadn't expected and he jumped slightly when the smaller man appeared at his side.
Halfway up the first flight of stairs was a man with scruffy blonde hair, his back was turned as he faced towards a very disgruntled looking Francis, who's hair was slightly out of place and had a cigarette poking out from one side of his mouth.
"Here we go again..." Kiku sighed, leaving Alfred's side to lean on the wall next to his door.
"What's going on?" Alfred turned to speak to Kiku, who merely pointed back down the stairs toward the other two men.
"If you think you can disappear every night and expect me to look after your brother, you've got another thing coming, mon cher." The Frenchman glared up the stairs at the shorter man.
"You can't stop me from going out, damn frog."
Hang on... Alfred recognised that voice.
"I'll increase your rent, England!" Francis shouted as England continued on his way.
"You know damned well that I can't afford that!" He yelled back down as he turned onto the third floor and disappeared from the stairwell.
"Just don't expect me to look after your brother!" Francis bellowed as a door slammed.
Alfred sat back against the wall, looking utterly shocked at who was living on the floor below him.
"I wouldn't let it bother you." Kiku said, standing next to him. Mistaking Alfred's expression to be aimed at the scene they had just witnessed. "They're always arguing."
"Oh... yeah, right. Okay." Alfred stumbled over his words, still stunned by England's appearance in the apartment.
"Is something bothering you, Alfred?" Kiku tilted his head to one side, looking at his new neighbour inquiringly.
"Me?" Alfred turned his puzzled look into a grin, "Nah! Nothing ever bothers me! I'm awesome that way." He declared, jumping up from the floor and giving Kiku a rather cheesy thumbs up.
"Is that right?" Kiku laughed softly, "Well then, goodnight." He nodded lightly as he made his way into his room, leaving Alfred in the corridor, confusion once again evident on his young face.
Alfred woke the next morning with the sun blaring in his face. He blinked, trying to dismiss the sleep from his eyes and reached around him to find his glasses. Shoving them on his nose, Alfred caught a glimpse of the clock. Eight thirty... wait... EIGHT THIRTY?!
"Shit!" He jumped out of bed, pulling his clothes on and grabbing the first bit of food he found in the kitchen as he ran out of the door, making sure he had his keys and bag as he scrambled with the handle.
He ran down the stairs three at a time, nearly knocking Francis clean off his feet as he dashed out of the front door, leaving the Frenchman feeling nearly as disgruntled as he had the night before as he frowned after his newest tenant.
Luckily, Alfred had looked up the directions for one of his destinations before he had moved. The college he would be attending wasn't that far from the apartment block, just a couple of streets passed the railway station, close to the local school.
By the time he'd reached this point he'd stopped running, finding it much easier to take in his surroundings if he walked instead. The school was fairly big and accommodated both junior and high schoolers from what Alfred could tell from looking at the masses of children who were making their way through the school gates. He could've sworn for a moment that he'd seen two identical looking sandy blonde heads, the shorter entering the school grounds as the taller watched on. However, Alfred disregarded the scene and continued on his way.
The college campus took up an entire street. It was made up of several rather grand looking buildings that surrounded a small green in the centre. Alfred noticed a large number of students exiting the dorms on the left-hand side of the square and regretted not taking the offer to stay there as well. But he'd made the decision to stay off campus, and he'd stick by it (for better or worse...).
"Oooh!" Alfred stiffened at the familiar snigger, "It's that kid from last night!"
Alfred turned to see the smirk plastered across Prussia's face as he walked towards him. "Relax, relax. No iron bar, see?" He indicated to the bag that he was carrying, "I'm not going to start causing trouble in broad daylight."
Alfred scowled at the man; he wasn't going to trust the guy that had threatened to beat him over the head with a pole only the night before.
"I never thought that you'd be a student here." Prussia smiled in response to Alfred's frown, "You just transferred, or something?"
"Yeah," Alfred said, not giving in to the other man's light expression, "second year."
"So you ARE younger!" Prussia laughed, then noticed Alfred shifting angrily, "Sorry, sorry." He held up his hands in mock surrender, "I'm in the third year, with him." He motioned over his shoulder where Alfred noticed two of the others from the previous night. "Lovino's in the second year, though. I'm Gilbert, by the way." He held his hand out in front of him, grinning.
Alfred hesitated before taking his hand and shaking it. "The other guy's Antonio." Gilbert continued as they were joined by Spain and Romano.
"Huh? You're that guy..." Romano cocked an eyebrow at Alfred, wondering why he was suddenly shaking hands with one of the bikers who had threatened him.
"Alfred." He said, still not smiling as he let go from the handshake. "Anyway, I thought you guys were called-"
"Ah! Those names were given to us by the boss." Gilbert explained, "Only England uses his outside of the group."
"Gil," Spain punched his friend on the back, "do you honestly think that he's going to trust you, just like that?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Gilbert looked up at the disapproving man, smiling slyly. "After all, I'm awesome." He barked out a laugh and turned back to Alfred, who still glared at him cynically. "So what're you studying?"
"Literature." Alfred sighed, realising that this guy wasn't going to give up the conversation.
"Just ignore that idiot." Spain shoved Gilbert out of the way, and smiled in a way that Alfred found more trusting, "I'm Antonio." He didn't offer his hand to Alfred, and instead beckoned the third member of their group forward, "This is Lovino." His smile was bigger now, annoying Lovino greatly as he quickly batted Antonio's hand of off his shoulder, blushing slightly.
Alfred smiled with this. These two were much more trustworthy than the first member of their little team. They seemed more normal, more friendly. Especially now that they didn't don their helmets.
"How come they get a smile?!" Gilbert pouted, leaning against the fence.
Alfred laughed at the look on the older student's face. It was priceless. He looked just like an angry child. Gilbert cackled his laugh, showing off his ego once again.
"I'll get along with you for now." Alfred grinned, "Because that's just how awesome I am." He started to turn and walk away, "But if you turn a pole on me again then I won't be so nice."
Alfred left the group at the campus gate, making his way into the college.
"He's a weird one, isn't he?" Antonio smiled, looking down at Lovino, placing a hand on his shoulder again. The smaller man leaned into his touch, as they watched Alfred walk into the wrong building and being quickly directed away again, looking embarrassed.
"I know weirder." Lovino glanced up at Antonio, a small smile crossing his lips that only the taller man would notice.
"But didn't you two notice?" they turned to face Gilbert, "The way he carries himself. It's just like him."
In the background, Alfred tripped and dropped his bag on the foot of a student with shoulder length brown hair and was being scolded by the accompanying blonde.