"What's going on?" I asked Kiku as I came down the stairs.

The dorm lounge was filled with chatter and discussion with tons of students sitting in chairs and the couch, watching the TV expectantly. I noticed that instead of the usual channels playing, there was a blue and white title screen that read, Attention all students! Attention all students!

"Ah, ohayo gozaimasu, Tope-san," Kiku greeted. He gestured to the TV. "Apparently, there will be a school wide announcement on the broadcast."

"Really?" Taking a look around, I didn't see any of our friends in the lounge.

"They are eating breakfast," Kiku answered my unspoken question.

Before I could comment on his psychic ninja powers, the chattering quieted down. But no one was looking at the TV anymore. Everyone was staring at something—or someone—down the hall.

The doors of the elevator had suddenly opened—briskly and with purpose—and a girl walked in, her head held up high. She had long hair the color of platinum wheat, sharp dark blue eyes, and an intimidating posture. The room fell completely silent (some even shivered) as she entered the lounge, took her seat nearest the door, and proceeded to read a rather thick novel that she pulled from her bag.

After a while, people went back to their chattering. I, for one, was very curious as to who she was. The way her hair tumbled down her back reminded me of a winter's wind. Atop her head was an interestingly large bow of black and blue. When I looked around the lounge, I realized that nearly every single girl had some sort of accessory in her hair, whether it was red ribbons or a clip.

I'm different, though, I absently thought.

All of a sudden, the text on the TV suddenly animated away and was replaced by a very serious looking teacher. He was wearing a thick green coat and a white beret upon dark blonde hair. His dark green eyes and permanent scowl seemed to pierce straight through the camera.

"Good morning," the teacher said formally, but not friendly. "As you all know, Christmas is coming up. This year, we have decided to host a contest for the holiday." He paused, looking down at the paper in front of him. "There will be a mandatory school wide assembly in the auditorium today at 6:00. We will tell you the rules and details of the Christmas Eve Contest and pick out your partners during the assembly. Again, come to the auditorium for a mandatory assembly at 6:00 p.m. this evening." Giving everyone one last glare, he snapped, "If anyone is late or decides to skip the assembly, I'll make sure that you will regret it."

And from the look in his eyes just before the broadcast ended, I believed his words.

Someone changed the channel, and immediately the students dispersed. Kiku and I walked outside to join the others at breakfast.

"Kiku, I have a question," I said as we walked down the path.

"Hai?"

"Why do we have to go to an assembly when they could have just told us the rules on broadcast?"

"Headmaster Rome enjoys holding assemblies in the auditorium more than announcing things on broadcast."

I frowned, but left it at that. That old man doesn't make any sense, I thought.

Looking back, I realized that the girl with the bow in her hair had not gone out for breakfast.

xXx

"Tope!" Feliciano cheered as soon as Kiku and I came up with our food. "Did you hear? Did you hear? There's going to be a contest on Christmas Eve!"

I gave him a big smile and nodded as I sat down with my meal. Next to me, Ivan looked over at my sandwich. "Iced tea again?" he inquired.

"Yup." What can I say? I'm addicted. "So, about that contest. Does this happen every year?"

"It's not always a contest," Yao answered. "Sometimes it's a concert or a show."

"Last Christmas, it was a huge Secret Santa event," Alfred added. He laughed. "Hey! Remember when…"

And so, breakfast went on as Alfred shared some very interesting stories about how Arthur reacted to Ivan's…unique present during the Secret Santa event. Everyone laughed, even Arthur himself. Ludwig commented on the oddity that his brother's name had appeared on multiple slips. At some point in the conversation, Alfred turned on me.

"Hey, we're having a dodgeball game this afternoon. You wanna come?"

I paused in my iced tea. "Sure. When?"

"An hour after lunch. Just come meet in the gym."

"Did you get your PE uniform yet?" Ivan asked. I nodded. "Good! Ever since Francis tried to attend PE naked, they have required us all to wear our PE uniforms in the gym."

"I have the right to express my inner artist!" Francis complained.

Ludwig coughed awkwardly as Ivan nodded, still smiling.

"Ufu~ I really hope that you will dress properly in front of Tope, da?"

For a moment, there was an uncertain silence. Then I broke out laughing, and soon enough, everyone else joined in.

xXx

After sneaking off to the library, I spent most of the day just hanging around the solitary bookshelves, reading stories. Ludwig and Felice managed to sneak my lunch inside (they remembered my iced tea!) and I was able to listen in on their tutoring session. The German was pleased that I still remembered my lessons.

"I have to go to my dorm to get my clothes," I said to them as the lunch bell rang. "I'll see you at the gym?"

"Ja. See you there."

xXx

Just before leaving my room, I had glanced back at the closed laptop sitting on the nearly empty desk.

Maybe one day, I'll at least remember the password.

xXx

First of all, our Physical Education couldn't have had a worse teacher. He greeted us fine at the front doors of the gym, but as soon as the last kid filed in, he went into his office and immediately fell asleep at his desk.

"He's Greek," Alfred said, as if that explained everything.

The locker rooms were quite large. I quickly changed into my PE uniform in a safe corner (cotton t-shirt and basketball shorts) and headed out Eliza and the rest of her friends (an Asian girl and a very shy blonde girl with a lilac ribbon in her hair). The girl with the big bow in her long hair was also in my class, but she had exited long before us. The boys were already outside—all eight 'main' boys, Matthew sitting on the bleachers, and a few others. Males obviously dominated in quantity.

"Ready to play?" I asked, excited to get going.

Alfred got a strange twinkle in his eyes. He twirled a red rubber ball on his finger.

"Dodgeball," he declared.

And with that one word, it was war.

xXx

"Alright you two," Arthur said loudly. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads," Alfred quickly called.

"Tails," Ivan claimed, just as fast.

With the flip of a coin, Arthur took a peek at the quarter in his hand and declared, "Alfred goes first."

After a quick session of glares between the two adversaries, Alfred pointed directly at me. "Tope!" I obediently got up to stand by his side, avoiding Ivan's watchful eyes.

The Russian picked Ludwig. Much to the German's chagrin, Alfred chose Felice to be on his team. And so it went on, until every single person was accounted for (I had to actually walk out of line and drag Matthew on my side when no one noticed him sitting on the side). The teams were:

Alfred
Me
Felice
Kiku
Gilbert
Francis
Girl with purple ribbon
Matthew

Ivan
Ludwig
Eliza
Romano
Arthur
Yao
Asian girl
Girl with big bow

"This is gonna be a fast game," I commented to Matthew. "There's so little people."

The Canadian shrugged. "Who knows, it may or may not be." His eyes flickered towards the team on the other side of the court. "Be careful, Tope. Sometimes, dodgeball isn't just a game here. It's also a way for people to get even with each other." I followed the path of his cautious eyes and saw Ivan, squeezing the neck of his scarf uncomfortably, edging away from a girl with a big bow. Bow Girl had claimed his arm in a vice-like grip and was whispering something to him, eyes determined. I recognized her from this morning in the lounge.

Was it just me, or was she way too close to Ivan?

"Who's the girl next to Ivan?" I asked Matthew, unsure of the emotion building up inside me.

"Th-That's Natalya, Ivan's younger sister," he answered uncertainly. "She's…very attached to her brother."

I didn't know what surprised me more, the fact that Ivan had a younger sister or the weird feeling of relief that spread throughout me. Still confused, I asked, "How attached?"

"I-It's hard to explain," he admitted. "She's in love with her brother and keeps asking him to marry her, but Ivan doesn't want to."

"What?" I gasped. Leaning closer to him so no one could hear me, I said doubtfully, "She wants to marry him? And she's his sister?"

He shrugged. "It's complicated. You'll understand if you have her in your classes. Just be careful around her. She's a little…"

"What's this, hmm?" a sly voice said behind us. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist and Matthew's, drawing us close together. "And here I thought you preferred blondes, Mathieu."

"Francis!" I yelped, trying to pry his lecherous hands off my waist. "Off! What did I tell you about not touching me?"

"Mon cheri, the only thing I remember you moaning was my name—gack!" Francis choked, his arm releasing us. Firmly implanted in Francis' face was a red rubber ball.

"The game has started, Francis," Ivan said cheerfully.

Cue the long hour of flying dodgeballs and old rivalries.

xXx

"—and this is for flushing down all my fucking tea!" Arthur shouted, flinging his final dodgeball at Alfred's face. To everyone's surprise (or not), Alfred was laughing too hard to duck in time. The ball hit his chest and knocked him back, leaving him gasping for air.

"Ha!" Arthur laughed. "Take that, you American!"

His victory was short lived, however, once I beamed him.

And so the battle went on. Ivan caught my throw once, but I was 'saved' by Kiku a few minutes later. Unfortunately for us, Alfred's plan to use Felice as a shield backfired when he started to run around, begging to surrender. Ludwig yelled at him to stop being a coward and started throwing dodgeballs in a frenzy, but he ended up hitting everyone but Felice. I managed to catch his throw and finally end the German menace.

In an hour, it was finally down to Kiku and I against Ivan and his sister, everyone else cheering for us on the side. My Japanese ally was dodging Ivan's powerful projectiles like a freaking ninja. Natalya wasn't so bad either, being just as scary as her brother; but instead of an evil smile, she wore a frighteningly serious expression. Every time she threw the ball at me (me and only me), she was aiming to kill.

Kiku cursed quietly when one of Ivan's throws finally clipped him. The ball hit his shoulder and flew into the air. Kiku was out, but I saw this as the perfect opportunity to exile Ivan from the game without throwing something at him. Jumping up in the air, I reached up with both arms and caught the ball, landing on the ground upright.

Grinning to myself for making a glorious catch, I missed the warning shout from Kiku.

"Tope-san!"

Looking up was a mistake. Immediately, my neck made a sickening SLAP sound as the hard red rubber ball slapped right underneath my chin. Dropping my earlier caught ball, my head snapped back, and I fell to the ground. The initial pain wasn't so bad, but my skin stung where the ball had struck me. I sat up and rubbed the back of my neck, a little embarrassed.

Lots of people rushed to my side, asking questions of concern. I grinned and shrugged them all off, insisting that I was fine. Ivan was the first one to take hold of my hand and pull me up.

"Are you okay?" he murmured. And somehow, his words reached through me far more than anyone else.

Giving him a look of assurance, I turned my head to lock eye contact with the girl who had finally beamed me. Natalya was glaring at me with icy eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. She seemed to be acutely aware of the hand that was still holding Ivan's.

I gave her my best smile and said, "Great throw! Good game."

Everyone fell silent as they looked between Natalya and me, waiting for a reaction from her. They were disappointed when she did nothing but give me a look of disdain and walked away.

"What's her problem?" Alfred wondered aloud.

xXx

"That was a great game!" Eliza said, giving me a high five. "Ha! Did you see Gilbo's face when I got him out? It was priceless!"

"You were great too, Lily," I said to the purple ribbon girl, who shyly thanked me.

A few minutes later, I was changed and ready to go. The game wasn't too vigorous, but I planned to shower in my own dorm. Outside of the locker room, I realized that I had left my keys in my locker.

"Shoot," I cursed. "You guys go ahead. I forgot my keys in the locker room."

Eliza and the other girls paused. "Do you want us to wait for you?"

"No, I'm going back to my dorm anyways. I'll see you at dinner!" I said, even as I was turning away.

"Okay! See you later, Tope!"

xXx

As I was rummaging around my locker for my dorm key (damn, where did I leave it?), a weird banging caught my attention.

"...she was too far away…I couldn't see…"

There was laughter, and the clanging sound faded away.

I frowned. That laughter sounded suspiciously like a certain Frenchman I knew, but maybe I was just hearing things. I dug around my locker, still trying to find my key.

"Looking for this?" a quiet voice said.

Surprised, I turned around. Standing there, my dorm keychain hanging around her finger, was Natalya, Ivan's little sister. Holding out a grateful hand, I was about to thank her when she suddenly grabbed my wrist, crushing it with her fingers.

To my shock, she pulled out an army knife from her pocket and held it against my neck.

"I told you to stay away from him," she hissed. "I won't warn you again."

My eyes widened. "You're the one who threatened me," I said, shocked.

The pressure on the knife grew more prominent. "You're nothing but trouble," she spat, ignoring me. "Stay the hell away from us."

Despite the threat, I felt a sense anger rise in my chest. I snatched her wrist with my hand, holding it tight. "Why should I?" I retorted.

My words seemed to aggravate her more. "Stay away from us," she said again.

"Make me," I mocked.

I flung her hand away even as she tore herself from me. There was a long minute of silence as we stared each other down, neither one of us relenting. Finally, Natalya tossed my dorm key to the ground and pocketed her knife, turning her back on me and walking away. I kept a cautious eye on her until she was outside, waiting until the sound of her footsteps disappeared.

I sighed heavily. Really, what did I do to deserve her malice?

Too many curiosities. Picking up my dorm key from the ground, I put it safe in my skirt pocket and closed my locker.

xXx

Ivan surprised me (yet again) by grabbing my hand as soon as I reached the auditorium doors, pulling me inside and guiding me to a seat not quite near the others, but close enough so I could see them. He sat me down on the end and took the comfy, wine-red chair next to me.

"You can let go now," I said to him, pulling away from his freezing cold grip. Was my face red from the cold or his insistent touch? Somewhere, I felt a pair of sharp eyes burning holes in my back.

Ivan's face turned to me, violet eyes flashing. "Nyet. Your hands are cold." Taking my hand with both of his so that I couldn't let go, he gently breathed warm air between my fingers. The rush of heat quickly defrosted them. I felt a different kind of warmth rise in my cheeks.

"Give me your other hand," he said, already reaching for it.

I hid it away from him, saying, "No thanks. I'm warm, thank you." It was true. I was warm all over with embarrassment.

As if reading my thoughts, he smirked. "Suit yourself," he said, before turning his attention to Headmaster Rome onstage.

"Good evening!" the Headmaster boomed cheerfully, his amplified voice echoing. I looked around at the large auditorium and the surprisingly small amount of students that hardly filled its seats. There was a main balcony above us and two separate show balconies on the wall. Every chair was velvety red and soft. The carpets and curtains were a rich, wine-red and endlessly deep.

People must come to see performances from this school, if we have such a large auditorium, I thought.

"Alrightie, so we've rounded you all up here to explain the rules for the Christmas Eve Contest!" Headmaster said, grinning from ear to ear. "This will be a very simple performance competition! Everyone here has to participate and bring something interesting to the stage on Christmas Eve! You can do anything, as long as your performance mentions Christmas. Or the holidays, if you're against Christianity," he added. "Your faculty and staff will be judging and sending in multiple votes for our favorite performances.

"Some things you can do, but are not limited to, are dances, skits, songs, paintings, artworks, videos, poems, speeches—your only two requirements are that you must mention the holidays and, or Christmas, and that…you have to work with a partner!"

I heard immediate groans and gasps of anticipation in the crowd of students. A friendly holiday competition? Working with a partner? Interesting.

"For the pair that gets the third most amount of votes, we have a $50 gift card to any store in the mall. Second place will get a $50 gift card and a pass to skip one day of school. First place will receive a $50 gift card, a one-day-skip-school pass, and…a seat for each on the School Council, if they choose to accept it."

His last sentence brought silence to the auditorium. I looked around and saw everyone staring at the Headmaster intently, many with a strange look in their eyes. Ivan's mouth was curving into a slow smile, I noticed.

"What's the School Council?" I whispered to him so softly that no one could hear.

The creepy smile never went away (then again, does it ever?), but he leaned down to tell me, "They are a council of teachers that makes all the decisions for this school. They are very, very powerful."

Taking another look around, the realization came to me. If the World Academy was to be compared to the Earth itself, and there was a council that decided everything about the world, then wouldn't people desire to gain a seat on that council? The School Council was obviously very, very powerful. And who better to compete seriously than those who hungered for power?

I, myself, didn't really care for gaining power. But there was something in me that desired to win…for the sake of competition.

Headmaster Rome grinned, enjoying the absolute attention. "If you have any questions, see me in my office later on," he continued. "For now, we will decide your partners." He walked to a podium planted at the edge of the stage and pulled out a big, colorful box. "I'll pull out random names and read them aloud. Pay attention! Here are your partners!"

I scoffed. So this was the reason why he wanted to hold an assembly. The Headmaster wanted to reveal our partners dramatically and watch our reactions.

For the next ten minutes, everyone sat in silence, listening and waiting for their names to be called out. After a while, some eventually got bored and conversed quietly with their friends. Ivan began to play with my hair. I was too tired to stop him.

As the old man read off names, I quickly realized that the student body was generally silent, but there were momentary lapses of silence. Particular names induced utter quietness as their partners were revealed. I nearly laughed at the expression on Francis' face when it was announced that Ludwig was his partner. Kiku was partnered with the pretty Asian girl I saw earlier, Arthur was with Matthew, Felice was with Eliza, Yao was with Romano, and Alfred was with…

…Ivan.

You can imagine the deathly hush that fell over the auditorium then. I wondered if Headmaster Rome was somehow pulling the strings behind the scenes.

"It's okay, Ivan," I whispered to him. His eyes were dark and glittering. "Just don't kill each other on stage, and maybe you'll win."

He frowned and was about to say something, when suddenly: "Tope!"

All gazes resting upon Headmaster Rome intensified. Even I quieted myself.

Fiddling with a piece of paper, he slowly opened it up and briefly looked at the name. His eyebrows shot up.

"Your partner is Natalya Arlovskaya."