Chapter 10
A/N: The votes were cast and most people seemed to want some IvanXYao, though one person wanted to see Ivan woo Toris back into his arms. Lol, I'd probably have been more comfy writing that, but a challenge is good every now and then! Thanks for the fic recs, by the way. I think Belarus will still appear next year, but she won't be a romantic interest. After all, Ivan did pretty much claim he was gay in the beat-up-the-bullies scene. Also, I think it's more cannon for Toris to hook up with Poland, though still show some concern for Ivan's welfare, and for Alfred's too for that matter. There was also a YaoXKiku request, which I decided to hint at as being more one-sided for Yao.
USUK
Yao woke on the morning of October 1st with a list of things he needed to accomplish that day on the brain. As usual, Kiku was up before him and out the door, his bed neatly made as if he'd never slept there. Yao felt a pang of hurt. He'd hoped his reserved roommate would remember that it was his birthday, and at least leave a card or something.
As he usually did, Yao did a series of stretches to warm up and then took his hot bath, liberally scenting the water with some perfumed soap that his grandmother had sent him. He washed his long, silky hair and carefully braided it as he soaked in the water, wondering what the day would hold for him. Yao had not come to World Academy with dreams of making lots of friends, as academics were much more important to him, but it was rather depressing to turn fifteen and have nobody even notice.
'The teachers all requested our personal information at the beginning of the year. I am sure one of them will remember,' Yao decided, scrubbing his back with a cute Hello Kitty knock off scrub brush. His bottle of panda bubbles smiled at him merrily from the corner of the spacious tub, as if assuring him someone would remember that it was his special day.
Thinking of the council meeting later that afternoon, and his history paper that was due, Yao let the bathtub drain and toweled off his slender form. He needed to put thoughts of his birthday out of his mind. He certainly had a busy day ahead, and no time for moping about. He'd also received an e-mail from his father, and he needed to read it before he attended class that morning.
Wrapping up in a towel, Yao exited the bathroom in a cloud of steam and fragrance. He wondered if his father's lengthy e-mail was something about his birthday?
'Don't get your hopes up. You know it is likely just business as usual,' Yao chided. Despite being young, his father expected him to take over his empire of real estate development that was an ever growing sprawl in developing Chinese cities. Yao was attending World Academy and focusing his studies on business, but he would likely not attend college afterwards. His father needed him, and despite his heavy course load, Yao still did quite a bit of work for him.
Still wearing only his towel, Yao opened his laptop and clicked on the message from his father. As he read, his eyes widened in surprise and unhappiness. The message was certainly not about his birthday. As he learned more and more about the difficulties his father was facing by reading the message, he realized his birthday was probably the last thing on his aging father's troubled mind. Yao read the e-mail a second time, and then a third. What his father was asking him to do was a simple enough task, and they'd discussed the business contacts he was expected to make at World Academy at length before he'd left, but he hadn't expected the demand to come so soon, and he certainly hadn't expected it to involve Ivan Braginski.
Quite frankly, Yao was a little scared. While his father was lean and street-smart, always surrounded by a small army of bodyguards and yes-men, at World Academy, Yao was alone. He'd have nobody to protect him during his dealings with Ivan, and from what he had observed of the boy, protection was most definitely necessary. Everyone knew the real reason several boys had checked out of their dorms the first month of school and not returned. There were tales floating around that they'd been forced to perform sexual favors, and they had only escaped because Alfred Jones had come upon the scene and somehow managed to calm his hulking friend down.
That gave Yao an idea. For whatever mysterious reason, the bold American boy had formed a strange friendship with the frightening Russian. They had a playful rivalry with each other, and a strange mutual understanding that Yao couldn't even begin to understand, though based on what he had overheard in the hallway, he imagined they both had demanding fathers and not-so-happy home lives. This alliance, though odd, didn't particularly serve Yao. Though he worked with Alfred in the council, he'd previously dismissed the boy as being rather ignorant and useless, much like that airheaded Italian boy that was always hanging around Ludwig and Kiku. Therefore, he hadn't gone out of his way to foster a friendship with him. After all, though Alfred's father was very famous, he would only have political power for a limited time. Now, though, Alfred had a valuable link to Ivan, and the only way Yao was connected to Alfred was through Arthur, who fortunately enough, seemed quite eager to befriend him and rely on him during council meetings.
It was complicated, but getting closer to Arthur meant getting closer to Alfred, and perhaps gaining a useful ally in his future dealings with Ivan Braginski. It was a long shot, but it was the only option he had. He'd heard tales of upperclassmen who had approached Ivan during his first year as a freshman, seeking to make business deals on behalf of their parents, and how harshly they had been handled. Ivan had no history of showing interest in his family's business beyond using it to threaten his classmates, and Yao had no idea how to establish a contact with him without resorting to somehow using Arthur and Alfred.
His own birthday now forgotten, Yao dressed in a hurry and headed off to class, his mind a turbulent sea of worried thoughts.
USUK
Arthur bit his lip as he studied the information programmed into his phone. Yao's name and number stared back at him, as well as a troubling fact: today was Yao's birthday. Arthur had first considered getting him a gift, but then he had hesitated, because though he and Yao had grown close enough over the past two weeks to exchange phone numbers, they only had one class together and they hardly ever interacted outside of council meetings and events.
Besides, Arthur sometimes saw Yao speaking with Kiku, and he could only assume Yao was part of the strange trio of Ludwig, Kiku and Feliciano. But that didn't quite seem right either, as Yao seemed to dislike Ludwig's harshness, and dismissed Feliciano as an idiot.
Which left Arthur wondering if Yao considered him a close friend or not, and if so, what he should do for the other boy's birthday. He had finally settled on the idea of baking a cake before class, and giving it to Yao during lunch. He'd recruited Francis for the task, despite how much he hated the French boy's smug attitude about food and cooking, but such was his desire for the cake to be well received by Yao. He'd wanted Alfred to help out as well, but upon mentioning the cooking classroom where Alfred had burned his hands so badly during hazing week, his roommate went pale and promised to do something else to help celebrate Yao's birthday. Last Arthur had heard, Matty and Alfred were teaming up to make him something. Ivan had listened to all their talk about the upcoming birthday party over the past few days silently, and seemed not to have any interest in the subject.
Arthur glanced at his pocket watch and hurried down the hallway, where he spotted Francis already outside the classroom.
"Hurry up, Arthur! Baking a fantastic cake takes time. It cannot be rushed. We only have an hour now," Francis fretted. Apologizing for being a bit late (Alfred was hogging the bathroom again) Arthur hastily put on the apron Francis tossed his way and surveyed the ingredients Francis had assembled.
"We're making a traditional birthday cake, right? Something simple? I really don't want to mess this up," Arthur said. Francis smiled at him.
"You must really care to make a good impression if you have stooped to asking me for cooking help."
"Well, I can't deny that for whatever reason, everyone likes your recipes better than mine. It's bloody unfair, though. I practice much harder at it than you do," Arthur grumbled. Francis, however, merely handed him a bowl full of a powdery mixture.
"Stir that, and add three eggs. Do not just beat them in, though. You must lovingly tuck them into the batter, like a precious lover you are embracing in covers," Arthur obeyed, but instantly chafed at being ordered about in such a bizarre, pervy way. Yao better love his cake, because Arthur was likely to snap during the baking process.
Sure enough, by the time the hour was gone, Arthur and Francis were both dusted in flour and arguing with each other over the dumbest little things.
"I would most certainly look better in a chef hat! All your stupid hair would make everyone mistake you for a girl, just like Coach Carter did!" Arthur shouted. Francis mimicked him with over-dramatized gestures, including lifting his fingers over his eyes to mock Arthur's thick eyebrows.
"Oh ho ho, how humorous! You must always remind me of that one time! That joke is almost as old as your antiquated grandmother!"
"You take that back about my grandmother! She's not antiquated!" Arthur was about to pelt Francis with a fistful of flour, but a loud dinging from the oven interrupted their ridiculous argument.
"Ah, the cake is done! Hand me that fork," Francis said. Arthur frowned.
"The cake is for Yao; you can't eat it, you glutton!"
"Not to eat it, bushy brows. I am going to use it to test the readiness of the cake. Just give me that!" Francis shouted impatiently, snatching the fork from Arthur's grasp. Arthur started to fight him for it, but Francis merely inserted it quickly into the center of the cake and withdrew it, clean as a whistle.
"There, you see? Perfection. Now we must simply coat the cake in icing and drape the fondant over, and then attach the decorations. Have you finished with those pandas?" Francis asked. Arthur fetched the small bowl of little pandas he'd carefully sculpted out of the sugary black and white fondant.
"A little sloppy, but they will have to do. Do not use that one though—it looks like it has rabies," Francis criticized. Arthur scowled darkly, but discarded the violent looking panda. He'd rather liked that one.
"So you and Yao are fairly close now, hmm?" Francis asked. Arthur shrugged.
"We don't really socialize outside of council meetings, but I rather wish we did. I like him. He's organized and very smart."
"Do you like him more than Alfred?" Francis asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Arthur blushed and rolled his eyes.
"Alfred is my best friend. I'm not looking to replace him or anything, but I can talk about things with Yao that don't really interest Alfred."
"I think it is good for you to make a new friend, Arthur, though you could talk about intellectual things with me, you know."
"Dream on, frog face. I only tolerate you because you're dating Matthew, who I happen to get along with fairly well."
"Ah, so cruel, my old rival. You cut me to the bone with your harsh rejection!"
"Belt up. Is the cake cool yet?"
"Nearly. I apologize for calling your grandmother antiquated. You know I rather like her," Francis said. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"You'll say anything to get a rise out of me. It's partially why I can't stand you."
"Only partially?"
"The other part is because your face makes me want to violently puke," Arthur replied with a saccharine sweet grin.
"You know, Arthur, eventually you will have to forgive me," Francis said, as he slid the cake from the pan into the pretty little cake box.
"Never," Arthur replied stonily.
"It was only a toy," Francis said in a tone that suggested they'd had this argument many times before.
"It was not just a toy. Pinky meant everything to me! She was the best plushie unicorn a boy could have wished for, and I will never forgive you for what you did to her. I hope she haunts you in your sleep!"
"Ah, yes, with horrifying nightmares of your mangled stuffed unicorn plaguing me, however will I manage to sleep?" The sarcasm practically dripped off Francis's voice, "You are such a baby," he added in an almost fond tone.
"I hate you with a fiery passion that will never falter. Now finish icing the bloody cake before first period starts and we're both late!"
USUK
Yao set his tray down a few seats over from Kiku, who merely glanced at him and nodded before returning to the discussion he was having with Ludwig and Feliciano. His feelings a little hurt, Yao opened his milk and stuck his straw in with more force than was necessary. The food at World Academy, while very high quality, was almost always western. He'd been told the cuisine varied depending on what country they were located in, and so he very much looked forward to the year he'd spend in China's capital. He was almost to the point of desperation when it came to his cravings for rice and potstickers.
The willowy Asian boy sipped his milk delicately, poking rather forlornly at his roast beef with the cute, blue kids' chopsticks that he always carried in his bag. Suddenly, a loud noisemaker rattled behind him, and Alfred Jones burst out an off-tune version of his nation's Happy Birthday song. He stood with his friends, Matthew and Francis, as well as Arthur (who held the most adorable cake) and most importantly—Ivan Braginski.
"Happy Birthday, Yao!" Arthur exclaimed, letting him catch a better glimpse of the panda covered cake lit up with little green candles. His father's business troubles momentarily forgotten, Yao beamed at the unexpected show of friendship.
"I did not expect this! Nobody else has remembered. I nearly forgot myself," Yao said. He was very touched, and smiled happily as the cake was placed in front of him and the group of boys surrounded him to fill all the empty seats. Kiku looked surprised, and a little guilty. Yao felt a surge of appreciation for Arthur, who no doubt had organized the small party.
"Do you like the cake? Arthur and Francis made it this morning! Isn't it neat?" Alfred asked happily. Yao smiled at the all the little pandas, and blew out the candles. "Did you make a wish?" Alfred asked. Yao's eyes shifted to Ivan's friendly yet somehow intimidating violet-eyed gaze. The boy was staring at him with an unusual intensity. They had never really been formally introduced, though Yao frequently saw him hanging around outside the council room, waiting for Alfred to emerge.
"Yes, a rather important one. I have heard birthday wishes are very powerful, so let's hope mine comes true," Yao said, finally breaking his gaze away from Ivan's. The taller boy had begun to smirk at him in a way that was downright creepy. It made a chill race down Yao's spine.
"Here, Yao, Alfred and I made you this," Matthew said quietly, extending a prettily wrapped present that was flat like a magazine. Yao was really surprised then, because he barely knew the soft-spoken Canadian beyond sharing a few classes with him, and he'd always been a bit frosty towards Alfred during meetings. As a child, he'd always received big piles of fancy, expensive gifts from his father's associates and families, but he'd never been given gifts that were so personal. He unwrapped the present delicately, smiling at the pretty drawings the action revealed. He knew Alfred was very talented with art, due to the fact that Arthur was always encouraging the boy to attend art club meetings, but he hadn't known quite how skilled he was. Yao had a fine appreciation for artwork, and the soft lines of the watercolor paintings made him smile. He easily recognized the pictures as scenes from his homeland.
"These are beautiful, Alfred. Thank you very much," he said. He continued shuffling carefully through the papers until he saw a rather adorable comic, that instantly made his brown eyes light up with amusement. Cute little versions of themselves frolicked around the page, accompanied by humorous speech bubbles. One comic strip featured them all trying to prepare for his party, while another depicted some humorous moments from a student council meeting between himself, Francis, Arthur and Alfred. He laughed out loud at the panel that depicted the time he'd so smoothly offered a dragon statue for Arthur to throw at Francis. His grin widened further at the comic strip making fun of Alfred and Arthur's big fight in the hallway, and the commentary he'd offered afterwards that had amused Matthew and Francis so much.
"Here. The school counselor says it is a sign of goodwill to offer a gift at a birthday party. I have never attended one before, so if it is not right, blame her," Ivan said, pulling a surprisingly large box out of his schoolbag. The unexpected action shocked everyone present, Alfred included. The package he placed in front of Yao was wrapped in paper from Harrod's, which was a popular British department store.
Yao peeled back the paper delicately and lifted the top off the box. Inside, a sleek stuffed Panda toy peered up at him with friendly little black eyes. Beaming with pleasure, Yao lifted the medium-sized bear out of his tissue paper bed and marveled at his softness. He was plump with weighted stuffing, and so his adorable paws fell naturally around Yao's arms, as if he were giving him a gentle hug. Matthew's eyes widened in appreciation and he tugged on Francis's hand.
"I want one!" he begged. Francis grinned at both Matthew and Yao, amused they were still so taken with stuffed animals even at their age.
Yao, however, refused to be embarrassed by it. He loved panda bears, and all the cutesy things one could find for sale in Chinatowns. They reminded him of home, and of his family, whom he missed dearly. Yao flashed a hesitant, though very grateful smile at the tall Russian boy.
"I've been very homesick, but your gift makes me feel much better. Xie xie!" he said in his native tongue. Ivan gave him another rather disturbing smile, but this time it seemed a little more innocent than before. The tall boy seemed pleased that his gift was acceptable, and sat a little more comfortably at the table. "Hopefully you will all eat a slice? I am sure it is delicious, but I cannot hope to eat it all myself," Yao said, using the included plastic serving knife to delicately slice the small cake.
Alfred whooped happily when given his slice and joyfully exclaimed, "Yay! Birthday cake rocks!"
Forgetting all about the trio sitting nearby who quite routinely excluded him, for the first time since coming to World Academy, Yao felt like he was among friends.
USUK
"Alright, everyone needs to squish a little closer together!" Arthur called out, from his spot behind the camera. The group of friends grumbled but shifted around. Francis, who was dressed as a magician, was all too happy to wrap his arms around Matthew, grinning roguishly beneath his top hat. Matthew was so adorable as a bunny that even Arthur had been unable to resist smiling like a sap at him. Ivan had come as a gangster, in a pin stripe suit that looked very attractive on him. He'd emerged from his room with a real antique machine gun, but Alfred had panicked and sent him to take it back to his room and pack it away ("Are you kidding me man? You can't have a freaking gun on campus!"). Now he held a rather harmless black water gun against Alfred's head, whom he had in a rather forceful headlock. On the other side of the picture, balancing out the cuteness of Matthew, was Yao in a panda suit. He hadn't asked anyone to the ball, but he was fairly involved in its organization and probably wouldn't have had time for dancing anyway.
And of course, dead center of the photo, playfully resisting Ivan's hold on him, was Alfred as none other than Superman. His costume was perfect, down to the last detail, and Arthur had never seen a boy so happy to open a box of clothes before. Arthur's own costume was a military ensemble from the WWII shooting game he played with Alfred. Most would think he was just a British soldier, but a few might notice the subtle details that marked the costume as originating from their beloved game. Alfred had geeked out over Arthur's costume, too, begging for his own American military ensemble to wear just for fun. He'd started talking about video game conventions that happened back home, where everyone dressed up as their favorite characters, and Arthur had merely blushed and said he wasn't ready to become quite that dorky yet.
Setting the timer on the camera, Arthur hurried to insert himself in the photo. He stood next to Yao, saluting jauntily for the photo, and laughed with all the others when Ivan finally squirted Alfred in the ear and sent them all tumbling into an impromptu wrestling match as the camera clicked away shots.
Done with the photo taking, the group of friends temporarily parted ways to go about their tasks for the evening. Alfred had to meet up with his blind date in the gym, and Arthur reluctantly left to pick up Emily from the girl's dormitory. Ivan had taken interest in a rumor he had heard about a closed off tower in the campus being haunted, and despite Alfred's wide-eyed warnings not to investigate, he planned to ditch the dance with the bottle of vodka he had hidden in his coat, and do a bit of ghost hunting. Yao seemed to realize what he was up to and told the taller boy he'd be interested in tagging along, once he'd finished his duties at the ball.
Despite Emily being nearly a head taller than him, she looked rather fetching in her costume as a Renaissance lady. The dress was made from a rich green velvet, and it complimented Arthur's military costume quite well. Unfortunately for Alfred, he didn't fare as well with his blind date.
Patricia Stevens (or the girl more commonly called Fatty Patty behind her back and sometimes even to her face) looked absolutely mortified when she saw who her date was. At first, Alfred thought this was because she was embarrassed to be paired with the school's biggest loser, but the laughing guys on the rugby team quickly revealed she was blushing so hard because she had a huge crush on him. The scene was horribly awkward for her, and the plump girl fled the gym nearly in tears. Telling his rugby mates to shove off, Alfred hurried after her, cape billowing behind him. Excusing himself from Emily's side, Arthur trailed behind them silently.
He caught up to them just as Alfred was sitting down beside Patty on the stairs, who was sobbing into her hands. She'd dressed as a witch in a simple black dress and a pointed hat, and she honestly didn't look that bad, but it was obvious she felt awful due to the teasing of the rugby players. Arthur watched from his concealed position and Alfred didn't hesitate to drop his arm around Patty's shoulders.
"Hey, why are you crying? It's okay—the guys can be jerks sometimes, but they really don't mean any harm by it. Are you upset that they told everyone you liked me?"
"J-just leave me a-alone. It's b-bad enough without y-you s-s-seeing me cry," Patty sobbed into her arms. Alfred frowned, but didn't abandon her to her tears.
"But if you keep crying, you'll ruin your make-up, and it looks really good! I mean, you look good, not the make-up. What I'm trying to say is you look really nice tonight," Alfred said with a gentle smile.
Arthur shook his head fondly. Almost everyone teased Patty about her weight, but Alfred had never joined in. Though Arthur imagined he should feel jealous, instead, he could only feel almost overwhelming pride that his best friend was so heroically kind. Feeling like he'd eavesdropped enough, Arthur returned to the dance and to his date for the evening. Patty was in good hands. Alfred would make sure she had a fun evening.
Patty's sobs faded into soft sniffles. "You don't have to say that. I know I don't look like all the rich, pretty girls here. It's nice of you to come after me like this, though."
"So what if you don't look like everyone else? I don't look like the other guys on the rugby team either. If you don't care about that, we can still go have a good time at the dance. Besides, I still think you're really pretty in your costume...though you're not a very scary witch," Alfred joked. Patty finally seemed to pull herself together and she blushed at Alfred's kind words. He gently took her hand and guided her back towards the ball.
Arthur tracked them almost constantly through the first few dances, to the point that Emily finally called him out on his distracted air.
"You really wish he'd asked you instead of Patty, huh?" she surmised. Arthur blushed, and poured another scoop of blood red punch into his cup.
"He didn't ask her—his rugby mates set him up with her. I guess they meant it to be a joke."
"Tossers," Emily said. "Alfred doesn't fit in with them at all."
"He really doesn't, but his spot on the team means everything to him."
"Look, I can tell you'd rather hang out with him and your other friends. That Ivan kid might as well have been a horror attraction we planned—he's been standing in that corner for a half-hour and nobody's gone over there even once. You should go talk to him. I can hang out with my friends for the rest of the night." Arthur looked gratefully at the older girl.
"Are you certain you don't mind? I feel like it's not very gentlemanly behavior to abandon my date for the evening," Arthur protested. Emily, however, leaned over and lightly kissed his forehead. It made Arthur flush with color.
"Go have fun, Arthur. I'll have fun, too. No worries!" Arthur nodded, finally convinced, and slipped off to go stand with Ivan. Emily moved on to catch Gilbert in the act of trying to spike the punch.
All the while, Alfred danced one song after another with Patty, constantly laughing and joking with her until some of the other awkward, more beautiful couples grew envious of how much fun they seemed to be having. Alfred had discovered Patty played one of the online games he'd once been so fond of, and they happily swapped tales of fictional lands as they danced and munched on the party food. If the rugby players had expected them to embarrass themselves and feel too mortified to return to the dance, they were terribly disappointed.
"All your friends are hanging out over there. I bet you wish you could spend some time with them tonight, too," Patty said considerately, after they'd spent nearly two hours together. Alfred glanced at his group a bit longingly—they did seem to be discussing something rather interesting. "Truth be told, I'm a bit worn out from all the dancing. If you don't mind walking with me back to my room, I don't care if you spend the rest of the night with them. I have to get up early in the morning to study anyway," Patty said.
"Oh, okay, but only if you're sure," Alfred said. Patty smiled at him fondly.
"Come on, let's go," she said. Hand in hand, the two of them left the dance, not unnoticed by the sharp green-eyed stare of Arthur.
Patty felt giddy to be walking down the hall, holding the hand of her crush after such a wonderful night, but she knew Alfred didn't return her ecstatic feelings. He was incredibly kind and funny and charming, all that she had thought him to be, but she couldn't deny that his demeanor seemed simply friendly, and nothing more.
"Alfred...I know you don't have any feelings for me. You probably didn't even notice me much until you found out I was your date tonight...but all the same there's something I want to give you."
"What's that?" Alfred asked. Patty smiled up at him and stretched onto her toes, pressing her lips against Alfred's in a chaste kiss.
"Thank you. Tonight you really were my hero. I know we're just friends, but it was a really nice date, all the same."
"Yeah, it really was. Ya know, that was my first kiss," Alfred said, seeming to trying to make sense of the experience in his mind.
"Mine too," Patty said. "It kind of feels like butterflies going crazy inside, huh?" she asked. Alfred's brows knitted together lightly—he didn't feel anything like that at all, but he smiled reassuringly at her.
"Yeah, pretty great. Have a nice night, Patty. Thanks for going to the dance with me," Alfred said. His date smiled brightly, wished him a nice night, and disappeared into her dorm room.
Alfred touched his lips, wondering what his lack of butterflies meant.
USUK
When Alfred finally joined their group, he looked distracted and spacey. Arthur feared his politeness towards Patty had extended into something more than just friendliness, but he didn't want to ask Alfred for details in front of everyone. Besides, Ivan was in the middle of telling them a story.
"I hear it is closed off because a girl killed herself there on Halloween, back in the 80s. She slit her wrists and bled out on the floor. They say if you go there on October 31st, you can see her ghost and feel her blood on the floor. I want to see if it's true," Ivan concluded, with a bright, happy smile.
Alfred was shocked out of his reverie by the story. He looked pale, and very nervous. Yao seemed to share his apprehensions.
"A real ghost? Here in the school?" Alfred said, looking like he wanted to wrap himself up in his cape and hide in his bed. Arthur gave the taller boy and Yao a reassuring smile.
"It's just a story. We're really going because Ivan has booze. Don't you two want to try some?" Arthur asked, his green eyes glinting with a hint of rebellion. Matthew looked nervous, and glanced at Francis to make the decision for the pair of them.
"If Arthur is willing to break the rules, I am willing as well. Let's go find this ghost of yours, Ivan," Francis declared. Somehow, it was now an unspoken challenge between himself and Arthur to see if one of them would chicken out first. Alfred and Yao shared uneasy looks, while Ivan just grinned and spun on his heel, heading out the back of the gymnasium.
"Oh man, this is bad idea. Haven't you guys ever seen a horror movie? This is always how they start! A group of teens sneaking off to do something they're not supposed to do, a creepy ghost story, a deserted place where nobody can hear them scream—we're gonna die!"
"Buck up, Alfred. You claim to be a hero, don't you? If you keep being such a sissy, I'll have to insist upon taking your cape back," Arthur said firmly. Alfred actually whimpered, wavering back and forth as if he couldn't bring himself to follow. Looking equally nervous, Yao took hold of Alfred's upper arm.
"Come on, Alfred. We can be brave together."
With great reluctance, the group of friends set off after Ivan, heading towards the old abandoned bell tower that loomed scarily over the school, it's dark passages and narrow staircases hiding all sorts of imagined terrors.
A/N: Sorry for all the OCs that have been popping up in this story. None of them really mean anything, but I didn't want to use countries in case it confused people on the pairings, and I hope none of the girls used are too annoying to read. I also apologize that Alfred's first kiss wasn't with Arthur, but I thought it was a little more realistic this way. I feel like Alfred will need more time and experience to come to grips with his attraction to Arthur, whereas Arthur is a little more aware of his feelings at this stage in the game.
Let me know how I'm doing with Ivan and Yao. I've never written Yao before, or even paid him much attention, but I read a really interesting article about the growing presence of the Russian mafia in Asia, and so I figured this was a good way to bring the two characters together, through their family's business enterprises. Everything I've read says that Yao is really nervous around Ivan, even though they have an alliance of sorts, so I'm going for a mix of cute moments and nervous paranoia: the foundation of any great romance, lol.
Yeah, and I'm done for the night now. That brings the day's total to about sixty pages. Didn't hit 100, but there's always tomorrow...