The return of Alfred's parents came and went like a dry summer breeze. Kiku greeted them, they all shared a few short meals together, along with some small talk about Kiku's parents and their business, wishing for Kiku to enjoy his stay in America, and Kiku went along with it, playing the part of the honorable guest. Alfred's parents were, in a word, normal. And Kiku wasn't sad when they left for Toronto; they were painfully dull.
Kiku had been living in America for little more than a month, and life had begun to grow routine for him. Kiku wasn't as glued to the news as he was at first, though that's not to say he didn't listen to it every single day. He often had some sort of NPR or CNN streaming from his computer while he worked. Alfred spent the days same as ever, playing video games and eating junk food. The two would go out every week for groceries, and run the miscellaneous errand every now and then. It was already early July, and Kiku sat with an empty mood at the kitchen table as he and Alfred ate their dinner in silence.
"So, um..." Alfred spoke up as he noisily slurped his soup, "tomorrow is the fourth of July."
Kiku lazily glanced up from the magazine article he was reading next to his bowl with sarcastically raised brow. "And...?"
"And, well," Alfred looked for the words. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the fair tomorrow. They'll have food and fireworks and stuff." It also happened to be his birthday that day, but Alfred purposely left that part out. He wanted to see if Kiku would remember, or maybe surprise him or something.
Kiku nodded in the direction of the kitchen. "There's food right in there, and I'm sure you can see fireworks from the balcony. You can be sure that you'll hear the noisy things at any rate."
"But it's not the same!" Alfred insisted. "Come on, please! I promise you you'll have fun!"
"Tch," Kiku huffed. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Kiku...!" the boy moaned childishly.
"Fine!" Kiku snapped. "If it will make you shut up then fine!"
"Yes!" Alfred jumped up from his seat, pumping his fists into the air as if he just scored a goal in football, bumping the table and spilling his soup in the process. "Shit!" he squeaked as he ran to the kitchen for paper towels.
After sending Alfred an annoyed look, Kiku brought his attention back to his magazine article, which now had soup slowly creeping onto the it. He gave a sigh of exasperation as he flicked the moisture off the tabloid and rolled it up into a tube shape, whacking Alfred atop the head. "Learn to be less of a spaz, would you?" he said lazily.
"My bad," Alfred grinned sheepishly as he sopped up the spill, chuckling lightly with a warm smile.
The boys left at around four the next day, walking whilst sharing very few words. The park was not far at all, and took only about twenty minutes to walk there. The place was full of grass, wooden benches, stone tables, and tons of stalls.. There was a menagerie of scents wafting through the air, hot dogs, funnel cake, ribs, a buffet to satisfy the American dream, and everywhere carefree voices rang out: "American franks, this way folks!" "Get the ring around the bottle and win a prize!" "The best lemonade in the state, come on up!" There were hundreds of people walking around in shorts and tank tops, children waving small flags of red, white, and blue, teens chasing each other with firecrackers, adult chatting each other up about trivial things. Kiku was used to this kind of hustle and bustle, this is how it was in the big cities of Japan, only people were better at keeping to themselves there. His thoughts were broken up by someone calling in the distance: "Hey, Al! Over here!"
"Coming guys!" Alfred shouted from a few feet in front of Kiku. "C'mon, let's go!" he said to Kiku with a grin.
"What? You didn't tell me you'd be meeting up with anyone," Kiku said with a light air if irritation, putting his hands on his hips, eying the American. Kiku was dressed in a white polo shirt and navy shorts with knee-high white socks and dark brown penny loafers, much resembling a schoolboy. Alfred, on the other hand, wore a red shirt with yellow shooting stars on the front and black baggy shorts.
"Oh, guess I forgot," the blonde replied, grabbing Kiku's wrist. "My bad."
"H-hey!" Kiku stuttered, but it was too late, Alfred had already pulled him over to a pair of boys who were waving with smiles.
"Honestly, it's about time," one of the boys said in a French accent. "Any longer and we would have gone along without your unpunctual backside."
"T-that's not true, Francis!" said the other boy in a small voice, turning to Alfred. "I would have waited for you, Al." The timid boy hugged his stuffed bear. He was the shorter of the two, and held a surprising resemblance to Alfred, he even had glasses and blue eyes, though his were darker, and dirty blonde hair as well. The other boy, the one with the French accent, wore a feminine white dress shirt that was open at the chest and wrists. He had long, bright, and bouncy blonde hair which seemed to be very well kept, and flawless skin. His eyes were also blue, and had an airy, nonchalant look in them.
"Hey guys, how are ya?" Alfred said fondly. "I haven't seen you two since school let out."
"Things have been, how shall I say, satisfying," said the boy with the well kept hair, as he leaned on the shorter boy's shoulder, who gave a small jump.
"Jeez, why do you always have to use words like that?" Alfred chuckled. "You sound like you're talking about dinner or something."
"You would say that, wouldn't you, my hamburger loving friend?" the boy replied with an amused brow raised.
"Ahah, yeah well-" Kiku interrupted whatever Alfred was going to say by clearing his throat. "Oh, right. Guys, this is Kiku Honda, he's the-"
"Ahh, yes, our little foreign friend," the boy replied, stooping and taking Kiku's hand, laying a light kiss on it. "How do you do?"
"I beg your pardon?" Kiku pulled his hand away, taken aback.
"Francis..." whined the shy boy with the stuffed bear. "Don't be so rude...!"
"Ah! Where are my manners!" the boy looked at Kiku and bowed. "My name is Francis Bonnefoy, I must say, it really is... a pleasure." The boy called Francis looked deeply into Kiku's eyes with the last two words.
"Honda Kiku," he replied with distaste, flicking a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiping off the back of his hand where Francis had kissed it.
"A-and my name is Matthew Williams!" said the shy boy, stepping in front of Francis and lightly shoving him aside to avoid any possible conflict. "It's really nice to meet you, Alfred has mentioned you a few times." The boy gripped his bear with one hand and held out his other to shake.
Kiku promptly stuffed his hands in his pockets before muttering "Pleased to meet you..."
"Yup!" Alfred butted in. "These are my friends from school. Francis's family moved here from France like ten years ago. He can come on pretty strong sometimes, and Matty here is really shy, but he's really nice to everyone, even asses like Francis," Alfred snickered at the dirty look Francis gave him. "They're way different, but usually balance each other out." Francis gave an amused smirk and Matthew gave an innocent smile. "Well, come on then, let's go walk around and check out some booths!" Alfred walked ahead of the group and waved back for everyone to follow his lead. Kiku let out an annoyed puff of breath, but followed anyway.
Alfred was by far the loudest and most eccentric of the group, shouting with excitement and pointing out all the booths he wanted to go to. Francis held on to his nonchalant smirk, all the while making comments about the 'unfashionable passerby' and the occasional perverted joke. Matthew on the other hand hardly said a word, and quietly walked along with the group, squeezing his bear tightly. Kiku followed a few feet behind the group, scowling in silence.
Kiku went to go sit down at one of the stone tables in an area surrounded by food vendors while the rest of the group stopped by a nearby stall for a snack. He sat there, his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand, his mind wandering with the bustling sounds of the food court shrinking away. Kiku gazed with glassy eyes out at the trees beyond the food court, the leafless branches swaying slightly in the hot summer breeze.
"Here ya go!" The chipper voice pulled Kiku out of his trance as a caramel apple was shoved into his view. Kiku looked up at Alfred, who was holding the apple out to him, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Ya looked bored over here, all alone, so I got you somethin' to keep ya busy," the boy smiled.
"Oh, er, t-thank you..." Kiku replied, taking the apple from him by the wooden skewer. He took a small, hesitant bite of the treat. "...it's good."
"Of course it is!" Alfred took a disturbingly large bite of his own caramel apple and took a seat across from Kiku. "The guys want to go try some of the game booths after we're done here," he nodded toward Francis and Matthew who were chatting and eating over next to one of the stalls.
"Oh, I see."
"You should play some too, you could use some fun!"
"Those scams are a mere waste of money." Kiku replied wearily, waving the suggestion away.
"But they're fun! It's not a waste if you have fun with it!"
"Then you go ahead, I've no interest in such things."
Alfred gave a sigh. "One of these days, Kiku, I'm gonna teach you what it's like to have fun." He bit the rest of his apple, tossing the core into the trash can nest to the table as he licked the caramel off his fingers.
"I know how to have fun," Kiku pouted under his breath as he took another mouse-sized bite of his apple.
After Francis and Matthew had finished their snacks, the four set off down the rows of booths. They had played several different games, but the only person who had won anything so far was Matthew, who had won a small stuffed koala backpack. Alfred was talking to Francis about some of the popular summer movies that were in theaters when he suddenly stopped at a nearby stall. "Dude..." he breathed. "I have to win that." He pointed at a large model of Captain America displayed on a shelf of a ball tossing stand.
"You mean that silly doll?" Francis scoffed.
"It's not a doll! It's a super awesome super hero!" Alfred retorted, starry-eyed. "And I have to have it!" He ran over to the stall and asked the clerk about it.
"Oh, that?" the stall supervisor replied to Alfred. "You have to get five basketballs through the hoop in a row to score that little gem."
"Sweet!" Alfred slammed a twenty dollar bill on the counter. "Ten balls please!"
The stall clerk chuckled as he brought forth a large bucket of basketballs for Alfred. He picked up one of the balls, squeezing it between his two hands, mumbling under his breath "Please... please... please...!" He glared at the net as if it was his enemy, thrusting the ball at it and-
"It missed?" Alfred gawked. "But that was a perfect shot!"
"Sorry kid, looks like you've gotta try honing your skills with the rest of those balls," the clerk chuckled.
Alfred grabbed another basketball and threw it. Another miss. It wasn't long before he'd gone through all ten balls with not a single one going through the net. Alfred fell to his knees dramatically. "There's no way...At least on of those should have gone through, I'm not that bad at basketball..." Alfred was pulled out of his stupor by someone behind him, clearing his throat. It was Kiku.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, "but I think it would be in your best interest to give my friend the prize he earned." Alfred glanced up at his friend. Kiku had his hands on his hips and a cool smile on his face.
"What 'er you talking about, kid? He lost the game, fair and square."
"Is that so? Fair and square?" Kiku replied in a keen voice. "Because it looks to me like you enjoy cheating kids to make a few extra bucks." The boy took a step closer, placing a hand on the counter, staring into the clerks eyes.
"Come off it," the clerk glared. "Your little friend just doesn't have the skill to-"
"Thirty inches," Kiku interrupted sternly.
"Huh?"
"Thirty inches," he repeated. "That is the standard circumference of a basketball, and these look to be legitimate. The rims of your nets, however, appear to have an approximate twenty-eight inch circumference. To back that up, each time Alfred threw a perfect shot, the ball bounced to the left, out of the center of the rim, meaning the rim was skewed several degrees off from being perpendicular to the backboard. The rim was offset on purpose, making sure that if someone had made a perfect shot, like Alfred had, the ball would bounce out of the rim, assuring that it would not get caught in it, which would automatically reveal that the rim was too small for the ball."
"Watch it, kid, you-" the clerk began, only to be cut off again.
"Now," Kiku continued authoritatively, "if you don't want us to go around telling potential customers of your heist, I suggest you give my friend the prize he earned, and we will leave without a word. If your refuse," Kiku stared menacingly at the clerk, "I will make sure that every person in the vicinity knows about this little incident."
"I...! That's...!" the clerk stuttered, utterly speechless. "Fine! Just take it and get out of my booth!"
"Gladly," Kiku smirked, taking the Captain America figure off the shelf and handing it to Alfred. "Come along, We've classier places to be." With that, Kiku turned on his heal and walked away from the stall.
Alfred stood motionless for a moment, then quickly caught up to Kiku, Francis and Matthew following suit.
"Holy crap, Kiku, that was freaking amazing!" Alfred exploded after catching up. "You totally owned that guy!"
"It wasn't difficult," Kiku replied calmly. "He was practically begging for it."
"That really was great, Kiku," Matthew cheered shyly.
"Swindling a swindler..." Francis added. "I like it."
Kiku smirked, putting his hands in his pockets. "It was nothing. Really."
After that, Alfred was more talkative than usual as they walked around some of the vendors, and Francis and Matthew even seemed more peppy. They talked to Kiku more as well, now full of admiration for the foreigner. They began asking Kiku questions about his homeland and what it was like, but the more they asked, the quieter Kiku became. Around nine o'clock the boys headed for the large hill of the park, where many friends and family gathered together to wait for the fireworks show. The three boys chattered amongst each other, but Kiku was silent, a scowl growing on his face as he watched the people around him. What the hell was he doing? It was like he had actually been enjoying himself today. Today. The day that marked the birth of this nation that he was supposed to hate. It had barely been more than a month and it was like he was beginning to conform with the place. How wretched. How could he allow himself to be so easily swayed into accepting this fate? Had he really become that weak? No! He would not allow this! How could he? Kiku glared out at all the stupid, naïve park-goers. Loud, obnoxious, stupid. He was disgusted with himself for allowing himself to settle in, as if this was his home. He watched a pair of young children running around, giggling, carefree. He felt a sickening jolt through his core. One of the children wore a white shirt with a red dot, with red letters that read 'Pray for Japan,' the slogan used to raise funds and awareness for the recent tragedy in the country. Kiku stood up abruptly, staring at the grass beneath him, his eyes shielded by his bangs. "No..." he murmured quietly
"Huh?" Alfred looked up at him inquisitively. "What was that?"
"I need some air..." Kiku mumbled through gritted teeth.
"Wah...?"
Kiku bolted away from the group, dashing between picnic blankets and groups of people, up to the top of the hill where it was vacant of any people, filled with trees.
"K-Kiku?" Alfred stuttered from where he was sitting, staring after the boy.
"What's up with him?" Francis inquired airily.
"Bathroom...?" Matthew suggested.
"I'll be right back, guys, watch my stuff," Alfred said, and sprinted off without another word, Francis and Matthew staring after him. "Kiku! Wait!" he called, though he knew he would get no reply. He was a good thirty feet behind Kiku, his flip-flops flying off his feet as he ran. He ignored his runaway shoes, watching Kiku run into the area of trees at the top of the hill.
Kiku had his hands against a the trunk of a large tree, hunched over and panting, his face parallel with the ground, small beads of sweat forming. Through his heavy pants he heard footsteps come towards him, and panting from whoever they belonged to.
Alfred slowed down when he found Kiku hunched over, supporting himself against a tree, panting. Alfred was lightly panting himself. "What happened? What's wrong?"
Kiku recognized Alfred's voice, and shook his head violently, not saying a word.
"Kiku!" Alfred pushed on, desperately.
Kiku didn't say anything for a moment. "This...is wrong," he finally said through his panting.
"What...?" Alfred asked, confused. Alfred was standing there in his T-shirt and shorts, barefoot in the grass.
Kiku shook his head again, less violently this time, but didn't say anything. He was still panting, not as much from running now, but from what was boiling up inside.
"Kiku, you gotta talk to me man," Alfred pried. "What's up? Are you sick?"
Kiku gave a single nod.
"Well, we could go home if you want," Alfred said, as he slowly began to walk forward. "Or we could-"
"NO!" Kiku boomed, still looking at the ground, the first firework going off, loud and bright, illuminating the sky in red. "Don't come any closer!"
Alfred halted, his eyebrows knitted together. "I-" he began, looking for the words through all of his confusion. "Look, dude, you gotta tell me what's going through your head."
Kiku dug his perfectly manicured nails into the rough bark of the tree, gritting his teeth. "I am..." he said quietly, "absolutely disgusted..." Alfred stared, at a loss. "...I could just vomit..."
"Kiku..." Alfred took another step, a blue firework bursting in the sky.
"I said don't come any closer!" Kiku yelled, turning to face Alfred. "Are you fucking stupid?" Another red firework.
Alfred looked hurt, as if he had just been slapped in the face. "What's your problem?" Alfred yelled back. His tone wasn't angry, exactly, it was more desperate.
"You're my problem!" Kiku bellowed, more bursts of red filling the sky.
If Alfred looked hurt before, it was nothing compared to what he looked like now, as white streamers flew into the sky, the whistling sound echoing in the distance. "Kiku, look, whatever I did I'm sorry. Just please stop being so upset."
"Don't act so self-centered!" Kiku spat. "It's not just you! It's this country!" Boom. Another firework. "It's those people down their!" Boom. "It's your parents!" Boom. "And it's those friends of yours!" Crackle. "All of it is-!" Kiku's words were halted as Alfred ran forward, grabbing his wrists and pinning him back against the tree, a menagerie of shapes and colors bursting in the sky.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Alfred asked quietly. "What have I ever done? What have they ever done? What has anyone here ever done to you to deserve that?" Alfred's voice began to escalate with every word. "Huh?" he gave Kiku's wrists a hard shake, red, white, and blue fireworks bursting in harmony.
"How dare you?" Kiku retorted. "Let go of me-!"
"No!" Alfred boomed over him. "You shut up and listen! All we've ever done is show you kindness! You should be grateful to my family for opening our doors to you! You think we're obligated to let you live in our home? You think I'm obligated to be nice to you and try to make you feel welcome? You think-"
"I never wanted you to try and make me feel welcome!" Kiku interjected as another large group of fireworks went off. "I would prefer it if you never said two words to me! But instead you act all nice to me and make me feel like this is home! You try to butter me up and make me feel like its okay to let go of my real home! It's bullshit! This isn't home! It never will be!" Boom. Boom. Boom. Here came the finale. Cheers and applause could be heard in the distance toward the bottom of the hill.
"I don't give a shit if you accept it as your home or not!" Alfred yelled, staring angrily into Kiku's hateful eyes, gripping his wrists tightly, their faces less than an inch apart. "The fact is that this is where you live now! So you better suck it up and deal with it, because no one wants to deal with your spoiled little tantrums! If you want to turn everyone against you and make your life here more miserable then that's on you." Alfred's words grew quieter now, but much, much colder. "Do me a favor and leave me out of it." With that, he threw Kiku to the ground. Alfred loomed over the boy, the anger nearly tangible. "If you don't change...you're going to live a very lonely life, Kiku Honda," he said quietly, then turned on his heal and walked away. The fireworks had ended with a bang, and all that was left now was the hazy smoke in the sky, illuminated by the bright park below.
Kiku stayed on the ground for a few minutes, silent and motionless. After a while he slowly sat up, leaning back against the tree, wiping the dirt off his chin with his forearm. He pulled himself up from where he was sitting, and slowly walked down the hill, making sure to make a large detour around where he and the group had been sitting earlier. "I hate you Alfred Jones," he muttered as he waked away.
~x~
Happy birthday, Alfred! Haha... maybe not so happy.
I bet I know what all of you are thinking: Where the hell is Arthur? Don't worry my beloved reader, he will show up, I promise! You're probably also wondering why Kiku is such a OOC bitch. That will work itself out in the future as well ^_^b
Also, I was thinking that maybe I should have a weekly schedule for this story. That way I'd have more of a reason to pump out chapters instead of procrastinate like I always do, and you guys will know when to expect them =D I'm thinking Thursdays, which works well because today is Thursday!
One more thing! I recently made a poll asking which of my stories you lovely readers like better. In case you didn't know, I have another Hetalia fanfic called Memories in the Mirror, which is GerIta ~3
Alrighty then, I know that was a long A/N, so I'll be wrapping up now^^ As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I love when you guys give me reviews!
See you next chapter! ;P