Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia:Axis Powers, Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance.
Chapter 3: We're Only Good For The Latest Trend
Huff. Puff. Groan.
"Come on Arthur! I know you can do better than that!"
Amber eyes watched with pity as Antonio coaxed Arthur around the soccer field for his tenth time.
"I kind of feel sorry for the guy." Lovino said as the blonde stumbled.
"This kind of abuse is just...I can't even look anymore." Francis's voice was sorrowful as he turned away. Then he grinned.
Finally. Finally that stingy British boy was getting his karma. Francis didn't forget the time the other cut his beautiful hair short in the fourth grade. He would never forget. Now, oh yes, now he was finally getting his revenge!
"Hey! They're kids on our field!"
"Ignore them! Just run with them! That's Carriedo! He's cool."
"Uh-oh,"
"Sacrebleu,"
The Soccer team decided to make their entrance, dropping off their items on the outdoor benches and stretching. Francis' heart sank before he put his ass in gear and ran after his friends, Romano close behind.
"We've got to go." He whispered to the Spaniard. Antonio shook his head.
"We can't. It's too dangerous. They've already started and some are blocking the path inside. He's bound to see Arthur."
"Who's bound to see Arthur?" Romano asked when he finally caught up. The two members of the Bad Touch Trio shared frantic looks.
"Alfred," they said quietly. That was all the Italian needed to know to form a plan. Slowly, a demonic grin stretched his face, cogs turning behind his green eyes. Looking as amiable as his brother, he ran up to the Brit.
"So, how did you like detention with my old man the other day?"
Furrowing their brows, two-thirds of the Bad Touch Trio looked to Romano with their question in their eyes.
'Follow my lead.' The Italian mouthed. If one looked closely, they would see the nubs of horns growing out of the freshman's scalp.
Shrugging, the two jogged up to Arthur also.
"You had detention with Roma's Grandfather? Why?"
"Cursing in class. The old git gave me hell for it." Arthur said, mildly surprised at the sudden attention.
"He only said 'hell'. Gil's done much worse. It wasn't even too serious."
"Yeah. The old fart's getting a bit more strict than usual." Romano remarked. His eyes looked over the field briefly, then they widened. He pushed Arthur forward with a slap on the back.
"Let's hurry! You have to hit 20 damn laps don't you? Shit, you tomato-hogging jerk! You don't give him a break do ya'? Run it you soggy douche bag! Before my churros get cold!"
Arthur complied with a slight frown. Romano caught Francis' eye and jerked his head backwards, where a lean blonde sophomore was running up to them. And fast.
"Hurry Arthur! Can't those scrawny legs of yours get you anywhere? Run! Or do you want me to beat you like I did during the mile run in 8th grade?"
"Ooh. What's the story behind that?" Antonio asked, not reading the tense atmosphere at all.
"Don't you dare tell him you little bugger!"
"Then run! Unless you want me to trip you so that you can fall face-first into deer dung?"
"We promised not to speak of that!" Arthur yelled, red faced. Francis dodged the Brit's hands with a smirk, sprinting ahead of him.
"You'll have to catch me to kill me!"
"Arthur!"
"Hmm?" The boy tried to turn, but Romano grabbed his face and urged him forward.
"You're just going to take that? That sucker just hit your pride! Go get him! Run. Fucking.Faster."
His voice dropped towards the end as he cast a dirty look at the American not too far behind them. Antonio followed his glare, and uncharacteristically smirked, glancing from Alfred to Arthur.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder huh?"
Oh? Maybe the Spaniard wasn't as tuned out as he had thought.
The freshman slapped Arthur on the back, evoking a high-pitched yelp.
"Faster! Faster! No slacking off!"
"Arthur!"
"Oh my frickin' Piero!" Romano screamed in frustration as Alfred entered a hearing distance. In a desperate flurry of movement, he side tackled Arthur into the ground.
"Let's play American football. Two hands!" He said over-enthusiastically as he slammed his hands onto Arthur's back. Francis and Antonio tried to hold back laughter as the boys got up, both covered in mud.
"The bloody hell was that for?"
"I just wanted to play with my friend. Is that a crime?" Romano asked defensively. The Spaniard inwardly applauded the freshman. He was a great actor. Francis, meanwhile, looked back at the field. Alfred was staring at them, but his feet pounded in synch with the rest of the team. The soccer coach, Mr. Waywards, had finally appeared, screaming directions to his team.
"Well, let's eat before taking a shower shall we? If the Soccer team is here, then we are a bit behind schedule. I'd rather you take your time eating and have a short shower rather than taking 45 minutes under hot water and smuggling baked goods into the hallways."
Francis directed them to their picnic set with a grin. His plan was going perfectly.
He bit into his croissant neatly as they sat to eat after using a bowl of water and a piece of soap to rinse out their hands, along with a spritz of hand sanitizer. (He and Antonio went first of course. Romano's and Arthur's muddy hands would only give the two more germs than before.)
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Arthur staring at Alfred as he laughed with his teammates.
"You'll be able to see him soon." The Frenchman assured, placing a hand on Arthur's palm.
"Why can't I speak with him now?" He demanded with a scowl.
"Well, for one, he's at practice."
"You idjits refused to let me speak to him yesterday too. Even though he approached me."
Francis fell silent at this. Antonio, a bit forcibly, changed the subject.
"So you're going shopping with Elizaveta today huh?"
"O-Oh yeah!" Romano was quick to catch on. "She was talking about it all of yesterday."
The Brit let the previous topic drop, bit didn't forget it.
" I am rather curious as to what she has in store for me."
Francis also jumped into the conversation, relieved due to Antonio's quick thinking.
"Lizzy has so much planned for you. She was telling me about all the different stores..."
He flied off into a mini-rant, doing his best to keep Arthur's eyes away from the American who was looking at up them with a glare.
They discussed until the food had vanished and the benches grew warm in the morning sun. Antonio, Arthur and Romano decided to take a short shower and said goodbye to Francis, who headed for his first class.
Antonio and Romano purposely guided Arthur to the showers on a path that avoided the Soccer team. The blonde didn't notice, but a certain star-player most certainly did. Antonio could feel a leer and angry frown even from 3 yards away. He didn't let this show in his grin of course. He couldn't worry Arthur or draw his attention to the player's gaze. That would almost completely ruin Francis's plan.
"Ha-ha! Do not worry! Elizaveta will be gentle! I am sure!"
He laughed, but the dark feeling in the pit of his gut betrayed his jovial expression. Things were going to get interesting. And the Spaniard knew this very well.
Antonio and Romano ran out to their classes first, leaving Arthur to pull on his shirt as the Soccer team piled in. He was about to grab his bag when someone grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the chatter of the sweaty students and into a secluded area, out the door and behind the shower building.
His spine slammed against the cold stone as two hands pushed his shoulders back. Pain ran through his torso, making him cringe.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed when is captor released him. He was trapped and he knew it. A warm body was directly in front of him, and the other's hands were against the wall right by his head. Maybe if he kicked hard enough-,
"Why are you ignoring me?"
Eyelids peeled back as emerald eyes looked to the boy in front of them curiously. Angry, dark blues looked back at him, dirty blonde hair intensifying his glare.
"Alfred?"
"Why are you ignoring me Artie? Why are you avoiding me?"
"What the hell are you blubbering about?"
"Oh, you know exactly what I mean Arthur."
Alfred's voice was malicious as he took another step forward. Arthur squirmed. He didn't like this confrontation. His friend never used that type of tone unless he was absolutely enraged.
"I'm afraid that I honestly do not."
Good. His voice did not waver. It was still the strict, sarcastic tone he normally used. Alfred scoffed and held Arthur by his right shoulder once more. He was close now, close enough to make their noses brush. Warm, chocolate scented breath brushed his neck.
"Don't lie. I know you're hanging out with Francis."
"It's only been a day or two."
"It's been 3 days if you're going to their table today."
Arthur couldn't object to that.
"But you still have Tino. You don't really need-."
"But I don't have you." The blonde said softly. Thank God Alfred's face was currently in his shoulder. He could feel his face burn a bright red as the jock's lips moved against his shirt.
"Y-You git! You're Alfred Jones for God's sake! You can hang out with anyone you want! I really don't see why you would want me!"
The taller boy straightened, looking his best friend right in the eyes.
"I want you because you're Arthur."
"That's h-hardly a sufficient reason!" He wasn't blushing anymore. It was just really hot outside. Yeah, just really warm. The boy began to walk away, trying to escape his confusing flurry of emotions. He could hear Alfred calling for him, but did not stop.
"See you later!" He called back lazily. He gave Alfred a small, backwards wave and continued on his way, doing his best to deny the red tint on his face.
-Once again, it was in Math class that the 'Let's-Help-Arthur-Actually-Look-Decent-And-Win-Back-Alfred-Exclaimation-Point' crew assembled. Roderich and Francis had finished their work long ago, the others were just frantically copying from their notebooks while trying to keep up with the conversation.
"He's not working with Alfred right?" Elizaveta asked, eyes glued to her boyfriend's notebook.
"Naw." Romano looked up, then back down at Francis's scrawl. "He's staring at the back of the bastard's head while working with Vash, Toris and that one Berwald kid."
"Alright then. Let's discuss." Francis snapped his gum as he folded his arms.
"Obviously, we have a problem."
"Whatever do you mean dear Franny?"
Elizaveta's nose scrunched, as if she just smelt a rather putrid, strong scent.
"Never try to use Arthur's accent again Gil. It's disturbing."
The Prussian jumped up, foot on his seat and his fist raised.
"I'll show you disturbing you little-!"
"Focus!" Francis exclaimed. He chewed on his gum thoughtfully before beginning,
"Arthur seems to miss Alfred and Alfred may feel the same way."
"So we let them see each other again? I thought we just started the absence plan yesterday!" The girl commented critically. The teen ended the start of a rant with a fluid hand motion to signal a stop.
"I know. But apparently the plan was in force before we even knew it. Alfred was the one to initiate the plan when he decided to ditch Arthur. We simply acted on and elaborated the rest of the plan yesterday. We aren't ditching it yet. Alfred has just realized that he misses Arthur. When he called for Arthur in gym class, that was only a reflex. He's used to having Arthur around you see? When Romano, Antonio and I surrounded Arthur, blocking off Alfred completely, he was thrown off. The fact that he could not get what he was used to having confused him. He was angry at the fact that his best friend was being overtaken. Yesterday's little fight played a significant part in it too."
Francis added hastily as the girl opened her mouth.
"Ooh, look who's an expert in human psychology."
Ignoring Gilbert's snide comment, Francis continued.
"We should still uphold the keep away plan just to be safe. Antonio, keep Alfred away from Arthur whenever he's outside please."
The Spaniard nodded, accepting his duty.
"Elizaveta, you can meet him at his locker when Antonio drops him off. If you and Roderich could also keep him at lunch periods if the rest of us are busy, I would be grateful."
"Roger that sir!" The girl stated brightly with a mock salute. Roderich was a bit surprised that he was included, but a smile from his girlfriend was enough to subject him to agreeing.
"Romano, could you stay with Arthur in the hallways?"
"I never said that I wanted to help prick boy with this type of thing!" Romano said, full of his usual stubbornness.
"You were fine a few hours ago." Antonio murmured, adjusting Francis' notebook before him.
"Please Romano? Don't we help you when you're in trouble? We break you out of detention don't we?"
The Italian pouted and threw his eyesight back down to his notebook. Francis, however, accepted this as yes.
"Merci mon ami!" He said with a smile.
"Now, Matthieu," The Canadian looked up from his spot beside Gilbert, shocked.
"I need you to keep my dear cousin far, far away from Arthur. Whenever he randomly decides to call or visit him, I want you to give him chores. I don't care what you do, as long as Alfred cannot maintain contact with Arthur from home. I know he's only your step-brother, and you two don't have the best of relations, but I want you to do all you can."
"I-I g-guess I can." The Canadian stuttered. Gilbert jumped in before anyone could full pay attention to the blonde boy.
"Hey! What about the awesome me? Where does my greatness come in?"
"We'll use you for dire situations Gilbert."
"Yeah. And then?"
"...You'll provide a distraction."
"...And then?"
Francis frowned and hit the other's head with his pen. "No more Youtube videos for you. Shush."
The Prussian scowled, sitting back down. His friend sighed. Gilbert was so immature sometimes.
"I suppose I could allow you to keep watch on the two when you're all in the same class." He said. With a grin that would make old ladies swoon, the albino sat up.
"Like now?"
"Now? What do you me-?"
But Gilbert was already up and running.
"Hey Artie!" He said loudly as he slid between Alfred and Arthur.
"I was trying to get a pencil from Arthur bro!" Alfred sounded irritated, but it only made Gilbert grin more.
"Well, I'm trying to keep a conversation with my best friend in the whole wide world! Besides Toni and Franny of course. So if you would kindly allow me to sit here..."
Gilbert grabbed an empty chair from the next table over and set it in between the two, grinning.
"Dude, it's just a pencil!"
"Dude! I need to talk to Arthur!"
"What the hell is it?" Arthur seethed. They fell into a conversation with ease, and soon Alfred was ignored.
"Do you know-?"
"Shush up Mr. Beilschmidt!" The Prussian frowned and stuck out his tongue as a certain blonde jock smirked at him. Mr. Mephisto was leering at the albino from underneath his half-rimmed spectacles. Grumbling, he ripped a page out of Arthur's notebook ("O-Oi!") and scrawled out his message at the top.
'Tattoos and Piercings. Do u kno wht u wnt?'
Arthur grimaced at the poor spelling, before writing out a reply in perfect script. (Which made Gilbert gag in return.)
'Not exactly. I'll consider tattooing the Union Flag on my arm but no piercings."
Gilbert ran the metal inside his tongue against his teeth self-consciously, before replying,
'2 frickin' bad. Ur geting a piercing whther u lyke it or not.'
'No!' Arthur wrote furiously. Gilbert smirked.
'Yes!'
'No!'
'Yes!'
'I do not want-!' Gilbert snatched the paper away and wrote,
'U FLIPPIN' GUSTA!'
"Mr. Kirkland! Mr. Beilschmidt! Allow me to see that paper that you're writing together."
All eyes turned to the two as Gilbert stood. He tossed the paper at Arthur, who hastily threw it back. Green eyes met dark crimsons, and the two nodded. Then Gilbert, with a wicked grin, crumpled the paper into a small wad and swallowed it whole. Girls gasped, while boys expressed their disgust through vulgar sounds. Well, except for the group at the back.
"You're such a frickin' idiot!" Romano exclaimed.
"Mierda! Gil! Y-You-!" Antonio and Francis were quaking with laughter while Matthew, Elizaveta, and Roderich just shook their heads, pretending not to know what just occurred.
Gil, feeling triumphant, smirked at Alfred with a twinkle in his eyes. Mephisto was a bit disgruntled, but he rapidly recovered.
"Kirkland, Beilschmidt, Go stand in the hallway."
Gilbert grabbed Arthur's hand and practically skipped into the hallway, laughing.
"Consider this your badass-punk rock or whatever the hell you want to call it, Lesson #1; Never give in. It doesn't matter where you are or whatever the hell you're doing. If you really don't like, then go ahead and defy all sense of authority."
"That could cause numerous problems though-."
"Or course. There are certain places where this rule doesn't apply. You should take some responsibility when it comes to your job and all that shit. You still have to eat after all."
Arthur looked Gil in the eye once more. The other boy grinned, flashing him a thumbs up. The Brit could admit one thing: Gilbert Beilschmidt was definitely nothing short of amazing. The term awesome could be saved for another time, but amazing was definitely an option.
"I never knew you had it in you Kirkland. Congrats, you're officially on the 'Wanted' list the teachers make up for students." Romano said as he sets his lunch tray on the table. He picked up his pizza, ripping his first bite as he gave Arthur a teasing wink. Antonio nabbed a cookie from Francis, who grabbed Arthur's in turn, and said,
"Honestly! I always assumed that you were the studious type. Tal conducta mal."
"What was on that paper anyway?" Roderich asked.
"A piercing discussion. I couldn't have anyone else know about that now could I? It would be too unprofessional for the awesome me."
"I bet you just didn't know what to do in that situation, so you decided do something stupid and eat it." Gilbert shot Elizaveta a withering glare and tossed a piece of pepperoni at her. The meat missed his target, which gave the girl the ability to throw her Pepsi at the troublemaker.
" Arthur, we're going shopping right at the Luxia. Do you know where that is?"
The Brit nodded. He knew the place, although not too well. It used to be, a place where he and Alfred would spend most of their Saturdays or Friday nights. The Luxia was the most hyper-active mall in the tri-state area. The multitude of stores made a single trip cover most of a shopping list. The food court wasn't bad either. Arthur really did like the fish and chips they served on Sundays.
"Good," Elizaveta said. She sat next to Arthur, after giving Roderich an apologetic look, and pulled out a colorful notebook full of stickers and bands. Arthur grinned as he saw a 'My Chemical Romance' sticker across the front. He started murmuring the lyrics to 'The Black Parade' under his breath. Instead of quickly flipping through the book, Elizaveta turned to Arthur with a happy grin.
"You listened to it!"
Arthur blushed as he was caught, and quickly broke their gaze.
"So I listened to a few songs. That most certainly does not mean that I enjoyed them."
"You liked them," Elizaveta nudged Arthur with a sly wink and smirk.
"You just need to listen to one song and you fall in love. They do save lives after all."
"How in the world does that work?" Arthur asked irritably.
"They just...do. It's kinda' hard to explain. You really need to meet their hardcore fans or go to one of their concerts to truly understand it. Youtube comments help too, but you won't really get it until you meet someone that was legit moved by their music."
A My Chemical Romance concert? Sure, Arthur may have not despised the CDs, but a concert? Most definitely not! Before Arthur could voice his thoughts, Elizaveta spoke up again. A ripped out page placed on the table.
"You looking Francis?"
"Yes. What is this mon chere?"
"The list of shops we're going to today. So we'll be going to Criminal Damage first..."
Elizaveta's voice trailed off as Arthur's focus dissolved. His eyes had traveled across the lunchroom and had met startled blues. Tino was still around his arm, tugging at it and pleading, but Alfred only gave him a few words in reply, never breaking eye contact with Arthur.
His sky blues hold a restrained rage (Towards Gilbert and Francis?), betrayal (Probably for Arthur himself.), and questioning. (Which could be aimed at both Matthew and Arthur)
Arthur stared into these blues for the rest of the period, his pizza running cold and his female friend's words flying past his head. Not once was eye contact broken. Nor was a single word uttered. There were only silent messages passing between the two as the time flew by.
By the end of his lunch period, Arthur discovered exactly what Alfred wanted. He sighed as the others laugh about some stupid joke, drowning in teenage angst and self pity.
Yes, he knew. But he did not necessarily like it.
-S.S.C.O.T.Y-
And so we reach a critical point. We'll start seeing a punk Arthur in the next chapter or two. I'm really looking forward to it! I think this story's going to be epic and I hope you all stick around for it.
Once again, the reviews, alerts and faves mean a lot. Don't be afraid to rip apart my writing. Critique always helps.
I hope you liked this chapter, albeit its shorter length. Have an awesome week!