Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just ship it
Warning: AU, strong language, boy x boy pairings, violence (more so bullying in the beginning), and because this was inspired by the manga Iris Zero, there may be some minor spoilers for it.
There may also be slight spoilers for Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin, but nothing that wasn't given away in the trailer for it.
Look! Look! You didn't have to wait half a year for another update! Progress…kind of? I didn't hear much on the outtakes, so I just threw a few of them in the main story instead of giving them a separate side story at the end. Either way, this thing got crazy-long. Enjoy!
oOo
It took begging, it took pleading, it took Gilbert popping ibuprofen like tictacs to deal with the countless headaches the tsundere duo brought on, but it was done…the World Academy cover of Jiyuu no Tsubasa was complete! The multimedia partners gathered on the eve of the third day to listen to the music that would accompany the video. Gilbert had heard it enough times to warrant permanent brain damage, so he zoned out while Elizabeta and Kiku listened curiously. The two SHIP members were often very picky when it came to song covers, but both enjoyed this one.
"It's wonderful…" Elizabeta smiled, slightly bobbing her head to the music.
"We should have them do the full song," agreed Kiku, already picturing the visuals with the audio in his head.
"You can do it then!" Gilbert quickly shot out of his chair. Screw Kiku's scary schizophrenia whenever his otaku side was stirred. Elizabeta's freaky fangirl fetishes could also kiss his ass. He was 1,000 percent done with the duet from hell. "I want nothing to do with either of them for the next ten years!"
"How hard could it be to have them sit in a room and sing a two minute song?" laughed the Director.
"Lizzy, I want you to imagine a socially awkward penguin and a rodent of unusual size were told that the only way they could survive was by killing the other with a shoestring and a broken beer bottle..."
"Were they really so terrible?" Kiku asked, tilting his head. "They had been getting along a little better during Student Council meetings…"
"No, no, no…they were the socially awkward penguin and I was the R.O.U.S."
"That would explain why your guitar work sounds almost like a celebration," his brunette friend snickered. "It's good though."
Gilbert nodded. It certainly had come a long way from headphone-throwing, swearing, changing the lyrics to better suit their native languages crap he had to deal with while curled up in the corner of the studio, crying into a beer he found in an undisclosed place. With the music taken care of, they went through the rest of the filming that needed to be done. Most of the individual shots were complete, so now the trickier group component was coming into play.
oOo
The next day, the Student Council members found themselves introduced to humanity's greatest foe…the Titans. Billowing in the wind, the thin-skinned deviants were about 20 feet high. This easily put them on level with the zipline cables.
They just looked a lot less threatening as lime green cardboard cutouts.
Kiku explained that he would later edit the footage to make them scarier-looking. After watching the trailer of sorts he put together of what Titans were supposed to look like, nobody was complaining about the lack of creep factor. Elizabeta's 'vision' involved the boys beating the crap out of these cardboard monstrosities for several hours at various locations/angles. They set out to achieve this as the day begun.
Alfred immediately jumped at the chance to play hero, volunteering himself to go first. He climbed up the platform taking the rungs two at a time and practically bounced in place while the stunt team attached his zipline gear. As soon as he heard his cue, he grabbed his prop sword and sped down the line towards the green cardboard beast. With a mighty battle cry, he lopped off the Titan's entire head his first try.
"Woo! Did you guys see that?!" he cheered from the opposite platform.
The onlookers clapped and shouted for him happily. It was a good run to start the day with. Kiku was very glad he insisted on bulk ordering enough cardboard to make several dozen Titan cutouts. He had a feeling they would need all of them as Ludwig offered to go next. As much as he tried to hide it, the idea of zipping down the cable, sword in hand, sounded exciting. Much more so when his boyfriend was safe on land, cheering him on. He patiently waited for the staff member to finish adjusting his harness on the outside. On the inside, he was bursting with a jubilant energy, like a kid on an All-You-Can-Ride Train event.
"Veeeeee~! You can do it, Ludwig!" Feli cupped his hands over his mouth and cheered. It was fun being as loud as he wanted, since they were only using the theme song as audio in the final draft. "Goooooo, Ludwig!"
"You sound like a tone deaf cheerleader, fratello."
"More like a toned up cheerleader!" Feliciano flexed his skinny arms in an over-the-top bodybuilder pose. "Ooh! Here he goes!"
Ludwig leapt off the platform, tilting his body sideways. He had mentally calculated the precise angle he would have to reach to hit his target. The pulley above him whirred, bringing him closer and closer to the attack zone. As expected, he was spot on and struck down the Titan with his sword. When he landed on the opposite platform, he allowed himself a small smile while the crowd cheered him on.
Lovino rolled his eyes at the showoffs when his name was called to go next. He went through the same procedure of getting his gear attached to the zipline, as a new Titan dummy was placed at the halfway point. Since the others got theirs with no difficulty, Lovino wasn't worried.
"And…ACTION!" Elizabeta shouted through her megaphone.
Lovino kicked up his feet and shot downwards. All the practice yesterday helped get him used to the speed and weightless feeling that came with ziplining. Then came the challenge…while trying to stab the bejeezus out of a Titan, Lovino zipped right over its head, missing completely. Embarrassed, the older Vargas nearly flubbed up his landing too. He ignored the pitiful "Ohhhhs" coming from the group below and geared up for a return trip. He tried again for the same result, although the cardboard Titan prop seemed to be mocking him with its poorly-drawn face. Lovino wanted nothing more than to stab it between the eyes.
He tried yet again, and while closer, couldn't touch the intimidating hulk of cardboard. The Titan was moved a little closer to the zipline to help. Alfred and Feliciano cheered him on to no avail. The cardboard Deviant lived on. On the fourth attempt, he missed again. Even though the Titan had been raised up well within his striking range, a gust of wind had blown it to safety. Fed up with the stupid scene, Lovino threw his sword prop back, hitting the target dead on.
The others erupted into cheers at the lucky shot.
oOo
The way Elizabeta explained the current scene was to zip across the two lines running next to each other. They would be going in pairs now, but Kiku would edit the footage later, to make it look like the group was going together at once. Lovino and Alfred would be towards the end of the line to try out a stunt Kiku concocted while they were waiting in line.
"Ready for this?" Alfred winked at his boyfriend, taking his hand.
"Just don't swing me into a tree, bastard."
The two leapt off the platform while holding hands. At about the halfway mark, Alfred was slightly ahead of Lovino, due to his larger build. He suddenly brought his second hand around Lovino's and tossed him with as much force as he could gather mid-flight. This caused the brunet to rocket ahead of him at a crazy speed, but stole all his momentum. Alfred's pully slowed to a standstill in the middle of the zipline, effectively stranding him.
"Uh…guys?" he dangled his feet and stretched his arms.
"Good job, Alfred!" Kiku complimented him while whizzing by on the opposite cable. "I'm glad it wooooooorked!"
"Okay, seriously guys!" he tried to laugh at his own predicament. "Come back and get me, I'm stuck!"
"I told you to cut back on the Big Macs!" Lovino yelled back from off-camera.
Alfred was not amused.
From the sidelines, Ludwig stood with Gilbert and Elizabeta. He was a little concerned for their President, but the other two were cracking up at Alfred's attempts to 'Superman' his way into moving again. Not even the blond's "Whoosh!" "Zoom!" and "WHSSHOOOOM!" sound effects helped Alfred as he tried to swing his way to freedom.
"I thought you checked everyone's shadows before takeoff, bruder."
"I did."
"And you didn't see this?"
"I didn't see any immediate danger for Herr Präsident …"
"Guys!" the annoyed American shouted again, waiting impatiently for someone to help him. "Still stuck up here!"
"Then what would you call this?" Ludwig gestured to the boy flapping his arms like the world's most uncoordinated eagle.
"…Entertainment?"
Finally, after being stuck in the middle of the zipline for nearly fifteen minutes, Alfred got his gear working…only to crash into a tree.
"Nice of you to join us, bastard," Lovino laughed, helping his disoriented boyfriend to his feet.
"Once the four of you bring me to the real Lovi, we're gonna have a long conversation about spur of the moment stunts."
"I thought it was kind of fun."
"Nope. No fun. Not even a little fun," argued Alfred, wrapping his arms around his Italian. "No more crazy stunts or I'll tell Elizabeta we volunteer for some steamy, romantic scenes…filmed in front of a live studio audience."
"You wouldn't!"
"Oh, I would…" Alfred placed a gentle kiss on the tip of his boyfriend's nose. "So, no more crazy stunts?"
"…You drive a hard bargain, bastard," he tried to will away the rosy glow on his cheeks.
"Lovino, when we're in a situation where I am the 'voice of reason' then we are in a very, very bad situation."
oOo
While most of the actors had seen swords being drawn in movies, few had actual experience with it in real life. Kiku was in charge of showing his fellow Student Council members how to draw the blade in an arc correctly. He was well-versed in Iaido, the Way of Drawing the Sword, and made a good teacher. Although the swordmaster demonstrated two drawing techniques (crouching and standing), the council members focused on the latter. He also showed Arthur and Lovino (who had smaller builds to him or simply did not qualify as 'freaks of nature' depending on who was asked) how to pull the scabbard in the opposite direction, with a twist of the hips, to make it easier and create more space for the blade. A few demonstrations and they were all able to do it. Still, it came as no surprise that Kiku would be the first one to go for the sword-drawing scenes.
Fingers on the hilt of his blade, Kiku closed his eyes to focus on his task. With a quick burst of power, he stepped forward and effortlessly pulled the sword in front of him, striking in a wide arc. His eyes were open now, with a fierce strength blazing behind them. The others had been watching and very glad they were sitting to the side. Kiku was a force to be reckoned with. Sitting in front of him could have given them heart attacks from the intensity he was emitting.
"Dude, I think he just went Super Saiyan…" whispered Alfred, inching closer to Lovino for support. He still had nightmares about Samurai Kiku nearly beheading him for being late to the Host Club.
Long story short, Kiku nailed his sword-drawing pose again on a platform near the treetops, but below him was yet another shouting match between Elizabeta and Gilbert. Being the professional that he was, Kiku didn't even flinch or spare them a glance. However, before anyone could break it up, a frying pan was heard striking its target and ricocheted into the shot of Captain Kiku.
Nothing says 'Come at me, bro!' like flying kitchenware.
Fortunately, when it came time for the group shot of everyone drawing their blades, things went smoothly. Like the group ziplining shots, Kiku wisely insisted on having the officers draw their swords in two groups, to avoid braining anyone with a prop sword in close proximity. It would be easy enough to combine the footage later.
oOo
Near the end of the week, the SHIP Queen wanted all of the officers to don their forest green mantles, based off the ones in Attack on Titan. The majority of the filming had been done in the standard cadet jackets, due to ease of movement in the zipline harness. Wearing the cloaks wouldn't be impossible, but would make some of the stunts a bit trickier. However, some members took up a more… fashion-over-function issue with them.
"Let me get this straight…we're supposed to be going to war with the Titans…and you want us to wear capes?" Arthur criticized the green costume, arching a massive eyebrow. "And a gaudy one at that!"
"It's a cloak, mon lapin," Francis looked hurt. "I designed them myself!"
"You looked at the anime uniform."
"Yes, but I measured, cut, and sewed them while you were sitting on your butt in the recording room, traumatizing Gilbert!"
"How did you get everyone's size correct?" asked Arthur, noticing the others fit their cloaks perfectly.
"Ohonhonhon! Elizabeta and Kiku have all your measurements on file!"
"Of course they do…" the shorter blond shook his head. "Weirdos…"
Out of the corner of his eye, the aforementioned 'weirdo' caught the end of Francis and Arthur's conversation via his Iris. He had a relatively good standing with the Brit, all things considered, but knew better than to push his luck. Instead, he headed over to the courtyard, where several students had gathered to see the movie magic. Boosting interest in the project would certainly help boost the Student Council's rapport with others. It may also help inspire others interested in Multimedia projects.
As he made his way over, Kiku noticed Antonio and Gilbert entertaining a crowd with their wild tales of ziplining through powerful storms and jungles. While a crazy vacation like that wasn't completely out of the question for the adrenaline junkies, Kiku doubted any of it was true. An annoyed Ludwig in the opposite corner agreed with him. The Japanese boy headed his way first.
"Having fun, Ludwig?" he asked, walking over to the group formed around his German friend.
"I gave up trying to correct those two dummkopfs, but they still manage to irritate me…"
"Aww, poor Ludwig!" one of the sophomore girls cooed, patting his shoulder. "It's too bad Feli's not here to help you feel better."
Kiku chuckled at Ludwig's mental struggle to be close to Feliciano, yet keep him far away from the ziplines for his own safety.
I must keep Feliciano at a safe distance, otherwise this production team will sink their claws into him to force another horrible stunt on him…
"Really, Ludwig?" he asked. "Claws?"
The blond blushed, having forgotten to control his thoughts around Kiku better. He bit his tongue to avoid embarrassing himself further. Quick to latch onto someone in a better mood, the group turned to the Student Council Secretary.
"You're so brave~!" gushed one of the freshman girls. "Swinging between buildings, wielding swords…not to mention putting your life in danger being anywhere near the Iris Zero."
"…What?" Kiku narrowed his eyes. "He's not—"
"I heard Sadik and his crew were coming to check on you too," one of the boys mentioned. "Everyone's been worried that something would happen on one of the ziplines."
"I can assure you that the professional team we hired to install and monitor them will more than ensure our safety," Kiku spoke coldly. "People have been safely using types of ziplines since the days when no one had an Iris."
The group looked at him in confusion. Reading several of their thought bubbles confirmed that like many students, they forgot about the time a few decades ago when having an Iris was abnormal. Nobody liked to talk about the days when humanity lacked the genetic gifts it had now. Most people never even thought about it. Having an Iris was the new normal. Anything that deviated from that was considered wrong.
"B-But I heard that Iris Zeroes bring bad luck…"
"My whole family always said to stay away from them or I'll lose my Iris!" another looked distraught. "We need our Irises!"
"Proven facts trump baseless superstition," was all he had left to say to them.
Kiku excused himself quickly to dash over to the area he last saw Lovino in. He knew the Italian was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but Kiku didn't want him to put up with any unneeded stress when their week was busy enough without bullies. Sometimes, he couldn't understand why his Turkish friend did the things he did. Kiku was well-aware that Sadik didn't always have an easy time growing up, but couldn't understand why that so often led to the mindset of bullying a few victims to fit in with a larger group of others. He certainly wouldn't let his friendship with Sadik take precedence over the safety of another. The secretary picked up his pace.
Alfred definitely didn't have his brother's level of empathy, but he did have a good sixth sense when it came to Lovino. Part of Kiku doubted his blond friend even needed his Iris to notice Lovino qualified as someone in danger when the group of Anti-Iris Zero fans walked around the set.
"What happened here?" Kiku asked.
"Your admirers were looking for you and found me first," Lovino rolled his eyes. "I don't mind Heracles as much, but you can do better than Sadik."
"I'm sorry…" the Japanese boy apologized. He didn't mean for his friends to cause trouble. It would have been much more ideal for Lovino to run into someone more accepting, such as Feliks or Torris.
"Whatever, Alfred wasn't far behind and managed to convince them to arm wrestle each other over your hand in marriage."
"I would have preferred a cook-off, but I suppose that will suffice," Kiku forced a laugh. "Alfred's a good guy. I'm glad he was here to help."
"I've told him a million times to let it drop, but he never listens…" sighed Lovino.
"But…isn't it a good thing to have others on your side?" asked Kiku. "It's more effective than being alone, yes?"
"Maybe in some ways…" the Italian ran a hand through his hair. "But it doesn't do anything to fix humanity's bad case of Stupidity."
"It's all the more reason to educate humanity," Kiku didn't like the defeated tone in his friend's voice.
"You can't educate what refuses to listen. People don't change by being bombarded with information. Their stupid brains can't keep track of all that shit. Hell, most of them are complete idiots about what they claim is so important to them," the brunet crossed his arms. "Physically, I look no different from others with Irises. Mentally, I'm even superior to a lot of Iris users. I could spend all day beating bastards over the head with medical journals, historical records of Iris Zero success, and genetic testing that proves I'm no less human than they are, but in the end they won't believe me because all their family and friends are convinced Iris Zeroes are cursed and fitting in takes priority."
"True…lots of people tend to get swept up into supporting whatever side of a debate has all the smart and cool people on it," nodded Kiku. "They tend to assume that side is correct without doing any of their own research into the matter…but not everyone shares their flawed opinions."
"…I said too much. Sorry."
"Not at all, you raise a lot of valid points."
"But hey, don't worry about it," Lovino amended, not wanting to bring Kiku down. "Yeah, it sucks ass sometimes, but I'm doing better. Really."
Kiku didn't know how to respond. What could he say to help his friend feel better? All he could do was stare at his shoes.
"Look…" Lovino faintly blushed, as he lowered his voice. "D-Don't tell the others I said this or use it in some weird SHIP club thing, but…hanging around you guys is…uh, it's okay."
The black-haired boy looked up at him.
"D-Don't make me regret saying that, bastard!" he hissed, looking away. "I might be falling into the same trap of joining a group and becoming willing to defend any dumb beliefs it has, like Alfred's hamburger addiction or your obsession with anime action figures, but…I haven't been able to do that in a long time. I guess I see the appeal, anyway. Ugh…you guys are making me stupid…"
"I don't think you're stupid at all," Kiku shook his head. "I'm just relieved you're able to view us all as friends now."
"Whoa, whoa, that might be crossing the line," chuckled Lovino. "I still can't stand Ludwig and at best, I tolerate you and the tea bastard."
"And what about Alfred?"
"Damn, look at the time, lunch break is almost over!" the Italian lied through his teeth. "I better get going before Elizabeta loses her shit! Seeya!"
Kiku watched him walk off in a better mood, but still a cautious distance from the gathered students. By now, he was sure it was an ingrained habit. Staying away from others meant security from them.
"We still have a long way to go…" he muttered.
oOo
At a later point in the filming, Alfred found himself in possession of zipline equipment and some spare time with his fellow Student Council members as they waited for their cue to take off.
This was never a good combination.
Before they knew it, the blond had convinced his companions to start a dance party in the middle of a very tense scene… Ludwig (the only one refusing to get funky) could only shake his head in disbelief…something he found himself doing a lot this week. It was hard being the only responsible one.
"Hey, idiots!" Elizabeta shouted at them through her megaphone. "Stop popping and locking long enough to notice your cues or I swear to god, I'm going to add a group whip cream fight to this video!"
This got them to settle down long enough to wait for their various cues again.
Lovino wore a serious expression on his face as he prepared to dash off the platform connected to the zipline. He would be jumping at the same time as Kiku and drawing both blades midair, so he didn't want to screw up and hit his friend on accident. Lovino saw their cue and took a step forward…only to stumble as a phone went off and distracted him.
"Turn your damn phones off!" the angry Italian shouted at the others.
"Lovi, it's your phone!" Alfred shouted back, off-camera. "Your brother wants to know what you want for dinner!"
"Cazzo…"
Up next, Arthur tried to draw his blades in a dramatic fashion, only to find that they were stuck in their scabbards. He didn't realize it at the time, but he didn't have the wingspan to pull out both blades of that size without twisting his hips or pulling back on the scabbard. Since he was pulling a blade from both sides, he didn't have any space to twist his hips or a spare hand for the scabbards. The result—two partially drawn blades and a lot of embarrassment.
"U-Uh…" he blushed slightly, trying and failing once more. "They're really in there…"
The camera shook slightly as he and the cameraman began to laugh.
"Kesesese! Don't worry, Arthur," grinned the albino from off-camera. "Everyone has performance issues now and then!"
The tsundere's face turned bright red, as he caught Gilbert's double-meaning. Suddenly, Arthur found the strength to draw both swords and sprint off, threatening to impale him with the very swords he forged.
oOo
Elizabeta didn't include any actual dialog in the production, but wanted several rallying scenes. Since she gave Alfred a lot of screen time already, she chose Ludwig to be the one delivering the inspirational speech. As she was in it only for the lip flaps, the Hungarian left it up to him to adlib anything. He chose incorporating mathematical theorems into everyday life.
The trio needed several angles of this for their production, so they had Ludwig go to town on his algebra lecture, while the others stood behind him, giving the fist-over-the-heart salute from the series. This worked for about ten minutes, before the others started getting antsy. Ludwig didn't mind and kept going strong. By the time he hit practical applications of the quadratic equation, his teammates were a lost cause.
The German continued talking until he noticed his cameraman brother desperately biting his lip to avoid laughing. Knowing it couldn't be from anything he was saying, Ludwig looked behind him at the others. They stood there, stoic as ever, as if nothing was happening. Ludwig turned back around to the camera, continuing his speech, until it happened again. This time the blond whipped his head back quickly, trying to catch the other Student Council members in the act of whatever they were doing…but they didn't look like they moved from their salute. Each time Ludwig tried to catch them, they looked serious instead. It took three more tries before Alfred couldn't hold back his laughter and they all fell apart after that. Laughter really was contagious…unless you were the speaker, giving the most moving lecture on mathematics this side of World Academy while your teammates insisted on photobombing with silly faces.
Not long after that, Elizabeta and Kiku were realizing their actors were reaching their limits for the day. Ludwig was the only one taking his role seriously any more, which stressed him out because he expected the same discipline from everyone else. This, of course, was like expecting a dainty, little tea party from a group of drunken lumberjacks with chainsaws for hands.
Arthur and Francis had disappeared somewhere and several crew members suddenly believed a supply closet to be haunted around the same time. Detective Gilbert believed the two weren't isolated incidents and kept pestering Matthew to help him investigate other supply closets to make sure those weren't haunted either.
"But Birdie, what if there's a connection and we need to check other places for clues?"
"You'd sound a lot more convincing if you didn't have your hand in my back pocket…"
Feliciano and Antonio continued instigating random dance parties all over the set. They were only kept in check by Elizabeta threatening to write in a scene about Ludwig twerking, if they didn't stop. Unable to dance, the duo settled on sampling the food table and taking random siestas all over the set. Feliciano didn't want to embarrass his boyfriend in front of the others. Antonio knew the world wasn't ready for whatever attempt Ludwig made at dancing (much less twerking) with his track record.
Alfred and Lovino were literally grounded for the day after they started wrestling each other over dinner plans on the zipline. They had a dramatic scene, where all they had to do was look at each other with serious faces. No talking, no moving, nada. Kiku told them to try to imagine teaming up to get their brothers back from kidnappers. It worked for a few seconds, then Alfred slowly took the back of his hand and caressed Lovino's cheek with a serious face. Both immediately broke character and burst out laughing. Their Japanese friend quickly intervened before Elizabeta ripped someone in half.
"Thank you everyone, that will do for today!" Kiku spoke through the megaphone. "We'll see you tomorrow for our wrap-up session!"
oOo
They may not have been the easiest group of unskilled actors to work with, but in the end, the World Academy Student Council delivered. In Multimedia class, they delivered a polished piece worthy of the A+ it received, in addition to the standing ovation from the entire class (professor included). In the SHIP meeting, they delivered tears of joy and nosebleeds of happiness (it was also worth noting that additional uncut footage was left in that version). In the subsequent all-school assembly, they delivered the best opening movie that brought the entire school to their feet. Everywhere the short film was played left audiences in amazement. It was incredibly rare to see three high school students pull off something so professional, so…Hollywood.
The video opened up with a brief flash of the school's crest and panned up from the main courtyard to the building itself. As the shot reached the sky, a flock of Gilbirds flew upwards towards the heavens. The camera panned down again, zooming closer to the school, while opaque close-ups of flares being fired by the Student Council members filled the skies, matching the colors that Alfred had initially assigned them at the beginning of the year. Instead of the opening credits that appeared in the anime's intro, character-building words, such as "Teamwork" "Strength" and "Determination" appeared large enough to read, but small enough not to take away from the awesome visuals.
The guitar picked up the tempo and a montage of the boys readying their gear for battle overlapped different sections of the school. It was clear they were ready for anything that came their way. This guitar just wouldn't quit as the five members of the World Academy Student Council were overlooking a hill during sunset. Another set of close-up shots of their heads overlayed the dramatic sunset backdrop. Despite the countless silly takes it took to get this one, each shot was serious, portraying the officers as highly-trained soldiers, hardened by battle.
The next group of scenes put each individual member somewhere in the school – a window at dawn, floating in the pool, standing in the foreground of the clocktower, lying under a tree – for their solo shots. Again, the emphasis was on preparing for battle. Each boy looked determined to see their job through to the end. Fittingly enough, the next montage was fast shots of battle scenes with the council member lined up in the foreground, backs to the audience, giving a powerful salute.
Next up, the fan-favorite clips of the zipline scenes. Of course, with Kiku's masterful editing skills, no one could tell the actors were on a zipline and not using the 3-D Manuvering gear to latch onto trees, walls, and buildings to propel themselves into the face of danger. It was so good, it left a few of the officers themselves wondering if some of the stunts had been real. Even the takes that had been a joke while filming (Alfred launching Lovino towards the camera and getting stuck himself, Arthur's sticky scabbard troubles, and Ludwig breaking his sword on a surprisingly durable cardboard Titan) were cleaned up and looked amazing on camera…or cut out just before they got silly. One of the most impressive shots was of the entire council flinging themselves at Titans together, swords drawn. It looked so seamless, people never would have believed the group had to jump in pairs and not together.
Following up that were close-ups of all the equipment in action. Gilbert nearly cried tears of joy as he watched the grapple hooks slowly spiraling upward, cables crossing and strengthening one another, and swords flashing… He was glad he convinced Kiku to slow those sections down and speed up the parts with the guys zipping from tree to tree and drawing their blades.
The last few segments were of the Student Council members helping each other or saving civilians. Ludwig carrying Feliciano to safety from a Titan began the roll, trailed by Arthur supporting an 'injured' Francis, and Lovino and Alfred tearing into a Titan above the brave circle of Kiku, Gilbert, and Antonio holding the fort. By some miracle, Elizabeta was able to salvage a few images of Ludwig's speech rallying his fellow officers…minus the silly faces. Kiku used his editing wizardry to clone all of the officers, Police Force, and assistants into a crowd below him, essentially creating a courtyard of people. It ended on a close-up of Alfred giving the salute, then cut to the school logo on the back of his cloak. This glowed and faded into the sky with another flock of Gilbirds soaring above. Credits were done quickly within the last few seconds of the song, as the individual shots of each Student Council member flashed by and faded on a group shot of the members facing the camera bravely with the classic fist-over-the-heart salute.
The video finished and an applause began sweeping the auditorium. Elizabeta's prediction about creating the best multimedia video in World Academy's history had been spot on. In fact, it was so amazing that their professor had entered it in regional school film festival, where it had taken first place. The three students found themselves walking on stage to accept an award for all their hard work.
Each winner was presented with a glass trophy of a film reel. The group had the chance to say thank you, but no one was allowed to say much more. Officially, the reason was for time restraints, unofficially, the company that put the contest together has spent one too many award ceremonies listening to eccentric winners. By now, they knew handing the student directors a microphone was the equivalent of arming them with a phaser.
After the award ceremony, Headmaster Shinawatra accompanied them around the room, as they mingled with other schools. The upscale country club hosting the event rented out their main dining room and luxurious ballroom. Large floor to ceiling windows across the walls provided stunning views of the contemporary-styled gardens below. Even with all the space provided, the venue was quite crowded. World Academy had only been entered in one of the twelve award categories, but they still managed to stand out. People flocked over to them to ask about their film. Several students from other schools were amazed that this was just a regular class project and not a school-wide production. Gilbert explained to the nonbelievers that when Elizabeta and Kiku fangirled, they did it big.
"Kazimir Braginski, is that you?" Kasem waved to a tall Russian man.
"Ah, Kasem," he nodded. "It is good to see you again."
The adults chatted for a moment before the stern-looking man addressed the students.
"And congratulations to you three on your award. It was well-earned," he smiled in a way that reminded Gilbert of a wolf eyeing up a flock of sheep. The tall headmaster waved a similar-looking boy around their age over. "This is my son, Ivan. He was especially impressed with your film."
"Yes, it was very good," his frosty, violet eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion, creeping Kiku and Gilbert out. "Your actors seem like a fun group of people!"
Not being one to be put off by awkward social skills, Elizabeta looked past his creepy aura to talk about the actors involved. It wasn't often she got to talk to guys about her SHIP projects.
"They definitely are a lively bunch," she beamed. "I enjoy working with them whenever possible, due to their chemistry and dedication to each other!"
While she was playing jump rope with the line that crossed Describing a School Project and Describing a Fanfic to Ivan, the two headmasters continued their conversation. Kazimir expressed interest in collaborating with World Academy to create multimedia projects together. They had been going over various programs and student organizations offered at each school that would achieve this.
"I feel there is a lot we can learn from each other," Kazimir stated.
"Yes, we would love to work with your students and staff at Blue Sun Academy!" Kasem shook his hand, extending Headmaster Braginski an invitation to drop by whenever they wanted to collaborate.
oOo
The day after the awards ceremony, ever-dutiful Kiku made it back before the Student Council meeting. He pushed open the familiar wooden doors and glanced inside. Today was the beginning of the month, so the Police Force would also be in attendance to go over last month's disciplinary results. At the moment, only Roderich, Arthur, and Ludwig were present. With the latter two being distracted by a chess game, Kiku greeted their Student Council Advisor to be polite.
"Good afternoon, Roderich," he bowed slightly. "How are you today?"
"Hello, Kiku. I'm fine, which is more than I can say for the children over there," huffed the Austrian.
"What happened?" the underclassmen tried to sound neutral.
"Arthur is apparently too busy to stay the entire meeting, so he wanted to end it early!" Roderich waved his hand in the air in annoyance. "And with Alfred being a bad influence on Ludwig, he actually agreed to play a chess match to determine the ending time…How childish!"
"I see," Kiku rifled through a few papers. "Well, I need to get my reports ready then."
The Japanese boy walked towards his two friends, deeply absorbed in the game. They appeared to be nearing the end of a close battle. Despite Ludwig's best efforts, the Brit ended up winning the match.
"Don't feel bad, Ludwig, even I've lost to Arthur…" Kiku tried to reassure him.
"Thank you, Kiku."
"You still lost, git," grinned the Treasurer. "That means we get to end things at 4:00 on the dot!"
"Yes, yes, of course…"
"Has anyone ever been able to best you, Arthur?"
"Only my older brother Alistair…and I'm fairly certain he cheated somehow."
"Good to know…" Ludwig grumbled, noting the lack of a devil tail on Arthur. The arrogant senior was at least telling the truth. He'd remember that next time, so he didn't get suckered into this sort of thing again.
"Careful, Artie," Alfred laughed on his way in. "Recent studies show that reading books and drinking tea doesn't make you better than everyone else."
"Maybe not, but watching Doctor Who and making the cover of several magazines for being the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company certainly does."
"And here I thought it was your cheery personality," Lovino said dryly, taking his usual seat between Alfred and Kiku. The red panda family were quick to jump into his lap.
Alfred and Ludwig began the meeting quickly after. They had a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. It went uncontested that the tsundere officers could find a way to launch a verbal assault long enough to fill that time limit with ease. As much as Alfred loved watching someone put his high and mighty cousin in his place, he didn't like hearing Arthur insult his boyfriend in return. He did his best not to overstep too much and hurt Lovino's pride (mostly for the fear of Lovino joining forces with Arthur and having both of them yell at him), but sometimes he couldn't help himself. Hopefully, they'd all behave themselves long enough to get out of here on time.
'Then Lovi can come over and hang out for a bit!' he thought.
"I call this meeting to order!" Alfred flashed his million dollar smile.
oOo
By the grace of the gods of business, the group of political misfits managed to stay on track for longer than ten minute spans. Updated data tracking procedures were examined and agreed on in record time, Student Request Board topics were reviewed and assigned to specific council members with minimal arguing, and even the Police Force report was missing half the sexual innuendos Francis tried to sneak in for the hell of it. Perhaps, they were maturing as adults? Or taking their roles as political leaders within the school seriously?
"Damn, he must really want to get in Arthur's pants later," Lovino whispered to Antonio.
"No, his motives are pure this time," the Spaniard whispered back with a smile. "Hmm, there's got to be a better way to phrase that…"
"Yeah, 'sexually frustrated,'" Gilbert chimed in with his trademark laugh.
Towards the end of the meeting, Lovino's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to check the caller ID, figuring it was his brother or grandfather, since the only other people that usually call him were in the room with him. Sure enough, it was Feliciano.
"Sorry, I have to take this," the brunet stood up, accepting the call. "It's Feliciano."
Almost all of the others nodded in acknowledgement, while the Commissioner walked towards the hallway…almost all of the others.
"You're taking a private phone call during an official meeting?" Roderich gave him a hard time. "Do you not understand the importance of these?"
"Of course I do," Lovino flipped him off. "Feliciano does too. That's why it must be a big deal if he's calling, stronzo."
"Go ahead and take the call," encouraged Ludwig, a little worried about Feli too.
"We'll take good notes for you, Lovi!" smiled his cousin.
Lovino nodded a quick thanks and ducked out of the room.
The others resumed the meeting without issue, but Roderich couldn't be bothered to be brought back on track.
"What could possibly have happened that would be more important?" the Austrian crossed his arms. "Leaving in the middle of the meeting like that is disrespectful."
"He'll be back when he's done, so it's fine," Alfred tried to be professional and continue the meeting. "Anyway, Ludwig, what were you saying about the possibility of digitally replacing textbooks with tablets?"
"You don't think it's rude to just walk off like that?" huffed Roderich.
"I think it's rude to keep interrupting me…" the American grumbled under his breath.
"It's not like he's the first one to take a damned call," Arthur waved it off. "So, textbooks…"
"I just think there should be a penalty for the inconvenience he's putting us through."
"It's really no inconvenience, Roderich," Kiku carefully explained. "I always share the meeting notes, so he'll be caught up by tomorrow."
"Well, it's an inconvenience for me to track him down and risk potential misfortune while I make sure he read all of the meeting notes."
"Then I'll do—"
"And we can't rely on our President to constantly hunt others down to inform them of what they already should know," sighed Roderich. "Really, this all could have been avoided by appointing more qualified people to—"
"Roderich—" Francis sharply scolded him, but was cut off by Antonio.
Francis looked at his Spanish friend, confused by the small smile on his face. Without another word, the blond sat down. He was starting to put two and two together with a small nod from Antonio. The Spaniard had noticed a decent-sized Grim stir by Roderich's feet as soon as Lovino stepped out. By now it had sprung to its legs, fully alert. Antonio wanted to see where this went, feeling as though Roderich would get what was coming to him either way.
He didn't have to wait long.
"If Feliciano didn't have to suffer though having an Iris Zero for a brother, maybe he wouldn't have these types of emergencies so often."
With those words, the Austrian crossed the line and proved that even Alfred has his limits.
"Hold my panda, bro," Alfred managed to say to his cousin with complete seriousness in his voice. "Roderich and I need to go for a little walk."
The Austrian visibly paled as Alfred stood up, walking past Arthur, blue eyes blazing.
"What the bloody hell?" Arthur spat when the fluffy creature was plopped in his lap. Oli looked up at the Brit briefly, before deciding he would suffice. The red panda spun in a quick circle on Arthur's lap and snuggled in. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"
"Pet it, genius," Gilbert poked his head over Arthur's chair. If the President and the Prick were going somewhere, they had a few minutes to relax.
"Alfred practically dropped it on me, how should I know how to entertain it?"
"Poor thing, we'll take care of you…" Francis snatched up the panda and stroked its soft fur.
"Alfred gave it to me, git!" snapped the bushy-browed Treasurer. "I have to take care of this problematic creature or—"
"This is the complete opposite of a problem," chuckled Gilbert, scratching Oli's tiny ears.
After five or so minutes, Lovino, Alfred, and Roderich returned at the same time. Lovino told the others that Feliciano had gotten startled by a stray dog outside and hurt his hand a little on his mad dash inside, but the older Vargas was able to talk his little brother through it and things were fine now. Ludwig and Antonio both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Glad to hear it, Lovi," Alfred smiled. "Things are good on our end too, right Roderich?"
"L-Let's just continue with the meeting…" the senior refused to make eye contact with anyone.
oOo
The doors opened after the meeting and Arthur eagerly exited. He glanced at his watch nervously, but knew he'd make his next appointment in time if he chose to interpret the speed limits differently than the rest of the drivers. Even in his haste, he noticed Mei waiting outside the meeting room and took care to avoid running into her.
A move that Roderich could have learned from.
Instead of walking around the Taiwanese girl, Roderich almost walked right through her in his hurry. He was nursing a huge blow to his ego and wanted nothing more than to be somewhere private. The dark-haired senior wanted to be wherever that was by the quickest means necessary. He barely took notice of bumping into Mei with enough force to knock her over. All he could think of were ways to dismantle Alfred's little display from the meeting.
"I should discuss new relationship rules with the Headmaster…with my family's authority, he should agree with me…" he adjusted his glasses. "I could take away power in numbers by enforcing the rule that only male and female students are allowed to date each other…"
Being in such close proximity, Mei heard this and her world came crashing down around her. If that rule ended up going into effect, it meant Lovino, Alfred, Arthur, Francis, Ludwig, Feliciano…and all her ships would be sunk. The SHIP club would most likely be outlawed and there would be no more photoshoots or video projects or special events with hidden agendas...It was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. There were two things Mei couldn't stand – bossy people and people who got in the way of her yaoi…and at this moment, the Student Council Adviser ended up being both.
"RODERICH EDELSTEIN!" she called out to him in a fury that made the hallways tremble.
"Y-Yes?" he turned around, surprised such a powerful voice came from such a petite source.
"What did you just say?" her words were coated in venom.
The Austrian found himself in another dilemma. From her tone, he knew she heard exactly what he said, so changing his answer would mean lying and looking weak. He couldn't do that. Not after what he just went through in the meeting room. Perhaps this was his chance to reassert his authority? His chance to put himself back in a place of power! (hint: it wasn't.)
"I said I was considering collaborating with the Headmaster to create a rule forbidding relationships other than male and female," he foolishly repeated himself.
It was inevitable. It was explosive. It was the moment that Xiao Mei lost her shit.
Putting the chaos of panda-shaped explosions behind them, Alfred and Lovino joined hands and walked out of the room without a care. Focusing on the comforting warmth spreading through their bodies was much more satisfying than whatever happened in the meeting room. The Police Force could decide how much of Mei's brutality could be considered 'self-defense' since Roderich had technically struck her first and threatened her with everything she held dear. Mei was such a sweet girl, that few would probably believe Roderich if he told them how she started combining kung fu and wrestling moves on him, nearly German suplexing his head through the floor itself. The Bad Touch Trio held up score cards to show their approval for her technique. Even Ludwig was watching in awe.
"So Lovino, do you want to come hang out for awhile?" Alfred asked on the road, trying to take both of their minds off of the original issue with Roderich. Even though Lovino didn't hear everything, Alfred knew he'd be able to fill in the gaps on his own, possibly coming up with even worse insults.
"I think I'll pass," responded Lovino with an air of disappointment. "Even though Feli's situation is over, I'd feel better getting back home to check on him. Big dog-related crap usually flusters him for a day or two after it happens…"
Alfred nodded, sharing his boyfriend's disappointment, but understanding all the same.
"Stop pouting and I'll let you kiss—"
Alfred quickly leaned in at the stoplight.
"E-Eyes on the road, asshole! I meant after we stopped."
"We are stopped!"
"Temporarily."
"Not if I put this thing in park."
"Just drive, idiota," Lovino facepalmed, unable to comprehend how this fool ended up getting his license.
It was a short drive to the Vargas estate. The blond could probably make it in his sleep at this point. As Alfred pulled into Lovino's driveway, he went over a bump where the road met pavement and knocked his bag onto Lovino's leg.
"What's this?" the brunet asked, pulling out the doujinshi that fell out of his boyfriend's bag.
"O-Oh, nope! It's nothing! Let me take that for you, Lovi!" panicked the blond, a fierce blush racing across his face. It was just his luck that Lovino would find the most recent volume of Mei's Song of Storms. And of all the possible volumes he could find, the brunet just had to flip through the most NSFW of them all.
"What's the big deal with—che cazzo?!" Lovino nearly dropped the thin paperback. "Why in the hell are you reading…fish porn about us?!"
"They aren't fish," came Alfred's weak defense.
"Fine, mermaids then!"
"Mermen."
"You aren't helping your case any, perv."
"I'm not a perv, I'm just supporting one of my friends making her debut into the art industry," the blond gestured to Mei's autograph. "See? Nothing weird about it."
"You're right," Lovino rolled his eyes, tucking the book away. "There's absolutely nothing weird about your friend drawing her guy-on-guy mer-smut about us…in disturbingly vivid detail."
With the air ripe with awkwardness, Alfred did his best to salvage what he could.
"You remind me of hamburgers…"
"How so?" frowned Lovino.
"I love hamburgers."
"Don't think changing the subject will help you."
"How about a fun date?"
"Nope."
"A fun date and dinner at an Italian restaurant?"
"Cheh…no," Lovino crossed his arms, already losing the battle.
"A fun date, dinner at an Italian restaurant, and a full hour of my Southern accent?" Alfred grinned as his boyfriend's eyes widened and his blush doubled, no doubt remembering the last time Alfred let his inner country-boy shine. The blond wouldn't call himself straight-up flirtatious, but he could be damned charming with a Southern drawl and a lasso hug.
"Will…will you wear those jeans again too?" the green-eyed boy asked softly, looking anywhere but at Alfred. His face felt like it was on fire.
"Just for you," Alfred winked.
"…You've got yourself a deal, bastard!"
Lovino reached behind him to grab his bag. His Zombie Apocalypse Partners keychain jingled from the motion. While Alfred was distracted by his mini victory dance on the dashboard, the Italian stealthily swooped in and planted a quick kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
"That wasn't fair! I wasn't ready!"
"Too bad," Lovino stuck his tongue out and shut the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Moon Moon."
"You're so vicious today!" complained his boyfriend half-heartedly. "Why can't you call me 'Alfredo' again instead?"
Truthfully, Alfred didn't mind because he got to listen to the smooth sound of Lovino's laughter. Like melted chocolate in a…he shook his head, as his stomach grumbled. Alfred really needed to stop comparing Lovino to food. He rested his forearm on the side of his window, eyes trailing after the brunet.
"I hate it when you leave, but I love watching you go…"
"I can hear you, bastard!" a red-faced Italian shot him a glare from his doorstep.
Alfred just laughed and gave him another wave. He pulled out of the driveway and headed home. There was a lot of work to do! The blond was bound and determined to make their first official date perfect!
oOo
A/N – Hope you enjoyed your daily dose of World Academy's craziest! Yes, creative liberties were taken with the ziplining again (especially the stranded Moon Moon), so sorry to those of you who are familiar with ziplining and injured yourselves shaking your head so much this chapter.
-Rajikka
Translations
Tsundere – A type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. (Jp.)
Fratello – Brother (It.)
Shachō – President (Jp.)
Cazzo – Shit, dick, damn, etc. (It.) Your standard Italian swear word.
Mon lapin – My rabbit (Fr.)
Herr Präsident – Mr. President (Ger.)
Iaido – The Way of Drawing the Sword, also translated as: The Way of Mental Presence and Immediate Reaction (Jp.) this is the modern form of being aware enough to suddenly draw the sword to respond to a quick attack, similar to Iaijutsu (an older form).
Dummkopf – stupid person, blockhead (Ger.)
Stronzo – Bastard or Asshole (It.)
Kazimir - To Destroy Peace (Rus.) The made-up name I gave the human version of General Winter. Really tells you all you need to know about his character.
Doujinshi – A self-published work (Jp.)
Che cazzo – What the fuck (It.)