Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun wakes you up late in the morning, rays of warmth spreading across your face. Smiling, you open your eyes and look around you room. Posters decorate the bedroom, with drawings stuck up in the available spaces. You love anime, some more than others.
A call from downstairs causes you to sigh and swing your legs out of bed. Quickly, you slip on some clothes for school and move downstairs, where your mother has cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs. Yum.

"Nice to see you're finally awake [name]!" Your mother smiles. She pops a plate down on the table in front of you, and you quickly eat it up.

"Thanks mum!" You smile, putting your plate in the sink and grabbing your school bag. Then, you pause with the school bag still in hand and groan.

First day of school. Not just any school year, but a new one at a new school, where you wouldn't know anyone but yourself. Great. Your mother quickly notices and moves to your side, where she places a hand on your shoulder.

"You won't be the only one who doesn't know anyone... There are people from loads of countries joining!"

That's the problem with international schools. There'll be people from all around the world, and no-one knows anyone. Your mother believes it helps build a cultural sense, being around so many different cultures, but in your opinion, it's just scary.

Still, you have to attend school. You grin and thank your mother, giving her a quick hug and leaving the house. You catch the bus and arrive at school almost half and hour early. Great, now you can make friends.

Your eyes scan the field where everyone stands. Most know each other already, and you make out two distinct groups. A group of 5 and a group of 3.

The 3 include a dark haired Japanese boy, a tall, serious looking German guy and a small brunette with an adorable looking curl. Judging from the accent you can tell he's Italian.
Curiously, you look at the larger group of 5. The leader of the group appears to be a blonde dude with glasses, who you can hear yelling about being the 'hero'. A Chinese guy stands with his head in his hands, looking embarrassed, with a very tall Russian standing beside him. You watch the Russian for a moment and then confirm, he's got a bottle of Vodka hidden under his coat. Great. Drunkies! A smartly dressed guy with massive eyebrows seems to be arguing to a brick wall, the brick wall being a tall boy with long blonde curls, who is staring at you. Blushing, you walk away and nearly run into another pupil.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" You gasp, looking at the boy you've run into.
He blushes and looks at you with wide, shy eyes. "Oh, it's ok. No-one really notices me..." The boy almost whispers shyly, in a sort of American accent with a hint of French.
He looks a lot like the boy in the group, but with violet eyes and a smaller curl. His arms are wrapped around his chest, almost as if he's missing something.

"I'm [name]" you smile, extending a hand.

The boy jumps back, and your mind starts to whirl. Has he been abused? He looks at your hand for a moment, and then shakes it.

"Matthew Williams. I'm from Canada." He says quietly.

You smile. So that's why his accent sounds slightly French! "I'm from [country]. So, is it your first day too?"

He nods, then looks around uncertainly. You look with him. There are so many different people from different countries, you don't know where to start making friends.

"Do you know anyone here already?" You ask Matthew curiously.

"Well, my brother Alfred is over there, with his friends." The Canadian replies, pointing to the boy who'd been yelling 'hero'. "I know a few, but they rarely notice me..." He looks almost tearful for a moment, but shakes his head. "If it helps, be careful of Francis Bonnefoy. He may put up a romantic act, but he can get a little too passionate." Matthew points to the guy who'd been staring at you and was now in a full blown argument with the smart guy with the huge eyebrows.

You nod and thank him, watching Francis nervously. 

The bell goes off, interrupting your thoughts. Matthew jumps again and then laughs shyly. You smile at his jumpiness and follow him into the school. What adventures await?

Chapter Text

As you enter the school, you're given a timetable with your form class written on it. Matthew is swept away in the rush, leaving you to find your form class on your own. You wander down the long hallways, watching as people flood into the classrooms. With a groan, you slump against a wall and put your head in your hands.

"Need a hand bella?" A high pitched Italian voice asks.

You look up and see the Italian from the group looking down at you nervously. You smile and take his hand and he pulls you up.

"I can't find my form class." You sigh. "I'm supposed to be in the room 4C, but I can't find it."

The Italian starts grinning and hugging you. You just stand there, blushing red with embarrassment and unsure what to do.

"That's my class ~ve!" He says once he let's go. "And it's upstairs. My brother told me."
Great! You're not sure whether to be excited or nervous that you're in his class. On the other hand, this guy seems really friendly.

"I'm [name]." You smile

"Feliciano Vargas. Should we go to class?"

You nod your head and follow Feliciano, noticing how he almost skips along. Does this dude have special needs or something? You shake the thought away and chase after him.

"So, does your brother go to this school?" You say, trying to make conversation.

"He's in the same year as us. He's stuck with Antonio, as much as he hates it." The Italian says cheerfully, before stopping outside a door labeled 4C. "Should we go in?" He says nervously.

You nod and push open the door, smack bang into what looks like a fight. Feliciano squeals and jumps behind you. All you can do is groan. Why did you have to end up in a class with the boys who had formed the groups. The tall blonde guy and the Japanese dude are fighting the group of 5. Your eyes scan the room and notice the rest of the class have pushed themselves as far back as possible. The blonde guy goes to throw a punch when Feliciano jumps in-between the two groups, waving a white flag and screaming, well, white flag. It seems to be enough to stop the groups, as they move apart, glaring. You spot Matthew and smile, wandering over to him.

"Thank goodness you showed up in time. I was worried that it'd get worse than just punching."

You open your mouth to reply when the door is pushed open by your teacher. He watches the class for a while, before moving to take a seat at the front of the classroom.

"I am Mr Thornwood." He says, looking at his class. "Now, today is devoted to you making friends. We have quite a few new students this year, and if I see a single fight even start, you're in detention for the week."

There's a rustle as the guy Matthew said was called Francis and the guy he'd been arguing with moved to opposite ends of the room. You resist the urge to laugh as they glare at each other. Mr Thornwood looks at the pair and nods approvingly.

"Now, go and socialise with each other! I want to all to be friends by the end of today."
You look at Matthew and smile. "So, do we walk round and socialise, or do we wait for them to come to us?" Boy, being the new student sure was hard.

Your question is quickly answered by Feliciano, who drags the others in his group over to you.

"[name], meet Kiku Honda and Ludwig Beilschmidt." He smiles, pointing to the Japanese guy and the tall guy.

"Konnichiwa." Kiku nods, his expression blank but friendly.

You look nervously at the tall guy. He says a quick hello and walks away, Kiku and Feliciano following. From his accent, you take a guess that Ludwig is German.

"Well... That was weird..." You say to Matthew, who nods in agreement. Apparently, everyone wants to say hi, because the boy Matthew said was his brother winds his way towards you.

"Hey dude!" He calls, slapping Matthew on the back. You frown slightly as the Canadian winces. He turns to you and extends his hand. "I'm Alfred. Alfred F Jones"

"Jones?" You question. His accent is definitely American, but his brother is Canadian? "I thought you and Matthew were brothers?"

"Oh, we are! We were brought up separately though!" Alfred grins.

You nod. That makes more sense. "Who's the older brother?" You ask curiously.

"Me obviously! The hero is always the older brother!" Alfred says, rather loudly. He looks at you and grabs your wrist, staring to drag you towards his group. "Come on, I'm gonna introduce you to the rest of my group." He looks over his shoulder at Matthew. "I'll give her back in a bit bro, the others just wanna meet her!"

You find yourself in the middle of Alfred's friends, looking at their unfamiliar faces. He introduces each of them to you: Ivan Braginsky, the tall Russian you saw with the bottle of vodka; Yao Wang, the Chinese guy, who points at your anime top commenting on his love for anime too; Arthur Kirkland, the Brit with huge eyebrows, who politely shakes your hand and offers you a scone,(which you politely decline once you spot Alfred shaking his head viciously behind him) and lastly, French, Francis Bonnefoy, who smiles, and extends a hand. You ignore it, not wanting to know where his hands have been, and give your name.

"You are new da?" Ivan asks
"Yeah..." You reply shyly, not sure how to engage in a conversation with them.
"I see you've met the Axis." Arthur says, glaring in the direction of Feliciano and his friends.

"They're really nice." You smile, and add, "Especially Feliciano." Then you pause. "Axis?"
"Oui mon amie," Francis says. "And we are the Allies."

You pause for a moment, and then see the logic behind it. Feliciano's friends are all from the Axis countries in the world wars, and the group you're in has a person from each of the Allied countries.

"That's clever." You say simply. Quickly, you look over your shoulder and notice Matthew looking very alone. "I'd better get back to Matthew." You smile and walk away.
The blonde Canadian jumps when you tap him on the shoulder, but smiles once he realises it's you.

"Oh [name], it's you! I was worried you weren't coming back!" He almost whispers.

"I wouldn't leave you on your own!" You smile. "They're nice, but they seem to fight a lot."

Matthew laughs. A proper laugh this time though, not the shy ones he usually gave. "They all fight, but they're friends."

You smile too, glad to see Matthew laugh.

The rest of the day you spend mingling around, meeting others. Arthur begrudgingly introduces you to his little brother Peter, a slightly annoying, yet adorable kid. The two were in an argument by the time you left them.

At lunch, you found yourself sitting outside with Matthew, when you feel a tap on your shoulder.

"Where the crappola is my Fratello?" An angry looking Italian stares you down. Matthew almost screams in fear and hides behind you.

"Who?" You ask nervously, then spot the resemblances between Feliciano and this boy. "Oh, Feliciano! He's with Ludwig and Kiku, getting pasta." You say quickly.

"Pasta? With the potato eater?!" The Italian almost yells, his voice getting higher with every word.

You're so terrified by him, that you don't notice the boy creeping up behind him, before he jumps on the Italian and pins him to the floor.

"Lovino, don't go attacking new students amigos!" He says in a Spanish accent. The older boy smiles at you and drags the Italian away. You hear him yelling from the door.

"Antonio you bastard! Let go! I'm gonna get that damn potato eater!"

Matthew sits on the grass shaking nervously. "Oh god... That was scary..." He whispers.
Without thinking, you hug the shy Canadian until he stops shaking. And then you realise what you're doing. Quickly, you draw back and look at Matthew with wide eyes.

"I- I- I'm sorry Matt!" You say nervously, blushing bright red.

Matthew stares at you, also blushing. "Oh, uh... It's ok [name]!" He practically whispers.
Thankfully, the awkward scene is stopped by Feliciano running up to you wailing.

"[name]! Lovino stole my pasta and no-one listened to my white flag and Ludwig was going to fight them and now Kiku and big brother Antonio are trying to stop the fight and Alfred's cheering them on and I don't know what to doooooooo!"

"Easy now Feliciano." You say, putting both hands on the Italian's shoulders. "Is there a teacher going to sort the fight out?"

"I don't know [name]." He says, calming down slightly, but quickly moves back into hysterics. "But there's no more pastaaaaaa and I'm huuunnngggrrryyyyyy!"

You sigh. Typical Italian. As you think of how to resolve the problem, an idea pops into your head. "You could come round mine and I'll make you some after school?" You offer, and turn to Matthew. "Wanna come too?"

Matthew nods, "Sure! But, can I make pancakes instead?"

You barely have time to nod before Feliciano is on top of you, squealing, "~Ve! That sounds fantastico! We can make lots of pasta!"

Laughing, you pull out your phone and text your mother, warning her that you're bringing home some new friends and that you'll require the kitchen. She texts back in minutes, excited about the fact you managed to make friends.

Psh mum! Of course you managed to make friends! You smile and turn to the others.

"Well, she says yes." You beam, starting to get excited.

"Ve! That's great!" The Italian laughs. "Can we go now? Can we? Can we?"

"We can't go yet..." Matthew murmurs quietly. "We've still got to finish school."

"Yeah..." You agree sadly. "But it doesn't mean we can't get excited about it!"

The school bell signals the end of lunch. You look at Feliciano and offer him the last of your lunch, which he happily eats, and then walk back into the school. Quickly, you navigate back to your form classroom and settle down in-between Matthew and Alfred. You look down at Alfred's notebook and smile, spotting the notebook has a picture of superman, with 'I'm the Hero!' stickers on it.

The allies appear to be getting on with the axis for once, although you can't help but notice that Ludwig keeps looking at you weirdly. Did Feliciano tell him about him coming round mine and he's annoyed by it? You wonder.

The end of the day comes all too soon for once, but you know that it won't last once classes start. "I'll meet you outside!" You call to Matthew and Feliciano.

You rush to the toilets and hurry in, fixing up your hair quickly. Once you're done, you leave, only to be grabbed around the waist. Quickly, you spin round and move out of the person's hands.

Francis looks at you, a smile on his face. "Bonjour [name]." He says sweetly. You back off.

"Look Francis, I've got to go. I need to catch the bus." You say, walking away and running once you get out of his sight.

Matthew looks for you and waves once he spots you. He looked worried until you walked out. "Oh [name], Francis was looking for you and I was worried!" He says.

"I'm fine Matt, I ran once I'd gotten away from him." You assure the Canadian.

"Can we go now [name]?" Feliciano asks. You hear a growl come from his stomach and laugh.

"Come on, let's catch the bus." You grab both boys hands and drag them onto the bus, sitting in-between them.

Chapter Text

The journey home was uneventful and you arrived back in a short time. Grinning, you open the door to your house and say: "Welcome to my humble home." You lead the pair into your kitchen and continue your speech: "And this is my delightful kitchen, where many exciting meals are about to be made!"

"Ve! That's great!" Feliciano jumps up and down, and even Matthew grins excitedly. The noise brings your mother downstairs.

"Hi!" She says excitedly, looking at your friends. Quickly, you push her out the door, muttering about their nationalities.

"Sorry about that." You say shyly, embarrassed by your mothers antics.

"I like her!" Feliciano jumps up and down and then looks around. "Where's the eggs?"

"Eggs?" Matthew questions. "I thought we were making pasta?"

"Si!" The Italian giggles, grabbing the ingredients. "You can't use shop-brought pasta! We have to make it!"

Laughing, you pull out the eggs for him and he sets to work, taking up the kitchen table and making his pasta. Matthew pulls out a bowl and begins to make pancakes. You look around, unsure what to do. Sighing, you grab a recipe book from the shelf and flick through it. Your eyes are drawn to a certain recipe - A beverage from your country - [drink]! Well, you've got a meal and pudding, now all that's left is a drink.

You manage to make some space on the table and start making your drink. By the time you've finished, Feliciano has the pasta bubbling, and Matthew has a bowl of pancake mix. Actually, they'd tidied up too! The kitchen looks spotless and your mother walks in with a smile on her face.

"Oh, I see dinner's in progress!" She smiles.

"We'll make some for you ma'm!" Matthew smiles in his usual shy manner.

Your mother grins and leaves you alone, where the pasta is just starting to boil. "It's almost ready [name] and Matthew!" Feliciano says excitedly.

You grab some bowls out the cupboard and set them on the table. When you turn around, the cheerful Italian has drained the water and set out the pasta, along with putting one aside for your mother.

"This looks great Feli!" You smile. Then pause, "I can call you that right?"

"Si!" Feliciano nods.

You take a bowl of pasta into the living room and give it to your mother before returning to the kitchen. Feliciano has already tucked into his pasta, but Matthew stands waiting politely. You thank him and sit down, taking a forkful of pasta. Your eyes light up as the amazing taste fills your mouth.

"Wow Feli! This is amazing!" You say, grinning and taking another bite.

"Gratzie [name]!" The Italian smiles. "Home made pasta is the best!"

The Canadian doesn't say anything - he's too busy eating. You finish the meal, cracking jokes with Feliciano until the bowls are empty. Matthew stands up, and begins making pancakes. He flips 2 with ease at the same time and you get a chance to discuss favourite sports. You love [sport], Matthew is amazing at Hockey and Feliciano is a pretty good footballer.

Once a stack of pancakes is on the table, you reach over to grab some, only to stopped by Matthew.

"We need to offer your mother some, plus we need syrup!" He says.

You nod and take some to the other room. When you get back, Matthew is holding back an excited Italian, who is desperate to try. Smiling, you sit down and grab a piece. Why are your friends so good at cooking?!

Once the meal's finished, you pile into your games room and you put on an episode of an anime - [anime name - not hetalia] halfway through an episode, someone's phone rings. Yours. Sheepishly, you pick it up and see it's an unknown number. You step outside and answer.

"Yo, dude, is that [name]?" A familiar American voice calls from down the line.

"Yes. How did you get my number Alfred?" You ask suspiciously.

"Dude, you gave it to me!" The American replies.

You frown. Did you give him your number? "What's up then? I'm in the middle of a film."

"I know."

"You know?" You ask.

"Yeah. I'm outside."

Shocked, you look up and spot Alfred waving outside the window.

"What the bloody hell are you doing outside my house?" You exclaim.

"Calm it dude. You sound like Arthur." Alfred says seriously. "I saw Mattie coming home with you and thought, I can't miss out on all the fun, the hero gets involved with everything!"

"But you followed me home!" You insist. "That's something a stalker does!"

You watch Alfred's face fall. He mutters something you can't catch, and somehow you can't help but feel sorry for the American.

"Fine. Come in." You say, hanging up and opening your front door.

Alfred bursts in and looks around, a grin on his face. He follows you in to the games room, where Matthew and Feliciano have finished watching the episode and have moved onto the next one. Matthew's eyebrows raise slightly as he spots Alfred. You shrug your shoulders with a desperate look on your face and mouth 'don't ask!' Alfred spots Matthew and rushes over, putting his brother in a headlock.

"Yo Mattie bro!" He says enthusiastically. Matthew winces and looks at you pleadingly.

"We were just watching [anime] Alfred." You say calmly, directing the American's attention to you. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure!" Alfred grins, letting go of the Canadian and flopping onto the sofa. You sigh and plant yourself in-between the two brothers, acting as a barrier.

At about 6ish, Feliciano stands up and stretches his legs. "Well guys, I've got to go now. Lovino will probably be wondering where I am."

He hugs you and leaves, waving goodbye to your mother. Alfred gets up and waves goodbye, dragging his brother with him. Matthew mutters a quick goodbye and 'thank you for letting me use your kitchen ma'am.' to your mother.

The house feels strangely empty once your friends leave. You slump down on the sofa and sigh.

"Who was the American boy?" Your mother asks curiously.

"Alfred. He's Matthew's brother." You reply, deciding not to add the part about him inviting himself.

"Ahh, I thought he looked a lot like Matthew!" Your mother smiles. "I wanted to congratulate you on making friends who can cook so well! If you have any other cooking friends, bring them home!"

You consider inviting Arthur home for a moment, and then remember Alfred's frantic head-shaking. Probably not a good idea. Francis would be out of the question, since he was already trying to hit on you. That left Yao, Ivan, Ludwig (although you debated whether you were friends) and Kiku.

"I'll see if anyone wants to come over at the weekend?" You offer.

Your mother nods and leaves you, telling you to not go to bed too late. You settle down and finish the anime, heading to bed at 9, the events of the day finally catching up with you.

Chapter Text

When you wake, it takes you a moment to realise why you're so happy. Then, you remember the previous evening and grin. You've actually managed to make friends who are pretty awesome!

Quickly, you dress for school. Downstairs, your mother cooks [food] and you stuff it down, racing out the door waving goodbye. You catch the bus and sit down, getting an uneasy feeling that someone's following you. You shake of the feeling and get off once you get to school, half an hour early again.

Matthew's not there, and neither's Feliciano, so you start to head towards the Allies when a hand grabs your shoulder. You spin round and stare into the red eyes of an albino.

"Velcome." He grins. You spot a small yellow bird perched in his hair and smile. "I am ze awesome Gilbert!"

"[name]." You smile.

"I see my bruder has met you?"

You think for a moment, and then realise Gilbert's accent is German. You nod. "Yep. I've met Ludwig... But he doesn't really talk to me."

"Stupid vest." Gilbert mutters. You raise an eyebrow slightly at his choice of words, but let it pass.

"I should get to my friends." You smile, moving towards the allies. "It was nice to meet you Gilbert."

"It's always nice to meet ze awesome me [name]!" He says, moving towards the guy you remembered as Antonio.

You continue towards the allies, hoping no-one else wants a conversation with you. Thankfully, no-one does. You reach your friends and get engulfed by Ivan.

"Ivan!" You squeal. "Let go!"

Ivan stands with his arms wrapped around you, making strange noises. Panicked, you look to the others for help. Yao shakes his head, and only Arthur moves to help you.

"Bloody hell Ivan. Let her go! She doesn't want to become one!"

It works, as the Russian lets go and looks at you, embarrassed.

"What was that?!" You gasp.

"I'm sorry... I do that. You are scared?"

Ivan looks truly sorry, and you shake your head. "Not any more. I was at the time, but you made me jump. That's all."

"Oh. So you are ok da?"

"Yes." You say, but subtlety take a step away.

Arthur taps on your shoulder and makes you jump. He looks sheepish for a moment (a/n haha, black sheep. No pun intended) and then smiles. "We usually meet at my place for homework. Would you like to come join us?"

You think for a moment. Nope, no plans. "Sure." You shrug.

"Great!" Alfred jumps in. "I'll bring the food!"

"Let me guess, burgers and chips from a fast food shop?" Arthur says. "Why not try some real cooking from me?"

A snort of laughter escapes Francis, causing the Brit to spin on him. "So you think you can cook better Frog?!" He yells.

"Actually Angleterre, My culture is renowned for good food." The French guy smiles slyly, before adding: "Black sheep of Europe."

Arthur moves to punch Francis and then stops. "Why don't we let [name] decide?!" He snorts.

The pair turn on you. "Well [name]," Francis looks at you, "who's food is more superior?"

Time to decide.
Pick English Food.
Pick French Food.

Chapter Text

"I- uh..." You say, looking to the others for help. It's apparent you won't get any, so you answer. "English food is awesome!"

The smirk on Arthur's face says it all. "I told you frog." He laughs.

Francis doesn't seem deterred. "She's never tasted proper food black sheep." The French guy insists.

They break off into another argument and you sigh, along with Yao. Quickly, you move over to the Chinese dude.

"Do they always fight like this?" You ask.

"Aiya. They never stop. They are so immature."

You nod in agreement. The bell goes off and makes you jump. You move into school with your friends, on the lookout for Matthew.

Chapter Text

"I- uh..." You say, looking to the others for help. It's apparent you won't get any, so you answer. "French food is awesome!"

The smirk on Francis' face says it all. "I told you black sheep." He laughs.

Arthur doesn't seem deterred. "She's never tasted proper food frog." The Brit insists.

They break off into another argument and you sigh, along with Yao. Quickly, you move over to the Chinese dude.

"Do they always fight like this?" You ask.

"Aiya. They never stop. They are so immature."

You nod in agreement. The bell goes off and makes you jump. You move into school with your friends, on the lookout for Matthew.