Trying to do an update a day, but that migraine last week knocked me out for three days, sorry about that.

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Arthur idly stirred his tea with a spoon, glancing up now and then at his dad who was reading the newspaper while eating his breakfast. At least it was a quiet morning, first one in quite a few days. Like how it used to be… Arthur glanced towards the front door, hearing a car, but it drove past the house. "…Where did they say they were going again?"

"Who can tell?" Aedan answered, taking a sip of his own blend of tea, "Your mother said something, but I couldn't understand her since she was halfway out the door already."

Arthur looked up at the clock. He knew the freshmen had an assembly first thing this morning, but the other students still had to be in their classes, right? And this meeting is supposed to be for all students, so I would assume then that they have their own assemblies after us. He frowned slightly. It seemed kind of strange that freshmen would get the assembly before the upperclassmen. Normally it was the other way around.

"What's the big assembly for anyway? Did you overhear anything?" Aedan laid the newspaper down on the table and cast a curious glance at his son.

Arthur shook his head, "Nothing came through student council. I thought I heard one of the teachers mention it was a new principal… but nobody's announced anything directly to us."

"Huh… I wonder what happened to the old one?" Aedan took another sip of his tea, furrowing his brow as he gazed in the direction of the front door.

"I think our school failed another inspection." Arthur commented.

"…What… did they buy now?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow and followed his dad's gaze to the group getting out of the car that had just pulled up, "… Did they buy breakfast?"

"Oops." Aedan's face reddened, "Is that what she said?"

Arthur made a face and hastily cleared the empty plates off the table, sliding them on the shelf underneath the phone, "Maybe they won't notice."

"They'll notice the lack of appetite." Aedan commented flatly, "I'm not hungry in the slightest."

"W-well maybe they won't have bought that much… it probably just looks that way because there's a lot of them carrying the bags!" Arthur suggested hopefully.

"… You don't really believe that." Aedan shot him a sideways glance.

"Not in the least." Arthur hung his head and let out a heavy sigh.

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Well hopefully no one discovers the stash of food in the bottom of the cabinet. Arthur made a face as he walked through the hallway. It had been no small feat making the food 'disappear' off his plate, the trick was getting it to land someplace that no one would notice what he was doing. Aedan had caught on rather fast, but the only comment that the blonde had gotten was a quiet "can you do mine, too?"

"They've really got to communicate better." Arthur sighed and leaned against his locker. There wasn't much point in getting any textbooks out if they had an assembly. And how long is this going to be? I don't know if I should grab my second bell books… or my third bell books… or anything! He frowned and looked up the hall towards the auditorium. He could just swing back down to his locker and grab whatever was necessary for his next class after the assembly let out…

Deciding that that was the better option, Arthur nodded to himself and put his backpack into the locker, heading up to the auditorium empty-handed. No point in carrying everything with him if he didn't know if he would even be using it or not. I think any other day I would be hoping this thing would drag on all day so I could just go home afterwards but… Arthur thought to the used-to-be-quiet household and sighed again. I don't think I want that. I'd rather be here.

There wasn't anything wrong with the other half… three-quarters of his family. It's just he had grown up with only having his dad around, so that was what he was used to. Peace and quiet. No banging of doors, no yelling about someone switching the tv channel… no redhead twins constantly arguing, bickering, or teasing either each other or him. Arthur scowled at the last thought. If they would just leave me alone, I would be ecstatic.

And to make things worse (or more confusing), his mother still hadn't said why they had just up and moved there in the first place! You'd think she'd at least have given dad a little warning. Arthur sat in the back row of the auditorium, watching as other students would slowly mill in. It had been an option that they could go to their first class and wait to be called down to the auditorium, or just head straight to the auditorium. No point in going to a class that's not going to be held. Arthur slumped down in his chair. Now, see? If you had friends, you could be sitting with someone right now. But no. The blonde rolled his eyes and sighed. Way to go, idiot self.

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Much to his surprise, Ludwig joined him when the speaker started calling for everyone's attention. "Did you just now get here?" Arthur looked up at Ludwig in surprise.

"Ja, my oldest brother was running a little late this morning. He's nearly impossible to get out of bed." Ludwig sighed and dropped into the seat next to Arthur, "Even with two alarms set, and our vater yelling at him, he still manages to sleep through everything."

"He must be a hard sleeper." Arthur commented, "That's rather incredible, actually. I wouldn't mind being able to sleep that well."

"…You don't sleep well?" Ludwig tilted his head.

"I'm a light sleeper." Arthur made a face, "The slightest noise can wake me up, even if it's just someone walking down the hall outside my room."

"Ach." Ludwig winced in sympathy.

"Attention, may I have everyone's attention please?"

"Please let this be fast, or Ardrich is going to fall asleep again, I know it." Ludwig whispered.

"As some of you may have heard, the person you knew as your principal, I sincerely doubt any of you knew his name even, is no longer working here at this school building. The position will be taken over by myself, but hopefully I don't have to see any of you down there on a regular basis. … Though looking at some of the records of the people in this room, I don't think that hope is going to last too long."

Arthur frowned slightly, "Well that's not a good way to start off. Don't start criticizing us already."

"… I wonder what he meant by that… are there people who go down there on a regular basis?" Ludwig tilted his head.

"I know what you're thinking: that the middle of the school year is entirely too late to be going over any rules or regulations, and that many of you have already learned them by now, whether by being told or finding out the hard way…"

"This is…" Ludwig started.

"Going to be ridiculously long." Arthur finished flatly, "He's going to be one of those speakers that can't get to the point, isn't he?"

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"…and some of you may not even care."

Arthur blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling. I wonder how many lights are in here? One… two… three… He counted to the end of the row, squinting to make out the last couple that were farther away from him. Alright then, so there's about seven lights in each row… and five rows… huh. "Did you know there's thirty-five lights in here?" Arthur asked, looking at Ludwig.

"I was about to ask you if you were understanding what the point of all this was, but I guess I won't." Ludwig sighed. He glanced up at the ceiling as well, "Did you count the big lights or the spotlights?"

"The big lights. They're easier to see." Arthur looked back upwards, "I couldn't count the spotlights to the end of the row. I got to that one that has the crack running through it…" He pointed with his right hand off to Ludwig's right, "And then couldn't make out how many others there were."

"Ah, I think I can count them." Ludwig continued staring at the ceiling, and Arthur could see his lips moving silently as the blonde counted.

Not much else to count. Arthur glanced around the room again. He supposed he could count the seats by the number of heads in a row… yes. That would work. He chose the row directly in front of them, and started mentally counting the backs of heads, turning his head to move up the row as he continued. Eight… nine… ten…

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"I think I must have counted about sixty spotlights, give or take a few." Ludwig said finally.

"I lost track of seats after I realized that not all of them would have someone sitting in it." Arthur sighed, sitting with his head back against the seat, "This is boring as hell."

"I should have brought some cards along. We could play those awhile." Ludwig glanced around them, "Looks like everyone else has given up, too."

"… who was listening?"

"Hm?" Ludwig caught on to the tail-end of the new principal's message and blinked at the stage, "Uh…"

"Nobody." Arthur muttered.

"I say this to prove a point. If you cannot listen to someone who has authority over you, how do you hope to listen to those around you?"

"We were listening to ourselves just bloody well, thank you." Arthur grumbled, "Ugh. I should have brought a textbook in with me. I could be using this time to study or something."

"Ah, that would have been a really good idea." Ludwig agreed, "I have a test coming up soon. I should have thought of that."

The principal continued, "I'm willing to bet that there is not one person in here who can tell me what I said five minutes into what I was saying. If you can't spend more than five minutes listening to someone on a stage, how can you spend two minutes listening to someone in the hallway?"

"I don't think he was even listening to himself. We jumped from listening to a person of authority, to listening to a conversation in the hallway! How are we supposed to keep up with this?" Arthur sunk lower in his seat, "Honestly! I don't even want to listen to this."

"… Who stands around to talk in the hallway?" Ludwig frowned, "We have to get to our classes!"

"Exactly." Arthur gestured at the taller blonde, "That, too."

"You're all teenagers. You all have your groups of friends, some smaller or bigger than others… but tell me, how many people in here, in the last week, have actually spoken to someone new? You spoke to someone you've never spoken to before? Show of hands?" The principal looked around the room, waiting for a response from his audience.

Arthur groaned but raised his hand along with Ludwig. "If I had known this was going to be one of those kinds of speeches, I think I would have stayed home." Arthur scowled.

"Ja, me too." Ludwig sighed, "I would have let Ardrich sleep."

"That's actually more than I was expecting. Good for you all who raised your hands." The principal nodded to the students with their hands raised, "The rest of you are either too scared to raise your hands for whatever reason, or you just believe in sticking with your normal group of friends. Either one is fine, it doesn't much matter. But while you are talking to your friends in the hallway, in the classroom, or even on the way home… how many of you notice the people around you? The ones not in your circle?"

"… Circle?" Ludwig asked, looking at Arthur in confusion.

"I don't even have a bloody circle of friends!" Arthur made a face, "Who the hell has that many friends?"

"I don't…" Ludwig frowned and tilted his head, "Why would all of you be standing in a circle anyway? And are you in the center or in the ring itself?"

"Hell if I know." Arthur grumbled, "I've never had enough friends to even make a circle."

The principal looked around the room again before shaking his head, "Just think of your first class for instance. I know for a fact, that there are students in this school who have divorced or single parents, how many of you know someone in this auditorium now who does not have both parents to go home to after school?"

Arthur raised his hand again, "Well, you can count for that one."

"Can I raise my hand if I know Ardrich goes home to a single parent?" Ludwig made a face, "Or doesn't that count since he's family?"

"He never specified." Arthur commented.

"Ah, that's true." Ludwig raised his hand.

"Those of you with your hands raised, how many of you have single parents yourselves?"

Arthur put his hand back down, though he scowled. I used to have a single parent. Up until last week!

Ludwig looked up at his own hand then back at the principal again, "How long do I have to keep my hand up?"

"All students with single parents, raise your hands."

"A little longer apparently." Arthur grinned at Ludwig, who was scowling at the stage now, "You can hang in there!"

"Again, proving my point. Some people, that did not raise their hands when I asked who knew someone with single parents, are even sitting next to those with their hands up. This is what I meant. You have grown up in an environment that teaches you to stay inside your comfort zone. You grow up talking to the same people and never look beyond that. People of habit." The principal shook his head again.

"… I don't think that applies to me. I grew up talking to… hardly anybody." Arthur made a face.

"It is still a habit though. You're just in habit of not talking." Ludwig pointed out, "Und the same with me. I concentrate on my learning while I am in school, and homelife while I am at home. Cleaning the house… making supper for when vater gets home…"

"… You cook?" Arthur looked at Ludwig in surprise.

"Ja. Ardrich's cooking is awful, so I've taken over." Ludwig smiled.

The principal hesitated before leaning in to talk to the microphone once more, "On a more serious note, how many students in here know someone who tried to take their life?"

Ludwig's jaw dropped in horror, "Nein! Who would do that?!"

Uh… Arthur hesitated. Well… he knew of one person. Arthur sighed and put his hand back up in the air, getting a shocked look from Ludwig in response. "Don't ask." Arthur said flatly.

"Now I can understand if you don't want to answer this, but how many people in here have actually tried?"

Ludwig looked up when Arthur didn't put his hand down, and looked back at Arthur's face again, "… Seriously?"

"It's not like it's a subject to joke about." Arthur commented.

"When did…?" Ludwig tilted his head, but the question trailed off.

"Hmm… I think it was… last year? Or maybe the year before. I don't rightly recall." Arthur frowned as he tried to remember, "My memories are a bit fuzzy from that timeframe."

"Why are they fuzzy?" Ludwig whispered.

"… Doctor had a way of describing it… I think he said it was something like the brain's self-defense mechanism? Whatever it was that was causing the heavy amount of stress just got blocked out completely or something."

"… so you have amnesia?" Ludwig blinked.

The principal continued talking, "Imagine for one minute, if all those students who just had their raised were not here. If everyone in this room who had tried had succeeded, how much smaller your class year would be."

"Only for a certain timeframe. I haven't the faintest idea why or what happened though. I just know I woke up in the hospital and the nurse told me they almost lost me." Arthur made a face.

"What a horrible thing to wake up to! Especially with no memory of anything happening!" Ludwig exclaimed.

"You're telling me. It still bugs the hell out of me that I can't remember what happened." Arthur frowned.

"Out of… curiosity." The principal waved both arms again, "How many students in here… have been in the hospital for a serious affliction, self-caused or otherwise?"

Arthur put his hand back up again, "I really wish I could remember. Dad won't tell me what happened. He said if it gets to a point where I can recall it on my own, then he'll know I can handle finding out about it. But until then, he wasn't going to say anything, because he wasn't sure how I would react."

"Ah… he's trying to protect you." Ludwig whispered, barely listening to the principal.

"I guess… though I can't think of anything that would have caused that…" Arthur tilted his head, furrowing his brow, "I want to remember… but I can't."

I'm probably going to regret asking, but of those of you who do not have your hands raised, take a look around you, and raise your hand if you knew about at least one of these people." The principal took another glance around the room, waiting to see how many hands went up.

Arthur kept his hand up, knowing full well that the other person would have had their hand up, "It's just frustrating."

Ludwig looked back up at Arthur's hand, "Who…" He started.

"The person who I know tried to commit suicide would have been in the hospital." Arthur commented, "And he was in there for some time actually."

The principal nodded before continuing, "A few people… so about half the room has their hands raised right now… your class year could have easily been half the size it is now. And none of you… would have noticed."

Arthur made a face and put his hand back down, "This subject is rather uncomfortable."

"I can imagine why, after hearing that." Ludwig frowned, "So you don't have any recollection at all of actually trying to…"

"None whatsoever." Arthur frowned, "Dad told me I had tried actually. The doctor let him tell me. I don't get it… it must have happened last year because I don't remember most of seventh grade or eighth. It wouldn't make sense if I'd done whatever it was in seventh grade and then not remember the eighth grade…"

"Ja." Ludwig nodded in agreement, "So whatever happened, happened while you were in eighth grade."

"But what the bloody hell was it?" Arthur made a face.

The principal let out an audible sigh before continuing once more, "I can pretty much guarantee, that out of everyone that does not have their hand raised, you might have wondered for about five minutes, but then the thought would have left your mind. Either with the assumption that they moved or transferred, but never would this thought have occurred to you. …Of the students who had their hands raised… how many of you can honestly say that you are still here, because of the actions of someone else?"

Arthur raised his hand once more, "This line of questioning is also really annoying. How many times am I going to have to raise my hand?"

"You could probably leave it up and he'd never even notice." Ludwig commented.

"Ugh, by the same thought process, I could leave my hand down and he'd never notice." Arthur sighed.

"Those of you who have your hands up, more than I expected again honestly, how many of you are here because of the actions of someone else, from the most recent time you were hospitalized?"

Arthur shrugged and put his hand back down, "Forget it. I'm not going to keep holding my hand up in the air."

"… You would have been the only one." Ludwig commented, looking around the room.

"All the more reason for me to keep it down! I'm not going to be the only person with his hand up in this room full of people! That's bloody embarrassing!" Arthur exclaimed.

The principal gestured to the entire room, "This is not only disappointing… it's sad. Because that means of all of you who had your hands up, you did not have a friend to help you, and you didn't even have a family member."

"… well you had a family member at least." Ludwig whispered.

"And I shall keep that comment to myself." Arthur muttered.

"So I ask again, who would have noticed? Who can honestly stand up and tell me, you would have noticed that something was wrong?" The principal paused and glanced around the room, focusing his attention on the right side of the room.

"Hm?" Arthur squinted through the darkness, "Did someone actually stand up?"

"Oh hello." The principal wandered over to the right side of the stage, "And why would you have noticed?"

"… Was he… expecting that answer?" Ludwig whispered.

"He was certainly looking more to that side of the room, wasn't he?" Arthur tilted his head, "But how could he possibly know?"

The student answered after being handed the microphone: "Because we're people of habit. I honestly could not tell you their names, but I could tell you their absence would be obvious. I pass the same people every day to classes. I know who to expect in the hallway while I'm walking, because they always stand at the same spot, with the same people, every day."

"… the same people stand in the hallway to have a conversation that they can be having after school?" Ludwig looked back at Arthur in confusion.

"These are the people that constantly make it so hard to get to our classes!" Arthur complained, "Honestly! Just save it for after school and keep moving!"

"Thank you. So one student… one person out of this entire room would have noticed. That is… sad." The principal repeated his earlier words, ""So now I ask you not to remember what I said at the beginning of this… or to remember what I said in the middle. But if you take nothing else from this room… remember what I am telling you now."

"… One?" Arthur looked around the auditorium in shock, "Not one other person would have noticed it?"

"Well, he's going off the idea that if someone we don't know is lost, either in an accident or by taking their life, that we wouldn't notice. If it was someone we knew personally, then of course we would notice their absence." Ludwig frowned, "At least I hope that's what he was saying."

"… If he was saying we wouldn't even notice if someone we spoke to on a regular basis stopped coming to school, that would be rather harsh, not to mention rude." Arthur whispered.

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For those of you reading 'awesome style' you may have already realized what happened a year ago. If you haven't read it (or even if you have and didn't figure it out or remember it), it will be mentioned later, or you can leave a review and ask.