It's been a week since Kiku's transfer, and he started getting comfortable. That's what Alfred thought at least. He was really grateful since Kiku seemed to know a lot about his classes, and seemingly knew everything by heart. Whenever Alfred didn't understand, he was fine with teaching him. Kiku also got along well with Francis and everyone, so that loosened him up a bit. Alfred got more comfortable with Kiku around as well, and he started opening up to him a lot more, even if he didn't talk much back. The whole week sped by so fast; Alfred hardly knew it was Saturday already.

Alfred sighed and stood by his door. Of course he wasn't waiting for Kiku. He was just hanging around. Looking at plants. Yeah.

He ruffled his hair and straightened his glasses to see Matthew going down the stairs. Everyone was here, except, well, Kiku. Alfred turned his grin back on, and said "Hey Mattie! What's up?"

"Well," Matthew said, smirking. "I was wondering when you'll stop being a school girl waiting for her crush and play."

Alfred laughed. "'course not! A hero doesn't wait, right? Just making sure that the, uh, the mat's all straight! See?" He fixed the maroon mat on his doorstep with his foot.

Clearly, Matthew wasn't convinced. "Well, you know we'll all be in your room." He said, "There's a riot upstairs." As if on cue, Gilbert's yelling and Antonio's laughing rang out.

Alfred smiled and nodded. "Beat everyone's ass for me, bro!" With a grumble, Matthew headed upstairs with a final 'eh'.

Suddenly, the shrill doorbell rang, and Alfred quickly opened the door. There stood Kiku in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His cropped, black pants were held up by the black suspenders that clung to his shoulders. Alfred liked his yellow espadrilles as well.

"Hey!" Alfred grinned, holding the door open. "Welcome to the Hero's H.Q! Also, you're pretty dressed up!"

Kiku bowed a bit, saying "It's something I'm comfortable with." He said with a small smile. "Please take care of me."

"Yeah yeah," Alfred laughed before pulling him in. "Anyway, everyone's here, so you're kinda late. They're upstairs, making a riot." He led Kiku across the hall and into his room.

All you could say about Alfred's room was that it was very bright. If not, downright blinding. His walls were shocking blue, and the American flag was pinned up on one side of the wall. A batman themed bed sheet covered his Queen-sized bed, and a red lamp stood in the corner, giving off a warm, yellow light. His wooden floor boards were creaky and had scratches everywhere, and everyone sat down there, with his TV atop a wooden table in front of them. His PS3 and Wii wasn't that far off either.

When Matthew said there was a riot, he wasn't kidding. Gilbert was yelling at the screen and Matthew tried to keep him quiet. Antonio was laughing (and seemingly winning) while the same dark haired Italian from last week cussed loudly while smacking Antonio's head with his fist, though he didn't mind. On the otherhand, a man who looked exactly like the Italian was playing, while chattering to a muscular blonde beside him, who was trying to get the young man to play right, forcefully. Everyone was yelling and talking and laughing at the same time, Alfred and Kiku barely make out what they were saying.

"Augh, Feliciano! Straighten up! Jump over that cliff—No! You just missed it, idiot!"

"Sorry, Ludwig! I—I don't know how to make it jump, ve…"

"Ahahaha Lovi, you can hold on to me if you don't know how to hang onto that block!"

"Bastard, I know how!"

"Hah, Mattie look, I stomped on that fucking monster just like that!"

"Gil, calm your shit down…"

"Everyone, shut up!" Alfred called out cheerily, before and everybody stopped talking to look at the owner of the house. "Kiku's here! Now Kiku, you know Antonio, Gilbert, and Matt already, so I'd like to introduce to you—"

"Kiku!" The cheerful Italian cried out, before jumping to his feet and engulfing the other in a tight hug. "I've missed you so, so much, ve! It's been so many years since we've last seen you! You're still short as ever!" he laughed.

"A-Ah," Kiku stuttered, trying to loosen the Italian's grip on him. "It's nice to see you to, Feliciano-kun."

The taller blonde looked up to see who was the newcomer and nodded. "It's good to see you again, Kiku." he said with a slight grin. Kiku nodded with a smile in return before successfully prying off Feliciano.

"It's nice to see you again, Ludwig-san." He said politely.

Alfred was thoroughly confused at the interaction. "Uh, hey, do you guys know each other…?"

"We went to the same elementary before I transferred to another school." Kiku quickly explained. "Back then, Feliciano-kun and Ludwig-san were my two friends."

Feliciano giggled. "Eh, you're being too modest! We were really close back then! We ate together during breaks!" He flitted towards Ludwig's side. "Kiku! Guess what! Ludwig and I are neighbors! Isn't that great?" he cheered while Ludwig turned slightly pink.

Kiku chuckled. "That's wonderful, Feli-kun." He said. Feliciano grinned and snuggled him. "F-Feli-kun, I can't breathe…"

Alfred, on the other hand, looked away awkwardly. It was like he suddenly regretted inviting Ludwig and Feliciano. He shrugged the feeling off and grinned. "Uh, so I guess we don't need introductions anymore!" He automatically sat down and picked up a controller. "So what are you guys playing?"

Ludwig sighed as Feliciano resumed his place on Ludwig's lap. "Lovino wanted an easy game, but the only game that's easy was Little Big Planet, so we're playing it." Ludwig explained wearily.

"Bastardo, I can play any game you throw at me!" The Feliciano lookalike snarled, snatching up his controller once more and leading his sack boy across the stage. He glanced and nodded at Kiku's direction. "Hey Kiku,"

"Good to see you, Lovino-kun." Kiku replied.

Alfred shook his head. "Right!" he chortled. "Restart the game! I wanna beat all of you!"

And then they raced against each other, with Alfred easily in the lead.

Matthew's sack boy was a close second, if it weren't for Gilbert poking his cheek every so often, which often resulted to elbowing him and momentarily losing his concentration.

Feliciano, on the other hand, was third, but he kept wailing whenever he fell off a cliff, and Ludwig tried to teach him how to hold onto a block. Trying in Ludwig's book meant yelling "Idiot! Press R2 to hold onto that swinging block! This is the sixth time you fell already, and on the same cliff!"

Antonio and Lovino were the last, and they were obviously trying to outrace each other. Antonio was entirely amused at Lovino's effort to get past him, whereas Lovino just cursed and exerted effort in just keeping up with the Spaniard.

Alfred snuck a glance at Kiku every so often. He seemed really amused by everyone's effort. When Kiku looked at him, their eyes locked for a moment, and Alfred felt his neck grow warm all of a sudden, he broke eye contact and concentrated once more.

"Fuck this." Lovino cursed as he tossed his controller on the floor. He was last place for the umpteenth time.

Alfred laughed and patted Lovino's back. "S'alright! You'll win in other games anyway." Lovino glared half-heartedly at him before intently sitting closer to Antonio, with a scowl on his face. Alfred shook his head and offered the extra controller to Kiku. "Your turn!" He grinned.

Kiku shook his head. "Ah, it's quite alright…"

"C'mon!" Alfred pouted. "What's the point of going all the way here if you aren't gonna play?" He tossed the controller towards his direction. "'sides, it's an easy game." He grinned.

Kiku nimbly caught it and sighed. "As you wish,"

They restarted.

Kiku won the round, taking all the points.

Everyone's jaw hung open, except Alfred, who wrinkled his nose.

"Let's play again!" he said stubbornly.

Thus, they played round after round after round, and Kiku won everything. Gilbert started complaining as the Alfred and Kiku kept moving onwards, and leaving all the others off screen.

"Ve, Alfred…you guys are going too fast…"

"Yeah man, it's totally not awesome to leave us behind…"

But Kiku and Alfred didn't listen. They played game after game after game, and everyone just gave up. They all just watched them play, occasionally throwing a taunt at Alfred, who was constantly losing.

After the twelfth restart, Alfred flung his controller in exasperation. "There's something wrong with this controller!" he huffed.

Antonio and Gilbert snickered. "We fully checked the controllers, and nothing was wrong." Antonio pointed out with an easy going smile.

"Yeah, you just can't accept he's the winner." Gilbert smirked. Alfred glared at him, "well it's not like you played!"

The two started to bicker once again.

The corners of Kiku's lips twitched upward, but didn't smile quite yet. "I'll be in the rest room." Kiku called out, before making his way to the next room. Alfred tore away from Gilbert for a split second to just look at the door Kiku closed a few moments ago. Gilbert clearly took notice and cackled.

"What?" Alfred said defensively.

"You really do like him, don't you?" Gilbert smirked.

"Piss off, I've only known him for a week." Alfred scoffed, though he felt his cheeks flush.

"So your door's just that gorgeous, huh?"

"And Matthew acts manly."

"Don't drag me into this, eh."

Gilbert snickered, "He does have a point, Matt."

Matthew let out a frustrated 'eh' and they started to discuss his masculinity, while Alfred was left alone to his own devices.

It was absurd, he thought, it's only been a week, and that was way too short of a time to like him. Sure, he found it intriguing that a guy who was from his dreams magically appeared in his class (Alfred covered his face with his hand as he realized how he phrased it,) and he wanted to find out more. After a while, Kiku didn't seem bad. He was kinda cool, really. After the week, he started genuinely enjoying his company, but like him non-platonically? Of course not! All he wanted to find out was why he happened to be in his dream.

Oh right. That's the reason why he invited him in the first place.

Could he be a secret agent from Japan? Nah, that didn't explain his power…Or maybe he was just like those X-Men! He probably has mind powers! That sounds so rad...man I wish I had mind powers. But why would he break into my mind? Could it be that I'm the key? Oh my god, this is just like the movies! I'm the hero! Kiku's probably the bad guy!

…But he seems like a nice kid…Maybe he's the damsel in distress! There's probably some evil villain who's forcing Kiku to probe my mind! Hehehehe…

Common sense stopped him from going further.

"This is so annoying!" Alfred cried out loud, messing his hair up. Matthew looked curiously over him before shaking his head, bemused.

Just then, Kiku came back in. He blinked. "Ano, are we still going to play?"

Alfred snapped out of his soliloquy and grinned. "Hell yeah we are! We have a score to settle! Gilbert! Ludwig! It's your turn to play!"

Thus, they played again once more, along with the riot that came with it.

"Yo, Ludwig! Your sack boy looks so un-awesome."

"Keep quiet, Bruder,"

"Ve~ I fell off the cliff again!"

"Hahaha! Feliciano, it's the R2, remember?"

"Ah right! Thank you, Alfred."

"Feli-kun, your sack boy's right in between—"

"Ah!"

"I TOLD YOU IT WAS AN ENEMY."

"Ve! Sorry! Sorry Ludwig—!"

"Hey Ludwig, can you pull that block for your older brother~?"

"No I won't."

"Aw, why not?"

"You're going to leave us all behind once you climb it."

"Oh hey, the block magically got pulled, sweet!"

"Alfred…that was me, eh…"

"Man! All this playing beat the hell out of me." Alfred stretched and fell backwards, with his glasses slightly askew.

"That's all you've got to say?" Gilbert said dubiously. "You've made us play sixty fuckin' rounds. I'm sick of watching the same stage over and over."

"Ve~ but you were good too, Gil…" Feliciano said, back flat on the floor. Ludwig seemed weary as well, but he just shook his head.

"Bruder was using cheats, wasn't he?" Ludwig said grimly. "We never ran out of lives, even if you fell numerous times."

"Eh, details." He replied simply. He leaned against Alfred's bed, "hey, do you have food? Sausages? I'm starving."

Alfred frowned and scratched his head. "…Burgers…" Everyone wrinkled their nose. "Hey! They're really good!" he defended.

"We're not saying it isn't," Antonio said cheerily. "We're just saying that it's the only thing you feed us!" He hugged Lovino from the back, who seemed thoroughly disgruntled.

"But burgers are good!" Alfred whined. "Do any of you know anything better?"

Alfred looked around expectantly. Just then, Kiku spoke up.

"I may be of assistance." He said, hesitant. Everyone instantly perked up at his word. Feliciano and Antonio cheered.

"Something other than burgers!"

Alfred frowned, but shook his head once again. "Fine," He grumbled. "At least let me show you the way to the kitchen?" he added.

Kiku nodded and followed after.

"So Kiku," Alfred began, as he started to heat the grill. "Uh, what's up?" They worked on opposite counters so their backs were facing each other.

"Nothing much," Kiku replied. "I bought a new game, but that's it." He sliced a few mangoes, and lined them neatly in each rice covered seaweed wrap.

"What game?" Alfred asked, as he started grilling burgers.

"A new Mario game," Kiku promptly said back. "How about you, Alfred-kun? I can tell there's something in your mind."

Alfred kept quiet as he flipped a burger.

"Alfred-kun?"

"Why do you address me as 'kun'?" Alfred finally asked, glancing at the other. "From what I know, kun is either for school mates or close friends."

"But you are my school mate." Kiku pointed out.

Alfred shook his head. "You refer to everyone as 'san' though, and that's way more formal. Do you know me? As in, before you moved here."

Kiku kept quiet for a moment as he rolled the seaweed into a sushi roll. "I thought we discussed it? We've never met prior to my transfer." He cut them up into pieces. "Perhaps we met long ago, and that triggered your nostalgia."

"It doesn't explain why you refer to me as a close friend."

"Do you think we aren't?" Kiku asked casually, though his voice betrayed a bit of sadness.

Alfred, for some inexplicable reason, turned red at the question. "W-well…I've only known you for a week, and…yeah, you seem like a pretty good guy, so I…guess we are?" he mumbled, flipping another burger onto a plate. He leaned against the counter.

"Well then, I guess that's settled." Kiku said. Alfred swore that he saw him smile, but he figured it was a trick of the light.

"But then why did you call me that on the first—"

"Alfred-kun," Kiku interrupted. "Can this matter wait? Your friends are quite hungry." With that, he finished another roll and sliced it. Alfred sighed and continued to slice the burgers into strips, and laid each on a sushi roll.

"Did I do it right?"

Kiku peered over his shoulder. "Yes, all you need to do now is to roll it."

Alfred concentrated on rolling it perfectly, but it ended up a lumpy cylinder. He was frustrated at how well Kiku did it with ease. "How do you do that?" he demanded.

"Do what?" Kiku asked, and sliced another sushi roll into bite sized pieces,

"Roll it so neat and uniform and stuff."

Kiku just shook his head. "I…I am not sure…"

Alfred groaned and just continued rolling the seaweed into lumpy rolls.

"They really wiped it all out, didn't they?" Alfred commented, as he closed the door. After all the laughs, the teasing, and the sushi, they all went home full and satisfied, except for Alfred and Kiku, who stayed behind.

"They must have not eaten breakfast." Kiku suggested.

Silence stretched before Alfred blurted out "Do you want to stay?"

Kiku stared, and Alfred felt the oh so familiar heat rising to his cheeks.

"I-I mean, do you wanna stay upstairs and play more?" he added hastily. "Of course, if you have to go, you don't have to—"

"I wouldn't mind." Kiku smiled. He smiled. He really smiled, and Alfred cleared his throat while rubbing his face. Damn, the heat was getting to him.

"So let's go up, shall we?" Alfred grinned, almost skipping his way upstairs. He heard Kiku chuckle softly before he followed after.

Alfred entered his room and plopped on the floor, and busied himself with inserting a Tekken CD into his Play Station. Kiku sat across him, Indian style. He glanced at Alfred but kept silent. Alfred really didn't like silence.

"So you transferred a lot, huh." Alfred said cheerily.

"Yes," Kiku mumbled. "Although I wouldn't call it 'a lot'. I've only transferred thrice."

Alfred blinked. "Really? Where'd you go?"

"My first was in my hometown." Kiku said. "I transferred to Tokyo because of my father's occupation. He was a businessman, and he wanted to provide for us five kids—"

"Wait a minute," Alfred interrupted, "So you're seven in the family?"

Kiku kept quiet, and Alfred was getting worried he might've offended the guy.

"Not exactly," Kiku mumbled. "We're six in the family."

Oh.

"I—" Alfred stammered, "I'm sorry…I didn't know, I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine." Kiku said with a small apologetic smile, "Anyway, as I was saying. We moved to Tokyo because of my father, but then…"

Alfred waited, but Kiku didn't continue. "And then…?"

"My father got into an accident." Kiku didn't elaborate.

Alfred bowed his head a bit, and thought for a bit.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Alfred mumbled, he never experienced anyone dying in his life, and this is what his parents said to anyone who lost a loved one. He never understood why it helped at all.

"You need not apologize," Kiku said quietly. "So we moved to America because the eldest in the family got a job here. He's currently working to support all five of us, and I'm on a scholarship, since my brother can't pay for everyone's education."

The Tekken game screen appeared. Alfred glanced at it before he smiled cheekily. "You've been through a lot then." Kiku tilted his head to the side.

"But today's a time to relax!" Alfred grinned, tossing a controller in his direction. (Which he caught.) "Listen, America's a place to start fresh! The school year just started anyway, so it's okay not to be serious yet! 'Sides, if ever you're in a pinch, the hero can save you!" He declared, before he accidentally poked himself too hard as he pointed to himself.

Kiku sighed, though a small smile graced his lips, "If you say so, Alfred-kun." He said lightly, taking the controller firmly. "I see you've unlocked everyone. Excellent."

"Haha! Of course, man! You ain't gonna beat me when I have Lili on my sleeve!"

"Ano…do you mean, up your sleeve?" Kiku said hesitantly.

"I—yeah, of course!" Alfred laughed. As they were about to start a round, a soft knock rang out. "Come in!" Alfred added.

"A-ah," Matthew paused halfway through the door. "I didn't know you were still here, Kiku." He offered a shy smile, which Kiku returned with a bow. "Anyway, someone came by, and he wants to come up." He added.

"Really?" Alfred blinked. "Who's—?"

"Ah, I can take it from here, comrade." A childish voice came from outside. The Alfred and Kiku visibly stiffened as the guest entered with a big smile on his face. Yes, here he was. Ivan Braginsky. A year older than Alfred, and Alfred's former friend. Or rather,

Former boyfriend.

"Da svidanya, Alfred!" Ivan greeted with a grin.

"Ahaha, why the fuck are you here?" Alfred replied cheerfully. "I don't ever remember inviting a commie into my house."

"I just came by to say hi, of course!" Ivan laughed, but his eyes were full of malice as his locked with Kiku, who in turn glared at him with so much hate, even Alfred could feel it radiating from him.

"Well," Alfred grinned, "You already said hi, and you're clearly not wanted here, so get out." He really didn't really like it. He really didn't. But…Ivan's voice…

A cold stone pitted into his stomach as something clicked in his head.

Ivan's voice was exactly like the one that killed him in his dream.

"I agree with Alfred-kun," Kiku said quietly, his eyes not leaving the Russian. "Please leave."

"Oh come on now Kiku, don't be so stiff!" Ivan said, "I came all the way to say hi to you after all."

Alfred's mind stopped working.

"Wait, you two know each other?"Alfred said in pure shock. It really didn't make any sense how they knew each other, since Ivan's been in America for god knows how long, whereas Kiku…only transferred this week.

"We're well acquainted, aren't we?" Ivan emphasized.

"…yes…" Kiku bit his lip. A tense silence followed.

"Get out, Ivan." Alfred said harshly. "You've already said your damn commie greetings."

"I'll just drop a message to your little comrade first." Ivan said, holding his hands up. He walked over towards Kiku and whispered something in his ear. For once, Alfred regretted blasting his music into his eardrums. He was practically as deaf as a 90-year-old. Kiku's eyes widened with every second passing.

"I know that, Ivan-san." He hissed.

"Just making sure!" Ivan giggled before taking his leave. He literally took his leave without a single word to either of them.

"…Well." Alfred stated as he stared at the door Ivan just touched with disgust. "That was random. What'd he say to you?"

Kiku said nothing, but shook his head. He was shaking. Alfred patted his back sympathetically. "No worries man, if that commie touches you again, I'm going to beat him up, don't worry."

Kiku still said nothing, but he let out a shaky sigh and slumped on the bed he had his back on.

"Hey bro, do you need a ride home?" Alfred offered. Kiku shook his head.

"If it's possible…may I stay for the night here?" he asked, "If it isn't in your inconvenience." He added hastily.

Alfred blinked, "Uh, sure. Why?"

"My house is too far." Kiku said smoothly, "I wouldn't want to awaken my siblings when we get there."

Somehow, Alfred sensed that that wasn't the only reason Kiku wanted to stay, but he wasn't complaining.

Hi guys I made this update long for you C: hope you don't mind the extra waiting!