Greetings! So I realize that putting off the second chapter of a story is likely a very bad way to receive positive feedback, or feedback in general. For that, I am very sorry. I'm in university and I had a lot of tests for which to prepare right after returning from Spring break. (For people younger than myself, rest assured that that is generally not the norm; I'm just a failing overachiever. Well, not literally failing. I mean in terms of stamina.) Oh yes, and then I had final exams and a lot of advising meetings. Apparently, the subject of a Bachelor's degree means nothing. Whoever knew except everybody who lets unnecessary struggles happen? Well, struggles are necessary for growth. Never mind; I'm writing precisely not to think about it! 😊

In any case, you'll find below the second chapter! For those of you who didn't just scroll down immediately upon landing at this webpage, I'll be trying out personal notes at the top of the content this time. Please let me know what you prefer, if you're not indifferent, because I will adjust things according to my readers' preferences.

This chapter, as opposed to last week's, will be much more light-hearted, as we are now getting into the actual meat (apologies to the verbal vegans around here) and underlying purpose of the story: Cute Hetalian kindergartners! Much of the first chapter was so saddening as a ploy to effectively introduce the main characters. The Vargas family is loving as can be, but the kiddies are going through some turmoil. Lovino has it a little worse than his baby sister and has trouble talking to people as a result, but don't worry, things will NOT be as painfully sad as last time for quite a few chapters. Also, what happened to Daddy was most certainly not death. Be assured!

I've typed up too many paragraphs of irrelevant prose, so without further ado (no nonsensical goodbyes here!), here's Chapter 2 of LVK. To those of you who have already favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY FIC! Hopefully I can continue pleasing people!

Little Veggie Kindergarten

Chapter 2: "Discoveries! The Seal, the Slides and the Library"

Lovino was feeling better about yesterday. He still didn't want to be here at school very much, but a movie night after homemade spaghetti and then ice cream with Mommy and Feli before another family pep talk right before bedtime had made him much less nervous.

Mommy reminded both of them that their teacher was going to keep taking care of them and would be there for Lovi and Feli if one of them got nervous again. At the end of school that day, she had thanked Mr. Carriedo personally for comforting Lovino. He said it was no big deal.

Then she made Lovino promise that he would remember there was no reason to be afraid of the other kids and Feliciana promise that she would please be quieter in class from now on. They had all laughed about that, but Mrs. Vargas made sure her daughter understood.

Now Lovino stood in front of the small bookshelf in the back of their kindergarten classroom on the first full day of school. Teacher Antonio was right outside the door at the moment and wasn't checking to see if Lovino was talking to anyone. Lovino still didn't want to talk to other kids after yesterday. He did promise Mommy that he would, but he wasn't ready first thing in the morning. He almost couldn't eat his toast thinking about it before leaving.

He would talk to someone soon, just not now. He leaned in closer to the crowded bookshelf and pulled out a thin one with a purple bind. The cover had a little seal smiling happily while rolling little round balls toward a starfish and a seahorse. It was titled "Little Seal's First Adventure". He sat down into one of the tiny bean bags nearby and started reading.

This is Little Seal. He loves playing with marbles and eating seaweed cookies. Little Seal didn't have any brothers or sisters, but his Mommy and Daddy always played with him.

Lovino missed his Daddy. He and Feli hoped he would come home to Euronook soon.

One day, Little Seal's Mommy and Daddy were both busy preparing a birthday party for Little Seal. But Little Seal didn't know about the party! All Mommy and Daddy told him was that it was a surprise that he would love when it was ready. But he couldn't see what it was just yet.

"Why don't you go and play outside in the front yard," they told Little Seal. "Then you'll be very happy when you return home!"

So Little Seal went to play outside. The front yard was much less private than the Seals' backyard and only had a coral fence dividing their lawn from the neighbors'. People could see Little Seal playing and Little Seal could see them.

Little Seal decided to go get his marbles from the back yard. He pushed them back and forth with twigs. He loved seeing how fast each one could go.

Suddenly, a starfish and a seahorse turned a corner and saw Little Seal playing marbles by himself. Little Seal had never seen them before, and he didn't know what to do.

"Hello!"

Lovino looked up, startled. The boy who had the stuffed white teddy bear yesterday was looking down at him reading. His name tag said Matthew, but Lovino remembered his name.

"You ran away yesterday, and I was worried. But Ms. Dupont wouldn't let me go find you! Are you okay now?"

Lovino couldn't talk in front of the class because a lot of the other kids were loud. But Matthew wasn't loud. He talked a lot more than Lovino did, but he looked like Lovino could talk back to him. Then Lovino tried.

"Yes."

Matthew smiled. "Good! Are you reading the Little Seal? The author for him writes my favorite book!"

Shy again, Lovino showed Matthew the cover to affirm. Then Matthew beamed. "Hey, maybe they have my favorite here, too!" Then he quickly crouched toward the bookshelf, looked back and forth, then made a fast "Aha!" and pulled out another thin book, this time with a light blue binding.

He walked back over to Lovino, pulled up another tiny bean bag, and sat down really close. "The author for Little Seal also writes my favorite book! This is Kumajirou's first story!" Then he jumped up, ran over to his desk seat, and came back with the white bear from yesterday. "Mommy and Daddy say this is official merchandise! I got him last year when we moved to Euronook!"

Lovino squirmed a bit. He was talking to someone! "He looks fluffy." Matthew smiled again. "Yeah, he is! Everyone in his story say he's soft as snow! I know! Do you want to read together! We can take turns! I've never read Little Seal all the way through! Do you want to read to me first?"

Then Lovino smiled. "Sure." He flipped back to the beginning of the storybook. "This is Little Seal. He loves playing with marbles and eating seaweed cookies." Matthew leaned on his side in his bean bag and hugged Kumajirou, smiling at his New Friend reading to him.

Meanwhile, Feliciana and Elizabeta were drawing kitties and ponies on the blackboard with colored chalk. Elizabeta was wearing a blue flower barrette today and Feliciana was wearing a plaid blue bow. They had decided after school yesterday that they were going to try to match every day.

Just then, Elizabeta looked around the room and noticed Matthew and Feli's brother reading to each other. "Hey, Feli, your brother and the Bear Kid are reading!"

Feli turned and gasped, happily surprised. "Veh? Yay! Lo-vi-no!" Just as she started running, Elizabeta grabbed her hand and covered her mouth. "No! Let them keep talking by themselves! Mommy says flowers don't grow without enough room!" Feliciana looked up sadly, but nodded anyway. Then Elizabeta noticed that Mr. Carriedo was no longer right outside the door. In fact, she couldn't see his head through the window at all!

"Hey, Feli," she started slowly. Feli was rearranging the chalks according to color and asked what absentmindedly. "I don't see Mr. Carriedo anywhere." That was when Feli looked up. The two of them bounded to the door and peered out and around both sides of the hallway. Then they exchanged a surprised look.

"Do you think someone else is coming to take over the class?" Feli asked.

"I dunno," Liz wondered. Then, she grinned and Feli tilted her head a little nervously. "Hey, Feli… We haven't seen any of the rest of the kindergarten for ourselves yet, have we?" Feli put her hands to her mouth, shook her head, and said they shouldn't go off by themselves. "But it'll be fun!" Liz gripped Feli's shoulders, but Feli shook her head quickly.

"Hmm, what if we take Ludwig with us? I'm sure Mr. Carriedo won't worry then, 'cause Ludwig's quiet and 'sponsible."

Honestly, Feli was a little mischievous. She once snuck into Mommy's room to try on her lipstick and hair ribbons. She didn't get caught because she was quiet and washed off the makeup with toothpaste before Lovi could see. Mommy asked about all the things thrown onto her vanity later, though. But if she was careful about objects now, she wouldn't get caught! Especially if someone like Ludwig made sure to put things back in their place! "Okay!" Then the two ran up to Ludwig, who was making towers with Kiku, and grabbed an arm before running out of the classroom. Kiku, confused, decided to go after them, but he left a note on the board for the teacher first.

Little Veggie Kindergarten was huge, and Feli and Liz were able to run side-by-side with their arms spread out at full speed with no problem. Ludwig and Kiku kept trying to grab them, but they couldn't keep up. Eventually, the girls convinced them that they had a fantastic opportunity to explore the school on their own, and if they didn't take it then there was no point in even going to school.

Beaten, the boys clambered after Liz and Feli up the main staircase. All the floors and stairs were made of dark wood but had a very soft, sanded-down feel when someone touched it or ran on it. They could tell what part of the building they were in by what color the walls were painted. The walls split into orange and lavender corridors at the top of the staircase. The girls ran for the purple side and Ludwig and Kiku idled after.

Feli opened the first sliding door that wasn't locked, which was a small library. All four children looked around at the shelves made to fit their size. Ludwig was in awe and Kiku said that the room would be a very good hiding place. Feliciana jumped excitedly. "I have to show this to Lovino after school today! And his new friend!"

"It can be a secret twins' hideout," Kiku thought.

"I wanna have tea here during lunchtime," Ludwig stated.

"Maybe Mr. Carriedo will let us up here later! We can bring snacks and little pillows," Liz mused. Feli squealed, bounded out of the library, and ran over to the orange corridor. The others immediately ran after her. "Hey, Feli, be quieter or we'll get caught!"

Feli could run really fast. She made it all the way to the middle of the Carrot hallway before anyone else and found that another, very large, door was opened. She peered in and saw a lot of different things inside. Big rubber balls, taped up boxes, pet cages, and what even looked like a dharma doll. She stepped up closer to the object and tried to have a staring contest with it, but turned away when the other kids caught up with her.

"Look, everyone, I found a mixed bag room!"

"It's a supply closet," Ludwig echoed as he stepped in and looked up and around. Liz immediately went for the big red ball in the corner. "Feli, early Sports Festival! Race!"

"Vee!" Feli jumped up and down, grabbed Kiku and climbed onto the other huge ball, which was a bright yellow. Liz had exited the room on the ball somehow and Feli followed after. Kiku was holding onto her for dear life and protesting "THIS ISN'T SAFE" during the ride into the hallway. Ludwig exited the closet just as Mr. Kohler had stepped up to check out the ruckus. Ludwig pointed to the upstairs foyer and then ran after his classmates. Mr. Kohler walked calmly after, saw the sports balls bouncing halfway down when he reached the staircase, and saw the kids running toward the front of the second floor opposite the roundabout railing.

"My ball made it to the bottom first, Feli! Now I get to come over to your house!"

"What? I wanna come over to your house first!"

"I know, we can all go over to Ludwig's house!"

"No, Lovi will be scared of Maria!"

"Everyone's scared of Maria," Liz reminded.

"Look, slides," Kiku noticed. They all ran ahead of the glass and stared at the two huge, almost vertical slides leading down to the playground at the front of the school.

"Maria says the Aubergine and Carrot classes get to go down these slides every day," Ludwig explained.

"Do you think we can go down them right now?" Liz' voice rose.

"They look too high," Feli worried.

"Steep," Kiku echoed. "We're smaller than Maria and her friends."

Just then, Mr. Kohler walked up from behind. "Teachers usually slide down with the Tomatoes and Sprouts." The kids turned and ran in various directions past him, but Matthias caught up to each one and carried them back to class.

"These belong to you, Antoine."

"Oh, thank goodness! I was just about to set out looking for them. I'm so sorry; Bella and I should have stayed right by the door instead of heading over to her class! I'm such an idiot, and it's only the second day of school!" Antonio and Bella were making sure Lovino and Matthew stayed put, but those two children seemed oblivious to anything that was happening. Bella had taken a picture of the note the children had left Mr. Carriedo, and couldn't help but laugh at it quite a bit. She had also turned off the flash sound and snapped a picture of Lovino and Matthew without their noticing.

"Don't sweat it; I would have made the same mistake at your age. So long as you weren't trying to seduce my cousin, I'm willing to help you until you're competent." Antonio shook his head and could only laugh uneasily.

Bella's hands were semiseriously at her hips. "Now, who wrote the note on Mr. Carriedo's blackboard and where did you all run off to?"

"Me," Kiku whispered.

"We found a library and a supply closet and saw the slides!" Liz added.

"Can we go to the library during lunchtime, Mr. Teacher Antonio? Please, can we can we can we?" Antonio ruffled Feli's hair mid-bounce and said he would think about it, so long as they told him where they were going from then on.

"Vee!" Liz and Feli ran back into the classroom and took their seats as they were told, then talked about what they would ask their mommies to buy them for library tea snacks. "We can eat lollipops, and white chocolate rainbows, and little sprinkle cupcakes, and marshmallow kitty heads, and licorice, and…!"

Antonio sauntered up to Matt and Lovi. "Hey, you little guys have been reading here this whole time! I'm proud of you!"

Lovino and Matthew looked up, both a little startled. "Was everyone else gone?" Matthew asked.

"We were reading so long that we didn't notice it was so quiet," Lovino added timidly.

Antonio ruffled both boys' hair, told them it was time for class, and then gave them each a piece of chocolate. Lovino and Matthew exchanged a smile, then headed back to their seats. Matthew put the chocolate away in his uniform pocket while Lovino shared the small bar with his sister, who bounced once again before being shushed.

"Okay, everyone, now that we're all found and at our desks, it's time for our first full day of class!" Antonio began, moving to the large pink-and-green class schedule that he had stayed after to finish and tape near the door the previous afternoon. "Every morning, we will start with a hiragana lesson! Then, we will have an arts and crafts class and do different things every week. After that, I will teach you some English, and I know that some of you should already do very well! Then we will have an exercise session with the Brussels Sprout class," (a couple "Ewww, sprouts!" at this) "learn all about the fun of numbers, and eat lunch. Finally, there will be story time and then some more play time outside before we all go home."

Next was the Tomato Board with everyone's portraits sent in by their families. "This is our Tomato Board! Everyone has a red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple tomato that they can earn by being well-behaved in class, raising their hand and asking good questions, and by helping others. If someone earns all six tomatoes one week, then they can ask Teacher Antonio to get them one thing they really want as a present."

Everyone gasped at this news and a lot of them got very excited. Elizabeta and Kiku began squealing and Feliciana began bouncing and happily flapping her hands. Some began asking questions. Ludwig raised his hand and asked if they could ask Teacher to buy them a dog. "No, no! I mean things like candy, toys, or books. I'm so sorry to have misled you!" Once everyone quieted down, Antonio continued.

"Keep in mind, though, that you can lose a tomato if you misbehave! If you push or hit someone else, take something that doesn't belong to you, or if you disobey what a teacher says, one tomato will be lost." This statement restored the rest of the order. "I hope I get to buy treats for all of you this year! Now, you can see all around our ceiling that there are European letters underneath what may look like a lot of strange squiggles. But this is one of the important Japanese alphabets, hiragana. Each different squiggly character is called a syllable, and they stand for different sounds we make with our mouths. This is very different from the alphabet most of your parents probably use at home sometimes, but as you practice it, both alphabets will become very easy. Every week, we'll learn how to write and say each syllable and name things in the classroom that start with it. Today, we'll start with the syllable for 'A'."

Antonio was pleased that Little Veggie Kindergarten wasn't very much like what he had heard about Japanese kindergartens in general. For starters, the class sizes were very small; a normal kindergarten classroom, he had learnt, normally held up to 35 kids, while he did not even have to manage ten. Second of all, his class wasn't nearly as loud and boisterous as he had been dreading. Yes, a lot of the kids were noisy as many kids are, but there was hardly any instance of glomping him as soon as he entered their sight, running around unsupervised (with the exception of Feli and Lizzy's scheme this morning) and absolutely no instances of him getting kancho'd. He'd been especially relieved thus far about the past factor.

Moreover, the curriculum at LVK was exceptionally diverse. Most Japanese kindergartens solely taught the basics of hiragana and arithmetic, while others were exclusively play schools with no academic discipline to speak of. Antonio assumed this was because LVK was constructed specifically for foreign children, many of whom would obviously be multilingual, and thus would benefit from getting an academic head start if they would remain in Japan. Plus, tuition wasn't all that horrible on parents and supplies aside from uniforms were mostly provided by the school, so families benefited economically as well.

Each academic lesson lasted half an hour, with the exception of a 45-minute Crafts class. Today was simple: Everyone was to draw a picture of their family. They could include any pets, their house, and maybe an activity that everyone in the household liked doing together.

Feliciana immediately bounded over to work together with Lovino. Antonio would never say this aloud, but he was interested to see how different their family pictures looked. Putting his hands on their shoulders, he said "You guys consult each other, ay?" At this Feliciana giggled and Lovino asked if "consult" meant to talk with his sister. Antonio tousled the boy's hair and affirmed, joking that he must be smart. Surprisingly, Lovino started to write the kanji symbol for "phase" with his green rayon. "Hey, you must read a lot at home, little guy!" Nod, then Lovino looked up and quietly said "Daddy reads us books. I look at the square squiggles a lot." Feli chimed in with "Daddy said we learn what you taught us today and then a lot of angles for sounds and then the square squiggles! Like what Lovi wrote!"

"Why don't you two draw your dad reading in your pictures?" Lovino switched over to drawing and Feliciana reached for a violet red crayon.

Walking around, Antonio complimented everyone's drawing. Kiku had drawn himself in front of what looked to be his parents and grandparents along with a cat and hamster cage. The background was green and divided by thin black lines. "We all live in a country house. Our cat's name is Tama and hamster's name is Hamutaro. He's my own!" Matthew had drawn himself and his brother climbing a tree with their parents playing catch underneath. Elizabeta had drawn herself, in overalls and pigtails, on what looked to be her father's shoulders and reaching up to what looked like a roof for a bird. The man was standing on what looked like a ladder." That looks dangerous! Is that your daddy?" Lizzy explained that doing dangerous things was something the two did often, and that the drawing had actually taken place the previous week. "We heard it chirping in the backyard so we went go get it down! Mommy said it was a sparrow and it injured its wing. I helped her bandage it and we're keeping it now 'til it gets better!"

"That's fantastic! Maybe it'll end up being a pet!" Lizzy gasped and bounced over to tell Feli. Before following, Antonio last looked at Ludwig's picture. He had drawn himself, his parents, and his older sister, Maria, in what looked like a park with three dogs. Their names, Aster, Berlitz, and Blackie, were written next to each one in European letters. "We got them at different times before we moved here. Only Aster is younger than me. I named him. Daddy and Maria named the others." Then he eagerly asked if bringing pets to school could be a prize for earning six tomatoes. Antonio smiled, said why not, and Ludwig beamed and turned to tell Kiku, who said he hoped he could bring Hamutaro to class.

Back at the other side of the room, Lovino was sharing his picture with Matthew and Feliciana with Elizabeta. Surprisingly, their drawings did not look that different. Lovi had drawn himself on his father's lap, facing a book, with Feli and their mother looking on and smiling nearby. He had also drawn the outside garden with a lot of flowers, and their mother seemed to be holding a pan of pasta. Feli had drawn the family seated at a picnic set in the backyard with their father reading stories and a garden also visible. The flowers in hers were a lot more prominent, and their mother was seated in the branches of a nearby tree reaching out to a butterfly. She had also drawn the blue sky along the very top of the page with a wide white gap in between it and the grass. Antonio wondered if the positions in which Feli had drawn her mother were what she herself wanted to do a lot of the time instead of sitting with her brother and their father. Lovino, on the other hand, seemed to cherish the details of their small familial world as constant background pieces and the indoors with their books as the main part of his life. Feli was talking very animatedly about how their Daddy and Mommy were, but Lovino still wasn't saying much to Matthew, who explained that his brother and dad tried a lot to get him to go outside more.

Antonio congratulated everyone on making such beautiful drawings, then hung them up one by one on the billboard adjacent to the Tomato Board. This activity had taken up the entire class period, and next came English. The lesson went smoothly as the English letter "A" went in tandem with the hiragana lesson. Exercise class was taught primarily by Teacher Bella, with Antonio as a helper. The weather was nice for early April, so warm-up exercises were held in the center courtyard underneath the main school's staircase. Everyone was instructed to toss a ball back and forth to each other in groups of two, and the three pairs that made the most tosses in five minutes would each receive a red tomato (or a red sprout, depending on the class). Antonio decided to partner Lovino with Matthew and Feliciana with Kiku; both groups worked surprisingly well and came respectively in third and first place with nine and twelve throws. Ludwig was very adept at tossing and receiving, but Elizabeta was so boisterous that she could barely focus on the assigned task. Roderich Edelstein and Evalyn Paulsen, from the Aubergine class, came in second place. Bella gave Antonio a lot of praise for having twice as many students as her receiving red Veggies. "Good job to all of you guys; you were amazing!" Lovino had very good aim and catch instinct, but both he and Matthew were slow to moving. Feli, on the other hand, was on par with Lovino's dexterity and compensated for Kiku's ease. The fact that she had won, though, triggered a lot of bouncing. Lili, Emil, and Peter joined in with Feli and Lizzy and Bella joked that the Tomato Bounce would have to become a weekly exercise.

Arithmetic came right after Exercise, and today was only an overview of adding and a few problems such as one plus one, which everyone found easy. Lovino cautiously raised his hand and whispered to Feli after he was called on; it turned out that he wanted to know if they would have hard math tests like where their Daddy worked. Everyone else looked scared at this, and Antonio assured them that no, there would be no tests. (In truth, one-on-one evaluations concerning basic arithmetic and alphabet would be given near the end of the term, but LVK's philosophy was that academic anxiety should not be induced in preschoolers.)

During lunch time, Feli, Lizzy, Ludwig and Kiku approached Antonio and reminded him that they had found a really cute library upstairs and that they wondered if they could start going upstairs to eat lunch there today. "We want it to be our class' secret clubhouse, and eat lunch there every day, and bring snacks from home and read!" Antonio, who had been pouring tea at his desk, mused that it wouldn't exactly be their secret clubhouse if anyone inside the school could find it and walk in. "And all of you did wander off together while I wasn't here, causing me and Teacher Bella to worry and troubling Teacher Matthias with bringing you back to me. But," he added, "I suppose earning the room as a clubhouse could be a prize if one of you earns six tomatoes this week!"

Feliciana gasped, bounced, looked around, and ran over to her table and back, bringing a napkin and a piece of fruit. "Teacher Antonio, you can have a napkin and strawberry!" Kiku, watching this example, went to retrieve a small octopus-shaped sausage and held it up to Antonio triumphantly. Ludwig followed suit with two cherry tomatoes and Elizabeta provided a small cheddar cheese cube. Lovino and Matthew, noticing this, respectively brought up a baby carrot and another strawberry. Fake-sighing, Antonio conceded to having to add a tomato to everyone on the Chart, and did so after a bout of "YAY!" Feli, Lovi, Matthew and Kiku now all had orange tomatoes. "But please, I can only eat so much!" Everyone laughed.

After lunch was finished, Antonio explained that everyone was welcome to ask him to read a special story each day, but was going to show them the Japanese story of Momotaro with paintings today. Kiku raised his hand and stated that he was familiar with the story already, and wondered if he could help narrate. Antonio was very pleased at this and allowed it. Kiku was a little shy, but did a very good job of reciting the story, and was applauded by everyone. Feliciana ran up from the class' circle around Antonio's desk chair to hug him tightly, and Antonio awarded him a yellow tomato. The Clubhouse Group squealed to each other in anticipation.

The last period of the day was another thirty minutes of play time where everyone was free to do as they pleased (to which Antonio was inwardly overjoyed, as he was exhausted). It was still sunny in the early afternoon, so he brought the Tomato class onto the playground. Lovino stood idly by at first, but Matthew ventured up again with his bear and guided him by hand over to the sandbox. Ludwig tried to join in, but Feliciana quickly intervened and dragged him over to Antonio, Kiku and Elizabeta, who were begging their teacher to let them go down the slides.

The Brussels Sprout and second-year Carrot and Aubergine classes came out to the playground a minute or so after, the older kids coming down by the nearly vertical slides. Antonio mused to Bella, Matthias and Victoria, was affirmed, and then both first-year teachers gathered up everyone in their classes who wanted to try the slides. Some including Monique, Emil and Matthew were fearful, others like Feli and Peter were extremely excited, but everyone in the Tomato and Sprout classes ended up wanting to slide. The white-haired Maria whom Antonio had heard and seen about quite a bit yesterday repeatedly kept going down the slide and back up the spiraling staircase. "These things are awesome! Too awesome for Lizzy and Ludwig!" Two boys, a blonde whose name turned out to be Francis, and one who turned out to be Matthew's brother, Alfred, joined in at this. Jenny reprimanded them after the trip down and Matthias grabbed Maria mid-slide and told her to knock it off. "You're even more of a handful this year. Everyone, the first-years are going to slide." This was met with a lot of "Awwwwww, but the slides are supposed to be just for the big kids!"

"And imagine how you felt last year when the bigger kids said that to you," said Victoria deadpan.

Antonio and Bella, grinning, followed their classes up the spiral steps and helped up the few that tripped on the way. Each first-year class comprised six students, who sat in two vertical lines of three against their instructor. The Vargas twins were closest to Antonio, the elder of whom gripped Antonio's shirt. "Okay, slide!" Bella directed, and both teachers pushed forward. Everyone slid down back into the sunshine and the kids thought it was magical. Antonio specifically addressed Lovino, who looked up. "Are you having fun, Lovino?" The boy nodded with certainty and smiled, like he was doing that morning while reading with Matthew.

When the parents began arriving, Mrs. Vargas showed up after not a long wait and the twins immediately glomped her legs. Feliciana was talking as fast as a whip-poor-will and Lovino was smiling excitedly. "It looks like you two had a much better day!"

"They were very well-behaved! They each received two tomatoes, and Lovino seems to be becoming fast friends with Matthew," Antonio supplied.

"And guess what's the best part about today, Mommy? Guess what guess what guess what!"

"What could it possibly be, my little Feli?"

"After Lovi and I get the purple tomato we're all gonna have our own secret LIBRARY and bring bean bags up to it and read all the books and eat white chocolate rainbows AND LUDWIG IS GONNA BRING HIS DOGS when he gets HIS tomatoes and we'll all have tea in the library with our pets and can we show our mommy the library, Mr. Antonio? Can we can we can we?"

Antonio, deciding to play along, whimsically gestured his hands to the main staircase. "Right this way, milady; let your lovely son and daughter introduce you to their well-known secret quarters!" Many bystanders laughed at this display, and Mrs. Vargas easily kept up with her daughter. She promised to buy snacks for their library club if she behaved and no longer went running off on her own again. Feliciana bouncily promised, but was made sure by her teacher and mother that the promise was serious.

During the walk back home, Lovino told his mother about what he did with his new friend Matthew that day at her request. Quietly, he asked if he could come over one day after school. Mrs. Vargas agreed, overjoyed.

Fun fact: I taught myself hiragana and got pretty good at writing each of them out when I was 14. But, I forgot a lot of it after a while because I didn't really practice it other than by myself.

I'll be candid in that I got about halfway through with this chapter back in mid-April and then hit a writers' block because I had no idea how to start out the actual curriculum. It's a preschool, so it obviously won't have too intense of a schedule, but I'm sort of a detail freak and wanted to do some research before I went further. I'm finally on summer vacation, so I started up again this evening. Hopefully the sources I went to gave me a good idea. Please do provide input if I committed an extreme falsehood!

Honestly, though, at this early point I'm not sure if my prose for this fic wants to be Shell Silverstein or E. L. Doctorow. I think I may request a Beta just to sort out what style of writing is appropriate at which point.

Admittedly, I forgot that Canada is canonically USA's older brother while composing the first chapter of this fic. But if no one seems to mind it, I won't correct it since I think Lovino and Matthew have quite a bit of story potential in terms of their personalities. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Another important piece of information: Evalyn Paulsen is Wy. If she has an official name as of now, please inform me so I can correct myself here!

I gotta say, for the type of writer I usually am, THIS. IS. SACCHARINE! Geez. I honestly felt like vomiting a white chocolate rainbow after wrapping up the Exploring the School scene. How do you guys like it? Too cut or not cute enough? Should I tone it down or can I keep going? It honestly is therapeutic for me, because I seem to just have an extreme guilty pleasure for shamelessly cute things. For goodness' sake, I secretly indulge in a vapid anime about kindergartners! (I honestly wish it would have gotten at least one more cour. Oh well; that's pretty much what the imagination is for nowadays.)

Speaking of which, the entire Explore scene was an homage to that very anime. Right down to the slides! That's likely as similar as it'll get. No awkward age-gap-involved love triangles here! Blech.

And no, white chocolate rainbows don't actually exist, far as I know. Dark all the way. With orange infusion. I hope someone gives me a chocolate orange as a belated Easter present. I love chocolate oranges.

I realize that this chapter is long, but, well, I admittedly don't always know when to stop while writing narratives. What don't I include? How do I phrase things without it being repetitive and choppy? All of that answered in due time, I suppose.

Oh, and I should mention now (for those who read this far) that requests to read about certain characters in specific situations pertaining to this fic are now OPEN!

For requesters' reference, here is the classroom character lineup:

Principal: Ivan Braginski

Tomato Class (First Year)

Teacher: Antonio Carriedo (Spain)

Students: Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany); Elizabeta Hedervary (Hungary); Kiku Honda (Japan); Matthew Jones (Canada); Feliciana Vargas (fem!North Italy); Lovino Vargas (South Italy)

Brussels Sprout Class (First Year)

Teacher: Bella Dupont (Belgium)

Students: Emil Bondevik (Iceland); Monique Bonnefoy (Monaco); Roderich Edelstein (Austria); Peter Kirkland (Sealand); Evalyn Paulsen (Wy); Lili Zwingli (Lichtenstein)

Carrot Class (Second Year)

Teacher: Matthias Kohler (Netherlands)

Students: Natalya Arlovskaya (Belarus); Eduard von Bock (Estonia); Tori Laurinaitis (fem!Lithuania); Alfred Jones (USA); Heracles Karpusi (Greece); Basch Zwingli (Switzerland)

Aubergine Class (Second Year)

Teacher: Victoria Laroche (Seychelles)

Students: Maria Beilschmidt (fem!Prussia); Lukas Bondevik (Norway); Francis Bonnefoy (France); Raivis Galante (Latvia); Feliks Lukasiewicz (Poland); Mei Xiao (Taiwan)

Adult appearances: Wang Yao (China); Arthur Kirkland (UK)

Thank you very much and good night! (It's currently 5:30 in the morning in my time zone.)