The Montauk Light [HETALIA]

Number 1

"Alfred F. Jones? Who the hell is Alfred F. Jones?" Kiku wondered aloud to himself. He was walking to his ninth period class when a bushy eyebrowed Brit (who also happens to be the school's president) handed him a small envelope containing all the information for the Montauk trip. Inside that slip also contained the name of his partner. Someone named Alfred?

The teen sighed as he entered his ninth period Spanish class. He frowned as he looked towards the empty seat next to his in the back of the class. Of course. Heracles was absent again. He probably just fell asleep in study hall and no one bothered to wake him up. This was an often occurrence.

Today there was a substitute teacher for Señora Swallows. The chick straight up only took attendance and immediately switched to watching Netflix on her phone, completely ignoring the class. Kiku shrugged this off and pulled out his sketchbook. He was supposed to be doing packet work, but found much more joy in drawing than learning Spanish.

Why even bother? He barely just grasped English, now they're expecting him to start learning Spanish? Well, if he had to admit, Spanish is pretty easy. Some words are even similar to Japanese. For example, baño kind of sounds like benjo, so that makes it easy to distinguish. Oh but those damn conjugations... also, why the hell are chairs feminine!?

Kiku rolled his eyes as he added shading onto his masterful drawing. It was supposed to be for an art project due the next day, but he decided that he was too embarrassed to show it to the class.

"Psst... Hey!" The raven-haired boy looked up at the stranger attempting to talk to him. "I really like your drawing. It's hella cool, my dude." The stranger smiled, sitting down in Heracles's empty seat next to Kiku. He was blond with somewhat medium skin and blue eyes shielded by a pair of glasses.

Kiku blushed, "Oh... uh thank you." he said, voice faltering.

"You're Kiku Honda, right? I'm Alfred F. Jones! Nice to meet ya!" Alfred said, sticking out his hand for his classmate to shake. Kiku took it reluctantly. "Yes... Nice to meet you too."

"Looks like we're gonna be partners for that field trip next week. Are you excited? It's gonna be my first time visiting Montauk since I was like two. My parents actually got engaged out there. It's really pretty." Alfred said, using his best attempts at making small talk.

Kiku nodded, "Yes. I am excited as well." he said, then immediately went back to his drawing.

It was the end of the school day and the last thing Kiku wanted was to be engaged in conversation the entire period. Sadly, it seemed as if that was just Alfred's intentions. "I like your accent, where're you from?"

Kiku's face flushed. His accent? Why? Was his English bad or something? Dear lord, he hopes not. "I'm... uh... Japan..." he stuttered.

Alfred's eyes widened, "You're Japanese? No way! That's awesome!" he shouted, gaining a few glares from fellow classmates. "Do you watch anime? Oh, who am I kidding, you definitely watch anime! My favorite has to be My Hero Academia. But my brother's super basic and prefers DBZ and Naruto. How 'bout you?"

"Ah, yes. I do watch anime. My Hero Academia looks like a good show, but I haven't gotten past the first few episodes." Kiku admitted. He acted calm despite the fact that his mind was racing. Socialization was definitely not his thing.

"Really? You should totally watch the rest. In my opinion, it's super cool, but superheroes are kinda like my thing, so y'know. So like, where in Japan are you from? Tokyo? Yokohama? Cause those are literally the only two places I know of." The blond stated matter-of-factly.

Kiku sighed, "No. I was not raised in the city. I grew up by the mountains in a small town, Karuizawa. My step-father decided to relocate the family here late March. After I ended my school year." he explained.