Kiku could hear the blonde coming before he even arrived at the floor he was in. It wasn't that he was psychic and knew where his best friend was at all times, but just the fact that the American was loud. It was as if Alfred had a giant megaphone with him always. With so much warning, Kiku had more than enough time to stuff the pages he was working on into his bag and out of sight.

"KIKUUUUU!" Alfred yelled as he burst through the library doors, looking for the Asian.

"Mr. Jones!" The librarian scolded and held a finger to her lips, telling him that he should be quiet.

"Right, right, sorry Miss." He said as he flashed her an apologetic smile. "Where's Kiku sitting at?" The Japanese boy was always sitting at a different place each day and Alfred never had the patience to look around the room for him.

"The back of the room, Mr. Jones." The librarian said with a sigh. "You've got fine eyes, why don't you use them?"

"I'll do it next time! Thanks!" Alfred said, seeing Kiku sitting at a table in the back, working on his homework. As he walked over to join his friend, he past by a group of girls who stared slightly before bursting into excited giggles.

Kiku knew that reaction very well. He had seen it happen many times when he was with Alfred. Alfred was popular and good looking. It was only natural that many girls were interested in him. "Yes, Alfred? What did you need me for?" Kiku said, looking up from his homework, pretending that he had been working on that problem the whole time.

"Kiku." Alfred said with a serious look on his face. "I can't believe it. ...Why on earth did he choose the other girl?" He yelled, slamming a manga book and leaning back on his chair, covering his face with his hands.

Kiku smiled nervously, he knew that Alfred would react like this. He had introduced the American to the series a few months ago, when they first met. "...Well, maybe the author had something else in mind?" He said softly, not wanting to upset Alfred.

"But...But...Arghh!" Alfred yelled in annoyance as he sat up straight again. "Still! She was getting along with her so well...!"

Kiku sighed and looked at the cover of the book. At most ten people knew his secret. They were his family, editor, company boss, and a few other manga artists. He was the author of this series. He had started it not long ago, it was only the third volume. So far into it, the main character, Sakura, was a new girl in the school. She was quick to become best friends with a girl named Daisy, who was an Italian. The problem arises, however, when they both meet Alexander. Alexander was also new in the school, he had just moved to Japan from Germany. The three were great friends and Sakura could tell that Alexander and Daisy had something between them. Despite that, Sakura could not help but fall in love with Alexander as well.

The third volume was what Alfred was complaining about. Sakura found out that Alexander and Daisy started going out. He wasn't sure how he wanted to express that, they were his very own feelings. The whole series was based on his high school life and he ended up making Sakura do the very thing he did, cry her eyes out the moment they were out of view.

In reality, Daisy and Alexander were boys named Feliciano and Ludwig, real people in this very school. And he, of course, was Sakura.

"Kiku!" The American suddenly said, snapping Kiku out of his thoughts. "Were you listening to me?" He demanded.

"H-Huh? O-Oh, I'm sorry, please repeat yourself?" He asked.

"Geez! Listen, will ya?" The American pouted. "Any ways, I was thinking, since you're Japanese, you must have some connection to this author! So set us up so I can talk some sense into her about this scene! I mean, really!"

"W-Wha? No! I can't do that!" Kiku said quickly, suddenly nervous and worried that Alfred might have figured out his secret.

"Come on~ You have to know lots of people in Japan..." Alfred mumbled, resting his chin on the table as he stared up at Kiku.

"N-No! I don't! I only lived there seven years of my life! How could I have met the author?"

"...I guess you have a point there." Alfred said with an exasperated sigh.

Kiku mentally let out a sigh of relief. "Is that all you have to ask about? Because I still have homework..."

"No, actually, its not."

Eh? Its not? Kiku nearly groaned out loud. He still had the rest of those pages to finish! The deadline was tomorrow! And he absolutely could not do them in front of Alfred since this next chapter was on the meeting between Sakura and...well, the very American before him.

"I need help with my math homework."

"...Can't you ask someone else?" Kiku said, willing the desperate sound away from his voice. "Like Yao, maybe? He's much better at math than I am." Yao was his roommate. This high school was pretty far away from where many of the students lived and provided dorms for them to stay in.

"No way. I'm not talking to him."

"Alfred...! Don't be like that! You can't just hate him because he became friends with Ivan!"

"I so can." Alfred retorted stubbornly. Great, Kiku just knew that he wasn't going to get any work done.

"Ok. Give me your books." Kiku asked, giving up.

Alfred perked up immediately. "Oh, thank you, Kiku!" He said, taking out a couple of notebooks from his bag. "I'll be back in an hour, ok?" He said, standing up and checking his cell phone for the time.

"Wait, what? I thought you wanted me to help you..."

"Yea, but I've got practice. So, um, just write down all the explanations for me? Right, thanks!" Alfred said and ran off before he gave Kiku a chance to say anything.

Kiku groaned. He wasn't going to get any work done today.

Kiku sat in the lunchroom, prodding his food listlessly, his head nodding up and down. He barely got any sleep last night. Yao was annoyed by the noise he was making, shuffling papers here and there that he told the other to go to the library to finished whatever he had to do. Kiku was upset at that, but he couldn't blame Yao who had put up with it until 1 AM in the morning. He was lucky that the library was opened for students 24/7.

"...Kiku?" Kiku quickly snapped his head up at the sound of his name.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" He quickly said before making out two people in front of him. "Eh? Ludwig? Feliciano? ...What is it?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"We were wondering if you wanted to sit with us."

"Yea, you haven't done so in weeks... Ve, are you ok, Kiku? You look so tired?" Feliciano asked in a worried voice.

Kiku smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm waiting for Alfred." He then looked over at Ludwig. He was able to get over the German quickly, in a couple of hours actually, thanks to the American.

"You sure hang out with him a lot these days, huh?" Ludwig said with a smile. "Alright, let's go, Feliciano."

"Ve? ...Alright then..." The Italian mumbled in disappointment before following Ludwig to another table.

Kiku watched the couple walk away. He wondered when Alfred would get here. He wasn't often late, his stomach can become his brain despite the fact that the cafeteria food often tasted like crap. The American manages to eat everything.

"Sorry I'm late, Kiku!" Alfred said, arriving and sitting down across from Kiku. "I was getting that new magazine for the new chapter!"

"Eh? I thought you said you like to wait for the tanboken to come out and buy that?"

"...Er, what's tanboken again?"

"Um, never mind." Kiku said with a shake of head, deciding not to pursue the fact any further. "So what do you think of the new chapter?"

"Nothing that I expected!" Alfred said excitedly. "I didn't think that the author would make a new character appear so late in the series!"

"Neither did I." Kiku agreed with a yawn.

"...Kiku? Is something the matter?"

"I'm just tired." Kiku admitted as he took a bite of his burger.

"That's not good! You need to maintain a good health."

"...I don't want to hear that from someone who eats at least 10 heart-attack-between-buns everyday." Kiku mumbled softly.

"Did you say something, Kiku?" Alfred asked, looking up from his magazine.

"...Just go back to reading the magazine, Alfred."

Three months ago, Kiku stood in front of Feliciano and Ludwig. They were holding hands. "Ve! Kiku, we're going out!" Feliciano said happily as he hugged Ludwig's arms. They didn't know, but at that moment, Kiku felt as if something broke inside.

"A-Ah, I see. That's nice to hear." Kiku said with a smile. He couldn't tell either of them that he's had a crush on Ludwig since the first week they met each other at the school.

"Right, we'll see you tomorrow, Kiku." Ludwig said with a smile and turned around with a wave. Neither of them had a clue of how Kiku felt.

Kiku watched them leave, the same smile still plastered on his face. It wasn't until they were long gone that he allowed himself to cry. He just stood there, letting the tears fall down. Sobs and hiccups escaping his throat as the tears dripped down to the floor.

"...bye, see you tomorrow!" Kiku ignored the voice and footsteps that were advancing from around the corner.

Alfred rounded the corner and saw someone standing in the middle of the hallway, trembling slightly with his head bowed down. He was about to walk past him when he heard the sobs and hiccups. "Hey! Hey! Are you alright?" He quickly asked, gently patting the boy.

"I-I'm fine." Kiku said in between hiccups.

"No! You're clearly not! Why are you crying?" Alfred asked as he led Kiku to a nearby bench. Sitting down, Kiku shook his head, refusing to tell Alfred. "You don't want to talk about it? But it'll make you feel better!" Not to mention he was the nosy type anyways. Kiku shook his head again and Alfred frowned. "...Fine then, do you want to lean on my shoulder to cry?" Before Kiku can shake his head, Alfred put an arm around Kiku and pulled him closer so that he could cry on him.

Only a long while later did Kiku stop crying.

"Feeling better now?" Alfred asked with a smile as Kiku's tears stopped and all that remained was the hiccups.

Kiku nodded. "...Thank you." He mumbled. "Why did you stay with me? I don't even know you." Well, not exactly true. He did know Alfred, but only through rumors. He was quite popular in the school.

"Um... Well..." Alfred cocked his head to the side as if thinking of a reason. "I guess I felt like it was the right thing to do." He said with a shrug. "And a hero always does the right thing!" Alfred said, striking a pose and Kiku couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.

"Hey! You smiled!" Alfred said brightly.

"H-Huh?"

"Well, you've been crying so long, I haven't been able to see you smile."

"...A-Ah, I-I see..." Kiku stuttered as his face turned slightly pink. He quickly bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling.

"Hey! Don't stop smiling!" Alfred said with a pout. "Come on! Smile some more~!" He said, poking at the corners of Kiku's mouth, trying to get him to smile.

"S-Stop it. I don't feel like smiling." Kiku said, gently pushing Alfred's hands away.

Alfred frowned, crossed his arms and let out a determined growl. "Fine. By the end of this day, I'm determined to make you smile!" And without warning, he grabbed Kiku's arm and started racing down the hallway and out the school.

"W-Wait, where are you taking me?"

"Anywhere! Why stay stuffed in a building all day?"

Alfred had taken Kiku to many places that day, to the mall, a movie theater, the park... Kiku had smiled more times than he could remember, but it seemed that Alfred had forgotten his original objective. By the time they went back to the school, it was already night time.

"Ah! I had a good time today!" Alfred said, stretching his arms upward as they walked through the glass doors to the lobby.

Kiku nodded. "Me too." He said as they boarded the elevator.

"Oh, we're on the same floor." Alfred noted when they both stepped out of the elevator at the same floor. "Which side of the hallway...?" He pointed to the right and Kiku pointed to the left. "Aww...I knew it wouldn't be so lucky that we'd be next door neighbors, huh?" Alfred said with a pout.

"Its no worries, I'm not that far down the hall." Kiku said with a chuckle to the American's expression. "Thank you for having me today." He said politely with a bow.

"Eh? Oh, it was no big deal. I was bored today anyways. I was supposed to meet Mathew at... OH!" He suddenly exclaimed. "Shit! I was supposed to help Mattie with a project."

"W-What? I-I'm so sorry!" Kiku quickly apologize.

"No, no, its not your fault... I just hope he won't be too mad. ...I guess I should go find him now!" Alfred said as he took out his cell phone and started typing in a number. He waited impatiently for Mathew to pick up and when he did, he gave a quick excuse and the Canadian let out a sigh, knowing that he should've expected this.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school...Um..." Alfred paused for a moment to think. "...I just realized I haven't asked for you name the whole time..."

"...It's Kiku. Kiku Honda." Kiku said with a slightly pained sigh. How did he manage to forget to ask that...? Not that he remembered telling the other either.

"Right, sorry!" Alfred said, flashing an apologetic smile. "My name's Alfred F. Jones! Hero at your service!" He said before checking the time. "...Ah! I have to go and finish my homework!" He said and hurried down the hall. "See you tomorrow, Kiku!" He repeated.

Kiku waved goodbye quietly before going back to his own dorm. Yao was doing his homework. "Dinner's in the fridge. Just reheat it, aru."

Kiku nodded and went to retrieve the food. "So why are you so late today, aru?"

"...I met someone today." Kiku said with a small smile.

Notes...

Title is based on the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words"

Alfred's dislike for Yao and Ivan is just some history incorporated into the AU (Cold War)

De-Anon from Kink Meme

Its not finished yet and idk how long it might end up being o.o;;