Chapter 3 – It Comes To Love, It Hits You Hard.

"So, let me get this straight," Gilbert asked, zooming in on Francis's face, "you're going to try and act like a retard in Philosophy and get all the answers in your class and homework wrong on purpose, just so that the new kid can tutor and give you a chance to flirt with him?" The reason why Gilbert had a camera with him was solely for the blog; after the all day one they did yesterday, the fans demanded more, and of course, Gilbert was happy to supply them with their day-to-day adventures. They couldn't do it all the time of course, but probably every two or three weeks. The three of them were walking down the hall with each other, being as people would call 'fashionably late.' France looked at Gilbert with a raised eyebrow.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing. People will do anything when it comes to love." Francis said in a matter of fact tone, flicking his hair slightly so that it drifted elegantly in the air. Gilbert mentally heard the fangirls squeal.

"But, won't it be hard to fail it, seeing that you kinda are? Besides, you know it as fluently as you can speak French!" Gilbert exclaimed. Philosophy was just downright weird for Gilbert, and to be honest, he didn't particularly want to even have anything to do with the stupid subject. But Francis was a whiz at it.

"It's not my fault that I can't learn anything from that annoying teacher of mine?" Francis said with a slightly irritated tone. Antonio frowned at Francis slightly.

"But, didn't you get a hundred percent in all of your tests last year?"

"Yes, but I studied for my tests, like any sane person would. I just need at little more… motivation in my lessons. And Mr Kirkland will motivate me very much." Francis added with a sigh. Gilbert snickered suddenly.

"He sounds like such a dweeb." Gilbert sneered. Francis elbowed him in the stomach hard, which caused Gilbert to double over in pain. Ouch, that was going to be painful for the rest of the day. Gilbert would have to make sure to cut that part out of the video.

"How do you even dare say that about my angel, mon ami?! I know that he was sent from the heavens to guide me through such troubling times." Francis cooed sweetly.

"You mean in your lessons. Are you alright, Gil?" Antonio asked. Gilbert gave Antonio a weak thumbs up as he stood up straight slowly.

"Well, seeing that Francis is all lovey-dovey, what about you Tonio? Anyone caught your eye?" Gilbert asked curiously. Antonio's face flushed red as both Francis and Gilbert smirked.

"Actually, someone has caught his eye. I believe it's a certain Italian boy with the magical fingers." Francis said in a teasing red.

"F-Francis!" Antonio cried out. Francis and Gilbert laughed loudly.

"Not like that, Antonio. I meant he is very gifted with many… instruments so to speak." Francis added with a guffaw at the end. Gilbert laughed at the sight of Antonio's even redder and shiny face.

"Stop it!" Antonio cried out desperately as Francis and Gilbert laughed loudly. It was fun to tease Antonio at times, to be honest; he was so gullible at times that it made Antonio who he was.

"We're only messing with ya, Tonio. I'm sure he's not a whore." Gilbert said in a reassuring. Antonio's eyes gleamed brightly as his face calmed down so that he was back to normal again.

"H-He's definitely not that! He's like a Spartan warrior in the form of an Italian." Antonio said in a whimsical tone.

"This. Is. SPARTA!" Gilbert cried out. They all laughed loudly and suddenly with each other at Gilbert's sudden outburst. It seemed that they were laughing for so long that he nearly walked past his classroom.

"Aww, shit, I have to go in there. OK guys," Gilbert said, addressing the camera this time, "See ya in a bit!" He quickly turned the camera off, stuffed it in his messenger bag, and high fived both Antonio and Francis.

"Have fun with your little lovers." Gilbert said with a jive.

"Have fun with your teacher~!" Francis sang as he and Antonio walked away. Gilbert rolled his eyes at them and opened the class door to go to his Sports lesson.

Gilbert didn't really mind the subject as a whole, seeing that he could do Sports pretty well. The only negative thing was that, of course, he hated the teacher with a dying passion. When Gilbert opened the door, all heads turned to him, with some of the students grinning widely and expectantly. The teacher however didn't respond that way at all.

"You're late, Beilschmidt. Thinking about your doomed future I assume." The teacher said in a loud voice as he was writing on the chalkboard, not even glancing at Gilbert, with his large beer gut and his thinning hair.

"The thought of seeing you made me throw up this morning." Gilbert said in a harsh tone, making his way towards his desk as some of the other students giggled. The teacher laughed coldly.

"You're such a comedian, aren't you?" The teacher asked sarcastically. Gilbert grinned at the teacher.

"Damn right, I am." Gilbert replied with a sneer, as he leaned back in his chair and his bag on the floor next to him. The teacher ignored him and stepped away from the board, which said something to do with the Sports exam that they were meant to be doing the following year. There was a timid knock on the door. The teacher rolled his eyes.

"What is it now?" He asked exasperatedly.

"Maybe it's the exterminator. I can see a pretty huge rodent right now." Gilbert said with an innocent expression. The student snickered softly and gave Gilbert a wide grin. He always threw insults at the teacher to be honest; it was the only way to get him through the day. The teacher gave him a withering look, and made his way to the door. He opened the door widely, looked down and grinned kindly.

"Ah, I was expecting you. Did you get lost?" The teacher asked nicely.

"Yes, I did actually. I found myself by the kitchens when one of the prefects guided me here. Sorry for being so late." The voice said softly. Gilbert frowned. This voice was so quiet he was surprised that he could hear anything at all. But the teacher smiled greatly.

"Alright then, come in, I don't bite." The teacher said kindly.

"Much." Gilbert added loudly. The class snickered again. The teacher however just glared at Gilbert darkly. It wasn't long until Gilbert saw the form of this voice. It was a boy with pale gold locks and a particular curl that looped downwards in front of his face, his eyes the palest shade of lavender that shined brightly and wore his uniform perfectly. Gilbert felt his heart race wildly, cheeks reddening, his mind suddenly blank. Just who was this guy, and why did he make Gilbert feel suddenly… happy?

"Class, this is Matthew Williams, one of our new transfer students. He just transferred from Ottawa, Canada. So Matt, how about sitting next to Gilbert; he's not much of a good student, so maybe you'll rub off on him." The teacher added in an undertone. Gilbert didn't bother to think of a good comeback; he couldn't stop staring at the new kid as he made his way towards Gilbert timidly. OK, play it cool, Gilbert thought to himself as he moved his bag out of Matthew's way. Matthew's cheeks flushed slightly as he stammered a quick and nervous thank you. When Matthew sat in his seat, Gilbert waited until the teacher turned to face the board again as he tapped Matthew on the shoulder lightly. Matthew looked up sharply, like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. But Gilbert smiled at him kindly as he stuck his hand out to him in a friendly manner.

"Hey there, I'm Gilbert. Gilbert Beilschmidt." Gilbert said softly. Matthew looked shocked at first, but smiled gratefully and shook his hand back softly. His hand was smooth and warm to the touch.

"I'm Matthew. It's nice to meet you." Matthew said quietly with a sparkle in his eyes. Gilbert smiled again. He liked this new kid, but he didn't really know why.

"Hey, have you got a free after this class? I mean, I could show you around the school if you want." Gilbert added hastily. Matthew chuckled softly and nodded.

"I would really like that." Matthew said in a quiet voice. Gilbert felt his heart soar suddenly. Just what was this feeling that he was feeling?

Antonio always loved Music class, which he had for a whole two hours. It was the easiest topic that he studied, and it was probably the only one that he actually cared to pass. Antonio always liked the idea of working in the music industry, but he knew that his father wouldn't be too pleased if became a musician; he wasn't the one to let Antonio even play the maracas at home, let alone his guitar. He was stuck to be inheriting his father's business and be a business tycoon, as all the men were in his family. It was pretty much a tradition.

Antonio sat at one of the desks and waited as he knew that there was a good chance that the teacher would be late, or not even show up at all. The teacher was a pretty cool teacher as well, a male in his late twenties who was too laid back for his own good. When the teacher arrived to the lesson, he was already ten minutes late. The teacher entered the class with a guitar case and set it down on the desk with a smile on their face.

"Alright class, as I'm actually too tired to actually teach you anything today, I thought we'd just… chill, you know what I mean?" The teacher added, pulling out their bright red electric guitar and sitting on the desk in an unprofessional manner as they started to strum the strings and making a powerful melody. The class laughed happily, with Antonio laughing with them. The teacher glanced at Antonio with a knowing glance. Antonio smiled as he stood up and walked towards the rack of instrument cases and pulled out his own guitar case. He then pulled out his own acoustic guitar, a honey coloured guitar with a dark brown neck, and began joining in with the teacher's melody. The students turned their head to Antonio, but he found himself to be alone with his guitar. The teacher grinned widely at Antonio.

"There we go; the musical prodigy knows what to do. Come on guys, join in!" The teacher said, nodding towards the other students. They looked at each other for a second, but grinned as they grabbed their own instruments from the instrument tray. They all ended up creating a loud, untameable yet wonderful sound with each other, with a combination of trumpets and keyboards and flutes. Antonio stood up and strummed the strings on his guitar powerfully, as he turned on his heels around as everyone whooped and cheered and played their own instruments. He felt fine playing his guitar (whom he had given the name Berezi) in class, or just in general. He felt alive when he did. It was just him and Berezi and no one else.

The door opened slowly, but Antonio was the only who noticed the door opening. He felt his heart stop. There, standing in the doorway was the same boy from the day before. Antonio couldn't forget those amber eyes, his dark brown hair and that strange curl that seemed to defy gravity. It suddenly made sense why he had a Music text book. The boy didn't seem to notice Antonio at first, but stared at the sight that he was witnessing. The boy stared with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face, dropping his bag onto the floor unknowingly with something else. The teacher looked at the boy and grinned widely.

"Ah, there you are! Alright class, let's take a break for a few minutes." The teacher yelled over the music. The music died down slowly and reluctantly, the faces of the students glowing. They had a lot of fun; it was blatantly obvious that they did. The teacher looked at the new boy with a smile on his face.

"Hey there kiddo, I guess you let the music lead you here, right?" The teacher asked in a kind tone. The new boy nodded, looking around in awe. The teacher laughed loudly.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. That was our jam session is all. We do it from time to time when we don't know what to do. So what's your name?" The teacher asked. The boy looked at him with a slightly shocked expression on his face.

"L-Lovino, sir. Lovino Vargas." The boy replied, glancing at Antonio. Antonio felt his heart racing wildly as he stared at Lovino with a goofy smile, still holding his guitar tightly. The teacher smiled knowingly.

"Ah, you have a brother right? The one on the Art scholarship. Well, you must have as much talent as he does." The teacher said in a matter of fact tone. Lovino's cheeks went pink as he picked up his bag that he dropped onto the floor. Antonio noticed that the other thing that Lovino dropped looked like a sketch book. Antonio picked it up and handed it to Lovino with a smile.

"Here you go." Antonio said with a kind smile. Lovino stared at Antonio suspiciously and snatched the book from Antonio's grasp. Lovino looked Antonio up and down slowly and furrowed his eyebrows.

"You were the klutz that walked into me yesterday." Lovino said slowly, as a sense of realisation dawned on his face. Antonio blushed heavily, but the teacher laughed and ruffled Antonio's hair playfully.

"I don't think you want to talk to your prefect like that, kiddo. But he is a klutz." The teacher added jokingly. Lovino stared at Antonio for a while, his eyes blazing. And Antonio stared back at him, red cheeked and dizzy with a light feeling in his chest as he stared and stared. He was glad that Francis and Gilbert couldn't see him like this. That would have been embarrassing.

"Well, seeing that you're here, why don't you grab an instrument and play us something. See if you're musical material.' The teacher said, sitting on his desk again. Lovino hesitated for a second, but nodded fervently and walked towards the instrument stand, and picked up a mandolin that was a dark brown. Antonio looked at it in awe. He hadn't seen that instrument in school before, but he had seen one in Italy when he went with his mother. The class stared at Lovino intently, and Lovino took in a deep breath. And then he started playing.

What Antonio heard wasn't like anything he heard before in his entire life. As Lovino plucked the strings of the mandolin, Antonio found himself staring at Lovino in awe, who had his eyes closed. The melody wasn't anything familiar, but sounded more Celtic and mystical. It wasn't loud and upbeat and energetic, but soft and soothing and relaxing. The class was silent until Lovino had stopped playing. Lovino opened his eyes and looked around at everyone's shocked expressions and looked mildly embarrassed. It was then the teacher clapped slowly, with a small grin on his face.

"Ah, so you're the boy with the magic fingers. I thought that tune sounded familiar. Well, I'm sure this class is perfect for you, right guys?" The teacher asked. No one gave him a verbal reply, but applauded Lovino energetically. But Lovino stared at Antonio with blushed cheeks.

Antonio was after all the only one giving him a standing ovation.

"Bonjour, Arthur." Francis said smoothly, leaning against the locker next to Arthur's locker, as Arthur pulled out his English Literature textbook. Francis was rather glad to have had a double free period, which meant two hours of doing anything he wanted. But he decided to use it to see if he can woo Arthur over. The plan was foolproof; there was no chance of failure, unless of course Arthur had something else to do right now. Arthur stared at him for a second, and then nodded at him politely.

"Hello there. Francis, wasn't it?" Arthur asked with a slight frown. Francis nodded with a glowing grin.

"Indeed it was." Francis replied as he watched Arthur pull out the Philosophy book. Arthur closed the locker door and locked it firmly and looked up. He seemed to have notice that Francis was watching him.

"Can I help you?" Arthur asked not unkindly. Francis shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, as I have a free period, and you seem to have one as well, I was wondering if you could help me with the Philosophy homework." Francis suggested, looking at Arthur hopefully. Francis had taken the privilege to have a quick look at Arthur's timetable in the early morning, seeing that he was allowed to of course. Arthur stared at Francis with a shocked expression.

"How did you know that… never mind. I was going to do some English work you see, so…" Arthur trailed off. Francis pulled a pitiful face at Arthur.

"Surely you could spare ten minutes to help a fellow student." Francis said pleadingly, staring at Arthur desperately. He waited for Arthur to cave in and decide to help Francis. A few moments passed as the two stared at each other. But then Arthur sighed heavily and shook his head at him.

"Very well then." Arthur said in defeat. Francis smiled at him widely as he turned on his heels sharply.

"I'll lead us to the library." Francis said in a helpful tone. He was a school prefect after all, and he was only fulfilling his duty as a perfect prefect. The two of them were silent as they made their way to the library, with Francis stealing quick glances of Arthur as he walked beside. Francis had to fight the temptation of holding Arthur's hand. But it wasn't long until they reached the large doors of the library.

"Here we are." Francis said, opening the door. The library was, putting it bluntly, old and stunk of old people. Nearly everything was made out of marble except for the brick walls and the glass windows and the plastic chairs. But the library had an old, traditional and medieval theme to it. It was nice really; they even had a fireplace that was used in the winter. Francis sat down at a table and sighed slowly. He felt oddly relaxed now; his plan was going along swimmingly.

"Alright, you said that you needed help, right? We only had to do research on one philosopher." Arthur said, sitting right next to Francis.

"I know, but I think I got it wrong." Francis said admittedly, pulling out two sheets of paper with scribbles on them and passing them to Arthur. Arthur thanked Francis quickly, and then began reading his notes. Arthur's face fell as he read further in uncloaked disgust.

"What on earth is this? Where did you find this?" Arthur asked in an outraged tone.

"Online." Francis said in a small voice, trying hard not to smirk. He had made all of it up the night before so that Arthur would think of him as an imbecile. And the look on Arthur's face made Francis conclude that Arthur thought that he was indeed quite stupid.

"No wonder, it's all poppycock! Jackie Chan was not a philosopher, and I'm pretty sure that Inspector Javert from Les Miserable didn't make the theory about processing thoughts, particularly that everyone was prone to responding to two-four-six-oh-one! Honestly Francis, I didn't realise you were that gullible, you're nearly a grown man. What's so funny then?" Arthur asked in a slightly irritated tone as Francis started snickering.

"It's just the word you used. Poppycock, who says that these days?" Francis snickered quietly, clutching his stomach as he developed stitches. Arthur blushed furiously.

"I might as well leave if you're not taking this seriously…" Arthur grumbled, getting ready to stand up. Francis stopped laughing suddenly and grabbed Arthur's arm gently.

"No! I'm sorry, I'll take it seriously this time, I promise." Francis said in an honest tone. Arthur stared at him with stern eyes for a moment, and Francis felt his heart race too quickly. But Arthur sighed heavily, and pulled out his Philosophy text book. Francis smiled at Arthur thankfully. He knew that Arthur couldn't deny him.

They spent at the most half an hour going over Francis's fake notes in exact detail and perfect precision; even Francis felt a little bit dumb after a while as he watched Arthur basically recite the lives of the different philosophers. It made Francis wonder if Arthur could have been some kind of time-lord and travelled back in time and met every single philosopher. When they were finished, Arthur looked at Francis with a satisfied grin.

"There, was that so hard?" Arthur asked, packing his book away into his bag. Francis rubbed his throbbing head gingerly.

"Yes. I haven't thought so hard or so much in my life." Francis grumbled in a tired voice as he rested his head on his thick set of notes. Arthur laughed softly, which made Francis's insides flutter suddenly as his heart flipped.

"Honestly Francis, I might as well mentor you if you act like this." Arthur said in an amused voice. Francis lifted his head up sharply and looked at Arthur imploringly. Now was his perfect chance.

"Would you be ever so kind? We could meet in here after school for an hour." Francis offered, sitting back. Arthur frowned slightly, as if contemplating the idea as he crossed his arms. Francis had to wait impatiently for a while until Arthur replied.

"Well, not on Friday of course. The extracurricular clubs take place on a Friday, right?" Arthur added. Francis nodded in realisation.

"Ah, it's fine, four days is more than enough." Francis said with a grin. Now it was time to put his plan into action to make Arthur his.

Blog No# 1,829 – How to Know You're in Love

Bonjour, it is the most wonderful Francis here writing tonight. Now you're probably wondering why I am writing about such a topic, non? Well, mon ami, I am happy to say that I am most definitely in love! The one who has captured my heart does not know of my love just yet, but he will soon enough, and yes, it is a male, so I'm afraid ladies that I am taken.

But I am not the only one, it seems. It seems that all of us running the blog are in love with a certain someone that has caught out eyes. But I will let them tell you about their own love lives~

So today I shall be talking about how to know when you are most definitely in love:

Number One – When you see them, your hearts rates as if you're running a never ending marathon.

Number Two – You feel happy with them, or even when you look at them you feel a warm feeling in your chest.

Number Three – When you're together, you feel as if it's just the two of you alone together, and it feels better that way than being interrupted by others.

And Number Four – You'd do anything to keep them happy and safe, even if it wasn't for your best interest.

Well, I must go, my dear fans, but do not fret so much, you'll be able to hear about me on Sunday~ à bientôt, mon ami~!

-Francis xoxo

/watch?v=zYl9eOBZIgs - the Celtic mandolin music that Lovino was playing