Author's note: Forgot to mention this before, but... I don't own Hetalia. On another note, I had a ton of fun writing this chapter. Muwahahahaha!

Luciano is 2p Italy and Kuro is 2p Japan.

~Allan~

"What?!" Allan slammed his hand on the secretary's desk. He and Ivan had come to register their magic show for the talent show, since the rest of their group hadn't felt like coming along. Allan grit his teeth, annoyed at how the secretary was complicating everything.

"I-I'm sorry," she replied, suddenly very pale. "But you can't perform a magic show since someone else already is."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Ivan asked, his pale eyes seeming to darken. "It would be such a pity if we couldn't perform."

She gulped, seeming to have sensed the veiled threat. "W-well, maybe you could combine your act w-with the other group's." she rummaged through her papers, then held up a sheet of paper with two photographs. One was of a Japanese boy, captioned Kuro Honda, and the other was of an Italian boy, captioned Luciano Varagas. It was plain to see they were Kiku and Feliciano's alternates.

"Let's go." Allan spat, and stalked out of the room without a second glance. This was such a bother!

Ivan talked to the secretary for a few more moments, then trailed after Allan. "She said they should have their club right now, in room 302."

Allan grunted in recognition, then veered sharply to the left. It was only a few minutes later that Allan burst into the classroom.

"May I help you?" Kuro asked in a quiet, lilting voice that spoke of tranquility and class. His eyes seemed indifferent, but Allan recognized a gleam of cruelty underneath. Allan would know. Ivan had very similar eyes, after all.

"Yeah, we're kinda busy." A voice drawled with lazy confidence. It came from Luciano, who didn't even bother to look up from the deck of cards he was springing between his palms. His dashing good looks and bad boy attitude labeled him as a hearbreaker.

Allan was about to demand that they drop out of the talent show, but Ivan smoothly interrupted, almost as if he had sensed Allan's intentions.

"Let us join your magic group for the talent show, da?"

Kuro narrowed his eyes. "We've already planned our act."

"So, sorry, but no." Luciano added with a cocky grin.

Ivan grabbed his upper arm, tightening his hold when Luciano tried to snake his arm away.

"It would be in our best interest to work together." Ivan stated with a childlike smile. Luciano gasped as ice from Ivan't touch crackled across his sleeve, forming in delicate criss-cross patterns. As soon as it had appeared, it dissipated, only leaving behind an intense feeling of cold.

"Da?" Ivan tilted his head to the side, still wearing a doll-like smile.

Luciano glanced at Kuro, who gave a brisk nod. Luciano, the paleness of shock already gone from his face, turned to face Allan.

"We're in."

~Arthur~

"Alright, that's enough." Ludwig yelled.

Arthur gave a long, slow sigh. The group had been practicing their music, but with so many members, they were failing miserably. It was a pity since they certainly had the skills to succeed, but that didn't change the fact that they sounded terrible together. Kiku's piano was soft and elegant, Alfred's drums were overpowering and harsh, his bass playing was punky and rough...

Even so, there were more pressing matters weighing on Arthur's mind. Arthur was a strong believer in magic,and he had trained himself to recognize paranormal activity. The aura of magic around Alice and her friends was thick enough to cut with a knife, and he was certain he felt her using magic to pry into his mind. Not to mention the strange way Alice's shirt bulged, almost as if she was hiding wings... Arthur mindlessly twirled a white feather through his fingers.

"Hey, Alice!" he called out.

"What?" she replied, scowling. Her eyes widened when she saw the feather, and her face lost all of it's former color.

Arthur grinned. Checkmate.

"I know what you are." he leaned close to Alice. "And I have a few... questions I would like to ask you."

She scowled again, more angrily than before. She hesitated for a few moments, then said, "Fine. Meet me after school."

~Kiku~

"Is this really all right?" Kiku asked, shifting awkwardly. Alfred had brought him to the mall after school, and Kiku felt guilty for causing him trouble.

"Hmm?" Alfred looked up from the hamburger he was eating. "Oh yeah! You're foreign, right? So it's my duty to help you choose some cool clothes!"

Kiku sighed, hoping that this trip would help him 'fit in' for his assignment on Earth. Though he was grateful to Alfred for spending time with him, he wasn't really a social person and would rather be alone unless human interaction was absolutely necessary.

"See?" Alfred said cheerily, and Kiku flew backwards a few inches. He realized Alfred had shoved a pair of sunglasses on his face. "These totally suit you!" Alfred gushed.

Kiku looked into the mirror Alfred was holding up, and noted that he looked like a giant fly.

"Um, I'm not really sure these... are my style." Kiku finished lamely, feeling slightly sick to his stomach.

Alfred shrugged. "Suit yourself." His expression suddenly lit up, and he dragged Kiku towards another store. "Let's check out some hats next!"

Kiku sighed, tripping over his feet to keep up. Why did I agree to this in the first place?

~Roderich~

"...And stay on that side of the room!" Vash reproached.

Roderich sighed. The school had paid for two student dorms for his whole team, which wouldn't have been a problem. The problem was that he was forced to have a roommate. Somehow all the other members had spit into pairs, and Roderich and Vash were the only two left.

Roderich prided himself on being a gentleman and managed (or so he thought) to get along well with almost anybody, but there were some people he simply couldn't stand.

And one of those people was Vash Zwingli.

They had been friends, a long time ago, and Roderich shuddered to think about how much of his time he had wasted in Vash's company. There had always been some friendly competition between them, but that had escalated into fierce rivalry about... well, Roderich wasn't sure exactly when they started hating each other. It didn't matter much anyway.

"It would be my pleasure." he replied sarcastically. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play the piano."

Vash humphed, and turned away with a quiet "Suit yourself."

Roderich felt his annoyance rising at the whole situation, and walked as quickly as he could without loosing his composure. Fortunately the school was near the dorms and he arrived in a matter of minutes. He had made a mental note of where the music room was after visiting it for music class, and didn't hesitate while navigating the halls before stopping in front of its blue doors.

Roderich turned the knob of the door and lightly stepped inside. He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the peaceful stillness of the room, and opened them feeling much more calm. He sat in front of the piano and ran his fingers over the smooth, white keys before letting his fingers fly and play a melody he knew by heart. Roderich ended the piece with a single, lingering note.

Roderich heard clapping, and turned around in surprise. He spotted Feliciano Vargas standing not to far from him. The Italian wore ditsy smile and said, "Ve~ That was wonderful!"

"So you like Choplin?" Roderich asked in a way that was more of a statement than question.

Felicano tilted his head in confusion. "Choplin? What's that?"

Roderich scoffed. "The composer of the piece I was playing." Obviously.

"I dunno~ I like what you just played though! It was pretty~"

"Thanks." Roderich said absentmindedly. He was wondering if he should play a different piece that was difficult, and risk embarrassing himself, or if he should just stick to something boring and simple. He wished the Italian would just leave. Roderich didn't mind performing for an audience, but wasn't in the mood tonight.

"Are you going to play something else? Ve~ that would be nice~"

Roderich was surprised such a seemingly airheaded individual could enjoy classical music. Maybe there was more to Feliciano Vargas than he had at first assumed.

"I supposed so."

~Luciano~

"I'm telling you, something about Alfred and Ivan is really strange." Luciano grouched, filing his nails. The file was the closest thing to a knife he could bring on school property without getting expelled, and he always fiddled with it when annoyed.

"Shh!" Kuro scolded, lowering his voice to a barely audible volume. "That's obvious enough. The question is what our next course of action should be."

Luciano nodded. "That thing with the ice wasn't your run of the mill, cheap magic illusion." he thoughtfully tapped the file against his chin. "If we knew magic like that, we would be unstoppable."

"I think," Kuro began, then paused, as if thinking deeply. "It would be best to ask for Leonardo's assistance."

Luciano blinked in shock for a few seconds. "You're serious?"

Kuro gave one of his signature nods.

"That's a risky idea." Luciano gave a wide grin, the kind that young children saw in their nightmares. "Let's do it."