Alone In A Crowded Room

Ivan continued to stare off into the distance. It didn’t matter that he was going to be late. He didn’t really care. He felt so confused. Yao was one of the few people he liked. Not that he talked to him much. Yao always seemed to be in a hurry when Ivan found him. It was actually rather weird. He figured that Yao must just be a very busy person.

Yao was… Well, Yao never shrunk away from him. Ivan liked that. Despite the fact that Yao was short, and looked rather fragile he never ceased to scold Ivan. He felt like someone actually cared when Yao did that.

His older sister always just seemed to make excuses for him. It made him feel bad. His younger sister defended his actions no matter how bad. And his father… He just never cared about it. Ivan doubted if he even knew. So when Yao scolded him, when Yao whacked him across the arm for his bad behavior… He felt like he was a little normal.

So with time Yao had become rather dear to him. Despite the fact that Yao never had any time for him. When he saw Yao walking away holding little Alfred’s hand though… It just made him furious. He didn’t understand it at all.

He had seen Yao hold hands with people before. Yao held his younger cousins’ hands all the time. He never seemed to get upset about that. He realized that he had gotten upset when Feliks had gotten close to him. He wanted to be the one holding little Alfred’s hand. Ivan tilted his head. What an odd urge. That doesn’t make much sense at all...

It was then that Ivan realized that he was in the lunchroom all alone. At some point everyone had gone to their respective classes. Ivan put on a fake smile and pretended he wasn’t upset. Pretended that it hadn’t made him sad that he had been left behind. Pretended that he wasn’t upset that little Alfred had been acting weird towards him. Pretended that he wasn’t upset, thinking that he should’ve been the one holding little Alfred’s hand. Pretending that he wasn’t upset he couldn’t remember little Alfred’s name at all.

Ivan shrugged it was time to go to class. It was... Math. Which he had with Alfred... That was something that upset him. It seemed like he had an awful lot of classes with Alfred. It was best to think of the bright side of these types of situations. It was much better way to get information on little Alfred, that’s all. He smiled and giggled to himself a little, finding a small amount of cheer. It was good he sat next to Alfred.


Matthew watched Yao comb his fingers through his hand. His hair looked soft. He wondered how he convinced the school to let him keep it that long. He looked as if he was deep in thought. He bit his lip cutely. Matthew heard him mutter something in Chinese. Almost like he was ranting to himself... Matthew hoped it wasn’t because of him.

Yao waved his hand, “Sorry. I was thinking how long it was taking the nurse to get back. There was supposed to be a test at my next class,” Yao realized that Matthew felt guilty, “Not that I can’t finish it in time anyway. Besides. Can’t turn back now,” Yao smiled and leaned to whisper, “We need to wait for the nurse to get late passes now.”

Matthew let out a laugh. It was weird. Having someone’s full attention for once. It kind of made him happy. That Yao was just thinking of a test. He wasn’t thinking about being around someone else. Or how Matthew made for bad company. It just made him kind of happy.

“You’re Alfred’s brother, right?” Here it came. People only talked about Al when they talked to him. He hated it because it made him feel inadequate to Al again.

“Yeah,” Matthew numbly responded. How he always did. Not that anyone ever noticed how much it upset him.

Yao let out a sigh and put a hand on Matthew’s shoulder, “I feel closer to you. It makes sense now. How you can deal with Yong Soo so well. I didn’t understand it at first. Sometimes I have problems with him. He’s always running off and getting himself in trouble. And he keeps getting into arguments with Kiku.” Yao smiled sweetly at Matthew.

Matthew felt his cheeks heating up. It felt as if someone was actually looking at him and not seeing Alfred. Being around Yao just felt comforting...

The look on Yao’s face gave away that something had just occurred to him, “Oh, yeah! Be careful of Ivan,” Yao looked concerned again, “He doesn’t understand how strong he is. When he’s trying to be nice he can still break bones.”

Matthew shuddered. He knew that when Yao said this, he meant it. Come to think of it he did remember someone saying ‘that Asian kid’ was crazy for standing up to Ivan. Maybe they meant Yao. Yao certainly wasn’t afraid of him. Not that Matthew understood that at all.

“And he’s kind of weird,” Yao continued, “The first time I yelled at him he followed me around for a week. Then he started waving at me in the halls. Then he told everyone that we were friends,” Yao shrugged, “I don’t really get it.”

“He did?” Matthew replied dumbfounded. That was kind of weird. Not that anyone ever thought that Ivan was normal. But still. That sounded... Kind of insane.

Yao shrugged his shoulders again, “I don’t know. I was just yelling at him. I told him to leave my cousins alone. I guess he hasn’t bugged them since,” Yao looked off into the distance, his brow furrowed. He looked rather cute.

Matthew bit his lip. It seemed that Ivan followed him around. He kept drifting into his thoughts and as soon as he stopped thinking about him, he just kind of showed up. It’s like he couldn’t escape him, but for some reason this thought didn’t really make him feel trapped.

“Well, well... It’s been awhile since I’d seen you in here Yao,” the familiar voice of the school nurse cut through the air. She paused when she looked at Matthew. Something Matthew was used to. That look. Trying to place a name with his face.

“And, you’re... Alfred’s little brother, right? He gets checked out here all time. Got to make sure he stays in shape if we want to win state this year,” she had a friendly tone in her voice. Matthew just kind of nodded numbly.

Yao’s lips locked into a frown, “This is Matthew. He fell down during lunch. Can you make sure he’s alright? He didn’t really want to come, but I insisted.”

“Oh? What a tough boy. Just like his brother. Always smiles and says he’s fine. Guess I have to watch him close too, huh,” she gave a laugh as she checked Matthew’s bumps and bruises.

Yao gave a little noise. He noticed how Matthew reacted whenever his older brother was brought up. Yao hadn’t thought about how having the school’s superstar as a brother would affect such an introverted guy. Yao felt a little insensitive about how he had been when he had brought up his brother.

The nurse wrote out a note and handed it to Yao, and waved him off. “You can go back to class now. I’ll send Matthew out a little afterwards. He seems fine to me though. You shouldn’t worry.”

Yao reluctantly took the small piece of paper into his hand, “Okay.” He waved at Matthew, “Be careful, alright? If anyone bothers you just ignore them,” he gave Matthew a comforting smile before starting his journey to his class.

Matthew barely listened to the nurse. She just kept bringing up his brother. Most of the school staff did though. Alfred might not be a straight-A student, but he tried. He never caused trouble, he was always determined. He kept other kids out of trouble, and he ran errands for the teachers. He was the perfect kid. That’s what everyone said. That’s what everyone thought.

He felt a little more like a loser with a couple of Band-Aids on his face. At least his knees didn’t sting anymore. He was almost at his next class when the bell rang and the hall flooded with students. Matthew held onto his books for dear life. And just when he had gotten to the classroom. His next class was across the school.

Matthew groaned and turned around. He needed to get to his next class. He was almost always late. Though the teacher never noticed him slipping in. He could’ve skipped, but he couldn’t ever bring himself to do it.

Matthew’s eyes were fixed on the ground. He didn’t dare make eye contact with anyone. He was afraid that someone would remember what happened not too long ago and laugh. Maybe even point. Maybe he should just be bad for once. Maybe he should just skip. No one would notice. And by tomorrow no one would remember what happened at lunch.

He felt his heart beating in his chest. He could just slip out the gym doors. No one would see him. He wouldn’t have to pass by the school office. He could just go home. His parents were both at work anyway. He almost let out a nervous giggle. He was skipping school. He had never broken a rule in his life. He couldn’t believe it.

He was so absorbed that he ran into a wall nearly breaking his glasses. And then…. The wall grabbed him…?

“Oh, little Matvey,” he heard a familiar accent, “You don’t have classes here, da? Vhat are you doing all the way over here?” he sounded rather playful.

Matvey...? “What do you mean? You don’t know where my classes are,” Matthew answered rather defensively.

“So easily upset,” Ivan’s tone was still held that playful tone, but was quiet. Almost dangerous. It sent a chill up Matthew’s spine, “You aren’t... Doing something bad, are you?”

Matthew chuckled nervously, “Of course not. I’ve never done anything like that before. Why would you say something like that…?”

“Just thought you might be... Leaving school early,” Ivan smirked. Not the normal creepy smile that sent you down the road running.

“No! No! I’m not doing anything like that. I just... Had to go to the bathroom... And I the others were being cleaned, so...” Matthew knew that his excuses were weak, but he didn’t know what else to do. He had never been caught doing something bad.

Ivan just continued to stare at him, “Oh. I vas leaving school. Didn’t feel like going to Music.”

“Oh, well... Yeah. I was skipping class,” Matthew admitted sheepishly, “Please don’t tell my brother. I’ve never done anything like this before. I just didn’t want to go to class after what happened during lunch.”

Matthew felt like his hand was going to break as Ivan held onto it tightly, “Then ve should get going, da? Ve can do something together.” Matthew actually felt a little creeped out as he listened to Ivan giggle.

Ivan really did appear the second he stopped thinking about him. He couldn’t help but remember how Yao was telling him about Ivan’s odd behavior. He wondered briefly if he would survive this day. Maybe this was his punishment for trying to skip class.

A/N: Damn. I haven’t updated in like… Forever. But I finally got my typing program working again. YAY! Also managed to get some free-time. <3

BONUS DRABBLE:

He scratched the back of his head. He could tell that someone had been staring at him. But... He had to finish his math homework. After all, he had given his tutor to Ivan. He couldn’t ask too much of Matthew. He was the hero. He couldn’t be a burden. He refused!

His attention kept breaking. Who was staring at him? Perhaps this poor soul was in need of his saving? That’s it! He couldn’t turn his back to someone in need! It just wasn’t right. If he didn’t follow through, then he didn’t deserve to be a hero!

He quickly turned around, searching for this person in need. His brow furrowed. The only one looking at him was Ivan. His gaze landed on Ivan and he quirked his head.

“What’s up, Ivan?” Alfred muttered under his breath. He couldn’t have the teacher hearing.

“Alfred. Vhat is your little brother’s name?”

“Huh? My precious baby brother? Matty? Matt? Matthew!” Alfred responded with pride. His eyebrows furrowed. Ivan had gone back to work. Weird. Why would he ask him that?