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60 ‎ ‎ ‎ Drowning and Deceived

COLOMBIA
That morning, a large crowd had joined in the corridors in the absence of their headmaster, who had taken a short departure due to an 'unexpected' work roadblock. Some trouble in the real world, she surmised, and she knew just exactly who it had to do with.

She raced through the halls of Global High, trying to source the commotion. Naturally, this development unveiled the students' impatience with the education board's lack of transparency, and there was yelling echoing through the halls, followed by a slam of a backpack to a locker. Whispers.

"That's never good," Ecuador smiled brightly as she exited the Cafe de Monde, coffee in hand, picking up her pace to follow in tow with her. "Never a good sign when people start fighting. Even more so in this context. Does my hair look nice today?"

Colombia grabbed at her backpack straps, apprehensive. "I─" she skidded to a stop. The hallway fight was... premature, but still brewing, people stuffed into a small hallway with a large berth in the middle for the action.

"And I told you," Greece was shrilling from the floor, a glossy sheen of sweat on her forehead. "No good ever comes from anyone like that. You think we're all clueless cause we're incompetent? No, it was that some people just love to play hero. Or villain." She narrowed her eyes. "Depends what you think."

"I think hero, and a well deserved title, at that," Hungary placed his cleats on her bare leg threatenly, but the spikes drew no blood. "Always so quick to blame."

"He's selfish," Greece argued.

"Takes one to know one."

"I'm not selfish."

"You never think for the greater good of the Neo body. They're not doing that shit for themselves, risking their lives. Not only them, but─ tons of more people. Heck, we haven't seen Switzerland and Romania in ages too. And you still think it's wrong because you're being left in the dark and you're just so sour about that."

"You suck at reading people is all I will say─"

"Then bring it on," Hungary said. "Prove to me that the presence of the Axis wil foil our collective plan to fight against tyranny, to learn what is truly happening. If you so desire."

Colombia pursed her lips. Romania would have to hear about this, she thought, and when school had ended and she had twisted the doorknob of their small hideout to relay the news, everything was cleared and all three of them were gone.

She ran a tentative finger across the dining table, scrutinizing the lack of dust that gathered on her skin. The dining cloth was neatly folded, the bathrooms scrubbed clean, the bedsheets made. They had left no remain, no sign of prior inhabitants, no reflection of a house of convention, just a million questions and no hint of an answer.

★

AMERICA
"Reich's here," Russia blurted, jolting a few of them out of hasty sleep. "Let's go reconvene."

South groaned and heaved himself off the couch, cracking his neck. "How long have we been here? The workers probably think we're homeless."

"And that's why we switched restaurants," Japan smacked this back. "Quick, quick," she said frantically, ushering them out of the double doors and bidding the workers a friendly goodbye. "I'm so ready to crash back at a hotel."

Times Square was still bustling with nighttime fervor when they left. The wash of lights and fluorescence swept them up like a fantasy, billboards flickering in peripheral vision. "He says they're lost, behind Raising Canes," Russia relayed, making a move in that direction. Absentmindedly, he tried to grip America's hand.