Colorful Love

Band-Aids (Part 2)

Kiku sat under a tree filling out an application letter for university. It's never too early to start applying, eh? He looked up to see seven crows flying by with one, probably ill, lagging behind. Once they passed, a hoard of children came running past followed by two familiar blonds.

Kiku spotted Alfred bringing up the end of the line and called out to him, "Alfred?"

Alfred looked over, "Kiku, what are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to be here?" Kiku asked in a joking manner.

"Ack- I didn't mean it like that I just-" Alfred stumbled over his words between huffs.

How long had he been running?

Kiku cut him off, "Relax, I know. I'm filling out a university application."

Alfred chuckled still panting, "Isn't it kinda early for college?"

"Do you have a college you want to attend?" Kiku shot back.

"Actually yes," Alfred invited himself to sit down to which Kiku had no complaint. "I wanna go to go to UF."

"Really?" Kiku asked, "That's on the other end of the country."

Alfred nodded, "I wanna go far but not too far away from my siblings so I guess I'm still deciding."

Kiku nodded, "I'd love to get away from my siblings."

Alfred gave him the look of a confused puppy, "Why? Don't you love them?"

Of all people, Alfred could never imagine being far away from his siblings for too long. If they were alone without him or Arthur, the thought of what Bernard would or could do to them sent goosebumps down Alfred's arms.

"Of course I do," Kiku suddenly got defensive, "They're family. Though, I prefer silence over chaos, I do love my siblings as much as the next person loves theirs."

"Well, I thrive in the chaos," Alfred said leaning back against the tree, "I hardly know what silence is like."

Kiku felt himself go cold. No quiet? Ever? How does someone live like that? He could never live like that.

"Hey, I'm sorry for assuming you didn't love your siblings before," Alfred blurted out. "That was a stupid thing for me to assume."

"It's alright but please mind your words," Kiku replied.

Alfred nodded making a mental note to think of his words before he spoke. His phone buzzing spooked him from his thoughts. He looked at who was calling and glared at the screen. Growling to no one in particular, Alfred threw his phone across the field and onto the pavement path.

"What did you do that for?" Kiku asked startled by the sound of plastic glass meeting concrete.

Alfred didn't reply. He pushed himself to his feet and stormed off to where Arthur and their siblings mingled relaxing and enjoying the sunlight. The children had learnt quickly when their mother remarried to not ask questions about their family's current state, and they never did.

Arthur smiled up at Alfred, but he then let it fall once he saw Alfred's expression. He turned dead serious as well.

Kiku couldn't hear a word of the conversation. But could lip-read well enough to get a vague idea of the conversation. He felt guilty for eavesdropping on an conversation that wasn't his, but his curiosity got the better of him.

~

"What happened?" Arthur asked intent on a serious reply.

"If I had to guess, he wants us home." Alfred grumbled, "Like, now or else."