Counting Stars - (Straight!AmeriPan)

Chapter 3: A Cup of Tea

"I'll be leaving now!" Mathias bolted for the door as he finished his breakfast. "I don't want my honey Norge to be late because of me!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" Gilbert barked. "We don't care! Get lost!"

"You guys are mean," Mathias pouted. He opened the door to the front porch and went out.

"He left already?" Alfred said as he looked over from the kitchen. "Bummer. I didn't even give him his Danish-style burger yet!"

Gilbert snorted. "Pfft, if you did, he's probably gonna ask Berwald to put it up on a museum, or something."

The rest of the morning, Sakura stayed silent. She felt awkward to start a conversation with them, especially with Alfred. It's been a month and a half since she first moved here, which meant that the first term of college had already started. Everyone was busy over the weekdays, so the streets more or less mellowed out. Sakura still found it hard to strike up a conversation with Alfred.

"Do you always drink tea, Sakura? Even in the morning?" Alfred leaned in close to look at what Sakura was drinking. Sakura's cheeks slightly tinted pink. Even after being here for quite some time now, she still wasn't able to shake off this uncomfortable feeling building up her chest. "Is there anything wrong with it, Alfred-san?"

Alfred shrugged. "I just find it weird, that's all. No hate or anything. Most people would prefer a good ol' cup of coffee."

Sakura turned away from him and continued to sip her tea. She gave a little startled jump as a girl suddenly hopped inside from the kitchen window. She had caramel-brown hair, pink flowers clipped on one side, and emerald green eyes. In her hands, she held a frying pan.

Gilbert spit out his coffee, his red eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

Alfred threw a piece of bread at him. "Hey, now, it's not nice to be rude to other neighbors. Especially those who saved us from Swiss Cheese's ass. Speaking of Swiss Cheese, how did you get past his lawn to get here?"

The girl smiled. "Oh, let's just say that I was a ninja back in the olden days...it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"Scram off, Elizabeta..." Gilbert muttered to himself. He received another piece of bread to the face by Alfred. "Will you stop it?"

"Rule five, Gilbert," Alfred said. "We appreciate those who saved us from Swiss Cheese."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and shook his head. Elizabeta stuck out her tongue at Gilbert.

"Well, Elizabeta? Come in, you're always welcome here!" Alfred held out a cup of coffee for her to drink. Elizabeta stepped down from the windowsill and sat down on Mathias's empty chair.

For a few moments, everyone was silent...until Alfred coughed and stood up from his seat.

"Well, it's been good," Alfred said, "and uh...I'll be leaving now..."

Elizabeta looked up from her coffee. "Oh? Well, goodbye. Tell Matthew I said hi."

Alfred ran to the door, shouldered his backpack, and looked back at her. "I won't forget! Okay, bye, see ya later, dudes!" and with those words, he exited the door.

Sakura stood up as well. "I'll be going too."

Elizabeta pouted. "After Al just left? Bummer."

Sakurs picked up her bag from under the dining table and followed Alfred out the door.

When Sakura was gone, Elizabeta suddenly sighed happily. She buried her face in her hands and swayed from side to side while squealing. When she was done fangirling, Gilbert's red eyes stared at her strangely.