What is... "Home?" (Hetalia Fanfic, W.A. '13 Finalist)

Chapter 2~!

I am soo grateful to all my amazing readers who commented and voted and showed much love! I LOVE YOU! And I'll be doing dedications in the order of who commented on the first chapter, which is why The_American_Hero went first. Once the first chapter's comments are done then I dunno what I'll do. I'll figure it out eventually...

Now, on to the second chapter~!

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The oak door swung open with barely a sound, although the slight sound it did make brought the receptionist's eyes away from her computer screen and to my face. "Hello there. How can I help you?" She had a very comforting, grandmotherly voice and appearance.

"Yes, I'd like to enroll here and apply for a scholarship," I said as I walked up to her desk. "My family is low on money and can't afford to pay any tuition."

"Oh! Well, can I ask your name and some other basic information for the records? We accept students fairly easily here at Gakuen, you see."

I nodded eagerly, joyous at my good fortune. "I'm Malcolm Middleton, I'm fifteen, my birthday is July 2nd..." I answered all her questions about both myself and Zip, since animals were allowed here (YES!).

After that, she gave me a test and utensils to take it with and told me to take my time. She explained that the better of a score I got the better of a scholarship I would receive. With that lovely little tidbit of "no pressure" knowledge, I sat on a chair and took the test on a clipboard on my knee.

~~ 30-ish minutes later

I went back up to the receptionist, Mrs. Teresa, and handed her back my test. "I finished, Mrs. Teresa."

She nodded and congratulated me on finishing before pulling out an answer sheet and beginning to grade my test. I sat back in my chair, putting Zip on my lap and petting his fluffy backside.

Maybe five minutes later, Mrs. Teresa looked up, setting down her pen and beckoning me over. I stood and walked over, leaving Zip on the chair with my middle finger and index fingers of one hand crossed for luck.

She beamed at me and showed me my score. "97, congratualtions! You qualify for the full scholarship, Mr. Middleton."

I raised a fist to the sky in victory. "Yes!"

"Now if you'll follow me, Mr. Middleton, I'll show you to thedressing room for your uniform."

I froze for a split second. F-Fitting room? "O-Okay."

When we got there, she left me alone aftertelling me what the standard amount of articles of clothing was. The room was filled with rows of matching or similar uniforms, the majority being the female uniform although there were enough of the boy's uniform to be adequate.

I browsed the boy's racks in the smaller sizes, choosing three pairs of plaid pants, a jacket, two swaetervests (one white, the other tan), and four dress shirts with two ties. I had to try on a couple pairs of men's shoes to find the right fit, but I managed it in the end. Mrs. Teresa recorder my choices and then left to let me change in peace, handing me a collar with the school crest for Zip before shutting the door again.

I reemerged, looking even more like a boy than I had when I'd gone in.

"Very smart," she said appraisingly, handing me a list of my classes, a map of the school, and my dorm key. "Good luck, Malcolm."

I thanked her kindly and left to go find my dorm, calling Zip after me. After consulting the map countless times, I finally gave up trying to navigate the halls and went to go find someone for directions (am I the only one detecting a pattern here?). I noticed a boy with wavy, dirty blond hair, glasses, and a stuffed polar bear leaning with his back against a wall. He was staring off into space, probably because there was no one else around but me.