RIIIIIIIINGG!

Students quickly packed their things and rushed out the door for break, eager to meet with friends.

Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia were the last ones to head out the door, when Mr. SEA called out for Philippines, making him flinch a little.

"Mr. Philippines, please stay back. I'd like to have a short conversation with you."

"Oh, dang, sir. You really weren't kidding when you said you wanted to see Phil." Indonesia said and snickered.

Mr. SEA sighed. "Once again, Mr. Indonesia, I only wish to know how Mr. Philippines' family is doing."

Indonesia had something to say about that, but Malaysia put his right hand on his shoulder. "Let it go, bodoh." He then turned to Philippines. "We'll be in the main courtyard if you need us." And with that said, he and Indonesia left the classroom.

Philippines looked at Mr. SEA with a raised eyebrow. "This is about my parents, right?"

Mr. SEA only nodded in reply.

"What do you know about them?" Philippines asked.

"Well, what do you know about them?"

"What is there to know about them?"

Mr. SEA chuckled and shrugged. "Depends, how's your parents? Has the royal Spanish Empire been bothering you lately?"

"... No. Wait, should I be concerned?"

"Has your family not told you?"

"Told me... what?"

Mr. SEA put his hand on his chin. "I see. So they haven't told you." He sighed and put his hand back on the desk. "I apologize for assuming you know of such things."

"Wait, sir, with all due respect, you can't just ask me such a question and then brush it off like dust!" Philippines slammed his hands on his desk. "Now I'm curious!"

Mr. SEA only shook his head. "I have no business in meddling too deep into such affairs." He stood up and took his folders. "You're dismissed. Have a good day, Mr. Philippines.

"But-"

"Have a good day, Mr. Philippines."

Not wanting to possibly get in trouble, Philippines slowly walked out of the classroom.

'Alright... keep your secrets..."

.
.
.
.
.

"Oh Perla, Katipunan Pio... what am I going to do with this boy of yours?"

•
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Philippines decided to join Indonesia and Malaysia at the main courtyard.

As he was walking there, he thought that perhaps he could get more information regarding his parents' past together from his brother. He could visit his dorm and maybe bring up the topic over some coffee, or a round of Mobile Legends...

"Hey, Phil!"

Philippines looked ahead and noticed that he was already standing in the main courtyard, with Malaysia and Indonesia not far in front of him, waving at him.

Philippines smiled and ran up to them. Indonesia looked like he wanted to say something, but Malaysia quickly covered his mouth.

"So, what happened with Mr. SEA?" Malaysia asked.

"Nothing interesting. Just grades and stuff." Philippines lied as he put his bag down.

"Liar, it's only been the first day of classes and grading hasn't even started yet." Indonesia called him out, munching on a sandwhich.

"Well yeah, but he's had my brother. And have you seen his grades?" Philippines shivered at the thought. "He just wanted to check if he has to go through another year like that. With me." He reasoned, taking out a banana and peeling it.

Indonesia and Malaysia looked at each other, but seemed to buy it.

"Oh, and another thing," Philippines spoke up, making the other two look at him. "I'm going to my brothers' dorm tonight. I just want to see how he's been doing so far."

"Well now that you brought that up, I guess I should visit my sisters' dorm, too, for that same reason." Malaysia said, drinking his milo.

Indonesia groaned and put his right hand on his forehead. "If I'm going to be left at the dorm by myself, I might as well visit my sisters, then."

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//After school... in Gregorios' dorm...

The atmosphere was tense as two pairs of mismatched eyes were glued to their phones and fingers wildly tapping their screens.

'Welcome to Mobile Legends!'

"So, Pip, how was your first day of classes?" Gregorio asked.

Philippines hesitated for a bit. "I-It was all going okey at first, but after I introduced myself, Mr. SEA said he wanted to talk to me after class."

'Five seconds 'till the enemy reaches the battlefield. Smash them!'

Gregorio snickered. "Damn, it's only the first day and the teacher already wants to see you. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Philippines exclaimed. "He just wanted to ask me how Nanay and Tatay were doing, and if the royal Spanish Empire has been bothering us lately."

"Mhm, and what did you say?"

'All troops deployed.'

"I said they're doing fine, and 'No'. I mean, I honestly don't know much about his involvement in our family." Philippines said. "I was hoping you'd tell me."

"... Is that the whole reason why you came to visit me?"

"... Maybe..."

'First blood!'

"Sakit yun, kapatid."
(That hurts, baby brother.")

"But should I be worried? Should I be scared?"

Gregorio sighed. "No, but just stay on guard. Especially around his kids, Portugal and Spain"

"Pero bakit?"
("But why?")

'Double kill!'

"Basta, you don't need to worry about those things right now."

"Pero-"
("But-")

'You have been slain.'

Philippines groaned in frustration and threw his phone to the floor. "That's the fifth time already!" He covered his eyes with his right arm.

Gregorio laughed. "Aw, don't be so down. It takes time to master the art of-"

"Murder?"

"Slaying."

'You have slain an enemy!'

'Maniac!'

Philippines glared at him with one eye. "Easy for you to say. You maniac."

'Victory!'

Philippines groaned angrily and Gregorio chuckled. After a few seconds of silence, Philippines heard a 'ding!' sound coming from his phone and picked it up.

A notification.

Philippines took out his phone and saw that he had a new message on Messenger.

'Pamilyang Sunshine'
('Sunshine Family')

Gregorio Del Pilar: Mama mo 😛
(Your mom 😛)

Philippines looked at his big brother slumped on the couch on his left and raised a brow.

"Kuya, you're literally sitting right beside me."
("Big brother, you're litterally sitting right beside me.")

"Okey, and?"

Philippines stared at him for a bit before sighing in defeat. "Well, when you put it that way..." he joked, not in the mood for another argument.

Philippines: Mama mo naligo sa beach, nagdala ng tabo 😂
(Your mom went to to swim at the beach, and brought a dipper 😂)

Gregorio Del Pilar: Mama mo pumunta sa Jollibee, nagdala ng kaldero 😂
(Your mom went to Jollibee, and brought a rice cooker 😂)

Philippines: Mama mo umutang, nanghingi ng sukli 😂
(Your mom was in debt, she asked for the change 😂)

Gregorio Del Pilar: Mama mo nauhaw, inimom yung tubig sa inidoro 😂
(Your mom got so thirsty, she drank the toilet water 😂)

Philippines: Mama mo nagparebond, kalbo naman 😂
(Your mom went to rebond her hair, but she's bald 😂)

Gregorio Del Pilar : 😡

Philippines couldn't hold it back anymore. He laughed so hard, he was crying and smirking while his brother simply glared at him.

But Philippines' moment ended when he saw a text from his dad. On the same chat.

Katipunan: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

Gregorio Del Pilar: Ay pak- Tatay?!
(Ay pak- Dad?!)

Philippines just stared at his phone in shock, wondering how his dad was able to hack into their private messages when he tends to forget where the space bar is from time to time.

Unless...

Philippines looked at the name of the chat, and sure enough, felt his heart drop.

'Pamilyang Sunshine'.

That was the name of his family group chat.

Philippines: Ay shet- ito pala yung family group chat natin-
(Oh sh**, this is our family group chat-)

Gregorio Del Pilar: ...

Philippines has left the chat.

Gregorio looked at his brother with jaw down and eyebrows furrowed. "Just leave me to face Nanays' wrath alone like that, will you?" He shook his head in disappointment. But Philippines only laughed in response.

"You get what you asked for, kuya." Philippines replied and shrugged. "Ang tanga mo, kasi, eh."

Gregorio gasped dramatically. "Don't talk to your kuya that way!"

Philippines crossed his arms. "Tell me I'm wrong."

Gregorio pouted and looked back at his phone. Worry slowly crept on to his face and didn't go unnoticed by Philippines.

"Anong problema mo nanaman?"

"Na-Nanay hasn't responded. Sa t-tingin mo ba..." Gregorio bit his lips at the thought.
("M-Mom hasn't responded yet. D-Do you think...")

"Ano?"
("What?")

"S-Sa tingin mo ba... nainis si Nanay... at kinakuha nya yung tsinelas ngayon?"
(D-Do you think... Mom got irritated... and she's getting the slippers now?")

Philippines seemed to slowly accept that possibility, but quickly shrugged it off.

"Ok, but what if she does? What's she going to do with it while we're not there, mail it to us?" Philippines asked, half-jokingly.

Gregorio grew less tense after hearing that. "Hah, good point. Hey, how about we end the night with a few shots?" He smirked.

Philippines smiled at the suggestion. "Depends, what do you have?"

•••

Word count : 1402 words.

Coming up ---> 'chapter 7 : ASEAN Beginnings'