"Marry me, big brother!" Lithuania heard his beloved Belarus pounding on Russia's bedroom door. He lowered his blue eyes, coffee brown bangs hanging in front of them, as he walked past her like he always did. Every single day, it was the same routine. No matter how hard he tried to capture her heart, the girl's attention was always focused on his master – Russia. But it's so obvious Russia doesn't even return her feelings. I've seen him many times with some other girl, the Lithuanian thought to himself miserably. Sighing softly, he proceeded to change the exchange the load of white laundry in the washing machine with the pile of dark clothes in his arms.
"Oh, Lithuania~" Belarus' sweet voice sang out. Lithuania's blue eyes widened in shock. C-Could it be that Belarus finally wants to accept my invitation on a date? Different scenarios whirled in his mind, all of them full of hope that the Belarusian girl would finally return his affections. The laundry door cracked open, and Belarus poked her head in. "You can help me get big brother to marry me, right?" she asked, although it really wasn't much of a question with her firm tone of voice. "W-what?" Lithuania stared at her, dumbfounded, mentally hoping that this was just a bad dream.
"The two of you are pretty close, right? I want you to drop hints to him about marrying me…" Belarus replied, smirking smugly. Her icy blue eyes left no room for any argument whatsoever.
"B-But, I think Russia already has a…" Lithuania nervously started to say.
"I don't care. You like me, right?" She purred seductively. "Don't you want me to be happy? Wouldn't you do anything for me?"
Lithuania's weak heart nearly broke right then and there. "O-Of course…" He told her softly, staring at the shiny white vinyl floor of the laundry room. Even now, the only reason she talks to me is because of Russia, he thought.
"If you help me, I will be happy...and maybe even go on a date with you." Belarus tilted her head to the side, giving him a cold smile with absolutely no real happiness behind it.
"I guess I could try." He said reluctantly, knowing that there was no real way he could ever have hoped of being able to resist her.
"Good. Let me know what big brother says." Belarus flashed him another cold smile, and skipped away, leaving Lithuania standing there as he numbly put the rest of the clothes into the washing machine. "Why is it always me who has to do these things?" He asked himself bitterly. "No matter how hard I try, everybody is so mean to me…even Poland isn't really that nice to me, but at least he means well."
"Lithuania? M-Mr. Russia wants us to prepare dinner…" a familiar quivering voice came through the slight opening of the laundry room door.
"Alright, I'm coming." Lithuania replied, stuffing the last of the clothes into the machine. He hit the 'on' button, and walked out of the room. Latvia was there, shaking in fear. Just like always. "Where's Estonia?" Lithuania asked the smaller nation.
"H-He went out to buy groceries." Latvia replied.
"He's always the lucky one, being able to avoid Mr. Russia like the plague." Lithuania muttered to himself, trying to keep the resent out of his voice. Latvia gave a small, shuddery nod in response, and scurried towards the kitchen. "Since it's very cold out, why don't we make shchi?" Latvia suggested, getting out the proper ingredients.
"Oh, I was thinking of making ukha…" Lithuania told him. Both of them stared at each other for a moment before looking away. "But shchi is fine with me," he added awkwardly, before heading into the pantry and taking out the rye bread that was commonly eaten with the Russian soup. To his surprise, Belarus was standing there, looking as if she was deep in thought. "B-Belarus? What are you doing here?" Lithuania asked tentatively, afraid to anger the girl further.
"Nothing." She replied, her facial expression completely neutral. He nodded nervously, not wanting to push the matter any more, and quickly grabbed the rye bread.
"Say, Lithuania, why do you…" Belarus began to say, and Lithuania practically jumped out of his skin. Oh my God, she's actually talking to me about something other than Russia! He turned around quickly to face her. "Y-yes?" He stammered, clutching the rye bread like a protective shield in front of his chest.
"Nevermind." The Belarusian girl said, lowering her cold blue eyes for a fraction of a second before meeting his surprised ones.
"O-Okay then, I-I have to go help Latvia now...See you later." Lithuania stuttered, hurrying off to make dinner. He couldn't get what Belarus was trying to say out of his head. Do I what? He mentally asked himself over and over. "Hello, earth to Lithuania!" A small hand waved in front of his face, breaking him out of his thoughts. "W-what?" He looked at the owner of the hand.
"I asked you if you would cut the cabbage!" Latvia said, looking up at him.
"Oh, s-sorry." He began rapidly slicing the cabbage, without really giving any thought to what he was doing.
"Eek! W-what are you doing? W-why are you continuing to chop the cutting board?" Latvia gasped.
"Oh! I wasn't paying attention…" Lithuania smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"You're really out of it today, are you okay?" Latvia looked up at Lithuania, concern in the former's purple-blue eyes.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Lithuania smiled a sunny fake smile, not wanting to make the smaller nation worry about him. Said nation nodded, not really buying it, but deciding not to question any further.
"Finally, the ingredients are ready and now we can make the soup." Latvia muttered, not knowing whether to be relieved or not. Stirring everything together, he began making the shchi. "I've got it taken care of. You can go do something else, if you want."
Lithuania nodded, opening the door to go outside. Stepping into the warm summer air, he let the smell of fresh flowers waft into his nose, and let the feel of the blazing sun soak on his skin. Closing his blue eyes, he continued enjoying the beautiful summer day, listening to all the sounds of life. Upon opening his eyes, he was stunned to see Belarus sitting in the lush green grass, holding a sunflower, and appearing to be lost in deep thought. It didn't quite suit her, the way the bright yellow petals of the sunflower clashed strangely with her simple black dress. Walking nervously over to her, he stammered, "H-hello." Anxiously waiting for her reply, he shifted his weight from foot to foot.
She looked up at him, her cool blue irises meeting with his warm blue ones for just a split second before she looked away and muttered a quick, "Hello."
Feeling a bit encouraged, he stammered, "W-would you like t-to go for a walk with me?"
Looking at him again, Belarus nodded once, standing up to brush the grass off her black dress. Lithuania almost cried tears of joy. Oh my God, I can't believe it. She actually accepted my offer, he thought, his mind whirling around. He flashed her a smile, unable to contain the happiness that threatened to burst out of him. She merely stared at him for a moment, her facial expression unchanging. Not daring to grab her hand, Lithuania headed in the direction of the forest, unable to rein in another smile as he saw Belarus silently following him. The silence was not awkward; it was more or less relaxing. Oddly enough, Belarus was the one to break the pleasant silence. "Why do you like me?" She asked him suddenly, although her tone of voice didn't really sound like a question.
"I…well, I think you're beautiful, and you're so strong, unlike me…" He replied softly, trying to find the right words to say. She fell silent again, and he swore he saw a glimmer of emotion in her cold blue eyes. The silence seemed to stretch for eternity before she finally spoke again. "I…don't like you." She said coldly, and Lithuania had to refrain from wincing. Her cruel words seemed to carve holes into his heart. "Don't you know, the opposite of like is not dislike, but indifference?" Belarus stated, looking at him. Lithuania's eyes went wide.
"Big brother...he feels nothing for me. Nothing at all." She said simply, her icy blue eyes boring holes in his soul.
"I-I'm sorry." He choked out, trying to swallow his surprise. Belarus looked away, her facial expression remaining the same as always. That's when he saw it, from the corner of his eye. A glint in the bushes. Not thinking much of it, he turned back to look at her once more, mentally going over every little detail on her face – her cute, straight nose, the thin mouth set into a fine line, the dark eyebrows drawn together, and the dark blue irises that were always so cold. "Belarus, I...You probably already know this, but…" He began to say, drawing every inch of courage he could muster to say those simple three words. She turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. That's when he heard the click. It was barely audible, but he heard it none the less. The click of a gun being loaded. Nervous, he turned to peer into the bushes, and saw the glint once more. Realization came crashing down on him, as he finally put the pieces together. That's a gun…and it's aimed for Belarus! He thought frantically, trying to remain calm, but not succeeding. "Belarus…LOOK OUT!" He shouted, throwing himself on top of her.
Bang!
Belarus felt the wind being knocked out of her, as Lithuania knocked her onto the dirt ground of the forest. "What…" she began to push him off, but stopped when she felt warm liquid seeping through his green military uniform. "What…" she repeated, her dark blue eyes slowly widening in surprise. "Lithuania…?" She slowly spoke his name, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. He gave no response, and she slowly drew her hands away from his chest to look at them. They were covered in a crimson liquid. Blood. Belarus gently set him beside her, staring at him. He was breathing shallowly, the blood spreading every second. "B-Bela…rus…" he croaked, reaching out an arm for her. She stared at it, and replied, "…yes?"
"I…love…you.." He coughed wetly, blood splattering the ground next to his body.
Belarus' face remained the same, just like always. "Why…why did you…do this for…me?" she asked slowly, her voice sounding a little bit different.
He tried to smile at her, and managed a faint one. "Because you were… somebody to die for…Natalia Arlovskaya." Lithuania whispered her human name, before his eyes closed. Belarus knew they would never open again. She felt something warm trickle down her cheek. She touched it, and realized it was a single tear. "You fool…didn't you know…I could have loved you, if you had stayed…alive." She murmured, as she felt another tear slide down her cheek. Belarus knew she was not weeping for Lithuania – more or less, she was crying for Toris Laurinaitis.