"Kiku?" Heracles asked, sprawled out on his couch. He had two cats on his stomach and one on his head, and his hand methodically smoothed over the fur of one of the ones on his middle. The cat purred loudly, so I could hear it from the floor by his head. Heracles wasn't my only friend, but perhaps my best one, and the one who understood me best. He was quiet and concentrated, like me, and he appreciated silence and cats nearly as much as I did. We got along very well, which was strange for me, considering how most people found my empathetic silence uncomfortable or unsettling. But Heracles was different. A little spacey, quiet, understanding, intelligent, open-minded and undeniably attractive, he was one of the few people I could ever stand to be around, including my friends Ludwig and Feliciano. Heracles just had a way about him. He was different than anyone else I'd ever met.

"Hai?" I replied, looking up from my manga.

Heracles continued to stroke his cat as he spoke. "I'm tired of waiting."

"Waiting?" I asked confusedly. "Waiting for what?"

Heracles stopped petting the cat and removed all three cats from his body, placing them on the floor and waiting for them to scamper away before replying. Their soft paws made no noise as they padded across the floor to go hide in Heracles's or his mother's bedroom, their sleek tails disappearing behind doorways.

"I'm tired of waiting for the thing that I've been waiting for."

"Oh. I...see?" But I didn't really see.

"I've been waiting for this thing to happen for a very long time..." Heracles mused, sitting up straight. I turned to look at him, having to look up from my spot on the floor, where I preferred to sit. "Since sixth grade, when the possibility first came about that it would ever happen. But it hasn't, and that irritates me a little bit."

"You don't show it," I assured him. "You seem very calm."

"I know. You know I have a trouble getting upset unless I try. But..." he paused to look at the ceiling fan for a moment as it spun 'round and 'round, shaking slightly in its socket. He seemed mesmerized by its movement. "But..." he started again. "I'm still rather irritated, I think."

"Well, what is it that is wrong?" I asked. "Maybe I can help."

"You can," Heracles nodded. "But you won't, because you don't know how."

"You could explain it," I suggested. And I waited for him to, but he didn't. Instead, he shook his head.

"No, no. At least not now. It's a little...complicated. And strange. It either makes absolutely no sense at all or all the sense in the world. I'm not sure. It could be either, or both, even, I suppose. Maybe it makes just a little bit of sense. I don't know." He sighed a little bit. He glanced out the window to his left, and I followed his gaze, but the window only showed the houses across the street from the one where Heracles and his mother lived. There wasn't anything outside but tranquility and normalcy. Not even birds or dogs. Everything was quiet, but maybe a little too quiet for even my tastes. I wished Heracles would speak again. His voice was soft and nice. It was careful and in-control, and cautious. My wish was granted: "You know...that feeling...when a cat curls up in your lap? And it licks your hand with its rough little pink tongue? And your heart fills with this...warmth. And you feel good all over?" he asked, a dreamy look on his face.

"Er, well, yes, I think I do..." I replied, unsure what he was trying to say.

"That's what I feel when I think of the thing that I've been waiting for."

"Oh. So it's a good thing," I assumed.

"Yes. It's a very good thing. I believe that if it happened, I would feel that way, but better. Like my heart was made of warmth. I've imagined it many times, but I don't know what it will really be like, if it happens at all."

He continued to look out the window, and I looked at his face instead. His untidy brown hair hung evenly on either side of his face, framing it. His aquamarine eyes were fixated on something that might not have even been there, for all I could tell. Maybe he was imagining the thing he was waiting for again. His nose twitched a little, like a cat's did when it was sleeping, and its nose picked up on the slight scents around it. His mouth twitched, too, in much the same fashion. I found it interesting that Heracles could be so still and tranquil, yet not entirely still after all. It was strange, but endearing. Something that I was a little surprised to see, however, was a faint blush on his cheeks. A tinge of pink dusted his face in a way that was really very...kawaii. I blushed, myself, at thinking that. He was my best friend. I couldn't afford to think like that. My other friend, Elizaveta, often told me that I should "get out there" and that "you and Heracles would make the cutest couple!" But I was never very sure what to think about that. Heracles and I as a...couple? How would that even work? I wasn't even sure if Heracles liked boys or girls. He spent all of his time with his cats and I.

"You're my friend, right, Kiku?" Heracles asked, interrupting my thoughts.

Strange - our thoughts seemed to be on the same wavelink. "Hai, of course."

Heracles nodded. "Then it will not happen."

I lifted my eyebrows, feeling a bit affronted. "Wait, what? Because I am your friend, something good will not happen to you?"

"No, that's not it," he replied. "I'm very happy that you're my friend. But the thing I've been waiting for will not happen. It's okay."

"Can't you just tell me what it is?" I asked, a bit annoyed.

"I suppose I could, but it would probably upset you."

He was being cryptic. Being cryptic was something I was good at, and I admired in others, but not knowing what Heracles was talking about was beginning to irritate me, much, much more than I would have liked. I somehow felt impatient to know what he was thinking, which I almost never was. Impatient, that is.

Heracles slid off the couch and sat beside me, his knee touching mine. I felt a blush spring up in my cheeks at the contact, but rather than moving away to avoid it, I shifted a little closer, so part of our lower thighs were touching, too. My blush intensified.

Heracles looked surprised that I'd moved closer, and I was, too, honestly. "Hmm," he murmured.

"What?" I asked, almost defensive.

"Nothing," he replied. "Interesting."

"What?" I repeated.

"Well...perhaps the thing I'm waiting for will happen."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because," Heracles murmured, leaning in a little so our shoulders touched, "things are changing, it would seem."

My heart beat a little faster, wondering what Heracles was talking about. His being so close was having a strange effect on me, making it sort of hard to breathe and making my blush even brighter.

Oh no, I realized. Is this what Elizaveta was talking about? With Heracles-kun and I?

"How so?" I asked.

He didn't answer my question. Instead, he whispered, "Your face is so cute when you blush." My heart skipped a beat, making me worry a little. "Maybe it would work out..."

"What would?"

"I hope this will be okay for you, Kiku," he muttered, reaching out and moving a little lock of my hair away from my face. "But I need to...I've been waiting for a long time."

I was about to ask yet again what it was he was talking about, but I got my answer as Heracles leaned forward again and gently touched his lips to mine, kissing me gently, holding the side of my face. I was startled, but my heartbeat sped up again dramatically, and I felt a little lightheaded...in a good way.

My eyes were wide open, staring at Heracles's face. His own eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful. My eyes decided to close then. I began to relax into his touch and, to my surprise as well as Heracles's, I could tell, I kissed him back. I allowed my lips to move with his, and I touched the hand that held my face, holding onto his wrist. He stroked my cheek tenderly and I leaned in a little more, getting closer. Heracles's arm reached around me to hold my shoulders, resting his elbow on the couch.

I felt a small smile grace Heracles's lips and then he leaned away, opening his eyes as I did. His eyes held the most emotion I'd ever seen them. I wasn't sure what emotions were in them, but they were certainly there, and fixed on my face.

"Th-that is what you have been waiting for?" I breathed, realizing how close we still were, his face only about two or three inches from mine.

Heracles nodded. "For a very long time. I've wanted to kiss you almost since we met. You're different," he smiled a little more. "You understand. We're alike, but also different, and I love everything about you, even our differences."

My eyes widened. "L-Love?"

He nodded again. "I think love. I'm almost one-hundred percent sure..." He leaned in and pecked my lips quickly, surprising me, but I didn't flinch. "Yes. I'm sure. I love you, Kiku."

I blinked. Elizaveta had been right all along? Heracles had liked - loved me? And how did I feel? What did I say now? I liked how his body felt next to mine and how his lips felt on mine far too much to think that I wanted just friendship from what we had, but did I love him? I certainly liked him very much...

"I never knew you liked me," I said, deciding on being honest. "I will have to take some time to get used to this idea. I definitely like you, very much, Heracles-kun. And I would like to see if we could be together," I smiled. "Do you think you could give me some time?"

Heracles smiled again. "Yes. You'll give me a chance?"

"Yes," I promised.

Heracles took my hand that was still on his wrist and slid it into his palm, lacing our fingers. "Then time is an easy thing to give you." Again, Heracles leaned in and kissed me tenderly but quickly, pulling back to smile lovingly. "I'm very glad I waited. This was worth it."

Then he kissed me again, and I blushed fiercely, accepting this idea more fully by the second.

A/N: So, this is somewhere between a one-shot and drabble, isn't it? It's quite short...but I couldn't really think of anything else to put in there. Japan and Greece are hard to write, and I probably totally bombed it, didn't I? TT^TT Sadness...eternal sadness... Oh well. Thanks for reading, and review to tell me how to improve! (Especially on Japan and Greece's OOC-ness!) Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya, not me. :'3 Otherwise, this would be totes canon. XD

- Pathway