Kiku leaned back in the grass and closed his eyes. Spring days were peaceful, and he usually preferred to spend them alone outside.

While his friends were great and all, they were too excitable sometimes. Kiku liked peace and quiet and calm, something the irritable German and the hyperactive Italian did not possess. Most of his other friends were like that too- Ivan, Francis, Arthur, Alfred- and it just wore him out. It was so nice to be alone.

"Excuse me!" A familiar voice called from above him, snapping him out of his thoughts with a jolt. As he opened his eyes he nearly went blind- the figure that stood above him did almost nothing to block out the sun. "Have you seen a polar bear?"

"You have a polar bear, Alfred-kun?" Kiku asked, finally recognizing the shape of the figure above him. He sat up to face his friend, rubbing his eyes in agony. That sun was bright...

"Oh, I'm not Alfred, I'm Matthieu!" The blonde corrected. When he was met with a blank stare, Matthieu attempted to clarify. "You know? Alfred's twin brother? His fall guy?"

"Oh!" The Japanese man said, turning bright red in embarrassment. The person-he'd-thought-was-Alfred-but-was-actually-his-twin was equally red. "I'm terribly sorry about that! It's just, the light, it, it was…" He stammered, trailing off. Matthieu laughed and shrugged.

"I'm used to it. Most people don't have sun in their faces when they get us mixed up anyway…" Alfred's twin trailed off, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Anyway, have you seen a little white polar bear? He's mine... His name is, uh, Kuma… something."

There was a moment of awkward silence as the blonde closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Kiku just stared. How could someone forget the name of their pet...?

"Kuma… Kuma… Jiro! Kumajiro!" Matthieu said, flustered. He turned his face down to stare at the ground. "A white polar bear called Kumajiro. Have you seen him?"

The raven-haired man thought, then frowned slightly. "I don't think so.. I'm sorry, Matthieu-san…"

"Oh well, I better keep looking!" Matthieu said cheerfully, adopting a very Alfred-like stance and turning to go. As he left, he called over his shoulder. "It was nice to see you again, Kiku!"

When the blonde was out of his sight, Kiku laid back again. After a moment's contemplation, he blushed. Matthieu was cuter than his brother, and a lot quieter. Based on that encounter, he was someone Kiku wouldn't mind spending time with.

"Maybe I should get to know Matthieu-san better..." The petite man mused, arm draped loosely across his face. "To better the relations of our countries, of course..."

And that was when the white polar bear walked up and sat on his stomach.

---AxM---

A/N: Um. This was supposed to be a oneshot, but I think I'm going to expand on this... I hope you don't mind, crazylittleperson.. This can still be looked at as a oneshot, right? Right..?

And Matthieu forgets his polar bear's name in the series. Yet people assume he doesn't for some reason. Hm. Am I missing a strip or an episode or something...?

/fails so hard/