So, this is a Hetalia fan fiction. It isn't my first fan fiction but I finished the whole story already. I had to do an assignment for anime club and well, I made this. Sorry if some of the people are out of character (or REALLY out of character). But if you do not like that, then I suggest you find another story to read. Another suggestion is that if you really love a certain and you think the character is out of place, it's a part of my story. I can't please everyone. Warning, Alfred is sort of douche in this story (I love America, but I think it adds to the story). It's not a long story either so yeah. Plus, there are grammar errors everywhere! Ouch (sorry)! There are other character not canon to Hetalia but they really do not matter. I only mentioned twice, maybe? I don't know... Anyway, I use "the man" A LOT and you won't know who it is until half way through the story (unless you guess).
Again, I'm sorry for rambling and stuff. Read the story if it interests you at all. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. Hidekazu Himaruya is the rightful owner of Hetalia and the characters.
"I thought you loved shrimp." The blond leaned to the wall.
This time, another man spoke up. "Have you forgotten that I'm allergic to crustaceans!"
The blond bonked his head while exclaiming," You're right! I keep letting it slip my memory, dude."
" ... It's okay, Alfred."
A smile came to Alfred's face. " Glad to hear, old man."
They were in their twenties, yet one of them did not mature over the years. Alfred shrugged his shoulders; meanwhile, the other man studied his own watch.
" It appears that this old man has somewhere to go. Goodbye, Alfred." The man grabbed his coat and hat before he started heading out of the door.
Sounds of droplets splashing onto the ground intensified as the man walked further on the road. He could not hear his own voice in the harsh storm. But it was not the first time this occurred.
Taking a few more steps, the man lifted his head. There, he viewed a decrepit apartment complex. Some of the local children played tag in front of the building. How freely their presence felt. They paused their activity and glanced at the man gazing upon them.
"Excuse me," politely asked one of the children, " Are you okay?"
Surprised, the man nodded.
The children, in concern, looked at each other. " But you seem sad."
" I do? Never mind that, I'm fine." The man waved good bye to the children. He entered the apartment soon after he opened the door to room number seven.
The man went straight to a specific room, as where aforetime he would greet his parents. Swiftly, he took off his shoes and coat. His hat fell off naturally as the man sank into his chair. Many old clothes laid on the floor along with broken bottles. At times, the man thought of cleaning the room, however he knew it would not make a difference. What he did had no outcome. Even when he was a child, the man anticipated to strive to the top. Nevertheless, his goal was not achieved. How he got here was another mystery of life.
" What did I do to get this far?" The man closed his eyes when he heard the entrance door unlock.
A woman's voice echoed through the living room. " Why don't you find someone else to put up with your crap!"
" You know damn right that I was like this to begin with, Angelica!" shouted an older man.
" Should have known, Eric. I wish I could go back and marry that bastard instead of you."
" Very amusing. You were always the life of the party. But look at you," Eric gripped Angelica's arm and whispered," those lovely muscle are gone. See? I'm not the only one who let themselves degrade to this condition."
Angelica detached her arm from her husband's grip. She proceeded to punch him in the face thus he did the same.
All anyone could detect was the noise of destruction. Chairs were crushed while frustrated screams went left and right. Another night of restless slumber.
"Dude, you don't look so hot. No sleep?" Alfred tried his best not to get on the man's nerves. After all, people without sleep are grumpy until the end.
" It's nothing." The man dressed himself in his uniform and began the day with work.
Several hours breezed through time. Different customers came for their coffee and left shortly after. There was one customer in particular who seem to demand something from the man. Astonishingly, that customer still stayed at the coffee shop when everyone else departed. Sipping his coffee, the customer would take a glance at the man. This repeated itself until closing time.
"Hey, would you tell the guy we're closing soon?"
The man glared at Alfred in horror. " What? I have to get to my second job as soon as possible."
" Come on, I'll owe you one."
Disagreeing with the man, Alfred covered his ears in an infantile manner. Meanwhile, the customer smirked at the two employees arguing. Drama may not be the ideal thing to have but it was pleasing to watch. The customer got out of his seat in addition to fixing his hair. He ambulated closer to the two, therefore the two employees finally noticed the customer standing posterior to them.
Alfred leaped in the air and spouted," Cra- Hello! How can I help you?"
The customer ignored Alfred's question and stared at the man next to Alfred. The man gave the customer a death glare.
" Alfred asked you a question. Answer it." Now irritated, the man crossed his arms.
Conversely, the man unexpectedly heard the most carefree laugh in ages. The customer had his nose in a scrunch as his face soon turned red. Tiny tears appeared in his eyes because of the fact that he chuckled uncontrollably.
" You're funny. I knew there was a reason why I like you."
A blush spread on the man's face. He huffed. " Excuse me!?"
For one thing, the man never met this bizarre guy. Although, the question still stands; how did he knew the man?
Already sensing the uneasiness in the air, Alfred stepped in. " Dude, we have to get back to work. If you'll excuse us, we have to finish our job, okay?"
The customer did not take Alfred's command so kindly. " Heh, I believe you're mistaken. You have to clean up here while the two of us go somewhere more... idiot-free."
" Did you just called me an id-!"
And the doors shut.
"Thank goodness we got out of there. I thought he wouldn't ever shut up!"
" Who the hell are you?"
The customer stopped his victory strut and faced the man. " You don't recognize me?"
" Finally figured it out? Good, now explain to me who you are!"
" Alright, alright. The name is Mathias Køhler. I'm aware of your name so there is no need to introduce yourself."
The man had serious doubt about this Mathias guy. Though, was Mathias telling the truth? Did they really know each other before?
" Try not to linger on the thought of our meeting. For now, you should be rushing to get to work."
A dumbfounded look appeared on the man's face. " Huh? I don't understand...!"
" Seems to me that you remember. Come on, I'll go with you."
Briefly, they scurried among the sidewalk as efficiently as they could to reach their destination. Within a few minutes, the two made it. In front of them stood a bar with all sorts of people entering and leaving. A lady with a tightly fitting dress lured many of the men waiting in line to get in.
" You know," announced Mathias, "when I first came, I thought this place was a strip joint. But apparently the women here are exceedingly slutty. I never liked them anyways."
The man arched his eyebrow in wonder. " Why are you talking to me so casually. We hardly know each other."
" Okay, I'll explain. But first," Mathias held the door open for the man to walk in. He did so, and began to get more frustrated the longer he chatted with Mathias. Speaking of which, Mathias magically brought two bottles of vodka from the counter within seconds.
It appeared as if Mathias overlooked the fact of why they came here in the beginning. " Mathias, if you're going to offer anyone vodka, do not give it to me. I have work."
" I figured. But who says you can't have a sip?"
"No."
" Suit yourself, lovely." Mathias took a couple of sips of the vodka meanwhile the man started to get ready for a new day.
Things were rather calm. Only two fights came about and none of the customers had their drunken moments. More importantly, Mathias out of nowhere offered to help the man. The cleaning, serving, and everything else were a walk in the park. To think the man almost hated Mathias for bothering him. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad. Despite the help, the man couldn't leave until his shift terminated. The hands of the clock indicated that it was already three in the morning. So little to do in a large amount of time. Thirty minutes more before the man could get out of this abyss.
"Hey!" And there goes the silence," It's three-thirty. Let's ditch and go to my house."
The man bit the bottom of his lip. Mathias must be drunk. But even so, Mathias wasn't lying when he said it was 3:30. The man plausibly should get more sleep if he can't tell time.
" Mathias, go home. And I'll do the same for myself."
" Not unaccompanied by you. Come, it will be fun!"
By now, the man had a sour taste in his mouth. This wasn't going to go well. Joy.
There are times when choices are regrettable. Namely, when the man decided to let a drunk drive him to god knows where. On the contrary, nothing went wrong. They made it safely to a cozy home far from the bar and town. The sun did not rise yet with all the darkness still present. There was a garden of glowing flowers anterior to the house. Mathias parked in the driveway, and turned to face the man. A small smile created trust, and the man couldn't believe he let his guard down. Was there something Mathias had that caused this sense of loyalty?
They got out the car in sync while strolling to the front door. Mathias got out his keys, unlocked his door, and grinned.
" Welcome home."
No lies in his words. This really did feel like home. The clock ticked as the crickets chirped through the airy night. Taking some steps inside, the man observed the furniture in the house. Two couches, a complete dining room set, one flat screen television and a few other things. It was cute to see how houses like this exist. For a short moment, the man forgot the horror hell he lived in. But life might actually have a good side to it... at least, for some.
The man wanted to sit down and crash the night at Mathias's place, but he didn't know if it was the wisest idea. He already dug himself in a big enough hole, so was there any more reason to take greater risks?
Mathias patted the man on the back. " Hey, are you okay?"
Jumping in midair, the man nodded. " Excuse me for my behavior. I just haven't seem a home with such a comfortable atmosphere. You could say, it has been a while."
Truly, it has. Even his best friend, Alfred, had family issues. No one, to his knowledge, possessed a stable life. All the devilish acts conquered anyone the man knew, with agnostic thoughts and skeptical faithfulness. By some means, the man should watch his envy rise if Mathias gained luck in the sick game of life.
The man shivered. He mumbled, " Coldness is no different from darkness."
" What was that?" Mathias stared at the man, expecting him to repeat the statement. Nonetheless, a silent void filled the room. Considering the man did not desire to return to his own place, Mathias made a proposal.
"Why not stay with me for the rest of the night?"
Remorse had a tart flavor. However, the man created plenty of perilous decisions tonight that one more couldn't hurt. A small grunt told Mathias everything he needed. The man saw Mathias set the couch with a pillow and a blanket. But before the man could head off to sleep, Mathias held one of his arms and lead the man to a room upstairs. Then, Mathias granted permission to the man for him to lay on the bed meanwhile Mathias went downstairs to the couch. Well, Mathias knew his manners.
Soon, dawn arose. These hours of sleep helped the man to keep his sanity. Though, he required endless slumber to completely heal his remains. Instantly, the door swung open. The man spotted no other than Mathias carrying a cup of coffee and scrambled eggs. Breakfast was given to the man in bed without much to say than a thank you. Mathias beamed in delight.
The man preferred tea ;regardless, the coffee did not seem so bad. A sweet aroma came from the drink and warmed up the man once he drank it. The sugar made the coffee bearable. As for the eggs, they tasted like home. How he longed for the moment of warmth. Many years of emptiness left the man an ungrateful attitude. But could Mathias be a savior of some-sort? Who precisely was Mathias Køhler?
It was now or never. " Mathias, you kept dodging the question. Who are you?"
The tiniest smile appeared on Mathias's face as he whispered," A friend who'll help."
" No, I am being serious."
" According to you, I'm a companion of condolence. If that doesn't answer your question, then I'll elaborate. We met briefly at the bar you work for. You handed me the strongest beer allowed and it gave me one heck of a headache. But, you managed to drink some too. I don't know how though my guess would be that you were thirsty. I wouldn't blame you either. It was sweltering like no tomorrow. Anyways, we chattered for a bit and I left. "
" Then how come…?"
" Our conversation was short, yes, but I realized how different you are from the rest. The laugh you made, and the way you strike me with sarcastic remarks. Everyone thought you were being mean although I knew you had a different sense of humor."
" You don't say?"
Mathias felt relieved after explaining the events. The man hardly recollect any of those pheromones happening to him. Things made sense despite the rocky start on the second encounter. There was some justice to Mathias's explanation therefore, the man allowed himself to believe mostly all the words that come out of Mathias's mouth. Even so, something did not feel right.
The man carefully stated," Now I'm a friend of yours?"
"Pretty much. You seem suspicious of me. What's on your mind?"
" I just do not buy your act. We met twice and how does meeting someone twice equal to best of friends?"
" Don't overthink it. Maybe you don't have faith in me but I don't mind. With all the betrayal in your life, how could you begin to believe me?"
The man's eyes widen as Mathias finished his sentence. When did this guy find out the misery he kept inside? He certainly didn't inform anyone of his secrets.
" ..." This frighten him more than it should have.
Unexpectedly, Mathias sat next to the man and hugged him. " I know a lot and I have my ways of receiving information but from what I learned, I can only say I'm sorry."
Tears, thought the man. His face soon generated crystal droplets, leaving a painful dampness on his and Mathias's clothes.
Mathias softly murmured, " Release all the distressing emotions so I can listen to you."
" W-Why?" The man hiccuped.
" I was once a broken embodiment too. Have you ever looked at your eyes?"
" Yes, and?"
" No, I mean like closely. You can see agony descending on top of you. Eyes are the window to one's soul."
The man was left speechless. Was it possible for someone to know so much? Mathias wasn't no regular customer; he was a guardian angel.
" It is my personal intention to listen and lift other people's issues," Mathias continued," I asked some of the other customers if they knew anything about you. There was only so much they could say before I found you bawling in an alleyway. The bruises and the stench of alcohol gave it all away. I wanted to help but you ran before I could say a word."
" Thank you."
" For what?"
For being the only one who listens, notions the man. His mouth refused to move yet Mathias understood.
Gently, Mathias muttered," Do not worry, I will reveal to you how to understand and how to be understood. I'll hear your problems. So please, instead view the future to see what awaits for you."
Drunk strangers are quite intriguing. The most brilliant of things are presented by them. Dark skies might be hard to view, but stars will display the road. They are the stars to the man's sky and to everyone else. Perhaps, they are the answers to hundreds of questions.
The next update will be soon. Next week, probably. Thank you again for reading :3