Hetalia: The Perfect Candidate

James Johnson was the perfect candidate.

An intelligent young man, raised up from a wealthy family. Well-traveled and educated, a hard working guy, a lawyer and an aspiring politician. Smart, honest, kind, with favorable political views and natural charm, and not to mention quite handsome, James Johnson seemed to be the perfect candidate for senator of his state.

And everyone loved him. He won every poll, made a good impression on every citizen. The adults trusted him, the children looked up to him, the youth enjoyed his vines. Even the media couldn't villainize him, images of him feeding the homeless and camping with his little siblings filled every newspaper in the state, made it to every news report on TV.

And when it came down to it, he won the election in a landslide.

So when his term ended, he decided to go bigger. Bigger than just a state, James Johnson decided to run for the president of the United States of America.

And once again, the people loved him.

Every poll, every preliminary, every state seemed to favor Johnson. He was on the cover of every newspaper, magazine, and news segment. Every one of his rallies had a full turn out, and his popularity seemed to grow bigger every day.

Yes, the whole country agreed, James Johnson was the perfect candidate.

~o~

"Mr. Johnson, what can you tell us of your thoughts on the school system?" a reporter stuck a microphone in Johnsons face.

"Well, I can tell you this," the politician said, "there is a lot of pressure put on children and teens to get good grades, and for good reason, good grades are important. But when high school students are getting very little sleep and free time, spending it all doing homework and projects and studying for tests... Well this just isn't healthy. The school system shouldn't be just piling work on a student, it should be teaching them!" The candidate emphasized the last part by banging a fist on his podium, and then continued speaking.

Elsewhere, Alfred F. Jones, otherwise known as the nation of America, watched his TV screen intently, nodding his head with everything Johnson said.

"Oh my god, that's so true! Matt, did you hear what he said? That's so true!" Alfred turned and faced his brother.

Matthew Williams, otherwise known as the nation of Canada, stood behind the sofa that Alfred sat on, only half listening to the commotion coming from on screen. "Yeah, uh, that's pretty cool…"

In reality. Matthew hadn't heard a word the man on screen said, and honestly, could not bring himself to care. But his brother was so enthusiastic about his own politics that he tried to be nice. Although to Matthew, Alfred seemed to be more excited than usual about this politician.

"Damn right its cool! James Johnson is cool! I hope he becomes president! Ha, who am I kidding, he's totally going to become president! He's gotta be the best candidate there is! He's got the best views and he's super nice and cool and…"

Back on screen, Johnson finished explaining his policies on the death sentence, when another microphone was shoved into his face.

"Mr. Johnson! How do you feel about your country?"

Johnson flashed a perfect grin, "Why, do you even need to ask?"

At home, Alfred finished ranting about how great James Johnson was and once again turned his attention to the screen, but completely missing the question, and only hearing the answer.

James Johnson smiled intensely as he gave his answer, "I love America with all my heart!"

Alfred froze and stared at the screen. "He… loves me?"

Matt sat on the sofa next to his brother, "Um… Alfie, I don't think that what he meant…" But his brother paid no attention to him.

"He just said… he loves me… with all his heart… oh my god…" Alfred kneeled on the floor inches away from the screen and grabbed his TV set. "James Johnson loves me!"

Matt just watched his brother with a worried expression as Alfred hugged the TV with tears almost forming in his eyes, and squealed like a crazed fangirl.

"I love you too, James Johnson!"

Matthew shook his head, "that's not what he meant…" But his voice could not reach his brother; it was drowned out by the sound of Alfred still squealing like a crazed fangirl.

~o~

Alfred sat at his kitchen table, sipping coffee and intently reading a newspaper article about Johnson's rally in Wisconsin, snipping out the occasional picture of the candidates face. (He would later deny this act if confronted about it.)

"Hey Alfie," Matt walked in the kitchen, "Do you have some flour I can borrow? I'm running out and I need it to make my panc-… What are you doing?"

Alfred looked from the newspaper to his brother, "Hmm?"

Matthew stared at the many newspapers on the kitchen table. And the kitchen floor. And a few of the kitchen chairs. "Alfred… why do you need so many newspapers?"

Alfred hid behind the paper in his hands, "Umm… To keep up with the news?"

"But you keep the TV on a news station pretty much 24/7…" Matthew pointed a thumb at the living room TV, its screen flickering with a traffic report.

"Well, yeah, but different sources cover different news… and I want to know all of it… so I get all these papers." Alfred's eyes darted around the room. He hid the scissors he had been using to cut out pictures under a newspaper.

Matthew rummaged through Alfred's pantry, "Are you sure this isn't about that politician guy that you're obsessed with?"

"Obsessed!? I'm not obsessed!" Alfred cried defensively, "What makes you say that?!"

"The fact the you haven't stopped talking about that Johnson guy since, that whole, uh, loving you thing." Matt moved around jars and packages in the pantry.

Alfred stated sweating, "Pff, no! I'm not obsessed; I'm just… very invested in the future of my country! The next president is also going to be my next boss, so I gotta keep up with all there is to know about the election! But it's not like you would know anything about that, you still listen to Mom's Queen, and stuff, so..."

Matt picked up a bag of flour. "Okay well, maybe you should take a break from… whatever this is. Don't stress yourself out, 'kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Alfred sighed. Maybe he did need a distraction from the whole election thing.

"I'm gonna go make some more pancakes. I'll call you if I have left-overs." Matthew left Alfred's kitchen, knowing very well that there would be no leftovers.

Meanwhile, Alfred picked up his phone and sent a message. If he was going to take a break, there was no better break than video games, and if he was going to play video games, there was no better person to play them with:

"Hey Kiku! You wanna come over to play video games? I'll totally kick your butt!"