Kiku Honda would really much prefer to stick to his 2D romances rather than date real people. But when Yong Soo sets him up on a date, he meets a mysterious stranger with green eyes on the way. Maybe he'll learn that 3D love isn't so bad. Mainly Giripan

This is my first fanfiction. Well, the first one I've written since I was 12, anyway. All the Hetalia Asians come in at some point. I'll have to make up names for Taiwan and Hong Kong, so bear with me.


Chapter 1

Kiku sighed and shifted a bit where he sat. His legs were starting to get a bit stiff. How many hours had he been playing this game again? He glanced quickly to the right side of the room and made out the red numbers of his digital clock, almost invisible behind the midday sunlight streaming through his window.

Looking back to the computer screen before him, Kiku scrolled through more of the game's dialogue. This dating simulation game was released only two days ago, but was near completion. Kiku had played it almost nonstop in between classes and meals. His eyes were starting to feel like they had been slowly roasted over a fire from overuse, but Kiku was used to spending entire nights before the computer screen. He was a dating sim warrior.

"Oh, Hera-chan. You're the only one for me," he breathed as a cutscene ensued. Hera-chan, with the brown hair that had a subtle hint of waviness, with the cute sleepy eyes shining with the green of leaves on a summer day. Hera-chan, an exchange student from Europe with the accented English that Kiku found so endearing.

Hera-chan, who would never leave his side and would love him forever. Especially since she had nine thousand affection points, which was the equivalent of being in 90% love with him. Game weeks (equalling real life hours) of pressing the talk button and sending gifts had paid off. It was a matter of game days before Hera-chan would decide against going back to Europe and decide instead to stay in America with Kiku forever and ever and ever…

And Kiku had done it all without a game guide or any help. The cutscene faded out, and Kiku exhaled and finally lied down on the floor, stretching his legs. This was it. If Kiku succeeded with this final date, he would beat the game. He sat up again, prepared to face any sort of question about Hera-chan's bust size or birthday. Then he will have beat this edition of-

"KIKUUUU. KIKUUU? ARE YOU IN THERE? I'M COMING IN, SO YOU SHOULD TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR PANTS AND QUICKLY HIDE AWAY WHATEVER MAGAZINE YOU'RE LOOKING AT, OKAY?"

And with that, the door burst open and Im Yong Soo exploded into the room much like a jack-in-the-box would shoot out from its container. Kiku regarded the Korean man with a deadpan expression. Typical Yong Soo, never knocking before he interrupted the climax of Kiku's dating simulations. Quite frankly, Kiku was annoyed but nevertheless greeted his dorm neighbor with all his graciousness.

"Ah, Yong Soo, it's so nice to see-"

"How long have you been playing that game, man? You need to get out there and get some sunlight!"

"-you." Damn, that Korean was loud.

"Oh, what are you playing?" Yong Soo inquired with curious delight as he shoved Kiku aside. Kiku's face met the wood floor soundlessly under the clamor of the Korean's fiddling with Kiku's computer.

"D-don't touch that!" Kiku exclaimed frantically (or as frantically as he could sound) as he sat up.

Yong Soo guffawed as soon as he recognized the contents of Kiku's monitor. "Have you seriously been playing your dating sims for days straight AGAIN?"

Kiku closed his mouth. Well, yes, he had. What's it to you, Yong Soo? You'll never understand the power of 2D romance. You watch too many K-dramas, Kiku thought rather bitterly.

"You need to get laid," Yong Soo said as he looked at Kiku with a mix of pity and… mischievousness. Uh oh. That was never a good sign. "It turns out that this is your lucky day, Mr. Otaku!"

Well it was seeming to be pretty unlucky so far.

"I've set you up on a date!"

Oh no.

"With a real, 3D girl," Yong Soo added oh so thoughtfully, winking and elbowing Kiku at the same time.

Well, Kiku had assumed that part.


Kiku pondered for the fiftieth time how he ended up agreeing to this. Actually, he hadn't agreed to this at all. Yong Soo had this magical ability to force Kiku into situations he'd rather not be in. Kiku's polite objections made no dents in Yong Soo's resolve. But Kiku would much rather be up in his room, capturing Hera-chan's heart once and for all, rather than outside, walking on his way to a date. It was late afternoon at this point, and an ocean breeze was blowing from the west. Everything in the outdoors and the surrounding city felt utterly unwelcoming to Kiku.

Though that was probably the thought of having a real date invading every corner of his mind.

Kiku just wasn't confident about talking with real girls. They were too unpredictable and hard to handle for him. They were too much emotion and hormone and not enough data and algorithms and selecting a response from three pre-generated ones. He only had experience in 2D dating, but if he applied the same tactics, he wondered how successful he could be.

Shaking his head to clear out all other thoughts, Kiku reminded himself that the goal was to show his date a good time. That was always the goal. It wasn't about him. Maybe she, whoever she was, was nervous too. He would make her comfortable. He would read the atmosphere and adjust his actions accordingly. How hard could it be?

"She's cute, and Taiwanese, and really nice," Yong Soo had told him earlier that day. "Her name's Mei." It wasn't much information to go by, really. Kiku was to meet her in the Italian restaurant five blocks away from his dormitory. Apparently she also attended their college, but Kiku had never seen her before. Then again, he spent most of his time in his room anyway.

"It'll be healthy for you to start associating with some real people," Yong Soo had said in a brief moment of wisdom and what might've been genuine concern for his Japanese friend. "You only really get to be in college once. Meet some people." Of course the moment was shattered slightly when Yong Soo mentioned "getting laid" right afterwards, but Kiku tried to appreciate the thought. Yong Soo had also lent some of his wardrobe to Kiku. Somehow the tall Korean man was able to find something to fit little Kiku.

His thoughts reverted to the present. His hands felt empty as the wind wove through his bare fingers. Maybe he ought to bring something. He always brought flowers to his simulated dates with Hera-chan. Maybe he should do that for Mei too. It couldn't hurt. She would either appreciate the gesture or unwillingly accept them anyway. Hopefully. Obviously there was no affection points to win on a real life date.

Slowing his walking pace, Kiku scanned the street with his eyes for a flower shop or grocery of some sort. He was sure there had to be one around on a street as busy as this one. He noticed a grocery across the street, with many colorful floral arrangements in the front.

What happened in the next 120 seconds was completely unexpected. First, the mundane and ordinary- Kiku walking across the street when the crossing signal told him so, as it always did. Kiku stepping with an even pace down the sidewalk towards the store. Kiku walking into the store, the transition between the late afternoon sun and the indoor, air-conditioned shade of the store very obvious. Kiku browsing through flowers like he would browse through any other store any other day. Kiku walking up to a check-out counter with his items of purchase, in this case, a bouquet of roses, his hand ready to bring his wallet out.

Then, with one little movement of his eyes, the world changed. Not a drastic, mind-blowing change. But it was a change both subtle and powerful, like the light rumble of a large, speedy subway train felt through the feet as it traveled beneath the ground.

Suddenly the sunlight seemed a little more orange and the scent of the flowers in the store seemed to dance a little in the air. Kiku remembered inhaling as his gaze met the gaze of two sleepy green eyes, shining with the green of summer leaves. Breathing out, his eyes traced a straight and structured nose down to a pair of lips, colored just barely enough to discern it from a tan face, framed with brown hair that had just a subtle hint of waviness.

His breath caught in his throat as he looked at the face as a whole, focusing on the sleepy green eyes in the middle. It was a man's face, a face that made him think not quite of Adonis, but of the radiance of Apollo. Like arrows, the green eyes pierced Kiku's own with acknowledgement. Kiku's hand, once reaching for his ordinary little wallet, suddenly fell limp.

This all happened within a matter of two seconds. The green eyes blink once, blink twice, holding Kiku's unrelenting gaze unwaveringly. After a moment, the green eyes break off the gaze and move to the bouquet in Kiku's arm. Kiku swears he hears a sound as the eye contact is released, and is broken out of his stupor.

"Got a date?" a low, calm voice pours into Kiku's ears from behind the check-out counter.


To be continued.