Author's Note: Hello everyone, this is the first chapter to my story: 'Cruel Illusions'! I have had the idea for this story for a long time, so I am super excited for this! I hope you all like it as much I do, haha.

I would like to give a HUGE thank you to don't-call-me-eyebrows, for being my supa fab beta-reader and helping organize all my crazy ideas. XD GURL YOU FAB!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters.

Here we go!

The accident wasn't his fault. Kiku had seen him, the strange man wearing black. Why had he been there? It was pouring down rain, so when Kiku tried to swerve, the car had slid, bringing disaster. Kiku shivered, for he had recognized the cold eyes of the man. It wasn't the first time he had seen him.

16 years ago:

Young Kiku sat there, playing in the sand with the other children. He looked up to see a strange man staring at him. Kiku sat there for a moment, startled by the man's dark, cold eyes. Kiku got up, running over to his mother.

"Mommy, who is that man over there?" he asked, pointing his finger towards the Asian man in brack, still standing motionlessly.

His mother looked over to where Kiku was pointing, but her brows furrowed in confusion, "Honey, what man are you talking about? There is no one over there."

"Mom, he's over there looking at us! See-" Kiku stopped when he looked back over, but there was no one there. Where had the man gone? It was like he was an illusion - disappearing after a moment's sight.

His mother looked down at him, worried that her child had been hallucinating, "Kiku, are you ok? Would you like to go home?"

Kiku nodded, and as they set off, he looked back at where the man had been standing. He could have sworn that the man had really been there.

6 years ago:

It was Kiku's first day of high school; he was both nervous and excited. Finally he was able to start a new school, and have a clean slate. For the past ten years, he had been having visions of a blonde man, who seemed strangely familiar, even though Kiku had no idea who it was. They had been haunting him at school, at night, at dinner, pretty much every day he would have the visions. Today, however, he felt fine, well-rested, and ready to start over in school.

"Kiku, are you ready to go?" His mom yelled from downstairs. She would be driving him, in case he had another anxiety attack on the way.

"Just a minute, Mom!" Kiku yelled back, looking in the mirror a final time. Those eyes, he thought as the image of the strange man's eyes flashed back into his mind. Even though the day he had seen the man was 10 years ago, the memory was still fresh in his mind.

As he traveled to school in silence, his mother spoke softly, "Kiku, do you feel ok? Are you having your...visions again?"

"Mom, I feel fine, please don't worry about me. I'm pretty sure I'll survive," He said, rolling his eyes, "but if do I die, please bury me with Hatsune Miku dolls."

"Oh dear, not your beloved 'Hatsune Miku' again," she said, laughing.

"It's who I am, don't try to change me!" he replied, jokingly.

They pulled up to the school, both looking at the tall brick building. His mom wiped a tear, "Good luck, my baby. Always remember, Mommy loves you!"

"Oh no, not this again," Kiku said with a huff, "Mom, I'm not four. I'll be fine." He got out of the car and slammed the door shut, not bothering to wave goodbye.

His mom smiled, "What am I going to do with him?"

2 years ago:

"Oh, my baby is all grown up!" Kiku's mom said, wiping the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Mom! I'm not a baby anymore, I'm just graduating high school!" he said, adjusting his cap and gown.

"Well look at you, a fine young man, I see," Kiku's father said.

"Tell Mom that; she still thinks I'm a baby," Kiku said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we don't have much time to stay and argue whether you are still a baby or not; you wouldn't want to be late, would you?" His father said, pushing Kiku towards the giddy mass of kids taking their seats.

Kiku headed over to the H's, and sat in his designated chair.

The ceremony started, and as everyone stood up to wait to be called for their diploma, Kiku looked up on the stage, gasping. There he was. The man from 14 years ago, in the playground. Why the hell was he there? Kiku looked around to see if anyone else was startled by the unknown man on stage, but no one looked fazed. Could it be that he was still the only one able to see him?

The announcer called, "Kiku Honda." Kiku started to head onstage, quickly grabbing his diploma, shaking the administrators' hands, and then hurrying back to his seat. The man was still up there, giving the same cruel, empty stare.

1 year ago:

Kiku was trying to be a 'normal' college student, but he was still having the visions. He had gone to talk to a psychologist, but the anti-anxiety treatment wasn't helping. The visions stayed the same: blurry, cryptic, and without end. He started to cherish the few days without visions. He was able to rest and eat normally.

One day, Kiku was just sitting on the couch, playing video games. That is when everything changed, and he got the call.

"Hello? This is Kiku," he said, pausing the game.

"Kiku Honda, I'm so sorry. Your parents have been murdered. We found them in the woods behind their house."

Kiku dropped the phone and looked around in horror. The memory of the cold eyes flashed back to him as his head started spinning and everything went black.

A silhouette was facing him, speaking in an emotionless voice, "We can't keep doing this anymore, goodbye."

One year ago:

It had been a week since Kiku's parents had been murdered. The numb pain of the event hung over Kiku like a dark cloud. Their funeral was today, all planned by Kiku himself. It was all the he could do after everything they had done for him. As Kiku put on his only nice suit and smoothed his hair out, he tried to relax. Kiku's worst fear was that another vision would come during the funeral service.

"Kiku, are you ready to go?" his grandma called from the other room.

That reminded him of this first day of high school, when his mom called for him. He pushed the memory out of his head, and replied, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Have you gotten shorter?" she asked, looking down at him with her mischievous smile. It reminded Kiku of his mom.

"Um...not that I know of," he said, sighing. Thanks for the boost of confidence, Grandma, I've always been short.

"Are you going to be ok?" she questioned, returning to a serious mood.

"I hope so." Kiku didn't want to jinx himself.

When they arrived at the funeral, Kiku looked around. There was a good turnout. Kiku hoped his parents were happier now and free of pain, unlike himself. As the pallbearers brought the caskets down the aisle, and get them in front of the chairs arranged in rows.

Once everyone sat down, Kiku's grandma went up to speak. Kiku sat there listening, until someone caught his eyes. No, no. It couldn't be. The man was there, standing in between the two caskets. He had a smirk on his face, as if he was taunting Kiku to come at him. It worked, though. Kiku shot up up his chair, flipping the table of flowers in front of him, making the glass vases crash into millions of tiny shards.

"IT'S HIM!" Kiku screamed, disturbing the service. Everyone turned to face Kiku in surprise. "You killed them didn't you? You bastard, I'll get revenge!"

In rage, Kiku grabbed the folding chair he was sitting on, and threw it at the man, who simply ducked and avoided it. "GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF HERE! IT'S HIS FAULT! MAKE HIM LEAVE; DONT YOU SEE HIM?" Kiku lunged at him, raising his arm to punch, but a guest held him back.

"What is your problem? Get it together! There is no one there!" His grandma scolded harshly. She was right. Glass covered the floor, and the tangled flowers covered the ground.

Kiku stood there, leaning over. When he looked back up, the man was gone.

Present time:

Kiku scanned his surroundings as he drove along; the rain was pouring down, reducing his line of sight. It had been year since his parents died, yet the pain was still fresh. Thoughts of the funeral haunted him, as well. The people that had been there had stopped talking to him after his outburst. He had no one anymore. Kiku was alone to suffer.

The visions had also kept coming. They happened almost everyday now, but they were only more confusing now. He was tired of them; Kiku wanted to be normal for once.

He looked to his side for a moment, spotting a bunny on the side of the road. When Kiku looked back in front of him, his eyes widened in horror - it was him. The man that had been haunting Kiku for years was standing in the middle of the road, giving Kiku the same horrific glare. Kiku quickly swerved out of the way, trying to avoid hitting the man. However, the car slipped in the wet pavement into the other lane of oncoming traffic.

Before Kiku passed out from the impact of the airbags deploying, he remembered the crushing sound of the car's metal as he flipped helplessly.

Slowly opening his eyes, Kiku was blinded by the clean white ceilings of the hospital. He tried to quickly sit up in surprise, but the pain in his ribs prevented him from doing so.

"Ah, Mr. Honda, I see you're awake," a nurse said cheerfully.

"What happened?"

"You flipped in your car, sustaining a few broken ribs, bruises, and some cuts from broken glass. Other than that, though, no one else was hurt. However, your car is very damaged," she replied, looking at a clipboard.

"The accident...I tried to swerve out of the way for the man in front of my car," Kiku said, still puzzled on why exactly the strange man had been there.

"I'm sorry sir, but according to witnesses, there was no man in the road. There was nothing in the road, you swerved for nothing."

"No, there was a man...he was right there, standing in front of my car!" Kiku said. Could it be that he was still the only one able to see the man? Why wouldn't anyone believe him?

"Maybe you've had some kind of post trauma-"

"No...he was there! The same man from years ago...HE WAS IN FRONT OF MY CAR!" Kiku screamed out, squirming in the uncomfortable bed, "Get me out here! Let me go home!"

"Sir, please calm down. There was no one there, I assure you," she said, distressed by Kiku's sudden outburst.

"He was there! Don't try to tell me otherwise! He was staring at me with his cruel eyes, I saw him!" Kiku continued to scream out, tears now streaming down his face.

"Please calm down."

Kiku shoved the nurse out of the way with as much force as he could muster. He grabbed the plate of food that had been his lunch from his bedside table and threw it at her. "Get away from me, bitch," Kiku spat at her.

Suddenly, a tall, Russian man came into the room, "You called?"

"Ah, yes! Mr. Honda, this is Dr. Ivan Braginski," the nurse said before leaving.

"So...Mr. Kiku Honda, how are you feeling?" Dr. Braginski asked.

"Angry."

"Are you in pain?"

"Yes."

"What caused you to swerve?" the doctor continued to question.

"There was a man standing in front of my car," Kiku replied calmly.

"No there wasn't, there was no one."

"No! I've told the nurse this once, and I'll tell you again - there was a man there! He was in the playground when I was four, he was at my high school graduation, he was at my parent's funeral, and he was in front of the car!" Kiku screamed at the doctor.

"Please calm down," Ivan said while pressing the button, calling the nurse to get sedatives to calm Kiku.

"Please believe me! Someone HAD to have seen him!" Kiku continued to shout. The doctor was then trying to inject the sedatives into Kiku, who screamed, "Don't touch me!"

Kiku started to squirm to try to stop the doctor, but the nurse came back and held Kiku's limbs down until he fell asleep from the shot.

"Nurse, I think we are going to have to do something about him," Dr. Braginski said.

"What do you have in mind?"

"He's going to have to get out of here, away from the public. I feel as if he is a...threat," Ivan said, smiling evilly.

It had been a few months since the accident. The blame went on Kiku, of course. The accident wasn't his fault, he swore that the man was there. After leaving the hospital, the doctor had referred him to a counselor to talk to. However, it hadn't helped Kiku, for even the person who was supposed to be helping him didn't believe that the strange man had been there.

Kiku had even become a recluse. He double-locked his doors and put boards over his windows to make sure the man wouldn't be able to come in. Kiku quit his job and dropped out of college. He was only able to pay his rent and get food from the inheritance from his parents. He was alone most days, staying in his house, staring at the walls. Time lugged by slowly, yet Kiku survived somehow.

Interrupting his thoughts, the phone rang, making him jump out of his seat; Kiku answered in a monotone voice, "Hello?"

"Kiku Honda? Hello, this is Dr. Ivan Braginski. I am afraid that due to your mental condition, you are going to have to move to an asylum for the safety of you and the public."

"What? My condition? I'm perfectly fine! I'm an adult, you cannot force me to go there!" Kiku yelled back in fury.

"Sir, you have been seeing things, and having so-called 'visions'. You have gotten in a car accident, threw chairs at a funeral, and you have pushed one of our nurses. You need to be helped. This is for your sake, please trust us. As you have been getting worse, the court believes it would be best for you to go to an asylum."

"No...no. This is not happening," Kiku said in horror, yet his next question was, "When do I have to go?"

"In one day, you will be escorted to the asylum," the doctor said calmly. His calmness pissed Kiku off.

"What about my counselor right now?" Kiku asked.

"You will be assigned a personal counselor when you get to the asylum. We are sure he will be able to help you. Please, this is for your sake."

"Fuck you all," Kiku said in anger, yet he knew that he was helpless. He had no family he could go to. He was an orphan, all alone.

"Goodbye! See you in 24 hours!" the doctor said cheerfully. before hanging up.

Kiku sat there for a moment, before dragging himself to the bathroom, where he looked in the mirror.

What if they were right to put him there? The visions were getting worse everyday, and the counselor couldn't help him.

As Kiku punched the mirror in anger, the crushed glass cut into his hand. The blood dripped from his raw knuckles, yet Kiku didn't feel the pain. "NO!" he screamed.

He looked back up at the broken reflection. Remembering the cruel, cold stare of the man's, he looked into his own eyes. They were the same.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it, and sorry that this is the introductory chapter... Also, I know that England/Arthur wasn't in here this chapter, I know, but he will be in the next chapter will all his glory and amazingness. :D

Please review and tell me what you think so far! I love you guys! 3