I do not own Hetalia.

A/N: I just finished reading the available chapters of Hetalia World Stars and I found out how funny Romano truly is and how cool (like, reaaally cool) America is and... I fell in love with these two all over again. Haha, sue me.

...

Canada's main objective for today's meeting was to make himself visible, listen attentively, and participate actively, just like his usual goal for every meeting. But today, he pledged himself for a side mission.

There was a recent predicament concerning America and his relationship and Canada would like to do something about it. Normally, he wouldn't want to pry into his brother's or anyone's personal matter, but he couldn't do that this time. His conscience simply couldn't let him ignore it any further. America was just too atypical and out of himself and he's making Canada's worries intensify.

"America!"

He had a feeling that America and Romano broke up, judging by the way his brother was acting, and honestly, Canada didn't know whether to be amazed by the passionate way America was taking everything or be fed up by it. Nevertheless, he still decided to poke his nose into this business.

"America!"

Romano, Canada had learned, could be pretty intimidating in his own way and as much as possible, the North American nation wanted to avoid crossing paths with him. However, for the sake of America, as well as Canada's own peace of mind, he would muster all his courage and try to talk to the Italian. If he could play his cards well and know how to word his appellations properly, then he could achieve his goal with ease. What he would like to say to him, however, was still in the middle of being constructed in his mind, but as long as he started it with the topic of America, then maybe everything would follow through.

"Ve, America!"

For now, he took his time strolling the expansive corridor to where the meeting would commence since there was still plenty of time.

"Wait a minute, America." The persistent voice that had been calling America's name stopped right behind Canada as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. "Ve~ I've been calling for you, America. Why are you ignoring me?"

When Canada turned around, he saw Italy frowning at him. So even Italy was mistaking him for America? That was a bit sad, even though he was already used to it. "I'm not America, though."

"Ve?" Italy tilted his head as if to ask what he was talking about.

"I'm Canada," Canada cleared up, his hold to Kumakuro-san ("who?") tightening just a bit.

It took the Italian nation about five seconds to comprehend what had been said to him and when he finally did, he panicked. "Ve! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I thought you're America. I'm sorry, please don't hit me," he said in a rush and as though Canada was about to strike him, he used his arms to shield his head. Seriously, he was full of energy, wasn't he?

"Don't worry, I won't hit you but why are you looking for America?" the North American nation asked that had ceased the other nation's threshing.

Italy straightened his back and looked seriously at Canada, but his face still wore a worried expression. "I want to ask him not to be mean to my big brother."

At this, Canada alerted as well, his curiosity suddenly spiking up. Perhaps it was due to the mention of Italy's big brother but Canada also wanted to know what he meant by America being mean to Romano when as far as he knew, it was the other way around.

"Can you tell me what you mean by that, yeah?" he questioned.

"Ve~ Big brother is so gloomy lately and I know it's about America because I've been hearing him on the roof every night, he's been shouting America's name. I don't know what happened but I don't want big brother to be sad."

Canada pondered about what he heard for a little while. Because Italy didn't know how America had been lately, he was assuming that he was being mean to Romano. He was only looking at one side of the story. But so was Canada before Italy had told him about Romano's case. Surprisingly, Canada felt protective over his brother, yet he still wished to be just and rightful about this whole affair. Maybe he should discuss more with Italy?

With that in his mind, Canada chose to let Italy know about America, "But you know, Italy, Romano isn't the only one who's lonely. America is also miserable as of late." Canada actually pitied him, it was as if the torch that lighting up his whole being had been extinguished.

"Ve? What do you mean?" Italy did that head-tilting again as his face was painted with confusion.

"America is acting so out of tune. He's like a robot when he's working, he doesn't eat as much hamburger as he used to, he isn't brimming with as much energy as before and most importantly, he's accepting everything I'm saying about his country even though they're not nice. If he's his usual self, he'll always counter all my arguments with so much enthusiasm, he doesn't even do that now."

"Ve! My big brother won't lose," Italy immediately protested, his liveliness thereon inflated as though excited. It made Canada wonder how it became a competition all of a sudden. "Big brother agrees to cooperate with me, he's always cooking pasta for me, he's not shoving me or pushing me when I tried to sit beside him and most of all, he's doing his work diligently without complaining."

"Eh?" Canada's bafflement was obvious on his face. "Eh? Aren't those all favorable for you? Shouldn't you be glad?"

"No! Big brother is scary when he's like that, it's like the calm before the storm. I'm scared of how the storm will be."

"Ah, is that so?" The North American nation offered a small smile to the Italian and rested his chin on Kumajiki-san's head, the relaxing fluffiness helping him to think. "Do you think something happened to them?"

"I don't really know, but if something happened, I want to help them. I'm worried about big brother. How about you, Canada?"

Canada felt tremendously pleased that Italy remembered his name, so he eased more comfortably as he shared his thoughts and earlier plans, "Actually, I also thought of talking to Romano later because I want to ask him something. When I talked to America, he didn't take me seriously so it was hard to get answers but I want to help them as well."

"Ve! That's good! You're worried about your big brother, too, right Canada?" Italy asked and Canada noticed how much he used hand gestures to communicate, he had been either waving his arms around or touching him in the shoulder since earlier.

"No, actually, there's no record who's older between the two of us, but I think it's me," he uttered quite proudly.

"Wow~ That's amazing! So you're the big brother, that's nice." Italy then commenced on a tale about the privileges of a big brother. Canada listened to him intently with a constant comment here and there or an agreeable nod, all until Germany-san appeared.

"You two, what are you doing here? The meeting's going to start soon," always the stern and strict one, Germany-san said as he walked passed them.

"Ah, Germany! Listen, listen, I've been talking to Canada and do you know that he's the big brother of America and then this and this, that and that," he told the seemingly uninterested German as he trailed after him, but he remembered that the North American nation was still there sohe glanced back at him. "Ve~ Canada! I'll talk to you later, okay? We're partners now! See you!" Then he waved with so much exuberance.

Canada only smiled awkwardly and gave him back a small wave of his hand. Italy really was an energetic nation. He was also full of positivity and was a bit laid-back, but Canada hoped the Italian won't forget that they were about to help their brothers. (Though if he didn't forget Canada, then maybe he had a pretty good memory, yeah?)

Feeling lighthearted and enlivened, the North American squeezed Kumaburou-san and headed to the meeting room. Just like what Germany-san said, the meeting was about to start in a few and he found most of the nations already assembled at the room, some of them had even started on their usual bickering. He chose a sit across the empty ones, even though it didn't really matter where he opted to sit because he was bound to be forgotten anyway, and made himself comfortable while praying that Russia-san wouldn't sit on him again.

Only a few seconds later, America entered the meeting room in an abnormally inconspicuous manner. He was sporting a placid smile, probably to not look suspiciously out of his character, but he didn't announce his arrival like he usually would. He walked straight to the vacant seat across Canada without anyone, not even England-san, noticing him and if only Canada wasn't paying attention to him, he would've missed him as well. At this point, he couldn't help but think that the two of them were really brothers in that sense.

His brother placed his briefcase on the table as he gazed around him. When he met eyes with Canada, he crunched his nose as a greeting. Canada didn't know how to react.

And then, as if fate was playing on them, Romano chose that moment to come in, his expression was apathetic and it seemed like he had no plan on getting involved with anyone (except for one, perhaps) here, but that was his default mode. Canada watched how the older Italian proceeded to pass through the empty seats until he reached the one beside America. Without any care in the world, he sat on it.

If there was something that Canada benefited from being invisible to everyone, it was probably at this very moment. He could be as indiscreet as he wanted as he observed America and Romano's future interactions. No one was paying him any mind, anyway, so why not use it to his advantage, yeah?

Both of them didn't appear to realize that they were sitting beside each other. America was doodling something on his notes while Romano was busy sleeping. "Hey, Kumatarou-san, how do you think they will react?" he asked his beloved bear as he waited for it to happened, but Kumachika-san only responded with a whiny "I'm hungry" so he extracted a tiny vial of maple syrup from his pocket for him to munch on.

As the rest of the nation present were beginning to get noisy with their nonsense squabbles, Germany-san judged it best to start the meeting. He pounded on the table, attaining everyone's attention. Some had stopped, while others only lowered their voices. But then, England-san promptly raised a hand and said, "Wait a minute, America is still not here."

With that, the two nations that Canada had been observing suddenly perked up. America stood while laughing. "Hahaha! What are you talking about, England? I'm here since earlier, you know! You're really getting old, aren't you?" he said and England must have been confused because he didn't even rebut America's jibe.

On another note, that was the time Romano realized that he was sitting beside America. Canada couldn't decipher his reaction well enough, but it looked like he was surprised to find him here of all places, at the same time, he looked kind of glad. He was staring at America and when the latter sat down, their gazes finally met. Canada turned a deaf ear to Germany-san's lecture in favor of remarking the expression of the two.

As though the scene suddenly slowed down, they both gaped at each other with wide eyes, shocked and surprised with the unexpected turn of events. Canada involuntarily smiled at himself.

"H-hey Romano!" America greeted.

"America," Romano nodded and greeted back.

Then began the awkward atmosphere between them.

The meeting continued with fluid smoothness. Or so Germany-san had hoped. Everybody was doing whatever they pleased and not a single coordination could be detected from the entire conference room. Nothing except between America and Romano, but that was a whole different matter with the meeting. At least, Canada was enjoying himself, yeah?

America attempted to steal a glance at Romano, only to get alarmed when he noticed that the Italian was also stealing a look at him. This happened again and again until they looked at the same time and made eye-contact for a longer moment. Then they awkwardly laughed. Canada also let out a chuckle, he found it so amusing how awkward they were acting right now, especially when considering how their normal personalities were.

"What?" Kumakino-san inquired, his mouth full of the sticky syrup.

"Ah, I'm sorry Kumajina-san, I just found it really funny." Canada brought out his handkerchief and cleaned his bear with it. He rubbed his mouth gently, followed by his paws and then he let him finish the rest of the maple syrup. After he was done, he checked if there was any progress between the two. But he was partly stunned and partly amazed that there was such a huge leap from the previous scene.

By now, the two of them were sitting so closely to each other, their arms and shoulder were practically touching. America was back to accomplishing something on his notes while Romano was leaning his chin on his propped up elbow while peeking at the other's notes.

The whole scenario, Canada thought as he commended the way America showed his notes to Romano before whispering on his ear and smiling from ear to ear, resulted him to feel as though he was watching a soap opera. He wasn't new or unfamiliar to relationships, but it was like he was seeing all the cliché things about romance for the first time in his life. For example, it was as if the two of them were on their own world, the rest of the nations at the meeting were nothing but background noises. In correspondent to that, they seemed to forget that they just had a dispute over something that was still unknown to Canada. Aside from their initial surprise, they didn't even give the impression that they had broken up. If this was how they were every time, wouldn't that mean that their love for each other was indestructible? If so, then that would be nice, yeah?

However, thinking how they made both Canada and Italy worried for them, wouldn't that implicate how serious things got? After all, America acted so devastated as though it was the end of the world for him.

Tired from analyzing the overly complicated relationship of his brother, Canada decided to leave it how it was. If it turned out that it was really needing help to get salvaged, then he would help. Though seeing how things were playing now, he might not be needed, after all.

Back to the meeting, England-san was now talking about something that had to do with traditions and their importance to British people. He was reprimanding everyone who was talking back to him and who wasn't paying attention to his lectures, but when he was about to call out to America, he noticed that the younger's full attention was focused to Romano, same with Romano to America, and decided to skip him. Whether it was out of consideration was uncertain, however, though maybe England-san knew something. France-san seemed to share his sentiments as well, granted, he left the two alone to have their moment without interrupting or teasing them. He just smiled knowingly. Meanwhile, Spain was notably cooing at the two, his grin so bright and so delighted.

Canada was also skipped by England-san, but for the first time, he didn't mind. He faced ahead, instead. Romano's arm was now resting at the back of America's chair, his body posture completely facing America. They were still whispering at each other and from time to time, their gazes would make contact, then they would smile shyly as though they were embarrassed.

Weren't they acting too much like high school girls? Were they like this even before? Or was it possible that love was truly sweeter the second time around? Whatever it was, Canada didn't know. What he knew, however, was the fact that America and Romano's relationship was alright, after all, and he and Italy didn't have to worry about it anymore.

For the remaining time of the meeting, Canada let the two have as much privacy as they could get at this location and shifted his attention to the meeting itself. Even he wasn't so insensitive to watch every minute of their personal moment, he still had some tact left in himself. Besides, he was already satisfied with what he acquired.

Having made it out of the building after he gave his customary farewells to his fellow nations, Canada didn't expect to come across his brother and Romano with a group of people that might be Romano's acquaintances. Judging from the way the Italian was acting towards them, they seemed to be his good friends.

Canada shifted Kumashino-san on his arms and watched with confusion how America just stood there while Romano was being smothered with kisses by his lady friends. And then when the male friends were about to approach his brother for probably a friendly hug, Romano halted their movements in an instant. Romano placed a protective hand in front of America to ward his friends off as he explained something that they surprisingly understood without a fuss. During all these, America was just giving them a polite smile, which Canada thought was the first time he had ever seen. This America looked so docile compared to the America that he knew.

And then, as if his brother was hearing his thoughts, he faced Canada, their eyes meeting momentarily before America said something to Romano and made his way to where Canada was standing.

"Yo, Canada. What's up? You've been staring at me since earlier," America said, startling Canada who didn't think that he would be found out.

"Eh? You noticed me?"

America raised a brow and sent him a look as if to say 'duh'. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing. I was just wondering why you didn't get jealous when Romano was being too familiar with those ladies. On the other hand, he was so protective of you," he expressed carefully, unsure of whether it was alright to say things like these.

"Ahh that..." He grinned. "They're his close friends and that's just their usual greeting. You know, Europeans and their touchiness, Romano is just a bit more passionate in that sense. Despite himself, he's actually nice to his tourists and his close friends. And the other thing... well, it's not like I'm being protected or anything, he was just telling them that I'm American and we don't really like to be touched(*). He knows me that well, I suppose."

To Canada, America appeared really embarrassed. He was talking about his loved one with a fond expression and a face dusted in pink. To think that he could become like this pretty easily, Canada was intrigued. "Heh, is that so? But seeing as you are now, I assume you got back together, yeah?"

"Eh? what do you mean?" he questioned, the bashful air around him switched to perplexed in a jiffy.

"I mean... you and Romano, didn't you break up?"

America blinked once, then again. His face looking so puzzled and so innocent as if he had no idea what Canada was telling him. "We broke up? When?"

"Wha—" Canada also blinked at him in confusion. "That's what I'd like to know! Weren't you acting like you guys did? Weren't you heartbroken just a few days ago?"

"Hahaha," America laughed. "Don't be silly, Canada. We didn't break up. We just argued over something. It's just we didn't see eye-to-eye over that something, we wouldn't split because of that. More like, breaking up is never an option. It's like, how do I put it... we decided to enter this relationship so we have to put up with everything. There's no turning back now or ever."

For a moment, Canada didn't know how to respond. He was trying to take everything that his brother was telling him, from the fact that they didn't break up to the point that they most likely never will, but as always, America's way of thinking was a bit complicated for Canada to understand. However, he was once again reminded of how... cool America could be.

Most of the time, Canada was annoyed by the selfish way America usually handled things. But there were also times when he saw him as an awesome brother, especially now that he had gotten more mature. That was probably the reason why ever since before he had always been wishing to be equal to America and that he wanted to stand side by side with him.

It was a bit disconcerting that he made Canada worried about nothing, but by being seriously committed and responsible with his relationship, America also gained another respect from him.

"I see, then that's good, yeah?"

"Haha, yeah. So don't worry, okay?" America replied and his words only arose a sigh from Canada.

"I think it's a bit too late for that. Anyway, I'm glad that you two are okay, after all."

"Yeah? Then wanna go for lunch with us?" He turned around to see if Romano's friends were still with him, they weren't so Romano was alone waiting for him.

Canada also noticed this so he just declined politely. "Maybe next time, I'll be going with Kumashira-san anyway. You should go back to him."

"Okay, Canada. See you later!" And off he went.

Canada eyed them for a while. He felt a bit jovial for some reason, like a huge load had been removed from his chest. It was rare to see America being lifeless, but Canada realized that he still preferred this cheerful and happy one over something like he was in the past days.

He didn't know whether the reason why Italy didn't seek him or wait for him after the meeting was because he already got a wind of this, though it was possible he simply forgot about Canada. Either way, he was sure Italy would also take this as a good news. It was amazing how the problem was solved even before they had the chance to work on it.

With light steps and feelings of contentment, Canada snuggled on Kumajirou-san and strolled on his way home.

.

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Bonus: Nekotalia... Nyaa!

An Average Day In Their Lives

Romanoneko's hobbies consisted of eating pasta, taking a nap and flirting. Today, since the sun was bright and the streets were quiet, he decided to take a long fulfilling nap. He stretched his fluffy body and searched for a comfortable position. When he found one, he closed his eyes with satisfaction.

However, not long after, he noticed that his stupid little brother-cat was sitting beside him. He was annoyed and he didn't want the younger cat anywhere near him so he kicked him incessantly.

When Germaneko passed by, Romanoneko hissed at him. Though luckily, his stupid little brother-cat's attention was shifted to Germaneko so he followed him.

When Romanoneko closed his eyes again and thought that he could finally have his siesta, Franceneko came and bothered him, his long fur twiddling and waving stylishly. Romanoneko didn't give a fuck so he hissed at him too.

When Englandneko passed by with his condescending posture, Romanoneko hissed at him, as well.

When it was Russianeko who sat beside him, Romanoneko couldn't stop himself from trembling from his ears to his tails.

At this point, Romanoneko already gave up from trying to sleep. These fuckers were annoying the hell out of him.

Meanwhile, just a few meters away, Americat was laughing merrily as he played with his own tail. He was jumping and trashing around and he just found everything entertaining. Japaneko was watching him with judging eyes but he didn't care. He tried to catch his tail and leaped from a distance until he landed on his back, then he laughed again.

That was how Romanoneko found him. Without a second thought, he escaped from Russianeko and rushed to where Americat was still laughing by himself.

Romanoneko jumped on Americat and started to give him tiny licks on the face. If he couldn't take a siesta, then he'd just flirt instead.

Americat, on the other hand, was startled at first. But then he looked at the cat who was kiss-licking him and when he realized it was Romanoneko, he gave in to his instincts and purred. He felt blissful.

Just like the usual, it was another peaceful and uneventful day in the lives of Romanoneko and Americat.

...

I'm accepting all forms of reaction, from calm and normal to bloody and trashy, just send me a review if you have some. Thanks a lot for checking it out!

* Some trivia about Romano and America that I picked up from Hetalia World Stars.