SO I have this heaedcannon that Russia volunteers on his free time at a children's hospital. I wanted to turn it into a multichapter Rochu fic, but writing them is so much harder than reading them. Shout out to all the rochu writers out there!
In all honesty, I don't even know what to think of the outcome of this, lol. I like the beginning, but I feel like they're all OOC and that makes me cringe a bit on the inside. I hope you guys at least vaguely like it! I think i'm just going to stick to writing one-shots from now on. Oh well.
Enjoy, my cupcakes!
P.S. This beautiful cover picture was drawn by Baby pink 'n Baby blue! It makes me so happy!
Growing up, we are told not to judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately for Ivan, his entire life was teeming with book critics inspecting each and every dent or abnormality in his poor, misjudged cover.
No one ever took a second look at Ivan Braginsky. Who would? He easily towered over anyone who walked past him and was, in an almost literal sense, built like a tank. People were intimidated, that's a fact, but many of them didn't even breath in around him, each afraid that he would hurt them if they did.
They had it all wrong though.
Ivan was one of the kindest, sweetest, most humble human beings to have ever existed. He enjoyed the simple things in life, such as fishing and sunflowers - he even hopes to have a garden one day. He had two sisters, both of which he loved to death; he even kept the scarf his older sister made him on at all times.
Despite the way many adults seemed to steer clear of him, he was adored by children. Although their initial reaction to a six foot tall man wasn't much different from that of an adult, children had always been the best judges of character and would accept him with loving arms. In fact, he found himself, just like he would every other Thursday and Friday, walking to the local hospital.
He made sure to greet the kind woman at the front desk with a wave and a smile, she did the same and handed him his Volunteer Pass. "Thank you, Elizabeta."
"No problem, sweetheart," she responded.
Ivan nodded, a small smile forming on his lips as he headed toward the children's ward. As he walked, various staff members greeted him, among them, his little sister Natalya. She had been the one who introduced him to the volunteer position.
"Big brother!" she shouted, weaving in and out of her co-worker's ways. She had been in the middle of her lunch break, so the sandwich he had packed for her was in her grip, half-eaten. She gave him a tight hug, one which he returned, and smiled. "How was work today?"
Ivan blinked. How was work? He couldn't remember. "Boring," he replied simply. His days were usually boring and monotonous, the only fun he ever had was coming to volunteer.
"Oh," she frowned. She wasn't disappointed at her failed attempt at a conversation, it's more than she's gotten out of him before. "Well, I hope you have fun today. I have to return to my lunch break, Toris will get annoying if I don't."
"Tell him I said hello." Ivan smiled kindly as he walked off, leaving his younger sister with her jaw on the floor.
…
"My little angels," the cute, blonde nurse called, getting the attention of all the kids in the playroom. "It's almost lunchtime and our special guest is on his way!"
An uproar of childish screams filled the room as they cheered, all except the new boy. He sat in an isolated corner of the room, away from the other kids, and patted his lap rhythmically. Is dark hair brushed over his chocolate eyes and a few seconds later a head of blonde hair sat in front of him.
"Hiya, sweetheart," she began, giggling as he looked up and quickly turned away. "Don't be scared, I'm nice, I promise. My name is Emma."
"I'm Kiku." He responded, voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. Emma pouted slightly.
"What a nice name! Tell me, why aren't you playing with the other kids, Kiku?"
The young boy in front of her broke into a coughing spree, then stared up as if his actions spoke for themselves. Emma frowned sympathetically. "Aw, sweetheart. Don't worry. I'm sure they still want to play with you."
"I'd rather not." He whispered, pulling his legs to his small chest and resting his chin on his knees.
…
Ivan walked into the playroom a few minutes later. It was mostly reserved for the kids who had incommunicable diseases, or children who had been in the hospital for a while.
Upon seeing him, the various little kids lined up at his feet, tugging him in different directions and shouting up at him. He chuckled at the sight, but cleared his throat, getting all attention on him in an instant.
"Let us form a circle. We can have a snack and tell stories at the same time, da?"
With a cheer, the children spread themselves out, forming a giant circle around the room with Ivan sitting in the middle. Emma handed each kid a packet of animal crackers, a container of applesauce, and a pouch of Caprisun. Ivan found himself staring as she went into a far corner of the room with all three items in hand. Her hands were moving energetically as she talked, but the way her shoulders slumped showed she had made no progress.
When she move away, the small boy stared at the objects in hand quizzically. Ivan was about to get up and talk to him, when, from the corner of his eye, he saw one of the kids, Alfred Jones, get up and walk over to him. The other kids were too engrossed in their snacks to mind something like that.
Alfred attempted to convince the kid to join them. When he saw that he was making no progress, he took a seat beside him and started eating his snack. Ivan smiled. "Who wants to hear the story of Princess Anastasia?"
Curious eyes fell on him and he giggled. It was his favorite story growing up, he was sure all the kids would enjoy it as well. So he began.
…
"You do not understand," the man stressed once again as he ran his hand through his disheveled hair. "I have to see him. I come from the other side of town, after being stuck in traffic for an hour, to see my little brother. You have to let me!"
Yao was not one to give up, especially in the case of his younger brother.
"I am terribly sorry, sir. Visiting hours are over, you will have to come back tomorrow." Elizabeta was a few minutes from clocking out, or rather Francis was a few minutes too late for clocking in. Her patience was wearing thin and she wanted nothing more than to go home.
Yao slammed his open palms onto the counter, his eyes narrowing. Elizabeta raised a thin eyebrow and stood from her chair, cracking her knuckles as a factor of intimidation. Yao didn't even flinch. "Please. It is just a quick visit. I cannot come any other day of the week, I live two hours away!"
"I already told you, visiting hours are over. Please leave before I have to call security to escort you."
The Chinese man brought a hand to his temple, massaging it slightly. "Ms. Elizabeta, I am begging you, please. Would you not be in the same desperate position if it were your younger brother at stake?"
Thick lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes flickered to the digital clock on her desktop as she cursed every kind fiber of her being. "You have exactly five minutes. I am counting. Go."
Yao blinked. "Wait, where do I go?"
"Two-hundred ninety-nine seconds, two-hundred ninety-eight seconds…" she counted, her shoulders replying with a shrug.
…
Children's ward, children's ward… aha! Yao's eyes scanned around. There had to be some sort of list, telling which kid was in which room. It was his safest bet. He made his way up to a door, locked and only accessible with a key, but displaying the names of all the children on that floor.
He sighed, defeated in one aspect but awarded in the other.
"See you tomorrow, da?" A strong voice called from the other side. A loud beep filled the silent room and Yao panicked, standing his ground and shutting his eyes. After a few seconds of absolute silence, Yao peeked through his eye, staring up at the most intimidating man he had ever seen.
Neither of the men talked but, for some odd reason, they didn't have to. Yao eyed the open door behind the man longingly, and Ivan smiled, stepping aside so he could go in. "Would you show me the room where Kiku Honda is in? He is my younger brother and I need to see him." Without another word, Ivan nodded.
…
"Japan seems like a pretty cool place to live. I have never been outside of America, though. I would like to someday, when I am well enough to travel." Alfred had personally asked for Kiku to be his new roommate, since his last one recovered about a month back he had been awfully lonely. Emma didn't hesitate in allowing their adorable friendship grow.
Wide brown eyes shot around, but finally settled on the warm bed sheets. He would need plenty of them, during the night his shivers were the worst. "Japan is beautiful. I do not remember much, having moved here when I was three, but I loved it."
"I want to go so bad. My dad, well one of my dads, used to be in the military and he was stationed in Japan. He said it was one of the most beautiful places he had ever visited, he has pictures up at home." Alfred's smiled was nostalgic, he missed his dads, his brother, and his strange Italian neighbor.
Kiku stared up at the American. "You can accomplish-"
"Anything you set your mind to." Yao finished. Alfred stared up at him in confusion, but welcomed Ivan once again. He had been told visiting hours were over, no fair.
"Yao! I have missed you so much! How did you know I was-."
Kiku broke off into a coughing fit, kicking Yao's brotherly instincts into overdrive. He took a seat on the bed, patting his brother's back softly. When Kiku pulled his hands away from his mouth, splotches of red stained his fingers.
Yao frowned. "Did that hurt?" the Japanese boy nodded and his brother pulled him into a tight hug. "I hope you feel better, Kiku. I have to get going, visiting hours are over, but I will come visit you on Saturday, okay?" Hesitantly, the younger sibling nodded. At least his brother had made the effort to visit, his father just dropped him off and left.
"Goodbye, Yao. Goodbye Ivan."
The two men smiled and Yao, rudely, sent a nurse to attend to his brother as he left.
…
Yao didn't complain when Ivan walked beside him out into the parking lot. It had been a long day, and he didn't mind the company.
"Your brother is shy, da?" Ivan spoke once they neared the cars parked in the back. Yao slowed his steps, so he could be in pace with him, and nodded.
"Yeah. He enjoys isolation. He gets it from me, I suppose."
The Russian chuckled, the sound bringing an inexplicable wave of calm to Yao's nerves. "You are very funny."
"Thanks." He responded, eyes glued to the pavement. For some reason, his heart thumped wildly in his chest. He hadn't felt this way in years.
They walked in silence until they arrived at Yao's car. Ivan stared at him, a small smile forming on his lips. "You said you were coming Saturday?"
"Yeah," he answered, eyes locked on asphalt.
"Wonderful. I will see you then."
Yao smiled, the shy, awkward smile one gave to their crush during their school years, and nodded. "See you Saturday."