AN: Just a short story about Rwanda in a non-history lecture format. There's a lot of references and I listed them at the very bottom. Before you ask or anything, I am indeed working on Untitled! _ The Rwandan genocide was really bad. It was internationally famous, but nobody really tried to put a stop to it. Rwanda was mostly left to try and fix things on its own. About one million people were killed (mostly Tutsis with a moderate amount of Hutus) in one hundred days. About ten thousand were killed every day, four hundred every hour, and seven every minute. It really kind of bothers me since so many people where dying, but nobody really did shit.
Warning: MentionedOC!Rwanda, OC!Burundi, Serious!Meeting, and HISTORY. GASP.
"Ma chéri! S'il vous plaît de me parler!" He called out futilely to the retreating body of another nation. Those outstretched arms that were originally parted for a warming hug dropped limply to his side when the other country disappeared through a now closed door. A tight smile appeared on his face and his eyebrows pinched together. "Not even a hello, Rwanda? Where did we go wrong?" France called after her in bitter humor. He went and resumed his previous position by England's side.
He didn't even manage to settle down into the cold and firm chair before he felt an intense need to address those eyes that were staring so intensely at him (He seriously thought that he might burst into flames). Idly twirling a lock of his blonde hair around his finger, he turned to look at Germany who sat just diagonally across from him. "Why are they all staring at me?"
Germany gave him a look in return, the kind of look that he usually gives to North Italy when he does something idiotic (like that instance with the Red Devils), yeah, that kind of look. "Do you really not know?"
France refused to dignify that with an answer.
Rough hands moved to slicked back blonde hair, and Germany dragged his hand along the base, smoothing any stray hair (not that there were any in the first place) that stuck out. "The five hundred page report she wrote against you made it to international fame." Germany's hands clasped together in a light hold and rested on the large wooden table. "As did the role you played during the genocide."
"My role is not clear."
"It's as clear as Germany's role in the Holocaust." A new voice piped up.
At the mention of that historical event, Germany bristled. His broad shoulders tensed and his back stood erect and rigid. A hostile air seemed to suddenly wrap itself around the man, causing most people to scuttle away from him in an attempt to avoid crossfire. "Please do not mention that. Thank you."
Whoever made that comment didn't speak again. France surmised that the mystery nation was scared into silence. The Frenchman watched with a slight frown as his fellow nation tried to calm himself as soon as possible. Was the man still that touchy about the Holocaust? It did end fifty years ago, but now that he thought about it, fifty years is like a minute to a nation. "Germany, you're not doing a very good job of hiding your homicidal aura."
Somebody clearing his throat rather loudly caught his attention. France eyes came to rest on a certain Austrian male. A blonde eyebrow arched up just slightly at the other male, an invitation for him to speak. A curt nod in his direction before Austria stood up, attracting most people's eyes to him.
"Yes, the Rwandan Genocide was a horrible thing, but there are other things that we need to do and prepare. Help get Rwanda back onto her feet for instance. You saw her when she came in, she was covered in bruises." Austria paused in the middle of his speech to let his words sink in. He cleared his throat yet again before continuing. "It'll take awhile for her to get back up and we should make it as easy as possible for her. We should always do something towards the Aarhus University shooting. We should do something to decrease the amount of school shootings. Or provide more foolproof plans to escape sudden school shootings." A slight bend at the waist and a sweep on an arm and he was sitting.
Just as he took a seat, the large polished doors to the conference and in staggered Burundi, scars and wounds still healing from his own genocide. "France!" He managed to say through the quick inhaling of air. "What did you do? Rwanda is really mad!" He stumbled and fumbled his way to his empty seat, next to all the other African nations. Burundi shot a quick glance up at his much larger neighbor. "Hey, DRC."
"We didn't do anything that she said I did! We did not arm the Hutus nor train them, my men did not molest any of the women, and we did not participate in the killing!"
Germany decided not to point out France's unusual wording of the second crime.
All Burundi did was shrug and say, "That's not what she said. Oh, she also said something about Western nations being disgusting, but I'm sure she's not serious or anything like that." With that said, he struck up his own conversation with Tanzania.
A nice chunk of the room settled into a guilt filled silence. Well, until England ungraciously broke it by slapping America upside the back of his head.
"You berk!" He snapped, glowering over his former responsibility. "If you're such a hero why didn't you do anything?"
"That hurts! And I did… do something."
"Landing your troops there and evacuating your people isn't considered helping! Wanker!" There was yet another solid slap to the back of America's head.
"Ow!" He yelped, leaping out of his chair and out of England's hitting range. From where he sat on the ground, he rubbed his head and glared at England, a small pout on his face, tears in his eyes. "It's not like you did much either."
The British man's face was the perfect example of indignation. "I—!" He started, eyes flaming and thick eyebrows looking quite menacing. England chocked on his words a bit as he raked his mind for a retort, but settled for glaring at America and crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine, I didn't do much either, but it's not like anybody else did."
It was after he said those words that England realized that the majority of the room had quieted down and everybody had heard him. Glances were shared and frowns marred most people's face.
"It's times like these that make me almost happy that I'm not a nation anymore and thus don't have to deal with these kind of unawesome shit." A certain albino sang out from where he sat, leg propped up on the table and hands cradling his head.
A quick (and very painful) jab to Prussia's side caused him to immediately settle back into a more proper form. His mouth opened to complain, but Germany managed to cut him off each time he tried to get a word in.
"Just behave this once, please."
"What? Why? I never had to before and I'm not about to change that! Unless…" A sly smirk appeared on his face and he leered at his younger brother, a devious glint sparkling in his red eyes. "Unless of course my little West has feelings for his former colony."
A faint dusting of red spread across his cheek at the mere thought of that. It was just atrocious! Absolutely crazy and just… incestuous in a way! Disgusting! "Of course I have feelings for her, I have raised her and Burundi from when they were children. I see them as family at most and that is all."
"Aw, well, thanks Germany!" Burundi hollered from where he sat, waving his arm around to attract the man's attention. More blood rushed to Germany's face, but he managed to give the smaller nation a curt nod in return.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the thin line on Belgium's face. "Belgium, is there something on your mind?"
"Um, well, uh… there actually is." She started off, a bit startled from Germany's sudden question. She hesitated, fiddling a bit with the ends of her dress's sleeve. "Um, Germany, you hardly spent any time with Ruanda-Urundi." It took the other nations a couple of minutes to remember that Rwanda and Burundi were once called that. "I hardly think you qualify as a family figure to those two."
"And you do?" France questioned, leaning forward onto the table, obvious interest in his eyes. "If I remember correctly –She told me this such a long time ago—you practiced… Raubwirtschaft. Is that how you pronounce it?" He asked, directing the question towards Germany where the word originated. A quick nod of approval from the man urged France onwards. "You worked the poor countries dry and kept the goods all to yourself. If I recall, you only helped them prepare for independence when their neighbor gained it."
Belgium's slender shoulders stiffened at what France said. A firm pout was on her face and she stared blankly at him, a defiant glint in her eyes. "Many European nations did that back then! You can't blame me! A-And I had a lot of things on my mind!"
There were a couple of things that Italy was, but stupid was not one of them. Being stupid was a whole entire different story though. The World Conference Meeting was getting on people's nerves that much he could tell. Nobody likes talking about their previous colonies that managed to became a nation, it just made everybody uncomfortable. So North Italy did the first thing he could think to do.
Leaning over, he gave Germany a quick peck on the cheek (much to the man's embarrassment) and screamed out, "PASTAAAAA~!" As loud as his lungs could take and just a bit more. Honestly, he figured he probably would not be able to talk for a while now.
The room grew shockingly quiet at the statement, before all the usual good-naturedness crept back into the room. People started shouting and arguing about what to eat for dinner and Italy watched with mirth in his eyes as Prussia continuously prodded Germany with his elbow while going, "Eh, eh, eh~ What's this?"
Yep, just the usual (or maybe not) World Conference Meeting.
References:
1) After the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda cut ties with France.
2) Red Devils (for those who forgot) are Italian bombs that explode randomly. They were VERY feared by allies and enemies.
3) "My role is not clear." - When I was first learning about Rwanda and France's relationship, I was so confused. VERY VERY CONFUSED.
4) Rwanda wrote a 500 page document about France and the crimes it committed during the genocide.
5) The Aarhus University shooting took place one day before the Rwandan genocide.
6) Burundi had two genocides (both smaller than Rwanda's) in 1973 and 1993.
7) DRC = Democratic Republic of the Congo, NOT Republic of Congo. They're different.
8) "We didn't do anything that she said I did! We did not arm the Hutus nor train them, my men did not molest any of the women, and we did not participate in the killing!" - What Rwanda charged France for in that 500 page report. Notice the fact that France doesn't say that he himself didn't molest any of the women.
9) "... she also said something about Western nations being disgusting..." - Hotel Rwanda reference. When one of the UN workers tells Paul that the Western nations aren't helping them.
10) "Landing your troops there and evacuating your people..." - None of the big Western nations helped (a lot) during the genocide. All they really did was send in troops to retrieve their citizens.
11) Rwanda and Burundi were part of the German Empire. Germany traded over Uganda for those two nations.
12) World War I, Belgium took control of Ruanda-Urundi. Belgium spent a lot more time there (mostly with Rwanda) than Germany did.
13) "She told me this such a long time ago..." - Rwanda and France had really close relations before the genocide.
Translations:
1) Ma chéri! S'il vous plaît de me parler! - French; My darling! Please talk to me!
2) Raubwirtschaft - German; plunder economy