He looked at me, he talked to me, he stuck with me.
But eventually I started to notice…
No matter what I did… he never smiled at me. His face was always blank.
A straight look upon his face. Though his voice didn't match his expression. His voice was so calm, so gentle.

The day I met him, I promised myself, that someday I was going to make him smile.

…

"You think zhat you're tough, ja?" Ludwig snorted.

I looked up from where I was sitting to see the tall German towering over me.
A sadistic smile across his face.

Feliciano and Kiku stood behind him.
The Axis Powers were considered the bullies of the school. They were a small trio led by the tall German.
The other two didn't seem so much as bullies, as they were victims to peer pressure.

"Nyet." I closed my eyes for a moment, closing my book.

I looked down to the school grounds that a stood a bit away from.
It was filled with students waiting to be picked up by their guardians.

My older sister was my one and only guardian. And she worked so much to keep our house, that she didn't have the time to go pick me up.
So I often spent the afternoons after school sitting in the grass with a book, not eager to return to my home life.

I'd never had much trouble before, I'd watched the weaker students get picked on by Ludwig, but he'd never approached me before.
I was the silent student in class that everyone was afraid of. Though, I'd never actually done anything to anyone.

My only friend was a senior, while I was only a freshmen.
Wang Yao, he was a quiet, sometimes uptight student. He was class president, and he usually seemed serious.

He'd befriended me one day when we'd run into each other at the entrance of school one day.
He told me he knew my older sister when she was in school, still, and that he'd heard a lot about me from her, ever since we'd talk at least once a day briefly in the mornings before class.

But his face… it was always so blank. No matter what I did, I couldn't get him to smile at me.
Though his voice was so gentle and full of passion.

I realized that I'd lost my train of thought, and I'd ignore the sneering German that stood over me.

"I am not wanting trouble, da…" I informed, looking up at him.

"Oh, veally?" The German laughed at me, shaking his head.

"You shink zhat you can get out of zhis, just like zhat?"

I wasn't even sure what I'd done to make them angry.

"I am sorry… did I do something to make you upset?" I asked, a little hurt by his tone.

I often did things that I didn't mean to do.

Like, everything I touched self-destructed, even though I never meant harm.

"Ja! I don't like your attitude!" Ludwig growled, yanking me up by the scarf I often wore.

I was startled.
The whole thing surprised me, the grip of my scarf, tightened around my neck causing me to gasp for air.
Then Suddenly he ripped the it right away from my neck, and used it to tie me to the tree.
By this time, the whole school had noticed and had the eyes all over the scene.

"You act so calm around me! Zhat ist not how it's supposed to be! I spent a year building up my reputation, and I refuse to be shown up by some freshmen poser like you!"

I was still shocked. I tried to yank myself away from the tree I was now tied to, but he pulled his knot tighter.

"Beg for mercy.." The German smirked.
"Und I might let you go zhis time, what do you say?"

The many students that crowded around, looked at the scene intently.
Did no one care enough to help me?
I was strong, but I was taken by surprise this time!
On top of all that, even if I could. I didn't want to hurt Ludwig!

That wasn't the kind of reputation I wanted at this school.

"Nyet," He narrowed his eyes.

Ludwig looked at me, again.

"What?" He asked, obviously knowing what I'd replied with, but giving me another chance to beg.

"Nyet, I am refusing your offer." I said.

Ludwig's eyebrow twitched, and suddenly before I could even blink, I felt his fist make contact with my face.

It stung, I could already feel blood running down my face, dripping to the ground.
What had I done to deserve this anyway?
I…didn't… understand…
I'd never done anything to these guys! Never!

I'd barely looked them in the eye since I entered highschool, and now suddenly, they were all over me.

"Ist zhat all you can take?" Ludwig laughed.

He raised his fist to hit me again, when he was suddenly interrupted by the tug of his arm.

He looked down to see a much smaller man, the size of a middleschooler, tugging on him, his face desperate and worried.

"Let him go, aru! What the hell did he ever do to you?" Wang Yao yelled at the German.

Ludwig recoiled in disgust, and then smacked the Chinese boy across the face.

He wore a shocked expression as he hit the ground.

The German didn't go easy on anyone.
He even picked on someone as tiny as Wang Yao.

"Yao!" I cried out, as my only friend hit the ground.

A bruise was already forming on the poor boy's face, he shook himself out of his daze and looked me in the eye.

"Ivan, are you okay, aru?" He demanded, his voice worried.
He didn't even seem to care that he'd just be hit to the ground.

I didn't have enough time to answer him, before I was hit again. Suddenly, everything was completely black.
…

"Ivan…?" I heard a familiar voice floating in my head.

"Ivan, aru..?"

My eyes slowly opened, and I found myself looking at the sky, which was now pink due to the setting of the sun.
My head was rested on the older boy's lap.

He was three years older than me, but had the face of an innocent child.
His fingers were running through my hair, until he suddenly noticed that I was awake.

"Ivan!" He cried out.
With that he yanked me closer to him, and wrapped his little arms around me, holding onto me tightly.

My face was sore, and I could feel dry blood crusted on my face, but the embrace that I received from the older boy surprised me.

I'd never been so close to anyone other than my sisters for my entire life.
Everyone had always feared me, because of my size, and my constant silence.

And now, in the blink of an eye, I was wrapped up in my friend's arms.
Someone who I hadn't been certain cared about me mere hours ago.

The crowd was gone, and was so Ludwig and The Axis Powers.
The whole school yard was now empty, leaving me and Yao alone underneath the beautifully colored sky.

He held onto me for another moment, as if he was comforting me.
The way he ran his fingers through my hair made me feel like a child. A child that had been lost, and had been found.
I'd never felt this before, and for some reason it forced me to tear up.

Wang Yao released me. He had tears in his eyes as well, but one thing about his expression caught my eye.
He was smiling!
A bright, tearful smile spread against the Chinese boy's face.

And that forced my tears to roll down my face.
I couldn't control my emotions.
Just one look at my friend's expression and I realized that all along I'd had someone that truly cared for me.

"Whats the matter, aru?" Wang Yao asked.
"Does it hurt?"
He gently touched my cheek, causing my wounds to mildly sting me, but it was hardly a bother. I'd had worse pain.

"No… it's just…"
I trailed off.

I looked up to see Wang Yao waiting for me to finish my sentence.

"You smiled for me, da? I never thought anyone would look at me like that…"

Wang Yao took a second to understand the words I'd spoken.

Then he wrapped his arms around my neck, holding me closely again, having me lie my head on his chest as he started to stroke my hair once again.

"I was so worried, aru.." He informed.

"When I saw what Ludwig was doing to you, I just… I felt my heart speed up, and I knew more than anything that I had to save you…I got this feeling like… I don't know, almost like if I let anyone lay a hand on you like that, I'd never be able to live with myself again."

His voice was so sincere.
Before I could say anything in reply, he leaned down and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

"I'm so glad you're okay, aru…"

I closed my eyes taking in the whole situation.
I felt at peace, as Wang Yao continued to talk to me.
I could hear the grin in his voice, and that made my heart beat faster every single second he went on.

A/N: Now that I'm re-reading this, I find it kind of silly. I know Ivan isn't as innocent as I made him in this, so yeah~ sorry for that.
I just felt it's what I needed him to be for the story. I have nothing against Germany~ I just needed to pin a bad guy, and due to his actual attacks on Russia during history, I chose him. Review, please? Thanks for reading!