Authors Note!
So I read this Hetalia dj and I totally got an idea! No~ not stolen. I was inspired by it! It was so amazingly cute! So yeah I got an idea and now I'm wrapping it in a box and handing it to you :}
Last and final special note to you all, I am adding more of the Matthew (Canada) aspects! Ya-ho (Feliciano's yahoo; refer to episode 3)!
-o-oOo-o-
Another simple yet depressing meeting; if one were to ask why young Matthew was so displeased over the gathering the reply would come easily.
"You see, I am more transparent than the wind. You speaking to me now is actually quite an extraordinary occurrence."
Okay so maybe not like that but along those lines. He might as well be the air with the amount of negligence he received at the stupid meetings. Matthew just wanted to go home and drown his sorrows in a big plate of pancakes topped with a bucket load of ice cream and more maple syrup than a single maple tree forest could muster up. Unfortunately though, he had to go back to that godawful room for another hour.
"Ah, oi, America! A word about the next meeting."
Matthew scoped the room. No Alfred. Arthur was talking to him. Matthew looked back at the short English man and smiled.
"Oh, hello, England. I'm not him though~"
Arthur's face twisted in confusion. "Huh, eh? You're not America?"
"Really, England, how many times have we gone through this?" Matthew muttered, smile still planted on his face. "I'm Cana-"
"Hey that's Canada, you know," Francis announced.
"Ah! I see! Yeah, that's it, thank goodness!"
Matthew sighed, "Please do get it right sometime, will you …?"
After another few minutes of listening to Arthur and Francis babble Matthew departed. It was time to go back to the meeting.
"Matthew! Matthew!" Arthur called from down the hall.
The younger nation stopped and turned, completely awestruck at the sight of Arthur taking notice of him – even using his human name.
So formal… Matthew thought and smiled at his senior; Arthur returned the gesture and came to a stop before him, panting. The kindness in his expression dissipated and was replaced by a look of embarrassment and guilt. Arthur sighed.
"I'm … sorry … for, wrongly … uh … addressing you," he mumbled.
Matthew shook his head. He was used to being mistaken for Alfred, it was no big deal. Annoying sometimes, but it happened so often that it didn't really matter.
"It's fine, England."
Arthur looked as though he was just insulted and Matthew immediately regretted opening his mouth.
"So what now, I'm just England?" he asked bitterly. "You must not notice that it is just us. You don't need to call me that."
"N-no, I noticed! You're m-more than 'just England'! I-I'm sorry, Arthur."
"You should be, I practically raised you and yet you still think our relationship is so shabby that you should call me England," he stated. "That aside, I was wondering … if you were doing anything this weekend."
There was no hint of sarcasm; Arthur was never one to jest unless he found something truly funny. It could be terrifying at times but now it was positively amazing! Arthur was asking if he had anything to do, as if he didn't know the answer. Of course not! Why would a person as lonely as Matthew have anything to do?
The boy became absorbed in his emotions and he was too busy frolicking in his internal happy place so Kumajiro took the initiative to answer for him.
"We're not busy."
Arthur looked at the bear and back at Matthew who was still staring off into space. He looked so incoherent that Arthur was afraid to wake him. So he nodded to the bear and went on.
"Um … tell Matthew that I've invited him to spend Saturday at my house." The English man readied himself to leave but then remembered. "Oh, and tell him he may need an extra pair of knickers when – if – he comes."
The bear cocked its head to the side, eyes dark and unresponsive and asked, "Aren't knickers woman's panties?"
Arthur snickered. "He'll being screaming like one when – if – he sees what I'll have waiting for him. So tell him for me okay?"
"Who?"
"Matthew. Canada. That one." He pointed to a very dazed Matthew and then gave a salute. "See you, bear."
B H B
When Kumajiro finished telling Matthew what Arthur had said he could practically feel his face glow. Sure he'd been out Alfred and Francis before, and it was … interesting but this was Arthur! And the only events that Arthur ever asked him to join were wars. That was never fun. A shudder shot through his body recalling the terrifying battlefields.
"Should I wear the red hoodie or the cherry-red hoodie, Kumakiko?" Matthew giggled.
Kumajiro craned his neck to look at the blonde boy. "Who?"
"Canada~" Nothing could shatter his mood, not even Kumakiko's memory loss, he was just too happy.
"My name is Kumajiro not Kumakiko." He yawned and rested his head back on his arms.
Matthew apologized and examined himself in front of the mirror. He'd called Arthur to tell him that he accepted the offer and once the sun rose, he and Kumajiro would be sitting on a plane headed for the UK.
With one final verdict, the cherry-red hoodie was put back in the closet and the red hoodie, neatly packed in the suitcase. Matthew hauled the small travel case to the wall and rested it there. As be backed away the realization set in; Matthew Williams, also known as the North American country of Canada, was becoming opaque! He could be seen! The blonde crawled into his bed, smile never failing to disappear, and closed his eyes. Tomorrow is going to be great ….
B H B
Arthur stood at the base of the escalator, hands stuffed in his pockets. His stomach was clawing at him. Arthur needed food, but that would ruin his appetite for the picnic later.
Matthew tightened Kumajiro's straps and proceeded through the airport. He was famished; restaurants were everywhere! It was not fair that Arthur said he couldn't eat anything. Flying from Canada to England was nine freaking hours, and if one took in consideration the longevity of the flight and driving to the airport and getting ready ... Matthew had been up for about twelve hours already! He was too kind-hearted to even nibble on a cracker and now it was biting at him. No pun intended.
"Where do you think he is?" Matthew asked Kumajiro.
"I don't know. Maybe near a door."
Matthew rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Kumafuro. That helps."
From the top of the escalator Matthew could see a small patch of blonde hair, his eyes trialed down the figure and fell on Arthur's face. The shorter man tilted his head a smidge, he looked at Matthew and the boy beamed.
"Hi!"
Matthew dashed down the step, going two at a time and flung his arms around Arthur, carefully though, he didn't want to squish Kumajiro. Arthur blushed and patted the Canadian's back.
"Ehem … it's – uh – good to see you, too," he stammered.
Matthew couldn't get rid of his excitement. Even as they pulled into the parking lot of Arthur's manor he was still yammering away. Arthur turned the key and turned the car engine off. Matthew let Kumajiro out of the backseats and plucked his luggage from the trunk.
GROWL!
Arthur laughed. "You're hungry," he said with an amused tone.
Matthew's face flushed red. "Y-yes."
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long to eat, but I have a reason behind it," Arthur chimed and waved for Matthew to join him.
There were acres of greenery behind the large home and Arthur was leading Matthew and Kumajiro towards it. They crossed a small field and entered the forest, walking until they came to a small clearing. Something was off about the grassy patch; it radiated an awkwardly whimsical aura.
Arthur clapped his hands. "Jeeves!" he yelled.
A man appeared with a blanket safely cradled under his arm, a basket in his hand. He manoeuvred the blanket into his palm and with a flick of his wrist it was spread on the ground, the basket quickly following. Jeeves bowed and leapt back into the forest.
Matthew stared after the man. That was the weirdest thing he had ever had the unexpected pleasure to see.
"Is he alright?" Matthew whispered.
Arthur started unpacking the lunch from the basket and replied, "He's a satyr, they do that sometimes."
"A what?"
Arthur's eyes met Mathew's and he grinned, "Eh … it's nothing."
He offered the younger nation a dish that consisted of a strange long meat that was sliced into long strips and doused in thick brown gravy. Matthew eyeballed the meal with a bit of disgust; making sure not to show it, he thanked Arthur, stabbed his fork into it and skewered a small piece from one of the strips.
Arthur raised his wine class and toasted, "to good food!"
Matthew mimicked the action and placed the miniscule slice of mystery meat onto his tongue.
"Maple!" He squeaked.
It was absolutely, positively, no doubt(ly) the worst – worst! – thing he'd ever put in his mouth. Ever.
Matthew swallowed and gagged.
"It's that great, right?" The words were dyed with so much pride Matthew could see them sparkle.
He gave the English man a feign smile and nodded. "Mhm." He put another piece into his mouth and let the corners of his lips edge upwards a bit more. "S-so good."
Matthew's stomach felt as though the boy was try it provoke it. It heaved, jerking him forward. Arthur didn't notice, thank God, he was indulging in his food. Eating it just as slowly as Matthew was but looking like the repulsive meat was satisfying. Matthew waited until he was sure that Arthur wasn't going to look up, twisted his body around and spat into the bushes.
"Something the matter?"
Matthew stiffened; his mind rushed through a catalogue of lies, he sat up to face his elder and stated, as kindly as he could, "I thought I saw something."
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "You spit out the food, didn't you?"
"N-no!"
"Didn't you?"
"I-I-no!"
"Didn't you?"
Matthew shrunk back, eyes averted. "I'm sorry."
Arthur sighed. There was no need for the boy to lie; he was kind of expecting him not to like it. All the other nations were reacted like that … he should have put bologna between bread and slathered it with mayonnaise. Cow tongue was an acquired taste, he supposed. Oh, well, Arthur would move on to part two of their day.
"I guess it's okay. Hey, now we can move on to the next thing on my schedule."
"What's that?"
A twisted grin manifested, he chuckled. "Magic."
"Magic?"
Arthur bobbed his head up and down and reached into the picnic basket, from it he retrieved a large red apple. It didn't look like anything magical but Matthew wasn't going to interfere with any unnecessary comments. Not after getting caught.
The shorter blonde flipped the apple around, reviewing each and every point, memorizing each and every flaw. It was a key component to know your object well, and Arthur was not about to screw this up and make the situation any more uncomfortable for the two.
With every detail embedded into his mind, he handed the apple over to Matthew.
"What do I do with this?"
Kumajiro pawed at it and Matthew tore the fruit away from his grasp. He held it to his face and watched as Arthur started spray painting an anagram onto the picnic blanket.
"W-wait, what are you-?"
Arthur cut him off; he was chanting and as he did the open space grew dark. The ground had a pulse, yet, somehow it all felt so dead. Matthew's eyes flashed over to the glowing anagram that lay between them. The boy's heart was palpitating and the apple slipped from his hand. It bounced onto the grass and stopped short of the center of the dark icon. In a flash, the fruit replicated the action, it began to radiate then shake. No. Not just the apple, the ground! The ground was shaking beneath him!
"Arthur what's going on?" Matthew screamed.
Everything stopped. The trees and grass were alive, the anagram went back to being just a painted circle with a star in the middle and the apple was an apple; as if his mental pleas were heard by God himself. Peace restored, Matthew felt his body relax. He gripped the grass with whatever strength he possessed and started wheezing.
At some point in all of the chaos, Kumajiro ran off; when the bear came back he coward behind his chickening master, both trembling but for different reasons. Matthew: the zany scene he had just seen. Kumajiro: the creepy vibe that the fruit was casting loose.
"A-Arthur ... what ... what was th-that?"
"Magic, my dear boy!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Magic!" he practically snarled and Matthew scooted back. He bumped into Kumajiro and heaved the bear into his lap.
"W-where did ... it come from?" His lip quivered.
"Why, I fashioned this magic from the very crevasses of my mind! Oh, and the pits of a darker regions of the Underworld."
The apple jumped. But Ca- Can- Whatever his name was and England didn't see it. Kumajiro saw it, and sensed what it was ... well not what it was, the feeling it was emanating.
It hopped, spun, looked at the blonde with the glasses and smiled. With a mouth that food should not have.
"Apple! Hello, Canada! Apple!" The fruit chirped.
Can- What's-his-face let out a petrified squeak.
It spoke, the apple – wait, would it be called apple with a capital A since it spoke. No. … yes? Yes, because it was certainly more than just a regular apple now – and moved, too! Apple became animate and it knew Matthew's name. For some reason unknown to him, it made him feel fuzzy. Apple may have been just an apple but it managed to do something very few people could; know of his existence. Matthew's hear swelled and a tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
"Apple! What's wrong, Canada? Apple!" Apple asked as it rolled over to the boy's lap.
Arthur couldn't suppress his content. Matthew's reaction could not have been better. Not if it was his own animal that managed to say his name.
"I-I'm happy," Matthew sniffled.
Though Apple probably didn't have the ability to show emotions, the sincerity on its face seem genuine. "Apple! Oh! Apple! That's good. Apple!"
Matthew outstretched his arm to take the little red fruit in his palm, slowly uncurling his fingers for it to hop aboard when there was a flash of white and Apple disappeared.
"A-Apple?"
"Apple! Oh, my papaya! Apple! OW! Apple! Help me~! APPLE!"
Matthew and Arthur followed the screams to the angry white body at the tree line that was tearing Apple to smithereens in its ferocious apple murdering jaws. Matthew gaped at the sight of Kumalilo clamping his canines into Apple and tearing away its skin and juicy, pulpy flesh.
"What are you doing, you fucking bear? Drop it! Spit it out! Matthew tell that filthy organism to drop Apple!"
"Kumalilo stop it, eh!"
It was too late, the bear had already lay waste to the once living being and chucked it into the grass. Kumajiro sat back with a smug look of pleasure and quietly drifted back into his own thoughts.
As much as he was trying, Arthur could not find anything to calm him down. That- that disgusting, shit-fuck, white fuzz ball rodent just decapitated his work! He dedicated more time to learning that trick than he had any other and now this beast just destroyed it like it was a bad piece of fish. It was rude and unmannerly and Matthew let it pull it off.
Blood boiling, he drilled his fingernails into the earth and his mouth buzzed, casting out millions of words a mile per minute. Emerald eyes trained on the bear, he etched the creature into his mind and without any further thought he entered into the Underworld.
Everything had once again become a topsy-turvy mess, Kumajiro yelped and went back into the trees and Matthew was left alone in the midst of all the commotion. He tried to snap Arthur out of his trance but he wouldn't budge, he was too far in. As the surroundings grew darker and the anagram glowed brighter he readied himself to run, and just as his heels dug into the dirt normality set back in.
Matthew peeked over his shoulder at the small man who had 'returned' from whatever journey he was just on. Arthur grinned.
"What- what just h-hap-happened, Arthur?"
"I played out fair justice, my boy. Now come, let's have some tea." Arthur hauled himself off the floor to stand on his feet. "This all must have been too much excitement."
It stunned the taller blonder, three seconds prior Arthur was on the floor looking like a victim of demonic possession and now he was prompting tea.
"W-we can't l-leave without, K-Kuma-"
"Nonsense, the animal will find its way back, come now."
He did as instructed and followed his senior back to the manor.
To be completely honest, Arthur had no clue what he was doing. When his outer body landed in the Underworld he stormed to the first Magik Handler he could find and demanded it toss a curse on the stupid Canadian animal. Any curse! He just wanted the damn thing to suffer. If he was lucky the Magik Handler would kill it, maybe put it through a great deal of pain and anguish. Then again, he may not have thrown out enough money for such a big order.
Kumajiro did not return until the sun had gone down, minutes before Matthew had to leave for the airport. There was something different about him, he staggered into Matthew's lap and started whimpering.
"What's the matter, buddy?" Matthew asked as he stroked back the fur on the bear's head.
Kumajiro nuzzled against the strange man's chest mutely and shook his head diligently.
"Who are you?"
"Canada," he replied in a hushed tone.
"I feel sick."
"Don't worry, we're going home now."
B H B
It was early morning when the plane touched down on Canadian soil. Matthew had to push Kumajiro on a separate luggage pull because the bear was too weak to walk; it took twice as long to get home because of the constant stopping and going so Kumajiro could vomit. By the time they stepped foot into their house Matthew had to shove the bear back outside so he could leak his bodily fluids on the grass instead of the tiles.
"Kumamiro, I think I should take you to a vet. Is the tea working? Arthur said it would make you feel a bit better." Matthew sat on the bed next to the bear and watched his tongue slurp up the hot liquid.
He had no clue how to deal with Kumajiro's illness. In all their years together the bear had never gotten sick and now, all of a sudden, he was spewing out stomach acid and shaking like crazy. It must have been Arthur's cooking.
"This tastes bad."
"I know, eh. I sipped some of it, but Arthur promised it would make the pain go away."
"It isn't."
"Do you want to sleep it off?"
"Who?"
"Canada. Do you want to sleep, Kumagoku?"
"My name is Kumajiro and yes, I would like to sleep."
Matthew took away the bowl and slipped out of the room. He returned with a thin blanket and spread it out on Kumajiro's mattress. Though he knew that the bear would crawl into bed with him later.
When he was sure that the resting space looked good enough he carried the bear onto the cushion and kissed his forehead.
"I want to sleep next to you. You're warm," Kumajiro whined.
"As is your bed," Matthew argued. "Goodnight."
"Is this how you treat your friends?"
"Goodnight, Kumajiro."
As expected, Matthew felt Kumajiro sink into the bed and lay at the base of his bed. Matthew closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
The glare of the Sun burned his eyes and Matthew woke with a tired yawn. Knowing his little bear would be snuggled up in the bed sheets by his feet he started to slide his legs off of the bed. His foot brushed against something soft and he froze at the sound of an angry moan that surely did not belong to Kumajiro.
He moved cautiously, twisting his body to the right angle so that he would not draw attention again. The person, though, had different plans. He put an icy hand on Matthew's ankle and propelled himself up, letting out another moan as he did so.
Matthew's heart lodged into his throat at the sight of the white haired man that was stretching just at his feet. When he opened his eyes they were dark as coals.
He was so bea- handsome, but that wasn't the point. This strange man was sitting on his bed, in his room, in his house, where he didn't belong. Matthew's eyes drifted down his pale white chest and he let out a disturbed squeal. Naked. There was a beau- man sitting on his bed naked!
The man's head twisted to look at Matthew and the blonde twitched.
"H- how did you g- who are you?" Matthew stammered.
"Who are you?"
"C-C-Cana- wait! Y-you have to an-answer me first!"
The man scooted closer, his facial expression never wandering away from its blank stare. Matthew tried to move back but he was trapped between the headboard and the man; in such a scared state he was too busy panicking to think of running to the side and the man kept closing the distance.
"I don't want to," he said finally and rested his head against Matthew's chest.
END OF Chapter i (PLEASE READ NOTE BELOW! Seriously … it's important!)
Okay so I hope you liked it! Took me forever and an hour to get the bloody thing done (I started, like, two weeks ago).
So I need help! I don't know what to do … Matthew is going to need a love interest in my story but I don't know who! So I really need help on deciding who. Point is: if you guys (and girls) could leave a comment on whom I should choose (both boys and girls accepted). It would be extremely helpful. Oh, and that person may not appear until the third chapter, depends on who. So please, please help =3
Again, thanks for reading!