Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

The Vampire and the Ghost

Romania sat in his chair at the world meeting, trying to be as quiet as possible.

For several years now, America has called him a vampire, and he might occasionally pretend to be one to scare the annoying nation, but more and more nations seemed to believe it.

And they played cruel tricks on him because of that.

Hungary once snuck an unhealthy amount of garlic in his food, and laughed when he reacted to that, saying that it was proof that he was a vampire. Prussia once sent a large amount of crosses to him, which was only uncomfortable because he didn't have an official state religion. America once managed to trigger his briefcase to explode with glitter. Denmark once gave him toxic water, claiming that it was 'holy water'.

In other words, he was on the receiving end of a lot of cruel jokes.

At least Norway and England didn't believe that he was a vampire, and in fact helped to keep Denmark and America in line, but it wasn't enough.

Bulgaria was the only other country that he could count on outside of his magic club, asides from his brother, Moldova. He was just glad that the other countries tended to ignore the younger. It would really be bad if they started to target the younger nation.

He looked around the table, and froze when he saw Turkey, staring at him and trying to hide a smirk.

That could only mean that Turkey had a prank for him.

…

Canada sighed, slumping into his seat.

He had tried to state his opinion many times, but always went unheard. He didn't even get a chance to speak at the meeting, and he usually had good ideas.

He watched as the staff from the hotel brought the drinks in that many nations had ordered. He wasn't expecting a drink, since they didn't see him.

If only people would stop treating him like a ghost.

…

Romania watched as everyone received their drinks, and was surprised when a drink was placed in front of him.

"I didn't order anything," he told the server.

"Well, someone ordered for you."

He stared into the glass, seeing the red liquid. It couldn't be. No, it was just wine. It couldn't be what he thought it was…

He tentatively took it, sniffing the substance suspiciously.

And his suspicions were confirmed.

He couldn't take it.

"Is something wrong, Romania?" Turkey taunted. "Why don't you take a drink? I ordered it especially for you."

"No thanks," Romania muttered. "I don't want it."

"What, is it not good enough for you?"

His hands trembled. He needed to calm down.

He pushed himself from the table, making a hasty exit.

He could hear a few nations laughing at him, and he started to feel the tears gather.

…

Canada watched as Romania departed, looking upset. He also saw that many of the other nations started to laugh.

"Looks like the vampire isn't hungry," Turkey sneered, which brought on more laughter.

Canada's eyes widened as he realised what was in the glass of the other nation. He knew that the others, namely his brother, liked to prank the magical nation, but this was just in bad taste.

Since no one saw him anyway, he managed to walk out of the meeting room without attracting attention.

…

Romania had gone to the bathroom, entering a stall and crying his eyes out.

Why did they do that? He didn't do anything to deserve that. These 'jokes' were just plain cruel.

He heard the door of the bathroom open, and he tried to stifle his sobs. He didn't want to be made fun of now.

"Romania?" a quiet voice spoke. "Are you alright?"

"Go away," Romania said, a sob escaping his throat.

The other paused, and he could see a shadow outside of the stall he was occupying.

"It was blood, wasn't it?"

He choked on a sob, and the other nation sighed.

"Why do they do that to you?" the other asked. "It's cruel."

"Yeah, well, as far as they're concerned, I'm nothing but a vampire. A heartless, lifeless creature. Who cares about what they do to me? I'm surprised they didn't try to stake me yet."

"Yeah, well I'm surprised no one's tried an exorcism on me yet," the other said.

"What do you mean?"

"No one sees or hears me. They treat me like a ghost. And a lot of the time, they only notice me halfway and think I am a ghost. And if they do notice me, they usually mistake me for my brother, and I have to suffer because he managed to upset them."

Romania paused, using a piece of toilet paper to wipe his tears away, and flushed it down the toilet.

He opened the door and saw someone that looked like America, but he could see a few differences. The other had longer hair, and his eyes were a darker blue, almost purple. He smiled when he saw Romania come out.

"Who are you?" Romania asked.

"I'm Canada," the other said. "Are you okay?"

Romania nodded. Now that he saw the other nation, he could see that the other seemed to be disappearing, or at least seemed to become transparent.

"I guess I can see why they think you're a ghost," Romania joked. "Hey, do you know of a werewolf?"

Canada gave a small smile.

"We should probably get back to…" Canada started.

"Nu," Romania said. "I don't want to."

"Okay. Do you have someone to take notes for you or something?"

"Bulgaria."

"Alright. Come on. Let's go out for something to eat. My treat."

…

Canada took Romania to a café where he ordered pancakes for them both. Romania wasn't really familiar with it, so Canada decided to introduce him to it, along with the special maple syrup Canada always kept with him.

"This is delicious," Romania said, licking stray syrup that had gotten on his fingers.

"I'm glad you like it," Canada said. "It's probably one of the few times America doesn't ignore me."

"I still can't believe you're brothers. You're so… different."

"Yeah, but many nations mistake me for him, but never him for me."

…

Several weeks have passed, with Canada and Romania's friendship growing. The few nations that noticed Canada were confused about this friendship. They couldn't understand how the two would have anything in common.

Those that only noticed Canada halfway and saw the two together would say that the vampire had befriended a ghost, and those that didn't notice Canada would either agree with them or say that Romania had an imaginary friend, since he didn't have a real friend.

Which tended to set Bulgaria off, as well as England and Norway.

Bulgaria only noticed Canada some of the time, and actually started to gain a liking for the arctic nation. Moldova, on the other hand, always noticed Canada, and often tagged along when Romania would visit the other nation. He usually got pancakes out of it.

England also started to notice Canada more, and if he didn't, then Romania would inform the Brit about Canada's presence, which led to a string of apologies.

Those that tended to bully Romania started doing it less and less, since after a prank, something mysterious would always happen at their homes. They would say that Romania's ghostly friend was haunting them, and Canada and Romania would always laugh at that.

The duo would always be known as the vampire and the ghost.