As promised, chapter 2! I decided to emphasize the human aspect of the characters by having a meeting that isn't about international politics and disputes, plus I felt like doing something silly, unfortunately for many of the countries... Enjoy! All rights to Hidekaz Himaruya.


By the time England woke up in the morning, America had vanished, as if he had been just a passing ghost in the night. England was a bit unsettled by the fact, but he quickly shook his head and got out of bed to get ready for the meeting. His clouded mind whispered temptingly in his ears and the bed beckoned with the lull of a Siren song, but England forced himself to ignore them both as he went about making his usual morning cup of tea. When he finally left his hotel room, the halls were eerily silent, and England unconsciously sped up his walking pace to get out of the narrow corridors faster.

He exited the hotel and was met by the bustle of early morning city traffic. Fortunately for him, the meeting was being hosted nearby, approximately a five minute walk away. He did not delay on his journey and promptly arrived at 7:00 a.m. as he had planned. When he stepped inside, he was met by a familiar crowd of faces. As per the traditional pattern, they all greeted each other and proceeded to the main meeting hall in order of walking speed. England found himself, as usual, in fourth place, behind Netherlands and Switzerland. Accordingly, Germany followed after him, and, to England's relief, America followed after Germany. England heaved a deep sigh and it comforted him to know that America had not been a ghost in his hotel room. Although, admittedly, America did look vaguely haunted, most likely from whatever horror movie he had decided to watch last night. Speaking of which, the culprit behind the movie, Japan, was walking behind America and England could swear there was a coy little smile tugging at his lips.

All the nations arrived to the meeting hall as walking speed would predict, with Brazil coming in last and closing the doors. Once the doors were closed, the nations took their usual seats and Germany convened the meeting with a stiff welcome. The topic of today's meeting: Team Building.

England blinked. He stared at Germany, who looked just as uncomfortable presenting the topic as everyone else in the room felt. Germany cleared his throat and tried to ignore the weird looks all the nations were giving him.

"We have been less than productive at our recent meetings," Germany remained stiff at the head of the table, "so we will be learning how to cooperate."

England could see the other nations exchange furtive glances. Some nations glared at others or quivered in fear, but it was clear that pretty much everyone except Italy had reservations about "Team Building."

"Our first exercise is a simple trust exercise," Germany cleared his throat again, "I will match everyone with a partner."

England heard France chuckle under his breath and felt the sudden urge to punch the blonde in the face. Unfortunately, before he could fulfill his wish, Germany stepped in front of him and nodded with his head.

"England, you're with Spain."

Germany hurried away, leaving a baffled England face to face with Spain. His sun-tanned olive skin contrasted noticeably with England's pale white complexion. Spain had a wide smile on his face and his green eyes were shimmering jovially. England gave him a half-smile in greeting before turning away to observe the room. England quickly spotted America, who was standing next to Russia with an obviously mortified look on his face. Russia was smiling cheerfully in his usual thick coat with his purple scarf wrapped around his neck.

They started the exercise. England looked back at Spain, who was still smiling happily.

"Right then," England began awkwardly, "let's begin. Fall back."

Spain blinked. Slowly, his smile fell from his face and he stared at England nervously.

"Something the matter?" England pressed impatiently, making Spain jump slightly.

"No, of course not," Spain spoke slowly, "just... I'd rather not."

England rolled his eyes, "This isn't the bloody pirating days, Spain, just fall back."

Spain eyed England hesitantly, and England just sighed in frustration. Seeing as how his partner was refusing to cooperate, England took the opportunity to look around and see how everyone else was doing. He saw America with his back to Russia, but America was clearly very on edge.

"Russia, stop poking me in the back!" America snapped suddenly.

"I am not though," Russia replied calmly, which was even more disturbing with that cheerful little smile of his.

"Wha-" America was about to respond, but a purple fabric was making its way around America's shoulders and wrapping itself around him. Russia's scarf had come to life.

America squeaked, "What is your scarf doing?"

Russia laughed amusedly, "He likes you!"

England turned away at the sound of America's terrified scream and saw Switzerland pointing his trusty handgun at China, who was working with Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein was trying to calm down her brother, but she was drowned out by the continual swearing coming from Romano, who was not happy to be working with France. All in all, the exercise was a complete disaster.

As everyone gave up and a fair few fights broke out, Japan sighed and turned to Germany, "Perhaps we should have started with something easier."

Germany nodded but made no attempt to quell the fights, as working with Austria had been too strenuous for him. Instead, the meeting dissolved, as usual, into chaos. England ended up retreating to the hallway, where he wouldn't have to argue with France or bicker with America. He watched quite a few nations storm past him and exit the building in a rage.

After some time, England was sure all the other nations had left. He went back inside the meeting hall to inspect the carnage, only to find a lone figure sitting in a chair, staring absent-mindedly into space. England approached from behind and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

America jumped and spun around to see England standing there. He quickly blinked and tried to clear his head, but it was full of whirling thoughts and he couldn't help but ask out loud.

"Have you ever wondered why people can't get along?"

England sighed and nodded his head, "I ask myself that question all the time."

America raised an eyebrow, "But you fight with France all the time!"

"And you fight with me," England retorted sharply, to which America had no reply.

The atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable as England and America considered each other in silence. America looked way too melancholy, but England wasn't quite sure what to say to try and address it. When it seemed that just standing there wasn't going to solve anything, which England should have probably realized sooner, he took to whistling a popular British tune. He wasn't sure why, but the wartime song was oddly comforting to him. America watched with reluctant amusement as he listened to the vaguely familiar song, and when England finished, America smiled ever so slightly.

"A bit nostalgic," England admitted off-handedly, "but it reminds me of a time when we were willing to look past our differences for a bit."

"We were still fighting though," America pointed out dully.

England shrugged, "That can't be helped sometimes. But we were still Allies, and we sorted it out."

America looked at England skeptically.

"If everyone agreed, there would never be progress," England finally expressed thoughtfully, "which would make this world a bloody terrible place to live."

With that, England bid goodbye to America with the wave of a hand and spun around to stroll out of the room. He left the meeting hall in silence and not once did America try to catch up to him and pester him. Whether he liked it or not was still to be decided, as he felt like something was missing without the young nation around, but he also knew there was a good reason for it.

All in due time, England thought to himself, and walked alone back to his hotel room.


I love Russia's scarf... If you were curious, the British tune I was referring to was the Colonel Bogey March. The tune itself is amazing, but it also has some very entertaining lyrics as well, if you feel like looking them up... Thanks for reading!