HetaOni Ending: To Stay Alive

To Feel Useless

Begin.

"Japan?" Germany asked, "What's wrong?"

"Italy?" Japan whispered. His eyes were wide as he firmly gripped the handkerchief.

"Hey, what's up?" Prussia asked as he looked from Germany to Japan, starting to tense and straighten up.

"Italy, wh-what?" Japan whispered to the white cloth.

"J-Japan?" Germany asked, scared to see the calm and mellow nation react so suddenly. Japan grit his teeth and seemed to be mumbling himself. He lowered the handkerchief then looked at Italy's face, his breathing becoming uneven. Suddenly, Japan pounced onto Italy's body, his voice hoarse and shaky as he spoke.

"No!" Japan cried as he grabbed the shoulders of Italy then shook him, hitting his head against the back of the bed which made a sickening thump with each collision. "Stop playing games, Italy! ITALY!" Japan cried.

"Japan!" America jumped up from the bed and wrapped his arms around the mad nation, trying to pull him away. "Japan, get a hold of yourself! Look at what you're doing!" Japan looked back at America with wide eyes outlined with the shadow of his hair. America made contact with them and was struck with shock. Japan had changed. "J-Japan," America stuttered. America shook himself free of shock and gripped harder as Japan writhed under his hold. "Dude, what happened to you?" America cried as he was smacked and punched. Japan broke free, throwing America back. As America landed onto the hard ground, he grunted, his head hitting the bed behind him, making his mind go blank and his vision turn blurry. Japan ran back over to Italy, holding onto the still nation's sleeve with shaking hands.

"Stop, Italy. Please-" Germany came up from behind and grabbed Japan by the collar then threw him away from Italy. He pinned him down by the shoulders. "No! Let go-"

"Damn it, Japan. What the hell has gotten into you?" Germany yelled as he looked into the eyes of the shaking nation. As both eyes made contact with each other, Germany gasped. Japan's usually calm, indifferent, emotionless eyes had drastically changed into two, wide, iNSanE ones. His pupils were shrunk and the color of his irises were lightened. The wrinkles under his eyes were visible and there was a horrifying gleam in his eyes. Not only did his eyes change, his whole face had altered. The blood from Japan's face seemed to have drained, making the black of his hair contrast greatly with his skin. His mouth was slightly open, allowing Germany to see the gritting teeth and the tenseness of his jaw. He looked like an animal more than a human. "Japan," Germany muttered, "What happened?"

The mad nation looked up at Germany with scared eyes then screamed and writhed. Germany, after being entranced for a moment, tried to recover from the shock of Japan's sudden transformation and continued to hold him down. "Japan! Calm yourself. Just tell us what you-" Germany grunted in pain as Japan dug then painfully raked his nails across Germany's face. Germany cried out then released his hold on Japan and brought his hands to his face, trying to sooth the scathing pain. Japan then retreated over to Italy, gripping the handkerchief so tightly that his nails almost ripped through the soft fabric.

"Italy, what are you doing?" Japan shakily asked, his voice now almost hushed a whisper, "What is it?" He suddenly cried. "What are you trying to do? Wake up!" Japan, with the mindset of a maniac, made a fist with both hands and brought them down onto Italy. "Wake up!" Another blow was given to Italy.

"Japan, stop!" America shouted despite the grogginess from hitting his head. He attempted to get up and stop the besting Italy was taking, but his strength failed him just this once, and he slumped back down, groaning. But all of the sudden the blurred Japan through America's vision calmed down and just stood still. The room had fallen silent. "What?" America muttered in disbelief. Then, Japan then fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Japan!" came Germany's muffled cry. Both America and Germany stared at Japan's still figure but then realized there was a hand at Japan's neck. "Brother?" Germany asked through his hands.

"Honestly, just try and knock him out with a pressure point." Prussia said, chuckling. He released his grip from Japan's inner shoulder then stood up straight and dusted off his clothes. America's brows furrowed as he tried to slowly sit up from the bed.

"Uncool, dude! Did you wait for him to kill us until you did something?" America mumbled, rubbing the area his head had hit.

"No! I was just seriously shocked for a minute before I realized I had to save your sorry ass!" Prussia replied. America pouted and folded his arms, but then all three men looked at the unconscious heap of a nation."What had gotten into him?" Prussia mumbled.

Prussia looked at his brother then grinned. "Let me see your wounds, West." Germany slowly brought his hands down from his face and allowed his older brother to look at the scratches. Japan's nails had successfully raked across Germany's face from the top of his left eye to the bottom of his right cheek. The red streaks were apparent on his face, and there were little droplets of blood forming. Thankfully, Japan's nails managed to miss Germany's eyes.

"I'm fine, just a little startled," Germany softly said when his brother was done wiping away some blood. Taking a deep breath, Germany looked at Japan, "I want to take a look at that handkerchief immediately. Something on it triggered him. I saw some red scribbles on it. I think that maybe they were from Italy-"

"No," Prussia interrupted as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder,"All of us has had a bad day. Let's just take a rest from this for a bit, and wait until all of us return." Germany looked up at his brother, looking confused. "China and Russia are still at the annex, correct? Also, Canada and France are in the bathroom trying to wash up England, so let's all just try and relax a little. When China comes back, he can tell us what he had found in the morning. All of us can discuss after a nice period of rest, okay?" Prussia beamed down at his tense little brother. Germany wanted to argue that a resting period was the last thing they needed, that it was absurd to let their guards down, but then he looked back when America let out a pained moan.

"Japan really can be strong when he wants too," America complained, "Damn, that hurt!" America laughed and stretched his arms. Germany looked at the half-wit, expecting himself to get mad, but allowed himself to let a small half-smile slowly form on his lips. Germany's eyes examined Japan, thinking that it was true that today had been an emotionally rigged day. After clearing his throat and thinking some more, Germany turned his head to look at where Italy rested and relaxed a bit. A rest was exactly what Italy would've asked for.

"Germany? I'm tired. Take a siesta with me?"

Germany looked back at his brother. "Okay, then. Let us all sleep tonight and talk in the morning."

After Japan was placed in a bed next to Italy's, France had burst from the bathroom, his crotch jewels flying about like his own flag in the wind and ran over to the group exclaiming,

"What the happened? I could hear some shouts, but the Black Sheep was cursing at me loudly!" England, helped by Canada, walked over over to the group. After everyone was settled, Germany explained. England looked a little concerned when hearing about Japan's sudden mental breakdown, but an obnoxious laugh and a good bone-breaking hit on the back from America brought him back to his usual, irked self.

"You git! That hurt!" England said as he threw a punch in the air. America dodged the very lame move.

"Ha! Maybe you being blind is a good thing for me!"

"Don't make fun of my handicap!" England cried as he swung his arms in the direction America's voice was coming from.

When China returned with Russia, he was practically radiating with excitement from what he had found, but Prussia told him to wait which upset him greatly. China changed his mind, though, when Prussia told him about Japan. He immediately rushed over to Japan side while Russia darkly looked at everyone.

"What's up, Russia?" Prussia ventured. Russia looked at the albino then suddenly changed.

"Oh, nothing." Russia smiled. "I'll just be sitting over there. You said that all of us have to relax, da?" Russia walked over to one of the dining tables and examined his pipe and cane sword. Prussia curiously examined the larger nation and remembered that Canada had talked to him about Russia talking on the phone to someone. Prussia scratched his he sighed and thought that maybe he couldn't trust the larger nation fully yet. First, there was Russia's scary calm nature. Second, there was that rumor with the phone call. Prussia looked away from Russia and shook his head then walked over to the beds, seeing that everyone was ready to settle down.

.

Everyone had gone to bed. All except for Germany. Instead of going to bed, he sat at the edge of Japan's bed, looking at the unconscious nation. Japan was breathing heavily, beads of sweat forming at the crown of his head. Despite Japan's constant sweating, China had put a cool cloth on Japan, thinking that he had a fever. Germany shook his head and thought he would never understand the East's culture. Even in his sleep Japan's face was tense and trembling. He made small whimpering noises then cried out as his lips twitched. His muscles would then tense and relax. He gasped for air and gritted his teeth which made an unpleasant grinding noise. Germany clenched his fists, his heart sinking to see Japan who was usually so quiet and confident to be shaking and sweating like a scared child. Germany pried his eyes away from Japan then looked at Italy's still, pale face. The energetic Italian who always cried for his protection lay still and motionless. The hands that usually gripped a white flag were limp and placed over each other. His lips which were usually chattering away about something undoubtedly stupid were white and frozen.

"We can be friends, right Germany?"

"Germany, let's play football! Football!"

"Pasta tonight, Germany?"

"I want a place where all of us can sleep! There will be beds and a big kitchen, too!"

Germany shook his head free of the memories. Right now, these sentimentalities only made him weaker and vulnerable. Germany swallowed through the lump in his throat and slowly stood up, sniffling as he walked over to Italy. He slowly peeled away the blue covers that covered Italy's boots and started to undo his shoelaces.

"What am I doing?" he muttered to himself. His hands fumbled with the laces, and he cleared his throat. He looked up at Italy's face and started to talk.

"Y-You had to do this all by yourself since the beginning of all this, huh?" Germany muttered.

Put one lace under the other then pull. "You had to learn this all by yourself without me. How did you do it?" He looked back at Italy's boots and cleared his throat again, feeling some warm tears fall down his cold cheeks.

Make two ears with both laces. Put one ear under the other then pull through. "Were you forced to discipline yourself during all those loops? Did you not sleep at all to make sure all of us were safe?"

Take the two ears again. Put one ear under the other then tighten. "None of us could protect you. In the end, it was only you who was hurt."

Onto the other shoe. "You had to be all alone, work alone just to protect us."

Slip one lace under the other. "Only God knows many loops you have gone through, how much torture you persisted through."

Make two bunny ears and slip one under the other. "Damn it"

Repeat.

"Damn it all!" Germany cried as he kicked Italy's be. As hard as he could, making the bed screech as it moved against the hardwood floor. Someone in the futons stirred from the noise but didn't wake up. The room then fell silent again. Germany bent over the end of the bed and put a hand over his mouth, trying to choke back sobs. From his eyes, overdue tears fell onto Italy's boots.

He stayed like this for five minutes, pure emotion wrecking him. After calming down, he sniffed and replaced the blanket over Italy's newly tied boots then sat back on the edge of Japan's bed. After wiping away tears with his sleeves and fingers, he allowed his forehead to rest on his hand. He slowly breathed in and out to try and calm himself. His eyes once again wandered to Italy and Japan. Both his friends looked so small and vulnerable. "I feel so useless, you two," Germany whimpered, his voice cracking a bit, "I feel as if I have failed you both." He took in a deep breath and started sobbing into his gloved hand. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

HetaOni Ending: To Stay Alive

"To Feel Useless"

End.

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