Title: Euphoric Field
Author: Konekorew
Pairing: Spain/Antonio Ferñandez-Carriedo x Defensive/Angry/Depressed! Reader [A.K.A Angst]
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or 'Euphoric Field: A Tale of Memories'.
Note: You do not have to know what 'Euphoric Field: A Tale of Memories' is to read this story. All will still make sense, I assure you.


3. Impulsive Step
…If you had been hoping to be my friend, Carriedo, all of your chances have just been cracked against the pavement…

The first thing to always be registered to the subconscious is pain; one that you felt throbbing throughout your veins with every pulse of your heart. It thundered and shuddered all over you, attacking every one of your nerves and leaving you twitching in agony. The second thing to always be registered to the subconscious is that you're not completely awake. You're out of the stage where you can't see anything but you're not to the point of wanting to open your eyes again. A thick veil of pitch black swathed your [color] irises and you found that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't pry your eyes open to see past the darkness. You also found that you could no longer move any of your limbs. You were trapped, immobile and a bit afraid. Within the distance, you heard the distinct clicking and shutting of a door and then the scraping of metal against linoleum. A breath heaved beside you and with the deep sigh behind it, you knew a male was sitting next to you- wherever you were at the time.

"I seriously need to be more careful! Oh, I hope cordero will be aright…"

Ignoring the pet name, you immediately registered the voice in your head, which was a bit surprising since you only knew the man for the last six days and grumbled, eyes still not opening. Antonio Ferñandez-Carriedo was sitting beside you and whatever had caused you to be lying immobile in a bed was clearly his fault. A bit more far off than Antonio's troubled humming, you could hear the battering of a heater; it meant that you were in some sort of building. For some new reason, you didn't want to wake up, even if you could. It didn't really settle well with you that you would have to talk to Antonio now if you were to 'wake up'; besides, it might be interesting to hear what he did to you before you decide to reveal that you weren't entirely asleep.

A mask of grogginess clouded itself over your ears once minutes passed and nothing was heard or said and it would seem that your body was slipping back into the endless void of your mind. It would seem inevitable that even if you waited any longer, Antonio would still be by your side when you woke up. It seemed odd to you that he was sitting by your side though. From what you could remember of the years of your life before your guardian's divorce, you couldn't recall a time where you had needed to go to the hospital or had been injured. You had been just fine on your own…

"She still hasn't woken up, Antonio?"

The new voice was a light female, dripping with some sort of new accent; if you had to guess, it would be Cuban. "No, miss. How long has it been?" Antonio's chair scrapped against the floor again and you assumed he had turned around to face the woman. "You don't have to call me miss, Antonio." A light chuckle, "Call me Evita and, as far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't have to worry. It's only been about ten minutes since you came in here and it doesn't seem as though she was injured too bad…"

Evita, whoever the woman was, walked over to your bedside. You felt thin and dexterous fingers run along your scalp and then another thing that made you cringe in pain as Evita's hand pressed against a sensitive spot on your head. "You only broke a few arteries close to her forehead; quite common if you decided to hit someone in the face with a soccer ball." Evita sighed and pulled away before you heard a drawer being opened and the crunching of plastic. It took you a bit to realize that the woman was unpeeling a bandage for you and brushing back your hair to place it over your left temple. You groaned a bit in annoyance but it was nothing that wouldn't be mistaken for a sound of sleep. You got hit in the head with a soccer ball? 'Tall, dark, athletic- so far, he's the perfect stereotype…' You grunted to yourself and shifted your position on the bed to curl onto your side. You heard a chuckle resonate from above you. "There, see? She should be perfectly fine Antonio. Just make sure that when she wakes up, she doesn't feel dizzy, start vomiting or if she goes back to sleep again- that means she most likely has a concussion."

"Okay, Evita- Gracias." Somewhere in your mind, you could picture him nodding. Evita hummed and the door opened before clicking shut. You were alone again.

Aside from the occasional hum of the heater, you didn't hear much noise. There was the clinking and clattering of something heavy and you presumed that Antonio was opening his backpack after there was the squeaking of a zipper. You guessed that he must have been doing his homework or something while he waited for you. A fruitless effort, you thought but it would be better than immediately having to talk to the bastard who apparently hit your head with a soccer ball. You readied your mind with some sort of sentence to chew out to him until you vaguely remembered your previous class day. English was simply reading in class, Math was reviewing area of third-dimensional figures and turning in your circle homework sheet, History was watching a boring film on the Harlem Renaissance, you had a test in Biology that took the whole hour and your free period was spent writing more of your story, evidentially.

It then snapped in your head that if you and Antonio shared all of your classes together, he would have no homework. So then what was he going into his backpack for? You tried to stifle your curiosity and unsettling feeling in your stomach but you felt it all drop when a heavily accented voice filled the room.

"-The girl began to draw. Between books, instruments and art, drawing seemed the best way for her to create people. But it wasn't that easy: she grew bored and gave up countless times. But that was fine because-"

Antonio almost died of a heart attack as he pulled the spiral notebook away from his face and appearing right behind it was your face, full of anger and flames in your incandescent [color] orbs. "Ay!" He flew backwards in his chair, notebook flying and skidding across the room and his head- fortunately or unfortunately for you- landed back on his own satchel. Not waiting to squelch your anger, you grabbed for the pages of your story and being beating Antonio in the head with it, scowling furiously. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You don't just go through people's things without their permission!"

Malachite irises blinked, looking back up from the assault of metal, paper and cardboard to see your face flushed in hatred and- was that a bit of embarrassment? Antonio laughed a bit, going to stand up after you pulled away, puzzled. "Lo siento, cordero. I should have asked first, right?"

You had readied for Antonio to freak out but your sentence died on your lips. Quirking a fair-toned eyebrow, you looked over the Spaniard sprawled on the floor as a laugh filled the room. You hadn't expected bemusement to come from a guy who had just been found going through your backpack and had been reading your story, especially after he just got the living hell scared out of him and so on and so forth. Instead of your anger igniting, you pulled back from Antonio and instead, just grabbed your backpack. "If you had been hoping to be my friend, Carriedo, all of your chances have just been cracked against the pavement."

It felt incredibly stupid to mention the word friend but you knew that ever since the beginning when Antonio had talked to you outside on your first day of school, all the boy wanted to do was get to know you. You didn't want him to get to know you; after the incident, you wanted to be all alone. The only thing your mind had ever wanted for you was a way to get out of never having to go anywhere or having to feel anything. Feelings would weigh you down. The only reason you went to school was because learning was one way you could escape the mundane lifestyle you had made for yourself and the emptiness of a house that had once been loved and where a little girl named [full name] had once been loved.

The brunet was left on the floor as he watched your fleeting figure throw open the white door and head out. Throwing all of your school things onto your shoulders, you swept out of the school to instantaneously be assailed with sirens and the pounding of rain. Off somewhere in the distance, you assumed something must have happened with the police; perhaps a robbery or break in. Glaring up at the black sky for deterring your already obnoxious way home, you proceeded on through the thick gusts of wind and rain droplets, becoming soaked in the process. You thought about running into the nearest café to dry off and get something hot to drink but you didn't have any sort of money on you. Street lamps glowed above your head as the darkness fell upon your body and through the loud noises you never noticed something calling for you in the distance. Antonio fell upon you as quickly as the rain had and as you neared a street lamp, you turned to face him with fire in your eyes. "What?" You interrogated.

You blinked when you watched Antonio hand you the object that you had beaten him with earlier and tiled your head. In your rage, you must have forgotten that which was most important. Hastily grabbing it and shoving it in your backpack so it wouldn't get wet any further, you vaguely registered Antonio's voice again. "You left that in the nurse's office and Evita told me I shouldn't leave your side for quite some time in case you have a concussion. It is my fault after all." You glanced back up at him after securing your story and glared into his irises. They held nothing but another motion you had not seen in forever: apology. "I know, I heard." You countered and turned on the heel of your required school shoes. "Thanks for knocking me unconscious, dumbass. You really could have injured me."

Antonio winced at your cursing and could only frown, but he continued to follow suit. You turned a corner to watch his movements and you noted he was following your every step. Turning around as to ask for an explanation for his behavior, the Spaniard held up his hands in defense. "I just want to make sure you get home safe! At least then your parents will be able to take care of you."

You didn't bother with interjecting that no one else would ever be at your house. A part of you wanted to tell him the truth but you stifled the feeling. Instead, you quipped, "I'll be fine on my own. You don't have to follow me like a little lost puppy-"

On the mention of pets, you blinked as both you and Antonio heard a loud chorus of mewling in the distance. Both of you looked back and forth at each other as if to say, 'you hear it too?' over the pounding of rain on asphalt and the clapping of thunder. Beckoning Antonio to actually follow you this time, your search lead you to a lamp post about fifteen feet away. At the foot of the pole was a small box that used to contain oranges. Now, under the ochre glow of the street light, you saw a calico cat surrounded by several mounds of kittens, eyes still unopened. They mewled in delight at drinking from their mother's milk, curling at the warmth in their bellies from the harsh weather they had no idea was surrounding them. You looked at the scene for quite some time as you eyes caught onto something you didn't really want to see and you turned away. Antonio noticed your discomfort.

"What's a matter, cordero? You don't like kittens?" He chided and smiled, crouching down to look at the mother cat. She went to his at him and Antonio shook his head, holding up his hands in defense. "I'm not here to hurt you or your kittens. You're doing a fine job taking care of them, gato!"

You turned your head briefly, looking over Antonio's happy face and you shook your head, [color] tresses dampened from the wind and the rain. "Idiot," You chastised, frowning. "You can't understand what you're saying. Now, we saw what we needed to see, now can we-"

Antonio interrupted your sentence with a distressed cry, scanning the orange crate further. "Oh Dios mio!" Tanned fingers pointed to what you had first caught onto. "This is terrible! This kitten is almost dead!"

From the first second you laid eyes on the poor little cat, eyes shut and profusely mewling for help, you couldn't stare at it. After noticing how the kitten's brothers and sisters ignored it's twisted paw and inability to receive milk from its mother, it immediately reminded you of yourself. The cat had been ignored by what was supposed to watch and help it grow. It had been left blind and uncared for and you found that almost feeling guilt for not being able to help the poor creature, you couldn't look at it as the newborn cried at the corner of the box. Antonio noticed your discomfort and immediately looked at you for advice. "We should take care of it, [name]!" He pleaded, now smiling at his new innovation. "The cat can't see and if we take it to a vet, we could get it all it's shots and stuff and we could take care of the thing together and-"

"Why the hell are you asking me if I want to take care of a cat?" Condescendingly, you leaned against the lamp post, foot nearest to the dying kitten. "Especially if I want to take care of it with you? What good is invading mother nature's ways going to do? Obviously, this kitten is supposed to die in the wild. We can't help it-"

Watching a whine of sadness come from the undoubtedly older man, you watched his face light up in amusement and you looked at him, puzzled. When you followed his emerald gaze, your eyes widen as you watched the kitten fumble and try and walk closer to you. Unintentionally going against your actions, you gently pulled the kitten into the palm of your hand and glared at Antonio. "Where's the nearest vet? If we don't get this kitten somewhere dry it'll die of pneumonia before it dies of starvation or hurts itself from this broken paw."

Antonio, for once in his life, was quick on his feet and nodded before the two of you went running into the night, kitten held close to your chest. It had been an odd reaction on your part, but you couldn't stand looking at the kitten in pain any more. You briefly remembered what Antonio had first told you about loneliness. He had told you to re-write your story so the girl could have something in her life. You had always thought since your guardians forgot your existence that acknowledging and trying to befriend or take care of something else would make you feel worse, but the over compelling urge to help something that looked so broken and couldn't take care of itself on its own got the better of you. You briefly swore to yourself that you would convince Antonio that after the cat was taken care of, you would have Antonio put it back in the wild with its mother.

After taking nearly twenty-minutes to get into town and end up getting directions from some old woman in a grocery store, you were sitting sopping wet with Antonio in the nearest veterinary hospital. There had been people to carefully pull the kitten into an operating room and you could only tried and stifle the worry boiling in your stomach. Ideas of the operation being unsuccessful bopped into your mind as much as you tried to convince yourself it wouldn't matter if this specific animal died, even after your help. Animals died every day. Yet, the way the cat seemed to notice that you were there and the newborn, eyes shut tight, wanted your help, bothered you to the ends of the earth.

You hadn't even noticed that Antonio had draped his uniform jacket over you until he scooted closer to your body on the bench you shared. Your face flared up in embarrassment but you blamed it on your body reacting to the cold. You were saved from speaking to the boy who had tried to 'put the moves' on you when a young blonde, hair tied with two braided pigtails, come forward with a smile on her face. Illuminated in the light, you could see the outline of kitten's body. It's front was covered in white with patches of gray and brown flecking its forehead and back all the way down to its tail. A splint covered the animal's injured paw and a towel wrapped itself around the newborn's fur to keep the poor thing arm. You noticed it shivering and gently received the kitten from the woman. You noted on the tag of her dress the words 'Madeline Williams'.

"Your very lucky you got her in when you did," Her Canadian voice could barely be heard and both yourself and Antonio had to strain to hear her. "If she had put any more strain on that paw, it wouldn't have been amendable…" She directed her finger to the splint that cat was trying to move. You pet the creature to calm her down with your index finger. "Is there going to be any cost?" You turned to Antonio, frowning. You had forgotten you hadn't had any money and it didn't seem that Antonio had any on him. You heart nearly stopped in relief when you watched the Canadian shake her head. "I'm not worried about that, I'm just happy you got her in here when you did." The woman laughed. "You two look like a respectable bunch of teenagers anyways. Stay here as long as you wish until you want to leave. I recommend you keep that splint on her paw for at least another few weeks before going to a vet and either having it replaced or completely taken off. Good night to both of you."

After leaving the animal shelter, you continued your trek back to your house. You had debated on whether or not you should just bolt and get to your house before Antonio knew where you lived, but the kitten fastened inside of your arms and uniform jacket stopped your movements. Amongst the shitty weather, you heard your Spanish acquaintance go on and on about the new kitten. "I wonder what we should name her!" He laughed cheerfully. "She's got a bunch of different colors on her body so we can't go off of her coat and I don't know what her eyes are yet so that's out… But I thgink it'll be really cool to buy a bunch new things for the kitty! Don't you, [name]-"

You abruptly halted your movements, turning on your heel to glare motherly at Antonio. "You shouldn't keep her," you left out that Antonio had wanted the kitten to be something for the two of you to take care of. "You can't just do that Antonio. Would you like to be injured and randomly separated from your family when you've never spent any time with them?" You glared. "You shouldn't take care of the cat- she'll be fine on her own. You should've just left her with the animal shelter and let them take care of her or hell- we really should have just left her in the rain and-"

Your body flinched when you felt a broad hand touch your shoulder. Pulling away from the contact immediately, you saw Antonio at first look at you with sadness and then a small smile. "Well, why are you asking me all these things when you're the one still carrying the kitten?"

Blinking, you looked back down at the purring little bundle in your arms and glared at Antonio before sighing. Swiftly, you came back at him with excuses. "B-But um…" You bit your lip, not having a prepared lie. "M-My parents won't like it if I-"

Antonio interrupted, "That's no problem!" He laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "I thought it might be something like that. See- my mother and I live alone and it's just the two of us and I figured having a pet in the house might help the two of us or at least let her have something to take care of when I'm not around b-but that also doesn't mean you can't go and visit the kittens too but I wonder how gato will like the sea turtles in my room or-"

You laughed a bit, watching him ramble and you never even registered in your brain that you might actually be smiling. It had been so long since you had ever laughed, a deep laugh, filled with a harmonious noise Antonio had never heard before. Looking down at you, he smiled back. "You look really cute when you laugh, cordero. You should do it more often!"

Finally realizing what you had been doing, your face turned cherry red. You blamed it again on the cold weather. You stuttered a bit, mouth opening and closing like a fish before you hurriedly gave Antonio the kitten. The poor thing mewl in discomfort and you winced, not remembering the injured paw for a second. Antonio however helped the cat into a comfy position and Antonio smirked a bit. "Hey, don't think I'm letting you out of this easy! I want to at least walk you home-" He pointed to the dark sky and a clock in the distance reading some odd number to eight. "It's relatively late right now and I'm sure your parents are worried about you. I want you to get home safely."

Maybe you felt, at that moment, a little bit of happiness because you decided not to tell Antonio the truth. You knew telling Antonio that you had no home because your guardians forgot your existence and that you lived alone would only result in Antonio codling you even more or leaving you alone again. You wanted to see just how much Antonio would want to get to know you before he got to learn about your past. With a little less reluctance, you found your way to your house. After explaining to Antonio that your parents were probably asleep since they worked early in the morning, the Spaniard immediately bought the lie and told you he would be back at your house the next morning. You were less than happy with Antonio's new plans but none the less, you entered your house. You didn't even have enough want to eat. The only thing you did was walk into your bedroom, clad in your chilly clothing and fell asleep as you hit the bed.


(A/N: Chapter three! Woo-hoo xD Sorry it took me longer than usual guys- Shiesse passiern. –shrugs- And yes- Evita is Cuba and yes, Canada is a veterinarian xD oh come on- you can't tell me the two wouldn't be in the medical business after Paint it white! Seriously Q AQ I actually want to inform you all that I have a contest in mind for the next chapter. I want my reviewers to give me a name to call our little kitten in the story. The winner will get a one-shot of themselves in another reader-insert. As for what I'm expecting name wise, I want it to be creative and could also have an element in the story applied with it! If you don't win this small little contest, don't think that I ignored you or anything and don't flame other people because that's no fun! Q AQ I will have little miniature contests throughout the story! The contest will end in exactly a week from today! Anyhow, read and review and have a good day!

Advice of today:

"When the going gets tough, the tough call their friends!" – Sora, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance)