Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia
A/N: It took so long to figure this out and write this OTL
Autumn leaves fell from the sakura tree and fluttered in the wind. A now grown up Kiku Honda, stared on as the brittle leaves flew down, groups at a time. He sat at Wang Yao's porch, alone. Alfred and Arthur were having their own problems. It seems that Alfred is fighting for his independence, but Arthur won't give it to him. Kiku hopes that they are both ok, but secretly hopes that Alfred gains his independence.
"What's this?" asks the American.
"It's a good luck charm. Just wear it with you during war and it will guarantee your safe return" says the Japanese, smiling full of confidence.
"I don't know if I'll succeed" the American looks to the floor, full of worry and a little guilt.
"I know you will. The charm guarantees it."
Alfred was still full of doubt. He loved Arthur, more than anyone could ever imagine, but he wanted to be his own country even more. He wasn't a little boy anymore, he was growing up and wanted his freedom.
"Pinky promise that you'll return?" Kiku lifted up his pinkie, asking Alfred for this childish promise, even though the two of them were fully grown adult men.
"Ok." Alfred finally smiles and hooks his pinkie with Kiku's
"The autumn leaves look really beautiful today, don't they aru?" Yao said, taking his place beside Kiku.
"Hai" Kiku said, not even feeling the least bit startled.
Kiku hadn't been smiling much lately. It's like his enchanting smile had been taken away by jealous deities. At first, Yao thought that it was because Alfred and Arthur were in war, and that he was really worried for his best friend, but slowly, the starry light in Kiku's eyes were vanishing.
Yao grew more worried with each passing day. He wondered what had happened to his precious Kiku. He had changed trmendously since the day he was a little boy who was afraid of mere cats. No, the Kiku he saw now was stronger than ever, sophisticated and emotionless most of the time.
"Kiku, what's wrong aru?" Yao asked, his eyebrows were furrowed. Kiku merely shaked his head, indicating that there was nothing wrong.
"Please tell me aru." Yao urged. He couldn't bear to see his Kiku bottle up all his emotions.
"It really is nothing Yao-san." Yao was a little shocked at this. It was the first time that Kiku had refered to him as 'Yao-san'. Normally, Kiku would refer to him as 'Onii-san'. Something was definetely wrong, but what? Yao could not and would never be able to figure it out. He sighed and walked away, leaving Kiku in solititude.
"Onii-san!" Kiku hurried to Yao's side to fix his wounds. This time it was Ivan. Kiku could see this by the wounds. Kiku worked fast to stop severe wounds from bleeding and to ice non-severe wounds. Yao was close to fainting when he collapsed on the door step. Kiku had to carry Yao to his bedroom and put him there. Yao had lost a lot of weight recently and was lighter than Kiku.
Kiku cleaned his older brother up and left the house, katana in hand.
The next morning, Yao found Kiku asleep on the porch, covered in wounds and bruises but none of them bleeding. Yao rushed over to his side and checked for any signs of bleeding.
"Kiku! are you alright aru? What happened aru? Who did this to you aru?" the older man practically shouted at Kiku.
"Please relax Onii-san. You're still very injured, you should be in bed." Kiku said, trying to make Yao sit down.
"Speak for yourself aru! You're covered in bruises! What happened aru?" Yao asked again, his worry could not be contained this time.
"I fought Ivan-san for you" Kiku said, his face remained indifferent.
"YOU WHAT ARU? HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID, DANGEROUS AND RECKLESS ARU!" Yao was definetely screaming at the top of his lungs right now. Just the thought of little Kiku fighting a beast like Ivan made Yao shake in his boots.
"Please calm down Onii-san" Kiku said, a little worried about an agitated Yao.
"Let go aru. I am going to go teach that beast a lesson aru!" Yao said, drawing both his swords and marching towards the gate.
"Onii-san!" Kiku pleaded, hanging on to Yao's hand for dear life.
"I said let go Kiku!" Yao shook Kiku's hand off effortlessly.
"China-san!" Kiku shouted, huffing a bit because of Yao's stubborness. Yao stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Kiku directly in the eyes. It was the first time Kiku had said his country name, and shouted it nonetheless. It had to be important. Well, Kiku had gained Yao's full attention now.
"I fought Ivan, and won" Kiku said with pride in his voice. Yao dropped his swords and stared at Kiku with eyes as big as saucers. His golden eyes held all sorts of emotions. Shock mostly.
"I took over parts Russia" Kiku said again, his voice more steady this time. Yao couldn't believe what Kiku had just said. How can an asian country defeat a western country? the soviet union nonetheless. They were the most powerful among the european countries, and Kiku, small, innocent Kiku had defeated him single handedly. Yao was at a complete loss for words. His world grew darker, and darker.
"Onii-san!" Kiku shouted. The last thing Yao remembered was Kiku running toward him and breaking his fall. Then, he blacked out.
Kiku sat on the porch the whole day. Now, he was painting a picture. Light strokes of the brush filled the paper with ink and creativity. Splashes of colour everywhere, particularly orange. Kiku loved to paint. It was a release for him in a way. He painted nature mostly, grass, trees, waterfalls, even animals. He once painted a picture of Heracle's cat.
This time, he was painting the autumn leaves falling and swirling in the air, just like the sakura petals earlier this year, full of energy and freedom. With one more stroke of his brush, he put the painting aside for it to dry. It was pretty cold at this time of year, and Kiku didn't have his haori with him. He sighed and went in to get one.
Just as he was about to go in, his tea serving robot wheeled over to him, carrying a cup of steaming hot green tea. He looked behind the door to see Yao hiding in the darkness, controlling the robot. Kiku's face remained indifferent, but inside, he was smiling at this silly act. He accepted the hot tea and drank every last drop. Then, he went inside and walked past Yao, without a word.
"Onii-san, you're awake" Kiku was putting cold towels on Yao's head, hoping that it would help him wake up. It seems that a lot of blood has seeped through the bandages and they were throughly soaked. Kiku was shocked at how much blood was flowing through Yao's thin and frail body.
Yao briefly remembered Kiku telling him that he had defeated Ivan before he passed out.
"Have some tea" Kiku said, helping Yao sit up and placing a small cup in Yao's palm. Yao took a small sip of the leaf juice.
"Why Kiku?" Yao asked, his face was blank. "Why did you take on Ivan aru?"
"Because Arthur-san already has you, I could not stand back and let Ivan do the same." Kiku answered simply.
"You could have lost your life aru!"
"It doesn't matter"
"Yes it does aru! You don't know how horrifying it is to lose your life aru!"
"As long as I keep you alive, its all that matters"
"When you die, what happens to the people alive aru? have you ever thought about Alfred aru? have you ever thought about how lonely he'd be if you were dead aru? how about your country aru? what's going to happen to your people aru? what's going to happen to me aru?" Yao was shouting again, a few tears escaped his eyes and were running down his face, each one chasing after the other.
"I did think about you and Alfred and my country" Kiku says, trying to keep his composure.
"Then why did you fight Ivan aru?" Yao questions once again.
"Because if Ivan had you, I could never do this anymore" Kiku says, leaning forward to place his lips on Yao's quievering ones. Yao felt his tears evaporate instantly. He felt that his wounds had healed at that very moment. Kiku felt like his thirst has finally been quenched after so years of being dehydrated.
When Kiku had parted their kiss, Yao's face had turned a very deep red.
The moon tonight was round and full, shining like a silver orb, surrounded by a cloak of darkness. The stars looked like the moon's servants, always serving it, but never being able to be as big and bright as it.
"The bunnies up there are making mooncakes and medicinal herbs aru" Yao says while handing Kiku a mooncake.
"Their making mochi" Kiku says, while handing Yao a piece of mochi.
The two lovers munched on their snacks and stared at the beautiful moon and supposed bunnies making mooncakes and pounding mochi. Kiku finds a piece of paper in his mooncake. It reads"If you have a bone in your throat, you must spit it out. If you don't you won't feel comfortable." An old chinese saying, very clever Onii-san, Kiku thought
"Onii-san, watashi...suki-desu..." Kiku mumbled.
"Wo ai ni" Yao whispers into Kiku's ear, too close to it. He nibbles on the youth's ear a little bit.
Kiku tries to stay expresionless but can't. He loves it too much. He loves Yao too much. The next few words are going to break both their hearts.
"Onii-san..." Kiku says, but before he could say anything else, Yao shushes him, and pulls him into a passionate kiss, tasting Kiku's lips like foreign objects, even though he had just tasted them for the first time last week. Kiku breaks the kiss a little too fast.
"Onii-san" Kiku says again, brows furrowing.
"What is it aru?" Yao says, impatiently wanting to taste those lips again.
"I want my freedom, like Alfred-san" Kiku says, his face has turned to stone again. Yao stops all intentions of kissing him again, and gives Kiku a horrified look. The smile on his face has been wiped clean off. His head was shaking violently.
"I want my freedom, China-san" Kiku said, sending another bullet through Yao's freshly broken heart.