Iryna eventually managed to convince her younger siblings that none of her dates so far had been 'assholes', as Natalya had so charmingly branded them after the lack of success. She did not, however, succeed in convincing them that they did not need to press on with the matchmaking attempts.

This time, they all strived to minimise potential disasters. Natalya did this by making a list of people she was willing to trust. This would have been incredibly short, were it not for her adoration of her Big Brother. Because of this, she reasoned that anyone Ivan classed as his friends were also her friends, and therefore could maybe be trusted. From there, the Belarusian took note of who, besides her, Moscow and Ukraine, Russia was currently spending the most time with. This happened to be China, so by her somewhat questionable logic, this made him the most trustworthy candidate.

Ivan's attempts to cut down on future failings involved paying a personal 'friendly' visit to Yao after Natalya came up with this plan and making sure they were on the same page. Or at least, that Yao would agree to go on a date with Iryna and that he didn't intend to break her heart.

Iryna couldn't, with her stubborn, insistently 'helpful' siblings, do much about how their matchmaking service worked, but she did take the precaution of arranging the date for a time when she knew Natalya and Ivan had their own date planned, and therefore wouldn't be involved like they had on her date with America. And make sure that any 'follow-up' arrangements would be made via her mobile phone to avoid a repeat of the latest incident with France. The whole dating process would certainly be a lot easier if her siblings weren't going to be around when things went wrong. Or even if they didn't go wrong, knowing how overprotective Natalya and Ivan were.

Arranging the actual date was done via Ivan passing her phone number on to the Chinese man. She had put her foot down and insisted on making the plans herself, unsure of what a date concocted by proxy through her unusual younger siblings might consist of and not considering now a good time to find out.

The trouble was, possibly from not going on many dates regularly or possibly from the sudden influx of them, no exciting new date ideas offered themselves to the Ukrainian and she wasn't sure what to suggest.

In the end, Yao offered to come around after her siblings had left and see if they could come up with anything that they wanted to together then when things would be less pressured and more peaceful for them. Iryna agreed, privately glad of the fact she could relax, knowing that this date would take place in familiar, comfortable surroundings. And privately, too, which was a nice change from the scenes inadvertently made from her previous dates. With no travelling to be done and nothing important to worry over beforehand, she contented herself with changing into her pretty traditional gown, brushing her ashen blonde locks and then settling down comfortably on her Little Brother's couch to await her sibling's departure and her date's arrival.

While she was sitting there innocently, Natalya came running in, brushing her own long flaxen-coloured strands of hair with one hand and rummaging under cushions, tables and chairs as best she could with the other. "Lost something, Sister?" Iryna asked, glancing up curiously.

"Da, Moscow's shoes..." Her youngest sibling sighed irritably. "Big Brother and I are taking her with us...I don't trust babysitters..." She muttered darkly, "But if I turn my back for five seconds, she takes them off."

The Ukrainian stifled a laugh and got up, back to playing the motherly eldest as she shooed her Sister back away to her date preparations and hunted out the discarded shoes. Perhaps her siblings didn't have all the luck. They may be loved-up with an adorable child to prove it but said adorable child provided them with plenty of new and interesting hassles to tackle.

She found the shoes behind the couch and returned them hurriedly to her younger Sister, who wrestled them back onto her daughter's feet. "Spasiba, Siastra." The Belarusian smiled at Ukraine as she finished attending to the youngest family member and turned her attention back to her mirror, straightening a crease out of her deep purple dress and reaching up to tweak her white hair ribbon. "How do I look?" She questioned as she inspected her reflection critically.

In fact, Natalya was going on her date looking much the same as she did on a daily basis, but both her everyday dress and the bow nesting atop of her platinum locks were gifts from her Beloved Big Brother, and Iryna knew Vanya would appreciate the sentimental value when they were out together, so she merely smiled and gave her Little Sister a quick hug, "Lovely, Sestra, of course." She told her sincerely.

For her part, the Belarusian woman hugged her back fiercely and tightly, recognising the meaning in her sibling's honest little compliment and still very grateful for the help and the words, "As do you, Sister!" She told her firmly before pulling away and checking her reflection one last time, "Well, Vanya is just starting the car so it is time for me and the little one to leave." She added, pausing to scoop up Nastasya in her arms, which was quicker and easier than persuading the toddler to keep her shoes on and walk, "Good luck on your date. If there is any trouble...Call us." Natalya advised, her tone of voice a warning to anyone who may be listening and thinking of hurting her Big Sister in any way.

Iryna felt both deeply flattered and grateful to her younger siblings for looking out for her and a little nervous at her Sister's tone, but she merely thanked her and waved to her and her niece merrily as they hurried off. Then she settled down to wait for her date to arrive.

Time ticked by. Ukraine noticed it, but away on their date, Belarus and Russia did not. Natalya had decided that they should go to a local funfair, on the basis that it would be a child-friendly date since they had taken their daughter along too. Natalya had already won the shooting gallery game, while Ivan held Nastasya and wondered whether he should be proud of her aim or nervous because this was Belarus with a gun, after all, and though he loved her, she could still be very scary when she wanted to be.

His concerns had melted away when she had presented her prize, a giant teddy bear, to him with a smile. It was times like these, when he was reminded of his Little Sister's carefully hidden sweetness, that he couldn't help loving her, no matter what.

So the couple were strolling along, arm in arm, with Natalya's other hand gripping Nastasya's and Ivan's holding the prize she'd given him, when the Russian man's phone began to ring. He grumbled and stopped, passing his gift to Natalya and pulling the phone out of his pocket. The caller I.D was his Big Sister's. He quickly answered it, suspicion already brewing in his mind. Why would she call if there was nothing wrong? It was only now that Russia began to notice how long they had been out, an hour at least, and he began to worry too as he hit answer. "Sestra?! What's going on? You're okay, da?" He pretty much babbled into the phone at her.

Belarus didn't hear her Sister's side of the conversation, but she noticed her Brother's expression change as he listened to her and the aura of annoyance forming around him. She heard him tell Iryna not to worry and that they would be home as soon as possible to sort it out. As he hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket, she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Ivan grabbed his gift and her hand again and began to push through the crowds and funfair goers, who wisely didn't object, "Come on, Bela, Sestra needs us!" He urged as they made their way back to the car.

That didn't sound good. Natalya wondered where her nearest knife was. If Big Sister was hurt- She was getting carried away, she reminded herself. She had to find out what had happened first. "Why?!" She demanded to know.

Ivan yanked open his car door much more aggressively than he needed to, muttering darkly under his breath. He threw the stuffed bear onto the backseat. "She got stood up, apparently..."

Natalya clenched her fist. So she hadn't been getting carried away. Where was her knife, anyway? She pondered this as she helped her daughter into her booster seat and did up her seatbelt.

The two overprotective Slavic Nations got into the car themselves and drove home quickly, actually Ivan was probably going a little too quickly, their conversation sizzling with what they considered to be righteous indignation on their elder sibling's behalf.

The Ukrainian met them at the door. She didn't look too heartbroken, because she wasn't, just a little annoyed and disappointed. And worried. She knew how protective her siblings could be and had hesitated to call them, but she had nothing else to do and Natalya had told her she should. Besides, they would have been worse if they had come home to find her all alone.

Even so, as she looked from her Brother's worrying grimace of a grin that suggested to anyone who knew him that he was thinking dark thoughts to her Sister's downright angry scowl that made it obvious to everyone that what kind of thoughts she was thinking, she searched for some reassurance. "So...Uh, how exactly are we going to 'sort this out', Vanya?" She questioned.

Ivan calmed down a little. His Big Sister had that effect on him. She was as innocent as ever and probably wasn't too upset, which was a relief. In fact, it was probably fine. After all, Yao had just not managed to arrive, not actually done anything wrong. So the stormy aura around him evaporated and he tried to think. "I suppose we set up another date, da?" He suggested.

His Little Sister butted in, clearly still angry that anyone dare be so rude as to not show up for a date with her Irunya. "Well, not with any more ill-mannered assholes, we don't! And speaking of which...That one has some serious explaining to do when I find my knives..."

Her siblings exchanged worried glances. "I think it may be best to move on..." Ivan decided, putting an arm around the Belarusian and stroking her back as he tried to soothe her. Iryna managed a highly concerned nod as she watched them. Dating was stressful enough, without these two trying to match-make and 'protect' her from her 'matches' at the same time...