I'm Not England
Ch.9
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
It was starting to become very obvious that Arthur's little house was now way too crowded. Granted when Arthur learned that he was getting a bunch of units he knew that the house was going to get pretty crowded. However, the reality of just how crowded his house could feel didn't really hit him until he had four units, a dog, and a polar bear try to fit into one room. Most of the rooms where just too small to fit so many people into them so everyone tried their best to not all gather into one room at the same time. The good news was that all of his units now had jobs by this point in time and they had just enough money to get a bigger house.
It was Francis recent employment at the town's infamous France restaurant 'The Rose' that really helped bring in a lot of money. Since Francis was such a wonderful cook he became a head cook in no time. While Francis was working at the restaurant Arthur was actually able to find Alfred a job at a nearby hobby shop. The store sold all sorts of things some of those things happened to be superhero related. Alfred loved the job and it turned out that America was one heck of a salesman.
He was so good in fact that the store owner had actually thanked Arthur for allowing Alfred to work there. The money was starting to roll in, and Arthur saved every penny of it. However, even with the money that the units where bringing in Arthur was going to have to dip into his savings if he wanted to get a really nice house. Now that he actually had enough money to get house Arthur decided that this week he and the units would go out and check out a couple of the houses that were up for sale. With any luck they would be in their new house within the end of the week….
Well, today was the day. Today was the day that Arthur would finally take the units out to go house shopping. Well, they would look anyway there was no grantee that they would find a house that they all liked in one day. However, Arthur didn't have a lot of time until he got his next unit so Arthur really didn't have a lot of time to waste when it came to finding a new home. Arthur sighed as he stared down at his bowl of Captain Crunch cereal.
He was the only one awake right now, but it would only be a matter of time before the other residents of the house started to wake up. Arthur could hear Alfred's snoring coming from the living room, and Arthur was seriously wondering just how Francis was able to sleep through the noise. Alfred's snore was so loud that he could wake the dead.
"Good morning." A voice called out.
Arthur looked up from his cereal only to see that Matthew had entered the room.
"Good morning it's make your own breakfast today." Arthur said.
Matthew just nodded his head before he got himself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table.
"So what are we doing today?" Matthew asked.
"We are going house shopping." Arthur answered.
"We finally have enough money to get a house?" Matthew asked.
Arthur just nodded his head before he said "Yes, we finally got enough money to get a bigger house."
"So that means I'll get my own room right?" A voice yelled out.
Arthur jumped a little at the sudden shout, but when he looked over at the person who shouted he only saw Alfred standing there.
"Yes, you'll be getting your own room." Arthur answered.
"Sweet, I can decorate it with superhero stuff right?" Alfred asked as he got himself a bowl of cereal.
"It will be your room you can decorate it however you want." Arthur said.
Alfred started to grin as he grabbed his bowl and started to leave the room.
"I'm going to eat in the living room." Alfred announced.
"Fine, but when you're done eating go get dressed. We are leaving once breakfast is over so that means you can't lay around the house in your pajamas for half the day." Arthur shouted.
Alfred didn't bother replying to that he just went straight to the living room. A few seconds later the sounds of the theme song for the superhero cartoon The Spectacular Spider-Man started blasting from the living room. Arthur could hear what sounded like Francis grumbling something, but Alfred just laughed at whatever he said. Francis came into the kitchen still grumbling about something, but he smiled a little when he saw Matthew and Arthur.
"Good morning." Francis said.
Both Arthur and Matthew greeted the French unit, but Arthur stopped the man when he saw him moving toward the fridge.
"Don't go and make a big breakfast we are leaving at eight to go house-hunting today." Arthur said.
Francis turned around and moved over to the toaster and started to make himself some toast.
"So we are finally moving out of this tiny house of yours?" Francis asked.
Arthur just rolled his eyes and said "Yes, we are finally moving out."
"Good this house is far too small." Francis said.
Arthur couldn't argue with that the house was too small, and it couldn't fit them all. Francis sat down at the table, and right after he sat down Gilbert came stumbling into the room. The white haired man slowly made his way over to the table before he plopped himself down in the chair next to Arthur. Gilbird flew down from his perch on Gilbert's shoulder and landed on the table.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." Arthur said.
Prussia just grumbled in response and swiped a piece of toast from Francis' plate. The French man didn't react to the fact that some of his breakfast had been stolen he just smiled and held up a jar of jelly.
"Want anything for your toast." Francis asked.
Gilbert just shook his head and slowly munched on his toast.
"We are going house hunting today." Arthur said.
Gilbert seemed to snap out of his half awake state when he heard that. He looked over at Arthur and gave him a surprised look.
"We finally got enough money to get a bigger house?" Gilbert asked.
"Yes, we finally got enough money." Arthur answered.
"Awesome, when do you think we'll be able to move out?" The red eyed unit asked.
Arthur frowned before he said "We have to find a house first. Hopefully, we'll have moved out and into a new house before I get any more units."
"We are leaving after breakfast." Matthew said.
Gilbert quickly finished his toast and got up from his seat and left the room.
"I'm going to go get dressed." Gilbert called out as he walked into the living room.
"Alfred you better get dressed now too!" Arthur yelled out.
"Awwww, but the shows not over yet!" Alfred shouted back.
"I don't care now go get dressed!" Arthur shouted.
Alfred whined a little more, but he didn't say anything else. Arthur just sighed before he looked over at Matthew. Matthew sighed as well, but he got up and left the room.
"I'll make sure he gets dressed." Mathew said.
"Thank you Matthew I appreciate it." Arthur said.
Once Matthew was gone Francis looked at Arthur and smiled before he said "You know I could go and make sure Alfred get's dressed."
"I don't trust you with something like that." Arthur stated.
Francis just rolled his eyes, but he smiled none the less.
"You're no fun." The French unit said.
"Just go get dressed." Arthur said.
"Yes, yes I know." Francis said as he walked out of the room.
Arthur just sighed before he looked down at Gilbird.
"This day is going to drag on forever I just know it." Arthur muttered to the bird.
Gilbird just chirped at him in response….
After everyone was dressed and ready to go they all scrambled outside and over to Arthur's car. Of course knowing Arthur's luck the very act of just getting everyone into the car couldn't be nice and easy.
"I call shotgun!" Gilbert yelled out.
"No way, the hero should sit in the front!" Alfred called out.
"No way the awesome me should be the one to sit in the front seat!" Gilbert shouted.
They were about to get into some huge argument about it, but that's when Arthur finally decided to jump into the conversation.
"Neither one of you are sitting in the front seat." Arthur said as he opened the car door.
"Why not?!" Gilbert and Alfred shouted at the same time.
"Matthew is already sitting there." Arthur answered before he slid into his seat and shut the door.
Gilbert and America quickly turned to look at the front seat and sure enough Matthew was sitting there. Matthew just smiled at them and waved while Francis laughed and shook his head.
"When did he get into the car?" Alfred asked.
"He got in when you two were busy arguing." Francis replied as he opened the back door.
Gilbert sighed a little before he climbed into the back of the car with Francis following close behind him. Once they were both seated Alfred finally got into the car and closed the door behind them. Arthur started up the car and turned to look at the units sitting in the back.
"By the way Matthew is going to be sitting in the front with me today." Arthur said.
"What!? Why?!" Gilbert and Alfred both shouted.
"I'm not going to deal with you two arguing every time we have to get into the car. We are going to a bunch of different houses today, and if you waste time arguing about who sits where we are not going to be able to see them all." Arthur snapped.
Both of the units started to grumble, but they didn't argue with him. Arthur just sighed and turned back around. As he drove the car out of the parking lot he couldn't help but hope that they wouldn't argue this much when it came to picking out a new house….
The drive to the new house was quite. It was only when Arthur pulled into the new neighborhood where their new possible house was located.
"Wow, this is a pretty ritzy neighborhood." Gilbert said.
Arthur couldn't help but mentally agree with him. The houses where large enough that you could just go ahead and call them mansions, and practically everyone in the neighborhood had nice expensive cars. It made him a little ashamed to be driving his old car through there. Now granted his car was well taken care of and in good condition, but it wasn't anything like the fancy sports cars that seemed to be in every other driveway. Eventually Arthur pulled up at a house that was for sale there, and Arthur was relieved to see that the relater was already there. As he pulled into the driveway the relater waved at Arthur and started walking toward his car. Arthur parked his car and climbed out his car and walked over to her.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Arthur said.
"Your right on time so don't worry." The woman said.
"Dude, who is she?" Alfred asked as he got out of the car with the rest of the units.
"She's the relater, Alfred." Arthur answered.
The woman smiled as she bowed her head and said "My name is April Falchion, and I'll be showing you a couple of houses today."
"When did you meet with a relater?" Alfred asked.
"Last Friday remember when I was gone all Friday?" Arthur asked.
"Oh yeah I remember now." Alfred said.
Arthur just rolled his eyes, and Matthew just sighed. However, Francis ignored them all and walked right over to the relater.
"Ah, mademoiselle I am Francis Bonnefoy." Francis said as he bowed.
He gently took her hand and kissed it before he said "My dear you quite a lovely young woman."
The woman blushed heavily and she seemed frozen in place after Francis' stunt. She quickly shook her head and pulled her hand away before she said "Well, then let's look at the house shall we?"
Arthur had to give her props for the quick recovery, but he could still see the bright red blush that she still had going on. Francis had a slight smirk on his face, and Arthur decided then and there that he didn't want to know what the French unit was thinking. The tour of the house was uneventful and everyone seemed to like what they saw. The house was big and more importantly it had enough bedrooms for everyone and then some. It was probably not as fancy looking as the other houses in the neighborhood, but Arthur didn't care about that he just wanted more room. By the end of the tour the units started to look around the house on their own while Arthur talked to the relater.
"It's big and everyone can get a bed room so I'm sold." Arthur said.
The relater just chuckled before she said "I'm glad you like it meets all of your requirements. If you don't mind me asking are all those boys relatives of yours?"
"What?! Oh, no they are not relatives of mine." Arthur said.
"Friends then?" She asked.
Arthur shrugged before he said "I guess you could consider them that. They are my units."
The relater looked concerned when she heard Arthur say that.
She bit her lip and looked at Arthur before she said "I didn't know that you had units. Forgive me for asking this, but are you in a relationship with any of them?"
Arthur started blushing badly before he said "No, I'm not in a relationship with any of them. Why would you ask that?"
She didn't answer him at first, she just continued to bite her lip and give Arthur a concerned look.
"You could end up in one though…" She muttered quietly enough that Arthur was sure that she didn't intend for him to hear it.
Arthur couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that. End up in what? A relationship with one of his units? Arthur blushed at the very thought of that idea of dating one of his units. To be honest that was a thought that never crossed his mind. He was always so busy just getting used to having them, trying to find a bigger house, and just trying to keep the peace in his house that the thought of dating one of them just never hit him.
'Although, they are all handsome in their own way…' Arthur thought.
Of course right after Arthur thought that he started to mentally slap himself for having such thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. Arthur quickly shook his head as if to rid himself of his thoughts before he looked back over at the relater. She still seemed to be rather conflicted about something, but after what felt like an eternity she finally started talking.
"You might not want to live here." She stated.
Arthur just looked at her in confusion, and she just sighed and quickly started to explain.
"A majority of the people who live in this neighborhood have interesting views on units." She explained.
"So no one has units here?" Arthur asked.
"Oh no people here have units, but they are usually just used as servants or babysitters for their children." She stated.
The woman sighed a little before she leaned up against the wall and said "Most people view units as living breathing people who have feelings just like us, but there are some people who act like they are soulless objects. They treat units badly and they treat people who are in relationships with units rather badly as well."
"You don't need to tell me about relationship problems. I have a few friends who are in relationships with units, and every once in a great while they have someone tell them that they should be dating normal humans." Arthur said.
"Saves me from explaining why you don't want to be here then." April said.
"I have to ask are you speaking from experience when it comes to this subject?" Arthur asked.
The woman didn't replay she just reached into her dress pants and pulled out a set of keys. Attached to the keys was a picture keychain. She held the keychain out toward Arthur, and Arthur took it from her and looked at the picture. It was a picture of the relater and some man, but Arthur quickly recognized that it was a character from a video game.
"Is that Owain from Fire Emblem?" Arthur asked.
She just nodded and held her hand out toward Arthur, and Arthur gave her keys back to her.
She slipped her keys back into her pocket before she said "Owain is my husband. However, I didn't buy him."
Arthur just looked at her in confusion, and April smiled at him sadly.
"His old owner abounded him and left him in the streets."
Arthur's eyes widened a bit at that. Why in the world would abandon a unit? They were living breathing people with feelings so why would you abandon them?
"Why was he abounded?" Arthur asked.
"His owner thought he was annoying and grew tired of him." April answered.
"Stupid reason if you ask me. My units drive me crazy too, but I would never abandon them." Arthur said as he crossed his arms.
"Luckily for Owain I was able to connect the company who made him and they connected his old owner. His owner didn't want him so I was able to get Owain." April said.
"He was pretty lucky that you came around." Arthur said.
April just nodded her head and said "Luckily someone abandoning their unit is a pretty rare occurrence."
Arthur shook his head and asked "So why do those kinds of people gather here in this neighborhood?"
April just shrugged and said "Who knows I try not to think about it too much."
"So do you have any other houses up for sale?" Arthur asked.
"I think I have a house that you would like, but it will be a bit of a fixer-upper." April said.
"That's fine, just as long as we can move in quickly." Arthur said.
"Alright call down your units and we can leave. I'll go ahead to my car." April said.
As April left the room Arthur walked over to the stairs and started to call for his units. A few seconds after he called for them they all quickly scrambled down the steps. Well, Gilbert and Alfred raced down the steps while Matthew and Francis just calmly walked down the stairs.
"Come on, we have another house to look at." Arthur sated as he led the units outside.
"What's wrong with this house?" Alfred questioned.
"Nothing is wrong with it we are just going to look at what other houses are available." Arthur answered.
He decided that they didn't need to know about the toxic neighbors that lived here.
As they walked past April's car April rolled her window down and asked "It's OK if it's outside of the city limits right?"
"As long as I can get into town fast without any problems its fine." Arthur answered.
April just nodded and rolled her window up. Arthur and his units got into Arthur's car, and they followed April as she lead them out of the town. They drove onto the town disappeared from sight, and April turned off the main road and turned onto a small path. They continued driving onto the main road even disappeared. Arthur was seriously wondering where April was leading them all, but he got his answer pretty quickly.
The small road ended at a huge old house that was located in an out of the way area. When they finally parked in the driveway Arthur and his units climbed out of the car and stared at the house. It was large enough that you could probably classify it as a mansion rather than just a house. It was impressive looking, but Arthur could definitely see why she said it was a fixer-upper. Its white paint was fading and chipping away at certain spots of the house. What was once a poach swing was broken and the front yard really needed to be mowed. Arthur could see other little things that needed to be fixed up as well.
April just sheepishly smiled at him and said "The last owners moved out about five years ago so no one has been taking care of it so it needs a bit of fixing here and there."
"You don't say." Gilbert said sarcastically.
She just ignored the sarcasm and clapped her hand together as she said "It's much bigger than the first house I showed you, the town is a short drive away, you're far enough from the main road that you can't hear any cars driving by, and the house is pretty cheap considering how large it is."
"What's the inside like?" Francis asked.
"I'll show you." April said. She led them up to the house and opened the front door.
They all walked inside and saw that it looked pretty fine from inside. It needed to be cleaned and the walls could do with a new coat of paint, but other than that it looked fine.
"Everything in the house will work, it has enough rooms, and you don't have to worry about neighbors." April said as she led them through the house.
The units didn't think much about the neighbor thing, but Arthur knew what she was hinting at when she said that. True to her word the house had plenty of rooms, and it looked alright inside. By the time the tour was over Arthur had made his decision.
"I'll take it." Arthur said once April lead them back to the front door.
"Really? It needs some work done." Francis said.
"I have no problem with it, and it doesn't need that much work" Arthur said.
The green eyed man looked April right in the eye and said "I want to live here. I like it much better than the first house."
April looked a little relived to hear that. She just smiled at him and said "Then let's go back to my office so that we can get everything straightened out."
Arthur smiled at her and followed her as she lead them out of the house. Arthur found their new house now they just had to move in before he got his new units….
Info Time!
People's view on units: I'm not really too sure how people view units. In a lot of stories that I read that have units in it; it's not really a subject that is explored very much. I sort of figure that when it comes to units people would probably fall into two groups.
The first group think of units as living things with thoughts, feelings, and dreams. They have no problem with units dating normal people, getting married, and starting families. They have no issues with units.
Then you have the second group of people. This group just thinks of units as very advanced robots, and any thoughts, feelings, and dreams that they have are just programming and nothing more. They also have an issue with people dating units since they think that they are just robots incapable of feeling things like love.
Most people fall into the first group, but there are enough people in the second group that they cause some grief for people in the first group. It doesn't show up a lot here, but this is something that I'll probably explore in latter chapters.
Owain: Owain is a character from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Owain is a pretty nice guy that has a habit of speaking in an overly dramatic fashion. Needless to say his overly theatrical speech has a habit of annoying some people.
Owain getting kicked out: While this doesn't happen a lot I imagine that sometimes people get rid of units for one reason or another. The reasons could be things such as….
The unit is broken in some way and the owner doesn't want to deal with it.
A new 'better' version of a unit comes out, so the owner kicks the old unit out and so that they can get the 'newer' version.
The owners find out that they actually can't deal with the units. They think it would be great to have a unit, but once they get them and have to deal with them on a day to day basses they figure out that they can't deal with their needs/personality/whatever. Instead of just dealing with it, they kick them out. Owain falls into this category because as awesome as he is I could see him annoying someone with the way he acts.
There are probably other reasons why people would get rid of their units, but this is just a few of the reasons that I could think of. Again, it's not something that happens often because I imagine that people would get attached to their units and I would imagine that units are pretty expensive.
April Falchion: Falchion is the name of a legendary sword that appears in some of the Fire Emblem games. No real reason as to why I gave that to her as a last name it's just something I used for fun.
The poll: So far it looks like this.
1st: America with 53 votes
2nd: Spain with 32 votes
And 3rd: Germany with 21 votes
So far it looks like America is winning, but you guys still have time to vote. Vote on the poll for you want to win.
Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible so please review and don't flame.