I Ordered Russia Online. I Didn't Get Him.

((Joyful Note: Yep. Once again I am a slow updater yadda yadda feel free to hate me at your discretion and I'll feel free to continue to abuse you all with my laziness. We know that already, so let's move on.))

((Joyful Note 2: Okay actually I need to input one thing. Ice asked a good question (while being mostly anonymous...) and that was saying that, if the PS5 came out and Soul Sister is old, are the manga and anime my OC here likes old as well? The answer is, of course, YES. My OC does tend to lean on those anime and manga she liked when she was younger. Back in the good ol' days, as it were. But none the less, I like to assume some of the more 'main stream' animes she liked still have younger fans as well, just as older animes today can still get more dedicated anime fans to adhere to them And Hetalia is just awesome for every generation.))

Chapter 11~ America Should Never Be Left Unsupervised

Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. I did NOT mean for this to happen. But now Hannah… I mean she… she has… and well, maybe it's okay for her? But god I don't know if Ishmael will accept… not mention I shouldn't have to deal with another… aw FUCK! Well… goddamn it. I guess there was a whole fuck of a lot that led me into this panic… damn… so just… I'll just try to calm down and explain the day so you at least know the back story of this. Because it's just… gah… I-I'm sorry just… just let me explain this…

After wandering around until the early hours of the morning, Gilbird finally showed up and led myself and Canada to where Prussia and the others were standing in a fucking bus shelter. God knows what they were doing there, but at any rate we got back to the hotel and lacking strength to wait for the beds to be put back in order we collapsed inside America's mattress fort. That was cozy I guess. I ended up having Little Russia as an impromptu stuffed animal as he was cuddled up to my side anyway but really? I think I should've waited for the bed because when I woke up later that day my back hurt and I was stiff as anything. Suffice to say, it sucked. A lot. Still, at the very least I was mostly awake at the time and to my relief I saw that my units were still all present. Well, except for Tony but he was never found last night and honestly? I don't give a fuck about Tony. So unless America threw a fit I would just let him wander back on his own. And if America DID throw a fit… well I'd cross that bridge if we came to it.

In any case, I rose from my twisted lump of pillows and blankets, stirring Little Russia awake in the process. He rubbed an eye and looked up at me, still seeming rather sleepy.

"Mother Russia? Is it time to be awake already?" he asked in his high pitched voice and I sighed, leaning over and ruffling his hair a bit. It was a strangely affectionate gesture from me I'll admit, but he was kind of… well I just… god I don't even know. I just did it, don't question it, god knows I'm not going to.

"Yep, I've got to check the time anyway. Hopefully it's still before noon; we've only got one day to shop here you know, best to start as early as possible." Taking a moment to stretch, I accessed the path I'd have to take from my position at the back of the mattress fort in order to reach the exit. It wasn't looking promising, because while Canada and America were sufficiently able to be avoided, China was partially blocking my way and Prussia lay directly across the blanket barrier to the outside.

Good thing I didn't give a damn about waking them up or this would be a lot more difficult. As it was, it was easy enough to crawl over China's legs, stirring him slightly, and then pretty much step on Prussia's torso on the way out.

"OW!" Prussia growled, thrashing as I passed the blankets and got to the floor, glancing at the digital clock nearby. 11:46am, not a bad time to be up. I headed for my bag and began rooting through it for a fresh set of clothes while the albino floundered around trying to outwit the blankets and, oh, try to kill me or something. I wasn't too concerned about it. Satisfied with my clothing selection, I headed for the bathroom and shut and locked the door just as Prussia started on whatever tirade he intended to go on. Sadly, I could still hear him through the door.

"What the unawesome fuck! What's wrong with waking me up before trampling my fucking LUNGS into my chest? What the hell are you doing awake before noon anyway? We were out till, I don't know, four in the morning or something!"

"And WHOSE fault is that? Not mine!" I scoffed as I pulled my shirt over my head and looked at myself in the mirror. Urg, my eyes were red and puffy and my hair was a mess. Yuck. I grabbed my brush as Prussia continued his whining.

"It still doesn't give you an excuse to fucking STEP on me!"

I rolled my eyes as I tried to make my hair presentable at least. "Well maybe if you didn't sleep in front of the only way in and out of the fort, that wouldn't have happened."

"Well maybe if we'd actually fixed the beds, there would've been space for me to sleep somewhere else!"

"Well MAYBE if-"

"Aiyah!" Evidently China was moving as well. "Is it really worth it to bicker, aru?"

I heard Prussia scoff. "Well duh, if it wasn't worth it I wouldn't do it, because I'm-"

"Awesome, perhaps?" I suggested through the door. I heard a growl on the other side and could imagine his glare. I didn't have to imagine long though since I opened the door and got to view the real thing, arms folded and everything. Luckily he seemed to have run out of steam by this point and it was easy enough to head over to the phone to contact Hannah and hopefully begin the day of companionship ahead. But before I did that I pulled Little Russia out of the mattress fort and then collapsed the side so it landed on top of America and, I suppose, Canada.

"AH! THE COMMIES ARE INVADING!"

"M-MAPLE!"

Yes, it was in fact hilarious. And I'm a jerk. But if you hadn't figured that out by now you're complete idiots. Anyway, I barked at them to put the beds at least somewhat back to normal which they began to do as I grabbed the phone and dialled. Hannah picked up on the third ring and after a brief chat it was decided that she would come to my hotel directly and we would proceed from there. I told her it was because I suck at navigating the city, but really I suggested it because I had decided that if I was going to expose her to the units and possibly explain the situation, an enclosed setting such as a hotel room was best. Also if she fainted in shock there was a bed available. Not that I thought her fainting was likely, but it was still a point in the hotel's favour.

So once that was decided I looked back to see America carrying the two mattresses back to the other room by himself at the same time while Canada and Yao were somewhat straightening the blankets on the beds that had been fixed already. Prussia was standing in a corner having some kind of argument with Little Russia. It was kind of weird, just like watching any conversation between an adult and a small child that isn't bogged down with baby talk and a bright smile. So basically, talking to a child like a normal person is strange to me because children are not normal people. They are strange humanoids with an undeveloped social structure that I don't understand.

"But why does Mother Russia saying 'awesome' anger you so much, big brother Prussia?" Little Russia's head cocked to one side as Prussia's look darkened.

"Because she's cock blocking the awesome me from saying it! And also, it's MY awesome word!" Prussia huffed.

"No way dude, I say awesome all the time!" America laughed, coming back into the room. Prussia rolled his eyes.

"Well whatever. The point is the bitch shouldn't be stopping me from saying it!"

I hummed and pulled out my wallet to check funds. Low… I figured I ought to hit the ATM in the lobby before we headed out. But first I had probably better explain to my Units the situation arising once Hannah arrived. Some kind of organization and a plan would be best.

"Alright guys, I hereby call a quick meeting about today so everybody sit on the beds!" I said loudly. Prussia muttered and leaned heavily on the wall as if a means of defiance. Whatever, at least Little Russia, Canada, China and even America actually sat where I asked. But then, three of those four were fairly obedient by nature and I guess America was just in an agreeable mood which was probably a good thing. Still no idea what happened to Tony but he'd likely cause issues anyway and Prussia could still hear me from where he was. It was good enough.

"Okay," I stood in front of them all as if giving a lecture. I tried to look as serious as possible but I don't think trying to be serious ever does anything other than make you look and feel rather silly. I tried anyway though. I suppose I don't learn from experience. At any rate, the Units were giving me slightly uncomfortable looks now as I stared at them and pulled my thoughts together, so I figured I ought to speak. "Okay, so within I would suppose an hour's time, one of my best friends, Hannah Klein, will be coming here. I want to introduce her to you in the room before we all go out shopping today."

"YEAH! CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!" America fist pumped and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Christmas shopping. Not that you guys have any money to spend, but whatever. Anyway, I want her to meet you all first. She met Mattie last night of course, but she still doesn't know about Units. After meeting you in person she will likely suspect something's up… or be weirded out how much you're like Hetalia characters. I'm not actually completely sure. But what I do know is that if I tell her the truth, she probably won't judge me, which is why she's allowed to know. So when she shows up, I'll meet her in the lobby and… actually, you know what? I think I'll tell her in the lobby. Okay, so I'll meet her there, explain about Units, and then bring her up to meet you all," I thought for a moment, "You know what? I'll bring Mattie too."

"Eh? Why?" Canada looked surprised, Kumajirou squirming in his arms.

"Because she met you already and you can affirm what I'm going to tell her. I think… I think with something like this… I mean…" I sighed and rubbed at my temple a bit, "Well if you don't know about Units, suddenly learning about them is bound to be a shock right? So it's best to be slow about it, right?" I looked at China having said this. I'm not sure why. I don't think I was actually asking for affirmation that I was correct, but if in the event I was, I suppose China would be the Unit most likely to know. Well, him or Canada. But I'm off the point.

"Ah? Er, yes I suppose-aru," China said, seeming a bit flustered. I nodded.

"Okay good. So that's what we'll do then. If-"

"Is she like you?"

I was irritated at the interruption, and glared at Prussia. "What?"

"Is this Hannah bitch anything like you? Like, a psychopath who gets off on rape?"

I tsked. "Okay first of all, don't call Hannah a bitch, because she's awesome. Second, no, she's not a psychopath that gets off on rape. I have had best friends who fit that category but while Hannah is a fan of slash and yaoi, she isn't into non-con. She does not judge me for my tastes of course, which is why we are still friends, but she doesn't indulge in that area."

Prussia rolled his eyes. "Well I guess that's something, but I'll be the judge of whether she's awesome or not, ne?"

"Oh, oh, can I go down and meet her with you too?" America was bouncing in his seat now and I shook my head. He gasped, "Why not?"

"Because I mean to take things slow, as I've just said! God, pay attention!" Seriously, if America didn't have ADD I would give all my anime merchandise to homeless children. Actually, scratch that, I'd never make such a gamble. I'm terrible for even suggesting it. Forgive me.

Having said my peace on the subject, I went on to explain that once we'd introduced Hannah to everyone we would be going down to the subway station and getting a family public transit pass. Since it was December, one ten dollar pass got five adults unlimited public transit for a day. Hannah already had a transit pass since she lived in Toronto. I planned to lie about Little Russia's age and see if I could get him to ride for free. It might be a long shot but even if I didn't manage it, a child's day pass wasn't too much anyway. I had decided that we would likely go to the Pacific Mall and China Town at some point since those are my favourite Toronto shopping locations, but we might also hit the Eaton and Scarborough Town centers as well. When dealing with a city as large as Toronto it was best to have set shopping destinations because otherwise it's likely you'll get lost and end up in some area without any actual shopping locations at all, or at least nothing interesting to you personally. And then you get attacked by hobos. Probably. I mean, they're kind of everywhere, some might be vicious.

We then flipped on the old flat screen and watched some morning cartoons until finally the hotel phone rang to tell me that my friend had arrived in the lobby. It was show time. I told Canada to get his shoes on, instructed my other units to STAY IN THE GODDAMN ROOM THIS TIME, and headed off into the hallway. Heading down to the first floor and stepping out of the elevator, I couldn't help but grin. Oh Hannah, she always stood out by a mile, especially when she wore a brown fuzzy jacket with bear ears on the hood, and presumably wearing her old short brown wig. She had several wigs she wore on occasion, just for fun and I rather liked them. They all looked very natural on her. I waved and she grinned back at me.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Hannah asked in her easy going way, flipping her hand in the air. She looked at Canada. "And Mattie! Great to see you again, bro!"

Canada flushed and mumbled a soft greeting to his shoes. Not sure if they replied, but Hannah seemed satisfied with this. She turned to me and I realised that now I had to explain units to her. And then my mouth dried up. That wasn't good. I swallowed and licked my lips before asking Hannah to follow me to one side of the lobby. She looked curious as she followed, perhaps also a bit uneasy and understandably so.

"Alright so…" I scratched at the back of my head and looked at Hannah with a sheepish expression. God, how do you approach this? "So… does um… does Mattie here look familiar to you at all?"

"Um…" Hannah looked at Canada who flushed again. "Um… I assume you mean from before yesterday so… uh… no? Should he?"

"Uh…" I looked back at Canada. Granted I didn't know the last time Hannah was exposed to Hetalia, and really the only tip offs she had right now were glasses and longish blonde hair with a curl in front. "Well, um, what if he was holding a polar bear… that could talk. Would that make him familiar?"

"Um…"

"Like… Canada from Hetalia?"

"Oh, oh yeah! He does kind of look like him!" Hannah smiled and bobbed around as she was wont to do.

"Y-yeah," I nodded, "Okay. So let's pretend we live in a world where some kind of organization genetically created people who looked and acted just like certain fictional characters and then cloned these genetically engineered people, and then sold them over the internet to fans of said fictional characters. Can… can you pretend that for a minute?"

"I… guess so?"

"Then… if we were in that world, then Mattie here might be one of those clones right? Oh, and in this world the clones are called 'Units' okay? So he would be a Canada Unit!"

Hannah looked confused, but nodded. "Is this a new book idea?"

"Not exactly. But um, could you… imagine… and pretend that's the world we're in?"

"I guess, it sounds kind of cool!"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, well I'm glad you think so because that actually IS the world we're living in!"

Hannah stared at me for a moment. "Uh?"

"Heh heh… um…" I looked at Canada. He looked back helplessly. Well then. "Okay so, yeah, Mattie here is a Canada Unit. Who was delivered to me by a company called Unit Co. And the rest of my current… housemates… are also Units from Hetalia. I have Prussia, China, America, and a child version of Russia in my hotel room right now."

Hannah continued to look dumbstruck, but her blank gaze shifted from me to Canada. Finally she asked if I was serious.

"Yes. I don't think many people know about them though, no idea why. But that's what's happening. So, do you believe all that?"

"I'm not sure…" Hannah was now reaching hesitantly toward Canada as if she was going to touch him to see if he was real, but wasn't quite sure if that would be okay. I could understand that, as it was quite a bit to take in without much proof of events, and with only Canada as an example since he poses a rather unassuming figure.

"Well, um, would I… would I lie to you about this?"

"I guess not but… it's still kind of… woah…"

I looked at Canada for a moment and then made a quick decision. I wanted Hannah to accept the idea of Units before I hit her with the rest of them. "Okay, Canada? Go get Kumajirou and bring him down here. Make sure he knows to keep quiet until he meets Hannah alright?"

"Oh, okay!" Canada nodded with a small smile and hurried off. I turned to Hannah.

"Just give him a minute okay? Anyway, if you see a real life talking bear, you'll probably believe me right?"

Hannah gave something of a half-smile and looked rather awkward. "I guess I'll have to?"

The two of us stood in silence then, jumping every time a set of elevator doors opened. But I was fairly confident. Canada would come down holding Kumajirou like a toy. He would come over here, the bear would look cute, say something, and Hannah would go all wide eyed and then would accept the matter. Then we would calmly go upstairs without causing a scene.

Really, this could be my fault for expecting things to go so smoothly. They never go this smoothly. Why the hell would I think that? I am an idiot, it's the only explanation.

Long before I saw them I heard the trampling and whoops coming from the door to the staircase. I got a bad feeling then, and it was confirmed when that door flew open and America came racing out, grinning widely and wearing his trademark bomber jacket and somehow had gotten hold of an American flag he was wearing as a cape. Which is kind of lame since apparently that's considered insulting to a flag and wearing flags as capes was banned ages ago from anime conventions but I guess since he's meant to personify America that gives him immunity or something… maybe. Seems unlikely… ah hell.

Anyway, America skidded to a stop, head whipped around, he saw me and began making a beeline to where Hannah and I were standing, yelling that he was here and waving as if he honestly believed we couldn't see him in this near empty lobby. I suppose Canada must've been behind him since by the time he reached us Canada was there as well, holding Kumajirou as asked and looking rather apologetic. But with America around it's easy to miss Canada's movements. But I guess they were designed this way. What a strange thought.

"HEY! I'm Alfred F Jones aka AMERICA! I know, you're totally wetting yourself right now from excitement am I right?" While speaking America grabbed Hannah's hand and began shaking it up and down like a dead fish.

"Um, yeah pretty much!" Hannah said with a smile. I knew that smile. It was the: I'm-not-sure-what's-happening-so-I'll-just-agree-with-you-until-I-figure-it-out smile. But that's okay; we all have our coping mechanisms for our confusion.

I glanced at Hannah. "Um, so do you believe me yet?"

"Um... well he's very... America-like..."

I glanced at Canada, distinctly bear-less. "Where's Kumajirou?"

"M-maple..." Canada mumbled and looked rather... worried? "That's the problem; he's locked in the bathroom. Al said he'd break the door down but Yao convinced him it would be better to ask the staff of the hotel to get him out, so Al just kind of rushed down here and I followed... and then he saw you I suppose, but-"

"OH YEAH!" America suddenly shouted and we all looked rather startled I would say. "I forgot about your bear! Don't worry Mattie, I'll get the staff key and open it because I'M THE HERO!" This screamed, he ran to the front desk and began to yammer at a rather frightened looking woman behind it. Canada excused himself to make sure America was staying on task.

Hannah coughed slightly and drew my attention back to her. "So um... yeah... do you think I could just meet the rest of these guys then?"

I frowned. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, might as well right?"

"Alright..." And with that we headed for the elevator. The ride was quiet, and when we eventually reached the door to the hotel room I was relieved to hear Little Russia laugh, Prussia grumble and China scold. It's good to know they were all in there. I opened the door.

"Yay! Mother Russia is back!" Little Russia jumped up from the bed he had been on, leaping to the floor and tackling my legs. I yelped and ended up falling on my butt. Ouch.

"Goddamn..." I muttered and sat up as Little Russia stared at me with big eyes. I looked up at Hannah. "Um, this is Ivan, aka Russia in chibi form."

Hannah stared at the little white haired unit's purple eyes with fascination and her voice was laced with awe. "Woah, that's... woah that's crazy..."

"I know," I struggled to my feet and looked for Prussia and China. They had apparently heard the commotion and were heading over from the other room.

"Um, the white bear is trapped in the bathroom-aru, oh is this your friend?" China hurried over to Hannah and flushed brightly. "Oh! This sweater is so cute-aru! Wherever did you get it? Oh, I want one-aru!" He was... gushing. Well then.

"Oh! Oh I got it online, yeah, it's pretty cute, I guess you're probably China, right?" she looked at me for confirmation.

"Yeah, he's China."

"But I would prefer to go by Yao! Call me Yao-aru!"

China looked about to continue his gushing but, strangely, Prussia leapt to the rescue on that, walking up to Hannah, sending a bright crooked grin and shook her hand. The wince I witnessed made me assume he was squeezing somewhat too hard but Hannah didn't complain.

"Kesesese! Guess who I am! I'll give you a hint, I'm awesome!"

"Prussia?"

"That's right!" Prussia then proceeded to slap Hannah on the back, declare that she at least knows awesome when she sees it, and generally made me want to punch him. What the fuck, he was never that friendly with me! Well, perhaps I should feel relieved he didn't... oh shit.

Yes, Prussia then grabbed Hannah's breast and declared her vital regions claimed. Cue my mortification.

Hannah darted backwards, letting out a short yelp of shock as Prussia laughed and commented that they 'may not be big, but at least they match your figure, ne?' and proceeded to blatantly check her out. The fuck. Yeah Hannah was in better shape than I was but... oh hell no guys, I know what you're thinking and I swear I wasn't jealous, I just don't want to watch Prussia molest my friends! Fucking hell...

"WOAH! Leave Hannah alone your pervy fucktard!" I shouted, stepping between the two of them and pushing back on Prussia's chest to little effect... "She's MARRIED!"

Prussia blinked and frowned. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Huh," he looked away and went moodily silent. The fuck... oh hell he had BETTER not go into 'depressed mode' again just because Hannah's in a committed relationship! We're going out soon and I don't need to deal with him in that messed up state. It was then that I heard scratching coming from the other room.

"What was that?"

"What was what-aru?"

"That scratching?"

"Oh, the white bear is still in the bathroom-aru."

"Oh yeah."

I wandered over to the bathroom door in the other bedroom as Hannah returned to speaking with China. She seemed to be slowly adjusting to all this at some level, which was good. Little Russia trailed close behind me as I knocked on the bathroom door. "Kumajirou?"

"Who?" The little voice came from inside, the scratching stopped momentarily.

I sighed heavily. "Do you know who Canada is?"

"Who?"

"He's your master, the one who feeds you."

"Oh. So you're him?"

"No, but I'm the one who owns him... technically. Okay?"

"Oh. Get me out of here."

"Wish I could bro, Al and Mattie went to get a key for the door here so it shouldn't be too long. How'd you end up in there anyway?"

"I told the white haired boy I wanted a fish and he said there were some in here. I went inside and then the door closed and was locked and there was no fish."

I stared at the door. I heard a giggle from my feet and looked with wide eyes down at Little Russia. Well. That was malevolent of the little bugger.

"Hey Ivan," I said in a flat voice. He looked up with a smile but at this point the cuteness was being outweighed by my disbelief over the plain animal cruelty he's displayed.

"Da, mother Russia?"

"Don't trick animals into bathrooms and lock them inside. It's not nice."

"Oh... but I thought he would like it in there!" Little Russia said with a cheeky smile still all over his face. What a little liar.

I knocked on the door again. "Hey Kumajirou."

"Who?"

"Master's master. Do you like it in there?"

"Oh. No."

I looked back down at Little Russia who had giggled again. "He doesn't like it."

Little Russia smile widened. Uh oh. Now he was going creepy on me. I don't like it when Prussia is proved right but this was getting... er... "Well maybe if he is in there long enough he will grow to like it, da?"

I stared at Little Russia a while longer and then went back to the other room, sitting quietly on the bed. Little Russia happily jumped up next to me and leaned into my side. Cute. Disturbing. I'm not sure there's that much of a line between those two things anymore.

Finally Hannah walked over to me with a smile on her face and addressed the small unit beside me.

"So you're Russia as a child? What's your human name again?"

Little Russia grinned. "Ivan!"

"Oh right! That's cute!"

"Hmm..." I hummed with a slight frown. As I did this I noticed Prussia look at me from the window with a complete I-told-you-so expression. Hell, how would he know that Little Russia was starting to creep me out! Blast it all...

It was then that the room door was flung open and America and Canada came in flanked by hotel staff. They got Kumajirou out of the bathroom fast enough, but I had to insist that the bear was a dog so no one freaked out while Canada kept a hand clamped over his muzzle so he wouldn't talk and again, freak someone out. I'm still not sure they believed me but they DID leave, so I'm hoping they at least resolved to ignore it.

Finally we were left in the hotel room, all seven of us humans... or Units... and Kumajirou, but he's a Unit so... aw fudge it. Anyway we were all there and it was time to start planning out our shopping day. Since most of the group here knew nothing of Toronto at all, Hannah and I made plans to stop at all the spots I normally loved. So, the Pacific Mall, China Town, Eaton Center and... er... okay well that was basically the only places I ever went frequently in Toronto for shopping, or areas near those places. I have specific tastes okay! And Toronto can be sketchy! Exploring it... well...

Anyway, that's what was decided upon. China was of course pleased to visit China Town, America was fine with the Eaton Center since he had a more generic mall vibe and he also likes Japanese themes so Pacific Mall worked. Little Russia... well... I really wouldn't know where to go that would make him happy anyway. Maybe he would like China Town too.

At any rate, it was time to hit the subway and right away there were problems trying to keep everyone together as a group walking. I really just wanted to talk to Hannah, but between Prussia laughing loudly with America about something or other and China trying to keep Little Russia from chasing down small furry animals and Canada... er... okay well Canada wasn't doing anything really. But still, I found myself losing my thread of conversation a lot as I kept an eye on the rest so they didn't run off and get into trouble. It sort of reminded me of antique days when I organized trips to Toronto from my hometown an hour away from there. Being the only one of my friends with a driver's license, it fell to me to fill my parent's van with as many friends as possible and transport us here for a shopping excursion. Back in the days where Toronto was a fun novelty and not a bastard city I didn't like living in. Actually, I wasn't terribly fond of the city even just visiting it, but Barrie had nothing in the way of specialty shops for Japanese merchandise, so I really didn't have much choice. Plus all the anime conventions were there too, so there was that.

The point is that on those trips I tended to act kind of like, for lack of a better term, a 'mother hen'. I considered myself responsible for all my friends I'd dragged along with me and felt the need to keep their whereabouts known at all times. I suppose at the current moment I was definitely responsible for the group of Units surrounding myself though less so Hannah. That would explain my distraction as I hoped I wouldn't lose any of them in crowded streets and subway stations. I must say it turned into a full time job and I was relying pretty solely on Hannah to lead us where we needed to go.

Much bustling, threats of pain and harried crossing of roads and changing of vehicles later (a bus was needed at some point, thank god we got those unlimited family day passes for public transit) we reached a place I hadn't been in years though I truly adore it, the Pacific Mall. Multiple floors of sushi and anime merchandise. Although it was all in Japanese, so if you say, wanted anime or manga best to search elsewhere since you can't read it if you are uni-lingual such as I am. But Death Note messenger bags? Black Butler Plushies? Bleach Keychains? Ouran High School Host Club playing cards? All that and more available. Now obviously not every store there is dedicated to such things, they have clothes and jewellery and make up and electronics but lord knows I'm never there for any of that so I typically don't bother to mention it.

Though admittedly it feels a bit weird when one is white and walking about in there, certainly so if one isn't used to being a visible minority. I mean, in high school there were some Asian kids obviously and I didn't notice them really for their race and just spoke to them as normal but... something about being in a place where suddenly EVERYONE is Asian except for you is kind of... well perhaps I ought to call it a wakeup call since most people in this world aren't white and I should understand that but it still is a bit of a weird feeling. And then you feel racist because all you want to do is turn to the white friend, or in most cases for me my half-Jamaican friend, (she was my usual partner when going to this mall) and exclaim "HOLY SHIT THERE'RE SO MANY ASIANS!" Because seriously? That IS pretty racist. But it's true, it's a weird feeling. But you get over it because it's not like there is absolutely no other non-Asians, you're just a minority. I think you could call it a mini-dose of culture shock. That can be healthy.

Anyway, we were at the Pacific Mall and it was as glorious as I remembered. A couple of my favourite merchandise stores had closed over the years but others had opened in their stead and Hannah still came by often enough to know where those new places were. The biggest downside to this was of course that I really couldn't spend money right now. I was supporting a rather lot of people on progressively smaller amounts of cash, and there were meals that had to be paid for today. But I still got a new keychain with all the hosts from Ouran for my car keys. Hannah got a Grell plushie and a new hat with fox ears on it.

The Units went missing within five minutes of being in the mall. Typical. Hannah had questioned me on if we should look for them but I assured her that it was probably best to shop first and question whereabouts later. I did feel a nagging sensation in my stomach that might've been worry, but it seemed the presence of Asian awesomeness helped to dispel most of that feeling and I was able to ignore what remained of it.

"So, um, how did you end up getting those guys anyway?" Hannah asked as we perused a selection of bobble heads from various anime.

"What guys?" I asked in a moment of brain fart. Then I realised what I'd said and introduced my palm to my face. "Oh, right, gotcha. Um, well it was kind of random I guess... I was just surfing the net, saw an ad on for Hetalia units and had no idea what they were. It sounded like a sex doll."

Hannah snorted and I laughed a bit too.

"Don't judge! I live alone! Give me a break, you knew I was depraved! Anyway, so I ordered a Russia Unit because if you'll recall, he is my sexy beast in anime."

"I thought that was Sebastian from Black Butler?"

I coughed. "Okay, him too..."

"Or L from Death Note?"

I flushed. "Well and him..."

"Or Bakura from YuGiOh?"

"Russia's my sexy beast in HETALIA, fair enough?"

"I guess, man."

"Right, so, I ordered him. And damn are they expensive."

"How expensive?"

I coughed again and leaned towards her to whisper the number. Her eyes widened.

"And you paid that much for EACH of them?"

"No no!" I waved my hands. "God no, I'd never be able to afford that. Hell, I'm straining to afford their upkeep... no, see I only meant to get Russia but they made a mistake and sent me Prussia instead."

"Oh... well that sucks. But you didn't just return him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh believe me, I tried. But they said it'd be too much hassle to take him back so they just sent along the Russia Unit. Only they fucked up again and sent me his child form."

"Bummer."

"Yeah. So I complained about not being fit to raise children and they offered me a Unit for free to babysit him and I got China."

"Alright..."

"Then I ordered Russia again, so at this point yes I've paid for an additional unit and it's also why I'm currently kind of in debt until I get another book published I think. Anyway, I paid for Russia but they had apparently run out of Russia Units in North America that would be available for delivery so they send me America as compensation. Though now apparently they're also sending me a European clone of Russia so... well we'll have to see, it won't be here until the New Year apparently."

"Wow," Hannah blinked. "And what about Mattie? Er, Canada?"

"Who? Oh!" I paused and shook my head. I didn't want to think about why I'd forgotten him in that moment. "Well, when they sent America they sent him with Canada's manual. Oh right, every Unit comes with a manual... but yeah I got Canada's. Anyway, I ordered an America manual be sent but instead they gave me a Canada Unit."

Hannah was quiet for a moment before replying. "Well, that's kind of weird. I mean, they're apparently super expensive right? But they seem kind of easy at giving them away for free..."

I fiddled with a figurine in my hands but admittedly I can't recall what it was of. "Um... yeah that is a bit... weird... I'm sure there's a reason for it! Um," I laughed uneasily, "I'm probably the exception you know? Um, the delivery guy I have is a total idiot, he's probably running around hoping to god I don't complain to someone important and get him fired! Yeah, that's probably it." I smiled to myself and put the figurine down. Though honestly there was a part of myself that wasn't entirely convinced. But what else could it be?

After that little awkward conversation the two of us went to the top floor where one could purchase all the delicious things that make Japanese food awesome. Pocky in endless flavours... little pastry things that taste like waffles and are little bubbles of... god I can't even explain... and sushi! So much amazing, delicious sushi! I swear I could eat it for days, weeks, MONTHS! Sushi: one of the best things Japan ever did for humanity, next to anime of course.

It was up there that we managed to run into America, who was making a scene, swinging a katana around next to a stand that sold such things and laughing as the lady in charge of the stand was telling him to put it down.

"ALFRED F. JONES, YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" I shouted in my loudest voice. America abruptly stopped swinging and looked at me with some shock in his eyes.

"Uh, hey mom!" he laughed slightly and put the sword down. Immediately the lady operating the shop snatched it into her hands to check for damages.

I growled. "I'm not your mom, and ANYWAY, what the hell did you do that for? Idiot! You're lucky they haven't called security!"

"Oh, we've called security; they are on their way now!" The lady sent a sharp glare at America, who gulped. "Is he with you?" The glare now turned to me and I gulped as well. Bitch was scary...

"Shit!" I swore and glared harder at America. "I don't even have sushi yet!"

"Uh, so we're all kicked out?" Hannah asked with a frown. I shook my head.

"No just... okay, I'll meet you at the bus stop with Al to make sure he'll go... and I'll take Mattie too. Hannah, I know this is asking a ton but could you look for the others and get them out there too? We might as well go now, thanks to this ass. " I sent America a look of loathing. He whimpered slightly.

"Ah nah, that's okay," Hannah nodded and laughed a bit. Then her voice dropped. "You are kind of acting like a mom, though. "

I sputtered. "S-scandal! Blasphemy! No I'm not!"

Hannah looked a little surprised by my outburst. Well to be fair she might not know the amount I've had to put up with that accusation the last... week I guess? Week and a half? Two? Less? I don't even know, I'd calculate the start of my nightmare later. For now I confirmed the bus stop location and grabbed America's arm to steer him forcefully down the stairs and out of the building. As we neared the exit security guards appeared and we had to make a break for it before they noticed us. Somehow we made it out alive; though admittedly we had to sort of hide behind a tree. I hoped Hannah would be safe, though the lady at the katana shop didn't seem to pay much attention to her so hopefully she hadn't been able to give a physical description.

After a few minutes I turned to Al who was trying to draw what seemed to be a maimed hamburger in the snow with a stick.

"So what exactly possessed you to swing a sword around in a crowded mall?"

"Um... it looked cool!"

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Canada then broke into the conversation. "And this surprises you?"

America gasped. "Mattie! How could you! You're my brother, defend me!"

"No way, eh. That was stupid, I told you not to and you wouldn't listen! Why do you only ever listen to... er... sorry what's your name?" Canada asked quietly. I flushed. Damn, I still hadn't told anyone that? Well that's stupid.

"My name's-"

"HEY MOM!" I nearly fell over at the volume of that yell. I twisted my head around to see Prussia grinning and waving and... holding something... oh it was Little Russia. Um, upside down. And they were running. And China was behind and... Hannah riding piggy back on him and...

Why was there a group of teenage girls chasing them...?

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" I shouted, just as the bus pulled up on the sidewalk and people around us (yes there were people around us and yes they were giving us strange looks, it's not that surprising) started getting onto the bus. The group reached us and Prussia grabbed my arm.

"No time, get on!" He yelled and with that he dragged me onto the bus, digging into my pocket for the family pass and proceeding to push me on in some sort of panicked rush. The bus was too crowded to make head or tails of anyone, so I was left to look out the window for stragglers. I didn't see any of my Units nor Hannah still on the sidewalk so I had to hope they were on board. The gang of teenage girls, Asian dominated though that would be normal here, were not quite at the bus yet and it was altogether too full to accommodate them at this point so the bus began pulling away. I heard an audible sigh of relief and turned to find myself tucked chest to chest with Prussia.

"Where did Ivan go?"

"Um..."

"IVAN?"

"I'm here Mother Russia!" I squinted around in the crowd and managed to pick out a white-blond head next to China's head. Okay, so China had picked him up. Now I was left with the problem of touching Prussia more intimately than I had since he grabbed my boob on day one. Uh...

"So, um..." I coughed a little and wiggled, but that only made my breasts rub... uh... crap was that..? Okay well this could be a problem.

"Gott, stop doing that!" Prussia snapped his face flushing.

"Well you... stop doing that!"

"I can't exactly turn it off!"

"Well get away from me then!"

"If I move back I'll be sitting in that guy's lap!"

"Well I've got an army of bodies pressing against me!"

"I know! That's why I'm getting PUSHED into that guy's lap!"

I growled and hissed, "Why the hell would you get a boner anyway?"

"Because you're rubbing against it! It's a physical response, I can't help it!"

I breathed in and out slowly through my nose, and noticed that Prussia smelled like sweat. Ew.

"Okay well... why were you getting chased by teenage girls anyway?"

"Oh that? Kesese, they recognised my awesome obviously! Not the first time."

I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes. "You're in a surprisingly good mood today. You know, except for bitching this morning." Though to be fair, I was sort of the cause of that.

"Oh, uh," Prussia looked away, and then sighed. "I dunno, just... what? Can I not have a good day?"

I shrugged, tight though it might've been in there. "I dunno, I just figured you'd still be pissed about the whole Corey thing."

Prussia glared and admittedly at close quarters such as these the glare was a bit more intimidating than usual.

"I am still pissed about the Corey thing. Bitch. But, I also know that you don't really give a shit and no one else does either, so there's no point trying to complain about it. And anyway, there'll be other guys, right? I mean, I'm awesome!" Prussia chuckled, but it sounded kind of hollow. Huh.

"Well I don't know about awesome but well, yeah obviously there'll be other guys." For Prussia? Obviously! He's hot as hell; he could snap his fingers and every gay man in the room would spread their legs. And the hetero girls. Not I, of course, but... well a lot probably... yeah.

"Yeah." And now he sounded relieved. Phht.

Luckily we had to get off at the bus station and not a specific stop because if we had needed to do the latter I doubted that we would've managed to get the message around to everyone and manage to squirm our way out in time. Another lucky thing was that about two minutes after that 'yeah' from Prussia his boner went away which was naught but a relief I must say.

This led to us climbing off the bus and heading for the subway. This time I ended up with a seat, since I dove for it. Hannah was next to me and China stood over us. Little Russia was on my lap and Prussia was sitting between America and Canada on the opposite side of the subway car across from us. Hannah was busily talking about Lolita dresses with China who looked altogether too interested as I was treated to Little Russia holding me around the neck and looking out the window. Obviously we were underground, so it wasn't as if there was anything to see. I didn't understand the fascination.

Then I was treated to Little Russia whispering in my ear about the merits of trapping America on subway tracks and his guts splattering... I wasn't sure if I wanted him to be talking to himself or not. Yep. Little Russia seemed to be getting a lot creepier lately and fuck all I did not know why. Maybe it was America being around? I wouldn't know.

Finally we reached our destination and headed top side, right down the street from the Eaton Center. A beloved place full of... well, stores, and also stuffed Canada geese hanging from the ceiling. Fun times.

Again, five minutes, Units are gone. I need to get leashes for them all, I swear.

"So you're still getting Russia then?" Hannah asked as we perused the Erotica section of the Indigo for gay romance novels. What? I never said I was only interested in yaoi; I can like simple homosexual romance fiction too! Besides, the manga section at this Indigo was always unfortunately lacking...

"Yeah, I am. At this point I can't simply give up, you know?"

"I guess but, what about upkeep? I thought you could barely afford them now."

I sighed. "You're right I can't. But when we get back home I've had at least America and Prussia agree to get jobs. Canada will probably agree too."

"Oh well that's good. Not China?"

"He needs to watch Ivan and cook." I paused. "Huh, guess I'm making him the woman in this relationship."

"... that's awkward."

"Tell me about it. Oh hey, this one has pictures!" I point to the book I was holding.

"Where?" Hannah said in excitement and we both proceeded to squeal in a highly undignified manner.

We headed to the food court and finally managed to attain food. It wasn't sushi, but it was Manchu Wok so as long as I was abusing my stomach with Chinese fast food things weren't looking too bad.

Of course then China had to wander by and ruin things. The first thing he did after coming out of bleeding nowhere with Little Russia latched onto his arm was to unleash a tirade about how the slop we were eating was an insult to his culture. The second thing he did was announce that America had tried to touch one of the Canada geese to see if it was a real animal carcass or plastic or something. And now he was in mall jail. Fuck. Everything.

On our way to get America out of mall jail we swung by a small boutique that sold stuffed animals and knick knacks. I noticed one of the stuffed animals had a disturbing likeness to Gilbird. I decided to ignore it. We carried on.

Basically, America is now banned from the Eaton center. I sent him outside with China and Little Russia as Hannah and I scoured the mall for Prussia and Canada. With any luck we'd find them fast and make it to China Town without mishap.

With any extra luck we'd catch them making out. I'm sure Hannah would agree on that point.

Well unfortunately we had only a bit of luck since we found them in the Disney store together with Prussia attacking Canada's face with a Nemo plush doll. It was adorable, mostly from Canada's sputtering red face. And okay, maybe the fact Prussia looked like he was having genuine and not malicious fun with the guy helped the cuteness too... a little.

"Awww!" Hannah squealed. I would've joined her but... Prussia so... gah, why did he have to be cute right now? It's so much easier to dislike uncute things...

"What? Oh, you guys," Prussia put the toy back and Canada coughed, still blushing like crazy. Kind of made me wonder what they had been doing before this but... well anyway, things to do. We explained that America was kicked out and so trooped to the exit, back to the subway where we'd need to make some transfers along the way. At this point of our excursion I was starting to zone out a bit and had stopped paying too much attention to our surroundings.

However upon making our way onto our second subway I had to take more notice of environment when Prussia stopped dead right in front of me and I crashed into him.

"Ow! What the hell, there's space in front of you! Why'd you stop?" I growled as he turned around and shot me a glare. Though this soon morphed into a slightly worried expression and his voice dropped so I could only just hear him.

"I swear to gott if you do that... fangasm shit I will fucking kill you, but..." he discreetly pointed behind me. My eyebrow rose and turn I turned to look where he was pointing. Standing toward the back of the train, in fact one of the only two other passengers in our car of the train, speaking to a girl with black hair was... Russia.

It was fucking Russia.

On the fucking train.

Well, yes a Russia Unit but... but I...

FUCKING HELL IT WAS RUSSIA!

"HEY! I said no fangasming!" Prussia snapped as I stared openly at the white-haired, tall, handsome, wonderful Unit gracing our train car, my knees threatening to shake out from under me.

"But... but it's..."

"Hey, what're you looking at?" Hannah asked. I pointed. She looked. "Oh, that looks a bit like..." her eyes widened, "Oh! You think he's, um, like your guys?"

I nodded. I hoped I wouldn't start drooling. "Rus... Russia is... it's... fucking..." It was so obvious that's what he was, even if the fact Prussia was pointing it out made it suspicious. He was taller than anyone else in the car, his hair too white-silver for someone his age, the childish smile, the large Russian nose, the odd purple eyes viewable on closer inspection... and of course the long scarf.

It was Russia. RUSSIA. I could just die right there.

Then his head turned and our eyes met for a moment. I squeaked and turned away abruptly, feeling heat rush to my cheeks.

"Ne?" Prussia's eyebrow rose and then he squeaked too, but instead of freezing as I had done he started backing away quickly. And then it happened.

Russia walked by... and brushed against my fucking arm.

Yep. That was it. I sank to my knees in nirvana as screams and yells and violent actions rang about the train in the minutes that followed. A goofy smile stretched across my face until I was abruptly hauled to my feet and a hand sharply slapped me across the face.

"AH! What the fucking hell?" I yelped and saw to my surprise that China had been the one to slap me.

"Prussia is going to be raped if you don't do something-aru! Are you really going to let that happen?"

I paused and looked over China's shoulder. Russia had Prussia pinned to the wall and was managing to shed his clothes off at a rather fast rate. America and Canada were working to tear him off and the black haired girl was... standing next to China actually.

"Hello, what's up?" I asked her, the situation clearly still not sinking in. Where was Hannah? Oh, standing nearby holding onto Little Russia who was watching and um... looking interested.

The black haired girl looked at me as if I were insane. Maybe I was. Wouldn't surprise me. "Um, Ivan's going rape-truck on your Prussia Unit."

"Oh yeah," I looked back at the action. Damn, was it getting hot in here?

"Are you... not going to help stop him?"

"What?"

"I can't believe this-aru!" China stormed over to Russia and attempted to help peel him off the struggling Prussian.

I looked at the black haired girl. "Well... he's your Russia, isn't he?"

The girl bit her lip and shook her head. "No, he's my friend's, and he doesn't really listen to her either."

"Oh," I looked at Russia who was now trying valiantly to get Prussia's pants down rather remarkably as he barely seemed phased by the three other Units trying to pry him off. Be it that one of those Units was America only added to the impressiveness.

"Um," I turned and saw that Hannah was looking at me too. "I think maybe you should try to intervene... you know?"

"Why would I be able to help pull Russia off anyway? Why would I be able to help things? Because in all honesty, I don't have that much upper body strength."

"Well, you got Al to stop swinging that sword earlier, didn't you?" Hannah asked hesitantly.

"Why should older me stop, Mother Russia?" Little Russia questioned.

"Because rape is wrong," I said automatically. I paused for a moment. "Huh it- it really is... even to Prussia, I guess," I sighed. "Even so, America is a pushover when challenged I think, plus I'm the one giving him room and board right now."

"But um, I think it's worth a try, you know?"

I bit my lip again, looked back at the impending rape scene, and took a deep breath.

"HEY! RUSSIA THE FUCKING RAPE TRUCK! IVAN BRAGINSKI! GET THE FUCK OFF MY PRUSSIA UNIT BEFORE I CALL BELARUS ON YOUR ASS!"

It was like Dr. Horrible set off his freeze ray on the guy, because Russia stood completely still. He turned to me with the biggest frightened eyes imaginable. Everyone was quiet.

"B-Belarus?" he whispered in a cute little terrified voice. Gah, so adorable. I had to work to keep my serious face.

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Even though it was quiet I still yelled, and Russia actually winced. Winced before me! Holy shit, power rush! "NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT HER TO SHOW UP AND FUCKING MARRY YOU I SUGGEST YOU BACK THE HELL OFF!"

Russia swallowed and dropped Prussia who hastened to pull up his pants and straighten himself. Canada rushed to his side and started asking if he was okay, but Prussia pushed him aside and stood on his own.

Russia meanwhile was edging by me but then stopped and looked at me funny. Then he began walking straight toward me. I glared up at him at first, but my glare melted and my face quickly reddened as he got closer. He leaned down. God, I knew everyone was staring. He was getting too damn close and it was Russia and he was here and I just-

Russia's eyes narrowed. "You do not really know how to contact Belarus, da?"

I swallowed and slowly shook my head. I couldn't speak. I couldn't lie. I just... he was so... I just couldn't.

He surveyed me carefully, and then gave a surprisingly bright smile before delivering a rather threatening ultimatum. "If I see you again after this train ride, I will kill you, da?"

I nodded, still red faced. Russia then went quietly back to where he had been sitting. The black haired girl turned to eye me warily.

"Um, sorry?" she said quietly and then followed the Russian. Thank god we all could get off at the next stop, or things would've gotten seriously awkward right then.

After that little... misadventure... in sexiness... the group of us piled onto the street car that took us into the heart of China Town. God I had forgotten how wonderful it all was. Shops that sold pork buns for 75 cents! Authentic ramen restaurants! Cheap anime merchandise and then... oh and then Anime Express! Such a wonderful shop for Hannah to have confirm the continued existence of. Sure it had cosplay, some anime DVDs and posters but the most wonderful thing is that, upon entrance you see an ENTIRE STORE packed with bookshelves FULL of manga. And the last shelf was almost pure yaoi from end to end.

God... it is a glorious store. I couldn't wait to get back inside it again. Hell, even Toronto had its good points and Anime Express was sure as hell one of them. But before five minutes had passed I'd flagged down everyone and spelled out clearly that they were to meet us at the ramen place with the giant chibi-girl mascot out in front of it in two hours or they weren't going to be eating today.

Then of course in five minutes they were all once again missing in action, though at least this time it was hopefully more controlled. I smiled at Hannah, and she smiled back. It was time to reach our most favoured destination, even as the sun sank deep into the horizon... not that you could see it through the skyscrapers.

We closed in on the shop, twin grins as we flung the door open and strolled into Anime Express. We strolled about, perused the shelves, and joined each other at the yaoi. Each of us chose four new manga. I was in a shopper's high, oh sweet yaoi, you are my life's blood!

The line was long however, and transactions were slow. We had to meet the Units soon, and so we decided to pool our money and pay at the same time, you know, to save time.

As we handed over the money, a ball above our heads exploded into a cloud of confetti. Noise makers appeared. We stood in shock as a man approached us and our surprised cashier with a wide smile.

"Congratulations! You both are our ten billionth customers!"

"We are?" Hannah said in surprise.

"Well, cool!" I laughed. "So does that mean we get a shopping spree or something?" My eyes drifted hungrily back to the still tantalizing wall of animated guy on guy.

"No, no, it is better!" the man laughed. Come to the back with me, please!"

Hannah and I shrugged and followed the man back into the room behind the counter as the crowd behind us bemoaned not being the lucky ones.

In the quiet room backstage the man told us to sit down.

"Are you both familiar with the anime Hetalia?" he asked us, still smiling.

"Oh yes," I snorted.

"Yeah, definitely. Oh shit, do we get like, signed DVDs or something?" Hannah asked in excitement.

"No, better!" the man laughed. "Congratulations! You are both proud new owners of Hetalia Units!"

... yep. Here we are. I think I'm going to die now. How will Hannah explain to Ishmael? How will I feed another mouth?

"W-what?" Hannah gasps. "Uh, which ones?"

"Oh good, you know about them! And I'll show you! It is a good thing the prize is two units, I did not expect two people to pay at once but now each of you can have one!"

"... lucky me," I say in deadpan. Maybe it is lucky. I might've had two extra units to deal with.

The man then goes through another door and we wait there for a few minutes.

"So... are you okay with this?" I ask Hannah.

"Um... depends on who it is."

"I guess so... god how am I going to deal with another one?"

"Er, maybe they can get a job too?"

"Hopefully..."

Okay, now the man's coming back in and following him is... oh-OH!

"DIBS ENGLAND!" I shout.

"EEEK! ITALY!" Hannah screamed.

"By God, must they be so noisy?" the blond with bushy eyebrows twists a finger in his ear as if his eardrums are ringing. Hell they probably are. But damn it, if I'm going to deal with another unit it is bloody well going to be the self-sufficient British one!

"Um," the kid with the brown hair and fly-away curl blushes cutely and smiles at the both of us. Well as far as dinner goes, at least ramen is a type of... oh I think he's going to say it! "PASTAAAAA!"

((Joyful Note: *facedesk* Just wrote... all friggen day... instead of doing homework... well FUDGE IT! HERE IT IS! THINGS HAPPENED! AND YES! ENGLAND HAS APPEARED! Did you even expect it? DOUBTFUL! Shit has gone down. ANYWAY. Who knows when the next part will show up I have no clue but for NOW at least here is my chapter and... and... GOD YOU GUYS ITS ALL FOR YOU! *sobs* I'M HOROMONAL RIGHT NOW! DON'T JUDGE ME! SO MUCH HOMEWORK I'M NOT DOING! GAH! MUST... WRITE... ESSAYS... SO HARD! DO NOT WANT! T_T *coughs* Well anyway, hope this is good enough. 24 pages on word! I am back up to snuff!))