Thank you to Demented Celery for reviewing and faving. By the way, great username! Lol

I do not own Hetalia. Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidakaz.


Lili heard a rustle outside her bedroom window. Normally, with the house as drafty as it was, this was expected. She should shrug it off and fall asleep. However, because her window had a lattice rising up to it, she threw off her covers in excitement. The lattice was in the same condition as the rest of the house but because of the ivy that climbed and weaved between the wood, it acted as reinforcement. This allowed for more than plants to climb up to her window.

She ran over and threw open the shutters to meet the dark eyes she was happy to see.

"Leon! I was wondering how long it was going to be until I saw you again!"

Leon gave a small smile and hopped into the room like he had many times before.

"Sorry. My master has me working much harder now that Kiku is gone. He hasn't hired anyone else so I've had to take the slack."

"Of course." She flashed her bright, big eyes at him. "You are such a hard worker. I appreciate that about you."

Meanwhile, Vash sighed as he sat on the couch. He had been making valiant efforts in repairing the crumbling, old house ever since he took Lili in, but he hadn't gotten around to that lattice trellis yet. While Leon might have thought that he made silent entries into Lili's room, the lattice banged against the side of the house with every step he took as he climbed. Vash always knew when that boy visited his little sister.

His first thoughts were that of an over-protective sibling when he thought of a boy in his little sister's room. However, Leon was the exception to what would have been Vash's wrath.

Leon first met Lili when Yao visited. He tried to buy off Lili, but Vash would have none of that. Still, the tiny vampire servant of the man's took an immediate interest in Lili. They were the same age which was unfortunate considering how young they were and that they were vampires. It wasn't long before Lili begged for a playdate with the boy. Vash agreed, but watched like a hawk. It wasn't hard to convince Yao to let Leon come over. The two bonded instantly and they kept their friendship strong throughout the years.

The first time Leon snuck into Lili's room was a year ago. They had been friends for about five years and were now twelve years old. Vash heard the ascent of someone on the side of his house and grabbed his shotgun. He made for his sister's room, ready to kill whomever intruded the house, but, instead, he heard the giggles of two children. He recognized Leon's voice and lowered the firearm.

This happened a few times before Vash decided it wasn't something he needed to worry about. He'd overheard Lili's explanation as to why Leon was sneaking in. It was because Vash would always worry whenever someone knocked on the door. So she told Leon to sneak in that way Vash wouldn't have to worry. It wasn't exactly the most fool-proof plan ever thought up, but that was Lili for you. Not always brains, but all heart.

And, Vash had to admit, he thought Leon was a good guy too. He trusted that Leon would never harm Lili and, further more, he was a vampire like her. They figured out how to live as they were together. It did wonders for Lili's self-confidence to have Leon around. And what kind of brother would Vash be to deny his sister of something so healthy for her? After all, he did feel slightly guilty for keeping her in the house all the time. He just wanted to keep her were he knew she was safe. This house was the only place he had. So he, painfully but willingly, allowed these occassional home intrusions.

Leon thanked Lili. Honestly, he'd never had a friend like her, and he'd never had a friend better than her. It wasn't that he didn't like his own 'family' members. It was just, well, they were so not her.

Kiku was so silently emotional. He felt emotions in extremes but kept it bottled up. He was always worried that he would explode one day. Although, maybe that day already came. After all, he did up and leave.

And, Yao was always such a drama queen. Everything was such a huge deal it was hard to have a decent conversation without it tangent-ing off into a platform for his soapbox.

Lili was different. She really wanted to know him. When he told her what his day was like, she always took interest no matter how boring it was. She cared about him deeply and knew when something was bugging him. Her huge eyes were the embodiment of innocence and Leon could tell her anything knowing it was in the care of an angel. He'd only had her as his one, true friend and he'd never once felt alone. He'd thought about if he like-liked her or not, but he just couldn't bring himself to feeling for her like that. He couldn't bear breaking anything so pure as their friendship over anything. If he had her friendship, he didn't need anything more.

She told him about the dream she had a few nights ago and how her favorite dress got a grass stain. She excitedly talked about how Vash was going to take her to get a ribbon for her hair and how she wanted to get one that was violet like her favorite flowers that grew in her garden. Time passed in a blur.

Before he knew it, he had to return to his Master's house. Yao would wonder where he was if he wasn't home soon, and if Yao knew he was sneaking to visit her instead of doing chores or something, he wouldn't be too happy.

He bid her farewell as he climbed back out the window and she curtsied with a smile, a halo nearly visible above her head.

"Goodbye, Leon. Come back soon!"


Leon entered his Master's house and frowned when he remembered how empty it was without Kiku. It wasn't that Kiku was loud. He was actually rather quiet, but he had a presence that really filled up the room. He gave off an air of confidence and intelligence that no one else he knew did. While Yao was older and more experienced, he just didn't fill the space like Kiku did.

Sighing he closed the door and climbed up the bookshelves to the rafters of the sweeping ceiling not unlike how he scaled the lattice up to Lili's room. Sitting on a beam that was a good fifteen feet above the ground, he lay down in perfect balance and stared at the paneled ceiling. This had been his place of solitude for a while now. He found it even before Kiku left. It was his own little place of peace. He could just go here to think and get away from everything.

Fingering in his pocket, he pulled out the familiar item and traced the edges with his finger. Kiku's paper crane was starting to get worn from Leon carrying it around all the time, but it wasn't anything a little paste could fix.

His silence was interrupted when there was a loud boom that came from the door. Sitting up, he put the crane away and sighed. He really didn't want to crawl all the way down there to answer the door. Maybe Master Yao didn't hear him get home yet? Maybe he would answer the door himself?

Letting the door take another two poundings, he saw his Master shuffle over in his evening gown. Smiling to himself and not caring about his laziness, he watched as his Master opened the door but promptly shut it right in the face of the guest, locking it tightly.

Leon's eyebrow quirked as he noticed his master start to breathe faster. The door was silent for a second but then there was a crack as the wood started to split. Leon gripped the beam as the door after one more swing was shattered on the ground.

Standing where the door once stood was a scarved vampire with purple eyes and silver hair. Leon knew the face too well. Yao stood frozen as he stared at Ivan. They remained like this until Ivan broke the silence much like he broke the door.

"You lied to me, Yao."

Yao backed up and Ivan followed.

"You lied to me. There was not just one Hunter, but five. And the only one that had my blood type was a child. My Den has abandoned me."

"What! How? The sheriff! He's was the ex-hunter I was talking about!"

"Well, there were five still-hunters living in this forsaken town."

Yao continued to back up and almost tripped on a piece of furniture.

"I didn't know! I only talked to them after I met you on the road. That was the first time we ever met!"

"You talked with the Hunters? You hired them, didn't you? You arranged to have me killed."

By now, Yao had backed into the parlor that was out of Leon's sight, but he could still hear them clear as day.

"N-no! I only talked with them!"

"You did not. I know when you lie to me."

"I swear!"

"Swearing upon what we both know to be a lie is unwise. It only makes you less trustful."

Leon could picture Yao shaking like the coward he was under the large vampire's guillotine gaze.

"Okay, I warned them you were in the area! That's all!"

"Kol kol kol."

"Alright!" Yao's voice went up five octaves. "I did hire them! But you are obviously too much for them! I'm sorry for questioning you! Please! Please don't turn me! I'm begging you!"

"They shot an arrow through my hand," Ivan replied, flatly.

Leon's eyes widened and he dug his nails into the wood.

"I'm sorry! Please! I'll get you all the blood you want! Triple the payments! Anything! Please I was just trying to save my house! I was just frustrated with losing my fortune in paying you off, but I don't care about that anymore! Please!"

"You should have spent the money on more blood instead of paying Hunters to try to kill me," Ivan said matter-of-factly.

"I'll do anything! Just don't turn me! I'm begging you!"

"My Den left. Don't worry. I will find them so they will become one with my Den again, but, for now, I must turn you so that the Hunters will not fulfill their contract."

"I can order them to stop! I will go right now! I'll make them put you on the Protected List! I-"

Leon heard a struggle as furniture was knocked down. It ended with Yao letting out a strangled gasp.

"Too late, Yao. Welcome to the Den, da?"

Leon's eyes squinted shut as Yao cried out in pain. Even though he couldn't see into the other room, he remembered what it was like when he was turned. The pain was horrendous.

The boy couldn't believe what was happening right now. What would happen to him if Ivan found him? Suddenly, his own heart started to pound. Would Ivan kill him? Where would he live now? Who could take him in?

He immediately pushed the thought of going to Lili's house out of his mind. As much as it was tempting, he couldn't lead a crazy vampire to her house. He couldn't put her in danger. There was only one name that came to his mind. It was the name of the most successful vampiric estate in the area: the Kirkland Manor. He'd passed by it before and he was sure that they wouldn't turn him away.

As quietly as he could, he moved down from the beam and shimmied down the shelves as silently as possible. He could still hear Yao groaning in pain from transforming so he was sure that he would have about thirty more seconds before Ivan could come looking for him. He stepped over the wood debris that was once the front door as slowly as he could and then dashed for the street. He didn't stop the whole five miles until he came to the entrance of the manor.


Sorry that this chapter is so short. The next one is going to be a doozy though. I've been planning out the plot point elements of the next chapter since the beginning. Time for the big reveal! (Reread chapters 8 and 9 if you want to see where I put the foreshadowing.) That's all the hints I'm giving you though. Heehee.

I know I said I wouldn't do any pairings besides PruHun, but if you wanted to read the Liechtenstein/HongKong as implied then go right ahead. I've never thought about this ship before, honestly, and I don't think I've ever seen it before. *shrugs*

Sorry if you don't like how I portray China and/or Russia. I'm not making them out to be very nice people in this one. Sorry. Someone's gotta be the bad guy though.