"So... We're at a standstill until we hear Francois's side of the story, and who knows how long he'll be out for." Matt began, standing in front of the lounge full of 1 and 2p's. They had eaten lunch and were once again dealing with the aftermath of Francois's meddling.
"Better yet, how will we know when he wakes?" Ivan suggested, a small smirk on his face.
"Well... We won't know for sure, but-" The Canadian replied unsurely, glancing at the Russian in confusion. Said male cut him off though.
"That's a problem. I believe we should have someone watch him until he wakes, so that he is unable to drink himself stupid again, or escape. We need him to talk." Ivan's tone sent shivers down most 1 and 2p's spines.
"I guess you're right. Viktor, would you like to watch him?" Ludwig spoke up after a few awkward moments of silence.
"If it fixes this mess, I don't mind." The tall male replied quietly, ash brown hair covering most of his face as he stood and headed in the direction of Francois's room.
Ivan looked downcast, violet eyes growing irritated at not having the chance to play with the meddling 2p. He didn't say anything though, as he too wanted Francois to be dealt with and his actions reprimanded.
"So... What do we do now?" Alfred spoke up after another moment of silence, growing bored.
"I don't know but I'm feeling it man! I'm bored as hell!" Gilbert exclaimed, expression exaggerated.
"Would you pipe down?" Ludwig turned a glare towards his albino brother.
"I have to agree. You're too loud." Andrés muttered, tone void of emotion and amber eyes sullen.
"I'm sure there's many here who can agree, however we should focus on more pressing issues." Oliver gained the room's attention once more.
"We've been here for about a week now and yet only four pairs have bonded. I'm growing worried, I don't know how long the spell gave us." The colourful Brit drawled off, baby blue eyes clouded with worry.
Silence befell the lounge once again, a repeating occurrence of the afternoon. They were all on the same page, they knew they had to bond to allow the 2p's access home, however they were puzzled on how to 'bond'. Sure, they had witnessed both Allen and Alfred, and Luciano and Feliciano bond, but it didn't mean anything if they couldn't see eye to eye with their counterpart.
"I don't think Francois will be awake for some time yet, we deserve some free time. I'm sure Viktor will alert us when he wakes. Until then, trying to get along with each other, and hopefully more pairs can bond." Matt explained, to the relief of everyone in the lounge. Once he was finished talking, they all split up.
Ivan was the first to exit the room, stalking off in a random direction, followed by Andrés and Antonio, Gillen, Francis and Gilbert. Ludwig approached Lutz, seemingly awkward and unsure of what to talk about.
"Hey, I know we really haven't gotten along well enough so far, so how about we talk? We'd have to have something in common." The violet eyed German gave his counterpart a warm smile.
"Ja... Sure. If it will help." Ludwig muttered somewhat reluctantly, following his 2p out of the lounge room.
Feliciano decided that he would head up to his room to get some more rest, after the events of this morning, he was dead tired. Surprisingly, Lovino tagged along, murmuring about how he wouldn't leave Feli alone.
Slowly the rest of the pairs filtered from the room, leaving only Kiku and Kuro sitting across from each other.
"Hmm... We do have things in common, yet they haven't caused us to bond so far." The ruby eyed male explained with a slight hint of exasperation to his tone.
"It looks like painting together is not an option then." Kiku sighed, chocolate eyes emotionless.
"What else do you enjoy then?" Kuro mused, standing so that he could move closer to his counterpart.
"Uh... Well... I guess I like to read, stroll, I enjoy peace and quiet, as well as nature, and I'm fond of animals. I also don't mind learning about another nation's culture and history." The Japanese 1p explained.
"Oh wow... That's boring. Anything else?" Kuro almost pleaded.
"That was rude. I suppose I do like to use my katana, for both training and entertainment. I'm assuming this will interest you more?" Kiku almost sounded offended, moving to stand as well.
"Hell yes! Let's spar!" The 2p exclaimed excitedly, pulling out his katana.
"Wait, not in here-" The chocolate eyed male was interrupted.
"Yes in here! Stop being such a party pooper Kiku, let's go!" Kuro whined, readying his weapon to strike.
"Ugh... Whatever. If you want to spar here then we shall. I may be old but I won't go easy on you." Kiku gave an exasperated sigh, pulling out his own Katana.
"Me neither. And we're the same age." The 2p muttered. He then was forced to duck under the other's blade.
"Woah. Making the first move? I can't believe it." Kuro commented, a sly smile on his face as he lunged forward, raising his blade high.
Kiku easily blocked and a battle of back and fourth began, both counterparts clashing blades again and again, unable to deter the other.
"You're a formidable opponent, Kuro." The Japanese male panted slightly.
"I could say the same about you." The 2p replied, before lunging forward once more. Again their blades met, the screeching sound of metal on metal illustrating so.
As Kiku jumped forward, Kuro ducked, taking out a side table with a wide swing, items clattered to the floor as the glass top shattered. Neither payed it no mind though, too caught up in their friendly sparring.
The 2p jumped to the left, in the direction of the couch, his counterpart following swiftly, raising his katana high. Kuro was able to jump above the swing, moving quickly to the left, planning to strike Kiku from behind. Said male accidentally cut through the couch, leaving a mess of material and stuffing. Again, neither focused on the incident.
As Kuro raised his katana, aiming at his counterpart's back, Kiku whipped around, instantly blocking the strike. They broke apart once more, panting heavily. Neither had been able to land a hit on the other.
"It... seems we're evenly matched... hah." Kuro wheezed, a warm grin on his pale features. Kiku had moved to stand closer to his counterpart when a horrified Alfred ruined the moment.
"What the hell did y'all do to my lounge room?!" The blonde hollered.
Both Kuro and Kiku winced, finally taking notice of the damage their 'play' fight had caused.
"Ah... sorry Alfred." The chocolate eyed Japanese male bowed apologetically.
"Oh geez. First my kitchen and now my lounge room. I'm not made of money ya know? I already owe China enough..." Alfred mumbled the last sentence, running a hand through his messy hair.
"Kuro and I are responsible, we shall clean it up to the best of our ability." Kiku promised, already searching for a broom.
"Wait- What? I didn't agree to clean this up! Just get the 1p version of Lutz to do it, he's a neat freak." Kuro spluttered, the very idea of cleaning distasteful.
"Don't complain. I did say that we should have taken it outside." Kiku returned with a broom.
The 2p could only grumble in return, turning to the smashed side table.
"Okay well, I forgive you, but don't let it happen again." Alfred's happy demeanour returned as quickly as it had vanished as he exited the room.
"He is so weird sometimes..." Kuro commented absentmindedly, having pushed the glass pieces into a pile.
"A bit. However I believe calling him weird is hypocritical; we are all weird in our own ways." Kiku replied, turning to face his counterpart, a thoughtful expression on his face.
A silence befell them before the ruby eyed male could no longer contain his grin.
"I suppose you're right. I never took you as one to speak 'words of wisdom' though." Kuro sniggered.
"I believe it was Heracles who helped me to think this way." The brown eyed male explained.
"Ah... that's Greece right? We don't get along back home. He's pretty isolated, and apparently hates the world." The 2p sighed wistfully. Moving to pick up the larger shards of glass, his distracted state causing him to cut his palm.
"Oh shit!" Kuro jumped up, cupping his injured hand, blood beginning to stream from the large gash. Kiku moved to his feet quickly and pulled the blanket that rested on the back of an armchair and threw it around the wound trying to stem the blood.
"Hold it tightly, I know that it won't kill you, but it is bleeding quite rapidly." They hurried towards the bathroom, luckily it was empty.
Kuro sat on the edge of the bath, the once white blanket beginning to turn red.
"Here's a first aid kit. I'll most likely have to stitch it." Although he was no Yao, Kiku did have some medical knowledge. Pulling on a pair of gloves and pulling out a roll of bandages and a needle in preparation.
"Ok... sure. I don't mind pain but I'd rather not feel this. Do you think you could grab me some alcohol or something? At least if I'm plastered I won't remember it." The ruby eyed male suggested hopefully.
Kiku mulled it over before nodding in agreement. As he moved to open the door, it was pushed open for him, narrowly missing his figure.
"Woah! Kuro what happened?" Luciano questioned. He had heard a commotion downstairs and then from the bathroom. Going to investigate, as Flàvio had left him to hang out with Andres.
"We were practise fighting and made a mess in the lounge. I cut my palm on a piece of glass from the coffee table." Kuro explained casually.
"It's good that you're here Luciano actually. I have to stitch this and Kuro wanted something to dull the pain." Kiku muttered and said male understood.
"I'll be back in a moment." The Italian waved casually. In less then five minutes he had returned with a box.
"I managed to find some of the wine we took from Francois, as well as beer, lots and lots of beer." Luciano explained as he put the box down.
"Thanks... Hey Luciano?" Kuro posed the question, expression sly.
"Yes...?" The male replied somewhat curiously.
"Do you wanna get drunk?"
"No." Luciano stated blankly and exited the room.
Meanwhile...
Lutz and Ludwig were seated at a table in a bar close to America's home. It was awkward to say the least.
Ludwig cleared his throat, trying to find something to bring about conversation.
Lutz taking a swig from his glass.
"Drinking together won't get us to bond." The blue eyed German stated, facing his counterpart.
"It's good beer." The 2p shrugged and Ludwig let out an exasperated sigh.
"How about..." He continued, racking his mind for something they would share an interest in.
"Are you close with Kiku and Feliciano?" Lutz leaned back in his seat. The question taking Ludwig off guard.
"Uh... yeah. We were allies during the last war, we've remained close since then." He answered stiffly.
"I see. It's a similar story for Kuro, Luciano and I. Although Luciano acts all harsh and cold, he actually really cares about us." Lutz wore a warm smile.
"I see." Ludwig paused to take a gulp of his beer. "Do you like dogs?" He asked randomly.
"Are you serious? I have three German Shepherds." Lutz grew interested.
"No way. I have three Shepherds too!" The normally strict German appeared overly happy.
"You've got to be shitting me. Do you have photos?" The violet eyed male pulled out his phone.
"Of course." Ludwig scoffed. Both German's spent the rest of the afternoon adoring the other's dogs and drinking.
Kiku let out a sigh twenty minutes later as he secured the last bandage tightly around Kuro's injured hand. Blood stained gloves already discarded.
Before him sat Kuro, having taken residence on the edge of the bathtub. The box once full of alcohol, now mostly empty and the drunk 2p in front of him responsible. At least it had worked in dulling the pain, he considered.
"Thankkkksss otherrr me..." Kuro slurred and held up his injured hand, marvelling at the mass of bandages covering it.
"It was nothing really." Kiku replied, knowing the other probably wouldn't have heard him. He finished cleaning up the bloody mess and left with the stained blanket from the lounge, taking it to the laundry.
Glancing at the time, it appeared to be close to dinner, hopefully someone had thought to start cooking.
He moved back towards the bathroom to see if Kuro was still situated in the room. He was and had completely finished the alcohol that Luciano had fetched for him.
"Uh... I'm not sure how to deal with you drunk. Maybe go and get some fresh air, or a glass of water?" Kiku suggested at his state.
"No." Kuro whined childishly, stumbling up.
"Okay then. I suppose you can stay here." Kiku waved him off and exited the room. As he left he ran into Luciano, both with surprised expressions on their faces.
"I'm finished with him, he's pretty drunk though." Kiku explained and gestures to the direction of the bathroom.
"Couldn't expect any less as he was given a box of drinks." Luciano shrugged before resigning himself to head into the bathroom. "I can deal with him. I think dinner was ready anyway."
"Ah ok, thank you." The Japanese male bowed and headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Instantly he could smell food, finding it strange that he couldn't when upstairs.
He headed into the dining room to find everyone else already seated and eating, they glanced up at him.
"It's nice to see that someone told me dinner was ready." Kiku spoke up, a casual expression on his face, however his tone was slightly exasperated.
"Woah dude, we're sorry!" Alfred exclaimed with a mouthful of food, spitting pieces everywhere.
"Excuse you." Francis turned to glare at him when a piece landed in his hair.
"I'm sorry, we weren't sure where you were, nor Luciano or Kuro." Ludwig explained, seated beside his counterpart. The blue eyed German had ended up showing Lutz hundreds of his secret photos hidden on his phone of his German Shepherds.
"Uhhh yeah, Kuro's upstairs. In the bathroom. Luciano should be bringing him down now." The Japanese male said hesitantly.
"What's wrong with him?" Arthur inquired. His question turning heads towards Kiku once more.
"He injured his hand earlier. I stitched it up." Kiku explained plainly. This causing more questions.
"What? Was it bad? Is he hurt?" Lutz asked.
"It wasn't overly serious. It was deep though. He will be fine." The Japanese male placated the curious and worried 1 and 2p's.
"Oh that's a relief." Oliver muttered in relief.
Kiku took a seat beside Feliciano. The Italian having dark bags under his eyes and messy hair, appearing quieter than he normally would. He managed a smile in his direction though.
"How are you Feli?" Kiku asked quietly.
"Getting better. Still hurts though." The amber eyed Italian replied weakly.
"If something ever happens like that to you again, know that I have your back, as does Ludwig and the others." The Japanese male stated darkly and Feliciano grinned warmly.
"I know. Thank you."
"If you don't stop clinging to me I'm throwing you down the rest of these stairs." Luciano's irritated voice echoed into the dining area.
"Typical." Allen sniggered.
"I believe I should mention that Kuro is extremely drunk." Kiku told the room.
"Why?" Once again everyone turned to him in shock.
"He didn't want me to stitch up his palm without anaesthesia, so I used the second best option; alcohol." The Japanese male answered.
"Geez Kiku, you've had an eventful day." Yao commented and said male's cheeks turned a slight pink colour.
Suddenly Luciano entered the room dragging a clingy and whiny Kuro behind him.
"Never again." The Italian cursed before throwing Kuro into an empty chair and sitting on the other side of Feliciano.
"Hahaha. I can't believe he's so drunk." Allen couldn't contain his laugh. Matt, Lutz and Oliver managed to smother their laughs, however, all three were grinning. Xiao even appeared to have a slight smile on his face. Most of the 1p's watched on in amusement.
After dinner the personifications moved to the lounge room when Kiku suddenly froze. He hadn't finished cleaning it up.
"Ah..." He started but it was too late. He winced looking over the room now. They really had trashed the room.
Glass littered the floor, the remains of the side table pushed to the side. The lamp that had been on top was also smashed. The largest couch had a large cut across the top cushion, material and filling spilling out onto the floor. Lastly, blood formed a puddle around most of the glass shards, as well as trailed down the hall.
Kuro's katana lay disregarded beside the couch.
"What the hell!" A few voices chorused throughout the room.
"Sorry Alfred. Shortly after you left Kuro cut himself." Kiku explained embarrassedly. He bowed his head slightly.
"Are you telling me that you two caused all this? Arthur exclaimed and turned to face Kiku and Kuro, who Luciano was dragging along once again.
"Hai." Many of the personifications were shocked at this.
"It's alright, we'll just get someone else to clean it. Who cares honestly?" Allen commented.
"I guess it's alright. As long as it's repaired!" Alfred grinned happily.
Suddenly Kuro in his drunken state tackled Kiku in a hug. The chocolate eyed male attempting to push him off immediately, looking more than uncomfortable.
The others watched this exchange curiously and amusedly. Oliver noticing something particularly interesting. His baby blue eyes brightening.
"Please stop."
"Thanksssssooomuch for helpinnnggg me todayyy..." Kuro slurred. And suddenly the personifications were blinded by a bright white light that lasted several seconds. Once it died down all 1 and 2p's glanced at the two in shock.
Kiku was even no longer struggling to push the drunk nation off of him. Oliver broke the stunned silence with a happy squeal.
"That makes five pairs!" He was excited.
Once everything calmed once more, idle chatter continued. Lutz had entered the room holding two glass bottles.
Approaching his counterpart, he handed him a bottle. "I brought you a beer."
"Danke." the blue eyed German muttered gratefully. His eyes were twitching as he took in the messy and disorderly room. He needed to clean this mess.
Lutz noticed this and let out a sigh. "I don't normally clean but would you like some help?" Ludwig was dumbfounded.
"I mean, Kuro is half responsible for this, so I'd feel happy to help." The violet eyed German replied uncertain of his statement.
"Thank you." Ludwig smiler warmly, a rare occurrence.
Suddenly the room was filled with the bright blinding light once more, not even ten minutes later.
This time no one had seen it coming. The two Germans were talking quietly amongst themselves when it occurred.
When the light died down for a second time, everyone was completely shocked. Lutz and Ludwig were both bemused.
"That was easy." Lutz commented.
"West! You bonded?! What the hell!" Gilbert sounded annoyed. "Damn it! I wanted to bond first and rub it in your face!" Blank faces met his statement.
"Who knew the stick in the mud would bond before half of us?" Francis muttered.
"So Ludwig and Lutz make six pairs to have bonded." Arthur explained.
"How exciting! We're half way through!" Oliver's excitement continued to grow.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now." Ivan started, a weird expression on his face. When the others turned to him, the Russian grinned. "Don't forget Francis and Francois have to bond yet."
That was true. The thought began to weigh at the personification's minds. What were they going to do with that Frenchman?
"We'll figure something out, because I'm the hero!" Alfred grinned and posed. The 2p's sent him strange looks, however, they were becoming more accustomed with the American's hero complex.
Deciding that it was probably better if everyone returned to their rooms for the night after that, the lounge room emptied quickly.
Ludwig and Lutz remaining behind. Without hesitation, the blue eyed German fetched a rubbish bag, gloves and a bucket of water and a cloth.
"Let's get started."
Hey everyone! I have a lot more time on my hands at the moment, if ya know what I mean. It's our term holidays however I'm not even playing football (by this I mean Aussie rules footy not soccer) now, so it's pretty boring.
Also I turned 18 in February! Yay I'm legal now. I also got my red P's, so I can finally drive by myself!
Sorry if this chapter feels jumbled or I haven't included all characters, it's been a while. Honestly, I couldn't even remember Xiao's name and had to go back and check a previous chapter. I chose to have both Japan and Germany bond this chapter to hurry it on a little so I hope you enjoy it.
Another thing. I hope everyone is staying safe during this period of time. This situation sucks but it will get better eventually. Stay home, wash your hands. Good luck to you all.
This version of Opposites is now caught up to where I am with Wattpad's version. Again, even though it is recent, I wont be editing this chapter until I am finished the fanfic completely. Thanks for reading, reviewing and favouriting and following.
-Ella.
