A/N: Still trying to clear out some space! This story here, as you can tell, is a 2P!HetaOni story. I wrote it thinking I was doing something new; as it turns out, I wasn't doing anything ground breaking and that, combined with HetaOni being pretty much dead and done at nauseum, I decided to quit while I was ahead.
Again, I wanted to archive this somewhere, so here you go. And if I wasn't blunt enough, this work is abandoned. I hope you get some enjoyment out of it, regardless of its lack of originality.
No flames please~! If you feel that some improvements could be made, don't be afraid to say so; tell me what I did good and like I just said, improvements are good!
DISCLAIMER - I do not own Hetalia, or its characters; it belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.
Chapter I: The Mansion Where None Should Enter
'A deserted house in the mountains; about three hours on foot from the world summit place. No one knows how long it has been there, or who used to live in it. Rumours said that it was...haunted.'
Deep in the mountains, on a warm summer afternoon, four men could be seen. Two of them were conversing amongst themselves, whereas the other two were leading the way; the hiker with a rouge curl on the left side of his head, wearing a scowl on his face was the main one leading the way, but the one with long white hair, tied into a low ponytail was just walking beside him awkwardly. The two at the back appeared to be really into their conversation, the one with the raven hair enjoying it the most, and the blonde just looked tired, but was still interested in the conversation nonetheless.
"So do you actually believe this crap?" the raven haired man asked, a smirk plastered on his face. "I mean, it sounds like your typical urban legend."
"Ja, it does," the blonde replied, as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. "However, I believe it; there being an abandoned house, I mean. Said house being haunted though, I don't believe that's possible."
"You'd think I would believe in this kind of stuff, but with all the horror stories from my country, ghost stories get tiring."
"I see what you mean, Japan," the blonde sighed. "But isn't your house haunted?"
"No, but a forest in my country is; it's called Aokigahara, or the Suicide Forest, and as the name implies, it's where people end their own lives."
The blonde suddenly went pale, as his breath hitched slightly.
"You're joking?"
The raven haired man, the nation of Japan, chuckled, "I don't know, maybe I am, maybe I am not." He then started to look thoughtful. "Hmm, thinking about it now, the house being haunted does sound plausible." He looked ahead of him to see the man with the rouge curl. "Hey, Italy, what do you think?"
The man in question turned to face Japan, with a look of irritation on his face.
"What do I think of what?" he spat.
"Do you believe this rumour to be true?"
The Italian sighed and adjusted his hat slightly. "I don't know; I have not really been giving it much thought."
"Really? You haven't?"
"No."
"Hey," the white haired man spoke up rather quietly. "Is that it?"
The three conversing stopped in their tracks, and looked up in awe. Before them was the mansion they had heard about, the rumour, the urban legend stood before their very eyes. And for an 'abandoned' mansion, it looked quite presentable from the outside; it wasn't falling apart, contained no cracks in the walls, and for the most part looked stable. It almost looked like someone was living there.
"It's...really here," the blonde stated, amazement apparent on his face.
"I really thought it was just a rumour," Japan said, looking at it blankly. "I never thought we would actually find it."
"It has such a desolate feel...pretty unnerving," the white haired man spoke up, the sound of awe more apparent in his voice.
"Personally, I don't think it's very interesting," Italy looked unimpressed, as he folded his arms and sighed. "You dumb bastards get impressed by anything."
"As much as I hate this guy, I'd have to agree," Japan said, glaring at the Italian. "I think we should just look at it from the outside and then go back."
"No, I don't want to have walked three hours for nothing," the blonde said, his voice raising in anger.
"I agree with Germany," the white haired male also didn't look too impressed. "We went through a lot of trouble to find this place, and I believe that all of that trouble deserves to be payed off. Let's just go in for a little while."
"You two dumb sacks of merda can, I am just going to stay here for a while," Italy replied, placing his hands on his hips.
"I have to agree with Italy, again," Japan sighed. "I was hoping that it would look dilapidated, which would make it fun to explore and add to the eerie, abandoned factor. But seeing how nice it looks, it would just feel like I'm going on a house tour."
"And..? Isn't that why we came here to begin with? Look, we know you're cowards - "
"Who are you calling a coward, Germany?!" Italy snapped, storming to the blonde in rage.
"The nerve..." Japan mumbled under his breath.
"If you believe that you are so fearless, let us make a deal," the Italian spat, a mischievous smirk present on his face.
"I'm listening," the blonde German started sweating bullets.
"Me and Japan will partake in this little house tour - "
"What?!"
"And the last person to give up, and leave out of fear, will receive €50 from each loser," Italy then turned to Japan. "That would be 6,489.22 yen in your case Japan. As you can see, I am being generous. So, do you accept?"
The blonde, said to be Germany, looked to be in thought for bit, before he said, "You're on."
With a satisfied smirk, and a clap of his hands, the Italian turned to look back at the house.
"Okay, shall we enter?" He asked, in an oddly cheerful manner, which was so unlike him.
As the other three agreed and walked past him, they didn't notice Italy's smirk falter, and turn into a frown instead.
Inside the mansion looked as well kempt and stable as it did on the outside; the walls were a pristine white, the floor was laminate and appeared to shine, and windows had not even a single scratch or smudge on them. It was a sight that both confused and amazed the nations, minus Italy, who still looked as unimpressed as he did when viewing the outside.
"I must admit, it is cleaner than I initially thought," he commented, sounding rather bored, as he removed his hat and dusted it off, before placing it back on his head.
"Hey, can we go now?" The white haired male, Prussia, asked, a sound of unease in his voice.
"What's the matter, bruder? Are you scared?" Germany responded with a question, enjoyment showing in his tone.
"How childish," Japan sighed, before a sound of something smashing, followed by a crash could be heard, east of where they were standing.
Japan immediately looked to the right of him, which was where the sound came from. 'I thought this place was supposed to abandoned...' he thought, trying to think of what caused the sound.
Turning to look at his allies, if he should call them that, he noticed Italy looking in the same direction as him, unfazed by it for some reason. Prussia instinctively grabbed onto Germany for dear life, the latter looking pretty displeased.
"Look, we should really go now?" Prussia whimpered, hugging Germany tighter.
"Oh, don't be a baby," Japan turned to the white haired male, slight amusement on his features. "It's not like there are any ghosts or anything. Where is your common sense?"
"Are you sure he had any to begin with?" Italy smirked, folding his arms.
"That's true," Japan turned back to his right, and started to walk in that direction. "I'll just go and see what happened. I'll be back."
"Be careful, Japan," Germany hollered after him, in more of a comical tone than the Eastern nation was used to. "We don't want you getting possessed by the evil ghosts."
Japan chuckled. "I know," he replied, as he continued walking down the hallway to find a wooden door. The door looked pristine; lacking scratches, which Japan found strange for an old house, although he shouldn't be surprised, as it looked almost brand new on the outside, and the inside entrance looked just as brand new. There was nothing on the door indicating what room it was, so he guessed he was going in very blind.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the knob of the door, and pushed it open. Behind it was an average kitchen, which looked modern for an abandoned, old house. The walls were white, similar to the hallway, and the tiled floor was the same colour as the walls, and were that clean, Japan could see his own reflection. What was strange was there being a basket of fruit on the counter at the back, along with some garlic and herbs; that convinced the Japanese man that there was someone living there. Stepping in fully, something caught his eye.
Advancing towards the sink, which looked just as clean as the rest of the kitchen, Japan spotted a broken ceramic plate next to it.
He raised an eyebrow.
"So this was what made the noise?" he pondered to himself, as he took one of the shards in his hand. "The plate is... broken. I am lucky that I didn't hurt myself, while picking this up."
Examining it further, he saw a small symbol (黒) written in black on the shard, to which he found odd.
'Kuro?' he thought to himself, raising a brow with a sigh. 'I don't see why this would be on a plate, and I don't really care; I have more important matters to attend to, if you could call it that. Perhaps this shard will prove itself useful in the future.'
Placing the shard in his pocket, his eyes wandered towards the door behind him, and driven by curiosity, he approached it and pulled down the handle.
'Locked, of course,' he rolled his eyes, as he turned to look at the kitchen entrance. 'Well, I guess I have to inform those idiots that a plate mysteriously smashed, and that it's best we go home. I don't feel safe here.'
Opening the kitchen door, he blinked furiously when he didn't see his allies in the distance by the entrance like they once were. Slamming the door behind him, he ran towards the entrance door and glanced around at a rapid pace, to see that his allies were, in fact, not present.
"Did they seriously leave me here?" Japan sighed, placing his palm on his forehead.
What were they playing at? Was this their plan all along? To drag him here and leave him? Oh, what he'd do when he got his hands on them, especially Italy; Japan didn't doubt for a moment that it was his idea.
The Asian man chuckled to himself, as he let his hand fall limp at his side.
"They couldn't have gotten that far," he said to nobody in particular. "They're probably laughing, while making their escape..."
'How childish...'
Silently cursing the men who abandoned him, he reached for the door's handle and pushed it down.
"It won't open..." he stated dryly. "How regrettable."
With a sigh, he took in his surroundings again, as he came to terms with the fact that he could be there for a while.
"Well, I suppose I should look around, since I have nothing better to do at the moment."
Since Japan had just come from the eastern corridor to check the source of the noise, and the north had stairs and two other corridors further along, he thought he'd take the western corridor, then take the north later.
He didn't get that far in his search before he stopped in his tracks.
Rounding a corner, his breath caught in his throat and he froze. At the end of this corridor stood a tall figure in the nude, but that wasn't what concerned the nation. Its skin was dark grey, wrinkly and saggy, almost like leather, and its limbs were uneven in length, especially the arms. The left arm looked much shorter and muscular in comparison to the right, and the legs were the same length, but both were quite short. The torso was long and bulky, and its dull, bare head was round and lacked ears.
Japan didn't know what to call it: a man, or something inhuman. He supposed referring it by the latter would be harsh, deformities in the human body weren't uncommon after all, but its skin didn't look healthy...should he ask if this person needs help...?
Before he could even act, the grey skinned humanoid went through the door it was stood in front of, ducking as it went through due to its height.
Releasing a breath, he closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. So, he wasn't alone in this mansion, there was another...person...? Thing...? Whatever it was made him feel a sensation that he hadn't felt in a long time...
Fear...
Even though the mysterious, he'll refer to it as "Grey" for now, was out of sight, Japan's hairs still stood on end. Could it be one of his allies in a costume? He didn't think so; as none of his allies possessed limbs like that and, most likely, wouldn't be able to walk in that with such ease. Not only that, but -
'Its aura felt strong and hostile...' He thought to himself, opening his eyes to stare at where "Grey" was previously stood. 'I should try to avoid him at all costs and start to look for a key, or something to get out of here...'
He may as well make a start where he is; there was a door to the north, east and west of him. The raven haired man felt dread when the thought of checking the north came to mind, but it was either do nothing and stay in the mansion forever, or risk running into "Grey" and find a key by chance.
Of course, there could be a possibility that the key won't be there, one of his allies could have taken it when they left him... but there has to be a spare.
He wondered if his allies knew of the mysterious "Grey"?
Just to get it out of the way, he ran to the door at the end of the hall and, with a steadying breath, turned the knob. Bracing himself, he pulled the door.
"It...won't open," Japan let go of the knob as if it had burned, scratching his head. "How? I didn't hear a lock click..."
Well, he supposed he was too far away to hear a door click, so "Grey" could have a key. Sure, he couldn't check what was behind the door, but he knew that "Grey" had a key...
Of course, it may have been for that room alone, but what other keys did he own? He had to check, which meant looking around for, possibly, hours.
And that was as far as I got! Japan is going to wander the mansion for all eternity and get nowhere!
I'm not sure if I got the money conversions correct, but this story wasn't polished enough so...
Hope you enjoyed this bland tale and thank you for reading!