Author's Note: Ahh... My poor, neglected story... /shot/
Sorry for taking forever to update y'all. But I'm the bearer of... good-for-me-but-probably-will-irritate-the-readers news. I am going to be busy on trips and at camps. You can check my profile for the dates.
Disclaimer (Dark Side of the Moon): If I owned Hetalia, it would probably be a lot less funny, because I do not have as wonderful a sense of humor as the REAL owner.
Kiku looked into the shop window in front of him. "Hmm… I wonder if Ivan-chan would like anything from here…" he took a deep breath. "No- I think not."
He was out and about, buying thank-you gifts for Russia and China since they took such good care of him while he was sick. "Let's see… What to get for Russia-chan…" Of course, getting something for Yao was easy (he just got him some 'cute' stuff), but… the Russian's gift was starting to be difficult.
"He likes sunflowers, right?" Kiku silently asked himself, peering through the front window of a flower shop. He quickly shook his head. "Sunflowers don't last long- especially in his country… it's too cold," Japan walked away from the flowers. "Cold… Aha!" the Japanese smiled to himself and set off to the yarn store- he knew exactly what to do for Russia.
He looked down at his papers, contemplating how he was going to do this. When he looked up he noticed America looking at him for approval. "A-Ah, I agree with America-san," the phrase rolled off of his tongue with ease, only caught off-guard for a second.
"Grow some backbone!" Switzerland cried out from wherever he was seated.
America happily patted Kiku on the back, sending a quick glare at Russia, but Japan didn't even notice. He was too busy thinking.
"How am I going to do this?" he wondered. "I can't just ask him- if I do, it won't be a surprise…" Slowly, his eyes wandered back to Ivan's hands. They were covered by worn, tattered gloves which the original color of had long faded.
"I need to get him to take those gloves off as well…" Kiku frowned faintly. "His hands are pretty large… I hope I have enough yarn…"
Japan felt someone watching him, so, like a good ninja, he quickly searched for the source. He looked up and was shocked to see Ivan staring right back at him.
The Russian, however, seemed to find it completely normal, for he gave Kiku a bright smile that confused the Asian even more. Kiku looked down, feeling his face light up slightly. "Did he see my staring? Oh, how awkward…"
He heard the chairs next to him slide closer. When he looked up he saw both Turkey and Greece glaring fiercely at the Russian. "What's going on?" he curiously gazed to Ivan and the countries to his sides. The Great Northern Nation was still smiling, though, not at him… nor was it a friendly smile. Meanwhile Greece and Turkey, seated on either side of him, were getting closer to him, and, by default, to each other.
Turkey noticed this little 'dilemma' first. "Oi, feta breath, stay 'way from Jappy!"
"No way… cat hater…" Greece returned. "I'm not leaving my friend…"
As they continued their argument, Kiku slowly sank deeper into his seat. "Why does this always happen to me?"
He watched as Russia stood up. "I would like to call for a break. That is fine with everyone, da?" he asked, releasing an irritated aura.
Needless to say, he got what he wanted.
"Yay~!" Russia cheered when the break began. The platinum blonde walked over to Japan's side of the table, where Turkey and Greece were still arguing.
"I'll hit you… with my Hellas punch!" the Greek threatened, leaning forward (and over Japan, who was sinking lower and lower into his seat,) towards Turkey, appearing more alert than usual.
"Pfft… good luck with that, cat piss. You couldn't even stay awake long enough to- HEY!" Turkey shouted the last part as Greece punched him in the arm.
Japan quickly got away from the fight. "Ano, please calm down!" he begged them, hoping that they'd listen to him. Unfortunately, they didn't.
Ivan decided to take action. He 'kindly' put one hand on each of their shoulders and smiled. "I think you should listen to comrade Japan… You agree, da?" he asked politely.
Both men gave a small "meep"-like noise and nodded, getting away from the Russian as fast as they could.
"Ah, thank you, Russia-chan…" Kiku sighed out in relief.
"No problem, Japan," the Russian said, reaching out to pat the shorter man's head. "Pat, pat, pat…"
Japan looked up at him in curiosity, shying away from the touch. "What are you doing?"
Ivan gave a thoughtful "Hmm…," not answering his question. Instead he settled his violet orbs onto the other's face, studying it before he started to speak. "Why were you looking at my hands?"
"He saw…" Kiku panicked slightly on the inside. On the outside, though, he appeared to be as serene and hard-to-read as ever. "I… needed to… for… a project."
"Huh?" the Russian seemed to be caught off guard. "What kind of project?"
Japan mentally groaned. "Umm… It's a secret?"
"Okay, then," the Russian gave another smile. "Here," he said, pulling his gloves off, revealing his dry, calloused hands that Japan thought was the result of many years of hard work.
"A-ah, just a moment! And s-sorry for invading your personal space!" Kiku exclaimed as he grabbed Russia's hands and placed them on the table. "I need a reference point or I won't be able to really tell how big they are…" Japan quickly picked up a pen and put it next to one of Ivan's hand. He rushed to get his trusty camera out of his briefcase, and took several snap-shots at a speed that shouldn't be possible.
Ivan was amazed. "You must take a lot of photos…" he commented as Kiku returned his camera to its rightful place.
"I guess…" Japan agreed.
"I've never seen you use a camera at the meetings, so why is it there?" he asked, gesturing to the briefcase. Then Russia's smile turned almost mocking. "Or did you simply bring it along to take secret photos of my hands for this 'secret project' of yours?"
The Japanese turned bright red. "N-No! I have always taken my camera with me to meetings, that's all," he stuttered out, knowing that he couldn't tell the man that he was right. "Anyways, thank you for your assistance from a while ago…"
Russia looked at him strangely, "Hmm… Would you like to fight?"
"N-Nani?" Japan gazed up to the possibly insane Russian in front of him. "Ano… why?"
"I want to see how strong my new friend is," Ivan said. "Besides, I'm interested. When you were ill, you tackled-"
"Hey, Keeks!" America interrupted from across the room. "Let's get some chicken wings!"
Kiku turned towards the ADD American. "Um… maybe later?"
"No prob!" 'America cried out from where he was standing. "Later!"
"Does that mean you'll fight with me?" the Russian asked from behind Japan.
"N-No thank you, Russia-chan," the small Asian muttered.
Russia tilted his head to the side in question. "Aww… Why not?"
"I'd rather not fight. Besides, we don't have the time to right now." The Japanese pointed to Germany, who was just walking into the room. "Any second, Germany-san will resume the meeting."
Ivan frowned. "But we can still do it later, da?"
Kiku's eye visibly twitched. "I'd still rather not…"
"But, comrade," Russia began, "we are friends, da? I wouldn't hurt you. Think of it as… sparring…"
"Why are you so obsessed with this?" Kiku looked at the other incredulously. "I see no point in this…"
Russia raised an eyebrow. "I told you, I just wa-"
"EVERYONE GET BACK IN HERE!" Germany yelled into the microphone set up in front of his seat. "THE MEETING'S STARTING."
Reluctantly, Russia and the other countries who were in the hallway trudged to their seats, Russia's violet orbs never leaving Japan, who started feeling very uncomfortable. Soon enough, the meeting started up again, letting Japan's gaze wander. He curiously looked over to the Russian across the table and immediately regretted it.
Russia was still staring at him. AND. HE. WASN'T. BLINKING. Oh no, the Russian simply smiled creepily when he saw Japan looking back at him. 'Are you sure~?' he mouthed.
'Quite,' Kiku mouthed back as discreetly as he could. In the corner of his vision, he saw a glint of metal heading straight towards him. He quickly moved out of the way as the offending object sunk itself into his chair. Japan looked to see if anyone else had noticed what just happened.
Nope; the room was just as chaotic as usual. No one had noticed the knife thrown at him. "Who did this come from and why did they throw it at me?" He gave a curious glance to the Russian, who was frozen in fear. As soon as he looked at the Russian, he saw another metallic glint and used his briefcase to block it. He traced the knife's path to…
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" The knife had come from Belarus, who simply launched another knife into the air, face deadpan.
Dun duh DUN! And... I'm mean, aren't I? I won't be updating this until AFTER I am done with my trip, and even that might be delayed depending on when my camp starts. (I still can't find the dates... I wonder where they went...)
R&R
~Dark Side of the Moon
