Disclaimer: I love Hetalia, but I do not own it, for goodness' sake! (ಠ益ಠ)

This chapter is dedicated to PandaTeaLover for her lovely review~


Chapter 9

That evening, Arthur was planning a surprise date for Yao. Yes, the morning sex was fantastic, but the whole relationship isn't all about that, you know. He needed to make Yao accept him into the bottom of the Chinese man's heart, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Our little Peony is worth it~

Damn right you are, Arthur agreed for once.

(-)

"Gege, what about this dress?" Taiwan straightened, holding up a pink frilly dress. She examined the dress up and down, her smile growing wider. "What do you think?"

Practically dieing from shame, Yao was unable to utter a single syllable, just flailing his arms around.

Hong spoke for him, "Mei, I think, like, Yao-ge doesn't like the dress."

Korea, meanwhile, was in a corner, desperately stifling his laughter. And, he failed. "LOL! Aniki in a dress, da-ze!" he cried.

Yao threw him a glare filled with so much venom it chewed up Yong Soo's laughter and spat it back into the Korean's face. "I do not appreciate that comment, aru, so shut up."

"So, do you like it? I've got Guangdong's approval through webcam~." Taiwan pointed to the previously unseen laptop, where Guangdong was on the screen, giving the Taiwanese girl a wearily thumbs up. Further muffled laughter was heard in the background which was obviously the other provinces.

"No, aru!" Yao's face was bright red, from both embarrassment and anger. With a hand, he slammed the laptop shut.

"Hey! My laptop!"

(-)

Finally, Yao had escaped Mei's fashion claws by noon and surprisingly, Kiku had invited the whole Asian 'family' out for lunch in a sushi restaurant. Macau had some weird things on, and Thai and Viet were planning on going to the zoo, so only Yao, Yong Soo, Mei, Hong, and Kiku were there.

The restaurant was pleasant: not too dim or too brightly-lit, soft instrumental music playing in the background, and the walls painted a pale white-pink colour.

Kiku politely greeted them when they arrived. He knew this restaurant well and like a pro, led them to a table just big enough for the five Asians. The menu was passed around, but Japan ended up recommending and ordering everything.

Mei was chatting excitedly to Kiku (who's not very interested), and Hong was picking at the tablecloth emotionlessly when suddenly Yong Soo said, "That originated from Korea, daze!"

The whole group turned their head around at the same time to stare at what was simply a piece of calligraphy.

"WTF," Mei glared at Yong Soo. "How could that have originate form you?"

Yong Soo puffed up his chest, "Well, it's Hanja obviously, da-ze~"

Kiku looked uneasily, "Umm, Yong Soo-kun, that's Kanji…"

It was Yao's turn to speak up. He shook his head, pony tail swishing from side to side, "Uh-uh, no, aru," he said, "It's Hanzi, aru! And if I remember correctly, I invented it." He did a motion that roughly translates into 'Duh' in Yao's pretending-to-be-hip-and-cool vocabulary.

The argument was getting furious when Hong lifted his head to see the awkward waiter approaching. "Like, stop. There's food."

After less than two seconds, everyone had calmed down.

Chewing a sushi, Yao spoke up, with a smile, "So, Kiku-di, aru…"

"… not your brother…"

"Anyway, why have you invited us here, aru? You don't usually-"

Taiwan swiftly elbowed the Chinese nation. "Don't make Kiku-ge uncomfortable, Dage!" She glared.

"Ow!"

"Aniki, tell us about Eyebrows," Yong Soo asked. Hong nodded as well.

"… Taiwan, aru, help-"

"No, gege." Taiwan offered no support, and even took out a notebook. "I need this for next week's Yaoi magazine. I own Hungary an interview."

"…aru…"

(-)

"Yosshhhhi[1]! Alright, people! Listen up!" America grinned, tiny crumbles of the hamburger he was eating falling dramatically out of the mouth, causing a few fellow nations to groan in disgust.

Germany frowned. "Ja, America. Do tell us why we are here?" He said, annoyed. "Feliciano still needs half of his daily amount of-"

"PASTA~ VE~"

"Okay, okay," Alfred simply laughed it off. "Well, we all know what happened yesterday, right?..."

There was a pause in the meeting room.

Seychelles raised her hand. "…What happened yesterday?"

"Dudette, y-you don't know!"

Seychelles mumbled something, and then looked away.

Spain piped up. "Mi amiga, yesterday, Russia -how to put this?- beat the crap out of the Baltic's," he explained, hands fumbling with his tomatoes.

"Yeah," Alfred stood up from his seat, hands flat on the glass panel of the table. "And, the aim of today's emergency meeting is ta come up with a way to deal of that commie bastard!"

"And, what do you suggest? La Russie is hard to deal with, non?" France shrugged, an invisible Canada on his lap.

"HAHAHA. I have no ideas so far, buuut, first of all," Alfred laughed awkwardly. "Anyone has ideas of where Russia might be? The FBI's lost track of him."

There was a second silence.

"Let's wait until Chirstmas…"

"I agree."

"Me too."

"The awesome I agree with the un-awesome people in this room!"

(-)

"Wow."

Arthur's clear green eyes widened to the size of Alfred's hamburgers, his expression one of startled awe. "Yao… you look… great!"

Leaning against the doorframe and obsessively smoothing and tugging at the newly brought designer shirt, Yao gave a small smile. "Thanks, ahen. I honestly don't know what Mei did but it's okay, right?"

"Definitely, Yao! You look gorgeous! " Arthur replied, ears growing red.

The English man didn't look too bad himself, Yao thought to himself. The suit perfectly fitted to his lithe body aah~. No, Yao! Stop picturing indecent stuff!

Again, Yao fidgeted. His own shirt was too expensive for Yao to wear it comfortably, even if it is silk. What was Mei thinking, a shirt that cost more than a mega-sized Shinatty-chan?

Then, Arthur grabbed the petit man's hand and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Come on, Yao, time to go~"

And, off they went to the hall.

"It's the best around here! The queen visited it before, you know."

"Uh-huh. Right, aru."

Unimpressed, Yao was dragged into a box on the first tier, right at front and overlooking the stage directly.

It was strange when the music first started. It was vastly different from his country's music, which includes either the calming sound of old instruments or the energetic crashes of drums and gongs.

Still, when the curtain rose, Yao was instantly swept away by the music. Mesmerized, ever single instrumental part sounded distant in his head but every one harmonious with the next. He could hear the people as well as he could hear the music: the scrape of a bow across strings, the feathery whisper as a page of music was turned.

Hands behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles, Arthur closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he was last able to enjoy spending his free time with someone he liked, and doing something he liked. Arthur glanced over at his partner, who watched with child-like wonder. He unwillingly smiled. If this impressed Yao so easily, well, Valentines will be easy-peasy~

Then, he felt hair rise on the back of his neck.

They were being watched. He knew it quite suddenly. His forehead prickled with the stare, and for the first time since the vampire transformation, Arthur's eyes lit with the familiar fire, the swirling dark glow, like molten lava, yet his eyes remained green.

He stood up.

Yao torn his eyes away from the orchestra, "Opium, where are-"

Arthur bent down to place a slender finger on Yao's lips and kissed his cheek gently. "Shh… I'm just going to the bathroom…"

"Alright, ahen." Yao nodded.

And, without looking back, Arthur left.


Thanks to Citrine Sunflower and PandaTeaLover, lah!

Just in case you guys complain about America saying 'Yoshi', I know it's Japanese of 'alright'(pronounced with the "i" silent), but I just feel it's more natural for him to start his speech like that. He does that a lot in the anime so I got used to it~ Sometimes, I resist the urge to say that too even though I am not a person who randomly says Japanese stuff.

And, about the Asian siblings' argument, they are like that a lot in my head canon. Which one is right? You decide~

Review! Reviews makes me happy!