Chapter 8

I walked towards the baggage claim. There weren't many bags. Or people. I found my bags in a matter of seconds since they were really the only ones still on the carousel. The only other people there were Italy and some other guy that looked almost exactly like him. He had darker hair than Italy and an extremely pissed-off look plastered to his face. Italy caught me staring at them.

"Ve~! Violet! Come meet my big brother, Romano!" He seemed very excited. I strolled over, suitcase rolling behind me.

"Hey, my name's Violet. So you're Italy's brother?" I said casually.

"What's it to you? From the stories I've heard, you're pretty much a lying, cheating bitch. But, yeah. I'm Romano." Well. That was quite abrupt.

"…um…" was all I could say back.

"Brother! That's not a nice thing to say to a lady! I'm sorry Violet, he's like that sometimes. Well, all the time." Italy said. I shrugged. It wasn't like I was trying to hide from that fact. "Come on, Romano. Say hello in a nice normal way." Italy pleaded.

"Eh. Only because you asked me to. Hello Violet, my name is Romano. It's very n-nice to meet you." He barely choked it out. Being the rude pessimist he was, Romano walked away.

"Ve~ I'm sorry about him. When you get to know him he can be kind of nice sometimes." Italy said, "If you ever want to punish him for saying something rude, either talk about how tacky mustaches are or pull on his curl. You should save pulling on his curl for extreme cases though." I looked at him, confused.

"So, then what happens when I pull on it?"

"You'll see." He said. I thought to myself, 'since they're brothers and they both have curls, won't it do the same thing? Let's test it out.'

"Italy, before you go, come here."

"Ve~ what is it? Hey, don't pull th-ah!" A blush filled his face and he seemed to be in pure ecstasy. I started to twist the small lock of hair in my fingers. Italy started to moan. The blush on his face grew and he started to shiver.

"Uh, Violet, what are you doing?" Germany had approached me from behind.

"Oh, I was seeing what happens when you pull on his curl." I replied. "He seems to enjoy it."

"But, see, with the Italies, this can be considered rape." He whispered into my ear. I stopped pulling on his curl, but it was too late. Italy was already running off in the direction of the bathroom I had previously walked out of.

"I-I see. I'll keep that in mind next time. Thanks Germany." I said, a slight blush gracing my cheeks. Germany walked off to help Italy. I rolled my luggage outside to see a taxi waiting for me. Japan opened the door and poked his head out.

"We'll get a ride to my house, ok?" he said.

"Yeah, just a sec. I think I left my purse in the airport." I had just realized that my oh-so-precious handbag was missing from its normal post in the crook of my right arm. I dashed off into the build to begin the frantic search for my purse. As I ran in, I passed both Italy and Germany walking out. Italy seemed to have returned to his normal self. I ran into the terminal where I got off the plane, then to the corner where Kiku and I had our little *cough* moment. My purse was sitting there, innocently awaiting my return. I quickly swiped it up and ran back out to the taxi. Unfortunately, Germany and Italy had taken the last two seats in the taxi with Kiku. He poked his head out once again and said, "Sorry, Italy really wanted to ride with me this time. There should be another taxi coming in a few minutes." I nodded and waved as the taxi left the airport. It was then that I realized I was not the only one waiting for this taxi. I slowly turned my head to see the scowling face that could only belong to Romano staring right back at me.

"What are you looking at!" He snapped at me.

"Nothing!" I said, turning my head back forward quickly. Luckily, the taxi showed up soon after that. Romano, being the non-gentleman he was, slid in the back seat first. I slid in after him and I swear I heard him groan a little in distaste. Looking at him was out of the question, so all I could do was stare at my lap. That didn't stop Romano. Oh no. The onslaught of insults began almost immediately.

"So, what? You think a few heartfelt moments with your 'honey bunny' is gonna change everyone's mind about what you really are? Man, what a bitch…any girl who would do something like that to a guy doesn't deserve all this. You should just go back home. No one wants you here anyway." I looked up at him, with a hurt expression.

"Do you even know why I'm here?" I asked.

"So you can mooch off of us countries? Like the little bitch you are." He said defiantly.

"That's not it at all!" I yelled, "I'm here because Prussia has repeatedly tried to rape and kill me and because Kiku doesn't want me to try and KILL myself again!" By the time I finished my speech, tears were streaming down my face from pure anger. Romano, on the other hand, was caught completely off guard. I pulled my legs up on the seat and curled in a ball, hiding my face. It was my turn to be caught off guard. I felt a hand gently rest on my back.

"S-sorry…" Romano mumbled, "I-I didn't know…" I looked up at him and placed my hand on top of his.

"It's ok. I didn't expect everyone to understand right away." I smiled. A small but warm smile graced his face too and then quickly disappeared, along with his hand. He grunted and stared out the window for the rest of the ride to Kiku's house. I stared at him from the corner of my eye the entire time, watching and hoping for that smile to appear again. It never did, but the far off look in his eyes as he though deeply was enough for me. Wait what? Aren't I supposed to be thinking that about Kiku? I dismissed the thought and went back to watching for that smile.