A/N: Hello everyone~! sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter. It was really hard to write not much going on so far :/ anyway enjoy~!
Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Hetalia -le sigh-
Chapter 3- Summer Friends
Kiku Honda was growing up well and making new friends. He was about half of Wang Yao's height by now and had a very close friend in particular named Alfred Jones. He was the same age as Kiku but a little taller. Every now and then, Aruthur Kirkland and Wang Yao would have things to discuss with each other and every time Arthur came over he would bring Alfred over, seeing as to how the two small kids really enjoyed each other's company.
Today, Kiku was introducing Alfred to onigiri.
"It's good!" Alfred said while staring at the small white triangle. Kiku has started to notice that Alfred has said all his dishes were delicious, even raw pickles.(Kiku had tricked Alfred into thinking they were a delicacy once. Now, pickles are one of Alfred's favourite foods.). Alfred says its because Arthur can't cook to save his life so he likes a lot of food from anywhere.
"Thank you Alfred-kun. It is just rice with a little salmon and pickle inside, and nori on the outside." Kiku had said, explaining the simplicity of the dish. Alfred was munching away and not really paying attention to Kiku.
Kiku usually pitied Alfred and his predicament, considering how Kiku has his Onii-san to cook delicious food for him all the time. So whenever Alfred came to visit, Kiku would make some food and let Alfred bring it home so that he and his brother would not starve.
Right now, Alfred was Kiku's only friend who could come by and visit, provided Arthur came along. Heracles came by once in a while, bringing up to four cats everytime he came, which greatly brightened Kiku's mood ever since he got that visit from one of his cats when he was younger. But Heracles had countless amounts of cats and kittens at home, so he could not come by often. When Heracles did come by, Yao's supply of fish would drop dramatically.
Alfred had introduced Kiku to western style traditions, sports and a whole bunch of other things that not even Yao had heard of before. Kiku really enjoyed listening to Alfred's stories and wanted to show just how much he liked the westerners, so he created a special type of sushi called "the california roll". It contained rice and nori and roe just like what Kiku liked. It had also contained ingredients like avacado and mayonnaise, like what Alfred liked. At first, the strange concoction looked like something Arthur might cook up, but trusting Kiku to know what he was doing in the kitchen, Alfred took a bite.
"This is the best thing I've ever eaten in a long while!" Alfred exclaimmed. Kiku just thanked him. Ever since that day, Alfred would bring back some of these rolls and introduce it to his country, even though he was only so young. Kiku didn't mind this at all.
On another occasion, Alfred introduced football to Kiku, who referred to this game as kickball instead. They played it during summer in Yao's backyard while the sun was shinning relentlessly on the two of them. It was a little odd to be playing kickball in a yukata, so the two of them ended up playing a very miniature version of kickball, where they would just kick the ball over short distances.
The game was inconsistent everytime they played it, with the rules changing everytime and all. But the basic rule stayed the same. Just kick the ball into the chalk circle belonging to the other player and you win. Once, when they were playing kickball, Kiku kicked the ball so hard that it shot right through the shoji screen that lead to the backyard. It left a hole in the door and scraps of paper littered the floor.
At first, they were both shocked and had absolutely no idea what to do, but then Alfred devised a plan.
Yao was in his study with Arthur, sipping wu long tea from porcelain cups.
"Why do you always come here aru? don't you trust Alfred to take care of himself aru?"
"No, I absolutely do not. I have almost no faith in that boy. What if something untoward were to happen?"
"But if anything were to go wrong, Kiku would tell me aru. You should trust him more aru"
"Well I do not trust that boy one bit. He may be strong, but he is still my little brother and I have full responsibility over him. If anything were to happen to him, I may not ever forgive myself" Arthur took another sip from his cup.
"By the way, this tea is a little too dull for me. Do you happen to have any cream or sugar?"
"What and what aru?"
"...Forget it"
Kiku entered Yao's study with soundless steps.
"What are you doing here aru?" Yao said, turning his head.
"Eto...nothing Onii-san, just picking up a book" Kiku said, trying to hide his guilt.
"Oh go ahead aru" Yao said, walking to Kiku.
"We'll talk about this later" Yao whispered into Kiku's ear so that Arthur could not hear. Kiku's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink before he disappeared out the door.
"That little rascal did something wrong again didn't he?" Arthur reprimanded.
"He is rarely this secretive aru. Doesn't Alfred do this kind of thing too aru?"
"More than I can count. Kids these days need to be taught obedience"
"I agree aru"
"Sigh, boys will be boys" Arthur said while examining the delicate porcelain cup. It was small and held only a mouthful of tea. Why Yao had these kinds of unexplainable cups was something he would never ask. If you didn't know something, you don't ask. Just be quiet and make your own theories.
"Oh I almost forgot aru. I have some congee from yesterday. Would you like some aru? It's one of your favourites aru!"
"I would be delighted" Arthur said standing up, knowing exactly where to get it. Yao sighed with relief. Alfred would not have to starve for a few nights, or get food from that pervert of an uncle.
"The book says to apply rice paste and then put up the rice paper" Kiku says, reading intently.
"Then that's exactly what we'll do! I'll start first" Alfred says, getting a piece of paper. Yao had already prepared some rice paste and paper in case someone were to break the shoji screen.
"So why does Arthur-san always come around when you do?" Kiku asked as he applied the rice paste.
"Because he thinks I'll get into trouble or something if he's not around" Alfred replies while putting up the paper.
"He does not trust you?"
"I'm not sure. Uncle Francis says he's protecting me from harm because he loves me or something"
"Love?"
"Yeah. Doesn't Wang Yao love you?"
"I do not know"
"Aw well I'm sure he does! All big brothers love their little ones" Alfred says, giving Kiku a big smile.
Once they were done, they sat on the porch sipping iced tea (a special brew of tea made by both Alfred and Kiku) and admired their work.
"One day, I'm gonna leave my big brother and live on my own" Alfred says, confidence gleaming in his eyes.
"But won't you be sad?" asks Kiku, a little concerned by these sudden words.
"I'll visit often"
"But I thought you said that you love him?"
"I do, but I just wanna be my own nation one day, when I'm older and stronger, you know?"
Although Kiku can only guess Alfred's future intentions, he shrugs Alfred's words off as if he had said nothing. Although in his mind, a million ideas are forming.
"Will you ever let your brother go aru?" Wang Yao asks, trying to talk to Arthur. They were walking down the hallway as Yao was going to send Arthur and Alfred off soon, and it had become awkwardly quiet between the two of them. One could even hear shoes making contact with wooden floor boards.
"Why would you ask such an odd question?" Arthur furrowed his catapillar brows.
"Well kids need to be free one day, right aru?"
"No they do not. As long as I am here to protect Alfred, I will never let him go"
Yao takes the english man's words into consideration before simply nodding his head.
The asian pair watched and waved goodbye to the western pair as they went off toward the sunset. Moments later, it was night. Yao and Kiku were sitting on the porch once again. Yao had made fresh tea just the way Kiku liked it, while Kiku had made tuna onigiri, like how Yao liked it. They sat together to finish their supper, tired from entertaining their special guests for the whole day.
"So, what did you need the book for aru?" Yao said, biting into the onigiri.
Japan looked away sheepishly, not wanting to look at Yao. Yao on the other hand, turned his eyes toward the door and spotted a slightly odd piece of paper. So that's what happened aru.
The night sky was filled with a million or so diamonds tonight. There were so many stars that it was hard to find a spot not covered by stars. Yao had not seen a sky this beautifully lit up for as long as he can remember. Tonight was a moonless night and it has been a while since Kiku had seen this type of sky. The two brothers stared up into the sky in amazement, enjoying each other's company until the twinkling diamonds faded, and the golden sun reappeared.
"I love you" both of them whispered as the sun rised. Little did they both know that the seed of trouble had already been implanted in both their heads by the westerners...
A/N: I'm sorry its still below 2000 words OTL on the other hand, I am making my stories longer 8D
Let's see...definitions
Onigiri-rice ball
Shoji/shoji screen-Paper door
Congee-porridge
Typing Arthur's lines was absolutely horrendous cause I needed perfect English. I'm also starting to get really annoyed by Yao's 'aru's so I took some of them out.
Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes whatsoever -bows-
Reviews are greatly appreciated~