Hello again! I A few days ago me and a friend started playing HetaOni, it's really good try it sometime. It's a really good and only a wee bit confusing. But holy shit it's already chapter 4? Well don't worry, Leon and Emil will confess their love in like 5 chapters. This chapter is more along the lines of a filler-ish chapter to learn more about our darling Leon.

Im Yong Soo - 22

Mei Lin - 23

Kiku - 24

Heracles - 25

"Leon, how was work today, aru?" China flipped the contents in his wok around, sliding in a pile of cut vegetables in with the gourmet dish he was making.

"It was fine, I guess. We were ambushed by these guys in masks, and I got another job today." Leon shrugged off his jacket lazily and took a seat on a leather couch.

"That's nice, aru. Glad you got some exercise done."

3...

...2...

...1...

China switched off the flame. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE AMBUSHED, ARU?! YOU ARE GOING TO TELL ME EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TODAY. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING ANOTHER JOB, BUT STILL; TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"

Leon rolled his eyes. "Geez, teacher, you don't have to be so loud. And I already told you what happened.

"Stop calling me by that nickname!"

Yao worked as an elementary school teacher, a loud and very uptight teacher at that.

"There's nothing to worry about. There were these three guys, and they started shooting up the place. We took them easily, and I didn't even use a weapon."

"Did you use the self defense I taught you, aru?"

"No; I used Jackie Chan's awesome kung fu!"

"LI XIAO!" Yao yelled out in a warning tone.

"Yes, I did! Geez, Yao!"

"Aiyah, handling Kiku wasn't this difficult, aru. You're a grown man now, Li Xiao."

Leon rolled his eyes. "You and Kiku were closer in age. You guys always spent time with each other, so that's why you guys got along."

Yao fixed his ponytail. "You still have to act older, Li Xiao. There will come a time when your childish antics will not be tolerated, and then something terrible will happen to you because of it."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Ooh, scary, Yao. I'm like, trembling out of my pants right now." He smirked. "In fact, dear gēgē (older brother), I'll show you how much I care about what you just said." His sneer grew. "In three...two...one..."

CCCCCRRRAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHH!

An explosion sounded from the fridge, and the door hung open, smoke trailing from the inside. Leftover food and vegetable innards formed a messy puddle on the floor, a shower of egg splatter embellishing every shelf on the fridge door.

"Wait for it..." Leon laughed at Yao's horrified expression.

A storm of rainbow confetti spewed out from the mess, covering the floor in rainbow glitter and leftover Chinese food. How Leon managed to work this prank out must've been by some kind of magic.

"...L-Li...Xi-Xi-Xiao...I'm going to give you two seconds to run or apologize or do something to clean that all up..."

Leon pulled his legs over the leather couch, and pulled out his phone. "Hm, no thanks, teacher. I think I'm, like, going to stick around and watch the madness unfold. So instead, I'll give YOU two seconds to run, and, like, do whatever you just said."

Yao yelled nasty insults in Mandarin, cursing the day Leon was born, promising to give him hell, and all sorts of hilariously weak insults.

Ha, some adult I am. I'm never going to grow up. Never.

"Ahhhhh! I smell Aniki's cooking~!"

Leon switched off his cellphone. "Speaking of never growing up..."

Im Yong Soo, Leon's Korean cousin, worked in a nightclub part time, the other half of the time he worked as a Tae Kwon Do master. All in all, he was a perverted, loud, and hyper man that was a force to be reckoned with, and he was at least a year younger than Leon.

Oh, and he was head-over-heels in love with Yao. He even claimed Yao's chest.

Claimed it.

"Aniki's also cleaning? Yao-Yao just needs a maid's outfit on and my dreams will come true!"

Leon smirked. "I wear a maid's dress at the cafe I work at, Yong Soo. I can get it from work tomorrow so you can force it on teacher."

Im Yong Soo smiled brightly. "Really? Thanks, Xiao-Xiao, da-ze!" He glomped Leon happily.

Leon growled and barely managed to push the Korean off of him, running upstairs to avoid any glomping or Yao's yelling. "This family is too loud. Why don't I just move out already?"

A feminine voice piped up. "That's because you're too poor, dìdì (little brother)! And even if you did have all the money in the world," Leon's eyes lit up at the word "money," "You would be too chicken to move out all on your own. You'd probably need someone like Im Yong Soo to live with you or something."

Leon's lips formed a half pout, one that only his cousin (who seemed more like a sister than anything), Mei Lin, was able to see. "That's not funny, Mei. I would never move in with Yong Soo. He's too horny."

Mei Lin smiled. "Then you'd better make sure that you find your true love as fast as you can, and hope that he or she has a house to move into."

The sudden thought of Emil and him living in one house together sent warm shivers all over. "I hope Yong Soo doesn't harass him before I do, then."

Mei Lin suddenly squealed. "You mean you've already found someone, Xiao-Xiao? Is he cute?! Do I need to tell Kiku about this? What about Elizabeta? She's into this stuff too!"

Leon groaned. "No, no, no! It's none of Kiku's, Captain Hédevéry's, or your business! Stay out of my personal life, Mei! I don't want my whole life being inspiration for one of Kiku's creepy closet pervert games!"

"Oh come on! We all know that Kiku is probably not going to make one of those silly games since he's already pretty involved with that Greek boyfriend of his. Come on, dìdì! Tell me a little bit about this cutie of yours?"

Leon opened the door to his room and slammed it shut behind him, yelling a resounding "NO!" He fell atop his bed face first, smashing his face into the pillow repeatedly. My family always wants to get involved. Stupid brothers, stupid sister-cousin, stupid horny cousin...

That night, Kiku and his boyfriend came over to eat dinner with the family. Kiku was Yao and Leon's Japanese half brother, coming from Yao and Leon's mother's side. He was a stoic and composed young man, but he always complained about his joints stiffening and back hurting. His ebony hair was cut short, and he was always seen wearing some form of Japanese yukata everywhere he went, with the exception of business meetings. Kiku was a well known photographer in the Hetalia Ville area, and he mainly immersed himself in helping out photo shoots for the fashion agency.

Kiku's boyfriend, Heracles Karpusi, was a Greek man ranging around the same age as his significant other. He was always clad in brown and white clothing, even his shoulder-length hair was brown. He was the president of Hetalia Ville's most famous fashion agency, which basically made Kiku and Heracles perfect for each other.

"Kiku, how is your work doing? Are you still earning lots of money, aru?"

Kiku cleared his throat politely. "Well, my work is doing fine, thank you. I still get the same amount of money, so nothing has changed."

Im Yong Soo stopped shoveling food into his mouth for a moment. "What about you and Hercules? Are you guys getting it down yet, da-ze?"

At this, Kiku nearly spit out all of his tea. "I-It's Heracles, not Hercules, Yong Soo. And as for what you asked, I do not entirely think that it is appropriate to discuss-"

"Yes, yes we are." Heracle's quiet voice silenced the room.

Leon tried not to chuckle at this. He stopped recording from his cellphone. I can definitely use this to my advantage later on.

"Heracles!" Kiku covered his blush with his hands, utterly horrified at what his boyfriend just said.

"In fact," Heracles continued, "Kiku sports the fruit of our passionate love on his finger."

Yao choked on his tea. "WHAT, ARU?!"

"Show them, Kiku." Heracles smiled warmly.

Embarrassed, Kiku held out his left hand. A sparkling sterling silver band wrapped around his ring finger, pink teardrop sapphires arranged like the petals of a sakura blossom.

"He asked me a couple days ago..."

Yong Soo cocked his head to the side. "Looks a little girly, don't you think?" He received a slap from Mei Lin.

"Congratulations, Kiku! I always knew that you and Heracles would be the perfect pair! Always..." Mei Lin kept digging her fist deeper into Yong Soo's face.

"Th-thank you..."

Leon had said nothing through this whole ordeal, but no one seemed to notice that.

No one, well maybe except for Kiku.

"Li Xiao, are you feeling well? You haven't been speaking much at all." Kiku gave him a faint smile, and Leon shrugged.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm doing just fine." He silently scraped at his empty plate with a fork, then excused himself from the table.

Whenever Kiku is here, I feel so uncomfortable, like a burning sensation is trying to claw its way out of my chest. It feels angry and cold-hearted. What is this feeling?

Leon locked himself in his room, flipping on his cellphone. Guess I should just bury myself in work.

When Leon and Mathias explained the situation in the cafe to Emil, the police station immediately started to investigate the case. The ex-police officer started researching information, clearly disturbed that Sadik Adnan was one of the suspects in the case.

"He's an old friend," Emil answered when Leon asked about his relationship with the man.

Emil had already planned an appointment with Sadik, so Leon and Emil could interrogate the next morning.

Loud knocking at his door interrupted Leon's thoughts. "Leon, may I speak with you?"

Kiku.

Leon pocketed his phone and frowned. "I was sleeping," he lied.

"Oh, gomen, I didn't know. I can let you sleep if-"

Leon sighed. "No, it's fine. Come on in." He unlocked the door and watched as Kiku made himself comfortable on the (Hong Kong) Chinese's bed.

"So, what do you need?" Leon leaned against the wall.

"Well, I know that it's rude of me to say this, but...Every time I'm over, it seems like you're very distant. I know it is probably in my mind, but I can't help but feel like you're acting this way because of me. I remember when we were younger, Yao, you, and I were very close. If it is something I am doing now, please tell me." Kiku pulled on the edges of his yukata timidly. "So, did I do something wrong, Li-kun?"

Leon looked away. "It's nothing, Kiku. You didn't do anything, I just..."

I need to get myself out of this situation.

"...I just...need a little space, that's all. I'm still getting used to being an adult, so...yeah."

Kiku's eyes seemed to brighten a little, despite their dull dark brown state. "I see. Well, I'll let you sleep now. Goodnight, Li-kun."

As soon as the door closed behind Kiku, Leon released the sigh he had been holding in. "Why is it that I can't say what I am thinking or what I'm feeling? It's not that important, is it?" He switched his lamplight off, staring up at the ceiling. Being together with the family is so strange. The burning feeling in my chest every time Yao and Kiku talk with each other grows by the year. I wonder why I feel this way...

As long as Leon buried himself in work, the burning sensation will fade for sure, right?

Please review! It gives us happiness and smiles! ~ KiPanda Cutie + kawaiijilli