Note: For the sake of this chapter (and perhaps future one's as well), I'll be referring to Rome (Roman Empire) as Julius.
I wanted to learn what love was –everyone kept talking about how great it was. I've seen people hold hands, and gaze into each other's eyes as if they were the only other person in the world. I've read about it in books; seen it in the movies. Only, watching it from the sidelines wasn't enough for me. I needed answers, so I decided to ask questions. I've never experienced love, so I wondered how I could experience it.
"An article on love? Isn't that kind of sudden? I mean, Valentine's Day was over three months ago," Ludwig let out an exasperated sigh upon hearing my request. It was quite difficult to suppress the frown that was tugging at my lips. It's true that this request sounded odd, but I'm not going to take any chances at explaining what I wished behind this.
"Come on, Doitsu, this will be fun! Way better than the other one that you wanted to do!" It was difficult to restrain my thanks to the Northern brethren of Lovino as the German stiffly nodded his head, not being one to disagree with the Italian. Feliciano seemed well educated in this subject, and I must admit that I was looking forward to his culture's view on this subject. "So how do Germans show love, Doitsu?" the ginger's expression softened, interest glinting from behind closed eyes. The questioning began.
"Well, I…" the German quickly grew flustered upon being asked, his gaze dropped to the floor. "I guess you could call it a weird tradition, but, once a year, the men place and plant a May Tree on the lawn of the lady he fancies," Ludwig gently stated, sharing his cultural. I attempted to picture this in my mind, and it really did amaze me. It appeared to amaze Feliciano as well.
"That's incredible, Doitsu! All of you Germans must be really strong!" Ludwig appeared surprised by the unexpected compliment, and he didn't make any attempt at hiding his satisfaction. "In Italy, we express our feelings through art and music!" with that said, the Italian broke out into song, a gentle serenade by the sounds of it. A coy smile soon formed on my lips. The song quickly came to an end, and that's when Feliciano decided to pose a question, that I was meant to answer. "What about you, Kiku?"
That's when thoughts of my own culture's confession played through my mind: couples hold hands, sweet nothings whispered into the female's ear. I had witnessed these things so often, and it seemed like nothing special in comparison with what my two companions had shared. Switzerland instantly appeared and glowered at me with darkened eyes, and I instantly realized what he was thinking.
"Speak up, Kiku! Tell us your own opinions!" I could only muster a few agreements out of my lips to reply to the intruder. How was it that he always appeared at these moments? His icy glare quickly swept around the room before resting them on me once again, locking my gaze within his. "In my country we give chocolate to those that we like." The door slammed shut behind him, and Vash was gone without a second's notice. How did he even know what we were discussing? None the less, the three of us were soon departing from the room, searching for others to question on this topic.
The first person we crossed paths with was Julius, which I couldn't say was exactly lucky for us. I attempted to convince the others that we should not ask one such as him, but Italy pressed on. That's the reason for us being here right now, and asking that very question that I wish to learn more of. I hope that one as important as The Roman Empire has useful advice.
"Ojii-sama, Ojii-sama!" Feliciano sprinted towards his grandfather, enveloping the man in his embrace. Julius himself appeared unfazed, a smile resting on his lips. Ludwig on the other hand was tensed, probably unprepared to meet one that he so often refers to as "his idol".
"Ex-excuse me, sir," I was unprepared to hear those words part from my lips, and the brunette turned to me, surprise clear in his eyes. I quickly swallowed up whatever fear that I was presently feeling, and continued to ask my question –the reason we were even wandering about in the first place. "What is your view on love? I-it's for the newspaper article that we're writing." The surprise returned to him in full, but this time it was accompanied with a grand smile. This topic seemed to have struck a chord with him.
"Now, let your elder teach you three something –don't think about love itself, but what you gain from it! Love's not about the lovey-dovey gazing into each other's eyes, but about giving each other pleasure! It's about the XXX and the OOO!" A shiver raced down my spine as the man confidently answered. Italy seemed to be hanging onto his grandfather's every word, unlike me and Germany, who were obviously fazed by the response. We bid the man farewell, wishing to get out of there all too quickly.
Upon walking, I heard a small rustle from behind me. I turned around, expecting to see someone there. All I saw was a gleam of honeyed hair, but other than that, nothing: I simple labeled my suspicions as paranoia. We quickly continued on our way, not wanting to waste even a moment of daylight.
`"Y-you three really want to know how we express our feelings in England?" the man gawked at us as we encountered our second subject. The chance that he was amazed was easily because we asked him this time, for we were unable to find the country for our last edition (Christmas). Taking note that neither of my comrades were responding, I curtly nodded my head, patiently waiting for the blond's response.
"Well," the blond bashfully rubbed the back of his head, obviously stalling for time, "it's not special or anything, but back home, we write letters of love to that certain someone." I in turn gawked at the man, not being able to believe that one could write down all there feelings on a slip of paper, let alone send it! Italy quickly jotted it down and the two quickly hauled me off, muttering both apologies and thanks to the elder country.
Next we bumped into America –literally.
"Hey, why the hurry?!" the blond didn't seemed fazed in the least, even though he just split a substance (that appeared to be coke) all over his uniform, causing multiple flies to gather. As confusion filled my thoughts, Ludwig quickly filled him in on the situation. That sent Alfred beaming. "Well of coarse you wish to interview the hero!" he happily replied, receiving a heavy set of sighs in response. "In America, we bake treats! The more colored they are, the better!" voice filled with what I would call an overdose of joy, the blond held up and ornately decorated cake that is a mix of sickly greens, blues, and reds. In turn, he offered some to us, and we bee-lined it out of there before he had a chance to press on.
A flash on blond hair I soon saw once more, this time accompanied with a tiny whisper. "Handmade cards are always nice, you know," the voice trailed off, causing a chill to race down my spine. That was simply unheard of. My wandering thoughts were soon cut off by the cry of Feliciano.
"Nii-san!" the ginger bolted up to his brother, enveloping the boy in a hug. Lovino appeared surprised, yet content. A taller mad stood beside him, chestnut brown hair falling in his face as he gaze down at the two Italians, a smile kissing his pale lips.
"Love is so kawaii~!" that was Antonio's response upon first being confronted with this question. Ludwig and I were solo on this one, for Feliciano took this time to have a heart-filled conversation with his usually ignored older brother. "There are new-born babes that are absolutely adorable~ And pups! And-!!" his rant was cut short with exclamations as his eyes widened in the direction in which the Italians were conversing. I quickly turned my gaze, wondering what this could be about.
The two were standing side by side so that the pieces of their hair that abnormal stood out appeared to be an intertwining heart. This obviously caught Spain's attention as he began to swoon over it for the next five minutes. Phrases such as isn't that so cute?! and do you see that?! were commonly heard for the passing time. Seeing that this had no end nearing, we quickly excused ourselves and dragged Feliciano along with us, leaving behind a confused Lovino and disappointed Antonio.
Upon our exit, we spotted Yao and quickly waved him over. We hoped that this interview would be a short one, for all of us were reaching our limits. We weren't disappointed.
"That's a simple question, aru!" A smile flashed on his lips as he curtly continued on. "We just shower them with presents! Flowers, chocolates, cards, electronics, cars…-you name it, aru!" Without a second word, China quickly raced out, appearing as if there was somewhere he must be.
"Well, we're almost done!" joy was evident with the Italians words as he scanned the list that we had made together. Even so, I couldn't say that I was exactly ecstatic for the one whom we saved for last. In truth, his response had the possibility of scaring me more than Julius'.
"You saved me for last?! Well, of coarse that makes sense!" Francis smiled, obviously loving his moment as the most important one of the article. Seeing as no one else was, I quickly whipped out a small notebook, and attempted to stop my hand from quivering as I prepared myself to write. The words came out quickly, and I had to scurry to catch it all.
"Love is all about the relation between two beings, most often male and female, and it deserves to be intimate! No reason to be shy!" the man's lips were kissed by a brilliant smile, and his words were already scarring me. France continued to speak as though the words were tumbling from his mouth. "Gently kiss on the lips to the passionate "French-kiss"~ Who else do you think would invent that! A gentle embrace to a soft caress to ones' cheek! Why stop there? There's also their hand, back, shoulder, b-" with that, I was thankful that the blond was immediately cut off by a rather infuriated Ludwig. Was it just me or was his cheeks tinted a soft pink?
"That's enough, Francis," his words appeared emotionless. With that, he took hold of the Italian and started to drag him off.
"Bye, France nii-chan!" the Italian waved, oblivious as per usual. All that France could do in reply was hesitantly nod, cupping his reddened cheek. I could easily tell that he was waiting for a chance to vent his anger to someone, not in a calm way might I add. I took that as my leave.
"Finally, it's done!" Ludwig collapsed in a chair, slapping all of our paper work onto the oak table. We had returned to the room in which we work on the paper work, but I knew right away that no actual work would be completed –we were all too exhausted. Even Italy, though it was difficult to tell.
We quickly parted ways as the room echoed an eerie silence, but not before Feliciano had given me what he calls "a hug." It was quite awkward in my opinion, and my first one, might I add. In return, I did the only thing that I could do –I declared that he had to take responsibility of it. After that, I raced away, but not before I could receive my assignment.
I was left in charge of coming up with an opening for out article. Surprisingly, it came naturally to me, "Love takes on many forms within our daily lives, weither that be the flutter of a heart as your crush passes you by; the sensual touch as your fingers intertwine, wishing for more; the adoration from afar; the over protection that you give to another out of worry; squealing over trivial things, such as the beauty of nature, or the first stage of life; or receiving presents from a loved one, such as a note in your locker or a flower on your door step."
Cuba: A second theme done, huzzah!
Ludwig: And a mighty long one, might I add…
Alfred: Couldn't it have been about me?!
Cuba: Come on, you know that Kiku-sama is so cute when it comes the this stuff~
Kiku: *remains silent*
Cuba: Well, I know it's true!