All right, everyone, well then. The past few days Hadoken and I have been sick. Neither of us felt much like writing, and goofed off all weekend, so we're running a bit behind schedule, but we're trying to get things back in whack. Just bear with us. She's working on chapter 4 right now, so once I finish chapter 5, we'll have that up.

Thank you for reading so far. You guys are wonderful. Hopefully this chapter will be to your liking as well. Not quite as funny as the others, but I digress. It kind of needed to be that way.

Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, Russia would have much more screen time :3 He needs more love...

"You picked a wonderful day to visit the Sakura grove, Lithuania-san," Japan complimented, sitting down among the stray petals, leaning back against a tree. He had the habit of politely addressing everyone, even the servants, no matter how hard his father encouraged him to act otherwise.

"I thought your majesty would appreciate it," the taller man smiled, kneeling beside the other. They were silent for a few moments, merely appreciating the lovely weather and beauty nature had to offer.

"Lithuania-san…I," Japan began, picking up a fallen blossom in his hands to fidget with. "Have you ever…have you ever liked someone? As more than a friend?"

The brown-haired man started slightly, blushing slightly as his mind instantly went to Belarus. "I have." As he was thinking, Poland invaded his thoughts and proceeded to attack Belarus with what appeared to be a hairdryer. After internally panicking, Lithuania shook the thought from his head, hoping Japan wouldn't notice.

"What…what is it like?" Japan questioned further, red tinting his own cheeks as he concentrated on the object in his hands.

"It's hard," Toris admitted, running a hand through his hair. "Your happiness depends on theirs, and no matter how much they push you away, you can't stop caring for them. All you want is to see them smile, and want you to spend time with them. And there isn't anything you can do about it…" he trailed off, glancing down at the lush grass growing to his left.

"Ah, I see." Japan sighed, pulling his knees to his chest, and tilting his head back to look for shapes in the clouds. It had always been a favorite pass-time of his.

Feeling the prince was sufficiently preoccupied and having succeeded in tying the Poland in his thoughts to a chair to prevent Belarus's mutilation via hair styling tool, Lithuania pulled the miniature box out of his pocket covertly, unlatching the lid.

Inside sat a folded piece of white parchment and a tiny silver dagger no bigger than the length of his middle finger, but sharp as a needle. Curious, he glanced once more at Japan, making sure he was still gazing up at the sky, before unfolding what he presumed to be his directions:

As of today, it would appear Snow White has finally reached his potential as cutest in the land. That being said, it is imperative that he be disposed of immediately. Plunge the knife deep into his chest, being careful to aim properly, and once you are sure he is dead, use that same weapon and cut out his heart, to bring back to me as proof of the deed.

~Belarus

Lithuania reread the message a second time, hoping against hoping he had somehow managed to misread it somewhere, but to no avail. He held the small knife in his hand, his fingers trembling as he looked back over at the prince.

Japan was sitting back against the tree, dark eyes drowsily watching the clouds drift by overhead, a small content smile creasing his mouth at the corners. It would be so easy, so terribly easy to attack right now, while he was off guard. The boy would expect nothing, would hardly have time to react before it would be too late. Lithuania felt sick just thinking about it.

He couldn't do this, not even for Belarus. But what would she do if he returned with Snow White still alive and well? She'd have to go with plan B. Belarus always had a plan B that was one of the things that drew Lithuania to her, she was always so prepared, but now it terrified him.

The lighter-haired man was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the prince was no longer paying attention to the sky, and was now staring in disbelief at the knife in his hand.

"Lithuania-san…why?" Japan's eyes were wide with confusion and fear, as he watched the other get to his feet, small dagger still clenched firmly in his grip. His dark eyes alighted on the paper as it fluttered to the ground, only seeing the word "dead", as the rest blurred out of focus. This couldn't be happening, Lithuania would never do this. "I…I don't understand. Why?"

And then, much to his relief, the taller man dropped the dagger. "Snow White, I…Belarus, the sister of your fiancé. She asked me to kill you, because you have become a threat to her and her wish to marry her brother. But I can't."

Japan's eyes widened further if possible.

"Y-you need to run, run far away from here. She'll…she'll kill both of us if she learns I let you escape. You need to go!"

The smaller man got to his feet, but made no move to leave. "I'm not afraid Lithuania, I will go and confront Belarus about this."

"No," the brunette replied, shaking his head. "You have to. I'm just glad she picked me as her first plan over Shinatty so I could warn…" Lithuania trailed off looking around to find no prince. "Japan? Oh, well I guess he took my advice. Feeling relieved beyond words, Lithuania made his way back to the castle thinking up a plausible excuse to give to Belarus.

Japan looked around, astounded that the woods could get so thick such a short distance into them. But he kept onward, not looking back. He didn't even want to think of facing Shinatty as a possible plan B. That man was the creepiest thing alive. Japan had been sure of that ever since he first met the magic mirror. He even used to insist on locking the door to keep the kitty-dressed-man out of his room. Now that he looked back on it, it probably just prevented Belarus from killing him in his sleep.

It seemed so much darker in here, even though he knew the Sakura grove stood behind him, only a few feet away. Or was it behind him? He wasn't sure anymore. All he knew was that he couldn't go back to the castle, lest he risk both he and Lithuania death's by Belarus' deranged hands. Or worse. Face Shinatty. Japan shuddered at the thought.

And so, he started walking, in what he presumed was the direction away from his home, where he had spent the whole 17 years of his life.

The woods quickly grew to look the same, each passing branch and fallen trunk looking as if he had seen it only moments before. Was it getting darker in here? Japan couldn't be certain, but guessed that it must be around sunset by this point. It was getting harder and harder to see the overgrown roots and bushes underfoot, causing him to stumble every several paces, and the dress certainly didn't help.

"Argh! Why didn't Poland ever give me any shorter dresses, or at least a knee length skirt!?" he grumbled to himself, thinking back on the relevant occasion:

"Like, oh my god, you look so cute in that dress!" Poland grinned, clasping his hands in front of him, ecstatic. "We should have you try on some others in that style."

"Um, Poland-san, these are really quite restricting," Japan input politely, testing out his range of mobility.

"Japan, it's not like you'll, like, have to run away from anyone through the woods or anything," Poland waved his hand dismissively, reaching for Japan's wrist to drag him back towards the walk-in closet. "Now, come on, I know just what to, like, have you try on next!"

Japan exhaled in vexation at the memory and kept on running, cursing Poland's fashion sense.

After awhile, he developed the odd sense that he was being followed, a notion he at first dismissed as paranoia, but later gave credit to when he heard a loud snap behind him. Whirling around, Japan scanned what little he could still see in the near pitch black.

Seeing nothing, he bent down to pull off the high heels that had become part of his wardrobe over time, holding one pointed shoe in his left hand, ready to lash out with, as he chucked the other into the darkness where he had swore the noise had originated from.

Nothing happened.

Content that he was not being followed, the dark-haired man continued on his way, the going decidedly easier, though slightly more painful when he stepped on the odd briar every now and again in his thinly stocking-ed feet.

It wasn't much later when Japan heard yet another snap, this one followed by a second in quick succession, and a loud rustle of leaves. Spinning around, he tried his best to develop night vision on the spot, failing miserably. Shapes seemed to be forming in the darkness, half-formed nightmares that he really did not want to dwell on.

Giving things a last once over, for all the good that would do, he went onwards, quickening his pace. It wasn't until he felt something brush against his arm, and glanced over his shoulder to see a phantom Shinatty feet behind him, did he break out into a full run, no longer caring about the prickers cutting into the soles of his feet, or much of anything for that matter, other than escaping from the creep behind him.

A branch caught on his dress, snagging deep in the silk, but to his mind it was the meaty hand of the Hello Kitty costume-obsessed man, grabbing at him to pull him into one of his entirely unwanted and terrifying hugs. Heart-racing, Japan ripped the fabric free, smashing his toes on all manner of stones and underbrush as he ran, but not having half a mind to care.

Unsurprisingly, a particularly large root decided to spite him, knocking into him near knee level and causing him to crash flat on his face. He had barely fallen before he was up again, sprinting through the woods as fast as he could in the suddenly constricting garment. All the years he had to wear the stupid thing, he had never hated it more than he did at this moment.

Eventually, he could go on no more, and fell down bodily into the hollow between some ridiculously tall roots. It was there he spent the remainder of the night, curled fearfully in on himself, trying to suppress his rapid breathing, and dreading the moment that horrid Shinatty would catch up to him, and poke his grossly disproportionate head into his hiding place.

The morning was long in coming.