Chapter 6

**Yaawwnn**

*Bloody hell, I didn't sleep at all last night, I stayed up thinking about that damn Francis again… God dammit I hate this…*

It was already 12:14 pm Tuesday and Arthur had already had quite a day. Waking up was a b*tch, he tripped over his shoes on the way to the bathroom, the cow-lick in his hair refused to go away no matter how much he brushed it, he missed the bus, was late for his 2nd class of the day, as well as forgot to do the homework last night and in his rush out of the house forgot money for lunch.

*This one's for the record books ladies and gentlemen, only the second day of school and already I want to die.*

But what worried Arthur the most was that so far no one from last night came to see him. Not that he wanted them to come over and go, "Are you ok Arthur? I'm sorry about last night. That damn Francis, he can go to hell!" More like, he wanted to know what happened after he left. Did he ruin the party, did anyone feel bad? He wanted to clear things up so that no one had any other-than-happy feelings. He felt awkward about it.

*Where the devil is that damn Alfred? Usually about now I would have received 15 calls and texts and he would have run over to my house if I didn't answer…hmmm, maybe he got sick and stayed home? Oh no! I hope not, why? Why hasn't he tried to get in touch with me? Where is he?*

*…Why the bleeding hell do I care?*

"So stupid…Gah!"

In the middle of his pacing Arthur failed to notice someone standing near the doorway to the roof where Arthur had been for the last hour.

"What the hell are you doing, aru?"

Yao had stood there watching Arthur in his deep concentration for a good 15 minutes. He had originally intended to interrupt, but when he saw the troubling faces Arthur was making, he let him have his peace in hopes that his friend would discover what he needed internally. He himself felt troubled, some of the movements and looks Arthur made were ones that a good friend would ask about. He wanted to, he wanted to help Arthur, ask him, give him advice, and even hug him if he needed it. Which he felt odd about.

But Arthur was struggling deeply. So deeply it now made constant outwardly appearances for everyone to see. It's the reason why Arthur has been hiding by himself as often as possible from everyone. Hoping no one would see his turmoil and feel pity for him.

Yao recalled that at some point during the summer, Arthur just slowly disappeared from everyone. For a month into summer vacation, and months before that, he was really happy. So happy it freaked people out. But then all of a sudden, he was gone, like he died or something. Yao recalled the time he almost heard what happened to Arthur it was a week before school started, when he went to hang out with Alfred.

It was a simple question he asked, but he realized really fast it wasn't so simple…

Flashback:

"Oi, where's Arthur. Alfred? I haven't seen him in a long time, a month isn't normal, I mean we're friends too, you know!"

"It's none of your business Yao, Arthur is just not feeling up to hanging out with a ton of people all the time! Leave him alone and stop asking questions."

"W-what? What did you just say? None of my business! I care! I care a lot, that's why I'm asking! What do you mean he doesn't feel up to it? He usually loves hanging out with everyone, what's wrong? He was so happy. Tell me Alfred, I'm worried!"

Yao truly was, his eyes said things his mouth didn't, but his mouth wasn't far behind in voicing those feelings. Alfred knew everyone was concerned, you don't go years of knowing someone and just not care when all of a sudden you don't seem them in weeks! Of course everyone was going to call, ask, go see him; get turned away, ignored and told it was no big deal! But Alfred looked as he felt and thought. It was not his place to go telling others what had happened, it wasn't his life, it was Arthur's and he was hurting. What made people think they had any right to know?

"I- It's complicated…Yao, I know you care but…well, I don't feel it's my place to go around telling everyone about his problems…you know? He's my best friend…and well, I feel like telling you might be like betraying his trust, so sorry, I won't tell you."

"Ah! W-well, such honest words, I understand but-"

"KolKolKolKol, I'll tell you what happened~"

**Th-thump**

"I mean, for a price of course."

**Th-thump**

"Yao." *Smile*

**Th-thump, Th-thump, Th-thump**

"Argh, No!"

"Kolkolkolkolkol. Yao! You're so cute, your screams, they sound like wonderful noises of love, I knew one day you would return my undying affection! Kolkolkolkol."

"Go to hell you icy cold bastard! A-and I never loved you!''

*In Ivan's head "Come to me your cuddly polar bear!"*

"E-heh, *smile* I could listen to you forever when you talk like that."

"Are you listening to me! ARU! I said G-O A-W-A-Y!''

"But I thought you wanted to know what happened to your dear friend Arthur? I'm a "good" friend of Gilbert Beilschmidt and he knows all about it, I mean, being one of Francis' best friends and all, and you know, being Arthur's-"

Ivan's sentence was cut short when all of a sudden Alfred had gotten up, ran at Ivan and punched him in the face.

"Shut the hell up! It's none of your goddamn business!"

"Alfred! Oh my gosh! What have you done?"

Yao was stunned, he had never seen anyone hit another person before, and he thought everyone was too scared to hit a gang boss, I mean, Ivan was one of the leaders of one of three infamous gangs in this town. But Alfred didn't even hesitate, flinch or question himself, he just punched him without caring or fear. Was he crazy?

No, it all flooded in in seconds, from shock, to concern for Ivan (though later he asked himself why he cared at all!)and then admiration, back to extreme worry. Shock for the punch, worry for Ivan because his nose was bleeding profusely, admiration for Alfred and his loyalty to his friend Arthur, and then intense worry for Arthur. What had happened to him that made Alfred act like this? Act so intense and rash that he would hit another person for talking about it? Was this reaction really something just a friend would do? Yao now questioned what was all this really about.

"I-Ivan, are you alright? Alfred hit you pretty hard…your nose is bleeding."

Yao moved closer in attempt to help Ivan off the ground, but when he saw Ivan's face he stopped. Terror pulsed through his entire body at the look Ivan was giving Alfred. If looks could kill, then Alfred should have dropped dead right then and there.

"Kolkolkol, you have some nerve Alfred Jones, oh yes indeed you do, e-heh, no one with a brain would dare do something like this to me…I guess what they say about you being nothing but brawn is true, you're an idiot."

"P-please Ivan, let's stop this, I don't want a bigger fight between you two, you got hit pretty hard, and Alfred won't stop next time if you keep pushing him. So leave this be for now, l-let me walk you to a hospital to get your nose checked, please Ivan…please?"

The last thing Yao wanted was a fight he couldn't stop, between Alfred and his strength and Ivan and his psychotic ways, he knew it just might end with someone in the hospital with serious damage. Yao knew the only way he was going to get Ivan to leave without trying to get his own hit into Alfred was if he begged him with his sweetest face and voice.

He had tried to deny and ignore the fact that he knew Ivan had a crush on him, but when it came down to it, in these situations he felt using it to his advantage was his best bet. As much as he didn't want to lead Ivan on, sometimes it was his cuteness that made Ivan stop, he felt bad, but at the same time he felt powerful. He was the only one who could make Ivan, the most terrifying of the gang bosses, stop, listen, and even obey him, with nothing more than a simple "please".

*Ivan, under his breath* "Tch, chert voz'mi."

Yao watched as Ivan got up, took a few steps toward him, and stopped within arm's length of where he stood, lifted his hand and gently and lovingly placed it on Yao's cheek.

"I'll let this go for now, but know this; I am only doing it because I care about you so, so much…Yao."

**Th-Thump**

"Uh…y-yeah…sure..."

**Th-Thump**

Ivan's touch left Yao frozen in place; he barely can recall what happened after that touch and when he came back to reality a few minutes later when he left with Ivan. But from what he can remember, Ivan spoke to Alfred, he told him he was going to turn his back on this incident, and that he should be grateful for having such a good friend as Yao.

He recalled that Alfred said something like "whatever" and asked Yao if he was going to be okay leaving with Ivan. Yao gave a heavy and stiff nod in assurance, and then watched as Alfred stormed off, in a direction that showed he was not going home, in fact, Yao knew where Alfred would be tonight, and home was the last place anyone would find him.

He came back to reality when Ivan said, "Are we going?"

"Ah, y-yea of course, sorry."

They had walked in silence for barely two minutes before Yao broke the silence.

"Is your nose broken?"

"No, as you can see it's not bleeding anymore, it'll be fine when I put some ice on it, and a few Tylenol should help with the pain later. Why, are you worried?"

"Of course I am! When he hit you I was so shocked, and then all the blood! What would've happened if he did break it? Then would I have been able to stop you?"

**Silence**

What happened next threw Yao for a loop

"Let's change the subject Yao; do you want to know what happened with Arthur? You seem to really care about him, and I care about you more than anyone else, and you seem to be sick with worry over him, if by telling you I might be able to help calm your worry then…I want to tell you, do you still want to hear?"

The immediate answer Yao wanted to give was "Yes! Talk!" but instead he remembered what Alfred had said earlier about rights and it being Arthur's life and problem, but Yao wasn't so heroic like Alfred was, and he knew in his case talking to Arthur was more his field of friendship. Alfred was the kind of guy to protect his friends and carry their burdens like his own, but Yao wasn't, and in this case he would be no different…

"Um…well, yes I do still want to know…uh…"

"You sound wary about it, are you sure? Or are you second guessing because of that idiot Jones? Ignore him, you be the friend you are and he can be the friend he is…which from what I've seen, Jones is doing a pretty shitty job, Arthur is still suffering after all this time, I think someone with more care and kindness needs to step in and help now…I think you are that person Yao…"

"You think so? I agree with you that Alfred and I have different ways of dealing with our friends pain but…I don't want to intrude on Arthur if what he wants is time to himself…maybe Alfred knows that better than anyone and that's why he acts like that…what if I make Arthur mad by butting my nose where it doesn't belong…maybe that's why he hasn't talked to me about it all this time…"

"You're a tad frustrating with all these excuses, either decide not to butt in and wait for him to come to you, or break into his isolation and force him to confide in your friendship, those are your only options, stay silent or act, take your pick lyubov' ."

"W-well when you say it like that then…I would rather be a friend who's understanding and can help him with advise, rather than watch him suffer all alone…so I guess I choose to know…which means I guess I'm saying, will you tell me what happened? Ivan."

"Konechno." *Smile*

Right as Ivan was about to start talking to Yao about Arthur a pipe came flying from some direction and hit Ivan right in the back; he fell to his hands and knees and appeared to be in a lot of pain, which was no surprise for obvious reasons.

"W-w-what? What's happening, aru!"

"Kesesese, take that you bastard! How dare you come walking right into my territory with your little boyfriend! Date or not I won't go easy on you! It's time I kicked your ass and took over your territory once and for all!''

*G-Gilbert Beilschmidt what's he doing here? T-territory? Oh gosh no! We walked right into Gilbert's gang territory! Why, why is this all happening when I'm around, aru! I want to go home now, why did I even walk out of my house today!''

Any other time or day Ivan would have gotten up, turned around, picked up the pipe that he had been hit with and beat the hell right out of Gil. Ivan was shaking to do it, he knew if he didn't he would never live it down; he felt it in his bones to kill Gil this time.

Not today though. Ivan took one look at Yao and saw this wasn't the kind of scene he was used to, nor would he ever be used to it, he was panicking, afraid. Ivan felt terrible mostly because this was his lifestyle, and it scared the person he cared most about. He loved Yao, but could never truly say it out loud to him in a serious manner, because he knew he would either have to introduce him to this life, or give it up. And he could not, nor wanted to do either one, and it hurt him.

"Not today Beilschmidt, I'm in no mood to deal with you Gilbert. As you can see I have company, so I'll just be going this way and you can stay right there and pick a fight with someone else…oh and come after me and I'll put a curse on you and your family~ One that will be passed down to your kids and every generation after!"

"What! How dare you! Leave, you think I'll just let you leave? Kesesese, that's hilarious! You think you can just walk into my area and not pay for it Ivan? And you think you can even threaten me with a curse and I won't do anything! HA HA HA, you're a riot! So funny! I think I might die!"

"Tch, chert voz'mi, how am I going to get out of here without a fight? What to do…"

Ivan thought, *No, I won't…can't avoid this fight…I know, that's perfect, that's all I need to do anyway.*

"Gilbert. I'll stay, and fight you on one condition…give Yao a few minutes to get out of here and then I'll give you the beating of a lifetime."

"W-what! I-Ivan, what are you saying? I thought we were going to go check on your nose! Now you're going right into a fight with Gil? I won't! I refuse to leave you! You can't make me either! Forget it, aru!"

Yao's answer annoyed Ivan, but way less than it impressed him, he loved seeing the stubborn side of Yao and how concerned he was for his injury, and it proved that Yao cared. What was annoying was that now wasn't the time for it, he was trying to give Yao a chance to get out of getting into a fight, but he was refusing it, and it was frustrating. Yao could be so damn frustrating, and it was just too damn cute!

"Please Yao…you shouldn't hang around and get into any trouble because your with me, what if you get hurt in this fight? It's not any of your concern, don't be so stubborn! I'll see you at school tomorrow completely without harm alright? I promise, now please go home."

"No! I made a personal promise to get you to a hospital and I am going to keep it! So shut up and let's run!"

"Run...?"

"Kesesese, it only gets funnier! So not only do the love birds have a verbal match but now the girlfriends asking Ivan to run away from a fight! Oh my god this is the most hysterical thing I have ever seen! Run away! Ivan? **Gil drops down and starts rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter**"

"Yao, I refuse to run. That god damn bastard is laughing at me. I'd rather die than run."

"Are you stupid aru? Die, huh? So you'd rather die than run away with me! Why are you such a Neanderthal? Is fighting more important than how I feel? You're a jerk! Why did I even care about you to even want to get you help? Forget it, Ivan! Way to blow it, and here I was even beginning to see something in you! Well now all I see is a fool for fighting! Hope you get the blood bath you want so badly, I'm going home! And I will not see you at school; I'll be doing my best to avoid you from now on! Goodbye."

Yao stormed off in a rage (again, Yao later tried to figure out why he was so mad, and why he said "Starting to see things in you" it worried him)and all Ivan did was watch as he left, feeling both heartbroken and relieved.

Gil on the other hand had stopped laughing and got up off the ground. He felt a little bad now for how he reacted when he saw a glint in Ivan's eye that signaled he really cared about Yao. And yet Gil had managed to help end whatever was between them. Gil got over it quickly though; as if it was his problem when other people messed things up, Ivan shouldn't even dare to think about a relationship! He was in a gang for crying out loud, if anything he did both of them a favor and end it before it got crazy for poor Yao, he wasn't built emotionally to be a part of this world, nor was he ready to love someone who also loved this world. It was better this way.

*Ivan under his breath* "Goodbye Yao…"

Ivan turned and picked up the pipe he had been hit with and turned to face Gilbert, his eyes beamed with the ever so familiar hate he always showed and took a step forward toward another fight that would end the same way it always did. But this time rather than have a heart heavy with excitement for blood shed, it was heavy with sadness.

Even though Ivan said goodbye, it was not the kind that meant long term, he realized with that goodbye that he was in serious trouble and moved with conviction to gain Yao back at any cost, even if it meant ending this wars as violently as possible…

End of flashback.

"Bloody hell Yao! What the hell are you doing standing there? How long have you been there?"

"Huh, oh, not long, just long enough to hear you call yourself stupid a number of times…"

Arthur was relieved to hear Yao hadn't been there long. Yao on the other had felt awkward that he had to lie, but was happy when he saw how relieved Arthur was.

"Uh, so Yao did you have something you wanted to say to me? What's up?"

Now was his chance, Yao knew what Ivan said then was true, he either had to act or sit and wait, and after a long time of thinking about it, he decided it was time to act. He needed to take the steps and ask Arthur himself. Just what in the hell was happening with him that made everyone else start acting so weird? What happened over the summer between him and Francis?

*It's now or never Yao, let's do this.*

"Um…Yao? Is something the matt-"

"Arthur, I know this might come off as strong, and it might not be any of my business but…I have to ask, I need to ask…um…well…uh, w-what, what happened over the summer?…I, I mean between you and Francis? What did he do to you? How did he hurt you? I'm worried about you, and I'm worried about how…others, are acting because of what they know…like I said it's not my business but…I…I'm here for you and I want to help! So please…let me help you if I can…"

Arthur has planned countless situations when one of his friends finally asked him about, IT, but no one had even come to him other than Alfred, and planning it and it actually happening are two different things. He was prepared but at the same time Yao completely shocked him, he felt caught off guard. Arthur tried to collect his thoughts on how he would approach this situation until finally he came back with this.

"Thank you Yao. For caring I mean, it means a lot to know how worried you are, and I'm sorry I have worried you, please forgive me for that…I've been acting pretty strange lately and I know that…and you're right, I think you can help me, even if it's just by listening to me make a fool out of myself…we can talk…in fact I want to talk to someone about it, well at least with someone who will have more to say. Unlike Alfred and his "everything Arthur says is right and no one else's opinions or thoughts matter." mindset, heh… how about you come over to my place after school today and we can talk then? I'd really enjoy that."

Yao couldn't believe how cooperative Arthur was being, but then again he had been acting unusual for so long now things shouldn't really be shocking anymore. So Yao accepted it for what it was and agreed.

"Alright, after school then."

"After school."

A/N: OH MY GOSH! I am so, so, so, sorry for taking FOREVER to write a new chapter *does a deep on the floor bow* the last month of school is always super super crazy and hectic and blah! So I totally failed to keep up with writing anything -_- and I apologize, but now I am on vacation and I plan to stick to it. So I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, which totally focused on Yao and Ivan :D Though I feel this chapter didn't go like I wanted it to, but the whole punch thing with Alfred was interesting to write, thought I took a big leap in that, I can actually imagine America hitting someone if angry enough, I mean he is American after all! And we do tend to hit people when pissed off. XD

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters, this is all fan created material, so please don't hate me. ^ ^

I kept a portion of my goal, introduce more Ivan/Russia, he's complicated to write about. :/ Sorry Russia fans but I don't particularly like him a whole lot, maybe it's due to the fact that he kinda scares me and I can't connect to him, especially seeing as he is totally opposite to my lovely happy-go-lucky Spain, but I will try not to make him seem completely boring or evil or overly romantic…I might have failed in this chapter buuuuut~ meh, I'll just do my best.

Translations:

Russian:

chert voz'mi - damn it

Lyubov' - love

Konechno - Of course

(Wow I failed at adding in cool words for you guys this time :/ I'll do better next time…)

And finally:

NOTE: Please tell me if you catch spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, etc. I will re-read all of the chapters multiple times before submitting it, but just in case one sneaks by me, I will be ever so grateful to have them pointed out, nothing makes me angrier than a typo (other problems), and I'll be embarrassed, but the sooner they're found the quicker I can correct them. Thank you! :)