And the shipping wars continue. Please don't kill me.
/= [DAY 52] =/
Rehearsals were weird today. First of all, it was the scene where Roderich had to carry Alfred around the stage before confronting Ludwig. Second of all…Roderich can't carry for shit. Thirdly…well…it's RODERICH. What else can you say about it?
So when Charice walked in for the day to see Roderich trying his best to carry an American over his shoulders, she could not help but drop to her feet laughing like a maniac. From the corner of her eye, she could see Rizal laugh as well. Maybe it's because he apparently never liked Roderich (as much as he would like the others).
"This is entertaining, isn't it?"
"It really is." He responded with a chuckle. "Oh, speaking of which, how's that Glee Club?"
"It's been going out great. We're going to have our first performance on Halloween before we open up the haunted house."
"…haunted…house?"
"Oh, you didn't hear? Apparently the clubs are going to turn the whole school into a haunted house." She chuckled. "No one's telling each other what we're doing, so…"
"Let me guess, you just found out today and you have nothing planned."
"Shut up, kuya."
"Pfft." Rizal shook his head, trying hard not to laugh. "Oh, speaking of which…you've been hanging out with a lot of other nations, haven't you?"
"Yeah, actually. What, haven't you?"
"I have…though I have to ask…how can you handle the majority of them?"
"Easy, really. All you have to do is threaten them at least once or twice with sharpened chopsticks or take the photography class and blackmail them~"
"…do you really do that?"
"Only to a few of them. The other ones are tolerable." She tilted her head. "People messing up with your brain?"
"Just one or two." He answered, his voice oddly quiet. "Hey, uh…what do you think about Ludwig?"
"The tall, blond guy?" She folded her arms.
"I mean…he is German, and I know how much you're scared of Germans, so…"
"He's a little scary, yes…but he's a tsundere~" She answered. "Which instantly activates Cute-Obsession Mode, which in fact overrides German-phobia~!"
"Interesting…" Rizal's eyes widened. "I never thought that was possible."
"Well, it just is." She chuckled. "You might like him~"
"W-why would you say that?" He asked, blushing.
"Well, he's really serious and doesn't seem to hold any type of kink…you two can at least go run off somewhere and no one would be the wiser."
Charice intended it to be a joke, so when Francis called her up she left her brother laughing her head off. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to catch the fact that Rizal turned away with a huge blush covering his face. If she did, she would've remarked on it at least once.
/= [DAY 53] =/
"Hey, Charice!"
"Eh?" She turned her head. "Oh, it's you. What does King Awesome want with me?"
"I wanted to tell you what Vocaloid I'm being in the performance." He pointed at himself. "I'm going to be Haku Yowane!"
"Sweet. Wearing a skanky uniform really does do wonders on ya."
"Yes indeed!"
And yet he doesn't argue about this. What the hell is wrong with him…?
She stared at him for a few minutes before realizing that he wasn't making a move to leave. She figured that he was going to ditch the moment he got this out of the way (which, of course, makes him Gilbert), but for some reason he wasn't leaving. That would only mean one thing…
"You want to tell me something?"
"No, no no!" He laughed it off. "Nothing here! Nope! I'm as happy as a man on crack!"
"…which means you're going to be miserable about a day later." She sat down on the bench. "You might as well tell me now."
"…really, I'm fine!"
"I've seen the real you, man. You might as well tell me while no one else is here."
Gilbert mumbled some choice words before remembering what exactly she meant by that. He sighed and figured that she might as well: she'd already seen the deepest part of his emotions. It's natural for her to question what she couldn't understand.
"Tell anyone that I told you this, and I will make you regret this."
"Sure enough." She answered. "I may be pushy, but I can keep secrets. I have my brother to agree with that."
"Great…" He sighed. "So what exactly did you see back there…?"
"Well, your childhood…which was happy enough, so I won't remark on that…" She folded her legs. "And then I saw post-WWII."
He cringed.
"The, uh…part where Ludwig died." She fidgeted. "You were extremely emotional…and Alfred was never really told about it."
"He hasn't? Geez, I thought that Brit would be unawesome and brag about it."
"No. Apparently, he wanted to put all the blame on himself. Remember how he even covered for Francis?"
"I thought there was something weird about that…" He stated. "If I know anything about Arthur, it's that he hates that Frenchman."
"He worried the most about Alfred. He was still a young nation who didn't know that we could die like this." She explained. "Apparently, he wanted to keep him like that. And he would've gotten away with it too."
"Geez, if only he was that sympathetic to me when he took away my kingdom." Gilbert spat. "And then took away my brother…him and Alfred both."
"Well, is that grudge still there…? I mean, Ludwig's still alive and I think he forgave them…"
"Can't lie and say it's not. But hell, I remember the past. Alfred was the guy that actually brought the majority of that to an end." He stated. "If he really did know, I wonder if he would even bother with us."
"I would assume he would. I was a colony under his rule for a while, and he said that he really liked my relationship with my brother." She pointed upward. "He must've sympathized with you when you weren't allowed to see your brother. He even told me that he would act the same way if that exact moment happened with Matthew."
"Is that so?"
"Alfred's a little bit of everything, you know. Part Italian, part English, part French, and yes, part German. Whatever people enter his land, becomes him~" She nodded. "I guess it was inevitable that he would decide to reverse the separation statement, Soviet Union or not."
"Is that what you really believe?"
"Well, for lack of a better word, Alfred's a child. He has a past, yes, but hell. If you compare his to yours, it'll just make him an angsty teenager." She laughed. "Though I guess it's because he was separate from the European continent that saved his ass."
"…you have a brother too, right?"
"Course I do. Rizal Pacquiao, I think you know him."
"The man who always has something to say. Of course I know him." Gilbert leaned back. "Have you two ever been separated?"
"Multiple times, actually. All those wars that we've been through, he's been fighting them. He knows that I have a huge phobia of blood, and after a small German invasion, I have a phobia of them too." She said. "I guess I can understand: we were a colony in the Asian continent. Who wouldn't want a place there?"
"Whoa. Mein bruder invaded you? Damn, I didn't think he'd go that far. He was too busy handling himself in Europe!"
"Well, apparently he did try. Just once. Rizal drove him away just like he drove off the Russians, the Spanish, half the American forces…" She sighed. "Come to think of it, what country hasn't tried invading us?"
"And yet there's no anger?"
"Oddly enough, no. I think I had it once, but then I just don't." She rubbed her cheek. "Even if I try to think of something, I just can't get angry at them. I guess it's because I've never seen bloodshed before."
"Guess that makes your brother even more terrifying."
"Not really. He seems to handle everyone pretty OK."
"So does Ivan, and look what he does!"
"…he's creepy, yes…but more like a best friend creepy. Like he could just crawl out of nowhere and say-"
"Hi there. Can I join you?"
…
"HOLY FREAKIN' SHIT FUCK!"
/=+=/
Speaking of the Glee Club, Halloween was just a day away, and oddly enough everyone was supportive (despite the fact that it was a dress rehearsal). Charice loved the Akaito outfit that she was able to find online, but for some reason the scarf wouldn't stay on right.
Maybe if I tie it…
…
OK. Now I can't reach back there.
"What the heck are you doing?"
She turned her head and saw Li Xiao standing there with a stack of papers in his hand and a rather blank look on his face. He would be shocked, I mean, if she knew anything about him. And she really didn't. Maybe he takes Botox to keep that blank look all the time.
"Glee Club rehearsal. We're performing for the Halloween opening show!" She chirped.
"Interesting…and apparently you're starting off by strangling yourself with a scarf?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to tie it so that it stays around my neck!"
"…so you're strangling yourself."
"Don't start with me!"
"I'm not, I'm not." He placed the papers down. "Here, at least let me loosen that knot before you cut air circulation."
He walked up to her and started with the knot, making her pause. Maybe it's an Asian thing, but he really had smooth skin on his fingers (so did Kiku and Rizal and basically every Asian country she knew…huh, must be an Asian thing). She actually didn't mind trying to figure out what he was doing, holding the knot in case he accidentally grazes her again.
"Geez, what the hell did you do to this thing…?" He grunted. "The knot's as tight as Gilbert's ego."
"For lack of better word, yes it is. And really, it's just a knot! How tight can it be?"
"Extremely." He answered. "Unless you want to try this."
"I already have…and it's really not working."
"Then let me try it."
They turned their heads to see Kiku walk toward them, fully dressed in his Miku outfit (it was supposed to be Yao's, but because Charice still thinks he's a female, he's Gakupo). He quietly shooed him out of the way before handling the knot. It took just as much time as Li Xiao, but he was able to take it apart.
"There you go."
"Thanks, Kiku-ki." She chirped. "Can you help me knot this so that I can take this apart later?"
"Of course. Just give me a minute…"
He did it in under a few seconds, leaving Charice with a grin on her face, a chirp out of her lips, and watching her skip her way into the auditorium. If she bothered to turn around, she would've seen Li Xiao and Kiku throw each other a few death glares.
/=+=/
And the Halloween Arc is next chapter, so don't miss out!