All right, time for the New Year's arc! After that, we get into some plot relevance! Shocked? Maybe. Especially with school and crap.

/= [DAY 102] =/

There was officially no school until the weekend after New Year's. It was an American tradition they held dear. Some of the nations found that strange. Others found it very helpful, especially Charice. Still, New York City was a few miles away…a few miles too long, if you ask anyone here. So most of them settled down in the school preparing the place for the New Year's Party.

Charice, on the other hand, was lightly skipping the halls on her first official "date" with Li Xiao. And I use the term date lightly.

"Hey, Charice?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you tell your brother yet? About us?" He gestured to the two of them.

"During Christmas. That's a funny story." She turned to him. "You're on the list of people he tolerates."

"So…I'm not getting killed by him."

"Until you hurt me."

"Which I'm never going to do."

"I know." She smiled. "That makes me happy."

Li Xiao couldn't help but smile and chuckle at Charice's unwavering loyalty. He lightly took her hand as they continued down the hallway, barely seeing people go about their daily lives. They turned a corner and were instantly confronted by a rather intimidating Wang Yao. She shivered and hid behind Li Xiao.

"Teacher."

"Li Xiao." Yao folded his arms. "May I have a talk with Charice?"

"I'm not keeping her eyes off her."

"That is fine, aru."

They looked at each other for a few minutes before Li Xiao moved out of the way for Charice to come face-to-face with the Chinese man. The fact that he wasn't blinking was scary to say the least, before she saw Yao lean forward in interest.

"How in the world did you get him interested in you aru?"

"…hah?"

"I've been around a lot of women during my time, aru. Not once did he seem interested with any of them! I always figured that he was gay, aru!"

"Actually, so did I. It wasn't until he kissed me that I learned otherwise!"

"Wait…he kissed you?"

"That's not even the weirder part! He was competing with Kiku this entire time!"

"Kiku liked you too?"

"I know, it's weird! I mean, he doesn't hold a grudge against it, but still!"

"This is so strange, aru…I never thought he would be interested in girls, much less take the initiative…"

"I'm still here, teacher…"

/=+=/

"…"

"Aw, come on Xiao-chan! At least he approves of me!"

"…he didn't have to be so animate about it…"

"That just means he likes us together!"

Li Xiao could only hope that was the case as they continued down the hallway. After a few minutes they saw the Italian brothers sitting on one of the benches eating their lunch. Charice quickly plopped down next to Feliciano (much to Lovino's displeasure) as Li Xiao stood quietly from a distance away.

"What the hell do you want?" Lovino spat.

"I just wanted to talk to you two!" She swung her legs. "I always love talking to my brothers~!"

"If you're talking about the fact that you were raised by tomato bastard-"

"Ve~~~we like talking to you too, sorella!" Feliciano cuddled close to her. "Charice is really nice, fratello!"

"…goddamn clingy…"

"So how are you, Chari-chan?"

"…Chari-chan?"

"Ve~~~I heard Kiku call you that before, and I think it suits you."

She turned to Li Xiao.

"I never heard it before." He lifted his hands up. "Don't look at me."

"…anyway…me and Li Xiao are dating."

"Finally got a guy that'll be able to tolerate you and your obsession over the stupidest things?" Lovino folded his legs.

"Hey, at least I can get away from Chari-chan's hugs without any of my legs permanently disfigured."

"That was ONE TIME!"

"…since when did you start calling me Chari-chan?"

"When you started calling me Xiao-chan."

"…point taken." Charice turned to Feliciano. "So how are you and Doitsu-ki?"

"We're doing great. He's still so shy around me, despite the fact that we love each other." He curled up in a ball while eating his food, making Lovino cough.

"He just doesn't know how to separate you from being a friend to being a lover." Li Xiao shrugged. "That's what I'm thinking. You were friends before, so it becomes that awkward."

"Ve~~~~" Feliciano smiled. "At least he's still kind to me…"

"Awwww…you're so cute when you smile, Feli-chan~!"

"Ve~~~~"

"Not that I'm denying Lovi-chan of any love, of course!" She turned to Lovino. "You deserve a hug too, get over here!"

"No, I will not."

"Come on! You know damn well that you want this hug!"

"No I don't!"

"Too late!"

"CHIGIIIIIIII!"

"…wow. She didn't even give us time to put in a page break."

"Ve? You say something, Li Xiao?"

"No, nothing at all." He turned to Lovino. "So how are you doing?"

"I can't fucking breathe!"

"That's good." He turned to Feliciano. "What are you eating, anyway?"

"I'm eating pasta, of course! It's topped by my homemade pasta and Romano cheese!"

"…Romano cheese."

"Ve~~~that's what it's called!"

It was then that he realized that both Li Xiao and Charice were staring at him with a strange look on their face. He whimpered cutely and cuddled back into the ball, trying to hide behind his fork with obvious results. After a few minutes of silence Charice turned her head back to the trapped Italian brother.

"You can produce milk?"

"NO I FUCKING CAN'T! THAT'S JUST DISGUSTING!"

"Then why the hell is it called Romano cheese?"

"Because that bastard Alfred named it! It has nothing to do with me!"

"Unless he's suggesting that you taste like cheese?"

"I DO NOT TASTE LIKE CHEESE!"

"Can I check though?"

"FUCK NO!"

"Ahahahaha! He doesn't taste like cheese, Charice!"

They looked up and saw Antonio as he walked out of nowhere and lifted Lovino out of Charice's arms. He had a strange blush on his face when his face touched the Spaniard's chest, which suggested a few things for her. After a few minutes, Antonio lightly rubbed Lovino's hair.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't, Antonio." Charice stood up. "But this is Alfred we're talking about. He's a douche."

"True…besides, Lovino tastes more like chocolate!"

"Hah?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, TOMATO BASTARD!"

"What? She asked-"

*POW!*

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Did you get that, Elizabeta?"

"Of course I did~!"

"Eh? When did you come in?"

"I was here the whole time, Li Xiao."

…girls really are scary.

/= [DAY 103] =/

Charice was hanging out with her brother that day, so Li Xiao had the day alone.

He walked down the empty hallways as he saw Toris and Eduard talking about what to order for the New Year's Party, pausing just to hear what he could get his attention on. He shrugged after not caring and headed down toward the lobby, noticing a figure sitting down knitting something. His footsteps echoed on the marble, and the figure turned around.

"Natalya."

"Li Xiao." She turned back to the scarf.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm knitting." She answered. "It's for big brother."

"Is that a late Christmas gift?"

"It wasn't perfect enough. I had to redo it all the time." Natalya paused for a minute before continuing. "Big brother will love this."

"I didn't know you can knit."

"…I guess I can thank your girlfriend for it."

"Hm?"

"Charice. She told me one time that I should focus more about myself and not on big brother."

"There's some sense into that."

"I still think she's an idiot, but I decided to follow it anyway." Natalya looped a few strings around. "After a few days, I found out that I haven't knitted in ages."

"So you're knitting for your brother."

"Yes. Besides, my big sister knit a scarf for my brother and he remembers her." She stated. "I want big brother to remember me too."

"I think he does…just not in the right ways."

"What is that?"

"I-I'm just saying." Geez, now I know why teacher is so scared of him and his family. "Charice fell in love with me because I set my distance from her. I gave her time to herself and her friends, all while trying to get her to like me. And remember that I was fighting against Kiku for her."

"…your point?"

"He's scared of you because he doesn't know how to be away from you. Yes, he's been alone and he wants nothing more than to have someone's company…but you're doing it in all the wrong ways. He sees of you as more of a demon than a human. You're trying to present yourself as a human he would love."

"Tch."

"Take it whatever way you want." Li Xiao stated. "In order for Ivan to start falling in love with you, you have to let him see you as a different person. It's similar to someone trying to get someone who is just a friend into someone who loves them. Friends first, lovers later. You have to get Ivan to trust you without being scared."

"Ivan isn't scared of me."

"I think he is, Natalya. I'm just saying." He smiled. "But there's still hope for you. The fact that you have a good grasp of what you are means that you took the first step. All you have to do is take what you have and use that to impress him. At least he knows you're a good espionage agent. Try something else."

"That's why I'm knitting him a scarf."

"Good. That's only one step. You have a whole walkthrough to go through. Charice and I are here to help you if need be."

"…whatever."

"I'll take that as a thank you."

Odd enough, Natalya meant to say that. As he walked away, she continued to knit the scarf. The design had to be perfect. It was, of course, a scarf version of the Russian flag. Maybe she'll finish the Belarusian scarf soon.

/=+=/

Natalya with character development? College must be getting to me.