A/N: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers or Black Mirror. All rights go to their creators.

TW: Slight Domestic Violence, Emotional Manipulation, Graphic Descriptions of Character Death.


Chapter 18: The Romantic

Ten years ago

Kiku Honda was a hopeless romantic, he'd watched too many romantic comedies, read too many young adult romance novels and listened to love songs regularly. He had assumed romance would find him naturally in a place he didn't expect and instantly he would know when he and his other half locked eyes.

Being tied up in his dorm room in college studying for his exams left him with little time for romantic pursuits but plenty of time to daydream about what it would be like when he found someone. He would replace the protagonists of his favorite media with himself because they were usually blank slates anyway.

And right now he just locked eyes with his soulmate, he even had the image of the male leads of his favorite romance novels. His name was Arthur Kirkland.

Ok maybe not the ideal situation to start off with casual hookups, but he called Kiku beautiful, and they'd met up more than once at this point so, it was a start. It was adventurous to fraternize with one of the participants of your study right? It was risqué, and the threat of getting caught was exciting.

That's definitely a good sign, Kiku is already trying new things.

Arthur doesn't want to stay in Kiku's nice apartment that he was paying for with that Lionessolutions tech engineer money? He'd rather leave to go where? Kiku isn't sure, but the group study is over and Arthur still comes around.

"Stay for breakfast." Kiku manages to catch him right before he leaves Kiku's bedroom.

"Can't." And then he's out the door.

Ok, so next time he gets up earlier and makes breakfast. Arthur can't make it to the door fast enough and reluctantly sits down with him. This is normal, this is what lovers do, they eat breakfast together.

Arthur makes a face at the array of food.

"Rice? Salmon? And soup? This isn't breakfast."

"It's a traditional Japanese breakfast. I thought I'd share a bit of my culture with you."

The spread prepared contained rice, miso soup, grilled salmon, and a few side dishes. These side dishes included salad, pickles (tsukemono), dried seaweed (nori) and natto which are fermented soybeans. Each was in their own separate bowls.

"I'm fucking starving, I'll eat anything at this point." To which he grabbed a spoon and started shoveling rice into his mouth, ignoring the chopsticks entirely.

Kiku did notice he was a bit thin, but the man always shrugged him off when he asked about his living situation.

"None of your business, don't worry about it. This job's really helping me out, I don't need to owe you a favor," He said the last time Kiku asked.

"Maybe next time we could have what you like."

Arthur lets out a grumble as he devours the rice, leaving none for Kiku. "Probably not."

He leaves quickly like a leaf in the wind. While Kiku is washing the dishes, he is reminded of the fact that he has to clean up the cigarette butts littered on his bedroom floor.

00000

It's later, maybe a month or two, Kiku is still studying Arthur's compatibility with his test AIs. It's fascinating how easily he fits with each one, platonic companion-wise. Although, Kiku can't seem to get the two of them any closer than they are, outside of work hours.

One time he gets a call and he has to pick Arthur up from a bar because apparently he can't even stand up on his own. He straps him into the passenger seat of his car, apparently the bar owner had carried him out. Kiku corrects the man when he says Arthur is his friend, he's his boyfriend. At least Arthur can't deny it this time, literally.

Kiku takes him to his own apartment because Arthur can't tell him where he lives. But he suddenly starts apologizing for bothering Kiku, he knows Kiku has a reputation to uphold. Kiku tells him it doesn't matter, it's after work hours and they're far from his workplace. Arthur says he misses home across the pond, and that he feels so alone here before he falls asleep for the rest of the car ride.

But Kiku doesn't comment on it because that would be redundant.

Arthur falls asleep on Kiku's couch, and Kiku doesn't have the energy to carry him to his bedroom. Kiku lays a blanket over him, and places a glass of water and some aspirins onto a cocktail table in front of him.

He looks so peaceful, and Kiku takes this opportunity to press a light kiss onto the top of his dyed green hair.

Kiku decides to make eggs and bacon for breakfast this time.

"Looks like we're having breakfast again." Kiku says, bringing a tea cup to his lips.

Arthur gives him a glare, "Thanks but no thanks." He slaps a twenty dollar bill onto the table while standing over him. "That should cover gas for bringing me here." He walks past Kiku in the kitchen, leaving his plate untouched but having taken the aspirin.

Kiku watches him leave again.

00000

Kiku is out on his day off, grabbing some seeds and a bag of dirt from a flower shop to plant some azaleas in an old pot he had in his apartment.

He's near town square, he took the train to get here, and he walks past a few street performers until he notices a familiar face that has gathered a small crowd. He knows Arthur plays guitar and is a musician but has never heard him play; he refuses to play even a sample of a song for Kiku when he asks.

People drop in a few coins, and the song is as loud and vengeful as any metal or rock song he's heard before. It's good, Kiku doesn't understand why he didn't want to sing a song for him. Isn't that what musicians like to do, show off their work?

Kiku stays until the song is over, there is light applause as people drop money into his open guitar case, and when the crowd leaves, Kiku manages to catch Arthur's gaze. Kiku walks over, managing to catch the pink blush on the other man's cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur asks him.

He holds up the pack of seeds and turns toward him the arm that's holding the bag of dirt.

"I-I didn't mean that. I meant, why did you stick around?"

"You sound good. My boss is having a banquet to celebrate her first year as CEO, I think their usual jazz band needs a new bass player."

"I don't need a manager. Piss off," he says, taking out a cigarette to place between his teeth and a lighter. He lights it and gives Kiku a glare as he's still standing there.

"I don't think you have any other options."

"I don't work well with other people." Arthur blows smoke right into Kiku's face causing him to cough a bit.

Kiku tells him how much it pays for and suddenly he decides to reconsider.

Kiku gives him a small smile and does not get one back.

It's the night of the banquet a few weeks later and Arthur surprisingly cleans up well, he's taken out his piercings and is wearing a suit. It is a black tie affair after all, Kiku has paid for the tuxedo he has to rent. His hair is still green though.

Kiku's parents are at the banquet as well. Kiku is not ashamed to tell them that his boyfriend is playing in the jazz band that was playing live music for the evening. They smile at him but he can tell they are tense and a bit worried, hopefully it's not the one with the green hair, it's not him right?

Erzsébet Hedervary gives a speech and toasts on their resilience through this tough economic year. She says she will try her hardest to bring their profits back up and live up to the Lionessolutions legacy of Folkert Beilschmidt. She gestures for them to shine a spotlight on the former CEO, and his grandson Gilbert who Kiku has seen around a few times.

They applaud, eat, socialize, and soon it is over.

The band is packing up and Kiku manages to pull Arthur aside and introduces him to his parents in Japanese.

They give him a look, before they're all tense smiles.

"Konnichiwa." Arthur says, probably the only Japanese word he knows.

Kiku tells them that they've been dating for a few months. None of that is true actually, they're not dating at all. But Arthur can't speak Japanese so he can't deny his claims. Their tense smiles, and glances between each other are all the confirmation Kiku needs.

Erzsébet comes over with her assistant Abel Jansens and thanks him for coming as well as Arthur for filling in for their former bass player. Abel is the one who hands out the paychecks for the members of the band.

Arthur decides he doesn't want to be in this band, he wouldn't be a lead singer, so this is a one time thing. He tells Kiku this on his way out and that he'd see him for testing next week.

Not one thank you for getting him the opportunity in the first place.

00000

Kiku finds out where Arthur lives by coincidence. Well by coincidence he means he has resorted to stalking because he's worried again about the man not eating and how tired he looks. Kiku has brought soup, and he can't leave if he's already at home. But Arthur could kick him out, risks are risks for a reason.

He sneaks inside the complex and bites the bullet, knocking on the 14th apartment's door.

Arthur opens the door, eyes wide at seeing him, but he looks around before pulling him inside and shutting the door.

"What the bloody fucking hell are you doing here?" The grip on his arm is kind of tight and it hurts but Kiku knows this reaction is probably warranted because he did show up unannounced.

"You look like you're not eating enough." He holds up the plastic bag with the soup in it.

Arthur looks like he wants to slap the container out of Kiku's hand but his stomach growls and he doesn't.

Arthur lets go of him. "Why won't you leave me alone?"

Kiku reaches up and cups Arthur's cheeks with his hands. He brings Arthur down to his eye level, "You have so much potential, I know it. Just give me a chance to help you." The other man smells of cigarettes and alcohol, his skin feels clammy from sweat, and Kiku can feel the roughness of him needing a shave.

Arthur jerks away from him, wrinkling his nose. "I don't need your help, I'm fine on my own."

Kiku sighs and wanders over to the kitchen area; it's connected to the front room, so he can see it. He opens the fridge filled with nothing but an apple and cheap small plastic bottles of vodka. He places his soup on a shelf and closes it back.

"Go on, take the fucking piss out of me! Talk about my shite living conditions with those penthouse living rich pricks you work with." Arthur says, meeting Kiku's gaze.

Kiku furrows his eyebrows, "I wouldn't do that. Living situations don't affect my romantic pursuits."

"Why can't you just be an unlikable little bastard, it would be easier not to like you. You're rich, act like it." Arthur mutters, crossing his arms. Kiku isn't sure if that was for him to answer or not.

Kiku just watches him, as he paces for a few moments.

"Fucking hell." He balls up his fists and presses them on either side of his head. Arthur turns to him again letting out a sigh, "Sure fine, I'll be your fucking boyfriend if you want."

Arthur goes over to the refrigerator, right past him, grabbing the soup and grabbing two plastic spoons.

"Since you're here, get some soup first, I'd rather not be poisoned." He flops down onto the couch, setting the soup down. Kiku follows before being handed a spoon. "I was watching Doctor Who when you interrupted."

He shrugs off his coat, settling himself on the couch. He scoots his way over to lean against Arthur. Kiku feels blush warm his cheeks, as Arthur doesn't squirm away from him, and they watch whatever episode he is on.

00000

Not much changes except they now eat breakfast together and Arthur allows him to stock his fridge. Kiku keeps his eyes peeled for anything that could lead to a gig.

Kiku decides he wants to switch gears on the AI and tells Arthur he wants to make it based off of him. Arthur says he doesn't understand why but will continue to work with Kiku so he can get paid.

Kiku tells him that they have a machine that can extract his memories, Arthur asks why they have something like that. Ivan pops in to say that he invented it, and Arthur responds that this information doesn't make him feel better.

"It's how he chooses his victims." Arthur quips when Ivan is gone.

Arthur has started a rumor that Ivan has bodies under his basement, and it seems to be a joke a lot of Ivan's subordinates run with.

One day Kiku lucks up on finding a gig. Erzsébet's husband's little cousin was having his 13th birthday and they wanted to spend money on entertainment but not too much.

Arthur says he doesn't want to be a children's entertainer. Kiku reminds him of his financial situation and he reluctantly agrees. Kiku makes Arthur a few business cards on slow work days; he'd given Arthur a break from testing as he prepared the files to submit a request to use the memory uploading machine.

It was typically used for forgotten password retrieval and misplaced items. The memory you want is searched for in your brain and then played back onto the screen, it saves time looking for things. Memories could be uploaded onto the machine, a lot of workers would replay cat videos because HetaTube wasn't allowed to be played on company computers.

Arthur is always scribbling lyrics onto a notepad that he won't let Kiku see. He's always jerking it out of the way anytime Kiku gets near him.

It's undesirable to be short sometimes.

The party goes well, 13 year old boys like edgy rock music, and start repeating the swears in the songs just for fun. Kiku runs into Erzsébet's husband Roderich and can see why they got married in the first place. They are complete opposites, he's posh and elegant to Erzsébet's more rough and hardcore demeanor.

Arthur's eating the little finger sandwiches as though he hasn't been eating enough again. Kiku suspects he's been spending too much on alcohol and cigarettes again. Cigarettes went up in price recently, but that doesn't deter Arthur to stop or at least switch to a cheaper alternative.

Roderich looks back at Kiku, "I don't think you want to go down this road."

"Uh…?"

"Their life starts to become your life and then they swallow you whole." He is talking about Erzsébet. They have been married for ten years at that point, and as far as Kiku knows, Erzsébet has been earning all of their income. He chose to become a house husband, Kiku doesn't see how that applies to him.

"Thank you for the advice but this isn't like that at all." Kiku gives him a small bow, "Excuse me." Arthur has just found their cooler for storing hard liquor. There are more adults at this party than children.

They leave early, Arthur had only been able to drink the equivalent of a shot glass full, before Kiku gets to him.

"You're so paranoid, that was all I was going to have."

The beauty of being in a relationship is that Kiku and Arthur can go to bars together, the downside is that he ends up having too much and starts crying, becoming really clingy, and Kiku's night is ruined.

But Kiku is working on fixing this problem.

00000

They have been dating for six months, Kiku booked them a table at a nice restaurant, and he even bought Arthur a gift.

Kiku is currently at said restaurant waiting for Arthur to arrive. It was a very fancy French restaurant right in the heart of Times Square. He is wearing a gray suit and a tie, formal attire is the dress code for this place.

The bell above the entrance jingles. Kiku peers up and sees a brunet with caramel brown skin and green eyes walk in with a blue eyed blond.

"Are we really going to eat here, Antonio?" The blond gasps.

"Sí! I worked overtime in my work study job to have enough to pay for our meals!" Who he could assume was Antonio replies as the host shows them to their seats on the other side of the restaurant.

Kiku sighs and places his cheek in his hand. The waiter walks over to his table, "It has been an hour monsieur. Would you still like to order?"

Kiku is about to tell him that he is just going to give up his table when the little bell jingles again. He looks over and sees that familiar mop of green hair, blond in the roots now as it's been a while and Arthur hasn't re-dyed it.

Arthur walks right past the host and makes a beeline for their table.

"The other member of his party is here." Arthur says out of breath as he sits down.

The waiter looks at Arthur, a twitch in his brow, "I will be back shortly to take your orders." And then he does a short nod before walking away.

Kiku avoids Arthur's gaze because if he doesn't, he'll instantly forgive him.

"I'm sorry, the fucking dry cleaner was backed up and when I actually got it clean it was late as shite."

"I let you know about this weeks in advance."

Kiku grabs his menu and brings it up to his face.

"Come on, don't be upset, we can still have dinner, at least they didn't throw you out."

Kiku still keeps his menu up.

Arthur tilts the menu down with one of his ring wearing fingers, "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Kiku's looking into those green irises again and finds himself relenting. "Fine, let's order so we don't waste anymore time."

Arthur gives him a small grin before looking at his menu.

Arthur wrinkles his nose at the food on the menu, he doesn't know French and neither does Kiku but the waiter gives them both a few suggestions. Arthur gets steak and eggs.

Kiku doesn't mind escargot, he's eaten calamari, and blowfish before. Arthur watches him as he slurps it down. Kiku also got a salad.

"You're making me lose my appetite."

"Good." Kiku says to which the blond rolls his eyes.

Silence settles over them, filled only with the sounds of scraping utensils against plates and chewing.

"So…how did it go at the cafe?" Kiku asked, taking a sip of red wine, a bottle ordered to be shared between them.

"It wasn't a paid gig, it was an open mic type event. I got a few tips and a free slice of cake." Arthur poured his own glass.

"That's good, at least." Kiku gives him a nod.

"So did you get clearance to use the machine?"

"I just received a letter, we'll have it all to ourselves for a few days each week. It will take a while to back up all of your memories though." Kiku sets his glass back down.

"Are you going to be able to see my memories?" Arthur takes a sip from his glass.

"No, usually memories are short that are extracted so they can be readily transcribed from code to video files in minutes. But yours will be pure code, that a team of coders will put restrictions on, it'll never become video."

Kiku folds his hands in front of him, keeping eye contact with the blond.

"That didn't make any sense to me but alright as long as you aren't poking around in my thoughts."

Kiku and Arthur finish their meals, not without Arthur saying he feels like he's being judged by everyone here. Kiku does notice that people have been glancing at their table, but it is to be expected: Arthur has green hair, a nose piercing and black eyeliner on, hardly conventional for a sophisticated place such as this. But things like this roll right off of Kiku's back, it doesn't matter as long as they aren't intentionally bringing attention to themselves.

"Just ignore them."

"Easy for you to say, you fit right in, why did we have to come here anyway? You know this isn't my scene." Arthur seems to be fidgeting, he has hidden his hands under the table, glancing over to meet other quickly fleeting stares.

Kiku nudges the man's foot with his own to regain his attention. "I wanted to treat you to something nice." Kiku slips his card into the bill folder that the waiter has just left.

"You wanted to make fun of me, you knew this would happen." He narrows his eyes.

Kiku furrows his eyebrows, "I didn't think it would bother you. I don't have a problem with the way you look."

"I'm going to get some air." He gets up and walks to the door before going outside.

Kiku gives the waiter his card and he returns with it shortly. Kiku goes back outside to find Arthur smoking again, he's got him to curb his drinking but not cigarettes.

The air between them is still kind of tense.

"I'm not going to be some posh bitch like you want me to be Kiku." Arthur flicks away the butt and snuffs out his cigarette by stepping on it and grinding it into the sidewalk.

"I never said I wanted you to be that. Does that mean we can't do nice things?" Kiku grips Arthur's hand, sliding his fingers in between the other man's fingers.

Arthur pulls his hand away to shove into his pocket. "You just don't get it." Arthur walks away, coincidentally in the direction of Kiku's car.

Kiku really doesn't get it at all. He thought they were having a nice time.

Is it Arthur's default to not enjoy anything?

Now it's Kiku's turn to be upset.

"What is your "scene"? Because I don't know a thing about you! You never tell me anything about yourself. We've been dating for six months, Arthur!" Kiku raises his voice, which he rarely does.

Kiku rushes to catch up with him when he doesn't stop walking at his outburst.

"I don't know anything about you either." Arthur doesn't spare him a glance.

"You have also never asked. But that is also a lie, you've seen the plants around my apartment, and the figurines in my room." Kiku shakes his head, blowing a breath out of his nose, "I think I've mentioned from time to time my favorite anime, Attack on Titan, and flower: azaleas but you weren't paying attention were you?"

Arthur shrugs, "Probably not. But I definitely know that about you now."

Terse, he sums up Arthur's previous statement, "So yes I don't get it because you don't want me to." Kiku's voice is tight and strained.

Kiku walks ahead of him and goes to get into his car. Kiku slams the car door shut. He looks over at the wrapped present he was going to give Arthur and smashes it with his fist. No need to give him the spiked leather belt inside.

He feels his eyes blur with unshed tears. He blinks and they run down his cheeks, he does not bother to wipe them off and instead starts the ignition of his car to go back home...alone.

00000

Kiku is a professional. He can separate his job from his love life. Arthur doesn't have to speak to him, he can't while the machine extracts 4% of his memories. They only have the room for three hours and that is how much it can extract in that time frame.

So he only really just has to pay attention to the code.

When Arthur asks him if he should expect him over, Kiku ignores him and goes home.

Arthur texts him almost everyday for two weeks straight to forgive him, he leaves him voicemails, but Kiku has decided not to talk to him outside of work.

Kiku is at home one evening sitting on his couch, reading a romance novel; one that was going to become the start of a series of movies soon; apparently it had been some sort of fanfiction before. He has only just started but the male lead is quoting Wuthering Heights, a book Kiku is not familiar with.

Kiku gets a text from Arthur saying that he is outside. Soon enough he hears the buzzer. Kiku takes a deep breath, pushes the buzzer, and speaks into the intercom.

"You have some nerve showing up here."

"I brought gifts, please? They're kind of heavy."

"Fine but make it quick."

Kiku buzzes him up and soon enough there's a knock at his apartment door. Kiku opens it up and is presented with a large teddy bear and a bouquet of hydrangeas.

Kiku crosses his arms as Arthur sets the teddy bear down.

"Primroses are my favourite flowers actually, and I really admire your house plants." His cheeks are a dark shade of scarlet. He glanced away from Kiku toward said flowers, "I-I…actually want to have a house, so I could have a backyard with a garden one day." His voice was lowered, and hushed.

"Well that is a start, " Kiku says, taking the bouquet from him.

Kiku finds a pitcher of water to place them in.

Arthur perches himself on one end of Kiku's couch, "I-I'm sorry again. It's hard for me to do this sort of thing."

Arthur is picking at his fingers, head bowed, bangs in his face when Kiku joins him back on the couch. Kiku thinks he looks so adorable like this and can't stay upset with him. Kiku has decided that Arthur is like a cat in many ways and that he should know deep down that Arthur loves him although he's never said that before or given any inkling that he feels that way.

"I forgive you." Kiku says and Arthur kisses him unprompted.

"I'll never treat you that way again." He says through bouts of kissing Kiku's lips. His hands are on Kiku's waist now and he has scoots himself even closer to him.

Kiku decides he's going to believe him, "I know you won't." He says as Arthur leaves hungry kisses down his neck, and a painful bite on his collarbone.

The book is knocked to the floor with a dull thud as Kiku is roughly pushed onto his back against the couch. Arthur looms over him. Frantic hands grab at the buckle of his belt trying to unfasten it.

"You promise you won't shut me out again?" Kiku asks.

"Mhmm, I'll tell you everything I like to do." Kiku meets his eyes, they're lustful, almost like he wants to devour him.

Kiku falls into the depths of Arthur's green eyes as he puts his head right into the lion's mouth.

00000

Nothing has changed, Arthur hasn't told him anything about his family, their relationship having gone on close to a year now, anything meaningful that Kiku could latch on to.

But somehow his feelings have grown, in the rare moments he's seen Arthur play, when he thought Kiku wasn't paying attention, has made his heart flutter. And that feeling, he's held onto, no matter how cold and aloof Arthur is, he knows he cares about something. Otherwise, he couldn't make beautiful songs.

Being with Arthur is like walking on eggshells, Kiku doesn't want to say anything that would upset him and send him running. Kiku had a plan for when he told Arthur he loved him. But that is now ruined.

It was an accident. It was too soon. When he comes down from his euphoria, only to stare down at frightened green eyes, he knows he slipped up. He feels a hard shove right to his chest and falls back onto the bed.

Arthur grabs his clothes and starts putting them on in such haste, Kiku's head is spinning.

"Wait! Wait! It doesn't have to change anything!"

"No-no, no." Arthur rapidly shakes his head. He has his pants on now. Kiku's chest hurts, Arthur had pushed him really hard, but also metaphorically because Arthur is trying to get out of here so fast. Arthur pulls on his boots and shrugs on his leather jacket right as he starts walking toward the door.

Kiku crawls toward the edge of the bed and tries to grab him, but he is too far by this point. Tangled in bedsheets he falls right to the floor.

Kiku is determined as Arthur pauses to look back at him.

Kiku kicks and struggles before getting up, Arthur picks up his walking pace, and Kiku goes into a sprint managing just to grab the man's wrist as he is mere centimeters from his apartment door knob.

"Let go of me!"

"Not until you talk to me." Kiku gives him a hard stare, tightening his grip on him.

Arthur lets out a sigh and turns to look at Kiku.

"This has to end."

"What? Y-you're breaking up with me?"

"Yes… we only have three more sessions and then you'll have my full memories right?"

"H-hai. B-but it doesn't have to end just because of that. You'll share part of the royalties when it's a success."

"I've got direct deposit, so I think it does."

"Why? What did I do wrong?"

Arthur tries to pull his hand away but Kiku holds firm.

"You don't have to say it back right now. I would prefer that, but I'll wait if you need time. You don't have to be afraid." Kiku says, rubbing a finger lightly against Arthur's wrist, an attempt to calm him down.

There's a brief pause, silence has settled between them, and Kiku is trying to read Arthur's expression.

Suddenly he feels a sharp stinging pain on his left cheek; on instinct he lets go of Arthur to feel where he'd just been slapped. He is too stunned to speak.

"I will never love you, understand? Let's cut our losses and go our separate ways." And on that note he leaves, a slamming door in his wake.

Kiku's cheek is throbbing in sync with his heartbeat as he is left standing naked in the middle of his living room.

Raw and bleeding like a gaping wound.

00000

Kiku is a professional, a professional who is falling apart. It feels as though Arthur took a piece of him with him…the beating pulsing organ of his heart. A hole is left unable to be filled.

He has nothing but time as he watches the monitor downloading Arthur's memories, it is at 88%.

Kiku realizes that he has wasted a year of his life on this man, doing as much as he can to keep their relationship afloat, only for it to amount to nothing. That no matter how much work he puts in, Arthur's selfish standoffish ways will always outweigh Kiku's affection.

In case of a power outage the lever located in the room can be pulled to pull extra power from the generator but it takes a decent amount of muscle strength to pull it. But it can't be used along with the main power source as it would overload the machine.

Kiku glances at that lever as it dawns on him just how vulnerable Arthur is while they are in this room.

Kiku can't really understand how Arthur could be likable enough for his AIs, but absolutely terrible to him.

The machine is at 92% and Kiku turns it off. He walks back in to unfasten Arthur from the machine as well as unhook the hose from the band that is strapped to his head.

Kiku, before he goes to bed that night, mulls over a thought he has, one that isn't so morally correct.

Kiku has shed all of the tears that can be shed.

000000

Kiku has a decision to make. Today is their last day.

Arthur is leaning against the wall next to the door of the memory machine room. Kiku has the key.

"Ah we're finally at the end."

"It seems so," Kiku said, letting him inside the room.

They went through the typical process. Kiku strapped Arthur in, ankles and wrists to the chair.

"A bit tight this time, sheesh," He remarked.

"This last bit is important. I don't want you knocking the connector out."

"Alright, fine." Kiku put the band around his head, connected the hose to the headband, and started up the machine.

Kiku has decided that truly he is the one in control here. That things don't have to end on Arthur's terms, they end on his. And this way Kiku gets what he wants.

The machine is on 94% when he finds his way to the leaver. His hands are shaking. Kiku makes a decision, something snaps, and there are sparks.

Screams echo off the walls, so loud that he can't hear anything else, they're coming from himself.

Arthur's eyes snap open as he is violently jerked around, no longer unconscious as 960 volts of electricity courses through his body. The restraints rattle and shake as his muscles spasm. Kiku can only watch helplessly as he broke the lever upon pulling it too hard.

There is rough banging on the other side of the door before the machine blows a fuse, frying its own circuits. They are briefly shrouded in darkness. Kiku meets lifeless emerald irises. He stops screaming, that last wail getting caught in his throat.

Light floods into the room. Kiku's knees buckle as the door bursts open, he meets Ivan's violet eyes as he sits on the floor, broken leaver piece in hand.

All stand in horror at what he's done, the full weight of it all crushing him like stone.

0000000

The Present

"You should have just left him alone! What the hell?" Lovino said as Kiku finished relaying the summary of his and human Arthur's relationship.

"I have felt much guilt over the years," Kiku fished around in his pocket and produced the memory card. He grabbed Lovino's hand to place it within it.

"Why did you have that?" Lovino asked.

"I was going to destroy it in front of you. Ludwig told me about you returning my android tonight, but things have changed." Kiku said, and his gaze shifted away from him.

"Do you know how fucked up that is?" Lovino asked.

"I suppose you were right, there was no way that you would ever love me. Nothing I did could change that." He said, not to Lovino but to Arthur, who hadn't said anything this entire time.


A/N: I watched a review of the fifth After film and listened to "Cause I'm a Man" by Tame Impala and was struck with inspiration for how to make England a terrible boyfriend.

I hope Japan doesn't feel OOC here, I feel kind of bad I did this to him actually.

Thank you for reading!