Finding Love (China x Female Reader x Japan)

Safe and Sound

A streak of warm morning light fell over my face. I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the wooden ceiling above me.

Where...am I?

I tried to shift my body to get up but my body felt sore all over. I bit my lips in pain as I lied down again. Looking around, I realized I was back in Kiku's house.

With steady blinks, I recalled everything that happened that night flashing before my eyes.

Those two men...the man with the katana...the secret....the katana nearing towards me...Yao...the gun....the police....

Beads of tears formed in the corner of my eyes as I remembered the events of that merciless night.

"Oh! She's awake!"

I heard a voice and looked over to see Antonio standing at the open sliding-door, his face elated with joy.

No sooner, I heard several footsteps coming from the corridor.

"(Y/n)!"

Alfred came running inside, pushing Antonio out of the way. The other countries followed him in. "Ouch," Antonio groaned as he walked up to us.

"(Y/n), how are you feeling now?" Alfred asked with an expression full of worry.

"I..."

"Miss (Y/n), I hope you aren't hurt anywhere," Kiku knelt down beside me, his dark eyes lingering with emotions.

"Kiku..." My eyes suddenly landed on the person standing behind him.

Yao gave me a reassuring smile before coming at my side and helping me get up. I let out a deep breath of air and turned to them.

"I'm alright. I'm sorry to worry you all," I weakly smiled.

"Ve~ It's not your fault, bella! It's those bad guys' fault! Please don't apologize," Feliciano frowned.

I looked around at each of their faces. They all seemed to have been really worried about me. I lowered my head so they couldn't see the tears in my eyes. "T-Thank you..."

Several sighs of relief were heaved in the room.

"Still, that gang was very notorious. Why did they kidnap you?" Arthur wondered aloud.

I slowly raised my head and told them. "They wanted to know if I knew any secrets of the Hetalia Mansion."

They gasped.

"'Secrets' as in?" Ludwig asked.

"Anything related to security or meetings. They wanted to know information about these," I said.

"So we were being targeted by a gang?!" Alfred cried out.
"It seems so," Francis said in a grim tone.
"Those bastards!" Lovino scowled.

I frowned on seeing them distressed like this. So, this is what being a country feels like? Having to worry about your own safety in every step from unknown dangers. So that your people don't get hurt along with you. The reality was much awful than I thought.

"How did you find where I was?" I looked at them.

"Well, Love. If it wasn't for Japan and China, we wouldn't have safely gotten you out," Arthur mentioned.

I glanced at the said men. They both warmly smiled at me.

"When those two came to take you, I already got suspicious, aru," Yao said. "Because we didn't inform your family about coming to Japan. So, I called back to the Mansion and asked if anyone from your family called for you, aru. But they said no one did."

My eyes went wide on hearing that. So they were keeping an eye on me all this time?

Kiku leaned forward. "We immediately told the police and tracked their car. It was a good thing that Mr. Italy saw the number plate and memorized it."

The Italian man let out an embarrassed smile. "Ve~ I'm usually good at remembering these stuff," he shyly said.

"When we reached the place where it was tracked, we just saw the empty car with a BIG scratch on its side!!" Alfred extended his arms out to show how big it was.

"T-Then what happened?" I asked.

Kiku let out a deep breath.

"Perhaps I am the one to blame for this," he looked down, disheartened.

We all looked at him in surprise.

"One of them was a man who was an old acquaintance of mine. His name was Kusuhara Taichi," Kiku said.

Kusuhara?! That man with the katana??

He continued. "Long ago, he used to work for me. He was very keen on learning about the nations. He was a good help and a talented swordsman, so I personally got a katana made for him. But..."

I was intently listening to his story. "But...?" I asked.

"One day, I caught him trying to steal some confidential documents that shouldn't fall in the wrong hands. I demanded an explanation from him, but he attacked me with the same katana I gifted him," Kiku clenched his fists as he recounted those memories.

Kiku...

He gazed down with a distant look on his face. "I was able to defeat him. I remember he got wounded in one of his eyes too. Without wasting any time, I fired him. Though, later I heard he got into a well-known gang. Sometimes I wonder if all of this was caused because of me..." he said, dejected.

Seeing his crestfallen self, I put my hand on top of his. Kiku looked taken aback by the sudden contact and looked at me.

"It wasn't your fault, Kiku. You wouldn't have thought something like this would happen. Please don't blame yourself," I told him with a warm smile.

His dark and honest eyes reflected a glint of relief as he gazed at me with a tender smile. "Hai."

"And so, Japan was able to identify the scratch mark and we told the cops about it! Luckily, the gang was already under the cop's radar so we found out about their nearest hideout easily!!" Alfred pumped his fist in the air.

I smiled, hearing about the extent they went to save me. "Thank you."

Then Antonio chimed in. "Did you know, (Y/n)? As soon as China heard where you were, he didn't waste a single moment and ran towards your location!"

I blinked in surprise.

"A-Aiyah! You all were taking too long, aru!" Yao cried.

Antonio and the others chuckled.

I looked at Yao. When he noticed me staring at him, he averted his eyes with a soft blush on his cheeks.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Well, what happened has happened. No need to ponder over it anymore. But, Love," he smiled at me. "We're glad you're alright. You're here with us now, safe and sound."

A content smile spread on my lips.

"Yes!"

With them, I'm sure I will always be safe. Even the cold merciless night would eventually settle for the warm rays of dawn. I just need to keep faith.