Discovering Memories (A Hetalia Fanfic)

Chapter 4

"AIYAH!" Yao yelled, startled. Checking his watch quickly, he frowned. "Ivan will be wondering where I am, aru..." I quickly stood up.

"I have to go, Měilì..." I nodded, wishing him luck. He swooped in again for one last kiss.

Agh, Yao is so confusing...

I wish I knew what he really felt for me, or even what I felt for him...

***

China slowly and warily walked up the stairs to the hotel room he and Ivan shared.

Even though the wounds from the helicopter incident had healed, he still felt the dull aches of the pipe hitting him over and over, repeatedly... Yao shuddered.

His body shaking, he trudged up the stairs to their room and unlocked the door using the room key. No sooner had he put the key back in his pocket was he grabbed and shoved against a wall. "Where were you?" the Russian growled.

Yao knew better than to speak. Ivan threw the smaller man to the ground. "What took you so long? You didn't have something else to do, da?"

Yao smirked.

"No, but I might have had someone else to do, aru." Yao knew this would get under Ivan's skin.

"Stop fucking acting up, da?"

Yao growled, but he didn't dare speak. "Do what I tell you to!" Ivan yelled as he pulled out a long, serrated knife from his trench coat.

"Ivan, I'm not your fucking slave, aru."

Ivan purple aura appeared. "Yao-Yao, we went over this."

"Why do you care so much, aru?!" he yelled. "What is your strange obsession with owning people?!"

Ivan shoved him against a wall, his hands around Yao's throat. "Not people, Yao. Just you."

Yao clawed at his arms for air, but Ivan didn't stop until he passed out. He let go, and Yao's limp body fell to the ground. Ivan sighed. "Mistakes must be fixed, or else little slaves won't learn, da?"

***

I couldn't sleep. Even after the yelling had stopped, it haunted my dreams. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all somehow my fault. There had to be something I could have done...

Hungary had woken up from the fighting noise, but after deciding it was no use asking me what happened, she went back to sleep. I envied her. How could she sleep so peacefully at a time like this?

She stirred in her sleep. "Gilbert... go get the kids... dinner's ready..." I smiled.

That was how.

***

I woke up the next morning hearing Hungary banging around in the kitchen doing something. I guessed she was making breakfast. Groggily stumbling out of bed, I stumbled into the small kitchenette we had and smelled sausage, cheese, bread, and...

Pepper sauce?

"Eliza..." I eyed her warily. "What are you making?" She whirled around and looked at me as if I was crazy. "A typical Hungarian breakfast, of course! What else?" I groaned. "Hungary, I'm not Hungarian." She smiled. "Oh, nonsense. You'll like it, I promise." When the food was finally ready, it actually did taste pretty good.

I suddenly remembered her annoying behavior from last night. She seemed to remember at the same time, and quickly tried to avoid what she knew I would ask her.

"S-so, how was your meetup with Yao?"

I frowned. "What happened last night?! I was ready to go, and you completely ignored me!"

"I couldn't have just let you leave! Arthur would kill me!"

"Why does Arthur care so damn much?!" I yelled. "What's the big deal? I hate secrets--"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you, okay?" Eliza said with an emotionless expression on her face. I realized that arguing with her would get me nowhere.

She slid a piece of paper across the table to me. "That's Arthur's phone number. Call him, I can't help you." Hungary took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes, she was back to the happy, bouncy carefree woman I knew.

"Now, where do you want to go today?"

That was her way of signaling that the previous conversation was over. I decided to let it go.

I told her about the stores I would like to go to today, and after dressing up, we headed out.

As we stepped through the front door of the hotel, Germany was waiting for us. "You vill start school tomorrow. All ov your shopping should be vinished today. You understand?" I nodded. "Come back to ze hotel ven you are done. Canada vill take you to your new home." I then became nervous. They didn't all live in the same house? How was I supposed to see China? Germany saw the look on my face and chuckled. "Don't vorry, ve bought a cul de sac ov homes. Ve all live in ze same complex." I visibly relaxed. "Vell, run along. Don't spend too long."

Eliza and I were shopping all day. We went to Hot Topic first, so I could get an adequate supply of anime related things (cat ears, posters, cosplay materials, manga, figurines, and of course, clothes). Then we went to Forever21, Abercrombie, and basically every other teenage store where you could find clothes. Then we went to Torrid's to get some shoes (combat boots) for my oversized feet. By the time we were done, it was late. I began to get worried for Canada, all alone at the hotel, waiting for us...

When we finally reached the hotel, my arms were tired from carrying all the shopping bags. I looked towards the chair in the lobby, seeing Canada asleep on it. I gently shook him awake. He sat up, startled. "Canada, Germany said you were going to take us to the house..." He shook himself, the loose strand of hair on his head falling to the side. "Yes, of course," he said as he smiled. We piled into the car and drove off. It was about an hour long drive, so I got to know Canada. We laughed and made jokes about Hungary and Prussia to the point that Hungary swore she would bash our heads in with her frying pan. We soon had to drop Hungary off at her place, where she made me promise I would visit.

Then we came to the end of the cul de sac, where another large house was waiting. "This is yours," Canada said. "Well, not completely yours. You're staying with Germany, Italy and Japan, but..." I tuned him out.

I had to stay with Japan...?