England X Dead! Reader - Resurrection

4. Rabbit

"Thank you, have a nice day!" Arthur didn't bother replying to the lady at the counter and simply walked out of the shop, with a empty look on his face and a cage in his hands. Alfred had been on his back ever since he'd told him he was going to bring (F/N) back and in hindsight, it wasn't the greatest thing to say. He had been caught in the moment and at the time he just blurted it out, fuelled by rage. He'd overheard Alfred talking on the phone to Matthew at some point, and he was sure Alfred thought he was crazy; he though he needed help, but he didn't.

He got home, and instantly Alfred began to question him, yet cut himself off and gave Arthur a perplexed look.

"A rabbit?" He was, momentarily, at a loss for words. "Why do you have a rabbit with you?" Arthur placed the cage down and took his coat off, picking the cage back up when he was done.

"That's none of your business," he said bluntly. This was the man who thought he was crazy, the man who would stop him from trying to bring back (F/N), and Arthur couldn't allow that to happen. He began to briskly walk past him. Alfred frowned at him, but his eyes softened suddenly and he smiled gently.

"Hey—" his voice was much tender than before "—I remember, (F/N) loved rabbits right?" Arthur stopped, yet didn't face Alfred. "Maybe, having one would help you feel better." It was like Alfred was treating Arthur like he was a child after it's pet had died. (F/N) was not a pet.

"This rabbit will never compare to (F/N)," Arthur said with a sour tint in his voice. He didn't bother to talk to Alfred anymore and walked up to his room, slamming the door behind him. His room was a mess; the curtains were closed, everything was dusty and there was some old food left on his bedside table. He hadn't eaten much in days and refused to do so, yet Alfred had kept leaving him food to try help him get better.

He placed the rabbit cage on his desk. It was pure white with red eyes, a simple test rabbit. Arthur sat down at his desk, gazing bitterly at the rabbit with a scowl.

"You could never replace (F/N)..." He watched as the rabbit twitched it's nose innocently, unaware of it's fate. Though loosing his mind, Arthur still felt guilty for doing what he was going to, for this rabbit was going to be a sacrifice to allow him to bring back (F/N) from the dead. He'd bought it from the pet shop, agreeing along to the shop owners instruction to look after it well and take good care of it, but his intentions to do anything but look after it well. It was going to die, he wasn't keeping it so it could live. Although, he wished he hadn't asked the shop owner to pick whatever rabbit she wanted for him; she ended up picking one that looked just like (F/N)'s old rabbit. He rested his head on the desk, next to the cage. He remembered the day she got it clearly.

~~~

"Arthur, Arthur! Hurry up, come on, it's upstairs!" A young, excited (F/N) tugged on Arthur's arm as she raced up the stairs to her room.

"A-Ah, calm down, I'm coming!" Arthur grumbled back, not happy about being dragged away from his afternoon tea so (F/N) could show him 'something'. They stopped in front of (F/N)'s bedroom and (F/N) swivelled around to face Arthur, a grin on her face.

"Okay, now close your eyes," She commanded, and to save the trouble of being forced to, Arthur sighed and complied. He heard the door to her room open, and his heart skipped a beat when he felt her grab onto his hand to lead him along. They came to a stop and (F/N) let go of his hand.

"Okay, and open them!" She yelled excitedly, and Arthur opened his eyes as she'd told him to see a rabbit in a cage. "Isn't he cute?" (F/N) fawned over the rabbit, gazing at it longingly. "My parents said I could get one."

"It's kinda cute, I guess," Arthur muttered, honestly finding (F/N) more fascinating (and more cute) than the rabbit. He could at least pretend to be interested though. "Do you have a name for it?" He asked and (F/N) shook her head with a frown.

"I couldn't think of one..." Her face suddenly lit up. "Hey, you come up with one!" She pointed at him and Arthur flinched slightly at her over-enthusiasm.

"Me? Um..." He thought for a few seconds before pouting at (F/N). "Oh, I don't know!" (F/N) began to giggle at him, yet stopped as she was struck with an idea.

"I know, let's call it Arthur!" Her eyes lit up and Arthur looked at her with a shocked expression.

"Why would you name it after me!?" He questioned, confused by this girl's weird naming choice. Surely it'd get confusing if she named her rabbit after her best friend.

"Because then, when I can't see you or be around you, I'll have the rabbit, and he'll remind me of you," she explained, and Arthur's breath hitched, his face quickly turning red.

"B-But—Th-" He couldn't form words.

"And you're both cute of course," (F/N) added with a slight giggle and Arthur felt ready to pass out from how red his face was going. In the end, (F/N) gave him no chance to protest and the rabbit was named after him.

~~~

Arthur woke up slowly. His body and eyes felt groggy and the room was even darker than before; he'd fallen asleep. He raised his head, and came face to face with the rabbit he'd bought earlier. It was looking at him longingly—probably it was hungry. When he looked at it, he couldn't help but be reminded of (F/N) rabbit, but more so, (F/N) smile when she got it. Arthur got up, grabbing the vegetables that were on the plate of food Alfred had left, and shoved them through the thin bars of the cage, allowing the rabbit to nibble at them.

He grinned a crooked grin, and laughed wryly. It was going to have to be looked after for the time being, before he took its life for (F/N).

He walked over to his bed, rubbing the dark circles under his eyes despite the sleep he'd gotten, and flopped down onto it with a thud. He clenched his fist tightly, a wry grin still on his face. He glanced at the photo of himself and (F/N) that he had taken from her house, picking it up and holding it above his head so he could gaze at it with tired, almost crazed eyes. All of this pain, torture and craziness he was going through, it'd all be worth it because soon, (F/N) would be back in the flesh. She would live... Arthur sighed and put the photo back down.

It was true what Alfred had been saying, wasn't it?

He really was loosing his mind.

---

Right, before I say anything else, I want to sincerely apologise!

I've been away for age, and haven't updated in probably over a month, and I'm really really really sorry. I know I'm a terrible author here, especially because I didn't even do any status posts to update you guys. I'm really sorry again. I know other books need an update more than this one, but this is all I've got right now, and I'll really try hard to write something for the others soon! The start of my school year has been very stressful, but I know that's barely an excuse, so I'll make up for it with a bunch of updates!

Hopefully you'll all forgive my long absence, I've drifted out of the Hetalia fandom, and it's getting hard to write for characters you're not into anymore. I promise I will never discontinue a story, but I am going to try and write something new, probably something to do with SNK

Sorry for the long wall of text, I'm going to post another part to this straight after this one!