Cognizance (Hetalia)

Chapter One

It had started off as a conspiracy theory. Nothing more, nothing less.

Some drunk guy in a pub starting rumors, probably. Said something dumb and felt the need to defend it.

It started somewhere in Europe. No one really knows where. People have tried to trace it back, but the trail ends cold in multiple places. Nonetheless, it's clear the rumor spread across borders surprisingly fast.

It took some American semi-popular social media personality traveling to Berlin to finally get the rumor out onto the internet in a significant way. She went to a pub for her "first" drink, documenting the experience in detail on Twitter. Including everything she heard about the rumor.

That tweet got 20,000 re-tweets within the first day.

Celebrities saw it, politicians saw it, it quickly went everywhere. Many people tried to prove it wasn't true, but many more refuted that it was. Hetalia was often brought up, on both sides. It grew quickly out of control.

But it was just a conspiracy theory. It was going to die down. Sure, some people would hold onto it, even years after the whole mess died down. But it was still nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

The most wide-spread and disputed conspiracy theory in the history of this world, yes, but a conspiracy theory, nonetheless.

That's what all the nations tried to remind themselves walking into the summit. It was supposed to be about other things, but everyone knew that would be the only thing anyone would talk about. Anything else was for formality. This was the crisis that needed to be talked about.

It was only a G-20 summit, much to their luck. If it were a world meeting, well, let's just say things would've gone downhill before the meeting even started. That sometimes (usually) happened with G-20 summits too, but this was significantly different.

Everyone was there no less than five minutes before the meeting was set to start. No one said a word. Just quietly reviewed their notes or looked at their phone, or else stared aimlessly in thought.

Five minutes of silence is unheard of in nation meetings.

Finally, when the clock struck 11 o'clock, the silence was broken, as the personification of India gathered a few papers and walked up to the podium.

Since the summit was being held in New Delhi, India, the personification of India got to start off the summit. Well, technically he got to direct it, but Germany usually took over that duty pretty quickly.

Something told India that this meeting was going to be different, though.

He cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. As is tradition, he started the meeting by saying "Let it be noted that this summit has officially commenced at exactly 11:00:36." And, as is tradition, no one noted that.

India breathed a chuckle, causing a slight smile to appear on his lips. Despite the serious nature of this meeting - more so than usual - actually 'being serious' and doing the things they're told they're supposed to do seemed to be on nobody's agenda. It made things feel a little more normal.

"Now, if no one objects, I would like to start off a bit differently today. We could go through all the formalities about our economies and the like, but I feel there is a more pressing matter we may need to discuss."

"Really?" Turkey asked sarcastically, giving India a 'no duh' look. "What could be more pressing than learning about the changes in GDPs of countries I could care less about?"

"Really brings you to the edge of your seat, those do," England said sarcastically.

"Yes," India chuckled. "But, in all seriousness, I think the main thing that is on everyone's mind right now is the rumor that has been spreading around lately."