Bound by Destiny | COUNTRYHUMAN AU

Explanations

Principal UN's speech was nothing but plain boring. It was the usual: peace and harmony between students, be well rounded students, lead the world...blah blah blah. Honestly though? All the talk about peace and harmony was plain bullshit. It was everything but a dream. There would always be kingdoms wanting a larger piece of land, more power, more subjects, more materials. And if they couldn't get it easily...war would come. I learnt that very early on as a child.

"I'll be visiting some of the kingdoms in the following days so Vice-Principal Interpol will be in charge until my return," UN's statement made rippling murmurs through the crowd. It was rare for him to leave INTERPOL in charge and much rarer for him to go out on personal visits to the kingdoms. A student in the front raised their hand and after receiving permission from UN, asked, "Is there anything we should be worried about Principal UN? You normally do not visit kingdoms unless you require assistance."

UN's expression changed when he heard the question. But as soon as it appeared, it disappeared and was replaced by a calm and collected facade. "Of course not! There isn't anything wrong. I am only heading to the kingdoms to see if I can get more staff. Mr NATO has quite a bit on his hands already," UN's answer seemed to satisfy the student as they sat back down. "Any other questions?" he asked, looking about. There weren't any.

"Well then, you can all be dismissed. The rest of today will be a free day but the year 1s may want to start getting yourselves familiarised with the layout of the school. Other than that, there's nothing else. Have a good day everyone!"

We all rushed out of the hall as students split up into their respective cliques. Even the year 1s and already decided who would be whose friend and enemy. I sighed internally. No prizes for guessing which group I fell into on my first day here back when I was a year 1. Not wanting to waste the rest of the day cooped in my room, I decided to head to the library.

I quickly walked past the students and all fell silent as I walked by. A few Year 1s were in front of me and when they saw me, their eyes widened as they scuttled to the side. Great. These people hardly knew me and they were already scared. You kids really judge a book by its cover huh? I really couldn't wait to graduate. Turning around the corner, I soon exited from the view of the staring eyes. My shoulders which had been tense the whole time finally relaxed as I let out a sigh. Allowing my posture to slump a bit, I began to climb to the library on the 2nd floor.

The library's peace and quiet was just what I needed after UN's speech. It was empty and devoid of life save for the librarian who was sitting quietly at her desk playing sudoku. Walking towards the fiction section, I quickly found a cosy corner next to a window and picked out a random crime thriller book. Once I was comfortable, I flipped open the book and allowed myself to be swept away into the fictional world.

*

I stayed in the library until it was almost dinnertime. If I had the choice, I would have continued to stay on but the librarian forced me to go. "You must eat Prince Germany," she insisted while ushering me out. I sighed and shot her a pleading look. She was not moved and forcefully pushed me out of my safe haven. "You can come back and read later when you finish eating. Now go," she urged me. Not wanting to fight with her, I nodded reluctantly and dragged myself to the dining hall.

The atmosphere in the dining hall was a complete 180 from the library. The boisterous sound of people talking rang in my ears as soon as I entered. After I took my food, I went to find my usual seat at the back of the dining hall. To my surprise, Singapore was there.

"Oh...I didn't realise you were here..." I trailed off, feeling uneasy. Why was he here? Did you need something from me? Or was he going to proclaim me as his enemy? Some students had done that before. Singapore smiled at me as he said, "I hope you don't mind me sitting here. I...I just wanted to ask you some questions. If you don't mind of course!"

I blinked before answering hurriedly, "Of course not! Of course not." Singapore relaxed a little bit as I set down my tray. We lapsed into silence and I noticed a few countries looking at us with a questioning gaze. I kept my head down as I slowly ate my food.

"Why do you and Poland hate each other?"

The sudden question made me pause. Slowly setting down my fork, I tried to find a proper answer. Do I bullshit my way through it or tell him the truth? Or ignore him? What's a good answer? Opening my mouth, I shut it again. Singapore cocked his head as he looked at me. I felt sweat drip down my back as I struggled to answer the simple yet hard question.

Just be truthful, West advised me. Easy for her to say. She never had to personally deal with this. All she was was my conscience. Germany's right. This boy's being too nosy! Ignore him, East snapped back. I groaned internally. Why was I unable to answer?

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," Singapore broke my train of thought. Shaking my head, I quickly blurted out, "No! I...I..." My voice trailed off again as I tried to come up with an excuse. A very sorry one that is. Maybe I could say that he lost in a test–who am I kidding, everyone should have a pretty basic idea of why Poland hates me.

"Does it have to do with the war?" Singapore asked cautiously. Miserably, I nodded. "Poland and I aren't exactly enemies. More of I'm his enemy. He hasn't forgiven me for what Vater did during the war," I smiled grimly, "But who can blame him? Vater did tear off his wings, the source of freedom. And I sort of played a part." Singapore looked at me in shock.

"You what?! How could you?!" he hissed loudly, rising from his seat. Raising my hands, I asked him to calm down. Begrudgingly, he sat back down, arms crossed. Slowly, I recounted that fateful day. When I was done, Singapore's face was paler. "Are you okay? Maybe I shouldn't have told you about this. I must have brought up some trauma," I stopped myself from saying anything further, afraid to tip Singapore over the edge. After a brief silence, Singapore sighed and shook his head. "It's...no it's...fine. I just got reminded of some...things," he rubbed his wrist nervously. Things equating to whatever the hell J.E did during the war to him and Malaysia. I felt guilt weigh down heavily on me. We fell into a reflective kind of quiet before Singapore asked, "Have you ever tried to apologise to Poland?"

I let out a short and harsh sounding laugh, "You think I haven't tried? He hates me Singapore. The last thing he'd do is listen to the enemy!" Singapore sighed and muttered something under his breath. "Could you try again?" he asked and I shook my head furiously.

Singapore tried to ask again and I decided it was time to stand my ground. "Look, can you just stop? What's with you and getting me and Poland to be friends? Poland hates my guts and there is no way he'll ever accept my apology," irritation seeped through my tone, "I suggest that you stop trying to get us to be friends. All you'll do is get hurt in the long run both physically and mentally." Singapore gaped at me and I could see panic creeping up on him. Not wanting to deal with it any longer, I decided to leave.

"WAIT!" Singapore chased after me as I exited the dining hall. Students looked on curiously and I saw some people's hands exchanging money with one another. Okay, seriously? Barely one day I've known this kid and people are already shipping me with him? What the frick is wrong with these people? Stopping, I turned around and stared at the short country.

"Please, let me tell you something. I promise after this, we can put this whole questioning about Poland behind us," Singapore pleaded, eyes big as he clasped his hands together.

I stepped away from him, back turned. "Please! I swear I'm doing this for the greater good! Just let me explain please Germany!" desperation tinged Singapore's voice. I sighed softly, relenting as I turned to face him. I'll admit it, I was pretty curious with Singapore's statement.

"Fine, let's go back to the dorms and I'll see what you have to say." 

A/N: Ah, more questions are arising. Who thinks the threat's going to be revealed to Germany? 

Also, y'all can suggest better chapter titles because I seriously can't with them. Maybe I'll change them after this book is over but if you think the chapter titles can change, please tell me in the comments! 

One last thing, I know of some...stuff has been going on Wattpad recently and frankly speaking, I'm just a kid here who wants to share their writing so I'm not going into a full rant. But just remember, STAY SAFE! If anything weird is going on, report it. 
Let's try to make Wattpad a safe space for all.  

再见哦！