Zubicu- a Hetalia fanfic.

Chapter 25

When I wake, I'm in my bed, the blankets pulled over me. The cushion, the kituna fruit one with my flag stiched onto the top that Romano made for me for my birthday, lies under my head, holding it up. The windows are open slightly, the curtains flapping in the breeze. The small TV I have is on, on some random program that Romano normally likes to watch. I have to admit, I like it too.

Speaking of which, I notice a figure sitting in a chair by my bed, watching the TV. But I'm too weak to turn my head to see who it is. So I just relax and go to watching the program. Eventually, the person turns their head to face me. "You're awake." I sigh in relief- it's just Romano.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I say, wincing at the sound of how weak my voice sounds. He looks at me, concerned.

"You don't sound OK. I'll get you a drink." he says, standing up. I try to raise a hand to stop him, but it causes me immense pain and I can't lift it. Gritting my teeth so I don't cry out, I set my hand back down gently. I growl in frustration at the fact that I'm just so useless, and turn my attention to the TV.

Eventually, I hear footsteps coming upstairs, except they're a lot faster than they should be. Romano bursts into the room, slamming the door against the wall so hard it bounces back and nearly hits him in the face. He marches over to my bed, throwing off the covers- luckily I'm in the clothes China gave me, my signature uniform- and gently picks me up bridal-style as I scramble to grab the cushion he made. I throw my arms round his neck, scared of him dropping me, squshing the pillow between us as fear and shock numbs the intense pain from my wounds. "Wh-what are you doing?!" I cry. He shushes me.

"There are people here under Russia's command who want to hurt you. Spain told me to get you out of here while he distracts them." he says simply. I nod and bury my face into his chest as he runs, noticing he already has my satchel on. Peeping inside I notice my war belt and two swords are shoved in there. I smile, and relax back down, allowing him to carry me. He runs downstairs, and out the back door, carrying me out through the garden. He opens the back gate, runs through, and shuts it behind him, before pelting off down the street.

I have to admire his strength and stamina. I mean, I'm not the heaviest- try lifting my eldest brother and you'll see what I mean- but I'm not the lightest either. He continues to sprint down the street for goodness knows how long until we eventually come to a stop outside another house. He seems to brace himself before knocking on the door as I let my arms down from around his neck, wrapping my arms around the cushion instead. We wait there for a while, before a sudden pain sweeps through me, and with a small grunt of pain, I tense, shaking in pain and clutching onto part of Romano's jacket. He looks down at me, worried, but then the door opens to reveal America. As soon as he sees me, his eyes widen in shock.

"Dude, what happened to my little sis?" he asks Romano, looking at him like he's done something wrong.

"She got beat up by Russia again and now there are people at Spain's trying to get her. I was told to bring her to you since she's still too weak to move on her own." he says simply, glaring at him.

America nods, moving aside. "Here, bring her in. Quickly so nobody sees, though, dude!" he says. Romano nods and carries me into the house. He sets me down on the couch and I instantly cuddle the kituna pillow as best as I can. 

"You still have that? I-It can't mean that much to you, ragazza, seriously!" I look up to see Romano, his face flushed, staring down at me holding the pillow in my arms. I blink, confused, but then smile when I realize what's wrong- he's embarrassed that I actually like something he made; more importantly, that I show it. 

Tilting my head to the side, I give him a closed-eye smile to show him that it's alright. After a few minutes of silence, I open my eyes again, confused, to see him looking away from me, blushing. "S-She's kinda cute when she's like that..." he mutters to himself. I smile gently at his back, but then yawn. America comes in and talks with Romano for a bit. I'm surprised that, even from my close position to them, I can't hear any of their conversation, since neither of them are very good at keeping quiet for more than five minutes- especially big brother.

Eventually, they turn to me. I look at them, confused, until America walks to my side, carefully lifting me up the same way Romano did. He carries me upstairs to his room, and sets me down on his bed. Then he carefully pulls the blankets over me, before sitting on the bed next to me. Gently, he brushes the hair out of my face. "It's alright, Zubicu. The hero is here to protect you!" he says, giving his signature thumbs-up and wink. I giggle.

"Yeah, my hero big brother will always protect me." I say. "Right?"

He nods. "Dude, that's exactly what I just said!" he exclaims suddenly. I smile weakly at him.

"Has England been giving you lessons or something? You wouldn't realize that normally."

"Hey!" I laugh, and after a few moments, so does he. When we finally calm down, I look at him.

"So, how've you been since my party?" I ask.

"Ah, fine. This really weird guy keeps hanging out around me, though. It's kinda creepy. He looks like me, too."

Ah, crap. I guess he hasn't learnt to remember Canada yet. I quickly remind him. When I'm done, I smile.

"Right, OK. So anyway, how've you been hanging?" he asks, clearly having already forgotten. I sigh, sweatdropping, before opening my eyes and looking at him again.

"Not too good, as you can see. England broke the news to me not long after the party that Japan ditched me for Greece. So I was recovering from heartbreak up until recently." I look away as I continue. "I repeatedly think I'm over it, but then I walk into Japan again. Every time I see him, my heart breaks all over again. He's always with Greece, too, which doesn't help."

America looks sad. "Oh...."

I nod, but continue. "Then last week, I saw him again. Only the day after, when I was still recovering, Russia decides to invade me. He just came up with his pickaxe and challenged me. Of course, since I really badly want to beat him, I accepted, but he beat me up good. Then the next day he came again demanding the same thing. I refused at first, but then he threatened me, saying he'd beat you up if I didn't comply. So now every day I have to fight him in a losing battle. To top things off, he's cut off all communications to you and the others."

"So that's why I haven't been able to hear from you..." he says. "Why didn't you come visit me for help?"

I smile weakly up at him. "You know what I'm like, America. I won't contact anyone for help if I'm given the choice. Even now I'd rather die than get help."

The next thing I know, America's grabbed my shoulders, making me grit my teeth in pain. I look at him to see he's got tears in his eyes, a worried look on his face which is leaned over mine, incredibly close. I forgot he doesn't really have a sense of personal space when it comes to his little sister. "No! Zubicu, I won't let you do that! You can't die!" he yells, making me wince at the sound of his voice. "I'm going to help you no matter what."

My weak smile returns, wincing against the pain it causes. "Alright." I say quietly. He sits back and relaxes. Then, someone starts banging on the door.

"OPEN UP!!!" someone yells.

Big brother America freezes in fear.