Brotherhood (New Zealand Countryhumans)

Breakfast

New Zealand's POV:

I woke up the next morning on a small mattress wrapped in a blue blanket. I sat up on the mattress, nervous and confused about what I should do next. Five minutes passed when UK came into the room with a clean set of clothes.

"Better get change into something cleaner looking," UK said. I had been wearing the same old t-shirt and shorts for the last few years. He handed me a light, blue, button-up shirt and some light, brown shorts. I remembered the box of pigment in my pocket and transferred it to my new shorts. After I got changed, I looked in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. I looked completely different. My flag had changed to blue with UK's flag in the left corner and 4 red stars, outline in white, in the shape of a cross.

UK lead me downstairs after I was done looking in the mirror. He stopped outside a room and told me to wait until he said to come in. So I waited while he entered the kitchen. A sweet smell was coming from the kitchen that made my mouth water.

"What are you making?". I overheard the conversation going on inside.

"I'm making pancakes for everyone," said another voice.

"Where are your brothers?"

"Ame is still in bed and Aussie is under the table"

"Right... Can you gather them up I have someone I want them to meet,"

"Sure."

I waited outside for a couple of minutes when I was finally called in. I felt my body fill with fear as I walked in and saw three other boys lined up next to each other. They all appeared older than me which made me uncomfortable. I wasn't used to being the youngest. There was an awkward silence until UK told me to introduce myself. I hadn't spoken to him before.

"Ko au Aote-" I was hit on the back of the head (I am Aote-). I looked behind me and saw UK giving me a dark stare. "E-English?" I asked nervously.

"Yes. English" He said just as darkly as his stare. I felt like crying, but I held back the tears and continued.

"I-I am N-New Zealand," I said finally. The other boys went one-by-one, introducing themselves.

"My name is Canada." Said the tallest boy. He seemed nice but smelt sickly sweet even though I was two metres away from him.

"I'm America." He stated in a funny accent. He wore dark sunglasses and had the smile of a trouble maker which made me want to stay away from him.

"Sup mate, I'm Australia" He was the shortest out of the three but had the biggest personality, not to mention the accent. "You can call me Aussie,"

"Calm down, Down-under," America joked.

"Never!" he said loudly while playfully punching America in the arm. Canada just rolled his eyes.

"Let's have breakfast," Canada said, motioning me towards the table. He put a plate of pancakes in front of me. I looked around for something to put on them. I spotted some golden syrup in the open cupboard so I got down from the table to grab it but Canada stopped me and handed me a bottle of maple syrup. I poured a bit of it on my pancakes as Canada watch me try it.

"Delicious right?" He asked. It was more than delicious, it was heavenly. I was about to respond when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," America said making his way to the front door. "Mom!".

"Why, hello America," another posh accent came, but it was different to UK's. It was cheerful.

"Welcome home, France dear," UK said "Meet your new son" This France lady walked into the kitchen holding shopping bags and America clinging to her waist.

"Oh yes," She put her bags down and looked at me with a sweet smile "Hello my son. I am France, your new mother. And you are?".

"New Zealand," UK said for me.

"Well, it is lovely to meet you New Zealand. I bought you some clothes," She said to me as she picked up one of her plastic bags and gave it to me. I looked inside and saw some black pants, a pale blue sweater, a blue scarf, a few t-shirts and a hoodie.

"Th-thanks, France" I muttered. She smiled and said,

"Just call me Mum". Australia looked annoyed. He was the only person who wasn't enjoying her company.

Australia's POV:

I wasn't expecting a new brother with my breakfast, but what do you know. I didn't like how he looked a lot like me, but I still felt bad for him. UK can get angry if you don't use English and New Zealand only seemed to know the basics. He was very nervous when he met us. At least I'm not the youngest any more.

I never really liked France. She acted like your mother when she really wasn't. She didn't like me bringing my snakes and spiders into the house and she would often get angry at me when I called her 'precious son' Diabetes.

After breakfast, Dad asked me to take New Zealand to his new room. He was very quiet and only spoke if he was asked something. When he entered the room the first thing he did was open the window and look outside. Out the window was the backyard. It was big enough to play footy and cricket. Which gave me an idea.

"Hey, New Zealand, maybe I could teach how to play a few sports later," I offered. he smiled and nodded. New Zealand sat on the bed and patted down his pockets. He started to silently panic as he looked around rapidly.

"Woah, mate, calm down. What's wrong?" I asked grabbing his arm to get his attention.

"My battleship. I can't find it!" he said, fearfully.

"I'm sure Dad knows where it is," I said trying to calm him down. "Wait here, I'll go and ask him."

I walked downstairs and asked Dad about New Zealand's battleship. And to my surprise he actually had it. He opened a small draw and pulled it out. He gave it to me along with a small photo. I walked back up to New Zealand's room, which was right next to mine. I gave New Zealand his battleship and asked him about the photo.

He pointed to the little boy and girl in the photo and said: "it's my sister and I". I pointed at the words on the back of the photo.

"What does this mean?"

"It was a promise," He said sadly.

"Oh," I said simply, "anyway, can I call you Zea or NZ or some other nickname"

"Nickname?" he said confused.

"A nickname, you know another name you use," I tried to explain.

"Oh, like Aotearoa?" He said.

"Any shorter names?" I asked, trying to get something more out of him.

"Kiwi?" he said after thinking for a few seconds

"Have others called you Kiwi before?" I asked.

"Mhmm" he mumbled as he nodded. This is the most he had talked since he arrived. We ended up talking for a while about our parents. My other Dad was Ireland and he only visited on rare occasions, but by the sound of Kiwi's Dad, it doesn't seem like he would be coming over for a while.

Several hours passed and Kiwi and I were outside kicking around the footy. Kiwi kept calling it a rugby ball but we played together until late when we were called in for dinner.

Dinner was long and awkward as always, but Kiwi excused himself early and went to bed. After dinner, I went upstairs to go to bed but I decided to check in on Kiwi first. I knocked on the door but there was no reply so I opened the door slowly to see him sleeping. 

But he wasn't there. Only an empty bed and an open window.