Chapter 3 of A Midsummer Night's Mischief
Huff…Huff….
Korea placed a hand on the side of his own dwelling to steady himself after traveling almost non-stop from Japan to Korea. There wasn’t any need to rush, but Korea felt it necessary to return to his homeland so he could more comfortably ponder the situation. Numbed with a dearth of energy and the lingering shock of his obtained information, his hand swung the door open. His flats shuffled him to his bedroom and Korea lay down on the fluffy mattress, eyes glaring at the ceiling.
“What should I do now?” the question stung bitterly in his mind. There were so many options buzzing in his thought process, yet none of them seemed appealing. Stay here and wait for Greece and Japan to elope. Spill their secret to every country in the world. Get Aniki to fall in love with you regardless of this. Punch a pillow because this is all so freaking overwhelming.
He gladly followed the last option’s plan. When his fist uncurled, he nestled himself in the upholstery recently victim of his physical abuse. He exhaled, the breath quivering ever so slightly. “I don’t want to just wait around… That’s a no-brainer,” he mumbled. “but there isn’t much else I can do. Unless I can come up with some other way to get Aniki’s attention away from Japan…” Korea shifted onto his side.
His eyebrows flicked upward as a sudden idea invigorated in his mind. “What if Aniki knew about Greece and Japan? He would be extremely depressed…..” Korea’s face lightened as the though blossomed in his head. “So depressed that….he would turn to anyone for comfort…turn to me for comfort.”
He abruptly sat up, his eyes sparkling. “I would make him feel better though these hard times, and in time we would fall in love!!!!” Korea’s imagination leaked into his ideas. “It’s foolproof!” He leaped off his bed and posed triumphantly in the square middle of the floor. “I will tell China about the eloping and that will help him see the love he has for me!”
Within himself, at the edges of his sanity, a meek voice called out pleading to Korea-begging him to stop and rethink his brilliant plan, but that voice couldn’t hinder the decision Korea had already made. It was completely helpless to watch the rest of him gather some supplies, compress them into a duffel bag and head out to China.
*~*~*
Red orbs flicked down to a wristwatch.
The second hand had long since passed the 3 mark and now inched its way to 4. By that time, the rest of the company he was expecting should have been crowding around him, discussing their big project, but nooooo. Something had to be higher on their priority lists.
“Prussia!”
The sound of his name brought his eyes up from the clock’s face. Lithuania waved to him from the other side of the woodland clearing, his shoulder length dusky-brown hair lightly swaying in the summer breeze. He sprinted over to the albino, four other countries following suit. The aforementioned nation stopped in front of the Prussian, panting. “Sorry about our lateness, but Poland was taking a long time getting dressed,” He shot an irritated glare at his blonde friend.
Poland made a slight frown. “Well, I, like, put a lot of thought into my apparel. I wouldn’t want to be totally strange-looking.”
Prussia folded his arms over his chest, snorting contemptuously. He didn’t consider a pink shirt and long frilly skirt “normal”, but for Poland, many odd styles could be easily considered average. “Anyway…” he glanced at Lithuania, “we might as well get started on the play.”
Lithuania nodded and pulled a blue backpack from off his shoulders and held the sack in front of him. He unzipped it, shuffled through its contents and pulled out five scripts, each with lines highlighted in a rainbow of colors. “Okay. I’ll call each of you by name and then tell you your part.” Lithuania explained the procedure with an uncanny sense of authority many didn’t think Lithuania possessed.
“Hey! Aren’t you going to tell us the name of the performance first?”
A light flush of embarrassment coated the timid nation’s cheeks. “That would be a good thing to do,” he glanced at the title written on the cover page of one of the scripts. “It’s called A Very Tragic Comedy About the Horrible Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe.”
“That’s a long name,” Latvia’s sheepish voice floated like a ghost amongst the rest of the party.
“Long and lame,” Prussia added scornfully. “Someone as awesome as me shouldn’t be performing something so stupid.”
“But you’re one of the main characters.”
Prussia snatched a script from Lithuania, remarkably recovering his interest in the project. His eyes scrutinized the paper until he determined his position. “I’m Pyramus?”
Lithuania could only nod in verification.
Prussia’s eyes gazed over the packet of lines, a satisfied glint to the red irises. “I guess the awesomest part would have to be played by the awesomest person, am I not right?”
The rest of the theater assembly would have loved to disagree, but none challenged the Prussian.
“Carrying on….Poland?”
The nation’s eyes met Lithuania’s “Yeah?”
“You will have the part of Thisbe,” Lithuania handed a packet to Poland.
“Thisbe…..Isn’t she, like, Pyramus’s lover?” Poland questioned, paging through the script
“Yeah. Prussia’s going to kill himself over you.”
Poland’s emerald eyes passed over Prussia. “That will be totally interesting,” he commented cheerfully.
“Estonia?”
“Here,” Estonia adjusted his spectacles as his named was called.
“You are to be Thisbe’s mother.”
Estonia made no comment; he only moved to take the packet from Lithuania’s outstretched hand.
“Latvia, you’re being Pyramus’s father,” A packet was in Latvia’s possession, “and I’ll be Thisbe’s father.
“What about me? I have a part, da?” Russia’s question had Latvia trembling violently, a definite indication of his trepidation. All this time, the Russian had been tacitly observing the conversation so his abrupt question (though not at all loud) was enough to startle the others, reminding them of his presence.
Lithuania mirrored Latvia’s fearful appearance. “W-well….You are playing the lion, but you don’t have to worry about lines or anything…You just need to roar.”
Russia smiled innocently. “Okay! I don’t mind.”
Prussia furrowed his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t I make a better lion than Russia?” he inquired openly.
“What do you mean?” Estonia asked, eyes curious as to why Prussia had brought this up.
“Well, first off, Russia’s way too, erm,-” Prussia screwed up his face, as if trying to find the appropriate phrasing. “-bulky to fit into a costume and secondly, he would scare everyone to pieces as a lion!”
“But Russia wouldn’t be a very good Pyramus, “ Latvia pointed out.
“I could play both parts.”
The rest of the gathered Nations gazed with disapproval at the Prussian, but the albino seemed to be oblivious to their reactions. “The lion and Pyramus aren’t on stage at the same time, right? So there aren’t any conflictions.”
“How would you, like, change costumes? I mean there’s, like, no time between the lion’s exit and Pyramus’s entrance to, like, get dressed.”
“Maybe not for you, Mr. I-Need-One-Hour-To-Put-On-Clothes!” Prussia growled, lips curled into a frown.
Lithuania’s face was the color of a ripe tomato by the time Prussia had said this. The sheepish brunette looked as if prepared to burst in rage, but he only stuttered: “It’s approaching 4:05. That’s the time we agreed to end by, right?”
Prussia glanced at his watch, verifying Lithuania’s claim. “I guess it is. Well, we have to end today, but we should meet tomorrow.”
Lithuania nodded, seeming to be relieved. “Same time, same place?”
The group gave their silent consent and dispersed.
*~*~*
“Well, aru?”
The Japanese man heaved a sigh, avoiding China’s gaze. “He will be thinking about it,” he replied quickly, as if avoiding the real outcome of the proposition.
China raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “So…he didn’t like the plan, did he, aru?” the Nation ventured a guess, which happened to be right on the nail.
Japan’s boss shook his head solemnly. “I tried to convince him, but Japan refused.”
China immediately looked crestfallen at the news. China had held strong doubts that the island nation would bear even a remote consent to the idea that overpowered any hope for success, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Japan had miraculously acquiesced. “He’s hard to persuade, aru…” he commented lightly; if anybody knew how set in stone Japan could become, China was the expert.
Japan’s superior’s lips formed into strange smile. “I wouldn’t be so hopeless, China. I have ways to coerce.”
Alarm rippled through China’s expression. “I don’t want him to be forced, aru,” he cried. Having Japan unwillingly marry him would be the worst alternative, especially with Japan’s independent mindset.
“Oh, he’s not being forced at all.” The middle-aged man gave the nation a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”
China nodded, but he felt the boss’s words were shallow and wispy, only said to blind the truth. He exhaled deeply when Japan’s boss departed the room, allowing him to drift into his own thoughts.
“What exactly is Japan’s superior planning, aru?” China puffed out his cheeks in mild frustration “I wish I knew, aru…..That way I could calcu-“
The buzz of the doorbell knocked China into reality. His thin eyebrows furrowed in perplexity. He hadn’t been expecting any other company today. Could another nation require something of him at short notice? He groaned lightly, not willing to shovel another morsel of problems on his already cluttered plate. He stood up and shuffled to the door, peering through the peep hole at his unheralded visitor.
Two deep brown eyes stared at the wood door, arms, buried somewhere in voluminous sleeves, folded impatiently over a purple jekgori.
China had half a mind to ignore the Korean on his doorstep, but the manners that had been welded into his brain over the eons nagged at him to be courteous.
China opened the door, silently gazing up and down his younger brother, before asking: “Can I help you, aru?”
Korea nodded, a smile bringing enthusiasm to his facial features. “Well, actually, it’s what I can help you with.”
China tilted his head to the side, confusion dominating his expression. He slid out of the doorway allowing Korea in while he aimed to guess what exactly the taller man could possibly have to offer him.
China gestured to a wooden backed chair for Korea to sit in, but his visitor declined the seat, seeming to be content to stand and pace in the living room.
“So, what do you want to tell me, aru?” China inquired, holding the desire to cut to the chase.
Hope fluttered in his chest. He had successfully gotten China’s undivided attention. “Now to play around!” he thought, internally beaming at his plan. “You know the Greece and Japan rumors? That they’re together and stuff?” he threw out the pair casually, as if merely aiming to strike up a decent conversation.
The slight interest in China’s eyes was swatted away the instant Greece and Japan were mentioned. “Why are you bringing those two up, aru?” he asked stingily. “I don’t know anything more than rumors, aru.”
For the briefest of moments, Korea’s confidence submerged, but he regained it swiftly, reminding himself that China wouldn’t be all that happy at the mention of the pair. He strolled slowly over to China, shortening the floor area between them in gradual amounts. “I happened to stumble upon the two of them together, to be honest. Thus the rumors are true,” The last statement was, of course, an obvious conclusion, but Korea needed China to feel as depressed as possible. Otherwise, the probability of love blossoming between them from both sides would be as slim as Italy defeating England and France combined without any outside assistance.
A pang of loss rang in China’s heart. If Korea spoke the truth, the chances of Japan accepting whatever terms his boss had laid out had decreased drastically. China, who had been stationary for the last few minutes, settled into the chair he had offered to Korea, the wind blown out of him. His face became pallid with a sense of failure. “T-they are, aru?” his voice barely sounded like it belonged to him.
Korea nodded solemnly. “I wouldn’t lie to you, aniki,“ Here, he supported his weight on his claves in front of China, tilting his body toward the elder Nation. “Not even to save my life,” Korea’s face filled China’s sight and he found himself smashing his back into the seat, trying to get as much distance between them as physically possible.
China squeezed his feet onto the seat. “W-Why-“
“There is more,” Korea’s voice overruled China’s. “I also have learned one thing about them that I was really the only reason I came.”
China blinked, apprehensive of the coming piece of knowledge. His arms squeezed his thighs closer to his chest. “What, aru?” the whisper, hoarse with fear.
“They decided to elope.” Korea gave the sentence out straight, in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he held no concept at how detrimental the side-effects would be for China.
China gaped at the statement that just departed Korea’s mouth. “You didn’t really say that, aru. It’s all just a misunderstanding, aru,” he replied, voice beseeching for a different truth.
But Korea’s face was as serious as if cut from stone. He seemed too impassive to be joking, eyes too worn to be jesting. China created more of a fetal position in the chair, rocking slightly, searching around him for solace. Everything he had planned…gone.
Korea placed a gentle hand on China’s shoulder, the other resting on a knee. “I know this is hard, China, but…they’re really happy together. Personally, I don’t understand why this is all so...devastating to you.” Korea scanned China’s drained face, looking for some sort of indication he had at least placated the elder Nation a microscopic amount.
Color slowly resurfaced in China’s cheek, but not out of comfort. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to have a brother with me, aru! My family doesn’t give me any respect, and I wish that you all would stop pretending I wasn’t part of your life for at least a little bit of it, aru!” His eyes smoldered with years of accumulated rage.
Korea stated to panic. China should be crying into his shoulder right now, and he should be rubbing the former’s back. A brief surge of imagination produced a scene of him offering China a way he could make him forget his problem and China lustfully agreeing, but Korea returned to reality swiftly. He leaned forward even more, until the fabric of his clothes brushed against China’s knees. “I give you respect, aniki. I don’t think that you aren’t important, either. The-“ Korea had no idea why, but his throat had dried itself in a matter of milliseconds. “-the truth is,” Here, Korea collected China’s ponytail and weaved the brown hair in between his fingers. “I want to be that brother living in your house,” Their countenances were centimeters apart, close enough for Korea to quickly peck at China’s fresh lips before he protested…
Two hands gripped Korea’s wrist in theirs and threw them away like two pieces of garbage. “What the heck are you DOING, aru?” China leapt to his feet, expression in utter surprise. “Don’t touch me like that, aru,”
Korea scrambled to his own feet, slightly dazed. China’s reaction had not been anticipated and therefore, no backup had been preparing in the event the plan failed (which it had in Korea’s eyes.) “I’m sorry, but I wanted to comfort you,” he apologized.
China shouldered past his visitor, turning to face a carpeted staircase. “Pulling on my hair is not how I’m calmed down, aru,” he whispered, his voice beyond irritation. He ascended the stairs, and Korea was left to listen to footstep pad on creaking floorboards and a wooden door close with a low thunk.
Korea collapsed to the floor as soon as China had moved upstairs. Normally, he wouldn’t have hesitated to pursue his crush into his sleeping quarters, but Korea’s spoiled confidence impeded further action. He had no idea what thoughts China was entertaining or how to turn the situation to his advantage. In shorter terms, he was in a pickle with no way out.
He kept to himself for around fifteen minutes, until China’s presence was heralded by a slight squeak of wood in the direction of the staircase. Korea looked up, perplexed at the backpack now slung from China’s shoulders, a panda gnawing peaceful on one of the bamboo shoots protruding from one of the mesh side pockets. “You look like you’re going on a long journey,” Korea remarked for a lack of better conversation.
“That’s because I am, aru,” China’s face grew stiff with a fierce determination. “I need to find Greece and Japan and stop them…Too much is on the line for this to happen, aru!”
Korea heart leaped in horror. He didn’t plan for Greece and Japan to be restrained by any means. The surge of panic was briefly toned down once Korea reminded himself that China had no idea where the couple’s destination was or if they were even traveling. Even so, he still needed to at least attempt to make China change his mind about the ordeal. “Are you sure that’s the right thing to do, aniki? I mean…They really want to be married to each other…” he tugged on China’s sleeve, as if the motion would draw him away from the prospect of ruining Japan and Greece’s lives.
“Yeah, but politics don’t. I don’t,” Korea opened his mouth, but China didn’t give him an opportunity to interject. “They can’t possibly be married in any case, aru. They are in different continents and to commute that far just to say hi, aru?” China shook his head, an air of sadness in the gesture. “It’s too much for any nation to handle, aru. If Japan could somehow move, closer to Greece, then fine, aru. But he can’t move his island any more than England can, aru,”
With that, China whisked the front door open and exited the house, making sure Korea was no longer inside before shutting it. Korea felt tears pool in his eyes, threatening to rain down his cheeks. He had made everything worse, not only for him, but for the couple who had placed their trust in him to not even whisper about their plans. So much for having China fall for him!
In his self-pity, Korea failed to notice China already speeding away toward the west until the aforementioned country was a good meter from Korea’s location.
Korea’s heart thumped nervously. China couldn’t do this and Korea still had a slim chance to at least spend time with him, even if he was not welcome to accompany China on his quest. With no time to allow himself to argue about it, Korea broke into a sprint, calling China’s name as he tried to catch up.
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Footnotes:
Section 1: See Section 3 for explanation in reference to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Section 2: Here is where we see some new characters! In the book, there were three setting going on at the same time. The first two chapters is the first setting. The group of nations in the second section is the second setting. Basically, this is where most of the comedy occurs.
Section 3: This part, along with Section 1, was not in the original plot. It was implied that Helena (Korea) told Demetrius (China) about Hermia (Japan) and Lysander’s (Greece) eloping, but I felt the need to put in just how it happened in my eyes.
Characters:
Prussia-Nick Bottom: This character works perfectly for Prussia, because Bottom thinks he can do everything and that he should be in charge. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom messes up words and confuses meaning to make them funny. I don’t think that will appear much here due to Prussia’s personality, but I might sneak a few word mess-ups in latter chapters.
Poland- Francis Flute: Poland was chosen for this part because he’s the only Hetalia character I know that wouldn’t give a hard time about playing a girl in a play. Flute actually didn’t want to be Thisbe because he was trying to grow a beard, but Quince (Lithuania) assured him he’d be wearing a mask. (Hmmm….Francis Flute has a beard….similar to a certain Frenchman we all know and love that just happens to share the character’s name.)
Lithuania- Peter Quince: I find it odd that I put Lithuania as the leader of the trope when his personality conflicts with that, but hey- Liet needs his time to shine, yes?
Latvia-Tom Snout: Latvia’s here because of the part his character performs in the play (which changes during the course of the story).
Estonia-Robin Starveling: I really don’t have that much of a reason why Estonia has this part. I needed someone to fill the gap and he worked.
Russia-Snug: I placed our beloved Russia here because he gets to be a lion later on. I find that a perfect fitting, don’t you?
And that’s all, folks! Please comment and thanks for reading!!!!
~Curlee1029