Chapter 56: Pointless Arguments

The 'break' could hardly be called that. Three days of people being sicker than shit, and any sight of anything that so much as resembled blood caused a massive relapse. I was bored. So was Yang, which was a bad thing in any situation. Luciano also being bored was yet another problem.

The three of us were the only ones that were completely okay by Day 2. Japan was mostly okay by that point, due to me having suppressed his memories of the event—thank Time—and the 2Ps were mostly recovered by lunch on that same day.

Everyone else? Eh... not so much. And on day 3, I'd gotten to the point of trying to force them to get over it. "Fucker, we'll never get through these Timedamned memories."

"You're telling me. Though it is amusing to see them all so unnerved by pasta." Yang replied mentally with a chuckle.

"Italien... How can you eat pasta after... that?" Germany turned green as I wiped some red sauce off my face.

"You have to remember, while that's the goriest loop I've had, I have had other gore-fest loops. Not to mention the general death, blood, and decay of that hell. To be honest, I'm just used to it by now." I replied easily.

"We could smell it though..." China swallowed down what I was sure was bile.

"And I couldn't? Remember, Luciano and I have eidetic memories—we can't forget... anything." I reminded them. "So while living it a second time was somewhat traumatic, it was no more traumatic than the thousands of other times we've lived through it in our nightmares."

"The smell... the sight... the sound... the feel of the hot blood splattering our faces and arms... the taste of the iron in the air..." Luciano shuddered. "We can never forget those cursed memories." The room was quiet, and the nations had somewhat guilty looks on their faces. I knew they were beating themselves up over 'being so weak', but honestly... what did they expect? They were only learning this for the first time...

"I think I'm honestly grateful, though." I admitted aloud.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Without it, we would've taken a lot longer." Luciano agreed.

"Or surrendered." Yang chimed in.

"Don't even joke about that." I felt an icy chill run down my spine.

"I came close, once..." Luciano closed his eyes for a moment, and I shot him a startled look.

"You... almost... surrendered?" I stared, slack-jawed.

"It wasn't my proudest moment." He admitted.

"I helped." Yang bumped his shoulder.

"Only because you're an insufferable pile of steaming snow-shit who doesn't know how to do anything other than rile other people up." Luciano argued back.

"But riling you up saved you." Yang shot back, causing Luciano to fall silent.

"Surrender? To whom?" England tilted his head, confused.

"Er..."

"You can't say?" Japan ventured a guess.

"Si." Luciano and I spoke in sync.

"I suppose... Perhaps getting back to the memories would be a good idea?" Hungary hesitantly spoke up, unsure of how the group would react.

"It's only been three days!" Austria argued.

"It's already been three days." South Korea corrected with a heavy sigh. "We may be dealing with the after effects, but in all honesty, we were lucky to get a break at all."

"You think I got a break after that? I had to go right back to the Meeting Place and try my best to act normal." I deadpanned, making the room flinch a bit—much to my internal satisfaction.

"Don't worry so much." Luciano smirked. "It'll get a bit better before it gets worse again. It's like a battlefield—Not really any hills, but you can still climb out of the ditches you fall into."

"THAT DOESN'T HELP!!" Jason bristled.

"I suppose that scene might've been too much for the war-hardened Jason A. Jones." I teased, making him turn red in anger.

"Here we go again." Luciano sighed, stopping his brother from interfering. "Let them go at it. It'll help them blow off steam, at the very least."

"Plus it's entertaining~!" Yang grinned, dodging a swat from Luciano.

"At the very least, I'll step in when they draw their weapons. Can't have Jason dying, now that he's mortal, at least." Luciano shrugged.

"Y-you're way too calm about this..." Flavio sweatdropped as he eyed myself and Jason hurling vicious insults and even a few fists at one another. He pretended not to see the knife that I threw at the offending asshole.

"I am thinking that that is being enough." Russia stepped in, and I made myself stop, if only so I wouldn't accidentally hurt him.

"Che." I sighed, mildly disappointed. "It was just getting good, too."

"Come on, we both knew you were only at, what, half power?" Yang smirked. Jason, covered in sweat, glared bloody murder.

"Forty percent, actually. I'm stronger than you think." I matched Yang's smirk with my own.

"You two are insane." Luciano sighed.

"Don't pretend like you aren't part of our insanity~" I sung cheerfully as Yang and I wrapped an arm around him from either side.

"He's got a point, fratello." Flavio chuckled.

"Leave me out of this!" Luciano complained as he struggled futilely against our hold.

"Never." Yang whispered menacingly into his ear, causing Luciano to gulp. The 2Ps just looked on with amused smirks and smiles on their faces.

"Not often we see King Luciano so helpless." Markus observed.

"No kidding." Kuro agreed.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Markus glared.

"I've been here the whole fucking time, but my stupid 1P made me keep my damn comments to myself." Kuro sent a glare over to Japan, who promptly ignored it with practiced ease.

"Why is your 2P so irritated with you?" France asked, curious.

"Because I made him be quiet for once. And I beat him at Go... And Shogi." Japan smirked as Kuro glowered.

"Barely." The red-eyed nation growled between clenched teeth.

"Careful, Kuu-chan... don't break a tooth." Japan quipped before quickly ducking under Kuro's katana slash. "Ah~ You'll hurt someone if you swing your blade around so carelessly." The 1Ps stared at Japan in shock.

"He's... being so rude... I didn't know he had it in him." Canada blinked, only to have his brother send him a grin.

"You obviously haven't played enough videogames with him, then. He can come up with some very creative insults."

"Kii-chan..." Kuro growled out. "Shut the fuck up."

"Kii-chan?" Prussia mouthed to me.

"Yeah, they've known each other since childhood, much like Luci and I have." I smirked as he flushed at his nickname.

"A-and don't call me that, konoyaro!!" Kuro bristled and flushed.

"Oh my god. He's a tsundere." Jason gaped. "I've never seen Kuro so... frazzled."

"THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT, YOU BASTARD?!" Kuro shouted, face bright red.

"That's more like the Japan we know." Louis sighed in relief. "Though who'd have thought that he would be a tsundere?"

"Always pegged him for a yandere myself." Markus chimed in.

"Okay, okay. Everyone calm down." Oliver stepped in, a serene smile on his face. "No need for someone to lose an eye~"

"No... ingredients are difficult to come by these days." Kuro smirked, looking at Japan with a smirk.

"Hai, but I'm not sure if yours haven't spoiled with your old age." Japan smirked wickedly as the 1Ps choked in shock.

"You're as old as me baka."

"True, but I still got under your skin, Kuu-chan."

"For the love of Time, they fight like you and Yang." Luciano sweatdropped.

"It's entertaining when it's someone else." I chuckled under my breath.

"Can we just get back to the stupid memories?" Yang asked, drawing the room's attention. "I mean, if you want to stand around and argue, be my guest, but... well, that doesn't get you anywhere during meetings, now does it?"

"F-fair enough." Prussia scratched the back of his head. "Well, Ita? What do you think? Time to continue?"

"Si." I nodded, as I opened the door. "On to the next memory."

A/N: Hey~ So it's just a setup chapter; sorry about that. -_- But it's still new material~! So this was originally going to be Loop stuff, but I thought a lighter chapter was due. And I remembered that Hungary, Austria, and S. Korea are still there, so we got to see them (And Kuu-chan~). Sorry that I'm such a forgetful person! ^^;

Anyhow, I'm on day 4 of learning the Ocarina~! I've already kinda figured out Bad Apple, iNSaNiTY, Wilde Rose (Faun), Shepherd of Fire, Six Trillion Years and an Overnight Story, Lugia's Song, Emma's Lullaby, Hated By Life Itself, You're Gonna Go Far Kid, Nightmare, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, The Phoenix (Fallout boy), and Amazing Grace. I think that's all I've figured out... OH! DotÄ, Numa Numa, and Despacito.

Look forward to the next chapter, cause it's back to the loops~! :D

Words: 1,346

Pages: 3

Posted: Friday, July 12, 2019

This time, I can take the credit for the pic~ I drew it all by myself! My first true digital drawing, too! I'm so proud of myself!! ^^ And yes, that's the Bloodbath Loop in the Journal's entry (left page). I used my own physical copy as a reference.