Chapter 7: Unknown Deeds

"Eh? Morning already?" Japan yawned as he looked at the clock. It was nearly 8AM, and though he knew he'd be late to the reading today, he couldn't find the motivation to climb out of bed—something very unusual for him. He supposed that it'd just been a long few days—had it really been only a week or so since they started?—and he'd slept far too hard the night before to gain any actual rest.

Finally, he shook his head and forced himself to climb out of his very warm and extremely inviting futon. He arrived at the room about ten after eight, and wasn't too surprised to see that most of the room had yet to join them.

It was nearly nine by the time everyone was seated once more, and the book was unsealed. Japan, privately, couldn't help but mourn the lost forty-five minutes of sleep he could've gotten while the others peacefully slept on.

"All right." England said, picking up the book. "Who's starting?"

"I'll go!" Philippines volunteered. The girl was bright-eyed and wide-awake, ready for the day's proceedings.

She took the book with a grin, and opened it up to the next entry. "Dear Diary," She started, before someone interrupted her.

"Wait! Who's entry is this?" Spain asked.

"Oh, sorry!! It's Italy's!" She flushed a bit before continuing. "Dear Diary. World War Two is finally over. Germany's come back to his senses... He doesn't remember what happened... I suppose that's a good thing. He'd probably be overwhelmed with guilt if he knew... I won't tell him. If anyone asks, the scars and bruises were from battles; nothing else."

"The what?!" Romano turned on his twin with a fierce glare.

"It isn't done yet." Italy meekly added.

"I don't care. He hurt you?! I'll murder that bastard!!" Spain held him back by the collar of his jacket.

"I... I beat you?" Germany stared at Italy, aghast. "I... I don't remember..."

"Nations are heavily influenced by their leaders... especially ones with as strong of ideals as Hitler." America reminded the room heavily. "Most of us have felt it at some point or another... especially during wartime... We lose who we are."

"It was the same." Italy spoke up suddenly. "That look in your eye... it wasn't you. I know it wasn't... The fact that you didn't remember after Hitler died, is proof enough..."

"Che." Romano glared at the table. "Proof nothing... he still hurt you." He hated to admit it, but he really couldn't hold this against the Potato Bastard. Even he had felt the effects of their leader during that war.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room before Philippines continued the reading. "There's still more to the entry... I got lucky nobody noticed. Nations aren't supposed to interfere, after all, but... That man was terrible... I will never regret what I did. I will never regret assassinating Hitler."

The room choked and looked at the red-faced Italian.

"You killed Hitler?!" America gasped out in awe. "Dude, good job!" He grinned, giving his buddy a thumbs up.

"Nations aren't supposed to directly interfere like that!" Austria lectured. Sure, he hated Hitler as much as the next guy, but Nations were immortal, and were supposed to stand outside the realm of human politics for that very reason.

"I know." Italy said softly. "But I still don't regret it." He looked up, a fierce shine to his eyes—that were open for once—that the nations had never really seen before. "And I'd do it all over again, if it saved a friend."

"You're acting like a noble version of Luci, stop it. It's creepy." Romano muttered.

"Well he is my 2P, after all." Feli stuck out his tongue at his brother.

"D-danke, Italien..." Germany wasn't entirely sure how this made him feel. He was grateful to Italy for killing Hitler, but he did so against the rules... He didn't want him to get in trouble for saving his sorry weak ass. Especially after he hurt him...

"C-can we get back to the reading please? It's already been a half an hour, and we've only read one..." Canada spoke up quietly.

"Huh? Oh, okay~" Philippines grinned, before seeing the next entry. "Ooh... it's, erm... a note thingy... Italy and Romano are the Dons of the most powerful Mafia Family in Italy. They started the mafia as a way to control crime in their nation, and influence their country regardless of their leader. Both have killed countless humans to protect their ideals, and will continue to do so."

"I'm sorry? I think I heard that wrong..." Spain gave Lovino a tight smile.

"Shut up! We're allowed to do what we want with our goddamned lives!" Romano shouted angrily. "And nobody was around to teach us not to when we started it, so screw you fucking bastards!" He flipped off the angry nations in the room.

"Ve~ Maybe we should keep reading?" Italy suggested, before several nations gave him wary looks.

"Itary-kun... you've killed, too?" Japan asked, curiously. "I do the same with my Yakuza... I understand." He admitted.

"AIYAA!! You did not tell me this aru!!" China rounded on his brother, but before anyone could say anything else, the book glowed.

"E-eh!? What is this!? The next entry disappeared!!"

"Hm... Maybe it was about Japan ruling his Yakuza?" Egypt hazarded a guess.

"Yeah! Like, since these are to foster understanding and stuff between everyone, maybe since he told us of his own free-will, it didn't need to be read anymore?" Fiji guessed, pushing his white locks out of his face.

"Makes sense... I mean there wouldn't be any point in wasting our time reading about something we already know about... oh! You heard me? That makes me happy!" Canada smiled, making several nations flush with guilt. How could doing something as simple as acknowledging someone make them so happy?!

"The next one reads..." She blinked and stared at Denmark for a moment. "It's Denmark's. Dear Diary, I know it's weird, but I kinda enjoy being the creator of Lego's. I can rule the world! Though it does get annoying when they keep falling out of my hair..." The room stared at Denmark for a moment.

He sighed and rubbed his hair, causing some brightly colored Lego blocks to fall onto the table.

"THAT'S WHY THEY'RE ALWAYS IN THE SHOWER!!" Finland exclaimed, as Iceland and Norway shot him a glare.

"Do you have any idea how many times we've stepped on those around the house? I thought it was Sealand." Iceland crossed his arms.

"I've gotten sixteen lectures because of you!!" Sealand pouted, crossing his arms and Denmark flushed in embarrassment.

"S-sorry..."

"Next one is Scotland. Dear Diary... I hate it... Why did they put voice-activated elevators in my country?! They never work with my accent... I was stuck in there for an hour before someone else tried to get on. I tried everything! I can't tell anyone about this... they'd laugh at me. But I say Six and Eleven just fine, thank you! I'm going to find that pathetic actress that gave that fucking elevator a voice and make her regret it..."

The room burst out into laughter.

"You can't work an elevator?!" England chuckled, trying to keep his laughter under control. He failed miserably, as Scotland bristled.

"I'd like to see you work something fucking incompatible with your bloody accent!" He shouted, his face turning as red as his hair. "Awa' an bile yer heid."

"I don't understand a word of that." America grinned. "But this is fun. Say six, say six!!" He laughed.

"I'll kill you." Scotland glared death at America.

"H-hey, now... Calm down." Canada gently patted Scotland's shoulder. "You know Al can be a jerk." He smiled softly, ignoring his brothers' indignant shout.

"Che. Don't touch me." He shrugged off Matthew's hand, but settled down.

"Next one's... erm... I think it's America's?"

"You think?" America raised an eyebrow.

"I nobody signed it." Philippines shrugged. "Dear Diary. I hate that people always forget Mattie. I wonder what they'd say if they knew him as a kid? Like, back with Mom and stuff... We were totally different then than we are now... I still feel guilty. If I'd acted sooner... maybe he wouldn't be so timid."

"Yeah, that's mine." Alfred sighed.

"You still blame yourself?" Canada gave his brother a disappointed look.

"I'm lost." France whispered to England. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not the foggiest."

"When we were kids, there was... erm... an incident." Canada stated. "I was arrogant and obnoxious and loud back then, and I thought I was undefeatable. I got into some serious trouble, and nearly died. Al saved my life. Back then, he was a timid kid... most assumed he was mute because he was so shy, and he only really spoke to me and Mom..." The nations stared at the two, unable to imagine it. "And the incident..."

"It scared Mattie so badly, that he lost all confidence in himself." America picked up where his brother left off. "I gained more confidence thereafter, and decided to be his voice, since it scared him so much that he didn't speak a word for years! He'd only really started talking to other people shortly before we were found."

"My voice is getting tired." Philippines flushed.

"That's all right, dear." England smiled and took the book. "I'll read next."

"How about a break first?" America asked, looking at the clock. "It's been a few hours already, and most of us skipped breakfast."

"I am thinking that this is good idea." Russia smiled, leaving no room for argument.

"Very well." Germany nodded, his own stomach rumbling. "We will have a forty-five minute break for brunch."

With that, the nations all went off to eat. Nobody was there to see the book gain a somewhat sinister reddish glow before fading back to how it was before.

A/N: Sorry this wasn't done by Saturday as promised! I'm really terrible with deadlines. *Ashamed face* But I did get it written~~ I felt like it was starting to get a little... that the momentum of the story was fading, so I'm shaking things up a bit. *Evil smile* Hope you enjoy~ So sit tight, fasten your seatbelts, and hold on to the 'oh shit' bar. This story's about to evolve.

You can all thank Risa for this update~! She did an amazing job!!

Pages: 4

Words: 1,659

Posted: Monday, July 8, 2019