Chapter 24

⚠Warning!⚠ This chapter contains bullying!

( Russia's POV)

Russia woke up about an hour before his alarm. He slowly sat to and rubbed his eyes. For some reason, his entire room was engulfed in black. It took a moment for him to realize why. Like Germany had guessed, Belarus had caused a ruckus at his house. At some point, she had tripped over a wire that cut all their power out. Soviet had come a few hours ago to tell Russia that he was going to get the power back on. Russia could just barely hear his dad downstairs.

Russia walked over to his window and pulled back his curtains. The sun had barely begun to rise. As it got closer to being fall, the sun rose much later in the day. Russia used what little light the awakening star offered to find his phone. He located it on his nightstand. Out of curiosity, Russia texted Japan. He was wondering if she was awake at this time.

R: U up?

J: Just woke up. Why?

R: The lights are still out at my house ;-;

J: Oof

R: My dad is currently trying to get the lights back on.

J: You should made sure that he doesn't electrocute himself

Russia thought about this. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard his father downstairs in several minutes. He hoped he was worrying about nothing, but he quietly headed down the stairs and into the living room.

Soviet was laying on the floor. Russia felt his heart skip a beat. He quickly walked up to his dad and squatted down. He slapped him gently.

"Dad? Dad?"

Soviet did not move.

Russia, panicking now, shook his father harshly. When he still didn't react, Russia nearly cried. However, he heard Soviet grunt. He wasn't dead, just asleep.

He knew just how to wake him up. Russia gently reached over his dad's head and hovered his fingers over his neck. He gently made his hand crawl over Soviet's neck like a spider.

" It's a spider - AAAAAAAAAH!" Soviet screamed. He shot straight up and slapped at his neck. It took every once of willpower in Russia to keep him from bursting into laughter.

" What the blyat, son?" Soviet said after calming down.

" I thought you were dead!" Russia responded quietly.

" Nyet, I fell asleep."

Russia face palmed. His dad was a rather heavy sleeper.

" Did you fix it?"

" Fix what?"

" The power!"

" Almost. There are just these wires that need to be reconnected. I actually need to replace them, but we need power now."

" Do you have tape?"

" I think so."

Soviet searched his numerous pockets for tape. He eventually pulled out a small roll of air duct tape.

" This might work," he whispered.

" Okay. Here, I'll hold the wires. You tape them together."

Russia picked up the two wire halves and held them together. This caused a slight spark and mildly shocked him, but he held on to the wires firmly with his fingertips. Soviet carefully wrapped the tape around the break. He then felt for the plug and grabbed it. Almost sticking his fingers in the outlet, Soviet finally plugged it in. The lights flickered on after a few seconds.

" Finally! The power's back! " Soviet said joyfully. " Nice going, son!"

Russia smiled at his dad. At least he wasn't dead. He walked into the kitchen and toasted himself a bagel. Russia was honestly just happy that the power was back on.

●□●□●□

" So you got the lights back on in your house?" Germany said after Russia explained the situation.

" Basically, yeah."

" Interesting. You didn't electrocute yourself too badly, did you?"

Russia shook his head. He had almost forgotten how close he had gotten to becoming a lightning rod.

Russia walked with Germany down the hallways. Israel had ordered food for them again, and they were supposed to be meeting everyone on the rooftop. Russia didn't mind everyone being up there. It was only every once in a while anyway, so he and Germany could still be where it was quiet most of the time. School was stressing for mostly everyone, and the silence offered an oasis from the desert that was high school.

When they finally got up to the roof, the only one up there was Italy. Russia was slightly surprised; he expected there to be more countries than just him. Italy greeted him and Germany as soon as they got up.

" Hey guys!" Italy said cheerfully.

" Hey!" Russia said to him.

" Hallo!" Germany said, smiling slightly. Despite having known Italy for a little bit, the shyness was still present in Germany. Russia hugged Germany and gently kissed his cheek. He loved the shy country.

Israel, Belgium, Japan, and South showed up a few minutes later.

" Where were you guys?" Russia asked curiously.

" We had to go...resolve an argument," Belgium said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

" Did you guys get into a fight?" Germany asked.

" Well, we didn't," Israel replied. "Belgium on the other hand...."

Israel trailed off for a second. By the looks of it, Belgium had been the victor of the fight. However, she hadn't been left unscathed. Her lip was bleeding, and Russia thought her cheek was slightly bruised. Israel leaned over and kissed Belgium. This was rare, as Israel and Belgium often avoided publicly displaying their affection for one another. Belgium smiled at him, and Russia realized that one of her teeth had been chipped.

" Is she going to be okay?" Germany said to Israel, who had zoned out slightly.

" Yeah, I'll be fine," Belgium answered for him.

The food arrived a few minutes later. Israel had ordered Chinese carry-out for everyone. Russia sat in thoughtful silence. He found himself wishing he had been there. He could've beat anyone who would hurt friends of friends to a pulp.

" Hey, is everything okay? " Germany said, placing a small hand on Russia's shoulder.

" Y-yeah, I'm fine!" Russia assured Germany.

Germany clearly was not convinced. He weaved his fingers in between Russia's and squeezed it. Russia gave him a mild squeeze back. He leaned over and pecked Germany's lips. Germany hugged him. He was a small guy, but he had enough love and comfort to make every grain of sand on Earth to feel special.

●□●□●□

Russia got up and walked out of his math class. They had just gotten their tests handed back to them. Russia had gotten a high B. To him, that was fairly impressive. The test was meant to be easy. However, Russia and math never really got along very well. He got a passing grade, and that was what mattered to him. He didn't mind his grade too much.

Or so he thought.

" Hey Russia," A voice said from behind him, trying to get his attention. Russia turned around to see China. They were in the same math class together.

" What do you want from me?" Russia said, half growling.

China smirked.

" That grade of yours is pathetic, you know?"

Russia turned back around with a low snarl.

" Everyone but you got an A on that quiz."

Don't let him get to you Russia thought to himself. He began to walk away, but China followed him.

" You're stupid, you know that?"

Don't let him get inside your head.

China ran ahead and cut him off.

" You're nothing but an idiot, get it? It must be such a shame to have to be the dumb one in your friend group."

Russia clenched his fists. He really didn't want to fight, but China was getting more and more frustrating.

" I'll bet your smarty-pants boyfriend is disappointed in you. He probably just tolerates you because he feels bad for such a fool. He's wasting his time on a dumbass who can't do math. I'll bet he'll leave you for someone smarter. You're gonna get left behind, chump. While everyone else moves on and gets a good life, you'll be stuck learning how to do fractions properly! Face it, you're a failure. You'll never succeed. "

Russia whirled around. His canines were showing. China smirked again, but said nothing more. He turned and left.

As soon as he left, Russia's snarl turned into gritted teeth. Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't take it. He took off towards the bathrooms. He went inside the larger stall and shrank into the corner.

He broke down and cried.

China was right, he was an idiot.

Russia pulled his knees uo to his chest and cried as quietly as he could. He wasn't keen on crying, as he could usually hold things together and brush everything off. Why did it hurt so much now?

" Russia, is everything okay in there?" It was Italy. " I saw you and China in the hallway. Are you okay?"

"No," Russia managed to say before crying again.

" Do you want me to go and get Germany?"

"D-da.."

Italy left. Russia said he wanted Germany, but now he wasn't sure if he did. He felt embarrassed for crying at all. He really didn't want to bring Germany into it, as he really had nothing to do with it.

Germany came into the bathroom a few minutes later. He gently knocked on the door. Russia felt his heart wrench painfully.

" Russia, c-can I come in?" He asked softly. Russia couldn't respond. He was trying to muffle his sounds.

Germany got down onto his knees. He snaked his way under the stall door and into the stall with Russia. Russia turned away from him and hid his tear-stained face. He felt Germany settle down next to him.

" Hey.... I know you probably don't want to talk about it. But I'll be right here when you're ready."

Russia felt Germany wrap his arms around his neck. The sudden embrace made Russia's heart ache again. He couldn't resist him anymore. Grabbing onto his shirt, he pressed his face into Germany's chest and bawled.

" Do you want to tell me what happened? " Germany said comfortingly. He rubbed Russia's broad back.

" It was China," Russia said through his hics. " He said that I was stupid, and that I was an idiot, and that you were disappointed in me for being so dumb."

" Oh, Russia, " Germany said sympathetically.

" He said that I was a failure," Russia sobbed.

Germany hugged Russia close to him. He continued to rub and pat his back until Russia's crying subsided.

" He's so wrong," Germany said to Russia. " You're not an idiot at all. Everyone's learning speed is a little different, that's all. It doesn't make you dumber than anyone else."

Russia sniffed but said nothing.

" I'm not disappointed in you. I never have been, and I never will be. You are such a sweet, funny, quirky person with a goofy smile and beautiful eyes. I love every little thing about you. I love you, Russia, and I'm not gonna let anyone take away the Russia I know and love."

Russia hugged Germany. Tears streamed from his eyes, but they weren't ones of despair. He clung to Germany's shirt like his life depended on it. As he was trying to breath deeply through his sobs, he could hear a soft voice humming a song.

It was Germany.

Russia didn't recognize the song, but there was something vaguely familiar about it. The way Germany sang it was soft and soothing. Russia could feel his breathing even out. He had finally calmed down.

" I love you, okay?" Germany said softly to Russia.

" Okay, " Russia said. He didn't have the energy to say much more. He let himself relax as Germany hummed the rest of the afternoon away.

(Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! No joke, my heart ached while I wrote this chapter, it made me feel so bad ;-;

I'm gonna hope that I don't pull an all-nighter tonight, as I have things to do tomorrow. It is currently 11:45 pm for me, so I should probably go to sleepm even though I might not :/)

Translations:

Blyat- F$&k (in Russian, I'm pretty sure)

Nyet- no (in Russian)

Da- yes ( in Russian)

Hopefully those are correct, my apologies if they're wrong.

Story word count: 1, 937 words