I don't own Hetalia. Also, there's kind of an Attack on Titan spoiler in the end.

Attraction of Opposites

Chapter Twelve: I Knew There Was A Reason Why I Liked You

It wasn't long before Eliza found out that Emil and Leon were in fact only pretending to hate each other. In fact, the way in which she found out was probably the best she could possibly have imagined.

Waiting for Leon by his locker, she was chatting idly with Roderich when she noticed it. A couple in a tight embrace at the other end of the locker block - not an uncommon sight, yet something caught Eliza's eye.

The taller of the couple - the one with their back to them - had silvery-white hair.

"Roddy!" She hissed to the brunette, who raised an eyebrow. "Is it just me, or does that look like Emil?"

He glanced at the couple, before turning back to Eliza. "It's pretty safe to say that that could only be Emil, dear."

The couple remained in their embrace, oblivious to the conversation of Eliza and Roderich.

"So who's the other person?" Elizaveta asked.

"You're being a little nosy, dear," Roderich informed her. "But if I were to hazard a guess, I would say it is Leon."

"Leon?!" Eliza said incredulously, keeping her voice low as she watched the row carefully. "But Emil and Leon-"

"-hate each other? They may have done on Friday, but perhaps they patched it up over the weekend."

"But he would have told me, right?"

"If you say so, dear. But to me, that looks like Leon."

"But-"

At that moment, the couple broke apart, the taller picking up some sort of satchel and shouldering it. They turned to walk out of the building, and in doing so, they also turned to face Elizaveta and Roderich.

"I hate to say 'I told you so'," Roderich said to Elizaveta.

"I-" Elizaveta looked lost for words. "What the hell?"

Leon bit his lip guiltily. "Um? I can explain? I think?"

"You had better."

"Well, um. We were kind of acting on Friday?"

Eliza looked at him incredulously. "What?! What the hell? Why? So it worked out after all? You couldn't have at least texted me this?"

"It was mainly to get revenge on Lukas," Leon said, examining the floor in all its chewing-gum-covered glory.

"Although he worked it out," Emil added.

"What? You make no sense, and I hope you know that. But... At least it did actually work..."

Leon looked up. "Wait, so you're not going to kill me?"

"Well, no, that would be counterproductive," Elizaveta admitted. "I want you and Emil together, not Emil on his own crying over your death."

"Not sure I'd be crying," Emil muttered, causing Roderich to give a quiet snicker.

"Aww, Emil, c'mon, you know you'd cry if I died. I'd cry if you died, after all!"

"I'm honoured," he replied dryly.

Eliza looked between the two with an elated expression. "I think we should leave these two to each other, don't you think, Roddy?"

"To be honest, dear, I thought that from the start," Roderich replied, although Elizaveta feigned not hearing him.

"See you on Monday, Leon," she said happily. "See you around, Emil!" With a beaming smile, she dragged an unimpressed Roderich away from the area, waving back at them cheerily.

"Bye, Eliza!" Leon called after her.

Emil stared at her retreating back. "She's so... Happy... About our relationship..."

"Well, yeah," Leon said, "she's kind of obsessed with romance. There's this genre of manga and anime referred to as yaoi, which is basically gay love, and that's what at least three quarters of her manga collection is made up of."

"That's... Really weird..."

"Yeah, I know. Speaking of, did you ever actually read a manga?"

Emil was silent for a second. "Um. Maybe?"

"So you did?"

"Yeah..."

"Why the hesitation?"

"I, erm, really like it," Emil said in the kind of tone one might associate with a confession of a secret passion for British cuisine.

A"Oh my god, Emil, that's great!" Leon threw his hand in the air, hoping for a high-five and receiving only a blank stare. "Yeah, alright. But still, welcome to true nerd-dom! Congratulations, Emil Stielsson! You have truly joined the nerd side! This is a day to remember!"

"...right. But likewise, did you read any novels of the crime genre?" Emil asked as the two began to make their own way out of the school building.

Leon thought for a second. "Wait... Oh, yeah! I did! I read a really creepy one! The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or something!"

Emil nodded appreciatively. "Ah, yes. I love that one. Very good."

"Yeah... Weird, though. So which manga have you read?"

"Well..." Emil paused in thought. "I read one volume of Sailor Moon and stopped after that for obvious reasons. Then I started to look at some others, but they didn't really interest me, and then I found Attack on Titan... Although I haven't really had time to read much due to revision..."

Leon's face lit up. "You like Attack on Titan?! Really? Emil! I knew there was a reason I liked you! Attack on Titan is my favourite manga, like, ever!"

Emil narrowed his eyes at Leon. "Are you saying that's the only reason you like me?"

"Well, you kinda failed in the first impressions department. But I guess you're not so bad once you actually get to know you, and I guess you're not too bad-looking- hey! Ow! Stop! I was joking, I swear!" Leon yelped as Emil raised his hand to hit him lightly over the head.

"You're an idiot."

"Do you see what I mean, baby? Anyway, so who's your favourite character in Attack on Titan?" Leon inquired.

Emil thought for a second. "I really like Marco," he said.

Leon's face fell. Fuck, what do I do now? "I-" he paused, reaching up to pat Emil on the head. "It's okay, Emil. It'll be okay."

A/N: This was so half-assed it actually pains me :/ sorry :'( still, there's your super short last chapter, complete with a reference to you narcissistic author's own post.

...allow me to explain the last couple of lines to those of who who haven't watched/read Attack on Titan (spoiler alert here). Marco Bodt is possibly the sweetest, kindest, most likeable character in the entire goddamn series. And you know what happens to Marco? He's fucking killed. I made a post about this on tumblr which was talking about APH Hong Kong introducing Ice to Attack on Titan and Ice finding out that Marco dies and having to eat ice cream with HK at about 1:00 am, which got about 180 notes or something and I think was posted on a Facebook page or something. So, like the narcissist I am, I made a reference to it here (why not, eh?).

That's about all I have to say, except good luck to everyone starting a new school year and goodbye!