Yes, another One-Shot~! This one happened to cross my mind when I was rereading some of my old fanfiction, so bear with me if I have no idea what I'm doing and the whole story makes no sense! Woohoo~! I DO NOT OWN HETALIA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS! This time, no OCs to be seen and I'm going to challenge myself to keep only the country names, so no human names~!

/=+=/

There were a lot of things that seemed to baffle Germany about his Italian companion, stretching from his constant need to surrender to the fact that he's addicted to pasta and anything Italian. Out of all those weird things, however, the most confusing circled down to two specific factors:

Number One: The curl on his head. What kind of creator in all his insanity allowed something like that to have such easy access on a poor man's head? This was present on his older brother Romano as well, so it didn't bother him that much. He figured it was an Italian thing.

Number Two: His eyes. Or rather, the lack of them.

Ever since they first met, his eyes were always closed. Whenever he spoke to him, whenever he was running away from people, whenever he was even talking to close friends…he never seemed to open his eyes openly to ANYONE. He did try asking his brother about it, but he had quickly been shooed away (maybe because he was Germany), but he could tell that he had never seen his eyes open before as well. In fact, had there been anyone who had seen them open?

It seemed weird to ask him directly about it. Think about it: if someone just randomly walked up to you and asked, "hey, I just wanted to know why you never open your eyes", would that not be the weirdest thing you would've ever heard in your life? Even Italy, in all his sleeping-naked, eternal-"veing", always-surrending-so-that-he-should-make-the-Italian-flag-the-white-flag glory, would feel a little embarrassed by that. So he never once brought it up.

But still, he just really wanted to know why they were always closed.

/=+=/

"That concludes my report. I'm calling a lunch break; report back here in an hour."

Germany stood up as the other countries gathered their things together before wondering which cafeteria in the meeting hall to ambush to get the most amount of food. He would've left immediately to beat the lines, but then felt a pair of arms wrapping around him, keeping him down.

"Ve~~~Doitsu!"

"Oof…hey there, Italy." He sighed. "Are you going to get lunch now?"

"Of course I am! I want to know if you're coming with me!"

"Italy-"

"HEEEY~! Germany! I need to speak to you for a minute!"

Germany and Italy looked up to see America waving back at them with that really weird smile on his face. He sighed and shook his head: leave it to the damn American to ruin a moment. For the first time, he was actually looking forward to having lunch with Italy.

"I'll be here the whole time, I guess." Germany mumbled. "Can you get food for me?"

"Ve~~~of course I will! I'll eat here with you then!"

"Italy-"

But he was already gone, chirping out the door. Germany shook his head and walked toward the American, who made sure that Italy was out of the door before he allowed himself to speak. He straightened out his jacket and grinned at the German.

"Please tell me that this is worth my time." He grumbled, trying to keep himself in a business stature. "Unlike what you might think, I would actually like a break during a meeting."

"I know man, relax! I just wanted to throw out a question to you…in secret, since you'll never answer this in the open." America grinned. "Have you thought it was weird how Italy keeps his eyes closed?"

He froze.

"So you were thinking about it too! I mean, I was just sitting there in my chair during the meeting, what with England blabbing on and on and on about something, and I found myself staring at Italy dazing off about whatever the heck he was dazing off about, and-"

"Please elaborate this statement before I get bored, America."

"OK, well…when I was staring at him, he never once opened his eyes! What I thought was weirder was that he was only facing people that was talking to him!"

"America, all people face each other when someone's talking to them…"

"No, but he turns them a lot faster than people that I know~! So that makes me think of something interesting: what if Italy is blind?"

"Ugh…Italy's not blind, America. He knows who I am quite well!"

"He only knows your voice, Germany! That's my theory!" He grinned. "I called you out here just to test it! That's just the scientist in me!"

"How in the world are you going to-?"

"QUIET!"

He suddenly saw America slap his hand over his mouth, shutting him up. He was about to complain about it and shove his hand out of the way when he heard Italy walk toward the door with a tray filled with food. Poor Germany could feel his stomach grumbling, making America's hand tighten.

"Don't. Make. A. Sound." He ordered. "Don't even raise your breath. Be dead silent."

He didn't even know why, but he agreed to do it and stood silent. Soon enough, Italy entered the room, facing them. Germany shook his head, seeing that he clearly saw them, and was about to move America's hand out of the way when he realized that Italy was looking around the room for him.

"Ve~? I-I thought Doitsu would be here." He looked around some more. "O-oh well…I guess America brought him out! I should just leave his stuff here…oh, but wouldn't it get cold? Ve~~~I guess I can look for him…"

Italy sighed as he turned and left the room. The silence stood there for what felt like forever until America lowered his hand off the stunned German's face. Of course he wasn't going to exclaim it out of nowhere, but by the looks of things-

"HOLY CRAP, MAN DID YOU SEE THAT?"

America was clearly thinking the same thing.

"Italy just zoomed over us…" Germany exclaimed. "I thought he'd see us…"

"Aw come on, dude! It's common knowledge that you need eyes to see~! Dude, I thought you were smarter than that!" He chirped. "Since Italy seems to know where everyone is despite the fact that he has no eyes, the only way he 'sees' is through his ears! Did you know that people have heightened senses when they're in fear? It's the cause of paranoia but also survival!"

How does America know all this? He was actually smart?

"I believe that Italy's constant fear over everyone is heightening his hearing enough to replace his sight! Even the slightest bit of noise gets caught by his ears, allowing him to literally 'see' like a bat or something!" America gestured being a bat. "This is as interesting as Italy will ever get to be!"

"Says the man that can bench press military tanks as a hobby."

"Ve~? Doitsu?"

They both looked up and saw Italy peek back into the room with the tray of food. He was looking around again for the voice, so America went for step two. He took one normal step toward him, making Italy dart his head up and smile at them.

"America! There you are!" He smiled.

"Yep! Me and Germany just came back from a walk or two!" He winked. "You know, about meetings and stuff!"

"Ve~~~I never knew you were so business oriented." Italy turned his head to Germany, who was still standing there in silence. "I think your food got cold…I'm sorry…"

"It's fine…I can still eat it."

Germany stepped toward him and took the tray, accidentally grazing fingers with him. He yelped in shock for half a second but quickly regained his balance and letting go of the tray for him to hold. America couldn't help but giggle, making the situation even worse.

He really can't see me, can he?

/=+=/

As always, Italy was following Germany home (holding his hand the entire time) with that usual smile on his face. The German couldn't really argue against his touch as he opened the door and saw him run in the house like a child. He figured that he came here so many times that he could be deaf, dumb and blind and still know everything in the house.

"Ve~~~I'm in the mood for dinner, Doitsu!" He laughed. "What do you want?"

"It's fine…I'm not that hungry." He answered, blushing slightly. Why does Italy call him by his Japanese name instead of his well-known one?

"But…the meeting took the entire day! You should be hungry!" Italy smiled. "Don't worry, I'll cook something for the both of us!"

Before Germany could even argue about it, Italy turned around and started grabbing everything that he was going to need. A long time ago, Germany wouldn't be bothered by something like this. However, after what happened today, he couldn't help but…wonder.

"Do you know where everything is?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Of course I do, Doitsu~! Everything's always here where I last put it!"

Germany shook his head at the thought of his jumpiness as Italy continued to run around with his supplies. That's when he noticed something: Italy was reaching for something on the stove while the electric burner was on. Naturally, he had done this thousands of times and hadn't once burned himself (Italian thing, perhaps?) when all of a sudden Germany's hand lunged out and grabbed his arm, wringing it back.

"Ve~~~!"

Germany paused, finally realizing what instinct did. He muttered an apology and quickly let him ago, allowing him to slowly pull his hand away.

"S-sorry…I thought you were going to touch the burner…"

"B-but it's off, Doitsu-"

"No, it's on." He stated. "Don't you see the glow?"

"Y-yes, of course!" He said with his usual stammer. "I'll be more careful, Doitsu! Don't worry."

Germany stood there silent as Italy smiled at him, obviously not seeing him at all but knowing all too well that he was still there. He backed up and watched as Italy seemed to be extremely careful about what he was doing and where he was going. Once he was done, Italy set up the food on the table he memorized by heart and beckoned him to join him. He smiled and sat across from him.

/=+=/

Dinner went off without a hitch.

Germany finished as Italy cleaned up the table and stored the food away. He looked up and saw Italy walking slowly around the place, cleaning everything up and then proceeding to do the dishes. Slowly, he rose from his seat and slowly walked toward Italy, keeping his feet light. Before he knew it, he had lifted his hands up and held Italy's shoulders.

"V-ve~~~~~! Wh-who's there?" He sobbed. "Please don't hurt me, please! I-I'll make Doitsu come after you!"

He really didn't see him…

"Italy, it's just me. Relax."

"Ve~~? O-oh…I'm sorry…" He smiled. "I didn't see you there…"

"…you never saw me at all."

"Ve~~?"

He didn't know what, but something in him just snapped. Before he knew it, he flipped Italy to face Germany and pinned him on the wall, making him yelp in shock and shiver in his fingertips. The blond lowered his head, not even knowing what he was doing, before he loosened his grip. Italy didn't make a move to run, instead standing there 'looking' at Germany.

"Italy…isn't it hard doing this?"

"Doitsu?"

"You're walking around with your eyes closed. Don't you know that's dangerous to do? You could get hurt…" Germany stood up. "I can understand if you were blind at birth, but…I know…I just know…you're not."

"…" Italy shivered in his fingertips.

"Why won't you open your eyes? I know you can see with them…"

"…to protect you."

"Hm?"

"I-I don't know! My eyes…my eyes are cursed, I just know it!" He panicked. "I've only opened them to two people, and they both died afterward…"

"Died…?" Germany thought that was the stupidest thing ever. However, he knew Italy wasn't above believing things like that. "Who are you talking about…?"

"…Grandpa Rome…and…and…"

He couldn't finish the second statement, instead sobbing in his presence. Germany immediately felt horrible about everything, blaming that damn American for even making that question enter his brain and forcing him to act upon it. Meanwhile, Italy was remembering the day that he had shown him his eyes. He had been nervous of showing him, but afterwards…he had caressed his neck (it made him blush) and whispered only one thing to him…

"You look beautiful…"

Holy Rome… Italy wiped a tear from his eyes. He had never asked to see them again, and maybe it was for the best.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes before Germany took a long breath. He had gotten this far in this conversation; backing up from it would only make Italy wonder if he was ever going to bring it up again. He was going to have to go all the way and ask him straight.

"…can I see them anyway?"

"N-no!" Italy turned away, making no bother to run. He knew that Germany was going to catch him anyway. He could feel his arms blocking him in place. "I-I can't kill you too!"

"If I am to die soon, it will be because of a fault that I have made…not yours." Germany lightly held his shoulders. "You have to let this go. No one is dying because they look into your eyes. Those other two were just coincidences."

"…but-"

"Italy…this doesn't even make any sense. Looking at someone isn't going to kill them. You're not Medusa, you know." He sighed. "Besides, do you even know what I look like?"

He actually didn't.

Part of him wanted to. Was it just like he imagined him to look like…?

But is it worth the risk?

Nonetheless, the need to see him won out. Germany saw Italy's eyelids twitch slightly before they slowly started to move themselves open. They've closed a few times, but after a while he finally got his eyes opened, looking straight into baby blues.

The air seemed to freeze between them as they both gasped at each other's appearance. For Italy, he was too busy staring at the blond hair and shining blue eyes that formed the man in front of him. He looked so much like the boy that he had loved, so long ago. As for Germany…he was stunned at the shining hazels that were staring back at him. A smile crossed his face as he caressed his neck.

"…you look…beautiful."

He saw Italy's eyes widen from that statement. It was then that he could freely see the hazel color of his eyes. So dull from not seeing the light in so long, yet shining from recently forming tears that caressed his soft cheeks.

Wait, tears?

"Ulp-!" He was so going to get it from Romano. "A-are you OK, Italy?"

"Y-yes…yes, I'm all right…" He sobbed through his tears. "Doitsu…"

He lunged into his arms, much to Germany's surprise, as he began to sob on his chest. All the German could do was hug back, not knowing what other response he should be doing. Yet somehow, something was telling him that this was the right thing to do.

/=+=/

Woooow…that sucked XD

Anyway, bonus points for whoever figures out what fanfic I was reading when I wrote this (not that I'm forcing you to look or anything…). Plus, haven't you considered this at all? ADMIT IT: it crossed your mind AT LEASTONCE.