Chapter 1

Closet-Goers

Scarf flapping around his shoulders, Russia skidded around a corner and kept running, hearing his sister's lightly clicking footsteps behind him. Belarus was fast, almost as fast as him, but luckily, he wanted to get away as much as she wanted to ''become one with Mother Russia''.

She is my sister! The Russian thought sadly, wishing he could be invisible like that… person; one with the big white teddy and the maple smell. His mind got a little distracted with the absence of a face and name to the memories. Who is that again…? Ca…Cambodia? Cameroon? Ca-Canadia?

"Ivan~," Belarus purred and the towering man jumped with an unmanly yelp, picking up the speed he hadn't remembered losing. "Will you marry me today, dorogoi~?" She 'tsk'ed and kept running as well, throwing a knife that just missed the top of his shoulder. The Russian shivered and darted to the left, nearly falling as his feet caught on one another. Ivan felt the ice slide down his spine as he got ahead of her and sprinted for all he was worth.

"No!" Ivan yelled back, and another knife missed the bottom of his ear. SHE'S GOING TO CATCH ME! He panicked and he managed to get a good ten feet ahead of her. Russia couldn't hold back a squeal of fear as Alfred came into his way and he had to vault over the man's head, nearly tea-bagging him. Alfred fell and Ivan the ground running. He heard Belarus trample the blonde from down the next hallway and winced at the American's cry of pain.

'Better him than me.' Panting, Ivan made it into a complex hallway of doors and threw himself through the smallest, closest door he could find. Once the door was closed, Ivan squirmed around the unknown obstacles inside it until he met a wall, then pressed his back against it, wielding a long stick he'd found. 'There! If she gets in, I'll fend her off vith zis!'

"This is my closet, aru!" exclaimed a hushed voice from behind him and Russia turned around in the darkness. Two hands pushed at his firm chest and the nation, who he realized was China, squirmed. "Get your own, aru!"

"You first, China." Russia said lowly, but a hand covered his mouth and they clung to each other as footsteps passed the door.

"Shhhhh!"

"AH! Belarus!" Korea's loud voice penetrated the closet and China whimpered, clutching Russia's scarf to hide himself behind the large nation. "Have you seen Aniki?"

"Nyet." Belarus replied shortly and now Russia hugged China to him like a teddy bear, hiding his face in the Asian man's hair. "Have you seen my brother?"

"I think he went that way!" China and Russia relaxed slightly, pulling away from one another and locking eyes. China flushed with embarrassment and struggled until Russia let go of him, hearing Korea and Belarus run off with great relief.

"That was unnecessary, aru." He said quickly and Russia's big hands left his back.

Russia looked down. "Running from South Korea, da? Very manly,"

"Yes, and I bet darling Belarus is finished with the wedding preparations." China said with a tight throat. "Do send me an invitation to the ceremony," The Russian man standing chest to chest with him growled, the sound rumbling over his body, and China sighed, "We should work together for once... I'll take the north and the east wing; you go to the south and west. Deal?"

Ivan stared down at China in the dark, his lavender eyes flashing, and he frowned.

"Deal; udacha." He said suddenly, patting China's cheek.

"Xie xie," China muttered, edging around Russia and toward the door. Looking both ways, the two nations nodded awkwardly to one another and ran off in search of the other man's pursuer

/\-M-A-R-U-K-A-I-T-E-C-H-I-K-Y-U-U-~-!-/\

Dorogoi – darling (Russian)

Aniki – big brother (Asian Language)

Nyet – No (Russian)

Udacha – good luck (Russian)

Xie xie – Thank you (Chinese)