Torn Cloaks (Countryhuman Sanctuary AU)

2. Crow

Germany was lying in bed when the door on the other side of the room opened, Nazi walked in and sat beside his son. The window was wide open, Nazi didn't understand why. He sighed, turning to Germany and hugging him.

"Hallo Papa!" Germany chirped, Nazi couldn't stand how adorable Germany was. They pulled away from the hug, Nazi pat Germany's head and went into his backpack.

He pulled out a book about birds, handing it to Germany. Germany jumped around a little bit, he beamed with joy. Nazi smiled at this, he would do anything to make Germany happier.

Germany immediately opened the book, flipping through the pages. He was fascinated, he looked back to Nazi and gave him another hug. Germany sat there and read the book for the next hour, right up until...

---

Germany walked home, pushing his glasses up. His backpack was heavy, books in Germany's arms. He simply couldn't wait to read all of them.

He turned right, his house right in front of him. It was a pearl white flat one story house, even though it looked big, it was smaller than other houses. Germany sighed, hitting his mental reset button. He felt so much better, Germany had a long day at school that day.

He knocked on the door with his foot, his hands were full with books. He heard footsteps jogging towards the door, a clicking sound coming from it. The door opened, revealing Nazi Germany.

"Hallo!" Nazi greeted Germany, Germany walked past him. Nazi closed the door behind him as Germany made his way towards his bedroom. He somehow opened the door, dumping all the books on his desk. Nazi was behind him, observing what Germany's every move was.

"How was school?" Nazi asked, speaking English. He wanted Germany to learn it well, there were quite a few people who knew it or they were learning it. Germany shrugged, barely anyone could fully understand what he said. Netherlands was the one who understood him the best who wasn't his father, except he never really hung around with Netherlands. He had to have special books and worksheets in German, he didn't like being treated this way.

"Was ok." Germany said in broken English, he'd only been learning it for a few months. He was turning 11 that year, he wanted to be able to fluently speak English by then.

"It was ok. Not just 'was ok'." Nazi corrected him. Germany nodded and sat down, opened a book with maths written all over the pages. Germany grinned, maths was his favourite subject, but nobody else's.

"Do you understand what you need to be doing before I go?" Nazi asked Germany, placing a hand on his shoulder. Germany nodded, looking up at his father.

"I will be good." He said, Nazi grinned and left the room. Germany looked back down to his book, wasting his childhood away with his schoolwork. A breeze was let in by the open window, blowing his papers around a bit. He sighed, his pencil touching the paper slightly. He pushed down, beginning to write. This went on until...

---

Germany walked to school, he didn't look forward to this. To the people who were always waiting there for him.

He walked into the gates, two other people approaching him. He looked to the floor, holding the book in his arms tightly. His father gave it to him when he was 9. Now he was turning 13.

"Hey Nazi! Ooh, are you gonna hurt me? Waa!" One of them teased, pushing Germany slightly. The other pushed him harder, Germany fell to the ground. He stayed there, he thought it'd make the situation worse.

"Back off!" Somebody said, standing in front of Germany protectively. He was a few months older than him at the very most, and alot more athletic. Germany looked up, seeing the one person he'd never expect.

It was the one and only America.

Germany picked himself off of the ground, pushing his glasses up. He didn't want to be seen as a waste of a popular kid's time.

The two bullies walked off, muttering words of different languages under their breath. America turned around, a huge grin across his face. Germany's heart sank, if he became friends with one of the coolest people in the school, he'd ditch him later for someone who's better than Germany.

"Dude, you alright?" America asked, Germany hesitated.

"Y-yes, I am fine.." Germany said in the best English he could. America shook his head, laughing a bit.

"No you're not. I can tell that you're lying. But, y'know, it's fine. You can hang out with me!" America cheered, Germany felt himself shrinking down.

"Ok.. I think?" Germany said quietly. America grabbed his wrist, running off to the field. Germany was quite literally being dragged, he wasn't sporty enough to keep up with America.

They came to the boundary fence, America sat beside it. He invited Germany to sit beside him, Germany accepted because he didn't think he had any other choice.

"Do you not have any other friends?" Germany asked, America grinned.

"Yep, pretty much everyone's my friend! I mean, a few of them are kinda nasty.. but, hey! A lot of them are pretty cool!" America beamed, Germany nodded. He didn't know what to think. I mean, why did America choose to hang out with him instead of someone like Brazil or Indonesia?

"Why do you want to hang around me?" Germany asked, tangling his fingers in the grass beneath him. America shrugged, looking to Germany.

"Because you're the only person who's not friends with me." America stated, patting Germany's shoulder.

Germany sighed, he knew America was gonna ditch him some time or another.

"And.. you're the smartest person here." He finished. Germany froze, he wasn't the smartest, was he..?

It was silent up until..

---

Germany flinched, somebody slammed his door open. He turned around, America was there. Wait, didn't Nazi dislike America? Eh, who cares.

"Hey there." Germany muttered, turning back to his schoolwork on his desk.

"Dude, it's the holidays soon! You need to stop working!" America exclaimed, walking over and patting Germany on the head. Germany was frustrated, he hated being touched while he was doing work. He was turning 14 this year, be needed to do this work.

"I need to study for school though-" Germany froze in his sentence, they were completely quiet right up until...

A crow flew beside Germany. That same one he met six years ago.