Where Winter Meets Summer (Rusame Countryhumans)

A New Perspective

(RUSSIA POV)

"Come to think of it, this is your first official Awakening training session since the incident, right?" America laughed as we did the usual warm up routine. From what I was feeling, nothing was out of place but Five agreed to supervise us nonetheless. Well, it would be more accurate to say he was demanded to.

"I'm here on NATO's behalf," he yawned as he made himself comfortable on the seats, "Just be safe and yada yada yada... why the hell do you guys do this so early in the morning? It's freakin' Saturday."

"You've been on several missions that allowed little to no sleep at all," America scoffed and Five simply rolled over to face the other way.

"Just don't kill each other again." he dismissed.

I had agreed to help America with his Awakening Training since I could limit the damage if he messed up or something. He had implied that he was going to try something risky but part of me was also excited to fight him again. When he instructed me to put up my guard, I was surprised when he didn't flare up in a raging inferno like he used to. Instead, the palms of his hands began to glow hot white as a Sunbomb manifested, barely the size of a grape.

My hands itched, ready to cast up a normal barrier but something told me only one wouldn't be enough. No, the Sunbomb wasn't small because of the lack of energy from the Partial Awakening. On the contrary, immense amounts of power radiated from a single, tiny center. I pressed my heel into the ground and a massive glacier lunged towards Ame. He smiled and flicked his finger. The tiny sunbomb responded and shot clean through the center of the ice wall and ripped a streak through the sky beyond. I glanced up in confusion. Had he missed or something?

"Give it a sec" he grinned and a mere moment later, an explosion that shook the walls obliterated everything and I barely had any time to dive out of the way. Five's confused screaming barely came through the deafening tremors of the blast.

"Whoops! Maybe that was a little much," America admitted as he hoisted me onto my feet. My head was still ringing but a small glint of frustration ran through me. Just how much had he improved in my absence? The partial Awakening was no problem for him anymore and his Sunbombs had stabilized to the point where he could alter their form without losing any power. I was lagging further and further behind and it really hurt to admit it.

"I'm alright," I lied as I brushed myself off but Five was not.

"WHAT PART OF DON'T KILL EACH OTHER DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!" he hollered at America who laughed nervously. I stared at them for a while before I began to wonder. Could I also achieve something like that? Something that could be just as destructive as the Sunbomb.

"You've been playing a very defensive game," Five agreed as he suddenly appeared right behind me. I jumped back a bit in surprise and he laughed.

"Ame, you told him about Soviet already, right? It's funny that you two have the exact same Awakening but are so different at the same time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well let's just say, he made ice look a hundred times deadlier than my fire." Ame grimaced, "Despite the primary defensive nature of his Awakening, everything he did could be used to kill and destroy."

Five cocked his head to the side as he grinned slyly, "You were just wondering how to attack effectively right? Well perhaps you can draw some inspiration from the past, if you know what I mean."