Disclaimer: Hetalia is (c) Himaruya Hidekaz

Warnings: Overly paranoid!Japan? Sick!Greece. Cats. Unlawful entry? Well…

A/N: Companion piece to break between the lines because I couldn't pass up the chance at attempting to write Japan. (It should be able to stand on its own, though, so yeah.) Posted at livejournal, and apologies for any remaining errors, possible OOC and too many cats.

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shadows move on (although we don't)

It was only after he had boarded the plane – when it was high up in the sky and he no longer felt nauseous – that it occurred to Japan that there had been a gross miscalculation in his plans. Resisting the urge to slam his head against the seat in front of him as his first reaction, he instead focused on breathing, in hope it would clear his mind before it spiralled off into unforgivable territory.

In, out, in, out… I didn't leave anything on before I left, did I? … in, out, in…

No, he decided, there was no way to fix the mistake he had made due to his utter incompetence. Perhaps it was a sign that he needed to pay a little more attention to such details. He could not even argue with himself that the differences in time were minor, and that he should have known of the time zones like the back of his hand by now. (They had to travel often enough, after all; although he really did prefer to stay home… But that wasn't the point.)

Even with the thought in mind – the acceptance that he was, in fact, a fool at times and really, he had to pay a little more attention from now on – once he stepped off the plane and saw the time, it took quite a bit of self-control not to start apologising profusely to no one in particular.

And while that was the top on his list of things to worry about, there was another pressing issue he had yet to find an answer for; how am I supposed to get a room for the night at two forty-five in the morning?

Had it been any other time, he would have never even considered it (as Greece's house would have been the first and only option, unexpected guest or not) but he knew it was impolite to even attempt to wake the other due to his own mistakes. And while the prospect of sleeping outside didn't bother him all that much, in honesty, the weather wasn't exactly…

Japan stopped, blinked, and backtracked for a moment when he realised that he was standing in front of Greece's house – that was another thing, wasn't it? He had to stop falling so deeply into thought that he ended up in a completely unexpected place because his feet wanted to go there. He fidgeted as he weighed the pros and cons of waking Greece up in the middle of the night, although he knew he could never do such a thing. It was just… so rude, to even think about it.

Although none of it stopped him from finding a back door to enter from. It was hard to tell as to whether or not Greece had installed any sort of security, but after a lack of screaming alarms, Japan decided not to think too much of it (although he made a note to offer some advice to the other man, just in case). The lock on the doors had been easy to bypass too, and he wasn't surprised to see that Greece kept his windows open at all times, as a black cat slinked back indoors when he passed by.

Dead quiet. The cats moved like shadows around him, forever silent as they watched with clear eyes, almost as if they were trying to tell him something. Animals were like that, which he preferred at times.

So when one particularly fluffy specimen pawed at his feet and then made its way up a flight of stairs, Japan thought it only right to follow after it. Once his ears had picked up the unnatural sound that broke the quiet in the house, he quickened his pace.

No lights were on, and as he passed by a bedroom (the door was wide open, and he was almost sure that the blankets had been tossed haphazardly from the bed in a rush) a sudden thought occurred to him. But as it formed into something of a coherent observation, he had taken a turn into the room from where the noise was coming from, and almost tripped over the gathering of cats that were already there.

It took him a moment longer to realise that Greece was kneeling before the toilet, shoulders slumped as he stopped throwing up, and he hurried over to his friend's side, not quite sure as to what was going on, but well aware that questions could be asked later.

At the least, he could now properly justify his breaking in and entering.

"Greece-san?"

He reached forward, touching Greece's forehead gently – he was burning up, and he didn't look the least bit well; no, no, no, he wasn't supposed to be this pale – as he tried to work out the best course of action from there. It was hard to tell as to whether or not the other man had even acknowledged his presence, but it seemed not when he jerked back weakly, arms straining as he attempted to stand.

Japan caught him before he fell back, and Greece threw up again into the toilet (clearly such sudden actions had not been the best move to have been made, although he couldn't really be blamed for it), only letting go when he was certain the other was not about to keel over by accident.

Gently, he brushed back Greece's hair back out of the way and waited patiently for it to stop. The cats remained seated where they were, watching in a particularly unnerving manner, and he could only tilt his head in their direction curiously; "Do you happen to know how this happened?"

He didn't expect them to actually answer, but their body language seemed to tell him enough. The innate guilt of seeing his friend in such poor condition wormed its way into his consciousness at the thought that it had been the result of a build up over a number of days, and why hadn't he been there? A little irrational, perhaps, but to see Greece like this, when he was always so laid-back, carefree… It wasn't right.

Greece forward slumped a little more with a tired cough, and Japan pulled him back as gently as possibly, helping the other to stand while taking as much weight as possible. Having expected the uneasiness of supporting the taller man, it had been easy to adjust when Greece swayed uncertainly on his feet, pressed against him, and allowed himself to be led out of the bathroom.

"Greece-san, can you walk?" he asked, although more in hope that it would register this time, as well as to break the dead silence that filled the household. But when the other man made a sound that seemed to speak of the affirmative, Japan could not entirely conceal his relief, as he continued to lead the way slowly. (He had already seen what had happened when Greece had tried to move suddenly, and did not wish for a repeat performance.)

The cats, he noticed, followed their every step, and they eventually made it to the bedroom. Pushing Greece down onto the bed as gently as possible, he gathered the tossed sheets and wrapped his friend up as well as he could.

He placed a hand on Greece's forehead, checking the temperature once more, and scowled; no, it hadn't really changed at all since he had arrived. And while he could only wonder where he had acquired such a sickness, other things had to be taken care of; "This really is quite unexpected. But for this to happen…"

Japan trailed off and sighed, pulling back – well, for now I should… - the bed behind him creaked in protest and Japan turned back, leaning forward to stop Greece from exerting himself any more than necessary.

"Stay there. I'll be back," he murmured. It seemed that if Greece had not actually heard it, he understood the gesture and the Japanese man allowed himself to leave the room as quietly as possible, leaving the cats to watch over their caretaker.

His eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness as he returned to the bathroom; it seemed Greece had arrived in time and the actual mess itself had been contained (and really, really good aim or memory, he supposed) and thus the task of cleaning up took little time. Once done, he returned to the first floor, nearly tripped over again, although this time it was a black kitten, and he could only apologise as it streaked out a window with a hiss, and he entered the kitchen.

When he returned, glass of water in hand, Japan couldn't help but be vaguely amused at the sight of Greece lying in bed while surrounded by cats as they clamoured about on the blanket. Seating himself on the bed carefully (the cats there were considerate enough to make space for him) his voice broke the quiet; "You should drink this, Greece-san."

Pulling the other man up slowly to prevent the other's head spinning at any unexpected actions, he urged Greece to drink at least a little - slowly, Greece-san, don't push yourself… How did this happen anyway? (Even now, he was unable to work out it, while the other man's breath remained ragged, strained and he felt useless, unable to do anything to ease his friend's pain.)

The glass was still near-full when Greece pushed it away from himself feebly, and it seemed he just couldn't take anything. He couldn't really be blamed, having just upended the contents of his stomach not too long ago. Japan placed the glass on the nearest surface within his reach before helping the other man to lie back down, tucking the blankets around him firmly.

"Just try to get some sleep, Greece-san. You'll be fine, if…" he hesitated at this, at a loss for words. What did one say in these sorts of situations? "In any case…"

Again, he had no idea as to how he was supposed to finish that sentence; after a moment's contemplation, he eventually shrugged it away, despite the nagging feeling in the back of his mind: he should have been better than this. Unfinished sentences were atrocious and speaking clearly while getting to the point were important, but he couldn't find the words, and he didn't feel up to arguing with himself about etiquette (or social interaction in general).

Japan moved away and grabbed a chair from behind the desk, setting it down as quietly as possible next to the bed. He watched as Greece slept – or attempted to, at least. His own recollections of being sick were hazy at best (it had been so long ago) but it had been difficult; always was.

He contemplated leaving the room to get water and some cloth for a compress, but loathed the idea of leaving the other in such a condition, even though he knew it would be for the best.

Instead, he leaned forward, brushing the other man's bangs out of his face – slowly, carefully so as to not disturb him – but then froze, unsure of his own actions. Japan could feel the cats watching on silently, and his face burned, but he didn't pull back, felt unable to. He didn't know why his heart seemed to be pounding into his ears now, or why he was doing this in the first place.

First and foremost, his duty was to keep an eye on Greece, who still looked sickly and not right because he was always full of life, and yet… yet…

With a sigh, he pulled back and leaned against the chair. He felt tired himself, although it might have been solely due to the plane trip, and time differences always caused a strain on his system and he couldn't help but wonder a little as to what may have happened had he had not made such a horrendous error in his plans. No, he told himself, don't think about it.

He closed his eyes – they were so heavy now that everything had calmed down once more – and a cat jumped onto his lap, curling up and it was warm, and really, it was alright to be like this, right? If Greece needed any help, that was fine, too, but for now, sleep was… that-…

Danger was approaching. He could hear the screams overhead and-

Japan jerked back instantly at the invasion of his personal space, eyes snapping open as his hand moved to grab at the tessen hidden in his sleeve, but froze as he met Greece's eyes. Surprise was stamped on his face, and Japan reprimanded himself for acting on instinct; taking a deep breath to calm his nerves (and hoping that it would be enough to clear his mind) he slid back to his former position as Greece's outstretched arm dropped to his side.

"Greece-san, how as you feeling?" Alright, good, he sounded completely normal; he could just pretend what had just happened never occurred.

The Greek swallowed visibly, coughed, but managed a reply; "I'm fine… that is, better than before." He definitely sounded it, and for that he could only be grateful. It was uncommon for them to fall ill, after all, and such severe reactions usually meant pure chaos to the land they represented, but… Japan glanced out the window; it seemed perfectly fine out there.

It probably was nothing more than just an illness Greece had somehow managed to catch.

"That's a relief. I'm glad to see that you're doing better now. It really was just chance that I was here, though…" And he had broken in to do so, during an hour no sane individual would have considered possible…

"I mean," he coughed at this, not quite sure as to how he could explain it without sounding like a complete fool (but that was impossible, wasn't it?) "I had forgotten about the time difference between our homes, so…"

Greece nodded vaguely at this as he trailed off weakly, and it seemed his attention was divided between their conversation and the purring cat on his bed; "Mn… Thank you."

The gratitude that was clearly there was expected (even if he had broken in) but Japan could find no reasonable explanation as to why his pulse quickened and his face burned. He stood up abruptly, and the chair almost toppled due to the sudden action.

Holding the chair still before it could do anything else, he refused to meet his friend's eyes; "Of course, it would be best if you remained in bed until you're completely well," Japan bit his lip, before ploughing on, "I also apologise for entering your home without permission."

He should have bowed at this, would have if he could have just brought himself to face the other man to do so – but not right now: he knew he couldn't do it without making a fool of himself at this very minute.

Without another word, he left the room, and he felt the eyes of all the occupants watch him as he did so. Once he had reached the first floor, Japan sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the wall opposite him. There was no reason for him to act this way, he knew, but his reaction when Greece had done nothing more than reach out to him…

The weapon felt heavy in his sleeve, but he had to have it, just in case (always in case), and maybe he was getting a little too paranoid for his own good, but one never knew what to expect; in the end, he decided, he was a fool.

Even so, the world around them kept changing.

And he didn't have time to think and worry about it, he told himself; not right now, not like this. But when he thought back to Greece that, too, was far more complicated than he liked to believe at times: not that it was necessarily a bad thing, he had come to realise, but it didn't make it any less awkward when he found himself paying just a little too much attention and felt himself tripping over too many mental mind blocks.

No, now was not the time to worry, especially as he had a sick person to care for, and that much, Japan knew, he could do. He had all the time in the world to work out his other little problems, so right now he could focus on the present and see where it took him.