Kiku walked solemnly up the thick, concrete stairs. His fingers were lightly brushing the cold, steel banister to his right, while his other hand clutched his folders, work and stationary, and his bento box, pressing it against his chest. His footsteps were soft, making light 'clomp' noises as he trod upwards.

The event which caused his loneliness happened moments before when he realized that, he, the Great Empire of Japan, had lost his happiness.

He was in the canteen having his homemade lunch as usual, when it came to his attention that, amidst the vast area of the canteen he was one of the only people not in a partnership or friendship. Obviously he wasn't the only one; of course, there was Francis, who seemed to have been dumped again. However he was being comforted by Gilbert and Antonio. Feleciano and Ludvig were in a relationship, and they never seemed to notice him, although that wasn't very surprising. The other Asian countries also seemed to be happy and enjoying a joke.

"When was the last time I really smiled like them…ah it was then.." he thought to himself with a blunt expression. He asked himself, "Why can I not smile again..What happened..' He felt like he was captured, unable to escape from this glass cage of falseness. He felt like the change in the world accumulated too quickly, like something was wrong, a repetitive dream.

And so he found himself excusing himself from the canteen with his unfinished bento, and heading towards the roof. On the way, he picked up some council work and his coat, determined to break some rules. The roof was out of bounds; however he felt that, by going there, being somewhere where people say he didn't belong, he would be in a state of liberty.

However, what he didn't realize was that he wasn't the only one looking for freedom…

He was at the top of the stairs now; he reached out his hand and pushed the thick, metal door. It opened with a creak.

An explosion of light and a smell of tobacco instantly mixing with the damp taste of concrete chocked his senses. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun, the cool wind tickled his hair, and when his vision focused, he noticed that there was beautiful blonde boy staring in his direction with tired emerald eyes.

The boy smiled at him, a gentle but sad smile.

"Ah- I'm very sorry I didn't think anyone else would be up here. Sorry for disturbing you!" Kiku stuttered as he began to turn and walk back towards the door. The blonde boy started laughing:

"Aha, ha ha ha ha ha! You're formally apologizing for disturbing me but you came up here, to a place out of your bounds, by your own accord. Quite the polite rebel, aren't we? Haha!" The boy spoke with an accent hinting he was from Britain. His voice seemed to echo around Kiku, his laughter, soft and bouncy.

Kiku turned to face the boy again,

"Please do not tell anyone, Arthur san!" he pleaded. Arthur carried on laughing, "It's okay, you know, I'm not gonna sell you out. And it's okay for you to stay too."

Kiku looked down at Arthur, giving him a proper inspection. He was sitting cross legged on his coat. Papers were sprawled all over the floor. His hair was a short, messy, dark cream blonde, his eyes were a glowing emerald, and he had a cigarette in his mouth. His tie was slightly loosened, top button open and he appeared very tired but kept on smiling none the least. This person was Arthur Kirkland, aka, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (or simply "England") He was around the same age as Kiku, a past super power, and even though his power had decreased slightly he was still an overwhelming nation. He was also the Student Council President, renowned for being smart and gentlemen like, a model figure to younger generations. Yet why was he like this?

Kiku still decided that leaving would be his best option. "Arthur must be having a bad day, yes, that's it. Also-" He had already began to walk away, while muttering excuses, when something grabbed his elbow and tugged him into turning back around. It was Arthur, he was on his knees, looking to the ground, and said in a hoarse voice,

"Hey….. please don't leave me again" Arthur said looking at the ground with a sad smile

"Ar-thur san-" Kiku's voice cracked

"Hey Kiku, why did you come up here?" the blonde boy asked

"It..It was.. because..err" The dark haired boy barely stuttered when he was interrupted

"Was it because you wanted to be free?" Arthur asked

"…"

"Why have you been avoiding me? I told you that..that it didn't matter anymore. I don't care that we used to be enemies. I told you that I forgave you..be..because..you were my friend! So why did you still leave?" Arthur still had a tight grip on Kiku's elbow

"I'm..sorry" Kiku said hoarsely. He looked down upon the top of Arthur's head. The messy mop of hair bounced in the wind. "He hasn't changed much since then.." Kiku thought to himself, a slight smile creept onto his lips as he reminiscent. However, after giving Arthur another quick inspection, he came to realize that the boy was much thinner, his skin was paler, and he didn't seem to be in a fit state.

The smile grew into one of relief though.

"Look at you, have you even been eating properly since then? Have you been sleeping? You look like you haven't slept for days! I know you have an important position but please try to look after yourself!" Kiku flustered over Arthur

"Huh?" expressed Arthur as he looked up at Japanese boy with slightly red eyes.

"Here, have the rest of this-" Kiku shoved his bento box into Arthur's face. Arthur looked down at the box, confused by the sudden change of atmosphere; he looked by at Kiku, who stared back with determined maroon eyes.

Kiku carried on "And why are you smoking?! You know it's bad for you!"

"I..know…" Arthur replied quietly

"Then why are you smoking, you idiot!" Kiku burst

"Oi, I'm not an idiot. A tiny cigarette's not gonna kill me! It's just out of habit! Out of Habit! Fine then, I'll stub this one, but it's not for you, do you hear me, it's for my sake!" Arthur returned back to his usual self. Kiku smiled. He hadn't smiled properly for decades.