In my experience, balance has been the key to survival. And let's just say, I've survived a long time. The only reason why I've lived so long is because I've trained myself of when the time is to be strong and the times to seem submissive. It's all about finding the right balance. Yin and yang. I'm still not perfect at it yet cause I felt like destroying it along with this stupid box.
I'm sick and tired of all these European nations crawling around here and taking advantage of my hospitality. Acting like they owned the place. England was the worst of all, and Hong Kong was actually going to go along with that guy! He said he wanted to learn more of the world or something. Who knew more about the world than me? The western world wasn't all that mattered.
Maybe I should just close off the world again. Just keep things within the family. It's just that the world changes so fast. Nations come and go in the blink of an eye. Dear friends suddenly disappear off the face of the earth. I suppose that was the curse of surviving.
Enough of the sad stuff. Most people would probably wonder what I'm doing shoving this obnoxious crate through the jungle. England brought this stuff to my home that made him see strange thing and made him weirdly happy. It could only be drugs. I freakin warned him not to bring drugs in my country ever again. Honestly, these younger nations are such children. So, of course I and to destroy it. I couldn't let them walk all over me like that.
The problem was how? Burning it would obviously be a bad idea. Burying it didn't seem severe enough. It could easily be dug up again. I could dump the crate in some water. That sounded completely original and not ever done by America. It's different because this was drugs and not tea.
I finally came across a river. This looked like a good place to dump it. I broke open the crate and poured out its contents. Some of the white shiny stuff got on my hands. Wait, this wasn't drugs. The warm sensation told me it was magic. I quickly washed it off in the stream. It was a good thing I had built up some tolerance for magic from my special homemade medicine. Who knows what this could have done to me. Low concentrations like this were no problem, but if I had gotten that whole crate on me, who knew what kind of trouble I'd get into. Just what was England doing in my house with a giant crate of magic?
"Master England! I've finally found...wait, you're not Master England."
A little red figure came flying towards me. She was so cute! With her little red face and her little red wings and her little red dress! Simply adorable. Not to mention she was red, which is my favorite color. She was like a little ray of happiness!
"Ni Hao, little red creature! I am called China, not England."
"Why do you have Master England's magic on you?" she asked.
"Oh, well, I suppose I got a bit on my hands when I was dumping it in the river..."
"YOU DID WHAT!" she screamed. Red erupted from her like a blazing fire. It felt like her rage would consume everything in her path.
"What the?" was all I could manage to say.
"HOW DARE YOU EVEN PLACE YOUR UNWORTHY HANDS ON MASTER ENGLAND'S MAGIC!"
"Okay, you seriously need to calm down! And have some respect! If I can hit my boss, who happens to be a DRAGON by the way, with a pillow in the shape of a cat, I will not hesitate to beat you with my wok," I lectured.
"YOU DARE THREATEN ME, PETTY HUMAN? YOUR INSOLENCE WILL BE YOUR DEMISE! OMATAY YATOMA XINOB, I CURSE THEE!"
The red flames reached me. Their flames were a bit hotter than the loose magic from the box, but it still wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
"Is that the best you've got?" I challenged. I started to come at her.
She frowned and the flames turned darker. I could actually feel a bit of burning now. It was only skin deep, but it sent me to the ground.
"You're going to have to do better than that," I continued. It was a shame to go down in a fight when the enemy was holding back.
The little creature gritted her teeth. The flames went nearly black. To my very core, I was being burned alive. I writhed on the ground. I really shouldn't have egged her on. It was unbearable, like I was being charred and melted at the same time. I could feel my strength leaving. Maybe this was finally the end for me.
Through the chaos, I heard, "Go back to whence you came! Evil spirit be gone!" A paper talisman was thrown int the creatures face. She let out a high pitched scream and disappeared.
When she left, the pain started to fade. I tried to pick myself up, and a pair of familiar hands caught me.
"China, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Japan. I don't know how I let that little thing get the best of me. But I feel mostly normal so no harm done." It was a lie. I felt sore all over, but I knew Japan would worry about me too much lie he always did. Soreness was nothing I couldn't handle after all.
I must admit, it was nice to see Japan again. He had moved out some time ago. I missed like crazy. He was like a little brother to me, but all countries must grow up eventually. If he was going to be strong, he'd have to venture out in the world on his own. And now Hong Kong was gone like Japan.
I put on a smile for him. "I'm happy that you came to visit again! It always seems that I keep finding you in a bamboo forest. You're like a little baby panda." He had been so cute when I found him. How could I not take him home with me?
"I'm not a baby. I've gotten quite old." Japan still helped to support my weight.
"Yeah, you've still got nothing on me, kid." Despite my age and soreness, I stepped away from Japan, happy to find that I could in fact support myself. "Now lets go home. I'll make your favorite dumplings!" I walked spritely ahead of him.
My house had always been noisy. People had always been coming and going. It was considerably less since I had kicked England and France out. They fought literally all the time, but something told me that it was just sexual tension. Korea was making a lot of noise playing one of his games with Japan. Hr lied to make his own sound affects. I had Taiwan and Vietnam helping me in the kitchen.
"Hey, China. Where's Hong Kong?" Taiwan asked me. Vietnam quietly cut the vegetables. I could tell even she was concerned. Even though he really didn't contribute much to the noise, his presence was still missing from our family.
"I really don't want to talk about it," I grumbled. I avoided looking at Taiwan and stirred the rice some more.
"China's just mad because Hong Kong ran away!" Korea called from the living room.
"Hong Kong did not run away!" I yelled back. "He just...decided to live with England for a while. That's all. Now shut up and get this food before it gets cold!"
I scraped the last of the dumplings out of the pan and onto the plate.
"I know what will make you feel a lot better!" Korea was a lot closer than I thought he was. His hands came at me from behind and groped my chest. I nearly dropped the plate of food.
"Korea! Damn it! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times! Stop touching me like that!"
I set the plate down and turned around to punch Korea in the stomach. He just held his hands out in front of him with a devastated look on his face.
"China! What have you done to my boobs! My precious boobs! They're gone!"
"They are not your boobs!" I really didn't have much breasts to begin with, though I usually bound them when I practiced martial arts. The binding did seem a bit loose, but I had been under a lot of stress lately.
"I can't believe it!" Korea continued. "Maybe I should check again..." Korea's hands went for me once more. I was prepared for him this time used his force against him to lock him in a painful hold.
"Ah! Owowowowowowowow! Let go, let go! I give!" Korea yelped.
I let him go. "I don't want to hear anymore from you about my breasts."
Korea sat glumly next to Japan, and the meal finally began. As the food was passed around the table, Korea whispered into Japan's ear.
Japan's face grew red. "I can't say that!" he exclaimed.
"Please, please, please!" Korea begged. "Pretty please with salty tuna on top!"
Japan hesitated a moment and turned to me, blushing deeply. "Forgive my rudeness, but Korea has requested me to ask why your boobs are gone."
I slammed my chopsticks down onto the table. "Damn it, Korea!" I shouted. I barely registered that the chopsticks remained perfectly fine despite the force I thought I used.
I sighed and pushed back the curtain to the family bath. Maybe what I needed was just a dip in the hot springs. I just felt so exhausted and weak. I undid the ties of my jacket. As I suspected, my bindings were a bit loose. I thought I had done them properly this morning. I unwound myself. Wow, it really was sad. My breasts really were nonexistent. My shoulders appeared to have broadened along with some other muscles. Had I really been working out that much more lately? Maybe I should cut back tomorrow.
I slipped of my pants and noticed something odd. There should have been a slight curve of resistance. Instead, my hands were met by linear straight body lines. Then I looked down and noticed something that shouldn't even be there in the first place.
I gasped and slipped. The ground hurt more than it should. I needed to calm down. This wasn't so big a deal. To be a balanced person, I needed to be equal parts feminine and masculine, right? A sudden change in gender shouldn't faze me. It was not like I was particularly fond of being female. It wasn't the end of the world. Plus, who knows, I could even learn more from the world. Being a guy might be a good experience for me. Something new after all these centuries.
I tied my hair back and sunk into the hot water. As I soaked, I contemplated. How exactly had I gotten this way? I supposed it was probably from the little red flying creature. Her magic must have done something to me after all. Maybe that was the reason I felt so weak as well.
I dipped my head under the water. When I came back up, I could see Japan standing at the entrance of the bath with only a towel wrapped his lower half. His blushing face was distorted by the fog.
"Excuse me! I am so sorry! I'll leave right away!" he stammered.
"No need. We are practically family." I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my lower half as seemed so foreign to me,but there was no need for me to cover my chest anymore. "I was just about to leave anyway. You should enjoy the bath.
Japan had a reserved yet shocked look on his face. "Pardon me, but China, you're a man?"
I turned back to him and shrugged. "We learn new things everyday," I said simply, or cryptically. It really depended on how you read the mood.
AN: Although it may not seem like it right now, I swear this is a RoChu and not a ChinaxJapan.