Karoushi

PART I

"Well it appears that we have made some good progress," spoke a spectacled man, leaning back in his seat causing it to creak. He was one of the leading members in Arthur Kirkland's team.

Arthur nodded in agreement, his unruly blonde strands falling over his eyes. He also straightened in his seat, extending a hand toward the Asian nation sitting opposite the table.

Kiku gave a small bow before reaching his own hand out to accept the handshake.

"Thank you," Kiku smiled politely. "I do hope we can gather again soon."

"Yes, we must," Arthur said as he released his hand from Kiku's.

Everyone seated around the large desk began gathering their belongings as the meeting was adjourned. Kiku's seniors also exchanged bows and handshakes with the Englishmen in the room. Then, as Kiku was placing files into his attaché case, he felt a hand grip his shoulder.

"Honda, a word," one of his seniors muttered to him.

Kiku nodded, closing the lid of his case. He then turned to Arthur when he heard the blonde man address him.

"See you Kiku," the brit greeted with a friendly wave.

"Good afternoon Asa-san," Kiku replied, locking eyes with Arthur for a brief moment. "I will er, call you later," Kiku added in a small voice.

Arthur nodded. Once he had his coat on, he followed his colleagues out into a long hallway. They walked for a while, mostly in silence other than a murmur here and there as several men voiced their need for a pot of some good Earl Grey. Arthur was also wondering if he could sit down for a cuppa before his next appointment as he walked down the hallway with his hands in his pockets. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

"All of you go ahead," Arthur stated as the others turned to face him. "None of you are required to attend the World Meeting next anyway. I'm just going to go back and wait for Kiku so we can go together."

"Got it Mr. Kirkland," the man to Arthur's right said with a small jab in Arthur's ribs and a wink.

"Just go will you? Buggers," Arthur muttered followed by a chorus of chuckles from his colleagues.

"Understood," another one said before turning back to lead the group down the hallway while Arthur made a U-turn.

Arthur hummed to himself on his way back to the conference room he had just left. As he drew closer to the room, he could hear voices from inside. He quietly opened the door a crack and peered inside to make sure he wasn't going to be interrupting anything amongst the Japanese.

"Hai, hai…hai…aah sumimasen...sumimasen…"

Arthur frowned, watching Kiku bow profusely as he repeated those same words over and over toward his seniors who were towering over him. Arthur did not know a lot of Japanese but he understood the meaning of this particular phrase Kiku uttered. The man was apologizing. He did that way too often for Arthur not to know what it meant. He was also learning that a bow could tand for many different things in the Japanese culture—anywhere from a simple greeting to a plea for forgiveness.

Before Arthur knew it, Kiku's seniors had finished admonishing the nation and were making to exit the room. Arthur hastily stepped aside, flattening himself against the wall of the hallway to avoid a collision with the approaching men marching out into the hallway. They were muttering and cursing in Japanese under their breaths, all of them wearing expressions of distaste, too preoccupied to even notice Arthur was there.

Arthur exhaled once all of Kiku's seniors had passed by. He gazed at the backs of the identical black suits rapidly disappearing down the hallway before he slipped into the conference room.

"Hey Kiku," Arthur called, spotting the smaller man massaging his temples.

"Hai…Oh! Asa-san," Kiku jumped, apparently unaware of the fact the brit had entered the room. "What brings you back? I don't think you have forgotten anything…"

"Sure about that?" Arthur asked in a playful tone, taking several steps toward Kiku.

"Well ah, I didn't spot any of your belongings when I made a check of the room…" Kiku trailed off, tracking his eyes over the room to double check he hadn't missed anything. The room was spotless, Kiku made sure it wasn't anything less whenever he used the room.

Arthur grinned, leaning down to whisper into Kiku's ear. "You."

Kiku shook his head weakly, but with a smile on his face. "Asa-san, really."

"Don't 'Asa-san' me," Arthur teased, laughing as he ran a hand through Kiku's hair. He then put a finger under Kiku's chin, tilting his head back as he bent down for a chaste kiss.

"Mm…Asa-san, not here," Kiku murmured.

"Fine," Arhur mumbled, dropping his hand away from Kiku's chin.

The Japanese man caught his hand and gave a small squeeze before he went to pick up his attaché case.

"Kiku?"

"Yes?"

"What were you talking about just before I came in?" Arthur asked cautiously, finding a spot on the wall to stare at.

Kiku hesitated, glancing toward the door before looking back toward Arthur. "Oh, my seniors were just displeased with something."

"What?" Arthur asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, ah well," Kiku thought for a moment. "There were several documents I was supposed to have had completed that I failed to do. That is why my seniors were unhappy."

"What documents?" Arthur said a little roughly. He was starting to sound like a child with his consecutive 'what this' and 'what that'.

"I am not completely sure myself," Kiku said carefully. "I was just told that I will be given the documents later this evening."

Arthur blinked, focusing his eyes back to look at Kiku. "But I thought they were angry at you cos you didn't have the documents completed! How are you supposed to do that when you haven't got the bloody things to start with?"

"Oh, just some miscommunication is all," Kiku said listlessly. "Why it occurs all the time."

"But the way you were apologizing, I thought something horrible happened," Arthur said in exasperation.

"No, no," Kiku assured. "This is normal in my culture."

Arthur sighed, shaking his head. "Kiku, this isn't normal! That's not fair on you. It's not like you were in the wrong…"

Kiku took a step toward Arthur, placing a hand on the enraged Englishman. "Asa-san, it's nothing at all I promise. Especially not something you should be worrying yourself over."

"But—"

"Asa-san," Kiku cut in. "I thought you had some appointments this afternoon? I shouldn't be holding you up."

"That's right," Arthur said, suddenly reminded of why he had come back all the way in the first place. "Yeah, we should get going eh?"

We? Kiku froze for a moment. As far as he was aware, he was to be meeting with Antonio immediately after the meeting finished with Arthur. Oh, he must just mean we both need to go to our respective appointments.

"Come on," Arthur said, wrapping an arm over Kiku's shoulders. "I came back so we could go to Alfred's place together."

"Alfred-san?" Kiku said in a small voice. He was almost certain that he was supposed to be meeting with Antonio, not Alfred.

"The World Meeting?" Arthur said, staring stupidly into Kiku's confused face.

World Meeting? Kiku's breath caught in his throat. He tried desperately to conceal the surprise from showing while he forced himself to remember his correct schedule. It was useless, he couldn't think clearly. His mind felt foggy.

"Alfred's not gonna be a happy chappy if the both of us are late," Arthur laughed, jokingly tapping his hand on Kiku's shoulder.

I need to be in Spain…No America…World Meeting…No but I was sure…I don't know...why?

Arthur was still laughing when he felt a tugging at his sleeve. He looked down and saw Kiku's delicate fingers grasping the sleeve of his coat. "Kiku?"

"I…ca…br…eathe…"

"Hm?" Arthur gently took hold of Kiku's hand, uncurling the fingers from the fabric of his coat. As he held the smaller hand in his own, he realized Kiku was shaking violently. "What did you say Kiku?"

"brea…"

"Kiku? Bloody hell!" Arthur gasped, finally noticing that the other man was struggling to breathe. Arthur was close to getting a heart attack just from the strangled look in Kiku's eyes.

Arthur quickly wrapped his arms around Kiku's back to support him. He immediately felt Kiku's body sag against him as the Asian lost consciousness.