Over the past week Kiku knew more than anybody that Mongolia and North Korea were gearing up for their attack. He quietly did nothing. His country was already as prepared as they could be, but it wasn't enough. It was inevitable that Japan was going to get taken over. It was something that he couldn't avoid. He'd spent too long being independent. It was just a matter of time before he lost that, but losing that status to his younger brother was unexpected.

He gave a deep sigh, half considering lighting up another cigarette, but then decided against it. He knew the attack was coming soon and he could no longer sit back and do nothing. He had to fight for himself and his people, even if it would be futile and in vain.

For three days he waited for one of the two personification to show up at his home. North Korea was the one to show up. There were no words exchanged and they didn't look at each other. Kiku allowed Im Hyung Soo to lead him out of his own home and to Mongolia. Now Mongolia was a very impatient man who seemed to enjoy showing people who was in control. The moment he got near him he was immediately subjected to a beating. He saw Hyung Soo flinch but he made no move to stop it, not that Kiku could blame him. You don't fight against Enkhjargal, it just makes things worse.

He vaguely remembered being shoved onto a plane and having Hyung Soo sit next to him the whole time, muttering in Korean.

He woke up in a dingy old building with his eldest brother nearby, tending to his wounds. China wasn't the only one there. Various other nations were there. South Korea, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Ukraine. All the nations that had been taken over by the growing empire. The empire that his country was now a part of.

"Ah, Kiku you're awake." Yao voice was soft and comforting. He sounded exactly as he remembered. Part of him wanted to cry but the part of him told him not to show weakness. "It's been too long."

Kiku nodded, choosing to remain silent because he knew if he tried to speak he'd cry. It had been three long years since China had been taken over and three long years since he was able to see his brother.

Yong Soo had been taken over four years earlier. Ivan was taken over after a year long battle, that was three years ago as well. Soon after Ivan came Yekaterina. Then Sadiq. Then Rajesh. Then Chakri. Then Lan Tuyen. One after another strong countries were taken over.

They had few allies in this war. Poland, Lithuania, England, America, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy. He was scared for what remained of Asia. Indonesia and the Philippines hadn't been touched yet but he knew that would change. A lot of the countries had given up without a fight. Vietnam was one of them.

"They're moving in on the Philippines next," Yao told him softly. "Without your troops to support them, I think they'll get taken over quicker than you did."

"How quick—?"

"Two days." Yao cut him off. "At least you know your people didn't suffer too much, unlike poor Ivan."

"Did they surrender?"

"Yes." Yao sighed. "Your leader didn't want a year long battle like what happened in Russia, but he got a lot of the younger soldiers out in submarines."

Kiku remained silent.

Toris and a group of men spent three tedious hours saving the Japanese refugees from the recent helicopter crash. There were six in total; all of whom were teenagers. They were in need of immediate medical attention.

They were quickly rushed to the local hospital and Toris couldn't help but worry about Kiku. In all of his existence, Kiku had always been strong and his geography might of contributed heavily to that, but the idea of Japan getting taken over almost seemed absurd. Though it was only a matter of time before someone wanted to take over.

After the police arrived at the scene of the crash he was dismissed. He decided to head down to the hospital and check on the the teenagers and see where they were headed.

Yao was insistent on Kiku resting and doing minimal work. Enkhjargal on the other hand wanted to watch Kiku suffer and despite his wounds and emotional inflictions from the invasion and the death of his people, he was forced to get up and do work like the rest on the conquered nations. Yao tried his hardest to take some of the work off his shoulders but it proved too much for him.

Twelve hours of working came to a close and they were sent off to the mess hall to eat. After dinner, which lasted an hour, they were sent back to their nasty, little barracks and curfew was announced. Kiku couldn't sleep though, he was in too much pain to even try. No matter how he laid it sent shockwaves of pain through his body. Without this sleep time he had time to think about his home and Heracles.

If there was one thing that he missed more than home it was Heracles. They'd been together since the end of the Korean War, only breaking up briefly during the Sword Art Online incident.

The door slammed open and a few nations jumped awake but quickly pretended to fall back asleep. Footsteps echoed through the small barracks and grew closer and closer to his bunk. The footsteps fell silent right beside his bed. "Kiku," Enkhjargal voice whispered in his ear, "come with me."

Keiko woke up in a strange hospital with people around her muttering in language she didn't understand. On her side, laying in a hospital bed, was Shino and on the other side of her was Asuna. She wasn't sure where they were. She remembered a helicopter crash but she didn't remember if they'd made it out of Lithuania yet. Needless to say, she was scared.

Shino stirred on her side and gave out a sharp gasp of pain.

"Ayano-san. are you alright?" Keiko started to sit up but slammed back down, biting back a sharp squeal of pain.

"B-be careful, Keiko-chan," Shino gasped out, gritting her teeth. "You're hurt."

"So are you!" she snapped back, and regretted it. She had no right to snap at Shino; she was hurt and he was the elder. "Sorry."

"Ah, you two are awake." A man with brown hair and soft green eyes pulled back their curtain. Keiko suddenly felt at ease.

"Who're you?" Shino sounded distrustful as he glared at the man.

"Ah, yes, I probably should have introduced myself." He chuckled sheepishly. "I'm Lithuania, but call me Toris." He paused. "Toris Laurinaitis; that's my full name."

Shino relaxed a little, but her weary gaze never left the man.

"Lithuania-sama, where are we?" Asuna piped into the conversation. Lithuania gave her a soft smile.

"Vilnius." Seeing Asuna's confused look, he decided to expand on his answer. "Vilnius is my capital."

"Have you ever met our country, Lithuania-sama?" Keiko sounded extremely excited and her face reflected it as well. Lithuania smiled softly.

"Yes, Japan is a very strange man to say at the least." He looked thoughtful. "He's too caught up in ancient traditions and seems to have a harder time modernizing himself."

"Ancient traditions are still very important in our culture but we do like to incorporate modern technology into our lives," Shino added. "But I can imagine that it would be harder for him to move over to modern technology, seeing as it's constantly evolving."

"Yeah, I mean after all in 2018, full dive technology was just an idea and look at where we are now." Rika had woken up. "If we continue on the way we are, we'll be able to cross over our world with the digital world."

"If Kazuto-kun continues the way he is, it'll be sooner than you think," Asuna added with a proud undertone. "Yui-chan can see our world with the technology he's developed."

"Who knows, Asuna-san. Soon you might be able to bring Yui-chan into our world," Keiko excited added.

"I hope so."

"Kazuto-san, you're awake!" Toris chuckled.

"Looks like the pain killers are working," Toris commented, observing Keiko's bubbly demeanor. He glanced down at his watch. "I've got to get going, anything you need before I leave?"

"No, thank you, Lithuania-sama." Asuna shook her head and quickly resumed listening to the conversation that would soon be breaking out into an argument.

"Alright then," Toris sighed. "See you guys." And with that he was gone.

Kiku nearly collapsed before he made it to the room he was beckoned to. Enkhjargal, of course, relished in his pain and took an obvious amount of pleasure in it. He snapped at a few men lingering around in the building in Mongolian, and they quickly scampered out, sending looks of pity in Kiku's direction.

Kiku had no clue what was going on or what was going to happen to him, but he had an idea it wasn't going to be good. After all, he had heard some of the horror stories from Russia about when he was under Mongolia's control. He felt sick to his stomach.

"Let's have fun, Kiku, alright?"

—End—