At least Eyebrows keeps his cupboard well-stocked.Hong Kong thought as he rummaged around the kitchen, looking for something edible. It was half an hour after "dinner," also known as "distract England before he notices no food is being eaten." Because of the "no food being eaten" part, Hong Kong was starving, and he decided he would have to take it into his own hands. That is how the young boy found himself inspecting his caretaker's pantry, choosing which food was edible and which was… slightly less so.

Finally he decided on something that looked like a citrus-fruit and retrieved a knife to eat it with. The food's peel felt slightly leathery in his hands as he cut it off, revealing an orange interior. Tentatively, he cut off a piece of the food and popped it into his mouth. Brown eyes widened as a burst of sweet flavor erupted on his tongue, and the child hurriedly cut out another piece. Soon enough, his hands were soaked with the fruit's sweet, sticky juice, and Hong Kong exhaled in happy content.

Suddenly tell-tale clacking announced the presence of footsteps in the kitchen. Before Hong Kong could chuck the remains of his meal into the garbage can, England strode into view, acting not at all surprised to see the boy in the kitchen. He paused for a moment, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Evening snack, eh?" he asked the inwardly nervous boy. All Hong Kong could do was nod in agreement. "Well, you are a growing lad. I shouldn't be surprised." The boy's positioned softened as he realized he wasn't it trouble, and stared at the Englishman. "Do you know what you just ate, Leon?"

"… N… No," Hong Kong ventured. England smiled.

"It was an orange, love. Like a grapefruit, but much sweeter."

"… Orange," the boy said, making the connection between the color and the fruit. Hong Kong paused before continuing. "It's, like, good."

England laughed. "I enjoy it as well… But come along. It is your bedtime, lad. Er… well, wash your hands and face first."

~HKHK~

The room Hong Kong was lead to was big and evenly furnished, with two chairs and a large Victorian style bed. It looked comfortable, but not lived in. It reminded Hong Kong of the hotels he and Arthur stayed in on the journey back from China-baba's house: clean, but intimidating.

England had dropped Hong Kong off at the room with a change of clothes that would act a pajamas and a single sentence: If you need anything, my room is at the end of the hallway, to the left. He had said this, and then walked off. Hong Kong watched the man leave, then shut the door to his room and sighed.

This whole house is, like, unnerving… It's nothing like China-baba's house… Hong Kong slapped himself lightly as memories from his other house crept into his mind. He turned around, then noticed that the painting on the other side of the room. It was a beautifully crafted composition that depicted the landscape of the forest at night, with extra emphasis on the moon. The moon ...He could feel the doughy taste of dumplings on his tongue, could see his sibling's dark brown hair glistening in the moonlight as she laughed at their teacher…"Don't laugh -aru! You see, the rabbit is on the moon crushing medic- Kaoru, are you listening to me -aru?"Gold eyes and a warm smile and the feel of the cold wood of the porch and the cold, crisp autumn ai-

SLAP! … I saidNO. The second slap stung quite a bit more than the first. Hong Kong rubbed his numb face and changed hurriedly into pajamas.

The thick blue covers on the bed were heavy and slightly cold to the touch as Hong Kong pulled them back and crawled into bed. Just like the past few nights, he was intimidated by the Western-style bed, missing the sturdiness of the floor and the rough feel of the tatami mat that Japan-gege let him borrow. Instead of using the pillow to cushion his head, he grabbed it and held onto it like he would hold his panda. With his memories still fresh in his mind, he tried to get some sleep.

~HKHK~

"Hey, China-baba, will you play with me?" A beaming Hong Kong was trailing after a taller man with delicate features and his creamy hair tied back in a ponytail. The man laughed.

"Aiyah, Kaoru! I played with you all this morning -aru!"

Hong Kong sulked and said, "But, Baba… I'm bored… " China patted the little boy's head and pointed to somewhere behind him.

"You can go play with those other kids, Kaoru. I'm sorry, but I have work to do -aru."

Without waiting for Hong Kong's reply, China turned around and disappeared.

Hong Kong stared at the place his baba had been and said, "Fine, baba. I'll go play with them." He turned around and sprinted to the place China had pointed at. A few kids were playing with bamboo sticks and, even though Hong Kong didn't recognize them, he walked right up to them.

"Ni hao! I'm Hong Kong. Can I play with you?" The kids stopped playing and examined him, eyes empty but piercing. Finally one kid stepped out of the group and spoke.

"… Aren't you too old to be playing games like this?"

"What …?" Hong Kong stared at the other boy. "But I always play games like this with China-baba." The other kids looked stunned, then started laughing. Hong Kong looked down at his shoes ashamedly though he didn't know what he was ashamed of. Their laughs echoed and echoed like a bunch of madmen.

Just as Hong Kong felt the pinpricks of tears start to form in his eyes, he felt someone grab his hand.

"I'll play with you." The Asian looked up in surprise and stared at the other boy's face. It was blurry and Hong Kong couldn't make out any of his facial features, except that his hair was a beautiful shade of ivory white.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Come on, let's play." The other boy said. Hong Kong stared at him for a moment longer, then replied, face slightly red, "Y-yeah. Let's."

He strode after the older boy, trying to keep up with his long steps as he was pulled along. Neither of them were talking, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Finally something occurred to Hong Kong.

"Oh! Hey, what's your name?" The white haired boy stopped walked and turned around. He opened his mouth and said. "Um, my name's-"

RIIIIIP!

Hong Kong and the white haired boy jumped at the same time.

"What was that?" The other boy said cautiously, looking around.

"Umm…" Hong Kong replied intelligently.

"… I think… you have to go now…" White haired boy said cautiously. Hong Kong was shocked.

"Why? I finally found you, someone to play wi-" He trailed off as a looming shadow fell over the two children.

"That's why," the other boy whispered quietly.

"Hong Kong," a deep voice said, cutting through the air. "Come with me ..." A huge hand grabbed Hong Kong's small one and started pulling him away from the older boy.

"W-wait! No! I finally ... finally found someone!"

The white-haired boy watched in sadness as Hong Kong was dragged away. Just as the stranger was about to disappear from sight, he called out.

" I'll see you again! Count on it!"

Those last words rang in Hong Kong's head as everything faded to black.

A/N: Chapter two, finished! It feels like I've made no progress whatsoever.. -w-;

Anyway, it's late so I will make this brief! I love critiques/comments/suggestions to death, and I would really appreciate it if you left one! Also, don't flame, or Hong Kong will come after you in a dark alley with /a lot/ of fireworks. ^.^