The absolute last thing that Japan wanted to do at that particular moment was go back into the library, but he needed to be sure he had seen what he thought he had seen before the Thing attacked.

Japan picked his katana back up, wincing as it dripped purple blood onto the floor. He had left the key in the lock, and slowly he turned it, readying his sword before suddenly flinging the door open.

Nothing.

Japan didn't let down his guard though, the Thing had snuck up on him once already, and cast his eyes around suspiciously for any movement.

Once again, nothing.

Japan relaxed a little, but didn't re-sheath his blade. The fact that whatever-it-was had managed to get out of a locked room with only one door troubled him. Japan walked back to the table and looked under it.

It was still there.

Hisbag, the one he had brought with him to the meeting because he was spending the night with Greece, the one he specifically remembered leaving at the meeting hall, was tucked under the table in a mansion he hadn't even known to exist before today. Cautiously, he reached out to grab it and go through it's contents.

This was definitely his bag. It had his sleeping clothes as well as the outfit he was planning to wear the next day, his tooth brush, his hairbrush, etc.. Japan looked at the table closely for the first time, books were scattered everywhere, and there were frantic notes scribbled in his hand writing. Japan shivered, reaching for one of the books that had been written extensively in. As he picked it up, something clattered to the floor.

After he got over the shock of the sudden loud noise, Japan picked it up.

It was a key. Attic, Fourth Floor.

Japan sighed, glancing over the books and notes strewn across the table. He'd have to come back later after he had found the others, now was no time for reading. He did grab his bag though, it might be useful.

The fourth floor was tiny, little more than a hallway. There were two doors. Glancing between them, Japan decided to try the door behind the stairs. They key fit.

The attic had a closet like the one he had found Germany in, though this one was empty. The furniture seemed to be extras from all over the house lots of chairs, a couple of desks, a bookshelf against one wall. There was also an armchair that at first Japan thought was red, but when he took a closer look he realized it was simply so stained with blood you could barely see the white.

He wanted to throw up.

Japan didn't though, and keeping as far away from the armchair as he possibly could he continued searching the room for clues. There didn't seem to be anything else interesting though, until Japan noticed the top of some writing behind the bookshelf.

Aha.

When Japan tried to pull it out of the way however, it wouldn't budge. Japan frowned at the bookshelf. It was empty, and it looked to be made of lightweight wood. There was absolutely no reason for him not to be able to move it. Still, that didn't change the fact that it wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. He needed more muscle.

"Maybe Germany could move it? There's no harm in asking..." Japan sighed and exited the attic.

The Thing hadn't shown itself in awhile, but still Japan kept his sword ready all the time he made his way back to the room he had left Germany in. It never appeared however, and Japan opened the door.

Had that...been there before?

No, it hadn't.

The curtain covering the closet had been replaced with a heavy-duty metal door, and Germany was nowhere to be seen. Not to mention that there was an incredible racket coming from inside. Cautiously, Japan knocked.

The noise quieted, the door opened and Germany stuck his head out. "Ja?"

"Er...where..?" Japan shook his head, deciding it was better not to question it. "Nevermind. I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"There's a bookshelf in the attic that has something behind it. I can't move it though. I was wondering if you could come and help me."

Germany looked thoughtful for a minute, as if debating something. He sighed. "I would, but I lost my weapon when I was running. Considering that Thing is wandering around, I'd rather not take my chances. If you could find it..?"

Japan nodded, Germany had a good point. "I'll search for it then. I'll try to find Italy as well, I'm worried. Sayōnara."

"Auf Wiedersehen."

Japan had just turned to leave when a series of loud noises started coming from the closet. Japan shook his head, once again deciding to ignore it for the sake of his sanity.

Japan, with no clues to point him in the right direction, found himself wandering aimlessly through the mansion. And no matter how many rooms he checked, he couldn't find anything. Not even whatever-it-was.

Eventually he found himself back on the first floor, heading for the hallway with the bathroom.

That door had been closed. Japan knew it had. So why was it open?

Japan drew his sword, dropping his bag on the floor. He walked quietly in, avoiding making any noise. The light in the room was off, so he couldn't see into it. Sword still ready, Japan fumbled for the light switch.

Click.

The Thing lunged for Japan, catching him in the shoulder when he tried to dodge. It was still bleeding Japan noted, wincing as he tried to hold up his sword. He was backed into a corner now, no where to go.

This was bad.

"...YoUwOn'TeScApE..."

Unable to dodge this time, Japan screamed in agony when the electricity hit him, blindly waving his sword around to try and defend himself.

He got lucky.

The Thing hissed, and suddenly the lights went off.

Blind now, bleeding and still feeling the pain from that last attack, Japan waited for the finishing blow.

Nothing came.

Confused, Japan crawled to the light switch, flicking it back on with bloody fingers. The room was empty.

"It's gone..."

The room was another bathroom, this one smaller and equipped with an actual bath. Heaving himself up by grabbing onto the sink, Japan fumbled through the cupboards looking for a towel to bandage his shoulder with. Finally he found one, and he twisted it into a makeshift tourniquet. It still hurt, but at least he wasn't bleeding so much. Feeling better, Japan looked around.

Aside from his blood everywhere, there didn't seem to be much interesting about the second bathroom. But then Japan caught the glint or metal in his peripheral vision. A key was stuck in the drain of the bathtub.

Bedroom, Second Floor.

Looks like Japan had finally found a clue.

The bedroom the key referred to was in front of the stairs on the left side of the second floor. The Thing had gotten his sword arm, Japan was nervous about using his left hand but there was nothing he could to about it. He got his sword ready and turned the key.

"Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Someone swung a sword at him, but Japan blocked it and kicked them to the ground, placing katana at their throat. When he saw who it was however he relaxed.

"Thank goodness, you're alive." Japan sheathed his katana.

"Japan?" Prussia jumped up and gave him a hug. "Dude, you're okay! Not that I was worried or anything, I'm way to awesome for that but-"

"Prussia, you're choking me."

"Whoops, sorry. What happened to your shoulder?" Prussia noticed the slightly-red towel Japan had used to bandage himself.

"Nothing. Are you all right?"

"There, there was a monster! I saw It I swear! I was huge and grey and butt-fucking ugly!"

Suddenly remembering the Thing, Japan quickly locked the door.

"It's true! We all saw it, West and Italy will tell you!" Prussia hadn't even noticed.

"I know, It's the reason I'm currently left-handed." Japan sighed, moving to sit on one of the beds.

"We got attacked, I started running and ended up here. Gott knows where West and Ita are...am I making sense here?"

Japan nodded.

"What the hell is that Thing? Wait, scratch that, have you found the others?" Prussia looked slightly frantic when he remembered that Germany and Italy were still missing.

"Calm down Prussia. I found Germany, he's on the same floor, Italy...is nowhere to be found."

"Bumsen!" Prussia kicked the other bed. "West is gonna flip." He sighed. "Do you think he's hurt?"

"I don't know...but he's fast and small enough to hide. He could have gotten away."

Prussia sighed in relief. "I hope Ita's okay... We still need to look for him though. Let's go get West and head out."

"Oh, have you seen Germany's whip? He didn't want to leave the room without it in case the Thing attacks him." Japan shifted uncomfortably, his shoulder still hurting badly.

"Kesesese, as a matter of fact, I do." Prussia pulled it out of one of his pockets. "Now, here's the question: Why in the world did West bring it to a world meeting in the first place?" Japan stared uncomprehendingly at Prussia before it finally clicked.

Oh.

Japan blushed, and Prussia cackled.

Then suddenly, he stopped. Looking worriedly at the door, Prussia grabbed his sword.

"What's wrong?" Japan got up, grabbing his katana.

"I just heard something. It sounded like footsteps." Prussia adjusted his grip, getting ready for a fight.

"Maybe it's Italy?" Japan asked hopefully, doing the same.

Prussia shook his head. "Ita weighs what, 90 pounds? No way we'd hear him unless he was running full-pelt."

The doorknob turned. Japan mentally thanked whatever Gods out there that he had thought to lock the door.

It growled, clawing at the door. Then silence.

"...Is it gone?" Prussia whispered tensely, not relaxing his muscles.

"Probably" Japan answered, though he didn't dare relax either.

"We need to get West and find Ita. Now."

"Keep your sword out."

"Yeah, I know."

Japan unlocked the door and pocketed the key before opening the door. The Thing attacked.

"I thought it was gone!" Prussia dodged to one side, Japan to the other with more difficulty. The Thing wasn't bleeding anymore, snarling at them and getting ready to attack.

"I said probably."

"...yOuWoN'tEsCaPe..." Japan rolled, landing bad on his shoulder, but still it was better than being electrified again.

"What the- It can talk?" Prussia swung his sword, but It dodged and slashed back. Prussia jumped out of the way, swinging again. This time it connected.

It howled in pain.

"Yes, It can. Distract It, I want to try something." Japan stood back, holding his sword up and chanting.

"Whatever you say. Hey, ugly! Come and get me!"

Prussia kept It busy, attacking and then dodging and then attacking again. It was slow, and since they were in the hall there was no way It could back them into a corner.

"Prussia, move! 悪魔、立ち去れ!" Japan slashed at It, whatever he done worked because It screamed and disappeared. Japan panted.

"That was...awesome..." Prussia gaped.

"Thank you." Japan sheathed his katana, wincing as he tried to touch his shoulder. "Think I re-opened the wound. Would you go back in the bedroom and rip some sheets for another bandage?"

Prussia nodded. "Whatever you want."

After Japan had been re-bandaged they went to give Germany his whip.

"What the Hölle is that racket? What is West doing in there?" Prussia but his hands over his ears, looking a Japan.

Japan tried to shrug unsuccessfully, settling for a simple head shake. "I thought it better not to ask." Japan knocked on the iron door, and the noise stopped. Germany opened the door.

"Did you find my whip?" Japan, remembering what Prussia and him had been talking about before the Thing attacked, fought down a blush before answering. "Er...yes. I didn't find it though, Prussia did."

"You found mein bruder?" Germany opened the door all the way and stepped out. "Prussia? Are you alright?"

"Ja, I'm fine. But Ita's still missing, we need to deal with this bookshelf thing and find him already." Prussia handed his little brother his whip, before smirking. "So West...why'd you bring that think anyway?"

Germany rolled his eyes. "Why did you both bring swords? Who cares why anyone brought anything?"

"Kesesese...Someone's avoiding the question kleinen bruder."

"Shut up Prussia."

Japan sighed. Things couldn't be that dire if those two were still joking around.

They made their way upstairs, Prussia still teasing Germany about the whip and Germany outright refusing to answer, which was only making it more suspicious. Finally they got to the attic, Germany and Prussia both started pulling on the bookshelf.

"Well?" Japan asked hopesully.

"This shelf is bolted to the wall or something man..." Prussia kicked it angrily, frustrated.

"Maybe there's a latch or maybe we could find some kind of tool..." Germany suggested.

"It's a big house, I'll look. You two look for a latch or keep pulling." Japan sighed, getting ready to leave.

"Wait a minute Japan, you're injured. Don't you think someone should go with you?" Germany stopped pulling and glanced at Japan's shoulder. It had stopped bleeding, but Japan was still stuck using his left hand.

"I'll be fine. If I see It I won't try to fight, I'll run."

"Fine, but don't get hurt."

"I'll be fine."

Japan left.


AN: PFFFFFFFFFT. I DON'T KNOW. I WANTED TO WRITE HETAONI. X DDDDDDDDD

SORRY, NO MOCHI. ;A;

AND NO ONE NOTICED THAT THE WHIP WAS GONE LAST CHAPTER. SHAAAAAAAAAME.

AND NO, I DID NOT SNEAK GIRIPAN IN THERE. NOT AT ALL. XD