"China? Are you arright?" a gently accented voice asks. China slowly opens his eyes to see Japan.

"Japan?" China asks, trying to sit up. He grits his teeth in pain as his left side spasms.

"Carefur, you are badry injured," Japan says, placing a hand on China's back and helping his brother to sit up.

"Thanks. Where are we aru?" China queries, looking around. Just behind Japan was the ocean, and just in front of that a steep drop to where the ocean beat against the rocks. China turns his head and sees trees stretching up the hill side behind him.

"I do not know," Japan answers truthfully. He grips China's right arm as the older country slowly gets to his feet. "One moment I was with Germany and Itary trying to carm Itary down when the rights started to fricker, and the next thing I know I am waking up here,"

"I know. I was with Stormfire, Canada, and America when I blacked out aru. I wonder where they are aru?"

"I do not know. But where ever they are, I hope they are ok. And I hope that the others are ok as well,"

"Should we go and look for them aru? Japan?"

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I am getting a strange feering. Rike we are being watched,"

China falls silent and feels the air like Japan was doing. Soon a strange feeling overcomes him. "You are right! I get feeling too aru!" China remarks, feeling the grip that Japan had on his arm tighten. "Japan?"

"Prease, don't carr me that. Carr me Kiku. I have this...feering..."

"I know," China says, moving his left hand over to rest on top of Kiku's right hand. China smiles gently at Kiku. "You know my name aru,"

"Yes...Yao," Kiku says, gently moving his right hand over to his katana, drawing, and pointing his weapon towards the trees. "Whoever you are, show yourserf!"

A gentle laughing issues from the trees. "Fast, but not fast enough," a Japanese accent says. There is a rustle as the tree branches sway, as if from the quick passage of someone.

"Kiku, I am going to fight with you aru. I may be injured, but I can still fight aru,"

"Ok," Kiku says, releasing Yao's arm. The two countries go back to back as Yao pulls out his wok.

As if that had been a cue not just one, but two figures appear from the bushes. Yao feels Kiku shift in shock, and his muscles tense. Yao knew that he was no better. He could feel the grip on his wok tighten and knew that sweat was forming on his brow. He watched as a near mirror image of himself took a proud stance. "What is this place?! That guy looks almost...like me!" Yao thinks, shock and fear rising inside him. With sudden resolution, he forces his feelings back down. He was not going to get scared now, not when he was face-to-face with himself.

Looking over the other China now, Yao notices that, for all they looked similar physically, there were many things that varied. For one, his eyes were a dark red and his brown hair was cropped short, as opposed to Yao's long hair or soft amber eyes. He also wore a brown hat, on the front of which was a blood-red spot. His cloths, although in a traditional style, were also blood-red with the edges being black. Over his left arm he wore a completely red armband, instead of Yao's red armband with a gold star on it. His choice of weapon was still a wok, however, it is stained with blood.

Kiku, meanwhile, is also looking over his near mirror image while trying to keep his cool. This other Japan has red eyes that stared coldly. His jacket is black and gold and adds to the aura of intenseness that radiated from him. Finally instead of just one katana, he had two.

Kiku feels Yao tense up and shift his position as he raised his weapon. Kiku did the same, leveling his katana at his opponent. "Why have you brought us here?" Kiku asks, being the first to speak up.

"We wanted you to re rive a most painfur time in both of your rives," Japan says, looking over at China. "A time when trust was broken. When brotherry rove was betrayed..."

"A time when you felt that there was no need to live anymore," China says, looking Yao straight in the eye.

Yao gulps audibly, going rigid. Kiku's soulless, dark brown eyes go wide in shock as he thinks back through his history. He gasps softly when he realizes what Japan and China were referring to...the First Sino-Japanese War. When he, Kiku, gave his brother that terrible scar on his back.

"The First Sino-Japanese War..." Yao says audibly, a tremor in his voice. His breathing quickens as he has visions of that day that Kiku attacked him, coming up the gravel path, looking slightly nervous. The katana that had attacked him was the one that Kiku still carried around, Yao knew. It had bothered him for centuries, but it didn't anymore.

"I'm not going to attack my brother," Kiku says angrily, his eyes narrowing. "That is past. I defend him with arr my honor,"

Yao smiles slightly, "And I will defend my brother...with all my honor aru," he says, glaring at China.

"So, you wirr not attack each other. Very werr," Japan says, pulling out his katana blades, both of which were stained with blood. "I can use your brood to add to my correction," he says in a quiet, evil, tone, running at Kiku. Japan raises his two blades, left lower than right, and moves them in a cutting action aiming for Kiku's throat. Kiku raises his katana and blocks the cut, pushing against the blades and letting them slide a little before shoving them back at their owner. He then kicks his left foot out, landing a nice kick to the underside of Japan's right knee, causing the other to unbalance. Using this to his advantage, Kiku swipes his sword cutting the other's uniform across the middle. Blood wells up slowly from the long cut as the other right's himself. "Very good," he says, "But can you survive against the darkness?"

Once again, Japan rushes at Kiku. But this time he leaps into the air, landing in one of the trees. Kiku snarls, taking a defensive crouch, refusing to leap up and after the other. He hears a laugh from the trees, and looks around, trying to pinpoint it when he is knocked off center. He looks down at his right side and sees blood welling from a deep cut. The laugh comes again, mockingly, from the trees...

Yao swings his wok with the cry of "Aiyaaa!" at China, hitting the other's wok. China smiles. "You will never win against me. Pure evil will win, it always does,". Instead of answering, Yao lets his wok slide when he feels Kiku couch. He narrows his eyes. He was not going to let himself lose this war agin, especially now that his brother was on his side. With an evil grin, China pushes against Yao's wok, only to overbalance when Yao suddenly removes his weapon. Swiftly, Yao brings his wok down onto China's back, forcing the other farther away. China flips backward, preparing himself to run at Yao.

Yao feels Kiku lurch when he is his by Japan's katana. Quickly shifting his position, Yao protects Kiku as the other regains his balance. Taking a slight step back, Yao bumps lightly into Kiku, tensing himself. With a twitch of his right arm, Kiku tenses his legs before spinning around to where Yao was. In return, Yao flips up and backward, taking Kiku's place. He hears Japan make a noise of surprise from above in the trees. Dropping into a crouch, he raises his wok as Japan falls at him from above. Bracing himself, Yao swings his wok, hitting Japan and sending him into a tree. With a shake of his head, Japan runs at Yao. Swinging his wok, Yao connects with only one of Japan's katana's. "Where's the other?" he wonders before sensing it coming at him from above. Before he can react, it slices down his back, cutting open the ancient scar from those centuries ago. With a gasp, Yao falls to his knees, hands slipping inside of his wok. He feels the other katana slice another cut down his back, doubling the pain...

Kiku feels the whoosh of air as the katana came down behind him. With a swing of his katana at China, Kiku pushes his blade against the other's wok. Hearing a gasp, Kiku feels Yao fall to the ground. With sudden fear, Kiku could only guess what had happened. Somehow Japan had managed to land a blow on Yao's back where his old scar was. Behind him, Kiku heard Yao let out a whimper of pain and shift back towards Kiku. Throwing China's wok back, Kiku shifts his position so that his feet were right up against Yao. He feels anger rise inside of him. Anger that he had never felt before. He narrows his eyes, taking control of his anger, yet letting it control him. "No one hurts my brother rike that," he says, his brown eyes hard with anger and covered by a red haze, "Not without punishment,".

With a swing of his katana, Kiku slashes China across the chest, digging in to make the wound deep and painful. When he pulls out the katana, he swings it again, slicing it down China's arms, then legs, each time splitting the skin so that it pealed back to reveal the red of blood underneath. Turning to Japan, Kiku slashes his katana down Japan's neck, starting from the left, going down his chest and to his right leg. In shock, Japan stumbles backward. "We wirr meet again," he says shortly before ducking around Kiku and Yao and vanishing into the forest with China.

Panting hard, Kiku feels the red haze life from him. He puts away his katana and, moving around to Yao's head, kneels down next to his brother. "Yao?" he asks, placing a hand on his brother's neck, feeling for a pulse. He feels one just as Yao moves his head and tries to sit up. Quickly, Kiku gently grabs a hold of Yao. He drapes one of Yao's arms over his shoulder, and gently grabs at his left side.

"It's ok. The pain masks most everything aru," Yao says, moving his left hand slowly, first putting his wok away before pushing Kiku's left hand farther up his side.

"We must go somewhere where you can hear," Kiku says as they move into the trees. Yao just nods, clinging onto Kiku.

"Kiku," Yao says, looking over at the other nation.

"Yes,"

"Thank you for helping me aru. I would not have survived had it not been for you,"

"Oh, that's very kind of you. To be honest, I got rearry mad when I saw...werr me...hurting you. It brought back unwanted memories of...of...of the time I hurt you. I didn't want that to happen to you again,"

Yao smiles, wincing slightly in pain. "Just then, when you got mad, I've never seen you get that way before, you looked almost...almost like him aru. But not in a bad way. You were protecting me aru," Yao says, looking over at Kiku. Kiku, in turn, looks towards Yao and the two lock eyes. Kiku could see that Yao's eyes were full of pain, terrible pain, but not anguish. Not like when he, Kiku, had attacked his brother that terrible day. Kiku never thought that he could forget the look of pain and overwhelming anguish and betrayal in Yao's eyes. But this look...this look..."I've finarry started to make up for betraying my brother arr those centuries ago. By protecting him today I showed him that I stirr care for him. Stirr rove him as a brother."

"No matter what happens, we'll be together, right Kiku aru?"

"Right,"