Author's Note: Alrighty~! I just wanted to say that you guys are awesome! I forgot to mention this in my last author's note, but, after chapter 19 was posted, this story reached 10,000 views! (Plus, we're almost at 100 reviews!)

Disclaimer (Dark Side of the Moon): Once again, I hereby point out that I will never own Hetalia, nor will I ever own Harry Potter.

Harry watched in stunned silence as Luna quickly picked up the pictures from the table, almost scattering them in her haste. She ran out the Great Hall, not noticing that she left one behind.

Harry grasped the picture tightly. This image showed a house, broken and torn to shreds- but it wasn't just any house. If Harry heard it right, it was Kiku's house. His home, as Kiku called it.

Man, he felt really bad. What did Kiku ever do to deserve this? Kiku, the guy who would always help him and Ron with homework whenever Hermione refused, the kid who could see Luna's Nargles and actually proved their existence… Kiku, the boy who was orphaned, just like Harry, and had more scars than anyone he'd ever met. Now his home was broken into and he couldn't do anything about it, halfway around the world.

Skip bad, Harry felt sick. His green orbs beheld the photograph once more, seeing every single detail, but trying to imagine what it'd been like before the break-in. He thought it looked like a pretty decent place- not too big, but not small either. It was just… cozy.

Looking closer, Harry noticed something strange. On the walls, the tears looked like…

"Claw marks?" Harry's mind went into overdrive. "… Dogs… Is this what he wanted to talk to Hagrid about…? No, he was talking about something from earlier today…"

Harry eyed the photo cautiously. "But, I wonder… I should probably keep this." The raven-haired boy stuffed the picture into his pocket, returning his attention to Ron and Hermione's argument, which still had yet to cease.

Luna ran down the hall, scanning the school for even the slightest flash of black hair or wizarding robes. Kiku was really fast, that much was obvious. By the time Luna had gotten out of the Great Hall, he'd already disappeared from sight.

"Okay, if I were Kiku, where would I go in this situation?" Luna slowed down. "Somewhere where I could be alone… So that leaves out the Gryffindor commons and dorms… It would have to be quiet too, to let me get my thoughts in order… The room of requirements wouldn't be a good choice right now either…" Luna sped up, destination clear. "The Library!"

When she arrived at the Library, she immediately by-passed the front half and walked into one of the back corners. There, curled up in a ball, was Kiku.

"He looks really… small…" That was the first thing she noticed. Sure, he was just a little smaller than her, but right now… "Really, really small."

She slowly approached the curled figure and sat next to him, knowing that he didn't want to be touched. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kiku lifted his head, eyes dead, "Not really… I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry?" Luna questioned. "For what?"

"For reacting that way," Kiku sighed. "I'm not usually one to… well, show emotion very often. I think it's one of the side effects of the potion that Arthur-kun gave me."

"Ah…" Luna smiled her dreamy smile gently. "I've always been told that it's not good to lock your emotions inside…"

"Hai," Kiku nodded. "But when you've had the habit as long as I have, it's almost impossible to open up immediately."

"I can understand that," Luna agreed. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Kiku looked at her curiously. "The house or the habit?"

"Yes," Luna answered playfully.

"Ah, I see. Well, for the house, I've decided to not think about it too much until I can get all of the details from the others in person. As for the habit, I'll just take it one step at a time, if you'd like," he replied.

"Mmm… That sounds alright," Luna told him. "So, since everything's been so stressful lately, do you want to do something fun?"

Kiku's eyes lit up slightly. "Alright, I actually have a spell I've wanted to try out for a while, but never had the time…"

"Oh, what spell?"

"It's a Japanese one that makes you look like another person," Kiku answered. "It doesn't actually need a wand or an incantation, just a leaf and some hand movements."

"He's talking about wandless magic…" Luna was in awe, most forms of wandless magic died out decades ago. Oh, Hermione would be so jealous. "Let's try it!"

After they had gotten their leaves from the courtyard (Kiku was fairly certain that any leaf would work for the spell… Well, he hoped…), they headed back towards the Library, where Japan pulled one of the many books from his magical sack.

"Okay," he began. "First we need to put the leaf somewhere on our person… The book recommends in our hair or in the folds of our clothes…" Luna immediately tucked her leaf in the collar of her shirt whereas Kiku hid his in his hair.

"Next we have to do this hand position," he pointed to the illustration demonstrating what they had to do, "and then we pull it apart as fast as we can, imagining what or who we want to look like."

"And then what?" Luna asked.

Kiku double-checked the page. "Apparently, that's all," he said. "The spell will be undone once the leaf either withers or loses contact with our body… Let's try it."

"But who are we going to transform into?" Luna inquired.

"Ano… How about we try to transform into each other?"

"Sounds good," Luna smiled.

After two times, Kiku finally got it. Once the puff of smoke cleared, Luna stared at her doppelganger and burst out laughing. "Good job, Kiku."

Kiku gave a small smile in return. "Do you want any help?"

"Oh, not right now," Luna giggled; Kiku still had his voice. "I think I'm pretty close to getting it." She tried again and managed to turn her hair black. "Just a little more practice…"

"Alright," Kiku-as-Luna said, "I'll wait until you get it."

A few more attempts later, Kiku (still looking like Luna) was about to give Luna a tip when- poof! - she got it.

"Am I really that short?" 'Luna' asked jokingly.

"Yes," 'Kiku' replied. "You are."

'Luna' gave a deadpan look to 'Kiku'. "It's really… strange hearing your voice coming out of what looks like my body."

'Kiku' giggled again, "You've got that right." 'Kiku' brought his hands together again and pulled apart. "What about now?" Luna asked as the smoke cleared. Now, instead of Kiku, she looked like Professor Flitwick. She quickly did a silly little pose.

"Pfft…" Kiku-as-Luna couldn't hold it in; he- or would it be she? - started laughing.

"No laughing in the Library," Madam Pince rounded the corner of a bookshelf, expecting to see two students goofing off. "Professor Flitwick?"

'Flitwick' quickly stopped doing his pose. "S-Sorry, Madam Pince. It won't happen again," 'he' squeaked, surprisingly sounding a lot like the real Professor.

Madam Pince wiped the shocked expression off her face. "Make sure it doesn't… by the way, it's Luna, right? You have a leaf in your hair," she scolded slightly before she quickly turned around and left.

'Luna' and 'Professor Flitwick' quickly took the leaves off as soon as she was gone.

"It's getting late," Kiku smiled. "We should head to our dorms."

"We should do that again sometime! It was fun!" Luna cheered softly. "Good night, Kiku."

"Good night, Luna-chan," Kiku said over his shoulder, already walking towards the doors of the Library.

Kiku entered his dorm, not looking at any of his roommates, in case they also heard what happened… He was especially avoiding Harry's eyes, due to Harry actually being there at that… time. He quickly got ready for bed and was about to get in when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"…We're still going to Hagrid's tomorrow, right?" Harry asked him.

Kiku gave a small smile. "Yes, we are. Thank you for checking with me, that was very considerate of you, Harry-sama."

"Er, no problem," Harry said, feeling like he shouldn't talk about whatever happened to his newer friend's home. "So, you never did explain the, erm, 'Honorific change'…"

"Oh, no need to worry. Different honorifics mean different things," Kiku quickly explained. "For example, Luna-chan I call Luna-chan… Hermione-san, Neville-kun, Snape-sensei…" Kiku saw Harry tense when he said that. "They all just have different meanings. 'Chan' is for younger kids or very close friends; 'Kun' is also for closer friends; 'San' is basically for people around the same age and is also the most common honorific; and 'Sensei' is for teachers or doctors," Kiku told him, hoping that his dumbed-down response was enough.

"What about 'Sama'?"

"Ah… That's used as a show of higher respect," Kiku answered.

Harry blinked. "So what did I do to earn that title?"

"Ah… I learned some things about you earlier today…" Kiku looked anywhere but Harry's face. "And I admire your bravery." He added on in his mind, "Plus, if Arthur-kun permits, I will be protecting you…"

"O-oh…" Harry put his hand behind his head, embarrassed about Kiku's reasoning. "Thanks, but no thanks… I don't want to be called 'sama' so you can just do whatever…"

"Alright…" Kiku nodded.

"Hey, one more question; with the honorific thingy, do you have to add them on? Does it mean something different if you don't use them?"

Kiku turned bright red; it was his turn to be embarrassed. "Well… that would signify… very close friends or… lovers…"

Harry turned bright red too. "Oh… Erm, good night…"

"Hai, good night, Harry-sam- I mean… Harry-san," Kiku bowed his head slightly before getting into his bed. "Sometimes, I wish this was a futon…"

He quickly fell asleep, strange dreams coming over him as he slumbered.

Everything was confusing him. All that he thought he knew was wrong. He never knew that Demon politics were so different from people politics!

"Aiyah, Japan!" Yao would complain. "Not like that, like this! See?"

He would occasionally visit his family, each stay getting shorter and further apart… He felt like he was being torn apart. The things that he'd learn from China contradicted the things he learned from the demons. He'd try and deal with them as a whole, but both required different things and the same things- at the same time! He then learned to deal with them separately, for the most part.

That was the first of a long line of mistakes…

As time went on, the differences between the two duties became even more extreme. In one society, it was a death penalty for this, but, in the other, the punishment was an imprisonment of forty-years inside of a tree for the same thing!

Soon, when the humans and the demons were turning against each other, he separated them completely- acting like a different person for different things. One version of him per political system, it was almost like having two people arguing inside of his head.

And then, a whole new door of opportunity was opened: the west. They had power- something that, since he was already living as two people, he had twice the craving for.

He left China. He left him on the floor, bleeding and staining the room. He didn't even bother wiping the blood off of his katana. But after it was over, he felt guilty. Screw that, he felt great!

He could do whatever he wanted now! … But, he'd not only hurt China; he'd injured Yao, his caretaker, his friend, his teacher… He drew the other's blood without a second thought and it scared him.

Now he was contradicting his own actions with his feelings… or was it the other way around? Which one of these personas was the real Japan? He didn't even know…

He went to his adoptive family for the last time. Not even demons live as long as countries did. His parents wouldn't be around for much longer, and he needed to talk to them as soon as he could. He felt the need to stop his two-faced ways and focus on just one society.

"Mother… Father… I am sorry for being such a selfish son… I have a request," he began. "I can't go on the way I have been for much longer…"

His father, a Great Kitsune Lord, narrowed his eyes. "I am fully aware of how you've been dealing with both human and demon culture… You want us to make you into one person again?"

He bowed. "Hai… or create a peace treaty with the humans…"

"I see," his father began to circle him. "But, it cannot be done. The humans and demons are in opposition on many things… And we can't do what you're asking."

His mother then stepped forward. "However, we can help you… 'focus' your attentions… but which will it be, my dear son?"

He didn't meet her eyes.

"… I see. You've already chosen," she stiffened. "Then let us begin."

And... Cliff hanger!

R&R

~Dark Side of the Moon