October 25th was a very special day for Taiwan, and her whole, strange little family knew it. It was her birthday! Each year, they gathered and held some sort of party for their sister, and it was always... Exciting.

Last year she had requested that her brothers dress up in cosplay for an anime convention because "It's kawaii! I promise, you'll look fabulous." And of course, they couldn't resist her big brown eyes and puppy dog face and gave in.

•oOo•

October 25th, a year earlier:

"Aaand there!" Taiwan grinned as she put the finishing touches on Korea's makeup.

"Haha! Naruto originated in ME da-ze!"

The rest of the Asians didn't even bother to argue, they had put up with Yong Soo's antics long enough to know that it would be futile to do otherwise.

"Hong! Here! Now!" Taiwan snapped, nearly dragging a reluctant Hong Kong over to her.

Her nimble fingers adjusted his Light Yagami cosplay, making little snips at his outfit here and there, Japan's camera clicking away all the while.

Japan honestly felt relatively comfortable in his Ciel Phantomhive outfit. He thought he looked pretty decent, though for the sake of his dignity, he'd never mention it to the rest of his family.

As his camera clicked away, he noticed Taiwan get a strange glint in her eyes. Tentatively, he called out to her.

"Excuse me, Taiwan-chan, but are you alright?"

"Mm? Yes, I'm fine. There you go, Hong. You're finished. China? Come here please!"

Now Japan was certain there was a odd look in her eyes, and as China apprehensively walked over, he was positive his elder brother could see it too.

Taiwan reached over into her bag and pulled out a cosplay, holding it up for China to inspect.

China's eyes widened almost comically in horror.

"Umm... A-are you sure that's the right one -aru?" China asked nervously as he attempted to back up.

"Yup, come on!" Taiwan giggled as she latched on to his wrist and shoved him into the bathroom, locking it from the outside.

The other three Asian boys looked on in part horror, part sympathy.

"Just remember, Sailor Moon originated in me, da-ze!"

•oOo•

They most certainly didn't want a party like that again, which was why the Asian boys planned ahead, assuring and reassuring Taiwan that she didn't need to make preparations, they were fine on their own.

"Okay, so are we, like, clear?" Hong Kong inquired.

"Uh... Run that by me one more time da-ze? Not that I wasn't paying attention, I, uh... Just wanted to make sure everyone else has it!" Im Yong Soo (in typical hyper manner) asked.

Hong let out an exasperated sigh, repeating himself for the fourth time.

"GēGē is taking care of the food, Japan's doing the decorations, and I'm providing the entertainment."

"Hey! What about me?"

Hong Kong smirked, "You'll, like, be staying out of the way and letting us handle things."

"That's not fair da-ze!"

This was the moment when Japan decided to step in.

"Please reconsider your decision, Hong-kun. It is quite unfair for Korea-kun not to have a job." Japan shot China a look that said 'back me up here'.

China tossed his long brown hair over his shoulder in a slightly arrogant way. "Honestly, it might be best for him to stay out of the way -aru. He has a remarkable ability to disturb any peaceful situation."

Korea stood there, hurt evident in his eyes.

Japan hurriedly approached Hong.

"Music! We don't have music. Perhaps Korea could provide that?"

"Hmm... Fine, like, just make sure you get a good band."

Im Yong Soo let out an excited whoop and tackled Japan.

"Your breasts are mine da-ze!"

•oOo•

It was the night of the party, and everyone was filled with excitement. China was hurriedly laying out plates of fresh Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese cuisine, all the while dashing back and forth to make sure the frosted Fengli Su cake wasn't burning. Japan was stringing up the last of the lanterns while Hong Kong, who had finished preparing his fireworks display, helped arrange the beautiful flowers on the table. Korea, who's K-pop band could set up by themselves, excused himself to take a look around.

And by 'look around' he meant snoop out Hong's fireworks set up. He walked through the many areas of rockets, glancing around the plywood setup. Noting the small control station in the middle, he walked over. Whistling softly, Korea ran a gentle hand over the panel full of switches and buttonsHis brother had obviously planned this out carefully, and dedicated himself to making it perfect for his sister. Turning to walk back to the party, Korea felt the long sleeves on his hanbock snag. Whipping around, he saw his sleeve attached to a small, jagged shard of metal. Nervously, he tugged on his sleeve. C'mon, get off... I can't screw this up for Taiwan!

He tugged harder and harder, then suddenly... Rrrip! A piece of his hanbock tore off, and the force sent him reeling backwards - and his other hand smacking into the board.

"No, no, no!" He yelled.

There was definitely something off with the board now. Several things had lit up where he was positive there weren't lights before. Normally, he would've been delighted to screw something of his brothers up, but not now. Not when it could be potentially fatal to him or his family! But... There was no way Hong Kong would let him do anything important again if he found out. And Korea was just too awesome to let that happen! After all, everything originated in Korea, right? So, he did what came naturally. Ignoring it and going back to the party like nothing ever happened!

•oOo•

"Okay, I think that's everything -aru! Good job, it looks amazing. Nothing like those stupid Westerners' parties!" China stated smugly.

Hong Kong and Korea rolled their eyes, Japan simply sighed. Yao was a wise man, but he could be so prejudiced at times.

But it was true, the getup DID look amazing. Lanterns were streamed through the pavilion, royal red paint on the walls, a beautiful tasseled table cloth, white sun banners hanging from the ceiling and a mix of Taiwan's national flower, the plum blossom, and red roses as the centerpiece. Japan glanced at the clock. 2 minutes until Taiwan was due. He was about to go fix a crooked banner when -

"I'm here!" Mei shouted, stepping out of her cab.

"Over here da-ze!" Korea shouted.

Mei walked into the pavilion, gasping as she took in the K-pop band preparing on stage, the beautiful decorations, and the wonderful, delicious smelling food. She squealed, pulling her brothers into a group hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"It's, not like, a problem..."

"Parties originated in me da-ze!"

"You are quite welcome little sister."

"It's fine, c'mon -aru! The band is about to start singing!"

China happily led them over to a set of five chairs, and the K-pop group began to dance and sing.

•oOo•

Taiwan was having her best birthday yet - well maybe except for last year, that anime convention was fun! Treated to a night of gifts, red envelopes, delicious food, and wonderful (totally cute) Korean singers, she was a bit disappointed to see the night coming to a close, even if Hong Kong had promised her one last surprise. Her brother led the four of them outside, promised to be right back, and then, the magic began.

Hong Kong was back to his seat in a matter of seconds, surprising and worrying Korea.

"Um... Leon? Aren't you supposed to be MANNING THE FIREWORKS?! Korea yelled worriedly.

"Like, relax. I have individual switches for measuring the power and time I want to set off the fireworks, but I set it at the right, like, level so I can just start it off with a push of a button. Besides, the booth was dark and I didn't have a light, it's much easier to just control it this way." Hong Kong smirked with an 'I know so much more than you when it comes to this stuff' look on his face.

That didn't help Korea's nerves whatsoever. If the show was going on regardless if he had messed up the panel, then something bad was bound to happen. He crossed his fingers, and quietly murmured to himself, "don't blow up, don't blow up da-ze!". Miraculously, the show went off without a hitch.

"If you'll please, like, come this way." Hong led his sister inside a large, expertly crafted metal structure standing in the grass, where metal frames of flowers twisted upward, and little metal twigs bent down towards her hair. All around, similar metal plants were strung in the tress and woven into the ground.

"What's this?" Taiwan asked a bit nervously.

Hong dashed off towards the control booth, this time with a flashlight.

"Wait and see!"

In a few seconds, they did see. They wished they hadn't, but they did.

It was supposed to be a beautiful display, with the contraption light up with flames and sparkles, the metal flowers blooming with sparklers and light, and balls of flame bursting into the sky like miniature suns. But, this was the display Korea hit, causing it to not work out this way at all. In the beginning, it looked like everything was going to be fine, as the sparkles made their way upwards while Mei stared in wonder, but that didn't last very long. Mainly because it started shooting flames. Taiwan screamed and batted at the fire that was now licking up her dress and hair, and quickly scrambled from the cage, panting heavily and singed.

Hong Kong ran back to the scene with a nearly murderous glint in his eyes.

"Taiwan are you, like, okay? Apparently someone decided to play around with the controls." He snapped, holding up the shred of Yong Soo's hanbock. Korea started stammering.

"I... Um... It was an accident?" He unsurely stated.

Taiwan began undoing her hair pins.

"You have ten seconds to run." She glared.

Hong paled and pointed at Korea. "It wasn't my fault! He, like, messed it up!"

Korea grabbed his brother's wrist. "No time right now. Run da-ze!" And with that the two boys took off, Mei hot on their heels.

Yao smirked as he held out his hand. "Told you so!"

Japan nodded, and pressed several bills into his hand. "I should've known better... He does have a knack for getting into trouble."

"I'm calling a cab -aru. I'll tell him to wait for the three of them here. Mei might end up taking it out on us next!"

And with that, the two nations went back home, Leaving their younger brothers to fend for themselves. Because that's what older brothers do, right?

A/N : I was pleasantly surprised to find that this story has two followers. Thanks so much! Reviews would definitely be welcome though. I hope you liked this chapter, see you all agin next time!

Sun banners : Referencing Taiwan's flag, which has a white sun on it.

The plum blossom and rose centerpiece : Plum blossoms are Taiwan's national flower, and roses actually originated in Asia!

Fengli Su: A sweet cake that's eaten in China and Taiwan (and maybe Japan, I'm not entirely sure.)

The cosplays: I had to look these up, I picked Ciel Phantomhive because I thought he looked a bit like Japan, Light Yagami because he looks pretty freaking cool, and Sailor Moon because of the fact that... Well, let's admit it. China looks like a girl. I thought it would be funny to have Taiwan go a 'little' bit Elizaveta on him and force him to wear that o

The little •oOo• : FF . net decided it doesn't want me to have line breaks, so here are these instead.