CHAPTER EIGHT

Spill My Guts

Alfred and Ludwig had both bolted out the back door to follow the culprits, ending up hot on their trail for a good ten minutes before losing sight of them completely.

"Verdammt!" Ludwig spat, slowly his pace and catching his breath. Neither of them could see any sign of their targets. Even the convenient blood trail they had been following now seemed to have disappeared.

"Looks like we lost them." Alfred mumbled, turning around to head back.

"You're just going to give up?" Ludwig asked between gasps for air. Alfred nodded.

"We can't do much chasing shadows. It's best we go back and help the others." Sighing in defeat, Ludwig led the way back to the world building.

Meanwhile, Kiku was trying to persuade the others that he was perfectly fine. But it was quite obvious that he wasn't. One side of his face had a large, disturbing bruise that was changing colors rapidly. Along with that was a thin cut. It seems as if the impact was so strong that the skin broke and created a long slash. On the other side of his face was a large, red hand print that stung to touch, as well as a couple of red fingers from being crushed.

"I'm fine..." he murmured as his brother grabbed him by the arm and lifted him to his feet. "No you aren't aru! Your wounds need to be tended to." He started to drag his brother along, Arthur following close behind as the others began to clean up the mess. Alfred and Ludwig returned just in time to see Kiku reluctantly scooting his feet across the ground in order to keep up with Yao, who was almost running down the hall.

Halfway to their infirmary, Kiku fell unconscious on his brother's arm. Thinking of the worst, he began to panic and shake his younger sibling furiously. Arthur struggled to keep Yao under control.

"Settle down! You might just make it worse! He's probably just sleep deprived. He hasn't slept for nearly two days now; he's bound to be tired..." A couple minutes later, after struggling to carry the surprisingly heavy body of Kiku down the rest of the hallway, they finally managed to make it to their makeshift infirmary. It was just a hospital bed with a cabinet full of medications and a bag full of supplies. It was usually used for minor wounds whenever fights were to break out. It wasn't often, but whenever it occurred they were always prepared.

The two lifted Kiku onto the bed and Yao pulled up a chair next to him. Meanwhile, Arthur was digging through the medical bag to find some Band-Aids. He managed to find a really big one and began to peel off the backs of it. He placed it over the wound and made sure it won't come up when applying the ice pack. Being countries, their wounds heal much quicker than those of a human. But they still hurt just as much. He places the ice-pack gently on his cheek and positions Kiku's head to the side, compressing the pack between the mattress and his cheek. Standing up, he notices the white knuckle grip Yao has on his brother's hand. Arthur pats him on the back and motions him to follow.

"We should let him rest. He very well deserves it." Nodding slowly, Yao hesitantly let go of the cold hand and followed Arthur. They headed back to the now destroyed meeting room, no communication whatsoever to each other. Once they arrived after the short walk, they find everyone cleaning up the mess. Ludwig, Ivan, and Alfred were tipping tables and chairs upright while Antonio and Lovino were sweeping up the ashes and trying to find anything that they could reuse.

Yao, being the oldest and, according to a certain Russian, most fragile, was left to the side to watch everyone work as quickly as they could. It made him feel left out and useless, to a certain extent of course. So he was forced to sit against the wall and watch everyone do whatever they had to do. He eventually grew bored, but the feeling in his stomach kept him from moving. He definitely wasn't hungry; he had just come back from a meal with the others anyway. What he was feeling was in the bowels of his stomach was nothing more than good ol' fashion fear. Fear for himself, his brother, the others, and Feliciano. Especially Feliciano.

He couldn't bear to imagine the pain and suffering he was bound to be going through at that moment. It made his stomach churn at the thought. If the others were as bad as Kuro... Finally he stood straight and walked over towards the door to leave the room.

"I need some fresh air aru..." He mumbled to no one in particular. The room was, after all, lingering of the smell of smoke. The ashes had, for the most part, been disposed of but their scent still remained. The windows were left open, but it didn't help too much. Arthur noticed Yao's fleeing back and stood up.

He quickly told the others he would be back momentarily and then rushed out the door, following the Chinese man. By the time he was in the hallway, he was just able to see Yao walk out the front doors. Walking quickly, as to not draw any attention to himself by passerby, he opened the double doors. The sun was high and bright by now, a small breeze helping to cool those who were exposed to its hot rays. The perfect combination of hot and cold made it an enjoyable experience. Few clouds scattered the sky, bringing small bits of shade every now and then.

The street was now bustling, not as much as it had been previously but enough to prove that most of the town was awake. Yao was sitting on the very last step of the staircase; his back slouched as his elbows rested on his knees. He took in deep breaths of the fresh air and sighed happily. Arthur walked down the staircase as quietly as possible, trying not to disturb Yao. He seemed to be watching the leaves fall from the trees. Though he wasn't as into it as his brother was, it gave him something to gaze at while he tried to clear his lungs of smoke. Arthur sat down next to Yao and followed his eyes up to the top of the trees.

"Pretty nice huh?" Yao nodded, ignoring the fact that, out of all the people, Arthur had decided to sit next to him. He sighed.

"What you want Opium?" He asked rather harshly. Arthur slightly flinched at the tone, but retained his composure quickly.

"Something is troubling you Yao. Ever since I mentioned the two-ps you and Kiku have both been on edge. More than the rest of us at least. What's on your mind?" Yao took in a sharp breath, before releasing it slowly and lowering his shoulders. He was tense, really tense. And the burden of keeping secrets compiled inside of him hurt his old heart. Defeated, he sat up straight again and looked into Arthur's eyes.

"You have to promise me you won't tell a soul aru." Arthur placed his right hand over his heart and raised the other.

"I swear on my life and all those whom depend on it, that I won't speak a word of the secret that brings such a heavy burden upon you and your people." Convinced, Yao began.

"A very long time ago, maybe even before the Great British Empire, there were once... two Japans. Two personifications of my dìdì, but each with their own roles. The original, Kiku, was in charge of Economics and most Diplomatic situations aru. Whereas his duplicate or Kuro was in charge of Military power. Every once in a while he'd butt in on Diplomatic affairs but all in all he knew his place.

"Kuro saw himself as a... a bǎohù zhuāngzhìa, a guardian aru. The one that was in charge of keeping Kiku safe, along with everyone else that he was put in charge of. That's when things started to get out of hand... Kuro wanted more power, more control over everything. He got more say in Diplomatic issues and started suggesting declaring war on a lot of people. But Kiku, being the peaceful man he is, didn't see much reason in doing such a thing and even less of a gain in the end aru. So they avoided war as often as they could. For the most part, their army was used to fend off invaders. But then Kuro got hào diàn."

"He wanted to have more than just Japan aru. He wanted other countries as well. At that time, Korea was a primary target for both of our countries I ruled over it, but Kiku was interested... Kiku and I had actually been debating possible compromises, but Kuro just had to butt in aru. He wanted to own Korea, even if it meant taking it by force. So that's what he did aru. Less than three days later, the War of Jiawu or, as you Westerns seem to call it, the First Sino-Japanese war began. It was a terrible time for my country specifically. Though it only lasted a year, many of my men died trying to defeat Kuro. We wanted to modernize our military aru... but it didn't seem to work."

"We surrendered and lost Korea that day, it was terrible. It sparked revolutions and whatnot within China, and it caused harm to everyone. Kuro was happy overall, but tensions between our countries grew furiously. After that, I rarely spoke to my brother aru. He attempted many times but I refused. It wasn't his fault altogether, he had no control over Kuro himself. But he could've at least tried harder to stop him."

"It might not have worked, but it would have at least told me that he still cared aru!" He stopped talking for a moment to catch his breath, before continuing. Arthur was extremely curious. He had heard of the war, but he didn't know much of the history behind it. He was just never interested enough. Anyway, about forty-two or so years later, I finally decided to visit him aru. A surprise visit if anything, but I needed to see him again. I was starting to forget how he looked. So, I travel out to Japan and go to his house. I knocked on the door and waited patiently aru. It eventually opened, and I expected to see calm brown eyes staring at me. Instead I found a pair of blood red ones complete with a dark smile."

"Kuro."

"Shì.

"So right off the bat I asked him what he was doing there. He calmly replied that he lived there and then invited me in for tea. I asked him where Kiku was and he just said that he was sleeping aru. Now, I had just traveled all the way from China to Japan so I wasn't about to turn around and head all the way back just because of him. 'But I was still cautious; obviously our past isn't the best so I had good reason to be aru. So I go in after being invited, take off my shoes and then sit down. Sure enough, Kiku is in the other room sleeping silently and peacefully aru."

"Kuro snaps at me not to bother him and then prepares us tea. Not trusting anything that this man was to provide for me, I ignored the green tea he had placed in front of me and we sat there silently. I didn't trust this guy for one bit though aru. I mean, he hadn't taken that smile off of his face since I arrived! It was suspicious!"

"But I wasn't about to show that I was scared of him. Stand my ground right aru? I needed to prove to him that I wasn't going to shrimp down and give him the upper hand. I sat tall and proud and ignored any looks he sent my way. I was calm and composed until he spoke to me. The words he said..." Yao shutters for effect."

"They were evil, cruel. I hated them. Though they seemed so nice, they were quite the opposite." He paused for a moment, as if debating on whether or not to continue. Or just to recall what he was going to say. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"What did he say?" Yao sighed.

"He said, 'Yao, I'm going to say this only once so listen and listen well. I don't care about you whatsoever, but I care about Kiku. I want what's best for him. Your country has the things we need. Raw materials, food, labor, and much, much more. Nihon doesn't have all of that, or at least as much. So we need your country.'"

"If it were from anyone else, I would've thought that they were simply asking for support of some sort. But this was Kuro. It was the exact opposite aru. His words were laced with venom, everyone letter was slithered into a phrase and then spat out at me. He wasn't even threatening me. He was promising me aru. It was a warning that a war was coming. He wanted to dominate my country and take everything I had worked hard to create. I couldn't allow that Opium, I just couldn't."

"So I was forced into a war aru. The second Sino-Japanese war. On July 7th of 1937, it became official. After he said that, I got up to leave. I needed to leave that place, no matter how much I wanted to see Rìběn. But he wasn't going to just let me walk away. No, he wanted to make an example of me aru. So when I was hallway to the door he took out his katana and he..." Yao gulped and looked down at the floor, for once breaking away from Arthur's eyes to look elsewhere."

"Maybe..." He stopped again. "Maybe it's best that I just show you." Without another word he stood up and started walking up the stairs, mumbling

"Follow me Opium." and then continuing. Arthur followed close behind and found himself in the Men's restroom. Feeling awkward, he sat there and waited as Yao looked at himself in the mirror.

"Give me a moment aru." He murmured before he started to remove his uniform jacket.

"What the bloody hell?!" Arthur exclaimed, surprised and confused.

"Oh shut up Opium, I just need you to see something aru." First came his jacket and then his shirt and then he was half naked in front of Arthur, who could feel his cheeks growing hot and he turned away to avoid embarrassment.

"Can't you show me whatever it is with your shirt on?" He earned an irritated sigh after that remark.

"No, now will you just look so I can get this over with? I don't like it any more than you aru!" Reluctantly, Arthur turned around. Yao had his back to him, arms crossed and feet about shoulder width apart. Arthur was confused at what he was supposed to be looking at, until his eyes focused a bit more and he saw it.

Starting at the tip of his shoulder blade and trailing down, across his spine, and then stopping above his hip was a scar. A long, deep scar. It sent shivers down his spine, just thinking of what had gone down that night. Stepping forward for closer examination, Arthur nearly reached out to trail his fingers across it. But he knew that if he were to, he'd surely received a slap.

"I don't really know what happened after he sliced me down the back. I yelled, Kiku came out, said something in Japanese then I passed out. Woke up in a hospital a week later. Apparently something happened to my spine. He cut a bit too deep and a bit too hard aru. Screwed up something important. It wasn't anything bad, at least considering the fact that I'm a country aru. But the doctors were freaking out. They wouldn't let me leave even after I told them I was fine aru."

"...I was back in Shanghai just in time to sign the declaration of war aru." There was a moment of silence before Yao turned around and started to put back on the other half of his uniform.

"Any questions?"

"Yes, quite a few actually." He let Yao put back on his shirt before he started to ask questions.

"If I can recall correctly, the second Sino-Japanese war started two years before World War II did, and ended on the same day since Japan surrendered. But... does that mean Kuro was always there?" Yao nodded.

"Yes, he was always there. In the shadows aru. Kiku and Kuro were never on the same battlefield at the same time. The only way I could tell which one was, was by their uniforms. Kuro preferred the black naval uniform whereas Kiku liked the white. It was an easy giveaway to anyone who understood it aru." Arthur nodded, understanding it a bit more.

"So... Kuro fought in the second World War as well?" Yao thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Not as much though. That was Kiku's role. He was just focused on getting rid of me aru. But thankfully, Éguó, Měiguó, and even Déguó helped me beat him." Yao finished putting on his jacket and was now facing Arthur.

"So... if my theory about two-ps is true then... does that mean Kuro and Kiku fought?"

"Of course it does aru! How else did you expect things to work out? Kuro was getting out of hand; Kiku and I both knew it. He was starting to do things on his own, and that was causing trouble for everybody, even the person that he swore to protect. The second Sino-Japanese war was just setting the barriers for it all aru. After that ended and the two fully healed after the two wars they had fought through, Kiku finally decided enough was enough."

"His people were suffering because of a foolish move Kuro decided to make, and more were bound to come if something wasn't done about it! ...So they fought. I wasn't there, I wish I had been. I could've helped him so much more. He lost the first fight. And the next. And the next. They never got close enough to kill each other aru. Just forced the other into submission. Kiku started working harder though. Kuro knew what he was planning to do, and he couldn't allow such a thing to happen."

"Kiku was no match for Kuro in any way, shape, or form. He was the economy. Kuro was the military. Big difference in power aru. So Kiku worked harder and harder and harder until they were equally matched. Then they fought, over and over again. It got to the point where I couldn't tell who I was talking to anymore. Kiku or Kuro? I didn't know. Kiku acts so much like him when he's angry. It's kind of scary aru."

"It took so long before one of them was finally the victor. I don't know much of the details. I didn't even know about the fights going on until it was near over aru. Kiku didn't say a word to me. You would have to ask Kiku about what happened that night, but I don't recommend it. Not yet at least. It's hard for me to even say things like this to you Opium, but I need to tell someone. I won't dare speak of it with Kiku aru. I can't imagine what it would be like for him. So please Opium, do me a favor."

"Please don't mention this conversation to Kiku. If you decide to ask him about it I don't care aru. But I had promised him I wouldn't speak of his past, and I broke that promise the second I decided to spill my guts to you aru." Arthur nodded, understanding how much that promise must have meant.

"I will continue with my previous claim. I won't tell a soul about this conversation. No matter what." Yao sighed with relief, and then looked over at him.

"Thank you Arthur." Yao walked past him and left. Arthur was surprised by the use of his human name but didn't ponder on it for long. This recently gained information would help him greatly.

Verdammt = Damn (German)

Dìdì = Younger Brother (Chinese)

Zhuāngzhìa = Guardian (Chinese)

Hào Diàn = Power Hungry (Chinese)

Shì = Yes (Chinese)

Nihon = Japan (Japanese)

Rìběn = Japan (Chinese)

Éguó = Russia (Chinese)

Měiguó = America (Chinese)

Déguó = Germany (Chinese)