Xiang followed Irene on a tour of the massive house and after half an hour of visiting, the girl opened a last door "And this is my humble room." She finished, opening her arms wide.

"It looks…" started Xiang "great… but dusty… and definitely messy."

Irene raised her hands "I must take the blame for messy but the dust isn't so bad in this part of the house."

"Not so bad?" the boy wiped a part of the wall with his sleeve.

"Wow, I always thought the walls were grayish on purpose… Well, bright wood isn't worse." Grinned the fan girl.

Hong Kong lifted his head towards the ceiling "Did you know there was a huge spider in the corner?" A big thin legged arachnid had taken root near the window, its web covered a quarter of the whole ceiling surface and multiple insects were already on its dinner program.

The teen girl looked at where Xiang pointed "Oh, you mean Rock Lee?"

"Rock Lee?" questioned the island

The brunette's smile widened "I thought I should call it Arachnee but it didn't sound like a name so I shortened it to Rachnee, then I noticed it was similar to Rock Lee and also being a Naruto fan girl, I decided on that!" she rushed to the desk where she took a paper and a pen "We need to do some hardcore brainstorming."

"For what?" he asked

Irene scribbled a few words on the paper and showed it to him:

"Russia's friendlist:
-Irene :D
-Hong Kong
-China"

"We need to decide who's next!" declared the girl

The boy frowned "Why do you get a smiley?" Irene rolled her eyes and added a '(/°n°)/˝ _l_l_' after his name "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"A 'flip the table'." She answered

"Ah." He said "Anyway, from what I guess, I'm your accomplice from now on."

"Yup!" she affirmed "I won't get anywhere alone. You can, like, give me information or something… Or help me brainstorm for example."

"You do realize I'll have to go back home after tomorrow morning?" reminded Xiang

"Let's think about now first, tomorrow will come tomorrow and we'll worry about it tomorrow, ok?" She started clicking the pen "I was thinking of Austria because they both like classical music."

"How do you know what kind of music Russia listens to?" wondered the personification

The girl shrugged "Found some records when we were cleaning the storage." She looked at Hong Kong "You should sit down… I feel bad being half lying on the bed when you're standing up." The boy agreed and dropped his bum on the desk's chair. He felt something under him and grabbed it before dangling it in front of his face. Irene blushed when she saw what he held "Hey, release that!"

"Pink? Not the color I pictured you with." He pointed out while throwing the bra in her face

"You pictured me in my underwear?" smirked the brunette, hiding her piece of lingerie behind her

Xiang's face turned red "No – That's not what I – I meant I didn't think you liked hot pink. That's all. What the hell is wrong with you fan girl's brains?"

"I was just kidding," Irene reassured, still holding back giggles "You're right, these are Belarus'. It was her clothes or Ukraine's. Unfortunately, I lack a bit of chest to fit in the latter's clothes… And unfortunately, the clothes I borrowed from Ivan's little sister are a bit tight in that area. I should seriously go shopping one day… Ugh, too lazy to." The fan girl noticed her friend's discomfort and smiled a mischievous smile "I forgot asians don't have huge breasts, you never had a conversation concerning them, didn't you?"

"Of course I didn't!" he defended "Guys don't talk about that!"

"Where I come from, they do" informed the girl "and way more than they should but that must be a human thing, and with Taiwan around, you mustn't have a lot to talk about."

The Chinese boy appeared offended "Sh-She's not that flat!" He had felt a need to take his fellow asian island's side.

"I know, I just love how red your face is when you talk about girl stuff." Irene said between laughs

"Let's go back to the list." Quickly diverted Xiang "How many names do you intend to put on there?"

"All if I can." Replied Irene, eyeing the boy with a teasing gaze "I'll stick to the maximum of things with a life possible until I have to go home." Have to go home, doesn't look like she wants to. He kept that thought to himself as he didn't want to ruin the friendly atmosphere between the two teens. "So, how's Austria? I also thought of Romania or America, but that'll be way harder."

"You're just going to pop up in his house and start up a conversation on music?" asked the island "I doubt that'll work."

"I was thinking of making a deal with Hungary," explained the brunette "She has to invite Russia and I over and to make it fair I will help her take um… compromising pictures of the two. But I don't have her phone number."

"I can send it to you." Suggested Hong Kong "All of us have a booklet with all the numbers of all the countries/islands written in them. I just have to make a copy and send it to you by actual mail since Russia will notice if we send it via the computer though I'm not sure if helping you helping Hungary take pictures is the right thing to do… I mean my name is on the list and the bro code doesn't allow such a thing."

"You're not human so the bro code doesn't affect you." Irene said

The Chinese boy took a hurt look "That is so discriminatory! We personifications aren't that different for you, we have feelings too!"

Instead of blurting out a well thought comeback, Irene slumped completely on her bed, holding her pillow tightly in her arms "Hey Xiang?"

"Yeah?" he answered

"Is being a country hard?" the girl asked

Xiang took awhile to think of an answer "I'm not really a country and I'm pretty young but from what I heard from gramps, it is. Even if many friendships are created between nations, there are as many – if not more – rivalries and betrayals. You're closest friend becomes your worst enemy in the blink of an eye if his or your boss say so. The sin you carry casts a shadow on your good deeds and it's never forgotten, like the rule of Russia by Stalin for example. Scars never disappear nor do past tensions; they might not look like it but many countries still resent another for something that happened centuries ago, they only keep it hidden because they know being at each other's throats won't help the situation…" the boy paused at his friend's silence. He took an eraser he found on the table and threw it at her.

"What was that for?" she demanded as she projected a pillow on Hong Kong

"A depressed you doesn't fit you." He grinned as he picked up the projectile and started a pillow fight.

China felt somehow happy he'd clear a misunderstanding with Russia. He didn't completely trust the man yet of course but the fear had almost completely disappeared. He glanced at Ivan as the Russian washed the antique plates they had eaten in. He was humming a nursery song (or a curse… they sounded the same from Ivan's mouth) and tilting his head from left to right. All I said was that I would be his friend… How can that be enough to make him this happy, aru? Just how lonely was he? Yao knew he was partially responsible for the man's lack of friend, if only he'd stick with him even when their countries relations were tense, as a friend not a nation. Lost in his thoughts, the asian country didn't notice Russia was gone and nearly jumped out of his skin when the latter poked him "Aya!"

"Shhhhhh…." Whispered the blond man. He made a sign for China to follow him up the stairs and into a guest room where the light was on.

Irene and Hong Kong had both fallen asleep on the bed, surrounded by mutilated pillows bleeding feathers. They looked so peaceful Yao couldn't help letting out a 'Awwwww'. "Cute, Дa?" asked the bigger nation.

"Yeah, aru." The girl definitely had something to do with the fact Russia was easier to get along with, she had also gained Xiang's trust in less than a day, her presence in this world can't be a bad thing, can it? The nation hoped.