Chapter 8

A/N: I'm back. Yaay!~ This chapter is kinda soft compared to the previous one. Chapter 7 stole the action from this one! XD Just kidding.

Kuro's POV

I lifted the pipe way above my head, only to realise something interesting. Yes.. something that could be a lot more... fun.

"Let's do a count off, shall we?" I suggested rhetorically.

Without lowering the blood stained pipe, I stomped on Elizaveta's injured arm. She suppressed a scream.

"Ichi.*" I moved my leg off. I crouched down beside the lady, making her shiver without even touching her. "That scream of yours is rather... soothing. Are you willing to do it for me?" I asked. Her rumored strong, confident expression masked her true fear well.

"N-No... you're not Kiku, so I won't listen to a word you say!" she shouted, desperately trying to get up, only to be trapped down with my foot. I chuckled.

"At least someone knows the truth." I confessed. She looked up at me with confusion.

"What did you say..?" Without replying, I crushed her arm again, this time, causing a loud cry to echo around the city.

"Ni." I looked around the area for a more suitable weapon, or at least one that I could use properly. To my disappointment, the only other weapon around was the frying pan loosly being held in Elizaveta's hand. Although questions ran through my mind as to why she was carrying it, I yanked it from her grip, and inspected it. Though a faucet pipe was definetely more suitable for me, I shrugged my shoulders and decided to give it a try.

I decided that the most interesting place to use a frying pan was the obvious, vital upper body and head. A wide steel back would spread the damage as far as possible so a limb wouldn't be suitable, and unlike a katana, it doesn't give a piercing snap to the victim, so it doesn't do too much damage at one time.

Without wasting anymore time, I quickly spun around, with my operational arm gripping the rubber handle, and smashed straight down into Elizaveta's chest. I forgot she was a girl for a moment... ow.

To my dismay, I didn't strike right on the split second it could fatally kill someone. I didn't do too much damage at all, to be honest. I sighed quietly, pondering whether to switch back to the pipe or not. I quickly tossed the pan aside, nearly landing on Yao (amazingly), and picked up the pipe once again. Only then did I realise just how much blood was coated on the thing. The whole top half of the metre long pipe was covered in dried blood. I smiled in amusement, proud of how much blood I managed to spill earlier.

My attention drew back to Elizaveta. I glared at the figure on the floor, immediately raising my death pipe above my head. I loosened and tightened my grip over and over, trying to find a comfortable way to hold it. The second I did, I pulled my arm straight down.

"YAMERO!*" My arm suddenly stopped in place a few moments before colliding with Elizaveta's head. I felt my hands and legs shaking. A sudden pang shot through my stomach and head again. I cried out in pain, dropping the pipe and immediately pulling my arm up to my right temple. I gripped onto my short, jet black hair, trying to vent out all the pain.

"Da-DAMARE*, KIKU-SAN!" I yelled, placing my hand over my ear. I shook my head left and right, trying to get him out of my head.

"IIE!* Not until I get my body back!" I scream in pain fused in with frustration. This was the only problem to this body-sharing process. The struggle created when the souls conflicted was always so painful..

"Y-You know, if you're this weak normally, then there should be no problem when I try to get rid of you for good..!" Kiku taunts. God, I hate him so much now. I just had to open my mouth and tell him everything, didn't I?..

"What a-are you talking about!? ..It takes more than an ability to take over to destroy me! Plus, there's no reason for you to get rid of me! I am greater than you in all ways! If anyone needs to disappear, it's you."

"N-Nani..?*"

"You heard me, now leave me alone..!" I manage to pull my knee up, and attempt to stand up, but by that time, my whole body was already shaking. I shook my head left and right in denial, pushing myself to stand up. I had to. I just had to. I wasn't about to be beaten by that-

Suddenly, I completely lost power of my knees, and even my arms, as I fell to the floor. I commanded my arm to push off the ground, but nothing happened. I lifelessly lay down on the ground, unable to even make my lips move. I grew furious.

"W-What did you do!? Why did you get in my way..!?" I yelled, demanding an answer.

"I did... what.. was needed. I wasn't about to let you rampage on and kill another person.. I mean.. If Elizaveta died.. I wouldn't have any other shipping buddies, would I?.."

Japan's POV

I joked. Finally. After going through what seemed like an internal hell, I regained control of my own body. It sounded weird when I told myself, but it was surely true.

'Now let's just hope I never have to go through that ever again..'

I clenched and opened my fists. I flexed my arms by shaking them. Or arm. I remembered then that Kuro had badly injured my left shoulder, so I couldn't move it around at all. I cursed under my breath.

'This will take a lot of getting used to..'

Since I was already facing her, I ran up to Elizaveta. From my stalling, she was finally sitting up, and didn't look too bad. Her right wrist was still identical to my left shoulder though. It hung lifelessly by her side, as the other limbs did the work.

"E-Elizaveta-san, pl-please forgive me! I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you into danger like this! R-Really! I-I just-"

"Kiku, it's alright." she interrupted. I lowered my tensed shoulders. I mean, shoulder.

"A-Are you sure..? You're arm looks really bad, you know.." I assured. She shook her head, allowing her brown hair to freely whip around.

"So does your shoulder, Kiku. All I need is an explanation. But I guess we don't have time for that now. There are more important things to be worrying about." she explained in a soft, low voice, glancing over at Yao. That's right. We had other things to take care of.

I rushed over to Yao's side, placing my arm gently on his shoulder.

"Y-Yao-san! Are you okay!?" I panicked. Yao smiled with his head down, which eventually turned into a laugh. I felt my face grow red. Ugh..

"Trying to play the hero today, aru? You're very considerate, aru.. though I think your state is a little more concerning that mine, aru.." he stated, referring to my insane side. Kuro. I was prepared to explain it all to him, but discarded the thought quickly. There wasn't enough time to sit around.

"I-I, um.. but still.. bombs aren't something to take lightly, Yao-san." I reminded, averted my gaze elsewhere.

"If you.. say so.." Though he talked fine, I knew he was suffering on the inside. He was only forcing himself to speak normally to make sure I didn't worry.

"Ah, I believe I brought a spare bandage, Chuugoku-san." I offered, accidentally calling him by his country nickname. I blushed once I realised, but nonchalantly unrolled a long bandage as I did so.

"A...Arigatou..*" he coughed. I looked up at his amber eyes, but they began to close just when I did. I looked back down at the bandage, immediately wrapping up Yao's bleeding wound.

"There. Can you walk..?" I announced as soon as I finished. Yao's eyes slowly fluttered open again, looking around himself before glancing up at me.

"I.. think so, aru.." he responded. I frowned, but it soon faded to a smile as I lent out my hand.

"Come on. I'll help you." I assured. At first he was skeptical, but with no other option, he took my hand and I helped him stand up. I inched closer to him, and threw his left arm over my shoulder. He was taller than me, so it wasn't much of a problem. I held onto Yao's hand with my right, mainly because my left had no way of reaching it.

I glanced up at Elizaveta.

"So where are we headed..?" I forced out. "We have no where to stay close-by, and taking a flight to one of our homes will take too long." Though I expected a pondering look, the Hungarian smiled at me.

"What do you think I took this long for? Fixing my make-up? I've got it all under control, Kiku. We can all last a two hour flight, right?" she asked, mainly directing it at Yao who was half paying attention, and looked like he was about to space out.

"S...Shì...*" he replied in his native language. I sighed. I was lucky I knew a little Mandarin, at least..

I nodded at Elizaveta, whose smile grew wider, as if none of us had any injuries whatsoever.

"Great! To Yao's Shanghai residence we go, then!" she declared. I stood stunned, before confirmed what I just heard.

"Wait.. to.. Yao-san's... Shanghai.. eh? You knew about that, Elizaveta-san?"

"Of course, it's my job to be trustworthy and come prepared, is it not?" I sighed, and walked further into the airport carrying Yao along with me.

"Are you sure you'll be alright for this?" I worried, whispering to Yao.

"Shì. Bùyào dānxīn, Rìběn." I sat there for a few minutes trying to remember my Chinese. I finally decoded it as 'Yes, don't worry Japan.' and sighed. Though the atmosphere was thick, or was to be later, I felt a gentle smile tug at the corner of my lips. Making it this far was a great achievement.

Now I only need to aim further.

A/N: And exactly the opposite of the previous few chapters, I couldn't write any more on this one, though I really wanted to.

Translation notes:

* Japanese: Ichi: I hope you know your counting. :P

Iie: No

Yamero: Stop it

Damare: Shut up

Nani: What

Arigatou: Thank you (Yeah, Yao spoke Japanese, PROBLEM!? XD)

Mandarin:

Shi: Yes

..Aaand I think that's it.

Especially in this chapter, I would really like to know if I've made any errors in my translations. (Chinese mainly, because I know less and I'm actually trying to learn it. ._.) Also, it doesn't hurt to leave a review behind. Any constructive criticism you have, feedback, or any ideas for the story are much appreciated and accepted.

Ja, mata!