"Hey, Japan?"

"Mm?" Japan rolled over to face Italy and brushed sand out of his hair. At his back, Germany snored quietly.

"What's your little brother doing while you're here? I liked him, I'm just wondering if he's okay," Italy asked, sounding worried. "You didn't just lock him in the closet, did you?"

"Don't be silly! He'll be fine. It's not like I could leave him in the house while I was away, my boss found someone to babysit him."

"Good," Italy said, smiling, and looked up at the stars. "I was kind of worried. I mean, you said we'd be here one week, and it's been six already. People will be wondering where we are. I tried to walk home and I can't get off the island!"

"Yes, I tried too - that only works if you know exactly where you are in relation to where you're trying to go, and the shipwreck left us all rather disoriented," Japan said, and closed his eyes dreamily. "When we win this war, we'll explore the world and make sure there are no more stupid little uncharted islands lurking around. My land already has hundreds of tiny islands, a few more won't be a problem. You can have this one, if you want it. I don't think Germany ever wants to see it again once we leave."

"Oh, yay!" Italy clapped his hands and squealed. "Maybe it can become a colony. Would it be a boy or a girl? ... Well, first things first, it needs a name."

"Germany and I already gave it a name."

"Well, yes, but 'This Fucking Island' isn't a very nice name for a colony, is it?"

Japan let his mind wander amid Italy's ramblings. He liked Italy, but the man gabbled far too much. Reminded him of Korea back in the old days, before Japan had taken him under his wing. Little barbarian, his culture had had a promising start and then stalled centuries ago. Japan blamed the loss of his family; came with the territory with nations, but the boy's installation as United Korea had resulted in the death of both his mother and his sister, and despite his cheerfulness Japan wasn't sure if he'd ever got over that. He was proud of how Korea was turning out now, though. Quite the little gentleman, now he'd had his hair cut properly and was learning a real language. Showed how much a good role model and some proper discipline could do. And he was so much better behaved this past year or two, now he'd stopped trying to run off; so much more quiet and dignified, none of that silly grabbing and hugging and constant talking.

More worryingly, no smiling ...

Japan put that out of his mind. Korea had been adolescent for centuries, mood swings were only to be expected. Maybe this one was lasting a bit longer than usual, but Japan remembered the decade's worth of growing pains he'd suffered when he turned one thousand. Nothing to worry about. And if the lack of hug attacks was unusual, well, maybe at last the boy was learning the concept of personal space. Maybe once he got back he'd give Korea a gift to show how much he appreciated his new obedience; one of those new gadgets he seemed so fascinated by. And maybe a hug. Perhaps he'd earned it. Japan didn't usually do hugs, but he'd forgotten Korea was much more physically demonstrative. Or he usually was, anyway ... And perhaps now he wasn't running away any more, Japan could take the restraints off him. Just for a while, to see if he could be trusted. Probably he could, now; Japan hadn't even had to use the cane in ... when was the last time? Over a year ago now.

Or maybe not quite that long ago. Japan's face twisted in concentration as he tried to catch hold of a memory.

(Korea slumped against the wall, clutching his face, eyes watering, the cane in Japan's hand. Both terrified, Japan not quite sure why. The bruise swelling and blooming over the next few days, Korea remaining almost silent the whole time, except for whispers and sobs coming from his room at night.)

No, it couldn't be real. Japan wouldn't hit the boy in the face. Corporal punishment was one thing, but that crossed a line. Admittedly he couldn't suffer permanent damage from it, but still, potentially making him have to regrow an eye or recover from brain damage ...

Come to think of it, Korea had left the bathroom door open one night. Japan had gone to close it as Korea stepped into the shower, and had seen bruises and fresh scars scattered all over his brother's body. Ones Japan definitely hadn't put there, and which didn't look like the results of everyday clumsiness, and Korea hadn't been alone with anyone else long enough for them to do this to him. One of the wounds looked like the mark of a whip. Worse, there was another which looked like a bitemark on his thigh. Japan had quietly backed away, not letting his brother know he was there. He'd worried over it briefly, then been distracted by something, and completely forgotten about it for months. Huh. Didn't seem like something he should have forgotten. Really it was nothing out of the ordinary, battles and crushed uprisings resulted in wounds to nations all the time. But Japan had been told the annexation was going perfectly smoothly, the people were being educated and provided with work and the economy was improving rapidly. If anything, Korea should have been feeling better than ever! What could be going so badly wrong? ...

Well, there was nothing he could do about it here. When he got back, he'd talk to Korea, and to his boss. He wanted his brother to be raised properly, but he definitely didn't want him to suffer like that. He'd make things better for his brother, just as he'd been trying to do all along. Korea might not appreciate it, and maybe he'd not been going about it the right way, but he meant it well. It was for Korea's own good, it really was.

Japan fell asleep, and dreamed of a world in which he brought peace and ruled wisely, his younger siblings respecting him and China praising him, and his empire lasted forever. When he was woken by the smell of barbecuing fish and Italy's shrieks as he tried to extract a crab from his hair again, he had forgotten about his family's problems entirely.

Most occupation-era fics I've seen involve Japan being sexually abusive to Korea. The disgraceful behaviour of his humans at the time aside (the bitemark represents the suffering of the "comfort women"), I don't see Kiku being involved in that - too much body contact. Mental abuse, on the other hand ... I'm trying to get across that Korea is suffering while not making Japan seem outright evil. He genuinely thinks he's helping, but centuries of being told he's the best country ever combines with an utter lack of knowledge on how to raise a teenage brother and the acceptance of bad treatment for annexed territories. The Japanese did bring a lot of new tech over to Korea - if I recall correctly they installed Korea's first tram lines - so I think that makes for a good analogue of him giving Korea cool toys but no affection. Also, 1940s-era Japan's thoughts on the Korean civilisation are not mine, and not those of everyone in 21st-century Japan.