"I can't believe you'd been contacting the mainland for weeks and didn't tell us! You must be the only person in the world who would build a town solely to prank your little brother!"

China snickered into his hand as Germany yelled at him. Well, Japan had accused him of pulling stupid pranks when he wasn't, that time; might as well actually do it.

"Guys, stop yelling, I'm trying to fly this thing!" America shouted from the pilot's seat.

Japan shuffled and tested the strength of the cuffs. No hope there, they were designed with the strength of an empire in mind; then again, even if he did break free, he wasn't desperate enough to try jumping from a flying helicopter. He wouldn't die permanently, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt a hell of a lot. Well, it was time China had his moment of good luck. Enjoy it while you can, big brother, Japan thought sourly. Maybe asking China to take them home had been a bad idea; China had agreed, and the rest of the Allies had shown up and promptly taken the Axis prisoner.

Italy seemed quite calm, despite the discomfort of the cuffs. Japan was baffled as to why, but Italy actually seemed to like being a prisoner. He sighed. What were they going to do with the adorable little coward?

China had finally dropped the smug grin he'd worn when the Axis had been taken, and was looking sideways at Japan from behind his hair. He seemed tense, and occasionally glanced over at America with a look of annoyance. Almost as if he wished America hadn't turned up. Japan wondered why.

China paced the corridor, breathing heavily. It's okay. He's your brother. Even if he doesn't remember, even if you're enemies, he doesn't hate you enough not to listen. He tugged at his hair, trying to stop himself shaking. He really, really did not want to have to describe his experience again, but there was no way around it. He needed Japan to know what his countrymen were doing, and what his bosses were doing to him. He would have told him sooner, but he couldn't spill it in front of anyone else from either side. No, he'd take Japan out for "questioning", and instead share some answers.

No more putting it off. He took a deep breath, drew himself up, and turned to head for the cells.

A familiar annoying presence loomed around the corner. "Heyyy! China, dude, whatcha doing?"

China grabbed America's collar and yanked him down, snarling into his face "If you do not let me have some alone time with my brother, I will rip your arms off with my bare hands and beat you to death with the wet ends. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" America squeaked.

China let him go, smirking. "Good." He turned on his heel and stalked down the corridor towards the cells.

He arrived just in time to see Japan stepping into the freshly-dug escape tunnel, Italy and Germany already out of sight. Oh, for fuck's sake ... China rolled his eyes and ran to grab his brother. Japan yelled in surprise and fell backwards into China's arms.

"You're not leaving until I talk to you," China growled.

"I'm afraid I must decline that offer, brother dear," hissed Japan, driving his elbow into China's chest. He hit the scar, still raw after years had passed, and China gasped and let go. Japan smirked obnoxiously. "Looks like you're getting old." Before China could object, Japan kicked him in the knee, hard enough that China heard the bone snap before he felt the pain, and swung a fist into his jaw, cracking that bone as well. China stumbled and dropped onto his unbroken knee, clutching his face, and Japan fled down the tunnel.

China breathed deeply and concentrated on willing his bones back together. The fragments slowly sealed back into place, and soon he was able to stand. Not soon enough. He climbed down the tunnel, wincing as his leg still hurt, drawing his gun. He'd rather his brother be able to walk back, but he'd willingly carry the corpse if he had to.

Sadly, he was too late. When he emerged from the other end of the tunnel into America's forest, the prisoners had vanished. One very obvious trail led east; Italy never had managed to master combining fleeing for his life with being subtle. Another trail led north, this one made by a large man, presumably Germany, trying very hard not to leave a trail but being in too much of a hurry to succeed. Of Japan there was no sign. He could have gone with either of his allies, or on his own. He was always good at slipping away unseen. China cursed.

"I did not raise you to run out on your family like this, you ungrateful bastard!" he shouted, just in case Japan was listening. The only answer was the rustle of leaves in the wind.

In the car back to Japan's house, Korea had let Japan talk. It was rare that his dour brother wanted to speak more than a few words at a time, but he must have become tired of speaking only to the same two people for months, and Korea didn't like to interrupt. Besides, nervous as he was about being back in Japan's custody, the story of the Axis' sojourn on the island was actually very interesting. Soon, Korea got bold enough to start asking questions. Japan started out answering happily enough, but Korea's questions became exponentially faster and more detailed. By the time they arrived at the house, Japan was giving single-word answers and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

"So did you get bored? Did you miss us- I mean me? Was it fun finding food for yourself? Remember we used to do that all the time when we were little?" Like Italy, when he was nervous, Korea gabbled. Japan's irritation only made it worse, as words spilled from Korea's mouth in a pitiful attempt to defuse the tension. He followed Japan down the hallway, still talking. "Wow, you have a really deep tan. Did you get sunburnt a lot? I guess you would, you hardly ever spend any time in the sun at home. Did you get freaked out by all the open space? I remember you used to-"

"Korea, shut up!" Japan massaged his temples. "Honestly, I'm sorely tempted to do to you what I did to China! At least that might keep you quiet."

To Japan's surprise, Korea's mouth snapped shut like a trap. He backed away, wide-eyed. Japan was too stressed to pay much attention.

"Go practice your writing. I'll see if I can make a start on this damned paperwork. Of course they couldn't just get someone else to do it while I was stranded, oh no, that would be too easy ..." Japan grumbled. He shut himself in his room, leaving Korea in the hallway, trembling.

"Oh, c'mon, North, he can't mean ... he did say he smacked China in the face during his escape. He's gotta mean that, right? If he was gonna touch us he'd have done it already, right?" he whispered.

Maybe. I'm not sure we can take the chance.

"You mean ... time to try getting out again?"

Yeah. With luck we can catch him off-guard. Let him get absorbed in his work, then we can try to find a way out.