/ This was the hardest chapter for me to write and to this day, I have no idea why. /

VI

Kiku

Los Angeles, USA. March 23, 6:41 am

Kiku found that the best time of the day to contemplate is during the early hours of the day. He himself preferred to do his thinking about an hour before sunrise, as this was when - in his perspective, of course - the sounds of nature are best heard. The chirping of birds and the rustling of the leaves in the chilly morning air, these help him concentrate on the problem at hand.

But he wasn't there at the time to contemplate on his life or his problems. At present he could only think of one thing alone: Arthur.

They were friends, once upon a time, two kindred spirits in their loneliness and reluctance to actively mingle with the nations in the "mainland". They had shared sentiments and cultures for a while and Kiku looked back on those moments with fondness, even during the time when they fought for opposite sides. Arthur was, perhaps, the best friend that he ever had, and he often found himself wishing that their friendship didn't have to end.

But maybe it didn't. Maybe Kiku was the only one who thought that their friendly relations were over. Maybe even though they fought on opposite sides during the world wars, Arthur never stopped thinking of him as a friend. This was all speculation, however, as he wouldn't have any idea of what the Brit had thought at the time, but perhaps the smile that Arthur had given him on that first world meeting after World War II was all the proof he could ask for.

To be honest, he didn't quite know what went on in Arthur's head even when they were close. The man was a mystery, an enigma, a puzzle with too many missing pieces. Kiku wasn't quite sure if his understanding was so incomplete because Arthur was just too complex to understand or because he didn't put in enough effort to get to know the man.

Kiku was a master of reading the atmosphere, however. He had always taken pride in his ability to read people's emotions and no matter how complex he was, Arthur was no exception.

Kiku knew that Arthur was lonely.

Thinking about it, it didn't really take a genius to figure out. The eyes are windows to the soul, as they say. And anybody would be able to see the loneliness in those expressive green eyes no matter how much the man would have wanted to hide it.

Kiku knew that Arthur was lonely, and yet he didn't do anything.

He didn't comfort him or simply talked to him to make Arthur feel less alone. He didn't try to know more than what the Brit showed. He didn't defend Arthur when he was being insulted.

He let the already large distance between Arthur and the rest of the world increase even further.

Arthur was a very good friend and Kiku didn't deserve him.

~.;*;.~

Los Angeles, USA. March 24, 7:30 am

After his contemplation session the previous day, Kiku spent the next few hours thinking about what he could do to make up for all those years of taking Arthur's friendship for granted. At first, he thought of doing something from Arthur's culture as a way of showing appreciation, but he also thought at it was too shallow. Something like that was too easy to do and Kiku figured that it's not enough of an atonement.

While doing something English would have flattered the Brit, Kiku thought that perhaps it was better if he did something from his own culture. After all, Arthur loved his culture, didn't he? Kiku remembered the time when Arthur tried to put some Japanese influence on his art and while the Asian had thought that what the Brit had made was absolutely wonderful, Arthur had been embarrassed and had said that what came out was nothing but a poor imitation of the real thing. And for a prideful person like Arthur, saying something like that meant a great appreciation of the Japanese culture.

In the end, Kiku decided to fold a thousand paper cranes. To thank Arthur for his love and appreciation of the Japanese culture, he chose to do a classic origami piece. To atone for his neglect of their relationship, he chose to do something that requires determination, patience, and a lot of hard work. To acknowledge that Arthur was a very important person in his life, he chose to arrange the paper cranes into a huge white square inscribed with the character for "friend" with the extra cranes hanging off the bottom as tassels.

And to show how much he wished for them to be better friends, he chose to fold a thousand cranes.

To Kiku, it was the perfect gift. And he sincerely hoped that his "best friend" would think the same.

And so with the perfect gift in mind, he ordered a lot of origami paper and started folding them immediately on the morning of the 24th. Of course, he didn't neglect to eat his breakfast. Arthur wouldn't stand for it if he found out and Kiku smiled at the thought of being reprimanded by a very concerned Brit.

Thinking about Arthur motivated him even more - if that was still possible at that point - and he didn't notice the light knocks and the door opening. He heard Feliciano when he spoke, however, but did not look up from his activity.

"Wow, paper cranes," the Italian reveled. "Are you going to make a lot?"

"Hai," Kiku answered simply. "I plan to make a thousand paper cranes."

"I heard about that before. If you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true."

Kiku smiled. He knew that it was only a saying, but he hoped that this prayer would reach heaven and his wish would come true. His wish, of course, was for Arthur to return to them.

"Can I help you?" Feliciano asked and Kiku shook his head.

"No, Feliciano-kun." His voice was firm, determined. "I resolve to do all of this by myself. No matter how long it takes."

After all, if he received help, the "perfect gift" would lose its meaning.

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