Keep going and going with the fillers, cause I can. Hahahahaha.

/= [DAY 55] =/

What can she say? Class after Halloween is nothing short of a little dead. Nonetheless, she at least got time to start talking to Kiku behind the teacher's back. He kept sneaking CDs of UTAUloids that he was able to take of other nations, much to her delight.

"This one is of Ludwig. I kept saying it was for school purposes and he finally caved in." Kiku chuckled. "I hope you like it."

"Excellent…now is the time for me to make him sing…" She cackled. "Sing for me, my tsundere German…sing for meeeeee…"

"The only catch is that the voice box is in Japanese, so you'll have to write all the songs in Japanese to make him sing clearly." He stated.

"No problem…I've been learning Japanese so that I could reprogram Miku Hatsune to sing a minute and a half's worth of CLOVERS…"

"You mean Three-Leaf Clover?"

"I know what I mean…"

He chuckled softly to himself. Charice was always one to be such a fangirl. At least Elizabeta had her obsession under wraps. She wasn't afraid to tackle-glomp anyone in her trails, even Ludwig (and she had a phobia of Germans! How does that work?)! Even then, she had a motherly quality that prevented her from actually fangirling someone to death. That is oddly rare.

"Actually, Kiku…I already have a dance for that song…"

"You do, do you?" Kiku's eyebrows went up. "Have you even heard this song before?"

"Hell yeah, I did." She chirped. "I'll show you during lunch~"

/=+=/

The dance that Charice made for the minute and a half involved a lot of skipping and grapevineing, a little too much for Kiku's old body. Half of the time he was complaining about back pains, something that Charice stared at for a few minutes before continuing her dance. So much energy in her bones, from a nation that was a colony half the time…he couldn't help but be envious.

"C-can we…take a break?" He plopped on the nearest chair. "There's too much twirling…for me…"

"Eh? Here I thought you can handle Doitsu-ki's massive amounts of training!" She answered back. "Hell, I can't run that far!"

Kiku almost chuckled. Doitsu-ki. That means that she was going into a bit of Cute-Obsession mode. She would always have a nickname for people that she trusted, and always knew when to keep it to formality. Even when he took her as a prisoner of war…

No. No use thinking about the past.

"Eh? Kiku-ni? Are you OK?"

He chuckled this time. He was blessed with a cute nickname this time. For some reason, that made him happy. A little…happier than what he was used to…and he didn't even think that was possible…

"I…was just thinking about something." He looked up. "Are you hungry at all?"

"Eh? Hungry? Oh yeah, I am!" She chirped. "Wow, I almost forgot!"

"How can you forget being hungry?"

"I dunno, I just do!" She grabbed her bento box. "Stuffed to the brim!"

"You're using my bento box…" He blinked.

"Yeah, so? It stores a lot of food in it! Too bad it can't store a fork and spoon…you have to carry it separately!" She sighed.

"That's how the Japanese eat, of course." He stated, a sad smile on his face. "Simple, not too much."

"Wow…so different from us…for we Filipinos eat whenever we want and gain nothing!"

"Yeah…I've seen." Kiku chuckled.

"Eh? Kiku-ni, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered. "I was just…thinking about something about the past."

"Hm? How far back? 5000 years? 3000? 2000? The year Naruto entered the American anime diet?"

"No…back when I was under militia rule…and World War II."

Charice stood silent as Kiku slowly started eating from his bento box. It was really inevitable that these two would talk about their pasts like this. He had taken over her and her brother, there's no use denying it. Now that their relations are relatively peaceful, they had to face the past…right?

"The war that took over the world." Charice dictated out loud, eating her bento box.

"Yes…you do remember that war."

"How can I not? You took over my people and sent American POVs there to die." She answered calmly and matter-of-factly.

"That was during war times…when my allies fell and I was the only one left…"

"Yeah. Alfred and my brother both went and fought you." Charice turned to him. "It was the longest that I've ever been away from him."

"I see…" Kiku looked up. "I must ask this, because this has been bugging me…have you been resenting me for that?"

Charice was silent, placing a finger on her lips and looking to the sky. After a few minutes of total silence, Kiku watched as she turned toward him with a blank look on her face…a blank look that he had only seen on Rizal.

"Odd enough…not anymore." She blinked. "I've had something, yeah, but that never lasted past two or three years."

"T-that short of a period?" Kiku blinked.

"Yeah, I know. I was surprised myself. But no matter how much people tried telling me to hate you, the rage vanished without even leaving a scratch." She answered. "I guess I found the heart to forgive you."

"But…why?"

"…I guess it's how the saying goes: Time heals all wounds." Charice stated. "Everything vanishes as the people who hold the grudges are embraced in God's arms. Good things, bad times…every time the slate is washed clean and we start anew."

Kiku was silent.

"And I guess my slate cleaned out before anyone else could even think about wiping the past." She stated. "I don't know anything about how my brother thinks about this…but I'm sure that he'll forgive you, if not already."

"…hai. Arigato."

"Uh huh. Now let's not talk about this stuff. We have lunch to eat~!"

/=+=/

As Kiku entered the restaurant, he saw Li Xiao eating at the ramen bar in peace. He quietly sat down next to him and ordered his bowl of ramen, waiting in silence for the food to come to him. It came with great haste, and he quickly started eating from it.

"So I hear you've hung out with Charice this afternoon."

"Yes I did."

"May I ask about what you talked about?"

"The past. Nothing of great importance."

"I see…"

They ate in silence.

"She gave me a nickname, you know. Kiku-ni."

"She gave me one too, you know. Xiao-kun."

"Not creative, I see."

"She gave me one nonetheless."

"Interesting."

They ate in silence.

"I heard that you were taking lessons in Italian."

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Doesn't Charice know Italian?"

"She's learning just like I am."

"Are you having fun with it?"

"It's flowing and easy on the tongue."

"I see."

They ate in silence.

"You could've joined us in eating lunch."

"They wanted me down at the auditorium. Rizal wanted someone to work on the spotlights."

"I see…you would've seen an intimate conversation."

"I'm sure that I would."

They ate in silence.

"May the best man win."

"Yes, may he."

They ate in silence.

/=+=/

And the tension is born.