Mei hums appreciatively as she sips her tea, sitting back comfortably on her calves while gazing up at the moon's pale face. "It's a beautiful night isn't it Kiku?"

"Yes," he murmurs softly, resting the steaming porcelain cup on his lap. "The rabbit's pounding more rice cakes."

"Eh?" Her curl bobs as Mei turns to look at the man sitting beside her. "China-xiansheng said the rabbit's pounding medicine."

Kiku hides a smile behind another sip of tea, shrugging nonchalantly. "Well, rice cakes are no doubt tastier than medicine."

Giggling, Mei tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "That's true." A mild breeze sweeps across Japan's back porch, and she finds herself staring subconsciously at Kiku's ruler straight black hair. Windy fingers ruffle his midnight locks, and strands of hair flop into his calm, comforting brown eyes. The elder nation radiated an aura of quiet authority, yet Mei detected a hint of ancient melancholy surrounding him as well. Unintentionally, she scoots a little closer to him, her hands wrapped tightly around her cup. Over the past two days Kiku had taken her sightseeing all around Japan, they just got back from Kyoto, and somehow along the way Mei found herself drawn to his gentle, placid nature. So much more different than how he was sixty years ago.

What am I thinking? I-I can't be this attracted to him in the space of two days... Blushing slightly, Mei starts tentatively, "Ki-Kiku-"

Turning his head to the side, he blinks curiously, noting the faint roses in her cheeks and how tightly her delicate hands gripped the porcelain cup. Why is she so nervous...? Did I do something, or...? "Yes? What is it Mei?" Kiku asked gently, not wanting the fidgeting teenage nation beside him to feel even more uneasy than she apparently is.

Mei face reddens further, half mumbling, "O-oh... Um... I w-was just-"

In an instant something furry slams into her back, and with an undignified squeal Mei topples forward onto the lush grass underneath the wooden porch. A split second later, hot tea splashes all over her hands and waist area, scalding her skin.

"POCHI!" Swiftly scooping up the wriggling mass of fur and placing him firmly inside the house, Kiku reaches a hand out to Mei, his eyes dark with concern. "Are you alright?"

Biting her lip, she nods and lets his hands envelope her dainty ones, pulling her up. Her arms were trembling a little, the skin throbbing an angry red from the tea. Her blossom pink qipao clings uncomfortably onto her upper body, and Kiku reflexively averts his eyes, feeling more than just a little awkward at how tightly the silk pressed against Mei's torso and chest. To his dismay heat sears in his face...and...well...other parts of his body.

Mei's your friend. She just got burned by tea. Think Kiku. Quit being an idiot.

"Here..." Kiku murmurs softly, supporting Mei's body as he leads her to the kitchen. Setting her down in a chair, he hurried over with an ice pack and a cloth soaked with cold water. Trying not to stare at her upper body, he starts to swab the red inflamed skin with the cloth. "It's okay... It's okay...Please don't cry Mei, I've got you..."

Whimpering softly even though the older nation was being as gentle as possible, Mei tried not to cry; embarrassment welled up inside her and threatened to show itself in even more embarrassing tears. She blinked away the moisture, instead concentrating on Kiku's low, soothing voice, until the swelling went down.

"S-sorry you have to trouble yourself-"

"Don't apologize... Pochi shouldn't have rushed out blindly like that," he interrupted, and his hand reached up to instinctively pat her head reassuringly. Her russet eyes widened slightly, a memory colliding.

"Mei... Oh come on, you know he didn't mean it like that..."

Sniffing, her curl bounced erratically all over the place as a tiny little girl buried her face in the trailing silky pink sleeves of her qipao. Beside her, a pale raven haired juvenile leaned back on his heels, his normally flat solemn gaze dark with concern.

"Yes he did!" she screamed, tears running from her glistening russet eyes. "Yong Soo's a meanie! I hate him! Hate him, hate him, hate him-"

"Now now Mei... You know what Yao says about getting along with-"

"...B-but getting along doesn't mean Yong Soo owns my country right?" Blinking her tears away, the girl rubbed her eyes and stares hopefully up at the older boy. "I'm still with Yao right?"

Exhaling slowly, he forces a smile on his face and reaches over to pat her head gently, displaying his rarely seen affection.

"Yeah. We all are, remember?"

"D-do you want to go and...eto...change?" Kiku trips over his words a little, rousing Mei from her memories.

"Y-yeah..." Standing up a little too quickly, she shakes her head to clear the sudden wave of vertigo and rushes to her room-well, the guest room-leaving Kiku gazing after her worriedly.

Ten minutes later, the two sat on the couch with an almost apologetic looking Pochi squished between them. Munching rather enthusiastically on some Pocky she found in the pantry, Mei observes Kiku's pale hand sweeping gracefully over the paper, dressed in a light pink cotton nightgown. Meanwhile, the poor nation attempted to keep a blush from blossoming over his face from her proximity, pretending-unsuccessfully-that she wasn't there.

She...looks really cute in that... Sneaking a glance, he takes note of her slightly tanned skin contrasting with the ruffles at the neckline of the nightgown, still damp brown hair tumbling over her right shoulder in a messy ponytail, and her flushed face from another shower. Completely oblivious to his scrutinizing stare, she breaks off another piece of chocolate dipped biscuit stick as her eyes stay glued to the paper resting on Kiku's lap.

N-no... I shouldn't be thinking that... Mei is just a friend... She is-was practically my little sister... His eyes darted again over to where she hovered over his paper, still working her way down the Pocky stick, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh!" Squeaking in surprise, the teenage nation hurriedly pushed up her sleeve, blushing slightly. Thank goodness it didn't slip down too low... "S-sorry..."

"N-nothing to be sorry for," He mumbled back, concentrating fiercely on finishing the final panel of a manga concept he was working on. For a few more minutes, the sound of muted pencil lead scratching against paper filled the silence between the two, accompanied by an occasional soft crack as Mei chewed on Pocky.

"Done!" The Japanese man exclaimed triumphantly, setting his sketchpad and pencil down on the kotatsu table in front of the couch. Stretching in satisfaction, Kiku massaged his cramped fingers before turning to the nation beside him. "Hey Mei, what do you think of-"

Glowing copper eyes blinked mischievously at him as Mei scooted a little closer to him, her slightly damp bangs flopping over her forehead. Cocking her head to one side, she asked around the chocolate coated biscuit stick between her teeth, "Pocky?"

A/N: Nyaaaaa~ I'm so sorry for not updating, I was working on another alternate chapter continuation, but then I got stuck with writer's block so I just started over and eventually came up with Pocky as a solution. w

Hope you all liked this chapter, it's gonna get real fluffy next upcoming chapter~! Thanks for reading, leave a review~! (I promise I'll try and finish the final extremely fluffy chapter soon, okie dokie~?)