"Now where did I put that chamom- OOF!" The young man who was previously shuffling through drawers and cupboards slid to the ground, clutching his head in agony. A young boy dressed in Victorian style clothing sat off to the side of the darkened room, watching his caretaker with emotionless eyes.

"Bloody hell, that hurt!" The man muttered, his thick eyebrows furrowed in pain. He was handsome when he wasn't grimacing in pain, with mussled sandy blonde hair and clear emerald eyes. He shook his head and proceeded to continue his search.

After a few minutes, a cry of victory echoed around the basement.

"Ah-hah! I found it!" He raised his hands in triumph, clutching a jar that contained something green and leafy. The mysterious ingredient was promptly dumped into a dusty cauldron, which proclaimed along the side, "Property of Arthur Kirkland." The boy in the corner tightly clutched a panda that he held in his lap, not betraying the worry he felt inside.

"I'll show that frog," England, also known as Arthur Kirkland, muttered bitterly. "Teach him what happens when he insults my cooking…" He waved his hand over the pot and murmured something incoherent, causing a cloud of blue dust to erupt from the mixture. Arthur coughed in surprise and wiped his eyes, saying, "Well that'snot right…" The 'stew' continued to bubble as the young man consulted a leathery spell book that was opened and dog-eared.

The boy's silence spoke for him, soundlessly doubting England's whole plan. The blonde huffed and waved away the boy's doubt.

After a few minutes of tense silence, England finally sighed and said, "Bullocks. I honestly don't know what I did…" He tried to ignore the boy's gaze, which was of the "I-told-you-so" nature. He readjusted his clothes (which matched the little boy's) and said, "Oh well. No matter. Come on, Leon, it's almost time for lunch." For a moment England waited, but, realizing the boy wasn't moving, sighed again and walked up the stairs and out of the basement.

Silence entered the dark room as the boy continued to sit.

… That isn't my name,he thought finally. My name is Kaoru.His panda bleated and crawled out of his lap. I don't care if I'm not with China-baba anymore, I'm not going to respond to that name…Hong Kong trailed off as he watched his panda march over to the cauldron, inspecting the mixture with its cute panda eyes.

"Hey… like, wait…" Hong Kong stood up quickly. His bear was inspecting the pot and started pawing at it curiously, causing the cauldron to sway from side to side. The small boy gasped in surprise and horror as the thing tipped drastically in the direction of his precious pet. Without thinking, he dove for the creature and managed to toss it out of the way just as the pot came crashing down upon him.

"... Just great," Hong Kong said, finding himself trapped and soaked with whatever Arthur was concocting. It… tastes just as bad as his cooking…He thought, grimacing. Like, eww.

Even though the cauldron was easily three times his size, the boy was able to knock it sideways, freeing himself. He stared at his panda, which had begun to groom itself, sighed, then inspected his ruined attire. It was good clothing, he surmised, and the eyebrow man would definitely be angry if he found out what had happened. After pondering for a short while, Hong Kong decided to do what kids his age did best: lie through his teeth. After changing and taking a bath, of course.

~HKHK~

England looked up from the newspaper he was reading and regarded the child in the doorway.

"Huh. I could have sworn you were wearing the blue vest," The blonde mused. "Well, no matter. Come sit and eat." Hong Kong nodded and, clutching his panda, made his way to the mahogany chair. He eased it backward and plopped himself down, staring at the torture his caretaker claimed was food.

Hong Kong stared at the black mess that was meant to be tuna sandwiches. How do you burn something that doesn't even require cooking…?The young Asian asked inwardly.

He stared at it, willing it to go away, then sighed in defeat and picked it up. England, of course, was oblivious to all this and proceeded to make small talk with his new charge.

"I hope you like tuna, Leon," he started. "It was on a jolly good sale and, well, tuna seems very healthy and exotic. Have you had tuna before?" He stared at the expressionless boy expectantly, green eyes piercing like gems.

Hong Kong froze in the act of handing pieces of his sandwich to his panda (which were promptly rejected.)

"… Wǒ bù xǐhuan 'tuna'…" Hong Kong stared at England steadily. There was no way he was going to converse in that dirty language without a fight.

England scrunched up his face and said, "Leon, I know you can speak English. Stop being a twat." The boy stared at him for a full minute, the air crackling with tenseness.

Finally Hong Kong looked away and said quietly, "I don't, like, care for it." The older nation smiled and patted the boy's head.

"Yes, there's a good chap. You have a wonderful voice, why not use it more often?" Hong Kong blinked. He's just using sweet words to get my guard down...

"… Excuse me …" Hong Kong murmured softly, then hopped off his chair, panda in tow. England snuck glances at the retreating child, then folded up his paper and placed it next to his plate. His eyebrows scrunched in perplexity.

"Curse it all… I can never tell what the boy is thinking! Tch, leave it to China to raise a child like that…" The large browed man continued to think out loud as he picked up the dished, unaware that Hong Kong was standing outside the doorway, just out of view.

The Asian boy stared at the floor, arguments flying around his mind like fireflies. China-baba was perfect… I don't know why I have to live with you anyway… You call me by the wrong name and your cooking is terrible!Even though he would never admit it, at that moment a tear the size of a dew drop slid down his cheek. He wiped it away quickly and strode to his room, willing his aching heart to disappear.

A/N: Woohoo! Second Fic! Ahaha, it's so exciting~~ (^.^)

Sooo ... this will be a HongIce fic, if you couldn't tell from the selected countries~ I'm a little worried, I've never done that much with Iceland ... I hope I get his personality right. (^.^;)

And finally, if you don't recognize it from the title, I'm basing this fic off of a certain manga that I absolutely adore. Can you guess what it is? ;)

Critiques make my day! And flames will be ignored like a boss.