The room was considerably quiet except for the hum of the TV and Korea's singing. Yes, his rather shrill rendition of one of his pop groups' latest hits. A Taiwanese drama serial was on TV and Taiwan herself was in front of it, clutching a box of tissues and sobbing her eyes out. Thailand was beside her, wiping tears from his own eyes and blowing his nose loudly. China let out the occasional sigh as he looked over a stack of reports. Japan calmly turned the page of his novel as he silently corrected himself – scratch that, it wasn't quiet at all.

Finally, Hong Kong, who had been sitting in a corner with his game console, reached his limit and snapped at his siblings, "Will the two of you be quiet? I can barely hear my music!" Taiwan whirled around and retorted, "Well, why don't you yap at Yong-Soo instead? I'm sure his singing bothers you more than we do!"

As the bickering between Taiwan and Hong Kong escalated, Thailand taking Taiwan's side and Korea complaining loudly, China let out a particularly loud sigh and opened his mouth to chide them, but before he could say anything – "TICKLE FIGHT!" Korea yelled at the top of his voice and launched himself at his siblings.

All hell officially broke loose.

Within seconds, the four nations on the floor were writhing and letting out strangled noises as legs got tangled and fingers jabbed at sensitive flesh. China shook his head, "Seriously-aru, you all never seem to grow up – AIYAH!" he let out a yelp as Taiwan leapt at him, eyes shining with a mischievous light, and brought him tumbling to the floor. Within seconds, China was gasping and laughing and buried under the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Korea-Thailand pile of limbs. Japan looked over the top of the page, worried. He hoped that he wouldn't get caught up in this. Perhaps he should leave the room…

"KIKU! COME JOIN US!" Korea yelled. Oh dear, too late.

As the other nations advanced on him, Japan felt an impending sense of doom. Desperately, he looked around the room, but could see no escape route. The next thing he knew, Korea was on him, yelling God-knows-what into his ear, fingers digging into his sides. Immediately, Japan screamed, threw his novel into the air, and shoved Korea off him with a strength he never knew he had.

There was a brief silence in which every other nation stared at Japan, wide-eyed and speechless. From his position on the floor, Korea gaped at him. Yes, Japan was extremely ticklish, and right now he felt like hiding his face in his hands, committing seppuku, running out of the room, or all three. Before he could act on it, though, Thailand let out a cry of delight and tackled him again, sending him crashing to the floor none too painlessly and knocking Thailand's glasses askew. Suddenly, his siblings' fingers were everywhere, and Japan couldn't speak couldn't scream couldn't breathe, as he flailed his arms about just trying to get them to stop.

Dimly, over the roar of blood in his ears, he heard Hong Kong yell, "Loser treats everyone to dinner tonight!" Somehow, Japan managed to wrench Thailand off him and scramble to his feet and throw himself at Hong Kong who was laughing hysterically. Somewhere in the back of Japan's mind, he made a note to capture this rare moment as he and Hong Kong tumbled to the floor. He was just starting to turn the tables against Hong Kong when China shouted over the din, "EVERYONE! Kiku's knees! The backs of his knees!"

Japan's eyes widened in shock but he barely had time to protest before someone's fingers – Taiwan? Thailand? – found his most sensitive spot. Instinctively, Japan shrieked again and tried to wriggle free, but Hong Kong was suddenly there, pinning him down with a vice-like grip. "The spot just under his ribs! The nape of his neck!" China hollered, and Japan honestly felt like he was going to spontaneously combust. And then China himself was on top of him, and he was tickling his absolute weakest spot – the soles of his feet.

A strangled cry escaped Japan's lips, his eyes rolling back in his head. This feeling of utter helplessness that was overcoming him – he'd never felt this way, not even when he was losing the war. Now, Japan was a man with a great deal of pride. He took it upon himself to never give up any challenge, to always uphold his honour and dignity, no matter what it took. But this – this torture – he might consider giving in, just this once.

"I give up!" Japan gasped when China's fingers fumbled, giving him an opportunity to draw a breath. Abruptly, the torture stopped, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand sitting back on their heels, trying to catch their breaths, Korea grinning like a Cheshire cat. China got to his feet, eyes sparkling and chuckling, and held out a hand to help Japan up. "Dinner's on Kiku tonight-aru!"

Japan simply groaned, took the proffered hand and got to his feet. He would definitely be aching for days afterwards.

ahahah /shot
I'm on a roll tonight.