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— My dear Kiku, happy birthday, aru!
Wang Yao firmly held a huge cake with white frosting right in front of his face, and on top pink glaze that sparkled like stars. The strawberries shaped like hearts were fresh and reflected the light from the street. The sunny weather lifted the mood, and China's smile spread across his entire face.
Kiku let out a soft gasp and lowered his eyes to look at the sweetness. Even though he hadn’t expected to be congratulated in such a way—he hadn’t told anyone about his birthday.
Even Germany and Italy had no idea about this holiday. Kiku poked his finger into the soft cake. It was so warm and so sticky that it could get stuck there for a long time. And the smell climbed straight into his lungs like perfume and made him want to eat it all.
— So, do you like it, aru?? Kiku silently licked a small bit of cream, and the taste reminded him of lemon with sugar and a little strawberry aroma.
Blushing from how much he liked the taste, he took the cake from his hands and placed it on the edge.
— Thank you, Yao-san, I’m very pleased that you prepared this for me. But I didn’t ask you to — the last words came out without any emotion, and for China that felt like a rude tone.
— You never ask for anything at all, aru! I wanted to prepare the very best for my little brother, aru.
Kiku became covered in blush, and now his cheeks burned as if the sun was hanging directly above his face. Wang Yao turned away, as though the offense was too great and now the celebration could be ruined because of the birthday boy.
— China, tell me, what were my birthdays like when I was little?..
Wang Yao raised his eyebrows, and his lips parted wider from the question. Now the country was only looking at him and perhaps wanted to climb inside his head to create a clearer picture.
He began twirling his wavy hair with his finger and thoughtfully stared at the walls of the house.
— Honestly, even as a child it was very hard to surprise you, aru. I never understood why you always looked at everything so sadly. Even when I tried to arrange the very best celebration for you, your answers were always just “thank you” aru.
Kiku imagined himself from the story. A small country that with its eyes always wanted only the quiet side of the world. Maybe to see more lands or even look around at everything. When he was found among the bamboo, he wasn’t waiting for anyone special, yet fate gave him Wang Yao.
— Oh, I didn’t just bring a cake. I want to give you something I’ve kept for a very long time, aru.
— Hm..?
China hurriedly started rummaging in the straw backpack, from which the head of a panda emerged. Small black button-like eyes looked at Kiku, and both tried to speak through thoughts, but the panda only yawned and seemed to be preparing for sleep. Before pulling out something that looked like paper, China stroked the panda, and the fur seemed to become softer, and the panda wrapped itself back into its little home.
Wang Yao quickly moved closer to him, and the cake was still standing between them. His hand reached very close to Kiku’s chest. Completely yellowed paper with dust that flew everywhere. So as not to dirty the edges, he stepped even farther away from Wang Yao. The other only smiled at him and waited for him to unfold the huge sheet.
Fully opened, the canvas was covered in black ink drawings. Crooked characters with extra smudges and blotches gathered into something resembling words.
— These are your first kanji, aru! Even though you didn’t like the result and said you wanted to throw them away, I still kept them, aru.
Kiku blushed even more, and now a face as red as a tomato was on him.
Immersing himself in those lines, he returned to the past once again. Little him held his brushes and, following commands, wrote different words that weren’t connected—or so he thought. He could only recognize a couple of them. “Bird”, “sun” and “love”. At that time Kiku paid attention to nothing; all he wanted was to write something on paper again and even stain it so the words would have meaning.
— You know, Japan, you always remind me of pandas, aru.
The unexpected comparison pulled him out of memories and felt like the start of a riddle. What did he have in common with pandas? His ears were different, his eyes bigger than the animal’s. Soft paws are more suited for hugs. They were friendlier than him, so why was he on the same level as them?
— And why? — the question was quiet and more like a desire to know the answer.
China loves sometimes being mysterious, so Japan didn’t expect an answer, but today he was surprised.
— You remind me of my love for them, aru. They’re the same friends to me as you are. Happy birthday to you!
Something struck much harder in Kiku’s heart. He could have said it was butterflies in his stomach, but inside there was only wind with sea, and it was a real storm he couldn’t control. Lowering his eyes again to his old writing, he found even more words and now he could connect them all: “the bird flew near the sun to find love”.
I think she has already found it.