HongPiri - The Month of Sorrow -part 4-

Here I am again, with a new chapter! I think I got brain-dead on some parts. =_=' Anyways, please enjoy! At least it's 10 pages this time! At least on Google docs.


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-Chapter 4 ~ Attraction...? (part 2)-


|Hong Kong's POV|


Despite the sky being somewhat overcast, it is quite bright and hazy today. The sun would sometimes hide behind the clouds, only peeking out when the clouds move in between. Hong Kong was walking back to the hotel he and Iceland are staying at, his clasped hands resting on his buttocks, bouncing lightly every time he took a step, whistling through “Beloved Tomboyish Daughter” from Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Though it’s not one of his favorites, he thinks it’s fitting for lucky days such as this one. Lucky enough that he was able to meet Philia again after yesterday, and lucky enough that he didn’t suffer another heart attack or cardiac arrest or else vomited.

Hong Kong stopped whistling and stopped in his tracks as his eyes widened a little in realization. He didn’t suffer any heart attacks or cardiac arrests. Nor did he even vomit today. That’s actually the first time in a few days that this did not happen. What are the reasons why?

Though, beyond this point, Hong Kong didn’t really care why. He didn’t get any heart attacks and cardiac arrests nor did he even vomit and that’s what matters. He continued whistling and his normal pace back to his and Iceland’s hotel room, though his lips hurt and his lungs were nearly out of air by the time he reached the elevator to to the third floor.

Hong Kong opened his room door and called out, “I’m back.”

Iceland was eating some sweet-n-sour pork he heated up and looked up with impatient eyes when his Cantonese best friend entered the room. “You are, finally.”

Hong Kong scoffed as he closed the door behind him. “What’s with the look? It’s not like I was gone that long.”

“Yes it is,” Iceland retorted as he frowned. “It’s 12:30, according to the kitchen clock.”

Hong Kong shrugged. “It’s not like, actually very long.”

The albino teenager’s face twisted slightly in fury. “Yes it is! You left at 11 in the morning, you came back one and a half hours late!”

Hong Kong frowned as well and crossed his arms. “That’s because the distance between the hotel and the park was thirty minutes apart.”

Okay, either he’s telling the truth or he’s a complete idiot, thought Iceland begrudgingly.

“So,” Hong Kong spoke up. “Is there any Chinese take out left?”

“Just shrimp stirfry, sweet-n-sour pork and dim sum,” Iceland replied, though his words sounded like he was mumbling.

Luckily, Hong Kong understood what his best friend said. “Thanks for keeping the dim sum for me, Ice.”

“You’re welcome. I would have ordered a lot, but I didn’t have much money on me, since dim sum is one of your favorites.”

Hong Kong nodded in understanding and walked up to the microwave and opened the door to reveal two plates, one on top of the other with their rims touching each other, revealing some of the pork and rice. He silently thanked Iceland for keeping the pork and rice themselves warm while waiting. He carefully pulled the plates out and set them on the counter. The plates felt lukewarm, but as Hong Kong removed the first plate, there was only a little steam rising from the sweet-n-sour pork and rice.

Hong Kong then grabbed a fork, took the plate to the table and sat at it, gently stabbing the pork piece with his fork and ate it.

“So,” Iceland began. “What did you and… um… Philia do this late morning?”

The Cantonese teen swallowed his piece. “Charice? Well, she accepted my apology for knocking her down to the ground yesterday.”

Iceland raised a brow in suspicion. “And?”

“And we got ice cream--well, sherbet and ice cream--we sat under the tree and talked, and it turns out that she has a younger brother that represents the Inner Philippine Islands, if not Manila.”

“I knew it…” Iceland took another bite of his pork. “What else did you two talk about?”

“Just some general stuff.” Hong Kong ate some rice. “Charice also asked me about you, though.”

Iceland’s stretched his face in confusion, though he was blushing slightly. “A… about… me?”

Hong Kong smirked. “Yeah, I pretty much remarked on how tsundere and hipster you can totally be without even trying.”

“What do you mean by ‘tsundere?’”

“I could set up a date with you and Lin Yi if you’d like, Ice.”

Iceland’s faced instantly turned red, but his face contorted with a furious expression. “LIN YI AND I ARE NOT A THING!!” He really hates it when Hong Kong fixes him up with his sister. Apparently, Hong Kong is the only one who knows that Iceland has a huge crush on Taiwan but doesn’t really want to reveal it.

“And then our general conversation switched to learning each others’ languages.”

Iceland’s face and expression turned back to a normal color and relaxed state. “You guys were teaching each other Filipino and Cantonese?”

Hong Kong ate more of his rice and pork. “Yep. And apparently, she speaks Spanish as well. Her brother is also fluent in Tagalog.”

“Don’t you mean tagalong?”

“No, Tagalog, it’s a dialect spoken in the Manila area. Kinda weird that two siblings speak different dialects.”

“But Mr. America and Mr. Canada speak different dialects even though they speak the same language,” Iceland pointed out. “And so does England as the rest of his United Kingdom siblings. Well, except for Ireland, maybe. And there’s Mr. Germany and Mr. Prussia* and the Italy brothers*. They all speak different dialects though their individual languages remain the same.”

“I know that, it’s just weird.”

Hong Kong ate more of his rice when Iceland asked again. “There’s a chance you’ll be meeting Phil-- Charice tomorrow, yes?”

“Yeah, she did,” replied Hong Kong without thinking. Wait, did we agree on that, really? Well, I did say yes, so…

“Well, when the time comes,” Iceland continued. “I wanna come along, since I really want to get to know Charice better.”

Hong Kong gave Iceland a deadpan look. “You’re just coming along so that you would berate me for ‘flirting with the girls I meet.’*”

“You better not be, or else I’m cutting you off of my Tumblr**.” It really annoyed Iceland whenever Hong Kong would seemingly flirt with a few girls at internet cafes or malls or any other public place. Hong Kong claims that he likes chatting with girls and tell Iceland that he was acting like an insecure child (subtly adding in that Iceland’s just jealous that he cannot talk to girls properly, even though Hong Kong says it’s just a joke to tease him).

Hong Kong gave out a smirking, snide expression. “You’re bluffing.”

Iceland’s berry eyes tensed up briefly, but let out a low growl and continued eating his sweet-n-sour pork. Hong Kong just merely shrugged and continued eating as well. As he was, his thoughts went straight back to the first time he spent the late afternoon with Philia in the park. He recalled that he had no heart attacks nor did he even vomit. At any random moment, including thinking about the incident, he suffers a heart attack or cardiac arrest and has to be revived. For every heart attack or cardiac arrest, he would become increasingly depressed; some points in time that his stomach couldn’t contain anything he eats, making him vomit. Hong Kong could recall that while he was in a coma, Iceland was going through the same depression; he couldn’t eat nor he could even sleep.

But that was two years ago since Hong Kong awoke from his coma, and now he has to suffer from it. Until he dies at the end of August. Not even Iceland nor China--the only two people whom Hong Kong loves dearly--would even get him out of his depression. And yet… and yet Philia just became the one who made Hong Kong almost forget about his heart troubles and depression. He keeps brushing it off as being similar to back when he was in the Philippines while going through rehabilitation and met a lot of people that treated him like a family member, so maybe it’s just that. But then Hong Kong remembered those times when he accidentally brushed against Philia’s arms (or was it the other way around?) he felt tingling surges through his body. It made his insides warm, made him feel lifted up, feel a lot better than he was in his mental state. But that was back when he was in the Philippines. Or was it?

Hong Kong finished off his meal quickly so that Iceland wouldn’t notice him spacing out for a minute.

“Li, are you okay?” Iceland asked.

No such luck. “I’m all right, Ice, I was just thinking about something.”

“About… Charice?”

Hong Kong felt tingling shivers go up through his skin and up to his head, though at the same time, he felt angry and snarky. Hey, since when he gets to do the teasing? He then made eye contact with Iceland, “No, I was thinking about where Charice and I… and you, of course, would meet next tomorrow.”

Iceland finished up his sweet-n-sour pork meal and answered. “Well, Li, knowing you, you would have gone to a shopping district with her to go clothes-shopping.”

“And what’s wrong with clothes shopping?”

Iceland scoffed. “You tell me. The last few times I’ve been to your house and your room, no doubt, your closet is nearer and nearer to bursting.”

“Look, Mom, everything in my closet is organized in its own special way,” Hong Kong waved a hand. “It’s actually nowhere near bursting.”

“Oh really, what about your traditional Chinese clothes, then?”

“They’re in my other closet along with my old sketches,*** you know that. Besides they’re only for special occasions like Chinese New Year. Heck, twice I let you borrow one of my duanguas.”

Iceland frowned and pressed lips together in which Hong Kong easily recognized as his pout. When it came to heated debates like this and whenever they reach a stalemate, Iceland would always make that face. Hong Kong always says that his silly little pout made him adorable, but now he resisted saying it.

Hong Kong got up from his chair and took out his Blackberry phone. “That reminds me I better send a text to Charice about where we’ll be meeting tomorrow and at what time.”

“Do you even have Charice’s cell phone number, Li?”

The Cantonese city-state shrugged. “Well, she sent me a text last night. Apparently, Alfred like, gave her my cell number. I have hers in my phonebook.”

Hong Kong opened up his phonebook app and scrolled down to “Charice Pacquiao,” touched it, and typed out his text message asking Philia where and when to meet and sent it to her cell phone number.

He then put his phone on the table and pushed it towards his albino bestie. “Here.”

“Thank you,” replied Iceland as he took out his phone and typed in Philia’s cell number. “You know, I honestly can’t believe that Mr. America of all people would even have your cell number and give it to Charice.”

“Well, Alfred was a pretty friendly guy when I first met him,” Hong Kong confessed. “Only his eyes we’re friends.” He then leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “But I really doubt he and I will be reach up into the level as we are now. Hell, even he and Arthur are inching towards the lovers area.”

Iceland shot Hong Kong a warning glare, but he didn’t lift up his face from the phone screen. “We are not reaching up to that level.”

Hong Kong slided back, but rested his hands on the table, smirking. “Yeah, of course not.”

Iceland let out a low growl as he gathered up the dishes and put them in the kitchen sink. “Hey, Li, would you mind helping?”

“Sure,” Hong Kong replied as he walked over to the sink to help out.

*************************************

With their leftovers done, it’s time for the two best friends to get some R-n-R. With R-n-R comes gaming tournaments sitting on Hong Kong’s bed with their laptops and with laptops and gaming tournaments comes Touhou Project, respectively. And with Touhou Project comes Touhou 13.5: Hopeless Masquerade. Out of the two, Iceland seems to be a bit better at danmaku fighting games than Hong Kong. But needless to say, they do enjoy competing against each other to get the most wins, like best friends typically do. On rare occasions, both Hong Kong and Iceland would put down bets on the first person who gets a specified amount of wins, well, wins the “bet.” If either person fails to do so, they lose the “bet” and gets to wear something embarrassing for the rest of the day. This time, it’s not one of those rare occasions.

Hong Kong was playing as Koishi Komeiji (much to Iceland’s surprise, since Hong Kong always picked out Reimu Hakurei for their particular Touhou tournaments) and Iceland was Mononobe no Futo (He would have chosen Seiga Kaku, but her gameplay mechanics are too erratic for him to handle; besides, Seiga’s spell cards didn’t look all that interesting.) since her gameplay mechanics were straightforward and easy to catch on. As Futo, Iceland was able to block and dodge Hong Kong’s (as Koishi) spell card attacks, though he does get hit when he lets his guard down.

On Hong Kong’s part, though he’s not at the same rank as Iceland, he seems to be pwning Iceland’s cards with ease. Her spell cards (and her mythos even before her first appearance in Subterranean Animism) aren’t really too shabby for something that manipulates the subconscious. Though in hindsight, Hong Kong doesn’t really know himself what drove him to pick Koishi over Reimu. At first, he silently joked that “Koishi ‘made him’” do this action; though then again, his thoughts went back to the dream he had with Koishi a couple of days before. Was it because of Koishi’s ability to manipulate the subconscious, that Hong Kong was depressed without even knowing it in the first place?

He merely brushed it off as ridiculous, as he already knows that he’s subconsciously depressed. Then again, the seemingly grim words the little satori girl had said--”Follow your heart. Don’t listen to what other people say. If you do, you will die.”--the grim Japanese writing and English translation--”Find the one you love” (it’s not exactly grim, but you know)--probably made the Cantonese boy feel this way. Whether he is or is not, he does not know.

Suddenly, his mind wandered back to when France and Japan were talking about the so-called “Red Thread of Fate” (though only on Japan’s part) and how France was talking about him “fated” to be with someone forever. The first part of him thought it was completely ludicrous, not to mention “fate” is nothing but a mere cliche; the other half… what if it was true for him and Philia? Granted, Hong Kong’s not the type to jump to conclusions, but the brief, slight feel of Philia felt like a shivering jolt up his body; it was unlike any other light touch such as the hugs he had received from the Filipino people before his departure to China. Her voice was like America’s: sunny and happy and optimistic. The only difference is, though, her voice reminded him of a few Touhou vocalists who had beautiful singing voices.

Hong Kong’s mind snapped back into reality as he let out a cry of surprise when Koishi’s health bar went to zero, just after Futo dealt a blow on her. Shit…! he thought. I must’ve gotten distracted.

“Yea-ahh~ 6 in a row with Futo-chan! Whoo!” Iceland cheered as he fist-pumped in the air. But then he noticed his best friend with an unusual expression. “Uh, Li?”

Hong Kong quickly blinked only once and turned his head in hearing of his human nickname. “What?”

“Are you okay? You were spacing out towards the end of the round.”
Already Hong Kong could feel his face heat up in embarrassment. So Iceland really did notice. His thoughts were so caught up in what from his strange dream to Japan and France’s saying of it to his experience of being with Philia that he did not realize he was actually spacing out, thus making him lose to Iceland. “I-I’m fine, Ice, you kinda had an advantage over me at the end.”

Iceland blinked in surprise, much to Hong Kong’s relief. “Really? I figured we’d be in a stalemate since I was using Mononobe no Futo. Either that, or I was probably worried that I would lose.”

“Hmm.”

“What do you mean, ‘hmm?’”

“Uh, nothing. It’s nothing.”

Iceland asked no further about that, but then said, “Wanna do the next round?”

Hong Kong exited out of Hopeless Masquerade and let out a yawn. “No, I’m done playing Touhou for the day.”

That caught Iceland off-guard. “Seriously, done for the day? Usually, we’d be playing up until our eyes burn off the plasma screen!”

Hong Kong put his laptop to sleep and closed it, not even bothering to make a retort. He put the device under his bed when a thought came to him. When will America be holding the next meeting? Because knowing him, he would hold two parts of a meeting in case there were any arguments and if a consensus isn’t reached. The first part was yesterday, as France and England were previously feuding over something (though he has a feeling that it’s him, even though England talking about him is really disturbing to him); he probably doesn’t know when the next part will be. So the best thing to do now is text America asking him about the second part of the meeting.

Suddenly, Hong Kong’s Blackberry rung (Speak of the devil, he thought), so he got his phone out of his pocket once again, unlocked it and it seems that he received two text messages from two different people. Suspicious, Hong Kong touched the first one, which happened to be from America.

Iceland hovered over out of curiosity. “What is it?”

“It’s a text message from Alfred,” Hong Kong observed. “It says that the second part of the meeting is still being… planned out, and it won’t be until either tomorrow or the day after or else the day after.”

“Gaming tournaments during that time,” Iceland muttered.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

Hong Kong shrugged. “Oh well. What does the second message say?”

“Wait, there’s a second message?”

Hong Kong deleted the first message and opened up the second one. “Ohh why am I not surprised?”

Iceland peered at the bright screen of his best friend’s phone. “It’s from Charice…!”

“Yep, and look what it says.”

Iceland put his hands on Hong Kong’s upper arm and shoulder to get a closer look at the phone screen. The text message from Philia read “I know a shopping district just west of the hotel we’re all staying at! Meet me there at 11:30 sharp! Don’t be late! <3”

It was when Iceland furrowed his brow. “What’s the the heart emoticon at the end?”

“Yeah, I noticed it too,” Hong Kong observed. “Usually girls do this to their boyfriends or their other girl friends.”

“But you and Charice just met. Plus you do it to me sometimes.”

Hong Kong sighed and proceeded to text back, “sure thng. is ur bro comin?”

Iceland furrowed his brow once again. “What you mean bro? Does Charice even have a brother?”

Hong Kong simply moved his eyes towards Iceland, not moving his head away from the phone screen. “Yeah, I already told you that.”

Iceland’s berry eyes flickered only once then smiled in embarrassment. “Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot.”

Hong Kong’s phone vibrated again as Philia sent him another text. “No, he doesn’t like shopping in large crowds.”

He then raised a brow and texted back, “orly?”

“Bit like Romano, don’t you think?” asked Iceland.

“I like, pretty much doubt that, Ice,” replied Hong Kong with an as-matter-of-factly tone.

The Blackberry vibrated again. “Yep. So you coming?”

Hong Kong texted back, keeping his promise to bring Iceland along, “yep. ice is comin, 2. that alright?”

Not two seconds have passed when the Cantonese city-state felt his phone vibrate once again. “lol It’s okay, I don’t mind. :3”

Hong Kong faced Iceland. “She said yes.”

Iceland smiled and put his hands off of Hong Kong’s arm. “Sweet.”

Hong Kong then put his phone to sleep and put it on his nightstand (with Iceland getting out of the way) and stretched his arms as he got off his bed, his wool socks touching the desaturated beige plush carpeted floor. He let out a big, contented sigh as he threw his arms down. He looked at the time. “It’s nearly twenty after five.”

“I got some instant ramen noodles while you were out,” said Iceland.

The dark-haired boy bit his lip in thought, then smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”