YOU HAVE WHAT!?

Magnolias and Sakuras

Japan had wandered off from the group. A terrible breach of etiquette, he knew, but he heard something coming from the east and felt compelled to investigate. The next thing he knew, he was walking toward a garden filled with all sorts of flowers and fruits and Western-style furniture, with the centerpiece being a large greenhouse that appeared more green than glass to him. It was a lovely garden, he had to admit, even if he preferred the style invented in his home. 

Anyways, the sound grew louder with every step towards the greenhouse until Japan could make it out. It was...singing? But who could be singing right now? Well, he supposed it had to be a state, but which one? The singing continued. It was beautiful and soulful but so sad and so familiar at the same time. 

Japan continued walking towards the greenhouse when he caught sight of a girl with dark chocolate-colored skin and ebony-black hair with her back to him. Wait, was that...

A flash returned to him of that girl in the music room with Tennessee-san and how she had run out without another glance after they had caught her singing with her brother. Mississippi-san, right? She must've been shy. That was a trait he knew all too well.

He probably should leave her alone. 

Japan turned on his heel to walk away from the young state when the clattering of pots and clanging of metals rang out from inside the greenhouse. This shocked Japan to turn around, where he saw the dark-skinned girl picking up various objects. The polite thing in his country would probably be to turn around and leave her be. It wasn't polite to violate other people's privacy, after all. However...Japan looked back at the girl, still on her hands and knees, trying to clean up the mess, and he sighed. As quietly as he could, he gave a slight cough to alert the girl to his attention. It worked, and the Mississippi-san jumped before giving a startled look up.

"You are Mississippi-san?" Japan, despite knowing the answer, asked for politeness's sake.

Mississippi-san fiercely blush before averting her attention away from him. "Oh...um...y-yes," the girl said in response as she returned to throwing shards of glass into a nearby trash can. "You're Mr. Japan, right?" she asked, and Japan nodded. "Did you get lost from the others?"

"No. I heard you singing," Japan honestly replied.

"O-oh...I'm sorry," she quickly and quietly apologized. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"You weren't a bother," the Asian nation replied as he saw the Southern state fidget in place. "I actually thought your singing was quite good."

Mississippi looked up at him before looking down, this time with softer eyes, and whispered, "Thank you, sir."

"Do you need some help cleaning up?" Japan continued, pointing towards the mess on the greenhouse floor. 

Mississippi looked up at him with an unreadable expression before sweetly saying, "Oh no, sir. You're one of our guests, and guests shouldn't have to clean up."

"I really would like to help, Mississippi-san," Japan said as he bent down next to the state, who looked over at him for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. Thank you, sir," Mississippi muttered as she returned to picking up pieces of glass. The two cleaned in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by glass scratching the tile floor and the clattering of broken ceramics against each other. 

It was also in the awkward silence Japan saw it. Scars. A web of pulsing scars that resembled rope burns that disappeared under the sleeve of Mississippi's leather jacket. Mississippi noticed where his gaze fell before she quickly pulled down her sleeve and averted her gaze. "So do you like to sing?" Japan asked, catching the hint that Mississippi's scars were not to be a topic of discussion. Fair enough. Most nations never spoke about theirs, and especially not him.