Medicine = Magic [RoChu Fanfiction]

Chapter Five

It never got old, having to find things out about his world that he didn't know beforehand. Maybe the secrets would be personal and he could use them as black-mail to get his way later on. Maybe they would be boring and lead to nothing. Nonetheless the chase was still his favorite part of the hunt, the end result always paled in comparison to the enjoyment he had in messing with other nation's heads.

Creativity was often a big part of his schemes, even if it was in a child-ish and blundering way. Twists and turns, even having to question the fine line between trust and distrust often played a part in his investigations but really it was all for him in the end.

But for China he needed some background knowledge first, since much of what he knew had stuck from past memories that only held pain for both of them. Though research was boring, in this case it was also necessary in order to begin the chase. Maybe check up on recent history he had missed, possibly brush up on the subjects he had forgotten more about like The Period of the Warring States or whatever it was called. With a basic grasp on history he could begin to interpret what different battles and lashing-outs had meant in his life and see how it compared to his recent outburst.

Though it was an overreaction Russia felt his heart racing at the prospect of a new project to work on. It would probably keep him from going insane over the next few weeks or however long it was until he was needed governmentally again.

Until the current god-awful snow storm subsided he was also stuck in his house to a level. Traveling would cause more effort and by extension it would take more money, which was something he didn't have much of at the moment, either in the form of nation and national banks or his personal wage and money. He had many books about history, though it was usually just for show or decoration.

Now that he needed them, the books seemed much friendlier. Almost brighter in their old leather bounding or new plasticy sheen. What he needed was a history of a different country, which he had less of, since this was his house and he didn't usually need to use books to look up a person. Often he would only stalk them instead or at the very least stop caring so much.

A bit of shuffling through the bookshelf pulled down four books of varying girth. One was more of an encyclopedia. It was one of the new books he had bought only a bit back at America's place. Of course reading through all that English might be a struggle but he could always take a break to the other three books which were all in Russian.

Opening one of the smaller books, careful not to bend it's delicately bound spine too far, Russia skimmed a page or two. This one was about the silk road and other types or trade 'throughout history'. Perhaps it would have been more helpful if it hadn't been made around a hundred years back. Outdated was too soft a term. This book was carefully placed aside, to be examined later when he was getting desperate.

The second Russian book was slightly smaller and resembled a sort of rule book, except instead of rules there were poems. This one was useless for this activity, though he might keep it aside for entertainment.

The third book he picked up was slightly larger than the last two and also thicker. After another quick skim he revealed that it was a slightly outdated history of the entire country that would have been helpful about sixty years prior. Maybe he would turn to this if he was struggling to translate some of the odd English words that they sometimes used.

He had learned British English first, which was why some of American English came so slowly to him at times. England had tried to learn some of the American's version but had given up quickly, so Russia hadn't followed in his footsteps, seeing as he could understand most of both dialects. Yet then again...

America.

The man was suddenly the only thing he could think about. Maybe he could help with the investigation? Yet this idea was inevitably shut down quickly. That selfish teen wouldn't help him, especially if it had to do with China. He would probably become jealous and things would go undoubtedly wrong.

At the very least he had identified an obstacle in the operation, America was a wildcard in the very best of situations and this would surely bury Russia deeper into the pages of his terrible books.

Carefully closing the history book, Russia placed it on the pile with the others. So there he sat carefully contemplating what paths he could take in this game. To make it more interesting it would be so easy to introduce America, but at the same time this mission had a reason and a third player like the Westerner would surely jeopardize it. After collecting the major history he would probably go to China directly, maybe not to ask him but instead to 'comfort' him.

Yes, that seemed like a good move, he would study up and go to China as soon as the direct snowing stopped. At China's he would gently ask about what happened, but only after he carefully and respectfully let himself into the house to say hello, just as he had so many times in the past.

Then China would probably just tell him and the whole problem would be over, even if it was a regrettably boring way of using his time in such a slow chase. Maybe after earning the nation's personal trust he would have America turn against them both with another fight. His reaction would probably be interesting to watch and to generally obsess over.