Pet Peeves

I know I said that I wouldn't write another fic till I finished Stray Dog Strut, but this one was swirling around my head and I had to get it down. I'm sorry, but when I write too many gen fics, I start to feel dirty. So, I fixed it with this mildly fluffy story.

So, Warnings: This contains hard Yaoi towards the end and pointless making-out throughout. I suppose it also counts as incest, considering their siblings, well, half siblings.

There are several pairings, the main one being Keikoku x Shinrei. There is some Yuan x Keikoku, but it isn't graphic nor is there smex. There is a brief show of Yuan x Hishigi, but only for a scene. I guess there is Yuan x Muramasa if you squint and look at it upside down.

I suppose that some of Yuan and Anna's interaction can seen a little like their together, but it wasn't meant like that. There are no sexual motives behind their actions towards each other. Besides, Yuan likes men and is scared of her.

Gods, he's a Manwhore, isn't he?

Anyway, on with the fluffy and slightly-smutty-towards-the-end show!

XxX

Shinrei was standing in front of the door of a house. It was a large house, close to the Palace with its own garden. This was the house of possibly the most physically powerful of the Taishiro, Yuan. The blind-folded fire master had invited him over for dinner when Shinrei had asked, in his opinion, a very stupid question.

He wanted to know more about his half brother and fellow Goyosei member. He had gone to Yuan first because there was no doubt in his mind that the white-haired man knew that they were brothers, and the bonus fact that he trained Keikoku and was his guardian. Shinrei was shocked when Yuan had invited him over for dinner, especially because Yuan was intimidating in his own way. If he didn't go around sticking out his tongue saying he was going to eat souls, then Shinrei was sure he wouldn't feel this way.

So here Shinrei finds himself, torn between making a gracious entrance or running the hell away! It seemed, however, that his decision was made for him when a deep voice said from behind him, "You might want to back away from the door."

Shinrei whirled around to find Yuan standing a good few metres back, hands in his pockets. Shinrei immediately bowed low and greeted him almost too formally for Yuan's taste. And when it seemed that Shinrei was not inclined to move, and sensing the raging energy from the other side, Yuan darted forwards, grabbed Shinrei by the upper-arm and moved back to his original position.

"Yuan-sama?" Shinrei asked, confused at the Elder's actions. But, things became clear when the door burst open, and if Shinrei was there, he would have received a face full of wood.

"KEIKOKU!!" a woman bellowed, hands balled into fists. She had dark pink hair that was pinned back in a messy bun and very angry violet eyes. Behind her, a much more docile woman came out, with black-green tinted hair. In her arms was a woven basket, and upon seeing Yuan, she made a beeline for him.

As the pink-haired woman kept yelling and searching the small porch area, the black-green haired girl stopped before Yuan and smiled.

"Nii-chan," she greeted, cradling the basket in her arms.

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, KEIKOKU, YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!!"

"Lilian, what did the twerp do to set her off this time?" Yuan asked, placing a hand on the much smaller persons head.

"He disappeared again, Nii-chan, and we could only find parts of him," she answered. She noticed Shinrei and bowed a little in greeting before Yuan pulled her to face him.

"What do you mean 'parts of him'," Yuan asked

Shinrei stood closer to Yuan to see into the basket that Lilian was showing them. Inside was Keikoku's white over-haori, one of his geta sandals, headband, sash and numerous other little pieces that belonged to Keikoku.

"What the hell?" Yuan exclaimed, picked up the sash with curiosity. And, as an afterthought, he asked, "He isn't running around naked again, is he?"

Shinrei's eyebrows shot up as he looked at Yuan incredulously. He glanced back to Lilian, who was shaking her head in the negative. Yuan sighed in relief, before calling over his other younger sister.

"Oi, Anna!"

Said pink haired woman looked and spotted her older brother, and charged to him.

"Yuan! Where the hell is Keikoku?! I'm gonna kill the little brat!" she yelled, brandishing her fist. When she laid her eyes on Shinrei, her angry expression changed. "Yuan!" she hissed, elbowing him in the stomach "Why didn't you tell me we had a guest."

Yuan shrugged and drifted back a step, which was also out of fist range of his sister. Anna bowed and smiled beautifully. "I'm Anna, Yuan's little sister," she said, rage now dissipated from her face and voice.

Shinrei hesitated, and with a reaffirming nod from Yuan, introduced himself. He bowed low and said, "Goyosei no Shinrei, please to meet you." When he received no response, he stood straight to find Anna with her hands clenched together in front of her face. She had a joyful look on her face and Shinrei received a response he had not expected.

"KYAAA!" Anna leapt forwards, pulling the silver-haired water-bender into a rib cracking hug. She lifted him off the ground slightly, swaying him from side to side. "So you're our Kei-kun's brother? Kyaaa! You're so handsome!"

She put Shinrei down and he flailed back to Yuan. Yuan could barely contain his snicker as the look on Shinrei's face plainly said if she takes another step, he was hiding behind him. He placed a hand on Anna's shoulder to redirect her to him. A brave self-sacrificing move, in Shinrei's books.

"Yuan-chan…" Anna started

"Is something burning?" Yuan interjected

Taking a sniff of the air, Anna tensed before running back inside yelling, "Oh god, the food! Damn you Keikoku!"

Lilian wandered after her, swaying from side to side in her stride, leaving the two men outside. Yuan spared a glance to Shinrei, who had found a whole new admiration for his brother.

"Your family's scary…" he said

"You have no idea."

XxX

As opposed to the peaceful exterior, inside was utter chaos. There were people everywhere, and it was if Yuan was just a normal Mibu, not a Taishiro. He later learnt that Yuan had eight siblings and they all lived together in the house with their father, the Mibu blacksmith Julian.

Yuan was jostled, yelled at and had things thrown at him (courtesy of Anna) as he led Shinrei through the house to a sitting room. It was empty, but there was ten cushions scattered everywhere, signalling that it was often used. Yuan flopped onto a large cushion and motioned for Shinrei to do the same.

Shinrei gracefully sat as a girl almost identical to Lilian came out, expect she had black-purple hair. She set down a tray of tea and smiled. Yuan thanked her and she left. Shinrei picked up one of the mugs and sipped it, while Yuan lit his pipe.

"So, what did you want to know?" Yuan asked, inhaling deeply.

"Everything," he said. "I know so little about him," Shinrei said, frowning into his tea.

"Hmm," Yuan hummed around his pipe. He shifted it with his tongue and said, "Well, Keikoku is kinda…"

"…like a pet?" came a voice. Anna entered the room with her own mug and seated herself next to Yuan. "Like a cat, actually," she said, changing her opinion.

"Well, how so, Anna-san?" Shinrei asked.

She looked to her brother before turning back to Shinrei. "Well, he destroys the furniture…"

"Sleeps eighteen hours a day" Yuan added

"Gets testy if he doesn't get fed at least five square meals," she said thoughtfully

"He likes to be warm…" Yuan contributed

"Hates water and being wet"

"And he likes shiny things."

"Shiny things?" Shinrei asked, raising an eyebrow. He was suddenly seeing the parallels of his half brother and a cat. Probably why he got along so well with Fubuki-sama's cat.

"Here, watch if you don't believe me," Yuan said, fishing around his pocket. He pulled out a whirligig which glinted silver in the failing light. Yuan spun it on his finger and gave it a flick. It flew out the open doors to the right and into the yard.

Minutes slipped by and was only punctuated by a crumbling piece of ceiling landing on Yuan's head. Curiously, the three looked up to see Keikoku's missing geta stuck on the ceiling. Yuan stood nonchalantly and plucked the orange sandal from the roof and tossed it into Anna's lap.

She opened her mouth to yell when they heard the pitter-patter of feet across grass. A glance into the yard revealed a half undressed Keikoku chasing the whirligig, which was heading straight back to its owner. Yuan caught the steel blades easily, and the Keikoku still after it not so easily.

The blonde had his body pressed against Yuan's while he attempted to get at the whirligig which was now hovering out of arms reach by a very taunting elder. However, Keikoku was brought to a halt when Anna yanked his by his collar and led him into the dining area.

"Kei-kun, you little shit! Dinner's ready!" she yelled as he was dragged away.

Yuan extinguished his pipe and led Shinrei to the closed doors to the dining area. But, before Shinrei could pass through, Yuan placed a hand on his shoulder, brought himself down to Shinrei's height and said into his ear,

"Oh, and if you do get him in bed, let him be on top. He's very flexible and he can do things with his tongue you can't possibly fathom…" and with that being said, Yuan ducked out the room.

And Shinrei blushed and then paled systematically.