Disclaimer - I don't own the characters of Mai Hime. They are owned by Sunrise.

Author's Note - Someone asked why I don't just post all my story chapters all at once with my story consolidation. The reason I don't and haven't is because I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to my own writing. If it's not up to a certain quality and standard that I can look at and say, "yes, I'm happy and proud to post this" then I simply can't post it ^^

Some of the stories I'm re-posting now, date all the way back to 2009. It's now 2015, and while most of my work stands up to the test of time, there is still quite a bit of editing work that needs to be done for each chapter. Throw in the fact that I work a 40+ hour a week job, and usually only have enough energy at the end of the night to edit a paragraph or two, I can't really just do a full story upload. I wouldn't feel right doing that, as I wouldn't be giving the quality and standard I expect from every story I share ^^

So, please bear with me as I slowly consolidate, and fully update my profile with these stories. And again I welcome any new and old readers, and still hope to hear what you all think with the revised edits, and if this tale holds up to the test of time ^^

~Shizuru and Viola~

They were born a mere two minutes apart.

Viola Fujino came out crying first, followed closely by her twin sister Shizuru Fujino, who didn't make a peep as she entered the world. Their mother held her newborn babies in her arms and placed gentle, loving kisses on their brows as their father commented that his two little ladies, were going to rock the worlds of everyone around them.

How true his prediction would turn out to be.

Shizuru was the more quiet and ladylike of the two, though that wasn't to say that her big sister was any less ladylike. Viola just had a...habit...of getting herself...and by default her little sister...into all manner of trouble. Once when they were 5-years-old, Viola somehow managed to convince Shizuru that sneaking out of their home at the dead of night to go visit the 'magical lake' near their house, would yield water-fairies that would grant any wish the young girls had.

Even at such a young age, Shizuru was unsure of her sister's plan but like most faithful little sisters, Shizuru followed along with Viola's plan. All they got for their troubles, was to be covered in mud when they slipped down the small hill leading to the lake, and slid all the way down to the water's edge.

Shizuru ended up getting a cut on her knee, and had to be carried on piggyback back to their home, while trying all the way back not to cry.

They received quite the scolding from their mother and were punished by their father, who forbade them from doing anything they would consider fun, and restricted them to going straight to their room whenever they came home from school. This punishment lasted two weeks, which felt like a small eternity to the two girls. But it did little to curb Viola's more adventurous nature, and certainly did nothing to stop Shizuru from following along with whatever her sister would usually think up next.

~o~o~o~

When the girls were 7-years-old they all moved to a more middle-class neighbourhood, as they had to step down from their lofty upper-class lifestyle, because their father lost his corporate job, and had to take a job with a different company that paid far less than what he used to make.

The neighbourhood that they moved into had quite a few families in it, as the twin's mother wanted her girls to be around children closer to their age. Maybe then Viola wouldn't have as much time to think up schemes if she was out playing with friends, and Shizuru wouldn't be so willing to follow her sister into trouble, if she also had friends of her own to play with.

While this was a sound enough plan, there was one major flaw to it that the twin's mother unfortunately didn't see...meeting and making new friends certainly wasn't going to stop Viola's more mischievous nature...in fact the friends that she would make would only help further enhance her trouble-making side.

One day while they were in their room together, with Shizuru kicking her small feet against the side of her bed, while hugging a small stuffed hydra toy that he father had won for her at a local fair, she asked her big sister why she always did things that got them both into so much trouble.

"Honestly Vi, was it really necessary to put a frog down Fujipi's back? If I hadn't tripped him when he ran past me with that stick to hit you, who knows how badly he could have hurt you. As it was he never forgave us for that broken nose he got, when he landed flat on his face after I tripped him. And his parents were definitely not happy with either of us, when they told Mom and Dad about it. So why do you do stuff like that, and get me into trouble with you when you do it? Is it so bad to just be ladylike like Mom always wants us to be?"

Viola had been laying on their carpeted floor, colouring in her colouring book, but when her baby sister started asking her these questions she rolled over onto her back, and looked at her twin with identical crimson-red eyes.

"It's simple, Ru. I...like...trouble," Viola answered with a completely unrepentant grin.

Shizuru let out a sigh of exasperation, before she questioned her sister further.

"But why do you like trouble so much? We're twins. We're supposed to be basically alike. Yet you do things that I would never even dream of doing or trying. Why is that?" Shizuru asked, as she tilted her head curiously at her sister.

"Because my dear twin-sis, life would be horribly boring if we did the same things all the time. Life is fun! I like going out there, and doing crazy stuff. It makes me feel...alive and happy," Viola answered as her ruby-red eyes lit up with excitement.

Shizuru hugged her stuffed hydra closer, as a pout began forming on her lips.

"So, you think that I'm...boring?" Shizuru asked, as despite her best efforts to stop it, her eyes became watery with hurt. She adored and idolized her big sister, and to now find out that her big sis might consider her boring was devastating to the 8-year-old.

"No no, Zuru! I never meant that!" Viola exclaimed in alarm, when she saw the tears begin forming in her little sister's eyes. Quickly scrambling to her feet, Viola made her way over to Shizuru's bed, which was the twin to her own on the other side of their room. Viola then gently wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, and pulled her small body against her own.

Shizuru was doing her best to keep tears from spilling down her face, as small hiccups began slipping through her lips.

"Silly little Ru. You know how much I love and adore you, and I would never ever think that you were 'boring.' In fact without you, my life would be super boring. You help make everyday interesting and exciting! So never doubt again that big sis loves you, and enjoys your company the most out of anyone else in the whole entire universe!" Viola exclaimed, as she planted a soft kiss against her baby sister's forehead.

Shizuru leaned back a bit from her sister's embrace and gave Viola a bright, winning grin.

"Okay! Yeah, you're life would be pretty boring without me. You're pretty lucky to have me around," Shizuru replied with a cheeky grin, as she wiped away her tears.

"You little rascal!" Viola exclaimed, as she started to tickle her sister.

Shizuru shrieked as she tried to avoid her sister's questing fingers, and the pair spent the next fifteen minutes laughing and tickling each other.

~o~o~o~

One day when the girls were 9-years-old they were sitting on the front steps of their porch, when they noticed a large moving truck pull into their neighbourhood. Both girls watched the truck pull up with unconcealed curiosity. Right behind the truck was a family sedan that parked on the lawn in front of the vacant house right next to their home. From the front passenger seat of the car stepped a beautiful woman with short-cropped midnight-blue hair, and from the driver's side stepped a man with fiery-red hair.

Then the car's back door flew open, and out tumbled two young girls who looked to be roughly the same age as Shizuru and Viola, though maybe a little bit younger. The two new girls were arguing back and forth with each other over something. One of the girls had a long, flowing mane of midnight-blue hair, which was the same colour as the older woman. The other girl had bright-red hair that matched the colour of the male, and by now Shizuru and Viola could barely sit still with the excitement they were currently feeling.

They had new neighbours!

To Shizuru and Viola this meant one thing and one thing only.

New friends to play with!

The twins looked at each other with happy grins, before rising from their porch steps to run over and greet their new neighbours.

They skirted around the back of the moving truck, avoiding the men who had begun taking furniture down the truck's ramp, and quickly pulled up to a stop before the man and the woman. Then bending at the waist the twins gave identical bows, before quickly straightening and exclaimed together, "welcome to the neighbourhood!"

The woman let out a light laugh that sounded to the twins like wind chimes dancing lightly on the breeze, and the man just gave the twins a small smile as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

"My aren't the two of you precious. I take it that you're our next door neighbours, as I saw you both come from that house next to us," the woman said as she looked down at the twins with sparkling, emerald-green eyes.

Shizuru and Viola nodded eagerly at the woman, who then made a come here motion to the two young girls still standing by the car. The girl with hair the same colour as the woman gave a scowl, but still made her way towards them. The other girl, the redhead, gave a dramatic sigh but she also made her way over.

"These are my children. This is Natsuki, and this is her step-sister, Nao. Now be polite girls, and say hello to..." here the woman paused and looked down at the twins curiously.

"Oh! We're sorry. We forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Viola, and this is my 'little' sister, Shizuru. I'm oldest by two whole minutes," Viola said proudly, as she gave a toothy grin.

"Yeah, but I'm the more mature one," Shizuru mumbled under her breath, which just earned her a light pinch on the arm.

"Ouch! Vi! See, I told you I was the more mature one!" Shizuru huffed, as she gave her sister a slightly-annoyed look.

Viola just returned the look with an innocent smile, which caused the older woman to laugh again.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both, Shizuru and Viola. My name is Saeko and this is Nao's father and Natsuki's step-father, Hiroshi," Saeko said, as she wrapped her arm around the man's shoulders.

Hiroshi gave the girls a polite nod, though he didn't say anything to them. He then leaned over and whispered something softly into Saeko's ears, that sounded to the twins like, "going to help the movers." Then he gave another polite nod to the twins, and walked off towards the two-floor house that was his family's new home.

Shizuru happened to glance at Natsuki as Hiroshi walked away, and she was a bit taken aback by the look of complete loathing that was present in Natsuki's verdant-green eyes. Shizuru then jumped a bit when those magnetic eyes swung her way, and she stepped back a bit at the intensity of the stare. Natsuki gave the chestnut-haired girl a slight frown, before she turned her head to the side to stare off into space.

"Well, while this has been a fascinating meeting Mother, I'm going to go catch up with Dad. Catch ya later, double-mint twins! Oh, and loser-face, I get first dibs on the best room," the redhead cackled as she ran after her father.

Natsuki's teeth ground in anger as she tore after the other girl, yelling at the top of her lungs that she would skin her alive if she dared to take the best room. Nao just laughed at Natsuki, as they both ran into their new home.

That just left Shizuru, Viola, and Saeko standing on the cobbled sidewalk before the house.

Saeko released a soft, exasperated sigh. "Well, I'll make sure to come by later to meet your parents, girls. Please tell them that it was a pleasure to be greeted and welcomed by their daughters, and that they raised two very sweet girls."

Shizuru blushed at the compliment, while Viola just gave Saeko a wide grin.

"Thank you! We will," Viola replied as she took Shizuru's hand into her own, and began leading her sister back towards their home.

Saeko waved a bit at the retreating girls, before she turned and made her way towards her own home. And as Shizuru and Viola made their way up the front steps of their home, and began making their way inside, Viola whispered excitedly into her sister's ear.

"Shizuru...things are finally starting to get interesting around here!"

AN - Phew! That's done. There was quite a bit of editing and re-writing that needed to be done, as I mentioned before this story was published 6 years ago ^^

Hope you all enjoyed the finished product! Please let me know what you all thought of it~ =3

Edit AN 2 - And no this story doesn't have rape in it. I don't write rape stories geez.