This is yet another story written by me, and also as co-author, is Shizuka-kage. Prepare your minds for the insanity that becomes genius when two authors put their heads together!

Yes- This is Shizuka by the way! I am the official co-author….so I hope you have as much fun reading this story as we did thinking it up….


As the dawn of a new day arrived and the sunlight shone across fields, a village was busily getting itself ready for a festival to celebrate the start of the New Year. Smiles graced many people's faces as they thought about what great crops and good fortune they had in the past year.

"I hope we have as much good luck this year" a man said, "It's like Suzaku has blessed our town."

Many smiled at the thought of their god favoring them, "I hope so…and I wish for more good luck"

Meanwhile, as the villagers were talking and preparing for the festival, inside a very well-built and sturdy looking home, a woman looked in irritation up the wooden steps to the upper level of the house. There, one of her children was still sleeping. Both his sister and brother were up and helping out, but there he was, still resting. Chang Mei shook her head. She always sometimes regretted spoiling Ryou like that, but neither she nor her late husband could avoid it. He had been so adorable at birth and continued to be a beautiful child.

Chang Ryou opened his eyes to see sunlight streaming in and gave a groan. How he hated getting up so early in the mornings. He was really more of an afternoon or a night person. But he knew that his mother or one of his siblings would pound up the stairs soon enough and he may as well get up. As he did, he walked by the mirror in his room and glanced at his reflection. Ryou was really a very handsome boy. Dark violet hair reached past his shoulder. As usual it was slightly messy. In addition to this, his eyes were a unique color that was a mix between amber and rose. Sighing, Ryou attempted to straighten his hair and then headed downstairs.

"RYOU COME…" his mother trailed off when she saw he had come down on his own.

Ryou grinned, "Right on time, huh?"

His mother smiled back, "Get to work!" she threw an apple at him, which he caught and began to eat, "Thanks" he said, before walking out.

Mei shook her head. That son of hers…


Ryou laughed as he headed for the fields where he was supposed to help gather food for the festival. There, he saw his elder brother, Rong and his best friend, Koukaku. Now, Wu Koukaku was like Ryou in many ways. The most obvious way was their good looks. Unlike Ryou, however, Koukaku had dark blonde hair with sparkling green eyes. He always had a calm demeanor and while Ryou loved to do anything athletic, Koukaku preferred music over anything else. Of course, Ryou looked like the trouble maker he was while Koukaku could seem innocent in any situation.

"Hey Kou!" Ryou shouted.

Koukaku smiled in his calm and mysterious way, "Guess what Ryou? They asked me to play my flute at the festival…"

"Really! That's great!" Ryou congratulated his friend, "Are you going to though?"

Koukaku grinned, "Of course"

"Get to work you two!" Rong called.

"Hai!"

The two boys laughed together and began to work.


Koukaku took a deep breath as he began to play his flute in front of his fellow villagers. They were all listening intently and all seemed mesmerized by the music. Koukaku was serious about his music, and he was glad they found it so enjoyable.

He noticed Ryou sitting on the hill listening with Rong and his younger sister, Ling who was a year younger than the two friends. Seeing this, Koukaku smiled a bit and as his gaze roamed over the villagers, his fingers seemed to play by themselves with his mind elsewhere.

'You're playing very nicely'

He gave a start that jolted his attention back to the flute. What was that? It certainly wasn't him that said it…it was like it was all in his head…

Quickly, he ended the song and while he was given a drink of water, he thought about what it was that he had heard…


Ryou stared at his hands. Just now…he had heard something in his head…

A rough voice unknown to him: 'Dammit Suzaku, you had to stick me with him? Is this your idea of a joke?'

"What's wrong, aniki?" Ling asked. She smiled up at him, "Didn't Koukaku-kun play that flute beautifully?"

Rong grinned at his little sister, "Is there another reason that you think he played beautifully?" he teased.

Ling blushed, "No…what makes you say that Rong?"

"Oh…just that…" Rong snickered as he whispered something in his sister's ear.

"RONG!" Ling yelled, turning redder and she began to chase him around the meadow, leaving Ryou to think.

'What was that voice…?'


After Koukaku's performance, he ran straight for the hill. He saw Ling chasing Rong in a laughing, but still angry way. Then he saw Ryou staring off into space and sat down beside his friend.

Ryou looked up, "Oh…hi Koukaku"

"What's going on there?"

"Huh?" Ryou seemed to finally notice that his elder brother was running scared of his baby sister and laughed out loud.

"Okay; what's going on?" Koukaku asked suspiciously, "There's no way you could have missed that unless something was bothering you"

Ryou grinned, "You know me too well"

"Well, what is it?"

"I heard this…voice in my head…that wasn't my own…" Ryou tried to explain, "It's weird…I don't think I'd heard that voice before but it seemed very familiar…"

Koukaku stared, "That happened to you too?"

Ryou glanced at him, "Too?"

"I heard words in my head that weren't my own…and the voice seemed so familiar…"

"What's going on? We can't both be losing our minds!"


"It seems that they have reawakened."

"Hai…"

"We should go see them."

"Of course."


Well, duh…review!