Disclaimer: GUN×SWORD does not belong to me. If it did, you would be scarred for life. However, I do own the mental image of little!Joshua with pigtails and teen!Ray.

Author's Note: I am now addicted to this pairing. It is not my fault. I blame Chaotic Lullaby. Let's all blame her 8D Darling, have I polluted your fandom enough yet?

This is set pre-anime with Ray as a teenager or preteen and Joshua as a little kid. If you squint and stand on your head, you might see some Lundgren-cest. If you're a yaoi fangirl like me and into incest, you'll see it regardless of your current sitting position.

Self-beta. All fuck-ups are mine.


FOR GIRLS

Ray sighed as he closed his book and rubbed his eyes. Dad had told him that he deserved a break from studying about armors but the teen had only been half-listening to him. Now he wished he had taken up his parents' offer to bring him into town with them for a day of relaxation.

Joshua, of course, had then asked their parents if he could stay behind as well since he didn't want his 'niichan to stay at home by himself while they had fun at the carnival.

Speaking of his little brother, Ray decided that it was time to check up on him. Exiting the library, he walked into the living room, expecting to find Joshua there with his toys. Plastic tools were scattered around the room but there was no sign of the little boy.

Ray immediately began to worry; Joshua was obedient, especially when it was his brother telling him what to do, and he wouldn't sneak off somewhere when he knew that Ray or their parents would be upset with him.

The older Lundgren quickly walked outside to the small grassy area in front of their house. It was too small to be properly called a yard but it was big enough for Joshua to play around in.

"Josh?" Ray called out, cupping his hand alongside his mouth. "Josh, where are you?"

"'Niichan!" A blur of white tackled Ray, coming in from his left and the teen almost fell over before he could steady himself.

He placed a hand on top of his little brother's head and looked down at him. "Why didn't you tell me that you went outside? I was worried about you," he said sternly.

"I did tell you, 'niichan," Joshua said, blue eyes wide as he clutched the material of Ray's shirt in his small hands. "Didn' you hear me?"

Ray absent-mindedly stroked the top of Joshua's head as tried to remember if the younger Lundgren had entered the library at all. All he could remember was a flash of blond hair while he had been in the middle of the chapter about wiring in an armor's pilot-armor interface board.

Before he could reply, his hand encountered something that caused him to blink a few times and take a closer look at Joshua. "What have you done to your hair?" he managed to say, blinking a few more times.

Joshua grinned at him. "The pretty lady from down the street fixed my hair. She called 'em…" he trailed off, trying to remember the proper term.

"Pigtails?" Ray supplied.

"Yeah! Pigtails!" Joshua smiled up at him and the teen thought that it should be illegal how adorable his little brother looked at the moment. "The pretty lady told me that I had really nice hair and that I was cute and that I shouldn' keep my face covered. Then she did my hair!"

"Josh, those are for girls," Ray said gently, squatting down so that their eyes were level with one another. "Boys don't wear pigtails. Ponytails maybe but not those." He poked one for emphasis.

"They don't?" Joshua asked. He was still holding Ray's shirt in his hands.

"No. They don't. Now hold still so I can untie them." He had managed to remove one elastic tie—how did girls use these things, anyway?—when he noticed the crestfallen expression on his brother's face. "Josh?"

"Hm?"

"Something wrong?" Ray worried that he might've been to rough with the yanking on the elastic tie. He placed a hand on top of the smaller blond's head to reassure him.

Large blue eyes looked up him and he felt his heart clench at the sight. "'Niichan, I like the pigtails," Joshua said.

"But they're for girls—"

Joshua instantly turned on the cuteness. His eyes grew bigger and his bottom lip quivered just the slightest bit. Ray swore Joshua knew how to make his eyes water on command and tears threatened to spill down his little brother's cheeks.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright," he said. "But we untie them before mom and dad come home, okay?"

"Yay, 'niichan!" Joshua hugged him tightly, pressing his cheek against Ray's shoulder.

Ray laughed, wrapping his arms around Joshua to give the younger Lundgren a hug as well before pulling back and brandishing the elastic tie. "Now don't move! I need to try and figure out how to use this thing…"