Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Konomi Takeshi does. I'm merely playing with them for the moment.

A/N: In the Sons of Samurai verse, set after Sons of a Samurai, but before the last scene of the epilogue.

Brothers of a Blood

Chapter 1

Cold

It was, Ryoga decided, biting back a curse as he dug through the pockets of his jacket, exactly his luck for the batteries of his MP3 player to run out while he was out on a run. Of course they couldn't run out while he was lazing around at home, or perhaps at a store where he could easily pick up some more. No, it just had to be while he was out, well past the closing time of most stores, so far away from home it would be just as easy for him to simply finish his planned route as it would be to turn back. As the search of his pockets turned up no miraculously forgotten extra batteries, he sighed, resigning himself to running on in silence. It was somewhat boring, never mind unpleasant as he was used to his constant background music, but it wasn't like it was going to kill him or anything.

Turning a corner, he made note of the somewhat unusual shade of red the house to the left had been painted. He knew that house; apparently he was still exactly where he was supposed to be. He was getting rather good at reading his surroundings here, mainly thanks to the long walks and runs he took every day, altering his route to make sure he got the most out of the area. By now he could easily make his way around the neighbourhood, finding the stores and parks and other such things with little difficulty and still making his way home. He knew how to get to the place with the largest variety of Ponta available, just in case he felt like trying something new, and the one store where he'd accidentally spoken English at first and now didn't dare switch to Japanese because the elderly owner had been so absolutely delighted at having a young foreigner visit his store. Not that he wasn't still technically a foreigner, but the old man was so childishly happy at being able to speak English with him Ryoga just didn't have the heart to reveal that he spoke Japanese just as well.

One might have argued that the runs were in part a way to escape the silence of the house. Nanako was busy with her studies or her friends most of the time, so it was mostly just Ryoga around now that Ryoma and Nanjirou had returned to America. For a while he had thought he'd go along, but then decided against it. Someone had to be around in Japan to look after things, especially if the issue with Dan turned into anything more than suspicions. He trusted they'd contact him if there was a turn for the worse. Whatever he might have thought about the man, Nanjirou was still his father, and he didn't exactly want to be on the other side of the ocean when the man finally died.

Ryoma had again raised an argument about his staying, too, but Nanjirou had flat-out refused to let him stay. Ryoga might have felt insulted that Nanjirou wanted to spend as much time with Ryoma as possible before his death yet had no trouble with Ryoga staying, but he knew it wasn't like that. Nanjirou and he hadn't been especially close, well, practically ever, and though they had been fixing things lately he supposed it was for the better if they weren't getting on each other's nerves constantly. Ryoma, however, was Nanjirou's little boy, the one he had raised from a baby to be his great and glorious heir. Of course Nanjirou would feel more reluctant to let go of him. And besides, Ryoga rather suspected that whatever Ryoma said about the matter, he wouldn't be entirely happy spending the last year of his father's life away from him.

Taking the now mute headphones off his ears, Ryoga folded them and put them off in the pocket containing the player itself, zipping it up. Continuing on his way, he now made note of the faint noises of the night. This wasn't that noisy a neighbourhood, true, and it was already fairly late, but it was just never entirely silent in a city like this. His own footsteps were still the loudest sound in his ears as he turned around yet another corner.

To his surprise, Ryoga saw someone else walking down the street ahead of him. He hadn't really expected to run into a lot of people in his late run. What surprised him even more as he got closer was that the figure was most certainly not an adult, not unless they were spectacularly small even for a Japanese. What was a kid doing out alone at this time?

The other didn't seem to be walking too fast, he noted, even Ryoga's lazy run catching up quickly. As he got closer he noted that the figure was a boy, judging by the clothes, and too lightly dressed at that. It was still early autumn, yes, and the days were still quite warm, but the nights were occasionally quite chilly and this one was turning out to be another one of those. Certainly not the time for someone to be slouching around in nothing but shorts and a light hooded sweater.

Getting to the boy's side, all it took was one glance to stop him right in his tracks. The boy's face was downcast and tear-stained, but more importantly, it was very familiar. "...Dan-kun?"

"Eh?" Apparently startled, Dan looked up at him. "Ryoga-san? What -- what are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same about you," Ryoga said, shaking his head. "This is no time for kids to be out and about on their own. Are you heading home at least?"

Dan's rather miserable expression wavered a bit, then he shook his head. "...No. I... don't think I should..."

Okay. Definitely worrying, that. Ryoga wanted to frown, but forced himself to appear at least reasonably calm instead. "Well, in that case, would you mind if I walked with you for a bit?" he asked. "My MP3-player ran out of battery and I'm not used to running alone in silence."

"...Sure." Dan sniffled, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. "Not sure if I'm very good company right now, though desu..."

"Doesn't matter," Ryoga replied, patting the boy on the shoulder. "I'll just be good company for both of us, ne?"

The chuckle he received in response was rather faint. Okay, time to do something... but what?

"I've been getting to know the neighbourhood lately," he said after a moment of silence, falling into a step beside the younger boy. "It's been kind of odd, staying here after Chibisuke and our father returned to America... I've been to Japan before, but I've never actually lived here before. I know the basic customs and such, but I'm constantly sure I'm doing something wrong somehow." Laughing, he shook his head. "At least whenever someone looks too disapproving, I can just switch to English and play the ignorant gaijin."

"That... might be hard, I suppose," Dan admitted quietly. "I wouldn't really know, though... I've never been anywhere abroad desu."

"Really? You should go sometimes," Ryoga said, grinning. "Not necessarily America or anything, just... somewhere different. It's always worth it, going somewhere you don't know yet. You get all kind of new experiences."

"I suppose." Dan gave another faint chuckle, shaking his head. "Don't know if I want to go anytime soon, though... it's hard enough being small in Japan; people in America must be absolutely huge."

"There are plenty of people in America, tiny and huge and average," Ryoga replied lightly. "Though I've got to say, the so-called Japanese food just doesn't come even close to compare to the real thing."

"Why are you here anyway?" Dan asked after a while. "I mean… didn't you say you were going to return to America?"

"Yeah, well, I kinda changed my plans," Ryoga replied with a slight chuckle. "You see, I'm going to start high school here next year… so I figured I could just as well come over a little early. Figure out the whole living in Japan thing, learn to look after myself and the house while Nanako's busy. After all, if I'm going to go to school and keep an eye on Chibisuke, too, I'd better be able to keep us both alive."

"Echizen-kun's coming back for real?" Dan's eyes actually brightened a bit, however teary they still were.

"Well… it's not certain yet," Ryoga replied. "Our father doesn't want him to come over just yet, but… eventually, he does want to return." He would return, once Nanjirou was… out of the way. Ryoga felt guilty for even thinking that, though he knew Nanjirou himself had used those words once or twice while they had been discussing these plans.

"Oh." Dan's shoulders slumped again. "I was hoping…"

"As I said, he'll come back eventually. Just probably not in time to start next year on schedule." He paused for a while, looking at the boy. Dan really looked miserable, more so than just for being disappointed... Of course, the tears and such should have been something of a clue, too. "Hey... are you all right?"

"No desu," Dan murmured, eyes again cast down. "But don't worry about it... it's nothing you could help."

"Oh." Ryoga paused, then ventured a guess, "Your parents?" Well, that was a rather obvious conclusion, wasn't it.

Dan shivered, then nodded silently. "They... were fighting again," he said after Ryoga had waited another moment. "Saying all kind of things... my little sister was getting scared; she couldn't go to sleep with them fighting desu. I went downstairs to see what they were shouting about now... but when my Dad saw me, he..." Another shiver, and a shake of the messy-haired head. "He told me to get out of the house..."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," Ryoga sighed. "Or, well, he might have meant it at the moment, but I'm sure he's already regretted it by now." He couldn't help but reach a hand to ruffle Dan's hair. It was just... automatic, almost. "It'll be all right, you know. Just you wait and see."

"I sure hope so..." Dan worried his lower lip. "It's just... I don't even know why he's so angry at me. I haven't done anything desu..." His voice trailed off. He cleared his throat, then added, "Sorry. I shouldn't be whining to you like that."

"No, no, it's not a bother or anything. Just talk if you think it'll help." Ryoga set a hand on Dan's shoulder. "Or... you know what? Let's both go to my place. I'm sure you'll feel better when you're all warm and comfy. We can talk once we've gotten some hot chocolate into you. Just looking at you is making me freeze."

Dan blinked. "...Are you sure it wouldn't be a bother?" he asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't be offering if it was, now would I?" Ryoga asked, winking as though to a fellow conspirator. "Come on. I'm pretty sure there's cake, too. It's definitely better than sulking all on your own out at the streets."

After another moment of hesitation, Dan finally nodded mutely. Ryoga smiled at him, then veered them in the right direction at the next street corner.

They didn't talk a lot on the rest of the way, Dan following silently as Ryoga showed the way. The boy didn't complain as he fit his pace to Ryoga's, who was picking up speed; a good thing, Ryoga decided, as moving quicker both kept the boy warm and would get them out of the cold sooner. He hadn't been joking when he said he felt like freezing just looking at the kid. Those shorts weren't too long at all.

Finally they came to the house with the surname, "Echizen" by the gate. Dan seemed to hesitate again, but then followed Ryoga's beckoning to go inside.

"I'm home," Ryoga called out, despite knowing full well Nanako was not home. Pausing to take off his shoes, he then put on his slippers before setting out the smallest pair of guest slippers for Dan. Opening his jacket to get it off, he found himself musing at how very Japanese he was being. Maybe this wasn't quite as hopeless as he had thought.

Dan was shivering as he pulled on the slippers, a sure sign that something had to be done to warm the kid up. Beckoning him to follow again, Ryoga led him to the living room, showing him to the couch.

"I'll go and get a blanket or two first of all, you must be freezing," he said. Dan didn't protest, merely nodded a bit. Okay, a definite sign of freezing if the nice and polite Japanese wasn't even complaining about being too much trouble or something.

It took him a bit of digging around, but Ryoga did soon manage to unearth a couple of nice, warm blankets in a cupboard, taking them back to the living room. Dan was still sitting at the exact same spot he had been when Ryoga had left, curled up in the corner of the couch. He looked even smaller than usual. Like Ryoga's protective instincts hadn't already been tugged at enough...

"Here you go," he said, smiling as he gave the blankets to Dan. "Wrap yourself up in these, okay? I'll be back in just a moment with the hot chocolate." After receiving another mute nod in response, he hurried off to the kitchen. Mission Make Kid Warm was well underway; he shouldn't allow himself to dally one bit.

While waiting for the milk to heat up, he went through the cupboards and fridge, occasionally pausing to stir the heating liquid so it wouldn't burn. He managed to find not only the cake, cutting up a couple of slices and setting them on little plates with spoons, but a couple of different kinds of cookies, too, setting them out on another plate. Hopefully sugar would make the boy feel a bit better. Once the hot chocolate was ready, he poured it into two cups, then set both them and the plates of offerings on a tray, carrying it back to the living room.

Dan had apparently been very obedient, as Ryoga found him curled up in the blankets. The boy's eyes widened as he saw all the things set out on the tray. "I don't want to be trouble," he murmured.

"Nonsense," Ryoga replied, grinning. "This just gives me an excuse to eat too many sugary goods to be healthy~ Now, don't you dare talk before you're warm!"

For a moment they ate in silence. Finally, Dan apparently decided he was warm enough, the half-empty cup held in his hands as he started to speak. "I think... my Dad has finally decided I'm not his desu," he murmured, looking down at his drink. "I mean, he suspected it before, but now he seems absolutely convinced... and Mum's not even denying it. I mean, not as much as she should be desu..."

"I... see." Maybe she wasn't denying it because doing so would have been a lie. Ryoga didn't say that aloud, though; the boy certainly knew it well enough even without any reminders. "And he's angry at you?"

"Right..." Dan sniffled a bit. "It's just... what am I supposed to do? It's not like I can change things like what I look like or what I'm good at or that I'm left-handed when nobody in his family has ever been desu. And... why is he angry at me, anyway? Of course I don't want him to be angry at my Mum, either, but... it's not like I decided to be born, right? Or got to choose who my parents are. I didn't call anyone and say, 'Hey, Taichi here, I'd like to be born seven months from now, of course I know it's too early but I want to get out as fast as I can, oh yeah and give me my Mum's genes but not her boyfriend's because I don't want to end up with that stupid nose desu.'"

Ryoga couldn't help but laugh at the thought of such a call. Then, however, he paused. "...Her boyfriend's?"

"Yeah... my parents, they, ah... they got married because of me," Dan sniffled. "They hadn't planned to get married for a while yet, but when I was on the way, their parents made them do so. I never knew that before... but lately, I've heard it all too often desu." He shook his head. "It's just another thing Dad's blaming me for..."

"Dan-kun..." Ryoga sighed. "It's not your fault, you know. Your father is just angry and upset at what he believes to be true, and he's taking it out on you. He's wrong in that. Even if your mum might have done something, ah, unadvisable, it's not your fault. He's raised you as his own until now; that shouldn't change just because he now thinks you might not have his genes after all."

"I know desu," Dan said quietly. "But still... he told me to get out of his house. He doesn't want to see me desu. I guess..." he sniffled again before continuing, "if it's true that Mum... cheated on him, I guess I'm just a reminder of it..."

"Maybe. But that still doesn't mean he was right in doing what he did." Ryoga frowned. "...You know what? I'll tell you a little story." As Dan blinked, he continued, "I was born... without a father, really. There was just my Mom, nobody else. Of course I knew I had a father, everyone does, and we got money from him every month, but I never met him or anything. Then, Echizen Nanjirou turned up and offered to adopt me... my Mom agreed. So I suddenly had a father and a new Mom and a little brother, too."

"I never knew," Dan breathed. "You and Echizen-kun look so similar."

"Yeah, well, there's this little thing." Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "Some time ago I kinda found out... Nanjirou really is my father. He's the one who had been paying us every month... my Mom got him to take me in because she was sick and couldn't care for me anymore. I never knew about that when I was a kid, though." He shrugged. "Nanjirou and Rinko-Mom... they were nice enough, I guess. But over time, I felt they were too distant... that they were only focusing on Chibisuke. Well, Nanjirou was. Rinko-Mom has always been kind of... distant." To say the least. "I ended up... running away from home. I stayed away for quite some time... went around doing all kinds of stuff. Not all of it I'm proud of. Anyway, I finally ran into Chibisuke last year, and after that I've been dropping by every now and then. And now, well, I've decided to stay here."

"You ran away?" Dan echoed, eyes wide. "That must have been pretty horrible, then..."

"Well, yeah, I always was an impulsive kid," Ryoga admitted. "Thinking back I probably should have just tried to talk about it instead of running away like that... but what's done is done. I'm lucky nothing worse happened to me while I was running around." He shrugged. "But my point here is… it's not about genes. Nanjirou's been a much better father now than he was before, but it's not because I now know I'm biologically his son. And Rinko-Mom is just as distant to Chibisuke as she is to me, even though she's biologically his mother and not mine. It just doesn't matter."

"…Akutsu-senpai's told me the same thing," Dan murmured. "That just because two people are related by blood doesn't mean they are or should be close… I think he means his own father," he added, sounding rather mournful. "Akutsu-senpai has no idea who he is…" With a barely audible voice, he whispered, "I don't even know who I am, anymore desu."

"You are you," Ryoga replied, picking up on the words he only barely caught. "You're Dan Taichi, for better or for worse. You're a kid who got three games off Chibisuke and thinks it's a fluke, and who's a great captain but doesn't see it himself, and has a very protective senpai wrapped right around his little finger." He laughed as Dan flushed and sputtered in protest. "It's true, you know," he said, eyes twinkling. "Even I can tell he's got a soft spot for you."

"…I guess." Still flushed, Dan drew the blankets closer to himself as though they were some sort of a protective shell. "It's just, Akutsu-senpai… I…"

"You like him?" Ryoga asked, more a guess than anything else. As he got a tiny, hesitant nod in response, he grinned. "Figures. That's about the only reason why you'd want to hang around someone like him."

"Hey!" Dan protested, frowning. "Akutsu-senpai's not that bad!"

"I'm sure, I'm sure," Ryoga hurried to reply. "However, you'll have to forgive me; my sole experience about him was him practically trying to attack my little brother for a silly reason. Though… I guess he was only being protective," he then added with a softer tone. "He said it was only so you wouldn't start wailing, but… he told me your relatives had been giving you trouble. He was angry at Ryoma for playing with the cap because he didn't want anyone to start any more rumours that might bother you."

"…Akutsu-senpai's nice like that," Dan agreed with a tiny smile, still looking slightly flushed. "He just doesn't show it that often desu…"

"Apparently not, no." Ryoga gave him an encouraging smile. "Hey… I'm sure it'll turn out all right," he said. "At least you know he doesn't hate you, right?"

"…Right." Dan's flush deepened again. Something about how it looked bothered Ryoga. He wasn't sure it was entirely due to embarrassment… not with how sharp the colour was on his cheeks.

Dan seemed a bit startled as Ryoga reached out a hand towards him from the other end of the couch, but didn't draw away. Touching the boy's forehead, Ryoga was startled to notice how hot it was. "Woah, you're burning up," he murmured.

"I am?" Dan blinked. "But I'm still feeling cold…"

"Yeah, well, fever does that to you," Ryoga said, rolling his eyes, "as does wandering around without enough clothes on. I think we're done talking for tonight."

"But…" Dan protested, only for Ryoga to shake his head.

"No buts. Nanako would kill me if she found out I kept a sick guest up way past his bedtime," Ryoga said as firmly as he could manage. "You can use Chibisuke's room; it's nicer than the guest room and besides it's not like he's here to mind it. I'm sure some of his pyjamas will fit you, too."

Dan opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then, after apparently thinking for a while, he gave Ryoga a weak grin. "…It's just no use arguing with you, is it?"

"Nope!" Ryoga replied cheerfully. "Now stop being so stubborn. Come on, now." Not even waiting for Dan to reply or stand up, he simply got up, himself, then scooped down to pick the little bundle of blankets into his arms. Dan yelped in surprise, then quickly reached his arms around Ryoga's neck.

"…Just please don't drop me desu," he murmured, apparently giving up on any thought of protesting against being carried. Good boy. He was shivering, Ryoga noticed now that he was close enough, badly enough that Ryoga wouldn't have trusted him to make it all the way to Ryoma's room on his own.

"I promise I won't," he said, adjusting the small body in his arms. Dan really was small, he noticed, small and light. He certainly couldn't have carried Ryoma this easily, and not only because Ryoma would have kicked him around for daring to even try. Whether it was tiredness or the fever or just realizing he wouldn't listen to any protests, though, Dan simply leant closer to him, holding on without a complaint.

Ryoga easily carried Dan to Ryoma's room, somehow managing to wedge the door open without dropping his load. The room was rather typical of his brother, he thought, and probably just typical of a teenage tennis maniac in general. Dan certainly didn't seem too shocked at anything as he glanced around, probably somewhat curious.

Ryoga set Dan down on the bed, then turned towards the closet, opening it with little remorse. Ryoma hadn't left behind a lot, but there were still some things, most of them now too small for him and thus perfect for Dan. Finding a set of pyjamas that seemed close enough to the correct size, Ryoga then handed them over to Dan to put on.

"You can get something to wear from the closet in the morning if you feel like getting up then," he said. "And don't you dare protest or something like that. The fact that those clothes are still here means that Chibisuke doesn't need them, and it'll do no good for you to go around in little shorts when you're sick." He gave Dan a stern look. Heh. Since when had he become so… parental? Or responsible, or something equally adult-like. He suspected finding a kid who may or may not have been his brother all alone and sick and miserable out in the cold might have helped it along, but still. He wasn't quite that old yet. "The bathroom's down the hall, second door to the right from here," he added. "I'll be home all day tomorrow, so sleep however long you need to; I promise you won't wake up to an empty house." He smiled and ruffled Dan's hair again. "You just need a bit of rest and you'll be right as rain again. Just you wait and see. I'm sure everything will seem better in the morning."

"…I guess." Dan bit his lip. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble desu…" he murmured quietly.

"You're not," Ryoga said firmly. "I'd do the exact same thing if Chibisuke got sick. …Well, except he wouldn't let me," he added with a dramatic sigh. "That kid can be just seriously uncute sometimes."

Dan actually managed a little chuckle at that, which then turned into a cough, and another. Ryoga frowned. He really didn't like the sound of that.

"Okay, that's definitely your signal to get changed and go to sleep," he announced. "I'll see you in the morning. Try to get plenty of sleep, okay?"

After a small, "okay," Ryoga left the room and headed back to the living room. Cleaning up the remains of their little snack, he decided that Nanako would most definitely have been proud of him just then. But then, she was used to Nanjirou and Ryoma; it didn't really take a big show of responsibility and common sense to make her proud. Dan's cell phone had fallen on the couch, he noticed, picking it up and placing it on the table. Better not let anyone sit on it or something; that would hardly do any good for the device.

Finally heading to sleep himself, he decided to stop by to check on Dan. Peeking into the room, he noticed the lights were still on. Dan had managed to change clothes, though, his earlier attire lying in a somewhat haphazard bundle on the floor. Now he lay in the bed, half covered by the blankets, apparently fast asleep despite the lights still being on. A quiet cough escaped his throat, making the whole small body shiver slightly.

Walking silently closer, Ryoga took a good look at Dan. The kid really did look somewhat similar to Ryoma, he concluded. It was somehow even obvious now that he was asleep, eyes closed in rest making no difference between Ryoma's hard stare and Dan's wide eyes. A few strands of blue-black hair had fallen over his face; Ryoga reached over to push them aside. Dan sighed in his sleep and shifted a bit, curling up even closer, cheeks still dyed feverish red even in his sleep.

"…Hey, kid," Ryoga whispered, careful not to startle the boy awake. "I don't know if you're really my brother or not, yet, but… it doesn't matter, right? It's not about genes." He shook his head. "I'll help you through this mess. We'll see it through to the end… however it ends." After all, the kid did need someone… and Ryoga knew all too well what it was like not to know who you were or where you came from.

There was no response, for which he was only glad. No need to complicate things by letting Dan know certain facts just yet. Ryoga adjusted the covers to tuck Dan in better. Walking back to the doorway, he looked back at the kid for another while. Then, he switched off the lights.

Though he did go to his room right after that, changing and going to bed, Ryoga didn't fall asleep for a while yet.