"Eh?" The sound echoed around the darkened room, looking and looking for the person who wasn't there. "Onii-chan?" she tried again, opening the door wider and leaning in. "Daijoubu ka? Arimasen ka? Ne?"
Silence.
A huff. "Shitsuji-san! Onii-san ga arimasen yo!" The shadow called, oblivious to her tone and annoyed to be looking for someone who wasn't allowed to be missing. Someone answered down the hall, too far for the petit form to hear. "Ah? Ara, you need to be louder!" The little girl yelled, her shadow disappearing with the hallway lighting. A brief flash of light, and then she was gone.
A beat.
Slowly, carefully, a small form unfurled from under the bookshelf. The body was swathed in velvety blackness, a blackness so complete, it had fooled its sister. The boy, now revealed, pulled himself from his unnatural angles and hobbled across the floor. "Kuso," he cursed, and let himself fall into bed. Once again, he was just another shadow in a darkened room.
O X O
The butler paused in his ministrations. There was something there… a spot, on the floor. Creaking and cursing his old age (but never the experiences passé), the old butler crouched down next to the inky spot. His moustache twitched once, then twice. Slowly, the butler drew a finger and pressed it against the dark spot.
It was still wet, and when his finger came away, the butler's finger was dark red. The butler's moustache twitched once, then twice. The tips turned down like flower petals knocked back by the breeze. They lingered there, still twitching. Then, creaking and silent as a shadow, the old man began to clean.
O X O
The princess frowned, her head in her hand and fork poking at her salad. There was nothing to do. No one to talk to. Pick, pick, went the fork. It was a futile effort against the silence. The princess frowned down at her greens, interrogating them for the location of her brother. Something just didn't feel right…
O X O
A sharp breath. A shudder. A wave of humiliation mixed with self-satisfaction. The prince looked down at his hands, the wave of emotion depleting. It was only cold now. Cold in heart and body. The prince left for the bathroom, hiding his injuries behind a long dark shadow. He did not wish to be bothered.
O X O
Rin stared down at her brother, her eyes wide and her mouth wider. "Y-you!" she said, scrambling for their reality. But it could not be found; it was shattered to pieces, had gone beyond words. Just like the knife that lay between them. The prince turned and looked for his shadows, but there were none. The princess had turned on the overhead, leaving the room in harsh starkness.
But the prince didn't need shadows: Rin started to cry, "W-why didn't you t-tell me?" she demanded, all fierce words and a fierce hug that knocked away all the coldness and shadows in the prince.
Len blinked, hoping the tears would come now, and tried to hug Rin back. "Sorry," he whispered, "Sorry."
O X O
Geh… what have I written? I was watching Childish War for Rin and Len, and I thought about how neither of these guys would ever let the other one submit to anyone other than the first twin. Rin would never let Len fall to himself. Agh, I wrought some angsty fluff…
R & R. Please and thank you.