The twins' story... if Koutoku had been a Suzaku Seishi. My experiment?
Nothing in the series had broken the twins' bond, not even death. The
only thing that seperated them was love. Love of peace, and love of a
girl. Now, that I can understand- but to make the situation even more
complicated here, would being enemies born by blood break the bond that
they have? Would *duty* and *destiny* force them apart?
Wishful Thinking: Chapter 2
"Complex Plot"
by: Shamera
Nakago frowned as he heard the news of the blockade set to trap
Tamahome to coming to Kotou. With Seiryuu no Miko already here, there was
no time to waste in gathering the Seiryuu no Seishi. So far, there
were already three that was found by Nakago. Soi, Tomo, and Ashitare.
But there were still too many seishi to gather, and Nakago didn't
have the time nor patience to do so. Seiryuu no Miko will not gather her
seishi either, so intent was she on snarling Suzaku's Tamahome.
This would no bode well for Nakago's plans.
The blond shogan shared a small frown as he pondered on the events
that led to his takeover. He would have to find all the Seishi, true,
but he would also have to stop Suzaku. Even after Lady Yui made her wish
for him to become a diety, the Suzaku's would still be able to wish
him out of it. No... he would have to kill the Lady Miaka either before
or after the Summoning of Seiryuu. Before seemed fine to him.
Of course, now that he tricked the Lady Yui into hating her rival,
it wouldn't be long before killing the Suzaku no Miko would not stirr
even his Miko's head. But until then, he would have to wait and find his
own plans to stop Suzaku from being summoned.
"My Lord!"
Nakago halted in mid-step towards the Lady Yui's room, and turned
to greet the out-of-breath soldier. The glare that was sent made the poor
soldier think twice before he found his voice again.
"Yes?" Nakago asked in a flat tone.
The soldier faltered for a moment, near stammering, before he was
met with Nakago's impatient look. "The troops in Konan figured to have
found the next Seiryuu Warrior two nights ago."
"Oh?" Nakago asked dismissingly. Although his interest had been
picked up, there were many that soldiers mistaken the Seiryuu Warriors,
especially those who they can't defeat.
"Yes, m'Lord." the soldier continued, knowing that to pause was
to court death. "They say that he had the looks to be only a child, and
was not only able to defeat them with Ryuuseisui, he was also able to
make a mirror image of himself and then put all the troops to sleep."
Nakago gave a nod to the soldier, staying silent. This bore
looking into. Although the troops might have been wrong, if this was a
Seiryuu Warrior, then Nakago would have to make sure that this... child,
were to stay in his place. Especially a multi-talented one who would
be closer to the Lady Yui's age than he was.
He was about to dismiss the soldier when he noticed that the poor
man seemed to be extremely nervous. "Anything else to report?"
"Well..." The soldier swallowed. "It was said that he first
glowed the blue of Divine Seiryuu, but then the red of the hated Suzaku
in battle. Of course, it could have been an illusion, but I thought my
lord would have wanted to know."
"Indeed." Nakago mused. Then, with a curt and dismissive nod, he
turned on his heel and continued his brisk walk. "That will be all,
soldier. Report to your post before I tell you of what to do."
"Yes, Lord Nakago." The soldier bowed, and retreated.
He would have to look into the subject later. As of the moment,
he had to tend to the Lady Yui's wishes.
(yes, that is a pun. *cackles*)
* * *
"...ou-chan? Aniki?"
Koutoku woke to his brother's heedless shakings and paniced voice.
"Shun?" He winced slightly as his hand went up to his head. Dear Suzaku!
That was one hell of a headache.
"Aniki!" Shunkaku looked wild with relief as he saw his brother's
eyes open. He grabbed his twin's arm, not knowing the strength in which
he put that grip. "Don't move, aniki. One of the soldiers managed to
shoot you."
"Shoot?" Koutoku closed his eyes for the briefest moment, trying
to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was that he
had been trying to put all the soldiers to sleep, and... well, he didn't
remember getting shot. "But... I don't remember."
Shun shook his head. "The doctors didn't think that you would.
They said that the arrow had been doused with mild poisons. Not enough
to kill on contact, but enough to make you unaware of it." And *then* let
it slowly kill the victim, Shunkaku didn't add.
Koutoku barely heard, but closed his eyes again and took a deep
breath, hoping to at least leviate the headache. Then, without warning,
he pushed himself up.
Pain flared through his right shoulder, numbing his arm and making
him tumble back into the pillow, energy so easily spent.
"Aniki!" Shun's voice was sharp. "Didn't I tell you not to move?"
The younger twin knew that moving wasn't enough to hurt Koutoku, and
that the pain was cause him to remember to stay still, but he didn't like
his brother to be in pain.
Koutoku grimaced. How in the world was he to travel like this?
"There were only a few injuries, thanks to you." Shunkaku was
saying, breaking off the topic. "The worst of them was a broken bone, but
that was because the man fell while trying to run away. All the injuries
that the soldiers gave out were small piercing wounds and a few light
cuts from the swords."
Shunkaku peered at his twin. "Are you listening to me, Aniki?"
Koutoku gave a slow nodd, enough to tell Shunkaku that, no, his
brother was not listening to him.
Shun sighed. Well, he had to give his Kou-chan some rest, but he
didn't really want to. He knew that Koutoku was worried about slowing
down the group and that he could tell his twin that the troops have
already backed off, finding what they wanted- which turned out to be
Suzaku Seishi Tamahome.
He could tell all this to Koutoku and go back to Kotou. But...
did he really want to go back to Kotou? Or was it because he just found
out that Suzaku no Miko had arrived, and along with her, the Seiryuu no
Miko?
"Shun-chan?"
The younger twin looked up into his brother's confused eyes.
Koutoku looked a little pale, but otherwise fine. As Shunkaku blinked to
show that he hadn't been following whatever was going on, Kou-chan's
eyes relaxed. "What were you thinking about, Shun?"
Shunkaku gave a messy grin. "Something. Not gonna tell you. Oh, and
besides, I think I've worried you enough. The doctors said that you
should get a lot of rest, and I know that you never get rest when I'm
around, whether that be a good thing or a bad thing."
Koutoku rolled his eyes.
"But you know me," Shunkaku added, smiling. "I'm not leaving until
I see that you have fallen asleep and am getting your rest."
"You're horrible." Koutoku muttered, closing his eyes to do as his
brother advised. It wasn't very hard for him to find himself asleep,
since he had been more tired than he thought.
"That's what younger brothers are here for."
That was the last thing that Koutoku heard before he fell asleep.
* * *
Shunkaku heaved out a sigh as he closed the door behind him. The
Suzaku no Miko had appeared. And along with her, the Seiryuu no Miko.
This was so unfair! Ever since the twins had discovered that they were
seishi, they had done some research on the last two Mikos. The first had
appeared over two hundred years ago, and the next Miko seventy five years
ago. But now, with two Mikos at the same time? Both as sworn enemies?
Shunkaku's mind whirled. Grabbing the closest seat that he could
find, he plopped himself down into it. But... he and aniki were born
enemies, and they got along with each other fine... more than fine! So
could the same happen with the Mikos? Could be some way... could the
two be able to get along with each other?
He knew in his heart that Seiryuu no Miko would be good, no matter
what that she represented war and everything in Kotou. He just knew that
she would be kind and sweet and *everything* else, despite the lives
that he and aniki had led (that made him believe that kindness was a rare
thing.) He just knew.
"Shunkaku?"
The boy looked up to see a villager, a nice old lady that had
taken then in now and then, slowly walk up to him.
Getting up from the seat so that she oculd sit down, Shunkaku gave
the elder a smile and backed a bit to give her room. the elder smiled
back at him and patted his hand, which still rested on a table.
"Dear boy, your brother will be fine. Stop worrying." she paused,
and sighed. "Of course, you could have told us that you were seishi. We
might have been able to accomidate you better."
Shun shook his head. "Aniki said that no one should know until we
were ready to be called on be the animal Gods. He said that until then,
we wouldn't really be seishi."
The elderly woman smiled. "Ah, yes. Dear Koutoku would say some-
thing like that, wouldn't he? That sweet boy... far too wise for his
years, I say. Poor thing shouldn't be taking everything so hard."
Shun's smile became a little more strained.
"But I must say, he did a wonderful job of bringing you up, my
dear. Simply a wonderful job," the woman finished with a mumble. Then
she looked up at Shunkaku. "You're not going to leave your poor brother
behind, are you? I heard the young'ins say that you looked prepared to
leave."
The younger twin's smile dropped altogether. The thoughts about
leaving did nothing but declare him guilty.
Either the lady did not notice, or she chose to ignore the haunted
expression in his eyes, continuing, "I knew you wouldn't leave your
brother, though. I certainly don't believe what they say. Your brother
cares about you too much to go through Konan without you. And I know
you feel the same way," she stopped for a moment, as if finally coming
to a conclusion.. "Unless... you actually want to go to Kotou without
your brother?"
Going without Kouotoku?
"No!" Shunkaku exclaimed strongly, drawing back from the table.
His eyes bore a look of terror and fear so strong... for it had taken
years to form. "I mean... no." He said a little more calmly.
Now that he was thinking about it this way, he couldn't leave his
twin. Sure, he had to serve the Miko... but she had to find him first,
right? There was no rules about him having to be anywhere. It just
wouldn't do to have his brother go alone into a country he's only heard
about...
"I'm staying in Konan." He replied, voice calm. A little too calm,
maybe. His mind was clear, and he felt that he helped solve all his
problems with his decision. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm not leaving
Koutoku."
The lady smiled, a smile already knowing that Shunkaku would say
just that. Perhaps she had schemed Shun to staying with his brother,
perhaps she had just cleared his mind from all the worryful decisions.
Once again reaching to to pat his hand, she said, "I knew that was
what you were going to say, dear." Then she stood up, and leaned on the
table slightly, regarding the boy. "You have a good heart, Shunkaku-chan.
It's just that sometimes, and this goes for your brother also, you
want to do the right thing so much that it clouds up your head."
Shunkaku didn't say anything, still musing over his thoughts.
Turning, but still facing the younger twin, the elderly lady bade
her farewell and good wishes, then walked out of the room.
*Could that be true?* Shunkaku thought to himself. *Aniki always
says that I have a good heart, and I know that he does.... And I also
know that aniki makes mistakes sometimes, too... just like I do. Could
it be because we only want to do the right thing?*
After thinking about it some more, Shunkaku decided that he liked
that explaination.
* * *
So it was set.
Nakago smirked as he watched from afar the twins getting ready to
travel again. He had left Yui-sama in the company of his newly shaped
Tamahome... just for a few days to test him out. After following this
legend of the seishi who served both Seiryuu and Suzaku, Nakago had
easily found out that they were twins- twins that served different sides.
This was a bonus he hadn't expected. It made his plans of
destroying the Suzaku even easier. With the bond that twins shared, even
twin who served different sides, they would be the easiest to manipulate.
Their love for each other, if it wasn't able to be twisted, would make
them do anything for the other. If he had one, then the other would fall.
Which meant that they would both have to serve him, Suzaku or not.
It made his plan a lot easier. He would switch them. Make the wrong
one go to the Suzaku no Miko. They were certainly alike enough to fool
even the Four Gods scroll.
If one failed, and the real one ran to the Suzaku seishi... then,
they wouldn't believe that he was the real seishi since they had already
seen him as a fake one.
It would be no touble making them do as he wished. It he could
convice Yui-sama to hate the best friend that she had since childhood,
then he could break the bond of twins which had been meant to be broken.
* * *
Soi cast a disguisted look as she pulled the hood over her head.
Lord Nakago asking her to befriend two twerps? Using her as a back-up?!
As much as she hated him for that, she found that the hate was not
very strong and lacked something. It seemed like she was forcing herself
to hate him for doing what he was doing to her. Sure, she didn't care
about being used, but she was insulted that he would use someone like
her as a *back-up*.
Especially to twist those little goody twins around. If those two
didn't trust Nakago, they had to trust her.
Which meant that she had to dress up as a village, and first gain
their sympathy by pretending to be with a tragic past.
*If they knew my real past,* she mused, *Tragic wouldn't even be
used to describle it!*
But for now, she was wandering around the camp of people from both
Konan and Kotou, both wanting to escape the civil wars. They were all
forelorn, as if fearing to hope, yet wanting to so much.
Taking a deep breath, she made her first move.
"Oh! Sorry!" The young boy which looked to be about fifteen said,
bending down to help her pick up the fruits that she had dropped. "I'm
very sorry, miss, I hadn't been watching where I was going."
She pulled her hood closer to her head, but smiled. "That's okay.
There's no harm done. I hadn't been watching where I was going either.
I guess the fault should be placed on me."
The boy looked up and gave her a brief smile, which she was shocked
to see, was more happy and hopeful than the entire camp combined. "The
fault's mine. I've been doing this a lot, lately. Or, that's what my
brother tells me."
"Oh!" Soi pretended to be thinking hard, "You much be the one of
te Bo twins! I've heard so much about you two. People say so much about
the two of you."
The boy faultered but for a moment, which ordinary people would not
have noticed. But Soi, being trained in the art that she was in,
noticed very easily.
"Then you much know me and by twin, Shunkaku." The boy said,
standing with her gather fruits and handing it to her to put back in her
basket. "But I'm afraid I don't know anything about you, miss...?"
"Roiu Misami," she replied quickly, wincing as she realized she
had no danger to be revealing her real name. Which was something she
should have done, of course, considering that she responded faster to
her real name.
"Miss Roiu. Pleased to meet you. I hope you see you around." The
boy's smile was genuine, and Soi wondered just where he got his
enthusiasum.
As the boy started to walk away, Soi wondered about what she
should do. She had to do something to make him less formal... it was
unnerving, really, to know that she would be shattering his trust soon
if he kept up this act of innocence.
"Oh, and Koutoku-san?" She called, not even turning. She could tell
that the older twin had turned when he heard of her call, wondering why
she was calling him.
She finally turned her head, and pulled down her hood as she did
so, giving him a small smile that, although not as genuine as his, was
enough to please Soi about her acting. "Just call me Misami."
Koutoku smiled, a confused smile that could be wondering whether
why she wanted him to be so informal, or how she knew his name.
Turning back again, she pulled over her hood and gave herself a
small amount of pleasure to know that she had pulled her first act off
perfectly. Within time, both twins would be too trusting of her to rely
on anyone else's word. She would lead them straight into Nakago's trap.
She smiled under the hood and pulled the feeling of cloth closer
to her face, brushing her hands into her coppery hair. Is she could not
seduce the older brother first.
* * *
Koutoku's smile faultered as soon as he turned away from the lady.
Misami, she had said. She didn't looke like a woman whose name Misami
would have suited her. She looked more hardened to be a delicate stream
of water, her eyes hiding something that gave her a mysterious, yet
dangerour look. He would have to be careful around her.
Realizing that he could not linger in thoughts like that, he stored
the knowladge to the back of his head. There would be preperations to
make as the group moved deeper into Konan. Although they were not being
followed by Kotou soldiers anymore, Koutoku got a strange, eerie feeling
whenever he stopped, saying that he should move on soon if he didn't want
something bad to happen.
"Aniki!"
Koutoku turned to see his twin catching up with him, looking like
he had just ran a long way.
"Aniki!" Shunkaku called again as he stopped running, his lungs
screaming for air. He had been on the lookout in the forest to assure
the villagers of safe passage.
"Shun-chan? Daijobu?" Koutoku asked as he leaned over to support
his brother, who seemed like he would collapse at any moment.
Shunkaku only shook his head as he heaved in breaths. "Hitori-san
was attacked... not Kotou soldiers..." he paused to breathe in deeply
as he slowly regained his breath. "There's bandits in the forest, aniki.
Bandits and bounty hunters who would give an arm or leg to find two
seishi, one of Kotou and Konan."
Koutoku tightened his jaw. "We've got to warn the villagers before
we go." He spoke, ignoring his own obvious danger. He looked at his
brother intently. "Go pack with the rest of the villagers, Shun-chan. I
want you to leave as soon as possible with the doctors. I'm going to
see if I can help with the children."
Shunkaku shook his head. "I'm going wherever you are, aniki."
Koutoku glared at his younger twin. "No, you're not. You're going
ahead to the capital of Konan to help plea for the safety of the people."
"Aniki! What would they think of a Seiryuu Seishi pleaing fot the
safety of the Konan people? They would think I was trying to play a joke
on them! Who knows what they would do. Who knows how they would treat
someone of the opposite side?"
Koutoku sighed. "We have only a few days'jouney to the capital.
If you want, you can stop in the city and wait for me to catch up. I'll
only be a few hours behidn you. I won't take long for me to pack."
Shunkaku took a deep breath, and then said strongly, "I'm going
back for Hitori-san. After that, we'll help move the people out of here.
I'll help Hitori-san out. He might want to be with his wife and children
so I'll stay behidn and help out."
Koutoku opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped him-
self. There was no way to stop Shunkaku when he had made up his mind.
"Alright then. I suggest we warn the villagers that we're being persued."
* * *
Soi could only watch as the villagers started packing, some calmly,
the most of them with a panicked gleam in their eyes.
There were children rushing around her, trying to find their
parents in the midst of all the people. They didn't concern her, though.
Children were people who would grow up to be the same people around her.
None of them were any different.
The people she was looking for were different, though. They were
chosen by Gods. Different Gods, yes, but Gods nevertheless. They were
too important to her plans to stay by Nakago for her to care what she
was going to do.
She had to delay them. Stall them and seperate them from the rest
of the group so that they would not be found by the Suzaku. Try to mix
them up about which God they had to help. Convice them that they Suzaku
were evil, and that they had to exchange places to teach the Suzaku
seishi a careful, painless lesson.
Yes, a lesson that shouldn't impact the Suzaku seishi too much.
Just probably destroy their chance at summoning the animal God.
End chapter 2.
Well, that was impulsive. I hadn't really thought about adding Soi into
this story. In fact, I don't know how this story would have turned out
anyway. I kind of let my fingers do the typing. ^-^ I never thought about
Shun-chan leaving, nor did I think of him trying to repair Miaka and
Yui's relationship until I wrote it down. Weird, ne?
Nothing in the series had broken the twins' bond, not even death. The
only thing that seperated them was love. Love of peace, and love of a
girl. Now, that I can understand- but to make the situation even more
complicated here, would being enemies born by blood break the bond that
they have? Would *duty* and *destiny* force them apart?
Wishful Thinking: Chapter 2
"Complex Plot"
by: Shamera
Nakago frowned as he heard the news of the blockade set to trap
Tamahome to coming to Kotou. With Seiryuu no Miko already here, there was
no time to waste in gathering the Seiryuu no Seishi. So far, there
were already three that was found by Nakago. Soi, Tomo, and Ashitare.
But there were still too many seishi to gather, and Nakago didn't
have the time nor patience to do so. Seiryuu no Miko will not gather her
seishi either, so intent was she on snarling Suzaku's Tamahome.
This would no bode well for Nakago's plans.
The blond shogan shared a small frown as he pondered on the events
that led to his takeover. He would have to find all the Seishi, true,
but he would also have to stop Suzaku. Even after Lady Yui made her wish
for him to become a diety, the Suzaku's would still be able to wish
him out of it. No... he would have to kill the Lady Miaka either before
or after the Summoning of Seiryuu. Before seemed fine to him.
Of course, now that he tricked the Lady Yui into hating her rival,
it wouldn't be long before killing the Suzaku no Miko would not stirr
even his Miko's head. But until then, he would have to wait and find his
own plans to stop Suzaku from being summoned.
"My Lord!"
Nakago halted in mid-step towards the Lady Yui's room, and turned
to greet the out-of-breath soldier. The glare that was sent made the poor
soldier think twice before he found his voice again.
"Yes?" Nakago asked in a flat tone.
The soldier faltered for a moment, near stammering, before he was
met with Nakago's impatient look. "The troops in Konan figured to have
found the next Seiryuu Warrior two nights ago."
"Oh?" Nakago asked dismissingly. Although his interest had been
picked up, there were many that soldiers mistaken the Seiryuu Warriors,
especially those who they can't defeat.
"Yes, m'Lord." the soldier continued, knowing that to pause was
to court death. "They say that he had the looks to be only a child, and
was not only able to defeat them with Ryuuseisui, he was also able to
make a mirror image of himself and then put all the troops to sleep."
Nakago gave a nod to the soldier, staying silent. This bore
looking into. Although the troops might have been wrong, if this was a
Seiryuu Warrior, then Nakago would have to make sure that this... child,
were to stay in his place. Especially a multi-talented one who would
be closer to the Lady Yui's age than he was.
He was about to dismiss the soldier when he noticed that the poor
man seemed to be extremely nervous. "Anything else to report?"
"Well..." The soldier swallowed. "It was said that he first
glowed the blue of Divine Seiryuu, but then the red of the hated Suzaku
in battle. Of course, it could have been an illusion, but I thought my
lord would have wanted to know."
"Indeed." Nakago mused. Then, with a curt and dismissive nod, he
turned on his heel and continued his brisk walk. "That will be all,
soldier. Report to your post before I tell you of what to do."
"Yes, Lord Nakago." The soldier bowed, and retreated.
He would have to look into the subject later. As of the moment,
he had to tend to the Lady Yui's wishes.
(yes, that is a pun. *cackles*)
* * *
"...ou-chan? Aniki?"
Koutoku woke to his brother's heedless shakings and paniced voice.
"Shun?" He winced slightly as his hand went up to his head. Dear Suzaku!
That was one hell of a headache.
"Aniki!" Shunkaku looked wild with relief as he saw his brother's
eyes open. He grabbed his twin's arm, not knowing the strength in which
he put that grip. "Don't move, aniki. One of the soldiers managed to
shoot you."
"Shoot?" Koutoku closed his eyes for the briefest moment, trying
to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was that he
had been trying to put all the soldiers to sleep, and... well, he didn't
remember getting shot. "But... I don't remember."
Shun shook his head. "The doctors didn't think that you would.
They said that the arrow had been doused with mild poisons. Not enough
to kill on contact, but enough to make you unaware of it." And *then* let
it slowly kill the victim, Shunkaku didn't add.
Koutoku barely heard, but closed his eyes again and took a deep
breath, hoping to at least leviate the headache. Then, without warning,
he pushed himself up.
Pain flared through his right shoulder, numbing his arm and making
him tumble back into the pillow, energy so easily spent.
"Aniki!" Shun's voice was sharp. "Didn't I tell you not to move?"
The younger twin knew that moving wasn't enough to hurt Koutoku, and
that the pain was cause him to remember to stay still, but he didn't like
his brother to be in pain.
Koutoku grimaced. How in the world was he to travel like this?
"There were only a few injuries, thanks to you." Shunkaku was
saying, breaking off the topic. "The worst of them was a broken bone, but
that was because the man fell while trying to run away. All the injuries
that the soldiers gave out were small piercing wounds and a few light
cuts from the swords."
Shunkaku peered at his twin. "Are you listening to me, Aniki?"
Koutoku gave a slow nodd, enough to tell Shunkaku that, no, his
brother was not listening to him.
Shun sighed. Well, he had to give his Kou-chan some rest, but he
didn't really want to. He knew that Koutoku was worried about slowing
down the group and that he could tell his twin that the troops have
already backed off, finding what they wanted- which turned out to be
Suzaku Seishi Tamahome.
He could tell all this to Koutoku and go back to Kotou. But...
did he really want to go back to Kotou? Or was it because he just found
out that Suzaku no Miko had arrived, and along with her, the Seiryuu no
Miko?
"Shun-chan?"
The younger twin looked up into his brother's confused eyes.
Koutoku looked a little pale, but otherwise fine. As Shunkaku blinked to
show that he hadn't been following whatever was going on, Kou-chan's
eyes relaxed. "What were you thinking about, Shun?"
Shunkaku gave a messy grin. "Something. Not gonna tell you. Oh, and
besides, I think I've worried you enough. The doctors said that you
should get a lot of rest, and I know that you never get rest when I'm
around, whether that be a good thing or a bad thing."
Koutoku rolled his eyes.
"But you know me," Shunkaku added, smiling. "I'm not leaving until
I see that you have fallen asleep and am getting your rest."
"You're horrible." Koutoku muttered, closing his eyes to do as his
brother advised. It wasn't very hard for him to find himself asleep,
since he had been more tired than he thought.
"That's what younger brothers are here for."
That was the last thing that Koutoku heard before he fell asleep.
* * *
Shunkaku heaved out a sigh as he closed the door behind him. The
Suzaku no Miko had appeared. And along with her, the Seiryuu no Miko.
This was so unfair! Ever since the twins had discovered that they were
seishi, they had done some research on the last two Mikos. The first had
appeared over two hundred years ago, and the next Miko seventy five years
ago. But now, with two Mikos at the same time? Both as sworn enemies?
Shunkaku's mind whirled. Grabbing the closest seat that he could
find, he plopped himself down into it. But... he and aniki were born
enemies, and they got along with each other fine... more than fine! So
could the same happen with the Mikos? Could be some way... could the
two be able to get along with each other?
He knew in his heart that Seiryuu no Miko would be good, no matter
what that she represented war and everything in Kotou. He just knew that
she would be kind and sweet and *everything* else, despite the lives
that he and aniki had led (that made him believe that kindness was a rare
thing.) He just knew.
"Shunkaku?"
The boy looked up to see a villager, a nice old lady that had
taken then in now and then, slowly walk up to him.
Getting up from the seat so that she oculd sit down, Shunkaku gave
the elder a smile and backed a bit to give her room. the elder smiled
back at him and patted his hand, which still rested on a table.
"Dear boy, your brother will be fine. Stop worrying." she paused,
and sighed. "Of course, you could have told us that you were seishi. We
might have been able to accomidate you better."
Shun shook his head. "Aniki said that no one should know until we
were ready to be called on be the animal Gods. He said that until then,
we wouldn't really be seishi."
The elderly woman smiled. "Ah, yes. Dear Koutoku would say some-
thing like that, wouldn't he? That sweet boy... far too wise for his
years, I say. Poor thing shouldn't be taking everything so hard."
Shun's smile became a little more strained.
"But I must say, he did a wonderful job of bringing you up, my
dear. Simply a wonderful job," the woman finished with a mumble. Then
she looked up at Shunkaku. "You're not going to leave your poor brother
behind, are you? I heard the young'ins say that you looked prepared to
leave."
The younger twin's smile dropped altogether. The thoughts about
leaving did nothing but declare him guilty.
Either the lady did not notice, or she chose to ignore the haunted
expression in his eyes, continuing, "I knew you wouldn't leave your
brother, though. I certainly don't believe what they say. Your brother
cares about you too much to go through Konan without you. And I know
you feel the same way," she stopped for a moment, as if finally coming
to a conclusion.. "Unless... you actually want to go to Kotou without
your brother?"
Going without Kouotoku?
"No!" Shunkaku exclaimed strongly, drawing back from the table.
His eyes bore a look of terror and fear so strong... for it had taken
years to form. "I mean... no." He said a little more calmly.
Now that he was thinking about it this way, he couldn't leave his
twin. Sure, he had to serve the Miko... but she had to find him first,
right? There was no rules about him having to be anywhere. It just
wouldn't do to have his brother go alone into a country he's only heard
about...
"I'm staying in Konan." He replied, voice calm. A little too calm,
maybe. His mind was clear, and he felt that he helped solve all his
problems with his decision. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm not leaving
Koutoku."
The lady smiled, a smile already knowing that Shunkaku would say
just that. Perhaps she had schemed Shun to staying with his brother,
perhaps she had just cleared his mind from all the worryful decisions.
Once again reaching to to pat his hand, she said, "I knew that was
what you were going to say, dear." Then she stood up, and leaned on the
table slightly, regarding the boy. "You have a good heart, Shunkaku-chan.
It's just that sometimes, and this goes for your brother also, you
want to do the right thing so much that it clouds up your head."
Shunkaku didn't say anything, still musing over his thoughts.
Turning, but still facing the younger twin, the elderly lady bade
her farewell and good wishes, then walked out of the room.
*Could that be true?* Shunkaku thought to himself. *Aniki always
says that I have a good heart, and I know that he does.... And I also
know that aniki makes mistakes sometimes, too... just like I do. Could
it be because we only want to do the right thing?*
After thinking about it some more, Shunkaku decided that he liked
that explaination.
* * *
So it was set.
Nakago smirked as he watched from afar the twins getting ready to
travel again. He had left Yui-sama in the company of his newly shaped
Tamahome... just for a few days to test him out. After following this
legend of the seishi who served both Seiryuu and Suzaku, Nakago had
easily found out that they were twins- twins that served different sides.
This was a bonus he hadn't expected. It made his plans of
destroying the Suzaku even easier. With the bond that twins shared, even
twin who served different sides, they would be the easiest to manipulate.
Their love for each other, if it wasn't able to be twisted, would make
them do anything for the other. If he had one, then the other would fall.
Which meant that they would both have to serve him, Suzaku or not.
It made his plan a lot easier. He would switch them. Make the wrong
one go to the Suzaku no Miko. They were certainly alike enough to fool
even the Four Gods scroll.
If one failed, and the real one ran to the Suzaku seishi... then,
they wouldn't believe that he was the real seishi since they had already
seen him as a fake one.
It would be no touble making them do as he wished. It he could
convice Yui-sama to hate the best friend that she had since childhood,
then he could break the bond of twins which had been meant to be broken.
* * *
Soi cast a disguisted look as she pulled the hood over her head.
Lord Nakago asking her to befriend two twerps? Using her as a back-up?!
As much as she hated him for that, she found that the hate was not
very strong and lacked something. It seemed like she was forcing herself
to hate him for doing what he was doing to her. Sure, she didn't care
about being used, but she was insulted that he would use someone like
her as a *back-up*.
Especially to twist those little goody twins around. If those two
didn't trust Nakago, they had to trust her.
Which meant that she had to dress up as a village, and first gain
their sympathy by pretending to be with a tragic past.
*If they knew my real past,* she mused, *Tragic wouldn't even be
used to describle it!*
But for now, she was wandering around the camp of people from both
Konan and Kotou, both wanting to escape the civil wars. They were all
forelorn, as if fearing to hope, yet wanting to so much.
Taking a deep breath, she made her first move.
"Oh! Sorry!" The young boy which looked to be about fifteen said,
bending down to help her pick up the fruits that she had dropped. "I'm
very sorry, miss, I hadn't been watching where I was going."
She pulled her hood closer to her head, but smiled. "That's okay.
There's no harm done. I hadn't been watching where I was going either.
I guess the fault should be placed on me."
The boy looked up and gave her a brief smile, which she was shocked
to see, was more happy and hopeful than the entire camp combined. "The
fault's mine. I've been doing this a lot, lately. Or, that's what my
brother tells me."
"Oh!" Soi pretended to be thinking hard, "You much be the one of
te Bo twins! I've heard so much about you two. People say so much about
the two of you."
The boy faultered but for a moment, which ordinary people would not
have noticed. But Soi, being trained in the art that she was in,
noticed very easily.
"Then you much know me and by twin, Shunkaku." The boy said,
standing with her gather fruits and handing it to her to put back in her
basket. "But I'm afraid I don't know anything about you, miss...?"
"Roiu Misami," she replied quickly, wincing as she realized she
had no danger to be revealing her real name. Which was something she
should have done, of course, considering that she responded faster to
her real name.
"Miss Roiu. Pleased to meet you. I hope you see you around." The
boy's smile was genuine, and Soi wondered just where he got his
enthusiasum.
As the boy started to walk away, Soi wondered about what she
should do. She had to do something to make him less formal... it was
unnerving, really, to know that she would be shattering his trust soon
if he kept up this act of innocence.
"Oh, and Koutoku-san?" She called, not even turning. She could tell
that the older twin had turned when he heard of her call, wondering why
she was calling him.
She finally turned her head, and pulled down her hood as she did
so, giving him a small smile that, although not as genuine as his, was
enough to please Soi about her acting. "Just call me Misami."
Koutoku smiled, a confused smile that could be wondering whether
why she wanted him to be so informal, or how she knew his name.
Turning back again, she pulled over her hood and gave herself a
small amount of pleasure to know that she had pulled her first act off
perfectly. Within time, both twins would be too trusting of her to rely
on anyone else's word. She would lead them straight into Nakago's trap.
She smiled under the hood and pulled the feeling of cloth closer
to her face, brushing her hands into her coppery hair. Is she could not
seduce the older brother first.
* * *
Koutoku's smile faultered as soon as he turned away from the lady.
Misami, she had said. She didn't looke like a woman whose name Misami
would have suited her. She looked more hardened to be a delicate stream
of water, her eyes hiding something that gave her a mysterious, yet
dangerour look. He would have to be careful around her.
Realizing that he could not linger in thoughts like that, he stored
the knowladge to the back of his head. There would be preperations to
make as the group moved deeper into Konan. Although they were not being
followed by Kotou soldiers anymore, Koutoku got a strange, eerie feeling
whenever he stopped, saying that he should move on soon if he didn't want
something bad to happen.
"Aniki!"
Koutoku turned to see his twin catching up with him, looking like
he had just ran a long way.
"Aniki!" Shunkaku called again as he stopped running, his lungs
screaming for air. He had been on the lookout in the forest to assure
the villagers of safe passage.
"Shun-chan? Daijobu?" Koutoku asked as he leaned over to support
his brother, who seemed like he would collapse at any moment.
Shunkaku only shook his head as he heaved in breaths. "Hitori-san
was attacked... not Kotou soldiers..." he paused to breathe in deeply
as he slowly regained his breath. "There's bandits in the forest, aniki.
Bandits and bounty hunters who would give an arm or leg to find two
seishi, one of Kotou and Konan."
Koutoku tightened his jaw. "We've got to warn the villagers before
we go." He spoke, ignoring his own obvious danger. He looked at his
brother intently. "Go pack with the rest of the villagers, Shun-chan. I
want you to leave as soon as possible with the doctors. I'm going to
see if I can help with the children."
Shunkaku shook his head. "I'm going wherever you are, aniki."
Koutoku glared at his younger twin. "No, you're not. You're going
ahead to the capital of Konan to help plea for the safety of the people."
"Aniki! What would they think of a Seiryuu Seishi pleaing fot the
safety of the Konan people? They would think I was trying to play a joke
on them! Who knows what they would do. Who knows how they would treat
someone of the opposite side?"
Koutoku sighed. "We have only a few days'jouney to the capital.
If you want, you can stop in the city and wait for me to catch up. I'll
only be a few hours behidn you. I won't take long for me to pack."
Shunkaku took a deep breath, and then said strongly, "I'm going
back for Hitori-san. After that, we'll help move the people out of here.
I'll help Hitori-san out. He might want to be with his wife and children
so I'll stay behidn and help out."
Koutoku opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped him-
self. There was no way to stop Shunkaku when he had made up his mind.
"Alright then. I suggest we warn the villagers that we're being persued."
* * *
Soi could only watch as the villagers started packing, some calmly,
the most of them with a panicked gleam in their eyes.
There were children rushing around her, trying to find their
parents in the midst of all the people. They didn't concern her, though.
Children were people who would grow up to be the same people around her.
None of them were any different.
The people she was looking for were different, though. They were
chosen by Gods. Different Gods, yes, but Gods nevertheless. They were
too important to her plans to stay by Nakago for her to care what she
was going to do.
She had to delay them. Stall them and seperate them from the rest
of the group so that they would not be found by the Suzaku. Try to mix
them up about which God they had to help. Convice them that they Suzaku
were evil, and that they had to exchange places to teach the Suzaku
seishi a careful, painless lesson.
Yes, a lesson that shouldn't impact the Suzaku seishi too much.
Just probably destroy their chance at summoning the animal God.
End chapter 2.
Well, that was impulsive. I hadn't really thought about adding Soi into
this story. In fact, I don't know how this story would have turned out
anyway. I kind of let my fingers do the typing. ^-^ I never thought about
Shun-chan leaving, nor did I think of him trying to repair Miaka and
Yui's relationship until I wrote it down. Weird, ne?