Breaking Bonds

Breaking Bonds

A Boshi twins fic for the August

fyfanfiction ml challenge

Part 3

Upon leaving the Shogun's room, they were immediately led to the opposite wing of the palace and was shown their room. They hadn't been settled in long before there was a knock at the door and a servant came in bearing a tray of food and a message: Koutoku was to proceed to the Temple. The Shogun wanted to see him.

Much to Shunkaku's annoyance, Koutoku gulped down his food, barely even chewing it and with a quick apology, dashed out of the room, leaving his younger brother alone to sulk.

Koutoku had told him that the Shogun was a Seiryuu seishi. He felt a big lump rise up his throat then, his thoughts immediately going to his comrades.

Where are they? What could have possibly happened?

There had been no sign of a disturbance outside the palace walls, and this troubled him to no end. Koutoku on the other hand had seemed to have forgotten all about it already. Koutoku had also told him about his seishi name. His brother had asked him that from now on he be addressed by his seishi name. He had been very proud of it—the proof that he indeed served the miko.

Amiboshi. The name sounded odd to Shunkaku's ear and it rolled awkwardly off his tongue.

Amiboshi. Seiryuu seishi.

Shunkaku had shot a glance at his brother, watching him talk animatedly, and had felt a certain warmth spread on his chest.

At least he's happy. If aniki's happy, then I am too.

Well, he was happy--though not as much as his brother. One minor detail kept gnawing at him.

Suzaku seishi.

Shunkaku frowned. No. I'm not a seishi. I can't be. Not when aniki serves Seiryuu. He's here. And so am I. I won't let it get between us. Never.

He let out a long sigh. He had been about to roll on his side to try to sleep off his annoyance when there had been a sharp knock at the door. When he opened it, a sentry was standing outside. The man asked him if he was the brother of Amiboshi, and, when he confirmed it, he was told that he was to report to the barracks immediately. He was to be recruited into the royal army.

The royal army? To serve under the Shogun?

I'd sooner die, was his immediate reaction. Then remembering the situation he was in, he nodded and followed the guard resignedly.

That had been three hours ago and now he was back in the room. He had expected his brother to be back, but to his surprise, Koutoku still wasn't there.

Might as well rest a while… he though wearily. He rolled over to his side and closed his eyes.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, the door creaked open.

Shunkaku was awake instantly.

"Aniki?"

"Hai," replied his brother, who slowly entered the now dark room.

"Were you sleeping already?" Koutoku asked softly. He sat down heavily on the bed.

"Iie…" said Shunkaku as he sat up. He reached over to a small table by the bed and lit a lamp. The light flickered then slowly bathed the room with a soft glow. He turned back to his brother and his forehead creased with concern.

"What's wrong, aniki?"

Koutoku was looking out the window, a troubled look on his face. He slowly turned to Shunkaku.

"Shun-kun…" he began, his voice grim.

Shunakaku's heart sank. Bad news.

"…I need to leave you here for a while."

Shunkaku could only stare at his brother for a moment. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

Koutoku sighed. "The Shogu…Nakago has given me a task I need to do. I'll be leaving before dawn breaks. I…"

He started when Shunkaku's fist slammed down the table, making the lamp jump.

"No!"

"Shun-kun…?!" Koutoku stared at his brother in surprise. Shunkaku was standing now, his back to him. "I'm sorry, but…"

"No!" Shunkaku repeated, whirling around. "You will not leave me here! How could you leave me? Do you realize what lengths I've gone though just to be here with you? Don't you realize? Didn't it even occur to you that I might not want to leave Basara? I left people behind there. I've deserted them. Chama…Chou…I've let Tetsusou down! The man who took care of me for three years! Those three years that you were away! And I didn't even think twice when you asked me to leave them and go with you! And now you're telling me you're leaving again?!"

Shunkaku stopped, not being able to continue anymore. He was shaking with silent anger. Silence hung thick in the room.

Koutoku gave his brother a pained look.

"Shun-kun, I'm sorry but you must understand why I'm doing this. I haven't admitted this to myself until now. Please look at me. Shun…?"

Shunkaku had been standing rock still, facing away. But then, he slowly, grudgingly turned to his brother.

When Shunkaku was looking at him, Koutoku hung his head and looked at the floor. "You don't know how much I hate doing this. Leaving you. To tell you the truth, I've been selfish. I've always told myself I'm doing this because I have the people's best interest in mind. But that isn't it at all. At least that's not the main reason."

He looked up at Shunkaku, his eyes a mixture of guilt and sadness.

"I'm doing this because I want us to be together. Always. I want us live in a place where we don't have to worry about war and death. I'm doing this because I want to get tousan's voice out of my head. I promised. I promised him I'd take care of you. I promised him we'd go and fulfill our destiny and that we'd find the miko. I always thought that the sooner we did it--the sooner I fulfilled that promise--then the sooner we get can get away from it. Then it'll be just us. Then we can do whatever we want. Just you and me."

Prolonged silence.

Shunkaku coughed and shuffled his feet. Koutoku was quiet. Finally, Shunkaku turned to his brother, shamefaced. "Aniki…I'm sorry about what I said…"

"Iie…don't apologize. You were right. I'm glad you said it. I shouldn't have forced you to come. But still…Shun-kun, you're also a Guardian. Remember that."

Shunkaku swallowed hard then said, "I know...I'm sorry I said it. I just wanted to make you feel bad. You know I'd go anywhere with you, aniki. I…" Shunkaku paused. Then his eyes brightened. "That's it! I'll just…"

Koutoku immediately shook his head. "No. Don't say you'll come with me because you can't." He gave his brother an apologetic look. "I'll be heading for Konan and I can't bring anyone with me." He motioned for Shunkaku to come closer.

"See here?" Kotouku raised the left sleeve of his shirt.

Shunkaku paled. "What is that?"

On his right arm was a kanji symbol. The symbol of chiao or the horn. "From now until the right time comes, I will be the seventh Suzaku seishi--Suboshi." Koutoku's expression suddenly grew somber. "I was ordered to deal with the Maiden of Suzaku."

Shunkaku felt an odd stirring in his chest. "You mean kill her?"

Koutoku nodded gravely. "It has to be done." A pained look crossed his face. "I would have done it differently. But Nakago said it's necessary. And he said the Maiden wishes it so."

Shunkaku raised an eyebrow. "It's the Maiden's wish?"

"Hai. So you see, I have to do it."

Shunkaku grew silent. Koutoku waited for him to say something more, but he didn't. Instead, he got into bed, turned on his side--away from Koutoku, and closed his eyes.

Koutoku watched him and sighed. He knew his brother understood, but he also knew Shunkaku liked to sulk. This made him smile for a moment. At least some things never changed. And he knew that he could always count on his brother to be predictable. He was glad of it. It made things easier for him for Shunkaku to still be very much a kid at heart.

Putting out the lamp, he settled down beside Shunkaku, facing him. He stared at his brother's back for several minutes trying to see if Shunkaku would turn. He didn't. Letting out a long breath, Koutoku turned away, intent on catching a few precious hours of sleep.

His eyes had been closed for several minutes when he heard a voice whisper, "Oyasumi."

Koutoku opened his eyes and smiled.

"Oyasumi, Shun-chan."