Sibling Rivalry



Disclaimer: Welcome to Disclaimers for Dummies, the lecture on writing an effective disclaimer without having to excessively use your cranial matter. Now, the first thing to do is state the series/book/other form of entertainment you are writing using the characters and/or plot lines of. For example, "Fushigi Yuugi". Then, write the disclaiming part. This can be either written as a statement of the true owner of the, keeping to the example, anime series ("belongs to Watase Yuu"), or simply using the statement "is not mine". Therefore, can anyone give me a good disclaimer?

Chibi Chichiri (no, I'm not calling him a dummy, he's just here because of my strange whims): Da! Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Watase Yuu no da!

Warnings: Sap attack! I was in the sappiest mood when I wrote this. Also an angsty Akira. Shounen ai, as well (as if you wouldn't expect it in a Tomo fic).

Oh, and Skipsida, this is for you. I wrote it for your birthday, but ff.n was down. Sorry. I hope you like it.



Akira, who hadn't slept at all after his rather massive realisation, put his black hairbrush down on the table next to his bed. His shoulder length blonde hair was rather shiny anyway, seeing as he had gone through it fifty- seven times and it hadn't even been knotted in the first place.

He was rather preoccupied, however. Nakago was all he could think about. He was a murderer, he was a man who had been broken in a million ways and turned into a monster. He, Akira, was a man who, by all accounts, had no concern for the rest of the world. He was as cold as ice, a person who was so cold he froze the people around him. Who could ever care for him? Who could he tell? Who would believe him? Why should he even tell anyone?

"I can't ignore it!" he yelled in his own language, losing control completely. The door opened slowly, and he saw Tobias standing there, wearing a worried expression and a towel around his middle. He had obviously only just taken a shower, his long hair was in a wet ponytail that reached his waist and water dripped down his bare chest. Tobias was slim, and his waist curved not unlike that of a woman. He flushed profusely when he saw Akira looking, and Akira turned away, sorry to embarrass his friend. But he couldn't help it, Tobias was perfect. He turned around again, and this time looked at Tobias' face.

Not much better. His eyes were like beautiful amber drops, now filled with an unreadable expression. Tobias' face was wet as well, and his high cheekbones were an addition to his almost feminine beauty. It was all Akira could do to stop himself touching the pale skin. He realised he had been looking too long for a second time, and turned away again.

"I'm sorry," he said, unable to find the words to describe exactly what he wanted to say. "You... are... beautiful." Tobias looked totally shocked. "Gomen," Akira said quickly. He had no idea why he said it, and had certainly never realised it before, but now he knew that was the truth. He couldn't look at that boy without an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.

For once, Tobias understood. He saw the look in Akira's eyes, and answered it with his own. He smiled, a true smile filled with happiness and love.

"So am I," he said. "And you're wrong, it's you who's beautiful." Tobias walked over to sit next to Akira, placing his arm around the teenager's waist. Akira, whose mind had obviously flown out the window, smiled and leant in, touching Tobias' lips briefly in a soft kiss. He pulled back, wondering why Tobias had not reacted.

Tobias had closed his eyes, and had a look of pure enjoyment on his face. It was clear he was too far gone to even do anything.

"Wonderful..." he said quietly. Then he shook his head, not to say no, but to clear his mind. "Now it's my turn." He carefully placed his lips on Akira's, and kissed him gently. Akira kissed back, completely taken in by the moment. His mind had gone blank. Suddenly, a thought dredged up, slipping through his sieve of bliss. He pulled away suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Tobias asked quickly. "Are you OK?"

"I don't deserve you. I'm a monster," Akira said in Japanese.

"I don't understand..." said Tobias. He was confused, and hurt. He wondered whether he had done something wrong. Akira seemed to catch the look, because he shook his head.

"No... not you..." he said.

"Not me? Then who?"

"Nakago," replied Akira, hate for himself in his voice.

"Nakago... who is Nakago?" asked Tobias. The name seemed very familiar. "Is he your..." Tobias couldn't even form the words.

"Boku wa Nakago," Akira said.

"You're Nakago? But you're Akira!" Tobias yelled. It wasn't his most intelligent moment.

"I am Nakago and Akira."

"How?" Akira gave him a blank look. Tobias frowned, and his face went back to the worried expression he had been wearing upon entering the room. "But... Akira... how can you be two people?"

Akira seemed to understand at least part of this. He smiled weakly at Tobias. It wasn't an expression of happiness.

"Tobias is Tomo," he said. Tobias blinked, Akira had called him that before.

"Who is Tomo?" he asked.

"You! You are Tomo, I am Nakago!" yelled Akira. He was getting stressed over the situation.

"We are Tomo and Nakago? I think... understand you now..." Tobias said. He was remembering a little. He remembered Tomo, the man that, as Akira said, he somehow was. The sad, confused young man, who had hidden behind a mask. A man who had, somehow, been a warrior for someone called Seiryuu. He remembered a little of Nakago as well, a manipulative, cruel man. The man he had loved. He'd always loved Akira.

"Wow... I was right."

"What?" Akira asked. "'Right'?"

"It's nothing."

"Oh... Tomo?"

"Don't call me that," Tobias said. Akira caught his tone, and gave him his best bemused look.

"Why?"

"Because I'm Tobias. Tomo... he's dead, and so's Nakago," Tobias said. Akira still didn't understand, so he grabbed his dictionary from the table, condemning himself for not having done so sooner.

"No... I'm not dead," he said eventually.

"No, Akira is alive, Nakago is dead. Don't you see?" Akira shook his head. Tobias pulled him close, and he didn't resist. "Look, would Tomo ever do this?" Tobias asked, as he held Akira. He was close to tears again.

"Boku..." Akira said.

"No, he wouldn't. Tomo was too afraid. Nakago would have hurt him badly. Now, that brings me to my other argument. What are you doing?" Akira translated this, and then spoke.

"I am... being held," he said.

"Yes. Would Nakago ever allow that to happen?" Akira looked at him, he didn't need the translation. He shook his head.

"Akira... I don't understand this. But you're not Nakago and I'm not Tomo. We're Akira and Tobias," said Tobias. A lone tear ran down his cheek. Akira wiped it away, and kissed him gently.



Mia, who had woken up to discover her brother had been up before her, cursed.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," she said to herself. She had wanted to get up early and see Akira before her brother. But Tobias' couldn't have been awake for long, so she hoped he hadn't reached the exchange student.

She went down the hallway, still in her pyjamas and fluffy pink slippers, brushing her hair as she went. She saw that Akira and Tobias were already in the dining room, eating. She glared at Tobias, and smiled at Akira.

"Hello Toby, hello Akira," she said. She intended to prove to Tobias that the talk they had had meant nothing, and their relationship would be the same as it always was. Tobias, however, didn't reply, he was staring happily into his bowl of cornflakes as though someone had hit him on the head too many times and knocked him silly.

"Hello Mia," Akira replied. He seemed a little out of it too, and his azure eyes had a strange expression in them.

"Hey, Toby, what's so interesting about your cereal?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh... nothing... I love Weetbix, don't you?" replied Tobias, still looking dazed. He raised the spoon to his mouth and missed, throwing cereal all over the wall.

"Um... no... and anyway, aren't you eating cornflakes?"

"Oh, I am too!" said Tobias, seemingly surprised. He cackled insanely.

"Right... gay freak," Mia muttered. Tobias ignored her, but Akira gave her a dirty look.

"What?" she asked him.

"You not say 'freak' to him," Akira said. Mia looked shocked.

"But... he is..."

"No... he is beautiful," said Akira quietly. Tobias kicked him under the table, red-faced.

"Shh..." he hissed. But it was too late.

"Oh... my... God!" Mia yelled. "Not you too!" Luckily, Mr and Mrs Henderson had gone out for the morning, or there would have been some explaining to do. Akira blinked, wondering why Mia was so upset. Tobias whispered something in his ear, which seemed to make him angry. Mia looked like she was about to faint. She looked angrily at Tobias. He gave her a pathetic attempt at an "I'm sorry" look. She, unable to control herself any longer, brought up her hand and slapped him painfully around the face. His head snapped back.

"You thief!" she yelled. "You stupid fag!" Tobias' eyes went wide. She'd never insulted him that badly before. Akira, on looking it up in his dictionary, gave her a furious glare, his icy eyes flashing.

"Shut up!" he yelled, pure anger evident in his voice. "Shut up, Mia!" Mia burst into tears, and ran to her room.



*Sorry,

Seiryuu Girl: Eventful chapter, ne? Well, I was really in a writing mood, and I hope it's OK. If it was too sappy or anything else, tell me.