Hi, pple. This is a rather pointless fic about my favourite siblings, Keikoku and Shinrei. It's meant to portray the way they both squabble and fight, but still care for each other. Do read and enjoy it!
It's My Life
"Keikoku!"
The whole of the Mibu village seemed to shake under the roar that echoed through the air. Citizens peered around nervously and wisely retreated back into their houses to wait out the upcoming storm. Everyone had reason to fear, for everyone had recognized that voice. And well… when the brothers fought, they didn't always care what got in their way.
"Keikoku!"
Up in the palace, Shinrei stormed into his half-brother's room and was infuriated to discover that it was empty.
"Where are you, you ingrate!" Furious by now, he spun around and thundered down the corridor to his room. Sometimes, especially late at night, Keikoku would get lost and be unable to locate his room. In those cases, he would retreat to the nearest room available, which was usually one of the rooms belonging to the members of the Goyousei.
"Keikoku!" He threw open the door to his room and glared angrily at the empty bed. "Are you in here?" Just in case, he decided to check the ceilings. Once, when Shinrei had been asleep on his bed, Keikoku had suddenly fallen on top of him from the ceiling, which he had mistaken for the bed. The ingrate had then demanded that Shinrei get out of "his" room.
Today, he was not there.
Tired, but still in a rage, Shinrei stomped out into the corridor. "Keikoku!" he yelled, ignoring the people who were now staring at him, "You have so better turn up for the afternoon training, considering the fact that you've just missed your morning training, or I'll personally hunt you down and douse you with so much water that you've be permanently wet! Do you hear me, you imbecile! Do you?"
Sighing, part of his anger spent, Shinrei turned and started walking down the corridor, suddenly highly conscious of the fact that in his hunt for Keikoku, he had missed most of his morning training as well.
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On the highest balcony accessible to members of the Goyousei, Hotaru sat, his legs swinging uncaringly into the space below him as he stared at the sky blankly. Somehow, he knew he was forgetting something, but he could not remember what it was. Not that he cared. If it was important, Shinrei would remind him, and his half-brother hadn't turned up yet.
Well… he did vaguely hear Shinrei's voice yelling his name, but he could always wait until Shinrei physically locate him. Then of course, there would be the customary exchange of insults, which was fun… and then the fights which were even more fun… but that was for later.
Right now, he would concentrate on staring at the clouds. He liked days like this when the skies were a brilliant blue, and the clouds were so white and solid they looked like whipped cream.
Not that he liked whipped cream. In fact, he really didn't like it because he always got some on his nose when he ate it, and Shinrei would yell at him for hours on the importance of appearance. Despite the fact that ninety percent of what Shinrei said never got in, getting a six hour long lecture because of whipped cream took all the pleasure out of eating it. He didn't care about appearances anyway – there were more important things to think about. Like…
Ooh… that cloud looks like a bear eating strawberries.
Or is it raspberries.
No… it was blueberries, definitely.
On the other hand, it could be mushrooms shaped like blueberries.
Mushrooms are delicious.
What was he thinking about in the first place?
Oh well… it didn't matter. The skies were nice, and there was a breeze that was not too cold… and the weather was not humid… oh, not to mention that he was all alone, so he was feeling reasonably contented at that moment.
"Hey, Keikoku."
"Eh…" Hotaru stared blankly at the person behind him for a long, long while.
"I'm your sensei, baka," the person sighed, lightly punching Hotaru in the cheek.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"I'm Yuan."
"Oh… hi." Hotaru waved limply before turning back to stare at the clouds.
Yuan stomped twice on his disciple's head before flopping down on the floor next to him. "Stare at the sky too long and you'll go blind."
"Ok, I'll take note of that."
"…"
"What was I supposed to take note of again?"
Yuan groaned and flopped onto his back, his hands cupping the back of his head. "When are you going to develop a brain, Keikoku?"
"…"
"I wasn't expecting an answer, baka."
"Oh… you could have said so."
"Stupid."
Hotaru folded his legs to his chest and stared at a particularly mesmerizing cloud. "What are you here for, Yuan? Did you get lost too?"
"So that's what you're doing up here," Yuan chuckled, "No, I'm not lost. I'm not as dumb as you are."
"…"
"…"
"I'm not dumb."
Yuan laughed and sat up again. "I'm here, baka, to tell you that Shinrei is looking so hard for you he's probably burst a couple of veins by now."
"…"
"You missed your morning training, and your afternoon training is half-way through already."
"Oh… well… ok."
"Oh yeah… and Saisei's worried about his blood pressure, so she begged Taihaku to beg me to locate you with my 'eyes'."
"Oh…"
"That's right."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"I'm here to drag you for training, baka."
"Ah…"
"…"
"Tell my trainer that his lessons are boring so I'm not going."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Oh… Yuan is my trainer."
"Baka!" Yuan leapt to his feet and pulled Hotaru's ear roughly. "To training, now!" Still grinning, he began to drag Hotaru by his ear as he skipped down the stairs.
"But I don't want to…" Hotaru mumbled as he got dragged down the stairs.
"Why not?" Yuan laughed, thoroughly enjoying himself, "I thought you wanted to be strong."
"But I only want to do what I want to do…" Hotaru mumbled some more, his limbs flopping limply.
"Whatever for?"
"Because it's my life."
Yuan stopped, standing halfway down the stairs, his fingers still clutching Hotaru's ear.
"Yuan?" Hotaru mumbled.
"You know your own mind, don't you?" Yuan said, a half-smirk on his face, "Fine. Since you actually managed to hold a rather normal conversation with me today, I shall let you off from training."
Hotaru rubbed his ear as he sat up on the stairs. "What are you going to tell Shinrei?"
Yuan paused. "That you're sick."
"… Sick?"
"Yeah… eh… fell asleep in a bathtub and got sick…"
"Shinrei would have checked all the bathtubs."
"Not Tokito's."
"…"
"One of the Taishirou. The tiny one with the evil smirk?"
"…"
"Never mind. Go back to whatever you were doing."
"Ok."
Hotaru wandered back onto the balcony as Yuan trotted away to lie to Shinrei. Flopping back down again, he stared at the sky. The clouds were moving faster – apparently a storm was coming up.
He didn't like storms at all… well… he didn't like the rain, but he liked the lightning. It always reminded him of the clash of swords in battle.
Oh… he liked battles, that was true, but more than that, he loved winning battles – even those that didn't involve fighting.
What was he supposed to be doing again?
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Shinrei looked left then right as he quietly sneaked down the corridor. Generally, he hated doing underhand things, but to carry out what he wanted to do next in the open would have embarrassed him beyond words.
And that was coming from a man who exchanged insults with his half-brother in public.
Shinrei smiled a rather wryly smile. Trust Keikoku to be the one to bring out the childishness in him. Perhaps, that was what it meant to be real brothers – to bring out the worst in each other.
Not that they were real brothers of course. Half-brothers didn't count as real brothers, as far as he knew.
He had to concentrate on what he was doing now.
"I have to be spending too much time with Keikoku for my mind to wander like this," he muttered as he sneaked towards the door.
He reached out a hand to push the door open.
"Shinrei? What are you doing outside our room?"
Shinrei froze as Saishi and Saisei walked up behind him.
"Oh… n… n… n… nothing."
"Did you need something?"
Shinrei frowned. He hated it when they talked at the same time. "No… well… actually… yes… eh… well…"
"Is that a yes or a no?"
He sighed. "Yeah, it's a yes."
And he told them what he needed.
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Hotaru stood in the room, looking around carefully. He touched the table, rubbing the wood with his fingers. He opened the drawers and stared at their contents curiously. He sat on the bed and poked it with one finger.
Confirmation. This was probably his room.
Not that he knew. All the Goyousei members had similar rooms.
Whatever the case, the bed was comfortable and warm, and he was going to sleep right away.
Oh… there was the evening training… but Yuan had said that he had let him off all day.
Or had he?
Oh well, not that he cared. Flopping down on the bed, he curled up on his side, one arm tucked under his head and closed his eyes.
The next thing he knew, something hard made contact with his head.
"Ouch." He clumsily sat up and stared at the bottle on the bed next to him. "Why did you hit me for, bottle?"
"Oh for heaven's sake."
Hotaru looked up at the figure standing next to his bed.
"Oh… hi, Shinrei. Did you throw the bottle at me?"
"Oh no, it just fell from the sky."
"Oh, I see."
Shinrei groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Of course I threw it at you, baka!" he snapped.
"Oh. Are you looking for a fight? Let's fight."
"I have no intention to fight a sick man," Shinrei snapped, settling down near the table, "Lie down and rest, baka."
"What are you doing in my room?"
"It's my room, but since you're sick, you've better stay put instead of moving back to your room."
"Oh."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"I'm sick?"
Shinrei groaned again and pulled out a random book from under his table. "Yes, you're sick, baka. Yuan-sama told me about how you fell asleep in Tokito-sama's bathtub. You are so lucky Yuan-sama found you or you would have been killed by Tokito-sama. He's surprisingly shy about the seeing guys without their clothes on." He flipped open the book – it was on the history of Mibu.
Hotaru felt his forehead curiously. "I don't feel sick."
"You are."
"Am not."
"Are to."
"Am not."
"Are… oh whatever." Shinrei put the book down again. "That bottle there's cold medicine. Take some. Saisei says it works very well on fire-users like yourself."
"I'm not sick," Hotaru repeated then paused, "You got this for me?"
Shinrei turned an unhealthy shade of red. "Well… I did spend the whole morning cursing you for not turning up for training… and well… it's to make up for cursing you when this time you had a good reason for not turning up."
Hotaru paused and stared at the bottle. There was a cute little bunny printed under the label which somehow reminded him of his rice bowl at Yuan's house with the chicken printed on it. Without hesitation, he pulled out the cork and drank a mouthful.
"It's disgusting."
"So sue me. It's good for you."
"It's still disgusting."
"I didn't make it."
"It tastes like horse pee."
"Save me the details, baka… How on earth do you know what horse pee tastes like?"
"I can't remember."
"Oh god, please don't tell me you've drank horse pee before."
"I must have."
"Oh god… you are so not my…"
"… Your?"
"Nothing."
"What?"
"I said nothing."
"No, there was something."
"No… I don't have the energy for this." Shinrei climbed to his feet again, dusting his clothes meticulously. "I'm going for my evening training right now. You go do what you're best at, and if you feel better in the morning, you've better turn up for the morning training."
"Oh." Hotaru stared at the bottle again. "Shinrei… why are you always so concerned about whether I go for my training or not?"
"You need to be at your best to defend the Mibu clan. And…"
"And?"
Shinrei turned around and stalked towards the door. "And if you don't train, we'll never be able to find out who's the stronger warrior between the both of us."
Leaving the room, he walked down the corridor, a tiny part of his mind still worrying about leaving someone as blur as Hotaru alone when he is sick.
"Hey."
Shinrei jumped and stared. "What're you doing up? I told you to go and rest."
"I'm going for my evening training."
"No you're not. You're sick."
"I'm going."
"No you're not."
"Am to."
"Are not."
"Am to."
Are not."
"You'll get even more sick."
"I'm not that weak."
"That's what you think."
"I'm not weak."
"You'll puke all over the place."
"Will not."
"Baka! Get back to bed right now!"
"Will not."
"Go before I get pissed!"
"I'm not afraid of you."
"Why do you always do the exact opposite of what I tell you to do?"
"It's my life, not yours. I can do what I want with it."
"Keikoku!"
"Bring it on."
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Behind the pillar, Yuan smirked at the sound of swords clashing. "Have fun, boys," he murmured as he wandered towards Fubuki's room, wondering what excuse he could give to explain Shinrei's absence during training.