Alright, this story had already been posted up before but then I took it down because in plain words...it sucked. Well, I thought it sucked. I eventually forgot completely about it untila reader asked about it so I decided to rewrite it completely. I hope it's better; well, the grammar and spelling mistakes is certainly much better. If anyone has read it before, then you'll notice that there are major chances in the plotline...mostly because I forgot what the original plot was...

That's it though...

Cold wind picked up around him, causing the hem of his long coat that seemed remarkably like a trench coat, to blow. He shivered from the frigid air around him, putting his arms around himself to try to keep warm, his teeth chattering and his lips starting to turn blue. No matter how much he tried, he just could not stay warm in this type of weather. He looked around the crowded street and stared almost jealousy at those people who wore so many layers of clothing that they must have been so warm – unlike him.

Hoping for at least a few moments for his body to defrost itself, he ventured into the ritzy hotel across the street, knowing that they must have the heater on. Sure enough, once he walked in, feeling started to come back to his limbs and he sighed gratefully, smiling at the warmth slowly coursing through his previously frozen body.

The hotel seemed to have some sort of big event going on and he went over to a large sign that had been placed in front of a set of double doors, where the event was to take place, he guessed. He was correct and on the sign, it read: Ten Year Anniversary of the Vanquishing – Banquet. He looked around at the fancily dressed people prancing around like it was a good day and he suddenly felt the urge to hit them, to scream at them. He gave them a look of disgust and left quickly.

It was not a happy day. Hell, it should not have been celebrated at all, especially in the form of a banquet or whatever they were holding in there! He raged to himself as he stormed down the streets, not caring if he knocked someone over. He had more important matters on his mind than to worry about some rich woman getting knocked flat on her ass. She was probably on her way to the hotel in the first place so she deserved it.

Ten years, he remembered. The sign in the hotel had said it was ten years ago. He could hardly believe that much time had passed since it happened. He could remember it all that clearly; it had started fourteen years ago; he was four then and he remembered sitting in front of the television with his siblings and parents one night when the news announcement came on. The government had found a man who displayed remarkable powers. Even then, he thought that it was really cool; he thought it was like those old comics, of X-men. It became more and more like the comics when more and more people were found to have these powers.

People were scared though; they were scared of these people with the strange powers that seemed inhuman simply because they could do things that no regular human could do. So they called for something to be done and in the process, the old government was completely eradicated for the one they had now. The new government extended to having top government officials from all over the world in one government; an oligarchy of sorts, but there was one person who got the final say for major decisions. They held a two day long meeting about the 'situation'. Then, they said it was for the 'good of the people', even as they massacred them all.

Suddenly, he felt his arm being yanked and practically growling, he turned around and he tried to calm himself, seeing the face of his best friend. Saihitei glanced at Ryuuen in concern, aware of what this day meant for the violet haired man. Well, the day meant a lot to him too, and none of it was good, but Ryuuen was much more affected by this day than he was.

He studied his friend, knowing something was amiss and he immediately pinpointed it when he saw the exhausted look in Ryuuen's eyes and he had to resist the urge to roll his own golden eyes, "Did you eat at all today?" he questioned, pulling on Ryuuen's arm to get him moving.

Ryuuen shrugged, "I think I had a sandwich…"

Saihitei raised a disbelieving eyebrow and Ryuuen hastily finished his sentence, "Last night…"

"Right, you're coming with me" Saihitei said firmly, leaving no room for any arguments, "And then you're going home. Rokou's been worried sick about you"

"Rokou's always worrying" Ryuuen pointed out, "Ever since we were children; he worried about you, me and –"

"And Kourin" Saihitei finished quietly.

"Exactly" Ryuuen nodded. Their food came and Saihitei kept a sharp eye on Ryuuen, just to make sure he ate rather than put the food in his napkin or something like he used to do when they were children and forced to eat vegetables. Saihitei almost chuckled at the memory of what Ryuuen's mother had to say about that. He never knew anyone could yell so much…

"I'm done" Ryuuen said pointedly, causing Saihitei to look down at his plate and when he saw that it was indeed empty, he nodded, "Good"

"You treat me like I'm a little kid" Ryuuen scowled.

"Only on this day Ryuuen, only on this day" Saihitei said solemnly, "Since you have a habit of not looking after yourself on this day"

"Oh and you don't?" Ryuuen shot back as Saihitei paid the bill, "If I remember right, that time we were ten, Rokou found you in the park just sitting on the bench – where you had been all day"

"I was thinking!" Saihitei protested.

"Sure you were" they walked in silence for a few moments, nearing the residential area of town, "…that was the first time that you started to really think about your brother wasn't it?" he asked quietly, wondering exactly why he chose to ask that question now, eight years later. Saihitei looked startled but nodded. By now, they had reached Ryuuen's neighbourhood and Ryuuen fumbled around in his many pockets for the key. Five moments of amused looks from Saihitei passed before the violet haired man found it. Seeing his friend's expression, Ryuuen shot him a dark look, "Not a word"

"Of course not" Saihitei said innocently.

Once the two stepped into the large house, Ryuuen found himself with a worried elder brother poking at him.

"Rokou!" Ryuuen protested, inching away from Rokou's arm. The blue haired man shook his head in exasperation, "I don't know how you ever find him Saihitei; I know I can never find him after he walks out of the house" he muttered darkly under his breath about brothers with disappearing abilities.

Saihitei smirked, "Don't you know Rokou? The only way to keep track of Ryuuen is to put a tracking device on him"

Ryuuen whirled around, sending Saihitei an accusing look, at which the long haired man simply laughed at. Rokou joined in not too long after and Ryuuen crossed his arms, sending the two of them a pouting look.

Rokou ruffled his younger brother's hair, "So how many people did you 'accidentally' hit in your anger today?"

"Quite a lot, since you were near where that banquet was to be held" Saihitei surmised.

"I didn't hit anyone!" Ryuuen shouted indignantly.

"Oh, so that woman I passed muttering about disrespectful hooligans was a figment of my imagination?"

"Well…" Ryuuen flushed, "Maybe one…"

The other two laughed at him and he looked down, slightly embarrassed. He always did have trouble controlling his strength.

"I hear there's a good horror movie on tonight" Rokou offered, changing the subject, "You staying over again Sai?"

Saihitei nodded, "Of course! Where else would I go today of all days?" he asked. Saihitei and Ryuuen ventured into the living room to find which channel was showing the movie while Rokou made popcorn. They had finally found the TV guide when the news broadcast came on, completely ruining their mood.

"It's a day to celebrate" the rather ditzy looking anchorwoman stated, "It was ten years ago today that the Forbidden were wiped off the face of this earth and we're now allowed to live peacefully. Today, at the celebration banquet, Seth Ithel made his yearly announcement to the people, talking of our successful vanquishing of those poor excuses for humans"

The scene shifted from the anchorwoman to a picture of a man standing in front of the podium. The man was young for a government official, much less their leader; he was most likely in his mid thirties and had a look about him that suggested that under his seemingly friendly smile, he was a cruel man. Well, Ryuuen already knew that; he was the one that ordered for the murder of tens of thousands, maybe millions of people after all. Nobody really knew, because those that could find out found it beneath them to do anything for the Forbidden.

Saihitei glared at the television, anger burning intensely in his eyes as he tried to find the remote and tried to block out the promising to be despicable speech.

" – ago, we have rid ourselves of those vile creatures known as Forbidden. We lived in a time of fear, when those who were found to be Forbidden endangered all of us, simply by existing, but they are gone now – and for that, today, we celebrate. We celebrate freedom, peace – "

The TV went blank as Saihitei clicked it off and Ryuuen glared darkly at the place where Ithel had been, "You forgot to mention murder, you heartless scumbag"

Rokou watched from the doorway as the two best friends sat on the ground, glaring at the television, both of them bearing an expression more frightening than anything Rokou had ever seen. It was cold hatred and Rokou, for the first time in his life, felt almost sorry for Seth Ithel. Almost. After all, if not for the man, his family would not be like this: broken, and instead of mourning on this day, they would be out there being normal teenagers.

Ryuuen looked up from his glaring to see his best friend glaring at the television also and his brother with a lost expression on his face, "One day, we'll make him pay Sai" he promised, jolting Saihitei out of his trance like state.

"We will" Saihitei agreed.

Genrou poked Kouji in the ribs, bored and wanting to get out of this stupid ceremony that they had been forced to attend by their school. Unfortunately, unlike most schools, they did not get the day off and was instead, forced to listen to old geezers give lectures about how lucky they were and what not. He yawned for what was probably the thousandth time since he had entered the auditorium half an hour ago.

"What'd you poke me for?" Kouji asked, yawning, "I was having a nice dream"

"Well, it could be, that I'm bored and fucking sick of listening to these stupid people talk" Genrou growled quietly.

"Then sleep" Kouji said pointedly.

"Well, if someone hadn't given me sugar this morning, I could" Genrou responded, glaring at the blue haired teenager. Although it did not look like it from appearance, Genrou and Kouji were brothers, both by blood and legally – well, at least by their father's blood, which was exactly why they were the same age.

"I'm sorry, but unfortunately, Hakurou is out of town and I don't trust Doukun's cooking skills" Kouji shuddered, "For a kid who's so smart, he's sure bad at cooking"

"Yeah…" Genrou's eyes widened with horror at the memory of the last time Doukun tried to cook for a project he had to do earlier on in the year, "But I'm still sick of this" he complained, "All these people talk about is the same damn thing. If I actually agreed with them, I probably wouldn't be so damn bored, but – "

He trailed off, settling for glaring at the stage. Kouji nodded in agreement, yawning again as the man up at the microphone continued to talk about 'for the good of the world' or whatever this one was saying. They all ended up saying the same thing in the end anyways.

"Why did we come to school anyways?" Kouji asked suddenly, jolting up, "It's not like Hakurou cares if we come today and he's not in town anyways"

"Well, I think we came to see if Dom and Faye were here, but then we got pushed along with the crowd in here"

Suddenly realizing that they could have left a long time ago, Kouji and Genrou exchanged sheepish looks before simply standing up and walking out the door behind them. Nobody really noticed, seeing as they had seated themselves in the last row, away from any teachers and the students did not dare tell on the two boys, who were quite scary when they were angry.

For once, it was peaceful in the house, Doukun noted as he looked up from his history book. He had a test tomorrow and it would simply not do for him to fail; he needed that mark to keep his average up. Unlike his brother, Genrou, he actually cared about his grades. Then again, Genrou somehow managed to get decent grades; how, Doukun could only fathom, although he suspected that it was due to having Kouji's help in class. Kouji could be unexpectedly smart at times and it was there, and in the eyes of course, that Doukun could see the family resemblance between himself and his eldest brother.

The phone rang, and Doukun muttered under his breath about people disturbing him constantly as he picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Err…Doukun?"

Genrou. Judging from his tone of voice, the middle brother of the Kou family had once again done something stupid.

"Yes, Genrou?" Doukun asked patiently.

"Is Hakurou home yet?"

"No Genrou, he's not due back until midnight"

"Oh…er…alright…"

"What's going on now?" he asked.

"Well…you see…Kouji and I…got arrested for public brawling?" Genrou asked in a small voice.

Doukun tried very hard not to lose his temper. He even counted to ten…five times. However, this was something that he found that he could not control his temper at.

"WHAT!"

He could imagine Genrou wincing on the other line, "Well, there were these fucking assholes in the street fucking talking about how it was a good fucking riddance for all the – you know – to be dead and we – "

Although Genrou could not see him, Doukun nodded, "I understand now; well, Hakurou's not home so he can't bail you out"

"Damn…" Genrou swore, "Well, can you find someone to come get us? We'd bail ourselves out if there wasn't that stupid law that said someone else had to come and get us"

Doukun sighed, "Fine"

He really could not find it in him to get angry at them, especially not after that reason. The Forbidden was a touchy subject for all three brothers although Doukun was the only one who could always managed to keep his anger in check. Then again, he had been three years old at the time so his memories of what happened were fuzzy at best. However, he had no time to reminisce about the past at the moment; Doukun grabbed his jacket and quickly ran across the street. He rang the bell for number 21 and waited not so patiently, hopping from foot to foot.

He was greatly relieved when he saw a pair of familiar blue eyes when the door opened. Not that he had anything against Ayuru, but Ayuru could sometimes make him feel so nervous, especially if he was in his scary and protective mode.

"Hi Dominique" he greeted one of his brothers' best friends, "I need your help"

Genrou sat against the cold wall, glancing at the bars that held him captive in the Teirou Police Department. True, it was only a holding cell, but it was a cell nonetheless and the fact that he had only been allowed a phone call four hours after being arrested pissed him off. It was not the fact, of course, that he had been forced to stay still, or the fact that the other guys who had gotten into a fight – who, he might add, had caused more damage to the public property than he or Kouji did. It was the fact that the only reason that they had been held in here that long was because he had gotten pissed off when those guys started saying how the dead Forbidden were 'good riddance'. It was because of the fact that he and Kouji were 'Forbidden sympathizing scum' that they were still in here.

He could only hope that Doukun had managed to find someone who could bail them out. As if sensing what he was thinking, the guard walked in, sneering at them, "Don't think you're getting out of here anytime soon"

"Shut yer trap" Genrou growled.

"I second that"

The guard's head whipped around so fast that Genrou began hoping that it would fall off. Unfortunately, it did not. The speaker was someone that Genrou knew very well and Genrou congratulated Doukun mentally for finding someone very competent to get them out. Even Kouji, in his rather concussion ridden state, could recognize that dark, wine red hair.

"Dominique!" Genrou called, grinning, grateful at seeing his friend.

"What are you doing back here!" The guard asked angrily, "You're not allowed back here missy!"

"I assure you, I am quite allowed, to retrieve those who I bail out" Dominique answered, biting back the smirk that threatened her calm exterior, something taught to her by her elder brother.

"Bail?" the guard's eyes widened, "You'd pay money to let this scum out!"

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you" Dominique snapped.

The guard's mind race. He had been so looking forward to give these two scum a good kick or two when the building emptied out; they deserved it, for standing up for those Forbidden.

"You – " he glared and rushed out to the front, intent on looking for any mistakes on those forms that were now required to be completed in order to bail someone out.

Dominique looked after him, "You know…I almost feel sorry for him" she commented, turning amused blue eyes to Genrou, "And how the hell do you always get into these messes?" she asked.

He shrugged, grinning sheepishly as she held up the cardkey that she had discretely taken off the guard when he had passed, "Why do you fell sorry for him?"

"Oh…I left Faye to sign the forms"

Genrou's eyes widened, "Are you insane?"

"Last time I checked…well, yes actually"

The door opened and Genrou dragged Kouji to his feet. Dominique rolled her eyes and helped support the blue haired man. They left the holding cell area and soon, reached the front of the building, where they were met with an amusing sight.

" – now, give me back that form…" the midnight blue haired girl said much too sweetly to be innocent of anything, especially since the guard from before was in a corner, shivering and muttering to himself, rocking himself back and forth as he did so. The guard shakily handed back the form and the girl wrote something on it before handing it to the receptionist who was shooting smug looks at the guard.

"Faye, all done?" Dominique asked.

"Yes" Faye said as she shot a scathing look at the guard, "Let's go. Doukun's waiting for these idiots…"

Once outside, she grinned at Genrou and Kouji, "That was fun…but Kouji, how the hell did you get a concussion – again?"

"I don't…remember" Kouji admitted. All he got from that was incredulous looks followed by a round of laughter from Genrou at his brother, who then informed him that some crazy woman in the crowd had started hitting Kouji over the head with her shopping bag. Kouji winced, wondering if maybe the woman had been shopping for bricks.

That's the first chapter. I promise it'll get more interesting later on...

Oh yeah, I don't think the capital of Kutou was ever mentioned in any of the character novels (unless it was mentioned in Nakago's and I forgot) so I'm making Teirou the name of the capital. Please review. Tell me what you think.