*sweatdrop* Yes, Nuriko is my favorite character! But I just love the 
twins too much, I guess. ^_^;; I like Amiboshi better, but I love the 
both of them. They have interesting characters, so sue me! I've even 
gotten to the point when I can tell which twin is which by looking at 
them!! Eh! What's happening to me?!

Summory: I'm just playing God. What if Amiboshi's wish came true? The one 
thing he wished for aloud in the series... but things aren't as happy as 
they seem. Oh, for those who doesn't know, I'm using the twins' REAL 
names, and not their seishi names. 

Warning! I am COMPLETELY ignoring what happened in Ryuuseiden! Most of 
the people haven't read that book yet... -_-;; but when they do, I just 
wanted them to know. None of that happened (Well, except the parents 
getting killed thing) and I rewrote all of that! ^_^ Just tellin' ya.
The twins stayed TOGETHER.

Note for those who don't know: Ryuuseisui means "shooting star spindle". 
It took me a while to get that one... >_<;;


Wishful Thinking: Preface
by: Shamera


"Aniki!"

Bu Koutoku looked over his shoulder to see his twin, Shunkaku, waving at 
him eagerly in the lake. The two boys had been traveling for a while now, 
and Shun had been dying to do something other than walk.

"Aniki! There's so much water!" Shun was laughing as he splashed around, 
playing with the water that had been so precious to them before. The 
younger twin was practically squealing with delight at the shiny surface 
of the liquid.

Koutoku gave his brother a small smile as he waved back, not answering. 
There was work to do, clothes to wash in the water, and food to gather. 
And it had to be fast if he was to loose the people that had been 
following him. Shun-chan hadn't noticed, but Koutoku had seen a few men 
at the last three villages they had been. It was unnerving, actually, 
how the men had once sent murderous glances the twins' way. Actually, 
just towards Koutoku's way. 

"Aniki!" Shunkaku sounded annoyed now, "Why aren't you answering?"

But Koutoku was too scared to answer. He had been scared the entire trip 
out of the last village. He and Shun were only twelve, yet they had lived 
on their own for years. There was work to do... no time to play at the 
moment. 

He continued to clean the fruits he had gathered with a small cloth, 
pretending that he hadn't heard his twin. Food to gather, clothes to 
clean....

A face appeared before Koutoku as he walked down the lake to see if 
there were any edible plants there. Shunkaku had a small frown on his 
face, his expression different than when Koutoku was annoyed. Even so, 
the Elder sibling could tell Shun-chan was worried.

"You're so quiet today, aniki." Shun was saying. He had his hands on his 
hips, a very cute gesture from the pre-teen, one that made him look 
younger than he was. "And you look scared, too... ano... are you okay? 
You're not sick, are you?" Shun looked very worried when he said the last 
statement. It had always been him who was sick, and not his aniki. He 
wouldn't know what to do if aniki was sick...

"I'm fine, Shun," His aniki said with a gentle smile. Aniki was always so 
gentle... it was strange to believe that Shun, who was always the 
energetic one, was always the sicker one. Aniki was rarely ever sick, 
even though he seemed tired all the time. "I guess I'm just hoping we can 
catch up to the next village before the end of the day."

Shunkaku creased his brow. "But we barely left the last village this 
morning, aniki," he pouted. Getting to another village before sunfall 
meant hours and hours of walking, and walking, and walking.... he knew 
that as soon as the sun set, they had to stop traveling in fear of wild 
animals in the dark. Somehow, aniki could always keep the animals away 
with his flute, but its music scared Shunkaku. He liked it better when 
aniki was playing his music so that Shun could go to sleep.

Koutoku gave his younger twin an apolopetic look. "I'm sorry, Shun, but I 
just have a very bad feeling about this forest." Well, it wasn't exactly 
a lie. Even though he was already hopping from one foot to another in 
nervousness. 

Shun frowned. Okay, he could accept that... but aniki had been acting 
weird for the last few days already. He never had any time to play with 
him...! It was frustrating, how aniki would finish something, and then 
move on directly to another, never giving his younger twin a second 
glance. 

Sure, Shunkaku had chores too... and he helped his aniki a lot, but he 
liked playing between the times when they HAD to do something. He was a 
kid, too! He didn't want to grow up so fast...

Koutoku gave a smile and a brief hug to his brother, promising to play 
with him in the next village, and then trotted over to the bushes that 
grew near the river to look for berries. They still had some money from 
him playing the flute in town, but that wasn't enough to everything that 
he and his brother needed. They still needed to pay for somewhere to 
sleep as well as new clothes. Food was something that they could gather, 
and not have to buy.

Besides, he had gotten otooto-chan a Ryuuseisui. He had wanted one so 
badly, and he wasn't the type to want too many things. Why not? 
Shun-chan had been very helpful... although he still couldn't play the 
flute, and Koutoku glared at him when certain words were said to vent 
the frustration, he understood. It was okay if Shun didn't know how to 
play. He was helpful in his very own way.

He still remembered the glee on his twin's face when he found out. 
Shunkaku had been practicing the toy constantly, never able to get it to 
work, but not trying up. Koutoku had long ago stopped trying to figure 
out just how the thing worked. But if Shun wanted to learn his way, his 
aniki wasn't going to stop him.

Meanwhile, Shunkaku had considered playing in the water, which was 
something that he did very rarely, or help his aniki, which was something 
he did everyday.

Breathing out a frustrated sigh, the poor boy went over to the small 
packs that he and his aniki had. There wasn't a lot, just some extra 
clothes, a bit of food, and the Ryuuseisui that his brother had given 
him. Of course, aniki always had his flute with him. 

Shunkaku winced as he remembered when he had tried to take aniki's flute 
away from him. It was just that it had been the last time he and aniki 
argued. Well... not really argue, it was more like aniki being angry with 
him. It was the last time they disagreed, and the first time that aniki 
had gotten angry and him.

It was just that Koutoku was always practicing on his flute! He did it 
on his free time, of course, just like Shunkaku played on his free time. 
But then, Shunkaku didn't have anyone to play with on his free time if 
aniki was always playing his flute. It was just not fair, so he had taken 
the flute one day, hoping that aniki would think he lost it.

Too bad Koutoku knew exactly what happened to his flute. It was scary, 
aniki angry at him. Koutoku wasn't usually angry. In fact, he was very 
rarely angry. Very few things made him angry. Guess taking the flute was 
one of them.

Shun sighed a bit as he rummaged through their things, his hands pulling 
the Ryuuseisui out. Where was that bag that aniki used to keep the 
berries?

Before he could find it, he noted a shadow overlapping his own. Freezing, 
Shun's eyes widened. The shadow was huge, and he didn't know who was 
behind him... hadn't he and aniki been the only ones in the forest?

But the shadow was only close to him... the man the shadow belonged to 
seemed to be moving away from him. That meant no harm, hoping just other 
wanderers passing by. But... you could never be too sure. Shun breathed 
a sigh of relief, but turned as silently as he could, glad that aniki had 
left the packs nearly under a bush. Perhaps it was only because they 
hadn't seen him....

Eyes automatically pinpointing where Koutoku was, Shunkaku looked over to 
the big man who had startled him so. There was...

"Aniki! No!"

Koutoku turned at his brother's voice, his eyes concerned. 

Because of the sudden movement, the sharp stick that the man had been 
holding skimmed Koutoku's shoulder, tearing the shirt, but only 
scratching the skin a bit. Koutoku turned fully at the unexpected pain, 
shock evident in his face. He dropped and rolled away from the man as 
fast as possible.

Shunkaku looked on in horror, trying to get his legs to move so that he 
could go help his brother. Before he could do so, he felt a hand cover 
his mouth tightly, and another one going around his waist, trapping his 
arms. His eyes widened, and he tried to scream.

"No need for that, lil' boy." He heard a deep, snickering voice from 
behind him. "Don't worry, you won't be harmed. Just need to get rid of 
the f*cking Suzaku, that's all." There was a deep laughter that followed 
that.

Shun didn't hear what the man said, rather concentrating on escaping to 
get to his brother. He struggled violently in vain, not able to overpower
the bigger man.

"Donno what a Suzaku's doing in Kotou." The man continued, ignoring 
Shunkaku's struggles. "Damnest thing ever."

Between Shunkaku's struggles, and Koutoku's frantic dodging, no one was
really noticing when the Ryuuseisui besides the small packs began to 
rise without anyone holding it. It seemed a little shakey, acting like a 
puppet whose strings had been cut. But the twin balls soon rose into the
air and began spinning on its own accord, slowly but steadily. 

The other twin was doing less than well. His flute had been knocked away
from him as soon as he got it out, and his symbol had been revealed. It
was strange, Koutoku had always thought, that he had a red symbol while
he was born in Kotou... He knew the legend about Seiryuu no Miko, but 
didn't know if there was one that was the same in Konan about Suzaku no
Miko. It seemed a possibility.

He got up to his feet shakily as the dark man laughed. 

"You don't think you can escape me, do ya, ya damn Suzaku?"

With that, the man lunged at Koutoku, a dagger in his hand.

"Don't touch aniki!"

A spinning Ryuuseisui that looked awfully familar slammed into the man's
head, knocking him unconcious on the ground. The Ryuuseisui was swerving
like crazy, unable to control itself, but it was still dead on target.

Shunkaku's eyes were wide. Wow! That was what the Ryuuseisui could do? 
But as his thinking got through the basic survival instancts, the 
weapon started to dropped to the ground. 

Oh no, oh no! This couldn't happen! Shunkaku struggled in the man's 
grasp, finally finding the courage to bite the hand's hand... HARD. 

"OW! Ya lil' *brat*!!!" The man howled as he dropped the younger twin, 
leaving him bouncing to a stop on the ground. The man clutched at his 
hand, trying to stop the bleeding, and cursing violently. 

Shunkaku gritted his teeth hard as he hit the ground hard. Sure, he had
not been dropped from any distance, but he had intinctively curled up
into a fetal position as he fell, making the length longer.

Koutoku was already racing towards his younger twin, flute in hand. He 
seemed to try and ignore the other man who was lying on the ground 
silently. 

"Leave Shun-chan alone!" Koutoku shouted, coming to a stop before Shun.

Shunkaku had done the only thing he could and had rolled away from the 
angry man, right behind his brother, who stood in front of him in good 
measure, face determined as he raised his flute to his lips.

Koutoku blew into the flute softly, making sure that Shunkaku had already
covered his ears so the music wouldn't hurt him. The furious man who 
was sent by whoever to kill the boys narrowed his eyes as the two young
boys stood in front of him rebelliously.

Suddenly, the music came out. The man screamed without shame, for he 
felt as if his head was being blown apart. 

Using his given power, the symbol on Koutoku's arm appeared, as it 
usually did when he was playing his flute. Because of the torn shirt, 
however, it was now visible to everyone around. 

Shunkaku, who hadn't seen the symbol before, widened his eyes, realizing
exactly why the two men wanted to kill his brother now. 

After merely moments, the man covered his ears as tightly as possible 
and sent a deadly glare Koutoku's way before running into the surrounding
forest.

* * *

The two boys sat down in a heap in the room that they had rented. It 
took about eight hours, but the boys had skipped everything after the 
incident and packed up, running the entire way to the next town. At 
least in town, there would be people who would stop men from trying to 
kill or kidnap two young boys. 

The sun was setting outside, the view from the window quiet dazzling. 
The candle had already made its way into the room, lit and flickering 
occasionally. 

The two boys were silent, having not said a word from after what had
happened that day. They both looked down on the ground guiltily. 

"Aniki..." Shunkaku tried, looking up at his brother. Then, he froze
and looked down back on the ground, silent once again. He gave a little
sigh, not wanting to start the conversation first, no matter how much 
he wanted to talk to his aniki about this. 

Koutoku was just staring at the ground, pretending that he hadn't heard
his younger twin. His eyes stayed focused on the wooden ground which 
they had used up a fair amount of money on. 

"Shun-chan," Koutoku said quickly, the work itself making Shunkaku's 
head snap up with wide eyes, wondering what his twin was about to say.
"I'm..." his voice felt drained for some reason. Swallowing hard, he 
tried again. "I'm sorry... for not telling you before."

Shunkaku looked at his aniki sadly, his mirror image. Who, currently, 
had his head bent at an angle which made his bangs cover his eyes. 

"I was worried. When I first discovered the symbol, I thought that 
Seiryuu wanted me to protect his Miko... but I realized that there was
something wrong with the color. Seiryuu was blue... and only Suzaku 
was red in color." Koutoku shifted his feet uneasily.

"You still could have told him, aniki." Shun-chan accused, his voice 
light. Yes, he was angry with aniki for not telling him, but he knew 
that aniki was only trying to protect him, so the anger had drained 
out many hours ago. He could never stay angry at aniki.

"I know." The response was soft.

"Because... what I discovered today..." Shunkaku bit his lip. "When I 
saw the symbol on you, and discovered what I could do with the Ryuuseisui
there... I found a symbol, too."

Koutoku's head snapped up sharply, giving Shunkaku a clear view that 
there were tears swimming in his brother's eyes. When Koutoku realized
that Shun was seeing that, he quickly wiped the tears away. 

"A symbol? You too?" Koutoku breathed.

Shunkaku nodded, but not in joy. Pushing up his sleeve, he revealed a 
symbol on his shoulder, just like his brother. Except... all except 
for the fact that... the symbol was blue. 

"I discovered it on the run." Shunkaku explained, seeing the tears once
again cloud his twin's eyes. Even he was choking on the strange and 
salty water. "After I remembered that I hadn't even touched the 
Ryuuseisui to make it attack the other man, I saw the symbol. I realized
what it was too soon."

Seeing no visible response from his twin, Shunkaku leaned over and 
hugged his brother around the waist tightly, shutting his eyes in hopes
of closing out all the impending demons. 

Koutoku was frozen, torn between comforting Shun-chan and just getting
up and walking out of the room. After a few moments of staying in the 
same position, Koutoku relaxed, and put his arms around his younger 
brother's shoulders. "It's okay, Shun-chan," he soothed, not sure if 
the words were meant to calm himself or his twin. "If neither of us 
takes sides, they can't force us away."

"But..." Shunkaku shook his head furiously at the thought of being taken
away from his brother. "Seiryuu and Suzaku are enemies!"

"Then," Koutoku took a deep breath as his mind was made up. "We'll make
peace with them both. But until then, we can look for a town to stay in
at the border, so that each of us still represents the same. Besides,"
Koutoku smiled as he thought of it, "It'll be a little too far for the 
civil wars to follow us. There'll be people there who are friends with 
both Konan and Kotou citizens."

Without loosening his grip, Shunkaku opened his eyes and looked up at 
his aniki, who was smiling down at him. Seeing that his aniki was 
satisfied with the idea, Shun nodded.

"Then as soon as possible, we'll head for the border." Koutoku said 
with a smile for his twin, resting a hand on his hair. 

Shunkaku nodded again, and fought an impending yawn.

Koutoku laughted. "...after we get some rest."

Shunkaku just grinned sheepishly. This would be the start of a new life
for them, if they didn't have to travel so much. To stay in one town 
for as long as the respective Miko arrives. Whenever each one does. 
Then the other would wait until their duty was done, and get back to 
their own life.

They didn't know just how many pieces that dream would shatter into.




End Preface