The Power of Goodbye
These characters are the property of Watase Yuu and Fushigi Yuugi. In no way do we claim them as our own. Please don't sue us, we don't have any money anyway.
Shunkaku sat up with a slight gasping cry, his blood pounding in his ears. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then, as usual, his twin was at his side.
"You okay, Shun-chan?" Koutoku asked.
Shunkaku managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm all right. Just . . . the nightmare. Again."
Koutoku sat down beside his brother and put an arm around his shoulders. "The same one as always?"
Shunkaku nodded. He rubbed his face with the heel of his hand and asked quietly, "Why did it have to be that way, Aniki?"
Koutoku sighed and hugged his brother fiercely. "I don't know, Shunkaku. I really don't."
Shunkaku leaned his head against his brother's chest and let a few tears out. He hated showing weakness to anyone, but somehow it never mattered with his twin. Koutoku knew him inside out, backwards and forward, better than anyone. Koutoku already knew his weaknesses, so it didn't matter. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to will away the images of blood and death. Koutoku ran a hand through his twin's hair, whispering soothingly. Shunkaku relaxed in his brother's arms, calming down.
"You ready to try to sleep?" Koutoku asked him. "I'll play your favorite song, okay?"
Shunkaku nodded and pulled away, lying down. Koutoku picked up his flute and began to play softly. Shunkaku closed his eyes and let his mind drift with the music. He didn't know exactly what it was about his brother's flute, but it always put him right to sleep, and he never had any nightmares afterwards. Sometimes he wished his brother would play him to sleep every night, but he was too proud to ask. He hated being afraid, and nothing frightened him more than the nightmares he always had. He didn't want to admit to anyone that he was afraid of them, so rather than trying to prevent them, he simply endured them.
He didn't feel quite ready to sleep yet, so he let his mind wander to what had happened earlier that day. He'd been out in the field, swinging his Ryuuseisui back and forth. He'd gotten them from a friend about a month before. The friend had been moving and hadn't wanted to keep them. "They're worthless," he'd said. "I can't even make them work." So Shunkaku had taken them, and quickly realized that he couldn't figure out how to make them work either. Koutoku had just looked at them and asked why he'd wanted them.
"I dunno," Shunkaku had said, shrugging. "I just felt like I might need them someday." He'd found that if he practiced enough, he could get a rhythm going, and then if he let go, he could make holes in things with them. The only problem was that they were damned hard to aim, and he rarely made holes in what he was aiming at.
He'd been doing good today, though. It had been hot, and he'd been working in the fields, so he'd been stripped to his pants, swinging the Ryuuseisui back and forth. Koutoku had walked up and stopped short, staring at him.
"What's wrong, Aniki?" Shunkaku had asked.
Koutoku had pointed to his twin's shoulder and said, "What's that?"
Shunkaku had looked down and dropped the Ryuuseisui as he was faced with a glowing blue symbol. As they stood there staring, the symbol flickered and went out.
"What on earth . . . " Koutoku's voice had trailed off into silent confusion.
"What'd it say?" Shunkaku had asked. Neither of the twins had had any formal schooling, and Shunkaku couldn't read at all. Koutoku could read a bit.
"Kaku," Koutoku had told him. "Like the last half of your name."
Shunkaku had rubbed his shoulder curiously. "Weird," he'd said, then picked up his Ryuuseisui and, characteristically, forgot about it. "Race you to the house!"
Koutoku had smiled, then taken off towards the shack where they lived by themselves.
Shunkaku frowned, remembering. It was too strange. Why on earth would he have a glowing blue symbol on his shoulder? Did Koutoku have one?
If Shunkaku had one fault, it was acting before he thought. Now he forced himself to slow down, to stop, to think. He didn't know anything about blue symbols, but why hadn't he ever noticed it before? Did it only show up when he was using the Ryuuseisui? He'd been getting better at those, and he'd noticed if he just concentrated enough, he had much better aim. Did the symbol only show up when he was concentrating? If Koutoku had one, when would his appear?
Shunkaku sat up suddenly and yanked the shoulder of his brother's shirt down, revealing a glowing blue symbol.
Koutoku's flute fell to his lap.
There was a long moment of silence.
"Ko," Koutoku finally read. "High spirits."
Shunkaku smiled at his twin, glad to know that he wasn't in this alone. "It suits you," he said.
Koutoku didn't answer.
"You know what these are, don't you?" Shunkaku asked.
"I -- I think so," Koutoku answered. "But it doesn't make any sense."
"Well, what are they?" Shunkaku asked impatiently.
"Symbols for Seiryuu Seishi," Koutoku answered. "But . . . we're not Seiryuu Seishi. Why on earth would we be Seishi? We're only fourteen!"
Shunkaku shrugged, bewildered. "Well, maybe the Seishi won't be needed for another few years or so."
"That doesn't make a difference!" Koutoku protested. "I'm not Seishi material, Shun-chan. You know I'm not. You, maybe, because you've got your Ryuuseisui, but what do I have? A flute. Some weapon for a warrior."
Shunkaku sighed. "You always underestimate yourself, Aniki. I think you'd make a great Seishi."
"We don't even know that's what the symbols are," Koutoku reminded him.
Shunkaku rolled his eyes. "Do you have a better explanation? If ko and kaku are two of the symbols, then that's probably what they are." He sighed, seeing his twin's troubled face. "Play your flute, Aniki. It'll make you feel better. And it'll help me get back to sleep."
Koutoku managed a smile for his twin, then raised the flute to his lips and began playing a lullaby.
Shunkaku relaxed. What did it matter if they were Seishi? At least it was some explanation. He needed to get some sleep, or he wouldn't be up to working the next day. He closed his eyes and let the sound of his twin's flute draw him into sleep.
~~~
Koutoku waited until his twin had drifted off to sleep, then put his flute down and flopped down on his own bed, which was really a pile of straw. Sometimes he felt much older than his twin. Shunkaku didn't really grasp what being a Seishi meant. It meant that they had two choices: go to the palace and find someone important to tell, or to stay where they were. Going meant giving up the only life they'd ever known. This, Koutoku reflected, wasn't that big a deal -- they didn't really have much of a life anyway. But it also meant being involved in fighting, and this was something Koutoku wouldn't allow. Not him. Not his twin. He'd seen too much pain caused by wars. But staying meant having to face the reality that they were poor and starving. He glanced over at his twin in the dim light. Shunkaku wasn't . . . unhappy, but he sure could have been happier. They both could have been. Koutoku lifted his arm and examined it, seeing the bones all too clearly through his skin. They had one set of clothing apiece and it was falling apart. He hadn't eaten for the past three days, and Shunkaku hadn't eaten for two. The harvest had been bad; they hadn't been able to find work for almost a month now. Koutoku had to face the fact that if something didn't happen soon, he and his brother would likely starve to death before the end of the year.
Being a Seishi could change all that.
But it could also mean getting killed.
Koutoku flipped onto his side, weighing his choices. He suddenly realized that there was something else he wasn't considering. If Seiryuu no Miko arrived, she would start looking for her Seishi. Then he and Shunkaku would have to become Seishi anyway. Wouldn't it be better to do that now, rather than wait? If Seiryuu no Miko didn't show up soon, she might lose two of her Seishi to starvation anyway.
His ears pricked as he heard Shunkaku sigh heavily and flip over.
"You awake, Shunkaku?" he asked softly. "I thought you'd fallen asleep."
"I woke back up," Shunkaku answered. "I -- I'm hungry. But there isn't anything left, is there."
"No," Koutoku said simply.
"Maybe we can catch dinner at Yukio's tomorrow?" Shunkaku asked hopefully, naming a former employer with whom they were still on good terms.
"Maybe," Koutoku said, not promising anything. "I'll go out with my flute tomorrow. Maybe I can earn us a few coins."
Shunkaku sighed a little. "Okay. I'll try to go back to sleep, then."
Koutoku listened as his twin's breathing slowed, and he knew instinctively that Shunkaku had fallen back asleep. They'd both gotten used to going to bed hungry. It wasn't a big deal anymore. But he lay awake for a long time, staring at the ceiling.
~~~
Three months later . . .
"It's a sign," Shunkaku said, half-seriously, half-joking.
Koutoku kicked at a rock. "They can't possibly know we're here, can they?"
Shunkaku shrugged. "The Miko must've shown up," he said, stating the obvious.
Koutoku eyed the small camp nervously. "Who's that blond guy, I wonder?"
"I think he's the Shogun," Shunkaku answered. "He's the one in charge of finding the Seishi."
"I thought that was the Miko," Koutoku said, frowning.
"Who knows? Should we go introduce ourselves?"
"No," Koutoku said sharply. "Not yet. I want to think about it first."
Shunkaku raised his eyebrows. "Think about what? Whether or not you'd like to starve to death?"
Koutoku sighed irritably. "Just trust me, all right? Mother told me to take care of you and I'm going to."
Shunkaku, as always, fell silent at the mention of his mother.
"Let's go home," Koutoku suggested. "We can talk there, okay? And if we decide to come, we can go in the evening. They've set up camp, so they're obviously planning on being here for a while."
"Do you think they really can sense us?" Shunkaku asked curiously, following his brother away from the camp.
"I hope they can't," Koutoku answered.
Shunkaku sighed. "Look, Aniki, I know what's bothering you." He smiled sadly at his brother's surprised look. "You think I didn't? I know you don't want me involved in any fighting. I don't want to be, either. But I look at it this way. Either I can stay here and die for certain, probably within a year or so, or I can go with them and chance it. You think I like fighting? You think that after Mother and Father . . . " his voice trailed off. "You think I want to get involved in a war? I don't. But it seems to me that this is our only option."
Koutoku had stopped walking and was looking doubtfully back at the Seiryuu camp.
"There may not even be fighting," Shunkaku said. "If we find all seven Seishi, we call Seiryuu, and that's it! For all we know, we're the only two Seishi they haven't found yet." He paused. "We could help bring peace, Aniki. We could stop the civil wars."
Koutoku still hesitated silently. He tried to remember the last time he'd eaten, but he couldn't. He looked at his brother's thin face, and knew that his brother hadn't eaten any more than he had. He looked back at the camp. When they'd been standing closer, he'd been able to smell the campfire smoke, and just under that, the smell of food. He still hesitated, biting his lip in indecision.
"Please, Aniki," Shunkaku said softly. "I don't want to be hungry anymore."
Koutoku closed his eyes and avoided looking at his twin. Finally, he nodded.
~~~
That evening . . .
"Shogun!"
Nakago looked up from his seat inside the tent. "Hai."
"There's a pair of boys here to see you. They say they know where a Seishi is."
Nakago frowned. He wasn't sure how children would know about Seishi, but then again, they were more perceptive than most adults realized. "Send them in."
"Hai," the soldier answered.
A few seconds later, Nakago was greeted by a pair of identical twins. He wasn't certain of their age, he guessed they'd be about fifteen or sixteen.
Koutoku hesitated, then bowed. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to act around a Shogun. Shunkaku followed his lead.
"You say you know where a Seiryuu Seishi is?" Nakago asked, not wasting any time on preamble.
"Two, actually," Koutoku said. The twins had agreed that he would be the spokesman. "It's us."
Nakago raised an eyebrow skeptically.
Shunkaku glared at him, sensing that the Shogun didn't believe them. "It is us," he said, forgetting that Koutoku was the one who was supposed to be talking. His brother elbowed him.
Koutoku pulled down the shoulder of his shirt and concentrated hard. He hadn't been sure if he could just make the symbol appear on command, and he'd been practicing all day to make sure he could. He'd made Shunkaku practice too, until they'd both been pale and exhausted, but they could make the symbol appear when they wanted it to.
The blue symbol flared into life.
Nakago looked at it and nodded at Koutoku. "Amiboshi."
Shunkaku closed his eyes. After almost a full minute of concentration, his symbol also appeared.
"Suboshi," Nakago said, nodding at the younger twin.
Koutoku breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least the man believed them now.
"I'm also a Seiryuu Seishi," Nakago explained. "Nakago." He paused. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen," Koutoku answered.
"Do you have any special skills or weapons?"
The twins looked at each other.
"Sort of, I guess," Shunkaku said. "I have my Ryuuseisui and Koutoku has his flute."
"Flute?" Nakago asked. Shunkaku almost laughed at the look on his face after getting such an unexpected answer. "What can you do with your flute?"
Koutoku glared at his brother. "It's not really a weapon," he said, sounding embarrassed. "I can just put people to sleep with it, that's all. It's not so strange."
"Yes it is," Shunkaku said flatly. "Every single time he plays, I fall asleep. And I never have nightmares."
Nakago looked at Koutoku curiously. "Show me," he said.
Koutoku sighed and gave his brother a look that said, "You're dead." Then he pulled out his flute and began to play.
Shunkaku leaned his head against his brother's shoulder and closed his eyes.
Nakago was rather surprised to find that Shunkaku was right. The flute song did make him feel more tired than usual. Tired and peaceful and like he was just about to fall asleep . . .
"That's enough," Nakago said hastily, and Koutoku lowered his flute. Shunkaku lifted his head and glared at Nakago. "See?"
"It's quite interesting," Nakago said. "In time, I'm sure you could learn to do other things with it."
Koutoku nodded and looked at the floor.
Nakago turned to Shunkaku. "You can use Ryuuseisui?"
It was Shunkaku's turn to look embarrassed. "Well . . . sort of, anyway . . . I guess . . . "
"He's not very good at it," Koutoku said, grinning at his brother. "But he's only had them for a few months."
Shunkaku sighed.
"Can you show me?" Nakago asked.
"In here?" Shunkaku asked, amazed. "We might wanna go outside . . . Koutoku isn't kidding when he says I'm not very good at it."
Nakago nodded and stood. The three of them went outside into the field. Shunkaku took a deep breath.
"You'll do fine," Koutoku whispered.
Shunkaku started to swing them back and forth. "It takes me a minute to get them going," he explained.
After a minute, he suddenly lost his grip and they fell to the ground. "Sorry," he said softly, picking them up and trying again. This time they got tangled around his arm. "Shit!" he cried.
Koutoku put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You're just tired, Shun-chan," he said softly. He looked over at Nakago. "We're both tired. We haven't eaten in days. It's . . . We're really only doing this because we have nowhere else to go."
Nakago said nothing.
"Give it another try," Koutoku told his twin.
Shunkaku nodded, closed his eyes, and tried again. He finally had them going fast enough and he was about to find something to aim at when a sudden loud noise from the camp made him jump and let go too early. The Ryuuseisui flew out and hit Nakago's arm.
"Aah! Gomennasai gomennasai!" Shunkaku cried, horrified.
Nakago looked down at his arm. The shirt had torn open and there was a small cut on his arm. "Well, now we know they work," he said.
Koutoku bit back laughter.
"You'll need more practice, obviously, but you could get good at them in time."
Koutoku decided it was his turn to ask a few questions. "How many of the Seishi are assembled?" he asked.
"Five," Nakago told him. "Other than myself and the two of you, there are Tomo and Soi."
"Has Seiryuu no Miko arrived yet?" Shunkaku asked, recovering from his accident.
"Not yet. However, the Suzaku Seishi have found their Miko, and so it is imperative that we find the rest of our Seishi and our Miko as soon as possible."
Koutoku looked up nervously. "Is there going to be fighting?" he asked softly.
Nakago looked at him sharply. "There may be," he said.
Koutoku looked down.
"We'll be moving on tomorrow," Nakago told them. "You have tonight to get your things and say goodbye to anyone you wish to. Can you be ready by dawn tomorrow?"
The twins looked at each other.
"We don't have anything," Koutoku said quietly.
"Or anyone," Shunkaku added. Then he quickly said, "Except each other."
They looked back up at Nakago and said in unison, "Give us ten minutes."
Nakago raised an eyebrow but didn't protest. They walked back into the camp. "Soi," he called out to a red-haired woman passing by.
She turned to face him. "Hai."
"Meet our two new Seishi," Nakago said. "Amiboshi and Suboshi."
The twins bowed.
Soi nodded at them. A little young, aren't they?
Nakago beckoned her over to speak with her. "Take them by their house, all right? Wait outside. They say they only need ten minutes . . . but give them as much time as they need."
Soi nodded again.
"Then," Nakago continued in a louder voice. "Bring them back and make sure they get a good meal, then find them a place to stay."
Soi nodded a third time. "Hai."
Nakago looked at the twins and said, "Soi will take you to your house to get your things. I'll see you sometime later." He turned and walked away.
"Well," Shunkaku said softly to his twin. "We did it."
Koutoku nodded.
~~~~