Disclaimer. Fushigi Yuugi is the property of Watase Yuu, Tokyo Television, Flower Comics, Pioneer, and others. No infringment was intended in the writing of this fic.

Koutoku smiled at the words. Ever since they had seen the Shogun, Shunkaku had become fascinated with the light-haired man. They had never seen anyone with such light hair, not to mention blue eyes. Shunkaku always made sure to go by the Palace at least once a day to catch a glimpse of the man.

Koutoku tucked his flute away and bent down to pick of the coins that people had tossed on the ground. His smile widen as he counted them. Surely there was enough to buy food to last them a few days! And maybe with the money that Shunkaku made from doing odd jobs, they could afford to get some new clothes. Their breeches were patched, Shunkaku's shirt no longer had sleeves and Koutoku's shirt was so thin that it was almost see-through! He put the money into the pouch tied to his belt.

"Well, what have we got here? How's about handing over that money, boy?"

Koutoku looked up at the three men that had suddenly appeared and then looked around. To his dismay, there were very few people around and nobody was going to help a homeless kid. He could feel his heart pounding as he slowly stood. "Please. It's all the money me and my brother have. We need it to buy food."

One of the men, apparently the leader, grabbed Koutoku by the front of his shirt and lifted him, causing the shirt to rip a little. "I don't care, you little brat! Hand the money over."

That money was all he had to buy Shunkaku food and maybe some new clothes. He just couldn't let these men take it from him! "No! I won't let you have it!" He cried out in pain as the man threw him against the wall. A moment later, it was followed by a kick to the stomach. But no matter what pain they caused him, he had to protect his brother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shunkaku gasped in pain. "Aniki," he whispered. More pain came. Someone was attacking his aniki! He doubled over in pain, knowing that he only felt a fraction of the pain his twin was experiencing. "Aniki!" He lurched in the same direction that he felt his brother was in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nakago and Tomo were slowly riding towards the Palace Gates. They had been in deep conversation over the news that came from Konan.

"But it's only a rumor."

"I still don't like it, Tomo. If they had indeed found Suzaku no Miko, then we must quickly find the rest of our seishi and be ready for when Seiryuu no Miko comes."

"Do you think she will come soon?"

The question went unanswered, as they both stopped their horses and looked around intently. "Did you feel that, Tomo?"

"Hai. Seiryuu chi." They watched a boy run past, his face set in anger and pain. They both turned in their saddles as he continued down the street. "That boy?? He's a seishi?"

"Come," Nakago said. "We must catch him!" They turned their horses in the direction that the boy had disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ANIKI!!!" To Shunkaku's horror he saw three men surrounding his bother, kicking and punching him. "IIYAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Seeing a rock on the ground, he picked it up, and threw it with all his strength.

Nakago and Tomo rode up, just as the boy threw the rock. A moment later, a blue light blazed on his left shoulder, forming the character of "Angle". The rock, though thrown wildly, swerved in mid-air and struck one of the men in the head. He fell over, unconcious. The other two men looked at their comrade and back at Shunkaku.

"Leave Aniki alone," Shunkaku screamed.

"Ah, so the brother shows up," one of them said. "We'll make you pay for what you did to our friend." He moved toward Shunkaku and took a swing at him. The boy ducked easily and landed a blow to the man's mid-section. The man gasped and fell to his knees. Shunkaku made a run for his older twin, when the man he punched grabbed him from behind. "And you'll pay for that, too."

The other man left Koutoku. He punched Shunkaku in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Soon, the two men were beating on him as they had on Koutoku. Koutoku, feeling a lighter degree of pain, slowly raised his head to see them hitting his twin. He pushed himself up into a kneeling position. He had to do something before they killed Shunkaku. He picked his flute up from where it had landed in the attack and shakingly got to his feet. He glared at the two men and said, softly, "leave him alone."

One of the men turned and looked at him. "Oh, look," he laughed. "He's going to play for us, while we beat his brother. Isn't that nice?" The other man laughed too. "We'll come back to you, when we've finished with him."

Koutoku raised his flute and looked at his brother. "Shun!" Shunkaku managed to look up and met his twin's eyes. He nodded and quickly covered his ears. Through the rip along the right shoulder of his shirt, the character of "High Spirits" was seen. Nakago, taking the cue of the other boy, put an energy field around himself, Tomo, and the horses.

Koutoku began to play a series of high pitched notes on his flute. Soon the two muggers were screaming in pain. They try to cover their ears, but it was too late, the music had already taken affect. They collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Koutoku stopped playing. He tucked the flute away, staggered a few steps, and knelt down beside his brother.

Shunkaku wasn't injured too badly. As soon as he saw Koutoku, he sat up quickly and threw his arms around him. "Aniki! Are you okay? I saw them beating you." His voice trailed off.

Koutoku gently stoked Shunkaku's hair. "I'm fine. A bit sore, but I'll be okay." He didn't have the heart to tell his younger twin that his strong embrace was hurting him a little.

They heard footsteps and looked up. They stared in surprise to see the Shogun and that strangely dressed man, who was always with him. Without preamble, the blond said, "I'm Nakago and this is Tomo. We are Seiryuu Seishi and would like to talk to you. Would you come with us?"

The twins stood up and interlaced their arms. Koutoku was the first to speak. "Why do you want us to go with you? There's no one here, so why not just talk to us here?" He didn't know these men and didn't want to go anywhere with them. Shogun or not, he wasn't sure if he should trust the man.

"Very well," Nakago said. "Have you heard the legend of the Miko?" They shook their heads. "Well, I'll explain that to you later. We are in search of the seven seishi for Seiryuu and you are two of them." The twins looked at each other. Nakago indicated Shunkaku. "You are Seiryuu Seishi, Suboshi. And you are Amiboshi." He pointed to Koutoku.

"Seiryuu Seishi," Shunkaku asked. "What makes you say that?"

"You both have the mark of Seiryuu. Haven't you noticed the blue characters on your shoulders?"

"Well, I know Aniki has one. It appeared about a year ago, but we never knew what it was. I don't have any mark."

"But you do. It's on your left shoulder. I want you to concentrate your chi." The boy gave his a strange look. "Think what you were thinking when you threw that rock." The boy did and soon the character appeared.

Shunkaku was excited. "Look, Aniki! I have a character just like you!" Koutoku nodded, but said nothing. He still looked at the two men, not sure what they wanted. Nakago withdrew something from his saddle bags. It was two balls attached to each other by a string. He handed it to Shunkaku.

"This is a ryuuseisui. It's controlled by thought. First you get the ball spinning then throw it at your target. Try it."

Shunkaku spun one of the balls, then threw it at a nearby wall. Trying to use his mind to control it, the ball struck the wall and glanced off of it, leaving a huge gouge in the wall. He was estastic, but Koutoku was horrified. He knew the purpose of that devise was not to put holes in walls, but in people. He grabbed the object from his brother and handed it back to the blond man. Shunkaku cried out, "Aniki!"

"We don't want your weapons. I refuse to allow myself, or my brother, to kill others."

"But you will both need to be able to protect the miko when she comes. We need you. Seiryuu no Miko will need her seven seishi if she is to summon Seiryuu."

"I don't care about your priestess and I don't care whether or not she is able to summon Seiryuu."

"Aniki!" Koutoku silenced any further protest from Shunkaku with a look.

"You'll be able to live in the Palace," Tomo said, trying to help Nakago win the boys over.

"I don't care," Koutoku said, giving the regal-looking man a hard look. "I'm not allowing my brother to be involved in fighting. Come, Shun." He turned to leave, but Shunkaku hesitated. To live in the palace and be around the blond man was beyond his wildest dreams. Koutoku turned back and looked at his twin. "You can go with them or me, Shun. The choice is yours." He continued on his way, not looking back again. Shunkaku looked back and forth between his brother and Nakago. Finally, he turned and jogged after his brother.

"Shame," Nakago said, loud enough for them to hear. "Seiryuu no Miko could bring peace to Kotou." Koutoku stopped and looked back. So that's how it is, Nakago thought. The boy wants an end to the fighting. "If she were to summon Seiryuu, she'd be able to ask him to bring peace and protect us from Konan."

"What does Konan have to do with it?"

"Well, Suzaku no Miko has already appeared and is searching for her seishi now. If she summons Suzaku before we can summon Seiryuu, they will ask for help to attack and defeat us. That would mean more war." He saw Koutoku flinch and had to keep from smirking. He now knew how to manipulate the boys. Their hatred of war and dedication to each other could prove useful. "So, will you come with us?"

"Seiryuu no Miko could stop the civil war and prevent Konan from attacking?" Nakago nodded. Koutoku hesitated as he thought about it. Shunkaku chewed his lower lip, hoping his older brother would agree. "Then we'll come."

"Aniki!!" Shunkaku threw his arms around his brother, nearly suffocating him. "Arigato!!"

They rode toward the Palace, Koutoku behind Tomo, and Shunkaku behind Nakago. Nakago explained about the miko and the seishi to the boys as they rode. He soothed any doubts they had and answered their questions.

"Will we get the meet the Emperor," Shunkaku asked excitedly.

"No", Nakago answered. "It'd be best if you didn't." He said not more on the subject, but he and Tomo exchanged knowing glances. The boys may be to old for the Emperor's taste, but they couldn't be too sure.

Once they arrived at the Palace, Nakago ordered new clothes for the twins. After they were bathed and dressed, they were fed. They had more food in one meal than they usually ate in one day! Upon their request, they were given the same room, with one bed.

That night, Koutoku lay on his back, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling of their new room. Shunkaku was asleep, one arm around his waist, his head nestled on Koutoku's shoulder. He still wasn't comfortable with it all. What if Seiryuu no Miko didn't come? What if they didn't find the other seishi? What if Suzaku was summoned first?

"Aniki," came Shunkaku's drowsy voice. "What's wrong? Why are you still awake?"

"Can't sleep. Now, why are you awake?"

"Because you can't sleep." Even though Koutoku couldn't see his brother's face, he could sense him smiling. Shunkaku looked up at him bleary-eyed, his face serious again. "Do you think Konan would really attack us?"

"I don't know, but Nakago-sama says they would. I guess he would know. I just hope it doesn't happen. This civil war's bad enough, without adding an attack from another country."

Shunkaku put his head back down on Koutoku's shoulder and closed his eyes. "Well, don't worry, Aniki. Nakago-sama said Seiryuu no Miko will come and bring peace. And if he says so, it's true."

Koutoku could only hope that his and Shunkaku's faith in the blond Shogun would prove to be well-founded.