~The One that Called You Brother~
By: Kaytee Kudo
Chapter 1----The Return of a Past Memory
A smile broke on Suboshi's face. It was the first time in ten years that he could really say that he was happy. The gods had given him another chance.
Of course, he can still remember that night. He was fighting with the person he hated the most--Tamahome. He could have won, but the spirits of Tamahome's siblings---the ones he had brutally killed, stopped him. His own weapon killed him, right through his chest. It was a tragic night for him. Just when he had the perfect chance of killing his most hated rival, his conscience got the better of him, his good side. It was like that the other part of him couldn't stand anymore blood shed, no more deaths of innocent people. He realized this only too late to save his own life. At the brink of his death, the last words he had wanted to say was-his name.
Yes, his brother's name. The one who took care of him as a child, the person with such a kind heart, full of patience and love. He had missed his brother so much. Come to think of it, the thought of his brother was the only thing that kept him going. When he died, he vanished out of nowhere. There was no trace of his dead body to be found. For the past ten years he had been suffering in his own thoughts. He had been reliving every dark thing that has happened to his life. It was very painful, but whenever he felt that he couldn't stand all his sufferings, he remembered his brother. That would make him stronger, and braver. In fact, that was the very reason that the gods had given him another chance to live. They had discovered that the boy was not purely bad, since even though he was suffering for so long, he didn't give up like the others. They found out that even though he was suffering hard enough, he still continues to keep his brother in his heart.
And now, he had come back to the world of the living. He was traveling all day so that he can finally meet his brother again, and ask forgiveness to the ones he had offended, as what the gods had told him. Barely walking, his heart beating fast, he had finally reached the village of his big brother. At that point, he had forgotten all his pains and hurriedly ran towards the center of the village, in the hope of finding his brother again.
His long journey had not failed him, as the moment he reached the well, he saw the face of his brother again. He couldn't be wrong about it. It was his very own brother, a little older but still like what he pictured him to be. They look alike in so many ways, he was told. And though he hasn't seen himself for a long time, he figured that he would look just like his brother. He wasted no time and tried to run as quickly as he could, but by the time he could shout his brother's name, he was gone. His brother seemed to enter a small office, so he went there to check if he was right.
As he opened the door, an attendant greeted him casually and asked him what he wanted. Filled with excitement, he replied, " I-I just want to talk with my brother. He just went here."
"Oh, you mean Kaika-san? He just came by a minute ago. Do you want to speak with him?"
"Yes, please," replied Suboshi, a little startled about his brother's new name.
"Please wait here." The attendant left and came back with a smile.
"Kaika-san has been expecting you. Please go upstairs to his room"
Suboshi replied with a smile and went there half-heartedly. Unconsciously, he was skipping a few steps as he walked pass the stairs. He opened the door of a small room and found it to be beautifully made. It was covered with white flowers and there was a stack of formal clothes by the side. There, he had finally saw his brother again. As he entered the room, Amiboshi was looking outside at his window. Suboshi tried to speak but was beaten by his brother's greeting.
"I was expecting you. So, have you tried the suit I gave you?"
"Err--", Suboshi stammered..
"I'm so glad that you've finally accepted Hime-chan to our family. I'm so proud of you little-", Amiboshi stopped saying anything when he turned around to see his 'expected' brother.
"Why, you're not my brother. What're you doing here?!"
Suboshi was shocked and froze on the spot. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. That was the only time that he realized that his brother didn't remember anything of his past---and that was his fault. He felt that his whole world-his existence had crumbled right in front of his eyes. Because of this, he didn't realize that his brother was asking for help, and fainted, clutching his head. Moments later, a young boy rushed in the door and quickly held Amiboshi in the head, with the attendant giving water and apologizing at the same time. It took Suboshi a while to go back to reality, as the young boy fearlessly shouted at him.
"What have you done to my nii-chan?! Can't you see that we're living in peace?! Get out of here!"
The young boy was busy attending to his brother while Suboshi was deep in his thoughts.
"Nii-chan?" he said unconsciously. "Did I hear it right? He said, 'nii-chan'! But..." he was speaking to himself all the while, without taking an eye out of the young boy.
"It can't be! I'm his only brother!" Suboshi shouted.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" the boy shouted back. "Look, I don't know why you're here trying to look like my brother but if you try to hurt him, I'll..."
"Kaihan!" Amiboshi's voice was enough to bring silence to the whole room, as he had finally regained consciousness. "What have I told you about speaking to your elders?!"
"Nii-chan, I..." Kaihan turned to look at his brother's stern face, then to Suboshi. "Gomen nasai" He apologized to Suboshi with a bow.
"A-are you okay?" was all Suboshi could say after the whole scene.
"Yes, I'm okay. I'm sorry about that. My brother, Kaihan was just worried about me. What can I do for you?"
"A--ami...boshi..." Suboshi said as he approached his brother...and hugged him tight. "It's really you! I've been waiting for a long time to see you..." Tears flowed in his eyes as he had said this.
"I'm sorry but, who are you?" the clueless 'Kaika' asked.
"It's me! It's Suboshi, aniki! I'm your brother!"
"Su-Suboshi?"
"Yes! Don't you remember?"
"I-I'm.... Ami---boshi? Y-your... aniki?"
Suboshi nodded, eyes gleaming with joy as his brother had finally remembered him.
"I'm sorry. I think you've got the wrong person. You see, I'm Kaika, and my only brother is this boy, Kaihan." Came Amiboshi's heart-breaking response.
Suboshi's happy face turned sad at once. He had thought that Amiboshi had remembered everything. He was wrong. As he was about to cry, Kaika spoke again.
"I'm sorry to see you leave on a fruitless search. I know you'll find him soon."
"It's not a fruitless search, aniki. The one I'm looking for is right in front of me, but..."Suboshi said this all to himself. He didn't want to confuse his brother any longer. "Take care, aniki. Live without me, but with that other boy you're calling brother...." His anger tried to surge in thinking that it would hurt his brother, and tried to leave. As Suboshi was turning to leave, Kaika followed saying, "You can stay at our house for a few days if you'd like. Y-you can rest there if you want, I know you've been to a long journey."
Suboshi thought that there was still hope. He can make his brother's memory return with those few days.
"Okay" They both smiled at each other.
****
"Well, we're here," Kaika said to Suboshi. Suboshi looked around the place. It was very familiar to him, since he had already been there once. It was the place where he had made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his brother away to another family. He could still remember the scene, his feelings as he saw his brother being taken away from him. From a distance, he saw the tree where he had hidden a long time ago, now bigger than it used to be.
"Please excuse us for the untidiness of the house and do make yourself at home." Kaika smiled at him again as he opened the door for him.
Suboshi was amazed the moment he saw his brother's home. It was all tidy and clean. Everything is on its proper place.
As Kaika went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, his little brother Kaihan offered Suboshi a seat. Suboshi smiled at him and sat down. After a long silence, the young boy stammered. "M-mis-ter..."
"Hai?"
"Umm, I'm really sorry about what happened a while ago. I was just surprised when you looked like my nii-chan. I really didn't mean what I said so please forgive me." Kaihan bowed again at Suboshi..
"That's okay," Suboshi answered as he smiled again to the young boy. A while ago, when the boy had shouted at him, he was about to beat the boy up. Luckily, the voice of his brother had stopped him from doing such things. He still couldn't accept the young boy as his aniki's new brother. But then, he controlled himself from doing violence as he thought of his brother's reaction if he would do it.
"I'm Kaihan by the way. What's your name, nii-chan?"
"Nii-chan?!" Suboshi thought to himself. "How dare this kid call me that! He had already stolen my brother away and now..." Suboshi controlled his anger once more and replied, "It's Bu Shunkaku, but they call me Suboshi." He had said this without looking at the boy, and carrying an unfriendly voice.
"Su---bo-shi?"
Suboshi just stared at the wall.
"Eh, Suboshi nii-chan, are you one of the Seiryuu Seishi?"
"Huh?" Suboshi looked at the boy for the first time. The boy was staring at him with curious eyes, leaning against the table toward him.
"Yes, I am." He finally replied, half-proudly. "How did you know?" He asked back.
"Well, the boy from next door told me all about it. He said there were four gods, Seiryuu, Genbu, Byakko and Suzaku..." He continued reciting all he knew as Suboshi watched him, a little amazed at the boy's memory. His anger for the boy had subsided for a while. Kaihan was interrupted by his older brother's sudden appearance.
"It seems that you're getting along pretty well. I'm happy for you both." Kaika carried the same gentle face as he smiled at the two.
"Nii-chan!" Both Suboshi and Kaihan spoke at once, and looked at each other, surprised at what they did. Kaika just laughed at them.
"The two of you have a lot of things in common."
The boys smiled at each other, and laughed with their brother. Their laughter was broken at the knock of the door. Kaihan immediately opened the door and greeted the person respectfully. The visitor was a woman.
"Hime-chan!" Kaika blurted out.
Suboshi watched as Kaika hurriedly offered the beautiful woman a seat and gave her a drink. He noticed his brother's nervousness as he was doing this.
"How are you?" Kaika asked the lady.
"It's nothing Kaika-chan. I just want to talk to you, that's all." The graceful woman replied with a elegant voice.
"Suboshi nii-chan, let's go outside." Kaihan held Suboshi's hand and tugged it gently.
Suboshi, who was still staring at the girl, blushed as he regained consciousness of the scene. Hurriedly, he followed the young boy outside their house.
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