Family

Evelyn was fidgeting. She only fidgeted when she was nervous, and she was nervous because her brother had finally finished his work. She sat with Takao in the main tent, a plate of cookies temptingly placed in the center table and a bottle of water resting next to them. Takao had smiled when he saw her, obvious to the knowledge that she became a mess of nerves when expecting something exciting, and most of all influential. The two of them had been talking for the better part of half an hour by the time Michael sauntered into the space.

"Alright, sorry to bring you two away from your own work--" he paused briefly to give them chance to respond.

"--it's not a problem"

"--what did you find?!"

"Well, take a look for yourself!" His smile broadened as he placed the photographs down, each one tagged with a number. "As you can see, we actually saw this one when we first entered that cave…and it seems like to follow the 'story', so to speak, you have to look at the opposite sides of the wall." Evelyn was quiet, bright eyes gazing at the collection with focus.

"Ah, that's quite a simple method to use. It's no wonder we couldn't figure out what sequence it went in. We were looking all wrong." Michael nodded slowly at Takao's observation; eyes firmly rooted on his sister. He watched as a slight of silver glinted in the light of the artificial lamps in the room and cautiously approached her still form. He tapped a piece of paper with "1" tagged in the corner.

"I think mum and dad were trying to tell me something." His sister glanced up at him, perplexed and her blue hues slipped to where his finger had tapped. They widened slightly and her hand unconsciously moved towards her neck.

"I don't believe this is any old coincidence, Ev. I got you that for your eleventh birthday after scraping up all my pocket money. Mum helped me pick it and dad helped me wrap it." He tapped the photograph again and chuckled.

"Who would have guessed it'd turn up there, of all places..." Takao tilted his head and leaned closer, eyes flicking back and forth between the necklace loosely held in Evelyn's hand and the intricate design on the back of the hooded figure. He let out a slow whistle.

"That's a family crest. One I've never seen before too!" Evelyn glanced at both men in the room, looking a little lost for words. Takao smiled in response and said with a nod of his head, "It is most likely a remnant of a forgotten house, buried over time and certainly with little value in the modern world unless it is a trinket," he gestured to Evelyn's neck, "such as what you have. It is not uncommon for such a thing to happen, as our history books can only record so much...but that is why we are here, no? To expose the hidden secrets of my culture's background, the Japanese people's history." Takao finished with a flourish, and it seemed that it was just what the twins needed to hear to revitalise their spirits. Evelyn beamed up at their Japanese friend, eyes twinkling in newfound strength. She suddenly stood up, quite abruptly too, and went into the kitchen, leaving both men to watch after her with eyebrows raised. When she returned, they went even further up into their hair, eyes comically wide at what they saw in her hands.

"You're exactly right, Takao. All this talk of our family always puts me in quite a state...so to celebrate our recent findings, and to be the first people to witness a new age of discovery for Japan...I'm going to crack open the good stuff!" She dropped a bottle of Champaign heavily on top of the table and three long-stemmed flute glasses followed soon after, albeit with a gentler touch. "I'm going to take it as not just coincidence, but fate. Not anyone was meant to find this stuff, and this proves it that we're the right ones for the job!" As she was giving her impromptu speech, she gave Michael the bottle to open, and he poured each of them part of the sparkling liquid. When he looked at his sister, he honestly thought in that moment how much she shined...and it was just like the moon to shine so brightly in the darkest of times.

It had never been so bright before in the night sky. Stars were twinkling and the silver white of the moon cascaded over the landscape like a blanket. Mizuki loved the moon. It was his hope one day to gaze up at its splendour with no more conflict in his heart, at least then he would find peace in its light rather than the impending dread that seemed to follow him wherever he went. He sighed deeply as he moved a tree branch out of the way, then not a second later heard a smack! as it hit flesh. He stopped short and tilted his head, ears twitching to find the person that was shadowing him. He sniffed, then snorted in amusement and continued on his way.

"You aren't silent enough for me, Ryō." There was a rustle from behind, before a set of footsteps sounded in the night. They were light and almost impossible to humanly hear, but Mizuki wasn't normal in the slightest and for him they were as clear as the sky during the day. When the person fell in step beside the white-haired male, he nodded gently and patted their shoulder in greeting.

"Never one to fool, eh aniki?" Contrary to the expectation that his voice may be muffled by the clothing he had on, it was especially easy to hear as they trudged along a run-down dirt path.

"I trained you. What do you expect? Mayhap one day you will slight me, however for the present...I suggest you just keep trying." The smile he threw to the man named Ryō was bright and crinkled at the edges.

"Ne! You won't be disappointed," there was a soft lilt to the edge of his voice, one that quickly turned sour after he voiced what they both had on their minds "I haven't seen you for some time. Have you news on his developments?" Mizuki frowned deeply.

"Unfortunately, yes. They are rallying, Ryō. Under his banner..." Both of them slowed to a stand-still and Mizuki pulled out his pipe, carefully rummaging between the folds of his hitatare to pull out a rolled up package of what looked like hair. It had a pungent but sweet smell. Ryō's eyes flickered to the pipe and package curiously, tilting his head in question at his friend. Mizuki just smiled mysteriously. "When you've lived as long as I have my friend, you'll have travelled much farther passed the borders of our beautiful lands. This," he shook the package lightly, "takes the ache of pain from my eye..." Ryō sniffed and hummed in recognition, nodding his head in understanding.

"The Eldervoilet flower. I thought it was a familiar scent. They were common in my hometown, before it was branded by fire." As he was talking, Mizuki had been busy filling his pipe and igniting the contents with a small snap of his fingers. He took a deep breath from the long end of the pipe, as crude a design it was, and blew a puff of lilac smoke from his mouth.

"It pains me that you were subjected to such cruelty..." Ryō nudged Mizuki's shoulder with his own and pulled the dark cloth and hood away and off his face. Black hair with streaks of silver were pulled back in a high bun on the back of his head and the tendrils which were not contained in the tie fall slightly under the knot. His eyes were a deep forest green, and it was such a peculiar feature when compared to the deep chocolate of the many inhabitants in Japan. Mizuki had thought the moment he laid eyes on the young boy years ago that he hadn't been all that human. There was a small tug in the depths of his heart that called to him to protect him, and still over seventy years later with the youth of a man half his age, Mizuki still felt that tug. Ryō was family. Maybe not by blood, but he was family nonetheless. His right eye thrummed with a ghost of pain as he thought back to his blood family and the bitter feeling of sadness welled up inside his throat. "Otouto no one will hurt you again." He gripped his pipe tightly and took another deep breath, speaking around the sweet-smelling smoke that escaped his mouth. "We look after our own," Ryō immediately widened his eyes at the word 'we', "and you are alone no longer." they began to water with emotion, but he clamped down hard on the overflowing power. Instead, he slung a hand around the back of the taller man's shoulders and dragged him into an awkward half-hug. The white of his half-braided hair fluttered behind them both and between the strands the flash of a burning red was visible. It started to flood like liquid from the tips and stopped about two inches into each of the ten braids. The air felt thick, but not with tension and when you looked closely at Mizuki's visible eye then you could see the exact same sparkle of emotion that Ryō had kept back.

"We will find a way to bring light into this world, aniki. You will see light again and when you do, it will surprise you at how bright it will shine." The two of them smiled softly and with a gentle pat, Ryō removed his arm and they both began their journey again.

[Aniki – Way to refer to someone you consider to be an older brother, used to refer to someone else's older brother.]

[Otouto – Older brother.]

[Hitatare - A type of Japanese traditional kimono worn by males.]