ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
The group appeared on the ground floor of a large mansion. It had stained glass windows, through which no light currently shined, as it was nighttime, green marble floors, and a set of stairs leading up to a balcony and second floor.
“Whoa!! Cool place!” exclaimed Kogasu, “And marble floors!”
“He acts as if he’s never seen a mansion,” scoffed Aisu, who was secretly agreeing with him.
“Kotoba-sensei, you haven’t either!” chastised Mizu.
Aisu blushed slightly. “A-and?”
Yuki gave a small smile, then yelled, “Shukun! I’m home!!”
Aisu looked surprised. “ ’Shukun’? Yuki, are you a slave?”
Yuki shook his head vigorously. “No! My sister said that I should call him shukun, but he’s really my big brother.”
“Well, could you please don’t call him that when I’m around, okay?” replied Aisu.
“Well… um… okay. I wonder what’s taking— oniisama!” exclaimed Yuki, running up the stairs partway and throwing his arms around a man that was walking down the stairs. Yuki inhaled deeply and smiled. Oniisama smells like rain. I like it, Yuki thought. “I missed you, oniisama!”
The man wore a forest green shirt with long baggy sleeves, and blue-jeans. He had long brown hair with a boyish ponytail in the back, and brown eyes. He smiled slightly, then looked at Aisu and the others. “My name is Tasogare Kanji. I’m Fujin’s elder brother.”
“Fujin?” Mizu said, bewildered, “Who’s Fujin?”
Yuki looked sheepish. “I am… but I don’t like the name. I like ‘Yuki’ better, but oniisama refuses to call me ‘Yuki’. He’s the only one who doesn’t.”
“That’s because your name is Fujin, not Yuki,” replied Kanji. He looked at Mizu, Aisu, and Kogasu again. “You are the other Elementals, correct?”
“How did you know?” asked Aisu suspiciously, “What do you mean by ‘other’?”
“I am the Water Elemental. As for how I knew, did you really think that my little brother here wouldn’t keep me informed?”
Aisu went slightly red. “Oh. Of course not!”
Kanji smirked. “Well, you must be tired. Your rooms are down that hallway,” he said, gesturing to a nearby hallway. “Good night.” With that, he turned and walked back up the stairs, Fujin following happily. “Oyasuminasai!” called Fujin.
“What a snob!” Mizu fumed, “’Did you really think my little brother here wouldn’t keep me informed?’” she mimicked angrily, walking down the hallway to their rooms.
“There definitely seems to be something strange about him,” agreed Aisu, following Mizu down the hallway.
“He was weird,” agreed Kogasu, “But how can someone who puts our names on mansion doors be bad?” He pointed to three doors, the nearest of which was labeled こがす.
“I still don’t like him,” remarked Aisu.
Everyone said ‘good night’ and retreated into their rooms.
* * *
Kanji slid open the door to his and Fujin’s room. Rather, Fujin’s room was just a rather large closet, big enough for a ‘bed’ of blankets, and Fujin.
“I don’t like the look of them,” commented Kanji.
“Oniisama, you don’t like the ‘look’ of anyone that even looks at me,” pointed out Fujin.
Kanji smiled genuinely. “You have a point.”
* * *
Aisu awoke, thirsty. She quietly opened her door and walked upstairs to the room marked 漢字. She put up her hand to knock, when she heard Kanji and Fujin arguing.
“No, I won’t!” protested Fujin.
“Don’t disobey me, Fujin!” replied Kanji.
“I said I won’t do it!”
Aisu heard a few dull thuds, and a few muffled cries. Her thirst forgotten, she immediately turned around and went back to her room, horrified at what the sounds could have been.
* * *
The next morning, Aisu went to Mizu’s room and woke her up. Groggily, Mizu asked, “It’s so early, why are you waking me up?”
Aisu closed the door. “I was right!” she hissed, “There’s something funny going on with that Tasogare-san and Yuk—I mean, Fujin! And, I don’t think that they’re really brothers. They even have different last names!”
Kogasu opened the door behind Aisu. “Hey, what are you guys-“
Mizu pounced on him and put her hands over his mouth as Aisu quickly closed the door. Mizu took her hands off of Kogasu’s mouth, putting a finger to her lips.
“What’s going on?” asked Kogasu.
“Kotoba-sensei, calm down. There’s probably a good reason for their names. Why do you think that there’s something odd going on?” asked Mizu.
“Last night, I woke up because I was thirsty. I went to go ask Tasogare-san where the kitchen is. When I was going to knock on the door, I heard him and Fujin arguing. It sounded like Tasogare-san wanted Fujin to do something, and Fujin didn’t want to.”
“So?” asked Kogasu, “Brothers argue. It’s a fact of life.”
“That’s not all,” snapped Aisu, “Stupid boy, listen before you speak!”
“Isn’t the saying, ‘think before you speak’, Kotoba-sensei?” asked Mizu.
“Yes, but that’s what I meant.” Kogasu opened his mouth to speak, but Aisu interrupted. “It sounded like-“
The door opened behind Aisu again. “Hey, are you guys okay? I looked in Kogasu-kun’s room and he wasn’t there. Oh, and breakfast is ready in the dining room down the hall,” said Fujin.
“Everything’s alright, we’ll be out in a few!” Mizu said innocently, pushing Fujin out the door and slamming it behind her. “So, what were you saying, Kotoba-sensei?”
“Well, when I went up there, and they finished arguing, I heard some noises. It sounded like Kanji was hitting Fujin. And, I don’t mean spanking, I mean actual hitting. Hard hitting,” replied Aisu.
“Really?” asked Mizu. “Well, I’m going to go confront them about it!” With that, Mizu left the room. Kogasu and Aisu looked at each other, and in a rare moment of agreement, nodded and followed her.
* * *
“Kanji!” called Mizu angrily, entering the dining room.
“Yes?” answered Kanji calmly, sitting down at the dining room table.
“I have two questions for you!” Mizu announced.
“Then ask them.”
“How could you do that to your own brother?! That is, if he really even is your brother, after all, you two have different last names!” Mizu demanded.
“He hasn’t done anything to me!” protested Fujin.
“The reason why we have different last names,” answered Kanji, “Is because, as the Hikari no Shiido, he had to take the last name of Shiido. His real name is ‘Fujin Tasogare.’ By the way, it’s rude to refer to a stranger without an honorific… which you are doing to me. Didn’t your parents, or at least your teacher, teach you that?” Kanji asked coldly. “And what is it that you’re implying that I did to Fujin?”
“Well… um… Kotoba-sensei, what did he do again?” asked Mizu, embarrassed.
Aisu rolled her eyes. “Last night, I went up to your room to ask you something. It sounded like you were hitting Fujin really hard. Were you?”
“Of course not. Fujin was banging his head against the wall and then saying ‘ow’,” lied Kanji. “He was frustrated because of a videogame.”
But, Mizu, Aisu, and Kogasu didn’t quite believe him.