Brothers: New Home

By: DNL

Ryo sat in an old abandoned home waiting for his brother to return from stealing valuables for them to sell, food to eat and water to drink. It was tough for them to sell stuff considering they were children but they've found a couple of people who wouldn't rip them off too badly, one more than the other. Akefia was learning the value of things quickly enough so they were able to get closer to what they actually deserve for selling something for now. Right now Ryo was just peeking out a window at the people passing by every so often. He'd feel a pain whenever he saw a family group. He prayed he'd someday get to feel what it was like to have parents. He knew his brother despised the gods for doing this to them but he couldn't help but hope. Other times he'd see a group of friends walking by laughing and playing then he'd get jealous but a part of him wanted to rush out and see if he could join in. Then…he'd have to worry about his strange hair color. He was often teased, bullied or avoided because of it. People worried why the gods would give someone such a strange hair color.

He sighed slumping down on the window ledge watching the people walk by wondering what their lives where like. No one paid much mind to him as he was wearing a cloth to covering his strange hair color making him appear normal. Ryo perked slightly shifting the position of his head when he saw a pair of kids heading over his way. Instantly he ducked down hiding before they got too close. He wasn't supposed to talk to anyone and he feared being picked on.

"See! I told you someone was in there!" One voice pointed out triumphantly. Ryo flinched, he'd been noticed. He shrugged it off they'd be leaving soon anyway.

"I didn't see anyone…" Another grumbled irately.

"That's because you weren't looking!" The first snapped.

"Whatever…what's the big deal of someone being here anyway? Not our problem." The other pointed out continuing to grumble irately. Clearly he didn't care for being here. Then he snickered, "Are you trying to trick me or something? I don't think there's anyone here at all. You're just trying to pull a lame prank about a ghost or something." He retorted with a snicker.

"I am not! I'll prove it! Hey!" The first yelled trying to get Ryo to surface. The hiding child; however, grew more confused and fearful. He covered his ears with his hand trying to block out the sound of the kid calling for him. "Hey, come out I just want to say hi!" He pleaded. Ryo grew curious and looked up at the ledge but did nothing more.

"That's it? You just want to say hi? Trick or not that's the stupidest line I've ever heard. Ra you're stupid." The second grumbled Ryo could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"Sister said we needed to make more friends. At least I'm trying." The first said back a little flatly. Ryo perked up brightly, but withdrew back a bit. He didn't know these two.

"So you want to make friends with some random person? You're really weird…" The second commented bluntly.

"I've seen him here before and he always looks bored, I figured why not besides not like we know a lot of people outside our home." He pointed out normally. The boy had a point Ryo thought; he wouldn't make any friends if he was always hiding. On the other hand…he didn't want to get his brother upset…

The second person huffed, "I'm going home…this is a waste of my time."

Shortly after he could hear the pair leaving, in a last minute decision Ryo popped up looking over the edge, "Uh hey…" He said loudly enough to catch both of their attention. Ryo was surprised to see both had very light blond hair. One's was combed down and the others seemed to point out in every direction. Ryo though his hair was weird but this kid's was crazy! Ryo tapped his fingers on the window ledge nervously, to ease this a bit he gulped, "Uh…sorry for hiding…I uh just…didn't know what to do…"

The blond with his hair combed down smirked triumphantly and looked to what was most likely his twin, "See, I told you it wasn't a trick." He snipped getting an irate look from his brother. Looking back to Ryo he smiled, "Want to come out and play?" He asked motioning for him to come outside with his hand.

Ryo lowered his head a bit, "I can't. I have to wait for my brother to come home…he'll get upset if he finds me gone…" He perked a bit before they could reply, "But do you want to come inside?"

The first blond smiled and nodded, "Sure!" Ryo went and opened the door letting him and to his surprise his brother begrudgingly came along. They all sat on the dirt floor and Malik gestured to his brother, "This is my younger twin Mariku I'm Malik…the older one~." He said smirking widely when he mentioned he was the older twin.

Looking to Mariku Ryo could tell the brother was not thrilled to hear that, "You love rubbing that in don't you…?"

Malik grinned mockingly to his twin enjoying his annoyance, "Of course. So long as you keep rubbing in you're a little taller I'll keep rubbing in that I'm older." He looked back to Ryo before looking around the old empty home, "So what are you and your brother doing living in this place?"

Ryo looked away shyly, "Well…we don't have a home. So we're staying here…" He sad running his finger along the ground leaving small trails behind them in the dirt, he didn't like talking about it but he couldn't figure out what else to say.

"Oh…so you don't have…parent's either, huh?" Malik said slowly looking away regretting bringing up such a wound. Thinking about it he should have figured as much.

Ryo shook his head, "No…" He blinked and looked back to Malik, "You don't have parents?" He was surprised to meet someone with his situation like this. It seemed a bit out of nowhere but it was slightly comforting to talk with someone who knew his pain.

"Nope…" Malik said softly...even Mariku expression fell a bit. A mourning silence fell between the children. After what seemed like hours Malik looked back to Ryo, "So…do you and your brother stay here now?" He asked trying to break the ice that had formed between them during the moment of silence.

Ryo shook his head, "No we just come here sometimes to get stuff…we stay at an old temple out in the desert most of the time."

"Wow that sounds cool, having a whole temple to yourselves!" Malik exclaimed grinning excitedly.

"It is actually, lots of places to play and lots of cool things to look at!" Ryo agreed nodding his head grinning back to the blond.

"What's going on Ryo?" The sudden fourth voice startled the three making them all jump where they sat then turn to see Ryo's brother standing in the door hands full with backs of food, water pouches and some jewelry. Clearly he had been busy at work swiping all that stuff, because his brow was sweating bead after bead of sweat and his breathing was a bit on the heavy side.

"Oh, brother…I…" Ryo got up looking like he'd been caught doing something bad, he had a hard time keeping eye contact with is older brother. This made Malik and Mariku a little unsure about having come into the temporary home. Warily seeing the judging look in his older brother's eyes Ryo spoke, "These are my new friends Malik and Mariku…" He said gesturing to the twins. Akefia remained silent and just looked down at his brother so Ryo continued to explain, "You told me to stay inside…so I let them in. We were just talking…" He said faintly lowering his head hoping for a bit of pity from his brother.

"What did you talk about?" Akefia said sternly sounding more like a parent than a brother.

"Um, well…how we both don't have parents…and how we live in the temple most of the time…." Ryo said realizing what he had just done, he was in trouble alright. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone where they usually stayed. He had just been so excited that he was making friends that it had slipped his mind. Looking back up at his brother he knew his suspicions of being in trouble were correct. Akefia was clearly upset with him. Ryo gulped waiting for his impending lecture and his new friends getting kicked out.

"We won't tell anyone." Malik piped up diverting Akefia's attention from his brother to him, "I swear we won't tell anyone about you staying in the temple. Right, Mariku?" He said to his brother who remained silent. Malik shot him a nasty look before roughly elbowing him in the ribs. "Right?" He said emphasizing the word roughly through his teeth this time.

"Yes!" Mariku snapped sharply more to his brother than the two others. He rolled his strangely pupil lacking eyes, "I don't care where they stay anyhow…" He muttered irately while crossing his arms.

Malik rolled his eyes at his stubborn, uncaring brother before looking back to Akefia who didn't seem to be buying their words. Malik blamed this on his brother. Looking the older white haired boy in the eyes Malik spoke again, "I promise we won't tell anyone. I just wanted to play with your brother. It's not every day I meet someone with strange hair like me." He said truthfully, briefly pointing at his platinum blond hair.

For a moment Akefia locked eyes with Malik giving him a hard judging stare before he looked away for a moment thinking things over. Once he came to a decision he looked back to his brother, "I'll let it slide this time Ryo, don't tell anyone else where we stay. Understand?"

His younger sibling nodded feverishly, "I understand brother. It won't happen again." Ryo said earnestly still looking a bit guilty, head still a bit low.

"Good." Akefia said, keeping up a stern brother look in front of the two guests. He put the bags of supplies and jewelry on the ground while Ryo gave him an understanding nod.

Malik watched as the elder brother started putting away the food in an underground compartment hidden under dirt. He blinked; his brother was back now…so maybe, "Hey, now that your back can Ryo go outside to play?" He asked normally. Ryo perked up upon hearing his question; looking at his brother pleadingly he waited for his response.

"Yeah, sure," Akefia said focusing on putting the food and water away.

"Thank you, brother!" Ryo said excitedly giving his brother a hug, to which Akefia grunted dully, before he ran outside with Malik and Mariku.

Once they were gone Akefia let himself smile a little, his brother had managed to make some friends. Though he was still irate with him telling the twins where they actually lived he felt that Malik was truthful when he said they wouldn't tell anyone. Mariku was the one he wasn't sure about but he really didn't seem to care. So maybe he really wouldn't have to worry. At least now Ryo had some playmates. Finishing putting the supplies up, he looked out the window feeling a bit of joy when he saw Malik and Ryo wrestling on the ground Mariku sitting against the wall observing. A short while the two got up and started chasing each other around. Akefia was pleased to see Ryo was the faster of the two; then again all the traveling they did probably gave him an edge.

The two played for over an hour before coming inside to cool off. The pair was panting from the exercise, even Mariku was panting a little as he had played with them for a bit before getting bored and stopped. As much as Akefia didn't want to he knew he had to share the water he had gotten. So he handed a pouch to each of the three and then one for himself, he was thirsty by then as well. He remained quiet as Malik and Ryo chatted with each other about things they liked. It seemed the two were becoming fast friends, which was good.

Akefia just wondered, or more so worried, about how Ryo would react when they eventually had to move on from using this village. Once he was older and stronger they'd move back to Kul Elna and use it as their home again. By then he'd be a good enough thief to steadily supply them with food, water and other necessities. Ryo of course would stay there; the spirits of the village would keep him safe. Glancing at Ryo he knew he wouldn't tell him until he realized it for himself or when he'd have to tell him. Let him have fun for now, no need to ruin it now.

Malik finished drinking, leaving enough water in the pouch, and looked at the two briefly before looking at the house. As sturdy as it looked Malik didn't think it'd be very warm at night. He had just met the two, and knew for a fact one was a thief, but the fact that the two didn't even have a home or anyone looking out for them…Malik couldn't leave them to freeze at night especially since he knew the pain of not having parents, but at least he had older siblings and a good home. So he couldn't just go to his warm home knowing they were freezing, it wasn't right. He cleared his throat to catch the others attention, "Hey…would you two like to stay at our house?" Both the brothers and his twin looked at him in shock.

"Come again?" Akefia asked bluntly still stunned by the question that had left Malik's mouth.

"Do you want to stay over at our home?" Malik repeated withholding the amusement that he got from catching the older brother off guard.

Ryo brightened up happily, excitement filling him quickly, "Can we brother!?" He piped eagerly, if they moved over to Malik's house he'd always have someone to play with when his brother was gone. Also he hadn't been looking forward to staying in their current shelter it got really cold at night even with their blankets.

His older sibling hummed thoughtfully, it sounded good too good. Akefia wasn't about to trust anyone he just met even if his brother did like them, but looking at Ryo he felt that resolve wavering. Ryo really wanted to be friends with Malik, saying no to this offer would show he didn't trust him and harm Ryo's chance at being friends with him. Akefia thought a moment longer, "I suppose we can try it out…" He said carefully, letting Malik know he didn't fully trust him without turning down the offer.

Ryo let out a cheerful shout, "Yay!" He exclaimed before hugging his brother, "Thank you brother!"

Akefia sighed hearing a bit of snickering from Mariku and Malik, he should have expected his brother to hug him. Nothing he could do about it now so he patted him on the back a couple of times, "Don't mention it." He said shooting a warning look at the two other boys silencing them…somewhat. Seemed these two weren't easily intimidated, he grunted dully at this. Now Akefia knew the two were going to be a bit of a pain.

"Come on then, we have some walking to do." Malik said drawling Ryo's attention causing him to let go of his brother. Looking to the entrance they saw he was already standing there ready to leave for home. "We need to get home soon before Ishizu worries anyway." Malik added sounding slightly worried about making his sister concerned. That prompted him to begin walking; Mariku, Ryo and Akefia in tow.

With Malik's guidance the ground was soon led into the richer part of town. Making Akefia a bit uncomfortable, he wasn't fond of the wealthy. They always mocked those below them making them look dumb and worthless. Like their only use was to be their servant. Akefia wasn't dumb, worthless and would never serve them. He feared that they'd force him and his brother into serving them, because of this Akefia stayed closer to his brother.

Eventually they came to a house with walls around it. The entrance had two guards which once they saw Malik and Mariku moved aside allowing them, Ryo and Akefia in. Inside was beautiful as to be expected of a higher class home. Ryo looked around excitedly he'd never been a home this extravagant before. Akefia kept his eyes sharp looking out for trouble. He smirked upon spotting valuables; if things didn't work he could always snag something nice before they left.

"Malik, Mariku you're back!"

Akefia turned his head and stalled spotting a girl about a year younger than him. She had long obsidian hair with big blue eyes. Suddenly Akefia felt a little shy and shifted unsurely as the girl who appeared to be the twin's sister approached the group.

"Sorry, we're late Ishizu." Malik apologized looking a bit guilty, even lowering his head slightly. Mariku on the other hand said nothing and just stood next to him.

"Oh no, you're not late at all Malik. Ra hasn't even start to set on the horizon yet." His sister said with a smile giving Malik a short reassuring hug causing him to smile brightly. Spotting the two white haired children his sister smiled, "Did you make some friends?"

Malik nodded, "Yes, this is Ryo and his older brother Akefia." He motioned to each of them respectively.

"Hello, I'm Malik's sister Ishizu. I'm happy to see my brothers made friends so soon!" Ishizu exclaimed happily smiling to the two guests.

"Hi…" Akefia said glimpsing her out of the corner of his eyes before quickly looking away pretending to ignore her. Ryo looked at his brother knitting his brow a bit; he hadn't seen this sort of reaction from Akefia before. He looked back to Ishizu catching Akefia glancing at her for a second. He smirked mischievously for a second before looking back to Malik who spoke again.

"Sister, these two don't have a home…can they stay with us?" He put his hands together and gave his sister they puppy eyes treatment, "Please!" He pleaded.

"Oh, spare us Malik…" Mariku groaned indignantly rolling his eyes at his twin's behavior. Malik shot him a look which Mariku stuck his tongue out to.

Ishizu looked to the brothers; this was a big decision…while her brother was the family head but being six he didn't have enough age to take authority over the adults so she stood in for him until he was older…even though she herself was nine. She looked to Akefia…Ishizu blinked spotting his scar which caused the boy to brush some hair over it. Ishizu looked away figuring he was sensitive about it. Thinking for a moment longer she nodded, "Let's see how it works out. If it works well they can stay."

Malik went up to her and hugged his sister lovingly, "Thank you sister!"

"It's nothing Malik." She answered stroking his blond hair. When Malik let go Ishizu looked over her shoulder, "Rishid! There are some new people we need you to meet!" She called out; a few moments later an older boy about thirteen came out from what looked like a garden. His clothing was a bit worn but judging by the bits of gold he wore Akefia figured he was a personal servant to the brothers. Ishizu smiling gestured to him, "This is Rishid, our adopted brother." Akefia blinked in surprise, a higher class family taking a servant as one of their own? This was new to him.

"Rishid, this is Ryo and Akefia. They'll be staying with us." Ishizu explained.

The older boy looked at the two younger ones, his seemingly stern face making Ryo feel a bit intimidated before it warmed and Rishid smiled to them, "It's nice to meet friends of Master Malik and Mariku. I hope that you'll stay with us."

"You two must be tired." Ishizu stated looking at them, mainly Akefia's partly worn appearance. "I'll take you to your room. You can rest before dinner." She said politely before heading to the rooms, "Follow me." The two brothers looked at each other before following after her. A short walk later she stopped at an empty room, "Here it is. I hope you like it." She said with a smile.

Curious Ryo poked his head into the room before letting out an excited gasp, "Wow!" He rushed in jumping onto a fluffy bed. Giggling he rolled around on it before propping himself up on his hands, "It feels like a cloud of a fluffy sheep! Try yours brother!" He exclaimed pointing to the other bed across from his. Letting out a happy laugh he started jumping and rolling around on his bed.

Akefia's face softened slightly, he hadn't seen Ryo this happy in a long time. He glanced at Ishizu shifting a bit before heading into the room briskly, "Thanks." Akefia said quickly.

Ishizu giggled, "Alright I'll leave you to your room."

Hearing the giggle she made Akefia felt his face heat briefly and he looked at her as she left. Twitching he shut the door, "Girls…" He murmured.

"You like her don't you~?" Ryo said suddenly sending a chill up his older brother's spine making him jump to face him.

Akefia caught sight of a rare devious smile on his younger brother's face making actually him a bit wary. Recomposing himself he crosses his arms, "I do not. She's just some girl." He muttered not meeting his brother's gaze.

"Of course," Ryo said teasingly before smirking a bit, "Bet you wished she stroked your hair like she did Malik's~." He said with a wide grin as he snickered to himself.

Akefia thought back to that moment, "That did look ni-"His face flushed red as he caught what he was going to say. Hearing his younger brothers laughing he snapped his head to him, "I DO NOT!" Seeing his brother fall onto his back laugh he growled embarrassedly.

"Akefia and Ishizu kissing by the Nile~ K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!" Ryo sang from his bed swaying his head back and forth still laughing on occasion.

His older brother bristled before tackling him, "Take that back!" He demanded loudly putting his brother in a headlock.

"NEVER!" Ryo shouted still laughing between breaths.

Hope you liked it! I'll make more of these little one shots if I get ideas ^^~!

Please favorite and review! It helps a lot!