Hide-And-Go-Seek~Playing with the Twins

[Luna]

There was something eerie, yet oddly comforting about the streets near the food stalls during the day. When the sun was down, Spirits of all kinds came out and enjoyed themselves, many venturing over to the Bath House while others preferred spending their time on these very streets. During the day, however, it is almost completely void of, well, anything. There were several buildings that were abandoned during the day, and these buildings made great play things for bored, children spirits.

There was nothing for Kazune and Koori to do at the Bath House during the day, besides maybe clean. The busiest hours occurred when the sun was no longer in the sky, so the twins were not necessarily needed for anything. Kazune decided that it would be fun to play "hide-and-seek", since it had been a while since he spent some time with his sister. At an earlier time in their lives, the two had played games like this. But never had they had such a variety of places to hide.
Though Kazune was nearly a grown-up, he felt no shame in playing this game with Koori. In fact, a grin lit up his face as he looked around a corner, trying to find the little polar bear. She could change forms, opening up a whole new world of opportunities for hiding places--he, on the other hand, could only stay in his human form. The reason being, of course, that his spirit form was large and easy to spot. If he wanted to hide, and hide well, then he had no choice but to remain in this form.

Koori, he found, was a much better hider than she used to be. It used to be very easy to find her, but now he was having quite a bit of trouble. "Where are you...?" he muttered to himself, hands on his hips as he gazed around the food stalls--perhaps the smell of food had attracted her? Apparently not, he decided and turned in the other direction to stand in the middle of the street. A soft chuckle left his lips. "Okay, I give up!" he called out, waiting for the little spirit to reveal herself.

[Raine.]]

Koori's giggles came from inside a barrel next to one of the empty stalls. For a while, she and Kazune had been playing one of their older games, hide-and-seek -- when he'd suggested the little game as a time-killer, the child-like spirit had become ecstatic. Kazu was often with his other friends, and, while Koori had been alone, she'd often explore nearly everywhere in the little town, becoming more and more familiar with areas of all sorts. Truthfully, the little polar bear did miss her brother a bit, whenever he was out with his friends, but she was still a content spirit -- her brother was still kind and honest with her; he still played with her; and he was basically always on her side in an argument. They obviously still had one of the closest bonds a set of twins could possibly have, so Koori rarely complained.

As Kazu gave the words of resignation, Koori sprung from the barrel and landed (and clung) to her brother's back in a swift transformation of human-to-polar-bear. Her rumbling sounds, coming from deep inside her throat, could've been meaningless to anyone passing by. However, to a fellow polar bear, it'd probably be roughly translated as, "I won, you're a loser!" in an informal, joking manner. It'd probably be a bit odd for someone to see, the sight of a smallish polar bear hanging on to a fifteen-year-old, seemingly-human's back, making strange noises that sounded completely incomprehensible.

But Koori was absolutely hyperactive at the moment. Her stubby tail wagged and she dropped to the ground, the mini-snowstorm surrounding her briefly as she changed back into human-form. Shaking her blue-gray hair, she smiled widely, her eyes big and shining with enthusiasm. Always, she loved the transformation process. Being stuck in this part of the Spirit World for so long honestly made her a bit homesick. The twister of snow that always whirled around her when she changed forms also sent a greatly cold yet small ring of wind around her; it was comforting to feel the cool temperature of home.

"Onii-chan, you're gonna owe me over six thousand pounds of Chokuri rooster by the time you win even one game!" she grinned challengingly. Though it wasn't an actual bet or wager, Koori would often pretend to make a bet that includes food (this time, Chokuri rooster -- a well-known and well-liked dish of birds, imported from Sinister Valley, that's found around these stalls) to simply show her competitiveness -- something that she shows Kazu quite often when playing even the easiest of games with him.

[Luna]

Weight was added suddenly to Kazune's back, forcing him to lean forward slightly to accommodate said weight. His eyes had widened a little in shock, before returning to a normal size as a small smile found its way back onto his face. He understood the rumbling noises coming from his sister as though she were speaking, and he laughed. "Yes, yes, I'm a loser," he agreed, letting her drop to the ground. He turned to face her, only to be met with a flurry of snowflakes before a human-looking Koori appeared.

It had been too long, he noted, since they had had such fun together. Koori was practically glowing, and even he felt as though happiness was radiating from him. He would make a mental note to do this more often.

He sighed, playing along with her "bet". Staying in character, he placed his hands on his hips and put on an expression of exasperation. "But where am I going to get six thousand pounds of Chokuri rooster?" he asked. He moved a hand to his forehead, a dramatic pose. "I need to get better at these games, or get a job. I can't afford to keep losing." He knew she was competitive, and he personally thought that sometimes it was good to let her be that way.

Kazune placed a hand on Koori's head, ruffling her hair. "Okay, give me one more chance to redeem myself. What game do you want to play now?" With his free hand, he crossed his heart. "If I lose, you can have all the Chokuri rooster you want." To an extent, of course. He didn't want her getting sick or anything.

[Raine.]]

Koori's laughter chimed again. "Are you sure you want me to choose, Kazu?" she asked, prodding his side with a finger. "It's more likely you'll lose if I'm the one to pick, you know!" Her heart soared with joy. It was fun playing with her brother. However, there was one thing that Koori could never tell her brother -- it was something that was never to be said, always to be sworn to secrecy. Sometimes, Koori wished her brother hadn't woken up so much earlier than her. Or sometimes, she wished that she hadn't woke up so late.

She'd brought this subject up with her parents before, once. They yelled at her with such fierceness that the polar bear cub feared that they were about to punish her for saying something wrong. When they'd calmed down, they'd told her, their eyes staring directly into hers, "Don't be foolish, Koori. You and Kazu are you and Kazu. Don't envy anyone; don't wish for change. Everyone loves you both an equal amount in different ways. Changing your times of awakening would change who you are now. Don't wish for change."

With those words engraved forever in Koori's mind, she smiled. In her mind, she still wished for it once in a while -- it was whenever Kazu was elsewhere with friends of his own. But since her parents were proud of who they were, she was proud as well. Her nii-chan was always kind to her, anyhow. She'd thought before of how, if they'd woken up around the same time, would he still be so nice to her? She'd seen other siblings fighting all the time. Yet they'd never fought before. Their bond was extremely close -- perhaps it had something to do with their times of awakening; or perhaps it had something to do with them being twins. She really didn't know what it was, but she was glad that things were as they were.

Beaming with a canine tooth showing, she crossed her arms. "Come on, Kazu!" she said in a bit of a taunting voice. "Pick a game! We'll see what you've got!"