•.•.•.•

It wasn't love at first sight,

But it grew into... something similar.

•.•.•.•

"Yuu-nii! Whatcha looking at?"

Ren Hakuyuu, First Imperial Prince of the Kou Empire, quickly snapped his attention to his younger brother, Ren Hakuren, with a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Hakuren!" Hakuyuu hissed quietly, "do not refer to me so casually outside, and please, watch your grammar."

Hakuyuu didn't beg, but it almost came close, and Hakuren obliged his elder brother with a scratch of his head.

"Elder Brother," the Second Imperial Prince repeated formally. "What have you been gazing at, if I may ask?"

"Nothing," Hakuyuu replied coolly. "I just wanted to see the clouds."

Blue eyes flickered to the sun's position and the First Prince let out a sigh, "I must get going, Brother, I promised Cousin Koumei to play Shougi with him."

Hakuyuu's blue eyes softened and a small chuckle escaped his lips, "as if he couldn't get any better. I swear, if Kouen's a genius in the battlefield, then Koumei's unparalleled in the battle of wits."

"True," a soft smile appeared on Hakuren's face, but his eyes hardened. "The only thing that I could wish for now, is that our cousins didn't have to see the cruelty of war."

Hakuyuu didn't reply but he didn't have to, Hakuren knew he felt the same way.

The rustling of clothes and the sound of armor bumping together, greeted Hakuren's ears and he knew, without a doubt, that his brother already left.

Hakuren's eyes flickered towards the sky and a mischievous smile settled on his lips, he relaxed his posture into something more casual with his hands on his nape.

"Nii-san, you liar." His eyes flickered to the sky once again to make sure, "there were no clouds in sight, earlier or at present."

Hakuren's smile grew wider. "Now, I wonder, what were you looking at?" He hummed pleasantly, a twinkle in his blue orbs. "Better yet, who?"

•.•.•.•

"Come on, En! We gotta see who caught Yuu-nii's eye, I bet she's a beauty."

"No," Ren Kouen replied flatly eyeing his cousin, wearing a simple scholar's clothing, holding a scroll. "Forgive me Prince Hakuren, but I'm busy." Kouen paused and his voice went a few degrees colder. "In my own room."

"Eh," Hakuren replied in dismay, mouth in a pout. "But aren't you the least bit interested?"

Kouen's nose twitched and Hakuren beamed, knowing that he hit a chord in the boy, making the chances of Kouen 'accompanying' him to see the mysterious girl higher. Kouen, in return, tried his best to keep his features blank and he did it, successfully.

But Kouen knew how persistent Hakuren could be, as a prince, a warrior, and a person, he wasn't going to give in that easily though.

"Ne, Kouen," Hakuren's eyes twinkled and Kouen looked at the teen apprehensively. "I wonder what would Koumei say once he realizes that you're the one that sicced those old men on him."

The redhead went stiff and Hakuren could only widen his grin.

"Afterall, nobody really knew who our 'tactician' was, but I heard from a bird that somebody became aggravated with countless-"

Kouen abruptly stood up and gave the prince a cold, hard glare, and replied with gritted teeth. "Fine."

"I knew you'd see it my way En!"

The younger teen in return pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "How did you even know that Yuu-niisama was looking at a girl, Ren-nii?"

Hakuren blinked owlishly and with a nervous smile tapped his right temple, "it was a brother's intuition, that's what it is!"

Kouen looked at his older cousin in disbelief and shook his head, knowing that a headache was no doubt forming, he was about to say something but Hakuren cut him to it.

"And why do you call Yuu-nii, 'nii-sama'? Yet you refer me with a 'nii'?" Hakuren began a little teary eyed, "do you not respect me En?"

Kouen blanked his features and gestured towards the door, silently signaling the prince to leave his quarters.

"Get out if you want me to join you Ren-nii," seeing his cousin's downtrodden expression, Kouen explained why. "You do not wish for me to go outside without armor, do you Prince Hakuren?"

The prince's face turned stiff and he sharply nodded his head, robotically leaving the room, but before the young prince left, his eyes flickered to Kouen's form, which was either covered in scars or recovejring wounds.

And as always, Hakuren felt guilt gnawing his heart. He raised his head and closed his eyes and a silent mumur escaped his mouth.

"Sorry."

•.•.•.•

Hakuyuu paused in front of a simple and elegant door, made of paper and carved wood. He knocked three times and promptly opened the door, not waiting for a response.

The prince heard the rustling of blankets and with a smile, shook his head, waiting for his cousin's reply, which was no doubt a lie.

"I'm asleep," a voice originated from the bed, a humble piece of art, yet carved from the finest of woods, but most of all, it was practical which Hakuyuu knew the owner appreciated.

It had no pillars, nor any accessories, just a simple mattress and countless blankets covering the owner's form.

"Sleeping people do not talk Koumei," Hakuyuu retorted dryly, arms crossed over.

"And brothers do not lie to each other," Koumei stopped to yawn. "Do they Prince Hakuyuu?"

The First Prince in return raised an elegant eyebrow, even though the person he wasn't talking to may not see it. "Ho, then I suppose that you already told Kouen that you knew that he was the one who directed the nobles to you?"

Silence greeted the man and the mass of blankets moved, and a face poked out of the sheets, framed with rose colored hair and pink eyes currently looking irritatedly at the prince's figure.

A smile settled on Hakuyuu's face, one that, in Koumei's eyes, looked a little triumphant and smug and the young redhead, in return, adopted an innocent facade.

"Oh, Is that so?" Koumei returned wide-eyed, "I supposse that you wouldn't mind then, Yuu-nii," the First Prince narrowed his eyes. "If I told Prince Hakuren about a certain woman with white hair and majestic jade eyes?"

That made the man freeze, albeit, only for a moment.

"I do not know what you're talking about Koumei," Hakuyuu said easily, not showing any knowledge about such a woman. "There exists no woman of that description.."

The prince trailed off and to his unadultered horror, he realized a mistake which Koumei undoubtly exploited.

"Wrong, Hakuyuu-niisama," a smile was on Koumei's face with a tint of reproach. "I know of nobleman, who was kicked out of their Royal Court, and is currently living in exile."

"I do not see where this is heading to, cousin." Hakuyuu said weakly, a wobbly smile on his face.

Koumei looked at the prince in disbelief and with a shake of his head, continued. "His family was valuable to their country, so not all of them were exiled since they still had use, yet one of his daughters, one with a kind and passionate heart, followed her aging father dutifully."

The redhead stopped and looked at his cousin, whose shoulders were a little slouched, and asked him a question.

"Did you know where they went?"

A frown was on Hakuyuu's face, yet he answered Koumei's question with a sigh of surrender.

"The recently established Kou Empire."

And in an uncharacteristic and un-Koumei like way, the young teen beamed. "Correct!"

"And I suppose you're not going to let me sit?" Hakuyuu tossed back, his entire demeanor irritated and put off by the fact his cousin beat him in the battle of words.

Again.

Koumei's arm appeared from within the cocoon and gestured vaguely around his room.

"Make yourself at home," the teen replied blankly, all earlier cheer gone.

"Have you even talked to the lady, Koumei?" Hakuyuu said exasperated and with a hint of excitement in his tone, that Koumei ignored.

"I haven't."

A beat of silence passed and the prince echoed his younger cousin's answer from earlier, "you haven't?"

"No," Koumei replied, fixing his blankets and turned to Hakuyuu, "do you not wish to sit?"

Hakuyuu looked around Koumei's room, which was slightly smaller than Hakuren's, yet filled to the brim with countless scrolls and papers, and a single chair covered with them.

"I don't think I have a choice," Hakuyuu said voice full of amusement, "I'll sit on the floor near you."

Koumei shed his blankets, and his clothes, of scholarly nature much like his brother, was covered in countless ink stains.

"Fine, just make sure nobody harps at me because of it."

"As long as you say where you got your information from," the redhead frowned at his cousin's reply, and didn't say anything for a while opting to stretch his arms.

"The walls have ears," Koumei replied while putting his sandals on, "but if one wants information, you just need to listen."

Hakuyuu nodded thoughtfully at the rather cryptic remark, and flicked his eyes at his cousin's figure.

"You'll," Hakuyuu began apprehensive, "you'll keep it a secret won't you?"

A puzzled look was on Koumei's face and he said, in utter bewilderment. "What are you talking about Hakuyuu-niisama, weren't you here for that Shogi match you promised me? I apologize for getting up early,"

'This cousin of mine,' Hakuyuu thought ruefully, a smile on his lips. 'Truly a Master of Lies.'

•.•.•.•

Even if the two didn't realize it.

•.•.•.•

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Magi.