The night had passed, and a new day was already there.
The morning air was fresh and the morning dew glistened under the first rays of one of the suns. The refracted rays had a slight purple glow, because the star they came from was purple.
The Xun siblings were already outside, collecting sticks for the fire and doing the usual routine while the old man in the mansion remained unmovable in his rocking chair that never stopped.
Xun Bao: "Sis, have you seen little brother and sister? I've looked for them everywhere."
The frail-looking boy asked his sister while holding several sticks in one hand and bending over for another one, which resulted in all of them falling out of his hand. His face morphed into the one of a resignation as his sister laughed at his misfortune.
Xun Bao couldn't tolerate that unfairness and jumped on his sister, intending to tickle her as they started rolling around on the grass and their cheerful gasps and laughter resounded in the surroundings.
After a while, a sweet female voice with a hint of devilishness came from the roof of the mansion: "Elder brother Bao, you are mischievous. Don't bully elder sister or I'll come down there and tickle you until the sun rises."
Xun Bao felt a chill up his spine when he heard that devilish voice and instantly turned around in its direction. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the scene before him. It was as if something electrocuted him. Xun Meng, however, just casually smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Their gaze fell on the roof of the mansion.
Asura Ryuu was in a half-sitting pose with his legs stretched and his body upwards, while Asura Tenka lay on her back with her head facing the direction of the Xun siblings. Her head was on Asura Ryuu's thighs as her silky silver hair spilled over his legs. The teasing smile on Asura Ryuu's face caused chills up Xun Bao's spine once again.
Xun Bao: "E-eh... uh... Little sister, don't give a heart attack to your big brother. I-I just got carried away... a bit."
The look in Asura Ryuu's crimson eyes carried a meaning: "Hehe, I caught you!", or at least that's what Xun Bao thought which made his usually lazy attitude change to the nervous one. A cool and slightly painful sensation on his cheek dissolved his unease a bit as Xun Meng released her fingers that had pinched Xun Bao a moment ago.
Xun Meng's gentle angelic voice brought Xun Bao back to reality: "They're obviously teasing you. Silly brother."
The girl stood up and patted her clothes, which were slightly wet because of the dew, and waved in the direction of the roof with a beaming smile: "Little brother, little sister, come with us. Let's make a breakfast."
Asura Ryuu's slightly evil voice greeted her warm smile: "No, no. You can continue with what you were doing - we're just relaxing up here."
They didn't know why, but both Xun Bao and Xun Meng became embarrassed when they heard Asura Ryuu's teasing voice. They had no idea that the embarrassment was because of Asura Ryuu's vastly stronger Spirit Power that unconsciously made them feel like that.
Xun Meng: "Little brother, don't tease us. We were just playing, just playing. Why not come help us out?"
As she was saying that, Asura Tenka slowly rose into a half-sitting position, the same as Asura Ryuu, and waved her hand while saying: "We'll be there in a bit."
Then, both of them jumped down from the roof onto their terrace and disappeared inside the mansion. Not long after, the two came out with a new set of slightly torn clothes, rushing in the direction of the Xun siblings.
What neither of them knew was that the usually serious expression on the old man's face was replaced with a strange smile.
Asura Ryuu's arm was already around Xun Bao's neck as he pulled his head down while saying: "What evil plans are you scheming with our sister, elder brother?"
Xun Bao was usually lazy, but he panicked for some reason and kept on denying it while Asura Ryuu kept teasing and poking him. Luckily, he didn't know what 'evil plans' meant or he would be even more flustered than he was already.
The two girls laughed when they saw the scene, and Asura Tenka helped Xun Meng collect the branches that caused this situation while Xun Bao was under Asura Ryuu's mercy.
Asura Tenka: "Oi! You two, it's enough! Go get us something to eat or we'll starve. I'm already hungry."
Xun Bao, who was constantly under Asura Ryuu's onslaught, found a ray of hope and hurriedly said:" Little brother, let's go. Little sister will kill us both if we don't hurry. Look at your elder sister, she's so frail. We must get plenty of food for her!"
Xun Meng: "Who is frail? Humph! You are frail!"
The sweet way Xun Meng pouted and protested was enough for everyone to laugh, but Xun Bao couldn't find it within himself to laugh in that situation. He was in dire straits!
Asura Ryuu glanced at Xun Bao's slightly sorry state and couldn't help himself but laugh as the girls joined him. Xun Bao felt aggravated, but he was weaker than Asura Ryuu, so there was nothing he could do besides make a face and cross his arms in front of his chest.
Xun Bao: "Humph! Just you laugh. One day I'll get stronger than you and get my revenge!"
Asura Ryuu: "Hahahaha... sure, elder brother."
Once again, Xun Bao felt wronged when he heard 'elder brother', but he didn't know why. Neither he nor Xun Meng understood the hidden meaning behind Asura Ryuu's words, or else... who knows how they would react.