Spice of Life by almyki

A/N: You can call me Ali. I appreciate HARSH/HONEST criticism very much, especially concerning my story-telling abilities, as I wish to become a writer and/or mangaka one day. I may do some art for these characters, but unless I’m at least 90 percent happy with it, I probably won’t post it. The story starts out rather slow, introducing the characters as they are in their ‘natural environment’ before they go to school. The next chapter should have them actually interacting there.

YES, there is shonen-ai and shojo-ai, as in gay and lesbian themes; NO this does not go any farther than holding hands, hugging, and later-later on, kissing. Any romance, I want to be sweet, realistic, and cute, not some smut novel (though I occasionally do enjoy smutty fanfics XD ).

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Prologue

“Rise and shine, baby sis, it’s your fist day of high school today!! Come on, Anise, wake up, aren’t you excited?!” the voice was young and full of vibrant energy, urging the small lump underneath the strawberry shortcake sheets to get up.

The lump, currently quite annoyed with said voice, mumbled something unintelligible under her breath and tried to ignore the boy. Curling herself up in the warmth of her bed, she laid unmoving.

Undaunted, the red-head tugged at her blanket, putting a whine in his voice now, “Aniiiise, it’s already 6:00 and you’re still lying around? That’s why I told you to go to sleep earlier, so you could wake up full of energy and ready for the day, like me!”

Quickly defeated, the little girl pushed herself up into a sitting position, glaring daggers through her green-fringed bangs at her ludicrously perky older brother, “Ginger… this is an ungodly hour you are waking me up on. I am a young, 12-year-old girl in need of eight to nine hours of solid sleep in order to properly function throughout the day. So far, I have gotten six.” Her voice, a light and sweet sound, paired very strangely with her dark mood and tight, proper speech.

“What?! Dad let you stay up that late?! Anise, as a 12-year-old girl, you shouldn’t be staying up that late either! What were you doing up that was so important?!” The red-head, now known as Ginger, leaned in and gave a flick to Anise’s forehead, a look of slight concern starting to show.

Anise closed her eyes, twitching, and took in some calming breaths. She was not a morning person, and Ginger could be such a mother hen, it was almost suffocating sometimes, “I-… actually, never mind, I’m up anyways so… you go eat breakfast or something while I get ready, OK Ginger?” She attempted to lighten up her voice, though the attempt was rather ineffective, being a bad actor.

“OK, sweetie, get done quickly!” Though it was effective enough, apparently, “I wanted you to look nice your first day, so Dad and I picked an outfit out for you since I know you don’t usually pay attention to what you put on! I placed it here next to your school things, and if you need help with anything, just call me, OK?”

Anise sighed, giving him a weak smile. Ginger was the big brother that you couldn’t so much as teach yourself to hate, despite all his annoying and embarrassing quirks, “Of course, Ginger, and thank you for your concern. Now kindly beat it, I need to change.”

Ginger gave Anise a sheepish sort of grin, scratching the back of his head, “Right, OK! See you at breakfast, An!” He left the room with a quick wave, leaving Anise to fall back in bed and groan. She felt terrible, and all she could think was the infamous line of ‘five more minutes’ going through her head.

The door popped open and Ginger stepped back in, “Oh, I forgot something!” He walked over to Anise, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, “I love you, Anise!” He gave her a bright smile before walking back out as quickly as he’d come in.

Anise blinked a moment, then rolled her eyes, a crooked half-smile softening her pale, composed face, “That dork.”

- - - - -

“Sooo, what’s for breakfast Angeline? Something soaked full of fat, sodium, and grease I hope?” a young man, perhaps around 18, flashed a lazy smile towards the slightly aged woman setting the table with pancakes, juice, and other traditional breakfast foods. His voice and manner were of casual ease, but his pale blue eyes held the sting of sarcasm.

Not bothering to pay him any attention, the woman walked towards the staircase, calling for the rest of the household, “Sweetie, kids, breakfast is ready! Come down soon or the pancakes will get cold!”

The young man sipped some of his coffee, glancing down at the set table, “Oh, only set the table for six? Aww, now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings Ma’,” he gave a slight snicker, looking through the pantry for a quick bite.

“As if you ever eat with the family anyways, Coriander,” though the comment was made to be deliberately uncaring, the touch of bitterness still found it’s way in her voice.

He shrugged his shoulders, truly the picture of indifference, “Well, it’s a new year now, you can kick me out any time you want you know. I don’t mind either way,” grabbing a Pop Tart and slinging on a backpack, he gave an offhand wave as he walked out the front door.

“Cor, you leaving already? School doesn’t start until 7:30, you have at least another hour to kill ya’ know. You could shoot some hoops with me if you want,” a tomboyish looking young girl, about 14 or so, stopped her dribble and passed the basketball towards the blonde heading out.

Grinning, he passed the ball back to her and threw up his hands, “Sorry, Cassia, I’m a teacher intern, not a student. I’m already late as it is, my superiors’ll kill me if I come in at the same time as the students.”

The girl, Cassia, gave out a fed up sort of noise, rolling her eyes toward the sky, “I should have known better. You being early to anything would be a miracle in and of itself,” she shot the ball toward the hoop set up in their front lawn, allowing herself a small smile as it swished cleanly through.

“Aw, don’t be like that, maybe we can play when I get back home, yeah?” his playful tone indicated that the ‘maybe’ was a true maybe.

Collecting the ball, she stuck her tongue out at Coriander as he started up his rust-bucket car, “Yeah right, you say that only ‘cuz you know I’ve got soccer tryouts today, you bum.”

“Oh naw, what are you accusing me of now, Cass?” he gave her a wink, edging out of the driveway, “Gimme’ some credit, like I’d bother remembering your life-schedule in order to avoid hanging out with you. You know I’d just break any promises I make without bothering to have an excuse!”

“Yeah yeah, get out of here,” she made a show of rolling her eyes, shooing him away with a laugh.

- - - - -

“Your shift’s up, Sansho, I’ll take over now,”

A raven-haired teen looked over his shoulder from making someone their cup of espresso, mature rust-colored eyes nodding their affirmation of the heads up, “OK, I’ll just finish this order up first.” Sansho went to top the drink off with a dollop of whipped cream before coming back to the drive-through window, handing it to the customer with a polite, “Thank you for visiting us here at Starbucks, is there anything else you need?”

The middle aged lady didn’t bother replying, her cross look telling Sansho enough to know someone who wasn’t a morning person without her proper fill of caffeine. She snatched the drink without a word, taking a long sip before setting it down in the cup-holder and driving off.

Shedding off his work apron and slinging on his worn backpack, he left his morning workplace with a silent wave. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed in the familiar numbers of his sister’s phone while walking along the pavement, hoping she wouldn’t blow off his call and not pick up, as she occasionally did.

Riiing… riiing… riiing… riiing… riiing…

A few more long rings from the phone and Sansho was about to give up, but then heard the soothing, silky voice of a playful girl on the other line, “Helloooo, and if it isn’t my dearest twin calling to check up on me, aren’t you a sweety?” a giggle, as though amused by herself, and before Sansho could say anything, “Well, what are you doing, my most favorite brother ever, not having fun, are you? Because that would just be a crime, having you so much as crack a smile nowadays, huh?”

“No, I’ve finished my shift at work, and I would appreciate if you didn’t assume that everyone had the same idea of having a good time as you. Anyways, yes, I just wanted to check up on you… You’re going to school today, right Saffron? I’ll be there to make sure you actually attend, so if you keep slacking like you’ve been doing the past two years, you know I’ll be on your case about it.”

A dramatic sigh from the other end, “Aw, but school is just so boooring, there’s nothing cool going on at that drab facility.” Sansho, not patient in mornings after his shift at Starbucks, was about to reply scathingly, but bit his tongue; it would do no good to lose his temper, and that quick self-chastise gave enough of a moment for Saffron to start speaking again, “Buuut… since you really want me to do ‘good’ this year, I’ll be an obedient sister and come today…” a soft giggle, and then whispered quickly into the phone, “But I might be a little late,” and a click indicating she hung up on him.

Though Sansho typically liked how playful and teasing his sister could always be (he actually found it quite comforting to be in her company), he wished she could take some things a little more seriously than she did… at the very least, she was somewhat cooperative today, unlike some of her more flippant moods.

Sansho paused, sliding his cell back into his beige khakis, and took in a breath of the misty morning air. It was humid and warm, but somehow fresh, helping him relieve some of the tenseness of the tired workplace. He was on his way to school, since he had nothing else to do, and it was an hour-long walk from the Starbucks he worked at. He actually enjoyed walks during early morning and late at night; there were usually few people out and he found the weather at these times unusually therapeutic. If going back to school had any perks at all, the walk to get there would probably be what he considered the best so far.