Anyone and everyone in the city knows about my brother Saho, and just what his ability entails of.

But what they don't know is that it's...well, it's my fault. I...I have no excuses. I let my sexual urges get the better of me again.

Ten years ago, I took Saho out for the day; I was sixteen, that age where I'm beginning to grow up but I'm still immature like hell, and he was just eight, that age where he's learning about life and looking up to his big brother. Well, I think he was looking up to me. Unlike Mom, he didn't seem to mind one bit about my obsession with the opposite sex. And unlike Saho, Mom didn't know where we were actually heading. She thought we'd both made our way to our schools like good little boys, but little did she know we'd actually prepared ourselves for the city they called Clint.

-

"Jonas, wait up!"

"Hey, it's not my fault your legs don't work quickly enough, short stuff."

Neither of us knew exactly why we'd chosen to head for the Chinese Quarter of all places, but it certainly wasn't something we regretted at the time; the sights, the smells, the women. Ok, I doubt the quality of the women would make or break a festival experience for most people, but they did for me and boy, were some of them looking fine.

Unfortunately, fate decided I was going to bump into a short, vain prick before I got to work my magic on the female of the species; well, he bumped into me, but due to his nature he was quick to pin the blame on yours truly.

"It would help to keep your eyes open, you know!"

"Whatever, you frickin' Brithanian wanker."

My face was trying to look hard and uncaring, yet deep inside I was desperately hoping I'd never bump into that asshole again. If I'm completely honest, I was probably the only guy in Polchadie-Golgovine who didn't reckon Dorian Brown, since he was just like all the other up-and-coming stars; doomed to fail within the first two years of his career and end up in some second-rate fast food job for the rest of his life.

(Of course, ten years later and I'm living in the same mansion as him. Still don't reckon him that much but at least he's willing to help me get out of whatever trouble I've gotten myself into. Anyway, this is about me, not him. Back to ten years ago.)

Noticing Saho staring at me in quite a shocked manner, I soon felt slightly awkward at the whole situation.

"What?"

"Mom would punish you so bad for swearing."

"Mom's not here," I retorted, ruffling his hair much to his annoyance. With no exact idea where to go, we just found ourselves wandering the busy streets and trying not to attract any more attention. Correction, any more attention from people like Dorian; I was happily trying to return the favour to any girl who attracted my attention, but it seemed the ladies of Clint City either weren't that interested or were too distracted by their gal pals.

"Jonas, I'm hungry," Saho suddenly piped up, sounding a little pained. I was hungry too, but not in the same sense; he was craving noodles, yet I was craving girl. I hadn't chatted one up all morning and it was making me feel a tad anxious. Not to mention unattractive.

Luckily we'd managed to find a noodle stand after only a couple of turns, causing not only a smile to form on Saho's face, but mine as well. As he approached the stand with his eyes on the prized noodles, I was more focused on the person serving said noodles; with her bony figure and greyish skin she wasn't the most attractive girl in the world, but she looked somewhat sweet with a rather cute smile. I guessed she probably didn't get a lot of attention from guys, so I decided it was my moral duty to make her feel wanted.

But first of all, I had to satisfy Saho's hungry stomach. And I knew exactly what he wanted.

"One bowl of Prawn Noodles for short stuff here, please. As for me...well. Depends if you're on the menu or not."

Girls will give me one of two looks; one that says "Oh, you absolute flirt" and flash me a rather naughty smile, or one that screams "Get away from me, you pervert and shoot the darkest stare they're capable. This girl did neither. She just carried on smiling as she poured the noodles into the nearest clean bowl on the table, only to break the moment's silence a few seconds later with a somewhat cheeky "I'm not the first girl you've tried that on, am I?"

"You're not," Saho said, somehow managing to sound understandable despite his mouth being full of food. "Mmmm...these are just awesome."

"I figured your older brother was that type," she said, still smiling with the same warm expression. "And thanks, I'm sure Kusuri would appreciate your kind words. My name's Amanie, by the way. I'm just looking after the stall for her whilst she takes a break. I'm just glad I'm doing justice. Kusuri's only sixteen, but she makes the best noodles around."

"Hey, same age as me!"

"You look older," she replied, stating what many people had said to me before. "I would have said you were at least nineteen. Actually, come to think of it, I've never seen you or your brother around here before. First time to the Chinese Quarter or are you two not local?"

"We're from Polchadie-Golgovine, actually."

"No way," she then gasped, suddenly glancing left and right before lowering her head and directing her gaze downwards in a slightly embarrassed manner. But I was used to it; Polchadie-Golgovine is renowned for being the country of the elite, and that very fact can sometimes make citizens of other places feel intimidated when speaking to us, as if we're constantly judging them.

"I bet Clint City looks like a real, capital wasteland compared to that place."

"Nah, this city's quite cool," I replied, my honest response causing her to sigh with relief. "Luckily we haven't bumped into any of the clan fights yet, and the last thing I want to do is put short stuff, my little brother, in any danger."

"Clans aren't all bad. I'm in a clan known as the Roots, and we only resort to violence when we're provoked, unlike Kusuri's clan. The Fang Pi Clang are always willing to punch someone in the face if it means they can test out a new technique."

"Is that the case? Well I am thinking of spending quite a bit more time in this place when I realise what I want to do. I know I should have a good idea of career decisions now but I keep getting distracted by girls."

"Now why am I not surprised!" Amanie chirped, chuckling as she soon began to find it difficult to keep eye contact with me without bursting into even more laughter. "And what about your little brother? Does he know what he wants to do when he's older?"

"You know, he's never said. Hey, Saho," I began, suddenly trailing off into silence as I felt my heart begin to race upon turning around. No wonder he'd suddenly been so quiet; he was nowhere to be seen.

"Saho?"

"Oh..."

Back then, I was a firm believer of family coming first, even before girls (and to a lesser extent, I still am), and that was probably the only instance where I'd ditched a girl in mid-conversation. I'm sure Amanie understood though, she'd certainly given the impression of being the open-minded kind of person you expected her to be.

"SAHO!"

Anywhere else, I'd have immediately been branded an unfit brother, but Clint City was used to the younger residents wandering around on their own; if anything, the stares would have been due to the fact we were strangers to the place. And despite the fact neither of us belonged to any of the clans, that didn't make us immune to injury. Heck, some of the toughest clan members had been created due to resident injury (particularly the Rescue, if it hadn't been for that knife in Kerry's leg we'd never have them), and I really didn't intend to allow myself or Saho to be added to that list.

Besides, we're from Polchadie-Golgovine. We didn't want to get involved in that crap.

"SA-HO!"

Suddenly noticing what looked like a dark alleyway, there was no way I was going to rush into things head first like always; I'd been jumped quite a few times in the past due to jealous pricks and crazy bitches, and I was convinced something bad was going to happen in that darkness, if that pained breathing was anything to go by.

However, it soon turned out that that pained breathing I could hear didn't belong to an attacker, but to my own brother as I approached the seemingly unconscious figure. I don't know where he'd been or what he'd done, but seeing him lying on the floor like that was enough to shock me into action as I frantically began to check him over for any wounds or breakages. There seemed to be a lack of blood, infact, he'd barely sustained any injuries but there was still that chance he'd been struck hard enough for a coma to be possible.

Mom was going to kill me for both bunking off school and nearly letting Saho get killed, but I had no choice; despite the consequences, there was no chance in hell I was going to let a bunch of strangers crowd around my brother in the hospital, even if Clint City's healthcare did kick the ass of that in Polchadie-Golgovine.

-

It had been one of the most awkward train journeys I'd had to face, but that had nothing compared to how awkward I'd felt outside my own front door; with heavy guilt and a sleeping Saho resting on my shoulders, I don't know how I'd managed to stop myself from just making a run for it. But somehow, Mom didn't seem to care that we'd skipped school, and just seemed beyond glad that we were both safe and back home. Of course she'd begun to panic like crazy when she saw my younger brother's state but at that moment she was tending to his cold bath, an idea of hers to "perk him up from his tiredness".

"Of course, I'm still disappointed in you both," she said, sounding rather serious as she positioned Saho in the tub, and making sure he wasn't about to drown anytime soon. "But I'm just so relieved neither of you got killed. You...you didn't bump into your father, did you?"

"Dad's in Clint City now?"

"But of course," she said, shooting me a somewhat blunt glance. "Just because you hate him doesn't mean we all do. The last time we spoke, he said he was going to try his chances there in setting up his business."

"Frickin' asshole."

"Language," Mom immediately retorted; even at that moment, she was ever-so-touchy about my choice of words. Beginning to make her way out of the bathroom, it was obvious she'd wanted me to keep an eye on him, which it made sense as it was my fault he'd managed to wander off.

What didn't make sense is what I saw upon a quick glimpse of the bath; the cold water seemed to have done the trick and woken him up. Sorry, him up? More like...well, him certainly wasn't the right word to use at that moment.

My face must have been wearing a rather familiar expression as Saho couldn't help staring at me in a slightly cheeky manner; raising an eyebrow and unable to keep himself from sniggering, he didn't seem to notice just what had happened and seemed focused on stating the obvious to me.

"Girl on your mind, Jonas?"

"Actually, it's more like girl in the tub."

"...What."

I'll always remember the look on Saho's face when he saw his feminine figure for the first time; there wasn't a word in the dictionary for it then, and there sure as hell still isn't a word for it now. We didn't often spend a lot of time talking in the bathroom, but seeing this new side to him meant I was determined to have Saho tell me everything he remembered; how he'd wandered off in search of a drink, how he'd come across the alleyway with the fountain, how he'd felt compelled to taste the flowing waters despite his gut instinct screaming that it was a bad idea, and how he'd blacked out just moments after those few handfuls. I couldn't help wanting to kick myself as he spoke; if I hadn't been so preoccupied in trying to chat Amanie up, then maybe Saho would have felt comfortable in trying to break up the little flirtfest.

"Why...why didn't you just say you were thirsty?"

"Because I was trying to be like you."

"You think I try to get myself killed?"

"No, you're independent and you act on impulse. You don't even care what famous people think of you. Seriously, the way you just brushed off Dorian Brown like that earlier was so cool, " Saho explained, staring at me with pride in his eyes. As soon as he said those words, I couldn't help but feel my own eyes begin to well; not wanting to cry infront of him, I simply just hugged him (whilst trying not to splash myself). We were brothers, so it was ok, but Saho still felt the need to suddenly push me off him when he felt I'd waited for too long, a little nervous laughter escaping him as he did so.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologised, unable to meet his gaze due to embarrassment. Lifting myself up from the bathroom floor with a cheeky grin on my face, I couldn't help ruffling his somewhat longer hair before I began to make my way out of the bathroom; however, Saho seemed fixed on parents rather than privacy, as his next words were about to halt me dead in my tracks.

"Jonas...what are we going to tell Mom exactly?"

I had no frickin' idea then, and I still wonder how Mom took it so well to this very day.

-

Now you'd think there'd be so many awkward moments within our household because of my constant male urges and Saho's new ability, but people forget that the Skeelz Academy has been about longer than everyone thinks. It opened it's doors just over a year after the incident, and believe it or not it was me who suggested that Saho continue his studies in Clint City. I don't know what the Academy would think of in regards to the best thing to do with his "power", but I knew it would be the best place to protect him; so as soon as Saho hit his 11th birthday, the Academy was more than happy to take him in once they'd heard the situation.

It's been eight years since Saho moved to the Academy, and as you all know he's still there right now. And boy, has he taken after yours truly; not necessarily in the looks department (he's got Dad's hair, before Dad turned grey of course, and Mom has black hair. No, she doesn't dye hers) but he certainly acquired a taste for girls, even though he still can't get himself a girlfriend. He can't seem to gain Dad's respect either, thanks to his ability, but Saho doesn't care just as long as he's got his little schoolfriends by his side, and as long as he's happy.

And you know what? Good on him. Despite what may happen, I wouldn't want it any other way.