Chapter Text
"Rin, I don't have time for your problem."
The emerald eyes watched him without hesitation, Rin could read the bitterness of his words without much science from his brother's flippant look. To say he was surprised was to tell lie after like Sae stressing that it was his problem.
His problem, sure.
He was used to seeing his older brother's broad back grow small as he left him behind, wiping his hands as if it was easy to leave things unfinished and broken glass uncleaned. Perhaps under other circumstances he wouldn't have bothered to complain, but this problem wasn't coming from his one correspondence, it was coming from both of them. This particular problem wrapped both Itoshi between strings and knots, Rin could imagine a pair holding his throat and the other's tightly.
Was it fair for him to take on a task that was not his? Should he do it? He didn't know, but he didn't want to stand around and shackle his life with an obligation he had to carry on his back to keep others happy.
"I can't get married, that's up to you." Again, the pair of emeralds sharpened the gaze, though the face looked neutral, too dead and expressionless. "You are the eldest, it is your duty, not mine."
"I refuse to do what our parents ask. I will not marry, no matter how much power this man has and forces me to marry his daughter, it is a no." By this time, he had positioned himself in front of Rin, who blinked at the closeness. "It is settled in that I will run away and I do not dispute my decision."
"Typical of you, isn't it? Funny how you always end up leaving me here to solve your own problems."
The last thing he expected was a slap right on his cheek, burning into his skin as it turned slightly red. It was the first time the older Itoshi had reacted with violence against him, the first time he had hit Rin for such a retort. The younger one, however, did not lower his gaze and stayed where he was, bringing his palm to his cheek in search of some stupid comfort in the face of the pain.
Rin had admired Sae for too long, he could even swear to give him his whole life as a sign of loyalty.
Rin would give everything for Sae, but Sae would never give anything for Rin in the same way. Something that broke his heart the first time he turned his back on him. Everything built around the big brother complex collapsed in Rin's mind, shattering along with the absurd loyalty he had blindly given him.
No matter how much he thought about it, deep down he knew that he would carry that weight because he always wanted Sae to be more than what he wanted; like the brother who once loved him in his childhood.
"Get lost, Sae."
One week later, he kept his word.
Sae had run away from home the same night they had argued, keeping their last encounter as a memory along with Rin's sour words, something the younger Itoshi pretended not to care about when he saw the empty seat in the dining room next to him or the room wide open as a reminder that he had left him here to his fate to solve his mess. His parents also showed no reaction when they heard that Sae had run away, practically taking it as a typical rebellious act of his and focusing their eyes on Rin, giving him a burden that was not his to bear.
Everyone always expects the best from the younger sibling when the older sibling fails.
A role model ready to make everyone proud, to be much more than the older brother, a guarantor of success. He was the proud son, his bond would always be 'it' to his parents and others. So he didn't protest, he nodded like an obedient dog and made sure to honor his parents when the appointed day arrived at the Itoshi's house, with everyone seated in the large dining room ready to taste the main course like a little bait.
The importance of this marriage was nothing less than social status. His family did not have the highest status or the bliss of belonging to the great upper classes, but it was considered one of the most acceptable to survive in the society the town had to offer. So to secure a marriage between two families of notorious status was to secure the power that the world can bestow to devour others.
That was the perception of the adults.
Rin's was the opposite.
"The ceremony will take place in two months, I hope your son will be as fit as possible to marry my daughter." The stocky, gray-haired man seemed to be analyzing him. "I hope he won't disappoint us like his brother."
If it were possible to kill a human being with a look, Rin would probably be charged with murder for killing him with his sharp, cold eyes and razor-like elongated lashes.
"I promise you, Rin is more than fit, right?" his mother soon turned her eyes to him, smiling so tense and strained that he could swear she would break her teeth if she tried hard to look cheerful.
"I can assure you that Honami will be safe by my side." He announced without much emotion in his voice, but it was firm enough to please the man sitting across from him for the moment, who nodded.
"I'll take that as a promise, young Itoshi." He patted the sides of his coat, ready to rise from his seat, but Rin knew that the conversation would not simply remain about peace. "But if you break it, your family will suffer the consequences of your actions. You know on what level my family name stands above yours."
How curious was the human being imposing fear with such ephemeral and worthless things like that. Rin didn't have to be a fortune teller to know that this man was afraid of not getting anything if he didn't succeed in this marriage, he knew it. He knew how important it was to complete this; to unite two young people who knew each other by absolutely nothing more than the name their parents had given them at birth, but who were agreeing to marry at the cost of what they wanted to please their families.
And he knew it too as he watched the girl, her hands clasped together on her lap, biting her inner cheek as her blue eyes wandered to any point other than Rin's face or those present.
"I'm clear on that."
The meeting had ended as planned, both families thanking each other for tonight's meal, Rin bowing to the older man, who gave him a last look with a menacing glint between his small, wrinkled eyes. "Good night, young Itoshi."
Rin wished it was a 'good night', but he couldn't call something good that was supposed to mark a before and after in his life. Maybe now he would stop being a steel fortress and allow himself to be a helpless child looking for comfort and Sae's arms, maybe he would hide him in his chest, patting his head to stop him crying, saying that everything would be alright.
How much he needed him.
He missed Sae, but he missed 'Nii-chan' even more.
A couple of drops fell outside his window with the light cool wind coming in around the edges, but even with all that, Rin didn't stop looking beyond his window. For a moment, his feet moved around his room, deciding that now was a good time to go outside, with the rain soaking his face and the dark greenish locks of his hair to black. He knew his parents wouldn't mind knowing where he was going, so he didn't bother to inform them of his absence, after all, they knew he was cowardly enough to seek the same escape as Sae.
He could go on with his normal life if only he had turned around that night, completely ignoring the sobbing in the alley and thinking it was someone who wanted to rob him using that manipulative strategy. If only the two crystallized sapphires had never pierced his soul the way they did, maybe Pandora's Box would still be closed with their fates.
Everything would probably be fine at that time.
But there it was.
"Please don't hurt me."
Rin couldn't tell exactly what kind of feeling was located in his chest, but it was definitely strong enough to make his eyes widen in surprise with his head thinking a mile a minute.
He didn't really consider himself religious, a true believer in God or the church itself. He respected his parents, who were faithful believers by being devoted to their grace, even the senior citizens who took twenty minutes out of their day to talk to him about their religion, but now he saw something that seemed to come from the Bible itself.
An angel.
And he wasn't speaking metaphorically, it was a damn angel, wrapped in those huge white wings to protect itself, with black hair and teary blue eyes that looked scared. Rin blinked once, no, twice, before his gaze returned to the boy in front of him.
He looked like him, but he wasn't like him.
It was not human, it was an angel, similar to what the old women had told him; an angel so white and pure that it was now stained red. Rin looked at the huge wound on one of the angel's wings as it trembled on the ground, raindrops soaking its hair and pale porcelain cheeks.
"Don't hurt me." He repeated his plea with a sob, painfully pulling the broken wing closer to him with the trail of blood sliding across his feathers.
"If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already, genius." He replied before moving over to his place. He didn't want to scare him, so he was cautious with every step he took so as not to disturb the bluish-eyed man. "Let me help you."
The blue flashes followed him meticulously with one of his wings on guard. Rin rolled his eyes at this foolish action of the angel, it wasn't as if his left wing alone would be of much help as a shield, he could easily get close to him if he wanted to.
But what a surprise, the angel's wings pointed like daggers toward Rin's neck, no longer soft to the eye but sharp metallic blades.
The old ladies had definitely not told him this detail.
"Don't take another step." The angel threatened, frowning with a tense jaw and slowly pulling the feathers away from Rin's neck. After all, 'Father' wouldn't be proud if he hurt a human.
"You'll die in this dirty alley if you don't let me help you with your wound."
"I can do it on my own."
What a stubborn angel.
"Then die here."
Rin was ready to leave and feign a little amnesia to forget that he had just witnessed a creature outside his rational and logical boundaries. In a corner of his mind, he wanted to believe that it was some kind of illusion created by his brain, but the angel's voice calling out to him was a clear warning that it was all real. Too real.
"Wait, human."
"Don't call me human, I have a name." The angel just grumbled softly before his body tensed at the proximity of the 'human', earning a pair of eye rolls. "I'm Rin."
"Isagi, Isagi Yoichi." The angel hurried to say.
Rin was sure that nothing would be able to impress him again, move his heart or change the dreary expression on his face, but there was one thing that Rin would always remember until the last minute he had left on Earth.
And that was Isagi Yoichi.