Work Text:
“Hey, Rindou!~” Ran poked Rindou’s cheek, a pout on his face. “Pay attention to me!” He demanded, flopping dramatically on Rindou’s lap. The younger sighed, long and hard, trying his best to focus on the meeting going on rather than his brother. His attention was on Kakucho, who was going over some plans to crush a slowly rising gang, one that intended to challenge Bonten.
Ran, however, was less than thrilled about this. His brother’s attention should be on him, not anything else! He stood up, walking directly in front of Rindou’s line of vision, leaning over so they were face to face. His younger brother’s eyes bore through him, though, still fully ignoring him.
It had always been this way, for as long as Rindou could remember. Ran getting in his way, trying desperately to make the younger acknowledge him. It worked in the beginning, but as he grew older he got better and better at ignoring him. Pretending he didn’t exist. Because, to put it simply, he didn’t.
Ran was dead. He died when Rindou was eleven, Ran twelve. Hit by a car. Rindou still remembers the scene vividly, his older brother’s body laying across the street, twisted and battered, blond braids covered in blood. He also remembered the voice that spoke up next to him when it happened.
“Wow, that’s pretty gruesome!” The younger one didn't even need to look to know that it was his brother. Instead, he simply nodded his head in agreement. It was pretty gruesome. When he looked up next to him, he saw his older brother smiling down at him, as if nothing had happened.
It took a while for Rindou to acknowledge that his brother was dead. The orphanage they stayed at held a small funeral for him, and he couldn’t understand why.
“Ran’s right here.” He’d say, pointing to his brother who was next to him, just like always.
The looks of pity he’d receive always frustrated him. Why were people pitying him? Ran was alive and well, he was right by his side, where he was always meant to be.
Rindou was eventually sent to therapy, the therapists rationalizing it as his trauma manifesting in a way that made him think Ran was still alive. He never believed them, listening to Ran instead who also insisted that he was alright.
The two would talk and play as if everything were normal, even getting into trouble together like old times. People thought Rindou was crazy, and maybe he was, but he was happy.
It wasn’t until Rindou began to grow and age that he noticed something was off. Ran never grew anymore. He stayed the exact same no matter how much time passed, and he never needed to eat or sleep either… It was strange. All this time, Rindou thought people were just choosing to ignore his older brother, but now he finally began to realize. Ran really did die that day.
Once he came to the realization, he began to ignore his brother, trying to be as much of a normal kid again as he could be. It wasn’t entirely possible though, his reputation was already quite ruined by that point. But he tried.
Ran never made it easy though, that’s when he became physical. Touching Rindou, getting in his personal space, throwing things to try and get his attention. It worked at first, his younger brother would always give in and give him the attention he so desired. Though eventually, even that stopped working.
Which is where Rindou was today. Now thirty years old and an executive of Bonten, still being tormented by his twelve year old brother.