𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves¹

II│INTERLUDE II: RELATIONSHIPS I

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙ. ʙ. ᴇꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐈 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘs ɪ ꒱　


❝ THE BASIC FORMULA WAS THIS:
LUTHER & ALLISON, BEN & KLAUS,
FIVE & ALEXA, DIEGO & GRACE, &
VANYA, ALWAYS ALONE❞

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To the outside world, The Umbrella Academy presented a united front; any problems or disagreements between the members melted away in the face of greater threats. This unity seemed to give hope to the world as the group of crime-fighting children rapidly rose to power and fame as they won fight after fight. However, if one were to look past their presented front and deeper into familial ties, one would find rifts and emotions separating the members into distinctive groups. These groups changed and shifted over time and it would be impossible to list all of the underlying pairs, but the basic formula was this: Luther and Allison, Ben and Klaus, Five and Alexa, Diego and his mother, and Vanya, always alone.

Taking a look at the first group, many would be perturbed to find the emotions hidden— or not so hidden— between Allison and Luther. Their care for each other went deeper than the sibling bond that they'd been raised to have. Their childhood was spent largely oblivious to the goings-on of other academy members as the two chose to live in the moment with each other. If only Number One, the group's supposed leader, had taken the extra time to know his other siblings half as well as he did Allison, things might have been different. But then again, they were only children at the time and lacked in parental guidance so their indifferent attitudes could be excused for the time being.

Ben and Klaus, the chaotic duo, were like the first group in that they never spent much time around the others. However, they could be considered better since as they got older, they branched out to other members of the Academy. Ben, the less-obvious protector, spent many hours with his brother in the first weeks of Klaus' decision on how to keep the ghosts at bay. He successfully hid his brother's problems from their father who was not as oblivious as he seemed. Klaus, on the other hand, despite his jokes and lighthearted personality (mainly when he was high), was perhaps able to relate surprisingly well with his brother. With both having their own forms of demons, they were perhaps best suited to spend time with each other compared to other members of the Academy.

We have already spent time observing Five and Alexa's relationship which is, again, similar to Luther and Allison's but perhaps a closer look at how their personalities fit so well together is needed. On Five's part, before he disappeared into the future, the boy presented a hard outer shell to his family as he proved to be coarse, argumentative and disparaging towards his siblings and father— these traits were only augmented by the time he spent in isolation. However, Alexa saw a different side of him as a brilliant and passionate boy interested in all manners of science, particularly astronomy and equations. In her childhood, the blonde was an artist and believed the impossible for her family stretched the limits of normal belief. She used her imagination to help escape the barren reality of their lives and wasn't much good at hard core school subjects like Five was. If raised in another setting, the boy might have found these traits annoying and trite. As it was, the Dreamer and the Scientist found solace in their differing personalities.

The most unique pairing, perhaps, was Diego and his mother. The unlikely duo formed when Grace embraced the boy's perceived weaknesses wholeheartedly, even going so far as to help him with them. Having been used to his siblings' (especially Luther's) taunts about his differences, he'd been wary of the woman who was supposed to be their mother figure. However, after weeks of patience and maybe some bribing with cookies, the boy warmed up to the robotic woman. He even went so far as to be willing to defend her tooth and nail— or, more accurately, knife and nail.

Vanya, the last and loneliest member of the Academy, was never seen with her siblings on missions nor included in press conferences or any of the excitement that came with being a superhero. There were few positives for her except for the fact that she spent more time alone with their father than anyone else (other than Luther) as she helped observe the Academy's actions from afar and her beautiful violin. However, this pairing in itself wasn't a pleasant one; Reginald kept the girl under constant supervision out of fear of her powers or chose to ignore her altogether. In the very early days (before she was Rumored to be 'ordinary') she formed a trio with Five and Alexa but that was quickly disintegrated after her father's "solution."

With any group, there were friends and not-so-friends (not specifically "enemies," however, because they were still a family after all and the enemy was out there, not within.) These rifts were largely obvious between the family members in the fact that some actively avoided interaction with each other: Luther versus Diego, Alexa versus Diego, Allison versus Alexa, Five versus Reginald, Five versus Grace, Vanya versus mostly everyone and, after Ben's death, Alexa versus Luther. Klaus and Ben, surprisingly, did not have major disagreements with any of their family members (although most found the former useless and annoying.)

Luther and Diego's disagreement might seem superficial at first with Number Two wanting to lead the group and thinking he'd be better than Number One. But, it wasn't just that. Especially as they got older, their rift grew because freedom and the perceived lack of it. Diego, who wasn't the leader, left the Academy to pursue other interests as eighteen year olds are wont to do. Luther, on the other hand, was unable to move on from the past and stayed on, letting himself believe that it wasn't him that was the problem and allowed negative feelings to fester.

While she knew Diego hadn't had a choice in the matter of the practice that discovered the rest of her abilities, Alexa still couldn't help but hold a grudge against him for trying to hurt Five, because what if he had? And after Ben's death, the divide only widened as Diego took their sibling's views on the cause of their brother's demise.

The public, while their support was appreciated, could also be unconsciously cruel especially to growing children. In their eyes, Alexa was the favorite of the two Umbrella Academy girls with her blonde hair and blue eyes earning the nickname 'Guardian Angel' to go with her powers. In this light, Allison, with her dark hair and skin as well as her silvertongue-like powers made the public liken her to not specifically the polar opposite of her sister, but certainly far less favored. And, while she tried to hide the feelings, Allison couldn't help but be jealous of her sibling while all Alexa wanted was a sister.

Five, with his outward personality, had an argument with at least one person everyday. Most often, however, they were with his father. With their similar chilly demeanors it was bound to happen. Their most common arguments being about limiting the practice of his abilities— and, privately, about how Reginald treated his siblings (this never got anywhere though.) To some surprise, he also disagreed with his mother figure but that was mainly because he was wary of her programming. Being the scientist he was, any lifelike computer caused him to doubt the meanings behind its actions which was one of the reasons as to why he kept his number instead of getting a name.

Vanya's distance with her siblings is easily explained as Reginald's unwillingness to include her in any of the Academy's activities thanks to the worrisome strength of her powers.

As Number One, Luther had the responsibility of leading his siblings on his shoulders. Giving his sister the reigns of protecting them, it made his job slightly easier and for a time, he did his best to show her the appreciation that he felt so their relationship had actually been rather good. However, Luther holding her in high esteem also had its drawbacks and when she failed, they crashed and burned. Since he relied on her to keep their siblings safe, he personally blamed her for Ben's death even if it hadn't been her fault; all parties to interact with the boy were to blame (except Klaus.) But, as it was, Luther continued to see himself in a positive light and even saw himself as above her because he hadn't failed his job; it was his siblings' fault for leaving the Academy, after all.