your older brother never tells you, but he loves you so

;; one ;;

That night, sleep pulls you under quickly, the weight of your dreams heavy upon you. You see the pure white walls of an imposing building, see ornately carved doors leading to the holy church, a place you've only visited once, but don't care much for. You push open the doors with a bang, but you tumble into a space so infinite and black and so full of nothing that it feels heavy like liquid steel. Looming out of the darkness, figures clad in white leer at you, eerie smiles painted upon their masks, their expressions frozen and unchanging. A voice rises, speaks to you: "I was born in the darkness, too. This is where I come from." Hands reach for you, and clamp down upon your own with a vise-like grip.

You awake with a start to your darkened room. Your wrists throb, and you grab at your skin because your wrists feels as though they've been snapped clean in two. You would see the skin mottled a dark blue later though, when you peered closely at it under the candlelight. Outside, the heavy splatter of rain can be heard.

A flash of lightning catches the silver frames of photographs arranged on the wooden chest of drawers, the familiar faces frozen in time. A younger Konro, his skin tanned and healthy, holding Hinata and Hikage as babies. The normally sullen Benimaru relaxing under the frothy pink blossoms of a sakura tree, his limbs long and loose, a lazy smile on his face. Yourself, bright-eyed and happy, staring raptly at the candy apple in your hands. A further weak flash of lightning illuminates the worn paintwork of the ceiling and walls.

In the darkness you hear low voices, the whistling of wind through the cracks in the wall, the creaking of pipes and floorboards. Careful of Hinata and Hikage sleeping in the room next to yours, you leave your still-warm futon and creep out into the hallway, peering out from behind the wall and quietly trying to see who Beni has invited into the house.

The hallway is lit by only a single lantern, casting features into shadowy obscurity. Rain gushes off eaves outside; in the distance, thunder threatens. You creep closer. The guest by the door is unfamiliar, but cuts a vaguely threatening figure in his black coat and eyepatch. The fresh scent of the night and the rain clings to him, along with the smokey bite of cigarette smoke. His voice, quiet and cultured, seems incredibly loud in the silence as he explains why he's come to Asakusa; how he suspects that the Church is hiding some crucial information, and he plans to find out exactly what they're hiding. Only, he can't do it alone, which is where Beni comes in.

Beni is speaking. "What you said is dangerous . . . Are you planning to visit the Church of The Sun?"

Beni sounds as though he's actually considering going along with it. You've heard him use this tone before, usually when he's debating the pros and cons of blowing all his money on poker night. You haven't spoken in a long time, not since your entire family had turned into Infernals, but now, words bubble up on the tip of your tongue, all of them laced with indignance and promising a tongue-lashing.

The doctors at Hajima had used unfamiliar terms like "trauma", and "selective mutism", and had even gone as far to prescribe you a cocktail of medicines and drugs, all promised to cure you of your condition. Beni had told the doctors in his own brusque way to fuck off, and had thrown the cocktail of medicine into the nearest bin. The gesture had comforted you with the knowledge that there was someone on your side, someone who was looking out for you, someone who saw you as a person and not just a problem to be fixed.

You hear the low rumble of the visitor's voice. It sounds familiar, but your tired mind doesn't immediately register that you've heard it before, just moments ago when you had been cocooned in your sheets. But when you make the connection, your eyes widen and your heart stutters to a stop.

The visitor drawls out a lazy, "Interested?"

"You're not very sincere." Benimaru notes, just as casual. "Who are you, anyway?"