Rei had always strived for the best ever since he was young. He was a gifted vampire. His relatives were delighted that he was such a gifted boy, making the expectations of him bigger. Ever since the day he was conceived, it was already perceived that he'd be the heir of their family.
It only proved that they were right when he turned 1 year old. At such a tender age, he was already able to speak coherent sentences, out shining the kids considered to be geniuses. He was the genius among geniuses. His family were more than proud to have an offspring like him.
Vampires who had not gone through the ceremony yet were understandably weaker than normal human beings. These young vampires were taken care of greatly but Rei was different.
Although he was somewhat sensitive, he was by no means fragile. Even though he was yet to undergo the ceremony, he was already as strong as an average human kid.
His parents were proud of him but they never pressured him into becoming the best of the best, him surviving the ceremony was enough for them and considering that he was such a gifted offspring, they were reassured that the family would be in good hands when the time comes.
Even so, he still strived to prove that he was the best young vampire that currently exists plus the praises and gifts he gets from people made him feel really good. It was as if all the world's attention belonged solely to him. The fact that he was gifted and hardworking made him proud and inflated his ego.
He was high up in the clouds from all the attention and praises rained down on him until he turned 7, his youngest brother was born. When he received the news that his mother was conceiving once more, he was happy to finally have a sibling.
He was so excited that he wanted his sibling to be born right away. He was quite jealous of his friends who had siblings because it looked fun to have one.
When his sibling was born, he was so happy that he almost snatched the baby from the midwife to hold that little life in their arms. He was so small. So cute. So fragile.
He felt the need to protect that little life at all costs.
He bragged about his young brother to his friends at any chance he got. His friends tolerated his bragging since they could also see just how lovely that baby is.
Since the baby was born fragile, and wasn't as gifted as him, they had to take extra care of this little baby and give him the best treatment there ever was. Rei didn't mind the attention given to his brother. Rather, he was proud that he had such a lovely sibling.
It was all good and fun until he finally noticed that the attention he used to gather, lessened. He felt that it was probably because his brother was just born to this world and eventually, everything will go back to the way it used to be. He amassed lots of achievements as usual but the amount of attention was still lacking compared to before.
He was dissatisfied with this so he looked for the cause of this change. He didn't even have to spend so much time looking since the reason was the little life dozing in his crib, peacefully. He couldn't understand the mixed emotions he was feeling that time but there was one emotion that he awfully recognized.
He felt uneasy.
He felt that the little life resting in that crib stole something that should've belonged solely to him. At that very moment, he finally realized that everything, the attention, the praises, the gifts, that he used to easily get before won't be the same as it was back then. Back when that little life was still not existing.
He performed way better than he ever did before, hoping that he would be able to turn everything back to the way it was before but reality slapped him so hard, it left him flustered. His impressive achievements were seen as something that he would usually do.
That it was only normal for him to perform like that so they were not really so fascinated. They appreciate and recognize his talents but it wasn't a surprising thing anymore.
The more he tried so hard to hold everything within his palm, the more things got out of control. It was as if he was holding sand that slipped through his fingers no matter how hard he tries to keep them all.
While everything felt like slowly slipping away from him, he watched as his younger brother basked in the attention Rei used to have. No, actually, Ryo amassed way more attention and affection than he did. It made him feel like everyone was brushing him off. He felt conflicted.
He is jealous and angry of Ryo but he knows that what he's feeling about this whole ordeal was wrong, making him feel guilty and anxious at the same time. He was competing with a kid and he felt that he shouldn't since Ryo is exactly just a kid. Competing with someone below him makes him feel obnoxious.
He stooped so low as to compete with a mere child but he couldn't help it. He kept everything bottled up since telling someone else about it would be too embarrassing and would make him look like a small minded, greedy kid.
The more he kept everything bottled inside, the more it made his emotions chaotic. It also didn't help that his younger brother kept acting cute to him, always wanting to have his attention more than anything else despite having everyone's attention given to him.
It made Rei feel annoyed and a tiny bit pleased (for feeling that he was wanted). Ryo was always blabbering "onii-chan" every goddamned time that it annoyed Rei, driving him to explode one day.
It was a rainy day, the weather was cold but the temperature didn't bother the vampires physically. It made the atmosphere rather bleak and gloomy. It was also the day when their parents were away to attend some matters related to politics so they only had their servants to accompany them.
Rei was already 2 years old at that time but he was still carefully tended to since he's awfully fragile. He kept on babbling with his nanny about his dear brother's whereabouts and everything about Rei.
His bubbly personality was such a great contrast to the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the whole manor. Rei had nothing to do and he happened to pass by his young brother's room so he decided to take a look at that annoying rabbit. When he entered the room, the servants greeted him respectfully and left the room to give the young masters some privacy to themselves.
When Ryo saw his dear brother, he was so excited that he jumped out of his Nanny's arms and shifted his weight from one leg to another as he struggled to trudge with his stubby legs towards his older brother given his naturally fragile physique.
"Onii-chan!" He said filled with excitement to his brother with a bright smile on his chubby face.
Rei clicked his tongue as Ryo clung to his legs and shooed the nanny away. It was only the both of them left in that room and only Ryo spoke nonsense due to excitement. Rei just watched him as he suppressed his raging emotions.
In the middle of Ryo's babbling, Ryo noticed the gloomy air that his onii-chan was emanating. So he looked up straight to his brother's eyes and with a bit innocent, pure eyes asked his brother.
"Onii-chan, why do you look so sad?" Ryo blinked his doe eyes innocently.
"Stop talking nonsense." Rei shifted his eyes somewhere else in the room due to the increasing discomfort that he was feeling.
"But you weally(really) look like you're about to cwy(cry). Nii-chan, are you huwt(hurt)? Where are you huwt(hurt)?" Ryo asked as he clung more tightly to his dear brother's legs.
"Why do you care?" Rei harrumphed as he crossed his arms and gazed down on the little bunny that was clinging to his legs.
"Come hewe(here), nii-chan."
Rei squatted to match Ryo's height, not forgetting to click his tongue in dissatisfaction along the process. He thought that Ryo was probably just gonna play with him but he didn't expect that Ryo would whisper something to him.
"Mama said that if you're hurt, I just have to fwoo fwoo(blowing noises) and the pain will go bye bye."
Ryos's small hands held his cheeks ever so softly, afraid that he would increase the pain his dear brother was feeling. As Ryo blew on his brother's eyelids, Rei felt that the bottle of emotions he kept inside suddenly burst out.
He pushed Ryo away disregarding Ryo's fragile physique, making Ryo fall flat on his butt on the floor. It was obviously a painful fall as it made the little rabbit on the floor tear up but refused to cry in front of his angry brother.
"It's because of you! You stole everything away from me! Ever since you existed, everything changed! You're not even as outstanding as me and yet-!" Rei shouted his feelings out at his little brother, panting in anger.
He glared at the little life before him and he expected for him to burst into tears but to his surprise, Ryo was just sitting there with his doe eyes filled with unshed tears, staring sadly at him.
"N-nii-chan, I-I'm sorry… Wyo(Ryo) won't do anything that w-would make nii-chan angry so pwease(please) don't hate Wyo(Ryo). Pwease don't cwy anymore nii-chan." Ryo sniffled as he spoke but still, he stubbornly refused to cry.
It was obvious that Ryo had no idea what his onii-chan was talking about but he understood that he was the one who caused him this much distress so that's what he was sorry for. Even though he was shaken by his onii-chan's sudden outburst on him, he was more concerned about Rei than himself.
"Y-you…" Rei was speechless as he stared incredulously at Ryo.
He was expecting that the kid would throw a tantrum and that he would assault him with more hurtful words if it annoyed him, but looking at the sad little bunny on the ground, still concerned at him, left him at a loss.
He was angry that everything changed and he felt that he was becoming more insignificant to everyone despite being a gifted individual and he thought the cause of it all was Ryo but now witnessing how unaware he 'wronged' Rei left him in a trance.
He asked himself, why was he even blaming Ryo when Ryo was just acting how normal 2 year old vampires do? Ryo was just acting his own age, coupled with his lovely appearance, it was only natural that everyone would spoil him.
Everything was bound to change at some point but his ego was just too inflated, leaving his bright mind to overlook that fact. He sat down on the ground as realization hit him, making him weak.
Ryo noticed that his brother fell silent so he slowly stood up and carefully approached his brother who was lost in his own thoughts. He bit his lips and held his brother's cheeks once more and wiped the tears that his unaware brother shed.
"Nii-chan, fwoo fwoo, pain bye bye… fwoo. Are you feeling better now, nii-chan?"
Rei was pulled off his own thoughts when he felt the cold, small hands wiping his tears away. Even though those hands were cold as a corpse, the warmth of the gesture pacified his emotions. It felt nice.
Too nice, causing him a little bit of discomfort so he glared at Ryo once more to avert his mind from that feeling. Ryo saw that his brother glared at him silently but it didn't bother him since he could feel that there was no anger whatsoever there.
"Nii-chan, don't cwy(cry). Wyo(Ryo) will fwoo fwoo more the pain away so nii-chan will feel better." He smiled kindly as he wiped the tears that kept streaming down his onii-chan's face.
It was a cold, gloomy afternoon but the two children inside weren't bothered by it, rather they felt the pitter patter of the rain was music to their ears, soothing their hearts.
Even though they haven't fully reconciled that time, it was a start. Rei's hostility towards Ryo lessened as days passed by and without them knowing it, they were already inseparable.
Their parents who were initially worried about their cold relationship started to feel at ease after witnessing their interactions. Rei would always free up as much of his time as possible to play with his cute little brother. The mansion would always be filled with laughter and giggles everyday until Rei's ceremony finally arrived.
He closed himself off for a week as per customs, much to his dismay since he would be apart from his little bunny for an awfully long time, but he knew he can't handle this half-heartedly since the ceremony was a matter of life or death.
On the day of the ceremony, Rei was headed towards the venue when he suddenly heard the footsteps he was awfully familiar with. He turned his head towards that direction with a smile on his face and as expected, Ryo was there, smiling ever so brightly to him.
"Nii-chan! Let's play again when you're done!" Ryo said happily as he waved his hands excitedly to Rei.
They couldn't be close to each other at the moment since any form of contact with others is strictly prohibited to ensure the optimal state of the kid who's going to undergo the ceremony. Rei smiled proudly at his little brother to assure Ryo that he will definitely be back to play with him.
They were both unaware that it would be the last time that they'd be able to smile like that to each other.
Rei successfully finished the ceremony but not without repercussions. The trial left his mental and physical state in a chaos, he was barely hanging on. The illusions and other shit almost got to him but he didn't give up since he made a promise to someone that he'd be back.
He couldn't remember the contents and the person he promised to at the moment but he knows that that person was extremely important to him. His parents were out of the mansion at the moment but it didn't mean that they didn't care.
The day Rei came out coincided with them attending to matters outside so they couldn't do anything about it but to finish the matter quickly to support their son.
Ryo couldn't enter the room since he was still so young and might affect Rei's condition. The nanny was the only one left by Rei's side, tending to him carefully. Rei was extremely vulnerable at the moment and the illusions in the trial were still plaguing his mind so he decided to just rest until he gets better.
The nanny, who was carefully wiping his body that was sweating profusely, suddenly whispered weird shit that he couldn't comprehend. While the nanny was chanting, the illusions he was starting to get over suddenly came back but this time it was more intense.
The illusions about his family's downfall because of Ryo, Ryo taking over the family and killing him off, Ryo becoming a madman that destroyed everything, Ryo stealing everything away from him. It was all about Ryo.
He desperately tried to move away from the nanny but he felt that his body was paralyzed. He screamed for the nanny to stop but no sound came out of his mouth at all. A black shadow extended to Ryo from the nanny and started to slowly invade his body.
Even with his weakened state, he fought with it since he had a nagging feeling that if he let that black shadow take over him, his most important person would surely be harmed. Due to this, the nanny was unable to fully take over him but the nanny was still able to leave remnants of the shadow in Rei's body.
Days passed by and Rei started to get better. Everyone was finally able to feel relieved, believing that Rei is now out of danger. Ryo, who heard of this news, was ecstatic and immediately rushed to his brother's room. Ryo knocked on the door in excitement.
"Nii-chan, it's me, Ryo! Can I enter?" Ryo asked with obvious anticipation in his voice.
Ryo, thinking that his brother would be happy to see him, didn't wait for permission and quickly entered the room but was hit with a pillow upon his entry, which surprised him. His physique was weak so the impact made him stumble back a little.
"Did I allow you to enter? Get out! I don't want to see your face! Scram!" Rei threw more pillows at him and Ryo had no choice but to get out.
"I-I'm sorry, nii-chan. I'll be b-back next time." Ryo said sadly.
"Don't bother! From now on, you're not allowed to be here or anywhere near me! Out!!!" Rei screamed like a madman.
Ryo was so frightened that he burst into tears and ran away from his brother's room with his servants in tow.
Rei was panting so hard as he clutched his head, trying to silence the voices in his mind that were telling him to kill Ryo. He felt the killing intent emanating from him but he knew it wasn't his.
Ryo was the most important person to him so how could he bear to even hurt him? But he had no choice but to do so in order to drive him away and avoid killing him.
Everytime Ryo gets near, the voices in his head and the urge to kill intensifies so he decided to drive a wedge between him and Ryo, hoping that it would keep his little brother from the danger that was him.
He avoided Ryo, and whenever he bumps into Ryo, he would hurl painful words at him so that Ryo would hate him enough to avoid him.
A few years had gone by like this and the once warm mansion was gone. What was only left was the numbing coldness, no more laughter nor giggles. Rei's sudden change of attitude was thought to be the aftereffect of the ceremony.
It was saddening but they couldn't do anything about it. Ryo who yearned for his brother's warmth and attention finally got tired from waiting so he tried to catch his attention through other means.
He witnessed Rei punishing a servant harshly and thought that maybe if he was as harsh as him, Rei would accept him once more. So that he did. He started harassing the servants even though it made him extremely uncomfortable just to attract Rei's attention.
It did attract his attention but Ryo was only mocked by Rei and yet Ryo was already satisfied with it as long as Rei talked to him. This continued on until Rei suddenly went to the academy and decided to live there until his graduation.
Ryo felt abandoned once more. It left him confused, disappointed, lonely, and angry. He vented all of it to anyone, to anything but it didn't pacify him one bit. He just felt so lonely. He cried his eyes out as the feeling of abandonment plagued his entire being.