In the Vaude house, the study room was where Finral and Langris did school work and practiced their instruments. Old antiques passed down through generations decorated the walls and bookshelves, and the bay window with a ledge they could sit on overlooked the flower garden in the backyard. In the chandelier lit room, sounds of pencil scratching on paper or music filled the silence, yet both brothers preferred it more than their own bedrooms.

The place was specifically used for study and practice but on rare occasions they would relax together without the prying eyes from their parents and maid. It was practically a safe space for the two brothers to talk and laugh about anything they wanted and overall, just be themselves like the kids they were.

Not today though.

Sitting on the sofa, Finral and Langris anxiously waited for their father to arrive. A few minutes prior, the family maid had told them to go wait in the study room because Ledior had wanted to discuss something with them, but Finral knew exactly what this was about.

They were in trouble. Big trouble, and it was Finral's fault.

The two sat there silently as Finral's leg kept bouncing and no matter how much he tried he couldn't get it to stay still. In the corner of the room the grandfather clock ticked while the pendulum swung left to right, reminding him of the impending scolding they were about to get. Finral didn't think what they did was that big of a deal, but their father considered anything and everything they did a massive deal and now they were going to face the consequences for it.

Glancing to the side, Finral caught Langris fiddling with his fingers. The younger rarely ever got in trouble but when he did his fear and nervousness had to be much greater than Finral's. The guilt only increased at knowing he was responsible for it.

Finral would do anything to calm his brother so he turned to him to get his attention. "Hey, it's going to be okay," he tried reassuring when Langris looked up at him, "Whatever father wants to say to us I'm sure it won't be that bad."

The expression on Langris's face told Finral he didn't believe a word he said but he nodded slightly. "If you say so…" he muttered.

At the halfhearted response, Finral reached out to hold his hand, making Langris stop twiddling his fingers to stare at them in surprise. "It's going to be okay," he repeated with more confidence.

Langris searched his eyes to find a lie hidden within them but Finral stayed resolute. He opened his mouth to speak but Finral didn't get the chance to hear what he wanted to say when the door opened and Ledior entered the room.

All of Finral's confidence went out the door when they saw the expression he wore. The creases under his eyes emphasized his tiredness and his lips formed a tight frown, leaving the two children shivering under his glare.

He hadn't spoken a word yet, but Finral was quick to stand up and walked forward with Langris following behind until they were close enough to see their father looking down on them. Finral didn't dare attempt saying anything first because that would surely fuel his anger.

"You understand why I called you two here, yes?" their father started, speaking in a calm manner that masked a storm underneath.

Finral felt too afraid to look him in the eye. "Yes father," he mumbled.

From the lack of eye contact or the softness in his response Finral wasn't sure, but it became the final straw as their father snapped. "God dammit Finral you are 10 years and you still can't do what you're told!" Ledior yelled, making the boys flinch from the sudden outburst. "I've told you time and time again to stop slacking off in your studies but you never listen to me! Langris is younger than you and has accomplished a lot more and you're supposed to be the older one! Don't you have anything to say about this?"

"No father…" Finral hanged his head in shame, feeling tears prick the corner of his eyes. Langris hid behind him, holding the hem of his shirt nervously and keeping quiet throughout the whole thing.

"I better not catch you or hear from someone else again that you're neglecting your studies to go mess around. Take this as a learning experience and don't do it again," Ledior instructed.

Finral blinked away the tears. "Yes father…"

"And you!" Ledior rounded on his brother, shrinking away behind him. "Stop hiding behind your brother and come here."

Langris gripped Finral's shirt tighter in fear before reluctantly letting go and stepping forward. "You should know better than to follow your brother's bad habits. Next time he tries distracting you ignore him. I already have to deal with one disobedient child, I don't need to deal with two. Do you understand?"

Langris nodded silently at the carpet and Ledior's eyes narrow. "I expect an answer," he demanded.

Taking a deep breath, Langris tore away his gaze from the floor to look at him. "Yes father, it won't happen again," he responded in the most leveled voice a child could make.

Ledior's mouth twitched as if he wanted to say more but he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled heavily before turning around and walking away. "God, I worry for the future of the company," he muttered under his breath, slamming the door shut on his way out.

It's eerily silent and the two were left alone again. Finral shot a glance over towards Langris to see him clenching his fists and holding back tears. Remorse flooded him when he saw his brother on the verge of crying because of his actions. He really didn't mean for this to happen. He didn't mean for their father to find out they were playing tag in the garden instead of studying.

Regardless whether or not it was his fault, seeing Langris hurt like this pained him more than anything else so Finral tried to cheer him up. "Father was probably too stressed with work since his last trip got canceled and is just taking out on us! I'm sure he didn't mean it. He'll most likely forget about it by tomorrow!"

That seemed to have the opposite effect however, because Langris's brows furrowed and gritted his teeth as he pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! It's your fault I got yelled at!" he shouted, "I told you father would find out about it but you said he wouldn't! You lied to me!"

Finral winced. "You're right and I'm sorry! But you've been looking tired from doing nothing but studying these past few days and I wanted to help…"

"I don't care what your excuse is father still got mad at me!" Langris retorted. Clicking his tongue, he brushed past Finral and headed towards the door to leave. "This is why you're struggling in school. It's because you always go out and play games when you're supposed to be studying. Father was right about saying you never listen. One day he's going to realize he's wasted his time and give up on you and then I have to be the one to clean up your mess."

Finral watched Langris's retreating form until the door closed before covering his eyes with his hands and cried. He felt so ashamed of himself. Langris was right. Father was right. He was nothing but a disobedient child who constantly got in trouble because he couldn't handle the expectations given to him. There were no redeeming qualities about himself and he was only a burden to his brother.

Guilt washed through Finral and all of a sudden, the room felt cramped and suffocating.

Rushing out of the study room, he ran across the hall until he reached his bedroom and threw himself in bed under the covers. Finral wished he could go back in time to fix all his past mistakes. He had never made a single choice that made his father proud.

'One day he's going to realize he's wasted his time and give up on you and then I have to be the one to clean up your mess,' Langris's words rang out, rattling Finral to the core.

Clutching the blanket, Finral squeezed his eyes shut. Tomorrow he vowed to himself he would work harder than ever before to make his father proud. It wasn't like he had a choice either, his future had already been decided the day he was born. He had to live up to this duty since he was the one to take over the company when he got older… so it didn't matter what he wanted.

Finral turned over, burying his head in the pillow and immediately erased the thought.

"…-ral? Finral? Finral!"

Eyes snapping open, Finral looked up from his position slumped over the island counter to see Vanessa standing next to him, hands resting on her hips and tapping a foot on the kitchen tiles.

She huffed impatiently. "What were you doing? I've been trying to get your attention for a while."

"Ah, sorry about that I think I was spacing out," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. There was absolutely no way he could admit to her what he was thinking about or else she would worry and make him spill everything on his mind. Yeah no, that sounded like torture.

Since that dreadful 3am phone call, Finral had been recalling bits and pieces of his childhood past centering around his father and Langris. In every memory frustration and disappointment were the only emotions Finral saw visible on Ledior as he received a lashing from him. With Langris, his brother always had a troubled expression that morphed into anger whenever he got involved in something that was Finral's fault. But happened all the time so Langris blamed him often.

Finral could hardly remember moments he had with his step mother aside from eating meals with the family because well… she treated him like he had the plague so he never saw much of her.

Realizing he was lost in his head again, he noticed Vanessa wearing a concerned gaze, something he had been wanting to avoid, and Finral had an inkling feeling he knew what she was going to ask if he let her speak first.

In order to prevent that he attempted to steer the conversation away from himself. "Did you need something?" he asked. She wasn't wearing the type of clothes that signified she was going out in public so he figured she was staying home today like he was.

To his dismay, Vanessa pulled out a stool and sat down next to him. "I was wondering if you were going to finish that," she pointed to the half-eaten sandwich Finral had in front of him.

He had completely forgotten about his lunch. He must've been too caught up in his thoughts to remember he had it and was the reason why he was in the kitchen. Finral considered it for a second, staring at the food before shaking his head and pushing it in her direction. "You can have it," he offered.

Charmy had made it for him before she left for her restaurant job and Finral felt bad for not finishing it but he couldn't when his stomach was tying knots in itself. Though he also didn't want to waste it or else Charmy would probably kill him if she found out.

Finral watched in amusement as Vanessa snatched the sandwich away, biting into it with fervor, and Finral finally understood why she asked. "Did you stay up late drinking again?" It shouldn't even be a question when the answer was obvious.

Groaning, Vanessa placed her elbows on the counter and grabbed her head in pain. "Yes and I feel awful," she grumbled, "I woke up with a terrible headache so I thought I should try eating something to help alleviate the hangover."

Finral laughed lightheartedly. Leave it to Vanessa to make decisions she would come to regret later. "You should start controlling your alcohol intake next time so you don't throw up again like you did last week. That sandwich should help you feel somewhat better but you should also get some rest."

"That's what I plan to do after I finish this," she agreed, taking another bite of Finral's leftovers before she changed the topic. "So how did it go with your brother? Has he said anything to you yet?"

Oh no. Finral almost heaved. He had been hoping she wouldn't bring up his brother but he should've known he couldn't get away with it. Once Vanessa set her mind to something there was no way out of it so Finral succumbed to his fate.

"He hasn't said anything…" he admitted dejectedly, "I think at this point he's purposefully ignoring me." For a fact Langris was ignoring him.

It had been three days and Langris hadn't answered or returned any of his calls. He had even left a few voicemails and text messages but still he received no response. It was possible that Langris was too busy to respond but Finral would be lying if he said he wasn't a little hurt by it. If this was a way for Langris to get back at him because he abandoned home then it was effective against Finral.

He had offhandedly mentioned the situation to Vanessa last night before he went to bed and left her to drink herself sick. When she had asked why Finral merely shrugged his shoulders, unable to give an answer and confused just as her.

Vanessa hummed to herself in thought and Finral internally begged she would drop the subject. But of course, nothing ever worked in his favor as her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. "Oh! Why not go visit him?" she suggested.

Finral felt his heart stutter and not in a good way. Was Vanessa still intoxicated? Was she seriously hearing herself? He would rather let Yami slice him into ribbons with his prized katana sword or get demolished in a fight with Luck than do what she proposed.

"I can't just visit him!" he protested. That was one thing he couldn't do even if someone paid him lottery money. The outcome of meeting his brother would be disastrous and the sheer idea of it made him panic.

"Why not?" Vanessa asked innocently, as if she didn't understand the severity of her 'innocent' question.

"It doesn't work like that," Finral tried explaining, "If he sees my face he's going to be pissed." More than just pissed, Langris would probably punch him if he saw his face. Or worse, tell him they were no longer brothers, and Finral wouldn't know how to live the rest of his life if Langris told him that.

Deep in turmoil, he didn't see the curled feminine fingers approaching him until it was too late as Vanessa flicked his forehead. "Ow!"

"You're overthinking this Finral," she frowned, "If he's refusing to answer you then the only thing to do now is go see him." Finral rubbed the red mark on his forehead and Vanessa's face softened. "It's clear that you care about your brother very much, and it's obvious to everyone you've been worried about him for a while, but if you don't try and see how he's doing then that worry will never go away."

She brought up a finger and gently poked his chest where his heart was located. "Even if he gets mad, at least you don't have to stress yourself out wondering how he is when you can see him with your own eyes."

Finral couldn't deny that she was telling the truth. The past few days he couldn't focus on anything when he was worried about Langris's wellbeing. It distracted him so much to the point that Yami banished him from working for an entire week so he could sort out his issues.

"You can come to work when you're ready and just by looking at you I can tell you're definitely not ready." Yami had told him.

So now here he was, cooped up in the house doing nothing except brooding to himself. Visiting Langris was still a terrible idea in his opinion, but it also gave him a reason to get out of the house. Perhaps if Finral wasn't so terrified he might've taken Vanessa's advice.

"Besides," Vanessa continued as she smiled, "It's not like you're doing anything important today, right?" Magna told me you weren't allowed to work for a week." Dammit, she caught him red-handed.

"But… it's a weekday. He's probably busy with school and stuff." Finral was desperate to use any excuse but it proved to be fruitless.

When Vanessa's smile widened it was at that moment Finral lost the battle. "Then you can visit him at school."

Finral's supposed to say no. He's supposed to say he didn't have the right to see his brother after everything he'd done and ran away. Maybe Finral did want to visit his brother, but he was pretty sure Langris wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

Instead he asked, "Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean, he hates me." He didn't know that for sure though, after three years maybe his brother wasn't the same as he last remembered him. It sounded farfetched but Finral could dream.

"You won't know until you find out," she answered honestly. "Now come on, get up and go meet your brother." Standing up, she linked an arm together around his and dragged him towards the front door. "I would love to go with you as moral support but I'm not feeling too well right now."

Reaching the door, Vanessa swung it open and shoved Finral with enough force it had him stumbling outside and almost falling onto the asphalt. He steadied himself, then turned around and pouted. "This is still a terrible idea," he said weakly.

Vanessa rolled her eyes at his insistence to do anything but not meet his brother. "Stop stressing yourself out it'll be fine. How bad could it be?"

Extremely bad, Finral instantly thought. "You're right, I'll see if I can talk to him." I can't guarantee how it'll turn out though.

"That's the spirit!" she cheered, "I won't hold you up too long but be sure to tell me later how it goes okay?"

He didn't need to tell her about it later, he could tell her about it now because it wasn't going to go well at all. "Okay…" was all he said.

Vanessa gave him a wink and a thumbs up before shutting the door in his face. In a last-ditch effort Finral grabbed the doorknob and twisted it but it wouldn't budge, Vanessa had locked the door. Finral stood there disbelievingly as he could only stare at the black door with the custom skull logo painted on it in shock.

Technically, Finral could just go somewhere else like to the mall and flirt with some girls for a few hours failing miserably, and when he came back, he could lie to Vanessa and say the meeting with his brother went decent. But that also meant betraying his friend's trust and Finral didn't have the heart to do that to her.

Sighing in defeat, Finral mentally prayed to whatever deity out there to give him the strength to confront this impending disaster. It's not like he was going to die, but having to see Langris's eyes full of hatred towards him, his older brother, made Finral want to.

However, he couldn't deny that he missed his brother dearly. It had been three long years after all.

Finral stared at the house longingly, wishing he could crawl under his bed and pretend that everything in the world was fine, before walking away in the opposite direction towards the train station to meet his demise.