Ran abruptly woke up in the middle of the night, springing up to sit as he let out a small scream that more resembled a gasp. He let out a deep sigh, wiping the cold sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, while the other reached for his phone. 3:47 AM.

His breathing still unsteady, he got up to get some water. Fumbling around the kitchen half awake, and still shaken by the earlier dream, he almost bumped into Rindou.

- Nii-chan... - younger brother's voice full of sleepiness and concern.

Ran rubbed his face in mild confusion, and after a few seconds sighed into a facepalm.

- I'm ok Rindou, sorry if I woke you up. It's just... one of those...

- Again?

- Yeah. Again. - he finally took a sip of water from the cup that he's been absentmindedly holding in his hand, and sat down by the kitchen table.

Rindou followed the suit. He looked away from his brother in silence, almost ashamed he couldn't at least share this horrible experience with the only family he had left. It also pained him to see that even after all those years, the traumas were still holding his big brother in a tight grip. He honestly couldn't decide whether it was a blessing or a curse that he had no memories from that time simply because he was too young.

- That must mean you've been getting overstressed recently. If you wanna open up about what's troubling you... I am your brother, after all, you know?

Ran mustered a painful smile, half shrugging it all off. - I'll be fine, Rindou... but thanks. - He gave him a light pat on the shoulder, as he got up and left back to his room.

He dropped himself down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It didn't take long for the images to start flashing in front of his eyes again. He covered his face with the back of his arm, taking deep breaths, and trying to shift his mind onto literally anything else.

After a few more hours of waking agony, his body gave in to the exhaustion, and he finally fell asleep.
When he got up, his coffee was waiting for him, and Rindou was already preparing breakfast.

- Nii-chan, good morning! - Rindou turned around to cheerfully greet his brother, as soon as he heard the door of his room open.

- Yo, Rindou... - Ran was still just half awake, rubbing his eyes open, he let out a small yawn. - Did you sleep well?

- I should be asking you that. Honestly, you look like crap. Are you alright?

- I'm fine... - he half groaned into his cup of coffee. Rindou sighed and turned around, focusing on the stove.

They spent the morning as usual, mostly. Rindou would get up early, do all the housework, prepare food, and make coffee for his big brother, when he anticipated he would be getting up. He had a sixth sense for it, always instinctively knowing when Ran would show up in the kitchen, either teasing him about something, or just being a baby and complaining about the choice of food. Those were the usual days. However, once in a while, Ran would suffer from nightmares and insomnia, like this time, and even though everything else would seem the same as always, he'd be awfully quiet and pensive for the most of the day. Whoever didn't know him, would say he was acting out of character. But Rindou was the only one that knew his real self. In those moments of silence, he would be mentally beating himself over the past and his perceived failure of being the older brother. Rindou knew better than to probe him to talk about it, and just silently took upon himself the care of the household, and his "spoiled" big brother. It was his way of saying 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry I can't share your pain' to Ran. And Ran also knew this. On one hand, it made him really proud of his baby brother, on the other, it made him feel guilty for burdening him so much. However, those couple of times he tried talking to him about sharing the responsibilities, Rindou strongly protested. And thus, all of it became a silent agreement between them.

- Rindou... I was thinking of visiting mom today. Whaddya say?

- Sure! We haven't been there in a while... She probably misses us. - He let out a small chuckle

Somehow, as they grew up, they ended up visiting their mother's grave only whenever Ran would have one of those episodes. It made his inner demons calm down a bit.

Reaching a small, secluded cemetery at the outskirts of Roppongi, they walked up to the Haitani family grave. Rindou proceeded to clean the gravestone, and Ran squatted down to burn some incense. Rindou put a small bouquet next to it, and stood a few steps back from his brother. He knew that Ran needed a few moments to himself, to "talk" to their mom. Neither of them ever mentioned anything about it, but Rindou noticed his brother's swollen, red eyes, every time they were about to leave, and he would get up from there. That sight made his heart ache every single time. But he knew that Ran didn't want it pointed out, and even less wanted to talk about it. So he'd settle to making his favorite food for dinner, to cheer him up a bit.

Rindou barely had any recollection of their parents. Their father has always been absent from their lives, all they knew was that he was in fact alive somewhere abroad, as he did occasionally send them money. And that was it, no contact, no visits, no letters, nothing. He left the house when they were both still very young, so not even Ran remembered his face. All they knew was his name, but never bothered to search for him. And why would they, when he never reached out to his children? Even worse, when he left them, a toddler and a newborn then, with their mother, alone. Naturally, neither of them considered that man as their family. They simply didn't care. But at the same time, they bore resentment towards him for not doing his fatherly duty and protecting them, especially Ran, since he was unlucky enough to bear witness to that tragic night, and have it as one of his formative memories.

Their mother did whatever she could to bring them up, but things were anything but easy for her. She had debt, and not just any debt, but owing the loan sharks. They threatened to hurt her sons. She was forced to do things... that only a desperate mother would be capable of, in order to protect her children's lives. And yet, it wasn't enough for the bastards. They barged into their house that one night, demanding an instant payback, knowing very well that she had no money whatsoever.

Most of what Ran remembered were loud noises, men's ugly grinning faces, crying Rindou, and a gun pointed to his mother's temple. A lot of commotion ensued, and she only managed to hurriedly get the two of them out of the house. Her words carved into Ran's brain forever.

- Ran, I'm so sorry, baby boy... Please take care of Rindou! I love you both... Now run! As far as you can!

As they were running away from their house, they could still hear the men shouting and laughing, and their mother's occasional screams. It took years to fully understand what had actually happened that horrible night.

- Nii-chan, I'm scared... - the three year old brother cried.

- Don't worry, Rindou... I'll protect you! - the older one grabbed his hand, putting on his bravest face for a five year old, while still shaking in fear and shock himself. - I'll always protect you!

They were eventually found by the authorities and put into an orphanage for a couple of years, until their father's existence was discovered, and he was made to pay the overdue alimony, and officially get custody over them. They got back into their house, but still were forced to live alone, as their father still never showed his face to them. However, by that time, they had already learned to take care of themselves and each other, and protect themselves on their own.

Rindou used to be a crybaby as a little kid, and other kids in the orphanage often picked on him. Until Ran beat up one of his bullies so badly, he ended up being grounded for two months. But nobody touched his little brother ever again! Rindou took that as a clue to learn to defend for himself. And that was their first step towards the life of violence and delinquency.

One thing lead to another, and at the age of thirteen, they had the entire Roppongi underground under their rule, the word of the notorious Haitani Brothers spreading throughout the whole of Tokyo.