Clay feet.
The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for April 2, 2008.
In retrospect, Yoshimori grew up knowing that his brother hated him, and if it wasn't him, then it was something about him, something to do with the fact that his younger brother had a funny little square on the back of his hand and he didn't. It colored everything: the way they talked with each other, the way they ate together at the dinner table, the way Masamori was always four steps ahead of him. Beyond sullen irritation and childish jealousy over the fact that Tokine admired Masamori without question, Yoshimori's most vivid memories of his brother were the image of his back: how he stood straight and tall at all times in all places, straight and tall and strong. Three things that Yoshimori wasn't. Three things that he quite possibly would never be.
He could never understand it, why he had the mark of the successor and his brother didn't, and what made things worse was that it drove a wedge between them, defined by four steps and stilted conversations. Even now, even with the power of his ancestors at his disposal, Yoshimori figured that a single brand wasn't worth closing the door on a relationship and the million and one possibilities related to it.