Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
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"Look at that face! Have you ever seen a child with a death glare like that!? I certainly haven't."
"Scary! But then, look at his big sister! She's the cutest thing I've ever seen! Should she even be allowed to play with the Young Master? He'll probably kill 'er!"
You'd just been a little thing. Big, curious [color] eyes that seemed to melt anyone that dared to meet them. Stubby fingers and stubbier toes, carrying yourself with an endearing wobble and big chubby cheeks. Compared to Ritsu, your naturally rugged looking younger brother, you appeared to be sweetness incarnate.
Based on appearances alone, Ritsu was often blamed for your doings. From breaking valuables as a toddler to biting others on the playground as a grade schooler, everything negative you'd ever done was somehow flipped onto Ritsu, instead. Being only a year apart also helped in the matter.
"Oh, Y/N wouldn't hurt a fly! I bet the Young Master bullied her into doing it. Or, better yet, he did it and made her take the blame. Poor thing. "
Somehow, Ritsu never resented you for inadvertently making him carry the weight of your sins. In fact, he'd always adored you. He was, for the longest time, the only person who saw you for who you really were and continued to love you anyway. Y/N: his cool, strong older sister that openly hated everybody but him. It was the two of you against the world.
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"The old man is way too harsh." Ritsu, at seven years old, complained as he sat on the edge of your bed, staring at the floor.
You didn't look at him, gaze set on the ceiling as you spread out on the mattress. "You missed the target twice." You reminded him, recalling the way he'd embarrassed himself while learning how to attack somebody with a knife. To make matters worse, he'd been practicing on a still mannequin.
He glared at you. His sharp, menacing face was always intimidating enough on its own without the added impact of him truly being in a bad mood. Others, more dramatic than yourself, would heel over and beg for mercy if given the same look he was giving you. "Yeah, but still! I'm grounded for six weeks! Not that it matters, anyway." He turned his head away, voice trailing off toward the end.
Ritsu had never had friends. Never had anything to go out and do after school, never had anyone to play with or talk to. No one but you and the syndicate members, but even then, those goons were all scared half to death of the poor kid. He was a decent enough kid, but his terrifying face kept others far, far away.
You'd been cursed (or, in Ritsu's eyes, blessed) with the opposite of his problem. While Ritsu's personality was rather delightful under all the aggression that was beat into him, yours was always quite sour. You didn't like people, didn't want friends, all you wanted was to train, study, and keep to yourself. Still, because of your naturally welcoming, "cute" (as others often called it), face, you attracted friends like flies on feces. You couldn't shake them no matter how rude you were, as your attitude was always brushed off as you being "playful" or "shy". You could bite a kid in the throat, it seemed, and everyone would still sing your praises.
You and Ritsu often toyed with the fantasy of swapping bodies. If you were Ritsu, everyone would leave you alone and, even better, you'd be the heir to the Kasanoda Syndicate. If Ritsu were you, he'd have all the friends he could ever want and wouldn't be forced to carry the burden of making the family proud. The fact that you were born yourselves and not as each other was a fate worse than death most days.
"I'll talk to Dad." You finally spoke up again, looking over at your younger brother and brushing your hair out of your face.
"If you're gonna talk to him anyway, ask him for a trampoline." Ritsu grinned devilishly. "He never says no to you and I have my eye on this super cool blue one."
You frowned and sat up, slapping his face with a throw pillow. "No way, even I can't get away with that much! Idiot!"
But all he could do was laugh his little heart out.