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When Japeth woke, he somehow knew this was not going to be a good day. There was an odd, insistent tugging at his gut that told him something was going to go wrong but he had no way of knowing what that was, or how to stop it.
Well, that was partly a lie. When things went wrong, you could always count on Aric having something to do with it.
As it always did, Japeth’s mind drifted to his best friend. His deep, violet eyes and vicious smile.
He missed him.
It was fucking pathetic of course - he was barely awake - but he already missed the spiky haired boy with a kind of pained desperation. There was an ache in his chest that refused to go away, and as he rushed to get dressed and brush his teeth, Japeth was cursing the fact that Dean Bitchface wouldn’t let him and Aric share a room. Something about their codependence being ‘concerning’ but frankly, Japeth couldn’t care less. The idea of Aric being dependent on him in any way at all made him laugh at the incredulousness of it, and yearn for it at the same time. Because that would mean Aric cared for him at least half as much as Japeth cared for Aric, and he would give anything for that to be the truth.
Japeth heard Rhian begin to grunt awake just as he was leaving the room, and he risked only a single glance backwards before heading off. He had no interest in speaking to Rhian this early in the morning, particularly when Aric was only two doors away. Japeth’s hand had barely risen halfway to knock at the door before it flew open, and then his best friend was standing less than a foot away from him. He allowed himself to get lost in those purple eyes, just for a moment, then stepped backwards so Aric could leave the room.
Walking side by side with his friend, Japeth could almost ignore the insistent niggling at the edge of his consciousness, warning him that something bad was going to happen. Almost.
The morning passed without incident, and by the time they got to lunch, the unpleasant tingling was mostly gone from Japeth’s mind, replaced by visions of spiked hair and a smile that only Japeth ever got to see. A smile that was just for him, edged with just the barest hint of vulnerability, only there if you knew where to look for it.
Japeth always knew where to look.
Aric seemed to be in a good mood today, laughing more than usual and even letting Japeth nudge him playfully without his normally violent response. Not that Japeth would have minded. He would take anything Aric gave him, be it a punch or a kick or a vicious insult that was designed to hurt. Because that meant Aric was paying attention to him, and that was all Japeth wanted.
He was fucking pathetic.
But of course, Rhian had to ruin everything, just like he always did.
“There you are, I’ve been trying to talk to you all day,” Rhian said, standing just behind Japeth. Japeth was seated next to Aric, and all he wanted was lunch. Not fucking Rhian.
Japeth had to resist the urge to snap at him to fuck off and leave me and Aric alone, but instead said, through gritted teeth, “What do you want?”
Rhian hesitated, eyes flickering towards Aric almost imperceptibly, who was watching the exchange with poorly hidden excitement. Conflict in any form always had him grinning.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, alone?” He nodded pointedly at Aric as he said the last word.
Japeth hissed a frustrated sigh. It would be so, so easy to just say no, and watch his brother crumble, but he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to see his twin brother hurt, however annoying he was. Well, maybe he wanted to see him hurt a little bit, but that was coming from the dark, angry side of him that he tried to keep hidden.
"Fine, but make it quick.” He turned to Aric and muttered, “I’ll be back in a minute, just want to see what he wants.”
Aric scowled, but nodded. “Fine, but if he lays so much as a finger on you…”
Japeth suppressed a pleased shudder at the undercurrent of violence in his words. Aric cared enough to threaten to hurt Rhian if he hurt Japeth. “I’ll be fine,” He murmured, then got up to follow his brother.
“What?” He snapped, once they made it to an empty corridor leading off the food hall.
“I just want to talk to you!” Rhian exclaimed, hurt, “I’m your brother.”
“Right, sorry,” Japeth said, with all the conviction he could muster. He wasn’t sorry. Rhian was taking away time he could have been spending with Aric, and that was not okay.
“I’m worried about you.”
There it is. Japeth resisted the urge to slam his fist into a wall. Or his brother’s face. “Why.” It wasn’t a question, but Rhian treated it as such.
“You’ve just been spending so much time with him lately, and It’s like we’re not even brothers anymore and I…” He took a long breath. “I just… I miss you, Japeth.”
Ordinarily, Japeth would have felt something for his brother then. Perhaps sympathy, or even the tiniest hint of regret. But all he could hear was the word ‘him’ echoing over and over in his mind. It wasn’t even the word itself; it was the pure hatred and disgust in Rhian’s tone as he said it. Rhian was supposed to be good, yet had spoken about Aric like… like he wanted him dead. Japeth’s eyes hardened. “I see.”
Rhian’s face broke into a watery smile, as if he couldn’t see the pure, ice cold fury in Japeth’s face. As if he thought Japeth was about to agree with him. “I knew you-”
“I get it now,” Japeth said, voice sharp like the scims that were practically vibrating on his skin with the urge to hurt the boy standing in front of him. “You want the old Japeth back. The one who was quiet, and docile, and followed you and Kei around like a fucking dog.”
“No! That’s not what I-”
“You don’t like that I’m spending time with Aric because Aric is the only one who sees through your bullshit, and knows exactly what you are. A coward. A coward hiding behind lies about being the son of King Arthur, that our bitch of a mother fed you for years. Fucking years, Rhian, without ever telling me that I was worth more than a piece of dirt on her shoe. You were the one true king, and I was a burden, a mistake, that she wished had never been born. And guess what,” Japeth took a step forwards, subconsciously backing Rhian into a wall. His fists clenched. “You liked it. You can pretend all you want, but you liked that you were worth more than me, you liked that I was always second best. And when someone finally decides that they like me more than you, you can’t take it. Because you’re a selfish, narcissistic prick who-”
Japeth’s tirade was cut off by a fist slamming into his face, and he jolted backwards with a surprised gasp.
Rhian never hit him.
No matter what he did, Rhian never did more than sigh or shake his head. But this time Rhian had punched him - right in the face.
Spitting blood onto the polished wooden floor, Japeth grinned, teeth stained red, jaw throbbing, “See. You know I’m right.”
He walked away before Rhian could get a word in. His heart was pumping with adrenaline and anger and something he couldn’t quite name… satisfaction, perhaps? Because seeing Rhian finally break had been so very satisfying.
The other boys turned and stared as Japeth walked past, probably seeing the blood on his chin and grin on his face and wondering what on earth had just happened, but that only made him smile wider. Aric was the last to turn, but his eyes widened as he caught sight of Japeth, emotions flashing from relief, to worry, to fury to… fear? Japeth frowned as he spotted real fear in his best friend’s eyes, and he was about to ask what on earth he was so worried about when-
Crash.
Japeth crumpled to the floor, as Rhian stood over his prone body, panting, broken plate in hand. But the anger on his face quickly faded to panic as he realised what he had done, and he dropped to the ground immediately, searching for a sign that his brother was alive. He let out a small sigh of relief when he spotted the rise and fall of Japeth’s chest, but then he sensed someone behind him. He turned, almost comically slowly, and met the hateful, violet gaze of the person he hated most. Rhian bared his teeth, ready to snap at him to fuck off, when he saw the dagger in Aric’s hand.
He didn’t dodge quickly enough.
The blade buried itself in Rhian’s skull, and he collapsed next to his brother.
This time, when Japeth woke up, it was to a splitting headache and the feeling that something terrible had happened but that he had no idea what that thing was. Grimacing at the throbbing at his temples, he nevertheless forced himself to sit up, and immediately became aware of two things.
First, he was not in his bed, he was in the makeshift nurse’s office that became necessary pretty quickly as the boys grew older and more violent.
Second, he was not alone.
Rhian was in the bed beside him, and he barely had time to comprehend the thick bandage around his head and oh god was that blood, before Dean Brunhilde blocked his view.
“How are you feeling?”
At once, the sugary tone had Japeth frowning with suspicion. Brunhilde was never nice to him. Not unless she wanted him to do something, like apologise to Rhian.
The Dean sighed. “Do you remember what happened?”
Japeth blinked as he realised that he actually couldn’t remember anything, and he was about to start panicking when he caught the first flashes of a memory. “There was… a fight?” He said, slowly, images beginning to piece themselves together. “I fought Rhian?” He glanced over at his brother, again faced with that thick, foreboding bandage. “Did I hurt him?”
The Dean’s lips pursed. “No, that wasn’t you.”
“Who was it?” Japeth asked, though he already knew the answer. Only one person in this entire building would even consider hurting Rhian, but he needed to hear it from the Dean’s lips. He needed to know.
“Aric did,” Brunhilde said, lips twisted with distaste, “After your brother… knocked you out,” The words seemed to taste bad in her mouth, and Japeth wasn’t surprised. Who could believe that precious Rhian would do something so brutal? “After your brother hurt you, Aric took it upon himself to get revenge.” Her lips twisted somehow even further. “He stabbed Rhian in the head. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed.”
No, not a miracle. Aric never did anything without a purpose, so he left Rhian deliberately. Japeth had to concentrate very hard on not letting a smile break out across his face, and thankfully the Dean took his silence to mean he was done talking. She turned to fuss over Rhian, leaving Japeth alone with his thoughts. Aric had almost killed someone - most likely would have, had he not known that, despite everything, Japeth cared for his twin brother - because he hurt Japeth.
Aric was angry for Japeth.
Japeth let out a shuddering breath. He needed to see Aric. Whether to talk to him or hug him or try to kiss him, he wasn’t sure, all he knew was that he needed to see his best friend.
Japeth was out of bed before he even knew he had moved.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Brunhilde exclaimed, “You’ve just woken up from a serious concussion, I don’t believe that-”
“I need to see Aric.” It wasn’t a question, it was a demand, and Brunhilde looked mutinous.
“I’m afraid that isn’t an option.”
The bad feeling returned, worse than ever before. “Why not?”
“Aric has been expelled.”
Japeth’s blood ran cold, and before he knew it, he was running. He headed for Aric’s dorm, shoving his way past boys that pointed and whispered as he ran past, ignoring the ache in his head, desperate to see purple eyes and spiked hair…
It was empty. Aric’s room was bare, as if nobody had ever lived there before. And that meant Japeth was too late.
Japeth hurtled back down the corridor, out of the boarding house, hoping and praying that Aric might not have gone just yet. He needed to see him. Needed to see those eyes one last time before they were wrenched away from him forever. He knew his scims were beginning to move, sliding over his skin in their shared agitation, leaving gaps in his dark clothes that shouldn’t be there, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Nobody knew about his scims, save for Aric, but he was prepared to tear these people to shreds if they tried to take Aric away from him, secrets be damned.
He skidded to a halt just as a carriage began to leave, and with renewed hope, Japeth spotted a flash of dark hair. “ARIC!” He yelled, desperate for Aric to see him, somehow stop the carriage and come back home.
And he did. Aric’s silhouette turned, and he was mouthing something through the window of the carriage, and Japeth was running as fast as he could to reach him when-
Two arms grabbed him around the waist. Japeth let out a shocked gasp as the wind was knocked out of him, and turned to see Dean Brunhilde, eyes hard, and a syringe in her grasp. Japeth knew what was about to happen, and in his panic he was unable to order his scims fast enough to gouge out her eyes.
And then it was too late.
The syringe was stabbed into his neck, and Japeth screamed in rage and sheer, animalistic terror because they were taking Aric away, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He tried to wrestle his way out of the Dean’s grip, or at the very least claw scratches into her arms, but he was paralysed, unable to move as the drugs took hold. His scims were rendered useless, and he could do nothing but watch as the carriage drove away, taking Aric with it.
“Japeth, come on.”
Japeth didn’t answer, nor make any sign he had heard anything at all.
“Japeth, you can’t lie there all day.”
I can and I will.
“You must be hungry, you can come down to breakfast with me and Kei and-”
“Why would I want to go anywhere with you?” Japeth hissed, eyes almost glowing in their fury.
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry,” Rhian exclaimed, “Your precious Aric tried to kill me! And he would have tried to kill you eventually, once he got bored of you and realised…”
Japeth stopped listening. Aric would never have hurt him. At least, not in a way that would endanger his life. Not in any way that Japeth didn’t want. Aric was the only person who understood him, and now he was gone.
“Japeth.” Japeth ignored him. “Japeth!”
Japeth went back to staring listlessly at the wall. There was no point. Rhian wouldn’t understand. Honestly, Japeth didn’t really understand either. He had never understood the magnetic pull between him and Aric, but it had always been there, even from that very first day Aric entered Arbed house. Twin souls, sharing the same hurt, and the same ever burning anger. Aric had understood Japeth’s uncontrollable need to hurt, just as Japeth had understood Aric’s fury at the world. Both had grown up rejected, but both had found the other. Someone who accepted them because of these flaws, not in spite of them.
At some point, Rhian gave up and left the room.
Japeth couldn’t be bothered to care.
What was the point in caring, when the one person he had cared for more than anyone else in the world, was gone?
It took over a week, but eventually Japeth began to go through the motions once again. He ate meals with his brother, and did his work in lessons. He even spoke to Kei, though never for more than two minutes at a time. But there was a hollowness inside him that refused to go away, and Rhian refused to leave him alone.
“Come on, just talk to me.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Why not? We’re brothers, I want to help you!”
“You could help me by leaving me the fuck alone,” Japeth snarled, spinning to face his twin. There were matching expressions of anger and frustration on matching faces, and neither was willing to back down.
“I don’t understand you,” Rhian said, finally. “I thought once Aric was gone…”
“I’d realise that I never liked him in the first place, and come crawling back to you?” Japeth said, tone bitter. “Fat fucking chance.”
“Can’t we just try to move on? Start again?” Rhian sounded so hopeful, like he genuinely wished that they could be friends again. “It’ll be just like old times.”
Japeth looked at his brother for a long moment, green eyes meeting blue. Then he opened his mouth to reply.
“No.”
Rhian slumped, all fight gone from his form.
But Japeth wasn’t finished. “And I want you to know this. No matter what happens, no matter how you think I’ve moved on, I will never forget what you took from me. I don’t care that he stabbed you, because you were the one who attacked me in the first place, and I blame you for everything that followed. It’s your fault he snapped.
“And Rhian…” Japeth allowed one scim to peel itself off his sleeve, and hover directly in front of Rhian’s skull, pointed end glittering viciously. Rhian gaped at the tiny black eel, horrified. It was hovering right in front of the new, jagged scar. A threat, and a promise. “I will never forgive you for it.”