illumi knows his elder sibling has never truly liked him—as much as they smile at him, and as much as he craves their validation and love, deep down, he understands he’ll never receive it.

he knows why. it's because he reminds them of their parents: the perfectly molded zoldyck. the irony isn’t lost on him, though, because he’s always seen them as the perfect zoldyck. as the eldest, they set the bar impossibly high—flawless in every way as an assassin, so perfect that they were often bored during missions.

illumi knows they’ve never liked him, and he tells himself he’s come to terms with it by now. yet, that doesn’t stop him from obsessing over them anyway.

“you came back,” illumi says softly from behind you as you step into the zoldyck estate, eight years after disappearing without a trace. you've barely crossed the threshold, but he’s already there. not that it surprises you—after all, you’d sensed his presence miles before you neared the family home.