— trente et un ; thirty one —

HENRI DIDN'T THINK HE'D ever felt as nervous as he did right now, standing under the lukewarm water of his post-game shower as the water gradually turned cold in a futile attempt to stall for time.

The Ravens had won, obviously, and Henri was probably the only one on the team who wasn't happy about it. It wasn't that he was sad; he was just too busy shitting himself about the fact he was about to appear on live national television to care about some stupid match. Henri wasn't a camera person — he didn't smile at the right times and he didn't charm in the delightfully fake way Soren could. Even worse, Jean would be there. Jean Moreau. His brother. Whichever way he turned those words in his head, they didn't sound right and he didn't think they ever would.

He was also stalling a little because he couldn't be bothered to deal with KJ and this was the easiest way to avoid him. He scowled every time Henri had happened to glance his way and didn't seem appeased by the fact he'd gotten to play while Henri was checked over by the team medic — who, by the way, deemed he'd be fine besides a bruise which was nothing new. It probably didn't sit well with KJ that for tonight's game, he'd played as a sub to a freshman rookie rather than the other way around.

"What took you so long?" Kit wondered, when Henri finally joined the rest of the team in the foyer, his hair still dripping.

Henri glanced at KJ who had murder in his eyes. "Nothing in particular," he said absently, more focused on the two men who'd come up to the Ravens. He knew what they were here for even before they informed him the car was waiting outside him.

"Wait, what car?" Aria jaw dropped. "Don't tell me Moreau Junior gets a private ride to the hotel while the rest of us slum it in the Coach."

"I'm not going to the hotel," Henri said.

Loren looked confused. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

The only one who didn't look puzzled was Soren and it didn't take him long to realise that. "You didn't tell them?" he asked, with a hint of disbelief.

Henri shrugged. "I figured they'd find out soon enough."

"Tell us what?" Matthias said impatiently, never one to enjoy being kept out of the loop. "Spill the beans already. And you've got to quit only telling Soren the important stuff, Henri. Totally unfair."

Henri ignored him, as usual, and glanced at Soren. "You can tell them," he said in French.

"Why should I?"

"Don't you think I'm suffering enough just being forced into this?"

"Watch what you say tonight," Soren said, sticking to French so the others couldn't understand. Henri took that as implicit agreement to deal with the Ravens. "There will be a lot of eyes on you tonight. One misstep and the Master will not be forgiving."

"Trust me, I know."

Henri spent the entire ride to where the show was being aired stuffed in the back of a car and counting all the ways this could go wrong. Considering he didn't know how it could possibly go right, the list was growing impossibly long and he might have been glad when their arrival put an end to his negative thoughts if not for what it meant. Inside that building, amid the cameras and TV crew and microphones, was Henri's brother. The thought tied his stomach up into so many knots he had to remind himself how to breathe as he was led inside by one of the staff members.

He was led into a room where a whole team of stylists, hair and make up and clothes, transformed him from a tired Exy player into something presentable on screen. His hair was styled for the first time in his life rather than falling haphazardly in his eyes and he was wearing the fanciest, and probably most expensive, clothes he'd ever worn before. "We'll be on in twenty minutes," one of the harried women running around with a clipboard told him. "Feel free to relax in our waiting room backstage until we bring you on."

Henri hesitated. "Is Jean there?"

"Waiting for you," she said, and ushered him forward before he could think of an excuse to refuse.

Jean wasn't alone when Henri was practically shoved into a lounge room with plush sofas, talking to a made up woman with piled up blonde hair and a top wide smile. Henri vaguely recognised her as the one running the late night talkshow only because Lucas loved watching this one and always put it on TV. Absently, Henri wondered how he'd reacted to Henri going on it. Jean was taller than he had been expecting, just clearing six foot, and the genial smile fixed on his face disappeared the moment he saw Henri.

"Henri Moreau!" The talkshow woman was quick to shake his hand with enthusiastic vigour and he was glad he had an excuse not to look at Jean. "A pleasure, a pleasure. My name's Mandy and I'm so glad you agreed to come on my show!"

Not by choice, he thought.

"Thanks for having me," Henri said, not really meaning it at all.

"Well, I'd hate to intrude on a family reunion," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows, seemingly unaware that that was exactly what Henri wanted. An intrusion so he didn't have to deal with this, didn't have to look at Jean and didn't have to tell him the truth. "Someone will be back to call you on when it's time, but for now, you've got this place to yourselves until airing. Enjoy!"

The silence that descended on the room was thick and stifling. Henri reluctantly dragged his gaze back to Jean's, the same smoky grey eyes he saw every time he looked in the mirror except Henri's were a couple of shades lighter. Jean was already staring at him, but there was no hostility or animosity there — his expression was carefully unreadable, no doubt a habit he'd acquired during his time with the Ravens. They looked alike and yet they didn't; any similarities between their features ended at their colouring, because Jean had too much of their father and Henri had too much of their mother for any real distinction between identifying they were siblings.

Jean was the one to break the silence. "You look just like her," he said, in flawless French which was untouched despite his many years in the states.

"Who?"

"Mother," he said.

That was enough to bring the grief he had been choking down all day to the forefront, bitter where it burned his throat, and Henri took a step back to steady himself. "And you look just like father," he murmured, almost too low to be audible, but Jean heard.

He didn't want to do this now. He didn't want to have to be the one to tell Jean that his parents had been killed because of him, and he definitely didn't want to do it before they had to both go on TV and play the part of long lost brothers reunited. But he didn't know if there would be time to talk when the show ended or whether Jean would even stick around to speak to him, and it wouldn't be fair to not tell him the truth.

"The Ravens," Jean said, buying Henri some time to stall telling him about their parents. "How have they not killed you? I know them well enough to know they would never tolerate the presence of a child."

Henri refrained from rolling his eyes at being called a a child yet again, but it was a near thing. "They've tried and failed," he said. "I'm not scared of them."

"No," Jean agreed. "You have other things to fear. And Soren? What is that like? I suspect they put you in the room I vacated."

"What do you think? He's a pain in the ass."

And it's quite possible I'm making the mistake of falling in love with him anyway, Henri thought, a little alarmed at how easily that word came to him. Love. He'd been careful to skirt around that word when it came to Soren, even just in his head, but pretending it wasn't true wasn't changing anything. Henri didn't even know what love was but he did know that everything felt more right with him, kissing or talking or sleeping or even silence — just being in his presence was enough for him. When Soren finally tossed him aside, Henri would find a way to be okay with it because they'd still on the same team and he'd still be near him everyday.

"Let's cut the small talk." Jean dropped on to one of the sofas and the rich material sank beneath his weight. "Why did they wait so long to send you over? And if so, why not wait till you reached eighteen? I don't believe you were simply my replacement, as you play a different position to me." 

Henri swallowed his apprehension and wandered over to the row of mirrors hanging on the wall, as if interested in the white lights studded along their frames and he wasn't just making excuses to avoid Jean's gaze. Despite the barely noticeable make up they'd given him, he looked pale and washed out under their brightness. Maybe he was just pale in general. He finally turned around to face Jean.

"About that...there was no choice, in me coming here, because when they found me...our parents — " Henri had never struggled so much for words as he had right then and the piercing look Jean gave him only made it so much harder. He steeled himself to just come out and say it. "They're dead."

He wasn't sure what reaction he had been anticipating, but it wasn't the blankness on Jean's face. Henri could see there was more to it than simple indifference behind Jean's grey eyes, something turbulent and intense, but he couldn't read beyond his mask.

"How?"

"Ichirou — "

"He wouldn't kill them without a reason," Jean said, but there was no accusation in his tone yet. He hadn't clocked Henri's involvement in their deaths. "They were assets, valuable to him. They brought in money. He wouldn't — "

"Because of me," Henri blurted out. He could have taken the easy way out and claimed it was a business mistake he wasn't privy to, but if he was giving the truth, he might as well give the whole truth. "They tried to hide me, because they knew I'd just be taken away like you. For sixteen years, I was a secret kept from the Moriyamas and Ichirou was not so forgiving when he found it out. I was let off because I could play. They — weren't."

Henri couldn't bring himself to look at him and only then could he admit to himself that he didn't want Jean to hate him. It was stupid and irrational, considering he usually couldn't care less about people's opinions of him and Jean should have just been a stranger. But he was Henri's brother and the only tie he had left to any family. The silence stretched so long it felt like a rubber band close to snapping and Henri finally opened his mouth to say something, anything, the door was thrown open and a man wearing a headset called that it was time for them to come on.

Jean was led away separately and Henri rubbed clammy palms on his new fancy pants as he was ushered down the left wing of the stage. People were fixing up his hair and brushing some kind of powder on his face, but he barely noticed. He still felt like he throwing up but selfishly, he was glad Jean was going on first. He had no idea how he was going to be after the delightful revelation that his younger brother's existence was the reason for his parents death.

"And we're on air in five, four, three, two..."

"Hello everyone!" Henri got to watch on the many screens projecting an image of the stage as Mandy strode on, waving to the cheering audience with that huge smile. It must have hurt her cheeks maintaining a facial expression like that. "Welcome back and I hope you're all ready for life exciting pair of guests tonight. I'm sure all you Exy fans out there know we're well into the season now, right?"

She was met with clapping and hoots of approval. "Well, then do I have a treat for you," she beamed, taking a seat behind her desk. "Because our first guest for the night is none other than the recently transferred backliner, now playing for new colours and under a different team, Jean Moreau!"

Jean walked on to the frenzied screaming of the crowd and waved to the fans. Besides the fact his smile was a little too tight, he appeared perfectly fine despite the bombshell Henri had just dropped on him. He didn't think anyone else would think anything was off. It was only then Henri noticed the colour co-ordination the stylists had put into both their outfits — red and black, for the former and future Raven brothers. Suddenly, Henri didn't think his clothes were quite so nice.

"Jean," Mandy said brightly, when the audience finally quieted down. "Please, have a seat. It feels like so long since I last had you on my show, what, a year ago?"

"Ten months," he said with a polite smile.

"Exactly! Can you believe so much has changed in such a short time?" she wondered. Henri could attest to that. Ten months ago, Henri was a homeschooled French citizen and had both his parents. Now he played for the Ravens and had spoken more English in months than he had in his whole life. "Now you've switched from the former Champions to the Trojans, and it's been confirmed as reality when we saw you on their court for games. How does that change feel?"

"Unexpected," Jean admitted. "As I have mentioned before, they are both very different teams. I joined Edgar Allan believing I would graduate with the Ravens and yet I have no regrets about my transfer to the Trojans."

Mandy nodded. "Of course. Now, a lot of us are curious as to the exact details regarding your transfer, and why exactly it occurred. After Kevin Day's shocking transfer, no one was expecting yet another of the Ravens star players to leave them. Would you care to enlighten us on how that happened?"

"I think Kevin is the best place to start for an explanation," Jean said. "Riko was captain but there was a lot of dispute as to which of the two was the better player, and last season's final with the Foxes win confirmed that it was in fact Kevin. He saw the Ravens were not best suited for him and it prompted me to see that it was not my path to follow either. It is nothing against the Ravens — they are still arguably the best team in the nation — but I stand by the belief that both Kevin and I are better off with our new teams."

Because the Ravens are a bunch of psychopaths, Henri thought, almost wishing he was on stage so he could add his own input. But contrary to Soren's belief, he wasn't quite that suicidal or fond of the Master's cane.

"Speaking of the Ravens, one of their newest recruits has caught the attention of the country," Mandy said, and one of the aides ushered Henri forward at the cue with a warning that he'd be on soon, adjusting his clip-on mic so it was angled towards his mouth. "And I'm sure you haven't missed the interest surrounding the two of you, especially considering the timing of his move. Which brings us on to our second guest for the night. Ladies and gentlemen, the Ravens newest dealer here for his first ever public appearance and interview, Henri Moreau!"

Henri stepped on the bright stage and shook the hand Mandy extended towards him, unable to bring himself to look at the audience, forget wave to them like Jean had. They somehow sounded even more excited by his arrival and Henri didn't even like the idea of this small crowd of people watching him, forget that the cameras facing towards the stage were broadcasting this whole thing live around the country. Henri had no choice but to sit on the sofa next to Jean seeing as there was no other seating, unless he planned on perching on Mandy's desk.

"Henri Moreau, it's a pleasure to have you on my show for the first time," Mandy said, her face seconds from splitting at how wide she was grinning. She was no doubt imagining the view count she was racking up right now. "My, it's a strange yet satisfying sight seeing the two of you side by side. Anyone could tell you're brothers. Tell me, does Exy run in the family?"

Henri hoped Jean would answer but the question was clearly directed towards him. "I think I was drawn to the sport because it was what my brother had taken it up," he lied, as if it wasn't just because his parents had forced him into it. "That I was any good at it was just a lucky coincidence."

"Following in his footsteps," Mandy said, nodding her understanding. "And tell me, why not take up his position of backliner too?"

"I think I could answer that one," Jean said, much to Henri's relief. "Choosing a position to play is a highly personal choice. It is the position you will most likely play for your entire career, as switching after learning a particular style and mindset can be difficult even for the best. I am glad Henri went with what suited him best rather than blindly copying me."

Henri nodded as if that had been exactly what he would have said and decided not to mention he had wanted to play backliner, just because of Jean, when he'd been a young child who looked up to his distant brother. That would probably refute any of the questionable respect Jean had just given him.

"Now for the real golden question. Why choose the Ravens, Henri?" Mandy was looking at him with genuine curiosity even thought she didn't strike Henri as an Exy fan. "With Jean's transfer to the Trojans, what made you decide to go Edgar Allan rather than join your brother?"

"For the simple reason that Edgar Allan was the only college to offer me a place on their team," Henri said, confident in his answer not because he knew what he was saying, but because the Master had told him exactly what he had to say to this inevitable question. He didn't have to worry about messing it up. "I finished high school early and when given the chance to sign up a year earlier, I saw no reason to turn it down. I saw the opportunity to play Exy with one of the best teams and I took it."

"And how are you finding your time with the Ravens?"

"They're...interesting," he said, ignoring the look Jean flicked him. Henri wasn't stupid enough to tell the truth by tearing into the team with the Master watching and ignored him. "It was a huge step up from playing at high school level, but that was expected. Falling behind wasn't an option but summer practice certainly helped, and I was lucky enough to have improved enough to actually have game time."

"And lots of game time at that," Mandy said generously, to which there was nothing to do but smile awkwardly and hope it looked bashful. "You definitely live up to the expectations. Did you know Kevin Day has made a comment about you?"

Henri stared at her. "What?"

"On your potential," she said, seeming pleased at his genuine surprise. "As a former teammate and friend to Jean — " Henri thought about the photo of the two he found tucked away in Jean's old locker, " — he was questioned at one of his games on your appearance in the world of Exy, and seemed to believe you could really become something with time. High words of praise from the Exy champion himself!"

"Oh," Henri said, a little stunned. It took him a moment and a slight nudge in the side from Jean to realise Mandy was waiting for more of a response. "I'm honoured he even noticed me."

Mandy made what she could out of that and moved on to pepper Jean with more questions about the Trojans and his new home. Henri was still mulling over that new piece of information he'd just learnt, that not only did Kevin know of his existence — not all that surprising, considering the media coverage on it — but he was keeping an eye on him. Kevin Day was another who was part of Henri's world, the secret bloody world behind the shiny racquets where submission and ownership was the only way to survive.

He had suffered firsthand at the hands of the Moriyamas and only managed to escape through the Foxes with the reveal of his biological father. Henri's surname was all he needed to hear to know he was in the same position as Jean. Did he know? That Henri had no freedom either?

"I've been dying to know," Mandy said, after a neutral reply from Jean on the weather in Columbia. "Is this really the first time the two of you are meeting in real life?"

Henri glanced at Jean, whose expression gave nothing away. "Yes," he said, when Jean made no move to answer. "It is."

Mandy's eyes widened. "Wow. I can't imagine such a long separation. How did that happen?"

"Playing for the Ravens is a full time year round occupation and I had no time to fly back home after I came to the US to train," Jean said evenly, as if he had any clue Henri existed before the Ravens gave his identity out. The lie was simpler and cleaner than the reality — Jean had been estranged from his parents and therefore Henri by extension. "There simply was not a chance to meet."

"And how does it feel to be together again?"

It was an open-ended question that either of them could have answered, but Henri looked expectantly at Jean. It wasn't just that he didn't know which lie to give — because the confusing truth was out of the question — but he was more curious about how Jean would answer. Jean's eyes narrowed slightly at the blatant attempt to avoid the question but he didn't call Henri out.

"Surreal," Jean said. "Honestly, I did not think Henri would ever meet me, much less sign up for the Ravens. I'm grateful that we got the chance but you can understand this is slightly overwhelming."

"Of course," Mandy said, her voice brimming with sympathy. "Just getting the chance to see the two of you reunited was enough to make my night, wouldn't you agree?" The question was directed to the audience and there were cheers of approval. "And that brings us to the end of our first segment. As much as I'd love to continue discussing this, we've run out time and it's time for our guests to leave. Jean and Henri Moreau, thank you very much for coming on tonight and we wish you both the very best for the upcoming season. I have no doubt the name Moreau will be one to look out for in the future!"