Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Essentially, there was just over a couple months left now for his exwires to prepare for the big exams to make them official exorcists. Yukio sighed, furrowing his brows as he stared at the screen of his computer monitor. The scores he entered on everyone's progress in his class so far was not exactly reassuring. All this was also very exhausting, and he took off his glasses to rub his face. The younger Okumura twin reached for his energy drink, and tipped it back to finish it off when his half-demon brother entered their dorm room.

It was most likely nii-san's sigh of disgust that made him turn around to acknowledge his return, and in that moment Yukio quickly regretted doing so.

His.. hair!

Yukio immediately choked on his mouthful of drink in a failed attempt to stifle his surprise. He scooted away from his desk to spit the liquid into his trash can before another round of coughing plagued him.

"Yukio! You okay?" Rin ran over to him, placing a hand on his back.

Only able to manage a broken whimper, Yukio just pointed at Rin's head. "What- yo- your hair-"

Rin frowned, standing up in dismay. "You better not be laughing at it!"

No, not exactly. He had his glasses off, so what he could see was not very clear. However, it did strike him as odd that his older brother would have his hair cut so short.

"The regular barber was out, so they had this new guy… he took too much off!" Rin whined, flopping on his bed.

At that, Kuro jumped on him, meowing something. Something that made Rin sit upright in protest. "I do not! That'll only make it worse..."

Yukio located his glasses to see just how bad this was. But before he could put them on, they had been snatched out of his hand. "Hey!"

"Do I look like you now?" his older asked him, after putting on his eyeglasses.

"Give back my glasses!"

He wrinkled up his nose. "You didn't answer my question. Do I?"

"I can't see to be sure," Yukio crossed his arms, refusing to let his older brother get him upset. He could only guess that Rin was getting back at him for spraying his drink after noticing his bad hair cut.

"Kuro thinks I do," Rin struck a pose, acting like he was shooting with his finger guns.

"Nii-san…"

"You have other spares, don't you?"

"Please…"

"Pifh.. how can you see with these?" Rin finally removed them just to rub his strained eyes.

He sighed, also not in the mood to explain that reason to Rin. Instead, the more practical twin stood up to snatch his black-framed spectacles from his brother's hand.

"My others are just frames… my prescription had changed so I need to update them," Yukio explained, pausing a moment to clean the smudgy fingerprints off his lenses. Nothing annoyed him more than having 'stuff' on his lenses.

"You know, I wonder if we can fool the others, by switching places!"

"No."

"Tch… c'mon.. it'll be fun! Your hair practically looks longer than mine now, since you've been too busy for a haircut."

"Just because you got a haircut like mine, and wear glasses, doesn't make you like me," Yukio continued to refute this crazy idea.

"I still wanna bet that we can fool them. It would be a good test, to see how much they pay attention as a team," Rin raised his eyebrows.

Yukio sat with his arms crossed, staring at his slightly older twin. He did not want to admit it, but Rin actually had a good point there. Surely Shiemi may be first to notice their swap, and at worse, Shima. However, Yukio wasn't fooled for one second when Rin thought he could pull off being Shima. He knew each one of his students too well.

"Some hair gel, switch of clothes, your fake glasses, a little make-up for the moles..." Rin was already brainstorming more ideas. Never mind the fact that Rin also had his demon attributes which were rather apparent to people with a mashou. That would be the tricky part to work around.

"Okay, okay… just this time," Yukio sighed, pushing up his glasses. There was only so much that he cared to entrust his brother with this, however. "But I'm not going to let you teach… or shoot my guns."

Rin pouted at that.

"I don't like going without glasses either…"

"Well, how else are we going to do this?" Rin wondered, scratching his head. "Have you sleep during class?"

Yuki clenched his teeth, having second thoughts, until a new idea formed in his mind. "We'll stage a fake mission."

After much rehearsing, arguing, and compromising on their roles, the Okumura brothers had successfully switched their appearances in time for the meeting with the other exwires in front of the old boys dorm that they stayed. The whole thing was really terribly ironic, considering how much Yukio had secretly wished he could have Rin's strength and power. Unfortunately, their powers couldn't be switched, in the way their appearances could be.

The younger twin shouldered the Kurikara sword, reminding himself to slouch again. There was also that subtle height difference between the two of them. How he and Rin looked and acted so differently, even though they were twins, was another thing that bugged him. The fact only minutes separated their ages annoyed him too.

It was later that Saturday afternoon, so their uniforms were not required either. Rin stuck him in one of his hoodie's, while the older insisted on wearing Yukio's long exorcists coat. And again, he hoped they wouldn't get in trouble for this if Shura found out. Mephisto, on the other hand, might just have a good laugh.

Once the others gathered around, Yukio-as-Rin gave Rin-as-Yukio a side long glance and a subtle clearing of the throat to remind him it was time to start with the lesson.

"Okay… hey, good afternoon, everyone!" His older brother started off sounding a little forced, while pushing up the glasses on his nose.

I do not sound like that…

"So today, we will be doing this special training mission, to work on teamwork. Because we…" not-Yukio caught himself mind sentence as he paused to dig some black, cloth blindfolds from a pocket. "Because you guys had trouble with that earlier."

"Blindfolds?" Suguro asked, raising up an eyebrow.

"Yes. So you're gonna split up into partners," he had spoken informally again, instead of sounding more like a teacher should. Not-Rin had to resist the urge to frown at that. "And then one of the partners will be blindfolded, while the other partner has to tell them where to go and what to do."

Not-Rin groaned to play along, all while quickly glancing at the others to see if they seemed suspicious about anything. They did not seem to be, yet.

"This is not going to bode well," Kamiki had started to loose faith in this exercise already.

"I'll call out the pairs now," not-Yukio at least sounded a little more confident at this point. Hopefully he'll remember to include the proper honorifics. "To start, Suguro.. san, with Eye..zumo-san."

Urgh… he did not start to say 'Eyebrows'. I also call her 'Kamiki-san', not-Rin glanced from not-Yukio to Kamiki. From her expression, she clearly noticed that slip of tongue, which earned some curious looks between her, Shima (why?!), and his brother.

"Then Konekomaru-san with uh, Moriyama-san, and Shima-san with.. Okumura-kun," he pulled that fake 'I got this smile' as an attempt to instill confidence from calling the rest of their names properly. "Takara.. san said he felt sick with a fever, so he couldn't come."

Not-Rin was just dying inside however. His brother messed up on Miwa's name too. Even though he does go by his first name with the other guys, as a teacher he felt it wasn't right to do the same.

"Figures," Suguro said, in reference to Takara.

That statement about Takara was planned, since they would have an odd number anyway. But what not-Rin did not like was that his brother forgot that they planned to pair Shiemi with Shima, not with him. Their pink-headed spy was sure to figure this ruse out— forget Rin's jealousy issues with Shiemi!

"Which one of us will be blindfolded?" Konekomaru asked next.

"The ones I give these to," the pretend exorcist teacher handed the blindfolds to Kamiki, Shiemi, and Rin.

"So the exercise will be to start from different places on the top floor of the dorm. Since the dorms are not being used – except for ours, don't go into ours – the coal tars are starting to invest them."

"Invest?" Suguro was quick to notice that improperly spoken word.

Not-Rin looked upwards, in further dismay. Their chances of successful fooling this group before they even got started looked less likely, by the minute.

"Oh.. I meant infest. Like they're investing on an infestation.. yeah!" not-Yukio quickly made light of that play on words, briefly tugging at his tight shirt collar as well.

"Agh, shut up!" not-Rin took this as a good time to swat his troublesome brother upside the head, just because it was justifiably in character.

Not-Yukio glared back, fists clenched, but still somehow understood that cue to get this show on the road and to not start a fist fight right then and there.

"Okay, so to start, we'll all go up to the top floor," not-Yukio thumbed in the direction of the stair well before turning that way. "Then from there, the blind-folded person takes lead, and the sighted person stays behind them, to tell them where to go. Each team will get one universal key (which we got from the janitor) that can unlock the doors to the dorms."

That elicited a couple more groans as a result as they climbed the stairs. "That way, you have to work together as a team in order to be effective."

"Makes sense though. In order for the one who is blind-folded to work effectively with their meisters, they also need to listen what their partner says, because they can see where the demons are," Konekomaru explained, in agreement of the purpose of this mission.

"I wouldn't be surprised if some of the demons hid out here when the Illuminati brought down the barriers," Suguro thought out loud.

"No… you guys just needed an excuse to clean up this old, forgotten place," Shima instead poked fun at the original reason of this particular mission.

"Maybe," not-Rin shrugged. "No one else, besides us and you guys, are really allowed to come here."

"Really?" Shiemi wondered. "Any reason why?"

There was that moment of hesitation between the twins, when not-Rin decided to explain briefly. "The True Cross Order was afraid I might lose control of Satan's power and burn down the place."

"Back when Ani had to keep his flames secret," not-Yukio muttered, before picking up his authorities tone. They had reached to top platform of the stairs, otherwise reminding himself of the next step. "Speaking of which, no flames this time, Rin," he gestured for the Kurikara sword to be handed over.

"Aww," not-Rin resisted the request at first, just for realism. "I am a lot more careful now!"

"Yes, but you also tend to take over and do everything yourself, leaving out the others," not-Yukio actually remembered that line like they rehearsed, as if to show his brother how aware he was of the habit.

"Fine," the assumed half-demon handed over his sword to his brother.

This really was a precaution of sorts. They were aware if either one of them happened to unsheathe the sword, Rin's cover would be blown instantly. If not, a huge amount of confusion and alarm would come from the possibility that Yukio must have just inherited Satan's flames. More precisely, that was not something he was in the mood to reveal in this way. Heaven forbid!

"Then… what am I supposed to use?" not-Rin asked next.

"A broom, or a mop… be creative!" not-Yukio smiled smugly. Earlier, he and not-Rin had brought up an assortment of supplies for the exwires, including holy water spray bottles and like containment devices.

And his older brother was really milking it now, clearly aware of the fact that not-Yukio had his guns, the Kurikara sword, and his original pair of glasses tucked away inside the coat pocket (for emergency reasons).

Not-Rin just growled in response, on so many levels!

Shima patted him on the shoulder, also smiling in that sly way. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."

"No, you'll tell me to walk into a wall!" not-Rin snorted.

"Don't give me ideas!" the pink-headed one shot back.

"He'll probably burn his blindfold off before we finish," Suguro interjected.

"Try me," not-Rin snubbed, doing his best to think of retorts to go along with the other's shrewd commentary.

They followed not-Yukio out into the dimly lit hallway of the top floor. Just a few more instructions, and they'll be off. The whole set-up was really becoming stressful, due to all the unpredictable factors cropping up.

"Okay everyone! Put on your blind-folds and let's begin," not-Yukio clapped his hands. "Just remember to make sure each floor is clean of dust and demon scum before moving on to the next."

"If we work together, it shouldn't be that difficult, right?" Shiemi did her best to be supportive. She was ready with her black cloth tied tightly in place.

Not-Rin was last to tie his bandana on, being careful as he covered his prosthetic ear tips with it.

The teams promptly gathered some supplies and then split up in different directions. Phase One was finally past, and even though not-Yukio managed through that without too many mess-ups, not-Rin couldn't help but worry about Phase Two next. In theory, that part would be much easier to do, as all that not-Yukio had to do was sit back and watch. That was also the problem, because his older brother had never been the one to just sit idle. He literally had to make not-Yukio swear as playing the instructor-role, that he was not going to interfere, at any time.

So maybe not-Rin had some trust issues with his older twin that were never yet settled.

"Hey, turn left here, for this room," Shima tapped his shoulder to grab his attention.

Not-Rin reached out first before turning, his fingertips feeling for the doorframe and then a doorknob. "Key?"

Shima stepped in to unlock it. After the door creaked open, and the two stood for a moment more.

"So.. how are we gonna do this?" the double spy asked him. A good question that was, since not-Rin had been so worried previously about his brothers 'performance', he didn't think much about this new turn of events yet.

"Do you see anything suspicious?" he asked, just to buy more time as he thought this through.

"Would the spider village in that corner qualify?"

Of course Shima's insectophobia would become a problem right about now. "Don't be a chicken shit, Shima. It's not even coal tar! Just spray 'em and sweep it up!"

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just killed it with fire?" Shima countered quickly. "I'll cover for you if Okumura-sensei notices."

"No…" Not-Rin habitually resisted the idea. He didn't have a good feeling about this, because he knew that Rin would actually give in. Was Shima testing him already? "Just show me where, and I'll sweep them up."

"Urgh.. I'll be way over... there.. then," he grumbled, not even offering to help.

Why…? Was it really that bad?

"Honestly.. I can't see what I'm doing! I'll end up burning up the place!" not-Rin held out his hands in protest, turning in the direction he heard his teammate's voice.

"Then peek! I won't tell!" Shima tried again.

Then where's the teamwork in that!

Shima's wimpiness did make him worry a little more, and the temptation to look after getting that invitation made it worse. But no… the lazy spy had to be baiting him. Rin or not, he wasn't going to give in to his game so easily! Not-Rin gripped the broom handle, figuring he was in the middle of the room, and paused.

"Just… where is it?" not-Rin asked again, hoping for a more direct answer.

"The cobwebs are on the desk and shelves, to your le—" Shima took a couple steps further away, but he couldn't finish his sentence because he started screaming.

"What is- something's jumping on me!" Shima ran into not-Rin, almost knocking him off his balance.

"What the-"

"Eyah! Th- they're eyeballs!" Shima had grabbed him, using not-Rin as a shield.

"What?!"

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Shima's truly frantic cries gave reason enough for not-Rin to lift up his blindfold. He may be a well-trained exorcist, but there was something rather unnerving about not being able to see well in the face of a potentially dangerous demon.

When he did lift it, what he could barely see caused him to scramble backwards in alarm into Shima. That was because his first thought was how much the demon looked like an Illuminati zombie-chimera. It stood up by the front entrance area, near where the closets were also.

"Do something!" the pink-headed exwire shouted, pushing him back toward the hideous thing that was as tall as them.

"Where's your khakkara?" not-Rin sputtered. He wasn't going to ask how something like that got in here, or if it was another one of Shima's elaborate Illuminati set-ups.

"Over there, by that.. thing!"

Seriously? You dropped it and now we got nothing?! …Nothing!?

Not-Rin gripped his holy-water spray bottle and broom stick tighter, trying to think what else they could do that would be most effective against this strange demon that must have just popped out of a closet. And also, trying to keep his calm because this was entirely ridiculous. He had dealt with worse! But it was so hard to ignore how naked he felt without his glasses.. and his guns.

God, why did he agree to this again?

"Ugh, just chant something already!" not-Rin told Shima anyway, even though he knew his Aria abilities really kind of sucked.

Then the pretend ex-wire heard his brother calling in from outside the dorm room. "Hey, are you guys okay in there? I heard screaming."

Great.

Shima shook his head 'no'. He flinched again when the gooey gray eyeballs that had been flung earlier started to move on their own. The ones that were stuck to their clothes tumbled to the floor, then flailed and flopped back toward the lumpy, blob of hairless, pink flesh that was covered from top to bottom with eyes.

"Yeah, we got this," not-Rin called out, simply because he didn't want his brother there. The last thing he needed was his help for something like this, even thought it was blocking their way out.

"Just some weird eye-ball fling—" Shima stopped when he noticed how the monster's empty eye sockets seemingly 'ate' the returning eyeballs crawling up along its fleshy body. "Ugh.. no, a really gross eyeball-flinging monster."

Not-Rin sighed with mixed disbelief again… Shima should know what type of demon they were dealing with. They went over these types of demons last month! But not-Rin wasn't going to tell him that because he didn't believe Rin would remember that much.

"Looks like a hyakume… a lower class rank? Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem," not-Yukio suddenly surprised not-Rin by actually identifying the demon for them. Then he also noticed the stern 'go away' look from not-Rin.

"Blindfold, nii-san," the instructor-wanna-be smartly added before turning to leave, nearly missing an assault of eyeballs from the grumpy guardian monster.

Clicking his tongue, not-Rin quickly pulled the black cloth back over his eyes.

"Oops," Shima teased him.

"Stop yelling so much!" not-Rin turned to swat the pink-haired one upside his head. Whoops again, that was his emotions acting.

"Me? You were the one screaming like a girl!" he chuckled nervously in response.

Not-Rin snorted with mixed denial, but didn't argue because Shima was right. He felt more eyeballs hit him from the provoked demon, who still wished for their departure from the room. "Whatever… we need to figure out what to do with Mr. Hundred-Eyes here," he said, then sprayed holy water at the six foot tall creature to keep it from pelting them with so many eyeballs. It snarled and whined in response from the stinging spray.

"Ergh… can't you call on Yamantaka?" not-Rin added for extra measure.

"Tch.. I need my khakkara for that. How come you aren't doing something?"

Not-Rin just growled, his brain going on overdrive to think of other options. He had to go from memory again on what these older dorm rooms looked like. All of them were just like the room he and Rin shared, with the desk under the window in the 'back' of the room. Then open book shelves were on both sides of the counter-style desk, with matching beds on each side of the room. Over the bed was more storage cabinets, and then closets between the bed and the entry area by the door. Not-Rin imagined Shima got spooked up by the closets, where he dropped his khakkara, ANDwhere the hyakume currently stood.

Or, maybe he should think more like how Rin thinks about this again. From what he understood of these types of demons, they generally guarded temples. This also reminded him of other oni-type demons that respective zodiac guardians protected the big temples from, but the background on this one was less known. Maybe something had misguided it, or it was attracted by an object or energy-signature that had been left there.

"No wait… we shouldn't kill it," not-Rin changed his mind on their approach.

"Oh.. yeah… doesn't this type guard temples? What's it doing here?" Shima said, stepping further away from the bothersome creature.

"Dunno…" not-Rin honestly answered that question. "I just remembered that if you kill it, you will be cursed with bad luck for the rest of your life."

"I thought that was if you got on the bad-side of an tengu-ogre," Shima muttered. "My brothers were always teasing me about how an oni was gonna eat my soul if I didn't stop sneaking out past curfew."

Keeping his thoughts about that to himself, he briefed glanced at his spy colleague. "This one doesn't eat souls.. fortunately…"

"Then.. what does it like to eat?"

Was he serious? They had to get rid if it, not keep it around like a new pet!

Not-Rin sighed, going along with this absurdity for a moment. "So.. we should give it an offering of rice?"

"Will they let us go down to the kitchen and get some?" Shima asked next, knowing that everyone was to finish cleaning this floor before moving on to the next.

"Except we still need to get him out of here too," not-Rin sprayed at the monster again when he felt more eyeballs hitting him. Hopefully his suggestion would get Shima back on track.

Shima paused, seriously considering other options for once. "Hmm.. maybe there's something still in here, attracting it. Like a mini shrine… or a figurine?"

Now you're thinking… Rin smirked, and at the same time hoping there weren't any spiders or bugs in the closets to blow their progress out of the water. "Yeah, look for it. I'll keep the hyakume distracted."

"Sure."

Not-Rin held out the broom handle to feel for the hyakume, to know exactly where it was again in relation to him. With a few more squirts of holy water he was able to push the creature back toward the door. He heard the sound of metal scraping lightly against the floor, and guessed that Shima had reclaimed his khakkara. Creaks and shuffling noises from the wooden drawers and doors opening and closing soon followed.

Not-Rin's personal thought was that maybe it was summoned by a magic circle. Why or how that happened, he couldn't say. But if it was disguised, would Shima even recognize it. He hated to say this, but maybe the best route is to ask another pair to check this room. Considering their background, Suguro and Kamiki would know better what to do for this.

"Eh.. not finding anything, besides dead bugs and mouse poop… gross.." Shima sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this… but maybe we should ask if Suguro can do something," not-Rin tried to sound sheepish.

"Eh?"

"Like trade off rooms, or something. That'll still be like using teamwork, but using the skills where it's needed, right?" the blind-folded Okumura twin explained.

"Okay… I'll go get them," Shima didn't argue with that, just as not-Rin had hoped.

Once certain that the spy had left, not-Rin lifted his blind-fold to quickly look up at the ceiling. Nothing. He sprayed at the demon again real good, and it hissed and recoiled. Its many eyes squeezed shut from the pain of having holy water squirting on its sensitive membranes.

Not-Rin turned to look at the shelving in a closet. Maybe the bloodseal was tiny, or drawn underneath a shelf… the voices outside grew louder and closer, and he tugged the cloth back down over his eyes.

"You weren't kidding about the ugly part!" Suguro remarked, his footsteps sounding as he walked in.

"It's like someone's sick practical joke that had been forgotten, honestly," Shima mused, still lingering out in the hallway.

"Shouldn't really kill it either," was all not-Rin cared to say. He cautiously backed away from where he last remembered seeing the hundred-eyed demon, and slid lightly along the closet doors and wall to leave.

"So without having your sword, you just gave up?" Kamiki asked coolly, in passing.

"No! It was just… tricky," not-Rin resisted her grating suggestion. He didn't give up at all… he was just utilizing better options, in the best interest of protecting his true identity. Exactly that, yes.

"Hm, maybe you would be better at dealing with our encounter.. down there in the bathroom," the blind-folded fox tamer hummed. Not-Rin couldn't see her expression, or where the others were, but it must not be that bad if they were able to leave for thus swap.

"The bathroom..? Wait!" Shima seemed to have finally realized what unsightly horror they could be in for next.

"Let's go…" not-Rin sighed, keeping a hand on the wall as he walked in the direction he knew the bathroom to be located. "If Suguro and.. Eyebrows were able to leave unscathed, it can't be that bad."

"Hnn…"

"You got this!" not-Yukio voice chimed in also, when they had passed by.

Of course.

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"So what kind of spook are we dealing with down there?" Shima stopped in the hallway to ask not-Yukio, since no one really took the time to inform them about what was in the boy's bathroom.

Technically speaking, not-Rin did his best to not look too concerned about all of these unexpected instances cropping up. This was supposed to be an unreported, mocked mission to fool the others, not something seriously life-threatening for everyone. The last thing he wanted to do was to call this in, because there was way too much he did not care to explain (even if Mephisto may already know!)

"Well, it sounded like one of those demon-ghosts that you need to say the correct answer, or it'll attack you," the four-eyed twin speculated, pausing in the hallway to think. "The other two must have known what to say, because all I heard afterwards was arguing on who would be in charge of cleaning the toilets."

"Ah… it must have been Hanako-san, or an akaname," Shima sounded a little more relieved after hearing that answer.

Pressured by that need to check on the others again as they talked, not-Rin tipped up his blindfold to peek. His natural vision was such that anything beyond his arm's length was very blurry. Facial expressions also were hard to make out from far away, and it always haunted him how people looked like zombies. Their eyes resembled darkened sockets and their mouths and noses formed grim shapes. Yes, as a child, Yukio gave Father Fujimoto such a hard time from all the things that he was afraid of. As a result, he hardly went without his glasses if he could help it.

Not-Rin shuddered, and forced those four-eyed scaredy-cat thoughts about his problematic eyes to the back of his mind. The other two teens walking in the hallway in front of not-Rin were completely unaware that he was watching them though. Not-Yukio didn't have more to say about the history of bathroom monsters, even though not-Rin's own mind was churning with what he knew.

Both of the mentioned yokai were still rather troublesome, but Hanako-san wasn't exactly a benign ghost. Her legend focused more on the girl's bathroom, on the third floors of elementary schools. When someone approached the third stall, knocked three times on the door, and asked if she was there, she would be summoned. Generally, many of the answers the person said would cause her to harm them. This legend was a lot like the demon they encountered earlier in the girl's bathroom when solving Mephisto's seven mysteries. It would thrive off the person's fear.

On the other hand, akaname were like cockroaches and vermin. They were grotesque lizard-like creatures that like to lick at dirt and scum in the bathtubs and toilets. Harmless, but not cool to have around just because they made the place feel dirty, like coal tars. Not-Rin did not once consider the ghoul that Kamiki encountered in the locker room at the start of the semester as a typical bathroom yokai, because that one was summoned Dr. Neuhaus' to bait his brother.

The biggest conflict in all of this was in deciphering the superstitious gossip from an actual paranormal presence, however. Belief had the power to make any story come to life if the fear was strong enough. Then combine that with rumored gossip, like those surrounding the 3am scares, and it'll spread like wildfire.

"At least this time, I'm not expecting you two to dress up like girls," not-Yukio added, all while doing his best to sound nonchalant.

"Aww teach..." Shima feigned his disappointment, leaning into him. "But you looked so smexy with that long hair and red lip stick!"

Only not-Rin could tell how hard not-Yukio was holding back to keep from laughing in agreement. "W-why..? You say that like you.. you want to go out with me?"

The pink-hared one snorted in response, clearly enjoying this topic. "Guh, no! But you know what I mean… you're a real 'head-turner' for guys who wouldn't know!"

"Really?"

Tch.

The younger twin pulled his blindfold back down and kept his pace along the wall as he fervently wished this topic would end. If Shima had figured out their secret game, he certainly was making the most out of it!

"Anyway… for this bathroom ghost, all you have to do is answer it - without making it go away this time, or angering it - so that you can exorcize it," the presumed exorcist finally decided to explain the important details of their next assignment.

"You make that sound like it's a little too easy…" Shima grumbled.

Not-Rin started to see the irony in this too. He had to come off as the courageous one, while Shima seemed to be wimping out again. That gave him such mixed feelings… surely this feeling of annoyance he had was not like what his brother felt about looking out for him. That was the most admirable quality that his older twin possessed… he genuinely cared for Yukio, and for his friends, no matter what. (Unfortunately, the younger didn't know about his older brother's List of Cool People!) Yukio felt that he just couldn't quite reach that same level of unconditional love for anyone (besides Shiemi).

Shima's apprehension about the boy's restroom was understandable, however. Yukio would never admit to it now, but going to the bathroom at night was one of his worst fears as a child. He soon as wet the bed instead of seeing (or worse, feeling) a cold, slimy demon hand reaching up at him from the dark toilet hole. The younger twin didn't need to be teased by the monks in training about that… these toilet monsters were real! But to save himself the embarrassment of becoming the Bed Wetting King, he gave in to asking Rin if he can come with him to the bathroom. His older brother was there more as a witness, rather than protection.. but Rin couldn't even see them back then!

This time, Yukio was blind-folded into his own self-imposed darkness. He couldn't see the threat either now, or at least he was not supposed to. Ugh.

"Okumura-kun!"

No... only the foolish let their fears get the better of them, so he wasn't going to let his anymore.

"Hey, where're you going?"

The stressed Okumura twin realized Shima's question was directed at him and he stopped. Right, he was 'Rin'... dammit, his mind had wandered again!

"The entrance is back here," Shima tugged on not-Rin's hoodie to pull him backwards.

"It's not like I can see that!" he stumbled on his feet as he stepped over. Where was this so-called teamwork anyway?

"Yeah, but you didn't hear me the first time," the spy complained.

Oh.

"Bathroom's here... it's a 'blind entrance'," Shima teased. He was behind him now, holding not-Rin by his shoulders to turn him in the direction he should be facing. "Just walk forward two steps, then turn right and walk a few more, then turn left."

Not-Rin decided Shima was making a weak pun from how there was a small maze-like layout of walls for the entrance to provide privacy into the bathroom, in place of a door.

"Okay... what's left for us to do?" not-Rin sighed, once he did as instructed.

"Well, it looks like the sinks and the bath area are done, but the urinals and toilet stalls aren't… plus we need to scrub the floors" he described the sight before them. He also added with a mutter, "There's also a light bulb out over the toilets."

That area lacking good lighting somehow bothered not-Rin even more, despite the fact that he was blind-folded.

"Do the lockers still need to be cleaned?" not-Rin wondered, quickly formulating a new plan.

"Uhm.. probably, yeah," Shima hesitated.

Not-Rin found himself resisting the urge to smile when he thought of a way to get back for that 'smexy' comment. "I wouldn't be surprised if those lockers still had weird stuff inside, like dead spiders.. or cockroaches."

"Umm.. what?" Yep, that got him. "Cockroaches?"

"Yeah…" not-Rin let himself chuckle.

"So... how about I clean the toilets?" Shima was quick to suggest.

His plan worked perfectly, completely removing him from the task of cleaning the last place he wanted to be. "Go right ahead… I wouldn't be able to clean those very well anyway… blindfolded."

That was the spoken reason, far different from the real one fed by his petty fears. Because it was easier to spray for coal tars and sweep up the cobwebs while blindfolded, than having to do more detailed work.

Once again, not-Rin also had the advantage of knowing what the layout of the bathroom was like, since it was the same as the one he and his brother used on the first floor. The lockers were situated in the front, and then the sink basins and shower units were behind those on the left. The urinals and toilet stalls were on the opposite side to the right, while the large public bath area was in the back.

Regardless, not-Rin quickly peeked again to see the state of it. It was not bad looking for not being used in so long. The water had been drained out from the bath area a long time ago, of course. But everything just felt lifeless and dusty from lack of use. The whole building had that cold feeling about it, really. No wonder Rin tended to invite the others over for dinner, just to give it more of that lived in feeling of life again.

"Here," Shima bumped not-Rin arm to give him a big bucket full of cleaning supplies, like a duster, holy water sprayer, and a canister of disinfectant wipes. "But… what's this for..?"

Not-Rin groaned internally again, quickly dropping his hand from tipping up the bottom of his mask. If he was caught peeking, he wasn't going to make that obvious. "Uh, what's the name on the bottle?"

"Name? It's just a blank bottle… with, um, 'CLR' written on it with a sharpie."

"Oh, um," not-Rin pursed his lips, remembering the verbal debate he had with his brother when they were mixing the solvent so it wouldn't be so strong and damage the chrome fixtures. "It's for the hard water residents."

"...'residents'?" Shima seemingly paused to question this. "What are those? Little, ornery water sprites?"

Yes, his brother had said 'residents' instead of 'residues', but Shima's smart-ass response was one he hadn't prepared himself for. He rolled with it, since the real answer just would be.. non-Rin like. "Well, yeah… I wouldn't discount it, after everything else we've been running into!"

Shima sighed rather loudly, "Perfect… as long as they aren't creepy looking... like those chuchi." He walked away then, his tennis shoes making a slight squeak with his footstep in tiled floor.

Not-Rin just curled the corner of his mouth at Shima, not sure to believe if he was really that gullible. Ornery water sprites… okay, he couldn't leave it like that. "I mean, that stuff is for cleaning calcium, lime, and rust off the faucets and shower heads.. grimy tiles around drains, that kind of thing. Just don't get it on your skin."

"Oh, okay," the bucket dropped to the floor at the other side. "Honestly though, what's the motive behind all this? It better be something good, like extra credit."

"Hah… right. Lemme know if you see anything.. weird," not-Rin still held onto his own cleaning bucket. He might loose track of its location if he set it down in the open area of floor there.

"Sure," the spy's voiced sounded further away. The sound of a bottle spraying soon followed.

Not-Rin had made a mental note where he was logistically from earlier. He took a few more steps to the left with his arm out to locate the first set of lockers. Once he found them, he felt for the corner end and set the bucket right next to it so that would be easier to find again.

He began with dusting out the insides of the small lockers, starting from the top most one and working his way over to the right. The quietude was actually welcoming, with only Shima's humming to be heard.

"So what's up with Moriyama-chan? Does she really like your brother more now?" the silence had been broken with that question, of all the questions that could be asked.

The alarmed Okumura twin stood upright, duster gripped tightly in his hand. "Wh-what… why?"

"I mean, just from how she didn't think of you first for a date to the festival. I also keep noticing how much Sensei seems more concerned about her progress for the exams... more than he does for you!" Shima added, like insult to injury.

"… says the guy who had kidnapped Izumo," he decided to pull the distraction card instead, because talking openly about Shiemi was the last thing he wanted to do now (even though she was one of Rin's favorite topics). He especially did not feel comfortable discussing this right before possibly confronting something truly life threatening!

"Tch.. Izumo wasn't very happy about you trying to rescue her either!" he said while scrubbing vigorously on something.

"Or was that because you clearly weren't?" his personal opinion blurted out, also surprising himself. Not-Rin really had been trying to stay neutral about the whole double-spy debacle with Shima's loyalty. However, forcing the topic to that rather than on his secret relationship with Shiemi was much more comfortable.

"Dying a glorious death that night wasn't on my agenda," the pink-headed spy muttered. The sound of water splashing over something followed, with the toilet flushing soon after.

"Why not? You faked killing her foxes, so it could have been possible to fake your death?" he continued with his brutal honesty, trying to stay focused on dusting.

Strangely though, there was some pause before Shima spoke again. Maybe that exclusive slip of information might have been too much to reveal from Rin's perspective. "Why so defensive all of a sudden? Are you having feelings for Izumo too? I couldn't help but notice how she was dressed to help at your food stand that night."

"Ehhh?"

"Who do you really like?"

This was all new information to him, and to think that his brother had possibly taken interest in someone other than Shiemi made him rethink things. Had Rin distanced himself from Shiemi for his sake? But.. his feelings for her, for anyone, were indefinitely restrained... because he did not want to get her involved. Regardless, he did not want to say anything damning on this delicate manner. "I… I don't know," he nearly whispered.

"Really?" his voice echoed.

"Can we stop talking about this?" not-Rin sighed. For the first time he hoped their conversation was not loud enough to be heard out into the hallway.

"Yeah… Mr. Charged as Guilty," Shima responded in that 'because she's mine' kind of way, a tone that the Okumura twin was all too familiar with.

Not-Rin wasn't in the mood to talk about anything else, so he held his tongue as he finished dusting the lockers. He just happened to notice Shima was not making any more cleaning noises, but instead it sounded like he was actually using one of the toilets. The sound of flatulence was very hard to ignore.

"Guh… you're actually taking a dump now?!" he finally had to ask.

"Yeah.. sorry. Guess I ate something bad earlier," Shima laughed sheepishly, his distress apparent.

"Urgh…" not-Rin groaned. That must have been the truth, because it was really starting to stink in there.

"Aww… damn. There's no toilet paper! Can you find some?"

"... okay," he straightened up to lift his blind fold and look around. Of course, the cabinets at one end of the lockers that would hold that kind of thing were empty. All he had were the scratchy paper towels they were cleaning with, and those were nearly out too. "Nothing here.. I'll go outside to ask sensei."

"Ehh? Great… don't take long!"

With his blindfold still up, Not-Rin peered outside. His older brother was a few feet away, by himself. Not-Rin psst-ed loudly as he stepped over to get his attention.

"What's wrong?" not-Yukio looked in his direction as he walked over.

"I need some toilet paper. Shima had some explosive diarrhea—"

"Ew, for real?" he bust out laughing.

Not-Rin promptly clapped a hand over his brother's mouth to shut him up, just because that was so out of character.

"Um, need me to get some from our floor?" he asked once not-Rin felt more confident to drop his hand.

He shook his head and whispered, "Do the others still have any paper towels? I just used up mine."

"I can ask if they have any."

"No… never mind. Just go down and get some.. quickly," Not-Rin changed his mind, just because he didn't want to make a big deal out of this.

Not-Yukio turned and headed down the hall at a light jog to the stair well. It was then he realized the slight mistake in this request. He, as Rin, should have been the one to get the toilet paper, not the so-called sensei. Out of habit, the younger let his older twin go. Since Rin's the one buying all their groceries now, he would know where it was.

A moment later, Shiemi and Konekomaru stepped out, apparently done cleaning their first dorm. Koneko noticed that his blindfold was up, and asked what was wrong.

"Where's Okumura-sensei," the blond exwire also noticed.

"Um… he's looking for some toilet paper for Shima," not-Rin explained, a little too honestly in true Rin fashion. "His poo stunk up the place so bad, I had to step out for a breather!"

He and Shiemi laughed nervously, as Koneko rolled his eyes with an apologetic groan.

Then not-Rin's phone vibrated in his pocket with a couple quick pulses, almost making him jump. That worried him, because he could not answer it that very moment. He hoped it was Rin and not someone from True Cross. Fortunately, the quick pulses meant it was just a text message and not a phone call. Either way, he had to fight back the urge to look at it until the others left.

Shiemi had lifted her blindfold now, much to his dismay, and was watching him. She seemed to have noticed his distracted expression.

"I should have gone instead," not-Rin quickly explained himself. "But I didn't want to leave Shima alone.. if there was a ghost in there. We hadn't seen anything yet." He finished his sentence with his feigned 'don't worry' smile.

Once Shiemi returned her awkward 'okay then' expression, not-Rin groaned in reprieve. Did she recognize his smile as Yukio's? She just kept looking at him, in that nervous way.

Wait, what does Rin do, or say, around her?

Shit…

Face heating up in embarrassment, not-Rin rubbed his neck. "Um, I better make sure he's okay.. now…" he thumbed back to the bathroom before turning on his heal to leave this increasingly awkward situation . Not-Rin ducked out and dug his hands into his pants pockets as he stepped behind the wall of the bathroom entrance. His hand curled around the phone, feeling it vibrate again. Honestly, Shima can wait, because he had to check his messages first.

Shima's rolling bouts of gastrointestinal distress finally subsided enough to give him mercy. Not he was stuck in there, waiting for something since he didn't even have any paper towels. All this at once felt suspicious, between Okumura's defensive withdrawn behavior that reminded him of Sensei's, and this creepy solitude of sitting in such a dark, cold stall. The spy was on edge, not feeling comfortable about any of this at all. "Okumura-kuuuun! Hurry uuup!" Shima whined loudly.

"Okay… do you want the red paper, or the blue paper?" the question came.

Shima saw him standing outside through the crack of the bathroom stall. Never mind that Okumura's voice sounded even more off, or that he had on a red cloak now. "What? Why are you wearing that?"

"It is just a simple question: do you want the red paper, or the blue paper?" he insisted.

Ironically, those were also the two prominent colors in the Illuminati uniform. Was Mr. Son of Satan playing tricks with him again about being involved with that sorted group? Dressing up like Lucifer wasn't very funny either. "Seriously, just give me the toilet paper already!" Shima yelled back.

"I will, once you let me know. Do you want the red paper, or the blue paper?" the voice growled, as it walked a couple steps closer.

The cloaked figure really did not sound like his friend, and what Shima could see through the crack of the stall door made him more nervous. The gold mask glinted slightly as the red on the cape darkened. The spy's fear hit him full force when it finally occurred to him that this was the ghost.

Damn.

Shima roughly pulled up his pants, because being caught with them down around his ankles was far worse than not wiping his ass. Unfortunately, his krik was not with him, again, and he felt too alarmed to remember any good verses to chant. All that he had for arsenal was a bucket full of cleaning supplies.

I'm screwed, Shima thought as he picked up the spray bottle of holy water, and the other one with CLR. Maybe this might buy him enough time to get out of the stall and grab his krik.

"What's wrong with white toilet paper?" the pink-haired teen countered.

"Good question," the caped figure chuckled. Then the latch on the stall door began sliding over on its own, unlocking the door. "Let's find out…"

Chapter Text

+4.00

-□-□- -□-□- -□-□-

That creeping, insistent feeling like something was closing in on him grew the higher Not-Yukio went up the stairs. He couldn't describe it fully, other than being like that territorial instinct that put him on edge. From past experiences, this feeling was what he had whenever he came close to a menacing demon. This also wasn't the first time today he felt that either. Not-Yukio had assumed Suguro and Izumi did what they needed to do to take care of that bathroom demon. Aka Manto was rather troublesome, and a part of him regretted not being more specific about that demon with his brother. As legend goes, the demon would ask which color of toilet paper that they want. If the person chose red paper, then he would slit their neck, or slash their back, so that their clothes would become stained red. Or if the person said blue paper, then Aka Manto would strangle them until their face turned blue. Any other choice may bring other unfortunate consequences.

Clutching the package of toilet paper to his chest, Not-Yukio leap up the remaining stairs in two's to reach the doorway into the hall. The hallway was thankfully empty, and the elder Okumura disguised as his younger jogged down toward the end where the bathroom in question was.

Upon dashing into the entrance, he literally ran into Not-Rin standing there with a phone to his ear. "Hey! What the—" Not -Yukio yelled.

"Your flames are showing… did anyone see you?!" Not-Rin asked in a stern but hushed tone.

More importantly, why was his genius brother hiding there from Shima and talking on his True Cross issued phone?

"No!" Not-Yukio took a moment to calm down anyway, putting out a few of the wispy blue tendrils that were flickering around his forehead and shoulders. "Is it back?"

"What?"

"Aka Manto!" Not-Yukio dropped the package of toilet paper by the wall to go further inside. "And what's Shima yelling about?"

What they saw, was their hapless double-spy being pushed up the wall over the sinks by an shimmering phantom force behind a red cape. Shima gasped for air as he weakly barred against it with his khakkara. Blood began to run from a slit slowly opening across his neck.

"Come with me to the Netherworld!" a voice hissed as Shima's face grew pale, almost white.

Not-Rin actually swore out loud in response, muttering about why he didn't tell him earlier about that type of demon.

They had to do something, and fast. Shima wasn't always the best student, or the most trustworthy, but Not-Yukio couldn't let him go out in that way! The angered Okumura bared his teeth, pulled his sword from its bag, and set forth… or at least tried too. His younger brother had grabbed his arm and pulled him back behind the entry wall.

"My guns and my—"

"He's not gonna notice—"

"Give me my glasses, my guns, and my coat, now!" Yukio repeated firmly. He had already pulled off Rin's sweatshirt.

Rin complied by unbuckling the gun holster, and then started on the buttons at the top of the coat. He had tucked Yukio's glasses inside a pocket, but argh! Why were there so many buttons!

"I want you to go to Shima—" Yukio took the glasses that Rin finally pulled out.

"Wait… why? I can get Aka Manto while you check on Shima!" Rin resisted right away, because Yukio was also the doctor-type.

"Because slashing at that demon will just chase it away. It's a spirit-type, I have to exorcise it. Now hurry!" Yukio pulled off his coat from Rin and slipped it on himself.

Rin sighed. He decided to not also bring up that he still had on his black uniform pants while Yukio wore jeans. The exorcist coat covered them, but… yeah, who had time to fix that detail?

"Here," Yukio shoved the blindfold at him. His younger didn't bother with removing the prosthetic ears either. With his longer hair too, everything gave Yukio more of an unkempt, demonic appearance. How this was supposed to be better than their previous appearances, Rin could not even begin.

Guns were ablaze in the next couple of seconds, followed by the sound of Shima's body hitting the floor and the howl of a pained screech. The smell of gunpowder and blood filled Rin's nostrils now. He was told not to use his sword to help, and that drove him mad!

The enraged, malevolent demon fleshed out more as it flew after Yukio next. Skeletal features with sunken red eyes and a savage toothy scowl made it hard to look at. Yukio grimaced, bracing himself when it slammed into him, against a stall door. The door swung open backwards and he struggled to catch himself from falling onto the toilet. (Luckily, it wasn't the one Shima had used!) Leaning backwards against the stall wall, Yukio fired off a couple more rounds into the demon. The blood-hungry phantom responded by slashing at him with sharp claws, since it had weakened and was unable to keep a choke hold.

Yukio gained some headway for a few seconds so he could slip back out of the stall. The bullets he had, however, were not as effective against this type of demon. Since the young exorcist had also left his apron downstairs in their dorm, he was almost out of ammo too. Time for Plan B: get Shima to help with his black flame, to send this bastard back where it came from.

"Rin! Wake up.. Shima… gah!" he yelled at his brother, feeling like he was wrestling a snake trying to choke him.

His demon brother had Shima pulled up on his lap, and trying to stop the bleeding by pressing the sleeve of his sweat shirt against Shima's neck. From what Yukio saw of Shima's injury earlier, it did not look like it was deep enough to hit anything vital. Fortunately, for Rin.

 Yukio totally had his hands full as he took on the aggressive demon over in front of the stalls. Right away, Rin slapped Shima's cheeks to get him to come to.

"Mrgh… wha- where.." the pink-haired exwire coughed weakly while squinting his eyes. "Teach..? Where.. your glasses..?"

Rin ignored that question, and pointed toward Yukio's struggle. "My brother needs your help."

"Oh… he does?" things were clearly registering a lot slower than usual. "But you can't help?"

"Tch… no.. he asked for you. Hey.. stay with me!" Rin had to shake Shima awake again because his eyes had closed. Man, did this 'teamwork with your partner' rule still apply?

"Rin!" Yukio yelped impatiently.

"When.. did you… get a haircut?" Shima asked instead, after looking at him for a second more. "Are you really Okumura-kun?"

"Agh.. Shima! Focus!" Rin growled, letting some flames pop up.

"I'm out of bullets!" Yukio yelled again. All he had left was his self-defense training as he grappled with the phantom.

"Hurry!" Rin roughly lifted Shima up from the floor and shoved his staff into his hands.

"Okay, fine.. uhm.. not sure if I have the strength," Shima whimpered, raising to one knee. He was still too dizzy to stand up all the way, but he held his khakkara steady enough as he chanted his summons for Yamantaka.

"Feh… what miserable excuse of a situation do we have here?" the black flamed demon soon grumbled in a disappointing tone.

"Aka Manto... at his worse.." Shima spoke weakly. His eyes were shut and he really struggled to keep his upright composure now.

"Give me permission to assist," the words bluntly baited the spy.

Rin didn't know what that meant as first, but it soon became obvious. Suddenly Shima lifted his head, his eyes became two shiny dark pools. He grinned mischievously as he rose to his feet with ease. The injured exwire had let Yamantaka possess him!

"Payback time, you filthy bastard!" Possessed-Shima gripped his khakkara as the pitch black flames formed a pointed spear at the end of the staff.

Yukio recognized Shima's war cry and threw the troublesome phantom his way. Once Aka Manto was within target, Yamantaka pierced the phantom's soul and sealed him back to the nether regions of Gehenna.

Recognizing that the request was satisfied, Possessed-Shima faced the Okumura twins, studying them. "Hmm… the twin sons of Satan.. but only one carries Him," the voice was Yamantaka's when he chuckled.

"He possessed him?!" Yukio grimaced, tightening his fist when he recognized the situation. Since Shima was having trouble staying conscious, Yamantaka took over. Literally.

"That's not good?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "Is there a way to—"

Yukio abruptly punched Shima, before he could react, and the teen fell face-first to the floor. "Maybe."

Rin just stared in stark shock, deciding he best not say anything. That was also when he noticed Koneko standing behind him, equally as speechless. As well as Suguro.. and Izumo, and Shiemi. All of them.

Now, how long were they there?

"We heard gunshots," one of them spoke "Is everything okay now?"

"I knew it," Izumo crossed her arms, her eyes looking down at the twins' pants. "You two had switched places. Tch."

Rin just laughed nervously as he raised his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"We need to get Shima to the clinic," Yukio said instead, kneeling down to pick up the hapless spy and heft him onto his back.

Yep, trying to pretend like nothing major happened again.

Typical, Yukio. Typical. Rin sighed.

 The two brothers sat on the bench in the hallway of the hospital, feeling very guilty as Shura stood in front of them. She was the one who had tried to reach out to Yukio on the phone earlier, alerting him of a possible situation. Unfortunately, what had happened to Shima kept them from participating. And of course, the other exwire students were excused and free to go home.

Yep, the twins were in a world of trouble now. Yukio glanced up again, to see how Shura was. She continued to look as if she was torn between being upset over how this happened and somewhat amused that it did.

"One more time… this happened because Rin got a haircut that looked like yours, and you wanted to test the others by switching places?" Shura asked, uncrossing her arms and placed her hands on her hips.

After some silence, Rin looked to his younger before speaking. "Yeah, it's my fault that I—"

"No, it's my fault.. I'm sorry," Yukio stopped him. Yes, it was Rin's idea, but he wasn't going to let his older brother try to cover for him this time. He, Yukio, was the one who was persuaded into doing this. All he had to do was keep saying no, but he ddidn't

However, Yukio did have one trick up his sleeve that might turn this around. "I went along with it… because I thought it would become a good bonding exercise between all of us. Since I had to go without my glasses, I suggested one of the partners be blindfolded, myself included. But… I should have checked our dorm beforehand. I had not realized it was harboring dangerous demons," he explained quietly.

"Hmm, did you learn anything?" Shura pursed her lips, taking the bait.

"Yes," Yukio made confident eye contact with her. Between Shima's apparent unprofessional work ethics, contrasted by Rin's due diligence, the whole exercise wasn't a complete disaster. He discovered a lot if things that gave him more ideas for future lessons. "Being disguised as an exwire, I understood more clearly where they needed to improve."

The upper class exorcist nodded. She turned and paced a couple steps in thought. "Rin, you're excused. I need to talk with Yukio," Shura paused to tell his brother.

"Eh?" Rin looked a little disappointed, if not worried about what's going to happen next. After an exchange of stern glances, he got up to leave. "Okay…"

Once Rin was out of range, Shura slid onto the bench next to Yukio and shoved his shoulder. "Hey… relax," she smiled now.

Yukio just leaned forward on his knees to rub his face. "What for..?"

"They did say Shima will be okay," Shura reminded him. "I'm just amazed you would do something so… spontaneous."

"Just… how are you going to report this?" Yukio straightened up a little.

"Is that what you're worried about?"

Yukio just sighed, exchanging glances before looking away. Well, he did have that unspoken wish that he had his brother's power, and this stunt only aggravated that. His silence to her question somehow enticed Shura to squeeze him with a side-hug.

"You probably should get a haircut though," she just added, standing up now.