Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was not how today was supposed to go, Rin was supposed to at least make it to the restaurant interview and try to make a good impression. After all, cooking was at least the one thing he was good at besides getting into fights, but that would’ve been too good to be true. No, first the city is overrun with bugs that apparently nobody else can see. Then in the process of getting lost in the crowded city full of floating black spots, he just had to run into Reiji Shiratori for the second time today! As if the first time wasn’t bad enough, Rin didn’t particularly want to get into another fight right before an interview, but apparently, Shiratori had other ideas.

“Okumura!”

“Yea—"

Rin stopped in his tracks and turned to face Shiratori nearly falling over himself in shock at the sight of ram-like horns twisted on his head and a sharp pointed tail swishing around behind him. Surely that was a costume? But then again, he had never seen a costume move as fluently as that before. He’d also brought back up, the same two goons that were with him this morning killing pigeons and a bigger guy that wasn’t. Great.

“Sorry about this morning, you alright?” Feigned concern laced his voice.

Rin just stared at him still trying to get over the shock of just how freaky looking he was and why no one else was as freaked about it as he was? Could they not see?

“We lost our cool. We wanna apologize.” Shiratori smiled, or what seemed like a smile but looked more like a hungry sneer. “Got a minute?” He motioned for Rin to follow him. Rin checked his watch he still had time to make the interview if this was quick.

“If it won’t take long…”

Shiratori had led them all to a nearby alley, Rin tried to stay within view of an exit, but the big guy decided to nudge him further and stand behind him, the other two backing up Shiratori opposite.

“So… How much should I pay you?”

Rin’s expression dropped in confusion “Huh? Pay me?”

“Well, you know my parents are well-known and the new term at True Cross Academy is about to start. I wouldn’t want… you know, bad rumours to get around.”

“Wow, you’re going to the same school as Yukio? Hmm, that would be bad.” He was reminded of the event this morning and the guys tormenting the helpless pigeons. “I doubt the school wants anything to do with cruel punks like you.”

“Ha ha! Right. Call it hush money. I’ll pay you, so keep it a secret, all right?” Shiratori approached Rin removing his wallet and pulling out some notes, waving them around in the air.

Rin just turned and began to walk away, maybe he can still make a good impression even if he is a bit late for the interview. “Nah, I don’t want it. I won’t say anything, keep your money. We done now? I’m busy so—”

“What’s with the attitude, Okumura? You tryin’ to be cool?” He laughed “Be honest, you know you two are so poor you can’t even pay for school.” Rin stopped, looking back at Shiratori, what was this guy’s problem?

“So, take it.” Shiratori stood there holding out the money towards Rin. “Your brother studied hard to get a scholarship, right?” He sneered, Rin glared, he was seriously going there. “That’s sorta like debt. How sad. Why don’t you put this towards his tuition?” He stood there laughing.

Rin snapped. Before he knew it, his fist hit Shiratori’s face and the boy went flying back.

“Say what you want about me…but don’t you dare talk that way about my brother!”

Shiratori got up from the floor and was knelt on one leg laughing to himself whilst rubbing his face with his hand. “Ha ha ha! That hurt Okumura, you certainly pack a punch but…” He turned to face Rin with a look that sent a shiver down his spine. “What are you so worked up about?!” He gave Rin a big toothy smile and it was then Rin noticed how pointed and sharp his teeth appeared, either he was seeing things, or this guy was some sort of monster, but monsters weren’t real right? Why couldn’t anyone else see this?

Suddenly Rin was knocked to the floor by the big guy behind him, dropping the bit of paper in his hand with his interview information on it.

“Hold him down! Be careful though, this guy’s a real monster!” Shiratori sneered behind him. Picking up the paper he had just dropped. “Interview? Haha! I guess that explains the suit. Here I thought you just liked to dress up!” He patted Rin on the head “I feel for you dude, even demons gotta find a job after Junior High!” He went closer to Rin’s face and snarled into his ear “Without anyone to support you, you’re just scum!” His eyes were filled with something that scared Rin. He struggled but despite all his strength, Shiratori’s goons had him well and truly pinned down.

Something was pulled out of Shiratori’s jacket, he unfolded it and Rin could just make out the glint of the metal surface. ‘Shit is that a knife?’

“Ta-Daa!” He was laughing so gleefully now excited at the prospect of using his new weapon. “Everyone knows you’re supposed to shave your head for job interviews! Here I’ll help you!” with that he gripped Rin’s hair by his bangs and pulled his head up.

There was nervous laughter from above him “Ain’t we done enough, Shiratori? That’s going too far… seriously that’s a crime.” Finally, someone stepped in, he was starting to think they were all psychopaths. But whoever voiced their comment soon ended up with Shiratori’s fist in their face. Big guy dreadlocks was down for the count, his weight bearing down on Rin even more, then he was being pulled up by his bangs again.

“Stop it!” Rin started to panic, knife at his head, Shiratori still laughing his psychotic laugh looking more demonic than ever. Feeling the cold metal at his hairline he began to hyperventilate.

“Don’t get mad if a little skin comes off, I’m new at this!”

‘He’s a Demon!’

“Maybe we even get to see what your brains look like! Course that would mean you have to have brains!” Laughing above Rin’s head he pressed the knife to his head, Rin felt the pain and then the blood trickle down his forehead. He closed his eyes.

‘He’s going to kill me!’

Suddenly the pressure was off his head and back, he could move, was he dead? Scalped? There was no pain. He could hear screams, not his, Shiratori’s goons. Rin opened his eyes. He was surrounded by fire, but not normal fire it was…blue? It didn’t burn, was it coming from him? He brought his hands up staring at the fire that surrounded them almost like a protective layer of skin around his body. It felt warm, safe. He was suddenly brought out of his trance by a voice nearby, it sounded like Shiratori but deeper and calmer than before. He glanced up to see Shiratori? The Demon? Walking towards him with a look of awe on his features.

“I was right. That blue fire is proof that you are the true scion of Satan.” He knelt down in front of Rin “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this? How long I have looked for you?”

Rin was still shaking, staring in fear at Shiratori “Looked for me? What—”

Holding his clawed hand out to Rin he smiled that toothy smile again “Come, Satan is waiting.” Without giving Rin a chance to answer he grabbed him by the wrist and started pulling him along, Rin struggled but couldn’t release himself.

“S-Satan?!” Rin managed to stutter out, he was being dragged through all manner of streets and alleys, where the hell was this guy taking him?

“Where are…we going?” He managed to pant out. “Who are you?!” He slowed to a stop, Rin tried to catch his breath.

“I am returning you to your father. Now we must hurry before the exorcists come!” He started pulling again nearly pulling Rin over, but he managed to find his balance quickly.

“Wait, my Father?” Did he mean Father Fujimoto? If that was the case, he was going completely the opposite direction. They finally stopped in an abandoned building site, the demon was talking to the small bugs around him in an unknown language, they soon scattered out of sight and he turned back to Rin. “What the hell is going on, what were those flames, where is my Dad?”

The demon stared at the boy for a moment “Did they tell you nothing of your heritage all these years?” He sighed “As I said I am returning you to your father, the owner of those blue flames which you have inherited, the God of Gehenna…Satan”

“My father is…” He couldn’t finish he was in shock, he stared at his hands again, flames having long disappeared.  “But… I’m not human?” He wasn’t sure if he meant it as a question or a statement but looked to the demon in front of him for further confirmation anyway.

The demon sighed, he looked to be getting impatient as if waiting for something to happen “Gehenna is the home of Demons, and you are the Prince of Gehenna. You are a demon from birth. But somehow, they have hidden your true form and power for 15 years making it impossible to find you. But from your little outburst back there, your power seems to be breaking free. If we can locate what they have used to seal you away, you will return to your true form.”

“True form…?” The Demon held out his arms and almost bowed as if to point out the obvious. “You mean I’ll look like you?!” Rin tried to hold back the look of disgust on his face but from the demon’s expression, he was not successful. “…Sorry”

“You won’t look exactly—” Before he could continue there were footsteps running towards them “Crap. Out of time.” He grabbed Rin by his wrist threw him behind him just as a tall figure turned the corner and began walking towards them. The shape of the shadowed figure was familiar to Rin.

“There is evil in their hearts” He knew that voice “O, Lord. Reward them according to their evil deeds. Repay the works of their hands. Avenge thyself upon them.” He looked at the demon, it was like a switch had been pushed and all the rage from before had returned, a great snarl on his face and a low growl escaping from his throat “Who’re you?!”.

The figure continued chanting “Strike them down so that they may never rise again.” He stepped into the light, so Rin could finally see his face, confirming what he thought “Dad...?”. Hope swelled in his chest at the sight of the man who had raised him. He wanted to run to him but the demon blocked his way, tail swishing back and forth in agitation.

“Are you…an Exorcist?!”

Fujimoto just smiled and continued his chants “Blessed be the Lord.”

“I’ll rip that mouth right off your face, you filthy beast!” The demon lost all reason and self-control and bolted towards Fujimoto, his only intentions were to kill. The priest stood his ground barely flinching at the oncoming demon.

“My prayer has been answered.” The demon lunged at Fujimoto with his clawed hand, who effortlessly dodged it and grabbed hold of the opposing arm. “The Lord is my help… and my shield!” Swinging the demon down on to the floor “Thou shalt be destroyed!” He raised his opposite hand and as he brought it back down the demon screamed and expelled a black substance from his mouth, his body slowly morphing back to that of Shiratori. With a thud, he fell to the floor unconscious.

Father Fujimoto looked to Rin still trying to process what had just happened.

“Are you OK?”

“I’m…fine. What about him?” He pointed to the unconscious Shiratori.

“He’s fine, I’ve driven the demon out, he’ll come to soon. But demons possess wicked souls if he doesn’t change this could happen again.”

“D-Demons…”

“The Demons. You can see them, right?” With that, he blew away one of the floating black bugs that had been all over the city. Rin finally looks closer and realised what big eyes they had, immediately brushing them away.

“This world exists in two dimensions, like reflections in a mirror. One is Assiah, the world in which we live. The other is Gehenna, the realm of demons.”

‘Your Father…owner of the blue flames…God of Gehenna’ Thoughts swirled around in Rin’s mind as Fujimoto explained. Suddenly he was in front of Rin holding out his hand.

“Get up. News of your awakening will spread. All manner of beings will now seek you for their own purposes. You must hide!” With that Fujimoto grabbed Rin’s arm and dragged him along.

“W-Wait!! Hide? Awakening? What the hell?!” He tried to pull back, he wanted answers that were, hopefully, different to what the demon had told him. He didn’t want to believe any of that was true. “Dad! ...What am I?!”

Fujimoto paused his face serious and his voice deep with meaning “You are…the child of a demon. Born of a woman, fathered by a demon.” Rin could feel his heart pounding in his chest, this wasn’t right, Fujimoto was supposed to tell him he was human, put his fears to rest, not reinforce them.

“And not just any demon. You are the bastard child of Satan himself.”

 They returned to the monastery in silence and Rin was promptly dragged to his room to pack his things.

“You must leave the monastery immediately.”

“Wait…Leave?!”

Fujimoto shoved clothes into a bag and zipped it shut, throwing it at Rin shortly afterwards. “Umph. Hey—” Fujimoto pulled out a key and held it in front of Rin.

“This is a Kamikakushi key. With it, you can hide anything anywhere you want.” He pulled Rin to his own room and inserted the key to a nearby chest of drawers, turned it with a click and opened the drawer. In it was a blue sheathed katana and red cloth and tie. “The Koma Sword. Also known as Kurikara, it is a magic sword passed down from old.”

“Your flame resides in this sword, sealed by the scabbard. If you draw it, you will assume your demonic nature…and can never live as a human again.” Rin swallowed, his father was confirming everything the demon had said. His power and form sealed inside this sword. Fujimoto placed the sword and key on top of the bag that was already in his arms. “Don’t ever draw it! But never let it leave your possession! When necessary use the key, hide it.”

“Once you have left the monastery, use this phone. There’s only one number in it that’s for a friend of mine. He can’t return your life to normal, but he will shelter you. Now GO!” He placed the phone on top of the pile in Rin’s arms.

“I…” Rin stood shocked, heart still pounding in his chest, he didn’t want to leave. Why was he being kicked out? Was it because he was a demon now? But then hadn’t he always been a demon? If he was a demon, then what about… “I don’t wanna!” He threw everything to the ground with force.

“What the hell is all this, first the demon and now you?! Is this some sort of sick joke?! If I’m a demon, then…then what about Yukio…is he a demon to?!” Surely not, Yukio was going to be a Doctor…

“You were the firstborn of fraternal twins. Yukio was under-weight and couldn’t bear it. Only you inherited this power.”

“But…Why now? Why didn’t you tell me anything before?!”

“I wanted to raise you as a normal child. And I could only raise you as long as you were human.”

“So what, now that I’m not human anymore you’re kicking me out?!” Rin’s voice was getting louder with the more anger that built up, he clenched his fists, holding back whatever tears were forming from his eyes.

“No Rin, I’m doing this to protect you!” Shiro stood trying to keep his calm, he could see the pain building in Rin’s eyes.

“Protect me?! You’re abandoning me!” Rin spat and continued before Shiro had a chance to counter the argument. “Spare me the petty speeches. You don’t care about me! Unlike Yukio, I was always too much trouble for you! You just can’t handle playing my Father anymore! Admit it!” The tears were trying to break his barrier, but he refused to let them fall, he wasn’t weak, he didn’t cry. Anger was just spilling from him, not holding back anything.

“Don’t ever pretend to be my father again!”

SLAP

His face was sore, Shiro’s eyes so intense it was like they could sear a hole into his body. “There is no time to argue. Now, do as I say!”

“Fine…” Rin turned to pick up his things, as he moved to leave the room, he heard a thud behind him. He turned to see Shiro on the floor, shaking and clutching his chest.

 “What…What is it?!”

“Oh…no! What have I done…?” He choked looking at his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Rin stepped closer but Shiro swung his arm out.

“GO!! Now hurry!” The lights smashed drowning the room into darkness. “Get away from me!”

“H-Hey…” He crouched down to Shiro, hand outstretched “Hang on!”

Shiro raised his head, Rin stopped in his tracks, his eyes were different. “My…dear son.”  The side of his mouth raised in a smile showing off his now sharp pointed teeth, just like the demon’s. “How I have waited for this moment…”.

There was an explosion of blue fire from Shiro as he stood up laughing, his features had morphed into something demonic. “Ha ha ha! Sometimes I crack myself up!!” Rin had fallen back on in the floor and had backed into the wall with nowhere to go. “Hiya Junior! How ya been? I came all the way here to greet you, my darling boy! Aren’t you the least bit grateful?!”

“A-Are you a d-demon?” Rin managed to stutter out, still trying to move away but without being able to go through the wall he was stuck, and Shiro? The Demon? Was blocking his exit. Blood starting to ooze from his eyes, nose and mouth.

“I am Satan. God of demons and your true father!” He laughed again. “But you can call me ‘Dad’ mwa ha ha” He examined his body briefly before continuing. “Well now…as much as I’d love to prolong this emotional reunion it looks like this guy’s body won’t hold me much longer.” Taking hold of his fingers he pulled, ripping them off and allowing the blood to pool on the floor. Rin was paralysed by his fear and shock. The blood on the floor seemed to form straight edges and move further down the room, Satan speaking words of a foreign language. As he did so small demonic heads started bubbling into existence, when it was finished there was an elaborate frame around the bubbling mass.

“I am the only one who can make this. The Gehenna Gate” He turned back to Rin, who had not been able to move and had now been even more wedged to the wall by the bubbling gate. “So… Let’s go to Gehenna!”

That caught Rin’s attention “What?!”

Satan picked up the Kurikara from the floor “Oh right, I should destroy this. And release you from its damnable curse!”

“Leave me alone!” Rin burst into flames in his feeble attempt to get Satan to back off. But in vain as Satan was hardly impressed and just burst into his insane laughter.

“What’s that supposed to be? You wet your pants or something? Ha ha ha!” He swung Kurikara over his shoulder and grabbed Rin by his collar. “It’s time to reclaim your demonic nature!” Rin struggled unsuccessfully against his grasp.

“L-Let me go! I’m…I’m human!”

‘Am I?’ He was dragged passed a mirror see his reflection covered in blue flames ‘Is that me?’

“I am a perfect being and master of many powers. But there is one drawback. Know what that is?” He turned to Rin looking even more bloodied than ever, Rin wasn’t sure what was scarier, the demon or seeing his father die like this, knowing he was the reason behind it. “No material in Assiah is equal to me! Anything I touch is soon corrupted! Like this body…and your Mother...”

“Assiah will be mine!”

He threw Rin into the bubbling mass of the Gehenna gate “I made you on a whim, but it worked out splendidly! You exist in Assiah, but the flame of the God of Gehenna runs through your veins!” Rin was starting to get sucked down, unable to get himself free of the bubbling substance. “I need you in order to lay claim to this world!”

“Somebody help me!!” Rin cried but no one came. Where were the rest of the priests? Had Yukio already left? Where was everyone?!

The gate sucked him further in and Satan just laughed “The cry of a new-born! For today, you shall be reborn!”

“Someone help!!” Still no one, he was alone.

“Happy Birthday! Welcome to Gehenna!” He threw in the Koma sword, which soon began to be dragged down along with Rin. Suddenly Satan stopped and buckled as if he was in pain “What?!” He grabbed the exorcist pin on his uniform and stabbed himself in the chest “Why you…DAMNED EXORCIST!!”

His voice returned to Shiro’s “Rin…is my son. Give him back-or else!”

“HA HA HA! Suicide! Some priest you are! But the gate already has him, it won’t let him go. So…what’ll it be?” His voice faded off and with that Satan was gone. Shiro’s body collapsed on the ground next to the gate.

“No…Dad?! Wake up! Someone help!” He looked around for anything to grab hold of to try and lever himself out, but everything was out of reach, the Koma sword had already disappeared into the gate and he was already up to his chest with one arm stuck, unless someone heard him and came to help, he was trapped. As his head started to go under, he thought he could hear a door slam and footsteps approaching, his other arm still outstretched, but his head was submerged before he could see if anyone came. He thought for a moment he could feel someone’s hand grab his but pulling was in vain and he kept sinking, soon losing grasp of the other hand and falling unconscious in the blackness of the gate.

 Yukio had been calling the monastery repeatedly with no answer, his father wasn’t answering his cell phone either. He’d had a bad feeling when he got to the train station, so instead of leaving for True Cross he turned and rushed home to check on things when he got there it was eerily silent. “Dad?! Nii-san?!” No one answered. He made his way to the bedrooms, the door to his father’s room was ajar and a strange groaning sound coming from inside. He ran inside to see the Gehenna gate a hand slowly being pulled under and the remainder of Rin’s dark blue hair “Nii-san!”. He didn’t register anything else and grabbed for Rin’s hand to try and pull him back up but he was too far gone, it was then Yukio realised his father unconscious on the floor next to the gate, he released Rin’s hand as it was sucked into the gate and immediately went to his father, phoning for an ambulance whilst he checked for a pulse.

Badum.

There it was, it was faint, but it was still there. Yukio let go of a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. But it wasn’t over yet, his father had lost a lot of blood, been stabbed in the chest and his fingers had been ripped off. There was still a chance he was going to die, but Yukio couldn’t give up hope.

He could hear sirens in the distance, looking back towards the disappearing Gehenna gate, clenching his fists he punched the floor in frustration. His brother was gone, and if he ever saw him again, he didn’t know if he would be the same Rin or the demon that had been trying to claw its way out for 15 years.

“I’ll try to find a way to save you, Nii-san…”

Chapter Text

Yukio looked around, it was dark and hard to make out details but the sky around him was a mix of red and purple. He could see a figure off in the distance and felt compelled to walk towards it. As he got closer the silhouette of the figure started to look familiar, he started to run until he was close enough to see the features of the person. Dark messy hair and azure blue eyes, he looked sad, scared.

“Nii-san?” Yukio held his hand out towards him but he was soon engulfed in blue flames. Yukio flinched his hand away from the heat when he looked again his brother was different. Elongated canines, his ears were long and pointed and his nails were now long and sharp. His eyes glowed red and he had a long black tail with a blue flame flickering at the end, swishing around angrily behind him. On his head sat two horns made of blue flames. He no longer looked sad, he looked hurt and angry.

“Liars…” He whispered just barely loud enough for Yukio to hear.

“Nii-san we didn’t lie, we were protecting—”

“LIARS!” The blue flames swelled in his anger. A larger shadow appeared behind him, same glowing red eyes and blue flames. Whispering things into his brother’s ear, he laughed while looking at Yukio.

Satan

“Don’t listen to him Nii-san!”

Yukio woke up to the sound of the steady beeping of the heart monitor. He looked around and realised he was still sat in his father’s hospital room. He’d been having the same dream every time he shut his eyes since Rin had disappeared, causing him to have many restless nights. It had been a week since the incident and there had been no signs of Rin. His father was stable but had not yet woken up from his brush with death.

Shiro had managed to just miss his heart when he stabbed himself, so no fatal damage was incurred, his hand was bandaged, and he had lost a few of his fingers. The blood loss was the main cause of his current state, but with several transfusions over the past week, his colour was slowly returning, and his breathing was no longer as laboured. The Doctors seemed to think he would pull through and would wake up soon.

Yukio had been spending most of his free time sitting in the hospital room trying to find out as much about Gehenna as he possibly could. But from what he had found there was no other way to open a Gehenna gate and even if there had been, humans were not able to survive down there. If they had found a way to go down there, they would more than likely die before they could even reach Rin. His brother was lost unless he found a way to come back on his own, and if that happened, that meant that Satan saw fit to let him return and he might not be the same Rin anymore, or he was dead and Satan was returning using his brother’s body. Yukio was losing hope that he would still have a brother when he finally returned to Assiah.

He checked the clock, it was getting late he’d been here a few hours already, admittedly he’d slept for a couple of them. He packed away his books back into his bag, he was due to start taking over his father’s cram school classes next week and attending his regular high school classes the following week. He’d managed to finish his speech for the entrance ceremony at the Academy whilst at the hospital luckily.

Yukio walked over beside his father laid on the bed and gave his hand a squeeze whilst swinging his bag over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go now Dad, I’ll come by again before school starts.” He moved to the door and pushed down the handle, as he pulled the door open, he heard a groan followed by a cough from behind him. Yukio rushed to his father’s side dropping his bag on the floor and pushed the call button for the doctor. Shiro managed to squint his eyes open and look in Yukio’s direction.

“Yu—?"

“Don’t talk Dad, the Doctors are coming.” Yukio felt himself tearing up at the sight of his father’s opened eyes. A nurse walked in to see what the call button was pushed for and immediately called for the doctors. The room was suddenly filled with several doctors and nurses and Yukio was inadvertently pushed back to a corner.

An hour went by with Doctors doing numerous checks before they were happy with Shiro’s condition, Yukio had been sat silently waiting in the corner. When they finally left there was an awkward air of silence in the room before Yukio broke it.

“What do you remember?” he asked tentatively.

Shiro’s face contorted into something that looked like pain. “Rin…screaming.” he managed to say, voice hoarse from little use. He looked to Yukio, tears in his eyes “What happened…is he?” If Rin wasn’t here, he knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Yukio.

“I tried to pull him out…but his head had already gone under when I got there…the gate was too strong, there was nothing I could do.” He was sat, fists clenched resting on his knees, his whole body shook, holding back tears of his own.

“And…the sword?”

“It was gone when I arrived” Yukio looked away disheartened.

“So, Satan has Rin and the sword…but I suppose without it, there is the possibility of Rin dying down there…” Shiro moved to sit up, Yukio helped him before sitting back down. “This is my fault, if I had told him before any of this there wouldn’t have been the urgency of putting him into hiding, we could’ve explained everything and planned ahead properly. He might not have gotten so angry…”. He looked down at his bandaged hand remembering the slap that started the whole thing.

“You wanted to keep him out of that world…to keep him human.”

Shiro sighed “I could’ve done everything possible, and he would’ve been pulled into it anyway. His power was becoming too much for the Kurikara to hide any longer.”

“What do we do now? Is there anything—"

“There’s no way for us to go to Gehenna.” He paused deep in thought “But there is someone who might be able to help…”

“Sir Pheles?”

“It’s a long shot, but what other choices do we have? Shiro started coughing again, he laid back down and sighed.

“You should get some rest. I need to head back to the dorm anyway, it’s getting dark out. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Rest?” Shiro laughed half-heartedly “Haven’t I had enough sleep, Doctor said I’ve been in here a week”

“Dad you nearly died, you need to recover more before they’ll let you out of here. I’m taking over your classes at the school, and I believe they have someone interim on your paladin duties till you’re well again. Although I’m pretty sure that guy is after your job. He seemed far too enthusiastic.”

“Dare I ask who?”

“Arthur Auguste Angel” Yukio smirked.

Shiro groaned “Of course it would be him. I suppose I can milk this a bit longer then, maybe get taken care of by a nice nurse with big boobs!” He laughed. Yukio rolled his eyes and sighed. Somethings never change, but he could see he was trying to mask the pain and regret of losing Rin.

When Yukio returned to the boy’s dormitories it was already dark outside, the sun had set hours ago. He returned to his room quietly, not wanting to wake his roommates if they had turned in already. But as he opened the door the light from inside the room leaked into the hallway, his roommates were still up. He shared his room with three other boys around the same age as himself.

They were first-year exorcist students, a well-built boy who had dark hair with a blond streak going through the middle, named Ryuji Suguro, although his friends called him ‘Bon’. The second was a short boy with a shaved head and glasses, his name was Konekomaru Miwa. The third and final boy was a tall slim boy with dyed pink hair, his name was Renzo Shima, although everyone just referred to him as Shima. The three of them were childhood friends from Kyoto.

He had been offered a room to himself as he was taking over teaching duties for his father in his absence, but after sharing a room with Rin for 15 years he thought it would get too lonely and opted to room with other students. It helped that the exorcist students were roomed together, it made studying exorcist materials a lot easier without having to keep it hidden from other students and they could do homework together. Yukio hadn’t mentioned that he was their teacher yet though, he figured he’d let them find that out during their first class.

“You’re back late, everything ok with your dad?” Bon asked looking up from his book. He and Koneko were sat on their bunk studying Aria verses before classes started. Shima was on the top bunk above his own reading manga, the boy reminded him terribly of Rin.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. He woke up just as I was leaving, so I stayed a bit longer to talk to him. Took a while as the doctors had to check him over.” Yukio smiled, but they could hear the concern in his voice.

“How was he? Was everything ok?” Koneko put his book down as well.

“Yeah, he’s weak, but he’s doing ok. I’m going to go see him again before classes start though since I won’t be able to see him as often afterwards. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before they discharge him. I’ll feel a bit better when he’s home with the other priests. I should give them a call in the morning to let them know he’s awake.” He looked at the time on his phone, it was too late to call now, they probably wouldn’t mind but he’d rather not disturb anyone else’s sleep.

Shima decided to join in the conversation and put his manga down on his chest “How did he end up in Hospital anyway, what happened to him?”

“Shima! It’s none of our business!” Bon glared at him.

Yukio thought for a moment before answering.

“No… It’s ok, you’ll probably hear about it at some point anyway” Confused looks went around the room, but said nothing. “Someone had broken into our home…and attacked him, he was badly injured. If I hadn’t got there when I did, he would’ve died…”

Everyone was silent. Yukio grabbed his things and went to get ready for bed. Bon and Koneko just glared at Shima.

“What? I’m nosey.” Shima smirked. “Besides there’s something else I want to know…”

“You shouldn’t pry into his life like that, we’ve only known him a week.” Koneko sighed, Shima shrugged.

“If you had ever heard him talk in his sleep, you’d want to know more too.” Koneko and Bon stopped what they were doing and gave Shima inquisitive looks. They were heavy sleepers so hadn’t heard anything. Shima, on the other hand, was a light sleeper and had woke on several occasions to Yukio’s sleep mumblings.

When Yukio returned, he got into bed and grabbed one of the books from his bag. Looking up he noticed they were all staring at him curiously “What?”.

“So, uh…does your brother go to the Academy as well?” Koneko and Bon looked up at Shima confused then back to Yukio. Yukio froze, he hadn’t told anyone that he had a brother, figuring it would be easier than trying to explain his absence if it came up. Shima jumped down from his bunk to look at Yukio.

“You talk in your sleep dude, these two might sleep like logs, but I’ve heard you most nights calling out ‘Nii-san’ in your sleep.” Crap, he hadn’t thought about the possibility of him talking in his sleep. “That and something about a demon.” Shit, think.

“Uh…no, my brother doesn’t attend the academy…he dropped out after Junior high, school was never really his thing.” Yukio forced a laugh before his smile dropped with their expressions.

They all looked at him unsatisfied with the explanation. “So, what are the dreams about then?”

Yukio’s expression turned to pain, but he quickly composed himself before letting his memories of his dream consume him. “Nothing. Just a bad dream.” He gave them a look that told them the conversation was over and he would indulge them no longer.

“We’re sorry Okumura” Koneko bowed apologetically and got ready for bed himself. Bon and Shima just looked at each other with concern. It was definitely none of their business but something wasn’t right, the guy was dreaming of something involving a demon and his brother. Something must’ve happened. But they would have to wait to find out, as Yukio wasn’t too willing to divulge any secrets just yet.

One week earlier in a place of darkness, Rin was finally released from the Gehenna Gate, laying on a cold stone floor. The air was dense, too dense to breathe and Rin awoke gasping for breath. He clawed at his neck like he was choking, tears forming from the pain. Footsteps approached from the darkness, something was kicked to Rin’s side, he looked down to see Kurikara.

“If you want to live, draw the sword.” A voice said matter-of-factly.

Rin looked around he couldn’t see who spoke, they stayed stood in the darkness, still unable to breathe he started to feel dizzy. His fathers voice in his head ‘Do not draw the sword…you can never be human again’. But he didn’t want to die, he wasn’t ready to die, even if it meant never being human again. He had to see his family again.

He rolled onto his front and wrapped his hands around the hilt with one hand and the sheath with the other pulling the sword out. The figure in shadows looked on pleased. Blue fire exploded from Rin’s body and more pain followed as he felt changes happening, but he could now breath. He lay there gasping for air as if he’d just been drowning before his breathing finally evened out. His chest was still heavy but at least he was getting air again.

Before he had a chance to think the blade was snatched from his hand, he turned to look up at the man…the demon who had taken it. He was tall and slim with long white hair; his eyes were an unnatural blue and his pupils glowed an eerie red. His face was familiar, he shared a striking resemblance to Father Fujimoto…but younger.

“It seems even in Gehenna the sword keeps your heart from your body.”

He moved the sword so one hand was gripping the hilt and the other on the blade itself, with little effort he snapped the sword right in front of Rin’s eyes. “No!” Rin managed to choke out, but the demon looked at him and smiled before throwing the broken blade on the floor.

“Now, my son, you will be reborn!” With that he walked away, he was approached by another humanoid demon “Bring him to me when his rebirth is complete, the sword as well.” The green haired demon just sat and watched with a bored expression on his face, sticking a lollypop in his mouth while he waited.

“W-Wa—Ahh!” Rin collapsed to the floor screaming in pain, flames flowing from his body with no control, it felt like he was being burned from the inside out. His skin had turned necrotic and before long the screaming stopped and all that was left was a charred, smoking corpse. The flames dissipated from the sword, having finally being released. The observing demon just looked on, unchanging expression “How boring”.

A few moments went by before something glowed above Rin’s corpse, it took the shape of a heart with spikes on top that looked very much like a crown, in the centre a blue flame flickered. The demon’s eyes widened “Whoa…”. Blue flames surrounded the corpse healing and renewing the dead cells until Rin was laid naked and unconscious with a new body, now reborn as a fully awakened demon.

When the flames finally disappeared, the green haired demon picked up the pieces of the Koma sword placing them inside the sheath, carrying the sword he placed a blanket over Rin’s body and picked him up, taking him towards a large black castle.

When Rin awoke, he was in a strange room, no longer on the cold stone floor that had been beneath him before, he was now on something soft and wrapped up warm. There was now a ceiling, not the red and purple sky that had been above him. It was dark in the room but not so dark that he couldn’t make out objects, and there was a blue light hovering over his chest, once his eyes come back into focus, he could make out what looked like a heart, enveloped in blue flames. He jumped upright when the recent events suddenly came back to him. He had unsheathed Kurikara, against Father Fujimoto’s wishes. Then a demon; Satan, snapped the blade shortly after. He remembered the blue fire and the immense pain that swallowed him whole. What had happened to him? He thought he was as good as dead. Rebirth, Satan had said, but what did that mean?

He suddenly realised he was naked, with nothing but a blanket covering his body. The fire burnt through everything, but he seemed very much unharmed despite the pain he had gone through.

Crap! The priests are going to kill him when they find out he burned the suit…well, that was if he ever found a way back home. He felt a lump building in his throat and let out a shaken breath.

He sat up crossed legged, putting his head in his hands, then he froze. He rubbed his forehead some more, then quickly looked around in the darkness for anything that resembled a mirror. He wrapped the blanket around himself and left the soft surface he had been sat on, feeling around the walls for a light switch. Was there even electricity down here? When he finally found something that felt like a switch, he pushed it and a chandelier on the ceiling lit up, thank god.
Then he saw what he was looking for in the opposite corner of the room and he rushed over to the mirror, pulling his bangs up from his head, there on either side of his forehead, two horn-like bumps. But something else caught his attention as he looked from the bumps to his hair, his mouth dropped. His dark midnight blue hair had become a light almost white shade of blue that faded to pure white at the tips. As he studied his appearance further, he noticed his ears were longer and pointed at the ends. His eyes…were the same as Satan’s, an unnatural blue with red slits for pupils, and his teeth…he had fangs. FANGS?!

He fell to his knees, shaking, eyes still glued to his reflection trying his best to stay calm. What would they think if he went home? Before long something behind him moved, making him jump and fall back causing a pain to shoot up his spine. Tears formed from the pain. Rin shifted his weight and the pain subsided but something white and furry caught his eye under the blanket. He removed the blanket from himself, feeling the cool air against his skin. And there, wriggling around of its own accord, was a bluish-white tail. With a shaky hand he moved to touch it, picking it up he was shocked at how much it felt like he was touching his own skin. He gave it a little tug, wincing at the pain from his lower spine. Definitely attached.

He set his tail free, watching it swish around behind him briefly, before looking back to his reflection. The demon in the mirror stared right back. He had been called a demon child for as long as he could remember, but Father Fujimoto had always convinced him otherwise. Now he could see it was all a lie. Everything was just one big fat lie. He IS a demon.

His fists clenched up and he began to laugh to himself. He laughed harder and harder, flames leaking from his body as he did. Tears formed in his eyes until his laughter turned to cries. Then he suddenly stopped, took one last look in the mirror, before sending his fist into it. The mirror shattered to pieces. He sat there frozen in place surrounded by his own blue flames, they felt oddly comforting and warm. He looked at his hand to see cuts healing before his eyes. Then something clicked in Rin. As strange as he looked, he felt comfortable, like his body was his own now. Growing up he had always felt, well wrong, but now it seemed different. He sat there for a while after calming down, experimenting with his flames before finally figuring out how to make them go away.

Pulling the blanket back around him, he stood up and moved back to the bed he assumed he must’ve woken up on. He took in his new surroundings. The bed he was on was soft and comfortable, blue and black sheets with elaborate silver designs over them. The room itself was large, much larger than he was used to at the monastery. The walls were made of stone, not much decor besides the golden chandelier above him and a few tapestries with blue flames, there was a small opening for a window looking to the dark red sky of the world he now inhabited, looking out he was quite a way up from the ground. On the opposite wall to the window was a set of huge black double doors, which he assumed must lead to the rest of the castle.
It was a bit unnerving, he had almost expected to wake up in a dungeon, not a lavish room in a castle such as this. What was Satan up to?
He noticed another door to the right of his bed, curiosity getting the better of him he moved to investigate, turning the knob and pushing the door open, he was surprised to see a pretty well-equipped bathroom. He walked in further a noticed a pile of clothes with a note on top, the clothes themselves were high quality. Picking up the note he unfolded it and read its contents.

‘I hope the room is to your liking. Get cleaned up and dressed and the guards outside your room will escort you to me when you are ready.

Love Papa Satan x’

He immediately scrunched up the paper in his hand burning it with flames simultaneously, his teeth clenched and he let out a low growl, tail swishing angrily behind him. That bastard had another thing coming if Rin was ever going to refer to him as his father. His father…Rin realised he had been so overwhelmed by everything he had almost forgotten the circumstances which brought him here. He didn’t even know if Father Fujimoto was still alive, did he care? Rin shook his head of course he did! He was angry he had lied but he didn’t want him to die. But he looked bad when he had collapsed…perhaps it was already too late.

What the hell was Yukio going to think about all this? Would he even know where he was? Or even what he was? Would they try to kill him if he went back or would they accept him…no they tried to get rid of him when only his flames had manifested. If they saw him now looking as demonic as he did…He had no home to go back to. But then he didn’t want to stay here either.

Right now, the only thing he knew was he had to survive whatever Gehenna and Satan had in store for him, whilst maintaining whatever remnants of his humanity he still had left. He had to find Yukio first, his brother of all people would accept him. He was Satan’s son too, right?

He grabbed a towel and headed towards the shower, it was hot and seemed to relax some of the tension that had been building up since he’d woken up. How long had it been anyway, he had no way of telling how long he’d been unconscious, had it been a few hours or days? He washed and dried himself before examining the clothes that had been left for him, a black long-sleeved shirt and a dark blue pinstriped vest, black trousers and a pair of smart black shoes. He got dressed, the clothes were surprisingly comfortable and even allowed for his tail to roam free of constriction.

The room, the clothes…everything seemed to good to be true, what the hell was Satan’s plan, to make him happy and complaisant? Did Satan want Rin to like him? He couldn’t really see Satan wanting a healthy Father-Son relationship. It seemed a drastic contrast to the Satan he had met possessing Father Fujimoto. But he wouldn’t know until he…spoke to Satan directly.

He took one final look at himself in the bathroom mirror and took a shaky breath before tears unwillingly started falling, he was a demon. All the taunts and names growing up had been true, all the fights where he’d lost control. He’d grown up believing a lie his whole life and it had now been torn apart and he’d been thrown into literal hell. His emotions were a mess, he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be angry or sad anymore. His dad was possibly dead, but he had lied to him his whole life. Then immediately thrown out and abandoned because of what he was like it was his fault.

Rin left the bathroom, over to the large double doors crunching over the broken mirror as he walked. He opened them, finally leaving his room to see the demon who had shattered his fairly normal life. He was the last person he wanted to see, but at the same time, he had to know more.

Maybe Satan had the answers he needed.

Chapter Text

Rin took a deep breath before pulling open one of the double doors. He poked his head out of the open doorway to be met with the sight of two towering guards standing outside his room. He walked out closing the door behind him. The guards tensed up and looked down at him. They were head to toe in armour so he couldn’t see their faces.

“Come with us, Young Prince. We are to take you to Lord Satan.” One guard said, his voice deep and husky. Rin swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded.

The guards escorted Rin down a long corridor, he walked a little behind them. Hands in his pockets he kept his line of sight to the floor and the guard’s feet. They past by various other demons scurrying around the castle, most stopped to get a look at Rin before hurrying off again. The walk seemed to go on forever, the castle feeling much bigger than he had imagined. He began to get lost in his thoughts.

Before long the guards stopped. Rin, not paying attention walked into the back of one of them, hitting his head on their armour in the process.
“Ow…” He said to himself as he rubbed his head. Making sure no extra bumps had appeared in addition to his new horn nubs.

He looked around and realised they had stopped in a large lobby, outside some large double doors. The were larger than the ones to his room and decorated with an elaborate design in silver and blue. He gulped.

“Lord Satan is awaiting you.” The guard declared as he pushed Rin towards the door.

Rin pushed the door open. He looked upon a large throne room, candles lit the walls with a blue light. At the end of the room was a throne, and sat upon it was a demon clad in blue flames, an amused smirk decorating his face.

Stood beside him were four other demons.

He vaguely recognised one of them from when he arrived. Green hair with a single spike on his head, that looked more like a cone. He held the same bored expression.

The second was a scantily clad woman with dark skin, and long black hair tied into a tight plait. She was enveloped in red flames. The most noticeable feature was a third eye on her forehead. Despite the extra eye she was quite pretty, for a demon.

Stood behind the woman, holding on to her leg, was a small demon. Almost childlike in height, he had the appearance of a shark but with legs and arms.

The final was a all man in a suit, his face hidden by a paper bag. Holes cut out for the eyes and mouth and what seemed like mushrooms and other fungus growing out of it. Rin wasn’t sure he wanted to know what his actual face looked like, now thankful for the bag.

The four powerful demons watched curiously as he stood lurking in the doorway. He tried to back out of the room, now regretting his decision to come. The guards stopped him and pushed him forward, before grabbing the door and closing it behind him. The resounding bang echoed throughout the room.

Rin looked around, there was no other way out of the throne room apart from two doors either side of the throne. He took a shaky breath and hesitated before walking towards the throne. His legs felt like jelly and he had to use everything in him not to fall to the floor.

As he approached, Satan suddenly rose from this throne and descended towards Rin, pleased expression plastering his face. He wore a long white robe and his white tail dragged along behind him. If Rin didn’t know any better, he almost looked benevolent all in white, the other demons watched in silence.

Before he knew it, he was in the shadow of the tall demon. He swallowed a lump that had formed. Keeping his eyes downward, avoiding the eye contact he feared would swallow him whole. This was the demon that was the root of his problems, had torn his world apart and had possibly killed the man that raised him. But all the anger was washed away by pure fear.

Satan raised his arms and put them on Rin’s shoulders, Rin flinched at the gesture and was certain he was shaking. Satan circled him as if he was appraising a piece of work, before he stopped behind him and leant in close to Rin’s ear.

“Welcome home, my son” he whispered gleefully, sending a shiver down Rin’s body.

He moved to Rin’s side, hands still on his shoulders and glided him forwards. He was now standing in front of the throne and right in front of the other demons. Satan released Rin and moved to stand back at his throne. He gestured to the demons next to him.

“These are some of your siblings. There are others, of course, but they are currently in Assiah, and could not be here to witness our reunion. I will let them introduce themselves, but there will be plenty of time for that after we have spoken.” He smiled. Rin stood stiffly, eyes still glued to the floor in front of him. Satan sent the demon kings away, they left through one of the doors beside the throne. All turning back to sneak a final glance towards their new little brother.

The silence in the room was deafening. But it took Rin all of a few seconds to realise he was now alone with Satan. He looked up slowly, finally meeting Satan’s piercing gaze.

Satan sat back in his throne eying Rin up and down. Much more satisfying than the lump of useless meat he’d started out as.

“You look like me but your eyes…they remind me of hers.” He rested his head on the back of his hand. “What was your name again my boy?”

“…It’s Rin”

Satan nodded. Although Rin was sure he had some sort of knowing smirk on his face as if remembering something funny. Was his name funny?

“I’m sure you have questions, so ask” The smirk dropped and Satan’s face turned serious.

“What do you want with me? What happened to Father Fujimoto? Where’s my sword—?” He was cut off my Satan raising his hand, looking rather irritated.

“One thing at a time.” He paused for a moment “Your sword was returned to Samael, what he will do with it doesn’t concern me, your heart is unsealed and cannot be resealed.”

“As for Shiro…dead, probably.” Satan cackled “Few are able to survive my possession, Shiro might’ve been able to handle it once but he is old and weak now. I should thank you for providing the opportunity for me to force my way in.” He smirked at Rin’s horrified expression.

“But…I never meant; I didn’t--” Rin started, but Satan’s maniacal laugh cut him off.

“HA! It doesn’t matter anymore, you’re here now! Shiro’s dead! I win!” Satan was looking overly pleased with himself like it was just some sort of game.

Rin clenched his fists and lunged at Satan, an action he immediately regretted. Satan dematerialised into blue flame and Rin’s fist passed straight through him, only to make contact with the throne itself. Rin fell to the floor holding on to his fist in pain. Satan reformed behind Rin.

Gripping hold of Rin’s neck, Satan lifted him from the ground, pulling Rin’s face closer to his own. His other hand hovered over Rin’s demon heart, still floating in front of him. Wrapping his hand around it, Rin let out a gasp. He instantly brought his hands up to grip Satan’s on his heart, panic in his eyes.

“You’d do well to remember not to cross me boy. My kindness to you will only stretch so far. All I have to do is destroy this--” He squeezed at the heart slightly “--and that will be the end of you.” Satan’s voice was a low growl. He released Rin’s heart and dropped him back down to the floor.

Rin coughed rubbing his neck, other hand over his heart, glaring back up to Satan.

“Or would you rather spend your life here in the dungeon?” Rin remained silent “As I tho—”

“Send me back!” Rin finally found his voice, looking Satan directly in the eyes. Satan stared right back, there was no amusement in his expression. “Please…”

“You no longer have any place to go back to, my son. You are a demon now; your place is with me.”

“I still have Yukio…” he panted out.

Satan let out an amused huff. “Your human sibling would cast you out along with the other Exorcists. Or didn’t you know that your brother was also an Exorcist himself?” He held a wry smile at the look of confusion on Rin’s face. “Oh? More secrets they have been keeping from you it seems.”

“But why…? Yukio is my brother…my twin. Why would he of all people lie to me?” Rin’s face contorted from confusion to hurt; his tail swished in agitation.

“For the same reason they all did, fear. They fear your power, so they sealed it away and hid the truth from you. And your brother on top of that resents you. You are the reason he is able to see demons in the first place.” Satan returned to sit at his throne, Rin remained kneeling on the floor beside it, still trying to process everything he was being told.

“Why didn’t they just kill me then. Why did they raise me?” He looked back up meeting Satan’s gaze.

“Why else? A powerful demon raised from infancy among humans would have loyalties to those that raised them. So, they could then use that demon as a weapon against their own kind. I’m sure that if I hadn’t have brought you back here, you’d have been sent off to the Exorcists, to use for their own amusement…” Satan looked away, he looked angry about something but for once this was not directed at Rin.

“I was raised to be a weapon for Exorcists?” Rin tried but couldn’t quite hide the hurt in his voice. Satan nodded in response. “And what if I had refused?”

“You would’ve been killed…or worse. They wouldn’t have allowed you to be free… I would know.”

“How? What happened to you?” Curiosity spiked in Rin, listening intently to what Satan had to say, much to Satan’s surprise.

“That is…a tale for another time. But I will tell you this, I tried to leave with your mother…peacefully. We were ambushed by the Exorcists, Shiro amongst them.” Satan began to growl, anger in his eyes. Rin stayed silent, not wanting to push Satan any further. If his own temper was anything to go by, he imagined Satan’s to be worse.

“What do you want from me?” Rin finally spoke, changing the subject.

Satan contemplated his answer for a few moments “For now, I want you to get stronger. Learn to control your power and use it.”

“How--?”

“First you need to get used to your new body, you’ve been trapped in a human form for far too long. Learn to be the demon you were meant to be, I will have your siblings assist you with that.”

“But I don’t want to be a demon…”

“That is the problem. You need to learn to accept your demon nature. Once you do your ability to control your power will follow.”

“But what will you do with me after that? You said you needed me to claim Assiah, what did you mean?”

“As I said, no material in Assiah is strong enough to hold me. But you are born of Assiah, with my blood and my flames - you are a perfect vessel.” Rin froze, he didn’t like the direction this was going. Satan noticed this and continued “However… if you were to pledge allegiance to me, I may rethink my plans for you.”

“If I was…but you just said—”

“I have had a body before – to which you were conceived from. I have had patience this long for a vessel, so I could be…persuaded to wait. If you play your role in my plans.”

Rin remained silent; this was insane. Either he become loyal to Satan or lose his body to him.

“I will allow you time to mull over your choices, of course.” Satan gave Rin a wide toothy grin.

Satan snapped his fingers and the main doors opened, allowing the guards to re-enter the room. He stood and pulled Rin up from the floor by his arm.

“That will be all for now. Return to your room. But remember what I have told you, you are more accepted here amongst your true family. You will no longer be shunned for your demonic nature. So, I suggest you learn to accept it and let go of your old life.”

Rin slowly turned from Satan and walked towards the guards. He was escorted back to his room.

The doors were shut behind him and he stalked over to the bed, collapsing face first onto it. That was probably one of the most mentally exhausting things he’s had to experience. But he couldn’t rest yet, he had too much to think about. Be loyal to Satan or become his vessel…he needed to get out of here, but how? The only way he knew of to get in and out of Gehenna was that creepy gate, but he needed Satan for that.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his stomach churning with hunger. He’d not eaten a thing since…well since before the interview. But that could’ve been days ago, he had no clue how much time had passed since he had been down here. He rolled on to his back putting his hands over his face, the bumps on his head poking into his fingers.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Rin jerked upright, fearing Satan had come to speak to him again. He tentatively moved towards the door, hovering his hand over the handle he hesitated before finally opening it. There was a small female demon at the door, she jumped as Rin opened it.

Bowing down low and visibly shaking she spoke in a quiet voice.

“L-Lord Satan has sent me to see if you need anything, my Prince.” She didn’t raise her head, just kept her head bowed silently waiting for an answer.

Her timing was impeccable, Rin’s stomach continued to growl. He was slightly embarrassed.

“I uh – I could do with something to eat…please” He stood awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Y-Yes your Highness! Right away!” The little demon squeaked and hurried away down the hall. Rin looked around, the two tall guards were still positioned outside his room, not saying a word. He moved back into his room, closing the door behind him. Letting out a sigh as he leant his back up to the door.

“I suppose he’s still being hospitable…for now.”

After some time, Rin’s stomach was beginning to get more painful now he realised how hungry he actually was. He wished the little demon girl would hurry up. He started to wonder what the food in Gehenna was actually like, and how it compared to home. Would he even find it edible? What the hell did demons eat? There was a knock at the door, Rin jumped being brought out of his thoughts.

He moved to open the door; the little demon girl stood outside with a trolley full of plates covered over with cloches. He stood aside and she wheeled the trolley into the room. Turning back towards Rin she spoke.

“I-Is there anything else you require, your Highness?” Her eyes moved to the broken mirror on the floor. “Would you like me to clean that for you?” Rin quickly shook his head.

“N-No that’s not necessary.” He nudged the bits of glass with his foot out of the way. “Thank you”

“Very well.” She bowed and walked back out of the door. Turning back to Rin before leaving. “Do not hesitate to send for me if you require something else. When you are finished please leave the trolley outside your door and it will be collected.” She bowed again and wandered back down the corridor. Rin closed the door again and was soon hit with the smell of the food in his room.

His stomach ached with the new smell. He moved over to the trolley and pulled off the covers revealing the food that had been brought. It wasn’t like anything he’d seen in Assiah. What he assumed were vegetables were all sorts of different colours: black, purple and blue. Then there was the meat, this looked a normal red/brown colour, just like beef. He stopped and thought for a moment. Was this demon meat…or human? He decided to leave it for now, much to his dismay. It had been nearly six months since he’d last had meat. He wanted Sukiyaki; he would’ve had it as well if he’d gotten that damn job. He let out a sigh, no use thinking about it now, he probably wasn’t ever going to have Sukiyaki again.

He needed to eat if he was going to survive down here. He prodded one of the vegetables with a fork, examining it for a few seconds before promptly putting it in his mouth and chewing. It was…different. The texture and taste were not the same as anything he could think of from Assiah but not unpleasant to eat either. He tried all the different foods, nothing to his surprise tasted bad.

His eyes kept moving back to the meat. He really wanted the meat, maybe it was just demon meat? He could handle that right? There wasn’t exactly an abundance of humans down here to feast on, did demons even eat humans? Rin shuddered at the thought, if they did, he didn’t want to be that type of demon. He wished he’d had more of an education on demons considering he is one!

It kind of looks like beef; sweet, succulent beef… Rin found himself drooling at the thought. It seemed he was having an internal struggle against meat of all things. He really wanted the meat.

Screw it! All the shit that’s happened to him in the last few…however long its been. What else did he have to lose? He scoffed the meat down, savouring every bite. It was so satisfying! He smiled contently afterwards finally feeling full. He made a mental note never to ask what the meat was, lest he regret it.

His hunger sated; his thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Satan and other recent events.

Father Fujimoto and the others had raised him to be a weapon for the exorcists. Yukio is an exorcist. Everyone but him had known the truth, that he was a demon and the bastard son of Satan. For fifteen years they had kept the truth from him, even going so far as to make him believe he was human. Then as soon as he awoke to his heritage, they abandoned him. Ready to ship him off to the exorcists to do what they wanted with him.

Then there was Satan, his ‘Father’. Whom had ‘saved’ him from becoming a weapon for the exorcists. But now it seemed like he was going to use Rin as a weapon for himself. He had also possibly killed Father Fujimoto, the man who raised him, in the process. He’d shed some light on the secrets being kept from him his whole life, but Rin knew there was more he wasn’t telling.

He sat on his bed, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. His tail curled around him, as if to comfort him. He didn’t know how to feel. Rin missed his family but was angry at them for lying and keeping all this from him. If they had told him sooner, he might not have ended up in this situation.

Now he was faced with the ultimatum of being loyal to Satan or becoming an empty vessel for him to wear into Assiah himself… He really didn’t like that second option, but he didn’t want to help Satan either. He wished there was the option of escaping, but how to do it was a complete mystery to Rin.

Even if he did find a way, where would he go if he got out? Rin groaned in frustration. Either way he looked at it, he was going to be used as a weapon for someone… and right now he didn’t want that someone to be Satan.

“Okumura!” Konekomaru shouted over to Yukio as they were passing in the school courtyard.

“Oh, hey Miwa, Suguro, Shima.” He gave a slight wave and smiled.

“We were just heading over to cram school, we wanted to know if you wanted to walk with us?” Suguro asked.

“That’s okay, I have something I need to get first. I’ll make my way over after that. You guys go on ahead.” Yukio pulled out a key and moved over to the nearest door he could find with a lock. He inserted the key and walked through, leaving the trio to carry on to their class.

The trio had settled down into their seats at the exorcist cram school. The teacher was late it seemed. Aside from the trio there were four others in the classroom.

Two girls sat on the opposite side of the room to the boys. One was a timid looking girl with short brown hair. Next to her was a serious looking girl with long purple hair tied back into twin-tails, red eyes and small oval eyebrows.

At the back of the room was a short boy with light brown hair playing with a puppet. The other side was a boy with his face hidden by a hoodie, playing a handheld computer game.

“What’s taking Okumura so long. I thought he just went to get something?” Shima stared at the door, head in his hand.

“Forget that, what’s taking the teacher so long? We’ve been waiting for 10 minutes now. You’d think it was the teacher’s job to be punctual at least?!” Suguro huffed, leaning back in his seat, arms crossed.

They suddenly heard footsteps approaching, stopping outside the door. The door clicked and everyone looked up as their new teacher entered the room.

“Sorry I’m late class, please take your seats. Class will now begin.”

The trio’s eyes widened in shock at the person that entered the room. Stood there in full exorcist garb with a gentle smile on his face. Putting his briefcase on the desk in front, he turned to address the class.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yukio Okumura, and I’ll be your Anti-Demon Pharmaceuticals Instructor.” He paused as the students said their greetings. “As you may have guessed, I’m a new instructor who’s the same age as you. I am currently taking over from Paladin Fujimoto, as he was recently injured and is recovering in hospital.” Realisation dawned on Suguro, Yukio’s father in hospital was the Paladin. “But with regards to exorcism, I’m two years ahead of you. So please address me as Mr. Okumura.”

As he looked around the room, he noticed his three roommates giving him odd looks. He’ll be getting another interrogation after class it seemed.

The purple haired girl raised her hand. Yukio nodded to her “Yes, Miss Kamiki?”

“I heard a rumour that it was Satan that attacked the Paladin, is this true?” She kept a serious look on her face as she waited for a response. Everyone in the room looked towards Yukio, silence descended on the room. Even Yamada, the boy playing his handheld, stopped to hear the response.

“Do you believe all the rumours you hear?” He kept a straight face looking back at Izumo. She shook her head. “Where would a first year even hear something like that?”

“I overheard some passing teachers talking about it… they seemed pretty serious about it too.” She turned her gaze from Yukio’s and bit her bottom lip.

“I can assure you, as someone close to the Paladin, Satan was not involved.” He lied through his teeth and hoped to God they bought it. “Rumours are rumours for a reason and should not be taken seriously.” He wondered who had been carelessly talking of what had happened, only a few knew the circumstances of the attack. Sir Pheles had covered it up the best he could. Either way he wasn’t going to indulge his students in the rumours, no matter how true they might be.

With that the class continued on as planned. At the end of class Yukio was packing up his things and Bon, Shima and Konekomaru approached him. Yukio looked at them hesitantly, waiting for someone to make the first move.

“So, Mr. Okumura? You sure kept that quiet.” Shima was the first to speak, with a sly grin plastering his face.

“It didn’t really seem important to mention, since you were going to find out anyway.” He said with a smile. “I didn’t really want people knowing I was the teacher before classes either. It was kind of nice just being me for a little while, before becoming your instructor.”

“So, the Paladin, he’s your dad. Right?” Suguro asked, Yukio nodded his confirmation.

“Yeah, if he had been well, he would’ve been teaching you with me as his assistant. But due to the circumstances, I was kind of thrown in the deep end… So hopefully the class was okay, despite my tardiness.” Yukio scratched the back of his head forcing a laugh.

“So about what Kamiki said, is it true?” Suguro looked serious for a moment. The thought of Satan returning had dwelled on his mind the whole lesson. Yukio looked at him thoughtfully before smiling.

“Like I said, it’s just a rumour. My father was just caught off guard. But because he’s the Paladin, people tend to think he’s invincible, so no common thief could just take him on. So, their imaginations get the better of them.” They looked like they were buying it. “Anyway, I’ll see you back at the dorm. Oh, don’t forget I’ve assigned homework.” He shot them an evil smile and left the room, briefcase in hand.

“That guy has a dark side…” Shima let out a nervous laugh.

“I don’t buy it. Satan is too sensitive a subject for anyone to be casually gossiping about. There must be some truth behind it, but Mr. Okumura has to keep his mouth shut.” Suguro looked back to the others, Shima seemed to agree but Konekomaru fidgeted nervously.

They soon left to make their way back to the dorms. The trio cracked on with their homework whilst their ‘teacher’ was busy working on lesson plans. Shima had tried joking about letting him off the homework only for Yukio to give his ‘I’m-not-amused’ face. There was a deafening silence after that filled with only pen scratches on paper. Yukio’s mind wandered to Rin again, his dreams still haunting him every night. Shima had now taken to hitting him with a pillow every time his sleep talking woke him up.

He wondered what had happened to Rin when he was taken to Gehenna. What had Satan done to him? Was he even still alive? If he was alive, what sort of things was Satan putting in his head? Would Satan even keep him around or just take his body right away, surely that was Satan’s only use for him? But they would’ve heard something already if he had taken possession of a body. Judging by the Blue Night, he was one for big theatrics.

His father had apparently spoken to Mephisto sometime after waking. But the demon being ever aloof about the situation hasn’t offered any help or insight, yet. Even with all his so-called ‘contacts’ in Gehenna, there had been no sight or contact with Rin. He had been down there 2 weeks now… It did make Yukio wonder if Mephisto was on their side or if he was conspiring with Satan.

He was brought out of his thoughts when his phone started to ring. He checked the caller ID to see ‘Dad’ on the phone. He pushed the call button to answer.

“Hi Dad. Everything okay?”

“Yukio! Guess what!” Shiro nearly shouting down the phone caused Yukio to jump.

“What?”

“I’m getting discharged at the end of the week.” Shiro sounded extra cheerful to finally be getting out of the hospital. He had not been lucky with the pretty nurses, so they started sending him male nurses instead. He had then decided to self-discharge, much to the annoyance of the doctors, but he was well enough to rest at home now.

“Are you sure you’re well enough Dad? How’re you getting home?”

“Yes, yes I’m fine! Well, Mephisto has offered me a ride, but I’m under the impression he wants to discuss something about Rin. He seemed pretty serious over the phone.” Shiro’s voice trailed off.

“He wants to talk about Nii-san? Did he manage to contact him?” It took Yukio a second to realise the pen scratches had stopped. Then it dawned on him he wasn’t alone in the room. Crap. Yukio quickly stood up and left the room, phone still stuck to his ear, shutting the door behind him.

“Well, that was odd.” Suguro said looking towards the door Yukio had just walked out of. Shima snuck over to Yukio’s desk to peek at the lesson plan he had been working on.

“Shima what are you doing?” Koneko looked over curiously.

“Well…I was just looking to see if he had any surprise tests planned. But apparently our lesson plan for the week is… ‘Rin’. Both Suguro and Koneko looked over confused. Shima held up the piece of paper and what started off normal, turned into repeated scribbles of the word ‘Rin’.

“Was he spacing out or something?” Suguro asked staring at the paper.

“Possibly. Who’s Rin though?” Shima looked to the other two and then towards the door. Koneko sat thoughtfully for a moment.

“His brother maybe? You said he was having dreams about him, right?” They both nodded simultaneously “So, he’s obviously thinking about him subconsciously.”

“Well he did just suspiciously run out of the room as soon as he mentioned his brother. There must be something more going on than him just being a ‘drop out looking for a job’.” Suguro looked at both his friends who seemed to be in agreement with him.

Out in the hall Yukio continued his conversation with his Dad. “Sorry, I was in a room full of classmates…what exactly did Sir Pheles say? Has he managed to contact Nii-san?”

“He didn’t say, he didn’t even mention Rin over the phone. Just said he had important matters to discuss, when I asked if it was related to Rin, he just made a noise. Damn demon can’t just give a straight answer.” Shiro sighed “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’d be going home soon.”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’ll come be dropping by end of the week after classes. I want to hear what Sir Pheles has to say…” Yukio pushed the red button on his phone and hung up. “Nii-san…” He turned around to see shadows moving in the light from under his dorm door. He sighed, maybe he should’ve taken the room on his own after all…

He went back into the dorm room, his roommates sat innocently on their beds, pretending to concentrate on their homework as if nothing had happened. Yukio wondered if they had been listening at the door, not that they would’ve heard much more. Yukio sighed and went back to his lesson plan.

“Everything okay?” Yukio looked up to see a concerned Suguro looking his way. He sent back a smile.

“Yes, fine. My father is going home at the end of the week, so I’m going to spend the weekend there. Provided nothing else comes up.” He said no more and went back to his work. The trio remained quiet, giving each other suspicious looks, eventually returning to their homework.

Yukio looked at his lesson plan, he then noticed all the scribbles of Rin’s name over the paper. He pinched the bridge of his nose; this was getting ridiculous. First the dreams, now he was unconsciously writing his brother’s name everywhere. He screwed up the paper and threw it into a nearby paper waste bin. He pulled out another piece of paper and started again, finishing the lesson plan before going to bed for another restless night.

Chapter Text

Rin had now explored every nook and cranny of his room…and was now laid back on his bed tracing the patterns of the ceiling in the air with his finger. He’d managed to find a change of clothes in the dresser. He was now wearing black jeans with a chain and a dark blue t-shirt. He also found some black combat boots and a white hooded jacket. The jacket was long at the back, past his knees, with a split in the middle which seemed convenient for his tail. He wondered who picked out the clothes, and where they had come from. But didn’t dwell on it thankful to have something comfortable to wear other than a formal suit.

But now he was bored, he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to leave his room or even if he wanted to. He’d probably get lost trying to navigate the castle and he wasn’t paying much attention earlier when the guards had escorted him to Satan. He just felt like he was waiting for something to happen, like if he waited long enough someone would come to save him. He imagined Father Fujimoto, Yukio and the priests coming to his rescue, bashing down the doors and killing all who stood in their way… but no one was coming. He was alone down here and, in a place where humans couldn’t follow.

He looked out of the window to the purplish-red sky. He could see a bright red sun or was it a moon… he couldn’t tell if it was day or night, did they have day and night in Gehenna? He let out a long sigh, he missed the blue sky. It made him realise why demons wanted to go to Assiah, and he wondered how long he had before Satan got fed up with waiting for his chance. What exactly would he have to do for Satan to keep him happy? The thought made him dread what was going to happen to him down here.

Flopping back on his pillow he stared at the demon heart still floating above his chest, calm blue flame fluttering around it. Why did something everyone made out to be so evil, look so beautiful?

Was he evil just because he was a demon? All this crap was giving him a headache…or maybe it was those horn nubs on his head…either way his head hurt. He closed his eyes briefly before a clang of metal outside the door sent him bolt upright. A loud bang on his door followed, and another before the door was kicked open. Bright red flames burst through the door as two figures walked into the room.

Instinctively Rin’s own flames surrounded him and he failed to suppress the growl that resonated from his throat.

A female voice laughed within the red flames before the fiery woman emerged, followed by the green-haired demon patting off a few flames from his already tattered jacket, looking rather annoyed at the woman.

“Did you have to flame up so much?” Examining his jacket with a pout.

“Oh please, a few more holes in that rag won’t hurt” She huffed, rolling her eyes at the other. She stood there confidently in an outfit that reminded Rin of a slave-girl Leia.

“Father might be upset you killed the guards.” The green-haired demon said looking back at the charred bodies on the floor.

“Tch, they can be replaced. They should’ve known better than to get in my way and deny me access to my little brother.” Finally turning her attention to Rin, a moment of awe crossed her face at the sight of the blue flames surrounding him, before carefully morphing into displeasure.

“So, it’s true. The Runt does have father’s flames-” She scoffed. Rin growled in response; bearing his fangs – his instincts acting on their own “-and a death wish as well it seems.”

She started towards him glaring with contempt.

Coming to his senses, Rin began backing up, but wasn’t fast enough when the fiery demoness jumped and landed behind him grabbing his tail. She pulled and Rin yelled falling to the floor in pain, flames dissipating. Still holding on to his tail, the demoness dug her stiletto heel into Rin’s back and knelt down on the other knee beside him. Leaning in close to whisper in his ear.

“Father may have let you live for now dear brother, but I’m sure he will tire of you soon enough. And when he does, I will relish making you squirm…” She licked the side of Rin’s face, he shuddered at the sensation. She stood up and released Rin’s tail.

“Now get up, Runt.”

He wasn’t too fond of this new nickname…

Rin managed to push himself up to a sitting position, leaning his back on the bed. He wiped his face of the moisture left behind and glared up at the demoness before him. She crossed her arms; cocking her hip to the side and glared right back.

 A crunch from the doorway drew them both out of the awkwardness. They both looked to the green-haired demon casually crunching on a lollypop, whilst watching their exchange.

“What?” He said tonelessly with another crunch.

Rin suppressed a laugh. The female sighed and rolled her eyes, looking back to him, lips twisting into a smile.

“So, I take it you’re not here to kill me then?” Rin spoke up, looking back to the woman.

“Hmph, Father would have my head if I harmed his precious Son.” She let out a disgruntled sigh.

“I don’t think he’d care that much, as long as my body is in one piece…”

“Yes well, in this case, Father has requested me to train you. I will not disobey his orders.” The woman grimaced.

“Train me with what exactly?” Rin questioned.

“What else?” She fired up her flames and they danced around her effortlessly. “My name is Iblis; I am the Demon King of Fire. I am to help you master control over your own flames.”

“Who is he then?” Rin asked pointing to the green-haired demon stood by the door. The demon took note of his inclusion and walked over to stand with his fiery sibling. Crouching down in front of Rin at eye level.

“I’m Amaimon, Father asked me to play with you.” He gave a hungry smile which in turn sent shivers down Rin’s spine. He leant in closer invading Rin’s personal space “Do you want to play?”.

Rin gulped and shook his head “Not really…”

Amaimon pouted and let out a disappointed whine. “No fair.”

“Patience, Amaimon.” Iblis grabbed Amaimon’s collar and pulled him back from Rin, he let out a sigh of relief. Amaimon grumbled something in response but Rin couldn’t hear it.

“Now, on your feet Runt. Follow us.” Iblis and Amaimon moved back towards the door.

“My name is Rin, not Runt” Rin shouted back in annoyance.

“Ri- Oh my that deluded witch even named you after Father…” Iblis rolled her eyes and began to walk to the door.

“Witch? Wait, how am I named after Fa-Satan?” Rin caught himself before repeating Iblis, he wasn’t prepared to accept Satan as anything more than the demon he was. Rin managed to stand and walked towards Iblis and the door.

Iblis paused and looked back at him thoughtfully for a moment.

“When Father first appeared in Assiah, your Mother had given him the name ‘Rinka’. It was only after he had developed an ego of his own, he became known as Satan. So, in a way she named you after Rinka.”

“So, you knew my Mother?” Rin almost looked pleading, he’d never wanted to know always taking whatever Shiro had told him to heart and not prying further. But now that the information was so close, he almost wanted to grasp at it.

“I am not here to talk about the Witch.” Iblis grimaced.

“Don’t let Father here you calling her that.” Amaimon chimed in.

“Father already knows my stance on that subject.” Iblis growled back. Amaimon shrugged in response.

Rin was confused, he had no idea what they were talking about but apparently, his Mother was a witch. He wasn’t sure what to think about that. Satan would know more, but he didn’t really want another talk with him. Satan hadn’t seemed too enthusiastic to talk about the past either. A story for another time he had said.

Rin was dragged out of his thoughts by a slap on the back of his head. He looked to Iblis who was standing by the door, Amaimon was stood next to him and had been the one to knock him in the head. Nodding towards the door, Amaimon grabbed Rin’s shoulder and pushed him into the corridor.

Rin took in the scene in front of him. Charred remains on the floor of two large bodies, blackened armour and walls like an explosion had taken place. The smell of charcoal was fresh in the air. Rin took care to walk around the bodies not disturbing what remains were left, covering his mouth as he did so. Amaimon didn’t have the same sentiments when kicking the armour aside and walking through the charred bodies causing them to crumble beneath his feet. Grabbing another lollypop from his pocket and casually sticking it in his mouth. He noticed Rin watching him and pulled out another, offering it to Rin with a blank look on his face. Rin hesitated whilst trying to process the situation in his head.

The Demon King was offering him a lollypop…

Before he had a chance to refuse Amaimon had shoved the lolly into Rin’s pocket and marched off to walk with Iblis.

He honestly wished he’d just left his room now when he had the chance. Since being lost in this castle seemed the better option than wherever he was headed with these two, and whatever they had planned for him. He contemplated the idea of running in the opposite direction, but decided that would probably land him in even more trouble when they caught up to him…

Rin had no idea where they were headed, but he was sure if they had been headed back to the throne room again, they would’ve been there already. No, the corridors also looked somewhat different, if anything it seemed like it was getting lighter. Were there more windows here or something.

Before long they had arrived at some large double doors, larger than the ones to the throne room it seemed. They were made of solid weighted metal and seemed like nothing would budge them. Rin looked to Iblis and Amaimon who both seemed to be waiting for something. Suddenly with a loud groaning creek, the doors began to open inwards, the light from inside the room nearly blinding Rin.

Inside the doors was a huge Arena, Rin gulped. He wondered how this fit into the castle as it looked huge, the ceiling was high enough it seemed like you could fit another castle inside. There was a large seating area going around the arena and a few balconies above that. There seemed enough seating to fit a pretty decent sized audience, but it was empty. At least all but one seat was empty, sat in the highest seat in the centre of his own personal balcony, was Satan. He sat there silently watching the Arena, his eyes focussed on Rin, who immediately turned his gaze away.

He looked behind at the closing doors, only then did he notice all the scratches…no, deep claw marks going up the length of both doors. Rin felt something drop in the pit of his stomach, what was going to happen here.

Iblis bowed down in respect to her father’s presence. Rin stood awkwardly behind her before Amaimon had grabbed his hair and kicked the back of his knees. Rin forcefully fell onto his hands and knees; head pushed to the ground by Amaimon now also bowing. Rin pulled his hands into fists, scraping the dirt from the arena under his nails.

Satan sneered, and promptly gave a nod, Iblis and Amaimon stood again. Rin, dragged back to his feet, was then pushed into the arena by Amaimon.

“Stand in the centre of the arena.” Iblis ordered.

Rin hesitated but did as he was told. As much as he hated it, he was out-numbered by two older and stronger demons and Satan was watching too closely for comfort. He reached the centre of the arena sparing a glance to Satan in the distance, before looking back to Iblis and Amaimon.

“Right, now I want you to summon your flames.”

Summon his flames? How the hell was he supposed to do that? He’d only just got them and they seemed to have a mind of their own most of the time. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate as if hoping they would just appear on their own. But nothing happened.

Satan looked rather displeased.

 “What’s wrong? You had no trouble earlier.” Iblis shot him an irritated glance.

“I-I uh don’t really know how to summon them at will. They just happen when I’m upset or angry. Like a reflex I guess.”

Iblis groaned pinching the bridge of her nose “Ugh, infants…” she muttered to herself.

“Because you have been separated from your Demon heart for so long your powers are behaving like an infant’s. They act on instinct and are led by your emotions. The more you use them and train with them, the easier they will manifest and your control will improve.”

Rin nodded as he looked down at his heart.

“Also—” Rin looked back up to Iblis as she spoke “—the sooner you come to accept your demonic nature, the sooner you will master your power.” Rin grimaced at that. He still wasn’t prepared to accept the whole being a demon thing. He’d never asked for this power he had just wanted to be accepted. His family had been the only ones to actually accept him for the way he was growing up, at least that’s what he’d thought…until his powers awakened. Now he just felt back at square one with even more problems if he couldn’t control his flames.

“But right now, we need to see what these flames of yours can do, and if you can’t summon them, we’ll have to force them out of you.” She shot him a cocky smile.

“Wait, what? How do you—"

Looking around for a moment she suddenly fixated on Amaimon. Smiling eagerly at him.

“Amaimon, if you would.” She snapped her fingers pointing towards Rin in the middle of the room.

With that, Amaimon’s ears perked up and he smiled excitedly. Rin wasn’t sure what was happening until Amaimon jumped towards him claws outstretched, Rin just about dodged before yelling back at Iblis.

“What the hell?!”

“As I said, I want to see how strong your flames are, I need to see what I’m dealing with.” Iblis shrugged and jumped up to the balcony with Satan, propelling herself with her own fire. Rin was now left alone in the arena floor with Amaimon, who had a hungry look on his face. He turned his attention back to Rin and grinned and big toothy grin before launching himself across the room towards him.

Rin’s instincts finally kicked in and his flames manifested themselves around him enough make Amaimon hesitate briefly before continuing his attack. Rin had been in plenty of fights throughout his life, he was happy that he knew how to fight, especially now. But this was different, he was fighting a demon. Not just any demon either, this was a Demon KING and one that particularly loved to fight from the looks of it.

If Rin tried to block, Amaimon could slash his arms with his claws. He could tell he was super strong as well. The only thing Rin seemed to have that might deter Amaimon was his flames. But even as they were, they didn’t seem too threatening to him, he needed more. Right now, Rin was nothing but a stronger than average human with blue flames that he couldn’t control.

Amaimon lunged at Rin; claws outstretched, leaving him no time to dodge. But Rin managed to grab Amaimon’s arm with his claws about an inch from his face. Without hesitating, Amaimon swung his leg into Rin’s stomach knocking him across the arena and into the wall with enough force to cause a crack. Rin managed to push himself onto his hands and knees. He coughed up a metallic tasting fluid and spat it to the ground, the bright red contrasted with the dull sandy floor.

“He sure can take a beating I’ll give him that.” Iblis stated as she overlooked the fight below. Amaimon was giving Rin no chances to fight back, his flames still a flicker around him barely enough to be a threat.

“What is your plan here, Iblis?” Satan spoke not taking his eyes off of Rin.

“I’m sure you sensed it too, didn’t you?” She looked down to Satan. His interest piqued; he finally drew his attention away from Rin.

“I did. First when I broke that sword. Then briefly again during our chat in the throne room. He seems to be unconsciously suppressing it though.” Satan turned back to the fight scratching his beard.

“Hm, I felt it when we broke into his room, he flared up in a defensive manner. I don’t suppose it helped he was still fairly weak when his heart was unsealed, he was out for nearly a week.”

“No, but it had to be done. The sooner he gets used to this power, the faster he will become a stronger vessel for those flames. That and sending the broken sword back to Samael was a perfect way to send a message.” He grinned to himself. “I take it he’ll need new guards by his door, I had heard the lower demons complaining of an explosion…”

“They got in my way.” She said without flinching “In regards to Samael, Amaimon said he was rather… ‘pissed’ at your interference with his plans. But I’m sure he has other tricks up his sleeve. This is Samael after all.” Satan nodded in response. “Do you still plan to use the boy’s body, when it's ready?”

Satan didn’t answer, choosing to sit in silence as his only response. His plans for Rin were his business. If he could keep Rin by his side along with obtaining a suitable vessel, it would make claiming Assiah an easy task. But Rin wouldn’t be so easily turned against those humans. He’d planted the seeds of doubt, but now they needed to grow.

Iblis, annoyed as she was with the silence, knew better than to press the matter.

Their conversation was brought to a halt by an explosion down below and Amaimon flying into the opposing wall. There was a huge dust cloud where the explosion came from and a blue hue radiating from within.

Rin pushed himself up off the floor, wiping the blood from his jaw. Amaimon didn’t give him any more time to recover before slamming into him again and again.

“Hm, I was hoping for more of a fight. Everyone seemed so obsessed with you, even older brother was annoyed you had been taken. But I don’t understand why; you’re so weak.”

He continued his barrage of attacks on Rin who was currently pinned to the floor with Amaimon straddled over his waist. All he could do was raise his arms to block what he could of Amaimon’s attacks. His vision was blurred but he could still make out the figures of Satan and Iblis in the stands overlooking the arena. Did Satan change his mind, and want him dead? Or was this really just part of his so-called demon training?

Amaimon was relentless, and Rin was ready to just give up and let him end it there and then. He had no home, no family and no place in either Assiah or Gehenna it seemed. Too demon to be a human and too human to be a demon.

Voices were screaming in his head, all the times he’d been called a demon flooding back to him. All the times he was reprimanded for fighting back and made to feel like it was wrong. Like he was wrong. But really, he was just being what he was born to be; a Demon. He had tried so hard to be human, to be accepted. He pretended not to notice the cold and fearful looks he got from his family when he slipped up, but they haunted him nonetheless.

He was sick of being knocked down. He wanted to be free. He wanted to burn.

All of a sudden, his flames exploded out of him knocking Amaimon across the room to the opposing wall. The explosion sent up a dust cloud from the sandy floor.

Satan arose from his seat to get a better look. Iblis joined him on the edge of the balcony.

The dust started to clear and stood in the centre, in a pillar of violent blue flames, was Rin. Satan gave a menacing grin.

Rin stood there for a moment looking at his hands, long black claws now graced his fingers. He raised his head and looked over to Amaimon in the distance standing up from where he’d been thrown. A deep guttural growl radiated from his throat as he moved towards him, flames growing even higher.

“Burn…” Rin’s voice was low and gravelly, almost monstrous.

His walk turned to a run and he pounced on top of Amaimon engulfing them both in blue flames as he clawed away at him.

“He’s finally thinking like a demon.” Iblis stated. Satan completely ignoring her in favour of watching his son rip into Amaimon. The glee was practically emanating from his face.

After a while, it was apparent Rin was going for the kill and was not letting up. Amaimon was starting to deteriorate under the intenseness of Rin’s flames. His screams soon filling the arena.

“Father, we should stop him before Amaimon’s vessel is destroyed.”

“Very well. I have seen enough for now.” Satan sounded almost disappointed at having to stop the fight. Seeing the amount of power radiating from Rin so early was pleasing. But he wasn’t going to risk Amaimon’s vessel, he was still useful to him in Assiah. Even if just to keep an eye on Samael.

He descended down to the arena himself, Rin wasn’t going to let up easily not if he thought someone was weak. Iblis had jumped down ahead to pry Rin away from Amaimon and was fending him off herself. Luckily, she was still the stronger demon, despite his blue flames. He was fighting like a wild demon, blinded by his rage. She managed to floor him long enough to get a grip on his tail again. He squirmed under her but stayed relatively still so as not to cause himself more pain.

Satan approached and stood at his head.

“Rin, enough!” His voice was a warning in itself. But Satan’s presence alone was enough to stop Rin. Even in his current state, he recognised Satan’s authority and power. Rin looked up at Satan, his expression was a mix of rage and pleading.

“Want—” Rin started, his conscious seemed split in two and both were fighting for superiority. “Want to burn…” His hands rolled up into fists, claws stabbing into his palms. Blood pooling onto the sand below.

“What do you want to burn, Rin?” Satan crouched down to meet Rin’s gaze.

There was a pause before the low gravelly voice came back “Everything…”.

Satan smiled darkly and held his hand out to Rin.

Chapter Text

The demon in Rin moved to take his Father’s hand but stopped suddenly.

With a look of pain and fear Rin momentarily regained control of himself, slapping Satan’s hand aside. Iblis twisted at his tail causing Rin to buckle over in pain. The demon inside his head screaming for release. It was the worse headache Rin had ever experienced.

He screamed on the floor, gripping and pulling on his hair, claws now scraping gashes into his scalp tainting his hair red with blood.

“Ngh-argh! Stop it! Please!”

His flames rose and flared violently again. Iblis had been about to disable him again, still gripping his tail, but Satan rose a hand stopping her. He motioned for her to leave. Reluctantly she let go of Rin’s tail, which immediately wrapped itself around his leg to avoid further pain. Iblis backed up and went to retrieve Amaimon in his semi-unconscious state from where she had pulled Rin off him. She carried him out of the arena; doors closing behind them. Leaving Rin and Satan alone again.

Blood was soon dripping from Rin’s head and onto the sand below. Satan took gripped hold of his wrists, pulling them away from his head. Holding them down tightly so that Rin could not do any more damage to himself.

“Rin, look at me.” His voice was calm but authoritative. It reminded Rin of Shiro; it didn’t help that he sort of looked like him as well.

Rin looked up his face a mix of emotions. Tears were falling down his face whilst his eyes were flashing between normal and warped. The urge to burn everything was so strong and was pounding at the back of his mind, like a monster trying to get out. Rin was still fighting against it, trying to push it back down to the depths whence it came.

“What’s happening to me…?”

“Your demon ego is fighting for freedom. Since you are currently separate entities, he wants dominance over your body.”

Satan’s grip was still tight on his wrists. Rin was shaking under his hold, he was scared.

“How do I make it stop?” He flinched in pain, pushing down another throb. “This is my body!”

Satan laughed. “Do you think that this is just a demon possessing you? Your demon ego is part of who you are! It won’t go away it will always be a threat in the back of your mind.”

“So, what am I supposed to do…”

“What else?” Satan gave Rin a sly smirk “You can either embrace your demon side and join with it. Which, will further your progress of controlling your power. Or…” He looked Rin in the eyes “You can continue to fight it until it takes over by force. Taking away any control you once had.”

“I’m sure you’ve had experience of what happens when you’ve lost control of it before now.”

A look of realisation dawned on Rin’s face as he could recall events of his childhood. Blacking out and sending another child to the hospital, all because he lost control. The realisation slowly morphed to anguish. He always just assumed he had issues controlling his anger – now it seemed like this thing had been playing at the back of his mind the whole time, influencing him but never truly able to break free of the seal.

Another throb hit the back of his head causing him to flinch in pain.

Satan started to wonder how stubborn he was going to be. Then again if anything like Yuri – very. He decided to take pity on the boy, bringing forth his own flames and surrounding them both. Rin tried to pull away in fear but Satan kept the grip on his arms forcing him to stay put.
The flames didn’t burn him or hurt at all, just like his own. They were comforting and warm, so much so the screaming and throbbing in his head finally stopped. Rin’s own flames dimmed down, just licking on the surface of his body. The urge to burn and destroy now sinking back down to the depths of his mind.

Rin let out a sigh of relief.

“I have calmed it for now. But it will get harder to suppress from now on. Make your choice before it takes over permanently.” Satan finally released Rin’s wrists, slight bruising apparently where he had held on so tight. But would soon heal. Rin rubbed his wrists to ease the pain slightly.

“What’s gonna happen to me if I join with it?” Rin grimaced at the words that just left his mouth. He didn’t even want to consider it, but he feared the alternative more.

“Your mind will be whole again, completing your rebirth fully. Your power will come more naturally—” Satan spouted the positives like they were nothing before Rin cut him off.

“No! What will happen to ME?! I don’t care about any of that I just want to know if… if I will still be myself!”

Satan looked away thoughtfully, there was no answer he could give that would make Rin any happier about it. He would rather Rin knew the truth and was prepared to make the sacrifice knowing what would happen. Being honest would also put him in a better position than Shiro and the other twin when Rin finally confronts his family, there was no denying it will eventually happen.

He turned back to Rin, with seriousness even he wasn’t aware he was capable of.

“No.”

Rin’s face dropped at the revelation. He was stunned Satan was so blunt about it, thinking he would just tell Rin what he wanted to hear. But he was actually telling the truth. He wouldn’t still be the same person anymore. But his only other option was being that uncontrollable monster.

Since he had been in Gehenna, it was like he was faced with constant ultimatums that he didn’t want to deal with.

Satan held his hand out again to Rin. He ignored it and struggled to his feet alone.

“You will still be conscious and your actions will be your own. But embracing your demon side will change you, mentally.”

“I can’t decide this right now. I don’t want to be an out of control beast but…I don’t want to lose myself either.”

“Very well. When you have made your choice come and see me. Iblis will still be taking you for training in the meantime.”

Rin had a defeated look at that, he didn’t want a repeat of today.

“There will be no more fighting until you have made your choice.” He turned and began to walk towards the door before stopping briefly to say one final thing “However…” turning back to face Rin again “If you do lose control permanently. That is when your body is forfeit to me.”

Rin looked defeated and gave a weak nod and followed Satan out of the Arena.

Rin opened his eyes, to a room that felt strangely familiar. When had he fallen asleep? He looked around confused by his current surroundings, the brightness of the room practically blinding him. When had Gehenna been so bright?

His eyes adjusted and he realised he wasn’t where he thought he was.

It was the room he shared with Yukio at the monastery, he looked around taking in the pleasant view. Feeling elated, was he really home?

The morning sun was shining through the window with a welcoming gentle breeze on his face. He could hear the faint sound of someone breathing. His eyes wandered over to the opposite side of the room. Seeing a familiar shape under a pile of blankets, messy brown hair poking out of the top, those dorky glasses on the nightstand.

Had he been dreaming…? Or was this the dream? It felt real, but so did Gehenna. He sat up and slid his feet on to the wooden floor, scratching his head roughly before standing. He felt off balance, he turned to see his tail was gone. His breath hitched as he quietly but quickly left the room, making his way to the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror taking in his appearance. He was human again. Dark hair and all.

What was going on? Had he been dreaming this whole time or was his head playing some sort of sick joke on him?

He left the bathroom and stood in the hallway for a moment. Silence. There was no bustle of the other priests, or of Father Fujimoto making breakfast. It felt wrong. On returning to his room Yukio was now sat up in his bed, his head in one hand, a gun in the other. Rin froze in the doorway, eyeing the gun. Feeling like something had dropped in the pit of his stomach.

“Yukio…? Why do you have that?”

Wake up.

Your brother is an exorcist. They all fear you. Demon. Burn them all…

Voices echoed in his head.

Rin put a hand up to his head, teeth clenched in pain.

“No – Shut up!”

Wake up.

Yukio raised his head up to look at Rin, who was still staring at the gun. Yukio clicked off the safety and stood up, gun still by his side. Rin looked up to meet his brother’s gaze, only then did he see the fear and anger in them. Yukio raised the gun to Rin’s head.

Wake up now.

“You’re not my brother. You’re nothing but a demon wearing his skin…” Tears formed in his eyes as his finger tensed on the trigger “You’re the reason my Father is dead!”

Rin flinched, feeling his heartache in his chest at the thought of Father Fujimoto dead. Rin raised his hands to reach for the gun, only to see the blue flames that fluttered around them, black claws instead of his fingernails. His tail swishing around behind him. This wasn’t real, it had to be a nightmare and he wanted out of it now. Yukio wouldn’t pull a gun on him…would he?

“Yukio… pleas—”

“Shut up! I won’t listen. My family is dead! And it’s your fault!” With that Yukio pulled the trigger. “Filthy demon…” Rin just barely made out his final words before everything faded to black.

Rin’s eyes snapped open and he yelled out in pain. He sat up gripping his chest, heaving and struggling to breathe, his flames flaring around him before he heard a gasp from the room. The demon servant girl from the previous day stood in the middle of the room with a trolley. A look of fear on her face and visibly shaking at the sight of the flames.

Something came over Rin. The fear she emanated sent a strange feeling bubbling up inside of him and he let out a low growl.

Before she had a chance to react, a demonic looking Rin had pounced on her. Knocking the trolley over and spilling the contents over the floor. Pinning her to the ground claws dug into her arms, he could feel the fear radiating off her and it made him shudder with delight. She screamed as he sunk his fangs into the crook of her neck.

The taste of blood on his tongue nearly sent him into a frenzy, he wanted more. He sat up to admire his prey. The fearful demon squirming under his hold, blood running down her shoulder. He licked his lips and grinned.

It had been a few hours and was now lunchtime, servants were buzzing around the castle. The matron noticed the trolley for the new Prince’s room was still there. Had the servant to that room shirked their duties? She decided to take it herself and reprimand the servant later when she found out who it was. Far too many demons under her command to remember them all, plus with Lord Satan’s temper, it was a high turnover when the occasional servant did something wrong and got burned alive. From what she had heard the Prince seemed rather timid in comparison.

On arrival at the Prince’s room, there were no guards outside – obviously still waiting to be replaced after Iblis’ outburst. But something else stood out, a strong smell of blood. There was nothing in the corridor that she could see. She pushed the trolley up to the door and gave a small knock. There was no answer.

She knocked again, but still no response. Did the Prince leave his room to eat with the others instead? Surely Satan would’ve updated the service demons if such a thing had happened. She knocked one more time before opening the door a crack. She was hit in the face with the strong smell of blood and decay, she pushed the door open to see what had happened, fearing the Prince had gotten hurt himself.

But what she saw before her was not the Prince, but the missing servant, what was left of her anyway. She was surrounded by a pool of her own blood, a trail of which was leading to the adjacent bathroom. The door was ajar but the light off. She wondered if she should risk checking on the Prince or find someone more capable of dealing with him, he certainly wasn’t as timid as she was led to believe. But then what should she have expected from a child of Satan himself.

She took a breath and steeled herself, pushing the new trolley into the room and confidently walking to the bathroom door. Carefully stepping around the pool of blood not even sparing a glance for the dead servant on the floor. She would end up the same way if this didn’t go well. Walking up to the door she could hear sobs and panicked breathing from inside. Pushing open the door a bit more and feeling around for the light, she turned it on.

The blood trail led to a corner of the bathroom where Rin sat huddled up and shaking. He was covered in blood. He held fearful look on his face when he realised someone had entered the room.

“Get out! Get away from me!” He croaked, tears falling down his face leaving smears through the blood.

Without hesitating the Matron was in front of Rin cupping his face and forcing him to look at her.

She had a long stern face with a light purple skin tone, narrow red eyes with yellow slits and two long straight horns atop her head. She wore a long black conservative dress with a white apron tied around her waist.

“My dear boy you are a mess. Let’s get you cleaned up”

He recoiled at the touch and pushed her away growling at her, his flames were a flicker but still there. “Don’t touch me!”

The Matron gave a sigh and knelt down in the trail of blood directly in front of Rin, not giving a care for her dress. Tilting her head, trying to make eye contact with him. He buried his face into his arms, that were wrapped around his legs. He let out a shaken breath.

“I killed her…” His voice was a whisper, but with the Matron’s demon hearing she had no trouble hearing what he said.

“Tell me what happened, Your Highness.” Rin flinched, being reminded of his status here. He raised his head to look at the older demon. “Or would you rather speak to your Father? I can take you to him.” He would, but not the same one she was referring to…

“No, not him.” He managed to croak out. “Please…” He gave her a pleading look. Now that she could see he face she could see the blood smeared on his face. But she gave him a calm smile.

“Fine, but you will have to speak to him about this eventually. For now, just tell me what happened.”

“I-I was dreaming and when I woke up…I dunno, I just wasn’t myself…She must’ve come in to bring breakfast and saw the flames. She got scared.” He paused briefly “I felt her fear and it made me feel…it made me feel happy.” The Matron nodded letting him continue “Then the next thing I knew she was dead--” He took in a sharp breath “—and I was covered in her blood. I could still taste it in my mouth—oh god what’s wrong with me?!”

“Nothing, Your Highness. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens a lot. Especially in this place.” Rin looked up to her “Lord Satan has gone through many servants. As have the Ba’al. It’s a job risk I’m afraid. You have done nothing that they themselves haven’t already done plenty of times. I mean you remember what happened to the guards?”

“I don’t care! I’m not…I’m not like them! Just because they do it doesn’t make it right! She didn’t deserve to die…and now I have to live with what I did. I have to hear her screams in my head and the smell and taste of her blood are still there!”

“Oh, my boy. You are still very much human, aren’t you?” She gave him a sympathetic look.

“Is that such a bad thing?”

She frowned at him briefly but her features softened again and she sighed.

“Considering who your Father is and where you are, probably. If Demon’s sense you have a weakness, they will exploit it.”

“But if I could just get back to Assiah—”

“You would be killed.” She interrupted. “You obviously have no control over your demon urges right now, and if you lost control up there you would have exorcists all over you.”

“My Brother is an exorcist – I’m sure he’d protect—” He suddenly remembered his dream and stopped. He clenched his fist and pushed down the rising anger in his chest, a dull throb at the back of his mind.

“Calm yourself, child. Let us get you cleaned up before you go planning any escape attempts to Assiah.” She held out a hand to him.

He tentatively took it and allowed her to help him. She helped him out of his clothes and ran a bath. He was almost too out of it to care that he was stood in his underwear whilst this demon took care of him. She placed a towel by the bath and left the room so Rin could bathe in privacy. Proceeding to clean the mess in the main room whilst he was occupied.

When Rin was finished, he wrapped the towel around himself and moved to the bedroom, hesitating at the door. His hand shook as he hovered it over the handle. He was afraid to see the bloody mess he had created and be reminded of what he had done. He felt himself slipping into a panic and fell to the floor trying to remember how to breathe. He screamed.

Matron opened the door with a worried look, Rin was sat on the floor in the doorway. His hands on his head as he panicked. She grabbed a nearby robe and draped it around Rin.

“You do not have to fret, your Highness. The room is back to the way it was.”

Rin looked up and glanced around the room. Not a trace of blood was left, the body was nowhere to be seen.

He looked up at the demon in confusion.

“Why are you helping me like this?” He had assumed all demons or most to be evil and manipulative or bloodthirsty and violent. Admittedly some were but even his so-called Father was causing him a bit of shock with the way he was being treated.

The matron looked somewhat taken aback by the question. But returned a kind smile. “My dear, it’s my job. I wouldn’t be the Matron if I didn’t take it seriously.”

She wheeled the trolley she had brought up over to the table.

“Now would you like your food here, or would you rather go and eat in the dining hall? The Ba’al have more than likely moved on by now, so you’d be sat alone.”

He thought about that for a moment, after what had happened in here, he didn’t feel comfortable casually eating in here anymore. To be honest he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep in here either.

“Would it be a pain to just move me to another room? Even though it looks clean, I don’t really want to stay here.”

“Hm. I see your point. Come to the dining hall first then, we shall get you fed and I will speak with Lord Satan about arranging another room.”

Rin froze “You’re not gonna tell him about what happened are you?” a look of panic drawn over his features.

“I’m afraid I will need to explain the situation, your Highness. I’m sure everything will be fine. Follow me.” She didn’t give him a chance to argue before throwing some clothes at him to get changed. She then ushered him out the door.

In the throne room, Satan was sat mulling over the previous day’s events. Joined by three of the Demon Kings.

“How is Amaimon recovering?” He said turning to Iblis.

“He’s fine if anything he’s quite eager to fight with the Runt again.” Satan raised an eyebrow at the name, Iblis shrugged and smirked. Her little brother was looking slightly more impressive now, but he was still the runt of the family if you didn’t count the human sibling anyway.

“He didn’t take too kindly to losing though, he might have less restraint next time. You know what Amaimon’s like when he’s riled up.” Astaroth, the suited man with a paper bag on his head; covered in rotting mushrooms, spoke.

Satan nodded.

“It might be wise to keep them separated for now. At least until Rin has more control. We want him to embrace his demon side, not be overcome with it.”

Iblis gave him a questioning look.

“You’ve decided to keep him, haven’t you? Rather than taking his body when it has acclimated to the flames, you want to keep him with you.” She looked a bit annoyed at the prospect. Hadn’t it always been the plan to find the boy and take his body as a vessel?

“You have a problem with my changing of plans, Iblis?” He glared at her, sending a spike a fear through her. She backed up and lowered her head.

“Of course not, Father! I just—”

“You just felt you would question me again, as you did 16 years ago?”

Iblis fell silent, head hung in shame she bit her lip. The other two present watching silently, the tension in the room had risen.

“Egyn informs me that Lucifer has made progress in Assiah.”

“Yes, but even Lucifer is not at full health. Your last body only lasted a little more than three to four years.”

“I want the Exorcists to pay for what they did to me and Yuri.” A low growl forming in his throat “And for then hiding my own flesh and blood and raising him as a human - to be used as a weapon against me!” His fists clenched tightly “Shiro will pay.”

Iblis shot up “Wait, I thought he was dead?”

Astaroth stepped forward “Amaimon reported he survived…just. That priest is quite the resilient one.”

“He was one of the Azazel clones, right? Like Father’s vessel?” Egyn asked. Iblis nodded.

“Maybe we should go finish him off.” Iblis gave an amused huff as she looked to Astaroth. The corners of Satan’s mouth twisted into a smile.

“No. It’s quite fortunate that he survived.”

“Father?” Iblis gave Satan a confused look.

“The sword was the first message. The next one will be Rin himself. We just have to get him ready. Rin is not to know of Shiro’s survival though, not yet.”

“I don’t want to be questioning Father, but I feel you underestimate his loyalty to those humans. He is angry with them but I don’t think he would hurt them.”

“Not yet, but there is still time for him to change. Once he stops fighting his inner demon, he will see things differently.”

They were interrupted by the main doors opening. Matron walked in and quickly down the aisle towards the four demons, who all seemed to be glaring at her. She reached the area directly in front of the throne and bowed low.

“I’m am sorry for the intrusion my Lords and Lady.” She kept her voice as even as she could.

“Matron, it is unusual for you to be out of your hole, what’s happened now?” Satan gave her a questioning look.

“It’s the Prince, Lord Satan. He has requested another room. There was…an incident this morning, resulting in the death of one of my servants. The mess itself has been cleaned up but the Prince was quite shaken up about it and is not comfortable to remain there.”

His eyes widened slightly as did the eyes of the others, his interest piqued.

“Incident? Death? Tell me more.” He held a sickening smile on his face that made the Matron run cold.

“I had arrived hours after the incident occurred. The servant in question had been spooked by the sudden appearance of the Prince’s flames and he attacked. When I found him, the room was covered in blood and he was shaking in a corner of the bathroom. Apparently in shock.”

Satan let a small laugh slip before standing. Matron ever so slightly flinched, she tried her best not to show fear in from of her Lord but sometimes his aura was far too intimidating.

“Fine, you can organise a new room. Where is he now?”

“He is currently in the dining hall, my Lord.”

Satan nodded for her to leave, she gave a quick bow and skittered off out of the throne room. He turned back to the Demon Kings, with a smug grin.

“See, he’s already becoming more like a demon. All he needed was that little push. Get him some more training Iblis, we’ll keep Amaimon away at least until he shows a little more control.”

“Yes, Father.” She bowed - hiding her grimace in the process.

“Let us go join our little Prince.” Satan beckoned the others to follow him and they all left the throne room, making their way to the dining hall.

Chapter Text

Rin sat alone in the dining hall; the silence was comforting. Matron had gone to fix his room situation but not before providing him with a table full of food. His stomach grumbled; he was so hungry but all he could do was stare at the food in front of him. Poking bits around his plate with a fork. The demon girls face still fresh in his mind he really didn’t feel like eating, regardless whether his body was telling him otherwise.

He reluctantly put a squishy purple vegetable in his mouth, shuddering at the strange texture, and swallowed. He moved to poke into another blue one when the doors to the dining hall burst open and his fork screeched across the plate as he jumped in surprise. A burst of flame escaping his control briefly.

He had hoped he would remain alone, and he could escape back to his room before anyone found him but it looked like he was not that lucky. Then again when had he been lucky at any point in his life? Even more so in the last week!

But there stood in the doorway were the very demons he had wanted to avoid. Iblis had an annoyed grimace, this seemed to be her usual look. Whereas Satan had a smug grin. Then there were two more, he had seen them and remembered them from his first time in the throne room. But he didn’t know their names, the tiny shark demon following in behind Iblis and the creepy rotting guy with a bag on his head.

Rin tensed up as he felt their eyes on him. His lowly appetite now extinguished; hunger now forgotten in the face of the four demons in front of him. He raised his head to meet their gazes, before abruptly standing and attempting to leave. A wall of blue flame appeared before him stopping him in his tracks. He looked back to the owner of those flames, who was nonchalantly gesturing to the seat just to the right of the larger chair at the head of the table and motioned for him to sit back down. He moved slowly to the chair and parked himself back down. The others followed suit with Satan at the head of the table.

They all started filling plates with the abundance of food at the table, it was almost like the Matron had prepared for them to join him. The demons all ate in silence, Rin just stared silently at his plate, the smell of the food causing his stomach to argue with him again.

“You know if you’re that hungry then you should eat.” Rin raised his head to the source of the child-like voice. Looking at the little shark somewhat startled. “Or did you forget how to eat?” Rin was still staring; he knew it was a demon king but he couldn’t get over the fact a shark was talking to him. “Like this little brother!” Egyn proceeded to toss food into his shark mouth and chomp away at it before swallowing and gave what Rin assumed to be a grin.

“I know how to eat!” He finally snapped out of his silence. “I just… don't feel like eating.”

“What because of the mess you made of the servant?” Iblis scoffed; Rin flinched “Don’t starve yourself just because you feel a little guilt over a lowly demon like that.” Rin ignored her and sat in silence staring at his food.

“Iblis is right, the weaker you are the more likely it will happen again.” The bagged man spoke ever so politely despite his appearance, but then again, he was wearing a suit.

Rin sighed, reluctantly putting some meat on his plate. He hesitated before picking a piece up and putting it in his mouth. The meat was probably the best thing at the table, but it still tasted bitter in Rin’s mouth at the moment. After a few moments of chewing, he forced it down with a swallow.

“Who are you anyway? I saw you before but I never got your names.” Rin looked up at the two newer demon kings.

“Of course, we never got to introduce ourselves, I am Astaroth the King of Rot.” Looking at him, the fungus and rot now made sense. Rin nodded. He looked over to the little Shark.

“I am Egyn, the King of Water! I am not usually in Gehenna, and only came here to meet you; I will be returning to Assiah soon to join our older brother Lucifer.”

Rin opened his mouth to ask but was interrupted before the words came out.

“He is the King of Light and the strongest of the Demon Kings. His power is second to Fathers. He couldn’t come himself but sent me to report back.”

“Will I have to meet him as well?” He looked at Satan this time.

“If all goes to plan, there will be a time when you will meet up with Lucifer. Samael is the one to be wary of, he is the one responsible for sealing you away and hiding you. He works with the exorcists.”

Rin remained silent at that. But nodded in acknowledgement putting another piece of food to his mouth. He’d mentioned Samael before, hadn’t he? Something about sending his sword back to him. He works with the exorcists and was the one that sealed his heart away. Maybe he’d help him get out of here…

“Does Same-Sami-Samuel – Does he ever come to Gehenna?”

The other demons at the table stifled their laughs at Rin’s error pronouncing Samael’s name. Rin glared at them. Satan’s smirk dropped when he answered.

“No, he prefers to mingle with the humans. He seems to think they are entertaining. He was a weird one though. Dressed like a clown last I remember.”

“Oh…” Rin tried to hide his disappointment and concentrated on the plate of food in front of him. Awkwardly shoving another tangy vegetable in his mouth.

Satan narrowed his eyes at Rin, who was too engrossed in his plate to notice. He knew he wanted to leave, and would probably jump at the chance if he found a way out. But luckily for Satan, the only way out he knew of was through himself. There were plenty of small portals throughout Gehenna, where the lower demons would sneak into Assiah to possess someone or something. But as long as Rin was oblivious to these he would be trapped unless Satan deemed otherwise. That would not happen unless he was sure he could trust Rin.

The meal continued to relative silence. Rin was about to leave before Iblis stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going, Runt?”

“I-er,” To hide away somewhere or find Matron to take him to his new room. To find someone who might know of a way out of Gehenna. Home to his family…who lied to him. He sighed. “Nowhere.”

“You and me have training to do.”

She grabbed him by his collar dragging him out of the dining hall and down the corridor. Egyn soon returned to Assiah whilst Astaroth remained with Satan.

They arrived back at the arena; Rin’s memories of this place still as fresh as the blood that lay on the ground. This place hadn’t been cleaned at all. It made him shudder.

“You’re gonna make me fight again? After what happened yesterday?!” Rin looked at Iblis almost pleading not to make him do this again.

“No. After what happened yesterday, as much as we want you to embrace your demon side, we figured it would be better for you to get a handle on your flames before that. So you’re less likely to be a raging fireball out of control and actually use that brain of yours – assuming you do have one of course.” She said as she hit his head with her knuckle.

Rin shot her a glare, shoving her hand away but she just smirked in return. “Why did you push me yesterday then? I assumed after that you wanted me to be that demon… you both seemed happy about it anyway.”

“Yes and no. Father and I could sense that demon side in you, but it was so repressed after being under the seal for so long you would have had trouble tapping into it. So, I used Amaimon to give you a little ‘encouragement’.”
She turned to face him properly gently lifting his face up to look at her, her features softened slightly. “I told you I wanted to see your power, and I wasn’t going to get anything from you if I hadn’t forced it. Admittedly I wasn’t expecting you to overwhelm Amaimon as much as you did, so you impressed me there.”

Rin felt a sense of pride swell up in his chest. She had made it seem like she’d hated him since he got here and to hear her say that made him feel somewhat good.

 “You obviously have a lot of untapped destructive power, like Father’s. Without control over it, you will be pretty useless to Father’s plans. We as demons are pretty ruthless when we want to be, but we are in control of our actions. If you do not keep control of your own raging demon it won’t matter who it is, you will kill them. Just like that servant.”

Rin flinched at the memory of his blood-stained room and the remains of the cold lifeless body laid in the centre of it. He nodded with a grimace.

“OK. So, what sort of training is it now then, if not fighting?” Rin looked around and couldn’t see anything in the room that wasn’t there before. Except a large burlap sack sat up by the wall. Not that he could remember so many details, he wasn’t sure if that was new or not. His question was answered when Iblis walked over to retrieve it. When she returned to the centre of the arena but opened the sack to reveal it was full of candles.

“You are going to sit here and light candles until you can do it with your eyes closed.” She explained as she placed a few candles in front of him.

“Really that’s it?” Rin looked surprised, he expected something more gruesome.

“Well, it was gonna be lighting small demons but figured after this mornings incident that might be a bit too much for you. Maybe we’ll move up to that when we need a moving target…” She said with a smirk, ignoring Rin’s look of horror. She needed to break his habit of caring, but first flame control.

Rin struggled at first, not able to figure out how to call on his flames. They were still pretty instinctual and wouldn’t do much when he wasn’t out of control or emotional. Iblis tried to explain the best she could, but for something that came so naturally for her, it was difficult to explain to someone who’d had his power sealed for so long. The boy still had his heart on display for all demonkind to see, which was irritating and dangerous.

Iblis had him training on the candles for the rest of the day and by the end of it he had at least figured out how to summon the damn flames on his own. But his control was still shaky resulting in him setting the whole candle alight instead of just the wick. But still he was happy with even a little progress and it had taken his mind off the events of the morning.

Matron finally retrieved him to escort him to his new room. Which was not much different in the way of decoration, which didn’t surprise Rin. He was exhausted and immediately collapsed on his bed.

A few days went by, thankfully Rin hadn’t had more nightmares. He’d been far too tired to even dream. He had reluctantly agreed to go to the dining hall for his meals now, so as to avoid another servant getting caught off guard. Satan hadn’t sat with him, but Iblis and Astaroth had been present once or twice. He had not seen Amaimon since the arena, he was sure he was around but Satan had ordered him to behave himself and not try to fight Rin more yet. No matter how much he wanted a rematch.

Iblis was finding herself slowly warming up to the Runt, much to her dismay. She had hated the way his mother had bewitched her Father back then, but the kid didn’t seem so bad. Outside of his human tendencies, she (annoyingly) couldn’t find much to dislike about him. She felt kind of bad for him, he’d had a part of himself sealed away for so long and now it was basically tearing his mind apart trying to take over. She now wanted to help him accept his demon, ending this pain.

Rin awoke to two golden eyes staring straight back at him. He jolted up in surprise just about managing not to burst into flames. Sat in front of him on the bed in a crouched position was Amaimon.

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

Amaimon gave a disappointed look and sighed.

“I was hoping you’d fight me again but looks like you’re no fun today. Father has forbidden me from fighting you directly, so I was hoping you’d wake up wanting to fight. Like you did the servant.” He fell back onto his backside and crossed his legs on the end of the bed. “Oh well, big brother asked me to give you something anyway.”

He dug around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out a key. Handing it over, Rin just gave him a confused look.

“What am I supposed to do with a key? What am I supposed to unlock with it?” He looked around seeing if anything in his room had a lock he hadn’t thought to open. Amaimon simply shook his head.

“It’s a key to take you somewhere. I don’t know where, but you put it into any locked door. It opens like a portal. Big brother made it for you.”

“Can I use it in Gehenna?”

Amaimon shook his head “No, you need to be in Assiah.”

Rin’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“But I’m not in Assiah. Why would he give me a key that I can’t use? Who is this big brother anyway?” Rin had lost track now of how many big brothers/sisters he might have. It was getting confusing. Amaimon cocked his head to the side.

“Big brother is Samael. And it’s not hard to get to Assiah, just take the train.” Rin’s jaw dropped. Two weeks, he had been here two weeks and no one had mentioned there was a bloody train out of Gehenna. Wait, WHY was there a train out of Gehenna?

“A train?! How long has there been a train going from Assiah to Gehenna?!”

Amaimon stared at him for a moment, part of him eagerly waiting for Rin to burst into flame again.

“It’s a demon train, one of big brother’s kin. People in Assiah board it and when it returns to Gehenna it eats them.” Rin looked at the other demon in horror. He was supposed to get on a train that ate people?! “But if a demon with a vessel boards it, it’s a way for us to get to and from Gehenna without relying on a Gehenna Gate.”

Rin didn’t know what to make of any of this. There was a way out…

“Besides, I believe Father needs to be in Assiah to even summon one, which is a bit difficult since he kills all his hosts.” He shrugged as if it was nothing at all.

“So, demons don’t need to go through him to get to Assiah?”

“Demons possess people, that is our way out. We take vessels. The issue is finding the right one. But you can’t possess someone since you have a body of your own.”

Rin stared at the tiny key in his hand, wondering where it was supposed to take him. Should he risk it? Samael was the one working with the exorcists, right? Would it take him home? What if it was a trap? But the thought was tugging at him, there was a way out, a train of all things.

“Where is this train? How do I get on it?”

“It’s outside, leave the castle grounds and it’s a short way from that. I can show you, but it would mean upsetting Father. He doesn’t want you to go exploring yet.”

“Why would you show me if it meant getting him mad? What’s in it for you?” This guy was hard to read, he was under the impression they were all loyal to Satan and wanted to keep him here. But here he was explaining a way out of this hell hole.

“Fun.” He grinned whilst putting a lolly in his mouth. This guy sure liked his sweets.

Rin gave him a questioning look but didn’t dwell on it. He wanted to get out, he had to talk to Yukio.

“So, will you show me where this train is?”

“Yes, but I have a condition. You will play with me whenever I want.”

Rin grimaced, there had to be a condition didn’t there? Was it worth the risk? If he could hold back the rage this time, he might able to fight him without losing control. He has been practising with his flames so much the last week, surely he was in better control of them now. Then saying that his heart still wouldn’t hide away like Iblis had said it should.

“Fine, but no playing straight away. I have stuff I need to take care of in Assiah first.”

“That’s fine. When do you want to leave? The sun will be setting soon, so if you want to go today, now would be the best time.” Hadn’t he just woken up? Was it evening in Assiah already? Then again, the days and nights seemed to mesh together in Gehenna, it was always dark.

“How do we get out of this place without being stopped by guards or Satan? There are other demons and demon kings here as well. Someone is bound to see us.”

“Demons like the dark, so when the sun sets in Assiah most demons tend to flock there to do whatever they want. Gehenna gets quieter. We will be fine to walk so far without being caught.”

Rin nodded, feeling odd about putting his faith in this demon king of all people. He’d been the one to force him to lose control in the first place. Grabbing a white hooded jacket, he shoved the key into his pocket. He put on his boots and followed Amaimon out of the room.

Amaimon had been right and the corridors were fairly quiet there were only a few servants scurrying around and guards at certain doors. When they arrived at the main entrance to the castle, it was blocked by two towering guards. But Amaimon kept on walking further down towards what Rin assumed to be a cellar or dungeon. There wasn’t much down here but boxes and dust, a few tiny black demons were floating around.

Turning a corner behind a shelf was a tunnel.

“This is where most of the service demons come in. It’s unguarded down here because you’d be pretty stupid to break into Satan’s castle. But it also serves as a good way out if you want to be unseen. The coal tars tend to act as surveillance for Astaroth and he informs Father of any suspicious activity.”

Rin followed him into the tunnel.

“Wait so Satan will know we’ve come here?”

“Yes, but not for a while. You’ll be in Assiah before he finds out.” Amaimon put his fingers in his mouth and blew a loud whistle into the tunnel. Rin jumped at the noise. Soon he could hear footsteps barrelling down the tunnel towards them. With a screech, a brightly coloured demon appeared. He was green and yellow with a black leather strap crossed over his face. Amaimon pulled out a chain and attached it to him.

“This is Behemoth, my hob-goblin.”

The hob-goblin hopped up and smelled Rin, before nudging his leg with his head. Rin put his hand down and tentatively pet his head. Behemoth, pleased, ran back to Amaimon’s side.

“He likes you.”

They continued walking, the tunnel seemed to stretch forever and was in pitch darkness at this time of day. The only light was emanated from Rin’s heart, giving the tunnel a blue hue as they moved through it. After what seemed like an eternity of walking there was finally a light breaking at the end of the tunnel.

They exited the tunnel to what seemed like a desert of black and red, the sky was full of red and purple hues and lit by a red sun. Off in the distance was what Rin assumed to be a village of some sort. Behind him, the black castle stood tall and ominous surrounded by jagged cliffs.

Rin didn’t want to waste time taking in the scenery right now, he only had so much time before Satan realised he had left. He dread to think of what would happen if he was caught. He hurried behind Amaimon as they walked through the empty desert landscape. It was a little while before he noticed a sign in the middle of it, still quite far from the little town. They reached the sign, which was written in a strange language, and stopped.

“Now what?” He turned to Amaimon “We just wait here?”

Amaimon nodded.

“Yes, the train won’t be long now.” Amaimon turned to stare in the distance where there was a huge black mountain before long the sound of a train on tracks sounded in the distance. Rin was confused as there were no tracks near the sign. As he turned to look in the direction Amaimon was looking he could see something moving in the distance. As it got closer, he realised it was the train, tracks forming on the ground in front of it like magic. It slowed down as it got closer to the sign and gradually stopped in front of it.

The train itself was a monstrous-looking demon. The misshapen train looked like a giant blob of pink and purple with limbs scattered down its body. Rin just stared at it gobsmacked at the sight. Suddenly several eyes on the train opened and stared directly back at Rin, who shuddered under the gaze.

The train garbled something before opening one of its doors. The sign on the front of the train changing from Gehenna to Assiah. Amaimon motioned Rin to follow him as he entered the train. Rin hesitated, giving Amaimon a look that screamed ‘are you kidding me?’.

“You better get on before it leaves and you’re stuck here to face Father.” He had a point. Rin reluctantly boarded the train. Doors shutting behind him trapping him aboard the demon. “Besides this train is only dangerous to humans.” Amaimon said with a shrug.

“But I’m half-human…” Rin said with a tinge of panic.

“Oh yeah. I forgot.” Amaimon held his chin and looked at the ceiling as if contemplating something. “But you seem more demon now, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Giving Rin a blank look. Before Rin had a chance to answer the train shot into motion with enough force to knock Rin back on to the train floor. He had not been prepared for that. Amaimon was casually sat down holding on to a rail, Behemoth on his lap. Rin grabbed hold of the nearest rail to him and held on for dear life. If he survived this, he’d be able to go home.

The train moved at a great speed, tracks appearing before it as if it could go anywhere it wanted. Rin noticed it was heading towards the large black mountains that it had come from. The train ran into a tunnel, they were engrossed in pitch black again. Rin’s senses kicked off when he felt the train shift and change beneath him. Eventually, lights flickered on and it was like he was inside a normal train. The franticness of its movement calmed down and eventually it was almost like riding a normal train. Letting out a long sigh of relief he sat down, finally feeling his sense of panic dying.

They were still in a dark tunnel; he wasn’t sure for how long but he had expected to see some of the outside by now. He wasn’t sure if they were still in Gehenna or had actually gotten to Assiah already. After about an hour they could see a dull light coming up the tunnel the train started slowing. Were they there?

When the train stopped, they were in an empty subway station. The doors opened and Amaimon exited, Rin followed behind. He glanced back at the train, which stayed where it was doors open.

“It will stay there till people get on and he can feed.” Rin spun around and gave Amaimon a shocked look but Amaimon just shrugged and carried on as if it was nothing. Rin didn’t like the idea of leaving it there to just pick up unsuspecting humans to eat but he didn’t exactly know what else to do about it. That and it had been his ticket out of Gehenna.

They soon found some stairs leading to the outside, the cold air hitting Rin’s face was bliss. His chest felt lighter and breathing was easier. It was fairly dark out with just a hint of orange on the horizon. He was suddenly very aware of how busy it was and felt eyes boring into him, he raised his hood to hide his face but there wasn’t really a lot he could do about his heart. Which worried him more.

“Don’t worry, unless people can see demons your heart won’t be visible. So, the majority will ignore you.”

“What do I do about the ones that can see it?” Rin glanced from under his hood.

“Hope they are not an exorcist. Just try and hold your jacket over it and hide it best you can.”

It looked a bit odd holding the jacket out enough to cover his heart but it did the job temporarily. He grabbed the key out of his pocket.

“Right I’m going to find big brother, see ya.”

“What? Wait!” With that, Amaimon jumped off into the distance, Behemoth following behind. Leaving Rin now alone in some city he didn’t recognise. “Crap.” He stared at the key in his hand “I better find a door.” He looked around for a secluded spot in the busy city. Venturing into all the ally ways until he found a locked doorway. He took a deep breath and put the key in the lock, it fit perfectly and as he turned the key felt it click. He opened the door and went through.

Yukio had thought it was a good idea to hitch a ride off of the director, I mean why not he was going to pick up his Father and drop him back at the Monastery. This meant he could also get back to the Monastery at the same time and not miss any of the conversations between his Father and Sir Pheles. But honestly, even after picking his Father up from the hospital, it had been a dead uncomfortable silence the whole way home. He had hoped they might go over something in the car, but Sir Pheles felt it better if they were sat down comfortably before going into whatever it was, he had to talk about.

The sun was just about setting, the sky was all sorts of golden hues. They finally arrived at the Monastery and were greeted by the other priests.

Belial, Sir Pheles servant, opened the doors to the car allowing the occupants to get out. Mephisto was first holding his arm out for Shiro to grab hold of as he got back to his feet, walking stick in the other non-bandaged hand. Yukio followed behind the men. They all shared their hellos and hugs at the gate, but there was still a sadness in the air for the one who was missing.

Mephisto has insisted on dinner before anything else was said. Shiro and Yukio were growing more impatient, they just wanted to hear what he had to say about Rin. But knew better than to anger the demon in their midst. When dinner was finally over the priests offered to clean up whilst Shiro, Yukio and Mephisto went to talk in the lounge.

They sat awkwardly spread out on the sofa surrounding a kotatsu table in the middle.

“Right, Mephisto what have you got to tell us. I thought it was an urgent matter, but you’ve kept us waiting all the way home.”

“Yes, Yes. Right, let's get down to business, shall we?” Shiro and Yukio looked at him expectantly. “A certain item was returned to me just over a week ago, a few days after our little incident shall we say? I had taken this long to tell you because I had to make sure of its authenticity in the circumstances.” He raised his hand in the air “Eins, Zwei, Drei!” clicking his fingers.

With a puff of pink smoke appeared the sheathed Koma sword. Shiro immediately snatched it off Mephisto before he had a chance to do anything else.

“You got it back?! How?!” He mulled over the sword as if it were some fragile piece of porcelain.

“I did not ‘get’ it back Fujimoto, it was returned to me. If you draw it you will see why.” Shiro gave him a look of shock. Why would he willingly draw the sword? “Trust me, Fujimoto. Satan would not send it back to me if it was of any value to him.”

With great reluctance Shiro pulled the sword only a little out of the sheath, Yukio flinched at the sight. But more shock followed their faces when no flames spouted from the sword. Shiro pulled the rest and found the blade had been snapped in half, tipping the sheath the other half fell out onto the table with a loud clatter.

Shiro felt light-headed at that moment and slumped down onto the sofa again, dropping the Koma sword to the floor. Yukio was shaking, he’d known, the dreams had been so real and vivid like a message from the very beginning that this was what happened to Rin.

Yukio’s voice croaked as his next words formed “What happened to Nii-san? Is he alive?” He looked to Mephisto almost pleading, fists clenched and shaking by his legs.

“Would you like the details or just the result?” Mephisto gave a sly grin like he was enjoying this. Damn demon.

Shiro gave him a look that said ‘just get on with it’, Yukio sat back down putting his head in his hands.

“Well according to my source in Gehenna, when the sword was broken, our young Rin burst into flames! His body all but destroyed from the intensity of them.” Yukio’s head shot up in a panic, he couldn’t be dead. However, Mephisto continued talking “His demon heart then appeared, returned to his body and was reborn a demon. He is currently living under Satan’s watch. I do not know more than that.”

“So, he’s alive…?” Yukio felt something lift off his shoulders. It had been weighing on him ever since Rin disappeared. He was still gone but he was at least alive.

“For now, yes. I don’t believe Satan has taken him as a vessel yet. So, there is still time.”

Shiro frowned at that, he’d been prepared to take his own life to save Rin and get rid of Satan. But taking out his own son was another matter, and he was not prepared to do it. From the look on Yukio’s face, neither was he.

“Well now that I have updated you with the situation, I will be off.”

“Wait! That’s all you had to say? We thought you might have had a plan to get Nii-san back!” Yukio stood up abruptly rage written all over his face. He felt his father’s hand on his arm and looked down. His father’s expression was a mix of anger and sadness, but he looked at Yukio calmly.

“My dear boy, I am in no position to take on Satan to save little Rin.” Mephisto tutted. Taking a final sip of his tea.

“Enough Yukio. Mephisto is a busy man. He’s at least given us hope that Rin is safe.”

“But what good will that do if he’s stuck down there with…with HIM! He might be alive now but Satan will make his move someday!” Shiro’s grip grew tighter around Yukio’s arm. Yukio glared at Mephisto.

“My my, with a temper like that one would think Satan took the wrong twin.” He looked at Yukio with a menacing grin. Yukio was horrified. Mephisto twirled his umbrella around as he walked out of the door, waving. “Till next time Shiro, toodles.”

Yukio was shaking with rage. He couldn’t understand how his father could be so calm about this. He spun around to Shiro about to yell, but Shiro merely put up his hand stopping him.

“There is no use getting angry about it, Yukio. He never said he was going to help. We’re the ones that got our hopes up.” He let out a long sigh and sat back down. Closing his eyes.

“I’m going out for some air…” Yukio sighed and left out the main door. Shiro cracked open an eye and watched his son leave the room.

“Damnit Mephisto, now what are we supposed to do…”

Outside Yukio paced back and forth so many times, he was sure he’d made an indentation on the steps. His head in his hands he pushed them back through his hair with a shaken breath. Rin was alive but still under Satan’s thumb. Was he going to be possessed or would Satan change him for the worst?

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.

“Damn demons…”

The footsteps stopped, and a sharp breath is taken.

Yukio snapped out of his thoughts and looked up towards the figure stood in the monastery grounds. Their face obscured by a white hooded jacket, but one thing stood out more than anything and that was the glowing heart surrounded by blue flames hovering above their chest.

Yukio felt frozen to the spot.

“…Nii-san?”

Chapter Text

Satan was sat in his throne room, legs crossed with a book in hand. Suddenly the doors opened, he looked up to see who had interrupted him this time. Astaroth had walked into the room, followed by a flock of coal tars squeaking and skittering around his head. He seemed in a hurry. Iblis soon followed in behind him. Satan closed his book and placed it on the arm of his throne.

“What is it?” Satan looked at them both quite annoyed.

Astaroth stepped forward to speak.

“It’s Rin, Father. He’s gone. Coal tars by the service entrance spotted Amaimon leading him through the tunnels.”

“Is that so?” There was a slight twitch in his eye; the book by Satan’s hand was now burning away to nothing “And where is my son now?” It was unnerving how calm he sounded, but both Astaroth and Iblis knew otherwise and could sense his anger beneath the façade.

Iblis answered this time “We believe he boarded one of Samael’s phantom trains…to Assiah.”

“I see.” He swiped away at the dust leftover from the book, taking a pinch of the leftovers and rubbing them away between his fingers. He uncrossed his legs and leant forward in his throne, voice a low growl “Well I suggest you go retrieve him before Samael gets his hands on him.”

“How will we know where to find him, Father.”

“There is only one place he will be and you know very well where that is. Now go!”

Astaroth and Iblis nodded and quickly exited the room, doors closing behind them. They only made it a few seconds before they heard their Father explode in anger. Amaimon was going to be in trouble if he decided to come back, but they both knew he’d hide behind Samael for now.

Although Iblis feared what he might do to Rin if they managed to retrieve him. That idiot pulling a stunt like this. If he lost control out there, they would kill him.

“We should team up, even if the Paladin is weakened that place is full of exorcists.”

“What’s the plan for getting him back to Gehenna?” Iblis questioned; a hint of panic laced her voice.

“I have a suggestion…” They both jumped at the sound of their Father’s voice behind them.

After going over the plan Iblis and Astaroth left for Assiah. Satan returned to his throne with an angry grimace.

Rin had been ready to run up and happily embrace his brother on sight. But as he got closer and those words left Yukio’s mouth, he froze. His mind thrown straight back into that dream and visions of his brother with a gun to him were fresh in his head. A dull throbbing started to form.

Yukio stood staring at the figure in front of him, unable to move. Out of fear or just shock he wasn’t sure, probably both. The person in front of him hadn’t moved or spoken a word since he had turned around and it was making him nervous. Surely Rin would’ve opened his big mouth by now.

“Nii-san?” He waited and still no answer “Answer me!” He accidentally let some of his anger for Mephisto slip through into his voice.

The figure flinched back. But they were interrupted by Father Fujimoto rushing out the door in response to Yukio’s yelling. His eyes focused on the heart and a look a fear drifted over his features. Memories of the last time he had seen that heart and the demon it belonged to. He grabbed Yukio’s arm and pulled him back, drawing a shotgun on the figure.

Rin’s eyes opened wide at the sight of his very much alive father, he snapped out of his trance and fell to his knees struggling to hold back his sobs “Dad…?”

Shiro’s breath hitched and he slowly lowered his gun at the sound of the familiar voice.

“…Rin?” he managed to croak out.

Barely a second went by before Fujimoto had put down his gun and ran to Rin’s side. Dropping to his knees and holding the boy in his arms, he had to keep patting him down to make sure he was really there. Rin’s fingers were digging into the priest’s coat as he tried to reign in his own tears.

“I thought you were…I’m sorry—” Rin started but Father Fujimoto interrupted.

“I’m fine. What’s important is you’re home and you’re safe.” He gave Rin another squeeze “Let’s go inside.”

They started to walk towards the door, but the fear returned and Rin stopped himself. Father Fujimoto and Yukio both looked at him confused.

“Rin?”

“Is that…ok?” He looked at them fearfully “I mean I’m—I’m not—Crap, just look at me!” He pulled off his hood, revealing his new demonic transformation; his tail set itself free of his shirt. The looks of shock were evident on both their faces. Shiro nearly had to urge to get the gun again, it was like looking directly at Satan. If it weren’t for the boy having Yuri’s eyes, he’d be the spitting image. But he pushed down the fear, this was his son.

Rin could still feel it though.

He wanted to ignore this feeling, he wanted to go home with his dad and brother and act like a family again. Like the last two weeks never happened. But this feeling wasn’t going to go away, his new body wasn’t going to go back to being human. He wanted to know the truth before going forward. He wanted to hear the truth from the people that had lied to him.

“Do you really want a demon like me in your home? Or do you just want to keep me here until the exorcists come and get me?” The throbbing in his head was starting to get worse.

“Nii-san…”

“He told me Yukio, how everyone I cared about is an Exorcist. Even you!” He shot a glare at him “I was the only one in the dark about everything…I know…I know I was just kept alive and raised to be used as some sort of weapon…”

 “That’s not true.” Yukio gave his father a questioning look, hadn’t he had this argument before about raising Rin to be a weapon. “Rin listen to me; we are not handing you over to the exorcists. Come inside and we can talk about this properly.” He looked into Rin’s eyes, putting his hand on his shoulder. The throbbing in Rin’s head didn’t subside but he decided to go inside anyway.

They moved into the Monastery. Rin hesitated at the door, feeling the barriers in place against demons. They weren’t strong enough to stop him but enough to make his chest feel heavy upon entry causing him a dull pain. It made him realise just how real this nightmare was.

The priests entered the room to see what the commotion was, and gasps could be heard as they laid eyes on Rin. Shiro shooed them out, for the time being. He wanted the three of them to talk privately and not overwhelm Rin with too much company just yet. They could have their reunion when all this was cleared up.

But Rin could feel the fear, he could feel the fear from the priests, from his Father and most of all from his own brother. They tried to hide it through the forced smiles but Rin’s demonic senses just seemed to thrive on it. Satan had been right. He winced when a painful throb hit his head briefly.

“Nii-san are you OK?” Yukio looked at him worriedly.

“I’m fine…” He pushed his head into his hands, massaging the spot where the pain was worse. “Just a headache.” Yukio and Shiro shared sceptical looks. It wasn’t like Rin to get headaches even when he was sealed and human.

“How long have you been getting headaches?” Shiro asked carefully.

“They come and go. At least since…” They had been since he lost control in the arena, a sign of the demon struggling to get out. He wasn’t sure if he wanted them to know about that just yet, they already feared him enough without adding an out of control demon to the mix. He just hoped he could hold it down until he calmed down.

“Since when, Rin?” Shiro gave him a serious look. Rin knew he didn’t usually get headaches; his dad was suspicious already.

“It doesn’t matter.” Rin sighed. The more afraid of him they were the worse the headaches were going to get. “That’s not what I wanna talk about right now. I want to know why you all lied to me my whole life about what I was.” He was talking to both of them but was looking directly at Yukio. He still couldn’t get over the fact his own twin brother was an exorcist and had known Rin was a demon this whole time. Yukio took note of the demonic eyes staring straight at him.

“I became an exorcist two years ago. I started training when I was seven.”

“Seven! You’ve known since you were seven?!”

“No, he did not know about you. That came later.”

“Nii-san, I’ve been able to see demons for as long as I can remember. I became an exorcist because I was tired of being scared all the time, I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to help protect you.” Yukio looked at his brother with sad eyes. Rin didn’t want to be pitied right now.

Rin winced again “But you still knew years ago, and you never told me.” He moved his glare from Yukio to Shiro “Hell, you knew my whole life and never told me anything!”

“Rin, we were trying to protect you.”

“Bullshit! If you were trying to protect me you should have told me the truth, so at least I could’ve dealt with it BEFORE Satan came to drag me to hell!” Rin spat; his tail lashed in agitation.

“I wanted to raise you a human, Rin. I wanted you to have a normal life. You were sealed for protection because if the Vatican found out, they’d have killed you.”

“It would’ve been nice to have had a choice in what to do with my body before this whole mess. After getting dragged down there I was pretty much forced into drawing that sword…” He sat staring at his hands for a few moments. Shiro and Yukio stood in silence, this wasn’t going well.

“Did you even consider that sealing my heart was hurting me…?” Shiro looked somewhat taken aback by this. At the time it had seemed necessary with how out of control Rin had been at birth, he’d never considered if it would hurt him in any way. “When he broke the sword… I can’t even describe the pain I felt. But when I woke up, it felt different from before… it was like I was whole again. It felt good. It was like a part of me had been missing my whole life.” Shiro and Yukio remained silent, worried glances between them.

“I hated him for it at first, but now I’m started to feel like he did me a favour by breaking that thing.” Rin almost looked guilty, guilty for being thankful to Satan of all demons.

“Satan is an evil we need to be rid of, Rin.” Shiro told him firmly.

“So I’m told…but he at least accepted me for what I am.” Rin regretted those words but they were true. Shiro feared he was falling down the same path Yuri went when she left him that day.

“Did Satan do anything to you? What did he tell you?” Yukio broke in.

“He didn’t do anything, really.”

“You weren’t tortured or hurt in any way?” Yukio asked carefully. Rin shook his head.

“Not by him directly. He threatened me once but mostly he just spoke to me. Told me about all of you…” He stared at Shiro as if looking right through him. “He told me how Yukio was an exorcist, and it was my fault that he can see demons.” Yukio grimaced.

“He said you’re all afraid of me because of my power. And you were only raising me to be a weapon for exorcists to use against demons and him.” The hurt was obvious. He was still rubbing his temple where the headache had been throbbing non-stop.

“That’s not true—” Shiro started but unintentionally Yukio cut him off with his own comments.

“Demon’s lie Rin, you shouldn’t listen to anything he says.” Yukio said pushing his glasses back up his nose. Not realising his mistake, Shiro gave him a flustered look before shaking his head.

“I’m a demon, Yukio. Does that make me a liar?” Yukio’s face dropped in realisation, too late to take the words back “Because the only person in this room that’s been lied to is me! And it wasn’t the demons that lied to me. It was all of you.” Rin shot them both a glare. “Damn demons, eh Yukio?”

Yukio looked on in horror “Nii-san I didn’t—”

“You didn’t mean it? Sounded like you…crap” He started rubbing his knuckle into his head, this was making it worse. He needed to get out, he had to leave before he did something he’d regret.

“What’s wrong Rin?” Shiro sat at eye level in front of him, when Rin looked up his eyes were flashing between his and a twisted spiral, like Satan’s. Shiro froze, fear clear on his face. He quickly got a hold of himself putting his hands atop of Rin’s shoulders.

“Fight it, Rin. Don’t let him win!”

“It’s not him… the part of me that was sealed…it wants out” He flinched out of Shiro’s grasp, a growl escaping his throat this time. He stood up and staggered towards the main door.

“Nii-san where are you going?!” Yukio started to follow his brother reaching out to grab hold of him before a growl sounded and blue flames started leaking from his body. Yukio stopped in his tracks. Rin’s demon now soaking up the fear in the room.

“This was a mistake; I shouldn’t have come back. I should’ve just stayed in Gehenna, where it was safe. I was so desperate to talk to you, I jumped at the chance to leave when I found a way back and just wanted to put all this shit behind me…but it’s not that simple – I can’t. You were never going to accept me as a demon—ahh!” He fell to his knees “I—I need to leave before I hurt someone…” He stood back up and ran out the door, Shiro and Yukio followed behind. The rest of the priests soon appeared behind them hearing the commotion from the other room.

Rin staggered out into the courtyard, flames now spewing from him. He fell to his knees gripping hold of his arms. Shiro tried to get closer but the heat was too much, and the priests pulled him back, still recovering from the last incident. Yukio’s hand was hovering over his gun but was reluctant to pull it on his own brother.

Shiro shot a look towards Nagatomo “Call Mephisto, now!” Without a beat passing, Nagatomo ran inside to make the call.

“Rin, calm down, please! We can help you!”

“How can any of you help me. You’re human, you don’t have a clue what I’m going through!” His face was a mix of untapped rage and fear of losing his family again.

Suddenly a wall of red flame appeared between Rin and the others. Two figures jumping down beside Rin. Iblis and Astaroth had come for him.

“What mess have you gotten yourself into now, Runt?”

“Iblis?” He almost sounded relieved, like he was happy to see her. Yukio and Shiro watched the exchange both curiously and warily. It wasn’t a good sign if Rin was bonding with one of Satan’s loyal demons.

“Father sent us to retrieve you. I warn you though, he is rather angry with you.” Astaroth said with a hand on his shoulder. Rin bit his lip; it was a choice between unintentionally killing his family or facing an angry Satan.

“Nii-san, get away from them!” Yukio screamed out. Rin looked back fearfully, they were human, they won’t accept him for the way he is. Not once they see him lose control. He had to stay with his own kind…

“Oh my, is that the other one? Hm… yes, I see the resemblance now, looks just like the witch.” She said with a smirk. “A shame he’s so human, we could’ve taken him as well.” Yukio recoiled at the unwanted attention.

Shiro stepped up, blocking her view of Yukio “Not a chance, Iblis. Now step away from my son.”

Iblis laughed hysterically “I’m sorry, your son? Mr Paladin, this boy is the son of Satan and a Prince of Gehenna. You have no claim to him anymore, you filthy human.” She glared at him angrily. How dare he try to claim her brother as a child of his own.

“Is that his choice though? Or has Satan decided for him?” He looked at Rin, still on the floor struggling to hold on to his own conscious.

“Like it was his choice for him to be kicked out and shipped off to be Samael’s plaything?” She gave him a knowing grin, Rin looked to him pained but Shiro just grimaced guiltily. “Just as I thought, I bet you’ve already made the call to him as well, haven’t you?”

“It’s not like that, I wouldn’t have been able to protect him anymore – Mephisto was to provide protection for him when his powers awakened.”

Rin’s voice suddenly growled from beneath his flames “So it was always the plan to send me away?”

Shiro sighed, there was no making this situation any better “I had no choice, Rin.”

The flames grew more violent the blue slowly taking over Iblis’ own wall of red flames, much to her surprise. Rin’s control was slipping, she knelt down to him and whispered in his ear.

“You’re losing control brother. We have a plan but you’re not going to like it. You want to come back with us, right?” Rin nodded weakly. He was still torn, but going back meant his family would be safe from him.

“Nii-san! Don’t trust anything she says!”

Iblis shot him a glare, putting more power into the flames and making them reach higher.

“If you let Father in, he can make a gate for us to escape.”

He looked at her shocked “What?!”

“Or would you rather stay here and risk killing your family? They’ve already called Samael; he’ll bring exorcists with him. You’ll be killed. Or trained to be their own personal dog.”

“She’s right, we won’t be able to help you if the back-up arrives. Samael’s power is second to Lucifer, and if he has Amaimon with him we are going to be outmatched.” Astaroth looked at him concerned.

Rin was trying to take in all his options whilst still struggling against his demon, claws had grown on his hands and were dug into the dirt beneath him as if trying to ground himself. His tail lashing around behind him.

“But if I let him in, he won’t let me go…”

“He will release you once you are safe in Gehenna, Father has a plan for you and it involves you with him, not as a vessel. Trust me.” Iblis looked in his eyes, his pain was evident, both physical and emotional. He’d returned to his family, and still felt rejected in the end.

The other side of the flames Shiro, Yukio and the priests felt powerless. The intensity of the flames prevented them from getting any closer or even seeing what was going on now. Where the hell was Mephisto when you needed him. Any other time he’d poof in uninvited but when you actually want the bastard he was nowhere to be found.

“Dammit, he walked right back to us and we just screwed it up all over again. I swore if I saw him again, I’d make things right…”

Yukio stood in silence staring at the wall of blue in front of them before it suddenly disappeared as fast as it had appeared. They all looked in shock and confusion. Rin was still on the floor, Iblis and Astaroth by his side.

Yukio edged forward towards his brother, ignoring the other demons. But Shiro held him back, feeling something was wrong. The outside lamp burst, confirming his fear.

Rin stood up, flexing his hands whilst staring intently at them. Flames nestled on his head in the form of horns and the end of his tail which swished calmly behind him. With his claws he slashed both arms, allowing the blood to pool on the floor below him silently chanting to himself.

“Nii-san! What are you doing?!” He pulled his arm from Shiro and stomped to his brother, turning him around to face him, only to be faced with a menacing grin. Yukio turned to the blood on the floor which slowly was forming into something else. Yukio backed up in a panic, falling to the floor.

Rin looked up to Shiro and spoke with a voice that wasn’t his “Shiro! Nice to see you again! You’re looking well after our last encounter, aren’t you? I’m sure Rin will have a better experience, less bloody.” He laughed hysterically; evilly, which looked wrong with Rin’s face.

“But don’t worry, this is just a temporary measure to bring my son home, you see? I’ll set him free again soon. But this does feel nice.” He took in a deep breath, smelling the Assiah air. “It’s been such a long time since I got to experience Assiah this comfortably. It’s just a pity Yuri is no longer here with me, isn’t it?”

Shiro nearly growled in anger.

“Trying to make amends by raising her boys though, weren’t you?” He looked down to Yukio on the floor still shaking at the sight of his brother looking so menacing. “Look like Yuri, don’t they? My precious Yuri…I may not have kept her in the end but I’m sure my son will make up for that.” He sneered.

“Father we should go before their reinforcements get here.” Astaroth put a hand on his shoulder.

Satan looked at his wrist as if looking at a watch that wasn’t there.

“Yes, Samael is taking his time isn’t he.” He laughed “Get it? Time! It is a shame though I wanted to have a word with him and Amaimon for leading my poor boy astray. But I’m sure I will get that chance soon enough.”

He looked towards the Gehenna Gate on the floor.

“Oh well, I had better get my troublesome son home and ground him for a while, that’s what parents do, isn’t it Shiro?” He looked to Shiro expectantly then gave him a toothy grin. “Or is hitting them an acceptable punishment? I’m so new to this whole parenting thing.” Shiro’s face blanched in horror.

“Maybe the next time you have a chance to speak to my son, you’ll try to be a little nicer. Boy’s going through a lot right now as you can see. Heh heh heh.”

He walked into the Gehenna Gate with Iblis and Astaroth behind him. As they sunk down Satan turned to face them, smiling as he watched their looks of horror as Rin was taken from them again.

“Dear me, --” Everyone shot up seeing Mephisto sat on the wall by the gates of the monastery “—I can’t leave you alone for five minutes can I, Fujimoto?”

“Mephisto! Where the hell were you?!” Shiro glared with fury at his friend, if he had come sooner, they might’ve been able to help Rin.

“I have been watching the events unfold. Waiting for a moment to step in. As it was, I was waiting for the poor boy to lose control so I could capture him till he calmed down. However, I was not expecting him to willingly allow Satan to take over…that was indeed disturbing.”

“What?!” Yukio and Shiro yelled in unison.

Yukio had a panicked look on his face “He let Satan in willingly?! Wasn’t that what he was fighting against the whole time?”

“No, --” Shiro said in a defeated tone “—he said before, it was him, the part that was sealed was trying to get out. So why would he stop that but let Satan in?”

“Because my dear Shiro, he can’t control that part of him yet. According to Amaimon, he gets quite violent in that form. I imagine he let Satan in to stop himself from killing… well, you.”

“But Nii-san wouldn’t…” He trailed off, he saw the pain and anger in his brother’s eyes, was he truly sure he wasn’t capable of it?

“I’m afraid he wouldn’t have been able to control himself like that. As for himself, he wouldn’t hurt you, but his demon side is another story. So, I would’ve stepped in had it come to that. But once I sensed Satan, there was nothing more I could’ve done.”

“What do we do now?” Yukio whispered to himself, Shiro overheard and knelt to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“We messed up Yukio, he came back on his own and we messed it all up…”

“Well, I might have had something to do with him returning.”

“What do you mean Mephisto…” he glared at the demon “You said you weren’t going to help us.”

“I said I couldn’t go to Gehenna and retrieve him. Not that I wouldn’t help.” He grinned “I had Amaimon pass on a package and show him a way out. Not that it matters now. Neither Amaimon or myself will be able to get close to him now that Satan has him back under watch.”

“Why didn’t you tell us? I might not have nearly mistaken him for Satan if I’d known he had a way out!”

“My dear Fujimoto, where would the fun in that be if I gave away all my plans.”

“You’re some piece of work you know that?”

“I am a demon, remember?”

Yukio remained silent throughout the whole exchange, staring at the place the Gehenna Gate had been previously. It was that night all over again, his brother had come back and he still ended up being taken to Gehenna, he was powerless to do anything. He was still too weak to save his own brother.

The demons emerged in Gehenna, and Satan returned to his throne room, the others followed behind. As he approached the throne, he gave himself a once over.

“Such a shame, it would’ve been fun to wreak some havoc up there for a bit. Still to see Shiro’s face whilst I possessed the boy was quite priceless”

Blue flames exited the body and settled on the throne itself forming himself into the image of his original body again. Rin collapsed to the floor.

Iblis and Astaroth approached the unconscious Rin.

“What are you going to do with him once he wakes up Father?” Iblis asked carefully, she knew her Father’s anger was testy and after recent events, she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that anger.

“My son and I are going to have a little chat. Now leave us. His training with you will resume tomorrow.”

“Yes, Father.” Iblis bowed along with Astaroth and left the room.

Satan circled the room around his unconscious son. Waiting for the boy to wake up. How to punish the boy though, he was already confined to the castle regardless. He would need more guards present at all times, outside his room and most certainly in the tunnels. Although Satan didn’t think he’d go on another trip any time too soon, not after that disaster.

Satan still couldn’t believe Shiro wasted his opportunity, Samael had practically gift-wrapped the boy for them and they still drove him away, probably even more so than before. He still had more work to do but it was coming on nicely, the boy had willingly let him in, which was a pleasant surprise.

There was a groan from the floor, as Rin slowly woke up. He opened his eyes to realise he was laid on a cold hard floor, trying to recall what happened. Then it hit him and he shot his head up.

“Dad?!” he shouted.

“Yes?”

That wasn’t his dad’s voice… he looked up to see Satan, looking around the room he noticed he was back in the throne room, in Gehenna. Then he remembered; he’d actually let Satan possess him in Assiah…he felt dirty.

“You didn’t hurt them, did you?”

“As tempting as that was – to use your body to kill Shiro, no. It wouldn’t have done any good for our budding father-son relationship now would it?” He gave Rin a sly grin, Rin frowned back.

“Didn’t stop you the first time when you nearly killed him. You lied to me, you said he was dead…” Rin glared at him.

“I said he was probably dead, there’s a difference. How was I supposed to know he survived?” Satan shrugged. “But was this trip not educational for you. Have you finally learnt that they will not accept you?”

Rin remained silent but nodded a response.

“Now, you and your demon ego need to merge. I will not have any more delay.”

“I don’t want to be that demon…” Rin growled back.

Satan grabbed Rin by the neck lifting him so he was face to face him. Claws digging into his neck drawing blood that ran down his chest. Blue flames flared up and surrounding them both. Rin could feel the heat but it wasn’t burning him.

“You already are that demon! You just have no control. If you want to control it and not to kill your so-called family the next time you end up face to face with them, you will do as I say.” He dropped Rin from his grasp, who rubbed his slowly healing neck.

“I should punish you for your little escapades back to Assiah” Rin froze, feeling the fear creep up his body “But I realise this is more Amaimon and Samael’s doing. I believe your brother and Shiro rejecting you again is probably punishment enough, for now.” Rin let out a sigh of relief.

“However, --” He paused; Rin held his breath “I will be taking over your flame training from now on. Iblis will be taking over combat training since I don’t believe Amaimon will be returning any time soon.” He towered over Rin in an intimidating manner. “It will be interesting to see what other powers you possess besides flames.”

“Your training with me begins now, combat training will resume tomorrow.” He gave Rin a menacing grin, sending a shiver down his spine.

“But I didn’t think I was allowed to fight until I had control over my demon side…?”

“Yes, I did say that, didn’t I.” He stood scratching his beard thinking for a moment, before turned to Rin again, grin returned. “Well we best remedy that problem right away, hadn’t we… my son?”

Rin stared at Satan, with a look of fear on his face for what he might become when this was over.

Chapter Text

Everyone had retreated back into the monastery, the evening chill suddenly getting too cold to stand around outside. Yukio was the last to tear himself away, still staring at the spot the Gehenna Gate had been less than an hour ago. Shiro eventually had to pull him to his feet and guide him inside.

Nagatomo and the other priests made their way to the kitchen to start brewing tea for everyone. Once the tea was served the priests returned to the kitchen sat talking between themselves about the recent events. Leaving Shiro, Yukio and Mephisto to talk in private. As much as they wanted to be a part of it, Rin was their family as well, they knew it was better to give them privacy in this matter.

Mephisto planted himself in the nearest chair, crossed legs and humming to himself as if the worst hadn’t just happened. He casually picked up a slice of cake that had been laid out on the table and started delicately munching on it. Yukio sat grinding his teeth in frustration, fists clenched against his legs. He glared at the demon in front of him, how was he so relaxed?!

Shiro’s shoulders slouched, slowly walking over to the nearest empty chair and carefully lowering himself down with the aid of his walking cane. He sat staring at the ceiling with a vacant expression for a few moments before moving his eyes down towards Mephisto, noticing how relaxed he was with this situation sent a slither of irritation through him.

He leant forward folding his hands on his lap. “What now?” He asked tentatively. “You must have some clue as to what Satan’s got planned? What’s going to happen to Rin?” He looked at Mephisto expectantly, hoping he had some sort of back-up plan for this situation. But there was no sly smile on his face, no inkling that he had something up his sleeve.

Mephisto looked relaxed, yes. But that could be a mask for anything. The Demon was good at hiding things when he wanted them to stay hidden. Shiro tensed a little when he finally spoke.

“As I said before, I had not anticipated Satan’s arrival and for Rin to willingly let him in was even more of an unpleasant surprise.” He frowned. “But from what Iblis said, Satan doesn’t want him as a vessel.”

“You mean he doesn’t just want Rin’s body for himself?” Shiro asked, sparing a glance towards Yukio who had been quietly stewing in his grief or anger he wasn’t sure.

“No. It seems his plans have…changed. Amaimon first mentioned it and I wasn’t too sure, but then I heard Iblis re-iterate it to Rin himself. Even Satan himself stated he would release Rin back in Gehenna. So, I can only conclude Satan has changed his plans, and no longer wants to use Rin as his vessel. So that means he has other means to get one and wants Rin for some other reason.” He gave Shiro a knowing glance.

Shiro remembered all too well. Where he was ‘created’. What he was born to be, bred for the simple purpose of being a demon’s vessel, in that nightmare place. It made his skin crawl at the thought of these sort of experiments still taking place somewhere in the vast world. But he couldn’t speak of such things in front of Yukio or anyone else.

“So, if he doesn’t want to use Rin as a vessel then what does he want him for? Why take him?” Shiro stared at the demon.

“If Satan manages to get a vessel of his own strong enough to contain him and managed to sway Rin to his cause… we will have to contend with two demons who can wield the blue flames of Gehenna.”

Shiro studied Mephisto’s features for a moment, there was no inkling of mischievousness like there usually was, as if all this was part of his plan. He had not foreseen this happening. If they didn’t find a way to convince Rin to come back, things were going to go terribly wrong for Assiah. He turned to Yukio who was unnervingly quiet, putting a hand on his shoulder. Yukio flinched from the touch.

“Are you OK?” Shiro asked calmly.

“It’s my fault.” He croaked; his voice was as low as a whisper. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t said those things, he might’ve… he wouldn’t have…” Shiro pulled him into a hug.

“It wasn’t your fault Yukio. We all made mistakes. Truth is this could have all been avoided if I had been able to tell him the truth from the beginning.” He glared at Mephisto “If I had told you both together, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He paused for a moment before releasing Yukio.

“What’s the plan now? What are we going to do? What CAN we do?”

“Well with Rin back in Gehenna, he is now beyond our reach. I can’t send Amaimon back there, Satan would surely make him pay for leading Rin out in the first place.” He stood lost in thought for a few moments.

“So, we have to wait? He was there for two weeks and look what’s happened to him! If we just leave him there who knows how far gone he’ll be next time! Are there are no other demons you can send to infiltrate Satan’s…fortress?” He yelled with an erratic wave of his arms.

“Castle, actually.” Shiro rolled his eyes; of course, it was a castle. “Demons can come and go as they please. Rin will most likely be kept in special quarters in close proximity to Satan himself. Guarded only by those loyal to Satan. Which was why I used Amaimon in the first place. He was a neutral pawn, loyal to Satan but also loyal to me, but now sending him back to Satan wouldn’t end well. I still need him and cannot risk his vessel.” Especially given the amount of pain he suffered from his previous one, he thought to himself before continuing.

“There is also the issue that, Rin chose to return to Gehenna. He was desperate enough to allow Satan brief access to achieve this. Even if I were to send someone after him to relay a message, do you really think he would return?” Shiro lowered his eyes. Rin had looked so angry and hurt, would he really subject himself to that again?

 “And with his demon half so steadily breaking through Rin’s subconscious, I’m sure Satan has plans to use that to his advantage.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yukio finally spoke up; looking so broken-spirited. Shiro looked from Yukio back at the demon in front of him.

“What I mean is, dear Yukio. The next time we meet young Rin, he may be a completely different person. And a possible threat to Assiah.” Yukio blanched; he had possibly ruined his last chance at getting Rin back.

Shiro put his head in his hands, rubbing away the tiredness of his eyes. He’d been home for less than twelve hours and already everything was going wrong. He let out a tired sigh.

“OK.” He paused thinking carefully about his next words “Are we going to inform the Grigori? They are already aware of the circumstances of my injuries, yes?” Mephisto nodded.

“Yes, it was a task enough to sway their suspicions after that incident. Angel was quite vocal as usual. And of course, was named your successor should the worst happen.” Mephisto said, avoiding the initial question.

Shiro gritted his teeth in frustration. Once word got out about Rin that would be the end. They’d already picked his replacement regardless of if he was dead or not. But if Rin was a threat then he might have no choice than to inform them of the whole story.

“Mephisto, are you going to inform the Grigori about Rin?” He stared at the demon quietly awaiting an answer.

“It would be a wise decision. If Rin is truly going to be a threat, we need to be prepared. He can move freely between the realms and has use of Satan’s blue flame—” He was suddenly cut off by a door slamming down the hall. They looked around to realise Yukio had disappeared.

Shiro sighed, he would need to talk to him privately later. Mephisto continued where he left off.

“Unfortunately, if we tell them there will be a high possibility, they will try to kill him. We do not know for sure that he will be a threat, and there still might be a slight chance we can bring him back.”

Shiro looked shocked for a moment “So, you’re saying we should wait?” a shred of hope lifting him up.

“I don’t want to assume he is an enemy until he has proved otherwise. We don’t want to make mistakes again, do we?” He narrowed his eyes at Shiro.

Shiro’s breath hitched at Mephisto’s words “No, we don’t. I want him back. I want him safe from that monster.”

“Preferably before he thinks of that monster as his Father…” Mephisto spared a glance at Shiro to see the hurt in his eyes. “If we can capture him and keep him separated from Iblis, we may be able to clean up this mess.”

“Why only Iblis?” Shiro looked confused, wasn’t Astaroth another threat?

“Because it seems he has bonded with her more than the others, he has developed a trust in her. She will be able to sway his decisions.” Now that Shiro thought about it, it made sense. Iblis was the one doing all the whispering to Rin, and he had looked relieved at the sight of her. Even their flames had reacted to one another.

“Anyway, I have to go and make sure my new house guest hasn’t destroyed anything in my absence. I will have them relieve and send Kuro, for your protection. You should also think about what you want to do with the Koma Sword.” His eyes glanced down to the sword laid on the floor where Shiro had dropped it previously. Shiro had forgotten all about it.

“He can’t be re-sealed, can he?” Mephisto didn’t respond but Shiro took it as a no. Would Rin even want to be re-sealed, he said he was grateful to…him, for breaking the sword in the first place.

“I should return it to Oshō in Kyoto. We did steal it after all.” He picked it up and looked at it before turning back to the demon as he walked towards the door.

“Farewell Shiro. Till next time.”

Shiro remained silent and nodded in response. Mephisto let himself out and Shiro sat alone in silence for a few moments before burying his face in his hands again. Rin had been so close and had slipped through his fingers… just like Yuri.

“I messed up, Yuri…I messed up again…”

Yukio sat in darkness, with only a faint light filtering in through the window from the moon illuminating various elements of his room at the Monastery. He had silently excused himself from the conversation between his Father and Mephisto in the other room the moment the mention of reporting to the Grigori what had happened surfaced. Silently cursing to himself all the way to his room.
He had thought they wanted to save Rin, not have him hunted down and possibly killed. But when Yukio thought more about it, wasn’t that the option that made the most sense. Sir Pheles had said he might be a threat; he wouldn’t be Rin anymore. But how was that even possible? Even after everything that happened earlier that night, Rin had still tried to protect his family, protect him. He had still been Rin. Could Satan really change him so much?

He looked around, having not been here for the last two weeks. His side of the room was empty, with only sheets laid on the bed, all of his belongings now at the dorm. He’d brought only a small bag, left on the floor, of essentials and clothing he’d brought with him to last the weekend.

His gaze moved over to his brother’s side of the room. Not as messy as he had remembered, the priests must have tidied it up. He looked at his brother’s empty bed. The one he would probably have been sleeping in right now if they hadn’t messed everything up… There was a bag on top, the one his Father had packed for Rin the night he was taken. It was left untouched, still full of Rin’s belongings.

Yukio slowly stood and moved towards the bag, opening it and pulling out the clothes, carefully examining each one before putting them away into Rin’s closet. He pulled out the white jacket he had worn the morning of that fateful day, unwashed with dried blood still on it from his fight in the morning. He held on to it as he sat on Rin’s bed, holding it to his face trying to take whatever lingering scents of his brother might have been left behind after two weeks. He shouldn’t have said those words, he should’ve just run up and embraced his brother. Instead, it was his fault he went back, his fault he let Satan use his body. A knock on the door made him jump, pulling him out of his thoughts abruptly. He quickly stuffed the jacket back into the bag.

“Come in” he called towards the door.

The door opened slowly with a creek; Father Fujimoto entered with a tired smile on his face. Yukio could just barely make out his face in the dim light, but he could tell it was forced, he was exhausted. Shiro walked in, closing the door behind him, walking stick in hand making a thud on the wooden floors with every step he took. He suddenly noticed how Yukio had been sat on Rin’s bed rather than his own, bag open next to him. Yukio looked at the bag, seeing his father looking at it confused.

“I was just putting his stuff away…just in case.” He was kidding himself really, he knew his brother was gone, even more now that he did before. But just wanted to hold on to that shred of hope that he might forgive them and come back home.

Shiro sighed “Even if he did come back…Mephisto would come to claim him, we wouldn’t be able to go back to normal.” He moved to sit with Yukio on Rin’s bed, putting a hand on his shoulder. Yukio tensed causing Shiro to frown.

“If he comes back the Vatican will kill him, won’t they? You’re going to tell them, aren’t you?” His voice was even and quiet but his body was shaking. Shiro moved his hand off Yukio’s shoulder and folded his hands in his lap. He stared at them quietly for a few moments, he’d still not gotten used to missing his fingers from one.

“We’re not going to tell them, at least until we’re sure what his intentions are going to be. Mephisto said he might be a threat, but if we just go and treat him like one and nothing has changed…”

“We’d drive him away all over again.” Yukio interrupted; Shiro nodded in response.

“What worries me is if he is a threat and we’re not prepared for it…but I’m putting faith in Mephisto that he has a plan for that… he always has something up his sleeve.”

“Do you really think Rin will change?”

“He’s hurting right now and lost. We lied to him and it came back to bite us…” Yukio looked down disheartened “But Rin is Rin, I don’t believe he will change.” Shiro tried his best to give Yukio a convincing smile. He moved to get up slowly moving back towards the door.

“Dad…who is Yuri?” Shiro froze in the doorway, avoiding Yukio’s eyes as they bore into him. “Satan said we look like her, was she our mother?”

Shiro frowned, wishing her name had never cropped up. Yukio had already been curious about his mother and the circumstances of their birth. Now Satan had spoken so freely of her in front of Yukio it was going to be even harder to sway him. But he couldn’t say anything, he was forbidden.

“Sorry Yukio, I can't talk about it right now.”

“But—” Without letting Yukio get out another word he left the room and closed the door. Hurried thumping moved down the hall until another door slam and silence. Yukio sat there in shock; he was still avoiding the subject after everything that happened? Even after Satan had blatantly said the name and implied they were her sons, Father Fujimoto still wouldn’t talk about it.

Yukio pushed the anger down, it wasn’t the time for it, there had been too many bad things about the night and he just wanted to forget it all and pray he woke up to his brother’s snoring in the morning. He laid back on Rin’s bed, not even bothering to pull the covers over himself, he was asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow.

Shiro had hurriedly left the room at the mention of Yuri and fled to his office. He hated this, keeping Yuri a mystery from him, from them both. All the lies between them just seemed to be tearing his family apart. How long would it be before Yukio despised him as well…

He moved to his desk, setting himself down in the large armchair. Pulling out the Kamikakushi key from around his neck, he inserted it into a nearby drawer at his desk. A key for hiding things…

He opened the drawer and stared at the one piece of paper inside, the only thing he kept. He couldn’t - no wouldn’t part with when everything else of her was destroyed.

He picked up the paper and turned it around to look at it – A photo. A photo from a wedding long ago. Three people stood in the photo, two males and a female. One was Shiro himself looking disgruntled and moody, obviously wondering why the hell he was there with these idiots. The other male, the groom, short spikey light brown hair, face happy and flushed with drunkenness – Rick. And the third, the woman, looking like a happy hysterical drunk. Gripping hold of both their necks in a tight hug, he could feel the enthusiastic energy radiating off her just from the photo. Her dark brown hair stuck to her face – dotted with moles just like Yukio’s – Yuri.

He scrunched up the photo in his hand as he fought back the tears. He put the photo back into his desk, locking the drawer back up. One day he would be able to share this with them, show them how beautiful she was. Even at the end, she was smiling…

“Urgh, can’t you at least be honest with me here at the end?” She pouted before giving him a gentle smile “See ya!”

How he wished he had held on to her. Wished he hadn’t let her sacrifice herself to that…monster. He’d tried to save her, and when he failed, he’d tried to make up for it. Taking in the twins as his own. But he was still failing her. He’d lost one to Satan and the other was slowing seeping away from him, he could feel it.

Tiredness eventually took over in his grief, falling asleep at his desk.

“Goodbye, Shiro…”

Sir Mephisto Pheles, Honorary Knight of the Knights of the True Cross. The headmaster of True Cross Academy. Also known as Samael, King of Time a Demon King of Gehenna. Had been sat mulling over a chessboard for the better part of the past two weeks, wondering why his plans had all gone awry even more-so than usual.
He had tried to correct the timeline, to put things back how they should be for his plans. Albeit with a few changes where Rin was concerned having had the sword already broken ahead of time. But getting Rin out of Gehenna had turned out to be the easy task compared to the events that followed. He hid in waiting for either Rin to calm down and re-join his family or more likely, lost control, so he could then step in and confine him. Then he could’ve brought him back to himself. But nothing ever goes smoothly…

His plan had been for Amaimon to get close to him, befriend him in his own strange way. But the fight had put him out of commission and Satan had apparently kept them separated for a while. He hadn’t counted on Iblis being the one to get close to him. His trust in her led to him opening up, letting Satan in to take them back to Gehenna. Spurred on by the fact he wanted to escape before he lost control of himself – protecting his family.

His plans once again had been thwarted by Satan. It was certainly a timeline he had not foreseen. Which complicated things further. But what was Satan planning? He still needed a vessel but no longer planned to use Rin. Had Lucifer’s research already made headway this early? Surely not, certain events still hadn’t occurred…

A crunching sound above him followed by crumbs falling onto the chessboard in front of him drew him out of his thoughts. He looked up with a scowl, his mouth twitched at the corners, to see Amaimon hanging from a chandelier on the ceiling, a bag of chips in his hands. With Satan knowing of Amaimon’s involvement in Rin’s escape from Gehenna it wasn’t wise to send him back, so now Mephisto was stuck watching over him and his appetite for junk food.

“Amaimon…could you do that someplace else?” He gave him a threatening grin; Amaimon flinched.

“When will I get to play with Otouto again?” He let out a disappointed whine. Rin had promised he would play with him again if he showed him out of Gehenna. Then he disappeared, going back to where Amaimon couldn’t follow to play with him anymore without risking his vessel. He was now bored, stuck watching his brother stare at a chessboard.

“I’m sure we will be seeing our youngest brother again soon Amaimon. Father won’t keep him hidden away for long.”

“I hope he is more fun to play when with he comes back, I like it when he’s violent.” He crunched down on another chip, more crumbs fluttered below.

Mephisto rolled his eyes in response.

Monday soon rolled around, the next school week started and Mephisto was sat in his office at the school when there was a knock at the door. He set down his pen and ushered the guest in.

“Come in.” He sat back in his chair; hands folded on his desk. He grinned at the newcomer.

A boy, in a True cross student uniform, stood in the doorway his short-lived confident demeanour shattered in the face of the eccentric headmaster. He shuffled his feet nervously when he was stood directly in front of the man’s desk. Man? He wasn’t really sure about that; he gave off the same creepy vibe as the monster’s he’d been seeing the past two weeks. But he’d helped him when he still couldn’t remember what exactly happened, his friends had been useless in their explanations. All he remembered was a fight with that Okumura kid. Who, when he had tried to find out what happened from him, had conveniently disappeared.

“And how can I help you, today?” Mephisto said in a predatory tone. Bringing the boy back out of his thoughts. This was the only person that had offered him any sort of explanation as to what happened and why he was now seeing these monsters – demons. Something about being possessed and a…taint? He made an offer to teach him to fight them…

“Your offer…I want to accept—” he mumbled nervously before getting cut off by the headmaster standing abruptly clapping his hands together. It made him jump in surprise.

“Splendid! I will make the preparations immediately. You will have a little catching up to do though, having missed the first week of classes – are you sure you can handle this extra work load?”

The boy nodded, a determined look in his eye.

“I will remind you, take heed what you learn, if you slip up into your old ways again there will be no second chances.” He narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him sending a chill down his spine.

“I swear, I can change. It won’t happen again… I don’t want it to. That’s why I’m doing this.” His fists clenched by his legs. This seemed to please Mephisto enough. Learning of his possession and what he had tried to do to Rin Okumura seemed to have shocked him enough to push him on this path.

“Fine, I will have your class schedule sorted for you and your first class at the cram school starts this evening. You will not be the only new student starting late – so do not worry.”

The boy exited the room, closing the door behind him. Mephisto leant back in his chair.

“Time to start playing some new pieces.”

Back in Gehenna, a pair of warped blue eyes opened.

Chapter Text

Rin’s relief on returning to Gehenna was short-lived. He was happy he, and Satan hadn’t hurt anyone. But he felt disgusted with himself for leaving in the manner he felt forced to, with Satan inside his body. He wasn’t sure what was worse, his family seeing him struggle against his inner demon trying to force its way out or letting them see him succumb to Satan himself. Neither option was his first choice but as far as he could see they were the only ones he had at that present moment. Opting for the latter as it got him quickly back to the safety of Gehenna.

The painful throbbing in his head had subsided thanks to Satan quelling its anger in his control, but Rin could still hear the vague screaming in the back of his mind. But now he was faced with another problem. The one he had really wanted to avoid at all costs; the one that threatened everything he was. Facing his demon half.

Satan was adamant it had to be now, no more choices, no more delaying the inevitable. He’d made it clear - either join with his inner demon or Satan would take Rin’s body as his own – and use it to kill Father Fujimoto. He wasn’t sure if he was serious or using it as a way to motivate Rin to get a move on, Rin didn’t want to risk it either. Regardless of everything that had happened, Father Fujimoto was still his dad.

Rin sat cross-legged on the cold floor of the throne room, where he’d woken up after Satan’s possession moments before. His reluctance to this whole thing was obvious. He liked feeling whole again, but he didn’t want this to change who he was. He just wanted the pain in his head to stop.

Satan circled around Rin, looking deep in thought. He finally stopped behind him putting a clawed hand on his shoulder. Rin flinched and felt the desire to shove it off, not wanting to be touched by the demon. Satan seemed to sense this and grasp tighter.

“Summon your flames.” He ordered.

Rin did as he was told, the flames were weak and lightly danced around his form. Satan let out a disappointed huff.

“Put more into them, don’t hold back.”

He managed to push them a bit more, which cause the voice in his head to grow louder. He stopped pushing when the pain returned.

“More!” Satan tightened his grip again, digging claws into Rin’s shoulder.

“I can’t – It hurts” Rin gripped hold of his head. His flames dying slightly. Satan wasn’t going to allow him to shy away from this, summoning his own flames he surrounded Rin with them, pushing them into his being – fuelling Rin’s own flame to grow bigger. Rin’s eye snapped open as the pain came back full force in his head, he screamed in agony as he rolled around the floor gripping his head. He’d never felt the pain this bad before, it was unbearable, his head felt like it was splitting open in all directions. Like it was being torn apart from the inside out.

Satan paid no attention to the screams and poured more power into him. He spared a thought for whether his renewed body would actually handle this, he’d already combusted once but he was tired of Rin suppressing this power; suppressing his rage. If he could survive this merge and his full power, he would be worthy of the title the Son of Satan; the Prince of Gehenna.

His throat felt raw, his head was splitting and his body ached all over. Rin finally blacked out, his body collapsing to the ground.

When he opened his eyes there was nothing but darkness, an endless sea of black. He sat up squinting to try and see something; anything. But it was no use, the darkness was too thick. After a few moments passed something formed in front of Rin, a dim light resonating from it. Two blue orbs stared back at him; a mirror had appeared.

He looked into the mirror to see himself, he looked human again. His hair was black, fangs gone and ears rounded. He felt around his lower back to find his tail had disappeared again. He was dreaming, he must be, just like before. He looked around but there was no Yukio, no Monastery; only darkness. Turning back to his reflection, it started to morph in front of his eyes. The reflection sneered at him, white hair, fangs and pointed ears. His other-self.

Rin glared back into the twisted flames of his other half’s eyes. The demon stepped forward and out of the mirror, now stood in front of Rin who was still sat on the floor; his glare had morphed into fear. As the demon walked forward with a hungry look in his eye Rin scooted back until he hit something. Looking up he met more twisted eyes, the eyes of Satan.

“Welcome to the core of your mind.” Satan finally said, smug grin evident on his face. Rin wanted to punch him. His demon-self chuckled.

“The core…of my mind?” Rin questioned.

He was suddenly face to face with his other self, far too close for Rin’s comfort and staring into a hungry grin with far too many sharp teeth for his liking. He spoke with Rin’s own voice, but it seemed more animalistic than his own, there was a low growl to his voice that made Rin shiver.

“The place I have been locked away for 15 years, waiting for release…” He growled. “I am created of all your rage and lust that you had denied yourself and pushed deep down. Just so you could be a worthless human that never fit in. I have been watching from the side-lines for 15 years, but now it’s my turn to play—” He quickly pinned Rin down and gripped his neck, flames growing around his body he began choking Rin.

Satan quickly stepped in forcing the demon off of his human half. As if asserting authority Satan growled. The demon didn’t push back, just glared at his father before turning his attention back to his human half. Rin coughed as he sat back up. Rubbing his neck, he scooted himself closer to Satan.

“I already warned you not to kill him” Satan growled at the demon.

“Why are you so adamant the human part lives when you want him to be more like a demon. If you’d let me get rid of him, you would have the demon son you wanted and a faithful servant to help you claim Assiah.”

“You were born as one, you should return to one. Regardless of his humanity, your personalities will merge. You will still get your freedom.”

Rin sat confused at the civilised conversation going on in his apparent mind, between the two demons. The Demon Rin looked lost in thought, staring at his human half with a wavering look on his face.

“And you actually agreed to this? Giving up your humanity to merge with me? Heh.” He laughed to himself.

“I’m not being given a choice. I don’t want to give up anything, but I want the pain to stop. I want the fight over my body to stop, so people don’t get hurt if you suddenly escaped.” Rin looked the Demon in the eyes.

“Tch, so self-sacrificing aren’t you. Do you really think us merging again will stop that? You have no idea what we were like in the beginning?”

“What do you mean? You do?!” Rin looked at him confused.

“When we were still as one before they sealed our heart. My memories are vague…but I remember bits. There was fire and death and screams of terror - and we were the cause of it.” He paused for a moment as his words started to sink in. After thinking about it himself now, it sounded like a good idea. “Ya know what? Maybe a merge would be fun…”

Rin faltered at that; a memory of him as an infant changed his mind, just like that? He was getting outnumbered on this merger, even his Demon half wanted it now…

“You never know, it could be different! We were only an infant back then, you’re more mature now though, right?” He chuckled again; Rin grimaced.

Satan observed in approving silence, before looking into the distance to see something in the darkness. Could that be…? No surely not. How did he get here? Interesting. He might have to go and introduce himself properly. Then again was it a good idea to leave these two alone? They seemed to be keeping in civil for the moment. In the end, Satan decided to go and question the visitor.

“I will be back, try not to kill each other in my absence.” With that Satan disappeared in a flourish of blue flame. They both looked in confusion. Turning back to each other Demon Rin had a glint of mischief in his eye.

“Let’s play.” He said with a big toothy grin.

“What?!”

“Play. Ya know, fight me! In our mind, we’re more or less evenly matched.” He leant forward with a look of excitement.

Rin wasn’t sure “What’s the catch…?”

The resulting grin on Demon Rin’s face scared him. He wanted to run.

“If you win, we don’t merge, and I will quiet down. You retain your humanity and still have all your power without me taking over.”

“I don’t buy that; you’ve been trying to get out for so long to give me that option. What’s to stop you going back on it later?”

“I’m am a demon; we are bound by our deals.” He shrugged, crossing his arms with a smug look.

“But what’s the other half of the deal, what if you win—?”

The demon clapped his hands together; Rin jumped. “Ah! If you lose the fight against your demon urges.” He gave Rin a wide toothy grin, Rin swallowed a lump.

“What do you mean…lose to my demon urges?”

“Where would the fun be if I told you that!” He pushed his hand further towards Rin’s face as if waving it around in front of him would get him to shake it faster.

“And…then?” Rin said, pushing the hand to the side, much to the annoyance of the demon.

 “And then we merge, like Father originally planned. If your humanity takes a hit and you are more demon than human, that will be the consequence. If not then you still win.” He moved his hand back in front of him.

Rin stared at the hand in front of him still hesitant to shake it. “I’m confused. Do you actually want to merge now? What happened to taking control and being free to burn everything…” Rin was surprised and worried. Why would his demon half suddenly change his mind and want to merge, giving up his main chance at control?

“Fighting you for control is getting tiresome, for both of us.” The demon turned serious, looking Rin in the eyes; crossing his arms.

“Human egos are stronger than demon egos. The only reason you’re having trouble is because of what happened with those humans.” Rin could’ve sworn he growled out that last part. “Even if I gained control, you’d fight me; I’d fight you back. Unless I killed you here and now but Father won’t be so forgiving for that.” He huffed in frustration, claws scratching on his arms.

“We’d just be wasting endless energy trying to suppress each other. So as much as I despise the idea; Father is right. Merging together will fix our issues. You’d no longer suffer the pain of me fighting you, and I would no longer be stuck in here.” He once again held out his hand, to shake on the deal he’d proposed.

Rin sighed ignoring the demon’s hand yet again. The demon’s eye twitched.

“So, you’ve just been stuck in here, watching for 15 years?”

The demon nodded. “There were a few times, I managed to break free. I’m sure you remember the few times you’ve got carried away and hurt people.”

Rin grimaced but nodded back in response.

“But you were human, there wasn’t a lot I could do trapped behind the seal besides lash out. Then that damn priest managed to enforce your human will and I was suppressed back into the darkness again. There will be no more of that once we’re merged.” He growled with visible excitement.

“You sound so sure that you’ll win.” Rin looked at him with a serious look. He wasn’t planning on losing his humanity to this demon. He was going to win, he wanted this thing to go away and leave him alone. Satan could shove his merger up his ass.

“Does that mean we have a deal?” The demon grinned hungrily as Rin took his outstretched hand.

Yukio opened his eyes to darkness, he felt around before realising his glasses were still on his face. Had he fallen asleep with them on again? He remembered falling asleep in Rin’s bed after briefly talking with Father Fujimoto but this didn’t look like his and Rin’s room. There was no light filtering in from outside it was just pure darkness. Where was he?

After a while a dim light appeared in the distance, he could make out a figure stood in front of it, somewhat illuminated by the light. He soon recognised the figure as Rin, but he looked human again. Did they change him back? Was he in Gehenna? How did he get here? Too many questions forming in his head at that moment. He tried shouting to his brother, trying to get his attention. But Rin couldn’t hear him, he stood up and tried to walk towards him but something in front of him prevented him from getting any closer. He banged on the invisible wall, hoping it would make some sound to make Rin turn around. Would he even see him?

Rin was looking at a reflection of himself, just realising himself he was human again before his reflection turned into that of a demon and walked out of the mirror in front of him. Yukio banged even harder, but it was no use. Another demon appeared behind Rin, older with long white hair, blue flamed horns on his head and a white tail just like the other demon. Was that Satan?

He watched them talk in silence, unable to hear anything being said, nearly panicking when the Demon-looking Rin jumped onto the human-looking one trying to kill him. Had this been what Rin was fighting against that whole time? His demon half. He looked a lot more menacing than Rin had. His aura just seemed to give off endless rage. But he seemed to back down against the older demon, it must be Satan. Rin had looked just like him…

Satan suddenly looked in Yukio’s direction. Yukio flinched, could he see him? He thought he was invisible, but maybe only Satan has the power to see through the wall. He suddenly disappeared into blue flames, only to reappear beside Yukio. He jumped back, fear evident on his face.

“What are you doing hiding back here, little one? Did you come to watch the show?” He was unusually calm, but that same despicable smile was plastered on his face.

Yukio pushed himself back until he hit another invisible wall, he was trapped and had nowhere to go.

“Don’t panic yourself, Yukio.” Yukio flinched at the use of his name “I can’t hurt you here, for neither of us is here physically.” Yukio seemed to relax a bit at that, but did not let his guard down in front of the Demon King.

“W-Where am I? How did I get here?” He risked a quick glance in Rin’s direction, both he and the demon were sat…talking it seemed. His attention was quickly drawn back to Satan when he spoke.

“We are inside Rin’s mind; I have forced him into a state of unconsciousness so that he can converse with his demon half. The headaches are a bit troublesome for him if you’d noticed.” Yukio nodded weakly.

“But why am I here, and why can’t he see or hear me?”

“You are here as an observer; possibly through some link you share.” Satan shrugged, he would investigate this more later. “Once the merge is complete, Rin will awaken, and we will be expelled from this space.”

Yukio turned to look at Satan with a fearful look “Merge…?”

Satan was looking at the two Rin’s, the demon apparently trying to make a wager and Rin seemed to be buying it. He grinned smugly.

“Hey! What do you mean?” Yukio asked again, still waiting for some sort of explanation. “What are you planning to do to my brother?” He frowned at the Demon King who just laughed in response, although in Yukio’s opinion it sounded more like a cackle. A hint of the Satan he had seen before.

“I am but an observer like you. If anything happens it will be because they have agreed it. I merely brought Rin here because of the pain he was experiencing. All caused by your lies and hatred of demons.” Satan glanced sideways at Yukio, whose fists were clenched tightly and shaking.

“He felt he had enough control over it to return home, so he found a way to escape – with help of Samael’s meddling, of course. But being around you humans again just angered his demon half into trying to take action.”

“You still haven’t explained what this merge is.” To be honest he had an idea, but was afraid to believe that his brother would actually go through with such a thing.

“Isn’t that obvious? And here I thought you were the genius son.” Yukio’s frown deepened in his growing anger. He hated this demon, wanted to kill him there and then. But he was human and they weren’t even physically here. Satan took in the boy’s silence and continued.

“His human and demon egos are going to merge into one.” Yukio’s eyes widened with horror “So that there will no longer be fighting over who is in control of his body. So, you see. I only have my son’s best interests in mind…Even if it does alter his personality and destroy what’s left of his humanity.”

Yukio’s head snapped in Satan’s direction, fear and anger all meshed into one. He jumped at Satan, going straight through him as he disappeared into blue flames. Yukio was alone again with only the receding echo of Satan’s laugh to listen to. He ran back to the invisible wall, banging on it with his fists. He started to scream Rin’s name before he noticed the two Rin’s were fighting each other.

“Yes, Nii-san! Fight him!” He wasn’t giving in to the demon, he was fighting back. Yukio felt elated at the thought.

Suddenly Yukio could hear everything that was going on, the silence had been lifted. Could Rin hear him now too? He yelled again, but to two were too preoccupied with the fight to hear his voice. He eventually sat in silence watching them duke it out, no fire; just a test of strength. It wasn’t until partway through the fight that he took notice of Rin’s face…he was smiling. The demon Rin had been smiling the whole time like he was having a ball. But Rin’s had been concentrated and serious. What changed?

Rin’s human ego started to take on more demonic traits as he fought the other, his ears grew pointed and fangs appeared. He then burst into flame and landing a solid punch on the other sending him flying through the darkness. The Demon didn’t get up again.

“Heh...haha! I win!” He threw his arms in the air and fell to his knees laughing at finally having beaten the other. “I win. Now you have to go away and leave me the hell alone!” Rin spat towards the shadow of the demon.

“Nii-san!” Yukio tried again now the fight had ended, the invisible wall disappeared from in front of him and he fell forward to the ground. Rin turned to see his brother, surprise and wariness on his face.

“Yukio?” He slowly walked towards him. Yukio stood back up and moved towards Rin at a faster pace. He didn’t hesitate this time and pulled his brother into an embrace. Rin froze for a moment before returning it.

“You Idiot.” Yukio pulled back inspecting Rin’s body for injuries “What were you thinking?” he scolded. Watching as the few injuries healed before his eyes. He took in the few demonic features that had appeared on the human version of Rin, wondering why they had appeared. Rin didn’t seem to realise they were there. He just chuckled to himself.

“He said if I win, he’d leave me alone, and I wouldn’t have to keep fighting him for control. The pain would finally stop…” He stared back at the unmoving shadow in the darkness. Feeling relief that it was over and his humanity intact.

“So, does that mean you can come home?” Rin looked reluctant, after what had happened before. “Rin, please I didn’t mean to say what I said, we didn’t want to hurt you. We just wanted to keep you safe.” He gripped his brother’s arm tightly “Please. Come home. You belong with Father Fujimoto and me.”

“I don’t think it’ll be so easy for me to get out of Gehenna a second time, but…sure I’ll try Yukio.” He smiled; the first genuine smile Yukio had seen since he had disappeared that night two weeks ago.

The moment was cut short by a malicious laugh.

“How sweet, a touching moment for two brothers.”

Black tendrils of shadow come out of nowhere and wrapped around Rin’s wrists, body and legs; dragging him away from Yukio, who when trying to run after him was stopped by an invisible wall again. The Demon Rin emerged from the shadows, calling forth his flames and wrapping his arms around the human Rin’s neck from behind.

“You forget the rest of our deal, my brother.” Yukio looked to Rin confused whilst Rin was struggling against the bindings in a panic. He’d won the fight, so the demon had the leave him alone. The demon only won if he gave into to his demon urges, but he wasn’t even sure what that meant!

“Let go of me!” He struggled more frantically than before. Panic starting to take over.

“What’s he talking about Nii-San?!” Yukio panicked. “What deal?” Why did his brother make a deal with a demon of all things? Was he trying to be clever?!

The demon touched a finger to the pointed tip of Rin’s ear before moving to his mouth to pull it open to reveal his fangs.

“Yup, proof right here. You enjoyed it!” He looked to Yukio and grinned. The same looking grin that he’d seen when Satan had entered Rin’s body.

“His human ego took on demonic traits, as proof that he enjoyed the fight. Proof of his true nature. The deal was I would leave him alone if he won. BUT! If he gave into demon urges or in other words enjoyed the fight, if he relished the feeling of cutting loose. Then he is mine.” He growled with excitement.

“N-NO!” Yukio screamed trying to break free of the cage, but it was no use.

Rin continued struggling against the bindings, tears forming in his eyes. He really messed up this time.

“So, now it’s time! We even have an audience!” He cackled madly in Rin’s ear. Rin looked in horror at Yukio, he would have to witness this, why was he even here! The demon got a firm grip on Rin’s head, pulling it to the side so that the entirety of his neck was exposed to him. Rin’s eyes locked to Yukio’s tears running down his face.

He didn’t want this!

He wanted to go home, why did he come back here!

Rin kept struggling before finally getting one arm free of the tendrils, but as he did so he felt the Demon’s grip on him tighten and a sharp pain in his shoulder as fangs bit down deep. He screamed one last time, looking into Yukio’s eyes reaching his arm out for him.

“YUKIO!”

Before his eyes went cloudy and his body slacked against the remaining bindings. The demon ego smiled menacingly at Yukio as he seemed to merge himself into Rin’s human form. His hair turned back to white, all his demonic features returning before the bindings disappeared and released him, his body fell to the floor.

Yukio tried to yell for him to get up, but the more he tried the quieter his voice went before everything including Rin faded to darkness.

Yukio woke up screaming Rin’s name, with Shiro next to him trying to shake him out of it.

“Yukio! Snap out of it!”

He registered the voice and turned to Shiro, he was shaking all over and covered in sweat.

“Yukio? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…”

“Something terrible has happened…” Yukio whispered.

“Yukio it was just a bad dream, you’re safe now.” Shiro held him close, he’d never seen Yukio this scared since he was a child.

“N-No, it wasn’t a dream. It was Rin, I was in Rin’s mind…Satan was there…” He struggled out of the tangled bedsheets, sitting up in Rin’s bed. Yukio was never this badly shaken anymore, it must’ve been serious. If Rin and Satan were involved, it made him more curious.

“Ok, tell me everything.”

Chapter Text

Rin’s body lay still on the throne room floor, carefully watched over by Satan. After his conversation with the human twin, the two sides of Rin had fought against the other. He chose not to step in this time, knowing Rin’s demon half had decided to go along with his own plan. The human ego had been naïve and foolish to think he could win against a deal with a demon. Especially one that shared his own mind.

Satan had stayed hidden in the shadows watching the events unfold closely. Holding back his own maniacal cackle at both twin’s looks of horror when they realised, they had lost. His own conscious had returned to the throne room when the merge was complete. Now he just had to wait for Rin to wake up.

The main doors opened, and Iblis entered the throne room. Confidently approaching the King of demons. She bowed her head slightly before speaking.

“How did it go? Was the merge successful?”

Satan didn’t take his eyes from Rin’s body laid on the floor. But nodded.

“It is done. He tried to beat the demon half, so he wouldn’t have to merge. But the demon had a better plan up his sleeve it seemed. Even better when they had an audience from Assiah…”

“An…audience?” Iblis turned to her father confused.

“Yes. It appears there is some sort of connection between him and his human brother. Seemed to pull the younger from his sleep into his own mind. He witnessed everything.” Satan said; corners of his mouth turned up into a smirk.

“I’m sure he will tell the Paladin and the other exorcists then.” She folded her arms, looking down at Rin. He looked peaceful for the first time since he’d arrived. “Do you want me to return him to his room, or are you going to let him wake here?”

“Leave him be. It won’t be long now.” Satan gave her a sideways glance, noticing that she was also waiting for him to awaken. “Are you concerned for him Iblis?” She stiffened next to him; a toothy grin forming on his face. “Considering your earlier comments, you seem to have grown attached to him in so little time.”

She frowned “I am merely looking after him in your best interests Father. He seems to trust me, if not for that he wouldn’t have returned to Gehenna. Your plans would’ve failed and he’d be in Samael’s hands.”

Satan nodded; the smirk remained. He knew better, it was obvious she cared for the boy but was not going to question it if it got him what he wanted.

Their attention was pulled by a groan that sounded from Rin on the floor. He rolled on to his side and squinted his eyes open to a dimly lit room with a blue hue. He managed to push himself into a sitting position, every muscle screamed at him before his stomach lurched and he expelled the contents of his stomach on to the black stone flooring.

“How do you feel?” Satan’s deep voice made Rin jump in surprise, not realising he was watching over him, he looked up to see both Satan and Iblis with serious looks on their faces. The first thing they noticed were his eyes, twisted by blue flame, just like Satan’s. The merge was complete.

Rin let out a little laugh “I feel nauseous and everything hurts, but my head feels clear. The clearest it’s been since I got here.”

“Good.” Satan acknowledged. “The nausea and pain will hopefully clear up after some rest. Do you remember what happened whilst you were in your mind?”

Rin paused to think, he remembered every detail, including Yukio being present and that deal that had sealed his fate. It was odd though; he didn’t feel any different. Then again, was he supposed to?

“Bits. I remember talking and a fight, after that it’s a bit blurry.” He lied. Satan just nodded without uttering a word. Could he tell he was lying? After a few moments Satan stepped forward offering his hand to help Rin up, without even thinking about it he took it and pulled himself to his feet. Satan seemed to look approvingly at him before speaking again.

“Now, summon your flames.”

Rin did as he was told, surrounding himself with his own flame. Much bigger than the pitiful amount he had before. He kept going, almost like he knew Satan wanted to see more. His flames soon reached the ceiling of the throne room, and one of the adjacent walls, flicking at the tapestries there charring them slightly.

Even Iblis had to step back slightly, she was a fire demon but blue flames could still affect her somewhat. What was interesting was how calm Rin was, surrounded by enormous blue flames and he was unaffected by the same problems as before. He still couldn’t control them properly, everything they touched burned, but that would come with training.

At least now he could use them without the pain of his mind being split in two. As fast as they appeared Rin pulled them back in. Iblis watched with awe.

“Much better. How did that feel? To access your power with no repercussions; nothing holding it back?” Satan held Rin’s face so that he couldn’t turn away, he wanted to see the truth in his eyes as well as hear it.

“It…It felt good.” An involuntary shiver of excitement trailed through his body when the words left his mouth. Satan smiled in approval. He almost looked proud of him.

“Good, you may rest now. You’ve had a rather exciting day and I’m sure it has taken its toll on you.” Rin nodded “Iblis, please make sure Rin gets back to his room.” Iblis nodded towards the door and both her and Rin left the room, leaving Satan to his musings.

They walked in silence through the halls of the castle. Until they finally reached Rin’s room, Iblis opened the door.

“Go on Runt, get some rest. You’re stuck with me tomorrow and I plan on working you hard as payback for making me chase your ass to Assiah.” She smirked giving him a slap on the back. It was going to be their first combat lesson, and this time, she could have some fun. Rin was deep in thought but nodded in response anyway. Saying goodnight and closing the door behind him.

He let out an exhausted sigh. Too many things going through his head since he woke up, including memories he didn’t know he had. They had been bugging him the most. A woman’s voice screaming in his head not to kill her baby, explosions and more yelling, but no imagery to go with it besides blue flames. He tried not to dwell on it, it was obvious it was just the vague memory that the demon half had mentioned. Thinking of it just brought up forgotten anger, anger towards humans he didn’t want to feel. But he guessed this was part of him now, he wondered how many more changes he would notice as time went by. How much had he changed, really?

It was only then he registered his demon heart had disappeared. He must’ve hidden it away without thinking when he pulled all his flames back inside. He looked at the bed, he was tired but also curious now that he could use his flames more, what could he do with them. He sat on the stone floor in the middle of the room and summoned his flames to his hands. Passing the flames from one hand to the other he noticed his control had improved from before.

Staring into the flames, he had an overwhelming urge to burn something. He looked around to see if there was anything useless nearby; he found a rug. Pulling the rug closer to him, he put both hands on it, his flames coming easily now. He sat and watched as the rug burnt to ashes.

Rin smiled gleefully looking at his hands as if he’d found a new toy and laughed to himself. He wanted to burn some more.

It was Saturday morning, Mephisto had decided to take a break from the scheming, he’d hit a dead end with Rin returning to Gehenna and needed a day of rest to recalculate his thoughts. He and Amaimon were sat playing video games on a big-screen television.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Belial’s voice.

“Sir, you have a visitor.” Came the polite tone of Mephisto’s servant.

Soon followed what sounded like a shove and a familiar voice berating the servant and louder banging on the door.

“Mephisto you damn clown, open up now!”

The demon let out a sigh and waved his hand, the door unlocked. Shiro barged in without a moment’s hesitation; walking stick in hand. He stopped almost dumbstruck at the sight of the two demon kings relaxing like kids on the weekend. Amaimon surrounded by chips and sweet wrappers, Mephisto his empty instant noodle containers.

“To what do I owe this visit, my dear Shiro.”

“Don’t you ‘my dear Shiro’ me, we have a problem!” he gave them both an exasperated look.

Mephisto paused the game and turned to his visitor “Another one? Did our Rin return already?” Amaimon perked up at the mention of Rin but was soon disheartened when Shiro shot down the suggestion.

“No, something else happened.” Shiro paused for a bit thinking of how to explain what Yukio had told him. “Yukio…had some sort of dream. He said he was in Rin’s mind, with Satan and two versions of Rin.”

Mephisto frowned before Shiro continued.

“Satan had spoken to him, said something about a merge… before leaving. Yukio said that the Rin’s fought against one another before the human half won.”

“That’s good!” His frown disappeared but the look on Shiro’s face told him there was more to this.

“That’s what Yukio and Rin thought to. But the demon-half tricked him, trapping Rin and forcefully merging with him. After that Yukio woke up. We don’t know anymore.” Shiro looked at Mephisto with a worried look “What’s going to happen to him now?”

“Rin is going to be more fun to play with.” Amaimon bluntly exclaimed.

Mephisto waved him off “Ignore him.” Turning back to Shiro “We can do nothing until our young Rin has returned to Assiah.”

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

“There is also another urgent matter for you to occupy yourself with. Since you are out of hospital now, the council have decided to take it upon themselves to investigate the incident at your home. Since Satan was involved and you were possessed briefly, they are taking this very seriously.”

Upon hearing Mephisto’s words, the colour drained from Shiro’s face.

“I didn’t want to spring this on you till after the weekend, but since you’re already here. They’ve sent in investigators to keep an eye on both of us, even Yukio.”

Shiro nodded solemnly but no response left his mouth. It was like rubbing salt in an open wound. He’d lost a son, nearly died and now an investigation was being done because of Satan’s involvement. As if that bastard demon hadn’t done enough damage already. He wondered if they were going to be able to keep Rin’s situation a secret or if it was all going to blow up in their faces.

“What do we tell them about Rin? People know I have two sons, it’s not like I’ve kept that a secret. I might not have spoken of Rin that often but people were aware I adopted two. What do we do when they find out one of them is missing?”

“I will leave you to discuss that with your own, you can either say he died in the accident, Satan could have gone on a rampage briefly and killed him. Or he could’ve run away before that, you had an argument, after all.” This was true, he had run away in a sense the second time. “But be prepared for the fallout of whatever you choose, in case he comes back. I believe Yukio’s roommates had been asking him questions about his absent brother, maybe you should discuss with him.”

Shiro wasn’t aware of that. He quickly left without another word, rushing home to Yukio. Mephisto returned to his game with Amaimon.

“Now what, brother?” Amaimon asked curiously.

“I’m going to have to investigate this myself it seems.” Mephisto had a dark look on his face.

Yukio didn’t get much of a chance to mope around when he finally came to in the morning. After discussing everything with Shiro at 3 am, he’d soon found the pillow again and quickly headed back to sleep; feeling as if he’d had no sleep at all.

This was supposed to have been a happier weekend, well as happy as it could’ve gotten with Shiro getting out of the hospital. But things had only gone downhill since they got back to the Monastery last night.

Yukio was currently getting his Exorcist gear on; he’d had a phone call for an exorcism first thing. Leaving him no time to even think about what had happened last night. Which to be honest was probably a good thing. The event itself had horrified him enough he didn’t want to dwell on the what-if’s just yet.

Once he was ready, he left using a special key.

He arrived at Futsumaya, the exorcist supply shop. Opening the door, a bell rang above his head. The shop keeper, a plump middle-aged lady with blonde hair up in a bun, put down her smoking pipe and looked up giving him a warm smile.

“Ah, Mr Okumura! Welcome”

“Hello, Ma’am. I am responding to the call you made.”

“Oh! My that was fast, yes it’s Shiemi…” She paused for a moment taking in his appearance “You’re looking tired my boy, would you like some tea first? We can talk about Shiemi before we go see her if you like.”

Yukio smiled and nodded.

“Yes, Thank you.”

A few moments later they were both sat at a table with hot tea in hand. Ms Moriyama looked worried.

“So, how has Miss Shiemi been doing?” Yukio said taking a sip of his tea, he felt a bit more relaxed here than at the Monastery.

“Her legs get worse every day. She can’t even stand now…” She said; letting out a tired sigh “On top of that we haven’t been getting along, we’ve hardly spoken to each other.”

“And you think it could be demon related?”

“We tried a doctor, they said everything was fine. So, I am turning to an exorcist for answers. It all happened after her Grandmother died in the winter…”

They continued to discuss the circumstances leading up to Shiemi’s problem and her symptoms so far. When they had finished and drank the rest of the tea, they moved to the garden.

When they went outside, they saw the young girl on her dirtied knees, hands full of soil and flowers after removing them from a pot to plant into the ground. Her blonde hair sticking to her face in the warm sun. The garden was tranquil, and just being here made Yukio relax. He walked up to the girl.

She startled and squeaked at the sound of someone approaching, having been so engrossed in her garden to notice. Looking up she saw a familiar face, followed by her mother.

“Yuki!” She exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

It was refreshing after being in so much gloom for the last two weeks, just to see a genuine smile in such a beautiful place. Yukio loved it here more than he’d like to admit.

He returned the smile with his own and knelt to her level.

“Hello, Shiemi.”

“H-Hello!” Her mother suddenly approached from behind Yukio, Shiemi’s smile vanished and she frowned at her mother.

“Shiemi, Mr Okumura is here on my request, let him look at your legs.”

“B-But Mom! A Demon didn’t do it!”

“Let’s check, just in case.” He smiled warmly at her, causing her to blush violently. “If I don’t find anything then there’s no problem. Okay? So, may I have a look?”

She lowered her head so her bangs hid her face, but nodded slightly.

“Okay…”

“Thank you.”

He gently pulled her leg towards him, lifting the bottom of her Kimono up to her knees. He could see large thick vein-like bulges going up her legs, he inwardly sighed to himself and pulled the Kimono back down over her legs.

He explained to them both that it was a Root, the work of a demon in the garden. A Temptaint but she was not possessed - much to her mother’s relief.

“It’s a low-level demon. A Dekalp, Green man or Ent must’ve possessed a plant and reached into Shiemi through the soil and her feet to feed off her inner unrest.” Yukio proceeded to look around the garden, surrounded by plants and flowers any one of them could house the demon.

He looked back to Shiemi.

“Shiemi, demons usually ensnare their victims through conversation. You must have talked to a demon. Do you have any idea when?” He gave her a serious look, but his features softened a bit when she just looked nervous in response.

“I-I haven’t spoken to any dem—” She started but was immediately cut off by her mother’s shrill voice.

“Shiemi! Get out of this garden, right now!” Her worry was evident “Your Grandmother cared for this place…But there’s no use ruining your health over this damned garden!” Screeching out those final words, Shiemi flinched.

“Mom…don't say that” The tears started to well up in her eyes as she shook, her pain soon turned to anger and she was shouting at her mother.

“I hate you!” She screamed out before collapsing, Yukio caught her just in time, placing her gently down on to the ground.

“Shiemi!” her mother panicked.

“It’s ok, she just fainted.” Yukio picked her up, bridal style and they took Shiemi into the nearby storehouse. Placing her on a bed inside. “She looked fine, but her spirit is being drained away through her legs. We need to drive the demon off before her life is in danger.” Yukio said turning to Ms Moriyama.

Ms Moriyama seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? How she sleeps here?”

“Hm?” Yukio looked at her questioningly. They spoke as they walked outside looking back at Shiemi before closing the door.

“Her grandmother lived in this storehouse. After her death Shiemi began spending all her time in here, that’s when she lost the use of her legs…” she paused, worry etched on her face “…just like her Grandmother did…”

“Why?”

“I try to ask her but…we always just end up fighting. I’m not a very good mother.” She gave a shuddered sigh as they both continued towards the main house. She went on to explain how this was punishment for being too busy to raise Shiemi herself. Leaving her own mother to do it for her when Shiemi was too sick for school. Yukio took in the information and took another glance around the garden, hundreds of plants and flowers surrounded the area it would be impossible to find whilst it was hiding without drawing it out somehow.

In a way Yukio was grateful for the distraction this was bringing; he’d been afraid of being left to dwell on the recent nightmares. But being here and around Shiemi even if he was on duty was still better. He went inside to further discuss things with Ms Moriyama.

They waited a while before Yukio decided to go and check on Shiemi in the storehouse. On arriving she had disappeared from the bed. Yukio looked around worried before he spotted her watering plants a little distance away, partially hidden by a rose bush. He walked over to her and knelt beside her. Her face went red with surprise.

“Yuki!”

“You should be resting, Shiemi. You know your mother is worried about you.”

Shiemi pouted before frowning at him.

“Why are you taking her side? She’s wrong! I wanted to protect my Grandmother’s garden; this was her treasure!” Her fists clenched into the dirt. Yukio smiled at her but Shiemi saw sadness behind it.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about.”

“Yuki…?” She looked at him with big tear-filled eyes. He could talk to her about this, couldn’t he? Shiemi was his friend and he could trust her more than anyone else. Talking to someone might make him feel better and help her in return.

“I recently lost my twin brother; he ran away because of something I did. And now I feel like I’ve lost him for good.” He suddenly felt a hand on top of his, he looked into Shiemi’s glistening eyes as she squeezed his hand.

“If he’s your brother, I’m sure he doesn’t blame you for anything Yuki. Maybe he just needs to get away for some time, and he’ll come back home when he’s ready.”

Yukio smiled back “Don’t you think your Grandmother would feel the same way, she wouldn’t blame you or want you to be cooped up here all your life. I remember you saying you wanted to go find the Garden of Amahara.”

Shiemi blushed at the mention of her dream and looked lost in thought momentarily, remembering her Grandmother encouraging her to go and explore the very same day as the accident. She looked back at Yukio.

“N-no, she wouldn’t” Tears started to fall as she sobbed into her Kimono “I’m so stupid, I can’t even walk anymore!”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and met Yukio’s eyes as she looked up.

“We can get rid of the demon, Shiemi. You will walk again.” She nodded, wiping tears away with her sleeve.

Yukio stood, just as he did so the demon's voice spoke.

“No! You will keep your promise to me!”

Roots grew out of Shiemi’s legs as she screamed, a giant purple flower appearing behind Shiemi’s body wrapping vines around her and using her as a shield. Shiemi fell unconscious in the demon’s grasp.

“Coward” Yukio glared at the demon.

“You will not take what belongs to me!” The demon screeched.

He took out both his guns, reloading one of them with capsules of red liquid, the other with his custom silver jacket bullets. Holding them up to aim at the flower demon.

“Let her go, or I’ll have to shoot you both.”

The demon cackled “You don’t have it in you to shoot one of your kind! I will not let her go.”

“You severely underestimate me, demon.” He flipped off the safety on both guns, aiming one straight at Shiemi.

The demon hissed “You wouldn’t dare?!”

Yukio looked back with a blank stare “Wouldn’t I?” before pulling the trigger, shooting Shiemi in the chest. The demon screeched and immediately unlatched from Shiemi’s body, Yukio immediately pulled the other gun around and shot at the now free demon. Killing it instantly, the demon vanished. Shiemi’s body fell to the floor, Yukio ran over to her.

“Mm… Y-Yuki…?” Her eyes fluttered open; Yukio smiled at her.

“The demon is gone; you should try to stand now.” He held her hands helping to pull her to her feet, she squeaked as she stood up, her legs worked again.

Ms Moriyama ran out and with a little persuasion, they reconciled happily. Yukio finally returned home, it had been a long day, but nice to spend time with Shiemi. His father was waiting for him when he got back.

“Yukio, come here. We need to talk.” The serious tone of voice had Yukio a little on edge. He nodded and sat down with his Father at the table.

“What is it?”

“I spoke to Mephisto, apparently now that I’m out of the hospital the Vatican is investigating the incident involving Satan.” Yukio’s relaxed posture soon grew stiff “They are going to be watching us and questioning us. As I understand it your roommates were asking about Rin, how did that come up?”

“I was talking in my sleep” Yukio sighed; staring blankly at the table. “I’ve been having nightmares about Rin since the night he was taken. I was apparently calling out for him and something about a demon in my sleep.”

“Oh dear.” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. “I guess that can’t be helped…at least you weren’t shouting Satan in your sleep.”

“Not that I’m aware of, only one of the guys heard it. The other two sleep like logs. Anyway, they asked about him and if he went to True Cross, I just said he’d dropped out after middle school and was job hunting. That was all about Rin really.”

Shiro sighed.

“Although someone has been spreading stories about Satan attacking you, one of my first years mentioned someone talking about it in passing.”

Shiro’s eyes widened in surprise. Either someone was really good at speculating or someone in the know was spreading the story on purpose. He wondered who though.

“I managed to play it off as a silly rumour because you’re the Paladin. But…not sure if they all completely bought it.”

Shiro covered his face with his hands, rubbing a sore spot between his eyes. One weekend of stress-free relaxation, that was all he asked. But alas this weekend seemed to be a write-off.

“This is such a pain. But we must decide on a story to explain Rin’s absence. Certain people know I have two sons and you have a brother. But when this investigation takes off, they’ll wonder why he isn’t around. Mephisto suggested either he was killed in the attack… or he ran away because of the argument we had.”

“I don’t know… If we tell them he died and then he comes home, we’d have to explain somehow. But then we could say he ran away, but always the chance he never comes back. Ugh. I wish I knew how the merge is affecting him…he was himself, said he’d find a way out again now that the pain was gone. But that was before…” Yukio felt Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay Yukio, I’m sure Rin is still Rin. He will find a way back to us one day.”

Yukio nodded hesitantly.

“I guess we should go with the runaway story, it’s the most plausible and for the most part it is true…” They were both in agreement, informing the other priests of the news so everyone could get their story straight. Yukio wasn’t looking forward to going back on Monday.

Chapter Text

Satan was in the throne room; a pure blue flame engulfing his throne. The large doors at the end of the hall opened to reveal Iblis and Astaroth enter the room. They stopped in front of the throne; the flames flickered a moment before forming into his humanoid form.

He looked at them, resting his head on the back of his hand.

“What is it?” He rumbled, echoing throughout the room.

They both stepped forward, determined looks in their eyes.

“Father, we were wondering. What are your plans now for the boy?”

He looked at them questioningly before they continued.

“You’ve succeeded in bringing him to Gehenna, even letting you possess him to bring him back after his escape. You’ve awakened his power and had him successfully merge with his inner demon. But for what? Your original goal was to steal the boy and take him as a vessel so that you could finally return to Assiah and take revenge.”

“Plans change.” Was Satan’s only response as he sneered at them. Both Demon Kings stared back at the God of Gehenna still awaiting more of an answer. Satan frowned.

“I had many thoughts go through my head when I took over Shiro to get the boy. The last one was how weak he had gotten and I was unsatisfied with his death. It was too easy. But alas I had got the boy, I had got my vessel.

I have been mulling over my plans for a while since the boy was brought here. Having another being that can enter Assiah freely with access to the Blue flames is a strategic advantage on my part. IF I can get another body to inhabit. By choosing the keep him as a backup, I have put my faith in Lucifer’s experiments. They succeeded once before; the next time will be more fruitful.”

“But that was never a guaranteed thing when you first brought the boy here.”

“No, I will admit I saw Yuri in him and I didn’t want to destroy that just yet. Regardless of what happened back then. What really had me choosing to keep him was the news of Shiro’s survival.” A wide sharp-toothed grin formed on his face.

Both Astaroth and Iblis looked at him shocked.

“15 years and all I’ve wanted to do is get revenge on Shiro for taking Yuri from me. For stealing her. Because she chose him!” He roared; his flames flared as his anger rose.

Iblis frowned; it was always about that witch. The weak little human that had ensnared her Father, seduced him into passivity – at least until the end. But his obsession was still his undoing.

“So, all this is just revenge on Shiro?” Astaroth questioned; snapping Iblis out of her own seething thoughts.

“What better way to get revenge on him for stealing Yuri from me, than to steal his own son from him – and have that son refer to me as his father.”

“But the boy is your son, not his—” Satan flared up, Iblis flinched.

“I am fully aware the boy is of my blood!” Satan growled “But the priest raised him, was a father to him and is still seen as a father by him. That is what needs to change. I want to tear his relationship with my son apart from the inside out.”

“So that’s why you won’t take him as a vessel. You want him to reject the priest and refer to you as his father.”

Satan nodded.

“I want Rin to be the one to burn Shiro to ashes.” He declared; a sinister smile upon his face.

He had no fatherly affections for the boy and if Lucifer’s plans failed to prove successful, he would still be a backup vessel no doubt. But to hurt Shiro in the same way he had been, would be the sweetest revenge alongside Rin and himself burning humanity to ashes.

“If the other one hadn’t been so human, I might’ve have taken him as well.” Doesn’t hurt to have spares after all “But I have a feeling he has known of the demon world long enough to resist me. Rin, however, was hurt by the lies of those humans and will be easily influenced.”

“I noticed when he woke up, he was somewhat different towards you. It’s not blaringly obvious but something has changed. He used to resist your touch or any help you offered. But he took your hand without even hesitating.” Iblis said with a thoughtful look.

“Yes, he did, didn’t he?” The corners of his mouth turned up in a sly smile. “I look forward to whatever changes this merge has brought on in my fledgling demon.” His features darkened as he laughed.

To say that Rin had gotten carried away would’ve been an understatement as he laid there in the middle of the room surrounded by ash, slithers of blue flame slowly eating at the remains of whatever was left in the room. The feeling of being able to let go of his flames and let them eat away at whatever had been close by had put a wide smile on his face as he laughed to himself.
It felt like he was finally able to be himself and it made him happier than he’d felt in a long time.

When Satan had first mentioned merging with his demon half and ‘sacrificing’ his humanity he’d thought it the worst thing in the world, but now it had happened he wasn’t so sure. He still wasn’t sure if anything had really changed regarding his humanity, would he be able to notice a difference? He would have to wait until he got to return to Assiah before he would really know…

But for now, he was content with feeling awesome.

His only worry was Yukio, and what had transpired within his mind. Yukio had witnessed everything up until the climactic ending, the look of horror and fear on his face will not easily be erased from Rin’s mind. Would this change things? He still cared for his brother that much he knew but he was also still angry at them as well.

Would Yukio treat him as an enemy if he eventually returned? Would he tell Father Fujimoto what happened? Most probably; would they try to kill him? He frowned at the thought.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sudden pop followed by pink smoke. He waved his hands, coughing, trying to wave the smoke away. When the smoke finally cleared Rin noticed a strange looking demon dressed in a white suit with poufy-looking shorts, his outfit was decorated with pink and purple. On his head stood a white top hat; some more pink and purple decorated the rim. The demon appraised him greedily; Rin frowned. He looked around the burnt ashen room with a look of disgust.

“My, Father certainly has you set up nicely, hasn’t he? You actually wanted to come back here?” He grimaced as he pulled out a tissue and held it over his nose and mouth.

“Who the hell are you?” Rin growled; drawing his flames to surround him. This demon felt powerful and Rin didn’t like the sneer on his face.

“My my, such manners. I thought had Shiro raised you better than that.” Rin froze at the mention of his adoptive father, the demon grinned mischievously. “My name is Mephisto Pheles, but you may have heard of me under another title from our siblings – they refer to me as Samael, The Demon King of Time. A pleasure to finally meet you, Rin Okumura.” He paused whilst Rin took in the new information; eyes widening as the realisation hit him.

“Samael…you’re Father Fujimoto’s friend? The one who was to take me in when I was kicked out.” Mephisto nodded. Rin stared at him before his stature relaxed slightly; an amused look drawing over his features “You look like some creepy perverted clown! Ha-ha” Rin laughed. If he was offended the demon didn’t show it choosing the stare quizzically at the boy laughing in front of him.
“Why would Father Fujimoto want to send me to be taken care of by some creepy demon clown? Must’ve been desperate to get rid of me after all.”

“So, why are you here? Did Father Fujimoto send you?”

“Alas, no. I am here to sate my own curiosity. I had been informed of Father’s attempts to merge you with your demonic nature. I merely wanted to see the results of the said merge.”

“Oh, I see. Yukio told you and now you’re here to see if I’m a threat. Explains things I guess.” Rin shrugged his shoulders as he stared the opposing demon down.

“So?” Mephisto tilted his head at the younger demon.

“Hm?” Rin crossed his arms behind his head and leant back against a nearby wall.

“Are you going to be a problem?” Mephisto asked; eyes focussing on Rin and narrowing slightly.

“I have no intention of being a problem.” He frowned at the strangely dressed demon. It wasn’t a lie; he had no idea what changes were taking place inside his head or body after that merge but he didn’t have any desire to go on any killing spree’s he knew that much.

Mephisto sat back with a smile, composure completely switched into a more light and airy mode.

“Very well then! I will take my leave.”

“Wait, so you’re not here to bust me out? Amaimon gave me the impression it was you that helped me before. You sent me this key, right?” Rin held up the key that had been gifted to him by Mephisto through Amaimon.

“You want to escape again?” Mephisto asked curiously; Rin paused to think about it for a moment. He’d only wanted to come back to stop himself from hurting his family. Once that problem was sorted, he’d hoped when the opportunity arose, he’d be able to go home again – but something was holding him back now.

“…No. Not now anyway. The pain might be gone but I still don’t have enough control of my flames to be safe around them.”

“Well, for now then Rin Okumura, I will depart.” Rin nodded hesitantly, hoping he’d made the right decision. There was a pop and a puff of pink smoke as the demon disappeared as the word “Toodles!” echoed through the room.

As the smoke disappeared the door to Rin’s room opened and stood in the doorway was Satan looking rather amused as he took in the state of Rin’s room. Rin’s tail wrapped itself tightly around his leg and he lowered his head slightly.

“I see you’ve been getting acquainted with your flames.” Satan declared as he entered the room, disturbing some of the ash as he walked in barefoot. It was now Rin took in the demon’s appearance fully.

Long white hair, messily falling to just below his shoulders; accompanied by a long white beard falling to a slightly shorter length. He wore a white robe, tied in the middle but from what he could tell nothing underneath. He wore no footwear like the other demon kings. His eyes returned to Satan’s face before he realised something he’d forgotten, something he’d noticed when he first came here.

“Why do you look like Father Fujimoto?”

Satan was caught off-guard by the question but maybe it was a suitable time to fill Rin in on the details of his relationship with Shiro and in addition his mother. He smiled at the boy waving his hand, he sent his flames around the room – renewing all that Rin had destroyed with his own flames. He motioned towards a couch in the room, Rin hesitated but did as he was told and sat down; Satan sitting next to him.

“My true form is that of a Blue flame. I have no physical presence in Gehenna as you’ve seen when you attacked me in the throne room.” Rin flinched at the reminder but nodded his response; Satan continued.

“I can take the form of anyone I have possessed in Assiah, albeit still not a physical body for me to venture to Assiah, it just gives me some sort of presence here among you and your siblings.” As he explained he shifted his form to various bodies he’d possessed, however briefly, during the Blue Night.

“A lot of these humans died instantly upon my possession during what the humans are calling ‘The Blue Night’ but I will explain that later.” He settled back to his original form. “The form I am right now is that of your father, or the body you were conceived with. His name if I recall was Goro, he was Shiro’s brother.” Rin shot a look at him in shock.

“Father Fujimoto had a brother?!”

“Quite a few apparently. This body, as well as Shiro and his other siblings, had been created and raised in a laboratory. At least, that was what I deemed from the vessel’s memories. That was where I awoke for the first time, inside a giant tube of liquid.”

“He was created in a lab…?” The more he stayed away from his family the more secrets and lies seemed to surface. Did Yukio know Father Fujimoto’s past as well or was he just as in the dark? Somehow Rin doubted that since Yukio had known all the other shit that had been kept from him.

“Yes,” Satan Nodded “But that is why this body resembles Shiro, it is his twin.”

“So how does my mother fit in with all this. I can see how you’d know Father Fujimoto but how did you meet her?”

“Your mother was an exorcist. But I had known her since she was a child. Before I was who I am now. I would appear to her as a blue flame and she would engage me in certain activities. It was amusing. As she grew, I watched and followed.”

“Iblis said she used to call you Rinka, and that I was named after you.”

“Yes, before I gained knowledge about what I really was. After that I became Satan. That was when everything changed. I broke out of the lab and fled underground - for two years I hid. I returned when my body began to deteriorate and sought the help of those scientists who gave me an elixir. This worked for a time, but the exorcists tried to attack. Then Yuri returned to me, she stayed with me and then she was with child.” He took note the wide eyes on Rin’s face.

“We decided to leave the facility peacefully, my vessel would die and I would be returned to Gehenna. But Yuri would stay with me. Then as we escaped the exorcists surrounded us, they attacked Yuri and I and we were separated. For several months they kept us apart, experimenting on me in my weakened state. But my mind deteriorated with my body, in the end, there was only Yuri…”

Satan studied Rin for a moment before continuing, those human emotions still ripe within him – full of sorrow and pity over his mother and Satan’s situation – he would need to drum those emotions out of him over time it seemed.

Continuing his story, he moved on to the Blue Night. Or at least his side of it.

“The next thing I knew I felt Yuri leaving me, dying. All that mattered was finding her. My vessel was finally lost and I was desperate for another body – trying to possess whoever I could. Which resulted in many deaths. This is what the humans call The Blue Night. It was also the night you had been born.”

Rin looked up at that.

“I was not present during your birth, so I cannot give you any information on that. When I finally found Yuri…” He paused, he had to pick his words carefully here “…she was on the verge of death, holding both you and your brother in her arms. I tried to get to her but Shiro fought me off; I ended up weakened and returned to Gehenna. Yuri died soon after.”

His true memories of the event drew more rage than sorrow from him. But he managed to hide it well enough to fool Rin. He didn’t need to know of Shiro’s love for Yuri or her love for Shiro. He didn’t need to know how he possessed Shiro to be with Yuri, only to be rejected by her – that would just complicate his plans further.

“After Yuri’s death, you were taken by Shiro and hidden. Raised by the priest to be used by the exorcists. As I told you when you arrived.”

Rin sat very still, his tail shifting anxiously beside him. He wasn’t sure what to make of all this. There was still a lot of unanswered questions and things Satan hadn’t been present for. It wasn’t a complete explanation of what had happened but it was at least something.

“Another thing…” Satan began “When I did finally reach Yuri, there had been some sort of a fight in the large chamber they kept her.” Rin’s eyes widened in shock, flashes of the memory that he couldn’t recall were in the back of his mind.

“You mean…me?”

“Hm, it would seem you caused them quite some trouble. I imagine they tried to kill you and when that failed the only other option was to seal your demon heart.”

“So, the only reason I’m alive is because they couldn’t kill me?”

“They probably tried to kill your brother as well.” The memory of a woman screaming for her baby returned fresh in Rin’s mind the feeling of anger that came with it when he realised, they had been trying to kill a baby Yukio. He growled loudly, flames leaking from his body as he shook with that forgotten rage.

Before he had a chance to react further his head was pulled into the older demon’s chest, clawed fingers raked through his pale blue hair. Rin’s rage dissipated with the shock and he froze. But as Satan stroked his hands through Rin’s hair he relaxed into the hold. Satan grinned darkly above him.

“You belong with me…”

A single tear rolled down Rin’s face as he nodded.

Chapter Text

Yukio had packed his small weekend bag up and finally left the Monastery to return to True Cross Academy early Monday morning. He had just enough time to return to drop his things back at the dorm. He’d been informed that morning that Shiemi had decided to join the cram school, which was pleasant news he wasn’t going to deny that. He’d been told that another student would be joining the class as well but had not been told the name of the student yet.

He opened the door to his dorm, Shima and Konekomaru were busy gathering things for their classes for the day. They both looked up as Yukio entered the room.

“Okumura! How was your trip?” Koneko asked with a smile.

“It was…fine, thank you. My father is settling in back at home. Give it a month or two he should hopefully return to teaching again.” Yukio returned the smile, hiding the inner turmoil that his trip had not been as ‘fine’ as he’d have liked. But there was nothing he could do but wait for Rin to return now.

“Where is Suguro? Already left?” Yukio looked around the room noticing his classmate’s absence.

“Oh, you know Suguro, he’s up at the crack of dawn to go running. He left a little while ago to get to class early.” Shima explained. Yukio nodded as he too sorted out his school things ready to leave. Once they were all ready, they left for classes together.

As if cram school couldn’t come fast enough, before he knew it, Yukio was stood in front of his class of ready students again. Beside him stood a very nervous Shiemi playing with the belt of her green floral Kimono.

“Everyone this is Shiemi Moriyama, she will be joining you as your new classmate.”

Shiemi stiffened as Yukio introduced her and shouted a bit too loudly as her nerves got the better of her “P-pleased to meet you!”

She looked around the room at all the intimidating faces and wondered where to sit. But before long she settled at the front of the class alone. At least she would have a good view of Yukio teaching. Just as she sat down there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” Yukio answered.

The door opened and in walked Mephisto.

“Sir Pheles? What can I do for you?”

“Ah Mr Okumura, if you recall I said you would have two new students today. The second one was just a little bit late as we had a slight accommodation problem!” He clapped his hands together “You can come in now!”

The first thing that caught Yukio’s eye was the white hair on the student’s head, for a moment he had a flashback of Rin before focussing and seeing a different familiar face. The boy looked at him also recognising Yukio in return.

“You?!” They said in unison. Yukio had heard from Shiro about the youth that had become possessed and provoked his brother’s awakening. Not that Shiratori didn’t have a reputation in their home neighbourhood anyway; almost as notorious as his brothers.

“Well well, a happy reunion. I’ll leave you all to get acquainted!”

“Sir Pheles what—is this really a good idea?!”

Before Yukio could question further the demon principle snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. Leaving the two boys glaring at each other.

All eyes were on the Director as he vanished into thin air before returning to the two at the front of the class.

“Okumura—” Reiji started.

Yukio was the first to compose himself turning back to the class “Everyone this is Reiji Shiratori, your new classmate.” He turned back to the boy in question “Please take your seat, Shiratori.” The boy glared back but didn’t argue, he’d ask his questions after class. He was here for a reason after all and he didn’t want to go down that same road again.

When class ended, Shiratori was waiting for the class to clear out before approaching Yukio as he was packing his things away. He stood awkwardly for a moment before Yukio finally looked up.

“What is it Shiratori?”

“Look, Okumura… about what happened with your brother—”

Yukio slammed his briefcase shut, causing Shiratori to jolt back.

“I am fully aware that what happened with my brother was not your fault. A demon had possessed you and you weren’t conscious of your actions. But I am also aware of your reputation back home.” He said through gritted teeth, glaring at Shiratori. He really did not need another reminder of why his brother was missing.

Shiratori flinched at the cold tone of his voice but moved to make his case anyway.

“Right! But that’s why I’m here; I want to change. I don’t remember what happened that day and I’ve been seeing those…things ever since. The headmaster suggested I should join this place and learn to fight them. One because those things are creepy as hell and two as an outlet so I don’t go back to my old habits...” Shiratori looked at him; sincerity in his voice.

Yukio looked somewhat taken back by his attitude, it was almost a complete switch to the thug he used to be. Although he was sure it was still there under the surface, people don’t change that quickly.

“The only person who knows what happened that day is your brother, the headmaster only told me I’d been possessed and attacked him pretty badly…but I don’t know why or what else happened. Even if it wasn’t more than that I at least wanted to apologize to him. Is he in hospital or somethin’?” Shiratori looked worried as Yukio scanned his face but traces of guilt surfaced in his eyes.

Yukio sighed and shook his head. A look a dread fell on Shiratori’s face.

“Shit…I didn’t…He isn’t dead, right?” It was one thing killing vermin on the streets but he didn’t think he was capable of more than maiming another person.

“No, he’s not dead…Rin ran away shortly after the events that happened with you. We don’t know where he is. So, until he comes home again, I can’t help you.” Yukio dropped his gaze back to his closed suitcase.

“Oh…right. Why—” he started before Yukio cut him off.

“It doesn’t concern you. All you need to know is that he left and I don’t know how to contact him.”

Shiratori had been about to say something but decided it was better to leave it. He nodded and grabbed his things leaving Yukio to finish packing his stuff away. He walked out the door closing it behind him. As he turned, he noticed one of his classmates stood there.

Shiratori stared at him for a moment before muttering a “Later” and walking away down the corridor. The pink-haired page stood there with a suspicious grin on his face as he grabbed a key and made his way back to his dorm room.

When Shima returned to the dorm he was too eager to spill the information he’d just heard only to find Konekomaru sat alone at his desk doing his school work. Koneko looked up to see who had entered the room.

“Shima, where did you disappear off to? When we left class, you were right behind us.”

Shima gave a nervous laugh scratching the back of his head.

“Heh-heh, yeah. I couldn’t help myself and kinda backtracked to the classroom to eavesdrop on Mr Okumura’s conversation with that Shiratori kid.” As he said that Suguro returned to the dorm room his interest piqued.

“Oh yeah? What was up with those two anyway?” Suguro questioned; Konekomaru turned from his work curiosity getting the better of him.

“Apparently, Shiratori was possessed before.” Gasps filled the room at the words that left Shima’s mouth. “That’s not all though…whilst he was possessed, he attacked Mr Okumura’s brother. From the sounds of it, pretty badly as well.”

“Was he OK?” Konekomaru asked.

“So that’s how they know each other?” Suguro looked surprised.

“Shiratori was almost under the impression he’d killed the guy.” Both the boys looked at him in a state of shock. “Okumura said no. But he is missing. I think they’re from the same neighbourhood.”

“Wait, didn’t Mr Okumura say he was home, just job hunting or something like that?” Konekomaru looked at the other boys for confirmation; they nodded.

“He must’ve lied. He told Shiratori that his brother ran away shortly after what had happened. They don’t know where he is or how to contact him.” Shima explained.

“Wait, didn’t he say something like that on the phone to his dad last week? Something about contacting him?” Suguro chimed in before going deep in thought.

“This is terrible, poor Okumura.” Koneko was shocked “Did he run because of what happened? Or maybe it was to do with the attack on his home?” He looked at the other two boys.

Suguro was silent still processing the information. If his brother was missing why was he at school – why weren’t they out searching for him?

“What if the people that attacked his home took him? Maybe he didn’t run away he could’ve been kidnapped?” Koneko suddenly said. Shima and Suguro looked at him thinking the same thing.

“Surely there would be some missing person report somewhere? Shouldn’t he be out with his family trying to find him instead of teaching exorcism? Surely someone else could’ve taken over the class…” Suguro mumbled to the others; Koneko hummed to himself whilst he started up the computer in their dorm, Suguro and Shima watched him curiously as he typed away on the keyboard.

“Koneko what are you—” Before Shima could finish his sentence a picture was brought up on screen alongside a small student profile.

Suguro leaned over Konekomaru’s shoulder reading the name aloud “Okumura Rin…” they all gazed at the picture of the messy black-haired middle schooler with a glum expression.

“My curiosity was getting the better of me, I can’t see any missing person reports or newspaper articles but I found a student profile for a middle school in Southern Cross. He does sort of look like Mr Okumura, doesn’t he?”

The boy in question looked like a delinquent compared to Yukio in Suguro’s opinion but who was he to judge based on looks?

“Wait, how old is this kid? He looks our age I thought he was Okumura’s older brother?” Suguro asked. They all looked, the profile in question was at least updated within the last year.

“Did he ever specify how much older?” Konekomaru asked.

“No, I guess not…” Suguro replied glumly.

Shima suddenly perked up “Hey! What’s that video there.” He pointed at the link that read ‘Demon of Southern Cross’. Konekomaru clicked the link.

The video started up with two middle school boys yelling at another on his own; the video and audio was pretty poor quality but they made out one of the boys shouting Yukio’s name followed by a mass of insults at the one that resembled Okumura Rin. Before a second had passed the boy had launched himself onto the other two with such ferocity he could only be described as demonic. The fight went on for a few minutes before another boy that looked strikingly similar to Yukio ran in and pulled the demonic boy from the other two, dragging him off the screen. The video ended there.

The trio sat in silence for a moment whilst processing what they had just witnessed. They realised perhaps there was a reason that Yukio didn’t talk about his brother very much. Shima was the first to speak up.

“Well, that might explain why he’s been calling him a demon in his nightmares.” The others thought about it for a moment and nodded. It was still suspicious but having a wildly violent brother when you’re an exorcist could cause some wires to get crossed in Yukio’s head whilst he’s dreaming.

“After seeing that, I would wager anyone that broke in and tried to kidnap him would soon get their ass kicked.” Suguro let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s possible he wasn’t there or ran away before what happened.” The others nodded. Konekomaru closing the websites and searches on the computer.

“I really think we should try to back off about this. I feel bad prying into it behind Okumura’s back. I let curiosity got the better of me here but after seeing that, I won’t be involved further. I’m sure he’s going through enough and his family are doing all they can to find his brother if he has gone missing.” Koneko stated as he looked to the other boys in the room. Suguro groaned but nodded in agreement, something still felt off but it really wasn’t any of his business to go that deep into people’s personal lives.

Shima, on the other hand, remained silent.

After their talk, Satan had given Rin a brief glimpse of where he had come from; his original form. A blue flame that sat upon a pillar of corpses in the centre of Gehenna. The exact spot his throne now stood. He had morphed the area around his podium into the castle they now inhabited.

A month had drawn by after their talk. The thought that Rin was only allowed to live because they had no way of killing him in the first place left a sour feeling in his gut which further worsened knowing they had tried to kill Yukio as well. Yukio who had been a weak human baby at the time. He could take that they tried to kill him since apparently, he gave them a good fight fresh from birth; which somewhat amused him and he wished he could’ve seen it now. But if Yukio had been a defenceless human baby, why did they try to kill him?

In the end, he started spending his free time sparring with Iblis in the arena to vent his frustration. Although most of this time was spent being knocked to the floor or into a wall since apparently, Iblis was one tough bitch when she wanted to be. He also had to fight with the discomfort of keeping his tail hidden, because again Iblis was a bitch and took great pleasure in grabbing it whenever she could just to see him squirm. It was downright unfair how she could hide hers with demonic energy but he was basically stuck with the appendage as a permanent body part.

Rin’s control over his flames had jumped leaps and bounds since the successful merge, having his mind in unison seemed to help immensely. Although Satan was disappointed that he couldn’t test Rin’s ability to summon demons and the Gehenna Gate without him being in Assiah. But Rin could now comfortably choose what to burn and not burn without much trouble; not that there was much Rin didn’t want to burn currently.

Satan had employed the use of Astaroth’s coal tars for target practice, giving Rin not only many targets to practice on but also moving ones. Eventually, he chose to combine Iblis’s combat training and his flame training into one. Rin had to clear the arena of coal tars one by one whilst fighting against Iblis. He’d been forbidden to flame up, to avoid killing more than one at the time during his training. It’d helped him build up his focus in a fight and Iblis was more than impressed with his progress over time. 

The more time Rin spent in Gehenna the further into his demonic urges he fell. Nobody there to scold him for losing his temper, even when flaring up and torching whatever demons were closest to him – in fact, Satan had gone so far as to encourage it. The more Rin used his flames the more praise and encouragement he received – they soon became second nature to him.

Much of his spare time was spent sparring with Iblis. He’d finally understood why Amaimon had called it playing because that was what it felt like. The rush of adrenaline he got whilst fighting sent him on a high, he felt free.

Before long 3 months had passed since his arrival in Gehenna. Rin was summoned before Satan.

The large double doors opened to reveal the familiar throne room, Rin no longer on shaky legs when approaching the throne wreathed in blue flame; he’d far gone past that now. Now that Rin had gotten used to being in Gehenna, Satan had taken to staying in his true form whilst at the throne; the throne that had been made from his pillar of corpses.

Once in front of the throne, he knelt on one knee.

“You sent for me, Sir?” Rin’s head bowed as he addressed the blue flame in front of him.

“Sir? Still not calling daddy dearest by a more fitting title? Heh heh. I thought we were closer than that now my son.” Rin flinched at the booming voice, it sounded even more inhuman than usual when he was in this form.

Satan had protested any time Rin had called him anything other than father since their little chat; much to Rin’s annoyance. As much as he was angry with Father Fujimoto, he still didn’t feel right calling anyone else by the title of his father. But he had to grit his teeth or Satan would continue to go on until he did.

“Sorry…Father.”

“Mhm much better.” Rin could almost hear the sniggering grin he would’ve been making if he had a human form right now. “I have a little task for you.”

Rin raised his head “And what would that be, father?”

“I need you to go to Assiah and retrieve some…thing. Its return is long overdue now.”

“You need me to go to Assiah?” Rin stood up, looking rather gobsmacked at the Blue Flames in front of him.

“Heh heh, I have your attention now yes?” Rin nodded in response waiting for Satan to continue. “I want you to retrieve Amaimon from Assiah. By however means necessary.”

“Amaimon, why? Wouldn’t that be sending me amongst the Exorcists?” He feared running into his dad and brother more than dealing with the rest of the exorcists though, to be honest, he had no qualms about giving them a taste of his flames – Yukio and Father Fujimoto were another story, however.

“Amaimon is long overdue punishment for aiding your escape before. And I feel you’ve earned a treat for being such a good little demon. I’ll give you free rein to break and destroy anything of Samael’s whilst you’re there. Including his little exorcists.”

“What if I’m caught?” Rin liked the prospect of destroying some shit but getting caught by exorcists was at the very bottom of his list of things he wanted to do whilst in Assiah – although eating Sukiyaki again was pretty much at the top of it.

“I will send Iblis with you, as back up. If anything happens, she will intervene.” Rin nodded.

“How will I get him back here, and how will I return.” He really didn’t want to go down the same path as before. Letting Satan in his body was a one-time thing and he never wanted to experience that again.

“I want you to test your ability to open a gate. If it works you can throw him down to me, and I will take it from there. If you fail to open a gate, destroying his vessel will be the best way to send him back. As for you, if the gate fails, seek out Lucifer.”

“Can’t I just take that train like before?” Rin asked.

Satan scoffed “Those trains are kin of Samael, I’m sure he will be watching and have them bring you to him rather than return you to Gehenna.” If Samael wanted Rin so much why didn’t he just break him out again back when he’d appeared in his room? Or was it because Rin had opted to stay? The clown confused Rin that was for sure.

“How do I even open a gate? I don’t know what the hell you were chanting when you summoned it before.”

“Sit.” His voice echoed throughout the room.

Rin looked curiously for a moment before he realised Satan meant in the throne. Rin stepped forward hesitantly and sat down in Satan’s throne. Blue flames surrounded him drawing his own out into the mix, before long he heard Satan’s voice loudly within his head. Rin panicked thinking Satan was trying to possess him again and attempted to jump up out of the throne but the blue flames pulled him down and held him in place; Rin struggled to break free.

“Heh heh don’t worry kiddo, I will not be taking over you this time. Just imparting a few things for you to use later.”

When the flames finally subsided, Rin was free to stand. He jolted out of the throne as if his life depended on it.

“What did you do?!”

“I simply imparted some knowledge that you might find useful.”

Rin eyed the flame warily.

“Couldn’t you have done that any other way without getting into my head.” He shivered as he scratched his fingers through his hair. Satan’s laugh sounded more ominous with the disembodied echo that ran through the large throne room.

“Why are you sending me, anyway? Why not just Iblis, or Astaroth? Aren’t you afraid I might run away and return to my family?”

“You know as well as I do that you enjoy the freedom that I offer you; you enjoy being a demon. Would you really give all that up to return to those humans and their rules?”

Rin hesitated to answer. It was true, he didn’t want to go back to pretending to be human; pretending to be normal. Because he wasn’t normal, he was a demon. He didn’t want to push that part of himself back into darkness again – he wanted to be able to cut loose with his flame.

If the humans had succeeded 15 years ago, he’d be dead. He’d just been a burden to them his whole life, they had to raise him as they had no other choice. Rin sighed in defeat.

“Heh Heh. I thought as much.” Rin glared at the flame.

“When do I have to leave?”

“Whenever you’re ready. Find Iblis and prepare yourself.” Rin nodded and turned to leave before Satan spoke again. “I’ll be watching closely, so do not disappoint me.” Rin left the room, doors closing with a loud bang behind him. Now he just had to find Iblis.

Chapter Text

Rin spent hours searching for Iblis; scouring the floors of the castle from top to bottom. In the end he admitted defeat, she wasn’t here. So, he made it a priority to ask one of the servants; seizing the arm of the first one that passed him next.

“Ah! My Prince?!” The servant squeaked.

“Where is Iblis?” Rin demanded, glaring at the surprised demon.

“King Iblis returned to the Kingdom of Fire.” The servant cowered expecting the bad news to bring his death. Rin frowned and let the servants arm go.

“When will she be back?”

“I-I do not know my prince.” He flinched under Rin’s annoyed gaze, fumbling for a solution before he ended up on fire.

“B-But there is a portal straight to her castle! I-I will show you! Come, this way!” He scurried down the hall, stopping to wait for Rin to follow.

Rin obliged and followed the demon towards a room he’d never seen before. Three months and he’d never noticed this little nook in the castle. Although it had been a rather unassuming door. Rin must have passed it many times thinking it was a junk closet. But no, it was like a hidden treasure - a room filled with portals.

“Why haven’t I seen this before…?” Rin stood gobsmacked with a look of awe on his face. The servant seemed to ease at Rin's change of demeanour.

“There is a portal to Assiah here, my Prince. Lord Satan did not want you knowing, for obvious reasons…”

“Won’t you get in trouble for showing me this, then?” Rin felt a bit guilty now.

“No no no! Satan informed us of your impending trip to Assiah, news travels fast around here. This place has been a lot more heavily guarded since your arrival, my Prince. But since the news, the level of security has eased off.” He pulled Rin over to a red portal, red flames surrounding the edges.

“I take it this is the portal to Iblis?” He looked down at the demon; the demon nodded. “Okay, thanks. You can return to whatever you gotta do now.”

The demon stared expectantly at his prince. Rin sighed, pulling a tiny black nugget from his pocket. He tossed it towards the demon who readily caught it before giving Rin a grateful grin.

The demon bowed low and scurried away with repeated thank you’s grateful Rin had spared his life. Rin rolled his eyes and looked around at the other portals, each one different from the other. They were all huge, most likely to allow the biggest demons to enter. The room was much bigger than the door to get in let on.

From Iblis’s fire portal, he moved on to a watery looking one. The portal looked like ice but surrounded by bubbles and droplets of water.

The next one was a mass of centipede’s moving around the actual portal; it made Rin’s skin crawl looking at it.

Crystals and geodes surrounded the next portal. Fungi and rot surrounded the one after that - definitely Astaroth's.

They all seemed to be in some order based on their position in Gehenna. He whirled back around to Iblis’s portal and took note of the portals to the other side.

Wisps and swirls of wind surrounded the portal on the other side of Iblis's. Moving on to the next one was a little strange. He stared at it somewhat perplexed, it was like staring into a pitch-black space. Which contrasted heavily with the next portal. It was almost like staring at the Assian sun when stood he directly in front of it. It seemed liked only light demons were going to and from this particular portal. Rin had the blink a few times to get his vision back to normal, taking in the rest of the room around him.

Hundreds of Demons were coming and going from the rest of the portals.

“So busy…”

Rin felt like he was stood in the middle of a busy train station.

There were guards stationed at all the portals; taking note who was going in and out. Or at least making sure it wasn’t him trying to get out. He turned to see another bigger portal; leaves and flowers encircled this one. Rin could make out the blue sky of Assiah within it.

He gazed at for a few minutes, he’d missed that blue sky. The last time he’d seen Assiah it had been dark, not so different from Gehenna. But now seeing the blue sky before him was too tempting to resist. He took a few steps forward towards the portal before a large poleaxe cut through the air in front of him.

He snapped out of his trance and glared at the offending guard.

“Forgive me, my Prince. You are not to pass without the company of King Iblis, Lord Satan’s orders.” Rin frowned, he figured there would still be some restrictions for him. He could've torched the guard and made a run for it but that would cause more problems for him later. He’d gotten off lucky last time; next time Satan wouldn’t be so lenient.

Rin resigned in defeat and went back towards the fire portal, the guard let him pass through. Intense heat from the portal enveloped him as he walked through and even more so when he reached the other side. He summoned his own flames so he could at least regulate his core temperature and looked around. After the heat almost knocked him out, he wasn't surprised by what he saw. Why wouldn't Iblis have a castle in the centre of a lake of magma?!

The portal had dropped him outside the castle grounds. In front of him was a long wide bridge leading up to the castle gates. Demons were scurrying up and down, some appearing from the same portal and headed to the castle. Others were off to a nearby settlement. Most of them seemed to jump in surprise at the presence of his flames out in the open. He growled at the demons staring at him and began walking towards the castle. The demons cleared a path for him all the way, cowering away from the flames.

Rin finally arrived at the gates, wreathed in his own blue flames. The guards immediately let him through, summoning a servant to take him to Iblis. The servant lead Rin around the side of the castle grounds towards some stables.

Iblis was inside tending to some giant fiery lizard. As he approached, the lizard cowered at the sight of his flames, causing Iblis to look up.

“Ah Rin, what brings you here?” She stood up, stroking the lizards head.

“I have a mission to go to Assiah, you’re supposed to come with me.”

“Oh? That was today? Didn’t realise father was going to give it to you so soon.”

“Yeah, he told me about it this morning. I’ve been running around looking for you for hours. What is that thing?”

“Hm? Oh, these are my Salamander pens. Where I keep my pets.”

“Salamanders huh?” Rin knelt down to get a better look at the giant lizard cowering before him. He lowered his flames a little and held his hand out. The lizard leaned forward and sniffed at the hand before his tongue slithered out and licked it.

Rin moved forward and pet the lizard before turning back to Iblis.

“So, I take it you want to go to Assiah pretty soon? If you’ve come all this way looking for me.” Rin nodded.

“Yeah, they wouldn’t let me go without you escorting me.” He kicked the dust on the floor in his frustration.

“Heh, yes. Father isn’t going to be that trusting of you just yet, you need to prove your loyalty to him.” Rin frowned and mumbled something to himself; Iblis didn’t miss a thing. “You’ve clearly chosen your demon half over your human half. But father has no proof that you won’t change your mind once you’re around those…things, again. Think of this as your test.”

“He did say something about watching me, actually.” He said, scratching his head.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, father has eyes everywhere.” She smirked to herself; Rin didn’t notice. “Right, let’s go. There is a portal in my castle we can use to get back.” She closed the Salamander back into its pen, walking towards her own castle. Rin followed along behind her.

The castle layout seemed to mirror Satan’s, but on a much smaller scale. It wasn’t long before they finally reached the portal. Very similar to Iblis’s portal but surrounded by blue flames.

“How do these portal’s work then? Do demons need a vessel to use them or is this how they go to Assiah to possess things?”

“The portals within Gehenna can be used by any demon with or without a vessel. The portal to Assiah is different. Possession doesn’t work in a way where we can just hop in a portal and find a body to inhabit. It’s a lot more complicated than that. So, to use that portal we already need to have a vessel to move to Assiah. It is mostly used by us and few other humanoid demons.” Rin nodded in response.

They entered and the portal transported them back to the main portal room within Satan’s castle.

Rin gave a sigh of relief after leaving Iblis’s stifling territory. He was much more accustomed to the temperature in Satan’s. It struck him odd that Iblis’s territory was hotter than Satan’s. But put it down to the fact that Satan lived in the centre of Gehenna and Iblis was living someplace equal to a volcano. If this place was the main hub of demons, he assumed some couldn’t handle the heat of Iblis’s home. Even he found it unbearable.

He followed behind Iblis towards the portal to Assiah. It had felt like so long ago he’d seen that blue sky his stomach was doing somersaults at the thought of seeing it again. He held his hand in the pocket of his white hoody, fumbling with the key he still had possession of. The key that had taken him to the monastery three months ago; he frowned at the memory. Reminded that Shiro had only raised him out of necessity, ready to ship him off when it all went south.

A slap to the back of his head snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to glare at the culprit; Iblis cackled.

“Get your head out of the miasma and move it!”

He looked around to realise they were stood in front of the portal, waiting for him to pass through.

“Oh! Right.” He readied himself; this wasn’t going to be like last time. His mind was no longer torn in two. He was more demon than human now and anyone that got in his way was going to pay the price.

Rin and Iblis emerged from the portal into Assiah and appeared in a dank little Alley way. They were alone with no humans in sight. Only a few low-level demons hiding in the shadows avoiding the day time light and activity.

“Ugh, remind me why you wanted to come this early?" She complained glaring at the midday sun "Wouldn’t it have been easier to go unnoticed later in the day?”

“Yeah... but considering I’ve not set foot in Assiah for three months I wanted to have a little fun before luring out Amaimon. Might be a while before he lets me out of Gehenna again…”

Iblis nodded “I see your point.” She snapped her fingers and her appearance changed to a more human one. Flames disappeared from her form and clothes changed to that of a human woman. Rin startled and laughed; Iblis glared back.

“What?” She seethed.

“I’ve just never seen you in human clothes before, it’s weird to see you dressed appropriately for once.” Rin cackled to himself.

“You brat.” She scoffed “Your human garments are stifling and uncomfortable.” Rin stared at her in disbelief when all she was wearing was a red floral summer dress. He smirked at her and moved towards the entrance of the alley way they had been loitering in.

He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings “Where are we anyway?” Iblis tapped his head and pointed into the distance. They could both see a towering city that looked as high as the sky itself. “Whoa…”

“That, little brother, is True Cross Town. We are on the outskirts of the main town. Father doesn’t have portals that can penetrate Samael’s protections, unfortunately. Amaimon will be in that top most building, Samael’s home.”

Rin snorted “That clown actually built himself a house above everything else in this town?”

“Clown?” Iblis raised an eyebrow at him; Rin mentally slapped himself.

“Uh…yeah. He actually paid me a visit sometime after the merge. Wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be a problem, apparently. I was more confused about why Father Fujimoto was gonna send me off with some creepy ass clown.” He tried to play it off as nothing, Iblis stared at him as if calculating something.

“Did you tell father he had been to visit you? I can only guess he was projecting himself if no one felt his arrival…”

“No, I didn’t tell Satan. He arrived as soon as the clown left. It wasn’t like anything happened.”

Iblis hummed to herself, but seemed to have a permanent frown after that. They carried on walking until they reached a large gate, guarded by humans.

“Right, Runt.” Rin snapped his head in a glare, he still hated that nickname. “I can’t go any further without Samael knowing I am here.”

“Wait, what?! I have to go alone?!”

“Yes, this is your mission remember; father’s test for you. Here.” She threw him a phone which he clumsily caught. “I will call you to check in. Amaimon will be with Samael. So, you will need to get their attention somehow or entice Amaimon enough to come and fight.”

“I doubt that will be hard, when we fought before I could tell he certainly enjoyed it.”

“Yes, for some of us the thrill of the fight is everything.”

“Anyway, why am I going alone? Satan said you were coming to help me. I might as well have just come to Assiah alone.”

Iblis shook her head “Silly Runt. I will be here in case you get yourself into some trouble. But I need to wait out here for now, if Samael gets wind that I’m here we’ll never get Amaimon. You will be more likely to draw Amaimon out if it’s just you. Samael won’t stop you because he wants to see what you’re capable of. As long as you’re not killing anybody, anyway.”

Rin pouted.

“Father said I have free rein to do as I please.”

Iblis raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

“What…?”

“You said father.” She said in a sing-song tone. Rin visibly blanched at his mistake. Iblis cackled madly at him.

“Goddammit! Shut up you hag!” Rin growled at her.

“You might as well give up your resistance to it, he’ll have you calling him that for a very long time. Especially when I tell him of your slip.” Iblis said, ignoring his insult.

“Grrah, shut up and give me some money!” Iblis obliged and Rin pulled up his hood and stomped off towards the gate. He melded in with a crowd of humans that were also passing through; he went unnoticed.

Rin manoeuvred through the town, but he had no idea where he was going.

“This place is huge…” He mumbled to himself. He vaguely remembered coming here a few times for festivals but he’d never taken in the full view of this place.

He eyed the mansion at the top of the city, so tiny with how far away it was. He’d have to cause quite a big commotion if he was going to attract Amaimon’s attention. He was too low and it was too crowded for him to see anywhere appropriate. He could’ve caused some trouble where he was but decided against it. There were food stalls all around him and felt that would be a terrible sacrifice.

He was too hungry to sacrifice food just to lure Amaimon out.

He examined the money Iblis had given him, obviously her blessing to enjoy what little time he had in Assiah. He glanced around at the surrounding stalls and restaurants, taking in the scents of the area. He finally settled on one and after a quick glance through the menu he found what he was looking for.

“Sukiyaki!” He exclaimed with glee; one of the things he’d missed most whilst locked away in Gehenna. He’d gotten used to the food but it was still nothing compared to his favourite meals in Assiah.

He savoured the meal; he didn’t know when he was going to be able to eat like this again after retrieving Amaimon. As soon as he finished, he paid his bill and moved to explore the town some more. He decided to get a better view he needed to be higher. He moved to the roofs of the buildings; jumping from one to the other. Until finally he’d found the perfect place to cause some trouble.

With a wide toothy grin, he hopped off towards his target.

After their almost traumatic experience of the Exwire Authorisation Exam – which had been unknowingly put on them during what they thought was a bootcamp.

They were finally promoted to Exwires. They'd been excited to finally be cleared to go on missions, no matter how small. At least that's what they thought.

“How’d your first mission go?”

“It was awful!”

“I got stuck cleaning out the reaper cages, ugh.” Miwa could swear the smell still hadn’t washed off.

“I had to carry supplies out to the mountains.” Suguro complained.

“I collected Bariyons in Tamagawa. What about you, Shiratori?” Shima turned to asked the white-haired boy behind him.

“They had me clearing out coaltars from all the class rooms. I can still feel my nose itch…”

“Those are just chores!” Suguro growled.

Shima shrugged “Well, we did just become Exwires. It’s not like we could expect more.

“How the hell did those guys become Exwires?” Shiratori pointed to the hooded boy and the small blond boy with the puppet. “I don’t remember them doing anything during that test. Whilst me and Shima got our asses kicked.”

“Maybe they did something where we couldn’t see?” Shima added.

“What?! They should do it where we can see!” Suguro seethed.

Konekomaru sighed “No use worrying about it now. Where are the girls anyway, their late?”

Yukio overheard the complaints from his new Exwires. He was discussing their latest mission plans with another teacher, Mr Tsubaki. It should have been Father Fujimoto but he had been only been back to work for a few weeks now. With the investigation still on going, the higher ups had temporarily demoted him. They had buried him under endless paperwork. Leaving Arthur Angel still as the acting Paladin.

Shiro hated it but kept his mouth shut and laid low until this investigation was over. There was no use drawing more attention to himself. After Satan's possession he was already a high-risk factor. The fact they'd not locked him away for the safety of humanity was a shock.

The sound of approaching footsteps drew Yukio from his conversation with Mr Tsubaki.

“I’m sorry!” The sound of Shiemi’s voice broke through the complaints of the others.

Yukio looked up and had to quickly force the look of shock off his face when Shiemi appeared. Rather than her usual Kimono, she was dressed in a girl’s school uniform. He managed to maintain his dignity when the other guys all piped up with their own comments.

After the commotion was over Yukio cleared his throat and spoke up.

“Right, now that everyone is here, I’ll pair you up into twos. Miwa…” he paused for a moment considering “…and Yamada.” He finished. Koneko nodded and moved next to his partner.

“Kamiki and Takara" Kamiki wanted to complain but at least he wouldn't annoy her.

"Shiemi and Shima." Shima's enthusiasm nearly made Yukio reconsider that particular pairing. In the end he left it.

"Finally, Suguro and Shiratori.” The boys in question practically grunted at each other. They'd been an odd pair in classes, both determined and both with terrible tempers. Shiratori had surprised him in recent months though; he'd changed so much. At least they got on well enough.

After pairing everybody up he explained the mission. They were to search for a ghost appearing as a small boy. The ghost had been attacking and spooking various people in the park. Most disturbances had been minor but if it was allowed to continue things could get worse. Once everyone had been briefed, they were sent away.

Kuro gave a small whine from next to Yukio’s legs. Yukio had nearly forgotten the little cat sidhe was here. Father Fujimoto had asked him to watch over Yukio ever since that eventful weekend.

“What is it, Kuro?” He felt somewhat silly asking, really. He couldn’t understand what the Cat Sidhe said half the time. Father Fujimoto seemed to have a better knack at knowing what the feline was on about. But this time the little demon seemed unnerved about something. A ghost wouldn’t bother him this much, would it?

“Go on, but don’t get into any trouble, okay?” The cat nodded and pounced off into the park, he must’ve sensed something more than a ghost it seemed.

“Is everything okay, Mr Okumura?” Mr Tsubaki asked from behind.

“I think Kuro has sensed another demon in the park, we should keep our wits about us. Do you think we should call back the students?” Yukio turned to look at the older man.

“No, let them carry on with their mission. We don’t know for certain another demon is here and we need to get rid of this ghost before more trouble starts. I’m sure Kuro just wants to chase some mice.”

Yukio nodded but still had an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.

A pair of blue eyes surveyed the area below from atop a roller coaster track, an amusement park of all things. When Rin had first seen it, it had seemed like the perfect spot to cause a ruckus and get Amaimon’s or Samael’s attention. When he arrived though he was surprised to find it empty; which was disappointing to say the least.

He could always just mess up the park, but that wouldn’t be as fun if nobody was around to run in fear. He was sure that would still catch Samael’s attention though, give he'd named the park after himself. 'Mepphy Land' Rin scoffed. There were pictures of the stupid clown all over the place. Seriously! How big was this guy’s ego that he needed a damn amusement park dedicated to himself? Rin had to refrain from laughing at the number of statues there were; let alone plushie toys.

He would have to find somewhere else to have fun. Rin had been about to turn and leave, when movement by the entrance caught his eye. He perked up instantly; it was only a few but that would do! From his high up view, Rin noticed they were separating into two’s. Walking off in different directions of the park, perfect!

Rin decided to move to a lower perch to see what the humans were up to. He eavesdropped on one pair, learning they were looking for a ghost. He could sense one nearby, maybe it wanted to join the fun. If he found it, he would ask.

But these kids, were they exorcists? That would be just his luck. But they looked like students.

He moved away and across the park to another pair. He’d determined that indeed they were exorcist students; they all looked so weak and boring. He supposed at least they’d be easy to scare. He moved on again, finding a pair that looked at least relatively tough. Wouldn’t be fun to scare people if it didn’t seem like a challenge now, would it? The piercings and dyed hair gave him the impression at least one of these guys was tough.

He observed for a while from a distance before he finally caught the face of the smaller male with white hair.

“No way! That’s…but why is he…why is he with exorcists?! Oh, this is too good to pass up.” Rin stood from his current position, buzzing with excitement. It was his turn to play the demon.

Rin hopped down to a lower building, waiting for the pair to pass by. His tail wiggled itself out of its hiding place under his hoody as the two boys passed the building. Completely oblivious to the fact they were being watched. He jumped from the building and landed behind them with a thud. Both boys spun around, startled by the sound.

A white furry tail was the first thing that caught their eyes, swaying behind the hooded figure in front of them.

“Shiratori! Fancy finding you of all scumbags with a bunch of exorcists!” He took a casual step towards them.

The other human - larger build with piercings and a blond mohawk - took a step back, grabbing the others sleeve as he did so.

“That a friend of yours?” He whispered.

“What?! No way—I don’t…” The demon pulled down his hood giving him a menacing grin. Shiratori could swear he recognised that face “Wait…he does look sort of familiar.” Shiratori whispered back before shaking his head and shouting back at the demon “Hey! How do you know my name? Who--?”

A firm grip around his neck left the question in his throat, before his feet left the ground as he was raised up. His hands snapped up to grab the offending arm; choking at the grip. The demon pulled his face closer to his own. The strange shape of his iris drew Shiratori in. The unnatural blue and eerie red glow sent shivers down his spine.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me already? Here I thought I left a lasting impression the last time we met.” The demon gave him a jagged toothed grin “I know you did on me, anyway. Since you tried to kill me.” He whispered; Shiratori’s eyes widened.

“Hey!” A second pair of hands gripped hold of his wrist attempting to get him off his partner’s neck. “Let go of him, now!” Suguro growled.

Rin turned to face the other boy, looking him dead in the eye. Suguro froze before the demonic eyes in front of him, noting the strange shape of the iris. Where had he seen that shape before? The demon growled.

“I don’t like it when people get in my way. So beat it, Rooster!” Rin gave a kick to the boy’s gut and he went flying into the wall of a nearby food stall. He grunted, struggling to get up but was still conscious. The demon turned back to Shiratori.

“Oh well, maybe I should refresh your memory.” Rin dropped him to the floor, landing on his front. Pushing his knee into Shiratori’s back he pinned the boy to the floor. Grabbing a fistful of hair, Rin pulled the boy’s head back to face him again.

“I don’t have a knife handy, unfortunately...” He placed his hand in front of Shiratori’s face, nails extending into claws. “But I do have these.” The fear he could feel made Rin giddy. He gave a crazed laugh as he touched the top of his victim’s head with his sharp claw. He dragged it across his scalp; blood pooling from the wound, dripping down the boy’s face.

Before he had a chance to do more, a large shadow jumped overhead and he was knocked from Shiratori into a building. He looked up to see a giant cat with two tails ferociously standing guard in front of the two humans.

The demon got back to his feet, eyeing the giant cat whilst licking the fresh blood from his claws.

‘These are my charges; you will not harm them!’ Kuro hissed at the demon.

Shiratori looked closely and finally recognised the face of who the hell this demon was.

His hair was a different colour and his eyes were weird; pointy ears, tail and fangs were all new. Was he possessed? Did the same shit happen to him? Was that why he ran away? He knew the kid had a reputation for being a bit of a demon but he’d never physically looked like one.
Maybe he’d finally snapped or was it because he just couldn’t see them at the time? No, he never had white hair before but it was definitely him.

Suguro managed to crawl back over to his partner.

Kuro pounced first and a fight ensued. The white-haired demon seemed to have an advantage of being smaller and faster.

“Come on, we need to get away from here. We need to call Mr Okumura before he comes back for more.” Suguro looked at the realisation forming on Shiratori’s face.

“Okumura…” He said more to himself, leaving Suguro confused. It suddenly came back to him that this kid, this demon, he was the teacher’s brother.

“Yes, Mr Okumura; The teacher, remember?” He dragged Shiratori to his feet pulling him away from the fight. Bashing away at the buttons on his phone. They managed to retreat and meet up with Yukio and the other students. Yukio could see Kuro fighting something but not what. Silently cursing to himself before he heard Shiratori’s voice.

“Okumura…” Suguro looked at him again, confused. Yukio as well, he knelt in front of him and began to examine his head.

“I’m right here, Shiratori.” Shiratori’s response was immediate as he shook his head.

“No…not you.” He pointed back towards the fight. Yukio felt the colour drain from his face as he realised what was going on before Shiratori finished. “The other Okumura.” Those words seem to open a pit of despair inside him. Not now, not like this; this wasn’t how he wanted to face his brother again. He turned his head towards the fight; standing and drawing his guns. Everyone’s questioning eyes turned on him.

“Mr Tsubaki, call Sir Pheles, now! Everyone else, stay back.”

But he didn’t get far before the fight landed right in front of them. The small form of Kuro landed with a thud and slid across the dirt at Yukio’s feet; alive but injured. Yukio was about to rush to him when another voice drew his attention.

“Here, kitty kitty.” The familiar voice called from the passage way ahead of them, where the fight had started. An obscured figure walked towards them; gradually revealed by the light as he emerged. Yukio couldn’t breathe; his hands firmly on his guns but unable to move.

Yukio locked eyes with the figure stood in front of him, those same blue swirls he’d seen on Satan. Was this the effects of his merge? Rin looked him up and down; neither one making a move.

“Well, you were the last person I was expecting to bump into today. Been a while, hasn’t it four-eyes?”

The grips on his guns tightened; Rin eyed the guns before returning his gaze to Yukio’s face.

“Rin…” Yukio started, trying to separate his feelings for his brother and the situation at hand. They weren’t alone after all. But that was in vain as Rin tilted his head with a pout and spoke.

“What, am I not your Nii-san anymore?” Rin shifted his eyes to the people behind Yukio, all staring at him in fear. “Or are you just pretending for their sake? Not surprising, we both know how well you keep secrets, eh Yukio?” He grinned, alike the one Satan had given.

Yukio flinched, fear creeping through his skin “Are you really Rin?”

Rin looked at him surprised for a moment before answering “Yes, it’s me. I have no intentions of letting him in my head again.” Rin shuddered “That was a horrible experience but at the time it was necessary. I had to get away; I wasn’t in a good place at the time.” He tapped a claw to his head.

“And now? Are you…better?” Yukio felt like he was treading on eggshells. One wrong move and everything would break; Rin would break. Rin smiled but it wasn’t his usual kind, carefree smile; there was hunger behind that smile.

“Yeah Yukio, I’m all fixed now. Remember? You saw everything.”

Yukio hated the memory, the absolute fear on his brother’s face was the last thing he had seen. All before that demon had melded itself into his brother's mind. Rin never wanted to become this, was it too late to save him now?

“So, you did all this yourself?” Yukio signalled to the state of the park and Kuro, as well as Shiratori and Suguro behind him. Rin just shrugged.

“What were you expecting when I come back? I’d be the same old useless human?” Yukio frowned; he’d hoped he’d still have his brother at least. “Well not that I was ever human…right? Besides, that scumbag had it coming. This was his fault to begin with.” He spat, pointing towards Shiratori. “The others just got in my way, and paid the price for it.” He growled.

“What the hell was my fault?!” Shiratori screeched from the group. Rin glared at him, the slits of his eyes glowing a brighter red; he let out a low growl.

“Everything…”

Shiratori flinched under the gaze but tried to defend himself anyway.

“Shit man, I don’t even remember what happened! I tried finding you after I got out of hospital and you’d fucking disappeared! No one would tell me what happened!” Shiratori panicked; Yukio intervened, sensing Rin’s rising anger.

“You can’t blame Shiratori for the demon’s actions, Rin. He was possessed he had no idea what was going on!” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say as Rin turned his glare to his brother.

“Always so quick to blame the demons, aren’t you little brother?” Yukio recoiled at his own words. He’d done it again, opened his mouth and made things worse. “If that scumbag hadn’t been such an asshole of a human-being in the first place, maybe he wouldn’t have been possessed!” Rin continued. Shiratori grimaced at the reminder; he’d been trying to put his old ways behind him. The others looked at him with shock. But Suguro turned his attention back to the demon.

“What does that say about you?” He spat.

“Heh heh, I’m just a demon.” Rin smiled, using the nickname that had always plagued him.

His ears twitched to the sound of buttons beeping on a phone. Tsubaki had finally snapped himself away from the conversation to call for help. Rin snapped his gaze to the phone his eyes glowed bright. The phone suddenly exploded into blue flames in the man’s hands and was immediately thrown to the floor. Tsubaki yelped, gripping his hand in pain from the burns. The students backed away from the phone as it burned away into nothing.

“Now now Mr Sideburns, don’t go spoiling my fun.” Rin glared at the man “Next time it will be your head.” He snapped.

“Rin! Enough!” Yukio pleaded.

“Were those…blue flames?” Izumo stuttered. They all stared at the pile of ash in fear before looking back to the demon. Rin could feel the fear radiating amongst them which left a huge grin on his face.

Yukio continued trying to reach his brother, hoping there was still a shred of his old self left. He shuffled closer. “Rin—Nii-san…come home, please…” Rin took his attention from the students and back to Yukio.

“Heh, why would I want to come back? So that I can go back to pretending to be human again? To be nothing but an outcast and a burden?” He grimaced. Yukio wasn’t sure if he was seeing things. But for a brief second, he swore he could see his Rin; the one in pain, the pain they had caused. “No thanks, Yukio”

“You know that’s not—”

“Don’t…LIE TO ME!” Rin screamed. Screams sounded from the surrounding area as well as from the Exwires behind. A nearby building had exploded. They looked on in horror at the plumes of blue flames raging behind them. Rin used the distraction to escape his brother’s attention. He figured he’d probably gotten Samael’s attention for the moment. When Yukio turned back towards Rin, he was already gone.

“Shit…”

Yukio stared at the vacant spot for a moment. Before turning back to several sets of eyes now looking in his direction; all full of fear and questions. He straightened up before holstering his gun. Keeping a straight face and authoritive demeanour.

“Everyone back to your dorms now, this mission is over. Suguro and Shiratori come with me to the infirmary.”

Everyone was burning with questions. The demon had clearly referred to Yukio as his brother to which Yukio did not deny in anyway. Was his brother possessed? Where did the blue flames come from? If Satan was the only being with blue flames...was that Satan inside his brother's body? But how would that explain the conversation they were having?

Mr Tsubaki himself was still in shock, but gathered the students and ushered them out of the park. The ghost would have to wait. Right now, getting to the safety of the Academy was their main priority.

One person wasn’t having it though. The hooded boy, Yamada, broke free from the group. He advanced towards Yukio, grabbing his coat and shoving him against a nearby wall.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Yukio yelled. But when two violet eyes started back at him from beneath the hoody his breath caught in his throat. The voice spoken was low but ever so familiar.

“You and that old man have got some explaining to do. Get your ass to headquarters as soon as you’ve dropped those two off. Make sure Shiro and that bastard clown is there to.” The familiar stranger stormed off towards the burning building pulling out a phone. Yukio pulled out a key for the infirmary and signalled the two boys to follow him.

“Come on!” He snapped; both boys tensed at his tone.

They followed, questions burning on their tongues. Yukio’s tense aura was enough for them to keep their mouths shut, for now at least. They both took one final look towards the smoke and final remnants of blue flame left. Before they followed Yukio through a door leading to the infirmary.

Chapter Text

Rin had managed to hide himself in an alley whilst the nearby area was full of screaming and running from the explosion. Exorcists had already planted themselves on the scene. He would need to be careful if he was going to get away unnoticed and unscathed. He’d only just managed to escape Yukio’s gaze; that explosion drawing more attention than even he wanted.

He was startled out of his thoughts when the phone in his pocket started buzzing. Pulling the phone out of his pocket and clicking the call button he put the phone to his ear.

“Yeah.”

“What the hell was that?! I could see those flames from outside the damn gates!” Iblis’s voice screeched from the other end of the phone.

“Oh, oops?” He said sarcastically, shrugging even though she couldn’t see.

“Oops?! I’ll give you oops you little—ugh! At least you will have gotten Samael’s attention – and the rest of the exorcists.”

“Oh, trust me, there was no avoiding that anyway.” He eyed the entrance to the alley scanning for anyone that would recognise him.

“What do you mean by that?” She growled “Do you need help?”

“I mean, I ran into a bunch of exorcist students and their teachers…” He decided to leave out the mention of his brother “I had to blow up the building as a distraction to get away. If anything, they probably think I’m Satan.”

She hummed in agreement. “Samael will know it’s you. But hopefully his curiosity gets the better of him and he sends Amaimon after you. I take it you’re at least safe for the moment?”

“I’m…safe enough. I should probably keep moving until things calm down though. I’ll call you later.”

“Right.”

He hung up the phone, depositing it back into his pocket. Jumping up to the roof of one of the buildings he was hiding between, he observed the commotion below. Civilians appeared to be evacuated from the area; his flames being extinguished by the exorcists in the area. They certainly hadn’t wasted time; the place was now crawling with the pests.

He couldn’t spot the familiar head of his brother anymore, nor the students that had been with him. No this was all fully uniformed exorcists, ones that wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him on sight. Would they risk searching for him if they thought it was an attack from Satan or would they regroup with a better plan first?

After listening to the shouting below a bit longer, it seemed like they were spreading out to search the area first. Rin needed to move away from the area without being seen. He could jump the roofs but there was always a chance he’d be spotted and shot; he didn’t want to get shot. If he stayed put, they could search the roofs; which would also mean getting shot…

He could’ve burned his way out but he was sure if he did that Samael might take more drastic measures and kill him himself. Rin might’ve been stronger than he used to be but even Iblis was cautious of the older demon; he’d be stupid not to be as well.

In the end Rin cautiously jumped a few roofs eyeing the ground below for exorcists. When he considered himself far enough from the main search party, he dropped to the alley ways. He stayed out of sight whilst working his way through the large maze-like city; further towards the centre.

Yukio and the two boys arrived at the infirmary in silence; he proceeded to sign the boys in and they were taken to a room to be looked over. Thankfully both the boy’s injuries had been minor, although Suguro was going to get some pain and bruising around his ribs but luckily nothing had been broken. Whilst the two boys were being examined, Yukio left the room to call Father Fujimoto. He grabbed his phone and found his father in the contacts pushing the call button and hesitantly waiting for the man to answer. He didn’t wait long.

“Yukio? Everything okay?” Shiro’s voice echoed down the phone.

“It’s Nii-san…he’s back” Yukio croaked out.

“Rin? Was it actually Rin or…?” Shiro wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer, Yukio’s tone was worrying.

“It was definitely Nii-san, not Satan. I spoke with him…” a dead silence followed his statement before he continued “He attacked two of my students – one being Shiratori Reiji. Kuro jumped in to protect them but got beaten up pretty badly as well.”

“Is everyone okay?” The worry in his voice was evident.

“Yeah, nothing serious thankfully.” Yukio said sighing in relief.

“Dad, Shura was there. She said she wants us all at headquarters for questioning. She’s been undercover as one of my students this whole time. She witnessed everything.”

“Right, I’ll head over there now. Where are you?”

“I’m currently at the Infirmary with Shiratori and Suguro. I’ll join you as soon as we’re done.”

“Okay.” Yukio ended the call, glancing back towards the room where the two boys were being treated. He sighed and waited outside till the medical staff were done.

The doctors and nurses finally left and Yukio returned to the room with a grim expression.

“They are gathering everyone at headquarters for questioning, are you fit to move?” There was still that authoritive tone to his voice but their teacher just sounded…tired. Shiratori nodded and moved to stand, rubbing the bandage on his head as it itched. Suguro on the other hand glared at Yukio.

“Was that your brother, or was that Satan?”

Shiratori and Yukio both looked back at him with shocked looks. Yukio composed himself before answering.

“Save your questions for later.”

“No, you answer me now. Was he your brother or not?!”

Yukio frowned at the boy, but straightened and looked Suguro in the eye “Yes, that was my brother. Now are you coming or not?” He gestured to the open door now leading to the True Cross Japan headquarters.

“B-But those flames…how? Was he possessed?” Suguro really wasn’t sure if he wanted to feel bad or angry at Yukio right now.

“Look Suguro, if you want answers my father is at headquarters. I can’t tell you more without him.” Suguro resigned himself and nodded, moving to go through the door; Yukio following behind.

When they all arrived, the rest of the Exwires were gathered. Mr Tsubaki with them, currently getting his hand seen by Shiro.

Stood in front of them was a woman with fiery red hair tied back into a pony tail. Dressed in skimpy clothing she stood there with her hand on her hip and an exasperated expression. Once Shiro was done tending to Mr Tsubaki he moved to stand by the red-headed woman; a tired look on his face.

The woman looked up as they approached, expression changing to a somewhat sly one.

“Chicken!” She called out towards them; Yukio flinched “Ya finally made it!”

Now it was Yukio’s turn to have a tired look “Shura…” he seethed as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders dragged him over to Shiro. She looked around expectantly but then huffed in disappointment.

“Damn Clown is late.”

“He’s on his way, you know he likes to pick his times to appear.” Shiro sighed.

“Right, well everyone follow me. Might as well get as much information as possible without that demon’s interference for the moment.” She led them all into a large white room, doors closed behind them. “Take a seat, kiddies.” She gestured to the floor.

“Is it really necessary for them to be here,” He gestured to the exwires “you were just as much a witness as them, weren’t you?” Yukio sniped at Shura.

“And I’m sure they want answers as much as I do. I’m sure they realise whatever is said in this room, does not leave this room.” She eyed them threateningly all nodding in response. “Good!”

All eyes turned to Shiro and Yukio. It was the first time they’d seen the Paladin in person. They should’ve been in awe but under the circumstances that feeling had been replaced by fear and burning curiosity.

“So, is it just you questioning us, or are the higher ups gonna get involved?” Shiro eyed Shura suspiciously.

“That all depends on what you’re gonna tell me and how high the danger is. I was there Shiro, I saw the demon and the flames, the students were attacked. And it’s all connected to you, to Yukio and even that damn Clown.”

Shiro remained silent, he’d not seen what happened and can only go by what Yukio has told him. Shura turned to Shiratori and Suguro.

“You two were the first to have contact with the demon, what did he want?” They both flinched at the sudden attention now on them; Suguro glanced at Shiratori who went visibly pale.

“We were looking around for the ghost and he just sort of appeared. He got angry because I didn’t recognise him and said I needed a reminder of…of what I did to him…” His fingers grazed the bandage on the top of his head; tentatively looking around at everyone else. Some gazes were shocked and curious others were somewhat knowing. “The last time I saw him… I remember getting into a fight with the guy; it was stupid early in the morning and he kicked my ass. But something happened after that, I missed the whole day. Sometime after, I found out I’d been possessed by some demon. I’d caught him and tried to kill him. I don’t know more than that. When I woke up, I was laying in an alley and that was when I started seeing demons.”

“So, you’ve met that demon before AND you were possessed?!” Izumo yelled. Shiemi gasped in shock from behind her. The Kyoto trio were silent – already having learnt this part of the story.

“I used to do some bad shit okay?! And he wasn’t a damn demon before!” Reiji snapped back “At least he looked a lot more human than he did today…” He shuddered, looking over to Yukio and the Paladin “Was he possessed?” He almost felt some sympathy for the guy if he was, having gone through the same situation.

“Well that is the million-yen question, isn’t it Shiro.” Shura raised an eyebrow her old mentor tapping a finger to her chin. “What’s your side of the story? From what I saw he looked an awful lot like the kid you asked me to train a few years ago.”

Shiro nodded “Yes, that would be Rin, Yukio’s twin brother.”

“Wait, twins?” Konekomaru spoke up, glancing towards Yukio. It made sense now that they thought about it. They had been confused when they’d seen the photo of his brother but Yukio had never specified how much older his brother was. They had guessed at maybe a year or so but minutes never crossed their minds.

“Yes, we’re fraternal twins.” Yukio stated simply as if it was obvious.

Questions started pouring from the Exwires after that statement one after the other.

“So, he’s human, like you? He must be possessed, right?”

“That’s so terrible!”

“Wait, he’s possessed by Satan?!”

“If he was possessed by Satan, why was he casually talking to Mr Okumura?”

“Yeah! Why wasn’t he burning everything?!”

“Enough!” Shura shouted over the Exwires; they all fell silent.

“Shiro,” she glared at the man taking note of the ever-increasing wrinkles appearing on his face “if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now. I will take my findings to the Vatican and request reinforcements to kill the kid.” Shiro flinched “If he is a vessel for Satan or something else… I need to know now. You need to trust me, Shiro.” She pleaded.

“He’s not a vessel.” His voice was a strangled whisper. “He’s not possessed.” He said a bit more strongly.

“Then what--?” Suguro started but Shiro continued, interrupting him.

“Rin is half demon. Fathered by a demon, born of a human woman.”

Gasps radiated from the Exwires.

“But then Mr Okumura—”

“Is human.” Shiro stated simply “Yukio was weak in the womb and did not sustain any demonic power.”

“So those blue flames?” Shura pushed for more.

“They belong to Rin. Rin and Yukio’s biological father is Satan.” Shiro looked at the fearful expressions around the room at the news.

“I take it, this ties in with your possession by Satan three months ago?” Shura offered; Shiro nodded and gasps sounded throughout the Exwires.

“Yes, Satan possessed me and used my body to summon and throw Rin into the Gehenna Gate.” He lifted his injured hand; showing the exwires the severed limb. “Rin has been in Gehenna for the last three months.” His form shook slightly before he steadied himself again.

Shima looked at Yukio’s pained expression and remembered the thing that had been bugging him all this time. “Those nightmares you were having, were because your brother was in Gehenna…” Yukio nodded.

“I had a bad feeling that night and returned home to check on things…I was too late. Rin was already too far into the gate and I failed at pulling him out. I was just lucky I could save my father.” His fists clenched at his side. He had been too weak to save his brother.

“Rin’s powers were sealed at birth and for the first 15 years of his life, has been raised as a human child with no knowledge of what he was or of demons at all. When the seal weakened, his powers broke free. I then told him the truth and that he was to go into protection. But he got angry that we kept the truth from him. Satan was coming and I was pushing him to leave before something happened. But in doing so, he thought he was being kicked out for being a demon. Everything went wrong from there and Rin was lost to Satan and Gehenna before we had a chance to make things right.” He took a shaken breath before continuing

“Satan broke the item that sealed Rin’s demon heart; forcing his rebirth into a demon. Lord only knows what Satan’s been filling his head with. He’s a good kid, he’s just--”

“Didn’t seem that good to me…” Suguro cut in.

Shiro glared at him “My son,” he had to make that statement very clear “has been stuck in Gehenna with the god of demons and his lackeys for 3 months. Feeling nothing but anger and betrayal for what we did, can you blame him?” Suguro quieted and grumbled to himself. Honestly, he was more pissed off about getting kicked in the ribs.

“So, what is the plan then?” Shura asked; Shiro looked at her confused. “I suppose you wanna catch the kid, somehow? I’ll hold off my report if you can rein the kid in. I’m sure that clown is keeping things under wraps for now.”

“And if I can’t?” Shiro asked; a forlorn look in his eyes.

“Then I’ll have to get the higher ups involved, which could mean they’ll try to kill him.” Shura gave him a pitied look.

“Now now, we can’t have that, can we?” Shura’s eyes narrowed towards the sound of the new voice.

The rest turned towards the voice to see the demon king walking through the doors, a Cheshire grin on his face.

“You finally decided to show your face.” Shura seethed “So what’s your involvement in all this, Mephisto?” The demon smirked.

“Such suspicion! My plans were completely in the order’s interests, of course!” He paused as everyone turned their attention to him; Shura narrowed her gaze. “To raise a weapon to use in the fight against Satan. What better weapon than his own son, with the same blue flames.” he sparkled; waving his hands around in a form of grandeur. Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose; visibly uncomfortable with the demon’s enthusiasm in this situation.

“And how’s that plan going for ya now, clown?” Shura turned a sideways glance at him.

“Well up until 3 months ago, perfectly. But things are not all lost, yet.” He said with a calculating gaze “First we need to catch the boy, without the interference of certain individuals…” He glanced towards Shura; she had been sent by those very same individuals to spy on him after all.

“I won’t report anything if you can catch the kid, before he does something serious…” She turned her gaze to the demon king “But I’m not doing it for you.” The demon grinned back before eyeing Shiro.

Shura moved away to finish questioning the exwires and taking statements for her reports. She may not have been sending them now but who knows how things would unfold. And she’d rather not have to deal with a bunch of paperwork later.

Mephisto moved closer to Shiro and Yukio.

“Mephisto.”

“Sir Pheles.”

“I believe we may have our work cut out for us.” Mephisto dropped his voice down as the three of them conversed; watching the others intently as they were being questioned.

“Do you have any sort of plan to catch him without hurting him.” Shiro said, glancing at him.

Mephisto said nothing, sporting a hungry grin.

After much wandering around, Rin found himself outside what looked like an abandoned dorm building. This area seemed to be clear of exorcists with not so many people walking around; he let out a sigh of relief. He eyed the building with curiosity, he needed somewhere to hide but was this too obvious? The only other place he could go would be the monastery; his hands were idly fumbling with the key still present in his pocket. He couldn’t go back there though. Not with the seals against demons and the place crawling with exorcists; albeit ones that helped raised him but still exorcists.

He wanted to sneak in and just sleep in his own bed, get his own clothes…he shook his head; shoving the bubbling feelings back down. This was exactly what Satan was testing him against, his feelings for his family and his home. Yukio had caught him by surprise but he wasn’t going to let them be his weakness, not now. He had a mission and he was going to prove he was useful to Satan; anything to keep him complacent enough to wait for another body that wasn’t his.

Rin moved towards the dorm and reached for the door handle. It was locked. He could just break the door down but that would attract unwanted attention. Before he had a chance to think a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Hey—”

Without thinking he grabbed the hand and pulled, throwing the offending person against the wall of the dorm with a thud; his other hand gripping the person by the neck as he snapped his teeth and growled.

“W-w-woah-wait! Don’t hurt me! I-I was just gonna tell you that place is empty.” The boy stuttered.

“I was aware of that.” Rin frowned; dropping the boy back to the floor. He quickly scampered to stand back up again moving back a bit to put some distance between himself and Rin, but didn’t run.

“A-ah I thought you were new and looking for the boy’s dormitories…I-I was going to say that t-they’re over the other side of the campus.” He said as he pointed in another direction. Rin tucked that bit of information away for later. The boy was obviously just an unassuming human and no threat, Rin relaxed his demeanour putting his arms behind his head.

“Ah, thanks…I guess. I was actually just looking for somewhere to hide from my overbearing brother. You kinda caught me by surprise, sorry about that.” He grinned “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” The boy rubbed his neck a little but visibly relaxed.

“N-no I’m fine. Is your brother a student, maybe I’ve seen him?”

“Yeah, he’s a student.” Rin vaguely remembered when Yukio had spoken about coming here…before the rest of the truth had been revealed. Damn exorcists.

“What’s his name?” The boy pressed.

Rin snapped out of his thoughts and turned back to the kid. “Oh, it’s Yukio Okumura…” The boy’s face lit up in recognition.

“Oh! The new student representative! I remember he gave a speech at the opening ceremony at the start of the term! Wow he’s your brother?” He looked at Rin curiously, he seemed to have a proud sort of smile on his face before snapping back to a grimace.

“Yeah, anyway I gotta go.” Rin started to walk away before the boy called to him again.

“I’m Sei Godaiin by the way. Um, it was nice to meet you…” he extended his hand out towards Rin.

“Rin.” Rin eyed the hand held out to him before finally reaching out and shaking it.

“Rin.” Sei repeated “If you ever need any help, feel free to ask.” He continued before walking off in the other direction towards the boy’s dorms. Rin watched him until he was out of sight.

He turned back to the abandoned dorm in front of him. In the end deciding to wander around the back out of sight of any more humans who wanted to correct him or maybe accuse him of breaking in.

After finding a back door to the dorm, also locked. He decided against breaking the door down just in case someone heard and came to inspect. He gripped hold of the handle, flames forming at his hands and travelling to the lock and melting it away, leaving the rest of the door intact. Rin smiled to himself. It’d been a whilst since he had actually not burnt something on purpose.

“See, I can choose to not burn things when I feel like it, Iblis.” He said smugly to himself as he entered the empty dormitory building only to be met with a strong musty smell.

Rin scrunched his nose up at the dust stifling the air as he pushed the door closed behind him. He let out a relieved sigh. It was quiet, no one had followed him. He could hide out here for the time being until he figured out a way to find Amaimon – or hopefully for Amaimon to find him and save him the trouble.

He made his way through the dorm towards what looked like a kitchen and dining area, disturbing the dust as he walked. Rin groaned in frustration; he pondered how long he would need to stay here and if it was worth the hassle of cleaning at least one room to stay in. Then there was the need of food. He’d eaten that Sukiyaki only a few hours ago and that wasn’t going to keep him happy for long. Maybe he could pose as a student and find an empty dorm in the other building…but that ran the risk of running into Yukio and his exorcist students.

He really was terrible at this. He had no food; his temporary hiding place was a coal tar breeding ground and Iblis had only given him so much money. He might’ve been better off being chucked on the streets than taken to Gehenna for all it did him for survival. His only other option was the monastery…his hand tentatively fiddled with the key in his pocket again.

He frowned; as long as he held on to this key, he was still holding on to his old self. He removed his hand from his pocket, leaving the key alone. Instead he pulled out his phone and dialling the number for Iblis; after a short conversation explaining his current situation the call ended. Iblis still couldn’t penetrate the barriers without Samael knowing she was here. She needed to remain low until Rin needed her.

As soon as the phone was back in his pocket a ‘pop’ sounded behind him causing the dust in the room to cloud up. Rin jumped back whilst waving his hands to clear the dust from his face; coughing as he did so.

As the dust settled, stood in front of him was Samael; holding what looked like a handkerchief over his face. Although not even that could hide that damn grin. Rin froze in place as he eyed the demon in front of him.

“Well well, I seem to have found a rat scurrying around my precious school.”

“Samael.” Rin growled.

“Please, I don’t go by that name here in Assiah. Call me Mephisto~”

Rin supressed the urge to roll his eyes, even his chosen name was as clowny as he looked.

“Fine, Mephisto. What do I owe the visit this time?”

Mephisto grinned widely.

“I do believe that’s my question to ask you. Since you are in my territory after all. What pray-tell has our dear father sent you for? That is assuming you’re not just here to visit your dear brother. I heard you made quite the impression on his little class.” Mephisto’s eyes narrowed; Rin grinned back.

“Oh that? I was just hoping I’d get Amaimon’s attention. I only wanted to play. Your exorcists just happened to be in the way. I had no intention to kill anyone if that’s what your worried about.”

“I see, so it’s Amaimon you desire? I will be sure to let him know; he’s been quite excited to play with you since hearing of your merge. I’ll try to see if I can arrange an…appropriate setting for you both.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting.” Rin smiled. “But ya know, I need a place to stay in the meantime. Think you could arrange something?” Rin leaned back against a nearby wall watching the demon closely.

Mephisto grinned back at the boy, raising his hand.

“Eins, zwei, drei!” With that he snapped his fingers and pink cloud engulfed Rin’s vision. He blinked his eyes rapidly as the pink sparkles cleared and the room came back into view. The room was now clean and the dust cleared.

Rin looked at the demon more surprised than anything, he was half expecting a trap.

“I’ve left you some food in the kitchen to do with as you wish.” The demon turned towards the door, looking at Rin from the corner of his eye “I heard you were quite the cook, hopefully Gehenna didn’t knock that out of you.” Rin frowned, his hand again falling to the key in his pocket.

“Thanks…”

“I will be in touch, little brother.” With those parting words, the clown disappeared in another cloud of pink smoke and Rin was left alone in the empty dormitory.

Chapter Text

Rin stood silently for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for some sort of trap to appear and catch him by surprise. Iblis and Astaroth had done nothing but warn him of Samael and his tricks. Rin stood there in the now clean, empty dormitory, and nothing else happened.

He was on edge, but his instincts weren’t screaming to run. It must’ve been safe, right?

Removing his focus from the spot Samael had disappeared, he explored the rest of the dormitory. After checking the communal areas and nearby bathrooms, he moved to find a room. Deciding it was better to find a room on an upper floor, just in case someone wandered in. He could at least escape out a window before being discovered – or up to the roof. Eventually picking a random room on the first floor with a decent view outside that he could monitor the surrounding area.

The room was bare of anything but clean bed sheets and standard furniture, but he supposed that was fine; he was here temporarily, and then he would go back to Gehenna. Frowning, he turned towards the window and took in the orange sky as the sun was setting below the horizon – he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t particularly want to stay here either, but he wanted to remain in Assiah, where it wasn’t dark and stale. Didn’t want to go back to feeling Satan’s influence crawling through his skin all the time. The sound of his stomach gurgling slowly snapped him from his thoughts. He should probably see what the Clown had left him with.

After checking the contents of the fridge and cupboards and finding that the clown had indeed left him with actual food and other ingredients to cook with, he settled on something simple to tide him over till the morning. He was tired after running around the city dodging exorcists, and seeing his brother didn’t help matters.

Grabbing the eggs and some chicken cutlets along with a few different vegetables and some rice; he laid the ingredients out along the counter. He washed the rice and put it to a boil as he minced up the vegetables. He went through the motions as if he’d never been away. It was automatic, from the way he wielded the knife and finely minced the vegetables to the way he flipped the ingredients together in the pan. He unconsciously smiled as he cooked. It was one of the few things that made him feel human as he grew up, and even now after everything that happened – but was that what he wanted?
His smile dropped as he laid the omelette over the fried rice, the question still swirling around in his mind – did he want to feel human? He’d grown content with how things were in Gehenna. At least, he thought he had. Satan let him do whatever he wanted without reprimand. They constantly praised him for getting angry and destroying things. That was all he was good for, wasn’t it?

Destruction.

The door to Mephisto’s office burst open with force. The demon in question let out a drawn-out sigh without even needing to see who it was with the amount of cursing that followed.

“Shiro, you should take better care of yourself. Keep forcing your way into my office like that and you’ll be finding yourself in a hospital bed again.” The demon eyed the exorcist carefully before a grin graced his face. “To what do I owe this unannounced visit?”

Shiro ignored him and continued “Two weeks, it’s been two weeks and there’s still no sign of him.”

“Ah, this again.” He straightened as he faced Shiro “As I told you before, I have many eyes around the city keeping me posted – he is lying low or has returned to Gehenna. For now, there is little I can do.” Resuming his interest in the paperwork on his desk, expecting Shiro to huff and leave again like he had the last time this had come up, but Shiro just stood there, eyes not leaving the demon king where he sat.

“Yeah, you did. But then I thought about it, nothing goes on in this city without you knowing about it, everything goes according to your plans and there is no way Rin could hide away from you of all people.” He glared at the demon “You know exactly where he’s hiding, don’t you? I would even wager that you’re helping him.”

Mephisto couldn’t help the grin that formed before he laughed.

“Well done, Shiro. It took you longer than I thought to catch on, but alas, I cannot give his location away just yet. Sent on a very special mission by Satan himself, it would be poor of me not to assist him.”

Shiro frowned. He had a feeling Rin was here for something, but having it confirmed that Satan had sent him and Rin was willingly going along with it was disturbing. “What mission?” He straightened and looked back at the demon as his stomach fluttered under the tense atmosphere.

Mephisto thought for a moment, finger upon his chin. “Now, what did he say again? Ah yes! He’s been sent to retrieve someone and take them back to Gehenna with him.”

Shiro groaned, “Why do you always have to be so cryptic? Who is Rin here for?”

“Oh Shiro, you’re no fun anymore!” Mephisto paused with a pout before it dropped and he continued “He’s here for Amaimon it seems, Satan probably wishes to punish him for aiding Rin’s escape before and relieve me of his loyalties. I still require Amaimon’s services so I cannot allow that. But we can use the situation and Amaimon as bait to capture your wayward son…”

“That’s a terrible idea! Rin’s already angry with us for keeping secrets. You think he’s going to take it lightly if we trick and capture him now?” Shiro gave a defeated sigh “I don’t want to push him further into Satan’s hands.”

“Well, if he’s out of control fighting Amaimon, I have every reason to capture him, don’t you think?” He side-eyed Shiro from his desk “And once he is under our watch, you can finally have that father-son chat you’ve been wanting with no interruptions.” Mephisto ended with a grin.

“That might work, provided none of the higher-ups gets involved.”

“Yes, well, that will be the challenge. We have Shura cooperating but I’m sure there are others within our midst trying to sniff out a scandal. We also need to dispose of Iblis, who has been skulking around outside the main gates.”

“Iblis is here as well?”

“Dear Shiro, from what I’ve heard she’s practically mothering that Rin of yours, it’s quite a funny thing to hear considering how hot-tempered she is.” He chuckled at his humour “Trust me if Rin is here, Iblis is not far away. Satan wouldn’t be so trusting to send him without proper supervision on his first outing to Assiah.” Shiro practically snorted at the thought that even Satan had to send Rin with a chaperone to make sure he did as he was told.

“What do you plan to do about her?” Shiro looked at the demon questioningly.

“Oh, I have something up my sleeve, not to mention I have already planned a play date for our little Rin and Amaimon. I will require you to oversee matters, naturally.” Shiro was about to interrupt before the demon shushed him and carried on. “The exwires will hold a small camping trip to test their abilities for future missions. Shura and Yukio will supervise – I want you and a small team of handpicked exorcists to be nearby. I’m not sure how much our Rin has grown in strength during his time in Gehenna, but I’d imagine he will give Amaimon a bit of trouble since he will have to hold back lest he lose his vessel. I would like Rin immobilised before Amaimon gets trapped in Gehenna.”

Shiro nodded reluctantly.

“Good! I will forward the details to you before the end of the day. The camping trip is to be this weekend. So please ensure you’re prepared.”

Mephisto returned to his desk, and the door behind Shiro opened. Shiro grunted at the demon’s less than tact methods for telling him to get lost. But despite Shiro not being too pleased about the plan, if it got Rin back, who was he to argue?

Chapter Text

The last bell of the day rang as the first semester of school drew to a close. Yukio stood changing his shoes at his locker when he heard a yelp from behind and was suddenly knocked to the floor. Looking up at the panicking student as he apologised many times, offering his hand to help Yukio up.

“Ah, it’s fine. Are you okay? You seemed to have tripped?”

“Yes, sorry. I’ve had a bit of a clumsy spell today. Excited for the summer break, I guess.” The boy looked up as he brushed off his uniform.

Yukio nodded. Not that he would get much of a summer break with the cram school to teach and exorcist duties still to attend to.

“Oh, you’re Yukio Okumura; the first-year representative, right? I recognise you from the opening ceremony.”

Yukio visibly blushed. He always found it embarrassing when people recognised him for that. “Yeah… that’s me. Nice to meet you…” he held out his hand expectantly.

“Ah! I’m Godaiin Sei, sorry.” Awkwardly smiling as he shook Yukio’s hand. Godaiin stared at Yukio for a moment as he swapped his shoes from his locker.

“Is something wrong?” Yukio frowned nervously, thinking he had something on his face. 

The boy flinched and gave a small chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry! It’s just… Does your brother dye his hair? You two look very different.”

Yukio froze for a moment before spluttering out, “I’m sorry, what?” He stared at Godaiin, confused.

“Maybe I’m mistaken… but I met a guy outside the old boys’ dormitory who said he was your brother. Said he was hiding from you cos you were uh… overbearing?” Godaiin felt a little bad having to repeat that. Yukio seemed nice enough. The look on Yukio’s face, however, had him questioning who he had actually been talking to.

Before he knew it, he was being shaken by the shoulders. Yukio’s determined expression stared him down. “When did you see him?!”

“Oh… a few weeks ago, maybe?” 

Yukio paused for a moment. An abandoned building was the perfect hiding place. Why hadn’t they thought to check it before… “Thank you, Godaiin.” Without another word, he slammed his locker and ran out of the building, leaving Godaiin slightly confused. 

“Must be one crazy game of hide and seek…” He shrugged and went to find his own locker.

Yukio sped toward the old boy’s dormitories. Briefly thinking he should call his dad, but he didn’t want to waste time, Rin might still be there. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say if he was. Their last meeting was tense, but he hoped without the audience he might get Rin to drop his guard a bit. Not prepared at all, with no guns or anything else to protect himself, this was a pretty foolish thing for him to do. But at this point, Yukio was beyond reason.

When the dorm came into view, Yukio unconsciously sped up. His breathing became laboured, but he refused to slow down until he reached the door. Wrapping his hand around the handle, he hesitated. What would he even say to Rin? The last time they had seen each other; he had pointed a gun at him.

He held his breath and turned the handle; this wasn’t the time to have second thoughts. He was too close. Even if Rin wasn’t there, he might’ve left some sort of sign. He jostled the handle, realising the door was locked. Of course, it was locked. He stood back to look at the windows, noticing at least one on the first floor open a crack. Yukio scoured the building for another entrance, eventually finding the open door around the back. On closer inspection, it looked like the mechanism had been burned away, definitely Rin.

Gently pushing the door open, trying not to make a sound, Yukio entered the building. It was quiet inside, with only the faint sounds of Yukio’s movements to fill the air. He noticed how clean it was, which was strange considering its abandonment for several years. He doubted Rin would have been bored enough to clean; he could barely keep his own room organised.

Reaching the kitchen area, there were signs of cooking and a few dirty dishes. Certainly a sign that someone had been living here.

Deciding to end his brief tour, he moved towards the stairs and made his way towards the first floor. He at least knew which side of the building to look, assuming it was Rin that had opened the window for some air.

When Yukio reached the first floor, he began testing some doors, too little success, as the rooms were empty. He was about four doors in when his phone rang. He’d completely forgotten all about it in his rush and hadn’t silenced it. Fumbling with his phone to kill the ringing, he heard a thud coming from somewhere down the hall.

Yukio’s heart raced as he tried to listen for any further sounds, barely daring to breathe. He called out after a few seconds.

“Rin…I know you’re here. Can we talk…please?” He hated how nervous he sounded.

Shuffling sounded from the same area as before. Yukio didn’t dare move, fearing that if he approached, Rin would bolt. A door opened, and Yukio flinched until a sleepy-looking Rin exited the room.

“Wondered how long it would take before that kid blabbed. What do you want, four-eyes?” He mumbled, trying to flatten down the remnants of his bedhead.

“I wanted to talk, without others around.” Yukio took a tentative step forward; Rin didn’t move, but he didn’t take his eyes off Yukio, looking him up and down.

“I’m surprised you took the chance to come alone and not with the old man.” 

“I figured you’d be less likely to run if it was just me…”

Rin nodded. “I guess, but I could also have just attacked you…and you don’t look armed. I’m surprised.”

“You’ve never directly attacked me before, so why would you attack me now?” Yukio looked at him smugly, and Rin opened his mouth to retaliate before shutting it again, grumbling to himself.

“What do you want? You must’ve had somethin’ you wanted to say?” Rin waited expectantly.

Now that Yukio was here face to face with no other distractions, he realised he didn’t know what to say to Rin at all. “No, not really…I just wanted to talk to you without others around and interruptions.” He paused. “Just me and you…”

“What for? You’ve already said enough in the past.” Rin scoffed.

“What happened at the park, I was cautious when I realised you came back. I didn’t know if Satan was still using you or even what to expect after what happened. I mean, you attacked my students, Rin. What was I supposed to think?” Yukio said pleadingly.

“I attacked Shiratori!” Rin growled. “Who very much had it coming after what he did to me! I coulda done that whether I was human or demon! But because I’m a demon now, nothing else is relevant!” He punched the door frame, causing the wood to crack. “That other idiot decided to get involved, and I kicked him outta the way. Same with the cat, I never went after them.” Rin glared at Yukio.

“I didn’t even go there to attack anyone. Scare maybe, yeah, but not attack. I was only trying to draw out Amaimon to take back to father. The last thing I expected was to come across a bunch of exorcists, least of all you.”

Yukio’s stomach dropped, his face contorted in disgust, and Rin realised he had slipped again. He sighed. Might as well run with it at this point.

“Father?” Yukio croaked.

Before he had much longer to dwell on it, his phone started vibrating again in his pocket. Pulling it out and seeing ‘Dad’ on his phone, he pushed down whatever emotions he was feeling and answered, watching Rin as he did so.

“Hi, Dad.”

Rin’s expression changed. Was he scared? He took a step back, the brief edge of fear turning into a frown. Shiro’s voice on the other end of the phone answered back.

“Yukio, where are you? We’ve been waiting at the gates for you for a while now.” He stared back at Rin before his own expression softened. “I’m on my way, just had to get something from the dorm, sorry.”

“Okay, see you soon.” With a click, the phone call ended.

Rin’s tension eased as he eyed Yukio carefully. “Why didn’t you tell him where I am?”

“What good would that do? You’d flee as soon as I told him anyway.”

Rin looked away from his brother and stared splintering wood where his fist had hit, picking at it.

“You’d better go then; don’t wanna keep the old man waiting.” Yukio noted that Rin was still calling Shiro old man; it was his way of being rebellious, but even in Rin’s current state, it was affectionate. Maybe he wasn’t all lost.

“Will you still be here, or will you find somewhere else to hide now?” He hoped but figured the latter.

Rin thought about it, but remembered he was supposed to meet with Amaimon soon. Reluctantly he responded, “When I find Amaimon I’m to return to Gehenna…”

“You think you’re more free down there, but it doesn’t sound like it.”

Rin grimaced. “I’m not free anywhere, but at least there I can be myself without constantly being criticised for my demonic nature or fear of someone close to me trying to kill me.” He glared towards Yukio.

Yukio wanted to say more to reassure him that wasn’t the case but knew it was just cause Rin to retaliate more. They hadn’t given him much reason to trust them so far. Actions, not words. Words always seemed to make things worse in his case.

“Goodbye, Rin.” Yukio walked back towards the stairs and down out of Rin’s view. Rin turned and walked towards the roof.

Yukio quickly composed himself, knowing he needed to make his way to the meeting spot with the others. Leaving the dorm through the back door, he ran towards the outskirts of the forest. He spared one last look towards the dorm before it disappeared from view.

Rin stood atop the dorm watching Yukio as he departed.

Rin stared up at the dark sky between the branches and leaves of the trees. The clown had told him to be here at a certain time, and Amaimon would turn up. Although he’d been waiting in the woods for hours already after his encounter with Yukio earlier that day.

He’d tried ringing Iblis to let her know what was going on, but her phone had been out of service. Rin figured he’d try again later. If she saw the flames at the park a few weeks back, she was bound to see something was up in this forest at night. He was impressed with how well the clown had kept him a secret in that run-down shack he’d been living in. He was even more surprised they hadn’t had it knocked down with Rin still inside it.

The smell of a bonfire soon prompted Rin to sit up. Was someone else in the forest? He was hoping he could’ve captured Amaimon without having to involve any humans in the fight. Really, he shouldn’t care. It still bothered him when innocent people got hurt when things were out of their control. Damn his humanity.

Moving closer to the orange light in the distance, he stayed under cover of the trees so as not to be seen. He dropped to the floor without a sound, standing behind a tree with a view of a campsite. Maybe it was just a bunch of kids he could freak out of their camping trip. At least that was what he hoped until he got a good look at who was at the campsite.

“Shit…” Rin hissed under his breath as he watched closely.

Familiar faces from the amusement park were lit up by the fire as they prepared food for the evening. He recognised Shiratori and the rooster head. Suppressing the growl that was forming, he observed the rest of the camp. A couple of girls struggling to cook what looked like a simple curry and a small pipsqueak with glasses trying to help them. On the other side of the campfire was a fresh addition; a loud, fiery redhead who seemed to be poking fun at –

Rin froze and zipped back behind the tree as teal eyes rose in his direction. Whether he was spotted was yet to be seen, but Rin needed to move away from the camp. He slipped back into the darkness of the trees. Checking back to make sure he hadn’t been followed, but he seemed to be in the clear.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he moved further into the forest, distancing himself from the campsite as much as possible. There was no sign of Amaimon. Mephisto had obviously duped him into some sort of game of catch that involved his little exorcists, and Rin wasn’t interested in playing. He’d come here for one reason and didn’t want to get mixed up with his old life again.

Rin zoned out as he wandered further into the woods, trying to gather his thoughts and figure out his next move. He wondered if he should just return to Gehenna empty-handed and try again when he was more prepared. Failing to reach Iblis again also gave him a weird feeling; something had happened to her.

Before long he’d come across an opening with a large stone lantern.

It sort of reminded Rin of some demons on Iblis’s grounds and gave Rin a little idea to mess with Mephisto’s game. Turning it towards the light of the campsite in the distance, he lit the lantern. Immediately he leapt back into the trees out of sight. Watching as the lantern charged on in the direction of the exorcists’ camp. Hoping this would keep them distracted for a little while.

He knew he risked them realising it was him that lit the thing, being it was running around with a blue flame. He decided to use the time to call a Gehenna Gate and retreat for now. If the clown had set up a camping party with his students, there was a greater chance there were more experienced exorcists nearby. That also meant there was a possibility of Shiro being there.

Rin wasted no more time; the situation was too dangerous for him to handle alone. Slashing his wrists and allowing the blood to pool on the floor. The incantation came to him as automatically as breathing as the words flowed from him. It almost felt like Satan snaking his way through his mind again. The blood on the floor immediately started bubbling into a Gehenna Gate. The sight brought back memories of the last time he’d witnessed this—the night he was taken. It left a sour feeling in his gut just looking at it.

Rin took a breath and moved to step into the gate. He would have to face Satan’s wrath, but better to return empty-handed than risk getting caught. A ‘pop’ overhead snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he grimaced. Low and behold, the clown had finally shown his face.

Mephisto clapped his hands. “Well done, young Rin. What a fine gate indeed!”

Before he had a chance to speak, Amaimon appeared and tackled him to the ground. Mephisto shouted some weird words before a giant cuckoo clock appeared.

“Now we have a little something to send back to Gehenna,” the clown sneered.

The clock opened to reveal a time-frozen Iblis being held captive inside. The clock propelled her out inside the cuckoo’s mouth and straight into the gate’s bubbling entrance. Rin growled as she was swallowed up by the gate. Digging his claws into Amaimon and channelling his flames onto him.

Amaimon yelped and leapt away, allowing Rin to jump back on his feet and charge after him. This was his chance; the gate was still open. If he could get Amaimon in the gate, then at least this all wouldn’t have been for nothing.

Amaimon landed in a crouch, grinning wildly as Rin collided with him, throwing them both into a nearby tree. Blue flames engulfed them both and the surrounding area. Rin wasn’t going to let his chance go and ripped into Amaimon one blow after another before throwing him closer to the gate opening. Leaping after him to finish the job, claws out, but Amaimon dodged Rin’s advance.

Catching Rin’s wrist after nearly getting slashed, he threw him away from the gate further into the forest. The forest was lit up as the fire spread. Rin groaned as he pushed himself back up, looking at the damage before him. Iblis was gone; he was too far from the gate now, and the fire was only going to attract the exorcists. It had gone eerily quiet apart from the crackling of the fire and the cracking of branches in the trees where bark was being burned away.

Amaimon was not following, maybe the clown was keeping him back. He casually followed the trail of broken trees, illuminated by blue flames, back in the direction he’d been thrown; back towards the gate. He figured he had only a little while longer before the gate disappeared.

Rin arrived at the gate, still open and bubbling, Amaimon and the clown nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t waste time. Rin had failed, and remaining any longer would cause him to be stuck in hiding again. He took a step closer to the gate before something knocked him down. It burned.

Rin opened his eyes to a net on top of him. A glowing net covered in symbols that was slowly getting smaller and wrapping around him. He screamed as the threads burned his skin, summoning his flames to burn the net away, but it seemed to be protected. Footsteps approached him, and he heard the clicks of guns all around.

“Tsk, Rin. Look at all the mess you’ve made,” the clown had popped back into view and gestured to the forest now up in flames. “I’m afraid you will have to be detained.” Mephisto waved his finger disapprovingly, but the smug smile on his face said he was enjoying this.

Rin squirmed in the net, still trying to burn it off, but his flames faltered with every burn to his body. “You bastard clown…” Rin let out another cry of pain. “Father—will have your head for this,” he growled.

“Oh, he will now? He will have to come and get it personally then.” Mephisto chuckled, “I don’t think you or Iblis are in a position to take either me or Amaimon at the moment.”

With another swell of his flames, the net weakened. Channelling his flames into his claws, he slashed open the net and slowly stood up to face Mephisto.

A few steps crunched behind him as they approached. Rin’s ears twitched at the sound before the familiar voice erupted from the direction of the exorcists.

“Rin!”

Rin froze and turned slowly. He knew it; he knew the clown would get him here.

His heart pounded in his chest as he met Shiro’s gaze. The exorcists flanked Shiro, weapons trained on the fiery demon as blue fire raged in the background.

For a moment, the world shrank to the distance between him and the old man, every other sound muffled by the roaring in his ears.

Shiro took a cautious step forward, holding his open hand out towards Rin, eyes never leaving Rin’s.

“Rin, come with me; I can help you,” he pleaded; worry evident on his face. He didn’t want either Rin or anyone else to get hurt tonight.

Rin eyed the priest. He was unarmed. Something switched in the boy’s expression before he erupted in a fit of cackles, causing Shiro to flinch.

Rin wiped a tear away as he faced Shiro again. “You help me?” He slapped Shiro’s hand away, burning it in the process. “I don’t need your help.” He growled.

Mephisto tutted, “Now, now, that was unnecessary.”

“Shut up, clown. You set me up!” Rin seethed.

“I said I’d set up a meeting for you and Amaimon; I never said I wouldn’t bring friends.” He chuckled.

Hearing a bubbling sound, Rin glanced to notice that the Gehenna Gate was closing. In a panic, he lunged towards Mephisto, ignoring the shots fired towards him.

“Hold your fire!” he heard Shiro’s voice boom.

Mephisto jumped out of the way of the younger demon, grabbing his tail in the process, causing Rin to cry out and collapse to the floor. He was unable to move.

“Dear me, little brother, did father not teach you anything? Demons should always hide their tails lest they be used against them.” Mephisto grinned and snapped his fingers. Rin felt something grab his waist and looked around to see the beak of the cuckoo that had been holding Iblis captive.

Rin yelled and called forth his flames, trying to escape. The last thing he saw was Shiro’s hurt expression as the doors closed on his view, and he was swallowed up into darkness.