Chapter Text
Some days, everything was as fine as it could be. He would get up late, get dressed in a rush and then head out to his classes like nothing was wrong. He would laugh and smile his usual goofy grin and not a single thing about him would seem out of place.
Then, there are days where he gets up too early. Startled awake because of the terrible whisperings of doubt in his dreams and then he’d spend too long looking in the mirror. He would poke and prod and nearly claw at the too wide hips and heavy mounds on his chest, eyes nearly spilling over with tears as he tried to keep his breathing under control.
Those days, like today, his brother would find him curled up in the corner of the large dorm bathroom, sobbing and curled tightly up against a wall. The younger twin would watch his normally strong, overly confident older brother crumple into a heap of despair for a moment. He would tear his eyes away, no longer able to stand the pitiful sight and help drag the demon hybrid into their shared room and put him back to bed.
It really isn’t that much of a surprise that people noticed how the Halfling would go missing for whole days. The thick silence that hung in the classroom while the teacher would scratch away at the chalkboard was, after all, all too noticeable.
“Uh, Okumura-sensei?” Konekomaru’s voice sounded through the class as Yukio worked to put the day’s assignments on the board. Yukio paused and turned to face his student, smiling politely as he did so.
“Yes, Miwa-kun?” Yukio asked of one of his hardest working pupils. The bald boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to find the right words to use. He looked up to his teacher and swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Why isn’t Okumura-kun here today? Is he sick?” Shima looked to his long time friend, a little surprised at what he was asking. The pinket looked to the empty seat next to Shiemi and pulled a face as if he just realized the missing student was actually missing.
“Hey, yeah! Where is Rin? It’s too quiet around here without his snoring.” Shima grinned cheekily when he saw that the joke got a small smile out of the blonde sitting alone. Yukio just shook his head, sighing.
“Okumura-kun hasn’t been feeling well so I suggested he stay home. I’m sure he’ll be alright by tomorrow.” The young teacher turned back to the board and continued on with his lesson. Ryuuji tapped his pencil against his notebook, watching as his friends all shifted back into ‘learning mode’. He was lost in his thoughts; worriedly wondering what it could be that made that restless, blue spitfire unable to attend classes for today. He took one last glance around the room and noticed that he wasn’t the only one wondering the same thing.
Yukio could feel the tension forming behind him in the class. He sighed inwardly and realized that today was going to be a long day….
After that day’s first period, the class moved along as smoothly as ever. Yukio worked on grading assignments in his room while all the other ExWires went on to their next few classes…. Well, most of the moved along.
“Yuki-chan, are you sure that Rin will be alright?” The doe-eyed blonde asked of her friend, lips quivering in very obvious concern. Yukio just gave her a reassuring smile before patting her shoulder.
“He’ll be just fine Shiemi; he just isn’t feeling well today. Don’t worry so much about him. He’s a strong person.” Yukio knew that while it wasn’t the whole truth, it was definitely not a lie. Rin was strong and he could make it through this. He had faith in his older brother.
“….” Shiemi looked doubtful of her friend’s words. She fidgeted a little before looking to Yukio with determination gleaming in her eyes. “I-I would really appreciate it if you’d welcome me into your home later. I’ll come by with a soup for Rin!” She explained, her resolve shining through her words.
Yukio blinked and couldn’t stop himself as he spoke. “O-of course. See you later then.” Shiemi smiled and scurried off to her next class before she was tardy. Yukio gulped and then let his forehead fall to his desk with a lithe thump.
‘Rin is gonna kill me….’ Was the only thought to run through his head at the moment. He suddenly wished he was on some far away mission fighting off a hoard of demons; it’d be easier to deal with than this.
"Hey Moriyama-san, where were you?" Shima asked as his classmate ran into the classroom just short of being late. She looked up to her friend and smiled shyly, taking her seat and getting her things ready for the class to begin.
“I was just letting Yuki-chan know that I’m going to come by later to help with Rin! I am going to help my friend feel better no matter what!” Shiemi beamed as she turned to face the Kyoto trio. Shima blinked in surprise at her confidence and smirked. He turned to Konekomaru and Ryuuji, exchanging a secret, knowing look with the two boys. Ryuuji sighed, looking annoyed and Konekomaru gave his pink-haired friend an exasperated smile. The two nodded slightly and Shima looked back to Shiemi.
“Then count us in!” His words startled the blonde; as well as the shrine maiden sitting at the table next to her. Shiemi looked at the boys incredulously before a face-splitting grin made itself home on her lips. Izumo rapped her nails against the desk before sighing to herself.
“You idiots probably have no idea how to take care of someone that’s ill so I’ll go too. Just to make sure you don’t end up maiming that moron.” She spoke up suddenly. The others seemed a little surprised to hear her join in on the convoluted idea of caring for their ailing friend. Shiemi was practically bouncing in her seat as she watched her friends agree to help. This was going to be so great!
“Hey! Four-eyed chicken, where the fuck is you brother?! He was supposed to meet me for training today at 2 on the dot! It’s nearly 3, man, what the fuck?” Shura was never a very patient person, Yukio can very much attest to this. Neither was she a very level-headed person. So when said woman barged into his classroom, eye twitching and face red with anger, he knew he had himself a situation that, if not handled delicately, could end extremely disastrously. Yukio gulped down the lump in his throat and faced the she-devil with as much confidence he could muster.
“Shura, I forgot to mention to you today that Rin isn’t feeling too well today. I’m sorry.” He apologized. In truth, he really did forget to text Shura about Rin’s current condition. He bowed slightly to show he was sincere in his apology, earning a rough grunt from the swordswoman.
“What the hell do you mean not feeling well? He looked fine yesterday.” She pointed out, eyes narrowed at the bespectacled boy. She wasn’t buying his vague story. If he wanted her to go away, it seemed he’d have to bullshit a few things and hope for the best.
“Ah, he just wasn’t feeling enough to get up today, okay? Maybe he caught something yesterday or something.” Damn, he could come up with a better lie than that.
“If that’s the case then I’m gonna go check on the idiot. Don’t wait up.” She said as she turned to leave. Wait, no, shit!
“N-no! You can’t go to see him. He might be contagious.” Shura shrugged.
“So I won’t get too near him. Jeez, you seriously need to lighten up.” Yukio can feel a migraine coming on. He gathered up his papers, mentally noting to finish them up later, before following the lady with the blazing hair off to his dorms. Today just couldn’t get any more hectic….
Rin’s tail twitched uneasily under the covers. He was shaking and sobbing lightly into his hands, not able to even force himself out of bed. He was having such a bad day, it was disgusting. He just wanted to disappear and stop feeling so awful over something he can barely control. He has been crying since he woke up that morning and it’s just been a terrible tumble down the slippery slope that is experiencing this kind of madness. He just wants today to be over.
He stopped sobbing after a while, staring blankly at the sheets he was covered in before he risked bringing his head over them. He sat up a little only to grimace and feel slightly sick at the weight pulling down from his chest. Large breasts are nice when they are not attached to him. He ground his teeth and his gaze ahead, not wanting to risk bursting into tears again should he look down. Maybe if he could just go and get his binder on then, hopefully, he could feel a little better today.
He tried his best to haul himself out of bed, ignoring the way his too wide hips swung as he walked over to his dresser. He desperately looked through his clothes, trying to find the piece of clothing that would end his torture, if only by a small margin. His search, however, was interrupted by a sudden tapping at his bedroom door. He tried not to rip a stray t-shirt apart in frustration before getting up. He tugged and adjusted his over-sized sleep shirt and was about to tie the draw-strings on his pajama pants before remembering the many, many, many downsides of being ‘pear-shaped’. He just opened the door, ready to viciously hiss and growl at the moron that deemed it fit to bother him that day.
“Why hello there, Okumura-kun~! Care to explain why you weren’t in the cram school today?” Mephisto’s sneering face gleamed down at Rin and the half-demon swore that today couldn’t get any fucking worse. He threw Mephisto a dirty look and gripped the edge of the door tightly, more than tempted to slam it in the clown’s face. Mephisto waited patiently for his little brother’s explanation. Although, he had a good feeling as to what it was that kept Rin confined to his room.
“It’s none of your fucking business, clown. Now leave me the fuck alone.” ‘I’ve got some body issues to deal with.’ He thought the last part to himself. Mephisto looked down to him and took in the boy’s disheveled appearance. His eyes were red from tears he was no doubt shedding just moments before his arrival, his hair was sticking up in all directions, the ridiculously large shirt he wore only told that he was definitely not wearing his binder as of then, and the biggest tip off of all was the expression of utter misery he held on his face. Mephisto sighed and patted the boy’s head.
“Ah, I see now. If you weren’t having a good body image day just say so next time.” The clown says with a theatrical flick of his wrist. Rin just growled at him and shot him a look of pure poison. Mephisto looked down to his little brother and shook his head. “Now now, no need to be so touchy. If you truly feel so awful in your own skin that you can’t face other people then just let me know. I would put it in the system that you were exempt from classes.” Rin’s growling stopped and he eyed the clown with disdain before dropping the sour look.
“…. Thanks.” He replied begrudgingly. Mephisto grinned, a rarely seen sincere and soft smile, and gently grabbed his brother by the shoulders and helped lead him downstairs.
“Not a problem my precious little sibling~. Now then, I doubt you’ve touched anything edible since last night so let’s get some food in you.” Rin pulled a face as the older demon softly pushed at his shoulders to move him.
“Fine, but I’m gonna be the one to cook.” Mephisto’s lips tightened into an annoyed line. He allowed his brother to have his way, though. Mephisto has noticed that of all the things Rin liked to do to help him clear his mind and relax, cooking was at the very top of the list.
Rin was just glad for the distraction. Although putting on his binder for the rest of the day would help him feel better, he had nearly neglected the fact that he had bruised himself after keeping it on for too long the day before. Doing such again would only hurt him further and demonic healing or not, that’s never good for a person’s health. He just hoped that Mephisto and Yukio would be the only ones he’d have to face for today. The Halfling wasn’t sure how long he could stand being around them when he couldn’t even stand being in his own skin at the moment.