Chapter Text
There’s a deeply respected law among exorcists that you can’t kill someone else’s familiar without their permission. The magic of the Pact will enforce consequences on anyone who breaks this law. Not even the Grigori can overrule this.
Shiro wasn’t certain if this would actually stop the Grigori from executing Rin or not, so he left that as a backup plan. He always told Yukio that if the Knights of the True Cross ever found out about Rin, he would make him his familiar. Often when one or the other of them was particularly anxious about it, they would practice the ritual until either of them could do it in their sleep.
Yukio was standing at his father’s grave. Rin’s powers had been unsealed and Sir Pheles was going to kill him for it. He knew what he had to do.
Yukio clasped his big brother’s forearm tightly. “Nii-san, I need you to listen closely and repeat after me.”
"Mea vita es vita tua. Mihi pugna tua pugna est. Ignis meus est ignis tuus. Tuam accipio tutelam ac meam tibi offero Immotam, Caelo vel Inferno.”
Rin stumbled through the pronunciation with his brows furrowed and his face tight with confusion. “The hell does that mean?”
Yukio turned back to Demon King and Head of the Japan Branch of Exorcists. “Not that I don’t enjoy a good family reunion, but right now I’d appreciate if you would back away from my familiar.”
Most exorcists would have desperately rushed to interrupt this ceremony and complete their mission. The two behind Mephisto Pheles started forward to do just that before being waved off by their boss. Mephisto was intrigued. And, though he’d never say so out loud, relieved. They were his little brothers, after all.
~~~
“What the hell was that, Yukio?”
He didn’t answer as he kept staring at the spot where the clown had been.
“YUKIO!” Rin's limited patience was being worn thin by his world's insistence on repeatedly turning on its head.
His little brother sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “Well, to start, that was the head of the Japan Branch of the Knights of the True Cross. The exorcists. He goes by Mephisto Pheles.”
The confirmation felt like a slap to the face. Had anyone in his life ever been honest with him? “You knew! About exorcists, and what Dad really did? And you never told me?”
“I couldn’t, Rin. Knowing puts you in danger.”
“So you knew what I was too. What else aren’t you telling me? What were you saying to Mephisto about ‘family reunions’ and ‘your familiar’? And why did he change his mind about killing me?” What did you think of me? Knowing I was a demon and you were an exorcist?
“Sir Pheles isn’t just an exorcist. He’s also one of the 8 demon kings, a son of Satan. He’s our older half brother. As for the rest…”
Yukio took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair the same way the Old Man does did. “Some exorcists partner with a demon called a familiar. When claiming a familiar, they make a Pact that marks that demon as an ally of the True Cross and prevents other exorcists from killing them, as long as the Pact is intact. Dad always said his backup plan if you became a demon would be…”
“No…”
“To make you his familiar, so the Pact could hopefully protect you.”
“No!”
For the first time since the conversation began, Yukio finally looked him in the eyes. “I made that Pact with you to protect you. That’s why Sir Pheles left you alone.”
Rin was shaking his head hard enough to get whiplash, as if he could shake this reality out of his skull and everything would go back to normal. It wasn’t working. “No. I’m your big brother, not your pet demon ! No. I can’t…” and then he was running.
“RIN!”
He ran away from his so-called master calling his name. Away from the grave his birth father had put his real Dad in. Away from his trashed childhood home and the secrets that wanted him dead.
His feet kept moving until he found the closest thing he had to a true sanctuary. The Higurashi Family Shrine. He pounded on the door.
Mr. Higurashi answered the door. He took one look at Rin and didn’t wait for him to ask where Towa was. He just pulled him in the doorway and straight into a hug.
~~
Towa glanced at her best friend in the other room, and braced herself to make the call. Just because she didn't get along with him didn't mean he deserved to wonder where his brother could be. “Hey, Okumura-san,”
“Higurashi-san! Please tell me Nii-san is with you.”
“Yeah, he’s here. He’s fine. I think he just needed some space.”
“Thank God.”
"I'll let you know when he leaves." She hung up while the conversation was still cordial and walked over to grab her friend's hand.
“Come on Rin, let’s go hit things.”
The tension he'd been carrying since the funeral eased just a smidge at the promise of release. “Hell yes. Please.”
Towa eyed the sword slung over his back. She'd never seen him with it before today, and highly doubted that he'd learned swordfighting without telling her. She tossed him the wooden training version and drew a second one for herself.
Rin let out a battle cry as he started swinging wildly at her, trusting her ability to dodge and parry far better than he could aim. She was right about him not knowing how to use it, but that wasn't the point right now. Towa blocked and dodged and just let him get the fury out of his system. She remembered that feeling when Setsuna died, even in the brief time before she was revived. She figured this was a safer way to vent than her own reaction.
Ten minutes later, Rin wasn’t even losing steam as Setsuna came to check on them. “You’re doing it wrong,” she proclaimed almost the moment she stepped into the room.
“That’s not really the…”
Rin interrupted her protest with his usual attitude. “Well then why don’t you show me how it’s done if you’re so great!” Towa shook her head and chuckled at his antics. At least he was acting like himself.
In a blink, Setsuna had crossed the room and started coaching Rin on proper form.
~~
Rin had stayed the night, and as much as Towa enjoyed having him there, she was sure the monastery was missing him. It was time to talk. She plopped down next to him on the couch. "So, when do you want to go home? Your brother's worried. And I assume you've been ignoring him, since he's bugging me about it."
Rin snorted, "Of course he is."
She nodded. "He's quite the worrywart. It gets exhausting sometimes. But you might want to talk to him."
He practically bared his teeth at the air. Had they gotten sharper? "I think I'll pass.'
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I don't even think I can, honestly."
"Then I'll have to generalize. But if you two don't make up for whatever this is, you'll regret it. He lost his father too. Neither of you need to lose a brother at the same time."
He groaned and glared at her halfheartedly. "You know how hard it is to hold a grudge when you start making good points like that?"
"Let's be honest Rin. You can't hold a grudge to save your life. If someone tried to kill you in your sleep, you'd probably forgive them in like, two days."
"Oh, shut the hell up! I can too hold a grudge!"
~
Yukio could feel his insides start to unknot when his brother finally showed up on the porch, unharmed, and carrying a wooden sword for some reason. "Tell me more about this 'pact' thing."
~~~
Bon was just settling into his seat when he heard the creaking above him. Great. So much for this school being the ‘best of the best’. He was tucking his backpack under his desk when he caught sight of Shima ever so slowly craning his neck to look up at the ceiling, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
“What, Shima?” Bon rolled his eyes. Record scratch. Freeze frame. He looked up again. And started chanting any scripture that came to mind because he had no idea what in the actual hell that thing was.
It looked terrifyingly close to a normal human, the only visible demonic trait being its tail and the fact that it was crouched on the ceiling beam as if poised to attack.
Why didn’t he think to buy a gun?
“And the word of the Lord ca…and the word… unto… OH HELL!” It was taunting him . Smirking, waving, making no move to silence him. He hadn’t even started training yet and now he was going to die.
Bon started snatching up any small projectiles he could find and flinging pencils and binders at the demon, praying he could distract it until help arrived.
~
Yukio thought he knew what to expect on his first day as a teacher. Sure, he had to alter those expectations after claiming Rin as his familiar. But even then, none of them looked quite like this.
Yukio walked into his classroom to see the boy who was supposed to be the class prodigy chucking a three ringed binder towards the ceiling, where Nii-san was dodging as he yelled, “What the hell? Not cool man!”
He shook his head and chuckled. This was so going to bite him in the butt. But it was far from the worst case scenario.
“That’s enough, Sugaro-san.”
All six of his students turned to look at him. Sugaro in particular lost an inch or two of height as his entire body slumped in relief.
“Sensei! Thank Kami!”, Shima’s voice wobbled. “There’s a demon in the rafters!”
“I know. Please ignore my familiar, and we will proceed with the lesson.”
“Your WHAT!” Konokomaru squawked.
“Big brother! ” Rin corrected.
“Your WHAT!” Konokomaru squawked again.
“That too.” Yukio admitted, and proceeded to his desk as if there were no reason to question any of this.
“Let me guess, the demonic ancestor’s genes skipped a generation?”
“Very good, Kamaki-san. Now, who needs a temptaint before we get started?" 3 students raised their hands.
"Rin, would you mind doing the honors? Just scratch the three raising their hands and they'll be able to see demons."
Yukio knew his class wasn’t going to just immediately ignore Rin because he asked them to. But he was confident that, given time, he could gaslight them into accepting this as normal. Because, regardless of meister as a Dragoon or even his lifelong dream of being a doctor, his true greatest skill was deceit. If he could hide a double life from his own twin, he could deceive strangers who viewed him as an authority figure. Now, if he could just get Rin to work with him on this.