Chapter Text
The Cram School students were surprised to hear that Yukio will have a substitute for their class today. They were also surprised to hear that Rin is sick and won’t attend class for a while. As far as they knew, Rin never got sick, and Yukio rarely called for a substitute. This gave the exwires a bad feeling, as they sat through class, all occupied in their thoughts. They were restless by the time class finally ended, and they all grouped up and decided to head to the old boy's dorm to see what was up with their friends.
Suguro led the group, determined to figure out what kind of sickness could affect Rin and would make Yukio let him stay home from school. He wasn’t worried about him if that’s what you’re thinking. He was just… he knew Rin would miss a lot if he spent all his time at home. He just wanted to be sure the guy would be able to catch up so he wouldn’t whine about it in class. Yeah, that’s what he’ll go with.
However, Suguro wasn’t fooling anyone, especially his close friends Shima and Konekomaru. They could tell Suguro was worried about the halfling just by the way his brows were furrowed in concern. They, of course, knew better and kept quiet about it for now, no matter how much Shima wanted to tease him about it.
They were all worried for Rin; they’d all gotten closer since the event in Kyoto. Rin often studied with the boys and hung out with Shiemi and Izumo, so they’d be worried about their friends. And even though Yukio was their teacher, he also became part of their group. Even though he distanced himself, Rin and Shiemi didn’t let him do it for long.
They finally get to the dorms, and Suguro is the one to knock, accidentally pounding his fist on the door. Silence followed right after, and Suguro looked to the others. Izumo had her arms crossed, frowning to try and hide her concern. Shiemi had a light frown on her face. Visibly concerned, she stood beside Suguro. Konekomaru and Shima were behind Suguro and were slowly growing more worried.
They look back at Suguro, and Shima speaks.
"Try again?" Shima shrugs. Suguro does and knocks again, purposely pounding this time. This prompts a reply, thankfully.
“Hold on, I’ll be right there!”
It was Yukio, and they heard his footsteps coming closer to the door. Finally, the door opens to a Yukio in regular clothes, trying to contain his exasperation. Surprised, he blinks at them and straightens up a bit more. He examines them, then slowly relaxes, realization coming to his face.
“You must be here because of our absence?”
Shiemi takes this chance to speak, perking up at him a bit.
“We heard Rin was sick, and you had to take care of him. Is he okay?”
Yukio smiled at her a bit and made sure the door wasn’t wide and open, hiding something behind him. But something in Yukio’s expression shifts as he tries to figure out a way to respond.
“He’s well… he’ll be fine. I’m trying to get him to rest, but you know how Rin can be.”
The others start to relax at this news, trusting Yukio’s words. Just as Suguro was about to say something, they heard rushing footsteps behind Yukio. Yukio tenses and his eyes widen briefly before he turns his head to address the running footsteps.
“Rin, I said to stay in our room and-”
“And miss seeing the others? No way! We haven’t seen each other in, like, forever! Scoot over.”
They see Yukio get pushed to the side playfully, and before them is Rin. At least, they thought it was Rin. This Rin looked like Rin, sure, but he had pink accents. His hair was black like usual, but it was now blackish pink instead of blackish blue. Huh. This was new.
Rin beams at his friends, his tail wagging rapidly behind him, and he softens at them. He grins at them like usual, eyes closed and showing off his fangs. He seemed overly happy to see them. He goes over and envelopes them in a group hug. They all grunt in surprise at his sudden hug, a little put off by his appearance and new attitude.
“The hell-?” Suguro mutters, looking down at Rin with a perplexed expression.
Shiemi couldn’t help but hug back, smiling a bit. Her eyes still held some concern, though.
“Aww, Rin, you missed us?” Shiemi kind of coos at him, patting his back. This pleases Rin, and he squeezes them, deepening their hug.
Shima laughs a bit, raising a brow at Rin, and Koneko smiles, though his eyes show how worried he is. Yukio lets this happen; seeing how happy Rin is to see the others, he doesn't have the heart to stop them.
Rin lets them go and gazes at them with the most genuine, adoring look. This makes Izumo blush and look at him oddly. Sure, Rin was expressive about how much he cared about them, but not this expressive. He usually wasn't this touchy with them, at least. He expressed himself with his words, putting it blunt. Now, he seemed to be both touchy and straightforward.
“Of course I did! We couldn’t attend class today because four eyes said it would cause problems. So, I’m glad I got to see you guys today! You guys are so cool to come here, thanks. It means a lot to me.”
He says this genuinely, smiling at them like the sunshine boy he was. The others appreciated it, sure, their concern for him softening because of how genuine he was, but something didn't seem right. This Rin was acting odd, that much they could tell. Rin's gaze then swept to Suguro, and his eyes implored his, shaping into something akin to admiration.
“Especially you, Suguro~.”
Yukio then makes a point of grabbing Rin by his collar and pulling him back inside.
“Really, Rin, you shouldn’t be talking to others, for your own sake-”
Suguro blinked, and he could feel his cheeks get a bit pink. The way Rin said it made his heart flutter with something he wasn’t exactly sure of… what the hell was up with Okumura?
“Uh… what exactly is he sick with? Did it change his hair too?” Konekomaru couldn’t help but ask, his curiosity getting the best of him. They could hear Rin complaining from inside, and Yukio sighed a bit, slumping and suddenly looking tired.
“It’s a bit complicated… I’m unsure if Rin is stable enough to be around people right now.”
This causes them to grow even more concerned, especially with how vague Yukio is being.
“What does that mean? He seems… fine.”
Suguro couldn’t help but hesitate; he just wanted to know what was happening; even if Rin did seem off, he wanted the full story and not be left in the dark. Not anymore. Yukio goes to respond, but Rin interrupts again by popping his head beside Yukio's. This Rin, though, had yellow accents to his hair and a dumb grin on his face.
“Hey guys! Don’t listen to Yukio; we ain’t sick! It’s just some side effect of some demon artifact thing that we touched or something. You should come in; we’ll make you dinner if you want!”
He grins widely, but something is hidden in this grin; it's more mischievous. Yukio sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, shoving Rin back with a hand on his face, looking stern. Rin stutters in surprise, not expecting Yukio to be so rough for him, but they hear him laugh from the inside, so the others assume it must be a thing that happens often. Yukio glances back at the others, looking almost sheepish.
“Alright… I suppose there’s no use in hiding it. Rin touched a demonic artifact without protection, and it caused him to get a curse. He shouldn’t be without supervision until further notice.”
This causes the exwires to widen their eyes, surprised yet not that Rin would do something like this. Shiemi hesitates, but she doesn’t back down.
“Do you need help, Yuki? You look tired.”
Yukio smiled at her kindly, and he looked thankful.
“Thanks, Shiemi, but I don’t know if having more people watching him would be wise.”
The Yellow accented Rin didn't give up. Instead, he opened a window to their left, popping his head out. He gives Yukio a smug, little shit grin and winks. Yukio snaps his attention to him and frowns a bit, his eye twitching with a hint of annoyance. Rin's tail flicks outside mischievously, and he smirks at him.
“Come on, Yukio, let them in! The others wanna see ‘em, especially pink me! He misses them soooo much~.”
Yukio makes a face of annoyance, but he is considering it at this point. He didn't want the others to get involved, but if they did, it would give him a much-needed break. Rin's sentence causes the others to become confused.
“Uh, what do you mean the others?...” Shima asks, feeling like he might regret asking, but what the hell were they already here?
Yukio snaps out of his thoughts, looks back at his students, and hesitates again. Rin groans exasperatedly from the window and leans out of it dramatically. Half his body was out and slumped forward, gazing at them with sparkling eyes.
“Come on! It’s no big deal; let 'em in! It’ll be fun!”
Yukio frowned at Rin because his definition of fun was not this. He was about to say so but looked at the others, wondering if they wanted to get involved. This was their last chance to get out of here, and he wouldn't blame them one bit.
“I don’t want you all to feel obligated to get involved, but if you’d like, you can see what I mean by 'them.' Though I have to warn you, it’s a little overwhelming.”
Suguro scoffs mentally, confidence oozing from him. He can handle a little curse and Rin. They fought the Impure King together, so whatever this is must be a piece of cake.
“I’m down to see what the monkey got himself into.”
“Me too! I wanna help Rin, and he seems happy for us to be here.”
“Sure, I don’t mind helping out.”
“Why not? If it means we don’t have to do homework, I’m all for it.”
“Whatever, I have nothing else to do tonight.”
Yukio was surprised and honestly a little relieved to have them come in. He had been dealing with Rin all day and was seriously mentally and physically exhausted. He loved his brother, but this curse was not doing Yukio any favors.
“Alright, this way then.”
Yukio opens the door wider for them, and they see the pink Rink still there with a happy grin, his eyes practically sparkling.
“Man, you have no idea how great this is! Having everyone here at once…”
Rin admits with a small blush, and Shiemi awes softly, smiling.
“Does the curse make him… more loveable or something?” Shima says with a snort, which makes Yukio’s face go blank.
Oh, Shima, that was only half of it.
“Sometimes.”
Is all he says as he leads them in. They take off their shoes and put on slippers respectfully, and Pink Rin starts chatting their heads off, being close to them and all lovey-dovey. They get to the main part of the building and hear footsteps from their left. It caused the others to pause in confusion since it was supposed to be the two Okumura's here only, right? They look over, and their eyes widen, seeing another Rin with yellow accents in his hair. He grins at them goofily and waves.
“Sup guys.”
This Rin beams, seeing their surprised expressions, his expression showing his amusement. His tail sways behind him, almost playful. They stared for a good five seconds before looking at the Pink Rin, who was by Suguro, and gazing at him with a fond expression. They look between the two Rins in surprise, and finally, it becomes clear why Yukio is so tired.
“So there’s two of them?” Konekomaru asks, looking at Yukio, who did not look amused.
“... there’s five,” Yukio corrects blankly, pushing his glasses up slightly.
This makes the group do a double take because five Rins?! Oh, man.
“Where are the others?” Suguro asks, almost hesitant.
“Over here.”
The voice was clearly Rin's, coming from down the hallway where the rooms were. They all look down the hallway to see three figures walking toward them, the remaining Rins. One had more blue accents, looking like the normal Rin, but his face was unusually blank as he waved at them. The next one looked rather violent. He had red accents to his hair and looked more demonic than the others, stomping toward them with his fists clenched. And the last Rin had grey accents to his hair, had a hoodie on, and looked to be wanting to disappear. He was slouched as he walked, not making eye contact.
The yellow Rin comes the three Rins, and he smirks smugly, hands on his hips as he addresses them. “It took you guys long enough; I thought Pink and I were the only fun ones.” Fun ones meaning the ones to disobey Yukio's words and leave the room.
Blue Rin looks at him plainly.
“We heard the others come in, and we wanted to investigate.” He shrugs like it is obvious, and Red Rin stomps to Yukio.
Yukio saw this coming and did what he had done the last 100 times Red Rin wanted to start a fight. He puts on his best blank face and waits for the new tantrum to arise. He was so done with him and his tantrums, his blank expression slipping into a look that said, ‘Watch it.’
“What the hell, four eyes?! I thought you said no one was allowed over?! Then you go and invite them in!” Yukio, surprisingly, lets the blank look slip. He rolls his eyes slightly, not caring if the others are there or not. He was tired; that much was clear. Red Rin didn't take kindly to that, about to shout something else out, but Shiemi frowned worriedly and interrupted.
“We were worried about you…all. Yuki let us in, so we wanted to check to see if you were okay.” She explained, and this made Red Rin hesitate. Then he growled and crossed his arms, calming down and stepping back from Yukio, much to his relief.
“Do whatever you want. At least it’s better than being bored and cooped up in this damn building. Four eyes won't even let me go to the roof to get some air-” Red Rin glares at Yukio, who rolls his eyes hard again.
“Like I said earlier, I’m not risking any of you running off somewhere so that I’d have to come find you. So until we figure this out, you’re staying indoors, and that’s final.”
Yukio was acting less professional the more they hung out with these other Rins. That last line sounded rehearsed, which made the others wonder how long Yukio would last. He was definitely done with him at this point; his patience could only take so much. Red Rin growls at him, going to respond when Blue Rin interrupts.
“Yukio's got a point. We would have split up if you let us, especially him. I get why he made that rule.”
Red Rin glares at Blue Rin, who seems indifferent to the anger directed toward him. The others just watched in fascination at all the different types of Rins interacting. Suguro was floored by the audacity Red Rin had to face a tired Yukio like that. Though, he really shouldn't be surprised. This was Rin, after all, a version of him at least. Suguro thinks the crystal must have separated Rin's personality into five different beings. They all seemed to be part of Rin somehow; besides the Blue one, he seemed too robotic to be Rin. Maybe they should have left when they had the chance.
Pink Rin lightly nudges Yukio’s shoulder with a small grin.
“Don’t worry, Yukio, you’re doing great watching all of us. We appreciate you a lot, little bro, like seriously! You're the best.”
Pink Rin basically purrs this out, his tail wagging. Pink Rin seemed too caring to be mad at, always speaking from his heart and soul. Yukio at least couldn't be too mad at Rin; he made this situation much easier by helping him keep the other Rin's in check.
The exwires look closer at Pink Rin's tail, and the end is curled up in the shape of a heart. Interesting.
“Thank you, Rin…”
He says automatically, but he means it. Pink Rin has been complimenting and hugging him all day, so he's used to it at this point. Suguro winced; he could see Yukio's tiredness and understood why now. Dealing with Rin's different emotions was basically emotional whiplash. He frowned in sympathy and glanced at the others, who came to the same conclusion he had. Friends helped friends, after all.
“Hey, Mr. Okumura? We don’t mind watching them for a bit if it means you get to rest.” Suguro insists, and the others nod in agreement.
“Yeah, no offense, but you look exhausted.” Shima bluntly points out, making Yellow Rin snort.
“Pinky’s got a point four eyes, you look like shit.”
Yellow Rin smirked a little, and Yukio gave him a tired, narrowed-eyed look, but it didn't hold any malice. Pink Rin looked at Yukio worriedly now, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Go get some rest, Yukio, we’ll behave. Right guys?”
Pink Rink looks at his fellow Rins, and they all nod, although Red Rin seems pissy about it. And finally, Grey Rin speaks.
“...Shit. This whole time, we must've been a lot to deal with. I'm sorry, Yukio. We shouldn't have touched that stupid crystal..."
He looked up finally, eyes glossy with unshed tears, and he looked guilty. Red Rin rolls his eyes at him, muttering how annoying he is. Yukio's expression morphs into one of brotherly softness. Grey Rin had been really quiet, but he caught a couple of things he would say, and they were all... depressing, to say the least. Yukio caught him crying once too, and it was jaring to see Rin anything other than happy, so it through Yukio in for a loop.
"It'll be okay, Rin; we'll figure it out, okay?" Yukio tries to reassure, but Grey Rin doesn't seem to believe him. His shoulders are hunched, and he hides himself more in his hoodie. The other Rins kind of ignore him or look awkward trying to.
The exwires watch Grey Rin with different thoughts going through their heads. Shiemi saw him cry once in the impenetrable prison. She wasn't surprised at all by this side of Rin, having seen it for herself. The others weren't sure what to think, feeling bad they didn't expect this. Rin is half-human; of course, he sometimes gets sad and has a sad side. Nobody's perfect. Suguro is a bit mad at himself for not realizing he saw some part of it when Rin was talking about his dad that one time in Kyoto. He saw it in his eyes when he told him not to make the same mistake he himself had made. There was fear and self-loathing in those eyes. He wasn't exactly sure what happened back then to cause Rin to react that way, but how could he forget?
Yukio frowned thoughtfully and sighed, glancing at his students. They look back at him, their expressions determined even more than earlier. Yukio reluctantly decides that a little help would be okay for now. He just hoped it wouldn't blow up in his face. He bows his head as thanks to them.
“I could really appreciate the help… Thank you.”
Pink Rin smiles at him proudly, and he rubs his shoulder a bit.
“Now go to sleep! We don’t wanna see you until your eye bags are gone!” Yellow Rin shouts, smirking a bit, and Yukio sighs but heads up to his room. Once he was gone, the Rins looked at the remaining exwires suddenly, almost as if they were prey. They sweat nervously, but Shiemi smiles widely.
“You all must be different parts of Rin's personality, right?”
Yellow Rin giggles, and he smirks a bit.
“You figured it out; thought the Rooster would be the one to say it first.”
Suguro grunts and glares at him, rolling his eyes a bit. He had made that conclusion already, but Shiemi beat him to it.
“So there’s like, loveable Okumura, goofy Okumura, angry Okumura… sad Okumura and uh.” Shima was trying to figure this out, staring at them. Blue Rin, though he wasn't quite sure of quite yet.
“I think he may be Okumura’s blunt side. Or more logical side.” Konekomaru tries, looking thoughtful.
“Didn’t think the monkey had a logical side,” Suguro mutters, but Red Rin hears and growls at him.
“What didja say, rooster?! Asshole, I’m gonna-” Before he could do anything, Pink Rin gets between them with a protective look on his face, facing Red Rin.
“Dumbass, calm down, would ya? He's just messing around.”
Red Rin stops and growls, his tail flicking behind him angrily.
“Messing around my ass-” he grumbles but proceeds to back down. Blue Rin stares at him pointedly.
“You’re going to scare them if you don’t relax.”
Grey Rin grunts and frowns guiltily at this, lowering his head.
“Man, they’re gonna hate us for this… we’ll burden them just like we do to Yukio. Damn it, guys, I-” Grey Rin lets a couple of tears fall, looking even more guilty than before. He wipes his tears instantly, looking scared to cry in front of the others. He turns away from them with his back to them so they don't see him. Shiemi, bless her heart, comes over and hugs him, making him jolt.
“You aren’t a burden, Rin! None of you are; this is who you are, and we accept that. Right guys?”
They all agree with Shiemi genuinely, one by one. Grey Rin hesitates and glances at the other Rins a bit before slowly hugging back and hiding his face in her shoulder. The other Rins seemed uncomfortable about this, especially Yellow Rin, whose smile seemed more forced.
Grey Rin’s words touched something within them, making them look at Rin differently now. But really, that was okay with them. Even though they were friends, sometimes the others felt they didn’t know enough about Rin. He was just constantly happy and smiling, so seeing these other parts of Rin was eye-opening for them. They would learn much about Rin, whether he liked it or not.