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Taking a long drag from his cigarette, Shiro heaved a sigh.
His bones ached, keenly reminding him that he wasn't as young as he'd once been. His little stunt with Satan had taken more out of him than he'd realized at the time, even with Shemihaza's healing. It was especially pronounced on spring days like this- still cold, yet humid without raining, the dampness seeping into his bones.
That bastard Mephisto didn't have any intention of letting him rest.
He huffed. Shining example for the rest of the Order? Hah! The Paladin really was just its personal attack dog.
Something brushed against his foot.
With a slight frown, Shiro leaned down to pick it up. A child's ball?
"Mister! That's mine!"
Blinking, Shiro glanced down at the kid who'd called him- and froze. It had been four years since he'd seen the kid last, and he'd grown up since then- his hair had even turned black at some point- but he'd recognize him anywhere.
With wide blue eyes, Rin stared up at him.
...he looked almost normal. He was dressed in a red shirt and brown shorts, with a band-aid on his left cheek and another on his right hand. He wasn't wearing shoes, so his feet were muddy.
Was this really the same kid who had slaughtered countless exorcists?
"Mister! My ball!"
Shiro blinked, startled out of his reverie.
"Sorry," he said, "-here."
He tossed the ball back to Rin, who caught it with a broad grin. There was something of Yuri in his smile, he unexpectedly thought.
"Thanks!" Rin said. "Dad! I got the ball back!"
That startled Shiro, watching as Rin ran back into the park. Dad? He'd heard that Mephisto had gotten some poor sap to look after the twins, but he called them dad? Compelled by curiosity, Shiro trailed after the child he'd washed his hands of four years ago. He ran back towards the playground equipment, his ball hoisted over his head-
-and promptly tripped, the ball rolling away.
"Whoa," he heard someone call, "-you okay?"
Shiro's eyes naturally turned towards the direction of the voice- and he felt his breath hitch in his throat, his hand darting towards the pistol hidden in his coat. There were no flaming blue horns, but he'd know that face anywhere- even if it was younger than he remembered. His hair was a lighter shade- white-blue, like Rin's had been once, and a white tail flicked lazily behind him.
...except.
Rin pushed himself to his feet, laughing. "Yeah!"
...except the smile he gave Rin was one he was certain Satan wasn't capable of. He crouched next to Rin, lightly ruffling his hair- and suddenly, all Shiro could see were the differences. He had a pair of thin, narrow horns rising out from underneath his mess of bangs- his hair was longer, hastily tied back in a piss poor excuse for a bun.
Dimly, he realized he was wearing an exorcist's coat.
Wait- hadn't he heard something about a first generation nephilim working out of the Japan branch? What was his name again? Nocturne? No, that couldn't be it. But he definitely knew that face- the shape of the eyes was a little different, but there was no way he could be anything but an Azazel clone. But was there really another one of those still running around?
"This nice mister stopped my ball for me!"
Shiro froze, as Rin jabbed a finger in his direction.
The nephilim did the same- even his tail stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes were a vivid shade of bright blue, with a vivid ring of red around his pupils.
"Dad?"
The sound of Rin's voice jerked Shiro out of his thoughts. The kid was glancing between the two of them with a worried frown. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see what had to be Yukio watching them from over by the swings, a worried furrow to his little brow.
(Huh. He was wearing glasses. Unexpected.)
"Nah, it was no problem!" Shiro laughed. "These two brats yours?"
The nephilim's shoulders jerked, before he slowly swallowed. Scooping Rin up, he rose to his feet. He definitely wasn't Satan's height, standing a good few inches shorter than him.
"Uh," he shifted awkwardly on his feet, "-yeah. They are."
"That so?" Shiro asked. "What's your name?"
"Oku-," he stumbled a bit over his own name, still staring at him with unmasked bewilderment, "-Okumura Noctis."
Noctis? The hell kind of name was that?
...still, he couldn't blame the guy for looking at him like he'd seen a ghost. The more he looked at him, the more he really did look like another Azazel clone. He'd heard from time to time there were misfits in the program- clones born with too much demon blood and the like, but he'd never met any during his time in Section 13.
Didn't mean there weren't any, though- that damn place hid too many secrets.
"Noctis, huh?" Shiro stroked his chin. "I'm-"
"-father... Fujimoto Shiro," Noctis finished- and then promptly winced, "-uh. I know. You're the Paladin, right?"
His tail lashed anxiously behind him- and Shiro couldn't help but huff at the sight. It looked similar to Satan's- minus the flaming tip, but it was way more active. Probably why he'd opted for the short version of the coat, he thought.
Or maybe he just thought the long one clashed with his torn jeans and graphic t-shirt. His gray boots were so grungy they looked almost ready to fall apart. They looked kind of like they were from the cold weather version of the uniform- though those were usually white. He wore a katana at his hip, held in a sheath of white and silver.
"Sure am," Shiro said, "-I don't bite, though."
"I do!" Rin cheerfully provided. "Dad says I'm not supposed to, though."
In spite of himself, Shiro snorted. Yeah. Of course Satan's brat did.
"Yeah, so don't brag about it!" Noctis said, setting him down with a long sigh. "Geez. Go play with Yukio, okay? I need to talk with the old man, okay?"
Shiro's brow twitched. Old man? He was barely in his forties!
"Okay!" Rin said, before hurrying over to the swings. "Yukio! Let's play!"
Shiro watched as Yukio nodded, getting up off the swing. A cat sidhe that he hadn't seen before trailed after them as they headed to the sandbox together. It sat outside of it, watching over them like a babysitter.
They really did look like normal children, he thought.
"...so," Shiro glanced at Noctis, "-you're the one Mephisto gave them to?"
Noctis didn't look at him, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. There was a bandage wrapped around his left arm, he noticed.
"...yeah," he said after a moment, "-that's me."
Shiro huffed. It was pretty clever, honestly- what better place to hide a pair of nephilim children than with a nephilim? He wouldn't be surprised if Mephisto had pre-arranged things so that they'd fall out exactly the way he wanted. That would explain the uncanny resemblance to Satan, at least.
Poor bastard, he thought. But at least he understood what it was like to be born a pawn.
"Couldn't be easy," Shiro said, glancing at his arm, "-you get that from Rin?"
"Huh?" Noctis blinked, looking at his left arm. "Oh. This is a tattoo, actually. Rin's a little menace, but he can't hurt me."
Shiro arched a brow at the remark. It was spoken with confidence.
"...at least, now that he's not chewing on my fucking tail anymore," Noctis added, said appendage curling up closer to his body.
In spite of himself, Shiro snorted.
"It's not funny!" Noctis snapped, with an annoyed twitch of his tail. "That seriously hurts, you know!"
"I'll just have to take your word for it, I guess," Shiro shrugged, "-but you're seriously unlucky, huh? How old are you anyways? It's always hard to tell with you first generations."
Noctis frowned, his gaze darting away again. "...nineteen."
Shiro blinked. Nineteen?
Wait- the twins were four years old now. If he'd been put of charge of them right after they were born, then...
"...you were sixteen?" Shiro blurted out.
Noctis just stared at his feet, which was reply enough.
Sixteen... Mephisto had put a sixteen year old kid in charge of infants. He knew he was a demon, but that seemed cruel, even for him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a cry from Yukio. Shiro's gaze snapped in that direction as Noctis was already moving, closing the gap between them at an impressive speed. There was a shadow looming over the edge of the sandbox, kept at bay by the growling of the cat sidhe.
Rin had protectively pulled his twin close to him... but he was also looking in the wrong direction, Shiro noticed.
...huh? Could he not see demons?
Noctis stood between the shadow and the twins, glaring at it with an impressive amount of ferocity. By the time Shiro made it over himself, the shadow had slinked off elsewhere, leaving Rin and the cat sidhe to comfort a crying Yukio.
Noctis exhaled, turning back towards the twins.
"You okay, Yukio?" Noctis asked, ruffling his hair. "It's okay. It's gone now."
Yukio sniffed, tearfully nodding his head. The cat sidhe purred, nuzzling his cheek until a bubble of laughter escaped him instead. He stroked the cat sidhe, as Rin got his own hair ruffle from Noctis.
"Good job," he said, "-you were looking the wrong way though."
"That's not my fault!" Rin huffed.
Noctis laughed, flashing a smile-
-and for a moment, Shiro swore he saw Yuri in it.
Then he blinked, and it was gone- almost like an illusion. What had that been?
"Do you want to go home, Yukio?" Noctis asked.
"No," Yukio shook his head, "-I'd like to stay a little longer."
"Really?" Noctis asked. "Then we'll stay a little longer. Keep an eye on them for me, Kuro."
The cat sidhe puffed out its chest and meowed.
Standing up, Noctis glanced up at him- and then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. His skin was pale, so it made the red tint of his cheeks all the more obvious.
"Uh, sorry about that," he said, "-he can see demons."
Shiro's gaze darted between the twins, lingering briefly on Rin- before glancing back up at Noctis with a raised brow. Noctis caught his eye and just shook his head.
Huh. The son of Satan couldn't see demons.
Noctis headed over to a nearby park bench, and Shiro found himself following him- though he remained standing. There were faint bags underneath Noctis' eyes, like he wasn't getting enough sleep. Where did they even live, he wondered. Nearby? Since he had an exorcist's coat, he at least had a job- but depending on what rank he was, he knew it didn't always pay that well.
Hell, even the pay for being Paladin kind of sucked.
...no, wait. He'd already washed his hands of this situation when he'd turned over Yuri's kids to Mephisto. Why was he trying to get involved now?
And yet...
...a sixteen year old kid? Hell, nineteen was still a kid in his book.
"So," Shiro arched a brow, "-where are you three living?"
Noctis blinked, like he hadn't expected the question. It was strange- most of the rookie exorcists tended to either act nervous around him or go out of their way to kiss his ass, but he seemed different. He definitely seemed vaguely nervous, but...
...it was different, somehow.
"Oh, uh," Noctis' tail flicked behind him, "-with Mephisto."
...with Mephisto? Pinching his brow, Shiro could feel something akin to a headache coming on. Sure, he'd dumped the twins on Mephisto to raise, but looking at the pair of them now... had that really been such a good idea? At the time, he'd still had the horror of that night fresh in his mind, but they really did just seem like normal children.
Maybe a talk with that clown was in order.
"Hm," Shiro hummed, "-you're an exorcist, right? Knight and Tamer, I'm guessing."
"Yeah," Noctis said, "-middle first class."
At his age? Not bad, Shiro thought- especially not when he added in the fact that he'd been saddled with kids at sixteen. And what a pair to raise!
"That cat sidhe your familiar?" Shiro asked.
"...yeah," Noctis said after a moment, "-his name is Kuro."
"Hah!" Shiro laughed. "Good name. Classic. Have you tried giving it catnip wine? I hear they really go for it."
Ah, he thought. There it was again.
For a moment, Noctis' expression turned fond- and it reminded him with a sharp pang of Yuri. It was the way the corners of his eyes turned up, he thought.
"I've heard that," he said, "-but I'm only nineteen, so..."
"Ah," Shiro nodded, "-that's right. You need to wait another year before you can buy alcohol. They're strict about that even at Futsumaya."
Noctis laughed.
"Still, Mephisto?" Shiro asked. "That sucks."
Noctis face fell. "I don't have any family, so..."
"Ah," Shiro sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "-I get that. But it looks to me like you have plenty of family!"
Noctis blinked, glancing up at him. Shiro just arched a brow, pointing at the twins. "They call you dad, right?"
Noctis' laugh was slightly strained. "I tried to get them to call me nii-san, but..."
Shiro let out a bark of laughter.
"Still," Shiro said, "-I'm surprised. I never would have thought these were the same kids who were born that night. Rin especially! It's like night and day! Seems like you've been doing a great job to me."
Noctis ducked his head, the red tint of his cheeks obvious against pale skin.
That was the honest truth, he thought.
Watching the two of them play together in the sandbox, it was hard to see them as anything other than human. They were both smiling, even though Yukio's eyes were still slightly red from having cried earlier. It had been Yuri's last wish that they get along as good brothers, and it looked like she was getting it.
...she'd also wanted him involved in their lives.
Shiro frowned at the thought. Despite everything, he'd been happy to wash his hands of the twins- or at least, he'd thought so at the time. Him? A parent? He'd be a disaster. He didn't even know the first thing about being a father.
...but he'd be lying if he said it didn't eat away at him sometimes.
Had it been the right thing to do? He didn't know. He'd been kept so busy with his duties as Paladin, that he wasn't even sure if he'd have the time to be a father.
...but Mephisto had just made a kid do it instead.
Sure, he probably wouldn't have had a normal childhood anyways- that was impossible for a clone, even with Section 13 now in ruins. But the more he thought about it, the more it didn't sit right with him. At the very least, they should live away from Mephisto, he thought- but the shoebox apartments that the Order provided to exorcists weren't any place to raise kids either.
Scratching his head in frustration, a crazy idea popped into his head.
No. No way. It was absurd!
But...
"You know," Shiro said, "-I'm actually in charge of a monastery in Southern Cross. If you ever feel like ditching the clown, there's room for the three of you there."
He expected a flat refusal. They were strangers, and as Paladin, he was technically his boss. But the kid just stared up at him with wide eyes, filled with a mixture of understandable disbelief, and...
...longing?
"...is that really alright?"
Noctis' voice was quiet, like he didn't dare speak loudly.
Shiro held his gaze for a long moment- before slowly cracking a smile. Aw, what the hell. Bringing home the spawn of Satan would probably be a shock for Nagatomo and the other guys, but the monastery could use a little more life!
"Yeah," Shiro said, "-you're welcome anytime!"
He watched his father leave with disbelief.
He'd been called away by another job- but not before he'd scribbled down his cellphone number and handed it to him. Noctis stared at it, half afraid that if he held it too tightly, it would crumble into ash. It wasn't as if he'd never considered the possibility of running into the old man, but...
...live in the monastery again?
"Dad? Who was that?"
Noctis' shoulders jerked. Glancing down at Rin, he shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. "Uh, that was..."
How did he answer that? The twins didn't know anything about his past- and he wanted to keep it that way. Besides, did he even have the right to call him his father anymore?
"That was the Paladin!" Noctis grinned. "You know, that super important guy?"
"Oh," Rin said, "-your boss!"
Huh? Was he? He guessed technically...
"Yeah," Noctis said, "-his name's Fujimoto Shiro."
"Are you in trouble, dad?" Yukio asked.
"No, I'm not in trouble!" Noctis quickly said. "He just..."
He'd just invited them to come live with him. He'd said it so casually, like just the question alone didn't mean the world to him. Go back to the monastery? He'd never even considered it as a possibility. He and his father were strangers to each other now.
He wasn't even his father anymore, really.
...but he'd thought for awhile now that was a bit of a shame. Not for him! He'd had his chance, and he'd ruined it long before the rest of the world had paid the price. It was just... kind of a shame, that the twins would never get to know him. Sure, looking back, he'd made a lot of mistakes-
-but he'd done a lot of things right, too.
And could he really say he wasn't?
"Hey," Noctis said, "-do you two like living with Uncle Mephisto?"
Rin made a face, and Noctis didn't even try and conceal his snort. Yeah, that reaction was expected. Now that he was getting older, he could recognize himself more and more in the little troublemaker. No surprise there, of course.
"...he's a little annoying," Yukio quietly confessed.
Noctis snorted again.
Yeah. He had started to see his Yukio in this one too, lately. Looking back on it, he'd never gotten along with Mephisto- but then again, neither had he. Living with him for the last four years hadn't made him less of an annoying bastard.
...even if he was the only one these days who still knew him as Rin.
"Then," he said, "-what about moving?"
The twins exchanged a glance.
"Moving?" Rin asked. "Where?"
Noctis smiled, lightly ruffling their hair. He didn't really understand why the old man had made the offer, but if it gave him the chance to bring him into their lives, why not take it? His life was so weird already, he might as well go with it.
Hell, he was a dad now- to himself and a younger version of his twin brother. He'd fought valiantly to get the pair to call him their older brother- and had lost.
"Well," Noctis said, "-you see..."
"We need to talk."
"Good morning to you as well, Fujimoto-kun," Mephisto merely smiled at him, "-to what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
Shiro narrowed his eyes. Unexpected? He'd probably known this was coming, the bastard.
"Don't play games," Shiro said, "-you left a brat in charge of raising brats."
"Oh," Mephisto's smile only grew, "-I take it you've met Okumura-kun, then. What do you think about him? He's quite the intriguing fellow!"
Shiro's brow twitched. What did he think? He wanted to grab Mephisto by the collar and demand how long he'd known about what would happen to Yuri, to already have someone like that prepared. It was cruel, he thought- not just to Yuri, but to the clone who was born just to serve as a cover story for the failure of adults.
...well, he was one of the adults who had failed.
Oh, he thought, that's why he was so angry.
"Sixteen, Mephisto!" Shiro said. "He was just a kid!"
"He would hardly be the first sixteen year old to raise a child," Mephisto observed, "-it used to be far more common, even. And as I recall, you were the one who walked away from the twins in the first place. What right do you have to criticize me after all this time?"
Shiro's brow twitched, because he didn't have a good retort to that.
"Oh?" Mephisto arched a brow. "No response?"
"...no, you're right," Shiro begrudgingly admitted, loathe as he was to do so, "-but I'm done with that. Those brats are coming to live with me."
Mephisto simply stared at him for a long moment- before letting out a burst of laughter. "With you? Oh, that is rich! But fine! I approve it!"
Shiro just glared at him, wondering how he still felt like he was getting conned.
No matter. He'd done what he'd came here to do.
...now he just had to tell everyone else.
"Father Fujimoto! They're here!"
"One second!" Shiro called out. "I'll be right down!"
Hammering in the last nail, Shiro stood back and wiped sweat from his brow. The next few days had been a frenzy of activity as they'd gotten the monastery ready for its new occupants. As expected, the news had been received with a mixture of apprehension and confusion- but in the end, everyone had resolved themselves to helping foster Satan's kids-
-and their nephilim foster father, of course.
Given that he'd just finished putting the last bed together, they'd cut it kind of close.
Setting down his hammer, he made his way down into the foyer. The twins were holding Noctis' hands, while his cat sidhe familiar was curled around his shoulders. As for the person himself...
"Huh? You cut your hair?"
Gone was the sloppy bun from before, replaced with a more traditional short cut. Noctis laughed awkwardly, his tail twitching behind him.
"Yeah," he said, "-I can't really decide on a look, you know?"
Ah, he understood that. It had taken him ages to finally settle on the undercut- and in the end, he'd stopped maintaining it after awhile.
"Come in!" Shiro grinned. "You came at the perfect time. We just finished setting everything up."
"Yay!" Rin cheered. "I'm gonna-!"
Noctis caught the kid by his backpack, half dangling him in the air. "Hey. Didn't you say you'd help Yukio unpack?"
"Oh... right," Rin said as Noctis set him back down, "-sorry, Yukio! I almost forgot!"
"No," Yukio shook his head, "-it's okay."
Compared to his twin, Yukio was half hidden behind his father. He looked up towards him nervously, awkwardly shuffling his feet. Well, he guessed he couldn't expect them to warm up to him right away- they were strangers, after all.
...he really looked like Yuri, he thought.
"Then let's get straight to it!" Shiro said. "Let me show you to your rooms. Your boxes already arrived a little while ago. We put them in the corner over there."
There were quite a few of them, to his surprise- but if they'd been living with Mephisto until now, they probably hadn't exactly been hurting for money. At the same time, that clown could be weirdly stingy about things. Both of the twins were wearing backpacks too, while Noctis had a duffel bag slung over one arm and a sword bag hanging from his shoulder.
"Thanks," Noctis rolled up his sleeves, "-then let's get to it!"
Shiro's gaze flickered towards his left arm. The bandages from before were off, revealing a Rod of Asclepius design inked onto his forearm. He arched a slight brow at it- interesting choice. Not what he would have thought at all.
Rin scampered ahead of his father, easily picking up one of the boxes. Shiro watched him in vague surprise- but it paled in comparison to watching Noctis hoist up three in each hand. They'd carried them inside, so he knew those things weren't light!
...maybe they'd be done with this sooner than he thought.
As he thought, it wasn't long before all of the boxes were piled up inside the twins' bedroom. Shiro frowned a little at the sight, glancing over at Noctis.
"What about your stuff?" He asked.
"Huh?" Noctis glanced over at him. "Oh... I just have this."
He held up the strap of his duffel bag, giving him a faint grin. Shiro's frown deepened. That was all? Sure, he hadn't had much stuff either when he'd left Section 13, but...
"Dad! Come help!"
"Yeah, coming!" Noctis said.
Shiro watched for a moment as the three of them got to work opening boxes, before shaking his head. It was fine, he guessed. He didn't know what kind of life he'd been living up until this point, but under his roof, things would be different.
Unpacking the boxes took a lot longer than transporting them.
It was morning when the trio had arrived, and by the time the last box was unpacked, it was already noon. Noctis left briefly to set down his duffel bag in the room they'd set up for him across the hall- and then, before anyone could stop him, he found his way to the kitchen and began making lunch. He'd even pinned his bangs back with a hairclip.
...huh? Had he shown him where the kitchen was?
The kitchen was filled with the scent of soy sauce and bonito flakes before anyone could stop him. Nagatomo exchanged a befuddled glance with him, but Shiro just shrugged.
Ah well. What was the harm?
Noctis only seemed to realize what he was doing when he was done. His pale cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson, his eyes darting back towards Shiro. His tail twitched anxiously upon realizing he'd turned himself into the center of attention- one hand darting out to awkwardly try and catch it to get it to stop moving.
"Uh... sorry," he said, "-I'm used to doing all the cooking back home. I wasn't even thinking..."
"Nah, don't worry about it." Shiro said. "What did you make?"
"Oh," Noctis said, "-uh, grilled rice balls."
Grilled rice balls? Shiro frowned, stroking his chin. Now there was a familiar recipe. Yuri had made them for him once before- and if he was being honest, he'd never gotten the taste out of his head. He'd tried in vain to replicate them once, before admitting that he probably didn't have her talents in the kitchen.
"Yes!" Rin cheered. "Dad's grilled rice balls are the best!"
"I made enough for everyone," Noctis said, "-so help yourselves!"
Rin didn't hesitate, clambering up on one of the chairs to grab a rice ball and digging in. He paused halfway through chewing his first bite to reach out and grab another one, giving it to Yukio with a broad grin that he was pretty sure he got from his foster father. Yukio took it with a smile, briefly glancing over towards him.
"It's fine," Shiro said, "-go on and sit down. This is your home now."
Yukio nodded, climbing into the chair and taking a bite of his grilled rice ball. Shiro huffed at the sight, before taking one of the grilled rice balls himself. He took a bite-
-holy crap. This was even better than Yuri's.
Behind him, the priests exchanged awkward glances- before they each grabbed a grilled rice ball and took a bite.
"Wha- this is crazy good!" Izumi exclaimed. "You can cook?"
"Yeah," Noctis grinned, "-I'm pretty good at it!"
"I'll say," Shiro agreed, "-okay, it's decided. You're on dinner duty from now on!"
"Oh?" Noctis perked up. "That's perfect! I was on dinner duty at Mephisto's too. Ah, I might not be around every night though."
"Dad's an exorcist!" Rin cheerfully told them. "That means he fights bad demons!"
"Nii-san," Yukio sighed, "-I think they know that."
Shiro snorted. Bad demons, huh?
"Do you always carry that around?" Shiro asked, gesturing at his sword bag with his chin. "You had it out the other day too."
"Huh?" Noctis glanced over his shoulder. "...oh, yeah. It's kind of a habit."
Yeah, he got that. He felt almost naked going somewhere without his pistols.
"Sorry," Noctis said, "-I'll go put it away."
He moved to head past them- but didn't get far. Rin darted a hand out, grabbing the hem of his coat. With his other, he pointed firmly at the grilled rice balls, which were disappearing fast.
"Dad," he said, "-eat."
Noctis' face turned beet red, as he hastily grabbed a pair of grilled rice balls and bit into one. That seemed to assuage Rin, who let go of his coat with a smile.
"Don't worry about it," Shiro said, "-that's a demon sword, right? What's in it?"
"Yeah," Noctis nodded, "-it's nothing special. Just a mid-level fire demon."
Fire? Well, that would make sense. It didn't sound like Rin's seal would last forever, so it would make perfect sense for Mephisto to pick someone who already had familiarity with the fire element. Of course, the blue flames of Satan were on a whole different level, but...
His eyes fell on the kid. Rin was kicking his feet, happily chowing down. He didn't seem to have a single care in the world. Probably the way Yuri would want it, he thought.
...he got the feeling she'd like Noctis, too.
"Kuro! Where do you want your bed?"
Noctis watched as Kuro paced around for a bit, before parking his butt by the foot of the bed. He set it down there, watching with a faint smile as Kuro proceeded to climb into it. The cat sidhe circled around, before curling up in a ball.
"How are you with the monastery's barrier?" Noctis asked. "I did tell the old man I'd be bringing you, but..."
I'm fine! Kuro said. It doesn't bother me at all!
"Really?" Noctis asked. "That's good then."
He smiled to himself as he unzipped his bag. His sword bag was leaning against the end of the bed. Naturally, what was inside was just the demon sword Mephisto had given him- he'd stashed Kurikara with the one from this timeline, hidden away by the kamikakushi key. Since his own was broken and empty of his demon heart, it wasn't a problem.
With any luck, he wouldn't need it again for another eleven years.
...it felt strange, being back here.
The monastery hadn't changed- no wonder he'd slipped up and started preparing lunch like he always would have in his own timeline. He'd have to be a little more careful of mistakes like that in the future. Thankfully, it seemed the old man really bought that he was a misfit Azazel clone or whatever...
...ah. He should probably stop calling him that.
Unpacking his clothes, he tucked them away in his dresser. He didn't have much- it kind of made more sense to spend his limited budget on the twins instead. Trying to balance his bankbook still gave him a fucking headache.
...he would never take smartphones for granted again, he thought.
The only other objects in his duffel bag were the handcrafted projects Rin and Yukio had made at daycare and preschool. They all looked like shit, but he'd still kept them. He lined them up on the desk, having a stark moment of clarity as to why the old man had kept all of theirs as he did so.
Noctis? Kuro asked. Are you happy?
Noctis blinked, glancing over at Kuro. He felt a little bad for effectively stealing him from the old- from Shiro, but it wasn't like he could miss something he never had.
"...yeah," he said, "-I guess so."
He was, he thought. But at the same time...
...the monastery hadn't changed- but he sure had. Its barrier had crackled unpleasantly against his skin when he'd stepped past it, the sensation like an accusation.
You know what you've done. Don't forget it.
He didn't intend to. He'd carry it with him for the rest of his life- but wallowing endlessly in his guilt and his grief wouldn't change anything. The only thing that would was ensuring that it could never happen again.
From the bottom of his bag, he pulled out a single framed photo.
The edge of his lips twitched faintly upwards at the sight of it. It was strange- he'd been so annoyed when everyone had pranked him, but now the photo they'd taken together at Kyoto Tower was one of his fondest memories.
...a memory that he was the only one in the world to still have.
With a sigh, he opened the drawer of the desk and set the photo face down inside of it. When the twins were still young, he used to have it displayed, but he obviously couldn't do that anymore. But he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it, either- no matter how much of a massive clue it was to his past.
Heh. If his friends found out what he was doing, they'd probably make fun of him.
A knock at the door drew his attention. Glancing over his shoulder, Noctis briefly froze at the sight of Shiro in the doorway. His smile was so familiar that it made his heart ache.
"You settling in?"
Honestly, not at all. Being here again brought with it a weird mixture of comfort and the keen sense that he shouldn't be here. He couldn't shake the feeling that his very presence was poisoning these holy grounds.
"Yeah," Noctis lied, "-thanks, f- Father Fujimoto."
...ugh. That felt weird.
Shiro just laughed. "You don't have to be so formal. Just Shiro is fine."
No, no. That would be even weirder.
"No, I can't-" Noctis held up his hands.
"Course you can!" Shiro grinned. "We're basically siblings, right?"
...oh, right. He thought he was an Azazel clone too. Ugh. He'd finally gotten used to having a new name and the twins calling him dad, and now his father wanted him to call him by his first name? How was the past still finding new ways to mess with him?
"...Shiro," he finally said.
"There, see!" Shiro grinned. "Easy! My room's at the end of the hall, so just give me a holler if you ever need anything."
Noctis nodded, equal parts grateful and a bit sad when Shiro gave him an easy wave and continued down the hall. Kuro was watching him curiously, but he pointedly didn't look at the cat sidhe- he'd kind of spilled his guts to him once before, so he knew he was from the future. It was the only way to explain why he and Rin smelled almost exactly alike.
Instead, he quietly crept into the twins' room.
It was the same exact one he'd shared with Yukio in his own timeline, he thought. He wasn't sure what to make of it, so like everything else, he just put it aside. The hour was late, so they were both tucked in their beds, fast asleep. Leaning against the doorframe, he folded his arms and just watched them.
...these were his kids now, he thought.
Huh. That wasn't as weird a thought as he thought it would be.
Scratching the back of his head, Noctis returned to his room. Well, whatever. He guessed time travel just did that to people.
...calling his dad by his first name was still weird as shit, though.