Chapter Text
The world never announced its miracles.
They simply dropped—softly, quietly, as if they had always been meant to land exactly where they did.
Tonight, that miracle took the form of a bird.
Not a common bird, not one that could have been plucked from a garden tree or seen fluttering past the academy grounds at dusk. No—this one was too bright for that, too strange, too wrong to belong anywhere except in the sky she had fallen from.
A dove, curved like something carved gently out of moonlight. Her feathers began in pure white but faded into rich gold at their tips, streaked with electric blue like wet paint dragged lovingly across a canvas. She was warm—warmer than she should have been—her body pulsing with a faint, slow glow, as though her heartbeat was full of stormlight.
She did not fall like a dying bird. She cascaded.
Straight onto Rin Okumura's head.
"ACK—!! What the hell was that?!"
Rin slapped at his hair, expecting maybe a squirrel, or Yukio playing some sick joke, or—hell he didn't know—one of Konekomaru's textbooks falling from the dorm window again. What he didn't expect to see was a bird. A glowing one.
It sat at his feet, puffed and dazed, wings twitching. Alive. Breathing. Pretty.
Very pretty.
Rin blinked, then crouched, all wide blue eyes and furrowed brows. "What kinda bird are you...?"
The dove did not answer—of course she didn't. But something was wrong. He could feel it. Not demon-wrong, not danger-wrong, but... lonely-wrong. Heavy-wrong. Like she had fallen too far and couldn't remember how to climb back up.
He scooped her up, gently cupping her small body between his palms. Her warmth surprised him. She felt almost human.
Rin frowned, glancing around the empty courtyard. No students, no teachers, not even a wandering ghost to witness his bizarre discovery.
"...Whatever. Guess you're coming with me."
And that was how Rin Okumura—half-demon, aspiring exorcist, magnet for chaos—ended up carrying a mystical, probably-shouldn't-exist bird back to his dorm.
✦✦✦
The dorm was quiet. Late evening left most of the boys either studying, sleeping, or doing something they would absolutely deny if caught. Rin pushed the door open with his foot, holding the bird close against his sweatshirt like a secret.
"Yo, Yukio, you here?" he whispered.
No answer.
Good. The last thing he needed was his overly-serious, glasses-wearing, annoyingly intelligent brother interrogating him over why he was sneaking a mythological bird into the room like contraband.
Rin closed the door behind him and placed the bird gently on his bed. She blinked slowly, curling in on herself like a housecat making a nest. The flickers of blue across her feathers brightened faintly, then dimmed.
"Huh." Rin rubbed the back of his head. "You don't look like you're dying, so that's good. But still—where did you come from...?"
No answer.
The dove simply (pointedly) stared at him.
"...Okay. Fine. Don't tell me."
He sat beside the bed, elbows on his knees, leaning forward as if proximity might reveal her secrets. Up close, she was even stranger—part bird, part illusion. Feathers both real and not-real, body both physical and... shimmering? Like heat off pavement.
"You fell outta the sky," he murmured. "But you don't feel hurt..."
The bird—you—shifted, letting out the softest, faintest chirp.
Something inside Rin softened unexpectedly.
It wasn't often that something in this world looked at him without fear or suspicion or expectations. But you... you just looked. Quietly. Curiously. Like you recognized him before you even opened your eyes.
And that was terrifying in its own way.
Rin reached for the first-aid kit Yukio insisted they keep by the dresser. "Just in case," he muttered. "Gotta check if you've got broken wings or whatever."
He carefully extended one of your wings, his fingers gentle, almost delicate. The feathers glided under his touch, impossibly soft, impossibly warm.
No broken bones.
No cuts.
No bruises.
In fact, you looked... perfect.
"Okay. So you fell from the sky, but you're fine. This makes no sense," he grumbled. "Maybe you're a demon? ...No, that doesn't feel right."
He leaned back on his palms, staring at the ceiling.
"What am I even supposed to do with you...?"
As if responding, you hopped weakly into his lap.
Rin froze.
Then—
"...Oh. You're kinda cute, actually."
You fluffed your wings in indignation.
"Okay, okay! You're not cute, you're... majestic. Regal. Royal bird princess or something. I get it."
You chirped, satisfied.
✦✦✦
Hours passed.
Rin should have gone to bed. He knew that. Yukio would scold him in the morning for staying up late again, and he'd get another lecture about responsibility and discipline and "You need adequate sleep if you want to pass this semester, nii-san."
But Rin's eyes never drifted far from the bird on his lap.
Something about you tugged at him, urging him to stay awake, urging him to watch. It wasn't distrust. It was fascination. The same kind he felt whenever he stared at the night sky too long—the sense that there was something bigger, something waiting, something calling his name across worlds he'd never see.
It was stupid.
You were just a bird.
...Except you weren't.
You shifted suddenly, feathers bristling, body glowing faintly again. Rin sat up straight.
"Hey—what's wrong?"
The room filled with warm, shimmering light.
Blue, gold, white.
Feathers dissolved into sparks.
Rin blinked.
The burning sensation spreading through your chest wasn't pain—it was awakening. A soft, radiant ache that felt like a heart relearning how to beat after centuries of silence.
You didn't fall because you were weak.
You fell because you were meant to collide with fate.
Your fate.
His fate.
The world tilted. Your body rippled, stretched, unfolded into shapes it had not taken in what felt like lifetimes. Feathers melted into skin. Wings trembled, fading into nothingness. Light poured from your fingertips as your limbs lengthened, your spine straightened, your breath stuttered into something shallow, human.
Rin scrambled back so fast he hit the wall.
"WHAT—WHAT—WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
The bird on his lap was gone.
And in her place—
A girl.
Unconscious. Naked. Curled on his bedsheets, hair shimmering with traces of gold and electric blue, skin warm as sunlight.
Rin's face went red so violently he nearly passed out.
"WHA—HEY—YOU—YOU CAN'T—WHAT—!!!"
He grabbed the nearest blanket and threw it over you like he was trying to smother a small, innocent fire.
His brain was melting.
Absolutely melting.
"Okay okay okay okay—CALM DOWN," he told himself, pacing in frantic circles. "This is fine. This is totally not insane at all. A bird turned into a girl. That's normal. That's—Yukio's gonna kill me. Oh god. I'm dead. I'm so dead."
He turned to you again.
You lay still beneath the blanket, breathing softly.
Mystical bird.
Now a girl.
In his bed.
Rin swallowed hard.
"What the hell are you...?"
✦✦✦
You woke to warmth.
Warm sheets, warm air, warm scent.
Not divine warmth.
Not heavenly warmth.
Human warmth.
Your eyes fluttered open slowly—heavy, unused to vision that was no longer filtered through feathers and sky. The world came into focus in pieces: a small dorm room, cluttered but lived-in; a desk crowded with notebooks and charms; a sword leaning against the wall, humming faintly with power you recognized but could not yet name.
And sitting across from you—
Blue eyes.
Wide. Flustered. Concerned.
You knew him.
You didn't know how. You didn't know why. But you knew him. His presence sparked a memory buried deep beneath lifetimes of flying, falling, wandering the boundary between mortal and divine.
You parted your lips. The first sound came out cracked, unused, trembling.
"H...hello..."
Rin shot up so quickly his chair crashed to the floor.
"Y-YOU'RE AWAKE?!!"
You nodded.
He pointed at you, hands shaking. "H-How did you—why did you—why were you a bird?!"
You blinked, tilting your head.
You didn't know how to answer.
You didn't remember enough to form an explanation. Only flashes. Wings. Freedom. A voice calling your name through clouds. A fall. A boy with blue flames—
A boy with blue eyes.
Your chest tightened.
"I..." You swallowed. "I don't...know."
Rin paused.
His panic softened into confusion. Then into something gentler.
"...You really don't?"
You shook your head.
Silence drifted through the room like dust swirling in a sunbeam. Rin exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Well... crap."
You almost laughed.
He looked at you again—this time slower, searching, as though trying to piece together the puzzle sitting in his bed. His gaze wasn't lustful or invasive; it was bewildered and concerned and... strangely protective.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked quietly.
You glanced down at yourself beneath the blanket. No feathers. No wings. Just... you. Human. Soft. Vulnerable.
"I don't think so," you murmured.
"Good. Uh—good." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I, um... I put the blanket on you. Becaaause—you know—uh—yeah."
His face was crimson.
Your lips twitched.
"Thank you."
Rin looked away, ears turning red next.
✦✦✦
The first problem of the night was that a magical girl-bird had landed in Rin's bed.
The second problem was Yukio.
The dorm door rattled.
"Nii-san? Are you awake?"
Rin froze.
You froze.
The blanket betrayed you by sliding slightly off your shoulder.
"D-Don't move!" Rin whisper-yelled, diving for it and yanking it back up.
"Rin?" Yukio called again, voice suspicious. "Who are you talking to?"
Rin opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He tried again.
"Uh—NO ONE! I mean—NOTHING! I MEAN—GO AWAY!"
There was a long, painful silence.
"...Rin, I'm coming in."
"NO—WAIT—!!!"
But the door was already opening.
Rin panicked and threw himself in front of you like a human shield.
Yukio stepped inside, adjusting his glasses. "What exactly are you—"
He stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"Nii-san."
Rin swallowed.
"...Y-Yeah?"
"Why is there a girl in your bed?"
Rin flailed. "IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"
Yukio stared between the blanket-covered shape behind Rin and the way Rin was acting like a cornered animal.
"...Then what does it look like?" he asked flatly.
Rin opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"...She was a bird."
Yukio blinked slowly.
Rin pointed desperately behind him. "SHE FELL ON MY HEAD! SHE TURNED INTO A GIRL! I SWEAR I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!"
Yukio pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Of course, nii-san."
You peeked over Rin's shoulder timidly.
Yukio stared.
You stared back.
He sighed.
"Alright. Start from the beginning."
✦✦✦
The explanation took time.
A lot of time.
By the end of it, Yukio sat at the desk rubbing his temples like he had aged five years in fifteen minutes.
"So," he summarized, "you fell from the sky, transformed from a bird into a human, and have no memory of anything prior to hitting Rin in the head."
You nodded.
Rin crossed his arms. "See? I told you!"
Yukio ignored him.
"It's possible you're a familiar. Or an angelic entity. Or a supernatural spirit bound to a physical vessel..." He adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. "But without more information, we can't determine your origin."
You hugged the blanket tighter.
Rin immediately kicked the floor. "Hey, don't look scared! We're not gonna hurt you."
You raised your eyes to his.
Warm. Blue. Steady.
Your heartbeat fluttered.
"I know," you whispered.
Rin blinked.
Yukio noticed.
He noticed everything.
He closed his notebook. "For now, you'll need someplace safe to stay until we understand what you are."
Rin's eyes widened. "She can stay here!"
Yukio stared at him.
Rin stared back stubbornly.
"...Fine," Yukio sighed. "But I'll inform the Academy tomorrow. And she gets a change of clothes."
You relaxed slightly.
Rin grinned triumphantly.
Yukio stood. "Get some rest. Both of you. We'll deal with this in the morning."
He left the room, closing the door behind him.
Silence settled again.
Rin turned to you, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "...Uh. Sorry about all that."
"It's alright," you said softly.
He smiled.
It wasn't a flirtatious smile, or a confident one, or even a particularly graceful one. It was crooked, warm, and real. The kind of smile that felt like sunrise.
"You, uh... probably wanna sleep, right?"
You nodded.
"You can take the bed," Rin said quickly. "I'll use the floor. It's no big deal."
You shook your head. "I can sleep on the floor."
"What? No way!"
"Yes way."
"No way!"
"Rin."
He paused.
You smiled faintly.
"...We can share."
Rin's soul momentarily left his body.
"SH-SH-SHARE?! W-WITH—ME?!"
You tilted your head innocently. "Is that... not normal?"
Rin made a sound that could only be described as a dying kettle.
"I—uh—I—mmm—f-fine! But! Boundary! Like—pillow wall! Like in the movies!"
You giggled.
Rin, hearing it, went still.
Your laughter was soft. Warm. Familiar. Like he'd heard it before. Like he'd missed it before he knew it existed.
The pillow wall was built.
The lights were turned off.
And as Rin lay inches away from you—close enough to feel your warmth through the blanket—you whispered into the darkness:
"Thank you... for catching me."
Rin's cheeks burned, even unseen.
"...Anytime," he murmured.
You closed your eyes.
Somewhere deep in your chest, a pulse of golden-blue light flickered gently.
Somewhere deeper, a memory stirred.
Meant to fly.
Meant to be free.
Forced to fall...
Only to find fate waiting below.
And somewhere in the room, Rin—half demon, half boy, wholly unaware of the destiny at his doorstep—smiled softly into the night.
⸻