Chapter Text
Silence deafened the crew with its intensity, the only relief brought to them was the sound of blood dripping.
Plat. Plat.
Red poured down from a torso, of whom no one recognized. The man's short ink black hair flowed in the wind, parting to reveal a tattoo of a moth on his nape, long pointed ears that had an oblong drop of onyx earring and two silver broad hoop earrings at the tips peeking out of his hair. He seemed to be slightly taller than Satan/Yukio, standing strong at a respectable height. With a long navy trench coat that billowed in the wind, fitting black dress pants brushing against dark leather Oxford cut shoes, he seemed to have set foot into the wrong era of technology, instead of the Victorian era of Europe. His very visage was breath-taking, even though they could only see his back. In spite of his dignified aura, it was not what took the words out of their mouths.
It was the fact that Yukio —Satan— had his fist through the mysterious stranger's torso, and that the Exwires could clearly see the guilty fist, and the blood gushing out from the punctured flesh. That included, the man's body was encased in clear azure blue flames, and yet he wasn't screaming from the pain. With all these factors, it was clear the flames were his own, and he was another son of Satan. The Exwires could register this fact in their brains — Yukio and Rin were already exposed as his sons, it wasn't that strange a thing anymore. But he stood between the dying Rin and the possessed Yukio. He essentially protected Rin from being injured further by Yukio, and Yukio from injuring Rin even more, defying Satan, his father and ruler. That, was what stilled their hands from retaliating against this unfamiliar demon. No normal subservient demon would go against Satan himself; it would be at the price of unthinkable pain and torture.
As the flames died down into a swirling torrent around the man's body, they could hear a deep low accusatory voice that seemed to ring and reverberate around the rooftop. "Papa, why did you break your promise?" Satan/Yukio's face was distorted in shock, and what they would even say fear if they thought Satan could feel such an emotion.
The voice carried on, "Meph-niisama, Amai-niisama, why didn't you stop Papa?" The man had his head down, shoulders hunched, firsts clenched tightly, his very countenance that of disappointment. The two demon lords popped into the space besides the novice exorcists, scaring them into a jump. Their eyes too were wide, and both held a certain air of guilt around them, alternating between staring at the stranger and the floor.
A heavy sigh seemed to cause the remaining air left in the body to leak out, his broad shoulders sank, and forcefully, the quiet voice bit out, "You broke your promise to me once, wasn't that enough?"
As though those words were burning acid, Satan/Yukio hurriedly snatched his hand back violently, leaving the gaping hole in the stranger's chest that was too close to his left to slowly, painfully stitch itself back together with its regrown strands of pale flesh. The Exwires drew up their weapons into a defensive stance in alarm when they saw the person turn around, almost dropping them in shock when he fully turned.
He had Yukio and Rin's face.
This man had the same angular bone frame, the same glow in his eye in its life and energy. The only difference was that he looked years older, with two moles lying on the bone beneath his bright green left eye horizontally, hair that was white but turned black at the tips, and a long fringe that covered his right eye.
He looked just like the twins. Different, but undoubtedly, uncannily too similar to be unrelated to them.
Who was this man?
Clad in a dark turquoise dress shirt with an off-white cravat pinned up by an oval piece of refined lapis lazuli, and a vest tied together with a cummerbund lined with belts and cogwheels, his bright eye and demon fire were further accentuated, and it was as though the Exwires could see his very soul towering over them, suffocating them with his dominant aura that seemed to move nature itself.
As the lookalike came closer to the crew and Rin, they raised their weapons higher, pointing them at him, eyes wide, trembling slightly from the sight of the azure flames sparking brighter than before. But Nii squeaked loudly in alarm from Shiemi's shoulder, and grapevines grew from its tiny arms and shot out to entwine itself around the other Exwires' wrists and feet, immobilizing them, causing them to create a confused ruckus.
"Nii—! Let - us - go!"
("Hey...")
"Don't touch him!"
("Guys...")
"No, don't!"
("Um, hello...")
"Get away from him, you demon!"
"Everyone, STOP!"
They all immediately silenced when they registered that it was Shiemi who was shouting, eyes wide and bulging, staring as the demon knelt down and laid Rin's head on his lap. The fire didn't seem to burn Rin, if anything, it seemed to calm him instead as his brows which had been furrowed in pain relaxed. The dark coat pooled around the two, and it was as though they were being usurped into the darkness, their surroundings becoming darker with the lamps near them dimming, leaving the blue embers of their demonic aura (the stranger's bright while Rin's wan) to barely illuminate the scene for the others to see. The doppelgänger leaned down, touching Rin's forehead with his leather gloved left hand, and gently brushing back the hair sticking to his face from the sweat. The glacial poison green eye softened into a warm forest green as it gazed upon Rin's face, which was scrunched up as his eyelids fluttered, struggling to open. Satan/Yukio just stood at the side, his brows furrowed, his expression that of a lost child. Similarly, Mephisto and Amaimon gathered near the stranger and Rin, Mephisto looking uncharacteristically confused and upset, while Amaimon kept twitching and playing with his coat's rim, his eyes flitting from the newcomer and the ground.
Quiet, painful moans were voiced, and the lapis lazuli eyes opened a sliver, his vision blurry, and softly, Rin whispered with a hoarse and dry voice. "W-who... are you?"
A self-patronizing smile crawled its way up his face, and his voice became lighter, more bell-like, more musical and also more downtrodden, compared to his previously deeper and darker tone. "I'm no one you need to know, just sleep, Rin. Sleep, and you'll open your eyes again in your rightful place."
The man hummed, and slowly, gently, flames danced around the fingertips that lightly touched Rin's sticky forehead, and the eyelids soon closed, unable to resist the warmth the flames emitted, lulled to sleep. The demon then took back his gloved hand, methodically removing two of the rings on the fingers on his right hand. Even though the action didn't seem like much, the Exwires tensed up and were ready to struggle free again. Who knew what kind of weapon the demon could have? But another thought niggled them at the back of their heads: why would Rin's saviour want to kill him after being gutted just to rescue him from Satan/Yukio's clutches? Demons normally didn't bother to put up a facade around humans. It was terribly difficult for them to see the situation objectively, not when Rin had been injured so badly by a demon, and then rescued by another. Could they trust this demon?
Just as the Exwires decided unanimously to simply watch on quietly within a second, albeit slightly reluctantly, the responses from the three demons were vastly different.
"No—"
"Otouto—!"
"Suzuya—!"
A burst of sapphire blinded their eyes. They had to close them so tightly it hurt. Even then, the light was so bright they could see spots behind their eyelids. The wind around them seemed to become a gale, causing their clothes and hair to flutter wildly, the air whipping sharply, painfully against their welted skin. The howls of the wind seemed to wail out a message, of what no one could quite put their finger on, but of a nature that just hurt and ached and devastated them, bringing forth unwilling tears.
When the light dimmed to a tolerable brightness and the nature calmed down, they opened their eyes.
They saw wings.
Feathers made of flickering fluorescent flames that were transparent and melted into royal blue and white at its tips, spread in the dark, and showered the sky with falling embers that glowed in the dark. Similarly, eyes glowed a bright peridot green as white and black flowed and parted around his body, with a smoky aura that danced with the now gentle breeze. A sigh, and a wave of a hand in the wind, a dagger made of pure light and ice was held up at its hilt, and with a swoop and a spin of the knife, the tip faced the ground in front of suddenly despairing eyes and horrified gapes for a millennium, it sank into soft flesh.
His ears rang.
Light pierced through the darkness.
Wincing from the burn, Rin squinted in the dark, struggling to stay awake as he felt droplets drip down his exposed chest. The first thing he saw was a familiar eye, bright like a jewel, green as a cat's eye, narrowed at him. A trembling hand in a black leather fingerless glove held a glowing dagger, which dug through his ringed right hand. At this point, Rin woke up for real and his eyes widened in horror.
Blood?
Blood was dripping down from the hand to his chest.
The look in the green eye was so painfully haunting, it made Rin's heart ache.
Blood.
It was clear to Rin that this stranger was somehow healing him, because as he stared at the man in horror, his wounds started healing faster than normal, and soon he felt close to no pain at all.
Blood was pooling around him.
This man was bleeding for him.
"—"
A gurgle was all that escaped from his mouth. The emerald eye didn't look at him, the mouth didn't move from its pinched lips, but he heard something.
Rin, do not speak. You'll be fine. Sleep.
How can I sleep while you're bleeding!
The eye softened from its hardened look into a source of light that swirled in a mesmerizing reflection. You're the same as always, that's good. But let me finish this. So, Go. Back. To. Sleep.
No!
And with a force even he didn't know he had, Rin grabbed the familiar man's hand, and his own flames reignited and burned, closing the wound that went in the palm through the back of the hand. He tried to sit up straight, though it was in vain. The man with the glowing eye just sighed and helped him up, though not in the way Rin would have wanted. He carried the younger male bridal-style, taking carefully measured steps, walking slowly to the still ensnared group of teenagers.
Just as this Suzuya stopped just in reach of the Exwires, one of his fingers traced a sign in the air, and the vines retreated back into Nii's arms. Shiemi immediately went forward fearlessly, opening up her arms to catch a groaning Rin, whom the mysterious demon bent down to gently shuffle him into her cradle. Kamiki didn't take any chances, and she summoned her fox spirit demons out, creating a defense guard around Rin and Shiemi as soon as the demon stepped back. The rest too took their place around the girls and the fallen demon, taking up a defensive stance. A calm green eye took in the sight, and seemed to be strangely appeased by the sight of their protectiveness of their fallen comrade.
Bon stepped forward, putting up a strong front, intending to ask a few questions, until Nii overtook him and floated over to the new demon, twirling around him while squeaking.
"Nii, nii—!"
The eye closed, and the two foreheads moved to touch one another briefly.
A little twitch of thin lips, and the eye opened again, with a decidedly warmer tone. A nod to the little green sprite and the two foxes, all of who responded with bows, and he turned, walking off.
"Wait! What about Okumura-sensei?"
Seeming to not hear Shima's panicked shout, the man continued to walk, stopping beside the possessed body and suddenly shot his left hand out in front of Satan/Yukio's face. Everything stilled.
"Don't make this harder than it already is, Papa."
Fire grew from the gloved hand, and wrapped itself around the two in a wild tornado. Through the fiery walls, they could see a shadowy figure of something —someone— separate from Yukio's body slowly, gruesomely with bits of what seemed like strings of melted flesh, and vapourise itself into his other son's eye quickly in a shadowy wisp. With a loud splat, the fire died, and Yukio fell forward, almost hitting the ground, but the other man caught him. The youngsters let out a sigh, until they froze again.
Something was wrong.
If they thought they had been scared witless before, the Exwires were now petrified with their hearts stopping. The silhouette glowed with blinding brightness, fires leaping into the air and twisting around him in a relentless torrent, and the air was slowly turning boiling hot from the coolness it had been before. Slowly, with each second passing by for an achingly long time, the man turned back to them, and they saw an eye.
An eye, the normally white part of the eye a pure black, the iris blending in with the darkness, with the pupil a slit of poisonous green, the only colour in the otherwise abyss of an eye. It was the right eye that had been hidden behind a gradient of white and black, and in that instant, they all wished they never saw it and the bloodthirsty smile full of sharp teeth and snarls that came with it. Such an accursed eye was inhumane, and unlike anything they've been taught before.
Pushed almost forcefully, the despondent body landed into the cushion the group of Exwires made. While Shiemi checked over Yukio with a calmness that was just abnormal in this situation, the devil opened Gehenna's gate with a careless flick of a hand, and the putrid stench filled the heavy air. Everything seemed to bleed away into the darkness, and with another glance back to the group, the Devil stepped into the mess, dropped, and left.
One other pop signalled the Earth Daemon's departure as well, leaving his lost older brother behind, but no one paid attention to him after the monster finally left.
The oppressive air finally lightened, the light returning to the lamps, and even the darkness didn't seem that dark anymore as the stars shined once again. But they still had a pair of demonic twins, both knocked out, and a bloody rooftop they knew a certain someone would make them clean. But the main issue laid unsolved, a mystery to unravel.
Why did that lone green eye look so lonely, so longingly at them when he left?
Why did Rin, before he fell unconscious from exhaustion, call out "Suzu-nii"?