Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You can’t just buy or give life…but you can grow it.”

Why had Satan ever wanted such a thing? Why had such a thought ever filled him with a strange little fluttering warmth? He’d created children before, but it’d always been something that simple happened as a side effect and he hadn’t really cared about. Yet the thought of his and Yuri’s children was…different. A unique feeling that he couldn’t place but grew in time with the children (two of them, twins, he’d realized and felt nearly delirious) before bursting free when he first heard their tiny heartbeats.

The children themselves seemed like destiny and dreams brought to life. One, strong and housing the flames of the demon king in his heart, vicious nature sure to be balanced by the purity of Yuri’s soul. The other was weak and squishy like most humans, but with just a tiny drop of demon in him that mad Satan excited. Neither would even fall in line with either demon or human, they would be outcasts for sure, but wasn’t that all the better? They would become living impossibilities that would pave the way to Yuri’s dream with their own surely immense power.

The two twins, hand in hand, would raze the very foundations of the exorcist’s organization and overturn it all. No one would be able to stop them, because they were sure to be the best of both Yuri and Satan. Yuri’s steel-clad kindness and understanding and ability to dream, Satan’s raw power and fierce will, yes, they’d be something amazing…

Except…

The newborn was dead. Unbreathing, already cold and paling, the tiny child refused to move even as his twin wailed loudly. Not a hint of fire touched the empty shell.

Satan, formless once again, couldn’t tear his eyes away from the lifeless child. Just before Yuri’s labor, he’d been healthy and filled with such impossibly bright life, so why…?

“Poor little one, it fell from the nest. It’s already dead.”

A small herd of demons had helped Yuri through her labor, stolen blankets from the nearby lodge, and swaddled the newborns. When one had presented the dead child to him, Satan had stared, lost. A feeling of numbness had swallowed the rising bile fear for Yuri’s life had brought, until the demon was unsure if he’d ever felt anything at all. Without the ability to form a thought, Satan had ordered the demon to give the corpse to Yuri, as if it could ever replace her (their?) precious child.

Yuri looked down to the crying child and let out a laugh that sent a shudder down Satan’s spine at how weak it was. “Ah…Yukio, there, there…it’s…alright.”

Yuri turned to the dead child with unfocused eyes and slightly rustled the too-still, too-silent newborn, “You’d disturb your brother Rin.” By some miracle Yukio quieted, slipping into a doze and Rin…Yuri blinked slowly, dazed and struggled to process what all the signs were telling her. But it must have resounded with her very being that something was very, very, wrong with her child, because in one moment the once unshakable woman grew very, very, afraid. “Rin?…Rin! Satan, Rin isn’t…”

“He’s a quite one, isn’t he?” The words spilled from his mouth in a desperate tumble. Anything, anything to stop this! If he could keep Yuri happy, if he could keep her spirits high, then there was no way her soul would ever leave him, right? There was no way she, too, would… “You should enjoy the peace while it lasts. He’s…He’s a lot more like me than you, I can see it. He’s going to be a little hellion one day! Just you wait…”

The words hurt to say. It went beyond any pain Satan had ever known, scratching angry red lines into his heart and bleeding out his sluggish soul. But the demon forced himself to talk, to comfort Yuri and assure her and even himself that all was right with the world. Yet, despite that urge, need, Satan couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence.

“You’ll see what I mean someday.”

Yuri’s ‘someday’ would never exist. Satan could lie to her face about their children, but he could not lie to her about her own fate. They both knew it, dreaded it, and, while Satan raged against it and denied it, Yuri simple accept it with a gentle smile, content thinking both her children were alive.

Yuri looked towards Satan. She would never see him, and yet, every time she searched for even a moment she seemed to find his eyes. “Some would say I wasn’t…the best child either. These children are...just as much mine as yours.”

She would never fail to steal his heart a little more with every word she spoke. Satan wasn’t to say something, to make a quip and joke and pretend he was human, but fear and pain crushed he throat, stole his voice, and devoured his words.

Yuri smiled, sweet and filled with as much love as ever even as she laid there, dying. She, beautiful perfection that she was, sighed and sunk into an uneasy sleep where her life fell away like sand. She was slipping away and taking with her all the colors of his world. He wanted to embrace her and scream, rip apart the heavens and tear her soul free and bind it to him, chain it to himself forever and ever because she couldn’t leave! He’d never felt love like this before, what it meant to feel light and filled with nervous happiness as the very worlds before him seemed to open into a bright infinity. Yet her soul, still bright and free of taint after the sin they’d committed together, still beyond his grasp, and he knew he’d never be able to hold it for himself when it finally fled her body. Why did his hands destroy everything…?

No. For once in his life, it wasn’t his fault.

Satan’s gaze slowly fell towards the two infants in her arms, eyes sharp as an executioner’s blade.

Overflowing from the deep well of his heart where new love had been once found, something black and thick tainted the spring. Light slid to shade and happiness became ugly rage he’d never known before. He’d been wronged before, by his own spawn before, but this was something beyond that. In one fell swoop, the two tiny creatures before him, one of whom was dead, had taken the single most important thing in his life.

If only those things had never existed, then Yuri wouldn’t be doomed to die.

Satan reached, shapeless and formless as he was and the black hate twisted his heart and fanned the blue flames. A fire that Yuri had said warmed her very soul would soon once again only destroy when she finally drew her last breath, but that was fine. Yes, Satan was fine with that, because things would only go back to how they were, he would once again be alone like always. He was fine with that, because he could destroy the thing that had taken away his only purpose. One of them was so weak it was already dead, ha! All he had to do was touch it, and the thing would die…

“This damn brat is…”

Weak, a nuisance, a bane to his very existence, Satan had any number of words to describe the terrible creature before him who had the audacity to steal what was his from him. All he could hear was white noise and he let himself become the demon he’d always been. Yuri had been nothing but a distraction from his true nature, his true calling of destruction and death-!

Instead, the word that escaped was a tiny whisper. A mere will-o-wisp among a ranging inferno, and yet the word burned into his heart deeper than any of the brands he’d intended.

“Yukio.”

Satan drew away from the child, feeling very weak.

That was right…this…creature was still Yuri’s precious child, Yukio. And he’d almost…!

Satan curled in on himself, nothing more than a wraith in this world, and hated himself deeply. Yuri….Yuri was too optimistic, too perfect, because he could never be anything good no matter how many times she told him otherwise. His own rage consumed him as easily as his flames did with all of creation, until he made mistakes he could never take back. So he would deny them till the worlds rotted together and not even the ashes of those mistakes would remain. It was simple, it worked, and it made it impossible to regret.

Except this time was different.

He didn’t want to forget Yuri, he didn’t want to forget the strange new feelings he’d experienced when he’d first learned they would have children together. What was he going to do with all them if left all alone? They’d surely sour inside his black heart, curdle into hard chunks and feel him up with even more bile than before. No, he, with or without Yuri, wanted to know more and follow the spider’s thread to its end instead of sliding back into the life he’d known. A thread that was connected to the tiny bundle clutched tightly in Yuri’s arms.

It was madness, but Satan reached his answer.

Chapter Text

In hindsight, Satan realized he really hadn’t made the best plan.

First and foremost: he’d made the mistake of assuming that the True Cross Order wouldn’t send someone to find Yuri and finish the job as soon as possible. He thought he’d left their little shithole of an organization in a state of absolute chaos after the hell (ha!) he’d unleashed and that they’d be stuck scrubbing the bloodstains out of the walls for weeks. At least enough time for the demons he’d gathered under his natural thrall to whisk away him and Yukio to be cared for until he adjusted to his new body and could steal enough books on parenting to somehow figure out how to take care of a baby. The fact that he was technically a baby himself wasn’t even a factor; he was the strongest demon in existence, he could handle anything!

Yet apparently the Exorcists had decided that the bloodstains and burn marks could wait until after they’d taken down the entire cause for the incident. Satan supposed it made sense to prioritize killing someone the devil favored over interior decorating. But he thought they had more common sense than that though: blood was an absolute nightmare to get out if you waited until it dried. It was why he burned anything that got bloody, or dirty in general, and was in no way due to him being a pyromaniac. Just because he liked watching things burn didn’t mean he had a problem, and there wasn’t anyone (left) alive who would (dare) say otherwise. His fire was pretty, who wouldn’t want to watch it?

So when he’d heard enough gunshots and arias motor-mouthed to belong to an entire Exorcist squadron, Satan had panicked and decided that plans were for losers and leapt up and whisked Yukio off into the woods!

…Or would have, if he wasn’t in an infant’s body. It wasn’t a matter of Satan’s will not being strong enough, it was simple physically impossible for him to move. Or speak. Or even make sounds beyond some gurgle-spiting noise that left Satan disgusted with himself. So Satan admitted that, when it came to making plans, he left something to be desired. Like the simple knowledge that yes, a newborn was exactly as squishy as it looked and had the approximant muscular build of a vaguely human-shaped marshmallow.

That still didn’t mean he could set literally everything that wasn’t Yuri or Yukio on fire if need be.

It turned out that the bastard who’d arrested Yuri, Shiro, was actually quite soft. Satan had smiled when the man had begun to draw his sword, for deep within the demon a tight ball of all-consuming fire roared, growing stronger by the second and ready to burst free. He’d turn the man to ash in seconds, and if Samael was too slow to get out of the way in time, well, that wasn’t Satan’s problem. It’d sever his freak of a son right, and Satan laughed at the thought at the stupid expressions they’d make as they burned. Except the sword was abruptly sheathed and the resolve drained from Shiro.

The flames buried in Satan’s chest sputtered and died to a dull flicker the longer the conversation went on. So even Samael had no idea what had truly happened?

Interesting.

Chapter Text

At barely five years old, Yukio learned what it was like to fear death.

Eyes filled with hate glared at Yukio, pinning him under an intense gaze that threatened to choke him. Lips were slightly pulled back to reveal the tips of too-sharp teeth, and added a certain feralness and unpredictability that was a horrifying combination. Yukio couldn’t even make himself look away, terrified for his life to lose sight of the one looming over him for even a second. If he dared to look away, surely the beast before him would take advantage of the weakness and tear him apart.

And then the terrible look fell away within a second, slipping off like water and leaving not a trace behind. Yukio sighed in relief as his brother Rin returned to him, and not…whatever that had been. Voice still a little weak, he asked, “How you can make yourself so scary looking?”

Satan thought for a second and realized he didn’t really know. It was just something that came naturally to him, so maybe the truth was the best answer: “Thousands of years of practice.”

“But Rin, you’re only as old as I am!”

Physical body wise at least, Satan thought flippantly, but there was still another important thing Yukio had left out; “You forget, I’m older by a couple minutes!” Yukio grumbled at Satan’s cheeky grin, turning away with clear frustration and already ready to drop the subject out of spite. Knowing short attention spans intimately, Satan took pity on the boy, “Fine, fine, you do it like this. Look at me.” A nod. “Now pretend I’m someone you really hate.”

“But I don’t hate anyone!”

“What about those bullies at school?”

The silence was deafening. Or it would have been if Satan hadn’t groaned loudly a second into it, rocking back on his heels and palming his face.

“Yukio…” Satan shook his head, disappointed and fixed the boy with his most serious stare that wouldn’t cause outright terror, “You have to stand up for yourself!”

“But I don’t want to fight them like you-ah, I mean…”

And there was the crux of the problem. Normally, such passivism would have thrown Satan into a rage, but he could see traces of beautiful Yuri in Yukio growing every day. To solve things between humans and demons without violence, to have the will to not fall into hate, surely he was already seeing traces of that in his son. He just lacked the confidence in himself to form true resolve, and Satan wouldn’t rest until he’d built Yukio’s confidence until it at least matched Yuri’s. Maybe even higher, if such a thing was possible.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to fight anyone.” In the future there was no way Satan wouldn’t be changing his stance on that, but it wasn’t as if Yukio even could just yet. Satan personally considered himself pretty awesome, and even he was only just getting a hang of his weak and clumsy body. He couldn’t even properly break an arm anymore, and he’d tried really hard to do so in that one fight! Honestly, he was seriously disappointed in himself and had already started working out, ignoring the way it baffled the priests.

“But you have to stand up for yourself eventually, or I’ll do it for you.” Again, however many times it took for those idiots to get the message beaten into their skull. Or arms. He wouldn’t mind getting a chance to try again in a few weeks after he’d built his muscle mass up. Did they think they won just because the teacher only ever seemed to get mad at him? Like he cared what that bitch said to him if she was so blind she couldn’t even see the disastrous state her classroom was in just because a few snot-nosed brats could cry on will.

“Just make them think that messing with you isn’t worth it.” It was something Satan had done with the demons in the town, letting just enough of his aura out to keep most away without them even knowing what they were avoiding. Anything more dangerous and a tad smarter that wandered in he’d let the Paladin be useful for once and exterminate. But humans were a bit too dense to get a clue, sadly. “And if that doesn’t work, well, I’ll handle it.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Of course I do! It’s my job to protect you!” From bullies, from demons, from the entire world if need be. He’d burn it all like his own dreams, his very life, had been if it came down to it. Nothing, not the entire army of exorcists, however few remained after his handiwork, would stop him from giving Yukio the life Yuri would have wished for him-!

Satan pushed the darkness that felt suspiciously like madness away, drowning it with Yukio’s (Yuri’s child, Yuri’s precious gift to him) presence and a long-suffering sigh, “Come on, your turn! Give me a good glare, one that’ll make those idiots piss themselves!”

Yukio grimaced at the language, knowing it was bad from how mad it made his dad. But that was just one of those things Rin would never ever budge on, no matter how much he was scolded, and he was almost as bad about it as he was about insisting on defending Yukio. He’d just accept it as one of the strange things about his brother, no matter how much he hated it, and move on.

Yukio breathed in deeply and did his best to picture the terrifying face Rin had shown him. Not that he’d ever forget it, but he’d do better if the image was in his mind as he tried to recreate it- just like he did when learning letters. Rin was really good at that and could even already read really well, so maybe that was the key. He imagined the face he’d show his big brother, terrible and so scary it’d even make him flinch back.

Goal in mind, Yukio glared at Rin.

A moment passed.

Satan burst out laughing.

“Rin!”

“You look like you’re taking a shit!” He shouted between gasping cackles.

It wasn’t a shout but an embarrassed whine of “Rin!” that made Satan laugh even harder. It took a solid minute for the demon to calm down, and by then Yukio was thoroughly red-faced and pouting.

“And now you just look like an angry kitten! Come here!” Yukio refused to move, but that was fine, Satan just physically pulled him closer until his son was practically in his lab. Maybe the pats to his head would have been comforting if Satan had been able to control his giggles, “You are just too adorable; I didn’t know humans got so red!”

“’m not abdoro….adorable.”

Satan chuckled at his precious struggling with even such a basic word. Everything he did…“Sure you aren’t.”

Yukio whined and tried to hide his face. It did nothing to stop Satan from fawning over him.  

Shiro walked in, took stock of the state Yukio was in, and raised a brow, “What’s all the noise about? What’s wrong with Yukio?”

Yukio was so much like Yuri when she got frustrated with him, with reddened cheeks puffed in frustration and eyes that refused to look anywhere but straight ahead. “He’s being perfect. My adorable lil’...”

Whatever was said trailed off into unintelligible cooings. And Shiro could only sigh with amusement at the entire thing. But Yukio looked as if he were about to explode from embarrassment, so it was his obligation to save him, “Rin, don’t tease your brother too much.”

“I’ll do whatever I damn well please!”

“Language.”

“Be something more than a piece of shit priest first!” Honestly, how dense was this man to not even realize what he was willingly housing?

“Language, Rin! You’ll be a bad influence on Yukio at this rate!”

“Yukio is too perfect for that to ever happen. You know not to say the things I do, right? Well, at least not when the shitty priest is around…”

The back-and-forth was practically automatic, well-rehearsed and recited to the point Shiro had already almost given up hope on restraining Rin’s vocabulary. Or controlling the child in any meaningful way at all. If he was this bad as a little kid, Shiro shuddered at the thought of an even more rebellious teen to deal with. But he could handle it. He’d beaten back Satan when he’d possessed Yuri’s body and tried to attack him, so surely Rin couldn’t possibly be worse?

“Why are you still here? Go cook lunch already!”

Shiro sighed, exasperated. At least Yukio was sure to be a good child, Rin would just…require work. Work and trial and error to figure out how to appease the demonic tendencies that slipped through the seals. Theoretically, demons should have had a high respect for hierarchy…“Rin, I am the adult here.”

“Riiight.”

…But Rin was an alpha male if he’d ever seen one. So, something else then, possibly…?

Satan waved away the shitty priest, deciding his presence was slowly ruining his good mood. “Then be an ‘adult’ and go make food. Unless you think we should be around the stove?”

The worst part was, Shiro couldn’t even technically argue against that.

Chapter Text

School was a drag. It was nothing but hours of Satan’s day being talked down to by some idiot teacher and being forced to listen to lessons about basic shit he already knew. Sure, he couldn’t expect much out of his first years of “education” (a word he used very lightly), but he just wished that the moron heading the class would leave him alone since he clearly knew everything she wanted to teach. He’d participate whenever he damn well pleased, he’d talk whenever the hell he wanted, and he’d use whatever fucking shitty words he wanted, capiche bitch?

Apparently not, since that got him sent to the office, and, when that did nothing, calls to the shitty priest. Which did even less, but it seemed to broadcast to the other kids that he was fair game to pick on since the teacher hated him. Not that Satan was ever “picked on” by anyone, no, or more amounted to dumb words said by dumb children who eventually got sick of and punched in the face. It was something Yukio didn’t like, tried to stop, and often got caught in the crossfire, being the easier target who’d actually cry when teased.

Satan just beat those brats even harder.

Of course, he’d found a more…permanent solution was needed. So, with a tiny flicker of his pretty blue flames, he burned a Temptaint into a few of the kids and let them deal with the trauma of suddenly seeing demons everywhere. It helped that Satan could attract lesser demons at all, letting them mindlessly swarm him and terrifying the brats until one literally pissed themselves. Suddenly their class was a whole lot smaller, several children out “sick” as the teacher phrased it when asked. She sure had a strange way of phrasing a sudden case of what the rest of the world would perceive as insanity, but whatever helped her sleep at night. And when the shitty priest asked about it, Satan played dumb, pretending he’d simple fought them like normal and they’d suddenly started screaming.

It was kind of funny that the idiot thought it was all unintentional. Of course, the best, the strongest, lies were the ones someone said to themselves.

And thinking of lies, Yukio had stopped mid-step, and stared at a car. No, not at it, but under it, where Satan saw the edge of something scaly disappear, practically merging with the shadows. A minor taint filled the air, and Satan sighed, annoyed that a demon, however minor, had gotten close. He’d have pretended it never happened, except he saw the way Yukio’s eyes filled with nervous fear, refusing to leave the spot.

“Annoying, aren’t they?” Satan said casually, as if it were simply the weather and not beings from a whole different world. Which to him, it might as well be. “Just ignore them and they’ll go away.”

Yukio nodded, slowly, “I…know that.”

“Yukio, we’ve talked about this before.” Years ago, when the boy had first spotted one on the street and screamed. The coal tars had never really bothered him, simply a fact of life, so Satan had been surprised and forced to literally drag Yukio to the side and have a nice long talk and establish ground rules for demons.

“You can see it…?

“Of course. Everyone else is just too dumb to see them. But not us.”

It’d been obvious that he’d gotten to talk to Yukio about it all before Shiro, and that filled him with vindictive pride. There was no way the shitty priest didn’t know at least Yukio could see demons, but with how much of a non-issue such minor demons were to himself, the ruler of Gehenna was wondering how long he could keep the Paladin from guessing he could see as well. It was funny to see him tip-toe around the issue with his two so-called sons (the deluded fool), probably wanting to “maintain their innocence” or some other crap for so long as it wasn’t an issue. All thanks to Satan actually telling Yukio what was going on

“But…”

Yukio was still unsure, so Satan decided to remind him of the basic rules, “They won’t bother you if you ignore them, Yukio. It’s only when they see you scared and know that you can see them that they’ll do anything at all.” Not that he’d ever let that happen. They could try, and he’d destroy them.

Yukio nodded, repeating those words to himself as Satan gently led him away by the hand. “I just wish dad could…”

Ah, one of Satan’s finer achievements in his new life: convincing Yukio the goddamn Paladin couldn’t see demons. It was hilariously ironic and meant his child would come only to him whenever demons gave him any issues. Good. “Well, he can’t, so we shouldn’t bother him about it. Wouldn’t want him to think we’re like those other kids, right?”

Even if it’d never been his intent to use those brats as examples, he’d gladly take the chance he’d made. Yukio nodded furiously and Satan, unseen, smiled happily, and tightened his grip on Yukio’s tiny hand.

Yukio squeezed back, and looked up at Satan with gratitude.

Chapter Text

In Satan's honest opinion, Assiah was nothing short of amazing, and he'd gladly admit it if asked. There was a whole lot more to do, a whole lot more to see, and he was slowly but surely developing a soft spot for the overly bright world. He didn't have as much freedom, but no one knew about him so idiots who were full of false bluster foolishly challenged him. Some people might have found the fights annoying, but it was the highlight of Satan's day, getting to beat the crap out of a few kids, shattering their hopes of grandeur at their feet as the 'little kid' utterly destroyed them. It was vicious and difficult sometimes with the bigger kids, but Satan liked the burning of his arms, the stinging of cuts and scrapes, and tangy flavor of mixed blood in his mouth. He welcomed the pain he hadn't felt in years, had forgotten existed, and would always walk away with a dopey smile feeling thoroughly satisfied with himself despite knowing how petty these fights actually were. They made him feel alive in a way that reminded him fondly of his very early days when he'd carved his way to the top, bodies his stepping stones and blood his drink. Yes, maybe Assiah wasn't that bad after all. It sure explained why his other sons kept going to such an otherwise overly flammable world.

The cold, however, could go burn in hell.

Once upon a time, he hadn't cared if it'd been scorching hot or a blizzard outside. Whatever bodies he found barely lasted long enough to be affected by the weather, and even then his power warded off the cold effortlessly. But robbed of most of his inner fire by the shitty priest, Satan had no defense except the shoddy human clothes bought for him. It made him shiver, locked his joints with ice as his blood slushed through his frosted muscles. He felt terrible whenever winter rolled around, and no amount of layers could ever seem to fix the issue. So Satan simply pretended the outside world didn't exist whenever that wretched white stuff that was nothing but glorified ice fell, and curled up in front of the space heater like a cat. And he'd be content to stay there for days at a time, except-

"Rin! Rin! Look, it's snowing! It's snowing, Rin!"

For some reason he couldn't fathom, Yukio loved the stuff.

He supposed it wasn't that bad. He could look at the dusted trees and, for just a second, pretend he were in a familiar forest. Reality would fall away and he'd pretend he was hiding in the lodge, overly grumpy and stubborn just to make Yuri work to force him out with sighs and fond grumbles. She'd have dragged him out, but her hands were busy holding and guiding their two-

Shiro's voice filtered down the hall, "Rin, hurry up or we'll start without you!"

"Don't you fucking dare!" Satan forced his other boot on and checked it was tight and secured. He hated when snow got in and sent shivers up his spine.

Satan nearly tripped down the steps when Shiro pulled on his scarf and turned him around. He wasn't even entirely sure there was a child under all the fluff, "Rin, just how many layers do you have on?"

"Not enough."

Shiro laughed and practically shoved him outside.

It turned out that Yukio was impatient and was already crouching in the light dusting of snow, rolling a tight snowball and trying to get it to pick up the white flakes around. Satan joined the boy, ignoring the stabbing cold, and flung snow onto the ball. There wasn't much snowfall in general, but the yard in surrounding the church was big and spacious and thoroughly covered. Shiro trailed after them, a faint voice offering to help push that was ignored even as the snowball grew into a boulder that nearly reach Satan's shoulder. Unbothered, he dug his heels in and pushed what had to be well over a hundred pounds of compact snow towards the entrance of the church while Yukio ran off excitedly to start the second ball. He left it closer to the road than the church, just barely kissing the barrier, and nodded at the arbitrary placement as if it meant something.

Across the street he could see a few demons drifting listless about, searching for bodies. They were nothing more than formless wraths, but he recognized a few demons that enjoyed possessing snow-structures. One of them broke from the group, falling behind as it stared vaguely at the snowball he'd just shoved into place. There was still the barrier in place, but it naturally wavered and weakened whenever Satan stood too close for too long, confused as to exactly what he was.

"Rin! Rin, we finished the body!"

A quick glance back and Satan saw Yukio happily leading the priest, who was pushing a lumpy snowball only a bit smaller than the one in front of Satan, towards him. He felt the other minor demon draw closer and, without a second thought, snapped towards it and snarled. The demon recoiled and, like the weakling it was, fled. The ruler of Gehenna nodded, quickly scanned for any other curious demons unearthed by the snow, and, satisfied, turned back towards the approaching duo.

But there was yet another problem, "That's too big, it won't fit on top." Also Satan couldn't deadlift that much weight just yet and like hell the shitty priest was going to be the one to make the snowman.

"It got bigger on the way here…" Yukio muttered with wide eyes, as if he'd just seen something impossible and not simple physics, "very bigger." He held his arms wide for emphasis.

"Much bigger." Satan and Shiro corrected in unison without a thought. He ignored the annoyance he felt, and turned on the priest, "Should have carried it."

Shiro blankly looked down at the compact snow at his feet, "Do you have any idea how much this thing weighs?"

"Less than a hundred; you should've been fine." Sure, humans were pretty weak, but this was the Paladin. He brushed off the shitty priest's comment of "try two hundred", because the principle was still the same, "Unless you're letting yourself go. Come on, Yukio!"

Without any ceremony, Satan violently kicked the snowball and cackled at the explosion of white. Shiro stumbled as the mass rocked enough to nearly topple him, and he gave Satan a rather pathetic stink-eye. Yukio sputtered as some of the impromptu snow shower hit him, but shook the powder out of his hair and, after a moment where in which Satan had to encourage him, kicked the snowball with all of his seven year old might. The boy gasped when he foot skidded off, and stumbled, slipped, then fell. Or would have, if Satan hadn't seen the result of such a disastrous stance a mile away and was already behind Yukio, supporting him.

"Careful! I'm glad you're so enthusiastic, but you can't just kick without bracing for recoil!"

Slowly, Satan went over the steps to what he deemed a proper kick, making sure to spell out in excruciating detail the importance of ever little body movement. His natural grace, however, outstripped a human's on his worst days and Yukio, sadly, already had a terrible habit of overextending. It was adorable the way Yukio stumbled and grew frustrated with himself, unable to pull his leg up properly or figure out how to 'snap' his foot forward, cheeks even redder than they had been when the cold nipped at them. Comforting him only made it worse, and Satan was too busy fawning over his child to notice the bizarre look Shiro was giving him.

"Rin, where did you learn that?"

Oh right, the shitty priest was here, and Satan supposed it was really weird to see a child who knew so much about the technicalities of actual fighting. Whatever he'd seen in the past had just been Satan beating a few fools who he didn't actually need to try against, even if they were older kids. And while his prefer style was an all-out offense with claws and teeth, at some point or another he'd had to refine things to at least some extent.

"Practice." Shiro looked unconvinced, so Satan decided he'd humor him at least a bit, "I fight a lot cause it's fun. Someone's shitty older brother offered to teach me a little bit."

A blatant he hadn't thought about in the least, but already, as naturally as breathing, the threads spun free, "He didn't like that his younger brother was such a goddamn baby, so he's taught me a bit."

Shiro nodded, accepting the explanation and crouching to pile up the snow Yukio was enthusiastically kicking away into a third ball. But the look in his eyes set Satan instantly on guard. It was doubt, not of his story, but of the person who didn't exist. "Alright, well, I'd like to meet him sometime then."

"Can't. I see why his little brother doesn't like him. He was an ass who didn't like it when I actually won. Which was all the time, by the way." Satan explained, discarding his imaginary teacher at even the slightest hint that a flaw could be found. As if he were so dumb as to let such a small lie go on for too long.

"Language. And that's a shame, but," And here Shiro raised his voice a little, making sure Yukio heard, "if someone ever makes you feel really uncomfortable or, lord forbid, unsafe, then you shouldn't hesitate to get away from them and come to me."

Not exactly a bad lesson to try and teach, but Satan, fundamentally, couldn't let the man have anything, "My fatass teacher makes me feel uncomfortable with how dumb she is. Can I stop going to class now?"

"That's not what I meant, Rin, and you know it. Also-"

"Language, I fucking get it. And also don't oversimplify things." Or people like him would pick his words apart and throw them right back with sharper edges that cut away plans, "That's enough, Yukio."

"Oh, ok."

It was simple to pick up the snowball now that it'd been halved in size. Yukio 'helped', desperately pushing as Satan bore the weight, cheeks puffed out as he gave it his all. He let just enough weight bear down on the little boy to make him feel useful and slowly guided the ball on top with a solid thump. It rocked shakily and almost immediately Yukio was shoving snow in the seam to try and steady it. They spent a few minutes smoothing the two lumps into something vaguely resembling a torso, Satan more or less guided by Yukio's whims to make the "most perfect snowman ever", brushing a little bit of snow off here only to add it back a couple of inches over, standing on the tips of his toes to pat down the top.

When Shiro finished his own personal project and lugged what hat to be the head over, Satan intercepted him and snatched the ball out of his hands with a flat glare. Instead of being annoyed, however, the shitty priest only looked smug and shrugged, "Go ahead, Rin."

Satan was suspicious until he turned around…and realized the snowman was a good deal taller than him. Tall enough, in fact, that he couldn't properly reach the very top even when he stretched as far as he could.

Yukio watched, wide-eyed and worried his twin would topple the whole thing over, "Be careful!"

"I…am! Son of a…!"

Shiro, still looking amused, coughed loudly to cover the curse (as if it made a difference), and asked, "Do you want me to…?"

"I've got this." Probably. If he stood on the tips of his toes and stretched, then he'd be just tall enough to place the head.

Probably.

He'd beaten worse 'probablies' before.

Probably.

And so Satan, trapped in the body barely past its toddler years, stretched with all his might. He felt the snowball rest against the torso and tried to push it forward. But the slope was still pretty sharp, and he very nearly lost it several times, snow threatening to slip free from his fingers. But he was so close, almost there, and-

He fell face first into the snow.

The snowball fell on top of him and exploded.

Shiro snickered, even as Yukio shrieked with worry and desperately set out to 'unearth' his brother.

Satan just groaned.

A resolution was reached between devil and priest, and Yukio, sitting on Satan's shoulders, placed the newly constructed snowman head on top, guided carefully by Shiro. By that point Satan had started to feel quite cold and miserable and simple grit his teeth to stop the chattering as he helped Yukio dress up the snowman. When they were done, scarf, sticks, and stones in place, Satan sighed happily, readily to head to the warm indoors.

Or at least he was, until Yukio suddenly seemed to be struck by an idea and ran away. A moment later he was on his knees, gathering and patting down snow once again, "Rin! Rin, let's make another!"

"But Yukio…there isn't enough snow to make another." Really, there was, but Satan just wanted to go inside already.

"Um…We'll make a lot of littler ones then! A…A snowman army!"

Either the shitty priest was also getting cold or had noticed the now shivering boy's distress, and loudly clapped his hands to get Yukio's attention.

"Alright, who wants hot chocolate?"

Yukio perked up, snowman army goal suddenly forgotten, "Marshmallows?"

Because that was all the boy really cared about, since Shiro only ever used the grossly oversized ones that Yukio happily picked out at the store. Satan found it adorable how Yukio would play with them as he slipped the boy his own balls of puffy sugar and then sipped his (marshmallow free) hot chocolate.

"Of course! You can even make a marshmallow snowman." Which was sure to be messy, Shiro rationalized the sticky hands would be cleaned with a hot bath.

Satan smile, deciding that, while he still very much hated the cold, he could tolerate it once in a while for Yukio's sake. Especially with the promise of hots drinks and a warm space heater to camp near. Maybe he'd figure out a way to coax Yukio into making an even bigger mess than normal just to give that shitty priest some more work. Yes, that'd make the day even better.

But of course the power had to have gone out at some point while they were outside.

Chapter Text

Satan huddled in as tight of a ball as possible, verbally cursing the cold world and mentally compiling a hit list of incompetent people. The idiots who'd somehow let the power go out were right at the very tippy top, only slightly below the architect who never thought to install a real fireplace here. The other Exorcists who loitered about the church were carefully tiptoeing around him, nervous by easily the worst mood they'd ever seen him in. Well, at least they were less mouthy now, silently trying to figure out a way to appease him before something terrible happened.

Yukio wavered a bit, unused to seeing his strong older brother in such a…sad state. Sure it was cold inside, but it wasn't like it was as cold as it was outside! "Rin…the power will come on again soon!"

Satan grunted in vague acknowledgement, but otherwise ignored the still-chipper Yukio, who started babbling happily about their time outside as if it hadn't just happened. Shiro was on the phone with someone or another, and Satan eyed him suspiciously, almost certain the shitty priest was trying to pull strings to get the power back on early, lest the 'spawn of Satan' grow uncontrollable. Honestly, what did that shitty priest thing was going to happen? That he was going to set the house on fire for warmth? Granted, he would be warm then, but where was he going to sleep after that?! Seriously, he wasn't an utter moron like-

Wait.

"Yukio, come with me."

"And our snowman is the bestest and…Oh, ok, Rin."

"Yes, it is the best. Now come on!"

Shiro didn't notice the boys leaving the room, or else he would have done something. He'd been busy on the phone trying to pressure Mephisto into sending over a battery powered heater or something. Honestly, he really didn't care whatever contraption the borderline madman sent his way, just so long as he got a heat source soon. Except the man was being absolutely impossible as usually, laughing off Shiro's worries. Rin's foul mood was practically palatable to the point that Shiro was quickly becoming afraid of what the boy would do-

The smell of smoke was a slap in the face.

"Rin, the tree! You're burning the tree!"

Shiro was frozen just long enough to feel both his heart and phone drop to the floor. Not that he even noticed, already shoving through the door and nearly breaking it off its hinges and praying he wasn't too late. Somehow, in what had to have been ten minutes at best, Rin had drug an old broken pew no one had gotten around to taking to the dump into the yard…and had set it on fire.

Of course.

The old wood, dry and brittle (like his sanity, Shiro thought cynically) had erupted into an impressive blaze the boys stood rather worryingly close to, Rin looking pleased with himself. Thankfully, it was the middle of the yard, far away from any trees or buildings. In one hand he held an old Christmas decoration, a miniature stuffed tree, which was also on fire, because of course it was. He poked it with a twig and stirred up the cotton inside it, watching it blacken and turn to ash without fear, even as the flames licked closer and closer to his hands. Yukio stared, fascinated as the bright colors turned black when swallowed reds and yellows, a strange contradiction in his mind. He clutched yet another plush tree to his chest like a teddy bear, not sure if he should be afraid or dazzled by the sight before him. Rin made motions to set that 'tree' alight as well, though Yukio shrunk back, clutching his new soft toy possessively.

"Rin, please stop trying to turn your brother into a pyromaniac." Shiro sounded dead inside even to his own ears, because maybe he was just in a tiny bit of denial that Rin had started methodically burning a box of Christmas decorations over a flaming pew like a tiny anti-Christ in the making.

Blue eyes flickered to the Paladin with clear disgust, "I'm not a pyromaniac."

Shiro looked at the burning pew and collection of sticks and decorations piled around it. He'd question the 'how' later, after he'd thoroughly searched the twin's rooms for any matches he was now sure Rin had squirreled away.

Satan noticed the shitty priest's eyes flicker to the fire and shrugged. To him it was simple logic, "So? It was cold."

"Rin, you just set something on fire." Somehow. At least it was normal fire and not blue, though the consolation was tiny and hardly comforting. "What am I supposed to think?"

"I think you should think that it was fucking cold."

Shiro sighed and slowly repeated as many prayers as he could remember to shave off the rising irritation. He was calm, he was centered and perfectly in control of his life, and not at all rapidly reaching the end of his rope with one of his beloved children. No, he would be the pillar to ground Rin's wild behavior, even if it killed him. But first, he had to do something about the burning pile of wood before someone called the police.

At least he would have, if Rin hadn't firmly placed himself between him and the fire, looking incredibly unamused as if Shiro were the child, "No. This, all of it, is mine. At least until you do something about the damn power."

"Rin, fire is dangerous."

"If you're fucking dumb, maybe. So I guess you should stay the hell away before you get burned."

He ignored the insult to his intelligence and gratefully took the fire extinguisher one of the Exorcists had had the foresight to bring out as they chased after him. At least they hadn't literally jumped the gun and started shooting, though he caught sight of some twitchy fingers, "Rin, I'm putting the fire out. Now."

"No you aren't."

"Rin-!"

"Shitty priest! See, I can say names too."

And like that it continued for some time until he was borderline shouting, with Rin looking nothing but smug as he riled the man up effortlessly. Shiro hated this, the arguing, but Rin was unmovable and unshakable, with enough raw power and talent to potentially seriously hurt both himself and even Shiro if it came down to blows. If he couldn't ever get the boy to yield to him even once when he was this young, then what hope did he have to control him if when he grew older, stronger? What would happen to Rin if he ever awakened his powers if he was already this vicious? Why couldn't Yukio have been the one who had inherited the powers? Then at least he wouldn't have to seriously considering the idea that someday he might have to put down one of his children (they were his now, no one would ever tell him otherwise) like a rabid animal. If Rin could never take an order, never listened to anyone, then how would he ever convince anyone he wasn't a serious threat? How was he supposed to-!?

"Why can't you just listen to me?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I am your father!" Because he was sure to be the only thing between Rin and a violent execution one day, but only if he could make it seem as if the boy wasn't a demon in heart and mind. How was he supposed to do that when all Rin did was act like a demon?

Satan, however, didn't at all like it when the filthy beast before him pretended to be Yukio's father. He only accepted it as a necessary evil for easy access to Assian goods and luxuries, but to hear it shouted in his face, as if the filth understood anything? Unacceptable, and the ruler of Gehenna let venom spill from his lips. "No."

Shiro recoiled as if slapped, reeling and gaping as if he were sucking in air to fill the hole suddenly torn in his heart. It took too long to answer, and he stared in horror even as Rin was unmoving, "…What?"

"You aren't anyone's father. Not mine, not Yukio's, so shut your fucking mouth."

It was so simple, so easy to utterly destroy the Paladin that it was pathetic. Before his very eyes, he saw the man crumble, unable to accept the words and looking as if his world was crumbling. Good. Satan couldn't care less about how much he hurt the man, for a thousand lashes to his soul would only be a miniscule fraction of punishment due. This was nothing compared to what he'd done when he'd ripped Yuri away, and Satan would gleefully force him to suffer and struggle with a hopeless battle to make one of his 'adopted children' love him he'd never win.

And when Satan was satisfied with his strength, he'd finally kill that man and-

"Dad is my dad!"

The shout was powerful, shaking with its raw emotion laid bare, and for a moment Satan didn't recognize his son's own pained screech. Locked up, he turned and saw the boy, fat tears pooling in his eyes and suddenly the demon remembered that Yukio had always been there, listening. He'd been so mad he'd forgotten, said things that there was no way Yukio would understand, and the poisonous emotions he'd felt evaporated…He had to fix this, stop it before-

"Dad is my dad, and I love him! Rin is my big brother, and I love you too! So why can't…why are you two always…" Yukio broke down into sobs, trying to hide himself behind patterned mittens.

Distantly, as if there were a mile between them, Satan heard the shitty priest start talking, trying to comfort and sooth. He ignored the man, ignored the disgust he felt that the Paladin was even near his son, and stumbled to Yukio's side, reaching to embrace him like he'd done so many times before. Except…

"Don't touch me! Why can't you just love dad like I do?"

"Yukio…!" And then Satan was falling, pushed.

Yukio's shove knocked Satan into the snow, and the demon let himself fall, too stunned to resist. Any happiness he might have felt at the display of strength withered and died with the sound of Yukio's sniffle sight of red eyes. "Why do you two hate each other? I hate it!"

"I hate you!"

Yukio ran inside in tears, slipping past Shiro without slowing even when he cried for the boy to stop, his brother hot on his heels even knowing he'd be pushed away. The priest watched the boys run inside, feeling oddly disconnected from everything that had just happened. He could feel the divide between him and Rin, a gaping maw he just couldn't pass, and, with practice, steeled his heart for the difficult days to come. He managed to put out the fire without issue and, after the last of the flames were gone, realized something.

Rin was right: it really was cold outside and the faint wisps of smoke couldn't hope to fill his heart.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Tinder and Flame

Expect as many tone shifts as people Satan has set on fire.

It took Satan approximately seven years of his new life to meet his first true threat to Yukio.

Oh sure, he hated the shitty priest on a fundamental level, but the man was at least determined to protect Yukio and too stupid to see who Satan actually was, so the Paladin got a begrudging pass. There'd been other annoyances over the years, but they'd been nothing more than petty bullies who wouldn't actually seriously hurt Yukio even if they had the chance to. Not that Satan would let even that minor of a threat stand, mind you. They were lucky his fire was mostly sealed or he'd have branded that lesson into them more than he had. Demons were even less of a problem and instinctively fled from him, and by proxy Yukio, without knowing why. Any that got too curious he destroyed.

But this threat was...

Unexpected.

The woman looked nice enough. She was pretty, with a face that was attractive enough to be considered desirable, but not so perfect as to be unapproachable. A softness graced her limbs in all the right places, making her look gentle and loving, while still beautifully curvy. Overall, the ideal of a young mother.

Satan also knew she wasn't that boy's mother.

Hand in hand, the young raven- haired boy Satan vaguely recognized from class hummed happily as he skipped away with the stranger. The boy, whose name Satan hadn't bothered to remember, was someone in his class who had something or other messed up in his head that made him too nice. He would walk up to anyone and everyone and casually declare his love for them and would beg to play or for attention in general. There was nothing terribly wrong with him, but the general over affection grated Satan's nerves. However, Yukio liked him and the two got along, so Satan would tolerate the boy.

Weak demons swarmed the woman, gathered around her in a corrupted halo, and gleefully fed from the dark emotions rolling off of her in waves. Her intentions were easy to read; her black heart spread bare before his eyes. She was wicked with a withered husk beating in her chest, and planned to use the child that unconditionally trusted her until his body collapsed. Depraved, twisted things awaited the boy that would surely utterly destroy him until death took him, be it by injury or his own hand. He would be lucky to die quickly, but would likely sob till his grave.

Satan continued to walk away, ignoring the unfolding tragedy. What did he care what happened to some brat that wasn't Yukio?

Except…

What if that had been Yukio?

Yukio wasn't slow like the idiot child casually holding hands with his doom, but things could happen. Usually kidnappings weren't so…clean, and force could be used if someone was uncooperative. Satan hadn't cared about the abductions that had been taking place last week in the city, but seeing one happen before his very eyes reminded him of the bits and pieces he'd heard. They were both children around Yukio's age, with dark hair and unusually bright eyes. If there was a preferred target, then, if there was even a hint of a chance of future danger, then Satan would completely and utterly crush the threat.

"Hey!" Satan shouted, and he felt pleased when the woman froze in fear, "Where're you going?"

The boy smiled, still unable to understand, "Rin, hi! Have you met this nice lady?"

"No. So…Where're you going?"

"Oh…" The woman looked caught off guard that she'd been called out. It probably hadn't ever happened to her, what with her looks and friendly superficial presence that wouldn't lead anyone to doubt her. But she saw he was (physically) a child and plastered a motherly smile on with flawless precision. "I'm just buying lil' Satoru here ice cream."

The demons around her buzzed excitedly and Satan met her bright green eyes. They were warm and friendly, and anyone else would have missed the way her eyes assessed him, picked him apart. She was judging him for some desirable trait and Satan hid his own intent behind his own wide eyes. Maybe it was because he and Satoru looked similar, maybe it was because he wasn't nervous around her like any other child with common sense and decent parents would be, or maybe it was the simple chance to scoop two children up in one go. Whatever it was, she found something she liked, and, with poisoned kindness, "Would you like some?"

Satan imagined turning the woman into a red smear and smile brilliantly, "That sounds great!"

The woman, fool that she was, held hands with her doom.

Satan sighed and absently used one of the pencils from his bag to pick the flecks of blood from under his fingernails. Despite his initial thoughts, the kidnapper lady hadn't been that bad. After his gracious host had shown him to her home and her giant of a partner in crime, she'd been generous enough to let him have some of her spare children's clothes when his had gotten dirty with her blood. She'd even given him some of her prized perfume to cover up the smell of blood and her burned flesh. How thoughtful!

Satan snickered wickedly, mood light and airy from his recent stress relief. Sure, the annoying priest would probably wonder why he had new clothes and smelled like "Summer's Bliss" (humans had the strangest names for things, honestly), but nothing the fool could say would bring his mood down. The evidence was long gone, burned to ash by pretty blue flames, and it'd be easy to make an excuse for his late arrival. It'd all been worth playing a fool for a while; not only had he gotten a chance to relieve some stress but he'd also eliminated a potential threat to Yukio very, very, thoroughly. He'd only needed a single look at the children in cages to know he'd made the right choice in being proactive.

When he'd finished having fun with the two victims, Satan hadn't felt the need to kill the weak kids on top of everything else. He wouldn't get nearly the same rush when his enemies couldn't at least pretend they had a chance. Some of the brats might talk, sure, but no one would believe them. They were all terribly scared children who'd be babbling nonsense about demons thanks to a quick burned Temptaint, until they either wised up and quieted or were thrown into an insane asylum.

After all, there was no way a seven year old could possibly overpower two adults three times his size, much less rip off that bear of a man's arm. The clawed open chest cavity would forever baffle them, and the lady's legs must have been bashed with a sledgehammer with how many pieces her bones were in. How and why the two bodies were charred black would probably be the main mystery detectives would discuss in vain for weeks.

Nails clean, Satan checked his appearance one last time before he entered the monastery. Flawless by seven-year old standards. The wards made his skin prickle for the first time in years and the demon frowned. So maybe he'd overdone it and let a little too much of his demonic power bleed into his body, so what? He didn't really care; anything to protect Yukio, but it might set off the priest. It was already going to be an ugly enough argument since the bastard didn't like it when he stayed out after dark. Satan, however, knew he could take care of himself and didn't listen to any rules except the sparse ones he set for himself. He'd come and go whenever he damn well pleased.

Oh well. He'd just say he lost track of time playing a game with some new friends.

He'd absolutely slaughtered them, so it'd been a real good time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: A Storybook Ending

If Yukio were older, he probably would have thought more about the stories Rin told him.

Yukio was pretty sure he was the only one who knew just how good his brother was with words. No one thought Rin could do anything but hiss and curse with a disrespectful drawl and plenty of spite. It was because of that, no one ever thought Rin could weave a story, but time and time again Yukio saw his brother lie…no, twist and change the truth until things favored him more. A different word here, a controlled reaction there, and suddenly he could wiggle his way out of most trouble without anything noticing. Yukio knew it was wrong, dad told him lying was bad, but he couldn't help but be fascinated by how a little lie could change things for the better.

So, maybe Yukio had started practicing lying a tiny bit more than he should. If he could change a situation for the better just by changing a few facts, if he could keep Rin out of trouble by lying to the teacher, then what was so wrong with that?

Besides, Rin's ability to lie was what probably made him such a great storyteller.

Rin would tell Yukio elaborate stories whenever he got the chance. Sometimes it was throughout the day when they had free time, other times it was late at night, when they really should be sleeping but were being naughty and stayed up with flashlights under the blankets. No matter the time or place, they were stories Rin would tell him and only him, never with anyone else around. Yukio wasn't sure why, since his brother's stories were amazing, elaborate and giant tales about great battels and fights, so why wouldn't he want to share them? They were a whole lot better than the short stories that didn't really make sense other kids liked to tell each other.

Most of the stories were centered around the life of a character Rin simply called "The King" and what he did and accomplished in his life. Alone in a savage and near-lawless land, The King used his immense power to bring order to that entire world and eventually become, well, the king of that world. Yukio had found it funny how bad Rin was at coming up with good names even though he was so great at coming up with good stories. But he didn't say anything after Rin gave him an annoyed look, because then the story might have stopped.

The story came in fragments, told in nearly self-contained episodes, even if there was an overarching plot that came into play. It was hard for Yukio to keep track of it all because a lot of times things that happened a long time again were suddenly important. Sometimes The King was betrayed and parts of his own army turned on him, sometimes a minor character that had only been vaguely mentioned came back as a powerful force that changed everything and very nearly destroyed The King's plans. Sometimes someone important to The King would vanished and only be found, dead, weeks later.

Yukio learned pretty early on that Rin's stories usually weren't very happy. The fighting never seemed to end, instead going on and on for what seemed like forever, countless battels bleeding into one another until it was all just one huge mess. Yukio would never know how The King kept fighting for so long when it all just seemed pointless, like nothing he did mattered. Unless Rin skipped ahead in time, every piece of the story was about killing and slaughter, with such detail it made the young boy cringe. And yet, Yukio couldn't stop listening. Rin told the stories so well and with such passion that it sucked him in and he listened regardless of his own doubts, enraptured with the tales of all The King's triumphs and failures night after night, gasping at the twists and turns, and in awe of the powerful magic and brute strength described for him. Until finally, impossibly, The King actually reached his goal and ruled his entire world. Yukio thought the story would end there, because that had to be the end right?

Except no, there was one more story Rin had.

He wouldn't admit it, because it felt really girly and he was sure Rin would make fun of him for it, but he liked that final story the most. It was so out of place among the tales of epic battles and fighting, but for some reason Yukio couldn't help but feel drawn to it. Rin always told that story differently from the rest, his voice sounding really strange and his face downcast with a weak smile. Like he was happy and sad at the same time, and there was something scary raw there Yukio couldn't help but stare at.

He never thought his brother would be one to get emotional over a love story of all things.

The story of how The King fell in love wasn't a long one, but it still really confused Yukio. The King met a girl, tried to trick her, was tricked in turn, and somehow that led to love? It didn't make any sense and Rin was unusually vague about the whole thing, only giving bits and pieces as to what had actually happened. When Yukio asked how a girl could trick someone as great and smart as The King, Rin had looked weirdly embarrassed and refused to give a straight answer. He'd tried to get an answer out of his brother, complaining that not knowing made the story bad, but Rin had just gotten so annoyed he'd turned red in the face and sputtered angrily.

Yukio decided his brother just hadn't come up with a reason yet. Honestly, such a good story and he doesn't think about how to make the ending make sense? What was wrong with just saying they fell in love anyway? That's how it always went, at least.

Even though that was the last part of the story, Yukio still had a nagging feeling that he wasn't hearing the actual end. The King and the girl didn't even get married in it: Rin just said she was pregnant with twins and ended the story without another word. No amount of pestering could get him to continue, not even Yukio's usually full-proof pouting!

"I'll tell you when you're older." Rin had said.

Why did that matter? Rin told him all about people fighting and dying, but he couldn't hear about The King and the girl he loved just a little more?

It just wasn't fair! He wanted to see their happy ending already!

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Claws

Satan thinks children and sharp objects don't go together, mostly because he wants said sharp object for himself.

Very early on, Satan had realized just how weak and fragile humans were, even after they'd grown up. They almost never developed any magic or other abilities, didn't heal very fast, and didn't have any real way to defend themselves. Oh sure, they had developed ways to fight that worked around their weaknesses, but that still didn't quite make up for his sudden lack of claws and fangs. He'd always been a very hands-on guy, so he found himself sometimes staring forlornly at his weak human nails, suddenly aware of what he'd lost. He'd gotten into the habit of filing them into points, but it still wasn't the same. The claws had been deadly and dark things he'd used to rip and rend when he'd first started learning all the intricate ways his pretty blue fire worked.

Yes, in some time long forgotten, Satan hadn't really known jack shit about his own signature power. Things were weird back then, what could he say? But he'd learned with extensive practice just how precise he could be if he wanted, and enjoyed controlling the fire almost as much as he loved simply letting lose. The flames demanded that they burn and consume, so he didn't fight it and let them, but under his terms alone. An entire room could be alight with licking fire, awash with blue, and yet a single flower in the heart of the inferno could remain untouched if he so wished. It made his many (many, many) failed possession attempts all the more infuriating. He knew what he was doing, he had the control, so why then?!

It had to be because humans were fundamentally weak.

And because they were weak, without fire or claws or fangs to defend themselves with, they made fakes and thought themselves to suddenly be beasts. Fake beasts that had deluded themselves into thinking they could fight a natural-born predator who waded through their blood while they squirmed at the sight of gore and flinched from pain.

Absently, he flipped a small switchblade in his hand, testing the weight and edge against his fingertip until blood welled free. He found he rather liked it, even if wasn't nearly as sharp as his claws and snickered at the horrified look some jackass middle schooler gave him when he pointed the blade back towards him. Honestly, you'd think someone who'd been so gung-ho about getting "payback for my little brother" wouldn't practically shit himself the moment he lost his weapon. Satan was still in the body of a six year old, how imposing could he possibly be?

Very, the demon thought absently, as he made a show licking the blood dripping from his finger and saw the middle school brat shudder. He had a bad habit of playing with his food, but, well, it was fun.

The kid had nearly a foot on him, but Satan still only raised one brow when the boy recovered from his shock and attempted to loom over the demon. Attempted, because the boy refused to get within even a yard of the outstretched blade, which completely ruined even the faintest chance of the little, unimaginative, intimidation tactic of working.

"H-hey! That's mine!"

Satan stared at the boy, unblinking, for several long seconds.

The world narrowed, blurred, and then he had pinned the older boy to the floor, knife to his neck. He'd cradled the boy's head from the cracked concrete so something stupid didn't happen, and, deceptively gently, let go of the blond locks he'd fisted to keep the head steady. Absently, he let one of his sharp(ish) nails traces patterns on the back of the tensed neck.

"You really don't know anything, do you, vermin?"

The idiot who'd attacked him really wasn't suited for fighting. He'd frozen, suffocated so thoroughly by his own fear he didn't even realize he could have tried to call for help. Well, at least the fuck moron hadn't pissed himself. Yet.

"You see, you fucking lost. And the loser has to give up something."

Satan let his nail, as dull as it was, ghost up the side of the boy's neck, absently resting on his pulse point before moving on, dragging up inch by inch with each word, "It can be anything really. I'd say your pride would be enough, except you clearly have none. So I decided I'd take your pretty little knife." His hand had reached the boy's face, tiny and hardly able to eclipse it like he would have liked. But it was enough, and he slowly traced a trail up to the boy's watering eyes. He let one finger lightly press down when the next blink came. Not enough to hurt, but to keep the lid closed.

"But it is a rather nice knife, so I can see why you'd want to keep it. I still need something of yours, however. Now, if I don't get to keep the knife then what…."

He slowly increased the pressure until the boy gasped in what he probably thought was pain. No, this vermin didn't know what pain was, and in another time, another place…

"…should I get?"

Satan got a very generous gift that day. Which was to be expected; he taught that boy a very valuable lesson and it only cost him a weapon he couldn't even use properly anyway. Well, that and any sense of pride he had.

His eyes were an ugly brown anyway.

"They'll never believe you. And you'd have to admit you tried to stab a grade-schooler." Satan said when he'd released the boy.

"You…You're not human! You're a demon!"

Satan laughed till he was in stitches, and returned to the monastery in high spirit.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: Thrall

No matter what anyone says about him, Satan knows he's not nearly as shallow and petty as people think. When he wants to be.

Satan was dancing.

It wasn't anything fancy, more the simply the sway of his body to a tune that sounded watery and far away. No, the music that drifted in and out of focus wasn't nearly as important as the delicate body held in his arms. Tiny and breakable, but also filled with a deceiving power and fiery will that was so strong and bright his heart ached with even a glance. She's scorched his hands before, looked him in the eye as her equal, and, somehow, they'd reached the understanding he'd always fantasized he'd one day find. Too perfect, too amazing to be his, and yet she held him back, rocking with him to the slow hum of the tune. And this time, it was real.

As if sensing his thoughts, Yuri smiled sweetly and squeezed their entwined hands just a bit tighter. She didn't shy from the hidden claws that still lightly poked her hands, didn't flinch from his pretty blue flames that likes to reach out and tickle her, and didn't so much as bat an eye as his other very inhuman features. She stole his breath, embraced him, and was more than he'd have ever let himself expect.

They made quite an odd pair, honestly. Anyone else would have thought Yuri was simply pretty at best, but too homely to really give a second look. To be perfectly honest, Yuri couldn't hold a candle to the lines of absolutely flawless demonesses that would throw themselves at him, with plump chests and shapely hips and a perfect face. So very few would ever truly understand why he'd picked Yuri of all the women in the worlds, never even considering his heart. That he'd had a heart he'd buried until the woman just as fiery as his flames dug it up and, somehow, found beautiful.

He loved her, so it was stupid, really, that'd he'd never gotten around to it until now. It was a tiny little thing he'd never done that kept nagging at the back of his mind. Three little words, as cliché as it got, and yet he'd never said them.

Yuri didn't mind, instead tittering cutely whenever she said those words to him and he only mumbled something incoherent back. She knew how he felt, probably before he'd even admitted it to himself, and it was enough for her that he was honest through actions instead of words. But he didn't want him to be 'enough' for her; no he wanted, more than anything, to be her 'everything'.

Well, ok, maybe not her 'everything'. That wasn't exactly possible when he could see his two (adorable) brats peaking in from one of the doors to the side. Even less so when Yuri was taking the initiative and had decided she'd round up his estranged children to have "family bonding time" with. Normally he'd laugh himself sick at the dumbass who tried to order his kids to do anything, some of them had tempers that put his to shame, but Yuri was a completely different case. Considering how she'd single-handedly thwarted his original plans to possess her with nothing but shitty stick shift and environmental (in)convenience, he was sure at least half of the menaces would be here within the week.

Because a law of the world was that somehow, someway, Yuri would always manage to have her way. And because she was ridiculously sentimental and determined to somehow be even more perfect, she'd learn every one of his weakness and faults and fulfill even the faintest of wishes he refused to voice. She was amazing and perfect, and Satan knew she deserved to hear his love for her. It was only fair he finally granted one of her unvoiced desires.

"Yuri…I-"

Without a word, Yuri dissolved, turning to ashes in his hands. Like always, she'd never hear it, because he'd was-

Satan awoke and knew, without any doubt, what day it was.

He sat up slowly, taking time to rearrange the tiny arms around his waist. Honestly, the separate beds did nothing to stop Yukio from crawling under his covers every night, and Satan was in no rush to stop it. He was precious and tiny and it made it all the easier to protect him if something ever went wrong. Shiro was too soft and far too invested to ever suddenly change his mind, but he knew damn well he'd done little to endear himself to the other exorcists. He was pretty sure they all respected the shitty priest too much to ever try anything (for some reason) so he was fairly confident nothing would change when it'd be eight years now. But he couldn't ever be too careful.

The faintest trace of pink licking the sky told Satan how early it was, and he sighed. He always had the same dream on this day every year. It wasn't unpleasant, but it felt like his own soul was mocking him.

'See, see what you'll never have? You should have tried harder. But because you were afraid, you lost everything.'

Not everything, Satan remained himself. He spared a moment to admire Yukio, his first real child. He'd had many children, but they'd never truly been his children. A contradiction, since Yukio had so little demon in him he'd be human for the rest of his life unless something drastic happened. It had nothing to do with his apparently uninheritable fire, and everything to do with a level of nuance he was sure few expected him to be capable of.

Grinning, Satan lightly shook Yukio awake. The boy was groggy and stared blankly ahead as Satan slipped the glasses on. The sudden sharpening of the world seemed to do the trick and Yukio yawned, rubbing his eyes under the glasses. Then, with a grumble, Yukio buried his face back into Satan's chest and did his best to fall back asleep.

Now it was time for the magic words that would surely do the trick.

"Yukio, it's your birthday today."

Shiro's pained yelp as sixty pounds of excited child woke him up via flying tackle always brightened Satan's day. Yukio was shouting excitedly for him now, probably to get his help in physically dragging Shiro out of bed and ready so they could open presents a whole two minutes sooner. Obediently, Satan trotted into the room, laughing at the resigned look at the shitty priest's face as he did his best to deal with an excited and newly-minted eight-year-old. So Satan might have done his best to work up Yukio last night about his birthday and the presents.

It was all about being there, in the end.

Chapter Text

"Look, Yukio, watch."

Match struck, Satan lite the paper on fire. For a few seconds he held it and watched the flames blacken the paper, eating away the white with licks of red. It wasn't blue like he'd have preferred, but it'd do its job and, in a few seconds, the paper was ash on the wind.

"And like that it's gone. All of the bad things they said, all of their efforts to get to you are gone in a couple of seconds. See, they aren't that big of a deal. Now you do it!"

"Ah, but fire is..." Bad, scary, painful, was everything Yukio had been taught.

"It won't hurt you if you don't let it. Look." Satan took Yukio's hand and, together, they made the motion of striking the match. Yukio flinched at the tiny hissing sound as the flame sputtered to life, spitting like a snake. But the demon holding his hand refused to let the boy let go of the flickering flame. "Look. You're the one who brought it into existence. And, if it ever gets out of control or disobeys you…"

Two fingers suddenly pinched the fire from existence.

"Gone. Sadly, people aren't so easy to deal with," Not unless an opportunity came up, at least, "…But it's the same principle. If someone gets in your way, you just have to be bigger and stronger and they won't stand a chance."

Yukio felt unsure- shaken actually. His big brother always seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, always knew all those big words adults liked to use, and was so sure and confident about everything, so unlike himself. Yet the words caused something uneasy curl in his gut, restless, and made the boy shift from the heavy feeling. He felt like there was someone that wasn't being said, something…weird. The air felt tight in his throat, and he wanted to throw his brother off his back, free himself from the sheer presence Rin suddenly seemed to have. But he was weak, he couldn't find the strength.

"Rin…"

The weight was gone and tension evaporated when another match was waved between his eyes, bumping Yukio's glasses lightly. He flinched back in surprise and looked up to see an impatient Rin, who kicked a stack of papers and old notebooks, "Come on, this time you have to do it yourself. I want to see those shitty notes burn already!"

"Rin, you shouldn't swear! Dad will get mad!" And then there'd be fighting and yelling and…And maybe Yukio was weird, because he didn't care when Rin shouting himself hoarse at the other kids, but it bothered him when his twin and father fought. With anyone else, it didn't matter, but…

"Too fucking bad! I don't care what that shitty old man thinks! I'll say whatever I damn well please!" Satan proudly declared, sprinkling in extra swears for effect. Honestly he was doing the shitty priest a favor! If he was so bothered by a few generic words, then he needed a thicker skin! But not too thick; it was great stress relief to tear the Paladin down.

Yukio fidgeted, words coming out almost silent, "But…but I don't really like it when…"

"When…?"

"Never mind…"

Satan mentally filed away the strange reaction to pull apart and figure out later. "Oh ok. Well come on!"

Yukio fumbled enough matches that eventually Satan sighed and took the box. With practiced ease, he lite the match and handed it to Yukio. The boy panicked for a moment at suddenly holding dangerous fire between his fingertips, but calmed down quickly. Unnaturally quick, in fact, and the demon lightly cuffed Yukio over the head when he realized the young boy was staring a bit too intensely at the match. He dropped the match, but Satan didn't really care.

"Don't do that. If you overthink it, you'll just get burned." And blue haze was a bitch to recover from, both mentally and rebuilding everything that'd been burned down.

The second strike Satan made was practically synced with the back door opening. The moment froze, suspended as Shiro, unknowingly, stared down the ruler of Gehenna with nothing more than a sigh and a quick prayer for strength.

"Rin. Please tell me you aren't about to-"

Expressionless, Satan dropped the fire and the papers at his feet turned into a ball of flames. Shiro didn't even react except to remove his glasses for a second and attempt to ward off a headache. "I can't believe you're a pyromaniac…" Except the Paladin very well could, and it frightened him that it'd simply become an aspect of one of his children.

"I'm not a pyromaniac."

"Of course you aren't" Shiro deadpanned and turned back inside to find one of the many fire extinguishers he'd started nearly obsessively hoarding.

He really, really, really, should have taken Rin to a psychologist a long time ago. Except he wasn't quite sure he wanted someone to take an in-depth look into Rin's psyche, not when he wasn't sure how well things like therapy and, lord almighty forbid, drugs, would interact with his not-quite-human mind and body.

Against his better judgement, he'd voiced a few of his concerns for Mephisto only to be laughed at and have his worries waved away. Because almost all of Rin's violent, possessive, and outright defiant behavior was completely normal for a "healthy, growing, demon looking to prove himself and claim territory".

Shiro very nearly strangled the man.

There was no magical answer to his problems, nothing that would solve the gap between himself and Rin. Mephisto was useless, blaming Shiro for doing something wrong because, by all rights, he should have been claimed as Rin's 'territory' just as Yukio had been. It was apparently all very unusual, Rin, as young as he was, seeing Shiro more as competition for Yukio's affection that a father figure, or, at the very least, a caretaker. So since it was all surely Shiro's fault, he'd better figure out how to fix it and make nice with Rin.

Mephisto had enough tact to not outright say it, but the Paladin knew what he'd hinted at.

It was a disaster in the making.

Chapter Text

Yukio looked up and then away, feeling embarrassed and worried. Beside him, his twin, Rin, just looked annoyed, hands on hips and glaring at the gutter where the ball had been caught as if it'd suddenly move under from sheer willpower. Yukio wouldn't have been surprised if it did. His brother's glares were just that scary, and Yukio knew he wasn't the only one who thought that. The teachers always clammed up whenever Rin glared at them, and they were adults! Only their father had grown immune, and that was just because of how often he and Rin fought…

Yukio decided to swallow the bitter medicine and take the blame. It was all his fault for throwing the ball too hard. Even if Rin had been trying to teach him, it was still his fault. Besides, he'd rather dad didn't get involved… "Um…I can go get dad, and maybe he…"

Satan felt his hackles rise at the mention of that man. Now that he'd adjusted to his body, Yukio didn't need to rely on that Paladin for anything but free food; Satan would do everything else for him! "No! I'll get it myself!"

"B-but Rin! It's so high up!" And stuck right in the middle of the gutter, away from the sides and places where it might be easier to reach. Yukio knew Rin was strong, but if he fell from that high up…?

"That's why I'll climb."

"But what if you fall?"

"Then I just won't fall. Simple."

"Rin…"

"Have some faith in me, would ya? I'll get the damn ball back and that shitty priest won't ever even know. Then we'll get back to business. I think you might have a future as a baseball player- you have a good arm on you." Satan noted, and smiled as Yukio flushed at the praise. His son's aim was uncanny even with glasses, and he swelled with pride at the unnatural accuracy.

Though the demon blood running through Yukio's veins could be measured in drops, now and again Satan saw the signs of it. Bursts of strength were a bit rarer, but he'd noticed that there was quite a nasty temper hiding under that meek exterior that was absolutely vicious. And maybe it was just Yuri's perfect genes, but Yukio was incredibly smart, outperforming his peers by leaps and bounds with discipline beyond his years. Satan would cultivate these traits, slowly but firmly force the boy's shell open, and raise him into an unshakable and strong pillar who none would dare cross.

But for now he had to keep the shitty priest out of the way. There was no way the fool would have approved of Satan's method of teaching, even for something as simple as throwing a ball properly. "Pretend your target is the face of that retarded idiot from school" was highly effective at drawing out Yukio's inner strength once he poked it a bit (it was cute that Yukio got noticeable worked up if Satan added "was being mean to me") and Yukio absorbed the form corrections like dry wood did fire.

But no, the Paladin was doing his best to try and teach the both of his 'sons' how to solve issues nonviolently. And while even Satan could agree violence wasn't always the answer, there were very few situations where a show of force wouldn't be useful. Mouth-breathing idiots who picked on Yukio? Teach Yukio ways to show off just how strong he could be and scare them away. Once Yukio's accuracy in general increased, Satan would see if they couldn't move up to knives. Deadly, sharp, easier to get than a gun in this stupid country, and with the added bonus of striking primal fear into hearts the way only claws could.

And if seeing that didn't scare the crap out of those brats, then Satan would just beat them up. Again.

Satan hummed in thought as he easily climbed the vertical pillar supporting the patio overhang. It'd be a bit tricky to teach the intricacies of the motions of knife throwing, but it'd be well worth it. A quick dip into some Holy Water he'd stolen from the shitty priest and Yukio would have his first way to defend himself from demons. Fighting lessons were a must now that the childish wobble had started to leave Yukio's limbs, though Satan wasn't expecting much when his son was so obviously a ranged fighter. And even that much would be hard with how much of an affect the shitty priest was having on Yukio, but Satan was sure he could undo all those idiotic teachings fairly easy. If nothing else, the man couldn't say that it was a bad idea for Yukio to learn how to defend himself, and it'd be easy to slip offensive lessons in. Not that Satan was going to share something that important with anyone in the first place. Oh no, he was going to be the only on to teach his child the really important life skills! And there was little more important in Gehenna that learning how to beat the absolute shit out of someone.

He didn't consider himself sentimental, but the thought of Yukio one day breaking some fool's kneecaps threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

The gutter creaked ominously under Satan's weight when he grabbed it, dragging him back to reality. He cursed the contradictory thing: what was its use when it was too weak to support him, but too strong to not drop the ball? He'd have pulled the entire thing down with his growing strength then and there, but it would just mean dealing with those worried glances from the shitty priest as the idiot worried his 'heritage' was peeking through. The moron thought he knew so much, when really he didn't understand a thing!

"Rin!"

"I'm fine!" Satan grumbled, and thought for a second, still clinging to the support beam like a particularly aggressive koala. He drew himself tight and tensed his muscles, pulling all his power inward before letting it explode outward with a heave upward. Satan leapt straight up, missing the gutter by an inch, and lashed his hand out towards the slopping roof, fingers catching the edge of a tile. With a grunt, the demon hauled himself onto the roof, skipping the rickety gutter entirely except when his foot kicked it.

Yukio gasped at the feat, expression filled with nothing but childish awe and near-worship that sent bubbling, giddy, feelings flowing through Satan's chest. He grinned and flashed an exaggerated thumbs-up at Yukio, who's eyes somehow grew wider. "See, I told you everything would be fine. Looks like you were wrong."

Yukio flushed, embarrassed, "R-right…"

"Huh, what was that? I didn't hear 'you're the bestest, most reliable big brother ever!' you know!"

"Bestest isn't a word…"

"Huh, you're right. Good thing you're so smart." Satan faked surprise and grinned at Yukio's stuttering. Perfect. "Here, catch!"

Yukio fumbled the ball, nearly losing his glasses, but it didn't matter to Satan. Now that his hands were free, he could see about getting down-

"Rin, what are you doing?!"

The shriek, nearly hysteric with fear, startled Satan and his head snapped toward the offending sound to see one of the clergymen. A roof tile slipped free and Satan fell forward and off the roof, bouncing off the rusty gutter and suddenly airborne. The idiot had frozen up, and Satan had just enough time to spot the stupid look of surprise before the world tilted too much. He caught a flash of greyed hair, and there was the shitty priest, screaming, tearing his way across the yard, but he was too far away to even have a chance. Satan hit the ground hard and at a terrible angle, his back and shoulders taking the brunt of the force and his head snapped to the side. If he were anyone else his neck would have snapped immediately, but Satan just hissed at the sharp pain and fell limply on the ground to wait out the dizziness. He might have blacked out a little bit, because suddenly the shitty priest was leaning over him, lightly slapping his face and yelling about staying awake.

That didn't matter nearly as much as a sobbing Yukio, and he tried to push the shitty priest away and reach his child. It was wrong for Yukio to cry over him; he was the strong one who did all the worrying and tears were wasted on him. Except he felt weak, a bit dizzy, and he realized he was bleeding a whole lot from where he'd cut his arm somehow. He groaned as he was carried inside, hating every second and doing his best to will away the spinning. He was flipped and prodded uncomfortably, but didn't resist, recognizing a check for wounds instantly. The treatment was quick and effective, calloused fingers steady as they cleaned his injuries and tied them tight.

At some point when he was trying to not pass out, Yukio must have spilled the entire story, because when Satan finally sat up, feeling considerably better, Shiro was there, looking stern. An actual child would have coward, but Satan just met the look with an unamused glare.

"What."

It wasn't actually a question, but Shiro took the invitation anyway, "All that for a ball? You should have just called me, I would have-!"

Oh no, this was in no way his fault, "If the fucking idiots you employed didn't have the worst timing everything would have been fine! I almost had it!"

"You shouldn't have been so reckless!"

"I can do whatever I damn well please, you shitty priest!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to not-? Why are you always like this?"

"Because fuck you! You aren't my father!"

"Why won't you let me at least try? Rin, you could have died, I thought you broke your neck!"

"It's still all your fault! Teach those fucks some common sense!"

"I-"

"It's all my fault!"

The screech stopped them both short, and Satan realized he'd forgotten Yukio was even there. Yukio, who was crying a fresh wave of tears, but doing his best to look determined, "It's all my fault! I…I wanted the ball, I told Rin to go get it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's all my fault so please just stop it! Stop fighting all the time over me…"

"Yukio…" Satan reached out, but Yukio shook his head furiously and refused to look up.

"Please stop…"

Shiro seemed to reach some sort of internal conclusion, because Satan could see him gather up his pathetic resolve and steel himself, "Yukio, you're right. Please, go upstairs. Rin and I need to talk."

"I'm not saying shit to you-"

"Then you can at least listen to what I have to say." Shiro's voice was short, snapping and with no room for argument. Satan hadn't thought the man was even capable of actually asserting himself, and was shocked into silence. That was all, he told himself, as the Paladin (and for the first time, that actually meant something) continued, gently, to the youngest there, "Yukio, Rin and I really need privacy. Understand?"

"Yes…"

The young boy nodded, wiping away his tears on his sleeve and turning to leave. He hesitated at the door's threshold, looking as if he'd fall apart as he looked back with tear-stained cheeks, "Rin…Please just…"

Yukio's words failed, and he fled with a whispered "Sorry…".

The door clicked shut, suffocating the room with silent tension. Rin was a drawn bow; ready to fire biting retorts the moment Shiro so much as opened his mouth. The Paladin took a long moment to wonder just how his greatest adversary had become the child he'd adopted, and not some great demon. It made a sickening amount of sense- Rin was Satan's child through and through, and with the greatest demon rumored to be absent, wouldn't it just be perfectly ironic for Rin to take up-

Shiro crushed the thoughts underfoot before they could plant doubt in his heart. No, he wouldn't let what ifs taint his thoughts, "I know you don't like this, Rin, and I know you're only doing this because Yukio asked, so I'll keep this quick, ok? I just want to know one thing, Rin. One thing, and I'll leave you alone, ok?"

"Fine." Anything that would make this farce end quicker so he could see Yukio without any annoying interruptions or-

"Why are you determined to hate me?"

Chapter Text

"Why are you determined to hate me?"

It was a ridiculously question. Why hate the shitty priest? Why shouldn't he hate the filth that pervaded his life? He almost laughed bitterly, but instead Satan found himself up and storming away without a word. Or would have, if Shiro hadn't grabbed his wrist with surprising strength and iron will.

"Let go of me." Before he did something rash and finally acted on his urge to rip the man's throat out with his teeth.

"No. We are going to settle this here and now." Shiro pressed forward, damn the consequences of now because what would inevitably happen later otherwise was so much worse, "Can't you see what this is doing to Yukio?"

The demon snarled, ripping himself free from the shitty priest's strong grip and whirling around. He was practically crouching, wound tight and ready to lunge. It had to happen someday, and today seemed like a great day to finally claw the cancer out of his life, "What the hell do you care about Yukio? He isn't your kid!"

A part of Shiro almost wished he'd done what so many other foster parents had and hadn't ever mentioned how adoption worked. Except no, he wouldn't have been allowed to: Rin was too smart and too confrontational for that to not have ended terribly, "Maybe not biologically, but he is still my child, and I won't let anyone hurt him. Not even you, Rin."

Satan hissed, insulted beyond words, "I would never-!"

"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even years from now, and maybe not ever. But today you could have died. Rin, I almost had to explain to Yukio that his big brother was dead!" Shiro realized he was shouting now and breathed deeply, drawing his calm inward and expelling the anger, the fear, "I won't let you do that to him, and I won't let you continue to hurt him."

"I do not hurt Yukio."

It was a statement of fact, and Shiro realized just how hard this was going to be. How was he supposed to convince Rin to see beyond himself for once? "Yes you do. Every time we fight, we both hurt him a little bit more. Every time we fight, he isn't sure whose side to take: his loving father or his precious big brother. Picking a side means losing someone he loves."

Satan sneered. Like that mattered to him. "I wouldn't mind if he lost you-"

"But Yukio cares! Whether or not you like me isn't the point, you two are different! Even if you hate me, Yukio doesn't, and you can't change that!"

"I'm not-!" Not ignoring Yukio's feelings, except the words, as soon as the swelled up, tasted familiar. Something Satan knew intimately, bathed in and spewed so regularly there was no way even the slightest hint of flavor would escape his tongue.

A lie.

"I'm not…"

Except he was. All because he was so old and knew things Yukio couldn't about the Paladin before him. Hidden under all that fatherly kindness was a man who'd taken everything from him without a thought, without caring that it meant he had to destroy someone else to steal from the devil.

The sudden silence was hungry, devouring the raging emotions trapped in the room. Shiro saw Rin visibly slump, the will to fight slipping from the boy's heart like sand. Except it was a lie, an illusion brought on whenever one was forced to come to a realization they hated. There was only of two ways this would go, and Shiro already knew Rin well enough to see it building.

"If this goes on, it won't be just me he hates, Rin. He'll hate both of us, and he'll hate himself."

The emotions burst, scattering ugly bits and pieces of "What the fuck do you want? For me to love you, for us to be a happy family? Like hell!"

Shiro had damned and burned others once for his faith, why wouldn't he do it again? This was all fake, some lie the shitty priest indulged himself in to rid himself of his guilt. Satan was happy to play along for so long as it benefited him, but he wouldn't ever let his guard down. The man had no real will of his own Satan had decided, but was a strong puppet. A strong puppet that might be fine playing house for now, but one day he'd have to burn it before it took away his heart again.

"Rin, I'm not-"

"Shut up! Do you think I'm fucking stupid? Adopting Yukio and I, trying to pretend that you care? This is just some game for you isn't-"

The sound, almost like a whip crack, echoed in the small room. The pain registered only faintly, an afterthought even as Satan gingerly touched his redden cheek. Slowly, he turned his head back towards Shiro, seeing the man standing tall, hand still raised and fury in his eyes. Cold, calculated, detached, eyes that looked down on him with disappointment.

Shiro's voice was thunderously even, sharp words spoken with absolute authority. "Don't you ever even imply I don't care for you and Yukio, Rin."

But Satan didn't hear a word of it, his ears ringing and the room spinning with the sudden rush of raw feeling. He'd always had a bad habit of letting things fester in his heart until it rotted away to nothing. Yuri had noticed, scolded him for it, and insisted he open up to her gentle eyes. She'd been the only one who'd known what the devil kept locked up in his heart, petty little worries and insecurities, and she'd taken it all in stride.

Yuri.

Yuri, who was no longer here.

Yuri, who was no longer here, because of the Exorcist before him.

The giggle that bubbled up from the depths of his blighted chest was the sound of a falling blade.

"Ha! Resorting to violence already, are we? Finally!"

And then Satan had tackled Shiro, hands wrapping tightly around a neck between one blink and the next. The weak skin gave under his grip, choking the shell-shocked priest in a matter of seconds, and toppling him to the ground. Satan kept his hold the whole time, feeling a mad grin pull itself onto his face. Ah, he must really look like a demon now, the smile tearing his face in half and eyes dilated as he let the bloodlust peak.

"I don't care what you say, you fucking priest, but I won't let you trick me! I know your game; I know you'll get sick of us both one day, and then what? I know what you'll…do…?"

Arms had encircled him, pulling Satan closer instead of pushing like a filthy Exorcist should have. Embracing his violence, embracing his madness and raw feelings even though he should run, should be afraid, he should hurt me.

Slowly, Shiro spoke through a grip Satan hadn't even realized he'd slackened. Choked, wheezed words that should have meant nothing to a demon as ancient as him…and yet those very words broke something inside him. Something that screamed as it died, clawing and scrapping at his very heart as it shattered to pieces. It took something with it, leaving his heart scrapped raw of…something.

Satan stood, feeling…odd.

Different. Almost as if he could finally- No. No, there was no way.

When Shiro stood with a handful of coughs and only an absent rub at the nasty handprints collaring his neck, Satan let him. The demon looked up at the man, face carefully neutral.

"You're serious?" He asked, even though the pure truth of the words rang in his ears.

"Of course," Shiro winced at the sound of his own wheezing voice. Rin had…quite the grip, and he potently ignored how close he'd come to being strangled to death, "what do you take me for?"

An Exorcist, Satan thought bitterly, but it was distant and fleeting, "If you're lying, I'll fucking kill you."

"I'd expect no less," And maybe that statement was a little too accurate Shiro thought, swallowing a few times in a vain attempt to sooth his abused throat, "But I do want you to stop pretending that Yukio wants the same things you do. Because right now, he just wants us to stop fighting."

Satan arched a brow. The demon would have thought the traumatic experience of nearly being choked would have shifted the shitty priest's priorities a little bit, but apparently not. The man was nothing if not persistent and laser-focused when he wanted to be.

"Can you do that, Rin? You don't have to love me, or even like me, but can you stop taking every chance you can find to try and hurt me?" Maybe Shiro was being too generous when things had finally escalated to physical violence, but there was…something in Rin he couldn't just ignore. No, the boy couldn't possibly be a true demon if such simple words could calm him.

The king of Gehenna huffed and turned away, "No promises."

"Thank you, Rin."

There was no acknowledgement that Satan had even heard as he threw open the door and walked out. He felt entirely too tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep even when it was barely past noon, and the door slammed behind him.

Shiro chuckled- he'd seen the half-misstep Rin had made.

And then he winced. Right, first his throat.

"Are things good between you and dad now?" Were the first words Satan heard when reached his room. Yukio has set aside his homework and looked up at his twin with bright, clear eyes.

Something about that nagged Satan, but he was still too confused about what he'd just done to really think about it. Were things between he and Shiro good now? No, certainly not, not even after…that, but maybe he could finally let go of some of his paranoias. Not today, and not all of them, but surely, there was more to that man than-

Satan cut the thought short. That was dangerous territory to get into, "Well, I wouldn't say good, but…Alright. Sure, let's go with that."

"I'm glad."

There was something wrong with the way Yukio said that. He looked just a little too smug, almost like he was pleased with himself. But what could he…?

It clicked and Satan whirled, gaping as he tried to find the words, "You…! You little-!"

"Me?" Yukio might have tried to sound oblivious, but he suddenly looked just a little panicked, and Satan knew he had him.

"Don't act all innocent! I see right through you, you faked all that!"

There was a moment of flailing, but Yukio knew he'd been caught, "Well, not all of it. I really don't like it when you and dad fight…I'm sorry, Rin!"

That…He wasn't sorry at all! Yukio was Yuri's perfect child, smart, kind, everything good in the world, and yet…! And yet-!

"You lied to me! Lied! To me!" Satan gestured frantically, trying to make sense of his world again. It wasn't even that Yukio had lied, as impossible as that seemed, it was..."And it worked!"

Yukio might have been worried, except Rin had a stupid, disbelieving, grin on his face. Lies were bad so you weren't supposed to tell them, and their dad was always disappointed when someone lied, so why…? "You're not mad?"

"Mad?" Satan squawked and pounced, Yukio squeaking as he was swept up in a suffocating hug and off his feet by uncanny strength, "No, I'm so proud of you! I'm finally rubbing off on you!"

It was incredibly reassuring to have proof that Yukio was also his, and a knot he didn't even realize existed loosened, uncoiling tension in his chest.

He set Yukio down and patted him on the head with an unnerving smile, "Oh, but don't ever lie to me again, ok?"

"But you-"

"It's my fault for being tricked," A dangerous policy, but only for the fools of the world, "but now that I know you can actually lie, well, you won't ever fool me again. You're free to try, but if I catch you lying to me, well…" Satan leered, and gestured with his hands.

Yukio visibly paled and nodded furiously. He scampered away with the sound of his brother's unnerving cackling echoing in his ears. A teasing drawl of his name made the young boy shudder in fear.

Why oh why did he have to be ticklish?

The next day, when the other Exorcists questioned the bruised they could see peaking above Shiro's collar even after he'd pulled it high, he wove a very elaborate, very detailed story about a late-night rendezvous with a, ah, very 'blessed' woman until he was waved off. His men clearly didn't believe a single word of it, but they at least trust him to tell them if something serious had happened.

If only they knew.

When Rin snorted juice up his nose at the not-so-subtle innuendos Shiro had made (much to Yukio's confusion), the Paladin easily put the thoughts of yesterday behind him for more pressing matters. The greatest being checking the parental controls every electronic in the house. Rin's smirk had been far too knowing for any eight year old.

Chapter Text

Click!

Shiro stopped mid-word, blinking spots away from his eyes. He wasn't irritated, no, if anything he was vaguely amused by the entire ordeal. But only vaguely because, as usual, Rin was being stubborn.

"Rin, if you would stop and give me back my-"

Click!

This time he gave into the urge to wipe away the discolored shapes dancing in his eyes. He could hear Rin snickering at his predicament and clearly enjoying his discomfort. Well, he couldn't expect things to change overnight.

"Mine now." Satan hummed, admiring the camera the shitty priest had let him hold to 'look at'.

Except it was clearly expensive and had a lot of interesting settings, let him take less than flattering pictures of shitty priest, and had an obnoxious flash that was a borderline weapon, so it was his now. Well, he assumed it was expensive since the only camera he'd ever gotten to look at was a crude piece of plastic that you couldn't even preview what pictures you took and was decorated with cartoon dinosaurs. "Disposable and child-proof, perfect for you!" Yuri had chirped happily.

Needless to say, the camera soon found itself on fire without any use. Satan had ignored Yuri helpfully pointing out that if he kept it, he could have taken a picture to keep.

"Did you pay for it?"

"No, but you did give it to me. I'm not going to break it, old man, so calm the hell down." The irony of that statement was absolutely staggering, but Satan hadn't been one to care about little details.

Shiro gave a non-comital grunt, disbelief clear. But he didn't try to take the camera or anything equally foolish- he wasn't too keen on seeing several hundred dollars' worth of technology smash to bits. Instead he slunk after Rin, watching the boy practically prance around, taking pictures of anything that even somewhat interested him, and felt his heart clench every time Rin held the camera out carelessly in one hand. Seemingly happy with himself, Shiro couldn't stop Rin from turning around and darting outside.

"Yukio! Yukio, look what Shiro gave us!"

There was a worrying amount of commotion and noise, so Shiro quickly made his way outside. Rin had handed the camera off to Yukio, excitedly going over the settings he'd figured out in his short time with the device. Yukio nodded, only half understanding, and pushed a few buttons. He jumped as the flash popped open and fumbled the camera, only for Rin to nimbly catch it.

"Be careful! Cameras are fragile." Satan chided, and looked over the preview screen. There was already a scratch or two in one corner and he frowned.

Seeing his chance, Shiro stepped in, "Yes, they are very fragile, so maybe you should hand it back to me?" The twins were responsible enough, but he'd already seen one near-tragedy.

"But I like it." Satan wined, and it was surprisingly honest. He hadn't thought much of what a camera could do when he'd first seen one, but now, looking over the pictures of Yukio he'd taken, he just had to have it. He could print memories with it, of times that were slipping past him too fast.

Shiro felt his mouth go dry. Rin had never really wanted anything before, at least, not anything Shiro was willing to give him. It was always dangerous, violent, things he wanted: knives and blades of all kinds, flint and matches, there had even been a question or two about a gun of all things and he knew the watergun wasn't at all what Rin had meant. It was desperately worrying and he'd sunk a small fortune in expensive game systems and sports equipment to try and get Rin interested in something not dangerous. But the consoles say untouched and only odds and ends of any of the many balls and gloves and bats were used, with no real interest in actually playing.

There was still the matter of just how nice that camera was though, "No Rin, the camera isn't yours to keep. But, if you really like it so much, and pray the lord for strength to be a good child-"

"Ha!"

"-then maybe you'll get a camera for your birthday." Preferably something a fifth the cost.

"A camera?" Satan drawled, unamused and already knowing that the shitty priest was trying to scam him.

Let it never be said that Rin was shrewd, for better or worse, Shiro mentally sighed. "This model is very expensive-"

"Not so expensive you couldn't buy it on a whim though."

"It wasn't a whim; I've needed a nice camera for a while now. Besides, you can still occasionally use this one, but you hardly need something this complicated."

"It sounds like you're being cheap. And don't trust me with nice things."

Neither of those were exactly wrong, but Shiro wasn't going to say that. No, instead, "You don't even know what half these settings do, Rin. Yukio, why don't you be out model for today, ok?"

Yukio perked up at finally being included, "Ok!" The eight year old stood as still as he could, doing his absolute best to be a perfect model.

Shiro knew it could only last for so long, so he worked fast. "Look, you aren't even on the right one to take pictures outside. Change the settings with that wheel right there."

Satan obeyed, but mostly because he was curious. He hadn't really noticed a difference except the ones that made the picture worse, so he hadn't messed with them. They probably did nothing and the shitty priest was just making things up to try and convince him to give back the camera.

"No, not that one, the one to the left. And now it's to the right. Let me show you." Shiro leaned in before Rin could have a chance to object and quickly fiddled with the settings. "See? The colors are better now, richer and not as washed-out. And see, if you turn on the red eye remover, then adjust the focus…And…"

Satan was a born liar, but even he had to admit that the picture the Paladin had taken of Yukio was worlds better than anything he had. "You do know you've just made me want this camera even more, right?"

"And how do I know you won't get bored of it after a week? You've done it before with those games."

"I never asked for any of those. Besides, then you'll have a spare if you ever break your camera. But that's only if I get bored of it. Which I won't." Not when the world was ever-changing unless he caught it with his own two hands. Not when it meant years of Yukio's life would slip by, only remembered as a hazy fog. The photo albums weren't nearly enough.

"I want a camera too!" Yukio suddenly exclaimed, excited. If Rin wanted one so bad, then they must be even better than he thought!

An idea struck Shiro "Well then, I can either get both you and Yukio cameras, or just you. Which will it be?"

Satan knew he was had, because he was still, forever, greedy and selfish. He didn't want to deny Yukio anything the world had to offer, but he also wanted his own camera. Plus, he knew the shitty priest would never actually buy him something that nice, but he kind of wanted a reason to get mad. Besides, he could always steal it and frame it as if someone had broken in or something. "Fine."

"I'm glad that's settled." It wasn't like there was ever even a chance that Shiro would cave, but he knew being dismissive of Rin without reasoning would sour what he was desperately trying to build between them. "Now, come on, sit here."

"Why?"

"Don't you want to know what the other modes of the camera can do? I did say you can use this one, if you want."

Reluctantly, Rin sat down, looking far less pleased than an excited Yukio.

And that was how a good hour passed, sat on the steps just outside the back door and with the twins on either side, eager to learn. Yukio, despite being so enthusiastic, grew bored quickly and was clearly only still there because his brother was. Rin, however, sat with a deceptively bored expression on his face, but nothing could hide the rapt attention deep in his eyes, absorbing everything Shiro had to teach for the first time in…in a very long time.

Something swelled in Shiro's chest and he knew, deep down, that everything would work out.

Chapter Text

Satan was undisputed tyrant of the playground. He'd climbed the ranks laughably easy- even the oh-so mighty fifth graders who towered over him by half a foot ran away crying when he barely touched them! None of the fools who'd attacked him wanted to admit that they'd been beaten up by a kid half their size and only in the third grade, so instead they plotted. Even when they'd ganged up on him like the cowards that they were after school one day, Satan hadn't even so much as twitched. Instead, he pushed Yukio behind him and stood there, as unmovable as the brick walls on either side.

Some would say he was trapped, but Satan saw things a little differently. The walls only meant his prey couldn't escape.

It should have been easy for the demon, but his body was still tiny and light without his real power. He couldn't draw out his flames and the power they brought if he didn't intend to kill the witnesses, and Yukio was behind him, terrified. So he fought, vicious and feral, tackling legs and stomping on the softer bits that left the boys in so much pain they couldn't even scream. Satan threw the obese fool thrice his size who'd tried to pin him twenty feet away and at the feet of his remaining allies like a twisted offering, and, all at once, the fighting seemed to stop.

It wasn't nearly as far as he'd have liked, and it left him tired, but it also made him feel strange…It had been too long since he'd had a good fight, ever if he had to hold back his power, even if he felt tired like this, the roaring in his ears coupled with the wannabe bullies terrified faces was positively addicting.

Satan's grin was bloodthirsty madness and his eyes were just a little too bright in the darkness of the side street. His flaming heart demanded sacrifice.

The ragtag group of kids, like the cowards they were, fled in terror with shrill screams.

"Monster!"

"Demon!"

Satan felt his blood rush even faster, and his grin threatened to split his face. The raw terror, the thought that fleeing would make them safe, their own hubris, all of it was mouthwatering. He lowered himself until his was half-crouched, ready to sprint after he felt his prey had enough of a head start. Maybe he'd pity the fat one lagging behind and leave him for last, darting ahead to rip apart his allies before his eyes. He'd surely have a fantastic look on his stupid-

A hand, hesitant but firm, grabbed his wrist. Satan nearly torn the fool in half on the spot, except-

Yukio was shaking just a bit, and refused to look into his not-brother's eyes, "Rin, that's enough."

The fight fled Satan in a rush, chased away by the thought of "Yukio's afraid of me" and his body sagged, deflated. Exhaustion embraced him suddenly, and the demon could only find it in himself to nod. Suddenly he was aware of the stings of a whole plethora of cuts and scrapes and slumped a bit, gravity heavy on his body. Yukio hadn't let go of his hand and, surprisingly, took the lead and walked both of them out of the ally. Down the busy streets Satan had always hated, past that one dog that always barked at him that he hated too, and back to the church he….tolerated. Yes, tolerated only because Yukio needed food and shelter and warmth that wasn't from flames that would bring the entire world down on his head.

"Sit."

Satan sat, and, because, Yukio looked oddly intense and determined, didn't move even when the other left.

A minute later and Yukio was back, lugging a first aid kit. Then, as if nothing was different, as if he hadn't just seen something frightening in his supposed brother, he set to work. Maybe he hadn't thought anything of it, maybe Satan had already corrupted him, twisted his world view into something vile? Silent acceptance of bloodlust wasn't something Yukio should ever be forced to endure.

"Rin, your arm."

He let Yukio take over completely, trusting the boy despite how young he was. Yukio had steady hands and a good head on his shoulders and this wasn't even close to the first time he'd had to patch someone (his troublesome twin) up before. Satan watched him work, saw how unaffected by blood he was, and how he'd already memorized what everything in the first aid kit did. More and more the demon had wondered what Yukio was going to do with his life. Nothing dangerous, that was for sure, but it had to be something worth wild, something that Yuri would be proud of.

Ah, he was an idiot. The answer was playing out right before his eyes.

"You should become a doctor."

Yukio stopped, shocked and rapidly flustering, "A doctor? But to be a doctor you have to be really smart, and you have to go to a lot of really hard schools and pass a lot of tests, and be really strong-willed and with a lot of persaver, perseverance. And…and…"

"And you'd be good at it." Satan finished with a smile, waving his injured arm around, "You're already doing it now, you know! These bandages are wrapped pretty nearly, though they could be a little tighter…" He tugged on the edge of the gauze, feeling the slight looseness.

"Sorry…"

Satan lightly poked Yukio's downcast forehead, forcing him to look up, "Don't say sorry, you don't have anything to apologize for! It's not like anyone's taught you how to do any of this, but you've picked up on it anyway."

"I just do what I see dad do."

Satan only nodded and didn't try to tell Yukio to not do that, no matter how much of a bad taste it left in his mouth. The man was Paladin for a reason and had extensive knowledge on treating injuries of all kinds, so he wasn't a bad indirect teacher. But he still hated letting the shitty priest treat his wounds even more than he hated his body's ungodly slow healing rate that meant he actually needed to wrap his injuries. He didn't consider himself vulnerable even when he was hurt, but he hated it when the Paladin was close and could see just how easy his skin broke, how much he bled. The man always smelled faintly of gunpowder and Holy Water, and it drove the demon up a wall.

"You are right that you need to be strong willed to be any sort of doctor…" Satan knew Yukio already had underlying steel to him, a core that wouldn't ever distort as the rest of his squishy self-worth caved in. But the issue was teaching him to have confidence in himself.

The answer, to Satan, was simple, "Yukio, I'm going to finally teach you how to fight!"

"What?" Yukio jerked back, eyes wide, "What does that have to do with this!"

"Everything!" Satan decided he'd put off training for too long now. What if he hadn't been there today? "I'm going to teach you how to snap a femur and then you'll be able to handle anything!"

"But I don't-!"

Satan ignored the attempted protest, "Oh you'll be fine, you'll do great at it and I know you'll like fighting! We're related after all, right?" Fighting, being the best, all of it was in Yukio's DNA. Even if it was only academically, Yukio already fought and utterly crushed his classmates.

"I don't want to break anyone though!" Yukio wasn't entirely sure what a femur was, but it sounded important. It was probably a bone if Rin talked about 'snapping' it.

"I was just exaggerating for effect, calm down." The demon ruffled Yukio's hair, snickering when the boy pulled back with a whine, "But it is about time you learn to at least defend yourself, ok? It'd make me worry less whenever you go off on your own!" Satan let just a fraction of the fears he felt every day bleed through for just a second and he saw Yukio's weak resolve break. It was low, there was no way a child could stand up to the countless worry a demon could bottle up inside, but the demon couldn't care, not when it meant he'd finally get to start training his son.

"Ok…"

"Great, we start now!"

Yukio shrieked as he was pounced on and viciously 'attacked' with tickles. Distantly he heard Rin giving tips on how to throw him off, but the younger boy was helpless to do anything but squirm.

It was like that Shiro found them, Yukio desperately trying to get away from his cackling older brother, medical supplies scattered everywhere from the scuffle.

Chapter Text

Gehenna was, without a doubt, sure to devolve into civil war within a few years. Maybe a decade if Mephisto called in every favor owed to him, but no more. Now, he was no fool and knew that the entire realm was always more or less on the brink of some sort of war, so what made this any different? The masses were always discontent with something or another and the only reason the entire world wasn't (more) on fire was, ironically, Satan. The undisputed ruler was more or less the single force keeping Gehenna as a mostly united kingdom instead of splintering into factions like it always seemed to want to. If someone decided to get the bright idea in their head that they'd be a better ruler and the fire of rebellion began to grow, Satan very quickly showed them that his flames were much brighter. So, as much as Mephisto hated to admit it, Satan suddenly vanishing from the world was problematic and quickly hurtling towards catastrophic.

What was truly worrying the King of Time, however, were the circumstances around Satan's disappearance. Satan was well known to disappear for months, sometimes even years, at a time, so few knew what made this time different from the others. But Mephisto did, and it was the fact that it all had something to do with a woman. It seemed like an inconsequential fact to most, but he had latched onto that one detail like it was all that mattered, and was sure he knew the rough circumstances that had led to Satan's disappearance.

It was a little known fact to those outside Gehenna, but Satan rarely took any interest in any sort of female, no matter how threw themselves at him. It was fairly obvious if one simple looked at how few kids the ruler of Gehenna had despite his impressive age, and yet the Exorcists never seemed to realize how lucky they were. Logically, Satan should have had an absurd number of direct descendants, literally hundreds wasn't out of the question considering how most demons didn't die of age, and yet there weren't even a dozen running around. But the azure demon hadn't even so much as glanced at a female beyond a succubus, famous for their infertility, for several hundred years, and hadn't shown any signs of changing.

Being one of the eldest, Mephisto had seen the steady spiral his father's love life had been. And what a concept that was- a demon, the strongest demon at that, seeking love! The degree of interest he'd taken in each of his children's mothers had varied wildly, but it had one specific pattern: down. Some of the last had been, at best, a passing interest he'd totted around for a few weeks before casually discarding, not caring that they were pregnant in a typical demon way. They were effectively immortal, why would they have to care if they had someone to carry on the legacy or not? Children were an afterthought and, sometimes, competition.

But the earliest ones where the most telling, and a part of Satan's history so many demons forgot or thought unimportant. But not Mephisto, for the future was born from the day's long past. Satan had held onto the demonesses for several years in some cases, giving them more attention and care and affection that anyone who wasn't there would have thought possible. Looking back on it, Mephisto had realized that Satan had been searching for…something in those women. Something which he never actually found, and eventually he discarded those 'treasured' women as well, usually when they became pregnant and they sought to isolate themselves to protect their child. Each woman kept his interest for a shorter and shorter time, the gaps between them growing longer and longer, until he'd seemed to grow bored and stopped entirely. None of the Demon Kings had questioned it because it worked in their favor. There was no risk of competition suddenly showing up and once again disrupting the hierarchy they'd established.

And then Yuri Egin had appeared.

A woman, a human one at that, who'd completely and utterly overtake his father's life.

At first he'd simple thought it was because her body could, impossibly, withstand his flames. It would be easy for such an ancient demon to bewitch such a young woman into eventually falling under his thrall, and then he would have had a lasting body. When Mephisto had learned she was carrying not one, but two of Satan's children, he'd realized his father had decided to use her to bear him more children, possibly because he found her immunity interesting. The fact that one of them had blue flames only made the accurately named Blue Night make all the more sense in hindsight: Satan had finally made a true heir, so why wouldn't he protect that child, and, indirectly, the mother?

But when it ended, with Yuri dead and Satan nowhere to be found, Mephisto realized he probably should have paid more attention to what had happened between the human and demon. Whatever it was, it was something he fundamentally couldn't understand, for his black heart simply wasn't capable of feeling that oh-so-human emotion.

Love.

Did Satan love Yuri Egin, or had he loved her ability to bear blue flamed children? Mephisto didn't know, and, while logic and Satan's own behavior would dictate that he saw her as nothing but a way to breed a powerful army, he had a feeling, rotting and hurting his head with the impossibility, that Satan had never been looking for that. No, he'd always been looking for something more, and it was possible that Yuri had shown Satan that very thing.

Mephisto knew the past well, knew why the Blue Night had occurred far better than any Exorcist did (they saw it only as a random act of violence from a demon that needed nothing to justify it, oh how wrong and hypocritical they were as they lit their torches and prayed under a burning woman) and he knew what the results had been. He knew, and yet Satan's future was still hidden from his eyes. Yuri, the woman Satan had finally loved was dead. Even with her children alive, even with one with a heart of blue flames, did that even matter to Satan? Mephisto had studied human love extensively and he'd hear of how all-consuming it could be, and the madness it brought.

So, just what sort of madness had love cursed Satan with?

Chapter Text

Satan didn't like haircuts. In fact, he didn't do hair appointments at all.

The idea of letting anyone near his neck with anything sharp went so far against everything he'd ever known that, the first time he'd been taken to a barber shop as a baby, he'd very nearly lost it and mauled the workers there. He was so unruly that said haircut simply didn't happen for quite a while. He just barely tolerated the shitty priest trimming his hair after that, and that was only lasted until he was physically able to coordinate his hands around a pair of scissors.

He had a system in place, in fact. Cutting his hair was a pain to remember to do, made even worse since his hair grew abnormally fast, so he'd really only bother keeping his bangs out of his eyes. The rest he let grow until he could be bothered to cut it, which was whenever the mood struck him. Sometimes he kept up with it, sometimes he didn't and months would pass, and he, with practiced ease, collected and tied back his longer hair once it started tickling his shoulders. It was strange, seeing his hair so dark and foreign, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly. Eventually he'd get sick of it, or it really would get too long to deal with, and he'd chop the hair off in one swift movement before practically attacking his hair with the scissors until he reached that perfect messy-neat balance that best suited the shorter locks.

Probably the most unintentional side effect was the way he drew strange looks as his hair grew long. It confused the other kids to no end to see a fellow grade-schooler who didn't fit with their still growing world-views. They didn't actually know the difference between boys and girls to the point that, when he put off his grooming long enough, plenty thought his longer hair suddenly made him a girl.

He very quickly knocked that notion right out of their heads, and even let his hair grow a bit longer just to irk the idiots. The teachers that hadn't liked him in the first place were surprisingly quiet on the whole issue. Satan was sure it was because the cowards didn't want to explain human gender dynamics to a bunch of ankle-biters who barely even knew they had different parts.

Today, however, things had gone….differently.

When he walked through the doorway, Yukio weakly trailing behind him, he brushed past the shitty priest and…strongly walked into the kitchen. He certainly did not storm, did not stomp, and was not at all huffing as he dug through the drawer and pulled out the scissors. From the corner of his eye he saw Yukio trying to shoo Shiro out, but that was hard to do when he barely came to the man's hips. The sound of a snicker was all he needed to hear to know his son had failed at the futile task.

"So, getting rid of that ponytail, Rin?"

"Yes."

Because he wanted to. Not at all because someone had stuck a fat wad of gum in it.

Chapter Text

Logic would dictate that Satan, ruler of hell and wielder of the azure flames, would hate water above all else. It naturally countered his element, and Holy Water was an annoying common weapon among Exorcists, what with how easy it was to make with the right know-how and materials. And that logic wasn't even necessarily wrong; Satan hated getting caught in the rain, hated being splashed, hated even being near a large enough body of the stuff.

The only exception were his hour-long soaks he'd take in water so hot that the shitty priest swore up and down he was going to pass out and drown one day. Satan scoffed and ignored him, sinking up to his eyes and letting the heat seep into his bones while he did his best to also ignore the fact that he was wet. Instead, he focused on breathing in the steam and pretending he was wreathed in his pretty blue fames again, fire chasing out the chill that never seemed to really leave him these days.

He was just a tiny bit of a contradiction, a fire demon enjoying water. But it was only on his terms, under ideal circumstances where the water was already practically steam.

So why, oh why, did the shitty priest think that he wanted to go on a trip to a lake?

The water in the wretched cabin was barely warm, the lake freezing even if it was suspiciously clear of minor demons, and Satan had to put Yukio's training on hold lest the Paladin of all people object to teaching (demonic) self-defense. The man would probably insist on watered-down human classes instead, and Satan wouldn't dare hand the safety of his child to anyone else. The sudden absence of the wards he'd grown used to sleeping under, pricking at his skin like an annoying reassurance, made him restless, even if the cabin itself was well protected relative to its size. He hadn't slept well the first two nights, the scent of weak demons in the surrounding forests taunting him. It was only after he'd snuck out and carved out his own territory via murder that he felt it was even remotely safe for Yukio.

Overall, he was miserable and in an even worse mood than usual. Satan had been in the lake exactly once in nearly seventy-two hours (only to make Yukio feel better, like this wasn't a terrible way to waste his time) and spent most of his time sprawled out on a towel on the grass, lazily keeping an eye on Yukio. It meant he wasn't as close to Yukio just in case something went wrong, but if he thought the shitty priest would let the boy drown for even a second then no one even would be in the lake. Besides, Satan was pretty confident in his sprinting abilities; he had plenty of practice chasing down prey, so getting from point A to B even when starting sprawled on his back wasn't an issue.

Besides, Yukio was finally getting old enough to actually look after himself somewhat. Sure eleven still meant puberty was a year or two away, but he could trust his child to not wonder off with what few bad people where left in his city. Hmm, he might have to change his tactics, since he couldn't pull off 'cute and ignorant child' that well anymore. Satan sighed and stretched out further from his place on the grass, feeling warm and lazy and could strongly empathize with any cat now. He'd figure it out later.

A creature abruptly darted up to Satan, inches from his nose, faintly shining. It was a pretty little thing barely a foot tall, with bright dragonfly wings and big, glassy, blue eyes. Its vaguely human body shimmered from the tiny, crystalline feathers that took the place of human hair and decorated its arms and legs like fins. The effect was dazzling and mesmerizing as it darted through the air nimbly, to and fro, catching the light off its jeweled body. Happily, it gestured for him to follow it, its voice a ringing bell to sooth the soul.

Satan was unimpressed- faeries were always annoying creatures. Oh sure, some humans were enchanted by their beauty, but they were spirits, demons, all the same. Just because humans now lived surrounded by iron, they suddenly forgot of the numerous changeling children and other ills.

"Come with me, child, I have much to show you!" It chimed, musically, even though a human wouldn't be able to understand it. It probably liked the sound of its own voice, the vain little thing.

Satan grumbled, eyeing its wings with just a touch of envy and longing, "Go away, you're annoying me."

"Come already, child! Follow me before the Exorcist looks this way!"

And let the faeries waiting try and possess his body? As if he was as stupid as their usual prey! Not that it'd ever work, even less so since he was naturally immune any and all charms (well, with one exception, because even if Yuri swore it wasn't magic, Satan knew better), but it'd be a waste of both their time and make his life a hassle. Probably because he'd have to track down every damn faerie and kill them all. No, he'd rather soak up the sun and enjoy the quiet that being away from the busy city brought. He might as well get something from this shitty trip.

Satan rolled away and lazily swatted the annoying fly.

"Get up, don't you care that there's a faerie here? You should!"

Not in particular. "You're fucking annoying, scram before I kill you."

"Such a rude child, you're so much worse than the other! Oh well, it's not a complete loss. It'll be easy enough to separate you when the Exorcists go searching anyway."

Go searching? What was the damn thing yapping about-

"I'll see you soon, wretched chilAH-"

The faerie's screeching ended as soon as it began, Satan's hand crushing and burning its fragile body to ash. He didn't take time to examine his work or admire his flame, throwing the crumbled thing to the wind and taking off at a dead sprint as if his life depended on it. In a way it did, for Yukio was nowhere to be seen and Yukio was his world. He was so stupid to not realize just how dangerous fairies could be to someone who wasn't immune to charms, and he'd been the very one who'd been trying to tell Yukio to be less afraid!

The piece of shit priest and his lackeys, only just now noticing that Yukio had gone missing, called out after him and his mad dash to the tree line. Satan didn't dare stop, didn't even slow, but he did shout back at them.

"Faeries!"

Satan, however mocked he was, trusted that the man was the Paladin for a reason and could understand what that meant and wouldn't waste time trying to question him now. How 'Rin' knew what fairies were could come later, and he felt his confidence soar as the sound of feet crashing through the forest with no calls to stop rang out behind him, only to slow down. Satan ignored them, just like he ignored the pain in his bare feet and the gnawing hole in his heart that threatened to swallow him and the world if Yukio was even so much as scratched. Instead, he trusted his primal instincts, catching Yukio's scent and chasing it down with unnatural speed.

Satan tore through a bramble bush without even slowing down and barely remembering to protect his fragile human eyes. Thorns and twigs ripped apart his skin, but he couldn't even pretend to care. A blood trail would make it easier for the piece of shit priest to follow him, and pain was something that didn't even matter, no matter how young he was supposed to be. Physical sensations were temporary and easy to block, he could understand and process and overcome them infinitely better than the screaming in his heart.

Appearances could go and burn if they in any way, shape, or form put Yukio in danger. He'd burn the entire fucking forest down, consequences be damned if that was what it took

In the end, Satan's worry was unneeded. Yukio, by virtue of either his own intelligence or the traces of demon blood in his veins, had broken free of the faerie's charms. He knew this because he practically trampled over the fleeing and terrified child, a swarm of lights chasing him. Satan barely slowed, sweeping Yukio up into a crushing embrace and spinning dizzily with momentum.

"Yukio! Yukio, Yukio, you're alright, you worried me so much! I should have realized something was wrong when I saw a faerie, no, I should have checked the forest more thoroughly! I'm sorry, are you ok, are they still trying to charm you? Don't listen to them, I'm all that matters, ok? Ok?" Satan knew he was rambling; sinking to the forest floor as his knees failed him from the sheer relief. He'd almost failed Yuri again (again, again, always again, it was always, alwaysalways-!) and if he hadn't been so deliriously happy he would have killed the lights that buzzed angrily around them, voices screeching bells. His sweeping flames could have cleansed the woods of such low level demons without even scorching the barks. He'd have to break the seal for that sort of power and control, but if he hadn't been so stupid, hadn't gotten so complacent and comfortable-!

"Are you hurt, did they do anything to you?"

(He was always failing when it mattered.)

"Rin, they're still there! Right behind you!" Yukio, beautiful child who cared so much for others (so much like Yuri, Yuri), sobbed, torn between hiding away in his twin's arms and trying to pull back and keep running. Satan just huffed, running his hands through Yukio's soft hair and reveling in the fact that he was still there, still hishishis-

He let Yukio's scent, his simple existence, wash away the madness for another moment.

"Ignore the stupid faeries, they don't matter anymore now that I'm here, ok?" Not when he was so much better than them, so far beyond them until they were nothing but the very insects they resembled. Oh he'd kill them, burn them until they were actually dead, for what they'd done, but he had things more important than swatting pests to take care of first. Yukio was shaking almost uncontrollably, seconds from sobbing, so Satan pulled him close and let his warmth envelop and reassure his child (his, his always, his only real-) that he was here. He'd kill anything that ever frightened him again, and he would have whispered such sweet promises of revenge to Yukio if he had the time.

The sound of fatal verses being chanted was hardly Satan's first indication that the useless humans had finally caught up. Hyper-aware of his surroundings and the dozens of faeries that circled his child like vultures, the Exorcists' noisy, and late, approach was as obvious as the crack of thunder. The faeries scattered, a few of their number dropping from the sky, bodies suddenly soulless, and crashed almost soundlessly into the bramble around them.

Satan let them go.

They would live for now, because, he knew from the grave look on the Paladin's face, that he had more important things to take care of. The first lie would have to fall apart, years of effort gone in an instant. But Satan couldn't regret a single thing, even as he slowly stood, never breaking eye contact with the Exorcist. Not even Yukio's gasp at the sight of his bloodied legs and arms could make the demon doubt his choices.

He didn't have room in his heart for yet another regret, after all.

Chapter Text

"So, how long?" Shiro finally asked after nearly thirty minutes, when the bowl was full of thorns and spurs and Satan's legs were covered in bandages and stinging disinfectant.

Satan hummed and entertained the thought of pretending to not understand the vague question. But no, Yukio had just left the room to get more towels, and if he needed to take drastic action then he would rather do it without further traumatizing his son, "How long do you think?

"Long enough to know what faeries are."

Well that was a fair point, and pretty incriminating too. But Satan had one to match, "I didn't really know what the bastards looked like before today, I just guessed. They aren't exactly hard to identify, what with the wings. Anything that gets its sick fucking kicks out of kidnapping children is something I memorized, just in case it's actually real."

His voice dropped to a low growl, and he itched to burn the entire forest down just to be sure he killed them all. How dare they think themselves so superior as to try and even look at, much less kidnap his child. He would kill them all beyond dead, remind them of why the blue flames were so feared as he burned their existence into less than the nothing they already were, reduced to ash they could never come back from, but only after they suffered and screamed in a wash ofazurefireflamesblazeinfernopu-. The seal strained to hold the fire slowly eating at it, and for a moment Satan felt his inner warmth return.

With ease born of practice, he let go of his power and anger. "As for how long, well, for as long as I can remember. It wasn't hard to realize no one else saw those things, and you never seemed to react to them, so I kept my mouth shut." He looked away, a bitter, self-hating mask slipping onto his face, "I'm already enough of a problem child, don't want to add crazy to that list, eh?"

Shiro made a noise of acknowledgement, and pulled out the very last thorn thorn. The silence stretched awkwardly, until Satan huffed, "Hey, you were supposed to deny that 'problem child' part, you know."

"And why would I sin and lie?" Shiro said casually, and his lips twitched at the indignant squawk Rin made, "Besides, acknowledging a problem is the first step to fixing it."

If it was a fight the shitty priest wanted, it was a fight he would get, and Satan loved verbal fights almost as much as physical ones, "Just like how you've completely, one-hundred percent acknowledged that you've become the bane of society: a perverted old man?"

"You're pretty snarky today, aren't you?"

Check and mate. "And you're pretty damn careless today, letting Yukio disappear like that."

Shiro, to his credit, didn't flinch like Satan had been hoping he would. But his hands stilled mid-motion to wrap a final layer of gauze around his torn ankles. It was much subtler, but Satan heard the slight intake of air, saw the way the man's eyes clouded over, and he knew he had won, even as Shiro gave protest, "He just wanted to get something from inside the cabin. I didn't think anything could happen, not after I warded and cleansed the area."

"Yeah, well, assumptions are how kids get kidnapped by faeries."

Shiro did flinch at that. Only a little bit, but he still flinched.

Satan didn't feel nearly as happy about that as he thought he would.

"It seems I've been…remiss in my duties to educate you two. Even if I thought neither of you could see, it would have been for the best to teach you how to survive the demons."

"Yeah, it would have." Satan agreed, mocking but with less bite than he normally could muster, "But most demons don't really bother you if you don't bother them first, so it's not like you'll have to teach us that much."

"Demons are dangerous."

Platitudes and platitudes, and yet the man had willingly raised two, Satan noted idly. Granted, it was probably some pathetic human regret driving his actions, but he tried more than he had to, and he cared more than he had any right to. Besides, "Only if you piss them off first, usually. Unless they're an asshole, but that's the exception. It's humans that go out of their way to fuck with your life, you know."

"Rin-"

"Bullies, kidnappers, mob bosses, drug attics, rapists, murderers, cultists, idiots with nothing better to do, the list goes on and on." Shouting, screaming, chanting and praying, red fire that burned, wash itawaywithcleanblue- "There's a lot of people out there who would want to hurt little kids for no real reason other than that they can."

He had thought about this for a while, and, as much as he hated it, it was the best plan he could come up with. Yukio would never be as strong as a normal demon, not while he was so tragically human, and not when he preferred books to fighting, healing to hurting. And so…

Andsonoonecouldhurthisagain-

"Teach Yukio how to use a gun. I've seen them around the place, and I know you brought at least two with you, 'just in case' right? So teach him, because Yukio isn't ever going to be a fighter like me."

Satan had expected a lot of things to happen after his made his demands known. He had expected shouting, anger, or outright refusal. And so, he had a response for each, a way to lead the conversation until he got what he wanted. The road didn't matter, for the outcome was already determined.

"I would have done that even if you hadn't just done your best into guilting me into it."

That was an unexpected response, and not a pleasant one, even if it made Satan's life easier. That implied the Paladin thought they needed protection, which meant…what exactly? "…Why?"

"You and Yukio are almost ten now." Shiro continued, more to himself than anything, "That's still too young, but it'll have to do."

Shiro could tell that Rin was a half second from demanding answers, but-

"Dad, I brought more towels. Are all the thorns out?"

-Yukio walked into the room, arms burdened with tacky beach towels and Rin's mouth slowly closed.

"Yes, we just finished up. Put the towels over on the table and sit down. I have something important to tell you and Rin." Shiro asked, glad he could focus on Yukio and turn away from Rin's too-intense gaze for a moment to gather his wits.

Shiro didn't want to do this, not when he knew the names Rin had suffered and the lengths Yukio went. They had suffered together already, each responding to abuse in their own, unhealthy, way. No child, no matter how tough they acted or thought themselves, should know what he was about to tell them. But…

The letter was short, unremarkable, and cryptic, but it still threatened to shatter his world:

'Gehenna has grown restless without its azure king.'

…But he didn't have the luxury of hiding the world from them any longer.

"Dad, why do you look so…" The word 'serious' was on the tip of Yukio's tongue, but that didn't seem like enough. Not when his father, always light-hearted and smiling, looked ready to go into a hopeless battle like a hero from the shows he watched.

"Rin, Yukio, I'm sorry, but there's been something I haven't told you. I wanted to wait until you were much older, but things have changed. No matter what happens, I'm going to teach you about the demons you two can see, but I need to tell you something important beforehand. So what you learn won't color your opinions."

Shiro took a moment to breath in deeply and prepare himself. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and so he never saw how Rin's eyes widened with a revelation. A revelation carefully suppressed before the thought had even fully formed.

"I've never really told you about your parents before, your real, biological, parents."

When it was clear no one else would continue, Yukio tentatively muttered, "You said out mom was really brave, but really kind too. And that she fell in love with a bad man who tricked her."

If his acting didn't need to be prefect right now, Satan would have laughed at how perfectly backwards that summary was. But that was the only narrative a human could ever entertain, so he let it pass.

"Yes, your mother, for all her mistakes, was nothing if not the most honest person I've ever met. She was honest with everyone, especially herself, even when it was painful. A lot of people didn't like that about her, but that's what made her so special. Because she could accept the truth, she could live her life as she wanted, no matter what others tried to say."

Yukio made a confused face, though his question was a bit of a surprise. "What's so special about being honest with yourself?"

Before the shitty priest could open his mouth, Satan cut in. This was his territory, his own experiences, not some asshole who could never understand what it meant to have your world so lovingly taken apart. "As you get older, it gets…harder to admit when you're wrong, or don't know something. Or maybe you don't like something about yourself, like being lazy or scared of something, so you pretend you aren't that thing. Most people don't even realize they're doing it."

"I see." Yukio nodded seriously, not seeing how Shiro was staring at Satan as if he had grown a second head. He didn't understand, but that was fine. Yukio was too honest, too hungry for knowledge, to understand what it meant to lie for years and years to yourself. "And what about our dad? Why was he a bad person? Was he in the mob?"

It was such an innocent guess that Shiro almost managed a laugh around the rock sitting in his chest. Almost.

"If only it were that simple. No, he wasn't. Your father was a demon."

Out of all the reactions he had expected, Shiro still hadn't been mentally prepared enough (he never was) for the fallout. Rin had only looked vaguely surprised, as if he has always known he was something not-human, but Yukio…Yukio had reacted violently. The screaming, the shouting, it had all been things he had learned to expected from the explosive Rin, not Yukio, who always turned inward instead of lashing out. But maybe he should have expected it, when he knew what other children called Rin at school, and the fights that had resulted. Maybe Rin didn't care that he was a demon child because that was what he'd been labeled by society. But Yukio…

"You're lying, you're lying! Rin isn't a demon! He isn't!"

…Yukio had always tried to defend his brother however he could.

Yukio had run away, Rin obviously behind him, and the two were out of the cabin before Shiro had even gotten up. It was only because his associates hadn't taken off for the tree line that Shiro took his time following. They knew what was about to happen and the likely results, and even if the twins had traded expected reactions, it was still the same.

"That bad?" One of the Exorcists gathered by the door asked absently, though Shiro didn't respond with more than a grunt, too focused on locating the twins.

It wasn't hard, for out on the soft grass, Rin was already comforting Yukio. With an uncanny sixth-sense, Rin looked over his shoulder for a moment and glared viciously at the small gaggle of Exorcists by the open cabin door before turning back to the collapsed form of his brother. Shiro couldn't hear what they were saying, but knew that he would be welcome only when Rin deemed it so, and not a moment before. Otherwise the boy would be impossible to talk to, either freely spewing swears or talking in circles.

"What should we do?"

Shiro caught sight of bits of gauze and bandages peppering the grass.

He sighed.

"Find some more gauze for Rin's legs; that running probably opened the wounds. And re-ward the cabin. I don't have the mental fortitude needed if anyone tries to make a surprise visit."

Chapter Text

Rin's grades were decidedly…middle of the road. Painfully average. There was nothing wrong with them, but where he had once been dominating every class he took, now his A's had slipped to mostly B's and some C's. Math was rapidly becoming more and more of a struggle simply because it Rin was easy to frustrate and science that wasn't anatomy related (when and how Rin had already memorized the bones and major muscles in the human body, Yukio didn't know and didn't think about too hard) practically lulled him to sleep. Literature was only slightly better, but Rin was terrible at expressing himself in general, so any papers he wrote fell apart mid-paragraph into unrelated ramblings. There was one bright spot-

"Hey Yukio, your tenses switch right…here. See? It's all supposed to be past."

-Which just so happened to be Yukio's main weakness: foreign languages. Yes, languages, for Rin had taken both German and Chinese in the same year, and was, somehow, absolutely breezing through the class. Yukio had only taken Chinese to fill his requirements, thinking he'd be easy due to the roots his language shared with it. But no, they were similar, yes, but just different enough that he kept mixing them up.

"Thank you, Rin."

How Rin kept at least three different languages straight in his head was a complete mystery to Yukio, but then again, Rin had said the same thing about Yukio and math equations just a week ago.

Rin sighed, flying through his homework with such careless speed that Yukio would normally have been worried he was filling in random answers. But no, Rin had never scored under a 95 in any foreign language course he'd taken.

The older twin sighed again, much more dramatically this time as he finished. "Do you think that they'll let me take the test soon? I'd like to study something I don't know."

It was a test that native speakers took to prove they didn't need to take the course, and Yukio had never really understood how his brother… "But you failed the last one, Rin. Somehow you ended up using really old dialects. How did you even do that?"

"Just because they were old, doesn't mean my answers were wrong! It's bullshit they failed me, and everyone knows it!"

With how Rin had apparently cussed out his Chinese teacher over some technicality on his homework last week, Yukio was sure that the entire school knew now. And several Chinses slurs involving one's mother, a chicken, and something about incest.

"Yes, everyone knows now. But why did you use old dialects again? And when did you even have time to learn entire languages?"

"Trade secret."

And that was all Yukio knew he'd get out of his brother. One day he'd figure it out, but obviously not anytime soon.

"But you never study." Yukio commented, and no, he did not whine. He was just frustrated.

Satan shrugged, not having an answer for that, "Hey, I've already finished studying for that French test, which counts for something, right?"

Technically he hadn't studied at all, but Satan was of the mindset that you didn't study something you already knew. Human languages were easy; they were all basically the same when you got down to the bare bones, and Satan had made a point to learn a new one if someone even remotely important in his makeshift court took even cursory interest in it, though he was careful to be subtle. It made his life a lot easier if he found out someone thought they were going to be cute and write their oh-so-secret plans in a human language they assumed he didn't know, even though they kept using words of it for no reason and somehow thought he wouldn't think that was something worth looking into. Sure, he wasn't a genius, but did his own subjects really think he hadn't learned a lot of things in the war he had practically single-handedly waged against Gehenna?

Idiots.

Some days Satan wondered just how much his conquering of Gehenna was him just being amazing and how much was just the fact that most demons couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag. Not because they weren't smart, but because they assumed the paper bag was inferior to them in every way and couldn't ever do anything to stop them. And so they would suffocate without even knowing it.

"Yes, but how did you first learn them?"

"I told you, I study." Today, yesterday, two hundred years ago, did it really matter when he studied so long as he did it? "Besides, it's not like you really need it. Just focus on the classes that actually matter for you, ok?"

"But if I want to get into a good school, I need to have good grades overall, not just in a couple of classes, Rin!"

"Yukio."

But Yukio couldn't stop, all of his frustration rushing to the forefront of his mind, "And there are scholarships for being fluent in several languages, and that's not even counting just how useful it is to be multilingual. A lot of patients might not be able to properly communicate what's wrong with them in their second language, so if I can just-"

"Yukio, stop!" Satan snapped, voice full of the ancient authority he carried. Yukio, just a small child barely twelve years old, instantly quieted in instinctive respect. "Yukio, you'll be fine. You'll learn everything you need to about how to be a doctor, you'll pick up a couple of languages, and you'll find some linguist to cover what you don't know, ok? There's no way wherever you work won't have someone on-call."

"But what about in the field…" Yukio trailed off, and saw Rin's frown. He knew Rin didn't like the idea of him being a field-doctor for Exorcists, but their father had mentioned how there was a shortage of them, and he hadn't been able to get the idea off his mind since.

Yukio as an exorcist…it was a strange thought in Satan's mind. Yukio could do whatever he wanted, Yukio could do anything he pleased, but the thought of his son fighting demons when Yuri had done anything but…No, Satan denied it, even if the training would be useful when his child was targeted simply for existing, but slaughter was unacceptable. And so he guided, until Yukio had decided to be a Doctor before anything else. Yes, a healer, for that was something that Yuri would have approved of.

Maybe one day he'd let the shitty priest teach Yukio the basics of shooting, but for now hand-to-hand was enough.

"Ok, first of all, you're assuming you'll ever be on a team where there isn't a common language. Which would be dumb and basically suicidal since communication is key when fighting." Satan started, remember how many times he'd had that little lesson beaten into him, "And second, I already said you'll have someone! You're the medic, so someone needs to protect you anyway, and like hell I'm letting you go out into the field on your own anyway!"

Yukio laughed, "Well, you do always need a medic to patch you up. So of course, I have to become a Doctor, if only to keep you alive. Besides, you usually scare away demons without them doing anything."

"I told you, demons are just like bullies: most of them will put on a huge show about being tougher than you, but just hold your ground and they'll turn tail and run! And you should let them, because cornered dogs bite, Yukio." Satan recited, happy when Yukio nodded on, attentive even when it was just review. The idea of Yukio killing a helpless goblin left a bitter state in his mouth. It wasn't revulsion at the act, but the thought of Yuri cuddling with them, unafraid and warm. "Just remember that the actually dangerous ones are the ones that don't try shout and bark at you."

"Right, I won't go picking fights like my oh-so responsible big brother does."

One beat, then two. On the third Satan moved and flipped Yukio, pinning his arms behind his back in a classic police-hold he had looked up on the internet. Yukio squealed and bucked and shouted, Satan laughing manically the whole time. But either Satan wasn't as good at the hold as he thought, or Yukio had a natural talent of breaking free, because suddenly he lost his grip and Yukio punched him square in the throat. Satan, of course, retaliated.

When Shiro rushed in, he nearly had a heart attack at the amount of blood smearing the floor, Yukio sheepishly stopping mid-motion, trying to shove what looked like half a tissue box up his twin's nose. Satan, however, was on cloud 9, grinning like a loon over just how much stronger Yukio had gotten in such a short time. He was pretty sure his nose was at least fractured!

He told as much to the shitty priest, and got a strong smack to the back of the head for his trouble.

"Stop rubbing off on your brother already."

"Never!"

Chapter Text

The day it all went wrong came much earlier than Satan expected. He thought he would have had about two decades to prepare himself, but instead he barely got thirteen years.

He and Yukio were walking home from school, both in exceptionally high spirits despite the slight nip in the air as the seasons sluggishly changed. Satan had finally been allowed to borrow the nicer camera whenever he wished, and he took great advantage of that. He must have taken fifty pictures of the newly bloomed flowers and Yukio. Bygone were the days where he could bastardize a flower crown and force Yukio to wear it, all the while sighing, remembering how Yuri kept wearing the blasted things specifically because it annoyed him. A real shame since he got a nasty stink-eye whenever he tried to sneak one, but that just meant he had to get creative.

Shaking a tree branch and showering Yukio in petals worked well enough.

Yukio had sputtered angrily and thrown flowers in Satan's hair in retaliation.

Satan had just hummed and arranged a couple he liked so they'd stay in place and grinned with Yukio had huffed over his lack of annoyance. Sometimes, the best retaliation was to show you weren't bothered, and he'd taken a liking to fragile things over the years. Beautiful and soft like feathers, they lived such short but bright lives, and were the epitome of the transient nature of the human's world. Besides, they smelled nice and nostalgic.

The flowers couldn't ever hope to block out the raw smell of rot that hit him like a truck.

The sudden power stopped him short at the sheer audacity of it. This is my territory it screamed, aggressive and claiming to any who could listen, and Satan's hackles rose instinctively at the challenge. He'd destroy whatever demon had decided to move here, how dare they, this place was his hishishis, no one wasallowednearYukio and blue flames flickered between his fingers like a snake, his own power hissing and spitting angrily. His own aura lashed out, pushing the violating power away from him and his-

Yukio walked into his back with a shocked gasp, and the spell was broken. Satan closed his hands and crushed his fire and his raging heart alike. But the rot was still there, flooding the space his own power had aggressively burned away and oh no-!

Yukio braced himself, dizzy all of a sudden, and, with obvious concern, "Rin, what wrommh?!"

A hand over Yukio's mouth muffled the boy as Satan practically sprinted into an alley with superhuman speed, but not fast enough. Satan had picked the possessed man out in the crowd immediately, a slick businessman with an air of professionalism and coal tars about him. And, even as he did his best to hide, he made direct eye contact with the man who'd turned unnaturally fast towards the power that had responded to the challenge he'd been broadcasting loud and clear.

The smile was feral and full of too-sharp teeth.

Shit, shit! The air was sour with the smell of rot and sickness so potent he realized wasn't some lowly ghoul now. Satan was sure that was Astaroth and all he could wonder was what the actual fuck one of his kids was doing here. This should be a well-known no-go zone for any powerful demons, patrolled quite literally religiously by high-level exorcists and Satan himself, who, collectively, picked off some ninety-five of all demons higher than a hobgoblin. Astaroth would be swarmed within a week and lose his body unceremoniously, so what was he doing here? There was nothing important here as far as anyone knew!

Ah, except for Satan himself of course. But he killed any demon or human who saw his fire, so how would anyone know?

Satan could figure that part out later, and instead drug Yukio further down the alleyway into a full-sprint. Yukio, always such a good child, didn't hesitate and followed without a word of hesitation, trusting him so so much. They ran until Yukio was heaving, and then kept going at a jog, weaving through the alleyways Satan knew well from his hunts for demons and depraved humans alike. He made sure to take a somewhat random route, and yet always continue in the general direction of the monastery. He couldn't kill Astaroth like some low-breed ghoul, no matter how much of an idiot he was, he was still Satan's child.

Damn it.

Well, the worst the shitty priest could do was exorcise Astaroth, and that had the added benefit of no one questioning his place in the world. Plus it'd hurt like shit, and hopefully get the message across to never come back. Probably not, since Satan had a sinking feeling that he knew why the asshole was here in the first place.

A Great Dane ghoul practically as tall as Satan while still on all fours skidded around the corner and snapped angrily at them, lunging for Yukio and ok, no. Satan went low with a switchblade he always kept on hand and threw his weight against the massive dog, digging the blade into its soft stomach just below the ribs. The two crashed to the ground, a mess of limbs and snapping teeth that Satan held back with his elbow in its throat. He didn't stop though, and drew another knife from his pocket, this one thicker, sturdier, and stabbed viciously at the ghoul's spine and severing it easily with his strength. That knife was a lost cause, wedged between bone, so he pulled his switchblade free with a vicious twist, shredding most of its abdominal muscles in the process, and leapt back.

The smell of gore and rotting blood filled his senses, and Satan breathed the sickening smell in deeply.

The ghoul growled and snapped angrily, but even it couldn't move a body that wasn't properly connected anymore. And those wounds wouldn't be healing anytime soon, not with the Holy Water he'd coated his blades in.

"Come on, Yukio!" Satan says, turning to check on his charge-

Astaroth held the young boy still with nothing more than a rough hand on his shoulder and claws digging through cloth and into flesh. The grip tightened ominous and Yukio gasped, voice pitching high with pain, "Rin…!"

"Such strength, such ruthlessness, and that aura I felt earlier!" Astaroth practically gushed, hardly caring for the other boy in his grasp as anything more than a useful hostage. He had eyes only for the other twin, and his excitement let his disguise slip more, horns peaking from his skull as Coal Tars swarmed him happily, "Yes, even without the flames, I'm sure of it! You're a demon's child, aren't you?"

Satan barely heard the words, eyes locked onto the hand that threatened to powder Yukio's shoulder. "Let go of Yukio."

"You have the flames, don't you?" The demon king continues, as if Satan hadn't just spat an order with a detached hate, "You must, or else there's no reason father would have gone so far to protect you. Ah yes, I haven't introduced myself I've been chasing rumors for months now, and to think that you'd be here, carving out your territory in an Exorcist infested town."

Yukio whimpers as the grip tightens and his green shirt begins to turn a dark red, his thick jacket doing nothing to protect him. Satan's vision is narrowing, blood rushing and mind filled with such heady static he can feel his thoughts slipping away to a bloodlust.

"Rumors? What do you mean by rumors?" Satan asked slowly, swallowing his soiled heart down, keeping steady eye contact with Astaroth. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yukio moving, slowly, carefully, reaching for a pouch on his bag while still in the demon's grip, in spite of the pain.

"You've been carving out your own territory under those Exorcist's noses, haven't you, young prince? Something has been killing demons in this town for a while now, actually killing them as if they were mortals. Maybe you don't understand, but killing a demon for good almost never happens, and only the flames of our father, Lord Satan, can do that with ease!" Astaroth is more demon than human now, a sharp grin nearly splitting his face in half. "And Coal Tars see everything. Even if they can't talk, together enough of them can get a message across well enough."

"You don't say…" Satan drawls, knowing Yukio is giving him a look. And ok, sure, he might have messed up, but he didn't think that a few random scavengers who happened to see him hunting creeps would be missed! Or the aggressive ones he decided were just too dangerous to even be in the same city as Yukio. And those few who he'd gotten pissed off at enough to let his flames flicker, and then he couldn't just let them go…

Well, shit.

Ok, so maybe he had killed more than a few demons.

"My name is Astaroth, your brother. Show me that fire, young prince. Give me the proof I need, and we'll leave this world behind and take you to your destiny to be a king!"

Satan looked dully at Astaroth, forcing his emotions away so he could deal with the here and now, and not flights of fancy ("You should talk to them." She said, as if it were that simple-) and let out an overdramatic huff. "Interesting offer, and I'd really consider it, I really would, if it weren't for one thing."

"And that is?" Astaroth askes with baited breath, ready to rip the entire world to shreds if it would get his 'younger brother' to come quietly.

"I don't have any fire powers."

"Impossible, you have to be a true heir! Your demonic aura, your raw strength, none of it's human! I felt those flames early myself! No matter how weak they were, they existed! So, you must be the thing our father, Lord Satan, burned those damned Exorcists for all those years ago! Even your age would match the date of the Blue Night!" Astaroth ranted, words vomiting forth like disgusting froth and spilling more ugly things Satan didn't want to hear.

"There had to be a reason Lord Satan would vanish, and it must because he finally produced a true heir!"

Satan's flat expression never falters, even knowing he should technically be asking things like what the Blue Night was, "You're really reaching there. And, one more thing…"

He tosses the switchblade up and down blindly, not caring if he catches it by hilt or blade. The shoddy coating of Holy Water wore off the moment he tainted it with a demon's blood, so it couldn't hurt him badly even if he missed. But it was shiny and caught the dim light, and he could throw it at any moment, forcing Astaroth to pay attention to him and only him.

Perfect.

"How do you know it's even me? I have a twin you know."

"A…twin…?"

Yukio stabbed Astaroth in the leg.

The demon howled and lurched back with a hissing growl. Drawing himself low, his power flared angrily, muscles bulging, horns elongating and his skin darkening with his rage. Those brats, how dare they play him for a fool! He would kill them! Astaroth reached with clawed hands towards his defiant hostage - shaking like a leaf and barely gripping his knife, the weakling! – intent on ripping that hand that clutched the blade clean off-

A backpack, fat and heavy with books, slams into the demon, knocking off balance in surprise. The young prince was suddenly between the two, a small black…tube in hand and pointed steadily at him as if it were a weapon. But it wasn't a gun, there was no barrel, so just what-?

Satan pepper sprayed Astaroth in the face.

It was a perfect shot: directly into wide eyes too confused to know to defend, and the reaction was glorious. Astaroth shouted, throwing himself away from the pain and clawing at his eyes. But he couldn't escape the pain, the rubbing only pushing more spray into his eyes and making it worse and worse-!

"You motherfucking, shit-eating brat-!"

"Come on Yukio." Satan whispered through a snicker, pocketing his new favorite toy and leaving Astaroth to wallow in his suffering.

"When did you get pepper spray?!" Yukio hissed, following Rin over a chain-link fence.

"Some asshole tried to use it on me, so I use it on him. It seemed to work, so I kept it. I didn't think it'd be that effective on a demon, huh…" It was probably more the just how unexpected it was than anything else, but Satan wasn't going to question his luck. Astaroth was a tough kid, he'd get over it.

An inhuman roar born from hell's deepest rage some distance behind them sent birds scattering ominously.

Satan rolled his eyes. What a damn wuss, you would think Satan had broken his tail or something.

"So, 'carving out your own territory', huh?" Yukio asks like an angry mother when they pause at the mouth of the alleyway to arrange their clothing to look a bit more presentable.

"They might have hurt you one day." Satan says, and even if it's a terrible excuse, Yukio knows him well enough to just sigh and hand over his messenger bag since Satan had sacrificed his own backpack for the greater good. It's very clear that Yukio is going to interrogate him later, but at least the boy has enough sense to know that something like that can wait until they aren't being hunted down.

Satan ends up wearing his jacket inside out, messenger bag awkwardly positioned in front of his legs, since that's the only way to not look like he hasn't just murdered something with all the blood. Yukio grimaces and zips up his own jacket to hide his own blood, and for once Satan curses the fact that he insisted on carrying the bulk of their supplies to and from school. He wants to stop and force Yukio to sit so he can tie up the wound, but they don't have the time, nor the supplies.

It is a surprisingly uneventful speed-walk to the monastery. Their arrival, is less so.

Chapter Text

Satan slams the doors open, very nearly hitting one of Shiro's lackeys with how violently he storms in. They're cleaning and being generally useless because somehow a fucking Demon King manages to sneak into their territory and went unnoticed, so Satan doesn't even bother to acknowledge them. They fret over Yukio when he practically collapses in the pews, but Satan ignores them, knowing his child can direct even brainless fools such as them.

Satan marches directly up to the piece of shit priest, shrugging off the bag and jacket and watching him recoil at the sight of so much blood, "Oh hey there, how are you? I'm fine. My day was fucking fantastic; Yukio and I bumped into some family today. Why didn't you tell Yukio and I we had family visiting? Was it the horns? I bet it was the horns, right?"

"Rin, what are you…"

"Bastard, the fact that you don't even know what I'm talking about just proves my point! Want to fucking explain to be why you let a damn demon like Astaroth roam around this city like he owns the place?"

Someone behind him drops something that sounds breakable, but the two males ignore it. Satan, because he frankly couldn't care, and Shiro because he's so shocked he might as well have just been stabbed in the back.

"Astaroth…"

"Yeah, possessing some businessman and getting his shits and giggles by trying to rip Yukio's arm off! What the fuck were you doing here, sitting on your ass when he's out there!?"

"Rin, give dad a break." Yukio calls from the back of the monastery, sounding exhausted, in pain, and incredibly annoyed with the hand life had dealt him, "He didn't know, and neither did you."

That's more of a punch to the gut that Yukio probably knows, since keeping dangerous demons out of his territory was part of Satan's pride and duty. To fail so spectacularly was a spit in the face. Thankfully, the piece of shit priest interrupted Satan's thoughts before he had to think too deeply on it.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yukio isn't!" Satan gestures wildly to the back with a snarl. Yukio sits still as one of the worthless lackies finishes cutting away his shirt and the small gaggle hiss at the claw marks and heavy bruising.

"I'll live."

The wound is bad by a human's standards, so Satan thought for sure that that would serve as a perfect distraction. He starts towards his room where he's stashed his weapons, but Shiro catches him roughly by the arm and pulls him back. The king of demons growls, but the Paladin is unshaken by the typical behavior.

Rin is so much like a cat, Shiro muses, angry and hissing to hide the anxiety buried in his heart. "Rin. Are you actually alright?"

The shitty priest has started to learn to better weigh his words, and Satan hates how suddenly effective he finds them, "Yeah, he didn't get a chance to touch me."

"I'm glad." A simple smile because Satan is safe, and the demon wants to both embrace it and rip it to shreds so this feeling stops, "Now, let's get you cleaned up, and then we can figure out how to handle this problem."

Satan lets out a short laugh, "We don't have time for that. I say we have an hour tops before he shows up. Less if he doesn't feel like waiting until dark, and I'd bet on that since I pissed him off."

Shiro draws on all the strength being an Exorcist, a priest, and a father has given him for what he's about to ask, "What did you do?"

"I threw about thirty pounds worth of textbooks at his head and then pepper sprayed him in the face."

Yukio snorts in the back and someone drops something in shock.

"…Why do you do these things, Rin?"

"Because it was surprisingly effective. And fucking hilarious. I would've stayed to laugh if I wasn't pretty sure he was about to gore me. Once he stopped swearing and could see again, of course. But that also means he has this address, so I may or may not end up gored anyway." Satan rambles blandly as he walks off, though he isn't worried about getting seriously hurt. Not against someone as head-strong as Astaroth, who he could run circles around.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some more knives. I lost one when I crippled the ghoul Astaroth sent after us."

"You're surprisingly calm about all this."

"As far as I care, this is just another asshole looking for a fight." Satan shouts down the stairs, taking them two at a time because he feels naked without at least five weapons on him, "Plus, I seem valuable to him, being a prince and all. So, I have that to my advantage."

Yukio sighs at Rin's antics, wincing at the disinfectant is liberally applied. But he won't complain, not when he was wounded by the King of Rot- who knows what diseases the demon carried. But there was something bothering him… "I assumed that us two being half breeds would make us outcasts among Gehenna, but apparently not."

"They're more desperate than I thought." Shiro agrees, and he wonders just how many things he'll be forced to change now to keep the twins safe. They're strong, Rin especially, so he's sure they'll survive, but surviving isn't living.

Rin reappears, openly armed with knives kept on a modified belt, and Shiro suddenly realizes just where the boy's allowance keeps going. Rin looks like he's perfectly ready to argue anyone who says something under the figurative table, but now isn't the time to be questioning the boy's ability to find pointy objects.

But seeing Rin armed to the teeth with weapons like a soldier causes foul emotions to swell in Shiro's heart and clog his throat, "I probably should have trained you two harder, better, for this since I knew it would happen one day, but I hoped you two wouldn't have to become soldiers until at least a little later in life."

"Dad?"

"Satan is missing." Shiro says, and he sees Yukio and Rin both freeze at the news, "He has been, ever since the day you two were born. And, like it or not, he was what kept Gehenna stable. It's taken thirteen years, but apparently Gehenna has a chance to devolve into complete civil war soon if one of his children doesn't take over."

Understanding flashes in Yukio's eyes, "But I'm assuming his other children wouldn't take too kindly to any of their siblings trying to take over, would they?"

"Exactly, so it's likely Gehenna will split along whatever territory each Demon King claims, then start waring among itself. It'll be bad for any King who isn't overwhelmingly strong, and weak demons will probably flee to our world to escape the chaos. Unless, of course, a proper heir appears. Satan wielded blue flames that could burn anything, including the very souls of demons, and yet not one of his many children has been able to inherit that power. If any were to come forth with that power, they'd almost surely take over without much fuss. Well, less fighting than an actual civil war would cause."

"Are you implying that, Rin and I…?"

Shiro shook his head with a sigh and looks over to the younger twin, "No. Just Rin. You were weak in the womb, so the power rejected you. I knew eventually you two would have to fight, and would probably spend your entire lives fighting just to keep the demons away, so I just wanted…"

That sentiment is soft and weak, and so Satan scoffs at those feelings. It would have been better to train them from as soon as they could walk in preparation for the brutal truth of the world. But instead the Paladin had coddled them, leaving Satan free to train Yukio on his own until very recently, and now the man dared to have regrets? Ha!

But Satan remembered that Yukio grew up happy, and found it just a bit harder to spit on the Exorcist's contradictory feelings.

"It makes sense, as Rin is the reason we're in the situation in the first place, hunting down demons often enough that a Demon King noticed and all."

"Hunting?"

"Damn it all, Yukio-!" Satan spits, angry and embarrassed and betrayed.

"Apparently Rin can kill demons." Yukio continues, talking over his brother's enraged swearing and promises of serious harm if he didn't "shut your shitty mouth". Rin talked big, but he would never actually hurt his twin, and Yukio shamelessly used that to his advantage, "For good, which is hard to do from what Astaroth said. But Satan's flames can do it easily, right?"

"You snitching bastard! I thought you cared about me!"

"I do, which is why I can't just let you off the hook!" Yukio shouts back, with a viciousness Satan had honestly thought his youngest son didn't have. It's enough to keep the demon silent long enough that Yukio can break into a full tirade, "You've been hunting demons, demons Rin! There's aren't some schoolground bullies who will run once you hit them once or twice, these are actual demons! They'll try and kill you, and you've been going after them, alone, and apparently using a power you know nothing about to do it!"

Satan knew his flames better than he knew his own body, but he couldn't exactly go around saying that, so, instead, "I was just trying to keep them away from you!"

"Rin, you could have been killed!"

"I would not have been!"

"When are you going to grow up and realize that you aren't invincible?"

"When I don't-"

"You can kill demons?"

Shiro's growing look of horror makes Satan's stomach churn in some unidentifiable way that makes him want to rip the organ out just to have it stop, and- "Are we really going to do this now? Astaroth could be here any…"

"Rin," Shiro grabs his shoulder, gentle but firm, to prevent the boy from turning his back on his problems once more, "How are you killing demons?"

The stare is uncomfortable and the feeling in his guts only grows until it explodes out of him and he rips away from the shitty priest and his serious eyes. "Fucking… Fine! Fine, but only because we do not have time for this."

Rin lets his own hand ignite into azure fire.

There's gasping and cursing, and Shiro sucks a harsh breath between his teeth.

"Rin…?" Yukio breaks the silence, eyeing the pretty blue flames with obvious fascination that Satan is glad everyone else is too distracted to notice. Because not fearing the flames of hell is something only a fool or abomination would do in the eyes of the Church.

"Why didn't I tell you? I'm already the son of Satan, so I assumed the literal hellfire was a bad thing and I didn't want to get exorcised or something." Satan shifts with very real nervousness, since this was a delicate situation. He needed an advantage, something, anything so they wouldn't look at his story too hard. "Since that's supposedly your job, so... I thought that you only kept Yukio and I because we were still mostly human, so the fire would be…well…"

He's embraced before he's even finished a fraction of the half-baked sob-story he's cooked up on the fly and that stops him cold. Cold, yes, because he's suddenly aware of the coldness in his heart without his fire he's grown to ignore when surrounded by warmth like this. The arms around him send such contradictory feelings shooting up his spine, Satan couldn't have reacted even if he knew what to do. Warm and nice, caging and disgusting, comfortable and choking, warring feelings threaten to tear him apart from the inside.

"Oh, Rin. It's fine, it's going to be ok."

Cheap and easy pity was always a good thing. It secured his position, made them less likely to prod and ask questions, and it was always fun to take ignorant fools for a little ride through an elaborate web of lies he had crated and honed himself.

So just why did Satan no longer feel that satisfaction as he watched the shitty priest before him swallow his lies whole?

He is spared from thinking about the warm flutter in his heart that feels a bit too much like the strength Yukio gives him by a large crash outside.

The Paladin's grip is suddenly nothing but a nuisance, so Satan breaks free and rushes to the door. He can feel the weak barrier that protects the monastery waver like a mirage under a second assault of…something. Pushing through the front door, Satan instantly sees ghouls- dogs, cats, birds, rodents, it's like a small zoo -scrabbling and drooling against the barrier. It burns their rotting flesh and chips their claws, but they have orders from their master that will surely be there soon. And the barrier that protects and blesses the monastery is weak, slowly decayed from the inside out by Satan's very existence. He hadn't paid it much attention, but now the demon is acutely aware of the holes that the humans probably hadn't even noticed. Tiny, insignificant scratches, but enough purchase for something powerful to grab onto and rip apart.

"There's a lot of them..." Satan mutters, wondering just how he'll have to handle this when they break through. He's not afraid of even the largest dogs and his blood was fire and wouldn't let any of the lowly diseases take hold. But Yukio is human and one bite by the wrong demon and it could be over. So he should-

Shiro grabs Satan's arm and drags in away from the edge, "Rin get back inside!"

"Hey, wait a second-!" But he's thrown inside the doors where Yukio tugs weakly to stop him and let the other Exorcists rush about. It doesn't matter anyway, because the shitty priest waltzes back inside, ignoring the two boys in favor of shouting instructions with a clear determined authority Satan's never heard from him before.

"We're behind on preparations: pour the most concentrated Holy Water we have down every sink and drain, and then directly into the sewers! That barrier feels weak, triple it, now! I want stocks of whatever ammunition we have, summon any familiars you have under your command! Astaroth will surely be here soon."

Satan's eyebrows disappear into his hairline when Paladin reaches the gaudy central podium and casually pulls a shotgun from a hidden compartment. There's several more goodies hidden inside Satan isn't interested in since he hates guns, so it's a surprise when the priest walks over, shotgun in one hand, a box in the other. Yukio hesitantly takes it after a nod from the man, opens it, and his eyes blow wide at the sight of a clean black gun and several magazines lying in protective foam.

"Dad?"

"This was going to be your next birthday present since you've finally passed basic gun training. I understand that you're injured, but it's better to have something to defend yourself with if anything happens. And Rin, I need you to follow me-"

There's a crack beyond human understanding, and suddenly Satan feels the pressure on his shoulders he's come to associate with safety be blown away. Foul air rushes in, carrying the scent of rot.

Astaroth is here.

Satan plasters a trademark grin he hasn't used in years on his face and boldly struts out the door while the humans are gagging on the sudden smell. He's missing his usual fangs and eyes and hellfire, but if the way Astaroth loses his cocky smirk when they meet eyes is any indication, it's still just as terrifying. Maybe even more so to see such a familiar look after over a decade without.

"Hi there. Came for a family visit, hmm?" Satan says with cheer as fake as his human skin, indulging in his more dramatic tendencies. If anyone askes later, he'll cite that he was buying time, since he doubted "I wanted to fuck with him for running my day" would be an acceptable answer. "But you should have given me some warning, Astaroth! I could have prepared some food, cleaned the house, offered you a glass of Holy Water, taken your things…" he eyed the backpack the demon is holding in a tight grip.

"But until then, I want you to get the fuck out of my territory." Satan finishes plainly.

Astaroth laughs at what must seem so much like a kitten baring its claws. "Such a strong spirit, young prince! But it's no good that you've gotten attached to this lowly land when you should be home you know! No, no good at all."

Satan ignores the implied threat, "We're family, so I'll let you off light if you leave now." Family, love, the things that Satan had sought so desperately he had instead driven them away. It was in his grasp now and he wanted to hold tightly and never let go, but he also wanted to be more selfish and have more things to hold. Yuri would have wanted to mend his tatter life, so he owed it to her to at least try, "Come back later without your pets and maybe we can talk things out a bit?"

"Talk?" Astaroth starts slowly, letting the word droll out of his mouth like something so disgusting he can't even process it, "You want to talk and spit whatever lies these Exorcists have been feeding you?"

"Because I'm going to trust whatever shit some flea-infested glorified rat that hasn't been a threat since the dark ages tells-"

Astaroth flings the backpack at Satan's with lethal force, something he easily ducks. He hears many things (everything) inside it break to pieces when it hits next to the door to the monastery and nearly takes a peaking Exorcist's head off.

"You missed, asshole!" Satan jeers, ignoring the fact that he gets stared at like he's nuts. But he can't help it, his blood is rushing at the idea of his first real fight in years. Oh he's hopelessly outclassed in raw power and killing capabilities, but Satan is fast and crafty and knows all of Astaroth's patterns and weaknesses. He overextends, he relies too much on brute force, and he's bad at seeing the bigger picture.

This would be easy.

They both go low and start circling each other like the apex predators they are, Satan with glinting knives and Astaroth with dark claws. With the way Astaroth is trying to corral him closer to the gate, the plan is painfully clear: pin Satan between the surprisingly quiet pests the demon had hoped he had forgotten about and then swarm him. But a surprise is only effective if it's unknown, and Satan readies himself to sprint and slide his knives between those ribs-

A thunderous crack and Astaroth went flying from a gunshot.

Shiro sprints out, shotgun in hand and looking pissed, a whole gaggle of Exorcists behind him spilling out to attack the ghoul swarm, "Rin, what part of stay inside do you not understand?!"

The ghouls scatter and attack viciously, and Satan curses as he stabs and slashes at a poucing cat, all while trying to crush a dozen rats trying to bite through his shoes. "Actually you old told me to get inside, you said nothing about staying there!"

The Paladin chucked a Holy Water grenade into a pack of ghouls, their dying screams not enough to fully mask his frustrated sigh, "Go protect your brother."

"Which one? The one you just shot?" Who had bulked up to eight feet of pure rage and was currently ripping some poor Exorcist's familiar to pieces, "Or the one you just left alone with a gun?"

"Go inside already!"

"I'll do whatever-!"

Another crack of thunder and the ghoul that had been sneaking up on them turned to dust. Slowly, the two looked over to the doors of the monastery and state at the sight of Yukio leaned against the doorframe, gun glinting in the light. And did he ever look mad.

"Would you two stop fighting already and focus!?"

"R-Right!"

Satan takes a moment to drink in the situation and actually think of a plan instead of blindly throwing himself at the enemy like the fodder had done. Astaroth had just finished goring a scarecrow familiar and was using part of it to bat some poor Exorcist across the lawn. Ghouls kept encroaching and growing even as the Exorcists destroyed them with fists and fire and water, ignoring the seals that should have kept them away in order to assist their king.

Satan knew a lost battle when he saw it, and it was only a matter of minutes before they were overrun. So he would just have to cut off the head. "Hey, old man, how good are you at negotiations?"

"This situation is beyond negotiation, Rin!" A whole book's worth of fatal verses spill from the Paladin's lips and a line of demons goes up in smoke.

"Sorry, I meant threats." Satan grunts, losing his knife to pin a crow covered in boils to the wall of the monastery, "Eh whatever, just stand there with your shot gun and look menacing when the time comes, ok?"

"Whatever you're planning to do, don't."

"Hmm…No."

"Rin!"

Satan takes off at an inhuman dash, drawing just a bit on his power to leap over ghouls with long strides. He slashes apart a decayed fox that's hassling one of the useless fodder Exorcists with easy, scattering the pieces to prevent it from ever getting back up. The man, who Satan had seen punching demons with little more than his fists and some blessings, tries to thank him, but Satan ignores him and grabs the container of Holy Water he had dropped. It's half empty and unwieldy large for a speed fighter like Satan, but the lost weight is enough to make it manageable.

He takes off at a sprint to the fire-breathing Exorcist, who was desperately trying to hold of Astaroth to little avail, "Hey, fatty! Boost me!"

He ignores the indignant cries of "My name is Maruta!" from the fat man and rushes him. If the idiot doesn't get the message, he'll just use his face as a springboard instead. But no, the man finally processes Satan's shout and scrambles to get into position to boost the demon's jump high into the air, over even Astaroth's towering form with the power.

A perfect height to upend the entire container of Holy Water on the demon's face.

Astaroth roars and lashes out blindly, but Satan lets the plastic container shield him from slashing claws. Falling, he plants his feet square in the demon's face and shatters that stubby nose to pieces and jumps straight up with an elegant flip from the toppling titan. The pain and weight is enough to send Astaroth falling to the ground like a great beast toppled by a mouse, and to add insult to injury, Satan uses his downed form as a crash-pad, driving a his heels into a soft stomach. Astaroth tries to move, is a heartbeat away from ripping Satan's mortal shell to pieces, but the elder demon is ruthless and grabs the thick tail that is lashing angrily about and lets his flames just barely kiss it. It's not enough to burn, but it's uncomfortable warm, and beneath him Satan can feel the great body of Astaroth lock up with fear.

Finally.

"Now, you're going to calm the fuck down, and you're also going to listen to me, ok?" Satan isn't mad that Astaroth decided to throw a hissy fix, his kids did it all the time, but he is still rather pissed that the demon had threatened Yukio. Normally he wouldn't give a damn how many times his kids destroyed each other over petty things so long as no one actually dies, but Yukio is still fragile and mortal and would die if his body was destroyed.

"Y-Yes, young prince…" Astaroth chokes on his words and Satan barely gives Shiro a glance when the Paladin appears by his side to point his shotgun at the demon's face. Well at least the man was on board with the plan, even if he hated it.

"Good. See, we can talk things out. Now, you're going to leave this place and you aren't going to ever come back, or else I'm taking your tail as a trophy. We might be family, but don't think I won't burn a shitty brat like you until you learn to listen to me." A warning flicker of flames against skin gets a frantic nod, "Oh, and you're going to say sorry to Yukio for hurting him. That's not what big brothers are supposed to do, got it?"

Forgiveness was important, as Yuri would say.

"Forgive me, please forgive me!"

Yukio looks immensely confused, and, not knowing what else to say, mumbles "Ok…?"

"Good. Oh and don't tell anyone else that we're here, ok? You lost so you have to listen to me, that's how it goes. Don't even send over someone you don't like because you want me to kick their ass, go do that yourself you lazy bum." Astaroth is looking at Satan with open admiration, even if his distorted face makes it hard to identify, "What?"

"Nothing. You just truly are so much like our fathe-"

Shiro shoots his shotgun and misses Astaroth's head by millimeters. "Be silent with your lies, demon!" And then he starts to rapid-chant Astaroth's fatal verse.

Astaroth doesn't even fight, "Please come to Gehenna before it collapses, my prince."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want." But there's no bite to the reply, it's just a simple fact in Satan's mind.

Astaroth smiles, and is driven from the human's body in a burst of black and bile. The demon's soul flees, and Satan feels even the tail in his grasp disappear into the ether and he lets his hand go slack, fire once again curling deep into his body and behind a crumbling seal. There's no real fuss – the ghouls that had gone silent flee – and less fight than Satan had thought there would be from one of his kids. He knows this isn't over, but also knows that Astaroth won't share what happened here, if only for his own pride.

Satan stands up, dusts off his knees, and lazily stretches. Everyone is staring at him, a child who took down a Demon King without a scratch, a child with flames of hell, and he can't care what they think about what they just heard. Instead, he flashes them a grin that's all teeth, "Well, that went well I think!"

Shiro smacks him upside the head.

Chapter Text

It is 2 a.m. and Satan is nursing a cup of hot cocoa, watching the Exorcists try and clean up what they can after Astaroth's little hissy fit when Shiro walks up to him and sets a sword that feels like hellfire in front of him, and Satan decides he's way too tired for this shit. They'd been stuck dealing with the police for hours, and then he'd been roped into doing major clean-up for several hours. That wasn't even counting the lecture the shitty priest had given him up until the minute said police had arrived, spewing things about "safety" and "common-sense" and "suicidal, reckless behavior". Now Satan just wanted to sleep because the barriers were back up (weak, but they would suffice) and he knew he would need all the strength he could find for the coming days/weeks/years/eternity.

"Fuck off until the morning, I wanna sleep." Satan muttered into his cup of blissful sweetness without even really listening. He really shouldn't be this tired, but cut off from his flames as he is, he loses his energy annoyingly fast, and the day has been emotionally draining.

Yukio just sighs into his cup of water, which he'd chosen over something, well, better, because apparently he didn't want to be up all night. Satan cut his eyes over to the clock and peered over at the time- 2:13 a.m. -and sighs. So much for that plan.

"No Rin, this is important." Shiro insisted, ignoring the way the boy rolls his eyes, but is too tired to give a real fight.

Satan proceeded to only half-listen to the shitty priest's rambling about the sword that holds the bulk of his powers. He stared with bleary eyes as the man went on and on about how important it is, about how the seal is weakening, and about becoming a 'true' demon if he draws it. He stared at the sword and the seal that's worn down to almost nothing, and knows he could easily pull his powers free from the blade any second, can feel it hum and sing to him like a lost friend, the power dancing with his own and caressing his soul.

It's annoying when he's trying to learn how to sleep with his eyes open.

And when the man starts talking about plans to leave, to uproot the life Satan has only just gotten comfortable with, over some delusional fear he has, Satan downed the rest of his drink and slammed it on the table to interrupt the shitty priest.

"No."

Shiro sputtered, "Rin-"

"I'm not leaving." Yukio was happy, and Yukio had a future he wanted to aim for. Yukio wanted to be a doctor, and whether that be for the mundane or supernatural, it didn't matter: all that did was that his son received a high-quality education to do whatever would make him happy. And so, "This room, this building, this entire damn town, is mine, ok? It's where Yukio is going to grow up and be happy, and if anyone comes after it, I'll destroy them."

"Rin, I'm sorry, but we can't do that. Now that Astaroth knows where you are, he'll-"

"He won't do a damn thing." The demon interrupted, wearing well-worn authority that forces the human to freeze, "I fought him, I won, and so he'll listen to me and fuck right off. And if you and your little 'posse' would actually do your jobs, then there won't be another incident. Or one in the first place."

There's going to be another fight, Satan can just tell by the way the shitty priest's eyes alight with that fickle inner strength he has. They may have agreed to live together in peace, but that hardly means they get along that well, and Satan will tear the man down the moment the need arises. He's done it plenty of times in the past, so he'll do it again. Very little, if anything, has changed between them.

But Yukio, ever-growing, has changed very much, and sees the argument with only a sigh, "Dad, Rin and I will be old enough to enter high school in a little less than two years. I know I said I hadn't decided on anything for certain yet, but isn't True Cross Academy one of the most heavily protected places in the country?"

That stops the two of them short, Satan with interest, and Shiro with slight surprise. The moment the words left Yukio's mouth, Satan knows exactly where to guide the conversation and how it'll all end. It must be strange for the human, Satan thinks, to see a child learn to manipulate so naturally. But Satan has known Yukio is very clever for some time now, more so than he (Satan just has eons of practice), and likely nearly as clever as his eldest siblings.

Shiro isn't an idiot, however, and pieces together what Yukio wants well enough and grimaces as he is led into a corner, "I know where you're going, but I doubt Rin could get in with his grades."

"Oi!"

"Relax, Rin." Shiro says and offers a truce in the form of a new mug of hot cocoa. Satan takes the nearly scalding mug with a grumble, but he'll keep his peace. For the moment.

Yukio accepted his own mug, finally giving into temptation, "True Cross Academy has some of the highest standards in the country, to the point that even I barely make the cut in some places. But besides that, Rin could probably get in on a multilingual scholarship, assuming True Cross has one."

"I could?"

Yukio looked over to his clueless brother with just the tiniest bit of envy that he found such things so easy that he never even considered it impressive, "How many languages do you know again? Three?"

"Four." Honestly it was probably close to forty, but a good number of those were considered dead languages, and even more were too obscure to explain how or why he had learned them.

"See?" Yukio sighed with a wave, "The headmaster has to be an Exorcist, so I'm sure he or she could pull some strings. And I can help Rin get his grades up."

"That's still two years." Shiro reiterated.

Satan rolled his eyes, "Then do your job."

"Ouch, you really aren't letting that one go, are you?"

"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet!"

Satan snarled at the shitty priest's chuckle at that, almost overwhelmed with the familiar urge to sock the man in the face. How dare he laugh at the king of all demons like that! He would gouge those eyes out with his own broke glasses and then-

A hand ruffled Satan's hair and all thoughts fled his head except one:

"I'm not a damn cat!"

Shiro laughs and Rin ducked away from the contact, scrambling out of his chair and backing away with a venomous glare. The image was ruined with how he still clutched the cup of hot cocoa protectively to his chest, which he sipped after a moment. Angrily.

Shiro is not a very good man, he has made many mistakes in his life and has flexible morals at the best of times. But he doesn't want to see Rin devolve into a rabid dog, doesn't want to see Yukio to become a pawn beside his brother, but the two cling to each other. Rin even more so is vicious with how much he values the mundane, and without it…

"You really don't want to leave here, do you?"

…Rin would surely become something frightening when he entered Shiro's world.

Satan, realizing he was bunched up and unreasonably tense (like a cat, damn it all), straightened with a sip of his drink to cover the movement, "It's better to dig your heels in and refuse to look weak when you've got the advantage." To retreat was a weakness that demons just couldn't resist pouncing on, "And yes, we do have the advantage: I kicked Astaroth's sorry ass, which means that even if he blabs we'll still look strong enough no one will decide to attack us without some planning. And I seriously doubt he will, since what demon wants to admit that they got beaten up by a thirteen-year-old human? No, if Astaroth tries anything, it'll be by himself, and we already know how to prepare against him."

There were problems with that logic, just as there were problems with Yukio's proposed plan. Both of them were still young, Rin thought himself invincible and able to handle any threat that came his way, while Yukio believed Shiro to be near-perfect and able to protect them both forever. But-

"You two have really thought about this, haven't you?"

"Yes…"

"It's just common sense!"

Shiro sighed at the twin responses, and, knowing full well he was going to regret no matter what, so he might as well be just as selfish as he was on that day, in the cold and breathing the ash of the damned. "I make no promises, but we'll spend the next few days checking the town for any activity and setting up extra defenses. You and Yukio will have to stay inside and can't go anywhere without at least one of us accompanying you, but if we deem this town safe, then we'll see. However! If things ever change, or if I ever even think there might be a serious threat to you two, then we're leaving. We're also going to starting your training- your real training."

He didn't want to make Rin even more vicious, but hopefully, by some miracle, preserving a mundane homelife would balance him.

Satan eyed the human suspiciously but decided to take things at face-value until he got enough sleep and felt less horrible, "Then we're through here! Goodnight and good riddance!"

He nodded, stood, and waltzed back to his and Yukio's room. He would have to check every corner for his own peace of mind, and he needed to do that soon if he was going to be thorough.

Yukio, ignorant to all of this, only noticed that Rin had decided to be rude and leave his empty mug behind, "Rin, put up your cup!"

"Can't hear you, already half-asleep!"

"Rin!"

"Yukio~!"

The younger twin made to storm up the stairs, but stopped at the firm pressure on his uninjured shoulder. Shiro just shook his head with an exasperated smile, "Let him go, your brother is tired."

There were so many bags and lines on Shiro's face, Yukio realized suddenly. Shiro looked so tired, with something much deeper and heavier than just missing a night or two of sleep, and it haunted his very bones, wearing down his spirit until he had no choice but to smile or buckle under the pressure. His eyes were so very old, but filled with the desire to keep going.

Rin's eyes were the same sometimes, but a thousand times older and wearier. Just how long had his brother been hunting demons in some misguided attempt to protect him?

"Dad, what's actually going to happen now?"

"I don't want to force your brother to do anything, because that's when things can get…unpleasant with him." Rage might spark a fire that would leave a lot of people dead and Rin's head on a chopping block, "But to think he's been tapping into that cursed fire for who knows how long…Well, things have just gotten a lot more complicated."

"They usually do with Rin. Sometimes he just looks so…" Old, ancient, worn-out and crumbling with only a flicker of life remaining, blazing only when he say Yukio, as if Yukio was his entire universe, "So tired, and I wonder just how much he's been doing behind my- our backs in some misguided attempt to protect me…"

"Long enough to know how demons tend to fight and the reflexes to take down something stronger than himself." There had been no fear when Rin had attacked Astaroth, no regard for his own safety when one good hit would have torn the boy in two, and the confidence hadn't been misplaced either. Rin could read demons and knew their main weakness, their tails, without having ever been told, "I have a few things I think I can at least try to do, but all of that depends on what the demons do next. So, I need you to keep an eye on your brother and keep him out of trouble."

Yukio nodded, looking to the neglected sword on the table and can recognize that several dizzyingly high-level seals have been applied recently and rather crudely to the sword as a sort of stop-gap measure. There's no way that his father will be sleeping anytime soon with the refinement that's clearly needed if Rin wants to keep drawing on the flames without rotting away that vessel completely. They're both pushing themselves so very hard, so Yukio should just…

"I can only promise to try."

"That's all any of us can do when it comes to Rin. Now go on, get to bed."

Chapter Text

Three days later, and Satan could feel himself going stir-crazy with being locked up in the monastery. He and Yukio had supposedly come down with a case of the flue as far as the school was concerned, but even the homework and lessons they got delivered to their door could only keep him so busy for so long. Yukio's shoulder was healing with no complications thankfully, even if it would almost surely scar nastily. Satan hated sitting around and itched with the urge to patrol his territory after such a breach, but simply can't because he has to be, bah, diplomatic if he wanted to stay. So instead he idly takes pictures with the camera that had somehow managed to survive that crazy night and sharpens his knives while looking out the window with careful eyes. He and Yukio had had a few fights over what he was and wasn't allowed to do anymore, and Satan will play along for as long as the prying eyes are staring a bit too intently at him. But he needs to patrol and protect eventually.

It's been three days and Satan is incredibly bored, yes, but he quickly decides that he really shouldn't tempt fate when the doorbell rings.

He's the one to open the door simply because he's the closest and comes face-to-face with Samael, who looks at least 30% more ridiculous than Satan remembered. Still in a gaudy amount of white and purple, with stupid looking puffy-shorts and striped tights, and a damn cape of all things, and that fucking hat-.

"Well good afternoon! My name is-"

Satan slams the door in Samael's face. Or tried too, but the idiot had stuck his foot out to catch it just in time and laughed like this was a funny game. So Satan laughs right back and stomps on said foot and makes sure to lock the door. Not that it'll stop that lunatic, but hopefully the idea of being a gentleman will restrain him. Shiro walked around the corner just in time to catch the tail end of the exchange, and gave the boy a look.

"Hey old man, there's some weird moron dressed as a jester outside with a cape!" Satan shouts loud enough he knows for a fact that Samael can hear him.

Shiro twitched, "Rin, don't say things like that! Wait, 'jester'?"

"Yup. You should get your shotgun, he tried to force his way in and everything." Satan continued, stepping back to let the shitty priest past. Despite everything, Samael is smiling perfectly serenely when Shiro opens the door, as if he hadn't been assaulted and insulted.

"Ah, it's been too long, Shiro! I see your son is full of even more energy than your descriptions would have led me to believe!"

Ah, no wait, Samael was clearly angry, but just had the tact to not do anything, thinking the 'foolish child' was just baring his fangs. He did put up with Amaimon more than anyone else could, who Satan was pretty sure was a bit touched in the head and/or socially retarded. Well, even more socially retarded than any of his other kids. Well then…

Even Shiro could feel the annoyance permeating the room and sighed. There went any chance of a good first impression, "It's good to see you too, Mephisto. And please excuse Rin's behavior, he has…quite the mouth on him I just can't seem to curb."

"Of course you would know a guy like this..."

May God be merciful, Shiro prayed, "And just what does that mean?"

"Oh nothing, nothing." Satan said far too innocently, waving the question away. But he stopped and let his eyes drag over Samael's form (he could call himself whatever he wanted, but Samael was the name his mother gave him, and so he would forever be Samael) with heavy purpose before looking at the shitty priest with an evaluating nod, "This is one of those 'progressive churches', so I'll be good and just wish you two well in life!"

The implications take a full two seconds to hit Shiro, which is plenty of time for Satan to make his tactical retreat.

"Rin!"

Satan retreated with a cackle, flashing the hardly-phased Samael a peace sign just so he could see one of his brows disappear into his hairline in curiosity. It probably wasn't a good idea to make himself interesting to someone with absolutely no boundaries or morals like Samael, but screw it all, Astaroth was already involved and if things hadn't drastically changed over the past decade, then Amaimon would get wrapped up in this mess sooner or later, always chasing Samael's coat tails because no one else wanted to deal with him. He didn't even know what the other half of his kids were up to, or if they were involved in Lucifer's little club or not. No matter what he did things would get out of control, so he was fine as long as he didn't sprout wings and announce who he was. Well, it would get difficult for the 'adults', most of who felt morally obligated to deal with the problems themselves. Which, good on them, he would cheer them on as they solved his messes as he napped and taught Yukio how to slip a knife (and, one day, claws) cleanly between ribs.

Mephisto watched the impossible child flee up the steps with a cackle that was a bit too familiar for comfort and wondered. The malice that Shiro had once liked to report and complain about was nowhere to be seen, even though he had been sure it would destroy the 'happy family' facade the Paladin was desperate to maintain with every Gehenna report he received. "Well, he's certainly lively! And how are you doing on this fine day, Mr. Fujimoto?"

"He's a brat with a mouth that's gotten him in trouble more times than I or the school office can count, and you can't even begin to imagine just how much he worries me." And yet the man somehow sounded so fond of the literal hell spawn. Honestly, Mephisto would never truly understand these contradicting creatures, as much as he was fond of their creativity and spirit, "He sassed Astaroth. Sassed a Demon King with a small army of ghouls behind him as if it was just some playground spat. And I'm managing. Somehow."

"Well, Astaroth did intrude." And was successfully repelled, not by the Paladin (directly), but a tiny demon who shouldn't have had a chance even when blessed with father's illusive flames. Interesting, but old news.

"Yes, I know. But that's not why I called you here to talk."

Maybe it was foolish to rely on a demon to tell him truths that no one else would, but Shiro had long realized that the deeper he treaded into a web of lies and conspiracy, the only people he could trust were those who wore their intentions one their sleeves.

"Ah yes. There have been some interesting developments lately. Lucifer has officially refused to claim the throne, leaving it open to any who wish to take it." Mephisto began, and maybe he was just a touch disappointed when Shiro didn't ask the obvious question. He really was becoming predictable, "I myself cannot take the throne without abandoning Assiah, and I can't do something like that when my dear brother is clearly planning something. Lucifer does nothing in halves, so this behavior is worrying even me, I'm sure you understand. Therefore, Iblis has mounted an assault against those who believe that only those of the blue flame should rule."

"Iblis is the one who wants to lead war against Assiah, right? So where does that leave us?"

"With my aid and favors, it'll take some time for him to win, but he will win, make no mistake there. Without a proper heir, the blue flame faction will slowly lose support and crumble from within. I imagine that's why dear Astaroth paid you a visit. Don't worry, I've taken care of him, though I doubt he would have made another attempt even without me." And wasn't that something, already successfully cowed by and practically worshiping the youngest prince, calling him the second coming of Satan.

As if- the boy was far calmer than Satan had been for the past several hundred years or so, what with his declining sanity.

"How long do we have?"

"A year, at most, before Iblis takes the throne." Mephisto admitted, and he could feel Shiro doing the mental calculations and preparations, "However, he won't be ready to properly assault Assiah for another decade, maybe five years if he rushes things. But plenty of his brothers are against him or at least neutral to him, so he'll have very support there, and they hold most of Gehenna's power between them."

Still, "This entire situation is terrible."

"Yes, yes, it is all very dire and dramatic, making it the perfect stage for an unprecedented move to occur, no?"

It took only a few more painfully boring days after Samael's visit for Satan and Yukio's house-arrest to be lifted. Honestly, it was overkill, considering how Samael had reassured them all that any possible issues with Astaroth had been taken care of, and even going so far as to lay some rather powerful seals around the monastery. Sure, the demon had openly admitted to wanting to use "Rin" as a puppet ruler to keep the balance between Assiah and Gehenna once he had grown some more, but that wasn't anything Satan hadn't considered once his warward son had shown up (who was in charge of a school, what the fuck. He knew about the Exorcist thing, but a school?! Yukio's future school!?). It was hilariously ironic, but to anyone who wasn't "in the know" it made perfect sense: "Rin" had strong ties to Assiah, so having him on the throne of Gehenna had to be better than any of the others.

"Yes, become more vicious, become more powerful, and become the strongest!"

Samael really had too much of a taste for the dramatic. While Yukio had gotten angry over the thought of anyone using his 'big brother', Satan had barely prevented himself from laughing himself sick over how neatly everything had decided to fall into his lap. He was allowed to stay in his city, he had an easy in to True Cross and could stay by Yukio, and he was going to be plopped back on his own throne with others doing most of the fighting for him.

He wished he had planned this, he really did wish he was that good. But sometimes fate was fickle like that, and Samael liked to think himself so clever and above everyone else.

Even Samael getting petty revenge for the equally petty door incident by disguising an attempt to scalp him as a 'friendly' hair-ruffle couldn't damped Satan's mood. Ok, maybe it could because that had both hurt and been insulting, especially when he could see some of his hair on the bastard's gloves, but whatever, that didn't mean much in the end. Not in the face of a simple fact.

Satan had a familiar now.

He would give the crappy priest credit for one thing at least: he had good taste in demonic guards. Cat Sídhes were fairly powerful while still being discrete and agile enough to get around almost anywhere without being noticed. They also tended to be fiercely loyal and, if the split tail was any indication, this one had survived for some time. So it wasn't some random straggler.

It, well he, was also 'gifted' with the ridiculously uncreative name of "Kuro".

Satan rolled his eyes when he realized that the black cat was named exactly that: black.

"Of course you named him that."

Shiro ignored him in favor of handing the currently small bundle of fur to Yukio, who clearly didn't know what to do or how to hold a cat. Satan may or may not have taken a picture instead of helping, and Shiro gave him a look that clearly said he was going to want to see any copies that got printed.

"As I was saying, it's impossible for us" Shiro gestured to his generally useless lackies, "to follow you constantly, so Kuro here will become your shared familiar. He doesn't need to be summoned and technically his contract is with me, so there's no threat to either of you."

"I didn't know you had a permanent familiar, dad." Yukio said, nearly fumbling the squirming demon that was very insistently demanding attention.

"I tamed him when he was harassing a construction site some time back, and he's been a sort of guardian for True Cross Academy for a while now. I talked to Mephisto and he was happy to give Kuro back to serve as a guard for you two."

Kuro finally had enough of being held and leapt to the floor, where he very promptly whined, 'I want food already! I was promised food if I stayed in that stupid stuffy cage!'

"Hey, I think your cat is hungry." Satan said when the cries got on his nerves and Shiro was too busy trying to explain the specifics of the familiar contract with Yukio.

"Oh, right, could you feed him, Rin? It'll be good for him to be comfortable around you two before you go to school Monday."

He thought about telling the shitty priest to not be so lazy, but stopped, "Fine, I'll use that turkey that's going to go bad."

Satan led the demon cat into the kitchen and fed him exactly as he said he would. Once Kuro had devoured the mean, he let his hand absently stroke the demon's silky fur and began his real objective.

"Now, Kuro was it?"

The Cat Sídhe looked up at that, and it looked like that stupid nickname was going to stick around,  'Yes? Do you have any catnip wine, err…'

"You can call me Rin. And no, I don't."

Ears flicked up and green eyes widened, 'You can understand me? Wow, not even Shiro can do that, and he's the best!'

"I have demon blood, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as what I'm about to tell you." It wasn't like the Cat Sídhe would be telling anyone about that little tidbit so long as he was playing guard for the twins. "You may be told by that shitty priest to protect both of us equally, or even to protect me first, but I want you to protect Yukio exclusively if anything ever happens, ok?"

'But-'

"But nothing! I can defend myself, and I'll do my best to protect Yukio, but he's a lot more fragile than I am." Humans in general were so breakable and often couldn't properly heal. Scars, imperfections, living itself slowly wore them down to dust, "And, one day, hopefully far into the future, something big will happen. And when that happens, Yukio might not want me to protect him, at least for a while. So that's where you come in, alright?"

'But why would Yukio not want you to protect him if you're strong?'

Satan thought of how Yukio's world was destined to shatter to itty bitty pieces one day, shards of memories and jagged feelings that would cut his mind and soul to bits. He would surely bleed, surely cry, and surely hate whatever happened to Satan's human body when his demonic blood was set free. Claws and wings, scales and skin like leather, fangs and fire- a revolting sight ripping free from a human shell.

Yuri had still had the courage to love such a beast, but could a miracle ever occur twice?

Maybe it wasn't wise, but Satan would push the answer to that question as far down the line as he could.

"It's complicated."

Chapter Text

Satan wasn't sure when it happened, but one day, thirteen years into his masquerade as a human and several months after Astaroth's little stunt, he woke up and realized that he was…ok. Emotionally, that is.

At some point, his rage and hatred and regret had started to fade. He didn't know when or how or why, but it was so slow that he didn't notice, like the way the ocean dulled and eventually dissolved the land it beat against, and his boiling emotions cooled to a simmer. He still felt rage over what had happened Yuri, but it was no longer an ever-present white noise. He still hated that Yukio called that shitty priest "dad" instead of him, but the words only irritated him instead of acting like nails being driven into his skull. And he still regretted that he hadn't held tight enough, hadn't acted earlier on what he and Yuri had found blossoming between them, but it was a dull ache that reminded him of what could be lost instead of the feeling of his heart shredding itself. It was strange, because he was a long-lived creature that kept grudges for millennia, and yet the biggest slight against him was being…not forgiven but dulled with relative ease.

He remembered how he spent his days training and playing with Yukio instead of stewing and raging, and it made a little more sense.

Would Yuri be proud of him? No, no she wouldn't. He had killed a lot of people to try and save her -something she would have never wanted- and he continued to kill selfishly to protect Yukio, even as he knew how fleeting mortal life was to his eternity. He was still loud and rash and quick to anger, and he was so terrible that he possessed the body of her dead child just to be closer to his last light. Really, he was just the worst there was, and he would never be a good person.

For some reason, Yuri had been alright with his jagged imperfection. She had wanted him to be 'better', not 'good'. She wanted him to understand and work with humans, but she didn't demand that he do anything more than try to be 'better'.

So, Satan watched.

During his years playing human, Satan had learned many things about what it meant to be a human. They glorified conflict and feats of strength and yet were terrified of being hurt so much that they punished even the hint of violence. Children got some leeway with the thought that they didn't know their own strength and drowned in their emotions, but the older he grew, the less acceptable violence was, even if he never killed them. So he just moved on to hurting people who either wouldn't or couldn't tell the authorities about him. Plenty of prideful idiots who were physically older than him wouldn't dare tell who had beaten them so bad, and criminals -murders, pedophiles, kidnappers, rapists, disgusting filth that no one would miss- weren't even given a chance to go to the police. And so the demon found peace and made the town his nest and home for as long as it would allow. Even months after Ashtaroth's appearance, things continued to go smoothly.

But sometimes Satan…forgot just how fragile humans were. Like the other day, when some teens in his and Yukio's class had finally discovered what crude humor was and started making jabs at how they must be the "altar boys" at their monastery behind their backs. It shouldn't have meant much, it should have just been the ramblings of the mindless rabble that tried to claw down someone superior to them in whatever way they could. So he had ignored them because he promised to do better to get into True Cross Academy, but he had heard that shitty priest's name thrown into that filth and had, well…

He really only remembered that the brat's nose had made a very satisfying crack.

And so he was suspended from school for the rest of the week. Yukio might have been more upset that he had broken he "good streak" but instead the boy had just smiled with exasperation and a certain fondness as he walked the other boy home.

"He was defending your honor." Yukio had said when it looked like a fight was going to break out when they arrived back home.

"Like fuckin' hell I was!"

"Language!" Shiro hissed, trying (and failing) once more to clean up Rin's behavior before he entered True Cross and ruined his reputation with any Exorcist he met. He would have threatened to get the soap if the stubborn boy hadn't laughed last time at said threat and started drinking the dish soap just to prove some idiotic and nonexistent point.

The trip to the hospital hadn't been fun for anyone and now Shiro had to worry that his idiot and half-demon son would drink Holy Water just because someone told him not to.

Yukio ignored the futile battle Shiro insisted on fighting, "I thought it was very sweet if you ignore the part where you broke his nose."

"Honestly Yukio, I thought you were smarter than that. I can't defend what was never there in the first place."

Shiro had quit smoking a while ago, but by God, he needed a stiff drink, "Hey now, when are you going to grow up and stop being such a brat?"

"Please go easy on my 'big' brother, he's very bad with his feelings but I swear, Father, he's trying. Beating up someone for you is just his way of saying he likes you."

"Like a cat bringing back dead birds. I fear what he'll start doing to show he 'likes' a girl…"

"You bastard, I'm not a cat!"

Even with Yukio's defense of him, reparations still had to be made, and so he was stuck being the glorified pack mule the next time he and Yukio were allowed to shadow Shiro and the other Exorcists as they cleaned up the borders of the city. He wasn't allowed to stab anything or participate in general, even though Kuro (that terrible name had stuck), who was now technically 'Rin's' familiar got to help take down the smaller demons. Kuro, who was supposed to be a powerful demon, but instead he had been drafted to chasing out small demons from their hidey-holes and didn't even mind being given such demeaning work. No, instead the Cat Sídhes seemed ridiculously pleased when it brought a struggling hobgoblin to Satan's feet, twin tails waving happily.

'Rin, Rin! Look, I caught it!'

"Fantastic, you caught a rat." Satan drawled, bored out of his mind. He wasn't allowed to even fiddle with his camera since he took pictures of "top secret Exorcist operations" if he had it on hand. What was wrong with wanting to capture Yukio's first real kill? It wasn't like the film could properly record the demons anyway.

'Rin, did I do good?'

"Eh. Also, don't play with your food unless it did something bad to you." Satan had absolutely no qualms with torture, but Yuri would at least want him to only do it when someone had committed a seriously slight against him.

Stuck with nothing to do, Satan could only watch and feel his anxiety rise every time a demon came within even twenty feet of Yukio, never mind that the shitty priest was acting as a human shield. If he needed, he could be by Yukio's side in under five seconds, but that was still a long time in a fight. Sure, his son was now very proficient with his gun and knew enough hand-to-hand to take down a man three times his size, but he still worried.

Their Exorcist training had been sporadic and spotty for the most part, with Shiro having an obvious preference for the more practical side of things and being a stern teacher. Satan refused to let the old man cut into Yukio's studies, and so a bargain had been reached: they wouldn't be given a very heavy load and would still attend the Exorcist cram school as a formality and take the Exwire exam to streamline the process and prevent accusations of favoritism. The Paladin had given in far too easily, so Satan was sure that he simply wanted to delay them being put on any sort of real combat duty for as long as possible. And while Satan entirely supported keeping Yukio out of danger for as long as possible, he also realized that Astaroth hadn't come to Assiah for shits and giggles.

Eh, he could deal with Gehenna whenever he wanted. The idea of getting direct access to the Exorcist's main base and information was too good to pass up. Even if he had no active plans to use it against them, that didn't mean things wouldn't suddenly change.

He also might have also planned to raid Yuri's files the first chance he got, assuming they hadn't tried to scrub her from history.

It was only a whisper of a sound, but Satan knew instantly that something was above him.

Satan brought his free arm up to defend himself and hissed as the…creature sunk its long fangs into his flesh. Spindly, too-long arms attempted to wrap around his body and pin him, and with a shock, Satan realized he could feel it draining his blood. He screamed as loud as he could into deformed ears and sank his knife into its back thrice before it let go, skittering to the ground with a spitting hiss.

Away from him, he could see that the creature resembled a large monkey with grotesquely long limbs and hooked feet. It looked deformed, missing patches of fur and with mismatched limbs and what looked like metal sticking out of it. It growled at him, his blood dripping off its long fangs, and Satan swore, bringing his knife up. Yukio was behind him, Yukio needed to be protected, Yukio-

The creature screamed as two bullets dug into its side and shoulder

-Yukio had just shot the creature, fire burning in his eye.

Oh right, Yukio wasn't really a child anymore.

Shiro ran in front of Rin without a hint of hesitation before the boy could try and fight a demon one-on-one (again), pushing him back towards the other Exorcists that quickly formed a protective circle around the two boys. He paused, confusion obvious on his face, "Is that an Asanbosam?! Shit, that's a blood-sucker! Yukio check on your brother, now! We'll-"

Whatever plan the Paladin had went out the window when Kuro multiplied to the size of a small car, not caring that they were in a cramped alleyway, and pounced despite Shiro's protests- to which Satan had to agree with. The creature was small and built to grab and latch, so it wouldn't be hard for it to climb onto somewhere the Cat Sídhe couldn't reach and rip open an artery or six. But Kuro was filled with anger and bloodlust at the sight of his charge being hurt so badly, and Satan wondered if he was going to have to call him back with some of his authority.

There wasn't a need, as the Asanbosam let out another spitting hiss and growled some literal nonsense in the demon language before scaling the steep walls like an overgrown spider and away from Kuro's claws. Shiro shot it at least five more times, but it seemed to be immune to pain and didn't pay it any mind, disappearing over the lip of the building. The Exorcists, predictably, scattered, leaving Shiro behind to guard Yukio as he did his best to patch up the nearly inch-deep bite wounds in Satan's arm, while the demon insisted he was fine. He had gotten the creature off of him fast enough it had only taken a few mouthfuls of blood, so he wasn't even dizzy. That didn't deter Yukio, who pulled out a rather larger first aid kit and set to work.

Satan hissed from the powerful disinfectant Yukio insisted on cleaning the wounds with despite his resistance to diseases, "The fuck was that monstrosity?"

"Asanbosams are blood-sucking demons that like to possess apes and monkeys. There shouldn't be any in Japan, but I'll bet that that was someone's exotic and likely very illegal pet." Shiro grimaced at the thought of just how much of a mess things could become if said owner insisted on finding their 'pet'. Hopefully, they could catch it and claim rabies if they needed. "How do you feel, Rin? You aren't dizzy, right?"

"I'm fine!" Satan growled to both the Exorcist and Yukio, but the boy refused to let go of his arm until he had wrapped it thoroughly in what was probably an excessive amount of gauze. "It barely got any of my blood. What's more important is that we get the hell out of here. We're too vulnerable." The walls were tall and practically a cage for them when against something that could scale them as easily as they could run.

"We should be fine. Asanbosams are ambushers, so I bet it's long gone." Despite his words, Shiro took up an obvious defensive position in front of the boys, Kuro still enlarged and growling at anything that moved, "Yukio, how bad is it?"

"I told you, I'm fine-!"

"You're a liar who has absolutely no sense of self-preservation just because you can take a couple more knocks to the head than most people. Now, Yukio?"

Yukio sighed and let his twin finally snatch his arm away. "It didn't pierce through his arm, somehow. There's some tearing, but I should be able to patch it up better once we get back. After that it should be fine because it's Rin."

Both of them had entered what Satan had dubbed "battle mode" effortlessly, all of their humor and carelessness draining away just because he got a little hurt. It would have been touching if Satan actually needed the care. Instead, it made him feel out of place, "You two can get pretty serious when you need to…"

And then, as one, the two said in perfect unison:

"Someone has to keep an eye on you."

"Gah, never do that again, it's creepy!"

Yukio unwrapped the bandages around Rin's arm and saw the wound- now several days old in appearance. Only a few hours had passed, and yet the bites had crusted over and the skin around it was cool and pale instead of red and irritated. By morning it would look over a week old and by this time tomorrow, the scab would probably start to peel away. The scar might remain for a week, but even that would fade within days instead of years. It might even be a bit faster since Rin healed small cuts completely in less than eight hours, and that was all the recent information Yukio had to go off of. It was hard to estimate as Rin continued to change.

"What, are you bothered by how I heal, Yukio?" Satan asked, poking the scab and wincing at how strongly humans felt pain. The healing was still horrendously slow compared to what he was used to, but surely this body was being forced to adapt to him and grow stronger.

A hand smacked his own away, "Stop that. And I'm only bothered because I know this will encourage you to be more and more reckless."

"Better me than you."

Yukio winced at the flippant way Rin dismissed such a horrific wound. If this kept up…"Don't say that, Rin! Just because you can heal fast doesn't mean that you should put yourself in harm's way! What if you lost that arm? Or what if it had ripped open your throat or crushed your skull or pierced your heart? What would you do then?"

Satan would heal, that's what would happen. And if he couldn't heal, then he would just pump more and more demonic power into his body until it either healed or the seals broke. It would be an anticlimactic way to reveal his secret, but if that's what it took to stay by Yukio and protect him, then he would do it instantly.

Of course he couldn't say any of that, so instead, "That's what I have you for, to patch me back up!"

"Rin, I'm not a miracle worker!"

"Not yet, you aren't. But you're amazing and I'm sure you would figure something out. 'I believe in you!' is the sort of thing I would say if I wasn't already sure you knew that damn well."

Yukio flushed and looked away from his brother's unnaturally blue eyes. He was too honest and blunt, "Rin…"

"It's fine. I decided I'll protect you a long time ago, whether you want me to or not. So, I'll be a human shield for you no matter what, so you might as well shut up and accept it."

"You're impossible."

"I'm stubborn. It's how I get the things I want."

"One day you're going to get in over your head."

He was "in over his head" the moment he was tricked by a certain woman and hadn't even attempted to surface ever since. Instead, he kept letting himself sink, even swimming deeper himself sometimes, and he hadn't regretted a second of it. Oh, he might regret some of the outcomes, but never once had he even attempted to pull himself free from the tangle he had made for himself. He enjoyed his little paradise that was built on lies and destined to fall to pieces too much to leave before he was hurt.

"As long as I'm by your side, I don't care." Satan repeated and saw Yukio frown but shrugged it off. "No matter what, we'll be together forever and ever! I promise, no, I swear it! Now, it's your turn, Yukio." Swear and promise until the greedy demon was sated for another day.

Yukio just sighed, "What are you, five? I'm not going to say something so ridiculous to someone who's probably going to get killed before they're twenty."

"But Yukio, I love you!" It was amazing how easy the words he had never had the courage to tell Yuri came now. But he knew that he had to express himself before it became too late. Yukio had to know, had to be sure in his very soul so that, maybe, when that cursed day came, he wouldn't hate him too much.

"Yes, yes, I know that. You say it so much sometimes I think you need to tone it down a little or people will get weird ideas." Yukio dismissed and walked away to put up the first aid kit, never really knowing his 'brother's' feelings, but that was fine. It was fine, because if Yukio could understand what Satan felt, then he would have had to suffer far too much, lost too much. Only when something was ripped away could you know just how important it was, but that was much to cruel for his precious child.

Yukio reappeared in the doorway, arms filled with books, "If you want to express how much you care for me without knocking someone's teeth in, how about you work on your studies a bit more?"

"Never mind, I hate you."

Somewhere, far away, a single vial of blood was presented to a certain scientist. It was something that had been long sought after every since a certain rumor had been confirmed by one of their newest agents. It had taken months to carefully acquire without raising the suspicion of the Demon King that had taken to watching the town, but it was sure to be worth it.

It was only a few ounces of red, but with it, history crumbled.

Chapter Text

And so the real story begins. I'll still be skipping around a bit, mostly over things that happen the same, but hopefully this is a good start to show that I'm not just going to rewrite the arc 90% the same with only Satan's snarky commentary as the main difference.

On the day they were due to leave for True Cross Academy, Shiro gave them a parting gift. Well, he actually gave them several (up to and including the sword that held Satan's powers, seals refreshed for all the good that would do), but this one was the only one Satan cared about. It was something he had craved and coveted for over a decade but hadn't been able to find even with the help of the internet's vast resources. He had given up any hope of finding it for the time being, only to have the damn priest drop it in his lap as if it were something simple. The only reason he wasn't holding it jealously to his chest was because Yukio needed to see it more than he did.

It was a picture of Yuri.

It wasn't a very good picture, slightly grainy and blurry with both age and the cheap film, off-centered and tilted a bit to the left. But it was still a picture of her, smiling daintily for whoever had taken what must have been a test picture. She was exactly as he remembered, with her wavy hair and big blue eyes.

"You have eyes just like her…" Satan muttered softly, barely restraining himself from brushing his hand over Yukio's face and tracing his moles, his nose, the tips of his ears, everything that was so much like Yuri. With her image before him, he could remember that cursed night, could remember his rage, but it had dried and washed away like blood.

"Rin…?" Yukio asked curiously, glancing over his shoulder where his twin stood, and Satan realized just how wistful he must sound.

He embraced the 'now' and poked Yukio's cheek, "Look, you have moles just like her!"

"Stop that Rin."

"But look, you even have the same number! One, two, three…" Satan listed, punctuating with a light tap only to fall short. He grabbed Yukio's face and started to examine it curiously, "Huh, I forget, do you have another one hidden under your hair?"

A hand sharply grabbed his hair and yanked him back Yukio could properly glair at him, "Your breath stinks, back up."

"Ahem." Shiro interrupted Rin's overdramatic whine, "As entertaining as this is, I do have something important to tell you both. You shouldn't show this to anyone else. In fact, I should have destroyed the entire camera when I found it, but I decided not to."

"They want to scrub her from history, don't they?" Satan filled in. It would explain why he couldn't even find a candid photo of her online, because the Exorcists had gotten rid off them all. He couldn't even be sure that they had kept a copy for their master records, though he had had plans to search once he got free access. And if they were hidden away, well, he had always been good at sniffing out things that others tried to keep away from him.

"Yes, that's pretty much correct. It makes things easier for you two in the long run, but I think you two should at least know what she looked like."

Shiro, for all his supposed openness, still refused to tell he and Yukio the details of that wretched night, Satan noted. They had been told about the Blue Night, and Yukio was smart enough that Satan was sure he had at least put together part of the story even if he was keeping his thoughts to himself for now, but the shitty priest wasn't quite ready to confess that he had a direct hand in trying to murder Yukio's mother.

He probably wouldn't ever be, even as he raised her cursed children.

Satan wasn't ready to tell Yukio that story either because, no matter how much he hated it, Yukio cared for the shitty priest, and surely such a revelation would destroy him. He still wanted to tear down the shitty priest and have him confess his sins, have him admit that Yuri was both right and all that was righteous but…But it was different now. It was a different kind of hurting, a differing kind of revenge that ended with an apology and not a casket.

Satan knew he was going soft, but he didn't care.

Instead, he cared much more about the things he could have and change now. "Do you have the camera? I want it."

Shiro stared at him for a long moment, "Really? The camera doesn't even work anymore, and I've already developed all the pictures."

"I still want it. It was something she held."

And that was how Satan's most prized possession became an old, off-brand camera from the 90s.

Later that day, when the boys had reached True Cross Academy without incident and he had received plenty of reassuring texts from Yukio (and one brief one from Rin Yukio had clearly bullied him into sending), Shiro took out yet another picture. He had seen a lot over the past week as Rin had sorted through his excessive number of albums in order to find the ones he would take. He had obviously taken all of the ones from Yuri's camera, no matter how generic they were. All of them, except the one Shiro hadn't shown the boys.

It was a simple picture that had been near the beginning of the film that Yuri had taken of herself by accident- or at least, that's what anyone else would assume. Yuri was staring hard at the camera with obvious unimpressed confusion as she held it, a frown pulling at her lips and her pupils dyed red from the flash of the camera. That's how anyone else would see it, and maybe Shiro was just paranoid, maybe it was just the old film, but he swore her eyes looked a big jagged and distorted. A bit too blue.

Other than that, there was nothing remarkable about the picture. It was mundane, taken as a mistake, and nestled between pictures of both people and scenery. A mistake.

"He really isn't what you think he is."

A mistake indeed.

Satan hadn't been at True Cross Academy for more than a couple of hours before he realized he was being stared at.

Oh sure, he knew he had always had some admirers, but said admirers also knew of his reputation, and knew to keep away. Plenty of boys would try and talk themselves up, but they hardly knew what it meant to be an adult, much less a man, and so they fell behind him if they ever tried to follow. Some girls might gush about 'bad boys' but the moment they met one that wasn't all talk and teenage bluster, they fled. Which was good for Satan, because he really wasn't interested in being hit on by girls his youngest son's age. That was weirdly pedophilic, and Satan had a tendency to react violently murderous to those people. Yuri had at least been nearly twenty.

So yes, Satan knew when he was being watched by curious children who held a bit more than a passing interest in him. He just wasn't entirely sure how they already knew he was different since the opening ceremony had barely ended. Sure, Yukio, the first-year representative that he was, was getting plenty of attention in general, but Satan was nothing more than the genius' average brother. He didn't look that interesting since fighting the dress code was more trouble than it was worth (though his hair was getting a bit long again) and hadn't made any real waves. Not that he was planning to- Yukio had made him promise to "be good" and not pick any fights. He had managed to get Yukio to agree to spar more in exchange, so he was perfectly fine with the trade.

It took a few minutes and a few false leads, but he realized that the attention wasn't on him, but a tiny slip of a boy with black hair and blue-green eyes trailing behind him. For some reason people were fascinated by the unremarkable boy, probably because he was clearly trying to muster the courage to approach him like some girl and her crush.

Satan didn't give a flying shit about the gays despite what the church might try and say, but he really didn't want to deal with a confession on his first day.

It was best to just get it over with.

He whirled around too fast for the boy to escape into the crowd around them again and raised a brow, "What do you want?"

The boy froze like a mouse before a predator despite being noticeably taller than Satan's current body. He looked actually terrified, like he was afraid Satan was going to rip him apart, which, while flattering, was a bit annoying when he wasn't even trying to be intimidating. Hell, if he tried to actually pressure the boy then he might actually pass out!

"Well? I have to go meet up with my brother soon."

That seemed to snap the boy out of it. He swallowed, and Satan braced himself with a mental sigh, "I'm…My name is Minoru Tanaka, Rin, sir!"

Oh great, he had a stalker since he knew for a fact that he hadn't given his name yet. "Oh? And how the hell do you know my name?"

The boy, Minoru, tensed, "We've…met before once before. It was a long time ago and it was very brief, and you were…b-busy 'handing' some bad people," Minoru strutted, shivering for some reason Satan couldn't fathom unless he got queasy at a couple of punches, "And I was just hoping that you would…remember me. But I guess not…"

Satan actually had a very good memory, but he had learned to be selective about what he did and didn't remember. One thing he did remember was at least the face of every people who had ever started a fight with him who he had a feeling would be a repeat offender and give him trouble later down the line. He also tended to remember who he may have protected intentionally or otherwise so he knew who he could later cash in favors with. And Minoru wasn't ringing a single bell.

"I can't say I remember you at all." Satan said and internally winced as he saw the boy visibly wilt at that. He looked too much like a younger Yukio when he did that, "Look, whatever shithead bully's head I was kicking in," Satan drawled as if he were bored, though he didn't miss how Minoru shivered yet again. The kid just could not handle any violence, yeesh! It wasn't like he actually murdered petty playground bullies, "just know, you don't 'owe me' or anything. I didn't do it for you."

"I know that, just…" Minoru took a deep breath and bowed, "Thank you very much for saving me!"

Minoru ran away before Satan could even say anything, which was probably for the best. He really didn't know how to handle other kids misinterpreting his actions and pretending that he did the things because of them. Minoru was hardly the first kid to do such a thing, but it hadn't happened in a while.

"'Saving me', huh? That's a bit overdramatic."

What a weird kid.

"I would love to join you two on your first day in cram school, but alas, I have more important matters to attend to! Just use that key in any door!"

And that was how Samael essentially abandoned Satan and Yukio in the middle of True Cross Academy with nothing but two keys and vague directions, disappearing in a flourish of pink smoke. Satan refused to sigh and instead investigated his key and wondered just how san Samael even was to be passing around artifacts like this like cheap party favors. He could practically smell the magic coming off it and it was a wonder it didn't explode like a bomb in his hands!

Yukio sighed at Rin as he held the key at arm's length, looking at it like it would come alive and bite him, "Come on, Rin, or we'll be late."

"Fine, fine…" Satan huffed, finally determining that the key's magic was perfectly inert unless something drastic happened. He sharply whistled, "Come on, Kuro."

"Ok, Rin!"

Yukio unlocked the door to what looked like a random storage closet and blinked at the change in scenery. It wasn't like he had doubted Mephisto, but it was something else to see how the keys worked for himself. No wonder Shiro could do missions and still be back in time for dinner. "You still have that special permission form for Kuro, right?"

"Right here." Satan assured, holding the door open for said Cat Sídhe and lightly nudging the small demon when he started to get distracted (again), "But what we should really be worrying about is that…uh, Mephisto didn't even tell us what classroom we have."

"Don't worry, I checked and it's 1106. Come on, we don't want to be late."

Despite the long hallways they arrived at the door they needed quickly- the key had to be programed to drop them off near there then. Satan would have to make sure of that later and see if they would exit out the same door they came in or not. Otherwise, things might become difficult for them.

The hallways were impressive and overly grandiose with stupidly high ceilings that would be perfect to hide it if needed, but the classroom itself was…less so. The room looked like it had been hastily cleaned and was, well… "Man, it sure is empty here. There's…" Satan did a quick head-count: two girls who were sticking together, a group of three guys, and one freak with a hand puppet sitting all alone. "only six other people here."

Yukio stepped forward, "Hello there, my name is Yukio Okumura- Yukio is fine. This is my brother, Rin. I hope we can all worth together this year."

The small bubbles of conversations screeched to a halt as Yukio stood there, forced smile twitching a bit as the occupants stared at him. They had all clearly formed their own social groups already, but Yukio had thrown a wrench into that. After all, if they were to be working together to fight demons, then they had to at least know each other's names and get along well enough that no one would just let someone else die. It was that mindset and initiative that had let Yukio become top of his class when others would have backed off after all.

Finally, one of the girls, nervous looking and with brown hair, stood up, "Um, I'm Noriko Paku, please call me Paku. It's good to meet you too, Yukio."

Earnest, but Satan could already tell she was weak. Physical strength didn't matter nearly as much as mental fortitude, and this girl clearly lacked both, even if she seemed fairly nice.

The girl next to her rolled her eyes and didn't bother to stand up, "I'm Izumo Kamiki. Hi, I guess."

Satan instantly knew that that girl was going to be difficult to deal with. There was something wrong with her, yeah, but like hell he was going to let her potentially get Yukio hurt just because she was in the middle of some shitty teenage angst. He seriously doubted that she had any serious problems in her life and was just being a brat because she could.

One of the three guys perked up- the one with oddly pink hair, "Hey there, I'm Renzo Shima, call me whatever you want! By the way, I love what you've done with your hair, Rin."

Satan blinked and looked at his hair to notice the slight blue tinge that had crept into with him noticing. And not 'blue in certain lights' but actually a very dark blue just a shade too bright to truly be black anymore. Well, that couldn't be a good sign and it was surely going to get worse as it lightened more and more to reflect his demonic self. "Thanks, I wanted to try something, but nothing super crazy just yet. I might change it later." He might as well cover his bases for the future in case he woke up an albino.

"It's probably a good idea to be cautious like that. I wanted red but the dye failed, and I ended up getting pink. But I kind of like it, so I've kept it that way ever since."

The boy with the dyed hair spoke up with a grunt, "I'm Ryuji Suguro"

"K-Konekomaru Miwa." The short boy (who had shaved his head for some reason) stuttered out, not wanting to be the odd one out.

Satan didn't bother evaluating the other two boys other than generic statements like "tough-guy" and "small, nervous" because Renzo was a bit off. It wasn't anything major, but the boy felt fake in a way. Nothing that really set Satan's instincts off, but just enough he could tell that he had an ill-fitting mask in place. Fakes were good at spotting fakes, so he would have to be a bit more careful around him.

"And you? Excuse me, what's your name?"

Oh, it looked like Yukio was trying to get the loner with the puppet to speak up, to no avail. Now that was a boy who set off something deep inside Satan. Satan was bad at gauging other's general abilities beyond if he could take them in a fight or not (the answer would, without fail, become yes if enough time passed) but even he could tell that that boy was powerful, too powerful to be in a classroom like this. The other humans wouldn't be able to tell, but the boy smelled too strongly of mid and higher demons to not dabble with them regularly. Satan would bet that he was here on Mephisto's orders, probably to watch 'Rin'. He would watch him, but it was unlikely the boy would do anything for a while, if ever.

In the meantime, he watched as Yukio tried to get the stoic boy to respond.

"Excuse me, but-"

"Don't you get that if someone's silent they don't want to talk to you, or are you just too stupid understand?" The puppet on the boy's hand snapped.

Alright, all bets were off now, "Hey, you trying to start something, asshole?"

"Easy, Rin." Yukio reassured, one strong hand on his shoulder and the other petting Kuro (who had jumped on the table) to calm him as well, "If he doesn't want to interact, then we can't force him."

"Whatever." Satan grumbled and scooped Kuro up to follow Yukio to a desk in the front row. He really hated being in the front, but he didn't have much choice if he wanted to plant himself firmly between the weirdo probably-a-spy's direct line of sight and Yukio.

The twin-tailed girl, Izumo, stared at him strangely, "Isn't that a Cat Sídhe?"

Satan lazily waved the paperwork given to him earlier, "Yeah, but he's mine. I have a form for him and everything."

"But why-?"

Yukio coughed and made a point of blocking Kuro from Izumo's sight, "Wasn't class supposed to start before now?"

"Yeah, we were!" Renzo piped up from across the room, "And aren't we allowed to leave if the teacher doesn't show up or something?"

Satan groaned, "That's only a stupid and shitty rumor. Trust me, I've tried."

"You sure do swear a lot…" The pink haired boy muttered with a small laugh.

"If you have a problem with how much Rin swears, you should do your best to make peace with it now." Yukio explained with clinical detachment, "Trying to get him to stop is hopeless, like a lot of things are with him."

"When the hell did you get so mean, Yukio?!"

"See?"

Renzo really did laugh at that, "Oh no, it's fine, really! If I had an issue with that, I wouldn't hang out with Bon."

"The hell does that mean?"

"See?"

Before things could escalate anymore the door to the classroom slammed open. In rushed an older Exorcist with ridiculous sideburns, arms filled with supplies that he barely managed to set on the table before they could tumble out of his hands. Yukio made a gesture to help, but Satan stopped him. It was one thing to take the initiative to try and make everyone get to know each other, but he would lose any respect others might have if he looked like a teacher's pet, never mind how ridiculous that mindset was.

The man spoke up after he had collected himself, "Hello there, my good students, my name is Kaoru Tsubaki- You all may refer to me as Mr. Tsubaki! Sorry for being tardy, I had other things to attend to first, but…"

The door, never properly closed, drifted open again, and yet another person appeared, poking their head into the room.

Satan did not expect to recognize this person. In fact, he didn't know what the actual fuck Amaimon was doing in an Exorcist stronghold. His hand drifted to one of his concealed knives and he tensed, ready to spring at a moment's notice. Hell, he might have to break the seal on the sword he was now very glad he had been nagged into not leaving in his new dorm room if things got bad.

Amaimon, oblivious as always, shouldered his way into the room. His arms, as well, were filled dangerously high with heavy-looking metal equipment and boxes. "I'm here with the stuff you wanted…Oh. This is…the wrong room, isn't it?"

A hand reached out from the hallway and carelessly yanked the Demon King back. Amaimon let it happen, though for a second his eyes met Satan's curiously, and with obvious purpose. There was no sudden recognition, no exchanged thoughts through that look alone or anything, but Satan knew that he had just been evaluated. Sized-up, and probably for a future fight knowing Amaimon's violent tendencies.

A scruffy looking man wearing an off-brand safari hat stuck his head in with a laugh, "Sorry for that folks, please excuse my companion here, he's a bit…ah, you know…"

"I'm a bit like what?"

"I think I'll omit the rest for now, haha!"

The man ducked back into the hallway, taking care to close the door properly. Satan waited, but no sounds of violent murder echoed from the hallway, so either that human actually could handle Amaimon or he was satisfied with his trip for now.

Not for the first time, Satan wondered just how stupid Amaimon actually was.

"Ahem," The teacher began, trying to regain control of his class, "now if we could get started?"

"Hold it, hold it!" The punk, Ryuji something, shouted, standing up sharply, "Wasn't that Arc Knight Lewin Light? What's he doing here?"

Lewin Light, what kind of unfitting name for such a shady looking man was that? Well, at least him being an Arc Knight explained why Amaimon hadn't broken his spine yet, even if he hadn't gotten the memo that said Demon King had officially joined the Exorcists with Samael.

Kaoru tried to explain as quickly as possible, "He's been designated handler of Amaimon, who is who you saw with him. Now, I'm sure you all have a lot of questions…"

"That was the Demon King Amaimon? I hear he's supposed to be super strong, but he really didn't look it."

"I still can't believe that they've decided to trust yet another Demon King…"

"Isn't it obvious?" Izumo sneered from the back, interrupting the surge of whispers before it could even properly begin to swell, "Things are clearly way worse than they want to let us know because they think that that will scare us off. Like I'm that weak! I know what I'm getting myself into! The fact that the schedule for this year is a lot more intense should have been enough of a hint anyway."

"I know all of you have a lot of questions, but as Ms. Kamiki pointed out, our schedule is much more intensive this year! So, we should get started now, shouldn't we?" Kaoru said, waiting to see if anyone would raise any more objections. "Good, good. Now, who here hasn't received a Temptaint?"

Satan stopped paying attention after sans taking note of which humans had been foolish enough to try and fight demons without even seeing them before. Instead, he ignored the gasps at the revelation that there were goblins in the room (he had felt them in the shadows, but they were tiny and weak and not worth his time) to instead try and digest all that he had learned in the past few minutes. Amaimon was openly working with the Exorcists which meant that big things had to be happening to force that of all things. It probably had something to do with Gehenna destabilizing, though he couldn't be entirely sure until he was actually given more information. There was also the fact that-

There was a goblin on his desk, no bigger than his hand, and it was clearly eyeing the way his hand idly twirled his pencil. He rolled his eyes even as someone gasped at how close it was to him and flicked its nose without a care for how wild the animal blood was driving it. It hissed angrily at him and so Satan growled back, easily catching the hand that made to swipe at him.

"Hey, stop that."

It hissed at him and tried to bit him. Annoyed, Satan jabbed his pencil into its mouth and let it stumble away and gag.

"Rin, can I eat it?" Kuro asked, looking hopefully up from the floor.

The goblin hissed again and, fed up, Satan snatched it off the desk, grabbing it by its back and rendering it helpless. It flailed for a few seconds before giving up and going limp. Happy that it had finally calmed down, Satan set it down on the floor. "Kuro, don't eat it or something. It'll give you a stomach ache if you do."

"Aww…"

He nudged the goblin with his foot until it got the message and tottered back to wherever it had come. Honestly, he didn't care much if it lived or died, and if it attacked Yukio then he would have shredded it on the spot. But it had been purposely driven into a blood frenzy by the Exorcist, so it left a bad taste in his mouth to kill something that was basically a victim.

"Wow…"

It looked like he had an audience, with every single person in the classroom (including the puppet boy) watching him with wide eyes. What were they so impressed with, it wasn't like goblins were even that dangerous! They were naturally pretty docile, so if you just held them down for a bit they would calm from even a forced bloodlust! Seriously, it wasn't any different than handling an animal! Even the teacher looked surprised, and he should know damn well that most demons tried to avoid humans!

"What? Goblins aren't that aggressive, and you're the one who made them frenzy, Mr. Teacher."

Chapter Text

Classes were progressing smoothly enough, even if the Exorcist ones were so boring Satan wanted to skip them all together. But that would be leaving Yukio all alone in an Exorcist stronghold, so he would put up with them, as tedious as they were. Most of the information they were covering in the first couple of days was so basic Satan could recite it in his sleep, while the rest was outright wrong. Some of it was clearly the Exorcists misinterpreting demon behavior, but at least part of that had to be due to the fact that they had a grand total of two teachers for half a dozen different subjects. Sideburns had grieved for his free time with his "kitten" enough times that Satan realized just how shorthanded they were, to the point that Kaoru was stuck teaching everything but summoning and Aria-related classes. Their other teacher, Igor Neusomething looked equally displeased that he had been drafted to teach something beyond his specialty and seemed to serious dislike Satan. And Satan meant both himself as Rin and the Satan the Exorcists had been at unofficial war with for a couple thousand years now.

He was the primary reason Satan refused to leave Yukio alone for even one class. Sure, Igor's general distaste for him seemed to stem from the fact that Satan made a piss-poor Aria for obvious reasons (the chants couldn't really hurt him, but they felt wrong on his foreign tongue) but that didn't mean he was going to take any chances.

Now if only Yukio would let him sleep through class. Yes, he could just move, but the boy had scarily accurate aim and a poker face that would do Satan proud if it hadn't been used to reassure him that no, Yukio really didn't know where all his knives kept vanishing to, honest, don't you trust your brother?

Damned puppy-eyed brat.

The only even remotely interesting thing that ended up happening was when another girl suddenly started attending class, bringing the classroom's size up to the grand total of nine students, and even that excitement was short-lived-

The girl, blond and looking incredibly uncomfortable in the school uniform's short skirt, was a timid thing who could hardly raise her voice, "Um…Um, are you Yukio Okumura?"

Yukio was kind enough to humor the weak girl, "Yes I am. Shiemi, was it?"

"Yes! Since I decided to become an Exorcist, Mr. Fujimoto told me that you might be willing to, ah, help me adjust?"

Satan, busy playing with Kuro all throughout the girl's introduction, perked up just enough to roll his eyes, "He's already trying to set you up, huh?"

Shiemi's face turned bright red and she sputtered, "S-Set up?! I'm sorry, I'm not- I can't-!"

"Please ignore him, Shiemi." Yukio said airily, and no one would ever know that he was pressing a pen to Satan's thigh in a clear threat, "My brother doesn't have the filter most people do, and so he says whatever he can think of. I'm sure that Mr. Fujimoto just wants me to make sure you stay caught up with the class, right?"

"Y-Yes! Exactly that and nothing else!"

If she kept nodding that fast she was likely to pass out, Satan noted and leaned forward just enough so he could catch her scent better. She was naturally strong for sure, filled with spring strength that reminded him a bit of Yuri's summer fortitude. Almost surely a future tamer with the way her energy swelled and beckoned him (however incompatible it was), but she was such a small thing that would probably be consumed by whatever she tried to contract with.

"Whatever. It's not like she's good enough for you anyway."

Shiemi shrank away at his words, the perfect image of a wilting flower and doing everything in her power to reaffirm his thoughts on her.

Yukio sighed, "You're hardly a good judge of romantic partners, considering how you literally scare girls away. And would it kill you to try and get along with the class a bit more?"

"If they can't handle me at my worst, then they don't deserve me at my best…or whatever that phrase is."

"…You're going to be alone forever, Rin."

The annoying teacher cleared his throat to force silence before anyone could get into another argument, "I know that a new classmate is exciting, but we're already behind! Please sit down, Ms. Moriyama."

"Right!"

It probably wasn't fair, Yukio mused, but Shiemi was forced to take her first test that very same day. Mr. Tsubaki had noticed and offered to let her sit out the test, but Shiemi has adamantly insisted that she would like to "become part of the class" as soon as she could, confident in her ability to do well on a demon pharmacology test. And now, from what little Yukio could hear, she was probably regretting it. He could practically feel the stress rolling off her in waves from where she sat directly behind him, her mummers growing more and more worried.

It looked like he really was going to have to insist on helping her. Especially if his dad was counting on him, and Rin would just have to deal with it. In fact, it was probably

Unsurprisingly, Rin was the first to finish and turn in his test. No matter the subject, without fail, Rin would always be one of the first to turn his test, chronically allergic to the idea of checking his work. And, as was becoming more and more common, the moment Rin sat back down he took the chance to nap. Yukio knew just how beneficial a power nap could be, but he really had to wonder just how much sleep Rin was actually getting.

As Yukio turned in his own test, he spotted Ryuji, or Bon as he liked to be called, glaring over the edge of his own test at the sleeping form of Rin. Yukio was still getting a read on the class as a whole, but he could already tell that Bon was a hard worker, despite his honestly punk appearance. He clearly kept both his body and mind sharp and was the undisputed best Aria in the class already. And so, to see someone like Rin seem to not take anything seriously while still coasting along on average to decent grades…

Ah, it looked like Yukio was going to have to make sure Bon didn't get in over his head when, twenty minutes later, Bon, once again, paraded up to Rin's desk and happily showed off the results to his demon pharmacology test the moment the teacher stepped out for a 'break': a 100 to Rin's 81. And sure, it wasn't close to how neck-in-neck their scores sometimes were, (Rin had almost gotten a perfect score on their first demonic studies test, missing points only for misspellings) but it wasn't as if Rin had done particularly bad either. Rin looked deceptively passive and calm, watching as Bon went on his little rant about work ethic, doing nothing but staring and not even trying to interrupt. But it was the calm before the storm, and Yukio could see Rin drawing in like the sea before a tsunami, slowly coiling up to lash out with his own vicious words.

"…And maybe if you would spend less time talking shit about others and just looked at yourself, then you would actually-"

It was about there that Yukio could see when Rin had had enough, "See, that's great and all, but Ryuji….No, Bon. Yeah. Bon-bon," Ryuji squawked and Shima nearly choked holding back laughter. Even the usually quiet Konekomaru looked a bit amused at that. Well, they could laugh while Rin was still playing nice, but Yukio had seen him rip apart Shiro often enough that he knew what was coming, "See, I'm not your disapproving father, or those people who laughed at you when you were a kid, or that one girl you couldn't ever impress, or whatever deep-rooted and I'm sure oh-so tragic backstory you have. I'm just guy, some punk who's opinion honestly shouldn't matter this much to you that-"

Yukio cleared his throat, a firm hand on his twin's shoulder pushing him back into his chair, "Rin, that's enough."

"I'm just behind honest." Rin justified without malice, and Yukio knew, that while he may have been aiming to hurt, he could have done much worse, "This guy keeps trying to prove how great he is, and it's disgusting how he doesn't even realize how pathetic it looks. How do you think the people who did even worse on this test than I did feel, huh?"

Behind him, Shiemi, who had been cringing away from Rin's mean words shrank back away for an entirely different reason, trying to hide her mid-40s test to her chest. Paku grimaced at her own 85, a sharp contrast to Izumo's 96. Even Shima laughed nervously at his 75 when Bon looked at him in horror.

"Shima, if you were struggling I would have gladly helped you!"

"Ahaha, I mean, it's not like I'm training to be a Doctor, so it doesn't really matter…?"

Rin huffed, picking Kuro up from the floor and started petting the cat, like some sort of cliché villain, "Learn to read the mood a bit better before you start trying to get into a pissing contest."

Yukio saw the chance and took it before a real fight could break out. Now that Bon was cowed for at least the moment as he realized his blunder, he could try and fix things. "While I think Rin always goes about these things in a too-direct manner, he is right- you can't expect everyone to always be at your level or to share your feelings, Ryuji. However, in the interest of keeping things amicable between classmates, I think the two of you should apologize to each other."

Rin sneered before Bon could even open his mouth, "I didn't do anything wrong, so I'm not saying sorry. Of course, I'm not going to hold your ego over your head or anything, so I won't let you die at least, Bon-bon."

"You-!" Bon shouted, and Yukio had only a moment to grieve the death of all hopes of a properly collaborating class, "You really are just some brat! Why are you even here? Everyone else is here because they're serious about being Exorcists, but you don't even try to apply yourself!"

"I'm here because Yukio is here so I can keep an eye on him. Why, does your reason tie to why you're so obviously insecure?"

"I'm going to kill Satan for what he did on the Blue Night!"

It was silent as everyone stared at Bon with wide eyes. His friends didn't look too surprised, but everyone else needed a moment to process such a bold claim. Kill Satan? But how was he supposed to do that when Satan was…

Rin sputtered for a long second, almost choking, and then nearly fell out of his chair with laughter, "Ahahahaha! That's great, you've actually got a sense of humor there!" The dead silence and Bon's growing rage made the other teen blink, "Wait, you're serious? You're actually serious!? 'Kill Satan'? You?"

"Don't you dare laugh at me, I'll do it!"

"Pff, yeah, good luck with that." Rin laughed again, dismissing Bon like he was an unruly child, "First, you'll have to…ah, well, actually be a threat?"

While Yukio was glad his brother had remembered at the last second that Satan's disappearance was supposed to be classified, this wasn't exactly a smooth save. Bon growled lowly at that and for a second it looked like a fight was going to break out on the spot. So Yukio stepped between them, holding up his own test (a perfect 100) so everyone could see it, "Since it appears that some of our classmates are behind, wouldn't it be best if you, Izumo, and I helped to tutor them, Bon?"

Izumo scoffed, loud and clear despite being on the other side of the room, "You really are determined to try and make everyone play nice? It's annoying and pointless to try and make idiots to try and get along."

"Regardless of what you think, you're only guaranteed to fail if you never try." Yukio said calmly, swatting down Rin's hand before he could flip her off without even looking. He pulled out the relevant books and notes and laid them on the table, "If anyone would like to copy my notes you're free to do so, though I think we'd all be better off setting up study sessions. Our workload isn't exactly light, so it might be difficult to balance our normal studies and Exorcist studies otherwise."

Rin grumbled but obediently began to look over exactly what he had gotten wrong on his test, ignoring the comments about how "whipped" he was. Comments which quickly ceased when Yukio smiled in a way that was frankly terrifying at the Bon-bon trio (a nickname he would only use in the safety of his own mind), "Well, Bon, aren't you going to help your friends?"

It was a loaded question and they both knew it, but Bon complied with a grumble, roughly dragging Shima into his chair and pointing out every single thing he had gotten wrong. Konekomaru followed with a laugh after a second, all while the puppet-handed boy kept to himself.

And now for the problem case…"Shiemi, I'll help you personally if that's alright?"

From what he could tell, Shiemi was skittish and nervous around so many people, so Yukio did his best to smile as disarmingly as he could. For some reason, her face flushed bright red and she nodded, clutching her test in front of her. Her words were more of a squeak than anything, "Y-Yes…"

Rin groaned, and Yukio ignored his brother's melodramatics.

"Whatever." Izumo muttered, but Yukio could see her pointing out to Paku what she had gotten wrong and why as he sat by Shiemi.

Mr. Tsubaki was turning an interesting shade of red, Yukio noted from where he sat patiently on the side, watching the drama unfold that was their physical education class. Really, he should have expected this considering the 'presence' his brother had. Usually, it was a good thing, but in some cases…

"Rin Okumura, whatever you're doing, stop it!" The teacher shouted, futilely.

"I'm just looking at it!" Rin, the only one still in the pit, shouted back, looking away from the suspiciously still Leaper demon. And…nothing. Easily three times his size, and yet it refused to move the moment Rin had looked at it. "It's not my fault it can recognize its betters! And what kind of shitty exercise is this anyway?!"

"Detention!"

"What the fuck for?"

"For your foul language! I've warned you to at least tone it down enough times already!"

"Oi, you don't need to take it out on me that you aren't getting enough time to screw your girl!"

"You-!"

Renzo whistled, low and appreciative at the shouting match that would delay class for at least ten minutes if past experience was anything to go by. "Wow, Rin really is something else…" It took guts to cuss out a teacher like that. A lot of people would think he was just being foolish, but considering how casually he was taking everything…

Konekomaru nodded, eyes wide. "He isn't scared at all being so close to a demon, huh? Well, he does have a Cat Sídhe as a familiar."

Kuro meowed appreciatively, tails flicking happily as he watched the Leaper below carefully, just in case. Whereas Kuro could respect how strong Rin was, the Leaper was weak and terrified by him instead. Or at least, Yukio assumed that was what was going on, but he doubted the rest of his class would understand. Once it had become clear that the Leaper wasn't going to chase Rin, he had been forced to sit out the exercise until everyone else had completed it- a task in and of itself considering how much Rin had protested the idea of Yukio being left alone near a demon. And then he had been quickly shoved into the pit where a hopefully near-berserk Leaper would finally chase him.

Of course, the demon had stopped dead not ten feet from the teenager, and it hadn't moved since. Yukio knew Rin didn't need the experience, but he wasn't about to explain that his brother had been hunting much more nimbler demons such as ghouls ever since he was ten.

Bon was more confused and frustrated than impressed. Ever since Rin had shown up, things had started making less and less sense. He had wanted to prove he was better than Rin, but that was kind of hard to do when any chance of that happening had evaporated. "Leapers are supposed to attack if they sense any sort agitation or you break eye contact, but that guy is seriously pissed off and isn't paying attention, and it isn't doing a thing."

Shimei shifted nervously from where she sat, "I guess that means Rin is really strong and confident, right?"

A feminine scoff, "Or an idiot who's so stupid the demons are just smart enough to not eat him, lest they catch his idiocy."

Yukio, so used to the chaos that was Rin butting heads with reality and logic, had pulled up a list of Arias to study until things cooled down. With disinterest he glared at Izumo, hardly giving her a second-long look before going back to his work. "Rin is anything but stupid, and it would show if he bothered to check his work more. Even then, I have no doubt he'll be the top of the class in any practical fields because he's just that strong." Despite his words, Yukio smiled fondly to himself.

Paku smiled with just a touch of strain, "You really do, uh, respect your brother, don't you, Yukio?"

"You don't have to try and sugar-coat it, Paku." Izumo huffed, looking down her nose at Yukio like he was a pest, "I thought the brother-complex thing only went one way, but it looks like it's a two-way street. Before you know it, they'll be doing disgusting things together."

With a snap, the notebook closed, "I don't like what you're implying, Ms. Kamiki."

"I'm just calling it like I see it: your brother is way too attached to you for it to be normal. We've only had class for a week and he hasn't left your side, and you just keep encouraging it!"

And that was the problem, wasn't it? What had once been a constant comfort had become an annoyance at best, and the prelude to a serious problem in the future. 'Attached' wasn't a strong enough word for the way Rin would practically lose his mind if Yukio was even slightly uncomfortable…"I know what you're talking about, and I'm doing my best to try and let Rin know that he doesn't need to protect me anymore…"

It was more like dependence.

Izumo, however, wasn't finished, "Yeah, well you're doing a pretty terrible job at it. It's pretty obvious he'd do anything for you, and I do mean anything. That's not good, you hear? One day he'll…Well, whatever, who cares."

Yukio felt the bubbling anger drain out of him quick enough it left him dizzy and light. He could feel the other's hackles rising on his behalf, could feel Shiemi grow more and more worried behind him, but he hadn't grown up with an emotionally damaged brother (when and how it happened, Yukio didn't know, but now that he was better read he was sure that was what was wrong) and not learned to read someone's true intent, under a mask.

Yukio, instead of lashing back, smiled. "You're just a bit kinder than you like to let on, aren't you, Izumo?"

Izumo's face turned red so fast it was amazing she didn't pass out from it, "Wha…What are you-"

Ah, but it would seem Yukio was just a bit cruel in his own way, and he couldn't stop himself from pressing his advantage just a little bit more, "You're a bit like my brother in that way, you know. Both of you don't-"

"No!" Izumo shouted, sharply standing and pointing accusingly at Yukio, "No, you are not comparing me to that moron!"

Rin's head snapped up to glare at the shouting, "Oi, twin tail bitch, what are you saying to Yukio!?"

"T-That's none of your business, you brother-complex freak!"

"Whore, I will hang you by your pigtails!"

"Get mauled by a demon already!"

"You-Sonofa-!" Whatever Rin had been going to say was cut off as the Leaper finally decided to attack him. The move was so sudden that Mr. Tsubaki didn't have time to react before it landed…exactly where Rin had been a second ago. But the teen had leapt to the side, caught the Leaper's collar, and swung himself so he sat on its back. The Leaper, of course, immediately began to struggle, but Rin had managed to secure himself to it with an arm looped under its collar, while the other…

Yukio hadn't been scared when the Leaper had attacked, but his heart seized when he saw Rin reach for the sealed sword he had finally convinced his brother to carry around and protect. Was he going to draw it in a fit of irrational anger, was this how everything would end, to a low-level demon?

Of course not, because for Rin to draw the sword he would have had to actually feel threatened. And a demonic frog the size of a car clearly wasn't going to faze him after he had scoffed at Astaroth. No, instead Yukio felt his blood pressure rise as he watched his brother use a sacred demonic sword as a crude club to beat the struggling Leaper upside the head. Repeatedly. An excessive amount, really.

It wasn't until the Leaper stopped trying to throw him off that Rin also stopped, slinging the sacred sword-turned-beating-stick over his shoulder with a grin. "There, now was that so hard? Now be good, damn it." He noticed his audience and frowned, "What?"

Even Yukio wasn't mad when Mr. Tsubaki finally jerked the Leaper's chain back, sending Rin into a spectacular faceplant as his mount was swept out from under him.

Izumo watched the teen shoot to his feet and start swearing up a storm at the teacher…again. "I take it back, Rin isn't an idiot, he's mentally retarded. He fell on his head a lot as a kid, didn't he?"

Yukio's silence as he stood to help treat Rin's bloodied nose (almost surely broken, but something like that couldn't heal overnight) was all the answer they needed.

Chapter Text

It began as many things do- with an inconsequential offer to help tutor Shiemi. An offer that Yukio was taken up on by the end of week as the girl realized just how behind she was. An offer that he very much did not remember extending to anyone else, but was now somehow the host of group study sessions with over half the class. Apparently, Shima was doing especially poor in certain classes while Konekomaru simply wished his grades matched Bon's near perfect scores. And because he was already helping Shiemi, that somehow translated to him being the tutor of the class. Even Paku dropped by on occasion, dragging Izumo with her. Neither Bon nor Izumo actually needed any real help, but both of them were fairly…poor teachers. They were borderline geniuses, either through natural talent or sheer hard work, and so they couldn't quite understand why their classmates found certain things difficult.

Obviously helping so many people took its toll on Yukio's free time, and so Rin was finally forced to attend if he wanted any help. Honestly, if Rin was willing to put in any effort at all into school, Yukio had little doubt that he would be the top of the class. He could identify most demons and their traits with just a glance, knew a shocking amount about medical plants despite Yukio being sure he had never even cracked open that textbook, and had memorized plenty of arias despite disliking reciting them. He just simply lacked the motivation to do anything more than the bare minimum for school.

In fact, he seemed to lack the motivation to do more than the bare minimum in most aspects of his life. Despite his attitude, despite his energy, Rin never seemed to want anything for himself in life. Oh sure, he would devour plenty of good food and soak in hot baths, but he held no aspirations for himself. Everything in Rin's life circled back around to Yukio.

Yukio resisted sighing at the thought, knowing that Shiemi would think that she had done something wrong. And a small part of him did want to sigh at just how far behind she was. Not just in Exorcist classes, but her general education was severally lacking as well. Even now after everyone else had moved on to another assignment, Shiemi was still struggling with her medial herb homework. She had made good progress in remembering the actual names for the plants, but the math, as basic as it was, was a struggle for her. So, Yukio had decided to switch gears and help her with her math homework first. Well, he was trying to-

"And I say that your idea for the paper is fucking stupid. Who the hell wants to talk about the origins of region-specific arias for fifteen pages?"

"Yeah, well I don't hear any ideas coming from you!"

"Because this entire project is stupid! Making it a group project doesn't make up for how ridiculously long it has to be!"

-but it seemed that his beloved brother was about to get into another fight. He was thankful that Paku and Izumo hadn't decided to attend today. It was funny in a sad way, as he seriously doubted that anyone would disagree with Rin, but his rather…colorful way of stating things tended to rub people the wrong way. Because the schedule had been compressed, several papers that should have been scattered throughout the year had been combined into one super-paper. They were allowed to freely collaborate and form groups of whatever size they wanted and choose any topic within the guidelines, but that hardly helped.

Yukio coughed very pointedly before things could continue to escalate. The picnic table they had spread their things probably couldn't handle Rin if he got…angry. "I believed that Bon suggested that topic because of how easy it would be to use quotes and pad the paper to reach the requirement. Virtually the entire aria could be quoted, along with different variants. Am I correct?"

The surprised look on Bon's face clearly said that he very much had not thought of that idea, but the teen nodded furiously anyway, "Y-Yeah! Exactly that. And if you weren't so quick to be an asshole, I would have had time to explain that!"

The shorter boy scoffed, "Don't try and cover his ass, Yukio. But I guess that that'll work to fill out this shitty paper. So, Yukio, where do we start?"

An eraser pinged off Rin's head, but by the time he whipped his head around to glare, the very teen in question had started to collect his things. "I'll be sure to help later, but right now I've got to help Shiemi with the rest of her homework, as that's due tomorrow. But I'm sure that you, Bon, and everyone else can at least get some ideas down, right?"

Shima frowned, "Wait, are you really going to abandon us to this paper? That's a bit-"

Very suddenly the air was fridged. Nothing in Yukio's demeanor had really changed, but they were all very suddenly paying attention to his next words, "I've taken hours out of my own schedule to help all of you when the only person I promised I'd help was Shiemi. I didn't have to help any of you, but I decided to anyway. Now that I've done that, I'm sure that you all can get along and think of some things to write about while I stick to my actual promise, alright? Oh, and play nice, Rin." The smile he gave them as he ushered a flustered Shiemi to a different table was so pure and sincere that everyone was sure butter wouldn't melt in that mouth. No one tried to stop him from leaving.

Bon blinked as Rin practically collapsed onto the table, grumbling all the while. Shima blinked as the teen's arms suddenly entered his personal space, sprawled out across the table and all over his books. Trying to prod his hands away got him a sharp kick to the shin.

Covertly crossing his legs to prevent higher shots, Shima smiled as if he couldn't feet a bruise forming, "What's wrong all of a sudden?"

"Oh right, you idiots wouldn't get it." Rin grumbled from where he had buried his face in his open textbook, "Yukio's been trying to get me to 'make friends' for a while now, so I bet he left to try and force us to 'bond' or some shit…And if I don't try and 'play nice' with you idiots, Yukio will get mad at me…"

Bon stared into the sky and prayed to whatever god was listening for strength to deal with the brother-complex freak in front of him. He didn't like the idea of working with Rin at all, but he and Yukio were kind of a package deal and he needed all the help he could find to fill out fifteen pages. "Oi, stop being such a drama queen. I don't want to be friends with a punk like you anyway, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Of course, you don't- you're barely worth being my underling."

Bon made a valent attempt to hit Rin with a book from across the table, but the teen's hand shot up and caught the paperback with eerie accuracy without ever looking up. Shima whistled lowly at that.

Konekomaru gently took the book out of Rin's hand before he could do something like chuck it into the trash. The teen sat up to glare at him, but it was so half-hearted that even he didn't feel threatened by it, "Guys, shouldn't we at least get started on the paper?"

Bon felt his brow twitch as Rin yawned loudly and looked ready to sleep as a method to ignore them, "Are you going to take this serious or not?!"

Rin blinked and looked across the table to where Bon sat. He stared at him for a moment with his eerily too-blue eyes before nodding once.

Good, at least they were all on the same page for once-

"I am completely serious about that vow of eternal servitude."

So, Shiemi, what exactly made you want to become an Exorcist all of a sudden?" Yukio said, ignoring the rising voices from across the lawn students often used to study at. It was better that they aired their grievances here instead of in the middle of an actual mission, or so he would keep telling himself.

It was strange that he had forgotten to ask, but Yukio justified that he had been busy dealing with Rin being, well, himself to new people. Which meant that he was stuck playing damage control to try and make Rin at least seem human. So, he hadn't thought too hard about such an obviously shy girl suddenly decided to fight demons.

"I'm surprised that Mr. Fujimoto didn't tell you." Shiemi said with a slight tilt of her head as she thought about it a bit more, "Ah, I guess he has better things to do, so he probably doesn't even remember with how busy he must be…"

"Well, he was coming by to pick up a big bulk-order of supplies along with a few of his friends, but when he heard about how I wasn't able to walk anymore, he dropped everything he was doing to investigate! He realized what was wrong really fast and declared the entire garden a lost cause, so he started salting the entire place! He even, ah…" Shiemi paused, suddenly looking a bit sheepish, going as far as to look away from Yukio shyly.

"He even what?"

"He even said that your brother would, um…" Shiemi flushed, and Yukio smiled a little at how shy she still was at times, "…would like to help him burn everything…?"

That startled a laugh out of Yukio. Of course, his father would be unabashedly blunt when it came to Rin. Well, at least her embarrassment made sense now, "I'm not offended, Shiemi. How can I be when it's true?"

"Oh, so Rin really is like that…"

"Don't worry, he has it mostly in check nowadays." 'Mostly' actually meant the controlled burning of his old homework and garbage every couple of weeks, but no one needed to know that. Just like how they didn't need to know exactly how many knives Rin had squirreled away on his person at any given moment, "But, please continue."

"Right! Well, the garden was my grandmother's before she died…" And here Shiemi grimaced a bit, "…so I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. Suddenly the demon jumped out of the ground and tried to take me as a hostage, but Mr. Fujimoto pulled me out of the way and Exorcised it in seconds! And it turns out the salt was really just sugar, so he didn't even plan to hurt the garden in the first place! He found the perfect solution where everything worked out perfectly, and I guess I was inspired!"

"Perfect for everyone but the demon." Yukio almost said but held his tongue at the last second. Most demons weren't inherently hostile, but this one had taken a young woman's freedom and tried to use her as a human shield- it deserved everything it got. If it was let go, then there was a high chance it would repeat its actions and possibly even get someone killed one day. It was a mad dog to be put down after it had bitten one too many people.

(A part of him wondered how many people would one day say the same thing about Rin.)

Yukio nodded, "I see. Well, father does tend to have that effect on people, no matter what Rin says."

"Is that effect disgust? Because I'll agree to that."

Shiemi let out a little shriek and jumped at the sudden voice, while Yukio made for his weapon a moment before his common sense kicked in. Instead, he leveled a glare at the end of the table where Rin stood, peering at them with a critical and clearly judging eye. Very slowly, a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"So, how goes the date?"

Shiemi's face was tomato red in a matter of seconds and Yukio cursed himself as he felt his own face grow a bit warm. Rin's smirk was so shit-eating that Yukio very nearly punched him, and the urge only skyrocketed when Shiemi whimpered and tried to hide in her hands as Bon and the others ran over.

Yukio breathed in deeply, calmed himself, and slowly stood, "Rin, what are you doing over here? I thought you were working on the paper."

"Tried, failed, bored now."

Bon's angry shout from across the lawn turned plenty of heads their way, "Bullshit, you were just a jackass and left!"

Yukio closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and tried to calm himself. It didn't work as well this time, certainly not helped by Bon storming over and looking ready to punch Rin through a wall. At least Shiemi looked only slightly flustered, probably from the liberal amount of swears and slurs being thrown around. He took her hand and started to guide her away, "Come on, Shiemi. We clearly won't get any work done out here, and we still have plenty to do."

Shima, having finally caught up, grinned cheekily at them and their connected hands, "Ooh, trying to get some alone time, are you?"

And because Rin was somehow eerily always aware of anything and everything to do with Yukio, he stopped mid-swear and glared at the pink-haired boy from atop his perch. At some point, he had ended up crouched on a table, clearly ready to literally pounce on Bon. "Hey, only I get to tease Yukio! That's my right!"

"The brother-complex sure is strong in this one…"

"What did you just say, cherry-boy?"

"I'll have you know that I have made many beautiful women happy!"

To the side, Bon, suddenly ignored, watched as Rin and Shima argued and Yukio discretely led Shiemi away from the chaos. Several other students had abandoned their own work to partially surround their group, watching them as if they were strange animals. And really, compared to these rich brats, they probably were considering the way Rin abruptly tackled Shima to the ground, "…We're not going to get anything done without Yukio here to keep them under control, are we?"

Konekomaru huffed, plucking abandoned papers from the ground, "You're just now figuring this out?" Maybe he and Bon could form their own group, they didn't need Yukio that badly, did they?

"They're all idiots." Izumo stated, watching the chaos from a safe distance, lest she catch the stupid that seemed to become an absolute pandemic whenever Rin was around. She and Paku had finished plotting the general ideas they wanted in their paper and had decided that a little fresh air and a snack was a good idea. Honestly, she was quite happy with the topic: an extensive look into the entwined history of arias and summoning, and how the two had split from the same common study. It was a complicated but interesting topic, and she was confident that, if anything, they would struggle to stay under the twenty-page maximum.

So, of course, her good mood had to be ruined by seeing her fellow classmates make fools of themselves in full-view of twenty-some normal students. At least Yukio had the common sense to leave, even if he decided to drag that dead-weight Shiemi with him.

Izumo watched as Rin choked Shima with a rather brutal headlock, only to be dragged off by the school's security a few seconds later. For some reason, Konekomaru decided to try and defend Rin's utterly idiotic behavior, clearly talking down the officers even if she couldn't hear the words.

"Absolute idiots." She grumbled.

"Maybe," Paku said with a tiny laugh and Izumo nodded. At least her friend had some common sense, "but they all look like they're becoming good friends, right?"

Security had somehow been convinced to leave, and, Izumo witnessed what had to be a rare sight: Rin obviously embarrassed and, if she was reading the other's smug faces right, thanking them for not letting him be rather rightfully dragged off and locked up like the borderline lunatic he was. She might have considered it progress if Bon didn't say something that immediately sparked another round of arguing.

It was disgusting to watch them squabble like children and get worked up over such petty problems. Yes, it had to be disgust that twisted her insides as she watched them bicker, argue, and yet for some reason, continue to willingly interact.

"How in the world do they look like friends to you?"

Chapter Text

Shiemi sniffled from her position on the floor, feeling tears well up as Paku gave her a shy wave before she continued after Izumo...Leaving Shiemi all alone once more. She tried to smother the crushing feeling rising up in her heart, but it was hard to when her ankle throbbed like an angry reminder of her complete failure as a person. She enjoyed being around the guys in her class, but they were so rowdy that she felt overwhelmed and smothered by just how bright and loud they could be. Only Yukio seemed to really notice her, and that was because he had promised to tutor her.

All she wanted was to make a single friend and stop taking up so much of Yukio's time. She would have thought Izumo and Paku would be easy to get along with since they were all girls, but instead she made a complete fool of herself.

"So lame."

Shiemi really had to agree.

The blonde stopped, inhaled, and then exhaled. She couldn't keep crying over every little thing, she had to be strong! Even if it was hard, even if it was embarrassing, she had to keep trying!

Shiemi stood and immediately fell with a yelp.

And apparently being strong also meant limping herself home on a hurt ankle. She had absolutely no idea where the nurse's office might be in the school's overly long hallways, so it would be faster to head home and treat herself. Or at least that's what she told herself as the limped down the hallway, using the wall as support.

"What's wrong with you?"

Shiemi jumped at the sudden voice, and very nearly fell again. She would have if a hand hadn't grabbed her shoulder and hoisted her back to her feet as if she weighed nothing. Nervously, Shiemi looked back to see Rin's scowling face staring intently at her ankle. Suddenly something warm brushed where she was lightly holding her foot, and she yipped.

At her feet the demon cat she recognized as Rin's familiar meowed loudly and rubbed against her ankle again. Shiemi winced.

Rin huffed and casually nudged the cat away with his foot as if it wasn't a powerful demon, "I can see that she hurt herself, so stop making a racket, Kuro."

Shiemi tugged at the arm still in Rin's firm hold. He wasn't hurting her despite the casual strength she'd seen from him, but it still made her feel a bit trapped all the same, "I'm fine, I'll head home!"

"On that?" Rin frowned even harder, somehow. He looked so much like a scolding parent that Shiemi ducked her gaze away from him, "No, Yukio would be mad if I let you do that to yourself. Come here."

"What are you-! R-Rin!"

Shiemi very quickly realized that taking her eyes off Rin was a terrible, horrible, very bad idea. Without really knowing why or how, she was very suddenly in his arms like…like…like-

While the girl's brain stuttered and struggled to process what just happened, Rin took the opportunity to start walking, Kuro chirping happily at his heels, "What, I can't have you walking! And this way you can't run away."

It took much longer than it should have, but Shiemi finally realized exactly what was happening. Rin was walking around holding her like a…like a b-b-b-

Shiemi stopped her traitorous mind from finishing that cursed thought. She couldn't stop Rin from carrying her if he really wanted to, but that didn't mean she had to like it! So she buried her burning face in her hands, listing off all the correct plant names Yukio had taught her before her mind could try and betray her with terrible thoughts again.

So, of course, she didn't see the understanding pass over Rin's face, or the look of shame that he didn't quite manage to suppress. It only lasted for a moment before something dawned on the teen and he smirked.

Shiemi nearly screamed when she was moved again, and suddenly she found herself slung over Rin's shoulder. Like a sack of fertilizer. She wasn't quite sure what to think, and instead settled for the only thing she could reasonably do right now:

"Rin!"

Rin cackled.

Yukio thought he was going to have a quiet day to himself, for once. Rin had left to do something-or-other with Kuro, Bon had declared that he would handle his friends on his own for once, and he had finally gotten a chance to see Shiro for the first time in weeks. It had been brief and unplanned visit mostly consisting of his father presenting him with the completed paperwork for Kuro to remain Rin's familiar indefinitely and to replace the temporary form he had been given before. It was something that had long been finalized and everyone who needed to know had been informed already, but having an official document on hand in case someone pressed the issue was useful. Since Kuro wasn't a summon, he was far more dangerous if he ever went rogue and typically considered too dangerous for a typical Exwire, much less a Page. But apparently it was easy for Mephisto to have those regulations ignored entirely.

Really, it could have been emailed to Yukio, but it was clear that Shiro had used it as an excuse to visit a "prodigy Tamer".

They had shared a laugh over that. The idea of Rin being considered a prodigy-anything was funny, even if the teen probably could be considered just as smart as Yukio, if he actually applied himself. Shiro hadn't been able to stay long enough for Rin to return, sadly, but it had been nice to talk for even a brief moment.

"How is that brat doing, Yukio? He's not getting into too much trouble, right?"

Yukio frowned, remembering how strained his father had seemed. It was obvious he wasn't getting enough sleep, and stress seemed to roll off him in waves. Yukio had asked, and even he wasn't supposed to know whatever had happened, it was easy enough to convince his father to at least tell him a little bit. He already knew that there was a war taking place for the throne of Gehenna (a war that Rin was going to eventually be used in, like a pawn, like a puppet-!) even if it hadn't fully broken out, so what was one more secret? Besides, he should know if only to keep Rin in line, right?

"But that's the problem: Mephisto was so sure that Iblis would have made a move after Lucifer refused to take Gehenna. He hasn't made a move, but he's too ambitious to have given up. He's planning something, something big, and all we can do is prepare ourselves. All we do is prepare for an attack that hasn't happened for years now, and all the while demon activity keeps rising and keeps draining our resources."

Yukio had wondered if Iblis had decided to wage a war of attrition, but Shiro had reassured him that Mephisto was sure that that wasn't Iblis' style. He, lacking the flames of Satan despite being a fire demon, had too many things to prove and too big of an ego to not take center stage- at least, according to Mephisto.

Samael, another arrogant demon who had already been wrong once before about Iblis, Yukio privately noted. And he wasn't exactly-

The door to the dorm was kicked open with a loud enough bang that the walls shook. Yukio took a deep breath, steeled himself, and hoped that the door hadn't been broken by his careless brother.

"Rin, how many times do I have to…tell you…"

As expected, Rin stood tall in the doorway, looking almost proud of the rather pitiful creak the hinges of the door made as it closed with a worrying stutter. And over his shoulder was Shiemi, who was doing her absolute best to curl into a tiny ball despite her position. She whimpered a bit at the sound of his voice.

"What have you done?"

"She twisted her ankle," Rin stated as if that excused everything he had done, and strutted over to the table Yukio was using, "So you should fix her up," Rin set Shiemi on the table, effortlessly manhandling her and sitting her on the edge like a particularly red-faced doll and pointed sharply at her, "Help her."

"Just because I patch you up from your stupidity doesn't mean that I'm an actual doctor yet, Rin." Yukio sighed, but he was already by Shiemi's side.

The girl hadn't moved her hands from where they covered her face the entire time Rin had maneuvered her, probably hoping that he would get bored and wander off. While Rin's attention span wasn't quite that bad (school notwithstanding) at least she didn't seem hurt, just embarrassed beyond belief at how she had been carried, and probably seen by the entire school. She sat there, stiff and probably a little traumatized by Rin being…well, Rin. Which meant being utterly bull-headed and overwhelmingly insistent with whatever he had decided to do. When he rested a hand on her shoulder, she finally peered up at him shyly through her fingers.

Rin huffed, "Well, are you going to help her? Or do I have to carry her all the way to the nurse's office?"

Shiemi squeaked and scooted away from Rin as best as she could, "I-I told you that I'll be fine! You didn't have to bother Yukio for me!"

"Oh, I don't think it's a bother for him, right?"

Yukio felt annoyance bubble up and stepped between the two of them, "I already told you, I'm not your personal doctor, Rin. And I think that you've done enough for today, so please leave."

Rin gave Yukio a look that, for some reason, made him feel like an idiot. Like he had missed something glaringly obvious, but he had no idea what, and his brother's next words were too cryptic to make the look make sense, "That's not what I was talking about, but ok…"

"Leave."

Rin stared at him with one of his unnervingly unreadable gazes. Yukio could never get used to the feeling of being studied so intensely by his usually flighty brother, but he had learned to stand his ground. And so he stood tall enough to not appear weak, but loose enough to not seem stiff and fake. Rin's too-blue eyes glanced back and forth between him and Shiemi a couple of times before a rather self-satisfied smirk pulled his lips apart.

"Ok!"

And Rin winked at Yukio before sauntering out, in such a pleasant mood that Yukio felt almost cheated. Rin didn't like following orders, even Yukio's, and seemed to enjoy being difficult just for the sake of it. He had expected for there to be a lot more resistance, but instead, he seemed satisfied and left.

He shook his head. He really didn't understand his brother sometimes.

"I am so sorry about my brother, Shiemi." Yukio called out as he grabbed his medical kit (always on hand, just in case), "Usually he isn't this bad, but when he gets an idea in his head, there's not much I or anyone else can do to stop him."

Shiemi shook her head, still flustered but looking better already, "It's fine, it's fine! I wasn't scared." Yukio raised a brow and she flushed, ducking her head to mumble, "Well, I wasn't that scared…I didn't think he was ever going to hurt me, but it's a bit frightening to get carried around like that…"

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to have a long talk with Rin about little things like personal boundaries." Not that there was a high chance that that would change anything, but he had to at least try to do something before his brother unintentionally got a sexual harassment charge filed against him or something equally ridiculous and headache-inducing, "But he was right- you shouldn't walk on this much for the next couple of days if you want it to recover in time for the training camp. What caused this anyway?"

Shiemi refused to meet his gaze, looking anywhere but him, "I…I tripped! I'm just so clumsy, you see…"

"Shiemi, you're a really bad liar."

"But I really did trip!" The blonde insisted, "I was just trying to catch up to Izumo...and…"

Ah, now he could start piecing together a picture, "And she just left you there when you fell? That's pretty harsh."

"I mean…" Shiemi fumbled, picking at the hem of her kimono.

"Though really I'm more shocked that Paku would just leave you. She was with Izumo, right?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Just a guess, since she and Izumo stick together a lot." 'Like a lost dog' Yukio barely resisted saying. No, Shiemi didn't need to know the dark and judgmental things he thought about some of his classmates, "I guess I'm just disappointed that she didn't help you…Is that too tight?"

"No…"

There was a slight waver to her voice, and she looked nervous.

"Is something wrong, Shiemi?"

She shook her head, smile forced, "No, my ankle just hurts a bit! I need to go home and rest, right?"

Yukio knew when someone was hiding what they were feeling, and Shiemi was far worse at it than Rin had ever been, "Yes, yes you should…If something is bothering you, you can tell me, you know. We're friends, right?"

"Ah…" Suddenly Shiemi was staring at him, garden-green eyes huge with obvious shock. He wasn't sure what he had said that was so strange until the next words slipped past the blonde girl's lips, barely a whisper, "F-Friends…?"

"Are we not …?" Had he misread their relationship? She seemed like a nice girl, so surely she would want friends and not insist on lone-wolfing it like Rin did.

"No! No, it's just…" Shiemi blushed and played with the hem of her sleeve, and mumbled, almost silently, "I've just…never had a friend before…"

"Hey, asshole!"

Satan rolled his eyes at the familiar voice. And right when he was in a good mood, too.

"What is it, chickenshit?"

"At least Bon finally has some good company…"

Ryuji glared at him, pissed off as always, and stormed right over to him, leaving his lackeys to trail behind. Konekomaru looked exasperated while Renzo just looked amused. Hell, the pink-haired bastard gave him a thumbs-up for some idiotic reason that probably only made sense to himself.

Satan's view was obscured as Ryuji decided to invade his personal space. For some reason the boy hadn't realized that his superior height wasn't the least bit intimidating to Satan when really it just made it easier for Satan to sucker punch his vulnerable stomach. Or take a pot-shot at his crotch and end whatever fight might start in seconds. There was no such thing as a fair fight, after all.

Ryuji, ignorant to Satan's casual thoughts of bodily harm, growled at him, "I want to know exactly what the hell you think you're doing with Shiemi? Everyone's been talking about you carrying some blonde girl in a kimono around like you own her, so I want to know what the hell you think you're doing! And what did you do with her anyway!"

"She twisted her ankle, so I took her to Yukio so he could help her," And maybe things between them would…progress. Or they wouldn't, and Satan would have to give up on pairing the two of them together. They made a cute couple, she was nice, and, most importantly, Shiemi wouldn't even think of using Yukio. So, she was, by definition, perfect in his books. But love was tricky, destructive if done poorly, and it took time.

Yukio, thankfully, didn't seem prone to throwing himself at the first pretty face that was even slightly nice to him.

Konekomaru spoke up, skeptical, "Shouldn't you have taken her to the nurse instead?"

Satan missed when the kid had been outright terrified of him, "Maybe, if I was a simpleton like you. But Yukio is perfectly capable of tending to Shiemi all by himself," And they needed time alone to talk, hopefully about their feelings, "Don't forget that he does the best on the Doctor tests than any of you ever will. That includes even you, bonbon."

Ryuji made an angry…something. Satan was pretty sure it was supposed to be an oh-so intimidating growl, but it came off more as 'choking-cat' than anything else. He probably had some 'clever' retort ready, but Satan was acutely aware of the eyes on him.

His hand disappeared for a second before the glint of a switchblade caught the light. He heard the trio next to him gasp and shout at the sight of the meager weapon like he had just pulled a six-foot longsword out his ass, but Satan ignored them, "Besides, we have a bigger problem to worry about."

"What!"

"Whoa, where did you get a knife-?"

"The hell are you doing!"

Konekomaru screamed as the knife missed his ear by only a couple of inches. The blade flew between him and Renzo with unerring accuracy and, behind them, someone yelped as the blade scrapped a shoulder.

They whirled around just in time to see a black-haired boy run away, nearly tripping over his feet as he fled.

Satan saw familiar blue-green eyes and huffed, "I hate spies."

Ryuji trembled with obvious rage, and Satan had just enough time to sigh before the taller teen exploded and started screaming, "What the hell was that!? Did you just really throw a knife at a student?"

"He's been spying on me this entire year. I think he got off pretty easily."

Konekomaru frowned, shaking a bit at the near-miss but more intrigued with the strange turn of events, "Rin, you have a…a stalker? Shouldn't you report this to the principle?"

Satan barked out a humorless laugh. If only this kid knew what Samael could be like- he would probably find the entire thing amusing and Satan was set on avoiding him as much as possible. Just because he hadn't recognized who Satan was at their first meeting didn't mean he wouldn't catch on, however ridiculous it seemed.

Renzo whistled, long and low, "Wow, a spy? Pretty crazy that anyone would be interested in you. Guess you're pretty popular, huh?"

"Next time I catch him spying on me like a fucking creep, I'm going to kick his shit in."

Renzo laughed nervously.

"Were they immortal?"

"That's a hard question to answer, but, in the end, they really weren't. They were born, they lived, and they could die, but only when they were ready to. Nothing could kill them except themselves, when they finally had their fill of life."

"So, does that mean…?"

Lucifer stared in the mirror. Acid green eyes watched him in turn, as impassive as ever. Idly he rubbed at the long-healed needle wounds on his neck, checking himself for any defects. Soft skin that didn't flake away, healthy blond hair that didn't fall out in clumps, even the cuticles on his nails grew without flaw. It had been months now, but it still felt strange to no longer feel the pain of existence. A primal part of him missed the affirmation of his struggle, but it would be foolish to allow himself to fall into decay once again.

Without a doubt, Gedouin had outdone himself. It wasn't perfected yet, but Lucifer had little doubt that the man would find a way to make the effects of his Alpha Elixir permanent soon enough. Lucifer had never intended to use the Elixir, but Iblis had been…difficult to control. Even when their goals didn't overlap, Iblis was still needlessly reckless and head-strong and refused to wait until Lucifer's plans had completed before enacting his childish coup. Honestly, he had been waiting thousands of years, what were a few more to beings like them?

Lucifer dressed himself slowly, watching as his skin was hidden by fabric once more. Once, even the brush of the finest silks sent fire dancing across his broken and chipped body, but now it was a pleasant feeling. Pleasant, but only temporary like everything else was.

Like even father had eventually been.

Yes, Iblis and his other brothers could have this world and do with it whatever they pleased. Lucifer had no love for flowers that would one day wilt, no need for a family that would soon kill itself now that father was no longer here to keep them in line. He may finally have a body, he may finally have the freedom he always desired, but none of it mattered in the end. Nothing did, and that was something he just couldn't stand.

No, it was his duty to pick up the mantle that his father had forgotten over the eons. Maybe he had grown weary and made the mistake of resting, maybe he really had lost something to cursed eldritch creatures he had hunted, or maybe he simply lost hope. The cause did not matter, the reason did not matter, only the results mattered. Only the future mattered.

And so, Lucifer would move on, move forward, and discard finality.

Chapter Text

Chapter 29: Sharper

Blue Exorcist doesn't go super in-depth with some of its systems, so I have to fill in the gaps with my own headcanons in order to make things work a bit better.

The circle sparked to life, malicious energy built and bubbled from the center. It bulged, and, from the depths, clawed hands reached out. The deformed human corps burst free, a low moan pulled from its distorted face as the smell of sulfur filled the room.

Satan glared at the Naberius with disinterest and bared his teeth in a challenge when it looked at him. By his feet, Kuro hissed.

"It stinks," Satan explained when Igor tried to cow his behavior with what the human probably thought was a threatening glare. Honestly, Satan wasn't even somewhat impressed by a lowly Naberius, and a fairly weak one at that. It was likely that the teacher had selected a weak one on purpose lest he scare the children, but that only made it worse. Trying to force your will over another demon's was dangerous and potentially deadly, but Igor really wasn't emphasizing that enough.

"Now everyone, put a drop of your blood on the paper with the magic circle I gave you earlier. Except for you, Mr. Okumura- you already have a familiar, and a contract one at that. You hardly need more."

"It's not like summons are that useful anyway. You break the circle…" Satan drawled, pointing at the chalk with his foot, "And 'poof'! Your support is gone."

"That may be true, but summons can be canceled quickly." Igor countered, "Everyone should remember that if a summoned familiar is out of control, you can destroy the circle to save yourself."

It was stupid to summon something you weren't sure you could put down, but then again, the Exorcists also thought that working with Samael was a good idea. Idiots, and they deserved everything they would inevitably get, "That just happens if you're weak. Don't be weak."

Yukio coughed, waving his blood-smeared circle to catch everyone's attention, "Rin, I think that's enough. It looks like I don't have the talent."

Satan could practically taste the lingering power in the air, so that was a blatant lie. But then again, Yukio had never liked overtly standing out, and Satan couldn't disapprove of him have a potential ace no one else knew about. A quick glance showed that not a single one of Ryuji's group had managed to summon anything, though Satan could swear he felt a touch of power receding from them. They had clumped up, so he couldn't tell who it was, but he was sure that one of them held the ability, they just hadn't properly reached out.

Odd, but then again, they all seemed like idiots. None of them even looked aware that a demon had been ready to answer their call.

"-Fulfill my prayers!"

Satan's thoughts were cut off at the absolute surge of power near him. It quickly peaked and burst free, forming not one, but two Byakkos that obediently sat by Izumo's feet. Satan was very suddenly forced to reevaluate his opinion of the twin-tailed girl: she might be a bitch, but it took no small amount of strength to summon two decently powerful demons with such complete control. There wasn't a hint of dissatisfaction at their summoning despite the pride they practically radiated, and the girl seemed perfectly at ease in their presence.

Paku gaped at the marked fox spirits, a sentiment shared by everyone present, "That was amazing, Izumo! I can't do this stuff at all…"

Izumo smirked, clearly satisfied at the praise the entire class was heaping upon her, "It's just natural. I'm descended from a proper shrine maiden, you know!"

Well, that at least explained how familiar the foxes were being with her, happily circling her. Beside him, Kuro meowed in agitation at being ignored, "Rin, I'm a lot better than some foxes!" Kuro whined, pawing at his leg, "I can get big and I'm a lot stronger and I won't trick or betray you or anything like that!"
Izumo sneered at him when Kuro's mewing became incessant, "Having trouble controlling your familiar, Rin?"

"Hardly. He just doesn't like it when I pay attention to lesser demons," Satan huffed, giving in and picking up the Cat Sídhe before the demon started climbing his leg or something equally undignified, "Besides, if you think I'd be jealous of you, you're insane. Foxes are deceptive and crafty and will eat your heart the moment you give them a chance, but Cat Sídhes are pretty damn loyal. Don't slip up, ok?" He grinned, voice filled with light cheer.

Izumo flinched as if he had slapped her.

Satan was pretty sure his sneer wasn't that frightening, but sometimes he underestimated himself.

Abruptly, Shiemi spoke up, "I want to try too!"

Satan watched the blonde summon, frowning at her half-assed chant. It was a lesser-known fact that the exact words didn't matter nearly as much as the intent to summon itself, but did she have to sound like she didn't have a care in the world? She was summoning a demon who would eat her soul the moment she showed any weakness, she should take this a little more seriously-!

A Greenman popped into existence with a blip of power so tiny, Satan almost missed it entirely.

Well, Satan decided as he watched the Greenman (so tiny, it had to be young) cling to Shiemi, he didn't have to worry about the girl getting devoured by her summon anytime soon. The Greenman was too weak to hurt her and could only endanger her if she recklessly fed it her power. He was also pretty sure it was imprinting on her.
Kuro meowed in his arms, tails twitching, "It looks like a mouse! Can I-?"

Satan rolled his eyes and dropped the Cat Sídhe.

Cats were supposed to land on their feet, so Satan thought he could be forgiven for what happened next. Kuro landed on his back with all the grace of a wet rag and rolled…right over the summoning circle's lines. Chalk was obviously a terrible thing to use for finicky runes and spell circles if it came off so easily, Satan decided. It really wasn't his fault that they used such a shitty thing to make their lines- if they cared so much then maybe they should use paint or a marker or something a little hardier!

Igor stared at him hard as the Naberius fell back into Gehenna with a low groan, looking like he was seriously considering beating one of his students with his oversized chalk-drawing-thing that was still clipped to his hip.

Satan looked down at the smudged circle and the blob of black now sitting in the middle of the carefully crafted lines. Kuro paused, mid-motion to clean himself, letting his hatred for the chalk's taste known, though the rest of the class probably only heard a pitiful whine.

Satan nudged the demon with his foot, "Hey, look what you did."

"You dropped me!"

Ryuji deadpanned, "This is clearly your fault, idiot."

"I don't want to hear it from someone who couldn't even get Coal Tar to listen to him, Bon-bon!" Satan shot back, doing a rather admirable job of not punching that smug look off Ryuji's face, in his personal opinion, "And cats are supposed to land on their feet, damn it! How is it my fault that the shitty priest gave me a defective cat, huh?"
Izumo sneered, looking one step away from laughing in his face, though her Byakkos were very doing exactly that, muffled as it was. It was a sound only slightly more annoying than her face. The plum-haired girl was blissfully oblivious of Satan plotting ways to skin her summons and she slyly looked over to Yukio, "Your brother is an idiot if he thinks that's going to work."

It was less the words themselves and her holier-than-thou tone that set Satan off once again. She must think that she was so special just because she had a little talent at summoning. But that was the only thing she was even passable at, and Byakkos weren't even overwhelmingly strong- even the weakest of his children could easily crush them and devour their spirits, so nothing would be left to return. Hell, he could probably take them as he was now, and he wouldn't even have to play dirty and go for the paper! "Wanna go, twin tail bitch? I'm damn sure my familiar can take both of yours."

With the chalk already ruined, Igor had no qualms with stepping across the circle to stand between Izumo and Satan, "That's enough, children. Remember what you've learned today and don't hesitate to tear or otherwise ruin your summoning circle if you ever feel that you're in any danger. Rin Okumura, you'll be staying behind to finish cleaning the summoning circle." Not once did his eye leave the short boy.

Satan just looked offended, "I'm not cleaning your shitty and overcomplicated art project up."

"Mr. Okumura, I am your teacher and you will listen to me if you don't want punishment," The one-eyed man stated, no, demanded that his student listened to him, "That's an order, not a request, and you'll listen."

"'Punishment'…how delightfully vague and not threatening at all. Unless you have a reputation, it pays to be specific if you want me to be afraid of you," Satan drawled, idly picking at his nails as a way to disguise a movement to check his knives. He had never liked this teacher as something about him just rubbed him the wrong way, and he wasn't good enough at hiding his naked hatred for Satan to not have noticed by now, "What are you going to make me do, write lines, stay after class…what? And how the hell are you even going to make me do any of that anyway?"

If it came down to a fight, Satan was sure he could take down the oh-so-powerful Exorcist. Maybe it would be a nice lesson to the class that you couldn't rely on fancy tools all the time, or else you'd be helpless if you got surprised. And if the teacher got a nick on his face just deep enough to leave a scar, well, that was too bad, accidents did happen after all.

The room was tense, choking everyone present under the sheer intensity they couldn't properly understand. It was the feeling of static dancing on the skin, of coiled muscles and tension ready to be released. It would build, poked and prodded by Satan until it was as high as the sun, filling with burning feelings and boiling blood.
It had been too long since he had really fought anything.

And, like a cool breeze that toppled a child's tower, Yukio stepped forward, hand raised, "If you won't do it, then I'll take responsibility for my brother's actions."

The word 'responsibility' sent an icy shard of fear straight to Satan's core. That was a…a very dangerous and slippery slope that Yukio couldn't possibly understand the implications of. Even just 'Rin Okumura' had done plenty of illegal things, including murder (that filth deserved it, how dare they be even a peripheral threat to Yukio, inexcusable, intolerable, howdaretheyhurt-) and though he was sure no one could connect such things back to him, the demon was sure that the Exorcists had an entire file room dedicated to charges against Satan from the Blue Night alone.

Modern courts might have finally discarded the idea of passing the father's sin to their children, but religion had always lagged behind. They apparently still thought burning witches was acceptable (red, red, redredred- Blue.), so he was pretty damn sure that they would dig up whatever archaic rules they could to crush his last hope, his last tie to Yuki, his very last reason to-

Satan shook his head so violently the room spun, squashing terrible thoughts before they could swell. No, he had the here and now, he had to stay 'awake' for now, "Yukio, you don't have to do that!"

Yukio frowned at him, obviously catching the sudden strain in his voice, "Yes, I do. Like it or not, I'll take responsibility for your selfishness." The younger boy might have said those words, but really, Satan could read him easily. There was obviously worry there.

Satan huffed, looking away until he could lock away his darkness again. In lieu of answering the unasked question, he shrugged, and worried his lip as he sorted out his chaotic thoughts. "…I just don't fin-"

Blood.

His mouth was filled with blood.

Satan covered his mouth quickly but just ended up smearing blood all over his hand. It wasn't much, but it still made an ugly sight.

"Rin, you're bleeding-!"

"-'m fine-fucking-!" Satan hissed, cutting off his swears as he did nothing but exacerbate the cut. Honestly, if anyone knew what was actually happening, he would be seen as an absolute idiot and his reputation would take years to recover. But they were ignorant, so instead the class looked at him, worried, as he seemed to be suddenly spitting blood to them.

"I'm leaving," Satan mumbled, barely suppressing the heat trying to combust his face. A few of them called out after him, but Satan pushed forward- he had to get away so he could sulk in peace.

Splitting his lip open on his own fangs, just what kind of demon was he!?

Well, the better question was exactly when he grew fangs.

Five minutes later saw Satan pulling his lips back, baring his teeth at the mirror. His reflection snarled back at him, his teeth just a bit sharper, a bit deadlier as they tapered into points. He frowned at the reflection, feeling his scalp for lumps, checking his ears for a point, and staring into his own eyes for any reflection of hellfire. He saw nothing, but his teeth were definitely just a bit sharper. Idly he ran a finger over the sharpest canines and could feel the edge ready to cut his skin if he pressed a tiny bit harder.
They weren't fully developed, but Satan was pretty sure he hadn't had even these baby teeth just last night. At this rate, he would have a pretty impressive set by next week. As a test, Satan pulled his fire from his heart, and let a small flame dance on his finger. It comes easily, with only the faintest tug.

Well, that was probably a bad sign.

The bathroom door burst open, and Yukio stormed in. Satan crushed the ember in his hand, but words still fail him at the determined look on Yukio's face. Oh boy.

"Open."

"Err…"

"Your mouth, Rin. Open it now."

Satan forced a grin instead, and nearly swallowed his tongue when Yukio grabbed his jaw and forced it open. Satan holds himself as still as he can as Yukio carefully examined his teeth, prodding the noticeable pointed incisors enough that he's afraid his kid is going to cut himself. But Yukio is very nearly a professional Doctor as it is, and he's careful enough despite the rough treatment.

But the boy isn't happy with what he sees and he pulls away with a growl, "Damn it Rin, when were you going to tell me about this!"

"I just noticed them today. It was a slow enough process that I didn't realize they were there!" Lies, lies, but it'll be worse to say that they just grew overnight.

"I managed to convince the class that you bit your tongue, but what are we going to do about…" Yukio gestured vaguely at Satan's face, "about this?!"

Nothing, because there was no way to stop a failing seal this far in, "It's not a big deal, Yukio."

"Not a big deal? You're growing fangs Rin! Fangs that you just hurt yourself with!"

"Hey now, I wouldn't call this 'hurt'!" Severed limbs or sharp objects making friends with his ribcage was usually the bare minimum of injuries needed for Satan to think of himself as 'hurt', "I'm just not used to them yet. It's not like they're going to get long enough to rip through my jaw or some shit." Though, he had noticed some acute aches in very specific parts of his back recently that might cause some… 'growing pains' if things kept progressing. The damn seal was doing next to nothing now.

"And what if they do? What if they never stop growing and you end up ripping apart your own mouth? What then?" Yukio countered, nearly hysteric.

"That's not going to happen, and you know it! My teeth will just be a little sharper, so what?" Satan countered though the thought of the failing seal sobered him quickly. Yukio was afraid, had every right to be, and, to be completely honest, Satan was a bit afraid himself. The glass house he had lived in for a decade and a half was going to crumble very soon, and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it.

So, all he could do was mitigate the damage, "Yukio, you had to know that this was going to happen, right?" The nod was hesitant, but still there, "But in the end, it doesn't matter because it's just my body. Even if I grow a tail and sprout horns and wings and start spitting fire, it'll still be me under all that shit. So, you'll still love me even then, right?"

Yukio refused to look at him still, shifting nervously and fiddling with a loose strand of his uniform. The stretching silence was crushing, every nanosecond without an answer threatening to break Satan. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't blink, he couldn't even properly continue existing until he knew, until Yukio said those words, until Yukio reaffirmed the faulty world he had built.

"'Love'…is a strong word to use some days…" Yukio started slowly, coy enough to widen Satan's eyes, "But yes, so long as you stay yourself, I'll still love you. And even if you somehow lost yourself, I'll drag you back kicking and screaming."

"And spitting fire," Satan added, glad his voice didn't betray the sob of relief he felt building in his chest. Choking him once more, but this time in a way that made him want to hug and squeeze Yukio breathless. But he would worry if he did that.

Yukio sighed, and they both politely ignored the way it shook just a bit, "You just want to be able to burn your homework at will, don't you?"

"And burn the shitty priest's eyebrows off! Do you know how long those things take to grow back? It'll be hilarious."

"As 'hilarious' as using mace on a Demon King…"

"I still have the bottle, for memories!"

Yukio rolled his eyes, and Satan could see the tension falling away from him with the motion, "Smile for me for a second…They don't look too noticeable at least, and I don't see any other changes in things like your eyes or ears."

"Why there?" Satan knew exactly how he was going to change, but Yukio?

"Mr. Pheles said to keep an eye on all of those spots and to notify him if we notice any changes. It could mean that the seal is getting especially weak," Yukio explained, examining a strand of his twin's hair. It really was turning blue.

Satan pulled away and made a face at Samael's stupid made-up name, "You aren't actually going to tell that creep, are you?"

"No, of course not." Yukio declared vehemently, "It might have been a few years, but I haven't forgotten what happened that day. He outright admitted that he wants you to act as a puppet ruler for him, and he needs you to be a demon for you do that, doesn't he? I wouldn't trust him to not somehow accelerate the decay of the seal instead of reinforcing it."

Satan couldn't help but grin at that. Well, there was one problem taken care of before it could even begin. Sadly, he was sure that Samael would figure things out on his own soon enough, but Satan would take every shred of faux normalcy he could get, "I didn't realize you had such a problem with authority, Yukio."

"I'd normally blame you for being a bad influence, but Mr. Pheles has all but said that we shouldn't trust him. We might all want to protect Assiah, but he's already hinted at some sacrifices I'm not willing to make."

"So, we both agree that we aren't telling him, right?" A nod. Good, now for the hard part, "So that means we can't tell Shiro either. Oh come on, don't give me that look! The moment something went wrong, he called Mephisto for help explaining everything to us! There's no way he wasn't planning for that day, which means that those two have to be pretty close for the supposed principle to come running over." Or Samael just wanted to avoid his duties and jumped at the chance to leave. Either way, Satan couldn't afford for the Paladin to be breathing down his back, or for the shitty priest to do something rash.

"I guess you're right…"

"I'm not saying that Shiro is bad like…Mephisto is, just that he's been tricked into trusting him. Shiro will always be a shitty priest, so of course, he probably asked another demon about what to do when it comes to me…" It actually made a lot of sense in hindsight. Shiro would have no one he could trust, but Samael would have enough overlapping interest in him that, if nothing else, he wouldn't try and kill the son(s) of Satan by default. He already helped with the sealing, so he was invested enough to not ruin his own plans.

Hopefully.

The demon crashed to the ground, its great and powerful bestial body crippled and twisted. Wings were shattered, its chest caved in, and its tail had been broken in several places. It was doomed, and yet the once great Manticore demon tried to crawl to its feet and escape.

It was much too slow, and a great meteor crashed into its head, powdering bone and turning brain to mush.

Amaimon stood slowly, shaking off the blood from his hands. He kicked the demon's crushed head, sighing as he realized it was already dead. He had hoped that with all the fuss the Exorcists were making, the demon might have been at least a little challenging, but…

Weak.

He looked up and could see all of the black-clad Exorcists shy away from his dull gaze. Well, all but one, but he didn't even bother to wear that stuffy-looking uniform, so he didn't count. He was a weird human, but Amaimon didn't completely hate him anymore. He only wanted to crush his skull a couple of times a week, instead of every single day.

Lewin Light waved, willfully oblivious to the disturbed look his comrades gave him. He supposed their shock at a Demon King's power was understandable- even he would have had some trouble with the Manticore, but the Earth King hadn't even needed to release his heart even with the disadvantage he had. It was only natural that humans would be scared of such power, but Lewin had long stopped being afraid of such trivial and unchangeable things, "Come on, Amaimon, it's time to head back. These guys will handle the small fry for us."

"Small fry" being a slew of golems of varying sizes and shapes that a magically-inclined Echidna had created. There had been other, much more dangerous demons, but…Lewin glanced at the smear that had once been said Echidna.

Demon Kings were something else. And maybe he really had gone mad, but Lewin really wanted to properly tame Amaimon. It was something that went against common sense, but so was shortening chats and fatal verses.

Amaimon frowned at the strange human. Even if he had only started listening to Lewin because Mephisto had told him to, he could admit that the human wasn't that bad. He wasn't properly afraid of him, wasn't properly respectful enough, but he also liked Amaimon for what he was: a powerful demon. Fascination wasn't proper awe, but it made the human tolerable.

And in the end, Amaimon still held the power, and would wield it as he saw fit, "But I want to mess around a bit more. I'm bored," The Earth King drawled, making sure the stretch out the word just enough. He didn't actually want to fight some weak golems, but there was plenty of other fun to be had, "You keep saying you need me for the war, but I haven't gotten to fight anything fun yet. I really wanna kill Iblis now that father is gone."

Amaimon's voice hadn't fluctuated much from its usual bored tone, but the lower Exorcists around Lewin still flinched at the obvious threat. The Demon King hadn't always been as willing to play nice. Lewin just nodded, cheer never fading, "Yes, yes, we're all frustrated waiting for Iblis to finally kick things off. But the ice cream store closes soon, so you can either keep playing or get a treat. You decide, of course!"

Amaimon didn't smile, but he still internally preened that he had trained his human so well. Now he could pretend to be ready to cause trouble, and Lewin would rush for a way to keep him calm, "...I want a milkshake."

"It is hot out, isn't it? Well, follow me."

Lewin grinned. Amaimon really did think he was clever and subtle, proud that he had once again 'tricked' the great Lewin Light. Well, it was certainly better than dealing with the naked threats and demands, and he wasn't going to complain when Mephisto had dumped effectively infinite money in his lap to keep his little brother under control.
Besides, the best way to get someone to do something you wanted was to convince them that it was their idea in the first place. And if he was seen as a source to easy treats and fun (fights), then all the better.

Amaimon sipped on the milkshake, idly watching the weak humans walk past the store window. It wasn't one of the nicer ones with chocolate painted on the sides and a slice of cake on top since apparently Lewin didn't have enough money on him, but it would do. For now. He was half tempted to rob a couple of the passing humans for the extra money, but that would have led to a fight in a very public place. And while he was pretty sure he could take out Lewin if he was quick enough, Mephisto wouldn't be happy. And he would be stuck with a stuck-up Exorcist who probably thought demons were nothing but tools and expected his complete obedience and a proper contract.
So, he would settle. For now.

"Hey." Amaimon started, the thoughts of bloody conflict with Lewin reminding him to a certain day not too long ago when he had misbehaved. He had thought about killing the human for yanking him around that day, but decided it wasn't worth it, "When do I get to meet my littlest brother. For real, this time. Mephisto seems to think he's interesting but you dragged me away before I could talk to him."

"Ah, well it's rude to interrupt class you know!" Lewin laughed, though in his head he was ready to pull forth a demon or six at a moment's notice. This was always a tricky topic considering the, frankly, nightmarish logistics, "But not everyone can know he's your brother just yet, so you can't talk to him yet. Besides, he isn't even a proper demon yet, so if you try to play with him, you just might break him."

"Humans are weak." Amaimon nodded as if he had just stated a fact of the universe.

"Yes, well, once he awakens, I'm sure Mephisto will arrange something for you." Lewin deflected. It was probably for the best to shove responsibility for this onto someone else, and who better than another demon?

"Why can't he just wake up then? This is taking too long."

Lewin sighed, not sure how to explain everything, "Well, this is an important step in his life that he has to do willingly or he might get devoured by his own fire, at least according to Mephisto...and he's not very well behaved either, and…I'll just shorten the rest and skip to the end: The Grigori don't want another son of Satan running around if he won't be useful."
It was a whole lot more complicated than that, but Lewin had quickly learned that Amaimon didn't like complicated things.

The Earth King stared at the scruffy man for a long moment, gaze as unnervingly unblinking as ever. But he seemed to understand at least one of the excuses Lewin had rapid-fired in hopes that one would stick, and slumped, "I hope the war happens soon then."

"The sooner it happens, the sooner we can be done with it, yes!" Lewin agreed. Honestly, everyone was so tense and scattered as they dealt with upstart demons and increasing reports. He hadn't seen Arthur in months and was pretty sure the man was stuck culling weak demons before they could get out of hand.
Lewin watched the Demon King play with his straw, drink long finished. Others might have dismissed him, as his lower intelligence was well-known now. But, just because he wasn't a genius like Mephisto didn't mean he wasn't a threat in his own, erratic way. And He could see the clear spark of intelligence, of cunning and plotting as the demon stared with an expression anyone else could call dull at his empty glass.
"Oh and, Amaimon?"

"Hmm?"

"You aren't going to do anything, ah, rash to try and make your little brother wake up sooner, are you?" Lewin asked, light as the Sylphs he liked the summon, and just as sharp as their wind, "Because I like you, and I don't want to have to be mad at you, ok?"
Disobedient demons needed to be exorcized, lest they get cocky.

Amaimon looked at him without moving, eyes sliding the rake of a claw over the Arc Knight's form. It was obvious how he was judging and sizing up Lewin, like a cat with prey.
How anyone thought Amaimon a hopeless idiot, Lewin would never know. He might not be a thinker, he might get confused by the complexities of the world, but he knew exactly how far up the food chain he was.
"Ah, no. Big brother would be mad at me. Iblis is an idiot, so he'll do something stupid soon anyway."

"Good, good. I wouldn't want us to have a spat after we've been getting along so well!"

"Humans break easily, so that would be bad."

Chapter Text

Satan knew Yukio had started to spend time with Shiemi beyond just their study sessions. Apparently, they were now friends, and would hopefully become something more given enough time. He wouldn't force them together since love was tricky and could be nothing more than a mirage if done poorly, but that didn't mean he wouldn't give them little…nudges. A comment here, a shift in seating there, a little bit if misdirection so they just happened to be at the library at the same time…

Innocent tricks had been how he and Yuki had gotten together in the first place, so he supposed it wouldn't hurt so long as he didn't, say, lock them in a closet until they sorted things out.

Yet. He was a demon and had only so much patience, and Yukio didn't even have to overcome the whole 'murdering your teammates and being literally Satan' issue he had had. Not that Yuri had always had the noblest of intentions herself, but that's just what made them even slightly compatible. Either way, things were going along smoothly.

So, of course, that Izumo bitch had to get in the way.

He wasn't sure what had happened when he had rushed out of the summoning class the other day, but somehow-

Izumo carelessly waved a stack of papers under the blonde girl's nose, "Shiemi, I forgot to deliver this, so can you do it for me?"

"Sure!"

There wasn't even a pause to consider why she should be the one to do it. Izumo had stopped even bothering giving excuses when it became clear that Shiemi would do anything to earn her approval, wanting desperately to be useful.

"Shiemi, if you don't want to do something, you don't have to."

"It's fine, I want to help out my friends just like you do, Yukio!"

"That's…"

-somehow, Shiemi thought that she had to earn the twin-tailed brat's approval. Satan was of the firm opinion that friendship wasn't something to be given out nearly as freely or easily as humans tended to (it had ended with more than a few knives in his back) but it was painfully obvious that she was just being used.

He nudged Yukio's shoulder, "Hey, you need to talk to her about not being the bitch's bitch."

"I will." Yukio affirmed, and then, after a long pause, added almost as an afterthought, "And don't be so crude."

"Crude, not wrong."

"Hmm."

The fact that Yukio didn't deny the accusation told Satan exactly how pissed he was. Well, if nothing else, at least he cared enough to get enrage on Shiemi's behalf. Progress!

Satan wasn't sure what exactly Yukio had said to Shiemi, but it was clear that something in their dynamic had changed. She stood a bit closer to him, talked much more animatedly to him, and didn't pay that Izumo bitch nearly as much attention before. He could hear them discussing a sort of plan that, though there were obvious roadblocks along the way.

Those roadblocks were, of course, Shiemi herself.

"Shiemi, go get a drink for me."

"Ah, um…" The girl paused, as if she were remembering a script, "I don't have any money for the machine!"

Izumo stared at her, her gaze slowly slipping back to where Yukio stood some ten feet away, a serene smile on his face.

"Oh, I guess I drained your funds, huh?" She said, the apology as fake as plastic, "Sorry, I didn't think you would have so little money on you. Here, there shouldn't be a problem anymore, right?"

Shiemi nearly fumbled the purse suddenly shoved into her hands. She stared at it, eyes rapidly darting back and forth between it and Izumo's expectant gaze. Her excuse gone, she caved, "Ah, um…Right! I'll be right back!"

Satan looked at Yukio.

"It's a process."

Well, at least Shiemi seemed to have learned a little bit of spite, as she ended up using a good chunk of Izumo's money to buy drinks for the entire class.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that everyone would like a drink!"

"But that was my money you used! I said buy me a drink, not give those idiots a free meal! You don't even talk to that puppet-creep in the back, why would you get him something!?"

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to be polite…"

Or maybe not, if the way she profusely apologized was any indication unless she was just that good of an actor?

Shiemi slumped in her chair, face red and looked practically ready to burst, and Yukio seemed as if he was contemplating his entire plan, and possibly his life choices.

No, she really was just that innocent.

Satan found the entire display to be amusing enough that he patted the blonde's head as he walked past, sipping his drink. He grinned with far too many teeth when Izumo glared at him, nearly laughing when she looked away first. Intentional or not, she had managed to waste Izumo's money, which he personally thought was a thing worthy of praise.

It was after the first day of the so-called training camp that things started to change. Satan hadn't expected much actual training considering how weak most of the human children (sans Yukio) were. He was, unfortunately, proven right and found himself staring at a damn worksheet he had to fill out. It was mind-numbingly easy, though the idea of getting up at six in the fucking morning nearly caused a fight then and there. It was bad enough that the idiot trio was staying in his dorm now and stinking up the place, but now he had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn?

Fuck that.

He didn't care what Kaoru had to drivel on about, so he left the moment he could without Yukio getting mad. Well, he would probably be irritated that he wasn't interested in 'socializing' with the idiot brigade, but tough luck. He had a bath to get before the leeches used up all the hot water.

Shiemi was happy that she would finally get some proper girl-time with her friends. Yukio was nice and unbelievably kind, but there were just some things that she couldn't talk about with him. Some of which was because he was a boy and others were, well…

W-Well, she needed to focus on making up with Izumo! Sure, Yukio had told her that she could reject any request of Izumo's that she didn't like, that she needed to be more assertive of her own thoughts because friends didn't use friends "like that", but she owed it to the twin-tailed girl this time after accidentally spending her money. It was an honest mistake, but, thankfully, Izumo didn't seem too mad about it once she calmed down and Shiemi paid her back.

It wasn't until they were outside the bathroom entrance that things changed.

"Shiemi, I that I need you to go get some fruit milk for Paku and I. Oh, but because you used my money, you'll have to use your own this time." Once again Izumo demanded a 'favor' from Shiemi. It would have been fine if that was all there was to it, but…"I also forgot my other bag in my room. Here are my keys, so go get it, ok?"

Paku frowned, "Izumo, don't you think that's a little much? Our dorm is on the other side of campus, and we have everything we need here…"

The plum-haired girl carelessly took her bag from Shiemi and stared at it thoughtfully for a second. She made a show of digging through it before huffing, "But I want some of my nicer things. Besides, she owes me for spending all my money earlier. It's only fair, don't you think?"

"But she already paid you back!"

"And?" Izumo drawled, letting the word drop like a stone, "It was stressful, so she owes me something for that at least. If she doesn't mind losing me as a friend, then she can just say no and not do it. Well?"

It was needlessly cruel to threaten Shiemi with a friendship that didn't even exist, but to Izumo, it was simply what was due. Fools were taken advantage of, used, and she had already been scorned, however unintentionally, by the blonde girl. Besides, she wasn't being half a cruel as she knew others could be. She could spread nasty rumors about her, trip her and pull at her pretty hair and mock her, or even outright ignore her existence until she felt like nothing but a shade. It would be so easy to break a girl who was so very desperate for love.

For some reason, Izumo couldn't help but hate her and the way others loved her, even with all her flaws.

The reply was small, but the answer was the inevitable, "I'll…I'll go get it."

"Shiemi!" Paku objected, but stopped when the other girl shook her head.

"It's fine, I made a mistake so I should make up for it…"

"We'll…" Something nasty and sticky was starting to stir in Paku's chest. Something that felt suspiciously like what she had felt years and years ago when she had been forced to decide which side she would stand on, "We'll wait for you, Shiemi."

Izumo made a disgusted face, "No, I didn't want to say it, but the idea of her seeing me naked creeps me out. So, it's best if she does these things while we wash up. Oh, but we can have 'girl-talk' after, alright?"

"Alright…"

Paku could only watch as the blonde girl trudged away, steps heavy and slow like the world was on her shoulders. She felt a strange sense of vertigo, like she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Like she was forced to watch a broken memory where the pieces didn't quite line up right.

Her chest hurt, and yet, beside her, Izumo sneered in a strangely familiar way.

And she climbed down the stairs, Shiemi decided that sound carried really well in the old dorms. So well, in fact, that she was sure that Izumo hadn't meant for her to hear her scoff after her and she descended the steps.

"Pft. 'Girl-talk', as if."

In fact, Shiemi decided that she hadn't heard anything at all.

Yukio was the first to notice Shiemi slowly making her way towards the door. He also instantly knew that something was wrong. Her posture, her blank expression, her very existence was wrong, "Shiemi, what are you doing down here?"

Shiemi was wilting, and he had a feeling that he knew why.

Shima perked up at that. Ever since the teacher had left, he had done little else but fantasize about certain actives, "Yeah, I thought you and the girls were gonna go have a bath scene together?"

"How tasteless can you be…" Konekomaru muttered, not bothering to look up from his notes.

"Don't you try and lie that you weren't imagining it too!"

Yukio ignored them, feeling something cold grip his heart when Shiemi stepped past him without even lifting her head. Even when he grabbed her shoulder to stop her, she refused to look at him, slouched over and practically shriveling and dying before his very eyes, "Shiemi, what happened?"

"I have to go get Izumo's bag for her."

Clod turned to hot and burst into flames, and Yukio felt a spike of rage so hot he felt light-headed. It made sense that Izumo wouldn't suddenly decide to play nice, but just what could have happened in such a short amount of time? He hadn't heard shouting or fighting, but Shiemi seemed so defeated and so very small.

It made he want to kill-

Yukio let go of Shiemi's shoulder. She slowly trudged away, dragging her feet with every step.

Everything felt far away and distant compared to the ringing in his ears, but he had enough common sense to realize that wandering out, alone, so late at night was a bad idea, "Kuro, keep an eye on Shiemi, ok?"

The demonic cat yawned from where he had curled by the table, but stood up and padded after the girl after mewling at Yukio. He was pretty sure Kuro was annoyed at being given such a mundane task but it was hard to think over the calm he had forced over himself.

"You're really just going to let her go?" Someone said, but he really wasn't sure who.

"I think she needs some time to process what happened. I tried telling her Izumo was just using her, but she didn't want to believe me. I think…I think she understands that now. She needs to decide what to do next, but it has to be her decision." Yukio explained though he didn't care if the others actually bought it or not. He must have looked rather heartless, sitting down and immediately burying his nose in a book, but that didn't matter. It didn't matter that he probably should go after her like his life was a sappy movie, because he had studying to do.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Yukio wasn't sure he could control himself right now. Nothing at all with the tiny and dark urges he felt rising within him, that made it all too easy to empathize with Rin's anger and rage.

It was a welcome distraction when his brother strode into the room a few minutes later, loudly demanding he needed a recently returned Kuro to help him find a strange smell.

Shiemi had taken her time getting the things Izumo requested. It wasn't because she was sad, no, she just respected that her friend wasn't comfortable being naked around her! Shiemi wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea either, so it was fine, really!

It was fine.

So, she took her time getting the bag. And the bag was rather heavy, so of course ,she needed to take a break on her way back. She might have spent a little time curled up on a bench, but that was only because Kuro had decided to follow her. Sure, she sat down to…to rest, but then he had jumped up and started demanding attention, so of course ,she had to stay there for several minutes to pet him. At least until he finally seemed to get impatient and very clearly guided her back to the dorm with little calls and flicks of his split tail. He was her little guide, though it seemed his duty ended once she returned to the dorm, for he almost instantly went to sit on a pile of discarded papers. She didn't dare look at Yukio and see his disappointment.

She tried to keep a tight grip on the small warmth she had felt bubbling in her chest from the entire encounter with Kuro, but it faded the moment she reached the bathroom entrance. It washed out of her like paints in the wake of icy water, leaving only cold grey.

"I forgot the fruit milk…" Shiemi realized. But it was too late to change anything, for Izumo stormed out at that very moment, a bit of water clinging to her long hair serving as proof that she really had taken a bath. Without Shiemi. She clearly hadn't need anything that was in the bag either.

That was fine.

"Izumo…"

The plum-haired girl snatched the bag out of Shiemi's hands with a snarl. She sneered at the blonde's wide-eyed shock, "There's still plenty of hot water left if you two want to enjoy your baths together now."

It really wasn't fine.

'You two'? Shiemi wondered, and realized that Izumo had already left, stomping her way up the stairs, "Wait, I…"

"Let her go for now, Shiemi." A strained voice, Paku, muttered, barely audible. Shiemi gasped at her appearance- still in her uniform but red-faced and with dried tears streaking her face. The brunette girl scrubbed her face when she noticed the staring, "I don't…I don't really want to see her right now."

Suddenly Shiemi's own distress felt small and petty, "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked as she followed Paku back into the bathroom. The benches had been cleared out by someone some time ago, but the two girls made themselves comfortable next to the lockers.

"Izumo and I…had a fight." Paku started after a terribly long time of nothing but silences punctuated with sniffling, "I'm so sorry for what happened, Shiemi, I should have spoken up earlier instead of just letting her do what she wants. I should have said something, but I couldn't because I was afraid of what she would say."

Shiemi didn't understand people at all. She had grown up with little more than her rather small family and their garden. The customers didn't count since she hardly ever talked to them, and she had struggled to make any friends. And so she had no idea how Paku, consumed by Izumo's shadow but always nice in her own way, could be so obviously hurt and still apologize to Shiemi. The brunette had fought her friend – something Shiemi couldn't even imagine doing – all for her sake.

She didn't understand why others were so kind to her.

But she knew how it felt to cry alone, and so she wrapped her arms around Paku, letting her tremble against her, "That's fine, you've done more than I think I deserve. I understand not wanting to make your friend mad, because friends are precious."

Paku let out a laugh that sounded more like a wretched sob, but it was so genuine that it made Shiemi smile anyway. After another moment, she pulled away, wiping her eyes, "You really are such a nice person, Shiemi. But that's not entirely it. I've always known that Izumo isn't the easiest person to get along with, but I wanted to do my best to make sure she wasn't alone and turned into an actually bad person." Paku said, voice strained with just a tiny tremble, "Because of that, I think I've overlooked a lot of things that she's done. She's…she's changed over the years, and I just don't know why. She's always been able to see demons, but one day-"

Shiemi didn't understand people, but she was less surprised than she should have been when Rin boldly strode into the girl's bathroom without a hint of shame. If anything, he seemed to be judging them for their place on the floor, a single brow raised in question like he wasn't being the strange one here, "Hey, do you two smell anything weird? I swear it was coming from here, but now it's gone."

"R-R-Rin!" Shiemi squeaked, tumbling over when Paku shoved the blonde behind her and shot to her feet. It was clear she had been crying just a few minutes ago, but, with sheer stubbornness born from embarrassment, she met Rin's eyes and loudly declared her indignation for all to hear, "This is the girl's bathroom, you aren't supposed to be here! Get out!"

The hallway erupted into noise.

"Whoa, he just went in!"

"I knew someone was in there!"

"Do you think he was smelling perfume or something…?"

Heedless of all common sense and decency, Rin just shrugged, "You two are clothed so what does it matter? Anyway, I'm trying to find a weird smell, so, Kuro, do you smell anything in-whoa!"

Rin yelped, yanked back into the hallway by his collar like an unruly dog. Yukio's voice echoed from the hallway a few moments later, punctuated with what sounded suspiciously like a person shouting while their mouth was covered.

"I am deeply sorry for my brother, he will be punished."

A shriek that reached an impressively high octave considering that Paku was pretty sure it was just boys outside rang out, "Oh my God, he licked my hand."

"I hope you die slowly when all that damn dye soaks into your pea-sized brain, Ryuji!"

"At least he didn't, I don't know, bite you?"

"Rin, you can't just barge in like that! Do even understand the concept of privacy or common decency? Have you…"

Shiemi and Paku exchanged bewildered looks. After a moment, it was just too much. The drama, the fights, the bickering and absurdity…they burst out laughing, completely drowning out Yukio's fading rant and Rin's squawking.

Because of that, not a single person noticed Kuro dart in and start clawing at the wall, meowing loudly.

"Rin, I smell a demon! It's gone now, but it was here, I know it! Rin! Rin?"

"You aren't usually one to fail your assignments, Mr. Neuhaus." Mephisto said in way of greeting the moment the Tamer stepped into his office to report. It hadn't been twenty minutes since his botched mission, but of course, the demon already knew.

He also probably already knew the details, but he had an obligation to report anyway, "Things didn't go as planned. Rin Okumura almost instantly knew a demon was nearby even if he didn't realize exactly what he was detecting. He started trying to get into the ceiling to investigate almost instantly and would have found my familiar if I hadn't acted. Based on what I've heard about the boy, a single Naberius wouldn't have been any issue for him."

"Correct, and he probably would try to kill you if he suspected you were even the tiniest threat to his precious brother!" Mephisto chimed in cheerfully, as if death was just a delightful little topic to him to discuss over tea. It probably was to such a creature, "It would be a shame to replace you so early..."

Somehow, Igor managed to maintain his composure. He hadn't been told exactly how dangerous or aggressive the boy was, and while some might have though Mephisto was exaggerating, he could see the truth behind that coy smile. He knew he wasn't well loved or seen as anything more than a piece in an overly elaborate game, but he didn't like being set up to be eliminated.

"Well, never mind the details, we'll just have to eliminate the weakest link a different day. Don't give me that look, I'll be sure to handle the troublemaker on my own," The demon paused, thoughtful for a second, "Oh, but how exactly did Mr. Okumura discover you? I would have thought you knew a thing or two about secrecy."

"He smelled it."

Mephisto laughed.

Chapter Text

"What are you doing," Yukio said in leu of greeting that morning.

It was painfully obvious exactly what his brother was doing, but a small part of him hoped that if he asked, somehow the answer would change. But no, nothing changes, and the older teen only blinked at him from where he sat, a glowing orb of blue held in his hands. It almost looked like a will-o'-wisp, but the color is too rich, the eerie blue light too powerful.

It was not the first time Yukio had seen that fire, but he had never seen it as anything more than a flicker. This was strong and purposeful, filled with strength that frightened a primal part of him.

Satan shrugged, palming the fire into one hand as if it were a physical thing and not just pure power and will. The seal on his powers was riddled with holes and shot to hell to the point that he was sure he had a month left, maybe two if he was careful. Yukio knew about the fire, but he hadn't really seen it.

So, it was time to properly introduce it. Baby steps, as Yuri would say, because too much at once was a shock and led to mistakes and regret, "Practicing. Come here and take look."

"Rin, that is literal hellfire," Yukio announced, as if his brother wouldn't be acutely aware of that fact and continue to not care.

"And it's mine," Satan insisted sharply, before Yukio's thoughts could tread down any troublesome roads, "So I don't see what's the damn problem. Besides, I can control it. Do you want to hold it?"

The small ember was held just inches from Yukio's nose like an offering, equally blue eyes peering at him expectantly.

"That's…"

"It won't burn you, I won't let it." He would sooner cut off his own tail than let that happen. Yukio looked conflicted, so, as usual, Satan took the initiative and grabbed one of Yukio's hands with his own free one and turned it up. And, without a word of warning, plopped the ebbing flame into it, "Look. See?"

Yukio did not flinch like he knew he should when a ball of literal hellfire was carelessly dropped into his hand. He caught it reflexively and didn't cry out in pain or suddenly feel his hand being burned away to the bone. No, instead he gripped the fire a bit tighter and watched the blue crackle and snap but do nothing to harm him. It was warm and felt like a small sun, and yet was simultaneously lighter than air itself. It flickered in his cupped hands, sputtering weakly and tickled like a butterfly's wings. Ahead of him and unnoticed, Satan made a face as he concentrated, and suddenly the weak flame was bright and heavy with power. Yukio flinched at the sudden change, very nearly dropped the azure fire, but Satan cooed comforting words and refocused his child's grip on the flames.

Hot, so hot that the heat raced up Yukio's arms and sank deep into his chest, slowly dripping down into his bones and through his nerves. It was hot, just skirting the line of too-hot, but somehow, it wasn't uncomfortable at all. It felt like he had submerged himself into a bath, with heat that nestled under his skin and relaxed his muscles but didn't burn.

The flame flickered and pulsed like a tiny heartbeat, just a half-moment off from mirroring his own.

"I told you it would be fine. It only burns what I want," A half-lie, but one Yukio would hopefully never know. Assiah was a terribly beautiful tinderbox after all, "And I would never want to burn you, Yukio."

Yukio swallowed and forced himself to concentrate. He didn't let himself think about just how enthralled he had been with the flames.

"How long have you been practicing then? This can't be good for the seal."

Seal-this, seal-that, it all came back to that, didn't it? It was as much as a blessing as it was a pain to tiptoe around lest he break the terribly fragile thing, "That's a secret. And the seal is going to fail or get broken one day anyway, so I might as well know what I'm doing, right?"

Yukio stared at him with an expression that he was clearly thinking about something too much. It was enough to make unease uncurl itself in Satan's gut, but before anything more than that, the teen adjusted his glasses and declared:

"You aren't allowed to burn your homework or anything else with this, Rin."

Satan snorted and firmly pretended he hadn't already done that exact thing, "Oh no, I've been found out." He deadpanned instead.

"I'm serious, Rin." Yukio lectured, hand holding blue fire casually now and looking as serious as could be, "Using hellfire to burn paper is a serious violation of ethics, rules, and all things good and moral."

It took an embarrassingly long time for Satan to realize that Yukio was, at least partially, joking, "When did you become such a smartass, huh?"

"You're the worst influence. Now come on." Yukio plopped the tiny fire back into his twin's hands, having no idea what to do with it, or how (if at all) he could extinguish the flames, "Put out that fire. We have class to get to since you refused to get up for the review."

"Don't schedule it at fuck-you o'clock then!"

Satan knew that some petty teen drama bullshit had occurred last night. It was impossible to not notice just how pissed off the twin-tailed bitch was, nor the fact that her lackey had decided to start hanging around Shiemi's shadow instead. He knew all about backstabbing and betrayal, so it wasn't hard to realize that she had been abandoned, too insufferable and too weak for anyone to stand. It was just shameful that she couldn't even keep up her façade for class, and it might have been funny to watch it crumble if it wasn't, well, so pathetic. And irritating.

"Who even wants to be an Aria?!" Izumo shouted, flustered and willfully ignoring the way she disrupted class as she sneered at Ryuji, "They're completely defenseless while reciting, and have to rely on the rest of their party to protect them. They're nothing more than baggage!"

"What the hell was that…?!"

Satan rolled his eyes and, without even needing to stand up, easily cut through the mounting tension, "And what use is a Tamer who can't even summon?"

"What?" The plum-haired girl yelped, glaring fiercely at Satan, "I'll have you know that I'm the strongest Tamer here, with two foxes under my command!"

She really was trying too hard to look unshakable when it was a pointless effort. Honestly, did she think no one had noticed the way she had been sulking all day? A mask was only good until it slipped, and then it could never be put back on correctly, not when everyone had already seen what was under it. It was why Satan himself never bothered with them for any extended periods of time.

Her mask had slipped, and he could see the hesitation, the uncertainty in her eyes clearly now. He could almost see that weakness clinging to her, leaving her heart open and calling to a slumbering part of his soul.

Yes, she really was just ripe for the taking.

"And didn't I tell you that foxes have no sense of real loyalty?" Satan countered easily, "Look at you, trying to pick fights just so you can ignore your problems. Fucking pathetic! The moment you summon, they'll turn on you."

"Why you-!"

The response was weak, and Satan sighed at her stupidity.

"If you want to prove me wrong, then summon them right now. Don't count on me to save you though."

The teacher finally spoke up, tone harsh and annoyed, "That is quite enough, Mr. Okumura. There's no need to provoke your classmates."

Satan might have said more, but Yukio sharply elbowed him before his mouth could get him into trouble (again).

It turned out that Satan could not, in fact, stay out of trouble. It was near the middle of the second study session that Kaoru received a call. Satan hadn't been paying attention to anything for the past ten minutes, instead choosing to focus on teaching Kuro to catch paper balls mid-flight whenever the teacher wasn't looking his way. It was a simple and petty exercise in subtility, but whatever, he was sick of studying that he wouldn't even use.

He probably should have been paying more attention, because suddenly he was being pulled off the floor by Igor who had apparently shown up at some point.

"Don't touch me you creep!" Satan hissed, shaking off the too-tight grip easily.

"Your presence has been requested by the headmaster," Igor said, his normally perfect deadpan wavering with just a hint of irritation.

"And what the hell does he want me for?" Really, what the hell did Samael want now, and why couldn't he just come himself? No wait, that would put him near Yukio, and he didn't want that, so-

"I believe it has something to do with a certain incident with one 'Reiji Shiratori', if that jogs your memory?"

Satan knew exactly what had occurred involving that particularly nasty little shit, but he was careful and had covered his tracks, "…You can't prove anything."

"The security cameras would argue otherwise."

Damn it all.

Yukio stood and stalked over to his twin, "Rin. What did you do?"

"I didn't start shit."

"That wasn't my question."

"Ahem." Igor interrupted, pulling the shorter back to his side and away from the seething younger brother, "You can interrogate your brother after the headmaster has dealt with him."

Satan groaned. Fantastic, he had to deal with Samael being a smug shit to him and he couldn't do anything about it without raising questions he couldn't answer. He really missed being able to slap the shit out of whoever annoyed him without consequence, "Oh, not that fucking-"

"Watch your tongue before something happens to it." Igor snapped, pushed the teen towards the doorway.

"I hear you can bite through fingers like carrots. Which is total bullshit, mind you, but it sure is interesting, isn't it?" Satan's grin was all teeth and he nearly laughed when the man's perpetual frown deepened. Behind him, Kuro followed, asking inane questions such as "What are carrots?" and "Are we going to fight the eyepatch man?".

Satan really didn't anyone goading him, however, unintentionally, into fighting Igor. Especially not with all the cameras that were apparently around.

The rest of the class watched the exchange, some disturbed, some (Yukio) exasperated. It was a relief when the teachers left to escort Rin away, his familiar darting after their heels like an excited child.

In the stretching silence, Bon plainly said, "I know I've said this before, but your brother is a freak."

"He's also by far the strongest person in our class and manages to perform at least above average on virtually every exam." Yukio responded coolly, not even bothering to defend Rin when he was irritated with him, "Think of him what you want, but he's one day going to be your strongest ally on the field, Bon."

A non-distinct grunt was the only response Yukio got. At least it wasn't shouting.

Shima snapped the book he hadn't been reading for the past ten minutes closed, "I think you all are missing the real point here: just what kind of trouble do you think Rin got up to this time?"

"A fight."

"Ah, boo, that's boring. He's always fighting, so what makes this special?"

Knives, broken bones, or just a rich brat's bruised ego, were all things Yukio didn't say. Instead, "He's always fighting, so why should I expect anything different? I'm just irritated since he promised he would at least try and behave…"

It was about this time that the lights flickered out. Naturally, everyone froze at the sudden darkness, a hush falling over them for a half second before chaos exploded. Yukio ignored the crashing and yelps as his classmates panicked and tripped over themselves in the sudden darkness, instead letting his own eyes adjust. It was still surprisingly bright for a blackout, and it took a moment for him to realize where the light was coming from: every other building and light outside was still working.

He had no reason to assume that the older building had suddenly lost power due a to failed circuit or the like, but, despite all logic, Yukio was suddenly very warry.

He didn't fail to notice that the windows wouldn't budge when he tried to open one.

Someone -Shima- had managed to use their phone as a light, and one by one the others followed suit. Yukio could distantly hear the other chattering about blackouts, but he shook his head, scanning outside, "No, it can't be that. The other buildings still have power."

Bon frowned, easily catching the unease in Yukio's voice, "So what's that mean then?"

He was suddenly acutely aware that both teachers were gone, that Rin and Kuro had been taken away only a few minutes before, and with those pieces, the puzzle was quickly coming together. But instead, he lied, "I don't know, but I don't like it. Everyone should be ready for the worst-case scenario. Shiemi, Izumo, be ready to summon at a moment's notice."

"I…I already have Nii ready, Yukio!" Shiemi announced, a little nervous hitch in her voice. The Greenman squeaked from where it sat on her head.

Izumo stood suddenly, glaring at Yukio, "Hold on, who put you in charge? And what makes you think that something bad is going to happen anyway?"

Yukio let his eyes scan the room, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. There had to be something more if this really was a test, and he was amazed the others hadn't at least suspected something, "Don't you think that it's a little suspicious that only we've lost power, and right when our teacher has left?"

"A trap…?" Paku asked, her eyes wide.

"But why?"

"Because someone probably... Everyone, be quiet." Yukio hissed. It could be a test, or their lives could very well be in danger. Until he knew one way or the other, he had to treat everything as if it were as real as it appeared.

It was about that time that Yukio heard a strange moaning-growl echo from outside the door, far too close for comfort. Bon tensed, eyes clearly darting around and looking for a weapon, Shima visibly shivered, Konekomaru took a step back, and Paku let out an audible whimper. Izumo, however, took a step boldly forward, a summoning paper in hand, but…but she was shaking just the tiniest bit, her eyes darting to the paper, clearly unsure of herself now, when it mattered the most.

Whether or not Rin had shaken her or if this was purely a result of her fight last night didn't matter. The reasons didn't matter now, only the results.

"Don't summon anything you can't handle, Izumo." He hissed at her. The last thing they needed was friendly fire. He risked a glance away from the door and to the window. It had been locked through a means he couldn't identify, but maybe they could break it and escape, though he doubted it. He had been around Rin enough to know that decent windows were not, in fact, as breakable as movies liked to portray.

"I can do this, I'm not weak!" She shouted angrily.

Too loud, and suddenly something threw its weight against the door, cracking it ominously. More noises, more enemies, and Yukio didn't even waste time cursing his luck. Of course, Rin had been taken away along with Kuro, of course for whatever terrible test was planned for them their strongest fighters had to be taken away. But, once again, Yukio himself had been underestimated, his brother such a threat that no one ever considered the meek little boy with glasses.

It was their mistake.

"Get ready, we're…"

Yukio stopped, feeling his blood run cold. Even when the demon finally broke through the wall, he found his thoughts foggy with sudden, all-consuming panic. He had immediately gone for the hidden gun he had started carrying on his person at all times ever since the Astaroth incident, glad for once that Rin was such a delinquent that he could teach him how to hide even a pistol.

Except…

Except, his gun was missing its magazine.

Satan walked into Samael's office just in time to see the gaudy demon slip a black brick-shaped object in his desk drawer. His entire demeanor screamed suspicious to Satan, but then again, he was hard-pressed to think of a time when Samael wasn't acting shady, so the king of demons ignored the rising urge he felt to cloak himself protectively in flames to shield himself from any magic. Instead, he stalked towards the great oak desk and stood in defiance even as a chair was offered to him. He wished he hadn't been forced to leave Kuro outside.

"Come now, Rin, sit down and relax for a moment. We have much to talk about," Samael offered, his voice as pleasant as someone like he could make it. It didn't fit his sharp eyes at all.

"I haven't done shit," Satan stated and did nothing else. He wasn't in any particular rush to go back to the dorm and do more pointless work, but he didn't want to stay here any longer than he specifically had to.

"Now, now, do you really think I care about what these entitled brats at this school want? If it were up to them you would have been expelled the very first week, and then where would either of us be?" Samael chuckled, though the laughter faded quickly when Satan failed to join in and just continued to stare at him, "No, I just felt that we needed to have a proper chat about your future. It's been what? Two, three years since we talked?"

"What do you want?" The demon said to the other, and nearly growled when he saw a certain smugness cross Samael's eyes when he opened his mouth to talk, "And before you go and try and confuse me, I haven't forgotten our little talk a few years ago, so you can skip that part."

Samael's greatest weapon was not his powerful magic or crafting mind, but instead his ability to lead men to their dooms with nothing but words. If he was given a single millimeter, he would take an entire country with little more than a speech and his brash confidence. It had been infuriating to accept the fact that one of his children was, without question, smarter than he could ever hope to be, but eventually, Satan had learned and adapted, as he did to all things.

If Samael ruled through words and twisting your very thoughts against you, then Satan just had to tear through his narratives with reckless abandon.

Green eyes, sharper than any blade, peered at the teen in question with obvious curiosity, trying to pick him apart with just a glance. Satan fearlessly met the prying gaze, daring Samael to even try and figure the utter madness that Satan had made real.

"If you remember it so well, then you should know that your dear brother interrupted our conversation with that little temper tantrum of his. Just because he didn't like the reality of your role to play, didn't mean he had to get violent like that."

"You pretty much outright said you wanted me to be your puppet. You're lucky he got mad before I did." Well, it more went that Satan was lucky that Yukio had raised such a fuss that no one had noticed him trying to not burst into hysteric laughter at the thought of the son who hated him the most putting him back on his throne. But semantics.

"Ah yes, I wouldn't want to face the little prince's wrath, now would I?" Samael asked, sarcasm clear.

Satan ignored the jab, instead feeling a bit offended about what had just been implied, "Yukio is royalty too."

"And he's painfully human," Samael lazily flicked a finger as he spoke, and suddenly a chair bashed into the back of Satan's knees, forcing him to fall back and scooting him snugly up to the table before he could react. The Demon King ignored the teen's angry cursing and continued, languidly, "but that doesn't matter to you, does it? No, it would be more accurate to say that nothing matters to you except your precious Yukio."

Satan stopped his struggling at the way Samael's voice dropped dangerously low with curiosity and venom. He couldn't fully hide his reaction, but sudden fear gave his mind a sharp edge, and so he managed to ask with deceiving calm, "What are you implying, Samael?"

"I would rather you call me Mephisto. It has a much nicer ring to it, doesn't it?"

Satan felt his anger flair at the casual discarding of the name he had been given and this time, he couldn't quite contain the growl, "Shut up and explain."

The pressure in the room suddenly seemed to magnify from the pure murderous intent. It was just an illusion, but it still threatened to steal Satan's breath away from his weak human shell. There was no discernable change in Samael's tone that any human would notice, but to a fellow demon, he might as well have been seething, "Maybe you should stop assuming that you're in any position to demand anything from me, child."

The challenge had been issued and while most humans would freeze when faced with such an overwhelming force, Satan could feel nothing but white-hot anger that his child had the gall to think he was better than him. He had beaten Samael a dozen, no, a hundred times before, and he would do it just as easily as he always did. Such an ungrateful, arrogant brat to challenge his father who had done so, so, much for him. He had kept other demons from killing him while he was young and weak, given him every resource he could find, and, most of all, suffered for a near eternity in Samael's place just to save his miserable life from the eld-

Satan could not defeat Samael as he was, not without abandoning the false life he had made for himself. And so, he controlled his anger and did nothing but silently seethe.

Apparently, his obvious helpless frustration was amusing enough to cool Samael's temper. The challenge lessened to something manageable, and the Demon King relaxed, leaning back in his overly plush chair with a content smile, "You're lucky that I find your temper to be so cute in its futility. Plenty of our other brothers would have already killed you."

"They can try." They could try all they wanted, but the moment anyone decided that killing family was fair game was the moment Satan would step in and remind his idiot sons that the very few ground rules he laid were to be respected.

"Determined like a human, I approve!" There was a glint, hungry and cunning, and Satan knew that Samael's interest in him had grown to dangerous degrees, "But you were the one who said that you wanted me to get straight to the point, correct? Well, I have a simple question for you: Is Yukio your heart?"

All thoughts ceased, and he wasn't sure if it was shock, anger, fear, or just confusion.

His heart? But that didn't…

Satan must have voiced his confusion, for a grin nearly slip Samael's face in two, "If you're wondering, I don't mean your literal demon heart, like the blade you really should get in a habit of carrying around..." Green eyes peered accusingly at the spot over Satan's shoulder where the Kurikara should have been, "But never mind that. No, what I mean is something more metaphysical, and something so very human. Is Yukio your heart, your world, your everything? Is he the reason you wake, and the reason you continue to live?"

Hearts were something incredibly important to demons. Human hearts were little more than organs that pump their blood, and though their metaphorical hearts were where demons could latch onto and squirm into, it wasn't even somewhat the same. Demon's own, literal hearts, in contrast, held the very core of their beings. It was the cumulation of their existence, the absolute purest distillation of who they were, and without it, they would die.

It was the core of what a demon was, and yet…And yet, Satan himself…

"Why?" Was the only thing Satan could force himself to ask without exploding. Demon hearts were invaluable, yes, but human 'hearts' were something else entirely. They were the source of so much strength, so much pain, and drove them forward, so for Samael to identify Yukio as a metaphorical one, well…well, that wasn't exactly wrong.

And the most important thing was that human hearts, unlike demons, could break.

"Because a heart is a weakness!" Samael declared, pointing squarely at Satan's chest, "The heart is how humans are possessed by demons, and a weak heart is what ultimately killed Satan. He grew to love like a human, and so when that was taken from him, he couldn't survive!"

Ah, suddenly things made a lot more sense. A human heart was the source of love and often the reason humans would push to survive. It wasn't a pure cumulation of their being and was instead fickle, often at war with their own wants and identity. It was wretched and beautiful, a contradiction that drove many to madness.

Of course, it would only be seen as a liability to be exploited to a proper demon. Of course 'Rin' having a human heart so wholly invested into a single other's life was a problem for Samael.

"…You really can't understand love at all, can you?"

Love born from a weak heart relearning to connect with another was the only reason Satan had been able to grow to care about, well, anything again. But no one but Yuri could be allowed to know just how deeply he had cared in the end. Not yet, at least. And so, he could only look at Samael, feeling just a bit of pity as he realized that he would truly never understand the feeling. But, a part of him was equally relieved, for so few demons could love that it would simply be better if none ever did.

Samael, ignorant of his father's musings, scoffed at the notion of love. He had seen exactly where that had gotten enough delusional demons, thank you very much, "Any demon who learns to love ultimately finds their own death at the end of that very same love. And that can't happen to you, Rin. You have a role to fulfill, so I can't have you break on me."

'Threat', Satan's mind screamed. A threat to Yukio, to his 'heart', "If you're threatening Yukio-!"

A hand held before him somehow stole the teen's voice, allowing Samael to speak, "You may think lowly of me, but I'm not stupid. Besides, you don't have to say anything to me, I can already tell that Yukio is your 'heart'." Magic or not, Satan shot to his feet, knocking the chair back and stabbing a knife into the hardwood in an obvious threat before the clattered even stopped. The King of Time, however, looked distinctly unimpressed at the display, "Oh, don't look at me like that, you look far too much like a real demon there. I'm offering to help protect your brother, Rin."

A deep breath in and Satan managed to steady himself, "How?"

"Your brother shows a lot of talent as both a Dragoon and a Doctor. One of these fields is quite dangerous and has many…work-related accidents." Samael began, smirking at the way Satan flinched, "However, Exorcists who are only Doctors usually say behind to prepare a field team and also heal any wounded who manage to make it back. Yes, some may go out into the field, but Yukio is quite promising, too valuable to risk I would say."

"Why are you offering this?" Nothing was free when it came to deals with the devil, after all.

"Yukio might be a talented Exorcist the order very much needs, but, ultimately, you are much more important," In some ways, it was foolish to admit just how much power the other party held, but not when it was Samael speaking. No, he knew exactly how much power a child of the blue fire had, but, ultimately, he had accumulated far more resources and had too much to offer to be ignored, "Therefore, I cannot have you break if something were to ever happen to your dear younger brother. It would raise too much suspicion to hold him back after this test, but it's a simple thing to shuffle around his assignments. Well?"

Something nagged at the back of Satan's mind at that phrasing, but he ignored it as the low buzz of barely restrained anger, "And what do you want?"

"Your complete cooperation. While you've yet to break any serious rules, you've come close. I can instruct your teachers to ignore your terrible language, but behavior is another matter altogether," Samael informed, whimsy gone for something a bit more serious, "You will follow their rules to the letter, and I'll make sure Yukio is never in any more danger than he ever has to be."

"I'll obey unless it endangers Yukio." He could swallow his pride for that much, at least.

"Of course!" The King of Time chimed, nodding enthusiastically even at the sharp creak that resounded when the knife in his desk was pulled free. He watched the teen put away the knife rather skillfully, very aware that a certain demon blade was much longer and cumbersome and likely hard to eventually adapt to. Well, it wasn't like the sword would be the boy's main method of attacking anyway.

He made a show of checking a watch that hadn't been on his wrist a second ago, "Now, our agreement will go into effect in approximately…two minutes."

"Huh?" Too-blue eyes blinked in confusion, "Why then…What's happening? What did you do?"

"You're much too strong, so I decided that you didn't need to participate in the Authorization Exam with the others," Samael replied, idly wondering just how thoroughly the boy would have utterly destroyed the Naberiuses that had been used. It would have been hilariously easy for him considering his history (and wasn't dear Astaroth even more of a joke now, losing to a demon who hadn't even awakened properly?), but that defeated the purpose of the exam itself, "Don't worry, I'm confident that your brother is doing fine. I would have been notified if anyone was mutilated too badly!"

The chipper tone was a sharp contrast to the way Satan could feel his blood freeze, an icy jolt of panic shooting down his spine. He knew Yukio could take care of himself, he had trained him after all, but that didn't mean he should be fighting demons all on his own just yet! The rest of the class was a bunch of deadweights and jokes compared to Yukio, they would get him hurt as he tried to protect them!

Satan didn't remember running to the door, but he very much did realize it wasn't opening. He whirled around and snarled, "Let me out before I feed you your own intestines!"

Samael sighed, "Do you really think I don't have precautions in place? There's plenty of senior Exorcists monitoring the exam, don't you worry your little head about it! Ah, stop that, it won't work and you should know better," The demon tutted and nodded in approval when the other finally stopped trying to kick the door down. That glare really was something straight off of father's face to the point of being eerie, but he ignored his own unease to continue, "Just answer me this one question, and I'll let you run into your dear brother's arms. Human hearts are fickle things, and Yukio might grow to hate you one day. Could you even survive something like that?"

That was…tricky. It was something Satan didn't even want to consider, something he knew would break him if it happened. He would break into tiny shards of misery and self-loathing, would want nothing more than to curl back into numb apathy, and would probably curse ever rediscovering his heart…

"As long as he's happy and safe…"

…But…but he would survive. He might not be happy, he might need someone to put him back together or else he would fall back into his old ways, but he would live. If Gehenna and all the monsters it bore couldn't destroy him, then that wouldn't be the end of him. He wouldn't embrace death after struggling for so long.

"Then that's all that I have any right to demand."

…Right?

The door clicked open and Satan ran away from his thoughts, not even hearing whatever drivel Samael had to say.

Chapter Text

Chapter 32: Window

Yukio checked the gun again even as the demon (a ghoul, oddly familiar, a part of his mind whispered) pulled itself through the hole it had made, chipping and tearing hardwood like paper, but it was still empty. He knew that it was loaded this morning, knew that he hadn't set it down out of his sight once, but somehow, it was still empty.

He had never been more glad that he had a habit of loading an extra bullet in the chamber.

He aimed it forward, breathing deeply to center himself. He had exactly one shot, so he couldn't afford to miss.

"Whoa, where did you get that?" Someone shouted, finally noticing the gun, but Yukio ignored them, keeping his aim steady. He had to focus, for nothing but a perfect hit was acceptable-

The ghoul's head bulged, and Yukio had just enough time to realize what was going to happen, but no way to stop it.

"Cover your face!" He shouted, abandoning his aim to instead bury his head into his arms, limiting skin exposure. The cursed fluid spewed over them, sapping strength and life wherever it touched, but Yukio ignored the vertigo. Instead, he aimed the moment the assault ceased, ready to fend it off with his switchblade if he absolutely had to-

"Nii, I need Mr. Una-una!"

Wooden branches burst forth like a river, filling the gap between their group and the demons in a matter of seconds. A very solid wall had been erected, twisting wood leaving barely a gap. Just in time, for the students around Yukio swayed and slipped to their knees, and he himself only just managed to not fall, instead slumping against the wall when the room spun deliriously.

"Thank you, Nii!" Shiemi cooed to her tiny Greenman. Beside her, the class gaped at the ridiculous feat from such a small creature and its equally demure Tamer even as the strength fled their bodies.

Yukio grimaced and stumbled his way over to Shiemi's side. He ignored her curious look and flush as he examined her, slipping off his jacket to use as a rag to wipe any sickly liquid he could find from her body, "Shiemi, I want you to focus on pacing yourself as much as possible, ok? You've managed to save us, and you've bought time, so don't worry about anything else but keeping that barricade up. We'll handle the rest, ok?"

'The rest' being two average sized Naberiuses from what little Yukio could see through the tangle of hardwood. They moaned, scratching at the bark and they tried to squeeze their way through the small gaps, grasping claws dripping with dangerous rot and disease. Ghouls could wildly range in size and form, so Yukio could count it as a blessing that neither was particularly exotic, each possessing just four limbs and one head, unlike some of the absolute abominations the textbooks showed. One head meant that, ideally, he could have ended this mess in a matter of seconds, but with only a single bullet left in his gun…

"Ugh, would you two stop it with that sappy crap, it's making me sick," Izumo huffed, wobbling to her feet with nothing but sheer stubborn willpower. She swayed worryingly, but slapped away Shima when he reached for her, "I'll admit, I was surprised, but all she has done is managed to buy us time. So, we need to stop wasting time and counterattack already!"

"She's right, Shiemi can only keep up a barrier of that scale for so long…" Yukio paused, remembering what he had seen from the twin tailed girl before, "Izumo, are you sure that you're fine to summon?"

She scoffed at him, "Of course I am, I'm the best Tamer her and from a long line of shrine maidens! What do you take me for?"

"I wasn't trying to offend you, it's just that I noticed you haven't been at your best lately, and-"

"And what? I've been training for this my whole life, so don't underestimate me!" A prick, and the blood was smeared across familiar papers, "I humbly call upon the gods of harvest…"

Maybe it made Yukio a bad person, but he found himself waiting (and a part of him, wanting) for her to fail. The swirl of magic and the twin summons formed, gracefully touching on the ground. They seemed to peer at Izumo a bit differently than Yukio recalled, but he could have just been imagining things. It didn't matter so long as she could control them, and he nodded his approval. It certainly made things easier, in the end-

"See, I told you that I could do it. Now, you just stand back and I'll…I'll…" Izumo very suddenly stiffened, the smug pride that had once been radiating off her dripping away and slipping through the cracks in the floor under her feet.

Yukio looked at whatever had so suddenly crushed her ego and was…confused. He hadn't known what to expect, but, at some point, Paku had crawled her way over to where Shiemi kneeled and was doing her best to physically support the rapidly tiring blonde. She hadn't even looked over at Izumo's yelling, doing her best to ignore the other girl. It was innocent, a friend supporting another, and yet Yukio could see Izumo shattered behind her mask. Like her world was being crushed.

It clicked and suddenly Yukio saw not Izumo watching Paku support another friend, but Rin watching Yukio reject him.

It wasn't as extreme, wasn't as serious of an attachment, but to Izumo, someone who never went out of her way to be likable, it was probably her only friend being 'stolen' from her. It didn't matter if it wasn't true, it didn't matter that it was a petty fight that only felt like it mattered because the wound was so fresh, it didn't matter that could easily make up, because right here, right now, it was all that mattered.

"You are not worthy of us…"

Yukio bit back a curse and trailed his weapon on the Byakkos just in time to see their faces distort in anger, growls curling in their throats. If he was prepared it would be a simple matter to dispose of the demons despite their level, but no, he only had a single bullet and of course, Izumo summoned two. He couldn't afford to waste even that, not with two demons breathing down their necks. Izumo jerked back in shock, looking personally betrayed at the way her summons had so quickly turned on her at the first sign of weakness. A vicious cycle that would weaken her resolve further and make the demons even more enraged.

And of course, she had frozen in fear, Yukio spitefully thought, "Tear the paper, Izumo!"

"But…!"

The Byakkos leaped, and, in her weakened state when she could hardly stand, there was no way Izumo could have dodged. She screamed and covered her face, stumbling from the movement and falling to the ground, hard. A fumble that, ironically, protected her, one fox sailing over her head while the other tried to correct and ended up only managing to catch her shoulder. It, however, wasn't a light wound and blood gushed forth.

The Ghouls howled, the blood and violence and fear driving them wild. They scrabbled at the vines with new vigor, and Shiemi whimpered, nearly collapsing on the spot.

It hurt, but Yukio ignored her, trusting that Paku would stay by her side. He had to prioritize and focus on the two rogue Byakkos even when the floor kept doing it's best to heave under his feet. Thankfully, they were ignoring everyone but Izumo, but it was a meager blessing when the girl was left grasping her shoulder and dumbly clutching the papers.

"Izumo! Rip the papers already!"

She looked so confused, so lost, but Yukio couldn't afford to pity her, "Now!"

It was funny how the demons, threats that could easily kill all of them as they were, were so easily disposed of with an anticlimactic tearing of paper scraps.

The sudden silence was crushing.

Brokenly, Izumo looked at the torn papers in her hands. With jerky movements, she reached for her pockets, and pulled out more slips of paper, "If I just try again…if I just…"

Yukio found new strength in his burst of white-hot anger and stormed over and snatched the summoning circles away. Was she trying to get them all killed?! "Damn it, Izumo, if you can't do it then just say so and stop trying to play hero! Or do you really want to get us all killed so badly that you can't have some common sense?"

Izumo looked like she wanted to protest, but it came out as a pathetic choking noise as the words closed up in her throat. Paku stumbled over to check on her, but was pushed away. Tears welled up and she finally looked away from his furious glare, curling up on the spot to bury her face behind her knees.

She didn't make a single sound, but everyone knew what was happening.

"Yukio…"

Yukio ignored the guilt. He could feel bad later when they hadn't all died.

"Hey." Shima began slowly, looking distinctly uncomfortable to even talk to Yukio after that display, "You have a gun, right? Can't you just, you know, shoot it?"

"I only have a single bullet."

"Who carries around a gun with just a single bullet in it?"

It was a valid point, but Yukio remembered that this very well may be a test and didn't speak up. The easy ways to win had been taken away, their second-best option had imploded spectacularly, and now they were all at each other's throats or flat out afraid. Some test this was shaping up to be, all but Shiemi having failed to be useful at every single turn. He could have handled Izumo better, but he was so irritated that she was so stubborn and nearly got herself killed and, and…

And he could deal with that later. It didn't matter if this was a test, the danger was very real and he was going to have to make sure everyone made it out in one piece.

"Bon, you're training to be an Aria, right?" Yukio asked suddenly. At the teen's startled nod, Yukio continued, hating that he didn't already know the answer on his own "Do you remember its fatal verse?"

"No, sorry. But I do remember that Ghoul-type demons' fatal verses are usually in the Gospel of St. John. But I've memorized all of it already, so if I recite the whole thing it'll work eventually, right?"

"Bon, that's…" It would take far too long for just one person to recite the entire gospel, if Shiemi's labored breathing was anything to go by. But what could Yukio say when he was only just shy of useless? They hadn't even been assigned more than a chapter of that book, and yet Bon had taken the initiative and memorized the entire thing already, and that sheer studiousness was clearly already paying off.

"I've…I've memorized the first ten chapters already." A meek voice spoke up, and Yukio blinked as he realized that Konekomaru had shuffled his way over to their side, "Please, let me help."

"You two are already that far ahead, huh?" Yukio asked no one in particular. He really had been only doing the bare minimum he needed for any class not his specialty, but it might be time to change that. Once his weapons were gone, he was far more helpless than he was comfortable with.

Well, Yukio thought, idly checking the weight of a small switchblade he had started keeping on-hand for years now at Rin's insistence, he wasn't completely helpless.

"I think…I think I have an idea."

Satan had only ran so fast a few times in his life. He took the stairs six at a time, tore down hallways so fast that he slammed into the walls when his feet tried to slip out from under him. But he didn't slow even when his shoulder stung, instead bouncing with the momentum and pushing off the walls to throw himself at the doors until they opened (far too slowly, every moment was critical, who knew what was happening?) and he could tear across the campus as fast as he weak human legs could carry him. He hardly touched the ground between steps, very nearly fell as he feet failed to keep up with his mind and will. But he caught himself, refused to be delayed for even a half-second longer, and arrived at the abandoned dorm in record time.

Yukio was there, outside and talking to…to someone who wasn't Satan. That was unacceptable, because Satan needed to know that Yukio was fine. Even if he was standing there, even if he was talking without issue, Satan needed to know.

The demon collided with Yukio at bruising speed, immense strength easily rocking the boy off the ground. He pulled Yukio away from the stranger (not completely unknown, familiar but distant) and looked his body over frantically. His uniform jacket was missing for some reason, but not a single injury was on him. He absolutely reeked of rot demons, however, and Satan growled, a low and inhuman rumble in the back of his throat, at the stench. Without thinking, he pulled Yukio's hands, still spotted with fluid that let a filthy stench cling to him like a miasma, and inhaled. His human nose wasn't nearly as sharp as he would like, but he memorized scent of the filth that had attacked Yukio all the same.

Satan ignored the mumbling of those around he and his child, subconsciously recalling their identities from their voices and quick glances alone. They wouldn't hurt Yukio and couldn't even begin to threaten Satan. And despite the reek of other demons, the lingering taste of fear in the air, there was no tang of blood. Yukio….Yukio was fine. He was always going to be fine, because Samael was many things but an idiot wasn't one of them, but Satan still couldn't shake the fear, irrational as it was, that he very nearly lost his child.

Yukio could defend himself, but Satan still feared for the mortal's life.

He knew he was making a scene, but the king of demons didn't care.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

Samael was a bastard.

Satan had always known his second son had a sadistic streak a mile long- it was in a demon's nature, obviously. But he hid it under pretty words and fancy gestures, and you would never know he was leading you by the nose until it was too late. So, of course, Samael had decided that the completely unreasonable task of forcing half a dozen high schoolers to handle two Naberiuses when they hadn't even finished their first semester of proper training was a good idea for a test. It was even worse that he had purposely pulled Satan out of the test, and taken Yukio's bullets, because god forbid that the children have an actual chance to win.

Satan was proud that Yukio had deiced to throw the implied rulebook out and had smashed open his own path. Even if it had been little more than running away, anything to spite Samael's idiotic plans was a win in his book.

Well, Satan thought, staring at Kuro pattered alongside him as he followed Yukio and the useless adults, maybe Samael had thought to force Yukio to take proper control of a demon. It wasn't hard to guess that Samael intended to use Yukio like a leash for 'Rin' in the future, so it could have been entirely bad luck that Kuro had decided to follow Satan, subconsciously drawn to his king. Satan hadn't even realized he was being followed until he was halfway to the office, and he had had no reason to assume anything then.

Or Samael was just a complete bastard.

Either way, he and Kuro needed to have a talk about his priorities. Yukio always had to come first, no matter what Kuro himself thought.

The rest of the class was gathered in the nurse's office, most sitting in chairs, though Shiemi was half-asleep in a bed, sitting up only thanks to several pillows, and Izumo was missing for some reason. Otherwise, they looked completely fine, the IVs completely unneeded if anyone asked Satan.

Ryuji saw them first, eyes narrowing even as he continued to talk to the others that had gathered in a loose circle, "I still can't believe that it was all just a test! And that you," he pointed at Satan accusingly, "didn't even have to participate!"

"Hey, I'm not exactly pleased that a damn rot demon got close to Yukio without me there!" Satan retorted sharply.

"Is that all you care about!?"

What a stupid question, "Is there anything else to care about?"

"Come on," Paku soothed, standing up with hardly a wobble to try and block Ryuji's view as if that would ease tensions, "we should be quiet and let Shiemi rest. I'm sure the headmaster had his reasons…"

Shiemi muttered something, slowly stirring from her doze, though her words were still indistinguishable.

Satan thought Paku looked perfectly fine, but something must have tipped the others off, because Konekomaru leaned forward and said, with obvious worry, "Are you sure you're alright? After the test, Izumo did say some…"

"I'm fine," Paku said, very obviously not that. But she carried on all the same, "We were all under a lot of pressure back there, so I know some things just slipped out. I'll let her calm down and then we'll talk everything out! Besides, she needs to rest anyway."

It sounded like an excuse to put things off to Satan, but it was none of his business.

"Paku, after you've made up with Izumo, I'd like to apologize to her as well." Yukio suddenly spoke up, "You're her friend, so I'll let you sort things out with her first, otherwise I don't think she'll care about anything else."

And suddenly Satan was forced to care about the twin-tailed bitch once again. Yukio had explained things well enough on the way over, so as far as he was concerned, the girl deserved everything she got, and then some, "Why do you want to apologize to that bitch? From what you've described, it's her own damn fault that she got hurt."

Renzo recoiled, frowning at the sheer contempt in that statement, "Hey, that's out of line! She was just-"

"No, it isn't." The demon cut him off, "She's a summoner, she's got to know what she can or can't handle, or she'll get you all killed."

"Except none of us were meant to handle that exam, Rin." Yukio shot back, voice even and cool with growing authority, "From what I can tell, it was to test how we would handle a worst-case scenario. Our most powerful fighters were indisposed, we had no reasonable way to know their fatal verse, and our supplies were tampered with as if we had run low. That doesn't excuse our performance, but it wasn't easy to handle that pressure either."

"Hey, why are you being so hard on yourself? You're the only reason we even got out of there alive!" Renzo asked, "I wouldn't have thought to break out the window like that and just, well, run away."

Yes, while he might approve of spitting on Samael's plans to force teenagers with very little training to fight man-eating demons, he also didn't like the idea of Yukio being seen as a coward. Or being forced to flee, "If you can't even handle a Naberius, I'll have to ramp up your training, Yukio! Running away doesn't fit you."

"Well, he did shoot one…" Someone said, but was ignored in favor of Yukio's lecture.

"But sometimes that's the only way to make sure everyone stays safe, Rin. I had a few plans to kill one of the Naberiuses with a single shot and then pin the other until Bon and Konekomaru could finish the recital, but those were far too risky. It was best to cut our losses and run for backup."

"Demons are slaves to their bodies." Satan countered, and lazily dragged a finger across his throat, "Cut the connection and it would have been easy to subdue it, if not kill it outright. Easy, right?"

Exactly no one agreed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 33: Inception

"So, you again, huh?" Satan sneered, assessing the boy before him. Minoru Tasomething, the slightly creepy stalker boy who he hadn't seen since the very first day of school. He hadn't changed much, though the dark rings under his eyes were new, "I already said you didn't owe me anything, so whatever you're offering, I'm not interested."

They were at an isolated classroom in one of the older buildings, far away from anyone. In fact, the building was just a year away from full demolition, and only a few classes were being held there at all. To make things even stranger, Minoru sucked in a deep breath before walking over to the door and closing it, fully sealing them away in their own world. It was suspicious, but Satan was antsy enough about securing the campus once again that he was fine chasing even phantom threats, just in case.

Satan idly thought about the best way to kill the boy and make it look like an accident if things really did go to shit.

Minoru spoke: "Do you even remember those adults that you killed? Because I do."

Silence, ringing as the question hung like poison in the air between them. The question was serious, without a single hint of joke or deception, born from knowing something to be as true as the sky was blue.

Not ten feet separated them, and Satan could cross that distance in a mere second if he so wished. Less, if he threw a knife. A single shot and the boy's throat would be torn, leaving him to gurgle and suffocate on his own blood. He could figure out an excuse later, or simply vanish the body completely.

Instead, he grinned so wide it hurt, slowly forming fangs twisting his mouth into that of a shark's.

"Which ones?"

Minoru laughed. It was ugly and cracked and just a bit crazed, but bitter relief underlaid it all. "Of course, you 'took care' of more than just those two, I should have known based on your file alone."

And there was the kicker Satan had been waiting for, baited out without him actually trying. It was enough to slip the smile from his face into something even more feral, and as dangerous as the things that one little word implied.

"File?" He questioned lowly.

"I really am thankful for what you did that day." Minoru said, ignoring the question and Satan would have torn out his liver then and there if the boy hadn't kept talking, "It was scary how easily you took care of them, and you cursed me without a thought, hoping I would be thought of as crazy. It isn't right, but I just can't help but be happy that you showed up, even if it was just to get some sickos off your 'territory'." The air quotes were heavily implied, but somehow not sarcastic or a jab. Instead, it felt more like the black-haired boy was reciting a title or phrase.

Minoru shook his head when the other teen said nothing, clearly waiting for him to get to the point, "And it's because of that that I'm going to do something really stupid and tell you that some really powerful people know exactly what you've been doing and want you for something. They've been watching you for years now and have gone as far as covering up any time you were sloppy with your kills just so they could watch you more."

Well, that was certainly…distressing. He had thought that outsiders knowing about him started and ended with Astaroth and his network of tiny rot demons. He was sure that his son had kept his mouth shut like asked, probably going above and beyond to keep the secret under wraps, in fact, so he really must have been sloppy somewhere.

That just left one thing to confirm before he decided how to proceed, "So, let me guess: You're a spy for these people, right? It's the only way you could know this, and it's how you knew my name that day, isn't it?" That had always bothered him, and it looked like his paranoia had finally paid off.

"That's right. I saw how no one believed the other kids when they tried to talk about demons, so I kept quiet. But not quiet enough, because a few years later they approached me and gave me all the information and protection I could ever want so long as I kept an eye on you once I was enrolled in your school. I didn't have to do anything, just tell them whenever you got into trouble, and they would do their best to make all the problems go away. I didn't think anything of it since I just wanted to repay you any way I could, and these people acted like they wanted the same, but…" The boy trailed off, looking to the side in shame.

"But eventually you wondered why they cared so much, right?" Satan finished.

"Yeah." A nod, "Yeah…You're a very important person, you know? You're so important that they ran tests on me just because I had contact with you, something about the Temptaint being different." Minoru continued, still looking away so he didn't notice how Satan flinched at that revelation, "I'm not sure what that means, but it meant something to them, and I saw how far they were willing to go, so I just had to play along."

"What is this shadowy organization called?" Satan asked deceptively lightly, looking over his nails.

"The Illuminati."

Without a single thing between them, it was easy for Satan to reach the boy. So, so easy for him to shove him back and pin him to the wall, the kiss of a knife to that frail throat a pale substitute for the prick of claws Satan preferred, but it would have to do- he wasn't that much of a demon yet. With no one around, he didn't have to bother muffling the impact, and bore down on the boy despite his inferior height, refusing to let him move an inch.

"Why are you willing to turn against them, if they helped you so much?" Satan asked, calm even as the anger that he had been watched for so long simmered under his skin, "You've seen what I can do, so why help me? Why should I trust a self-proclaimed traitor?"

If Minoru was willing to change sides once, he could be willing to do it again. Unless, of course, this went beyond simple dissatisfaction.

"Because you're the one who actually did something." Minoru gasped out, though his desperation had nothing to do with the knife. Instead, his eyes shone with something fanatic that he had nurtured from childhood, "Even if it wasn't for me, you're still the one who actually saved me, not them! I was doing perfectly fine on my own until they came, and I only helped them to help you, but it's obvious that they want to use you somehow! So just let me finally pay you back and make up for my mistakes!"

Children were so easy to mold. The vales they gained in their first decade of life would stick with them through most of the lives, almost impossible to shake off on their own. Their morals, their values, even their heroes. So long as nothing directly contradicted them for years and years, they would cling to those things.

So of course, at least one of the children Satan had indirectly saved would come to admire him after he had done something so very tangible for them. Something that, without, they wouldn't have had the privilege of living a relatively peaceful life afterwards. And Minoru was so hyperaware of that fact that he must have remembered that once incident and what could have happened to him thousands of times.

"Fine, I believe you. Get me whatever information you can by tomorrow and then we'll talk about what to do next."

"Next?"

Something in the depths of Satan's mind had reacted at the word 'Illuminati'. It was a buried part of him, hazy like he had been told of it when he…wasn't all there, but just clear enough he was certain that someone had talked to him about it more than once. Possibly extensively, and possibly Lucifer himself. Almost certainly Lucifer. The one-sided conversation was long forgotten, but the impression left behind was warm and hopeful…and sometime much later tinted to something cold and cynical. But that underlying hope never left, even if it twisted and withered, it became a black blossom in its refusal to die completely.

Yes, Lucifer had been hopefully about something, and that was dangerous. A hopeful Lucifer had shaken Gehenna to its very foundations, nearly ripped apart the world itself in the wake of his fervor.

"What, did you really think I was just going to take your info and let you go off to get killed?" Satan really had missed a good many important things over the last millennia, so he would need even the weakest possible ally, "Nah, how about you become my little spy instead if you really want to get rid of that guilt for being tricked? After I decide if you're telling me the truth."

Satan was only half paying attention to the results of the exam, and even it was only enough to notice the new seating arrangements. Izumo had relegated herself near back, occasionally scratching at her hidden bandages, and the demon couldn't help but scoff at the dramatic behavior. Paku had only cast her a nervous glance before sitting at her usual spot and it was pathetic how they refused to confront the obvious issues they had. Sure, maybe it had only happened last night, but surely that was enough time to think of what needed to be said, right?

In the end, it wasn't his problem right now. He had paid attention to what Yukio had had to say and knew that his child was sure to pass and that was all the drama he had time for. His own success was guaranteed already, so all he had to worry about was making sure that Samael kept his end of the bargain. Though, a part of him was happy that the twin-tailed bitch was sure to get her ego knocked down a few pegs when she inevitably failed for losing control of her summons-

With a completely unneeded level of flourish, Samael finally announced: "Everyone but Ms. Noriko Paku is promoted to Exwire! Congratulations to the winners!"

-Or not. They really did just let anyone pass these days, didn't they? Satan internally sighed, already dreading the idea of actually having to work with the plum-haired girl. She sure as hell wasn't going to be in charge of guarding Yukio, that was going to be Kuro's job. Yes, the two of them had had a very long talk about priorities last night…

Satan was only half paying attention to the results, so he didn't think anything of the silence and half-whispers until Izumo suddenly stood, slamming her hands on the desk.

"Hold on, that doesn't make any sense!" She shouted, clearly trying to be angry but only looking even more distressed than before, "That doesn't make any sense at all! I didn't do anything either! In fact, my own summons attacked me because I couldn't concentrate! So why do I get to pass while Paku fails?"

The murmurs of agreement were quickly silenced with a pointed raise of Samael's finger, "It is the intent that matters, my dear. You are just trainees, so of course some…mistakes will be made, but at least you have potential. Ms. Noriko, however, did nothing but rely on others, and has shown no promise in any field. An Exorcist cannot be reasonably expected to be useful in every situation, but they must at least have one thing they are good at, so it is only reasonable that she continues to remain a Page until she finds something she can commit to. Understand?"

Honestly, the argument was a lot more than Satan had been expecting- he had thought Samael would have some bullshit reason up his sleeve, not a nearly air-tight argument. There were a few holes in that logic, mainly what's-his-face in the back somehow passing, but Izumo was hardly in the right mindset to notice, much less counter them, and it showed.

"That's not…That's-!"

"It's fine, Izumo." Said, surprisingly, Paku, with the calm but defeated air of someone who had made peace with an unfortunate fact, "I was thinking about dropping out anyway since I just get in the way."

"Paku-"

"I'm the reason your summons attacked you, aren't I? Because I 'weakened your heart' by being a nuisance."

Yes, Satan decided, even if Samael dressed the reason up as something completely understandable, at the core he probably saw Paku as Izumo's deadweight given form. A tag along who couldn't even prop her friend up enough to be useful as a motivator. So, of course, she had to go. Though, Satan was impressed that Paku had realized this to some extent already and had accepted being unfit for Exorcist work so quickly.

"But…" Izumo nearly blubbered, trembling just a bit as things collapsed around her, "But I thought we both agreed that we would get better together, Paku!"

"I'm sorry, I need some time alone."

The girl stood and left.

Izumo collapsed back into her seat and Samael used the stunned silence to babbler on about the life of an Exorcist, the duties of an Exwire, things Satan already knew or didn't care. Instead, he watched the doorway Paku had left through and wondered if she really would drop out or not. If she had the maturity to understand and accept her own weakness, then she wasn't completely hopeless. And she got along with Shiemi, who it turn got along very well with Yukio. So maybe, just maybe he would talk to her and make sure she was serious before she left forever.

It certainly had nothing at all to do with how he could vividly recall all the things he had said and done.

It was sometime later that Satan realized that he hadn't heard from Minoru yet. He had gotten a vague feeling of being watched the past few hours but hadn't seen the tiny boy.

He decided he would find the boy tomorrow, after class.

Everything had been going well, almost too well, in fact. He couldn't believe what he was doing, couldn't believe he was finally standing up for himself, but he had finally taken the first step forward. He was sure it would be hard, but he was tired of living as he had, so surely it would be worth it.

Everything was going well, perfectly, in fact.

It was all perfect until he began to write down what he knew. Barely three lines in and suddenly-

Something burst behind his head, acid burned its way down his spine, and-

And-

And he was-

And he was surely being dissolved in fire, surely dying.

Surely.

BuT͙̝͖ͨ hE̹̟̺̠̽̋̊ͭ̐̄ WasN͙̼̯̈́ͮ̀̾̿̓͂͘'T Ḍ̶̇̒̍̾̎̓eA͇̳̮̻̣͓̬̒̈́ͯḌ͎̰̻̄̉̆͂͛͗ͣ.

Chapter Text

Chapter 34: Savage and Grace

It was an existence that should not have been. Something perpetually dying yet forced to stay alive, existence tethered to a thing beyond it. A forgery of life that the world itself rejected, yet it could not pass on. And so it shambled forward, even as the body was chewed apart, even as its rattled breathes peeled and burned lungs, even as bones broke and splintered into shards. If it were strong, it could have become something new, a blooming existence that could overturn the order of the world. But as it was, it was missing the most vital piece, the grace needed to not only survive anything, even the world itself, but to become stronger than existence itself. And so, without that, it was doomed to die and be reborn again and again.

It moved forward, seeking its salvation, its death, a presence beyond mere existence. It would find and takeconsumedevoure the grace it could feel, no matter what.

A tiny being, weak and without any grace at all touched it, tried to stop it. Sounds, meaningless even when they rose in pitch and volume when it ripped the being apart. It may not have had any grace but the tiny flicker of life would let it sustain itself even as the world tried to banish it.

The first indication Satan had that something was wrong was the smell. It wasn't rot per say, but it was something that curled his stomach, something that fouled the very air in a way that was beyond mortal means. No one noticed it and no one could notice it because it wasn't the smell of flesh decaying.

It was a soul that had collapsed under foreign gravity and been reborn as a blackhole.

There was only one thing that something so wretched would find value in consuming in the entire world, much less the campus. And like that, Satan knew his gravity was entwined with the beast's. Like two planets pulled towards each other, it was inevitable that the beast would follow him even if he hurtled himself to the other end of the Earth. So, it was only logical that they would collide and the destruction to both of them would be great, scarring their surfaces for millions and millions of years.

Except, no, that wasn't right. Satan was no lowly planet- He was a Sun and would be the one that would devour yet another beast. His flames could scorch away even eternity and kill even-

"Rin…?"

Satan blinked at the warry voice and snapped his hand shut, snuffing the tiny fire that had started to form. He had stood without realizing, pulled forth his fire without realizing, and had very nearly ripped apart the seal just so he could be sure he killed the beast making his way towards him. No…it wasn't a beast, but a fledgling that would be rejected by Assiah's very nature, like a body purging a dangerous but immature virus.

A few desks ahead of him, Yukio's face showed obvious worry at his sudden behavior. The teacher was trying to lecture him, but Satan ignored him to instead stare at Yukio and slowly shake his head before he left his seat entirely and headed to the door. He was sure Yukio wouldn't stay seated for very long despite the trust they shared, but Satan was just happy this was one of the few classes they shared. He knew where Yukio was and could run in the exact opposite direction, dragging the creature away before worry could win out with his son or-

Someone screamed, filled with fear and pain.

Copper tainted the air.

Satan ran.

The hallway was the perfect image of the calm before the storm. A dozen students that had been flushed out of their classes by the noise stood, frozen in shock and clogging the doorways even as others pushed for their turn to look. Pampered and sheltered, they didn't recognize the sharp smell of blood clogging the hallway or the sounds of ripping flesh.

Ah.

Satan had almost forgotten what such a terrible site they made.

It was once human but had been shredded apart, melted like candle wax and poured back into a shape that might be trying to look human. Except it discarded that facsimile for practicality immediately, hunched over the corpse of a girl and dislocating its own jaw, melting its own face so it could eat quicker. It had thirty fingers and four hands and three arms, and even as Satan watched its face and neck completely opened with teeth so it could fit the girl's head into its body in one jerky motion. It moved the corpse (throat crushed, heart ripped free, messy and painful but at least the sheer violence of it meant it had been quick) like a doll, wrapping its body around it and slowly absorbing it straight into its flesh.

Since Satan was sealed, he couldn't properly see to confirm that the girl was well and truly dead and if her soul had already fled.

He didn't know or care for the girl, but sheer pity and empathy moved him to act.

Unfortunately, someone screamed, the reality only sloppily hidden by the veil that kept Assiah in blissful ignorance. Some might have seen the truth, some might have only seen a murder or a dead body moving on its own, but they all saw horror of some sort.

It was like a gunshot signaling the start of hell unbound, and Satan was at the front of the crowd with unnatural speed, knife catching the fledgling in its candlewax head. It did nothing, but the force of Satan's charge knocked it away from the corpse, trails of its flesh snapping free. The king of demons fell forward with his own momentum, flipping over the tipping beast's body to minimize contact.

It still tried to devour him, greedy, and his jacket's side was more hole than fabric with only that brief contact.

Satan didn't bother worrying about the gawkers or the screaming or the panic to hide away like the prey humans were. No, the fledgling beast would follow him without fail now that it had been so tantalizingly close to him, and so the demon turned tail and ran leading it away from Yukio.

The fledgling scrambled after him on five-and-a-half limbs, worryingly fast even if it slipped constantly on the tiled floors. It completely ignored the empty prey and chased the real prize mindlessly. Satan led it away, up a dizzying spiral of steps and down hallway after hallway when he realized he had no way to head down from where he was. That was fine, away was all that mattered.

On nothing but a hint of air moving, Satan spun on his heel and dove around a corner, the fledgling soaring past him with enough speed to take off his head. A malformed hand caught his ankle and pulled, dragging the demon with the fledgling as it skidded down twenty feet of hallway. Satan only just managed to protect his head with the fleeting thought of how bad a broken neck would be as a human, but that was the least of his worries. He screamed more in rage than pain as his pants, sock, and shoe were devoured, his skin burning like acid.

A mere thought brought angry blue flames forth, bursting from his foot and driving the fledgling back with a shriek. Satan scrambled back and into an abandoned recital room and to his feet even as his ankle tried to give out on him, flesh more blister than skin and oozing blood. It was horrific pain, far beyond what most could stand, but he compartmentalized it away even as his vision tried to white out. No, it was painful, but it was unimportant when compared to his duty to draw the fledgling away.

The monster turned to him, wild with the taste of Satan's blood, however diluted it was.

Satan sneered. Even if it ate him, even if he was consumed down to his very bones, the fledgling had no chance to actually devour him. It would be like a human swallowing a grenade. But such a thing was unacceptable. It wasn't even how much it would hurt (a lot) but that Satan would lose his tie to Assiah, lose his connection to Yukio and be reduced to a spirit once more.

His back was to a large window three stories up, but Satan grinned, driven by pain and the will to live. He didn't want to lose everything to something so weak. But he didn't want to sacrifice even a single thing, even a single aspect of his daily life and risk changing his relationship with Yukio. Maybe he would be accepted, maybe he would be rejected, but any chance of failure was so terrifying it was unacceptable.

The creature charged him again.

If he refused to give up anything, he would kill the fledgling with delicacy and grave, just a careful application of his flames to the core beyond traditional existence should-

The window shattered and two booted feet punted the creature fifty yards down the hallway. It crashed through the doorway, ripping open the wall, then into the railway before the steps, splintering the wood and only not falling down the steps because its malformed body clung to the wood like clay.

Satan blinked.

"Ah, the stairs broke even when I was trying to be careful…" Amaimon droned, dropping into the room through the shattered window," I wonder if brother will be mad?"

"You already broke the window, dumbass," Satan muttered to himself, not bothering to question the backwards logic there. More loudly, he said, "What in the hells are you doing here, Amaimon?"

"I got bored, so I decided to spy on you, but you're really boring, you know?" The Demon King explained, like that was just a thing to admit to. Satan was just glad that Amaimon didn't catch him doing anything…questionable if he found his daily life boring, "Oh but then this happened, so I guess it wasn't a complete waste of time. I'm Amaimon by the way, I'm your older brother. Nice to meet you, I guess."

Satan looked at the outstretched hand like it was a hissing snake.

"It's rude to not shake people's hands when they're being so nice to you, you know?"

Satan ignored the fact that he had already made it clear he knew Amaimon before the introduction and moved on to the more pressing matter: "Don't pretend like you won't break my hand, and then I'd have to beat the shit out of you."

"I haven't accidentally broken any human's hands for a week now." The King of Earth countered, but his eyes narrowed the tiniest fraction at his 'younger brother's' threat, "And it's not like you could actually hurt me, since you're still a human."

Blue fire darted on a single finger, "Wanna bet?"

Amaimon peered at a sight he must not have seen for centuries with a tilted head like a curious dog. His expression didn't change, but somehow he seemed more serious, "Hey, you should become a demon already so we can actually play. You seem like you'd be fun to fight, when you won't break. I'm not allowed to break you, or brother will get mad…"

Satan rolled his eyes, partially at the casual promise of future violence and partially at the groans of the damned as the fledgling finally pulled itself free of the wood, "We've got bigger problems right now."

"That weak thing? I guess its regeneration looks annoying, but I'll just smash it to bits."

"If you use even a bit of your strength, you'll bring the entire building down on our heads. And regeneration isn't the real problem here," Satan snapped, refusing to even think about the possibility of Yukio being buried alive, "If you aren't careful with that thing, it'll eat you alive."

A very superficial way of stating things, but it wasn't like he had time to get in the semantics of the monster before them.

"I'll just throw it outside and smash its entire body away then."

"You can't just-"

And then, the worst possible thing happened.

Yukio skidded into view, just left of the doorway, "Rin, what are you doing!?"

The fledgling charged.

Satan stared, helpless to do anything, except, except-

"GO LEFT!"

It spoke of an absolute trust that warmed Satan's withered heart when Yukio obeyed without hesitation and dove to the side like his life depended on it. The fledgling completely ignored him, missed the teen by nearly two feet, but it still made Satan's heart race. It hadn't even been close, but it was still too much when Yukio was so fragile, so easily scarred, so easily ruined.

(So easily lost forever, beyond even his reach)

Amaimon, uncaring of a seemingly random human, reacted before Satan could stop him. He stepped forward with the calm power of a mountain and tapped the top of the fledging's body with a single finger. It crashed to the ground, momentum completely altered, the tile cracking ominously along with its body. Limbs cracked, organs exploded, and it didn't get back up.

"I still don't get what you were worried about." The demon said.

"Rin!" Yukio heaved, picking himself up and running into the room, Demon King completely ignored in favor of grabbing Satan's shoulders to steady him, "Rin, are you alright?"

"Yes, Yukio, I'm perfectly fine-"

Amaimon frowned, "Hey, I'm here too you know."

Yukio let out a relieved sigh, ignoring the childish demon in favor of his brother, "Good. I'm glad." And then he-

Satan blinked, hand reaching up to slowly touch his reddened cheek.

Yukio had slapped him.

It was hardly a scratch, but somehow it hurt far more than his mutilated ankle.

"Are you insane? That…that thing already killed another student, and you provoked it and made it chase you!" Yukio shrieked, angrily pointing and vibrating with anger and fear, "Do you have any idea how scared I was, Rin? I was worried that I was going to get here, and you would be just like that girl!"

Satan couldn't stand to look at so much hurt, but he couldn't look away. Instead, he felt his confidence dry up at the sheer magnitude of emotions he had caused, "I wasn't…"

"Hey, not that this isn't kind of funny, but this thing is getting back up." Amaimon interrupted, idly pointing to the broken creature that was stubbornly reforming itself. If Satan hadn't just been thoroughly cowed, he would have set it on fire and been done with the entire mess. "You're both wanting to be Exorcists, right?" Amaimon asked, idly looking at the mess even as it peeled a half-human face off the floor to groan up at him, "I hit it, but it didn't die, so what do I do?"

Yukio cleared his throat and did his best to suppress his feelings while others were around. He didn't want to blurt out anything suspicious in a fit of rage. He needed to contain the strange demon before more people (Rin) got hurt, "It almost looks like a massively mutated Zombie, so, in theory, destroying the brainstem should work-"

"Destroy the brain, got it." Amaimon confirmed casually.

Yukio only had the sharp inhale of air from his twin as a warning that something unpleasant was about to happen before the Demon King lifted his foot and smashed the monster's skull to bits. The floor shook from the blow and the mutated head burst, the demon's booted foot going through bone with the ease of paper mache.

Well, the brain was certainly destroyed now, along with almost the rest of its body, but it seemed very far away.

Satan let out a wordless and panicked shriek and tackled Amaimon. The Demon King stumbled back, strands of flesh from the fledgling pulling taunt and snapping away. Amaimon didn't fall, but he took a few steps back, more from surprise than anything, and harshly pulled the not-quite-human off him by the collar

"What do you think you're…doing…?" The demon said, starting at an annoyed growl but quickly trailing off in confusion. He ignored the other male he held easily off the ground in favor of peering at his suddenly barefoot. The thicker material had given away in patches and torn the entire bottom away when he had stepped back. A handful of light burns, hardly more than a nuisance but still there, dotted the skin.

"Didn't I tell you that that thing would eat you!? Listen to what I tell you or you'll die!" Satan snapped, anger rising to cover the terrible emotions he had felt. He knew that those weren't the right words to say to solve things, but he didn't care.

A gun clicked and Yukio fearlessly stared down the barrel at Amaimon, "Let go of my brother right now, demon."

Amaimon peered at Yukio with dangerous curiosity and the tension in the room spiked to oppressive levels, moments away from a terrible fight.

And because the tension was at its highest, that was when Satan's easily least favorite son decided to show up in a puff of smoke and glitter that was meant to hide rather (extremely) high-tier magic the time demon liked the throw around like cheap tricks. It was terribly sickly sweet and a waste of power, but Samael was nothing if not a show-off to remind everyone that they were his so-called toys.

"My, my, what a mess you lot have made." Samael chimed in an annoying sing-song voice, though his eyes never left the struggling fledgling on the floor, as he could at least begin to understand the sheer wrongness of it. If Samael didn't at least have suspicions about what was making a mess of his school, Satan would slap the shit out of him for not carrying that scar with him even now. It didn't matter that it had been thousands of years, one did not just forget a near tragedy like that so easily.

Satan would never forget.

"Brother." Amaimon addressed, looking only a little less than pleased at the sudden appearance.

"You aren't supposed to be here yet, Amaimon." The King of Time scolded, though his attention was clearly still elsewhere. He withdrew a checkered handkerchief that was so inconspicuous that Satan was instantly wary of it, "Though, I suppose I can overlook it this once in light of this…development."

The supposedly ordinary fabric was thrown at the fledgling, expanding ten times its size in a single instant. It fell with a light flutter over the broken creature, as light as a feather even when it touched a misshaped head and kept falling. Down, down, until it was flat on the ground, like nothing at all had ever been there.

It was impressive in a way very few people would actually understand, and it made Satan ache at just how little he had had to do with that growth.

Samael coughed politely, "You can put your little brother down now, Amaimon."

"Hmm…Ok."

Satan yipped indignantly as he was tossed across the room like garbage, cursing like a sailor when he landed poorly, and his ankle had words to say about that. Terrible, angry words that promptly dropped him to the floor without his consent and left him cursing even more, mostly at human limits.

Yukio, surprisingly, didn't immediately run to Satan's side, but instead boldly stood his ground, the gun never leaving Amaimon's head.

Samael tutted, "You can put the gun down now, Yukio. Amaimon may be rough, but he helped you two, didn't he?"

"He can't just get away with threatening Rin!" Yukio growled, eyes alight with anger.

"There's a lot of things Amaimon shouldn't do, but…hmm…" Samael hummed, eyes sharply scanning over Satan's fallen form, "I think you should take care of your brother first, Mr. Okumura."

"What do you…" Yukio looked down, following Samael's finger. He abruptly stopped, pulled up short by the sight of burnt flesh he had only ever seen in textbooks, "Oh my God."

It wasn't Yukio's choice to run to his brother's side, his mind simply whited out and suddenly he was there, scrambling through medical supplies that he most certainly hadn't brought with him but had appeared anyway. It reminded him of the Asanbosam incident but a hundred times worse. There was less blood, but there was just something terribly primal at seeing the severely burned and partially melted flesh and muscle peaking through. Somehow, it didn't smell any different than the iron of blood, but it rolled his stomach all the same.

If that had been somewhere more important, like a face or neck, then…

"Would you all help dear Rin recover? I'll handle the mess and everything else that comes with it." The time demon said pleasantly to someone neither brother could see, but the sudden surge in voices jerked Yukio back to the present. He looked up just in time to see Amaimon being dragged off while their male classmates suddenly poured into the room.

Satan tried to use the distraction to sit up, but was pushed back down by Yukio, who had far to much experience with him being stubborn about appearing weak around others.

Ryuji stormed in, phone in hand and panting like he had run the entire way here. "Yukio, Rin, we heard there was a demon attack! What ha…ppened…"

With the obvious focus around Satan's ankle, it didn't take long for them to see what had happened.

Renzo recoiled, taking a step back at the sight. Beside him, Konekomaru did his best to not do the same, "Oh no…What even did that?"

Ryuji exploded, "What the hell did you do to yourself, idiot!? We get a call that you need help from the headmaster, and this is what we find?"

"I didn't do shit!" Satan snapped with a growl, though it was hard to look intimidating when he was so obviously hurt and stuck on the ground, "Besides, it's fine, I can walk to the doctor myself if somebody would let me up already!"

Yukio, well-practiced in ignoring nearly suicidal stupidity from his older brother, was unmoved. All that mattered was that his classmates, who had started to grow at least some immunity to his brother's lovely self, were here to help. He would worry about the how or why later, "Bon, you're stronger than I am, so could you carry Rin for me? He needs immediate medical attention before he loses that foot."

"I'm not going to lose my foot over something like this!" Satan snapped, practically offended that anyone thought he was that weak.

"Rin, your ankle shows signs of what looks like severe chemical burning." Yukio assessed clinically, forcefully pushing the smaller male back down flat when he tried to rise, "The fact that you were standing so easily when you should be screaming in pain might mean nerve damage."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Satan dismissed with a casual wave. The throbbing burning was breathtakingly painful, there was no doubt about that, "I feel the pain just fine, so that's how I know it just looks worse than it is."

The stunned silence reminded Satan that not everyone compartmentalized as well as he did.

"How are you so casual about this? Your leg looks like candle wax!" Renzo said, voice pitched up just a bit higher in rising hysteria.

"It's just physical pain, so I can ignore it. Besides, you heard Yukio say that pain means no real nerve damage, so it's a good thing!"

"Oh my God, you're actually serious." Ryuji said with a detached sense of horror and dawning revelation, "Come on, Yukio, we're taking your idiot brother to the hospital right now."

Chapter Text

Chapter 35: Kindling

Satan was quickly rushed to the nurse's office like a damaged damsel. A damsel who also happened to curse like a sailor and literally hissed more than once when one of the trio of idiots had decided to comment on his current state. An office that was suspiciously empty considering the school had just been attacked, without even a proper nurse present, forcing Yukio to do the dirty work of properly cleaning his ankle.

Accelerated healing was a bit of a massive pain when it worked as fast as his was starting to. It still wasn't even a fraction of what he was used to, but it was enough that when Yukio tried to unwrap the hastily applied bandages to do something a bit more proper, it had started tearing open rapidly aging scabs. Which hurt, and without the high focus of battle, Satan wasn't in the right mindset to properly ignore the pain and didn't feel like dropping back into that state. But he didn't want his obvious weakness being seen by others who weren't Yukio. So, he did the only reasonable thing he could think of:

He threw the biggest bitch fit possible.

"Piss the fuck off, Ryuji! I don't need you throwing up like the sissy you are when Yukio gets to work!"

"And I say that someone needs to hold you down, so you don't run off the moment you stop bleeding!"

Renzo, sitting in a chair far away to prevent becoming potential collateral damage, very nearly laughed, "I'm pretty sure Rin's the kind of guy who wouldn't even wait that long." And then, lower, he muttered; "Not that you're all that different…"

"What did you just say!?"

"Oops, was that part out loud?"

Idiots, all of them, and absolutely not at all endearing to squabble with and have them fret over his perfectly fine health, "It'll scab and heal soon, stop being such sissies! Do you three make a big deal every time you get a papercut and see your own blood too?"

Konekomaru avoided looking even partially at the wrapped ankle and ridiculous amount of medical supplies, "That's…That's not exactly a papercut…And shouldn't we go to the hospital for this kind of thing?"

Because the doctors there would be thrilled to see healing so fast that they could watch it with their own two eyes. Actually, they would be thrilled, and that was the part that worried Satan, "It's still attached, right?"

"If you aren't joking, I'm going to hit you." Ryuji deadpanned, sounding so calm he was clearly only seconds away from a complete explosion. His mind just wasn't sure how it wanted to release its rage and frustration yet, "I'm going to hit you until you pass out because you are clearly insane and want to die."

"Bring it, Bon-bon." Satan sang, drawing the nickname he hadn't used for a while and smiling as the taller male very nearly growled, "I can take down your overinflated ego without even getting upuuu-!"

Yukio, once ever-worried about his twin's health, finally made peace with his rapid healing and tough body just in time to rip the bandage clear off with all the care of a charging rhino, taking about half of Satan's skin with it.

Ok, so it wasn't that bad, still careful and doctor-deliberate, but it certainly felt like he was missing a chunk of leg. Satan's mouth clicked shut audibly and he shuddered at the pain. His hands balled into fists as Yukio worked with the calm acceptance of someone who had stopped caring about tiny things like comfort, relying entirely on Satan's pain tolerance to outweigh his clinical prodding.

He must have made quite a face because Ryuji paused, cautiously leaning in as best as he could without getting a good look at the mutilated flesh, "Hey are you ok-?"

Satan lashed out and, with pure vindictive glee, grabbed a reaching arm and squeezed all his frustration and pain until it was Ryuji who was howling.

"Shit! Damn it, let go! Let go before you break my arm!" Ryuji yowled, tugging and yanking and-

And Satan let go. Ryuji crashed into Konekomaru and the two fell to the ground.

The king of demons was as mature as always and snickered, "What, you wanted to help, right? Well you might as well be a stress ball since all you're good for is being a meat shield!"

"You almost broke my arm!"

"I know exactly how much force it takes to break an arm, so no, I did not come even close to breaking your arm, idiiiioooooshitfuck!"

Yukio continued to pour disinfectant over Satan's ankle, humming a small tune to himself with forced cheer. It was really an excessive amount by anyone's standard, but absolutely no one objected.

Satan was only slightly surprised when he later learned that the fledgling's assault was already being pegged as a horrific, but simple attack. Since different students saw different things when they looked at the fledgling, it was easy to dismiss the claims of a monster as a deliberate gas leak followed by an assault by a lone machete-wielding psycho. Any other damages were easy to isolate and hide from the press, and the dead girl's body had been doctored with disturbing accuracy to look like she had only suffered mundane injuries. Officers were being led in circles, contradicting reports were being disproven with careful misinformation, and the entire school had already been announced to be shut down for at least a week.

Samael really was terrifyingly good at his job.

Of course, Satan only learn all this when he flipped through the television channels in the nurse's office an hour later, still the only patient. And most of his conclusions were just based on the fact that Samael was a shady bastard on the best of days. Bored of television within minutes (and not at all needing reminders that the supposedly safe school at been compromised in such a fundamental way) he pulled his camera Yukio had so graciously bullied the idiot three into retrieving (along with his bag in general, but homework was hardly important) and started to flip through them as his son argued with Samael over the phone. Yukio, the ever-kind child, wanted to go and help the injured, but Samael was stonewalling him.

Good, the crafty demon was already holding to his end of the deal. Even if Satan was sure the threat was gone, the fact that a fledgling had somehow spawned was worrying, no matter how impossible it was for another to appear without cause. And so Satan would hold to his end and follow the heavily implied order to not cause more trouble while Samael smoothed things over with sly words and probably a generous number of bribes.

"I didn't know you liked to take pictures." Renzo finally spoke up after watching the demon king fiddle with a camera for no less than twenty minutes.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," And he would be despised the moment anyone knew his true face. He expected nothing less, of course, "It's not like we actually know each other."

"Oh, come on, we're friends, right?"

"With you? Not a goddamn chance! Out of you three, the only one I like is Koneko over there." Satan drawled with a little wave to the boy in question without even looking up from his camera, ignoring the audible jerk at suddenly being addressed, "He knows how to not stick his nose into stuff he shouldn't. The rest of you are minions. At best."

Ryuji scoffed, "Like you could actually lead anyone and not get everyone killed horribly."

"And yet for some reason you're still here," The demon smirked at the Exorcist without any real malice, "following me around."

Konekomaru, while glad he hadn't been dragged into more bickering, couldn't help but feel exasperated at their behavior. "Fighting again?"

"I think that's just how tough guys like Bon and Rin express themselves. Something like 'our fists will convey our true feelings!' or something cliché like that." Renzo explained with a few unneeded hand gestures to try and make his point.

"There better not be any fists thrown or I'll separate them myself." Yukio declared with absolute certainty, angrily ending his call with Mephisto. He had, once again, been refused any offers to help and simply told to watch his brother. His brother who, despite grievous injuries, would be fine in a handful of days at most, and was already well enough to bicker like everything was normal despite not having been given any pain reliever stronger than aspirin.

That alone was yet another reason he refused to call any of the girls, especially Shiemi over. They would almost certainly realize just how much pain his twin should be in and that would raise too many questions. At least here, Bon's group had been completely caught up in the teen's sass and blasé attitude and forgotten just how terrible the injury had been, or held misguided assumptions of how far "acting tough" could take you.

"And why are you three even here in the first place? Your timing was way too convenient to be pure chance," Satan asked, only slightly aware of how much Yukio was thinking things over. All that mattered was that the boy stayed in his sight for as much as possible, everything else was secondary. But that didn't mean he didn't want his suspicions of meddling confirmed.

"We're only here because the headmaster told us that there was an emergency. If we hadn't gotten texts, you would've been left out on your ass out there." Ryuji explained, "Hell, we're only still here cause you're going to drive your brother into the ground if he doesn't get some help."

"Right, whatever you say." Satan said dismissively, though he privately filed away just how loyal they had grown to Yukio. That was good, and it made it a good time to sow some seeds of distrust, "Oh and do any of you ever actually remember giving the 'headmaster' your phone numbers?"

"Well no, but…"

"He almost certainly has a registry with the information on all cram students, Rin." Yukio explained smoothly.

Renzo spoke up, "And that includes our personal phone numbers? That's a bit creepy…"

"Rin!"

Satan jerked to attention reflexively at the familiar call, "What are you doing here, you shitty priest? Don't you have a job to do?"

"Would you stop calling me that already, you absolute trouble magnet," Shiro huffed, crossing the distance from the door to the bed with only cursory glances at the other children. He shared a nod with Yukio, "And why wouldn't I be here when I hear that you've gotten yourself injured! Again! I swear, you always throw yourself headfirst at things, and your thick skull isn't enough to save you forever!"

"I don't need your babying when I have Yukio to take care of me!" Satan gripped, swatting at any hands that tried to get too close. Shiro ignored his efforts and did his best to examine the demon without unraveling the bandages.

Yet the human was as irritatingly irrational as ever and, without a care of thought, turned Satan by the shoulders so he had to look at the priest fully.

"Are you really alright, Rin?"

"O-Of course I'm fine!" Satan bit out, "It isn't anything I can't heal from, you know!"

Red eyes narrowed, easily seeing through the bluster, "But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, right?"

Satan grumbled out something incoherent about pain and transience, but he glanced away from that too-intense stare. Even now, being cared for when he had nothing to offer in turn was strange to him. He was immortal and yet the fleeting humans with their rice paper skin and glass bones that took days to heal from even a tiny cut fretted over him. Not for status or political maneuvering, but because they wanted to.

(And they would turn on him when the truth came out. Everything would become less than void, and the Paladin who thought he could raise a demon would realize he was a fool.

Satan…didn't know how to feel about that anymore.)

Meanwhile, Samael had managed to corral the rest of the teens back into the hallway with a rapid-fire explanation of how they needed additional help, additional hands and helpers who were already in the know.

"Who's that?" Ryuji asked even as he was walked out of the room, "He looks pretty familiar…"

"That, dear children, is your esteemed Paladin, and foster father to the Okumura twins. And as you can see, we're currently intruding on a beautiful and tear-jerking reunion so-"

"Wait, what!? How come we're just hearing about this now, what the hell!?"

"Because there is something called 'extenuating circumstances' and 'nepotism' that have to be account for…"

The rest of the conversation was cut off as the door closed, though Satan hadn't really paid too much attention to it, too busy trying to ward off overly concerned not-father-figures. Yukio mentally resigned himself to the questions he would have to answer later, but otherwise decided that was a problem for tomorrow's Yukio.

Today's Yukio had plenty of problems, and that was perfectly exemplified by the seamless way Shiro ceased his pointless worrying and straightened up, suddenly deadly serious.

"How bad is it?"

"It's nothing to worry about!" Satan snapped, an impenetrable wall when it came to his own health, as always.

"If it was anyone else, I'd be worried that this wouldn't be enough, but since it's Rin, he'll be fine." Yukio diagnosed clinically, "He was already healing by the time we reached the Nurse's office and he'll probably have most of his skin back by tomorrow with minimal scarring."

"Excuse me," Shiro started slowly, yellowish light of the room catching dangerously on his glasses, "'most of his skin back'? What in God's name happened earlier?"

Before Yukio could go into painful amounts of detail, Satan sat up straighter and explained it, "There was a…thing. It, uh, melted anything it touched, and I…got unlucky."

A hand covered red eyes to fight off the pressing headache, "Jesus Christ, Rin."

"You heard Yukio. I'll be basically fine by tomorrow, so I don't see what the big deal is?"

"The 'big deal' is that you got hurt, Rin!" Shiro very nearly shouted, "I don't know why you think I don't care about you, but I do."

"I know that you fucking care, ok? Now piss off and leave me alone." And that was the problem, Satan lamented, ducking his head to look at the pictures on the camera instead.

It might have been awkward if Yukio hadn't only just resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Once the bickering had been something serious, something painful that had scared him, but now it lacked heat and the hatred that had once been there and was just the roundabout way his twin used to express his feelings without actually doing so, "I think what Rin means is that he doesn't know how to handle 'feelings' because he's supposed to be too tough for those kinds of things."

"Are you trying to be a damn shrink now?!"

"Hardly, but you don't hide your feelings half as well as you think." If anyone bothered to look past the delinquent exterior, they would find that there wasn't much that the elder twin could hide from them.

"You know I don't hide shit when it comes to my opinions. I'll let anyone and everyone know what I think of them, social niceties be damned!"

Shiro cleared his throat with an air of seriousness, though it was clear he was trying to not grin, "Yukio said you hide your feelings, not your opinions, Rin. You might act all tough and like some kind of wannabe badass, but we all know you have a soft and gooey center that you're just too embarrassed to admit you have."

It was a checkmate that froze Satan, but not for the reasons anyone thought. For it wasn't embarrassment that had him hide his heart, his true heart, but stabbing guilt at how ugly and rotten it was, soaked in blood and black. But it still oozed out between the cracks, gold and gore wrapped in one single form that should have driven away all who saw it, and yet Shiro had stayed there, by his side, even when Satan had wrapped his hands around that fragile neck.

The priest may not have known everything, but he knew that this demon was little more than a ball of insecurities and fears held together by bluster and anger and possessiveness.

(Satan had been so lonely for so long)

"So why are you here?" Satan sputtered, voice cracking at the rush of feelings at being picked on like the teenage mortal he appeared, "I know I talk shit about you all the time, but I know you're usually a lot busier than you let on. So, spill."

The topic change was as subtle as a car crash, but it was also an admission of defeat. Ultimately, Shiro knew that Rin would be fine, but he also knew he needed to constantly reinforce that his health mattered, that just because he could handle something, didn't mean he should. Something had gotten through and pressing much more would just lead to a shut-down, so Shiro would back off for now.

Besides, Rin had just all but admitted he knew that Shiro was actually an important individual in the Order. That was a rare victory indeed.

"I was called out to help examine the strange demon and determine how it managed to get past the barriers. Normally something like that would take days, but the demon vanished before our very eyes, and not a single bit of it was left."

"Vanished?" Yukio asked.

"Yes, it was like it was unraveling into the air, but we confirmed that not a single speck was hidden in the air of the investigation chamber. It's like it was erased, and we have no idea what caused it. Mephisto seems to have some suspicions, but he's being stubborn about sharing until he knows more. I'm certain he arranged for time for me to meet you just so I wouldn't keep trying to get answers out of him."

Satan frowned, looking like he was suddenly questioning Shiro's intelligence, "So, you willingly played into his hands?"

"It's not like I'm going to forget anything that managed to hurt you like that, Rin." Shiro said sharply, "I'm willing to give him time to do whatever research he needs to do, though. Making sure that that…thing didn't do anything to you is all I care about right now, anyway."

"Whatever, shitty priest…" Satan grumbled, looking away and at the oh-so-interesting wall. Oh, there was apparently supposed to be a blood drive in a month, how interesting and completely attention absorbing.

Yukio ignored his flushing twin, "So, you're saying it just…vanished?"

"Yes, it's like the world itself just deleted it."

Well, that was a scarily accurate summary of what had happened, but Satan didn't let his surprise show.

"So, what about where it came from?" Yukio asked, "If we can determine that, at least, then maybe we'll know what to expect next time."

"We aren't able to track it through traditional means, Yukio. When I say that it vanished, I mean all of it vanished. There isn't even a scent trail left to track, so we can only try and piece together any security footage and eyewitnesses." Shiro explained, and let out a long-suffering sigh, "But that's slow going, and people would start asking too many questions if dozens of priests showed up, so we have to wait on police reports."

"How do we know that this thing didn't just…appear?" Satan found himself saying before he could keep his mouth shut. He desperately wanted to explain the mysteries he knew, but now wasn't the time. But he had spoken up, and he had never been one to back down, "I'm serious, that thing wasn't natural, to the point I'm pretty sure it only way it could form is by reality breaking just a bit. And if it just spawned from the Godforsaken void, then that explains how and why it just vanished completely. It didn't belong, so it was erased."

Satan knew just how effectively Assiah would reject that which didn't belong. It was why he had struggled for so long to find a foothold that wouldn't collapse under his mere presence.

(A foothold built on a small mountain of corpses that he stood proudly on, little more than a thief and a destroyer.

He only lived because, impossibly, that woman still wouldn't be disappointed that he wore their lost child like a meat suit.)

The guilt was old and dull and didn't make Satan so much as grimace as it gnawed lazily at his heart, like a beast that had gorged itself but continued to nibble just for the sake of it.

Shiro shook his head at the notion that monsters could appear and vanish with equal ease. Even when working with demons all his life, there was always a source or a cause, "I hope something like that didn't just appear out of thin air! If it really did, then how are we supposed to prepare ourselves for another one if they can just pop up from the ground, fully grown?"

No, hiccups in the workings of reality only occurred every several thousand years or so without help, and even then, they tended to self-correct in a matter of minutes. If the fledgling hadn't vanished on its own, it almost certainly would have been devoured by things bigger and older than it by a magnitude of eons. But as it was, it was a blip, a myth that would be forgotten in a matter of decades.

Satan shrugged, "If it's falling apart so much that it just vanishes, then the problem solves itself, right?"

Unless it didn't, but if that ever occurred, Satan wouldn't hesitate to bring forth his full might, even if it banished him back to the very bottom of Gehenna.

It might scare a human to think that such a thing could spawn on its own, but it was much, much, more terrifying for something to be able to birth atrocities that were those forsaken miracles turned inside out.

Mephisto stood where the damned had once lain. There was no sign it had ever existed, nothing to confirm that it had been real except for some tapes and damages, and yet, his skin prickled all the same. It was just in his head, he knew it, but a primal part of himself drew up and hissed in vain at monsters in the dark.

Something like that could never be allowed to exist ever again.

Now, more than ever, he needed those blue flames under his control.

The afternoon started completely normal. Once again restricted to his room, Satan had grumbled and stared out the window at the nice and temptingly warm weather. With no classes for at least a week, with no worries or threats or even annoyances, it was too much temptation to ignore. His ankle was only a bit sensitive with nasty scaring that hadn't completely faded yet but otherwise had healed nicely. But he had to wear the bandages and hobble around for appearance's sake, and it was a nightmare.

Beside him in their shared room, Yukio diligently worked ahead in his classes. Once again, every single member of their classes had been called to work. It wasn't anything strenuous or serious, just busywork that needed to be done as the proper Exorcists finished cleaning up the True Cross attack incident. It was just basic training with few risks.

And yet, once again, Yukio hadn't been called.

While the others had been given a dozen assignments each, Yukio had only had a tiny handful, instead tasked with "overseeing Rin's recovery" by the Samael himself. The demon damn well knew that 'Rin' was fully recovered but hadn't changed his tune in the slightest.

Yukio wouldn't say it, but it was clearly grating his nerves. It was in the furrow in his brow, in the way he would glair at his homework, in the way he habitually cleaned and loaded his guns and then put them away with a resigned sort of air.

Satan looked outside and stood up.

There was no one from their class anywhere near campus, so what did it matter?

"Yukio, let's go outside and play around."

They ended up near the edges of the campus, Yukio still paranoid about being seen. It was close enough that the barriers and seals prickled Satan's skin like an electrical charge, humming and filling his sense like a storm ready to lash out if it was only just a little stronger, a little wilder. It was annoying and dulled his senses, but the heavy presence was also reassuring with how it loomed like the tall wall that it was. Kuro didn't enjoy the feeling at all, but the demon stoically worked through his discomfort.

After being forced inside for several days, Satan ended up running around like an absolute menace, so it probably was for the best that they were so far away from anyone else. Kuro was at his heels, not really understanding the game, but happy to play none the less. Roping Yukio into their play-fighting wasn't hard when such a thing had become second nature thanks to a childhood filled with sneak attacks and roughhousing courtesy of Satan himself.

Throwing a ball of dirt and leaves at Yukio might have helped get him in the mood as well.

"What are you, a child?" Yukio had asked calmly, purposely refusing to look at the stain of dirt over his left breast. Satan hadn't said a thing, instead reaching for more silently and without breaking eye contact.

"Kuro, stop Rin right now," Yukio said with such absolute authority that the Cat Sídhe didn't even question the orders.

Satan had approximately two seconds to realize that he had given Kuro orders that under no certain terms was he to listen to and prioritize Yukio over himself and that such an order would be followed through whether he liked it or not.

"This means war." Satan droned out for as long as he could before he was tackled by several hundred pounds of enlarged Cat Sídhe.

Kuro kept Satan pinned for the exact amount of time it took for Yukio to slip off his jacket and shake off his own stiffness. The annoyances from the past several days filled his mind and made a primal and savage part of him hiss and thrash in its cage. It was a part that was his cruelty and the part that reveled in violence for violence's sake, and undeniable proof that he was still just a bit demonic even without a trace of power. Once, it had scared him how quickly he wanted to hurt others, how deeply he had hated even from a young age. But Rin had taught him it wasn't healthy to be afraid of oneself, and if he could take so many things in stride, so many changes and pressures, then sure Yukio could survive.

It wasn't something others would realize, but Yukio liked to fight. And not with his guns and fancy weapons, those were so impersonal that he couldn't really make the needed connections, but proper grappling and punching and kicking and even clawing and biting. It fed a primal (demonic) part of him that, logically speaking, he shouldn't indulge. It was bad, it was giving into temptation and wrath, it was any number of things. But none of that mattered as Yukio carefully set his glasses to the side, well out of the way.

Because as long as they didn't go too overboard, it was also fun.

The elder teen managed to finally slip from Kuro's paws, rolling up into a half-crouched position that looked more like a coiled and dangerous predator than any sort of stance a human would take. Yukio looked blandly at his brother, eyesight blurry but not impossible to work with. In reality, he would never stand a chance in a proper fight, but, well, things like this were closer to playing in his brother's mind, even if Yukio himself had to treat it like a threat to his life to even have a chance.

Satan grinned, happy and drunk on the summer atmosphere. It was rare that Yukio so obviously wanted to fight, but it wasn't entirely unexpected considering how frustrated the boy had been. It was good to release the tension, or something would snap (and the world would go up in blue light).

Satan charged, inhumanly fast and ready to knock Yukio stupid. Humans were weak and fragile on their own, and so Yukio simply had to adapt. Satan was speed, so fast that he flew past without an easy way to stop when Yukio simply stepped to the side, an inch away from small claws. Satan jumped and twisted around in one smooth motion, bleeding momentum back into the grass as he skidded and tried to find purchase. He didn't even let himself properly stop before he pushed back up, trying to leap forward and-

Satan hissed, only getting a single arm in the way as Yukio spun around with a sweeping kick, very nearly knocking in his teeth. Of course, it was a foolish move, and Satan grabbed that leg, squeezing just hard enough to let his child know that he could have easily broken that ankle if he so wished, something like that wouldn't work on actual demons. It was around then that the black wall of power that was a Cat Sídhe crashed into Satan, knocking them both away, but resulting in Satan finding himself pinned once more.

Ah, a trap.

It was a far cry from the days when Yukio had been afraid to even throw a punch.

Satan grinned.

Some probably excessive amount of time later, Yukio was entirely sure that they had very much gone overboard. He groaned as he sat up from where he had fallen, numerous grass cuts stinging and several soon-to-be bruises on his arms, legs, and a rather nasty one on his side angrily throbbing. There was also the rather ridiculous bite mark where Rin had bitten his hand like an angry cat that was smarting. Speaking of which…

Satan grinned and waved from the top of Kuro like he was on a mountain, demon tamed and exhausted without even a flicker of blue flames. Despite the early victories Yukio had claimed, the tables had been quickly turned once the king of demons did what he did best and adapted. Conquering would have come in short order if he hadn't purposely drawn things out for the sake of exercise and education.

"You did good," Satan chimed, sliding off Kuro when the Cat Sídhe whined that he wanted to sleep, "I still win though."

"Of course you do…" Yukio grumbled, only just resisting hissing as he made his way over to his glasses. Defeat stung more than he would admit, but he was too tired to care too much. Honestly, he didn't mind being hurt or the prospect of pain, but it wasn't at all fair that while he would be smarting for days to come, the proper half-demon would be up and ready to run within an hour. A vicious part of him had hoped that that still-tender ankle would have given him an edge, but of course, it hadn't mattered.

But life wasn't fair, and for every boon the elder twin had, Yukio knew it would bring an even greater number of banes one day soon.

"You're thinking too much." Satan quipped, walking over and making to bop Yukio on the head. His hand was caught and batted away easily, "Lie down and relax already, that's why we're out here, right?"

Yukio watched blandly as his brother sprawled out on the sunny grass, stretching before relaxing, "So first you bite me and now you nap in the sun? Are we sure you aren't becoming a cat?"

"'m not a cat, I just like how warm it is today."

It was also ridiculously humid, making the heat cloying and heavy. Yukio knew that they both had to be absolutely disgusting with sweat and dirt and that they should really get a shower. In fact, now was the perfect time before his brother somehow, impossibly, used up all the hot water in their entire dorm. But he was also tired and aching and honestly, there was no one around to watch him act so childish.

In for a penny, in for a pound, Yukio thought as he relaxed and slowly drifted off to sleep. He at least had enough presence of mind to set an alarm. Kuro, now only the size of a typical housecat, curled up between the two boys.

Satan awoke suddenly, familiar presences bearing down on him, smothering him with memories and emotions before he even opened his eyes. He was on his feet in a second, Yukio cautiously rising beside him, refusing to do anything to agitate the new arrivals. Even through the hum of the barrier, the atmosphere was thick with power enough that he was certain that everyone on campus had to be feeling it.

They were right there.

Impossibly, they were right there.

Satan wasn't ready.

"Oh? How convenient that you'd be here just in time for the show." Teeth, too sharp to form a smile that was anything but a feral grin, "It'll be a lot less annoying if I have to track you down before I get to kill you."

"We…We aren't supposed to…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll just char him up a bit, ya know? Besides, the rest are free game, aren't they?"

Before him, separated by only a paper-thin barrier and illuminated by a half dozen Seraphim, they were there. Two opposites, one tall female, short-haired, and daringly dressed in an open flame-patterned coat and leather, while the other was a short male with long hair and equally long and conservative, flowing clothes that nearly swallowed him whole. People liked to think that they clashed, and they did, but somehow, they stood together more often than any other of their kind.

Before Satan stood Iblis and Egyn.

And he wasn't ready.

"Do you want to run?" Iblis called out, and behind her, the Seraphim brightened until they blotted out the world.

Chapter Text

Chapter 36: Set Ablaze

"This sucks!" Shima started as he looked up from his phone, finally done texting or playing games or…whatever. Bon wasn't sure, but the slacker had pulled the damn thing out thirty minutes ago during the end of their assignment and hadn't paid attention even after they arrived back on campus. Bon had been about a minute away from snapping the phone in two since he kept being ignored in favor of it.

"I thought that when we got certified, we would get more interesting work." Shima continued, blissfully oblivious to Bon's almost-realized plans to smash the very phone he had just slipped back into his pocket, "I wanted to do more than file papers and carry supplies!"

"You've hardly done anything today! Hell, we finished up without you!"

Konekomaru rolled his own shoulders, still feeling stiff from leaning over so much to make sure things were in order, "We were only just promoted, Shima, I don't know what you expected."

"I guess." The pink-haired boy shrugged. He cast a look in front of them, "Well, at least it's not nearly as frustrating as…that."

'That' was, in fact, Izumo walking a bit ahead of them, her mood so obviously sour that the campus felt gloomy, cheerful and warm weather be damned. She had been that way for the entire day, shrugging off or completely ignoring the others as much as she was able.

"Izumo really had been in a…mood lately, hasn't she?" The glasses-wearing teen tactfully stated.

Bon scoffed and glared at the irritable girl, "You can be honest and just say that she's being a bitch, Konekomaru."

The teen shrugged, not one to resort to name-calling so casually, "Do you think this has something to do with class the other day?"

It was a reasonable considering the sheer fuss that had been raised in class. Paku hadn't come back since that day and Shiemi had nearly burst into tears as she explained that yes, Paku was, in fact, serious about dropping out. The poor girl had been distraught, and it hadn't been helped at all with how livid Izumo had been next time they had met- forcing the two to be separated while working.

Shima hummed in thought and remembered something Yukio had said a while ago. He had stopped by shortly after their field exam, after Yukio had publicly apologized to Izumo and received a chillingly icy response in turn. It had been a random slip in a long explanation of what he thought they could do to work better as a team.

"I'm always worried about what would happen to Rin if we got into a real fight. He doesn't have any other real friends, and, well…"

It hadn't really been meant for him and was more Yukio voicing his general frustrations, but it had stuck with him. It had been a borderline non sequitur at the time, but its sheer randomness had made it stick with Shima, because it was random slips like that that showed what someone was truly worried about.

It hadn't made much sense at the time, but after thinking about it, it was clear just how it could apply to their current predicament. So Shima straightened and stretched, readying himself, and said with all the false cheer in the world. "It probably is related to that, but I'll go check to be sure!"

"Wait, what?"

He ignored the surprise of the others and boldly strolled over to where Izumo walked, matching his pace with hers. She glared up at him and refused to stop walking for even a moment, her eyes narrowed as she watched him from beneath her bangs.

"So, when are you and Paku going to work things out?"

It was bold and reckless, but Shima also knew he had a limited window of time to work with before things got ugly.

"Oh, that?" Izumo replied, voice flat as she peered at the teen, "We've already talked."

Well, that was a bit unexpected, "Really? I didn't hear about that."

"I don't have to tell you everything that happens in my life, you creep." Izumo sneered, and that might have been the end of it if Shima hadn't refused to break eye contact or drop his questioning look. Slowly, likely without meaning to, the came to a stop, "But, well, we talked, and we've decided that it's best if we go our separate ways. Paku said that she doesn't want to be an Exorcist, so it's not like we'll have time for each other anyway."

"Huh, that's it? You two aren't going to make up?" The pink-haired boy questioned.

"Why should we? It's obvious that things have changed between us and we'll be going our separate ways anyway, so it's good to end things on a positive note instead of dragging it out." Izumo explained plainly, though something bitter seeped out at the end. Before it could sink in, she shook her head and pressed on, "Besides, Paku even said herself that she was just being a burden and dragging me down! If she doesn't have the resolve to get better, it's not like I can do anything to help her."

You could only help someone who wanted to be helped. Izumo had learned that hard lesson long ago.

"That's such bullshit!" Bon shouted, red with anger as he forcefully inserted himself into their conversation, "I know that there's been something going on between you two, but what the hell, how can you go from always sitting together and talking and being friends for probably years to not wanting anything to do with each other in less than a week? What even happened, I'm tired of not knowing!"

"Nothing happened, we just don't get along anymore-"

"It has something to do with Shiemi, doesn't it?" Konekomaru stated, just a few steps behind Bon.

A less stubborn person might have backed off, might have tried to deny or at least frame things differently. But Izumo only flinched the tinniest bit before she regained her composure, "And so what if it does? Paku knew I wasn't an easy person to be friends with from the very start, I even told her. I told her that no one else would want anything to do with her if she stuck around me, but she did it anyway. It's not my problem if she finally gets sick of me and wants to make better friends- I'm best off on my own anyway."

"You felt threatened by Shiemi?" Bon asked, cutting off Shima before he could say anything, "But I'm sure she would have happily been both your friends, so fighting over that is stupid!"

"I don't think that's exactly it, Bon." Konekomaru shook his head, confused but at least knowing that much.

"Then why the hell did this become a contest or whatever?"

Izumo whirled around, "It's exactly as I said, and Paku will tell you the same thing: We don't get along anymore, so we're moving on with our lives!"

"Hey, Izumo." Shima suddenly spoke up, voice so light and cheerful that it cut through the serious atmosphere with ease, "Your hair color is natural, isn't it?"

The girl blinked at the sudden question, but felt reflexive defensiveness fill her, making her tense and ready to lash out, "What about it?"

"Well, I dyed mine because I wanted to, obviously." Shima started, idly tugging a strand between his fingers, "But, I mean, it must have been hard for you if you didn't get a choice. And I remember you said you're from a line of shrine maidens, so you've always been able to see demons, right? So, there's no way you weren't seen as 'that weird girl', right?"

It was silent as they all processed exactly what Shima has just revealed. Bon suddenly felt incredibly stupid- the source of Izumo's bitchyness and prickly nature had been staring at him the whole time, and he hadn't even noticed. Visible markings of power such as unnatural hair and eyes were sought after back home; they were a point of pride with a certain branch in particular, and it had never occurred to him that it might have been different with Izumo.

"And what about it!?" The girl snarled, all rough exterior and angry words so as to drive attackers away, "Yes, you're right, I've been completely unlikable since I was a child, so what about it?"

People were terribly cruel to even kids for things that they couldn't control, be it their appearance or place of birth. So that was the reason why...

"What was that?!" Izumo snapped, and Bon realized he had said that last part out loud.

"Hey, hey, there's no reason to get mad." Shima said, hands raised to try and placate the girl, "I was just trying to say that, despite that baggage, Paku was still your friend for who knows how long. She was your friend even when it meant she wouldn't get to make any other friends, too! So, you must really care about her, huh? Enough that you'd want her to be safe more than anything else, right?"

Izumo mentally stumbled, "That's…"

If things were only going to get more dangerous from here on out, wasn't it natural to try and protect your friends? And for a girl who had been hurt so many times, if the only way that made sense was to push them away because she simply assumed no one else would be willing to help, that was…

Well, it was a bitter realization for Bon that he really wasn't half as observant or smart as he liked to say he was.

Shima smiled, "I'm sure she feels the same! That's why-"

The world went up in white. There was a flash, a burst of light on the edge of Bon's vision that flared, ballooning up, and the world was suddenly white. People were screaming, but it was like the sound had been smothered by an eerie tearing, shattering, breaking noise that both did and did not exist. And then there was only confused silence and-

Blue.

It might have just been his eyes, still blurry and obscured by spots of light even minutes later, but he swore he saw the dying wisps of something dance over the top of a building so blue it turned the sky grey.

Something in him feared. He wasn't sure what, because that was impossible, but it gripped his chest. Without thinking, he took a step towards where he had seen the blue. To where the light had also originated, he realized.

The closest one to him, Konekomaru noticed first, "Bon, what are you doing?"

"Did you see that? There was blue fire over there!"

"That's…not good, is it?" Shima said with a gulp, barely resisting the urge to step back as if that would help him if the worst-case scenario had come to pass, "Doesn't that kind of imply…?"

"There are plenty of gases that burn blue." Konekomaru interrupted with a tiny, underlying waver to his voice born from fearful hope, "If there was an explosion, then that's almost as bad, though."

"Was that really that light?"

Bon shook his head, "I don't know, but we have to check it out."

"What, why?" Shima squawked, "That's like, really dangerous, even if it just some gas!"

"Because I'm sure that somehow, that idiot Rin is stuck in the middle of whatever that was. He's always at the center of trouble." Bon explained, "And if he's there, then Yukio is probably with him. Come on, before he gets killed."

"Right!"

"Wait…wait a moment! Don't- Agu!" Izumo shook her head and ran after the boys, helpless to do anything more than that.

Because she most certainly had not almost pleaded to not be left behind.

In hindsight, Satan had been ridiculously lucky with which of his children he had been forced to interact with.

Samael had been by far the easiest, annoying scheming aside. Their relationship had decayed long ago because they both were stubborn and simply couldn't get along. It was painful to deal with, but at least everything that had happened between then had happened when he had been awake. Amaimon and Astaroth were so far on the opposite end of the scale that it skipped right back to being easy to handle. He hadn't ever known them well enough to even properly care through the haze by the time they came back to him, and Amaimon had left to dog Samael's heels the moment he was able. Astaroth had stuck around like a tick but had had subservience and submission to Satan so deeply beaten into him by his mother that he had felt like little more than a servant. There was so little there between them that it would be easy to start over.

Iblis and Egyn, however, were the worst. There was so much there, so much said and done and yet he had also never done enough, slipping inward at the worst possible moments.

The light of the Seraphim's suicide attack had barely faded before Iblis made her move. She flicked her wrist and fire sprang into existence behind Satan and Yukio, trapping them like a wall. The king of demons didn't flinch or move any more than it took to put himself between Yukio and Iblis. It was a bit ridiculous since his spiritually malnourished body was currently shorter than both of them and did absolutely nothing to actually hide Yukio, but the movement was more to conceal his youngest so a gun could be unholstered quietly. Kuro had woken and gone deathly still, knowing instinctively that he was hopelessly outmatched and could only rely on the twins if he wanted to make it out alive.

Iblis stepped forward, past the jagged hole in the barrier, and sneered. "You're supposed to be the rightful heir? I don't think I believe it yet."

The fence of fire behind the trio suddenly snapped with new life and circled around them until it connected. Suddenly trapped in a ring of angry flames, they drew closer together as the walls around them grew in height until the sky was just a tiny circle some twenty feet above their heads. The heat was oppressive but nothing immediately life-threatening, unnaturally controlled and contained, and the spiraling motion of it all sucked away any smoke. The same motion that was also both drawing away and burning up all the oxygen around them, and he and Yukio would be left gasping in a matter of seconds and passed out in only a few more.

Satan reached his hand out to meet the wall of fine. His hand burned before he could turn the fire's existence into his own, singed as flames reached under his skin, but he didn't flinch even as his flesh bubbled and peeled. He simply focused and pulled, and then the flames were cool. Blue burst from his hand, spreading like dye in water and marking the flames a deep azure that spiraled up, hungry for crimson.

The sudden rush of power was intoxicating, but Satan let it slip through his fingers like grains of sand, let the fire burn itself out, unnurtured by his soul as it was. The tornado of fire faded, losing shape at the top and collapsing, and, for a second, it looks so very much like a blue flower, petals of light raining down.

Egyn had taken a step back at the casual display of power being usurped, but Iblis was unphased, "So, you've got some talent after all?" She called, mocking. Her slit eyes raked over his ruined hand, angry red meat peeking out from blackened holes and burned flesh, "But really, why are you still playing at being human? That had of yours has to hurt a lot! Wouldn't it be better if you just became a demon already? It won't mean anything if I beat you and you're still just a human!"

"I don't want to fight you like this, Iblis," Satan replied icily as he slipped free a single knife in his good hand. He flexed the ruined one and the flesh cracked and burst, blood and clear lymph leaking free. He could still control it, but a knife was out of the question.

It would be enough.

"Hey, doesn't that hurt?" Iblis questioned, sounding legitimately baffled at the behavior. After all, he was only meant to be just shy of human, but Satan never broke her gaze.

"Rin, what's happened to your hand?" Yukio hissed, unable to properly see from behind but he could smell it and that was even more worrying than seeing that melted ankle a few days ago.

Satan ignored them both because he had stalled long enough. Magic filled his senses, as shiny and whimsical as a bouquet of daggers wrapped with a heart-pattered ribbon, and very suddenly Samael was there and between them, a dramatic and completely unnecessary puff of pink smoke marking his entrance. Amaimon stumbled away from where Samael had quite obviously suddenly scuffed the younger demon to drag him away and looked curiously between the two groups.

"My, my," The King of Time hummed airily, poisonous eyes peering at the two invaders, "I was wondering just what sort of lizards had decided to sneak their way in."

"Headmaster!" Yukio gasped, relieved.

"You were slow," Satan said, unsurprised and unimpressed. Of course Samael would know exactly what was happening on his territory, it was only natural and Satan had relied on it so he could prolong his false life just a bit more.

"My deepest apologies, but I was handling a delicate interview when this occurred. I also had to collect Amaimon in order to be able to adequately handle this improvised family reunion." The white-clad demon frowned and produced a dark red handkerchief from absolutely nowhere and tossed it at Satan, "Do go ahead and cover that, would you? It's honestly a disgrace how often you get injured on my campus."

Iblis growled, "You little shit, you were stalling for time, weren't you?"

Satan turned his back on the enraged demon the moment he finished wrapping his hand well enough to hide the damage. It was a bold, normally suicidal move, and if Egyn hadn't been there, Satan was sure Iblis would have charged, Samael be damned. As it was, a positively seething hiss was their only consequence.

"Yukio, let's go."

"Right." Yukio agreed, knowing full well that he could fuss over injuries when they weren't at what was about to be ground zero for a fight between four Demon Kings.

Iblis watched the two children shamelessly flee, except something felt off. It felt less like they, no, Rin, had run because he had to, and more because it would simply more convenient. It pissed her off, but she comforted herself with the knowledge of their plan. Yes, Egyn was relying on her to play her part, and if she didn't then they were both doomed.

"Whatever." She spat and, without waiting for any proper cue, launched herself at the slouched form of Amaimon. Mephisto, that smug bastard, didn't even flinch as she flew less than a foot to his side. He was so confident in himself, so smug, so assured in his power and place in the world, she just wanted to shred his human body to pieces. But, for now, she would restrain herself.

"Don't die, Egyn!"

Mephisto let Iblis drag Amaimon away, knowing full well that he would lose to his older sister. Neither of them were all that clever (but then who was, compared to him?), though Amaimon was a fair bit slower while Iblis was aggressively average. With only sheer raw power on his side, it was sure to be a short but destructive match.

That was fine, because the more damage to the school meant more angry Exorcists who would easily be galvanized to 'protect the children' or some other drivel. Everyone always assumed that Iblis would be the one to spark off proper war, but few realized that while she might provide the fire, he would be the one to stoke the flames into a proper blaze

There was only one little wrinkle he hadn't ever thought would occur, "I'm surprised that you even left your little caves, Egyn. But I guess someone had to make sure Iblis didn't break her new body so soon, right? It must have been difficult to find one so soon after her little…unfortunate accident."

He smiled; teeth bared in the parody of a grin.

"Iblis isn't someone who can handle you, Samael." Egyn countered, voice little more than a whisper, but surprisingly steady.

"And you are? Really, honestly, you think you can fight me?" Mephisto sneered, peering down his nose at the fake child before him. Such long blue hair gave the illusion of fragility to an honestly frighteningly powerful demon. Yet that power was conditional at best and was restrained even further simply by who wielded it. There were ways around weaknesses, and Egyn had clearly found a solution for the sake of protecting his sister from a demon so much stronger and crueler than she could be.

But the solution was fragile and built on a lie.

"And how will you fight me when you won't even look at me, Egyn?"

Beneath bangs so pure they were almost crystalline; a simple white blindfold hid away fearful eyes.

Egyn stiffened but refused to yield. If he ran, Mephisto would rip Iblis to pieces in a matter of seconds as he had before. And while Egyn wasn't a match for the elder demon, Mephisto at least respected him enough to take caution, lest he ruin his own vessel. Mere physical contact was all Egyn needed to burst every blood vessel in Mephisto's body, even without revealing his heart. It was that very caution that gave Egyn a chance, for against a reckless fighter like Amaimon he would be crushed instantly. It wasn't even a case of poor elemental compatibility, Egyn just couldn't keep up with someone so headstrong and so little regard for themselves.

As long as he didn't have to look, he would be fine. If he didn't see, then he could remember just how well they had planned everything instead of having to see that mocking snarl. Their information was top of the line, he had three syringes filled and ready to be used, and they had even picked an ideal day.

After all, it was so very humid today.

The moment fighting started behind them, Satan had barked an order at Kuro to grow. With four legs and a not-insignificant amount of demonic power, a Cat Sídhe would be a good deal faster than Yukio. The only downside was that they would be a bigger target and would probably make a very confusing sight to anyone who technically couldn't see demons, but all of that was secondary to protecting Yukio. And so, Satan helped (threw) Yukio onto Kuro's back by the collar of his shirt, hardly slowing even as he jumped on, scrambling to take the forward position.

"Rin, what's wrong with your hand?" Yukio questioned once again, grim as he steadied himself easily enough despite the rough treatment.

"You have your gun, so watch our backs and make sure no one tries anything, Yukio." Satan instructed without pause. There was a moment of tense but expectant silence before, "It's nothing I won't heal from."

"Rin, every time you say that I end up worrying more and more because that means nothing considering how things are going."

"Exactly. It means nothing because injuries mean nothing to me so long as you're safe."

"That's not-!"

Whatever diatribe Yukio had planned for Satan's (completely natural, for him at least,) lack of survival instincts had to be cut short when Kuro very nearly ran over small gaggle of students as they rounded a corner. The only thing that saved what Satan quickly recognized to be the cram school students was a panicked leap over their heads by the demon cat, the sudden acrobatics very nearly pitching him and Yukio free.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" Ryuji shrieked, nearly tripping over his own feet to turn around and face where Kuro had landed.

"Are you two crazy?" Izumo shrieked.

Kuro hissed at the sudden yells of confusion, still on edge from the encounter with demons so much stronger than he was, 'I won't let you hurt them!'

"It's ok, Kuro," Satan soothed with a few comforting pats, pleased with the protectiveness even if it was unneeded, "They couldn't hurt us if they tried, but it's good that you're so careful."

"Whoa, what are you doing riding around like that?" Renzo asked, a nervous laugh chasing his words when Kuro glanced his way, "And, uh, he's not going to attack us, right?"

"We're being attacked by two Demon Kings, so Kuro's rightfully spooked," Satan explained, "It's Iblis and Egyn, if you're curious."

Predictably, chaos erupted.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What the hell are they doing here?"

"Was that the fire we saw earlier then? That's…"

Satan mentally counted down from five to let the worst of the shock pass before he made to interrupt them. However, a muttered question from Konekomaru caught his attention-

"It's so soon after that other attack, do you think they could be related?"

It would be impossible for the two attacks to be related, but of course humans would try and draw connections and patterns to make sense of the otherwise irrational (impossible) event that had taken place just a few days ago. Satan couldn't possibly explain how he knew they weren't related without bringing forth knowledge he had no right to have (knowledge of the damned, of a blessing inverted and turned into a curse beyond comprehension), so he shrugged off the question.

"I don't know, but, if anything, the timing is a good thing." Yukio spoke up, wincing as a fireball soared into the sky some ways away from them, "With school temporarily closed, most of the student body has gone home. That means that collateral damage should be at a minimum unless they really did want to keep innocents out of this?"

The looks of disbelief made it clear how little everyone believed that. The angry howl that rose up from somewhere a second before the ground heaved didn't help sell the idea that the demons would care about bystanders either.

Yukio coughed and eyed the road they had run down warily, "Regardless of the reasons, we need to evacuate. Rin and I need to pick up a couple of things and then we'll leave. In the meantime, you should all go ahead and meet us at the cram school."

Satan frowned, "Wait, what's so important that we can't just leave now?"

"Your sword, Rin." Yukio hissed, and oh, he really had forgotten about it again. It was hard to remember the sword's actual location when he could just rip through the seal at any given time. It honestly made it feel like he always had it on him, since the actual distance didn't matter anymore, "This is why I wanted you to keep in on you more!"

"Well sorry I didn't predict that two Demon King brats would show up and try and kill us!"

Renzo cocked his head, "Is that sword really so important that we can't just leave now? It can't exactly be a good idea for Rin to run around when he's still injured."

Satan made a show of rolling his eyes, even as he mentally made sure to remember to baby his ankle if he needed to, "That's what the cat demon is for, idiot."

"It has powerful demon-sealing properties and should be kept out of enemy hands," Yukio explained before the bickering could erupt. Before anyone could try and interject, he cut them off, "And you all should leave ahead of us- a smaller group will attract less attention."

Ryuji sputtered in surprise, "Someone trusted that idiot with something that important?"

The king of demons scoffed, "I'm just that important."

"Wait, we can't leave yet either!" Izumo suddenly interrupted, very nearly shouting, "Paku is still in her dorm since she didn't go home! She turned in her key earlier, so she can't just go to the cram school either!"

Renzo shrugged, sounding for all the world like he had things all figured out, "Well then we'll go find her then! After all, you two still need to make up, right?" He finished with a grin and a playful nudge to Izumo.

The plum-haired girl looked so painfully hopeful that she didn't even try and shove the boy away, "That's…"

Yukio barely resisted the urge to groan in frustration, stopped only by the knowledge that the girl's dorm was in the exact opposite direction of the fighting. It was a meager comfort when he was entirely sure the demons could cross the not exactly small campus in a matter of seconds, but he would take what he could get.

"Then it's settled. Rin and I will retrieve the sword, and the rest of you will go get Paku." Yukio instructed. Indecision and delays were the enemies here- the longer they stayed on campus arguing what to do, the more likely it was that they would be caught up in the fighting. The only real option he had was to give orders that no one would object to.

Ryuji frowned, "What happened to 'smaller groups', huh?"

"I doubt any of you will want to leave, so I'm not going to argue. Just be careful and stay out of sight." Yukio said, and quickly glanced at his phone, "We'll meet by the fountain in ten minutes, or the south gym exit if that's been compromised. Call if anything's happened, and make sure to take any other students with you if they don't know where to go- we'll worry about maintaining secrecy when lives aren't at stake."

The group nodded and separated, taking off for the girl's dorm as fast as they could. Yukio watched them go even as Kuro took off once again, grim determination etched into his face.

Satan twisted around to give Yukio a smug smirk, unable to stop the pride at the flawless way his child had taken control of the situation, "You sure are acting cool today, aren't you?"

"I'm not the one who argued with a Demon King." Yukio snapped.

"I wouldn't say I really argued with her. But you shouldn't worry so much. Samael will take care of everything, and if that isn't enough…" Satan huffed, imagining the worst-case scenario. It was virtually impossible, but there was only so selfish he could be, "…I'll pitch in and help."

"No, don't say that." Yukio argued, something so young and afraid as a certain fear crept into his voice, "It's not going to come to that, Rin."

"I don't think it will either." If he had thought so he would have had to drop everything to try and explain the truth before it literally burst free and brought forth fire and brimstone. It was a topic he was going to have to breach soon, someday far too soon, but he was nothing if not stubborn. And, for once, he desperately wanted to believe in Samael. "But, just in case it does come to pass, please promise me you'll still believe in me."

Yukio must have been able to tell that there was more to it than he could possibly see. It wasn't hard to imagine what might be bothering his fake brother in this situation, but Satan knew that they were all wrong in the most critical of ways.

"Of course I will, Rin."

Even with the reassurance, anxiety still curled in the demon's gut like an angry serpent, ready to crawl up to his lungs and crush his heart. When everything was built on a lie, Satan didn't know how well that belief would hold out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 37: Burn It All Down

When Bon and the others arrived at the girl's dorm, it was to the sight of vines choking several trees, charred bark visible under their winding grasp. There were several other signs of damage that the stray fire must have caused, but beyond that, it was eerily quiet despite the chaos taking place just down the road.

Konekomaru adjusted his glasses as he examined the clearly unnatural plants, "Do those vines mean that Shiemi is here as well?"

Bon shrugged, and mentally tried to piece together what must have happened, "I didn't realize she had work to do on campus today. But why is she here?"

"She…She must have been worried about Paku." Izumo muttered, bitterness on her tongue. But she refused to back down and boldly strode over a patch of smoldering grass, "Let's go."

The dorms were nearly silent, the polished floor and spotless interior exactly what one would expect of a high-class school. It was nearly empty, but several discarded papers and a jacket gave hints that someone had recently moved through the entrance, and quickly at that.

"Do you think they left?" Konekomaru asked, investigating a paper and seeing little more than chemistry notes.

Shima shrugged, "Let's find out-"

Bon cut the other off, opening his mouth to loudly bellow out a question into the seemingly empty dorm, "HEY! IS ANYONE HERE?!"

Shima flinched, covering his ears at the sudden noise as it reverberated through the spacious entranceway. He smiled fondly, even as his ears rang, "Well, that's our Bon, always making things simple with that big mouth of his."

"What did you just say?"

"Guys, this really isn't the time!"

Izumo turned to snap at the trio to be quiet when an answering cry rang out from deeper in the dorm.

"We're up here, on the second floor!"

Izumo was halfway up the stairs before the words had even finished. She spotted the room they had to be in easily enough, Paku's head peeking out from the doorway nervously. The plum-haired girl felt fearful anger surge through her as her worries were confirmed and puffed up in order to smother the black feeling in her chest as she stormed forward, "What are you doing here, why didn't you go back to the cram school?"

Paku stumbled for words and backed into the room where Shiemi sat on a bed. The blonde stood when realized an argument was about to break out, and quickly interrupted, her words spilling forth so rapidly that she was almost incoherent, "My key will only let me through! We tried to run, but suddenly the trees were on fire and the ground started shaking, so we decided to hide back inside!"

"And then what?" Izumo hollered, teeth bared in a snarl of anger, "You were just going to wait here until the dorm burned down!? Are you two stupid or something?"

Shiemi shook her head furiously no, "We believed that you would come back and help us!"

Izumo flinched away in surprise at the bold statement.

Shima, having followed closely behind Izumo without her knowing, awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, looking left and right and anywhere that wasn't the confrontation he had walked in on"Damn, you've got more faith in us than I do…Now I feel pretty bad."

Paku shook her head, "There's nothing to feel bad about, Shima. You all are just doing your best."

"Ah, if you say so…" The pink-haired boy muttered and pulled out his phone to check something or other.

Izumo ignored the pink-haired boy, knowing he was going to be as pointless as always. Instead, she finally caught sight of Shiemi's right arm wrapped in hasty but careful bandages, "What happened to your arm, Shiemi?"

The girl tugged her long sleeves back down to better cover them, "Oh, um…Well…"

Paku stepped forward, determined, "When the fireball hit the tress, she ran over to put them out and got a little too close. That's also about when everyone else ran away- seeing the attack and then watching big vines show up from nowhere surround the trees must have scared them."

Shima nodded once to Bon and Konekomaru as they joined him in loitering by the doorway before turning his attention back to the girls, "I was wondering about that…So I guess you found your dorm leader's medical supplies to treat her burns then?"

The brunette nodded, "Yes, I knew that she had to have some, so we came up here and, thankfully, she left her door open."

Shiemi spoke up, a forced smile on her face, "I'm perfectly fine, it doesn't even hurt a little bit!"

Izumo's eyes narrowed as she examined the covered wound. The sheer size and the careful way Shiemi held herself could only mean one thing: "Liar. That has to hurt a lot, right?"

"Ah, well I guess it hurts a bit…" Shiemi affirmed nervously before she shook off the hesitation, "But only a tiny bit! I'm fine to run or fight or help out however I can!"

Izumo laughed, sharp and dry and humorless, "You really are just like that, huh?"

"Hey now, now's really not the time to start something…"

Shima pulled the larger teen to the side and held a finger in front of his mouth in the universal 'be quiet' gesture, "Let them work things out, Bon."

"But Yukio-"

He held up his phone and winked, "I'll text him to meet us here instead, ok?"

Bon mulled over the idea for a minute, listening to the girls talk. Changing up plans wasn't the best idea when things were going to hell in a handbasket outside, but he supposed that things were relatively calm here, for now. And- "Fine, I guess."

"I'm…I'm sorry I've been such a pain to deal with." Izumo bit out, the apology sudden and unexpected enough that it took everyone by surprise, "To be blunt, I don't know how to handle people as nice as you. I keep thinking that it's either fake or that you need to grow up and get a clue!" The girl continued and her eyes looked back to Shiemi's burns, "But even after all this crap, you're still able to smile like that, and it really pisses me off! I still think you're too naïve, and I still don't like you because you're just way too strong. I really hate how easy it is for you to get along with everyone else, you hear me?"

Shiemi stared up at Izumo, her eyes wide with surprise. But it quickly shifted into something more understanding and she smiled, pure and happy, "I understand, Izumo! And that's why I still want to be friends with you!"

"I just said I don't like you; didn't you hear me!?"

"I sure did!"

-And Bon decided that he could wait a few minutes until the girls were ready. It was only logical that they stayed inside and away from stray strikes when they had such a large group- surely, they would be too easy of a target if they left now.

Paku laughed as Izumo flushed in confused embarrassment, "I think Shiemi understands better than you do, Izumo."

"You two…"

Bon gave up trying to justify his reasoning and nodded to Shima, "Sure, go ahead and let Yukio know then. I'll keep watch in case the fighting moves closer."

"That's good, cause I already texted him!"

"What the hell, why did you even ask me then?"

"I figured I should at least be polite!" Shima said with a cheerful hum, and, with a snap of his wrist, flicked his phone shut. He grinned, "Don't worry, I've already handled everything, Bon!"

When Satan and Yukio arrived at the nearly abandoned dorm, the king of demons didn't even wait for Kuro to stop before he slid from the Cat Sídhe's back. He jogged to the door and sniffed the air- his still mostly human nose wasn't the best, but he could at least rely on it enough to know that no demons were lying in wait. The smell of burning things, a great deep well, and an underlying fake sugar-poison pervaded his senses in general, but they were far away. He slipped in the door before Yukio could say anything and motioned for them to follow.

"Kuro, keep watch but stay inside. We don't need to give away where we are just yet."

Kuro shook himself once Yukio had slid down, fluffing the fur where the humans had sat. Happily, he shrank down and padded through the door, 'Got it! I'll be the best guard ever!'

When Yukio, clearly worried, stepped in and opened his mouth to speak, Satan cut him off, "Grab whatever you think we'll need, Yukio. I'll get the sword and clean up." And he made to head up the stairs, only for a hand to firmly grab the wrist just above his injured one.

The red handkerchief that had been crudely tied on made it nearly impossible to see the blood, but there was still a telling dampness. Yukio felt sick, "If you're going to treat your hand, you should let me do it."

Satan pulled his hand free without a single acknowledgment of the normally debilitating pain he was feeling, "It's really not a big deal."

"'Not a big deal'?" The younger, human, teen repeated slowly, letting the words really sink in, "Not a big deal?! Rin, I could smell your flesh burning back there, and you want me to just ignore that?"

"With how I am, it'll be healed in like a day!" Satan resisting even though the sight of Yukio's nearly hysterical face struck him like a physical blow, "So, compared to how bad things would be if you got hurt, yes, I don't consider it a big deal."

For some reason, this stopped Yukio short of whatever diatribe he had planned. He took a shaking breath and visibly forced himself to relax, "Why are you like this? Why, Rin? Why do you insist on acting like it isn't a big deal when you get hurt? Because even if it heals, it still hurts me to see you suffer. Especially when you did it to protect me!"

"Because maybe it hurts to see you worry over me too, ok?" Satan admitted, bitter not at the way emotion was still able to stab at his heart, but instead at his own inability to accept it. Emotions were a beautiful nightmare- sparkling as they cut into his flesh, and he clutched them so hard so that he never again forgot what it meant to feel. But it was a tricky thing, "It doesn't exactly feel all that fucking great to watch you try and put on a brave face so you can stitch me back together when I know you're trying to not gag! So, if I can just heal on my own, then isn't that enough?"

"So just because I'm not some superpowered demon…" Yukio started, slow and deliberate with his words, "…I'm not worthy to stand by your side?"

Satan recoiled, horrified. For as much as he wanted to lock Yukio away in a high castle, away from the grasping claws of reality and cruelty, he knew that wasn't possible. And so Yukio needed to stay by his side, if only so he could be within reach, "No, that's not-!"

"I know that's not what you meant," But a bitter (weak) part of him screamed and shouted that that was exactly what was meant, that he never had been good enough, "but I don't feel like arguing over your lack of self-preservation. Again. If you say you'll be fine, I know that you will be at this point. But, damn it, I still worry that one day-" Yukio shook his head, body trembling with emotion and fading adrenaline for a fight he was too weak to even begin, "Go fix up your hand."

Satan didn't chase after Yukio. He desperately wanted to, he really did, but he also knew that things like this were bound to happen. His child was growing and was no longer content staying smothered in Satan's admittedly long shadow- that was normal and healthy and something he had even taken steps to encourage. If he was overbearing then he would lose yet another child, but he also refused to be emotionally absent once again. So, he would let Yukio sort out his own feelings and frustrations and they would talk properly once things were less chaotic. Yes, that was why he didn't follow, and not at all the small shard of hurt in his chest.

He found plenty of medical supplies in the bathroom and literally peeled off the handkerchief from his hand, breaking open scabs and tearing away the loose, pussy, black flesh. He grimaced at his hand that had been turned into little more than a slab of overcooked meat and charred flesh. It was still oozing and weeping bloom and lymph at such a rate he was just a touch worried. Without much thought or a hint of hesitation, upended the entirety of a bottle of peroxide onto the mangled flesh and watched, detached, as the entire thing erupted into an angry hissing ball of bubbles.

He didn't cry out or even wince, instead letting the physical pain both simultaneously ground him and let his mind drift. Just what was the best way to make things clear to Yukio? He wanted to craft a perfect plan and have a perfect script so he could perfectly repair their relationship. But Yuri had told him that such obvious over planning came off as fake and insincere (and that explained so many things, so many failed apologies), and besides, he didn't know what specific issues Yukio would even want to talk over. There had to be plenty- relationships were messy and blurry when you didn't disregard all common sense and decency and let your very souls meld and commune on the most primal possible level. No, without such a perfect understanding, issues and problems had to be talked out in stages, picked apart piece by piece over a series of days, if not weeks, from what Satan had carefully observed. Otherwise, things would become overwhelming.

Overwhelming was something that he understood, at least.

Less than five minutes later saw his wounds treated and the sealing sword in hand. The sheath was suspiciously warm, heat rising up to meet his fingertips in a way that reminded him of the gaping hole where his flames usually were. There were still the tiniest embers, enough to sustain him, but he hated holding the sword as it was nothing but temptation incarnate.

He ignored it and met Yukio at the bottom of the stairs.

'Nothing happened while you were gone!' Kuro reported proudly.

Yukio, now ladened with two bags filled with who knew what, nodded to the other and tossed one of the bags his way, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah…"

A silence stretched between them, awkward and strained. Yukio looked calmer, but his eyes still continued to dart to Satan's hand, now so tightly wrapped with white bandages that he had trouble moving things properly. Or maybe it was the crude way he had stopped the bleeding- peroxide was a fantastic disinfectant but it also killed cells indiscriminately.

It would heal.

It had to.

They both began to speak as one:

"Rin-"

"Yukio-"

Their words smothered the other's and they both stopped in a vain attempt to let the other continue. After a moment, Yukio spoke up.

"Sorry, you can go first."

Satan wanted to say the exact same thing but knew that doing so would just lead them in circles. Besides, he was the older one, so he should set an example in some way. "Alright then. Well, I wanted to say that-"

The ringing of a phone interrupted them, the harsh squealing tones making the two jump in surprise.

Yukio dug into his pocket and pulled the phone free. Recognizing the number, he shook his head, "Sorry, considering the situation, I really should answer this."

Satan nodded, the words too heavy.

"Hello? Konekomaru?" Yukio started, brows furrowing in confusion. Satan could only hear static-filled chatter from where he was, but even he could tell it was rapid with raw panic, "Wait, I can't understand you, you need to-Konekomaru, what was that about Shima? Hello? Hello?"

"The call dropped," Yukio informed pointlessly, the teen more talking to himself than Satan. He pulled the phone in front of him and quickly went through it, rapidly clicking through his files and calls, "I don't see any messages from anyone else…I'm going to call him back, but we should..."

Satan stopped him from a potentially disastrous mistake and shook his head, "No, don't call him. If things really have gone to hell, you could give away his position if he's hiding. No, we'll head over there immediately and have the advantage of surprise."

"The advantage of surprise?" Yukio asked, picking up not on his twin's words but the cautious tone that he rarely heard, "Just what do you think's going on?"

"I really don't know, but…" But everything inside him was screaming that he was missing something, that there was an angle he hadn't considered. That feeling hadn't been wrong for over a millennium. "Something about this entire attack isn't adding up."

"I'm assuming you have a plan then?"

"I have some ideas, but we'll figure out the rest on the way there. Kuro!"

'Right!'

As they took off out the door, Satan filed away their almost-conversation away for later. It was clearly something important, the upwelling of ugly feelings that Yukio had been keeping hidden for some time. It hurt to know that he hadn't been seen as a confidante, but he also knew the reason why- he himself had to be the center of the problem. It was a frightening thought, but Satan would bear the weight (like he always did) and push forward. There was a crisis to solve, a scheme from Iblis and Egyn to stop, and a territory to re-secure.

They could always talk out their problems later.

"I have to say, I'm rather disappointed in you, Egyn. After how confident you were, I had honestly expected you to have something. Granted, you never stood a chance against me, but I respected your intelligence enough that I thought you might have finally figured something out. I guess my respect was misplaced."

Egyn panted and drug himself to his feet as best as he could. Cuts and broken bones healed with audible snaps and the wet noise of flesh moving back together. Overall, he wasn't nearly as hurt as his shaky movement would imply, and yet his left leg refused to respond properly, no matter how much power he forced into it. It was sluggish and lagged behind the rest of his movements by several seconds, and even then it only moved in slow motion. The culprit was a single piece of innocent-looking thread tied deceptively loose around his thigh.

Egyn didn't dare attempt to untie it- he liked having two legs, thank you very much.

"And with that, you can no longer run away, dear brother."

"I never planned-" Egyn began before he lashed out with unnatural speed to his side.

A millisecond of distortion was all the proof that Egyn had that Mephisto had tried to strike him.

It was a lesser-known fact, but despite being the self-proclaimed King of Time, Mephisto could not, in fact, stop time on a whim. Oh, he could alter the flow, accelerate himself to a ridiculous degree, and slow others, but actually stopping time took, well, time. It was a complex ritual that he typically needed hours to set up because time resisted change exponentially. And even his other powers were limited- they had ridiculously flashy tells, and Egyn didn't mean the visible ones Mephisto liked to add in to make things confusing. No, the smoke and sparkles were all extraneous details that didn't need to be there in the first place, but the feeling of power gathering, of the world bending to another's will, was unmistakable.

"I never planned to run away from you, Mephisto."

While Egyn was hardly in his ideal environment, the very air itself was saturated with water today, and it formed a veil that gave the water demon sight beyond what eyes could see. Air filled every single gap and crack in the world and the evaporated water let him 'see' a perfect outline of every single thing in the world. Every breath, every flicker of movement that might be otherwise hidden, even the subtle distortion caused by power. Every movement Mephisto made, Egyn could sense. Even if it was faster than he could process, even if it was something, he had no way of following, he let himself shift and react and reach for anything that approached him. None of Mephisto's larger attacks would work, not when Egyn could sense the air shift to make room for them, not when he could follow every twitch of a finger and every inhale needed for a chant. Meanwhile, all Egyn needed was a single brush of a finger, and liquid would violently explode, ripping apart everything around it.

It was how Mephisto very nearly lost his left arm, the skin violently torn and burned around his forearm. Only his ability to slow time and retreat had saved him from a grisly fate.

But even with everything possible twisted in his favor, Egyn was still losing.

Seeing the veil of water was easy enough, but being fast enough to react, and to constantly have his power activated and ready to unleash at the slightest touch was draining. His own body bore signs of decay and necrosis as it was destroyed by strength that was simply beyond it. He only needed to stall, but even that would be too much against a beast too far beyond him. Blows still landed, his body still broke far too easily, and his power was being drawn away to prevent curses from freezing him completely. He could unleash his heart and drown the curses, bring forth a storm and flood the entire school, but then Mephisto would get angry and there was a very real chance Egyn would truly die.

He had no other choice.

Egyn pulled free the first of the syringes, the liquid in it the color of blue moonstones.

"Oh, and what would that be? A poison you'll try and force into me?"

Egyn didn't respond and instead plunged the fat needle into his neck. No sooner than had the needle penetrated did Egyn's body violently lash out, trying to strike the foe that was already gone. Mephisto stood some distance away and frowned at the empty syringe, not a drop of the liquid left.

The King of Time tossed the syringe to the side carelessly. It didn't hit the ground.

"And just what was that? Yet another failed Elixir prototype? Do you really think such a small amount will make a difference?" Mephisto mocked.

"It may not be perfect, but you shouldn't underestimate my efforts! While the effects aren't permanent, this Elixir is a hundred, no, a thousand times more effective than anything you've ever seen!" Egyn shouted as his body healed his wounds, his degradation, and even lifted the strain of living itself as it went as far as to improve his body. He could feel it in his blood still, ready to restore him to beyond perfect condition for however long as it would last.

The foolish idea of a perfect Elixir was nothing new, humans always chased true immortality and there was plenty of inspiration in Gehenna, but Egyn had never seemed so sure as to directly use it on himself under such conditions. Mephisto watched him closely and could see the body healing its necrosis and pain, and yes, even he could admit that such results with such a small dose was somewhat impressive. But still…

"Oh really? Well then…"

Egyn jerked, but it was too late- Mephisto held the two other syringes between thieving fingers like cheap coins.

"Maybe I should test them myself? After all, this body has been through a lot recently, so it's only fair that you repay the damages you've caused, no? Well then, here we go…"

Savagely, he crushed the reinforced glass in one hand, electric blue liquid staining his gloves from between the crushed shards. Egyn gaped at the display he had sensed and, even though he could not see, he knew that Mephisto refused to look away even as he tossed liquid life to grass, uncaring at what he had just done.

"Do you really think I'm an idiot, Egyn?" Mephisto jeered as he delicately removed the soiled glove and stowed it away. It would be useful in telling him exactly what had been in the cocktail his little brother had cooked up, "I'll admit, if it was anyone but me, it might have worked. But do you really think I'm so stupid that I would assume that you haven't poisoned at least one of these after you made such a show of how effective they were?"

Egyn backed away, shaking now that his gambit had failed. Mephisto almost pitied the poor demon: he was far from an idiot, but he continued to insist on challenging his superior instead of accepting his place as a cowardly tinkerer.

"Now, now, if you're going to make such a face…At least let me see it properly."

The blindfold was pulled away, and Egyn screamed as his only defense was taken from him. His eyes, instinctively open, snapped closed and his hands came to shield them…but not before he caught a glance of Mephisto's mocking sneer. It was only a tiny sliver of a peak, but it was enough to send fear wracking down his spine, and Egyn tried to back away. But his cursed leg refused to respond, and he tumbled back and laid there, sprawled on the grass as he tried to hide.

"Honestly…" Mephisto began, taking his time to stroll to where the blue-haired demon had fallen, "You're so pathetic. All that strength, and yet you can't even stand to look your enemy in the eye." The elder demon crouched over the fallen false child and reached a clawed hand out until it was over Egyn's covered face. He pulled the tiny wrists away easily with one hand (careful to not let those dangerous fingertips touch him) and tapped a single claw with deceitful delicateness on an eyelid. Like a human unable to look away from their approaching death, Egyn's eyes, crystals of blue and seafoam green, snapped open and couldn't close, couldn't even blink, at the sight of an apex predator crouched over him, fangs barred and claws hovering just a millimeter from his eye.

"I should just do you a favor and pluck those troublesome eyes right out of your head here and now."

When Satan and Yukio arrived at the other dorm, it was eerily quiet. Someone else might not have noticed it, but Satan could detect the presences hidden just below his awareness, something that tickled at his instincts.

"There are demons here."

Found out, the demons- large dogs that dripped with shadows and electricity- leaped from their hiding spots. There were only three in total and they were dwarfed by Kuro's massive bulk, but the sight was worrying enough. Three was more than enough to handle any stray humans who happened to come by, and there was little doubt that they had by lying in wait.

"What are Black Dogs doing here?" Yukio hissed and kept his back to Satan's, gun trailed warningly at the demon that was trying to flank them.

"There're other demons here as well."

"What-?"

A scream, high-pitched and feminine, rang out from within the dorm.

There was too much power saturating the air for Satan to make out the specifics from so far away, but the underlying tint of incenses and earth was enough to let him know that at least one summons had been called recently.

"We don't have time for this. Kuro, you can handle these things, right?"

'These stupid dogs won't stand a chance against me!'

"Good, guard the entrance and make sure Yukio and I don't get blindsided," Satan instructed and did a mental check of his weapons, "Yukio, we're going to run for it. Whatever is going on in there isn't going to wait for us."

Yukio didn't question things, too worried for the others to argue against such a reckless plan, "Right."

The dash to the entrance was as simple as it was dangerous, but Kuro was a terrifying demon under the cute fluff and borderline ditzy demeanor. He snatched one Black Dog into his great maw the instant the twins leapt from his back and bit it nearly in two. The other demons kept their distance and growled menacingly, sparks crackling around their paws. Kuro's captured prey collapsed and dissolved into a semi-solid shadow that poured free from the gaps in the Cat Sídhe's teeth. It reformed some distance away, form drooping and slightly smaller, but otherwise uninjured.

Kuro hissed and refused to be intimidated.

Satan didn't think about it at the time, but much, much later, he would realize that the Black Dogs never once actually attempted to keep him and Yukio out of the dorm.

Anyone else might have hesitated and wondered as to where they had to go in the building. But Satan let his instincts guide him, the feeling of power and rage and fear guiding him to the stairs in an instant. It was simple enough to charge up the steps, taking them two at a time and yet deceptively silent. He could hear muffled voices, begging, pleading, all mixed with anger.

He nearly tripped over Konekomaru's limp body as he rounded the corner.

He paused only long enough to confirm that the teen wasn't dead- his breathing was even and strong though that didn't necessarily mean he was completely fine. Prolonged unconsciousness usually wasn't a good sign, even without obvious damage. A few feet away were the remains of a phone, a clean hole right through the screen like a bullet. Some ways down the hallway was Ryuji, slumped and unmoving against a wall. Signs of a struggle could be seen down the hallway, leading out of one dorm room and all the way to a common area

"Please, stop this!"

Shiemi, terrified and strained, Satan's mind cataloged as he took off without another thought.

There was something wrong, there was a plan or setup he didn't understand in the works and charging ahead was dangerous. But delaying and taking his time helped no one but his enemies, not when he could become a savage beast strong enough to tear apart carefully laid plans. Yukio would be his only back up here, and so he needed to know who he was facing as soon as possible so he could react. His dorm was old, but hopefully, the layout was similar enough that he would be able to use it as a reference point for the common room-

…Ah.

So, it was one of these sorts of scenarios, was it?

He hated dealing with these sorts of things more than any other type of scheme, plan, or tactic.

(For it was-)

The room was a mess, the walls and floor and even ceiling marred with deep scars. To the left sat the girls, Shiemi nearly kissing the floor as she doubled over in exhaustion, a tight and tiny wall of vines protecting them. They must have once taken up the entire room with the tangled mass, but even now Satan could see them withering, sick with something and their master too weak to support them much longer. Paku crouched next to her, doing her best to support the girl, a broken piece of wood that looked to be part of a chair leg her crude weapon. Izumo herself stood as tall as her shaking legs would allow her, only a single Byakko left by her side that was more mist than not.

(-it was a bitter feeling, something that he could never truly get used to, something that always hurt.)

Across from them stood people Satan had never seen before. They wore strange blue and red military-style uniforms that clearly declared some sort of unified goal. One or two seemed to be struggling and injured (so at least the children hadn't gone down easily, good) but overall it was clear that whatever fight had ensued had been incredibly one-sided. There were four of them: a frazzled looking redhead woman, an injured raven-haired man dripping blood everywhere, a giant of a brunet man, and a serious-looking woman with brown hair streaked with blond.

(And that thing was, simply…)

Satan stood and flicked a knife into his free hand, well-aware that he was the center of everyone's attention now. He let his human mannerisms drop and stared at the enemies before him, eyes cold fire as he carefully planned a way to kill them all with nothing but the handful of knives he had on him. The bleeding one smelled like a summoner who had been rendered ineffective if his injuries were anything to go by, while the redhead leaned on a jagged scythe that smelled of poison. They wouldn't be too much of a threat as they were. The huge brunet man easily ignored the small scratch on his arm, his hands wrapped in enchanted cloth that felt like a miniature ocean, and the serious-looking woman had some sort of staff and a strange sniper rifle of all things. Those two would be a problem, but they weren't the real issue. For right at the center of the enemies stood…

"So, you're a traitor, Renzo?"

(It was betrayal.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 38: And Lose Everything That You Love

Life, a certain girl had learned at a tender young age, wasn't fair. People, even children, were cruel to anyone who was declared an 'other', someone who lived outside of typical social norms. Someone with plum-purple hair who talked a bit too much about demons and shrines until she had learned to keep her mouth shut, but by then it was too late. That someone was the school pariah, the outcast who was to be both pitied for her upbringing and mocked for the resulting strangeness that everyone insisted wasn't her fault and yet she should still be punished for it. That was fine. She only needed her family, in the end.

For some reason or another, another girl, small and as plain as could be, joined her side and refused to leave. Even if she was a strange girl covered in bitter thorns, the other, ordinary, girl stayed. Those two girls never made any other friends, but that was fine. They only needed each other, in the end.

Life wasn't fair, and piece by piece that girl lost everything.

Her family was torn from her and her friend seemed to outgrow her. The girl was strong though, and she would bear the pain with her thorns to protect her. It was for the best that she was alone, she reasoned, because she only hurt those around her.

After all, Izumo would forever be the one who caused tragedy.

(If only she hadn't-)

And yet, for some reason, some reason she couldn't understand, she could still be forgiven. Despite how she had messed up, despite how she had tried to burn bridges and tear down every comfort she had known in a desperate attempt to punish herself, they were still willing to forgive her. Not because she had gone through trial and tribulation and repented enough to satisfy them, not because she had begged or because she had slain the great demon, but simply because they wanted to.

Izumo realized she hadn't truly understood the concept of friends until then.

And because life was unfair, it chose that moment when she finally felt she could begin to trust again to rip everything away from her.

When a stern-looking brunette and blond woman wearing glasses and dressed in a very recognizable blue and red uniform suddenly strolled into the room, flanked by three others dressed the same, Izumo had felt her heart stop. They walked with such authority and confidence that Bon and Konekomaru had let them pass out of confusion, having no reason to suspect that they were anything but a special division of Exorcists. Izumo couldn't speak, her heart in her throat and pure, primal, fear gripped her very being.

When Shima stepped over so he was standing by the intruders as if he belonged there, Izumo knew exactly what was happening.

She hated it.

"Izumo Kamiki." The woman began, authority practically radiating off her, "It's time for you to play your part."

"…No."

The denial surprised even Izumo. It was a foolish thing to want. There was nothing she could do against four well-armed and clearly trained soldiers, but her very being screamed out in denial. Not only was it far too early- surely, she would die if they tried to force things as she was- but she simply didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave when she finally felt like she could breathe properly around her classmates, she didn't want to drop everything and walk to her death in some vain hope she could take down a few others with her.

She wanted to stay here.

"No! I refuse. I'm not going with you!"

"Ah, Izumo that's not a good idea…" Shima said, laughing nervously as the tension in the room suddenly spiked.

The woman did not sneer, nor did sound in any way mocking or even confused. Instead, she sounded no different than Izumo imaged she would if she had nodded her head and accepted, "Do you honestly think you have a choice in the matter?"

"Hey, Izumo said she didn't want to go with you creeps," Bon said from where he stood in the doorway, body tensed as he read the room. Even if the woman in charge hadn't moved, her companions looked ready to fight the moment she said 'go'. And on top of that… "And just what the hell is going on here, why are you standing with them, Shima?"

"Well, about that…"

"Renzo is with us, now." The stern-looking woman, clearly the commander, said simply "We're here to collect Izumo so that she may do what she was always intended to."

It was a foolish, useless, thing to do, and Izumo knew it. She didn't stand a chance against them, and her actions could possibly put Tsukumo in danger, however remote that possibility was if she could trust that woman's promise. But she wasn't ready, couldn't possibly hope to bear the burden they expected her to, and her very being refused to accept giving into fate. And when she saw her…her classmates (friends, maybe, soon) tense around her, ready to fight without question simply because clearly didn't want to go with strangers who they didn't even know…

"I humbly call upon the gods of harvest…"

…It filled her with a foolish little hope that somehow, things would be alright.

"…To fulfill my prayers!"

(But life was cruel)

Things stopped making much sense after that. The summoning was like a gunshot and, as one, the enemies, the Illuminati, readied themselves. Bon charged into the room, screaming as he tackled the redheaded girl to the ground. The room exploded into motion after that, Izumo's Byakkos causing absolute chaos as she decided to take a page out of Rin's book and punch the Illuminati Tamer mid-chant. His nose broke, her own fingers hurt worryingly, but she didn't dare stop to think as she set her summons on him- the last thing they needed were more enemies. The sheer strength of Shiemi's Greenman caught their opponents by surprise, vines knocking them away and giving them a chance to run out the door-

Somehow, in the chaos, the brunette and blonde-haired woman had slipped out and Izumo arrived just in time to watch her shoot the phone right out of Konekomaru's hands. The small teen froze in shock at the pinpoint-shot that had missed him by mere inches. He caught Izumo's gaze, his eyes a fearful reflection of her own fear, and something sharpened within him.

"Izumo, run! Don't worry about-guh!"

The sickening whack as the Illuminati commander hit Konekomaru across the temple sent a jolt of icy terror through Izumo and, without thinking, she ran down the hallway, the others following her lead. Behind her, she could her Bon shouting and doing his best to grapple with the man that was nearly twice his size. His angry yell ended with a heavy, meaty, thud.

Izumo ran. They had guns- if they wanted to kill anyone, they already would have done so. But she quickly realized just how well this had been planned: there was no proper exit and the hallway dead-ended into a lavish common room. There were oak tables and plush chairs and a dozen other things between her and the closed double doors at the other side of the room. She threw herself against them, pushed and pulled and kicked at them but they refused to move.

Of course, they were locked in.

The Illuminati members filled in, almost casually, and stopped any chance to escape.

Izumo turned, shaking something fierce. Both Bon and Konekomaru had been taken down easily, and even their efforts to buy time had been in vain. Meanwhile, the Illuminate hadn't lost a single member, though Izumo felt some satisfaction at the way a few of them seemed to regard them with begrudging respect instead of the arrogant contempt she had seen before.

The commander did not sigh, but her disappointment was palatable, "Are you going to stop being unreasonable, Izumo?"

For a moment, Izumo thought about simply giving up. They were now both outnumbered and outclassed with their back to the literal wall. Maybe if Yukio or Rin or even that creep with the puppet had been here, they might have had a chance. But as they were, what could three scared girls do against a team of trained professionals? She had known it was pointless to resist from the start, but a part of her wanted to believe, wanted to finally be free-

Shiemi stepped forward, determined defiance filling her very being, "We won't let you take Izumo away- she's our friend!"

"That's right!" Paku added, "If she doesn't want to go with you, then she won't, and it doesn't matter who you are!"

They were three girls, small and weak children compared to the adults before them. But Izumo believed that Konekomaru hadn't run away without a reason- he had had his phone out, after all. Even if it had been destroyed, she had to hold onto hope that he had gotten through to someone. And so, if she could only stall, then maybe, just maybe, they would get out of this.

And if not, then Izumo wasn't so prideful that she was unwilling to offer herself if it meant protecting the others.

Self-sacrifice was nothing new to her.

The lull in fighting was something temporary, transient, and damned to shatter the moment someone made the first move. The girls were huddled in a knot in the far-left corner, backed up until they were practically pressed against the walls, clearly having been herded there what with how they were as far as possible from any possible exit. The strangers in uniform commanded the rest of the room, several standing a few feet in front of the open doorway to prevent any escape attempts.

Someone else might have questioned what Renzo was doing in the midst of the enemy. Some might have questioned if he had been blackmailed or if he was a hostage of some sort. But Satan read his body language in an instant, could see the ease with which he held himself, the lack of pain or panic, and he simply knew.

And as luck would have it, Renzo stood practically dead center in the room, in a position that put him directly across from Satan's claws.

"So, you're a traitor, Renzo?" Satan asked rhetorically, letting his too-blue eyes drift to where he flicked and spun a knife in his hand with deadly precision.

Renzo wasn't a complete idiot and could tell instantly that something had shifted when 'Rin' had shown up. The rather terrible feeling in his gut had no small part to do with the fact that the other teen was standing strong when he should have been crippled for weeks, and had gone scary still, like a predator coiling to strike, "I guess so. No hard feelings, right-"

Metal met metal, and the only reason that Renzo didn't die that day was because the redheaded woman had intercepted the knife aimed for his eye with the pole of her scythe. She was deceptively strong and didn't flinch when Satan slashed wildly for her throat, blocking the flurry of blows with grace despite her unwieldy weapon. Metal screamed and clashed with teeth-rattling volume, again and again, but the woman blocked him easily. That was fine.

All Satan needed to do was make as much noise as possible.

Yukio's head shot up from where he had been bent over Bon, checking him for injuries, when he heard the sound of fighting. It hadn't even been a minute since Rin had taken off down the hallway, hadn't been much longer since he had heard someone scream over distant sounds of a clash.

Yukio swore and hastily abandoned Bon's unconscious form in favor of pressing himself against the wall, gun held in unsteady hands. The fighting continued, grew louder as unfamiliar voices rose, and the teen forced himself to calm. Rin was loud and boisterous and vicious, so long as he himself was careful, Yukio was confident he could slip into whatever fight was going on without being noticed. Yes, he just needed to find a key moment to reveal himself.

Rin was counting on him, he was sure.

The brute of a man, nearly twice the height and thrice the weight of the teenage, spun on his heel and punched at Satan. The demon jumped unnaturally high and pushed off the man's shoulders like a gymnast, twisting in the air to land in a crouch some distance away and leaving the man to fumble as he overextended and regain his footing.

Renzo stumbled back and clutched at his chest, so very acutely away of how close he had come to dying. That had been…unexpected. Sure, he and Rin hadn't been the best of friends, but he had thought the other would have shown some hesitation. But no, he hadn't paused, and the pink-haired teen was sure there wouldn't have been any remorse if the murder attempt had been successful.

A demon indeed.

Satan hardly cared to give his enemies time to think and instead threw a knife at the woman with the bicolored hair- she was obviously the leader- before he had even fully landed from his gymnastics. To his complete lack of surprise, she wasn't someone who could be taken out by cheap tricks and she knocked the airborne blade away with her staff. That was fine, in fact, it was more than fine since the motion left her open for him to lunge at her, clearing half the room in a single leap. She was both fast and skilled enough that she could turn her movements into a spin, intent on cracking his skull open with one swift strike. But Satan brought his arm up to parallel and block the staff with a dull thud. It burned, it stung something awful (she was small but powerful and ruthless) but there was no crack of bone-like she had probably expected, like would have happened if he hadn't met the direction of the strike so precisely.

He had no knife currently, but he was perfectly fine snapping necks and crushing windpipes with his bare hands.

Something black launched itself into the air from where his shadow overlapped with the woman's, a basketball-sized grotesque bug of darkness with six legs that ended in raptor-like claws and a mouth full of wolf teeth. Satan recoiled and reversed his momentum so fast his human legs simply couldn't compensate, and he fell. The demon shrieked at him from where it had latched to the ceiling, leaped for him with its mouth opening in three directions and-

-A fox snatched it out of the air, the two demons hissing and shrieking as the white and black tumbled across the floor like a twisted yin-yang symbol. Satan glanced over to the girls. Shiemi had very nearly passed out and was almost entirely being carried by Paku as they tried to inch their way to the doorway, and Izumo…

Izumo was panting, clearly tired from how long she must have been supporting her summons, but her confidence was unwavering, no, it was being rekindled before his very eyes. She must have been so close to giving up, and suddenly, like a cliché drama, Satan had shown up and thrown himself at seemingly impossible odds without question. And he had been persevering despite being outnumbered, like a knight defending a damsel in distress from an army of evil.

"I'm going to help you before you get yourself killed."

Except the supposed damsel was hardly defenseless and refused to sit aside.

Satan huffed, "Focus on getting out of here or this is going to be pointless, you know?" And it would make it easier to violently kill every enemy and traitor here if he didn't have to worry about witnesses and (traumatized classmates hating and fearing him) other annoying things.

Satan rolled away from the scythe woman's strike and slipped between the giant man's legs to nimbly dodge the punch that literally shattered the floor inches behind him. The man spun and kicked Satan like an unruly cat, sending him tumbling across the floor and into a table. But the angle had been awkward, and it had lacked the sheer power needed to shatter ribs or even properly wind a demon, and Satan easily vaulted the overturned table and used it as a shield to avoid the blast of water.

The redhead scythe wielded swore, "What the hell, Renzo, I thought you said that he was 'grievously injured' and shouldn't be a problem!"

"Hey, I never said that Rin wouldn't be a problem, just to make things clear! And he was, I saw it! I nearly vomited and everything from it!"

Izumo gritted her teeth and ignored the wave of nausea she could feel building up as her summon fought. She didn't even have to win, but only had to outlast that stubborn Tamer who looked seconds away from vomiting, passing out, or both, and she wasn't about to lose now! "Rin, watch out for that bitch's scythe- it's poised or something! She cut Shiemi's vines with it and they started withering in seconds!"

Satan didn't bother acknowledging any of the conversations going on, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. It was nice to have confirmation that the scythe wasn't normal, though he really wanted to take out the summoner. His little bug was weak but its shadow travel ability was annoying even with the Byakko constantly chasing it away. But it was fast and, despite what many thought, even Satan couldn't keep an unlimited number of knives on him at all times, so any shots he made had to count, which was hard when there were no less than two admittedly talented fighters attacking him, and a third who could jump in at any moment but who was mainly doing a good job of guarding her summoner and traitor. Satan's eyes followed the bug as it darted around the room and he avoided his attackers, trying to predict its movements and-

BANG!

There had been a sort of unspoken understanding that, despite the fact that Satan could very clearly see guns being carried by virtually all of the attackers, those specific weapons would not be used. It wasn't from a sense of honor or fairness, but the fact that they clearly were interested in more than simply slaughtering some schoolchildren for shits and giggles. No, there was a goal here, a goal that needed at least one person alive and relatively unharmed (and Satan knew he was arrogant and self-centered, but he had a feeling he was starting to understand the plan here, and he didn't like it), and Satan was more than crazy enough to bring a knife to a gunfight. He was also fast and perfectly fine with close combat to the point that friendly fire would almost be a sure thing. So, to put it simply, they had no choice but to try and wear Satan down until he could be dealt with in a non-lethal way.

Yukio had none of those restrictions when he decided to shoot the summon midair.

It exploded into dust and ink and Satan felt some amusement as he saw the summoner nearly pass out when the connection was snapped. Once again, everything had gone very still, everyone very aware of the new arrival in the doorway, pointing a gun he clearly knew how to use at anyone who so much as twitched.

"Don't move." Yukio hissed and did his best to pretend it was rage that was shaking him and not fear. He had no idea what he was going to do if they didn't listen- was he going to have to shoot a person? He instead did his best to cover his anxiety with false bravado.

Satan, a demon with a body count higher than several countries' populations, was oblivious to the inner plight, "Nice shot."

The bicolored haired woman stepped forward, "Put the gun down."

"I said don't move!"

"You shouldn't point a gun at someone if you don't intend to use it."

"You…"

Satan sneered at the overconfident woman "You might want to reconsider your position, bitch."

"I know exactly what my position is." She replied and smoothly unholstered her gun and raised it to aim squarely between Yukio's eyes. "I don't think you do, however."

Satan threw himself in front of Yukio before he could think. Or, well, he tried to. Except suddenly something was wrong and everything he had ever learned was screaming at him.

It was one of those moments were everything just simply…stopped. Time itself froze as Satan's mind took in every single detail possible before disaster struck. The room was divided into two sides: the uniformed enemies and the terrified students. He was nearly dead center in the room and Yukio was just inside the doorway, the two of them doing their best to corral their opponents into the far corner by the window so the girls to slip out the exit that was behind them. Izumo was only a little behind the boys, doing her best to provide support while Paku and Shiemi were nearly at the doorway, leaning on the wall closest to the exit for support…

And that was it.

In that moment, he could see the woman seem to realize something had changed, her eyes widening as she looked behind her, out the window-

He couldn't see what the woman saw since the mountain of a man was perfectly in the way, but he could see light. Light and fire.

Oh.

The room was suddenly and forcefully invaded. The floor cracked and splintered as something crashed through the window- Iblis. The people in uniform scattered as she slammed right into the center of their loose formation and very nearly took out a few of what Satan assumed were her allies. He himself had to jump towards the window in order to dodge her tumble to the center of the room. She hissed, body alight with flames as she pulled herself up almost exactly where Satan had stood, and he would have thought it had been a surprise attack if she hadn't begun to clearly brace herself for something. But what-

Samael had dragged Amaimon into helping him.

Oh.

Satan tried to shout a warning, he really did, but it was too late.

This time, the room exploded when Amaimon, by far the physically strongest Demon King, dove through the window and slammed into the waiting Iblis with all the speed and destruction of a bullet train. Satan didn't even see the impact, but he felt its effects, yowled as the force knocked him clean off his feet and into the reinforced windows hard enough to crack it. He fell, limp and unable to properly breathe, his ears ringing and wracked with nausea so intense he very nearly blacked out.

Or maybe he did blackout, because the next thing he knew, the redheaded girl was leaning over him, her scythe ready to bite into his arm and flood his body with whatever poison she had made.

Yukio didn't know what happened other than that he had somehow ended up halfway back down the hallway moments after a Demon King had landed practically at his feet. His forced flight had been uninterrupted until he hit the ground, something that was a small blessing since it gave his body time to bleed off whatever momentum and had made the landing bearable. Somehow, he had managed to keep a hold of his gun, his first reflex to hold it tight to his chest, however dangerous that was. Yukio sat up with minimal dizziness and very nearly dropped said gun in shock.

Even from where he was, he could see that the room was destroyed.

Yukio ran.

The destruction was up-close: the room was now quite literally divided in two with a massive, gaping chasm that tore the floor apart and continued through the wall and deeper into the dorm. It was dangerously close to where Paku and Shiemi had been, and something terrible and sharp clenched his throat closed when he didn't immediately see them.

"Shiemi! Paku! Where are…?"

Yukio stood, still as a statue and the barrel of his gun trained dead center on the forehead of the massive uniformed man he had seen earlier. They stood with deceptive calm, the gash in the floor separating them, and Shiemi held like a doll by the scruff of her kimono over it. The hole wasn't very wide- maybe three feet and easy enough to cross- but it was more than wide enough to slip down through, and Shiemi, limp as she was, would fall. It wasn't likely, they were only on the second floor, but there was still the very real possibility that she would break her neck.

Yukio and the man both knew this. Even if he had the willpower to do so, there was no way he could shoot the man.

"Drop the gun." The man commanded and, when Yukio began to slowly comply, added, "Down the hole. Only then will I give you the girl."

It was hardly a second after Yukio had complied with a grimace that a scream shattered the tension between them.

"WILLIAM!"

It was an unfamiliar woman's voice, screeching in fear and raw pain just a few feet away. The huge man, whose name Yukio realized must have been William, jolted and, without warning, threw Shiemi at Yukio. The teenager gasped and did his best to cradle her head and neck as the force and weight sent him tumbling to the ground, his own head cracking painfully on the hardwood floors. He wheezed, winded and aching, but he gritted his teeth and gently pulled Shiemi off him and set her to the side.

The screaming hadn't stopped.

Yukio shakily stood and, after confirming that his only proper ranged weapon was indeed gone, took out his emergency knife and looked towards the noise. The redheaded woman was curled on the ground behind the protective form of the massive man, William. She clutched her profusely bleeding hand and whimpered, a knife clean through the palm up to the hilt, her scythe off to the side and useless to her now. William looked enraged, staring down a positively livid Rin who was practically on all fours, ready to literally pounce and rip open their throats with his sharpening teeth.

"Where is she?"

Rin was…beyond mad. He looked feral, like an animal set loose with his fangs bared and fingers extended like they were claws. He growled lowly like an animal, the noise rumbling and barely human anymore, and it was…

"Where is that walking carcass that pointed a gun at Yukio!?"

It was honestly starting to scare Yukio.

Satan was going to murder someone.

Oh, he was probably also going to have to kill every enemy here to send a message to whatever damn organization thought they could pull this shit, and Renzo specifically had to die before he told them anything overly incriminating (he wasn't sure that the pink-haired boy actually knew anything useful, but he was going to be sure) but Satan was going to very specifically murder one woman in particular. It didn't matter that it was a fight, it didn't matter if nothing had come from it or if it had just been an idle threat or a point to be made, she had pointed a gun at Yukio.

"Where is that walking carcass that pointed a gun at Yukio!?"

She, a woman whose name he didn't even know, had been the first to seriously threaten Yukio with something Satan couldn't correct. Oh sure, Astaroth had gotten handsy and there had been a good number of dangerous demons both before and after that little incident…but cuts, slashes, even stabs? Satan could account for those, because humans could heal and rarely were those truly instantly fatal. But a shot to the head, a quick, instant death that could steal Yukio's soul before he could anchor it? That was unacceptable.

Satan was going to break the very hands that had held such a weapon, pull out the tiny bones in her fingers shard by shard, and twist the sensitive nerves into knots he would then pluck like strings.

When the two fools in his way said nothing, Satan charged. His rage had brought forth the full force of the demonic power that had been slowly seeping into his once-human blood, and he focused it until he had claws and fangs. He left his wounds as they were- he was already pushing the crying seal with just this- and instead had forced his wounded hand to form a cracking fist around the hilt of his last blade.

The massive man did his best to defend, he really did, but even he clearly didn't expect Satan's new claws to cut through his uniform's front and rip through the skin underneath with such ease when the demon gracefully dodged the punch that could have taken off his head. When the man gasped in surprised pain and stumbled, Satan planted his knife in a thigh and slipped past him, leaving him to collapse as muscle was cut. A part of Satan was disappointed: he was pretty sure he missed the femoral artery by less than a centimeter, which would have nicely taken care of that threat in minutes.

But the demon didn't pause and completely ignored the redhead on the floor to rush his real target: Renzo who was cowering in the far corner like prey. Satan was angry, yes, but he was still completely practical and knew that traitors and spies needed to be killed before they could slip away, as those sorts tended to be good at surviving despite one's best efforts. And so he attacked, swooping down towards his prey like the apex predator that he was, fangs bared in a parody of a grin at the rush of power, the thought of eliminating a traitor, the simple satisfaction from a kill after so long-

BANG!

Human bodies were strange things. There was only so much trauma they could process at once, only so much sensation they could feel in one moment. It was such a problem that, for several seconds, Satan didn't even realize that he had been shot.

Sharp pressure in his upper back caused him to stumble and, for some reason, fall forward with far less control than he should have had. Pressure turned to the familiar feeling of warm blood on his back, and then burning fire. He realized a moment later that he couldn't breathe properly anymore, his breathing quickly becoming wet with the blood rapidly filling one of his lungs.

"What the hell?"

"Oh my God…"

He had been shot.

"He was going to kill you! He was absolutely going to kill you, what was I supposed to do!?"

Someone…Someone hadn't learned their lesson.

"The commander had a plan! Shit, that's a lot of blood. Did you kill him?"

People were shouting, but that didn't matter. Because even as Satan laid there, his human body rapidly bleeding out, all he could feel was anger. He would be fine, but what if one of those trigger-happy idiots had lost their cool and shot Yukio? He could at least handle a level-headed and likely hollow threat, but now that his worst fears had been brought into reality, now that the danger had increased beyond what he could handle and reasonably shield Yukio from (the bullet had passed clean through his chest, he was sure) well…

"No! But if no one does anything soon…"

Well, things were about to get a lot simpler. He would deal with the consequences later. Even he wasn't selfish enough to keep up this charade when the stakes had gotten so high.

Satan breathed in, and fire ignited in his stomach. "How…dare…"

At some point in the struggle, likely during the interruption, Satan had lost the sword. He didn't care, that was fine. Because the seal was already so weak that it would only take a minute to tear through the last layers and render all reinforcement it had undergone moot.

Flame filled his chest, grace flowed into his wounds and knitted flesh back together. His body ached as it was pushed beyond its limits, and soon, so very soon, it would be shattered and torn apart before being molded back into something more fitting for the king of demons, for the holder of the Blue Flames.

A part of him took a moment to grieve, for he would soon completely destroy the body of the child he and Yuri had made (and failed) and pervert it into something else.

But he knew, in the end, she would approve so long as he saved Yukio.

Satan pulled himself up slowly, almost mechanically with the unnatural way his body jerked. Renzo, having shuffled closer to him when he had collapsed, yelped at the sign of life and back right up into his corner again.

As much as Satan hated traitors, he had someone else to deal with first: the redhead bitch. He turned to her and must have made quite a sight with the way he was covered in his own blood, his eyes filled with fire and burning coals, "How dare you fire that gun!"

The woman, no, everyone still conscious, froze in raw, primal, fear. They knew that he was something beyond them with the way flames flickered in his eyes and between his claws as his power burned more and more holes in the seal with every passing moment. The Blue Night was hardly his proudest moment, but it had cemented his infamy with all Exorcists, and just the tiniest flicker of flames was enough to bring back those cursed memories. The woman cowering before him must have been affected in some way- her eyes were distant, gazing at a scene that was not here.

He knew she would not shoot him again, not until her nightmare finished repeating itself.

Satan would kill her before then.

The rush of blood, the pounding of his heart and the crackle of his flames was so loud that Satan almost didn't hear it. It wasn't as loud as a proper gunshot, but it was still a reverberating crack of thunder. And the pain wasn't what he remembered a proper bullet being, but instead something sharp and localized and-

Satan hissed and pulled the dart from his shoulder. It was strangely shaped with fuzz on the end and, of course, already completely empty. He growled like a true beast and strode forward: whatever poison they tried to use on him would be burned away in a few moments as soon as he broke the seal that was…

…That was suddenly slipping through his fingertips. The world spun and his power, while still there, was beyond his means to grasp. No, it was there, but he couldn't concentrate, but that didn't make sense, his grace should have protected him, he shouldn't be able to be affected by such things…

…This was…the ground…?

Satan's last thought as he laid there, limp and helpless to the sudden pull of darkness, was him remembering that his body was so fragilely human that superficial (corporal, visceral, earthly) damage could still affect him and smother his grace.

(And he had been tired for so long.)

What Yukio was seeing was impossible to him. It was inconceivable that…

In the arms of the enemy, as still as death itself, was Rin.

…That Rin could ever lose.

"…Let go of him."

Shock and horror had frozen him still as his mind had screamed in denial at what he was seeing. The sight of Rin being shot, not once, but twice and finally falling limp had seemed like a trick up until William had scooped Rin up and the teen hadn't snapped to life and retaliated. Yukio felt numb, horrified really, his heart so loud he couldn't hear anything but his own panicked breathing. He didn't even realize when he had gotten up and started running, jumping over the gap, his knife wildly slashing at their weakest member: the black-haired Tamer. Metal bit into the man's arms when they raised in self-defense, and the blade sliced through the fabric easily, drawing crimson that made something in Yukio sing. It was something dark within him that didn't care who got hurt so long as what was his was protected. It was the terrible part of him that cursed and hated and held no remorse, the part that scared him.

But it was also the part within him that was unbelievably strong.

Kill him stab him stop them before they take yoursyoursyourbrother-

Yukio ducked the clumsy and panicked retaliating swipes, instead turning his attention to William. His arms were burdened with Rin's body (so still) so it would be easy enough to slip under his guard, take advantage of his position and drive the blade right into his gut, twisting it just like Rin had taught him to spill free intestines and other organs in a way that would kill him in seconds.

(And he wouldn't regret a thing)

The bicolored haired woman reacted faster than even Yukio's frenzied thoughts could keep up with and tackled him. She was strong for her size and skilled enough that Yukio almost found himself pinned, but years of wrestling and practice let him buck her off without even losing the knife. She was on her feet faster than he could recover, and so when he finally looked up, still on the flat on the ground, it was down the barrel of a gun.

"You're going to do exactly what I say and nothing else, you understand?"

Yukio was not Rin. He could not stare down death and charge forward recklessly, nor could he ignore pain and suffering in order to push forward. So he froze like any reasonable person would do, yet he could not stop cursing himself for not being more.

"STOP!"

Before them stood Izumo, shaking and scratched and bleeding from a gash on her leg that was filled with splinters of wood. One hand was outstretched, her hands holding crumpled summoning papers like an offering.

"Stop, please just stop this! I'm sorry, I'll go with you quietly, ok?" Izumo pleaded even as it hurt her beyond all imagination to say those words. I'm dropping all the summoning papers I have on me right now, see?" Izumo continued, and let her hopes slip between her fingers and uselessly to the floor. "I swear I won't even give you any trouble when we reach the research labs. So please…"

Izumo was not an idiot, nor was she blind. She had seen the flicker of blue, cursed, fire, and suddenly everything she had ever wondered about Rin had fallen neatly into place. He was a half-breed, sired by the most reviled of demons who every single Exorcist feared and hated. He was the spawn of Satan himself, a cursed child who should have probably been slaughtered as a baby, a creature that was subhuman and something to be destroyed.

Izumo did not care about any of that.

She knew of the Blue Night, of course, knew about the damage it had caused, but, well, it had never directly affected her. It was something terrible, yes, but it also seemed so far away, like a fairy tale she was told to remind her that demons were nothing but evil. And maybe that made her a short-sighted fool, but…

But she also knew that Rin, who, while violent and dangerous and likely everything she should fear, was also a snarky, hot-headed idiot who would go to the ends of the Earth to protect his brother.

(His brother, who must have known what he was, but still cared so deeply for him, and suddenly things made so much more sense. No wonder Rin clung to his brother so fiercely, since he had to know he would be hated if anyone else knew the truth.)

Rin had also stepped in to protect her without any hesitation. And they had never gotten along, had honestly been one step short of enemies, but he also hadn't ever been anything but brutally honest with her. He didn't pretend to like her and didn't pull any passive-aggressive backbiting and well, maybe she didn't like him, but even knowing what she did, she had never truly hated him.

She couldn't possibly let the Illuminati get their hands on him.

"Please let Rin go!"

Her life was over, so the least she could do was bargain with it.

The commanding woman looked Izumo up and down, evaluating her. After a moment, she nodded, "Come over here then."

Izumo complied, hopping the gash in the floor. She stumbled but was caught one-handed by the commander and roughly pulled deeper into the heart of the Illuminati squad. Shima grinned sheepishly at her as he took her by the wrist, and she felt disgusted when she noticed that he had casually slung the sword Rin always carried around over his own shoulder like he owned it. Izumo summoned her bluster and scoffed at him- she had chosen her fate and she would accept it.

"Good. Now you…Yukio was it?" The woman stared down at the teen, never once wavering, "You're also coming with us."

Izumo stopped and felt something cold curl in her gut as she realized something terrible. Even if Yukio was nothing like his brother, of course, the Illuminati would still be interested in any and all of Satan's children, "What…Wait, what are you doing? I gave up, I agreed to listen to you!"

"You lost any negotiating power you could have possibly had when you decided to resist us. Now come on…"

While the woman had been talking, Izumo and Yukio's gaze met. She could see the confusion in the younger twin's gaze, his anxiety mounting at the open fear that had to be in her own eyes. She had seen what these people were capable of, and even if Yukio was someone completely human, that wouldn't stop them. If anything, the seemingly impossible complete split of traits between the twins would be more interesting to that sick, fat freak…

Izumo yanked her wrist free of Shima's loose grip and ran forward. She threw herself under the commander's raised arm and knocked into Yukio, shoving him as hard as she could. She screamed as her hair was snatched and her head snapped back as she was dragged away, but the damage had been done- Yukio had already fallen down the gash and to the first floor.

She howled in pain as she was dragged away, but she turned her agony into words. "Yukio, run!"

After that, let herself be roughly pulled to the ground and restrained, her face passive even as tears burned in her eyes. She was such an idiot who always caused problems for others, and now Rin was going to be left to the tender mercies of the freaks at the Illuminati.

But, at the very least, she was sure Rin would be happy that she had gotten Yukio away.

Chapter Text

Chapter 39: Failure

Yukio was a coward.

He might seem brave to anyone else, but really all they were seeing was the him that clung to Rin's overwhelming strength. His brother was simply so strong that anyone who was able to stand near him had to be brave to endure his chaotic personality. It was the only answer that made sense, right?

Yukio, running through the hallway, vision blurred by the tears streaming down his face, would disagree.

Instead, the reason he could stand by Rin was because he was a coward. He was afraid of what the world held, and Rin had promised to protect him from it all, even if it ripped his very being apart. If something ever went wrong, Rin would be there to save Yukio from his foolishness. It didn't matter if it was bullies or fairies or even Demon Kings. It was simply a rule of the world, no different from fire being hot.

Yukio was a fool to have internalized such a lie.

Yukio never once really thought Rin was capable of being defeated. It was foolish since Rin was only (mostly) human, and so of course plenty of things could take him out. Cars, knives, guns, diseases, a simple bad fall…all of those things were very real dangers to Rin. He should have expected this to happen one day, should have been ready for it, but, in the end, he couldn't be the support his twin had needed.

And so, Yukio ran away like the coward he was. It didn't matter that Izumo had gone to such length to give him a chance to escape, he should have stood his ground and figured out a plan (Rin wouldn't have abandoned Yukio) or, better yet, never have let things reach that point. He should have been more proactive, aggressive, and taken out their attackers directly.

He shouldn't have relied on Rin to solve everything himself.

"Kuro! Kuro, I need you!" Yukio howled the moment he shoved his shaking body through the doors and outside. The Cat Sídhe looked up, the remains of a Black Dog slipping between kitchen knife sized fangs like oil. The demon let out a rumbling purr at the teen's reappearance and dropped fading corpse like a prize, happily cooing.

It was then that Kuro must have noticed his expressions with the way he shrank back in surprise and meowed…something. It might have been a question or just distress, but Yukio didn't care. Rin wasn't available to translate. He wasn't there at all.

"Kuro, we need to leave. Right now, we need to run!" The words spilled from Yukio's lips even as he dragged himself on the Cat Sídhe with no grace, just a scrambling of limbs to pull himself up.

Kuro didn't move, and looked back at the door, expecting someone who would not come.

"Rin's not coming, Kuro!" Yukio shrieked, voice cracking painfully mid-word.

Distantly, he realized he was crying.

"Commander, are you sure it's fine to just let him get away? We could probably still catch him."

Izumo, pinned to the floor by a massive hand that dug into her scalp and twisted her hair, tensed as the words registered. No, she wouldn't let them have Yukio, not after everything that had happened! She didn't care that the giant of a man himself was restraining her, she would figure something out. Even if she had to bite her own tongue and draw the circle with her saliva and blood, she wouldn't let these people drag yet another sibling into this tragedy.

"No. That boy might not be the demon, but he's still human. With how scared he is, if we push him, he will shoot one of us even if he doesn't mean to. I have no interest in losing anyone when he was always a secondary target." The woman, the commander, replied coolly and slug the tranquilizer gun back over her shoulder. She looked over to where Izumo was being kept restrained. She frowned and, after a moment, gave another order, "William, be more careful with her. We specifically need her as undamaged as possible."

William nodded and, with surprising gentleness, untangled his hand from Izumo's hair. He guided her to her feet as if she were made of glass and even caught her when dizziness very nearly sent her back to the ground. A part of Izumo contemplated throwing a fit and purposely injuring herself just to spite them, but she was suddenly so very tired. It made sense: she had forcefully re-summoned one of her familiars even when they had been dispelled and had been beaten and bruised without taking a single second to stop. She had fought her very hardest and even if it wasn't enough to save herself, a part of her felt satisfied with the results.

Her eyes drifted to where Paku was slumped, knocked out by the blast. She really was just a normal girl that had been dragged along by Izumo's own selfish whims, but that was fine. Things weren't perfect, there were still a lot of things left unsaid between them, but they had reconciled.

If she was going to be honest for once, it was time for her to reconcile with her first broken bond. And if Izumo couldn't do that, then maybe she could at least put it to rest.

Homare Todo was the definition of a strong woman. She was strict, blunt, and what most ignorant people would call cold-hearted. It wasn't her fault that she didn't wear her heart on her sleeve, nor that she didn't give her loyalty as cheaply as others seemed to. It was easy to see how the Kamiki girl was steeling her resolve and sharpening her preverbal claws- she didn't do much of anything to hide it.

Homare did not care what delusions of revenge or a grand escape the girl filled her head with so long as she was obedient for the moment. Realistically, they were running out of time to complete their operation. Iblis and Egyn didn't stand a chance against Mephisto on his own, otherwise, they would have teamed up and killed him long ago. No, they would stall for as long as possible, which could be anywhere from ten minutes to two hours. But the moment they lost control they would cut their losses and flee. It was Homare's job to ensure that she and her team were out by then, whenever it was, otherwise there would be no escape.

Homare Todo was a strong woman, but even she took a moment to subtly steady her shaking hands. If Rin Okumura wasn't needed, she would have killed him on the spot. He was too strong, inhumanly so, even with his true power sealed. She believed in the Commander, but he had…changed recently. His light had dimmed, no, it had grown sickly even as his body had healed. He was stronger than ever, and yet he seemed distorted as his goals had shifted, like light refracting through water. It was something even grander than true equality- and Homare believed he could do it- but it lacked the sharp-edged focus that his precise focus had held.

Rin was nothing but a knife's blade wielded by a single-minded demon with no qualms with killing. With the power of Satan backing him, well, who was to say who was actually stronger?

No, she wouldn't think such traitorous thoughts. Rin was strong, stronger than her, and could kill her, she wasn't nearly arrogant to think otherwise. But Lucifer was practically a god incarnated and held millennia of experience. What could a mere child flailing blindly with an unrefined power do against him?

Besides, if all went according to plan then soon Commander Lucifer would return to his old self. Even if Satan was really dead, surely this would help him achieve the closure he so obviously needed.

Hands steadied, Homare looked over her team one last time. No one was too injured to move, though Robert, their Tamer, was so out of it he had to be led around like a drunk. Yua could barely hold her scythe and hadn't removed the knife from her hand, instead choosing to bear with the pain with only silent tears and quiet whimpers here or there. She would probably be off duty for weeks at least. William was well enough to carry Rin's limp body, though the wound on his leg hadn't stopped seeping blood just yet. Homare herself had taken charge of Izumo personally, though the girl was clearly well and truly defeated this time.

Their one bright spot was that Rin had brought the sealing sword with him, something Renzo had warned was rare. The pink-haired teen had decided to carry it himself, clearly eyeing the absolutely ludicrous layering of seals.

Yua took a step away from Renzo when he got closer to her, but she didn't even glance at his hurt expression. Instead, she eyed the patchwork of seals around the handle of the sword with obvious distrust, "Is a seal like that even going to hold?"

Renzo shrugged, "I think?" He said, unable to really make heads or tails of the overlapping, degraded, and then repaired seals that had been carved into the sheath.

"As long as he's sedated, he won't be a threat." Homare confidently declared while privately she could only hope she was right. She didn't have any reason to assume that the tranquilizer would work as long as they had been told. Six hours could be as little as ten minutes with the level of demonic healing she was seeing: Rin wasn't even bleeding from the gunshot wound he'd received only minutes ago. "We're leaving now."

"What about the other kids?"

In theory, more hostages could be useful, but the only way to ensure their own safety was now speed. So, "Leave them. They aren't useful to us right now."

Egyn was not a fighter but instead a thinker. Of course, in that way, Mephisto was still his superior in every conceivable way: He was smarter, braver, and had just enough whimsical madness sprinkled in to keep him from becoming predictable. He knew it, Iblis knew it, hell, virtually the whole of Gehenna knew it. But the most important thing was that Mephisto knew exactly how powerful he was.

It wasn't ideal, it wasn't what he wanted, but in the end, Mephisto did have a point. If Egyn couldn't stand to look at everyone else, if he anthropophobia kept crippling him, then it really was best to get rid of the problem. It was the older brother's job to help care for their younger siblings, right? Right!?

Egyn knew his thoughts were drifting, delirious from the pain. Only a single fact kept him grounded as Mephisto dug his claw into the paste that was once Egyn's left eye: human eyes were almost entirely water.

The sigil that Egyn had painstakingly carved into the back of his retina burned as it was disturbed. Mephisto, finger buried to the knuckle in the jelly of the eye, simply couldn't react fast enough. Not when he was in direct contact with the spell, not when he had trapped a part of himself in Egyn's absolute domain: the waters of his own vessel. Simply put, even the King of Time couldn't react faster than something that was instantaneous.

Egyn turned his pain outward and the water in Mephisto's hand violently evaporated. Steam expanded, cell walls caved, blood turned to mist, and muscle and sinew shredded itself in an instant. Even when contact was broken, the damage was already done, all that was left were the results. And in that instant Egyn screamed, felt his Heart tear itself free, and he pulled everything he could feel rushing under him up.

The pain was gone, and Mephisto was halfway across the field before the ground exploded in a geyser of water as the school's irrigation system erupted. Water flowed like a reversed waterfall, a roaring a sea serpent that had been freed from the pipes so forcefully it cut through steel and air alike.

Egyn never stood a chance against Mephisto, and Mephisto had known it. So, instead of fighting a futile battle, it had been best to pretend to be prey, pretend that all his tricks had been thwarted and to let himself be humiliated, defiled, and then snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Mephisto was creative, yes, but Egyn also knew him well enough and knew he had a twisted sense of humor.

Distantly, Egyn could feel that his body had become something other. With horns of coral and the glassy eyes of a shark, with scales and fins and hair that was more seaweed than strands, he was the cold, uncaring, abyss. Those that had crawled free from his depths would be dragged down, sink into black and-

With a deep breath, Egyn hid his Heart once more. His body shuddered as it shed its excess attributes and the water cocooning him become just a bit less defined, a bit harder to grasp in its sheer magnitude. His eyes, a pair once more, closed as the waves parted a bit and he felt the sold ground once more. It was practically raining and Egyn could feel the moisture on Mephisto's clothes, could feel his injured arms and the way they hung limp and borderline useless, and knew just how little difference such a thing would make.

But, still, "That makes two, Mephisto."

The moment was a long, stretching silence broken up only by the rush of water that circled Egyn slowly draining to something just a bit more manageable. Finally, Mephisto laughed, full of cruelty and cursed promises.

"I see, I see! I can't say I expected you to carve a sigil into your own eye, and just for me, too! Honestly, truly, I do feel flattered that you would go to such lengths! I do have to wonder exactly how much it hurt? You must have been stabbing at it this whole time from the inside out so that your precious Elixir wouldn't heal it, no?" Mephisto's lips pulled back over teeth that slotted together like jagged blades, and it certainly wasn't a smile, "No matter, this time I'll simply..ah."

Casually, Mephisto leapt away a mere moment before Amiamon's body cratered the ground where he had been moments ago. The King of Time drifted back to the ground as slow as a feather, gravity's grip hardly affecting him. In contrast, Amiamon sputtered as he flopped gracelessly over so he was no longer buried face first in the dirt and didn't do much more than twitch as he took stock of his burns and broken bones. Iblis landed between them and Egyn, beaten but the clear victor. Not that Mephisto had ever doubted her, but sometimes Amiamon could be surprising. Today just wasn't one of those times, sadly.

"I was wondering when you'd show back up, Iblis. Did you two have fun playing?" Mephisto asked, grin sharp as he already began plotting how to whip the Order into a frenzy over the attack.

Iblis, however, wasn't in the mood for games, not when she was tired and struggling to hold her concentration, "You're going to let us go, Mephisto. Otherwise…"

Iblis didn't snap her fingers or do anything equally dramatic because she didn't need too. Not when her power was her will itself and would obey her without fail. The explosion was some distance away, some mostly harmless roof corner that suddenly alit into flames and smoke. The damage would be easy enough to repair, but the threat was easy enough to understand.

Mephisto didn't flinch even as unnatural force and warmth washed over him. Instead, he turned to Amaimon's collapsed form, "You let her carve sigils around my school?"

"Sorry, I didn't notice…" The demon muttered, doing his best to drag himself up so he could at least sit, "She's probably cheating some way."

"Fire does make it easy to brand things, yes." And then, to Iblis, Mephisto cocked a brow, "And why, pray tell, should I just not kill you and eliminate the threat?"

"Because I've set them up like a dead man's switch. But you already figured that, or you would have tried to take me out." Iblis explained with a grin.

"There would be no "try", little sister. And that's hardly reason enough."

"You're right."

This time, Iblis really did snap, but that was, of course, a lie. Before she had even finished speaking, before she even began to snap, the swell of power could be felt. Egyn could feel Mephisto's rise in response, sluggish but forceful and strong, and the Demon King was simply gone. A half-moment later, the sky erupted.

Explosions were much, much, faster than most people realized. Expanding at several times the speed of sound at least, they were a pain for even Mephisto to handle. When one added in the fact that he had no idea how many bombs Iblis had laid and that they had already begun to detonate, well…He had a very messy situation.

It wasn't exactly easy accelerating his own time several hundred times over in a couple hundred picoseconds, but it also wasn't even close to impossible for someone of his caliber. It helped that he was always a fan of the motto "work smarter, not harder" and found it far more effective to cast the same spell again and again and again, having more time with each repetition. All said and done, and the world was at a stand-still for him. It was an eternity, hours captured in only a single second.

He only had a quarter of that to stop any real damages. Even less if he wanted to prevent damages to himself.

Normally, sigils could be easily neutralized by simply destroying them. But in this case, destruction was the goal, and doing so would just accelerate the process. And so, when faced with the first tiny brand burned into a brick, Mephisto simply pulled the brick free, careful to avoid the shining heat. He might not be able to properly feel the heat- thermal transmission still required time to pass, after all- but that didn't mean that he needed to do any more damage to his once beautiful hands. Any more and even he would struggle to heal without creating so much degradation that it looped right back to damage.

Iblis had been sloppy with her application, otherwise, she would have chosen better targets, keystones that Mephisto couldn't simply pluck free and gather up in a whimsical train of attempted arson that followed him to and fro. The real question was what he was supposed to do with the bombs. He had plenty of methods to hide away such unsightly things, but the strain of multi-tasking like that was…unwise. It wouldn't do to lose his concentration and fail.

With the light from the unfolding explosions growing incrementally stronger with every few "minutes" that passed for him, he knew he was simply going to have to make do. So, he settled for simply sending the bombs high, high, into the sky, as high as he could manage currently, so far up that even their collective strength would be dispersed well before it could reach the group and the fragile humans below. It might become a bit windier and a lot brighter for a few moments, but that was acceptable. He needed the rest of his strength to change his outfit from the rather rumpled (tattered, ripped, destroyed and bloody) mess that it was into something a bit more presentable.

He approached Shiro's frozen form, caught mid-order and decided on his more formal attire. The double-breasted coat, the lack of his whimsical cape and ridiculous hat made for a honestly stuffy ensembles, but it would be enough to signal to Shiro that things were a bit more serious. Serious enough that even Mephisto had decided to sit up straight for once. He would shut up and follow Mephisto's lead.

Shiro had had a sinking feeling that things were going to get worse the moment that that strange creature had appeared. It was something that had hurt Rin, something that's mere existence had clearly upset Mephisto, and he had no idea what it was. Shiro had refused to leave the True Cross campus for anything that wasn't absolutely necessary, not when he simply knew that something was brewing. It hadn't been very hard when he had personally headed the investigation, but as things settled and their leads continued to be dead ends, the pressure was starting to mount for him to give the job to someone else.

He wasn't sure if he was glad that things had spun out of control before he had to really fight to stay.

No, he was very glad that he was here to oversee the response team personally when Mephisto had sent out the alert before charging in himself. Some gun-ho idiots had wanted to get in the middle of a brawl between no less than three Demon Kings, probably more, as if they would do anything other than become paste! They were so ready to prove themselves or fight demons for the sake of it, and yet they forgot, no, they didn't even consider the completely innocent civilian children all around them. He knew that he wasn't exactly one to talk considering how he used to be, but you would think that it would be easier to remember when there were a dozen teenagers screaming their heads off after the ground started to shake.

Evacuations were important if only to limit possible hostages and to limit outside scrutiny. And frankly, Shiro just didn't like his chances against some very angry Demon Kings when he was so ill-prepared. There simply wasn't a reason to run headfirst into danger when he knew damn well Mephisto would jealously guard the school. And maybe he wanted to take the chance to find Rin and Yukio before they got dragged into a fight and Rin would have to-

Anyway, he knew that Yukio would be by Rin's side, making sure he didn't run around on what should have been a completely destroyed ankle where just anyone could see. And Yukio would have the common sense to run, and Rin wouldn't fight running away simply because that boy worried so much about his brother it frankly wasn't healthy. He would trust that they would keep each other safe, safer than the panicked students who had no idea what was happening. They at least knew what they were running away from.

Shiro scanned the crowd once more for the twins but couldn't see them. Well, he would just have to assume that no news was good news and push on.

"We need to-"

Suddenly he was looking straight down at the ground, a hand in his hair firmly keeping him from instinctively jerking away. He might have fought more if there hadn't been a sudden feeling of wrongness, and suddenly the world was far too bright.

Explosion, Shiro realized. But he was pretty sure that it was above them…?

He already knew who had decided to suddenly manhandle him, and he jerked away from Mephisto's grasp. The questions he had died in his throat as he saw the demon's attire, made all the more striking by the ball of fire high above and behind him. A warm wind washed over them, and there was no cape to dramatically sway, no hat to keep his hair in place, nothing but a long coat.

"Mephisto…?" Shiro questioned, throat dry as he did his best to not worry about the frankly horrifying implications of the fading fireball in the sky.

"I see you're having fun, Shiro," Mephisto said and threw an arm over Shiro's shoulders, pulling him uncomfortably close.

Shiro very nearly fell over when the friendly arm turned into nearly all of Mephisto's weight as the demon used him as a human crutch as much as he could without actually slumping. In fact, he was using their height difference as a reason to lean over just a little bit, to hide weakness behind friendship as if it were a shield.

How typical.

"I'm sure you're wondering about what that noise was all about?" Mephisto began, loud enough that the Exorcists rubbing spots from their eyes could hear, but not so loud that it would seem intentional, "Dear Iblis decided to leave us several parting gifts scattered around the school for us to find. Don't worry, I made sure to clean all of them up as part of my duties as headmaster!"

Even if he was an Honorary Knight within the order, that didn't mean Mephisto was well liked. He was valuable, yes, but there was a difference between being valuable- being a resource- and being a proper ally. Weakness wasn't an option for someone like him, so he would pretend to be fine, remind them all of his usefulness, and then hide himself away and lick his wounds. Shiro understood well enough that he didn't complain to being a living crutch and instead squared his shoulders to bear it. Things with Iblis must have gone much worse than expected, but he could get proper answers later.

"You call that shit a 'parting gift'!?" An angry brunet man screeched, angrily pointing slightly to the left of where Mephisto stood and rubbing at his eyes, "What the hell, that was like a damn nuclear bomb!"

"I believe you're drastically underestimating the strength of a nuclear bomb, good sir." Mephisto replied steadily and like he was address an idiotic but cute child. "But there is much to do now that Iblis is gone! An attack on a prestigious institution like this is unforgivable, and we can't take this lying down, can we-"

"DAD!"

At the sound of Yukio's panicked voice, Shiro turned so fast he felt Mephisto get thrown from his shoulder. He ignored the shouting and ran forward, screaming at his own men as they raised their arms against the rapidly approaching Cat Sídhe. A rational part of him knew that they were all already spooked so their reaction only made sense, but the larger, angry, part of him only knew that his child was screaming and scared, and oh, was Yukio crying?

"Dad! Dad, I'm sorry!" Yukio babbled as he slid off Kuro's back, shaking so badly his legs nearly failed him. When Shiro was close enough, Yukio practically threw himself into his arms, sobbing, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so, sorry!"

"Yukio, Yukio, calm down, I need you to breath." Shiro soothed, ignoring the incredulous looks he was getting. All that mattered was that Yukio wasn't ok, that something had spooked him so badly he couldn't stop shaking.

The lack of Rin was telling, but Shiro needed to know for sure.

"That's it, breathe in, then out." Shiro guided as steadily as he could. Even if these breathing exercises were originally meant for a certain someone's anger (someone who wasn't here, he was-) they were easy enough to adapt to panic. Yukio very much wasn't calm, but he only trembled the slightest bit now and not the full body shakes that looked like they would break him to pieces.

Shiro had to know.

"Now, what happened?"

Yukio took a breath. And then another, shakier than the last, but it seemed to ground him for just a moment.

"Some people took Rin! They shot him and took him, and I couldn't stop it!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 40: A Matter of Time

Shiro hadn't dealt with such chaos since the Blue Night.

When not one, but two Demon Kings decided to collaborate and attack anywhere, much less a (mostly) mundane school, people tended to sit up and take notice. When it would soon become obvious that the entire attack had been nothing but a ruse to kidnap a couple of (not at all) normal Exwires, people would start asking questions. Shiro still wasn't sure if the entire class had been taken, or if only Rin and Izumo had been. A dark part of him hoped that the whole class had been taken simply because it would raise fewer questions about the individuals, but Yukio's report, as jumbled as it was, had made it clear that there were targets, and, as injured as the perpetrators were, it was unlikely that they would weigh themselves down any more than necessary. Izumo was easy enough to understand: she came from a long line of shrine maidens with blood still potent enough that it marked her hair and eyes- there were plenty of reasons to capture her, even if the assault seemed like overkill.

That overkill became much more understandable if the prize was a flame-bearing son of Satan himself. How the attackers discovered such a thing, Shiro had no idea, so he could only assume the worst.

Shiro had no idea exactly how much anyone else knew about Rin. He knew that Mephisto had been laying the groundwork to (hopefully) integrate Rin into the True Cross Order as a powerful asset to combat Iblis directly, and, if needed, Lucifer himself. It was possible that the Grigori already suspected or knew outright and were already judging Rin's life, and, if they didn't, Mephisto had heavily implied that they would soon.

"Just leave the talking up to me. Don't worry my dear Fujimoto, soon I'll have an entire army ready to move hell itself to get Rin back."

It had been almost two hours of nonstop work organizing people and cleaning up and covering for Mephisto until he could stand without swaying and smelling too strongly of rot. Eventually, Shiro had slipped away, no longer able to take both the stress of the low-level constant panic and the guilt at how he had basically been forced to abandon Yukio with the medical team only minutes after his world-shattering revelation.

"An entire army to get Rin back, huh?" Shiro muttered as he looked through the pictures on the digital camera from where he sat in the boy's dorm. If an army was willing to retrieve one boy, then that same army would be willing to do whatever it had to keep that boy. And Rin was-

It may have been Rin's personal camera, but it was mostly a photo album of Yukio. Yukio studying, Yukio petting Kuro, Yukio asleep at his desk and drooling on his textbook, Yukio awake with a sticky note stuck to his cheek and glasses askew, Yukio's eyes wide open as he looked dead at the camera, oh and there was a blurry action shot of Yukio reaching out to try and take the camera away. The next half dozen devolved from there, ranging from a blurry picture of the ceiling and the fuzzy shape of what could have been either an arm or a leg, to an overly bright picture of a wide-eyed Rin where the flash had clearly been used as a weapon, and an effective one at that if the next image of Rin clawing at his eyes was anything to go off of.

Shiro chuckled, scrolling through the madness until the pictures cycled back to the very beginning. A beginning where Rin took a surprising amount of nature shots, clearly playing around with filters and angles. Fuzzy pictures of birds on what must have been a far-off powerline, pictures of flower patches where one single flower stood in sharp focus as the others burred around it, pictures of the sky and of sunsets, and, oddly enough, a half dozen shots of an azure ballgown in a store window with the light shining in such a way that the layers of fabric looked almost ethereal.

Yukio was still there, of course, but it showed that there was a bit more there, that Rin could find joy in other, mundane, things. It showed that his eyes saw more than his brother, that he was more than a single-minded obsession pretending to be human. It showed undeniable humanity.

Shiro left the room not long after and took the camera with him.

"I'm such a failure"

It was the first thing Shiro heard when he entered the dark room. There was no one on the bed and no one in the chair. Instead, Shiro had to search for a moment until he spotted him: Yukio, curled up in a ball with his back pressed to the wall, as far away from the door as possible. By his ankles, Kuro stood and looked over to Shiro for a moment before he meowed, long and forlorn.

With a grunt, Shiro sat beside Yukio, wincing as his body ached from all the running around he had done. He ignored it like the stubborn bastard he was.

"You aren't a failure just because you got caught off guard, Yukio."

"I left them there." Yukio muttered without even looking up from where he had buried his head in his knees, "I don't even know if they're still alive or if those people killed them all. Why am I such a coward?"

"Yukio…" Shiro sighed as he felt his spirit ache at the raw guilt and pain evident in his son's voice. He had seen plenty of survivor's guilt before, had had to deal with his own, and it would never get any easier, "Those people that you faced were professionals who were ready for your entire class. They had planned this for weeks, if not months- there's no way you could have known or been more prepared. Do you think that you would have accomplished something by getting yourself captured as well? Without you, we wouldn't even know what had happened for hours."

No reply.

"You did the right thing, retreating, and no one is going to blame you for it. Didn't you tell me that Izumo told you to run? And I know for a fact that Rin would sacrifice himself for you in a heartbeat-"

Yukio's head suddenly snapped up, his face a mix of anger and sorrow and fear that washed down his cheeks as small rivers. He yelled, so loud that his body shook; "Don't you think I would do the same!? I want to protect Rin, and I've tried my hardest to get stronger! I've trained harder, I've studied harder, I've done everything right, but it just…! It just isn't ever enough…!"

Shiro put a hand on Yukio's shoulder and only then did the teen realize just how badly he was shaking. That revelation tore something small and fragile in him, and he looked away from Shiro's steady gaze, tears still flowing freely. He wasn't even sure if he was sad or angry anymore.

"It really never seems like it ever is, does it?" Shiro began after a long moment filled with more than one choked back sob, "No matter how hard you try, no matter how strong you get, there's always someone or something bigger and stronger than you ever could be. It's happened with you, it's happened with Rin today, and…and it's happened with me."

(A bonfire of blue and blood and-)

Yukio suddenly felt very tired and very small, like he was nothing but a child who couldn't help but cry. He really hadn't changed much, in the end. His voice was just as small as ever when he spoke up, "How is that supposed to make me feel better? Am I just supposed to accept that I'm never going to be as strong as Rin, that he's always going to be the one saving me?"

"Yukio, you and your brother are not the same person. You have different interests and different strengths, and, like it or not, you'll never be as physically strong as your brother simply because of your blood. But does that strength mean anything, when it's wielded by someone too headstrong to really think about what they're doing? Rin ran headfirst at people with guns, Yukio. He got shot because he was so sure of his strength that he didn't stop to think!" Shiro had very nearly lost it when he had heard that little tidbit, but now wasn't the time. When (he couldn't even entertain the idea of it being 'if') they got Rin back, he was going to have words with that boy, and he wasn't going to let himself be distracted by relief or snips or forced anger. "Tell me, when did everything go wrong when you were fighting those people?"

The real answer was the moment Yukio had let that woman draw her gun. If he hadn't hesitated to shoot even in her general direction, hell, if he had followed his first vicious impulse to shoot the hand he had clearly seen reaching for her gun, then maybe things would have gone better. He could have intimidated them (or killed them all, it was their fault they were hesitating to use their best weapons-) and shaken their moral.

The cynical answer was the moment that two fighting Demon Kings violently collided with the room the stand-off had been in. If things had gone on uninterrupted, Yukio wasn't sure what he would have done. Though, in the end, he probably wouldn't have had to do anything because…

"The moment their commander pointed her gun at me, Rin lost it."

It was that moment that he and Rin truly stopped working together. They hadn't had time to plan or to discuss tactics, but they knew each other well enough that it was easy to slip into the rhythm Rin had set and back him up. But the moment Yukio had been seriously threatened, as hollow as it had probably been, Rin had become a wild animal. He had gotten so vicious that Yukio hadn't known what he was going to do, hadn't known where to aim or how to help him.

Shiro very valiantly did not flinch at that news, "And I'm guessing Rin took that as well as I'm imagining?"

"I couldn't tell what he was going to do anymore. He charged right in the middle of them without caring that he was surrounding himself. And then…"

And then there had been blood.

Shiro didn't need to hear the rest to know what must have occurred. Instead…

"Rin is strong, Yukio. Stronger than you, stronger than even I am." Rin could have murdered him with his bare hands when he was just eight years old, at this point he could probably crush a skull with those same hands if he tried, "But he's reckless and loses himself to emotion too easily, and I think that today shows just how vulnerable that makes him. He thinks that just because he's a bit stronger than everyone else that he's invincible, and you have no idea how many times I've worried that something like this would happen. We might not be as strong as Rin, but we're the only ones who can protect him from himself."

"And when" Not if, things were far beyond 'ifs', "Rin unlocks his powers, it's going to be up to you to make sure he doesn't lose himself to that power because he can't control his emotions properly. Even when Rin was angry at that woman, were you afraid of him, Yukio?"

Yukio shook his head no. He had been scared, yes, but more because of how fast things had been spiraling, of the idea that Rin would kill people for his sake (of how he was more bothered that he needed that protection than the act itself) and how drastically he could change and the nagging feeling that it would be so very easy for Rin to completely lose himself if pushed any further. But Yukio had never feared that that anger would be turned on him, not for a single second. Maybe the rest of the world would be ripped to bloody and raw ribbons, but not Yukio, never Yukio.

"And because of that, you're the only one that can keep him from forgetting who he is." Shiro concluded, never knowing just how precisely he had summed up Yukio's thoughts and fears, "You're the only one who could possibly stand up to your brother, flames or no, and I don't think you understand just how amazing that is."

"…I don't think I can protect him from the world." Because the world itself would surely hunt him once the truth squirmed free.

"You don't have to do that, Yukio, you only need to protect him from his own fears and worries. You'll protect each other in ways that only you can. You're the only one that can make sure that Rin doesn't burn himself out trying to fight the world when he doesn't have to if he can just control himself. And, of course, you can always rely on me, no matter what happens." Shiro knew it wouldn't be that easy, but a small part of him was happy for the incoming war. It would be an ideal time for Rin to prove that he was worth the trouble and casual sacrilege to the upper echelons who would control his fate. Combined with the unconditional love the twins had for each that would prove Rin's human heart, and just maybe they would be granted a peaceful life when the fighting ended if only to keep them out of the way.

In a way, Shiro held proof of Rin's heart in his own hands, wrapped in hard plastic and glass. But he had received enough proof over the years, enough to counter the anger and insults and tiny fingers curled around his throat with memories of happiness over simple things, begrudging complements and flustered 'thank-you"s along with small hands intertwined. So, it was easy to hand the camera over to Yukio, "Here. No matter what, when you think of your brother, I want it to be what you see in these pictures and not what anyone else tells you."

"These are going to be mostly of me."

"I suppose so." Shiro said with something that wasn't quite a laugh but was a little more than a huff, "Maybe you'll see just a bit of what Rin and I see in you then."

Yukio wasn't comforted, far from it. Really, the entire conversation was a mess of an attempt to comfort that had been twisted by the reality of the situation. They had no way of knowing what was going to happen to Rin now, and for all they knew, he could be tortured until mad and then set back upon the very people who were meant to be his allies. The sick part of Yukio had yet to stop imaging all the horrible things people could do to someone the deemed a demon and thus less than human. If that happened, if the sky crashed down and painted the world blue, then it would be up to Yukio to stop it. He would have to make sure that Rin, for all his power, didn't destroy his future in a blind rage. That probably wasn't what Shiro had meant to imply, but Yukio hadn't once stopped thinking about the absolute worst-case scenario that this would bring.

Somehow, Yukio would have to navigate the fallout as people called for Rin's blood, regardless of if that worst-case scenario even happened. Because Yukio knew that this façade wasn't going to last past this crisis. Their enemies had all but declared war on them and Yukio wasn't nearly optimistic enough to think that they were going to keep avoiding breaking the seal for any longer when the Demon Kings were willing to directly attack now. Even if they got Rin back without anyone even getting singed, even if the seal broke under absolutely optimal and controlled conditions, everyone would still hate him. Rin was a demon, the son of the King of Demons, why would they trust him to not snap one day like his so-called father had and burn them all on a whim?

(Except, a tiny part of him thought, Satan hadn't started burning people just because he had gotten the urge. He had never been told outright, but he was a smart child. Yuri Egin had willingly carried Satan's children, and suddenly, right around when he and Rin were supposed born, the Blue Night occurred? It really wasn't a hard conclusion to come to: it was less of a leap of logic and more a light skip to realize that Satan had been-

Quietly, Yukio slipped that truth back to its dark corner where it sat right above his father's implied role that night.)

Rin would do literally anything for Yukio, his whole world centered around his younger brother. And that was frightening, but also…

"Dad. Thank you."

It wasn't what his father, Rin, or anyone else would ever want, but Yukio had the inkling of an idea of how he was going to secure Rin's future.

Shiro clearly had more he wanted to say, but at that moment the door to the room slammed open so suddenly that he jumped to his feet. Yukio could only flinch and reach for a gun that had been confiscated hours ago and he winced when he felt nothing. He understood that the doctors had been warry about his mental state, but without his one real means of protection, he felt vulnerable.

Mephisto stood in the doorway, as proud and ostentatious as ever, "What ever are you two doing sitting in the dark?" The lights flicked on even though his hand was nowhere near the switch, "You shouldn't be sitting in such a dreary setting like this! Up, up!"

The demon practically spun into the room, pristine and white as if the fight mere hours ago hadn't nearly crippled him. Yukio was vaguely away of Shiro's odd, disapproving glare, but the thought was lost when most of his class filed in behind the teacher. They stopped the moment they saw him and stared.

"Yukio…?" Shiemi breathed, voice wavering just a bit as she took a tiny step forward.

She sported a few small bandages on her hands and one on her cheek, but beyond that, she seemed fine. In fact, the entire class looked remarkable well-off considering what had just happened to them. Konekomaru was practically untouched, a small gash on his head his only visible wound, though he rubbed nervously at another likely hidden under his sleeves. Paku had a large welt on the side of her head and an assortment of bandages along one arm in particular, while Bon was the only one who looked like he had gotten into a proper fight, what with his black eye and a smattering of growing bruises on his arms and a slight limp.

Somehow, they were all fine.

Well, not all of them.

Bon frowned, "Hey, what happened…?"

It took Yukio a moment to realize that he was still curled in a ball on the floor. Combined with his still burning eyes, ruffled hair, and rumpled clothes, and he must have made a truly pathetic sight. Yukio sharply stood and wiped his eyes with his sleeve coat as quickly as he could manage, "Nothing's wrong, I've just been-"

So sick with worry that he had wanted to crawl out of his skin and hurl. But not for any of them, not like he should have been even when he had seen them rendered unconscious by unknown and possibly deadly means.

"-thinking."

Bon glared at him without heat, "We already know about what happened to Rin and Izumo. So, you can stop trying to play tough guy here. It isn't exactly convincing when you've clearly been crying."

"Bon, that's…"

"No, Bon's right. I've really been so worried that I wasn't able to control myself. I'm sorry for abandoning you all and running away like a coward." He stiffly bowed, happy to have an excuse to hide his face a bit longer, "Please accept my deepest apologies."

"You've got to be kidding me." Bon grumbled, obviously not satisfied, "Hey, Yukio."

Yukio glanced up hesitantly. He had only a moment before a punch caught him right on the jaw hard enough to send him staggering as the room erupted into shrieks and gasps. The teen would have fallen if not for the wall behind him that he stumbled into with a grunt before catching himself with one hand, the other coming up to gently cup his chin.

Bon was furious, eyes bright with anger and shaking a bit with rage, "Do you really think we're mad at you that you couldn't take half a dozen guys on your own!? You saw your brother get shot, who the hell wouldn't be freaked out by that? Just because your brother is a freak of nature doesn't mean you need to get yourself killed!"

Yukio blinked slowly and did his best to process what he had just heard. On one hand he was glad he wasn't going to have to catch everyone up to speed and recount what had happened but on the other hand… He turned to Mephisto, "Exactly how much did you tell them?"

Mephisto, as unphased as ever by petty human drama, smiled dangerously as he kept a firm grip on Shiro's shoulder, "Enough that they know what happened, but not why Rin would be taken. I'll leave that part up to you, Mr. Okumura. If, of course, you feel comfortable telling them."

That…That was more than he had asked, and very quickly Yukio realized just how much of a problem that extra tidbit was going to be if Bon's frustrated "Isn't he just a dumbass?" was anything to go off of. The rest of the class were looking at each other, obviously confused and curious.

Shiro could see what chaos the demon had so effortlessly sewn and very nearly growled, "Mephisto, that's not right."

"Is it? Or have you forgotten that the brothers are still twins who share everything?" Mephisto said with such emphasis at the end that there was no way Shiro nor Yukio could miss what he meant, "Yukio has just as much right to that secret even if you pretend otherwise. Now come, we're both still needed, and the children need to talk."

Mephisto dragged Shiro out the door before he could say anything. In fact, Yukio was willing to bet that magic had been involved if the way the beginnings of protest unnaturally cut off was any indication.

Nervously, Konekomaru fidgeted, "That was…ominous."

Shiemi, filled with only innocent curiosity and more ignorant to social queues, was the first to ask, "What is he talking about, Yukio?"

Bon seized the chance, "Yeah, what the hell was the Headmaster talking about?"

"I can't…"

"You can't what?"

"H-Hey!" Paku suddenly spoke up, physically stepping forward so she could put herself between Yukio and Bon, "If Yukio doesn't want to tell us then we should force him to. If it has something to do with why Rin was kidnapped, then it must be a pretty big thing."

"If it's that important, then we should know! He's our dumbass classmate."

"But if it's that important then that means it was kept hidden for a reason! And that reason might be really, really personal and sensitive!" Paku angrily asserted, remembering how, one day, Izumo had simply stopped talking about her family. Years later, Paku had looked up what she could and found out that there had been a murder and she knew that if she had learned that back then, she wouldn't have stayed, "I'm sure you have things you don't want to tell everyone you meet, either."

"Yeah, but those things aren't going to get me kidnapped!" Bon countered, remembering how all his hidden things were the curses lain on his temple years and years ago and all the curses he had wished on ignorant fools out of anger, "We were already told that Izumo was taken because she wasn't lying about being a powerful shrine maiden, so I want to know what could be a bigger deal than that! What if it's dangerous?"

Because she was in front of Yukio, she didn't see his flinch, but Bon clearly did, "Bon, I don't think you're thinking clearly right now. What could it possibly be that's so bad we need to know?"

"I don't know, but we also didn't think that Shima was a goddamn spy." The teen spat angrily, watching as Yukio refused to meet his gaze, "So excuse me if I'm sick and tired of secrets right after someone I've known my whole life decided to betray me! I thought that friendship was supposed to mean something!"

By the end, he was shouting, caught up in his own anger and frustrations. Everyone remained silent even after he finished, hardly daring to breathe lest they set him off. It was in this silence that Bon realized how he was acting and, slowly, he deflated at the sights of their startled and frustrated faces. Yukio, in particular, looked moments away from bursting into tears as he focused intensely on a nondescript point on the ground, shaking a bit.

Even if he was rightfully suspicious after what the Headmaster had said, he really had gone too far, hadn't he? He could be told a hundred times exactly what had happened in excruciating detail, but Yukio had been the one who had actually seen it. And he had been hurt even more, seen his brother possibly killed, and here Bon was, digging deeper and deeper into the wound out of frustration.

"Yukio, I'm…I'm just…I just can't believe that this is happening and that that bastard, Renzo-! You don't…you don't have to tell me." Wasn't he supposed to be better than this, someone actually reliable?

Yukio didn't want to lose what he had built, finally surrounded by people he could be a little bit more open with and share a few more of his fears with. He desperately wanted to be truly open with them and to finally have someone else besides his father he could talk to about Rin. Someone who wasn't seeing the world through decades of experience and conflicting roles of responsibility. But he couldn't tell them the truth because he was sure even that would be too much. And yet it was only a matter of time before everything was revealed and then…

"I'm sorry as well."

"Yukio has just as much right to that secret even if you pretend otherwise"

Yes, that was right. It was so easy to forget because Yukio hadn't inherited (was too weak for) the most obvious signs of that burden, but it was still his.

So, instead of telling them everything…

Maybe he could ease them into the idea.

(It was a futile hope when Bon and Konekomaru had shared their past with them and how it was dyed blue. But Yukio was a coward and selfish.)

"Rin and I are part demon."

"What…?"

Konekomaru started slowly, clearly trying to fit the information he had given into something that was easy to accept, "The…True Cross has plenty of Exorcists with demonic ancestry, Yukio. It's not something all that uncommon or something we'd be upset by even if I know some people are prejudiced. It's actually where a lot of the more powerful bloodlines come from and…"

"No, Rin and I are half-demon, Konekomaru. We're first-generation Nephilim, and we're children of a very powerful high-ranking demon at that." Yukio explained without hesitation or pause. He had to tell them as much as he could, or else they wouldn't even begin to understand.

"With a high-ranking demon…? But something like that hasn't happened successfully in decades, possibly centuries!"

Shiemi raised her hand halfway, "Is that why Rin is so strong?"

"Yes. His power was sealed away so he could learn to control it, but even then, he's the strongest person I know."

"Strong enough to scare low-class demons…" Bon breathed, clearly remembering the ridiculous incidents throughout the year as the pieces fell into place.

Paku turned to Yukio and looked up and down, doubt obvious on her face, "But then, what about you? Aren't you twins…?"

"We are, but I didn't inherit my demon parent's strength. I've taken numerous tests over the years and there's no sign that I'm anything but human." Even if it would be easy to sweep it under the rug and pretend it had nothing to do with him, Yukio wanted to stay by Rin's side to the end. "But I'm still half-demon, even if I don't have the powers or the burdens."

"So that's why they took him…" Konekomaru mumbled, lost in thought.

"They were going to take me too, you know. Probably on principle, even if I'm nothing special. But Izumo helped me escape."

Konekomaru paled, looking for all the world like someone had just died in front of his eyes, "Yukio, I'm so sorry, please forgive me!"

"Konekomaru…?"

"I was the one who called you for help- you were the only person nearby I could think of who I was sure was nearby!" The shorter boy explained frantically, "But since Shima betrayed us, they must have known what I would do and let me go just long enough to call you and lure you there. So, I'm sorry!"

Yukio wondered if this was how others felt, seeing him apologize for something he had virtually no control over. It really was a special kind of frustration. "No, it's fine. You did the best you could given the circumstances, and you had no reason to suspect that we were target at the time. If Rin and I had told you, maybe we could have worked out a solution…"

Or maybe they would have just been outsmarted in a different, more dangerous, way.

"Wait," Shiemi asked, "but how did those bad people know? You didn't tell Shima before us, right Yukio? So how do they know?"

Paku gasped, "That's right, we're missing something here! Someone must have told them, right?"

Yukio shook his head, remembering the look of sheer shock on Shima's face when blue fire had flickered around Rin. Even if the attackers had known, the pink-haired boy clearly hadn't been informed, "Rin hasn't exactly been the most subtle with his strength, even as a child. If you consider our lack of proper parents and some of Rin's more…outrageous outbursts, it wouldn't be hard to put together if you knew what you were looking for."

Of course, Rin had decided that hunting demons made for a good hobby, but that was too much to explain and gave Yukio a headache to even recall. And while their exact birthdays may have been altered, but there was only so much you could change a newborn's age without raising questions. Not to mention that Astaroth of all demons had managed to find them years ago using nothing but the absolute lowest class demons and rumors, so an actual highly skilled organization? They hadn't had a chance.

"So, who is it?" Bon asked.

And there was the one thing that his classmates absolutely could not know, "That…I can't say."

"You're going to not tell us the most important part?"

"I may be half-demon as well, but, ultimately, people knowing won't affect me nearly as bad because I inherited virtually nothing." None of the strength, none of the bravery, none of the power, "People will forget what I am just because I have none of the signs. Rin should be the one to tell you because I know that once you know which demon it is, you'll look at him differently. So, he should get to decide if he wants to tell you at all."

And like that, the tension returned.

Maybe Yukio should have outright stated that they might never know which demon was his parent, that Rin might not trust them enough. But it was clear enough that Bon understood and already knew the odds of being told the full truth was low. If Shima was still there, he might have broken the tension with an ill-fitting joke or-

No, he wasn't going to let himself be bothered by the class' missing pieces.

"Yukio?" Paku asked after the silence became unbearable, "I was wondering why you have a camera. Is there something important on there?"

He had forgotten he had been holding it throughout everything. It wasn't his, but he had taken care of it enough that it felt natural in his hands, "It's not evidence, if that's what you're thinking. No, it's Rin's personal camera and I was just looking through it."

Konekomaru brightened as he recalled, "Oh right, he took pictures, didn't he?"

"He never took pictures of us," Bon muttered, and, without thinking, remembered what else had occurred only a few days ago. Funnily enough, it wasn't the bizarre attack that bothered him the most.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. It's not like we actually know each other."

He had thought that Rin was just being his usual bratty self, made extra bratty by being confined to a bed. But now, looking back on it, they really didn't know anything about him, did they? He had kept them all at arm's length, never saying anything about himself and had always been quick to get defensive.

Rin really had been worried about what they would think about him if they ever learned the truth the whole time, hadn't he? Bon really didn't know nearly as much about his 'friends' as he liked to think.

"Actually," Yukio spoke up, snapping Bon out of his self-deprecating thoughts with the sudden fondness in his voice, "He did, though they're clearly candid shots and probably incidental. Rin mostly takes pictures of nature and objects, not people." Yukio always found that part strange. A cynical part of him wondered if he didn't want memories of people who he assumed would hate him unconditionally one day.

It made the pictures of Shiro just a bit more meaningful.

Konekomaru leaned in and, after a minute of scrolling, gasped.

"Wait, when did that happen? Is this on the roof? No…wait, is he hanging off the side of the building here!?"

Yukio shrugged, but he couldn't stop smiling at the disbelief on everyone's faces as they passed around the camera, "Rin's always been really good at climbing. And he's tough enough that even if he fell from there, he'd be fine."

It felt nice to be able to say something like and have those listening know he actually meant it and why.

"This is at least the three stories up!"

"Don't remind me. He almost got the campus security called on him for that stunt. I made sure to scold him since I was worried he was going to get expelled."

Shiemi giggled at a series of pictures that started with Yukio asleep at his desk and ended when a lot of blurred pictures as the twins fought over the camera, "There are a lot of you, Yukio."

"I know."

Bon couldn't help but huff a laugh at just how ridiculous it all was. He had always wondered what pictures Rin took, but hadn't thought to ask, "I think Izumo was onto something about Rin having a brother-complex."

"I know but I'd rather not be reminded."

Shiro nearly stumbled when the scenery around them shifted, but he turned it into the force he needed to shake the demon's hold, "Mephisto, what do you think you're doing! Yukio-"

"-Is perfectly capable of handling himself. Like it or not, he needs to settle this matter himself."

"But that secret is…"

"Is his to tell if he feels comfortable doing so." Mephisto could tell that the other man was unconvinced, so he could hardly be blamed for playing dirty, "Unlike you, I believe that if he truly does not wish to inform his classmates, he won't allow himself to be pressured into doing so. And that he will think carefully about what he does and does not divulge."

"You still purposely put him on the spot."

Shiro was certainly stubborn when it came to his stolen children, wasn't he? "I simply gave him an opportunity to share even a fraction of the worries on his mind if he so wished. He will need his friends for what's to come and showing just a bit of trust in them will go a long way. Maybe they'll even tolerate Rin's true nature if they have time to ease into the idea."

"You know the odds of that are low." Shiro countered, but Mephisto could tell that even the thought of acceptance was sinfully tempting.

"Perhaps. But do you really wish for Yukio to lose his friends, most likely the last ones he will make before the truth is revealed? The last ones who will not be burdened by knowing his past and the prejudices that come with it?"

Friendships born from shared secrets and small acts of trust were much stronger than many people thought. It was the small, personal things that humans really cared about, shows of vulnerability, and mutual respect. The time for the other students to accept uncomfortable truths, even if only in part, had never been better, what with how forgiving they would feel, knowing, and having even seen the suffering Yukio was going through. They would make allowances they normally wouldn't out of pity and misplaced guilt.

It was the last time to reinforce those bonds before that loyalty was put to the test. Would they be willing to follow a demon directly into hell?

Shiro always had been a bit of a coward when it came to uncomfortable things, so he was more than willing to take the easy way out and pretend that Mephisto's words were earnest and not carefully crafted plans, "You've made your point. I still don't agree with what you did, but I trust Yukio."

Finally, they were done with Yukio. It was always difficult to tiptoe around Shiro, lest the man realize just how many plans Mephisto had already made. If he started having suspicions, then he could ruin everything just by being stubborn.

Mephisto needed those flames, and he wasn't above using every resource at his command.

"Here." The demon said as he handed over a thin manila folder, "These are the relevant files on Izumo Kamiki. Incomplete, but they'll tell you enough as to why she would be targeted. I assume that you don't need something similar for Rin Okumura?"

"All I need to know is how much everyone else will be told."

"That I cannot tell you. Not until a proper counterattack has been planned and the pieces are in place."

"I assume you already have something in mind?"

"I have my own sources. Enough that this attack wasn't completely unexpected, though I had no knowledge of the date and the scale was…understated." Mephisto made sure to amend when Shiro shot him an absolutely poisonous look. Well, it was best to steer the conversation somewhere just a bit safer, "Furthermore, I have personally confirmed that they took the Kurikara with them."

Shiro winced, "And so there's a good chance that some absolute genius will decide to unsheathe it to get a better look, right? What a mess…"

Mephisto chuckled, and it was a dark sound, "Although I'm sure that would be highly amusing, I doubt that will occur. I've revised the seal in such a way that only someone with Yuri Egin's blood can open it. It was the strongest seal I could make that still applied to Rin and won't break without serious effort. We're also dealing with Lucifer's personal pet project here, and they're hardly amateurs, as I'm sure you saw. They would know exactly what would happen if they did force the seal open, and even they're not that suicidal."

"So that really was them?"

"Of course. There couldn't be any doubt the moment that Egyn decided to show up! We're directly dealing with the Illuminati at last!" The King of Time sneered, already calculating, "I'm sure the war hawks are rejoicing at a chance to finally strike since we can hardly take such an insult lying down."

It was only a matter of time now.

Shima had only just arrived at one of the Illuminati's bases, and he had already been thoroughly interrogated on the ride over. Not that he hadn't expected that, but it was the topic that his new commanding officer had decided to harp on that surprised him. Mostly because he hadn't even known that it was something he should have been aware of.

"And you're sure you have no idea what happened to Minoru Tanaka?" Homare Todo asked Shima for the third time as she helped a nearly comatose Robert off their transport.

The pink-haired boy waved his hands helplessly as he did his best to stumble out behind her, all while making sure he didn't bash the sealing sword on anything, "I didn't even know he was an agent until like ten minutes ago, how would I know anything?"

"You did say you remembered him following Rin Okumura around."

"Yeah, kind of hard to forget when he threw a knife at the guy…" And hadn't that been a heart-attack-inducing event all on its own. It had taken everything Shima had had to not lose it right then and there with the sheer venom Rin had declared his hatred of spies.

Rin really would have killed him, time as classmates be damned. The rest of the team limping out behind him was proof that the teenage boy had tried and nearly succeeded.

Abruptly, a short and rotund man barged in to their conversation, flanked on all sides by Illuminati members. The reinforcements immediately began to tend to their battered group, taking the three injured members off on gurneys, relieving Homare of her burden. They did not, however, take Rin away, instead of backing up from the gurney as the round man descended on the body like a starved vulture, poking and prodding at this and that. Shima was pretty sure they should be doing this in a hospital room or even wheeling Rin off the surgery, but he also wasn't about to argue with the obvious mad scientist who was so impatient he couldn't wait five more minutes.

Shima didn't survive by being stupid.

"Dr. Gendoin," Homare began loudly enough that there was no way she could be ignored, "We have returned. However, we were unable to locate Mamoru Tanaka and have reason to suspect he was compromised at some point."

"Who?" The scientist asked, baffled. His beady eyes landed on Shima's school uniform and it seemed to remind him of something, "Oh. If you two are referring to that other spy we sent, you don't need to worry. Even if he betrayed us, I, in all my genius foresight, decided to implant a little insurance. If he ever began to reveal information he shouldn't in any way, he'll have died instantly. It would have been a waste to let those failed Elixirs go to waste."

The way the man spoke, so proud and gleeful at the thought of someone dying because of his creations, made Shima sweat just a bit, "Hey, wait, are you saying I have one of those things?"

Homare shook her head no, "Of course not. You had to directly interact with your targets, so it was too likely that you'd have to try and avoid a topic or tell half-truths and inadvertently activate the capsule. Minoru wasn't supposed to even speak to Rin, much less befriend him."

With a predatory grace, Iblis stepped from the shadows of the transport, body alight with small embers of power, "A whole lot of good that friendship did you." She sneered, remembering the brief account she had heard of the fight. Behind her, Egyn leaned on her despite the unnatural heat she radiated, face concealed by a hooded cape.

She peered down at the small demon and ordered, not unkindly, "Go get some Elixir, Egyn."

Dr. Gendoin looked up from his examination and shouted, "We don't have an unlimited supply of Elixir Alpha, you fools!"

Despite her element, the temperature seemed to drop. Or maybe it was simply that everything was ice cold in comparison to Iblis' anger and blazing gaze.

"And we wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Egyn."

Wisely, the scientist snapped his head back to his work with only a grumble as the King of Water slipped deeper into the base.

Homare hadn't moved an inch or even flinched at the sheer killing intent Iblis had let out just a moment ago, "What should we do with the Izumo Kamiki?"

"Her?" Gendoin waved in the rough direction of the base's belly, "Lock her in one of the observation rooms and make sure she doesn't do anything idiotic. We need her body as pristine as possible or Tamamo won't accept her!"

Homare nodded to one of the at-attention guards. Shima tried his best, but he couldn't even make eye contact with Izumo as she was led away to what was likely her doom. She refused to look up from the ground, eyes distant and hazy with tears she refused to shed, accepting her fate but refusing to discard her pride here. Shima could see her shoulders tense as she walked past Dr. Gendoin, and then see them relax as she soon as she was past him.

There was a history there.

This whole thing felt…off. He had always known that Rin was a priority target, but it was like Izumo was just a side objective in comparison to him. Well, Shima did remember seeing a brief flicker of blue fire before the tranquilizer had taken effect, and so he understood the strange scientist's interest. It became even more understandable when the man yanked Rin's shirt opened to reveal a bullet wound that looked…old. There was a lot of blood, but it was dried and crusted, and the entry point itself was scabbed over as if it had occurred days ago, not mere hours.

"What a monster."

Shima jumped as the surprisingly silky voice of Iblis spoke not more than a foot away from him. His eyes were inevitably drawn to her…daring outfit and the way it left an honestly scandalous amount of skin around her chest and navel exposed, but, thankfully for his continued existence, the King (Queen? He wondered.) of Fire didn't even seem to notice him, eyes locked on Rin's body. As the teen's hand was freed from the cloth that had been surrounding it for some reason, her eyes narrowed, and she strode forward with purposeful steps.

"I still say we should just kill the kid now. He's not normal." Iblis grumbled, glaring at the sight of the mostly healed hand. She wasn't exactly the best with remembering human limits, but that was pushing it for most demons.

"And then where will I get the samples I need to keep making that Elixir Alpha you like to waste so much?" Dr. Gendoin scoffed, "Those are the last vials you two are getting until I've managed to synthesize more. The rest goes to Lord Lucifer!"

The King of Fire sneered down at the short man, "You wouldn't last a week without me since your precious lord is too busy for you anymore!"

Dr. Gendoin recoiled as if struck. They had been through these insults and barbs dozens of times, and yet that one still struck at his core in a way he couldn't handle. So, he covered it with a stuttering laugh and waved away Iblis like an unruly dog. "Since you're nothing but a brute, I'll forgive your insolence this one time- it's only natural you should be so defiant as a way to cope with being nothing but a weapon."

Yes, she was nothing but a weapon collared by Lord Lucifer himself. Even if she liked to rattle the bars and pull at her chain, she was still a precious resource (a gift even!) provided to him by Lord Lucifer himself. He would appreciate it, even if she was defiant.

"Is this my eight or ninth time being forgiven 'only once'?"

Even if she was disrespectful, even if she was a vacuous and wasteful cur-!

"As I was saying. You're lucky you've done such a good job, or I wouldn't even consider giving you any more Elixir Alpha! If you behave, maybe I'll share with you my first batch instead of sending it all to Lord Lucifer."

"Or, you'll share it with us because we're going to be at war within a week. Astaroth and Beelzebub might be joke power-wise, but they're still loyal enough to father's legacy that it'll be easy for Samael to point them in our direction." Iblis explained, already grumbling at the idea of dealing with those two. There was a not inconsiderable chance that Beelzebub would just ignore this and do whatever he wanted while they were distracted, but at the same time that wasn't very likely. They hated each other and it would be a good time for the little fly to take potshots at the dragon with Samael's help, "In fact, can you even make more Elixir in time?"

"I've made do with nothing but replicated strains for years now and have managed to produce high-quality Elixir Alpha even as those strains mutated and degraded with each replication cycle until there was nothing left! All of this was from a tainted sample, but I know a simpleton like you doesn't appreciate the sheer genius that was needed to pull off such a feat!" Dr. Gendoin turned to the real prize of the day, the thing that would make all this headache worth it. Limp and pliant on the table and clearly in no danger of dying, it was easy to perform a superficial examination on the demon's child and check for basic signs of encroachment. Sharp teeth, unnaturally blue eyes with just a hint of a slit, and healing that he could see before his own eyes. It was even better than he could have dreamed! "It's clear that the subject has mutated dramatically over only a few short years. The key components we're looking for in his blood will surely be at a much higher concentration if he can already recover from gunshot wounds within a couple of hours. Making more Elixir Alpha will be child's play now that I have unlimited access!"

Something still felt off to Iblis. That kid was far too well acquainted with pain and his own power, but it went deeper than that. Iblis might have said she wanted to fight him unsealed, but the more she heard about what it had taken to retrieve him, the less sure she was as something deep in her mind screamed that it wouldn't be like putting down an untrained babe.

That fire had been so very blue. Unlike her and just instead like Fath-

She shook her head. "Whatever. You just do your job and I'll do mine. Besides, it's fitting that he acts as my personal fountain of youth after all the trouble Egyn and I went through for him."

With that, the demoness strutted away, oozing such confidence that one would be forgiven for thinking that the base was her castle and hers alone.

Shima did his best to not stare. Iblis was, without a doubt, an absolute bombshell, but he could tell that she would also absolutely destroy him. But then again…

"And what are you still doing standing around like a simpleton, Homare?" Gendoin spat, "Don't you have a report to file, or do you need my help doing something even as simple as that?"

"Everyone, you're dismissed. Take Rin Okumura with you and make sure he stays sedated." Homare declared, leaving no room for arguments. The rest of the Illuminati members began to do just that the moment the short man gave a small nod of approval, though he didn't cease looking annoyed.

They waited several minutes for everyone to file out. Homare nodded at the guard by the door who pushed the heavy metal shut. No one could hear them and it would be a simple matter to secure the recordings at a later date. What they would speak of wasn't something strictly for only the highest rank personnel and someone overhearing wouldn't cause any major issues, but a sense of privacy was needed. She needed to know that they were finally ready.

"Dr. Gendoin," Homare began, "I simply wanted to confirm that you have all the things you need to proceed with the plan, correct?"

"Of course I do! With the girl's body and the boy's soul, the plan will be executed flawlessly. Why do you continue to doubt me when you know nothing?"

"I don't doubt your scientific intelligence, Doctor." Because the terrible man in front of her had only a single redeeming thing about him, and that was his ability to produce results, "However, I have every reason to doubt your ability to understand how others think. The moment someone feeds your ego, you're far too willing to listen to them."

It was a vague reference, but Dr. Gendoin knew exactly what she was speaking of, "How dare you! It's not my fault I'm such a genius that I was able to concoct such a perfect plan to do the impossible!" All of this relied on him, all of it was his-! "If it weren't for my nearly supernatural foresight or and persistence, none of this would be possible! And then where would Lord Lucifer be? He would be hurting and would continue to no longer shine like he should even though I finally crafted an Elixir that doesn't lose effectiveness!"

Even if Elixir Alpha wasn't perfect, it was at least a long-term solution and the first real step in crafting a permanent solution. And yet, as soon as he finally succeeded, Lucifer had stopped caring. No, he had simply changed his goals, become even more grand, but his light was simply not enough to fill such a vast dream when it had been weakened by a sudden loss.

"I know. However, you've been far too willing to listen to that demon when it has every reason to lie to us." Protection, higher status, simple pleasure at watching humans futilely struggle against a pointless endeavor, there were dozens of reasons that Homare didn't trust the demon. "Do you really believe that a ceremony held by a demon can retrieve a soul?"

"Demons have shown us that the soul is something tangible, at least, to them. I won't try and explain all the nuances to someone like you, but just know that I would never trust a demon that wasn't Lord Lucifer at their word. I've run the calculations over and over again, and it will work!" It simply had to, "There is absolutely no reason it shouldn't work! If humans can call demons with their own will, beings that are almost entirely purely 'soul', why shouldn't they be able to do the same?"

"But should we?"

Dr. Gendoin looked up at her, a sneer that told her was doing his absolute best to look down at her despite the height difference. It did little to cow the woman, but it make him look incredibly unpleasant all the same, "Are you really going to start questioning the morals of playing God now, Homare? I've already repaired the body with Elixir Alpha and there has been complete resuscitation and recovery of all bodily functions. The heart beats, the blood flows…all that is missing is the soul itself. Furthermore, you are one of the few people blessed with knowledge of Lord Lucifer's new plans. Compared to that, defying death hardly holds a candle!"

"We're going behind the Commander's back to do this, Dr. Gendoin." Homare explained slowly, and though her voice did not waver, there was hesitation in her body language that was so foreign it was made obvious, "I'm more worried what will happen if we don't succeed. After all, all of this hinges on Satan not actually being dead like all evidence suggests."

"We aren't going behind his back, he told us we can do what we please with that body. Izumo Kamiki's retrieval was going to have to happen eventually, and our preparations have been complete for months. All we've done is be efficient." Dr. Gendoin justified with a wave of his hand. He would never betray his lord, but if he had decided to push his boundaries, well, it was all for the sake of letting Lord Lucifer shine once again, "Furthermore, there's no way the demon who could sire a perfect being such as Lord Lucifer would ever die from something as small as the Blue Night! No, he must still be in one of his apathetic states and just somewhere we can't locate him. So we'll make him come to us instead!"

"I understand."

Homare Todo was, above all else, loyal to Commander Lucifer. Few people would realize that something had changed in his behavior, but it hadn't taken long for her to notice the way he had changed after the Blue Night.

"And so, before that happens, I want to do the one thing that father gave up on. Otherwise, in the end, none of this will matter."

It was a campaign to truly end suffering as a whole, and a way to ensure it would last. The ultimate act of defiance not simply by humans and demons, but by life itself. And yet it was clear that he fully expected to burn himself out doing this until he faded away.

(Just like he thought Satan had. But if Satan was still alive, if they could locate him, then just maybe it would be enough-!)

Homare took a moment to clear her head of troublesome thoughts. She couldn't afford to stay here, not when she was needed at another base in only a handful of hours. No one else could have been trusted with such a sensitive and bold mission, and so if she had to sacrifice her free time to coordinate with an honestly disgusting human being, then that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

She turned sharply on her heel and briskly walked to the door. After the door opened, but before she stepped through, she called back to the scientist, "And one last thing."

"Hm?"

"You will refer to the Commander as such, Michael."

Satan was floating. Everything was distant, everything was a dream…

Ah, he was dreaming, wasn't he? But then why couldn't he wake up…?

Once again, blackness beyond nothing appeared under him. It was the end of all things, the edge of reality he had thrown himself into time and time again. It would devour him, reach for his grace, and peel away his existence bit by bit until it found that part that it was missing. And then it would take it and become complete.

No, this was only a dream.

He was protected by his grace, so one of those couldn't possibly be here. Even if he was absolutely sure, he would call on that power and awaken to fight whatever had taken him captive.

Captive…?

Had he been captured?

But he was…

Broken. Flawed. Tainted.

What a fitting end to be consumed by something equally flawed, even if it was only a dream.

With great effort, he forced his eyes open, if only to escape that memory. The world was blurred and too bright, nothing but nonsense colors and noises that he heard as if at the bottom of an ocean. Hands caressed him, or maybe they held him down with bruising force- he couldn't tell. He needed his child, he needed his anchor and reason to exist. He didn't want to slip away once again-!

Dreamless sleep felt like a pinprick to his arm.

Chapter Text

Chapter 41: Wardrum

“I see, so those are their plans? Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Renzo, this conversation has been very informative.”

A pause.

“ Do try and keep your head down then. Things have only just begun to move, and you wouldn’t want to miss the show, would you? I wish you the best of luck.”

With a decisive click, Mephisto closed the cheap flip phone. It wasn’t quite a burner phone- what need did he have to hide? -but it wasn’t something that couldn’t be replaced quickly and easily if it became necessary. The information Shima had provided him was nothing he hadn’t already guessed based on the telling documents he had gathered on Izumo and Rin, but having confirmation was always a good thing. The question now was how to approach everything, seeing as a borderline worst-case scenario was rapidly unfolding. 

Things were happening much quicker than he had predicted. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t adapt to, but the timetable was tight when it came to politicking and maneuvering manpower. They had little time to act before an overwhelming force was potentially introduced to the board. Only quick and decisive action would be acceptable here.

Or, perhaps…

It was straightforward enough, and Mephisto smiled as the last piece clicked into place.

“If that’s how it’s going to be, then…”

“You want to organize an entire assault against the Illuminati in less than a week!?” Shiro sputtered, floored at even the notion.

“Actually, the attack will be five days from now, and we only have roughly four to prepare and one to set out.” Mephisto corrected with a flippant wave of his hand. He could see the anger building in Shiro’s eyes and so he continued before a pointless tirade could begin, “This plan has hardly anything to do with me, those on high are chomping at the bit to fight. All I can do is support them. Let me put it in a simpler way for you: In eight days the Illuminati will attempt to move the Ninetails into Izumo Kamiki’s body. Experts have corroborated this report, as it would align with the full moon and several other phenomena that could help increase the success of their experiments. By the time this occurs, any hopes we have of saving the girl will be virtually null.”  

It spoke volumes of Shiro’s experience and jaded world view when the man didn’t even try to doubt the demon’s harsh words. “The Order will just abandon her, won’t they?”

“To put it bluntly, she won’t be worth the effort of saving in their eyes. She is a perfect host, so much so that removing the demon without killing her would be almost impossible, even under ideal circumstances.” Mephisto confirmed with a nod, “While you’ll be free to try on your own, the odds won’t be in your favor when it will be several times easier just to cut her down.”

It was always a balancing act between saving possessed humans and simply cutting one’s losses and saving the most people possible. Against the Ninetails, mindless as it was, the Order was sure to call in their heaviest hitters who were closer to exterminators than saviors. Anything less would be foolish.

Hands scrubbing at his face, Shiro sighed, “To think we’re still finding ways to justify killing kids…”

Mephisto couldn’t contain his smile at the defeat in Shiro’s voice. Good, he understood the stakes and was less likely to argue. The King of Time was at least able to school the smirk into something more sympathetic before Shiro looked up, though he doubted the Exorcist was fooled, “Now, now, so long as we succeed, we won’t have to worry about that. You may have balked at the idea of organizing a strike team in such a short time, but, in reality, virtually all the preparations have been done by yours truly. It has been decided that this, coupled with the kidnapping of Rin Okumura and the attack on True Cross Academy, is an act of war and cannot be allowed to stand. And nothing throughout history gets humans motivated quite like a good old war.”

After all, the Illuminati had attacked a school, endangered children of all things, so bringing the entire might of the True Cross order down on their head until their neck broke was the only reasonable response. It didn’t matter that it was just an excuse, it was all the motivation anyone could need to strike back and feel that they were ‘justified’.

And now-

“I’ve already gotten approval for Yukio and his friends to join in the assault.”

“No, that is not happening.” Shiro whirled on the King of Time, grabbing his suit and dragging the demon to his eyes, “If you think I’m going to let him near the very people who what to do God knows what to him-”

Mephisto took the human defiance and anger with good humor, always amused at how lively they were. “Peace, Fujimoto. They’ll be on the very back lines, with the support teams and surrounded by dozens of highly trained Exorcists. They won’t see any combat whatsoever, but it will be enough to satisfy them, or at least keep them somewhere we can keep an eye on them.”

The grip loosened, and Mephisto pulled off Shiro’s hands, his own grip just tight enough to make the man’s bones ache in warning. A fraction more and they’d splinter, weak and delicate like what had once been their ordinary ‘everyday’.

Then, more seriously, the demon continued as he smoothed his pristine suit, “This school has been infiltrated already, and you and I both know that there are plenty of traitors in our midst even now. I myself am being kept on a shorter leash because of the mess my dear siblings have made, and so all I can do is support the Order’s foolish decisions. Cheer up, old friend, this is much better than leaving the children alone so that they can plan some rescue and sneak away in all the convenient chaos. You and I both know that Yukio is entirely capable of outsmarting anyone we leave to watch him.”

“Fine, you’ve made your point. But I want to leave someone I can trust who can also fight Someone I get to pick. We need to protect our rear guard, after all. I’m sure you already know who I want, don’t you?” Shiro emphasized, and Mephisto just nodded, placatingly, like he hadn’t already made the needed preparations. 

“It will be difficult to justify, but the Illuminati is known for their underhanded tactics. Very well.”

There was a thought in Konekomaru’s mind that just wouldn’t leave. 

When the attack on True Cross Academy had first begun, when the chaos had erupted, over the very edge of the trees had been blue. He had done his best to convince himself that it was just a combination of gasses burning as the siege began, that it was something completely normal but then…

Then Yukio had said that he and Rin were half-demons. And even with that shocking level of honesty, he had still refused to say who it was. Because it would mostly affect how they saw Rin, and sure, that made sense, but it meant that Konekomaru could do nothing but wonder and theorize. They had just been attacked by two Demon Kings, one of their friends was a spy who had led them into a trap with a smile, and now True Cross was due to go to war with a secret organization led by the strongest Demon King.

Compared to all of that, surely whoever their demon parent was couldn’t be that shocking. 

Unless, of course, it was someone forbidden. Someone even more shocking than greater demons, something higher than even the Demon Kings they had seen.

There had been blue. There had been blue f-

The floor seemed to drop out from under Konekomaru’s feet, so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t even seen the stairs. He fell with a shriek, a box of supplies flying out of his arms as he tried to stop his fall. But, like a fool, he threw his hands out, and knew that as soon as he hit anything his thin wrists would snap like brittle wood-

A hand caught the back of his shirt before he could fall face-first down a dozen stairs and pulled him back. His momentum couldn’t be fully stopped, however, and instead he could feel the person behind him overbalance and fall backwards, hitting the flat floor hard.

Under him, Yukio groaned and slowly sat up. “Are you ok, Konekomaru?”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks. Your reflexes are something else, Yukio….” Konekomaru stuttered, quickly jumping to his feet and to help Yukio up. Kuro meowed and darted onto Yukio’s chest, practically screaming his dissatisfaction with the fall in the bespectacled boy’s face. Sprawled out on the floor, worn out and with dark lines under his eyes and being berated by a clingy cat familiar, Konekomaru could only see an exhausted classmate. 

“I’ve developed a bit of a sixth sense for when someone is about to get hurt.” The glasses-wearing boy replied, his expression slipping into something with a touch of despondent fondness as he petted Kuro, “I kind of had to with how often Rin would get himself hurt. Of course, most of the time I was stuck patching him up instead of actually keeping him from getting hurt.”

Rin, who wasn’t here. Rin, who was a demon’s child, a demon who-

“Yeah, I was just thinking about…” Konekomaru started, unconsciously.

“About?”

“Um…”

“Ah, there you two are!”

From down the corridor sauntered Mephisto, his gaudy outfit a sharp contrast to the grim atmosphere that had settled over the school for the past few days, “If you two could meet me in my office immediately, that would be perfect. The rest of your classmates will be there, and we will be discussing how the Order plans to move forward.”

“Does…Does this have anything to do with the attack a few days ago?” Yukio asked, hopeful.

Mephisto smiled in a way Yukio knew promised blood. As for whose…

“Perhaps. Now get along. I will send someone to fetch these files.”

Yukio nodded and started off towards the Principal's office at a walk so brisk it bordered on a run. His poorly-hidden haste would have been funny if Konekomaru didn’t know the desperation that backed it. He swallowed his feelings and started to follow, only to be stopped by the principal stepping in front of him, a too-wide smile on his face.

“Oh, and Mr. Miwa?” Mephisto hummed, tone deceptively mild but green eyes piercing. Assessing.

Konekomaru swallowed thickly, and did his best to try and recall what could have drawn the man’s ire, “Y-Yes?”

“If you ever have any…distressing thoughts,” And here Mephisto made sure to meet his gaze, pinning the small boy down with fear alone, “I do suggest you come to me with them first .”

Konekomaru gulped, feeling very small and very weak all of a sudden. He wasn’t entirely sure what Mephisto was referring to (a lie, part of him knew, but that knowledge was too distressing, too painful to be accepted just yet) but he knew that if he didn’t do what the man said, he would…well, he wasn’t sure what would happen, but it wouldn’t be good, “Y-Yes! Yes, I will do that…sir.”

“Good, good!” Mephisto chirped, mood flipped instantly, “Now come along, I am sure that at least a few of your questions will be answered soon.”

It took no time at all for Mephisto to unravel all of humanity’s pretenses. Months’ worth of politicking and red tape were cut through with the beat of war drums, because, oh, how humans loved their killing games. They might pretend to enjoy a tedious peace, but really, their craving for blood, for something more simply because it was forbidden, could be seen in every single aspect of their culture and media. 

An eye for an eye might make the world go blind, but only blood could quench that seething hatred for their fellow man. It was simple to direct that frothing rage where he needed, and so Mephisto, for once, found his plans virtually unopposed. After all, the Illuminati attacked a school, endangering children of all things, so bringing the entire might of the True Cross order down on their head until their neck broke was the only reasonable response. 

Inside his office, restored and polished, Mephisto could see that very same bloodlust looming behind tentative hope in one young Yukio Okumura’s eyes, “An assault on the enemy’s base?” The young not-demon breathed, like saying the words would shatter a dream. 

“Yes! It will be a large-scale operation involving plenty of high ranking Exorcists.” Mephisto informed the slack-jawed children, “Thanks to a certain little spy, we now know where a major Illuminati Base is.”

Bon stepped forward, an inkling of an idea clear behind his eyes, “Hold up! A spy? You have a spy in the Illuminati!? Who the hell is it!”

“Telling you that would defeat the purpose of them being a spy .”

“It’s Shima, isn’t it. Come on, it has to be!”

“Honestly, ruining my surprise like that…” Mephisto sighed, but he didn’t sound nearly as disappointed as he likely should have, “You have a lot of faith in your friend.”

“Yeah, well, he was acting strange even before that.” Bon pointed out, remembering how Shima’s behavior had suddenly shifted the day before the attack. Looking back on it, it was all… “And, despite how bad things got with the raid, no one died, right? He was able to maneuver us in a way that we were isolated enough to be vulnerable and away from any of the normal students. There’s no way those people weren’t willing to carve their way through as many people as they had to, and now he’s…Damn it, for just how long…?”

Shiemi perked up, realizing just what was being implied. Gleefully, she asked, “So Shima is a double-agent like in those movies? That’s cool!”

“Just make sure he doesn’t hear you saying that, Shiemi. It would go to his head in an instant.” Konekomaru pointed out.

While the news of Shima being a spy sent…conflicting feelings through Yukio, he ended up latching onto the one thing that Mephisto had failed to acknowledge, “So you knew this was going to happen? You’re telling me that because of you, Rin got shot!? ”

“You and I both know that your brother’s actions and impulsivity are what led to those consequences. But no, I did not know, I could only suspect and guess. Shima has permission to act as he sees fit to preserve his position, and that includes deceiving me.” The demon sighed, speaking over the beginning of Yukio’s tirade, “Your brother is fine, though heavily sedated, so you can stop worrying so much. When the Illuminati have decided they’re making their move, there is very little anyone can do to truly stop them. In that way, they are not dissimilar to the True Cross Order.”

Yukio was practically shaking in anger, but whatever he wanted to say, he swallowed down. It was clear from his expression that there would be words exchanged whenever he was next alone with the King of Time. 

Mephisto thought Yukio’s silent attempts at intimidation to be rather cute.

Feeling the rising tension as her classmates did their best to process what Shima being a spy truly meant, Shiemi stepped forward, “You said that Rin’s ok? That’s good news, right? It means that when we go and save him, everything will be alright!”

“Yes, he’s doing more than ‘ok’ as well. The last update I received was that he had recovered so much that he’s being kept sedated, more for the Illuminati’s safety than his own.” Mephisto recounted,  “Apparently, a heavily drugged Rin Okumaru is still capable of rage and is also incredibly destructive when he isn’t keeping his strength in check.”

Despite his anger, Yukio felt himself smiling at the thought of how ridiculously dangerous a loopy and pissed-off Rin would be. Especially one who couldn’t immediately locate Yukio but knew he had been in danger…It was amazing the Illuminati even had a base left, actually. “That…That does sound like him…” 

Shiemi perked up at the thought and latched onto it, “Rin is like a super agent, isn’t he? I bet before we go to save him, he’ll have already busted out of his cell, and he and Shima will have teamed up and stolen a helicopter we’ll all get to escape on!”

Paku chuckled at the stars in the blonde’s eyes, “Shiemi, I think I’ve been showing you too many action movies. But yeah, we need to help Rin before he busts himself out.”

Mephisto, without anything to indicate the sheer magnitude of what he was about to say, began, “About that. Mrs. Noriko, if you could please leave. I have given you a lot of leeway due to your…personal connections, but the following information is for Exorcists only.”

Paku blinked at the principle, the implication of the words failing to register, “...Huh…?”

“You officially withdrew only a day before the Illuminati attacked. Rather fortunate timing for someone of your skills, I feel.”

“That…” Paku stuttered,“I’ve changed my mind! I want to save Izumo no matter what, and if I ran away now I’d never be able to live with myself.”

“I do not care, Mrs. Noriko.” Mephisto retorted, tone bland, “You withdrew, and the rules are the rules.”

A hot flash of angerfrustrationsorrow so strong it physically hurt gave Paku a surge of confidence, “So change them. Set me as support, or…or something. I just have to help Izumo.”

“I’m afraid I cannot make such an exception for some of your, frankly, pathetic skill level.”

Paku startled at the painfully blunt yet accurate assessment. She had known this would be difficult, but having the principal shoot her down so quickly and without a care was devastating. Around her, her classmates bristled in anger on her behalf.

Bon was the first to step forward, unable to ignore the purely devastated look on Paku’s face. He knew what it was like for someone to shoot down your dream with casual cruelty, “Hey, aren’t you being way too strict here? She’s stuck around, right? Plenty of people I’ve known would’ve run.”

Konekomaru nodded, “All of us are only Exwires, so it’s not like we’re that much stronger than Paku.”

Mephisto scoffed at their arguments. They were as solid as air, “You all at least have decided what Meisters you wish to specialize in. Paku here, has not. Such a shocking lack of decisiveness and resolve cannot be ignored.”

Yukio, already feeling hostile to Mephisto, spoke up, irritated, “Paku knows the basics of how to handle a gun; I’ve made sure she knows how to fire it safely and without any issues.”

“Yes, but can she actually hit her target?” At the telling silence, Mephisto let out a laugh, “No? Then she is still effectively helpless .”

“You don’t know that.” Yukio spat out.

Mephisto raised a brow at the hostility. Well, well, the demon boy’s motivations might not be nearly as pure as he pretended, “Oh, have I hit a nerve, boy? I might enjoy an entertaining tragedy now and then, but even I am not in the habit of sending children out to die for no reason.”

“This isn’t ‘ no reason ’ for Paku.”

“So you admit she would just die if she faced any enemy? I see how much you believe in your classmate now.”

“That’s not-”

“Would you all stop talking around me!?”

Everyone stopped and looked back towards Paku. The brunette’s body was shaking, with anger or sorrow, they could not tell. But, she pressed on,  “Sure, I only became an Exorcist because Izumo asked me, and I really did think about quitting…” Paku admitted, “But everyone actually…actually telling me to quit or just making excuses for me is…it’s pissing me off! The Principle is right, you know! He’s right but…but I can’t just run anymore!”

“Paku…”

“I don’t care what you think! Do you know what Izumo said to me before she was kidnapped?” Paku shook, as her tears threatened to spill, “ She told me that since we weren’t friends anymore, I didn’t have any reason to protect her and that…that I should do my best to save a kind idiot like Shiemi over her! She knew she was being targeted, and even though she tried to sound tough, I could tell how scared she was at what they’d do to her! But she was doing her best to protect Shiemi and I over herself and I…I still ran away knowing that! I never even got to apologize to her, and now…I might not ever get to!” Paku yelled.

It was silent as the class and Mephisto watched the girl suddenly lose her bluster and strength and sink slowly to the floor. She buried her face into her hands and sobbed out, blubbering through her tears, “So you’re right, I’m too damn weak! But I can’t just let things end here!”

“P-P-P-PAKU!” Shiemi wailed, loud and unrestrained by whatever tension had gripped the rest of the room. She threw herself at Paku, hugging the girl in an attempt to comfort her even as she herself sobbed, “I’m so s-sorry I didn’t see how much you were hurting! I’m such a bad friend, I’m so sorry!”

Paku blinked, shocked out of her own sorrow by Shiemi ugly crying into her shoulder. Everyone else really did care, didn’t they? “S-Shiemi, it’s fine. I…I was the one who tried to act tough, like…well...”

Mephisto laughed. He laughed at the display of foolish human emotions, at the foolish reasoning and self-serving resolve dressed up as selflessness. He laughed, for not a single one of the children in front of him would dare to run away now.

So, then….“Well then, Mrs. Noriko, you’ve passed! I’ll allow you to have one last chance to become an Exwire if you can survive this mission.”

It was amusing how the student’s heads all snapped towards him, their eyes wide with disbelief. This is what they had all been ready to argue for hours for, so why was it when he gave humans exactly what they wanted, they always seemed so shocked? While their distrust was warranted, he had yet to lie to these children.

“R-Really?” Paku asked, voice filled with hope.

“Yes. but, unlike the previous, this one’s danger will be very real.” Mephjisto was sure to warn, because he might be cunning, he was also far more fair than most demons, “It’s only fair that if I’m to make such an extraordinary exception for you, that you do something extraordinary to prove yourself!”

Bon blinked, “This is a hell of an Exwire exam…”

Beside him, Konekomaru sighed, “We barely made it through the first one, and this one’s going to be worse? I guess it is a mission…”

Mephisto ignored the mutterings, “If she does well on this mission, the Order will have no choice but to accept that there was an, ah, ‘mishap’ with the paperwork, or risk looking like a bunch of fools.”

“I feel like we’re being used as political pawns.” Bon grumbled. He knew that things never worked out this smoothly in real life, but he also couldn’t bring himself to care too much if it benefited his friends so much.

“Welcome to my life, Bon.” Yukio grumbled bitterly, remembering certain incidents from years prior with a new degree of bitterness. 

Unaware of the politicking and resulting constraints, Shiemi cheered, “Do you hear that, Paku? You’re going to become an Exwire, just like the rest of us! I’m so happy…You should become a Tamer with Izumo and I!”

“Thanks, Shiemi, but I don’t have the talent…”

“Oh, right.”

Mephisto loudly clapped, drawing the class’s attention back onto himself, “Good, now that matter has been settled, we will move on to the specifics…”

The moment it had been said that he and his class were going to be allowed on the raid, he had known that there had to be a catch, there was no way his father would allow it. 

And he had been right.

They were relegated to backline support. 

It made sense- they were all barely Exwires so them being allowed to join at all was already  questionable. The revelation had been demoralizing, but it had at least given Yukio some perspective. Their inclusion at least made a little more sense now, and they were likely only being allowed so resources didn’t need to be split watching over them.

It was frustrating and it made the ugly part in Yukio scream that it would be denied its revenge. But, but, this was for the best, he convinced himself. His classmates would be safer, he would be safer, and Rin and Izumo would still be rescued. 

It was right when he was trying to convince himself that he and his classmates being relegated to sorting supplies was completely necessary and not at all busy work that she burst into his life. Quite literally, with the way she kicked open the door with a long enough BANG! to wake the dead.

In the doorway stood a…woman. She was certainly…bold, Yukio noted, doing his absolute best to not stare at her and her outfit choice. Wearing little more than a bright red bikini, shorts, stockings, and an open jacket that looked more like an accessory than something meant to actually cover her, the woman stood out even more than her bright red and yellow hair already made her. 

Bon, red-faced and very determinedly looking at the exact center of the woman’s forehead, choked out, “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Shura Kirigakure, and for this mission I’m your babysitter.” She said, very matter-of-factly. After looking around for a moment her eyes locked on Yukio and she strode up to where he was crouched. “You all keep working on this here. I need to have a word with four-eyes here.”

She grabbed Yukio roughly by the arm and the teen was taken aback by her casual strength. She looked obviously fit but nothing about her appearance hinted at the raw strength she held. Pulled uncomfortably close to her check, Yukio could now see the elaborate seal caved into it and how it stretched down past even her stomach. Whatever it was, it made something deep inside him warry, and with that the shock of her sudden appearance and…appearance wore off enough for Yukio to see a bit deeper. She carried herself with enough of the predatory grace Rin had for Yukio to recognize it and instantly become a bit wary of her. Other Exorcists held themselves with a warrior’s pride, but this was a bit too sharp and savage, too wild.

Used to being handled by someone much stronger than him, Yukio easily broke out of her hold. She raised a brow at him, clearly having not expected him to have that sort of skill, and Yukio steadily met her gaze, no longer flustered but instead cautious. 

“Excuse me, ma’am, but my class and I are still busy getting ready for the mission and I don’t even know who you are. We’re very pressed for time, so if this isn’t important, then it can wait until later.”

“Fine. Here.” Shura said, taking out something, “I already told you my name is Shura, but here’s my badge. Upper First Class Exorcist. If it makes this easier, your father, Shiro, sent me.”

“An Upper First Class Exorcist? But why are you here?” Bon gaped, clearly trying to connect the woman to his regal ideals of what a true Exorcist was supposed to look like.

“I told you, I’m here to babysit you all during the mission.” Shura repeated, annoyed. “Well, technically I’m protecting the entire backline, but…Ah, whatever. I’ll tell Yukio here everything he needs to know.”

After a winding walk to an empty room, Shura slammed the door shut the moment Yukio made his way in. It was subtle, but her demeanor shifted to something a bit more serious than before. Maybe it was her gaze that tracked his movements, maybe it was the way she put herself between himself and the door, but the shift was hardly jarring when Yukio had noticed the beast under her skin earlier.

“So, you’re the other demon kid, huh?”

An unbroken stare, but still, Yukio didn’t feel threatened, just uncomfortable, “What do you want?”

“Your old man put me in charge of protecting you , not the backlines, I hope you know that. Oh sure, he said I’m supposed to watch everyone, but I know it’s mostly you.” Shura grumbled out with an accusatory wave of her hand in his direction, “He’s gone soft for you two kids, you know that? I used to be his apprentice and he used to be an absolute monster of an Exorcist. But then you two showed up, and suddenly that was all that mattered. Not me, not the Order, nothing. 

“Hell, he wanted me to eventually train your brother to use his sword once he was a bit older, and even told me to watch over you two if something happened to him. He didn’t say why, but it was clear he knew he was getting in over his head years before you even set foot in that school. He told me everything…everything except what demon you two have for your father.” 

And now there was anger at something being taken. Angered at being left in the dark, no matter the reasons, and Shura advanced on Yukio. Yukio refused to back away, but it was a near thing, losing a half-step to her before he caught himself, “I’m not an idiot, and I can do the math. Even if the exact dates don’t match up, the very first thing you’d do is change those problematic dates, right? And if that wasn’t enough, the fact that both the higher ups in the Order and Mephisto are so interested in you two tells me about everything I need to know.”

Yukio stared the woman down, calm with the icy cold dread that froze his bones, “So what, do you want me to say it out loud or something?”

Shura backed away with a huff. Frustrated, she started pacing back and forth, “See, that’s the thing. Shiro’s still refused to tell me himself, even when I basically shouted I knew in his face. He kept going on and on about how it’s not his secret to tell, like he isn’t the adult who did this insane shit to himself. All he told me was that I had to protect you two.”

“I’m still not going to tell you.”

“I’m going to have to know eventually, if I’m going to train him to use his sword properly.” Shura pointed out before pinning the teen with a knowing look, “Besides, unsheathing that thing will make it pretty damn clear, won’t it?”

It absolutely would, and that was why Yukio’s next answer was clipped and forced as he finally broke and turned away. “You’re right, but I’m not telling a woman I just met before my classmates.”

“Are you sure they’re going to want anything to do with either of you when this who thing blows up in your face?”

“I don’t know.”

“What kind of lame answer is that?” Shura almost shouted, “After what I’ve been told, I assumed you’d shout something about how ‘Our bonds are unshakeable!’ or some other crap and I’d have to burst your bubble.”

He couldn’t meet her gaze still, so he walked to the other side of the room to stay busy, to keep his body moving more than his mind, “I’m not an idiot. I know how precarious our situation is. I want to believe that everything will work out and that our friends won’t become scared of us .” Feeling weak, Yukio allowed himself to sink to the ground, body pressed against the far wall, half hidden by shelving, “But know that probably won’t happen, at least not with Bon and Konekomaru. Izumo’s a toss-up, but that assumes that…No, we will save her. Paku doesn’t have any bias, and Shiemi is too nice for her own good, but still…I can’t be sure of anyone. But I can’t….”

Yukio buried his face into his knees, feeling the ugly dread trying to come up with the vile words he didn’t even have the shame to regret, “I’ll leave them in the dark as long as I can, because all I want is my brother back, Mrs. Kirigakure. I really can’t handle more than that right now.”

The silence was oppressive, made even heavier by Yukio’s shuddering breaths as he did his best to not lose it then and there. It was only a moment later that Shura shot to her feet and pointed at his shaking form, glare on her brow, “I’m not that much older than you; I’m only 18! So don’t you dare call me ‘Mrs.’ anything! It’s just ‘Shura’, alright? Even when I start training your brother, it’s still just going to be ‘Shura’! Oh, maybe I’ll get him to call me ‘Shura-Sensei’? I hear he’s an absolute brat, so I know he’ll hate it.”

“... when I start training…”

Yukio stopped shaking at Shura’s overdramatic tirade. Slowly, deliberately, he looked her up, then down, then up again. Looking her dead in the eyes, he deadpanned, “There’s no way you’re only 18.”

“Didn’t your father tell you to never question a girl’s age, four-eyes?!”

“You’re also going to have a hard time getting my brother to call you anything but ‘boob-bitch’.” Yukio chuckled despite himself at Shura’s look , alreadying envisioning how poorly the two of them would get along. Like a house on fire. Though, with Rin, that might be seen as a good thing in his eyes. He was still shaking, but the distraction was enough to keep himself together for just a little longer. “More importantly, he prefers knives to swords.”

“Do try and keep your head down then. Things have only just begun to move, and you wouldn’t want to miss the show, would you? I wish you the best of luck.”

“Oh and I-” a tiny beep cut off Shima’s words before they had even formed, stopping him short. He looked at the blank phone screen with a frown, “So he hung up on me.”

Around him, deep in the woods and far away from his new base, the signal was spotty at best. It was a tiny miracle that the call hadn’t gotten dropped midway considering how it had taken him three failed calls just to get through. With the midday heat bearing down on him, Shima looked up at the specks of sky between the crisscrossing branches above him. 

The vast blue was shallow when compared to the fire he had seen for just a split second, held between fragile human hands. Without a doubt, that fire was the same as the cursed flames that had claimed so many lives. And yet, he couldn’t help but think that they had been so very beautiful. 

Shima slipped the phone into his pocket with a sigh. Beautiful or not, the fires of hell were not how he intended to go out. No, he would rather be done in by a beautiful woman if he really did have to meet his end. Speaking of which….

He turned, smiling lazily at Homare Todo’s disapproving stare.

“So, just how long have you been listening, Commander Todo?”  

Chapter Text

Like they were told, Yukio and his classmates found themselves as nothing but backline support for the assault. They were paired with half a dozen other Exorcists, left to bide their time as they hid within the corpse of a series of businesses that had failed long ago. The building was fairly large and had a confusing enough layout from half-finished renovations that they decided to stay near the entrance once the area was secured. They made their main camp near the center-back room, various members of their party setting up shop in the connecting rooms. Most of the older Exorcists had taken to guarding the main path to the entry, their charge secured deep in the concrete depths. Their crude ‘base camp’ was the farthest out, entirely meant for overflow or as an emergency fallback position. It was so far away, there was no chance they would be called in- making their way to the battle would take almost an hour.

Yukio coughed and waved a hand in front of his face, as if that would clear the terrible musty and almost sweet smell that was starting to give him a headache.Their makeshift base hadn’t been properly cleaned for so long that half of their job had been to clear out enough bugs and rats that certain members of their team stopped being afraid. Kuro, at least, had been happy to help with that job. Even with their efforts to make the hidden base more livable, the sickening smell combined with the dust was enough to drive Yukio insane. 

Shimei sneezed with surprising force, causing everyone to jump and the sudden noise. She blushed, muttering a small apology as she quickly re-sorted to the medicines she had jumbled. Around them, the older Exorcists grumbled, going back to their own duties. It was clear no one was happy to be here, but orders were orders.

Bon snapped the book of Arias he had been reviewing closed with a shout, “Agh! I hate being left in the dark like this! When are we going to get any updates!?”

Shura pushed herself up from where she had been leaning and trying to will her water into beer, “Hey, I didn’t sign up to babysit either, but you don’t hear me complaining! We’ll get them when we get them. Now pipe down and stay alert!”

Yukio ignored the bickering that broke out as everyone grew more and more restless. The only reason this camp had been set up was exclusively to protect him. With True Cross Academy’s defenses still shredded and spies abound, if he was left alone while the most powerful Exorcists were out on a mission, he would be little more than a sitting duck just waiting to be abducted. Because the other son of Satan, human or otherwise, was too tempting of a target, if only to keep the other one better controlled. 

Knowledge was a bitter thing.

Around him, everyone did their best to simultaneously keep the anxiety at bay without completely falling into a bored daze. Paku had joined Konekomaru to review Arias quietly in the corner, while Bon had moved by Shiemi and Nii’s side to help her organize supplies for what must have been the dozenth time, if only for something different to do. Kuro had given up all pretenses of patrolling the building, and had instead made himself comfortably curled by Shiemi’s side and batted at the dried plants. In the far corner, even Nemu had started to fiddle with his collection of puppets, distant from everyone like usual.

Sitting around and waiting, knowing other people were likely fighting for their lives was turning out to be a special mix of mind-numbingly boring yet torturously nerve-wracking.  They were surrounded by a decent number of higher level Exorcists, and yet Yukio could feel his nerves fray, bit by bit. Idly, he played with the knife in his pocket he had taken from Rin’s ever-growing collection in the shared room. Who knew what was happening outside this small cage of a base; maybe things were going well or maybe everyone was dead. Yet Yukio could do nothing, not with Shura keeping a sharp eye on him.

All he could do was wait.

The base fell easily enough to the combined Exorcist forces.

That wasn’t to say that it fell easily , oh no. There were dozens of Illuminati members around every corner, plenty of familiars, and weapons polished and pointed at them. But there was only so much that could be done against the combined might of the Paladin and dozens of High and Middle Rank Exorcists, which meant that the conclusion of the battle had been decided from the start. Knowing that Yukio and his class were safe, protected at a secure and obscure location by Shura herself, Shiro had few qualms bringing the full might of the forces at his disposal down on the Illuminati's head. 

There was another reason Shiro hadn’t wanted to bring Yukio anywhere near this mission beyond the inherent danger of it. No, he didn’t want Yukio to see the side of himself he kept carefully locked away. 

Shooting out the charging Illuminati member’s knees, Shiro ignored the man as the summons from one of his allies descended on the enemy and ripped into flesh and spayed very human blood everywhere. Instead, Shiro continued forward like a force, gun ready and blade already wet with blood. Behind him, Igor’s Naberius continued to feast and finish off any crippled survivors. They had yet to even run into any higher ranking Illuminati members, and their ranks were already buckling and running away, making them easy to pick off.

The Illuminati had taken and hurt his brat of a son and, for that, Shiro had no mercy for any of them. And so, with deadly precision, he cut down any in his path, be they human, demon, or anything in between. The Zombies were quick to fall under Agni, a fragment of his Astra more than enough to melt through even the metal plating, happy to accept all offerings to his flames. The strange traps were, at their heart, simplistic and easy to fool or force their way through. Those who ran would not get far, and those who stood and fought were only a minor obstacle to their push forward. The blood was little more than an inconvenience Shiro would have to remember to wash off before he saw Yukio again.

Half way into the base, they managed to ambush Egyn. 

They had already confirmed with their recon that Iblis was at a completely different base, which left only one serious threat to their assault. Egyn was not someone to be taken lightly, and so that was why, against his better judgment, Shiro had brought Arthur Angel of all people to a rescue mission. He was getting old, old enough any serious fighting would leave him drained for days. Arthur’s raw power was their only real hope against such a powerful demon.

So, when they came across the small shark suit, Shiro swallowed his confusion and got ready for a fight. 

The King of Water let out a surprised squeak and then the sprinklers above them exploded, soaking the party in filthy water. Shiro prepared himself for an explosive attack and-

-And Egyn let out a shriek and ran away.

The reaction was so counter to what they had expected that Shiro stopped for a moment. Although they had surprised the diminutive demon, that was still a very powerful Demon King. There was no way he hadn’t known that the base was being attacked. He had even had a serious advantage with the sprinklers, and yet he had chosen to run. Mepheisto had said many times how much of a coward Egyn was, that he couldn’t even look anyone in the eye. If they simply got rid of whatever mask he chose that day, he would practically roll over and die on his own. 

Shiro hadn’t wanted to underestimate a Demon King no matter what, but had Mephisto not been exaggerating for once?

Arthur clearly did not have these doubts, and the man shot forth, giving chance. “Get back here, demon!”

“Damn it, Arthur! Don’t go running off on your own!” Shiro shouted, but it did nothing to even slow the man. If this was some sort of trap, they would be better off together than allowing themselves to be separated, “Come on, with me!”

Shiro took off at a sprint, dozens of pairs of feet following after him. By some miracle Authur had slowed enough to let the rest of the unit catch up, finally realizing how foolish it was to chase after a Demon King on his own. It was just in time too, as only a few seconds later they entered a massive room- the very heart of the Illuminati base. Walls had clearly been recently knocked down, the rubble and mess a sharp contrast to the nearly-steril base they had torn their way through.

Egyn was waiting for them, kneeled at the far end of the room.

Shiro opened fire without wasting a moment, Agni shooting forward with a laugh. The bullets were stopped by Naiads that suddenly burst from the thin layer of water upon the ground, sacrificing themselves for their King, and demons piled upon their own summons. The King of Water didn’t even look up from his work, instead intensely focused on whatever was at his feet. 

At the shot of fear that went through him, Shiro made one of his biggest mistakes since the Blue Night.

“Stop Egyn before he finishes whatever he’s doing!”

The Exorcists flooded into the room, weapons drawn and ready to hack their way to the Demon King. Arthur was at the lead, making swift work of anything in his way, Even the ghost fishes that tried to steal his soul and towering walls of bony corel filled with dozens of grasping hands didn’t stand a chance. Something must have set Arthur off, because the man skidded to a halt. In one smooth motion, he prepared to offer a lock of hair to Caliburn and completely obliterate whatever stood in front of him, finesse and plan be damned. 

It was already too late.

The walls, the floor, even the very ceiling came to life with a flash of power. Seals had been carved into the stonework and then meticulously covered with thin sheets of cloth, concealing them. Shiro swore and fired at Egyn’s crouched form through the narrowest gap in his defenses, trying to disrupt whatever the demon was doing-

Red fire bloomed from nowhere, and Iblis appeared next to her brother. 

No.

No, she hadn’t appeared . Shiro realized this as he saw that the land around them had changed. Had that entire array of seals been a…a teleportation spell? But how- neither Egyn nor Iblis nor any of the demons he could see creeping from the thicket of trees that now surrounded them should be even remotely capable of something like this. It was elaborate and very specific magic few demons would be capable of… 

It had also required hours, if not days, to prepare. 

“The human twin isn’t here, Iblis.” Egyn said, voice so small Shiro almost couldn’t hear. 

Shiro felt dread creep up his spine- they had planned for the possibility that Yukio might be with them. They were looking for Yukio. So that meant that Mephisto’s spy’s intel had been bad, either compromised or defected, it didn’t matter. That meant that this entire thing had been a trap and that Yukio was-

Iblis sneered at the humans around her, “That’s fine, it makes things a lot more convenient for me and she’ll handle it. After all, I’ve always wanted to fight the Paladin!”

“She’ll handle it”

Shiro had a terrible, sinking feeling in his gut. 

The musk was about to drive Yukio insane. He hadn’t been able to find the air freshener that had been stinking up the whole place, and the smell was getting stuck in the back of his throat and making him dizzy.

“I can’t stand this anymore. I need some air.” Yukio grumbled, standing as best as he could with the room spinning.

Shura tutted at him, blocking the door with her body, “Hey, you can’t go outside. Remember what I said?” 

“You can come with me, I just can’t deal with this smell anymore!”  Yukio snapped without meaning to, but he couldn’t help it. There was…His head hurt.

Kuro meowed by his feet, loud.

Yukio stumbled. His hand patted the pocket that held Rin’s knife. It did little to ground him.

Now Shura looked truly worried, “I still have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you sure you’re al-”

“Izumo!”

Yukio’s head snapped up, the smell and dizziness forgotten as he saw Izumo emerge from the darkness( ? ) in the doorway that led to the front of the empty store. She was clad in nothing but a thin and, ah, worryingly short sheet that she had wrapped around her body. For all of her annoyance, she was unharmed, barely a speck of dirt on her. 

Shiemi shot to her feet, her face bright with joy, “Izumo, you’re ok! How did you get out?”

Izumo smiled at the blonde girl, “You all were causing so much chaos that I was able to break out using a summoning circle I made from my own blood. My summons bought me all the time I needed.” By bare legs, the twin foxes circled, eyes staring distrustfully at the group. They snapped at Kuro when he tried to approach, “Now, have you perverts gotten your eyeful yet? I don’t have anything on under this blanket you know.”

At that moment, a breeze blew through the closed building somehow (that-?), fluttering the flimsy blanket a dangerous amount. Izumo shrieked and pulled it closer, barely protecting her modesty. 

The boy’s faces went bright red with embarrassment, Bon so flushed he practically glowed and Konekomaru doing his best to outright cover his eyes despite his glasses. Yukio fared only slightly better due to his medical studies, but his face was enough to send Shura cackling, “You’re all still a bunch of kids, huh?”

Yukio sputted, now well and truly red. He glared at Shura’s smirk, unsurprised but angry at how unflappable she was,  “I thought you were only 18!?” 

“18 is still an adult~!”

Shiemi looked back and forth between the boys and Izumo, quickly realizing just how…compromised Izumo was. She, having forgone one of the heavy Exorcist jackets, whipped her head around frantically, looking for something to cover her friend, “H-Hold on! I’ll find you something to wear…If you want me to, I mean…”

“Don’t look at me like that!” Izumo huffed, doing her best to hide her own blush, “The attack started when I was being let out for a shower in order to ‘purify’ myself or some other garbage! I wasn’t exactly going to stick around just to find clothes!”

Yukio coughed, and stepped in front of Izumo while palming the buttons of his heavy jacket. It wasn’t exactly any longer than the blanket, but it was thicker and would be something less…prone to flapping around in the slightest breeze. It was the least a beautiful woman (buthehadnever-?) like Izumo deserved… “Right…Right…Let me give you my jacket.”

As he undid the buttons, Izumo glared up at him balefully, “You don’t seem too bothered by this. Scratch that, you don’t seem bothered enough by this, Yukio.”

Yukio coughed into his fist as he did his best to maintain any sense of professionalism. As the only one with the means and will to help Izumo, the duty fell on him, “I’m studying to be both a mundane doctor and a Doctor, I’ve seen plenty of medical diagrams, Izumo.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m the same as some soulless picture, huh?”

“That’s not-!”

Izumo smirked at his sputtering, “I’ll forgive you if you give me your jacket already, like a gentleman. Unlike the rest of you boys.”

“Urk.”

“I’m not even wearing my jacket….”

Izumo rolled her eyes at their weak defenses and held out her hand, expectant, “Now, Yukio. Give me your-”

“Hold on!”

On the other side of the room, Paku stood, body shaking as she pointed a gun at the two of them…no, just Izumo. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she was unwavering even as people tried to talk her down, her own voice cutting through the concerned chatter like a knife, “This…this isn’t right. I want to believe that Izumo could have gotten away, but there’s just no way you’re her!”

“Paku?” Shiemi asked, confused, and she stepped back from everyone else. Beside her, Shura looked as if she didn’t know who to focus on. After a moment, her eyes seemed to catch something about Izumo, and the woman swore, drawing her sword from her body. 

“Get the hell away from her, Yukio!”

On reflex, Yukio stepped back. Izumo’s (?) hand snapped forward and tried to grab him, but she only managed to catch the edge of his offered jacket. Her grip was like steel, stopping Yukio for one heart-stopping moment and making the world sway under him, the smell of sweet flooding his brain. A moment later, he made himself let go, and the jacket went slack between them, held only in Izumo’s (!) fierce grip.

“You’ll really abandon me after offering me shelter? Fine.”

Izumo went deathly still, not even bothering to hold the sheet over her body any longer. It fluttered to the ground, but not one person cared for her nakedness, not when her eyes had blackened and slitted, not when her hair brightened until it was almost luminescent in its whiteness. She was suddenly wearing an elaborate 12-layered kimono, reds and blues and golds contrasting with her paleness. Newly formed ears laid back in anger as tails -9 of them- lashed with rage, her eyes locked onto Paku and filled with such hate that even Yukio felt his heart seize.

“You went and ruined it all, you stupid girl.” The demon spat as she advanced forward, “You’ll make up for it in blood soon enough.”

BANG!

The demon that wore Izumo’s skin stopped short of the newly formed bullet hole in the wall. Its head turned to stare at Yukio, curious. By the bespeckled boy’s feet, Kuro started to grow in size, hissing angrily. After a moment, a grin split Izumo’s face almost in half, fangs flashing through the jagged grin, “Oh, you should be more careful there, Yukio Okumura. I might not be Izumo Kamiki, but I am still wearing her body. You almost killed your friend there~!”

Bon stumbled back into the wall, shock and horror clear on his face. Beside him, Konekomaru had collapsed, barely able to squeak out a terrified, “What’s…how did you…”

“An illusion only works if you don’t know it’s an illusion, otherwise it’s little more than mist on the wind,” The demon spoke with a wave of its clawed hand. She looked back towards Paku, her energy growing as demons of all kinds poured out from the doorway, the stench of blood growing with every second. “Honestly, you should have just kept your mouth shut, girl. A few more seconds and the spell would have been complete, and none of you would have had to suffer. But now things will get…unpleasant for all of us.”

In tears, Shiemi screamed out what everyone was thinking, “Who are you!?”

Shura stepped forward, putting herself between the demon and the children. Now that the illusion was gone, she could smell the blood and realized that they hadn’t heard a sound from the rest of the team in the other rooms for far too long. There was only one possible explanation, no matter how terrible it was.

It also meant that they were alone.

Shura growled, readying herself, “You’re the Ninetails, aren’t you?”

“Clever woman, though I doubt it could be more obvious now. However, calling me the Ninetails is…demeaning.” The demon explained, and swept its arms outwards to let the layers of fabric it wore shimmer and accentuate its beauty, “The Ninetails was a mindless beast not even worth naming, you know. No, you may refer to me as Tamamo no Mae.”