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Chapter Text

Rin Okumura, a demon child. At least, that was what he was always told. When you're put down as much he was, you start to give in and believe those words. You learn to stop fighting the rumors, and eventually you learn to start acting as if they were true. 

That's how Rin Okumura found himself being slammed into a fence by some pasty dude who desperately needed a bar of soap. "Wow, Reiji, I just realized how great dog shit smells compared to you." Oops. He probably shouldn't have said that. To hell with them all, though, he knew his life was probably going to end up being cut short, why not speed the inevitable along? Maybe he'll get lucky and this dude'll pull a knife on him, gut him clean and quick, and finally put him out of his misery. 

After being slammed into the fence once more, Rin realized his fantasies were all for naught. "Listen here and listen well, ya demon. I'm gonna be the one to knock some sense into ya, and then my buddies'll come along and finish of the job. Feeling so cocky now, ya damn freak?" 

Despite all reason, he allowed for a low chuckle to rumble throughout his body. "Actually, now I really am sure of myself now. After all, this just means you're too weak to do so yourself." With those words, the raven's knee flew up to Reiji's soprano spot, and rammed his elbow into his cheek when the other went to shield his dick. "Now why don't you go and tell your buddies that this freak doesn't have time to deal with amateurs such as yourself." After another brief, but very much painful, punch, the young male turned and headed home.

Ryuji "Bon" Suguro, child of the cursed temple. He refused to believe those words, he was determined to bring his temple back to its former glory. That's why he wanted to be an exorcist. As far as he was concerned, you ignore the hateful words, and fight to be better than those who produce such words. Once you do that, it's only natural you are seen as a star child by many others, even if they do still believe you are unfortunate because of your heritage. 

Ryuji was walking down the streets of Kyoto, being trailed by his childhood friends, Renzou Shima and Nemu Konekomura. The two boys behind him were chatting cheerfully, and Ryuji didn't even need to tune in to know what the discussion was about. Soulmates. It's said when you enter the next stage of your life after junior high, you start to feel the pain your soulmate endures. Everyone else has seemed genuinely excited about it since they were children, but the bicolored haired teen just didn't get what was so awesome about it all. Really, what was so great about experiencing someone else's pain along with your own? 

"Yo, Bon! So, we technically entered our next stage of life. When do you think it will come? I hope it's soon! I can't wait to meet the hot babe that is destined to be mine!" The rosette went on blabbering, while Konekomura tried to tone it down some. 

"Shima, stop! You know how much Bon hates this soulmate talk!" The bald and bespectacled teen turned towards aforementioned teen, apologizing for Shima's behavior. 

Ryuji let out a disgruntled sigh at the two's foolish behavior. He wasn't ready to admit, though, that he was also interested in when the effects would kick in. "No, it's fine. The pervert can't help but be all ogling, even if he is a monk." At the last bit of his statement, the elder shot a withering glare towards Shima, who, in turn, began to slink back slightly. 

They continued their walk, although in silence now, when Ryuji stopped abruptly. He dropped everything and began clawing desperately at his head. What the hell was happening to him? 

He sat down, and while Shima and Konekomura tried to get him to talk about what was happening, he heard another voice. What it said chilled him to his bones. A worthless fuckin' demon . He was staring blankly at the ground, trying to process what was happening, when a blinding pain shot up his arm. He desperately grabbed at his arm, and saw scars being made. That's when it all clicked for him. "Oh, shit…" was all he managed to get out. 

He fell into an inky black darkness, only hearing those words in his head and his friends desperately calling his name. 

Chapter Text

Yukio began climbing up the stairs, hoping to catch his brother before he fell asleep. "Hey, Nii-san, are you still awake? I was hoping to talk to you for a little bit."

Rin was, in fact, asleep in bed, so Yukio decided not to intrude on him. Thank goodness for that, too, or else he would've seen the dried tears and blood staining his face and bed. His brother already worried for his schoolwork and temper, no need to add his physical and mental health to that list.

Yukio let out a quiet sigh, wishing for his brother to be there to listen. It would be fine, though. He could very much wait until morning, if it meant his Nii-san was happy and healthy. He wished his brother a good night, and went to his own room for the night.

-

"…n! Bon! Are you okay, Bon!"

Ryuji slowly opened his eyes, confused by all the yelling. "What're y'all yelling for, damnit? Shit, my head hurts…" He began to kneed at his head, but a line of pink on his arm caught his eye. His breathing slowly became more ragged as he looked upon the dozens of lines marring his tan skin. Where the hell did these come from?

"Bon! Thank goodness you're awake! What happened? Why do you have all those scars? I thought you said the other people's words didn't bother you? You should have talked to us!" Shima was bouncing between being relieved and being worried, hugging him and then pushing him away, only to go back in for another hug.

Ryuji kept rubbing at the marks, remembering the words in his head right before the scars appeared. He began to mutter to himself, barely loud enough for the others in the room to hear. "It's not me, it's them. What is happening to them?"

"Whoa, Bon, slow down. What are you talking about? Who's them? Were you ambushed or something?" Konekomura peered on with earnest concern, worrying for his childhood friend.

Bon looked at them with a solemn expression, dreading the next words to come out of his mouth. "Them, as in, my soulmate. I need to find them."

The others around him just stood, jaws slack, not knowing whether to feel happy or jealous or what. They decided against saying anything when they saw small tears gather in the corners of his eyes. The poor guy probably didn't even realize they were there.

Chapter Text

"Are you sure about this, Bon?" Shima asked, his usual easy-going aura gone.

Ryuji stopped his packing for a moment, turning to see his friends watching him through his bedroom door. "I'm not sure how to feel about this whole soulmate thing, but there is one thing I definitely know. As messed up as it is, I'm being given the chance to likely save someone's life, and I very much intend to do just that. I'm telling you, you can either pack up and come with me, or you can stay here and wait for me to return victorious. I won't tell you guys which one to choose, but just know that if you were to join me, it would make this whole trip that much easier. I leave in three days. You have until then to decide." He began to walk towards the door unsteadily, and gently closed it, leaving the worried duo outside.

Konekomura nervously began twiddling his thumbs. What about Bon's lifelong dream of becoming an exorcist? The trio had all just gotten their scholarships, so was he just expecting them to drop it all and go on this new adventure, which was risky at best? So many questions raced through the small boy's head, but only one had an answer he was sure of. They would go with him.

Shima turned to his friend, alarmingly deep in thought. After a long, intimidating silence, the rosette finally spoke up, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm with Bon until the end!"

Konekomura could only nod in agreement, still considering the likelihood of them actually managing to find him. This is gonna be a long year, the bald teenager thought miserably.

-

"Wha happened…" Rin groaned as he woke up, more than confused. The last thing he remembered was relieving his pain in the only way he knew to be acceptable, and now all of a sudden he was waking up. A quick glance at the clock near him had his mouth hanging. He was up this early?! He tried to remember something, anything, that would explain what was going on. He was sure he must've had to have passed out, but his actions had never elicited this reaction before.

He reached up to rub his head, and he felt a swollen knot. He wrote it off as from a fight or something else, but, then again, wouldn't he have noticed it sooner rather than later? Tentative hands made their way back to the bump, but this time, upon touching it, he felt confusion, and slight anger. The raven frowned, knowing these weren't his own emotions. He began absentmindedly rubbing at his scarring wrists, trying to deduct what was causing all of these strange things. That's when he felt frustration and desperation. Knowing it to be a clue, he desperately held onto those feelings, willing them to reveal themselves to the slim teenager.

'…Damnit… I gotta find 'em before it's too late…'

What the hell? What was this random voice saying? Who were they? Rin let out a defeated groan, knowing what he was going to have to do. He was going to have to go and confront his father. After all, he WAS just an overly praised therapist. Rin began his trek down the hall, searching for the old man.

-

After Rin's explanation of what was happening to him, Shiro Fujimoto could only laugh. "What's so funny, you old fart?! What's wrong with me? Shouldn't you know these kinds of things?" He was starting to get really frustrated with his old man. He just wanted to know what was going on with him! Is that too much to ask for?

After a few more wheezes (age is a cruel thing), Shiro smiled towards his rambunctious son, enjoying watching the poor boy's befuddlement. "Hehe, just a second, my boy. Oi, Yukio! Come in here for a minute!"

Rin groaned and rolled his eyes, not amused in the least bit, especially now that his bemusement (?) was to be used as a new joke. "Yes, Father?" Another boy walked in, taller than the raven, wearing glasses, and in general looking nothing like his older twin brother. Yukio Okumura was the accomplished child every parent wished they could have; he was top of his class, excellent at sports, an every day ladies man, and respectful to his elders. In other words, he was the complete opposite of his sloth of a twin. Whoever said twins were a pair of peas in the pod were clearly off of their rocker.

"Okay, listen. Rin, explain your "problem" again." The silver-haired man attempted to hold in the laughter bubbling in his chest, but found he couldn't, guffawing loud enough to wake any one nearby who might've been sleeping.

Rin shot his adoptive father a glare, and proceeded to explain, yet again. To say the raven was annoyed would've been a drastic understatement. When he finished, he looked towards Yukio with hope in his steel blue eyes, obviously hoping his maturity would prove some good for once. His eyes must've betrayed him, because surely his calm, cool, collected, stick-up-his-ass brother could not be letting a knowing smile grace his lips. "What?! You too?! I'm starting to think there's more wrong with you than there is me!"

Yukio let out a quiet snicker, all to save some face, unlike his questionably respected father. "Oh, Nii-san. I had so much faith you would be able to figure this out all on your own." Yukio turned towards his red-faced father, who gave him a nod to tell him what was happening. "Rin, you've been connected to your soulmate. You've been matched."

All the poor, lanky boy could do was stare in disbelief at the words just uttered by his younger brother. He puffed out a brusque laugh, devoid of any mirth, before giving him and his father a stoney glare. "Are you joking? Because this sure is a pretty shitty joke, ya know. There's no way I could have a soulmate. I mean, I may was well be devil spawn with how people skirt around me every time I'm seen. Who could ever even think about loving me? Now, answer my question, for REAL this time. What's wrong with me?"

Yukio's silent chuckles came to an abrupt stop when he heard his brother's desperate and heartbroken words. IS THIS REALLY WHAT NII-SAN THOUGHT ABOUT HIMSELF? "Rin, we aren't joking. It's time you man up and accept that you've got someone out there for you. Quit being a baby, and go find them." Both boys turned to face their father, who somehow managed to have a serious expression while maintaining an easygoing tone of voice.

"What are you blabbering about, you old fart? You know the truth as much as I do. Everything those people say about me is true! I'm a damn demon. A worthless one at that; what kind of demon can't help but sparing anything he can, eh? The fact that you just joke about all of this pisses me off, ya know. The truth hurts enough without adding ruthless humor to the equation. I'm going to bed," the raven grumbled, drowning in his own distress. He turned to walk to his bedroom. It was so unfair, damnit! Why did this all have to happen to him? All he ever wanted to do was protect his family and have friends. There was a time when he even genuinely tried in school. So why did he have to be the one cursed with all of this misfortune?
It was so unfair.

-

Ryuji lay in bed, worrying for his soulmate. He had heard all of the thoughts during what seemed to be an argument between them and their father. Did he really think that about himself? Did he really think he was a demon? Did he really think he wasn't worthy of a soulmate or love? Did he really give up? Bon turned to his side, hopeful thoughts (his own, clearly), flicking into his head. He would find them. He would hold them, and he would do anything he could to make them feel better. He would prove to them that they are no demon, and that they are worthy of love, and he would never let them give up ever again. Two things lay on the bicolored haired teen's mind as he drifted into sleep. One, relief that his soulmate had at least not began cutting himself again that night. Two, a new found promise.

I will find you, so please hang in there.

Chapter Text

"It ain't my fault! This monkey thing really was makin' fun of her!" Rin was beyond exasperated. First, this weird monkey came and picked on this girl, and after he had so graciously helped her, he was fired for wrecking the store. Gee, next time maybe he'll just leave a person to be victimized! After that, he came home to find the girl, Yui, and her father there to thank him. No, that wasn't the bad part. The rotten thing was that he didn't believe him or Yui, and they had both seen it with their own eyes! Finally, after they had left, the old man sent him to bed without sukiyaki! Now he was upstairs, listening to the others enjoy themselves and talking about the oh so great Yukio and his scholarship to True Cross Academy. He had the rottenest luck in the world, didn't he?

He decided to give into his beast-like desire; he knew it was no good, but he very much couldn't put his problems on anyone else. Now, don't misunderstand the situation; the raven absolutely hates what he does to himself, but he has no one else. It might've been different if he had someone, but he didn't. He was alone.

Rin walked over to an old, discarded text book, and leafed through its torn pages, looking for the silver relief. Eventually he found it, and pressed its sharp edge to his skin. Seeing the bead of blood that rose forth, he breathed in the calm that came from it. Finding his courage, sooner than the previous times, may I add, he moved his hand to the left. He found if you lacerated horizontally rather than vertically, the fatality risk becomes drastically smaller. Stupid old man, stupid Yukio, stupid True Cross Academy, stupid me, stupid stupid stupid me. As he sliced, he tried blinking away tears, but soon enough the droplets of salt water became relentless. After a fair amount of lines, he put the blade back in its previous spot. Rin took his place on his bed, watching the rivers of red dance towards and away from each other, seeing the crimson dot his black bedsheets, and feeling the salty water run down his cheeks, before he turned face first into his pillow, hoping to find the second best relief: sleep.

-

"Ah, shit! What the hell does this idiot think they're doing!" Ryuji was in his bedroom, gripping his scarring wrists. He was hearing every thought, and he hated it. He hated all of it. He hated that he could hear it, he could feel it, that he was being affected by it. He hated having a soulmate. What he hated the most, though, was how useless he was to them. He hated knowing how much they were hurting, and not being able to comfort them. He hated that they thought they were alone, and that he couldn't find them, hug them, and tell them that they aren't.

After the idiot had finally fallen asleep, the bicolored haired teen began to start putting things together. All he had managed to get so far was that he has terrible self-esteem, a father he has little to no respect for (really, who calls their father "old fart?"), and a twin brother the complete opposite of him. Wait. His brother. His brother was supposed to be going to some school. Think, Ryuji, think.

True Cross Academy. The buff teenager's eyes widened. The same school he and his friends were going to. Well, at least he had a back up plan. If he couldn't find them on his own, he could look for their brother at school. What was his name again? That was something he would have to listen for.

Ryuji threw his head back in ecstasy. He finally, finally, had a lead. Maybe he would find his soulmate sooner than later. That was definitely something to look forward to.

-

"Hey, Okumura, you got a second?" Rin turned to face the voice speaking behind him. Yesterday, some kid had been shooting the pigeons at the park yesterday, and Rin had ruthlessly beat him to teach him a lesson. Now the asshole with snow hair was standing in front of him with his ugly friends, requesting Rin's attention.

He scowled, rolling his eyes. "What do you need, asshole? I ain't got the time to deal with you." It wasn't that he didn't have the time, more as he didn't have the courage to disobey the old fart after being grounded.

The boy, Reiji, if Rin was correct, raised an eyebrow and let loose a smirk. "What, are you too chicken?" Damn the jerk, he knew that would get to him.

The raven scowled, stepping out of the fence of the monastery, cautiously, lest the old geezer were to come out and see him. "All right, now what the hell do you want?"

Reiji smirked, knowing he was the winner here now. "So here's the deal. My parents are some pretty important people, and I'm heading off to True Cross Academy in a few days. As you could imagine, I can't exactly have any talk going around about me, you dig? So how much?"

Rin found himself nodding along to the boy, understanding what could be a compromising situation, then contorted his face into one of shock and confusion. This BUFFOON was going to the same prestigious high school as his brother? Wait a second… "What do you mean?"

The delinquent laughed. "How much money do you want? I need this to stay hushed up."

The raven snarled at the idea of even touching something the snow haired teen had. "Keep your hush money. My lips are sealed."

This, apparently, would not do for Reiji. "Fine, here." He held out a 10,000 yen bill.

"I said I don't want it." Rin curled his fists, feeling a fight coming on.

"Will you just take it already? We all know that your brother got in by studying nonstop and having no life, earning himself a scholarship. Your family's piss poor, so take this to help pay of the nerd's school debts."

That was the worst thing that idiot could have ever said. No one, no one, bad mouthed his brother unless they were looking for the quickest way to find themselves in hell and then back as if nothing had ever happened. "You absolute asshole," Rin sneered. "Say whatever you want about me, but never so much as think a bad thing about my brother!" Rin jumped forward and threw a left hook at the other boy, still bruised and healing from yesterday's brawl. With that in mind, the lanky boy held back most of his raw strength, expecting that to be enough. He did not, however, anticipate his fist being caught and being shoved to the ground. That;s when he realized Reiji had grown a pair horns and a tail in a matter of seconds. "Wh-what the hell are you?!" Rin tried to squirm his way out, but the teen's goons all but nailed him to the ground.

Reiji stood up, and took his sweet time walking around the pinned raven. "Well, boys, how should we do this?" His eye caught a silver rod sticking out of the ground, ends sharper than knives. "Let's see. You did mess up my face pretty bad, and I do believe the saying is 'an eye for an eye.' So why don't we take out one of those pretty blue peepers." He let out a cruel laugh, enjoying every moment of this.

One of the goons fidgeted nervously above Rin. "Uh, Mr. Shiratori, is it really smart to be doing this? You don't want to get in no trouble or nothing." The other two nodded along fiercely.

Ignoring them, he moved closer to the boy on the ground, filling him with panic and fear. "I hope you're ready to pay, Okumura." He began to lower it closer and closer to his eye. A foot. Six inches. Five. Three.

"Boss, I don't want nothing to do with this!"

Two. Only one inch away.

Rin felt himself become warm and… filled… and then he screamed. Screamed as if someone had just killed him. No, he doesn't think he would scream for his own death. He screamed like someone had just hurt Yukio. He screamed and screamed and screamed, feeling that weird feeling fill him and be placed under immense pressure. He shook his head frantically, and right before the weapon touched his eyes, whoosh.

Rin closed his eyes, and he heard screams surround him. The three guys on top of him fled in fear, of what, Rin didn't know. He kept them screwed tight the whole time, even when he heard a demon-like chuckle. "I knew I had found the right guy. My Prince, it's time for you to return home."

Rin's eyes flew open in confusion, and what he saw didn't help in the least bit. Reiji was now sporting what looked to him likr ram horns, a long, thin tail, incredibly sharp canines and claws, and red-tinged eyes. Rin also saw flames; blue ones, surrounding and covering him, Reiji, and all the junk laying in the alley. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about? Dude, you're seriously creeping me out here." Rin wasn't focused so much on the odd-looking teenager anymore; he was too distracted wondering how the blue fire didn't seem to burn him, and why it had just disappeared so suddenly.

His attention was drawn back towards Reiji, automatically jumping into a defensive position when he saw him step towards him. "My name is Astaroth, and I am here to return you to Lord Satan."

Rin's guard dropped. "S-Satan?" What was this freak even talking about? Oh, man, what the hell is he supposed to do when he's under attack by a psychopath?

"…Evil dwells within this heart. Oh, Lord, let each be judged according to his deeds. Let sinful conduct beget retribution. Let each pay for that which he had taken, bring down thy justice upon them," a new voice boomed through the air, nowhere to be seen.

"W-" Rin began, but was quickly cut off by a scream worthy of an insane person.

"Y-You…?!" Reiji moved himself so he could see the black-clad figure stalking surely behind Rin.

"Smite them that they shall never rise again," the masculine voice continued.

"An… an exorcist!" The snow top cried out.

It was then that Rin realized he should probably turn around and see who his savior was. What the raven saw made his jaw drop in a mix of surprise, fear, and awe. Shiro Fujimoto stood there in all his glory, smiling a rather odd smile at the horned teenager. "Blessed by the Lord!"

Reacting to the words in a strange manor, Reiji tears away from Rin, sprinting full force at the priest. "I'll tear that mouth of your face, accursed priest!"

Rin was once again put in awe at how calm his father has been this whole time. "My prayer has been answered," he monotones as he dodges the Reiji's punch. "The Lord is my helper, and he is my shield." He grabbed the fighting boy's hand and flipped him over. Sneering, he began speaking in a frightening tone, "Demon, perish where you stand!!" The snow haired teenager began screaming in horrible pain, and Rin didn't know what to think of any of this. That boy had just had horns, then his dad came saying a bunch of random words, and next thing he knew, aforementioned boy was lying on the ground, out cold for the count. He hadn't seen the old man lay a finger on him after flipping him over, in self-defense, by the way. He was about to ask what the hell had just happened, but was interrupted. Again. "Have you calmed down?" All Rin could do was stare at the mystery man before him. After all, apparently the raven knew little to nothing about the real Shiro. "It would appear that your power can no longer be suppressed entirely by Kurikara."

The small teenager couldn't think of anything to say, at least, not until he saw a very badly hurt, but otherwise normal looking, Reiji on the ground. "Is… is that guy all right?!"

The old man walked over to the sleeping boy, and began examining his head and face. "He's fine. I have exercised the demon from him. It appears he had only recently been possessed. However, demons tend to possess those most similar to themselves. If this boy does not change, then he may be possessed once more."

Rin just continued to stare. Really, what else was he supposed to do? Laugh and joke around like normal? Well, this wasn't fucking normal, not in the least bit. He'd almost been killed. "D-demons? W-What the hell is going on, old man?!"

"You are only seeing half of the world, Rin. There are two pieces of our world, Assia, and Gehenna, and they reflect each other like a mirror. Assia, here, is home to us and all that most humans know about. Gehenna, on the other hand, is home to demons, all reaching for a glorious opportunity to join us here in Assia. The boundary between our two different worlds is too thick, though, for demons to pass through in their true forms. That's where demonic possession comes into play. If a demon can find a suitable host, it may transfer its soul into said host, giving it a home in Assia. These little buggers floating around are Coal Tars. They possess ash and dust."

Rin jumper back as one flew past his face. No way could those be demons; they were too small and cute! Rin managed to snag one of the millions of questions running in his head, and it was one that the raven was determined to have answered. "What does all of this have to do with me?" He crossed his arms in a way that said, "I won't move or do anything else until I get the truth from you."

The old man sighed, dreading the next words he would have to say. "You are the son of a demon. Not just any demon, though, the worst demon of them all. You are the son of Satan himself." Rin stared at the old man, thoughts colliding, rolling, burning, flying, sinking, everything but making sense. He barely heard what Shiro said next. "Rin, we have to run." His feet started moving.

-

This was by far one of the weirdest dreams Ryuji has ever had. He was seeing everything from someone else's point of view, and if that wasn't terrifying enough, everything that happened certainly made it. He had followed these guys outside and got into a fight and one grew horns and then blue flames came from everywhere and it was just plain weird. Finally someone came and exercised the obviously possessed teenager, but Ryuji woke up after the exorcism was complete. He didn't need these strange nightmares wrecking his sleep. He sat up and jumped out of bed when he saw the time. Holy shit, did he sleep in! Just then, Shima and Konekomura came and knocked on his door. "Come in!" The rosette opened the door, and the bicolored haired teenager collapsed on the floor. The duo ran to him, and once they lifted his face, they saw horrible, horrible tears running free. He gripped his head, shaking it, saying "Stop!" over and over. This onslaught of emotions, where the hell did it come from? His soulmate was fine just a second ago, just the usual minuscule buzz in the back of his head. Ryuji tried to stand, but found he couldn't. He grit his teeth angrily. How the hell am I supposed to find you now?!

-

How the fuck is it I always manage to get myself in these messes?

That was all that Rin could think, foxllowing Shiro Fujimoto, the father he apparently knows nothing about. Then again, apparently he knew almost nothing about himself, either. He's the son of Satan? Well, that certainly means all the people were right to call him a demon child. He really was one now, wasn't he? These thoughts slowly faded to black, as he began thinking about the old man chanting in front of him. So, he really was an exorcist who dispels demons from everyday people's lives, huh? Just another thing Rin had been wrong about all this time.

The old man stopped abruptly, nearly knocking Rin off the rooftop bridge they were crossing. On the roof sat dozens of dogs, but the grossest, smelliest ones he had ever seen. "Aww, gross, what are these?"

"Ghouls, lower kin of the demon king of rot, Astaroth. We're lucky we live in Japan; anywhere else and we would be attacked by human ghouls." Rin stared at the old man, wondering how in hell they were lucky. That's when he saw him pull out a hand grenade.

"Wait! You can't throw a grenade!" Rin stated, slightly worrying because he knew he would be blamed for any destruction.

"Don't worry, it's just a holy water grenade."

Rin watched him pull out the safety pin and chuck it. "Holy water grenade?" When it exploded, a mist settled around the area, but it caused all the surrounding demons to collapse.

"Come now, we have to get back to the monastery before night falls." Father Fujimoto grabbed the half-demon's hand, dragging him to the roof stairs.

"Why before night?" The raven was getting frustrated with not knowing anything, and for the old fart acting like he did.

The gray-haired man turned to face his son. "That's when the demons are strongest, my son." Rin let himself be dragged along, and was left even more baffled when he saw all of the priests waiting to greet the two. "Have you strengthened the anti-demon wards?"

All of the priests followed them, as one answered him. "Yes, Father, we doubled it."

"Well, triple the doubles. This is going to be a long night. Every demon will be attacking tonight."

"Yes, sir." They all ran off, doing as they were told.

"Follow me," were all the words uttered to Rin. He just followed to the back of the room, where Fujimoto unlocked a drawer, but then pushed the whole stand, revealing a hollowed out space with a single chest. He opened it, revealing a Japanese sword, lighting up with blue sparks at random. Before the raven could ask what it was, the priest began to speak. "The Kurikara, sometimes known as the Koma sword. Fifteen years ago, I sealed your demonic powers within it. You must keep this by your side at all times, sleep with it, even, but, no matter what, do not let it get in the wrong hands, and do not open it. If you open it, your powers will be unleashed, and you will never be able to return to your human life. Do you understand?" He handed Rin the sword, and began to walk towards the door.

The half-demon finally came to his senses, and quickly called out, "Wait!" The old man turned to face him. "Where are you going? What about Yukio? Don't tell me he's not human, either…"

"You're brother was weak and underdeveloped in the wound, unable to hold the power of Satan. Therefore, you are the only one with his power. You are to stay here until morning comes." He ran up the stairs, locking the raven inside.

"Damnit, old man! I want to help! Let me out of here!" He was banging on the door, wanting more answers to his millions of questions. All he heard above him was loud crashes, shouts, and cries. Adrenaline shot through Rin, and the next hit shattered the wood above him, freeing him. The old fart turned towards him, startled expression glued into his face. "We're not done talking, old fart. I need more answers."

The old man slowly shook his head in a melancholic way. "My son, why do you throw caution to the wind." Shiro handed the now befuddled boy a cellphone and looked him dead in the eyes. "Listen, and follow every word I say. You need to run, run as far and as fast from here as you can. When you're safe, use my phone to call my close friend. His number is the only one saved into my phone. Now, please, hurry."

He turned his back on his son, yet again. "I understand," Rin began, hurt leaking through his voice. "I understand that you're tired of putting up with a delinquent like me. I understand that you don't have the patience to care anymore. Well, fine! Just don't ever let me see you acting like my father ever again!"

A loud, sharp sound rang through the air, and it took the raven a moment to process that it was the sound of a slap delivered to him by his father. "Go get your stuff."

The half-demon nodded, and mutely began to shuffle away. All Shiro could do was stare at his hand, the very hand that had struck his son for the first time in fifteen years. That's when tragedy truly struck.

He began choking, bringing Rin to a stop. When he looked up again, the raven was no longer sure if that was the old fart or not. Blue flames flared up all around him, a long black tale and stretched ears now became a part of his features, and he was bleeding from his nose, fanged mouth, and scarlet red eyes. "Gyahahahahahaha! Finally, after all this time!" The person once known as Father Shiro Fujimoto turned to face the raven. "My son, it's time to go home!"

As articulate as ever, the half-demon answered. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about?! Who the hell are you?!"

Another disgusting laugh escaped the old man's lips. "I am Satan, but you can call me Papa!" He laughed, yet again, more mirthlessly this time around, though.

The half-demon's blood boiled. Before he knew it, he was covered in those blue flames again. "You aren't my father!"

Damn, this guy must be really cheerful, as he let out the same beastly laugh as before. "What was that, a temper tantrum? Hurry up and just unlock your powers already!" He walked over, surprise, surprise, laughing, to his son, picked him up by the back of his neck collar, and threw him into a gross, bubbly area that the boy had failed to notice. The Koma sword landed on the other side of him. Before Satan could join him in the Gehenna gate, though, Rin noticed something happening. His face began twitching, and his gruesomely happy expression had fallen. "N-no. It can't be!"

Tears formed in the teenager's eyes as he heard the next words. "Let go of my son, demon!" It was the old man's voice! He was still there!

His celebration was cut short, though, when he saw his father's hands reach up for the pendant that he always had. He grasped it, pointing the needle-point end at his heart. As he shoved downwards, Rin and Satan both cried out, one in sadness and the other in anger. "D-damn you, exorcist! At least I will still have my prize. Once the Gehenna gate has something in its jaws, it never lets it go!" With those last few words, Satan vanished, and Father Fujimoto fell face first into whatever gunk this gate was made of.

Both he and the raven began sinking deeper into its claws, and Rin desperately grasped at the Kurikara. The Kurikara. He gripped both the case and the handle, prepared to open the demon blade. "Wait, Rin, have you already forgotten what Father had told you?!" A priest shouted at him.

Rin ignored him, and the sword was unsheathed. Blue flames flocked up from everywhere, giving him what looked like flaming horns and tail. He gave the weapon a test swing. The half-demon held the it above the top of the gate, and, with a powerful swing, he managed to dissipate the Gehenna gate.

He quickly sheathed the power-filled sword, hoping to save some of his humanity. Upon looking at his normal, human hands, Rin nearly let out a cry of relief. That feeling was short lived, though, when he saw his father lying on the ground. He tried to crawl over quickly, but barely made it to the old man. The raven put his ear to Shiro's chest, and finally, finally, let his tears fall.

"I'm sorry, father."

-

Ryuji was still feeling absolutely horrible, but today was supposed to be the day he went on his search for them. He couldn't sit in bed crying because it hurt, when they are out there clearly hurting much worse than he could be. That's why when the bicolored haired teenager stepped out of his room, everyone was keeping a close eye on him. He couldn't stay here any longer; he didn't know how, but he knew it was about to get a lot worse in a second. This journey was simply not meant to be, it seemed. Ryuji took a step outside, and he was hit once again by the pain. He broke down into a sobbing mess, but it didn't even last long; he soon fell unconscious.

-

Rin stood in front of the gravestone that marked where his father, Father Shiro Fujimoto, lay. Why? Why did he have to be so cruel? Why did he have to be such a… a… a demon? The raven knew he was crying, but did nothing to wipe away his tears.

When you're safe, use my phone to call my close friend. His number is the only one saved into my phone.

The half-demon slowly pulled out the sleek, black cellphone, and called the only number there. Suddenly, a loud, obnoxious ringtone began chiming through the air. He's here? Rin thought.

Someone stepped forward as his call was answered. "My, my, what do we have here?" The man belonging to the voice closed his phone, hanging up. When the raven saw the man, he was not expecting… a clown! That was the only way to describe how he was dressed. "My name is Sir Mephisto Pheles of the Japanese branch of the Knights of the True Cross. And you are to die today!"

Rin felt himself go numb. He's going to die? "What? No way! The old man told me you'd help me!"

A predatory smile inched it's way onto the purple-haired man. "Why, I was, until you broke your end of the deal by unleashing your powers. Now, I offer you two choices. One, you could come along peacefully and allow yourself to be killed. Two, you can kill me and everyone else here and try to run. Oh, forgive me, I have forgotten that there is a third option for you. You could commit suicide right now. Well? Choose! Three options, laid out just for you!"

The raven grit his teeth, and shook his head. "No. I'm going to be an exorcist, just like the old man!"

The strangely-dressed man stared at him blankly, before asking a question. "Why would the spawn of Satan want to be an exorcist?"

"Because! I'm gonna beat the shit out of Satan!"

A stunned silence filled the air, until a light laugh came. It slowly turned into something more demonic, and Sir Mephisto slowly breathed to calm himself down. "All right, I'll humor your request. From this day on, you shall begin your training as an exorcist! Be warned, though, the path you have chosen is neither light nor easy. Great hardships await you down the road."

-

When Rin returned home, the first thing he saw was a picture of him and the old man. It was the day after Rin had broken his dad's ribs. He took the frame off the wall and carried it to his room, where he laid down and cried himself to sleep.

-

Shima, Konekomura, and Mrs. Suguro sat outside Ryuji's door, waiting for him to need something. Mrs. Suguro had even started crying at some point, but no one could tell you when, exactly. After finally getting her baby boy to the dinner table, he promptly screamed in physical and emotional pain, sobbing, yelling at no one in particular. He shot up out of his seat and ran to his room without assistance, and locked the door right away. Listening, you could still hear his muffled sobs, and the occasional vomit. She knew she couldn't blame his soulmate; after all, if Ryuji is only getting a fraction of the pain, imagine what they are feeling right now. She just wanted her baby to feel better. She didn't want him to be sick with whatever feelings were running through another person's head. She wanted him to get up, be his old grumpy self, and go find this person. She wanted him to save his other half, not fall victim to their feelings. Mrs. Suguro sighed. If we all got what we wanted, she knew Ryuji would have them in his arms right now, and they would both be okay. The world is not a wish-granting factory, it seems.

Chapter Text

Rin stepped outside of the salmon pink limousine and into the bright sunlight shining down upon True Cross Academy. Stupid Yukio had ignored him the entire ride there, and Rin didn't know what was more unnerving, being ignored, or being confronted about what had happened. Shitty moley four-eyes, making me worry like this, the raven thought. Deep down, though, he doesn't blame him. He never could. He just wishes his younger twin brother would just say something. When he had been told to pack everything by Mephisto, he wasn't confronted by the bespectacled teen once, which worried and relieved him at the same time. What was he supposed to say to him when Yukio finally asked him what happened that night? Did he know about this side of the half-demon? He doesn't think so, because surely his brother would've told him.

Later, that day, before this "Cram School" he had to attend for exorcist training, he went to his abandoned dorm. He chose a dorm room at random on the second floor, and dropped all his belongings on the ground. The teenager contemplated on what he should do for the next half hour while waiting for his class to start. He considered unpacking, but quickly realized he was too out of it right now to do anything. Anything, except, well, what he normally does when he feels like this. He sat up and began digging through boxes, looking for the textbook that held his own little stress reliever. When he found it, he laid down on his dusty bunk, and dived right into making a clean slash on his wrist. He tried thinking of everything that was stressing him out; to the half-demon, it felt like he was cutting at his problems rather than himself when he did this. He laughed indifferently, and began his mental conquest. Well, we can start with how I'm a fucking demon. Cut. The old man was killed by fucking Satan, which is my fault, by the way. Cut. My own little brother doesn't know any of this, but he's probably more than fucking aware that the old fart dying is my fault, hence why he won't even speak to me. Cut. Rin thought this was it, but there was still something bothering him in the back of his mind. Oh. Right. My fucking soulmate. God, I feel pretty sorry for whoever was damned to me for the rest of their lives. I'm sorry you got a fucking demon for your life partner. Maybe you can find someone else? Can you exchange a soulmate for another? Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut.

About now, the raven was beginning to feel a tad bit dizzy, and better, albeit just barely, so he put the razor back in its hidden place. He grabbed his books and began packing for class. There was no harm in getting there a little early.

 -

The next day, Ryuji was able to walk, so his mother and father sent him packing for True Cross Academy. "'Your best chance of finding them is at school!' 'Don't give up your scholarship for this silly mission! You know you won't be able to find them out there!' 'I refuse to have my son wandering everywhere on earth when he could be somewhere I know he will be the whole time!' Don't these crazy people know how much I need to find them?! They could be anywhere in the world, and I'm being sent to school," Ryuji grumbled unhappily. You know their brother is going to TCA as well, that can help, a little optimistic voice in the back of his head whispered.

The bicolored haired teen picked his head up a bit at that reassuring thought. Yeah, his soulmate's brother was going to he going to the same school as him, which narrowed out about half the students he had to search through; unless their brother is actually trans into a girl and they just refuse to accept that their brother is actually a sister, all the girls can be scratched off the list. Right. God, was he in some deep shit.

-

It was thirty minutes before class started, and Ryuji was restless in his room, trying to figure out how to find out which boys attending TCA had siblings. Would the headmaster be willing to give that information if he knew the circumstances? Probably not, adults are stubborn fucks like that. He leaned back in his chair, letting out an exasperated sigh, when he saw red again. Literally, as he felt a sting on his wrist, and saw the blood again. Oh god, no. Please, not again. Let this just be an odd coincidence. He knew it was useless to wish for such things, but he did it anyway. He still remembered all the pain from yesterday. The poor kid, wherever he was, was attacked by Satan, and his father died defending him. There were some things that seemed weird to him, but it could be because he missed some of it all, what with passing out and all. Suguro could deal with the cuts, but it was always the thoughts that stung the worse. Naturally, the thoughts were what came next. Well, we can start with how I'm a fucking demon. Another red line was drawn out with experienced precision. The old man was killed by fucking Satan, which is my fault, by the way. Oh, God, it wasn't their fault. Another cut anyways. My own little brother doesn't know any of this, but he's probably more than fucking aware that the old fart dying is my fault, hence why he won't even speak to me. Their… their brother didn't know? Oh, God, this is so much worse than he thought. He watched as another crimson strand was carved into his arm. My fucking soulmate. God, I feel pretty sorry for whoever was damned to me for the rest of their lives. I'm sorry you got a fucking demon for your life partner. Maybe you can find someone else? Can you exchange a soulmate for another? Oh, no. Oh, please, for the love of God, no. They… they were aware that the bond had formed. Yet, they still thought they were alone. They thought he didn't want them, or care. No. Ryuji couldn't do this. He had to try to send them a message. Something. Anything.

Desperate for this to work, he thought as painfully as he could, aching for these words to reach them. Stop. I will find you. I care for you. Help me find you. Please! Please…

-

Rin was halfway to the Cram School classroom. He was grateful for the long sleeves of his uniform; he didn't need his reputation to be 'the emo cutter' or anything like that. He was about to open the door, when he heard a voice, and dropped everything. He was too shocked to even move. Stop. I will find you. I care for you. Help me find you. Please! Please…

Rin rolled all the possibilities around in his head; clearly, this person had t be his soulmate, and they knew what he was doing to himself. He could offer up some information, because like hell he didn't want some kind of comfort. But, what will happen once they know the truth about him? Will they push him away? Will they accept him? The raven closed his eyes. Soulmates mean love, and love means you take a leap of fate, right? Well, a leap of fate Rin is going to take. I go to True Cross Academy in Japan. I have a younger twin brother, and it's both of our first years here. I'm a male, I have blue eyes and black hair, and I need you. Please find me.

The half-demon gathered up his dropped items and stepped into the classroom, his heart filled with something else rather than dread. For the first time in a long time, his heart was filled with hope.

-

To say Ryuji Suguro was surprised to receive a response would be an understatement. And, just, well, the answer he got! Filled with new hope, Ryuji jumped out of his chair in ecstasy, and even picked up Shima and Konekomura, spinning them around.

Shima laughed, before asking the question on both boys' minds. "Woah, there, Bon? What's got you so happy?"

Ryuji let out a laugh, the first the other two had heard from him in days. "He's here! He's actually here! He and his brother both! They're here, and they're our year! He's here, and I can find him!"

Konekomura was the first to process what was just given to them. "He?"

Bon nodded furiously. "Yes, he. I told him I'm looking for him and to help me out, because, well, this happened again today," he briefly held up his bandaged arm, "and this is what he told me. Are you ready? 'I go to True Cross Academy in Japan. I have a younger twin brother, and it's both of our first years here. I'm a male, I have blue eyes and black hair, and I need you. Please find me.' That is word for word. He's here! He's here! He's finally here…" The bicolored haired teen hadn't even noticed, but he had begun crying in happiness.

The rosette had been laughing and crying with him, when he noticed the time. "Hey, Bon, I hate to ruin the good mood, but class will start in ten minutes, we should probably start going." Ryuji wiped away the tears while nodding his head. He was finally going to find him.

Thinking about it, he decided to send the male another message. I go to TCA and male, as well. I'm looking. I promise you, I'm looking, so don't give up. Don't you dare give up anytime soon.

The whole walk to class, all he could do was look for a black haired, blue eyed teenage boy.

Chapter Text

Rin's joyful mood was cut short immediately after walking into the classroom. Don't misinterpret this, he was still pretty happy; who wouldn't be, when they just found out their soulmate attends the same school? God, he just wanted to meet him already. Alas, good moods can't stay good forever, unfortunately. A few minutes after sitting at the front and center table, three guys walked in. The shortest one was bald, had red glasses, and seemed to try to shrink into himself. The next tallest one had short, pink hair, brown eyes, and a lazy smile. He also kind of looked like the most outgoing of the bunch. The last one was the tallest. He was built really muscular, had a lot of piercings, and amber eyes, but the most prominent feature was his hair. It was naturally brown, but straight down the middle of the long locks, he had dyed it blonde. The tallest one looked at him and scowled at him when he saw his large grin. Remembering his old tough-guy facade, he put on his own frown and lifted his chin a bit. To add onto that whole scene, he also just found out his younger brother was actually his teacher! After having a conversation during a dangerous hobgoblin invasion like they were just having tea or something, he found out Yukio knew every damn thing about his demonic life he hadn't even known about until yesterday! The damn shitty four eyes certainly had some nerve hiding all of this for so long.

No, no, don't blame him for your problems. He… I'm sure he was just doing it to protect me? Right? That's… that's why he didn't shoot me. Because he loves me. He wants me to be safe. Yeah, that's it. He has 'tough love,' not openly mushy, smushy love. He's still my brother, and he loves me. He knew this was merely wishful thinking, but can you blame the poor boy? Everything he knew was being ripped from his hands and melded into something new. And… and… well, the raven didn't like it. Not one bit. Yukio seemed to have gotten over whatever was putting him against his older brother, but, at the same time, the half-demon knew it wasn't as simple as that. He knew that there were still plenty of grudges against him; he was the one who gave the younger his temptaint, killed their father, and essentially ruined his life, after all. He knew they probably won't be able to work past all of their problems. He had to hope, though. Really, how else is he supposed to make it through this? My soulmate. He'll help me, Rin mused.

But what if he didn't, though? What if he realized just how horrible the half-demon is? I'll be alone. For good, this time. There's no way anyone could love a demon like me.

-

Today quickly went from a day to be celebrated to a day to be salted and burned. While on the way to the Cram School, Ryuji had failed to see a single male to fit the admittedly vague description. When he finally got there and opened the door, he thought that maybe, maybe, the gods were smiling down upon them, because smack in the middle front of the classroom sat a boy that took "blue eyes, black hair" to a new level. His Raven hair was so dark, when light fell upon it, it seemed to shine blue instead. His eyes… oh, god, his eyes. They were beautiful. His eyes were like… the ocean you can see before it dips off into the vast abyss, the clear blue that comes just before the sun starts to set and the sky is overtaken by color. They were the blue that the sky turns as lighting strikes. Calling his eyes just "blue" would be a great insult. Ryuji really thought he found his soulmate. He quickly shot that idea down and cursed the heavens when he saw a huge, goofy smile stretched across the small, pale boy's face, lighting up those glorious eyes. Not even thirty minutes ago, his soulmate had been in such a depressing state, cutting up his arms, believing the world was against him. There was no way this seemingly happy-go-lucky boy could be him. Just seeing such a sincere smile made Ryuji angry; how could anyone be cheerful when he couldn't find his other half and his soulmate was so depressed and in pain? It just wasn't fair! So, naturally, the amber-eyed teen sent a very threatening scowl his way. That kid, Rin Okumura, as he had learned, was really pushing it today, though. The son of a bitch disrupted the class to the point where everyone but he and the teacher, presumably related, considering the shared last name, had to leave the room. Once the class reentered, they found it a wreck, then learned that the raven had managed to summon all the hobgoblins, and then the duo had to kill them all.

Putting the metaphorical cherry of his problems on top, though, was what he got from his soulmate after class. He seemed to have gotten in a fight with his brother, or something, because he seemed to be trying to comfort himself, but it wasn't working. But what if he didn't, though? What if he realized just how horrible the I am? I'll be alone. For good, this time. There's no way anyone could love a demon like me. Wait, what? No, not again. He can't be thinking that Ryuji doesn't care again! He cares! He will care no matter what! He's his, and nothing will ever change that. He had to find him. He's said this a million times, but he'd say it a million more, because it's true. He can't imagine losing him. Not now, not ever.

-

Rin sat in his bed, contemplating the past two days, and whether or not he'd need a little relief.

The first day, he'd gotten into a fight with his brother that nearly killed him, met a major asshole, and he'd also found out that he was sharing the old boys' dormitory with his younger twin. However, he learned his soulmate was here, and looking for him, his brother didn't kill him and actually somewhat forgave him, and his brother was staying in a different room than him. Then again, his soulmate didn't seem to be any closer to finding him than before, his brother was still hiding something, and he was also probably avoiding as much contact with the raven as possible.

Yesterday, he was almost responsible for the death of a blonde girl his age, got into another fight with Yukio, and watched aforementioned girl make up with her mother unlike he was able to do with his father. He also became friends with said pretty, blonde girl, saved her, made up with the younger twin, and helped prevent another family share his own fate. To die with those words as the last thing imprinted on one's mind is.… tragic. It's a regret that one person would have forever, just as Rin will. Was the girl really his friend, though? After all, the first thing said to him was, "You're a demon!" He hadn't even said anything yet!

The half-demon grabbed his toy, and held it in the palm of his hand. Silver, a little brown on the edge from dried blood, and small. But it was enough. He was about to grab it, but then he remembered. I go to TCA and male, as well. I'm looking. I promise you, I'm looking, so don't give up. Don't you dare give up anytime soon. He had to be strong, he couldn't keep doing this. This was also hurting his soulmate, too. No need to be even more of a disappointment to him. That's right, he was also a huge disappointment. To his father, his brother, his soulmate. Just one big problem. The raven clenched his fist, forgetting about the sharp object residing and cutting in his smooth palm. What the hell is he supposed to do? Why is this all so complicated?

-

Ryuji was doing the homework for Demon Pharmaceuticals class when he felt the now-familiar stinging sensation. There was something off about it, though. He lifted his wrist to see if he could pinpoint it, but when he looked, there was nothing there but past scars. The pain was still there, though, but now he was able to figure out where. His amber eyes moved up, until they finally rested on his palm, where a single, short line of blood started to trickle down. What he felt with the cut wasn't normal, though. Normally, he got a sense of despair, self-loathing, and pain. This time, all he felt was confusion. The bicolored haired teen's eyes widened in shock. His soulmate… part of him was trying to fight it. A piece of him still doubted Ryuji, and it still stung, but it couldn't be helped. What really mattered right now was that part of him was hoping that he would come, and trying to refrain from hurting himself. This cut on his palm wasn't intentional. It was pure accident. Maybe, just maybe, this will work out in the end.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Cram School classes began, and it got no better for Ryuji. The material was easy enough, not that he tried to get away without studying. He had his two best friends by his side for every step of the way. Hell, he could even consider the whole soulmate thing to be going in his direction, seeing as he hadn’t cut since the day he first resisted.

No, everything was fine, except for one Rin Okumura.  

This bastard has been on Ryuji’s last nerves since the day he first saw him. Most days he walked in with that fucking obnoxious grin as if Ryuji’s world wasn’t falling apart as each day passed. He would fall asleep in class all the damn time, and then have the audacity to be surprised when he gets the worst marks Ryuji has ever seen. And despite being a dumbass, the asshole walks around like he’s the shit legends are made of! I mean, really, what gives with that dickwad? So, yeah, it’d be an understatement to say that Rin Okumura was a pain in Ryuji’s side.

He currently had his eyes on the raven sitting up front. Sat right next to that Moriyama chick, just snoozing the fuck away. Bon grit his teeth, unintentionally letting out a little hiss of anger. “Uh, Bon, what’d the pencil do to you?” Shima said from beside him. He looked down at his hand to see it was clenched in his white knuckled fingers. He let it go, resisting the urge to throw it at the boy who had him so upset in the first place. “Wanna talk about it, bud?”

Ryuji closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, letting it out heavy in an attempt to calm down. “It’s the fuckin’ Okumura kid, whatever his name is.” He knew exactly what his name was, but he didn’t want to think about why he knew it. “Who does he think he is, sleeping his way through the class and acting like not a bit of this matters for shit?”

A small hand hesitantly tugged at his sleeve. “Um, Bon?” Said boy turned to his bald friend. “Don’t you think you’re being a little, er, harsh? Maybe just a bit?”

The scowl deepened on Ryuji’s face. “Oh, fuck no. Don’t you dare give me a hard time about this. Are you—are you seriously telling me you aren’t just as pissed about it?” He knew he was working himself into a bluster, luckily the bell had begun to ring, signaling the end of class. He stood up, roughly knocking his chair backwards, and began packing his bags. “Listen, I don’t care what y’all say; everything ever said about him is true. Rin Okumura is a lazy, rude, disgusting person, and nothing will change my mind about it. Everything he’s gotten so far he deserved,” the bicolored teen concluded with finality. He hiked his bag onto his shoulders, ignoring the twin looks of guilt his friends shared, and headed out of the classroom, paying no mind to who may or may not have still been in the classroom.

-

Rin sat at his desk for who knows how long, replaying the scene that just played out in front of him in his head again and again. Rin—he knew what he was getting himself into when he joined the program. He, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy, that he wasn’t well-liked in general. He knew all of this, but he never knew the world could be this cruel to him. Those angry, bitter words spat from Ryuji’s mouth rang in the raven’s ears, and they vibrated in his mind. It was the weirdest experience, hearing the words said out loud and in his mind at the same time, a strange echo that shook his mind and core.

There was no doubt about it, no denying any of it. Ryuji ‘Bon’ Suguro was Rin’s soulmate, and he hated him.

Everything ever said about him is true. All those times he was called a demon, the spawn of the devil, stupid, worthless. It was all true.

Everything he’s gotten so far he deserved. Every fight, every bruise, every broken bone, every cut, every smooth slice along his skin, he deserved it all. Every death threat, every gun to his head, iron poker to his eye, knife to his throat, blade to his wrist.

Nothing will change my mind about it. All these things, all of his hope, it came crashing down because his soulmate will never love him so what is the point.

Rin sat in the classroom for a long time, never once making a move to brush away his own tears. He stayed there until Yukio came looking for him, shining a light on his pale face and giving a look akin to pity. “Oh, Rin. Come on, let’s get you back to the dorm.” He let his body be moved, but he let his mind stay.

-

The next morning found Bon waking up with an incredibly large headache and numerous lines drawn across his arms. His sleep-addled brain was slow to catch up, drowsily trying to figure out what the red painted on his skin could mean, and then it hit him. He shot out of bed like a bullet, calling for his friends desperately. This couldn’t be happening, his soulmate had made so much progress, and, God, is this panic how he felt all the damn time. Shima was the first to stumble bleary eyed into the bathroom, but as soon as he saw the blood he woke up. “Konekomura, grab the first aid kit and get in here quick!” Shima turned away from the door and back to his bleeding friend. “Hey, hey, Ryuji, talk to me. What happened?” Bon could only shake his head, eyes frozen to the trails of crimson running down his tan skin. “Bon,” the pink-haired boy demanded his attention. “I need to know what happened or I can’t help. I understand this is difficult, but we can’t do anything if you’re crying.” Was he crying? Ryuji didn’t notice. “Hey. I need you to stay with me. Can you still feel him? Is he still on the other side of the bond?”

The implication spurred the bicolored into motion. “Yes, yes, yeah,” he gasped out, each breath a struggle.

“Okay, that’s good. That’s really, really good. That means he’s okay.” Ryuji let out an incoherent whine at that. “Okay, okay, as good as he can be considering the current circumstances. Miwa, where the hell are you with the first aid kit?!”

As Bon kneeled on the bathroom floor while his friends took care of his arms, he numbly tried to make sense of the mess of thoughts running and jumbling in his mind, unable to make sense of what could have happened last night.

Chapter Text

Needless to say, Rin did not get much sleep the night before. And by much, I mean any. He slowly sat up from his bed, roughly tearing a hand through his already unruly hair. With dragging feet he carried himself to the bathroom. When he took the time to actually look at the damage done he couldn’t help but wince.

Gone was the control the raven had when he held that blade. Clean, practiced lines were forgotten in favor of pure emotion. You could easily see where the blade caught on skin and tore its way through. Precise movements looked like a wild animal attacking. He grit his teeth as he dabbed a wet washcloth along the bloody, raw flesh.

After years of practice, cleaning and wrapping these cuts was like second nature.

As he was finishing tying the last bandage, a knock sounded on the doorframe. Quickly, Rin pulled down the sleeve to the hoodie he wore to bed that previous night. As he turned to face the door, Yukio steps in. You would have to be a fool to not see the concern in Yukio’s eyes, but a fool Rin was. Once his twin stepped in, he immediately tensed up, ready for a fight.

Seriously, after the day he had yesterday, could he not catch a break?

“Rin, what happened yesterday?” The voice was filled with concern, yearning to help, but still the mentioned turned away from his brother. “Rin?” Yukio stepped closer. “Rin, I just want to help yo—“ He laid a hand the raven’s shoulder and he whipped around to throw it off.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” What was meant to come out furious instead pulled back the curtains to show the pain deep seated within him. He grew only more frustrated when he heard his voice crack like that. “I’m going to get ready for class.”

Yukio let him leave without a word.

-

Okumura was fucking worse today. At least in previous classes he would at least pretend to be paying attention, but today he just kept nodding off non-stop. “I wonder if he’s gotten any sleep lately,” Bon heard Shima tell Konekomura.

“Tch, he pro’ly gets plenty of sleep, he just doesn’t give two shits about being an exorcist.” As if on cue, the smaller boy woke up and turned immediately to the trio. His expression was carefully blank, as if he had practiced hiding what was on his mind. Well, since he had his attention…

Rin whipped around back to the front once Ryuji sent one of his best sneer/glare looks.

The entire day pretty much went by like that, up until Okumura’s class. Today they get their grades for the medicinal herbs test back. Naturally, Ryuji knew he was going to be fine, so that wasn’t what was pissing him off so much. No, it was the fucking flirt at the front.

When he was called to the front, every one saw the 2 he scored. Bon rolled his eyes when the boy had the audacity to act surprised by the incredibly poor score. He walked past the kid, purposely hitting his shoulder against the other’s.

“Suguro, your hard work has paid off again,” the brunette said as he passed the test into his waiting hands.

Feeling the curious electric eyes on his back, Ryuji held his test up for all to see, a proud smirk resting on his face. The shorter gawked at the 98 on the paper, letting out an indignant squawk. “How come a punk rock reject like you managed to get a nearly perfect score?!”

Bon could feel his blood boiling at the stupid name, but he pushed it onto the back burner to address the more pressing issue here. “I got a good score because I studied, just like everyone else at this school does. I couldn’t get a 2 on a test even if I tried. It’s obvious to everyone here that you aren’t serious about being an exorcist, so just leave already. We don’t need your carelessness dragging the rest of us down!”

Breathless from the outburst, Bon watched Rin’s reaction. He set his jaw firm and took a step forward. “What do you think you know about me?” he growled out, almost literally.

At this point, Shima, Konekomura, and Okumura had stepped forward to separate the two. While his two friends were trying to ease the tension, the younger twin was doing the exact opposite. “You know, he’s got a point, Rin. Keep going, Suguro, tell him what else he can do to improve.” The calm smile on his face made it seem like he was enjoying the take down of his reckless brother.

-

Whatever emotion was running through Rin’s veins was making his blood run boiling. A strange mix of sadness and anger and pure betrayal coursed through his body. He ripped his body away from Yukio’s hold, the touch on his body. His eyes burn, and, now that Rin thinks about it, he thinks he’s about to start crying. He strides to the door, fists clenched, nails tearing into his palm.

Before he walked through the door he whirled around one more time. Looking at the two people who were meant to love him the most, he hisses out a bitter, painful, “Fuck you!” before he slams the door shut behind him.

-

Now, Ryuji is pretty damn smart. He got into TCA on a scholarship and he studies real fuckin’ hard, so he’s no idiot. That’s why the seemingly black and white situation was stuck on his mind, because nothing about it was black and white.

That look in Rin’s eyes was the result of a lot more than anger, and something told Bon that he wasn’t an angry crier. There was the matter of how he seemed to almost shut down when the bicolored teen began spitting cruel yet true words.

What stuck out the most was the two brothers’ relationship. Yukio seemed so…cold to his older brother, and, if he didn’t know any better, he’d have said Rin looked afraid of his twin.

Looking at all of this together, Ryuji came to the conclusion that there was a bus load of secrets being kept between the two of them. Something was just not right with the raven and, to be frank, he was a little concerned about the twins’ relationship. He tried to wipe away the feelings, but he couldn’t help but worry. He’d seen how some people treat their family. Could this be a sign of…

I should just fuckin slit my fuckin’ wrists already.

Thoughts of Rin Okumura were immediately pushed aside to focus on his soulmate.

-

Why the hell do exorcists have to go to a fucking gym class?

Rin absentmindedly rubbed at his bandaged arms, not taking any particular care with them. He muttered and grumbled the whole way to the training facility, his bad mood worsening when he saw the bicolored teen. He seemed to be snickering at something, but Rin couldn’t tell what. Suguro turned his head towards the raven as if he could hear what he was thinking, and Rin pulled his mouth into a taut line and looked to the ground.

He’s barely paying attention when the bigger teen shoves past him. He scowls, but sees that their instructor has arrived and was apparently saying something. The raven lets out a small, almost unnoticeable sigh and walks in the direction his classmates are headed. As he arrives, a giant frog-like creature is released from a cage below them. He takes a moment to gape at its size, but his silent awe is brought to the halt at the arrival of Suguro. “What, never seen a Reaper before?”

He doesn’t answer, just glares at him, but his silent efforts were dismissed when the teacher, Tsubaki, he thinks, walks over to them. “Okumura, since you obviously weren’t listening, you will go in with Suguro!” Rin groans, the first sound he’s made since what happened when they got their tests back. “Now, Okumura.”

He jumped down into the pit and walked to where Suguro was standing. “This is what you get for never doing anything. Now, stay outta my way so I can finish this before you.” He had a cruel smile stretched on his lips, obviously aiming to hurt with his words. Rin took the bait.

“Screw you, rooster head, I’m definitely finishing before you.” He crouched down, ready to start running when Ol’ Sideburns gave the signal.

“We’ll just have to see about that.”

Before he could retort, Rin heard the signal and took off running. He could hear Suguro sputtering behind him and, for the first time in a while, let out an elated laugh. He ducked to the left as the demon came up in front of him, maneuvering his body in a smooth way no one thought him capable of. Just as he was about to begin cheering, he was shoved in the shoulder and stumbled. Tucking his head in and letting his shoulders take the lead, he tumbled across the floor. When he sat back up, he immediately started yelling at the asshole who shoved him, paying no mind to the reason they were in the pit in the first place. “Suguro, Okumura!” As he turned around to see what Sideburns deal was, he saw the Reaper jump towards him, but it was yanked aside at the last second by the chain.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, dusting himself off and walking to the edge in order to get out.

“Do you two think this is a game? These exercises are to prepare you for the field, and turning it into a race is a sure way to get yourself killed! What do you have to say for yourselves?” Rin opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a ring tone. “Hello? Oh, Kitten! Really? I’m on my way!” Sideburns hung up the phone and turned to the class with a strangely happy look on his face. “All right, rest of class canceled, have a good day.”

He turned and began running out, yelling something about kittens and daddies, and oh, God, Rin didn’t need those images in his head. He turned his attention to the class A asshole beside him, roughly pushing against his shoulders. “What was that, you ass?”

Suguro seemed entirely unfazed by it all, shrugging his shoulders and picking at imaginary dust on his clothes. “It was just me winning, ‘s’all.”

“You call that winning?” Rin couldn’t keep the incredulous look off his face.

“Yeah, you should figure out how to do that sometime. I won’t even be mad if you took notes on it if you wanted to. Gotta learn from someone.”

Rin’s eyes were bugging as he watched the cocky bastard walk away from him. God, and to think that was supposed to be his soulmate. At the mental reminder the raven’s scowl deepened. He let himself drop to the floor, sitting with his back to the rest of the class. He felt the presence of somebody standing behind him, but he didn’t bother to turn around. Eventually the person, two people actually, sat down beside him. Shima spoke up first. “Sorry about Bon, man. He can be a little intense.”

Rin huffed. “A little intense is just a little aggression. That was not just a ‘little intense.’”

The pink haired boy gave a resigned sigh. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“What’s his deal anyway?”

The three boys turned to look at Suguro as Konekomaru began talking. “Bon’s temple was hit the hardest during the Blue Night, so it fell under shame, became nicknamed ‘The Cursed Temple.’ When he was a kid, Bon swore that he would kill Satan and restore his temple’s name if it was the last thing he did.”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down. What’s the Blue Night?”

The two boys next to him stared blankly at him for a minute. Shima said, “Wait, you seriously don’t know what the Blue Night is? You’re not joking?”

Rin felt blood rise up to his face, giving him a deep flush. “Never mind, just, fucking forget I asked.”

“No, no, you’re good, it’s just. Everyone knows about the Blue Night. It was the night Satan came to our realm, and it was only a few days before Christmas. Fifteen years ago, he possessed thousands of priests, but none could contain his power so they all died. As he possessed the priests, they lit up with blue flames, setting fire everywhere they touched. Almost everyone in Bon’s temple was possessed, and that’s where all the blue flames started.”

When Konekomaru had finished, Rin was left pale as a sheet. If what the bald kid is saying is true, that means the Blue Night had to have happened the night he and Yukio were born. That means Rin is the cause of his soulmate’s temple’s destruction. Whoever the fuck was up above had a sick fucking sense of humor. “And you said he swore to kill Satan because of this?”

Before either boy could answer, they heard both Izumo and Suguro yelling. “What is your issue, you giant bonehead?” The purple haired girl yelled.

“I’m not letting you or any of these other slackers—“ Direct eye contact with Rin, ouch. “—ruin my shots at achieving my goal!”

“Oh yeah, and what’s your goal?”

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill Satan!”

The room went quiet once he shouted his declaration, but the stunned silence did not last long. Izumo was soon bent over cackling like a witch. When she looked at Suguro once more, Rin could see the tears in her eyes. She was still laughing as she called him an idiot, and it didn’t take a genius to notice how uncomfortable Suguro was getting. Grumbling to himself, Rin decided to be the bigger person.

“Hey, Eyebrows, at least Rooster here has a goal. What have you got going for you?” He turns away from her, letting her stare in outraged shock all she wants. “And you,” he growled, shoving his finger at Suguro. “How are you supposed to achieve anything if you keep walking around like you’re the shit when you’re here to learn too?”

Suguro just scowled at the shorter teen, then he walked past him to the pit. “You want me to do something? I’ll kill this fucking Reaper all by myself.” He slammed his hand down on a button that releases the cage and hopped down into the pit. Rin watched as he stared at the Reaper, lips moving imperceptibly. Probably searching for its fatal verse. The Reaper just kept getting closer and Suguro was still searching and the raven was starting to panic. As the demon reared back to attack, Rin made the last minute decision to act before it became obvious to everyone in the room exactly who his soulmate was. He jumped down and, right as the beast opened its ugly jaw, stuck his covered sword in its mouth. He didn’t have time to turn around and see if Suguro had moved yet, so he just grabs the sword while the Reaper is confused and whaps it upside the head. He just keeps beating it with the covered sword, moving it backwards into the cage it belongs in.

Once he had the cage locked and made sure he was okay, Rin turned around towards the exwire who caused a lot of his problems. “That is EXACTLY what I am talking about! You just went right in, ready to get yourself killed. If you’re going to have a goddamn goal, live to fucking see it.” Rin shoves past him, trying to knock him over. “Besides, killing Satan is my goal.”

He knew exactly what he was setting himself up for when Izumo started cackling again and Suguro started yelling about stealing goals, but it didn’t really matter to him. He isn’t here to make friends. All that matters is no longer feeling the disappointment and hopelessness weighing on the bond.

-

Ryuji is sitting in his dorm room thinking about what happened in class. He’s, like, 82% sure he felt something, but he doesn’t want to get hopeful.

He frowns down at his arm as more lines are carved.

He’s got to figure this out fast.

Chapter Text

To say it’s been an eventful few days is an understatement.

Between dealing with Ukobach, his brother, and his classmates, Rin’s beginning to feel close to the edge of collapsing. Granted, rediscovering cooking has been a huge help to his mood and he made a new friend from the stove demon; however, that didn’t do much for every other issue in his life.

After his outbursts the day after he learned just who his soulmate is, he’s been trying to act as normal and upbeat as he should. Cracking jokes, flirting with girls, even being friendly to Suguro’s two buddies. It’s… a lot, but he gets a break at night, where he grows closer to his razor blade line by line.

Regardless, his life has definitely been hectic. And now they’ve got this fucking bootcamp.

Rin rereads the meister mist over and over, but he can’t really make heads or tails of anything on there. He briefly considers asking Yukio for help, but he quickly shuts that down when he remembers his brother’s attitude towards him in the class.

Eyebrows chick is a bitch, so she’s definitely out.

Shiemi honestly looks just about as lost as he is, so that really won’t do much good.

He’s never even spoken to Puppet and Hoodie, and he doesn’t really plan on starting today.

That just leaves…Suguro, Konekomaru, and Shima.

He takes a deep breath and walks over to the three boys. Scratching the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact, he swallows his pride and asks for help. “Can you tell me what this means?”

He can feel Ryuji’s sharp brown eyes on him, and he does his best not to flinch when he gets the expected biting response. “Seriously? You want to be an exorcist, but you don’t even know what a meister is?”

“Wow, you really are clueless, aren’t you Okumaru?” Shima helpfully chimes in.

Aforementioned teen feels his cheeks flush, but still he persists, knowing his only other option is his brother. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m an idiot. Can you help me or not?”

Konekomaru, bless his soul, helpfully steps in and begins explaining the five meisters. Deciding to try and continue to be friendly, Rin does the polite thing and asks which meister the three are aiming for. When Konekomaru says he and Shima are aiming for Arya, he helpfully explains what they do. He also learns that Bon is going for Arya as well as Dragoon.

“Dragoon?”

Suguro, apparently frustrated by his lack of knowledge, shoves in his own response here. “God, you’re such an idiot. A Dragoon is someone who fights with firearms. A Knight is someone who fights with swords.”

Shima lets out a chuckle. “See, even with all his grumbling Bon can be helpful!”

“Shut up!”

Still processing what the bicolored teen said, Rin chooses to focus on the knight part rather than the idiot. “Wait, back up. Did you mention sword?”

The bald teen nods his head. “Yep, the meisters who specialize in swords are called Knights.”

Rin briefly tosses the idea around in his head before coming to a conclusion. “Huh, awesome. I’m going to be a Knight then!”

Shima is just staring at him in a lazy, amused manner, Suguro is still glaring at him, but Konekomaru is smiling at him and continuing conversation. “That makes sense. I’ve noticed you always carrying that sword around.”

He lets out a nervous question at the statement. “Uh, yeah. I think of it as, like, a keepsake from my dad.” God, the multiple implications of it gives him such a headache.

-

There’s something about this kid that just keeps Bon intrigued. He wishes he could say it’s all good things, but there’s nothing good about the way Rin just keeps drawing him in.

Everything about him, from the way he carries himself, the way he speaks, hell, even the way he looks at things, it just captures Bon’s full attention. At this moment, he’s thinking about the implications of the raven’s words in class. A keepsake from his dad? Why would he need a keepsake? Is…is his dad dead? And why a sword? Was he a collector, or is it some sort of family heirloom?

So many mysteries surrounding just one boy…

Ryuji didn’t have time to dwell on these thoughts. He needs to focus on his studies and finding his soulmate. Speaking of studies, he’s not even remotely surprised that he lacks the ability of a Tamer, and he’s not surprised Rin does either. He doesn’t even want to be a tamer. Although, it would be a damn relief if he could somehow manage to summon his soulmate…

-

“Can you remind me why, exactly, the boot camp is being held in our dorm?”

Yukio lets out an exasperated sigh, and Rin doesn’t know if it’s from his question or his presence. He decides he really doesn’t want to know. “Because our dorm is in a convenient location, and no other students live here so we don’t have to worry about anyone else getting hurt. Now please stop asking.”

It was at that moment the rest of the Cram School students showed up. Yukio worked up a cheerful greeting, and only Shima seemed to reciprocate it. The rest were to busy bashing the building he called home. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a palace, but they could at least be a little polite about it!

After the ridiculous test his brother handed out, Rin took a walk to loosen up. If he stopped in a room for a minute to relieve some tension, it was nobody’s business except his and his blade’s. It was on his way back to the group when he ran into Shiemi.

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t look too good?”

Her voice wavered with tears—a sound he was all too familiar with—when she responded. “I’m fine, just…going to the convenience store.”

He felt himself scowl at those words. He couldn’t help it, he was an emotive, reactionary person. “Stop doing that.”

Her green eyes filled with confusion. “Huh?”

“You know what I mean. Stop acting like her errand girl!”

He knew he was coming off as harsh, but he was sick of her being treated like shit and her just rolling with it. She had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet she was the one being treated like the dirt beneath their shoes. He still wasn’t sure if they were really friends yet, but regardless of their relationship he still wanted to help her. That’s why he was so surprised with what she said next.

“Stop it! Stop doing this! She’s my friend! She’s my friend, and friends help their friends.”

He was absolutely baffled at this. “You can’t honestly tell me you actually think that’s what’s happening here? You know that’s not what this is. Why do you put up with it?”

“Because…because I need to be strong! I’m tired of always being the one who needs to be rescued! I want to be strong like, like Yuki, and you. This is the first friend I’ve ever had. You don’t get it, and you never will, because you’ve always been strong! You’ve always had friends!” It was at this point Shiemi ripped herself away from him, but he let her go, processing her words.

Him? Strong? Laughable at best when considering what he does every night just to get through the day. If that was funny, the fact that she thought he had friends! Ha!

No, never. He was alone. The demon child. Cursed to be lonely his whole life.

No father.

No brother.

No soulmate.

No one.

-

Ryuji’s mind was quickly taken away from his conversation with Shima, Konekomaru, and Yukio, not that he wanted to be having that conversation anyways. Thanks, Shima, you pervert.

What drew his attention from the embarrassing conversation was his soulmates newest thoughts. “Alone. Demon child. Cursed to be lonely my entire life. No father. No brother. No soulmate. No one.”

Bon wanted to slam his head into the nearest surface. Everything seemed to be looking up for a little while, but one day the switch flipped and his soulmate now seemed to be in a deeper depression than ever before. It was getting to the point where he was ready to start putting up flyers or something else drastic and embarrassing like that.

He had started compiling a list of freshman boys, and he, Shima, and Konekomaru had been methodically working their way through it to try and narrow down who his soulmate could be. It was as he was mentally running through his list when he suddenly felt his air being cut off—not enough to be fatal, but enough to know something was happening. During this moment of confusion and panic, he heard Yukio swear and tell the three to follow him to the bathroom the girls went to. Bon didn’t question the sudden order or the urgent tone, he just took his own deep breaths and followed pace as best he could.

“I can’t…I can’t hold on like this much longer. Sorry, old man. I might have to use it…unless. Unless I just…I just, let go. Let go. Let—”

Before he could process anything else, he and the others had finally gotten to the bathroom where a battle had broken out. Luckily, Yukio scared the ghoul away, but not before it had gotten to the Paku girl it seemed. The brunette was already treated, seemingly by the Moriyama chick Rin was always flirting with and her familiar. Speaking of Rin…

He looked past the injured girl and his instructor to see the raven laying down in the debris with shut eyes. After allowing himself to stare a moment, he turned away, just as the boy on the ground opened his eyes and sat up. When Yukio expressed his concern for his brother, he just waved it off and started walking.

Since Rin appeared fine, Ryuji made his way over to where Paku was lying to see if Yukio needed any assistance.

He was pulled away by the sound of the bathroom door opening, and he turned just in time to see Izumo walking out in a shirt much too large on her. When he looked at where she was before, he was greeted with the sight of a shirtless Rin hugging himself. He looked incredibly uncomfortable, so Bon decided to help the guy out a bit since he was kind enough to help out that bitch. “Yo, Okumura!” He looked up at him as his name was called. “Get outta here and put a shirt on.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, the raven’s cheeks flushed as he gave a short nod. Bon couldn’t help but watch as he left the room, and he felt his breath catch as Rin opened the door. He was out before he said anything, but the bicolored teen could’ve sworn he saw something on the teen’s arm.

Maybe…maybe it was nothing.

-

Yukio let out a groan of exhaustion as his back hit his bed that night. He had had a bad feeling the whole night, but to have it confirmed in such a manner…

He’d have to be an idiot not to know his older brother had a target painted on his back. What he didn’t expect, though, was such a public attack. He was lucky to have been paying attention to Suguro as it all happened. If he hadn’t noticed when he did, Rin could very well have chosen to draw the Kurikara. That, or…

He didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to entertain the idea at all.

Ryuji Suguro is prodigal, one of the smartest kids Yukio knows.

Ryuji Suguro needs to open his damn eyes and save his brother before it’s too late.

-

It’s when Bon wakes up in the early hours of the morning from a dream of pale skin, blue eyes, black hair, and an incredibly lithe torso he had seen just a few hours ago, sporting a boner hard enough to cut diamonds that he has a problem.

Chapter Text

Rin didn’t have to be a genius to know that he did a risky thing last night.  

Taking off his shirt, the only barrier between the outside world and  his cuts, was not his smartest move, but he can’t really bring himself to regret it.  The  Kamaki  girl was almost naked,  embarrassed , and very obviously crying;  he would rather be found out than potentially make her like him. Nevertheless, he is scared shitless. There’s no telling who might have seen his arms at any point that night , and his arms are basically a  flashing sign at this point. If anyone saw them, it’s all over for him, his soulmate learns who he is and is disgusted, no one in his classes will even  look  at him again, and he’ll eventually be killed because everyone found out  the truth .  

He’s been so on edge since it happened that he was too nervous to even try to make more cuts. He considered using his weird advanced healing to get rid of all the evidence , but he didn’t ,  knowing he doesn’t deserve the reprieve.  The stress of the whole situation kept him up all night, so it really was no surprise to him  how exhausted he was while getting ready that morning.  What he wasn’t ready for was for Kamiki to corner him so soon.  

Keep calm, Rin. You don’t know what she’s here for. He did his best to appear tired (not that difficult) and calm (much more difficult). He waited for her to stand in front of the sink before mumbling a half-hearted good morning in her direction.  She did nothing but stand beside him for a few seconds, and just as he got comfortable, “Listen.”  

He doesn’t want to listen. He wants her to go away and for everyone to forget anything happened.  

“Don’t you dare tell anyone I was crying.” Maybe, maybe she didn’t see anything, meaning he can get away with it this time! She was staring at him, and then he realized it was his turn to respond.  

“Who, me? Who would I tell?” Damn, Rin, keep the self-pity out of this.  

Regardless of his tone, it obviously was not the right thing to say. A fierce blush shot up her cheeks as she suddenly became more animated. “Just promise you’ll keep your mouth shut, okay!?”  

Okay, now he’s a little annoyed. What right does she to demand anything from  him? “I already said I wouldn’t tell, what more do you want from me? Just chill out.”  

He turns his attention away from her assuming that’s the end of that, and he goes to rinse his mouth of toothpaste. He chokes a little when she suddenly shoves a bundle of fabric  inn his face. She averts her eyes as she quietly says, “Here, thanks a lot.” He’s quiet as he takes the folded fabric, quietly realizing it’s his shirt he loaned her.  He simply stares at it as she continues, “If you hadn’t shown up, who knows what would've happened to Paku and me. So thanks a lot for doing that.”  

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, trying to get a read on how he should respond. Everything about her body language screamed “shame,” and the way she was talking was pretty forlorn. He made a split decision and said, “Sweet! You even washed it for me!” Seeing her surprise at his words and tone made his smile a little more genuine; he thought she was too vulnerable for sentiment, and it turns out he was right. “Oh man, I was so wrong about you before, you rock, you know that!”  

She continued to get flustered so he continued to smile. “W-Wrong?! I only washed it because it was dirty!”  

He caught on to what she was trying to do and chose to let her pull the attention to him. Pulling his most over the top face, he moans, “Seriously? Was it really that dirty ?” He gives a few exaggerated sniffs to try and really nail his performance.  

Before he could continue his theatrics, another voice broke into the conversation with a, “Good morning.” The two turned to face who had joined, and it was none other than Yukio . By reflex, Rin averted his eyes and tugged his sleeves down just in case.  

Kamiki clearly had no such shyness. “Mr. Okumara.” It was clear they were about to go see just how well Rin did yesterday.  

The two brothers walked away from Paku and Kamiki to give them some much needed space. Yukio was thinking, trying how best to talk to his brother and find out what’s been going on, but he beat him to the conversation.  

“Did you find out anything about the demon yesterday?”  

Yukio frowns, disappointed that this was the conversation they were having, but he answered regardless. “I know it was a mid-level class Naberious, but that’s all we have. I’m still trying to figure out how it got in.”  

From the corner of his eye he saw Rin face him, but he wasn’t ready to look in his eyes yet, not without talking about.... everything, really. “Hold up, didn’t you say the academy had all these spells and protections to keep demons and stuff out, right?”  

He knew Rin was trying to have a serious conversation, but he didn’t want a serious conversation. He just wanted his brother back before everything went to shit. Regardless, it looked like he wasn’t going to get to talk about the things they needed to talk about right now, so, “Wow, you remembered. I’m very impressed!” He had hoped his teasing tone had come through all the way, and he was about to keep it up until he heard Rin’s little grunt of annoyance.  

He could see his teeth grinding and his eyebrows furrowed close together. “You’re mocking me. Again.”  

Yukio’s playful smile slipped right off. He doesn’t mean to.... he frowns, and decides to act a bit more serious. “Well, you’re right about the spells. However, it is not uncommon that a demon like that can slip through. It’s why we must keep our guard up. ”  

Looking from the corner of his eye once more, he’s disappointed to see that his brother only looks more upset by the answer.  Why can’t I get through to you...  

Bon is having a quiet morning when the terrible thoughts start pouring in.   

It can’t be coincidence that something like that got here just as I did. Maybe I weakened the barrier. What if I’m the reason it got in? What’s next? Will I be able to stop it?  

All these words just continue pouring in as he finishes getting ready. He leaves his room to go, he doesn’t know where exactly, just somewhere, and that’s when he sees Okumara slink past with his head down. Remembering yesterday, Bon decides to follow him, see if anything is up that he can catch. After a sharp turn in the hallway, he finds himself lead directly to the roof access door. He gives it a minute before following. It’s as he’s quietly opening his door that more thoughts poor in.  

Who sent him? Who’s his master? I thought it could be Satan, but I have no idea why he would want to kill me now.  

Ryuji is barely given time to process these thoughts when another voice makes its way into his head. This once sounds older, wiser.  Demons of all species will be coming after you for every kind of reason.  Ryuji feels his eyes widening as he realizes just what that means. His soulmate has to know about the existence of demons. He wasn’t sure how, but surely this would make it easier to find him!  

Fucking damnit! Definitely his actual soulmate this time. If I’m the one they’re after, why are they targeting my classmates? Why not come for me directly?  

He’s definitely.... very confused, but this is fine! He can work with this!  He files all this information away and makes his way to the rooftop to see that, somehow, Moriyama made it to the roof and, that’s funny, it looks like they’ve hit heads. Ryuji decides to settle back and see what they’re up to. 

He’s not entirely sure how he got here, but however it happened Rin is now wrestling sheets on the roof. After he gets them  settled, he turns to Shiemi with a curious eye. “So, can I ask why you’re washing everyone’s sheets?”  

The blonde girl turns to him with bright eyes and a brighter smile. “Because I want to do something to help everyone out, and I’m good at this, so it’s one way for me to help out, too.”  

That definitely got his attention, “What do you mean, ‘too?’”  

“You all are working hard to become exorcists. That’s doing something to help others, isn’t it?”  

He’s... not following. At all. “I guess, but does that mean you’ve changed your mind? You don’t want to be an exorcist anymore?”  

Her smile falls, and Rin is immediately beating himself up for it. “Oh, I don’t know. But, I am good at laundry, so why don’t I start there?”   

Rin is surprised to see another soft smile make its way to her face. He never thought someone could be so... okay, with not being able to meet expectations. It’s for the best though, he’s glad someone as good as her doesn’t struggle like he does.  

Rin is actually awake and paying attention in their Fatal Verses class, but he still doesn’t really know what’s going on in the class. The teacher has this loud, bouncy voice, and it makes it difficult to follow. However,  it’s hard to miss the disappointment in her voice aimed at Kamiki, someone usually looked on with favor in this class. Rin spares a curious look her way, and as he looks away he finds his body automatically flinching at the sound of his soulmate’s name.  

One look at Suguro and Rin already knows this day is not going to go well at all. His bullheaded soulmate doesn’t seem to understand emotions, otherwise he wouldn’t be trying to trade insults with Kamiki like usual. Regardless of this, he can’t help but stare at the taller one with awe.  

Rin doesn’t know how he does it; memorizing, studying, all of it is so unbelievably difficult for Rin, and he does it so easily and flawless. He’s powerless to stop the impressed and, well, proud smile from stretching across his face. It doesn’t really matter to him that he’s shit at this, he’s glad Suguro and everyone else are able to proceed as they do.  

The bell rings, but everyone stays seated. Shiemi stares shamelessly in awe, much like everyone else, and breathes out, “That was amazing!”  

An easy and prideful grin stretches across his tan face, and it’s unfair how attractive he is when he acts all smug. He closes his eyes and leans back a bit, saying carelessly, “Don’t go falling for me now.”  

It’s amazing how words as meaningless as those can make someone’s blood go cold. Rin’s grin is suddenly much tighter and much more forced. He takes a deep breathe through his nose, reminding himself that Suguro can’t know, not ever. He takes a dig elsewhere under the guise of not knowing appropriate socializing. “I can’t believe it, you really are smart!”

His smug grin quickly flips into a deep frown, and Rin has to tell himself to be proud of that. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?”  

He allows himself to mostly tune out the conversation, not really up for engaging with him anymore. Absentmindedly, he can hear him and Kamiki arguing and taking digs at one another, but right now he really can’t bring himself to care. He hears Kamiki’s comment about Aria’s being a burden, and his mind runs away with that comment, ignoring the girl walking in front of him.

A burden, huh? He could never be a burden, he’s strong, he can keep himself together. He didn’t kill his dad. He didn’t screw the world over. The only burden here is me , a useless fucking de--

Rin is shocked out of his internal monologue when Suguro slams his hand down on the table in front of him. His attention is forced onto the two fighting in front of him, and he realizes with dawning horror that the argument is only getting worse. He doesn’t even think when he sees his soulmate step closer to Kamiki, or when she draws her hand back; he moves on instinct, standing to break up the fight--  

And then her hand makes contact with his face, and this shit has officially become his problem. Boiling with anger he didn’t have a second ago, he snaps out, ”If you two are going to fight, go outside!” He knows he’s visibly shaking, and he hopes everyone else thinks it’s just his anger. No one needs to know about his panic at yelling at his soulmate like that, knowing he’s only making his hatred for him stronger.  

“Settle down!” Yukio’s voice rings out. Rin turns around to see his brother visibly annoyed and pissed off. His eye is ticking, and the older twin already knows hell is about to rain down on them. “Enough with the fighting already.”  

Needless to say, Bon is severely pissed off. It’s not even just because of the purple-haired bitch—although she is the catalyst of it all. In the middle of his and the wench ’s argument, he was almost knocked over with words he wasn’t prepared for. Kamiki was still going, so Bon had to choose  whether or not to step away and deal with his soulmate or continue to prove his point with the girl. At this point, Ryuji is so overwhelmed with the sudden spike in self-loathing and self-harm that he decides to set his soulmate aside and do something for himself for once. To add to the cherry on top, resident idiot, Rin Okumura, decides to step in and get himself physically involved, really just pissing him off more. It’s not his fight, he’s neither of their friend, he’s just needlessly there, probably because he wanted the attention back on him. Although, he is kind of glad that Okumura stepped in and took the blow for him; Kamiki slapped hard enough that he could feel a phantom pain of it. He makes a mental note not to get within distance of her hands.  

When Yukio stepped in, he was almost relieved, until he found out it was leading to a punishment, which is how he got stuck in a creepy old abandoned dorm next to annoyance incarnate and holding a heavy ass rock in his lap. Speak of the devil.  

“What the hell is up with this damn rock,” grunts Okumura. “It’s getting heavier by the second!”  

Konekumara explains it to him, but Bon uses this opportunity to vent some of his frustration. “You don’t know what a Bariyon is? You really are pathetic!”  

He almost feels bad for his scathing remarks when he sees hurt wrinkle in the shorter boy’s brow—almost. “Oh yeah? Well it’s your fault we’re here so wh--”  

“It’s everyone’s fault,” Yukio calmly intones. One of the purposes of this bootcamp is to strengthen your academic skills.” He shifts his glasses further up his nose. “The other is to get you to start becoming closer as a team.”

“I’d rather die than be friends with these losers,” Kamiki pipes up, making the vein in Ryuji’s vein pop. He’s about to snap at her when the instructor beats him to it.  

“You need to learn to get along! Exorcists do not go into battle alone.” Bon doesn't have to look around to know everyone’s attention is on the instructor before them. “We fight in groups of two or more; it’s basic procedure. It covers your weak spots and enhances your strengths. In a real combat situation this ridiculous infighting could get you or someone else killed. You keep that in mind.” He untenses and rolls up his sleeve to check his watch. “Okay, I have to leave for a mission and won’t be back for about three hours. Now then, because of the attack yesterday, I have to take extra measures: I’ll be locking all the entrances and placing a powerful demon-warding charm on the building.”

Suguro couldn’t hold back the panic that flooded him at the thought, and at the same time it almost felt doubled. “You’re locking us in?  Then how are we supposed to get out of here if we need to?”  

“You’re not going anywhere.” Such threatening words were said with a soft smile that made him fear for his life much more than any other demon. He saw out of the corner of his eye the older twin tense as well; probably unhappy being cooped up, he’s definitely the  type to wander. “I’ll only be gone three hours, so cool off and get along until I get back.” As he spoke his soft smile grew sharp and threatening, hammering in the point.

As he turned and left the room, Ryuji heard Okumura mumble and stutter, and a quick glance revealed the annoyance and... pain? Although looking around that seemed to be everyone’s general mood  at the moment. Shima, in very visible pain, says, “Three hours.... he is evil.”  

Bon can’t help but agree with the sentiment. Trembling, he presses his hands together and closes his eyes to say, “Someone kill me.” Opening them, he turns to the older brother beside him. “ Ya know, I find it hard to believe you and that teacher are related.”

Okumura drops his head down, staring at his lap, “But he’s a good guy,” he grunts. “I know he is. Really.”  

He ignores the tremor in the boy’s voice as he speaks, taking the pain he hears as a result of the demon in his fucking lap. Growling, he looks over the raven to stare at the reason for this little slice of hell. “Anyway, we’re stuck here thanks to a special certain someone.”  

He takes a little glee at the outrage that takes over Kamiki’s face. “Huh?! I didn’t go up and grab you by the collar, did I?” He notices the boy between them trembling but pays him no mind; the bitch is right, but he can’t let her know that.

“You’re the one who picked a fight with me in the first place!” Before he can think about saying more, Okumura seems to lose his patience.  

“Would you guys quit fighting with me in the middle again!” His outburst forces Suguro to pay him attention, and what he sees has him slightly concerned ; the kid looks one breath away from having a nervous breakdown.   

He knows full well that Okumura’s anger is aimed at both of them, but he tries to spin it around and pin full blame on Kamiki anyways. “You’re really one twisted witch, ya know that?”  

Kamiki gives a confident smirk, betrayed only by the furrow in her brow. Okumura is still trembling like a leaf. “Thanks for stating the obvious. Anything else?”  

Fuck it. He’s not here to be nice. “With a personality like that it’s no wonder you’re all alone.”  

He hears a slight whimper , but before he can take pride in the reaction the lights shut off. Someone whimpers, and something thuds. The second mystery is solved when Okumura shouts, “Ow! I dropped the Bariyon on my foot!”  

Unwilling to unpack the idiocy, Suguro focuses on the problem at hand. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Did he turn the lights off on the way out?”  

Okumura just continues to whimper.  

Koneko shouts a high pitched, “No way!”  

The bitch asks if it’s a blackout.  

Shima  says no.

Moriyama is quiet.

“I can see lights on outside,” Shima says, effectively causing Ryuji’s heart rate to rise.

Okumara decides to stop whining about his foot and pipe into the conversation, with nothing useful of course, “You mean our  building’s the only one without power?” He’s disappointed he couldn’t see Bon’s eye roll.

Shima  stands from somewhere near Bon and says, “I’m going outside.”

He considers saying something, unsure of whether or not he agrees, but Miwa steps in with a, “Shima, be careful.” He begins to feel a little bad for his short friend; he sounds the most terrified here, and not for a bad reason.

God bless his optimistic best  friend,  the pink haired teen just gives a little chuckle. “I love stuff like this. It’s just like a real life test of courage. There’s nothing here, see?” He gives  a little hum of contentment and opens the door. Ryuji can’t see him, but he also can’t hear any footsteps leaving the room. The door clicks shut and Shima laughs. “Hehe, my eyes must be playing tricks on me. Either that or we’ve got a demwahhhhhh! ”  

A loud crash fills the room as something breaks the door. Shima seems to have gotten out of the way in time if his footsteps are anything to go by; the only problem is they are now all trapped in this room. As the demon lets out a low moan/growl combination, Bon officially lets himself panic.  

Rin is really starting to wish he let the director kill him that day. Honest to god, this day is hell. Right up there with the day he came into his “inheritance.” Yeah, that bad. Like, for starters, what right does his soulmate have to wish for death. He’s pretty sure he meant it as a joke, but, come on, the dude has a suicidal soulmate, at the very least he shouldn’t make jokes like that in general, especially not around him.  

And he doesn’t. Shut. The. Fuck. UP!

Rin is very obviously not well known for keeping his temper in check, but at least he knows when the fuck to pick his fights. Sitting with rock demons in their laps was not the right time! And just, being in the middle of the fight, feeling the hateful words spat on either side of him, he’s not feeling too hot. To make matters worse, he’s almost positive Suguro could tell he was close to losing it, and not in an angry yell-y way either.  

The Bariyon falling on his foot when the lights went out was a blessing in disguise, otherwise the others might figure out just how badly the situation was getting to him. Shima managed to lighten the mood a little bit, but it quickly came crashing down when the door came crashing in. Staring at the Naberius, Rin can really only think a despondent,  Not again.

Everyone jumps to their feet, and Polka Brows unhelpfully chips in, “The ghoul came back!” Yeah! No shit! What gave it away?  

Konekomaru asks a very good question —”What about the demon-warding charm?”  

The bastard lets out another growl, and Rin knows they’re in for some bullshit when the second head starts straining against the seams holding it together. The stitches(?) pop, something wet flying across the room and hitting everyone. “What is this?” he cries, in general, not really caring who answered as long as it was helpful.  

“Ew! It’s its fluids!” He doesn’t know who to kill first, the whiny purple-haired brat or the demon.  

The flaps have unfolded to reveal a single eye and a mouth with too many teeth and a very dexterous tongue. It lets out another shriek and crawls closer to them. As he debates going on the offensive, he hears Shiemi’s familiar give little chirps, and then the room is filled with long, thick, and tangled branches. One of them managed to impale the Naberius, but all it would do is buy them time for a better attack.   

Rin walks forward to the mess of wood and lays a hand on it. He turns to look at Shiemi and says, “You saved us, Shiemi. That was quick thinking! ” They may not be friends, but she is a good person and should know it. A rumble and a moan distract him; the bastard didn’t seem to believe in “mortal wounds” or “staying down.” Fucker.  

The ghoul falls in two pieces, but it dying would be too easy. No, the damn thing fucking split in two, grew new arms to cover the damage, and now they had two  demons to deal with. Honestly. He really wants to go back in time and tell younger him to let the director get it over with.   

It starts throwing itself at the tangled mess. Shima points, saying, “It’s trying to break out of there,” and he’s fucking right.   

He’s so fucking done. “Damnit! For a dead thing, it sure is pretty lively isn’t it.” He’s trying, damn it Dad, his fingers itch, he wants to end this, fuckfuckfu—  

“It’s because ghouls are more powerful in the darkness.” He is extremely loathed to admit it, but, as damning as  Suguro’s  words are, they pull him out of his spiral. Somehow, the reminder of how incredibly fucked they are reminds Rin that he is here for a reason.

As he tries to start formulating a plan, Shiemi begins to cough and collapses to her knees. She lets out a faint, “I feel, dizzy,” before succumbing to the coughs once more. As if triggered, every one around him begins coughing harshly as well.  

“What’s,” Suguro tries to say between coughs, “going on?  I feel like I’m burning up. ” Rin hates the feeling that floods his chest as he sees his soulmate suffering. Hates it with a passion.  

The panic surrounding him is suffocating. “What’s wrong with you guys?”  

In between coughs, Kamiki answers, “That ghoul sprayed its fluid all over us. How come you’re not affected?”  

Fuck. Motherfucking stupid fucking demon genes. “I uh, I....” He quickly pulls out his phone. “Come on Yukio, we need you here damnit.” I need you here .  

As the phone rings his soulmate says, “Once Moriyama loses her strength the barrier she put up will disappear. Then it’s over for us.” As if he wasn’t working under enough pressure.  

The call doesn’t go through. Fuck. “Hella good time to not pick up, Yukio,” he says with a growl. With a confidence he doesn’t feel and a façade he hopes no one can see through, he puts the phone back in his pocket. “It’s up to me now.”

As he walks to the barrier, the last voice he expects to protest rings out. “What are you doing?” He turns to give the taller male a confident smile; the best he can anyways.  

“I’m gonna go outside and try to draw it away. If I can get it to follow me, it’ll give you guys a chance to get out of here.” Listen. Rin isn’t an idiot, despite what everyone believes. He knows his soulmate will never care for him. He also knows there’s a decent chance this will get him killed. He may be a demon, but he’s not stupid.  

It would honestly be for the best if I died.  

“Huh?! Have you lost your mind?” He.... was not expecting this.  

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about me.” He turns away from his classmates and puts both hands on the branch to climb. “I’m pretty strong you know.”  

He crawls away with the echo of, “Idiot!” following him. He ignores his soulmate’s cries to come back and keeps moving forward, even though it feels that might tear him apart. It’s for the best.  

He gets to what he thinks might be the back of the classroom when he sees the one-eyed demon. It’s tearing at the plant, and so he goes with his gut reaction. “Hey! I’m the one you bastards are trying to get, right? Come on!” He jumps to the ground and, after making sure he still had the fucker’s attention, starts running out the door. He’s in the hallway when he hears it crash through the wall, and he puts on the speed. “That’s it, come on buddy.” He’s sprinting as fast as he can, and the demon is on all fours right behind him. He’s genuinely getting worried that his plan won’t work after all, when he remembers something Suguro said.  

The lights. If I can turn them on, the ghoul’s  gonna  lose its power.  

He pushes for an extra boost of speed and gains some ground on the Naberius. He slows his run as he gets to the machine room, looking around for anything that might be the power grid. He finds it thankfully fast, and he notices all the switches are off. Something tickles the back of his mind, telling him something’s wrong, but he can focus on that in a second. He guesses he was going too slow to turn them on, because right as he reaches the first switch, a nasty ass demon tongue is being wrapped around his face. He’s being thrown around the room by the ghoul, hitting what seems to be every surface. As it throws him across the floor, he thinks of Suguro’s face as he turned to crawl through the barrier. He had to turn on the lights. The demon leapt towards him, ready to finish him off, when Rin feels the strange sensation of something in his  veins. He glares at the beast and cries, “Don’t mess with me!” He swings his arm out and the room explodes in blue light. His flames. Fucking useless can’t even keep my fucking control intact fucking demon. He shakes off the thoughts and turns to face the Naberius again, but the battle takes a strange turn when he hears a voice other than his own ring out.  

Ryuji is feeling something, but he’s not entirely sure what. Admiration? Frustration? Fear? Whatever the fuck it is, he expresses it with, “Man, that guy’s crazy.”  

Shima turns to him and stutters out, “ Wuh -We should get out of here, while we can!” He turns to the girl on the floor. “Miss Moriyama, you can drop the barricade now.”  

As he says that, Ryuji feels that oddest sensation. He spits out a quick, “Hold on,” and squints his eyes at the mess in front of him. There. Something is moving. “Listen. Do you guys hear anything?”  

He hears Shima’s quick gasp, followed by a low murmuring, and then a sudden growl. The Naberius somehow split in two and one stayed behind. Miwa flinches away, “No! No way! Uh-uh.”  

The demon swings its heavy limbs, hitting hard enough that it’ll be through Moriyama’s barrier in no time, not even accounting for what happens when she loses energy. “We can’t just stand around to do nothing.” He’s gritting his teeth, and thoughts of the Okumura kid come to him unbidden. Brave. He is what an exorcist should be. Well, maybe a little smarter too. “I’m gonna recite a passage.” He hears his two friends gasp from either side of him, and he knows exactly what they’re thinking.  

“But, Bon, you don’t even know what that thing’s fatal verse is!” Yeah, what Miwa said.  

“Yeah I know that. But for ghoul-type demons like this one, its fatal verse is gonna be somewhere in the gospel of John.” If only the gospel of John wasn’t so fucking long. Whatever, if this is what it takes to help everyone, he’ll recite goddamn entirety of the gospel of John as fast as he can. “I’ve got the whole thing memorized. If I start reciting it, I should come across the right one at some point.” He is very well aware he sounds insane.  

“Seriously?” Shima asks. “But there’s, like, twenty chapters in it!”  

“Actually, there’s twenty-one,” Koneko corrects. “It’s not much, but I’ve got chapters one through ten memorized, so if you want, I can help.” Oh bless the heavens for his nerdy friend who’s as serious about being an exorcist as he is.

“Thanks, Konekomaru. Let’s do this.”

“Hold on a second!” a slightly shrill voice calls out. The bitch. “Once you start reciting, that thing’s going to focus its attack on you!” Something he’s learned today is how often she states the damn obvious

“We don’t have time for this!” He points to Moriyama on the ground, “That girl’s bustin' her ass all by herself, a guy can’t stand here and do nothing.”  

Shima gives a light chuckle and starts reaching into his extra shirt. “That’s our Bon. What a man.” He grabs his K’rik from his side and snaps it into place. “I didn’t memorize anything but I’ve got this.”

Bon walks over to his lifelong friend, giving an appreciative glance at his weapon. “Right! That’s what I’m talking about.”  

“Push comes to shove, I’ll back ya up.”  

With his friends’ support, he actually begins to feel a little hopeful. At least, he was until Kamiki shouts, “You guys are crazy!”  

He’s been over her and her attitude since the first day. “Oh yeah? Hey, weren’t you the one acting all tough a little while ago? What, ya chickening out now? If you won’t fight, get back.” He could tell he struck a nerve, but he didn’t have time to spare for her. He turns to the Miwa. “You start with chapter one and I’ll do chapter eleven. Be careful you don’t get thrown off by me, okay?” At his nod, Ryuji takes a breath and then sits down with his beads. It was now or never. “Here we go!”  

Before he started, he let his mind temporarily wander to the raven that left them behind.  Please be careful, we’re supposed to be a team.  

“Excellent. That’s what I’ve been wanting to see.”  

Rin looks above the Naberius, dread running up his spine. It was Professor Neuhaus. He became even more painfully aware of the flames radiating from him.   

“Those brilliant blue flames you keep hidden.”  

He tries to ignore the panic and fear. He has to focus on the task at hand. “Are you the one who—”  

“Since you won’t use your powers in front of the others, I decided to lure you away. Rin Okumura, son of Satan.” His only visible eye burned with hatred. He was growing less and less sure he would walk out of this.  

“How’d you find out? Who told you about me?” A terrifying grin stretched like plastic along the man’s face, empty and cruel. That smile made him think...  “Are you the scumbag responsible for these attacks on us?!” He was furious. Beyond furious. Not only is this a human being, but also a teacher! He’s putting his soulma—the others at risk attacking like this! It’s understandable to try and hurt him, but the others are innocent.  

“Actually, I am.” Why does he sound so fucking proud of himself? “But enough about me. I want to see more of that power of yours!” His words were punctuated with a loud growl from the Naberius he controlled.   

All Rin could think of was the look on Suguro’s face when the demon first attacked, Shiemi’s pride at being able to help, Kamiki’s fear of letting people in, and what he wanted most in the world was for those people to continue growing—with or without him. He runs at the demon, unsheathing his sword, screaming, “I’m going to make you pay for this!” He can feel the uncomfortable transition as he becomes more demon than human, but he focuses his mind on his soulmate. You can be free after you save him and the others . The Kurikara embeds itself in the top of the ghoul’s head, and the beast erupts into flames. He was so focused on putting an end to the fight, on holding onto the little sliver of humanity he has, that he failed to notice Neuhaus got away until too late .  

It didn’t matter.  

The lights.

It was the last chapter. The last chance. A quick look at Moriyama said he had basically no time left. This really could be the end. I’m sorry I never saved you .  

“This barricade won’t hold up much longer!” Shima yells from where he’s attacking the ghoul with his staff. Keep going Bon.  

“Bon’s reciting the last chapter now,” Miwa says. He keeps his eyes shut, focusing on the words inside of him and the words of the gospel. I won’t give up on you until my last breath. “Moriyama!” She’s fallen. The barricade is gone.   

He can hear Shima going at the demon alone, grunts of effort ridding him of his atmosphere of nonchalance. The strain of recitation is catching up to Bon, it won’t be long until he crumples too. No matter what, please hold on. Stay, for me. Don’t give up and give in so soon.  

He’s reciting as fast as he can, knowing it’s somewhere in here, tasting it on the tip of his tongue. The words pour out of him as he hears Kamiki summon her familiars.  He keeps going even after he hears Shima hit a wall. He goes faster as Kamiki’s familiars buy him time. This life is hard. It is hard, and it is cruel, but it will all be worth it. By god, I’ll make it worth it.  

The familiars have been bested, just as he stumbles onto the fated verse. The demon has him, gripping him by the top of his head, but he can’t stop. He cannot afford to. He keeps his eyes closed, knowing if he opens them then the last thing he’ll see is a rotting face. He keeps them closed and pictures dark hair and electric blue eyes and thinks that maybe he’ll never know who he belongs to, and maybe that’s okay as long as he can survive long enough to find his person. Because maybe he cares about him more than he planned to.  

“The lights!”

He opens his eyes as he shouts the last words, witnesses the demon being burned from this world, and he realizes he made it.  

He made it, and now he gets to deal with the emotional consequences of his realization. Fuck.   

Just then, the bane of his existence runs into the room. “Hey! What happened to the other half of the ghoul that...” The bastard has the audacity to run in here looking like he went through hell, but still fucking look good? Never mind that, how the fuck did he deal with a ghoul on his own while the five others struggled with one?  

“But—your ghoul... what happened?!” He didn’t have the brain capacity to be embarrassed about his stutter.  

Okumura looks confused for a hot second before, “Oh, I killed it!” He raises his thumb to himself, winks, and gives a stupid large grin as he says this—Bon does have the brain capacity to be embarrassed about how quickly he flushes. He drops his hand to his hip and says, “I guess you killed yours  too, huh. Awesome!” Fuck his stupid fucking adorable grin. Honestly.

Before even he realizes it, he’s standing up and plowing the shorter boy over. God, he’s so fucking pissed and relieved. “What is wrong with you?! You wanna get killed?”  

The boy on the ground raises up an arm, looking very confused and—breaking his heart—afraid. “Hey wait! Stop! Why do you wanna kill me!” He dodges just in time to avoid the foot Ryuji was about to bring down on him.

In all honesty, as he chased the eccentric dude around the room trying to throttle him, all he could feel was relief. Relief and joy. Maybe you’re my soulmate. Maybe not. But no matter what, I will protect you.  

That night, Rin didn’t really sleep. He was too busy thinking about everything he heard today.  

I’m sorry I never saved you. I won’t give up on you until my last breath. No matter what, please hold on. Stay, for me. Don’t give up and give in so soon. This life is hard . It is hard, and it is cruel, but it will be worth it. By god, I’ll make it worth it . Maybe you’re my soulmate. Maybe not. But no matter what, I will protect you.  

The words were enough to bring him to his knees. He didn’t need the flashes of a picture to do it. But he got them anyways. Familiar ratty hair.  Striking blue eyes. There was no doubt his soulmate was thinking of him. Whether or not he knew it was him was a completely different matter.  

He wanted to crawl into Suguro’s arms, he wanted to accept the love and comfort he knew he would receive, but he resists. He knows that once he caves, the inevitable rejection following him finding out what he really is will surely kill him, and break Suguro’s heart. No. Rin cannot be selfish, not this time.  

It’s dark outside, it’s dark inside, and it will be dark when the time is right, when he succeeds at the only thing he’s good for.

Chapter Text

Rin didn’t know what to think anymore. He was too busy going over everything he heard today to even try to deal with his emotions. 

I’m sorry I never saved you. I won’t give up on you until my last breath. No matter what, please hold on. Stay, for me. Don’t give up and give in so soon. This life is hard. It is hard, and it is cruel, but it will be worth it. By god, I’ll make it worth it. Maybe you’re my soulmate. Maybe not. But no matter what, I will protect you.  

The words were enough to bring him to his knees. He didn’t need the flashes of a picture to do it. But he got them anyways. Familiar ratty hair. Striking blue eyes. There was no doubt his soulmate was thinking of him. Whether or not he knew it was him was a completely different matter. 

He wanted to crawl into Suguro’s arms, he wanted to accept the love and comfort he knew he would receive, but he resists. He knows that once he caves, the inevitable rejection following him finding out what he really is will surely kill him, and break Suguro’s heart. No. Rin cannot be selfish, not this time. 

It’s dark outside, it’s dark inside, and it will be dark when the time is right, when he succeeds at the only thing he’s good for. 

The next few minutes seem to drag on, the group trying to discuss what happened, but as Rin lets himself get oriented with the new information in, he makes eye contact with Suguro, noticing, for the first time, the dark bags that rest under his honey brown eyes. Honey brown, huh. Such a poet for someone I can’t have . He moves to get closer to the group, and as he does he feels more people enter. It’s Professor Neuhaus; he can still feel the cold look he gave the teenager last earlier as he tried to condemn him. He’s not alone though, closely followed by Yukio. 

“Yukio,” comes a quiet murmur, which he realizes came from himself. When did he lose his control? “He’s, that guy is—” The words won’t come out, all he can see is Yukio pointing that gun at him, he can see that Yukio doesn’t know about Neuhaus, so how can he just accuse him without any evidence?

His unfortunate confession is abruptly cut off by finding himself meeting the floor face first, the distinct feeling of a heeled boot making itself known on his back. He opens his eyes to find out who did it your soulmate does hate you and is assaulted by a glaringly bright pink and purple outfit. “Mephisto?!”

With the usual energy and gusto he greets the class, “Hello, young exorcists! Thank you for all your hard work tonight!”

The raven, still on the floor, finds himself distracted by Suguro, noticing his baffled expression and his quiet whisper of, “Is that the director?” There’s no time to address this apparent confusion of his fellow classmates, not when there are suddenly numerous exorcists popping out of who knows where at the snap of his fingers.

“You didn’t think I’d just let an upper-level demon waltz into my school did you?” He takes a glance at the various students with injuries, “Instructors with Doctor credentials, please tend to the wounded.”

Rin is still not entirely convinced he’s not hallucinating this whole thing, the only thing comforting him is the thought that this is some mass hallucination as he hears Ryuji mutter, “You mean you guys were… no way…”

With an unnecessary amount of flare, Mephisto cries out, “Surprise! This was no ordinary bootcamp, no, in fact, you all just passed your ExWire Authorization Exam!” Rin could feel his temper wanting to flare, and with how Mephisto turned to look at him, he knew too. “I know it’s rather sneaky, this whole time we had a team of instructors hidden around the building in places they can watch your every move. After I have a chance to review their reports, I will be the one who determines who passed and who failed. I’m sure you’re as anxious as I am to see how you did!” He finishes his spiel off with an obnoxious wink.

If he becomes an exorcist, would he be allowed to kill Mephisto?

Bon is doing his best to deal with things rationally, but surely he can be forgiven for losing a bit of his legendary control, right? Between the demon attack, his newly discovered care for the care-free Okumura twin, and the realization that this was all just a fucking test, he can be forgiven for finding amusement in the aforementioned twin’s current behavior.

“God damnit!” It doesn’t take a genius to see that the boy is holding himself back from kicking and throwing things around the room. After he takes a moment to cool off, he is sitting on the Moriyama girl’s bed (he ignores the little pang he feels as he watches). “Man, that was the worst fucking pop quiz ever.”

“They sure tricked us pretty good, huh.” Sue him if he can’t make eye contact or put on a cheery facade as he answers, he just recited eleven chapters. He wants to give his attention to Shima as he talks and tries to make light of the situation, but he’s too busy noticing just how tired the easy-going boy looks. His bags are deep and heavy, he looks like he hasn’t put on any weight in years, and his eyes have this not-entirely-there look, like he’s reliving a bad memory. He checks back in as he hears Miwa’s strained cry about whether he passed. “Don’t torture yourself, there’s no use worrying about it now.”

“You and Shima don’t have to worry, but I was so scared I could barely move…”

“I’m sure you guys will be okay,” surprisingly, it’s the purple haired bitch who says this. “Remember what Instructor Okumura said before he left? That thing about how exorcists do not go into battle by themselves? Being an ExWire takes cooperation, they have to work together during combat. In that sense, no one did worse than me.”

He hates himself for it, but he can’t help looking at the small raven next to him. “You need to cut yourself some slack. At least you stepped up eventually, unlike those guys,” he pointedly looks to Puppet and Hoodie, “who just sat around! You got anything to say for yourselves?!”

God forgive him if he wants to strangle those two. He raises his hand to punch them for their asshole responses, but gets distracted by Okumura. “Whoa, they talked! I never knew what to think of them, and, man, that guy rocks at ventriloquism!” He hates that his mind is immediately reminded of a small excited puppy, and it doesn’t help that he droops when he realizes he woke Moriyama up.

They take their time catching her up on the conversation, and Shima and Koneko say what he thinks they’re all thinking. “No one did better than you on the exam.”

“If you weren’t there, Moriyama, I don’t know what we would’ve done. We owe you, big time.” 

She’s a very sweet girl, and he’s reminded of why he likes her as he watches her get flustered over the compliments. Someone like her would be perfect for an egotistical hot head I know . (He still can’t help but feel bitter about the two being together).

Miwa brings a burning question back from the back of his mind, “Hey, Okumura, how did you defeat that ghoul by yourself?”

“Huh? Oh! Well, uh, I, shoved uh, shoved this,” he points to his sword, still sheathed on his back, “into him?” The panic on his face is plain to see, and how he phrases his answer like a question has Suguro suspicious.

“Okay… what do you mean shoved that into him?” God stop talking stop talking stop, “Could you be any more vague? If you ask me, you’re the mysterious one, not those two bozos.” He can feel the frown stretched on his face, and he wants to assure him he’s not mad, just confused, but no one ever tells you how to do these things.

With the fakest fucking smile, god, why did he have to open his fucking mouth, Okumura answers, “Well, what can I say? I don’t look it, but I’ve got a certain mistake about me.”

Shima laughs, catching onto the seemingly incorrect word, but Ryuji is hesitant to laugh. This kid… “What the… did you say “mistake?””

The fake grin turns sheepish, and he starts fumbling for the word he was (apparently) looking for. Taking some pity, he says, “It’s mystique, dumbass!” He tries to smile a little bit, but he’s not sure it comes off across as anything other than a grimace.

He’s going to have to work harder at being a people person if he wants to make any headway with the walking talking enigma.

Chapter Text

Rin knew he was walking on thin ice, he knew that people were beginning to suspect something was up. Izumo was studying him the entire time, no doubt wondering what everyone was, how he beat the demon. The stare that bothered him the most though was Suguro’s.

He noticed the look on his face as he said the word mistake, he thinks he knows the word choice was not an accident. He noticed the way his eyes have been lingering on him, on his visible exhaustion, his frame, worst of all, his fucking arms . Why does he keep fucking looking at his arms?

He can’t help but worry about the bicolored hair boy, he’s truly brilliant, and if anyone could piece everything together, it’s him. This is just another reason to avoid getting close to his soulmate, even if it tears him to pieces.

That’s his last conscious thought until he’s being shaken awake by Shiemi, in a room that’s not his own. “Yuki said not to wake you, but I heard something and I—” She’s cut off by the sound of two gunshots. 

He’s leaving Shiemi behind, racing up the stairs as fast as he can. His brother is in danger, he knows it. He gets there and is greeted with a monstrous sight, a massive Naberius, and it’s getting closer to his brother. Yukio isn’t getting up. Yukio isn’t getting up . His flames are out before he knows it, the demon is burning, and he’s filled with vindictive anger as he leaps over the corpse to kill the son of a bitch who hurt his brother. “You bastard, I knew it !!”

“Cursed demon!” He’s suddenly blinded, a spray of liquid coating him and burning him all over. He’s tumbling, momentum and flames failing. “You look human, but holy water works on you just like every other demon. You can’t hide your true nature even with the skin you’re wearing!”

The burn goes deeper than skin level, a painful ache in his soul, because he’s right, isn’t he? This just proves he’s the demon everyone says he is. What’s stopping him from giving in, just letting this man kill him? “Holy water… Jesus fuck.” He picks himself back up, remembering his brother lying prone on the ground. He’s running towards Neuhaus, but before he gets there he’s knocked off his feet again.

He can feel Koneko and Shima hovering, trying to help, but everything burns . Everything burns and he doesn’t understand what the fuck is happening.

The ghoul wasn’t as dead as he thought, it has him in its hands and it’s crushing his head and maybe if he dies it’ll leave his brother alone, please just leave his brother out of this, he hasn’t done anything to deserve this . As he’s giving in, drawing away the power keeping him alive, he hears Neuhaus’s laugh stop, a faint “What the,” and then he’s falling.

His head is killing him, it’s like he’s being crushed by some terrible machine, everything hurts and he can barely take it. Surely the whole floor is awake now, he can’t be quiet, everything hurts and he thinks he knows what’s happening but he doesn’t—

if I dies it’ll leave my brother alone, please just leave my brother out of this, he hasn’t done anything to deserve this

He doesn’t want it to be true .

He gets to his feet as soon as he hits the ground. His brother is up, his brother broke the circle, his brother is now target number one, and Rin’s not letting anything happen to him. As the instructor is lifting his arm, preparing for another attack, Rin holds the sword to his neck. He can hear his brother trying to negotiate with the twisted man, but he has his own questions. “Who the hell are you?”

Despite the flaming sword to his neck, he gives a chuckle, saying, “I’m a survivor of the Blue Night.”

He hears the dramatic backstory, listens half-heartedly, but all he can think is I caused this. I cost him his eye, I cost him his family, I deserve this . He lets his guard down, he doesn’t mean to but he’s the reason for so much pain, “...even if it costs me my own life!” and suddenly all he can think about is the pain. 

It all comes to a climax as he feels gutted, like a piece of him has been taken out and won’t come back. He’s sobbing, harsh ones that make him feel like he wants to vomit, because this must be the end, surely no one can survive this, there’s a hole in him and he’s missing a pre—

I caused this. I cost him his eye, I cost him his family, I deserve this.

Why the fuck does his soulmate want to die so bad, why can’t he stay, why is he going to abandon me .

He coughs up some blood, and he can feel it running down his chin. He can feel, which means he’s still alive.

“Did that make you feel better?” He’s shocked himself with his question. “Are you still not satisfied? If you aren’t, you can do that again. I can handle more. I’m used to it.” He’s dangerously close to admitting something bad, something in front of his brother, something that will take away any and all trust that’s left, and all he can think about is the fact that he’s still alive and he wants nothing more than to be bleeding out on this roof. “We can do this another time, just let me know. I’ll let you do it as many times as you want,” he can feel the tears welling in his eyes, he can hear his voice cracking as he yells, “but you have to promise me you won’t ever drag innocent people into this again!” He’s openly crying right now, and he can’t give a single fuck .

Neuhaus has given up. He’s given up, and he’s… warning him? “I’m not the only one who would love to see you die.” Yeah, no shit buddy, you’re looking at Rin-hater #1. “Be prepared.” Fuck you, I’m going to be as unprepared as physically possible. 

Everything is still hurting, it’s burning , and he can’t help but lift the hem of his shirt to see the damage. Much to his disappointment, the wound is already healing. Yukio also points this out, something that sounds like relief in his voice, but he knows that’s not true. “You know me, I’ve always healed quick.” He won’t look at his brother, doesn’t want to see the disgust in his eyes, “I guess I really am a monster.” 

He’s turning to leave when a hand on his shoulder stops him. “Rin, listen. About what you said, after Neuhaus… after he..—”

The bang of the roof door cuts him off, Shiemi’s voice calling their names. She sees he’s hurt, and she’s trying to get him to cooperate so she can heal him, and all he can think about is the demon blood in his veins and the scars littered on his arms and how no one can know. He’s brushing her off, he takes the “Mr. Sancho” just to ease her mind, but he can’t bare to stay, he can’t let another person he cares about get hurt.

Bon woke up in the hospital wing. He doesn’t remember much of what happened that night, just the pain. Apparently he was calling out names. He cried out for his mother, his father, Shima, Koneko. He called out for Rin. Everyone thought his soulmate had died, that that was what Bon was feeling. He didn’t know. He hasn’t heard or felt anything from him since then.

No one tells you how you’re supposed to feel when your soulmate dies. No one tells you if that pit you first felt was them leaving. And that’s been the whole problem, hasn’t it?

No one tells you about the ugly side of having soulmates.

Chapter Text

It’s been a few days since Ryuji was released from the hospital. After the initial night he was admitted, he was released pretty quickly on account of there being no actual injuries on him. The death of a soulmate left no open wounds, only scars. 

It felt like time was frozen, like his entire life was on standstill. Logically he was aware that the world kept moving, that things were still happening around him, but he felt like he was in a fog. Nothing felt real, not the sun rising and setting, not the meals brought to him by Shima and Konekomaru that he left untouched, certainly not the massive silvery scar in the center of his stomach.

It would’ve been so easy to give up after that night. He won’t lie, he was tempted. The first night after he left the hospital, he sat in his bed alone and cried the whole time. The next, he was angry. After that, though. Well. He wasn’t proud of what he considered. If it weren’t for his friends…

He doesn’t want to dwell on that. 

Finally, he had to face the real world. His time to mope is over. If this had happened any sooner, he doesn’t know that he’d be as strong as he is now, but he finds he’s grateful for that. After all, he didn’t come to True Cross originally to find his soulmate. No, he had a mission, a purpose, and this has only reinforced his decision. He will put his all into being an exorcist, he will restore his temple’s legacy, he will kill Satan, and he will make sure no one has to go through this pain he’s felt if he can help it.

Despite his best efforts, he can tell he’s still drifting. He can see the looks his friends exchange when he thinks he can’t see. It’s fine. He’ll just have to prove them wrong.

Bon knows he’s putting on a façade for even himself, but needs must. At least, it was a façade until he entered the cram school classroom. To his shock, everyone, excluding Paku who left the program, is present. Even Okumura Rin, perpetually tardy enemy of the school system. It also comes as a surprise that he feels himself, for lack of better wording, wake up. For the first time since that awful night, he feels like he’s in his own body.

Maybe it’s because of the realization that he cares for this boy in some amount, maybe it’s just being out of his room for the first time, but Ryuji feels like living isn’t this impossible task anymore. Maybe he lost someone important, and he’ll regret that forever, but he can also, maybe, try and make someone else important too. 

Ryuji walks in the room, and for the first time since his soulmate died, he smiles.

The past few days have been busy. Rin hasn’t really had the time to slow down and breathe since the Neuhaus incident, and it’s all probably for the best. Between Yukio constantly riding his ass and the discovery of Kuro, his father’s former familiar, a moment of his usual reprieve was out of the question. Honestly, being as busy as he has been, he almost hasn’t felt the need for it. Of course, this only lasts as long as it takes for his brother to scowl and disapprove of something or other he’s doing.

Needless to say, he finds himself strangely happy to be back in the classroom. At the very least, this means that his twin will finally have something else to do besides breathing down his back. Besides, the classroom reminds him of his goal, his only real reason to keep living. He’s here to defeat Satan, or to be killed trying. 

That’s what they’re all gathered for. Well, not exactly. They’re here to find out if they passed the exam or not. Rin’s fairly confident he’s the only one who has the condition of “Pass or Die.” 

He decided against stalling his arrival, since that’s only going to make Yukio upset with him, and he ends up being one of the first to arrive. He’s actually kind of surprised that he managed to beat Suguro. 

As he thinks that, something at the back of his mind starts to bother him. Because of how rapid-fire the past few days have been, he feels like something important happened that he forgot about. He frowns as he tries to remember, but it isn’t coming to him. As more of his classmates enter the room, though, he decides to put it out of his mind. It’ll probably come back to him later.

The half-demon is surprised to see that the last people to enter the room ends up being the Kyoto trio. They all look… terrible, for lack of a better word. Shima and Konekomaru look stressed and worn out, and kind of like they haven’t been sleeping. Suguro looks the same, but about ten times worse and also like he might’ve been crying at some point. Rin feels a pinch in his chest as he notices, something that makes him want to wrap his soulmate in his arms and kill whatever dared to put this look on his face. He feels himself frown as he looks at the group, and he squeezes his fists as he fights the urge to be nosey and coddle. The more distance between the two of them, the better.

Oddly, his soulmate seems to lighten up when he enters the room, and he even smiles when he sees Rin sitting at his desk. His instincts say glare, but he’s too shocked to do anything other than gape. He doesn’t even turn his head to follow him walk past to his desk in the back. Before he can think of doing that, the director enters the room. Not through the door, no, that would ask too much, but rather through the ceiling.

“Hello, students! I come bearing the results of your exam.

Eins! Zwei! Drei!

Congrats to all! Every single one of you passed!” Mephisto pulls out confetti poppers from one of his many pockets and lets them loose. Despite what should arguably be a great moment for him, the half-demon just stares absent-mindedly at the small bits of confetti slowly falling to the floor. It takes a moment for anyone in the class to react, and it’s led by Shima.

“Oh, thank goodness,” the teen says, sounding and looking visibly relieved. More of the students begin to celebrate, and Rin realizes he should probably do the same. 

As they all converge into a group and begin talking, Mephisto speaks again. “To celebrate your success, I will take all of you out to eat! On me, as a treat!” He keeps talking and Rin puts up some token protests as to the cheapness of the meal, but he’s mostly distracted. Despite what everyone and their mother seems to believe, Rin isn’t stupid. Maybe he’s not necessarily book smart, but he has emotional intelligence. He’s aware that his lack of feeling regarding a test that would literally determine whether he lives or dies means he isn’t doing well. Hell, those conditions could not exist and he would know he isn’t doing well. What’s got him in a slump is how… normal this all is.

He’s glad to not be running on high, fielding danger left and right, constantly being worried about who is in the crossfire if it’s not him, but usually the quiet produced its own, for lack of better word, trouble. Trouble of the soulmate variety, of course. 

Suguro’s demeanor is very off. He’s withdrawn, more so than usual, and he just keeps staring at him. He would almost wonder if the older boy had finally figured it out, that they were soulmates, but he knows he wouldn’t be lucky enough to avoid the conversation detailing how he could never love a demon and would actually in fact love to kill him. It does make him wonder what is going on, though.

Previously, any time not spent studying, it seemed like Suguro was constantly on the prowl for his soulmate. He knows the trio are searching, he has in fact seen the list they’ve compiled – without his name, of course – so he’s definitely surprised that the older boy is dawdling at the table with the rest of the class instead of immediately running off. Of course, the staring doesn’t really change at all when they’re at dinner, so he can’t even slip away for a moment of peace.

He thinks he might have a moment where he can get away when he sees Mephisto walk away to take a call, but as he moves to stand, not only are his soulmate’s eyes on him from where he’s seated, but he can see Yukio staring intently from where he’s standing. There’s no way for him to make a clean exist with both their attentions fully on him. Resisting the urge to grumble, he settles down in his seat and tries his best to enjoy the meal.

He just wants this all to stop.

At the very least, Rin can rest easy knowing he was right to not relax after they received results. The very next day, they were back out to work; apparently he was the only one not taken by surprise. Maybe it’s the looming external threat of death, but he just found it hard to believe they would catch a break after the anticipation dissolved. It’s as if they decided that they, or the very least Rin, be put through the ringer at all times. Emotional or physical, doesn’t matter.

This is what he’s thinking as he rolls up to the designated meeting point in Mephyland. He had planned to head there alone, but Yukio was oddly insistent they walk together, so here he is. He can see the two other students he doesn’t know the name of sitting and leaning against a fence across from one of the truly too many statues of Mephisto. At the base is Suguro, Shima, and Konekomaru. As they get closer, Yukio of all people starts to talk.

“So, how’d you guys do for your first mission?” 

The look on the trio’s face as they get closer is a little funny, distaste and disgust evident. Looks like they were pretty rough. It was only after they received the results that the truth of the Kuro excursion came out. They were all given missions in disguise as part of the exam, apparently how they handled it and their willingness to do so was part of the rubric?

“Meh,” said Shima, completely relaxed and at ease, as per his usual.

With a wrinkled nose, Konekomaru says, “I had to clean out the Leaper’s cage.” Rin hisses in sympathy. Those things cannot be very sanitary.

“I had to take a sample of Bariyoshi to Tamasaw,” Suguro offers up. Unlike Koneko, Rin does his best to not even look at his soulmate.

“I had to carry supplies to Yamaoka.” Shima’s response is more lax than his first one, clearly satisfied that he at least wasn’t on kennel duty. Still, as nonchalant as his tone was, it was evident that he and Konekomaru were more than a little miffed at what they had been assigned.

Suguro gives a sigh, one that clearly signaled this wasn’t the first time he’s had to say something about this to his friends. “We’ve only just become exwires. It can’t be helped that all we get are these sorts of mission.”

Shima frowns, giving the first physical indication that he’s bothered. “They weren’t missions. They were just odd jobs!”

Rin didn’t mean to laugh, but it’s been a minute since he saw the trio squabbling with one another. Despite passing the exam, they had all been so morose lately. Regardless, his huff of amusement attracted their attention, and Rin was forced to flounder for something to say. He quickly moved to sit at the base of the statue, just to the side so eye contact was a bit more difficult. In this millisecond of thought, he decides on his course of action.

“I’m one step ahead of you guys. I got to beat a demon!”

Phrasing it as “beating” was generous, and he’s just glad Kuro isn’t around to hear him say that. Yukio’s side eye has him wondering if he’ll hear about it regardless. 

It’s not that he wants to brag or make the others jealous. In fact, he would love nothing more than to pass completely under their radar for the rest of his life, however long or short that may be. But the moment he caught their attention, he knew he was going to have to offer up some sort of story for them. He has no idea if Kuro was meant to be his mission or if they had just decided to call it that, but the grade was the grade regardless. 

All three of the teens next to him stare at him with blank expressions, but it isn’t long before Suguro’s face scrunches into his typical angry glare. “...What the hell?”

In for a penny, in for a pound, or whatever the saying is. “Plus after that I got to make it my familiar!”

His soulmate was just as contrary as usual. “All right, let’s see you summon it now, then.”

“Huh?” A little rude to call Kuro an ‘it,’ but he’ll let it slide for now. “I left him at the dormitory.”

“Hah,” Suguro says, turning away from Rin and waving his hands a bit. “He says he ‘left’ it there.”

“Hey, you think I’m lying?” He tries to react with the outrage they’re all probably expecting.

“Still,” he says, rolling his eyes, clearly done with this conversation, “I can’t believe those guys freakin’ became exorcists.” He gestures to the two other students. Rin has the fleeting thought that he should learn their names, but then he remembers that the distance is actually for the best. Less people to hurt and disappoint, especially if, or, more likely, when the truth comes out.

Shima, ever the mediator, says, “You know, there’s a chance they’re putting in the effort when we aren’t watching.”

“What?” Bon yells. “What do you mean, when we ain’t watchin’? They should be doin’ it in front of us!”

“...Forget about that for a second,” Shima responds, clearly realizing it’s a lost cause. “Aren’t the girls kind of late?”

Speak of the devil… Bad joke, Okumura, bad fucking joke.

Still. “We’re sorry!” Shiemi hollers as she and Kamiki run up to the group.”We got delayed!”

He can’t actually bring himself to appreciate her timing because he’s a bit distracted by the girl herself. Instead of her usual attire, she’s… well. “Shiemi? What happened? No kimono?”

He feels a little bad mentioning it with how hard it makes her blush, but it was kind of an unavoidable question. He can tell everyone else is looking at her just as strangely as he is.

“Well,” she starts, “since my kimono wasn’t really suitable for missions, the Director had me provided with a uniform. We’re late because Kamiki-san and Paku-san were teaching me how to wear it!” That made sense, the raven guesses. Before he can say anything, she continues. “It… it looks a bit weird, right?” She’s tugging anxiously at the edge of her skirt, clearly out of her depth. He goes to assure her she looks good, but he’s beaten to the punch.

“It’s fine! You look really cute, Moriyama-san!” Shima is looking at her a little too closely, bordering on down right leering. Sure, the shirt is tighter than her kimono was, and that is definitely a lot more skin than she’s ever shown, but that doesn’t mean he has the right to ogle her! She’s not one of his dumb porn mags.

“T-thank you!” The blonde fortunately doesn’t seem to realize the pink-haired boy’s lust. 

Still, Rin leans over to his brother. He can at least be trusted to put the boy in line. “What the hell,” he murmurs to his twin. “Her skirt’s too short. Right, Yukio?”

He’s all but begging him to notice and say something to Shima, maybe even reach out to Mephisto about getting her a better-fitting uniform, but instead he just pushes his glasses up his nose. “Why do you need to ask me that?” 

He looks so unbothered that Rin has to do a double-take to his friend to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. He turns back to Yukio, but before he can say anything else, he’s being punched in the arm. “OW! What the hell? That hurt, four eyes!”

The look he gets is cold, and that’s when the pieces click into place for Rin. Yukio doesn’t know yet that Rin has found his soulmate, let alone that his soulmate is a guy who’s literally sitting two feet away. With how hard Rin was staring at the girl and his need to comment to his brother about the skirt, Yukio thought he was ogling Shiemi, just like Shima. It hurt, more than the punch did. Even before finding Suguro, Rin did his level-best to be respectful to all women. His fath– Father Fujimoto, despite all his eccentricities, made it clear that you shouldn’t lust after anyone without their consent, no matter what they were or weren’t wearing. He always knew that Yukio thought little of him, but this was a new type of hurt. Surely his twin couldn’t think his thoughts were just as vile as his powers?

Yukio ignores his look of hurt to address the class as a whole. “All right. Now that everyone has gathered, I’ll be dividing you into groups of pairs.” He looks to everyone to make sure he has their full attention. “Miwa and Takara. Yamada and Suguro.”

Rin can’t help but glance to the older teen. His face is scrunched in anger, and he bites out, quietly, “I’m with him ?”

“Okumura and Moriyama.”

The blonde walks over to Rin and waves happily. “We’re together!”

“Kamiki and Shima.” He waits a moment to let everyone group up before continuing. “This time we’re at True Cross Academy’s amusement park, nicknamed ‘Mephy Land,’ and in order to deal with the witness and damage reports of a ghost inside here, all the exwires have been recruited to help find it. Can anyone tell me the definition of a ghost?” It feels like an easy question, but like hell is the raven giving his brother an easy shot at humiliating him in front of everyone, yet again. He sees Kamiki raise her hand out of the corner of his eye. “Go ahead, Kamiki-kun.”

“Ghosts are a demon who possess material objects from human and animal corpses and turns them into vapor. Naturally, their characters are influenced by the feelings that they had while still alive.”

Yukio nods his head, indicating she was correct. Rin watches as Suguro’s mouth turns into a sharper frown. Probably because Kamiki is the closest thing he has to a rival in the class, and they still haven’t exactly settled their differences. “This ghost,” his twin says, “is the type that isn’t tied down to one location, and has been witnessed all over the park. It has the appearance of a “small little boy.” At the moment the damage is at the extent of him yanking on people’s arms and legs. However, if we leave it unattended as it is, there is a chance that it may become evil and dangerous.” Looking around, the raven can tell that everyone, even Shima, appears to be taking it seriously. “Once you’ve divided into the pairs I just listed, I want you to scatter until nightfall and try to find it. If you find it, call either mine or Tsubaki-sensei’s,” here, he gestures to the teacher next to him, “mobile phone immediately. If you have any questions, you may raise your hand.” 

Someone asks another question, but Rin doesn’t catch it. Instead, he’s looking around. There’s a feeling here… and it wasn’t around when they first showed up. He frowns, but before he can do or say anything about it, Yukio has dismissed them. Shiemi grabs his hand to tug him in a direction, and they start walking. 

They walk in silence for only a few moments before Shiemi breaks it. “Okay, Rin, you can look on the right side and I’ll search on the left!” He nods his head, but he’s honestly a little distracted looking at Shiemi. Despite her painfully shy nature, she’s always been excitable and happy, but this is a whole new level. He thought the implied severity of the mission would be a downer, but the blonde is all but skipping down the street. He’s so distracted by these thoughts that he doesn’t realize Shiemi was talking to him until she’s suddenly yelling “Rin! Are you with me?”

Anxious she’ll get the wrong idea, he starts to aggressively nod. “Uh-huh, you bet!” You know, like a liar. Apparently Shiemi knows it too, because her face is suddenly scrunched up and her eyebrows furrowed and downturned. “Uh, Sh–Shiemi? What’s wrong? You’re face is getting kinda… are you angry?”

Rin’s about to start apologizing profusely, but she starts talking, although it’s more like squeaking with how her cheeks are puffed. “I look like I’m grinning foolishly if I keep my face normal, so I’m forcing my face to look like this!” He doesn’t really know what to do with that, so hopefully his little questioning noise says it all. “I…” she starts, before taking a deep breath. “The truth is, I’ve been longing to go to an amusement park for as long as I can remember! But when I was younger, I couldn’t handle it because of the sheer amount of people there.” She’s started to blush something fierce, but her smile remains as glowing as ever. “But I think the present me will be all right! The stalls and rides look so lively and fun. Next time, I want to come here to play , not on a mission!” 

She has her fist clenched tight, as if she’s physically grabbing onto the dream to make it a reality, and her eyes are twinkling with wonder and excitement. “That sounds great, Shiemi. Next time, you should definitely come, and bring some people you want to hang out with.” He smiles softly, thinking back to the days when he had just as much hope and optimism as her.

“You can come!”

“Eh, what?” Rin couldn’t have heard her right. Him?

“Yeah! You can come with me, and Yuki, too. Oh! We could also invite Kamiki and Paku since they’ve been so helpful with me!”

“S–seriously? You sure you want me to come with?”

The blonde nods excitedly. “Yep! Let’s go for sure!”

The raven wants to keep talking, but they’re cut off by a sudden wail echoing the empty street. He looks to Shiemi to see what she thinks, but she’s just looking at him with the same kind smile as usual. He hears it again, and he has to know. “A voice.”

“...A voice?” Shit, so she doesn’t hear it. 

Despite the light conversation, he hasn’t forgotten the bad feeling he had when Yukio was talking to the group, and something tells him he can find the source if he can find the voice. “This way! It’s nearby!”

“Huh? Rin!” It’s too late, though, because he’s already running off towards where he thinks it’s coming from. The sobs keep coming, and they get louder as he approaches a merry-go-round. There, on one of the still plastic horses, is what looks like a weeping small boy. He would look completely normal if it weren’t for his body fading past his waist, dissolving from solidness to a wisp of curling air. Shiemi makes it to his side and sees what he’s looking at. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Oi,” the raven says, nudging her side with his elbow. “Don’t talk to demons!”

“Oh, right.” She drops her gaze from the spector and leans towards him. “But, he’s just a little boy…”

He feels bad for it, but he ignores her, and the still-sobbing ghost, to pull out his phone. He quickly dials Yukio’s number, watching his classmate’s movements carefully. She’s such an empathetic person, he knows she’ll sooner try to comfort the ghost than harm it. The phone keeps ringing… and ringing… and it goes to voicemail. What the hell, Yukio? Instead of trying him again, he calls the other teacher, but it’s the same result. What the hell was the point of telling them to call if they weren’t going to answer?

The kid’s cries have just been getting louder and louder as they stood and watched, and Rin can’t really stand it anymore. “How long are ya gonna be bleatin’ for?” Listen, it is important to realize at this moment that, again, this is not a kid . This is a type of demon . He would never actually yell at a crying kid like that. Let’s not forget that comforting and validating a child was part of the beginning of the end of his old life, okay?

Still, when the sobbing starts up again louder and with even more voracity, he can sorta understand Shiemi’s reaction. “Rin!” she yells, slapping him on the arm. “Rin, you don’t have to yell at him like that!”

“Well,” he starts, trying to defend himself because, again, this is a demon, “I mean–”

Whatever his defense would’ve been is cut off by the spectral child flying into Shiemi’s chest and trying to wrap incorporeal arms around her neck. Maybe the kid can’t even hold a physical form…

“I–I…” the boy starts. “I was sick for a really long time. Mummy and Daddy promised me that if I gots better, I could come to this amusement park an’ play. But I died, and now, I can’t play with anyone anymore!”

“I see…” Shiemi says, and even Rin can feel his heartstrings being tugged. Still, he can’t ignore that awful feeling, and it’s only gotten worse the longer they stand here with the ghost. He can reflect on how his childhood mirrors the little ghost’s after the problem is handled. “You must’ve been lonely, huh?”

The little ghost sniffles once more, but, out of nowhere, it turns into a sneer. “Shut up, hag!” All crocodile tears gone, and the flickering demon is firmly corporeal as it gropes Shiemi’s chest and then flees. Poor Shiemi’s face is immediately in flames, a high pitched squeak seeping through her lips as she stands taut as a bowstring. The little brat lets out a loud cackle and crows, “Idiot!” before fleeing the scene.

There’s a moment where Rin has to process everything that just happened, but it’s a very brief one that has him nearly double checking that he hasn’t flamed out. “What the hell, you brat!”

He’s off like a shot, trying to desperately not to lose the demon as it weaves down the path. He hears Shiemi behind him, but he ignores her cry of, “Rin!”

“Wait, you little…!” 

He makes it to another statue of Mephisto in front of the massive roller coaster before he has to concede that he lost it. “Where did that little perverted brat go?” He’s near frothing at the mouth, wanting to hurt the thing for harassing and disrespecting his fr– Shiemi. He’s so distracted by his anger that he doesn’t even hear her catch up to him.

Rin has to keep himself from jumping out of his skin when she talks. “... I’ll go look over there, okay?” 

She looks nervous, shifting from one foot to another, and he hates that he can’t tell if it’s because of the ghost or his anger. He lets out a long breath before nodding to her. Without another word she wanders down another aisle of tent-like structures. He watches her until she disappears, thinking about how far she’s come since they first met in that garden. The raven shakes his head, trying to focus in on the mission at hand. “Whatever,” he mutters to himself, “I ain’t chasing after that brat. I’ll just report to Yukio that we found it.”

Yukio’s number is on speed dial, so he hits it and holds the phone up to his ear. The line rings… and rings… and rings. It was probably still ringing, but Rin is now a little distracted by something grabbing his sword case. He whips around, ready to… do something painful to whatever it is, but he’s quickly thrown off when he sees the perpetrator.

The demon, and he definitely is one, there’s no way he couldn’t be, is perched on the arm of the statue, crouched and resting essentially entirely on his toes. “Holy crap!” Rin cries. “Who the hell are you?” Oh, and more importantly, “Give that back!”

“Who…?” the demon starts, trailing off before finishing, “Oh, yes. I’m Amaimon, the prince of demons.” 

The demon, Amaimon, isn’t much bigger than Rin, if he were to guess. Rin would’ve assumed a prince of demons would be huge, larger than life, and, honestly, probably a bit more terrifying. Not that the guy looked super cuddly and friendly. His hands are adorned with black claws rather than regular nails, and his ears are vaguely pointed and canines sharper than average, much like Rin himself. Despite all that, it’s how he carries himself –infinitely nonchalant, like nothing could touch him, not helped by the sucker he’s got dangling between his fingers– and his hair of all things that make him seem otherworldly. Seriously, if you’re going to masquerade as a human in Assiah, maybe don’t style your hair as vomit green into one giant spike?

Amaimon, realizing Rin doesn’t know what to say to that, widens his eyes just a bit more and continues, “I’m kind of like your big brother. Nice to meet you.” Rin knows his jaw has dropped, but he can’t be bothered to care. Like hell, is this creep anything similar to a big brother. He’s got one brother, and he’s younger by a few minutes and a pain in his ass. Apparently bored with waiting for a response, Amaimon turns his attention to the prize in his hands. He giggles a little, turning it this way and that. “So, this is the Koumaken.” He finally takes the sword out of its case, inspecting it once more before holding it out horizontally in front of him. He grips the sheath in one hand and the handle in another. “So, this is the Koumaken.

“I wonder if you know what kind of device this is.” And he pulls.

Immediately, Rin is engulfed in blue flames, their heat licking along his body but leaving him unharmed. “St–Stop it!” he yells at the demon above him. 

This can’t be happening. He swore to Mephisto, to Yukio, to his dad that he wouldn’t let these flames loose. That he would be careful. And what does he do? He lets a fucking demon snatch his sword and play with it like a toy. How… how careless, no, how stupid of him. He’s such a fucking idiot. 

“Ah hah!” the green haired demon cheers, seemingly having figured something out. Rin grits his teeth; he desperately tries to ignore the way his elongated fangs cut into his bottom lip. “I see. Part of the blade of the sword appears to be a small entrance to Gehenna. Does the sheath serve the purpose as a gateway?” He’s holding the blade close to his face, inspecting it closely, and the raven can feel his body trembling with rage and loathing, both for Amaimon and himself. He clenches his fists, letting his nails draw blood from his palms, trying desperately to keep a hold of himself. He can’t lose control, not for this chump. “As for you,” the demon continues, completely uncaring of his ‘brother’ below him, “your ‘power’ may be from Gehenna, but your ‘body’ exists in Assiah.”

“That’s enough,” Rin hisses from between his gritted teeth, but Amaimon ignores him.

“If I sheath the blade, the door closes, but if I yank it out, the door opens. So that’s how it works…” 

One second, he’s still as a statue. His tremors have stopped, and he’s laser focused on where Amaimon sits perched in front of him. He can almost feel his pupils narrow in on him. One second, he’s motionless. Then, an unconscious flick of his tail, and he’s launching himself at the bastard.

Unfortunately, the guy seems to be pretty quick, or maybe Rin’s tells are just that obvious. Regardless, he’s throwing his full weight at the stupid statue, demanding “Give me that!” It’s with his full, uncontrollable , force that he throws himself with that he can’t reroute or slow his momentum when Amaimon leaps gracefully from his first perch to the scaffolding of the coaster beside them.

“Oh, no. Brother’s neck,” he says in a monotone voice, clearly giving no shits about it. Rin does feel a little bad about it, but only because of the clear destruction of property on what was essentially meant to be a recon mission. 

He growls, something frighteningly feral, from his place on the rubble of the statue. His tail, longer and flamier than usual, is whipping wildly to and fro behind him. “What’s your real objective?” 

Amaimon looks at him with the same frustratingly blank expression, rolling the goddamn lollipop between his teeth. “Objective?” He tilts his head and readjusts his grip on Kurikara. “I had some spare time, so I came here to play.”

Rin loses some of the tension in his jaw as he absorbs the words. He’s thrown off foot, suddenly leaning more to confusion than the anger he needs to be feeling right now. “...What?”

“I studied up a bit on Japanese games,” Amaimon says, apropos nothing. “Oni-san,” he sings tauntingly, “over here. Towards the clapping sound.”

“You bastard,” Rin snarls. He tenses his shoulders and his knees, preparing to make another go at the demon playing with him. “Don’t underestimate me!”

He’s learned his lesson from the first time. Rin still jumped at Amaimon with full speed, but this time he stays light on his feet. If his speed lets him grab the piece of shit, great, but this time he won’t break whatever he touches if he gets away. His instinct was spot on, as the nimble bastard jumps to the top of the tracks as Rin makes contact with the scaffolding he was just standing on. 

Desperately looking down at himself, still engulfed in Satan’s flames, he looks back to the wooden scaffolding and lets himself have a brief moment of relief. He just needs to stay aware of the flames, the second he loses focus, who knows what will go up in flames?

“Oni-san, over here,” the annoying voice sings from above him. He bares his fangs, something inside him demanding he prove what a threat he can be to this antagonist. “Towards the clapping sound.”

The raven doesn’t let Amaimon finish the taunt, leaping upwards with extended claws as he says “clapping.” The son of a bitch still manages to dodge, but it was much closer this time, and he doesn’t have the chance to put as much distance between them as last time. If he were to be the optimistic sort, he might have even said Amaimon looked a little… afraid.

Instead of being optimistic, Rin feels animal. Feral. Like he could rip something apart. And his target is right in front of him.

To say that Ryuji was pissed would be an understatement. He was already in a bad mood following the stupid “mission” he was given, the fact that Mr. PSP and Puppet passed the exam was only salt on the wound. Being paired with PSP guy was acid on the salt. 

When Okumura-sensei had said they would be split into pairs, he was foolish enough to hope that the stars would align and give him a fucking break for once. Apparently he was as stoic as ever, but he was embarrassed at how much he felt like he was giving their teacher puppy eyes. His tone was acerbic once he found out he was paired with Yamada, but he felt like breaking something when Moriyama was paired with Rin. 

Of course. Why wouldn’t he be paired with the prettiest, softest girl in the class? The bad boy underdog always gets with the dream girl. Bon is the friendly rival at best, the villain at worst. 

Needless to say, his attention probably wasn’t as razor sharp as it should’ve been as he and Yamada walked the rows of games in the theme park. 

Who knows how much longer he would’ve moped around if it weren’t for the crash. Whipping his head up from where he’d been looking at his feet, he looks just in time to see part of the roller coaster begin to crumple in on itself, a cloud of dust and debris kicking up. Through the haze of the rubble, it almost looks like the area is glowing, a faint blue color. 

Ryuji tries to hush the part of his brain that is screaming “Satan!” The odds of that are so unlikely it is laughable. No, the glow is likely some electrical wiring. Still…

“What the hell is that?” he asks his partner. The guy remains silent, but he’s looking in the same direction, so small win. “Did something happen?”

Yamada stays quiet as more beams start to collapse. He’s about to suggest they call one of the teachers over to check it out, but he’s interrupted by the patter of footsteps. He turns to see the boy has taken off running. 

“Hey! Where are you goin’?” He hollers, but the question was stupid. The guy is obviously taking off in the direction of the coaster.

It reminds him so much of the raven nuisance haunting his mind that he’s momentarily frozen. The guy who is constantly running and jumping in front of dangerous, acting like he’s got to fight the world on his own. The moment of fondness is quickly doused by the fact that Ryuji is being left in the dust again .

“Get back here! Wait for me!” His calls to Yamada go unanswered, which he pretty much expected. Still, he wastes no more time, breaking out into his own sprint towards the destruction. 

This is the first time he’s really moved since… well. Since. Immediately his body fills with the familiar strain, and then energy, of a good workout, and he wants to laugh. He’s missed this. 

He thought the world had ended when his soulmate had died. And sure, shit was still pretty bleak, but there was more to live for. There was the stitch in your side from a good run, the fluttery feeling from seeing a certain grin, the sudden, full body pain from–

Pain.

Rin had to rethink how smart it was to get this close to Amaimon. While it had seemed like a good idea to get close enough to swipe for his sword, he failed to account for the fact that it would put him in range of the green-haired demon’s own attacks. 

He learns this the hard way, via a neck-breaking punch that sends him flying through more of the roller coaster’s structure. His nose has started to drip, and his blood sings with the desire to annihilate the demon in front of him. He wants to yell, to give a biting or witty response, but all that comes out of his mouth is a feral snarl. 

Heedless of what had just transpired last time he tried this, he launches himself back into Amaimon’s space yet again. His mind is a warzone, a cataclysmic fight between the thoughts “kill him” and “get the sword.” It’s a distraction, and one that is going to cost him. 

Amaimon, casual as a wave hello, plants another fist in Rin’s face. There’s so much force in the action that it sends them both flying off the beams and towards the ground. The demon on top of him seems utterly unconcerned by this development, and in fact starts to talk in that same nonchalant tone again.

“Such a let down,” he muses, though it’s unclear if he’s talking to himself or to Rin. “I don’t understand the reason why Father and Brother have become entranced with something like this.” Their freefall ends with an abrupt meeting of Rin’s back to the ground. He isn’t given even a second to try and recover. Immediately after he’s landed, Amaimon has as well. His is more graceful, though, insomuch as he uses the raven as a crashmat, his knees planting firmly in his sternum. In a facsimile of catching himself, the demon plants his fist firmly in Rin’s face yet again. 

All he knows is pain. Pain and pain and rage . At least one of his ribs has got to be cracked. His nose feels broken, and he knows his skin has split on his forehead and the back of his head. Rin’s vision is bathed in red, and he doesn’t know if it’s from the anger or the blood dripping steadily in his eyes. 

The demon above him is still talking. “Oh, my…” he says, trailing off. The dumb lollipop is still dangling from his lips, and he looks completely unbothered. “Even though I thought that’d be good to kill my boredom, righ–”

He’s not given the opportunity to finish whatever he was saying. The war in his mind has ended. Rin was going to kill the demon.

With a grip like steel, Rin wraps a clawed hand around Amaimon’s throat. This garbage needs to get off of him , so, giving into instinct, he wrenches his shoulder back and launches the demon away with all his strength. With a long, rumbling growl, he pulls himself to his feet, immediately assuming a position of attack. He sees the green-haired nuisance kneeling a few meters away, seemingly trying to recuperate for the first time this fight. Rin doesn’t give him the chance. With another feral growl, he’s pounced, knives for fingers and hatred in his veins. There is no more Rin, just him, the beast, the fury. 

The beast can taste the blood in his mouth, feel it dripping from his lips in a disgusting mixture with his saliva. He watches it fly and spatter on his prey’s face. His prey is smiling, but the beast can see a hint of fear in the prey’s eyes. A fatal mistake. The last mistake. With a snarl, the beast opens his maw, prepared to rip out the throat of that which thought it could toy with him. 

As his teeth draw near, the prey speaks, a faint whisper of “Wow.” Taken aback, the beast falters in his kill, and that is his mistake. “Now we’re talking! That’s the spirit!” his prey crows, and then the earth around them begins to shake.

Ryuji is near paralyzed by the sensation. He wants to crumple into a ball where he stands. He wants to cry , because of how much it hurts or what it means he doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter. The pain doesn’t matter, because right now there is a crisis, and he needs his head on his shoulders if he’s going to be of any use to anyone. So, soldiering through, what the hell, his ribs feel broken , all the hurt, he summons up another burst of speed and races through the winding alleys faster. 

He makes it to the roller coaster just as the ground beneath his feet begins to shake. Forced to stop lest he lose his footing entirely, he desperately searches the area for any clue of what is happening. 

There’s no sign of what started this mess, but there is a blonde girl brought to her knees beside the towering, unstable structure, holding, is that a ghost ? Whatever. Without giving himself time to second guess, he darts to Moriyama, hoping to reach her in time to pull her away from the immediate danger. 

As he gets closer, nearly within arms reach, he realizes how much of a mistake this may have been. He looks up at the same time as the girl, and they both see the coaster debris falling towards them. With a look of horror and helplessness, he pushes himself that last distance and wraps his arms around the small girl, hoping to shield her somehow. Maybe his body will take enough of the damage that she’ll be fine. They cower, ghost between them, and Bon waits for the end. 

A damn shame, given how he felt he was finally ready to live.

A quiet death was not in the cards for him. Moriyama, in blind terror, has shrieked as loud as possible, yelling to the air a terrified, “Help us!” From the corner of his eye, he sees her familiar pop out from her hair, watches it leap into the air, some sort of thick viney plant sprouting from its stomach.

Choked by fear and brain turning animal and irrational, he gives up any stoicism. “Help!” he yells with his whole chest. He doubts anyone will be able to save them. He only hopes that their yells will help the rest of the class find them sooner.

Ryuji shuts his eyes tight, not wanting to watch how his life ends. He knows Moriyama has done the same, and he pulls her in even closer, like he can absorb her into himself and take all the debris himself, leaving her safe. In his final moments, he feels a deep sense of shame. As much as he wants to think he’s a hero, that he’s doing this because he’s selfless, he knows the real reason. It’s his own selfish desire to see that bothersome classmate of his happy that has him trying to keep Moriyama alive at the expense of himself. 

He was so ready to die in that moment. So prepared, that it took him longer than it should’ve to process that he was still alive. As the debris closed in on their cowering forms, there was a loud, inhuman roar, a blast of heat, and the sound of debris exploding and clattering around them. After a moment of quiet shock, he and Moriyama lift their heads from where they had been ducked and look around. Falling slowly in smoking, smoldering bits, small pieces of wood and ash flutter to the ground. There is no sign of the life-ending rubble to be seen.

Whatever the prey has done to shake the ground beneath them is futile. The beast still has his claws around his throat, teeth poised to rip into his jugular and put an end to the ridiculous creature. So why does the prey smirk in such a condescending manner?

The structure next to them rattles and clattors with the rumbling of the earth, but the beast hears something else beside it.

“Help us!” The voice is high and feminine, and it rings familiar in his ears. Friend?

The prey smiles wider, and the beast returns his focus to the matter at hand. Or he was, until–

“Help!” This one is deeper, much more gruff. The beast feels his nerves stand on edge, his entire body screaming at him to pay attention. S–soulmate… soulmate!

With another snapping snarl at the creature at his mercy, he releases one hand from his neck and flings it in the direction of the voices. He looks up to see if he’s aimed true, an arc of tumultuous blue flames sweeping away a cluster of wood and metal from the roller coaster. On the ground, where the debris was headed for impact, is a broad man, curled over a smaller form. Both have their heads ducked down, as if looking away could have saved them. As the man raises his head to look around, Rin sees the telltale blonde streak in a mess of brown hair. Ryuji. Ryuji was almost hurt.

The distraction is just what Amaimon needed to turn the fight in his favor. Before Rin can even turn his attention back to the demon beneath him, a boot is colliding with his chest and sending him careening back and skidding across the ground away from him.

“Hmm… what happened?” The green-haired demon asks, raising from a crouch to stand over the raven. All the rage and fire he had felt just moments ago seems to have evaporated from him, vanished at the sight of Suguro and Moriyama injured from his careless actions. What would he have done if Suguro had actually been hurt? Or, worse, dead? It would’ve been all his fault, and it’s another aching reminder that all he is to those he loves is a monster. “Are you done already?” Rin ignores him, eyes still trained on the distant figure of Suguro and Moriyama standing, talking to the ghost that started this whole mess. They aren’t even that far. All they have to do is turn in his direction and they’ll see exactly what kind of monster he is. “How boring. Although older brother tries to stop you,” Amaimon says, holding the Kurikara in both hands and stepping closer to Rin on the ground, demanding his attention, “Now that you’ve become like this, shall we break your sword?”

“W–what–” Rin begins, blood turning to ice at the demon’s words. Break his sword? He’d be damned to this form, any chance of getting revenge on Satan lost forever as Mephisto puts him to death. He tries to summon the strength and the rage that fled his body. “What are you–”

“Devour the seven princess,” a voice booms from the opposite of the coaster, “slay the serpent!” A tall figure has launched themselves at Amaimon, sword drawn from seemingly nowhere. Quick as a whip, the green-haired demon blocks the strike and jumps out of the way. The figure is in a dark hoodie, one that looks vaguely familiar. With quick feet, the person has bounced backwards and lands in a defensive crouch in front of Rin. 

“And you are?” Amaimon asks, still in that infuriatingly casual tone of voice.

“You’re the Earth King, Amaimon,” the figure says instead of introducing themself. Finally having a closer look, Rin finally places where he knows the figure from. This is Hoodie Guy! “How did a big shot like you manage to enter the Academy?” the guy, Yamada, asks. “Were you guided by Mephisto?” Rin had managed to get to his feet when the demon began to saunter closer.

“You’re being a hindrance.”

“You’re the hindrance,” Yamada fires back. Seeing how the guy doesn’t falter even the slightest bit at the Amaimon’s approach, Rin lets himself crumple. His ribs ache, and all he wants to do is curl up into a ball and cry and die. 

He tries to keep an eye on what’s happening in front of him, but it’s so hard to care anymore. Still, he’s surprised when Amaimon takes the sheath from behind his back. “So, it is over, after all.” With the same air of nonchalance as before, he sheathes Rin’s sword and tosses it towards Yamada and Rin. His jaw drops in shock. “Another time, perhaps,” he says, and without another word he is leaping skyward.

Yamada’s position is finally broken as he steps towards where the demon had just been standing. “Hey, wait!” The guy has taken his sword and is pointing the sharp bit towards his own chest. Rin is too frozen to say anything about it. “Tch, he was just playin!” He turns around before Rin can see what exactly he does with his own weapon, but given how it disappears and Yamada doesn’t have a blade sticking out of him, Rin assumes it’s some sort of magic bullshit. “Oi!” That gets the raven’s full attention. “They’ll be gathering here soon. You gotta put your tail away!”

Completely distracted, he does as he’s told. He’s still in shock, about his sword being stolen, about how strong Amaimon was, how fascinated he was by Rin. But above all that, he’s frozen in fear and disgust at himself. He had just blacked out, and became so violent, just like the old days. Just like his father. Like Satan . Like a monster. 

He can hear the patter of multiple footsteps running his way, but he pays it no mind. Even as one voice yells “Rin!” and another “Okumura!”

His vision is locked on the ground in front of him, wishing to disappear, until he feels a hand on his shoulder. He whips around, feeling like a loaded gun and hating it. The large, calloused hand is quickly pulled away as he shouts, “Don’t touch me!” He finally looks up and sees it was Suguro. He had been crouched beside him, but had taken a step back at his reaction. Of course. Why wouldn’t he?

“What happened?” Shiemi asked from beside Surguro, but Rin couldn’t take his eyes off of the boy.

With a frown, gentle instead of the usual anger, he quietly asks, “What’s wrong?”

Rin doesn’t know what to do with this gentleness, this care. With herculean effort, he sucks in a breath and pulls himself back together. No time to fall apart right now. “I’m sorry. It’s–it was nothing.” He looks to the blonde. “What about you guys? Were you okay? What happened with that kid?”

“Oh,” Shiemi says, like she had forgotten about what they were here for. “He disappeared! He told me ‘Thanks, onee-san,’ and then vanished.” Suguro is nodding from beside her. “Next time we’re here, we’ll play for sure, okay?

“Sure…” he says, shocked that she would say that when he’s standing in front of her covered in blood. He can see Suguro’s eyebrows furrow, dark eyes darting between the two of them. There’s no chance to find out what that’s about, because more footsteps are making their way over.

“Shiemi-san!” Yukio’s voice calls, and Rin turns around to see his brother sprinting towards them, the other instructor not far behind. 

“Yuki-chan!” the blonde calls, clearly happy to see him coming. 

“Are you hurt?” he asks, giving her a quick once-over. Satisfied with what he finds, he starts to look around.

They make eye contact as Shiemi starts talking. “Rin’s hurt! I gave him some first aid so–”

“Nii-san, what happened ?” Rin can’t decipher if his tone is upset for him or because of him. Embarrassingly enough, he can feel tears starting to burn at the back of his eyes. Suguro’s brown gaze still hasn’t moved from his prone form, and the boy himself has moved closer once again, as if to try and help somehow.

Any response the raven may have tried to come up with is lost when he feels his sword make contact with his chest. Standing beside him in his blindspot is Yamada, and he’s just aggressively swung the covered weapon back to him. “You’re slow, Yukio,” he says in a high, teasing voice. “‘Cause yer so slow, I was forced to make a move.”

His brother’s face has paled, and he looks torn between closing the space between them and sprinting away as fast as he can. “It… it can’t be.”

“Long time, no see,” Yamada says, which makes no sense since he’s literally in their class. 

“Who…?” Rin asks, trailing off. He looks to Suguro and sees that he looks just as baffled. Small mercies.

“Well, whatever,” Yamada continues. He grabs the hem of his sweatshirt, making to pull it off. This feels like a historic moment. “I’ve gotten tired of looking like this anyways.” In a motion smoother than it has any right to be, Yamada has ripped of his hoodie to reveal skin, lots of it. Rin would think the guy were naked if it weren’t for the skimpy bikini holding… his? Chest. “I’m Shura Kirigakure, an upper first class exorcist.” She, not he, has begun to unbind some ace bandages from her chest, further revealing more cleavage and, strangely enough, a detailed and elaborate tattoo on her chest. Her hair is also revealed, looking like a burning red fire, the opposite of Rin’s own flames. Then, he processes the words she’s saying. “I was dispatched by the True Cross Vatican Headquarters to investigate the existence of the Japanese Branch’s “risk” factor. I’m a senior inspector.” 

Oh, shit.