Fandom: Blue Exorcist / 青の祓魔師

Summary: His friends were all dead, and Rin refused to leave it at that. They deserved more, they deserved to live, they deserved so many things that Rin had taken away from them. He was so selfish to think that he could be there with them and their happy ending. But that was okay. He was going to make everything right again.

A/N: While not at all necessary to read to understand this story, I'd still like to call attention to my other fic, When Everyone's Dead. Chronologically, it happens before the events in this fic, so it may be interesting to read. Totally optional though. The only thing you'd be missing out on if you decide not to read it is some angst, so no worries!

0. Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

i đѳท'Ƭ ૨૯αℓℓy ૨૯ʍ૯ʍв૯૨ ђѳખ ѳℓđ ખ૯ ખ૯૨૯,

"Oi, Yukio!" Rin smiled from the top of the monkey bar set and waved to his younger brother with both arms.

ѳ૨ ખђαƬ ખ૯ ખ૯૨૯ đѳiทg,

"N-Nii-san! You gotta hold on with both arms, that's dangerous!" Yukio ran up to the monkey bar set and fretted for his brother's safety. Rin smirked and seemed ready to do something even more dangerous, but thought better of it and complied. His hands firmly gripped the bars under him, even if he knew that he didn't need them.

вષƬ i ૨૯ʍ૯ʍв૯૨ ƬђαƬ ખ૯ ખ૯૨૯ ђα√iทg Բષท.

"Don' worry 'bout it, Yukio, I got this!" he laughed. The younger of the twins still worried, but assured himself in that Rin was very capable of keeping himself up there without problems.

When he paid attention, that is. But he seemed fine. Rin was strong.

ખ૯ ђαđ α ℓѳƬ ѳԲ Բષท вα૮ઝ Ƭђ૯ท.

Rin soon decided that he would rather be where his twin was then up there by himself, so he made his way down. There were a few times where he'd almost slipped off the bars, the rain from just aan hour before had left them slippery, but it was fine. He made his way down quickly and without incident and jumped off the bars once he deemed himself close enough to the ground.

The rain clouds had only just stopped their light drizzle and Rin had insisted on coming to the park to make the most of the daylight left. He argued with both his brother and his dad about it, but in the end, his determination won out and the small family spent the last bits of daylight at the park.

ʍ૯ αทđ yષઝiѳ ખѳષℓđ gѳ Ƭѳ Ƭђ૯ ρα૨ઝ Ƭѳg૯Ƭђ૯૨ αทđ ρℓαy ρi૨αƬ૯ઽ ઽѳʍ૯Ƭiʍ૯ઽ, ѳ૨ ʍαyв૯ ખ૯'đ ρ૨૯Ƭ૯ทđ Ƭѳ в૯ ૯×ρℓѳ૨૯૨ઽ.

"So, wha' do we do now?" Rin put his hands on his hips. "Everything's all wet, so stuff like the swings are out."

"Well, we could try and look for the Great Treasure again?" the younger twin suggested. He was excited to put to the test the knowledge he'd gotten from a children's book about pirates. The characters in the book fought sea serpents! Rin would love it!

Rin pumped up a fist. "Aw yeah, the Treasure! Where were we last time?"

"I think we were over here..."

ђ૯'đ в૯ Ƭђ૯ gષy ખiƬђ Ƭђ૯ в૨αiทઽ,

The two looked for clues as to where their treasure was. There were puddles of water that soon turned into oceans and lands filled with unpredictable geysers, whatever they decided would be the most fun.

Yukio led his twin and their men on expedition after expedition, using his vast intellect and wit to make decisions that would often save them all. Rin would praise him and lead the charge on their never ending search for adventure.

αทđ i'đ в૯ ђiઽ ʍષઽ૮ℓ૯.

And as the captain of their airship turned to address his men, Rin made sure that none of them even thought about abandoning ship or turning on their leader. He would beat down anyone that had misgivings and destroy any beast that stood in their way.

i đѳท'Ƭ ૨૯ʍ૯ʍв૯૨ ખђ૯ท iƬ ઽƬα૨Ƭ૯đ.

"Alright, it's time to go home, boys!" Shiro picked up Yukio and held him up high just as they were doing battle with a thousand krakens. Yukio squeaked in surprise and Rin stopped with his rather expressive hand gestures.

"Aww, we jus' got to the good part!" Rin pouted and didn't move from his spot as his father carried Yukio away.

"Well you boys can always start with the good part when we come back!" he smiled.

yષઝiѳ ઽƬα૨Ƭ૯đ Ƭѳ đ૨iԲƬ αખαy Բ૨ѳʍ ʍ૯.

"Ugh, fiiiine." the elder twin dragged his feet as he followed his family out of the park. Yukio squirmed to be let down, and he walked beside his father once he was allowed to plant his feet on the ground. Rin walked a little faster to catch up with the two.

Rin had his hands in his pockets and slouched over, still a bit sour about their playtime being interrupted. "Oi, Yukio, you gonna remember what part we were at?"

Yukio smiled back at his brother. "Yeah, definitely!"

i đѳท'Ƭ ઝทѳખ ખђαƬ i ખαઽ Ƭђiทઝiทg ખђ૯ท i ℓ૯Ƭ ђiʍ.

Satisfied, Rin smiled and kicked away a stray rock to the curb. Yukio and Shiro began to talk about something, probably school from what words the elder child paid attention to. Disinterested, he let his attention wander towards a group of friends walking in the opposite direction as them, on the other side of the street.

'Oh,' he thought as one of the teens said something and the group laughed. 'They look like they're having fun.'

'Yukio should have fun too.' Recently, he'd felt some distance between them. Yukio had his own friends and people that he could talk to when he wasn't talking to Rin. It was fine though. Better than fine, it was great! Yukio had friends, so whenever Rin got sent home for fighting, he wouldn't be all alone.

вષƬ i gષ૯ઽઽ ƬђαƬ'ઽ ѳઝαy.

There was some possessiveness that he felt when he thought about it. Something inside chanted 'mine mine MINE,' but it was stupid. Yukio wasn't his, Yukio was his own. His brother was doing a good job of getting new friends and people to talk to so he wouldn't be lonely. Rin crossed his arms and nodded to himself. 'As the big brother, I approve!'

i'ℓℓ ʍαઝ૯ iƬ ૨igђƬ.

"What're you thinking about over there, Rin?" Shiro turned so he could lay a hand on Rin's head and he mussed his hair. Rin's mouth opened and let out a whine of complaint at the manhandling and shoved the hand off of him.

"'M just thinkin' 'bout big brother things, don't bother me!" His father simply laughed and shook his head.

"'Big brother things?' Are they so secret that you can't can't let your dad know about them?" Yukio looked on curiously from the other side of Shiro.

Rin looked at Yukio and squinted, then seemed to reach a decision. "I can tell you, but Yukio can't hear!"

i ઽખѳ૨૯ Ƭѳ ρ૨ѳƬ૯૮Ƭ ђiʍ, y'ઝทѳખ?

"Hey, not fair!" came the younger twin's immediate protest, but he was quickly shushed by his father.

"Now Yukio, if Rin want's this to be a secret, then there's no going around it. Now then, Rin," he bent down so that they could talk quietly to each other while Yukio frowned at the two, "What's this big brother secret?"

He held up a hand to cover his mouth from Yukio's ears and whispered, "Yukio's been talking to some other kids and having fun. As the big brother, I think that's good! I can protect him from bullies while he has fun!"

αทđ iԲ Ƭђ૯૨૯'ઽ ѳท૯ Ƭђiทg i'√૯ ℓ૯α૨ท૯đ αвѳષƬ в૯iทg α đ૯ʍѳท,

Shiro blinked and stared at the small child before him. 'How curious.'

Rin frowned when his dad didn't say anything. "What, you don't believe me? I promise I will!"

The man simply laughed and placed his hand on the boy's head. "Well then, You'd best keep your words now that you've promised me that. And you know that real men keep their promises, don't you?"

Rin nodded seriously. "Yeah! It's a promise between men!"

iƬ'ઽ ƬђαƬ ρ૨ѳʍiઽ૯ઽ α૨૯ αℓખαyઽ ઝ૯ρƬ.

ーᴇxᴄᴇʀᴘᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ ᴏꜰ Oᴋᴜᴍᴜʀᴀ Rɪɴ, Jᴀɴ. 4ᴛʜ, 2011

So! I've been stuck on the idea of this story since I'd written its 'prequel.' It's just a vague idea and doesn't have a whole lot of shape, but it wouldn't leave me alone! This little prologue practically wrote itself, too!

I'm not all that confident that I'll be able to stick with the fic 'till its end or update it in a timely manner (school's started, so it's gonna eat up a lot of my time), but I'd really like to give it a shot anyway.

To be honest, I think that the reason why I'm writing anything at all is that I took an English class over the summer, and that's probably got me wanting to write all the time. I might as well take advantage of this urge and milk it for all it has!

Hopefully, I won't abandon this story part way through. It sucks as a reader when an author doesn't update anymore, and I'm sure it would suck just as much from the author side of things.

Thank you for reading!

(Oh, and if the bit from Rin's journal is hard to read, shoot me a PM and I'll send you a plain text version.)