Right, so this is my second ff and I'm really still rather uncertain about it. It is going to be a bigger project (as I'm sure you'll be able to see after reading the prologue).

I'll try my best to make it a good read and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Ao no Exorcist and all its characters belong to Kazue Kato.

The black haired boy was staring at his father's grave hands in his pockets while the rain was drenching his hair and the borrowed suit he was wearing. Across his back was Kurikara, the cursed sword his He still couldn't believe that he was gone. Gone because that monster, his blood father, wanted to get his claws on him, Rin. Making it ultimately his fault. He could still see his dad's face with that typical grin of his, still hear his voice how he greeted him when coming home. He had known, all along. And he had still treated Rin as his own son. It hadn't been bad intentions that made his dad lie to him about his real identity, he just wanted to protect him. Rin understood that now, now that it was too late. Shiro had always protected him, up to his last moment when he killed himself to get Satan to leave his body to save Rin.

Rin, with his face still emotionless like that of a ragdoll slightly clenched his hands in his pockets, feeling his right hand close around something solid. When he pulled it out he saw it was the mobile phone his dad had given him. "Once you leave the monastery, I want you to use this. It has the number of a friend of mine saved on it." That was what the old man had told him.

Rin looked into the contacts to find indeed only a single number there. Pressing "call" he brought the phone to his ear. To his surprise did he hear a cheerful ringtone pretty close to him right afterwards. Just as he turned around he heard a voice coming both out of the phone and from the side.

"A pleasure to meet you, Okumura Rin-kun."

In front of him stood possibly the weirdest looking man he had ever seen in his entire life. He had dark bluish purple hair and a goatee, pointed ears and fangs, but his clothes were by far more unusual. The majority of his outfit was white and consisted of pumpkin trousers, a jacket with three big pink and red striped buttons and a red dress shirt underneath, a long cape with purple lining and a pretty huge top hat with a pink and lilac braided hat band. The outfit was rounded off by lilac gloves, a light pink ascot tie with big white polka dots, red-pink striped tights and brownish red pointy boots. Not to mention the hilarious pink umbrella with candy apllications and an ice cream cone shaped handle he was holding in his right hand. Rin could just stare as that strange apparition of a man bowed slightly to him in the manner of a circus director welcoming his audience and most certainly not in the traditional japanese way.

"My name is Mephisto Pheles. I am a friend of Father Fujimoto's. You have my sympathies for what you have been through."

Looking at the man's, Mephisto's, fangy smile Rin somehow doubted that. Only then did he notice that there were quite a few other people surounding him, all of them wearing black coats and cloths covering the bottom part of their faces. What caught his attention though were the silver, blue and red vaguely cross-shaped badges they had pinned to their revers. They were identicak to his dad's pendant. Looking back at Mephisto he saw that he also had one, only that his was gold instead of silver.

"Are… are you people… exorcists?", Rin asked cautiously.

"We are known as the True Cross Order."

The grin that Mephisto showed when he said that was just plain creepy in Rin's opinion. Seriously, if he had met the guy without all the other exorcists around he wouldn't have believed him one word. He looked more like a demon than anything else, especially with those ears and fangs. They look just like mine! But that was ridiculous, of course, There was no way there would be a demon in…

"…the old man said that you'd offer me protection." Rin spoke again, if only to distract himself from his thoughts.

"I am afraid that as an Honorary Knight… I have certain responsibilities. I cannot confuse personal with public interest."

That reply made Rin focus completely on what Mephisto said next, a bad feeling starting to creep up in him.

"You are the son of Satan. You must be killed before you present a threat to humanity."

Rin clenched his fists, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. As if what he had been through the last 24 hours hadn't been already bad enough, now this guy, who his dad told him to contact, who was supposed to help him wanted him to be killed?! Mephisto held two fingers up.

"You have two options remaining to you." He stated. " Allow yourself to be killed by us… or kill us and flee… ah… there is also the option of suicide."

Rin watched with clenched teeth as Mephisto held up a third finger to emphazise his point. This was just so not happening! He didn't have a clue what he was supposed to say to that, so he remained silent.

"…now, then… which would you prefer?" Mephisto asked, for the first time with a somber, calculating expression.

Rin forced himself to take a deep calming breath. All kinds of thoughts ranging from worried to completely freaked out were swirling through his head, one thing prominent above all else: "What the hell?!" He knew he had to think fast, but that wasn't quite one of his strengths under normal circumstances, so now it was even harder.

One thing he knew with absolute certainty was that he was so not going to kill himself! He may feel guilty for the old man's death, but his dad had also died to protect him, to save him from a horrible life in Gehenna or even death! He wasn't going to just throw that away, even though he didn't really want to live as a demon. That resolution also meant that he couldn't just let himslf be killed either. He looked up at Mephisto and the other exorcists. "But to kill them?"

He didn't like that idea one bit. Sure, he was used to fighting, but definitely not killing, and his opponents were usually just real idiots. These guys here were probably pretty strong and there were high chances that he didn't stand a chance against them, not to speak of the fact that they were actually the good ones. Their job as exorcists probably meant that they protected a lot of innocent people from dangerous demons every day. "Demons like me."

He sighed reaching behind him for his sword. All the exorcists immediately tensed up and many pointed guns at him, but to his surprise and relief did Mephisto stop them from doing anything by raising his left hand. The man just watched him with a curious expression on his face, apparantly interested to hear Rin's decision.

"I don't want to kill you guys… I don't want to kill or hurt anyone at all, if I can help it. That would make me a real demon, a monster, and the old man didn't save me for that. So I won't fight you."

He pulled the Kurikara out of the red cover, gripping the hilt with his right, the sheath with his left hand holding it out as if to offer it to Mephisto. Rin could tell how wary the exorcist were of him, looking from him to Mephisto and back anxiously. When he met the man's eyes though he was surprised to see what he believed to be disappointment there, before Mephisto stepped forward, reaching out to take the sword from him.

"Very well, Okumura-kun, if that is your-"

"But the old man wouldn't have wanted me to throw the life he saved away just like that either!"

Rin, in one swift motion, unsheathed Kurikara and slashed it through the air, causing the blue flames the blade was covered in just like his body was now to errupt from it in what looked like a wave or sickle of fire. Not towards the exorcists though. He had directed his stroke to the ground right in front of him, causing the flames to build a wall of fire seperating him from Mephisto and most of the exorcists. He turned around and easily rushed through in-between the two men standing behind him, too shocked were they from what just happened. He ran.