~*~ Rin makes a stupid choice~*~


A knock at the door was greeted with silence. Unfamiliar with the word privacy Rin slowly slid the door open, his blue eyes peeking into the empty room. It was a typical dorm, large enough for everyone to have their space, but small enough to want more. There were four beds, one in each corner of the room, and in between them were desks, three in all, complimented with book shelves for easy access.

Behind Rin swished his demonic tail, much like a cat's, its signature question mark shape forming at the end. The black appendage drooped a little when he suspected no one was there, but just in case he whispered into the dorm.

"Bon?"

More silence. Perhaps Bon had fallen asleep? It wasn't unusual for him to get migraines, as he woke up at 5:30 (something that made Rin believe he was insane), and sleep them off between classes.

Upon peeking his head further into the room he noticed Bon's bed was empty, covers neatly folded back on themselves without a wrinkle in sight. "Huh…." Rin bit his lip, struggling to remember if Shima had mentioned they would be out.

When he came up clueless he wondered if he could recall Bon's hang out spots, only to realize he didn't know any of them. Well, the library being the exception, but like hell if he was going there on a holiday.

"Damn rooster." Rin huffed quietly to himself, referring to his friend's nickname, his tail swishing in the air with aggravation. Now what was he supposed to do?

Finally; after two days, his slave driver brother had released him from hell. It had been the worst two days he could remember. Day after day of cramming, books, reciting, and worst of all: note taking. His grueling efforts had paid off, and Yukio had finally allowed him out of their room. It didn't take long for Rin to burst through their old dorm doors, dramatically yelling "Freedom!" at the top of his lungs.

Now, much to his chagrin, he was out of ideas. His eyes scanned the empty room, then stopped to settle on one of the three desks. It was the only one that was perfectly clean: books were organized, pens and pencils placed meticulously in their holder, prayer beads hung from the wall, and a lamp that was currently turned off. Smirking Rin realized the obvious: it was Bon's desk.

With no shame he strolled into the room and pulled out the chair.. He was careful to flick his tail to the side to avoid being sat on as he flopped down into the seat. Leaning back on two legs the chair groaned as they supported his light-weight frame. Figuring he would wait for Bon, and hopefully Shima and Konekumuru to come back, he put his legs up on the desk and crossed them stretching out in leisure.

Glancing around the room his eyes came to settle on the books Bon had, his eyebrow popping up inquisitively when he noticed one with no title or author. With another check behind him to ensure no one was there he reached forward, quickly snatching the book from the shelf. His eyes scanned the unusual cover that swirled with patterns of gold and green.

It was an average size, and not very thick. The book was latched together with two clasps which Rin wasted no time undoing. Curiosity killed the cat, yet by some miracle Rin was still alive.

Flipping through the pages he recognized Bon's writing immediately, haven seen it many times when he copied notes from the studious Exwire. He flipped to the front page and his eyes hungrily read the words, assuming he'd found Bon's journal. Typically he wouldn't care for such findings, but with Bon he couldn't resist. Bon, who was always so bashful about personal feelings, and quiet about family life.

Now, this wasn't to be misunderstood, his friend was very head strong, and voiced his opinions with no remorse or hesitation. The problem Rin had were those 'serious' talks. You know, the ones about family, the past, or feelings about others. Any time the conversation got personal his fellow Exwire would blush furiously, mutter he didn't want to talk about it, and abruptly end the conversation. Having his journal was like a small peek into a forbidden room. Who could resist that?

"The four noble truths…"Rin quietly read to himself, his eyebrows creasing together in concentration as he muttered aloud.

"To know suffering, to know what causes suffering, to know suffering can end, and to know the path the leads to the end of suffering…."

What an odd thing to write. Why would Bon be writing about suffering? They hadn't taken a beating in a while, from either the P.E. professor or their field work.

Eyebrows creased, now with concern, Rin closed the journal and held it in his hand. Lately Bon had been more withdrawn, spending more hours in his dorm studying. Even Shima and Konekomaru had mentioned it to Rin in passing. Bon was going out for longer jogs, and staying at the gym later. Now that he really took a moment to think about it he wondered if Bon was, in fact, alright.

Opening the book again his eyes scanned over the words. "Path that ends suffering..." Was he depressed? Perhaps over worked? Bon was taking a ridiculous amount of classes, being the over achiever he was. Was he planning to hurt himself?

Eyes wide as a plate Rin dropped the book to the desk and flew out of the room, chair toppling over in his haste.

"Yukio!" He yelled, even though his brother was nowhere around.

The run across the campus took half the time it normally did. He flew by a smaller group of friends from his regular classes, ignoring them when they shouted for him to come over. Feeling he didn't have a moment to spare he took the loathed short cut down the side of the campus. It was a small, hidden, off-the-beaten-path trail. Over grown weeds littered the ground, and occasionally a rock would jut out at just the right angle, snagging unsuspecting students to send them spiraling to the ground. Finally he reached his dorm, panting, sweaty, and unable to catch his breath.

His younger brother jumped from his studies, taken by surprise when Rin burst through the door. Yukio stared at Rin from his chair, pen still in his hand hovering over the notes he'd been taking.

After all the cramming he had done with his brother Yukio had changed out of his uniform and into more comfortable clothes. His button down shirt had an extra pen sticking from the breast pocket, and his shorts clung to his average body frame. To some the mere idea of note taking was tedious and stressful, but for Yukio it was a nice way to spend the evening, and until now it had been gleefully undisturbed.

He snorted, a small smile twitching at his lips."Geeze, Rin, I thought I wouldn't see you again for days now that you're done studying."

Yukio slid his glasses from the brim of his nose up to his head,perching them there so he could rub his eyes. Although he didn't mind the studying even his glasses couldn't help the blurry vision caused by the academic abuse.

"Bon-"Rin huffed, ignoring Yukio's poor attempt at an insult, "Went to dorm-"Another breath, "Wasn't there…found book…..suicidal…."he choked out, causing Yuko's humored face to quickly turn sour.

"What?" Yuko asked, although he'd heard Rin just fine. "Suguro isn't suicidal Rin, you're being ridiculous."

Yukio tapped his pen impatiently against his finger. Sometimes he wondered if Rin wasn't a child, his mind stuck at the mentality of a six year old for all eternity; damning him to a life of baby sitting and forced study sessions. The thought made his eyebrow twitch in aggravation.

Finally able to catch his breath Rin stood up straight, taking his weight off the door frame. "Yukio I found this book, I think his journal that he had written in, talking about the ending of suffering! He has been acting all weird too! Even Niko has been concerned. We have to do something!"

"Niko is always worried. If you want to do something, go ask Bon himself. I'm sure he'll love your conclusion." Yukio responded sarcastically, his voice lacking all urgency.

"Yukio, what the hell!" Rin shouted, his temper quickly raising. Why the hell wasn't his brother, their teacher, doing anything!? Wasn't it a part of his job to ensure the safety of his students? Wasn't Bon his friend?

With an aspirated sigh Yukio pointed toward the window in front of him with his pen. "Look Rin, Suguro is right there."

Rin rushed over to look with him, shoving Yukio to the side in his haste. Yukio's text book spilled to the floor, his glasses knocking askew on his head as he was shoved out of the way. Rin's smashed his face to the window, looking down onto the courtyard where Yukio had indicated.

"What?!" Rin jaw slacked when he saw the group of three older teens strolling along, idly chatting.

He hadn't seen Bon as he'd run across campus, so how did he suddenly get next to their dorm? What was he doing next to their dorm anyway? Convinced of Rin's dangerous nature the Order of the True Cross had insisted both him and Yukio be moved to an abandoned dorm, one which many students took to be haunted. His only guess was the trio of friends had taken a short cut to get to a near by convenience store.

Pushing his glasses on his nose Yukio leaned down from his chair and picked up his text book, placing it back on his desk. "Just go ask him if you're so worried." Yukio suggested, wishing he could get back to his studies.

With a nod to himself Rin turned and ran out of the room, hooking his hand to the door frame to whirl himself out into the hallway. Yukio listened intently for the dorm's front door, sighing in relief when it slammed shut.

"Thank god." He muttered, opening his book and searching for the page he'd been at before. Still, he made sure to glance occasionally outside, wanting to keep an eye on his brother. Trouble followed Rin like a puppy followed its owner, obnoxious and persistent.

He watched as Bon, his bi-colored hair made him obvious to Yukio even from five stories high, and his friends stopped walking, speedily approached by Rin.

Down in the court yard the smallest of the group stopped first, putting his hand over his eyes to shield the blaring sun from his vision."Is that Rin?" he asked, squinting through his glasses to try and make out the figure that was rapidly advancing.

"Tsk." Bon clicked this tongue against the roof of his mouth, "I thought he was studying the rest of the day." he grumbled, still frustrated with Rin from a previous argument they'd had a few days earlier. He didn't remember what exactly they had fought about, but he knew he was still pretty pissed about it.

The pink haired boy to Bon's left shrugged in the most nonchalance way. "Must have finished early." he proposed, watching as Rin ran up to them. "Hey'ya Rin, how's it goin'?"

"Bon!" Rin huffed, now out of breath again, "I need to talk to you." His black hair had fallen to his face, his bangs sticking to his forehead. Attempting to catch his breath he'd bent over, hands resting on his thighs.

Bon's honey brown eyes looked away from Rin and toward his friends, hesitant expression just barely hidden. "Okay, what?" he asked, wondering why the hell Rin was up to.

"Not here." Rin said standing up straight once his breathing became even and brushing his hair out of his face.

Bon's eyes squinted suspiciously and he crossed his arms. "Like hell Okumura, if you got something to say, say it. My friends can hear too." He snapped defensively, aggravated at Rin's sense of secrecy.

"Guys, don't start fighting again." Konekomaru pleaded gently, placing his hands up, which were covered by the extra-large hoodie Bon had lent him. He couldn't stand when the two fought, it was always so stupid. To make matters worse once they started neither would stop until a teacher pulled them apart, or someone bloodied a nose.

Rin ignored the bald teen and his eyes focused on Bon, a stern expression showing how serious he was. Bon's eyes met Rin's and he snorted in disinterest. "Say what you gotta say or piss off. I'm supposed to be going to the gym."

"I-um….." it wasn't until that moment Rin had considered Bon would be pissed he'd gone into his room, much less looked at his things. His words twisted up inside of himself until they blurted out "Are you suicidal?!"

Bon's jaw slacked, his eyes going wide in disbelief. Shima and Konekomaru just stared at Rin like he'd burst into flames, a baffled expression on both their faces. "What the fuck, Okumura?! No!" Bon shouted, then shook his head. "Just, no! What the hell? Why would you think that?"

Cold sweat began to form on Rin's forehead and he brought his pointer fingers together to tap them against each other anxiously. Something told him that he had just made a very stupid assumption. Knowing this was going to be a hard hole to dig himself out of he made a horrible attempt at an explanation.

"Well, I went to find you guys and hang out, then you weren't in your dorm, then I got kinda tired and sat down at your desk, and noticed this weird book, and I read it; then I saw what you wrote about suffering, and I couldn't find you; so I ran back to find Yukio, but he didn't care...Then he found you...then I came outside….and…yeah…" Rin finished quietly, explaining in one breath then ending lamely, his cheeks as pink as a stick of strawberry pocky.

Blinking to rid himself of Rin's stupidity, Bon tried to understand what he just said. "You mean that green and silver one?" he asked, referring to his journal.

Shima's hands flew to his mouth and his body immediately shook with silent laughter. While Rin's ignorance pissed Bon off Shima couldn't get enough of it, finding it both hilarious and entertaining.

Konekomaru scratched the back of his head his own cheeks a light hue of pink, embarrassed not for himself but for his friend. "Rin, did it say anything about a path to end suffering?" he asked meekly.

Rin nodded, hoping Konekomaru would see how easily he could be mistaken and ease his embarrassment. Before he could Bon seemed to realize a very important bit of information.

"Wait!" Bon shouted, giving Shima a shove to rid himself of the giggling teen. "You went through my stuff?!" he asked, then when Rin nodded, Bon lunged; swearing he was going to beat the shit out of Rin.

Luckily Shima acted quickly grabbing into Bon's arm stopping him just a few inches short of Rin. "You ass! That could have been private! I bet you didn't even put my things back!" he snarled, hand reaching out in a feeble attempt to grasp Rin.

Rin blinked in confusion. He could understand Bon's frustration over Rin going through his things, but not over the petty part of forgetting to put it back. This guy could be so stupid sometimes, he swore.

"Bon, cool it! I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Shima pleaded with Bon, who was struggling to get out of his grasp, muttering furiously about a "Lazy demonic, asshole". Shima sighed, sure this feud would continue on for quiet some time.

"Rin." Konekomaru's quiet tone caught Rin's attention. "That is Bon's study book for Buddhism. You read the bit about something called the 'Four Noble Truths'. It has nothing to do with Bon wanting to kill himself." He explained gently, as if teaching a child.

Shima's lips pursed together and his body shook again with laughter again. "Sorry man," he choked out, doing his best to hold Bon, "but you thinking Buddhism has to do with Bon hurting himself is so ass-backwards it's funny." He said, unable to control himself any longer. His arms wrapped around his ribs as he doubled over in laughter.

That small moment of weakness was all Bon needed, and within a moment he had tackled Rin to the ground. The motion sent the two spiraling across the pavement, Bon's fist connecting with Rin's face.

"You asshole!" Bon yelled, trying to keep Rin from getting the advantage over him.

"Bon!" Konekomaru pulled at Bon's arm before he could hit Rin again, and Rin seized his chance and slid out from under Bon.

"I'm sorry! I just got bored!" Rin tried to explain as Bon ripped his arm from Konekomaru's grasp. Really he had been more curious than anything, but he didn't think that would help his case any.

"Rin!" a new voice added itself to the mix, freezing the small group of teens.

Shima, Konekomaru and Bon all glanced over. "Okumura-sensie." The three boys said in unison with a slight bow to their teacher, Bon's temper cooling immediately. Had it been only two years ago the appearance of a teacher wouldn't have mattered. In that way at least, Bon had matured.

"Rin, what did you do?" Yukio asked, pretty sure he already knew the answer. Luckily he had seen the fight from his door window, and had been able to step in before things got worse.

"Me?" Rin rubbed his sore cheek wondering how he was getting the blame for being attacked. "I didn't do anything!"

Bon's anger flared to life suddenly as he glared at Rin with clenched fists. "You damn liar! Tell the truth! You went into our room when we weren't there and looked through my stuff!"

"It's not like I found anything interesting!" Rin retorted lamely.

"Yeah, so interesting you ran a damn marathon, thinking I was going to off myself!" Bon shouted.

"Enough!" Yukio cut in before they started to brawl again. "Rin, apologize." He ordered, praying to every god known in Assiah that Rin would listen and not fight him for once. Sometimes, just sometimes, Rin would have a moment of clarity and follow his younger brother's instructions.

"No way!" Rin shot, crossing his arms. "I was only trying to help a friend."

Yukio sighed heavily. Apparently this wasn't one of those times.

"Why you-" Bon took another lunge at Rin, slipping past Konekomaru and Shima, and tackled Rin again, sending them both crashing to the cold pavement.

Yukio pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as the two rolled on the ground like idiots. With a heavy sigh he waited for Bon to get another punch in (as far as Yukio was concerned he deserved it), before dragging Rin up off the ground. Shima had managed to get a hold of himself enough to hold Bon back, who struggled to get out of the arm-lock he was currently held in.

"You fucking rooster, you'd better be glad my brother is here!" Rin yelled, trying to squirm out of Yukio's grasp as he was hauled away toward their dorm.

"Rin, shut up!" Yukio snapped, ignoring Bon who was yelling his own insults in return.

Once they were a reasonable distance away Yukio let go of Rin, and the two walked in silence back to their building. As Yukio locked the front door behind them he turned to look at Rin with a very stern, perhaps angry expression. "Rin, detention. If I could I'd ground you; or let Bon continue to beat you up, but I swore to protect you so unfortunately I can't do that."

Rin's eyebrows came together and his lips curved into a snarl. "What're you, my mom?!" he shouted punching the nearest wall as Yukio began to ascend up the stairs.

The concrete wall caved under the force of Rin's fist, creating a gaping hole. When he drew back bits concrete fell away, allowing a nice view into the kitchen where a confused Ukobach stood. Starring at Rin confusion the little kitchen demon held his spoon over a soup pot, as if frozen in time. His purple eyes locked with Rin's wondering if he needed to hide or go get their Headmaster.

"I don't want to hear it, Rin!" Yukio clenched his fists and mustered all the authority he could, not bothering to stop and look at Rin as he continued up the steps.

"You shouldn't have gone into Suguro's room, and you certainly shouldn't have looked through his things! Now, you write him, Shima, and Konekomaru a letter of apology and hand deliver it to them, other wise I'll be giving you more homework during the break! I swear I'll get Shura involved, too!" he threatened, knowing that would pluck a nerve.

"Ugh!" Rin groaned, pulling at his hair as he stormed up the stairs after his brother, muttering something about a four-eyed mole.


Reviews are always welcomed :)))