Hello everyone! :D
I'm sCyanide and this is my very first published fic. Yaaayyy~
I'd like to say I'm new on this site, but that would be a huge lie: I have been reading and writing fanfiction for years, but only recently I decided to let other people enjoy (or suffer) my stories, too.
This was supposed to be a short oneshot, I could use for practising English writing (haven't actually written a story completely in English for... two years? :'D). But for some reason my stories always end up being longer than intended... So there will probably be eight or so chapters, that hopefully will be better than the first one (I'm not very happy how this turned out).
There will be some grammatical errors... As you can probably see, English isn't my first language. ;)
Warnings: BL/slash/yaoi (so homophobes stay away), some swearing, violence, OOCness
Disclaimer: Nooope, ANEX is not mine. Or do you really think I would be writing fanfiction if I was Kazue Kato? ;)
Face Your Demons
Chapter one - Clean Your Mess
"You realize this is entirely your fault?"
Frustrated, Rin dumped the old, tattered mop into a bucket full of dirty water splashing it everywhere. Grayish little droplets landed among the dark stains on the floor, and soon after came the mop spreading more dirty liquid on the wood. Small pieces of trash floated on the wet surface and repeated every move Rin's strong arms made.
"I would've rather spent the free period doing anything else, like, hanging out with our friends or something", Rin grumbled tipping the cleaning tool once again in the bucket. "But noooo... You just had to let those demons trash the classroom. And because of that, I'm forced to take this so-called cleaning course with a cock-wannabe."
The only answer he got was a low chuckle.
He slammed the mop against the wet floor and turned his gaze towards the other guy, Bon, who was picking up rubble on the other side of the room and smiling slightly, even a little triumphantly. He gritted his teeth wondering what was so funny in the situation. Unless the faux hawked teen had planned the whole thing.
Which wouldn't have surprised him at all.
He sighed and shook his head. Even though he was supposed to be angry at Bon, he never could stay mad at the guy for very long.
And with that he couldn't help but let his eyes wander around his friend's muscular body and handsome face feeling too familiar longing approaching. He wanted to feel those lips on his own and be held by those strong hands – he wanted his classmate so badly that it really hurt.
A demon. The son of Satan.
But it was more painful to know that they would never work out.
What will he do once the truth is revealed?
Sighing sadly he shook his head and forced himself to avert his eyes from the fellow Exwire.
"Bon, about today... it wasn't like you", he said quietly using the mop to draw small circles on the floor. "Is something wrong?"
There was no answer.
"Bon?"
"You'll never get this done like that", an amused voice belonging to certain Aria-in-training whispered to his right ear making his heart jump to his throat. When had Bon learned to sneak around like that? "Seriously, has no one ever taught you how to mop?"
Rin wasn't able to utter a word because his senses were pretty much filled with Bon. He could hear and feel the warm breaths tickling his neck, his nose was filled with Bon's masculine scent and he was able to feel the young Aria's well-toned body against his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaking breath hoping that the taller teen would stop whatever he was doing. But at the same time he prayed it could just continue for eternity.
Bon chuckled against Rin's warm neck and took younger boy's hands in his own, making them grasp the wooden stick more properly.
"You know, using that much water will probably ruin the floor", Bon said resting his head on Rin's shoulder and stepping even closer the smaller teen. He could feel the heat radiating from hybrid's face. "And your technique is all wrong... Let me show you."
He adjusted their grasps on the mop and started to guide Rin's arms gently with his own. At the same time his hips were pressed against the young half-demon making sure Rin's body followed his every movement. It was like a dance, a slow waltz, only without music. For a moment they were able to forget all the problems making their life harder. For a moment Rin was able to forget his true heritage and truly enjoy Bon's closeness. And for a moment Bon was able to forget his longing for the bluenette.
Something twitched under Rin's shirt, but Bon decided against mentioning it. The thing was nothing new to him, even though he didn't exactly know what it was. The long, soft thing was alive, that was sure. But he wasn't able to say whether it was part of Rin or was the young Exwire just harboring some demon with him. There were so many mysteries around the younger teen, so many questions. But as Rin was keeping mostly by himself, most of them were left unanswered.
And he didn't even dare ask anymore. The younger male wouldn't tell him anyway.
Bon sighed and planted a soft kiss on the side of Rin's neck making the smaller teen gasp and mutter his name.
"I've been worried about you", he confessed after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "And I'm not the only one... You haven't been yourself lately."
"What do you mean...?"
"Don't play stupid with me, Rin", Bon almost snapped, tired of Rin brushing him off, and pulled the Knight-in-training even closer to his chest. "All those fake smiles and laughs... This over-enthusiasm of yours... Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I care about you, Rin, I really do. That's why it hurts so much to see you suffering. All alone."
He felt Rin gulp as silently as possible.
"I'm not alone..." the blue haired teen stuttered, hesitantly. "I have Yukio, Kuro, Shura, Shiemi... You... The rest of the class..."
"But you've been pushing everyone away lately", he said quietly rubbing Rin's knuckles with his thumbs. "We're your friends, damn it... Whatever bothers you...You really should learn to confide in us more..."
Shaking his head Rin let out another shaky breath and stopped moving altogether. Slowly he pried his hands free from Bon's and lowered his head, trembling slightly.
"I wish it was that easy", he whispered wrapping his hands around his own torso and hugging himself. "But I-I... you... Ryuji..."
You would hate me...
Worried, Bon dumped the mop, grabbed the younger teen and turned him around facing him. His hazel orbs looked into Rin's sad, blue ones, searching for an answer or even a smallest hint telling him what was wrong with his friend.
"Rin, please... Tell me what's bugging you."
All Rin did was to avert his eyes from Bon's and look away.
The skunk-haired teen frowned slightly, not liking Rin's attitude a bit.
"It's about us, isn't it?" he asked, not sure if he should voice his thoughts. Every time he brought their possible relationship up, Rin either changed topic or remained silent. He just couldn't understand why Rin was so reluctant to give it a try, it was so obvious that their feelings were mutual! "Damn it, Rin... Look at me."
So slowly Rin lifted his eyes to meet Bon's, and for a moment Bon was able to see a great deal of pain in those deep blue orbs. But in a blink of an eye it was gone, as Rin managed to hide his feelings from him.
"You wouldn't understand..." the blue haired teen answered quietly and closed his eyes. "I-I'm... n-not... I..." I'm not a human. Realizing that he was unable to continue, he took a shaky breath and hoped Bon would lose his interest soon. Which, by the way, was very unlikely.
I'm a half demon; the bastard son of Satan...
Sensing Rin's distress, Bon stepped even closer and put his hands on Rin's cheeks. Gently he rested his forehead on Rin's, so that their noses were almost touching. A few centimeters closer, and he would be able to claim the lips he desired so often after. Only a small movement... But he knew he shouldn't do it, not if Rin didn't want it.
"Listen to me, Okumura, and listen very good. I'm not very good at saying things like this, so you'd better get it on the first time", he said huskily, fighting the temptation to lean even closer. "I don't fucking care what you think you have or haven't done, what or who you are. You could be a serial killer for all I care. I love you, Rin Okumura, and that's all what matters to me. Don't ever try to doubt it."
Rin's eyes widened, and a bunch of emotions crossed young Exwire's face so quickly that Bon was unable to catch all of them. But the tears glistering in Rin's eyes were something that was hard to ignore.
"B-Bon... I-I..."
But before Rin was able to decide what to say, a way too familiar voice was heard from the corridor.
"Yoo-hoo, we're back, Bon and Rin!"
It would be an understatement to say that they parted as fast as an attacking reaper, because in a blink of an eye they were on their respective sides of the room seemingly doing what they were supposed to. As the rest of the class stepped into the room, Bon was on the floor picking up some rubble he had missed earlier and Rin was dipping his mop in the bucket while trying desperately dry his eyes. Taking a deep breath Rin hoped that his eyes weren't visibly red, even though he technically never did cry.
"No freaking way..." they heard Renzou exclaim, and Rin felt himself stiffen. Had the pink haired teen noticed what had happened in the classroom just moments before? "Gosh, you guys are so sloooooow!"
"What do you mean? We're almost done here!" Bon said wiping his hands on his pants and standing from the floor to meet the rest of the gang.
At the same time Rin decided get rid of the annoying mop and dumped it into bucket for the last time. He looked quickly around to find a perfect spot for it, he couldn't just leave it in the middle of the room, could he? Gliding it along the wet and a bit slippery floor he parked it in the far corner of the classroom. And after that he decided forget the whole cleaning equipment. But little did he know that three months later a teacher of his would almost get a heart attack when finding the bucket full of filthy and living water.
"By 'almost done' you mean a pile of rubble and a soaked floor?" Izumo said looking around the room incredulously. "One would think you could get more things done in an hour... But then again... you're just boys."
"They've probably been fighting for the whole time", Renzou chuckled ignoring Bon's death glare. "...Or then they've been making out on teacher's desk. Who knows."
And after that the pink haired male fell in a hysterical laughing fit as the blood rushed to both Rin's and Bon's faces. Konekomaru coughed awkwardly at the mental image, and Shiemi hid her face in her hands blushing scarlet.
"W-what the hell, Shima?" Bon stuttered only making Renzou laugh more. "Nothing like that happened! For the whole time I have been trying to teach this idiot how to handle a mop!"
Though the idea of Rin squirming and moaning under him on the wooden desk was pretty tempting.
"Sureeeee", Renzou chuckled stretching the word as if he didn't believe a word Bon said. "And since when have you known how to mop? You may be good at memorizing verses and organizing your things, but when it comes to cleaning – and especially mopping – you're hopeless! Busted!"
"It's not like that - "
But before Bon had a change to argue with Renzou, someone cleared their throat. Very loudly. All of sudden everybody's eyes were turned towards the door, where their teacher Yukio Okumura was standing pushing his classes up with his fore finger. Slowly he took a look around the classroom, sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
An hour later found Rin sitting on his usual seat in the front row, Shiemi and Izumo on his right side, the Kyoto gang on his left side and the silent kid, Takara, a few rows behind him. In front of the class his little brother was talking about something. About what, he wasn't actually sure, since he had dozed off during the first five minutes of Yukio's speech. But who could he blame (Yeah, who indeed), he just had a lot in his mind.
After Yukio had seen the condition of his precious classroom, he had decided that he'd better to take the class to another room in the meantime. A room, which hadn't already been trashed by Rin's reckless behavior. Or in this case Bon's.
Rin had let out a relieved breath, believing that the discussion with Bon was finally over. He hadn't been ready for such an emotional talk and he definitely didn't want to repeat it. But as he had been stepping out of the classroom, he had felt certain someone grabbing his shoulder and leaning closer to his ear.
"Don't think this is over, Okumura", he had heard Bon whisper. "We're going to finish this talk later."
And with that the older teen had let go of him, stepped though the door and headed to their new classroom leaving Rin standing alone in the trashed classroom.
And Rin had wondered, and sitting in the class he still wondered... What had he almost done?
Suddenly he felt a shudder moving along his body. He had almost let the demon out of the bag... He could have kicked himself for his own stupidity. Was he really so keen to return to his old life? To the life he had spent mostly in isolation, his only friends being Yukio, Shiro and the men from the monastery? What had he been thinking when almost telling Bon his deepest secret, a secret, which could have potentially – no, definitely – ruined their friendship?
A friendship build on lies...
The truth to be told, he really felt horrible for having to lie to everybody (especially to Bon) around him. Every time somebody asked about the mysterious aura surrounding him, he just had to plaster a fake smile on his face and laugh at the question while silently cursing his true heritage. When someone asked to see his sword he had come up with a some kind of excuse. Every freaking time. He couldn't risk them unsheathing Kurikara and unleashing his powers.
With his reluctance to talk about his past or reasons to become exorcist, they realized that he was keeping something from them. Something big. But since the mysteries were pretty usual for Exwires they didn't question him about it.
But constant lying and secrets were finally taking toll on him, which didn't go unnoticed by his friends. As Bon had said, they had noticed that something was wrong with him. But they seemed to know that he wouldn't tell them even if they asked.
It will happen sooner or later...
Gulping silently he closed his eyes for a moment and leaned back on his chair. He knew that real friends didn't keep thing like that from each other, but he did anyway. Maybe he wasn't a real friend, then. He also knew that real friends would always stand beside each other, whatever happened. But somehow he had a feeling that wouldn't happen in his case. They seemed to hate Satan just so much, and it definitely wouldn't be hard at all to switch the hate towards the son of Satan, him.
They will know...
His breath hitched at an image of Bon scowling at him in disgust. Words were pouring from the lips of the young Exwire, but Rin didn't want to imagine the things the blond-streaked teen would say. Though, he knew there would be no pretty and nice words. Only insults. Curses.
"Rin Okumura!"
He almost fell over on his chair when his brother's voice jolted him awake from his thoughts. With almost inhuman speed he grabbed his desk to prevent himself from landing very painfully to the floor. For a moment he clung to his desk as his life depended on it, but after a few seconds he managed to gain his balance back and return to his original position behind the wooden desk. Forcing a sheepish grin on his face he lifted his eyes to look at Yukio, who, by the way, looked pretty pissed and disappointed for a change.
Ouch, I did it again...
"Did you listen a word I said?" his brother finally asked frowning and rubbing his forehead. Rin could almost hear him muttering: "Seriously, what am I going to do with you..."
"Sorry", was all he could say. And this time he didn't lie. He really wanted to make his brother proud, but he just wasn't one to study. Dropping out of school had had pretty bad effects on his motivation.
Yukio only sighed. "Just pay attention from now on..."
...or you'll be dead in three months.
Damn, he really didn't need to be reminded of that. Damn the Vatican, damn Amaimon and damn Mephisto for not getting him a better deal. How on earth was he supposed to complete the exorcist exam only in six months? It was just plain insanity!
Seeing that Rin got the message, Yukio continued his announcement.
"As I was saying, there has been an unusual amount of ghost and low-level demon sightings in a nearby mountain village", the younger Okumura twin told the class. "Your mission is to get rid of them without any help from the other exorcists. Shura and I will accompany you during your trip, but exorcising the demons is completely up to you. And since you already are familiar with ghosts and low-level demons, I'll expect an absolute success from you. Any questions?"
Rin almost groaned. Yukio knew very well that he was useless if he wasn't able to use his sword, and there was no way he would be wielding it around his classmates. So what was his brother thinking?
"When are we going?" he suddenly heard Bon's deep voice asking.
Oh god, Bon... And the upcoming Talk... He knew, that at this rate he wouldn't be able to keep his secret from the young Aria much longer. The only option was to keep avoiding the older teen as long as he was unable to behave near him.. But how was he supposed to do that in a remote mountain village?
"We will meet at the bus station at six o'clock", Yukio answered. "So you'd better get packing, since we'll be staying there a couple of days. Class dismissed."
Rin was the first one to rush through the door.
Thanks for reading!
And if you would be so kind and tell me what you think about this. Constructive criticism is always welcome ~
Chapter two will come out after I'll finish the fourth chapter ;)
