Prologue
A/N – Hello my dear readers! Not gonna say too much about this, except that for the most part this plot has been haunting me on and off ever since I've finished watching the anime. It's one of those messed up stories I always blame on my inner demons, because it's really not for the faint of heart. It will be dark and disturbing and non-canon in more ways than one, but it's gotta come out and yes, the rating WILL go up at some point, probably soon. You've been warned….
Disclaimer: The lyrics included in the text do not belong to me
Warning: mentions of underage smoking and substance abuse
Leaning back in his armchair, there was a satisfied smirk on Mephisto's lips as he proceeded to sip on his tea, eyes on the large flat screen embedded in the wall. Violent flashes of light were bursting from it every now and then, throwing flickers around the small room, and the demon carefully kept his eyes onto the moving images, trying to make himself inconspicuous by seemingly not paying attention to what was going on.
Let me enlighten you
This is the way I pray
Well, some prayer… Although – whatever, these were just silly lyrics - Mephisto wouldn't have exactly called it a 'prayer', mind you, the absolute, relieving beauty of giving in to one's true nature. On the screen, there was a close-up of Rin dropping down on his knees, eyelids fluttering close as blue flames engulfed his fragile frame and crawled across the ground, terrible and ravishingly gorgeous, enveloping everything with a will to devour.
Living just isn't hard enough
Burn me alive inside
And people broke into screams. Music to his ears, really. Mephisto loved the raw, unrestrained way in which humans reacted to these things, way past the lucrative purpose of it all.
"Should you be getting another one? Looks like this one will really hurt, and you don't heal as quickly as you used to, you know," he said, straining a bit to make his voice heard over the loud music blaring from the TV. Green eyes shifted questioningly towards the pale boy stretched onto the sinister-looking metal table, staring numbly at his own reflection in the large mirror which made up the ceiling.
"Young master? Are you sure?" asked the horned creature hovering above the boy, long clawed fingers drumming lightly on the edge of the table.
"I'm sure."
Rin looked numb and apathetic beyond measure, but his tail was swishing nervously as the horned demon lifted his t-shirt and Mephisto turned his head away, genuinely reluctant and unwilling to see those gruesome instruments on display on the silver tray nearby actually put to use.
"I don't know why I'm allowing this," he grumbled. "Why I'm allowing you to torment yourself this way and mentally scar me in the same time! AND you're making me pay for it, too…"
"Well excuse you, I thought that with what's going on, money isn't an issue anymore," the half-demon boy replied, and winced when a cold, antiseptic-soaked pad was run over his navel area.
"It's not, but-…." Mephisto petulantly kept his eyes on the screen, ignoring his little brother's gasp when the needle went in. "All shit and fun and money aside, I know you're not well. You're not getting any better, just numbing it." He sighed. "Shura said she'd find a way to dig you up, but I know that if she were you she'd just walk right up and torch the Grigori down to a handful of ashes… Really, she's not fooling anyone with the cool, poised act. Shiro knew she'd love you and she does."
Eyes half closed, Rin took a long, strained drag from his cigarette and exhaled a soft cloud of scented smoke, then let his hand drop and hang limply over the side of the table. "I know that, but- AAAAAAHH! FUCK!" The cigarette butt slipped from between his trembling fingers, landing onto the horned demon's pant leg.
"BEELZEBUB'S COCK!" the creature roared. "NO SMOKING IN HERE, DAMN IT!" He took a deep breath, steam blowing through the wide nostrils as he forced himself to cool off. "Forgive me, young master, but there's a sign outside…"
"Ooops! I didn't see it."
The half-demon boy looked up at his own reflection – eyes large on the sheet-white face, shining with tears threatening to spill, lips pressed tightly with a pained expression, chest heaving under the black fabric and the glittering drops of white metal in the midst of the bloody mess that was on his stomach. He let out a soft, snort-like sob.
"Do you think he'd like this? You think he'd enjoy seeing me in this state?"
Mephisto grit his teeth, gloved hands fisting at his sides. "That's it," he concluded, standing up. "When you're done with this shit, go home, eat something and get some rest. Fun and all, but it's still a job and I'm expecting you to deliver."
The True Cross Academy had been restored to absolute perfection, the buildings standing tall and proud as if they'd never been blown to pieces and scorched by hellish fires. Everything, the exact, faithful copy of what it used to be, even their old, rather cramped and dark classroom at the Cram school.
Of course, everyone was happy to be back and to return to the familiar, tranquil routine of life, but Ryuji couldn't help thinking that it was disturbing, down to the last detail, this forced, artificial and overly successful initiative to bring back normalcy as it been before Satan's attack, he couldn't help thinking it was all some half-assed attempt to cover things up, to pretend that nothing had happened, that nothing was wrong.
But things were wrong, people had died that night or gotten injured, many things had been turned upside down in the course of events and even now, more than a year afterwards, strain and worry was still visible on the teachers' faces and there was unspoken tension in the air from all the extra security measures.
And on top of everything there was this whole thing with Okumura. He was gone.
'Gone' in that haunting, hollow sense of the word, Ryuji thought, eyes trained on the empty seat next to Moriyama, in the front desk. The half-demon, the son of Satan, the idiot who had stirred so many contradictory and dramatic feelings inside of everyone present was gone, just like that. Dropped out, they said. Which in itself was one absolutely baffling contradiction, because the Grigori had made it very clear that if Okumura didn't pass the exorcist exam he would be executed. So how could he drop out of Cram school?! Why would he drop out?! No one gave any explanation for it and Okumura-sensei looked positively reluctant when it came to the subject, dismissing it in a few cold words.
And here came another baffling piece of information – the Middle Strip. The older twin had dropped out of Cram school and had moved away from his brother, from everyone he knew really, down to this place supposedly in-between Assiah and Gehenna, like an antechamber of Hell of sorts. It was the first time they were hearing of it and further exploration of the subject was apparently discouraged by the teachers.
Contrary to some hypotheses mentioned by a teacher or two, Bon didn't think that their classmate had left because of a sudden and definitive urge to give in to his demonic nature and be with his 'next of kin', so to speak. Not after everything they'd been through together, he didn't think Rin would just give up his goal in a fit. No, a much darker suspicion plagued his mind these days, one he wouldn't dare whisper even to his own ears. But whatever it was, Ryuji wanted to know, he needed some kind of closure.
Because he really missed that idiot.
To be continued
