Author's Note: This is based off the manga, so the demon in this chapter is not Astaroth, just some random demon of rot.
Ammon stared out the open window beside the main entrance to the monastery, enjoying the early spring breeze and waiting patiently for Rin to finish getting ready for his interview. Father Fujimoto was just outside and he could hear the muffled sound of his voice as he tried to console a young girl and her family. He handed her something, a charm to chase away the nonexistent monsters keeping her up at night, and then sent the three on their way. Before she left through the gate, the child tugged on her mother's skirt and pointed at Ammon.
Children were unpredictable when it came to Ammon—some of them could see him, some of them could only sense him, and a few could even interact with him. Over the years he had learned that hiding his presence was a waste of effort when it came to children. Parents weren't very likely to believe them anyway, so long as he didn't frighten them.
He remained where he was, hands in his pockets, and met Father Fujimoto's eyes when he turned to look at whatever the girl was trying to point out. His brow knitted with suspicion and anger, but there was nothing there—just an open window and an empty hallway beyond it.
Exorcist or not, Shiro would never be able to see Ammon, no matter how badly he wanted to.
Because that was part of his contract.
"Are you coming with me?" Rin hesitated at the door and messed with his hair, trying to make it look somewhat presentable. He wore a black suit without a tie and looked rather attractive for a young man going to a simple interview.
"Do you want me to?"
Rin looked at him and shrugged sheepishly. "I don't need you; if that's what you're wondering." Of course he didn't—Rin wasn't the type to admit how terrified he was aloud. But Ammon could feel the nervous tension radiating off of him and he knew Rin didn't want to go there alone.
"I'm going anyway," he said with a playful grin, much to Rin's relief. "Having a familiar face to support you will make you feel more confident." He opened the door for Rin without touching it. "After you."
"Driving away imaginary demons again?" He approached Father Fujimoto and, following his gaze, glanced back at the open window. "All you ever do is listen to their problems." Ammon walked ahead of him to the gate and peered around the corner at the girl as she was leaving. Her eyes widened when she glanced back and saw him, and she tugged on her mother's arm, urging her to move faster.
"Who were you talking to in there?"
Rin cringed, surprised. "What? No one." He lowered his eyes and turned away. "Have all the ghost stories gone to your head, old man?"
He eyed Rin closely, suspicious of his avoidant behavior. And then his face broke into a wide, teasing smile. "What's with the suit?"
"O-oh, uh..." He looked down at himself with a faint blush. "I-I thought I'd go to that interview, so I borrowed it."
"Really?" Father Fujimoto raised his brow in a mocking manner. "Don't I remember you ripping up that address? What made you change your mind?"
"N-none of your business!" His cheeks turned a darker shade of red.
Father Fujimoto laughed lightly. "Right, I forgot—I wouldn't understand." Rin's anger slowly turned to shame, and he muttered a barely audible apology under his breath. But the old man, like any good parent, merely brushed it off and ruffled his hair affectionately. Rin had said an awful lot of nasty things to Father Fujimoto, and this certainly wouldn't be the last time he spat something hateful without thinking. "Where's your tie?"
"T-tie? Uhh... I decided to go casual…"
He scoffed. "Liar. You just don't know how to tie it." He gestured for Rin to fetch his tie. "Give it here. Put up your collar and undo your top button."
Ammon watched them from a distance as Father Fujimoto messed with Rin, his expression relaxed with adoration. Rin had no idea how lucky he was to have a father like Shiro, or a family that cared so deeply for him. He would have done literally anything for love like this when he was Rin's age; but that part of his life was over now, and he felt he could make up for a lost childhood by ensuring Rin's life was better than his own.
"There. All done."
Rin pulled away from him, annoyed. "Stop treating me like a child! I'm an adult now!"
"You? An adult? Hah!" Father Fujimoto tossed his head back and laughed loudly.
"Shut up!" Rin snapped, flushed with embarrassment.
"If my teasing frustrates you so much, then show me you've grown up." He reached out to ruffle Rin's hair again, but he was prepared and smacked his arm away.
"I will! I'm gonna get this job and then I'm gonna be a famous chef! So dig the wax out of your eyes, you old fart!"
He snorted, barely able to control his laughter. "Wax? In my eyes?"
Rin growled in frustration. "Just shut up!" He whirled on his heel and stormed away, fuming.
Ammon covered his mouth with a hand to hide his own laughter. "It's ears, Rin—people don't have wax in their eyes." Rin shot him a vicious glare as he passed.
And then, just before he turned the corner, a tiny, black speck lazily floated by his face. He didn't notice it at first, but, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a pointed tail trailing behind it. Rin slowed his pace and glanced back at the buzzing creature, curious. It had large, green eyes, and stared back at him blankly.
He quickly lost interest in whatever it was and continued walking.
. . .
"Aren't you hot in that?" Rin asked, nodding to the thick, black cardigan that Ammon wore over his matching black dress shirt. It was made from wool and well-constructed, and its sleeves were long enough to cover his hands whenever they weren't shoved in its pockets. It was stylish and comfortable, yet completely inappropriate for the warm, spring weather.
"What? This old thing? Hardly." He was beside Rin, and didn't even blink when someone walked right through him as if he was made of air.
But Rin wasn't really focused on his ghost-like companion anymore. Rather, his attention was consumed by the hundreds of black dots with green eyes that had suddenly appeared, buzzing around people and buildings. He had never seen them before until today, and the more he looked, the more he saw. The strange thing was...no one else seemed to notice them.
"H-hey, Ammon, what are all these black things?" He waved a hand in front of him, trying to shoo them off. "Are they bugs?"
"You mean the coal tar?" Ammon paused and gave him a curious, worried look. "You can see them?"
"Huh?" Rin stopped walking, fear and dread bubbling inside his chest. "Wh-what do you mean? Are they supposed to be invisible like you?"
Ammon hesitated, but answered him regardless. "They're low-level demons that possess tiny, dirty things like fungi or dust particles."
"De...demons?"
"You shouldn't be able to see them unless you've had an interaction with a demon before." His voice trailed off and his expression turned solemn. "I guess that fight yesterday tainted you. I'm sorry—it's my fault. I should have done something."
Rin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are… Are you telling me that demons are real?"
"Of course. You've just never seen them before. Billions of people go their whole lives without ever knowing."
"I... I don't..." Rin pinched the bridge of his nose, a tumult of emotions whirling around in his head, making his vision blur. First Ammon and now flying black things with big eyes? Rin was going to end up drugged in an asylum at this rate.
"I can't make them go away, but I can force them to give us some room, if you think that would help?"
"Y-yeah." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, hoping that when he opened them everything would be back to normal.
Without an indication that he had done anything, Ammon began to emit a resonating aura. The bugs nearest to them scattered, and others that flew in their direction moved to the side, giving them a wide berth. "Better?"
Rin eased his eyes open and looked around. They were still there, but at least they weren't hovering in his face. "A little." He turned back to Ammon to ask him something, but the question was immediately wiped from his mind when he noticed his horrified expression. "Ammon? What's with that face?"
"Okumura!" Rin knew exactly who that voice belonged to. He slowly, and reluctantly, turned around.
And froze when he saw what had startled Ammon.
The white-haired pigeon killer from yesterday had miraculously sprouted horns and a tail. The black bugs—no, demons—seemed to be pouring out of his skin, almost as if his body was creating them. He had a terrifying face with obvious fangs, and a faint, pungent odor surrounded him.
"We're really sorry about what happened yesterday." His said slowly, his voice sinister and ominous. "We want to properly apologize to you. Got a minute?"
"Rin, don't."
He glanced back at Ammon with a slight glare. "I'm not a coward."
"It's not that—he's dangerous!"
"I know; but I've beat his ass before and I can do it again." He turned to the delinquent and pretended to look at a watch he wasn't wearing. "If it won't take long. I have an interview to get to." His smug response was answered with a twisted, disturbing grin.
. . .
The pigeon killer and his three lackeys led him to a back alley blocked from the main road by a line of trash and discarded junk. Ammon followed at a distance, eyes never leaving the horned teenager. "So, how much should I pay you?"
"Pay me?" Rin raised a brow, confused.
"The new term at True Cross Academy is about to start, and I wouldn't want…rumors to spread about me. Call it hush money—I pay you, and you keep a secret. Sound fair?"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, so that's what this is about." He turned to leave. "I won't say anything; just leave me alone."
"Where do you think you're going?" He roughly grabbed Rin by the shoulder and pulled him back. "You need this money. I know you do—your family is poor." He grinned and whispered harshly in Rin's ear. "So poor your brother had to study to get a scholarship. How sad… Why don't you put this toward his tuition?" He tucked a wad of cash into the breast pocket of Rin's jacket.
Rin shoved him off and threw the money on the ground. "Don't touch me!"
The pigeon killer only laughed. "What's with that attitude? Don't you care about your brother?"
Something in him snapped. Rin lunged forward and punched the teen hard in his injured face, knocking him off his feet. "Don't you dare talk about Yukio like that!" The other three that were loitering around immediately sprang into action, tackling him and pinning him to the ground near the wad of money he had thrown away.
He laughed even harder and slowly pulled himself to his feet, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Oh, Rin…" He crouched down beside him and showed him the sharp pocket knife he now held in his hand. "Don't you get it? I'm trying to help you." He grabbed a fistful of Rin's hair and tugged his head back so they made eye contact. "For starters, everyone knows you're supposed to shave your head before you go to an interview!"
"Wha... Stop!" Rin's feeble struggling only made him tighten his grip.
"Don't get mad if a little skin comes off," he giggled with an almost demonic delight, pressing the knife to his head. "I'm new at this…"
He's going to kill me! "A-Ammon! Help!"
"Ammon?" He laughed once, a sound laced with insanity. "Who's that? Your imaginary friend?"
"He's not imaginary!"
All four of them were instantly thrown off Rin by some invisible force. The only one to land on his feet was the white-haired pigeon killer; the others were knocked unconscious by the telepathic blast. Ammon placed himself between Rin and the demon, hands calmly in the pockets of his cardigan. Rin let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The demon shook his head to clear his muddled mind and snarled. "Why you little—" But he stopped when his eyes met Ammon's. "No…" He scrambled back, tripped over his own tail, and landed on his backside. "N-no! No!"
"My Lord God," Ammon began, his voice gentle and low as he took small steps forward. "Even now I accept at Thy hands…"
"No! No! Stop it!"
"…cheerfully and willingly, with all its anxieties, pains, and sufferings…" Unable to move any further, the demon clasped his ears and screamed, like he was being ripped apart from the inside. Rin watched, propped up on his elbows, curious and horrified. He had never seen Ammon do this before in all the years they've lived together. "…whatever death it shall please Thee to be mine."
Ammon dropped down to his knees and gently took the demon's head in his hands. He opened his eyes and stared at Ammon, terrified. "No…please, no."
"Amen." Large, black wings exploded out of Ammon's back, feathers hanging delicately over the two of them like a veil. He looked almost like an angel knelt in prayer.
"Wh-what are you…" Before Rin could finish, Ammon pressed his lips gently against the demon's open mouth. The pigeon killer's body convulsed violently, like he was being electrocuted. Eventually, his twitching stopped and Ammon pulled back. With a strange, wind-like sound, his wings folded back into the unseen abyss where they came from.
He stood and returned to Rin. "Are you alright?"
"Wha… Wh-what the hell did you do to him?" Rin clambered to his feet, using the nearby wall to support his trembling legs.
"He was possessed; I exorcised him."
"Po… Possessed?" His eyes fell to the unmoving body. "Is… Is he…?"
"The human part of him is fine. I only targeted the demon. He'll wake up in a bit, but he won't remember anything." Ammon gestured to the three bodies behind him. "Same with the others."
Rin stood there for a moment, leaning against the wall, concentrating on his labored breathing, trying to process everything that had just happened. "…Am I crazy?"
Ammon placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Go home, Rin. Get Father Fujimoto and tell him you're seeing demons. He can explain all of this better than I can."
"What? But—"
He silenced Rin with a shake of his head. "I can't give you answers that will satisfy you. You need to hear it from Father Fujimoto, not me."
"O-okay," he nodded absently. "Go to Father Fujimoto…" He pushed away from the wall and staggered slightly, but quickly found his balance. "Are you coming?"
"I'll be right there."
Rin quietly left the alleyway, head down and hands in his pockets. The second he was out of sight, Shiro stepped out from his hiding spot and knelt beside the unconscious body of the pigeon killer. He pressed two fingers to his neck, finding a slow, rhythmic pulse. Ammon watched him, trying to judge his reaction.
Shiro stood and glanced around the alley, but, of course, he couldn't see anything but trash. "I don't know who you are," he said through gritted teeth, "but leave my son alone!"
Ammon didn't respond, and instead stepped into the shadows to rejoin Rin.
