I do not take credit for any of the character's from Blue Exorcist/青の祓魔師. All right is given to Kazue Katō as the respectful owner. I only take credit for Ryuu Akihana, and Takashi Haru. Enjoy!
The class was silent while Yukio kept his head down, so as to hide his expression. School was back in session and Yukio had told everyone that Rin had been spotted recently, alive and well. As to be expected, Shiemi was holding back tears of joy, Izumo sat in shock as she tried to comprehend what they had been told, Shima's mouth resembled that of a fish gasping for air, Konekomaru looked as though he were about to faint and Ryuuji had jumped out of his seat in an outburst.
"What do you mean Okumura's alive! He's been missing for over three years! How could could he just suddenly show up?"
Yukio sighed as he braced himself for the onslaught of questions that would be thrown his way.
"We're not sure ourselves, but it has been confirmed that my brother is alive and well. With the new information, things will be hectic as the Vatican searches sends out search parties for the next few weeks in the hopes that we can locate him. I ask that you all remain on your guard as he is now considered dangerous and unpredictable."
Ryuuji scoffed at the warning given to the class.
Please, what else is new with that guy? We never knew what to expect from him. Did you really think three years would have changed that any?"
Yukio raised his head to glare at the studious boy.
"No, I half expected to find my brother's body in a ditch, not as a thief stealing files from our principal's personal computer, Suguro. Thank you for the concern for his well being though."
Ryuuji flinched at Yukio's glare and sat down in shame for his word choice. He took the time to think over what to say next before taking a deep breath.
"I only meant that while it was unsettling for Rin to suddenly go missing for so long, and then suddenly turn up, we should have at least been confident that he was okay since this is Rin we're talking about. He's too stubborn to die. Whatever came his way, I'm sure he had good reason for not being here."
Yukio calmed down and took Ryuuji's words into account. It was true that his brother was very resourceful when he wanted to be, though he always played dumb when inquired about it. Not only that, but his grades had been rising substantially before he left. Perhaps Rin did have adequate reason for leaving, which would then give gateway to reason for him coming back and stealing from Mephisto.
"I'm sorry for my outburst. You're right, I should believe in my brother more. Anyway, as of right now, they have found specks of blood from a wound Rin had gotten the night he appeared, so now all we have to do is sit back and wait for the higher-ups to locate Rin."
Izumo raised her hand, bringing all attention to her.
"Sorry Sensei, but are you sure that's a good thing?"
Yukio raised an eyebrow at Izumo's question, as well as the rest of the class.
"What do mean, Ms. Kamiki. Please explain."
Izumo stood from her seat and turned to the rest of the class.
"I'm not saying that I don't want Rin to come back or anything, so don't imply that. All I'm saying is that Rin was already under constant watch for an excuse to execute him while he was here. After he left, the worse was considered a possibility for him. That caused the first search party to be a 'dead or alive' campaign. Now that Rin's come back in such a big way, who knows what the Vatican will decide what to do with him if they find him."
Everyone was silent as they let Izumo's words sink in. It was certainly no secret that the Higher-ups of the True Cross Order wanted Rin dead. Who knew what they'd do to him after a stunt like this.
"We could always…find him first?"
All eyes quickly moved to Shiemi out of surprise at the young girl's suggestion. Shiemi curled back in embarrassment as she mirrored everybody's shocked expressions. Yukio was the first to be broken out of his shock, clearing his throat.
"Even if we went along with this plan Shiemi, we have no where to start. Rin escaped through the door with a portal key opened from the other side. There is no way to trace him."
Kamiki stood from her seat with her arms crossed, ignoring how the eyes suddenly fell on her.
"Didn't you say that specks of his blood were found at the scene, Okumura-sensei?"
Kamiki smirked when Yukio nodded, confirming her suspicion.
"They're probably keeping it in a lab for testing. We only need a little bit of his blood for a well enough demon to track him. Luckily for us, there are some well trained tamers within our group."
Rin sneezed as he was bent over his desk doing the homework assigned to him that day. He only had a few hours before work, and wanted to get what he could done so that he wouldn't have to stay up too late once he got back to finish up the rest. He was working on the third page when Takashi came in and walked up behind him, giving a peck to the top of his head.
"Honey, I'm home!"
Rin laughed and bent his head backward to meet their lips together. Takashi pecked Rin's forehead after their kiss before coming from behind him to sit in the chair next to him. Rin looked at Takashi as he took in his bartender uniform from the tavern across the street from their shared apartment. Takashi had his medium length black hair tied up and a crisp, white dress shirt, black slacks and a spotless black apron tied at his waist. Takashi valued cleanliness above all else, after all. He finally looked into his scarlet red eyes and smiled before turning back to his homework.
"What's the word about that job."
"One of our contacts from True Cross got back to us. They found samples of your blood from that graze on your arm. He said he'd do the best he could, but it was going to be pretty tight security after that last mission."
Rin sighed and let his head hit the desk with bang. He knew that going back there was a huge risk of being found, but now he could only hope that the informant they placed inside the academy could get the only way of tracing him back before it was too late.
"I should have been more careful. I let myself get inside my own head. I should have-!"
"The security should have been turned off."
Rin and Takashi turned to their roommate, Ryuu. She was in one of Rin's t-shirts and short black gym shorts. Her hair was only partly dry as she ran the towel through her dark locks. Rin always wondered why Ryuu insisted on wearing his clothes. Even when they attended the academy, instead of wearing the standard female uniform, Ryuu wore Rin's shirts, ties and cut one of his slacks into shorts. She once explained it was nothing romantic, but would keep them close. To this day, Rin still didn't get it.
"What are talking about, Ryuu-chan. I hacked into the security network that night and everything looked fine. There's no way I missed an alarm like the one that had me running that night."
Ryuu came into the men's rooms and sat on the edge of the bed as she hung the towel on her shoulders and began to tie her hair up into a bun.
"You did everything perfectly, Rin. You should have been in and out of there with no problem. Someone else set that alarm off though; someone who wanted you to be found out,and that mission they sent you on was their prime opportunity."
Takashi turned to Ryuu fully once the information had settled in and the reality of the situation had been brought to light.
"Are you saying that someone is trying to get Rin back into True Cross, Ryuu? That's unreal! Who would have even known of his association with the school to begin with? Also, there's no possible way they could have known about our mission that night! Our missions are only shared with those involved."
Ryuu shrugged her shoulders and rose from the bed as she made her exit. She turned back briefly and looked at Rin with her stoic face.
"Be careful in the future, Rin. You were very lucky that time, but luck always runs out at some point."
With those words, Ryuu left for bed. Rin thought over her words for a short amount of time, and turned back to his homework. Once it was time to leave, Rin kissed his boyfriend goodbye and left for his job as a waiter at a late-night cafe. Along the way, he thought about the day he left True Cross and how that could have affected Yukio and his friends. The only people that came with him were Takashi and Ryuu. It had been just the three of them ever since. That day shaped their futures, yet it was still unknown whether it was for bad or good.
Flashback - 3 Years Ago [True Cross Academy Courtyard]
Rin walked into the courtyard and joined Ryuu and Takashi at the fountain in its center. Takashi was the first to greet him with a kiss on his forehead.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Once we're gone, you know we can't come back, not for a long time."
Rin nodded silently. Ryuu took his hand without a word and lead him to a door. She pulled out a portal key and put in the lock. She turned to Rin one last time. Rin nodded at her, allowing her to turn the key and open the door. The door opened to an abandoned church in the forest just off of the school. All three of them walked through the portal and closed the door behind them. Takashi took charge once they were sure no one could have seen them.
"Alright, we probably only have an hour or so at the most, so we have to make this quick before they sound the alarm."
Rin remained silent, which worried his friends. Takashi told Ryuu to keep lookout while he talked to Rin. Ryuu nodded, and left the two men alone while she climbed a nearby tree to gain a higher view point. Takashi waited until Ryuu was out of sight in the tree tops before turning to Rin and putting his arm around his shoulder. Rin leaned into the warmth provided for him.
"Rin, are you alright? If you're having second thoughts, we can head back. We don't have to do this."
Rin shook his head buried his face in Takashi's shoulder.
"There's no other option. I made a promise to protect them. I won't let my mistakes be their downfall. I want to become a better exorcist to defeat Satan and atone for my sins."
Takashi ran his hands though Rin's hair and kissed his temple.
"What sins, Rin? Your being a child of Satan is not your own doing. You can't choose your family. Satan's crimes aren't for you to pay the price for."
Rin shook his head as he clutched onto Takashi's jacket.
"That's exactly why I have to make it my responsibility. As his son, so I'm the only one capable of defeating him. Even if they don't forgive me, I have to do this for them. You and Ryuu understand, right?"
At that moment, before Takashi could answer, Ryuu jumped down from the tree in front of the two men.
"Of course we do, but unfortunately we don't have as much time to be discussing this as we previously thought. It appears as though my father has realized our disappearance and has sounded the alarm."
Takashi sighed heavily as Rin held up his sudden weight.
"You know, Ryuu, your being the principal's adopted daughter does not make this entirely easy."
Ryuu blushed as she looked to the ground, ashamed. Takashi realized his mistake and waved off his comment.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just teasing you, Ryuu. In the meantime though, we should be making our way out of here, agreed?"
"Rin! We were wondering what happened to you! You're usually here a lot earlier!"
Rin was brought out of his train of thought by his coworkers greeting him at the front of the cafe. Rin smiled as he waved to them.
"Sorry! Some stuff happened and I got a little distracted, I guess!"
Everyone laughed and teased Rin for his ability to get sidetracked by the strangest things. Rin laughed with them as he thought about the source of his near failure during the mission at True Cross. He also thought about the possible outcome that would reveal itself if his mistake was left unchecked. Unbeknownst to anyone, however, Rin already had a pretty good idea of who caused the large turn of events in the first place.
"Ryuu-chan, you idiot."
Afterstory Monologue:
Momo: [Bows] Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of Love is a Battlefield! I apologize for not updating sooner. Between college work and writers block, it was near impossible to get this chapter written! I hope you can forgive me for the long delay!
Rin: I don't think anyone will hate you because of things that are out of your control.
Momo: [Sighs] Unfortunately, such people exist. On top of all that, my father is trying to get me to go out and meet people since he thinks my being obsessed with anime and manga is demoting my mental growth! It's a perfectly healthy hobby! Maybe a tad expensive, but healthy nonetheless!
Takashi: Not to be the one to change the subject, but since when does Mephisto have a kid?
Momo: ADOPTED! Ryuu's story will only be revealed if the readers want to know. After all, this is a story about Rin and Ryuuji. I won't ruin it by directing their attention to something they don't care about and has nothing to do with the plot!
Rin: Make it a poll then. Have them vote on whether your OC's stories should be incorporated. Maybe even your Durarara! OC's could be included.
Momo: Hmmm... I'll have to think about it. [Turns Back To Camera] In the meantime, Please excuse the characters OCness. As I have previously said, it is necessary and will be better explained in the later chapters. Contrary to popular belief among my friends, I do have a plan! Either way, if you have any questions or constructive criticism to relay to me, please review! I always look forward to reading what you have to say! [Bows] Thank you! Please come again! [Turns Camera Off]
