"Wow! Is this white thing snow?" big, green eyes became even bigger, full of wonder. "Yep! Be carefull though, you might slip!" Rin's large hand was locked around Mephisto's small, soft hand. Rin observed Mephisto; His breaths were becoming small, white clouds when leaving his mouth. He seemed to be quite happy. "Hey Rin..." The half-demon left his thoughts and came back to reality. "Huh? What is it, Mephisto?" the demon child was looking at their hands that were locked together, without letting his eyes meet with Rin's. "I was wondering... would you... would you like to... play with me?" toddler Mephisto asked without letting go of the other's hand. Rin closed his eyes smiling. "Of course!" Mephisto looked up at him with a smile that was reaching his red cheeks. He said nothing but his soft eyes said more than enough. Then, he lowered his head once again. "When I was home, Dad would never let me play with the other children... I was sick, so, I used to play all alone in my room without anyone touching me... and now... I have you!... I'm happy, Rin!"

He was so young, yet, he never found out what childhood was looking like. He was sick, all alone in a room, without anyone taking care of him... without anyone loving him... And Rin couldn't offer him much, but he had lots of love to share with him and that was the only thing Mephisto was looking for; Someone to love him unconditionaly.

When they entered the open gate of the amusement park, mini-Mephisto's eyes became wide open. He wanted to try this and that! There were so many things to do in there! And he was going to try everything with Rin! Finally, he could share his happiness with someone.

"Let's go to the big worm!"

"You mean the roller coaster?"

"And after that, to the spinning umbrella!"

"You mean the merry-go-round?"

"And then, to the big donut!"

"I think you mean the wheel..."

He extended his small arm to Rin "Will you come with me?"

Big hand covered his small one. "I'd love that!"

The hours were passing and the two demons had tried almost everything in the park. Finally, they finished their ride in the roller coaster and Rin was preparing himself to leave until a snowball hit his back. He smirked and turned quickly before Mephisto could finish his next snowball's preparation, hitting him with his snowball in the stomach. The small one fell on the ground laughing wholeheartedly while Rin continued hitting him with his snowballs.

"Hahahaha..! S-stop it! It's not fair, Rin! Hahahaha!" now Rin was laughing too. Anyone that was passing them by would stop and laugh with them. They were so adorable together!

They spent almost two hours playing with the snow and now they were both feeling exhausted. "That was fun!" the purple-haired demon exclaimed. "Totally! Hey, would you like some pop-corn?" asked Rin while he was searching for his money. "I don't know... do I like them?" asked the child innocently. "Well, most probably... stay here! I'm gonna buy some" Rin pointed at the bench. Mephisto cleaned the bench with his hands, letting the snow fall in the ground and sat there waiting.

"Two cups of pop-corn, please" Rin said to the old lady that was behind the pop-corn cart. "You two seem to have a lot of fun together" the old lady said in a warm, granny-like voice. She explained "I saw you when you came here five hours ago" Rin couldn't believe in his ears "FIVE HOURS? YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME! OH COME ON!" "Hohohoho... young child! There's nothing to worry about, though. Your little brother seems to like it here. He must really love you for being such a good brother" the old woman said smiling while Rin was looking at Mephisto who was sitting patiently on the bench, looking all around. "Yeah... I guess so..." he finally said, letting a smile appear on his face. "Here you go, child!" the old lady announced. Rin paid, thanked her and went back to Mephisto.

"Here, dig in! They taste really good!" Rin informed the younger one. The child seemed to be deep in thought because he was staring at something behind Rin that wasn't even there. "Mephi? Hello..." he waved his hand in front of the child's jade colored eyes. "Thank you. But I'm not hungry anymore" Mephisto said in a monotone, mysterious voice. Okay, that's kinda weird... "Okay, cool but are you sure you're alright?" Mephisto was now breathing with difficulty. He was panting and had become dead-pale. Rin was now worried and knelt in front of the sick-looking child. "Hey... Hey! Talk to me! What's happening to you, damn it! Mephisto! Please!" the child leaned backwards and his back met the back of the bench. Rin, still on his knees in front of him, held his small hands in his own, really worried, waiting for a response. The small demon prince kept breathing hard while his dull eyes were now closing. "Dad says that I'm a mistake... *pant*pant*... a waste of time... Please Dad... stop beating me... *pant*pant*... I'll try to be a better son tomorrow... I love you Dad... Why don't you love me?" His half-closed eyes were full of tears. His small, fragile body was exhausted as if he had actually received the beating that was on his mind. Blood was coming out of his nose while he was gasping for air. "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!" Rin didn't know what to do with him. He could only hold him in his arms, tightly. No one was approaching them. Everyone was way too scared to come closer to the possessed-like child. Rin was all alone in dealing with it. Mephisto was now cold and exhausted on Rin's lap. His tired, dull eyes were still teary and he was still talking about his 'Dad'. That heartless beast...

Rin held the paralyzed demon in his arms. Neither of them could breathe right, they were both in a shock state. "Hey, stop crying, little one... I'm here... no one can harm you now" Rin said to the somewhat relaxed child. "But Father-" "Especially him!" the half-demon stated, looking young Mephisto in the eye. "I'm sorry... I've ruined the whole day... I'll try to be a better son tomorrow" the young, purple-haired male was somewhere between reality and delirium. Rin raised his hand and Mephisto's eyes opened wide. "Please! Don't hurt me! I promise, I-" the child stopped screaming when he saw Rin's hand bringing the older's coat up to his chin. "I'd never do that, Mephisto. You have my word on that" Rin said and wrapped his coat around Mephisto to keep him warm. The teenager stood up and started walking towards the exit of the amusement park. He didn't know what to feel; Anger? Fear? Sympathy?... Suddenly a hand touched his shoulder, softly. It's going to be a long journey, young child... Don't lose your faith... Rin turned around to face the person, but there was no one behind him. Instead, the old lady was smiling at him from behind her cart. He smiled back at her and waved his free hand 'goodbye'. I wonder... who is she?

As the boys were leaving the amusement park behind them, Mephisto opened his angelic eyes and faced Rin. The half-demon was caught off-guard because he didn't know he was awake. He smiled at him, nonetheless. "I've ruined everything... I'm a terrible child. I don't deserve to be treated this way" his eyes were teary again. Man! 'Cry' was his middle name, for sure! Rin exhaled. "Well, you know... you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I mean, look... you had an asthma attack. It's not like you wanted this to happen, it just happened! No one will hurt you just because you got sick" he tried to explain "But Dad-" "And for Heaven's Sake! Forget about him! He can harm you no more. You're okay and that's the only thing that matters to me" Rin captured Mephisto's leaf green eyes in his sapphire ones.

He thought about the differences between the adult and the child version of his 'legal guardian'. The two versions were the exact opposite! As an adult, Mephisto had a mysterious personality. He was unpredictable and somewhat dangerous. According to Rin, he was also loathsome, insidious but most of all, a self-seeker. But as a child, nah, as a child he was a totally different person. He was innocent, naive, curious and of course, sensitive. He wasn't a self-seeker anymore. He had become a love-seeker, instead...

What happened to him? Why did he leave this innocence in the past...?

"Come on, let's go" Rin said while carrying the small child. "Umm... Rin, I can walk. There's no need for you to tire your arms, really!" Well, carrying him wasn't a problem for Rin, but he didn't insist on it 'cause he didn't want to make the child feel useless. "Oh, fine! But let me know when you feel tired again" he helped Mephisto on his feet, carefully.

They walked half the distance between the amusement park and Shiemi's house. During their walk, they were discussing about a lot of different things... Foods, hobbies, animals, aliens, stories etc... It was only natural for Mephisto to have a lot of questions: 'What is a best friend?'... 'Rin, what is school?'... 'Do you know stories?'... 'What is a lollipop, Rin? Sounds funny'... 'Do aliens eat us?'... 'Why do we have two eyes?'... 'Why do we get sick?'... 'Why do we have different voices?'...

His mind was like a blank piece of paper; He knew nothing about the world, so, Rin had to answer all of his questions by filling that paper.

Ten minutes had passed until Rin realized that there wasn't any sound beside him. Mephisto was talking a lot, so, it was really hard not to notice his silence. Rin turned back to check on him. The poor child was a few meters behind Rin, trying to catch his breath. The snow on the pavement wasn''t making their walk any easier. Rin went back. "Come on, climb on my back" Mephisto raised his head to face him. "N-no! I'm fine, I just-" Rin interrupted his words by putting him on his back and carrying him piggyback. He didn't pay any attention to Mephisto's protest and complaints; He could feel the boy's heart beating fast against his back, instead, and that was louder than any protest. The young demon finally said "Thank you..."

Those two words were more than enough to make Rin smirk.

They finally reached Shiemi's house. "Finally!" Rin rang the bell. Shiemi opened the door a minute later. "Oh hello, Rin! What brings you here?" said the teenage girl smiling wholeheartedly. Rin smiled unconsciously by just looking at her angelic face "Umm...H-hi!... I mean... *ahem*... Hey..." he got a silly-looking smirk on his face. Shiemi laughed politely. Rin woke up. "Ahh...well, Yukio sent me here to... ahhh... to... buy some herbs for him. Yes, that's right!" Ugh! Stop being an idiot, you idiot! Rin mentally slapped himself. "Oh! Right! The herbs! Please, come in. It's really cold outside!" she held the door open for Rin to come in. Then, she noticed... "Umm, Rin... who is this?" She came closer to observe Mephisto. Rin turned around a bit scared. "Umm... he's umm... he's ahhhh... a child that I babysit!" he finally came up with that brilliant idea. Shiemi was in awe. "Wow! He really looks like Principal Pheles! He even has that strange curl on his head..." her observation didn't last long, though... Green, cat-like eyes opened wide, piercing through her very soul. She almost screamed! That was kind of scary, I must say... "Umm, Rin... look who's awake..." sang Shiemi while a drop of sweat was rolling down her forehead. Rin turned to face Mephisto, who was looking all around trying to identify the new place. "Hey...ehhh...Dom! How are you doing DOM? Are you okay DOM?" Mephisto had a puzzled look on his adorable face. "Who's Dom?" he asked innocently. Rin faked a smile. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead, just like Shiemi. "Ohh, you adorable, little thing! Quit playing around!" "Seriously Rin, I don't understand... is this a game?" Mephisto almost jumped out of skin when he turned his head away from Rin, only to face Shiemi, who was about 2 mm away from his face. "Isn't your name Dom?" she asked in a child-like manner. "Is it?" Mephisto asked kinda scared, looking at Rin. Rin nodded smiling like an idiot. Please Mephisto play along... The purple demon faced Shiemi again. "It is!" he said faking a smile like Rin's. "OH, ADORABLE!" Shiemi fangirled.

They passed the next hour drinking hot chocolate and eating baked choco biscuits. Mephisto seemed to like them. Shiemi, being the kind-hearted girl she was, wrapped 'Dom' in a warm blanket because he turned out to have a slight fever. Rin thanked her for that. "So, his name is Dom, you said?" Rin took a sip of his cup. "Yeah, Dominic is the original name, though" Shiemi was looking at Mephisto, who was trying to find the exact time of letting the biscuit in the cocoa become soft, without splitting in two pieces. "He sure looks like Principal Pheles" said once again. It was true, that Rin couldn't ignore the resemblance between the adult and child form of the male demon.

"Yeah, that's because he's... umm... Mephisto's son! Yep! That's the only truth!" "..."

Both Shiemi and Mephisto's eyes opened wide. Shiemi was speechless and Mephisto's cookie finally split in two in his mug of cocoa.

"That's true, Shiemi! I know it must be hard for you to handle such a piece of information, but it ain't no lie. That's the gospel truth!" Shiemi took a minute to work out the information in her head; So did Mephisto. She finally said "I wonder... who is his mother? It must be a really beautiful woman!" That couldn't be answered even by Mephisto. Now that he was thinking about it, he had never met his mother. Rin went on with his story "That's something Mephisto will never reveal! But, there are some rumors about her... She is said to be an extraordinarily beautiful lady from France. But that's all I know about it." Rin said in a matter-of-factly tone. "Oh, wow! That's so romantic! I bet mister Pheles is a good dad" the girl exclaimed.

Rin checked his watch. "Hmm... we don't have much time left. Dom, are you ready to go? You should go back and eat dinner. I don't want to mess with your daddy!" Rin said in a dramatical way. Mephisto rolled his eyes. He tried to stood up but he fell on his knees almost instantly. "Rin I don't think I can do this..." he called out for his 'babysitter'. He was feeling dizzy. Actually, a lot dizzier than in the amusement park's incident. Rin and Shiemi came by his side in long strides. Their voices were like echoes in his ears. The girl put her hand on his forehead "He's burning up! He's running a high fever, for sure!" Rin panicked. "What can you do about it, Shiemi!?" the girl inhaled "Me? Unfortunately, nothing... But your brother can! He's a doctor after all, Rin!" Rin stood up on his feet holding a feverish Mephisto in delirium in his arms. Shiemi quickly put a small bag of herbs in Rin's coat's pocket. "That's for Yukio" she said and then held out a magic key "and that's for you!" she unlocked the door behind her and held it open. "Hurry up, Rin! He's in pain!" The boy ran through the door "Thanks a lot, Shiemi! You're the best!" the girl waved her hand "Talk to you later, Rin! Take good care of Dom!"

Rin was transported outside of his and his brother's dorm room. He knocked the door with his fist. "Yukio open up! You gotta hurry!" but instead of Yukio...

The door opened revealing a green-haired male. Yukio was immobilized under the male's feet. "Amaimon! You bastard!" Rin screamed angrily bringing Mephisto closer to his chest in a protective way.

"I've searched the whole place for you. I finally found you brother."


Well, this is the third chapter. a bit earlier than a week, though :)

i guess that's a good thing!

you liked it?

please, REVIEW! :)

thanks in advance!

ps: Sorry if my english is wrong. :(

-Vins Meister-