Shout-out to Kristen Sharpe! And thanks for all the ones that have read, followed, favorited and written a review. It means a lot to me.

Childhood Arc: END.

Age: 15

Yukio stepped inside the classroom with a smile on his face and wasps in his stomach. He distinguished his roommate already, a short boy with glasses named Miwa Konekomaru. Aria material, of that he was sure.

All the other people he didn't recognize, and his eyes were already darting from place to place looking for potential allies and potential predators –those were the moments Yukio was glad he was taller than most, it was hard to bully someone who could stare you down-.

Four guys, two girls. In the row closest to the door but furthest back sat a kid all by himself, fiddling with some sort of rabbit-puppet. There were two girls deep in conversation, a relatively normal brown-haired girl and a twin-tailed one with the oddest pair of eyebrows Yukio had ever seen.

Two boys were with Miwa; one was a two-toned boy who gave off the appearance of a punk, and the other was a pink-haired (obviously dyed) boy who was laughing in an easy-going fashion.

It wouldn't be a repeat of his middle school days. He could do this, he would defeat Satan and make a hole in the space between dimensions (somehow) and he would free Kasai, like he had tried to do so long ago. And this time, he would succeed.

He was good with schoolwork, and that would allow him to get to his goal faster. He would become better. Stronger. Faster. Smarter. Better.

The words pounded in cadence against Yukio's brain. This was merely the first step, if he was determined to beat Satan, he had to try and socialize for a change. A good Exorcist didn't work alone, after all.

He absentmindedly noted the teacher wasn't here yet, and repressed the urge to sigh. If this was his dad's class - Demon Pharmaceuticals and Marksmanship- he was bound to be at least five minutes late.

Yukio took a deep breath and glanced at a glass nearby for a second. Seeing the target of his goal staring back at him helped dissipate his nerves.

He smiled. He would be okay.

"Hello! I am Okumura Yukio."

Rin knew he was not good enough. Not strong enough not smart enough, not quick enough, not enough.

It rapped against him, a dull chorus; he didn't think much about this for it was as obvious as the earth go round the sun and his head hurt every time he thought too much about that; but whenever he tried to put those feeling into words everything came out wrong, twisted and turned beyond recognition.

Blue eyes glared at him, Rin's cheeks were wet.

Oh. He had been crying.

Why…?

Apparently he was not well.

"YOU STOLE MY DREAM!" The boy with the two-toned hair that basically screamed 'look at me I'm cooler than you' yelled at his face, not long after his friends had told Yukio about his goal.

"No I didn't, my dream's original." Yukio calmly assured Suguro, or Bon as everyone called him. He was feeling quite frustrated with his attitude, but even so, Yukio wasn't copying Bon, at the core of his goal.

He'd brave anything—anything—to help his demon friend. Even the thought of having to share a classroom with those people didn't dampen his mood. He'd have secrets, he'd hide things if he had to—he wasn't made for deception, but he'd…he'd try.

Suguro Ryuji ended up with broken ribs after his stunt trying to stare down a Reaper.

It was funny. Even though Len was his reflection, Rin felt as though he was invisible. Unnoticed. The one in the background that no one cared about. That was called the wallpaper, right?

Atelophobia: By definition is the fear of being imperfect, of not being good enough.

Come back. Please. I don't know what I did wrong.

Self-destruction: [self-di-struhk-shuh n] Noun. The destruction or ruination of oneself or one's life.

Contrite: Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Sorry.

Yukio was content to spend time with Shiemi, and occasionally talk to Shima –the pink-haired one- when he wasn't in one of his 'girls girls girls' mode. It was quite amusing to watch, actually.

One day, Yukio caught himself referring to them as 'friends', and found out that he meant it.

Yukio supposed Kasai was busy, though it didn't stop him from staring at the glasses in Cram School or normal school, or in mirrors or in anything, waiting for him. It was incredibly unnerving to not have a reflection, though luckily it didn't happen very often.

"…the djinn are a type of demon which exist mainly in Turkey, though there have been sightings in Japan recently…" Fujimoto Shiro continued with his lesson, casually reaching for a Bible another teacher had left on the desk.

It was incredible that he never saw himself (getting ready for the day was to comb his hair and such until Kasai gave him a thumbs up), but he was used to it. He had to deal with it all his life.

"As it attacks when its prey is asleep, normal people call this phenomenon 'sleep paralysis'. Therefore-" he then threw the heavy book at his daydreaming son, hitting the boy with a presicion that left the rest of the class speechless.

Yukio promptly fell off his desk with a startled scream.

Without missing a beat, the Paladin continued his lesson. "You need to pay attention, as this information will serve you well."

Yukio glared at his father.

Shima burst out laughing.

Rin would watch Len making acquaintances and interacting with others, this time without hostility nor fights in the middle. Funny. Even his reflection wasn't paying attention to him.

Oh.

This is how a heart beats.

Breaks.

Suguro and Koneko would be Arias, and so would Shima. Shiemi and Eyebrows-chan (Yukio had to stop calling that in his head, lest it slipped out) turned out to have a great affinity with summoning demons. Suguro, like Yukio, would pursue two Meisters at once, with Knight being the other.

Three Arias, two Tamers, one Knight. And Yukio filling out the two spots left as a Dragoon and a Doctor.

Yeah, they could make this work.

The workload of having to pursue two Meisters was incredible, and even Yukio found it hard to keep up sometimes with all the homework he was given.

It should have come out as no surprise that he forgot to look in the mirror.

I'm right here.

Rin wanted to shout.

Look at me.

'What was Tou-san thinking, locking us all in here?' Yukio wondered as he fled down the hallway trying to get to where he had put his gun while leading half of the Naberius away from the others.

He was an idiot. His father had given him a gun for his birthday –Yukio suspected Shiro somehow knew he would choose the Exorcism path- and he had left him somewhere in the old abandoned dorm. He suspected it was in one of the bedrooms… Yeah, he was sure it was the bedroom closest to the kitchen.

Rin had a bad feeling in his gut the whole day. Pacing endlessly in his bedroom, he was soon joined by a bored Amaimon, who didn't need much to deduce what was wrong with his brother.

"Did he leave me?" Rin thought aloud, placing his own Assiah-contraption-thing in his pocket.

'No. Never.' Amaimon answered absentmindedly.

"Where is he then?"

'I don't know. Close.'

"Why doesn't he come back?"

'I don't know. Far away.'

"Why didn't he tell me anything?"

'You are an annoyance. Grow up.'

"Len…"

'Do something productive.'

"Nothing to do, nothing to do but wait until he comes."

'Call someone. Find him. He could be hurt.'

"Who would hurt him? Is he alright?"

'Nobody. He's fine.'

'Why doesn't he come?"

'He's busy.'

"Too busy for me?"

'I don't know.'

"Comeherecomeherestepinsidetheglassmymirror."

'Stop muttering.'

"Nothing to do."

'Go outside.'

"And do what?"

'Find him.'

"Nowhere to look."

'Do something else.'

"What?"

'I don't know. Train.'

"Nothing to do, nothing to do but wait. Where is he? Why won't he come? What happened? Did he leave me? Does he not love me?

'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.'

"I've got to see him."

'Who?'

"Len."

'Why?'

"I don't know."

Good news, Yukio found his gun. Bad news, Yukio had wasted the seven bullets he had and the thrice-damned demon was still after him. Stumbling, dizzy with terror, Yukio turned straight to a door, and found himself cornered. Wall, wall, wall with a mirror and the Naberius coming for him.

Stupid. Unforgivably stupid.

Panic gripping him, Yukio threw a desperate glance at the mirror and slammed his bloody hand on it, not thinking entirely straight.

"Aren't you the son of Satan?" he uselessly asked at desperate eyes staring right back. "Call the demon off! Help me! Please, help me!"

Rin cursed himself as he realized that he cut his hand in his haste on going to the mirror. Trusting his instincts, he peered into the glass, fearful eyes mirroring his own. Icy cold fear gripped him as the demon prince took in the scene before him.

"Len!" he screamed out, hoping against hope his reflection could hear him. "Len, the Naberius!"

The demon was about to lunge, Rin could see it, and he never felt so useless in his life. Tears of frustration formed in his eyes as his flames went haywire, engulfing the mirror. "Len, the Naberius! Get away from there!"

Blood dripped from it and blue flames enveloped the reflective surface. For better or worse, humans are full of blood. Enough blood to paint lips and even circus tents. Certainly enough blood to destroy a mirror.

Len was in trouble. Len was strong, but Len was only a human, and he was in trouble.

Gripping the mirror so tightly the frame creaked in his hands, Rin shouted back to his human.

"Run! You can't fight it with that!" He wasn't running. Why wasn't Len running? "It's a rot demon! You need fire!"

Though he didn't see any way Len could make a fire.

Len needed him. Rot demons were nothing against his flames.

Suddenly, Len's face disappeared, and the Naberius' rotting, gray skin filled his view.

"Len!"

Rin felt his flames roaring around him, felt the metal frame of the mirror bending under his hands.

None of it mattered. All that mattered was that Len was going to die, and that could not happen. Len needed him.

Len needed him.

For an instant, he saw a flash of Len's blue eyes, wide and scared even as he swung his gun at the Naberius. Len was strong, and Len wouldn't stop fighting, and Len was going to die.

The Naberius filled the mirror again, moving in for the kill.

Desperate, Rin threw himself at it.

All of a sudden, Rin tumbled down, crashed into something soft, and on a hard surface…

And all he saw was blue.

When he regained his vision, he was greeted by the sight of a quite big burnt mark directly in front of him, and his flames dying out on the unfamiliar room.

"It's you!" an equally unfamiliar voice exclaimed joyfully.

Rin looked to the side, and two pairs of blue eyes looked at each other on the same side of the mirror.