OK so this is the next chapter.
Thank you all for reviews/follows/favorites.
I would just like to say that this is a time for celebration because there are 250 follows and 200 favorites for this story! Also a thank you to the 90 reviews we have!
Ok time to answer some questions.
Guest asked: Yay! Is Rin still gonna be allowed to cook during the camp out? That'd be a whole other bonding experience...
Answer: Yes! Of course! However, I may or may not be having learn about him cooking earlier on since there is the exwire camp in the dorm they have to get through!
Also I'd like to give a shout out to justaislinn for pointing out the new season of Blue exorcist for me! Thanks! I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for you! As for what I think, I'm a little excited cause I always like the hurt/comfort friendship wise things Rin goes through in it in the manga (Even if I may or may not have caught up on the manga. Hehe...details!).
That's all so onto the chapter!
Rin smiled triumphantly as he made his way to the door that opened up to his cram school class room. He had managed once again to avoid taking his cane with him to school, much to both Yukio and his personal teacher annoyance, and has since been able to avoid Yukio until cram school. Even if the other's found out about the fact he was basically blind, it didn't mean he had to go around actual school with the cane. As for cram school, he's been doing just fine without it.
So when Rin reached forward to open the door, he wasn't prepared for his brother to be standing there, Yukio speaking before he got the chance to take in his silhouette appearing in the blackness.
"You seemed to have forgotten something at home Rin." Yukio spoke and Rin could hear the annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah? I don't think so, I had all my things for school." Rin said, attempting to avoid the subject.
"Really?" Yukio spoke and at that same moment Rin heard a very familiar sound tap the ground just as his brother moved his hand forward for his own hand to feel what he was holding.
"Look I don't need to use it." Yukio sighed at his brother's stubbornness.
"Rin it would be good for you to learn how to use it! What will happen when you come into unfamiliar areas?"
"I don't need it! I can get around just fine!" With that Rin shoved past his brother but in his attempt to prove to the other he was perfectly fine with moving around, he did the opposite. Stifling his yelp as he stubbed his foot into the leg of one of the desks, he ignored the look he could feel he was getting from Yukio.
"Idiot, just use the cane." This time Rin did yelp when he suddenly felt Suguro's hand on his shoulder.
"Oi! I'm not an idiot!" Rin growled at the other, grumbling when the other student took it upon himself, even if he didn't say so, to guide Rin to his seat in the classroom.
"You are an idiot." Rin heard Izumo's voice from her seat. "You could obviously get hurt without knowing exactly what's coming, not that I would care since it would be entirely your fault."
"Izumo." Paku's voice came as she sighed at her friend's behavior.
"Look, just use the cane." Suguro sighed at the other.
"I don't-"
"Please Rin?" Shiemi's voice cut him off make his snap his mouth closed. He fell silent before sighing.
"Fine." He relented, his frown only deepening when he heard the sound of the cane being place on the desk.
"Finally, the stupid monkey's made a smart decision." Suguro grumbled.
"Hey! Who are you calling a monkey you…uh…" Rin scrambled for a moment before shouting the first thing that came to his mind. "You rooster!"
"Rooster?!"
"Er…yeah! Cause you're really annoying sometimes and I bet…uh…" He took a quick glance up at the taller student's hair, trying to see if his hair curved in a certain way. He thought he could make out a bump in the middle of his head and could only guess that was hair. "Your hair looks like a rooster!"
This got a laugh out of Shima. "Hey you know, I never really thought about it but-"
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence Shima!"
"So it does look like a rooster!" Rin cried triumphantly with a bright grin.
"Why you-"
"Alright, everyone calm down." Yukio spoke up, breaking the fight up before it started to get too aggressive. However, as everyone else returned to their seats, he kept his gaze on his brother.
He had seen the very small motion he had done, when he glanced up at Suguro's hair. One would think it would have been an unconscious reaction since if he still had his sight he probably would have done that, but Yukio knew better. He had seen the way if focused longer than it should have, the way his eyes seemed to focus for a second wand glow slightly a little brighter before returning to their normal state.
He knew his brother was keeping something from him, little things like this were enough to confirm it, and he was getting tired of waiting. He would confront his brother about it once they were back at the dorm.
With that, he started teaching his class for the day.
Once cram school was over for the day, Rin and Yukio headed back for their home at the abandoned dorms. Rin grumbled the entire day because any time they had to get up and go somewhere and, though it wasn't much, they all made sure he used his cane, which had made Rin very irritated at his classmates. At home, they ate before heading up to their room, and it was then when Yukio decided it was time to know what Rin was hiding.
"Rin."
"Hmm?" Rin tilted his head to look at his brother. He raised an eyebrow when he wasn't answered right away and leaned back in his desk chair with a bored expression.
Yukio sighed as he watch him brother before crossing his arms and speaking. "Alright, I'm not going to dance around this." Rin was about to open his mouth to ask what he was talking about when Yukio continued. "Rin, what are you hiding from me?"
Even though it was a question, Rin couldn't help but hear the demand behind it and flinched slightly with a nervous smile on his face. He never had been a good liar. "What do you mean, Yukio?"
Yukio frowned at his brother. "I think you know exactly what I mean Rin."
Again, another flinch. "Look, its nothing important. If it was, I'd tell you, which I told you already before."
"Rin, your important is very different from my important."
"Well, I'm sorry it is that way, but that is just how we think."
"Rin!"
"What? I told you, it's not important."
"Then explain to me how you knew where the Reaper was when it attacked Suguro." Rin fell silent before glaring at his brother.
"You were spying on us?!"
"Your teacher left and they needed a substitute. I happened to arrive at that moment." Yukio easily lied. "But that's not the point here. The point here is how you knew were to land between them."
"I just listened, that's all." Rin said. It was technically the truth, even if he had used their silhouettes as a mark.
"Really?" Yukio didn't believe him for a second. "Then what about Shiemi, when we were saving her from the demon in her garden? How did you know not to strike? And just now in the classroom, I saw you look up at Suguro before responding to him."
"I-"
"Don't tell me you heard it or smelled it or anything like that!" Yukio exclaimed cutting him off. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Rin, don't keep secrets from me. Especially if they are important."
"I told you it's not important." Rin gritted out once again, clenching his fist before thumping his head against the back of the seat. "Ok, look, I get that you're not going to drop this but I don't know how to explain this. I mean, it's easy sorta I guess…but I don't know how…you'll react."
"Is that why you haven't told me anything?"
"Kinda." Rin said with a shrug. "I mean, you already have so much to worry about, I don't want to add anything to it."
"Rin, just tell me what it is."
Rin sighed closing his eyes as he took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes and letting them slide over to look at the silhouette standing before him, arms crossed. "I can see you." He stated simply.
"W-Wha-"
"Not completely." Rin cut him off before he could freak out. "In fact, I can't see anything except living things apparently. I can see you, demons, dogs, other people but I can't see anything else."
"So…you can see me right now? Where I'm standing?"
"Yeah, to an extent. Of course I can't see anything around you so makes it a little difficult at times. Also, I can only see like, the form of you."
"What do you mean?"
"Like, I can see how tall you are and where you are but I can't tell you what your face looks like or outfit. I see an…an outline but no details."
"And, just how do you see?"
"I…" Rin trailed off. He didn't know how his brother would process this; he still had problems processing this at times.
"Rin?"
"I…can see you with the flames."
"What?"
"Like…the flames that I have make up all of your forms, but in different ways so it doesn't get confusing when there is more than one person or thing in the room. Everything is like that except…"
"Except?"
"…Except when I draw the sword. When I did that, I could see everything. I mean, it was all still in the style of blue flames, but I could see everything, even the details on your face or the flowers in Shiemi's garden." Rin was quiet after that, silently telling his brother that that was everything he had to say on that concept.
Yukio seemed to understand because he sighed and moved over to sit in his chair across from Rin. They were quiet for a few second, maybe even minutes, Rin couldn't tell. Then Yukio spoke.
"Why would you keep this from me?"
"I didn't know how you would react and I didn't want you to worry."
"God Rin! Do you know how much this explains for me? This was actually something important!"
"Sorry." Ring grumbled, looking down at the darkness that would be the floor.
"But, this takes away some of my worry actually." Rin looked at his brother in surprise. "I mean, at least you can avoid people, animals, and demons even if you can't avoid objects and walls. It's a little comforting. Also, it explains why your eyes glow the way they do."
"They glow?" Rin asked in surprise.
"Yeah, but not much. It's probably because your flames are acting as your sight to an extent." He was silent before suddenly asking hesitantly. "Do…Do the flames ever change for a person? Like, different from personality wise I mean."
Rin was silent, wondering how to answer this. "…They…They do. It's like…the healthier you are…the brighter the flames. The weaker you are, like sickly or close to dying, the duller the flames."
"I…see. So, in the hospital-"
"Yeah, I could see the old man's flames."
Yukio gave a small smile. "That's good…that's very good."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, neither one knowing what to say nor wanting to break the silence. Finally, it was Rin who spoke.
"Does this mean I don't have to use my cane?"
"No."
"What?! Why?"
"Because you explained you can't see things, meaning you still need the cane to see."
"But-"
"No Rin, you are using the cane."
"Oh come on!"
Suddenly Yukio's phone rang, making Rin jump as Yukio took it out of his pocket. Opening it up, he listened to the mission he was being told before gasping.
"What is it?" Rin asked, tilting his head as he listened to Yukio get his exorcist supplied ready.
"There's a demon in father's hospital, in his room." Yukio answered.
Rin gasped, shooting up to stand before his brother. "Let me come too!"
"Rin, I can't. You're not even an exwire." Yukio said.
"So? He's my old man too!"
"Rin, I can handle this!"
Rin growled before sighing. "I you let me come I'll use my cane for the rest of the week without complaining."
"Rin, that's not an appropriate bargain for this."
"Oh come on you know I'll be fine."
Yukio stared at him for a bit before relenting, sighing at his brother's stubbornness. "Alright, fine you can come." Rin cheered. "However, you have to stick to your promise."
Rin frowned before sighing. "Whatever." With that he reached over to grab his sword and cane which he had placed together. Once he had both he came up to his brother again and followed him through the door when he opened it with a key.
As they exited the door, Rin couldn't help but notice the number of people gathered in the hospital, no doubt all exorcists here to protect their paladin. He knew that they all saw him and Yukio as they entered and moved out of the way as they made their way through the hallway. Rin could feel the stares on him and his brother, though most were on him. He had no doubt that they were wondering why a blind, inexperienced-to their eyes at least-student came to this mission. It made him a bit irritated and he wanted to hit one of them with the cane. Hey, it seemed it did have a purpose!
His brother also seemed to sense both his irritation and the stare but he only glared at the former, which made Rin scowl. He wasn't really going to hit them, at least not to the extent that it would see on purpose to the other people. Since Yukio knew his secret now, it would be a bit hard to convince him that he just hadn't seen the people.
They continued to move through the hall way of the hospital and the closer they got to Shiro's room, the more Rin could hear the angry shouts from the people and the growls from the demon. That, and something else that sounded like an echo-y voice but he couldn't clearly make out just yet.
Once they were in front of the room, Rin heard Yukio talk to whoever was in charge around here at the moment. He didn't bother listening to their conversation, not even letting his twitching ear pull him in when he heard his name. No, he was focused on the demon that stood in the doorway between his adoptive father and him.
It was large and from what he could tell was like a cat. It had two tails swishing behind it in anger and he thought he could just make out a small dent in the flames that made up its head between its ears that symbolized small horns.
But it wasn't just the form that caught his attention. It was also the voice he could hear coming from the demon, ringing in his mind just as Ukobach's had done.
"Stay away from him!" The demon cried. "I won't let anyone else hurt him!"
"It's a cat sidhe." Yukio spoke up appearing beside him. "Kuro is his name. He's dad's familiar."
"Dad's familiar?" Rin gasped, staring at the cat, knowing what it meant thanks to Yukio's study sessions. He caught Yukio nod out of the corner of his eye while replying with a small yes. Then he heard a cock of a gun and that definitely gained his attention.
"Wait! What are you doing?!"
"Taking him out so he doesn't end of hurting anyone, especially dad." Yukio replied.
"Wait! Can't you see he's just upset? If he was dad's familiar, then he's probably just worried about him!"
"Rin, let me deal with this."
"No! I won't let you hurt him when he's just worried." With that he turned back to the demon, Kuro, before giving Yukio his cane. "Hold this."
"Rin-" He was cut off when Rin charged forward which made the cat sidhe hiss at him, but he didn't stop. He continued moving forward until he was in front of the cat and he hit it on the nose, which made everyone freeze.
"What do you think you're doing!? This is a hospital and you could hurt him!"
The cat growled. "They will just hurt him more! I need to protect Shiro!"
"Look I get that you care about him. I do too, but this isn't the way to do it! Plus, these people aren't the ones who hurt him! They're taking care of him!"
"How can I trust you?!" The cat sidhe hissed.
Rin shrugged. "Honestly, I can't tell you. But I do know that man over there is my dad and he looked so much worse before he came here he…he was close to death." His voice grew quiet at the end, making everyone freeze.
"You…you care about him too?"
"Of course. I mean…he did take care of me for a long time." 'Even before he got processed.' But Rin didn't say that last part out loud. It wasn't needed.
"I-I'm just so worried about him!"
"I am too, but you have to control yourself. Look, you can stay with me while we wait for the old man to wake up, alright?"
"Really?"
"Really." He flashed the cat a grin and suddenly it was running at him. He was prepared to be squashed beneath its weight but was shocked when a much smaller version of the cat was in his arms, sobbing and mewing. He stared down in shock before bringing the cat closer to him. He looked up in the direction he knew Shiro's bed was and smiled at the sight of the flames flickering there.
A hand on his shoulder made him jump. "Gah!"
"You're an idiot Rin." Yukio sighed. Rin just grinned at him.
"This time it was worth it." Rin said, letting one of his hands pet Kuro, getting a small purr in response. "Besides, now my hands are occupied, I can't hold my cane anymore."
Yukio frowned. "I'll let it go just this once, but you still have to keep up the rest of your promise."
"Yeah, Yeah."
Yukio sighed, "I'm going to send you and Kuro back to the dorm while I help take care of things here. However, it appears we will have things to talk about when we get back.
Rin rolled his eyes but followed his brother to a door they could use, ignoring the multitude of flames that surrounded him. With one last look back at his brother, he left through the door to the dorm with Kuro in his arms and Yukio throwing the cane in after him.
So that was that! As a celebration gift, we've met Kuro! Obviously earlier and in a slightly different way. So much stuff happened in this chapter!
Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc.
Until next time! :D
