Heavy dose

Rin bolted from the room of esquires quickly to avoid any more side-ways glances and smart remarks about his genes. There were times that he was grateful for his heightened hearing, and there were times that he wasn't. This was one of those times. He had heard everything that the esquires had meant only for their own ears.

Now a reasonable distance from the room, he slowed his pace somewhat. Rin had managed to convince Konekomaru to take care of his familiar for that night. It provided a chance to see if the esquire would be able to do this long term. Then, if Kuro agreed to it, become his next carer.

His feet led him into the main school building. He took the first right, then run up the stairs. Rins slender tail flew out behind him. It ached a little, probably from the rough way he had taken to hiding it under his clothes during the day. He couldn't risk it being seen by people at school that also had the ability to see demons; though it was still highly unlikely.

Rin's mouth also felt weird. Losing teeth was a pain. It had surprised him earlier.

The young demon finally found himself at his chosen destination. To his from was the door to the headmaster's office. Before a single knock was given, Mephisto had opened the door and ushered him inside.

"Right on time", Mephisto said whilst shutting the door.

"Actually, I planned on coming sooner."

"Nonsense. Your remaining time should be spent how you want. You don't have much left."

"Well that was kinda what I wanted to ask you about"

Rin tugged on his wrist and looked down for a moment to gather his feelings before asking his question.

"Do you think... no... um..."

Mephisto pulled him to his desk and pushed him gently onto a chair in-front of his desk. The younger demon exhaled, slightly annoyed with himself for being unable to find the right words.

"Uh... with your permission, I would like to visit pop's grave."

Mephisto's expression didn't falter. Instead, he smiled and nodded.

"I'll see if I can have that arranged."

Rin let his gaze wonder around the room. Though he couldn't see it, he could sense his sword behind one of the headmaster's bookcases; no doubt a secret room. The Kurikara sword was as much a part of him as his hands and feet. It felt strange to be apart from his seal after being with it non-stop for the last few months. His attention was quickly drawn to a pile of documents on the desk in front of him.

"What about 'that'?"

The elder demon knew exactly what Rin was referring to.

"Have you told your brother?"

"No"

"That's probably for the best. All my leads have pointed to dead-ends. I'm sorry. It was false hope.

"I see."

"You don't seem shocked?"

To be honest, I was kinda expecting it."

The headmaster put his clawed hand on Rin's shoulder.

"Come back to my office in two days. I'll see if I can convince the higher ups to grant you leave of the grounds with supervision."

"Thanks."

"It's the least I could do. Now then..."

Mephisto pulled out a vile from under his coat. Rin eyed it warily.

"Is that what was agreed?"

The older demon sighed and nodded.

"Will it hurt?" Rin asked.

"Only a little, if it works properly"

The young demon uncapped it, placed the rim to his lips, tipped his head back, and swallowed quickly.

"How long till it starts working?"

"The solution needs time to be absorbed into your system. The main bulk of the effects should start to show in a couple of hours."

Rin touched the top of his ear. Inside the liquid that he had just ingested, there was a suppressant; the Grigori's way of dealing with troublesome civil demons. Assuming it worked, the suppressant would force Rin's demon half in to a dormant state. This wasn't the same as a seal. A seal had kept his demon half at bay, however it was still active. The suppressant was more like beating up his demon half and injecting a strong poison. The threat would be weakened considerably in the process, but it was still there.

Thanks to that, it also had a pleasant, or unpleasant, side affect depending on who you asked; though it was painful either way. For full demons, it was used as a form of torture. Their blood would begin to attack the weakened body like a virus. The stronger the demon blood within, the more agony the victim felt.

But Rin was only a half demon. In theory, the liquid would allow his human half to take over.

He started to feel uneasy. "I should probably get going."

"No you're not. You need to stay here; at least until I'm sure the suppressant won't kill you."

Rin didn't put up a fight. He obediently remained where he was. Mephisto sat behind his desk and flicked through a few files on top of one of four piles of paperwork. Every now and then, he spared his charge a small glance to check on his condition.

"Anything yet?" Mephisto asked

Rin subconsciously looked at his hands. His ears were slightly lowered.

"Just a bit light headed", he replied.

"That's normal."

"'Kay."

Again they waited. After half an hour, Rin started shaking his hands in an effort to get the some feeling back into them. It started with a tingling in his limbs, which turned into pins-and-needles. Now they were slowly going numb. He clenched his fingers together and held them to his body. They were a little cold also.

Mephisto stood up. He had noticed the change and decided to check on him himself instead just talking. He felt Rin's forehead, then placed two fingers below the jawline. The demon hummed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm losing feeling in my hands and feet."

The headmaster held his hand out as a request to see. Rin complied and gave his arm. It was taken gently.

"Your nails are already loosing their thickness. Hang on one moment. I'll get the clippers. They need cutting before the other changes start."

Mephisto pulled open the second draw behind the desk and took out some nail clippers and a file. He quickly went back to Rin and began cutting and filing off as close to the nail bed as possible. He didn't want to risk Rin injuring himself later.

"How is your head feeling?"

"Dizzy."

"Any pain?"

"No... I don't..."

The younger demon was feeling rather disorientated. His head spun and he longed for sleep. Sleep would help, maybe? He ought to ask Mephisto if that was okay. Did he need permission? There was a chair under him. What he wanted was his bed. A nice soft pillow would be highly welcomed. Why was his body upright? He needed to lie down.

"Rin?"

"Hmm?"

"You need to stay awake for a bit longer."

Rin registered what he had said after a minute of repeating the words under his breath. His head made a slow nod of understanding. There was a dull ache at his temples and near his glands. It pulsed to the same tempo as his heart. Okumura let his lids droop over his eyes and took slow, deep breaths. Nausea was setting in. He motioned to yawn but ended up chocking up bile in the back of his throat. He swallowed.

"I'm gonna be sick."

"That's fine. Don't hold it in."

He took two more gulps of air and threw up into an awaiting plastic bag. Mephisto had at some point handed it to him; he couldn't remember when. He did feel a little better afterwards, but it was temporary. His migraine became more and more intense as time went on. The headmaster eventually pulled him up by the wrist. Rin steadied himself before placing one foot in front of the other, going where-ever he was being led. His eyes were too blurry to see anything past his nose; not that he wanted to see anything at that point. The next thing he knew, he was lying across a bundle of pillows.

Mephisto rubbed Rin's back with lower back and torso with disinfectant. Rin soon found out why.

"AAAHHHHH!" he choked.

Rin rolled in a fit of pain. He thrashed and screamed. When the burning at the base of his spine intensified, he wrapped his arms around his chest and started clawing at his sides. Despite Mephisto's precautionary measures, there was still plenty of marks and tears at the skin, though significantly reduced. A thin trickle of blood dripped from his nose. His lungs were on fire. Air wheezed through the oesophagus in desperation.

Mephisto must have had enough of listening to his fellow species screeching because it wasn't long before a sharp pin prick sent the tortured being to sleep.