A/N: Just as predicted, there was an extra-long wait, but hopefully a double update makes up for it. I hope you're all doing well, and life's been good for the past three months. It's been... rough for me. But I'm (just barely) surviving!

Anyway, I wanted to thank all of you for your patience, and especially for the encouragement from reviewers. And to dandelion379 and Swift-Star9, an especially big thanks for our conversations which inspired specific moments in this chapter.

(And yes, unfortunately, I'm still very busy, so expect another long wait for chapter 12.)

EDIT: So I don't know if it's affecting you all too, or if it's just the new browser I'm using, but apparently the ō and ā symbols and the like appear smaller than the rest of the text if you're reading in the default Verdana font. I don't recall this happening in the past (but then it doesn't appear that way on the editing page)… Anyway, if you are getting this problem and it bugs you, there's an easy fix: change the font (click the big A at the top under the summary box between the A- and the lines). It looks like every other font, other than Verdana and Droid Sans, doesn't have this issue. Sorry for any inconvenience. For future chapters, this begs the question: do I continue like this for consistency's sake or do I switch to using "ou" and such? I guess if I don't hear anything from you all, I'll continue like I have, so please let me know!

It was the night after they had returned home, closing in on two in the morning, and, as Shura watched Yukio lean over stiffly to peer around the corner, she decided he was more of an idiot than she had originally thought. Even if he was no longer sick, he should've been asleep in bed, recovering from the literal hole in his side. Instead, he had been tracking Shima ever since the spy had left his dorm room half an hour earlier. He stood rigidly, peering around corners, holding his breath, rolling his feet with each step to prevent sound, completely oblivious to her presence a short distance behind him.

At the moment they were in a shopping district in the west part of town. This particular part of town had been hit hard by the Illuminati led Fire Demon Attack. Rubble painted gray with ash still littered the streets. Crumbling buildings, evacuated by their owners, loomed over them as imposing monoliths of silence in the darkness. Even at this late hour, there should have been people cutting through the streets from the bar Shura knew was only a block away. Curfew orders were still in effect though, so only store mannequins sporting the latest spring fashions were there to provide their company from behind the safety of glass windows.

Finally, it seemed Shima had reached his destination; he had been loitering in an alley for nearly five minutes now. Looked like it was time to reveal herself, so she crept up behind Yukio and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "So how's the stalkin' goin'?"

Yukio gasped out a curse as he whipped around to face her.

She gave a mock gasp. "Language, Four Eyes! I didn't even think ya knew that word."

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed back.

"Followin' ya followin' Shima." She shrugged. Her familiar had alerted her to Shima's unusual movement, so she had dragged herself out of bed to find out what he was up to. It was either a very stupid move or a very bold one on Shima's part. He knew about the familiar, so either he thought he could shake his tail or he was letting them follow. If it was the latter, as Shura suspected it was, then the question became was this a trap for her or a trap for who he was meeting?

She had been so careful to watch her back that it actually took a second for her to realize Shima had a second tail. She had wondered how Yukio had known when to follow Shima. It made sense that Shima would report what he saw on their mission when they got back home, and the Fire Demon Attack provided the perfect distraction for any Illuminati contacts to come and go. But Yukio couldn't have known the exact hour. Now that she could see his face properly though, it was clear he had been at it for a while, probably staking out Shima's dorm for the past few hours. He was unnaturally pale, pasty at best. "Ya look terrible. Do I need ta poke ya in the side an' send ya ta bed?"

"I'm fine."

"Y'know, every time ya say that, I just hear 'I'm terrible. Please knock some sense inta me Shura-sama!'" She mimed swooning while she did a perfect imitation of his voice.

He didn't look impressed. "If I ever call you 'sama' then you'll know something is seriously wrong."

She grinned. "Uh-huh. Well, I'm still goin' ta have ta send y'away. I'll call some exorcists who weren't wounded just last week." As much as she wanted to continue exchanging teasing remarks, a sense of anxiety was coiled in the pit of her stomach. She needed to get him out of here before Shima met with someone. The fact that Yukio was willing to go this far to track Shima's contact… Well, if the contact was still Tōdō, then Yukio was definitely not ready for another encounter. "C'mon, let's go."

"I'm fine. Really."

"Ya really want ta make this difficult? Yer just lucky my familiar couldn't wake up Rin, or he'd be all over ya fer pullin' a stunt like this." She had called Rin the instant she had realized who the second shadow was, but after no response, she had sent her nāga instead. If she hadn't heard back by now, the sleeping beauty was probably still snoring away. She raised an eyebrow at Yukio. "I'll happily kick yer ass an' knock ya out in his stead if that's really how ya want ta play this…" She grinned with a touch of malice this time.

"If Shima's contact shows tonight it will be worth a few hours of standing in the shadows," he defended. "My wound is fine. I'm fine."

He was missing the point. "An' yet ya didn't call fer any backup when ya saw Shima leave the dorms at such a late hour. This whole situation isn't fine at all."

"What are you talking about?" he asked to a spot over her shoulder.

Her eyes narrowed. Playing dumb, huh? "Ya know what. Yer expectin' fer Shima ta lead ya ta Tōdō, an' ya wanted ta face him alone."

"I would've called for backup…" he muttered, still avoiding her eyes.

She balked at the lie and had to take a moment to wrangle her temper. She wasn't sure what it was that irritated her so much: that he was trying to lie to her again, that he was putting himself in danger again, or that after all they had talked about he still thought this was a good idea. At least he wasn't giving her that overly polite smile while trying to change the subject.

"Why are you here, Shura-san?" Yukio smiled that overly polite smile.

She considered punching it off his face. "Ya still want ta go down this dangerous path?" she growled. The smile slid off his face as he realized she wouldn't take his bait for a subject change. "C'mon! Did ya hit yer head an' ferget everythin' we just talked about on the train? Everythin' that happened around New Year's? Hasn't anythin' changed fer ya?"

"It has," he insisted quietly in contrast to her raising volume. "But I have to do this before I can move forward."

"Do what exactly?" It was no use fishing for a straight answer from him. She had to come out and ask. "Are ya goin' ta kill Tōdō?"

Shura didn't know if she should have been more relieved or worried when Yukio didn't respond. If she had asked a few months ago, she probably would have received another flat-out lie. Now, he was quiet, a flash of uncertainty crossing his face.

He didn't know what he was going to do. He probably wouldn't know until he came face to face with his opponent.

Her anger extinguished a fraction at his hesitance. "Yukio, don't."

"Why not? He's a monster. He's a demon. We always aim to kill when it's a demon," he countered immediately, as if repeating a line he had memorized. He had reasoned this out before. "Why would you say I shouldn't now?"

"This isn't about whether or not he should be killed; this is about whether or not ya should do it. This isn't just any demon. If it was, ya wouldn't be so stubborn about doin' this by yerself."

"This is my mess. I have to clean it up. I said I would beat him next time we met, but then I failed. He got away again!" he hissed between clenched teeth. "If I can't do this then…!"

"Then what?" she insisted.

"Then… Then I can't…" He looked around, anywhere but her face, as he struggled for the words. "Then this is my limit! This is as far as I can go! If I can't do this, then I won't be able to move forward. I'll never be able to look myself in the eye. I'll never be able to look Rin in the eye as an equal."

She sighed, unsurprised by his words, but unhappy to hear he was still stuck in this thought pattern. "That's some twisted logic ya got there."

"You don't get it!" he snapped.

"Yukio—"

He shushed her and leaned over to peek properly around the corner again. "Someone's coming!"

The anxiety in her stomach uncoiled into dread.

Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe a different Illuminati contact had been sent. Tōdō had probably been chosen as the original contact because he knew all the best places to hide in the town he had lived in for years. But that wasn't necessary with the evacuations and curfew still in effect. So surely, they sent someone new…

The hood slid back a little, and her hope was extinguished. She barely recognized the young face, but Yukio's reaction made it clear.

"It's him!" Yukio started forward, but she pulled him back by the collar.

"Hold up! Yer not in any shape to do this. Physically or mentally."

"I'm fine!" He twisted around, forcing her to lose her grip, but she caught his arm instead.

"Yukio!" He shook off her grip, and she had to pin him against the wall to keep him still. "I get it! I do," she whispered hurriedly as he glared at her and tried to push her arm away from his chest. "Remember? I know what it's like ta be told yer just like someone that ya hate. But as much as ya try, ya can't deny the connection, and ya just want ta be rid of it!" It was a tad harder to keep him still now that he wasn't a scrawny kid, so it was a relief when his fight bled away with her words. She sighed. "This is dangerous fer ya. After all the progress ya've made so far, this is not goin' ta help ya. This isn't a step forward like ya think it is."

"But it has to be! If I can defeat Tōdō, I can defeat…!" His face twisted as if the words were bitter, and she recognized the expression from the last time they spoke about Tōdō.

"Yer nothin' like him," she repeated his own words from that conversation back to him. "Ya don't need need ta beat him ta prove that yer different. Yer yer own person, Yukio. Yer not connected ta this guy."

He went rigid, and, not for the first time, she wondered what Tōdō possibly could have said to get this deep into Yukio's head. He swallowed hard. "I…"

"I don't know about that," a third voice interrupted them. "You wouldn't have to deny it so many times if it weren't true. Right, Okumura Yukio-kun?"

Shura grabbed Yukio's wrist, yanked him behind her, and summoned her sword with her other hand in a single, fluid movement. She felt Yukio tense behind her and heard the sound of metal against cloth as he drew one of his guns.

Tōdō looked at the sword mere centimeters from his nose and raised an eyebrow. "Ah, right, Kirigakure Shura. We met once before, if you recall. I've been told you are the one who has been dragging Okumura-kun back into his delusions."

"If ya mean I'm helpin' him see things clearly, then yeah." She tightened her grip on Yukio's wrist and widened her stance, sliding her foot back so it bumped against his. He seemed to get the message, and paused in his efforts to silently edge around her. She knew it was useless trying to keep the two of them separated, but there was no way she couldn't try.

"Okumura-kun, I'm glad to see you're doing well." Tōdō looked over her shoulder at Yukio, blatantly ignoring her comment, before she sidled over to block his view. He smiled and made eye contact with her even as he continued to speak to Yukio. "You don't need to hide behind her, Okumura-kun. She's doing you no favors."

"I'm not hiding!" Yukio finally slipped around her and tore his hand out of hers so that he could draw his second gun. His posture was winding up for a strike, but to her relief, he didn't rush into an attack. "I won't lose this time."

Tōdō smiled contentedly despite now having three weapons pointed at his head. "That's an amusing thought. But I suppose I should take it seriously after all you've achieved recently. I hear congratulations are in order. Your plan to draw in one of the Eight Kings so you could use an anti-demon drug and the power you hold in your eyes was quite clever. It seems you've learned how to use your power well. I'm proud of the progress you've made."

The fact that he was complimenting behavior that had put Yukio in danger made Shura laugh mirthlessly. She was satisfied to see Tōdō's smile lose an ounce of its smugness. "Wow! He talks with such a sense of drama, doesn't he? I'm amazed ya can take this guy seriously."

She didn't earn a smile from Yukio like she had hoped, but her comment seemed to succeed in snapping him out of the intensity in which he was listening to Tōdō's words. Seeing him being sucked in so easily made her concern ratchet up by a multiple of ten. She had to keep him grounded. "Seems ridiculous ta me the way he's talkin' like the two of ya are buddies."

"It… It is isn't it," Yukio said slowly, and a dry smile made its way onto his face this time.

Tōdō frowned, and Shura could swear the air around her had risen in temperature. "You know I'm looking out for you, Okumura-kun. I was the one who saved you when you fell from the roof. And wasn't it me who suggested that you focus on using your powers against other demons? Because of that, you were able to destroy the Ocean Queen. It was an elegant victory, being able to take down a high level demon with a single attack. That must have been an exciting discovery. An important piece of data for your experiments."

"That's not why I did it." Yukio's voice was firm. "It was our duty to protect the villagers—"

"You don't need to pretend. Your motives may not be as selfless as your brother's would be, but there is no shame in desiring the next step towards the truth."

Shura felt her jaw drop open at the sheer audacity of his comments, and Yukio went rigid beside her. She wasn't at all surprised by the suggestion that Yukio's motives weren't all as he had claimed; she had asked what his motives were at the time for a reason. Even if his answer had been perfectly diplomatic, she knew he would always harbor a curiosity for certain truths no matter how dangerous it was for him. But she also knew that she trusted the answer he had given her at the time. She wouldn't have let him run off to use his eyes otherwise. That dangerous curiosity may have been spurring him deep in the back of his mind, something he might've realized if he was any good at being honest with himself, but she had trusted that his primary motive had been to protect because they had just seen Rin struck out cold and defenseless.

She had to hand it to Tōdō though. With one comment he encouraged that dangerous curiosity, grew the envy Yukio held towards Rin, and buried Yukio's kindness under another layer of self-reproach.

Shura wondered if she could get away with a quick slash to be rid of the demon eater's tongue, or if she'd wind up burned to a crisp for her efforts. Instead, she started silently signaling to Yukio that they needed to back away and get some space because if the standoff broke now, she didn't have enough space to dodge the attack she knew would be aimed at her. She knew Yukio understood the hand signals she was using even while gripping her sword, so his lack of response meant he was ignoring her. "Ya better not be listenin' ta this poisonous dribble, Yukio. It's idiotic!"

"Poison?" Tōdō echoed while Yukio shook his head an incremental amount, just enough to reject her strategy. She glared at Tōdō, but she was sure Yukio understood the glare was for him too. Tōdō's expression remained even, seemingly oblivious to the second conversation happening in front of him. "If I'm poison, are you supposed to be the antidote then? But from what I see, you're not curing anything, just masking the symptoms."

"Yeah?" She snorted, and slid her foot to the left until it hit the wall. Yukio's eyes narrowed, finally understanding why she wanted to back up, and he relented by moving his own foot backwards, beginning the slow, subtle shuffle around their opponent. Shura grinned in appreciation, but kept it cold for Tōdō's sake. "Nice try. I'm not playin'."

"But it's true! Think about it Okumura-kun." Yukio froze as Tōdō's eyes landed on him again, and she took the opportunity to move a step away from the wall. "Isn't she only acknowledging one part of you? I see you as a whole and would have you embrace your true self. This woman is just trying to change you and have you become what she wants. She's as bad as your father."

"Excuse me?!" she choked out before Yukio could respond. Damn, she did not want to let this guy under her skin, but there's no way she could let that comment pass. "What did ya just say? I must be hearin' things."

"He used Yukio," Tōdō said simply, smiling at her indignation. "He assigned him the destiny of being nothing more than a tool to protect his brother."

"That's the type of bullshit ya've been tryin' ta feed him this whole time?!" She knew it was bad; it had to be if it had rattled Yukio. But hearing it was proving more difficult than she had anticipated.

"You seem so sure it's untrue, yet he has confirmed it himself. He hates himself for being too weak to reject the life his father assigned him."

"Shut up!" Yukio shouted, finally objecting. "I never said that! I hate myself for being weak, but Father gave me a way to move past that weakness!"

Shura felt a stab of shock at how easily he admitted to his self-hatred in front of Tōdō and the fact that Tōdō didn't blink twice at the words. They had discussed this before. Damn it. When she had told him to be honest with himself before the battle in Kyoto, she hadn't meant be honest with the enemy too!

"Oh. You still try to convince yourself of that? How disappointing." Tōdō sighed. "You can't let him escape without blame though. What type of father lets his son grow to hate his brother or to hate himself? Wasn't he the one that put you in that position? Why would he let it continue? The only answer is that he didn't care. He wasn't your true father after all, so—"

"Shut up!" she shouted, disturbed by the words, but more horrified that Yukio was letting them be said. He was watching Tōdō with blank eyes, sinking into a daze as he listened. Shura growled. "Yer talkin' 'bout things ya don't understand! Yer talkin' like ya knew Shirō! Ya don't! Ya didn't watch him train Yukio! Ya didn't see how much he cared fer Yukio! Ya didn't see what I did!"

"I don't need to. I've lived it. And I see the results right in front of me." He turned back to Yukio and leaned towards him. "It's a pity, Okumura-kun. You let your father decide things for you as a child, and now you are allowing this woman to take up that role. Isn't it time you were honest with yourself about what you really want?"

"I am!" Yukio protested, shaking his head as if that would clear it. He settled into a glare. "I know who I am, and I know who I want to be."

"Want to be…? Forcing yourself to go along with the changes this woman, the Order, or your brother ask of you is harmful. If you're still trying to be something you're not, then how can you say you know who you are? We cannot change. We are chameleons; we can change our skins, but at our core we remain the same. That core is what you cannot turn away from."

She was beginning to see how easy it was to be sucked into his words. "Hey, I'm all fer bein' honest with yerself, but yer neglectin' ta mention the big difference between ya an' Yukio. Maybe some people can't grow an' change, but some definitely can! Fer some people, acceptin' who y'are is just the first step. If ya have it in ya ta know yerself an' work ta grow beyond who y'are now, then why wouldn't ya put in that effort? Clearly, ya were one of those people that didn't have that strength. Ya took the easy way out!"

"Easy? I find no shame in saying it was incredibly easy once I admitted the truth to myself. This is who I was meant to be. Easy or hard ultimately does not matter. I am true to myself and my desires. You cannot argue that that is wrong. Are you claiming you worked hard to get the life you desire, and that fighting to reach your goals makes you better than me?"

The unfortunate truth of it was that she couldn't claim that she had. She knew her limit and hadn't bothered trying to push past it. She had her reasons for not bothering. Enjoying life was more important to her, and she liked who she was. But she knew Yukio was different.

"Yer just tryin' ta drag Yukio down ta yer level. If anyone has the strength ta constantly strive ta be better, it's him. He's got way more potential than ya ever did!" She glanced at Yukio, and the dread in her stomach vanished in place of amusement. His posture was stiff, but far less aggressive than it had been in the beginning of the conversation. If anything, the stiffness was just in reaction to her words. Tōdō seemed to notice too, and a note of coldness entered his voice.

"I will not argue with you there. I see the potential too." The smile he gave was nothing short of a cat that had swallowed a bird. But then, he had, hadn't he?

Her instincts screamed a warning of danger at the base of her skull, and Shura edged one foot backwards, preparing to drag Yukio away.

Tōdō saw the movement, and his smile grew. There was no chance of outrunning the attack. She was still too close to the wall, and her speed was diminished by her deeply bruised leg from the battle with Amaimon and her ankle still weak from the battle with the Ocean Queen. Her mind scrambled for an idea, any way to escape.

The demon eater cocked his head to the side. "Should we see if the legends are true? Karura versus nāga… The winner should be obvious. (1)"

"Don't try anything!" Yukio yelled, recognizing the threat while a thousand thoughts rushed through her head. Two viable ideas occurred to her, but one was something she hadn't used since she was a child, and she'd be damned if Tōdō could make her use it.

"I'm afraid you've left me no choice, Okumura-kun." He raised his hands, palms up, and fire leapt from his fingertips. "I only aim to free you from this woman's influence. Just as Satan freed you from your father's."

"Don't talk about him!" Yukio roared, and all her words to calm him no longer mattered.

Her own mind went blank with fury, and in a flash of rage she went for the attack. But before she could take even a single step a shiver ran down her spine as the air around her spiked in heat. Her body moved to evade before her mind registered the danger. She dove.

She barely made it behind Yukio, her nose wrinkling at the scent of her own hair singeing. Sure enough, Tōdō's attack missed them both by a miniscule, yet notable distance. He wouldn't kill Yukio.

She threw an arm around Yukio and hurried backwards, struggling to drag him with her as he opened fire on Tōdō. While the attacks slowed Tōdō down, it was also preventing her from getting a good grip on him.

"Yukio! C'mon!" she yelled furiously. Fire flared around them, cutting off all paths of escape except a straight path right behind her. Yeah, right. Like she would walk into such an obvious trap without her shield. If her shield would just work with her.

"No! I won't run from this!" Yukio shouted back, digging his heels into the ground.

"It's not runnin', it's savin' my skin from becomin' barbecue!"

"Go on without me then!"

"I can't!"

But he should have already figured that out. She caught a glimpse of his face as she readjusted her arm around him, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. He… He was too consumed. She had never seen him lose his head in battle; even when he was a frightened kid, he still had some sense. But now he wasn't thinking. He wasn't considering the danger he was putting them both in.

Tōdō chuckled at their arguing.

"Damn it!" she cursed loudly before he could start with any of his ridiculous dribble again. "Calm down, Yukio! Yer not thinkin' clearly!"

Waves of heat emanating from the ground gave them fair warning of another attack right where they were standing. Shura tried to move backwards. Yukio threw his weight forwards.

"Let go!" Yukio yelled as Shura screamed out a string of curses.

She'd have to apologize for this later. Or maybe not, considering this was his fault. She rammed the pommel of her sword into his side, just below his wound, with a little more force than she had meant to. The effect was instantaneous. The breath was knocked out of him, and Yukio passed out, going limp in her arms. She scooped him up and ran. Flames erupted from where they were just standing.

A wall of fire exploded in front of her, forcing her to spring sideways, but then another geyser of flames had her skidding to a stop before she ran right into it. Beneath the flood of adrenaline in her system, her leg began to throb with the effort to dodge attack after attack. She whipped around again searching for a new direction and saw Tōdō's pleased face. He was toying with her.

The inferno encircled her and began closing in from all sides, snapping and spitting embers at her. The air was stifling, sweat trickled down her back, and soon she was coughing from all the smoke.

A hand reached through the fire and grabbed Yukio. He woke up gasping and spluttering for air as he twisted away from the hand.

"Let go of him!" she growled and had to juggle Yukio so she could deliver a powerful strike with her sword, hacking off the arm. But even without a body, it clung to Yukio, the fingers walking up her arm like a spider, trying to find the best place to pry at her grip.

Tōdō's face appeared in in the flames. "You're the one who should let go."

"Ya can't have him!" She suddenly wished Shirō was… She wished Rin was there to back her up.

She stabbed the face through the eye, but the flames grinned. "Have you noticed the futility?" he mused. "You cannot win. You are not even a player in this game, Kirigakure Shura. It's time you stopped pretending you were."

A second hand joined the first as the flames leaned forward to smirk at her. The fingers burned blisters into her skin as they tore at her grip on Yukio. She hissed and slashed and knew it was hopeless.

She was going to die a very painful death unless she did something… Anything… Damn it! Tōdō had forced her to use it after all.

"Yukio, don't do anythin' stupid! I'm not goin' far! Do ya hear me, Yukio?!" She didn't have time to search for comprehension in his face before the scorching hands wrenched him away so that he toppled to the ground, the fire clearing a path for him. Instantly, the flames leapt around her to separate them, completely surrounding her, and, a split-second later, Tōdō attacked.

Just as before, she felt the ground beneath her feet spike in heat. But now that Yukio was safe, Tōdō didn't hesitate, and unleashed the full fury of his flames.

Shura hadn't performed a substitution technique since she was eight years old, but now she executed it so quickly, it would've made her mother proud.

Or at least she liked to imagine that the technique was developed by her mother. There was no way to know for certain who had scrawled the instructions for the technique in the margins of the old scrolls of the Kirigakure clan, but the ink was clearly fresher than the rest of the old notes. Whoever had discovered it, Shura was sure the woman had only figured it out while trying to break the seal on her chest.

The technique itself was awful. She had only used it once in her life, but once was one time too many for her tastes. To perform it, she had to stretch the dimensional wards in her tattoo out over her whole body. With enough focus, the wards which usually allowed her to summon her sword or other weapons could be bent to her will for a split second, so that she could trade places with something nearby of a similar mass at the cost of her energy. Unlike the teleportation Mephisto specialized in, this was utterly useless in battle. When she used it as a child it was in an attempt to run away, and now with fire exploding beneath her feet, she had no choice but to do the same. Hopefully this attempt would be more successful.

The snapback of the wards made her ears pop, and she could see nothing but white for a moment as the world spun around her. She yelped and fell to the floor, tearing off her boots blindly as she realized the soles of her shoes were melting. The awful smell of melting rubber had her gagging in unison with the taste of dusty plastic in her mouth. She wished she had chosen something a little more palatable to trade places with, but one of the dusty mannequins in the window had been the most obvious choice.

She sat up, her arms trembling and head swimming with the effort as she peered through the window of the boutique she had transported herself to. The fire in the street illuminated the stunned look on Yukio's face as he sat up and stared at where she had just been. Then she realized her mistake.

Usually it would be obvious to anyone watching the scene what she had done. But Tōdō burned everything so quickly and efficiently that the mannequin had instantly charred into something that almost looked human. Almost.

But with the mindset Yukio was in, almost was too much.

Her fists pounded against the glass trapping her inside the boutique.

"Yukio! No!"

-oOo-

Yukio hit the ground hard, causing the breath to be knocked out of him and black spots to pop in front of his eyes. His side still screamed in pain from Shura's blow, and it took a second for his body to remember how take air in. He struggled against himself, pushing off the heavy blanket of pain, but by the time he scrambled to his feet, it was too late.

What had just happened? He stared at the orange flames

It wasn't possible. This was Shura. This was Father's student. She was stronger than that. That natural talent that he had admired and envied from the first moment he had seen her in battle was too good to be defeated so easily. She couldn't be gone just like that. The body didn't look right. There hadn't even been a scream. The scene was all wrong. She must have escaped somehow. This was just some sort of illusion or hallucination. It wasn't real. She had just said she wasn't going far. She wouldn't just… leave.

"Shu…" Yukio had to swallow hard before he found his voice. "Shura-san?" He tried to look beyond the walls of fire surrounding him. She had to be around here somewhere.

"Hm. That's too bad," Tōdō murmured, frowning slightly.

"You…" His eyes were caught on Tōdō's mild disappointment, and he was suddenly aware of his heartbeat. His pulse was pounding through his entire body. His skin felt so hot it was as if he was burning too. Whatever doubt he had was gone; Yukio decided. He had killed her.

He had done nothing to stop it. Why hadn't he objected more? Kept Tōdō's attention on himself instead of her? He had been too focused on Tōdō's words again. Every time Tōdō opened his mouth, Yukio struggled to find his feet in the steady stream of venom that poured out. Having Shura there to deny and defend for him had been an unexpected relief, but he had made the same mistake as with Amaimon: why did he think she could pull him out of danger without getting hurt?

What a fool! What a useless, pathetic fool!

Tōdō sighed. "Well, now that we are alone…"

Whatever Tōdō said next was lost to Yukio. All he heard was the nonchalant tone Tōdō had, as if he hadn't just… Hadn't just…

Something in the back of his head snapped like a rubber band finally stretched past its limit. "You…!"

The word was ripped painfully from his throat, but his wrath was all that mattered. He leapt at the man in front of him and put all his weight behind the tackle. They tumbled to the ground, and before they hit the pavement he had already pressed his guns to Tōdō's skull. He fired bullet after bullet, blessed by Suijin water gods, directly into the brain until his guns clicked, useless, empty in his hands.

He had killed her! He had killed her and acted like it was nothing! He acted like it didn't matter! It didn't matter that he had killed her while Yukio was on the ground, completely and utterly useless!

He discarded the pistols and found himself striking with his hands. He pummeled Tōdō with fist after fist, slamming the smug face against the ground. The shock of each blow ran up his arm with a satisfying jolt of force as he threw his entire strength behind each punch. Again, again, again! Harder! Hurt him! Hurt him!

This wouldn't have happened if he had been stronger. This wouldn't have happened if he had defeated him the last time they had met or the last time or…

No more! No more of the arrogant, manipulative bastard! No more useless, pathetic coward!

He had to beat him, punish him, hurt him, finish him! He had to end him! Kill him!

The pain began to surface in the sea of rage. His side throbbed with each breath and his fists shattered with each blow. Something was tearing his throat apart, and his eyes stung painfully, and he could still see her, completely serious for once, as she told him they were friends.

He had killed her. He had killed her after all she had done for him, and now she was gone and he couldn't… He could never…

His mind refused to continue the thought as he drowned in pain and rage. He focused on his fury, trying to sweep the swell of suffocating grief underneath. But that corner of his heart reserved for his grief for Father attacked with vigor. After all the training and missions together, he was supposed to have her back. Father would be so disappointed in him.

He threw another strike and another and another, and fire lapped at his knuckles, rushing up to repair what little damage he had caused to Tōdō's smirk. He didn't even bother to protect himself.

Smug, vile monster! Weak, pitiful excuse for an exorcist—for a friend!

He had failed her, failed Father! He had to end it!

It took a moment for sound to come back. The rushing of blood in his ears cleared away just enough for him to hear someone screaming. The ache of his throat suggested the horrible sound was coming from himself.

And then somewhere behind him, beyond the fire, there was the wailing of one of the nearby store's security alarm, and someone else was shouting his name. Perhaps it was Shima. Yukio had lost track of him in the chaos.

Tōdō was saying something, but Yukio didn't need to hear it. No more. He refused to be trapped by the demon's words again. He grabbed one of the holy water canisters he had brought with him and rammed it against that smile until he managed to shove it down Tōdō's throat. A cold satisfaction trickled down his spine when Tōdō gargled and choked, and the serene glint in his eye finally changed.

But then the can grew hot in his hand and suddenly burst, steam spraying everywhere, burning his hands, stinging his eyes, and making him cough. He swiped the water from his face as Tōdō spit out the empty can and laughed.

And before his mind registered the ineffectiveness of the move, he wrapped his hands around Tōdō's neck and squeezed until the laughter stopped. But his hands were burning, and he couldn't get a good grip, and he couldn't stop the words spilling from Tōdō's mouth.

"There's the face I wanted to see! You're so close. You're almost ready. Soon you will come to your full potential." His voice was horribly calm, making Yukio strike him again, trying to force him to feel pain, to feel something even as Yukio burned his bloody knuckles against the man's jaw. It only served to feed the flurry of thoughts in Yukio's mind.

He needed more. His fists weren't enough. His weapons weren't enough. He needed more strength. He needed more power. He needed the power of a demon.

"You want my full potential?" He didn't recognize his own voice through the cruelty in it. "You think I don't know? That I haven't figured it out?!" He grabbed one of his guns and reloaded it at last. "You want to see it so badly?! Here it is!"

He raised the gun to his own temple and released the safety. But his heart was a hot coal of fury in his chest. Not an ounce of fear when he needed it most. He put his finger on the trigger and felt a swell of approval when Tōdō's smile faltered.

If it didn't work, it didn't work. It'd be better for the world either way.

But then someone gripped him tight from behind, wrenching the pistol from his grip with a clatter against the pavement, pulling him backwards, off of Tōdō. He flailed blindly against his captor, elbowing them in the stomach and digging his nails into the arms holding him in place. "Let go!" He could see Tōdō's flames receding as the coward fled. "Let me go! He's getting away!"

"Yukio, stop!" shouted a familiar voice. There were only a few people in the world who could walk through the oppressive heat of Tōdō's flames with such ease, and only one who would hold him with such a gentle strength.

"Nii-san, let me go!" he cried, but Rin just held him tighter.

"No! Yukio-!"

"Let go!" He kicked back against his brother, but Rin was too strong. Yukio was too weak.

"I won't! I won't lose you!" Rin was yelling.

Yukio mustered his strength and elbowed Rin again, this time as an intentional strike, and Rin grunted, his grip loosening just enough. Yukio tore himself free and dashed forward, but Rin caught his forearm, tugging him back. The opposing momentums caused him to spin, Rin's strength pulling him around so that he faced his brother for a moment. "Let go!" he cried, refusing to look at Rin's face.

"Yukio, please!" Rin's voice cracked, and Yukio paused. Rin was reaching for him with his other hand. His fingers were trembling. Yukio stared, his entire body still pounding with his heartbeat.

He had to hurry… Tōdō was getting away. The chance he had been waiting for was slipping away again. He still had to defeat him… He still had to…

He let Rin yank him down into a clumsy hug.

"Let go," he whispered. The driving vengeance possessing him left him all at once, and his legs gave out beneath him, causing him to collapse into Rin's arms. Rin held him up, unbothered by the weight. He felt so warm compared to the sudden chill going through Yukio. "Let go," Yukio sobbed into the fabric of Rin's sweatshirt.

"No. Never going to happen." Rin slowly lowered him down to sit on the ground.

He didn't know, Yukio suddenly realized, and the coldness spreading through his body was accompanied by a heavy numbness. Rin didn't know that Shura was… Shura was…

And worse yet, it was his fault. It was all his fault. He had failed. He was too weak. He would never beat Tōdō. He would never be strong enough.

He wasn't sure how long he sat, frozen, in Rin's arms, staring blankly at the flames surrounding them as they faded back into darkness now that Tōdō was no longer there to spur them. The roar of the fire fell to a whisper.

"Yukio…"

He looked up and blinked once, twice just to make sure.

Shura knelt in front of him and gripped his shoulders tight like she had before Tōdō had shown up a lifetime before. Her face was ashen, and she was breathing hard as if it was taking all her effort to appear before him. He forced himself to release one hand from its vice-like grip on Rin and stiffly curled it around her wrist instead. He immediately found her pulse. The thumping of blood rushing through her veins kept a quick and steady rhythm against his numbing fingers. Alive. Alive. Alive.

She smiled at him, but it lacked its usual mirth. "C'mon. Yer not gonna get rid of me that easily."

Relief washed through him like a wave rolling up onto a beach, and he sagged in Rin's arms. A second wave rolled through him, this one full of exhaustion and nausea.

"We're lucky the buildings didn't catch fire," Shura murmured. "But we should still move-"

"Indeed," a new voice agreed smoothly.

Yukio blinked, and the smoke and darkness of Campus Town were gone. He thought for a moment he had lost consciousness, but Rin and Shura were still crouched next to him. Then the fog of his brain lifted just enough to recognize the new voice, and it made sense how they had ended up in the headmaster's office.

"I just got out of the hospital, and I'm already putting out fires for you three," Pheles hummed to himself, patting out a flame on his gaudy purple pajamas. "You can go now, Shima-kun."

Shima was standing next to Pheles's desk watching the three kneeling on the floor. So this was where he had gone.

"Shima?! What are you doing here?!" Rin sat up straight as he looked at his friend, but kept his arms around Yukio.

Was it the change in lighting after being surrounded by fire, or did Shima look pale? "I was…"

"He told me where to find you," Pheles explained when Shima's reply didn't continue. He gave Shima a dismissive wave of his hand. "You've done enough tonight. I need to talk to these three alone now."

Shima closed his mouth and gave a curt nod. Yukio had never seen him look so stricken before as he stole one more glance at them and left the office.

"Now then, there are plenty of chairs. No need to sit on the ground," Pheles said breezily as if they were there for nothing more than a mission briefing.

He knows the truth. He has answers for everything. He would know if Father…

The dull thought froze, uncompleted in Yukio's head as Rin lifted him into a chair. He would ask in a minute. He just needed to rest a little first. Everything felt so heavy. Shura was next to him. He watched through blurry eyes, as if his glasses had slipped off his face, as she lifted his shirt to check his wound. His eyelids fell closed of their own volition for just a moment. He would ask in just a moment…

Their voices sank down to him through the thick layers of fatigue.

"Yukio? Are you okay?" Rin's voice was muted, but the concern was still audible.

"By some miracle, he didn't pull his stitches." Shura's voice was sharp with a quality Yukio struggled to put a name to. It was something he had heard once before, but when was evasive. "He's just tired. Right, Yukio?"

Yukio felt his head bob in a nod and heard Rin sigh in relief, although he kept his hand on Yukio's arm as he stood. "Uh… What are you doing? What the hell happened here?"

Yukio's eyes cracked open, or they must have, for he was watching the scene again. Pheles was moving around the room, waving his hand in a dramatic fashion. As he did so, his office began to clear itself of the mess littering the floor. Someone had upturned the room, clearly searching for something.

"The Fire Demon Attack allowed some ants into our picnic," Pheles said simply.

"Huh?"

"The attack was a distraction ta get into yer office," Shura deduced. She leaned heavily against Pheles's desk. "I heard there were sights all over town that were rummaged through: the library, one of the classrooms in the school, the labs at the hospital, and a sweets shop." She raised a finger for each location as she rattled them off.

"Huh? Why so many weird places?" Rin scratched the side of his head.

"Smokescreen." She shrugged. She was watching Pheles move about his office instead of facing Rin and Yukio. "They usually try ta hide their presence, so the fact that they left all these places trashed… They probably didn't have time ta clean up like usual, so they hid what they were really after by goin' after several targets even though they cared about only one of them."

"What were they after?" Rin asked as if everyone else knew the answer except for him.

"I wonder," Pheles said vaguely in a tone that implied he knew. He finished cleaning and finally sat behind his desk. He folded his hands in front of him. "So… I take it you had a nice trip."

Shura snorted and turned to face the demon. She swayed a bit as she turned, but she didn't sit down next to Yukio. Instead she stood stiffly with her hands on her hips, her chin lifting defiantly. "Is that what we're callin' it now?"

"I also hear you had an unexpected guest on your way home." He sighed dramatically. "I suppose I should apologize for Amaimon's rudeness."

"Oh. Oh yeah!" Rin said, unnecessarily loud. "What was with that?! He said he was mad at you and… Oh."

Pheles raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"He…" Rin shuffled his feet and squeezed Yukio's arm. "He's your brother, right? And we… We killed him."

Pheles grinned at Rin's discomfort. "You never touched our foolish brother's heart; what makes you think you killed him?"

"Huh?"

"Do you need another reminder so soon?" Pheles asked smoothly. "The two weaknesses of a demon are…?"

"I know, I know!" Rin pouted. "I just thought his body was too burned up after all that…"

"It will take some time for him to find another host body suitable to his needs, but I imagine he'll be ready to fight you again in a few years. Unless you'd be so kind as to meet him in Gehenna…?" Pheles winked, and Rin gave a displeased grunt. Pheles chuckled. "I thought not." He leaned back in his chair. "The mission itself went better than expected though. It seems you defeated the Queen more quickly than anticipated." Through the fog, Yukio was dimly aware that Pheles was smirking at him. "I expected you to keep that particular card close to your chest a little longer."

"You knew about his eyes?!" Rin stepped in between Yukio and Pheles.

"There is very little that happens in this town that I don't know. Did you really think that over a month of testing himself would go unnoticed?" he asked with a grin.

"An' yet ya didn't say anythin'."

Pheles raised an eyebrow at Shura's comment. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in a staccato rhythm against the floor. "He was gettin' hurt that whole time, an' ya said nothin'. Ya just let him continue on. How long until ya would have said somethin'?"

"His life was never in danger. The one time it was, someone else swooped in to put him back on track." He brushed off her concern with a wave of his hand.

Shura drew up to her full height. "That someone else was Tōdō! An' throwin' himself in front of demons instead of off of buildings isn't any less dangerous! The whole idea was ta put his life in danger!"

"Off of buildings?" Rin echoed quietly.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Rin, but didn't respond.

"Curious." Pheles cocked his head to one side as he watched Shura's reaction, but the knowing glint in his eye made the gesture mocking instead of genuine. "I thought you didn't get attached to anything."

"Shut up!"

The edge to her voice was anger, Yukio suddenly realized. No wonder it had taken him so long to place. Despite all their bickering, it was always him getting angry. The only time he had heard her yell during an argument had been with Father.

But here she was, shouting. "Don't rub that in my face again, an' don't ya dare pretend ta understand what I'm feelin'! Yer a demon! Ya don't even understand human emotions! Ya just put on an act an' imitate what ya see around ya! But ya don't really get it! Yer just an imposter! Just a puppeteer with a puppet that should have died thousands of years ago!

"Ya don't care about any of us, so stop botherin' pretendin'! We're all just pawns in this game ya play where ya have all the information an' we're left with nothin'! How many more secrets are ya holdin' back while we suffer because of it?! How much longer-"

"Did you forget my warning, Kirigakure-sensei?" Pheles interrupted, his tone icy.

"I'm sick of yer threats! It's time that y'answer—"

Pheles stood and the room was suddenly full. Up until that point, the rest of the scene had felt distant and illusory, but experiencing the sudden realness of this pressure felt like being slapped awake. Yukio knew he had felt both of these sensations before, and there was no question of when he had felt this pressure. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a trickle of adrenaline went straight down his spine just as had happened that time when Lucifer had cornered him and, more recently, when Amaimon had held him down. He felt incredibly small as he looked at Pheles and immediately understood that they were in the presence of a demon of high caliber. He had no doubt that if Pheles looked at him the way he was looking at Shura, the world would be cast in blue.

To her credit, Shura stood her ground, but she immediately silenced, her face flushed and posture rigid.

"But… But you do know, don't you?" Somehow Rin was undeterred by the thick silence that had descended over them. "You know what's happening to Yukio. You… You know where Yukio's demon heart is!" Rin stepped forward, his feet naturally arranging themselves in a battle stance. Yukio felt a distant spark of surprise that Rin would think to ask about that. "Do you have it? Where is it?"

The pressure lifted as Pheles sat again and tented his fingers in front of him. "I assure you, something like that does not exist in this world."

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"I think that's enough for tonight, don't you?"

"No it's not! You haven't answered anythi—"

"Tomorrow," Pheles interrupted as he turned back to Shura, "you'll be given the details of a mission you'll be taking part in on the day of the full moon. Take Okumura-sensei on that mission. Maybe you'll learn something interesting." Finally, he grinned again. "Now then, I think we all should be in bed at such a late hour!"

And with that they found themselves outside in the brisk nighttime air. Yukio found himself standing again and stumbled into Rin. He leaned heavily against Rin's shoulder, his eyes closing again as the surrounding darkness pressed down on him.

"What…?! I'm not done with you, you gaudy clown!" Rin yelled. "You think teleporting me is going to stop me?!"

"Rin, don't. He'll just keep sendin' ya back here. Let's go. Yukio needs ta rest."

Rin paused halfway through a deep breath as he prepared to yell more. Then Yukio felt Rin's shoulders droop in defeat. He picked Yukio up and said something to Shura in softer tones, but their voices were too far away for Yukio to make sense of them anymore. The darkness was so welcoming and easy. So he slid under the blanket of sleep where there was no more pain or anger or anything…

(1) I'm sure many of you are familiar with the rivalry between Garuda and Nāga found in a few different religions. Karura is directly based off of the Garuda, and some of the legends have Karura acting as the natural predator of Nāga, which is what Tōdō's threat was referring to.

A/N: Next chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow. Not sure when because I'm doing last minute edits at the same time as studying for exams. Look at me I'm such a good student. Ha ha...