A/N: Thank you AnimeKpopKawaii for your comments!
Lol yeah no matter how much of an experienced exorcist Yukio may be… Rin will always be a big brother and 'tuck him into bed' at night! XD All will be revealed about the Dollmaker eventually! She one of the main bad guys!
The virus is so bad that True Cross is telling it's students to abandon their friends if necessary, which is going to bother them all, especially Rin, who yes! Is a very sweet person! I'm glad I can show that! I'm also glad you think Aidyn's cute, thank you! I like Shima too. He doesn't judge Rin solely on his lineage like the others. And Sheimi…. Me too…
It was a dead end from the complete start.
For the past few days, Yukio had spent all his time hunched over a wooden desk, cramped and stiff, scribbling messy notes on scraps of paper and scanning old textbooks borrowed from the library. He found himself being completely dedicated to translating the written pages he had found. Day and night the young man would work diligently – he didn't need to sleep… he couldn't afford it… not right now. Rin didn't seem to realize that time was against Yukio.
Nevertheless… it was all for naught….
The young man researched everything, he compared the pages to all types of ancient languages known to man –
Sanskrit, Cuneiform, Phoenician, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian – NOTHING. It matched absolutely NOTHTING. There wasn't even a slight resemblance between these and the strange inscriptions before him. Yukio wasn't able to tell if the language contained characters or letters either…. The more he stared at it… the more he realized it was alien – barely touched by Assiah. This demon… this 'Goddess'…her virus… was this epidemic one of the few times she ever contacted humanity?
Even if that's so…
She still must've faced people in the past…
Alien or not these pages are still here…
The 'Goddess' must've faced Dad…
Yukio didn't even notice the sun hitting the horizon… ending the day, stealing light from the streets of True Cross. The shades were down in his dorm anyway. Artificial lights were good enough for him – unfeeling and technical. The young man fought the exhaustion pulling over his entire body, eyes closing, head touching the table, muscles sore and weak.
Just a few seconds and Yukio would get back to work. Just a few seconds…
The furniture was nice and cool against his brow… it felt…..good…..good….
The demon stood before him, snapping the air, thirsting for blood and tissue. 'It's aright.' The young man told himself. 'I've been trained for this. I can handle this.' In response to the statement, he heard laughter echoing from every corner of his heart and soul. /hhA! hhA! hhAAAA! rEEAlY?..! yOOu tHiinK yOOu cAAn hAAnDLE iiTT?...! cOOcKy bAAstAArD, lOOk aT wHaaT yOOu'Re dEEaLiNg wIItH!/
But the young man refused to look. Frightened, he knew the voice was right…. /lOOk II sAAiD… LOOooK!/ 'I WONT!' He thought! 'I'll just shoot it without looking.' Then the young man turned his head and held up the pistol. Hands shaking – he – can't –hold – them – straight. /gOO oNN hAAhAA! gOO oNN aNNd sHHoOt!/ He's frozen – He's frozen – 'Just think clearly… calculate the situation properly…' /cAAlCuuLaTe mYY aSS!/
'Tranquilizing bullets can –' /gOO oNN aNNd LoOOk aTT yOOuR eNNeMy!/
'I could use holy water bombs and –' /pUUL tHHe FU*cKiNg tRiiGgEr!/
'A – according t – to Anti-Demon P –Pharmaceuticals – ' /iTT aLL mEEaNs sHiiT./
'I can handle this – I'm an exorcist! Like Dad!'
/yOOu'Re aLLsO a BrOOtHeeR./
Looking up, he saw that the demon was Rin, who charged forward and sliced the young man to bloody pieces.
Yukio Okumura snapped awake, a panic seized him – paranoia… a cold sweat…. he couldn't breathe. It took about ten minutes for his mind to process that he had been dreaming. His brother was off somewhere with his new friend, not on a rampage. Yukio hated himself, and all the weakness and insecurities that constantly plagued his thoughts. Why was he so weak?
Despite all the training he's been though…. He still had nightmares….
…like a child afraid of the dark.
There was only one way to combat all of this – keep pushing forward. No matter how hard it got, no matter how tired he'd get, Yukio would overcome all juvenile fears. He wasn't the little boy shivering behind his older brother anymore. It was his turn to be the protector. Rin will never become a monster…he won't allow it.
I'll never let it get that far…
Speeches, although comforting, did nothing to help him translate the scripture, which was still mind-boggling. At this rate, it couldn't be done… none of these textbooks were helping…
"STILL AT IT, huuh WIMPY?"
Any productive feeling inside Yukio prickled to rage and irritation. He turned and faced the source of the drunken voice.
Shura.
"How many times do I have to tell you to STOP interrupting my work!"
"AHAHAHA – OOOO someone's mad!"
"Get out!"
"I'M gonna come inside, OKAY?"
"I said – OUT!"
Completely ignoring his sentence, Shura stumbled into his dormitory. Barely even able to stand, she practically fell into the wall and began leaning on it with her left arm.
"WHY," Yukio started.
"Why did you come here?"
"Haha! Orders from Mephiiiiistooo!" She spoke in a sing-song voice.
"I'm busy."
She slurped on her beer can, "Nah – nah – nah! You're NOT even GONNA LISTEN to what he had to SAY?"
"NO. Now get out."
"Well, I was PISSED OFF too, Y'KNOW! Hearin' SOME order come outta NO WHERE. But I got HOGTIED into it – So I'M gonna hogtie YOU into IT too!"
"I SAID NO. SO GET OUT."
"HEY – Its NOT like YOU have much-of-va CHOICE! That ISAAC guy's FLIPPING OUT! Apparently his YOUNGER sister went missn' or somethin' LIKE that."
His younger sister? One of the L'Écarlates is missing?
Yukio felt his stomach clench with anger.
"That's his problem."
"WHOO... someone's BEIN' mean."
"It's his fault for not watching the girl properly – if she's truly missing outside then the chances are that she's probably dead. Why should we risk the lives of Exorcists just to search for the dead body of some spoiled brat who ran away from home!"
"WHOAH – HOO!"
"GET someone else to do it."
Yukio tried his best to hide his feelings of guilt. If his brother was missing….he'd panic… and what if the person sent in his place died?
Shura finished her beer and threw the can to the other side of the room.
"Like I SAID – you DON'T have much-of-va CHOICE! You know the rules, in order for AN exorcist to GO outside, HE OR SHE must be AT LEAST in a group of TWO and of SENIOR ranking."
"Since when did you follow rules Shura, and besides, I'm not of Senior ranking."
"That DIDN'T stop ya FROM goin' BEFORE! And besides, YOU KNOW that you were given the EXCEPTION bein' A genius and ALL. Mephisto SPEFICALLY told me to tell YOU to get YOUR ass out THERE. AND yeah! – the GIRL could be dead and ALL but WE gotta KEEP kissin' ISAAC's ass if we WANT him to HELP us."
The doctor rose from his chair angrily and stormed over the woman.
"You don't seem to realize what's at stake here, Shura – I'm looking for a vaccination! You don't seem to realize this! NO – YOU'RE JUST A DRUNK! You don't seem to realize the cure's more important then whatever YOU or Mephisto or Isaac, or who ever gave the order – WANTS ME TO DO – "
In two seconds, Yukio's face collided with the floor; Shura had knocked him over with her foot. She was completely unaffected, not angry. On the contrary, she seemed slightly more perceptive than she was a few moments ago.
"YA see? YOU really ARE a mess, aren't YA?"
"W – what…?" the young man said in slight pain, easing up from the floor and onto his knees.
"I mean you're a WREAK. There's NO WAY in HELL Yukio would've let me TRIP him, IF he was in the RIGHT state of MIND."
"So says the woman who's intoxicated – "
"Well YEAH – But I tripped YOU!"
Yukio had no response for this, no comeback. He could only stare at the wooden floor… To the young man's surprise, the drunken Shura knelt down beside him….and placed her fingers…by her…..breasts –
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?...!" He cried stumbling back.
"TAKE it EASY, wimpy!" Shura barked angrily.
The woman slipped out a folded piece of paper from between her…well…you know… and tossed it at his feet.
"THERE YA GO! – no NEED no THANK me or anythin'!"
Taking the parchment and unfolding it Yukio saw a name and an address:
Arata Hajime
259 Shell Street
Brickwood, North Carolina.
"Arata Hajime?"
"YEAH somethin' like THAT, he MOVED to six different countries in five YEARS. The guy now lives in some small town in the United States."
"Why are you showing me this?"
"IM GETTING' TO THAT WIMPY – apparently… Out of all Shiro's cram school classmates…. HE'S the ONLY one that's still alive."
Yukio looked up at Shura, bewildered. She was actually helping him…? She was actually being helpful?
"No, I mean why would you do this in the first place?"
"HMPH! Well YOU of ALL people KNOW how much I HATE to work! But…."
She scratched her head. "But you're JUST hopeless WIMPY!"
With that, Shura stormed out of the room leaving a confused Yukio sitting there. After five minutes of staring at the address, the young man got up and stuffed the note into the draw of his desk.
I better get ready for that mission, I suppose.
"Oh good, ya came, I was supposed to go get-cha but I didn't remember if I did or not," a now sober Shura stated as Yukio walked though the doors and into the library.
(The protective suits were stored there. Which, by the way, used to be in the cafeteria until the Mr. Yonegawa incident.) It was fairly dark; only one light attached to the ceiling was on.
Isaac stood behind her quietly, already in the jumpsuit. The man seemed to ignore Yukio's existence, brooding. He was probably bitter about his sister's disappearance and, that he was forced to rely on a 'child' (in other words, Yukio)to help get her back.
"I'm here, when are we departing?"
"Uumm, about ten minutes… 9:00, Wimpy."
The young man nodded and walked past her. He entered the storage closet and grabbed a suit, which was rubbery and slick to the touch. It felt as though it would slip out of Yukio's grip any second –
Like his grip on the situation –
Or his brother's life –
Had they already?
After sliding on the outfit, Yukio loaded his guns and attached them to his belt. At that moment, it occurred to him that Arisu L'Écarlate may or may not. The probability of death was high. Yukio was furious when Shura talked to him, and he did state that he didn't want to help.
It wasn't that he didn't care about another's life, it's just that… as a doctor and an exorcist he needed to put the wellbeing of all over one person. A cure was absolute – essential. The thought was aching, but that was a sacrifice that needed to be made.
The young man told himself this in order to ease his guilt –
– when in reality all he truly cared about was his brother's safety.
The information Shura gave may be incredibly useful, and the young man was still shocked by her actions. The trouble was that Arata Hajime lived on the other side of the earth – how was Yukio possibly going to interrogate him?
An international call, perhaps? No, too risky; someone might tap the line and listen in…
Despite these complications…a lead was still a lead, and the young man, doctor, and exorcist would find a way to make it possible.
"Ya ready, Wimpy?" Shura asked, suited as well.
"Yes."
"Kay, then lets get movin' already!"
"Shura?"
"Heh?"
"Thank you."