Chapter forty-five: Knock out
"Are you sure you guys will be okay alone?"
Rin stood at the door way putting his coat on. Yukio and Izumo stood next to each other watching him. Rin had been intending to make dinner only to find out he was low on ingredients. Izumo decided to stay there with Yukio since it was pretty chilly outside.
"Oh yes, the minute you leave is the minute we start making-out," Izumo rolled her eyes ignoring Yukio's glare. "We'll be fine Rin. Just go."
"Alright," Rin wrapped his scarf around his neck before nodding. He gave Izumo a quick kiss on the lips before leaving. "I'll be back in a bit!"
"Be careful," Yukio said waving as his brother left.
Izumo sighed once the door closed. She turned and walked down the hall with Yukio following her. Both were quiet as they made it to the living room. Izumo went to the couch right away and started to mess with the TV. She laid down letting Kuro curl up on her stomach. Yukio sat down at a table, and started to grade a few papers.
"We've never really talked before have we?" Yukio asked.
Looking up from watching TV Izumo turned her head towards the younger Okumura twin. He was right about that though. They never really talked, just sort of rolled their eyes and groaned at Rin really. Both knew what a annoying guy he could be so they had that mutual understanding. They both also knew what a great guy Rin was in general. But they never really talked. Odd considering how close she was to Rin.
"No we haven't," Izumo said. She turned her head towards the TV wondering where he was going with this. She knew Yukio wasn't the greatest conversationalist, and neither was she.
"S-so how have things been? With Rin I mean," Yukio said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"They've been good," Izumo shrugged.
Yukio was quiet as he watched her pet Kuro. "Can I ask you something about Rin?" he asked.
Izumo looked at her teacher and shrugged. "Go ahead."
"Are you completely serious about Rin?" Yukio asked looking her in the eyes. "He told me he loves you but hasn't said anything about how you feel about him. I just…I just want to make sure you aren't stringing my brother along."
Her heart started to beat faster at the question. Kuro was even looking up at her expecting an answer as well apparently. She shifted, feeling her face heat up as she pushed the cat off. Izumo hugged her knees as she thought about the answer. She did love Rin, she really did. But telling him was a whole different story. It was the same with her saying sorry. It was just so damn hard. And in all honesty she didn't really trust Yukio that much. Izumo knew Yukio was always looking out for his brother and he did things because he really believed he was making sure Rin would be safe. But maybe, she could trust him with this.
"I love him….I really do," she said softly. Yukio and Kuro blinked at her admission "But I'm afraid to tell him that."
Yukio was quiet as he watched her. "I don't see why. He'd be more than thrilled to hear that."
"I know…I know. But I'm scared that the minute I do say it…that I'll wake up and everything that's happened is all just some messed up dream. That this is all in my head," Izumo mumbled softly. "I'm really scared of that. I don't want to lose him."
The boy wanted to say something, to reassure her that she would never lose Rin, but he couldn't find the right words. Yukio was terrible at comforting people. Rin was always better at stuff like that. Rin should be the one here, hearing Izumo's confession not him. Yukio felt guilty for hearing it before Rin now. He watched Kuro curl up in her lap and lick at her face trying to calm her down. Yukio hadn't even realized she had started to cry. He bit his lip.
"I-I feel that way too sometimes," Yukio said. "Rin's just this big part of my life and I get scared that I'll wake up and he won't be there. I guess I get how you feel."
"D-don't tell anyone that I said I loved him," Izumo sniffed. "Please don't. If the Vatican finds out that we are this serious they'll separate us…or worse."
He frowned at that. "Why would they do that? That makes no-" Yukio stopped talking as he thought about it. It did make sense. Rin was Satan's bastard child. He had Satan's blood running in his veins. If he were to become a father then there'd be even more people on this dimension with Satan's blood. The Vatican would never want that. Yukio briefly wondered about himself, but pushed it aside. Rin was more important.
Examining Izumo, he could tell she was always worried about this. The stress in her eyes as she looked into his just proved it more.
"Alright I'll keep quiet about it then," Yukio said nodding his head. "But you have to tell Rin sometime."
"I know a-and I will," Izumo sniffed as she wiped her tears away. Jeez this was embarrassing. She hadn't meant to break down in front of Yukio. He didn't seem to mind; actually he looked relieved that she had calmed down. She felt Kuro lick at her cheeks, purring and tying to make her feel better. Izumo pet the cat back, thankful that he was there.
Silence seemed to drift between them as Yukio turned back to his work. Izumo curled back up with Kuro who was sleeping on her stomach again. Quietly Izumo looked at Yukio.
"You know, Yukio…I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Izumo said watching him.
"Hm? Yeah what did you want to talk about?" Yukio turned to look at her again.
"Paku, and you…what exactly is going on between you two?" Izumo asked.
"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Rin asked Izumo.
He'd come back quickly after Izumo's chat with Yukio. Dinner had been good as always and then it was time for Izumo to head home. She had been staying less at Rin's house as of late. It was a way to deter anyone watching from thinking that they were fooling around. It seemed to work…or at least she hoped it did. Rin always liked walking her home, but given the time it was too late for that. Campus security would be out and if he got caught his reputation would probably get even worse.
"I'm pretty sure. I better get going before campus security starts their rounds. I'll text you when I made it to my dorm," Izumo turned as she waved.
Rin caught her and turned around quickly. He kissed her lips, holding her there for a moment. When he pulled back he smiled. "Okay then. Just be careful please?"
"I will be," she gave him a peck on the cheek. Izumo turned and waved as she walked away. "See you later Rin."
"See ya later Izumo."
Izumo had walked the route to her dorm so many times that her brain went on auto pilot. Her legs moved by themselves as she thought about what Yukio had said. Telling Rin her love was turning out to be harder than she originally thought. Sure she could just blurt it out like Rin had but that just wasn't her. It wasn't like she wanted to be overly romantic or something stupid like that. Izumo just had problems expressing herself verbally. That was her problem really.
It wasn't until later that she cursed herself for going on auto pilot. If she hadn't Izumo would have noticed footsteps following her. Something hard hit her head, causing her to cry and fall to the ground. Everything went black from there.
When Izumo opened her eyes, things were still dark. Her head hurt as she moaned softly moving around…or at least tried too. It felt like her hands were tied together. As her eyes adjusted to the light Izumo looked down at her hands. Yep they were tied alright, oddly enough it wasn't rope or something cliqued like that. It was zip tie and it was pretty damn tight.
Izumo felt herself sigh out in annoyance. She'd been kidnapped…great! This was so stupid and annoying. Izumo knew she should probably be taking this more seriously, but she was pretty sure this had to do with Rin or something. Who had done it was still a mystery, but she was sure it wasn't the Vatican. Taking a look around she saw that she was in one of the storage shacks for the school. She was laying on one of the mats they used for gym.
"Oh so you're finally awake huh?"
Looking towards the door, Izumo spied a figure. They turned on a flashlight blinding her for a second. She hissed and covered her eyes, waiting for them to move the flash light. They came closer and knelt down in front of her, finally pointing the flashlight to the ground.
"Shiratori?" she asked.
Looking closer, it was Shiratori, but at the same time it wasn't. His features were twisted as he grinned down at her. Taking a look closer, she noticed horns growing out of his head, and a tail flicking behind him. Izumo almost groaned. Great the guy was possessed. She heard him chuckle as he grabbed her hair roughly. He pulled her close to his face.
"Hahah, sort of sweetie! Reiji is sleeping at the moment so you'll have to deal with me," the demon laughed. Izumo pushed his face away, gagging at his foul breath.
"Ugh, back off," she mumbled. "You smell."
The demon seemed taken aback by her nonchalant attitude. The girl should be terrified! But here she was looking at him with some bored expression. He was a demon damn it! He pushed back roughly causing her to tumble a little. Quickly, he grabbed her arm and righted her and slammed her against the wall. She yelped at the pain as it passed through her back.
"What's with that attitude!? You should be scared and crying!" He yelled at her. He leaned in close to look her in the eyes.
"First off, I'm an Exwire stupid," she said rolling her eyes. "And second of all you're not that scary. Now what do you want from me?"
The demon possessing Shiratori seemed to be confused until he started to snicker. He leaned in close taking a whiff of her scent. Izumo shuttered in disgust as fear started to actually build. She pushed it down quickly. If she panicked then things really would get out of hand. Izumo just needed to keep a cool and calm head. The demon pulled at her collar a bit, exposing her neck.
"Sit and think about it sweet heart," he mumbled against her neck. "You're the prince's girl. Everyone's after you right now."
Prince? Who the hell was the-oh right Rin. Now that she thought about it he technically was the prince of Gehenna. If there wasn't some creep demon against her neck she'd think that was something. Izumo pushed against him getting him to look at her in the face.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked glaring.
"Almost every demon knows that the prince has got the hots for some little human girl," Shiratori snickered. "The thing is not many demons know what you look like or your name. I was just lucky really. I was just hanging around that kid to see what kind of trouble I could cause. But here ya are! All fresh and unclaimed! I'm surprised that you're still a virgin…"
He pressed his body against Izumo's more as she started to struggle. She watched as he pulled out a switch blade and held it her face. Izumo didn't shrink back, instead she glared at him.
"Let's fix that shall we? I'm sure you're little prince won't want ya after I'm done with ya," the demon leaned in closer. "Let's start by chewing off those pretty lips…"
With a growl Izumo kneed the demon in the crotch. He yelped and dropped the knife. He hit the floor and curled up into a ball. She walked away from him and quickly moved to break out of her restraints. Izumo held her tied hands in front of her knee, and brought it down in a swift motion. She did this one more time until the tie broke. With her hands free, she checked her pockets to see that she still had her cellphone on her. Jeez this demon was an idiot. Without a second thought she ran outside of supply shack with phone in hand. As she ran away from the shack she started to call Rin.
"C'mon…pick up Rin…" she mumbled.
"Izumo? Where the hell have you've been? Paku said you never made it home and now we're out looking for you! Where are you? " Rin yelled as he picked up on the other line.
"Something happened, just come to the track at the school. I'm in some trouble!" Izumo yelled back. "Just come here right now!"
"T-trouble? What kind of trouble!?" she could hear Rin start to run.
"Demon trouble," Izumo looked back at the supply shack to see the door kicked off. She hung the phone up without another words and shoved it back into her coat's pocket.
Izumo dug through her coat's pockets and pulled out her two summoning circles. She bit her thumb quickly as she ran, letting it drip on the circles. Izumo yelled out her summons making Mike and Uke appear. She slid to a stop when she saw them.
"You haven't summoned us in quite some time," Mike said looking around. "Is something happening?"
"No time to talk!" Izumo yelled.
The demon growled as he approached Izumo. He sliced at her with his claws, missing her just by an inch. Izumo scrambled to her feet running off with the foxes next to her.
"He's quite mad," Uke said looking back at him. "What did you do?"
"He started it!" Izumo yelled. "C-can you two help me exorcise him?"
"We can slow him down, but he needs a full exorcism," Mike said as they skidded to a stop. "You know the prayer to slow him down correct?"
Izumo nodded her head. "Yeah. Rin's on his way so we should be-"Izumo yelped as she was grabbed by the end of her coat and pulled back.
"Where do you think you're going? The fun was just starting!" he snarled.
The foxes growled at the other demon. Uke jumped forward to attack but disappeared as the demon ripped up the summoning circles. Izumo struggled against him as he slammed her down onto the ground holding her neck.
"You know I was going to go easy on you until you pulled that stunt!" he snarled down at her. "Instead I'm going to make sure you're begging to die when I'm finished with ya!"
Izumo kicked at his chest, and scratched at his hand trying to get him off. With his other hand the demon started to pull rip of her jacket. Panic set in as her she heard the first rip of fabric. This was bad, really bad! Yukio was right, she couldn't fight alone. She should have just kept running. Her kicks became desperate as the demon leaned in closer.
"Izumo!"
There was a flash of bright familiar blue light. The demon jumped off of her and landed a few feet away in a crouched position. Rin was helping Izumo to her feet in an instant. His arm was wrapped around her waist as she took a deep shaky breath. She heard Rin growl and pull her close as he looked at the demon. Izumo glanced up at his face, gulping. Rin looked absolutely feral. He was barring his teeth at the other demon and held his sword out. Instantly she was frightened of Rin losing control again.
"Rin! I'm fine!" she made him look down at her. "I'm fine!"
He quickly examined her face, his eyes darting around until it landed on her ripped coat. He growled and snapped his head towards the demon, pulling Izumo even closer.
"Bastard…" Rin snarled. "I'll kill you!"
"No you can't! That's a demon inhabiting a human's body!" Izumo snapped. "We have to exorcise him!"
"He hurt you," Rin growled.
"What's the matter Okumura? Just jealous I got closer to third base than you?" the demon laughed at them. He may be taunting but he was staying back and away from the blue flames.
Izumo held Rin back as he became nearly unstable. The grip on her became tighter as she watched his fangs grow. She slapped his face. Rin stopped surprised by the hit and looked down at her.
"You're an exorcist right?" Izumo asked.
"Y-yeah," Rin blinked at her.
"And Exorcist help save people right?" she held his face.
"Yeah…Izumo where are you going with this?" he asked, his grip loosened.
"There is a teenage boy in there that's being possessed by a demon. We have to help him, even if you don't like the guy," Izumo said sternly.
She watched Rin's face soften before he nodded. He sighed and looked at the demon, with his arm still around Izumo.
"Alright, how do we help him?" Rin asked.
Izumo went through her pockets and brought out a small notebook. She had as simple exorcism inside here. It wouldn't kill the demon, but it would expel him from the host's body and back to where he came from. It was a basic exorcism that most exorcist were expected to know. She had planned to uses her foxes as distracters as she recited it but that plan went to hell.
"Distract him and keep me covered. I'm going to perform a simple exorcism," Izumo said flipping to the right page. "Can I trust you not to kill him while I do that?"
Rin grinned down at her with a nod of his head. "Yeah I can do that. Make it quick, I don't know if I'll be able to take his mouth."
Izumo nodded her head. She took a deep breath and started to recite the exorcism in Latin. The demon's features changed almost instantly. He growled at Izumo and started to run towards her. Rin cut him off easily. He tackled the possessed boy to the ground holding the sword to his neck as Izumo continued on. The demon struggled underneath Rin growling and snarling at the girl, trying to get free.
"I'm not the only one out there you know," he snapped at Rin.
The boy frowned as he kept this weight on the guy's back, not moving an inch.
"What are you talking about?" Rin hissed.
The demon laughed out loud at that. "Should have killed me stupid. Now every demon's going to know what the prince's girl looks like. They'll all want her to themselves including your dear old dad."
"What do you mean?" Rin felt himself starting to lose control. Maybe he should just kill this demon. Burning him alive sounded like a lot of fun suddenly.
He cackled another laugh out. "You better claim her fast before someone else does. I maybe weak, but there are stronger demons out there. They'd destroy her."
"Sh-shut up!" Rin yelled, He closed his eyes doing his best to keep control. He growled low at the demon, freezing for a second. Rin started to worry that maybe he couldn't protect Izumo. If there were that many demons out there interested in her maybe…no he wasn't giving her up. No way in hell. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. "Fine then, I want you to go back with a warning. If anyone of those fuckers even tries to get close to her, guess what? I'll burn them alive without hesitation. She's mine and I won't let anyone touch her!"
For a moment the demon seemed surprised at Rin's warning. A twisted grin spread across his lips. He laughed hard at Rin's threat. "Fantastic! I'll take that warning right to them then! Keep up your guard prince! I also wouldn't let her see that face you're making right at this moment. You look just like daddy."
Izumo reached the end of the exorcism. The demon screamed from under Rin. The boy backed off as whatever was in the boy escape through his mouth. After a tense moment everything was still. Reiji was collapsed on the ground clearly out of it. Rin found himself sighing in relief at the fact the demon was gone. He sheathed the Kurikara, and stood up going over to Izumo. She was sitting on the ground looking just as happy as Rin. He held out her hand to her which she took. Rin pulled her into a hug, holding her close.
What the demon said played in his head, making him hold her tighter. Izumo moved back to get a look at Rin's face. He was looking down when she did. She cupped his face making him look her in the eyes. Fear ran through his eyes as he watched her. He leaned forward quickly, catching her lips in a kiss. Izumo returned it closing her eyes. She felt his body relax.
"Hey I think I heard something over here!"
Rin and Izumo both seemed to freeze at the voices. He quickly picked her up bridal style and started to run off, just barely missing the security guards. Rin didn't stop running until they were back at his dorm. He stopped and let Izumo down to catch his breath.
"Th-that was too close," Rin said with a sigh.
"I can't believe we left him there…" Izumo said looking at her feet.
Rin blushed a little and shrugged. "W-well maybe he'll finally get the much needed help that he definitely needed."
"Yeah…" Izumo was quiet as she glanced at Rin.
He seemed tense, despite everything being over. He kept staring at his feet, clearly thinking about something. She lightly touched his shoulder, causing him to jump.
"Are you okay?" she asked watching him look at her. Izumo saw just a bit of fear in his eyes that was gone so quick she wasn't even sure if had been there.
"Me? Yeah I'm fine. Are you okay? What happened?" Rin, took her hand and led her inside. He quickly stopped and texted Paku to let her know Izumo was fine.
"I was walking to my dorm and someone knocked me out," Izumo explained. "When I woke up I was at the supply shack with Shiratori. Then I escaped, called you, and you know what went on from there."
Rin was angry before she even finished. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried not to growl, and gripped his hands into fist so tight, he cut his skin.
"I should have walked you home," he hissed. "If I did none of this would have happened!"
"Rin calm down I'm fine," Izumo was taken aback by his anger. Yeah she got hurt a bit, but she was okay now. Usually Rin didn't act this violently.
"No you're not! He was…he almost…he almost hurt you worse than I could imagine," Rin he took a deep breath trying to calm himself. "And I couldn't do a damn thing to keep you safe."
"What did he say to you Rin?" Izumo asked quickly. "I know he was talking to you, so what did he say?"
"Nothing important," the boy shook his head and brushed her off. "Just that demon's know about you and they are curious about you. That's all."
"No that is not all of it," Izumo held his hand. "If that was all you wouldn't be reacting this way! What happened?"
The demon's words swam around Rin's head as he took a deep breath. He sat down on the ground holding his head.
"He…he said…that my dad knows about you," Rin mumbled. "And he's curious about you too."
Izumo felt her stomach drop at that. Oh great, Satan knew she was dating his kids, fantastic. Shaking she sat down next to Rin. He wrapped an arm around her pulling her close. He'd seen the fear in her eyes. Rin couldn't kid her for it though. He was terrified himself.
"I won't let him touch you. I won't let anyone touch you," Rin promised. He kissed the side of her head.
She was quiet as she laid her head against his shoulder. There was something off about the promise, like there was something different and she couldn't quiet put her finger on it. It was like it was Rin saying it, but at the same time it was someone else's promise. The demon must have said more to make him sound like that. Whatever it had said must have really gotten to Rin, especially since he wasn't telling her the whole thing.
"If you have the demon part then I'll protect you from the Vatican," Izumo said softly. "I won't let them touch you."
Rin blinked relaxing a bit. She had a point there. He may be able to deal with demons easily, but the Vatican was a whole other story. Rin's eyes softened as he relaxed. Izumo was more than happy to see this. Just a quick glance told her, that her Rin was back. Whoever had been sitting with her a second ago was gone...for now.
"…You're staying here tonight okay?" Rin said softly. "And tomorrow. I just…I just want to make sure you're safe."
With a sigh Izumo nodded. "Yeah. I'd rather stay here than walk home. That already ended badly once tonight. I'm not going to try it for a while."
I'm happy about this chapter. I had fun writing it even if it was sort of dark. The first part was going to be it's own chapter, but I thought that would be weird, so I just put it in with this one. There's not much more to say on this chapter other than I really had fun. I'm so weird. As for the second fanfic I've written it up it will probably be posted later tonight. I'm still tweaking it and debating about putting it up(it is sort of embarrassing lol if I post it you'd probably figure out why). But given the response I will most likely post it tonight, or what is my tonight.
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I love em' as always. Also to Love-Psycho you have a very good point, that I totally forgot. I actually checked on the demon's name in the manga and he never introduces himself. He's just sorta like "Aw sweet I found em' let's take him to Gehnna!" and then Fujimoto's all badass. Lol Sorry I'm so picky about certain things. It's a weird tick of mine. But thanks for pointing that out! I appreciate it!
As always I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and have a fantastic day! Please don't forget to review!
