Content warning: this chapter contains graphic descriptions of surgery, blood and bones.

Everyone was talking at once as Yukio carried his injured Brother into the building, his Father, Shiemi, Elizabeth and Meliodas close behind him. The Doctor Meister glanced down worriedly at Rin, who was sobbing in his arms, body limp. Despite how worried he was, he tried to stay clam for his Brother's sake. When Shiemi had come running inside in a panic, Yukio had thought the worst, everything from Amaimon having somehow broken in, to Rin going on a rampage. Hearing that his older twin had hurt his tail badly after saving Elizabeth from falling off a cliff didn't make him feel any better, and he'd instantly instructed his student to show him where Rin was. Their Dad had of course followed him, and when they'd reached his Brother, he'd almost had a heart attack when Rin's flames burst to life around him when he'd first tried to pick up his twin. Then he'd remembered that he was immune to them now, and proceeded to pick up his crying Brother. Everyone was extremely worried about the older of the two Demon twins, and he'd had to fight every instinct in his body that screamed at him that everyone was too close to Rin, and to just incinerate them.

Those instincts weren't helping. By now Elizabeth was crying, while being consoled by Meliodas, Shiemi was also crying softly into her hands, the others were crowding around worriedly, and Yukio had just about had enough. "ALL OF YOU, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" he screamed, blue flames erupting around them as he clutched Rin close. Everyone who wasn't immune to the flames, (ie, himself and Shiro) quickly moved back. Forcing himself to calm down, Yukio quickly took his brother into an empty bedroom to begin examining his tail, leaving everyone outside extremely worried. Ban turned to look down at Meliodas, "so, what happened?" he asked worriedly. The blond child-like Demon sighed, "well-" he began to explain, while everyone listened attentively.

ƁĔ~ŚĐŞ

Yukio lay Rin face down on the bed, the older Demon sobbing in agony. "It's going to be okay Rin, I promise, you're going to be okay" he swore. He tried to pull the indigo-haired boy's pants off so that he could have access to the base of his tail, only for his twin to let out a scream of agony and blue flames to engulf him. "Yukio!" their Father exclaimed, but he calmed down in the next moment as his younger Son walked out of the flames, irritably putting out his clothes, "damn it, he's in too much pain, I can't even get his pants off to properly access the damage!" Yukio growled, looking back at Rin as the flames died down again. Shiro watched on worriedly as his Eldest Son writhed and cried on the bed, "Rin" he muttered. There was a tense moment of silence, before, a loud, overly boisterous voice, that both Exorcists recognised called out from the other side of the door: "Never fear, I have graciously decided to come and help my dear little brother out!" Yukio's eyes widened in shock, "no way" he muttered. Shiro clenched his fists, but bit back his anger for now in favour of helping Rin, his baby boy.

The door opened, revealing Mephisto in all his flamboyant glory, smirking at both of them, "so it is true then, you have been revived my old friend" the Demon said, showing off his fangs. The human took a deep breath, "everything else can wait, including my beating the shit out of you for trying to kill my Son. Right now, Rin needs help, and we have no idea what to do. As an Exwire under you, will you please heal my Son?" Shiro asked, somehow managing to keep his anger under control. The King of Time grinned, "but of course. As his Older Brother, that is why I'm here after all" he replied, moving to access the damage. Yukio froze, eyes wide and brown-furred tail puffed out like a startled cat, "what? can you say that again please, I must not have heard you right?" the teacher asked weakly. With a tap of his umbrella, Rin's pants vanished, and Mephisto began gently checking over the indigo-furred appendage while replying to the younger Demon question, "you heard me correctly. As a Son of Satan, I am your older Brother as well. Or did that slip your mind, little Brother?" he asked teasingly.

Yukio turned even paler than before if that was even possible, "oh shit" he muttered, bracing himself against the wall and rubbing his forehead as he could feel a headache coming on, "why did it have to be you of all Demons? Rin is not going to be happy about this". "Yes, well, he can yell about it all he wants, but right now, he's still badly injured" Father Fujimoto replied, turning back to look down at his older Son, who was breathing harshly, trying to deal with his pain. "Alright now, let's begin, shall we?" Mephisto said, snapping his fingers and making Rin's pants disappear in a puff of smoke. Stepping forward's, he examined the damage along with Yukio and Shiro. All three winced. Rin's tail was bent at a downwards angle, bone snapped cleanly near the spine. "Oh dear, I haven't seen a break like this for a long time, as most of my younger siblings are now a lot more careful with their tails. But I suppose things like this are to be expected of my dear little Rin-Chan" the King of Time sighed. Snapping his fingers again, a medical bag appeared out of a cloud of pink smoke. Taking it in his hand, the older Demon began digging through it, "let's see here. Splint for holding the tail in place, scalpel and tweezers so I can get to and realign the bone properly, non-flammable bandages to wrap Rin's tail with afterwards and pain-relieving medicine made by Ukobak to give to him after I'm done."

Mephisto turned back to the other two Exsorcists while pulling on a pair of sterile gloves, "I'm afraid I can't give him any medication until after the procedure is complete, and I need two people who are immune to Father's flames to hold him down. That mean's you two" he ordered. Shiro's lips drew into a thin line, "how much pain will my Son be in?" he asked blandly. "More than you can imagine unfortunately. But once I am done, his tail will be able to heal properly, without anymore damage" the King of Time explained grimly. Yukio clenched his fists, taking a deep breath and looking down at his still crying older brother, 'you can do this. You're a Doctor. This is to help Rin, even if it does hurt him more at first. His tail needs to be set properly, just like any other bone' he thought. The King of time picked up a piece of wood with several strange symbols carved into it, before holding it out to Rin, "bite down on this, as hard as you can, alright?" he asked. The Indigo-haired Demon whimpered, before doing as he was told and taking the wood into his mouth. "Alright, hold him down as hard as you can you two" Mephisto ordered, standing before Rin's tail with the scalpel poised to cut into it. Rin began to breathe heavier, looking back at his half-brother fearfully, before turning back to his Father.

Shiro pressed down firmly on his Son's arms, while Yukio held down his legs, "it'll be okay Rin, I promise, just be brave Son, I'm right here and I'm not leaving you" he promised. "Here we go" the older Demon warned, Rin tensing up as much as he could, but he still wasn't prepared for the agony that ripped through him. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!" the boy's scream came muffled through the gag in his mouth and he bit down as hard as he could, thrashing madly to escape from the pain. "KEEP HIM STILL!" the Demon King snapped, as he carefully and smoothly cut a line in the flesh of his younger brother's tail, one hand holding the appendage down. Unable to move his arms, legs or tail, Rin thrashed his head from side to side, tears streaming uncontrollably down his bright red face. The poor young Demon's face was bright red from how hard he was screwing it up, and broken sobs were mixed in with his screams. It hurt more than almost anything he'd ever felt before, the only exception being Ernest's ritual. Yukio was even more pained by all of this than even their Father was, because he could hear his twins thoughts in his head: 'oh God it hurts! Please, it hurts so much! Make it stop, oh please, just make it stop!' but he held firm. If Rin's tail stayed like this, it could be damaged even more.

Rin sobbed and wailed, scream after scream tearing itself from his throat. "Almost their, I just have to re-aline this last part and-" the King of Time muttered, reaching in deeper with his tweezers. He made a small motion with his hand and then withdrew the medical instruments, which were now stained red, "that's that part done!" he said loudly, placing the tweezers down, and picking up the two pieces of wood that had the same markings as Rin's gag and pacing them next to each side of his younger half-brother's tail, "now just to wrap it up" Mephisto continued, picking up the roll of bandages. "Um, Sir? Won't his tail need stitches?" Yukio asked. "You're thinking in terms of a human my dear little brother. Rin is a Demon. The flesh of his tail will heal much faster than the bone, and so stitches won't be necessary." The older Demon explained. Wrapping the bandages tightly around the dark blue tail, Mephisto made sure to tie them tightly, so as to ensure that nothing came lose. By this time, Rin was drenched in sweat, the tears were a constant while his eyes were shut so tightly they were aching and the wooden gag in his mouth had deep teeth marks, but was still in one piece.

As he breathed heavily through his nose, Shiro gently pried his Son's mouth open to remove the piece of wood, seeing the holes that Rin's teeth had made. "Rin, you did it Son. I am so proud of you" the man said, rubbing the boy's back and kissing his sweaty forehead. Opening his eyes slowly, Rin stared at his Father in pain and exhaustion, "is it *pant* over?" he asked, completely drained. "Yes it is, but before you fall unconscious, I have something for you" his older half-brother said, walking back over to kneel in front of the boy. Rin stared at him, too tired to feel distrustful, "yeah, what is it?" he muttered. Mephisto held out a bottle, "pain medication from Ukobach. After I told him what had happened, he insisted on making this for you. I promise it will help with the pain, alright?" he asked. The young Demon thought it over sluggishly. If Ukobach had made it, then he was pretty sure that it wouldn't kill him. Rin closed his eyes tiredly, "yeah, okay" he replied quietly. After giving the older Okumera brother the medicine, Rin closed his eyes again and was asleep within seconds.

Both his Dad and Brother sighed in relief, "what a relief. Finally, it's over" Shiro said, feeling just as drained as his oldest Son looked. "Now, as payment for all of this, there's something I want" the Demon King of Time began. The former Palidan looked distrustful, "what? I'm not going to forgive you for threatening to kill my Son by the way" he replied. "Oh don't worry, it's really a very simple request. All I want is to join you in watching young Mr Okumera's past, that's all" Mephisto replied nonchalantly. The two Excersists stared at him in open-mouthed shock, "what?!" both hissed at the same time, so as not to wake the healing Demon on the bed.

To Be Continued