An update before I get busy again.

Blackthorn Ashe; NarutoAdmirer21; DearlyFictitious; Vi-Violence; pll539563; Dat Boi, thank you for your reviews!

pll539563: yes, you are right about it jumping a bit ahead from the chapter beforehand, and the chapters are indeed not the longest, but due to a lack of time, I do not have the time to make them too long, not without them losing quality. If, or rather, when I have the time, I will make future chapters a bit longer. As of the time skip, that was for the sake of the idea I had. But that does not at all mean that there won't be stories to tell before his classmates learn about his demonic side.

I do not own Ao No Exorcist/Blue Exorcist.

F.E.A.R: Face everything and recover.

- Old AA saying.

He was prone to nightmares. It had been a thing even before he learned about the other, suppressed part of himself. Looking back at them, they all seemed to have a pattern. He would either be chased by a shadowy figure or fall to his death. Sometimes it would be both, or the shadow would go as far as to push him off the edge. It would be a long fall, either a fall from a tall building, or a cliff, and the impact would jolt him awake. There would be times where he fell out of bed and landed stomach first on the floor. He even managed to give himself a nosebleed once.

But the nightmares truly began when he turned thirteen. It was no longer one shadowy figure chasing him, but a whole group, hands reaching out to him, telling him not to run away from them. When he told his father about them, he would tell him to confront the shadowy figures and come out victorious.

The advice had proven to be useful, and the dream would no longer occur as often as it once did.

But then he turned fifteen, and the shadows would come back to haunt him. They would appear before him, tall and threatening, some having tails and others having red, glaring eyes that made his blood run stale. They would no longer just chase him, they would wrap their arms around him and drag him through the ground, a single hand above the ground being the last thing he saw before waking up in a cold sweat, unable to make a single sound.

This time around, he would keep it to himself. He was not a child anymore, and he had to prove that he could deal with them by himself. He simply had to confront them again, like he did when he was younger.

But that proved to be difficult. His attempts to challenge the darkness made him go numb, and strange, unknown words would pop into his head, in a language he did not understand. It was hard for him to wake up, even when he knew it was a dream. The frequency of the nightmares grew, and before he knew it, he would have the same dream once or twice a week. He was getting used to it by now, and it did not seem to bother him as much, that is, until that dreadful day.

Rin woke up from falling off his bed, a thing he had not experienced for over a year. The loud bump managed to wake up his younger brother, who sat up in surprise before rubbing his eyes. He had asked him whether he was hurt, to which Rin simply brushed off some dust and gave an 'okay' hand sign and a weak smile, blaming his clumsy nature and bad luck for the fall. But he was not fine. He was far from okay, yet hid it well. He felt uncomfortably hot from the inside out, his fingers feeling like needles and his head spinning in a way that made him feel like he was on a boat. A burning boat. He was burning, he felt like someone who had been tied to a wooden stake, above a bonfire, like a witch.

The nightmare proved to be quite literal once Satan took over his father's body and pushed Rin into the Gehenna Gate, forcing him to draw the sword.

Ever since then, the dreams would develop further. He would wake up in the middle of the night, paralyzed in fear and covered in sweat, unable to move a muscle and with a feeling of someone sitting on his chest, a phenomenon he later recognized as sleep paralysis.

The dreams had changed ever so slightly. He was now being judged by the shadows, he would run through both familiar and unfamiliar territory, butt naked, and on fire. There was nothing to hide behind, and nowhere to run to. Familiar faces would occasionally appear, but they would not help him. Friends and family would look at him in disgust and push him away, some going as far as to threaten him if he came any closer.

It seemed hopeless. He had trouble staying awake in class due to the lack of sleep and came off as lazy and unmotivated. He had to find a way to conquer the nightmares like father Fujimoto had told him years ago.

And that was what he used to make them disappear. He remembered the old man's voice, his advice, and his comforting words. He thought back to the times he had been hugged or carried around or praised for his food. He thought about all the times that Shiro reassured him that he was not a demon, that he was a boy worthy of a good life, and one with a bright future ahead of him. That is if he worked hard for it.

The thought of his father's death would be replaced with a warm smile and bright eyes as Shiro ruffled Rin's hair with a teasing laugh. He would treasure that memory and relive it as he lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take over. He had to face his fears, and even if Shiro could no longer keep him safe in the land of the living, Assiah, he could guard him in the land of dreams.

I do not know when the next chapter will arrive. Thank you for reading, please leave a review if you are able to.