Rin's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice in his head again. Immediately he pushed off the sheets and was sat bolt upright in his bed.

"What the hell…I thought this was over." He groaned as he rubbed his temples.

Rin slid off the bed, his tail falling to the floor in a wispy motion, and moved toward the window. The voice was calling to him again, it was louder than ever. Like pulling the sword had made it clearer in his head. He closed his eyes and the next time the voice sang he could see flickers of a blue flame behind his eyelids. He wondered if it had something to do with that flame he'd found in the park.

He wanted to go and investigate, but he'd promised Father Fujimoto he'd remain in the monastery. He should tell Father Fujimoto the voice is still there…but at the same time, he wanted to know what else the voice wanted to show him without his family's interference. He'd already found out so much on his own and knew if he went and told them it was still happening; he'd forever be confined to his bedroom 'for his own safety'. He sighed at the thought.

He pushed the voice to the back of his mind again, he would ignore it for now. At least until Father Fujimoto returned with whatever plans he was sorting out. Rin dwelled on that thought for a moment. He would have to leave his home of 15 years, it felt more like he was being kicked out for being a demon more than for his own protection. Why did he need protection? If he could keep his flames hidden what problem was there? Couldn't he still go on as he has been this whole time?

He suddenly remembered the fiery explosion and even the flames that leaked from his body whilst he was angry. Were they reactive to his emotions as well? He held out his hand in front of himself for a moment and concentrated on it, to his surprise his palm filled with a flickering blue flame. Just like the flame that had appeared to him before, were they the same? Did he make the flame in the park? It didn't burn him so it was possible.

He moved his hand around, the flame following before he stared at it in concentration again and it went out of existence, much to Rin's surprise. He turned back to his bed, the Koma sword catching his eye. He didn't want to pull that out again after the explosion it caused before. He felt for the key around his neck, Father Fujimoto said to hide the sword with the key but Rin felt somewhat reluctant to part with the sword now that he had it. He felt locking it away again would just cause the voice to get angry and desperate again. That and the fact that the sword held his demon heart made him want to keep it close.

He picked it up and held the sword in his hands for a moment. He was sure he could feel his heart within it, it felt wrong. It felt wrong to be separated from such an important part of himself. He was curious if it was possible to get it out, but wondered the implications of even doing that. Father Fujimoto said he'd been separated from his demonic nature…so what had he been like before that?

He scratched his head in frustration. There were still far too many questions he wanted to ask his father when he returned. He put the sword down, stood up next to his bed. Should he try to go back to sleep? Or should he venture out of the room and hope the others can help him drown out the voice before it compels him to leave the monastery again?

In the end, he decided to leave the room, he didn't particularly want to risk his father's wrath if he left the monastery after being told not to. Not this time. Father Fujimoto seemed pretty on edge after finding him with the sword, he wasn't ready to push his limits yet.

Rin left the room, closing the door behind him. He made it a short way down the hall before stopping outside Father Fujimoto's room. The door frame and the floor blackened from the explosion of flames from his own body. He was worried more for Izumi after seeing the damage to the room, perhaps he had hurt him more than he was being told. Wouldn't be the first lie for his sake. He quietly wandered towards the kitchen where he could hear Yukio and the others talking.

"Ow ow ow! I'm fine dammit! How is Rin doing? He looked pretty upset when he stormed out." Izumi asked as he was being patched up by Maruta.

"Nii-san is…" Yukio paused "He's angry, but he's being surprisingly calm about it. He said not to bother doing him any food he was just going to sleep the day away." He sighed.

"Hm well he's calm for now, anyway" Nagatomo mumbled to himself, but Rin could hear clear as day "Once Sir Pheles gets involved though, I don't think he'll be so calm about it."

Who was Sir Pheles? Was that who Father Fujimoto had gone to speak to?

"It depends what's decided, he might allow Rin to remain here. Which he would probably feel better about." Maruta chimed in; a glimmer of hope rose in Rin's chest.

"If Nii-san stays here he will have to lay low, I doubt father will let him out much now that the demons can probably sense him. He's just going to end up like some caged animal…" Rin sucked in a sharp breath at that. "I don't think it will benefit him to remain here."

Rin moved away from the conversation, he was upset enough and would probably get angrier if he had to listen to conversations about himself. He moved to the main church of the Monastery, tucking his tail under his shirt. Not many people were around but he'd rather not run the risk of being seeing him with his tail out. He sat down in one of the empty pews.

Kyodo was steadily tidying the church with Misumi, neither of them noticed Rin's presence in the room. Rin slumped down his arms crossed on the back of the pew in front and he rested his chin on top. He found himself staring at the lit candles around the alter watching them as they flickered and swayed.

The longer he stared at the candles the more entranced he became like if he concentrated enough, he could control the flame himself. He wondered what was the difference between a normal flame and a blue one beside them belonging to Satan. What did a blue flame have that a normal flame didn't to insight such fear into people?

Suddenly the flame turned blue under his gaze, the rest of the candles followed suit until the entire altar was lit with blue flamed candles. Kyodo and Misumi took note of the change a look of panic appearing on their faces as they looked around the room. Until they noticed Rin nestled in the pews as if he were hiding there. Their panic ebbed and Kyodo approached Rin whilst Misumi extinguished the candles. It would do no good for an exorcist to walk in and see an altar illuminated by blue flame.

"Hey!" Kyodo said casually.

"Mm…" Rin grumbled in response.

Kyodo gave a kind smile, noting the new points on Rin's ears.

"I heard about what happened, are you okay?"

"Are you afraid of me like everyone else?"

"Me? Afraid of you? Nah." He ruffled Rin's hair as he laughed. "None of us are afraid of you Rin, we're afraid for you. We're afraid he is going to come for you and we won't be able to protect you."

Rin remained silent looking for some sort of hidden tell that Kyodo was lying but failed to see one, he nodded.

"But I suggest if you want to 'practice' lighting candles you do it somewhere private and away from the public. If an exorcist or anyone who would do you harm see's the blue flames, they will know what they are. You will be in danger." Rin nodded with a blush "Maybe behind the alter down in the basement. Anywhere else and this place would go up in flames heh heh." He gave Rin a pat on the back as he stood to continue helping Misumi. Rin stood and began to make his way back to his room when he turned to look towards the open church doors for a moment, the voice sang in his head again.

Every fibre in his body was pulling him towards the voice like he was meant to follow it. He chanced a glance back at the two priests who were busy working before his steps slowly took him towards the open door. He stood there for a moment looking out at the streets. He closed his eyes; the cool air felt nice on his face. When his eyes opened again outside the gates in the middle of the street was the little blue flame he'd seen before.

The voice was singing all the while Rin stared at this flame, his tail unfurling from around his waist to fall freely by his feet. It felt better this way when he didn't have to hide it away. When he didn't have to hide away. He was about to take a step towards the flame before a shout came from behind him.

"Nii-san!"

Yukio ran over and grabbed his arm, pulling him through the doors back into their home beyond the church. He pushed him harshly against the wall.

"What are you doing?!"

Rin stared at his brother in shock "Yukio…?"

"Father Fujimoto told you to stay put! I thought you were sleeping! Where exactly were you going?!"

"I…" Rin looked away from his brother's fierce eyes "Nowhere…"

"It didn't look like nowhere, Nii-san." Yukio calmed down slightly at his brother's quiet demeanour. "I know you don't like following orders but it's for your own safety." Rin tensed up Yukio's words.

"Everything is always for my own safety. I can't leave the house for my own safety. You kept secrets about me for my own safety. I'm gonna be sent away FOR MY OWN SAFETY!" He growled, not even caring that Yukio flinched away. "Stop doing things for my own safety and just back off!"

He pushed past Yukio harshly and stomped back down the hall towards their shared room. His tail knocking into everything as he stormed off, he quickly wrapped it uncomfortably back around his waist. Yukio looked on with a guilty look; he'd let his brother cool off before attempting to apologize. Hopefully, Father Fujimoto wouldn't be too long.

Rin slammed the door to the room, letting his tail free again now he was alone. It wasn't fair, the school incident aside, he hadn't done anything wrong. Yet he felt like he was being punished. He pulled out the chair to his desk and sat staring longingly out the window for a few minutes. He didn't know how long Father Fujimoto was going to take, and he wasn't sure he had the patience to wait for him.

Voice still readily whispering in his head and it wasn't getting any easier to ignore.

Rin stood up, pulling his window open. He climbed over his desk and out of the window knocking over a jar of pens as he did so. Jumping to the ground below, his tail giving him a level of balance he never knew he had; he landed gracefully on his feet.

He figured he wouldn't have long before someone noticed again and came looking for him, but he'd just wander around the grounds for now. He needed some fresh air to help clear his mind anyway. He looked around near the entrance, his tail now tucked under his shirt again. The flame had disappeared again; he sighed disappointedly.

Father Fujimoto had said that blue flames were a sign of Satan. He wondered if the little flame was Satan or if his own power and the voice were playing tricks on him. He sat down in a secluded area around the back of the monastery and began to experiment with his flame in private.

##

Father Fujimoto arrived back at Mephisto's office. He didn't even bother to knock knowing the demon probably already knew what was going on anyway.

"Back so soon, Shiro?" He said with a smug grin directly at the aggravated man.

"You knew what was going on didn't you? You even took the key and left it for him to find?!"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Mephisto responded with a playful air to his voice.

"Don't mess with me, you asshole Clown." Shiro slammed his hands down on Mephisto's desk, snarling at the demon. "You knew about the voice, didn't you? You helped Rin find the sword and kept me working so I couldn't talk to him before he drew it!"

Mephisto sat calmly staring at the irate man before the corners of his mouth drew up into a smile. It had been a while since he'd seen this side of Shiro; he did enjoy it.

"A voice you say? I knew our dear Rin had been snooping but I had no idea he'd been hearing a voice. I'd be more worried about that if I were you." Shiro froze for a moment.

"Why? Who is talking to him? He said he couldn't make out what it was saying but he knew roughly what it wanted. Is Satan communicating with him…?" Shiro frowned, his earlier anger forming into an old fear.

"I don't know…but keep watch over him for now. Back onto the topic of Rin drawing his sword – How is he?" Mephisto narrowed his eyes at Shiro; Shiro sighed.

"He seems himself, albeit angry we didn't tell him before, which is understandable. Why did you help him find it? The key was with me, and I know it was you that spirited the thing away for Rin to find."

"The seal was waning; it was only a matter of time before the demons found him and he was put into a more precarious situation forcing his awakening. You know as well as I do his heart will be released from the sword eventually."

"He could've stayed human if he wanted to, but you enabled him and now that choice was taken away. All because you want your damn weapon."

"But of course, Shiro. I am playing a much bigger game than your happy little family. You as well as your children are just more pawns in my battle against him far greater evils." Shiro frowned but knew better, there were bigger things afoot to think about but it still hurt that his own son was being used against his will. Shiro resigned with a sigh.

"What is going to happen with Rin now? Can he remain—?"

"Rin will come and live with me." He was cut off by the demon's words. Feeling a deep cavern form in the pit of his stomach "Have him pack his things and prepared to move into my mansion by the end of the week. I will have him home-schooled until he is ready to start at True Cross."

"You're going to enrol him in True Cross?"

"He will need to be attending True Cross if he is to be attending the Cram School as well." He gave Shiro a smug look "You will still be able to see him, as will Yukio. But you will no longer be his Guardian."

"I thought we were keeping him hidden from the exorcists, why do you want to put him into an exorcist school?! He'll be exposed and they'll order his execution!" Shiro gave the demon a panicked look.

"If I am to protect the boy from execution he needs to be seen as an asset to the exorcists. They will be more lenient if he has already started his studies. And you know as well as I do that he can not be easily killed." Mephisto gave Shiro a dark smile; Shiro frowned in response "I will make sure he is taken care of."

"Can I explain this to him?"

"By all means, please do. I so wish I could be there to see his reaction. But I will have to wait until he is brought to me. I will send Belial to retrieve him this weekend." He noted the silence and the forlorn look on Shiro's face. "Don't worry, Shiro. He will be in good hands. The seals of True Cross will protect him from anyone untoward and hopefully block out whatever or whoever is secretly speaking to him. He will also be among other demons here. Which will do him a world of good; since…he is a demon." He snapped his fingers and the door to his office opened, his servant Belial walking in.

"Please escort Shiro out, Belial."

"Yes, Sir." He bowed motioning for Shiro to come with him out of the room.

##

Shiro knew he needed to get back to Rin but found himself wandering the True Cross grounds for an hour or so just to sort through his feelings about the situation. He had to find a way of breaking this to Rin in a way he wasn't going to literally blow up about it. In the end, he came up with nothing, he knew what Rin was like, he always tried so hard to keep his temper in check recent events proved that further. He found the nearest door with a lock and used his key to get back to the Monastery.

The smell of food hit him as he walked in, arriving just in time for dinner. Walking into the kitchen the others looked at him expectantly; hopeful. Shiro just shook his head.

"Where is Rin?" He asked.

"He stormed off to his room after I had stopped him leaving the building…" Yukio answered.

He gave Yukio a questioning look but shook his head and moved to the boy's room, he'd ask about it later. Knocking on the door he called to Rin but there was no answer. Maybe he finally went to sleep. Shiro quietly opened the door and walked into the room to find it empty, he looked around the room before realising the window was open. Panic and fear all rose up at once, sticking his head out of the window and looking to the ground below.

"RIN?!"

There was no answer.

"Shit!" He ran out of the room and back to the kitchen. "Rin's gone. Climbed out the window from the looks of it. Spread out and search. Yukio how long ago did Rin go to his room?"

"About an hour or so, maybe? I assumed he'd gone to sleep."

"Don't worry, let's just find him before someone else does." Shiro said with a tinge of panic in his voice.

Everyone spread out, searching both within and out of the monastery. It wasn't long before Nagatomo shouted from the back door. Everyone gathered to where Nagatomo was calling from; around the back of the monastery. Snoring away with his back to the wall was Rin; Shiro let out a sigh of relief. He could've gotten a lot further if he had tried but decided to stay within the grounds at least, Shiro was thankful for that.

He knelt down and gently shook Rin awake.

"Mm old man?" Rin groaned, finally opening his eyes "You're back…"

"Come inside Rin, we need to talk." The tone of his voice had Rin worried.

Rin reluctantly got up and followed Shiro back inside. Everyone gathered in the kitchen, the dinner now on hold until this conversation was complete.

Rin hovered in the doorway as everyone else sat at the table. Shiro turned to Rin "Come and sit down."

Rin glared at him "I have to leave, don't I?"

Shiro looked at him with a sad expression; he nodded.

"This is bullshit! I didn't do anything wrong and you're kicking me out!" Everyone flinched when Rin's fist hit the doorframe he was stood next to; the wood splintered. "But I bet this was planned already right? Since you all knew that I was a demon; Satan's son…"

"Rin…"

"Hell, if I'm Satan's son, why not just ship me off to wherever he's hiding!"

"RIN!" The boy in question stopped as his adoptive father's voice boomed around the room. "That's enough!"

"This was not my choice and was out of my control. My friend has more resources to be able to keep you protected. This is for your own—"

The room illuminated blue.

"DON'T!" Everyone froze "Don't you dare say this is for my own safety. I can see it on all your faces so don't you dare lie to me. You're all just afraid of me!" He looked around the room before falling on to Shiro's shocked face. "And you, you're just tired of playing father to a demon child."

The sound seemed to register before anyone realised what had happened. They looked up to see Yukio had punched Rin who was now nursing his cheek with his hand.

"Stop it, Nii-san." Yukio seethed.

The flames died down until they had disappeared, Rin abruptly left the room again. Shiro told the others to carry on and eat their food. Yukio stopped him briefly.

"Don't let his words get to you, you know he doesn't mean it." Shiro's shoulder's slumped and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know he's just angry. And I know he is waiting for his opportunity to strike…" He took a deep breath, calming himself further before continuing down the hall to finish talking to Rin.

Knocking on the door he waited for Rin's answer.

"Come in."

He walked into the room to find Rin shoving clothes and other belongings into a bag.

"Figured I'd get a head start on packing."

"Rin, stop a minute." Rin stopped, not daring to look his father in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want it to come to this. I wanted you to stay here with me – but it's not safe. I can only protect you from so much. Where your going is strongly sealed and you will be under the protection of a friend of mine. He's an exorcist, and he is also a demon."

Rin snapped his head to look at his father.

"You're sending me to live with another Demon?! Wait-how is a demon an exorcist? Aren't they supposed to kill demons?"

"He is a demon on the side of humanity and helps the exorcists with ways to drive back demons. Not all demons are bad, Rin. You might have his flames, but you are nothing like Satan."

Rin simply nodded.

"Although I will warn you Mephisto is a tricky bastard. You'll be living with him at his mansion, at True Cross Academy. He will have you home-schooled until it is time to start high school."

"What?"

Shiro ignored the question and continued. "Then you'll be enrolled at True Cross Academy and at the Exorcist Cram School. You will be training to be an exorcist, like Yukio and me."

Rin's eye widened, he was going to be an exorcist?

"B-But I'm…" He was a demon and the son of Satan, why would they want him to be an exorcist? "Isn't that gonna be more dangerous than staying here? Sending me into a place full of exorcists!" Rin panicked.

"Yes and no. If you keep a low profile and keep your flames hidden, you'll be fine. There are plenty of exorcists with demon blood. Your flames are what will make you stand out." He paused waiting for Rin to understand; he nodded "Mephisto is the headmaster of the school and will be watching you closely. I am also a teacher at the cram school, so you'll be under my care in that area – Yukio's too."

"Yukio's a teacher?" Rin asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"He's my assistant, he'll be taking over one of my classes in the future so that I can concentrate on other more important duties. The point is you may not be living here anymore, but we will still be around to watch over you."

"It's still not fair. Would I have been able to stay here if I hadn't drawn the sword?"

"I don't know."

"How do you know you can trust this demon? What if he just wants to ship me off to Satan the moment I arrive?"

"I've known him a very long time, Rin. He's been in service to the exorcists for 200 years. I know he has an interest in keeping humanity alive – even if it's just for his own entertainment. We've both experienced Satan up close and personal and he has no interest in helping him."

"You've met Satan?"

Shiro groaned "That's a conversation for another time." He ruffled Rin's hair before placing his hands on both of Rin's shoulders. "You are my son, Rin. I've never thought otherwise about you. No matter how rowdy and rebellious you get. Don't forget that. I'll never be tired of being your father."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's fine, I understand you're angry and this is a frustrating situation." He pulled Rin into an embrace which Rin returned.

When Shiro finally left the room, Rin continued packing his things. He only had a few more days before the weekend; a few more days before the demon came to take him to True Cross.

The voice still a presence in the back of his mind, never quieting down. He was still curious about the flame though and wanted to go and find it again before he left. He wondered if anyone would notice him sneaking out during the night – if he could get past Yukio without waking him, he'd probably succeed.