Disclaimer: Not mine! (*worldwide sigh of relief)

Chapter 2

They were on the way to the hospital, Dean speeding the Impala down the familiar highway. The bloodied boy they had found just 20 minutes ago had demanded he carry his brother's prone body unaided which only added to the deep red stains on his hands and shirt. Both were in the back seat of the Impala, the unresponsive boy's head on his brother's lap. They had wrapped his leg in a towel and elevated it onto the seat before taking off.

The azure-headed boy seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open when Sam looked at him through the rearview mirror. Sam decided to try to keep him awake with a conversation. It wouldn't hurt to get some information out of the boy while he was at it.

"What's your name?"

"Okumura Rin." Rin yawned, sitting up straighter to keep himself conscious.

"Your first name is Okumura?" Dean raised a brow, eyes still focused on the road ahead.

"No, it's Rin, but where I'm from that's how a person introduces themselves, their surname first. This is my brother, Okumura Yukio."

Sam rubbed at his eyes with his casted hand. "Ok then, how do two foreign kids find their way out in the middle of the highway covered in blood through a beam of light from the sky?"

Rin squirmed in his seat. After a few seconds he turned his head to look out the window.

"It's kind of a long story. You probably wouldn't believe it anyway."

Dean smirked. "Try us, kid. We might be more willing to believe than you think."

Rin continued to stare out the window. He was still too confused himself and he was too worried about his younger brother to start explaining himself to a bunch of strangers he just met only a few minutes ago. Either way, his story was pretty unbelievable.

Dean parked outside the ER. Rin jumped out of his seat and carried his brother, running him through the doors.

"HELP! I need help over here! PLEASE!"

It wasn't long before Yukio was on a gurney.

Rin took a breath. Yukio was going to be alright.

It was rare for Rin to show his fears to anyone but his little brother had really got him this time. Rin wiped at his face, feeling something liquid on his cheek.

'Funny, I thought the blood would've dried by now.'

It took Rin a minute to realize that a nurse had come over and started to ask him questions.

"Young man," she snapped, getting his attention. Her tone quickly shifted when Rin looked up. "Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor? You're covered in blood."

Rin looked down to see his formerly white uniform shirt now completely drenched, almost dripping, in the thick, crimson fluid. He took a deep breath to compose himself.

"No, it's all his."

He lied easily. The last thing he needed was a bunch of doctors finding out how fast he healed so he decided to wait it out, or at least wait until Yukio woke up. It wouldn't be the first time Yukio's had to fix him up after a tough brawl.

Rin growled. He hated letting Yukio see him so weak. He'll check himself later and decide if it's serious enough that he'd even have to tell Yukio.

After answering a couple more questions, Rin asked, "Will my brother be ok?"

The nurse smiled. "I'll check with the doctor charged to him and let you know."

The nurse left through the double doors Yukio had gone through just a short while ago. Rin blew out slowly. Another nurse spotted him and pointed him to the nearest bathroom so he could wash himself off. Apparently he was scaring some of the people in the waiting room.

Rin looked in the mirror, his eyes widening at the image he was greeted with. He almost didn't recognize himself. His hair was sticking to the top of his head with sweat and blood and his face was covered with patches of dried, red flakes. His skin looked so pale in comparison, except for the bags under his eyes. Rin grinned as he wet cheap paper towels and started to scrub his face. It had been a really intense fight.

Once Rin cleaned his face and hands to the best of his ability, he made his way back to the waiting room. He checked in with the nurses at the desk to see if there were any updates on Yukio's condition only to hear nothing new.

Rin sighed as he walked away, swaying as he made his way to the nearest seat.

When had he sat down? It didn't matter, right now all Rin wanted to do was close his eyes. They seemed to get heavier as the minutes dragged on. As his eyes closed and his head started to droop, two pairs of legs stood in front of him. With a long yawn he forced his head back up and his eyes open, only to find the two men who had helped him bring Yukio to the hospital. Both were frowning.

"Why'd you lie to that nurse before?" Dean's eyes hardened and his frown deepened.

There was something off about this kid. But what exactly?

"What do you mean?" Rin was mentally fighting with his eyelids to just stay open dammit!

Dean rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"We know the blood's yours. You were covered in it before you even touched your brother. So why'd you lie to the nurse?"

". . . I can't afford to be separated from him." Rin looked to the floor, his hands firmly gripping his knees.

Now that they were in the light, Sam was able to see the teen's features. His blue eyes were as stunning as before, albeit more tired than they were earlier. He saw the kid try to wipe his face with his shirt when they were driving and there were still some patches of red here and there but now Sam could see he looked even worse without the blood covering his face. That was alarming.

Sam noticed a part of Rin's hair that clung to his scalp.

'That must be where he was bleeding.'

Sam swallowed, unsure whether to stand by his brother or if he should offer to help Rin.

As he pondered, Sam noticed something was weird whenever Rin talked but he couldn't tell what was throwing him off. Rin's ears also looked oddly elf shaped, this feature making Sam cover a grin despite the situation. Sam looked at Dean, who's eyes started to widen. He looked grim. Sam's smile disappeared.

That can't be good.

"Do you mind coming with us for a minute, kid? We just want to test something out."

Rin only shrugged.

"Sure."

Rin rose slowly after taking a moment to gather his remaining energy. He tried to follow but his exhaustion and possible concussion weren't making the simple task of walking in a straight line very easy. His previous adrenaline rush was practically nonexistent now. He was on the verge of crashing and it was painfully obvious.

Sam walked next to Dean as they went back to the Impala, Rin dragging his feet behind them.

"What's up?"

"Just testing a hunch," Dean muttered.

When they reached the car, Dean opened the trunk and pulled out a water bottle with a black 'x' on the cap. He screwed it open and took a quick sip before passing it to Rin.

"You want some, kid?"

Rin shrugged through half lidded eyes and took a drink. He expected the cool liquid to soothe his throat or maybe wake him up a bit. He definitely wasn't expecting for it to feel like he had just swallowed enough acid to burn his tongue and the entirety of his esophagus.

His navy eyes widened in alarm. Tears of pain streamed down his face as he let out a choked scream. Rin tried to spit out whatever of the holy water he hadn't swallowed yet. He fell on his hands and knees, gasping. The pain made his throat feel as if on fire and only made his previous wounds hurt tenfold. He wrapped an arm around his stomach but the pain only intensified. He needed to breathe but breathing made his insides hurt more.

As Rin tried to control his coughing he could hear the other men.

"I knew something was off about you!"

The shorter one smirked as he kneeled next to Rin.

"So, what kind of demon are you?"

"Why?" Rin rasped, "you an exorcist?"

This made both men laugh mirthlessly.

"My brother and I are hunters. Now answer the question."

Sam's voice had lost all the kindness it had held for him before. Meanwhile, Sam was mentally berating himself for not noticing the demon before Dean. How could he have missed it?! The ears and what he now saw were elongated canines should've been a dead giveaway!

Rin let out a sardonic laugh and then immediately screwed his eyes shut.

"Who cares? You caught me anyway." He whispered, but even that hurt the young half demon.

Sam crossed his arms. "Is Rin's brother possessed too?"

This made Rin look up, his brows furrowed. Suddenly, it dawned on him.

"You think I'm possessed? HA!" Rin let out a noise that he intended to be a laugh but sounded more like a gasp. He groaned, putting his head back down as he closed his eyes once more.

"But no, Yukio's as normal as normal gets. He got hurt when he was fighting off a demon earlier. The thing slashed at his leg after he emptied his gun at it."

"Was he fighting you?" Dean started circling around Rin.

When did this become an interrogation? Rin thought that once he got to the hospital he would be able to take care of his brother! Why can't anyone just leave him alone?

"No, I was helping him fight. He really is my brother."

Rin's voice was so hoarse it was practically nonexistent. The more questions he was asked, the longer the holy water had to corrupt his body. He was getting dizzier, the ground seeming to come closer to his face. It was getting harder to fight with his eyelids to stay open.

'No, not yet!' Rin urged but he couldn't fight anymore.

Sam paused once he noticed Rin's emphasis. Meaning to say Yukio was the demon's brother. But that could only mean. . .

"But how could –,"

Sam was cut off by the sound of a heavy thump. Rin was unconscious, falling face first on the asphalt, adding new scrapes on his cheek to his pre-existing injuries.

Dean rolled his eyes.

A/N: Thank you to all who favorited and are following this story!

I wrote a few chapters of this story a while ago but after many edits I decided to finally start posting to see how it goes. I'm glad there are people enjoying this! I have a few more prewritten chapters that I plan to edit and post soon.

Let me know what you think!

To be continued. . .