One thing Rin Okumura has decided about himself since becoming a demon that he was cursed with insomnia. Now it's not like he did not want to sleep, he was so tired he fell asleep in class on a regular basis. The old dorm room was just to loud. Rin had always been a bit sensitive to loud and annoying noises and voices. The problem was usually blamed on an undiagnosed mental disorder.
People did not believe him when he said he could not focus in class because the humming of the air conditioner was distracting or that his ears could hear the whispers at the back of the class just as well as the teachers voice in the front. People called him a liar until he started repeating conversations he had no possible human way of hearing.
When he was in middle school, people learned quickly not to gossip about him behind his back because of this talent. Rin did not know why he could do this and it took many years before he realized nobody else around him could hear the same way he could. When he finally made his transformation into a half demon, the noises only got worse.
Where before he was able to tune out the murmurs of others and the hum of loud electronics, now he could no longer do it. The young half demon was beginning to feel like he was going insane. Many voices like his friends did not comfort him but sounded as loud as thunder on some days. In class, he could not focus on anything over the screeching of the chalk writing on the board.
Sometimes when he layed his head on the table to escape the sound for a moment, he would finally let exhaustion take him and doze. It never lasted long before someone would slam a book in front of him. When he was younger, this sound could be ignored but with his further enhanced hearing, the innocent book sounded like a bomb going off near his head.
The others laughed when he jumped like a startled cat. When his tail, and half demon status, was revealed to his friends, it would puff up in agitation to the amusement of the class. It scared more than a few other students when his eyes would slit in surprise when they opened. Now the smart thing to do would be to not sleep in class but the dorms were even worse.
The ancient plumbing was always bumping in the walls and ceiling. The fan they had to have in their room because of the broken AC was less of a hum so close to him and more of a jet engine. Ukabach, the kitchen spirit who made their meals, and Kuro, his black cat familiar, would always try to be quiet at night but it was for naught.
Even with the tricks they taught him to drown out the distractions began to stop working. Kuro suspected it was because his hearing was not only better than a normal demon's but also that he could not adjust right after it was enhanced. When demon's came into their powers, no matter what age, their is a cooling down period for them to experiment with their powers.
Demon's were not weak like humans, so they would scuffle a bit and fight amongst themselves. Usually, no one ended up dead. This death concept was completely unique to the human world. Even if a demon were "killed" in the human world, they would simply return to where they belong. It would cause great distress to a demon when their human partners would just not be there one day.
Anyway, Kuro thought that since Rin did not get this time to play with what he could do. He had no way to control it. The helpful suggestions that Kuro gave were ignored by the half demon. He could not just leave for a month, the exorcist school he was currently going to would hunt him down and kill him. It was a difficult situation.
So as the weeks went on, Rin was progressively becoming more and more tired while those around him looked on in worry. Rin found out quit by accident when he fell asleep in a tree in the park that it was more human noises that he seemed to wake up to. The birds chirping and animals moving did not bother him at all.
Kuro's theory being that he knows the animals are harmless and humans are not.
Again though, he couldn't just sleep outside, that was not the human way. So Rin would skip class on occasion and go to the park. He was only getting a few hours a week but that sustained him well enough to function, mostly. Unbeknownst to him, his friends from school had made their own decision. They went to Mephisto, the school's headmaster and Rin's older half demon brother to ask what was going on with Rin.
He had almost completely stopped talking in school and even Yukio, his younger twin brother, could not get him to pay attention in class. It was worrying everyone. Mephisto of course did not know yet because he had been busy with the Vatican but had a marvelous idea to help. That's how the entire exorcist class found themselves going on a camping trip to the middle of nowhere.
Yukio had no clue how this was going to help with his brother's exhaustion and was rightfully skeptical. His doubts vanished though when not even an hour after they found the "campsite", Rin vanished. The campsite itself was a clearing barely big enough to pitch the tents. With not electricity or running water, the kids would be roughing it for sure but it was only for two days.
Panic took the group as they fanned out and searched for their missing friend. After a few hours of searching, they decided to regroup back at camp. Koneko, a monk in the class, had a genius idea when they were discussing what could have happened to their friend. He pointed to the familiar that was sitting right next to the fire. Apparently Kuro liked that spot. "why don't we ask Kuro" his spoke timidly. The group facepalmed as they realized there was no way Kuro would be calmly sleeping if his master was in any danger.
Yukio walked over to the cat and began poking it. A few irritated mewls later, Kuro was awake and looking at the group expectantly. No one in the group, aside from Rin, could understand Kuro. It did not help that Kuro had the same attention span of his master and was likely to wander away while one of the others would talk to him.
Awkwardly Yukio spoke "Have you seen Rin, we are very worried that he disappeared without saying anything". Kuro looked at the humans in a way even they could tell he was questioning their intelligence. With a defeated sign, the familiar began walking towards the wood as the students and Yukio watched. After walking a few paces, Kuro turned and looked at them expectantly. "I think he wants us to follow him" Bon supplied. Realizing that was it, they began to walk toward the cat. Happy to be understood, the cat continued to lead them to one of the trees surrounding the clearing.
Suddenly the familiar stopped and turned around in front of one of the trees. He looked again at the humans and they stood at a weird standoff for a few minutes before Koneko broke the silence, "maybe he does not know where Rin is". "Then why would he ask us to follow him" Bon answered agitated. Yukio "Well it possible..." Yukio started but the cat was beginning to get annoyed as well.
This is why Kuro did not like humans. They were very slow and then got distracted so easily. They requested something of him and then stopped right at the end. How silly could they be? Having enough of all their talking. Kuro hissed at them. The shock must have worked so at least he had their attention. With a pointed look at the noisy group, Kuro turned back around and lept into the tree.
Yukio caught on first and began to search the branches. No wonder they could not find his brother. Even looking for signs he was their, all he saw was a black tail slung over the side of a large branch. Yukio's sign signaled the victory for the group, they had won their odd version of hide and seek. "Found him" he said half amused. The tree could not be comfortable and the camp ground was already set up.
With that in mind, Yukio told Bon and Shima, another classmate with pink hair, to wait and he began to climb the tree. How Rin even made it up the tree was a mystery to Yukio but then again, his big brother had always been good at climbing. It took quit a bit of moving and many laughs from the others before the younger twin found his way to the branch his brother was on.
Rin was more or less sprawled across the large tree trunk. He apparently had been there the entire time, according to his dark bed head, although with how sensitive his ears were, he could not figure out why Rin did not wake while the group was talking below him. Kuro was curled up next to his master on the tree. Rin was softly snoring and more relaxed than Yukio had seen in a while.
As he gathered up his brother in his arms, the realization of why his brother was so tired hit him like a truck. What did the wood have that his dorm did not, or better yet what didn't it have. Of course with more sensitive hearing, Rin would be having trouble. With how he is as well, he was never going to speak up either.
He passed his brother over to bon and Shima on the ground and then almost fell out of the tree untangling his older brothers tail from his arm. It had wrapped around him while he was thinking and he did not realize it. With more snickering, he managed to get out of the tree mostly unharmed and they brought Rin to the tent.
Knowing the problem made it easier to fix and the whole class began thinking of idea to help Rin. With a quick call to Mephisto to do some things before they came back the next day and some idea's for the classroom. the group ate and when to bed. Rin slept the entire day and night.
The next morning, Rin blearily opened his eyes and was confused by his surroundings. "Huh" he asked dumbly as he looked around at his sleeping classmates. He thought he fell asleep in a tree, no in the tent with Yukio curled up around him. Rin smiled as he unwrapped his tail that had managed to find his brother in his sleep and got up feeling better than he had in a while.
When he untangled himself from the others without waking them up, he found Kuro sitting by the dying fire, soaking in the heat of them embers. "It's about time" Kuro said happily "do you feel better now?" he continued with more concern. "Of course I'm all right" Rin answered simply and they began making breakfast. The benefits of the sleep he got was apparent in the way he moved more gracefully and was fully engaged with talking to his familiar.
When the food was almost done, his relieved friends who were woken by the smell, greeted him and they ate breakfast. Rin was already mourning the place they had camped. He did not get to explore but he felt so good here. It was quiet and safe feeling, but he could not stay here forever and the group had to get ready to return to the school. It was only a two day trip.
When they returned to the school, they stopped by the twin's dorm first, which Rin found odd but did not question. Maybe they were going to do homework together or something. He did not immediately feel anything different and unpacked his belongings. It was only when Kuro said something that he finally noticed himself "Wow, the bumping noise is gone" Kuro exclaimed happily.
Rin Froze where he was and just listened for a few moments. He could still hear the hum of the electricity and the water whooshing through the pipes but Kuro was right. "Hey, is something wrong with the dorm" Rin asked Yukio directly. Happy that Rin noticed and with the others watching Yukio explained "since my older idiot brother would not tell us what was wrong until he was passing out in class". At Rin's blush, Yukio continued "I had to call Mephisto and get the air conditioner fixed and the plumbing fixed so that the noise would not keep you up at night".
Almost in tears, Rin realized Yukio was right. The noise was still here but it was so much dimmer. He could focus on other things and decided this was his new favorite spot in the world. He went to lay down in bed and enjoy the quiet while the others watched amused and taking bets on how long until he falls asleep. A few hours later, the others headed home themselves while Rin was snoring in his bed.
A satisfied Yukio was watching him from the desk. If only his brother had said something sooner, it could have been fixed faster. He did not think his brother was purposely hiding it, more he did not see it as a problem. Yuko would have to watch out for things like this in the future. He remade the promise to himself to watch over his older brother as he joined him in slumber.
