There were many things about Rin that he had long since written off as they just are. Some things he questioned but most of them, he just shook his head at others and moved on. The first time someone at school saw his fangs, it was like that. Even when his neighbor, encouraged by the night class, tried to steal his meat and found it almost raw, he was just called a weirdo and nobody questioned it. He sure got the teasing of a lifetime from the others when they heard about it though.

It always seemed to Rin like it was less malicious when the cram school teased him for his tail or something else he could not control. Maybe it was because he knew that they understood why Rin was this way. They did start tolerating his oddness more when they found out about his demon part. The first time his fangs extended in front of them when they ate, they all stopped and stared at him before Shima made an offhand comment and they all laughed.

Rin was not sure he liked being laughed at so often but the others felt bubblier when they laughed so he accepted their criticism. Other things about himself he did not figure out until they started testing with him. "With him" being the key word because they found out quick not to do anything without telling him after having burned him and making Shiemi angry.

Like his talent for cooking may not be all hard work. He found out while camping with the others that he could always make the fire as hot as he needed it to cook over it. It was not even something he thought about. He just needed the fire to be hot and it would get hotter. He kinda figured it was something demonic when he released that part of him but never bothered to look into it.

"Try making it bigger or smaller" Shima requested as Kamiki wrote down the results. "It's not turning blue," Bon pointed out. "Maybe it's because there are not Rin's flames but human flames that he's controlling," Yukio could not help but comment. They were all looking at Rin and asking him to do things with the fire. It made it happy but he was starting to get uncomfortable and the fire was definitely reacting to his increasing stress. It lept higher and higher and almost looked like a bonfire before Yukio noticed and put a stop to the night's experiment.

"Rin is looking tired tonight, let's call it a night." The others looked disappointed but would not argue with Yukio. They found out quickly that Rin did not care about himself but anytime Yukio put his foot down, Rin would comply without question. On darker nights, Bon wondered if that would spell out trouble for them later. Yukio was a sensible guy but if he ever went crazy. Rin would follow along without question.

Another thing the other students realized when the fire went down was that Rin could see in the dark like nothing else. This was not always a good thing because they found out because Koneko turned a light on when the fire was embers and Rin hissed and jumped back into the surrounding darkness. Koneko would never admit he was afraid when he asked "Rin, are you okay," at the hissing figure of his friend curled up and holding his squinting eyes.

"Yeah, just, Why did you have to do that?" Now the others were looking at Rin confused and he felt the need to explain. "Why did you have to turn that thing on, I could see just fine," he pointed to the flashlight in Koneko's hands. "No way man, it's almost pitchblack," Shima exclaimed as he came closer to the now standing group. Anytime Koneko got near Rin with the flashlight, he would back away and even turned around at one point. Yukio would be lying if he said it didn't make him feel good with how much trust Rin was putting in this group as he stood relaxed with his back to them.

He did not seem agitated about the questions so Yukio let them continue as he grabbed a smaller flashlight and started picking up the campground before they went to bed. Shiemi noticed and before long the entire group was cleaning and chatting with Rin about his eyes. The other students tried to see what they looked like but everytime they got it bright enough to see, Rin would back away and say the light was hurting his eyes.

"Maybe it's because it's night" Koneko thought out loud and the group could see Rin droop at that. "Or maybe it's because it's dark. Man, it's creepy. I want to see in the dark too," Shima brought the wonderful rescue and Rin perked back up. "I've never noticed before," Rin spoke honestly. Without being able to look at his eyes, it was impossible to tell what they were doing to make the adjustment but Yukio was there with the Save. "We have night vision goggles at the school, we can use them when we get back. So will everyone please stop pointing your lights in his face." Even Yukio was beginning to get a headache with all the lights moving around the campground.

Rin looked at him thankfully, not that Yukio could see it in the dark, and the group continued to clean up and get ready for bed. Only two fights broke out when Rin snickered at the others for tripping over themselves or each other. Bon and Kamiki were the ones that were yelling while Rin laughed at them. They could not have a proper fight though because the human's could not catch the half demon in the dark.

The third time he snuck up on Kamiki, she threatened to put a bell around his neck like a naughty cat. Apparently Rin was capable of being quiet when he wanted to be. Yukio had long since given up on Rin wanting to be quiet in class but it was entertaining to see him sneak up on his friends in the dark. Every time Rin was caught sneaking up on him, they would both laugh and the game would restart.

Koneko squinted at Yukio near the fire and could barely make out his dark figure sitting on the ground. "I understand how Rin can see but how can you tell he's coming up behind you." "Unfortunately, I did not inherit any of Satan's power but I was tainted by my brother from a young age. Father explained that could cause some side effects like being able to see better in the dark." At Rin's crestfallen expression, Yukio continued "It actually quit handy in a fight and brother is a bit predictable as well," he answered as he grabbed the hand coming closer to him from the back.

He looked over his shoulder and was happy to see Rin feeling better from his earlier comment. He was worried for a second he had said too much. Yukio would probably never tell his brother about how easy it was to sense him from across campus and be able to tell where he was. He could not tell the emotions like Rin could but he made a great tracker for his brother. Their father was honestly not able to tell if Yukio could do this because he was tainted by Rin in the womb or if it's residual power from Satan. Something his frail body could handle and inherited. He liked the former option better, so he used it and ignored the latter.

It did not take long after that before the group went to bed. When Rin was woken up for the third time during the night to make sure the coast was clear for someone to use the bathroom, he decided maybe being able to see in the dark was not such a great thing. Especially when the next and final night they were camping, he was sent out alone to gather the firewood because the others thought it was too dark.

"It's not that dark," he mumbled as he picked up smaller sticks and a few logs. They did not need much because it was there last night but Rin never liked being alone in the dark. It was not the fear of the unknown for him like it was for most people who were afraid of it. Rin could see perfectly fine and could even make out the campfire in the distance if he focused. It was the fact so many other people were afraid of the dark that disturbed him.

He could move and fit in well with the surrounding darkness where others would become fearful and lost. It made him feel lonely and made it more likely for him to be sent into the darkness carelessly. Just because someone could do something did not mean they should but he could never explain these thoughts to his brother or father. They used to send him out all the time when he was younger and never realized it bothered him as much as it did.

Now he was almost an adult and could do anything in the dark that he could do during the day. One thing he would keep to himself though would be the feelings of power that came with moving in the dark, like a graceful predator stalking its prey. Rin was usually pretty clumsy and who wouldn't be, with his strength, not much could exactly hurt him. He did not have to watch his steps like most people did and he could walk over any kind of terrain.

On the last night, Rin was kind of restless so he explored the surrounding area while the others slept this beautiful night away. They were not that far from the school and at one point in the night Rin actually Ran back to his dorm to do some food prep for the others the next day. He pretended he did not know the real reason they went camping so much but he knew they only did this for him. For him to be able to sleep soundly amidst the noise at home.

It worked and he never slept better than on their trips. There was nothing else like finding a giant rock and sunbathing while taking a nap during the day. He could never get away with that at school. The only tradeoff was that staying there almost always guaranteed Rin enough energy to be up about 3 days after the trip. They decided to stay an extra night to see him move in the dark but he would not sleep for a while yet.

"Hey Ukoback, hi Kuro," he greeted the two demons as they watched him doing the prep work. They spoke their greeting to him in the language that all demons instinctively understood. That was part of an experiment last week that none of them were able to figure out. He had some sort of telepathic link to other demons and was able to talk to them even when they were speaking different languages. They had tried it on human languages with odd results. Old languages, Rin could read and speak easily but could not write. Others not so much.

He also had to be in hearing range to contact a demon, which made no sense to anyone. Kuro tried to explain through Rin that it was more of a consent thing than an ability thing but no one could understand it. When a demon was nearby, they used their body language to give consent to speak where Rin would not be able to obtain that consent if he could not see them.

There were all sorts of old demon traditions that Rin did without thinking about, such as the contract problem not too long was a classic case of the others wanting answers where Rin just was. He finished up his cooking and played with Kuro for a while. The others were concerned the first time they caught the two playing and even tried to attack Kuro, claiming he was hurting Rin. It was hard to explain. He enjoyed playing with the familiar like that and after it happened a few times, he gave up and only played with the cat when he knew nobody else was looking.

He made sure to return to camp and his sleeping bag before morning so the others would not question where he had been all night. He figured Yukio would see his dirty clothes and know but most of the time, he could get away with not telling the others and pretending he was normal. Yeah they already knew what he was but he did not like putting it in their faces every chance he got.

When they got back to the dorms, Rin fixed them lunch and the others chatted about how they could look at Rin's eyes. Yukio finished first and used his teleporting keys to go and get the goggles while the others set up the room for the experiment. Rin was tasked with covering the top windows in one of the empty rooms, mostly because he was the only person that could reach them while the other attempted to block out as much light as they could.

Rin was not sure how successful they were because he could see them just fine but figured they got it as dark as they wanted when Koneko tripped and cussed at Shima. Before a fight broke out, Yukio returned with the goggles and the group took turns looking at Rin's eyes. "The pupils are really big," Shima commented. "Yeah I can't see the colored part at all," Koneko was looking at the other eye while Rin tried not to go crosseyed.

They looked until Rin got bored of it and left the room with a hiss as light flooded in his vision. Little did he know, the others had taken pictures of his eyes while they could and were comparing them to his normal. They seemed to glow at night where any kind of light reflected off them. They spent the rest of the day looking at photos while Rin went out with Ukobach and Kuro to do something they refused to think too hard about.