As the bell rang for lunch and students spilled out of class in droves, three of them hung back, casting worried glances at each other. While the rest of the students really didn't care – it was common for faculty to pull scholarship kids out of class to do something suddenly – these three had seen the seal over the woman's chest, and while most others would chalk it up to a weird tattoo, they knew better. She was an exorcist… and for some reason, she wanted Yukio.
"Do you think he did something?" Konekomaru said nervously, wringing his hands. "I really hope Okumura's okay."
"She was Upper First Class," said Renzō, looking at his shoes. "That usually doesn't mean good news."
"Really?" Ryūji asked, frowning. It wasn't surprising that Renzō had been the only one to notice; though he acted like an airheaded fool, he was extremely observant and cunning when the need arose. "How'd you know?"
"The tattoo. It's an advanced seal; Jūzo was researching them awhile ago, and he said that only the most talented of Upper First Classes have enough skill to use them."
"That doesn't sound good at all!" exclaimed Konekomaru despondently. "Is there any way we can help Okumura?"
"I… don't think we need to help him," said Ryūji slowly, remembering the look on Yukio's face. He'd seemed alarmed, but there had been recognition in his eyes as he looked at the exorcist – and come to think of it, she'd even dipped her chin at him as if confirming something.
"What?" said Renzō incredulously, and Ryūji swore that his friend sounded almost boiling mad at the suggestion. "What the hell do you mean, Ryūji?"
Not just boiling mad, Ryūji corrected himself. Insane with rage. I didn't know he cared that much about Yukio… he never calls me by my actual name.
"I think he knows her," he said quickly in an attempt to pacify Renzō. "You were looking at her, but I was looking at him. He seemed like he recognised her, and you probably saw how she nodded at him?"
Renzō let out a soft hum. Ryuji continued, "Well, it looked like he was asking her a silent question. He looked terrified for a split second after she did, then calmed himself down and ran out. But yeah, my point is that they know each other, and that I don't think there's anything to worry about."
"Actually, there is," said Konekomaru softly. "If Okumura knows her, he's hiding something about himself. A lot of things, really. What do we actually know about him, other than that we attend the same school?"
"He loves penguins and his favourite colour is green," said Renzō immediately. Ryūji wanted to laugh, but Konekomaru was right. Those were just superficial things that said nothing about the person Yukio was or the kind of life he lived.
"Yeah, but we don't know him. Hell, he could be the son of Satan and we wouldn't know," he said soberly.
"Son of Satan? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?" said Konekomaru with an arched eyebrow. Ryūji let out a forced laugh.
"Yeah, no way he could be. Satan could never love someone enough to have kids with them."
(Leaning over Rin in the med room, his hands alight with blue, Yukio sneezed and nearly banged his nose into his twin's thick skull.)
"Still," Ryūji went on, the hint of humour in his voice disappearing, "there are a lot of things he isn't telling us…"
"And do you intend to find out?" Renzō asked bitingly.
"Of course. He knows all about us – he even recognised us as the 'Blue Night kids' – so he should return the favour by telling us about himself." Ryūji said confidently. "He's been out for most of the class, so I reckon he'll show up at lunch. Let's go!"
With that, he picked up his bag and headed downstairs to the cafeteria, his friends following quickly.
Just as Ryūji finished buying his lunch, there came a sudden tap on his shoulder that nearly had him jumping out of his skin. He turned around slowly, only to find the same woman who'd taken Yukio smiling at him.
"Cram school starts ta'morrow, kid," she said quietly. "Come prepared, and probably… don't eat before the class unless ya're okay with throwing up."
Ryūji opened his mouth to ask a question, but she was gone just as suddenly as she'd come, dissolving into the milling mass of students. Shaking his head in confusion, he put it out of his mind, deciding to focus only on the information she'd given him. It immediately cheered him up, and as he made his way over to his friends a smile appeared on his face.
"You met her too?" he asked Konekomaru and Renzō, who nodded.
"Yeah, she said cram school starts tomorrow. And something about… throwing up?" Konekomaru looked slightly green as he said it. Renzō laughed.
"I'm sure it can't be that bad, but I don't wanna think about more work. Let's eat, I'm hungry. Plus, we got to interrogate Yuki! The lady was gone before I could ask her anything."
"Same here. What's her deal, man? You think we'll ever get that good at camouflage?" Ryūji said teasingly, leading the other two to the fountain where they usually sat and starting to eat.
About five minutes into their lunch break, Yukio showed up as predicted – Ryūji spotted him weaving his way over to them from the opposite side of the courtyard. He poked the other two, wiggling his eyebrows to indicate the beginning of the plan they'd set up. Quickly, they all shifted their expressions into interrogative frowns, looking up just as Yukio stopped by them with some kind of wrap in his hands.
He isn't even winded, Ryūji thought jealously. Lucky bastard.
"…guys?" Yukio asked carefully, surveying their faces. "Is everything okay?"
A few more seconds of silence; then the words that Ryūji had been itching to say burst out of his mouth.
"What the hell, man?! Why'd the pink lady want you? She's an exorcist, isn't she?!" he demanded belligerently. Renzō and Konekomaru nodded along, adopting similar expressions as they stared up at Yukio.
"Well..." Yukio hedged. Ryūji intensified his stare, accidentally turning it into a glare halfway through.
"Well?" Renzō asked.
"You see…" Yukio said slowly, something sparking in his blue eyes. "I've, uh… been interested in medicine from when I was a kid. I knew… a doctor when I was a kid, and she… taught me a lot of things. The pink-haired lady is an old friend and knows about my skills, so she said she'd come and get me when an exorcist comes back to True Cross all bloody and beaten. She says it's good practice if I want to be a surgeon."
"That's amazing!" Ryūji exclaimed, all the ideas of interrogation going straight out the window to be replaced by pure awe. He knew Yukio was smart, but to be a fifteen-year-old skilled enough at his chosen vocation that he could operate on full-fledged exorcists? That was just insane.
Yukio smiled, his cheeks tinging slightly pink.
"Thanks…" he said softly. "Can I sit?"
Renzō laughed and moved over to create some space, grinning sheepishly. Yukio sat down on the edge of the fountain, unwrapping his roll and starting to devour it in a manner Ryūji hadn't expected of the normally calm boy. His purpose was revealed a few seconds later as he reached over and grabbed Ryūji's math notes out of his bag, blindly copying down the sums. Ryūji opened his mouth to lecture, but Yukio shook his head, explaining that he knew how to do them. Once he was done, he stuffed the notes back into Ryūji's bag and smiled.
"What'd I miss?" he asked, looking at them all properly for the first time since he'd run off.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you! We won't have to do that extra training you promised: they said they'd be starting up cram school classes tomorrow." said Ryuji eagerly, swallowing a mouthful of rice. Yukio looked slightly surprised, but excited all the same; Renzō, however, moaned and grimaced.
"I'm so not looking forward to it. More work!" he complained.
"I don't really care so long as we start learning," said Konekomaru with a shrug. For some reason, Yukio's shoulders flicked forward in a small huff, and his hand came to his mouth; Ryūji frowned but didn't comment on the strange glint in his friend's eyes. Yukio was weird sometimes; perhaps it was just one of those moments.
(Oh, Ryūji. If only you knew how wrong you were.)
The next morning, Ryūji sat at the front of the class, vibrating in his seat. For the first time in his life, he couldn't wait for the day to end: suddenly, he understood why Renzō would get up and run out of class screaming once the bell rang.
He groaned, slumping forward in boredom. On his right, Renzō was chatting animatedly to Yukio, who was nodding along. Sighing, Ryūji looked to his left, noting the once-again empty desk with a frown.
Is the guy ever planning to show up?
He was just about to start complaining when, as if on cue, a boy entered the classroom and slid into the seat beside him. Ryūji turned his head to look at the new arrival, ready to begin a lecture when he caught sight of the boy in full.
Unruly spikes of black hair shot out in all directions from his head. His bangs reached down to his nose, right between shining blue eyes that twinkled with mischief. A bright, infectious smile adorned the handsome face, adding to the impish good looks. Ryūji's breath caught in his throat, and his cheeks grew slowly warm as his mouth opened slightly.
That was when a hand touched his lower jaw, pushing it closed with a soft click. Ryūji choked on air as the boy said laughingly, "You'll catch flies."
"I-" Ryūji started to say, blushing even more furiously now, "-shit, I'm sorry!"
"It's cool! I'm Rin." The blinding smile widened. Ryūji breathed in deeply to calm himself, returning the grin with a small one of his own.
"Ryūji Suguro. Nice to meet ya." he said, reaching out a hand. Rin shook it, his eyes widening slightly.
"You're… Ryūji? Yukio's Ryūji?" he asked in a soft voice. Ryūji furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Yukio's? Yeah, I'm his friend…" he said carefully. "Why, you know him?"
"Know him?" Rin said with an incredulous expression. "Bloody hell, I-"
He was cut off by a new voice, calm and dangerous like Ryūji had never heard it be. Both boys along with Renzō and Konekomaru turned to see Yukio smiling in their general direction, looking absolutely terrifying.
"Rin… do you remember what I told you yesterday?" he asked in a gentle voice that somehow screamed danger. Ryūji wanted to run away, but Rin just smiled easily, unfazed.
"I'm clear now, so you can chill," he said jovially. Ryūji winced as Yukio's eyes sharpened, but Rin didn't even flinch.
"Shura sent me." he continued calmly. Yukio stared at Rin for a moment, then sighed and shook his head.
"Of course she did. Neither of you ever know what's good for you." he said disapprovingly.
"Never claimed to," Rin shot back, grinning brightly. Yukio rolled his eyes, then turned to Ryūji, his face softening into his usual kind mien.
"I'm sorry for this idiot here," he said apologetically. "He just barrels forward without thinking about anything."
"Don't be!" Ryūji said quickly. "It's fine. Just… how do you know each other?"
Yukio raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking up into a smile. He and Rin exchanged glances; they wore identical expressions, so perfect that they could've passed for twins. That was when it hit Ryūji.
"Are you two… but there's no way… are you brothers?!" he shrieked, unable to compute it. Sure, they shared the same face shape, but Rin's eyes were a deeper blue than Yukio's and he lacked the moles, whereas Yukio was about six inches taller and wore glasses. But as he continued to look at the two, their similarities because more obvious. They had the same eye shape and long black lashes, the same bow-shaped lips, and the same unruly jet-black hair (though Yukio's was cropped shorter and tamed to an extent).
"We're fraternal," Rin said, grinning brightly as if he'd read Ryūji's thoughts.
"Oh, don't worry. We can't read thoughts. It's just-" continued Yukio seamlessly.
"-the natural reaction when people find out we're twins! This will-" Rin went on.
"-never get old," completed Yukio.
"Oh my god," said Renzō faintly. "Please. Please stop it. I might throw up if you continue."
"That would be-" Yukio said immediately.
"-a very interesting reaction-" Rin continued.
"-although not one we haven't seen before!" they finished in unison.
"I never thought Yukio was this sadistic," murmured Konekomaru quietly to Ryūji, who hummed in agreement. Neither saw Yukio's eyes flash as his sharp ears picked up their words; nor did they hear his soft, malicious chuckle (though Rin did, and shot his brother a disapproving stare, which Yukio coolly ignored).
If they had noticed, maybe they would have been prepared for what would come in the following months. As things stood, though, they were all set to suffer at the devious hands of one Yukio Okumura.
Responding to reviews:
godspromise2008 - here ya go xP thank you sm! So glad you like it!
CeleneTheAngel - Oh, don't worry, you'll get to see it very soon uwu. There's gonna be buckets of brotherly fluff, though they (coughYukiocough) pretend not to care. Thank you for the kind words :3
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave me a review!
Love, Ceru
