When they got back to the Hospital on True Cross Academy's Campus, the Doctors chewed Rin out for leaving in his condition. He tried to assure them that he felt fine, and Yukio's wellbeing had been more important at the time, but then Yukio himself had reprimanded his brother for leaving the Hospital without permission, even if he had used one of the Director's keys so that he hadn't had to hobble all over the whole city. Rin looked very much betrayed at this, "oh really? Selling out your own Brother?" he asked, offended, but Yukio could tell that he was only half serious. "I'll be fine now Rin, you need to get back to bed" the Exorcist replied. After glaring at his brother for a moment, the young Demon sighed in resignation, before turning to head back to his room, "fine, whatever, but you owe me Sukiyaki for this!" he called back, as a nurse led Rin away, "come on Mr Okumera, you should know better than to go wondering all over the city until you're fully recovered!" she reprimanded the Teen. Yukio watched Rin until he disappeared around a corner, before sighing deeply and leaning back against the nearest wall.
He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He really was exhausted. After all, Yukio had insisted on being the one to monitor his Brother's condition while he was still unconscious. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything productive for a while, the newly-awakened (at least in his mind he still was- God, he was sure that he would never get used to not being human anymore) Demon decided to request an empty room to sleep in before he collapsed from exhaustion. After settling into his temporary bed, the brown-haired boy sighed as he let his eyes drift shut. He found it incredibly difficult to fall asleep, despite his exhaustion. But eventually he fell into a fitful slumber.
Blue Exorcist
Rin screamed and thrashed from where he was secured to the X-frame, coughing up and choking on his own blood. Yukio wanted to go to him, to help him. He tried to move any part of his body, intending to pull the Kurikara from where it had been stabbed into the ground and free his brother, but he was frozen to the spot, forced to watch as blood flowed down his twin's face from his nose and mouth, screaming in agony. 'You did this' a voice in his head whispered, cruel and taunting, blaming Rin's torture on him, like he knew he deserved. But a part of him refused to accept it, 'no! this wasn't what I wanted! I never meant for this to happen, please!' he begged in his mind. 'It doesn't matter what you wanted, the fact is that you are the reason Rin is here right now. You're the reason he's being tortured!' the voice snarled furiously.
The young Demon screamed and wailed, body thrashing around in a desperate attempt to escape the pain, spitting up massive amounts of blood, as the ritual tore apart the inside of his body without mercy. 'Please stop! Leave him alone!' Yukio begged, tears welling in his eyes at the horrible sight. No matter how much he wanted to, the young Exorcist could not move his body, forced to watch helplessly as his only remaining family was pushed to the brink of death over and over again. Suddenly a new voice pierced his thoughts, one he knew as well as his own, 'YUKIO! PLEASE, OH GOD, HELP ME!' Rin's voice screamed inside his head. 'IT HURTS! OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA DIE! MAKE IT STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU!' Yukio clutched his head with both hands, nails clawing at the skin and making him start to bleed too. "Please stop, I'll do anything, just leave my brother alone! Stop hurting him!" the younger twin begged, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to block out the screams, no matter what he did. "If you really want to save him from this torture, there is only one way" a sinister voice whispered in his mind. Yukio's eyes snapped open, seeing himself surrounded in blue flames, "no! get out, I won't let you hurt Rin again!" he cried, recognising that he had been possessed by Satan.
"Oh no, my dear Son, you've got it all wrong. You are the one that is hurting Rin right now. You're so full of guilt that you can't even run over their and pull the Kurikara out of the circle. You're not strong enough" the Devil replied. Yukio shook as he was unable to stop the monster in his body from taking out one of his guns, "no stop, please don't!" he begged desperately, sobbing at the amount of agony he could feel welling up inside his heart. "If you want to end your brother's suffering so much, but lack the resolve-" Satan aimed his gun at Rin's chest, his Son desperately trying to retake control before it was too late. Rin screamed even louder, eyes snapping open and locking with those of his terrified little Brother, blood all over him. "Please-" Yukio whimpered, feeling as helpless as he had when he was a child. "Then I'll just do it for you!" the Demon pulled the trigger, the Excorsist bullet seeming to move in slow motion, before it suddenly pierced through Rin's chest. The Teenager's screams went silent and he sagged on the x-frame.
For a single moment, there was complete silence and stillness, before a horrified scream ripped itself from Yukio's mouth, and blue flames engulfed everything, his birth Father's sinister laughter being the last thing the Teenager heard, before everything went dark.
Yukio screamed as he bolted upright on the bed, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. In a panic, the boy lunged out of bed, barely managing to keep from crashing to the floor when his legs became entangled in the sheets. Snatching his glasses off the bedside table, Yukio slammed them onto his face and tore out of the room, desperate to know that his Brother was still alive. By the time he reached Rin's Hospital room, a Doctor who was on the Graveyard shift had found him and was angrily scolding him in furious whispers. But the only thing the young half-Demon could think of in that moment was his brother, a burning need to know that he was really okay flowing through his veins. Sliding the door open, Yukio's breath caught in his throat at the sight that met his terrified gaze. Rin was sleeping as soundly as the dead, snoring up a storm on the bed, one leg hanging off the bed and the arm not occupied with an IV line flung out at an awkward angle. Panic finally calming as he took in the sight, the young Doctor collapsed boneless to the floor. After pulling him out of the room, Yukio was vaguely aware of the nurse giving him a harsh, albeit quiet telling-off.
But as the relief finally set in, the young Demon found that he really didn't care. Rin was still okay, and that was all that mattered to him in that moment.
Blue Exorcist
When Rin eventually woke up, he immediately noticed the presence in his room. Looking at the foot of his bed, he found Yukio to be asleep in a chair there. He slowly sat up, frowning at the exhaustion in his brother's face and the tear streaks staining his cheeks. 'Yukio' the Indigo-haired teen thought sadly. He was unsure weather to wake his twin for a moment, before the decision was taken out of his hands. A knock sounded at the door, "time for dinner Mr Okumera" a Nurse called as she slid open the door. Yukio's ears twitched at the new voice, and he slowly dragged himself to wakefulness. "Hey Bro, you're awake" Rin said with a smile. The brown-haired Demon stared at him with unfocused eyes for a moment, before he gasped, "Rin? You're awake!" he said breathlessly, quickly picking up his glasses and putting them on. He smiled in relief, "I'm so glad, how do you feel?" Yukio asked. Rin grimaced, "well, I'm still sore all over, but I don't feel as much pain or weakness as I did before. I am starving though" he replied.
The Teacher flushed slightly as his stomach roared at him, "yeah, me too" he muttered. "Well, then it's a good thing that it's Dinnertime, isn't it?" the Nurse asked, bringing in their food. Rin sat up carefully, while Yukio stretched and yawned, rubbing his eyes. The dream he'd had this time was nowhere near as bad as the nightmare he'd had before running to Rin's room earlier. In fact he'd dreamed of their Mother. If nothing else good had come from Satan possessing him, at the very least he was glad that he'd gotten to see their Mother. As the twins slowly ate their dinner, Yukio couldn't help but stare at his brother, wanting to make sure that he was really okay. After they finished, the two sat in silence, neither sure what to say to the other. "So, have you heard any news about how reconstruction of the city and School are going? Their aren't anymore Demons left out there, are their?" Rin asked. Yukio adjusted his glasses, "Sir Pheles and the other Excorsists have been patrolling the city, dealing with any evacuations that are still needed as well as any remaining Demons. Life in this city won't return to normal for quite a while, but at least things are improving slowly," the brown-haired Demon looked down, remembering that most of the damage to the city had occurred while Satan had been possessing his body.
Ernest may have been the one to open the Gahena Gate, but technically he was the reason for most of the damage. The Gate had only opened after his blood had been added and he was the one the Devil had possessed and used to attack the city. He may not have been aware of everything that had happened while he was being possessed, but he knew the general information at least. Yukio clenched his fists- "Hey, if you're blaming yourself for everything that happened that day, then cut it out. It wasn't your fault. The only ones to blame were Ernest and Satan. Got it?" Rin asked, cutting off his brother's guilty thoughts. "But I-" Yukio began, before being cut off again, "if what happed a few days ago was your fault, then was what happened on the night I awakened Dad's fault too? was Dad the one who tried to drag me down to Gahenna?" Rin demanded. "Wha-? Of course it wasn't!" Yukio exclaimed immediately. "Well then, what happened to me was not your fault either. Right?" the older half-demon replied. Yukio sighed, "okay, I get it. But I can't promise that I can just stop feeling guilty about everything" he said.
Rin also sighed, "alright, fine! but I don't blame you, and I never will, understand?" he asked. The Exsorcist closed his eyes in defeat, "yeah, I know. You don't blame me for what happened. But I can't just forgive myself that easily. I-" Yukio clenched his fists and eyes shut, images from his nightmare assaulting him. He placed his hand over his heart, "what I let happen to you, and what could have happened to you will probably haunt me for the rest of my life" the young Demon trembled and let out a sigh, "I really don't know what to do" he muttered. Rin looked up at the ceiling, "I get it, really I do. I mean, I still feel guilty for Dad's death. And I probably always will. But just know that I'll always be here for you, after all, we're all we have left, we have to stick together. I swear to you Rin, I will do better from now on. I will protect you no matter what" the younger twin said determinedly. But Rin shook his head, placing his hand on Yukio's shoulder, "no. We'll protect each other from now on Yukio. I promise" he said with a small smile. The younger boy smiled, "right" he replied.
Blue Exorcist
A few days later after a thorough examination, Rin was cleared to leave the Hospital. "FINALLY! I thought I was gonna go stir-crazy if I had to keep staring at the same four walls for much longer" the older Okumera exclaimed in relief. Yukio smiled as the two of them left the building, but when Rin saw all the damage that had been caused to the city, he sagged in guilt. "Hey, why don't we go check on everyone at the Monastery? I know we were their just recently, but social calls are still nice, and neither of us were really interested in seeing how everyone else was doing before" Yukio suggested. Rin smiled, "yeah, okay. Let's go" he agreed. The two boys then left.
To Be Continued