Over the next few days Yukio was unusually distant and quiet. After Mephisto had explained the results of his meeting with the Grigori, the young Demon had agreed that their terms seemed agreeable. But Rin didn't. "Yukio's already an Exorcist, has been for a long time, right? just because he lost control one time, doesn't mean that it's going to happen every time. Besides, we defeated Satan and saved the whole world! Shouldn't that give us an automatic pass?" he demanded, incensed. The older Demon and King of Time shrugged, "so many years of having to deal with Demon that want to kill humanity has made the Grigori untrusting of any Demon" he replied. Rin raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "except for you apparently" he said, unconvinced. Mephisto placed a hand on his chest self-importantly, "the only reason I'm even partially trusted by the Grigori is due to the hundreds of years I have dedicated to helping defend Assiah from Demonic attack" he explained.
"And yet you couldn't help us when Satan went on a rampage almost a month ago?" Yukio demanded through clenched teeth. "Well, I didn't need to, did I? You boys had it covered, and handled the situation marvellously! I was extremely impressed. I have no doubt that Father Fujimoto would have been proud" the King of Time replied. Rin was torn between being happily flattered, or royally pissed off. For an 'older brother' he hadn't seemed very concerned when he was being tortured! However, by Yukio's silence, he had already known that the Director had been watching during that whole event, and hadn't said anything. Rin sighed, trying to stay calm. He'd try to talk to his brother about it later. "Well, it is time for me to go now, as I have a lot of work to do. So long, my dear little brothers!" Mephisto winked and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. There was a moment of silence, before Yukio sighed, "I think I'm going to go and rest" he said. Rin frowned, "are you okay?" he asked in concern. "Yeah," he replied, sounding exhausted, "I'm just tired at the moment. I'll see you later Rin" he muttered listlessly, before walking off.
"Yukio" the Indigo-haired Demon muttered. He wished that there was something he could do to help his little brother. Rin was so lost in thought, that he didn't notice the girl that came up behind him until she tapped his shoulder. The boy jumped, and spun around, "Sh-Shiemi! When did you get here?!" he demanded in shock. "Just now, are you okay Rin? Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly. Rin smiled, trying to hide his worry and unease behind a veil of cheerfulness and nonchalance like usual, "no, not really, why?" he asked. The blond girl frowned, "you seem worried about something, that's all" Shiemi replied. The Indigo-haired teen looked down, "just dealing with some family stuff, nothing too big" he explained. "Do you want to talk about it?" Shiemi asked. However, just as Rin opened his mouth to respond, the girl began to stammer, "oh! That was terribly rude of me! If it's family business, then it's probably private! I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry!" she back-tracked hastily. Rin sweat-dropped, 'you didn't give me a chance to respond' he thought.
"I'm actually going to head off now to do some training, sorry Shiemi" the young half-Demon replied. "U-um, if you don't mind, c-could I come and watch you train?" the young Tamer asked. Rin blinked, confused, "um, sure. I'll be training with my flames though, so-" he replied. "Oh, that's fine. if anything happens, I can just ask Nii to create some Rohan brambles. Then I won't get burned" Shiemi said with a smile. Rin smiled back, "okay, as long as you're safe, I don't really mind" he replied.
Blue Exorcist
The two of them walked into the recreation room to find Shura already waiting for Rin, "finally! I've been waitn' forever!" the woman exclaimed in annoyance. "Sorry, I just had to deal with some stuff. But I'm here now and ready for training!" the boy exclaimed cheerfully. "Yeah whatever, go get ready" their Teacher ordered, before turning to look at Shiemi, "and what are you doin' here kid?" she asked. The young girl flinched slightly, "well I, I wanted to watch Rin train, and since I can have Nii summon flame-proof plants, then Rin won't have to worry about accidentally hurting me" she explained. The flame-haired woman stared at the young girl for a moment, before shrugging, "sure, do whatever you want. I know how gutsy you can be, but just remember to be careful, got it Moriyama?" she asked. Shiemi nodded with a big smile, "I will!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Blue Exorcist
Rin focused on the three candles in front of him, Shiemi watching from behind her protective barrier in interest. Back when Michelle Neuhaus had attacked the Monestary and his friends, he had been able to control his flames after he started focusing on the fact that they were his and not Satan's. So maybe that was the key. It was as simple as keeping focused on that and then reigning them in. It wouldn't hurt to try at least. Rin closed his eyes, focusing on his flames and what he wanted them to do. Rin visualised the two side candles as his friends, just like Shura had told him to. He took a deep breath, and sent his flames out. They burst to life far too powerful, and almost melted all of the candles again, but Rin focused and the intensity of the flames slowly reduced. He could feel them straining against his control, fighting to burst free in a wild explosion of power, but he clenched his fists, sweat dripping down his face from the effort, 'these are my flames. They are not Satan's. And they will do, what I tell them to!' he thought.
Slowly he opened his eyes to find the candles only partially melted and blue flames burning calmly on the wicks. Rin panted, 'stay focused, stay in control! Come on, you can do this, don't let your fear of them consume you!' he thought. This was extremely hard, why had it been easier when he'd freed everyone at the Monetary from Michelle's webs? Maybe because they'd been real people, and not just that, but people that he considered family. Still though, he wasn't about to test that theory by practicing on his friends. Meanwhile, Shiemi watched in awe from behind her barrier. Rin was controlling his flames! It didn't look easy, not by any means, but he was doing it! She was sure his Father, if he were here would be so proud!
Blue Exorcist
Yukio sighed as he walked into his and his brother's shared room. Kuro came to the door to see who it was, before smiling, "welcome home Yukio" he said cheerfully. The young Demon blinked down at him, as though only just noticing that the Demon Cat was there, before smiling tiredly, "hey Kuro, thanks," he muttered, moving to take his shoes off. As he moved further into the dorm, Kuro followed him, 'where's Rin?' he asked curiously. "Probably training with Shura" Yukio replied. Rin's Familiar and friend frowned at him, following his Tamer's twin, "are you okay? You don't really look good" Kuro asked worriedly. Yukio sighed, "look, I'm really tired right now Kuro, so I'm going to go to bed, okay?" he asked. "Okay. Have a good nap" the cat sihde replied. The brown-haired Demon entered his and Rin's bedroom, collapsing onto his bed, almost forgetting to take off his glasses. Yukio sighed deeply, closing his eyes in exhaustion. He knew that he would have to start on his own training soon. If he couldn't control his own flames, then he would end up being executed alongside Rin.
He really had no idea just how stressful his brother's life was. Yukio could feel a migraine beginning to pound behind his eyes. He hoped that he would be able to get some sleep. His exhaustion finally overtaking him, Yukio fell into a deep sleep.
Blue Exorcist
(Yukio's nightmare)
The brown-haired Demon slowly blinked his eyes open. He was standing in the Monestary, in his and Rin's old bedroom. Looking around, he found himself to be a little kid again. "What? why am I-?" he began, only to hear sounds coming from the kitchen, and an amazing smell floated towards him. Yukio's tail perked up, 'Rin must be cooking!' he thought. The boy shrugged off whatever was happening as he realised that he was starving and he quickly ran towards the kitchen. However, upon reaching the door that led into the room, he heard a familiar voice. One he thought he'd never hear again while he was alive: "You're getting so good at cooking Son, I'm impressed!" Shiro's voice said happily. Yukio's eyes widened in shock, soon replaced by happiness as tears came to his eyes. He knew that voice as well as he knew Rin's. Rushing into the kitchen, Yukio completely forgot how he now looked in favour of hugging his Father, "DADDY!" he cried, a huge smile on his face.
Father Fujimoto and everyone else leapt up immediately, Kyodo grabbing Rin protectively and pulling the boy away, while Shiro pulled a pistol from his coat. Yukio realised a split-second too late what was happening, 'they think I'm some shapeshifter-Demon who's taken on Yukio's form to attack them and take Rin away!' because in the next split-second, Shiro was slamming him into wall. Yukio cried out in pain, before he heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked. The young Demon looked up at his Father in shock and fear to see a pistol being pointed at his head. "I'll ask you one time, what have you done with my Son?" Shiro growled angrily. "N-no, D-Daddy, it's-" he began, only to get kicked in the stomach. Yukio cried out, sobbing in terror and pain, 'this can't be real. Daddy would never do this to me! He'd at least let me explain first!' "why does that thing look like Yukio Daddy?! What's going on!?" Rin demanded from where he was still being dragged out of the kitchen. Yukio turned to the small version of his brother, who was staring at him in both fear and surprise. The boy winced, seeing his precious big brother looking at him like that hurt worse than their Father's rejection.
"It's me! I swear Rin! Please, you have to tell them, I'm not lying!" the young Half-Demon begged, terrified out of his mind as he reached a hand out to his brother, 'Rin always protects me. He saved me from Satan. He knows me'. "Brother. Brother please!" Yukio whimpered, desperate, "please tell them!" he begged. Rin stared at him, looked him over, before looking him in the eyes. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, before one of the Priests grabbed him and picked him up, "come on Rin, we have to get somewhere safe!" he exclaimed. "No wait! It's really him! That's Yukio! Daddy, don't hurt him! Daddy!" Rin shrieked, kicking and screaming as he was taken away. Now Yukio's only hope of salvation was gone. He paled and looked up, terrified, at his Father, the one who'd always been there for him and loved him. The one who'd trained him to become an Exorcist so that he could protect Rin. The one pointing a gun at his head. Shiro looked furious, "I'll only ask you this one time Demon, where is my Son?" he demanded. Yukio whimpered, trembling. If he answered, Daddy would shoot him. And if he stayed quiet, Daddy would shoot him. Either way he was going to die. Slowly placing his hands together and closing his eyes, all Yukio could do was utter three words: "Daddy, I'm sorry".
Then the gun went off.
(End of nightmare)
Blue Exorcist
Rin slowly returned to his and Yukio's shared Dorm room, exhausted from his training. He was improving, slowly, but improving. Shiemi had thought it had been amazing, and had told him so, many times. He chuckled slightly at the memory. 'I should get dinner started. I wonder what Yukio's been doing all this time?' he thought to himself, opening the door and going inside, only to hear a howl of agony coming from the bedroom. Rin stumbled in his haste to get inside. He knew that voice almost as well as his own, "Yukio!" he screamed, rushing past a hissing Kuro and slamming his way into their bedroom. Yukio was screaming and writhing on the bed, tears streaming down his face. The Indigo-haired Demon ran into the room, immediately trying to wake Yukio up, "Yukio! Yukio, wake up!" he demanded, shaking the boy as much as he could. But his brother was trapped in his nightmare, unable to wake up. Unsure what else to do, he wrapped his arms around his twin, hugging him close, "it's okay Yukio, I'm right here, okay? And I swear to you, I'll never leave you, no matter what!" Rin exclaimed.
All of a sudden, the Exorcist woke up with a horrified gasping sound, the older twin releasing him just in case he freaked out about being held so tightly after just having woken up. Yukio looked around with eyes wild with terror and tears streaming down his face. "Yukio?" Rin whispered quietly, but his brother heard him and instantly snapped his gaze towards the sound of his voice, "R-Rin?" he whimpered, yes, whimpered! The Indigo-haired boy slowly moved closer to his twin, "yeah Yukio, I'm here" he whispered. As soon as the shaking teen caught sight of the blurry figure in front of him, he practically lunged towards him, wrapping his arms around his brother and sobbing loudly. "i-it was horrible! I was a kid, and *sob* I-I was back home. I still, looked like *sob* this and you were scared of me! And Dad- *sob, sob* Dad, Dad hated me! He shot me and said I wasn't his Son! He called me a Demon!" at this Yukio broke down into agonised wails, clinging onto Rin as hard as he could. Rin tried his best to console his traumatized twin, assuring him that neither he, nor Dad would ever act like that. But the younger Demon was unable to calm down. All Rin could do was hold him close and wait for his cries to stop.
Blue Exorcist
Later, when Yukio's cries had tapered down to sniffles, Rin gently rubbed his brother's back, "it sounds like you had one Hell of a nightmare, huh?" he whispered quietly. The other Demon whimpered. Rin looked up at the ceiling silently for a moment, before speaking up again, "I think it might be time for us. To go visit Dad" he said. Yukio looked up at his twin, surprised, "are you sure?" he whispered. "Yeah. We both need it" his brother replied. The brown-haired Demon looked down in thought, "yeah, we should tell him about what's happened the year and a bit. It's almost been a month since Satan's attack after all, and he's got to be worried about us" he replied. "We should go tomorrow, I'll let Sir Phelles know" Yukio continued, moving to get out of the bed, but Rin held him down. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere until you've had some proper sleep. Don't worry, I'll be right here in case you get anymore nightmares" he explained. The Exorcist flushed, "Rin! I'm not a baby anymore! I don't need you to sleep with me to protect me from monsters I can deal with myself!" he replied, incensed.
"Maybe you don't need me to do that anymore. But I want to do that for you. Please Yukio? Let me keep you safe this time" the Indigo-haired boy asked. His brother sighed in defeat, "fine, but let go of me first!" he demanded. Rin did so happily. Yukio sighed deeply, but then smiled, after all, his nightmare was just that. And even if everyone else hated him, Rin would always be there for him.
To Be Continued