FOUR CHAPTERS?! WHAAAAAAT.
( I am so determined to finish this story tonight guys, you have no idea. )
...o...o...o...
Yukio wasn't sure how they got to the ground in one piece, though he thought Mephisto had something to do with it.
He wasn't sure how they all got back to Assaih, though he thought that Mephisto had something to do with that too.
He wasn't sure how they ended up at True Cross Academy.
All he was sure of was that his brother was lying cold in his arms. Not breathing. Heart not beating. Lips curved in a quiet, peaceful smile. And that he was furious.
"...to the hospital," Mephisto was ordering somebody. His left arm hung uselessly beside him, his shoulders were hunched from strain. "Need to get the miasma out of their lungs, please note that the humans experienced severe trau..."
Yukio lifted his head, his expression as icy as his eyes.
"...and call a meeting with the Vatican, immediately," Mephisto continued. A stretcher carried Bon away. Shiemi was coughing, gasping, him and Rin's name a dry rasp on her tongue even as they tied her down. "...eed to make all aware of what transpired tonight, the historic moment that will change life as we ..."
Yukio, ever so gently, placed Rin's body on the ground and got to his feet.
"...will unable to exorcise as normal, there are now two factions in Gehenna, but that can all be explained in the meeting ..."
"Sir? Sir! Okumura, you cannot stand yet, please sit back down, we need to quarantine -"
Yukio's fist snapped out, catching Mephisto on the chin. To his shock and endless satisfaction, Mephisto didn't dodge. Didn't even try to dodge, and they fell in a heap onto the grass.
Grass.
One hand gripping Mephisto's collar, Yukio used his other to point behind him. To his brother. To his brother's body. "Fix him!" Yukio screamed. Mephisto blinked his violet eyes. "Fix him now!"
Mephisto had the decency to look pained. "Yukio, I can't do -"
Yukio reached back his arm again. A moment later, Mephisto's skull slammed against the ground. "Fix him!" he screamed again. "This is your fault, all of your fault, and you owe him that!" He shakily inhaled, his eyes burning, his throat constricting, but he pushed it out of mind. He had always been good at that.
"You are Samael," Yukio hissed. "You are the King of Time. Reverse Rin's time, bring him back to life."
Blood trickled down Mephisto's lip. "He will not remember anything that had happened," Mephisto said.
"If you don't do it..." Yukio's voice dropped several degrees. "...I will kill you like I did Satan. Like I did too all of those demons back there."
For a moment, and a moment only, fear flashed in Mephisto's eyes.
Finally, he simply inclined his head and said, "As you command, my King."
Yukio got off of Mephisto, but did not offer his hand to help Mephisto to his feet. His icy-blue eyes dark, he spat, "That's damn right."
...o...o...o...
The flowers were beautiful today.
Shiemi hummed a quiet song to herself as she snipped Chrysanthemums from their bush, and gently placed them on the growing pile beside her. The violet buds were extra full this Autumn, and provided some cheer to her rapidly-browning garden. Her breath misted in front of her as she found another full bud and, with her scissors, cut it.
Rin will like these, she thought. Nee happily chirped and sang beside her, as if in agreement.
Grinning at her familiar, and satisfied at her pile of flowers, she leaned back and let herself rest. What else? she wondered, scanning her garden. Rich red blooms sprouted in the corner, Pansy's arched their little faces towards the waning sunlight, and Asters stretched across the grass like sleepy cats.
Loss suddenly sprouted within her, thick and heavy, and Shiemi blinked even as her throat tightened.
My garden.
She turned her head. Saw the veranda, tall and proud, its thick beams snaked by vines. Turned the other way and saw the stream, and the little stone bridge that crossed over it. Heard the river babble to her, heard the birds chirp in the air, heard the light buzz of bees and grasshoppers and other, quieter insects.
My garden, she thought again, and her throat constricted further. She had almost never seen it again. Back in Gehenna, a piece of her had already accepted that that's where she would end up dying. She hoped against it, of course. Fought hard so that it wouldn't come true. But still. She had accepted that she could - and probably would - die.
And yet here she was. Back in her garden, surrounded by the things she loved. The friends she cared for, that were as close to her as familiar now. And the air was clean and fresh, and nobody was screaming, and nobody was dying.
A sudden flower sprouted in front of her nose, and Shiemi - her thoughts torn from her - sneezed.
"Nee!" she gasped. Her familiar cocked its head at her in question, the rose it had sprouted bobbing in the breeze. She pet its head with her finger. "You startled me."
Nee made a happy sound, completely unapologetic.
"Hey!"
A sudden shout had her head turning, and suddenly Konekomaru was running through the gate.
Shiemi blinked in surprise and got to her feet, but not before she collected the little boquet she had made. Holding it tightly in her arms, she said, "Konekomaru? What are you..."
But Konekomaru doubled over, gasping for air. "The hos ... the hospi ..."
The hospital. Shiemi's gloomy mood dampened further. She and Konekomaru had faired the best, and were allowed to leave the hospital after a few short months. Shima and Shura left a few weeks after, as did Bon and Izumo, but Yukio had just been released after six entire months. Rin ... Rin was still there.
It was only because of Rin did she bother returning to the hospital. Just to hear the heart-rate monitor, to make sure that his heart was still beating, that he was alive. If it wasn't for Rin, she would happily never return to another one again.
"What about the hospital?" Shiemi finally said.
Konekomaru raised his head, and it was then did Shiemi realize that he was smiling. Smiling. A real, proper smile, and it almost brought tears to her eyes. None of them had really smiled since the Incident, as they were all calling it.
"At the hospital!" Konekomaru finally managed. "Rin's awake!"
...o...o...o...
Yaaaay, a happy ending! You guys didn't think I'd be so cruel as to leave Rin dead, did you?