1. Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist, its characters, or its settings.
2. Thanks to Miyavilurver and TheMoonlandian for helping me out!
3. When older Yukio said they 'collectively have the same amount of power as Satan,' it also means they developed 3 or 4 new powers they don't have in canon. I do sort of jump into the plot without explaining that, so I just wanted to give fair warning to those who might be jarred out of the story when it turns out Rin has Satan's 'beautiful butterfly' wings and they're functional, among other things they do this chapter.
4. The public opinion of demons, Satan, and his children, has changed a few times over the course of history between canon and the year this story takes place in. Hence 'distracting autograph girl.'
Chapter 2: Blue Fire and Bleeding Hearts
Rin felt a strong force trap him on the floor, though he could not see the cause.
"Get... off...!" He struggled under its weight, flailing aimlessly, until he felt it disappear from his body again. Quickly looking around, he centered his attention on the other side of the oven, after spotting his brother over there climbing down with the blond. Rin scurried over to meet the two of them.
"Yukio, you okay?" Rin examined Yukio for injuries, while the foreign boy stalked past them, scouring every inch of the cabin from behind the stove. Making confused noises, he hunched down and continued to scan the opening in the wall.
At that moment, a man landed right inside, holding the four children who had fallen out before. Two were calm but shaken, while the other two wailed loudly.
The blond gripped the edge of the stove so hard his knuckles turned white. "[There you are,]" he growled.
"Wow, I shouldn't have done that," the man muttered to himself. He glanced at the children in his arms, and shifted his head to greet the other two tightly gripping his neck. "Are you guys okay?" he asked. None of them responded. "[Oh, right, you kids aren't Japanese. Can you speak English? Are you okay?]"
"[Uh… well, um… Yeah,]" a dark-skinned girl with shoulder-length hair answered. But no one else reacted, so he sighed and put them down. All of them ran away from him, tripping and stumbling their way deeper into the cabin, although the dark skinned girl did take one last look at him before she left.
Rin joined the blond and peered over the edge of the stove, dragging Yukio by the hand. Yukio pulled against his brother's grip and tried to pry his fingers off. Rin released him when he realized his little brother didn't want to go anywhere. Then, leaning himself on the other boy's shoulder to get a better view (despite his short outburst and attempt to push him off), Rin squinted at the hag's uninvited houseguest, now circling around the edge of the cabin. She hissed at him as he walked, gripping her broom tightly and holding it close to her.
The foreign boy's eyes were glued to the two demons now, especially to the man as he kicked aside a skull. Rin couldn't figure out what bothered him so much about them. The new man looked like one of those businessman types, with a slight amount of product in his hair to keep it well behaved and hold back his bangs. Nothing stare-worthy, aside from funny clothes: a dull indigo tailcoat with light gray patterns on the cuffs, golden chains between the buttons, and pants of the same color. Only one thing was weird: the man had come out of nowhere, able to jump into the hut even though they were floating thousands of feet in the sky.
'Did the new guy come in a helicopter and blow up the house with missiles?' Rin wondered. 'Or can the blond guy see the ghost, and he's just worried about that?'
Yukio edged out from behind his brother and gulped. Once he laid eyes on the man he squeaked, and then he covered his mouth with his hands.
If he kept his mouth shut, could he stifle the urge to scream? He couldn't stop trembling. His dad would have been disappointed in him, but there wasn't much he could do about it, was there?! Blue fire blazed all around the man's body, springing up from it as if it were a part of him. His insanely long ears, mouthful of pointy teeth, and bright, catlike eyes with their miniature flames betrayed his demonic nature. A small amount of fire trailed from the center of his head, forming a single horn. But what stuck out to Yukio the most was two rolls of fire hovering around his back, and six thin jets surrounding those, almost like they formed a set of wings.
Rin glanced back at his brother. 'Even Yukio's acting different than before?' he thought, forehead wrinkling in confusion. 'Because of him? Is it his clothes?' Then Rin noticed a tail flicking behind the man.
"Oh! A cosp-" Rin started, but he cut himself off when Yukio tugged on his shoulder and furiously shook his head. Yukio made one last pleading expression toward his brother before turning to watch the demons' confrontation again.
The hag, who had all but forgotten about Rin, approached the flaming man, muttering curses under her breath while she inched closer like a threatened animal. They met in the center of the room.
Before they could do anything else, the blond interrupted them both. "[So? What do you want with us, demon?!]"
The flaming man turning his head in the children's direction. "[Huh?]"
Yukio sucked in a breath, his face pale. "He saw us," The younger twin yelped, let go of Rin, and scrambled behind the oven.
"[Why have you come here?!]" the old hag drew the man's attention back to her. "[How did you find me?!]" she snarled.
The man cocked an eyebrow. "[Why should I tell you that?]"
"[Filthy creature, you are! You hurt my house! Turn down and dump him!]"
"What?" The flaming man said, just as the entire cabin tipped on its side until the opening was facing downward. "Oh."
Screams of terror filled the cabin as its inhabitants lost contact with the floor. Only the twins and the blond remained safe. They had been lucky - when the cabin tilted over, they had fallen onto the oven's side instead. All of the others fell towards the opening, and the first to pass through it was the flaming man. Just after that, the hag levitated and stretched out her arm. Before the first child reached the hole, he landed on an invisible shield where the wall used to be. It bent under his weight, and he bobbed up and down as if on a trampoline while the shield 'twanged' under him. The other children followed suit, and the shield took a few minutes to become still and for them to stop bouncing around.
The flaming man caught one of the winding branches growing out of the outer walls of the cabin, stretching out his flaming wings to keep himself afloat. The hag teleported outside, reappearing under the house with a small fwoosh, riding an old mortar.
She motioned with her broom, creating a path for the brambles to follow. They jerked out of the man's hands and retreated. He gripped the air a few times as he began to fall again, but with a flap of his 'wings,' and a pulse of the flaming jets on his back, he glided up to her.
The fires licking his body expanded, threatening to surround both of them, but she managed to evade it by teleporting on top of the house just seconds before it consumed her. An instant later she reappeared directly above his head, bonking him with the bottom of her mortar, which he grabbed. She jumped off of it and flew away. A torrent of wind and lightning followed her movement, and he got caught in it. His clothes were ripped apart, but otherwise he was unfazed.
"[Stay still!]" he shouted. His eyes glowed, and the flames inside of them momentarily erupted. The hag froze.
"[You seek to control me, little princeling?]" she hissed, sweating, shaking, and unable to move. "[I am not a weak, mindless rodent. That power will not subdue me.]" She jerked her body back and forth, attempting to free herself from his hold. With each jerk she moved her body an extra few inches, but she could not wrestle free of the other demon's mental grip all at once. And that was all the man wanted or needed. He sent a blast of fire at her, and this time she failed to evade it. It blew through her body, disintegrating it, and the beam of fire continued traveling into the afternoon sky.
The flaming man relaxed his arms and the fire dissipated. When he looked up, he cursed again. The old woman's house plummeted, its power of flight stripped away from it. It made one last effort to hold itself up. All of the children fell out of the opening during this time, screaming and flailing, although the noise was drowned out by the house screeching and kicking around with its legs.
The man winced, pressed an ear shut, and blew the house apart with his fire.
"I'm coming!" he shouted and began flying toward the children.
Earlier, while the two demons battled in the sky, the children watched. There was nothing else they could do.
"[Why's Satan helping us?]" the foreign boy muttered as he peered over the edge, watching what little they could see of the fight from their spot. "[I don't understand. Satan's evil! ...Maybe... He wants us to himself.]"
"T- Th- Th- That's Satan?!" Yukio jumped onto Rin and clutched him tightly.
"Huh?" Rin asked. "Who- Oh! He's the bad guy from dad's Sunday stuff, right?" It wasn't like he knew much about the subject, because sometimes he and Yukio weren't allowed to go into their father's 'Sunday Mass' talks, and that was the only place Rin had ever heard about it. One time he had sneaked in, listened to his father talk about 'Satan,' who ruled a place called 'Hell' and all its demons, and was in charge of a 'judgment' something. All of it was boring, and like other Sunday Mass there was too much talking, so Rin didn't learn much beyond that. Yukio was more interested in it, and continued to attend until their father figured out they were there. After that, some yelling had been involved as he chased Yukio out.
Rin squinted at the man, watching him fly around in the air, silently putting everything together. 'He really can't be a human,' Rin thought. 'He has a tail too. Maybe Yukio's right. He can see things I can't, after all.'
Then it clicked for the elder twin. "If he's the king of bad guys, what's he gonna do to us?!"
"I don't wanna know!" Yukio shook his head and wiped his eyes.
That was when the cabin fell. The three of them tumbled face-first over the edge of the oven. Other children screamed below them. One by one they passed through the hole, side by side with skulls, tables, and other belongings. The three children went through last. Rin knew what sort of situation he was in. This was it. This was the last moments of their lives, and soon enough their bodies would go splat on the pavement. Where was the miraculous rescue? He continued falling. Nowhere. It wasn't coming.
The cabin paused its fall, resumed, then paused, then resumed. A loud pop came from it, after which it fell faster.
Rin's blood ran cold. How was he supposed to stop this on his own? 'This is dumb!' he thought. What are we going to do! I don't want to die!'
The building screeched, but Rin's terror made him deaf to everything but his own screams. A burst of fire rushed past them and consumed the house. Warmth brushed him when the flames passed, but that didn't register to Rin, nor did the flaming man flying towards them. That man abruptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Yukio had been screaming too, though his voice faltered when the man disappeared. A few seconds later, his shrieking resumed, even louder now. It broke through Rin's own panic. 'Yukio!' Rin thought, grabbing at the air a few times before he could catch hold of his younger brother. Yukio hung onto his back.
"It'll be fine.." Rin lied, his voice shaking, trying to convince himself too.
"But- Bea- Bea- beast!" Yukio stuttered. "H-H-H-Hu-Huge! IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!" he yelled, digging his head into Rin's neck.
"Beast?!" Rin, caught off guard from the unexpected statement, looked around but didn't see anything resembling a 'huge beast'. Yukio was yelling louder than Rin had ever heard in his life, so Rin wanted to make sure he wasn't distracted by the fact he was falling to his death. "Another ghost?!"
Yukio sniffed, his eyes glazed over. "ItsSatan."
"Huh?! Satan's a ghost?!"
Both boys plopped down on something hard, along with the other children. The impact tore Yukio away from his brother, and he fell backwards on his rear end. Other than using his arm to hoist himself back up, he went completely still, shutting his eyes. The foreign boy landed right behind them and struggled onto his feet. A warm sensation twirled around their bodies, keeping them in place. The blond tripped and frantically bit his lip.
"What the?" Rin exclaimed. "We landed." On air. No, on a ghost. But still. They had landed, the fall had stopped, and they weren't dying. While he was calmer, he still felt plenty frightened, struggling against the sensation which kept him locked in place. "We're flying! Hey, are we on that beast-ghost?!"
"It's Satan!" Yukio sobbed and wiped his eyes. "I can't *hic* see you. *hic* Satan's fire. It's everywhere."
Rin didn't see any fire.
"Don't call me that!" the man-turned-beast interrupted, a loud scoff escaping from his long, bone-like snout. "I'm not Satan, he's dead!" After a few seconds, the beast muttered, "Wait, Mephisto said there was a time hole..."
Rin wasn't able to hear anything the beast said, just the sound of his little brother stifling his tears. The younger twin failed to do this entirely, and whimpered when he was spoken to, muttering. "I'm- sorry, I'm sorry."
"Wait, kid, can you actually hear me right now?" the beast asked.
Yukio wailed and covered his ears as they approached the ground. Rin grabbed and hugged him, struggling against the warm things holding him captive. "Uhhhhhhhh I'll do something! I'll beat Satan! Yeah! I swear!"
Down below them, unknown to Rin, the beast chuckled. Yukio shook his head.
"No. Can't. He heard you, Nii-san!" Yukio's voice was muffled against Rin's chest.
"That doesn't matter!" Rin declared. He could make it work, somehow.
The beast laughed a bit harder at that.
They all descended until the beast was flying just above the city. He glided lower and lower, until he found an intersection wide enough to fit his body. When he landed, there was a large thump, and his body shook under the kids. As he transformed back into his humanlike appearance, Yukio saw that the blue flames which had restrained them before had disappeared. Before he and the other children dropped to the ground, a blue aura replaced the flames, surrounding him and the others. It kept them suspended in midair, then slowly lowered them to the ground.
When it released them, Rin wedged himself in between Yukio and the flaming demon. Yukio looked at the ground instead, afraid to face the man directly. Under his feet were thick panels of reflective, black glass. The entire street was made of them, they hadn't been deposited on a normal road. It weirded Yukio out, confused him, and made him believe something slightly demonic was at play.
At this point, the other children were all crying. The flaming man patted them on the shoulder and tried to calm them down where he could.
"I can see Satan again," Rin said in a low voice. He rubbed his head. "...Did he just save us?" Rin asked.
"I dunno, maybe," Yukio chattered, trembling. Tears still formed in the corner of his eyes, and threatened to fall down his cheeks. "But he's a demon and demons are creepy and his teeth are sharp and he was a giant, even if he's not Satan demons are never that big," he squeaked.
"But we're not dead because of him! And didn't you just say he wasn't Satan?"
Yukio mushed his fingers together. "The foreign guy kept saying 'Satan,' but the demon said he wasn't and that we shouldn't call him that."
"So he's not?" Rin cocked his head.
"He could be lying."
"But what if he's not lying?"
"It doesn't matter because he was as big as two houses," Yukio protested. "On top of each other." He pointed to a five-story building on the corner of the block. "Like that. When he was standing like a dog, too."
"That doesn't tell me if he's a bad guy or not," Rin motioned behind him. "But you can hide if it makes you feel better."
"It's not about making me feel better. He's a demon and demons are bad! " Yukio pointed at a group of three other children heading straight toward the flaming man, "See? Those guys'll get hurt soon," Yukio said, in an attempt to convince his brother.
Besides those three, the rest of the shaken children had yet to move. They were scared, but none of them seemed as terrified specifically of the flaming man as Yukio was. One traditionally dressed, bald child slowly snuck off while the flaming man kneeled down to talk to one of the kids who approached him, shaking her hand as she struck up a conversation with him.
The blond boy clenched his fists at the sight of this. He had expected those three to attack him, not fawn over him. He ran toward the group and slapped the girl's hand away, dragging her back behind him.
"[Are you dumb?! He's Satan!]" he yelled.
"[No, I'm not!]" the flaming man shot back, his tail rapidly swishing back and forth. "[How many times do I have to say that?!]"
While the man was preoccupied, three more children - two of which, a Caucasian boy with dirty blond hair and glasses, and a slightly pudgy Middle Eastern boy, were the ones he rescued in the cabin before – broke away and ran in separate directions. Neither the blond nor the flaming man noticed, and the former continued to speak.
"[You're not gonna fool me,]" the blond continued. "[I know about blue flames.]"
"[You can tell they're blue?]" The man rubbed his hair back, grunting and shaking his head. "[In other words, you already have a spirit wound. That's messed up.]"
"[I don't need you to say that.]"
"[Hey,]" the flaming man lowered his voice, making a serious expression as he took another look at the blond's face and the bleeding clawmarks on his forehead. he leaned closer, "[is that scratch fresh?]" he reached for the wound.
"[Don't touch me!]" the six-year-old boy snarled. He stepped back and pushed the girl behind him with him.
"[Stop yelling at him, that's mean,]" the girl grabbed his arm and shoved him forward. "[He's not Satan, he's his son.]"
"[…What?]" he turned back at her and said in disbelief, staring at her with his mouth open.
"[Why don't you know that?]"
The flaming man grimaced. He stood up and looked around. "[Don't tell me, that other kid, too?]"
Yukio watched as the kids continued to interact with the flaming man. So far, the man wasn't hurting the children like he expected, but that didn't ease his mind at all.
"See, he's fine," Rin said.
"But Nii-san," Yukio said. "He might have said that because he wants to do something bad later. I still want to go hide." He looked around for a possible path of escape, and saw his opportunity in a thick line of trees growing in the middle of a road just outside the intersection. The other roads mirrored the setup. No cars were in the area to run them down, making it safe to escape. The tree lines were so wide that they didn't allow room for the cars to come through, anyway, which struck Yukio as a little odd.
The man perked up when he heard Yukio's 'Nii-san.'
"If you really want to, sure," Rin trailed off.
"You're only acting calm about this because you can't see what he's really like!" Yukio whined.
The man walked toward them.
"I know I can't see it!" Rin snapped. "Stop rubbing it in!"
The man stopped. "Whoa, wait."
"Eee!" Yukio trembled and took two steps back, turned around and took off toward the trees alone.
"Wait!" Rin yelled. "I didn't mean to say that!" He reached out his hand but Yukio ignored him and continued running.
Rin's lip quivered. 'I mean, I'm just mad I can't see it too is all,' he thought, scowling and looking away. He sat down and puffed out his cheeks, pouting and depressed. Why did his brother have to be mad at him?
Yukio reached the trees without incident, but just as the shade covered Yukio's hair, the younger twin saw the man's shadow tower over him, and yelped as the flaming man grabbed him from behind, picking him up under the shoulders and turning him around so that they were face to face.
"I didn't realize it before, but were you hurt earlier?" the man asked. "In the house?"
Yukio panicked and started sobbing. He weakly kicked the man's chest and stared back in terror. All that was on his mind was that the new demon was holding him. One of the monsters he didn't even want getting close to him was now physically touching his skin.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," the 'monster' said.
His assurance fell on deaf ears, mostly because Yukio was too focused on seeing his face up close. Those eyes. He covered his face with his hands, he didn't want to see it.
The man hugged him, saying "not all of us are bad."
Yukio beat his fist into his shoulder and sobbed louder. He didn't trust the man either.
The flaming man grunted, before looking up to the sky and blinking. "Hey! You're done?" he asked.
Another humanlike demon flew down, landing a few feet away from the spot they were standing. Yukio heard the thump and opened one eye. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't. The new man looked to be the same species as the one who held him captive, except surrounded with blue haze and had horns and features of dark blue smoke instead of fire. Both men wore matching outfits as well, though that was more a statement of their fashion sense than their biology. The only thing missing from the new arrival was a tail.
The flaming man handed Yukio to the smoking man. "Here you go."
The smoking man took him. The insides of Yukio's body felt warm when their skin made contact, and the man narrowed his eyes and studied him closely. "…Who is this?"
"Some kid. I found a bunch of little kids in the demon's hut. This one has a mashou, it might have been from the demon I just fought. Can you find anything?"
"Well, he doesn't seem ill. But I do sense a high degree of mental trauma."
The flaming man furrowed his brows. "...He'll try to run again." Then he left, heading back to the rest of the group.
'I'll keep that in mind."
Yukio wiggled in his new captor's arms, and the man gripped him tighter, his expression hidden behind the reflection of a pair of glasses. He lifted Yukio up by his arms and studied his face and body, Yukio couldn't read the slightest bit about man's intentions. What was a 'mashou?' Did they want to dig something out of him? For that reason, and because of the smoke, at that moment, he forgot about the promise with his father.
"Nii-san!" Yukio thrashed around. A fresh batch of tears and snot fell down his face. "Help me! Help me! Help me!"
"Yukio?" Rin stood up, then rushed at the smoking man, who twitched when Rin spoke.
Behind them, Rin's words caught the flaming man's attention. He blinked, losing interest in the blond boy. "Oh, cool, that kid has the same name as-" he laughed before abruptly switching gears and pausing. "Wait a second-"
"Get away from my little brother!" Rin yelled at the smoking man, leaping in the air. Mid jump, he clenched his fist and brought it down, but before the blow could hit, his would-be victim stared straight at him and Rin found himself restrained in midair. Surrounding his body was the same invisible force from before, which, after holding back his attack, suspended him tightly in place. The boy's eyes widened and he swung his fist at the smoking man again, but this time sweat ran down his forehead, and his new blow lacked the conviction his old one did. His opponent caught his fist in his palm and softly closed his fingers around it. Rin tried to yank his hand away, but couldn't wrestle it free, even with all of his strength. So he used the other arm, bringing it upwards, and then the smoking man telekinetically pinned it above the boy's head with the same ability. Frozen, Rin growled animalistically.
Yukio made small whimpering noises.
The smoking man glanced between Rin and Yukio with wide eyes, his 'mask' of indifference breaking for mere seconds to show a wince and a grimace. "Just what is going on?"
"Let go!" Rin yelled.
Yukio struggled harder when he saw his older brother hovering in the air like that. Adrenaline coursed through the young boy's veins, and he swore he could hear his heartbeat. Rin was losing, Yukio had lost his usual savior, and with it came a sense of helplessness and desperation he had never felt before.
Running wasn't an option. For that reason, his mind went blank, and before he knew it, he had stolen the smoking man's glasses and thrown them across the street. The man was still too strong to wrestle himself away from. Yukio looked at him again, expecting him to drop Rin because he couldn't see him. But all Yukio he found was a furious smoking demon, his grip on Rin was as firm as ever, and now his lips curled into a scowl while he took a spare out of his coat. Yukio's stomach sunk. Once the man had his glasses back on, he shuffled back slightly, and set Yukio down, murmuring a quiet, "Oh...that's right" He lowered Rin to the ground as well.
"Are… they who I think they are?" the flaming man asked hesitantly.
"Their names are… Rin and Yukio Okumura." The smoking man turned to the kids. "That's correct, isn't it?" he said with a hint of apprehension.
Rin backed up, holding Yukio. "How did you know that?" he demanded.
"I was right?!" the flaming man waved his arms around. "Wouldn't there have been an explosion or something?!"
The smoking man kept an eye on both of the kids before turning to his older brother. "That depends on how they got here, and it looks you might know more than I do about that. In any case, Nii-san, we've received permission for 80 percent. What's the situation now? Why are they here?"
"I found one hag-demon in a flying hut, and she had all of these kids in their house. So I killed her and rescued them. Two kids thought I was Satan! I'm thinking maybe they were dragged here through the time hole. Those two aren't the only ones like that."
'Time hole?' Yukio remembered the black glass road. 'So we're in the future?'
"There are still other demons," The smoking man said. "We have to be on the lookout for them, and get these children somewhere safe."
That sounded odd to Yukio.
"Especially if they're gonna run off like him" the flaming man said, pointing to Yukio. "Wait," He looked around, did another headcount, and turned back to the smoking demon. "Some ran off already! Did you see which way they went?"
"No, I didn't."
"Crap. Just watch the other kids and make them stay still!" The flaming man ran across the street, shouting "I'll tell you what happened with telepathy!" back to his little brother.
"Please pay better attention next time," the smoking man said, as the flaming man disappeared into the woods on their left.
Rin backed out of the way as the man ran off. "Yukio?" his voice tapered off, replaced by short but loud breaths. "Yukio, what had me?! What did he do to me?" he began to slowly guide Yukio away from the group, wanting to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the demon brothers.
"He- He made so-some kind of b- b- blue glow. Just a blue glow."
A few moments later, the man still in front of them chuckled at nothing. "That's a lot of 'thinks,'" he murmured. Immediately after his smile died and he rubbed his chin with his free hand. "I hope you're wrong about that," he said as he glanced at the blond. The blond went over and stepped on his foot, but the smoking man chased him off.
Off in the distance, from within the line of trees, a young girl screamed. The flaming man's voice was almost too faint to make out, but Yukio could hear him too. He stopped moving.
A few minutes later, the flaming man appeared behind them carrying the girl, who had black hair in pigtails. He approached the group and put the girl down, only to be kicked in the shin by the blond again. "Oi!" he shouted, grabbing him and holding him up in the air. "[Stop it! This is half your fault, you know!]" he pointed to the girl who talked to him earlier, who was now staring daggers at the blond boy. "[Yours too. I know you realize how awesome I am, don't distract me and let the kids run away.]"
The girl sulked.
"[My dad's gonna get rid of you when he hears about this,]" the blond growled.
"[Uh huh,]" The flaming gave him a playful grin. "[And just who is your dad that he thinks he can beat me?]"
"[Alexander Amadeus Angel!]"
The flaming man looked back at his little brother. "[Wait, is Alexander the name of that one guy? I don't think so, but.]"
"[That would be 'Arthur,' I believe. Or perhaps 'Auguste.' One of those.]"
"[I'm Arthur!]"
The fiery demon laughed, before dropping Arthur. He doubled over, grabbing his stomach, laughing harder. "[Seriously?! You? Oh wow! You're so little and pouty!]" Arthur kicked him again. "[And just as much of a jerk, ow!]"
"[Wait, if he's the same age as these two, then all of the children might be from different eras,]" the smokey demon said as he rubbed his chin.
"What's [eras] mean?" the flaming man asked.
"[Time periods. Why would they go to all that trouble? This is serious.]" He pulled out a black device from a bag on his waist. "[We need to call Mephisto Pheles immediately.]" A screen appeared above the device and he began dialing a number. The two waited patiently for the call to connect, but when they received no answer, the man gritted his teeth and tried again.
Rin pulled at Yukio. "Why'd you stop?" he asked.
"They'll do something to us if they catch us! " Yukio whined.
"I'll get you out of here."
"I don't want this anymore."
"Just listen to me and go!" Rin insisted.
"The girl! But what about the girl!?"
Rin looked back at the pigtailed girl again, who was crying, but uninjured. "Huh? She's okay."
"Why'd she scream?"
"I dunno." Rin nudged Yukio along.
"Don't you want to know?"
A short distance away from them, the flaming man looked off into the distance. "Now the other two," the flaming man said. He closed his eyes and opened them again before running off into the one of the buildings on the corner of the street.
"See! See! Even if we get away he can find us."
The smoking man looked back at him. Rin's eyes met his and he froze.
"Well the other one just saw us since you weren't quiet," Rin said.
Yukio hid behind Rin. "Is he coming?" his muffled voice came from between his brother's shoulderblades.
The man smiled a bit at him, before switching his attention back to the device on his hand.
Rin jumped back and clenching his teeth. "No. He's not. I think he's just weird. " Rin told his brother. 'Or maybe he's nice after all?'
The smoking man took no notice and continued to fiddle with his device. When he got no response from it, his taps became louder and more agitated, and the side of his mouth twitched.
Rin's body tensed, noticing the man's anger. "Go now!" he hissed.
Yukio let go but did not fully retract his hand. Frowning with determination, Rin grabbed it and they rushed toward the building behind the smoking man. Sunlight reflected off of the front of it as it loomed up above the twins. On it was a sign that read 'Moetka' in English letters.
They ran closer and closer to it, so Yukio felt like they were getting closer and closer to safety, but the feeling dashed away as the glow began to surround them again, freezing their movement. Yukio clenched his brother's fists tighter, trying to decide if it would be worse to look over his shoulder or not to look.
Rin's moved his body forward, trying to power through the demon's ability. Ultimately, he failed and remained stuck.
Yukio slowly turned his head while trembling, half expecting to see the smoking man approach them, ready to rip them to shreds. But he didn't hear footsteps. When the man was in Yukio's field of vision, he knitted his brows and gaped.
The smoking man hadn't moved. His smoke was gone now, and his ears were normal. Now he looked no different from an ordinary human.
"I know we must seem very intimidating," the formerly smoking man began in a soft voice, "but you must believe us when we say we are not going to hurt you."
Yukio's face mixed with awe though a tinge of fear remained. Where had the inhuman appearance gone? Was he really that bad?
"Liar!" Rin yelled. "Then what's this stuff? Why'd that girl scream?"
"This is an advanced, ultra-focused form of our flames, altered so we can lift objects. And I suppose that girl was simply frightened of us like you are. Otherwise she wouldn't have left in the first place."
Yukio made a high pitched 'hee' sound when he heard 'flames' were connected to the power currently restraining him. Yes, he was really that bad.
"Then stop using long words and take us back home" Rin demanded.
"Just be patient," The man gave them a kind smile. "We can't do that if you run away."
The flaming man jumped down from the air. A 'ting' came from the road-tiles as he landed. Now he was holding the Middle Eastern boy and the dirty blond Caucasian boy. He put them down.
"As for the location, our house in Italy should be more than adequate," the formerly-smoking-man suggested to his brother. "Nothing will be able to get in or out without our approval."
"Oh, good idea!" The flaming man raised his finger hesitantly. "Did anyone else run off, by the way?"
"No," the formerly-smoking-man pointed to Rin and Yukio, "Although, these two tried. And I caught them."
"That's because you don't have little Arthurs kicking you, and little girls asking for an autograph over something that happened 50 years ago, letting other little kids run off."
The flaming man pointed at the twins and addressed them. "Hey! It's you guys? Why do you keep running?!"
Yukio shook.
The flaming man withdrew his hand, confused. "Huh? What did I do wrong?" he walked over to the formerly-smoking-man. "Hey. Why's he shaking?"
"This is merely a lesson in why we must not get distracted."
The flaming man narrowed his eyes, paused and gently flicked him on the forehead. "Hey. Do you think there is something you haven't explained to me yet?"
The smoking man rubbed his forehead, clearly unamused.
"Talk to me when this is over!" The flaming man pointed to Yukio. "Because he's shaken up way worse than him," he pointed to Rin. "It isn't normal!
The formerly-smoking-man passed Rin and Yukio on the way. He stopped.
"So? Have you decided to come with us?" the man said.
Rin swallowed and Yukio continued to make 'hee'ing noises.
"I'm not going to Italyyyyyyyyyy!" Rin protested. "You said you'd take us home!"
"When we can," the formerly-smoking-man clarified.
"No!"
The flaming man picked up the Caucasian and Middle Eastern boys and carried them to a door on the side of the building across from the Moetka. He unlocked the door with an old-fashioned key and guided the boys through, before closing the door behind them. The formerly-smoking-man persuaded the other children to follow him. He had to physically pull the stubborn ones to their feet and guide them toward the side door. Arthur refused to cooperate every step of the way.
The flaming man was next to them now. He picked both Okumura twins up, to the relative displeasures of both. Each twin tried to wiggle out of his arms, Rin with more ferocity than Yukio. The formerly-smoking-man had released them from his spell, so they could move again.
"You know what, I think I can understand a bit why you guys are so paranoid." The flaming man sighed. He turned to his brother. "I'm taking them with me."
"They are being pursued by other demons." the other emphasized.
"I'll be able to sense them before they get close, it's fine. I want to talk to them!"
"Talk to them? Nii-san, don't you understand the situation here? You have to be extremely careful about what you say." The formerly-smoking-man's voice was somewhere between a plead and a scold. "It's best not to say much of anything at all."
"I'm not going to tell them about us, don't worry, okay?"
The formerly-smoking-man quickly put his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what asinine idea you've come up with this time, but don't. It's too risky. Calm them." he said in a businesslike tone. "That's all. Understand?"
"Got it, got it," the flaming man said somewhat exasperatedly.
"I do have one suggestion about what you were wondering before. About him."
"Hm?"
"Do something to hide your appearance."
"Appearance?" The flaming man frowned, thinking for a few seconds.
"Someone who can see it… Might not be accustomed to it, is all."
The flaming man perked up. "Oh!" Then he rubbed his forehead. "Heh."
At that moment, to Yukio, the flaming man's flames and all of his inhuman traits disappeared, like the smoking man's before him.
"If even you've been so self conscious about how you look all this time, his case must be even worse, huh?" he said lightly. He tsked and shook his head. "That really is no good, Yu- Yu. "
"Go." 'Yu' interrupted. "Now."
"Why'd he get mad again?" the formerly flaming man said, before jumping on top of the Moetka with the Okumura twins in tow. Yukio looked up at their captor, wondering what sort of 'talk' a demon would have in stow for them.