Cale; Ah, well…ummmmmmmmm...sorry? I know we are like, a month late with this but there was a minor issue with communication and somewhere along the line something got deleted, then I tried posting my hard-drive to him but the army bummed out on me (something about bombs) so I had to print it all out and post it in a MASSIVE envelop and then there was a thing with a camel and everything got out of control and I am really sorry for being so late.

Jace; …Told you she sucked a deadlines

Cale; Most of it was your fault! Who accidently deletes their email account and then forgets the password to their new account with in the space of five hours!

Jace; - ignores her - Anyway, enjoy this chapter. Chapter 5 will be out at the end of the month if we can get it finished up in time. However, for now, enjoy.

P.S The first half of this chapter is in Yukio's POV so it will seem more of thoughts and internal arguments then actual story but do not worry there is plot in there somewhere. The second half is Rin's and the usual stuff :D

Enjoy x

Yukio coughed and blinked like mad as dust and wood shavings fell down around him from the explosion of wood just moments before. Groaning the teen sat up from where he'd fallen at the explosion, a nimble hand rubbing the side of his head as he tried to get a bearing on his surroundings.

Where there should have been a pink haired figure empty space ruled instead and Yukio felt a stab of panic. Where was Shima? Movement abruptly caught the young man's eye, narrowing his eyes against the dust Yukio let out a sigh of relief as he saw a darken shape move within. Shima had been stood right bellow whatever had fallen down and the first thought to run through Yukio's mind was more or less along the lines of 'dear god please don't tell me I just got one of my students squashed by an unknown creature'.

That relief froze in his chest as he caught the snippet end of a hushed argument.

"-need to eat more mate, you're not a very good pillow"

"Oh shut up and get off me strange talking demon"

"Now that's just mean. I'm not that strange"

Frowning, Yukio stood up silently and moved closer to the sound of the voices. He squinted through the dust again, trying to see what was going on without giving away his location. He didn't get very far because as soon as his right foot touched down on the wooden plank before him there was a swoosh of air and the dust disappeared with a pop.

Yukio blinked in surprise at the sudden clear air before him. He blinked a couple of more times before biting his lip slightly.

If he had been anyone else – maybe Shima – then the sight before him would have had him doubled over with laughter, despite the possible danger. Because to be honest, seeing your pink haired teammate sat on by, a rather irritated looking raven-haired boy was somewhat amusing. Especially when the raven looked like he was pouting rather than scowling and despite his cold attitude, Yukio could have sworn he felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Then he recognised the raven-haired boy sat on his friend and all forms of entertainment shrivelled up and died. Quicker than the human eye could follow, Yukio had his gun out and pointing at the two tangled boy's. At the sound of his safety, clicking off a pair of liquid green eyes snapped to meet his and Yukio felt his body pulse with the desire to run from the malice swirling in the depths of green.

'What is he doing here?' Yukio raged inside his head, eyes narrowing hatefully 'Why isn't he dead?' Well that disproved Bon's theory about the guy being a demon of some kind, the bullet that he'd been shot with had been soaked in holly water and the blood of a priest. Combined it proved deadly to near all demons, only powerful demons survived and even then, healing took months.

Yukio watched as dark, thin brows scrunched up as the raven shot the weapons a distasteful look whilst pale, full like lips, sneered showing off sharp white canines. Then the other boys nose twitched before scrunching up, looking as if he had just eaten a sour grape.

'Nii-san used to do that whenever he ate something sour' the bespectacled teen thought abstractly, lowering the guns a fraction before rising again as the other boy snorted and climbed to his feet, still pouting. Yukio frowned and widened his stance expecting an attack of some kind.

"If you're going to shoot me again, may I suggest you do a better job of aiming" Yukio grit his teeth against a growl and altered his grip on his gun, the temptation to shoot the cocky son of a bitch raked up a notch. His movements must have been more obvious than he thought because the raven-haired boy arched an elegant eyebrow – eliminating a thin white line on his temple – and smirked. He knew that he had gotten under Yukio's skin and he was enjoying every second of it.

"You know what they say" Yukio grounded out begrudgingly "A moving target is harder to hit" The raven chuckled and shook his head.

"Well you could shoot me – although I doubt that it would hit even with me standing still – or you can help your friend who seems to think I'm a demon" The boy shrugged, moving to the side to reveal a very bedraggled looking Shima. Yukio glared at the other boy for a second longer before grunting and pocketed his gun whilst he hurried towards his friend.

Shima grinned as Yukio knelt down next to him, his experienced hands flying over his friend to find any bleeding or wounds, whilst his brain tried to ignore the burning gaze of intense green eyes staring into the back of his head.

"Yo, Yukio. That guy" Shima told him in a stage whisper, holding heavily onto his arm "…that guy has a tail!" The raven snorted and when Yukio sent a glare at him he caught sight of the amused smirk the sexy bastard was wearing-'wait what! Sexy bastard? Where the hell did that come from?!'

Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Yukio pressed his hand to his friend's forehead, scowling at the burning heat warming the back of his hand. He muttered a curse.

"He's infected" the Raven haired man stated in what sounded like a bored tone. Yukio closed his eyes and cured again. This was really not good. If Shima had fallen ill already then that meant the others would also be falling.

Being in the same uterus as a demon for nine months had given Yukio…slight advantages. One of such being an immunity to these type of air born poisons so he was on his own in this mission. First things first however would be to deal with annoyingly handsome teen who was hovering over him.

"I can see that thanks" He grit out as he pulled out a needle. Stabbing it into Shima's arm Yukio watched as the sedative took effect, making the pink haired boy go limp and bone-less in his arms.

"Heartless" The raven sounded amused and Yukio twitched. How was it heartless to induce a state that meant his friend could hurt himself or others? 'Idiotic outsider…'

"What are you even doing here?" Yukio snapped as he stood to face the object of his sleepless nights, that damn smirk and all. How could anyone stand there looking cool and collected after just falling from the rafters-wait, what was he even doing up there unless he'd been…

"Where you following us?" Yukio asked with wide eyes. That had to be a stupid idea. Any moment now, the other boy was going to snort and walk off telling him how stupid he was. Because it was a stupid idea, who would be stupid enough to follow the very same person who shot you only three month prior.

The raven-haired boy said nothing, although his smirk grew into a grin that lit up his eyes with all colours of sinful and wicked.

'Oh, my god…he was following us…me!' Yukio stared at the other man, his mouth open and his emotional mask at his feet. "Wha…What?" The raven chuckled as he shrugged.

"It's not like I had anything better to do. And you were acting as the perfect smoke screen" he told him with a wave of his hand. Yukio's mouth snapped shut and he pulled out his gun again, the barrel grazing the others chest – this time the t-shirt was a bright blood red and the jeans looked slightly less worn, although the boots were indeed the same.

"You were using us? Why?" Yukio growled. The raven arched an eyebrow as he eyed the gun aimed at his chest.

"I wanted to see your faces when you realised that the Staff is buried three floors above you and that you can't get to it because the slightly crazy monks have flooded the Isolation chambers down the hall" The raven said in a low voice. Instantly the glasses wearing exorcist caught the soothing tone in the smaller man's voice, it was the type of tone you would use in calming a wild rabid animal down. 'Slightly crazy? How could you call people who eat human flesh slightly crazy?! Urrrrrg'

"Wait, you know where the Staff is?" Yukio asked, the barrel digging into the others chest forcing him to take a step back. "How do you know where the Staff is?" his hostage met his eyes steadily, bright green clashing with foam blue. Yukio's heart did a little jump in his chest as the raven continued to watch him from under his lashes. The energy seemed to pulse around them and suddenly Yukio knew that the other man was toying with him, he could escape and probably kill Yukio anytime he wanted. 'Yet for some reason he hasn't…'

"…You can't feel the pulse of the Staff? It's pretty strong," He finally said softly, his eyes still locked on Yukio. It un-nerved the taller of the two as he watched the other step back slowly, moving away from the gun and giving Yukio time to breath. He shouldn't have been so calm with a gun pointed at his chest…unless he adventures in Tokyo were not the first, which in hindsight made a lot of sense. That was a thought that scared Yukio. Who could train someone to be like that? Why would you?

"Then again, you not being able to sense it might be what is stopping you from being infected." Yukio said nothing, watching the raven with a frown. The Niro operative was acting different suddenly, he wasn't acting cocky, or amused. He seemed…intrigued by Yukio's lack of insanity.

'Maybe because I'm already insane…maybe it's genetic?'

"Look I don't know why I'm not infected okay, maybe its because I've had so many vaccinations that this type of thing doesn't bother me," Yukio grumbled as he pocketed his gun. As satisfying as it would be, shooting the other would probably just land him in an even bigger mess. Black strands of hair fell in to the others pale face as he cocked his head to the side.

"Why have you had so many?" He asked. Yukio glared at him.

"Because I'm training to be a doctor"

"You want to be a doctor?"

Yukio blinked and suddenly he wasn't in the middle of an abandoned temple over run with insane monks with a boy he shot three months earlier, but in the kitchen of the house where he grew up with his long gone older brother.

"You want to be a doctor right?" Yukio looked up to meet his brother's electric blue eyes from across the kitchen table. Books upon books were piled in front of the younger twin whilst the elder managed the various pots and pans boiling on the cooker. Yukio arched an eyebrow at his twin, not finding the need or desire to reply verbally.

Rin scowled for a moment before his face turned neutral as he looked back at the cooking food. Yukio mentally kicked himself, Rin was rarely around recently. It would be a stupid use of their limited time together to be cold with his older brother. Even if the other boy had been avoiding him all week (although Yukio did suspect that that was his fault as well)

"Why aren't you looking at any of the medical high schools then?" Yukio blinked stupidly. Rin gave him a tight smile. "You don't shut down the internet pages when you close the lid" he explained before cracking an egg on the side of the counter. The exorcist in training watched as the yoke fell into whatever Rin was cooking and sighed.

"I guess it's because I'd only be able to go to schools like that on a scholarship. There is no way that Father would be able to pay the fees" Yukio explained, his eyes firmly on his folded hands before him. He did not want to look up and see the expression on his brother's face because it would be all the things that Yukio had been denying. It would tell of all the things he wanted but had refused for the sake of their family.

"Get over yourself" Yukio looked up, surprised. Rin stared back with an unimpressed expression. "What? Were you expecting me to say 'Oh poor little Yukio-kun, you can't afford to go to a posh school to do the thing you love because your too proud to get a scholarship'?" The elder boy snorted. "Oh come on Yukio, yer a scholarship might mean you've got less money than anyone else there but it also shows that you earned your place" Electric blue met foam blue.

Yukio blinked intelligently for a couple of minutes. Rin had returned to his cooking and was humming under his breath by the time Yukio had realised that his older brother – who thought he was the smartest person in the world – had just told him off. It was a rather peculiar feeling to be reprimand by an older brother who usually saw no fault. Yukio scowled, what did Rin know? He didn't even attend middle school, what would he know of high school?

"What about you? What schools are you looking at?" Rin shrugged carelessly as he flipped a pan whilst stirring a pot of blue stuff. If it were not such a common sight in their kitchen Yukio would have been impressed by the amount of multi-tasking, it was a shame that the elder twin could apply that amount of control in anything else.

"I'm not looking" Yukio's eyes widened in horror. "Don't look at me like that Yukio. I don't have any interest in going to high school. It's not for me," Rin told him with an indifferent shrug of one shoulder. Yukio stared.

"You can't be serious! Father has been talking about how excited he'd been about us both going to High School!" Rin rolled his eyes and shot Yukio a bored look.

"That's because he's an idiot. If he hasn't realised that I'm not academic yet then he needs a good old reality check" Despite wanting to argue that, Yukio found he had no ground. Because the raven was right…he sucked at schoolwork no matter what.

"You could at least look at apprenticeships. Your hands on approach would probably be better suited with that," Yukio suggested, remembering a bright flyer he'd seen the other day.

"Doesn't interest me" Rin replied absently. Yukio stared at his brother. How could they be so different? How could anyone be that flippant about their future? It just didn't seem possible. Sea foam blue eyes turned to watch as rain lashed at the window pain, it was somewhat relaxing and calming and as a silence fell over the twin's Yukio pondered on Rin's cold attitude. Was it because of what happened last night? Cold regret flooded the brunet. He knew he shouldn't have exploded at the other boy when he came home at two in the morning.

However, what was he suppose to do when his twin came stumbling in, his knuckles bloody and his clothes ripped. The litter of bruises and cuts visible on his pale skin and the stench of alcohol on his breath had been enough to set off the rage that rarely showed itself. Although thinking back on it now, Yukio could only see how that too was his fault.

He eyed the bandage on Rin's cheek with a twinge of guilt. His brother had only been asking if he was oaky, it didn't warrant the punch Yukio had thrown. The heart-breaking thing was that Rin hadn't hit back he had nodded and walked out of the house without a word. He had refrained from hurting his little brother and that just made Yukio hate himself even more.

Yukio was pulled out of his thoughts as Rin cleared his throat.

"Look, Yuke. I'm not going to tell dad you're looking at shit school's because of him, as long as you don't tell him that I'm not looking at all. Okay?" Rin said as he dished up whatever he was cooking. Yukio frowned. Their Father would probably be able to talk Rin into trying to better himself but he would also yell at Yukio for not telling him that he didn't want to True Cross academy. Which was not true, but how the hell was he supposed to tell his brother that he was going to an academy to learn how to kill being like him, demons.

Yukio looked down at his hands before closing his eyes with a tight sigh.

In the end, there was no choice.

"Fine. Mum's the word"

Shaking his head like a wet dog, Yukio muttered a curse. Now was not the time to look back on his memories, however comforting they were. 'Besides it's not like remembering him will bring him back' Yukio though with a sigh. Closing his eyes for a moment the bespectacled boy allowed himself a moment of self-pity before his eyes snapped open wide.

The boy!

He was gone. The space he had previously been occupying was empty, desolate, deserted, barren. Yukio cursed again, this time louder. How had he allowed himself to be so caught up in own thoughts that he completely forgot about the dangerous possibly insane man stood right before him! He could have killed both him and Shima with less than a second thought! Yukio stopped himself with a light frown no that was not right…as crazy as the man might come across as he had had plenty of opportunities to kill them all and be off on his merry way…yet he had not.

Groaning to himself, Yukio glanced back at the unconscious Shima. The pink haired boy was happily snoozing, a light snore on his nose. He could just leave him there, the drug would wear off within a few hours and someone needed to be present otherwise he might run amuck in a panic. Yukio pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again.

'That's it! From now on, I am only taking single solo missions! Working in a team of inexperienced children is really not good for my health' Yukio though as he sat down heavily next to his slumbering friend 'Now I understand why at the chance she got Shura stopped working with me and began operating on her own-wait! Shura!' Springing to his feet Yukio swiped the flair gun from Shima's belt.

Shura was posted at the base of the mountain along with Shiro and a handful of other exorcists in case they needed back up. Shura would probably be sent up ahead of the others because she was the quickest. If she found Shima, then logically she would round up the rest of his team whilst he was free to hunt down that slippery raven-haired boy.

Releasing the flair, Yukio dropped the gun and turned heel. Shima would be in safe hands now, leaving him free to hunt down the other man.

The young exorcist had not been running for long when he skidded to a halt at the isolation chambers. They were large iron doors that looked impregnable, with heavy double locks dropped in place on large metal holds. Despite that, the doors still rattled and shook as the monks trapped behind threw themselves at them. Trying desperately to escape the creatures screamed and clawed at the doors, beating almost rhythmically against the metal.

Despite himself, Yukio shivered. It did not take a genius to imagine the horror and pain that the animals trapped inside would cause. The world would collapse in on itself, the bodies would line the streets and blood would run freely.

It would be hell on earth.

"Scary isn't it?" someone drawled from above. Snapping his head back to look up so fast Yukio thought he had given himself whiplash for a moment the brunet locked eyes on the tall lean figure of that cocky raven that had been following him. The man was leaning against the wall; his feet planted on a ledge jutting out of the tall stall. His arms were crossed and even though he could see his face clearly, Yukio was sure the other was smirking.

"Where did you go?" Yukio called up, putting his back to the large doors. The other boy shrugged as he straightened up, and as he jumped down to normal level, Yukio caught sight for the first time of what was in the boy's right hand.

The Staff of Moses.

"Do I really have to answer that?" Wicked green eyes danced with amusement as Yukio's jaw hit the floor. The raven was holding the Staff half three-quarters of the way down, in a careless manner as if he was holding a stick from the ground rather than one of the most powerful artefacts ever recorded in religious history.

It was simple oak wood staff, with a tight knot at the top, chiselled into it was a number of different spells and incantations, all of which prevented demons or impure souls from touching or even approaching the staff.

"Where did you get that?" Yukio said softly, almost as if on some level he did not want to disrupt the Staff. The smirk turned into a grin that showed off sharp teeth.

"Exactly where I said it would be, it's not very impressive considering how much trouble people have gone through to get this stupid stick" He said twisting the staff in his hand, examining it with contained contempt. 'I wonder why he's angry with the Staff' Yukio thought briefly before the boy's exact words registered.

"It's more than a stupid stick! It has the power to rule countries and break nations! You should be more respectful" Yukio exclaimed in outrage. How could anyone who knew of this secret world and worked to protect it have such disregard for one of the most infamous religious weapons of the new age?!

The raven snorted and shook his head, swinging the Staff hastily around, flipping it over his hand and fingers skilfully as he stalked forwards. That lazy half smirk that set Yukio's body on fire slowly stretching in to a wicked grin as Yukio took a step back for every step he took. The raven cocked his head to the side as he flicked the staff behind him, almost as if he was removing it from direct sight to calm the taller boy.

"What's the matter Yukio? Not scared of this little stick…are you?" The other was grinning wildly now, looking for the entire world like a beast about to pounce and devour his prey. Yukio swallowed and scrambled backwards until he felt his back collide with the large metal doors that had gone frightfully quiets and still. His breath was coming in short gasps as he met livid green eyes, his skin felt like it was on fire and with a jolt Yukio realised that the raven was manipulating the staff to effect Yukio with his will alone.

The thought was even more terrifying than the Monks escaping their makeshift jail.

Desperate and terrified Yukio's left hand fumbled with the door handle to the chambers and instantly all cockiness had dissolved from the other boy and he stopped short, eyeing Yukio's hand wearily. The halt in his advance set a temporary relief into Yukio's bones, before a cold calm settled on him and it was clear that the raven had eased up on the Staff's terrifying power.

"…That wouldn't be wise…" The boy told him, looking mildly concerned. Yukio swallowed around the stone of panic in his throat.

"I know that…however people do unwise things when they're desperate" Yukio muttered back. The raven arched an eyebrow, an uneasy smirk on his face 'Probably to cover his own panic' Yukio reasoned.

"Well, if you that desperate Love*, all you had to do was ask" For some unthinkable reason Yukio flushed red at the words, a splutter on his lips whilst the other boy laughed softly. Even with his spluttering Yukio did not fail to notice that the raven did not once look away from his hand.

"Give me the staff and I won't open this door" Yukio bargained. The other grinned and shrugged, eyeing the door critically.

"Listen, Love. If you can open that door all on your lonesome then I'll be impressed" He shot back calling out his bluff, a hand slipping in to his pockets and the staff slipped back to his side. 'He's subconsciously protecting himself, the monk's wont attack the wielder of the Staff' Yukio realised as he shrugged.

"I don't need to open the door. I just have to release the latch and the monks on the other side will do all the opening on their own" that caught the Raven's attention again and the man grinned in amusement and let out a bark of laughter as he shook his head and walk back a little.

"God he was wrong about you" He muttered, almost to himself. "It's much like thinking a girl is a virgin only to find out she's a prostitute" the exorcist frowned.

"Is that an insult?" he asked before he could stop himself. The stranger chuckled.

"It might be…or it could be a compliment" He answered "I honestly wasn't expecting you to be this heartless, all for a stupid stick" Yukio frowned. How was he being heartless? He was just doing his job. This boy was weird. "Alright Love. You drive a hard bargain and this stupid stick isn't worth my life, you have a deal" the bespectacled teen swallowed and watched as the green eyed boy flipped the Staff round so that the knot of wood was pointed at his shoulder and the base at Yukio.

Yukio took a step forwards before narrowing his eyes at the blue bag strapped across the others back. He could use one of those to carry the staff. It would certainly help reduce the effect the wood had on mortals.

His hand tightening on the handle Yukio called out; "Throw in the blue carrier bag on your back and we have a deal" The raven stiffened and looked like black fury for a heartbeat. Yukio gasped. 'What was that?! He looked like he was going to rip my throat out with his bare teeth!' but the moment passed and the smirk was back although it looked a bit stained and Yukio could tell that the other was gritting his teeth.

Stiffly the raven reached back with his free hand and slowly pulled the bag up over his head, his eyes – flickering with cold fury – never once leaving Yukio's. The raven jerked the bag open and slowly eased the Staff inside before snapping it shut. Then with contorted movements he offered up the Staff again, this time contained. Yukio took a breath and walked forwards, hand out reached for the Staff.

However, unheard by both boy's there was a click as Yukio's hand slid off the handle and inside the large chambers behind the vast door there was an ominous silence.

Yukio's hand closed around the bag the instant that the door began to creek open. Both boys's looked up and Yukio would swear for the rest of his life that he saw fear in those flawless green orbs before he turned around to look at the door.

The large double doors had only opened slightly but it was enough for Yukio to feel his knees weaken and fear bit into his chest. Because stood in the crack was a darkened figure – and if the moving shadows behind it hinted at anything, it was that there were thousands of other back there too – and right where the eyes would be were two bloodthirsty eyes glowing in the gloom.

'Oh crap' Was the only understandable thought Yukio had before he turned tail and sprinted down the corridor, the sounds of scuttling echoing down after him along with screams and cries of hunger. He did not look back to see if the raven was following him.

Rin had stayed rooted to the spot for a second or two after Yukio bolted giving him more than enough time to escape with his life before jumping up into the rafters and climbing up into the holly ground. Or that had been the plan if Yukio had not taken the left instead of the right. Cursing Rin had dropped back down and thrown three of his special bombs at the creatures before running after his twin, cursing the entire way.

He was virtually defenceless without his sword but Yukio had taken off with it and now Rin was kicking himself for allowing Yukio to have that bag with the sword still inside it. He could not let Yukio see it though, he would have recognised it instantly, and then the game would be over. However Yukio could not touch the wood with his bare hands nor could he allow any other mortal within five feet of him whilst it was in his possession for fear of driving them insane.

So Rin had given Yukio the bag, sword, and all.

As he exploded out of the corridor behind Yukio Rin rolled to the ground, angling him so he flipped to the side of the passage narrowly missing the stamped of starved Monks. For a moment everything froze and no one noticed Rin coming up out of his roll next to two tiny people who looked ready to piss their pants.

Then Strippy – who had probably been rounded up by whoever Yukio signalled with the flair gun – gave a howl of rage and threw a random stone he had just scooped off the ground at one of the monks crawling down the pillars. Instantly the calm stillness of the sane was broken and everyone jumped into action. Yukio reached out and caught Eyebrows and Pinkie by their collars, yanking them back as five of the Infected jumped down to attack.

On the other side of the hall an extremely large breasted woman cursed loudly as she swung, her snake blades at the monk that had narrowly sank his shark like teeth into the flesh of her calf. All around them chaos ruled and ran unchecked and as he watched from one of the corridor entrances Rin felt absolutely no urge to help either side in this little battle as he climbed to his feet, even though technically it was his fault that they had broken free of their prison in the isolation chambers bellow. Although, Yukio had to take most of the blame as well.

Beside him, the bold short boy gave a strangled scream of sorts and Rin gave him a withering look that was completely missed. 'How the hell is this guy an exorcist? He is practically wetting himself from a bunch of monks!' Rin thought as he rolled his eyes, leaning leisurely against the arched doorway. This was not his fight, and he would only intervene if it looked like the exorcists were losing.

Both the little blond girl and the bold boy screamed a chorus as five of the red robed creatures leapt at them snarling and hissing their hunger. As it happened these, five were also possessed and the demons sucking on their souls shuddered as Rin gave their hosts a flat look and uttered one word in a very clear voice that sent the Infected creatures scurrying for the others;

"Shoo"

Of course, neither tiny bold boy nor tiny blond girl could see or hear him so to them it just looked like the monks whimpered like kicked dogs and ran off the help attack the others in the centre of the room. Rin rolled his eyes and continued to watch Yukio. Both the Staff and his demon sword were strapped to his back in the blue tube-carrier bag and every time one of the creatures came to close to slashing at it, Rin flinched and averted his eyes. It was just a matter of time before that happened and when it did Rin found himself whining in the back of his throat as his sword clattered to the ground alongside the Staff of Moses.

'It would be just my luck that the bag gets slashed' Rin though bitterly as the Monks scattered in fear as both Staff and sword rolled around on the ground in an almost threatening manner…

The most painful thing to watch – aside from watching his precious sword being dropped of all things – was the look of anguish on Yukio's face as he gasped and dropped his guns, backing away quickly whilst looking as if he had just seen a ghost. 'Well…in a way to him, he probably is' it wasn't a comforting thought.

The large breasted woman – dubbed Boob-Lady by Rin – cursed again as she saw the sword, her face pale as well before her eyes snapped to Yukio's face, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Rin growled and nearly stepped out to put himself between the woman and his brother, he really did not like how she was looking at him.

"Where…" She began carefully "Where did you find that exactly Yukio" by this point, all the other exorcists had gathered around them and were looking puzzled and lost. Even the tiny duo had moved out into the open, looking very much like mice. Rin stayed where he was but tensed, ready to bound forward and save both brother and sword from the terrifying Boob-Lady.

Yukio looked up and from where Rin was stood, he had a clear view of his normally steady foam blue eyes laced with tears, whilst fear and agony twisted in the depths. The sight alone made the air in Rin's lungs freeze and for the first time in five years, the Halfling felt guilty for abandoning his brother.

"The Niro Agent – the one from Tokyo – it was the bag he had across his back" Yukio told her in a quiet voice. The others exchanged looks. Rin narrowed his eyes.

"Was that why you weren't there when I collected Shima?" 'Shima? Who the hell was Shima?' Yukio looked towards Pinkie. 'Pinkie's called Shima? What a weird name' Rin thought off track for a split second before focusing again.

"Yes. He kind of fell on Shima and had been following us through the temple. Apparently, he was using us as a smoke screen for something, he wouldn't say" Yukio told them, slowly regaining his composure "After I knocked Shima out, he disappeared again. I carried on down the tunnel and found him climbing down through the ceiling with the Staff in one hand" At that point Yukio paused. Rin smirked despite himself, Yukio wouldn't want the other to know that he had opened the door to the monks' prison by accident whilst he had been threatening him.

"I gave him a deal, he took it and I ended up with the staff, the bag and the monks on my tail whilst he disappeared again" Yukio said vaguely staring at the sword. Boob-Lady pursed her lips and looked away, scowling as she thought. Strippy looked between the two silent leader with a confused scowl.

"Could someone please explain why this stupid sword is so important" Rin felt the fur on his tail stand on end as he hissed angrily, how that stripped boy dare insult HIS sword! No one but he could do that!

"As you know my older twin brother died five years ago. He was half demon half human and when we were born his powers were sealed into this sword so that he could live as normally as possible" Yukio told them softly. Eyebrows frowned.

"If it was your brother's sword then why did that Niro guy have it?" Ah, the million dollar question of the night. Rin almost wanted to applaud her on using her brain in a way that worked. But he didn't, instead he began to back down the corridor. He couldn't help from here. The least he could do was attempt to draw the monks away and give the exorcists a chance to flee, and whoever was left behind could follow him up out through the roof.

Cale; Whoop! Finished. Now for the next chapter :D this one should be coming out at the end of April however please do not be surprised if it comes out in the middle of May. We are still working out the kinks in how we work and whatnot

Jace; feel free to review and tell us what you think of the story so far however, it really does boost her confidence and that usually ends up with her dragging me out to some party – which she cannot do anymore :D – or writing a dozen or so pages.

Thank you

REVIEW!