It's All Fun and Games Till You Fall in Love

Chapter 16: A Lost Chance

It wasn't even four hours later before Amaimon started to go insane. His wrist felt like it was on fire, not that it really was. Yukio knew how the rope worked. It was designed to be cool at the touch but not as cold as to freeze someone. The creator wanted to bind two individuals, not torture them. For the hundredth time that night, the green haired demon rose his arm, and bit into the rope, holding back a growl as he savagely gnawed on it.

"It's not going to come off, you know that." Amaimon slid his eyes to the side, glancing at his lover from the corner of his eye. "And I have class to teach in the morning, so could you please refrain from moving in a manner that keeps me up?"

The demon huffed, dropping his arm as he scowled, looking off to the side. Yukio was right. It wasn't coming off, no matter how much he bit, crawled, or tugged, it was on by a magic that no other could remove unless one cut off their own arm. His brow twitched a moment before he slowly looked off to the side once more, and peering down at his and his lover's wrists. Would he ever gnaw his own arm off or even Yukio's? Probably not. But he could dream about it without having any sort of regret.

He licked his lips and closed his eyes, lulling himself to sleep with a tune that could only be played inside his mind. He might as well sleep, since there was nothing more he could do till his lover awoke the next day.

Mephisto smiled as he stood at the foot of his and Rin's bed. He didn't particularly want to wake the sleeping boy up, but knew he was going to have to as time started ticking closer and closer to when he'd have to attend his classes. First would be his dull school classes, where he could probably get away with just sleeping in Rin's lap. He stepped around the bed and leaned over, lightly shaking his lover's shoulder, and smiling wide as he groaned, peeking through his lashes to look up at him.

"Almost time to go to school, Rin." The half-demon nodded, groggily, slowly sitting up as he rubbed his hands against his face in an attempt to wake up. "I picked up some of your clothes and put them over on the counter of the bathroom. I'll be in the office doing some last second paperwork while you tidy up."

"What about food?" Rin grumbled, slurring his words together as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and looked up at other with sleep filled eyes.

"There's food in the office as well, of course."

Food was an excellent motivation for the elder Okumura twin to get up and get ready, especially when he knew it was to be edible and most of the time delicious despite his lack of knowledge on what the demon food was made of or called. The principal walked into the office area, and looked around for a moment, listening to the sounds of Rin tripping and cursing at his grogginess as he struggled to wake up. Grinning, the clown walked over to his desk and sat down, thumbing through some papers, only bothering to sign a select handful before Rin came into the room with damp hair, indicating he took a short shower. He held his shirt and tie in his hand, dragging them with him as he sluggishly made his way over to the food and plopped back into the chair.

Mephisto rolled his eyes and stood, walking into the other room's bathroom and taking a towel. He walked back into the room and covered the half-demon's head before he noticed him, and began to rub his head, drying his hair. "You don't want to catch a cold, now do you?"

Rin didn't answer, only scowled and closed his eyes, letting the other dry out his hair. When the towel was removed, he opened his eyes and looked up at him, only receiving a short kiss as the other sat up and returned to the other room to put the towel away.

"Do I have to go to school?" Rin grumbled, food in his mouth as the other entered the room again.

"Would I be a very good principal if I said you didn't have to?"

The half-demon didn't answer, only rolled his eyes stuffing another egg roll-like thing in his mouth, chewing on it like some sort of animal. When he finished it, he yelped feeling Mephisto picking him up and cradling him in his arms, the younger male's cheeks turning a deep red color as he looked away.

"Are you really going to follow me around all day?" The purple-haired demon grinned and nodded his head once, nuzzling his face in his lovers neck. They stayed that way for a minute, Rin's arms clung around the other as he looked around for something to get his mind away from the man holding him.

It was an almost awkward angle, but as soon as they parted, the principal heading to the door, and opening it, Rin instantly missed it. He followed him out of the room and to a door, which Mephisto opened with one of his keys and entered through holding it open for the other. As soon as the door shut behind him, there was a soft mutter of German, and a pop as a white dog trotted next to the half demon.

The school day itself wasn't all that bad. Mephisto kept to himself in a way that Rin had almost forgotten him in some classes. He hid under his desk only moving to shift position every so often, and that wasn't even any sort of bother. He honestly thought the whole thing was going to be a big bother, but was happy to find it oddly comforting.

It wasn't until they entered a cram class that Mephisto became a bit of an annoyance. Nearly every time he would drift off into a light sleep because of a boring topic, he'd find his ankles nipped, a hushed whisper of "This is important, especially if you win the bet." If? Didn't he want him to to win? His eyes narrowed. The older man may have loved him, but every time he uttered the world "If" in that sentence, his confidence he had gained for winning the bet faded more and more.

By the time they entered the third cram class of the day (Yukio's) he was beginning to not even care at all. He walked into the classroom, ignoring the sharp gaze of the green haired demon sitting at the front next to Yukio and flopped in a chair near the back. He was a little surprised to look up, Mephisto clearly not a dog anymore, and stood behind him hands perched on the back of his chair as his eyes froze to Amaimon's both brothers glaring at each other as if they were kids playing the "Who can stare the longest without blinking" game.

As other students started to pile in, it wasn't a secret that there was a thick tension being spread across the room coming from the two older demons. "What's this about, eh Principal?" Bon asked, being the first to even dare to.

"A precaution..." Mephisto stated calmly, his eyes turning to look at the students as he smiled. "I suppose your teacher might be teaching you something a bit different today?"

Yukio's lips thinned slightly as he looked about the room, the students staring up at him confused. "I suppose so..." he grumbled in response, standing up then yanking his arm up making Amaimon growl as he was pulled to stand. "This is a sealing rope. It is only used in extremely drastic measures where a demon and another being are bound together. Most of the time it is used when a human exorcist believes that a demon is innocent from a crime, can change it's ways, or some less common reasons. Once bound the being who agreed to watch over the demon becomes as equal with it, and any crimes committed by the demon becomes the equals crime as well."

"What's your reason?" Izumo asked, raising one of her small brows a scowl on her lips.

Yukio didn't answer for a moment, Mephisto's grin widening at the sight of the normally reclusive man struggling to answer a simple reason. "I suppose it's because I believe he can change, no matter how stubborn he is," he looked to Amaimon who looked away his eyes narrowing even more so.

"And what happens if your wrong?" Shima asked, judging by the way his brows furrowed and quivered slightly he knew the answer, and almost regretting it as soon as he asked it.

"If I'm wrong I'll either be killed by him, or killed because of crimes."

Amaimon's glance softened slightly at his words. They faltered near the end, making the demon feel almost bad for the lack of confidence in his lover. His blue eyes trailed to the side. There were so many different eyes staring up at him as if he was some sort of side show. But that wasn't the least of his worries, it was the way they were looking at him. It was as if he had committed a crime already, dooming Yukio. He gritted his sharp teeth together, sitting back down in the chair, bringing his legs to his chest as he glared at each set of eyes individually.

As his eyes finally hit his brothers, he looked down, unable to even glare at him as he dug his nails in the fabric of his pants. Yukio began to go into more details on how the rope worked, turning to write things on the board behind him as he went along, the demon allowing the arm that was connected to the teacher to dangle at his side so he wouldn't be yanked again.

Rin didn't pay attention to the rope lecture, nor did he really care if Mephisto tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Despite the fact that he hated Amaimon for trying to kill him, he felt sorry for him. He was bound to Yukio, unable to express himself or even leave without the other man being there. He loved Mephisto, but he knew if he didn't have that freedom to leave as he pleased, he would slip into madness and become overwhelmed.

"There is only one way to get the rope off..."

Rin looked up, immediately knowing the answer as Yukio turned and faced the class once again.

"And that is death to either person."

Rin's eyes shot to Amaimon, who's eyes widened slightly. Did he know this? "Couldn't you just cut the other person's arm off?" Rin asked, without even thinking.

"If a wrist is removed from the rope, it goes into a defensive mode and sucks the remaining tied person into the rope. It has been described as to be eating the person."

"You're an idiot."

Class was long since over, but Rin and Yukio remained in the class, staring at one another. "Why the hell would you agree to such an idiotic thing if you knew the consequences!" Yukio stayed silent, packing his bag with some papers and pens that were on his desk. "Answer me!"

"Would you not do the same for Mephisto?"

"Mephisto isn't a crazed psychopath..."

"And if he was?"

"There's no if ,Yukio!"

"But let's just say he snapped. His demon nature took hold and he went on a rampage-"

"In my defense if after all these years I had not done so already, that will not happen," Mephisto added raising a finger, annoying the teacher, who glared. "Just adding a little piece of mind."

"You know nothing, do you Rin?" Yukio's voice shook slightly as he took a hold of his briefcase and stared down at the handle in his hand, "Do you love Mephisto?"

"You don't have to answer that," Mephisto whispered in Rin's ear, leaning over slightly his eyes narrowing to Yukio, who simply stared down at his older brother, awaiting a answer.

"Mephisto and I made a bet a month and a half ago. He made the bet that I was going to fall in love with him and admit it in two months time, or he'd rank me up two ranks of exorcist." The disgust in Yukio's expression hurt Rin, but it was also expected. He sighed and continued, "I didn't see how I could lose, or how I could ever fall in love with him, but the more I got to know him, it became harder and harder... He isn't just some stupid clown... He's so much more than that."

"So you lost the bet then?" Amaimon snickered, already knowing the answer, but wanting Yukio to hear it.

"I haven't admitted my feelings yet... so no..."

Yukio stood, shaking his head at his brother as he scowled, "So all of this was because of a stupid bet?" It was Mephisto's turn to snicker this time as he stood upright and wrapped his arms around Rin's middle. "Imbecilic, and you said I was being an idiot for binding myself to Amaimon. At least I can admit I love him instead of using some bet as an excuse to cheat yourself up the ranks."

Rin scowled as he stepped forward as Yukio made to move to the door. He brought his hand back, fist clenching and punched him across the face, making the younger brother fall back to hit against Amaimon, who snarled and glared, his teeth bared as he readied himself to attack Rin. "I love him! Are you happy? All I wanted to do was be useful, to prove that I can do something, that I can be good at something. It's not that I want to surpass you as an exorcist, it's that I want to show you that I can be good at it too! You are good at everything Yukio... You always were... But I'm the screw up! I'm the twin that can't do anything, can't amount to anything except cook. What good is cooking if you can't do more than just that?"

All three of the other's stood still, there eyes on Rin as he struggled to not cry as he glared at his younger brother. What could they say? What could they do? "And now I lost the bet because of you... stupid four eyes idiot..."

Yukio blinked and watched as his brother turned and stalked out of the room, angrily. Mephisto smiled grimly and looked to the ground a moment before looking back to Yukio, "He was studying and training so he'd earn the two ranks, you know... I wasn't just going to give it to him..."

Yukio was frozen. What did he just do? Of course Mephisto wasn't going to just give Rin the two promotions. He wasn't stupid, if he did that people who be suspicious and look into why he was ranked twice. If they came and saw he knew nothing they'd possibly strip him of his right to rank anyone. He shivered as he felt a hand on the back of his neck, "I really messed up..."

Amaimon pressed his face to his lovers shoulder not answering as Yukio stood staring at the door. He needed to make it up to Rin somehow, but he feared at this point that losing a chance such as this would not give him an opportunity to redeem himself...

Note:

One more chapter~~~

Review Responses:

Satanea Pheles: Q_Q I'm sorry, please forgive me D: College and that trip had me pinned down so I couldn't do anything *begs for forgiveness* But yes, I do have family in Germany ^^;

yummi-cake: No no, no major plot twist. Well, kinda. Idk if this chapter would count as a twist or not, I will let you decide that ^^;

Anahita Unduli II: I love wolves, I always have, and have a soft spot for adding one every so often to a story, or at least mentioning one xD I'm glad you like the story x3

Sachiel Angelo: Bon is a sort of side character all together. If I had to put a pin on him for who he has feelings for it would have to be Shima. I didn't want to really elaborate more on who was with who other than YukioxAmaimon and RinxMephisto, and even so I didn't want to elaborate more on Yukio and Amaimon more than I did already ^^; As for the Cram class and school issue, yes I do have to admit I did make it a bit difficult, and tried to work on that in this chapter. Most of the time I just found the plain ordinary school... well plain and ordinary and didn't feel up to par in writing much about it.

nemadragon31: Thank you very much ^^