HAHAH AN UPDATE HAS BEEN POSTED. I literally typed this out and edited in under a hour because this the first time I've had in months to write, and if I waited I probably wouldn't have it done, so it's probably really sloppy with a lot of mistakes but it's something, alight? I'm not even going to make any excuses as to why this update took so long, just be happy you have one and read ahahha
Thanks to everyone who's been sending me messages and writing reviews these past few months, asking for the update! I love getting messages like that because it shows that there are people who actually do like my story, and it also motivates me to write more! So please feel free to leave a review at the bottom and let me know where you think the story is going!
~~Laurissa uwu
Chapter 10
Rin POV
"Rin, you don't look so good," Shima was hesitant to say that, but I suppose he had good reason to be a little nervous around me after all. I can't say that I haven't snapped at him for asking questions before, but it's kind of hard not to with the personality the kid has-but don't get me wrong, I still somehow manage to value him as a friend. Maybe it's just the feelings the previous Rin had that make me want to keep Shima around, but I try not to think too much of it. For the past week, he's been stopping by almost everyday to either play my video games or pester me about pointless things-which were usually related to Yukio.
"I have a hangover," I replied dryly.
"You seem to have forgotten that I was here last night and you didn't even touch any alcohol-for once," Shima reminded me. He added. "Can demons even get a hangover?"
'They can when they've pretty much starved themselves for two weeks,' I thought to myself bitterly. "I guess so."
I could tell he was waiting for me to say more, but after a while he just sighed and turned away. "Whatever you say." He set the game controller on the table and stood up to stretch his arms. "I'm heading back to Cross now, maybe you could try calling Yukio while I'm gone?"
I actually laughed. He used to talk about Yukio a lot more before, but now he'll usually only bring him up once just to make sure he does. "Nice try, but I don't think so."
Shima shrugged and moved to put on his coat. "Thought it was worth a shot, see you tomorrow then."
I waved, but he was already out the door. Once I heard the door click shut, I stopped holding myself together. I dropped the front I was playing and let myself sink deeper into the couch. I rubbed my temples trying to ease my ongoing headache, but given it's been here for almost two weeks, an entire bottle of Tylenol 3s wouldn't be able to help. The burning in my throat had spread to my mouth and my chest, and no amount of water quenched it.
Of course, that isn't even close to what I need.
The problem isn't even a matter of how long I can act like I'm still "okay" in front of others, it's where I can go for help when I need it-if it unfortunately ever has to come to that. I can't go to Gehenna because I've got a pretty big bounty on my head, even if I am Satan's son. They won't kill me or anything, but they sure as hell won't be happy with me-I probably won't be allowed back in Assiah until everyone from my past life is long dead. Not only that, but can I even be called a demon anymore? My stomach can't handle killing humans anymore, so even if I were accepted back into the ranks, I'd be a laughing stock. Assiah is even worse because it has the stupid Vatican-of course they're perfectly fine and respectable to the public, but to demons they're just so annoying. They're barely letting Pheles stay here without any problems, like there is any chance of me ever having peace with them. That also crosses out any of the friends Rin had when he was at the Academy, although some of them may be willing to help out they'd probably just end up getting themselves killed or irritate me to the point where I'll want to kill them.
Currently standing, I didn't have any options-I was alone, so utterly alone it brought a pain I didn't even know I could still feel anymore. I thought demons didn't experience sadness or despair? I sacrifice myself for my brother, and this is what I get? I thought good deeds were meant to be rewarded, not punished. Whoever came up with that saying didn't have a clue what they were talking about.
I couldn't help but laugh at the cruelty the fates were bestowing on me. "It's not like I wanted any of this."
Shima POV
The others were already talking by the time I arrived at Yukio's office. Ever since I left Rin's condo, I had wanted to go back-he's seemed off these passed couple of days, but today was the worst I've seen him. He was sweating, coughing, he barely got up to do anything-he seemed sick. I'm sure he was holding himself back so I wouldn't worry, or more likely bother him more then I had, which only made me more worried. As a demon, Rin in general has superior healing, so for him to actually be ill is something that I can't understand. What can make demons sick anyway? He's pretty much kept himself barricaded in that apartment so it's not an outside force affecting him, it has to be something he's doing to himself. I had a theory and although I don't particularly like it, I also believe it's the only thing that will make him normal again. I was already dreading the moment I'd tell Yukio it.
Izumo didn't even glance at me. "You're late again, Shima."
I laughed nervously like I always did around her and scratched my head. "Sorry, guess I lost track of time."
Izumo opened her mouth to say more, but Yukio spoke up before she had the chance. Yukio sat at the head of the desk in his office while the other five sat around it. "Just sit down."
I nodded and took my seat next to Bon.
Yukio cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the Vatican is going to paying a visit to True Cross in a week's time and there are some problems we need to take care of before they arrive. The first one, is my brother. When they figure out the Rin is back in Assiah as demon, they're going to want to eradicate him immediately."
Even Bon couldn't help but laugh at that. "Like they'll be able to do anything against him-if Rin wants to, he could probably kill them by snapping his fingers; it'll just be the Blue Night all over again. He's inherited Satan's blue flames and he has a physical body in this world, what the hell can some exorcists do against that?"
"That is a problem in itself, but unfortunately isn't the only one," Yukio replied. "If they figure out that we've known he's here this entire time, we'll be in a lot of trouble too. In the Vatican's eyes it'll look like we were aiding a demon-and the son of Satan at that."
"You're the son of Satan too," Shura muttered, but covered it with a cough.
Yukio gave her an irritated look, but she just took another sip of her beer as though she had said nothing at all.
"Regardless, we need to be prepared for it. The last thing we have to deal with is Mephisto." Yukio said. Everyone muttered in a agreement at that. The Director hasn't had any contact with anyone-including the Vatican and other exorcists, which is most likely the reason they'll personally be paying a visit to us soon.
"I'll say," Bon grunted. "The guy's kept himself locked in his office since Okumura's been back. If he had just been able to contact the Vatican regularly like he should have-"
"He's probably just scared," Konekomaru defended. "I'd be scared too if Rin came at me personally the way he is now." He looked at Yukio hesitantly, as though to make sure he didn't offend him, but our former teacher was perfectly composed.
"I think so too," Shiemi agreed.
While the others were bickering over why Mephisto has closed himself off, I was carefully studying Yukio. Although he wasn't showing any clear signs of what he was thinking, I also got the feeling he didn't believe that Mephisto was just "scared". He caught me looking and I turned away. Regardless of whether I wanted to or not, Yukio was going to pull me aside to talk to him about Rin once everyone left. Again. The thought of it made tired.
Every day I've visited Rin, Yukio's always asked me the same questions. 'What happened today?', 'Does he seem any different?', 'Has he hurt anyone?', 'Did he ask about me?', 'Did you bring me up?'. Honestly, I was already getting a headache.
"Why haven't the demons come for Rin yet?" Konekomaru wondered aloud. "I mean, Lucifer alone wasn't enough, but I'm sure that if they got enough of them they you could easily kill him if they had too."
Luckily, I had already asked Rin himself this question. "They don't want to kill him. Only a few demons are able to have their bodies in both Assiah and Gehenna; Rin is one of those few. He's too valuable to them to just kill, they're probably doing what we're doing and think of a plan. Alsos, they probably don't have enough demons who can crossover to Assiah to do something like that."
'One point for Shima,' I thought smugly.
Yukio nodded. "I also believe that they want Rin back on their side willingly. Even though he's only returned to Assiah for a short time, my brothers feelings are holding him back and making the demon hesitant on returning to Gehenna. The other demons don't want that-they want him restored back to when he was one of them."
I didn't like the way he had described Rin just then, but I did agree with his idea of the demons wanting Rin to return willingly. My days visiting Rin have proved that he's pretty much the same guy I knew three years ago; only stronger, a little bit more immortal and it's like a bucket of Bon's negative attitude was poured on him-besides that he was the same old guy I met before. Although I acted calmly, I was more frustrated with the people in this room then I let on. They were all treating him the exact same way they had when we first learned that Rin was Satan's son back when we were Exwires; they're only looking at what they see, but they're not looking at what Rin's like behind his façade. Even though he doesn't mention it to me when we're together, he's having a rough time and doesn't know what to do. Yukio may be his brother, but sometimes your family doesn't know what's best for you, sometimes a friend has a step up and help out.
After another hour of bickering we decided to end things for the night and meet up again at the same time tomorrow. Everyone got up and left, muttering how late it was, and soon enough, Yukio and I were the only ones in his office. He opened his mouth to talk but I didn't even give him the chance. I was tired and just wanted to go home to my bed.
"Today I'm going to tell you what I found, and you're not going to ask anyone questions until I'm finished," I said quickly. I don't think I could handle having another one of those hour conversations where we talk about the same thing every time. "Got it?"
Yukio looked slightly taken aback, but agreed. "Go ahead."
I went and told him everything that he would have asked. We just played video games; he doesn't seem that different; as far as I know he hasn't hurt anyone; yes, I did bring you up; no he doesn't want to talk you.
Yukio looked disappointed by the time I finished. "So, he's still a demon."
I clenched my jaw; lately, this man has been far too stubborn for my liking. Who cares if he's still a demon? He's your brother! "Nothing crazy, but he's been acting weird."
The brother suddenly perked up. "Weird? How is he acting weird? Is he acting like an idiot?"
I shook my head. "He seems like he's getting sick. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he had a hangover."
"Can demons get hangovers?"
That's what I asked! He just shrugged it off, but I just get the feeling that something's off."
"My brother is just fighting for control," Yukio insisted.
I shook my head again. "No, it's weird. Normally he'd drink at least two bottles of whiskey or something to shut up Rin, but he hasn't been drinking at all lately, which means two things: one, that he doesn't have a hangover; and two, he hasn't heard Rin in his head for days."
Yukio's face crumpled. "No, h-he promised that he would fight back."
"That's not what we should be worrying about right now," I replied bluntly.
Yukio narrowed his eyes, already disliking where the conversation was going.
"My best guess as to why Rin's body is getting weaker is because he hasn't had any souls lately. He'll be back up to strength once he gets that-"
"Are you telling me that you want my brother to kill someone?" Yukio asked slowly. "What the hells wrong with you? I thought you wanted to help him!"
"I am trying to help him," I returned, raising my own voice. I considered keeping my mouth shut, but after only two weeks I had already had enough. "This isn't the same half-human, half-demon Rin anyone, he's a real demon, a real son of Satan. His body doesn't age like ours, it doesn't require food or water, what he needs is human souls."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked again, as though trying to figure it out himself.
My control was starting to waver. "With me? You're asking if something's wrong with me? The moment that Rin went to Gehenna to save you, he turned his back on his humanity-he did that for you. As much as you'd like him to be that older brother from three years ago, he's not-and even if you believe that there's still two separate Rin's, what good is going to do to either of them if his body dies? If that happens, neither one will be savable!"
Yukio moved so quickly I didn't have time to counter. In the blink of an eye he had gone around the desk and was holding me against the wall as he gripped the collar of my shirt. I can't say that I wasn't scared by the look he was giving me-although it's easy to forget, Yukio Okumura is also Satan's son. "Do not talk about my brother like that. The sole reason that I became an exorcist was to become strong enough to protect my family. I've already lost my father and I will not lose my brother."
By now-well actually, probably a while back, I would have smiled nervously and apologized, but these past few years have made me bitter. "Then stop treating him like he's still a human."
Yukio hit my jaw, and he didn't hold back either. I did deserve it, I'll admit that, but he needs to realize that his actions are making it that much harder for Rin to be himself again. If I have to get beat up a couple times over it, that's fine by me. These two brothers needed to make up, not for Yukio's sake, but for Rin's-they were always at their best when they were working together, and as both of their friends, I was damn going to do my best to make them realize that they're still family.
Yukio stood above me, breathing heavily, his fist still clenched. I knew enough to know not say anything else, for now, I had done enough. Hopefully, what I said will have some effect on him and he'll at least think about possible ways to help Rin from my perspective. For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me again, but he just shook his head and left me alone in the room.
I closed my eyes. This situation is worse then complicated-it's a catastrophe. Hopefully a miracle will come up and figure everything out, in fact, I'm pretty much counting on that to happen. About a minute after Yukio had left, I heard the door open again.
"Listen, I'm not in the mood to be hit again," I sighed. All of my energy from before had vanished. I was tired and wanted nothing more then to go to bed already.
"It's not Yukio, stupid."
I was surprised to see that Izumo was the one standing above me, a worried expression playing with the features of her face. She leaned down so she was at eye level with me and shook her head. "You really are in idiot. Why would you even think of talking like that to Yukio?"
I sighed. "How much of it did you hear?"
"Relatively all of it," She admitted.
I looked at her carefully. "And do you think I was wrong?"
This was one of those rare moments where Izumo was actually unsure of how to respond. "I don't think you were wrong-lately you've actually showed more brain power then the other idiots that were here-but that doesn't mean you couldn't have been a bit nicer to him."
"What, everyone's an idiot in your mind?" I asked.
A grin tugged at her lips. "You're the biggest one."
Even I couldn't help but give a crooked smile, but it quickly turned into a scowl. "I've tried. I talk to him almost every day but all he talks about is how he needs the Rin from three years ago back, his brother, but it's like he's completely forgotten that people change. None of us are the same people we were three years ago-we've learned new things, had different experiences-hell, I'd say that Yukio's changed more then Rin has. I've talked to both of them enough recently to realize that much."
"Just give him time to think," Izumo insisted. I could see that she was struggling to defend Yukio more and more.
"We don't have time," I strained, trying to keep my voice under control. "You heard what he said in front of everyone-the Vatican is going to be here next week. If they come here, figure out the Rin is a demon and that we've known, it's over for all of us. If the Vatican issues an official bounty on Rin, there's nothing we can do at that point. The only choice he'll have left is to eventually go back to Gehenna, and he doesn't belong there."
"He's a demon," She reminded me. She was trying to talk some sense into me, but she needed to realize that I knew exactly what I was doing.
"He may be a demon, but he was raised by humans," I told her, keeping my voice stern. "He is nothing like Lucifer or the others. If you were able to meet with him like I do, you'd realize that he isn't all that different."
She pushed back her hair, her face slightly pink. "W-what, you want me to help you?"
Well, that wasn't anythign close to what I was going for but I supposed it could do. I put my hand on hers- not in a romantic sense or anything-and tried to give her a look that would make her understand. "If you can, that'd be perfect. So what do you say Izumo, want help out a pink-haired idiot like me?"
I could tell she was trying to figure out a way to avoid agreeing, but I saw the moment that she caved, and it surprisingly brought a wave of relief over me. "Fine, I'll help you."
I squeezed her hand, and truly felt grateful. "Thanks, I promise that I'll prove to you that even as a demon, Rin's still Rin and that he can be saved."
