Yeah so, I've been kinda lazy, and my story is not progressing the way I want it to. In case you haven't noticed, Thantos' character is all over the place, especially in this chapter, and so is Rin's. I'm gonna have to fix it pretty soon, or just come up with an alternate universe where they have multiple personality disorder. Now that would be weird.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the shaky character development!

Chapter III: To Be Different

In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.~Coco Chanel

Sunlight poured through the window, its beams gently caressing Rin's face. The demon tumbled in his bed, throwing the covers over him as he tried to escape the cruel reality of having to wake up.

"Rin." A gentle voice drew him out of his hibernation, and he shifted in the bed to find the source of the voice.

He slowly cracked one eye open, and saw the blue haired demon in front of him with a worried expression on his face. He slowly got up, the duvet falling off him as he raised his arms over his head, and stifled a yawn. He rubbed his eyes slowly, trying to shake off the lullaby of sleep.

"I have already drawn your bath, my prince," Rin narrowed his eyes at Thanatos' comment, frowning at his use of sarcasm.

Rin threw his legs over the side of the bed, jumped off, and lazily put on his boots. He followed Thanatos to the baths, memorizing every turn on their way. The hallways were dark and gloomy, the paint chipping off the old walls. With each turn they made, Rin felt like they were going in circles and it was starting to drive him crazy.

"Oi! How much longer until we get there? If I see another rat, I'm going to burn this place to the ground," he complained. By the time they had finally gotten to the baths, Rin was just about ready to kill somebody.

"Thank satan!" Rin pushed past Thanatos, eager to get in first.

He opened one of the lockers in the brightly lit room, grateful for the change in lighting. Thanatos followed closely behind, unsure of what to do next.

"Well?" Rin said,"Aren't you going to undress me?" Rin knew he drove Thanatos mad. He also knew that asking Thantos to undress him everyday since he could talk, drove him even more into the depths of insanity, because he couldn't touch him. Rin might have been the King of Flame and The Cruel, but he even knew what love was. And he knew Thanatos held love for him. He had read many books on the subject,and knew that Thanatos' level of affection wasn't normal. No book provided better evidence than William Shakespeare's play, "The Merchant of Venice." SCREW Antonio's acceptance of Bassanio's marriage. Antonio was gay for Bassanio, the act of homosexuaility being new and forbidden, be damned.

Yet...When Rin had first came across such a thing, it had actually confused him at first...

When Rin read the play, he didn't understand. Antonio loved his friends, but his love for Bassanio was different. He might have loved Solanio, or Gratiano, but Antonio's love wasn't normal. Antonio must have loved his friend Gratiano, but he was in love with Bassanio. Rin had never really heard of such a thing, and it had seemed absurd. Sure, demons fucked whatever came their way, but demons were not human. Demons were different. Their rules of society were different.

Thanatos was different.

Rin had took a long time to figured it out way back then, and realized just like how Antonio's love was different for his friend, so was Thanatos'. Rin might like Thanatos, maybe even love him, but-he wasn't in love with him at the time. Rin had tried to ignore the weird feeling in his chest that he got whenever Thanatos was around before he had found out, but after he had, it just made things worse. Thanatos' orders were to basically be a slave to the demon king, and as such, he was always with him. As soon as Rin had realized that Thanatos was in love with him, he started to notice the little things that Thanatos did-things that Rin hadn't really payed attention to before. He would sometimes stare at Rin for an uncomfortably long time, or linger his hands a few seconds longer than needed, whenever they came in contact with Rin's skin. One day, Thanatos went past his boundaries. Rin finally realized how dangerous the demon really was, remembering that the only reason he held back, was because he was bound by the ring he wore. Rin remembered that day well.

*Flashback*

It had been three days. Three days since Rin had found out. It had actually started to wear on him both mentally and physically. He would jump whenever Thanatos' skin came in contact with his, or feel disgust and anxiety whenever his eyes would fall on him. And the worst part was...there was no way to avoid him.

Fucking hell.

It was a hard day of training, he had just endured trying to entertain his brother Samael. He made him juggle tea cups-with tea in them! He would usually take a bath, but, he didn't feel like falling under the heated gaze of a certain blue haired demon. Unfortunately, Samael wanted to talk to him after he was done training, and that included getting clean.

Which is why he was in the bathhouse, the temperature making the knot in his stomach worse. He felt sick. Thanatos made him sick. The man was checking the water in the bath now, muttering something to himself as Rin tried to brush his bangs away from his forehead-which were now covered in sweat.

"The bath is ready!" Thanatos announced cheerfully. The 'courtier' had noticed that the demon king had been acting a little out of it, his face looking a little paler than usual. Said demon looked uncomfortable, and looked like he was about ready to drop dead.

"Are you okay, my prince?" Thanatos walked towards the king, placing his hand on Rin's forehead. As soon as his hand made contact however, the demon king jumped back, bumping into the wall behind him.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Really!" Rin said a little too optimistically.

Thanatos watched him wearily, seeing past the flimsy lie. He stayed quiet for a moment, until he broke the silence by asking Rin the one question he didn't want him to ask.

"Did I do something to upset you?" Rin was in panic mode. What the hell, was he supposed to say? He racked his brain for ideas, but the only thing he wanted right now, was some space between him and the other demon. He pushed past Thanatos, and turned around to face him.

"You have done nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with you."

Thanatos wanted to believe those words, and figured getting the truth out of the young demon king, would be like pulling teeth. And so, he did just that. He believed there was nothing wrong with him, just like Rin had said.

He sighed, and attempted to take off his young master's shirt, but Rin backed away, a wary look in his eyes.

"I can do it myself." Rin said those words with conviction, as he peeled away his own shirt from his skin, then went to undo his pants, fumbling with the button and zipper as he did so, his tail nervously swaying to and fro. He finally stripped down until he was bare, climbing into the bath with shaky steps. Thanatos would usually stay clothed, and wash him, but Rin saw something in the corner of his eye that made him go into a complete state of panic. Thanatos was stripping, paying no attention to Rin's stares as he peeled away the layers of clothing covering his skin. His bruises and scratches on his pale skin were nothing new, but if Rin figured out how he got most of them, he would break. He walked towards Rin, creating ripples in the water as he slowly climbed in the bath with him. Rin didn't know what to do. Rin hadn't minded before when Thanatos would climb in with him, but now-it was different.

Rin didn't think he could be panicked any more than he was now. He was proven wrong as Thanatos slowly brought his hand to cup the black haired demon's cheek, and brought his face dangerously close to Rin's. Rin tried to break away, but Thanatos' grip was tight, ring be damned. He slowly brought his lips to Rin's, barely brushing them against the others. He pulled away, looking at Rin with an expression of...Pain? Thanatos, hmmp'd. A sound that Rin hadn't expected from the blue haired demon.

"So that's why you've been acting weird." Rin had suddenly developed an interest in the water, not wanting to look Thanatos in the eye.

"You finally found out," Thanatos spoke softly, almost as if he was talking to a wounded animal, "I'm guessing by the way you've been acting, you do not like the way I am in love with you. You find it...repulsive?" Thanatos' tone changed at that last word, becoming upset and hurt.

"I-I uh…" Rin didn't know what to do. The knot in his stomach had dispelled, his panic being placed by relief.

"I apologize. I suppose my actions in the past have made you uncomfortable." Thanatos got close to his face again, and brushed his lips against Rin's ear.

"I will never take advantage of you, after all, I do wish to not be killed by your father. I will not do anything to you that will make you uncomfortable from this day on. That is, until you let me." Rin swore he could feel Thanatos' smile.

"Until you get over yourself, however, I guess I'll just have to do with this." He sighed in Rin's ear, and pulled back.

He crashed his lips on Rin's hard, taking in all they had to offer. He moved his lips against Rin's passionately, receiving no response. Rin's eyes widened in shock, trying to strongly pull away, but he was backed against the edge of the wooden tub, and the last few days had taken their toll on his health.

Thanatos bit down harshly on Rin's bottom lip, gaining entrance to the other's mouth. He had tangled one of his hands in his black hair, pulling harshly at the roots, trying to make the kiss deeper. He was more or less shoving his tongue down Rin's throat, his only goal to illicit a response from the demon before him.

He pulled back for air, and saw that Rin's face was tinted a shade of red, his eyes half lidded, and lips parted. He planted kisses on his jawbone, before moving down to his neck, and sucked until he heard a low moan escape Rin's lips. His hand moved towards Rin's tail, and he slowly ran his hand across the appendage, earning a whiny moan from Rin's lips. He brought down his lips on Rin's again, this time Rin's lips moving against him.

He suddenly broke the kiss, his face flushed, his pink lips parted. Without warning he stood up, and climbed out of the tub, and started drying himself off with a towel. Rin was still stuck in a daze, trying to piece together what had just happened.

Thanatos quickly put on his clothes, and quickly dried to dry his hair. He helped Rin out, drying him off, and started to dress him in new clothes. He led Rin out of the baths and started to lead him into the drawing room where Mephisto was waiting for him. They didn't speak the whole way, Rin following him like a dazed puppy. He finally reached the room, and Thanatos quickly gave him a look over, making sure he was presentable.

"Hey Thanatos..."Rin had to address the question on his mind, or else he would lose his nerve, and make things more complicated later.

"Yes?" Thanatos stood the same height as Rin, but he could have sworn that he had gotten taller.

"What now?" The question was vague, and even Rin was unsure of what he was asking about.

"Now, we do what we do best. We act and we smile. You will do what you have always done, and I will be there like always, to make sure you do it."

"And of our current relationship?"

"What about it?" Thantaos asked.

"Well...You know…" Rin was unsure of what to call it. At first the idea had been foreign to him, but now he was realizing it had been so foreign to him because he was scared to realize it.

"You are to be eventually married to your fiance, Nemesis, and I am your courtier, nothing can change that. It would probably be in your best interest to forget about what happened today. I am sure that you can not deal with any distractions as of late."

"You are correct," Rin had finally shaken off the dark cloud that had hung around him.

"I don't have time to waste on pieces of trash like you." Thanatos smiled at Rin's insult.

"Perhaps when you're forty?" Thanatos asked.

Rin gave a smile that could cut a diamond in two.

"Perhaps."

*End Flashback*

Rin was fifteen then.

Thanatos gave Rin a smug smile. "As you wish." He moved closer towards Rin, his eyes eagerly waiting to see the other demon's body. He grabbed the hem of Rin's shirt and pulled the fabric over his head, revealing a toned stomach and chest. His eyes drunk in the sight, leaving him out of breath. Thanatos' purpose was to basically serve and fulfill his every need, and if that meant undressing the man he had a crush on since he could talk, he was having no complaints.

"Try not to get too excited. I'm only 37."

"Yes, my prince."

~Gods Dice~