Their first full year at True Cross Academy, of Cram School, the secret exorcist school beneath True Cross Academy, had passed, with the very end being one of the worst events that could of happened in the history of humanity; that a gate into Gehenna, the underworld/otherworld, had been opened, right on top of the school itself. In plain sight of all Tokyo.
A circular ring hazing into view from the sky, booming and fizzling, a flash storm began, rain slammed down, and a horrific, odd maroon lightning flashed. It was just big enough for the very one, the feared one: Satan. He took over the body of a boy on that roof: Yukio Okumura, and in that moment, when those demonic cerulean flames burst out of his eyes, unhinging Yukio's own blood right, (busting the floodgate to his own demonic powers wide open), Satan went crazy, laughing maniacally, screaming, seeing Yukio's true fears with his own eyes. For Yukio was Satan's hereditary son, and so was Rin, the twins. Satan, never had a proper vessel, until Yukio. It felt him, his strength of will, the boy had grown enough mentally to hold him, unlike so many others before more than twice his age.
Things had changed, Satan's vessel was unexpectedly... not Rin.
Shiro Fugimoto, the boys' adopted father, and Paladin Exorcist, had trained Yukio and sent him to exorcist school, Cram School, at the same academy: True Cross. With Yukio being a bright flight student, Shiro knew he would pick it up fast, and he did, becoming the youngest cram student to achieve exorcist status by the age of thirteen.
The truth was what held Yukio to his dragoon guns, the truth that eventually Rin, his older twin brother, the one who had the hereditary, uncontrollable blue flames of Satan, would go haywire. The Kurikara, even though a strongly spiritual, steel bladed samurai sword of ancient times, the enchantment placed upon it would not be able to contain and keep his demonic flames at ease. The Kurikara's power known among exorcists to dampen a demon's supernatural gifts, eventually would fail. As Rin aged it became more apparent, as the sword got so frequently re-blessed that by the time Rin and Yukio were fourteen, it was a weekly, secret occurrence below their monastery floorboards.
Tensions were high; neither of the two wanted to do to Rin what might need to be done, for humanity, for Rin was raised as a normal human boy. Except unlike Yukio, even with his powers locked away with the help of a sword unbeknownst to him, he had an abnormal strength, and unfortunately for Shiro... an abnormal temper. From the time he was old enough to understand the world, he started getting into fights with other kids at his elementary and middle schools. He was a terrible learner, and he had trouble concentrating in school. Shiro, even though Rin was an utter mess, and the fact that he had to be there to clear things up with parents, always, Rin had a wonderfully loving and caring heart, and that was what won Shiro Fugimoto over, he loved the boy, as if he were his own.
They were HIS sons.
People may of looked at Rin as a thug or a lunk compared to Yukio, the quiet, smart, popular one, but Shiro and Yukio cared for him, they were a small family, not a whole one, but one nevertheless.
However, Shiro's loyalty to the Vatican, even though he never strictly followed their rules, (for they had let the Paladin Exorcist have the boys after their birth, allowing them to live), was for the first time, between a rock and a hard place. Shiro always knew what to do, but not this time. Rin's teenage emotions and body were reaching it's peak, maturing, Shiro and Yukio both knew that the day would come soon, where Rin would explode out of no where, into a blue light, and a choice had to be made, for the future existence of the human world.
One has to ask, Why even let Rin live? Killing one or both of them at infants, would of been so easy. Not for Shiro. His soft heart, as the little babies mewled in his lap on the bus ride home, melted. They were just... babies. As Yukio slept peacefully and Rin jabbered; he couldn't, even if he knew the outcome. He couldn't.
Shiro needed someone who could possibly kill Rin, if worse came to worse, that's why he had chose Yukio, a boy only eight years old. Never had he wanted to push this terrible duty off on Yukio, but he was old enough to be a grandfather. Shiro wouldn't be there to do it, his body would fail.
He had to ready Yukio with Cram School for the possible impending task. There was no other way, simply wounding Rin might not stop him, stop him from mutilating and ripping everything living to shreds, his uncontrollable Satan Flames, that power taking over his body, his mind, and perhaps his heart, would kill.
It was a hard choice, a clandestine choice, choosing Yukio to be the an executioner, to deliver the final blow, if need be, but Shiro knew, Yukio and Rin being twins, had a strong bond. Yukio could get to him, Rin would let him in, let him get close. Yukio would have to be the one with the choice: with his Dragoon Exorcist pistols, there to kill him, or his Doctor Exorcist skills to keep Rin at bay.
However, a hell gate was opened, (as gates around the world by random Satanic worshipers would be opened from time to time, and exorcists were sent to close them), and Shiro got caught in the cross-fire. It changed everything.
Satan, that spirit, that airy blue fire, had jumped the gate for the first time in centuries, and with flames on high heat, it burned right and left, body after body plummeting to the ground in a pile of black ash. It dissolved from the northern highlands of Japan, to a small, quaint monastery of the coast of Southern Japan: Shiro, Yukio and Rin's monastery, that they called home; hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye. As a spirit with no body, Satan could move at incredible speed. Many monks burned alive, setting the structure on fire around them.
With screaming echoing in every direction, Rin was horrified, scuttling away, trying to hide from unknown origins of random fire, and Yukio had pulled out guns from somewhere and was firing them around into the bodies of their fiery peers, as the random flames hopped from monk to monk, playing musical chairs. Rin was scared out of his mind, everything was on fire, blaring, hot, burning, his monk elders were dying, turning to ash, and Yukio was shooting guns! He was confused, lost.
But suddenly, the flame skipped, the gunfire stopped, and Rin peaked out from behind a pew not eight feet away, as there was no noise, and seen, his father, Shiro Fugimoto, amidst flames, like magic, blood spurting from his nose, ears lengthening, fangs growing. Yukio on his back, on the ground, guns up, and the weapons, with his fingers still on the triggers, shook profusely, he was too shaken to fire. Unable. Frozen. Terror.
"Rin!" Yukio shrieked. "Downstairs!" Pain in his voice.
Rin gawked at him.
"Sword Rin! GRAB THE SWORD!"
"Oh my little demon, how lovely. How lovely." Satan choked out. "Aw, poor suit, this one isn't good either." It just watched Rin jolt downstairs.
Shiro's body wiggled and it's arms flung wildly. Yukio knew Shiro was fighting.
Satan had killed so many random spiritual leaders, burning through their bodies in a desperate attempt to find a container, a will power that could hold him, (which they now know was to take Assiah).
Rin unsheathed the sword with a quickness. Blue flames bolted out of his head, that looked strangely like flaming horns, he felt his own teeth grow and ache inside his mouth, a mesmerizing pain shot up his spine, at his lower back, as a weird, thin black tail emerged out of nowhere covered in his own blood. He was shaking as much as Yukio, stuck in a sore stance because of his new appendage, at the waves of pain in his back and jaw, but also at Shiro, his dad, on fire. He was completely overwhelmed.
He had never wielded a sword, insecurity over took him, he wasn't even sure if he was standing in the correct posture, but he held it up to Shiro as Yukio had implied. He did as his twin said, Yukio knew best.
If anyone had a chance against this being it was Rin. Yukio knew he was supposed to execute him, if his flames consumed him, but the game had changed when Satan unexpectedly emerged inside their own home and took over the body of Shiro. It was personal. Yukio needed Rin's fire, needed it, absolutely had no choice except to unveil it as a weapon for exorcism against Satan... he was just a human. He needed a demon's unearthly strength.
"Let our father go!" Yukio yelled over the burning monastery.
"Oh! Rin! Lovely seeing you here, oh look at you there! Those flames, oh my!" It smiled wide like a jester. It didn't acknowledge Yukio.
Rin's knees buckled and he sat on them absolutely frozen in terror. It was the first time he had ever seen... this.
"It's Satan... Rin! Slash him!"
Rin's eyes buckled, much like his knees. His sword wasn't even up anymore.
"Hmm, well. Looks like I've found the one I've been looking for."
Yukio grunted, he didn't like the way it stared at his brother. His idea was failing. He remained inanimate on the ground.
"My little Rin, I'll be back. And it's your body I'll be taking. My son's! Wha haha ha ha!"
Yukio's mouth gaped open.
And in that instant, the body of Shiro turned, the head to stare at Yukio. A swirl of something in the eyes, Yukio knew Shiro was looking at him. Not a scream uttered from his mouth, nor a word, just a simple look of acknowledgement. Yukio knew, he would have to tell Rin, tell him everything. The gray, bearded chin, once a soft, kind and gentle face, incinerated.
Among the aftermath, Satan gone, burned logs smoking on the ground, floorboards splintered, and a pile of ash being scraped carefully into an urn by a surviving monk, Yukio told Rin everything.
They are the sons of Satan. Their mother was possessed by it, and it had impregnated her with them. Rin got the blue flamed power, he was the demon, Yukio did not, was not. Yukio had been taken to be an exorcist at the age of 8, by 13 he got his two titles. A Dragoon. A Doctor. He is dragging Rin to True Cross Academy whether he liked it or not to educate and watch him. He was a threat to the world, and demons- are real. Hell- is real.
Things clicked in Rin's mind- So that's where they went when they made me go to bed, that's why we never had a real father, our mother- died, that's why I'm aggressive, why I'm different, unliked. A loser. No talent. He frowned.
Yukio was going to put a bullet in his head, his own brother. He didn't start a fight, he didn't argue. He just stood and walked away. Had he no faith in him whatsoever?
The whole first year at True Cross's secret Cram School, Yukio and Rin lived together in an abandoned dorm, by themselves, away from everyone, Yukio constantly hounded him, and analyzed his every movement so closely that Rin wasn't even allowed to have his own room. Yukio tried to put Rin on a path to train himself to use the blue flames to his advantage; to become an exorcist also... eventually. It was all he could do to help his brother, force him go to Cram School. It was all he could think of. If Rin could gain control of his flames, maybe then he could use them for good, maybe his heart wouldn't turn. Frankly, he was surprised as it was that the flames hadn't taken his limp brain over instantly at the monastery.
The Kurikara contained Rin's physical flames, their appearance, as long as it wasn't unsheathed, but not anything else anymore. Rin had sharp teeth, ears pointier than normal, and a long tail, with short fine hair the same ebony color as his mop top, the fluff on the end looking similar to a cow tail. He hid it all under his hair, and under his clothes. He had to. It wasn't... normal. People would realize something was... off.
Rin couldn't be Satan's vessel, Yukio wouldn't allow it, on top of everything else.
Rin had to push himself, to become better. So he could fight it when that day came, but that battle was harder than Yukio thought. His brother was such a poor learner, he fell asleep in class, had concentration problems and would get frustrated easily. There was such a vast difference in learning capabilities between them. Yukio, would badger him about reading his textbooks, instead of reading manga. Rin, why don't you study? Rin, are you asleep? Okamura, what... what are you doing... ? (He just sat there innocently staring at the ceiling in class). Yukio felt like Shiro more and more everyday.
It was worse with his flame-training. Whenever asked to do such a simple thing as lighting candles with them, he melted them completely. He couldn't control the size of the flame, the variation of it, nothing. The only thing he learned over the course of the year was to control the temperature, which he could do easily as long as his raging temper was in check.
Even though the twins put some very important things aside that year, and grew somewhat closer as brothers than they had had before, neither expected the library roof incident: that Yukio's body was taken instead.
Yukio had held him at gunpoint once in their shared dorm, all because he had gotten too close, Rin had tried (for God's sake) to give him a hug, and Yukio had pushed him away, and that resorted in Rin getting mad at him, and Yukio raising his gun to his forehead, telling him he would shoot if he had to. Yukio truly had been afraid, and even after he realized that he loved Rin more than he could kill him, and had told Rin that to his face, Satan dug up the old baggage and used it as fuel against Rin anyway, lying to him. But, if he had been frightened of Rin, so much that at one point in time he didn't want him to touch him, even for a simple embrace, because he was a demon, a possible human slaughterer, and Satan's vessel... what was he now?: A demon also, and Satan's vessel.
They both were vessels. Yukio was just... a better fit.
He had to sacrifice himself. It was the only way to protect Rin, from Satan, but also... from himself.
If he now was Satan's true vessel... Rin needed to be alive, to stop Satan, because Satan isn't going to stop... ever. If he sacrificed himself, Satan couldn't take a physical form, and in turn, Rin might be able to become very good exorcist, and fight for humanity's side. It would be better than Satan taking over Yukio's body and Rin having to fight against his own brother's form.
Yukio had established a small faith in Rin. Throughout the year, Yukio had witnessed times of Rin's unfailing love, his passion for life, and his compassion for other's feelings and situations. He had saved their friend, Sheimi, another ex-wire (exorcist trainee/student), from the demon Amiamon, and in turn after Sheimi snapped out of the trance that Amaimon had put her in, Rin's flames out of control, and Rin out of his right mind (Yukio thought that was surely the day that he would have to kill him), she saved him. She wrapped her arms around Rin, and her own compassion for him, calmed him.
Yukio knew that Rin didn't need the Kurikara anymore, that sword he lugged around with him everywhere, as a means solely to make his flames invisible, Rin's soul wasn't evil, and his heart would eventually control the flames, not his emotions or his temper; the Kurikara would also eventually become his wielding weapon, his Knight Exorcist sword of choice, not simply a burden on his back, in a maroon bag.
Upon his dying breath, he wouldn't of wished that life for his brother. Without him, as a guide, a role model.
But as Shiro, Yukio found himself in the same shoes. Following in his footsteps- taken over by Satan, without any other choice.
He thought, awhile back, Rin deserved to be invisibly on-fire, his temper overbearing, his attitude annoying, a bad student, a lazy sloth. But, now, after a year had passed of them living together on campus, he realized his constant absence while working towards his two exorcist meisters (unknown to Rin), he had looked over his brother's ability, the one that he didn't possess as much- the ability to love.
He had grown harsh under the conditions Shiro trained him under. Satan had voiced it, seen in his head- that was true. A hardened mind, heart and soul Yukio possessed.
But upon his last breaths, he had cried, begged. And Rin... responded how he wanted. For the first time... he was a good pupil. He stabbed him.
A switch went off in Yukio's mind: that there was some hope for humanity still.
A hope in his brother... was what brought his death.
