Yukio had absolutely no time for squabbling.
Every single second counts. The more I wait… The closer December comes.
"UH – hey Yukio – I just… forgot that THING…. that's all…."
The doctor strode past Rin, completely snubbing his older brother. He didn't have time for this – he needed to work!
"Y – Yukio…?"
Without turning his head, the young man answered.
"I knew you were eavesdropping the whole time."
"THEN WHY'D YOU KICK ME OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?...!"
Still walking, Yukio's voice became distant.
"You should still go back to the dorm brother. I'm busy."
"Hey! – Hey wait!"
"Don't follow me. There's something I need to do Rin… ALONE."
Just like that, the doctor left Mr. Pheles's office and his brother along with it. Yukio needed a place to think – to work things over.
The young man did not trust the headmaster; he was certain the man knew much more than he let on…. Besides, Mr. Pheles had always placed Rin in scenarios where he was pushed to use Satan's flames.
There was this photo album as well…and a mystery that came with it. Mr. Pheles gave Yukio this puzzle… now he needed to solve it.
'You may find that this picture fits quite well with the rest of the album…. If you look closely you may find that something's missing. Why don't you re-jog my memory and come back later.'
Something missing… re-jog memory… what did it all mean?
Yukio was going to find out.
The doctor's thoughts had blurred his surroundings. He merely walked on, album in hand, pondering about the current situation. Hallways melded to campuses and campuses melded into more hallways…. until Yukio reached the library. It was a sensible place to think… quiet… peaceful…surrounded by other pieces of information that might've been useful.
Tiredly, he plopped the book on a nearby table and sat down. Logically, no other student was in the library at the moment. If the pupils weren't in the quarantines, they were escorted to their dormitories. It was all right though…. It was better this way… the more silence the better.
Slowly, Yukio began to turn the pages of the absurdly decorated album.
Seconds…minutes…. hours had passed and he found nothing significant. All the young man saw were old pictures of people he wasn't acquainted with. His eyes did, however, drift across a young Mr. Yonegawa… laughing in his school uniform and casually elbowing a friend beside him.
Yukio quickly averted them.
Focus… focus….
He continued to turn the pages until he eventually found more of Father Fujimoto… It was so strange…. Yukio had never seen his foster father look so innocent and inexperienced. In most of these images, he gave an immature pose: he was either pulling down his eyelid or sticking out his tongue.
One had his face so up close, only a quarter of it could be seen. Another had the man…or rather teenager, leaning against the wall of a cram school classroom. His uniform was a sloppy too, the tie undone, the jacket unbuttoned…. Yukio even saw a photo of him sleeping in class…
The doctor closed the album, disturbed.
He forced himself to acknowledge the fact that every single adult, even the most wise, was at some point… a child. However, Yukio could not get over – what he found disturbing about the pictures were –
Were that they reminded him of Rin.
This caused an array of mixed emotion to enter the doctor… among them being jealousy. Fujimoto, Paladin, the greatest exorcist of all time, acted like his immature brother when he was young. Fujimoto had the very same attitude that Yukio often scolded Rin for having…? Meanwhile he worked hard all his life and took everything serious…?
Despite this, the young man also felt extreme, yet irrational worry.
If Rin and Dad are alike…. And Dad got himself killed….
What would stop Rin from doing the same?
I WOULD.
Yukio Okumura would stop his brother from getting killed, even if it meant doing so by force. The doctor pushed himself to reopen the album and continue his research. Yes… these pictures were definitely taken in the same time frame as the one in Mr. Yonegawa's possession.
'You may find that this picture fits quite well with the rest of the album'
Was that what you meant, Mr. Pheles?
The young man needed to look harder….
'If you look closely you may find that something's missing.'
But what? What could possibly be missing? Yukio thought on the picture… Father Fujimoto as a child…. the person next to him could not be identified….
That was it!
Although the water damage stopped him from identifying the person, it failed to cover up key features. For one thing, Yukio knew for a fact that the fellow student was female – he could tell by her school uniform. Another thing was that, although blurry, her hair was most certainly blond. Yuko perused the entire album to the very last page, but did not find a single picture of a blond cram school student.
That was missing… the girl. Of course! The water damage was placed on purpose, whatever demon was behind this…. He/she did not want Yukio to find her.
What connection did this girl have to the virus? To the 'Goddess'? Or to the 'Dollmaker'…? It still didn't make any sense… How was she going to help Yukio find a cure? Vague and as frustrating as it was, it was still a piece of information.
A lead was still a lead.
"Hey, look at that!"
Yukio flinched violently and whipped around to see Rin hovering right over him. Fury engulfed the doctor as he yelled.
"I told you to go back to the dorm!"
"Whoa! Who took the creeper image of him sleepin' in class!"
"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING! Why are you here?...!"
"I TOLD you that you can't handle this by yourself."
"I've been handling myself for eight years, Rin."
It was a slight dig, implying how Dad had taken Yukio, not Rin, to be his apprentice at age seven. However, his brother either chose to ignore this statement or it went over his head… It probably went over his head.
"YEAH, but in the state you're in right now, no way!"
Infuriated, Yukio stood abruptly from his chair and hovered over his brother in an unforgiving manner. He held the album in his arms.
"Rin, listen to me, if you have any sense, any intuition, or just any intelligence – PERIOD….YOU WILL STAY OUT OF THIS."
Brother stared back with equal intensity, his pupils slit and glowing blue…. much like a demon's…
"I'm his son too, Yukio – just letting y'know that."
"Then start acting like it."
"WHY YOU – "
Rin grabbed Yukio's collar and the album slipped from the doctor's arms. It crashed to the floor along with piles of photos. The young man ripped himself from his brother and went to collect them.
"Tsk….Now look what you've done…"
Yukio expected a snarky comeback but instead Rin lifted pieces of lightly torn paper from behind.
"What are these?...! I think they fell out of the album….but I can't read them!."
The doctor took the papers and examined them. They must've been very old, the texture itself was gritty and lightly crumbling. Yukio could see swirls of black ink forming the text of an ancient language he encountered before….
"They're pages."
"Heh?"
"They're pages of some kind of….book…."
"Hehehe…"
"….What?"
"See? I told you you'd need my help! Hehehe…. You would've never discovered these if it weren't for me!"
"….Please….. I would've found them eventually."
"Hmph sure. Just keep tellin' yourself that…. Anyway, now that we figured something out…. how about getting some shut-eye?"
"I already told you I have to wor – "
"C'mon Four-eyes! It's 1:00 AM! AND you were practically falling asleep at the table before! You're gonna collapse any second!"
"I am not – "
"YOU GO TO SLEEEEEP!"
And thus Yukio was dragged to the dormitory by his brother's inhuman strength. Rin tried watching him like hawk for hours, waiting for the doctor to drift off into unconsciousness… only to do so himself. His brother laid there, sprawled on the floor snoring. Yukio crept away from a sleeping Rin and approached his desk. There, he pulled out his research journal.
September 20th, 2012.
Yukio Okumura
Research Log: 3
Much has occurred and I fear for the worst. Mr. Yonegawa, a fellow superior of mine, caught "Noire Du Sang" and I was forced to bring him into captivity. I know it is only a matter of time before I will have to examine him the same way I inspected the corpse from my last autopsy. As for the demon responsible, I am beginning to doubt my theory on Astaroth. It was a disorganized mistake on my part.
I labeled this demon as a suspect on the sole basis of him causing disease in the past. This, however, is merely circumstantial evidence and would require solid proof. I am aware of the virus's great connection with water, and Astaroth's kin's attraction to moisture. This may seem like physical evidence, but it is not. While, yes, it is true that his kin thrives in damp places, they are not the moisture itself.
Under a microscope, I have seen multiple slides of the black plasma carried by the infected. Never once have I seen the fluid contain virulent spores like the Impure King*. Instead, it was the entire mass that was infectious. To summarize, the black water is not carrying the virus; it is the virus.
My new, more researched theory is that the demon responsible takes water and physically changes it into something putrid. I have seen this myself while facing Mr. Yonegawa, when I threw a holy-water bomb at him. The very water morphed into a black mass that made the infected stronger.
It is too soon to label another suspect. However, I do have some theories. I believe the teacher was being controlled by what he called, 'The Goddess' and 'The Dollmaker'. At the current moment, I am working on finding them. I theorize that the 'Goddess' is perhaps the demon responsible. It is still unclear who or what the 'Dollmaker' may be. A demon? Most likely.
I have discussed the matter with Mr. Mephisto Pheles, who, in turn, gave me a valuable, yet perplexing, piece of evidence. Father Fujimoto, my foster father, is involved in this somehow. The infected teacher was in possession of a photo of him, purposely water-damaged to hide the identity of one of his previous classmate. I also discovered pieces of an old book, which may provide me with information on the 'Goddess' and 'Dollmaker'.
I am convinced that it was Father Fujimoto who hid these pages. The very text that he once studied, I am about to study as well. Unfortunately, the text is in an unknown language and is going to take some time to translate. I will start this tonigh –
*The Impure King was a kin of Astaroth, who caused a widespread epidemic during the late Edo period.
"WHAaddya THIinK you're dOOin'? HUH little brother?"
The disturbed voice came from behind Yukio….it was coarse and made strange dips.
That voice belonged to Rin.
"Didn't I sAAyyy that yOOu nEEd to slEEp….?"
"….."
Yukio Okumura was tied to his bed that night.
A/N: XD Never interrupt Rin's beauty sleep…
