'First rule. 'E iz as good as dead.'
It was those words that stuck to Rin even after Pharmacy Class and haunted him like a plague. The rest of the lesson wasn't too great either. It was practically that line extended into further detail.
'If a classmate iz acting strange, do NOT touch 'im at any costs.'
'Try to find physical symptoms, such as black plasma, watery eyes, etc.'
'Even if you are not completely sure if 'e iz sick, it iz best to avoid 'im anyway.'
'Inform a teacher and instruct ozers to leave ze area at once.'
'Keep in mind zat your friend iz gone 'n CANNOT be saved.'
In other words… just completely abandon the guy.
It was hopeless – pointless, just leave him there to die, save yourself – your classmate is not important anymore. Isaac said it so bluntly, with such a straight face… What was going on in that cold mind of his? Rin didn't know what he would do if one of his friends became infected…were in pain… loosing their sanity. It nearly happened to Suguro, and no one was in the clear just yet – they could all get sick at any time…
DAMN!
Yes, Rin didn't know what he would do… he could barely fathom the situation… but whatever his actions…
…it wouldn't be running away.
EVER.
The teen would find some kind of way, anything to make the problem better…
He replayed these thoughts over and over in his head while sitting with Aidyn in an empty classroom. There was a large white screen on the wall, decorated with elaborate purple-gold statues of masks, one frowning, and one laughing. The screen was meant for a film to be projected on. This area was actually where the two went to see the clown movie.
Due to the illness, going outside was forbidden. (However, the teen had no idea that towns were abandoned along with theaters.) To avoid complete boredom, the head master set up this 'theatre-film-movie-time' room that students could go to on the weekend.
The place was covered with a bunch of creepy pink ribbons. They draped across the ceiling and tied into puffy bows at the walls. There were also bright confetti all over the floor, and disturbing posters of operas that Rin had never heard of before. Examples of these were: 'The Pig Who Flew', 'Backwards Pumpkin', and 'The Sad, Yet Angry Clown' (Rin and Aidyn saw that one).
It was safe to say that hardly anyone came.
Mephisto picked out all the movies played there. He said he wanted the students to 'to taste the true art of theatre blah-blah-blah'….
No one besides Rin and Aidyn sat in there at the moment. This was because it was a Wednesday and normal kids had homework. Not saying that the two boys didn't have homework, they had a TON (assigned by the infamous Isaac L'Écarlate).
The reason they came to the video room was to quietly do work in a place where Aidyn could be safe and away from other people. Part of Rin realized that the little guy and his sister were probably antisocial for this very reason – to keep him safe. Even so, the teen couldn't sympathize with Arisu. The girl talked big and acted like she was so protective, but where was she now?
Not shielding Aidyn – that was for sure.
To think she had the gall to hate Rin when he was doing her job for her – the right way.
The two boys hunched over the thin print of an enormous textbook. They were meant to read five ten-paged chapters and answer the following thirty questions – it was insane! When he left Cram School at 3:00, Rin overheard Kamiki complain about the level of the work.
Apparently, it was meant for doctors on the intermediate first class ranking….Yukio's level! This work wasn't meant for students at all – it was an encyclopedia! Mr. Isaac – that jerk – had to come up with the questions himself! And his writing was as confusing as the damn book!
Rin tried reading the text (Aidyn couldn't because it was in Japanese characters) but it was too complicated… half the words he couldn't pronounce. In the end, they decided to just read the questions and skim the book for answers. That was fair – right? The teacher was completely unreasonable. After all, Rin had work from regular high school!
"UUUUHHH lets see… question three…S-state an ap-proprate (he meant appropriate) hy-pesis (hypothesis) for how a demon could i-inflict an illness over a wide-spread scale such as a c-county (country) p-population….give examples."
"…."
"…What the hell? I don't even know what that means! How's the textbook gonna help with that?...!"
Aidyn didn't seem to here him; the boy's eyes were on the book… yet they seemed so far away. Rin knew exactly what he was thinking about; the teen pushed the work aside. Aidyn seemed startled by this, especially when he noticed Rin hovered over him. The child shifted away, embarrassed.
"Hey…"
"A-ah?..."
"You're worried about your sister."
"…'mmm?"
"Sister – Arisu. You're worried."
"A-Arisu?...! Qui…qui… w-worried…. Veiry worried…"
"….Sorry, buddy…. I can't find my friend either…."
After all of Rin's searching, Kuro was still gone…. The thought was completely nerve wracking. Sometimes he'd lay awake, thinking about where his friend could be…. if he was in danger or not.
"….?"
"My friend lost too. My friend…. lost…. also."
"F-friend l-lost…? S-sorry…."
The two could completely relate to each other, one of the many reasons that they were friends.
"A-ah, Rin?"
"Yeah, buddy?"
"A-Arisu…n-not b-bad….not bad….d-doesn't mean bad…"
There was a heavy weight in the teen's chest. Despite her behavior… the girl was still Aidyn's sister…. and he was trying to apologize for her.
"You… really love your sister don't you…. Love Arisu?"
"Love?! A-ah! Arisu… Qui… l-love Arisu."
The teen smiled. "That's good."
Aidyn looked away, trembling. It seemed like something made him uncomfortable.
"H-hey, buddy…? You okay?"
"I….I…."
Before the child could stutter out a response, the two heard a loud crash, and then a second, and then a third – one booming sound after another. Aidyn squealed and hunched his arms over head. Rin shot up from the seat, listening to where the noise could've been coming from – outside perhaps? The teen crept over to the window, only to see a sight truly shocking and mortifying…
It couldn't be - !
Rin bolted from the classroom.
"Wait here, Aidyn!"
"Rin – RIN!"
The teen didn't think to check if the boy was following him, he had to catch up – catch up with what he saw.
He needed to see if it was true.
The sound was getting louder the closer Rin got to the campus. That BANG, BANG, BANG – it echoed in the teen's ears, hypnotized him, kept his legs from stopping. He was getting closer now, Rin was outside – BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG – it was getting dark now, the sun was setting, it was twilight. BANG. The sky melted in a haze of pink orange, purple and blue. There – the gate! – BANG, BANG –
He ran towards it – BANG, BANG…
Rin was right.
The large, growling creature crashing its oversized black head repeatedly was his familiar.
Kuro.
"HEY – HEY - HEY! KURO! WHAT'S – "
But the teen's friend didn't listen, he continued to crash, then back up, and crash again. The cat-demon was trying to break though Mephisto's magic barrier built around the school. But why? And how did he get on the outside in the first place? Rin tried to reason with Kuro.
"HEEEY! Listen! Stop doing that! I'll get you in, just – "
/FoLLoW!/
What? What's he saying?
/ThE GoDdEsS CaLLs!/
No…
"WHAT?...! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALING ABOUT KURO?...!"
/ThY sHaLL bE cLaImEd bY tHe GoDdEsS– ThY sHaLL bE cLaImEd bY tHe GoDdEsS!/
The things he said… it was the same as that teacher, Mr. Yonegawa… before he went crazy… before he caught the sickness…
Rin could see it. He could see that his demon companion was clearly not in the right state of mind. His eyes were viciously stricken and bloodshot, saliva running down Kuro's bearing teeth.
Someone, or some thing, had hypnotized him.
/FoLLoW!/
"SHHUUT UUUP! Get your head straight, Kuro – THIS ISN'T YOU!"
His friend backed up, hunched and growled. He was low to the floor, ready to pounce at any moment.
"This isn't you! Don't you remember?...! When I told you Shiro died?...! I said we could be friends!"
Rin looked closely at the demon; there was a pool of blood at his feet. His neck was bleeding.
"Let me be your friend NOW! C'MON! Don't let them control you!"
Kuro hunched further, he seemed to be in pain, physically and mentally. He trembled as he spoke his next words.
/iF yOu dO nOt FoLLoW…. i sHaLL tAkE yOu By fOoOorCe!/
The demon trampled into the force field one more time, shattering it to pieces. Rin stumbled back, but he couldn't grab his sword, he just couldn't raise a weapon on his friend.
"KURROO! NO!"
/FoLLoW – FoLLoW – FoLLoW – FOoOoOLLOoOWW!/
As his friend stomped after Rin, the world seemed to stop. He and Kuro, everything they'd been through together– mourning the old man's loss, going on class trips together, playing games, keeping the teen company when he was alone and couldn't sleep at night – it was all about to die…
Rin stood there hopelessly, his head bowed, preparing for the worst.
Suddenly, he felt a shove and the teen fell against the floor. He wasn't trampled? Who pushed him out of the way? Rin looked up to see Aidyn on the floor as well, he was knocked to the floor by Kuro. He lay there, unconscious.
"AIDYN! AIDYN!"
Rin faced the demon and grabbed the handle of his sword. However, once he did so he froze, staring at his friend. The teen's head was spinning – Aidyn saved him. He was hurt – Kuro did this… but it wasn't his fault… it wasn't his fault. Kuro would never do something like that…
No, it wasn't his fault.
Whoever did this to Kuro – IT WAS THEIR FAULT!
The teen ripped the sword from its sheath.
"IT'S THEIR FAULT!"
Blue flames spewed from every corner of his body. Rin's pointed ears became long and teeth sharper. His slit eyes burned back at his familiar with fierce determination.
"Come to your senses already, Kuro! I don't wanna use my flames!"
/rrrrRRRaaaHHH!/
The two charged at each other. Rin's familiar swiped at him with his doubled tail. The teen managed to jump over it and roll onto his side. Kuro continued to bleed from the neck – he was dying, it was only a matter of time. Rin needed to think of something! If only he could think – if only he was as smart as his brother!
These distracting thoughts allowed Kuro to whack Rin to the ground, knocking out all the air in his chest. As the teen gasped and fell, the Koma sword slid far from his limp hand. The cat-demon now stood over him, a large paw on his chest, keeping him down.
"Gasp – Kuro – gasp – n-no…"
/sUrReNdEr? tHy sHaLL FoLLoW nOw….tO tHee GoDdEsS/
When Rin looked up, he didn't see his friend… Where was he? The Goddess… what did that bastard do to him? Where did Kuro go? Aidyn was still unconscious on the floor and Rin felt his sanity slipping. The teen glared up at the familiar with a snarl; he felt his injuries heal. They hissed away quietly as he began to growl back at the demon. He was stronger, he could easily lift his paw and defeat his friend but –
No – No! I can't freak out! I can't lose control! Not on Kuro – my friend!
All he could do to contain himself was to stay down.
/iT iS tImE, yOuNg pRiNcE. mOtHeR iS CaLLiNg/
"M-m-my m-mother…?"
"Eins… Zwei… Drei…!"
A cloud of pink smoke appeared and made Kuro's eyes water with pain. The familiar snarled and released Rin as he stumbled backwards, behind the gate.
"And now ~ ABRACADABRA!"
When the cat-demon tried entering the campus for a second time, he was once again struck by a force field. The voice chanting the spells cooed peacefully.
"Now, now. Don't bother! I made the field much stronger than it was before."
As though he mildly understood what was said, Kuro backed away into the darkness.
/mOtHeR CaLLs…/
The man, or rather, Mephisto turned over to Rin.
"Well that was quite a show Mr. Okumur– "
"KUUURRROOOO!"
To the man's surprise, Rin jumped to his feet and ran towards the gate. Even though it sent a flash of electric pain through his body, the teen banged on the gate and called for his familiar.
"KURO! Wait buddy – COME BACK! I have to save you – where are you going?...!"
Mephisto sighed to himself in a Well-I'll-be-damned fashion and thought to himself,
I suppose I'll have to apprehend him.
The man raised his umbrella to the back of a hysteric Rin. However, before he could chant his spell, a timid boy, Aidyn, grabbed his arm.
"No – NOOO!"
He began to cry.
"R-Rin 'urt…'urt…p-pain…."
Mephisto smiled and raised an eyebrow, for he knew exactly what that child was and – OH HOW, ironic this situation was!
Rin eventually stopped hitting the gate as the world closed in on him.
