Shiemi's face stared down at Rin, a manic smile cracking up through her cheeks. Her hands clasped around his neck, pressing down on his throat until his vision began to blur. Somewhere in the midst of the haze of spots and black, Rin managed to reach out and get ahold of his still sheathed sword. He swung it up and smacked her across the side of the head. Green, viscous ooze spurted from the wound as she staggered upright, smile in place but with a frown denting her forehead.
Rin sat up, caressing his sore throat and tried to focus on the monster.
"I'm going to kill you like this," the shapeshifter gnashed Shiemi's teeth together and lunged at Rin. He rolled onto his side, just out of her reach, and pushed himself onto his feet, sword in hand. It was taking every fiber of his being to keep from pulling it out, but he wasn't about to break a six year streak, not when he was so close to ending it all.
"You can try to kill me anyway you like, it won't change the outcome." Rin dodged long sharp claws and stumbled backwards.
Shiemi's face fell away, skin splintering and peeling, falling off with a terrific ripping sound and plopping in puddles on the ground. With a hiss, the creature swiped at Rin.
"I will kill Satan and all the demons will fall back into Gehenna with him!" He braced himself as the shapeshifter threw itself against him, pinning him against a wall, the sheathed sword the only thing between them.
The shapeshifter foamed at the mouth, pushing up against Rin, stinking of rotting flesh. Some of it's blood splattered across his face as a loud bang disrupted the growling and snarling. The demon froze, face a muddle of flesh and eyes and teeth and nose cavity. There was another blast and the whole amorphous mess exploded before Rin's eyes. He ducked out of the way to avoid the splash and the body fell away from him.
Another two bursting pops shook the shapeshifter's corpse as Yukio walked over to his brother, glasses clinging to the very bottom of his nose. He emptied the clip into the demon just as he stopped in front of Rin, not looking at him.
"Yukio..." Rin got to his feet. "I was worried about you and...where's Shiemi?"
"I don't know," Yukio shook his head and held the empty gun up. "I was attacked by Amaimon and woke up with Mephisto."
"That sounds like a bad hentai manga." Rin wiped some gore off his cheek with his sleeve. "I'm glad you're alright but we should check up on Shiemi."
"If you're going to have a one-track mind, Nii-san, at least let it be stuck on something more important." Yukio pointed with the muzzle of his pistol to the book lying a few feet away as he pulled out a fresh clip. "If you're going to summon Mephisto, get it over with already."
"You know about the boo-WAIT!" Rin held his hands up, his face scrunching in a deep frown. "You said you were with Mephisto. Why didn't you bring him yourself."
Yukio sighed and holstered his gun. "Rin, he's been avoiding us for years, why would you think that that book would do anything? He can't help us. All he's good for is fucking around in the shadows making sure all his pawns are in place." He looked at Rin for the first time, his eyes bloodshot behind his glasses.
"But Shura said that Arthur..."
"And Shura is always right and trustworthy is she?" Yukio went to the book and picked it up. It was surprisingly light for its size. The selfish love burned a hole in his heart. Despite everything Mephisto had told him, he couldn't do it. And he was, after all, nothing like his father. If he had been able to save Rin from Satan's grasp once before then he would be strong enough to do it once again, even if it was for the last time.
"Yukio...I'm glad you're here. Now we can figure out what to do." In the same instance Rin finished speaking, Yukio dropped the book, alight with blue flames. He and Rin exchanged glances as the two of them were engulfed, the book flipping open, fire building from the pages, turning the dismal sky a bright blue.
"What did you do?" Rin asked, curious awe in his voice.
"Me? I didn't do anything!" Yukio rushed forward to close the book. The moment his fingers brushed the pages the flames grew brighter and bigger.
Rin stared up at the sky. The clouds began to part. This could be it. This could be fixing things. He did feel something stirring inside him, something powerful. On instinct he pulled his sword from its sheath before Yukio could stop him. A surge threw him backwards off his feet and onto the ground several feet away. He lay on his back, every inch of his body shaking with some new energy. It felt warm and curiously comfortable and then in a flash panic broke through him. His hand moved on its own, then his legs and he sat up, his head still lolling backwards. In the distance he could hear Yukio calling him but there was a stronger voice ringing in his ears.
It was only a matter of time, wasn't?
Rin's head snapped upright and Satan was before him, staring him in the eyes.
"No..."
You're going to be a perfect fit.
Shura arrived a fraction of a second before Shiemi, just as Bon punched Shima to the ground, his own face bloodied and battered. Bon's eyes connected with Shura's as he squinted through black puffed skin that spread from his cheek to his eyebrow. She wasn't entirely sure of the situation, but as Shiemi crashed into the courtyard next to her, Shima staggered back to his feet, head rolling around, arms swinging at his head. It was Shiemi who saw it first, the gaping hole in Shima's chest, and gasped as Shura drew her sword.
"Summon your Green Man," she hissed.
Shiemi's look of confusion dissipated and she nodded firmly. Shura charged forward towards the zombie.
"STOP!"
Everyone froze, Bon stumbling just out of Shima's reach. Izumo stood to the side, blood trickling down her brow into her eyes. Her clothes were ripped and one of her shoes was coming apart. She lifted Kage Ketsueki and pointed it at Shura then Shima.
"This isn't your fight. Bon and I, we have to be the ones to finish this. We...we were the ones who were unable to save him. Let us set this right." Izumo's eyes brimmed with tears even as she bared her teeth and ran forward. Shima dodged her first attack, deflecting the sword with his arm, causing her to crash into his chest.
"You smell as wonderful as ever, blood included," he hissed in her ear.
Izumo kicked off him and swung again with all her might. The sword connected with Shima's hand, slicing deep into his flesh. His head whipped up to face her, a terrible grimacing smile on his lips.
"This is my sword, give it back." He tugged and Izumo was shook forward but she refused to let go of the hilt. Bon came up behind Shima punched him in the back of the head with both fists.
"I'll put you to rest, Renzou, I promise. It will be all right." Bon's voice was strong, but cracked when he said his friend's name. "Please forgive me for letting this happen to you."
Shima dropped to the ground, releasing Kage Ketsueki. Izumo held it over his neck as he lay at her feet. Bon watched her, her arms shaking, so tempted to rip the blade from her hands.
"I love you, Ren-chan."
"Die, bitch." Shima was already on his hands and knees.
Izumo brought the sword down on the back of his neck and it slid through in one clean stroke. Before either Izumo or Bon could do anything Shiemi cried out. They turned to her and followed where her finger pointed into the sky. It was alight with blue flame.
"Fuck." Shura ran a hand through her hair.
"My sentiment exactly." Mephisto appeared in the midst of them and grimaced at Shima's body. "That's horrendous too, isn't it?"
Izumo looked to Bon, who put an arm around her and led her away to where Shiemi was waiting to treat their wounds with Nee-chan. Shura approached Mephisto.
"What did you do?"
"Me? Nothing. Perhaps you should account for your missing members." Mephisto sniffed rather indignantly as he glanced down at Shura.
"Yukio and Rin...Rin was going to summon you with the book."
"You were more than a little misinformed, I'm afraid." The blue flames disappeared after a minute and the demon looked at Shura. "I wonder what might be able to save you now, my little human friends, because this looks very bleak indeed."
Shura looked to the sky as it grew dark with ash and clouds again. Her hands were shaking, she hid them behind her back.
{I'm dreadfully sorry for how long this update took, but we should be back on schedule of every other Monday/Tuesday from here on out}