Yes, your eyes are not mistaken. This is an UPDATE. A REAL CHAPTER. Not a related story, a real chapter. I know, took me long enough.

Yes, your eyes are not mistaken. The AN where I declared I was putting this fic on hiatus is gone as well. Take from that what you will.

Now, just to be clear, I have not read the manga in MONTHS. I think the last one I read was 45 or 47, something like that. Why? Because in my personal opinion the manga was starting to suck. The author seriously needs to go back to the demons and stuff, not the crappy and forced love triangle. Plus, the utter lack of Rin and Yukio interaction. Ugh. The anime was surprisingly better. Anyways, I feel the need to tell you this because the True Cross Academy Festival dance is included in this chapter. I HAVE NOT READ THE CHAPTERS OF THE MANGA WHERE THE DANCE IS INCLUDED. Thus, the dance will be absolutely nothing like what appears in the manga. I'm basically just borrowing the idea that there's a dance at all.

DISCLAIMER: Kazue Kato still won't give me Rin, no matter how much I beg or plead or how many tantrums I throw. I tried to go into hiding to fool her into thinking I gave up on Rin, but she found out my nefarious plot to kidnap him. Dammit.


Okumura Rin woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window, birds chirping, not a cloud in the sky. In fact, it seemed extra blue today, possibly the most blue he had ever seen it. It was beautiful.

And it thoroughly pissed him off.

Why should the sun be shining? Why should the sky be so blue? Why should everyone else be allowed to be happy when he was so damn miserable? He was struck by the sudden desire to just blot everything out. Erase everything in this so called world. And why shouldn't he? He knew he could. He felt the power buried deep inside him, waiting to be called forth. Why should he be the only one to suffer? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

And then Yukio came into the room and everything was suddenly okay again. Rin's hold on his sanity came back in an instant and everything else just… disappeared.

"Nii-san, are you awake now? Do you want breakfast?" Yukio's eyes were kind and gentle, but Rin could clearly the see the concern hidden in them. So he'd noticed something was off about him last night after all… Of course he would. Yukio was too perceptive not to.

Rin moved to get up from his sitting position on the bed, but stumbled and his legs gave out from underneath him. Fast as the bullets he shot out of his gun, Yukio was there to catch Rin, despite the fact that he would have most likely just fallen back onto the bed. Yukio grabbed him around the waist before he could fall.

"Nii-san, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?" Yukio put his forehead against Rin's, as his arms were still wrapped around Rin's waist, holding him up. The entire time Rin was frozen. He didn't dare move an inch. He felt he couldn't if he wanted to.

Rin mumbled something so quietly Yukio failed to hear it the first time, despite their very close proximity. "What was that, Nii-san?"

"Don't…"

'"Huh"

"Don't touch me!" Rin screamed. He pushed Yukio with what he strength he possessed at the moment, which wasn't much, but it caught him by surprise enough that he fell down. Rin almost made it halfway to the door of their dorm before his legs buckled beneath him.

Yukio shot up and immediately went to help Rin. He tried to put his arms around Rin's waist again, but the older twin wasn't having that. He thrashed around as much as he could, elbowing Yukio in the face and nearly knocking his glasses off. But that didn't deter Yukio in the slightest. He ignored Rin's flying fists, the screams of "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" He ignored it all. When Rin finally seemed to run out of energy to hold him back, Yukio sank to the floor in front of him and pulled him against his chest in a hug.

"No… No… No no no no no no," Rin chanted. He struggled, to no avail. Yukio was holding him as tight as humanly possible.

"It's okay, Nii-san. It's me, Yukio. Calm down."

Yukio felt Rin go limp in his arms. He allowed himself to be held and even helped to his feet, with Yukio holding him around the waist still. When Yukio finally got a good look at Rin's face, his own face fell. Rin's eyes were moist, just like last night. He was holding back tears he was too stubborn to let fall. Not just that… they looked dead.

"Let's… get you something to eat, okay Nii-san?" Yukio tried to keep his smile even and his voice gentle.

Slowly, Rin nodded his consent. Yukio tried to help him down the stairs, but Rin elbowed Yukio in the gut and walked down himself. When they got to the kitchen Rin seemed to look a little more alive. The elder Okumura stood in front of the kitchen, as if he weren't sure he was welcome there. With a small smile, Yukio held out his hand to him and whispered, "It's okay. C'mon. I'll help you cook."

For the first time in a long time, Rin relaxed.

Rin attempted a smile and said "I don't know, you might be more trouble than you're worth."

"Pot and kettle, Nii-san."


In the following days Yukio noticed his brother was acting weirder than usual. After that morning, he'd changed. He was no longer the vibrant, hyper, half-crazy older brother he knew. Now he was much more subdued and even quiet at times. Sometimes Yukio would come home from work and actually see his brother studying. He could also tell though, that his brother was trying to act normal. He would still smile and crack jokes and act like an idiot in class. But he just wasn't the same. Yukio couldn't tell if others noticed the difference; he didn't think so. But he was the one who knew Rin best in this world, and he could tell something was wrong. He just didn't know what.

Truthfully, it shouldn't bother him this much. Yes, they were brothers. Yes, they were twins. Yes, they were relatively close. But should it bother him this much? Most siblings couldn't get along very much at all. Some acted like they hated each other's guts. Because they'd lived in the monestary almost their entire life and there were no other kids their age around, most of the time the only playmates their own age were each other. Even during middle school they didn't associate much with other students outside of school. They had each other, and that was all they needed.

But now that they were in high school, wouldn't it be considered strange to be this close? Yukio was the younger one, Rin should be worrying about him. But due to their personalities, for all intents and purposes Yukio took on the role of the older brother. He didn't mind it, but it definitely would be considered strange.

At first Yukio told himself Rin was fine; if something was wrong he could handle it himself. That's how it should be, they weren't attached at the hip anymore. But as Yukio watched the changes in his brother day by day he found he couldn't ignore it. He'd had a bad feeling ever since Rin came home that night and acted highly freaked out.

Logically, if one wanted to discuss what was bothering another person they would go to that person. But as of late Rin had been very evasive. He'd come and go from their room at odd times; one night Yukio woke up to Rin creeping into the room at two in the morning. If Yukio tried to broach the subject in the slightest, Rin would either walk away without saying a word or smile a sickeningly fake smile and shake his head.

It was becoming incredibly irritating. Yukio would often start writing his lesson plans or doing homework and then an hour later he'd realize he spent the entire time thinking about his brother. It was getting to the point where he had no idea whether he was concerned for his brother of if he wanted to kill him in his sleep. The latter was especially tempting at the moment.

After several weeks of Rin's uncharacteristic behavior and Yukio having no idea how to solve the puzzle that was his brother, he felt he had no other choice. Perhaps talking about it with the Headmaster would help. It could be something demon-related, after all.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Nii-san, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office."

"Huh?" Rin looked up from the homework he was attempting to complete. More like, he was trying to balance a pencil on his upper lip while staring at the problems and wishing they would solve themselves.

"I said, the Headmaster wants to see you in his office right away." Yukio came and glanced over at Rin's uncompleted homework. "It's not as if you're doing anything important…"

"Hey! This is too important! And I'm not seeing that stupid clown, so you can tell him to go screw himself."

"But Nii-san-"

"NO."

Rin's fists were clenched tightly. If Yukio looked closely, he could see him trembling. Rin was scared, Yukio could feel it emanating off him like an aura surrounding him. With their emotions so connected due to being twins it didn't take much at all for Yukio to see how terrified Rin really was. He almost felt the fear himself, Rin's emotions were so powerful. But why would he be scared of seeing the Headmaster?

Yukio sighed. "I don't know why you don't want to see him, but I can guarantee if you don't go to his office right now he'll come to you. You know how he is."

"I know… but I want it to be clear that I'm not doing this willingly." Rin's voice was small and it trembled ever so slightly, like his body.

Yukio had no idea what to say to that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

That night Yukio was once again woken up by Rin. Being a very light sleeper, he woke up at the sound of rustling blankets and footsteps. He opened his eyes and saw Rin walking out of their room. Immediately, Yukio could tell that Rin was not himself. His eyes were unfocused, glazed. His body moved mechanically, nor Rin's casual stride at all.

These were similar to… the characteristics of being under a spell.

Yukio quickly moved to follow Rin. He kept him in sight, but stayed a safe distance behind in case the person casting the spell was around. He followed his brother out of their dorm and to the school. Strangely, there was no security around the school that night. Yukio doubted it was a coincidence. His brother opened a door into the school with ease. It wasn't even locked. From there Rin walked in his trance through the winding corridors to… the Headmaster's office.

The door opened seemingly by itself. Rin stepped into the office. Yukio dashed to the door, but he wasn't fast enough. The door closed before Yukio could use his foot to keep it open a crack. Scowling, Yukio put his ear to the door in an attempt to eavesdrop.

Muffled voices. And then, clear as day, he heard his brother's trademark yelling. Rin was pissed off. Very, very pissed off that the Headmaster had put him under a spell in the middle of the night and forced him into his office. There were several minutes of Rin simply spouting every profanity he knew to the Headmaster's face.

Suddenly, everything went quiet. The only sound coming from behind the door was silence. Yukio waited for several moments before throwing caution to the wind and slowly opening the door.

There was nothing there. Yukio stood in the middle of the room, completely alone.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"It appears you were followed." Mephisto said with his usual smirk on his face. The sight of it sent shivers down Rin's spine.

"What? By who? Is that why you teleported us or whatever to your place all of a sudden?"

"Yes, your little brother."

"Oh. Well, not my problem. You're the one that put me under that damn spell and made me come here in the first place, you fucking clown."

"Language, Okumura. Language." Mephisto chided.

"Like I give a fuck. What the hell did you make me come here for?" Rin hissed.

"To teach you a lesson." If it was possible, Mephisto's smirk grew even wider. There was a glint in his eyes that Rin didn't like. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Go fuck yourself. I'm leaving." Rin moved for the door, but before he could take a single step he found his body was paralyzed. He couldn't move a muscle. Not even to cuss out Mephisto some more.

"This is what happens when you refuse a summons by me. Ignore my orders again, and your punishment will be more severe next time. So please, don't let there be a next time. I don't like to harm you."

Mephisto's sickeningly sweet voice made Rin want to puke. Since it was all he could do, he glared at Mephisto for all he was worth. The voice of Satan inside him cackled with glee, overjoyed at Rin's misery. This is what you get for caring about humans, it said.

"Now strip."


Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

Our love is pastured, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone
It's always darkest before the dawn

Oh whoa, oh whoa...

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat
'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me, yeah

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

-"Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine

"Literally."


It was that time of year again. Time for the True Cross Academy Festival. Not just that, but it was the night of the dance. The aura of excitement around the campus was nearly palpable; the students could barely bring themselves to concentrate during the day. They'd counted down the weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the dance would begin.

And now that moment was finally here.

The students of True Cross Academy filed into the ballroom at a steady pace, each one with their date. Only boy and girl couples were allowed into the dance per the rules. Almost the entire student body was there, with only the unfortunate few that couldn't find dates excluded. Both Okumura's were in attendance, however.

"There sure are a lot of people here, huh, Rin-kun?" Shiemi smiled at Rin from their place in line waiting to enter the ballroom.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, there sure is." He smiled back.

Rin knew that Shiemi had only asked him to the dance because Yukio couldn't go. He had to work as a staff member, after all. Shiemi knew that Rin had really wanted to go to the dance, so she'd asked him- just as friends, of course. He didn't mind. He'd come to the conclusion that a relationship between him and Shiemi was doomed from the start. She was still hung up on his little brother. Besides, even if she had started to show interest, he would never feel good enough for her. Shiemi deserved so much better than some fucked up half-demon, the son of Satan no less. He still harbored a deep affection for her, but gave up hope of being anything more than friends. He didn't deserve her.

After several minutes of waiting in line Rin and Shiemi were finally led into the ballroom. And man, was it worth the wait.

Candles were suspended in the air through magic, casting a haunting glow throughout the enormously spacious ballroom. Tones of deep blue decorated the walls around the stage were the night's entertainment was set to play. The effect was eerie and yet beautiful at the same time. Rin couldn't tear his eyes away from the ballroom's beauty to look at Shiemi.

"It's so beautiful!"Shiemi awed.

"Yeah, they sure did a nice job," Rin's eyes were wide as he tried to take it all in.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun tonight, Rin-kun. I can feel it!" Her cheeks were rosy and her kimono the most it had ever been, in tones of blue that shimmered in the light and an incandescent silver. Suddenly, Rin didn't have trouble in paying attention to Shiemi.

"Definitely." Rin smiled back and he was surprised to find that it was genuine. Strange.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The music started. The dance was underway. Rin decided that tonight, just for tonight, he'd do his best to put out everything concerning Satan and demons and whatnot. For one night only, he'd try his damnedest to be a normal teenager at a normal dance. He'd ignore the voice in his head telling him that was impossible and he should just give up. Tonight, he'd be normal.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned for the Okumura family.

Okumura Yukio stood by the entrance to the ballroom casually greeting students as they strode inside. He was basically there to take attendance. Another staff member had been doing the job until Yukio relieved him a few minutes ago, so he'd missed his brother's entrance with Shiemi.

The night seemed to drag on and on. What in reality had been half an hour or so felt like several hours. And it wasn't because he was simply standing against the wall doing nothing but glancing at the students now and then to make sure nothing inappropriate was going on. At least, that wasn't the only reason. As Yukio watched the dance floor half-heartedly a blushing and laughing Shiemi and a grinning Rin came into view dancing energetically.

And that was why the night couldn't end fast enough.

Shiemi and Rin hadn't left the dance floor once. Yukio had no idea why, but the sight of them being so close to each other, laughing, irritated him to no end. Whenever they came into view he just wanted to kick something. Hard. It was a completely illogical reaction, but for some reason he couldn't help it.

The night dragged on. The bands continued playing their loud music, which was not helping Yukio's forming headache. With every beat of the drum his head throbbed painfully. Suddenly, the raging beat gave way for a steady thrumming.

"Okay, now we're going to slow it down for a few minutes here. Everybody grab your date tight!" Said the lead singer as he stepped up to the microphone stand.

The lights dimmed. The singer's deep timbre filled the room as the students headed for the dance floor. It was a sweet love song, and it sounded vaguely familiar to him. In any other situation he might have welcomed a chance to listen to it live. But right now, he hated every second of it.

Through the corner of his eye he saw Rin grab Shiemi's hand from her spot by the wall, gesturing her to join him on the dance floor. Shiemi blushed and shook her head, embarrassed. Rin smiled gently and whispered some pleading words in her ear, as the music was too loud for normal conversation. Reluctantly, Shiemi allowed Rin to lead her to the dance floor. Once there she laid her head on Rin's shoulder after only a moment of hesitation and they began to sway to the music.

Yukio gritted his teeth. Why the hell was this bothering him so much? His brother deserved to be happy, didn't he? Why should he begrudge him that?

With one last drawn out note the song came to an end. Shiemi lifted her head and Rin leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She blushed and did the same. Rin nodded and quickly, as if so she wouldn't lose her nerve, Shiemi raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed Rin on the cheek.

That did it.

The band announced there was going to be a quick intermission and left the stage. Yukio took advantage to trudge over to the dance floor where all the students were exiting and locate Rin. He grabbed a wide-eyed Rin's wrist and turned to Shiemi with his absolute best fake smile and said "Pardon me, Shiemi, but I will need to borrow my brother for a minute. I hope you don't mind?"

"Oh, uh, no, of course not. Not at all!"

"Thank you." Yukio proceeded to drag Rin by the wrist to the exit and out the door.

"HEY! What the hell, idiot four-eyes? I was having a good time with Shiemi! What do you want?" Rin yelled and struggled to detach Yukio's grip, to no avail.

When they'd walked far enough that Yukio was certain no one else would be around he finally let Rin's wrist go. "Should you really be out having fun when you have so many other important things to do, Nii-san?" Yukio said in a low voice.

Rin scowled. "I can do whatever the hell I want. Why do you care? You're here too!"

"I'm only here because it's part of my job. What's your excuse?"

"So I want to have fun? Is that a fucking crime?"

"It's wasting your time. You should be either studying or learning how to control your powers!"

"It's one goddamn night. Leave me alone." Rin turned to leave but Yukio yanked on his arm and pulled him back.

"What about Shiemi? Should you really be involved with an innocent girl like her when you're the son of Satan? Did you ever think of the consequences that could have for her?"

"What about Shiemi? We're just here as friends. I'm not 'involved' with her in any other way."

Yukio raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Somehow I find that hard to believe. I know you like her."

"I did, but… I realized she deserved someone better. I just want to be friends with her."

Yukio didn't know how to respond to that. He released his grip on Rin's sleeve and let his hand drop. The silence hung over them heavily. Rin looked down at the ground and fidgeted, seemingly waiting for Yukio to explain what this was all about. Yukio himself didn't know so the silence continued on.

Finally Rin sighed in aggravation. "Look Yukio, you're too uptight. That's your problem. Letting loose for one night won't kill you. Live a little."

"You know very well I can't do that. I have a job to do."

Rin rolled his eyes. "Why do I even bother?"

Without warning the guitar started blaring out of the ballroom. Intermission was over and the dance was back in full swing. Suddenly, Rin was the one grabbing Yukio's wrist and hauling him closer to the ballroom where the music was louder.

"Nii-san, let go." Yukio tried to detach his wrist but was no match for Rin's demonic strength.

"Nope! This is my favorite song by this band and you're gonna dance with me!" Rin grinned widely and continued to pull Yukio along.

"What? No. I'm not doing that."

"Yes you are. You owe me for interrupting my friendly date with Shiemi."

"But-"

"No buts."

Rin finally deemed them close enough to the music that it was an acceptable volume for them to dance to. He started swaying to the music and motioned for his brother to do the same. When Yukio stood there with a stone face he frowned and pulled him closer.

"Dance or I'm gonna slap you with my tail until you do," Rin threatened.

With a groan Yukio slowly started swaying to the music. Rin started singing along to the song and moving faster. He wagged his eyebrows in a challenge for Yukio to do the same. Never one to back down, Yukio began to mirror Rin's movements. Soon enough he and Rin were twirling around, doing crazy erratic dance moves perfectly in sync. Rin laughed joyously and Yukio couldn't help but think that made the whole thing worth it.

Yukio smiled to himself. For the first time in a long time he was having fun. He probably looked like an idiot, but he couldn't bring himself to care. There was no one else around anyway.

As Rin and Yukio continued to dance the night away Yukio realized something with a start. It hadn't been Rin that had made him so irritated earlier. He wasn't jealous of Rin.

He'd been jealous of Shiemi.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Rin was summoned to Mephisto's office the next morning he groaned and dreaded it with every fiber of his being, but went anyway. He made a point to be late, but was sure not to refuse.

"What do you want?" Rin hissed as he slammed the door into Mephisto's office.

"Now now. It is nothing of that nature. I just wanted to inform you of a very important development in your journey of becoming an exorcist." Mephisto handed some papers to Rin.

"What are these?" Rin asked with a furrowed brow.

"Very important information! They're details on your next mission."


And there you have it. I will do my best to update more than twice a year until I finish this damn thing, but I make no promises. But your reviews will help! PLEASE REVIEW. And please, be gentle with me. I've decided to finish this thing, but I'm very fragile. One mean REVIEW could possibly make me go into hiding again. I would love you with all my heart and soul if you would REVIEW. I would give you cookies if you pushed that REVIEW button down there. So please REVIEW.