Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I'm back now and full of ideas what happens next in this story :)

Enjoy :)

Chapter 11

A year. A long, lonely, miserable year has passed. Sometimes Bon wondered if Rin was still alive… But when those dark thoughts tried to seep in, he would shake his head to get rid of them. What was worse, he realized he missed the boy less and less, everyday life keeping him too busy to think about the times they spent together. All year he was studying hard, learning about demons - which final verse would be the best to use against certain monsters. Along with mental training, he took a physical one as well, taking shooting lessons from Yukio. He would be taking his Dragoon exam soon. As the situation at school got completely under control, they could resume their almost normal routine. The demons didn't give up, though, so a sight of a bloodied exorcist coming back from a battle was a recurrent occurrence.

Bon and Konekomaru finally passed Meister on Aria. Shima still had a little problems with memorizing everything and would have to take his exam again. Izumo was a Tamer, which wasn't surprising, but it seemed she lost her will to fight after Paku's death. She was locked in her room most of the time and when she was out – it wasn't the same girl anymore. Dark circles under her eyes, pale skin and constant frown marred her face. Her eyes were empty. Even Shiemi had to give up on trying to make her smile.

Bon shook his head sadly as Izumo passed him by in the corridor. He had no time to talk with her today. To try to make her open up. The only thing he would usually get from those conversations was anger. She was obviously depressed and decided to ignore the world around her. He thought she would be stronger than that, though. Then again, he couldn't completely blame her – he himself was acting different than he used to. Depression was slowly taking over his heart no matter how stubbornly he tried to stay optimistic. He was bitter and easy to anger, so no one would notice how he felt. Yukio knew anyway. He missed Rin as well and sometimes wondered if he'd see him again.

The difference between Yukio and Bon was that the former knew a lot more about Rin and his stubbornness. He was strong. Yukio just had to remind himself of that fact to get rid of those dark thoughts. Besides Shiemi was helping a lot in keeping his life bright. Just one of her kind smiles was enough to make him forget about anything else.

Bon finally arrived at his destination. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he pushed the large doors open. Stepping slowly inside a dimly lit hall, he bowed respectfully to the commission that was about to observe his Dragoon exam. Another deep breath, while they were explaining how it would look like and in a blink of an eye – a first target. Bon moved quickly and shot.

Yukio was smiling lightly as he moved towards the fountain. Shiemi was waiting for him there. They wanted to spend an afternoon together as he was finally free of any missions. She finished her last exam two days ago becoming a Tamer. Last week was extremely busy for both of them, so they were looking forward to relaxing together.

Rin didn't think that leaving the Angel's Academy would be so hard. This place became his home. Akane was hugging him tightly, making him squirm. She babbled on and on how much she'd miss him and made him promise he will kick Satan's ass quickly and come back for a visit. He laughed at that and sworn he'd be back before she realized he wasn't there. Lily was a lot more calm, only smiling lightly at him and when he said his goodbyes, she bowed formally in return. He turned towards Shin now, who was standing at the side, hands deep in his pockets. His expression was dark, it seemed he has finally admitted defeat to himself about getting Rin where he wanted him.

"Thank you for everything…" Rin tried anyway, but the man only snorted, nodded his head and left, his dark coat following his sharp movements like a black mist. Rin sighed watching him go.

"Don't worry about him, he doesn't like goodbyes." Gabriel smiled kindly. Rin felt familiar calmness setting into his frame. He smiled back.

Nodding at Katsu – he wasn't about to thank him for anything – he looked one last time at the great building and the angels. Grinning back at Akane, Rin took Gabriel's warm hand and left Heaven. He knew he would miss this gold place but now all he could think about was home. He was coming home.

Yukio and Shiemi were in the middle of a quiet and very pleasant conversation when one of the angles approached them. Yukio just knew he was about to get another mission. With a sigh he stood up to face her. His eyes got wide when he got the news and along with Shiemi they almost run towards the chairman's office.

"…and then I had to let the demon jump close to me, so I could shot off his head. That quick bastard wouldn't let me hit him otherwise!" Bon exclaimed, talking about his Dragoon exam in excitement. He was sure he did alright. Shima and Konekomaru listened in awe. He was getting to the good part when someone interrupted him. A little angry at that but still polite as always, he listened to the man. When he realized what he was talking about, he run passed him, bumping into the man's shoulder in a hurry. His friends didn't follow.

Yukio composed himself before knocking. Shiemi was a little out of breath but she still managed to shout happily and throw her arms around a surprised Rin. When he got out of her enthusiastic embrace, he grinned at Yukio. The brothers hugged as well.

"I'm so happy to see you, Nii-san! You have no idea how worried we all were about you!" Yukio eventually let go of him and took a long look. Rin changed a lot. Of course he remembered how he looked just before leaving but it was still new to him. Small claws, ears more pointed than usual, two blue flames on top of his head and the most shocking – wings, not hidden by anything, as he was wearing a shirt made especially for angels. Yukio knew about them but he didn't actually see the wings before, as Rin had hidden them under a too big shirt back then. He was shocked by the black one of course. His brother wasn't offended by his stare and only laughed at his dumb expression. The doors burst open just when he was about to tease Yukio. Anything he wanted to say died on his lips when he looked towards the entrance.

They stood there for a long moment, just looking at each other. Shiemi blushed seeing that kind of a stare and quickly led Yukio out of the office. With a warm smile Gabriel stood up and made Mephisto come with him, asking questions about his army of angels. The chairman protested a little, as he loved watching dramatic scenes but got out of his own office anyway. After all, they really needed this time alone. And he couldn't refuse answers to the archangel. Not after relying on angels' army for survival of his playground.

Bon took a few slow steps and finally closed the door. His eyes didn't leave Rin's face as he advanced towards him. Suddenly the strange spell keeping Rin still broke. With a movement so quick Bon only saw a blurred flame. Even though he knew Rin wasn't going to hurt him, he flinched a little. He moved like he wanted to escape his embrace.

"Bon…?" Feeling his unease, Rin backed off. The grin he just had on his face dimmed. Was his boyfriend afraid of him now? He got a little overexcited, so his flames activated. He quickly got them under control. Or maybe… Bon wasn't his anymore? Panic showed on Rin's face.

"Rin! I'm sorry, you just startled me a little." He said, looking away in embarrassment. After a short, uncomfortable moment he glanced at him again. "I… uh, how was your training?"

Rin sighed, unhappy. He imagined this scene a little bit different… He moved away from Bon and sat down on the sofa.

"It was alright. Exhausting, but I've learned a lot." He said pouting, his arms crossed on his chest. Bon laughed at that. Rin was still as childish as ever.

"You might have changed a lot, but you are still a baka."

"What?!" Fuming, Rin got up again to give him a piece of his mind. Just as he opened his mouth warm lips fell on his, stopping any words he might have said. He wrapped his arms around him and melted into the kiss. This was what he imagined their reunion to be. Chest to chest, strong arms around him, lips gently caressing his, making his whole body warm…

"I missed you…" Rin whispered, running his fingers through Bon's hair. It's gotten longer but was still as soft as ever. "For a moment I thought… I thought you moved on…" He admitted in a whisper.

"I wouldn't! I promised, I'd wait for you, didn't I? It was because of those flames of yours I…"

"Baka! I would have never hurt you! Trust me a little!" Rin almost got angry but Bon silenced him with a kiss again. They were happily snogging when the doors opened with a loud bang.

One second Bon has his boyfriend kissing him and the next he stumbles as something pushed him out of the way. Confused, he just stood there, empty arms still up in the air, mouth open in a surprise. Rin'd laugh at his expression if he wasn't occupy at the moment.

"What the hell…?!"

Amaimon has tackled Rin but he quickly reacted, rolling along with his attacker and pinning him to the ground. The Earth King's shocked face met with Rin's firm one. At his throat Rin held a knife. The blade had a mesmerizing, bluish hue.

"Otouto! You've changed. I like it!" He exclaimed, grinning madly like he always did. He seemed not to mind the blade pressed into his throat or a furious face of the one holding it.

"Baka! I could have hurt you badly! Never attack me like that if you don't want to have your ass kicked!" Rin snarled down at him and smoothly got up. Amaimon stood as well but less graciously and grinned again. It was hard to stay mad at him when he acted like that.

Rin has spent the rest of the day caching up with Bon, Yukio and Shiemi. Amaimon reserved his time later that evening. He wanted to spar.

Rin enjoyed hearing about everyone's exams and teased his brother about the lovey-dovey smile he had whenever Shiemi glanced his way. He also got all the information about war they could give him. Demons still attacked but kept out of the school, thanks to angels' protection. They usually choose smaller towns, destroying houses and possessing weaker people. The damage wasn't too extreme but it kept the exorcists so busy they couldn't rest for long. The harder part was to keep the existence of demons from common people. Vatican had a lot of work with that.

"I know that we owe a lot to those angels but do they have to act so high and mighty all the time?" Bon complained. "You'd think they would be nice, smiling creatures but nooo… They are always grim or indifferent. They act like they are better than we are."

"Bon… uh, I understand them very well. This is their nature, I was like that too. At first you feel like all your emotions are weak or something. Whatever I felt disappeared so quickly I almost panicked…" Rin tried to explain how he felt in the beginning but couldn't find the right words to describe it.

"But you seem normal now!"

"That's because of my demon side." Rin's explanation about demon's emotions was a start to a long discussion. Yukio got so interested in a subject Rin felt he'd strangle him. A teacher side of his sibling wasn't something he missed.

When Gabriel approached him Rin smiled, glad to be free from his brother's persistent questions. He loved him and all but sometimes Yukio was just too boring. His smile fell when he realized Gabriel's face was too serious.

Author's Note:

It was hard to write this one. I guess I was constantly thinking about how Rin's adventures in Gehenna would play out... but I knew without this chapter it wouldn't make sense. I'm babbling, I'm going to stop now.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway :)

Thank you all who favourited/followed/commented. Without this motivation this story would probably be dead by now. Arigato gozaimasu :D