It has been so long my friends! Enough jab, let my dear story jive.

Chapter Five: The Echo From The Mirror

{"Why then, do you pull out your Demon Heart, little brother?"}

More loud crashes and the rumbling of something big collapsing echoed across the distance.

Yukio, unable to keep quiet any longer blurted out in a very distinctly panicked voice that was normally not showcased, "Who was that Nii-san?!"

{"Jesus, quieter, you Moley Megane! I'm trying to hide over here!"}

Cold sweat beginning to bead across his forehead and on his palms, the brunet who had previously felt a vicious joy surge in his chest as his twin's voice, croaked with dread, "Nii-san…who are you hiding from?"

There was a quite short, but telling pause and laughing nervously the navy-haired teen on the other end answered over the sound of something being demolished, {"Eheheh... E, I might have run into Astaroth…again?"}

Shura was nearly strangling Yukio with the death grip she had on his shoulder, eyes wide in disbelief, "The King of Rot?! Rin, ya idiot! What the hell are yer doing?!"

He continued sheepishly over the tinkling of glass breaking, {"Um…well… It wasn't my fault! He just showed up and then these two kids wanted to play tag and then-and then-!"}

{"The likes of you are pathetic, not even capable of acting like one befitting our Father's glory, you rage as if a child having a temper-tantrum!"}

There was silence. {"And then Iblis…"}

The line suddenly cut out with static and for a few daunting seconds, no one spoke.

Shiemi was the first—and only one to do so—a quizzical tilt to her head included, with her face pinched in anxious worry. "Ano…Isn't Iblis the name of a Demon King too?"

And then a screechy voice filled the air as the phone picked up the signal again, {"Yeah, you bring shame upon our royal line!"}

The teen on the other end added quickly with a squeak, {"And that would be Egyn!"}

With an unimpressed deadpan, Mephisto—who had moved to the shorter Exorcist's side without anyone noticing—grabbed the phone with two fingers as if it was going to bite him, and dryly asked into with an eyebrow twitching, "Okumura-kun…you are in the middle of a three-way fight between Astaroth, Iblis, and Egyn are you not?"

The tell-tell sign of no answer on the other line rendered his answer moot, for they all knew that if anyone were to actually find themselves in such an outrageous situation it would have been one Okumura Rin.

{"E…Well, I mean, technicallyit'snotafight-"}

"Then pray tell, what the fuck is it Nii-san?!"

Everyone cast wary eyes at the younger twin who seemed to be getting quite flustered for all the right reasons. But coming from someone who was usually so straight-laced it came across a tad bit more disturbing.

"Why do you do this?! I told you to focus on the mission! I told you to not to-! And yet still-! Now you're in Gehenna and we can't get you out!"

Shura herself, leaned a bit away from the now shouting teen who had snatched the cellphone from the True Cross Headmaster. She had never seen him this agitated before but that look on his face… "Yukio…"

"When are you going to learn that your actions have consequences Rin?!"

Once more there was silence, one that lasted for far more than a minute static crackling in and out. This time they could distinctly hear someone screaming in rage and the great screech of metal rending behind the empty, echoing static.

And then there he was, voice full of hurt and rough edges as if the blue-eyed ExWire was choking back another emotion. {"Dammit Four-eyes… I know that! It's not like I want to be here! But… But ya can't just tell me what me and Shiemi did was wrong! What da'ya think the Kusojijii would have done huh? Just let those souls get eaten?! AS IF!"} There was a pause and then the navy-haired teen practically whispered before growling, {"So stop yelling. Or do you want me to get carted off to Satan, ya Moley- Nygah?!"}

[In Gehenna…]

Rin desperately glanced—offended still—at the device he was clutching to his ear as he found himself trapped between the mangled metal struts of what looked like a rusted bridge—and the steel like-embrace he otherwise found himself in—as yet another weirdo showed up to harass him.

"E, well. Fuck. I think I just ran into another one…"

And he had quite literally done so.

The somewhat wide-eyed expression on the guy's face made it seem as if he was just as surprised as the blue-eyed teen was to find himself with the small child in his arms.

Between having finally connected to his younger brother's cellphone through a miraculous turn of fortune for the ExWire, he had also managed to make it all the way to a rusted-as-all-hell bridge that spanned an almost carnivorous looking river that cut through the shanty-town that he was being chased through—or at least, had been before the three Demon King's tailing him began a lethal sibling rivalry in front of his eyes.

The constant swivel his head had been on plus the cutting words that had been thrown at him through the phone had blinded him to the path he had taken.

And that is how he found himself in the crushing embrace of a wispy, white-haired man, who he had unfortunately tumbled into. Who was looking at him with a type of curiosity fit only for a mentally-challenged man-child. The beige bathrobe he was sporting hung off his figure like a empty sack just adding to the unnatural appearance of the man. The blank gaze of his more mint green than teal blue eyes betrayed his previous surprise when a gleam of something unnamable crossed them, sharpening the unnaturally wide ruby red iris—that Rin himself possessed—into something that was so far flung from disinterest that the navy-haired teen flinched, tail curling in on itself.

[In Assiah…]

Everyone paused and Yukio choked over his next fury-filled words, paling drastically over Rin's shout.

For in the background…

{"I see… Found you."}

[With Rin…]

"I see… Found you."

The Demon King's—for what else could he have been? —rough, almost sleep-idled timbre scrapped across Rin's skin like a cat's tongue. It would have been pleasant—in such a way that was kinda unfathomable to the young teen—if he didn't know better. The slightly dusty-smelling Demon's overwhelming interest in the child he held allowed the taste of burning ozone to reach Rin's senses. Just like the three previous idiot who practically wore it like giant kick-me signs right on their faces this guy also was positively dripping in it. Oh, yes. This guy was even more dangerous than that jerk Iblis had been. Even if he did seem somewhat familiar…

The wind tugged fiercely at their clothes and gulping down the furious yell he wanted to lambast the guy with, Rin instead found himself wincing out in a high-pitched voice, "Um? You wouldn't happen to want to let me go?"

Still staring at him, the obviously older male shook his head slowly, the nearly see-through strands of his hair sticking up haphazardly like a porcupine's quills quivering with the action. "Why…would I? I just…found little brother?" As he proceeded to rub his face all over the younger boy's, the image the slow-manner of his speech portrayed was misled by the giant, threatening tooth-filled smile he sported.

Are those…? Yes, definitely flowers. Sparkling. What was the guy, a friggen' rose bush?!

Not quite grasping that yes, he was in fact beginning to get used to his so-called big brother's molestation of his person—or the fact that they seem to not have any understanding of personal space—Rin squeaked out in an almost embarrassing even higher-pitch, while pushing the guy's face away with the palm of his hand, tail flaying behind him, "Most people introduce themselves first you know?!"

{"If that is who I think it is… Hair as white as snow and longer than Shura's, wearing some sort of pajamas, yes?"}

Looking weirdly at the cellphone that was crammed against his ear due to his struggling, the ExWire replied just for a second remembering he had it, "Ah, yeah… How did you-?"

The conversation not directed at the Demon King currently seemed to pass over his head and the previous yelled comment had quite an unfortunate effect. The elder paused in his administrations on the wiggling teen, with a tilted head. "Ah… Father and little Blanco lied."

Just…not one Rin really wanted to contemplate this side of the universe…or ever.

"Your even…cuter then they said...you were."

The face nuzzling became more frenzied.

Feeling a shiver travel up his spine, the teen winced, pushing the guy's face away even further while bending over backwards as far as possible, face greying in desperation. "Ok, I don't care who the hell you are anymore! Let. Me. Go!"

Almost oblivious to the shorter male's struggles the silver-haired Demon King hmm'd out almost absent-mindedly, "Me? I'm Azazel… King of Spirits…I like pomegranates…my favorite color is peppermint…and I'm the third eldest son of Satan and the sixth in line for succession but don't…tell Iggy that. Everyone says that I am a lazy, good-for-nothing, shut-in."

The last part was said without pause and a disturbingly placid smile that was quite at odds with what he was actually saying as if he was proud of all those horribly barbed labels he was stuck with via everyone else's opinions.

"Yer…not right in the head are you."

Rin didn't phrase it like a question as he stared blandly at the man through the gaps in his own fingers. "And peppermint isn't a color!" As if that mattered one wit in the grand scheme of things.

Azazel nodded matter-of-factly into the palm. "That's…why I'm in charge…of the seventh circle." Then he frowned slightly. "And Father said it is. His is…checker-board."

As if that explained everything from why the sky was blue and the answer to life was a numerical number decided by mice.

[As Yukio nearly crushes his cellphone…]

Having heard the entire stilted conversation Yukio clenched his teeth, eyes wide in disbelief. Nii-san…

Shura just cursed every deity she never believed in—all of them, that was—and threw up her hands in disbelief, grumbling to herself. Only Rin could be idiot enough to run into four Demon Kings in a single day!

Mephisto almost winced. Perhaps setting up those cell reception spells around Gehenna was perhaps not the brightest of ideas…

Shiemi, though was perhaps the most collected of all of them. Even with that look of worry on her face she unknowingly went for the throat. "Umm, Headmaster?"

Everyone's attention turned to the blondie in the lull of noise from the other side of the universe.

Their attention made her fidget but mustering all her courage she stumbled out, "Ah, what… What did he mean by- By little brother? I thought Rin and Yu- O-Okumura-sensei were the only ones…?"

Deafening silence decimated the room before Yukio clamped his hand down on the polka-dotted ascot the Demon King of Space was wearing not two feet away. Calmly turning his head slowly, creakily like a china doll's, a most sinister look reflected in his glasses and across his pearly whites. He seemingly ignored the way Mephisto let out a chocked gasp at the blink-and-you'll-miss-it movement to robotically state with a bland smile on his face, "Yes, what, exactly did he mean by "little brother," Sir. Mephisto. Pheles?"

Given a good solid few seconds to let that sink in everyone allowed their minds to wonder down that line of thought.

Before the blonde had voiced it though, the question had already been lingering in the back of Yukio's mind for some time, the vague notion curled there now given thought. The brunette just happened to be an amazingly good problem-solver—no thanks to his genetics. But even a well-adjusted adult has a trauma or two they shove in a box and don't give credence to. "Or should I call you Samael? Maybe even…Onii-san?"

Not liking the look in his—admittedly youngest brother's face, dear all the saints above and below did he perhaps mistake Rin as the full-blooded Demon twin of the two? —Samael grimaced at the sudden turn of events, masking it as a humorless smile.

"I suppose…if it pleases you."

No one was ready for him to outright admit to it. The Grigori might have let out a gasp—or two.

"That is…If you can even grasp a simple understanding of the fact that to someone like myself or the other Demon Kings…" Here he raised an amused eyebrow, a condescending tilt to his head. "Would deign to consider an infant of your caliber even an organism worth thinking of as a relation? Then yes, feel free to attach a familial connotation to my name."

The shock of his sudden statement confirming everything caused the brunet teen to let go of the elder, allowing the older man to fix the piece of cloth around his throat. A twinge of annoyance appeared tangible at its mussed state before he replaced it with almost a sheepish grin and shrug of the shoulder explanation. As if something of that caliber of a revelation happened every day.

"But, ah, for a millenniums old being Satan would perhaps have had a dalliance or two during his long existence—or mid-life/existential crisis as it were…?" A ponderous look crossed the older man's face as he rubbed his goatee in thought before quickly snickering, "And I might have been a product of said dalliances the second time around? Lucifer Aniki being number one?"

A sneer traced his face with something a tad bit more contemplative then what his wide eyes and tone suggested. "You didn't think that the Demon Kings were just random beings that simply occurred for no reason? We are products of our environment. Just like when a new species mutates in an Assiahian ecosystem, we exist because there was a need for us to become what we are today. We are the Royal Family that rules Gehenna, the checks and balances to humanity." His sneer became more pronounced. "Or did you think the Exorcist's are really more than glorified, low-wage pest controllers, handling the dregs of Gehenna that slips past us into Assiah from ours?"

Drawing back from his previous—more than just arrogant stance—an outright disgruntled cough escaped his throat, one he politely covered with a fist, another sheepish grin gracing his fang-filled face. "The fact that there is such a gap between myself and Azazel should tell you that the rest of our siblings were just as big as a surprise for Gehenna. And perhaps not so much accidental but the inevitable. Father can hardly control himself now, and that's with his Ego awoken. Whatever he was before… That we don't remember much of though, or what we were… The sheer fact that we know him to be one half of our progenitor at all is telling don't you think?"

Theatrically, he combed his hair gesturing to the heavens with a flip and roll of his wrist. "But to think, once his Consciousness awakened that he would even consider attempting conception with something as frail as your mother right of the bat! With a human of all things?!" Here he peered curiously at Yukio, a glint in his eyes that spelled trouble of all sort of proportions. "Why indeed? Was it she who put him up to that? He said it was on a whim. A mere curiosity! But while his mind was still reeling from having just woken from the death of his apathy to come across that idea so quickly? It was a long time coming, there was no doubt that he was a cruel, uncaring existence before that incident but still…"

"It does beg the question…"

Here he looked away, more pondering, more contemplative then his usual frivolous attitude.

"If not her…And not him…Then who?"

[Across the Mirror…]

His attempt at trying to break away from the other foiled, Rin slumped against the older man, his feet still dangling about half a meter off the ground—what was it with these freakishly tall people?! And what the hell was with all these older brothers he never knew about breaking out of the woodwork like cockroaches?!

Better yet, why were all of them unilaterally insane?!

"-and then I followed all the Hobgoblins to the center of their nest inside the castle walls. I never knew they had such good décor."

Eyeballing the albino man, Rin emptily nodded back not at all enthused by his elder sibling's insistence on telling him bed-time stories.

Especially when he could hear the sound of the other three idiot's battle getting closer and closer.

Tears leaking down the side of his face in streams the blue-haired teen mentally wailed, "What did I ever do to deserve this?!"

Oblivious to the encroaching horror headed their way and to his younger brother's angst Azazel continued to babble senselessly, only interrupted finally when a brilliant streak of red and orange arched over the horizon of the slum before splashing violently into the raging river the bridge they were on sat across.

Blinking, the dense Demon King smiled brightly if a bit vapidly, "Ah, a shooting star! Those are good luck Father says," A confused look crossed his face for a moment. "E, or was it bad? Something about catapults being auspicious?"

Ignoring the mumbling idiot, Rin saw the "shooting star" for what it really was and began to struggle anew, whispering into the cellphone he still had in his hands. "If your still there, HELP! This white-headed guy, Azaru- Azazu-? Wait, was it Azuri?"

It took a few seconds for a response to cross the line but the information passed was without a doubt of much import.

{"Azazel? Yes, albino, a bit spacey? He's a triple threat. He can, and will not hesitate to rip your mind into tatters. One piece of advice? Don't run. Just quietly slip away, he tends to be a bit… forgetful. Especially after that incident…"}

Freezing, Rin gulped and replied out loud without really realizing it. "Eh, I don't think I can…"

"Samael?" The previous fugue the other had descended into lifted for a few seconds at the unexpected noise just enough for the older man to cock his head in realization. "Is…that really him?"

Rin paled, and he almost fainted from blood loss when he heard the rest.

{"-And Satan is not far behind, he only let's Azazel out of the castle when he needs someone hunted down. In this case, you-}

And then the cellphone was plucked out of his hand. A very disquieting look crossed Azazel's normally dazed, dreaming face before he spoke very slowly and menacingly towards what he concurred to be Samael's voice. "Big brother…why is little brother all alone? You are supposed to be watching him, aren't you?"

{…}

Whatever was said across the line was lost to the sudden gust of wind that hit the bridge like a hammer. If Rin hadn't been chained in place by the others arm he had no doubt that he would have been blown straight off.

As it were the rusted bridge creaked and quaked under the sudden weather change and the navy-haired youth wondered in somewhat of a panicking manner if the whole thing was going to come crashing down—to what seemed to be a mile-high drop straight into the rushing black water shrouded by a thin layer of fog down below.

That notion wasn't dispelled in the least when a strut somewhere further down crumbled like a paper ball and went tumbling over the side much as if someone had just tossed a candy-wrapper out of a moving vehicle, the wind taking it as if it weighed no less than a feather.

"I see…" The wind's howl turned to a whistle of a dying steam engine before quieting suddenly. The abrupt silence seemed eerie to the young ExWire's ears and the look on his older brother's face was flat.

And then he smiled. "I had forgotten, how is Shirou by the way?!~ We haven't talked in ages! That rascal, he's probably busy flipping women's skirts and what not! ~"

The genuinely happy question shocked Rin. That and the fact the Demon King seemed to have done a complete 180-degree personality switch—and seemed to have been on friendly terms with his foster father.

Before Rin could even ask a question about the outrageous thing he had just overheard a shudder rocked the bridge even greater than the wind previously had. Any further questioning was forestalled by what transpired next.

"I'm gonna skin that mother-fucker alive!" An absolutely livid Egyn slopped water everywhere while waving away the steam obscuring his vision as he attempted to balance on a trembling I-beam. A limp Iblis dangled from under his arm, who was the cause of the heat haze clouding the others vision. Being thrown into a freezing river wasn't exactly his brother's idea of a good time. Him being the Fire King and all, it made sense that magma didn't mix well when cold—or at all, as was the case with the almost granite-incrusted Demon who was semi-incoherent from the sudden shock to his system. Flipping his almost frozen—and more so then normally—waterlogged locks, the Demon King of Water huffed childishly, grumbling out murderously, "Only I'm allowed to throw Iggy into the water!"

At that moment, the bridge crumbled inward as the horned menace known as Astaroth landed on the rusted metal, crushing the metal plates into scrap. If the walkway had been any thinner, he would have certainly gone straight through it like it was but wet paper.

"YOU BASTARDS! I'm going to string your entrails over my mantle!"

Besides his normal disposition, the loss of one of his beloved ram horns to Egyn's and Iblis's superheated water-whip-saw combo had sent the King of Rot into an unfathomable rage.

Distracted by the three-way battle coming to a head not a few meters where Azazel was standing with Rin in his arms, the Demon King temporarily forgot about the phone in his hand. Choosing to gape at his sibling's deathmatch the demon pouted and—letting both the phone and Rin drop to the unstable bridge's walkway on his knees—mussed his hair in frantic worry. "Nani?!~ You idiots! Why are you fighting this timeeeeeee? ~"

The disturbing sight of his flailing entranced Rin to where he almost forgot he had been let go. But when Azazel began to wobble in the other Demon King's direction across the creaking metal the teen scrambled to his feet and mourning the loss of his cellphone since it had skittered in the same direction the Demon King was stumbling towards, decided to hightail it while the getting was good.

Of course, it was at this moment that Iblis started to wake up and Astaroth descended upon the two brothers with a wrecked I-beam in hand, intent on smashing the two into paste.

Several things happened in this moment,

"Astaroth, stop! ~ Father's gonna kill us all! ~"

"Oi, oi you bastard, you want to send us all into the drink ya brainless amoeba?!"

"I'll mash your brains so much you won't even be considered a liquid anymore you asshole!"

Then the I-beam turned from rust red to orange-hot I'mturningintoslag in the Demon's hands.

"Who said…you were permitted…to talk to us like that, you worm?"

Iblis was understandingly pissed. But when he turned his flames onto the metal in Astaroth's hands, the Demon let it go out of reflex—rot and fire weren't on the best terms materially and literally speaking. The beam in its superheated state fell to the metal plates and kept going, cutting through the already severely weakened construct with the sheer heat wafting off it.

This is when things went to hell.

The sagging bridge finally decided it had had enough punishment and along the same vein as a cheap chopstick, it broke in two from the weight and pressure centered at its focal point. Where the Demon King of Rot had stood, a rent like a gaping tooth-filled maw made its presence known with a horrendous screech that was amplified by the steep rock walls leading down, down, down into the rushing water below.

Over the noise made by the dying bridge, everyone on the structure screamed in some sort of manner as they lost their footing and began to slide off the now almost 75-degree angled walkways.

Egyn caught himself reflexively on a scrap of metal and flipped upwards to balance precariously on it even though falling in would have done him no damage at all, but hey, it would have been the pinnacle of indignity if he fell off like a n00b.

Iblis, who was closer to the edge then his watery brother scrambled for a second out of surprise from the sudden development of events and then with pure instinct halted his decent by welding his hands to the metal.

Astaroth was in a much bigger predicament, his heavy mass had him at a severe disadvantage and he immediately was sucked over the side by the displacement of gravity. His strength though, was unparalleled within the Royal family with the exception of Amaimon. Hanging off the ripped metal webbing sticking out of the broken and bent struts was as piece of cake. He could have done without the heckling from Egyn calling him a fatass but it was better than getting battered by the raging torrent beneath his feet—urr, hooves.

Poor Azazel though. He was caught so off guard that he ended up stepping one the phone he had dropped—which wedged in an overturned pocket of metal—and slipping, tipped forward even more so then planned since he had been in the middle of jumping to intercede in the fight. A significant amount of broken metal and rubble followed and literally rolling down the steep slope of metal he caught himself on a piece of rubble sticking out a few feet from where Astaroth had landed on the bridge in the first place. The falling debris had other plans in mind though.

Having saved themselves, the other Demon's King's watched in macabre interest as they finally noticed the older male's presence.

"AZAZEL?!"

"Wha-why are you here?!"

"Not good."

Confused, the tan pajama-wearing Demon muttered nervously, "Oh, well, uh, Father sent m-"

Only for a piece of sharp metal to hit him over his head before he could complete his sentence, blood pouring out of the gaping wound gauged deep into his cranium. The blow snapped the white-haired male straight into unconsciousness and going limp he continued his descent.

"Damn it Azazel!"

It was only Astaroth's quick thinking that saved him from the water rumbling below. But it was just as his large palm snagged the collar of his brother that they all came to realize he hadn't been the only one falling on that side of the bridge.

Still clutching his Koumaken Rin dangled uselessly from the hilt of his sword that was wedged in between some twisted scraps of metal that used to be one of the bridge's supports. His other arm was just as worthless, having been mangled when he went tumbling straight into the metal his sword was stuck in. The blood dripped thickly from his torn open wrist and forearm down into the void and his shoulder throbbed in time with his heart which beat loudly in his ear's drowning out even the roar of the water below. The wind began to pick up again as the bridge no longer obscured its passage and he swayed dangerously over the looming precipice. "Itai! Why the hell does this shit always happen to me?!"

Tail curled around his pants leg, he whimpered in pain while attempting to lift himself up with his one good hand wrapped around Kurikara so that he could wedge one of his dangling feet into a ledge that was sadly just a little bit too high above him to reach.

The blue-eyed child thought he had it but then a wave of dizziness hit him from the exhaustion of having been chased through Pandemonium's lower level's as well as the severe loss of blood he was experiencing. His good hand slackened its hold for only a second but it was enough. In the teen's struggle to get a better grip from where his fingers almost slipped off the hilt's ito wrapping the weapon was jiggled enough that the saya began to slip out of the rubble it had been caught in.

With wide eye's Rin watch in horror as the weight centered on the back part of the tsuba and with the sly click and hiss of steel his blade slipped from its saya like a snake from its hiding spot.

And then all he knew was the swell of warmth and singing of his fire as blue flames ignited the perpetual darkness that hung over Gehenna. It was unlike any other time he had pulled his sword, even the first time, when he unsealed his heart to escape the Gehenna Gate. The bonfire that erupted was more striking then the one he used against the Impure King, more intense then when he had fought Amaimon the second time around. It cradled him, it cackled joyfully in his now longer ears, it stretched out wispy tendrils eating the very air around him; he felt light.

Lighter than ever before.

Amazed at the rawness he felt, the sudden ease of which his flames answered his call he had all but forgotten everything else but the way his fire felt more tangible like he could mold it like dough. He had stretched out his uninjured arm to do just that it childlike curiosity when his injured arm twanged painfully like someone was trying to rip out the insides of his arm.

Feeling his stomach drop in nausea at the pain, gravity re-exerted itself suddenly, the giddy fluttering in his chest flitting away as his mind turned to the frightening realization he was still falling. Closing his eyes, he flailed in terror with the re-realization of the air rushing past his tumbling figure and the wind whipping his clothes and hair. A chill leeched into his very bones as all he could think was-

Is this really how I'm going to die?

His despair didn't last even five seconds before something collided with his middle. Blinking open his eyes in surprise, at first the navy-haired child didn't understand what he was seeing. In the luminous glow of his flames the strands of white hair rippling in the air looked as if they were made of pure flame—a fire so clean that it burned nearly see-through.

And then a voice smooth like granite and the hiss of a hearth's fire met his ears.

"Ya know, there are better ways to end your Existence kid?"

Midnight blue irises met a molten teal that was almost gold, pinwheeled into three separate irises. That familiar red ember burned at the center of his eyes' pupils as the skin around them crinkled in a kind smile. Some of the harsh weight around Rin's middle lifted and the distance between him and the older male that had just appeared, opened, allowing him to finally see who had just presumably jumped off a fucking bridge after him.

The shock of the others appearance didn't last long but the awe lingered. As the wind buffeted past them and with gravity dragging them closer and closer to the water below, the blue-eyed teen felt the solid grip the man had around his uninjured arm. Saw the amused grin on the other's face, sharp cheekbones and wild, white hair whipping past his whimsical toga-like black and blue cloak in the gusting breeze. Silhouetted against the dark sky, that brilliantly dazzling man in nothing but his ridiculously large checkerboard pants and silver bangles that rattled familiarly like the teen's delinquent-looking wallet chain back home seemed to be- To be-

"Are- Are you an Angel?"

The wind ripped the incredulous words right out of Rin's mouth.

There was no answer but a single blink of the suddenly molten gold eyes.

Then a smile like the sun graced his vision as the other simply stated, "For you kid-" And then he used their momentum in a second to switch positions and holding the Half-Demon close whispered into his hair as he cradled the child in the safety of his arms, "Ah, I would be your anything…"

The sharp rapport as they collided with the water sounded like a glass sky-scrapper's windows shattering to Rin's ears and then there was nothing but water rushing into his mouth and the lull of his fire in his veins. The mysterious man's words echoed in his ears, his hands wrapped around his body with something warm tugging at his heart.

Who- Who is he?

The cold seeped through his body despite his flames biting his flesh and even the strangers' warmth couldn't hold the force of that river back. Gasping for air, black spots began to dot his vision and the ExWire panicked as he finally registered the water filling his lungs, strangling him, stealing his precious air as his limbs registered a numb pain like pin-needles piercing every inch of his body inside and out.

Idly, a part of his brain supplied that at the height they had fallen from no one could have survived hitting the water without numerous broken bones upon impact—not even a Demon even if they did have an extremely fast regen rate. That strange man had used his own body to break the majority of the water's tension. Which was probably the only reason Rin's own neck wasn't snapped. But who just willing jumps off a bridge after someone they don't even know?! Oh- Right… I would… The irony wasn't lost on him but still-

He was drowning, and he couldn't help but thrash helplessly as the grip around his middle kept him from surfacing. In the murky darkness, even the light from his blue flames barely held the deep at bay. His good hand clutched Kurikara for dear life. He didn't want to think what would happen if he let go of it as his awareness flickered in and out. If he made it out of this alive it would probably be lost forever in the river's dark depths. He felt claustrophic, trapped and as he consciousness began to slip away he mourned all the regrets he had left behind. Just as the last dregs of his light began to vanish and the grip on his sword wavered, a hand curled around his cheek. With the last of his will the navy-haired child simply relaxed into it, what else was there that he could do?

And then he could breath. His body felt light again, and a warmth unlike any other—more so then even his own flames—stole through him and seemed to cradled his heart gently. A slight flicker passed his closed eyes and the child thought that if he survived this he would never forget this warmth. Gulping greedily, his body reached franticly for more air. More warmth, more everything.

And then the water broke over his head and a pair of strong hands held the boy close as his head lolled on a broad shoulder. He felt weightless for a few seconds, the numbness almost as painful as actually being able to feel and his flames sparked weakly, tail curling around an appendage that didn't belong to him. His Koumaken was pried from his limp hand but he didn't have the strength to care, he simply laid in the other's arms as his lungs ravenously stole air back into his blood, panting and hacking into the guy's bare shoulder as his cloak was wrapped around him gently.

"Honestly, yer gonna give me an aneurysm…"

The gruff fondness was weird but the strangeness of the whole situation passed over the child's head as he gasped for air, finally coughing up the last of the water that had forced its way into his throat. He didn't have the current brain power needed to think about anything else but breathing.

"Oi, brat you better not go dying on me now!" A hand shook him slightly as if he was a glass doll. "Brat? Kiddo? Com'on, tell me I didn't jump off a fucking bridge for nothin'!"

Exasperated by the man's whining tone Rin grumbled past his sore throat and forced his heavy eyelids open. "S'not dead-"

He was immediately smothered by the much larger man's arms more so then already and the strength of the other's grip on his chest had his ribs squeaking in protest. "Itai! L-let go!" The grip loosened but didn't disappear as the teen flailed. A wicked chuckle graced his ears and he froze, a shot of something like fear crawling down his spine. He knew that laugh. But- It can't be…

"Now, why would I do somethin' like that? I finally have you after all~"

Tilting his head back Rin once again found his vision obscured by white hair. He wrinkled his nose and attempted to wave it out of his face but a sharp pain lanced through his hand. Looking back down he blinked, glancing at his torn-up arm that he had temporarily forgotten about.

A sigh from the other was breathed past his own hair and a pale hand lifted his injured arm into the air, tearing a pained whimper from the kid. "Ever since I've known ya've been a walking beacon for disaster, just like that women, always causing trouble for me..." The grip was gentle but when the man's thumb swiped across the still sluggishly bleeding wound Rin couldn't help the yelp that left his mouth and he tried to flinch away from the sharp, gleaming black talons on the man's hands. "This should be healing by now especially after that… Hmm~"

Annoyed with the man-handling—he had been tossed around and carried and all sort of other irritating things within the last few hours, he was tired, hungry and just so done that he didn't stop to think about that little white flag waving vigorously in the back of his head—the blue-eyed teen growled out drowsily, "Maybe if you stopped poking at it, it would!" Flopping further down in the man's grip and not even bothering to hold his own weight anymore the ExWire groused sluggishly but mutinously into the fabric nearly choking him with its sheer volume, "And put me down, your gonna break my ribs!"

Never mind the fact that the guy had most definitely saved his life, he was getting all sorts of creeping chills from him now that his brain actually had oxygen flowing through it.

A reply was crooned far too close for Rin's liking and a cheek met the teen's, rubbing against his like a cat—just like Azazel had. "Eh? My, my you've sure gotten cheeker, kiddo~ Aww, your definitely my little firecracker~"

That dark chuckle made a reappearance and the hand underneath his thighs holding him up tightened so he couldn't move. "How harsh! And here I thought you would be a bit more grateful to your Guardian Angel!" A slightly higher pitched giggle followed that statement but it was ignored in favor of the subject.

The declaration caught the teen by surprise and he finally looked up at the other sharply. "Wait- Yer- You're not serious, are you?!"

The insidious smile full of teeth that greeted the child's question and eyes made him choke down a whimper. Nothing, absolutely nothing worked out for him, did it? Why was he in this situation? Why did he have to fill just a tiny smidgen of thanks for this… This guy… He was that man, wasn't he? Denial never worked for Rin either.

Taking great amusement from the turn of events the older man—Demon, this guy was a Demon among Demons! Rin's brain supplied—hefted the bundled-up form of the younger higher in his arms.

"No, are you fucking stupid? Did your mind turn to mush dealing with all those insufferable Exorcists, idjit? Or have you always been this stupid?"

The annoying attitude of the man gnawed at the navy-haired kid's budding horror—allowing him to suppress, suppress, suppress, he was so not thinking about what would happen to him or what had happened to him or that this would lead anywhere good for anybody and dammit! Rinjustwantedtogohomeandnotbenearthisthisthis…beast. But instead of getting angry Rin sucked the injustice of the world up once again and did as Rin always did during stressful moments. He improvised.

"Well…" Eyes drooping, he deadpanned, "Let me guess were fucking related. And since this is probably the first and only time I will get away with saying this, I thought you would be uglier. With, like horns." Blinking past the blearily film called fatigue coating his tongue and eyes, the navy-haired teen just sighed. He resigned himself to his fate, the child was just too damn tired to be properly terrified or give a damn anymore—a right doesn't make a wrong a…well, right dammit! Just because this asshole to trump all other assholes jumped off a bridge to save him didn't make up for everything else! It didn't make up the hell he been put through, it didn't make up for his bad reputation, and it certainly would never make up for what he did to-to-

A yawn caught him before he could say anything else, a flicker of something moving too fast past his closed eyes to see properly. The pain arching through his body was beating a numbing staccato through his heart, dulling, removing barriers and loosening screws in the deadbolt of his thoughts. "Y-you…shouldn't be allowed to do this. Isn't there like…a rule against Satan…saving peo-ple…?"

His consciousness then snuffed out like a light.

Manga spoiler? I guess? Satan has whitish hair, fuck yeah.

And poor Shirou, everyone is just so messed up in this family. #ResidentEvilfortheWin #Katouisamutherfuckin'Jedi #Whydoesshenotscriptwrite #Thisispurefuckin'gold