Chapter 2

Also, the disclaimer I forgot in chapter 1. I don't own Ao no Exorcist. I never will. That's what fanfiction is for.

Yukio led the exwires upstairs to his and Rin's floor in the abandoned boys dormitory. He had noticed that the students were quite obviously ignoring his brother, and had decided to give them a mouthful about it. He knew that it hurt Rin to be alone, just as he had been in the past. He had never made friends easily due to his short temper and literal demonic strength. He could only imagine what Rin was going through when his only friends had decided to ignore him so completely for one small detail that Rin had had no control over. Being the son of Satan didn't suddenly make Rin a different person. After all, he'd been Satan's son all his life, even if he'd only become aware of that fact a few months ago.

That was why Yukio had decided to confront his students. In a regular school, one of the jobs of the teacher was to prevent bullying, and to stop it if they were to ever see it. This situation is more or less the same thing. Purposefully leaving one student out is never kind, and is more cruel than most even start to imagine. As a teacher, and as a brother, Yukio had decided that the exwires needed a little scolding for their actions, or at least an opportunity to explain themselves. This is why Yukio set up an after-cram-school meeting with the group. Just a friendly group chat about a not-so-friendly topic.

"It's not what you're saying it is!" Bon exclaimed, angry that his actions had been interpreted that way, "It's not that I hate him for being Satan's son. Who can control who their own father is? I'm certainly not too proud of my old man either. I'm just mad at him for keeping this a secret! He didn't trust us after he called us his friends!" Bon slammed his fist into the desk to emphasize his emotions.

"I didn't try to ignore him." Shiemi said quietly, "I was just scared because I didn't know what to say to him. He always looks like he's so happy and that everything's okay. He thinks that it was okay for him to hide things from us, and when he looked hurt, I didn't know how to comfort him."

"I've ignored him for the most part anyways." said Izumo, "I don't really care at all, but I've never paid him any more or less attention than I do now."

"Rin's not a bad guy." Shima said casually, "I mean, he's kinda like me. He can't just sit and study for a test, he's gotta be in it and doing something. He's a lot more serious than me though, and he seems to have a pretty good taste in women, right Moriyama?" Shima joked. Shiemi blushed, "And he's a pretty funny guy once you get talking to him. I haven't intentionally avoided him, I just follow Bon because he's the reason that I'm here."

"I don't know about you, but I'm really scared of him!" Konekomaru said, "I mean, he could just start shooting flames at any time! Demon flames don't get put out like regular flames, and on top of that, fire can kill people. It's Satan's flame, so what do you think that flame is for? If he had some sort of control, I might be able to learn to cope with being around him, but it's just too dangerous right now. I don't know why you guys can take it so casually."

"Thank you for telling me all of your reasons." Yukio said with no expression on his face, "I can understand all of your reasons for wanting to stay away from my brother, and you all have valid points... except for Shima. I do understand that peer pressure is difficult, however this doesn't seem to usually affect you. After all, you dyed your hair pink. You seem not to care too much about how others view you.

"I held this meeting to inform you all that your ignorance has hurt my brother deeply. You five are his first real friends, if you don't include me, of course. For most of his life, I imagine he has felt a deep loneliness, not having any connection with his peers," Yukio looked toward Shiemi, "and now he has finally been able to call a group of people 'friends' for the first time in his life. How do you think that feels?

"I think it made him feel ecstatic. For the first time in a long while, Rin actually seemed eager to go out to school and do things, even if his homework was never complete and he failed all of my tests. Besides that point, Rin actually wanted to be here, rather than just attending because he felt that he had to." Yukio looked toward Bon now, "You all have different reasons for being here, but this is probably the first time since he learned to cook that Rin has felt like he has some sort of reason for doing just about anything.

"Then you took it away from him. Losing a friend is very painful," Yukio looked at Izumo, "almost like losing a family member. It can be just as painful, as you may be aware." Yukio now looked at Konekomaru, "I know that you have all felt the pain of losing someone close. Now imagine everyone that you know and hold dear. Imagine that they are all dead, or gone somewhere. It hurts, right? Now imagine that they are alive, but they are completely ignoring you, acting as if you don't exist, or hold even a bit of worth in their eyes. Does it hurt more? Or does it hurt less? What do you think?"

"I think that we're all jerks." Bon stated glumly, "I'm the one who talks about teamwork and cooperation, friendship and trust, and I just did what?" He stared at the floor.

"I can't believe we did that! We must have hurt him really badly. This is my first time making friends too, and if you were all gone, I don't know if I could ever make this much progress again. I really want to apologize to him!" Shiemi said, eyes filled with determination.

"Let's stop being cowards and go then." Izumo said.

"I agree, Rin's a pretty cool dude. He never deserved this. Why can't we just stop being teenagers and go say that we're sorry?" Shima said.

"I agree completely. Follow me, I'm pretty sure that he's in our room right now. You can all apologize to him there." Yukio said. He led the group towards the boys dormitory. Only Konekomaru had remained silent. He was still afraid, but he wasn't heartless. He couldn't just let Rin feel that miserable. He felt a little guilty too, but he just couldn't say it out loud.

The group climbed up the stairs in the dormitory and headed for Yukio's and Rin's room. Yukio checked inside first and determined that Rin wasn't in there. If he wasn't there, the only other places that he could be were in the kitchen or the bathroom. A pacing Kuro outside the door to the boys bathroom answered Yukio's question. If Kuro was outside, he must be waiting for Rin. For Kuro to be so anxious though, Rin must have been in there a while.

Yukio decided that it would be best to try to coax Rin out. He walked the exwires over to the door before he knocked. After a few raps on the door, the group waited. Rin didn't answer. After about a minute, Yukio decided that it had been plenty of time for Rin to do whatever he was doing.

"Rin? Are you in there? Are you okay?" Yukio asked. He waited a few seconds for an answer, but didn't receive one, "Nii-san, I'm worried about you. I'm going to come in now." Yukio opened the door.

As the bathroom door made it's familiar squeak, the exwires turned their eyes to the floor. Yukio didn't know if it was because they didn't know if they wanted to see what was inside, or if they were all just scared. Maybe it was a bit of both.

He pushed the door in all the way, and looked toward Rin with sad eyes. All of the exwires glanced toward the lone figure over the sink, and the blood that was slowly seeping down his left arm and the piece of broken glass in his right hand. The shock set in quickly. None of them could speak. All they could see was the blood, the scar, and their sad friend who'd felt that this was the best way to handle it all. They all felt horrible about what they'd done to the happy boy that they'd known a month ago.

In the middle of the shock, Rin began to speak.

"I don't expect you to understand, and I don't expect you ever will. Whatever you think about me, just please don't tell me to stop."

Rin walked toward the group, blood dripping from his fingers to the floor. He put his hand on the door as if he were going to shut it, and spoke once more.

"Don't tell me to stop."

With those words, the door closed in front of them.

I could hear them talking from outside the door. They probably consider me a freak or a psychopath or something for what I've done to myself. But it's not true. I'm perfectly sane, at least I think I am, and I am most certainly not a psychopath. This was all planned and careful. I selected my target, selected a method, and carried out my plan flawlessly. The only error was them walking in and finding me. That was something that I hadn't calculated. I'm really much closer to a sociopath than a psychopath. I wonder why they were even here in the first place?

They had no reason to come here. The only ones who have a reason to come here are Yukio and Kuro because they live here, and Shura because she trains me. This dormitory has beds and a fridge, that's all that she really needs. And a roof for me to train on.

I think I should just go up there now. That space is really peaceful. I like it. I can relax there and not worry about anyone or anything at all. Up there, no one can reach me and no one can touch me. All I have to do is climb out this window and scale the wall.

That wasn't too difficult, even with this bloody arm of mine making it a little slippery. Hah, I wonder what Mephisto will think of the blood stains of his building. I bet he won't be too pleased. Oh well, it's his building. He can deal with it however the fuck he pleases. I don't give a damn about him or anyone else anymore. They can all just go to hell, or Gehenna, or wherever people go. I don't care about them anymore.

I don't care about them, and they don't care about me. If they don't care about me, then why should I? I mean, I am a demon, after all. Demons are supposed to die. That's why exorcists exist. I'm just a contradiction if I can't live by that rule. A demon or an exorcist. I can't be both since the two are effectively opposites. I have to chose one side or the other, and since I have no choice about being a demon, then I guess that's what I am. They are all human, part of Assiah, essentially good creatures. I am not. I am of Gehenna, and the spawn of the worst of them all.

I still held the piece of glass in one hand. It looked pointy enough to even create a stab wound, and it was large enough to go deep. Without a second thought, I plunged that glass shard into the side of my leg. It went all the way in. I guess I won't be able to use that toy anymore. Too bad.

Maybe that went in deep enough to kill me? I almost hope that it did. I really don't want to deal with this anymore. I bet even Yukio hates me now. I have absolutely no one left. None of them care, Yukio probably hates me because I'm not what he expected me to be, and I doubt Shura would care one way or the other. I'm her excuse to quit working and drink and nap. That leaves me with only Kuro. Sure he's my familiar now, but he was originally dad's cat. I'm sure he would prefer Yukio as a master over me. Yukio is smart and a well-trained exorcist. A prodigy, isn't that what they'd told us in the first class? Kuro deserves a better person with me, although I'm really gonna miss my little bud when I'm gone.

I guess I am suicidal if I'm already thinking that I'm gonna die. Well, no big deal. It's not that I hate living, it's just that I hate this life. If it changed a little, I'm sure it would be fine. If I wasn't so lonely all the time, maybe I could smile. Maybe if someone could understand, or try to reach out to me, help me, I could start to learn to be happy. Until then, I'm just alone. When you're alone, does it matter if you're alive or not? Who is really going to care? If you're alone, that means that there is no one there to care. Living or dead, it's all the same. So why not just give up? It's easier that way. No pain, no emotions, not heartbreak in death. Only silence, rest, and peace. Just an eternal sleep.

Sleep sounds really good. I'm tired. I hope no one finds me. Maybe I'll bleed out? But my demonic healing is too good for that. Maybe I'll just roll off the roof in a dream. That might do it, though I've had far worse falls during fights. Maybe I'll just die from the loneliness. I dunno. Just dying...

I let out a yawn and closed my eyes. There really is nothing left for me to do in this world. I can just sleep. I'll sleep on the roof here where no one will find me. This is my own place and I can live here by myself. I can live in my imagination and my dreams, pretending that there's someone out there who cares just a little about wretched being like me.

You wanted more, so here's chapter 2. Just a warning, updates will be erratic. Review if you feel inclined.