A/N

Final pull of the week! Just a few more chapters and I will have succeeded in my Easter promise to you guys. Have faith, I will not abandon you! ^^

Mephisto's POV

I grinned cruelly as I watched Yukio's face quickly decay from composed to shock, then immediately jumping to barely contained disgust as I greeted him. I had barely hoped for a bit of his stance to disintegrate, so this reaction was far more than I could have ever hoped for.

He regained a somewhat less stoic face than before, and gave me a curt nod before moving to stand beside where I was lounging in a chair. His gaze seemed to further darken when he looked up to see all who was gathered; there were only a few rookie members of the council there.

Then again, I thought, what did he expect from calling in that very morning? He didn't really give them time to work it into their schedules to be there and listen to what they considered an insane and demonphobic rant.

I sort of zoned out for the majority of the meeting, knowing exactly how it was going to go; the council would greet Yukio, explain that I was there so that I could defend myself (even if they hated my guts), and all the rest of it would be Yukio trying in vain to convince them I was a conniving demon who didn't deserve to breath the air of this realm by quoting a demon that hadn't been publicly seen by anybody but him in way quite a while.

All I had to do was occasionally wave a few papers in front of his face stating that Rin was away on a mission. The signature on the form was, of course, fake, but it seemed to be just enough for the council to believe that Yukio was completely and utterly insane. After all, something like this was indeed something that Rin would do. So why would they have any reason to think differently?

By the end of the session, my mind had wandered to about fifty different ways that I could turn Rin against all of human kind permanently. My thoughts snapped back to reality when Yukio raised his voice for the first time in the entire session.

"HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS DEMON OVER ME?!" he shouted, his temper finally have snapped.

Another smirk rose to my face, delighted that I had been able to lend a hand in forcing the normally calm boy to break. I glanced at the finger pointed in my direction. My, my, the boy had even gone so far as to point, had he? How rude.

The leader of the currently assembled council -a younger guy who seemed to be more interested in going home than being there right then- just sighed in irritation and grumbled "Mr. Okumura, please try to understand. Mr. Pheles has every proof that your brother is away on a mission; filled out paperwork, time recordings, everything necessary for an exorcist o go on a mission. And every bit of it has Rin's signature on it-"

The last word was barely out of his mouth before Yukio spat out "Oh, please! Do you really doubt that Mephisto wouldn't fake that to cover his own trail?!"

I just smiled wider and injected into the little squabble "Now, why would I ever do a thing like that? For so long I have dedicated myself to those who kill demons, why should now be any different. Either way, the thought of forging your brother's signature never crossed my mind. You really do flatter me."

All that received me was a sharp look from Yukio as if he wanted to shoot his gun straight through my head right there and then. But before he could get a word in edgewise, another council member spoke up. "Mr. Okumura, I am afraid that we must cut this meeting off as we have another appointment. So please leave before we are forced to call in security," they ground out, sounding extremely stressed out.

It was obvious that the brown-haired boy wanted to argue, but quickly shut his mouth. I knew very well that the council would make good on their threat. But what I really wanted to find out was if Yukio would be able to see through his rage to listen.

Fortunately for him but unfortunately for my amusement, he shut his mouth and took a deep breath. His composure was quickly returning and although it did nothing for the overall tenseness in the room it had a sort of final effect.

He stood up straighter than he had been –as when he had finally snapped his posture had become less than perfect- and closed his eyes. The only outward sign of his rage was that his hands were clenched into fists and I could actually smell the metallic tinge of blood beginning to prick through the skin.

I kept the smirk that always stayed on my face right there, watching him in triumph. But it began to deteriorate bit by bit when the boy with glasses spoke up again.

"Fine…" he said coldly, turning and beginning to stalk towards the door. "If you guys won't help me, then I guess that I might just have to do it on my own…"

The council members quickly began to file out through their own door behind them, soon enough leaving me alone in the enormous, echoing room. That look on Yukio's face… it had been one that I hadn't seen before, and it didn't fit him in the least.

It had been a look of so many things mixed together; hatred, rage, weariness, determinedness, and so many other strong emotions I could not exactly place a name to and do it justice. But amidst all that turmoil, the pure seething spite, there had been something else blazing behind his eyes.

As I slowly stood up, the once eternal smile now almost completely vanished, I hummed to myself. If what I saw in those eyes was correct, and I couldn't say that I was certain about it, then things might get very unsavory very soon.

Just before I walked out of that room, I mumbled a single word that seemed to reverberate with a deadly whisper throughout the now vacant room.

"Hell fire…"