What the heck? There are people actually following this story? Now I feel compelled to actually update bi-frequently…

Disclaimer: Thank the lord that Blu Rose doesn't own Blue Exorcist and only owns the characters she made up.

Chapter Summary: After things seemed so bright before, Kazuki's mood has soured towards his circumstances once again. Rin attempts to get closer to his son the best way he knows how.

X-X-X

Part 2: Comfort food

Rin had thought that during the time they had left living together in the fall and winter, their relationship would get better. That eventually, the father would win his son over so he could open up, pour his heart out, and admit that he loved his family and hated the situation. It seemed that way at first. Kazuki even endured the months of training to bring out his flames—something he still had yet to do—with little complaint. But after he finished his last year of middle school and spent time at home during the winter, it was as if a switch had flipped in Kazuki and he changed his mind about accepting reality. They had more fights—both verbal and physical. He seemed to only speak to Rin when he was ready to pick a fight or point the finger of blame again. The boy even refused to celebrate Christmas, locking himself in his room and not accepting his

Now it was officially spring, and a sigh couldn't help escaping from Rin's mouth as he stood out in the hallway, staring into his son's old room. Kazuki had been very eager to move onto the academy campus as soon as possible. He'd totally stripped the room clean of anything that suggested he'd lived in there for years, so now all that remained was the bed in the corner of the room and the desk close to it which, upon further staring, had something left on it. Curiosity made him walk over and inspect whatever Kazuki had left behind. A photo that had a chunk of it cut off. The piece on the desk had a smiling Rin and an annoyed, younger Kazuki—a picture from a summer vacation Rin only remembered took place at the beach. The missing piece was probably his mother—ever his favorite parent, even in death. It should've broken his heart a bit more that his son was so eager to get away from his father. But it was more painful to think that he'd gotten used to it.

"Riiiin~! How long are you going to stand there?" The half-demon lifted his head after hearing Kuro's voice. He looked over his shoulder at the Cat Sidhe, who was staring at him expectantly. "Didn't you say you were going to make dinner?"

Rin looked back down at the picture on the desk and he felt a twinge of concern for his son bloom in his chest. Was he okay? Was he taking care of himself well? Dumb questions, really, since he hadn't even been gone for the entire day yet… But still, Rin was his father—no matter how much Kazuki hated him and tried to push him away, he couldn't help worrying about his wellbeing. Or maybe Rin just felt weird about not sleeping in the same house as him.

"Rin? Are you okay?" Kuro asked, suddenly concerned with how quiet his friend was being.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Rin spoke normally, but he didn't face the cat demon when he did. His eyes were still glued to the picture, which he had now picked up. He held it like it was something far more fragile and cherished than a ruined photo. "Kuro. How would you feel about going to see Kazuki, huh?" Kuro's only response to Rin's question was a confused look. Not that he noticed with his eyes focused on the picture.

X-X-X

That was how Rin found himself walking across the True Cross campus after sundown, carrying bags of groceries in hand with Kuro riding along on his shoulder. His excuse to the Cat Sidhe had been that he was worried about Kazuki eating nothing but garbage during his time at the academy—that he was the type who'd rather eat snack food or fast food than go through more than a few minutes' worth of effort to make a decent meal, but that was a lie. Rin just wanted to see his son and make sure he was getting along well. Sure, he could always call by phone, but what were the chances that Kazuki would even answer, let alone be truthful of how he was doing? He could only trust his eyes to tell him what Kazuki's condition was. And anyway, he had a right to be concerned about his son, what with all the things that were happening to him.

"Look, Rin! There it is!" Kuro exclaimed excitedly. He pointed a paw to the building in the distance—Kazuki's dormitory, the same one that Rin and Yukio had lived in.

Once they were closer, Rin took in the sight of the old male dormitory. "Well, this place hasn't changed." It looked just the way he remembered it…which wasn't very good to begin with. The exterior's old and crumbling appearance was meant to keep ordinary students away. Rin just hoped the interior had been improved since the days he lived there with Yukio.

Upon approaching the door, Rin realized a problem: how would he get in? If it was Kazuki alone in there, he'd likely just leave him out in the cold. He wasn't even sure if his handler was technically staying with him, or if he'd allow him inside. The man took a chance and knocked on the front door. He waited a few seconds before trying again. Then he began to call Kazuki on his phone. No answer. He didn't even bother to wait or try a second time. Rin decided the only way into the dorm was to muscle his way in.

Or it would've been if a certain black ghost dog didn't poke his head through the solid doors and stare at him. Rin had almost forgotten that Ouji had gone with Kazuki when he moved out. "Ouji! Such a good boy! Do you think you could go and get Kazuki for me so he can let me inside?" Ouji stared at Rin and Kuro for a few seconds, then focused his eyes on the groceries in his hands. "I came to make dinner for the two of you. You like the sound of that?" Ouji remained silent and slipped back into the building. Rin couldn't resist chuckling to himself. "I can trust Ouji to do something when food's involved."

In less than a minute, the dorm's door opened. There stood Kazuki, blank-faced and dressed like he had just gotten out of bed. A pair of black dog ears stuck out of the top of his head, but disappeared the instant a cloud of black smoke wafted out of his open mouth and took the form of Ouji. Kazuki's expression quickly changed to an annoyed one as he glared at his father. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, of course. See how you're getting along," Rin answered honestly. Kazuki looked down at the bags he was holding, which prompted Rin to add, "And also cook for you. Because knowing you, you'll use this opportunity to eat nothing but junk food."

"Opportunity." The dark-haired boy spoke the word flatly before snorting. He moved to shut the door again, but Rin was too quick for him. He grabbed the door and held it in place. Kazuki huffed and began to rub his arm. "First Uncle Yukio, now you. Why the hell can't you people just leave me alone?"

"Because I worry about you. That's part of a father's job description. What was that you said about your uncle?"

"He came over to check up on me, too. You both wanna invade my privacy? Knock yourselves out," Kazuki muttered as he walked away, leaving the door open.

Rin followed behind the boy, shouting "What privacy?! You're 15 years old! You have no privacy!"

"I have no privacy, I have no choices, and I have no life. And yet, I'm still being forced to exist." Kazuki muttered as he began to climb the stairs.

"Hey! Where are you going? I'm going to make dinner for you! One of your favorites, even~!" Rin called up in an attempt to entice him, maybe make him stay downstairs with him in the kitchen so they could spend time together.

"I already had dinner. So you can leave and lock the door on the way out. Good bye," the teenager muttered before disappearing upstairs.

Rin stared sadly at the top of the stairs for a few seconds before he huffed. "It's like we never left the house…"

X-X-X

When Rin had checked the fridge, an annoyed sigh escaped from his mouth. "Oh, why does he have to lie about something like this?" There was nothing in the fridge. There had been no signs of him eating anything anywhere. He supposed he could've just eaten some fast food, but that still meant Rin had to make something proper for his son to eat. Starving himself was bad, but so was eating junk food.

The half-demon man toiled away in the kitchen preparing dinner with only Kuro to keep him company. Before Rin had even begun cooking, Ouji had wandered off—likely to find Kazuki, who had stowed himself away upstairs. Eventually, he was finished making everything he had wanted to make and went upstairs to fetch his son. To Rin's delight, he didn't have to carry Kazuki downstairs kicking and screaming, but the fact that he was acting so robotically to Rin's invitation to dinner made him concerned.

"Ta-da! I made Katsudon for us to eat so you could do your best at school tomorrow!" Rin exclaimed as he led his son over to a table in the dorm's cafeteria decorated with food. Kuro and Ouji were already eating from smaller bowls made just for them as the father and son sat down, their bowls placed right next to each other. "Alright, dig in! Just don't eat too fast, okay?" A minute after Rin began eating, he noticed that Kazuki's food was still untouched. "Aren't you gonna eat?"

"I told you that I already had dinner. I'm not hungry," Kazuki spoke flatly.

"We both know that's a lie, so don't go on. It's not gonna make you any less of a man if you still eat your parent's cooking after you've moved out."

"I'm not starving myself out of pride."

"Money, then?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you eating?" Rin and Kazuki stared at each other in silence for a solid minute before the father spoke, "If there's anything bothering you, you can tell me, you know. I'll understand." The teenager's face was blank, as if he didn't believe his father. "I mean it. I know we haven't been on the best terms for a while, but you can tell me anything."

"No, I can't." Kazuki spoke. Before Rin could continue asking questions, Kazuki picked up a piece of the breaded meat with his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth. "There. Satisfied?" The teen said with his mouth full, though the look on his father's face suggested he wasn't.

He wasn't. Rin didn't like the idea of his son hiding things from him—now more than ever. But trying to pry more answers out of the boy would only lead to another fight that he didn't want. "Does it taste good?" He asked instead. When Kazuki nodded, he had to force himself to smile because he wasn't sure if the answer was an honest one. "I'm glad. I went overboard, so I made enough for you to take to school for lunch tomorrow. Since most of the people who come to school here are from rich families, pretty much all of the food in the cafeteria is beyond our price range."

"Then why do I have to go to school here," Kazuki began with a full mouth, "if I'm too poor and too dumb to get in like the rest of the students?"

"It's for your safety and you're not dumb. And don't talk with your mouth full."

"I only have to become an exorcist. Why the hell do I need an education that I'm never gonna make use of, let alone a high-class one that some kids go crazy trying to get?" The teen muttered.

"Mind your language. And you need an education so you could make something of yourself someday."

"Why? You and Uncle Yukio have college degrees. What have either of you done with your education that wasn't related to demons in some way?"

"Exorcism can't financially support a person on its own. It's important for you to get an education so you can get a job to support yourself someday."

Kazuki finally swallowed his meat so he could say with a clear mouth, "Someday… Pft!" He put down his chopsticks and made to get up from the table, but Rin grabbed his arm.

"You're not going until you've eaten every bit of food in that bowl." Kazuki only gave his father a weak glare before he sat down and resumed eating. "Speaking of school, have you prepared everything for your classes tomorrow?" All he got was a nod. "You know what you have to do to get to the cram school?" Another nod. "Are you…gonna be alright, sleeping all alone in a place like this?" Another nod, to Rin's disappointment. "So you don't miss me at all, eh?" A shake of the head this time, also to Rin's disappointment. "I miss you, though," he mumbled. "Even if all we've been doing as of late is fight…and even if you still favor your mother over me, I still love you. And if you ever need something, I'll be there for you. If you have something to say, I'll listen to it. Honest."

The teenager narrowed his eyes and began to tremble. Then he suddenly stopped and resumed eating. For the rest of the meal, Kazuki ate in silence, refusing to speak anymore to Rin. He didn't even say goodbye when his father was leaving—he just closed the door quietly, not even putting in the effort to slam it shut.

X-X-X

"Did you know Kazuki tried to run away yesterday?" was the topic that Yukio brought up when Rin met him the next day in the hallways of the exorcists' headquarters.

"Huh?! He tried to run away?!" Rin bellowed and began to grit his teeth. "That boy…!" He calmed down and looked at his little brother. "Was it you who brought him back?"

"No. I didn't even know what he had done until last night. His 'handler' was the one who brought him back, I think."

"And that would be…?"

"I don't know."

Rin snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Whoever they are, they're already doing a poor job. I went to make Kazuki dinner last night and he was in there all alone! Seriously, what sort of caretaker does that?!"

Yukio stared at his older brother. "You went...to make dinner for Kazuki."

Rin nodded as he continued to frown. "It's a good thing I went, too. He had nothing in the fridge—totally empty. That boy probably would've starved to death if I didn't come. I even wound up making him something for lunch today. I hope he actually takes it…" He fell silent for a moment before he looked at Yukio. "Do you think he's got eating problems? Like he's gotten sensitive about his weight as of late with everything that's been going on? I wish I knew what he was thinking, but he doesn't want to confide in me anymore…"

"I'm sure it's nothing quite so serious. This is just a tantrum."

"What's the point of throwing tantrums when he's the only person in the damn building?" The elder brother sighed before he remembered what Kazuki told him the other night. "You went to see him the other day, right?"

The brunette gave a sheepish smile. "So he told you, huh? I just wanted to see how he was getting along and tell him not to do something like that again. I even dropped in on him this morning to make sure he went to school."

Rin looked down at the ground sadly. "I'm sorry. If I were a better father, Kazuki—"

"Kazuki's upbringing has nothing to do with how he's acting. It isn't your fault."

"Still… I can't stand to see him like this. Uh… I'm thinking of visiting him again tonight. To make dinner for him. You're free to come, if you want." Yukio gave his brother a flat look. "What?"

"You can't keep babying Kazuki forever, Rin. He has to learn how to take care of himself eventually, and that includes the consequences of not doing so properly."

"Yukio… You don't understand," Rin spoke as he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to his brother. "I feel uncomfortable having Kazuki live by himself because…since he changed, one time, he actually tried to kill himself."

"What?! Why didn't you tell anyone about this?!" Yukio hissed.

"I thought I could handle it by myself and help him get better on my own, but… Every time I've tried to get closer to him, he just pushes me further away. I don't even know if he's telling me the truth anymore, or just saying whatever he thinks will get me off of his back. I can't leave him alone at a time like this. If only one person is gonna care for his wellbeing, it'll be me."

Yukio sighed. "You should've told someone about his mental state. We could've avoided having him attend cram school if the higher ups knew he wasn't well."

"Don't say it like that!" Rin snapped, making his twin jump. "He's not crazy! He's just…miserable with everything that's been happening."

"The truth is that he's in no condition to be training to handle demons when he could very well be possessed by one!" A ringtone then chimed from a pocket in Yukio's uniform. He took out his phone and stopped the ringing. "It's about time for cram school to begin. I have to go and prepare for my class now." He looked at Rin. "Are you teaching any classes this year?"

"Me? No…" Not that he didn't try to get himself a position teaching one of the entry-level classes for the sake of keeping an eye on Kazuki. Unfortunately, all the instructor positions had been filled—or so said Mephisto. Then again, maybe that was for the best. Heaven knows how Kazuki would react to having his father for a teacher. "I guess I'll go buy some groceries and go to the dorm to start on dinner. Remember, you're free to come. Good luck with your classes!"

X-X-X

This time, it didn't take Rin all that long to find the dorm again. He not only bought groceries to make dinner with, but some food to put in the kitchen for Kazuki. He still wasn't sure if his son was eating properly, but Rin wanted to make sure he had some food there nonetheless. The fact that the leftovers from yesterday were gone made Rin happy until the thought came to mind that Kazuki might have just fed it to his inugami. Rin finished making dinner—curry rice—just as he heard the front door open and slam shut.

"Whoever came up with the concept of cram schools is the most evil person in the world. And I hope they died a very painful death," an unfamiliar voice spoke—a male, by the sounds of it. "I'm gonna be in my room. Don't wake me up unless you're dead." Rin didn't move quickly enough to get a chance to glimpse at the stranger.

"That guy… He's supposed to be watching me. For all he knows, I'm gonna try to run away again," he heard Kazuki grumble. "That's what I should do. Let him deal with the fallout from that creepy clown freak… Hm? Are you hungry, Ouji? Let's get you something to eat, okay? It's a good thing those leftovers are there. That old man's good for something after all." One of the cafeteria's doors was pushed open and Kazuki walked into the doorway, stopping at the sight of Rin. The teenager frowned and asked, "Again? Don't you know the meaning of privacy? Then again, no one really cares about my opinion, do they?"

Rin ignored Kazuki's attitude and smiled. "Since I can't trust you to eat anything healthy, I've decided to make this a routine until you can prove me otherwise." The exorcist took a deep breath as he put his hands on his hips. "Anyway, you should be grateful that you have a loving and caring father who's willing to cook for you! Despite your attitude towards him, may I add?"

"I didn't ask you to come cook for me! And if you hate my attitude so much, then just leave me alone!" Kazuki snapped and turned around to leave the kitchen, only for Rin to grab his arm and pull him further into the room. "Lemme go!"

"Aw, don't get that way! I made curry rice~!"

"I'm not hungry. I just came to get Ouji something to eat before I go upstairs, do my homework, and go to bed."

Rin gave his son a look of concern. "Seriously? Without dinner? When was the last time you ate today?" Kazuki said nothing and gave his father a hard glare, which was responded to with a worried look that didn't match his stern command of, "You're going to eat before anything else."

"You…! Ugh! Fine!"

Just like the previous night, the quarter-demon boy was led over to a table that had already been set with food, and made to eat in the chair next to his father. Kuro and Ouji, the latter of whom had snuck in while Rin and Kazuki were arguing, were already almost done with their plates as the father and son began theirs. The meal began in terse silence at first. Kazuki seemed to be taking out his frustrations on his food, angrily stirring the rice into the curry so it all sat in the center of the bowl in one sloppy mess. But after the boy fed himself a small spoonful of curry and rice, he calmed down a bit.

"So who was that I heard a while ago?" Rin asked now that he felt Kazuki was in a good enough mood to answer his questions. "The exorcist responsible for you?"

"He's responsible for me, but he's no exorcist."

"Oh?"

"He taking exorcist classes in cram school. Has to, he says."

"Really." He wanted to call it odd, but considering his own experiences in cram school, he couldn't. "And they trust a person who's not even an exorcist to take care of you?" And considering how Kazuki was starving yesterday, doing a poor job of it.

"He called his situation iffy. He says he's been dealing with demons for years, and that the exorcists would rather not have amateurs running around getting themselves killed, so he wound up being forced to come here, too." Oh, wonderful. A person for Kazuki to rage against the True Cross with. "He said he'll kill me if I get rowdy."

"Sounds like a pleasant guy. What's his name?"

"Kuroba."

"Kuroba what?"

"That's all he told me when he introduced himself. Get off of it already…"

Rin fell silent as he searched his mind for more topics. He looked at Kazuki's plate and noticed that he wasn't eating anymore. In fact, he was pretty sure he hadn't seen him eat more than that small spoonful. "Eat. You won't be able to focus if you don't eat." Kazuki ate another spoonful of curry and rice. When his father continued to give him a hard stare, he ate more—although they were small bites. "How was your first day of school?"

"Which one?" Kazuki spoke before shoving another portion of curry rice into his mouth.

"Any one. Start from the beginning if you'd like." Rin wasn't expecting some grand story told with exuberance like his son used to do when he was small. Kazuki had made it plain to see that no amount of high praise for True Cross Academy would change the fact that he saw the school as a prison. So he wasn't surprised to hear Kazuki describe all his classes as 'boring'. "What about the students? Did you make friends?"

"I don't wanna make friends with anyone in this place. They're either rich kids, smart kids, or weirdoes that are crazy enough to wanna fight demons for a living. Not a normal kid in the bunch. Not that I'm not a freak or anything…"

"You aren't a freak."

"I have a tail," Kazuki spoke bluntly.

"Speaking of which, you don't have to keep it hidden while you're here, you know. If that other kid knows what you are, you're free to let it out."

"It's my tail and if I wanna keep it hidden, it's gonna stay hidden until I'm either dead or someone does me a favor and cuts it off," the dark-haired boy spoke quickly. "And before you say anything about 'accepting what I am', please don't. I don't have to accept anything. I just have to tolerate it until…" he trailed off and glared at a wall before shoveling a heaping amount of curry rice into his mouth.

Rin sighed as he took in the oddity of his son's all-too calm outburst. "Do I dare ask how your cram school classes went?"

"My classmates are stupid. What sort of crazy people decide to become exorcists when they can't even see demons? And then they decide to get bitten so they can see demons. Bunch of idiots…!"

Thus began another rant from Kazuki, which Rin honestly didn't mind. He preferred his son to be angry and complaining than quiet and secretive—even more so when he's eating spoonfuls of curry rice between his angry statement and swallowing before he continues. It's enough for Rin to fool himself into thinking that things will finally be going back to normal for them. And then, very suddenly, that anger faded and Kazuki began to stare at his father. "Hm? Is something wrong?"

"…You don't have to keep doing this. It has to be a drain on money since Mom isn't around anymore. You don't have to waste money trying to make me happy." Ah. A rare moment when he's actually understanding of his father.

"It isn't a waste. It's my job as your father to make sure you're well taken care of."

"But the money—"

"I'll get a part-time job if I have to make ends meet. But like I said, I can't trust you to eat healthy on your own. I'll stop if you can convince me that you can eat properly. Can you?" Rin stared at his son. Kazuki stared back before he picked up his plate and tried to eat everything that was left on it very quickly. Eventually, he ate more than he could handle and wound up coughing and choking on his food. "I wanted a verbal answer! Don't go choking yourself trying to please me!" Rin exclaimed as he struck his son's back in order to help him breathe.

X-X-X

A couple of hours after Rin and Kuro had left, Kazuki sat behind the desk in his room, staring down at a passage in a language textbook that he had to read for one of his normal classes. The books for his cram school classes were still in his bag, unopened from the moment he got them because he had no intention to study for classes he wasn't taking willingly. Once he was finished reading, Kazuki shut the book, put it away, got up and left the room.

He went downstairs to the bathroom and went into the stall closest to the door. He got on his knees, took a breath, and after a moment of preparation, the quarter-demon tried to make himself throw up. 'Tried' being the keyword because he honestly didn't know how to. He knew there were people who threw up willingly, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"Are you trying to make yourself vomit?" A voice spoke from behind Kazuki, making him immediately straighten up. He didn't look over his shoulder at the newcomer—his 3-in-1 roommate/handler/jailer who was barely older than him. "Don't tell me your plan is to off yourself by starving to death. How lame."

Kazuki shook with anger, but held himself. He ran away yesterday on an impulse, to escape the fate that others had planned for him. He'd gotten far, too, relying on the money he had in his pocket to take him as far as possible. It was only when he got to the nearest town that he realized that it was in vain. Even if he escaped from True Cross Town, he'd still be a demon in a world of demons that weren't seen by the blissfully ignorant normal people—a world he didn't belong in and didn't want to try belonging in. His only escape from it, in his opinion, was to die, and heaven knows if that was possible as he was now. So when he was attacked by Kuroba and dragged back to the academy campus, a thought formed in his mind: could he maybe starve to death? Surely regenerative healing couldn't save his body if it had nothing to sustain it. But then his dad had to shove his nose into his business and be a typical worrying, caring parent and see to it that he was fed something.

"You know…there are better ways of offing yourself. Much faster ways, anyway." Kuroba's voice drew closer, which made Kazuki stiffen. "Unless you're worried that something will go wrong, and that you'll wake up from whatever you do to yourself? If I were allowed to, I'd put you out of your misery," he whispered into his ear. "After all, the weak-willed are just bait to bring more demons into the world. If you can't change, it might be better if you're just put down…" After a few seconds, Kazuki heard a stifled laugh, then footsteps that eventually faded out.

After a few minutes of staring blankly at the tiled wall, Kazuki decided to get up from the floor and walk back to his room. He didn't feel the urge to try and empty his stomach, but the desire to fade from the face of the earth sat in his mind.