Sorry for the extremely late update, I was so busy during January with yada yada etc etc =.= too much things to do! Seriously! In fact I just started composing the chap 3 days ago :/
Yukio centric! I don't exactly know what centric means but I hope it means it's focused on Yukio. Well, I feel bad for neglecting him actually. Sorry Yukio! :(
WARNING: There are 6(SIX!) separate stories and massive time jumps written in this chap so please pay attention to details! Otherwise you'll be confused! And there's one story here which is taken from chap 2&3 that is Yukio's explanation to Shura and Rin on what happened to him during Loveless Night when he was 6 years old. I suggest you go back reread it a little bit if you forget:)
Enjoy~
He exhaled, two weary fingers pinched the bridge of his nose slowly- leaving a residual spot of reddish mar on his pale skin.
One young exorcist found his scrunched-up emerald eyes to continuously stare at his reflection on the bathroom mirror, shirtless and dripping with post-shower droplets, raking over his figure with eagle-like observation again, and again, and again.
And again.
No he was not a narcissist with nothing better to do than admiring a half-naked reflection of himself for half-an-hour, nor was he a voyeur that loved to poke and play around with his body.
Yukio was just trying to convince himself that the sight of his full-of-reddish-purple spots on his body was not fate's joke of playing a so-not-funny prank on him.
And when you thought of Yukio, you wouldn't forget a distinct feature about him, that was his three dots of facial mark.
So the atrociousness of the state he was in (which inconveniently made him looked like that he was just raped by a savage beast) was even fueled up by the fact that the darkening hickeys weren't the only unwanted blotches of spots that littered all over his body. There were still his f***ing MOLES. His numerous, condemned, abhorrent, malicious, freaking MOLES. It looked as if someone had just dipped a brush in a mixture of red, blue, purple, and black paint then randomly splattered a generous amount of them on his upper half body.
Thankfully, none went near his neck so hiding the rest beneath the designated uniform would be a piece of cake.
But still...
Yukio's brow twitched.
Today he would have swimming on his third period.
"Nii-san...", he muttered darkly, his upper half of face was shrouded with ominous shadow that chanted death upon any poor being that gazed at him. His homicidal eye peered murderously over his shoulder, "Just watch, I'll make sure you'll definitely pay FOR THIS!"
Nevertheless, Rin was gone from his brother's wrathful sight during the whole day. He must have been terribly afraid of what Yukio had in his sleeve for his vengeance, look, he even woke up early!
.
.
.
LoveLess
Chapter 11: In the Span of Time
I'll find repose in new ways
Though I haven't slept in two days
'Cause cold nostalgia
Chills me to the bone
But drenched in vanilla twilight
I'll sit on the front porch all night
Waist-deep in thought because
When I think of you I don't feel so alone
OwlCity- Vanila Twilight
.
Fujimoto Shiro laughed at his youngest child's remark. The small child was snugly seated in his father's lap, a thin full-colored story book was opened in his own lap.
"The cowman doesn't wear his clothes wrongly", Shiro amusedly tried to point out, "he just likes to wear his red underwear over his tight blue pants. And no, you can't wear your clothes like that!"
Yukio cutely blinked his wide eyes before he excitedly bounced on his buttocks, and repeatedly slammed his tiny hands on the page.
The father laughed, knowing what the little kid wanted he continued, "The cowman and the princess he saved then lived happily ever after. The end"
Yukio hummed happily, completely satisfied at the awesome story, as his eyes diligently absorbed every detail of the large picture on the last page. It featured a clad-superhero-like humanoid cow flying towards the sunset with the princess in his arms. He blinked when he found a particularly weird scribbling depicted over the couple.
"Otou-san", he craned his neck to stare at his father's face, "what's this?", a tiny finger pointed at the weird caligraphy-like word.
Shiro observed the word briefly, "Oh, that's an old Chinese calligraphy, ai, meaning love"
"You see Yukio", Shiro swiveled his finger around the square character, "Inside this square, there are three dots which represent the deeper meaning of love. The first one, is a drop of tear. This means love is soooo deep that it sometimes causes you pain. The second one, is a drop of sweat, which says that to love, there are certain contributions you must made on someone you love's behalf. And the last one", he pointed at the last dot, "is the drop of blood. The one where you might sacrifice your own body in order to protect the one you love"
Then Shiro turned to the boy, "Do you understand Yukio?"
Yukio stared at his father for several silent seconds before smiling cheekily, flashing the sight of his recently-grown four milk-teeth.
"No!"
Shiro sighed as he released his hold on the child, Yukio eagerly jumped out and ran to play with his giant bouncy ball.
"Well", Shiro leaned back and watched his energetic kid played around with his ball, a smile was seated leisurely in his lips, "You'll find out what love is eventually... in your own long life"
.
Thunders roared malevolently and cruel lightning perpetually struck past the tall stained-glass windows, generating fleeting flashes on the high-ceiling room with facets of various colors. It was approaching midnight, yet the storm hadn't receded in the slightest bit, violent winds consistently swang the majestic trees back and forth like flimsy branches.
Three men were in the bedroom, one lying down, one sitting, and one standing up.
"It's no good head priest", a plump man with swollen cheeks began grimly, holding the thermometer in a way that was visible to the man behind him. He flipped the wash cloth covering the forehead of a sleeping teen, with deeply flushed skin and a sheen of sweat covering his neck, "His fever isn't going down. At this rate, he could seriously..."
Shiro, from his standing position, stared down anxiously at the ill teen. Silence hang like a dead-weight in the room.
"I'll go change the water", the man gathered the gradually cooling water bucket in his arms. Paying one last glance at the distraught father, he quietly left the room.
The Paladin was truly at lost. There, his precious child was laying helplessly, plagued with an intense fever and yet he could do nothing. Medication was limited in the grandiose church and a hospital-admission was not an option in this kind of weather. Now he regretted brushing off Yukio's slight languid condition before coming to this secluded ancient-Renaissance church high up the mountain.
Nothing could be done now...
The door opened briefly before quietly closing again.
"*Oyaji", a placid voice whispered. Rin strode over soundlessly and stood next to his father, worried eyes directed intently at the form of his still brother, "How is he?"
*a rude way to address a father
Shiro shook his head, "It's not good, his temperature is escalating at an alarming rate and we don't have any strong medicine to bring it down"
Rin's face darkened in deep contemplation, eyes still trained on his twin before it adopted a glint of finality, "He needs medicine right? Then I'll go down the mountain to fetch some in the pharmacy store, I saw one at the foot of this mountain"
Shiro turned disapproving eyes towards Rin in alarm, as he hissed out angrily, "Absolutely not! Not in this kind of weather! We have to wait for the storm to subside first otherwise it'll be suicide!"
Rin didn't show any sign of fear at being the receiving end of his father's rare furious eyes, "I'll be fine, you worry too much old fart. Besides it's Yukio, I can't just sit around and do nuthin' "
"Now listen to me Rin", Shiro pumped as much of threatening tone he could to his voice, "In this kind of storm no one in their right mind would even step outside. It's too dangerous! You can be swiped off your footing from the harsh wind alone and large trees could be falling down plus the soil is mushy and extremely slippery!"
Rin stared blankly at his father, "Thanks for laying out the impressive details Oyaji, but I'm still going. You can't stop me", he turned to leave.
Suddenly a cold hand seized his own and tugged on the limb limply.
Yukio caught his brother's gaze with half-lidded worn-out eyes and rasped out, "Do-don't go nii-san. It's da-dangerous", he gripped his twin's hand tighter.
Rin merely smiled softly and leaned down to peck a kiss on his twin's burning forehead, "Don't worry Yukio", he soothingly spoke out, "You should just get some sleep. Let your onii-san take care of the rest 'kay?"
Yukio weakly tried to keep his twin's hand in place but Rin easily slipped out of his jelly-like grip.
Quiet steps were heard and gradually receded down. The sound of the raging storm became louder for a little while before it died down along the closing click of the front door.
Leaving one worry-stricken father helplessly slumped down on a chair, and a green-eyed teen lying motionlessly in the bed.
Yukio felt pain he had never felt before clenching deep in his torso.
'Nii-san...'
.
"Argh, the bastard's too strong! Just forget it guys let's scram!", a mean-looking boy screamed out to his underlings.
The bullies didn't waste any second and in a flash had fled from the scene. They were no fools, they knew from the injuries being mercilessly inflicted on them that the kid was... simply speaking, bad news.
An eight-year-old Yukio was on his butt, trembling uncontrollably with free tears and snots running down his face. It was another session of his constant bullying from the two-years-older delinquents who fancied teasing him and his weak body.
But this time... A boy turned towards him with concerned blue eyes... His nii-san had jumped to the rescue and chased them all away.
"You okay?", Rin knelt in front of him then studied his brother meticulously.
Yukio rubbed his eyes and nodded timidly, "Uu-uuum", dutifully keeping his head down. He didn't want to look up, he didn't dare to. He had just shown the most shameful side of him to his twin, and... his eyes caught sight on several bloody scratches Rin supported... he even took some serious beating because of him!
"Hey look at me"
Yukio flinched but adamantly shook his head.
He could hear his brother sighed then sat down, "Ne, if ya don't look up, I can't see if yer find or not", warm hands cupped his wet cheeks and softly but persistently lifted his head up.
Yukio's eyes came in contact with Rin's. The child was positive that Rin would give him the evil eye, he totally deserved it, but surprisingly saw none of that. Only pure concern and care.
Rin's hand carefully clenched on Yukio's fallen spectacles, a clean crack marred one of the lens. Yukio didn't know why but when Rin studied his broken glasses, it looked as if it was Rin himself that was broken.
"Yukio", his brother whispered softly and then embraced him in a choking hug. Yukio's eyes involuntarily widened in astonishment, truly not expecting the sudden intimate gesture.
"Ni-nii-san?"
"..orry"
"W-what?"
"I'm sorry... yer glasses are broken.. I-I couldn't come to ya in time.."
Yukio awkwardly wrapped his arms around his elder brother, "Wh-what are you saying nii-san? I should be the one to blame for making you get beaten up so badly..."
"Still!", Rin's face was suddenly in front of his face, shockingly with tears leaking down the sapphire orbs. He hiccuped, "It-it hurts!", he took Yukio's hand and placed it on his beating chest, "Not my wounds.. here"
Yukio blinked before his eyes softened. It was supposedly too vague to be comprehended by his child's mind, but he somehow understood. He just could tell its meaning based on what fluttering feeling that washed over him when hearing those honest genuine words.
"The first drop, the drop of tear. Sometimes, love hurts so much until it is unbearable and you feel like shedding tears... for no apparent reason"
.
Tap.. Tap.. Tap..
Faint steps echoed in the near quietness of the deserted area, a narrow alleyway packed with small oldies stores which were mostly closed. The teen's pace was calm but slightly out of tune due to the barely noticeable wobbling in his gait.
Yukio adjusted his slipping black bag by straightening his limp shoulder, cold green eyes nonchalantly set to his front in contrast to his clear mind and aching but still active muscle.
Today's training had been hard, Shiro, his adoptive father, had drilled a new method of shooting barrage which involved him propelling thousands of precise bullets to sophisticated moving targets all day long. Now his whole body was sore and his eyes were literally ready to shut down.
It didn't take a professional's eyes to correctly deduce that Yukio was a natural. Within several short years of thorough training, his skills had far surpassed many novice shooters and his intelligent person made him an even more irreplaceable asset in the exorcism world. He put his goal in front of him and placed his own self behind it. His priority was strictly replaced and he accepted that whole-heartedly. But now in his denatured state, his mind found a crevice through his stern conviction and a certain brewing thought leaked passed the barrier.
Why am I even doing all of this?
Yukio clenched his jaws. No... He had sworn to never back down on or even question his resolve. The one he made seven years ago when he accepted those pair of guns.
Clink.
"Welcome to The Potiphar Diner!"
The weary exorcist offered a half-smile to the proprietor as he welcomed himself inside the tiny restaurant.
This secluded dining house didn't look much on the inside, as well as the outside. People would simply glide their eyes over it, never thinking of checking the dull restaurant out. Yet, he was too hungry to care... And no one should recognize him here.
Being tired resulted in him not wanting to indulge himself in frolic chatting, the one where you had to smile and pretend laughing a lot. Yukio inwardly gave a bemused scoff. At this rate, he would become a loner for sure.
As he scanned the menu, he was slightly surprised to see a peculiar dish which particularly interested him greatly. Mighty Pony Rainbow. Its choice of name was simply speaking unspeakable and beyond childish yet deep inside he felt a queer yearning to...
"Excuse me"
The waitress readily sauntered over to him, waiting for his order.
"I'll have this one please"
The girl raised a brief eyebrow before smiling amusedly, "None have ever asked for that before actually, perhaps because of the ludicrous name. But it's very delicious!", the waitress gave two appreciative thumbs-up, "You've got a good eye, sir"
Yukio's lips quirked into a subtle smile, saying nothing more as the girl reread his order then left.
.
Oh merciful God…", Shiro dejectedly mumbled as he dutifully replaced the washcloth, "please…", he put his forehead on his twined fingers in a display of a thoroughly taxed mind, "… let Rin be safe"
It had been three hours since Rin left, and yet there was no sign of him coming back. The priests were only slightly worried but Shiro looked as if he was ready to pass out in any second. To make matters worse, the storm hadn't even subsided its raging wrath.
Yukio couldn't fall asleep. His eyelids felt heavy, but everytime he gave in, an image of his brother flashed passed his mind. He truly was worried sick, Rin was out there alone for his sake without any means of calling for help should he run into trouble. Completely at the mercy of the cynical nature. His mind started brewing plenty of bad 'what ifs' and they were getting worse and worse in each passing second.
'Rin where are you?', he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched on his blanket's end, 'I'm scared...'
How he wanted to curse himself for not attempting harder to prevent his brother from pulling off these kinds of risky missions. He wouldn't forgive himself if... if... something happened...
'No!', he mentally shook off the thought, 'he will be safe! He's Rin after all'
Just as the clock striked two in the morning, excited chatters were heard before the sound of multiple steps drew closer to the room. Then it was slammed open.
"Oyaji!", the voice was cheerful but it was accompanied with rushed pants. Rin grinned cheekily as he pulled down his dripping hood and held up a black plastic bag to the stunned duo, "I got it!"
Yukio pulled himself up a little as he stared at his brother with wide eyes. Rin came nearer to bed and handed over the medicine to Shiro. To say that his brother was wet was an understatement. He was absolutely drenched from head to toe, even the raincoat didn't do much good to cover up everything. The proof? His thoroughly soaked hair and face as if someone had just dumped a bucket of water on him. The insides of his clothing certainly wouldn't be different.
A new pain grew in his chest, but it wasn't the same as before.
"Nii-san..."
Rin, who was busy preparing the medicine, then riveted his attention towards his twin, "Hm?"
"A-", a drop of tear fell from his eyes, "Arigato... nii-san"
Rin's eyes softened for a while before he smirked teasingly, "What's this? Are ya crying four eyes?"
Yukio furiously rubbed his arm over his eyes, "N-no! This is from the fever!"
The occupants of the room all laughed amusedly as they cooed at how cute Yukio was when he was crying.
"The second drop, the drop of sweat. Sometimes love prompts you to do certain exhausting contributions you must made for your beloved's behalf"
.
The demon roared before swiping its enlarged tail on the dirt ground, sweeping the pests it considered the exorcists as off their footing. The impact caught both brothers off guard and they whirled airborne beyond the cliff, and down to the valley below.
Their fellow exorcists' panicked screams became quickly inaudible, swallowed by gales of galloping wind gushing at the brothers.
He considered himself to be a professional, Yukio did, his sense of self-pride clearly surpassed that of normal teenagers. But now- emerald eyes widened in newly-accumulating-terror, absorbing the frightening bare landscape closing in on him and the harsh whips of chilling air rushing past him in cruel flashes of reality. He felt like he had reverted back to the scaredy-cat spectacled kid he was before. Small. Insignificant. Fragile. Mortal...
"Yukio!"
The owner of the name jolted, and craned his neck with great difficulty to face the source of the voice, of course, the most familiar for him.
Gazes were locked across the vertical harsh wind, blazing blue clashed with fearful green. The eyes of his brother were unwavering, during the midst of their dying descend, the pair of clear blue orbs searched and sparked in him in intense turmoil of connecting emotions.
Rin's body was surrounded with his lethal and scorching blue fire, its scope was steadily growing to a frightening size as it swirled around him, literally forming a giant ball of hell fire. His brother's jagged pupil were still trained on him as Rin stretched his hands outwards in a clear invitation of an embrace.
He mouthed out,
"Do you trust me?"
The spectacled seven-year-old boy blinked from his high perch above, tears pouring out from his doe-like eyes, blurring the image of his older brother down there.
"W-what?"
"I say jump down", Rin stretched his hands upwards, patiently watching his brother trembling like he was having a seizure attack from the third-floor little window, "Don't worry I'll catch you"
Yukio gulped as he looked down. The floor he was in was at least 12 good feet away to the ground, and the trees were too far away to be reached by his meager jumping ability. Throb. Spasms of cold adrenaline continuously assaulted the poor kid, steadily sapping away at both his physical body and his logical deduction ability.
'I couldn't do it… There's no way I could… if I jump I surely would die!'
Die… he backed away on trembling legs from the edge of the window sill. Every horrible scenario seeped and invaded his whirling mind, clouding it with fearsome delusions which clamped his chest in tight unyielding binds.
Jump!
I'll die!
You have to!
I'm scared!
"Yukio!", Rin yelled in a strained voice, as to avoid being heard by unwanted parties, promptly gaining his brother's attention. He looked hard in his twin's green eyes and spoke harshly, "You have to jump! If not Oyaji will be beaten to a pulp by those thugs!"
"B-but", his tears accumulated even more, "I'm scared!"
Rin sighed, "Don't worry, I've told you I'll catch you", he then opened his arms wide, "Do you trust me?"
If one was speaking about trusting someone, every person ought to have at least one. The degree of trust could be limited only in the extent of commercial partnerships or between friends in simple gossip matter of not letting the cat out of the bag. Or, in an extreme case, entrusting one's life entirely to a certain person. In this case, a demon. This line of thinking was actually far from a prejudice, merely a logical reasoning any person would come to in order to stay living.
Time was slipping and in his descent, he managed to formulate an instinctual conclusion from bits he subsconciously gathered from years of experiences. The sinister blue fire unnerved his natural defence system greatly, but the person controlling it was warmer and more reliable than anyone else. Demonic blue eyes, although seemed baleful to most people, yet he couldn't feel afraid of them.
"Do you trust me?"
Yes, how could I not?
"I dive into the swirling ball of fire hell, its sparks quickly licking and wrapping around the whole of my body. When my perceptive analysis insistently screams that it is unthinkable and downright moronic, I only feel warmth. Warmth that is as soothing as the subtle rays of sunrise, and as safe as a mother's loving arms. It is a necessity, my subsistence, and I realize that from the very beginning, I long for it"
.
Yukio?"
Yukio stopped his fingers from idly twirling the chopsticks and glanced up. And widened his eyes so when he did.
The one apron-wearing waiter that delivered his food was none other than his brother. Rin's blue eyes widened at him, also in disbelief, good thing he didn't lose hold of the tray he had in his hands.
The spectacled-teen gaped, "You... work here?"
"Uuum", Rin riveted his eyes away from his brother's questioning ones before placing the tray timidly on the table, "Y-yeah. Actually it was since a week ago"
"Oooh... I see"
"Yo-you're not mad?"
"Why would I be?", Yukio smiled in amusement and gestured a hand towards a lone vacant chair in his table, "Please sit down nii-san"
Rin brightened up at that as he eagerly took a seat in front of his twin.
"So you work here huh? That explains why a restaurant would give such an atrocious name for its dish", the younger twin teased smoothly while impaling a piece of sliced mushroom with his fork.
Rin blushed, "Hey! Not my fault I suck at inventing pretty names for food! And the most important thing is not the naming but the flavor, it's eeevery cook's art!"
Yukio laughed, "Quite logical, at the very least for you. ("Hey!") But of course, your cooking is...", he brought the dark-stained mushroom to his mouth and chewed on it tentatively, "... second to none"
And so the unexpected meeting between brothers turned to a warm-hearted chat spiced with inoffensive teasing remarks. The topics were quite random and varied, pretty much every sector of a teenager's life they managed to cover up. Yukio was quite surprised. At home, they rarely talked or even saw each other due to their own hectic schedule, if not for having the same home, they might as well considered each other to be a stranger.
Yet at the most unseemly place, they managed to connect as brothers.
Yukio raised an eyebrow at seeing his brother scrutinizing him with such a serious expression "Is something the matter nii-san?"
Rin hmm-ed and rubbed his chin in contemplation, "You look tired", he pointed out.
"I do?"
"Yeah", the elder twin confirmed as he brushed a lock of his brother's hair off his eyes, "And not only physically, but mentally"
Throb.
"I'm only tired, there's no need to worry nii-san"
"A lie. You might be able to fool other people with that indifference, but not me"
Rin's eyes were drilling heavily into him, effortlessly stripping him off of every of his mental barrier he had built to ward people's off from his true feelings. Now it was all crumbling into nothingness.
Yukio emerald eyes, which were usually so full of confidence and impenetrable defence, slowly swiveled with a tint of vulnerability.
Rin softened his eyes and spoke in a soothing tone, "Tell me"
Yukio pursed his lips and Rin squeezed his hand lightly as a form of reassurance.
"Nii-san", he hated how he sounded now, so weak and so pitiful, but he had no power to shake away his brother's gaze. He had always not been able to, "I-I-I have this one purpose, the one I've sworn to keep fighting for and the one I believe to have been the right choice for me. But... now when I've continuously faced a lot of serious obstacles in the road, I feel extremely tired. There's this deep hole in my heart, and it's constantly aching. There are screams in my mind to just stop and abandon everything... but... but I don't want to, but I also want to. It-it's so confusing a-a-and I no longer know what to do..."
Help me.
Rin continued to stare at his brother a little while before chuckling, "People say that someone who doesn't have a definite goal is a future trash, a dirt on a superior someone's shoe. Like me. But Yukio, I can see that you've already passed that point of uncertainty and is progressing steadily towards the completion of that goal. You've contributed more than common people for that, time, wil, heart, mind, sweat, " Rin traced a musing thumb on the dish plate, a small smile situated in his lips, "...and love"
"You've always become a pillar of strength Yukio and dare I say, I've known no one stronger than you", Rin reached out a hand and cradled the side of his twin's head lovingly, "and this single purpose you have, if it's truly important to you, I believe you'll find a way. To protect both it and you", Rin's face broke into a bright grin.
Yukio stared at his brother before his gaze softened, "Yes it is...", he covered his twin's hand, squeezing it softly, as he closed his eyes,"...nothing's more important for me"
Nothing's more important for me than...
.
The teen slowly returned to the land of consciousness, blinking his bleary eyes rapidly and trying to will away the dark spots hindering his vision. His head was swimming but fortunately it steadily dimmed down to a bearable level.
Yukio's vision was finally coming into focus as he groaned when a particular throb wrecked his thumping head. A sudden sensation of falling assaulted his gut as he jerked to be fully-awake, wide stunned eyes blinked repetitively.
'A-am I dead?' Not likely. A quick scan of his surrounding he concluded that he was somehow laying on a barren surrounding, the exact view he saw down there when he was falling freely
Now that he successfully registered within the real world, he could feel that he was laying on a warm something. He looked down in question, and a terrible feeling of horror seized his heart painfully.
Rin... Unmoving and unresponsive. While he himself didn't suffer any accountable injury, his brother seemed to take quite serious impacts due to the falling speed and also the addition of his little brother's weight. The telltale sign of blood could be spotted leaking out from underneath him.
"Nii-nii-san", with trembling hands Yukio reached down and gently shook his twin's shoulders, "Wake up"
His fear escalated when the teen didn't even stir from the stimulation. He called out his name desperately again and again, and with every silence which hang after that, he grew more anxious to the point of suffering a major panick-attack.
"No no no, don't die! Please... Nii-san!"
"Who the heck dies *cough* Yukio...", a raspy voice chuckled and a warm arm wrapped around his nether waist.
Yukio blinked back the tears, faint hope rapidly blossoming in his chest at hearing the particular voice. Rin had his eyes opened and was staring up at him with tired amusement. Now that he took a good look at him, a wide trail of blood could be seen flowing from beneath his hair down to his left jaws and his shirt and pants were torn savagely in various of places. A new set of tears started to accumulate at the back of his eyes as he leaned down and tightly glomped on the limp body.
"Rin! Thank God you're okay! Bu.. But...", he gestured a wild arm towards the sheer height of the cliff, "How? H-h-how can we, you know, survive?"
Rin chuckled as he flared back his fire, engulfing an astonished Yukio in the process. Rin extended his hand into the fire and softly dragged it across the blue living curtain, generating a few ripples in the blaze.
"It's all thanks to this. When we were falling down, I had this sudden, and completely crazy idea... to expand my blue flame into a giant ball and hope it's power would be enough to decelerate our falling speed before we hit the ground", he explained and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
Yukio widened his perplexed eyes in both awe and ludicrousness. It made sense. The flame was technically the outward manifestation of his energy and certainly possessed some sort of repelling ability. So if he extended the diameter, it could possibly act as a makeshift substance to slow down their descend.
Incredibly reckless, shallow thinking, indefinite luck-based idea, but an idea nonetheless. And it had saved them from literally going splat to grotesque innumerable pieces.
As the flame continued dancing a slow waltz around the pair of twins, Yukio held his head down. He vaguely remembered Rin wrapping his arms around him protectively, and also, without hesitation, positioned himself beneath him so that he would take the majority of the impact.
"The third drop, the drop of blood. Sometimes, love forces you to make difficult choices, certain sacrifices which hurt you physically... to save your beloved"
Mixtures of feelings were flourishing inside him, unable to contain it inside, he mumbled quietly, "Tha-thank you.. Nii-san.. for saving me"
Rin grinned, "No need to thank me bro, it's what big brothers are for right? And, you know what?" he caught Yukio in his intense blue eyes, so tender and sincere, blessing him with the limitless expanse of love, "I'm truly happy, that you chose to jump"
Diving into the sea of deadly fire willingly during the midst of a dying descend was not an easy feat. It required great courage... and trust on the expense of one's own life.
"Thank you for trusting me", he whispered softly and truthfully, leaving a lingering impression as if he's the most happiest of men in the world.
Yukio was briefly stunned by the shameless but likely genuine confession, so his elder brother took the opportunity to cup his hands on his twin's cheeks, leaning closer and closer. Closer, steadily closing the gap between them.
Then their lips finally connected in a chaste kiss. Firm arms slithered around his neck and back to pull their bodies flush tightly together. Yukio simply remained frozen when his brother trailed his tongue on his lower lip and nibbled innocently on it.
It was over as soon as it began. The chemistry was cut with-
"OKUMURA! Both Okumura! Are you guys ALIVE?!", Shima's voice shrieked suddenly, jolting both brothers, as pitter patter of footsteps drew closer to them.
-a frantic interrupting scream from a worried-to-death pink-haired buddy.
Yukio blinked, his mind was still hazy and unresponsive from the unexpected kiss. Rin grinned cheekily at him then got off from under the larger male, quickly limping over to his panicking fellow exorcists.
As Rin indulged into a loud conversation with his peers, Yukio finally grasped what had transpired just now and became internally combusted with embarassment. His whole body blushed deep scarlet as he covered his face with both of his palms.
Hyaaa~ me and nii-san just...!
And when he gathered what courage was left to look towards Rin, his heart skipped a beat at seeing Rin winking mischievously at him.
He opened his mouth, to try to think of a retort, but came to nothing. He then closed back his mouth then simply got up, dusting his pants to rid the dirt.. with a small smile poised at his lips.
"I think... I know what you meant now Father... It is not easy, it takes years to correctly pinpoint and prove its worth, even after such time it just covers a small part of it. The meaning of the word you described twelve years ago,
LOVE...
More painful than being stabbed with a knife, more tiring than running a marathon track across the country, and more dangerous than challenging a ravenous herd of lions.
Yet...
It was warm, a savory feeling which often described as the proverbial indescribable . Love was like the summer sun, its heat was unbearable and searingly hot, yet without it life simply wouldn't be possible. It was a vital sustenance, a rhythm in a melody... presence of water in an ocean.
And it is a treasure, more valuable than a sum up of everything in this world"
.
End
Another long chap!
Well hope you enjoy it! Yeah I know, I didn't clarify on Yukio's feelings but that's for you readers to decipher based on everything laid out in here *yay!* otherwise it won't be fun~
You are free to guess though!
Answers on the 10th chapter reviews:
GreenEternalFlame: thank you! Please keep reading it!
Shiazen: you really think the lemon is great? Thank you! Personally I think I've completely screwed up :3 Don't worry the author is still writing~
FreshBleach: happy belated birthday! Does my 'Rin' means the personality of Rin in here? Thank you for liking it! What do you like about this 'Rin' if I may ask?
twilightserius: umm... I think that's because they're half demons so their genes behave differently than humans :D
guest: thanks!
Wyntermichaelis: great suggestion! Thank you! I'll consider it :D
PrinceRoxas: mwahahahaha coz I like sad Rin! Don't worry, the play is coming in the next 2 chapters or so~ lemon eh? Hahaha I might or might not! *author get kicked*
SuzukiKuma: sorry I can't promise fast updates because my own schedule is cramped :( thanks for liking it though
ashjs816: thanks! And if I may ask, what does your author name stands for? I'm just curious :)
anon: thank you! I love fluffs~ mwahahahaha the Grand red moon eh? You'll find out soon *mysterious smile* what REALLY? I totally have to listen to the song! What's the title? *glimmering eyes*
dragonlykitty: thank you! I'm glad that you like my style which is kinda... long and unbearably descriptive :/ well, pliz keep reading~
OnnaMusha: Mwahahaha there will be 'sessions' between Yukio and Rin believe me :p thank you for the name suggestion! And I hope you continue writing that orific of yours! Long live plants army! XD
MikaZuki Blood AngelofDarkness: you think so too right? XD hahaha now that I reread it, it does sound a bit off. Thanks!
Akihisa Sugisaki: thank you! I actually like emotional development :) really? Seriously? There will be a movie coming in this year?! When will it be aired?! *overly excited* oooooh lovely suggestion! I'll consider it, thanks! XD
A big fan: Thank you so much for loving it! Yeah I do fancy fluffs so you can expect more of it in later chapters *wink* I'm really happy if someone appreciate the length coz it was hell to edit it so thanks a bunch~ Really? It isn't childish 0.0 somehow I can't believe that hahaha, well stay alert for other updates! XD
Evil Light 0713: All hail FLUFFY!
SeverusDmitri18: Here you go~
Elvina Potter: Mwahahaha it is right? Using Rin's emotional torture! *yay* Great idea! Yeah their bond is so much special than others, it is the reason behind the birth of this fic :) *chuckling madly* maybe or maybe not... U huv 2 read 2 find out! Thanks for always dropping reviews!
CONTINUE PLS: no it isn't dropped, I'm just too lazy to update *grin*
Next up~ the start of True Cross cultural festival :)
Please drop a review guys, it really makes me happy! And a happy author results in updates! XD
~Golden Mist Fox