Chapter 12: Building

It all had to reach a breaking point sooner or later. In Satan's life, it's always sooner. Always.

Yukio looked up and then away, feeling embarrassed and worried. Beside him, his twin, Rin, just looked annoyed, hands on hips and glaring at the gutter where the ball had been caught as if it'd suddenly move under from sheer willpower. Yukio wouldn't have been surprised if it did. His brother's glares were just that scary, and Yukio knew he wasn't the only one who thought that. The teachers always clammed up whenever Rin glared at them, and they were adults! Only their father had grown immune, and that was just because of how often he and Rin fought…

Yukio decided to swallow the bitter medicine and take the blame. It was all his fault for throwing the ball too hard. Even if Rin had been trying to teach him, it was still his fault. Besides, he'd rather dad didn't get involved… "Um…I can go get dad, and maybe he…"

Satan felt his hackles rise at the mention of that man. Now that he'd adjusted to his body, Yukio didn't need to rely on that Paladin for anything but free food; Satan would do everything else for him! "No! I'll get it myself!"

"B-but Rin! It's so high up!" And stuck right in the middle of the gutter, away from the sides and places where it might be easier to reach. Yukio knew Rin was strong, but if he fell from that high up…?

"That's why I'll climb."

"But what if you fall?"

"Then I just won't fall. Simple."

"Rin…"

"Have some faith in me, would ya? I'll get the damn ball back and that shitty priest won't ever even know. Then we'll get back to business. I think you might have a future as a baseball player- you have a good arm on you." Satan noted, and smiled as Yukio flushed at the praise. His son's aim was uncanny even with glasses, and he swelled with pride at the unnatural accuracy.

Though the demon blood running through Yukio's veins could be measured in drops, now and again Satan saw the signs of it. Bursts of strength were a bit rarer, but he'd noticed that there was quite a nasty temper hiding under that meek exterior that was absolutely vicious. And maybe it was just Yuri's perfect genes, but Yukio was incredibly smart, outperforming his peers by leaps and bounds with discipline beyond his years. Satan would cultivate these traits, slowly but firmly force the boy's shell open, and raise him into an unshakable and strong pillar who none would dare cross.

But for now he had to keep the shitty priest out of the way. There was no way the fool would have approved of Satan's method of teaching, even for something as simple as throwing a ball properly. "Pretend your target is the face of that retarded idiot from school" was highly effective at drawing out Yukio's inner strength once he poked it a bit (it was cute that Yukio got noticeable worked up if Satan added "was being mean to me") and Yukio absorbed the form corrections like dry wood did fire.

But no, the Paladin was doing his best to try and teach the both of his 'sons' how to solve issues nonviolently. And while even Satan could agree violence wasn't always the answer, there were very few situations where a show of force wouldn't be useful. Mouth-breathing idiots who picked on Yukio? Teach Yukio ways to show off just how strong he could be and scare them away. Once Yukio's accuracy in general increased, Satan would see if they couldn't move up to knives. Deadly, sharp, easier to get than a gun in this stupid country, and with the added bonus of striking primal fear into hearts the way only claws could.

And if seeing that didn't scare the crap out of those brats, then Satan would just beat them up. Again.

Satan hummed in thought as he easily climbed the vertical pillar supporting the patio overhang. It'd be a bit tricky to teach the intricacies of the motions of knife throwing, but it'd be well worth it. A quick dip into some Holy Water he'd stolen from the shitty priest and Yukio would have his first way to defend himself from demons. Fighting lessons were a must now that the childish wobble had started to leave Yukio's limbs, though Satan wasn't expecting much when his son was so obviously a ranged fighter. And even that much would be hard with how much of an affect the shitty priest was having on Yukio, but Satan was sure he could undo all those idiotic teachings fairly easy. If nothing else, the man couldn't say that it was a bad idea for Yukio to learn how to defend himself, and it'd be easy to slip offensive lessons in. Not that Satan was going to share something that important with anyone in the first place. Oh no, he was going to be the only on to teach his child the really important life skills! And there was little more important in Gehenna that learning how to beat the absolute shit out of someone.

He didn't consider himself sentimental, but the thought of Yukio one day breaking some fool's kneecaps threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

The gutter creaked ominously under Satan's weight when he grabbed it, dragging him back to reality. He cursed the contradictory thing: what was its use when it was too weak to support him, but too strong to not drop the ball? He'd have pulled the entire thing down with his growing strength then and there, but it would just mean dealing with those worried glances from the shitty priest as the idiot worried his 'heritage' was peeking through. The moron thought he knew so much, when really he didn't understand a thing!

"Rin!"

"I'm fine!" Satan grumbled, and thought for a second, still clinging to the support beam like a particularly aggressive koala. He drew himself tight and tensed his muscles, pulling all his power inward before letting it explode outward with a heave upward. Satan leapt straight up, missing the gutter by an inch, and lashed his hand out towards the slopping roof, fingers catching the edge of a tile. With a grunt, the demon hauled himself onto the roof, skipping the rickety gutter entirely except when his foot kicked it.

Yukio gasped at the feat, expression filled with nothing but childish awe and near-worship that sent bubbling, giddy, feelings flowing through Satan's chest. He grinned and flashed an exaggerated thumbs-up at Yukio, who's eyes somehow grew wider. "See, I told you everything would be fine. Looks like you were wrong."

Yukio flushed, embarrassed, "R-right…"

"Huh, what was that? I didn't hear 'you're the bestest, most reliable big brother ever!' you know!"

"Bestest isn't a word…"

"Huh, you're right. Good thing you're so smart." Satan faked surprise and grinned at Yukio's stuttering. Perfect. "Here, catch!"

Yukio fumbled the ball, nearly losing his glasses, but it didn't matter to Satan. Now that his hands were free, he could see about getting down-

"Rin, what are you doing?!"

The shriek, nearly hysteric with fear, startled Satan and his head snapped toward the offending sound to see one of the clergymen. A roof tile slipped free and Satan fell forward and off the roof, bouncing off the rusty gutter and suddenly airborne. The idiot had frozen up, and Satan had just enough time to spot the stupid look of surprise before the world tilted too much. He caught a flash of greyed hair, and there was the shitty priest, screaming, tearing his way across the yard, but he was too far away to even have a chance. Satan hit the ground hard and at a terrible angle, his back and shoulders taking the brunt of the force and his head snapped to the side. If he were anyone else his neck would have snapped immediately, but Satan just hissed at the sharp pain and fell limply on the ground to wait out the dizziness. He might have blacked out a little bit, because suddenly the shitty priest was leaning over him, lightly slapping his face and yelling about staying awake.

That didn't matter nearly as much as a sobbing Yukio, and he tried to push the shitty priest away and reach his child. It was wrong for Yukio to cry over him; he was the strong one who did all the worrying and tears were wasted on him. Except he felt weak, a bit dizzy, and he realized he was bleeding a whole lot from where he'd cut his arm somehow. He groaned as he was carried inside, hating every second and doing his best to will away the spinning. He was flipped and prodded uncomfortably, but didn't resist, recognizing a check for wounds instantly. The treatment was quick and effective, calloused fingers steady as they cleaned his injuries and tied them tight.

At some point when he was trying to not pass out, Yukio must have spilled the entire story, because when Satan finally sat up, feeling considerably better, Shiro was there, looking stern. An actual child would have coward, but Satan just met the look with an unamused glare.

"What."

It wasn't actually a question, but Shiro took the invitation anyway, "All that for a ball? You should have just called me, I would have-!"

Oh no, this was in no way his fault, "If the fucking idiots you employed didn't have the worst timing everything would have been fine! I almost had it!"

"You shouldn't have been so reckless!"

"I can do whatever I damn well please, you shitty priest!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to not-? Why are you always like this?"

"Because fuck you! You aren't my father!"

"Why won't you let me at least try? Rin, you could have died, I thought you broke your neck!"

"It's still all your fault! Teach those fucks some common sense!"

"I-"

"It's all my fault!"

The screech stopped them both short, and Satan realized he'd forgotten Yukio was even there. Yukio, who was crying a fresh wave of tears, but doing his best to look determined, "It's all my fault! I…I wanted the ball, I told Rin to go get it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's all my fault so please just stop it! Stop fighting all the time over me…"

"Yukio…" Satan reached out, but Yukio shook his head furiously and refused to look up.

"Please stop…"

Shiro seemed to reach some sort of internal conclusion, because Satan could see him gather up his pathetic resolve and steel himself, "Yukio, you're right. Please, go upstairs. Rin and I need to talk."

"I'm not saying shit to you-"

"Then you can at least listen to what I have to say." Shiro's voice was short, snapping and with no room for argument. Satan hadn't thought the man was even capable of actually asserting himself, and was shocked into silence. That was all, he told himself, as the Paladin (and for the first time, that actually meant something) continued, gently, to the youngest there, "Yukio, Rin and I really need privacy. Understand?"

"Yes…"

The young boy nodded, wiping away his tears on his sleeve and turning to leave. He hesitated at the door's threshold, looking as if he'd fall apart as he looked back with tear-stained cheeks, "Rin…Please just…"

Yukio's words failed, and he fled with a whispered "Sorry…".

The door clicked shut, suffocating the room with silent tension. Rin was a drawn bow; ready to fire biting retorts the moment Shiro so much as opened his mouth. The Paladin took a long moment to wonder just how his greatest adversary had become the child he'd adopted, and not some great demon. It made a sickening amount of sense- Rin was Satan's child through and through, and with the greatest demon rumored to be absent, wouldn't it just be perfectly ironic for Rin to take up-

Shiro crushed the thoughts underfoot before they could plant doubt in his heart. No, he wouldn't let what ifs taint his thoughts, "I know you don't like this, Rin, and I know you're only doing this because Yukio asked, so I'll keep this quick, ok? I just want to know one thing, Rin. One thing, and I'll leave you alone, ok?"

"Fine." Anything that would make this farce end quicker so he could see Yukio without any annoying interruptions or-

"Why are you determined to hate me?"