Chapter 15: Echoes of the Future
Satan was undisputed tyrant of the playground. He'd climbed the ranks laughably easy- even the oh-so mighty fifth graders who towered over him by half a foot ran away crying when he barely touched them! None of the fools who'd attacked him wanted to admit that they'd been beaten up by a kid half their size and only in the third grade, so instead they plotted. Even when they'd ganged up on him like the cowards that they were after school one day, Satan hadn't even so much as twitched. Instead, he pushed Yukio behind him and stood there, as unmovable as the brick walls on either side.
Some would say he was trapped, but Satan saw things a little differently. The walls only meant his prey couldn't escape.
It should have been easy for the demon, but his body was still tiny and light without his real power. He couldn't draw out his flames and the power they brought if he didn't intend to kill the witnesses, and Yukio was behind him, terrified. So he fought, vicious and feral, tackling legs and stomping on the softer bits that left the boys in so much pain they couldn't even scream. Satan threw the obese fool thrice his size who'd tried to pin him twenty feet away and at the feet of his remaining allies like a twisted offering, and, all at once, the fighting seemed to stop.
It wasn't nearly as far as he'd have liked, and it left him tired, but it also made him feel strange…It had been too long since he'd had a good fight, ever if he had to hold back his power, even if he felt tired like this, the roaring in his ears coupled with the wannabe bullies terrified faces was positively addicting.
Satan's grin was bloodthirsty madness and his eyes were just a little too bright in the darkness of the side street. His flaming heart demanded sacrifice.
The ragtag group of kids, like the cowards they were, fled in terror with shrill screams.
"Monster!"
"Demon!"
Satan felt his blood rush even faster, and his grin threatened to split his face. The raw terror, the thought that fleeing would make them safe, their own hubris, all of it was mouthwatering. He lowered himself until his was half-crouched, ready to sprint after he felt his prey had enough of a head start. Maybe he'd pity the fat one lagging behind and leave him for last, darting ahead to rip apart his allies before his eyes. He'd surely have a fantastic look on his stupid-
A hand, hesitant but firm, grabbed his wrist. Satan nearly torn the fool in half on the spot, except-
Yukio was shaking just a bit, and refused to look into his not-brother's eyes, "Rin, that's enough."
The fight fled Satan in a rush, chased away by the thought of "Yukio's afraid of me" and his body sagged, deflated. Exhaustion embraced him suddenly, and the demon could only find it in himself to nod. Suddenly he was aware of the stings of a whole plethora of cuts and scrapes and slumped a bit, gravity heavy on his body. Yukio hadn't let go of his hand and, surprisingly, took the lead and walked both of them out of the ally. Down the busy streets Satan had always hated, past that one dog that always barked at him that he hated too, and back to the church he….tolerated. Yes, tolerated only because Yukio needed food and shelter and warmth that wasn't from flames that would bring the entire world down on his head.
"Sit."
Satan sat, and, because, Yukio looked oddly intense and determined, didn't move even when the other left.
A minute later and Yukio was back, lugging a first aid kit. Then, as if nothing was different, as if he hadn't just seen something frightening in his supposed brother, he set to work. Maybe he hadn't thought anything of it, maybe Satan had already corrupted him, twisted his world view into something vile? Silent acceptance of bloodlust wasn't something Yukio should ever be forced to endure.
"Rin, your arm."
He let Yukio take over completely, trusting the boy despite how young he was. Yukio had steady hands and a good head on his shoulders and this wasn't even close to the first time he'd had to patch someone (his troublesome twin) up before. Satan watched him work, saw how unaffected by blood he was, and how he'd already memorized what everything in the first aid kit did. More and more the demon had wondered what Yukio was going to do with his life. Nothing dangerous, that was for sure, but it had to be something worth wild, something that Yuri would be proud of.
Ah, he was an idiot. The answer was playing out right before his eyes.
"You should become a doctor."
Yukio stopped, shocked and rapidly flustering, "A doctor? But to be a doctor you have to be really smart, and you have to go to a lot of really hard schools and pass a lot of tests, and be really strong-willed and with a lot of persaver, perseverance. And…and…"
"And you'd be good at it." Satan finished with a smile, waving his injured arm around, "You're already doing it now, you know! These bandages are wrapped pretty nearly, though they could be a little tighter…" He tugged on the edge of the gauze, feeling the slight looseness.
"Sorry…"
Satan lightly poked Yukio's downcast forehead, forcing him to look up, "Don't say sorry, you don't have anything to apologize for! It's not like anyone's taught you how to do any of this, but you've picked up on it anyway."
"I just do what I see dad do."
Satan only nodded and didn't try to tell Yukio to not do that, no matter how much of a bad taste it left in his mouth. The man was Paladin for a reason and had extensive knowledge on treating injuries of all kinds, so he wasn't a bad indirect teacher. But he still hated letting the shitty priest treat his wounds even more than he hated his body's ungodly slow healing rate that meant he actually needed to wrap his injuries. He didn't consider himself vulnerable even when he was hurt, but he hated it when the Paladin was close and could see just how easy his skin broke, how much he bled. The man always smelled faintly of gunpowder and Holy Water, and it drove the demon up a wall.
"You are right that you need to be strong willed to be any sort of doctor…" Satan knew Yukio already had underlying steel to him, a core that wouldn't ever distort as the rest of his squishy self-worth caved in. But the issue was teaching him to have confidence in himself.
The answer, to Satan, was simple, "Yukio, I'm going to finally teach you how to fight!"
"What?" Yukio jerked back, eyes wide, "What does that have to do with this!"
"Everything!" Satan decided he'd put off training for too long now. What if he hadn't been there today? "I'm going to teach you how to snap a femur and then you'll be able to handle anything!"
"But I don't-!"
Satan ignored the attempted protest, "Oh you'll be fine, you'll do great at it and I know you'll like fighting! We're related after all, right?" Fighting, being the best, all of it was in Yukio's DNA. Even if it was only academically, Yukio already fought and utterly crushed his classmates.
"I don't want to break anyone though!" Yukio wasn't entirely sure what a femur was, but it sounded important. It was probably a bone if Rin talked about 'snapping' it.
"I was just exaggerating for effect, calm down." The demon ruffled Yukio's hair, snickering when the boy pulled back with a whine, "But it is about time you learn to at least defend yourself, ok? It'd make me worry less whenever you go off on your own!" Satan let just a fraction of the fears he felt every day bleed through for just a second and he saw Yukio's weak resolve break. It was low, there was no way a child could stand up to the countless worry a demon could bottle up inside, but the demon couldn't care, not when it meant he'd finally get to start training his son.
"Ok…"
"Great, we start now!"
Yukio shrieked as he was pounced on and viciously 'attacked' with tickles. Distantly he heard Rin giving tips on how to throw him off, but the younger boy was helpless to do anything but squirm.
It was like that Shiro found them, Yukio desperately trying to get away from his cackling older brother, medical supplies scattered everywhere from the scuffle.