Chapter 36: Set Ablaze

Not all fire that burns is red. Nor is it always blue, or black, or any other color. No, some fire is without color or smoke or even heat, and it burns and burns without you even realizing that it's licking up your skin, destroying fragile lies.

"This sucks!" Shima started as he looked up from his phone, finally done texting or playing games or…whatever. Bon wasn't sure, but the slacker had pulled the damn thing out thirty minutes ago during the end of their assignment and hadn't paid attention even after they arrived back on campus. Bon had been about a minute away from snapping the phone in two since he kept being ignored in favor of it.

"I thought that when we got certified, we would get more interesting work." Shima continued, blissfully oblivious to Bon's almost-realized plans to smash the very phone he had just slipped back into his pocket, "I wanted to do more than file papers and carry supplies!"

"You've hardly done anything today! Hell, we finished up without you!"

Konekomaru rolled his own shoulders, still feeling stiff from leaning over so much to make sure things were in order, "We were only just promoted, Shima, I don't know what you expected."

"I guess." The pink-haired boy shrugged. He cast a look in front of them, "Well, at least it's not nearly as frustrating as…that."

'That' was, in fact, Izumo walking a bit ahead of them, her mood so obviously sour that the campus felt gloomy, cheerful and warm weather be damned. She had been that way for the entire day, shrugging off or completely ignoring the others as much as she was able.

"Izumo really had been in a…mood lately, hasn't she?" The glasses-wearing teen tactfully stated.

Bon scoffed and glared at the irritable girl, "You can be honest and just say that she's being a bitch, Konekomaru."

The teen shrugged, not one to resort to name-calling so casually, "Do you think this has something to do with class the other day?"

It was a reasonable considering the sheer fuss that had been raised in class. Paku hadn't come back since that day and Shiemi had nearly burst into tears as she explained that yes, Paku was, in fact, serious about dropping out. The poor girl had been distraught, and it hadn't been helped at all with how livid Izumo had been next time they had met- forcing the two to be separated while working.

Shima hummed in thought and remembered something Yukio had said a while ago. He had stopped by shortly after their field exam, after Yukio had publicly apologized to Izumo and received a chillingly icy response in turn. It had been a random slip in a long explanation of what he thought they could do to work better as a team.

"I'm always worried about what would happen to Rin if we got into a real fight. He doesn't have any other real friends, and, well…"

It hadn't really been meant for him and was more Yukio voicing his general frustrations, but it had stuck with him. It had been a borderline non sequitur at the time, but its sheer randomness had made it stick with Shima, because it was random slips like that that showed what someone was truly worried about.

It hadn't made much sense at the time, but after thinking about it, it was clear just how it could apply to their current predicament. So Shima straightened and stretched, readying himself, and said with all the false cheer in the world. "It probably is related to that, but I'll go check to be sure!"

"Wait, what?"

He ignored the surprise of the others and boldly strolled over to where Izumo walked, matching his pace with hers. She glared up at him and refused to stop walking for even a moment, her eyes narrowed as she watched him from beneath her bangs.

"So, when are you and Paku going to work things out?"

It was bold and reckless, but Shima also knew he had a limited window of time to work with before things got ugly.

"Oh, that?" Izumo replied, voice flat as she peered at the teen, "We've already talked."

Well, that was a bit unexpected, "Really? I didn't hear about that."

"I don't have to tell you everything that happens in my life, you creep." Izumo sneered, and that might have been the end of it if Shima hadn't refused to break eye contact or drop his questioning look. Slowly, likely without meaning to, the came to a stop, "But, well, we talked, and we've decided that it's best if we go our separate ways. Paku said that she doesn't want to be an Exorcist, so it's not like we'll have time for each other anyway."

"Huh, that's it? You two aren't going to make up?" The pink-haired boy questioned.

"Why should we? It's obvious that things have changed between us and we'll be going our separate ways anyway, so it's good to end things on a positive note instead of dragging it out." Izumo explained plainly, though something bitter seeped out at the end. Before it could sink in, she shook her head and pressed on, "Besides, Paku even said herself that she was just being a burden and dragging me down! If she doesn't have the resolve to get better, it's not like I can do anything to help her."

You could only help someone who wanted to be helped. Izumo had learned that hard lesson long ago.

"That's such bullshit!" Bon shouted, red with anger as he forcefully inserted himself into their conversation, "I know that there's been something going on between you two, but what the hell, how can you go from always sitting together and talking and being friends for probably years to not wanting anything to do with each other in less than a week? What even happened, I'm tired of not knowing!"

"Nothing happened, we just don't get along anymore-"

"It has something to do with Shiemi, doesn't it?" Konekomaru stated, just a few steps behind Bon.

A less stubborn person might have backed off, might have tried to deny or at least frame things differently. But Izumo only flinched the tinniest bit before she regained her composure, "And so what if it does? Paku knew I wasn't an easy person to be friends with from the very start, I even told her. I told her that no one else would want anything to do with her if she stuck around me, but she did it anyway. It's not my problem if she finally gets sick of me and wants to make better friends- I'm best off on my own anyway."

"You felt threatened by Shiemi?" Bon asked, cutting off Shima before he could say anything, "But I'm sure she would have happily been both your friends, so fighting over that is stupid!"

"I don't think that's exactly it, Bon." Konekomaru shook his head, confused but at least knowing that much.

"Then why the hell did this become a contest or whatever?"

Izumo whirled around, "It's exactly as I said, and Paku will tell you the same thing: We don't get along anymore, so we're moving on with our lives!"

"Hey, Izumo." Shima suddenly spoke up, voice so light and cheerful that it cut through the serious atmosphere with ease, "Your hair color is natural, isn't it?"

The girl blinked at the sudden question, but felt reflexive defensiveness fill her, making her tense and ready to lash out, "What about it?"

"Well, I dyed mine because I wanted to, obviously." Shima started, idly tugging a strand between his fingers, "But, I mean, it must have been hard for you if you didn't get a choice. And I remember you said you're from a line of shrine maidens, so you've always been able to see demons, right? So, there's no way you weren't seen as 'that weird girl', right?"

It was silent as they all processed exactly what Shima has just revealed. Bon suddenly felt incredibly stupid- the source of Izumo's bitchyness and prickly nature had been staring at him the whole time, and he hadn't even noticed. Visible markings of power such as unnatural hair and eyes were sought after back home; they were a point of pride with a certain branch in particular, and it had never occurred to him that it might have been different with Izumo.

"And what about it!?" The girl snarled, all rough exterior and angry words so as to drive attackers away, "Yes, you're right, I've been completely unlikable since I was a child, so what about it?"

People were terribly cruel to even kids for things that they couldn't control, be it their appearance or place of birth. So that was the reason why...

"What was that?!" Izumo snapped, and Bon realized he had said that last part out loud.

"Hey, hey, there's no reason to get mad." Shima said, hands raised to try and placate the girl, "I was just trying to say that, despite that baggage, Paku was still your friend for who knows how long. She was your friend even when it meant she wouldn't get to make any other friends, too! So, you must really care about her, huh? Enough that you'd want her to be safe more than anything else, right?"

Izumo mentally stumbled, "That's…"

If things were only going to get more dangerous from here on out, wasn't it natural to try and protect your friends? And for a girl who had been hurt so many times, if the only way that made sense was to push them away because she simply assumed no one else would be willing to help, that was…

Well, it was a bitter realization for Bon that he really wasn't half as observant or smart as he liked to say he was.

Shima smiled, "I'm sure she feels the same! That's why-"

The world went up in white. There was a flash, a burst of light on the edge of Bon's vision that flared, ballooning up, and the world was suddenly white. People were screaming, but it was like the sound had been smothered by an eerie tearing, shattering, breaking noise that both did and did not exist. And then there was only confused silence and-

Blue.

It might have just been his eyes, still blurry and obscured by spots of light even minutes later, but he swore he saw the dying wisps of something dance over the top of a building so blue it turned the sky grey.

Something in him feared. He wasn't sure what, because that was impossible, but it gripped his chest. Without thinking, he took a step towards where he had seen the blue. To where the light had also originated, he realized.

The closest one to him, Konekomaru noticed first, "Bon, what are you doing?"

"Did you see that? There was blue fire over there!"

"That's…not good, is it?" Shima said with a gulp, barely resisting the urge to step back as if that would help him if the worst-case scenario had come to pass, "Doesn't that kind of imply…?"

"There are plenty of gases that burn blue." Konekomaru interrupted with a tiny, underlying waver to his voice born from fearful hope, "If there was an explosion, then that's almost as bad, though."

"Was that really that light?"

Bon shook his head, "I don't know, but we have to check it out."

"What, why?" Shima squawked, "That's like, really dangerous, even if it just some gas!"

"Because I'm sure that somehow, that idiot Rin is stuck in the middle of whatever that was. He's always at the center of trouble." Bon explained, "And if he's there, then Yukio is probably with him. Come on, before he gets killed."

"Right!"

"Wait…wait a moment! Don't- Agu!" Izumo shook her head and ran after the boys, helpless to do anything more than that.

Because she most certainly had not almost pleaded to not be left behind.

In hindsight, Satan had been ridiculously lucky with which of his children he had been forced to interact with.

Samael had been by far the easiest, annoying scheming aside. Their relationship had decayed long ago because they both were stubborn and simply couldn't get along. It was painful to deal with, but at least everything that had happened between then had happened when he had been awake. Amaimon and Astaroth were so far on the opposite end of the scale that it skipped right back to being easy to handle. He hadn't ever known them well enough to even properly care through the haze by the time they came back to him, and Amaimon had left to dog Samael's heels the moment he was able. Astaroth had stuck around like a tick but had had subservience and submission to Satan so deeply beaten into him by his mother that he had felt like little more than a servant. There was so little there between them that it would be easy to start over.

Iblis and Egyn, however, were the worst. There was so much there, so much said and done and yet he had also never done enough, slipping inward at the worst possible moments.

The light of the Seraphim's suicide attack had barely faded before Iblis made her move. She flicked her wrist and fire sprang into existence behind Satan and Yukio, trapping them like a wall. The king of demons didn't flinch or move any more than it took to put himself between Yukio and Iblis. It was a bit ridiculous since his spiritually malnourished body was currently shorter than both of them and did absolutely nothing to actually hide Yukio, but the movement was more to conceal his youngest so a gun could be unholstered quietly. Kuro had woken and gone deathly still, knowing instinctively that he was hopelessly outmatched and could only rely on the twins if he wanted to make it out alive.

Iblis stepped forward, past the jagged hole in the barrier, and sneered. "You're supposed to be the rightful heir? I don't think I believe it yet."

The fence of fire behind the trio suddenly snapped with new life and circled around them until it connected. Suddenly trapped in a ring of angry flames, they drew closer together as the walls around them grew in height until the sky was just a tiny circle some twenty feet above their heads. The heat was oppressive but nothing immediately life-threatening, unnaturally controlled and contained, and the spiraling motion of it all sucked away any smoke. The same motion that was also both drawing away and burning up all the oxygen around them, and he and Yukio would be left gasping in a matter of seconds and passed out in only a few more.

Satan reached his hand out to meet the wall of fine. His hand burned before he could turn the fire's existence into his own, singed as flames reached under his skin, but he didn't flinch even as his flesh bubbled and peeled. He simply focused and pulled, and then the flames were cool. Blue burst from his hand, spreading like dye in water and marking the flames a deep azure that spiraled up, hungry for crimson.

The sudden rush of power was intoxicating, but Satan let it slip through his fingers like grains of sand, let the fire burn itself out, unnurtured by his soul as it was. The tornado of fire faded, losing shape at the top and collapsing, and, for a second, it looks so very much like a blue flower, petals of light raining down.

Egyn had taken a step back at the casual display of power being usurped, but Iblis was unphased, "So, you've got some talent after all?" She called, mocking. Her slit eyes raked over his ruined hand, angry red meat peeking out from blackened holes and burned flesh, "But really, why are you still playing at being human? That had of yours has to hurt a lot! Wouldn't it be better if you just became a demon already? It won't mean anything if I beat you and you're still just a human!"

"I don't want to fight you like this, Iblis," Satan replied icily as he slipped free a single knife in his good hand. He flexed the ruined one and the flesh cracked and burst, blood and clear lymph leaking free. He could still control it, but a knife was out of the question.

It would be enough.

"Hey, doesn't that hurt?" Iblis questioned, sounding legitimately baffled at the behavior. After all, he was only meant to be just shy of human, but Satan never broke her gaze.

"Rin, what's happened to your hand?" Yukio hissed, unable to properly see from behind but he could smell it and that was even more worrying than seeing that melted ankle a few days ago.

Satan ignored them both because he had stalled long enough. Magic filled his senses, as shiny and whimsical as a bouquet of daggers wrapped with a heart-pattered ribbon, and very suddenly Samael was there and between them, a dramatic and completely unnecessary puff of pink smoke marking his entrance. Amaimon stumbled away from where Samael had quite obviously suddenly scuffed the younger demon to drag him away and looked curiously between the two groups.

"My, my," The King of Time hummed airily, poisonous eyes peering at the two invaders, "I was wondering just what sort of lizards had decided to sneak their way in."

"Headmaster!" Yukio gasped, relieved.

"You were slow," Satan said, unsurprised and unimpressed. Of course Samael would know exactly what was happening on his territory, it was only natural and Satan had relied on it so he could prolong his false life just a bit more.

"My deepest apologies, but I was handling a delicate interview when this occurred. I also had to collect Amaimon in order to be able to adequately handle this improvised family reunion." The white-clad demon frowned and produced a dark red handkerchief from absolutely nowhere and tossed it at Satan, "Do go ahead and cover that, would you? It's honestly a disgrace how often you get injured on my campus."

Iblis growled, "You little shit, you were stalling for time, weren't you?"

Satan turned his back on the enraged demon the moment he finished wrapping his hand well enough to hide the damage. It was a bold, normally suicidal move, and if Egyn hadn't been there, Satan was sure Iblis would have charged, Samael be damned. As it was, a positively seething hiss was their only consequence.

"Yukio, let's go."

"Right." Yukio agreed, knowing full well that he could fuss over injuries when they weren't at what was about to be ground zero for a fight between four Demon Kings.

Iblis watched the two children shamelessly flee, except something felt off. It felt less like they, no, Rin, had run because he had to, and more because it would simply more convenient. It pissed her off, but she comforted herself with the knowledge of their plan. Yes, Egyn was relying on her to play her part, and if she didn't then they were both doomed.

"Whatever." She spat and, without waiting for any proper cue, launched herself at the slouched form of Amaimon. Mephisto, that smug bastard, didn't even flinch as she flew less than a foot to his side. He was so confident in himself, so smug, so assured in his power and place in the world, she just wanted to shred his human body to pieces. But, for now, she would restrain herself.

"Don't die, Egyn!"

Mephisto let Iblis drag Amaimon away, knowing full well that he would lose to his older sister. Neither of them were all that clever (but then who was, compared to him?), though Amaimon was a fair bit slower while Iblis was aggressively average. With only sheer raw power on his side, it was sure to be a short but destructive match.

That was fine, because the more damage to the school meant more angry Exorcists who would easily be galvanized to 'protect the children' or some other drivel. Everyone always assumed that Iblis would be the one to spark off proper war, but few realized that while she might provide the fire, he would be the one to stoke the flames into a proper blaze

There was only one little wrinkle he hadn't ever thought would occur, "I'm surprised that you even left your little caves, Egyn. But I guess someone had to make sure Iblis didn't break her new body so soon, right? It must have been difficult to find one so soon after her little…unfortunate accident."

He smiled; teeth bared in the parody of a grin.

"Iblis isn't someone who can handle you, Samael." Egyn countered, voice little more than a whisper, but surprisingly steady.

"And you are? Really, honestly, you think you can fight me?" Mephisto sneered, peering down his nose at the fake child before him. Such long blue hair gave the illusion of fragility to an honestly frighteningly powerful demon. Yet that power was conditional at best and was restrained even further simply by who wielded it. There were ways around weaknesses, and Egyn had clearly found a solution for the sake of protecting his sister from a demon so much stronger and crueler than she could be.

But the solution was fragile and built on a lie.

"And how will you fight me when you won't even look at me, Egyn?"

Beneath bangs so pure they were almost crystalline; a simple white blindfold hid away fearful eyes.

Egyn stiffened but refused to yield. If he ran, Mephisto would rip Iblis to pieces in a matter of seconds as he had before. And while Egyn wasn't a match for the elder demon, Mephisto at least respected him enough to take caution, lest he ruin his own vessel. Mere physical contact was all Egyn needed to burst every blood vessel in Mephisto's body, even without revealing his heart. It was that very caution that gave Egyn a chance, for against a reckless fighter like Amaimon he would be crushed instantly. It wasn't even a case of poor elemental compatibility, Egyn just couldn't keep up with someone so headstrong and so little regard for themselves.

As long as he didn't have to look, he would be fine. If he didn't see, then he could remember just how well they had planned everything instead of having to see that mocking snarl. Their information was top of the line, he had three syringes filled and ready to be used, and they had even picked an ideal day.

After all, it was so very humid today.

The moment fighting started behind them, Satan had barked an order at Kuro to grow. With four legs and a not-insignificant amount of demonic power, a Cat Sídhe would be a good deal faster than Yukio. The only downside was that they would be a bigger target and would probably make a very confusing sight to anyone who technically couldn't see demons, but all of that was secondary to protecting Yukio. And so, Satan helped (threw) Yukio onto Kuro's back by the collar of his shirt, hardly slowing even as he jumped on, scrambling to take the forward position.

"Rin, what's wrong with your hand?" Yukio questioned once again, grim as he steadied himself easily enough despite the rough treatment.

"You have your gun, so watch our backs and make sure no one tries anything, Yukio." Satan instructed without pause. There was a moment of tense but expectant silence before, "It's nothing I won't heal from."

"Rin, every time you say that I end up worrying more and more because that means nothing considering how things are going."

"Exactly. It means nothing because injuries mean nothing to me so long as you're safe."

"That's not-!"

Whatever diatribe Yukio had planned for Satan's (completely natural, for him at least,) lack of survival instincts had to be cut short when Kuro very nearly ran over small gaggle of students as they rounded a corner. The only thing that saved what Satan quickly recognized to be the cram school students was a panicked leap over their heads by the demon cat, the sudden acrobatics very nearly pitching him and Yukio free.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" Ryuji shrieked, nearly tripping over his own feet to turn around and face where Kuro had landed.

"Are you two crazy?" Izumo shrieked.

Kuro hissed at the sudden yells of confusion, still on edge from the encounter with demons so much stronger than he was, 'I won't let you hurt them!'

"It's ok, Kuro," Satan soothed with a few comforting pats, pleased with the protectiveness even if it was unneeded, "They couldn't hurt us if they tried, but it's good that you're so careful."

"Whoa, what are you doing riding around like that?" Renzo asked, a nervous laugh chasing his words when Kuro glanced his way, "And, uh, he's not going to attack us, right?"

"We're being attacked by two Demon Kings, so Kuro's rightfully spooked," Satan explained, "It's Iblis and Egyn, if you're curious."

Predictably, chaos erupted.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What the hell are they doing here?"

"Was that the fire we saw earlier then? That's…"

Satan mentally counted down from five to let the worst of the shock pass before he made to interrupt them. However, a muttered question from Konekomaru caught his attention-

"It's so soon after that other attack, do you think they could be related?"

It would be impossible for the two attacks to be related, but of course humans would try and draw connections and patterns to make sense of the otherwise irrational (impossible) event that had taken place just a few days ago. Satan couldn't possibly explain how he knew they weren't related without bringing forth knowledge he had no right to have (knowledge of the damned, of a blessing inverted and turned into a curse beyond comprehension), so he shrugged off the question.

"I don't know, but, if anything, the timing is a good thing." Yukio spoke up, wincing as a fireball soared into the sky some ways away from them, "With school temporarily closed, most of the student body has gone home. That means that collateral damage should be at a minimum unless they really did want to keep innocents out of this?"

The looks of disbelief made it clear how little everyone believed that. The angry howl that rose up from somewhere a second before the ground heaved didn't help sell the idea that the demons would care about bystanders either.

Yukio coughed and eyed the road they had run down warily, "Regardless of the reasons, we need to evacuate. Rin and I need to pick up a couple of things and then we'll leave. In the meantime, you should all go ahead and meet us at the cram school."

Satan frowned, "Wait, what's so important that we can't just leave now?"

"Your sword, Rin." Yukio hissed, and oh, he really had forgotten about it again. It was hard to remember the sword's actual location when he could just rip through the seal at any given time. It honestly made it feel like he always had it on him, since the actual distance didn't matter anymore, "This is why I wanted you to keep in on you more!"

"Well sorry I didn't predict that two Demon King brats would show up and try and kill us!"

Renzo cocked his head, "Is that sword really so important that we can't just leave now? It can't exactly be a good idea for Rin to run around when he's still injured."

Satan made a show of rolling his eyes, even as he mentally made sure to remember to baby his ankle if he needed to, "That's what the cat demon is for, idiot."

"It has powerful demon-sealing properties and should be kept out of enemy hands," Yukio explained before the bickering could erupt. Before anyone could try and interject, he cut them off, "And you all should leave ahead of us- a smaller group will attract less attention."

Ryuji sputtered in surprise, "Someone trusted that idiot with something that important?"

The king of demons scoffed, "I'm just that important."

"Wait, we can't leave yet either!" Izumo suddenly interrupted, very nearly shouting, "Paku is still in her dorm since she didn't go home! She turned in her key earlier, so she can't just go to the cram school either!"

Renzo shrugged, sounding for all the world like he had things all figured out, "Well then we'll go find her then! After all, you two still need to make up, right?" He finished with a grin and a playful nudge to Izumo.

The plum-haired girl looked so painfully hopeful that she didn't even try and shove the boy away, "That's…"

Yukio barely resisted the urge to groan in frustration, stopped only by the knowledge that the girl's dorm was in the exact opposite direction of the fighting. It was a meager comfort when he was entirely sure the demons could cross the not exactly small campus in a matter of seconds, but he would take what he could get.

"Then it's settled. Rin and I will retrieve the sword, and the rest of you will go get Paku." Yukio instructed. Indecision and delays were the enemies here- the longer they stayed on campus arguing what to do, the more likely it was that they would be caught up in the fighting. The only real option he had was to give orders that no one would object to.

Ryuji frowned, "What happened to 'smaller groups', huh?"

"I doubt any of you will want to leave, so I'm not going to argue. Just be careful and stay out of sight." Yukio said, and quickly glanced at his phone, "We'll meet by the fountain in ten minutes, or the south gym exit if that's been compromised. Call if anything's happened, and make sure to take any other students with you if they don't know where to go- we'll worry about maintaining secrecy when lives aren't at stake."

The group nodded and separated, taking off for the girl's dorm as fast as they could. Yukio watched them go even as Kuro took off once again, grim determination etched into his face.

Satan twisted around to give Yukio a smug smirk, unable to stop the pride at the flawless way his child had taken control of the situation, "You sure are acting cool today, aren't you?"

"I'm not the one who argued with a Demon King." Yukio snapped.

"I wouldn't say I really argued with her. But you shouldn't worry so much. Samael will take care of everything, and if that isn't enough…" Satan huffed, imagining the worst-case scenario. It was virtually impossible, but there was only so selfish he could be, "…I'll pitch in and help."

"No, don't say that." Yukio argued, something so young and afraid as a certain fear crept into his voice, "It's not going to come to that, Rin."

"I don't think it will either." If he had thought so he would have had to drop everything to try and explain the truth before it literally burst free and brought forth fire and brimstone. It was a topic he was going to have to breach soon, someday far too soon, but he was nothing if not stubborn. And, for once, he desperately wanted to believe in Samael. "But, just in case it does come to pass, please promise me you'll still believe in me."

Yukio must have been able to tell that there was more to it than he could possibly see. It wasn't hard to imagine what might be bothering his fake brother in this situation, but Satan knew that they were all wrong in the most critical of ways.

"Of course I will, Rin."

Even with the reassurance, anxiety still curled in the demon's gut like an angry serpent, ready to crawl up to his lungs and crush his heart. When everything was built on a lie, Satan didn't know how well that belief would hold out.

Happy late Halloween everyone!

Because delicate conversations are delicate, the chapter has ended a bit earlier than planned. But I really wanted to get this out at least sometime near Halloween as a quick gift, so here we are.

On a side note, this story has just broken 100k views! Here's to hoping to double that since this story is far from over.