Yukio looked around, it was dark and hard to make out details but the sky around him was a mix of red and purple. He could see a figure off in the distance and felt compelled to walk towards it. As he got closer the silhouette of the figure started to look familiar, he started to run until he was close enough to see the features of the person. Dark messy hair and azure blue eyes, he looked sad, scared.

"Nii-san?" Yukio held his hand out towards him but he was soon engulfed in blue flames. Yukio flinched his hand away from the heat when he looked again his brother was different. Elongated canines, his ears were long and pointed and his nails were now long and sharp. His eyes glowed red and he had a long black tail with a blue flame flickering at the end, swishing around angrily behind him. On his head sat two horns made of blue flames. He no longer looked sad, he looked hurt and angry.

"Liars…" He whispered just barely loud enough for Yukio to hear.

"Nii-san we didn't lie, we were protecting—"

"LIARS!" The blue flames swelled in his anger. A larger shadow appeared behind him, same glowing red eyes and blue flames. Whispering things into his brother's ear, he laughed while looking at Yukio.

Satan

"Don't listen to him Nii-san!"

Yukio woke up to the sound of the steady beeping of the heart monitor. He looked around and realised he was still sat in his father's hospital room. He'd been having the same dream every time he shut his eyes since Rin had disappeared, causing him to have many restless nights. It had been a week since the incident and there had been no signs of Rin. His father was stable but had not yet woken up from his brush with death.

Shiro had managed to just miss his heart when he stabbed himself, so no fatal damage was incurred, his hand was bandaged, and he had lost a few of his fingers. The blood loss was the main cause of his current state, but with several transfusions over the past week, his colour was slowly returning, and his breathing was no longer as laboured. The Doctors seemed to think he would pull through and would wake up soon.

Yukio had been spending most of his free time sitting in the hospital room trying to find out as much about Gehenna as he possibly could. But from what he had found there was no other way to open a Gehenna gate and even if there had been, humans were not able to survive down there. If they had found a way to go down there, they would more than likely die before they could even reach Rin. His brother was lost unless he found a way to come back on his own, and if that happened, that meant that Satan saw fit to let him return and he might not be the same Rin anymore, or he was dead and Satan was returning using his brother's body. Yukio was losing hope that he would still have a brother when he finally returned to Assiah.

He checked the clock, it was getting late he'd been here a few hours already, admittedly he'd slept for a couple of them. He packed away his books back into his bag, he was due to start taking over his father's cram school classes next week and attending his regular high school classes the following week. He'd managed to finish his speech for the entrance ceremony at the Academy whilst at the hospital luckily.

Yukio walked over beside his father laid on the bed and gave his hand a squeeze whilst swinging his bag over his shoulder. "I've got to go now Dad, I'll come by again before school starts." He moved to the door and pushed down the handle, as he pulled the door open, he heard a groan followed by a cough from behind him. Yukio rushed to his father's side dropping his bag on the floor and pushed the call button for the doctor. Shiro managed to squint his eyes open and look in Yukio's direction.

"Yu—?"

"Don't talk Dad, the Doctors are coming." Yukio felt himself tearing up at the sight of his father's opened eyes. A nurse walked in to see what the call button was pushed for and immediately called for the doctors. The room was suddenly filled with several doctors and nurses and Yukio was inadvertently pushed back to a corner.

An hour went by with Doctors doing numerous checks before they were happy with Shiro's condition, Yukio had been sat silently waiting in the corner. When they finally left there was an awkward air of silence in the room before Yukio broke it.

"What do you remember?" he asked tentatively.

Shiro's face contorted into something that looked like pain. "Rin…screaming." he managed to say, voice hoarse from little use. He looked to Yukio, tears in his eyes "What happened…is he?" If Rin wasn't here, he knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Yukio.

"I tried to pull him out…but his head had already gone under when I got there…the gate was too strong, there was nothing I could do." He was sat, fists clenched resting on his knees, his whole body shook, holding back tears of his own.

"And…the sword?"

"It was gone when I arrived" Yukio looked away disheartened.

"So, Satan has Rin and the sword…but I suppose without it, there is the possibility of Rin dying down there…" Shiro moved to sit up, Yukio helped him before sitting back down. "This is my fault, if I had told him before any of this there wouldn't have been the urgency of putting him into hiding, we could've explained everything and planned ahead properly. He might not have gotten so angry…". He looked down at his bandaged hand remembering the slap that started the whole thing.

"You wanted to keep him out of that world…to keep him human."

Shiro sighed "I could've done everything possible, and he would've been pulled into it anyway. His power was becoming too much for the Kurikara to hide any longer."

"What do we do now? Is there anything—"

"There's no way for us to go to Gehenna." He paused deep in thought "But there is someone who might be able to help…"

"Sir Pheles?"

"It's a long shot, but what other choices do we have? Shiro started coughing again, he laid back down and sighed.

"You should get some rest. I need to head back to the dorm anyway, it's getting dark out. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Rest?" Shiro laughed half-heartedly "Haven't I had enough sleep, Doctor said I've been in here a week"

"Dad you nearly died, you need to recover more before they'll let you out of here. I'm taking over your classes at the school, and I believe they have someone interim on your paladin duties till you're well again. Although I'm pretty sure that guy is after your job. He seemed far too enthusiastic."

"Dare I ask who?"

"Arthur Auguste Angel" Yukio smirked.

Shiro groaned "Of course it would be him. I suppose I can milk this a bit longer then, maybe get taken care of by a nice nurse with big boobs!" He laughed. Yukio rolled his eyes and sighed. Somethings never change, but he could see he was trying to mask the pain and regret of losing Rin.

When Yukio returned to the boy's dormitories it was already dark outside, the sun had set hours ago. He returned to his room quietly, not wanting to wake his roommates if they had turned in already. But as he opened the door the light from inside the room leaked into the hallway, his roommates were still up. He shared his room with three other boys around the same age as himself.

They were first-year exorcist students, a well-built boy who had dark hair with a blond streak going through the middle, named Ryuji Suguro, although his friends called him 'Bon'. The second was a short boy with a shaved head and glasses, his name was Konekomaru Miwa. The third and final boy was a tall slim boy with dyed pink hair, his name was Renzo Shima, although everyone just referred to him as Shima. The three of them were childhood friends from Kyoto.

He had been offered a room to himself as he was taking over teaching duties for his father in his absence, but after sharing a room with Rin for 15 years he thought it would get too lonely and opted to room with other students. It helped that the exorcist students were roomed together, it made studying exorcist materials a lot easier without having to keep it hidden from other students and they could do homework together. Yukio hadn't mentioned that he was their teacher yet though, he figured he'd let them find that out during their first class.

"You're back late, everything ok with your dad?" Bon asked looking up from his book. He and Koneko were sat on their bunk studying Aria verses before classes started. Shima was on the top bunk above his own reading manga, the boy reminded him terribly of Rin.

"Yeah, everything's fine. He woke up just as I was leaving, so I stayed a bit longer to talk to him. Took a while as the doctors had to check him over." Yukio smiled, but they could hear the concern in his voice.

"How was he? Was everything ok?" Koneko put his book down as well.

"Yeah, he's weak, but he's doing ok. I'm going to go see him again before classes start though since I won't be able to see him as often afterwards. Hopefully, it won't be too long before they discharge him. I'll feel a bit better when he's home with the other priests. I should give them a call in the morning to let them know he's awake." He looked at the time on his phone, it was too late to call now, they probably wouldn't mind but he'd rather not disturb anyone else's sleep.

Shima decided to join in the conversation and put his manga down on his chest "How did he end up in Hospital anyway, what happened to him?"

"Shima! It's none of our business!" Bon glared at him.

Yukio thought for a moment before answering.

"No… It's ok, you'll probably hear about it at some point anyway" Confused looks went around the room, but said nothing. "Someone had broken into our home…and attacked him, he was badly injured. If I hadn't got there when I did, he would've died…"

Everyone was silent. Yukio grabbed his things and went to get ready for bed. Bon and Koneko just glared at Shima.

"What? I'm nosey." Shima smirked. "Besides there's something else I want to know…"

"You shouldn't pry into his life like that, we've only known him a week." Koneko sighed, Shima shrugged.

"If you had ever heard him talk in his sleep, you'd want to know more too." Koneko and Bon stopped what they were doing and gave Shima inquisitive looks. They were heavy sleepers so hadn't heard anything. Shima, on the other hand, was a light sleeper and had woke on several occasions to Yukio's sleep mumblings.

When Yukio returned, he got into bed and grabbed one of the books from his bag. Looking up he noticed they were all staring at him curiously "What?".

"So, uh…does your brother go to the Academy as well?" Koneko and Bon looked up at Shima confused then back to Yukio. Yukio froze, he hadn't told anyone that he had a brother, figuring it would be easier than trying to explain his absence if it came up. Shima jumped down from his bunk to look at Yukio.

"You talk in your sleep dude, these two might sleep like logs, but I've heard you most nights calling out 'Nii-san' in your sleep." Crap, he hadn't thought about the possibility of him talking in his sleep. "That and something about a demon." Shit, think.

"Uh…no, my brother doesn't attend the academy…he dropped out after Junior high, school was never really his thing." Yukio forced a laugh before his smile dropped with their expressions.

They all looked at him unsatisfied with the explanation. "So, what are the dreams about then?"

Yukio's expression turned to pain, but he quickly composed himself before letting his memories of his dream consume him. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." He gave them a look that told them the conversation was over and he would indulge them no longer.

"We're sorry Okumura" Koneko bowed apologetically and got ready for bed himself. Bon and Shima just looked at each other with concern. It was definitely none of their business but something wasn't right, the guy was dreaming of something involving a demon and his brother. Something must've happened. But they would have to wait to find out, as Yukio wasn't too willing to divulge any secrets just yet.

One week earlier in a place of darkness, Rin was finally released from the Gehenna Gate, laying on a cold stone floor. The air was dense, too dense to breathe and Rin awoke gasping for breath. He clawed at his neck like he was choking, tears forming from the pain. Footsteps approached from the darkness, something was kicked to Rin's side, he looked down to see Kurikara.

"If you want to live, draw the sword." A voice said matter-of-factly.

Rin looked around he couldn't see who spoke, they stayed stood in the darkness, still unable to breathe he started to feel dizzy. His fathers voice in his head 'Do not draw the sword…you can never be human again'. But he didn't want to die, he wasn't ready to die, even if it meant never being human again. He had to see his family again.

He rolled onto his front and wrapped his hands around the hilt with one hand and the sheath with the other pulling the sword out. The figure in shadows looked on pleased. Blue fire exploded from Rin's body and more pain followed as he felt changes happening, but he could now breath. He lay there gasping for air as if he'd just been drowning before his breathing finally evened out. His chest was still heavy but at least he was getting air again.

Before he had a chance to think the blade was snatched from his hand, he turned to look up at the man…the demon who had taken it. He was tall and slim with long white hair; his eyes were an unnatural blue and his pupils glowed an eerie red. His face was familiar, he shared a striking resemblance to Father Fujimoto…but younger.

"It seems even in Gehenna the sword keeps your heart from your body."

He moved the sword so one hand was gripping the hilt and the other on the blade itself, with little effort he snapped the sword right in front of Rin's eyes. "No!" Rin managed to choke out, but the demon looked at him and smiled before throwing the broken blade on the floor.

"Now, my son, you will be reborn!" With that he walked away, he was approached by another humanoid demon "Bring him to me when his rebirth is complete, the sword as well." The green haired demon just sat and watched with a bored expression on his face, sticking a lollypop in his mouth while he waited.

"W-Wa—Ahh!" Rin collapsed to the floor screaming in pain, flames flowing from his body with no control, it felt like he was being burned from the inside out. His skin had turned necrotic and before long the screaming stopped and all that was left was a charred, smoking corpse. The flames dissipated from the sword, having finally being released. The observing demon just looked on, unchanging expression "How boring".

A few moments went by before something glowed above Rin's corpse, it took the shape of a heart with spikes on top that looked very much like a crown, in the centre a blue flame flickered. The demon's eyes widened "Whoa…". Blue flames surrounded the corpse healing and renewing the dead cells until Rin was laid naked and unconscious with a new body, now reborn as a fully awakened demon.

When the flames finally disappeared, the green haired demon picked up the pieces of the Koma sword placing them inside the sheath, carrying the sword he placed a blanket over Rin's body and picked him up, taking him towards a large black castle.

When Rin awoke, he was in a strange room, no longer on the cold stone floor that had been beneath him before, he was now on something soft and wrapped up warm. There was now a ceiling, not the red and purple sky that had been above him. It was dark in the room but not so dark that he couldn't make out objects, and there was a blue light hovering over his chest, once his eyes come back into focus, he could make out what looked like a heart, enveloped in blue flames. He jumped upright when the recent events suddenly came back to him. He had unsheathed Kurikara, against Father Fujimoto's wishes. Then a demon; Satan, snapped the blade shortly after. He remembered the blue fire and the immense pain that swallowed him whole. What had happened to him? He thought he was as good as dead. Rebirth, Satan had said, but what did that mean?

He suddenly realised he was naked, with nothing but a blanket covering his body. The fire burnt through everything, but he seemed very much unharmed despite the pain he had gone through.

Crap! The priests are going to kill him when they find out he burned the suit…well, that was if he ever found a way back home. He felt a lump building in his throat and let out a shaken breath.

He sat up crossed legged, putting his head in his hands, then he froze. He rubbed his forehead some more, then quickly looked around in the darkness for anything that resembled a mirror. He wrapped the blanket around himself and left the soft surface he had been sat on, feeling around the walls for a light switch. Was there even electricity down here? When he finally found something that felt like a switch, he pushed it and a chandelier on the ceiling lit up, thank god.
Then he saw what he was looking for in the opposite corner of the room and he rushed over to the mirror, pulling his bangs up from his head, there on either side of his forehead, two horn-like bumps. But something else caught his attention as he looked from the bumps to his hair, his mouth dropped. His dark midnight blue hair had become a light almost white shade of blue that faded to pure white at the tips. As he studied his appearance further, he noticed his ears were longer and pointed at the ends. His eyes…were the same as Satan's, an unnatural blue with red slits for pupils, and his teeth…he had fangs. FANGS?!

He fell to his knees, shaking, eyes still glued to his reflection trying his best to stay calm. What would they think if he went home? Before long something behind him moved, making him jump and fall back causing a pain to shoot up his spine. Tears formed from the pain. Rin shifted his weight and the pain subsided but something white and furry caught his eye under the blanket. He removed the blanket from himself, feeling the cool air against his skin. And there, wriggling around of its own accord, was a bluish-white tail. With a shaky hand he moved to touch it, picking it up he was shocked at how much it felt like he was touching his own skin. He gave it a little tug, wincing at the pain from his lower spine. Definitely attached.

He set his tail free, watching it swish around behind him briefly, before looking back to his reflection. The demon in the mirror stared right back. He had been called a demon child for as long as he could remember, but Father Fujimoto had always convinced him otherwise. Now he could see it was all a lie. Everything was just one big fat lie. He IS a demon.

His fists clenched up and he began to laugh to himself. He laughed harder and harder, flames leaking from his body as he did. Tears formed in his eyes until his laughter turned to cries. Then he suddenly stopped, took one last look in the mirror, before sending his fist into it. The mirror shattered to pieces. He sat there frozen in place surrounded by his own blue flames, they felt oddly comforting and warm. He looked at his hand to see cuts healing before his eyes. Then something clicked in Rin. As strange as he looked, he felt comfortable, like his body was his own now. Growing up he had always felt, well wrong, but now it seemed different. He sat there for a while after calming down, experimenting with his flames before finally figuring out how to make them go away.

Pulling the blanket back around him, he stood up and moved back to the bed he assumed he must've woken up on. He took in his new surroundings. The bed he was on was soft and comfortable, blue and black sheets with elaborate silver designs over them. The room itself was large, much larger than he was used to at the monastery. The walls were made of stone, not much decor besides the golden chandelier above him and a few tapestries with blue flames, there was a small opening for a window looking to the dark red sky of the world he now inhabited, looking out he was quite a way up from the ground. On the opposite wall to the window was a set of huge black double doors, which he assumed must lead to the rest of the castle.
It was a bit unnerving, he had almost expected to wake up in a dungeon, not a lavish room in a castle such as this. What was Satan up to?
He noticed another door to the right of his bed, curiosity getting the better of him he moved to investigate, turning the knob and pushing the door open, he was surprised to see a pretty well-equipped bathroom. He walked in further a noticed a pile of clothes with a note on top, the clothes themselves were high quality. Picking up the note he unfolded it and read its contents.

'I hope the room is to your liking. Get cleaned up and dressed and the guards outside your room will escort you to me when you are ready.

Love Papa Satan x'

He immediately scrunched up the paper in his hand burning it with flames simultaneously, his teeth clenched and he let out a low growl, tail swishing angrily behind him. That bastard had another thing coming if Rin was ever going to refer to him as his father. His father…Rin realised he had been so overwhelmed by everything he had almost forgotten the circumstances which brought him here. He didn't even know if Father Fujimoto was still alive, did he care? Rin shook his head of course he did! He was angry he had lied but he didn't want him to die. But he looked bad when he had collapsed…perhaps it was already too late.

What the hell was Yukio going to think about all this? Would he even know where he was? Or even what he was? Would they try to kill him if he went back or would they accept him…no they tried to get rid of him when only his flames had manifested. If they saw him now looking as demonic as he did…He had no home to go back to. But then he didn't want to stay here either.

Right now, the only thing he knew was he had to survive whatever Gehenna and Satan had in store for him, whilst maintaining whatever remnants of his humanity he still had left. He had to find Yukio first, his brother of all people would accept him. He was Satan's son too, right?

He grabbed a towel and headed towards the shower, it was hot and seemed to relax some of the tension that had been building up since he'd woken up. How long had it been anyway, he had no way of telling how long he'd been unconscious, had it been a few hours or days? He washed and dried himself before examining the clothes that had been left for him, a black long-sleeved shirt and a dark blue pinstriped vest, black trousers and a pair of smart black shoes. He got dressed, the clothes were surprisingly comfortable and even allowed for his tail to roam free of constriction.

The room, the clothes…everything seemed to good to be true, what the hell was Satan's plan, to make him happy and complaisant? Did Satan want Rin to like him? He couldn't really see Satan wanting a healthy Father-Son relationship. It seemed a drastic contrast to the Satan he had met possessing Father Fujimoto. But he wouldn't know until he…spoke to Satan directly.

He took one final look at himself in the bathroom mirror and took a shaky breath before tears unwillingly started falling, he was a demon. All the taunts and names growing up had been true, all the fights where he'd lost control. He'd grown up believing a lie his whole life and it had now been torn apart and he'd been thrown into literal hell. His emotions were a mess, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be angry or sad anymore. His dad was possibly dead, but he had lied to him his whole life. Then immediately thrown out and abandoned because of what he was like it was his fault.

Rin left the bathroom, over to the large double doors crunching over the broken mirror as he walked. He opened them, finally leaving his room to see the demon who had shattered his fairly normal life. He was the last person he wanted to see, but at the same time, he had to know more.

Maybe Satan had the answers he needed.