Summary:
Yukio attempts to be the voice of reason. Rin thinks it's probably best his twin only thinks he's dating the one demon and not two whole demon kings. Amaimon can't decide whether he'll kill Lightning or not and Mephisto gets his own shovel talk from Shura after her demon issue is settled, even if it's not the kind of shovel talk he should be given.
Notes:
So I just calculated it out and it looks like, as of this chapter, ya girl has written about 147 pages of MephiAmaiRin smluff :D Like, by the time this is all finished I might have written a whole novel (the first Harry Potter is 76k words) bc why write my own stuff and make money when I can write fanfiction and suffer :DDD
Also, just fyi in case you were wondering, Rin, Amaimon, and Mephisto are all unreliable narrators throughout this fic, telling the story from their own pov's with all the biases that come with that. They can guess at what the other characters are thinking but that doesn't necessarily mean they guessed right.
And I hope no one thinks I'm being too mean to Yukio. I try to get him as close to canon as possible and, since Rin doesn't know what's going on in his head (Yukio has said he both 'loves and hates' Rin in canon), he seems harsher than his thoughts are. Also, he's still got that 'you need to protect your brother' issue Shiro dumped on him and the Eyes of Satan going on so there's that. Although, given who Rin's 'dating', he's got every right to worry lololol
Annnd lastly Idk if anyone's noticed (or cared lol) but I've also aged everyone up, starting the series as if the exwires and Yukio were in their freshmen year of college, not high school. Like, say, the ane series begins the month Yukio is heading away to "university" (aka exorcist school), having graduated high school and Rin was trying to get a job out of school since he didn't want to go to college (and then Satan happened lol).
"Well, looks pretty good, huh, Kuro?"
Rin stood back, hands on his hips, to see how the kotatsu fit in the room, glancing down at his familiar to see how he liked it.
"It's missing a futon, isn't it?"
Kuro peeked under the low table as if searching for the blanket that was supposed to go over it.
"Yeah, but it's not cold enough yet so for now we'll just use it as a table."
"Then I love it!"
Happiness filled Rin with his curbside find that he'd hauled home on the way back from Mephisto's the other night.
"We'll have a party with everyone here, so we can break it in," Rin decided, getting excited at the thought of cooking for his friends and inviting them all to his dorm for a get-together.
The door clicked, and Rin tensed, wary, as Yukio came into the dorm.
His presence halted Yukio, who hesitated at the entryway, hand on the doorknob as if he couldn't decide whether he was coming in or leaving now that he'd seen Rin.
They stared, neither knowing how to break the silence after the day before.
Yukio's eyes flicked towards the new addition to their place and he seemed to steady himself before speaking.
"It looks good, Rin."
A shaky smile stretched at his mouth, Rin recognizing the peace offering for what it was.
"Yeah, I can't wait until it's cold enough to put the blanket over it."
He twitched as Yukio set his bag down on the hallway countertop, still waiting for the shoe to drop as the other came more into the room.
"Listen, Rin," Yukio muttered, not looking him in the eyes, "I'm sorry about the last two days. Shiemi was right."
What? Rin's heart skipped a beat. Yukio never admitted when he was wrong, hating to be seen as incompetent or feel like the loser in any situation.
"It's okay," Rin managed to reply, although, really, he wasn't sure if it was. He just couldn't stand arguing with Yukio, feeling like he was attacking himself when he did.
By the way Yukio furrowed his brow and frowned, Rin could see he knew it, too.
"I just. Don't think it's healthy, being in a relationship with Amaimon."
And there was the shoe.
Rin steeled himself, crossing his arms in a silent gesture for Yukio to continue. He'd let Yukio explain himself, at the very least knowing he definitely needed to get some things off his chest once in a while, seeing as any other time was like pulling teeth to get him to talk.
A slow draw of breath came from Yukio, adjusting his glasses in a nervous habit before he spoke.
"He's a notoriously violent demon king, not that the rest of them are much better, and he's at least over a thousand years old with a known track record for being child-like, cruel, and impulsive."
That was...Rin grimaced. Yukio was off to a good start, it seemed, and it wasn't like he wasn't very aware of each and every one of those points. His first introduction to Amaimon had been a casual display of all his negative traits, and the second meeting hadn't been any better-actually, it had been worse.
"I'm just worried he's using you, or that he's manipulated you into a relationship. It's not like you have any kind of experience being in one," Yukio said, looking as worried as his words implied. Although-Rin narrowed his eyes at the sting of being reminded he'd never had a date before the demon king. Ouch, Yukio. Low blow.
"And that's it. I guess. I already told you what I thought the Grigori might do if they found out about this," Yukio trailed off, the ball back in Rin's court.
Rin sighed, shifting to lean on his other leg and bowing his head before he decided on what he would say.
When he raised his head, it was with a small smile that Yukio looked taken aback to see.
"Thanks for worrying about me, four-eyes," Rin teased, voice light to show he didn't mean it cruelly.
"I don't know how to explain it so well." He scratched at his cheek, turning his eyes to the ceiling in contemplation as he tried to put what he felt about Amaimon into words. "It's like, all my instincts push me towards him, which, I guess would be the demon thing I don't really know much about-but I feel good around him. Comfortable, happy."
Seeing Yukio looked like he would interject, Rin raised a hand, asking for silence. "I know everything you said about him is right, too. I'm dumb, not blind, y'know."
"But," Rin said with a smile, a quirk of his lips, "would you believe I think it's actually me who's been manipulating him into a relationship and not the other way around?"
At Yukio's puzzled frown Rin hurried to explain, not needing his reminder how naïve he could be or how low the likelihood of him manipulating anyone was like he was some kind of kid.
"You know, I don't think they do the whole relationship thing in Gehenna? Most of the time I'm the one teaching Amaimon things, or he has to go to Mephisto because at least he's spent enough time here to recognize why we do things the way we do here."
"It's kinda like I'm teaching him human stuff and he's teaching me demon stuff and we're both learning to compromise." Rin thought the smile he wore might be a little goofy, thinking about his relationship with Amaimon, even if the poor demon king would be totally confused by what he'd just said to Yukio.
Rin shook his head, focusing back on the conversation because he really only had one thing to say to any of Yukio's arguments.
"I know you're worried, or just trying to watch out for me even though I am the older twin and it's my job to look out for you, in case you forgot," Rin said in a huff of a breath, smile turning wry at his twin's grouchy look at the reminder. "But, even if things don't work out, for now, I'm happy and I'm staying with him. So, you're going to have to suck it up and deal. Okay?"
He could see the moment Yukio gave in, reaching up to rub at his nose under his glasses, eyes closing as if to ward off a headache and shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Okay, Rin," Yukio sighed, flashing him a tired smile, "I don't like it, but, like I said, Shiemi is right, I should be happy for you. So. I'm happy for you."
At his answer, Rin stepped over to pull his grumpy twin into a hug, another one of those things that didn't happen as often as it should, but he'd work on that.
"Thanks, Yukio," Rin grinned, glad they'd settled things for the moment. "So, are you gonna be here for dinner? I'm cooking right now so it should be done soon."
His content mood abated as Yukio shook his head. Rin frowned, something helpless curling in his gut.
"Sorry, I'm just going to be taking a shower and heading out again. I'll miss dinner tonight and it's probably going to be like this for a while so it's alright if you just do your own thing."
Rin could only watch as his twin left, what little progress had been made that night dwindling with the other's fading footsteps down the hall to the shower.
A shared look with Kuro showed him just as worried, and Rin mumbled, "You see it too, huh? He is acting weird."
His mood plummeted as Kuro nodded in confirmation of his fears and he sighed as he went to finish dinner for just the two of them.
Again.
Rin tried his best to push his worries for Yukio out of his mind, choosing instead to focus on the joy of getting to see Amaimon during classes for the day.
He squeaked when Amaimon, as Ambrosia, surprised him in the hallway, appearing behind him to tug him back against a warm chest, nuzzling at his neck with a contented purr that Rin melted into.
"I still can't believe you decided to sign up for the academy," Rin said as they walked to their first class of the day. "I didn't think you could stand being around a bunch of humans this long. You know we've got another month and a half before the year is up and then three years before I graduate, right?"
Amaimon snorted, glowering at said humans around them and watching them scatter under the brunt of his ire, "I can't believe you're here, either. What's the point?"
The irony of why he was even a student at the academy in the first place hit him and Rin laughed. "Well, I was just planning on getting a job out of high school before all this happened- Yukio's the one set on being a doctor, not me. But I kinda told Mephisto I would kill Satan and he said the only way to do that was to become an exorcist and the only way to become an exorcist is to take the regular classes, too. So, here I am."
His explanation made Amaimon tsk, glowering at nothing now. Although Rin suspected it was because the object of his irritation, namely Mephisto, wasn't there for him to glare at.
"You're in one of Mephisto's schemes, then," Amaimon said, exasperated and chewing at his clawed thumb as they sat down in class before letting out a long sigh. "As are we all."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that out by now," Rin cocked a wry smile at the thought. He'd assumed he'd been real smart, choosing a third option when the demon king of time had confronted him at Shiro's funeral, but he couldn't be sure Mephisto hadn't known, suspected, or at least planned that he would take that route. He wouldn't put it past the devious demon.
They were forced to stop talking when their nervous professor began teaching. Amaimon promptly went to sleep, and Rin tried to pay attention to the lecture and not spend the whole time watching the way Amaimon's back rose and fell with every slow breath he took.
They made it through the rest of the day, though it dragged on since Rin was attempting to pay attention again, seeing as finals were arriving and he really didn't want to repeat a year.
"Your humans are outside. There," Amaimon mentioned, as they walked past a door Rin hadn't been through yet, though he'd passed it multiple times that year.
Rin shot him a grateful look, going to open the door and see what his friends were up to.
He found Bon and Izumo out on a long veranda he'd had no idea existed at the academy, which, cool! He wondered how many students actually came out there, especially since winter was fast upon them, and whether he could sneak some time with Amaimon in between classes without worrying about prying eyes.
Eyeing the roof, Rin calculated the effort it would take to get there from the balcony, eyed Amaimon, remembering that he could, in fact, fly, or float, or whatever it was he did that enabled him to stay airborne, and saved the thought for another time.
"Hey, guys! How'd you even know this place was here?" Rin said, coming over to the two exwires. He saw them shoot looks at Amaimon when he came out, too, not liking being left alone in the hallway with a bunch of humans and no Rin.
Bon twitched and Izumo's cheeks were definitely pinker than could be excused by the winter air as Amaimon stopped behind Rin, looming like a crow over his shoulder and taking out a sucker to entertain himself with while he waited for Rin to finish his interaction.
Their strange reactions had Rin blinking back at Amaimon, wondering why they were staring when he realized it maybe had something to do with the fact that Amaimon was still Ambrosia, something they wouldn't know yet since they were both in upper-level courses and didn't share any classes with him since he was in Rin's.
"He knew, I just saw him coming here." Izumo shook her head, recovering from Amaimon's presence fastest to indicate Bon. Though Rin wasn't surprised, seeing as she hadn't been there during the Bathhouse Incident™ like Bon had been.
"Yeah, uh, I wanted to wait and see the assembly that's happening since maybe it'll explain why our exorcist exams have been moved forward," Bon explained, shifting his gaze to the stage below them where exorcists were already gathered.
"I'm gonna go get everyone else. They should see this too," Bon was quick to add, shooting another look at Amaimon before heading back inside.
"What's his problem?" Amaimon muttered around his sucker, leaning more against Rin and draping his arms to hang over his shoulders as he settled in for the long haul.
"Ah," Rin sighed, guessing at what Bon's issue was, "I'm pretty sure he's still traumatized after what he saw at the bathhouse."
Now Izumo was definitely blushing, glaring at the two of them and admitting, "I heard about what happened from Shima in vivid detail. Vivid. Detail. You know we had to cut our spa day short because they shut the place down to clean the mess you guys left, right?"
Amaimon grunted, burying his nose into Rin's hair. "Who cares? That exorcist should have dealt with things before I was forced to. I'm not a babysitter."
"Sorry, Izumo," Rin tried, hiding further against Amaimon in embarrassment because that meant Shiemi and Shura knew about what had happened, too, and Shura was not polite enough not to tease him about it. "I couldn't really control myself until after Amaimon killed the demons."
"Yeah, I got that part from Shima, too," Izumo said, arms crossed as she tried to calm her blush.
Thankfully, they were interrupted by Bon and the others returning.
A nervous laugh bubbled from Shima at the two sharp looks he was subjected to as Amaimon and Rin turned to glare at him on sight.
The still very not trusted spy was saved by Shiemi coming up to them with a smile. "Rin, Ambrosia! Isn't it so nice out here? We're so high up!"
"I know, right?" Rin grinned, glad that at least one other person thought the place was super cool.
"Er."
Rin turned to see Bon looking nervous and wondered what the guy's problem was this time.
"Shiemi, I thought we covered this, that chick's Amaimon, demon king of earth?" Shima said, flicking his own tense look towards Amaimon, though the demon just leveled a blank expression back.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, Amaimon." Shiemi flushed, bowing towards Amaimon at her perceived blunder.
He just watched as Amaimon sighed, tossing his finished sucker to the side and pulling out another one, "I don't care. Use whatever."
"Hey, the assembly's starting, guys," Konekomaru called from the railing where he'd been watching the proceedings from.
As Mephisto made his grand entrance, Amaimon snorted while Rin snickered at the theatrics he employed every chance he got.
"Do you think he can see us up here?" Rin asked, leaning over the edge and letting his pupils change to their demonic form so he could see Mephisto better. He'd poofed out a microphone decorated with one of his pink polka-dotted silk scarves he liked to wear tied in a bow around it.
"He knows we're here," Amaimon confirmed as he joined him, clawed hand coming up to grip the back of Rin's jacket as if worried he would fall off the ledge somehow.
Okay, he had a building record of falling while in Amaimon's presence so maybe it was warranted, and, Rin decided, snuggling closer under his arm, he wouldn't be complaining about the physical contact.
Then they heard why their exam dates had been moved up and Rin shared a grimace with Amaimon. The increase in demonic activity throughout the world, which Rin now knew to be caused by the artificial Gehenna gate, though that fact wasn't announced, meant the Vatican wanted as many new exorcists in the field as possible.
"The start of next year? That's only a month and a half away!" Izumo shrieked down at the stage and Rin could imagine why with the intense way she and Bon had been studying, the pre-exam anxiety would be hitting them hard.
"Could this be related to the Illuminati?"
Rin hid a wince even as the other exwires shot suspicious glares over at Shima, their resident Illuminati spy, to his yelped denials about any involvement.
Not that Rin believed him either, but he also didn't care to press Shima all that much.
They returned to watching as Mephisto answered some of the worries of the exorcists until he revealed that they'd be getting a powerful addition to their ranks sent from the Vatican to their branch of the True Cross Academy to help, as well as work as a cram class professor.
A beat passed and Rin flinched violently in Amaimon's hold as Lightning came onto the stage, breath freezing in his lungs at the sight of the arc knight.
"Oh no, not that guy."
For once, Rin agreed with Shima. His vision started to tunnel as Lightning dealt with a swarm of hobgoblins that had "mysteriously" attacked at just the right moment to allow him to impress everyone with a high-level summoning whose lengthy invocation he'd truncated to almost nothing.
"That guy is amazing," came Bon's awed whisper.
Rin began shivering.
A low growl reached his ears and he found himself drawn away from the railing by Amaimon, realizing his body was numb as he tried to walk and stumbled instead.
"Hey, where are you guys going?"
He blinked, eyes heavy for some reason, and tried to bring himself back to answer Bon's question.
"Away," came Amaimon's short answer for him when he couldn't get his mouth to work.
"We've got cram classes after this, though. You'll miss them if you leave. Lightning'll be teaching us, too, now. I can't believe it! This is great!" Bon continued, excited and unable to understand how anyone could knowingly skip class, especially one taught by Lightning.
Amaimon just sneered at Bon before hefting Rin into his arms bridal style and leaping to the eaves of the nearest roof, jumping until they reached an alcove hidden away as high as they could go.
The wind muffled any sounds from the stage below and Amaimon pulling him to his chest muffled even that when Rin started hyperventilating into his embrace.
He's here he's here why is he here whyishehere!
Time fled in the rapid pulse rushing in his ears. Rin didn't know how long he panicked for, only coming back to himself because of the steady beat of Amaimon's heart in his ears and being surrounded by the earth king's scent until he could breathe normally.
Something in his body language must have let Amaimon sense that he'd calmed down enough to talk, his question coming out in a dangerously soft voice over Rin's head, "What did that exorcist do to you?"
"I don't know!"
His voice came out weak, but Rin really didn't know why just seeing Lightning was affecting him like it was and it made his body's reaction even more confusing and that just made everything worse.
His face was hot, his head hurt, he kept hiccupping and his eyes were wet and he hated feeling like this.
"You weren't there," Rin bit out as Amaimon waited for him to elaborate, warm clawed hand pressed to his back as a solid comfort. "It was when Shima came back and Lightning was there to figure out if he'd be tortured for information or stay with us as a spy."
He shivered but made himself tell Amaimon what had happened, trying not to let his claws put holes in his sweater where he had them gripped.
"All he did was say he'd always wanted to meet me and rubbed his face really hard against mine. But he wouldn't let go and his hand was in my hair and his body was on me and he smelled awful and-"
Rin began hyperventilating again, heart pounding as he relived the simple encounter in Mephisto's office.
The hiss that came out of Amaimon's mouth was serpentine as he snapped his fingers to summon his coat and wrap Rin in it, cocooning him in the dark of the maroon fabric.
"I'll gut that human like the repulsive creature he is."
It took everything Rin had to force himself to grab Amaimon's arm, bringing his head up out of the coat to stop him from leaving to do just that.
"You can't," he gasped out, voice thick as he tried to get his tongue to function right. "Mephisto wanted to kill him, too, but he said he needs him for some plan, so he didn't."
"I don't give a damn what his plans are," Amaimon sneered, tense under Rin's as he visibly held himself back from enacting his immediate vengeance. "That human knew exactly what he was doing. He was using our body language to mimic a demonic claim."
Rin's breath stuttered in his lungs.
"He must have guessed at Mephisto's claim on you."
His eyes widened in horror. "How?"
Wait.
He flashed back to the day in the office when he'd been so distracted by remembering the time Mephisto had taken him on his desk, and then the rest of Shima's interrogation and what happened after that he'd forgotten an important detail.
"He saw my claw-marks I left in Mephisto's desk. I don't know how he guessed from that, but that's gotta be it," Rin grit out, dropping his head at the shame of letting something so private out to someone like Lightning
The growl that came out of Amaimon echoed in the alcove, frightening a flock of resting birds into panicked flight and Rin flinched again, clinging tighter to his taut body.
"Please don't do anything, Amaimon," Rin begged, trying for calm before his erratic emotions led Amaimon into beginning a massacre, and then Mephisto would probably kill Amaimon or punish him again and Rin would have been the cause.
"Just. Don't worry about it," he said, voice leaving him in an exhausted exhale as he went limp in Amaimon's arms, coming down from the adrenaline rush he'd just been through. "I can deal with him and it's not like he can do anything in class. Now that I know what he was doing I'm not letting him touch me again, even if I have to use my flames. I just won't hang around him alone anywhere."
It was hard to tell if his words were having any effect on Amaimon, but he hadn't left him to go murder Lightning yet, so Rin hoped he'd begun to calm, despite the ferocious snarl still on his face.
"I'm not leaving you in a room with him," Amaimon hissed down at him from a fang-filled mouth, teeth lengthened in his rage.
Rin could only sigh, weighted down and heavy as he curled up further, wishing he could hide from what he had to do and knowing he couldn't. "You can't come with, though, right? Won't you just get attacked by the exorcists if you go into cram class with me?"
"I can do whatever I want," came the immediate declaration through clenched teeth, Amaimon not quite answering whether he could be around exorcists without them getting out the pitchforks and torches.
"If you can, I," Rin hesitated, realizing what he was asking would bring a whole host of complications whose consequences he wasn't sure would end in his, Amaimon's, or even Mephisto's favor.
But, "I want you there, with me. Please."
At his quiet request, the growls that had been rumbling through Amaimon's chest slowed to a stop, losing the dangerous tension coiled in his body and letting his demonic features recede with a shuddering roll of his neck.
"Okay," Amaimon said after a while, leaning to press his cheek to Rin's hair and bringing a clawed hand up to pull him into an undemanding hug.
In the quiet, Rin brought his arms around Amaimon, dropping his head to his neck and breathing, letting his body relax in preparation for what was to come.
He'd already missed the first of his cram classes by the time they made it off the roof. Amaimon had snapped his fingers, makeup gone and his hair out of the messy bun, back in that strange point at the top of his head. The school uniform he'd been wearing was replaced with his usual get-up, donned like a battle-armor,
Rin's phone had a flurry of texts from his friends wondering where he was and letting him know that Lightning's lecture had started.
...and that it was packed, students from other classes and years, and even exorcists, all attending the famous arc knight's first lesson. Rin almost ran the other way. But, knowing Amaimon was going to be with him let him open the door, taking a shuddering breath and entering to the attention of a room full of exorcists, exwires, his friends-
-and Lightning.
They'd arrived to see Lightning had been drawing what looked like PlayStation controller symbols on the chalkboard but, at their entrance, stopped. He had a wide, cheerful smile on his face, but his eyes were that same penetrating gaze that made Rin feel like he was being picked apart under a microscope in a lab somewhere deep, where no one could hear him scream.
The class was still silent.
Rin realized he'd frozen when he'd locked eyes with Lightning until Amaimon stalked past him, each step precise and heavy, his boots sending the ground rumbling beneath him as if something much larger walked towards the front of the room where Lightning was.
Lightning didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation.
"Amaimon? Demon king of earth and seventh in Gehenna? In my classroom? Holy shit! I didn't know my first lecture was going to be this exciting or I would have prepared better."
Amaimon was upon him.
"I'm a huge fan, I-!"
He was cut off as Amaimon slammed his fist down on the desk between them, splitting it down the middle with a deafening crack that sent splinters into the air and fractures spreading through the floor beneath it.
Letting his fist stay where the surface of the desk had been, Amaimon fastened his eyes onto Lightning's, each word of his next sentence coming out like a row of tombstones dropping to the ground.
"If you touch him again, I will bury you."
Breath held in his lungs, Rin waited for the answering storm from the Lightning, not knowing how he would respond to Amaimon's threat.
"Ahaha who knew Rin Okumura, our very own illegitimate son of Satan, had acquired such powerful allies," Lightning laughed, carefree in the face of the very real danger Amaimon presented.
"Alive," Amaimon hissed out, sending a venomous glare at Lightning before heading back towards Rin and grabbing his hand to pull him over to where his friends sat in stunned silence.
Rin found himself pushed into his seat, the poor random exwire from another class that had been using it shoved aside to make room for him and Amaimon sitting on the desktop to block his view of Lightning.
"Continue your lesson, exorcist," Amaimon commanded, leaning back on his hand and pulling out a sucker, dropping the wrapper to the floor like a challenge.
The room got a lot emptier as, all of a sudden, a stampede for the door happened until it was just them and the rest of Rin's friends still there.
"Ah, where did everyone go?" Lightning scratched at his stubble, leaving a smear of chalk dust on his face as he shrugged and smiled at the ones who'd remained.
"Well, does anyone want to tell me what these symbols are on the board? How about you, Rin?"
"What?" Bon yelped out, snapping out of the shock he'd just gotten and turning wide eyes on Rin from where they'd been locked on the desk Amaimon had destroyed. "What the hell was that, Rin?"
His question had Rin flinching and reaching out for the back of Amaimon's coat to steady himself before he could start trembling.
"Um, Rin," Shiemi said, voice soft with her worry, "are you okay?"
"Hey! Amaimon, what gives? I can't see the board!"
"What did he mean by 'touch him again'?"
"Yeah, man, wasn't the only time that happened during my whole interrogation thing?"
Each question from his friends made Rin bow further into his seat until his head pressed into Amaimon's back next to his clenched hand, staring into the weave of the fabric with unseeing eyes. He could hear the growls starting up and knew he had to get them off the current topic before the Amaimon got really mad.
"Can we just forget this, guys?" he managed to grit out, heart beginning to race again. "Please. Just drop it."
Something in his voice must have registered how very much he didn't need their attention, however well-meaning it was, right then, because they quieted. The room fell into awkward silence until Rin could pull his head back from Amaimon with a shaky exhale.
"They look like PlayStation controls," Rin began, answering Lightning's question.
"Close!" He wasn't close at all, the symbols being short-hand summoning circles, however that worked. Rin could imagine the cheery smile on Lightning's face and he hoped the glare he knew Amaimon would be giving him was vicious enough.
The lesson continued, though it only proved to showcase how far beyond them Lightning was, being a truly awful teacher who couldn't explain how he got the results he did, just that 'the rest is omitted!' Like that answered anything.
"And I guess that's it for today." Lightning dusted the chalk off of his hands, beaming at them, continuing with, "I have something I need help with if any strong guys feel up to the task."
Rin was already up and out of his seat, hearing Amaimon drop to his feet off the desk to follow behind him as he left the room.
He walked a few feet away until he had to lean back against a wall, letting the bricks cool his heated body through his uniform.
"Can we go to Mephisto's?"
A silent nod answered Rin and Amaimon raised his hand to snap, depositing them in Mephisto's bedroom.
Exhausted, Rin smiled at Amaimon before shedding his clothes and crawling into the bed, curling into Amaimon's chest when he followed suit.
In an effort to get as much contact as possible, Rin twined his tail around Amaimon's, sighing as a black clawed hand ran through his hair.
He drifted off to sleep.
"I can't believe you let that filthy exorcist live to come back to your school! And how could you not tell me what the creature did to Rin?"
"Simply put, Amaimon, because I knew this is how you'd react. As for letting him come back to this school, I'm afraid that was out of my hands. He was sent by the Vatican, although I suspect he requested Angel, the current Paladin, to send him here for his own purposes."
Rin awoke to Mephisto and Amaimon arguing in the room, though when he sat up they stopped, staring with twin, slit-pupiled eyes and waiting for him to make a move.
"Please don't be mad at Amaimon," Rin croaked out, mouth dry after who knows how long he'd been sleeping for. "It was my fault. I asked him to go to class with me."
They shot each other glares before both moved to climb into the bed on either side of Rin, Mephisto snapping his fingers to summon a glass of water and Amaimon dropping his head on Rin's shoulder, curling an arm around his waist.
He sent a grateful smile up at Mephisto for the water, letting him vanish the glass when he'd finished.
"So, am I in trouble?" Rin asked, hesitant, and picked at the threads of the duvet over his lap. "Yukio said the Grigori wouldn't be happy if they found out I was 'fraternizing' with a demon king and that they might lift the suspension on the execution order."
"Ah, you're in luck, Rin," Mephisto said as he traced his claws along the veins of Rin's arm and over his hand. "Because of the looming threat of the Gehenna Gate opening, the machinations of the Illuminati, and the encroaching demon horde, the Grigori have realized how short-staffed they are. They can't afford to execute you now, not when they need all the fire-power they can get."
"Oh."
Inhaling, Rin tilted his head to lean it against Amaimon's, pressing his face to his hair. The relief he expected to feel at no longer having an execution order over his head was shadowed by the other issues Mephisto had brought up and he didn't know how to feel about it.
"I would have killed them if they tried," Amaimon muttered into his neck, arm tightening around Rin's waist.
A smile twitched at Rin's lips. "Thanks, Amaimon."
"Will you be alright around Mr. Lewin during your classes with him, then?" Mephisto asked, though Amaimon growled at the question.
"Yeah," Rin placed a calming hand over Amaimon's where it rested on his stomach. "I told Amaimon, if he tries anything again I'll use my flames on him. I'm not afraid."
"Good," Mephisto nodded, squeezing his hand, "however, never drop your guard around him. He lacks many of the moral hang-ups most humans have and there are no limits to what he'll go through to get what he wants. I'm honestly surprised he wasn't born a demon."
Amaimon sneered. "Don't lump us in with that worm."
"Yes, well," Mephisto sighed at that, "never mind that there's also his strange obsession with us, demons, that is, and I'd rather he not be mucking around in my school."
Rin let the two keep talking over him, the back-and-forth of their bantering lulling him into sleep. His last impressions were of being tucked further against a warm chest, another draping itself along his back until he was surrounded, protected, on both sides.
"Hey, Rin."
Rin looked over from his seat at the table he, Bon, Shima, and Konekomaru were studying at, waiting to see what Bon wanted.
"I'm not sure what's up with you and Lightning," at Rin's twitch when he mentioned Lightning, Bon's eyes narrowed, exhaling through his nose before continuing, "but I just want you to know I've decided to try to become his apprentice."
"No way! Really?" Rin blinked up in shock at Bon, not being able to see him as anyone's apprentice. He could see Koneko and Shima were just as surprised, putting their books down to look at their hardworking, genius of a friend.
"Did you ask him already?" Koneko asked after he and Shima got over their exaggerated freak-out over Bon finding a mentor.
"Yeah," Bon sighed, "he said 'no' but I'm not going to stop until he accepts me, even if I have to do his menial tasks he keeps finding for me. As long as I can learn from him."
"So," Bon breathed, facing Rin, "I just wanted you to know."
Rin gave him a shaky smile. "Hey, it's okay, Bon. Don't let me stop you. If you want to learn from him, then that's what you'll do."
They finished their study break and Rin headed home. Finding that, once again, Yukio wasn't there. He had a subdued dinner with Kuro, despite his attempts to cheer him up.
The next few days proved hectic. Exorcists were in higher demand than ever and exwires were being called on to handle easier missions so the tougher ones could be dealt with before they got too dangerous for the unaware public.
He even had a joint mission with Shiemi, the two of them clearing a decrepit house in the middle of two skyscrapers of a rot demon that had settled in and started causing trouble. They'd been able to have a long talk about their worries for Yukio, though, in the end, neither could think of a way to reach him.
Then, while they headed back to the academy, Rin got a call from Mephisto.
"Rin, if you could come to my office. I've got something pressing that you'll need to hear."
"Sure." Rin blinked, sharing a confused look with Shiemi before they parted ways.
When he opened the door to Mephisto's office he froze, seeing Yukio before him looking a little rough, like he'd just come back from a mission.
And Amaimon was there, lounging against the wall behind Mephisto's desk, chewing a sucker and eyeing Yukio down in a menacing way.
"Rin, come here, please."
Mephisto leveled the both of them with a knowing smile that Rin wasn't sure he liked as he came to stand before the desk, hands shoved in his pockets.
"Miss Kirigakure has been missing for two days. Do either of you know where she is?"
"No," Yukio replied, hands behind his back in a parade rest and a cool expression on his face as he resolutely ignored Amaimon.
Rin watched as Amaimon's eyes slid to meet his and he wondered at what he was thinking.
"Rin?"
"No, I don't know where Shura is," Rin answered, forcing himself to look away from Amaimon and back at Mephisto's suddenly impish smile.
"Well, I do."
Quirking an exasperated grin at Mephisto, Rin sighed, "Seriously? Then what do you need us for?"
"I need you two to go to Aomori prefecture and bring her home-she's missed two days of work, you know."
"Why Aomori?"
He was curious about that too, so he waited to see how Yukio's question would be answered.
"Miss Kirigakure is from Aomori. We tracked her phone gps to her last location at the Hachinohe train station. It's a little concerning that she's vanished like this, so I'd like you two to go retrieve her."
That made sense. Rin nodded, accepting the information until Yukio's next words stopped him flat.
"Does this mission require both of us? I'll be able to handle it on my own and it'll be much quicker without Rin."
What? Rin's teeth grit, trying to contain the hurt he felt, because he hadn't seen Yukio in what felt like weeks outside of class and here he was, already trying to get rid of him like he was some excess baggage that would 'weigh him down.'
A shift from Amaimon showed Rin he had eyes intent on how the situation was playing out.
"Mr. Okumura," Rin shot a startled look at Mephisto, hearing the danger in his voice and seeing the lack of the usual mirth in his face.
"Don't argue. This is an order."
"But-"
And then Rin's stomach dropped as Mephisto spoke again.
"One of my sources tells me you've been engaging in some dangerous training. Please don't endanger your life." Mephisto smiled, a hint of fangs in his mouth as he pointed at Yukio while Rin kept trying to understand what he meant by dangerous training. The way Yukio had an instant denial on his tongue just made Rin all the more suspicious.
"Overwork is poison to the body, why don't you use this mission to blow off some steam, hmm?"
With how Yukio grit his teeth Rin could tell he'd found himself backed into a corner and wasn't happy. But, ever polite, he gave a curt nod. "Understood, Sir Pheles."
Rin had one more question for Mephisto, "is Amaimon coming too?"
A slide of Mephisto's gaze and he eyed Amaimon from his peripherals, though he remained facing Rin.
"No. Not this time, Rin."
He could see from Amaimon's expression that he wasn't happy about the situation either, crunching through his sucker and pulling out another to replace it.
The door shut behind Rin and he flinched, Yukio having left without any sort of acknowledgment at all.
In this one case, it was okay. He needed to talk without Yukio around, anyway.
"Is this another one of those things you're going to have to apologize for in advance?" he said after leveling a long look at Mephisto.
"It is," Mephisto replied, steepling his hands in front of his face as he watched for Rin's reaction.
Rin just let out a sigh, rubbing at his hair. "Okay."
Still, he sent them a dry grin. "Maybe I can drag whatever it is that's eating at Yukio out of him since he can't escape me now."
Snorting came from Amaimon, rolling his eyes at the wishful thinking. "Good luck with that."
His response made Rin smile, the irony of the ever reticent Amaimon looking down on Yukio for not being forward with his emotions was not lost on him.
He turned towards the door to leave, then hesitated, looking back from under his bangs. "I'm not mad at you guys, yet. Though I think I will be if you don't say 'goodbye'."
Amaimon reacted first and he had his arms full of earth king, raising his face to accept the kiss dropped on his mouth with a pleased smile.
Next, Mephisto appeared, drawing him into an unhurried kiss that he savored, knowing he'd more than likely be wanting to strangle him when he saw him again.
It had to end, though. Rin pulled back, heading out to go deal with Yukio and prepare for a long mission up to the snowy mountains of Aomori.
Amaimon shoved his hands in his pockets, watching the door Rin had exited through before turning his blank gaze to Mephisto.
"He's too forgiving."
Mephisto sighed, leaning back on his desk, tracing a clawed finger over his lips as if still feeling Rin's kiss. "And I'll be taking advantage of that forgiving nature of his for a while yet."
"Unfortunately, the worst is still on the horizon, and we're fast approaching it."
The mission went…about exactly as Rin expected it to.
Well, he'd never expected Shura to have such a strange and tragic past, although considering she'd been rescued by Shiro as a kid on one of his missions, maybe he should have.
But, Amaimon had been right. Yukio had played tone-deaf the whole time, distracting and parrying every attempt he made to find out what Mephisto had meant by 'dangerous training.'
Never mind that the way Yukio had rescued Shura from the dragon demon she'd been contracted to by her ancestor had been…worrying. He'd seemed a little too keen on getting ahold of the demon's immortality and strength for Rin's tastes, even if he played it off as a strategy afterward.
Everything about the mission had been worrying, actually. Especially Shima's appearance at the end that could only mean the Illuminati was trying to get their claws into the immortal dragon for his regenerative properties.
Besides Shura, who, after Rin had shaken sense into her about valuing her life a little more had gone back to her usual blunt self, Yukio and Shima had walked around like facades. Every word out of their mouths shallow mimicries that Rin was almost depressed to think they thought they fooled anyone with.
Not that he really cared whether Shima was false, long having decided to never trust him again.
Still, he'd tried his best to at least let Yukio know Rin knew he was hiding things from him and that he was there should he decide to talk.
The hug he'd received from Shura at the end of the mission and her thanks for giving her a new reason to live would be enough for him to call things a success, this time.
Now, with Yukio recovering in the hospital from the broken bones he'd received in their fight, Rin found himself back at the academy and making his way up to Mephisto's office.
He blinked in surprise to see a now short-haired Shura walking out of the office, sans sword, which she could no longer use to the same effect without the demon that had been inhabiting it.
"Oh, hey, kid." She came up to him, grinning and ruffling his hair like he was an actual kid.
"Shura! Ow, cut it out!" Rin grumbled, trying to dislodge her hand.
"Ahh, that makes me feel better," she said, ignoring his protests.
"What does?" Rin gave up, letting her hook an arm around his shoulders and lean on him with a sigh.
"Just enjoying my new lease on life. Freedom feels great!"
"What does that have to do with being in Mephisto's office?" Rin almost didn't want to know, especially seeing the way Shura's grin turned demonic.
"Oh, you know," she dragged out, voice sing-song, "it's just great that I can now say I've reached an understanding with two demon kings about you."
Rin froze, heart stopping as his mind went back to the only other demon she'd reached an understanding with. That demon being Amaimon and the understanding had been her threatening him over his relationship with Rin.
"Understanding?" Rin squeaked out, hoping he'd heard wrong.
"Yup," Shura grinned, adding an exaggerated pop to the end of her affirmation.
"Like you did with Amaimon?" Rin needled, feeling slightly desperate as Shura's grin only got more wicked.
"You know," she said instead of answering, "I never did get to tease you about what went down at the bathhouse. I think you've been avoiding me, Rin."
He groaned, dropping his head. He'd thought he'd escaped that punishment, but he should have known Shura had a long memory and would never pass by the opportunity.
Shura just let out a loud wolf-whistle, slapping his shoulder and cackling. "Oh man, kid. I can't believe it. Here I was, thinking 'wow, Shura, it sure is nice to get to enjoy a peaceful day at the spa. But gee, it's kinda noisy on the guy's side of the building. Sure hope Amaimon isn't causing any trouble.' And what do I find, but the troublemaker is you! Taking advantage of him!"
"It's not like I meant to!" Rin shrieked, stepping back to point his finger at her.
"That little perv', Shima, told us all the steamy details." She batted her eyes at him, clutching her hands to her cheek. "You should have seen poor Shiemi and Izumo's faces. They were so red I thought they were about to explode right there when they heard about the way you were all up on the earth king."
Rin thought he was about to explode too.
"OOOH Amaimon, play with me!"
"I'm gonna go see Mephisto now, leave me alone, you hag!" Rin yelped, dodging past her and making for the office to flee the mortifying situation.
He yanked open the door, bolted inside, and closed it, shutting off the sounds of her retreating cackles and slumping against the door, having narrowly escaped her clutches.
"I see you've had the pleasure of witnessing the new and improved Miss Kirigakure, too, Rin."
His breath exhaled in a whoosh, opening his eyes to send a flustered smile at Mephisto from where he was sat at his desk.
"I think I'm gonna have to put slugs in her bed if she keeps bringing up the bathhouse thing," Rin said, mouth twitching at his irritation.
Mephisto gave him a wry smile, leaning his head on his fist and tapping a gloved hand against his desk. "That may only encourage her. She's not one to fall from a challenge."
That directed Rin's attention over, and he noticed the new hole in the chair Mephisto sat in shaped suspiciously like a blade. Then he saw Shura's now empty sword leaning on the wall by the window and Shura's words about reaching an understanding came back.
"Please tell me she didn't figure out about us," Rin found himself whimpering as he eyed the sword. "She said she reached an understanding with you about me like she did with Amaimon."
The answering smirk was absolutely not helping and he glared until Mephisto laughed.
"No, I think her reaction would have been quite a bit more extreme than the talk we just had," Mephisto answered, rubbing a gloved finger over his cheek where the sword must have cut him on the way into the chair behind his head. "I'll live for another while longer, it seems."
Rin came forward, standing before the desk with a hand on his hip as he considered what he'd say.
"You and Amaimon were right. Yukio didn't budge," he began, watching for Mephisto's reaction.
At the conversation change, Mephisto inhaled through his nose, shifting back in his chair as he waited for Rin to continue.
"I'm guessing you know exactly what kind of training he's doing and it's probably a lot worse than either of you guys are letting on, for you to have a spy on him."
Rin shook his head at Mephisto's narrowed eyes, cutting him off before he could speak. "I don't want to know. At least. Not from you."
"Oh?" Mephisto cocked his head and Rin frowned, looking away.
"Yukio's gotta come clean on his own or I might as well get my own spy to keep an eye on him." Rin gave a self-deprecating laugh at the situation, unable to believe his relationship with his own twin brother had fallen so far.
"Yes, that would cut into your rather limited funds," Mephisto teased, examining his fingers.
"Maybe if you weren't such a cheapskate with our allowance," Rin hissed, hands twitching with a renewed longing to strangle the bastard-and not in the fun way.
Said bastard only raised his hands in surrender and Rin huffed out a breath.
"So then, I'm wondering," Mephisto said, face neutral, "what's your verdict. Have I done something unforgivable yet or?"
"Oh," Rin blinked, "that's what you're worried about?"
He grinned at the puzzled frown on Mephisto's face. "Nah, I think Shura handled that for me. Honestly, I expected a lot worse from you with how serious you guys were. I already knew Shura had some weird stuff going on with her, Shima's still a sketchy guy, you still seem to know everything about everyone, everywhere, and Yukio is an ongoing issue, so nothing new there."
"You should be careful what you wish for." Mephisto dropped his head into his hands, groan leaving him at Rin's carefree answer. "As I told Amaimon, the worst is yet to come. You may find yourself wishing Shura had aimed just a little bit more to the right."
Rin bent over on the desk, mirroring Mephisto's position by propping his chin in his palms in front of his bowed head and smiling at the poor demon.
"You were worried I'd be mad! Was Amaimon, too? This whole time?"
The teasing words brought Mephisto's head up, eyes narrowed in his irritation at reading Rin wrong. Or being wrong in general, Rin suspected.
How could he resist that? Rin leaned forward to kiss his nose, smiling at the cross-eyed look he got. "That's sweet. No one would ever believe me if I told them."
"I'll show you 'sweet'," Mephisto growled, making to rise and grab Rin over the desk only for Rin to bounce back out of reach of the hand just brushing the ends of his hair.
"Nuh-uh," Rin sang, "if you really want to be punished so much, I'll leave. I've got classes to get to, you know."
"Forget your classes," came the petulant grumble from Mephisto at having his prey slip his grasp.
He snickered from where he was at the door, one hand on the knob as Rin looked back at the disgruntled expression he was receiving. "You're the one who led me on the path to higher education. I could have been working a part-time job somewhere with loads of free time. Reap the consequences of what you've sown, Mephisto."
One more dig should do it, Rin decided, twisting the door and opening it a small crack.
"I'll just go spend the day with Amaimon, now. Maybe we'll play again before cram classes start. That was loads of fun last time."
The door was slammed shut and Rin found his hand covered by Mephisto's gloved one, body pressed hard to the door at his back and the fang-filled grin looming over him.
Rin smiled up at Mephisto, pleased at having gotten his way.
"Forget. Your. Classes."
"Amaimon's not gonna be happy," Rin said, trying to contain a laugh. "I'm gonna tell him you were the reason he didn't get to play with me when I see him next."
A knee wedged between his and a hand wrapped in his hair, Rin letting out a gasp as fangs bit at his throat and Mephisto growled against him, making him go limp in his arms with a responding purr.
"Did you come to my office with this specific purpose in mind?" Mephisto growled the question against his throat as Rin ground down on his leg and pressed into the teeth scraping his neck.
"It might have been one of the reasons, yeah," Rin admitted, panting as he brought his arms up over Mephisto's shoulders to his head, flexing his claws in the purple hair there as Mephisto groaned at his response.
"Amaimon was right, damn him," Mephisto said and glared into his eyes, expression peevish, "you are an incorrigible tease."
Rin gave a breathless laugh as he was hauled into the air and his legs wrapped around Mephisto's hips, continuing to grind onto the hips below him once he'd settled.
"You know," Rin let out another gasp as he was brought away from the door only for his shoulders to be slammed against the wall next to it, "that night on your desk, I was kinda hoping we'd do this first before I realized what you were planning instead."
Moaning came from Mephisto, both at Rin's continued movements and what he'd just revealed as he panted out, "Even then, hmm? That I ever considered you innocent is a mystery."
He snapped his fingers before Rin could respond and he shivered, finding himself naked against the still clothed body. A moment later and he was being held up with one arm as Mephisto reached down to free himself from his pants, nudging his length at Rin's entrance.
A whine escaped his lips as Mephisto brought his tail up, too, toying along his spine and coiling with Rin's tail to shoot delicious sparks across his senses and he arched his neck to press his head to the wall when he couldn't handle it anymore.
So good. Rin shuddered against the feeling, concentration splintering between Mephisto's teeth at his neck, the way his gloved hands pressed into his hips to grind their lengths together, and the pleasure being wrung out of his tail.
In moments, he'd begun leaking on his stomach, vision tunneling, and body heating so much he thought his own flames were consuming him by the time Mephisto took pity and began preparing him, though that only added to the fire coursing through his veins.
By the time Mephisto had determined him to be ready, he was a shaking, needy mess, pushing back against the wall and down onto the gloved fingers like they were the only things holding him up.
And finally Mephisto pushed into him with a long groan at the side of his neck until he bottomed out.
Rin hissed at the feeling, bringing his arms up to Mephisto's shoulders as he tried to adjust. A second later Mephisto moved, every thrust shoving Rin into the wall behind him and Rin couldn't stop the cries from leaving his mouth.
Heat twisted in his stomach, winding tighter as Rin tried to keep up with the pace being set. He found his hips held still in one hand while Mephisto brought his other one up to his shoulder, keeping him in place and unable to do anything except take.
But his tail was still free.
At the thought, Rin dragged his tail along Mephisto's where they were wound together, sending sparks shooting through his senses and knowing it was the same for him by the uncontrolled sounds he'd finally started letting out.
He managed to get one of his clawed hands into the mussed purple hair and the other at his collar and tugged, slipping out of Mephisto's hold to latch his fangs into the bared shoulder until he tasted blood and Mephisto stilled, coming into him with a growl that reverberated through Rin's body.
And then Mephisto had a gloved hand around his length, the feel of the soft leather dragging over him in rough strokes unlike anything he'd ever felt before and he came with a cry, clenching around Mephisto, his body freezing in his release.
Rin slumped, boneless in Mephisto's arms, drawing his fangs out of his shoulder and panting into it when he couldn't be bothered to lift his head.
Still, Rin let out a happy purr, smiling as he nosed into Mephisto's neck and wrapped his arms in a tighter hold around the lightly shivering body.
"Incorrigible," Mephisto repeated, pulling out and letting Rin get his wobbling legs under him until he got used to standing again.
"Mm, yep," Rin agreed, reaching up a finger to catch a drop of blood he'd missed to bring it to his mouth.
He quirked a teasing smile at Mephisto, enjoying the way he watched him trace his tongue to his finger. "I'm gonna go to class and see if I can convince Amaimon to leave early."
Mephisto's pupils slivered at his words, looking more than a little demonic as the realization of what Rin was about to do to Amaimon hit him.
"Clean me up?" Rin raised his arms, indicating his still naked body as Mephisto groaned again, dropping his face onto a hand and raising the other one to snap Rin back into clothes.
"That poor demon doesn't know what's coming," Mephisto sighed, already imagining the sheer torture Rin was going to be inflicting on an unsuspecting Amaimon.
"Even better," Rin said, grinning and reaching up to pull Mephisto in for one more long kiss before darting out the door as quickly as he'd entered in the first place.
He had an earth king to seduce.
End Notes:
Ahhhh! How did I write so much again? That scene with Rin and Mephisto was just supposed to be the Shura shovel talk scene! It added like over 6 pages to this monster D: That whole thing with Lightning wasn't supposed to happen at all DDD: I knew I was in it for the long haul when I reached 15 pages and I'd just gotten to the Rin Amaimon Mephisto h/c scene. And it's now 26 pages and I only covered half of what I was planning on covering so it's gonna have to go into the beginning of next chapter and this whole thing may end up being over that 10 chapter limit I was shooting for. Yay!