I have no excuses. Have a chapter.

"Speech"

Thought

"Telepathy"

'Familiar bond'

The brothers sat there in silence. Rin didn't know for how long, time was meaningless with what had happened over the last day. He didn't know what to do, his brother's words echoing in his head. They were the best of the best and they were being slaughtered. What can we do? He shook his head with a snarl, tail twitching slightly. He reached back to grab his tail and flinched, letting go at the unexpected pain. His ear tilted back as he heard his brother's clothes rustling as he shifted. Rin involuntarily whined quietly.

"Rin?" Yukio asked, worried.

Rin hissed in frustration. "I'm fine, everything just feels…weird."

Yukio hummed questioningly. Rin sighed.

"I can hear everything. I heard you shift, and my ear turned toward the noise. It feels strange feeling my ears and…and my tail moving. I tried to grab my tail to keep it still but it hurt. I can smell the chemicals they use to clean, and it's overpowering. It's like they are shoving the bottles directly up my nose." Rin tensed, "Some people are running this way. I hear three of them."

Yukio rushed towards the door, hissing "Quick, hide your tail!"

Rin winced and bit his tongue to keep himself from whimpering as he grabbed his tail, and shoved it in his shirt. His eyes watered and it felt like his tail was being lit on fire. He could taste blood. Yukio nodded, moving to sit in the chair by the door, tense. Rin frowned, confused. The footsteps hadn't slowed down, and they were still getting closer, what's going on? They should have come in by now, they sound like they are right outside the door, but they still sound like they are getting closer…are they running in place? That doesn't make se-

Right as Yukio relaxed there was a knock on the door and he startled.

As the door opened a tall woman walked through, her blond hair in a bun .

"I'm Doctor Igaku, and I'm sorry, but I will need to make this quick: there are a lot of injured." She pulled out a flashlight. "I will be shining this in your eye. I understand you have been through a lot today, but I need to ask you if it's alright if I have my nurses hold your arms." She gave a strained smile and tried to joke, "you've already punched one person and since you have a type of warrior magic you could easily kill someone."

Rin nodded, and each of the nurses walked to an arm and tried to anchor it. Rin was surprised at how little he felt them pulling on him, but allowed it. The doctor quickly flicked the flashlight over his eyes, frowned, then shined it directly on them. "What exactly is your magic? Your eyes aren't reacting to the light at all."

Rin nervously replied, "I have a type of warrior magic."

The doctor sighed. "Yes. I know. What type? Outside of physical enhancement. And if you are worried how I will react, don't be. It is my job to patch you up, I have heard a lot of stories of how things go on missions, and know even when a mission goes well there can be very serious issues, and I have treated a lot of exorcists. I have seen shapeshifters who are complete assholes, and other shapeshifters who are the nicest people you'll ever meet. I will not disclose any details, but I need to know about the full details of your health if I am to treat you. Oh, I have even treated nephilim before, if your magic is hereditary and you are concerned about that. However, regardless of the circumstances, people in the medical field are under oath not to reveal anything about their patients without permission from them or their guardian."

Rin turned to his brother, "Nephilim?"

"Human-demon hybrids," Yukio replied. "It's your choice how much you say."

Rin pursed his lips. "I…I can create fire."

The doctor nodded. "In that case the flashlight would have no effect, if you are cloaked in fire as you fight your magic would have adapted your eyes to handle excessive amounts of light and filter through it. Do you feel light headed or dizzy? Nauseous? A headache? Anything out of the ordinary at all?"

Rin's mind raced. Do I tell her about how my hearing and smell is so much better? I think it's just because of the demonic awakening, but maybe it's because of the concussion. He glanced at Yukio, who nodded.

Rin took a deep breath, and let his tail exit his shirt, breathing a sigh of relief as the pain faded. Well…up until today I didn't know I was part demon. My…demon… things? Were sealed away. I heard you walking this way five minutes ago, but didn't realize how far away you were, my sense of smell, and my hearing are both way more sensitive than they have ever been in my life…um…lavender shampoo?"

The doctor blinks in surprise, unconsciously reaching for her hair before stopping herself.

"Ah. I believe that the only reason they seem so strong is due to your demonic awakening. If your senses were weakened by the seal it would make sense for them to be overwhelming at first. Unfortunately it would make testing you for a concussion practically impossible." she hums in thought waving the nurses off. "I do have a request for you, if you don't mind. I have been thinking about studying the effects of sealing a nephilim's powers for extended periods for years, but never had a chance to before now, once things calm down I'd appreciate if you would consider allowing me to examine you to see the effects of long term sealing, but you don't need to feel obligated. From how you've been talking I would say we can rule out any serious injuries, but to be on the safe side please just rest here. I will be back when everyone is stable. If at any point something happens and you believe you need medical attention please just call for me."

Doctor Igaku stood and moved to the door. As she was about to leave, Rin called out to stop her and she turned back.

"I was wondering, if you aren't concerned about me could I please head outside? I promise I won't go far and I will sit down but," Rin averted his eyes. "The smell of disinfectant is…a lot. It's giving me a headache, it's so strong."

Doctor Igaku paused, observing at him for a moment, her bright blue eyes starting to glow an unnatural shade, before she sighed. "If you allow one of these nurses to escort you, you may sit over near where the dragons are being treated. Hopefully seeing you will help them to stay calm, and there will be people around in order to call for help if anything goes wrong. Don't cause any trouble for the vets working on the dragons, they have their hands full, and take it easy."

Again, I have no excuse. I got on the computer and saw it was only just under my 1 k word minimum. I would much rather it be closer to 2 or 3, but it's been over a year so I decided to push it out a little "early" to show I have not abandoned this. I also intend to hopefully get a bit more consistent in my writing. My goal is to get 12 chapters written this year. I'm not optimistic, I mean we are already almost through the second month before I finally remembered to do any writing, but i will try my best.

Review responses

ShadowWolf223: Yeah, unfortunately Rin has main character syndrome, which means a lot of trauma.

Guest: "So, will Rin like meet his other brothers and his daddy? It just feels wrong that Shiro is keeping Rin from meeting em" technically yes, i do intend for him to meet all his siblings. This does not mean it will be pleasant however. Unfortunately among the demons a dysfunctional family is the best case scenario.