He woke up alone.
"Go figure," he said with a grimace. Of course Amaimon would have left.
He got it, really he did. Most people thought that Rin was stupid (not anymore; it's amazing what wanting to actually learn paired with having a good teacher and the time to learn does for you), but in actuality it was that he learned differently than everyone else. Part of that just so happened to be that he understood people; he understood where they were coming, why they were doing what they were doing. So he really did understand where Amaimon was coming from. Even if he loved Rin, Amaimon was too simple minded to not listen to their brother. It was how he worked.
That didn't make it hurt any less though. Rin really didn't appreciate being left alone, being surrounded by those who betrayed him. Especially when his lover would just disappear for weeks on end for Samael's orders. And all for some game with the humans. Sometimes he wondered if he and Amaimon were the ones Samael was really playing with. After all, his older brother knew that even he wasn't immune to his own domain.
Slowly, Rin made his way to the kitchen. Oddly, he was slightly dizzy and he still felt rather tired even though he'd been awake for a while. It's not like he needed to eat, but the normality of cooking himself breakfast provided a small comfort for him. Still stewing over the fact that Amaimon had left without a word again, most of his cooking was done in a daze so he didn't even get that small comfort. Hell, he didn't even know what he had made as he carried it to the table.
Holy fuck, the table... Placed on the table was a heart made entirely of green candy. Not one of the cute cartoon hearts, but the candy was placed in the shape of an actual heart. Rin burst out into gleeful laughter. Of course Amaimon would do something like this.
He sat his food down carefully, to avoid destroying the green monstrosity his lover had made in an attempt to be sweet. He quickly ate his breakfast, a bittersweet smile adorning his face every time he glanced at the candy heart.
There was a knock on his door. Must be Asuka ready to head to class with him. He didn't know whether he was relieved she was here or not. On one hand he wanted to sit at the table, and relish in the catharsis of the moment; on the other, he wanted to leave the house as quickly as possible and forget his problems.
"Hey! Sleeping Beauty! Get your lazy ass up before I make you, you lazy fuck!" Asuka called out, pounding on the door to make a point. Damn that foul mouthed she-devil.
He stomped over to his door and slammed it open before she could continue her onslaught of slowly breaking down his door. "Why the fuck do you have to be so fucking loud?" He greeted her.
"Because that's the only way to get your slow ass out the fucking door," she sniped back. Fuck, he loved this child.
"Well, maybe my 'slow ass' would hurry the fuck up if you didn't come and get me twenty fucking minutes before we actually need to fucking leave." Enough said.
She stared at him, face blank, before bursting into giggles. It was a full body laugh. You could see it in the way she bent over, one hand clutching her stomach and the other covering her mouth. Her pigtails bounced in time to her giggles as well.
"Well, some of us actually can't afford to be late," she said in between giggles. "Not all of us are lucky enough to have magical demon powers that somehow keep us from being late, or an uncle that runs the entire school."
Okay, he would admit that his domain made travel to the school easier, but that uncle quip was totally untrue! There's no way Samael would let him off that easy. The sadistic bastard probably has his own special punishments if Rin ever broke the rules like that.
"You know what, fuck you Asuka."
"I'd say when and where, but you look like shit right now, so I'll have to pass," she replied. "Like seriously, you've been looking sick for the past few days and you look fucking awful today."
He pulled out his phone and used it as a mirror. And shit, he actually didn't look good. Nowhere near as bad as when he'd been dying, but he looked pretty similar to when he'd been trying to hide his anemia. He had the same sickly pale tone and the dark shadows under his eyes. Shit...
"You. Come inside. Now!" He barked at Asuka, before dragging her in and slamming the door.
"Sheesh. All I said was that you look like shit," she trailed off, seeing the slight panic in Rin's eyes. "Hey Rune, are you okay?"
He didn't know. Fuck, he hoped he was wrong.
"Just, just give me a sec Asuka," he stuttered out. She gave him a concerned look.
Quickly, he called up Samael. He would know what to do. Samael always knew what to do.
"Yes Rin?" Samael said when he answered the phone. "This better be important."
"I swear it is, Samael. I wouldn't be calling your shitty clown ass if it wasn't."
Asuka looked slightly shocked. She was a cram school student, so she probably already knew the truth behind the school's director (honestly, he was surprised no one had confronted him about Samael yet; sure they had a story about him being adopted just in case, but no one in the cram school had yet to question why the Demon King of Time had a nephew and his purpose at True Cross) but he was sure it was still a shock to hear him so blatantly calling out his older brother.
"Fine, fine. What is it, littlest brother?" Samael sounded uncharacteristically concerned.
"I, I think I'm still sick. I--fuck..."
Asuka sent him a questioning glance. He mouthed her a quick 'later' while he waited for Samael's reply.
"And why do you think that, Rin?" He asked.
"Because I've been feeling like shit! I'm dizzy and I just want to fucking sleep. I didn't even pay any attention to it until Asuka said I looked like shit. I'm as white as a fucking ghost Samael! I..." he trailed off.
It felt like he had a runny nose. Except, when he tried to sniff it back up, it came right back out. A hot rush of blood flowed out his nose, cascading over his lips and down his chin until tiny droplets began to splatter onto the floor, growing into a puddle. He tilted his head back, looking for a tissue to try and stop the flow. All while the growing taste of copper ran down the back of his throat.
"S-Samael, my nose is bleeding," he said into the phone, panicking slightly.
"This is unexpected... Come to my office, now," Samael said before hanging up.
He glanced at Asuka. "I need you to come with me."
"But, isn't this like a family matter or something? I don't think I'd belong..." she trailed off, looking kind of nervous.
He sighed. "I need you to come along to make sure I don't pass out in the future. The person who usually took care of me is away most of the time now, so I need someone I can trust." He sent her a pleading look. She just sighed and gestured for him to lead the way.
He rushed to his coat and grabbed his keys. Quickly, he located the nearest door, and pulled Asuka over towards him. He inserted the key to Samael's office, and pulled them through.
The clown was waiting behind his desk when they entered. He looked as smug as ever, even when confronted with the blood running down Rin's face.
"You look as stunning as ever," he called out when the door closed behind them.
"Oh shut it, you stupid clown."
"You wound me!" He called out in a way that only Samael could. "Now if you don't mind me asking, why is the little lady Nakamura with you?"
"Well, with you sending Amaimon away I need someone to help when I have my episodes. And I know your clown ass isn't going to do shit, so I figured I'd bring her along," he snapped back. With Asuka letting out a surprised gasp when Amaimon's name was mentioned.
"Such harsh words~!" Rin just glared in response.
Deciding he was done with banter, Samael stood up and walked closer to them. He walked in a slow circle around Rin, observing the other demon.
"Well, you do appear sick once again, littlest brother," he called out at the end of his walk.
"Brother?" Asuka called out in shock.
Samael spared a quick glance at Rin, before beginning to speak, "Yes, brother. The simpleton standing next to you is none other than the Demon King of Shadows, the youngest son of Satan. Making him my youngest brother. Do you follow, little lady?"
She gave a quick nod, not looking like she quite understood much of anything at the moment.
"So, why am I still sick, Samael? I thought being a demon was supposed to cure me?"
"Well," Samae drawled out, "from what I can tell it did. While you were in Gehenna, at least. It appears that bringing your human body back into the human world has caused your disease to flourish once again," he said with a frown. "At any rate, it appears being more demon than human now has slowed it down, until today that is. Something stressful going on in your life?"
"Your little fucking game, that's what," Rin said with a sneer.
"Well, it's much too early for you to be quitting yet," he said as he turned and began to make his way back towards his desk. "I'll see what I can do to fix you. For now, just take a day or two off from school to try and limit stressful activities."
"Thanks you stupid clown bastard," Rin said as he spun on his heel. "We're leaving, Asuka," he mumbled to the still shocked girl, quickly pulling her along to the door to leave the office.
"Whatever will I do with you, littlest brother..."
---
It was dark now outside, the dim lighting outlining the two colourful occupants held within the office.
Amaimon had just gotten back from the mission Samael had sent him on, awaiting to hear what kind of trouble he would get to cause for the next part of his older brother's game. Sure he missed Rin, but playing with the humans was fun as well.
"You did a very good job today, Amaimon. Because you're doing so good, I'm going to let you have some fun with your next mission. There's a group of exorcists I have my eye on, I want you to go and play with them."
"Yes, brother," was Amaimon's response. He turned and was about to walk out the door when he heard his brother's voice again.
"Oh, and Amaimon? Be careful with Rin. He seems to be getting awfully close to that one Fenghuang girl~."
---
Thanks to my new beta for editing this! And sorry to everyone who has been waiting forever for an update. I've been busy with school and work (I get to go to Japan!), but that isn't an excuse for not writing. I'm sorry guys!
Self promotion time! Check me out on Instagram if you want to see what I get up to see what I do when I'm not writing fanfiction. You can find me under anekoforme. ^~^