You wandered across the empty square of the True Cross Academy. In the background, the huge fountain bubbled merrily. It seemed like a ghost town. Nobody was around, seeing as it was Christmas break. As far as you knew, you were the only student to stay.
When you'd asked Mephasto for permission, he'd only waved his hand dismissively and said, "Yes, yes. Whatever." Granted, he had been involved with a copious amount of paperwork, but you were staying anyways.
Lost in your thoughts, you didn't notice a black and grey cat running towards you. As a result, you tripped over the creature. It let out an indignant yelp, and you squeaked as you saw the ground rising up to meet you at a fast rate. You landed hard on your wrist, bringing tears to your eyes. Muffled curses left your lips as you wiped the teas away with your uninjured hand and then cradled your throbbing wrist.
"Kuro? Where'd you go, you naughty cat?" a voice called, jolting you from your musings.
The cat, who surprisingly hadn't left, meowed and bumped your leg with its head, as though it were trying to apologize. You glanced at its collar and noticed the exorcist's badge fastened to it before mentally facepalming.
You knew this cat! Of course, you'd only seen it once before, but you still knew him. "Hey, Kuro," you said softly, extending your uninjured hand towards him. He purred and rubbed it. "It's okay, I forgive you."
"Kuro?" the voice asked again, sounding much closer. If this was Kuro, then the owner of that voice could only be...
Rin rounded the corner then and spotted you on the ground. He jogged over, his signature messy black hairdo flopping in the light breeze. "(y/n)? I didn't know you were still here," he commented.
"I could say the same about you," you replied, momentarily forgetting the pain in your wrist.
"Well, Yukio had teacher business. I couldn't go back to the temple and leave him here for Christmas, so I decided to stay," he explained, shrugging and running a hand through his onyx locks. Then he looked back down at you. "Why are you on the ground?"
"Oh. I, um... tripped over Kuro," you admitted sheepishly. Kuro meowed, looking between you and Rin.
He laughed, scooping up the cat and nuzzling its nose to his own. You couldn't help but smile at the cute scene in front of you. Then Rin blushed, having forgotten you were watching. He offered you a hand, and you accepted it.
He pulled you up by your uninjured hand, but the other wrist throbbed suddenly, reminding you of what had happened.
"What's wrong?" Rin asked, noticing your grimace.
"I fell hard on my wrist. It just hurts, nothing to be worried about," you responded airily.
His eyes narrowed slightly before he held out his hand in a silent demand to see it. You complied, gingerly setting your hand in his. Kuro watched you with big eyes from his spot on Rin's shoulder.
Rin gently bent your wrist back and forth, moving it in different directions. You hissed in pain, unable to draw it away from his grasp. "I think it's dislocated," he eventually said, glancing back up and meeting your (e/c) eyes with his blue ones. "Come on, Yukio's patched me up tons of times before. He can fix this no problem."
He dropped your injured wrist and took you by the hand, pulling you behind him. A light rain was beginning to fall from the sky.
"I can walk on my own!" you protested. Nearly tripping again as you were drug behind him. He merely sent you a grin over his shoulder and gently squeezed your hand. You sighed, knowing it was no use to argue with the boy. So you slightly increased your pace to lessen the pressure he'd put on your hand.
-oOo-
"Yukio! I need you!" Rin called as he entered his shared dorm. However, his brother was no where in sight.
Kuro leapt off of Rin's shoulder and landed on an unmade bed that could only be Rin's. His side of the room looked like a tornado had swept through it, whereas Yukio's was neatly organized and not a speck of dust was to be seen.
The black-haired boy had yet to let go off your hand, but you weren't complaining. A slight blush swept across your cheeks at the thought.
"Hm, maybe he's in the bathroom," Rin thought aloud, turning to face the door.
Before you could protest about going to the men's room, Yukio appeared in the doorway, cleaning his glasses' lens on the hem of his shirt. "What are you yelling about now, Nii-san?" Yukio asked tiredly. Then he replaced the glasses on his face and blinked, realizing you were there. "Oh. (y/n). Hello."
"Hi," you responded timidly. You never were quite sure how to act around the guy who was your age, but also your teacher.
Yukio's blue eyes landed on your and Rin's interlocked hands, and he raised an eyebrow. Rin followed his twin's gaze and then blushed heavily, dropping your hand as though it were on fire. "Um... (y/n)'s wrist is dislocated. I thought maybe you could fix it," Rin hurriedly said, trying to avoid an awkward conversation.
"Really?" Yukio asked, grasping onto the topic change and stepping forward. "How did you manage that?"
You held up your wrist so that the younger twin could examine it. "I tripped over Kuro."
Yukio glanced over his shoulder at the three-tailed cat, who yawned. Then he returned his attention to you. "I can pop this back into place. It will just hurt a little. Rin, could you go get some ice? It's going to swell some after I fix it."
Rin nodded, eager to help. Then he disappeared out the door, and Yukio pointed to his bed. You sat at the edge of the neatly-made bunk. Yukio knelt before you, firmly grasping your injured wrist.
"Sorry about this, (y/n)," he said.
You were about to ask what he meant when he pulled in opposite directions on your throbbing joint, sliding it back into place in one fluid motion. You yelped at the unexpected motion, screwing your eyes shut and clenching your free hand into a fist to keep yourself from balling like a baby in front of your teacher.
After a moment, the sharp pain was reduced to a dull throb, and you slowly opened your eyes. Yukio was watching you with concern, still lightly grasping your arm. "Are you alright?"
You nodded, unsure if you wanted to bring yourself to speak or not yet. Yukio gently set your arm in your lap and then settled on the bed next to you. You took a deep breath before looking over at him. "Thank you, teacher," you said softly.
"Please, when we aren't in class, just call me Yukio," he said, smiling at you. You smiled back. Then he cleared his throat. "So why didn't you go home like the rest of our classmates?"
"My parents couldn't afford the plane tickets back to (home country)," you responded with a half-shrug. "So I figured I would just stay here and save them the traveling expenses. I honestly didn't expect to find anyone else staying, let alone someone I knew."
He chuckled. "I was rather swamped with paperwork, and I knew I wouldn't get it done back home. Rin just decided to stay here with me."
A silence descended upon you two that wasn't tense, but wasn't entirely welcome. After a moment, Yukio managed to find his voice.
"So, what's between you and Rin?"
"Huh?" You were slightly shocked by the question. "Nothing! I mean, he was just being nice by helping me. I think. Yeah, we're just friends," you said, cursing yourself for rambling.
Yukio chuckled as you tripped over yourself word-wise. "That's good."
You wanted to question him on his response, but before you go the chance, he had hesitantly reached out a hand and brushed a stray piece of (h/c) hair that had fallen in front of your face. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched him. You weren't sure how to respond, so you simply remained still. He realized this and changed the subject.
"Does your wrist still hurt?"
You glanced down at it, thankful for the turn in the topic. "A little, but it's not bad."
Rin entered the room then, opening the door with a loud bang and dripping water all over the place. "I'm back! Didja miss me?"
Yukio sighed through his nose, and you giggled. "Why are you sopping wet?"
It was true. He was drenched from head to toe, and his hair and clothes clung to him like a second skin. Water practically streamed off of him in miniature waterfalls.
"Oh, that," he said, walking into the room as he shut the door and kicked off his shoes. "Well, our kitchen was out of ice, so I had to run across campus. It's pouring outside. I could barely see with how hard the rain was coming down."
Rin tossed you the bag of ice he'd managed to procure, and you rested it against your swollen wrist. With a quick "Thanks," you stood and walked over to their window, drawing back the curtains. Outside, the late-afternoon light had almost completely faded thanks to the thick, black clouds that were dumping rain like there was no tomorrow. "Dammit."
"Don't worry," Rin said lightly, walking up behind you. "You can stay here for tonight."
You turned towards him, letting the curtain fall and raising an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked innocently. "We have an entire dorm building to ourselves. I think there's plenty of rooms for you to choose from."
You chuckled and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Rin grinned. "Great. I'm going to go change into something dry."
With that, he grabbed a spare pair of clothes and dashed from the room, leaving you alone with Yukio once more. Yukio shook his head in exasperation at his brother's actions. Then he grabbed a handful of spare bedding out of the closet.
"Come with me, I'll show you where you can stay," he stated, walking out of the room. He opened the door of the room right next to theirs and revealed a room that was identical to all of the other dorms on campus, including yours.
"Thanks," you said lightly, walking up to him as he set the sheets and blankets on one of the beds.
He nodded silently, being careful not to touch you. You noticed this and frowned, but neither of you said anything.
Suddenly, lighting flashed and thunder boomed, making you jump violently. Yukio glanced at you from the corner of his eye before turning to face you fully.
"I hate thunder," you said in a low voice.
His face softened and he put a hand on your shoulder in a consolidating matter.
Rin appeared again in the doorway. "Sweet! We haven't had a thunderstorm in forever!" he cheered. Another flash of lightning and rolling boom of thunder happened, and you winced, hanging your head and closing your eyes. "(y/n)? What's wrong?"
"Thunder reminds me of when (home town) was attacked," you said quietly. "There were gunshots for days, and so much death..." Your voice faded, and you missed the glance that the twins shared.
With unspoken consent, Yukio guided you back to their room and Rin followed.
"How about a movie?" Rin asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
You nodded, hoping for any sort of distraction from your memories. Rin began to clear a space on his desk, and Yukio lightly squeezed your shoulder before letting go. "I have to get some work done."
Rin paused from his spot, where he was now digging around in the closet for the TV they had stashed there. "You aren't gonna watch with us?" he whined.
Yukio shook his head. "This stuff is due in two days." Ignoring his older brother's protests, Yukio headed for his laptop and turned it on. He couldn't help but feel that he was in the way of you and Rin.
You stood between the two boys, unsure of what to do. Rin panted slightly as he hauled the TV up onto his desk and then plugged it in.
"What do you want to watch?" Rin asked, gesturing to a box full of movies. You quickly dug through it and pulled out (favorite movie). With a small smile, you handed it to the older twin. He shared your grin before popping it into the DVD slot.
Thunder rolled across the skies again, making you wince. "Um, d'you mind if I make a blanket fort? My dad and I used to do that during thunder storms," you said quietly.
"Sure!" Rin replied, bouncing up and down enthusiastically. "I haven't made one of those in a while. Mainly because Yuki-chan won't let me." He pouted at Yukio, who rolled his eyes and didn't even bother to turn around.
Ten minutes later, the fort had been made. A large sheet stretched out between Yukio's bunk and Rin's, supported by Rin's desk chair at one end. (favorite movie) was playing, but the volume had been turned down due to Yukio's request so that he could focus better.
Thunder boomed again, and you closed your eyes painfully. The bag of ice was still sitting on your wrist, which seemed to throb in time to your memories. A warm arm was suddenly wrapped around your shoulders, drawing you back to earth. You looked sideways to see Rin smiling at you, and he pulled you close. You leaned into his touch, thankful that you weren't alone in your own dorm right now.
Neither of you were aware of Yukio looking over at the two of you sadly.
-oOo-
"Bathroom! I'll be right back," Rin said, removing his arm and standing up. You suddenly felt cold in his absence, so you drew the blanket that had been covering the two of you in tighter.
The lights flickered and the rain pelted the glass panes of the window. Then the power went out.
You blinked in the sudden darkness, unable to see. The room was quiet, since the movie had quit, other than Yukio cursing because he hadn't saved his work.
Once again thunder resounded, sounding like a cannon, and you couldn't help but whimper. You pulled the blanket up over your head and curled into a ball under the blanket fort. You could hear Yukio sigh, and then his chair scraped on the floorboards. The next thing you knew, he had crawled into the fort and tentatively wrapped his arms around you.
You immediately snuggled into his chest, seeking his warmth and protection from your memories. He was glad that you hadn't rejected his attempts and hugged you tighter.
You knew when Rin was returning, because he tripped over everything that was in the hall on his way back to the room. He swore every time as well, and you would've bet that even Mephisto could hear him from the other end of campus as he crashed around in the hallway.
You giggled, and when he'd finally made it back to the room, he made no comment on you position with Yukio. Instead, he snuggled up to your back, wrapping his arms around you as well. His tail snaked over your back and wrapped tightly around Yukio's leg.
With both of them covering you, you found it easy to slip into a dreamless sleep, thankful for both of their presences. Kuro settled down at your feet, purring happily. When both of them were sure that you weren't going to wake easily, the two brothers sent glares at each other over your still body.
"She's mine!" Yukio hissed.
"In your dreams, four-eyes!" Rin retorted quietly.
You mumbled something incoherently in your sleep and shifted slightly, making both of them pause and glance down at you.
"We can decide later," Yukio whispered. "After all, she is here all of the break."
"Fine," Rin agreed reluctantly, but grinned at the thought of spending time with you.
They both reached down and pecked your cheeks before curling up next to you. In your sleep you smiled, happy to feel protected.