“Are you almost done?” Rin asks, perhaps for the tenth time this particular morning.
Yukio takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes. A warm breeze wafts in from the window with the faint sweetness of cherry blossoms. Somehow, the bitter scent of herbs and wooden furniture in the pharmaceutics office remains the same as when their father used it. It always makes him think of the monastery.
“I want to eat lunch.” Rin’s chair squeaks when he leans it back on the hind legs. “Come on. You said you’d be done if I helped with the quiz, right? Let’s take a break.”
“Yeah, but I need to adjust a few of your questions,” Yukio says. “You did a good job.”
Rin tilts his chair forward. “It’s because I’m a real exorcist now.”
A smile tugs at Yukio’s lips. “That’s true, but some of your multiple choice options are just unrealistic. Call Mephisto? I’ve only ever left Sir Pheles voice mails.”
“You’re going to make them harder?” Rin heaves out a long-suffering sigh. “It’s good enough. What do you want for lunch?”
Before Yukio can answer, Rin’s chair tips backward.
“Whoa!” Rin grabs onto a shelf, knocks it over and crashes to the floor. “Ow,” he huffs. “That really hurt.”
“Nii-san…” Yukio grimaces when a plume of dust rises. He should clean the tops of the shelves better. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Be careful. Just sit in your chair properly next time.” Yukio helps him up and grabs one of the textbooks, pausing when a paper slips out.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Rin says with a bright grin. “Oh. What’s that?”
The sheet of paper has been folded in half twice. Someone penned a neat set of demon pharmaceutics practice questions on one side and a recipe on the other side. The same handwriting covers both sides.
“It doesn’t look like Tou-san’s penmanship.” Yukio tilts his head to peer over Rin’s shoulder. “Does it look familiar to you?”
“Wait.” Rin lifts his head so abruptly that he nearly hits Yukio’s chin. “Uh, never mind. I can’t really tell.”
Click here to read more on AO3 :)
This is the fic I wrote for @aoexcuizine which was such an awesome project to be part of!! *O *
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Blue-tinted raindrops splatter against the window as he zips up his bag. Condensation climbed up the opposite side of the glass overnight, freezing into lacy strands of frost.
He pulls his coat over one shoulder, fumbling with the sling. Earlier, he could still see a crescent of the moon. He hadn’t thought it would rain, yet the sky has been blotted out by deep violet clouds.
Someone knocks on the door to his hospital room, sliding it open.
“Good morning. It’ll take a couple of hours to discharge you, just so you know.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Yukio glances at his phone. He cleaned up most of his belongings last night since he was told he might be released today. Although Sir Pheles is his legal guardian, Yukio can’t imagine him coming to help. Calling the monastery this early in the morning would be bothersome, especially since he hadn’t told them he was injured on the mission to Aomori.
The other option is to call Rin, but he’s already struggling in his classes. Pulling him away for something like this would be unreasonable.
“Will your father be coming to pick you up?”
Yukio’s hands pause over the buttons of his coat. He swallows, lifting his head.
“Will your father come pick you up?” the woman typing at the computer repeats.
“No,” Yukio finally manages to say. His hands clench in the heavy fabric of his winter coat as he tries to breathe through the familiar tightness in his chest. “No. I’m sorry. He won’t be. I’ll be fine on my own.”
The woman frowns. Yukio missed her name and role when she introduced herself yesterday. Inconveniently enough, her long, dark hair has covered the badge clipped to her scrubs.
“He signed your forms last night, but we haven’t been able to reach him since this morning.”
Yukio looks down at the form. Johann Faust V. The name is printed in dark ink. Of course. She must have assumed.
Rain strikes the window with a harsh cadence like hail. Outside, the sky has grown darker, laden with heavy storm clouds. It’ll be difficult to carry his belongings and an umbrella back to his dorm on his own.
“I’ll be fine on my own,” Yukio says with a smile. “Thank you for trying to reach out to him.”
The woman nods and moves on with the remaining discharge paperwork. She must be busy, glancing at her watch repeatedly as Yukio reads and fills forms.
Yukio grips the cheap ballpoint pen carefully and signs his name beside the curled, elegant signature Sir Pheles penned as his legal guardian. Of course, he didn’t tell anyone at home he was injured. Rin has class at this time. It’d be too much of a hassle to bother any of them.
No one will come pick him up, but he can manage on his own.
A low roll of thunder swells in the distance. He has a feeling this rain will continue for the rest of the day.
By the time he leaves the hospital, first period is over. He still needs to change, so he heads to the old male dormitory. At this point, he’s already missed several classes. Making up the work will take up time he doesn’t have. He needs to hurry before he misses all of second period too.
This broken arm is wearing on him, but it’s manageable. As he sets the bulging folder of discharge instructions aside, his phone vibrates.
This is the monastery’s number. Did Sir Pheles tell them he was being discharged? That seems unlikely. He grabs his bag, holding his phone with his shoulder as he reaches for the door. “Hello?”
“Yukio,” Nagatomo begins, somber and weary. “You should come home tonight.”
Fear climbs up Yukio’s throat. The window rattles with low tremors as a furious gust of rain splatters on the glass. Lightning cracks across the dark sky stained deep blue and grey.
Months ago, Nagatomo called him as well, in this manner. His voice was harsher then, scarred by the touch of fire.
Yukio. Come home as soon as you can. It’s Father Fujimoto. He’s—
Yukio clenches his jaw. “What happened?”
“Misumi-san passed away this morning.” Nagatomo draws a pained breath in and sighs. “It… was acute heart failure. With his age,” he whispers, “it couldn’t be helped.”
Misumi?
Yukio’s bag slips slowly from his grasp, slumping with a dull thump to the floor. He shuts his eyes, lowering his head. How long had it been since he spoke with Misumi? He hasn’t been home since starting school.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Thank you for telling me.”
For a breath, neither of them speaks.
“The funeral,” Nagatomo says, “the funeral is tonight.”
Yukio nods. “Then we’ll come back. I can let Nii-san know.”
Nagatomo hesitates. “No, I can call Rin. You shouldn’t have to…”
“It’s fine. I’ll see him during lunch.” He can barely recognize his own voice, pale with gentleness and asymmetric calm. “I’m sure he’d rather know sooner than later, and he won’t have his phone in class.”
“Yukio, if you’d rather take the day off…”
Yukio reaches down to pick up his bag. “I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry about me. I’m sure this is far more difficult for you and everyone else,” he says. “Please take good care of yourself, Nagatomo-san.”
Nagatomo sighs. “Of course. Thanks, Yukio,” he says with a tremulous breath, “for always being so reliable. You take care as well. Look out for Rin.”
The call ends abruptly.
Yukio adjusts the sling on his arm, swallowing as he takes a deep breath in and back out. As he gathers his composure, pattering rain taps the window with an impatient rhythm.
He’ll tell Rin at lunch. It won’t be as difficult for him as it is for Nagatomo.
He raises his umbrella and steps out into the rain. His thoughts are slow and blunt at the corners, submerged beneath still depths. If he goes back to the monastery tonight, he won’t have as much time to catch up on work. It can’t be helped, but he’s already behind.
Yukio. Come home as soon as you can.
Home?
His breath fogs in short, scattered puffs as he stops across a bridge toward the academy.
When his eyes throb, he rests his elbows on the rough stone ledge and takes a deep breath. Bits of moss and lichen cling in the thin cracks. He grits his teeth and shuts his eyes, waiting for the warm ache to subside.
Wind trails through his uniform sweater, rippling across the tall bridge with a whispered promise of snow.
What use is there in going home at this point? The one he misses is already gone.
Flickers of his breath graze Yukio’s ear, soft as wisps of flame over kindling.
He knows Shima can’t have fully grasped what this message means. No. Of course, he hasn’t. Shima may have been tasked to pass this secret along, but he wouldn’t say it in this way if he knew more.
Regardless, it’s too late. The idea is irrevocable, swaying just beyond the corners of Yukio’s vision. He’s already enthralled by it, so much that there’s no decision to be made.
“Now I’ve told you, so do what you want with it.” Shima raises a finger to his lips and winks as he walks away.
“Which side are you on?” It’s a futile question, yet he’s asked it twice now. He doesn’t even know what answer he cares for.
Shima laughs. “Who knows?” When he turns back, the mirth in his voice doesn’t reflect in his eyes. “Which side are you on?”
Those words fall from his tongue one by one like scattering dice. As he leaves, their echo swells in the empty hallway, spoken as if they were particularly clever.
Yukio’s lip curls when he catches sight of his own silhouette in the tall row of windows beside him. He’s cold and sheer. Do his motives appear as simple to see through?
“Of course,” he says, “you of all people wouldn’t be fooled so easily.”
Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Shima won’t be enough to stop him, and it’s clear he has no intentions to do so in the first place.
The soft hum of warm air vents switches on when he steps near the windows. It’s never completely silent here. Blinking specks of red lights line the ship’s massive steel wings. In spite of the darkness, no stars are visible. All he can see are layered clouds in the distance.
This fortress is undeniably impressive from a technological perspective. It’s clear it was designed with both comfort and safety in mind. He hadn’t expected that after seeing their lab in Shimane.
Yukio turns away and strides down the hallway with measured, even steps.
He’s been given a weapon. All that’s left is to weigh how best to use it.
Flecks of rain shift in the wind as he stands still. He sets his fingertips on the cool surface of the grave, lost to the sudden memory that surfaces in his thoughts.
“Why are you raising us, Tou-san?”
The rain of that day was louder than this, hitting the unyielding ground and muddling the air in waves of fog. This memory is old. Some of the details must be wrong by now, and other parts are too vivid to be real.
“Why are you raising us, Tou-san?” His wet hands clench as he steps closer. “Why does Sir Pheles allow our existence?”
“I won’t lie to you,” Father warns, “but I can’t talk right now.” His brow is furrowed, and all Yukio can see in his eyes is what is missing— acknowledgement, approval, or perhaps even trust.
“Not now?” Yukio demands. “Then, you’ll tell me someday?”
Bits of gravel and dark mud grind under Father’s heel as he turns away. “You’ll know one day.”
The pelting rain around them is deafening. When he breathes in, the hollow space in his chest fills with cold air. He backs up a step, gritting his teeth as he runs the opposite direction.
“Wait, Yukio! Yukio!”
Anger and stinging fear mix with the rain gliding down his face as he sprints through the crowded street.
He doesn’t know what to do. The white threads of too many secrets have tangled and covered his eyes. What will become of Rin? Why did Father tell Shura to look after him, as though he wouldn’t be able to soon? Why does he tell Yukio things like, when I’m no longer here—
“You’ll know one day,” Yukio says as a quivering sigh slips past his lips. “Yet you never intended to tell me. You left behind so many things that I will never understand.”
He’s known the reason for a long time. Despite that, this memory aches.
To keep reading on AO3 :) (this excerpt is from chapter 5)
He finishes his mission early in the afternoon. It’s only one thirty. When he crosses the street, he can feel the heat of the car engines lined up at the intersection.
Rin sent him a photo of spicy noodles from a Chinese restaurant that Konekomaru and Ryuuji bought him for lunch. Everyone keeps bringing him food. At least, he appears to be doing reasonably well.
Rin has been reading the notes Father wrote on another investigation that could be related to Ishikawa’s case. The question is, how does that relate to the distortion? Why is Mephisto so adamant that he focuses on Ishikawa’s case at this time?
A taxi honks when it turns. As Yukio waits at the intersection, he receives a call. It’s from Shura.
“Shura-san?”
“Hey. I’m having lunch at headquarters. There’s some punk sitting out here in the front. You’re free, aren’t you?”
Yukio steps under the awning of a convenience store. The air conditioning is pleasantly cold, ruffling his hair when the automatic doors open. “Not necessarily.” He grabs a basket, looking over a pile of discount items.
“Well, he said something about a missing person, but they kicked him out because he kept swearing.” Someone else’s voice filters through, not quite clear enough for him to decipher. “He’s been here all morning.”
Yukio holds his phone with his shoulder as he sets three bottles of green tea into his basket. There are several guards in the confinement tower where Rin is being held. Since he’s been visiting often, it’s better to bring something. “Why can’t you talk to him?”
“Huh? Delinquents love you. Also, you’re just a junior inspector. I outrank you.”
Yukio’s eyelid twitches. “I’m not good with delinquents.” He doesn’t manage to smile as politely as he’d like when the cashier bags his tea and sodas.
“That’s too bad. I’m busy chasing the airport demon. It’s a huge pain.”
“Really?” Yukio shifts his phone to his other shoulder as he leaves the convenience store. “I thought its leg was injured.”
“Yeah, but it’s still fast. We don’t know what it wants, so we’re just chasing it around the city.”
“That sounds unfortunate.”
“So, anyway, go talk to that delinquent. Mina at the front desk said he shouted something about the airport. He probably doesn’t know anything, but you might as well go scare some respect into him.”
Yukio sighs when she hangs up.
The streets are full of people near the shopping center. He picks up his pace as he heads down a set of stairs beneath a flowering wisteria tree. Its pale blossoms have scattered along the cracks in the cement, fluttering when he passes by.
Only a day has passed. A demon that strong shouldn’t be capable of leaving this town once it’s inside. True Cross had its wards checked only a month ago. There should be no weak points.
The question is, how did it enter undetected in the first place?
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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Okumura Rin & Okumura Yukio
Characters: Okumura Yukio, Okumura Rin
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Mystery, Aged-Up Character(s), major spoilers for chapter 139 and 140 of the manga, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, descriptions of blood and violence, Time Travel, Character Death, Murder, Slice of Life, sort of a case fic, with angst, Fluff, hand wavy space time whatever, food and other love languages, and a hopeful ending
Summary:
A cold case Shiro once investigated is assigned to Rin nearly twenty years later. The toll of missing exorcists is rising, yet it’s a case ridden with corruption and unspoken secrets.
An unidentified, high-level demon appears at the airport— wielding a sword Yukio knows.
He sinks to one knee, leaning close enough for a few strands of his bangs to graze Yukio’s forehead. There is no warmth in his eyes, yet the lack of it is haunting.
Rain trickles down the alley walls in small waterfalls, winding around Rin’s ankles as he catches his breath. This alley is grimy and smells like a sewer. Bits of paper and hair are floating in the water. It’s gross. “What are you doing? I thought you had a mission this morning.”
Renzou shrugs. “Come on. This is way more fun.” He swipes and powers his phone off. Wait, that’s Rin’s phone. When did he get his hands on that? “I’m helping you disappear for a little while.”
Rin snatches his wrist. “No. Sorry, but I’m going to do this properly. I need to.”
Renzou’s eyes are shaded by his hood, reflecting the grey, shifting light from the rainy streets as he smiles. “You really don’t know what this is about yet, do you?”
“So what if I don’t?” Rin clenches a fist around his sword. “If he’s made mistakes, I won’t hide them. I need to do this the right way.” A shard of glass crunches under his heel as he walks past Renzou. “Thanks, really, but this is important to me.”
“What if I told you that your way won’t work?”
Rin turns back. A cold drop of rain rolls down his cheek. “You don’t know that.”
“Sure, but this isn’t just any secret. Even knowing it puts you in danger.” Renzou slips his hands into his pockets. The white glare of a nearby vending machine casts half of his face in stark shadows. “I think you know what I’m talking about.”
A strike of lighting and thunder swallows what he says next, but Rin sees the shape of the words even if he doesn’t hear.
Rin bats the hand ruffling his hair aside as he burrows into his pillow.
“Rin! Hey. Come on, they’re letting you out. It’s already ten in the morning.”
Rin squints his eyes open. “What?”
Shura is standing over him, holding a clipboard in one hand. “Last night, we saw the airport demon use flames. That means you didn’t lose control. Somehow, it can use Satan’s flames too.” She crosses her arms as she looks over his pile of snacks. “Then, there’s no point in keeping you locked up here anymore.”
“Oh.” Rin yawns, blinking as Kuro crawls over his stomach to greet Shura. “What happened, then? Is the Legion still looking for it?”
“Yeah.” Shura tosses him a trash bag and a yakisoba bun. “We’re doing twelve-hour shifts. I have to head back soon.” She pats Kuro on the head twice and walks off. “Clean this up and get back to work. I saw Yukio come in this morning, but he’s sick or something. He told me to buy you food.”
Rin sits straight up just as the door shuts. “What?”
He crams all of his things into the trash bag, signs a bunch of forms, and jogs over to headquarters. One of the new inspectors, Takeda, briefs him on what was done yesterday on a case tracking a phantom taxi. Rin really doesn’t remember anything about that.
“What about that case with Ishikawa Fumi?” Rin asks as they head upstairs.
Takeda flips a few pages on her clipboard. “I’m not sure. I believe it’s been assigned to someone else.”
“Okay. Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Rin says. “I’ll go check in with my other teams. Thanks for briefing me.”
Takeda smiles and nods.
Still, the day goes on, and no one comes to talk to him about Ishikawa’s case. He’s busy trying to supervise two teams cleaning up the airport, the phantom taxi, and something about a mansion infested with coal tars that the owner refuses to get cleaned.
It kind of sucks. When he was working mostly out of the Vatican, he got to go on cool missions. Being the only Arc Knight based in Japan leaves him with all these supervising tasks. The only good thing about it is that he can stay close to home.
Rin. Rin? Kuro winds circles around his legs as Rin reads a report. Let’s eat lunch. Isn’t it lunchtime?
“Oh, okay.” Rin smiles, reaching down to pick him up. It’s already past noon. He hadn’t even realized.
The cafeteria is crowded, so he hunches at his desk as he eats and manages to look into what has been going on with Ishikawa’s case.
For some reason, the page for exorcists assigned to the case is blank. Maybe they haven’t updated it yet. If nothing changes by the end of today, he’ll check with the admin staff.
The last report says they asked the family a few more questions about who knew they were going to the charity concert. The police have been running background checks and things. None of the traffic cameras in the area showed Ishikawa leaving the hall.
Also, a lady went missing at the airport, like those victims in the portal case. Somehow, Yukio was the one who ended up interviewing the witness, even though today is his first official day back. Weird.
Rin should probably be doing a better job supervising who is working on the case and when, but he was locked up for a whole day and a half, so it’s been messy.
Still, somehow, that lady who went missing at the airport wasn’t an exorcist. That has to be important.
Where is Yukio anyway? Rin hasn’t seen or heard from him all day.
