Iocum Fati - Part 8

“Rin…” the exorcist whispered. Then he looked away and sighed. “I think I owe you some explanation. Listen, Nii-san, I know you must be angry and…” he started to say, but he couldn’t finish the sentence because one moment later the eldest was on him and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him so hard that his not yet healed wounds screamed with pain.

“You don’t know anything, damn it!” Rin growled angrily. “You don’t know what I went through in these fucking days, while you were away! I was left alone with a goddamn feeling that tormented me and with worry that was killing me! You are a selfish asshole! You weren’t protecting me! You were driving me crazy!”

“Nii-san, calm down! I did it for you!” he protested, trying to keep his voice calm and grabbing the other’s wrists, trying to break free from him, but in vain. His brother’s grip was iron, as if the half-demon feared that he would disappear if he had let go. That consideration made his chest ache. He had brought so much sorrow to his twin because of his decision, he was well aware of that fact, but he preferred to see him worried sick rather than watching him fall into their biological father’s clutches. “If I’d told you that I was going to fight Satan, what would you have done?”

“I would have come with you, for God’s sake! I wouldn’t certainly have let you go alone to meet that bastard!”

“That’s it. This is the reason why I haven’t said anything! I didn’t want you to get yourself killed. You would have thrown yourself in the battle without thinking and it would have been the end. You know how strong Satan is, you have no chances against him.”

“Oh, and you do instead? You think you’re so much stronger than me only because you have those damn exorcist qualifications? You should have refuse the mission! It was a suicide, a bloody suicide, dammit!” the half-demon exploded, feeling his anger grow drastically. He couldn’t stand those arguments. He could never do anything, while the others were free to choose to do whatever came in their head, not matter how stupid and dangerous it was. It wasn’t fair. “Shit, Yukio, you’re the one who almost got killed! What the fuck did you think you were doing, eh? He killed almost all your teammates and what did you do? You threw yourself in his arms!”. He let his twin go and shook his head, laughing bitterly. “And who is the reckless one now, brother? Who is the one who mess everything up? It’s true, I would have risked getting killed, but isn’t it exactly what has happened to you, my dear genius? How do you justify this?”

“Risking my life is part of my job, Nii-san. I couldn’t abandon the mission. It’s not a matter of pride or delusions of grandeur. It’s true, I wanted to fight him, I wanted to teach a lesson to who has ruined our life, and I wanted to do it for us both. But, contrary to what you think, I am aware that I have no chance against him, and that maybe I’ll never have one” Yukio said serious, fixing his cold stare in the eldest’s angry one, a note of frustration in his tone. “I’ve never claimed to be stronger than you, but I’m without doubt more objective and, above all, more cautious. This is the difference between us. I have learned how to calculate risks and to consciously decide to take them, you don’t even consider them. And that brings you to lose much more”. He sighed. “You are right, I almost got killed. But I don’t regret my choice. I don’t want to back out, I want to fight by your side. But since you always try to stop me, I decided to act like you: go away without saying anything. Now can you understand how I feel when you disappear and get into trouble, out of my reach? Do you understand, Nii-san? “

Rin stood still for a moment, feeling the blow. It was true, he himself had acted as his brother had done that time, and more than once. But he was a demon and his body was not as fragile as the humans’ one. Perhaps even Yukio’s didn’t posses the whole human vulnerability, but his twin surely didn’t have the demonic powers that allowed him to endure what he endured during battles. However his brother seem not to grasp that little detail. He could have all the experience and the training, but he was always a step below the demons because of his human nature. “Yes, I understand. But it is not the same thing, Yukio. How is it that you don’t see it? You have been very lucky! Damn, you could have been burnt alive by those flames! You’ve managed to that bastard two times, but at what cost? Get a look under those bandages! Those scars will remain forever, as witnesses of your fucking pride” he growled, pointing the bandages that covered the other’s body. “Do you understand this, little brother?”

The exorcist’s eyes hardened and he pulled back the blankets, getting up to be able to face the half-demon. “Yes, I understand, Nii-san. And I could say that I’m proud of them, I can say that every time I’ll look in the mirror and I’ll see them I will remember that even I can do something for our cause. I have fought and, although I had to pay a price, I won. And I’m ready to do it again countless other times if I need to. For me, for you, for our lives” he stated coldly. “I don’t care if you disagree. If you can fight, I can do it too. And don’t use the being a demon thing with me, Rin. I know what you’re thinking”. He raised his hand to his chest and clenched his fists. “I’ve felt those flames, but I was not burned because in a certain way they are a part of me. Their feeling is not alien to me. Hostile, yes, but not alien. They can consume me as they consume you, but they cannot kill me. Because if they did they would extinguish themselves.”

“You are making no sense, Yukio! Do you listen to yourself when you speak?! You don’t have a tail, or pointed ears, and you don’t catch fire, dammit!” his brother protested vigorously, shaking his head stubbornly. Some blue sparkle raced on his hair while he shook with anger and disbelief. Had the coma burnt his twin’s neurons? Or maybe it had been the demonic fire? It could be, since that idiot had ended up straight in the middle of it. Why the heck was he saying those things? He didn’t know what it meant to be wearing those damn signs, he could not know, could not understand the pain and loneliness that they meant. “You’re not like me! Stop this shit! You don’t understand! You cannot, so stop and…”

He didn’t have time to finish the sentence because he found himself pressed against the wall. Yukio pushed him back and now he was holding it against the cold surface. His eyes sparkled in a dangerous way he had never witness before. His irises seemed to be made of liquid fire. A shiver of uneasiness ran down Rin’s spine. He hadn’t even seen him moving. What the heck?!

“I do not understand, Nii-san?” the exorcist whispered, far too calmly, but his tone vibrated threateningly. “I’m not like you? Maybe you are forgetting something…”. He bent over until his mouth was almost pressed against the eldest’s ear, making him shiver again: “I’m your twin brother, Rin. I am Satan’s offspring too”. Then he moved away. “And that will never change, no matter what I look like physically. I am not human, Nii-san”. He raised his voice. “It doesn’t matter if people sometimes prefer to pretend that it’s not true, to pretend that I am like them, because in the end they refuse to really get close to me. It doesn’t matter if I don’t have your powers, if I do not have the flames on my head”. He tightened his grip on the other’s T-shirt. “Those flames are inside me! I feel them, they are there, every moment of the day, at night, ready to remind me that sooner or later they will come out and take me too. And, when it happens, you will no longer say that we are not the same thing”. He had yelled, throwing in his brother’s face everything he had kept inside since the day he had learnt the truth about them. He could feel his chest burn with frustration, mixing with the dull and throbbing pain of his injuries. It was time that Rin understood the state of things, or rather that he admitted it. Because he was more than sure that his brother already knew well what he was saying. They were both damned. “Keep it in mind! Because, even if you prefer to think of me as the weak human brother, the one unable to understand how you feel, this doesn’t make me like that. I am a product of hell as mush as you are and as much as our real father is! You’re the one who doesn’t want to understand, Nii-san.”

Rin stared at him completely astonished, while his mind tried in vain to find some arguments with which he could deny the truth that he had so strenuously tried to ignore. It was easier to think that he was the only one, to blame the others because they cannot understand him. It was easier to think that he and he only was fated to fight with his double nature, it gave him a pretext to keep Yukio away from the dangers of his war. And yet, on the other hand, he couldn’t forget that the blood that flowed in their veins was the same, he couldn’t not understand that his attitude was unfair because it stripped his brother of the right to fight for their identity, while he allowed himself to do it. But he was the eldest, he had to protect his twin at any cost, even if it meant ruining their relationship. He had decided it the day after they had argued in the classroom, he had swore to himself that he would have taken all necessary measures to keep the younger safe.

“No, no, no!” he cried out desperately, shaking his head and trying unsuccessfully to break free from his brother’s grip. “It’s not true! I…Damn, I cannot let you do that, and who cares if it’s the truth! I cannot lose you too, Yukio! You cannot ask me such a thing! This is a fight between demons and you’re not, and who cares if you think otherwise! I believe in what I see, I don’t care about your absurd theories!”

The exorcist tightened his grip, crushing him even more against the wall, almost hurting him. “Then you leave me no choice, Nii-san. From now on I will behave exactly like I did this time, because I cannot lose you either, even if you in your selfishness can’t see it” he stated harshly. He didn’t like having to treat Rin that way, to impose himself on him by force, maybe even pushing the eldest to hate him, but he couldn’t give up the task that had been entrusted to him. “Just as you don’t understand that being a demon doesn’t depend only on appearances or physical capabilities.”

That last sentence struck the half-demon, leaving him dumbfounded once again. It was the same thing Mephisto had said on the terrace of the hospital. How was it that everyone seemed to figure out things before him? And then what the heck did that damn phrase mean? The discussion was degenerating more and more. He had no way to stop it, because he knew he was wrong, but he couldn’t give in either, because it would mean allowing Yukio to get into even worse situations. Yet he couldn’t find a proper reply, he was stuck with his back to the wall, in every sense. He had to change the subject before they began to say hurtful things that they would surely regret but that would not be easy to erase. And he didn’t want to hear them from Yukio. He had never seen his twin so out of his mind, not even when he had accused him of being responsible for Shiro’s death. He could have sworn that the air around his brother was vibrating as it did when the weather was particularly hot. There was something wrong in the whole situation and he didn’t want to know what it was. He had to change the subject. Immediately.

“You kissed me. Why?”. The words escaped from his lips before he had the time to think, against his will, catching them both off guard.

Most of the younger’s anger seemed to disappear at that question, replaced by a deep unease. “I don’t see what that has to do with our current discussion” Yukio forced himself to say, trying to remain neutral, while a storm of mixed emotions began to stir inside him. What should he say? He was aware that sooner or later he would have to face the consequences of his actions, but he didn’t want to do it now, he was not ready.

“Nothing, but that’s not the point. I asked you a question and I think you owe me an explanation in this regard too, don’t you?” Rin insisted, his voice veiled by a dark note. He wasn’t really sure that he wanted to discuss that, but if he had to choose, he preferred this subject to the previous one. And maybe he would be able to finally remove the doubt that had tormented him for days.

Yukio frowned hearing his brother’s hostile tone, and he withdrew his hands, turning away, unable to meet his gaze. The answer to the question was obvious and he had no doubt that the other knew it too well. But Rin could always give him the benefit of the doubt until he didn’t hear those words coming from his lips. But could he really risk saying it? And what if his twin hadn’t been able to accept what he felt? Should he lie, find an excuse? He honestly couldn’t come up with anything plausible and then denying the evidence wouldn’t have helped the situation. And yet he hadn’t the strength to confess those emotions, not now, not in that way. “The answer seems pretty obvious to me, Nii-san” he said after a moment of silence, keeping his eyes on the ground. “I don’t think that needs to be made explicit.”

“It fucking needs to, instead!” the half-demon retorted with force. “It can’t it be what I’m thinking, it mustn’t be! Yukio, please…”. This time he was the one to grab his twin’s shoulders, tightening his grip in a silent prayer. “Tell me it is not. It’s too…wrong”. His voice trembled with uncertainty on the last word, but he tried anyway to underline it with a force that he had not. “Yukio…”

“I might as well tell you that, Nii-san, but I’d be lying. My words won’t change the state of things, so it’s useless for me to do it” the exorcist said, his voice almost shaking, but determined. “I don’t expect you to feel the same. I just wish you could accept my feelings because I couldn’t bear to be rejected by you. This is the reason why I never said anything, but now I can no longer remain silent”. He tried to overcome his fear and sunk his eyes in his brother’s ones once again, ignoring the other’s gaze that seemed to shout at him to keep quiet. With that kiss in the park he had passed the point of no return, so he could as well go all the way. Waiting did no longer make sense. He would face what would follow. “I…I love you, Rin, in more than a brotherly way. I always did, even if when we were kids I was still too inexperienced to understand what those emotions meant. And, even when I finally started to understand them, I rejected for the same reason you are now. But I had to learn to coexist with them the same way I had to accept the fact that we are Satan’s sons, although this does not mean that I am completely at peace with them. “

The older twin drew back his hands, burying his face in them. “No, Yukio, don’t say these things, dammit! Stop it!” he groaned in disbelief. He didn’t know what to say, how to react. Reason told him to reject that statement, to leave the room, but another part of him hesitated, preventing him from find the strength to resist as he wanted. “Do you realize what you are saying?! Damn, it goes against everything we have been taught! You can’t be serious! It’s…it’s…a fucking abomination! God! It’s absurd…”

That last sentence hit Yukio like a stab. He knew it would end like that, that Rin would never be able to accept such a thing. It was too much, it was beyond the limit. But he couldn’t give him up so easily. “No, Nii-san, it is not!” he exclaimed almost with anguish, the urgency to explain, to help each other figure out driving his words. “I know it’s against all the values that we weretaught, but I can’t control it!”. He clenched his fists in frustration. “I won’t deny what I feel for you, never! To hell with what people think. I cannot feel sorry for my feeling because there is absolutely nothing sinful in them, even if the other’s may think so”. He reached out tentatively toward Rin’s face who was looking down. “Nii-san, please …”

“Please what?” the latter interrupted, unable to restrain himself, slapping his hand away. “How can it not be a sin? You're a male and you’re my brother. It’s absurd, it is doubly wrong! How can you not see? It is against nature!”. He immediately regretted his words seeing the flash of pain and bitterness that was filled his twin’s eyes. But he couldn’t go back, he was right this time. Or maybe not?

“Do I disgust you, Rin?” the exorcist asked after a moment of silence, while a strange smile blossomed on the lips. “You must think I am disgusting, as to anyone else in your place would. And do you know what I say? I don’t care. No, I don’t care because I don’t feel guilt or contempt for myself because of my feelings. It must be another proof of the fact that I’m Satan’s offspring too. As you are a demon on the outside, I am on the inside. The demons don’t have this kind of problems, you know? Family or not, it’s not important. They don’t even question blood ties and, to be honest, neither do I want or can care.”

“Yukio, don’t…Damn, you haven’t fully recovered yet. Perhaps the battle…” Rin tried desperate. He didn’t want to hear those things, they confused him even more, making his believes wavering. “There is no need to talk about it now, you’re still upset about…”

“About what, Nii-san? Stop talking, not even you believe in what you’re saying!” his brother interrupted, in a harsh tone. Then he stared at him intently. “Why?”

“Why what now ?!”

“Why do you say that what I feel for you is wrong despite the purity of my feelings?”

The half-demon was taken aback by the question. The discussion was definitely taking a turn he didn’t like at all. He opened his mouth a few times, looking for words that were not there, the question pounding in his head. Why was it wrong? After all the kiss they had shared had tasted of everything but guilt, he had already admitted that. Then why? He realized all of a sudden that he didn’t know the answer, that his firm believes were based only on the values that had been imposed to him but that he didn’t feel as his owns. “It is a crime, a sin…I…” he stammered. “Damn, I don’t know why, alright? But it’s wrong and that’s it! I don’t want to have anything to do with this kind of things!”

“A sin? A sin, Nii-san? We are Satan’s sons and you speak of sin? We are already damned without any chance of redemption and you know that better than me. Sinning or not won’t change our fate”. Yukio almost laughed. How had they arrived to that point? It was all a facade, a role that they play in order to be able to live in that world to which they maybe didn’t belong. “We have a goal, defeating the being who gave us life to stop him from haunting us and the people we care for, but I doubt that this will be enough to redeem us! Tell me that I make you sick and let’s close this argument here. Tell me that you don’t want me around anymore, chase me away, but stop hiding behind these excuses!”

“No, Yukio, damn it! Don’t put things in my mouth that I’ve never said or thought! You’re my brother, I can’t just push you away!” Rin exclaimed, exasperated, raising his voice in turn. “Try to understand how I feel, since you think you’re so good at it! Do you really want me to tell you that you make me sick? Well, you make me sick! Are you happy now? Now go on feeling sorry for yourself, you stupid four-eyes!”

“Do you really think I want to hear that I am disgusting? Now you’re the one who don’t get what I’m asking! I just want the truth about what you think.”

“I alredy told you! This is so fucked up!”

“But why!”

“I have already answered to this. Stop it, damn it, you’re only hurting us both! You’re not yourself, Yukio!”

“I’m fine! It’s you who can’t think with your head! Rin, I can see very well that you don’t know why you are saying what you say! You are only repeating some values in which perhaps you don’t even believe! We are different from anyone else. Why should those rules apply to us?”

“They do apply to us! We have always lived in this world, so we have to follow its rules! What would Shiro think if he heard you now?”

“I think he would understand! Maybe he would need some time to accept the whole thing, but in the end he would surely understand that we cannot adapt to a world that hates us! How can you do it, Nii-san? Would you give our bond up only to fit in this world? Would you give up your happiness?”. Yukio took a step back, shaking his head. He couldn’t stand it anymore, he was about to explode. He felt tears stinging his eyes, but he tried in every way to hold them back. Why couldn’t Rin understand? He only wanted to be by his side and to love him in silence, without expecting anything in return. But his brother seemed to want him to deny his feelings too, and that was something he could not do. “Do it if you want, but I can’t and I won’t. For God’s sake, I’m not going to give you up just because humans think it’s wrong. I’m not going to give up for them one of the few reasons I have to put up with this fucking life!”

A heavy silence fell over the room while the tension that had invaded the air making it almost stormy froze suddenly. The young exorcist was panting, his anguished stare fixed on the half-demon who instead stared at him in disbelief, eyes wide.

“Yukio” Rin exclaimed, shocked, forgetting his anger and seriousness of the speech all at once. “You swore! And…you said a bad word!”

Yukio blushed, embarrassed, and looked away, feeling his anger fade at that misplaced commet. “I have my breaking point too, Rin” he muttered, feeling uncomfortable and turning around to go and to sit on the bed. “And living with you and hearing your dignified language every day does not help.”

“Don’t look for excuses! Watch your tongue, Yukio!” Rin exclaimed, enjoying the shocked look that the other gave him. Then he added with a half-amused grin: “I always wanted to say it, I couldn’t resist the temptation.”

“I hope you’re satisfied, Nii-san. You made me completely lose control over my words, congratulations” the younger twin said sarcastically with a sigh. “You’re the first one who has managed it, you deserve a reward.”

The half-demon sighed in turn and approached the bed, dropping next to his brother. “I’m an idiot, OK? I overdid it…again, “he admitted sincerely repented. “You don’t make me sick, Yukio, you could never! You’re my twin brother! And…”. His face turned red as his tone became embarrassed. “And I don’t think that what you feel for me is so wrong. I mean, I don’t know…It should be, but when we’ve kissed at the park…I haven’t felt guilty. It didn’t taste like sin, if you get what I mean. I had already been thinking about it while you were in a coma. I don’t know why I insisted on that. It’s just that…it’s not an easy thing to deal with.”

A smile opened on the exorcist’s face. “Of course I understand, Nii-san. It was hard for me and it still is. But I’m happy to hear that. And you don’t have to apologize. I have attacked you too, I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Neither in this argument nor in the previous one” he said reaching out to ruffle his twin’s hair slightly. “I left without considering how much I could hurt you. I have been a selfish, and I’m sorry, Nii-san. But I assure you I just wanted you to be safe.”

“Don’t be an idiot! I’m the one who attacked you, even physically. I must have hurt you, considering your conditions” the other retorted, pushing his hand a bit annoyed but without malice. “Let’s say we’re even. You had your reasons, you just wanted to protect me as I wanted to protect you. But I’m stubborn even when I know how things are. I don’t want to admit the truth if I don’t like it. It’s not just you, we both are selfish idiots.”

“We are twins after all, aren’t we? It’s normal that, despite all our differences, we share the same vices” Yukio agreed. Then he chuckled. “Damn, I’m admitting to look like you! I must have really suffered quite a trauma.”

“Hey, what do you mean with that?” the elder protest laughing in turn.

Yukio couldn’t help thinking of how good-looking his brother was when he smiled so carefree. Almost instinctively he reached out for the other and gently touched his cheek with a hand. His fingers met and caressed the soft skin, letting its warmth run along his arm. He got lost savouring the nice feeling even if he could feel himself blush under the other’s inquiring gaze. He shouldn’t have done that kind of things without permission, especially now that the true meaning of his gestures had been made explicit, but the temptation was too strong.

Rin watched him for a moment and then he hesitantly put his hand on the top of his twin’s to keep it from leaving his skin, looking away while a slight blush spread on his face also. The young exorcist hesitated, not knowing how to interpret the act, but in the end decided to take advantage and grabbed the half-demon on both arms, pulling him. The eldest was taken aback and, before he could protest in any way, he found himself sitting in his brother’s lap, his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck, while Yukio held him close and had placed chin in the hollow of his shoulder. The soothing warmth of that embrace immediately made every remaining desire to resist fade away, replacing the cold that the concerns and the anxiety of the previous days had spread inside him.

“I missed you to death while I was away. In fact, I almost died” the young exorcist joked speaking with a voice barely audible. “Anyway…Happy Birthday, Nii-san. I’m sorry, but I haven’t been able to organize a party or even buy you a present…”

“Idiot” Rin addressed him, chuckling and leaning his head on his shoulder. “Happy birthday to you too, Yukio. For the party, Kuro and I cooked a new kind of cake. It looks good, then you will tell me if it is. And waking up today, you’ve given me the best gift that I could ever desire, four-eyes!”. He drew back a bit to allow their eyes to meet. “I’m the one who hasn’t got you anything…”

“Well, if you really want to give me something, there’s a thing that you could do for me. Of course, only if you feel like” Yukio hazarded slowly, letting his eyes move timidly on his brother’s lips. “I won’t force you in any way…”

The other flushed again realizing what he had in mind, but then smiled. “Since it’s our birthday I guess I can give yourself another go” he replied with a mischievous odd note in his voice, leaning his forehead against his twin’s. Then he turned serious: “Yukio…I don’t know how I put up with this thing that you have feelings for me. I mean, I don’t find anything wrong in it, I told you before. But I’m confused about what I feel for you. Before that kiss I’ve never thought about you in that way, but after the idea has haunted me and I made some weird thoughts… nothing too inopportune obviously!”. He cleared his throat nervously. “I want to give it a chance and to try to look at it forgetting the human parameters. And to hell the sinning thing and all the other stuff. I want to listen only to what I feel and try to understand.”

“Don’t worry, Nii-san. I told you, I won’t force you or hurry you. I can wait. Do what you feel” the exorcist reassured him with a smile. Then he added, almost amused: “Do you want to look at it “forgetting the human parameters”? They are not your words, are they?”

Rin put on a vaguely irritated frown. “They are not. Mephisto told me that. The evening of the day you left I went to him to made him tell me what was going on, but of course he managed to confused me with his unbearable babble” he explained snorting. “I let out that sometimes you behave in a odd manner and that that morning you had done something you shouldn’t absolutely have done since you are my brother and he started to babble about the fact that I think according to human criteria about things that have nothing with human and that everyone has a “special and unique relationship with his own brother”, to use his words. That phrase sounded so bad! I hate it when he does that. Among other things, I didn’t understand if he was kidding or if he was serious. With his damned, perpetually arrogant face you never understand he thinks! He really gets on my nerves.”

“Don’t worry, Nii-san, we know him by now. And we have to bear him. He did a lot for us, even though you would not say it” his brother tried to console him, holding back a laugh though. “I honestly don’t know if he was joking and I don’t want to know. These businesses concern him and his brother, don’t you agree? Just like now we should care only about our businesses. So stop thinking about him”. He went back running a finger along the edge of the half-demon’s cheekbones. “Are you sure you want to do it again?”

Rin nodded firmly. “Yes, absolutely” he murmured looking up.

Their eyes met, as magnetized, sapphire wells that reflected in each other, blending together the slight differences in shades. The space that separated their faces was reduced progressively until their lips were brushing as their minds returned to that moment in the park a few days before. This time the contact lasted much longer because their mouths continued to look for each other, separating and then meeting again almost immediately, losing the initial hesitation and replacing it with a hungry desire for passion. Now matter how much that contact became deep, the two never seemed to get enough of it, lying one in the other’s arms, shivers of pleasure running down slowly down their spine and gentle warmth filling their chest.

One of Yukio’s hands sank in Rin’s hair while the other’s fingers intertwined the latter’s one, their bodies as close as possible. The half-demon was lost in the sensation of hot intimacy that had engulfed him and that was dragging him deeper and deeper. After the initial uncertainty, a whirlwind of emotions had exploded inside him, in a surging chaos dancing and making him feel at the same time safe in the embrace of Yukio’s feelings and on the verge of falling into the dark abyss of the forbidden.

The exorcist, in his behalf, couldn’t believe what was happening. He had never even hoped that Rin could reciprocate his feelings, but he had only hoped that his twin could accept them. But in that moment he could feel him responding to his kisses and his touches, with a urgency equal to his own. The passion inside of him mingled with the exaltation and the adrenaline that the discovery had aroused in him, drowning him in a pleasurable exhilaration. They pulled away after several minutes, panting and completely flushed, but both with a smile on their lips.

“Uh…Wow” Rin commented embarrassed, settling a bit better on his brother’s legs. “I think that saying that I could have a thing for you too doesn’t give the idea. It will be hard to explain this to Kuro, I’m afraid.”

“Can I consider it as a confession, Nii-san?” Yukio teased, toying with a lock of his hair, but his face still wore a bright smile. “Yeah, I think Kuro will realize soon that something has changed between us…And especially it would be very embarrassing to be caught red-handed in…unorthodox poses.”

“We’ll be careful!”

“Or we could find the most sensible way to explain him the matter. Although I’d rather keep it just for us at least for some time. What do you think?”

“I agree. I want to enjoy your closeness for a while before sharing the news with someone else”. The half-demon planted a kiss on his lips provocatively. “And besides it’s more fun doing things secretly…”

Yukio nodded and kissed him back, lacing his fingers with the other. “By the way, didn’t you say that you have prepared a cake for our birthday?” he asked. “I’m eager to try this new wonder of yours! I’m allowed to go home, Amaimon told me before. They were just waiting for me to wake up to send me back to the dorm.”

“Yes, of course. The cake it’s just waiting for us. But it will be there even if we wait five more minutes…” the elder answered with a grin, leaning forward to invite his brother to close once again the space that separated them. And of course the other did not wait.

Outside the door, Amaimon pulled away from the wall against which he had been standing, turning his gaze towards his older brother. “They took their time with that argument” he said atone pulling out another lollipop from one of his pockets and unwrapping it. “But it ended well as you said, Aniue.”

“I’m rarely wrong, Amaimon, you should know by now. Come on, let’s go. I don’t want the Okumura to find out that we are eavesdropping. Rin might have some overreaction as usual and besides those two deserve a bit of privacy now. I got what I wanted to know, so we have no more reason to stay” Mephisto claimed, walking away and gesturing the other demon to follow him. “Moreover, it seems that I was able to teach something that hothead. For once Rin listened to me. It’s a great step forward for him.”

“What are you talking about?” Amaimon asked, tilting his head to one side and joining him.

The headmaster gave him a strange smile and rested an arm around his shoulders. “Our brother has finally decided to try looking at the world through not humans parameters” he said knowingly, while the grin on his face widened. “I wonder if this will turn out to be useful in a not too distant future…For him and especially for Yukio.”