Chapter Text
Izumo knew that the Illuminati was bad news. She wasn’t stupid, even if she was foolish for trusting the first people she ran into for help. It’s also pretty hard to ignore being locked in a sterile cell in a hospital gown with a collar around your neck. She was almost twelve, alright? She wasn’t stupid.
But aside from herself, she didn’t think the Illuminati would have any other children around. Which seems like another foolish assumption now, but it also threw into question quite a few things about her guilt that she wasn’t ready to face just yet. (Because if the Illuminati was doing this to other kids who didn’t know any better and taking advantage of them then what did that say about what happened to her? How much fault was really on her shoulders?)
Granted, she doesn’t know for sure that her new neighbour got tricked into this but who’d ever do it willingly?
(She hears him, sometimes. When Gedouin drops by for random visits and the sound proofing on the walls conveniently craps out.)
(It’s awful.)
An orderly had told her over her morning check up that they’d scheduled a play date for the two of them. Something about developmental issues, puberty delays, demon brats deserving each other, it all blurred together. It was going to be heavily monitored, of course, what wasn’t? But Izumo was almost excited by the idea. It would be a lie to say she wasn't lonely. And, she reasoned to herself, taking the edge off of the knife of solitude can be done without relying on the other kid. She could handle herself and get something from him, she could do both. If nothing else, it would be a welcome change of pace. There's only so many times a blood draw or physical can be interesting. That day had already come and gone a year ago.
And then that afternoon she was led into a large white room—aren’t they all?—positively swarming with orderlies and soldiers alike. Not that there was much difference between the two in the first place, but the soldiers had their weapons drawn already and the orderlies were palming the ones they kept secretly in their coats. The whole room was holding its breath.
In the middle of the room was a boy her age with dark hair, a tail, a collar, heavy looking cuffs, and a hospital gown. He turned to her and raised his clasped hands up in a wave. He smiled at her.
That was the first time she met Rin.
///\\\///\\\///\\\
“Ready, Izumo?” Rin grinned over at her, key in hand and primed over the lock in the closed door of an abandoned shed tucked away from the True Cross campus.
Izumo huffed, adjusting her hair for the thousandth time that afternoon. It didn't need to be perfect, but it had to make a good enough impression that no one would try and challenge her. “It’s Kamiki, got it? We’re strangers, and I don’t like you.”
Rin pouted at her (and she hated how effective it was), scuffing the floor with his shoe. “You don’t? Not even a little bit?”
“Fine. You were annoyingly endearing on the train ride over, how’s that?” Izumo offered. They weren’t supposed to change their story, keep it simple to maintain the lie, but the moron was probably going to slip up sooner than later anyway. Planting the seeds of familiarity wasn’t a terrible idea.
Rin simply grinned in response and she could see his tail twitching ever so slightly under his shirt like he wanted to be wagging it. He was hopeless. She gave it one month until his half-demon status got revealed. (She gave it three until her own was found out.)
“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed, interrupting his excited cheer, “let’s get moving already. I want to be early so I can keep catching up with Noriko.”
Rin slotted the key into place and opened the door into a sprawling hallway dotted with huge doors and painted in bright, imposing colours. "I'm still shocked you managed to convince her to join the cram school within a single day back together." The teen scratched idly at his cheek. "I mean, are all roommates supposed to be that close? I don't think Godaiin and I are that close..." He mumbled.
Izumo breezed past him, her hand unconsciously relaxing from where it had been clenched on the strap of her book bag. "Our friendship is too much to be labelled as just 'roommates'. She's my first ever friend and we knew each other as kids, it's only natural she'd want to stay by my side now that we've reconnected."
"Uh huh, and you definitely don't want her to cling to your side no matter what, right?" Rin teased.
She huffed and didn't bother dignifying that dig with a response.
Rin pitched his voice high, clasping his hands together and fake-swooning over them. "Oh~! Izumo-chan~! You're so~o~o powerful and strong~! I want you to protect me forever and then maybe we could k-i-s-"
"Shut it!" Izumo snapped, her face bright red. The blood was rushing in her ears. She knew confiding in Rin about her crush was a bad idea!
He just giggled at her and stopped in the hallway to fall behind. "Good luck winning her over, Izumo!"
She marched forward, the teasing having frayed her nerves and left her feeling uncoordinated. She paused. "It's Kamiki!" She called over her shoulder before continuing forward. They couldn't show up to class together, they weren't even supposed to know each other yet.
When she made it to the designated classroom she wasted no time pushing inside and making herself at home near the wall. There were already a few people inside the room but they were both fiddling with their own things. Besides, she had better things to do than try and make friends with random strangers that she would inevitably leave behind. She wasn't Rin.
Noriko came in shortly after. She looked concerned as she scanned the room but as soon as she caught sight of Izumo she lit up completely. Izumo preened at the attention and eagerly pat the seat next to her to invite Noriko over.
"Did you find your way alright?" Izumo asked once Noriko had settled in.
Her friend paused, smiling guiltily. "Well...I did have some trouble understanding what I was doing, but at least I made it here. What about you? Are you...doing alright?"
Izumo blinked. The concern from her friend was incredibly sweet, it made butterflies explode in her belly, but with it came the cold wash of knowing that she'd have to lie and keep lying. "Of course," she said breezily, "this kind of thing comes easily to me, after all."
"That's not what I meant..." Noriko protested weakly.
"My answer hasn't changed." Izumo replied. Noriko flinched back at her tone so Izumo fixed a smile to her face and quickly shifted the conversation topic. How was your winter? Have you met any cute boys yet? How did your classes go today? Basic things that didn't require a web of misdirection to keep up with.
More people filtered into the classroom, three boys that were all chatting with each other and took their seats on the opposite side of the room. Izumo handily ignored them.
Rin came in last, naturally, and plopped right down in the front, notebook out. She rolled her eyes, as if he was actually going to use that thing, but Noriko didn't comment on it so she happily jumped back into casual conversation with her friend.
The teacher practically exploded into the room, an older looking man in a cassock with very heavily decorated glasses chains. Behind him trailed a younger exorcist holding quite a few large stacks of papers, also wearing glasses. The teacher veered into place behind the desk and puffed out his chest proudly. "Good afternoon, class! I see we have some lovely ladies in our class, hello, and-" the teacher cut off abruptly, looking like he'd just been slapped.
He was staring openly at Rin who bristled under the weight of the gaze. Rin shifted his chin into the palm of his hand. "Can I...help you, sir?" He asked.
"You..." The teacher shook himself, once, violently. "No, never mind, my apologies." He cleared his throat and stood back to attention, smacking the blackboard behind him for emphasis. "I'm the current Paladin of True Cross, Fujimoto Shiro. I'll be heading your class on demon pharmaceuticals. Working beside me is Okumura Yukio, my son, and a full fledged exorcist in his own right."
Fujimoto had slung his arm around Yukio's shoulders and pulled him close, a hand up in his hair. Yukio flushed brightly, smiling awkwardly. "Ah, hello. I'm working as a teacher's aide for this class. I'm your age, but I've been training to be an exorcist for several years now, so please don't be afraid to ask me any questions you have." The teenager introduced. He bowed stiffly but was quickly pulled back up by Fujimoto.
The teacher in question opened up his coat and withdrew a long stick of chalk that settled in nicely in his palm. "Now! Before we get too far along, we need to conduct a mashou ceremony. Can anyone tell me what a mashou is?"
Izumo's hand went up immediately. She was called on, much to the chagrin of the surly guy in the trio across the room. "It's a wound caused by a demon and allows humans to see demons."
"Very good Kamiki-chan!" Fujimoto cheered. "So, who here needs a mashou?"
They got through the ceremony easily enough and got through class without any major disruptions. Izumo carefully angled her notes so Noriko could peek at them and catch up quickly if she was ever confused. She got a thankful smile for her troubles, so it was worth the stink eye Okumura was sending her way. He didn't have the balls to call her out on it so he could sit there and stew for all she cared.
At the end of the lesson they were dismissed for the day. Izumo took Noriko by the elbow and they were on their way out the door. She heard Fujimoto call for Rin to stay back for a minute and she did her best not to look back at him. She failed, of course, she was weaker than she'd let anyone know, but Rin looked confident and at ease. He could handle himself, she knew. They weren't kids anymore. They weren't twelve.
She pulled herself and Noriko flush together and focused on chatting about dinner and how they wanted to decorate their dorms. When they got back, she would definitely be interrogating Rin about all that.
///\\\///\\\///\\\
"What's your name?" The strange smiling boy asked immediately. "Mine is Rin, I'm a demon! I'm not a demon king or anything, but my brother is and my dad is going to use me to get back to Assiah so he can make everything nice again! I'm eleven, but I'll be twelve soon! Hey, are you a demon too? But you don't have a tail, huh? Oh, then maybe not. I talk a lot! So just tell me to shut up!"
Izumo had stood there speechless. She only found her words when they tore themselves free from her throat without her brain behind it. "Don't you know where you are right now?" She hissed, furiously eying all the soldiers that had begun shifting ominously in place.
Rin tilted his head, eyebrows drawn. "Well, sure. Don't you?"
He asked it so genuinely that Izumo couldn't find an answer for him.
Rin just smiled again and his tail swished happily through the air. "Hey, if you don't have a name yet can I just call you eyebrows?"
"What?" Izumo shrieked, her hand flying up to her brow as her face grew hot with a mix of embarrassment and indignation. "I do too have a name already, and don't go deciding things like nicknames so lazily!"
He just smiled brighter at her and even had the gall to start laughing at her. She snarled at him, the way she'd snarl at her brothers back home to get them to actually take her seriously. Rin snarled back with a grin and too-sharp teeth. His tail was flicking in the air and he had lowered his body and leaned forward.
Did he want to play...?
Right as he made to jump into a tackle a shock of electricity jolted through him, forcing him down to the floor. Izumo gasped and backed away, reality crashing back into focus around her. Right. She was in an Illuminati laboratory surrounded by soldiers and scientists employed to prod at her and not care about her as a person. She watched with wide eyes as Rin struggled on the ground, writhing and clawing at his throat.
Two soldiers marched forward quickly and hauled him up by his armpits. The boy was panting hard, tail lying limp behind him as he was dragged.
Izumo didn't know what possessed her to take a step forward and shout. "Kamiki Izumo!"
She could just barely see bright blue eyes meet her own past the arms of the soldiers. "S-s...see you, Izumo!" Rin managed weakly.
Her hands were fisted over her chest in her gown. Her breathing wouldn't settle. Everyone in the room felt too close and too far away. An orderly came up behind her to start guiding her away and she growled lowly at them. Not that it did anything. Because as much as they spouted off about peace, demons were still demons, and demon children were still unwanted wretches that were lucky to exist in the first place.
As she was shoved back into her cell for the rest of the day, she just had one, desperate, thought. I hope I get to see him again.