"Me?" replied Yukio, "What do you mean 'me'? I thought that this was going to be about Rin and his upcoming exams."

"Well, yes. In a way. I'll talk to you about that in a minute. As for right now, though, I need to talk to you about something more important."

Yukio growled in anger inside of his head. He was getting fed up with this clown in front of him avoiding the subject.

"Get to the point already, Sir Pheles. What exactly was so important that you had to call me to your," Yukio gestured around him, "house?"

"Ah," said Mephisto, "you are an observant one, Mr. Okumura. No wonder you are the top student in all your classes. You see, this has to do with your demonic nature. I know this is a sensitive topic for you and I know that you value privacy when addressing this subject, so that's why I brought you here. You see, we demons have something important that we need to protect. It is the core of who we are and our identities as demons. I have one, your brother has one. . . you have one too. Now, our problem is where it is. You see, once your demonic powers were awakened during the opening of the Gehenna Gate, your heart was revealed, which is why you went all blue flamesy. After you took over your body again, however, your flames diminished and your demonic powers went to the safest place it could find at that moment, which was your brother's sword. Even though it is a demon sword, putting Rin's demonic heart inside of it puts enough stress on it already. Your heart in it is pushing it to its breaking point. Are you following so far?"

Yukio blinked as he processed all of this information at once. Usually, he would just brush aside what Mephisto would say, but this time, something was different. It seemed to Yukio that Mephisto was being more serious than Yukio had ever known him to be. That, and Yukio knew that something was up connecting his powers to Rin's sword. He had felt himself fighting to resist his powers when he and Rin had gone to destroy the Gehenna Gate. But when Rin asked Yukio to help him, however, Yukio gave into his powers, knowing that he would need them to destroy the Gate.

"Yes, Sir Pheles. I understand. However, I do not understand what your point is. What does my demonic heart have to do with anything?"

"Well, since the sword can only hold both yours and your brother's powers for so long, you need to find a place to store your demonic heart. I suggest that you start looking and find somewhere in the near future. You see, all demons have this problem. Well, at least us upper class and up. I even have one, but it is hidden. If you find a suitable replacement, come to me with it. I can make sure to seal your powers in the object like I did with your brother and the Koma sword. Either that, or there is an alternative option, but I would not suggest it, especially for you."

"What do you mean 'especially for me'?" Yukio asked, suddenly becoming furious.

"Why, you're showing why now. That hidden temper and rage that you have, Mr. Okumura. My alternative suggestion for you was to simply have control over your heart, but that is a very difficult. Firstly, for you, that would require full control over your flames. You've watched your brother train for months to control them. You may think that it is simple, but it is not as easy as you said it would be. Think of all the times that you had told Rin how simple it would be. You think that it will be simple to control your demon heart? No, Mr. Okumura. Far from simple. And before you even start to think that you can control your own heart, you will need to have complete control over your new flames. On that note, I would think that it is safe to say that you should start to look for a place to store your heart. Oh, and heed my warning. Every time that Rin draws the Koma sword, your demonic powers will be released just like his, until he sheathes his sword. No matter where he is, this will always happen. Do you have any questions, Mr. Okumura?"

Yukio shook his head, thinking of everything that had been said to him. He would have to mull it over back in his dorm.

"Very well," Mephisto said, standing up, "I shall open a doorway back to your dorm for you. Have fun grading those papers, Mr. Okumura."

Mephisto walked over to the door that they had come through a while ago and took out a golden key with a red gem embedded in it. He put the key in the hole and turned it.

"Have a good day, sir. If you have any questions about this, please call and ask."

Yukio smiled and thanked Mephisto for the advice. He picked his briefcase and walked through the doorway. On the other side was the dorm room that he shared with Rin. As always, Yukio's side of the room was neat and orderly. His brother, however, had a very messy half of the room. Yukio shook his head at his brother's disorganization and set his briefcase on his bed. He reached up to undo the buttons on his jacket when he heard Kuro stretching behind him.

"Hello, Yukio! How was work today?"

"Oh, hey, Kuro. Work was alright for the most part. I've just got to grade some papers and then I'll probably take a shower, depending on when Rin will get back from his lessons with Shura. Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air now that I'm here? It's a nice day." Yukio suggested while taking off his jacket and unknotting his tie.

"Sure! That sounds like a great idea! It's been a while since you've been home this early too. I'll be outside and I'll let you know if I see Rin coming home. Bye!"

Yukio shook his head and chuckled lightly at the Cat Sidhe's excitement. He took his jacket in his arms as he opened the door for Kuro to leave the room. The cat's tails wagged excitedly as he took off running toward the direction of the stairs. Yukio closed the door behind him and locked it for good measure. He didn't want anybody to interrupt him. The boy finally took off his mask, leaving his true self to be revealed. A small boy in a big world, seemingly the perfect overachieving student, great brother (to a point), inspiring role model, teacher, and good comrade. But honestly, he was weak in his eyes. He wanted to be more powerful and protect the people that couldn't protect themselves. Yukio let his body go on autopilot as he completed his daily tasks. Putting his jacket up on a hanger, sitting down, unloading his briefcase of the papers that needed to be graded. He let his mind wander over thoughts that ought to be avoided in his sensitive state. The first thing, obviously, was the most recent insecurity that he had talked about with that back-stabbing, game-playing, stupid clown, Mephisto Pheles. His demonic nature. He still wasn't comfortable with being a demon. Part of the reason was that of his friends discovered that he was lying to them. Another reason was that he was somewhat afraid of the power that he would hold and what would happen if his hidden emotions would explode. His temper, which he kept hidden for so long, was a part of some of the powers that he had inherited. The only three people to truly see his temper was Shura, Rin, and his father. Yukio though to what Shura had told him one day. In a nutshell, she had told him that he needed to let his emotions out because if he kept them bottled up like that, he would have a higher likelihood of getting possessed by a demon. And it just so happened that Shura's words came back to bite him in the ass. He was possessed by the king of all demons, Satan. Most of the reason though was because of his brother. When Rin released his demonic nature sealed inside of Kurikara, Yukio was royally pissed. He couldn't stand to see his brother for two reasons. One, he was upset at his father for introducing Rin to, what Yukio considered, their special world. Second, he was mad at Rin for disobeying his father's orders. He knew that Shiro would have told Rin to not draw the sword. Yukio knew that he had to face the fact that his brother was a demon sooner or later, but he did it in the wrong way. Somehow, Rin forgave him for basically telling Rin to die, which made Yukio feel worse. Not only was he a high school student taking advanced classes in one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, but he was also juggling the duties of teaching his Anti-Demon Pharmaceutics class, being an Intermediate exorcist and all of the missions that that job included, and now, babysitting his big brother for being a demon. His brother was always so happy and bubbly with joy around his friends, and Yukio couldn't understand how one could be so full of happiness. Ever since he was little, he was always pressured to be the best from his father and to play the role of the scared little brother for his bigger brother. He was always teased by others for wearing glasses and being weak. And now that he was a demon, he was even weaker than ever. He didn't have a clue what to do about his powers, he didn't know how to control his flames, and he was in a very unstable emotional state. His mask was failing. He didn't know how long it would hold up around others, especially his brother, who was even more supportive to Yukio than before.

Why am I so weak? Why does Rin always have to be there for me? Why can't I support myself for once? Why am I so useless? Why do I have to pretend to be happy?

Yukio let out a shaky breath as tears slipped down his cheeks, landing on Rin's test below him. He growled in aggravation as he marked yet another answer wrong. He tallied up the total points and put the final grade up on the top. A 39%. Yukio slammed his fist on the desk, causing his briefcase to fall off.

"Damn it!" Yukio yelled, trying to release some of his pent-up frustration.

He bent over to pick up the contents of the case when a glare caught his eye. Sunlight twinkled off of the tin box that was near the edge of the desk. How funny, Yukio thought, The box that contains my darkest secret shines with light.

He gathered the rest of the things back in his case, excluding the box, which he left sitting on the edge of his desk. Putting his case to the side, latching it this time so it wouldn't pop open like it just had, he stared at the plain silver tin. It was a tin that, at one time, had held mints in it. Now, however, it held things that Yukio didn't want people to know about, ever. He considered opening the tin, but he knew that that wouldn't be a wise choice. Rin was going to be home soon, and Yukio would prefer that Rin didn't walk in on him. The urge to indulge in his darkness was almost overwhelming, but Yukio knew that he had to fight it.

He had to fight it, or find an easier, cleaner way to satisfy his dark passenger. Out of the overwhelming urge that had been threatening to spill over since his second class of Cram School, Yukio had started nervously wringing his hands together. He almost couldn't stand it. His breathing quickened and he had started breaking a sweat. His feet sought for the legs of the chair that he was sitting in. Finding the chair legs, he started kicking at them.

A scream could be heard from outside of the dorms as Yukio fought with his urges. Out of frustration and of stress, Yukio took his hand to his mouth and bit hard into it. Pain barely made its way into his mind due to the relief that the teenager was feeling. Realizing this, Yukio bit even harder into the soft skin of his hand. Oh, the relief that flooded his mind was wonderful. The longer he bit, the less receptive the specific portion of skin that he was biting became. The teenager hardly noticed his breathing slowing to a normal rate and his body slowly starting to relax. What a way to bring out his pain. Yes, he had other, much better, methods, but Yukio needed to see something for himself before he could determine whether this would be an addition to his varying list of methods. Yukio took his hand out of his mouth and looked at it.

The skin was an inflamed, angry red and there were teeth marks carved into his skin.

Funny, Yukio thought, I know that the teeth marks will go away in a few moments and go back to a normal consistency. The redness should go away in a few minutes too. Until then, I should probably get those tests from the exquire class graded.

Yukio followed through with his thoughts as he turned his attention back to the two tests that were left to grade. He took out his red pen and looked at his answer key. Shima's test was relatively easy to grade. He got mostly all of the answers right, except for two, where he sarcastically wrote in drug answers. Yukio grew just the slightest bit upset at his student. He knew that Shima was an average student and that it was normal for him to have joked about Anti-Demon Pharmaceutics being a class about drugs, but for some reason, it upset the young teacher more than usual. Yukio was confused as to why his anxiety and stress was more on edge lately, but he knew better than to question it. He knew the answer, but he also knew that he did not want to come to terms with his deepest emotions and fears.

Yukio shook himself out of his thoughts and quickly graded the last test, which belonged to Bon. In a matter of seconds, Yukio looked over the answers and graded them all correct, putting a 100% on the top of the paper. Flipping the paper over, he added it to the stack of the other tests from the exquire class. He then evened the papers out and put them back in his briefcase and took out his mathematics homework. Before he got to work on it though, he had to check something first. 

Yukio looked at his hand. Like he had predicted, the teeth marks had returned to the normal, flat state of the skin and the redness had mostly gone away. All that was left of his bite was an oval shape of red. Not very noticeable to the normal eye. No one would be looking at his hands anyway. Yukio smirked.

Perfect, he thought, There is hardly any noticeable marks on my skin, unlike some of my other tricks. I'll take whatever I need when the moment comes, but this seems to be a good way to let go of suppressed stress. I know that I do whatever is best for the amount of time that I am given, but this is a great way to help me release until I can do something better. I can already feel that my levels of stress are much lower than they were before I bit myself. This should be good enough to hold me until next time, and if not, I'll just bite myself again. It's genius, actually. I discovered it by mistake, but now, it's my greatest, least noticeable tool to hold me over. If I get the urge in the middle of class, no one will think twice if I put my hand up near my mouth. Others do it all of the time. It' s a genius way and there's hardly any possibility that I will get caught! Genius!

With that thought, Yukio started laughing. His first real smile and real laugh in months. What a relief this was!

.oOo.

Rin focused on the candles in front of him. This was an old exercise, but an easy one for him. After he had learned the secret to controlling his flames in Kyoto, his abilities had gotten even stronger and he was able to control his flames much easier. This exercise was, as Shura said, a cool down for his training. Shura sat across from him and stared intensely at the candles. 

Rin pointed his fingers at the candles and watched as the wicks lit with the small blue flames. 

"Good job, kid," commented Shura as she ruffled his hair, "Go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rin nodded as he threw his sword over his shoulder. He threw his hand up into the air as he walked toward the door, his other hand preoccupied with searching for his keys. Suddenly, he felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Rin doubled over and wheezed, catching Shura's attention from across the room. 

"Hey, kid. What's wrong?"

Rin could barely reply as he felt his breathing quicken. In his mind, images flashed through his head. The dorm that Yukio and he lived in had been broken into. The door was dangling off from its hinges. A flash of white passes through his mind. Next, it showed the dorm bathroom. The floor was covered in blood, enough so that there was blood flowing down the water drainage system in the floor. Another flash of white. There was the dorm room that Yukio and he shared. The door was cracked open a small bit. Through the gap, Rin saw an arm lying on the floor. Suddenly, the door swung wide open and Rin was faced with a terrifying sight. Yukio was lying on the floor in his white button-up shirt and black school pants. Blood covered the floor and Yukio's legs, which Rin could see a small bit off, had burn marks on them. 

As soon as Rin's vision, call it that if you will, had started, it had ended. Shura was racing across the room toward Rin, who was already sprinting to the door, keys in hand. 

"Kid, where are you going? What just happened?" Shura asked.

Rin fumbled to put his keys in the lock as he thought of a lie to tell Shura. 

"Oh, I just forgot that I have to cook dinner for Yukio and me tonight. I also have tons of homework to do, so I have to leave. See you later," he replied, turning the key and slamming the door in her face before she could reply. 

Rin looked around. He was in the front of our abandoned dorm that we lived in. Through the open window, he heard  Yukio's joyful laughing. It was a good thing to hear him happy right now. To Rin, his younger brother had seemed so uptight lately. He looked down as he felt something rub his leg.

"Oh, hey Kuro. Come on in. I'm going to fix us dinner after I drop off my stuff of in the room."

Kuro happily obliged as he followed Rin into the dorms, up the steps, and into the shared room. Rin looked at Yukio as he worked on his homework.

"Hey, Yukio. What were you laughing about earlier?"

Yukio looked up from his homework and at Rin for a quick moment before answering, "Oh, nothing much. I just came up with a great idea. How was training today?"

"Eh, nothing new really. I'm going to go fix dinner now if you don't mind. I'll let you know when the food is done. "

Rin walked down the hall, Kuro tagging along. Both of the brothers were satisfied at the moment. Yukio was satisfied that he now had a new secret, and Rin, that his little brother was happy.

Hey guys! So Im back from the dead, to those few that actually read this book. So, as you can tell, there are gonna be some dark themes in this book so if you are uncomfortable with that, please don't report me or complain. So yeah, more agnst to come. And literally this is around 3500 words like ok wow. This is time most ive ever written. Also I LOVE YUKIO OK LIKE OFF MY BABY! Thanks for reading and please tell your friends to read this cause im a terrible writter and all but in need SOME support here. K thanks for that. Also, the scenes (well the "dark ones" i think you can tell which ones those are going to be and what yukios secret is [i.e. when YUKIO BITES HIMSELF] ) in this are speaking from experience. I know it's probably weird and unheard of, but i do bite myself when i come to terms of stress and anxiety. Just like some people cut and burn, i bite. If you dont like that, then complain to someone else. Or tell me that its bad for me and sh*t i dont care. Anyways, thats about it. Thanks for the votes, reads, and comments. I gotta go before i et yelled at. OK BYE. *gasps* SATAN!!!