Rin nursed his bleeding hand as he stared at the cracked mirror, then at the closed door. He alternated between them every few seconds.

Bon had said he was being stupid. Rin didn't believe it, he was just doing what was necessary. Yet Bon had caught him when he was elbow-deep inside the shimmering glass, and had somehow pulled him back, and made him promise to never do that again. And Rin never broke a promise, nor did he have a desire to.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had to help Len, and since they were reversed, it only made sense for him to go back to Gehenna so he could help him that way. Only, he didn't want to. He really didn't want to. Even knowing that he could help Yukio that way, he couldn't bring himself to take that last step. Not even for Len. He couldn't muster the sense of 'not-self' that usually invaded him whenever he tried to do something martyr-like, as Bon put it.

He stared at the rapidly healing cut with a pensive expression.

But the truth was, he didn't want to go back. Not when he knew what a good life was like. He wondered if it was selfish of him to think that way. To be somehow better than his human half, which was was he aspired to be. When he was very little, his hair had been white and blue, like his flames. Upon seeing Yukio for the first time, it had changed to black, and Rin wouldn't change it back, ever.

Len had to be fine. Fujimoto cared about him, he wouldn't just throw him to the wolves. Rin hoped so, at least. He had no experiences to compare what he saw, and while Shiro's treatment of Yukio was alien to Rin, he hoped it was better than what the half-demon had to deal with when he was young.

When the door finally opened once again, Rin was invaded by wild joy and nervous terror, a strange paradox.

Yukio was alive, and he was well, unharmed. And he was also angry, and Rin didn't know how to confront that, had only once seeing that directed at him, and never wanted a repeat. He wanted to hug him. He didn't meet his eyes. Yukio stepped close to him, and Rin closed his eyes. He would never, Yukio would never.

A pair of arms were around him. In that moment the arms squeezed a fraction tighter, and Rin breathed slower, his body melting into his mirror's as every muscle lost its tension. Len would never. He wasn't there anymore. This was life, real life.

"I'll have to take the exorcist's exam in six months, and then it'll be decided if I live or die." Yukio informed him. Rin couldn't have been happier.

"And you think you got this?"

"Completely." and Rin could feel the smile in his words, could see it when they separated. "I don't know what will be done with 'my' flames. Would you help me?"

Rin didn't need to be asked twice. "Of course." he smiled back, and he paled just a bit when the boy's eyes fell on the broken mirror and his now-healed hand.

"You didn't, did you?" he whispered, smile vanishing without a trace. "Did you?" and it was just a tad louder, this time.

"Tried to." he admitted. "I'm sorry. I thought I would help you-"

"But you didn't." Len cut him off. It was like he was trying to convince himself of something. "But you didn't go through with it, and that's all that matters."

He smiled again, and Rin smiled back, and he wondered if he was forgiven. He wondered what would happen to them, now.

"We do have more pressing matters to think of." the boy with the moles mused.

"None of our classmates took your revelation well." Rin glowered at the wall, and he could feel the fire within him burn hotter with the mere thought. "Just Bon, and he had to keep up appearances. They're stupid." he growled. "They have eyes but they can't see. They're blind. I can't believe they brought it."

"Kasai-kun." Len called, and Rin stopped his torrent of words before it even began. "Have you ever thought about the fact that it might be true?"

"What are you talking about?" the half-demon was legitimately confused. "I'm the Son of Satan, not you!" he grinned with all his teeth at the ridiculous notion. "You're just my awesome reflection."

"Tou-san brought it, and Mephisto went along with it." Yukio blurted out. He couldn't hold it back anymore. "He brought it, and he shouldn't have! He knows when I lie!" he stood up suddenly, and Rin watched as he paced back and forth, forth and back. "He knows it, and he didn't try to prevent it! He didn't doubt it for a second..! Kasai-kun- the look on his face... He was calm! Like he had been expecting this, and-!"

He swallowed back his scream of rage and frustration. Bottled it up for now. "He told me he found me under a bridge." the taller boy whispered.

"Maybe you were just convincing?" Rin feebly attempted to calm down what had been an exploding volcano a few seconds ago. Because what else could he say? He couldn't think about the implications. Not now.

Yukio took a deep breath. Exhaled. Repeated the process quite a few times. "I don't like being lied to." he said in a hush. He sat down. His blood boiled under his skin. Rin sat beside him and hummed in agreement, wondering how to comfort.

"Nobody does," he finally said. "So what will we do about it, Len?"

And he was stuck by inspiration. "I think," Yukio started. "That it's time to pay Sir Pheles a visit."