If Mephisto hadn't allowed him to stay one more night in his room even though he had been discovered, Rin really would have had a problem.

Like that, he could at least think about everything without fearing he would be discovered.

If he didn't do something he would be on the run for his whole life.

Mephisto had at least the exorcists on his side but Rin wasn't that lucky.

Sure, he had Shiemi but he wasn't willing to drag her into this mess. It would only put her in danger and she didn't deserve that.

Although he didn't sleep he laid down on the bed in the room behind Mephisto's office.

He would probably even miss those sickening pink walls, floor, and furniture.

Where would he go tomorrow?

He honestly had no idea. Maybe there was some kind of abandoned building he could occupy. Was it even smart to stay long in one place?

He could ask Mephisto for a tent. With his powers, he could probably make it bigger on the inside or something like that.

But he could already hear him saying something like "Do you already need help? Are you afraid of losing our bet?" in his usual mocking tone of voice.

He would figure something out once he left.

Another question he needed an answer to was, what he would do if there really were demons going after him. It didn't feel right for him to fight against them if he wanted to be their King one day.

They wouldn't give up until they killed him or died themselves.

He also couldn't fight against any exorcist who might find him since he wanted to make peace with humankind.

Maybe Mephisto had been right.

His hands were tied so he should have stayed being a spectator.

It was frustrating that he didn't know what to do.

He could try making more allies amongst demons and humans.

There weren't many demons who didn't follow Satan and the Ba'al and probably even fewer exorcists not following the True Cross Order.

He yawned slightly. He never thought about it but he barely needed to sleep since he became a demon. Most nights he had just laid in his bed with closed eyes but rarely slept.

But now he was actually tired.

His eyelids got heavy and after another yawn, he finally fell asleep.

"Wake up already."

He felt someone poking him roughly.

Rin slowly opened his eyes only to to be hit by Mephisto's pink umbrella.

"Ow! What are you doing? I'm awake! Hey! Would you stop already?" He shielded himself with his arms.

He sat up and looked at his older brother.

"What time is it?" He asked drowsily.

"Time for you to leave if you don't want to die." Mephisto made a dramatic gesture.

"What do you mean?" He knew that he couldn't stay long but he thought that he would have been safe in Mephisto's tower for at least some time.

"I can't believe you're my brother with your protozoan brain. The exorcists know I'm a demon and your sweet twin brother is aware that we know each other. This is the first place they are going to look for you."

"You're right. But where am I supposed to go?"

"What would you do without me?" Mephisto shook his head, "Okay, listen. There is a small abandoned hut in the woods outside of True Crosstown. I could consider using my powers to hide it so you can stay there."

"Really? You would do that for me?" Rin wanted to thank his older brother at first but he got a little suspicious. "Wait, what do you want in return?"

"Seems like you figured out how this usually works but since our bet would be really boring if you lost immediately you could consider this a favor."

"Then, thank you, I guess." The young demon didn't know if he could trust his older brother but the fact that Mephisto was also banished from Gehenna could be a reason why the former King of Space and Time would help him.

"You are so very welcome. Let's go then! Eins, Zwei, Drei!"

With those last three words, Mephisto teleported both of them to the mentioned hiding place.

The first thing Rin noticed when they arrived was that he knew this place. This was the same hut he collapsed in front of when he escaped from Kyoto.

He felt a little relieved that he wasn't in a completely unknown place.

Mephisto tapped his umbrella against one of the wooden walls.

"That should do the trick. Nobody should accidentally find this place, well no human should find it at least." Mephisto proclaimed.

"What do you mean by that? What about the demons looking for me?"

"Okay, let me explain. Nobody can find this place if they don't know exactly where to look for it. The problem with other demons is that they can feel your presence and find you like that. You are safe here from humans as long as you don't attract attention or tell anyone. So you better be quiet and don't play with your flames."

"And what am I supposed to do when a demon finds me?" Rin figured that it would be the best if he avoided demons for a start.

"That won't be that big of a problem. Most lower demons will probably avoid you either way. And if there is a higher lever demon, well you just have to figure something out. Alright, I'll be leaving. See you, little brother!" Mephisto disappeared in a puff of pink smoke, leaving Rin alone.

"You just have to figure something out." Rin mimicked his older brother annoyed.

He shook his head. What was he even expecting?

He decided to look around his new home.

The hut really wasn't big, everything was cramped in one room.

There was a small fireplace, one chair, and a table and something resembling a bed, it looked more like a wooden board with some rags.

On the contrary, the part of the woods the hut was built in was beautiful.

Right next to it, Rin saw a lake he hadn't noticed when he escaped in the dark.

Surrounding the tiny wooden building were wildflowers and behind it was clearing.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to stay here.

"At least nothing is colored in this sickening pink Mephisto prefers." Rin thought out loud before walking towards the lake.

Briefly, he wondered if there were Kelpies or other demons in the water but he dismissed this thought just as quickly. If they were able to sense him, as Mephisto said, he would be able to sense them too, right?

But still, the lake gave him a weird feeling, even though it was really calm.

It reminded him of Egyn, the King of Water.

He and Egyn never had the best relationship, just because Rin liked to pull pranks on him when he was younger.

All of his other brothers had forgiven him, but not Egyn who seemed to be the most resentful.

Maybe it was also the fact that Rin was a fire demon and got along with Iblis so well but he didn't really know for sure since Egyn never actually said anything about hating him.

It was more like an attitude he had in Rin's presence.

Rin shook his head again. He didn't want to think about this right now.

It was more important to think of a plan. How would he be able to defeat the Ba'al that weren't cooperating with him? They were all much older and more experienced than him.

Talking about it was way easier than actually doing it.

He wanted to sit down at the shore of the lake but something was wrong.

He felt watched.

He stood up, looking around, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Who's there?" Rin called out and to his surprise, there was a movement in the bushes nearby.

The young demon tensed when he saw the familiar dark skin and orange glowing eyes of his older brother Iblis.

"What? How did you find me? What are you doing here?" Rin took a step backward.

"Woah calm down. I'm not here to fight. I could find that little blue flame inside you everywhere." The King of Fire slowly walked towards the younger demon.

"So what are you doing here?" Rin wasn't sure if he could trust Iblis.

A few months ago this wouldn't have been a question, but now Rin wasn't a prince anymore, would Iblis even still consider him his brother?

"Dad told us to bring you and Sammy back home but he didn't really say what you two did. I tried to convince him to spare you but he wouldn't listen. I'm sure you had a good reason, Lil' Bro, right?" Iblis explained.

The King of Fire has always been Rin's favorite brother but he didn't expect that.

"You want to hear my side of the story?"

"O'course. You're my baby brother after all."

And so, Rin told him everything that had led to his banishment. Maybe it was the fact that Iblis was also a fire demon, maybe it was because he was his favorite brother, maybe it was the fact that somebody would listen to him and the hope that he wouldn't be alone that made Rin tells him everything.

"Y'know, it was also hard for me to see Karura die. I kinda liked that little guy." Iblis admitted.

"I never thought about it but I'm not sure what to do now. Dad wants me to bring you back, and I think I don't want that."

"I'm sorry for putting you in this position but I don't want to fight any of the Ba'al if I can avoid it. Especially you." Rin looked down.

If he thought about it, Iblis had probably been the closest thing he had to friend back in Gehenna.

"I'm going to think about it and then come back here. I'm not telling others where you are for this time but you should be careful. Stay away from that lake or Egyn can find you as easily as I could. And he won't listen to you the way I did."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry for all that mess."

Iblis laughed shortly, "Mess? At least something interesting is happening again. Stay safe until I come back, okay?"

With these words, Iblis disappeared.

All Rin could do now was hope that the King of Fire would actually come back to help him.

Hey! I'm back (after 7-8 months)!
Sorry for the long wait.
I'll probably update more frequently again!