…That was a hell, disgusting, horrible hell. That place seemed endless. Or was he running in circles?

The only colour prevailing there was blue – bright, royal, magnificent blue. Blue flames were blazing everywhere, devouring deformed human bodies. The most horrible thing was that all those people were still alive, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred, burned hands trying to reach him, husky voices howling accusingly:

"Demon… Demon… Demon…"

He tried to run away desperately, yet wasn't able to do it. He knew all those people – they were his classmates, his neighbours, even his occasional acquaintances.

He tried to run faster, covering his ears, yet still hearing those voices full of suffering and hatred.

A lone figure appeared before him so suddenly, that he nearly bumped into that person. It was a familiar-looking demoness - skinny, unhealthy pale, with dirty, tousled long black hair and fanatical look. She seemed not to notice him as she whispered frantically:

"Blue flames… The great and unrivaled power of our Lord… So beautiful…"

He instinctively took a step backwards, trying to escape that insane person. Yet his attempt was futile as the demoness noticed him at last.

"Young master!" she kneeled before him in awe. "You've punished these annoying pests!"

And she laughed with some insane happiness…

Yukio waked up abruptly and covered his face with hands. Another night, another nightmare… They kept haunting him lately. It was nearly ridiculous how the teen considered his previous nightmares terrible. After all those were simple unpleasant memories, nothing that could be even compared with his later dreams, full of death, gore and blue flames.

Yukio had to admit that the blue flame had become his biggest fear.

The teen checked Kurikara. Fortunately, it still lay beside him. Everything seemed safe. Yukio thought grimly that it was really a good idea to go to bed much earlier than Rin, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain why he was sleeping hugging the sword. Even if Rin didn't suspect anything (no matter, how you look, it was fishy as a hell), Yukio would become a laughingstock.

Speaking of Rin, he actually was snoring peacefully. It seemed he was a heavy sleeper. Well, after all the dark-haired teen had no need to watch his back. Yukio felt slight envy.

The bespectacled teen sighed hard-audibly and looked at the clock. Three-forty three. Another night he hadn't managed to sleep until morning. Yukio knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep once more.

At least, it was Sunday. He still had a day to regain his composure. On Monday the new life would actually start.

Yukio slipped of the bed quietly, still holding the sword, and left the room…

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It wasn't too easy to kill time. Yukio knew that it wasn't the best idea to simply reflect over something as he usually ended reminding himself about Satan. He tried to read something, but then realized that he was stuck at certain point, not even able to tell what he was reading about. The memories of the nightmare still distracted Yukio.

The teen sighed. The clock showed five to seven. Well, at least it was already morning, yet it still was too early for Sunday.

Yukio remembered that it was his turn to cook. Anyway, it was a great possibility to forget about nightmares.

He wasn't a good cook, on the contrary, he couldn't cook at all. After all, cooking was always someone else responsibility in the monastery and Yukio had never disagreed with that. But now it actually raised some problems as the teen clearly understood that he hadn't even slightest idea how to cook at least rice, not to mention something more difficult. In the end, Yukio had made some sandwiches. They weren't too good, but still edible.

'Well, anyway, I don't think Rin will be able to make anything better,' the bespectacled teen thought with slight embarrassment…

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Rin hated to wake up early, yet today he was forced to do so, as the annoying alarm clock went off. First, he didn't want to open his eyes, hoping that Yukio would turn it off. Then the teen actually got up, looking for the source of unpleasant buzzing with some irritation. The next few seconds Rin struggled to turn alarm off, breaking it in the end.

"That jerk Yukio," the teen murmured angrily. "Is it another one of his stupid rules?"

He looked around. Yukio's bed was neatly made. And when did that guy manage to do it? Rin groaned. It still was too early. He was going to continue sleeping, but before he definitely needed to find Yukio and tell him everything he thought about him, his rules and his alarm-clock.

Rin raced to the kitchen with now-broken alarm in his hand. Yukio wasn't there as well. However, Rin noticed some sandwiches on the plate.

'Don't tell me this is the breakfast,' he thought with slight surprise.

Rin took one of the sandwiches carefully, examined it with suspicion and took a bite. Next moment he realized that now he had one more reason to speak with Yukio seriously…

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Yukio looked at the mirror once more, examining his teeth. His canines definitely were too sharp to be mistaken as human ones. Really, how was it possible that Rin hadn't noticed?

There was some noise outside the bathroom, yet Yukio paid no attention.

His biggest concern now was his tail. He had to admit Rin's statement: it was really uncomfortable to hide the tail all the time. However, it was all for the sake of safety. The possibility of somebody entering the seemingly old and abandoned dorm couldn't be neglected.

But really that tail was very annoying thing. And the most annoying was that it actually reacted to most emotions. As soon as Yukio had actually thought about that fact, the tail twitched with irritation. Yukio frowned.

"YUKIO!" a loud yell returned him to reality.

Next moment, before the bespectacled teen managed to do a thing, Rin burst in the bathroom, holding a sandwich in his hand.

"What the hell with that poor excuse of…" he started angrily, but immediately shut up. The forgotten sandwich fell on the floor.

The silence was grim and uncomfortable. Rin seemed really shocked. Yukio simply didn't know what to tell. Well, it wasn't too unpredictable that his secret would be learned eventually by somebody sharing the room with him. Yet it still was extremely awkward situation.

"What?" Yukio asked at last, only to break the silence.

"You have a tail," muttered Rin, still stunned. However, he quickly recovered from initial shock, as he continued:

"Yukio, you're jerk! You actually know how it is to have a tail, and still… Really, what the heck with you? You're half-demon!"

Rin hadn't realized that yet, but he in fact had repeated Yukio's words from previous day. Now the situation seemed mirrored.

"Shut up," hissed Yukio, his tail twitched.

"You haven't told me a thing!"

"As if I had to do it!" the bespectacled teen felt slight anger. Rin had definitely touched a sore spot, even if it was unintentionally.

"It isn't too hard to tell that!" Rin felt offended as well. He, at least, was more or less honest (excluding the fact of his relation to Satan).

"So what? Ok, I'm half-demon. Happy?" growled Yukio and froze at sudden realization. In fact, he had admitted his nature aloud for the first time. Still, nothing changed. It didn't hurt as much as he thought. Actually, it didn't hurt at all. Instead, he felt sudden relief as if something was lifted off his chest.

"Really, you must be deaf or dumb or something," Rin suddenly smiled brightly. "Haven't I told you that it doesn't change a thing? So what if you're half-demon? You will always be yourself – grumpy, four-eyed mole-boy and scaredy-cat, who's cooking sucks as a hell!"

"What?" Yukio hadn't believed his own ears. Well, it wasn't like Rin tried to offend him, but still wasn't it too much? And yet he was right. Father Fujimoto had written something similar in his letter.

Just remember: your heart is only thing that matters. Demon or human, you're still Yukio.

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In any case, the problem was solved. Or, at least, it looked like that. Yukio still clang stubbornly to his rules, insisting that Rin should hide his tail. Any argument had no result.

"So what is wrong with my cooking?" Yukio tried to change the topic, totally ignoring Rin's sullen look.

"Everything!" the dark-haired teen spat back.

"As if you can cook better," the bespectacled teen frowned. He couldn't even imagine traditional Gehenna cuisine. No, he simply didn't want to imagine it.

"Actually, I can," said Rin proudly. "I'm pro!"

Yukio looked at him doubtfully, yet said nothing. Next half an hour he was watching silently how Rin was cooking breakfast.

It seemed he hadn't lied. The teen's movements were precise and confident. He definitely didn't do it first time.

"Here," Rin put the plate before Yukio. The breakfast was plain, yet still incredibly tasty.

"You know," Rin smiled confidently. "Leije actually liked Assiah food… However, her cooking sucked even more than yours, so that I had a need to learn that stuff myself…"

Yukio kept silent. He had actually thought that Rin was too childish and good-for-nothing before. However, that judgment seemed entirely wrong. Rin had his own talents, besides in some points he was much wiser than Yukio…