Man, I've updated this story more than any other story since coming back. It's mostly due to the fact that you guys love me more :)
XxXxX
"Mephisto, five hundred yen is not enough for me to live off of, even on top of my salary as a teacher."
"Well I could allow you a special edition two hundred yen piece instead, is that better?"
Rin decided this was a good time to poke his head around the corner. They looked startled by his sudden appearance. Honestly, if they wanted this to be a private meeting, they shouldn't've been doing it in the dorm cafeteria at lunch time.
"Why are you giving him so much less, Anuie?" Rin asked, taking a seat beside Yukio. "You give me a hundred thousand yen each month; you only give him five hundred a week."
"Your case is different, Rin. Father is providing you with your money through me. Yukio has no such deal."
Rin shrugged. "I don't really need the money, just split the allowance between us. I'm not that good with spending, but fifty thousand yen a month as allowance seems pretty decent to me."
"Satan was giving you a hundred thousand yen a month?" Yukio asked incredulously.
Rin shrugged. "Is that too little? I don't think I've ever gone shopping."
"Rin, you can buy a gallon of milk for 700 yen."
"... Oh." So that was a lot of money. "Well, in that case, we can definitely split the allowance dad gives me. Yukio is his kid too, ya know?"
Yukio cringed.
"If it's any difference," Rin continued, "I can always spend my pay buying us food and making us lunch, and Yukio can do what he does with his money. Hell, I think I've been conjuring anything I've needed for the past - what, six years now? - so it'll be fun to actually buy things!"
"I'd advise against buying and making lunch," Anuie said. "I set my familliar, Ukobach, in charge of your meals, he would not take kindly to you invading his territory."
Rin shrugged. "If you say so. But yeah, go ahead and split our allowance."
"No," Yukio denied. "I don't need charity from you, Rin. I can make do with five hundred yen as long as I know my meals are provided for."
Rin stared at Yukio for a few seconds. "You- you're denying charity from me, but wanted charity from Anuie?"
"Mephisto is the headmaster of the school, it's his job to provide for me. Plus I have my teacher's salary and the pay I get from exorcisms. I don't need your charity."
Rin paused for a little bit, trying to understand his brother's words. "Oh. Okay then. Nevermind about splitting our allowance, then."
Anuie stood up. "I shall then take my leave, if that is everything you need. Arrivederci!" With that he disappeared.
Rin stood and walked into the kitchen.
Curious, Yukio followed him.
"Eui asu e jani?" Rin asked the small demon, who must be Ukobach. Yukio stayed by the door, listening to the exchange. Ukobach twilled back at Rin, clearly answering his question.
He couldn't understand most of what they were conversing about, but every now and then, Yukio could catch a word or two that didn't translate very well. Rosemary, for one. Aloe, terriyaki - were they discussing cooking recipies?
In abyssal!
The language of the demons, two demons, discussing cooking.
Yukio was flabberghasted.
"So Yukio how long have you been listening?" Rin asked, turning to Yukio.
"Not long," Yukio replied without thinking. The wicked grin that spread across Rin's face tipped Yukio off.
"How interesting. Ukobach, taku ar Yukio."
"Hello human!" Ukobach said to him.
Freaked out, Yukio recoiled so hard he fell onto the floor. Rin's and Ukobach's laughter didn't help his pride.
Were they speaking in Abyssal the entire time?
Why could he understand some of it?
Rin's grin -
Did he respond in Abyssal to Rin?
He fled the kitchen.
XxXxX
The next day, Rin didn't see much of Yukio until lunch time. Peeking around a tree to try to hunt him down, he found Yukio resting at the fountain, glaring hatefully at his bento box. He made to go talk to Yukio, but froze as he saw some girls - in his math class, he recalled - approach Yukio.
He couldn't hear them very well from his location, but he could see them. The girls held out lunch to Yukio and - he shook his head? But he hated the fact that Ukobach made his lunch! Why would he be denying them-?
At least he has people to deny. Instantly saddened, Rin sat against the tree. At least Yukio has admirers and friends he gets to tell no.
Rin has no one. No admierers to tell no, no friends to share food with.
To share food with. To share food with.
He had an idea!
XxXxX
"Yukio, let me take over your next class!"
"W-What?" Yukio responded, startled enough to drop the papers he was holding. His dorm door was locked, how did Rin-?
"I have an Idea to better illustrate the properties of herbs on demons to the class! Can I take over the next class?"
"How did you know-?"
"You left your plans on the table in the cafeteria, but that's not the point. Can I?"
"I don't see why not?"
"Hell yeah!" Rin was gone as soon as he appeared.
XxXxX
"Alright, class. Rin asked to teach this particular lesson on herbs, so I decided to indulge him. Rin,"
With a massive grin, Rin walked up to the front desk and waved his hand. In a flash of blue flames, several silver platters appeared on the desk. Three demons - a hobgoblin, the possessed flower from Shiemi's garden, and a tamed ghoul - sat beside him.
"Alright, so the lesson today is different herbs and their use in demon killing. Of course, that immediately made me jump to cooking with them! I have a bunch of samples of different herbs cooked into different foods in front of me and four different levels of demon to test them on. To start, rosemary." Rin passed out several small plates of steak seasoned with rosemary, amongst a few others. "Now, rosemary is not the only herb I used when cooking the meal, but the effects will be the same regardless, due to the mere presence of rosemary in the dish. When feeding it to a low level," he paused to feed it to the flower, "you can see they pass out. However, when fed to any other level," he paused to feed the next portion to the hobgoblin, "they are put in a bit of pain. This can distract the demon and make them easier to defeat. The reason the low level is not effected is because they are only on Assia because they're possessing something. Their entire essence is not on this plane, so they are not as effected as they could be. Now, the next herb..." Rin continued in this fashion, a massive smile on his face. Each meal he passed out, he made a point of telling everyone what they were eating.
The most universal lesson he had ever learned. If you want to make friends, you feed them.