DISCLAIMER: I. Own. Nothing.This is for (personal) entertainment only. Everything belongs to their respective owner(s).

SUMMARY: (AU) A mission left Yukio with a new, barely fitting silver ring. Strangely enough, he often seems pained and unconsciously rubs his left arm often, and that makes his students go all suspicious of him. What is he hiding?

TIMELINE: AU.

The Anti-Demon Pharmacology class went as usual. Well, as usual as it can be with a certain half-demon sleeping in class, completely oblivious to the world. The teacher mentally sighed in irritation. It was normal, much to his annoyance. He walked to said student, not bothering to hide his very seen annoyance, his book in hand. His annoyance was mutually shared by a student of his with the nickname of "Bon." The fact that the sleeping half-demon was his twin didn't ease his forming headache.

He was considering a better way to wake his (older) twin, when he heard a very, very loud snore.

His eyebrow twitched violently.

That's it.

With the brutality that would have made even the most powerful demon proud, he slammed the book directly to his head, earning a pained yelp.

"Itai! (Ouch!)" Okumura Rin nursed the forming bump on his head. Apparently, being half-demon didn't make that hit any less painful. "What's that for, Yukio?!"

Light reflected on his glasses, hiding the eyes of their teacher, Okumura Yukio, the younger twin. His moley face remained stern. He was so used to his older brother's antics that he didn't even bother to correct his brother to call him "sensei" (teach(er)) anymore. He knew it was pointless; sometimes he suspected that his brother had ADD.

Aside from his taller figure (Yukio was taller by 3 inches), his maturity, and genius were what made people think that he was the older one.

Placing his left hand on his hip while waving the book in his right back and forth, he admonished his brother.

"Okumura-kun," Rin snorted "pay attention! Tests are coming, and your grades are less than satisfactory!" Rin rolled his eyes.

"I'm tired already," Rin complained. "I didn't get enough sleep last night-" (Niisan, you slept for 8 hours...) "-to...study." (... Niisan... You were reading manga...)

BAM!

Kamiki Izumo started and accidently caused her book to fall to the floor. Miwa Konekomaru practically jumped. Shima Renzo flinched. Moriyama Shiemi yelped. Yukio blinked alongside Rin before their eyes landed on the culprit.

Suguro Ryuuji (aka Bon) had slammed his palm down.

A scowl adorned his face. His face were practically glowing red in anger. His eyes were practically ablaze with furry. Even his ears looked red. He clenched his fists, stomping to Rin's table. He vaguely heard a "here we go again" but, for once, didn't care. Nobody moved, half scared, half wondering.

Bon grabbed Rin's colar, forcefully lifting him up in utter anger. "Are you serious? Do you even want to be an exorcist? Your half-assed effort makes me sick!" he roared.

Rin, stubborn as he was, retailiated. "I am! How dare you call my efforts 'half-assed'?! I have to sacrifice my bedtime!"

"Your bedtime?!" Bon roared incredulously. "Don't make me laugh!" he raised his fist. "If you don't actually want to be an exorcist, just say it!"

"Teme! (Bastard!)"

Enraged, both of them launched their fists. Shiemi was scared.

"Stop it!" she cried, tears fell from her closed eyes. She waited for the telltale sound of fists hitting. However, when she didn't hear it, she peeked.

Their fists were stopped midway by none other than Yukio.

As Yukio was in between of them, he had no problem holding Rin's fist in his left and Bon's in his right. Most of the students were relieved. If Rin wasn't that mad, he would have noticed how Yukio had grimaced when he grabbed Rin's arm. His glasses hid his pained grimace as he felt the pain of his left arm.

"That's enough," he barked, promptly dousing their rage. His eyebrows were twitching with his vein. "You really, really love to piss me off, eh?"

The whole class cowered (visibly or not) at the murderous aura their sensei emitted.

They kneeled with the "Demonic Stone" on their laps. 15 minutes had passed. Some of them were starting to sweat. Some (re:Shiemi) even turned slightly blue.

Before them, Yukio sat tradisional Japanese style, as he was reading a book. He kept his exorcist gear on his person. His face was as flat as ever. Ocassionally (re:when one shifted), his eyes glanced at them. Unlike their similar punishment in the past, they weren't allowed to drop the stone as it got heavier for an hour. Should one drop it, all would receive an additional half an hour. Didn't sound like it was a big deal while it actually was; half an hour felt so long for them with the (increasingly) very heavy stones.

That, and they didn't bring anything entertaining made things a lot harder.

Rin shifted his legs as his legs were numb already. Teal eyes landed on him for a second before returning to his reading. Rin stared at the eyes of his twin, deciding that it was the most entertaining thing to do (and silently hoping for a reprieve). He was ignored, save for when he shifted. He sweated as he felt his stone was heavier than ever. He glanced at the timer set beside Yukio.

Yukio had decided to put the timer there, setting it to 60 minutes, much to their angst. He had smiled at their faces and said that it worked as a motivator but also as a burden. One could feel relieved with the shortening time, or one can get depressed over the remaining time. They mentally whimpered at his answer.

The very question that rang in their heads in a similar situation before then resonated in their heads.

So demonic... Is Sensei really related to Rin/Okumura?

Yukio glanced up through his book. Their (slightly) blue faces greeted him. Wondering how much time had passed, he glanced at the timer.

Only 20 minutes had passed.

He slammed his book closed before standing up. Yukio felt their eyes on him.

"Do you still don't get it?" he asked. All of them felt an odd sense of dejavu. "Exorcists can't fight alone. Even a simple dispute could cause deaths on the field. Arguments could also lead to fights among yourselves—which could be fatal-"

He was cut off by a quake that struck. He glanced up as his students were all (silently) panicking as their legs were asleep. The quake stopped. The students sighed in relief.

However, Yukio immediately felt his cell vibrating in his pocket.

"Hello, Okumura speaking," he answered. "Eh, Shura-san?" The students perked. "What is it?... Quake? Yes, just now... What?!" They exchanged glances. "I see... I'll see to it." Yukio smiled slightly. "I know." And he hung up. Turning to his students, and picking up the timer as he turned it off, he said, "I'm sorry, everyone. Your punishment today is over. However, please refrain from leaving this apartment/dormitory. Please make yourself at home. I may return late, so please don't wait for me."

"Huh?" asked Bon, confused.

"Yuki-chan?" mumbled Shiemi.

"Oi, Yukio!"

He didn't answer any of them. But when Shiemi saw a flash of his eyes, she could have sworn that she saw sadness and determination at the same time. He left without saying another word.

"What's with him?" grumbled Rin.

"Now that you mention it, Sensei seemed a bit off today," added Koneko.

Bon shrugged. "Saa ne. (Who knows?) Rather than staying this way," he gestured to the stones. "Let's have a dinner. Or at least, remove the stone first."

Removing the stones proved to be harder than they think. Not only their legs were asleep, they were also as heavy as heck. They had to work together to remove the stones, one by one. Even after that, they remained still, some massaging their own legs to let blood circulate.

"Ahh," Shima sighed contently. "Finally..."

"Let's take a bath first."

"Naa, Izumo-chan..."

"Nani? (What?)"

Even though Izumo wouldn't openly admit it, she had gotten close enough with Shiemi that she was willing to share some secrets or the like.

"Don't you think Yuki-chan is a bit off today?"

"Hmm... I think so too. I wouldn't worry about that too much, though."

"Eh? But, I saw Yuki-chan flinch when he restrained Rin," she argued.

"What do you mean?"

"I meant what I said, Bon," stated Shima. "Sensei was hurting back then."

"You sure that's not because they're twins?"

"HEY!"

"I'm sure. Koneko also thinks so, nee (right), Konekomaru?"

A nod. "And Okumura-sensei seems off. Did anything happen?" All eyes landed on Rin.

"Hmm... He returned late lately. Later than usual. And he usually massaged his arm every night. I think I saw something the other night, but I was too sleepy to notice."

Facepalms.

"I just hope he's alright," mumbled Izumo. "He's a good teacher. And...one of the closest one to us, I think."

Little did she know, the rest were thinking the same thing.

Yukio...

A/N: How is it? I've just recently watched (and read) AnE. But still haven't finished, mind you. Got the inspiration when I stared at my ring. Yes, I can only remove it with some pain involved.

As for the title, I have no idea. Same goes with the spiritual knowledge (for AnE materials). Have any idea about the title? Pray tell, please.

All kind of reviews are welcome.