The truth my brother must never know

I never really paid attention to my father during his lectures. Well, they were always about the same stuff so it didn't matter. Every one could be put into single sentence: Fighting is bad! Or, at least, fighting with humans is bad. I had to smirk thinking about the old man getting into much worse fights than I did. He was fighting demons after all. For that one I obtained a punch to the head.

"What was that funny, heh?" asked father Fujimoto displeased with my reaction.

"You're scolding me about getting into fights, but the truth is, that as an exorcist, you are fighting much more than I do."

"Shush!" was the only answer I got as the old man turned towards my little brother who just entered the room.

"Did you get into another fight, Nii-san?"

Yukio smiled at me slightly, grabbed me by my hand and forced me to go with him so he could tend to my injuries. Luckily he didn't hear anything of what i had said. He must never learn about any of that. I thought bitterly while trying to look manly since Yukio was disinfecting my wounds. I had never problems in dealing with pain but I couldn't stand that stinging.

"Does it hurt?" My twin asked me with a kind smile.

He resembled an angel. But he is a complete opposite. The thought crossed my mind and I shook my head in an answer. My brother was no angel. In fact, he was a demon. But he must never know about that. That's right. He must never know. It is better that way. It is okay, if I am the bad demon twin. He will be a doctor, he will meet a beautiful nurse, they will get married, have some kids and live a normal life. That's how it should be. I will make sure that it will. The only thing I ever wanted was for my brother to be happy. And that would not be easy, if he knew, that he was the son of Satan. Well, we both were. But I was a human. My brother was the only one who inherited demonic powers. Yet, I was the one who got stuck with the nickname Demon. Not that I really mind. Still, I hate when they call me like that. The others have no idea what the real demons are like.

That night I couldn't sleep. To be honest, I was a little bit nervous. The next day I had a job interview a I didn't want to mess up. But it wasn't the only thing that kept bugging me. My brother was leaving. He managed to get into True cross academy. Remarkable, wasn't it? My brother was a genius. But I couldn't bear the fact, that he would leave my side. We were always together. And what's more, it was THAT academy he had chosen. Neither I or father said anything, but we didn't like it. It was not a normal school. The future exorcists were also educated there. It shouldn't be a problem. Yukio wouldn't find out, but I didn't like it. He would be too close to the world I wanted to keep him away from.

I tssked at the thought and sat up.

"Nii-san, are you awake?" came the voice of my brother.

I stand up and found my face in front of my brother's. We had a bunk bed and Yukio slept in the top bunk. He was lying on his side, hand under his head. Those azure eyes we shared glowing in the night. For a moment it seemed that there are little blue flames inside them.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" I asked him silently.

Yukio closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, I couldn't sleep. Won't you come sleep with me?"

My eyes widened at the proposal and suddenly a light smile appeared on my lips. It was a long time since he asked me to sleep with him. We used to cuddle in one bed a lot when we were kids. But as we got older, we stopped doing that. Well, this might be the last time ever. I did as he wanted and slipped under his sheets. Unfortunately, the bed was too small for both of us.

"Maybe I should go to my bed. We are packed here like sardines," I suggested but my brother grabbed the sleeve of my pajamas and refused to let go.

"Don't go. This might be the last time we can do this," he smiled as if he could read my mind and after a few minutes he was fast asleep.

I hugged him and closed my eyes. "Tomorrow will be a hell of a day," I murmured falling asleep.

I had no idea how right I was.

When I woke up the next day, Yukio was already on his feet.

"'Morning," I yawned and sat up.

No answer. I looked at my twin just to see him staring through the window in horror.

"Hey, what's up?"

I jumped down from the bed and walked to my brother.

"What is that?" He asked me, eyes wide open.

I looked out of window to see nothing but a coal tar floating in the air as usual.

"What do you mean?" I watched the face of my twin as he blinked in confusion and bit his lip.

"I'm sorry. I...I must be still a little bit tired," he murmured and left the room.

I stayed in the place, frowning. He couldn't mean the coal tar, now could he? With the hope that it was really just my brother being tired and nervous from his new school I dressed up and went for my interview. I stopped one of the priests on my way and asked him where father Fujimoto was. He told me that father went on a mission and won't be back until the evening. That wasn't the answer what I hoped for so I just asked him to keep an eye on Yukio. I had a really bad feeling and had to fight off the idea of rushing back home while taking the interview. I wanted to get a job in a local restaurant. I didn't think that it was the right job for me, but with a little bit of a luck I would get into the kitchen. Suddenly, my phone started ringing. Maybe I should have turned it off, but I didn't. I had a feeling that I would be needed. And I was right. It was my brother who was calling.

"N-nii-san!" I heard him sobbed.

That was all I needed. I ran out off the room completely forgetting everything about the interview.

"What happened, Yukio?" I asked him seriously.

I heard another sob and had to wait half a minute for the answer.

"I...I d-don't r-really know," the scared voice of my brother said silently.

After that he started crying and I couldn't do anything but to wait for him to calm down. It was pretty scary. The last time I saw him crying was in elementary school. What happened that he is in that shape? Now I was concerned.

"Never mind, Yukio. Just tell where you are. Are you at home?"

"No," immediate reply.

"I am in s-some alley. N-near t-that playground we used to play on as kids," he seemed to be calmer, but his voice was still shaking.

It seemed that hearing my voice helped him.

"Got it, I'll be right there in a minute. Wait for me," I said and hung up.

Then I started running. It was a long run but I was a fast runner with good stamina. I got there in less than 30 minutes.

"Yukio!" I shout when passing by the playground.

"H-here!" I almost didn't hear him.

I went to the alley where the voice was coming from and stopped in a shock. I couldn't believe my eyes. No! It can't be! Just no! My twin was curled up in a corner, his glasses broken, clothes dirty and tore at some places and bloody mark on his neck. But the worst thing, his body was engulfed in flames. Blue flames.