Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Exorcist.

"Rin!" – Human Speech

'Rin!' – Human Thought

"Rin!" – Demon Speech

'Rin!' – Demon Thought

Deadshot of Demons

The Devil in the Garden

Previously on Deadshot of Demons,

"Our father was the greatest Exorcist there is! No demon could possess him, not even Satan!" Yukio then shouted, no longer shaking in his hold at Rin. After shooting off some more demons in the classroom, Yukio continued. "But that only convinced Satan to possess him even more! Our father will never just let Satan control him! You did something! You killed our father!"

"A trigger is not the gun." Rin said with calmness, even after Yukio's outburst. "Neither is a gun the trigger." Yukio could only growl. "I may be the gun but Satan was the trigger who need me to kill the one person he hoped to the best hope for him to kill me off. Satan doesn't need children, it is bad for his image."

"But you were the gun! How can you blame Satan for killing our father when you made that killing shot!?" Yukio shouted which summoned even more demons to be shot down.

"How you ask?" "Because I didn't make that killing shot. It was a point where the most damage to our father was a glazed rib but it was enough to make Shiro's body too lethal for Satan to possess. That was why Satan had to try and leave his body."

"Then why did he die!?" Yukio was definitely not acting in character.

"To give us time." Rin said simply. Yukio just growled further. "Can you, in all your knowledge and two ordinary guns, defeat and kill Satan, our father, when he is complete?" Rin then replied which got the dog to gasp and Yukio to actually lower his gun.

"N-no." Yukio tried and finally uttered out. How could he possibly not think of a good answer to that question?

"Well neither am I. Shiro knew that and figured that our time from Satan is over, he will want us dead. But even if we fought Satan together, we still won't beat him." Rin then said. "That is why Shiro died, to bring down half of Satan's power and essence with him. But even that won't help us defeat Satan."

"Then what will?" Yukio wanted to see what his brother was getting on.

"Demons can heal but anything takes time. If it was just a small piece, Satan will need only an hour. A huge chunk will take a few weeks." Rin answered. "Now that Satan is at only 50%, it will take years, maybe decades, for him to gain all that power back."

"But even with years to train, we still can't beat Satan at his fullest! He has lived longer than the Demon Kings, who are all over a thousand years old!" Yukio shouted and Rin decided to look up the Demon Kings later.

"Shiro doesn't want us to fight Satan at his fullest, he wants us to fight him, together…" Rin said with an emphasis on that last word. "When we are strong enough separately and as brothers. Strong enough to take down even the strongest demons under Satan. That may take years but we will do it and we will kill Satan once and for all!"

Yukio thought that he actually saw Rin as a brother again until the older twin took out his gun from the hoister. Anger and rage returned to his mind to see that, like Rin was actually going to kill him. "And what are you going to do with that!?"

"Finish the job little brother." Rin said, not even flinching to Yukio's outburst. "1.3 pounds of white oak, 3.4 liters of B-density holy water and half a bound of Valerian." Rin then spoke just like when he shot down Satan in Shiro's body and took out a specific bullet from his belt. He then armed it in an empty bullet space that positioned to fire next. "Bang."

Yukio was actually going to fire back but Rin's bullet was faster and passed him entirely. He could have mocked his brother for 'missing him' but then felt something hitting the ceiling of the classroom. Turning around, he saw the biggest specimen of the demons that he had been keeping at bay and yet summon in his anger outbursts.

"What?" Yukio then saw that the larger than usual demon was shaking like a leave but was as stiff as a statue. But Yukio barley have any time to think when a blur went past him, one that looked like Rin!

"Haa!" Rin shouted while unwrapping the sword that Shiro gave him and unsheathing it. And in one single, clean cut, the demon was slain. With its wound covered in the same blue flames of Satan, burning at the demon's flesh. Turning back to his brother while still having his sword out, Rin spoke up. "Not all situations involving demons can be solved with brute force. Not until the odds are in the favor of such actions."

"Rin…" Yukio just said before taking in everything that has happened that night in the classroom. All the while, Rin sheathed his sword and patted Yukio on the head like a real older brother before heading towards the dorm for a little bedrest.

"Rin." The said marksman sighed to see his younger brother in his way again, with a stern tone in his voice. "Where do you think you are going?"

"I used up all the bullets I could afford with my allowance and all the herbs harvested from my personal garden, all at home. I need to get used to where I can get a steady supply if I even dream of being an Exocrist." Rin said, all in one breath. "I was given a key by that clown who said that it will lead to where you supply shop. Now outta' of my way."

"On the contrary…" Yukio said, "I am not. I am going to show you where to go and how to get there. It is one of the many things I had to learn in the past two years." Rin said nothing,

"Then show me, little brother." Yukio did indeed show Rin to where most inhabitants of the True Cross Academy get Exorcist supplies; such as teachers, staff and even students. It was a garden, greenhouse, and herb shop that is in a far branch of the academy. The way to get there is to use a key to the right door.

The academy building and campus itself is filled with barriers, portals and some labyrinths to keep monsters from attacking students. Yukio had a lot of keys, for a lot of portals, as a high ranked Exorcist in the True Cross organization that school is named after. And as Rin is his younger brother, Yukio gave him a spare key to the herb shop branch.

When they arrived at the shop that indeed had a garden and a greenhouse, it was the entire section was a big forest. A forest packed in like the flame in the topside of a torch.

"Stay." Of course, Yukio would never let Rin into the shop. And, as if Rin was going to argue like a little kid, Yukio beat his brother to the punch. "Only full pledge Exorcists and higher-ups are allowed in."

"Then here." Rin said, pulling out a list of supplies by the amount needed and gave it to Yukio. Seeing the wide eyes of shock and disbelief. "I could do the buying but students are not allowed to enter, remember?"

Yukio sighed. He was hoping not to use so much money, almost double at that. But he did tell Rin the rules and he needs to follow them as a good example set for any other student. "Fine, I will be right out with the supplies but you own me for this."

"You own me more if I find out that you were lying." Rin said and relaxed on the railings at the base of shop. Yukio just said nothing and made his way up the stairs.

XXXXX

An half hour later,

"'Be right out'." Rin grumbled, leaning on one of the railings while twirling one of his silver coated daggers on his right pointer finger. His expression was as clear as mid-day and matched the tone of his voice perfectly; he is bored. Bored out of his wits and also angry. Angry that he is the older brother but Yukio pushes him around instead.

"I told that idiot of a brother that if I am going to be the big brother, I need to do my own errands on my own." Rin continued. "And I am letting him get away with this because it was the clown's orders."

And when Rin was about to scream in boredom, his enhanced ears picked something up. Something that he hadn't noticed in the time he spent outside the shop. Just now, recently. It was the sound of humming and giggling. A lot like how a girl does. And his age based on how high it sounded to his ears. Girls' voices always get higher while boys always get deeper.

Rin didn't want to stay at the railings for any longer so he followed the sound of the humming up the second set of stairs that was next to the set leading up to the shop. And once Rin arrived at the gate to the garden, he saw it or her to be exact.

The humming was coming from a girl. A girl that was indeed around his own age. And while the vast and diverse flowers were a sight to behold, she was much more beautiful. Rin felt like his cheeks were heating up, he just couldn't get his eyes off of her.

But as they said, 'curiosity kills the cat', Rin tried to at least get her attention before the gate responded to his presence. This caused Rin to notice that the garden had a barrier around it. But before Rin could back away, as the barrier detected his half-demon essence, the gate door from place.

That got the girl's attention for sure and not in the way Rin wanted. She screamed but Rin noticed that she tried to flee in an awkward pace. It was like her legs are limp, making her slower than a turtle.

"Sorry about that, I think this barrier malfunctioned." Rin said casually as he playful chased down the girl until he gently caught her by the shoulders. But he did noticed some thickly showing veins on the girl's legs. The girl in question slapped away Rin's hands, getting his attention on her.

"What are you doing in my grandmother's garden!?" The girl shouted but it was hard to take her seriously with her cute face and her limp legs. But Rin was not the type to say that out loud.

"I am here with my younger brother for some supplies. I am training to become an exorcist." Rin said, not even flinching from the girl's angry look. And once she finally lost that scowl and wrinkled skin, "I'm Rin. And you?" Rin offered his hand in welcome while the girl looked at it and then nervously smiled.

"Shiemi. Shiemi Moriyama." Shiemi has straight, shoulder length platinum-blonde hair, green eyes, and fair skin. Her hair occasionally curls at the ends, and she is usually seen with a clip or headband in it. In the manga, her hair is much lighter than the anime, appearing almost white at times. Shiemi is wearing brightly colored kimonos with equally colorful haori but no shoes, just barefoot.

"I see that you love your flowers. You looked very pretty as you tended to those flowers." Rin said with a slight blush that caused Shiemi to have one too, but three times as bad.

"Well, yeah. I love gardening, it is what I do all day." Shiemi said. "Here, I will show you how it is done. You are my friend, right?" Shiemi asked with a nervous tone, like she wanted to take that last sentence back if it rubbed Rin in the wrong way.

"That is okay. Since my brother still isn't out looking for me, I got time to kill." Shiemi let out a sigh of relief and then tried to hide a blush. It was a while since she had a friend to play with and help her out in the garden.

And Rin did find out that garden was quiet and yet fun. He was actually having fun by helping Shiemi move dirt, fertilizer and new flowers around the garden. This was the first time that someone saw him use his superhuman strength but not run in fear or fire him from his job; Shiemi seemed to have fun, riding on his Rin's back and running around the garden paths.

But Rin's curiosity for the state of Shiemi's legs couldn't be kept down for long. And later, after a couple of hours of playing in the garden,

"I see that you must love your garden, you don't even wear shoes." Rin chuckled and Shiemi just blushed nervously. "But there is something about your legs that I don't like."

"So what I can't move them!?" Before Rin could say more on the topic, Shiemi snapped which made Rin to raise his eyebrow. "I am tired of my mother always saying that this garden is bad for me! It is the last of my grandmother before she died! What is wrong with working in the garden!?"

"Nothing is wrong with that." Rin tried to calm her down. Shiemi looked like she was going to cry. "But even extreme gardeners know that they still need to live. With three meals a day, a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in. Have you been living out here this whole time?"

Shiemi didn't say another word. "Listen, there is something wrong. Not the garden but your legs. I need to see them." Shiemi wanted to say no until she saw those eyes. Rin's eyes that had fierce concern for her. There wasn't even a slight hint of perverseness or any other reason for Shiemi's legs to be exposed.

XXXXX

Later that night

"Ha-ha-ha!" Rin growled at the hideous sight that dared to laugh at how Rin couldn't do a front on assault with the risk of harming Shiemi. It might sound unbelievable but this demon, currently possessing Shiemi, is the cause for the girl's legs to be paralyzed.

It was an Enti, a low-class demon that usually possesses plants and grass since they don't have the strength and power to control much large hosts. But once the emotions within one grows with time, they get strong enough to attach to legs of an unaware gardener working in its domain.

"You all are fools! Thinking that finding me out is going to save this pathetic mortal! Once I kill you then the whole world will be my own garden!" The demon shouted while his host and hostage was still in blissful unconscious. Yukio wanted to help but someone had to keep the mother away or she will be in the crossfires of exorcist work; all because she wrought with motherly worry, forgetting about her own safety.

Yukio could only hope that Rin has something in mind. The younger brother didn't want to think of what happened if his older brother tried to hold back the mother instead of him. And the only clue that Yukio has is that Rin has his gun barrel showing fully and his free hand roaming in the pocket on the same side. All before taking out a bullet that seemed different from the ones that Rin usually makes.

"13 ounces of agrimony, 4 liters of C-class Holy Water, and 8 drops of benzoin resin. All in a silver graphite bullet." Rin spoke, taking out a bullet from his pockets. "I had to use a smaller one on a simple devil in our garden so I made another, for a much worse example of a case. You just ran out of luck." Rin said, loading the special bullet into his gun.

"Why are you doing this? For a girl who hates her own mother? For a girl that loves dirt and flowers over her own kind? She is not a girl to fight over for, it is not worth it." The Flower demon shouted out to Rin, with foolish hopes that the boy with the gun will change his mind about this.

"Shiemi is my friend and this is her garden." Rin then aimed his gun at the plant demon who charged for the kill. "As long as I live and breathe, you will never set another foot in this garden." Rin then twitched his eyes to show honest anger and hate at the flower-like demon. "And even if she is not worth saving, I will do it anyways. With… a bang!" That was followed instantly by a large sound of a gun going off.

Shiemi's mother tried, once again, to stop Rin but Yukio poured yet more energy into holding her back. And he turned his focus just in time to see the bullet shatter. Shatter like a fragile, little egg shell that has hit the ground. And miraculously, none of the pieces landed anywhere near Shiemi herself.

As for the flower demon, it screamed as the bullet fragments started flames. Flames that burned at its very being and still, Shiemi is unharmed. And with its arms cut off for good, the demon couldn't save itself or even continue to hold Shiemi hostage. "And before you try to hide in this scared garden again…" Rin, of course, halted the dying demon in its tracks.

But instead of saying another word, Rin took out a canister usually used for holy water grenades. "I made this in the time that I spent before you showed yourself. Enjoy." Rin then uncorked the canister and poured its contents onto the demon, creating the screech of a banshee and the smell of boiling oil left in the hot sun.

While Shiemi's mother almost fainted at the sight, smell and sound of it all, Yukio was able to stay on his feet with beads of sweat down his face. Rin, somehow, showed no just such signs. He just took out his family sword with his blue flames engulfing the blade. "I shouldn't do this after what you tried to one of my new friends and to this garden but I will not let you just die in pain, right in her own home."

Ignoring the scream of pain, louder than before, and the last ditch effort of the garden demon to grasp for the boy with the sword, Rin plunged the blade straight to where the demon was at its weakest. And with that spot pierced, the demon finally stopped screaming and moving. All everyone had to see next was the body of the demon turning into nothing but dust. Dust that a happening breeze blew completely out of the garden and to parts unknown.

Rin then approached Shiemi, still unconscious. "It is all over. This garden is now completely pure and free of danger." Rin then took Shiemi into the family home, to help her get into bed from everything that has happened tonight. And possibly, never knowing of the danger that she placed herself into because her love for her grandmother was much greater than her direct mother.

XXXXX

"Shiemi?" Rin queried to see his latest friend wandering the hallways of the academy, looking for his classroom! "I guess that your mother let you attend the True Cross Academy after all."

"Hello Rin!" Shiemi responded cheerfully. With that said, both of them went down the hallway to their next lesson. But then the mood was killed with Shiemi said something that stung worse than steeping on a live bee, barefoot. "I can't wait to see Yukio-sensei again! He looked very cool, and when he saved me-!"

Shiemi was cut off when Rin had a scowl on his face and started to walk far ahead. Shiemi had no idea of what just happened so she hurried over before walking at Rin's new pace. "Did I say something wrong?" Rin shook his head and stayed silent. "Then what? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You are my friend, Rin-kun."

Even with a pretty girl like Shiemi addressing Rin like that, it didn't help at all. It only resulted in a heart-wrenching silence. That is, until someone broke the ice at last.

"I am Rin Okumura, the eldest brother. But I will always been in Yukio's shadow." Rin said and Shiemi was wondering where this was going, making her feel nervous all over again. "But it is for the best. It is the best way I can protect you Shiemi. It is for the best."

And just like that, Shiemi couldn't say another word and just followed Rin to their classroom. They are still friends but can Shiemi accept Rin being Yukio's shadow like the eldest brother is?

End of Chapter 3.

*I don't know how I did this but I made another chapter, purely of scratch before leaving for California. I have been at my video games for too long. Tell me what you think and enjoy the fireworks, wherever you live!*