Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Exorcist

Welcome to the second chapter of Embracing the Blue! Yes I know that this chapter comes by very late, but please hear me out. Its lack of punctuality is because... *drums* simply that school's been crazy.. Why is this so? Because it is a merciless organization that give you tons of burdens that are impossible to finish within one day... what a slave-driver=.=

Okay enough with my self-ranting. I just want to inform you that this chapter may be a second chapter of the first one, because the time-setting was the first day of new year which was a continuation of the day from the first. But you can also read this as a separate story because it basically can stand on its own.

Oh and one more thing, when I read this fic online, I noticed that I made a mispell error in the horror scene. I had meant to write long blond hair but it turned out to be long blone hand. I feel like smacking myself because the wrong spelling practically ruins the 'supposedly' scary atmosphere..=.= Do any of you readers know how to fix the words in the fic? *my stupid self is not sure that 'replacing a chapter' command in the login-mode is the right thing to use* =3=

Embracing the Blue

Chapter 2: Of Dream and Doubt

Genre: Slightly angsty..

Please enjoy~

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'Dearest Yukio… this question you need to answer carefully…

…What do you think of Rin?'

'…What do you mean? He is my twin brother'

'(chuckle)…you must know better Yukio, you must know better…'

"Hey, hey, come here, Yukio!"

A six-year-old Rin called out cheerfully, crouching over a bush which was one among the many in their garden-church.

'Look around Yukio; you're six and this was your old home…'

"What is it nii-san?", the said boy's lips parted to answer, producing the answer on its own accord. It was spontaneous, almost instantly, like his vocal cords had manifested a brain on its own that responded to that particular voice.

Only to that voice.

'My… old home?', the little boy with spectacles ran his nonchalant eyes around his surroundings. The old walls… white walls that previously were pure now were stained with dirt caused by insufficient care. The back garden- 'Deserted..', he noted-was full with various kinds of vegetations. Some were already in the process of dying, leaves shrunk to the fragile state of withering,

'Fragile…'

'Yes you are, in front of him..'

"Look!", Rin exclaimed excitedly, eagerly showing a soft flower cradled in his hands. The petals were curled around each other delicately, layer by layer was twisted and furled in an elegant swirl of its own creation. And the petals were painted a striking blue hue.

Blue? Yukio blinked. He didn't even aware that this kind of flower exists in the real world, he was almost sure that the color was only used in folklores and fairytales with the infamous particular topic related with prince-charming. But it was there, simply there, rested among the wild shrub in front of his eyes.

Real… Was it?

"A blue rose..", the younger twin knelt beside his brother to inspect the lone flower. His large aquamarine eyes observed the rose in curiosity and comically widen in awe to absorb every detail of the blue specimen. It was indeed a work of beauty, the exquisite color which could rival the infamous valuable gem known by the name of rare sapphire and the dewy petals that glistened in the early morning light.

The navy-blue haired kid nodded his head vigorously, "Yeah, here feel it!", he demonstrated his command by touching his hand to one of the petals.

Yukio complied and lowered his fingers, moving his body slightly in front of his brother in the process, "Wah it's so soft", the younger twin commented, stroking the petals delicately "And the color is so beautiful"

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I like it!", he grinned brightly and turned to face his twin brother.

'Huh?'

No said boy was there.

Was he even there before?

What he noticed first was the darkness, the impending darkness that forced its way to his eyes, pushing. Were they opened in the first place?

But he did know that they watered for their futile attempt to get a clear image.

And then a split second later, the darkness cleared away in a flash, like shadow being chased by the light. Gone without trace... He set his eyes, looking around-

'Ah they were opened…' – and what faced him was a dark empty room, the ceiling was made up of a complex series of pipes winding around each other. The chill hung on the air and he could practically felt it on his skin, unconsciously caused him to shiver. And he was alone. Completely, no sound… muted to a choking silence..

"Nii-san?", he called out meekly. Yukio noticed that his voice was deeper and so he checked the state of his body. He was not the six-year-old Yukio anymore, he wore the heavy exorcist coat and guns were tucked inside the holsters.

But this new profound situation didn't confuse him for far too long. He wasn't six, he was sixteen.

That's all there was.

He blinked once then twice, running his eyes on the shady environment. Only then that he noticed he was inside one of the exorcist building's room.

'Yukio…. Turn around, there's somethin' to show….', the soft voice whispered hanging around the chilly air that surrounded him, softly empty. But also softly sultry. The voice that seemed to flow around him, convinced him to comply. Turning around, the green topaz orbs observed what scene unfolded before him. His eyes widen, in absolute shock and horror and that whisper turned into a maniacal laughter.

'Yes, see it for yourself, the very work of your precious dear one.'

It was blue.

Blue flame… all in its own glory was dancing in an elegant, elaborated kind of way, the one and only of its kind that could produce such beautiful yet deadly twist of aerial. The walls glowed in a bright blue hue, in silence reflecting the fierce movement of the wild blue…

But what stunned him to absolute disbelief were the things that laid in the middle of the cackling fire.

Not things… Bodies…

Some which bring horrible recognition and drained the color of his face. His mouth wanted to scream, but no trace of sound was produced from his dry throat. He wanted to run away, far away from the cruel image that manifested itself for him to see with his very own eyes that jumped out right from his worst nightmare.

Right… in front of… his frozen body…

His students, his own students and friends. 'Burning… Yukio… in the blue…'.

'This… this can't be happening… I-'

'Then tell me, what is it that you see… in front of you?' His stomach churned and clenched painfully.

The black hair with blonde streak..

Pink..

The twin side ponytails..

The little boy with glasses and shaved head..

And last but not least… the blond short tresses that cupped her face… the burning flesh of her face…

All of them had their mouth opened in silent screams, soundlessly crying to the world their horrible and merciless death. Their positions indicated their fierce attempt to defend themselves, but all was a losing battle against the villainous demon…

'Do you finally realize now? He was a demon… A demon which stabs and kills…'

"Hey there Yukio… didn't realize you are here..", the familiar voice called out to the exorcist. Yukio turned his face to his twin brother, which was engulfed in his own blue flame, ears elongated and tail swishing in the blue fire. The demon's clawed fingers clutched the infamous sword of Kurikara, the long shining blade was stained red. Red dripping blood… Only extreme horror was pasted clearly on the young exorcist's face, "Nii- niisan… are you… the one who did this?"

'… are you still denying it? The fact that your own brother is-?'

'SHUT UP!'

"I made this for you Yukio, do you like it?", Rin stated simply, almost innocently unlike the outer deadly exterior he bore, "The color is so beautiful, right?" the elder teen twisted his lips upwards in a cruel smirk, showing the long fangs which was the obvious sign of a-

'No, he's not! He isn't-!'

'Come on Yukio, say it out loud', the voice whispered softly but persistently, 'Say it Yukio…' Persistently trying to make him believed that his brother, his twin brother was…

The elder twin raised his other hand and brought his fingers to his mouth, flexing his claws. Yukio watched his brother with sickened fascination as his brother's pink tongue darted out, and licked the thick bloody red liquid in his claws. Some of the scarlet beads dripped to the floor, staining its clear marble surface.

Rin flicked his eyes back to his brother, red pupils smugly fixed on Yukio's slightly trembling form, "You like the blue rose right? The color… was exactly the same as that flower Yukio", then the smirk turned to a maniacal laughter, "This is for you! This creation was because of you! I did this for you!", the demon's howling laughter echoed in the room which has turned into the slaying place for the Satan's son.

-kio, Yukio…

Yukio clutched his head, "No, no this can't be…", he whispered in broken voice, shutting his eyes close in a desperate attempt to convince himself that everything wasn't real. A bright light made its way past his closed eyelids. Green eyes peeked open.. only for the pair to be presented with the sight of burning blue fire.. on his feet.

'He is Satan's son, he is a demon…'

Yukio…

Mouth gaped open in a scream as the fire made its way upwards. Engulfing the wide-eyed young exorcist which was stunned in his place, unable to do anything to escape the blue.. The long exorcist coat crinkling before reducing to the mere form of burned-ash, nothing can hinder its progress as the blue flame.. so sickeningly blue mercilessly devouring its vulnerable victim in its unavoidable blue grasp...

'You mustn't like the blue, Yukio... despise it, HATE it! The blue flame is Satan's… it could easily scorch and kill. He is a mistake, the fruit of the forbidden act executed by a demon and a human, the wicked being… An existence that must be erased from this world!'

"NOOOO!"

"YUKIO!"

Green aquamarine orbs shot open and the body jerked forward to a sitting position. Beads of sweat were running down the side of his face and drenched his shirt, sticking uncomfortably to his body. And only by that time that he realized that his breathing was ragged and his heart was thumping noisily in his ears.

'A dream, it's only a dream…'

He wiped the sweat off his forehand using the back of his hand, rubbing his face to try to soothe the tension of muscle around his face.

His eyes lifted up and widen for a split second when they stared at the very figure in his dream. The very villain in his dream.

Rin stood in front of the younger teen's bed, his face was twisted with worry.

"Hey, you alright Yukio?", the elder twin asked, reaching his hand to touch the side of his brother's face.

Yukio's eyes widen and images started flashing back to his brain. Down to every damn detail. The faces of his students… contorted with pain and horror. Scorched horribly by the… to the point of hardly recognizable. The blue raging fire, Yukio noted in fear as he stared at his brother's blue eyes. He is Satan's son, he is a demon…

SLAP!

The sound resonated in the bedroom as Rin stood there with wide eyes, shock evident on his face. His hand was still hanging in mid-air, as Yukio had swatted it away fiercely. The half-demon looked down to his brother, his brother's terrified face. The younger twin's hands were clenching the bed-sheet tightly, knuckles were white from the strain and his whole body was trembling uncontrollably. The green eyes were wide and unblinking as he fixed his gaze to his elder brother. 'In fear…', Rin's heart seemed to twisted itself to a painful knot as he lowered his hand to his side.

Yukio blinked his bleary eyes and seemed to wake from his delirious state. Then the younger twin's brain snapped itself as it registered the event that had just occurred. His gaze lowered and his lips moved, "Sorry nii-san, I hadn't meant-"

"Mephisto called us", the elder twin stated and Yukio almost winced at the slightly hollow voice that reached his ears, "Sounds pretty important. Get dressed."

The brunette lifted his eyes back to his brother, "Nii…-!"

But the boy had already left the room. Leaving Yukio alone with his jumbled thoughts.

Alone, the exorcist laid his palm on his face, his other hand supported his weight weakly, barely providing enough strength to uphold his body. His body was still trembling and no matter how hard he attempted, the shaking couldn't stop… No, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Fire, blue fire dancing… Yukio shook his head to clear away any unwanted images, lips thinned into a grim line.

He lifted himself out of the bed and lowered his feet to the cool marble floor.

'What's with this trembling?'

Am I… afraid of..?'

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"Ah what a pleasure to have you all here. I greet you a pleasant good morning!", Mephisto, the Principal of the True Cross Academy, spreaded his arms wide in his signature of a flamboyant manner towards the other occupants of the room. The guests standing in front of his polished expensive desk all kept unresponsive to the demon's hyper attitude. Two of them kept a calm facade, and the last didn't bother to try to mask his annoyance at being called in a supposedly-holiday day.

Rin glared at the white-clad man sitting behind the desk, "Mind to explain why you called us so early in the morning in a holiday?", the half-demon's voice was strained in a thin string of self-control, "And what Eyebrows is doing here?", he pointed accusingly to the pigtail-haired girl standing beside him.

The red-eyed girl gave a sharp glare to Rin, "For your information Mr. Bed-haired sissy, the principal summoned all cram-school students and Mr. Okumura to assemble to his private office immediately. So keep your mouth shut along with your stupid comments."

Rin was ready to rain Izumo with his swearing counter attacks before Mephisto cut him off, "Alright!", he clapped his hands and successfully catching the full attention of the three of them. Sattisfied he continued, "The reason I summon you here to my private office is not to have an idle chat or to have two of my students trying to claw each other to death", (Rin and Izumo huffed and turned their heads to the side opposite of each other) the clown's moss green eyes grew serious, "because there is a gravely important matter I'd like to inform you", he placed his chin on his folded hands while his slanted eyes observed the three guests standing in front of him.

The occupants straightened their composure and focused on what their principal had to say next. Mephisto sighed, "I'd been waiting for this opportunity to come, to have you all, well although there are several absent (Rin scoffed, 'More like nearly all') to gather here in my office room...", he rose to stand up.

... to give you, my cute exorcist students, some new-year presents!", Mephisto proudly exclaimed while some colourful party ribbons popped and soared through the air, acting as his background for his cheerful exclamation.

His grin nearly splitted his face apart at seeing his students' incredulous faces. Except for Rin who had his eyes shining, his tail wagged behind eagerly, "Really? You gonna give us some presents? What are they?"

Yukio had his eyebrows slightly raised . If the principal only want to deliver them some presents he could do so when the cram-school starts. 'There's no need to bother himself and waste his time by calling us formally here..' the teen's spectacles flashed, 'He's not tellling everything, there must be something in this...'

The clown-clad demon raised his right hand and called out in a cheery voice, "Ein Zwei Drei!", and snapped his fingers. A puff of smoke appeared in his hand before dissipating to reveal... three small rectagular cards.

A tick.

"Quit the bullshit clown! Are you fucking call us out here just to distribute some useless pieces of paper?", Rin shouted in fury. He was waaay passed angry now, hell his fingers were twitching to choke the principal's neck right now. He knew that he shouldn't be this pissed off just because being called out in the early morning of a holiday, but apparently the slight disturbing event that happenned to him in the morning resulted in making Rin's emotion more sensitive than usual. He felt down and irritated at the same time, it was obvious that Yukio's act affected him greatly in a negative sort of way.

Yukio glanced to his brother's direction before softly patted his shoulder, "Nii-san...", he warned. Rin stared back to his green eyes. The orbs swirled in an unreadable vortex of ocean-blue. The young teacher felt something tugged at his heart-strings when he saw Rin's blue eyes seemed to radiate of a glow of... something that he couldn't place a word for it. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone in a flash. Rin huffed and moved Yukio's hand off his shoulder.

"You have 10 seconds to explain"

Mephisto chuckled softly in a I-know-something-you-don't-and-you-will-be-amazed-when-you-hear-it kind of way, "Behold now my students, I'd like to represent you with the most valuable and wanted items in this whole academy", he quickly turned the small papers for his students to see the content of the printing, "The limited gold-pass tickets to the incredible MepphyLand!"

Izumo eyed the tickets, "MepphyLand? Isn't that where we were given a mission to catch a child-ghost?", she inquired.

"Exactly. This day marks the grand opening of the long awaited exclusive amusement park, MepphyLand. And now that it is finally opened in the first day of new-year, I'd like to give you presents in the form of the opportunity to taste the whole expanse of it as first-rated customers!", he handed the small papers to each of them of which they eyed curiously, "Those are the limited gold-pass tickets which enable you to enter every attractions available with nearly no need to wait in lines at all. Just show the staff there your tickets and they will allow you to pass before the others without queueing", Mephisto flashed his fangs, "So now off you go, the park will open soon in the upcoming minutes!"

"Hey hey hold it!", Rin exclaimed, holding his hands in front of him, "You are obviously forgetting somethin' reaaally important here."

"And what is it little brother?"

"This is December clown. And December means it is minus something out there!"

"So?"

"So? You sti-!"

"What he meant, Faust-san, is that this day is still in the winter and is currently snowing. And so it is nearly impossible to ride any attraction because the snow will make the engines and trek slippery.", Yukio interrupted his brother because he knew that the conversation was going practically nowhere with two stupid demons as the subjects in it.

"Ah", Mephisto nodded his head in an obvious mock realization (Rin looked as if he was about to murder the Principal with his eyes). He grinned and stood up, "But don't worry my dear students", the demon walked towards the large window behind his desk and dragged the heavy curtains opened in one smooth movement with his gloved hands. The bright light of early morning sun pierced through the transparent glass and forced the three of the guests to squint their eyes.

Mephisto spreaded his arms, "Because I've made the whole ground of Cross Academy stopped snowing for this one only and special day!"

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Rin half-ran forward with glee plastered on his face, Kurikara slung over one shoulder, "Hey!", he shouted to the slouching forms of two people behind him, "Move yer butts guys! Come on come on, even snails will catch up on you if you walk by dragging your feet like that!"

The purple-haired girl glared at the childish antic of the teen, "How can you be so enthusiastic and so damn annoying in the morning? It is just a stupid amusement park anyway" Izumo sulked and muttered something along the line of why do I have to spend the new-year holiday with two guys.

Rin gave a toothy grin, "It's because we haven't played in an amusement park before, ne Yukio?"

Yukio, who was brooding, seemed to snap out of his thoughts at hearing his name, "Huh, what? Sorry I didn't hear you nii-san."

"I said we have never been to an amusement park before", Rin repeated while looking at his twin curiously, "It's not like you to space off Yukio, what are you thinking so seriously in an early morning anyway?"

The exorcist shook his head. He was wearing a casual light green T-shirt and an unbottoned white shirt over it, but eventhough he left his exorcist over-coat, but he still placed his twin hand-guns and the spare-bullets in his bag, just in case, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, nii-san", he offered a reassuring smile. Rin raised a brow but then shrugged it off.

Yukio stared at his brother who engaged himself in a chat with Izumo, the pig-tail haired girl looked uninterested but still paid him her half-attention. He was sure enough that this morning his brother wasn't in a good-term with him, but then Rin had talked with him so casually. He shook his head, giving up on trying to read what Rin's thinking. Then his thoughts started to drift off again, to one particular topic he would gladly erase forever from his mind, but the images were persistently keep appearing in his eyes. Again. Again. And again. The fierce blue...

It was only this morning that he woke up from the dream but he was already despising it. Fed up with it.

A sudden strong vibration startled him, nearly making him jumped in the spot. And then a soft ringtone reached his ears. His shoulders sagged after being tense as he reached a hand into his pocket, pulling out a sleek black handphone. Flipping the flap open, his eyebrows raised in curiosity when reading the caller's name. He pushed the receive button.

"Hello, Okumura Yukio speaking..."

"And then Bon smacked him down after finding the pile of porn movies in Shima's drawers! He preached Shima for three hours non-stop, THREE for godsake! Saying something along the line of monk and wordly desire!", Rin slapped his knee between his guffaw, "Damn, he's a freakin' idiot!"

Izumo, meanwhile being one of the subjects of a hyper conversation, kept a straight face, "Yes, yes, it's very funny Okumura. Next time, I'll show Bon my BL collection." The blue-haired teen, who was still clutching his stomach in an uncontrollable fit of laughter, stopped suddenly. He turned a disbelieved face to Izumo, wide-eyed and completely dumbfounded, "Huh? Say what? Can you repeat that?"

"Oh look, here we are. MepphyLand", said Izumo, pointing to the wide-opened large gates that led to the inside of the enormous amusement park. A throng of people was already crowding around the entrance of the park, "We should hurry or we will be squeezing ourselves in with other people", the red-eyed girl walked past Rin towards the colorful exterior of MepphyLand.

"Hey wait! What did you say back then? Is it really true? Don't try to avoid the topic Eyebrows!"

"Stop calling me that and just shut up Okumura!"

Rin gritted his teeth and started to catch up to Izumo before he suddenly remembered the third person. He turned his head towards his younger twin, "Hey Yukio! Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" .Yukio stopped talking to the other party on the phone and lowered the device "Coming nii-san!". After saying his line, Rin ran to Izumo once again to demand for her 'sentence' to be repeated clearly. He was not going to give up on this.

The exorcist watched his brother before planting his phone to his ears again, "Yes I understand. I will keep an eye on this, Faust-san"

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That was only the beginning of the story. Yeah I know that it is kinda different from the first one but you will get more in later chapters~ Because I honestly thought that a little angsty moment will tweak a more interesting storyline than just common affection between brothers.

Sneak peek:

The half-demon inched his face closer to the younger twin. He reached his hands and gently placed it around his twin's neck.

Yukio blushed, "Um, nii-san, you don't need to take this too far, everyone's watching", his breath hitched when Rin crawled to between his legs.

"Hush Yukio", he murmured with a soft and sultry voice, "Yes I know that people are watching our act of a forbidden love", the half demon offered a half-smile, "And so it will not going to work out with just a simple girlish touch...

This part of the sneak peek may come in longer in the next chapter, because I haven't gotten the time to write this part yet... So some details will definitely be added! *peace*

Please review and tell me what you think:D

~Golden Mist Fox