Greetings and salutations,

Within hours of posting the beginnings of this story, I received my first flame. It was very exciting! But, it was an ignorant, little flame that did nothing to advice or guide me in any way. To my mysterious guest flamer I reply:

"These are my toys to play with. I don't own them, they're simply borrowed. But, these are my toys to play with. In my story, I can manipulate and control them however I please. If I should choose to make Mephisto into a teenage girl with a tan and boho hair extensions who does cart wheels where ever he goes, I damn well will. I'm writing this story because I like this pairing and I choose to believe Mephisto doesn't hate love, but in fact, knows nothing of love. One must first love before they can hate and in my story, Mephisto will grow to be fond, to lust, and eventually to love and cherish and should you have qualms with this story's core elements, I suggest you read till the end before voicing them. I don't mind flames over small facets and details in the story or even pieces of different character arcs. But when you straight up tell me my story can never work and that my idea is beyond repair then I say... Piss off and don't waste your ignorant breath."

Rant end.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are all to their respective and original owners. I am simply borrowing them for my own amusement. At the end of the day, I own nothing.

Now without further adieu, please enjoy my tale of love.

"Yukio.. I have a question.." Rin's quiet voice sounded through the silence of their dorm. The clock blinked bright red, signalling that it was well past time for Rin to have passed out. He should have been drooling and dreaming about cheap, first-rate cuisine. Yet he was definitely awake. Everything from the past few months had ate away at him, destroying him. He could no longer bear to grunt and sweat beneath the pain and weight that crushed his heart.

A shuffling came from Yukio's bunk as the boy rolled over. A pair of sleepy, strained eyes peered at his brother who was still clothed in his school uniform sitting at his desk. His ivory face was cast in pale light and twisted in deep thought. There was desperation in his eyes as they gazed out the window and into the night. Yukio, seeing those emotions plastered on his older brother's face, shook the sleep from his brain before putting his glasses on and sitting up.

"What is it, nii-san?" Yukio's voice was tired and sluggish but the concern in it was clear. He twisted to better look at his demonic twin, his tail twitching in anxiety as Rin dropped his head from the light. A pregnant pause overtook the room. Yukio felt anxious and uneasy, trying to search for answers in the dark of Rin's bang covered eyes. But the teen wouldn't let him in. It was unlike Rin to hide anything from his kid brother. Yet, because his brother hadn't been the same since the battle against Satan, their relationship was no longer the same. Rin wasn't the carefree, loud boy he used to be. He was withdrawn and brooding, unable to pull out the laughter and jokes that all in the cram school had become used to and even fond of. Yukio was pulled from his thoughts as Rin finally spoke.

"Will you kill me?" The words hung heavy in the air, stifling the breathe of the two brothers. Yukio's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Rin turned his head slightly so that his pain stricken orbs caught their twin pair. They were red with unushed tears and their depths swirled with sadness and fear. "Kill me. Shoot me. Curse me to Gehenna." His alabaster, clawed hand reached up, fisting its way into the black jacket covering his heart. "Anything to make this pain stop." Yukio lept up, now fully awake and alert. He grabbed the hand over Rin's heart, pulling it away at the wrist and gripping tight as his heart raced. He felt the pulse beneath his fingers fly like hummingbird's wings, matching his own.

"No, I could never take your life, never harm you. You're my brother!" His voice became increasingly louder, surprise and terror shaking in its baritone depths. "Why would you ask me to do such a thing?"

Rin, whose gaze had still been trained on the bed where his brother once laid, looked up into his sibling's scared face. Tears flowed freely from Rin's tortured blue orbs. He had tried to fight the pain for so long, tried to reject the thoughts whenever they occurred. He had gotten frustrated, depressed, enraged, and driven half mad by his churning insides that now settled with every word of truth he was finally able to speak after months, weeks, days, of lying. As he whispered softly, each word was like another shovel of dirt to cover his coffin as well as another twist of the door to freedom.

"I'm in love with Mephisto..."