Chapter 12: Brotherly bonding

Shiro and Coraline did not receive good news when entering into their base of operations.

Another child, Sakura Emi, had been taken.

"Damn." Shiro hissed when given the report.

"It seems like Miss Sakura's abduction is similar to the first child's." One of the Exorcists of the team noted. "By all accounts, she left of her own free will."

"I don't think that's entirely true." One of the exorcists who had been on the scene during the abduction said. "The kid seemed like she was in a trance when we ran after her."

Unfortunately, the Exorcists on site had noticed Emi's state and ran after her too late to stop Mami from grabbing her and running, the demon able to shake off any attempts to stop her.

"She likely used the same tactic she used for Rin then, that lullaby." Coraline said.

The Exorcist giving his report nodded.

"I think I heard and saw the demon singing just before she grabbed the kid." He said.

"So, what do we do now, get the remaining kids to wear headphones twenty-four-seven?" One of the team sighed.

"Increase protections on Miss Akami and Mr Hamada." Shiro instructed. "Make sure that the children won't be able to slip by again, even if it means that the children don't get a second of privacy."

"More protection, really?" One Exorcist voiced. "These children are going to be more protected than the president."

"With three of her children back under her hand, Mami is going to be more powerful, and the report says that attacks only seemed to annoy her." Coraline responded. "With how stronger Mami seems to become with each child, she may be able to shrug off attacks and move through wards long enough to take the remaining children."

"What about…you know…your son?" One of the team asked Shiro hesitantly.

"He's been moved to True Cross, under the guardianship of his brother." Shiro said simply.

The team decided to not ask any more questions about Shiro's son.

"It looks like Mr Hamada is most likely to be the Beldam's next target, since Miss Akami has already resisted the demon's thrall." Another of the team spoke up. "So, should we focus on him?"

"Mami has already shown to use our assumptions against us." Coraline shook her head. "We thought that being under the protection of the Paladin's home would keep Mr Okumura safe, but that led to him almost being taken. Not to mention, Mami could now have the strength and skill to take Miss Akami by force."

Shiro nodded in agreement.

"We'll be treating the children with equal priority" He said. "Both get equal protection and attention."

The team nodded to show they understood.

"So, are we any closer to tracking down the Beldam's hideout?" He asked.

"The good news is that we've managed to significantly narrow down the options." One of the team spoke up, showing her tablet with a list of locations. "The bad news is that there are still many other locations on the list."

Shiro gave an exasperated sigh as he looked over just how many locations were left on the list.

"If it makes you feel any better, in scanning all of these locations, we've uncovered a significant number of demon nests of varying levels." The Exorcist added. "So, it's not like we're achieving nothing."

Perhaps, but they still weren't achieving the one thing that Shiro wanted.

"Well, there's not much we can do about Miss Sakura at this moment." Coraline said. "So, we may as well knock a few more of these locations off the list."

Picking out some of the locations on the list, Coraline grabbed a few of the Exorcists under her and headed out to check the locations.

Rather than copy her, Shiro decided to visit the Sakura home, to see if he could work out which direction Mami had gone and how far her trail went.

…

Yukio resisted the urge to rub his eyes as he finally managed to get Rin to calm down.

His, now younger, brother hadn't completely calmed though, sniffling and continuing to cling to Yukio, clearly tired out from his crying.

"Hey, now." Yukio said to get his brother's attention. "How about we get something to eat? I bet you're hungry."

Rin sniffed as he nodded, belly producing a rumbling sound.

Chuckling, Yukio carried Rin into the old dorm's kitchen to see if any food had been left for them.

As soon as they entered, Rin unlatched one of his hands from Yukio's shirt and reached for the kitchen utensils, the shift in weight almost causing Yukio to drop his brother.

"No, O-Rin." Yukio pulled his brother away, almost fumbling with how to address Rin, as his brother was now younger than him. "You're not in any state to cook right now."

Rin pouted heavily, clearly not happy about being refused, but didn't say anything, much to Yukio's disappointment.

He'd been trying to get Rin to speak since they had been reunited, but his brother had gone back to being silent after trying to deny their father leaving.

"We can do some cooking once you feel a little better, okay?" Yukio gave a compromise.

Rin stopped pouting to think over the offer before nodding, still not saying anything.

Sighing, Yukio went about searching the kitchen.

To Yukio's surprise, not only was the kitchen stocked, but there were containers of pre-prepared meals in the fridge and freezer.

"Did the headmaster leave these here?" Yukio wondered aloud.

He couldn't imagine the eccentric man doing something so nice, so perhaps someone else under the headmaster's employ had decided to help the brothers out, maybe one of the school cooks.

"Oh well." Yukio shrugged, placing Rin in one of the chairs at the table.

Grabbing two of the containers, Yukio set about heating them up.

At some point while Yukio was waiting for the food to be ready, Kuro had returned and taken his place at Rin's side, Coraline's cat nowhere in sight.

Similar to his father, Yukio also had concerns about the cat that accompanied the English Exorcist, hoping that it wouldn't cause issues for them later.

"I know I'm no cook, but I don't think I managed to ruin these." Yukio spoke to his brother as he placed the heated meals in front of them, giving a smaller portion to Rin.

Leaning close to the meal, Rin analysed it, to see if Yukio really had ruined the food just by heating it.

"Just eat the food." Yukio sighed, digging into his own plate.

Grabbing the fork and spoon he'd been given, as his fine motor skills still weren't recovered enough to use chopsticks like Yukio, Rin hesitantly started eating.

Much to Yukio's joy, Rin's face lit up at the food, showing signs of his usual self as he ate the food.

To Rin, though he found the food delicious, he also knew that he'd like it even more if he could make it fresh, rather than made and then reheated. Still, the food was miles better than what he'd been eating while at home.

Kuro meowed and sniffed at Rin's plate, eyes huge and begging.

Rin scooped up some of his food and looked at his father's familiar in consideration.

"I better not see you giving Kuro any of your food." Yukio warned his brother. "You need to eat what you're given if you want to recover faster."

Rolling his eyes, Rin shovelled the spoon into his mouth, much to Kuro's dismay.

"You have cat food." Yukio pointed to a set of bowls in the corner, one filled with jelly covered meat.

Kuro looked over at the cat food before turning up his nose, not even wanting to consider eating that food when what the brothers were eating looked and smelt so much better.

Rin patted the familiar on the head in comfort.

"Since True Cross campus is so big, I can probably take you on a walk tomorrow, uh, later today." Yukio tried to comprehend the time.

It was actually early morning, close to the time that Yukio would usually be waking.

But both Rin and Yukio had hardly gotten any sleep before Mami had tried to take Rin and Yukio had been called about it, so their biological clocks were all messed up.

"After we've caught up on our sleep." Yukio added, noticing how Rin was close to faceplanting into the remainder of his food.

Yukio himself didn't feel tired anymore, as his biological clock had reset after being awake for so long. But it would be best for him to settle down to rest alongside Rin rather than waiting until night to sleep again. And he knew how to fall asleep quickly.

Rin nodded slightly in response.

"I'll try talking to my teachers, so that I can show you the classrooms where I learn." Yukio continued his one-sided conversation. "Would you like that."

Rin nodded again, offering Yukio a small smile.

"It's unfortunate that there aren't any children your age that I could introduce you to. It'd be nice for you to have some friends, instead of just me." Yukio said.

Rin shrugged.

He had friends, but they weren't allowed to see each other because of Mami, though Rin didn't really understand the adults' reasoning. So, for now, Rin was happy to just have his brother.

Eventually, the food was finished, Kuro giving the brothers a sad and betrayed look at nothing being left on their plates for him to eat.

Yukio stretched after washing the plates, not wanting to risk leaving the dirty dishes to attract flies.

"Bed?" Yukio startled at Rin's voice.

Yukio turned around to see Rin slumped at the table rubbing his eyes.

"Yes." Yukio smiled, glad his brother had managed to speak, even if it was only one word. "But first, we should get clean, especially you."

Rin was still in his night clothes, but they had dirt of them from Mami's attempt to take him, meaning that Rin would need to be cleaned before bed.

Rin pouted and shook his head fiercely.

"Yes, Rin, you know we have a bath before bed." Yukio smiled.

Rin shook his head again and slid out of his chair, set on running away.

However, still being weak, Rin didn't even manage to fully leave his chair before Yukio had picked him up.

"The quicker you're in, the quicker you'll be out." Yukio told his brother as he walked to the bathroom, ignoring Rin's struggles.

Thankfully, like with the kitchen, the bathroom was fully stocked with supplies, including bottles clearly targeted towards children.

Rin returned to heavy pouting as he was placed on a plastic stool while Yukio ran their bath, reluctantly removing his clothes and dumping them on the floor instead of the laundry hamper in protest of his unwanted bath.

"Do you want bubbles, Rin?" Yukio asked his brother, picking up a bottle with a cartoon bear on the front.

Rin refused to look at his brother, mad at being forced to take a bath.

Shrugging, Yukio poured in some bubble bath anyway, causing the bath to emit a fruity smell as it frothed with bubbles.

As the bath ran, Yukio started up the shower, waiting for the water to get to the right temperature.

Rin continued to pout as Yukio used the shower quickly clean Rin and rinse off the dirt that covered him, so that the dirt wouldn't carry with them to the bath.

As soon as Rin was rinsed, he tried to stand up to leave, deeming himself clean.

"Oh, I guess that you don't want to play with any bubbles then." Yukio temped, scooping up a handful of bubbles from the bath and blowing on them to send them flying.

Rin dropped his pout and reached out his hands for the bubbles.

"Nope, these bubbles are all mine, since you don't want the bath." Yukio shook his head as he teased.

Scowling so cutely, Rin quickly turned around and stumbled over to the bath, attempting to hoist himself over the edge to grab at the bubbles.

Smiling, Yukio lifted Rin up and deposited him in the bath, turning off the water since it was high enough.

Rin was quick to play with the bubbles, piling them up and blowing them into the air.

Yukio sat by the side of the bath, content to let Rin just play by himself, but Rin paused in his play to tug on Yukio's arm.

"What?" Yukio questioned.

Rin fixed his brother with a glare as he tugged on his arm again, sending a clear message of 'if I have to have a bath, so do you'.

Chuckling, Yukio removed his clothes and joined Rin in the bath, allowing his brother to push piles of bubbles in his face and on his head so that he looked like Santa, until they slid off.

Eventually, all the bubbles were gone, so the brothers climbed out of the bath and dried themselves off, travelling to their new room in towels.

"Good, our stuff is here too." Yukio said to himself as they walked into the room.

Going over to Rin's stuff first, Yukio pulled out his brother's sleepwear.

"Which ones do you want?" He asked.

Rin looked over his options before choosing some cat themed ones.

After helping Rin get dressed, Yukio pulled on his own sleepwear and began setting up their beds.

"There we go. Climb in." Yukio said to Rin once the beds were made.

Rin looked at his bed and frowned, making no moved to climb in despite his earlier desire to go to bed.

"What's wrong?" Yukio asked his brother. "Is there something wrong with the bed?"

He looked over the mattress and covers, trying to see if he'd done anything wrong.

Rin didn't respond, turning to look out the window.

"What are you-oh." Yukio cut himself off as he realised the issue.

Rin was now scared to sleep because of Mami almost taking him while everyone else was asleep.

Things were much safer in the dorms than at the monastery, but Yukio knew that a seven-year-old wasn't going to understand that, even if told.

Yukio hummed, looking around the room for an answer.

His eyes landed on the pile of toys Rin had received as presents on his return home.

"How about we give these guys a place?" Yukio offered to his brother, picking up one of the toys.

Rin looked at the toys, considering his brother's words and picking up one from the pile.

The next few minutes were spent arranging the toys around the room, placing the hard toys on the windowsill and desk, while the soft toys lined the wall Rin's bed was pressed against and the foot of the bed.

"There, now these guys can help watch over you and keep any nasty monsters away." Yukio put as much effort into sounding as honest as he could.

Obviously, the toys could do nothing against even the weakest of demons. But if Rin believed that they did, then it would allow him to sleep.

And Yukio's idea seemed to work, as Rin climbed into his bed, digging himself under his covers and snuggling with Kuro once the cat appeared, having made himself absent during the bath.

Sighing in relief, Yukio turned off the main lights, leaving the room to be illuminated solely by Rin's nightlight, bought for the boy's comfort.

"Goodnight, Rin." Yukio kissed his brother's forehead, turning to go to his own bed.

"Night…oniichan." The muffled response was so quiet that Yukio almost didn't catch it.

Yukio paused and looked back at Rin, who had already closed his eyes, smiling warmly.

Feeling slightly lighter, Yukio settled down into his own bed to sleep.

…

Still heavy with sleep, Yukio woke up as sunlight began to filter through the curtains covering the window.

Before he could throw a pillow over his eyes and continue sleeping, Yukio became aware that he wasn't alone in his bed, feeling something pressed against him as he shifted.

Lifting his covers slightly, Yukio found Rin cuddled up to him, one of his cuddly toys also in his grasp as Kuro slept next to him.

Smiling down at his brother, Yukio dropped the covers and gently placed and arm Rin, settling back down to sleep.