Title: Comparison
Author: Jordanna Morgan
Archive Rights: Please request the author's consent.
Rating/Warnings: G.
Characters: Rin and Yukio.
Setting: Anime. Following the brothers' battle with Satan.
Summary: After Yukio's powers have awakened, Rin asks a very important question.
Disclaimer: They belong to Kazue Kato. I'm just playing with them.
Notes: My first effort at a "Blue Exorcist" ficlet. I wrote this little thing immediately after binge-watching the entire series, but I decided to save it as a birthday present for Kristen Sharpe—who shares my opinion regarding post-anime Yukio and a certain demonic physical trait. *g*

"So… you have one now too, right?"

The Okumura brothers, looking considerably roughed up, sat side by side in an empty meeting room at the still-deserted True Cross Academy. Having made certain their friends were safe, this was the first real pause they'd had since their battle with Satan. Neither had spoken for some time, as they both tried to process the enormity of all that had happened—for Yukio in particular.

Confronted with Rin's sudden question, Yukio clenched his new fangs, his mole-dotted cheeks turning red. It gave the lie to his response as he muttered rather stiffly: "I don't know what you're referring to."

"Aw, don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Glaring at his sibling, Rin flipped the end of his tail upward, curling it over his lap. "One of these."

Yukio flinched, meticulously directing his eyes elsewhere. A long moment passed before he answered, in a faint and reluctant voice.

"…Yes."

It was hard for Rin to keep his face from lighting up at the confession.

Of course, he knew from experience that manifesting his own demonic traits had pretty much sucked, and a part of him was truly pained that he could not have spared his little brother from losing a measure of his humanity. (Even though it was really Yukio's own stupid, stubborn fault. If he hadn't kept the signs of his awakening powers a secret, things might have been so very different.) But on the other hand… It meant Rin was no longer alone in bearing the full burden of their terrible heritage. He couldn't help feeling a guilty sort of gladness at the thought of having someone to sympathize with.

"Really?" he chirruped, leaning over to blink at Yukio in eager fascination. "I wanna see it!"

"Are you kidding me? I haven't even had the chance to look at it myself yet." Yukio squirmed on his chair, grimacing, in a sudden display of the physical discomfort he must have been concealing for a while. If his new tail had managed to remain stuffed down his pants leg ever since his change, it was no wonder. "Besides, I've heard Sir Pheles say a gentleman never shows his tail."

"Are you really gonna take anything that clown says seriously?"

"How can I not take having a tail seriously? You might have been happy to wag yours all over campus since the truth about you came out, but I'm a teacher. I've got to show more dignity than that."

"…I gotta admit, not hiding it anymore was one of the best things about blowing my cover." Rin shrugged, suddenly displaying his fangs in a disarming grin. "Hey, I get it. I know it's kind of embarrassing at first, and you've gotta get used to it. But in your case, everybody saw you go demon, so it's not like you really have anything to hide. I bet they're all even expecting it. Besides, I'm family, and I've been there too—so I'm the best person to start with!"

"…Please shut up."

"Come on, Yukio, show your big brother your tail!"

"Rin—"

"Please?"

That word finally caused Yukio to turn his head, raising an eyebrow. Rin's expression grew a bit more awkward, and he dropped his gaze to his lap, absently running his hand over his own furry tail-tip that still lay twitching there.

"I just need to know. You know? I need to see it for myself. That I'm really not…"

Not alone anymore.

Yukio stared at Rin for several beats. At last he let out a gusty sigh and jerked himself up out of his chair, to loosen his belt and slide one hand into the back of his pants. Rin watched Yukio's face with interest—and just a little amusement—as his fingertips found and gently explored the upper regions of a newly-grown appendage. His eyes widened behind his glasses, and he gulped audibly.

After a moment, he must have tried to grasp it the wrong way, because he winced and grunted.

"Uh… yeah." Rin chuckled feebly, rubbing the back of his neck. "You might want to aim a little lower. If it's anything like mine, it'll be kind of… sensitive at the base."

The advice earned him a glare—which hardly seemed grateful, since he was trying to help. However, Yukio followed the suggestion, twisting to stretch his arm back a little farther and lower. As he closed his fingers around the furred extension of his spine that had not existed a few hours earlier, his expression this time was not quite so uncomfortable.

With only a slight hesitation, Yukio gingerly eased his tail out over the waistband of his pants. Once free, it swished dramatically into full view, as if of its own accord.

Rin nearly swallowed his tongue.

"But that's…" The elder brother dropped a quick, calculating glance to his own tail, and then returned his goggling stare to Yukio's. "That's gotta be at least six inches longer than mine…"

"Hmm. I suppose that's natural, because I'm taller. It's a little more thickly furred than yours, too." Lightly holding his tail in both hands, Yukio blinked at it in curiosity—suddenly appearing much more calm about his new feature than Rin was.

"Gahh," Rin howled at the ceiling, clutching his head in despair. "Won't there ever be one thing in our entire lives that my little brother doesn't outdo me at?"

© 2015 Jordanna Morgan