A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to Aftershocks! It's been a few years since I've written anything but I'm hoping I'm not too rusty at it. I've been working on this story idea for a while and I actually have it all outlined with chapter 2 mostly done as well so I thought I'd give it a shot and see how you all like it. Updates should be fairly regular, I'm hoping one update every 2 weeks. Feedback is highly encouraged, please let me know what you think about the story and where I can improve as a writer.

Aftershock: (n) the effect, result, or repercussion of an event; aftermath; consequence

We won.

Those two little words keep echoing through my mind as I mostly stand and take in what everyone is saying. Shima is going on in great detail about Konekomaru reminding everyone about the sun still shinning in Vatican City and how Suguro came up with the idea to use the mirrors. Suguro is looking away, probably a little embarrassed by his friend's praising but he'd never let anyone know that. Kamiki and Paku are talking to each other but I can't make out anything over Shima's now very animated storytelling.

I'm leaning on Yukio with an arm over his shoulders. It's a little awkward with him being taller and my shoulder is being stretched uncomfortably but I don't complain. I look around and finally take in the damage the portal caused.

Rubble litters everything. Stones, bricks, chunks of concrete, all sorts clog walkways and every smooth surface. Windows have also been blown out leaving a shimmering layer of broken glass in the slowly rising morning sunlight. Every building in my line of sight is damaged to some degree though some more than others. The building to my left doesn't have a single window intact and one corner of the roof has broken off but that's it beyond superficial damage. Straight ahead though lies a dormitory and a whole wall has collapsed leaving student rooms exposed. I can't see everything from this angle but I can see a few bright pieces of clothing caught in the rubble and a student's bed poking out precariously from the top floor. A few pipes must have burst under the stress because I can see slowly growing pools of water coming from the neighboring building.

It looks bad, but it doesn't prepare me for when I look to my right.

Sure I'd flown over the city during the fight and I know that to some degree I realized the damage, but I must have pushed it aside to focus on my goal. Now that I'm looking out at the city without the battle in mind, I feel faint.

Smoke clogs the air trying to choke out dawn's light. Most of the fires seem to be put out but some still rage on and those that have been exterminated still expel dark clouds, not willing to give up just yet. Many buildings are just gone. Piles of ash in deep craters dot the city and around them lie piles of rubble. Bridges are split in two, cars and busses are overturned and crushed together, all the trees are stripped of their leaves and stand as smoldering husks of their former glory, and now that I'm listening truly listening, I can hear it. It's faint because my hearing isn't quite as good in this form but I can hear it. Sirens, yelling, but above all, screaming.

Didn't people evacuate? The portal spawned here before moving onto the city, there had to be enough time for people to escape! Right? No, clearly not everyone managed to evacuate the city. Those screams are pained and I don't want to even start to imagine what pain it is those people are feeling.

My vision starts to get fuzzy as the pride of winning and adrenaline start draining away. Instead, I'm feeling dread, fear, and guilt. I feel myself suddenly lean on Yukio more and slip a little. His reflexes are fast though and he pulls me back up.

"Rin? Rin what's wrong?" His voice sounds funny, kind of distorted. I try to look up at him but my head and limbs feel cold and numb.

"Shit man, he's losing a lot of blood!" I think that's Suguro's voice but things are getting harder to understand. I do manage to look down at my feet though.

Oh, that is a lot of blood.

It seems like the blood had been running down my right leg because now there's a small puddle of crimson around my foot. I thought the bleeding had stopped. I feel myself moving down more, sliding in Yukio's grip.

"What the hell happened?!" He sounds angry. He shouldn't be angry, it's not Yukio's fault.

"I-I…I shot him…with an exorcist bullet."

"You what?!" Too many voices that time and the ground is getting closer.

"Why didn't you say something before man?!"

"It wasn't really me! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"This looks really bad…"

Suddenly I feel a pair of hands pulling me up and over onto Suguro's back. I don't even get a second to really understand what's going on before he's running. Seriously, how strong is this guy? I know I'm scrawny compared to him but I'm not that light. Heck, this is the second time this guy has carried me like this, what's his deal? His arms are looped around my legs and holding my knees. While he is leaning forward quite a bit to keep me from slipping, my arms aren't helping much in keeping me up by just hanging over his shoulders. I try to make myself hold onto him but my limbs aren't cooperating. When I fall a little down his back Suguro just moves his arms further to where he's basically holding my thighs. That can't be comfortable, his shoulders must be in agony from holding me at that angle.

He stumbles over some rubble causing me to lean and push on my right side. I let out a groan and burrow my face into his shoulder. Shit, this can't be good.

"You idiot! How could you have not said anything?!"

"Guess I forgot about it. Kinda had other things to worry about." I manage to mumble.

I can hear him growl, seriously growl. "I swear if you weren't so badly hurt I'd beat some sense into your dumbass."

I manage a weak laugh but that's a bad idea. A sharp jabbing pain radiates from the bullet hole and I hiss as it creeps up my side and back. I can hear footsteps pounding behind us but I don't look back to see who all is following us.

It doesn't take too long, just a few minutes and we're in front of the medical building on campus. The main power must be out because the sliding doors are open halfway. Suguro stops in front of a woman who seems to be in charge just inside the doorway. I don't pay attention and instead look around. Clearly they're running off of generators because only half the lights are on. It also looks like the lobby is being used to treat minor injuries. Doctors and nurses alike are pushing through throngs of people trying to get those with small injuries treated and out as quickly as they can to make room for others. For the most part it looks like the injuries range from a few stitches to broken bones. Anyone with injuries not requiring treatment are quickly pushed out. One student is literally being pushed to the door by a nurse yelling "It's just a sprain! Get out of here so I can treat people that are actually hurt!" The kid simply looks shocked holding his injured limb.

It must have been the second Sheimi noticed how many people are hurt and how few there are to help that she jumps in. She rushes up to girl with burns mottling her right arm and immediately starts asking for plants from Nii.

Her actions seem to jolt something within the others because I hear a "Come on! Let's see how we can help!" I think Paku must be the one who says it because she runs off with Kamiki, Shima, and Konekomaru behind her. Good for them.

Suddenly I'm moving again but this time being placed on a bed. Suguro gives me a look when he stands back up but I don't bother figuring it out, I'm distracted by all of my blood smeared on his back and arms.

A nurse appears at the foot of my bed and starts pushing. She's talking to Yukio as he keeps up next to her. Probably telling her exactly what happened, I can't pick out anything with the loud buzz of so many people talking in one place. Or maybe my hearing is getting worse. That can't be good.

I don't know what kind of room we arrive in at the end of the hall but it's just as chaotic as it is in the lobby only this time it's clear the injuries are more serious. I wince when I see a teacher with a shoulder clearly wretched from its socket and shards of glass protruding from the connecting arm. We only pass through the room and end up in what must be an operating room because it's empty save for equipment. Following us in are more nurses and a second bed.

Yukio gets shoved onto it before he can utter a single word of protest.

I don't get to see much, just a long enough glance to see them yank his coat off to start poking and prodding him. Most of his injuries aren't bad, just some bad gashes, a few burns, and a lot of bruises but it's clear almost everything has healed by now. In fact, the bad gash he'd received on his shoulder is now just a thin cut with a small trickle of blood leaking out. Still, the nurses instantly go to work. Probably doesn't help that Yukio knows most of them personally and they're eager to find out how he's changed.

As for me, they learn pretty quickly how colorful my swearing is.

A nurse quickly cuts off my shirt and as soon as the wound is exposed another pushes a wad of gauze against it. A string of profanity leaves my lips and honestly, the pain is so intense I don't even know what I say. All my mind is processing is the waves of pain constantly assaulting my mind. My side feels like it's on fire and just slowly consuming me with each wave alighting more and more nerves. I can feel tears streaming down the corners of my eyes and onto the pillows but I don't pay attention to them, I just focus on trying to survive this.

The nurses and a few doctors now surround me and are bouncing ideas back and forth. I can't tell exactly what they're saying but one thing's clear, they don't know what to do. They don't know how to treat demons, they're trained to kill them. Would be a bit oxymoronic I guess. It doesn't take long for them to debate what to do because it all boils down to that one point, they don't know how to treat me. They don't know how my body will react to anesthetic, antiseptic, stitches, nothing.

Finally a doctor starts to examine the wound, he pokes around the edges as gently as he can but each touch ignites a fresh wave of pain. He mumbles something about my kidney and manages to look at the hole on my back without flipping me over. I do catch that he says it's a through and through. Thank god, that means they don't have to fish the damn thing out. He stops and starts giving orders so I manage to breath for a second.

By now I've realized a few things. One, my body isn't healing. The bed is covered in gore and more is still flowing out of the hole. I'm not looking at it but I can feel the slow trickle down my skin. I've been in harsh battles before, I've suffered some serious injuries. But every time my body has recovered. Sure some more serious ones took a while but maybe an hour and the bleeding would stop. Hell, I broke my hand in several places and a few ribs in the last fight with Amaimon. That only took half a day to heal.

The second thing I realize is that exorcist bullets are no joke. I have no idea what's so special about them, what they do, or how they're made because frankly I slept through that lecture. I've never been shot with a regular bullet as a human but I'm pretty sure it's not as bad as this. It's just a small hole, how is it that so much of my body feels like it's on fire?

Suddenly a pair of leather straps are placed around my waist and ribs. I don't get a chance to realize what's going on before cuffs go around my wrists and ankles too. I have a brief thought that I could easily break out of these but then I feel the needle.

I swear and scream louder than I thought was possible.

Every time the needle pokes into me I feel it. Every tug to pull layers of fat and muscle back together I feel it. There's no way this is normal, surely the bullet did something more then punch a hole through me. Still, there's nothing I can do but suffer through it. I can feel more tears streaming down my face and I'm trying to squirm away from the needle. The belts hold me in place though and all I feel are new bruises forming where the straps are. There has to be some kind of enchantment on them to keep me from breaking them. They were probably originally used in cells to contain demons for interrogations or whatever.

At some point a cloth gets shoved into my mouth. Whether it's to try and muffle my screaming or they think biting into will help is up for debate.

I don't know how much time goes by but eventually they stop. I manage to take a few deep breathes and open my eyes. Everything is watery and fuzzy, the light far too bright. I can feel my chest rapidly rising and falling with my heavy pants for breath pushing against the strap across my ribs.

I don't get much of a reprieve before a nurse moves up my side letting me know they need to flip me over to work on my back. I attempt to tell him to go to hell and just let me bleed out, but it just comes out as a series of pained groans around the cloth still in my mouth. I feel the leather straps get tugged off and several pairs of hands grip my right side.

"We're going to roll you over Mr Okumura ok?" The nurse says. "Count of 3."

"1." No, I can't do this anymore, leave me alone!

"2." Please, just leave me alone, my body will heal eventually! I'm part demon!

"3." The hands start pushing me. All I feel is somehow worse pain than before and then total darkness.

A/N: That's it for chapter 1! Like I said before, chapter 2 is pretty much done with just some editing left to do. I'll probably stick to the biweekly update even if I finish sooner and just work on chapter 3 to ensure it'll be ready in time. Please let me know what you think and how I can improve!

Thanks for reading!