Crossfire
Chapter 08: Angelus

Droplets of rain drummed on the ward creating a firework-like shimmering of green waves on its surface. The heavy rain was accompanied by the wistful sound of thunder and lightning bolts flashing up every now and again in the skies above. A chilly breath of air arose and it smelled mossy, earthen and like warmed up stone getting wet. Outside the wards that wind whistled through the leaves, plucking them of their branches, setting them free to carry them on a vivacious journey for a moment, before they landed on the ground to rotten... it was a nice thunderstorm. Chaotic, destructive but it was nicer than the idle atmosphere of late summer heat, they had before.

This weather felt more like him...

Days had passed by quickly and the first signs of autumn painted the leaves on the trees at the riverside golden and blood-red. He went there with Rin several times a day... the boy always needed to wash his body, or to drink water or he needed it to stew the few things Amaimon collected for him on his rare trips – mushrooms, nuts, berries, small animals. Humans needed food to survive and even though, Rin was just half a human, he probably also needed to eat, if he wanted him to survive. For the boy himself wasn't allowed to leave the protective wards of their camp, naturally.

Amaimon took a side-way glance at the sleeping form of his younger brother. Soft snoring sounds escaped his mouth along with a slight string of saliva pooling down into the flowery mattress. Sometimes he'd mumble something incoherently in his sleep, sometimes he would wake from his dreams suddenly and reeked of sweat and fear.

Amaimon snorted curtly. Such a noisy little brat, that one, even in his sleep he couldn't keep his mouth shut. And even though they kind of grew accustomed to each other after one week of living in a localized manner, he was quite unnerving with all those questions he came up with to start small talk - something the Earthking could never really understand the use for. What was his favourite colour? What did he like to eat? What hobbies did he have? Where are you going when you're not here? Such useless information... why would someone be interested in that?

He shot Rin another glance as the boy started mumbling and rolling on his back... using quite a lot of space in this process.

"I'm gonna catch y'all! Sukiyaki-counter-attack! HAH!" he stated and raised his arm into the air, presenting something in his hands that was just not there... stupid brat. Dreams don't come true like that... not that he had any idea of dreams and how they came true.

Why did Rin have to be so annoying?

He turned around to face him, watching his eyeballs move underneath the lids as if he actually happened to be somewhere else, scanning the area and doing whatever he did in his dream. He did this a lot... watching Rin sleep and dream. It was most fascinating. Dreams were uncharted territory for demons and as such they raised each demons curiosity.

It was for that reason alone that Amaimon scrambled over to Rin on all fours and drew in close enough so that he could feel the half-demons hot breath on his cheek. Rin was undoubtedly fast asleep that was for sure. How come, that brat actually trusted him enough to actually sleep beside him? What an idiot... Amaimon could easily kill him now, could have killed him in his sleep before or cut him open or... whatever painful torture came to his mind. He was defenceless, he couldn't do a thing to prevent it from happening and it was so tempt-

"Aniki..." The Earthking hesitated, then removed his claw from the boy's throat and blinked.

Aniki...?

He had heard this word before... if he recalled correct, he even heard Rin saying it; mumbling, pleading it into his ear when unconsciousness held him in her merciless grasp. And he knew the meaning of this word... did Rin really think of him as a big brother?

"WOAH! The fuck... getoffme! Get! Off! Me!" The boy, now wide awake and with eyes widened in terror, instinctively scrambled backwards, dropped off the flowerbed in the process and cursed colorfully. "What's that shit... ya fuckin' creep?!"

Amaimon tilted his head slightly unsure whether he was offended by the insult or whether he was amused by that display for a moment. He decided it was more amusing for now and smirked.

"What's so funny, huh?! It's not funny to hover over sleeping people and scare the shit out of them when they wake up!"

"Wrong. I think it is funny."

"It's still dark!"

"Obviously."

"Why did you do that in the middle of the fucking night?!" The boy demanded and looked adorably cute with his tail all fluffed up and teeth bared like a kitten being cornered. A half-demon like him wouldn't survive ten minutes in Gehenna. Worst posture for defending oneself he ever came across... and he was such a midget. Yes, he knew why Mephisto was fascinated by that boy in a way. He wasn't cut out or trained for battle, but still he always succeeded for some unknown reason... mere luck probably. And luck's a nice and helpful tool in a demon's hand.

"You called me Aniki in your sleep."

Sudden silence filled the air and it flavoured of embarrassment. Curiously Amaimon tilted his head to the other side, never stopping to watch his younger brother who seemed to shrink under his mere statement... and blush... and stubbornly look into another direction - what a weird behaviour...

"I... I just... talk nonsense in m-my sleep." The boy retorted after some time, speaking to the ground instead of speaking to his face. In human etiquette it was a rather rude thing to do... in demon etiquette however it was rude to look a higher-ranked demon into the eyes for too long. So it was okay.

"Yes, I noticed. You talk a lot of nonsense."

"Shuddup! It was just a weird dream I had." Rin scratched the back of his head, before he stepped closer again. "Get on your side of the bed and leave me be, while I'm sleeping... and no more creepy hovering above me, understood?" Of course, Amaimon didn't move a centimetre. For once, because Rin didn't have the authority to boss him around and for second, because it was way too much fun to watch that moping expression on the boy's face growing pissed, before it went to frustrated. "Come on, don't make things harder for me as they already are, I need some sleep and you should sleep too if the rings under your eyes are any indication..." when Amaimon didn't move, he sighed in annoyance. "Listen, I don't wanna argue or fight, just be nice for once. Please?"

"No, now you listen: Demons aren't nice. Besides, dawn is near. Get up already, we're setting out early today. The earlier, the better."

"We're setting out...? Where to and why?"

Always bombarding him with questions. Truly the most annoying brat he ever met. Usually he wouldn't care about questions and simply decide to not answer them. But the boy was getting persistent and Amaimon didn't feel like having a headache right at the beginning of a long day; so he answered. "Some place. I'm changing my location every now and again. It prevents me from getting found, naturally."

"You're moving? Awesome!" The boy beamed, jumped to his feet and gathered his few belongings. Right. Rin didn't have much of them. Just his sword and his bag, which he both abandoned into a corner of the hideout, once he realized Amaimon wasn't interested in either. Well, the sword was still fascinating in a way, but neither did he wish to destroy Rin's heart nor to unsheath the blade; blue flames were easy to spot in a dark forest, after all. "So, you'll let me go, then, right? Since I don't know your new hideout location~"

Amaimon froze for a moment. That annoying brat had a point.

He looked at the overjoyed face and realized how much of a burden it must have been for the boy to live here with him. Nowadays, most humans weren't used to uncomfortable, savage lifestyle any more. They loved their comfort, their cozy homes, their concrete walls and all their technologies that kept nature far away from them. But he was a nature-bound spirit and so he loved the forest, the plants and everything that grew around him better. For him the pulse of a metropolitan city was nothing compared to the pulse of the forest's heart-beat. Another look at the boy told him that he'd grown thinner during the last week and that he was pretty much worn out even though he didn't do much all day long. His eyes had gained some asperity too. The childish sparkle which glimmered in them now was usually gone most of the time.

"Can't have that." No mercy for the weak, though. "You're my insurance."

The overjoyed expression dropped from his face and Amaimon grinned inwardly. Glee is to every demon's liking and, of course, he was no exception.

"Insurance? You told me that it was because I knew of your whereabouts!"

"Well, I lied." Amaimon shrugged and started uncasting the wards by releasing the Chuchi from their formation bit by bit. After that he had to go for the remains of the camp... maybe he could use that spot some time later once again, well, when no one stumbled across the flowerbed or the other things that looked like furniture before. "I still need you, unfortunately. I'd rather have your brother here instead. At least that one knows, when he should be silent." He sensed that Rin reached for his katana once again, without even turning around and looking. Always the last resort for the brat, when things didn't go the way he wanted them, another pesky trait of his. "I wouldn't do that. Things could get pretty nasty for you if you attract Aniue's attention."

"If he finds you, I'll finally get home, right? You can't beat time and space, can you? I should have done this earlier!"

The Earthking turned around and hissed at him, already loosing his patience constantly with every word the boy spoke. "I will slaughter you if you unsheath that sword."

"If you harm me in any way, Mephisto's gonna..."

"...kill me?! Yes! So what?! I don't care if it's the last thing I do. At least I will be free and go against his will for once!"

His short-temper was his downfall... oh yes, he'd always guessed so much. Still, the sound of gloved hands clapping took him by surprise. And it wasn't before he heard them that he realized that the ground underneath his feet was trembling. Dammit... his temper...

"Bravo! Magnificent! What a performance~" A pair of green eyes stared down at him from a branch of one of the trees surrounding them. Amaimon instantly froze. "So, you wish to go against me now? I humbly apologize for being such a fool as to daresay I don't agree with that, my dear little brother~" He was grinning like a psychopath who was about to implement murder and at the same time he looked completely unimpressed.

The demon principal tore his eyes from him and hopped down to the ground, landing as elegantly and as silently as a cat on the needles and leaves that covered the forest's floor. He looked around and while casually striding the hideout and gazing upon the few things it offered, as if he wasn't interested in catching Amaimon at all. "Such a nice camp you got yourself here~ all this wooden handicraft. You've become a master of growing wood into furniture over the years, haven't you, Amaimon? Marvellous masterpieces of utter beauty."

He couldn't help, but feel proud that Aniue thought of them as masterpieces, but he also despised himself for that. Still torn between yes and no and still he couldn't easily forgive Mephisto for what he had done. "Aniue..."

Mephisto raised a hand, silencing him at once with just that small of a gesture, before turning his eyes on him again. "It was quite troublesome to find you, you know? All those wards... though, I have to admit that I feel a bit flattered that you did everything in your might to keep me away from your current location, using Chuchi to intensify the effect by many... my, my, clever boy." Almost gently he picked one of the smallest demonic moths from the wall and petted its wings with utmost care. "And just now you made the mistake I was waiting for, ever since I heard about Rin's disappearance." His left hand closed around the Chuchi and with a shriek the demon inside left the insect, as it got crushed while the grin on Mephisto's lips broadened. "Amaimon. I am here to give you a chance to start anew. Be a good boy and come with me now." He generously offered him his hand to underline his statement.

The very hand which killed the Chuchi just a moment ago... something was odd about his brother's behaviour. He couldn't quite tell what, but displaying such murderous intention while offering him ceasefire was just too much of a contradiction; asking nicely for him to return, but threatening him that there would be tantalizing consequences at the same time. Odd behaviour, for the King of Time whose future actions usually weren't overt...

He snorted curtly. "I'm not stupid, even if you might think so. I no longer believe any word coming from your mouth. Either seal it by pact or leave me alone, I've had enou-"

And within a blink Mephisto was right in front of him. "A pact...? A pact you demand, Amaimon? We made a pact a long time ago and I remember you breaking it by running away. That alone is reason enough to slaughter you. But I came here to grant you a most appealing opportunity which won't come back and that is your definite answer to that?" The Earthking bared his fangs. Fear and rage once again made his body tremble as he lifted his fist to punch it into his brother's face, but this time, of course, Mephisto came prepared and caught his wrist in an iron-grip, before it could hit the target.

"You dare it...? Still, after all I have done for you?" Green eyes burned down on him. Merciless, impatient... harried... eyes.

Rin didn't know what was going on exactly. One moment he had been fighting with Amaimon and the next he was completely clueless. Everything happened so fast he could hardly even focus on what was actually going on. And all the while he was confronted with that murderous intention in Mephisto's eyes and, even though it wasn't directed at him, a fear, he'd never known existed, crept up his spine and paralysed him for minutes to come.

"What you did for me?! I tell you, what you did to me! You poisoned my life. You lured me into making that pact with false promises and centuries of manipulation. What am I to you, other than a pawn on your chessboard?!" The Earthking spat out. Rin wasn't good at reading body language, not good at all, but he could tell it took all of Amaimon's remaining guts to accuse his elder brother of such things. "And I don't want to be sacrificed for your good!"

The reply to that was harsh. Even though wearing gloves, the slapping sound echoed as loud through the trees of the forest as a bomb detonating. And the force of it sent Amaimon to the ground.

"Silence!" The demon principal placed one of his absurd coloured boots on the Earthking's chest and bent down to reach for his tie, pulling on it and choking the demon underneath. "Ungrateful, is what I call the likes of you." His voice was calm but the threatening undertone couldn't be overheard. Swiftly he placed the tip of his umbrella - where did that come from anyway?! - underneath Amaimon's chin and used it expertly to force his gaze upwards. "A pact is a pact... once we concluded it, you were mine to obey in every way I wanted you to and to do as I please. If you so desperately wish for it, I will free you from this bonds of mine... but then you shall perish."

The tip of his umbrella wandered down Amaimon's throat and, before it reached it's final destination on Amaimon's chest, Rin snapped out of his state of shock and spurted towards the demon siblings. He gave it no second thought when he drew Kurikara and used it – to his utter surprise – effectively to kick the umbrella from Mephisto's hand and far away from his reach.

"Stop! Are you nuts?! He's your little brother!" Blue flames flared up as he grabbed his guardian's collar and pressed the blade of his sword against Mephisto's throat.

For a moment Mephisto looked down at his empty hand, seeming unsure of why the tool he used to torment Amaimon with disappeared from his grip. It took another moment for him to look up into Rin's eyes and even longer to recognize him... as if he had been elsewhere that damn clown. Did he even realise what he had been about to do?

"Enough of your demon etiquettes and rules. Enough of all this shit! Don't you get it, clown?! Amaimon wants nothing more than to have a little more respect. He wants to be assured that you don't just use him, that you care for him even... that you just won't fucking throw him away, when a time comes, he ain't no longer useful to you!"

A smirk plastered the lips of the demon on the other side of his katana. "That's just pathetic nonsense. You interpret emotions into his actions and words? I assure you a dem-"

"SHUDDUP and listen! I don't give a fuck about demon thinking or demon acting! All I see is that there are two brother's fighting over something which could easily be handled! You just have to make a point, don't you?! But, I swear, all that dominant, overly supreme behaviour you're showing off makes you exactly like your father! A cold-hearted, unforgiving bastard who'd rather trap his children then let them spread their wings." Rin wouldn't have expected it... his unconceived actions had been a bit of a risk and slightly suicidal... but the demon's face actually paled and his smirk perished. "Don't you get it into that thick head of yours?! He's gone when you kill him. And he'll never come back. Never again."

Crap! When pictures of his dead father popped up in his mind and of Yukio who pointed his gun at him shortly after that, he felt himself on the brink of tears. Still trembling, he slowly lowered the hand holding Kurikara and let the hilt slip from his hand. For a moment he just tried to gain control, but when he stubbornly wiped the tears away with his sleeve and snuffled, a sudden pain went through his body, making him go limp on top of Amaimon.

"You unnerving brat! How often did I tell you it's none of your business?" The Earthking yanked his tail once again.

"Ow, ow, ow! You ass, stop that!" Furiously he snatched his appendage from Amaimon's hand and let itself coil around his torso underneath his shirt, like he had done when he still had to hide it. "I just saved your fucking life! How about a "thank you" at the very least?"

"I can't recall asking for that."

"Why you...!" Rin was about to lunge at his brother's throat, when a noise disrupted their argument. A noise, which made both of them look up in astonishment and forget their fight for a moment.

"Fufufufufufu... hahahahahaha..." Mephisto was leaning against a tree and holding his stomach, while his whole body shook as a torrent of laughter as clear as water gushed from his mouth. "Hahahahaha... Talking big about double standards, Hu-huhuhu-h? Fufufufufu... both of you... ju-huhuhu-st magnificent." And with his pouring laughter all of the tension was gone.

Rin merely crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his guardian's words, questioning his sanity. And from the corner of his eye he could see a soft smile crossing Amaimon's lips...

When Rin went to the riverside to let his older brothers calm the waves, he didn't expect them to take that long. However, after about two hours and a bit more of waiting and skimming stones, he had enough, so he jogged back to their camp. Whether they cleared out their differences or not, he wanted to go back to the dorm, as fast as possible. He so needed a hot bath for his aching-

"Ahh-Aniueeee~."

In order to prevent from tripping over roots or fallen branches he had kept his eyes locked to the ground, but, unfortunately, that scream made him look up... and hide behind a tree trunk... and blush violently as he realised what exactly was going on...

TBC

A/n: Well ain't I a tease? xD

Hmmm... in case you wonder why there ain't any more translated lyrics at the beginning of each chapter... I received a nice PM including a warning. Well, I'll have to live without them from now on. Though those bits were the parts insiring me, but I'd rather not have my fanfictions deleted, so I'll have to succumb to the rules. ^^