Alchemist/Exorcist 2 (FMA: Brotherhood x Blue Exorcist) (Ed x Rin)

Chapter 12

                       "Here it is," Yukio stopped flipping and slid the book across the desk toward the other three.
                        "A soul sapper demon?" Al read off.
                        "I'd bet my life that's what we're dealing with," Yukio said.
                        The four had congregated in the North library. Al and Ed sat beside each other at the desk they had set up base at, while Yukio had pulled up a chair across from them, and Rin sat on top of the desk behind his brother.
                        Ed leaned forward and began to read, "Soul sapper demons are mid to upper level demons that collect the souls of their victims, leaving their bodies intact in Assiah. However, without a soul, the victim is not a complete being and will begin to waste away. Soul sappers may use a variety of tricks, the most common being to heal the victim of any ailments or defects. It is theorized doing this makes the soul more valuable as it comes from a physically perfect host."
                     "Their body wastes away?" Al pointed out, "Renzo said there was a flu outbreak on campus! Is it possible that everyone who is sick is soulless?"
                    "It's likely," Yukio mused, "And that also means they'll just get worse if their soul aren't returned."
                    "Worse until...?" Rin murmured.
                    Yukio just met his eyes and nodded solemnly.
                     "How do we return their souls?!"
                     "The prevailing theory is that killing the sapper demon responsible will release the souls back to their proper vessels,"
                     "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go light the bastard up!" Rin cried, earning him a stern "Shush!" from the librarian.
                     Wincing, the four leaned in and lowered their voices. "Unfortunately, Harada knows me and Ed have it out for him now. So he won't be easy to find."
                     "I don't know about that. It was clear that he also has it out for us for some reason," Ed said, "The way he was anxious to heal my arm and leg, and was coaxing me to bring Rin and Al. That wasn't random."
                     Yukio furrowed his brows, "Ed, he didn't say anything about Al or Rin."
                     "That's lovely," Ed grumbled, "Now I'm hearing things."
                     "You were under the demons power. I'm sure you weren't just hearing things," Yukio conceded, "but that is concerning that he wants Rin and Al to pay him a visit."
                     "There was something else he said...the Blue Night...a victim of the Blue Night? What does that mean?" Ed asked.
                      Rin's face fell. "Oh, I know what that is..." he hesitated, reluctant to be the one to explain, but no one else spoke, "Before Yukio and me were born...our father, Satan used the blue flames to...kill a whole bunch of people. So as usual, I'm at the center of this whole thing."
                       "Rin, I'm sure that's not totally true," Ed said, gently, "He's after me and Al too for some reason."
                       "Yeah, because you guys are close to me,"
                       "But it can't be a coincidence that we're trying to get our bodies back and this is the demon that goes for us, right?" Al pointed out.
                       "Al's right. He's gotta have beef with us. And even if he doesn't, anyone messes with you, they mess with me too now!"
                       "Shush!" came the librarian again.
                       "At any rate," Yukio said, softly, after a moment, "I think the first place to start would be to question those two girls and see where they heard the rumor from. Hopefully, we can trace back through the victims and find a pattern."
                      He stood up and pushed past a blushing Rin, rendered frozen by Ed's declaration, into the aisle. "What can we do?" Al asked.
                     Yukio gave them the ghost of a grin, "You two have your research to continue with. Just focus on that and I'll let you know when I need some alchemical assistance."
                     "What about me?" Rin asked, shaken from his stupor.
                     His brother gave him a less friendly look, "You have an equally pressing manner known as homework."
                     With that, he left them, both Ed and Rin steaming over being side-lined. Of course, Rin was soon distracted. He dropped down into Yukio's chair in front of Ed, "Can I help you guys with your research?"
                     Ed grinned, "I don't know if you'll understand anything, babe."
                     "Hey, I'm sure I'll understand some things," Rin whined, "I'm smarter than you think."
                    "Okay, here," Ed slid a book across the table, "Summarize this paragraph in your own words."
                   Rin picked it up, "Okay, got it!"
                   After a few seconds of him concentrating extremely hard, Ed reached out and flipped the book the right side up.
                  "Oh, right," Rin went back to scrutinizing the page for a few more seconds before musing, "Nah, I think it made more sense upside down."
                  Laughing, Ed took the book back, "Sorry, Rin. You gotta pass my test."
                  "Awe! What if I just be your cheerleader? Go Al! Go Ed!"
                 "Mr Okumura, if you don't stay quiet I'll have to ask you to leave," the librarian snapped.
                 "S—Sorry, ma'am,"
                 "Here, Rin," Al was writing something, "You can start to find books with any of these words in them for us, okay?"
                 "Alright!" Rin said, excited to have a task, and took off into the shelves.
                 It wasn't long before he bumped into a familiar face, "Hi, Rin!"
                 "Hey, Shiemi,"
                 "What are you doing?"
                 "Helping Al and Ed with their research—What happened to your hand?"
                 Shiemi followed his gaze to a bandage wrapped around her left palm, "Oh, I was helping my mom cut some medicinal herbs at the shop and had an accident."
                 "Awe, man. What are you doing in the library?"
                 "Just some studying, but they also have some good fiction books I wanted to look at. Can I help you out?"
                "Sure. Here," he handed her half his stack and led her back to their table.
                Al and Ed were already laser-focused over a book each, until Shiemi came up, "Hi, Alphonse!"
               Al's concentration snapped, "Hey, Shiemi. H—How are you?"
               "I'm fine. Where should I put these?"
               "There's fine. Thanks a ton,"
               "Uh-huh," she started looking through the titles curiously, "You're interested in organic chemistry, huh? If you're looking for information on plant components, my grandma had some books."
               "Do you think we can borrow them?" Ed asked, but Shiemi's eyes were still fixed on Al when she said she could.
               About an hour later, Shiemi returned with a few books. There was a lot of good information to learn that they took note of, but nothing to help get their bodies back—not that they told Shiemi this. The sky was starting to turn orange out the window. "It's almost supper time," Shiemi noted.
                Rin followed her gaze, "Ah, we better get going or Ukobach will be pissed. You're still coming, right, Shiemi?"
               "Yeah, if that's still okay. Are you two eating with us as well?" she asked, but again, talking directly at Al.
               "Yeah, we'll be there. But I don't really eat..." Al admitted.
               Shiemi turned red and her hands flew to her mouth, "Oh, I suppose! I'm sorry—!"
               "No, no, it's okay—Hey, tell your grandmother thank you for letting us borrow her books," he said, stacking them up.
               "Oh, it's no big deal...but my grandma has passed actually,"
               Now it was Al's turn to be embarrassed, "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
              "It's okay, really. You didn't know,"
              The four of them packed up their things and headed for the dorm. Yukio was already there and started passing out some of Ukobach's tea as the stove spirit finished up their meal. It was when Shiemi accepted her tea cup that a cold wave of dread washed through Rin.
              "Shiemi?"
              "Hm?"
              He had to speak over his pounding heart, "Your hand—what happened to your cut?"
              "Oh," she held up her palm—it was perfect and unbroken, "I ran into that sub teacher on my way back to the library. You won't believe it! He healed my hand! It was—What?"
             All four boys were staring at her, dumbfounded. "She. Did. Not," Ed murmured to the others.
            Yukio replied, deadpan, "She did."