AnE: Hellspawn

Roads || Yukio

Not many people realise that the thing we try to escape from so desperately is the reason why we don't.

He however knew it all too well, he realised it before he hit his late teens. No, it wasn't because he was the prodigy, the better of them two, no. It wasn't because he shared the same cursed, red blood that his brother was, neither.

The reason for his slow and steady degradation was the burden he needed to bear on his shoulders since he was a little, scarred for life child.

Jealously he felt for his twin as he kept on laughing out at the most silly things didn't help the matter, because Rin lived his own life so carefreely, without an once of the burden that tried to squash the last bits of breath from him.

Yukio hated it, that feeling. More so he hated Rin because he was the source of it.

Then again, he reminded himself that his nii-san was the last and only family he had left and no matter how often he wished he could just sweep over his pistol and press that trigger, he couldn't.

Because he was scared. He was afraid of what he might've become once that burden of his brothers was gone.

Their father's words still haunted him till this day. Back then, spoken so softly and convincingly were like that honey for sore throat - soothing. And he believed, and he let him take his body instead of sacrificing Rin.

Still, Yukio kept on asking himself when did he stop to care about himself, when did everything started to come back to his brother, no matter the road he took.

Even so the more he thought about their current situation, with each passing day he grew more and more convinced that not both of them would live long enough to embrace death from the old age.

"I'm going out for a mission, nii-san" he spoke, slowly dragging his heavy exorcist coat over shoulders. He wasn't in a hurry even though it was an emergency.

Rin jumped onto his feet once the words registered in his brain, he was so gullible when it came to this.

"Can I go with you?" Rin asked, his tail swashing behind him leisurely.

"No, you can't, nii-san" he answered him like at least thousand times before. Every time exactly the same. He briefly wondered why his twin wasn't tired of trying, always getting the same answer in the matter. Before he let him open his loud mouth, he did consider telling him actually to go to hell. "If you ever want to be called upon this high class of a mission, you need to become an exorcist first. As far as I know you're still just Esquire..."

Rin growled dangerously then, his eyes flashing and hands balling. "I practically closed the gate to Gehenna with you! And they still consider me just an esquire!" He snapped turning around and kicking absentmindedly his desk chair which toppled over, scratching sound filling the room. "I don't get it, Yukio. I want to help but they just keep on turning me down again and again..."

Muffled ringtone went off and Yukio sighed, reaching towards his breast pocket. With an angry, half-frustrated stare from his twin he picked up, nodding and half-mumblig his short replies. Before long he clicked the button, ending call.

"I need to go, nii-san. And don't go wandering around Academy or try to blackmail Pheles-san again, as it clearly didn't work out last time, alright?" With halfhearted smile he checked his appearance and pistols before he turned around in clear intention of leaving. Hovewer he halted just beforehand he left their room. "Also, nii-san, please do your homework so I can check it before cram school, okay?"

With a disgruntled breath Rin barked something under his nose, something he didn't have time to catch on as another ring filled the room.

"Fine. Go. Just come back in one piece."

Yukio frowned, but he left nonetheless.

There wasn't a say that those half-angry, half-disappointed words would echo in his skull once their father's voice would cut into his mind on the said mission.

But when it happened, he knew that everything once again came back to his twin.

And he was once again reminded that he's not as strong willed as before. Tired and angry, with simmering hatred in his bones he was almost too easy of a prey for his father.

In the end, inbetween consuming darkness however he saw that flickering bright flame and there he was, his twin looking worried, wrinkles around his always wide-opened eyes and that glint of fear in them.

And he didn't know what to want anymore, who to blame.

Because it didn't matter anymore, it was too late.

"...what if he wants to die? Will you die with him?"