Demons That Haunt Me

Chapter 4; Acceptance

"My name is Experiment Zero. I am property of the Vatican."

~•§•~

There was a shocked silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity. Tension hung so thick in the air that it could be cut with a knife. The only movement was the doctor, who had been nudged towards the door by Yukio and gratefully–albeit hesitantly–accepted the excuse to leave the room, seeing as the patient seemed to be in no.. physical pain.

Suddenly, as if a loud, pink elephant had slammed said knife on the floor with a bang, "You gotta be shitting me! That.. that was the cheesiest line I've ever heard! You had me going for a sec there, Rin, really, you did! You had that robotic expression down, man, down!" Shima was almost bawling with laughter, clutching his stomach as he heaved for air. His sentences were punctuated with chuckles and gasps. "You ruined the best prank I've ever seen! That—That line gave you away! As a fellow prankster, I am thoroughly disappointed! I'll have to give you lessons, you should've seen this epic prank I pulled on Kinzo–"

Ryuji and Yukio let out small huffs in an attempt to calm themselves down. Of course, it was just a prank. Nothing to be worried about. That was, until–

"A Rin.. I have never heard of this thing before. May I ask what it is?" The blue haired boy that spoke up from the hospital bed looked so small and innocent that he would've been considered a child–if it wasn't for the blank facial expression, the indifferent tone, the dead eyes, the things Yukio swore would haunt his nightmares for the rest of time.

"Rin, stop trying, we've found you out, it's okay to stop now, dude." Shima sputtered, still shaking with laughter. "I will admit, I want to know the guy you saw to make those wounds look so realistic.. but still, jokes over."

"If indeed you are talking to me, you keep referring to me as 'Rin.' May I ask where this nickname comes from? Thinking logically, I see no way to get 'Rin' out of Experiment Zero."

"This is too far, Rin. Shima's right, stop joking. Yer worrying us. 'Tis a joke–right?" Bon finally piped up, with a wary glance at Yukio, who didn't meet his eyes. Upon further inspection, Suguro saw that the younger Okumura was staring into space, unfocused eyes resting on Rin. A look of horror was etched into his features.

"Okumura~Sensei, what's wrong? He got you pretty good.. you're so gullible!" Shima poked fun at Yukio with an easy grin.

"Rin.. Rin could never keep pranks up for this long. Once he tried to prank father–make him think he was unconscious; dead–and halfway through, he burst out laughing. He–he couldn't hold it in." The younger twin spoke with a dread filled tone, and it scared the students to hear their normally so stoic and calm instructor sound like he had just seen his whole family murdered in front of him. If you thought about it hard enough, technically, he had. Rin was his only family left, after all.

"According to my memory, the definition of a 'prank' or a 'joke' is a thing that someone says or does to cause amusement or laughter. No one here has done that, I believe. Also, what is a Rin?"

Yukio was too stunned, too sad, too miserable, and it was all he could do to bottle up his emotions and let a cold expression grace his features. It was the only way he could function without breaking right now; and no matter what, he would not break in front of his students. He would never allow that to happen.

"Rin is your name. Rin Okumura. It was your name before you were Experiment Zero–the name most people know you by. We will continue to call you either Rin or Okumura." Yukio narrowed his eyes, and to keep his facade strong, he replayed the thought—this is the demon that killed my father—over and over again in his head, like a mantra.

Bon and Shima seemed shocked by Yukio's sudden change of tone, but Rin responded as if nothing had changed, or maybe things had even become more normal for him.

"Yes, sir. I will continue to respond to Experiment Zero, but hence force I will now also respond to Rin and Okumura. Do have any other commands for me, sir?"

Yukio shook his head no, and two pairs of brown eyes stared incredulously at the twins.

Bon's fists clenched. This could not be happening. He would not let this happen, even if he hated the spawn of Satan to his core.

"Dammit! Rin, stop the goddamn act an' go back to your normal self! I don't want this– whatever this is. This version of you is even more dangerous than the lil' shit you were before! If you follow orders from anyone, someone could jus' walk up to you and go 'hey, destroy this entire city for me, will ya?' and bam, there goes Tokyo! At least with yer old stubborn ass, if someone asked you that you would burn 'em to Gehenna! I can't have more people die from yer goddamn flame; like my grandfather, Shima's brother, Koneko's parents! How do you think this makes us feel, huh? Life isn't all about you, ya dick, so go back to normal!"

"I do not understand what you are talking about, sir. I am completely normal. If this will ease your concerns, I only take battle orders from the Vatican, the Grigori, and the higher ups." He paused, and gazed between a fuming Bon, a silent Yukio, and a remorseful Renzou. "May I ask a question, please?"

"Go ahead." Yukio responded simply. Bon grit his teeth in the background. The old Rin would have tried to punch Suguro for that speech he had just given, the new one just answered with common sense. It didn't feel right at all.

"You seem to have mentioned an old me. I want to inform you that there is no old me, as I only have memories of living in the comfort of the Vatican and nothing else. I would remember something as significant as my life before the Vatican, but I do not. Therefore, there was no life before the Vatican, sir."

The occupants of the room just stared at Rin. Yukio turned on his heel and left, and Bon followed suit, glancing over his shoulder at Rin. Shima trailed dejectedly behind, all humor from before had vanished. There was only one thought in their heads as they exited the hospital.

Okumura.. what happened to you to make you like this? What did the Vatican do to you?

Hope you enjoyed!
Word Count: 1138