In the Darkness We Walk Alone

Chapter Nine

Five days and no sign of waking up. Izumo was worried, she didn't outright show it, but it was the little things she did. The priests from the monastery returned to find out that the eldest twin was in a hospital having sustained injuries to the lumbar part of the spine. The doctors never seen a demon with such an injury and the surgery they performed was to make sure that the spinal cord would heal correctly. Anything that came out of it was something that they weren't sure of happening. Because of that, Rin ran a risk of being paralyzed.

  Izumo couldn't forget the moment that they all heard those words come from the doctor. She couldn't forget the angered and concerned look on Yukio's and Shura's faces. She couldn't forget the way the mixture of emotions that flashed on the faces of the Kyoto trio. She couldn't forget the shock that Shiratori and Mephisto had displayed or the heart wrenching sobs that came from Shiemi who felt like it was her fault that their friend ended up the way he did. She couldn't forget those screams that came from the blonde's mouth, blaming herself and her sudden fear of dying to move out of the way in time or to even fight. She couldn't forget the way her heart stopped at hearing the chances that the energetic twin had.

It felt so unreal, for the fact the Demon Prince was on a hospital bed with a IV in his arm and unsure if he would be able to run and walk, jump and climb, being his normal energetic self ever again. How could this happen? He's one of the kindest of people, always caring for others, so why did the worst things happen to him?

  She visited him with her friend Paku who met up with her at the train station. They went to the room Rin was in to find Yukio there. Five days and he barely moved except for the bathroom and to let the nurses do what they needed. Shura basically forced him to leave the day before and go to the Cram School where he taught them and updated them on Rin's condition. He was worried, she didn't blame him. No one blamed him.

"Yukio-Sensei, how is he?" Izumo kept her voice low, her gaze set on the comatose twin. She could never figure out why he risked his own life for others. Seriously, had this guy ever been selfish before? Did this guy even know the word 'selfish' or did he not care about his life at all?

  "Still asleep. The doctors say he may wake soon. If not today or tomorrow, then sometime next week." Yukio sounded terrible. His voice scratchy and barely above his normal voice, almost like a whisper. His eyes showed the fact that he had been crying recently. He slept a little, his dreams constantly showing him the Look-See impaling his brother. He kept seeing the blood pool around him, choking on his own blood; kept seeing the outcome be worse than it had been.

  "He'll pull through, Yukio," said Paku with a reassuring smile. "You know how he is, he won't give up in any way." She glanced at Izumo who nodded in affirmation at her words.

  After while, they bowed and made their way out to leave the brothers to themselves. They stopped at hearing the small tired groan. They whipped around to see Rin's eyes opening slowly but surely. "Rin?" whispered Yukio with hope as he stood and held the ebony haired twin's hand to let him know that he was there for him. He let a small gasp slip when he noticed the milky blue color in his brother's irises. Shiratori told him what had happened, that his brother looked the demon in the eye but he had hoped that once Shura had killed it, the temporary curse wouldn't affect his brother.

  "Yu...kio?" His voice held uncertainty as he looked all over but focused on nothing. The next two questions just broke the three occupants' hearts. The tremor in his voice was foreign. "Where am I? Why can't I see?"

  The brunet tightened his grip on brother's hand. "Rin, what is the last thing that you remember?" They listened to him explain about the fight he had with the Look-See and watched as he wince at the sudden memory of being stabbed in the lumbar. Upon remembering, his hand shot down to where his thigh is. He tapped it with his hand, unseeing eyes widening. "Rin?"

"I can't...I can't feel them." His breath hitched as he forced himself into a sitting position, ignoring the blooming pain in his lower back as he reached forward and pressed his hand against his legs. "I can't feel them! I can't feel my legs!"

  Tears pooled in his eyes, trickling down as he started clawing at his legs just to try and bring some feeling back, forcing Yukio to grasp the other hand to keep him from hurting himself. "Rin, stop. Please, don't hurt yourself!" He hugged his older brother as Paku called for a doctor to come in. Izumo watched with sadden eyes as her fellow Ex-wire sobbed against her teacher's chest, his fingers curling and gripping the fabric of his coat.

  The doctors came in, telling the two girls to please leave. They spoke to Yukio telling him what he needed to know before telling him that he needed to sit away from Rin so they can look over him. Rin scrunched up his shoulders as he listened to the doctors, his lip quivering as he held back tears of sorrow. Yukio watched with a sadden expression seeing the slight fear his brother had as the doctors examined his feet. Their questions being answered with a quivering voice. Sightless eyes staring down to where his unmoving legs rested.

* * *

Once Rin was omitted from the hospital, Yukio called Mephisto to go and pick them up. The ride to the campus was silent, Rin staring right ahead as he picked at a loose thread on his jeans. "Mephisto?" Rin's quiet voice broken through the awkward silence. The demon principal gave a small yes for him to continue. "What will the Vatican do, now that I'm basically useless?"

  Their expressions showed their reactions: shock, surprise, worry, and uncertainty. "I'm not sure," he answered, glancing at the younger twin. His eyes showing his hesitance, not sure of what was to come for Satan's spawn. He didn't know the answer since he hadn't told the Vatican of the...issue that the son of Satan had succumbed to. If he can't be used for the Vatican, will he be killed just because of who he is? But he couldn't be a threat in his state.

  "Rin, we'll just have to wait and find out." Yukio place his hand on his brother's shoulder. "And, you're not useless. The blindness is only temporary and you will have the surgery and rehabilitation to help you walk again. You just need to heal up from the recent surgery that kept your spine from misaligning and then they'll run some tests to make sure you're a hundred percent healed up to perform the surgery without any hitches."

  Rin nodded as he ran his hand through his hair, giving Yukio a small smile. The twins missed the look of concern from Mephisto, who was worried about his plans being ruined. That was the only reason he was concerned about all this, or, at least, that was what he told himself. He couldn't have gotten attached, for Rin Okumura was his pawn. Then again, what is a king without a pawn? The king would be defenseless without protection. Although, he couldn't shake off the half demon's words. What would the Vatican do if they were to find out? Of course, he wasn't planning on them to ever know about it. That was if he could make sure it stayed a secret. The Vatican were nosey like that, trying to do everything they could to find some dirt on Satan's spawn.

Oh, Father, are you throwing a fit on what had occurred with your youngest son? Just how do you feel on the twist of events? Surely, you can see what's wrong with your son? And what of the demon that did this? Is it being punished by your hand or by my brothers'?