| GEHENNA |

Chapter 1

" Yukio, Yukio, race me! Race me!" Rin giggled as he sprinted towards the lone swing, his twin right behind him, a determined glint sparkling in his eyes.

He scrambled clumsily up onto the seat, swatting away his brother's worried grip as he wobbled precariously. Rin pouted at Yukio, who backed away with an apology, yet still held his arms out as if to give support.

He huffed at him, rocking back and forth to gain momentum until he could finally, even though barely, manage to spot the top of the church from behind the trees. Rin let out a breathless laugh, swearing he could see his father standing out front, oddly fumbling around with the fence. He let go of one of the chains to wave hello, unbalancing himself and falling harshly to the ground.

" Rin!" His worried-looking brother hovered over his face, crouching to help lift him " Why would you do that! You could have gotten seriously hurt from that fall, you know!"

" Ah, sorry Yukio, but guess what! I saw Dad, he's finally back-" He cut off his sentence abruptly as his breath hitched with anger, teeth clenching at what he spotted from over Yukio's shoulder.

" Huh, what's wrong?" Yukio asked him, turning to look in the direction Rin was looking in. He didn't get to see what caused his brother's ire before he was knocked to the side in Rin's haste to stop what was happening. " Rin, hey, stop! The priests said that we couldn't leave the park!"

Rin didn't acknowledge Yukio's frantic call, too far away by then to hear him. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, much quicker than the average five-year-old, skidding into the alleyway he'd seen the older kids disappear. He halted in disgust at the sight.

They had cornered the dog that they had been pursuing, spitefully jeering and yelling at the poor creature.

Rin saw red, his anger taking hold of him just like it had many times before.

" Hey! Leave it alone!" He yelled furiously, glaring harshly at them. They barely took any notice of his furious state, choosing to sneer his way for spoiling their fun. One shoved him away as he tried to get closer, ending with him harshly slamming into a wall. Rin yelped in pain when his head bashed into the stone, his vision slightly blurring.

" Oi, shaddap! Can't you see we're trying to have some fun here? Screw off, kid." One of the oldest-looking ones spat at him, kicking the dog harshly in its side while still looking into his eyes. It whimpered in pain, the noise lighting something in Rin that he couldn't repress. He hated when innocent beings got hurt.

" I said, stop it!" He screamed, collapsing onto the floor as blue flames engulfed both him and his surroundings.

He wailed out in alarm, crawling backwards on his hands as the other children ran away, calling and shouting for their parents. He yelled for them to come back, not to leave him, but they kept on running.

Rin sobbed alone in the middle of his blue inferno, startling when a hand landed on his shoulder. He whipped his head around in relief, expecting to see his father, eyes widening at the sight of a strange man with long, pure white hair hovering over him.

" What a wonderful surprise! I didn't expect to find you alone. Hello, little brother."

Rin shrieked in surprise, attempting to struggle out of the man's tight grip, but to no avail. He held on fast, shushing him almost tenderly, although the sadistic smile on his face contradicted that. He picked him up, not seeming afraid of the odd flames in the slightest, and cradled him to his chest. " Dear me, it seems that you have had quite the tantrum. Honestly, if that wretched human was so utterly hellbent on raising you, he could have at least tried to teach you control. He of all people should know how dangerous an untrained baby demon is. Young ones always have outbursts at the silliest of things." He clicked his tongue as Rin's foot connected harshly with his stomach, squeezing him closer to his chest to halt his movements.