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After the Miasma clears, The Impure King is officially declared to be defeated. Rin finds himself alone. After everything that happened with Shima, Shiemi in the clock jail, and even Bon when they fought together, Rin assumed they were okay now. That they wouldn’t be angry and alienate him anymore. Even Yukio was nowhere to be found.
Rin sat along the edge of the roof where he previously practiced using his own powers. Watching the people from the temple run around and do their work to clean up the aftermath. Part of him felt guilty like it was his fault they had to work so hard. Realistically it wasn’t, but it wouldn’t be the first time he caused something like this to happen. His thoughts spiraled. Thinking about his dysfunctional family of the monastery.
Izumi, Maruta, the other guys too. They always had to deal with his messes whenever he got into trouble. The subtle dripping against the back of his hand brought him back to his senses. Rin blinked a few times trying to get rid of the blurriness before realizing that he was crying. He wasn’t much of a crier growing up, but ever since Shiro’s death he found it happening more and more often. It made him angry. Other people he knew could regulate their emotions just fine so why couldn’t he. They had coping mechanisms that worked for them so where was his? It’s not fair, just another to add to his list of things he couldn’t control.
Rin wiped the tears and snot away aggressively. Hiding the evidence before anyone could point it out and have more of a reason to be sorry for him. Rin’s entire body jerked as a hand fell onto his shoulder. He must have leaned too far forwards because the ground appeared to be getting closer. He was only falling for a few seconds, but it felt excruciatingly slow. A shout followed him from the place on the roof.
When he finally hit the ground, his vision whited out for a moment. His leg bent out from under him at a weird angle. Elbows next, Scraping against the rough ground. It was nowhere nearly as bad as the pain that came from his leg but he could still the burning of his skin splitting. The front of his skull hit the ground with a ‘thunk’. Tears from earlier threaten to come back at full force. Rin didn’t want to embarrass himself even more after falling off the roof. He laid there for a little while, unmoving until a group of people scrambled over to his body.
The next thing Rin saw was a plain white ceiling. His eyes fluttered open as he took in the aches and pain his body was going through. Somewhere in his brain, Rin almost thinks he missed it. Ever since his powers awoke, his injuries healed quickly after they happened. The pain would always be short before his body repaired himself. Leaving Rin feeling tired and drained afterwards.
His head throbbed in a way that he did not miss. The ache from his right knee down was still there, numbed, but still enough to bother him. The backs of his elbows stung as they rubbed against the bedsheet. Other than that Rin felt fine. So he forced himself into a sitting position. From the walls and flooring he could tell they were still in Kyoto. It wasn’t the room they had set up earlier for medical use. It looked more lived in. Posters taped to the wall. A basket in the corner by the desk had a few pieces of clothing inside. The light grey silky bed sheets reminded him of Bon by the way they smelt. Not that he was purposefully smelling someone's bedding.
“Look who’s finally awake, Have a nice nap sleepy head?”
A familiar voice came from the right of the room. Sat by the door was Shima. A book laid open on his lap. His fingers gently held on to the edge of the page. As if he was in the middle of turning the page before he noticed Rin’s movement. There were noticeable bags under his eyes. Shima’s smile dismissed any evidence of the lack of sleep.
“Uhm..” Rin’s thoughts were racing, so many questions he wanted answers too. “Was I out very long?”
Shima nodded. God did it feel that way. Rin’s muscles were sore from lack of use. He never did get that much sleep most nights to begin with.
“Around a day. Everyone’s pretty worried you know. I don’t think we’ve ever seen you actually injured like this.” Rin tried his best to ignore the tremble in Shima’s voice. After everything they’ve been through he didn’t want Shima to still be scared of him. He takes in a sharp breath and nods.
“I usually heal pretty quickly thanks to my genes, so this is weird for me too.”
There’s a silent agreement between the two of them. Rin lays back down trying to get rid of the headache. Shima got up, dog-earing the page of his book before leaving the room. The door closed with a soft click. It rang in his ears anyways. The room followed with a deafening silence. Rin could have sworn it would last forever. Like the last thing he would ever hear is the click of someone leaving him again.
His breathing hitched, leaving him gasping for air. Somewhere in the back of his mind he barely registered the click of the door opening again. Yukio was there, and so was Ryuji. He knew the way they smelt. Ryuji especially, Rin didn’t want to seem weird but his shampoo always somehow smelled of campfire. Which is a weird scent for a shampoo. Usually they are flora or herb scented. The bed dipped around where his lower legs laid under the covers. Yukio looked over his flushed body. Almost as if just having more people in the room made it unbearably hot.
“Rin? Can you sit up, I’d like to take your temperature.” His brother flipped through the pages of a familiar book. One that lived on Yukio’s desk back at the dorm. Rin opened his mouth to answer but closed it immediately. Vile rose in the back of his dry aching throat causing the teen to panic. Last thing he wanted to do was throw up in someone else’s bed. A comforting hand fell to his back, gently helping him into a sitting position. The hand was warm. Rin shoved down the urges to lean back against it.
A metal thermometer was placed under Rin’s tongue. The chill of the metal against his tongue was soothing. The small sense of comfort was enough to have Rin drifting off sitting up. He groaned, mumbling something even he couldn’t understand when the thermometer was pulled away.
“Definitely a fever. I’ll go call a trained demon tamer, If we are lucky they might also be a doctor.” Yukio sped-walked out of the room. In an attempt to keep his professional aura. The hand on Rin’s back slid over to his side, rubbing up and down repeatedly. His scratchy t-shirt felt grating against his skin yet Rin made no move to stop them.
A low whine caught in his throat as he tried to curl into the person. Rin just wanted to feel better already. It was like he was run over by a truck, or being crushed by a Bariyon all over again. The person shifted, letting Rin’s body fall into the crevasse between their arm and side. It made him more curious on who would let him rest against them. Just as he was drifting off again, the door opened causing Rin to internally groan. At least he hopes it was internally.
“Okay,” Yukio returned to his previous spot at the end of the bed. “I booked a doctor to do an at home visit. Meaning that we actually have to be home for that. Are you feeling well enough to take the ride back to True Cross?”
Rin mumbled into the person’s side. Gently nodding along with it so he wouldn’t have to repeat his words. The others threw a few questions back and forth with one another. Asking Yukio what their plans were after this was over. If they all had to go back with them.
“I’ll go with you guys to help out if that’s okay, teach. I still feel partially responsible.”
The chest vibrated against Rin’s body. Sending an odd tingling sensation to the bottom of his stomach. It was only after a few seconds he realized who the voice belonged to. Rin almost wanted to pop up and cheer that it was Ryuji. Making it pretty obvious he did not still hate Rin. Ryuji moved away, gently pulling his body towards the end of the bed. Rin planted his feet on the ground. Ignoring the discomfort from his knee. It seemed they were leaving right away and Rin didn’t want to hold them back any longer.
However once it came to standing up that was a different story. His knee buckled causing Rin to scramble to get a grasp on Ryuji. The taller boy wrapped an arm around his waist, taking most of Rin’s weight. Rin groaned as he stood mostly on one leg. They were both sore but at least he could stand on his left one.
“Careful, You’re injured enough as it is you dork.” A small smile danced across Rin’s face. Even after everything that happened and Rin attempting to cuddle up to him, He still was able to keep that sense of normality between them.
Rin was sandwiched between Yukio and Ryuji on the train ride back to True Cross. Yukio frequently checks in with Rin and Ryuji trying to comfort him without crossing any boundaries. For most of the trip, Rin slipped in and out of consciousness. Occasionally finding his head against either boy’s shoulder. Arriving at the station seemed to come too quickly for him. Not wanting to move away from Ryuji’s side.
Rin felt guilty for thinking about his friend like this. Not that he has much experience but he was pretty sure that friends don’t usually want to cuddle with each other this often. Rin forced himself to lean more against Yukio on the way to the dorm. Scared to make Ryuji have a reason to go back to hating him. Climbing the stairs was particularly difficult. Having to completely rest his weight on Yukio and then timing his jump with Yukio going up a step.
By the time Rin was in his bed, he jokingly vowed to never get up again. Ryuji took the empty dorm next to them to stay nearby in case anything happened over night. Not that Rin could even fall asleep. His legs were aching and his head throbbed. He groaned quietly as to not wake up his brother. Being tired made Rin feel delirious.
“Rin? What are you doing awake?” Ryuji’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Rin didn’t even notice that he left his own room. He shifted his gaze away from the boy to think of an excuse. He didn’t understand how someone could look more attractive after just waking up. The sound of shifting brought Rin’s attention back to bed. Ryuji half-sat up, holding the blanket up. He made a space for Rin to lay next to him.
Whatever he will regret later, cuddles are now. Rin slid into the space created for him. Letting his body mold into Ryuji’s. He finally went to sleep to the smell of burning wood.
When Rin awoke, Ryuji was wrapped around him, spooning him from behind. There was a gentle pressure at his lower back that made Rin freeze. The taller boy was still sleeping as he slowly rolled his hips. Rin wrapped his hands around Ryuji’s wrists in an attempt to free himself, only causing the restraint to tighten. A low groan was muffled into the pillows.
“Rin? Oh shit..uh you can leave if you want.”
He sounded panicked, but Rin couldn't help but think the way he said it meant that Ryuji didn’t want him to go. So he turned over to face him. The bleached hair fell over his warm brown eyes. His face contrasted the white pillow case. After a couple seconds spent staring at each other, he sucked in a breath. Leaning in for a kiss.
A warm hand slid underneath his shirt. It went higher and higher until it was right underneath Rin’s arm. Suddenly he couldn’t help but snort as Ryuji tickled him. Grin spreading wide as pressed his fingers into Rin’s skin.
“Guys? The doctor is here.”
Yukio opened the door and led the man inside the room. Giving them both questioning looks but not mentioning anything. The doctor examined him quickly. Taking no longer than 5 minutes. He snorted and turned towards the other two.
“He’s just sick. Keep him hydrated and well rested and he should be back to normal in a few days. The left knee is sprained but just stay off it and it should heal up just fine.”