My eyes fluttered open, the first thing I noticed was the ache in my back. It was around midnight when a nurse had woken me up, politely asking that Rin sleep on his bed, for safety reasons. I'd obliged, carrying him to the thin mattress and covering his sleeping form. I'd sat on a nearby chair and fallen asleep halfway on his bed. The position reminded me of my twin's behavior in my class, head against the desk.

Yawning, I stretched, my back popping in several places and taking some of the ache away. My eyes flickered over to my still sleeping sibling, the morning light shining on his peaceful face. The amount of sunshine in the room caused me to startle, yanking my phone from my pants pocket and staring at the time.

I cussed under my breath, it was Friday and lunchtime at the academy. There was a missed call from a familiar phone number and I groaned, listening to the voicemail:

"Yukio-san, I'd appreciate it if you'd call yourself in instead of relying on me to do it for you."

Damn Mephisto, the narcissistic bastard. I rose from my seat quietly and exited the room. I waved to a nurse and walked downstairs, hitting the call button on my phone and listening to it ring. I had just set foot outside of the building when Mephisto answered. "Yukio-san, I was wondering when you'd call."

"Yeah, about that, there was an incident, so I apologize for not appearing to my classes. Just for a warning, I won't be attending the rest of my classes, either, and I'll need a substitute for cram." Birds chirped overhead and seemed to counteract my sour tone.

"Ahh, is this in correlation with the incident last week? How's the little brother?"

I held back my scoff, my bitterness lacing my tone, "he downed half a bottle of pain killers, so we've been at the hospital all night." I knew Mephisto couldn't care less about Rin as a person, but he loved to watch as his pawns fought each other. Seeing as how my twin was his favored pawn, I knew he'd be somewhat concerned.

"Is he alright?"

I smirked, "As his legal guardian, I believe you should've asked that a week ago when he was first admitted to the local hospital. However, to answer your question, he's fine, he's with me."

There was silence and I just knew he was brooding, "alright, you're dismissed from your classes and your teaching duties." He perked up, "do tell my little brother to get better soon."

"Yeah, noted." The line went dead and I ground my teeth, a ritual habit I've formed after every conversation with the demon. I sighed heavily and walked back into the building, making my way back up to Rin's room.

He was awake when I entered, "I wondered where you went." He yawned and rubbed his eyes, "you were here when I woke up earlier."

"When did you wake up before?"

"Dr. Hase came in around eight this morning and woke me up. He had some questions, mandatory stuff, I guess. But you were knocked out cold, I didn't even have to keep quiet." He gave me a toothy smile, his fangs showing, but it was far from menacing.

I chuckled and walked to his bedside, "it was a long night, wouldn't you agree," he rolled his eyes in response. "I was out talking to Mephisto, I called into school, so today is all about getting you home."

He blushed, "you say that like it's a hassle."

I shook my head, fixing my shirt, "nah, but it's not something I'm taking lightly," I gave him a pointed look and he, rightfully, looked guilty. "So when are you getting out?"

"I'm awake now because a nurse came and woke me up, she said something about coming back shortly, so.... soon?" I nodded and walked over to my jacket, taking it off of the chair and pulling it up onto my shoulders.

"Well, I don't know their rules on eating after a gastric lavage, but I don't think you'll be in the mood to make lunch." I chuckled, "and I'm inept in the kitchen, so I guess we are going to McDonald's."

He gave me a curious look, "what's a gastric lavage?"

I returned a look, but for a different reason, "pumping of the stomach."

His eyes widened impossibly wide and his hands pressed against his abdomen, "what? They did that?" He shuddered, "now I've got the creeps."

"How else were they going to get all of those out of you?" He was about to answer me, but the room door opened and the curtain was pulled aside. "Oh, good morning, Hase-Sensei, how are you?"

He nodded to me, "you don't need to be so formal with me, Yukio-san, but I'm good this morning, thank you for asking." He turned his gaze to Rin, "hello again, Rin-kun, you seem more alert than earlier," he smiled and walked over next to me. "Thing are basically ready-to-go. You kids can start getting your things together, if you'd like."

Both Rin and I nodded, my brother scooting to the edge of his bed and grabbing his street clothes.

"Oh, and Rin-kun, I know I've stated this before, but I feel obligated to state it in front of your brother as well: you are lucky."

I turned my eyes to the man, my thoughts turning perturbed. "Just how lucky are we talking about...?"

He sighed, his eyes flickering over to Rin, who was frozen, his back to us. "There are many factors that determine how severe an overdose can be. Thankfully, your brother had ingested something before taking the meds, and he'd been taking the medication for a few days. So, his body was adjusting to the chemical compounds and the large amount was diluted by the other substances." He turned his eyes fully to my brother, his words stern, "you should count your blessings, Rin-kun. If your brother hadn't known CPR, you might've been pronounced dead at the scene."

"Thank you, Dr. Hase," I stated quietly, my eyes never leaving my stock still twin. "I'll be sure to look after him."

"Alright, you kids have a good weekend." He gave me a polite smile and walked out of the room.

"You okay, Nii-san?" I treaded over to him and he hid his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just feel horrible for what I've done." I sighed and rubbed his shoulder, he tensed at first, but relaxed after a moment.

"You live and you learn, there's not much else to it, is there?" He nodded and I pulled away, "I'll leave you to get dressed."

He snorted, "you've seen me naked, the fuck you giving me privacy for now?"

.oOo.

I hailed a taxi and the driver brought us to a local fast food restaurant, where Rin and I ate greedily. "You know you can slow down, right? No ones going to take your food," I said, watching as he practically swallowed by the mouthful.

"I fucking love McNuggets!"

My eyes widened, "alright then." I watched with entertainment as he enjoyed his meal. I, myself, didn't have much of an appetite, but I knew I couldn't just skip a meal. I couldn't afford to forget about my needs with Rin's situation.

.oOo.

I had hailed another taxi to the academy, to which Rin complained. We could've walked, but I wasn't going to make him tread half an hour, definitely not now.

When we arrived back at the academy and opened the dormitory door, I heard a scuffling upstairs. "Kuro?" I called, feeling my body tense. There was a loud mewling and my eyes widened. I shifted in front of Rin, who was anxiously scratching at him arm. "Kuro?" I called once more and another noise sounded from above.

A small black frame seemingly dashed toward us, and within a second, he was attached to Rin. His cries were ear piercing and tears flowed down his furry cheeks. My raven haired brother hugged him and sighed, mumbling in his ears.

I decided to give them both privacy and started walking upstairs. I had a mission, anyway.

Up on our floor, I moved inside the room I'd idiotically thought would be a good hiding spot. A scowl formed on my face as I looked at the small space. The door was absolutely trashed, and there were a few pills scattered on the floor yet, no doubt missed by Rin. I shuddered at the thought and knelt down, picking up the white tablets and pocketing them. I checked under all surfaces, as well, not taking any chances.

I'd trusted Rin, but that trust landed him a foot from death. Although I loved him and held and immense amount of respect for him, I knew this event would leave a lasting mark.

Standing up, I walked to the door, locking it from the inside and then shutting it behind me. This dorm would most likely never be used again, anyway. It it ever was, this particular door would need to be replaced, so locking it shouldn't be an issue.

I sighed, walking down the hallways to our room. The quaint area seemed different now, like it was hazardous. Grunting, I did the only thing I could to calm my nerves: ransack the place.

I rifled through drawers and cabinets, trashing anything semi-sharp or poisonous. I checked under Rin's mattress and went through all his pockets. I didn't find much in either except for some pocket change and a coupon for the grocery store.

Was I overreacting? Rin had promised to never do something like that again. He had made due on the first promise he'd given me, but that didn't mean he'd keep it up.

What could I do except for put him on house arrest? I'm not an adult, and I don't have legal control over him. All I can do is fret over him until he screams about it.

I sat back on my heels, crouched down over our laundry basket. There was nothing else here that he could use to... do that. It felt like my pocket was on fire, the meds burning a hole to my skin. What on earth was I suppose to do with those? Trash them? Flush them? No. That was horrible for the environment. I suppose I could leave them at a local poison control drop off.

I huffed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to leave the dorm with Rin for awhile, for my sake at the least.

I glanced around the room, where could I hid them? Definitely not here, that'd be too dangerous. Standing up, I walked out of the room, glancing around the hallway. I could hide them in a different room, like before. Yet, Rin managed to get to them anyway. Too bad I didn't have any of the room keys-

Key.

My key! I reached into my coat pocket, my fingers hitting the cool metal. With a smirk on my face, I walked up to a random door and inserted the key, twisting the lock and walking in.

Walking forward, I closed the door behind me then reopened it, smiling when all that I saw was a dreary bathroom. I loved my job, it involved interesting tricks of logic and physics that I couldn't even begin to understand. I opened the medicine cabinet and reached into my pocket, pulling out the contents, a frown appearing on my face.

Peppermint candy lay next to the tablets and my mood dropped. I closed my eyes and shoved the handful into the empty cabinet. I would've put them in a container, but the EMT's took the prescription bottle with them.

I exited the bathroom, grinding my teeth slightly. The lock clicked as I twisted the doorknob, and the sight of a bloody and clawed exterior appeared. 666, what the hell was I thinking? It's more of a cruel joke than a sly hiding spot. Come to think of it, I should've just used that key to open the door last night....

There was a thudding noise on the stairs and I hurried to lock and close the door behind me. My twin came into view and he gave me a surprised look before his eyes darted behind me. Immediately, I saw his features gray and he swallowed hard. His hand rose to touch Kuro, who was perched on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry..."