Dear God, I knew there was a reason I stayed away from Killing Stalking, but I broke and read it last night. I am forever scarred, send help.

The next day, the boys were acting weird around Yukio and I, avoiding speaking to us. I just brushed them off, they didn't understand. I slept soundly next to Yukio, my sleep void of any darkness. Both of us had paid no mind to the change of sleeping arrangements when we woke up, it wasn't the first time we'd slept in the same bed. We were twin brothers, after all.

I hadn't seen or heard Father Naito all morning, and after lunch, Yukio told us we were going to head out to start the mission. I grabbed the Kurikara and looking at Kuro, telling him he could come along. He was acting weird around me as well, but I knew it was for a different reason.

I opened the passenger side door and sat down in the seat, grunting in pain. "Christ, how hard did you fall on those stairs?" Bon laughed, breaking through his awkwardness. I chuckled nervously, thankful that I had an excuse to fall back on. Yukio gave me a sideways glance, his lips forming a thin line. I stared out the window and sighed when Kuro pushed on my shoulder.

"What?"

His voice was quiet, "you heard me last night, but you didn't answer me. Is it true...?" I sighed.

"What exactly are you asking?"

He was silent for a moment, "Did Father Naito hurt you when you were younger?"

I nodded and he suddenly started to growl loudly. The van shifted slightly as Yukio was startled, jolting the wheel. "What the hell is going on?" I grabbed Kuro from my shoulder and started shush him, but he clawed at my hands. I hissed when his nails dug into my palm, the wound burning. Kuro immediately stopped his angry tantrum.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I just-"

"Enough! No more, Kuro." His ears went back and he ducked his head. I sighed, wiping my bloodied palm against my hoodie.

"What was that?" Yukio demanded, his frustrated eyes darting from the road and glaring at me. I shook my head, there was no point in explaining it, it'd only create more questions.

.oOo.

Kuro had turned out to be a good addition to our group. Whenever we thought we were done in a room, he would pause and tell us how many demons he thought were left. We spent most of our time waiting for the demons to appear than we did fighting. By the time we finished, the sun was setting.

"I thought you said we'd get done earlier, Sensei." Shima huffed, leaning against a nearby wall. Why was he winded? He wasn't running around like Yukio and I, in fact, he was sitting for a majority of the mission. All the exercise had made my pain better and worse. The obvious movement had my abdomen twisting in pain, but the adrenaline of a fight numbed the sting.

Yukio wiped the sweat from his forehead, smiling sheepishly. "I did say that, didn't I? Well, it seemed that way, but Kuro helped us out." The feline meowed happily, ready to be of service. "With his help, we may finish ahead of schedule." Everyone sighed with relief, and I agreed, doing this for another two to three days seemed exhausting. Not to mention, I wanted to get as far away from the monestary as quick as possible.

We walked back to the van, no one bothering to fight me for the front seat. I stayed silent on the way home, anxiety starting to bloom in my chest. Kuro sensed my worry and he pawed at my face and rubbed against my chin. I picked him up from my lap and hugged him, his small body starting to vibrate as he purred. I'll admit it, it was adorable and helped ease some of my nervousness.

When we parked, I took a deep breath and exited the van. The group around me chattered about the day's events and what was to come, but I stayed silent. Sam opened the front door, saying that dinner was over, but he had left the food on the burner for us. We thanked him and entered the house, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

Upstairs, everyone was happily eating their ramen, but I only picked at the noodles, my appetite nonexistent. Yukio sat next to me, chatting with Sam and the others. He put an arm around my shoulder, "you feeling okay?"

I shrugged, "tired I guess."

He didn't seem to buy my words, but he accepted them anyway, turning to Sam. "Where's Father Naito? He hasn't been here all day." I tensed and Yukio raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh yeah, he was called to help a priest in the town over, he probably won't be back until tomorrow." I immediately relaxed, sighing in relief. Yukio's expression grew more thoughtful. I started to eat some of the ramen, feeling my hunger return slightly. My teal eyed brother continued to stare at me for awhile, and I was about to speak up about it, but he finally averted his gaze. I set my leftovers on the floor and Kuro happily excepted the meal.

Rising to my feet, I stretched and yawned, I wasn't lying when I said I was tired. I excused myself and made my way downstairs, Kuro following me to the bedroom. I sat down on the bed and gave a bitter sigh. "Do you have any other questions?"

He sat in the middle of the room, cocking his head to the side. "I do, actually." His tone turned dark, "how long has he been hurting you?"

"Since he started filling in for dad, in other words, since I was seven." Talking about it made me feel itchy, like bugs were crawling over my body.

He growled, "how bad?" I was confused and he realized that, "how bad does he hurt you?" I shifted my gaze away from him, not sure how to answer. "Bad then."

I sighed, returning my sight to him, "this is hard for me, okay? Yukio doesn't even know, no one does. You don't have to interrogate me like I'm a bad guy." My heart was beginning to race and I rubbed my chest reflexively.

"You're right, you're not the bad guy." He breathed out, closing his eyes briefly. "When did he stop?" His eyes flew open, "he did stop right?" I shifted in bed, fidgeting with the blanket. "Rin! He stopped right?" I felt him jump onto the mattress and then he was in my sight again. He put his front paws on my chest, standing on his hind legs and I flinched at how close his face was to mine. I shook my head slightly, but that's all he needed to see. "Oh my god, Rin!"

I pushed him off me and I leaned against the wall. "It's not that big of a deal." I mumbled, but my voice held no confidence.

"Of course it is! Is that why you've been in pain?" He paused, "last night, you rushed in here and when you grabbed your clothes, you grabbed your stomach, too." I watched as he nudged my hands away from my body and bit my hoodie, pulling it away from my skin. I quickly grabbed him and he started flailing. "If you don't show me, Rin, I'll cause the biggest fuss you've ever seen!"

"It's nothing, Kuro!" He scratched at my arms and I flinched. My racing heart combined with my anxiety was starting to eat at my mind. "Please, don't do anything rash." He continued to fight against me, so I set him down on the bed. "You don't want to know," my voice was a whisper.

"Yes I do."

My lip was trembling and I bit down on it. I reached down and grabbed the bottom of my hoodie, pulling it over my head. I stared at the opposite side of the room as the tension between us grew, my body starting to shake.

"This wasn't what I was expecting, to be honest." I didn't have to look to know what he was talking about. He thought Father Naito was only physically abusing me, but my bruises didn't seem to match what he envisioned. I had bruises on my lower neck that led down my collarbone, small nail marks on my ribs, and various finger sized bruises on my waist and hips.

I dared to look at my familiar, regretting it when his sad eyes locked on my own. "Rin..." his voice was quiet, shocked, "how does he hurt you?" I closed my eyes and felt a tear slid down my cheek, I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. "Please, Rin, tell me."

I breathed in sharply, another tear sliding down my face. I wiped my cheeks, my chest starting to heave, "It's horrible, Kuro..." my voice cracked.

"Does he... touch you?"

I sobbed and nodded my head, I'm utterly hopeless, crying so often like this. It's pathetic and an embarrassing thing to do in front of someone else. However, I couldn't help it, my pent up tension getting the best of me. I quickly put my hoodie back on and dried my tears. I shoved myself off the bed, muffling a grunt, and exited the room. Kuro escaped before I could shut him in, but I didn't care.

I wiped my face one last time before entering the church, not hearing anyone's voice. I walked to the front door and left the monestary, finding my friends in the front yard.

"Hey, where have you been?" Shima voiced from beside Yukio. Everyone was sitting on the grass in some kind of a circle.

I huffed, "nowhere interesting. A better question is; what are you doing out here?"

Koneko spoke up, "we're just talking, the weather is about to get colder next week, so we are enjoying the last leg of autumn."

"Come join us, Rin." Shiemi shifted so there was space between her and Yukio. He elbowed me when I sat down.

"What's up with Kuro?" He said, a concerned look on his face as he stared at the feline. I followed his gaze and saw the black cat sitting, wide-eyed in front of us. Passed his fur, I would've bet money that he had gone pale.

"Kuro!"

My telepathic chide snapped him out of his fog, but he immediately started meowing at the top of his lungs. I reached out to him but he backed up, "You need to tell Yukio! I don't care how hard it is, he needs to know!" I sheepishly looked around the group, their expressions startled and puzzled.

"What's up with him, Rin? He's been like this all day." Yukio stated and I heard my familiar tell me to speak up.

Izumo grabbed him and hugged the feline close, "hey, it's okay."

I turned to my brother, "I have no idea..."

I felt horrible for lying again, but I couldn't talk about it, not here. The two tailed cat frantically tried to escape Izumo's grasp, but she held him firmly. "Please! He'll hurt him again! Don't let that happen! Yukio! Yukio!!" For the first time since he found out about Dad's death, I saw Kuro start to cry, and my heart broke. However, I thanked the fates that no one could understand his incessant mewls.