Mephisto called Rin, Bon, and Amaimon in his office to tell them about Shura's disappearance on a Friday. Rin had noticed her absence, but she'd been pulling away from him recently, so he'd barely seen her lately.

"I need you to go retrieve her for me, starting from Hachinohe station." The Headmaster told them. Rin shook his head. "I feel like I'm just visiting all my friends houses. We went to Kyoto. Then Shimane. And now we're going to Shura's hometown. Please tell me the next one isn't the Monastery." He complained. Bon laughed and pulled the shorter teen to him by the waist. "You saw my childhood home, now we should all go see yours." He reasoned, snickering.

Rin snorted. "Good luck. Last time I saw it, there was a semi-truck in the sanctuary and the whole second floor was collapsed." He smirked. "Damn, that's rough." Bon winced. "Meh, it's okay. Place was old and shitty anyways." He shrugged, wrapping his arms around Bon's waist comfortably.

"So when do we leave?" He turned back to Mephisto. "Now." The Time Lord answered as he raised a gloved hand and snapped them away before the two could protest.

Suddenly, Rin and Bon were at a train station with bags packed and winter gear on. "That asshole...." Rin growled into his scarf. Bon chuckled and pulled him towards the edge of the platform to wait for their train.

§~•~§~•~§

"Of all the places to grow up, and it's Aomori." Rin sighed. "What's your deal against Aomori?" Bon wondered. "Kyoto had a lot of great tourist attractions. Aomori is known for apples. Literally, just apples." Rin answered. Bon scoffed. "I see your point. I like melons more." He conceded.

"Aw, but I thought you liked me?" Rin teased, laughing even as the bigger teen punched him on the arm. "You're terrible!" He grumbled, pulling the half-demon to his side to cuddle on the way to find their missing comrade.

§~•~§~•~§

After asking around the station, they got a lead that Shura headed towards Lake Towada. They looked around town for a while before finding an Inn to stay at since it was getting darker and colder by the time they got to town. The Inn was pretty much deserted except for the creepy lady who identified herself as the Innkeeper.

She zeroed in on their clasped hands quick and gave them a room together, no questions at all. "Thank you~" Rin waved as she left. She'd suggested the outdoor bath(a private one for them so they wouldn't disturb the other guests).

"What other guests?" Suguro snickered. "The skeletons in her closet?" Rin joked. They laughed and set to go relax in their private outdoor bath. The air was cold and bit at Rin's skin, but the water was sufficient to keep him warm enough. He was still trying to learn how to not automatically steal heat from things and people around him. It was an effort not to suck all the heat from the water and his boyfriend.

"I love outdoor baths! But this is very different now that I'm a fire demon with pretty much no self-control when it comes to stealing heat...." Rin pointed out. "You'll get the hang of it." Bon assured him.

"Seeing you surrounded by snow makes you look....delicate. Like a flower." Bon mused, cocking his head to look at the half-demon from a different angle. Rin blushed and looked down at the water to hide the smile the words brought.

"It took me a while to let Mephisto and Amaimon treat me like I was delicate rather than just dealing with getting thrown around all the time. I... I don't think I've been treated like that since I was a toddler." He remembered, letting his hair down from the braid it and been in. The black silky locks reached the top of his back now.

"I had to learn how to control my strength and the fighting started very early because of that and my temper. So I ways got treated more like I was a stone wall, or an obstacle for people to try and to overcome, though no one ever did. Not even me...." He looked out at the fresh layer of snow as he spoke quietly.

Bon slid an arm around his waist and tilted his chin up to look into his eyes. "I think everyone deserves to be treated like glass sometimes. You saw past my hardass exterior and you always knew exactly when to be an asshole and when to be kind to me. That's what you've wanted your whole life, huh?" He murmured. He leaned down for a soft, slow kiss and Rin finally relaxed then.

"I'm sorry. I wish we'd gotten together sooner. It's nice having someone who gives just as good as they get." Bon smiled against Rin's lips and Rin smiled too. That old woman thought they'd be doing something very different in this bath, but Rin was glad for the privacy. These soft moments were for him and Bon.

They eventually got out and were able to fall right asleep, cuddling snugly.

§~•~§~•~§

They looked up Shura's background while they ate breakfast the next morning. "The Baba Yaga Incident, huh? You know, there's a lot of 'Incidents' in the Order's Database." Rin pointed out. "It seems anything that can be used as blackmail is labelled an incident. The only own we've been involved in was the Impure King Incident, but that one doesn't look very incriminating when it was meant you that saved everyone, thankfully." Bon said. "But shouldn't you have basically no clearance to see missions with that classification? We're still only ExWires." Bon asked. "I hacked Mephisto's account a while ago when we first started dating and he let me stay because I'd already read pretty much everything I wasn't supposed to know before he found out. Makes missions easier." Rin told him, grinning.

"Oh, he spoils you in his own way, huh? I was wondering how someone as indirect and annoying as him treated you in a relationship." Bon grinned. "Win hsi cold, dead heart and he'll spoil you too, Babe." Rin told him with a grin. They located Towada Shrine and started the tougher part of the mission.

"There's a high-level up there. Be careful." Rin warned, feeling try strong aura of the demon. Bon nodded and they walked up the steps together. They found Shura laying on the front Porch of the Shrine. "That's suspiciously easy. But I'll take it for now. Let's get her back to the Inn, I guess." Rin grumbled. He couldn't feel his hands or feet and his nose and ears felt frozen despite all the protection against the cold he had and he was still suspicious of the obviously high-level demon watching them take Shura. He watched their backs until they were back to civilization.

They made sure they had hot tea ready for when Shura woke up once they treated her and left her to rest. The injuries weren't as bad as they'd looked at first glance and Rin had plenty of training to deal with it. He couldn't even remember how many times someone had pulled a knife on him when he used to fight back in Tokyo. There was a period of time where Shiro and Yukio thought Rin stopped fighting because he came home just fine, but that wasn't necessarily true. Rin had managed to just take hits where he knew they'd be hidden, taking care of his own cuts and stitching himself up if it was bad enough. He'd go he and no one would know he'd gotten in any fights or been cut by a knife. Rin's pain tolerance had always been high–high enough to do his own stitches without a numbing agent.

They sat and talked for a while while they waited for Shura to wake up and explain what her deal was and and why she'd just up and left after cutting them off so coldly.

§~•~§~•~§

"I'm going to die soon." At those words from Shura, Bon froze, wide eyed at the news. Rin stayed there, looking unimpressed. "Wow," He said. "That was pretty anticlimactic."

"You're not shocked?" She gaped at him. "Shura, I know what people do when they're saying goodbye and they don't really wanna do it. You've been pulling back and getting even more drunk lately, which allowed me the freedom of doing whatever I wanted and now I have three boyfriends, a possible girlfriend, and my own side in a war I didn't ask to be in. So thanks, I guess." The half-demon shrugged. Bon hit him on the shoulder for being insensitive and Rin raised his hands in defense.

A laugh from Shura got their attention. "That's great, kid. At least someone benefits here. I guess I should explain." She sat up and Rin handed her some tea, which she took gratefully.

"My ancestor traded the life spans of her descendants for a Demon Sword. Her name was Tatsuko Kirigakure." She began. "Well, that's fucked." Rin muttered. Shura ignored him and launched into the dramatic backstory that told of Tatsuko splitting off from the Iga to start her own style.

The Iga hunted Tatsuko Kirigakure down and she ran into Hachirotaro–a high-level Hydra demon. Hachiro loved the way she pleaded for life and made a deal with her.

Tatsuko agreed to a deal with Hachiro that she and all her descendants would bear a child and die by thirty to keep the line going and every child would look like Tatsuko. The woman agreed and ever since then, her descendants had been born with the magical tattoo that Shura's sword came out of.

"Wow, that's selfish." Rin winced. "She died by thirty after having a kid, why did she care?" Bon reminded him. Rin shook his head. "Some people are just shitty." He sighed.

"Well, I'd say we've got our hands full. You wanna call him or should I?" Bon looked to his boyfriend in question. "Should we though?" Rin wondered. "Shouldn't we be proving ourselves on this mission?"

"Nah, we've done that enough this year, we can cheat on this one." Bon decided. "What are you guys talking about?!" Shura snapped, not liking being out of the loop. "Our boyfriend." They said at the same time. Shura groaned. "Which one? And who are your fifty boyfriends, Rin?" She demanded. Rin scowled at her.

"Mephisto, Amaimon, and Bon. And Shiemi might join us, depending on if she's ready." He answered, rolling his eyes. "Wow, that's a random assortment if I've ever seen one." Shura mumbled into her tea, taking a drink.

§~•~§~•~§

They went Hachirotaro free Shura and ended up arguing with him over who got Shura like children and Rin was not having a good time. That Hydra complimented him on his power and battle prowess, said he should "mate" with Shura, then proposed that Rin should make a deal with him in Shura's place–all while they clashed swords.

"Hey, quit trying to steal my man, leech!" Bon shot a few warning shots at Hachiro's feet with the pistol he'd been training with for a while. Mephisto had told him no rocket launcher and that was the first time Rin had ever seen Bon pout. He wished he'd taken a picture.

The Hydra hissed at the teen and when he lunged to strike him down, Rin caught him around the waist, throwing him into a tree and pinning him there with Kurikara through his chest. "Campfire!!"

Hachiro made a lovely fireplace and Rin watched his flesh crumble away to ash.

That didn't keep him there for long though, so Rin had to come up with a plan on the spot and hope Shura and Bon knew to go along with it automatically. He pulled his sword out and got a considerable distance away from the Hydra. Hachiro came back snarling, ready to rip Rin's throat out.

"Wait!" Rin called and for some reason, the demon listened. "What you said earlier, about making a deal–what kind of deal?" Bon gaped at him, so Rin was either very convincing or actually shocked. Rin kept his gaze on Hachiro, hoping the demon didn't suspect a trick and hypnotize him.

"You would take Tatsuko's place and have a fang of your own. You could dual wield and learn the Kirigakure arts. You could give me even stronger heirs than Tatsuko has over these generations." The Hydra creeped closer to Rin and once he was close enough, he caressed Rin's face with a clawed hand. "You are quite lovely to look at as well...." The Hydra mused, curling a lock of Rin's hair around a finger. Rin did his best not to shudder or pull away.

"And how long would my descendants have to live?" Rin asked. "Maybe, if you can live forever with me, than you will not need a limit. We will watch them live out their lives. All you must do is take my mark, my fang, and my blessing. You will free me from this place and we will live as Kings somewhere humans cannot interfere." Hachiro murmured, looking absolutely sold on that idea as it formed in his head. Rin thought that sounded nice, but with Mephisto, Amaimon, and Bon instead of Hachiro.

Rin's whole body felt like it was slowly freezing, so if he was going to make this plan work, he needed to move fast before frostbite set in.

"That sounds like a much better future than the Order could give me...." He admitted. Hachiro grinned at him. "I accept." Rin told him, giving a bright smile even though it hurt his frozen face to do so. Hachiro watched him open his coat and his shirt and quite literally yanked the red markings right off of Shura, begining to claw them into Rin's chest.

"Now, Amaimon!" Bon called. The Earth King burst out of the ground, forming heavy stone chains to grab onto Hachiro and hold him still. To Rin's relief, the red markings on his chest disappeared. He didn't even stop to button up his shirt or zip up his jacket, he saw Hachiro catch Amaimon's eyes just for a second, but it was enough. The Demon King was hypnotized and the chains fell to the ground.

Rin cursed and backed up hastily as Hachiro grew into a huge hydra, grabbed Shura, and plunged though the ice into the lake. Rin didn't hesitate for a second, diving into the lake after them. It was freezing cold and Rin wreathed himself in flames, burning his shirt and coat off in order to keep the flames hot enough to protect his body.

He speared Hachiro with Kurikara and held on tight as the Hydra plunged them to the bottom of the lake. Rin was sure that if he or Shura were regular humans, they would have been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the water by now.

Rin slid down until he could latch onto Hachiro's scales with his claws. He held onto Kurikara with his tail as he crawled up one of the Hydra heads. Off to his right, he saw a flare of bright orange and knew Bon was using Karura's power to join them in the frigid water.

Rin went on autopilot as he climbed across the Hydra head. He got lucky–Hachiro wasn't paying attention to him because he hadn't attacked yet. That, and he was on the Hydra head closest to Hachiro's main head holding onto Shura. Shura was staying still, letting herself be dragged down with Hachiro and Rin was getting really fed up with people leaving him, so he stabbed Kurikara into the Hydra and stood up, also using it to keep himself in place.

He was running out of breath, but this was a last ditch effort anyways, so he let the flames build and build until he could barely hold onto them. He remembered casting the Kashou Zanmai in Kyoto, feeding his power into it. He hadn't had enough power on his own then. He did now, ever since he'd decided he was going to do what needed to be done and use every utility he had, demonic or not.

Rin trusted himself and his own flames and with a cry that echoed even under the water, he released the flames. He pushed as much fire into it as he could until even the fire protecting his body went into the attack. Hachiro fought back, wrapping scaly limbs around the half-demon and crushing him in their grip. Rin shouted as he felt his bones crack and fracture and burned the offending limbs off of him in retaliation.

Rin had no idea how he hadn't passed out yet, but he figured not being able to feel his body might have had a part in that. Maybe it was his determination to see this mission through and bring Shura home, maybe he was much stronger than he'd thought, maybe both. Rin didn't know. His whole body hurt from the stinging cold and was steadily going numb the longer he was without protection against the cold.

He saw Shura break free of Hachiro's grasp, cutting off her hair with her sword and slicing away at the Hydra heads coming after her, seemingly spurred on to escape and take advantage of Rin's sacrifice, finally. Bon made it to her and with Karura's help, pulled her away from the mosterous Hydra and swam up to the surface. He knew Rin wanted to finish off Hachiro so he couldn't come after them again.

Rin leaped over to the main Hydra head and stabbed his sword deeper and deeper into the Hydra head until the end of the blade was sticking out through Hachiro's bottom jaw and the hilt was flush to the top of his head. Hachiro struggled, but slowly shrunk under him until he was a small snake and they were just sinking into the depths. Rin had no energy left and was out of air. Thankfully, his body finally failed him and he passed out before he could actually die.