They later found out that the reason Rin was banged up so bad was because he had to deal with the Nine-Tails inside Tamamo.

Which was why they also heard about a containment breach and were now waiting outside the facility holding Rin inside it a week after Inari.

§~•~§~•~§

"Damn it!" Yukio reloaded his pistols as he dodged a man thrown at him.

Rin stood, snarling, in the middle of the ancient chamber. Fluffy white fox tails swished behind him, all nine of them. Ears protruded from his now white/blue hair. His claws were elongated and his eyes were completely black–the only color in them being the luminescent blue irises. He'd been tossing Exorcists around like ragdolls for an hour.

Once he'd woken up, still healing, and told the full story to the exorcist that came to question him, they'd locked him in this room. He didn't like that and neither did the Nine-Tails and soon after he'd stopped trying to break the doors off their hinges from inside the vault, Exorcists were sent in to subdue him while he was calm.

He was not, in fact, calm. He'd already transformed. He'd been waiting for them.

By all means, the Nine-Tailed Fox should have only favored the Kamikis'. But because of Rin's short range of emotions and Demonic parentage, it would be easy for the Nine-Tailed Fox to posses him. Unfortunately, Yukio had the sneaking suspicion that Rin wasn't just letting the Demon use his body. He seemed conscious enough to do all of this to these Exorcists while mostly in his right mind. But, he was smart and was using this advantage to attack all the Exorcists who scorned him every day under the guise of being under control via the Kitsune in his body. Rin had always had wicked street-smarts. It must have felt good to let loose with the overwhelming power of both his flames and the Nine-Tails contained in his body.

Yukio had been called half an hour ago to come and get his brother under control. He hadn't yet tried to subdue his twin. Rin's range of emotions was mostly neutral, as few as they were. He had a lot of patience for bullshit, but even Rin got frustrated and needed to vent once in a while. He needed to get this out of his system before Yukio could try to calm him down. Besides, this seemed to be draining him. The more he threw around bodies with a wide fanged grin on his face, the more energy he used up by harnessing the power of the beast he'd let inside him.

But Yukio had to make it look like he was unable to get close so the Exorcists around him thought that Rin was just too powerful to handle and Yukio wouldn't get in trouble for basically watching them get tossed around while he strolled around leisurely. It was slightly amusing. All these Exorcists, older than him, higher ranked than him, who had arrogant, pompous attitudes, getting what they deserved. Rin may have been going about it a little wrong, but Justice was somewhat being served today in this chamber. The more time he spent observing his cruel brother, the fonder Yukio got of him somehow.

It seemed Rin had had enough of playing around. He had no extra energy left to give to the Nine-Tails. The ears, claws, and tails all receded back into his body and he stumbled around in his shredded clothing in the middle of the chamber before passing out on the spot. Yukio rushed forward to catch him before his head hit the hard floor. He held Rin up and walked to the doors. He banged on them and they were opened from the outside. The men outside sighed in relief. Mephisto was also on the other side, waiting. He grinned and snapped his gloved fingers. Amaimon, who was hidden by the Demon King's tall stature, came to take Rin from Yukio's arms. Yukio frowned and tugged Rin back. He didn't trust this.

"Come now, dear Yukio. I'm a very busy man and I must do something about this lest the Grigori get on me for letting it be. You can sit in on it if you'd like." Mephisto persuaded. Yukio narrowed his eyes at Amaimon and pulled his brother away. "I will accompany you." He decided.

The King of Time snapped his fingers once again, and that time, they reappeared in the Headmaster's office.

§~•~§~•~§

Suguro was pacing nonstop, biting his lip and thinking of what could have possibly happened to Rin.

"Bon, you're worrying too much. You'll give yourself a stress migraine." Konekomeru insisted.

"I'd say he's already got one from how long he's been doing that." A familiar voice said. They all turned to see Shima leaning casually in the doorway in his True Cross Academy uniform.

The next few minutes were a blur of the ExWires harassing the spy, including even Shiemi.

"So, Rin is in trouble I hear?" Shima asked once they were done assaulting him in the hallway.

"Not exactly. He's fine now." Yukio walked up to his students. "He might have even gotten lucky, given the circumstances." The headmaster appeared in front of them.

"I need you all to meet a very important member of the Grigory, now. It regards how trustworthy Shima Renzou is." And with that, they were all poofed to the office, where Rin was already sitting, nibbling on various snacks.

He looked completely drained. He could barely keep his eyes open and his skin was pale, maybe even feverish. "Rin!" Suguro surprised even himself as he ran forward to make sure the half-demon was okay.

It took Rin a second to register him, blinking in confusion once or twice before focusing on him again. "Oh. I guess I didn't get that much time away from you guys." Rin smiled at him and Suguro stumbled away from him.

"Wh-What the hell's wrong with him?!" He gasped. He'd known this guy for over half a year and not once has he seen Rin Okumura show emotion other than amusement at people's misfortune or menacing grins and cruel laughter.

"Ah, yes. He gets like that when he's tired sometimes. Rin is worn out and not exactly at 100%. The more tired he is, the more emotional he gets. It's almost like he goes back to being six." Yukio explained to them.

"That's creepy." Shima shivered.

"That's normal for people like him. Just enjoy it while it lasts, he'll be back to normal soon." Yukio corrected.

In the state of exhaustion and half-delirium from sharing his mind with a feral demon for an extended amount of time, Rin was a childish mess. Mephisto was thoroughly disturbed throughout their conversation on when Rin would be ready to take his Exorcist Qualification Exam. He had to take it as soon as possible. His deal with the Grigori had to be upheld. Mephisto decided he'd help heal Rin and possibly give him a few tips on demon taming.

"So he's regressed back to a little kid? That's....strange, but interesting." Shiemi marveled.

"Hey! What did you do with the Nine-Tails? My mom isn't possessed anymore." Izumo marched up to Rin. He looked up at her owlishly. "It's mine now." He said seriously. Izumo's brow furrowed.

"What?! That should be–"

"Impossible?" Rin finished.

She nodded dumbly. "How could.... is...is that okay? I'd that why he's like this?" She turned back to Yukio.

"He's strong enough for it. His spectrum of emotions is very short and mostly things that are neutral, so it was easy for him to take the Nine-Tails." Yukio answered.

"It is quite an interesting case, I must say!" A man stepped out of the shadows, grinning. He wore an explorer's hat, cargo pants, a button down shirt, and combat boots. And he stunk.

"Okumura Rin, eh? Oh man, I've been waiting to meet you since I heard about you! And that trial with the Grigori? Hysterical!" The man cheered, throwing an arm around the very confused half-demon. Rin wrinkled his nose, but didn't move. He didn't know if this man was a threat or not.

He felt a stinging pain in his arm and winced, launching himself over the table and away from the shady man. The guy held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey, it's okay! I just zapped ya so you'd be in the right state of mind for this. I'm Lewin Light, Arch Knight. I'm from the American Branch." He explained lightly.

"Light! He's an expert in chants and summoning ceremonies. He's called Lightning." Suguro whispered to his friends. Rin took note, but said nothing. He was more coherent now, but that still hurt.

"Still see me as an enemy, huh?" Lightning laughed.

"Anyone in the Order is an enemy. Especially the highest ranked." Rin told him, voice icy and eyes narrowed. Izumo stepped up.

"Why are you here? Something major must have happened fir you to be here." She asked. Lightning grinned wider.

"Ah, yes. Something has happened, but it's classified, so I can't tell you. But we also need to discuss something very important. Can we trust the double spy Shima Renzou?" Lightning turned serious.

Shima gaped. "But I'm a spy for the Order too! You're turning on me?!" He squeaked.

"You were caught in a very bad situation, Mr. Shima. Abducting a classmate and bringing her to your other Boss for important research and experimentation should have been discreet. Instead, you were messy. Rin here caught you red handed. Which also brings up another serious charge–the attempted murder of a fellow student. You tried to kill Okumura when he fought you to rescue Kamiki here." Lightning listed off charges. Shima looked as if he was about to faint. He looked around at his friends, but no one would meet his eyes except Rin.

"We can't trust him." Rin said into the heavy silence. Everyone looked at him. "He thinks he can get away with spying for two major organizations who are at war without consequences just because he's working for both of them. You've given him the power to do whatever he wants, even under orders. Whoever offers the better deal is who he'll choose to side with eventually. If we give him sensitive information from our higher ups, but he gives us small things from the Illuminati in return, what good is he? He'll destroy us with just smooth-talking." Rin looked Shima dead in the eyes. The pinkette was trembling.

"I agree with Rin. Our organization here is trash compared to what the Illiminati has. He'll choose them and we'll lose if we give him any more important information. He can't be trusted." Izumo stepped up next to the half-demon. "I....I also side with Rin and Kamiki-san. Shima-san can't be trusted. I-I'm sorry." Shiemi said regretfully. It was obvious she was feeling guilty about it, but trust was hard to win.

"Ah! This is not going very well for you, Mr. Shima." Lightning commented cheerfully.

"But," Rin began again. "Don't kill him. As of now, I'm assuming that he has no more information to give them since he just got back. I say we cut him loose. Let him fend for himself within their ranks. He'll either die or rise."

The tension was so thick, Rin could cut it with his knives.

"That would be beneficial. And it is true that he has been only giving us tidbits of information while he worked more for them than us, given the mess that was Ms. Kamiki's absuction. But how do you know all this, Rin?" Mephisto admitted, looking at the teen with interest.

"I don't have to be a spy to sneak around. It's easy to overhear people. In case anyone decides to try and kill me, I'll know and stop 'em before they can even try." Rin shrugged.

"Wow. A paranoid one, aren't you?" The Time Lord muttered. "Not paranoia if people really hate you that much." Rin shot back. Mephisto held his hands up in surrender.

"We can cut him loose. I think he'd go for the Illuminati, but then he'd have to fight me. I'll be the Order's weapon soon. The strongest. Don't know anybody who's fought me who hasn't ended up in a hospital. But Shima's also wimp, so maybe he'll choose wisely." Rin added offhandedly.

Suguro looked at Rin incredulously. Was he bullying Shima into picking their side?!

But when he caught Rin's eyes, the boy seemed to be waiting. Waiting for what? Suguro thought about what Rin had just said and realized that there was more than two choices. Shima could pick the Order, the Illuminati, or he could pick neutrality. Shima could choose to go into hiding until the war was over or until he decided he was needed. Rin was giving Shima the choice without saying it out loud. Suguro wondered if Shima caught that as well.

"Well? Renzou Shima, anything to say? Answers, comments? Hopes and dreams?" Lightning said into the silence. Rin snickered. Shima glanced around the room, then at his own hands. He didn't know what to choose. He most likely didn't catch the hidden third choice. Rin rolled his eyes and leaned down to whisper in the boy's ear. Shima's eyes widened and he looked at Rin, surprised. Rin's smile didn't tell them what he'd said, but it showed that Rin found Shima's reaction amusing.

"I....I choose......"

DEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONS

Aaaaand you'll find out next chapter! Yes I know, it's evil, but I gotta throw in a cliffhanger somewhere otherwise, what kind of author would I be? 😂

I act less like a hardass and more like five year old me when I'm tired enough to be incapacitated like that, so it happens.