#it's not like we've got a lot of info on tamers yet

[tonguetiedraven]

The Circle of Strife

Part: One, Two (you are here), Three (final part.)

A/N: Per usual, this is going to be a bit longer than anticipated, with a third part getting them actually together, lol.

“What the hell was that stunt, you asshole?!” Ryuuji bellowed the moment Rin’s form appeared in the old dorm he’d taken as his training spot.

“I’m not— you can’t just parade me around like I’m some kind of party trick!”

“I wasn’t, you dick! I told you I had to pass a class and you’re the only guy I can summon!” And now Ryuuji was going to lose control of him and he wasn’t going to pass his class and he couldn’t work with Rin like this. (And Miss Yamada’s statement had sounded like a threat. What were those people going to do to Rin?)

“I don’t care about your class! I—” Rin clenched his hands in angry fists. “I don’t want…”

“What?” Ryuuji huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and trying not to glare. All his books made it sound like he wasn’t supposed to listen to his summons, but he also hadn’t met a Tamer who didn’t listen to their summons. Plus, Rin was obviously upset and yelling wasn’t getting them anywhere, and they were on such a time crunch.

“This… this is fine,” Rin grumbled, looking off to the side like he was annoyed he even had to say it. “Bullshitting stuff and working… it’s fine when it’s just us. You’re not… annoying. But… I’m not some kinda circus act. I’m not a pet to order around or something. I don’t like being ordered like that.” Rin growled a little. "I don't like being trapped."

Ryuuji huffed out a breath. "I know you're not a pet." Even if Rin should be forced to follow his orders with the tamer/summons relationship. Something was a bit… wrong with this one. 

"And I'm sorry if that made you feel like some kind of show, but I thought we had an understanding? I have to have your help to pass this class. I'm a shit tamer and you're all I've got for that." He'd never failed a class before, and if he couldn't pass this… he'd lose the option for a dragoon rank.

"You're not a shit tamer," Rin grumbled.

It was almost a compliment, and it had the result of making Ryuuji's cheeks a little warm.

"Gee," Ryuuji muttered back, "thanks so much."

Rin scowled.

Ryuuji took in a deep breath and slowly released it. The other part of Rin's complaint still needed to be considered.

"I don't know why you're being summoned with this circle, and I don't know how to separate you from the containment spell."

Rin slouched more and kicked at the concrete.

"But," Ryuuji added, trying not to think about how dangerous this was, "I'll try and figure it out if you promise to at least pretend to listen to me so I can pass this class."

Ryuuji watched Rin try to decide with bated breath. If he didn't agree, Ryuuji was going to fail and he wasn't sure what would happen to Rin.

"You could just try and summon something else," Rin muttered, but he looked a little soured as he said it.

"I have," Ryuuji said around a laugh that was utterly exhausted. "Some people just… can't." Though, he never had tried to summon a nixie.

Rin scowled. "You'll give me food?"

Ryuuji didn't let himself relax yet. "Yeah, of course."

"And can you make the stuff sound less… ordery?"

"Yeah "

Rin nodded like he'd expected that. "Alright, Ryuuji. I'll do your stupid tricks."

Ryuuji released a relieved breath and let his head hang a little. He could work with all of that.

— — — — —

Rin, as it turned out, also liked manga. Ryuuji's was sitting on his dresser and apparently the artwork on the front had been a bit too hard to resist.

Ryuuji hadn't been particularly attached to that story so he let Rin have it after he did a few simple spells, and now Ryuuji had two things to make Rin (mostly) listen.

There was more talking too, which Ryuuji hadn't really expected, even though it kinda felt like he should have. Even when he was throwing a hissy fit, Rin was talkative.

Ryuuji mostly tried to stay on track, but it was all too easy to get sidetracked by some random question, and more often than not it ended with Rin laughing and calling him a nerd like they were back in Middle School. (If demons even had an equivalent to middle school. He imagined the teasing and bullying had to be as bad or worse than what he’d gone through.)

“Would you stop that?!”

Rin laughed all the harder as he shook his head, rocking back and forth a little from his seated position on the floor. He was showing his fangs in a delighted smile, and it should look ridiculous on him, but mostly he just looked stupidly happy and Ryuuji kept blushing about being called a nerd and he was one. He’d memorized numerous volumes, had top ranks in his top class, and regularly read ancient scriptures for fun. He owned the market on nerd.

But Rin was cackling and his tail was thumping giddily against the floor, and it was making Ryuuji blush and feel entirely embarrassed, and it was a stupid thing to be embarrassed about when he’d been called so much worse, and Rin was right. He did have an enormous book collection. (And this was only part of it.)

“Your face!” Rin cackled, falling onto his back as he over rocked, and even that just seemed to make him laugh harder.

Ryuuji shoved up to his feet, torn between leaving the room, throwing the empty soda can at Rin, or just breaking the circle. 

He didn’t quite trust Rin alone, and the can was as far away as the circle, so he stomped up to the circle, intending to break it and the connection to Rin. (Just for a little while. He’d summon him back before the hour was over. The dorm room seemed weirdly quiet now without Rin’s endless rambles, and it was good practice to try and stay focused on his recitations while Rin rambled.)

Rin’s hand flew out and covered the edge of the circle as Ryuuji drew near.

“No!” He yelped, voice still cracking on his own laugh, “I’ll stop!”

“Will not,” Ryuuji grumbled moving his hand to the other side of the circle in a mostly mock threat. 

Rin, apparently not thinking it a mock threat, shot his hand across the circle and flopped it on top of Ryuuji’s, pressing Ryuuji’s palm against the hardwood and chalk, stopping him from erasing it.

Despite being on fire, Rin’s touch wasn’t any hotter than a human’s touch. He was solid too, which probably shouldn’t be strange, but Ryuuji hadn’t really expected him to be solid.

“Come on, don’t!”

Ryuuji found himself momentarily forgetting what he’d threatened to even do. He swallowed, staring down at the hand over his and wondering how he’d been summoning Rin so many times and never actually touched him. There were calluses pressing against the back of his hands, claws poking at his skin, and Rin was squeezing, just a little. Not as much as he probably could, and not painfully so.

All Ryuuji could think was you’re real, and it seemed too stupid to possibly say, so he just stared moer than was probably polite. 

“Ryuuji?” Rin let go of his hand and tilted his head curiously. 

Ryuuji snatched his hand back and stood up to cross over to his desk chair. 

“Nothing,” he muttered, wondering why everything seemed a little different when nothing had actually changed. Rin had always been real. He was just trapped in a circle because Ryuuji had somehow managed to summon and trap him in a circle, and he couldn’t figure out which part did what yet. 

Turning to his book, he frowned at it. That suddenly seemed far more important to figure out. 

“Ryuuji?” Rin asked again, and apparently that ‘nothing’ didn’t quite take. 

“Nothing, you dork—”

“I’m not a dork!”

“—I’m just thinking about some things.” He only had a few more days before the summoning exam. He could focus on which part had Rin stuck once they passed. (Though, he wouldn’t have a reason to summon Rin after that, would he?)

“Ryuuji?”

And apparently Rin was still not buying it. Ryuuji rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the packets of gummies off his desk. He tossed it to Rin (was it just his imagination that Rin’s hair looked a bit… translucent?)

“Eat up. We got some more stuff to do.” And I still haven’t figured out how to let you sustain yourself off my energy.

Rin eyed him like he still didn’t quite buy it, but he ate the gummies anyway. His hair seemed to solidify again, and something a little guilty squirmed in Ryuuji’s gut. 

He didn’t quite want to stop summoning Rin.

— — — — —

“Tomorrow?” Rin asked, bouncing from foot to foot because he had a ludicrous amount of energy before Ryuuji had started bribing him into work with sugar and caffeine. 

“Yeah. Tomorrow.” Ryuuji went over his notes a bit nervously. “You—”

“Relax!” Rin laughed. “I know the drill. I’ll do the stuff and you’ll pass. Just don’t make your tone all bossy, ‘kay?”

“I’m not bossy! And you’re sure you got it?”

“Yeah!” Rin exclaimed, all teeth as he smiled. “Think there’ll be some kinda fight?” He bounced from foot to foot again, raising his fist like he was going to box. “Think I’ll get to show off my moves?”

Ryuuji couldn’t help a snort. “No, you dork. This isn’t some Pokémon training. All they should be looking for is if we respond to each other.”

“What?” Rin asked, dropping his hands and blushing a little.

“Pokémon? It’s a game. Never mind. They just want to see if we’ll work together. If we’ve got a good rapport.”

Rin, still looking a bit pink and purple, scrunched his nose with confusion. “Rapport?”

“If we’re able to understand each other and communicate?”

“Oh.” Rin toed awkwardly at the floor. “Okay.”

Now Ryuuji was the one feeling awkward. It seemed so strange that he had reached the point where tomorrow was it. He would summon Rin and then…

“I promise I’ll leave you alone after tomorrow, and… Thanks. For working with me.”

“Leave me alone?”

“Yeah. I’l break the circle tomorrow and… And that’ll be it. You won’t have to see me again.  

“Oh.” Rin’s smile faltered a little. “So this is it?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry you got roped into all this, and thank you for helping me anyway.” 

“Yeah,” Rin toed at the ground again. “It was… fun.”

Something in Ryuuji’s chest loosened and relaxed. Rin hadn’t really had a choice, and Ryuuji had tried to not be a jack ass, but knowing Rin had enjoyed some of the time was an enormous relief.

Ryuuji offered Rin as broad of a smile as he could, feeling like it didn’t quite sit right before he just let it drop. 

“Tomorrow.” Tomorrow and then no more Rin.

“It’s gonna go great,” Rin promised, and Ryuuji hoped it would.

— — — — —

Ryuuji made the circle as hastily as he could, not really wanting Miss Yamada to look at it too closely and figure out where the difference in his circle and the proper one were. Rin seemed tied to those changes and he didn’t quite want her to be able to summon him. Rin deserved to just be able to chill in Gehenna. (Even if that sounded awful to Ryuuji.

With the circle complete, it only took a moment to drop a few hairs and rice. (Apparently Rin couldn’t really taste the first offering. It was only once he appeared that they started to have flavor, so Ryuuji went cheap on the first.)

Rin appeared, a bit translucent, but with a less aggressive stance than he’d taken last time. 

So far so good.

Ryuuji gave him a small smile and pulled out a pack of strawberry pocky and tossed it to Rin, careful not to step through the barrier in front of his teacher. 

Rin’s eyes went a little wide before he was prying the packet open and popping one in his mouth.

“Rin, I beseech you to create a ball of fire for me.” He’d agreed to use more formal language because Rin thought it made them both sound cooler. 

Rin snapped the pocky between his fangs, swallowed it, and gave him a sharp smile. Then, raising his hand, he formed a ball of fire. 

Yes! Miss Yamada saw that Ryuuji had summoned, and that his summons could follow an instruction.

“Spells? Which spells have you two mastered?”

Mastered? They’d had two weeks. 

“Rin, please heed my prayer and grant me a fire slash.” Ryuuji bowed a little for that one. He would swallow pride to get an A. 

Rin beamed and summoned a sword of flames from his hand. Then, with a sweep of his sword in a sharp arc, he sent a flare of fire in an arc across the entire room. They weren’t hot, and did no damage.

Miss Yamada’s eyes narrowed. “Well, he certainly seems responsive this time. I suppose you’ve tamed him?”

Rin’s posture stiffened. 

“We have a contract,” Ryuuji said, confirming but not using her wording. He hadn’t tamed Rin. He was pretty sure Rin couldn’t be ‘tamed.’ Ryuuji certainly wasn’t capable of it. It was a damn blessing that he’d even gotten Rin to show up.

Rin seemed to relax a little. 

“I’m impressed, Suguro.” She said, and Ryuuji did a small victory punch in his head. 

The victory punch died after class when he was getting ready to dismiss Rin for the final time.

“You’re taking my course next semester?”

“Err…”

“Because if not, I’ll expect the details on your modified circle. This demon needs further investigation.”

Ryuuji could feel himself going pale. Further investigation? What did that mean? What was she going to do with Rin?

She nodded her head. “Yes. Very impressive. I look forward to finding out just what all we can make him do.”

Fuck.

— — — — —

“What are they going to do to me?!” Rin demanded, flaring with frightened fire. He tried to make it look intimidating, but Ryuuji recognized the wild way Rin went when scared.

“I don’t know. I gotta—stop that. I gotta think.” 

“Well think quicker!”

“It ain’t something you can just do on demand!” Ryuuji huffed and pressed his fingers against his temple, trying to ease some of the tension. 

“Well?” Rin asked after all of three seconds. 

Ryuuji inhaled slowly. “You’ve never been summoned before?”

Rin blushed purple past the flames. “No,” he muttered. “I already told ya that. You’re… It’s only happened like this.”

Rin was an unknown and unregistered demon then. Ryuuji didn’t know a lot about that, but it would mean that Rin was going to need to be tested, and the section they’d covered on testing in this class didn’t sound like a whole hell of a lot of fun.  They sounded torturous. Intense and endless and painful. There might even be testing with arias and sutras. 

It could be torture, and it would be entirely Ryuuji’s fault. He had forced himself into Rin’s life and irrevocably changed it, and…

There was really only one thing to do. Well, only one thing he could do with anything like a clear conscience. Doing anything else would be wrong. (He’d already learned Rin had favorites and liked manga and struggled with reading and bounced to rock and though Ryuuji was a nerd, and he was warm and solid when he was touched because he was entirely and frighteningly real and alive.) 

Ryuuji had summoned Rin, and in doing so, he automatically assumed responsibility of what happened next. Rin had to respond to the call. He was (annoyingly) innocent in this.

Ryuuij stood straighter and gave Rin a determined look. “Get comfortable. I gotta figure out how to get you out of that damn circle if I’m taking her class next semester.”

Rin drew back. “What?”

Ryuuji shrugged and took his seat. “I got ya into this mess. I’m not going to leave you hanging. We got a contract, right? You helped me and I help you.” He’d gotten his passing grade and got out of taking the class again. Hell, he’d passed enough to qualify for the next course.

He looked back up when he realized Rin hadn’t answered. The demon was giving him a look like he had never quite seen Ryuuji before.

“What?” Ryuuji demanded.

Rin shook his head. “Anyone ever tell you you’re cool?”

Ryuuji scowled. There was no need for Rin to make fun of him when he’d just made the sacrifice of taking another semester in a subject he hated. 

“Shut up!” 

Rin grinned goofily, looking entirely happy as his tail wagged. “Alright, Ryuuji. Whadda we do first?”

“You shut up,” Ryuuji threw a pack of rice crackers at him, hitting him square in the chest, “and eat.”

Rin did as he was told, grinning in that stupidly happy way and making a constant thump thump thump as his tail wagged and beat against the circle. 

Ryuuji really didn’t want to take this damned class, but as he spread out his notes on the circle and started to read to the sound of Rin’s ludicrously loud chomping and happy thumps, he figured there were worse things he could get stuck doing than partnering with Rin.

— — — — —

“Hey!” Rin appeared the moment Ryuuji’s blood hit the circle. He appeared so quickly that he nearly clocked Ryuuji in the nose. Ryuuji drew back with a colorful curse and promptly scowled.

“Would ya watch it?!”

Rin had never appeared like that before. It always took a lot more than blood.

Rin grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s kinda hard to control the speed I come in at.” 

Ryuuji found himself immediately and annoyingly fascinated. “You can change the speed?”

Rin shrugged. “Yeah? I was dragging my feet at first. Still had to come, but I could make it take longer.” The demon paused, eyes going a bit wider when he saw the the rice in Ryuuji’s hand. “Was that for me?”

“Yes. But you don’t need it?” Had he been wasting money on that all this time? Was the blood all he needed?

No. That didn’t work. He’d summoned Rin with just blood before, but he hadn’t been strong enough to come all the way over. Why had it worked now?

Rin scooped up a mouthful of rice. “Need it?”

“To get over here.”

“Oh,” Rin stuffed more rice in his mouth despite not having swallowed the first bite. “I don’t know. I just heard ya call.” 

Ryuuji’s cheeks turned pink and he wasn’t sure why.  “Heard my call?”

Rin swallowed and stuffed twice as much rice in his mouth. “Yeah.”

Ryuuji looked down at his notes feeling strangely flustered and warm. “Oh. Okay…”

He looked back up at Rin, still blushing, and found Rin had already been looking at him with a small smile.

"Uh," he stuttered, clutching his papers a bit too tightly as Rin's smile seemed to grow. "We--books."

"Books?" Rin teased, and Ryuuji was pretty sure his ears went a bit pink to join his blushing cheeks.

"Shut up!"

Rin just laughed.