Episode 26

Small Beginnings (嚆矢濫觴) is the 26th episode of the Ao no Exorcist anime overall and the 1st episode of the second season, the Kyoto Saga. It first aired on January 7, 2017.

Synopsis
The episode begins with a team of Exorcists chasing a mysterious man wearing a gas mask. Satoru and his mother are shown speaking with an Exorcist who promptly tells them that it is not safe and they need to get indoors. She starts to leave with Satoru, when he gets excited about seeing Exorcists fight and breaks away from her. The Exorcist blocks his mother from chasing after him and yells for him to come back, that it is not safe. Suddenly, a masked man appears and takes Satoru hostage. The other Exorcists in pursuit soon catch up with him and they plead with the man to let the boy go. The masked man then reaches for the mysterious item he is holding.

Back at the dormitory, Rin Okumura is shown on the roof, practicing to control his flames with little success. Shura Kirigakure then comments that she see very little improvement in his abilities. Surprised to see her, Rin comments that he has been training in secret. Shura then says she knows he had been going up there every morning. She reminds him that it is her job to keep an eye on him and then begins to scold him about only needing to burn the two outside candles simultaneously and not all of them. She warn him if his flames go out of control again that he will be exorcised. Rin has a flash back to when he lost control when he fought Amaimon. After telling Rin not to draw Kurikara she receives a phone call. After acknowledging whoever was on the other end, she tells Rin that it is time to go.

Back in the city, Yukio Okumura arrives on the scene shortly before Shura and Rin. Yukio is surprised to see his brother. One of the Exorcists on scene asks if it's alright that Rin is there and Shura tells him that she cannot let him out of her sight and assures him that he can trust him. Yukio then asks for an explanation of the situation. The Exorcist asking about Rin then introduces himself as Saburota Todo, Deep Keep director and 2nd class Exorcist. He go's on to explain that everything started when the Left Eye of the Impure King was stolen.

Todo continues on, telling them he does not know how the eye was stolen. He then tells them they pursued a man in a gas mask whom they believed to be the thief to the alley way where he then took a boy hostage and released the eye's Miasma before escaping into a nearby building with the boy as his hostage. Shura asks if the masked thief is tough to which Todo replies he does not know, as he never once fought with any of them and they do not know if he is a demon or human. Just as Yukio began to formulate a plan, Satoru's Mother comes forward and asks if there was any news about her son. Rin begins to offer her his assurances that everything will be alright when Yukio interrupts him and tells her bluntly they cannot guarantee her sons safety and that she should prepare for the worst. She begins to cry as Yukio walks away. Rin is clearly angry about how Yukio handled the situation starts to question him when Yukio tells Shura to keep an eye on Rin.

She says she remembered she had something to do and prods Rin to come along. Rin, still angry grabs Yukio and says he is going with him. Yukio spins around and grabs Rin by his tie and begins to yell at him about not making promises as they cannot always save everyone. Rin knocks his hand away and yells that he should not jump to conclusions before they try. Shura then grabs Rin by his shirt collar and drags him away. Yukio begins to put on a hazmat suit when Todo comes forward and offers to help him. Yukio agrees and the two enter the building.

Todo and Yukio carry on some small talk about their backgrounds for a moment before Rin suddenly appears behind them, asking about the eye. Yukio, surprised to see his brother, asks him where Shura is. Rin tells him that he gave her the slip and that he gave his word that they would save the boy and he cannot stand by and do nothing. Rin then offers to carry the Replica Canary for Yukio, whom tells him he can, but not to do anything else. Rin asks what the Canary is for, and Todo explains that it is for detecting Miasma and that it will stop chirping when it senses some. Almost if right on cue, the Canary stops and the masked thief stands before the trio at the end of the hallway. Rin spots Satoru lying on the floor and points out that he is still alive. Yukio says that he is in critical condition and that they need to move fast.

Yukio then pulls out his pistol and yells at the thief to stay put. The thief disregards him and then begins approaching them. Yukio threatens to shoot him if he takes another step and he continues with no regards. Yukio fires on him and he breaks up, revealing that the thief was composed entirely of miasma and that the eye it was carrying is fake. Rin quickly runs to Satoru's side when suddenly Todo kicks Yukio in the back. Todo then rips off his hazmat suit to reveal that he is a demon and the sourse of the miasma. Yukio tells Rin to take Satoru and run. As he does, Todo sends a cloud of miasma at Rin who then uses his flames to burn it away but only ends up causing Satoru pain. Yukio then calls out to Rin and Todo tells him he should be focusing on him, and then attacks Yukio.

Todo holds Yukio down and then begins to tell him that he reminds him of his younger self and continues on by telling him that he once wanted to be like his father and older brother, but grew to hate them, the order and the entire world and that admitting that to himself felt wonderful. Yukio says that he is weak by giving in to a demons temptation. Todo then tells him that there is weakness within every mans heart and then asks Yukio if he is afraid to admit acknowledge what his own is. Suddenly, his watch alarm beeps and he says that he must go. He tell Yukio he enjoyed that chat with him and Rin and that his words will wend their way through Yukio's mind, even if he does not yet understand what he means. He then tells him on that day, he will welcome him with open arms before disappearing in a cloud of miasma.

Rin then grabs Yukio's attention, whom is clearly flustered. Yukio observes that due to Rin's flames burning them, the Sporangia that have infect Satoru have quickly multiplied to repair the damaged caused by Rin's flames. Yukio determines that he need to treat the boy right there otherwise, he will not make it. After being unable to calm down, Yukio rips off his hazmat suit which worries Rin. Rin offers to help him but Yukio quickly dismisses him leaving Rin to watch him carefully treat Satoru's condition. Yukio has a very hard time steadying his hands and then has a flashback to his childhood, recalling that it is just like then when he was seeing demons and was afraid of them.

Todo's words then begin to resonate within him. Yukio then suddenly stabs himself in the arm, causing much worry for Rin and then he returns to treating Satoru. Later, the two walk out of the building with Yukio carrying Satoru whom is in a much better state thanks to Yukio's quick thinking. He hand him over to his mother who promptly thanks him to which he says that it was nothing at all. Mephisto Pheles then arrives with Shura at his side, congratulating Yukio on a job well done. He then tells Rin and Yukio that the real eye was stolen and the incident was a distraction.

Shura tells them that her familiar is tracking the eye as they spoke. She goes on to explain that she felt something was not right about Todo, so she did some investigating and her hunch was right. Mephisto then says that a ruckus seemed to have also taken place at the Kyoto Branch Office which is where the other eye is stored. Rin begins to ask for an explanation about the eyes, when Mephisto interrupts him saying that they need to assemble a team to track down and retrieve the left eye as soon as possible. He then selects Yukio to be on that very team. Yukio is surprised but Mephisto explains that they still do not know what the enemy's motivations are and that he is the only one whom has had direct contact with the enemy. He then tells Yukio to meet him at the center of the base in one hour. Yukio then asks Shura to keep an eye on Rin as he departs with Mephisto.

Shura comments that Yukio is like grumpy old man. Rin then calls Yukio out, telling him that he will make him eat his dust. Yukio seems surprised to hear Rins statement but then tells him that that joke must have sounded funnier in his head. He then says that he is busy and cannot babysit him 24/7. This only makes Rin angry and he yells back that he will surprise Yukio so much that his jaw will hit the floor.

Later, Rin, Kuro and Shura are shown at the train station. Rin is very excited to be going to Kyoto since he was not able to go there in junior high. Shura comments that it is almost entertaining how excited he is and then quickly tells him that it is not a pleasure trip and to board the train. Rin enters the car to be met with bewildered looks from all of the exorcists on also on board. He asks Shura where he should sit and she tells him to sit up front.

After Rin takes a seat, Shura informs him that she is going to car 3 to see how the inoculations are going and also tells him to stay put and to not cause any trouble. As Shura takes here leave Rin then begins to look at a travel magazine. As he flips through it's pages, Shiemi watches from the cars entrance timidly. Rin eventually notices her and calls out her name. She quickly averts her gaze and begins to leave when Ryuji, Renzo, and Konekomaru then arrive.

Manga & Anime Differences

 * In the anime, Shura is seen watching Rin's training with the candles before being called to help recover the right eye of the Impure King. This is not seen in the manga.
 * Scenes from Chapter 14 that were changed or skipped in Episode 16 are re-adapted in this episode (such as Ryuji and Shiemi's reactions to finding out Rin is Satan's son). However, it is still not shown that Mephisto was the one to stop Rin's rampage rather than Shiemi.
 * The scene in Chapter 16 where Mephisto tells Rin's classmates that they're going to Kyoto, and the scene in Chapter 17 where Shura interrupts Rin's training with the candles to tell him the same, were both cut from the episode.
 * However, the scene with Rin and Shura could have simply been remade as the previously mentioned anime-only scene with them.
 * In the manga, Shura asks Shinichi to explain what happened with the Impure King's left eye before explaining the mission herself, and Adachi also helps explaining about the Impure King after Izumo asks what he is. In the anime, Shura does all the explanation herself and Shinichi and Adachi are not seen at all.
 * A scene is added at the end of the episode that shows the Left Eye Recovery Squad heading to Kyoto on a van.

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