Memoriæ Dæmon
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Memory Demon
Chapter 1 : Unchanging
Key:
Italics - thought/past
Yukio's mornings were always a ruckus. As usual, his older brother Rin would come home late and the following morning, his father, Shiro, would attempt to talk some sense into him. He walked through the back door of the church and sure enough he saw Rin in the middle of a scolding. Before Rin could talk back at their father, Yukio interrupted,
"'Tou-san, I've finished preparing for the move. I just need to move them now."
Izumi and Kyodo halted wiping the windows of the church. Izumi turned back and called to Rin,
"If only you were a little bit like your brother!"
'Not really something you should say...' Yukio continued to smile silently.
Rin hotheadedly turned around and shouted at them to shut up. The heater at the center of the aisle blown up and its cover flew to the ceiling, falling right at his father's feet. The abbey went completely silent. Their father ran frantically towards the device and knelt on one knee beside it.
"I really need to buy a new heater..."
As he looked down tiredly, Nagatomo had approached him. The old man nodded while the exorcist quietly conversed with him. As the head of this church, their father was a busy man.
"Clean this up before the next service!" The man ordered as he stood up and pointed at the heater.
The two exorcists leapt down from their position at the windows and heeded him.
"And Yukio."
The twins looked to their father.
"Treat your brother's wounds."
It was time to use his practice on his brother who turned away sulkingly.
"Sure. Come on, Nii-san."
Yukio led his older brother to kitchen where he sat down atop the table awaiting his treatment. The teen opened one of the kitchen cabinets and brought a first aid kit. He pulled out one of the chairs from under the table and sat on it. His expression changed to that of a serious one as he opened the kit.
"Remove your jacket."
"Yes yes, Doctor Okumura."
"Your hand."
Rin extended his right arm out to him. Yukio rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie to expose the bruised skin of his hands. Dipping a cotton ball in antiseptic, he picked it up with a pair of tweezers and dabbed at the first area. His older brother winced in pain and repeatedly complained. After finishing sanitizing his wounds, he started to wrap his cut fingers with the bandages.
"Ah I see, so you're moving to a dorm?"
Rin noticed the pile of boxes at the corner of kitchen with his books and clothes. The majority of the boxes contained more books than other personal belongings.
"Yeah, school starts next week."
Yukio snipped the end of the bandage and stuck it together to one of his injured fingers.
"Fifteen years and I'm ready to leave this place."
His older brother's expression softened and turned into somewhat of a lonely smile.
"So this is the last time you'll treat my wounds, huh?"
The younger twin snipped off the end of the bandage of his other finger and returned the materials back into the first aid kit.
"If I become a doctor, I'll help you out anytime. Of course, if you pay the fees."
He gently reached up again and smoothed the bandage.
"Your future dream is to become a doctor, huh?"
Lifting up his newly treated hand, Rin lifted it up and inspected it excitedly.
"You do your best! You can definitely do it!"
"Don't forget the fees, Nii-san."
Yukio's face turned solemn.
"Hey, Nii-san."
Little did Rin know, he was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become an exorcist.
"Are you sure you'll be okay when I'm not around?"
The irritation that was on face as their father scolded him earlier returned. It was clear that he was tired of being lectured.
"What's with that? Are you going to scold me too?"
Yukio shook his head.
"I'm just worried. And it's not just me, either. 'Dad and everyone else here are too. Everyday, you fight and you quit your part time jobs for a short while."
Rin didn't deny it and just hung his head.
"I'm worried too. I know I should be growing up already. But..."
He listened to Rin's recount of what had happened last night from coming home to seeing a boy mercilessly shooting birds for sport. The thought had pissed him off too, but Yukio thought his brother's actions were reckless to say the least.
"It must be a test for Nii-san."
"A test? From who?"
"God"
Rin's face squelched into displeasure.
"You're becoming more like the old man."
The sound of kitchen door opening was heard. Izumi came in with a box of shoes beside Maruta who held an advertisement for a part time job at Southern Cross Mall.
"Ah, he's here!"
The talk of another part time job after losing his recent one surprised Rin who was looking for an opportunity to reject. One by one, each of them encouraged him, Kyodo even lent him one of his suits.
'Nii-san, you're lucky you're getting all this help.'
Izumi, Maruta and Kyodo, even Nagetomo were always beside Yukio and Rin as they grew up. Having their support made them both lucky.
Yukio pitched in with encouragement with a big smile.
"Just do it, Nii-san."
After Rin left to prepare for the interview, Yukio went back to his room to check is he had left anything else he needed. The room was completely cleaned out other than his bed that was already made. There was something left behind on his table that he intended on stuffing into his messenger bag after packing his moving boxes.
He picked up the small picture frame that was left standing at the corner of his table and gazed at it fondly. Inside the frame was a picture of three children. A little girl had her arms around the shoulders of the Okumura brothers who stood beside her. Yukio was in tears, in contrast to Rin and the girl who smiled widely.
The photo was taken so long ago.
Eight years ago
A young, bespectacled child looked up at his father with desperate blue eyes.
"Yukio! Why the long face?" The white haired man asked as he ushered his child closer and closer to the jungle gym,"I thought you loved it here!"
The child clutched the hem of his father's coat and looked out towards the sea of children on the play set. He starred down at his feet and mumbled,"Nii-san isn't here with us..."
"Rin is..." His father looked to the sky and trailed off before turning back to his son with a hearty laugh,
"Bwahaha- still eating his vegetables!"
"Dad...!" The boy groaned.
"My bad, my bad," Shiro's laughter died down and he looked down at his son with a smile,"I'll have Izumi drop him."
Blue eyes lit up as he asked in excitement,"Really?"
"Yup." Then his old man added with a fit of laughter,"When he finishes eating his vegetables! Bwahaha-"
Yukio made no further comment and Shiro finally told his son seriously,"Really. He'll be here in a jiffy."
"I'll be sitting right 'ere, son!" He pushed his son toward the crowd of children and called out to him as he seated himself on a bench,"Doin' a babe watch!"
The seven year old simply drew a breath and cautiously walked on the large expanse of bark to the crowd of children. He was already scared being alone.
'Twins had some sort of connection, right? Like hearing each others thoughts and such?' The lonely boy thought.
Yukio decided to give it a try and chanted within his head like a mantra,'Eat your vegetables, Rin. Eat your vegetables, Rin. Eat your vegetables, Rin. Eat your veg-'
The attempt was cut short when a little girl with dark brown pigtails appeared in front of him; giving him a fright as he fell on his bum and onto the prickly bark.
'Wow, she's taller than me!' Yukio noticed as he stared up at her.
She knelt down next him and asked curiously,"Why are you crying?"
Yukio lifted a hand and touched his face with his fingers, and indeed there were tears were falling down his cheek.
He gave a little sniffle and sobbed with a trail of snot beginning to trail down a nostril,"M-My brother-"
He left it at that and cried back into his hands.
"Ne, don't cry." The girl patted him softly on the head and asked,"What's your name?"
"Y-Yukio," He managed to choke up as he sat up and placed his hands into his lap,"Yukio O-Okumura."
"Okumura-chan," She placed a hand on his and looked into his puffy eyes,"Are you feeling lonely because your brother isn't here with you?"
Yukio's tears came to halt and he nodded.
"I get bullied by the othes..." Yukio admitted,"If Rin isn't here I can't do anything..."
She removed the glasses from his head and cleaned the moisture with the cloth from her sleeveless, strawberry colored dress; patterned with white polka dots. She scooted in front of him and carefully placed them back onto his eyes.
"He'll be here." She added reassuringly,"I'm positive."
Yukio wiped the remaining traces of tears with the sleeve of his t-shirt and stood up. The girl did the same, brushing the bark that stuck to hem of her dress. She moved behind him and started to brush off the pieces that clung to his clothing.
"T-Thank you." He thanked her sheepishly.
A woman's voice called out to them and the brunette shouted back,"I'm coming, mama!"
She quickly brushed off the remaining pieces and started to run past him when Yukio's voice stopped her swiftly,"U-Um, what's your name?"
"Tamaki." She faced him and gave a light smile,
"Tamaki Iriyama, eight years old!"
Another voice called out, but it was for the boy; and it brought a smile to his own face. He turned around and waved over,"Nii-san!"
"Sorry to keep ya', Yukio!" His older brother ran over to him with a grin,"Who were you with just now?"
Rin shriveled his nose in disgust,"Ew! It better not be a girl! Girls have cooties!"
Yukio turned around to introduce his new friend, but she was already walking alongside her mother outside of the playground.
"Yukio?"
Shiro called out to Yukio from the bedroom doorway.
"Did you leave anything else? If not, come back downstairs and help your old man with some cleaning before the next service."
"Just one other thing I came up for." Yukio took up the frame from the table to stick it inside the little bag that laid atop his bed.
"Oh! I remember that time!" Shiro walked over and sat on the edge of the bed,"May I see it for a bit?"
Yukio nodded his head and handed the frame to his father.
"You guys were the cutest back then! Especially Tamaki-chan, look at those big cheeks!"
The strands of hair that framed her face in the picture made it appear even rounder like a tiny ball.
"You sure were crying a lot that afternoon." Shiro mused,"I couldn't even get you to eat your dinner."
"Right, she moved out of town that day."
"And I took lots of pictures of you three kiddos. I have even more photos of her dumping sand on Rin."
Yukio had to laugh at the memories. He remembered the reason for his tears that day. He was the only one who couldn't smile because Tamaki was leaving, his only real childhood friend.
Eight years ago
"Come on, Yukio! Smile at the camera!"
Kyodo encouraged behind the tripod camera. Shiro squatted behind the three children and placed his hands on the shoulders of his sons.
"Yukio, you'll make Tamaki sad if you keep crying before she leaves." Shiro squeezed the younger twin's shoulder,"Just give a little smile."
"I-I can't..." He sniffled into his knit scarf,"Besides Rin, she's my only friend..."
Yukio bawled even harder, unsettling the two exorcists.
Rin leaned forward and shouted his brother,"Stop crying already! We need to take the picture! Someone is already here to pick her up!"
"Rin, don't talk to Yukio that way!" Tamaki scolded hot blooded boy,"There's no rush!"
"Hey, Yukio-chan..." The girl put her arms around the crying boy and leaned her head on his,"I'll miss you too. Someday we'll meet again, okay? I bet we'll all be grown up too! It's a promise. So don't cry."
"In the end, you didn't stop crying." The reverend recalled that day and sighed.
Izumi and Kyodo thought it was good enough with the two out of three smiling. There was just no helping it.
"I hope she's doing well." Yukio said warmly and stuffed the frame into his bag,"It's already been so long."
"She is." Shiro patted his son's back as he stood up from the bed,"I'm sure she's still growing up to be a wonderful woman. Let's return to the church. We'll quickly clean it before guests arrive for the service. After that, we'll prepare some sukiyaki for your going away party, capiche?"
Yukio followed his father downstairs and agreed,
"Sounds good to me!"
His anxieties about leaving the abbey disappeared; replaced with a feeling of content and happiness.
'I'm grateful to God that I have a father like him.'
Thankfully, the cleaning didn't take awhile. The other three exorcists already made quick work in the morning. Yukio opened the doors to the church, allowing entrance to the attendees of the afternoon service.
When the clock hit the hour, he watched his father stand in front of the podium and recite prayer. This was the life of his father, an exorcist who banishes what people say 'don't exist'. Shiro looked like an aging priest, but he was the Paladin, th current and strongest exorcist of True Cross.
Yukio sat at the front of the pews listening to his father's preaching. He too believed demons did not exist, but that was until his father told him the truth as a child.
Eight years ago
"M-Make it stop! I can't take it anymore!"
A hobgoblin tripped Yukio, causing him to tumble to the ground.
Tamaki bent down and shook him worriedly,"Okumura-chan? Okumura-chan?!"
Yukio sat up, bark clinging to his shirt and shorts. The pain from the bruises and scrapes caused by the demons' tomfoolery were finally noticed by the little girl.
"T-This is..." She managed to say before Yukio broke out in tears,
"They're so scary... I don't want to see these things anymore!" He cried out.
He buried his eyes within his hands and continued to cry, until he felt someone pull him into a warm embrace,"My mama does this for me and I always feel so much better when she does."
The boy began to calm down and his breathing became under control as he continued to listen to her reassure him soothingly,
"I don't know what you're seeing, but it's okay. I'm here, Yukio." She comforted him and rested a head on top of his,"I'm here."
Shiro ran over to the pair of children and bent down next to their tiny forms,"Tamaki, what's wrong with with Yukio?" He asked, his voice filled with concern for his son.
Yukio only continued to cling to Tamaki even harder as she began to rub his back. She looked up at Shiro and simply flashed a small smile,
"He's seeing something."
Yukio muttered,"Demons..."
Tamaki's eyebrows knitted together as she added,"He's seeing... demons, oji-san?" She looked up at the man questioningly.
His father reached down and picked up his son, who had fallen fast asleep, into his arms as he confirmed,"Demons."
She searched Shiro's face for any sort of perk that would tell her he was joking, but he continued to frown down at her.
Tamaki folded her arms across her chest and sulked,"Liar."
With a free hand, he placed a hand on her head and said to her,
"Demons do exist, in our hearts."
As she was only a child, she only looked continued to look up at him with innocence.
It was from that day on he decided to be grow stronger and break free from his weaknesses. From there on he was trained in secret apart from Rin. He learned of Gehenna, the demons and the way of the exorcist.
Finally, it came down to his origin.
How Shiro wasn't his real father and that both Rin and Yukio were spawns of Satan born from a human mother. Yukio's body however was too weak to inherit the demon's flames and it all went to Rin.
Right now, Rin was human. Shiro sealed his powers inside the demon slaying sword, Kurikara. Amongst the exorcists in the abbey, Rin was the only one who was kept in the dark about their origins.
"A doctor, huh?"
Yukio smiled at his brother's previous words.
Preaching in the church was only a part of Shiro's duty, the other being an active exorcist and ridding their world Assiah of demons from the Gehenna. In the future, Yukio run his own civilian clinic. As a newly qualified teacher in anti-demon pharmacology, he would also teach other training exorcists.
"The service has ended, go forth and continue to serve in the Lord's name." Shiro closed the service with that and saw the attendees off. He smiled and stretched his back with a loud hum.
Two years ago Yukio was able to get his licence with the help of his father. It was exciting for him that has time has come to help others now.
"I'm getting hungry. Dinner time is coming, son."
Maruta came inside the church with a couple of market bags in hand.
"I already got the meat! We'll start preparing it now before Rin comes home!" The plump man exclaimed as he held up the bags gleefully,"Think about it. If Rin came back home with a job, there'd be even more to celebrate!"
"Right!" Yukio had to chuckle at Maruta's excitement.
If Rin were to come home with a job tonight, it'd ease most of his worries. Rin and Yukio weren't kids anymore, their dad had no time to babysit them with his schedule.
Shiro, Yukio and Maruta entered the kitchen where the other three exorcists were already preparing the other dishes.
"Impressive as always, Kagetomo-san!" Izumi praised the older exorcist,"The way you cut the vegetables were so quick!"
"The skill only improves each time I help out in my wife's restaurant." Kagetomo laughed.
"Speaking of which, we should all eat there again next weekend!" Kyodo suggested as he poured the water in the rice cooker,"She makes some real good udon!"
The life in this abbey was surely something Yukio would miss. The teen had grown up with them after all.
"I'll help out too." Yukio offered and pulled up the sleeves of his cardigan.
"But this is your going away party!" Maruta set the bags of meat on the table and pulled out a chair for Yukio,"Just sit tight! You can set the table once the other dishes are prepared, okay?"
Yukio tried to protest, but Shiro put his hand down on his son's shoulder and pushed him into the chair.
"Come on, my boy! Just this one night! Let's do this for you at least!"
"Okay, okay!" Yukio gave up, but the smile still lingered.
As he watched them prepare dinner, the telephone at the other side of the kitchen started to ring.
"I'll get it!" Yukio stood from his seat and made his way over to pick up.
On the other end of the line, Rin was almost shouting. Yukio didn't mind one bit this time. The news that reached his ears made his eyes water in happiness. Everyone halted their work and listened to Yukio attentively.
"You got the job?!"
"Yeah! She was like,'do your best from tomorrow onward!'"
Kyodo, Maruta and Izumi were nudging each other in the sides; happy that their plan was a success.
"Congratulations, Nii-san...!"
"Thanks!"
"I'm so relieved I got some good news before leaving!" Yukio admitted. He did all he could to hold back the tears that were welling up.
"What're you crying about?" His older brother asked playfully, like he saw through him just then.
"I'm not crying!" Yukio managed to deny before his father took the phone from him.
From the corner of the door, Shiro held the top of the receiver with his right hand.
"Hurry home! Tonight we'll be having sukiyaki for Yukio's farewell party!"
"Gotcha!" Rin responded excitedly,"I'll see you guys soon then!"
Shiro flashed a huge grin at Yukio, to wish he gave in turn. The dinner was a celebration for two now.
The sound of chopping vegetables and the sight of the steam rising from the rice cooker already made his stomach growl. Once Kagetomo finished the sides of tofu and vegetables, Maruta added the raw beef on the other halves of the plates. Lastly, Shiro prepared seven bowls of broth and udon for everyone. Izumi and Kyodo set two sukiyaki pots at each end of the table. Yukio set up the utensils and tea for everyone as well.
Everything was going accordingly and soon enough everything came together onto the table as one whole feast ready to be eaten. The sunset outside the window was already disappearing.
There was an awkward silence. The only sound that was heard was the light tapping of Shiro's shoe under the table.
"Rin is pretty slow..." Maruta sulked.
'What a way to ruin the excitement...' Yukio wasn't about to let the spirit fall because of Rin's late arrival.
He saw the look of annoyance set on his father face from the corner of his eye.
'Now 'tou-san looks like he's in a sour mood.'
"I'll go take a look for him." Yukio said as he stood up from the table.
Izumi immediately followed suit.
"Yeah, I'll go too."
One by one, everyone stood up from the table to look for Rin. Shiro was the only one left at the table with his arms across his chest.
"Guys, don't worry." Yukio assured everyone,"I know where he is. Just wait here, okay?"
Reluctantly, the men looked at each other before nodding at Yukio.
There was one place he knew where to look. Not far from the abbey, he walked down the road and towards the park they used to play together in as children. Rin was there sitting on the swing set with his head hung low.
"I knew you'd be here." Yukio approached him and called out,"All the sukiyaki will be eaten."
Rin didn't budge one bit.
"Come on, let's go home." His younger brother urged,"Everyone's waiting."
"Even if I went home, how could I look at them in the eye?"
"What's wrong...?"
Rin's shoulder drooped and he rocked himself on the swing with his knees.
"I got fired." He admitted. Rin was tired of saying it over the course of these past few months. He looked so ashamed,
"'We don't need a berserk like that in the store'" Rin recounted.
He closed his eyes. He couldn't stand to see Yukio look disappointed before leaving home.
Yukio waited for an answer. Rin opened his mouth to speak, but his head hung back towards the sawdust of the playground. His head shook from side to side.
"Even I don't know...!"
Yukio's face contorted into frustration.
'How could he not know?!' Yukio's teeth grit together.
"Stop saying things like that!"He scolded Rin,"Everyone was so happy you finally got a job! Why are you so careless?! Explain it so we can understand!"
Rin's head cocked back in an instant.
"How?!" Rin talked back,"How could I explain something I don't even understand?!"
Yukio wasn't taken aback by Rin's behavior. It was answer that made him a loss for words. He was expecting the usual reason; 'I'm not cut out for this kind of thing'.
"Onii-san..."
Realizing he acted unnecessarily rude, Rin shrunk back onto the swing and apologized.
"I'm sorry..."
Yukio didn't mind, but he knew the others were a already waiting back home. His pleading now,
"Anyway... let's go home. 'Tou-san is waiting."
Rin stood up from the swing and the two of them walked back to the house without another word. The situation made Yukio's worries come back. Rin was fired the same day he was hired, the shortest amount of time he has ever kept a job. At this rate, everyone at the abbey would continue to baby Rin.
It's about time his brother learned to be more responsible.
A/N: *rolls around on the ground* Yukio is a 泣き虫.
April 4th, 2016: I haven't updated in three years?! Wow!I'm rewriting this story! Same characters, same plot direction, but just a different way of writing!
Do you read fanfiction on your PC or mobile? If both, which one do you use more? Why? I'm genuinely curious!
Thank you for reading! Slower updates from now on since college is starting tomorrow! :D