Shiemi followed Yukio through the empty but threatening corridor. The water dripping from the ceiling made the place colder and unfamiliar. The tunnel they've been walking in, twisted and turned almost constantly, and the torches that lit it up made it worse. Sinister dancing figures appeared in their shadow. And she understood that even though Rin was kept here several times, they never allowed her in. Even Rin himself didn't. A wild tear decided to disobey her orders and slide in her cheek.
The blonde haired girl looked down at her hand. A gold shining ring was the only decoration her fingers held. She looked dearly at it for it represented all she stood for. She couldn't even think of the pain Yukio was enduring at that moment. She had cried for entire days.
Raising her eyes to see her guide, she noticed how he was taller and his shoulders were somewhat tense, but not enough to notice he was terrified. Shiemi smiled sadly at him, he always hiding how he feels.
The younger twin stopped in his steps when they reached the entrance of a chamber heavily guarded.
"Make it quick" Yukio simply whispered to her ear.
Shiemi nodded almost imperceptibly, but Yukio caught the slight movement of her head. Breaking their eye contact he talked to the guard and handed him something Shiemi couldn't see. The exorcist that guarded the door let her in and the door was shut behind her.
And she saw him.
Her sight became blurry with tears when her eyes landed on the boy hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. The chains kept his body held high enough so that his torso wasn't touching the floor, unlike the rest of his body. His face hidden by hair, now longer than she remembered. He was a lot thinner and bruised all over.
"Rin" A soft but audible cry, that echoed in the almost empty room, escaped her mouth. Shiemi ran to him with unstoppable tears in her eyes.
The half-blood demon heard his name and raised his head as he could when Shiemi got to him. Her hands brushing the skin of his face. His eyes directed to her filled with infinite love and tenderness.
"Shiemi" He coughed. "What are you doing here?" His hoarse voice and the thin blood drip that fell of his mouth made her heart cringe.
The breath in her throat unable to leave. "Rin" Unfortunately, the choked down cry escaped her mouth while saying his name. She saw his eyes widen with an expression she had seen before. One of desperation, fear and protectiveness.
"Yukio!" He screamed, his eyes piercing the cold hard door. "Get her out of here now!"
Shiemi's green eyes widened full with tears. She ran to hug her husband, her illegitimate husband, if that could be possible."Rin, please stop" She understood he didn't want her to expose to such risk, but he shouldn't want to do everything on his own, especially now that they were together.
The vatican didn't allow Rin to have any bonds with the human world, no one could visit him, not even his brother. They were even evaluating if Yuki was a threat. Rin wasn't allowed to have any ties mainly because the higher ups thought that if the spawn of Satan that had inherited his flames, so could his child. Shiemi placed a hand at the thought of losing their yet unborn child.
The vatican didn't know, they hid the rings and all evidence, but her belly was starting to show and she was so afraid. "Rin, I needed to see you" Her cheeks all flushed and nervous glance made him relax.
"Shiemi, you're not safe here" His gaze showed everything he felt. "Please, if they find out..."
Shiemi cut him with an angry face. "They won't, please don't say that". The girl put his hands softly on his bruised cheeks and made him look her in the eyes. "We'll protect you"
He closed his eyes and smiled with all the energy he had left. But his smile was sad, tired. "Shiemi, I won't get out of this" He spat all of a sudden. "It's been decided, Yukio was probably too scared to tell you"
Her eyes shot open and her breath became uneven. Without realising her tears were spilling in her kimono under the cape she had on. "N-No"
"When I die the Vatican won't bother you anymore, go find yourself someone that actually deserves you" His eyes fixed on hers, opaque, serious. She couldn't believe her ears.
Her hand crashed his face making more blood come out of his mouth, also making the chains shake a little with the impact. "You won't die, I promise I will find a solution" Her tears were too heavy for her eyes to keep.
Rin raised his head enough to dedicate a sorry look. "Shiem-" He was cut by the opening of the door.
"Shiemi-san, it's time" Yukio said without entering the chamber.
Shiemi grabbed Rin's head once more in her hands and planted a sweet but hot kiss in his mouth. The kiss was starting to heat both up until Yukio whispered again that Shiemi needed to leave. Rin let go of her mouth with a low grunt and a longing look in his eyes.
"I love you" He said, she smiled and he read in her lips 'I love you too' before she disappeared behind the door that kept him away from her and everything he loved.
As they were both walking fast along the corridor Shiemi thought of what Rin said. "Yuki-kun, why didn't you tell me?" She could feel Yukio tensing in front of her knowing that she referred to the execution. His shoulders were slightly rigid than before, he was trying to hide it but she read him too well.
"I'm sorry" He said without looking her way.
"You were afraid?" She asked boldly.
Yukio stopped in his tracks. "I… I thought you would be so out of yourself you would be discovered" He paused to breath in. "That they will end up killing you when they find out you child is Rin's son"
Shiemi thought she was going to run out of tears. "Yuki-chan, I will never put my son in danger, I will help Rin but I will not expose my child." Shiemi put a hand on Yukio's shoulder. "Let's go" Yukio nodded and they kept walking.
The green eyed girl looked at her body in the mirror with only her underwear on. Her belly was slowly beginning to grow. Their child was now five months old. She smiled caressing her stomach.
"Shiemi..." Her mother entered at once and the poor girl jumped. She tried to cover herself so her mother wouldn't notice her belly. She couldn't tell her mother or anyone that wasn't Yukio or Rin. But all her effort was in vain because her mother's eyes were way too fast. "You..." Her voice trembles.
"I-I'm sorry" She apologised for not telling her, for making her suffer the fate of her daughter.
"Is it from that demon spawn of Satan?" She whispered looking at her belly with a disgusted expression on her face. Shiemi didn't say anything, and her mother sat down understanding it was a yes.
The girl threw a simple dress on her and approached her mother slowly to try and convince her that everything was going to be okay. Even if she was trying to convince herself at that.
"How could you!" Her mother shouted at her and standing up again. "You know that demon is going to die!" The older woman started to cry. "You could even be executed with him!"
"M-Mother, listen-" Shiemi started but her mother cut her.
"I'm fed up! Leave this house now!" The older woman grabbed his daughter by her shoulder and left her outside the house closing the door in her face.
Shiemi felt heaviness in her heart and felt difficult to breathe because of the soon cry and sadness that invaded her. "Mother!" She got tired of knocking on her own door and decided to go over the old building that Yukio and Rin shared when they first arrived. In which the first continues the lodging.
Yukio was surprised to hear a knock on his door since no one ever visited him. His surprise grew bigger when he saw Shiemi standing in his front door looking horrible.
"Shiemi-san" He exclaimed surprised and stepped aside to let her in. She obliged without a word. The tears were already dry but her expression was full of sadness.
"Yuki-chan, my mother found out" She said raising her gaze to look at him.
"That's a problem" He said evaluating the situation.
"She knows it's Rin's and she kicked me out for it" She said choking on her sobs and cries.
Yukio's eyes widened. "You are welcomed here Shiemi-san, don't worry your mother is still in shock" He said trying to reassure her.
"She called him demon" She knew Rin was half demon, and there was nothing wrong with that, but the way her mother spit the word with hate and contempt. It broke her heart.
"I know Shiemi-san, everything will be okay." Yukio was considering to call Kamiki to see if she could make her some girl company, but decided against it since her child was a secret. They couldn't risk anything.
"Please let me see him" Shiemi begged. "Yuki-chan, it's been three months, I need to see him."
"Shiemi you can't" His decision was firm, and he would not allow her to do it this time. But her eyes were so sad and her requests seemed more like pleads. Yukio sighed closing his eyes. "Fine, but you won't be able to speak to him" Her eyes were filled now with worry and curiosity, and predicting her words he tried to come up with a lie. She will see him for herself and find out his white lie, but he didn't want to rip her heart apart with his words.
"Why?" The question left her lips trembling.
"The guards are the closest friends of the Paladin" He tried to remain calm and not let her see that he was lying.
"Yuki, tell me the truth"
He damned her good skills. "He's… too injured to be able to speak"
Shiemi's head instantly thought of all the terrible things they've done to Rin. And her heart shattered once more. She broke down to tears and fell to her knees softly so that her child won't be hurt. She at least hoped he would be able to see his own child. That sounded like a bad joke, why had it come to this?.
Yukio embraced her in the floor. "Let's go, I'll take you to Rin"
They walked through the same path as the first time Shiemi visited. Suddenly they were now again, faced with that big metal solid door that kept the so called 'beast', that resulted to be only a human.
The sight of Rin still hanged by his wrists wasn't what left Shiemi in shock. But the way his wrists had the mark of the chains and his body was thinner and paler. His hair grown and his ribs could be counted even from where she stood. His eyes were hidden under his longer bangs, and his clothes were worse than before.
"Rin" She whispered with a broken voice approaching to the boy slowly. If he hadn't raise his head a little she would have thought he was dead. His eyes observed her, blue and tired. Still, his mouth formed a barely visible smile that she caught. She kneeled right beside him. "Who did this to you?"
He didn't respond but pushed himself closer to her and left a single sweet kiss on her cheek, only to fall on the initial position again. Shiemi could feel his gaze on her big belly. "It's eight months old now, and it will be a boy" She said sweetly caressing her belly. "He's growing strong" The blush was all over her face but the tears couldn't stop falling. He had to meet his son, he couldn't die.
Rin smiled more at her with his sweet blue eyes full of sadness and joy. If that was possible.
Suddenly Yukio stormed in and took Shiemi out and walked away hiding her behind a column that was in the corridor they came from. Both watched how the Paladin walked through the corridor along with some first class exorcist behind. Shiemi felt the adrenalin rushing in her blood when they entered Rin's chamber.
A couple of minutes later they came out with Rin and walked away.
"I've hidden our presence, even if he's the paladin he didn't notice." Yukio said. "You have to leave now"
"What's going on Yuki?" She asked worried, fearing the worst.
Yukio looked to his feet hiding his eyes with his lenses. "They will execute him"
Shiemi's connected the dots "You knew this?" He kept silent. "That's why you acceded to let me visit him"
"We could have been discovered, but I knew you would never forgive me for not bringing you today" He said looking away. The tears in his eyes wanting to be free.
"Rin knew too?"
Yukio nodded sadly. And the flash of Rin's almost perceptible smile came to her mind. She couldn't believe how they were so happy in one moment and in the other everything crumbled to ashes. Was their love a sin?.
She tried to walk to Rin but Yukio's hand forbid her. "They will make it public, let's go outside or they will notice you"
She nodded trying to prepare herself for what she was about to see. Her eyes will never forget such a thing, but she wanted to be there for him and silently telling him that he wasn't alone. Because after all she was useless, she couldn't find a solution, she was weak.
They got out of the prison and followed the masses of people that were watching something on the distance. Shiemi looked over and her heart skipped a beat.
"They are throwing holy water at him" She whispered almost to herself absentmindedly.
Yukio stood beside her still and breathing in regular intervals as much as he could. His brother was tied in a cross in front of everyone, his skin burning under the holy water but his voice unable to let out the scream. His body skinny and fragile. His black clothes all ragged up. His midnight hair on his eyes. The paladin stood beside him like Rin was a captured animal whose head he could place on his wall. Everyone cheered at him. Everyone except them.
Rin's eyes found Shiemi's in the midst of all the people and movement. He had that look in his eyes that spoke. Telling her he was sorry she ended up alone, that he was sorry he wasn't enough. Saying that death wasn't what had him scared, that he only cared about them. And suddenly the connection broke. The light in his eyes leaving him forever, his head falling back where it was in the beginning. Shiemi looked down horrified to see the famous Paladin's sword, all through his body shedding blood everywhere.
She held Yukio's hand to share strength. She knew he was crying, and he knew she was crying too.
I hope you enjoyed reading, thanks for reaching the bottom!
If I made spelling mistakes (I'm 99% that I made some) I'm sorry, I re read it a couple of times but since it's 5 in the morning it's kind of difficult to focus.