There wasn't a time in her life where she could remember that she was ashamed of her background or ever despised her training.
Ever since she was a young girl she'd been training. Training to strengthen her muscles, training with weapons, training for something important as her parents would tell her. It was drilled into her mind from the beginning that she should be proud of the strength that she achieved at such a young age, and she was. Everything she did and learned about Exorcists was for something and she believed in her family whole heartedly.
She was ten years old when she met him, and she didn't hate him but she wasn't exactly his biggest fan. He was very aggressive and loud mouthed, and he seemed to enjoy attempting to make her eat dirt. So when she learned that being devoted to protect, befriend, and watch over Okamura Rin was the sole purpose for her training, she didn't exactly take it well.
The years after she learned of this her and Rin's relationship wasn't the best.
"Aoi, please let go of his shirt." Shiro was standing over the two of them with a bored look on his face, his shadow against the sun creating a wall of darkness over the two kids.
Aoi frowned lightly and let go of Rin's shirt and the boy immediately stopped struggling, cheeks red with the effort of trying to get away previously before Shiro showed up. He stumbled away from the twelve year old girl, only two months younger than him, and glared at her in anger and embarrassment.
"Father Fujimoto." Aoi stood staring at the ground with a faint pout, green eyes glistening. "I want to go home."
Shiro yelped in shock at the unshed tears in her eyes and turned to Rin, whacking him over the head with the back of his hand softly. "Rin, ya made her cry you big bully!" While Rin sputtered out his words in shock of the accusation, Shiro turned to Aoi and reached out to pick her up, shocking her as he hugged her tightly. "Don't cry, A-oi! Don't cry, A-oi!" He was singing in a weird tune as he spun her back and forth and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Dad!" Rin huffed angrily and couldn't help but feel jealous at the sight of his dad spinning her around playfully.
For the moment, Shiro ignored the blue eyed boy and set Aoi down and looked into her eyes. "Are you done crying now?" He asked with a grin and watched as the young girl nodded. "Be strong, okay?" He patted her head lightly.
Aoi remembered clearly that she nodded and agreed that she would be strong, but the years would pass and she still cried when things got a little complicated. She cried when she had to leave Shiro's to go home, she cried when her training sessions were bumped up, she cried when her family weren't pleased with her results. She cried lots, and yet it was Shiro, not her parents, who was there to tell her to be strong and singing that stupid tune he'd made up years previously.
"Don't cry, A-oi! Don't cry, A-oi!"
"Stop crying."
Green eyes flickered upwards, brown hair fluttering with the wind. Aoi stared coldly at her father as he stood beside her with a tense posture, eyes staring ahead intently as they stood in front of the grave, the faint scent of incense in the air. She slowly reached up and wiped away the fresh tears before turning back to the grave.
She could feel that her body was exhausted and every moment longer they stood there the more the exhaustion weighed down on her. She wanted to go home and sink into her bed but she remembered that her home was now gone, all that was left was her home back with her family. But that didn't feel like home to her.
The church where she stayed with Shiro for the past four months was home. The single bed that sat besides a window with white sheets was home for her.
But that was gone, wasn't it? All good things eventually come to an end.
Shiro's funeral passed slowly and the sky continued to rain down on them. They gave their condolences to Rin and Yukio and said a few words and the people slowly dispersed, leaving her and her father standing a distance away from the Okamura brothers.
"Father, everything's gone so wrong..." Her head was bowed as she turned him. She didn't know what to do know that everything was no longer going as planned.
Aoi had been told so many times previously that once Rin learned the truth about his heritage and his powers that's where she would fall into place. A girl his age who always stuck by his side wouldn't seem suspicious, she could pass off as his sibling or a cousin or a girlfriend, she was supposed to be discreet.
There was supposed to be a plan.
But that plan was completely ruined when Shiro died and Rin drew Kurikara, awakening his demon powers. Aoi had no idea where everything would fall into place now that their plan was ruined.
Her father grabbed a hold of her and shook her, eyes intense. "Listen to me, Aoi. That boy is going to be kicked back and forth from the Vatican. He's going to have trouble from the upper people and his closest friends. I promised Shiro-san that you would protect his son and that's what you're going to do." His grip on her shoulders lessened slightly, "That doesn't change even now. Protect him."
Her father was a cold person, but above all he was loyal.
Aoi's lips parted in shock. "B-But I don't know what to do-"
Her father took a step back. "You go home with Rin and don't leave his side. Understand?"
She barely managed to steel her nerves and grab a hold of her swirling emotions. "Yes."
"Good." Her father nodded firmly. "We'll see each other another day."
The ride back to the church was the absolute worst. The car was stuffy and the atmosphere that surrounded the Okumara twins, the priests, and her wasn't exactly the best considering what they just went through.
Aoi sat in between the twins in the middle seat at the back and she stared straight ahead, a million thoughts running through her mind. Some part of her felt guilty for even comparing her pain to Rin and Yukio's, but she reminded herself that she loved Shiro too and taking his death hard wasn't a crime. But the whole way back to the church she wondered what she would say to the twins when she finally picked up the courage.
Sorry? No, that was the worst.
She spent the ride mulling over this and when they made it back she could feel her stomach churning uncomfortably. They barely had time to clean up the church and while the outside remained untouched the inside was a huge mess still.
Yukio opened the door for her, expression set in stone. "Aoi-san, I figured that you'd head home with your father."
"No." She didn't know what to tell him exactly in the presence of Rin. Everyone but the boy knew about her predicament but she wasn't sure if she wanted him to know or not. His pride probably would be hurt and he'd refuse any protecting from her. "He told me I should help you guys for a while."
Rin stopped beside them slowly. "There's nothing you could do to help, Aoi."
"Nii-san." Yukio snapped at his older brother in warning and Aoi turned to the blue eyed boy with a hurt expression.
"There's plenty I could do to help, Rin." She snapped back and faced away from him when she saw his expression twist in anger.
"Just go home to your dad." He grumbled underneath his breath. "This is our home, we should be the ones to clean it up."
"What's your problem with me?" Aoi shot back at him, turning to stop in front of him. "Is it that I never told you about who you are? Or is that your pride is wounded simply because I knew?" She waited for a few moments before breathing in deeply. "This is my home too."
"No it's not!" Rin burst out and reached forward, shocking everyone when he grabbed her blouse and yanked her close, causing her umbrella to fly to the ground. "This isn't your home! You only came and went as you pleased, causing trouble for the old man and crying when things didn't go your way." He shoved her away from him and placed his hand into his pockets, bangs falling over his eyes.
Before he could walk past her she mustered all the strength she could in her exhaustion and pushed him, sending his body flying towards the cement. She peered down at him with narrowed eyes. "Maybe Father Fujimoto didn't raise me, but he was like my dad. I only came and went because of my father, you didn't think that I wanted to stay?"
Rin turned his head away stubbornly and she wanted to punch him over his stupid head.
She let out a shuttering breath. "This place is where I learned to ride a bike because my own father never bothered, this is where I could laugh without having to force it, it's where I can relax and not worry. This place is where I feel most comfortable." She watched as his expression fell and she swallowed down the lump in her throat. "I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like home to me."
With the rain beating down on them and soaking their clothes to their bodies, the two stared at each other intently.
Yukio finally had enough. "You two, stop." He walked until he was standing in between them. "We have a lot to work on before we leave." Aoi nodded numbly and ignored the way the rain dropped down her hair and her face as she turned to stare at the church. Yukio glanced between the two briefly. "Are you done now? We can't fight in moments like this."
Rin nodded slowly but his gaze still remained on Aoi face as she faced the church, attempting to figure her out even the slightest but like always, what thoughts were swirling in her head remained a mystery to him.
okay so i have tons of story drafts in my documents, and i just happened to stumble across this one that was waaaay at the bottom of them all and i re-read what i wrote previously from some time ago and i actually really like what i wrote and it caught my interest, so i decided to share it with you guys.
this chapter is quite vague about lots of things but it'll get expanded much more.
review if you guys think i should continue, cause i'm not sure right now.