The first time he heard the joke, he didn't understand. An older kid, sneering down at him, laughing with his friends. Something about priests and little boys. When they mentioned Shiro by name, though, Rin knew something was wrong.
He didn't know what the kid said next- it had some words he'd never heard before- but it made the others laugh, and besides, he could barely hear the punchline over his angry thoughts.
He punched the kid in the face.
By the time the teacher showed up, Rin was sobbing, huddled against the wall, not looking at the other kids. "D-don't talk about him! Don't talk about Shiro!"
...
He tried to ask Yukio first. For some reason, he didn't want to talk to Shiro right away.
His brother blinked expectantly, adjusting his glasses. "Well, Rin? What's wrong?"
He tensed up. Something in his mind- nervous, uncomfortable, and even a little scared- told him that this was a bad thing. "Uh, nothing," he said quickly. He dashed out of his brother's room, running headlong into Shiro's leg as the priest walked the hall.
The man's face broke out into a smile. "Rin, it's good to see you." The expression changed when he saw Rin's face. "Huh? Are you alright?"
Rin sniffed. "Somebody said... they said you were doing bad things."
"What?"
He shook his head. "I don't know! They said boys shouldn't stay with priests, I don't know, they looked angry, but they were laughing, and-"
Shiro knelt down, hugging Rin fiercely. "Oh, Rin," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"I punched him," Rin said, voice muffled in Shiro's sleeve. "That was bad, right?"
Shiro half-smiled. "Don't worry about that now." He gently pushed the boy away, holding him at arm's length. "Look at me, Rin. There are... some men who got into a lot of trouble."
"What kinda trouble?"
The man sighed. "They hurt people. What you heard was true- some priests did very bad things."
Blinking, Rin tilted his head. "You don't do bad stuff, though, right?"
"Right." Shiro ruffled the boy's hair, smiling again. "You don't need to worry about those stories, okay?"
He looked up hesitantly. "Okay," he mumbled. "Sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, Rin," Shiro said. "You did nothing wrong."
For a moment, Rin was quiet, but a frown broke out. "I did hit that kid, though."
"...Well, yes."
[]
Someone pointed out to me recently- isn't it amazing that Blue Exorcist had no qualms about having a priest adopt young children? And then they made him one of the best characters I've ever seen, and only in a few episodes.
More of a tribute than anything. I loved this show, but I know I won't have enough time (or knowledge of the story and characters, for that matter) to write a more complex story.