Dedicated to incorrect-ao-no-exorcist on tumblr for the inspiration.
The house was dark and silent, only the light in living room was turned on, as it always was when the sun set.
Shura had been called by many names, most of them not pleasant. Brat and demon in her younger years, bitch and she-devil as she grew older.
Mother had never been a title she had wanted or thought she could get.
She had wanted the Kirigakure line to die with her for as long as she had been under the curse her ancestor had put on her descendants. And after the curse had been lifted, there had been simply no time to think about having children with the world thrown into chaos and war.
And look at her now.
Once a fearless Knight, now she worked shifts at three different stores just to meet ends. Nobody had ever told her how hard it was to earn money outside of the Order, especially with two five year olds running around who regularly destroyed their belongings and needed training to contain their strength.
Most of the time Shura felt like she couldn't keep up with Rin and Yukio. Money and food was gone faster than she could provide, leaving her with an empty stomach often enough.
If the twins would start school, it would only get worse with even more things to pay for. And she hadn't decided yet if she would send them away or keep them at home to have a better eye on them. It wasn't like singing alphabet songs would teach them what to do in case a demon king would turn up and shove his hand right through his chest, leaving him to bleed out in the middle of the battle field with his corpse being used to get to the other twin-
No, not this time around. Shura had promised herself that.
She took another gulp from the beer can, entirely emptying it. It was the third one tonight and still without any hesitation she reached for the fourth.
Shura was well aware that she shouldn't be drinking, not at night with the weak wards around the tiny apartment and definitely not with the twins at home. They reacted terribly to the smell of alcohol and even worse to Shura herself.
She hadn't wanted to be a mother. Hell, she wasn't even close to being somewhat acceptable parenting material.
Whenever it all got too much, she drunk, and too often had she pointed her sword at her sons already, their demonic appearances making her relive all the bloodshed she had left behind.
She had thought about sealing the twins powers away like they had been the first time around but it would only make them defenseless.
Shura reached for her can again only to realize it was empty already, what a disappointment.
Her anger at the beverage, herself, the whole damn world, rising, she threw the can against the wall from where it rebound and hit over various toys of the twins that all came crashing down.
She stared at the mess she had made and couldn't quite find the strength to pick it all up. How laughable considering that she had been one of the Order's strongest.
But that all was in the past- the future- without existence now.
The sound of the door opening caught her attention, her hand twitched.
Rin and Yukio, both obviously dead tired, stared at her in worry and resignation. They were far more used to this than they should be.
"Everything okay?" Rin yawned.
"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied and tried to smile, failing horribly.
"You're drunk," Yukio said, wrinkling his nose.
"Mommy doesn't get drunk, she just has a little fun. Now off to bed with you two again."
They looked at her a little longer, not like children and too much like teenagers searching for fatal wounds, before whispering "goodnight" and disappearing in their room again.
Shura wished she could do better for the two, hoped the dreams would stop, prayed that the war would never come.
God had never been kind on her.
Writer's ramblings:
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