Disclaimer: I do not own AoE
And here we are with the first chapter… I had planned on updating this last week but I had to put my dog down so… yeah… I wasn't really in the best state of mind or mood to post anything.
Thank you all for your reviews. I was really happy to see so many people enjoyed the premise of this little plot bunny of mine. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and please leave a review/comment afterwards to let me know what you all think about this.
Down the Fox Hole
Chapter 1
Road to Nowhere
"When someone tells you that you have done something that has hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't."
― Karon Waddell
Rin wasn't sure for how long he had been running but eventually the trees began to thin out and he saw lights in the distance. He headed towards the first sign of civilization he had seen in who knows how long, and soon enough he came across a highway. There did not seem to be that much traffic, it was still pretty dark out and Rin could only guess that it was still only a few hours past midnight.
He was soaked to the bone and the rain did not appear to be letting up anytime soon. Rin let out a curse as he almost lost his footing on the muddy ground as he climbed up the small slope and hopped over the railings. He started walking along side the road to see if there was any signs that could help him figure out just where the fuck he was…
After about fifteen minutes of walking the wet and miserable teen was finally given a clue as to where he was. Pushing his wet bangs out of his face he was able to make out what the sign said.
Kyoto 50 kilometers South
He was near Kyoto.
Walking further down the road and around a mountain curve Rin started to see the bright lights of the city. He could even see the lights that illuminated and indicated the top of the famed Kyoto Tower.
Without even thinking Rin started to running, his shoes sloshing and splashing on the wet asphalt. Even though Kyoto wasn't as large as Tokyo, Rin had grown up in the city his whole life, this was something familiar to him, it was…
It was the first place they would look for him…
It would be the first place they would try finding him after realizing that he had left… wherever the hell he had been shoved to.
The wet teen stopped running and eventually came to a stop. He stood there in the rain, not feeling any of the chill or the wetness he had just a moment ago, there was just uncertainty.
Did he even want to be found?
And even if he did go back—not that he even remembered how—he'd most likely just end up getting lost in the woods and would just make his situation even shittier than it already was. Then what? What would happen to him? Rin may not be as smart as his brother, Yukio, but he knew in his gut that going back to the way things were at Southern Cross Monastery with everyone was not even remotely possible. Everyone seemed to be in on this big secret and part of it involved Rin leaving the monastery for good.
Rin glanced down at the ground and saw his reflection in one of the puddles. In his mind's eye he saw himself covered in blue flames. Should he head into the city and try to hide there and try to start a new life or should he try to hide somewhere else and if so where?
He had no money, no friends, no one to rely on but himself.
He was on his own.
A pair of bright headlights broke him away from his thoughts, blinding him as a truck blared its horn at him and tires screeched to an abrupt stop to avoid hitting him. Rin barely a split second to jump back and ended up falling on his backside and scrapping his palms on the asphalt as the truck stopped in front of him.
The side window rolled down as the truck's driver stuck his head out. "What the hell kid?! Are ya trying to get yourself killed or something?"
Rin sat there on the ground for a second and blinked before his temper got the better of him and he snapped. "None of your fucking business old man!" He stood up, slung his duffle over his shoulder, and started walking away from the truck in the same direction he had previously came from.
The driver was about to yell back at the rude teen and drive off, he was on a schedule and he didn't have time to deal with this bullshit. Just as the driver was getting ready to start his truck back up again he stopped and looked at the retreating form of the angry young man; wet clothes, duffel bag, and despite the anger he had seen in the kid's eyes there was something else too… there was fear and a look that this kid had just gone through some kind of hell.
As a truck driver for over forty years now he had seen plenty of people on the side of the road, and he was no stranger to teens running away from home and over time he had been able to tell a few things about the type of teens who ran. There were the ones who were real punks, the spoiled brats, and then there were the ones who had a pretty damn good reason to run. The boy in front of him definitely looked like the latter.
Letting out a tired sigh the old driver slowly caught up and pulled up next to soaking teen who stopped and looked surprised as he was addressed again by this total stranger.
"Where you heading to boy?"
Rin opened his mouth to respond but then shut it, glancing back at the ground. "…Nowhere…"
"… I'm heading out towards the Kitsune villages, about 700 kilometers north from here, should be there by sundown." The driver said looking at Rin. "I can give you a ride as far as that or anywhere in between. After that it's up to you."
Rin stood there for a minute contemplating the offer. On the one hand it meant getting out of the rain and maybe ending up in some unknown town where he would have a better chance of going unnoticed, and more importantly unfound, but on the other hand… getting into a truck with a stranger on the side of the road wasn't exactly the smartest or safest thing to do as well. But Rin didn't have that many options to choose from and he wasn't known for making the smartest choices anyways. His long records of fights and trouble throughout his life would attest to that.
"Well, kid?"
Rin caught sight of several pairs of glowing eyes in the shadows from the darkened woods, watching him. They were no figments of his imagination and Rin knew exactly what sort of creatures they were.
Decision made, Rin opened the passenger side of the truck and climbed in.
"Name's Toyama Sato."
"Rin."
"Just Rin?" Toyama gave Rin curious look.
"Yeah." Rin mumbled, he wasn't about to give his full name, probably should have given a fake name but he was too tired to think of one at the moment.
"Ok, Rin. It's a long drive to the kitsune villages, you should get some sleep then; you look like you could use it." Toyama said.
Rin grunted in response but got into a more comfortable position, he wasn't going to argue. He was emotionally and physically drained and sleep sounded really good right now. But before he closed his eyes he glared at the old man driving next to him, "You try anything old man and I swear to God you'll regret it."
"Relax kid, I'm not going to do anything other than drive." Toyama glanced over at Rin so that he could see that he meant no harm.
Rin huffed and settled back into the seat, the movement of the truck and the drumming of the rain soon lulled him into a dreamless slumber.
It was times like these that Father Fujimoto really wished that he hadn't given up on smoking because he could sure as hell go for a pack of cigarettes right about now… and maybe a few shots of vodka while he was at it.
It had been a rough and hectic night. After ensuring that Rin was safely through the door and out of harms way, it had been a miniature war between the humans and demons as Shiro and the other priests kept on fighting wave after wave of demons that just would not stop coming. It wasn't until just past three in the morning that Shiro was able to take down the one orchestrating the attack. Even after Shiro had exorcised the demon king, Astoroth, out of the white-haired delinquent the punk had, once again, been possessed. This time by none the demon general Aeshma. His mission had been simple; to retrieve Rin and take him to Gehenna. Though, still not on the same level as one of the actual eight demon kings, Aeshma was still no push over, a demon of high ranking, power and strategic intelligence who had been purposely wearing them down before he finally showed himself to try and finish the exorcists off.
But Shiro wasn't the Paladin, the strongest exorcist in the True Cross Order, for nothing. Once, Rin was no longer in danger Father Fujimoto could really unleash all of his righteous fury upon the demons that would dare to try and take his son away from him. Aeshma may have been able to get a few hits on the aging Paladin, Shiro's slightly sore ribs were a painful reminder that he was no longer as young and spry as he used to be—but Shiro was still faster and stronger than the demon had thought the aging human male to be—Shiro had made quick work of him before exorcising the demon out of Shiratori. After the boss had been taken down it was just a matter of cleaning up and sending the rest of the demons running back into the shadows or straight back to Hell.
Now that the demonic activity had finally tampered off and dawn would soon be arriving they were granted this small moment of respite to quickly patch up their more serious injuries. The worst had been Kyodo who had suffered a mild concussion, a broken arm, and some fractured ribs. He would most likely confined to bed rest for at least a couple of weeks if not a month, but it looked like everyone would be able to fully heal and resume their exorcist duties after a few days of rest.
However…
They did not have a few days… they would be lucky if they even had a few hours.
With a groan Father Fujimoto stood up from where he had been sitting on a fallen tree and addressed the other priests. "Alright, listen up." The priests all gave the Paladin their undivided attention listening to hear what their next course of action would be. "This was just the first attack but we at least managed to survive it and more importantly we kept Rin away from them. Now we just have to keep it that way." He looked over to where Izumi was finishing wrapping a bandage around Kyodo's head. "Izumi, take Kyodo back to the monastery and make sure that the basic wards and illusion spells are at least up. That should buy us a little bit more time so that no one will notice much of what happened."
"Yes, Father Fujimoto." Izumi nodded.
Shiro then turned to other priests. "We need to at least file a report with the Order that there was some demonic activity in the area that we took care of. If we don't report anything that will look too suspicious… So, Maruta, you'll be the one to handle that."
Maruta also nodded in understanding.
Shiro then looked towards Nagatomo. "You will go and take Rin by train to Mt. Fuji, I will meet you there with Mephisto later. We have to make sure that there are no loose ends on our part and that the Order doesn't suspect that there is anything unusual about the demonic activity as of late. Is everyone clear?"
"Yes, Father!" They all responded.
"Good, now lets move. It's almost dawn so the demonic activity will taper off. For now…" After that, we'll be ready for whatever they may try next.
With that the priests set out to complete their tasks. Between Izumi and Maruta they were able to get Kyodo to the one car that had miraculously stayed relatively unharmed throughout this whole ordeal. Shiro and Nagatomo watched as they carefully loaded Kyodo into the back seat of the car before they drove off, heading back towards the monastery. It was still early so there would be no traffic. With any luck they would reach the church before any early morning risers noticed the damage and called the local authorities. The less attention they received the better it would be for everyone in the long run, especially for Rin…
Shiro handed the necessary key to Nagatomo. "Go get Rin, make sure he's ok."
Nagatomo nodded as he took the key. "Are you going to head out now to see Mephisto?"
Shiro sighed and shook his head tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Not yet, I need to do a quick check of the area and make sure we didn't miss any demons, even a small fry could be a possible information leak." He rolled back one of his shoulders, getting the kinks out of it. "Damn, what a night…"
Nagatomo couldn't help but agree with his boss as he watched him head back towards the forest, picking up his shotgun from where he had set it down. The younger exorcist inserted the key into the door and stepped through into the old church. "Rin," he called out, his voice echoing in the decrepit old building. "Come on Rin, we need to go. It's safe now."
There was no answer, only the soft patter of rain that was still falling outside.
'Maybe he fell asleep…' The priest wouldn't be surprised if the fifteen year old had decided to take a nap while he waited for them. It had been a very stressful and eventful day; it would be enough to send anyone into a deep slumber. And Rin was definitely a deep sleeper…
As Nagatomo called out for the teen once more, looking in between the pews to see if Rin had decided to rest on one of them, he felt like something wasn't right though. It should have been easy to find Rin since he wasn't exactly the most peaceful sleeper. He was known to move around a lot in bed and even snore so why was it that he didn't hear—
Nagatomo stopped.
He couldn't hear anything…other than the rain outside it was absolutely quiet inside the church.
Panic began to creep in as he ran up and down the aisle of the church calling out for Rin. He looked in every single possible nook and cranny that could fit a fifteen-year-old boy but there was no trace of the dark blue-haired teen. The priest threw open the doors of the church, ignoring the rain and frantically looked outside for any trace of Rin, calling out for him.
"Rin! Rin, where are you!"
This was not good. This was really, really not good.
Rin was gone.
Nagatomo ran back to the old church, jamming the key into the lock and threw open the doors. He had to tell Shiro!
"Father Fujimoto!" He called out, hoping that the older man was still close enough to hear him. "Father Fujimoto!"
Shiro came running out of the woods to Nagatomo's left. "What, what is it?!" He noticed the panicked look the normally calm monk's face, a feeling of dread beginning to form in his stomach. "Nagatomo, what's wrong?"
"He's gone!"
"What do you mean he's gone."
"Rin! He's gone, he wasn't at the church!"
Shiro's blood seemed to freeze at that moment. "What…? Are you sure?"
Nagatomo nodded, "Yes! I looked all over for him but he wasn't ther—"
Shiro wasn't listening anymore as he marched over to the door and opened the magical passageway to where he had sent Rin earlier. The door banged against the wall hard enough to shake dust down from the rafters as Shiro stepped forward, Nagatomo at his heels. He quickly scanned the church just to confirm for himself that his son was truly not there but the verification only made him clentch his fists and teeth.
"Damnit!" The aging priest broke into a sprint and out the church and began calling out for his son but was met only with rain and silence. He turned to Nagatomo, "We need to find him, quickly!" he said urgently. "Check the perimeter, we need to see if something or someone may have taken him." It was not a very likely situation. This location was warded to keep demons out and to even confuse humans who strayed too closely and give them an uneasy feeling so that they would be discouraged from entering. Not to mentioned that the doors had been locked. But that didn't necessarily mean that nothing could get out…
As if reading his thoughts Nagatomo asked, "Father, is possible there might have been a demon or human inside the wards waiting for him?"
Shiro paused and thought for a moment. It was a possibility but the chances of that happening seemed to be astronomically slim. "It wouldn't make sense though," Shiro answered and continued to explain when he saw Nagatomo's confused look. "If Rin was taken from within the wards of this place then that would mean that something or someone would have known that he would have been here and that doesn't seem likely since we have dozens of hiding places throughout Japan and the key I chose to give to Rin was purely random. They couldn't have known in advance that this would be the place we sent Rin to in case we couldn't take him to Mephisto right away."
"Is it possible that they had someone at each one of the safe houses, just in case…?" Nagatomo suggested.
Shiro shook his head. "No. Rin had just awakened. They couldn't have known where any of them were. Hell! The demons hadn't known Rin was even in this country up until less than 12 hours ago…" He trailed off as he starred at the muddy ground, the rain continuing to pour around them, trying to figure out who or what could have taken his son.
Nagatomo started to shift uncomfortably. A stray thought entering his mind. A small possibility…"Father… I wasn't able to find any sign of a struggle anywhere; inside or outside…" He swallowed, hesitating when he saw the Paladin's form tense from behind, as if he knew where Nagatomo's train of thought was going. "What if Rin… ran away…"
Shiro did not answer but his form was absolutely still. Both priests stood in the rain for a bit before Shiro quickly bit his thumb enough to draw blood and quickly drew a summoning seal on his opposite hand.
"I draw upon the guidance of the guardians of the traveller,
Illuminate the path for that of which I seek,
Shine bright and true and stray naught for that I ask of thee,"
Slamming his hand to the ground faint green fairy lights rose out of the ground from underneath Shiro's hand as he stood. He waited as the lights gathered and huddled together before they shot out into the woods, creating a path.
"This way," Without another word Shiro took off following the trail of lights, Nagatomo barely keeping pace beside him as they ran across the wet ground.
"What are these?" The younger priest asked.
"They are a form of will'o-the-wisps, they come in handy when you are tracking something since they pick up on the aura." He explained. "The brighter the light the stronger the trail."
"But why not use a demon with a strong sense of smell to find him?"
"Because this damn rain would have already muddled, if not completely washed away Rin's scent. This way we get the best shot of finding him or at least his general direction and then we can use a tracker-class demon."
Nagatomo nodded in understanding as they kept running. The rain was still coming down on them, the storm clouds blocking the sky from view so it was difficult for the exorcists to tell if it was almost dawn or not, but since the demonic activity had weathered off it was safe to assume that the sun would be up in just a few more hours. Eventually the trees began to thin just as the lights began to grow dimmer and dimmer, eventually disappearing right when they hit a road. Shiro let out a curse when the lights faded away.
This wasn't good… if the wisps had disappeared that meant that there was no way to trace Rin's aura, too much time had passed from when the teen had passed by here. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the damn rain. They were at a dead end. The only good thing was that there were only two possible directions that the teen could have gone.
"Nagatomo, what's the closest town or city?" Shiro asked in a serious tone.
"I-I think it's Kyoto," the younger man answered. "It should be about 50 kilometers from here."
"Then that's where we'll start looking," Shiro declared as he started marching down the road, sure enough the lights of the city were soon in sight. He stopped as he gazed out towards the sleeping city. Even from here he could hear the multiple temples ringing out their bells to announce the early hours.
Nagatomo barely managed to keep from falling into the mud as he hurried to catch up to his boss. For a guy who was almost fifty he sure could move. "Okay, but why there? Rin could have gone the other way." He pointed out.
Shiro shook his head. "No, I think Rin would have gone to Kyoto, it's a city so it's familiar to him… And besides..." he let out a strained chuckle and his eyes caught sight of the Kyoto Tower, a sad smile on his face. "He's always wanted to go there." Shiro can still remember how excited Rin had been when the school trip was announced for the third years at his school… and then the crushing disappointment when just a few days before the trip he had been banned from going for getting in a fight with another student, a student who happened to have very well off and well connected parents.
Shiro forced himself to stop thinking about that incident and how unfair the school officials had been to Rin and instead focus back on the problem on hand… and that was finding Rin…
Of all the times for Rin to run off… now couldn't have been worst timing. Who knew what sort of trouble his thickheaded fifteen-year-old son would get himself into now that Gehenna was aware his awakening. The only saving grace they had right now was that the night was now receding, and with it the demonic activity, so that gave them at least twelve hours to find Rin before nightfall was upon them once more.
"Come on, lets head back." Shiro turned and backtracked the way they had come. In no time they had reached their destination.
"So what are we going to do now?" Nagatomo asked as they reached the old church.
Shiro didn't answer right away, pulling out the necessary key as they stepped inside and headed to the back of the church where their door to return was. "First, we will regroup at the monastery and make sure that everyone is alright." They stepped through the doorway and instead of the woods they emerged back at the monastery. The sky was already beginning to light up and there was the sound of the city slowly coming alive again for another day. "Then, I want you and everyone else to head to Kyoto and start looking for Rin. The rain should stop by then and so his scent should turn up again so use one of you tracking summons to find him."
They entered the main living area and headed towards the kitchen where the other monks were waiting for them. Maruto was finishing bandaging the rest of Kyodo's wounds while Izumi was taking inventory of the exorcist supplies to get the wards back up to full power, he was the first to notice when the other two priests entered the room.
Judging by the emotionless and still look that Shiro had on and the worry etched onto Nagatomo's face, Izumi could immediately tell that something was wrong, and asked. "What's wrong, did something happen?"
Shiro gestured for everyone to gather around.
"Rin is missing." He stated ignoring the shocked looks from the other priests, now was not the time to lose their cool. "I am going to head to Mephisto's and let him know of the situation, hopefully he will have everything ready. Besides Maruta and Kyodo, the rest of you will go to Kyoto and start looking for Rin. Understood."
"Yes, Father Fujimoto!"
"Good, we don't have that much time, we have only until nightfall to find Rin so lets find him before those damned demons do."
With that everyone got to work. Izumi and Nagatomo went to a door and opened up a passage to Kyoto as Maruta and Kyodo bid them goodbye and good luck before heading out to their duties. The wards had already been put up to ensure that bystanders would not be able to see the extensive damage that the monastery had obtained and instead all they would notice was that the monastery was closed for a sabbatical of an unspecified time. Now they had to replenish the wards to guard against demons and the proper rites and rituals would take at least most of the morning but the faster they got it done, the faster they could join the search party in Kyoto.
With everything in regards to the monastery taken care of for the moment, Shiro took out one more key, this one rather flamboyant looking, and opened the front door leading to the office of a certain purple-haired demon headmaster.
Said demon was busy playing with a game console and at first pretended not to notice the Paladin that had just entered his office with a cold and serious look on his face.
"Mephisto…"
"Ah! Father Fujimoto, what a surprise…" Mephisto put the console down and smiled brightly at the Paladin. "I take it that my precious little brother has now awaken and is safely hidden by now. After all, for what other reason would you have to pay me such an unexpected visit~?" He grinned showing off his fangs.
"Rin is gone."
"Well, I should think so," Mephisto chuckled. "That was the point of all those safe houses you set up all those years ago."
"No, Rin is gone. He ran away, and we need to find him as soon as possible."
Mephisto stared at Shiro, his eyes widening as the only indication of his shock, especially at how calm Shiro was being, but then he noticed a few things here and there about his long time friend and fellow True Cross exorcist. He seemed much older, his fists were clenched so tightly at his sides that there was just the slightest of tremor, a hard look in his eyes, and his complexion was a bit paler than usual were the only indicators that tipped Mephisto off as to how Shiro was really feeling inside.
After spending so much time in Assiah, Mephisto liked to think himself as an expert on human emotions, which is why he had so much fun toying with them. They were just one of the things that he never tired of when it came to humans because emotions were the reason that humans could be so unpredictable; they turned the cowardly brave, the righteous sinful, the murderous into nurturers, the humble arrogant… there was just a never ending list of possibilities when emotions were mixed with humans. He only had to look at the exorcist in front of him for proof of how emotions could shape a human. Fujimoto Shiro had been one of the most efficient, and most ruthless to the point of being cold-hearted exorcist that Mephisto had ever known in all of his two-hundred years time with the True Cross Order and yet he was the one to have spared the children of Satan and even raise said children as his own for the past fifteen years…
Yes, humans truly were an interesting race…
But right now what the headmaster had to worry about was the fact that his youngest brother was lost, somewhere in the world.
Honestly, Mephisto had not considered this outcome. He had honestly believed that the current Paladin would have easily been able to get Rin to safety and brought to him as soon as there was any sign of the seal on his demon heart weakening.
Mephisto leaned back into his chair as he stared at Shiro, "I see…" He gestured for Shiro to take a seat as he summoned his favorite tea set to pour himself and his guest some refreshments. Shiro didn't touch his cup, even though he looked like he needed it, while Mephisto took a delicate sip of his before addressing Shiro once more. "And how long has my precious baby brother been missing?"
"Rin has been out of my sight for a little over four hours… So he has been 'missing' no more than that amount." Shiro said emotionlessly.
Mephisto hummed as he took another sip of his tea, "And I assume that you already sent the others to look for him as well as used will'o-the-wisps to get a general idea where he could have gone." Shiro nodded. "And if those had failed to lead you straight to him that could only mean that he has put enough time and distance between you all for his aura to begin fading… meaning he has quite the lead already..." Shiro's clenched his hands on his knees, nodding in confirmation once more. Mephisto noticed the gesture and snapped his fingers, his tea refilling by the levitating teapot and a tray of cookies appearing before him with a small 'poof'. He interlocked his fingers and leaned forward on his desk, the smallest on his face. "Perhaps you should start from the beginning and tell me everything that has happened…"
As Father Fujimoto began to recount the events of the past twelve hours only one thought became prominent in Mephisto's head…
This was going to be far more interesting than he had ever imagined….
There we go, drama building on both sides as Shiro and the other priests begin their search for Rin and Rin is heading as far away as he possibly can. I know that some may say that Rin is not stupid enough to get into a truck with a stranger but remember Rin is very emotional right now; he's hurt, tired, scared, and alone. He has just been thrust into this world of demons and has found out that he been lied to his whole life and that he really is a demon… So it makes sense that all he wants to do is just get as much distance as possible from the people whom he trusted but pretty much ended up betraying him in a way.
Poor kid…
I am honestly surprised that there aren't more stories that have Rin running away from home when he finds out the truth… And since Shiro did not die in front of him and Rin didn't get the chance to meet his biological father that leaves a lot of room for teenage angst as well as the chance to explore the consequences of raising a teenager and making so many big decisions about their life behind their backs… I know that people will make the argument that Shiro was an awesome dad, and based off the few flashbacks with him that we have in the manga and the anime that is a fair assessment. But he was in no way perfect and this one decision to keep Rin from the truth is some pretty shitty parenting.
Just saying.
So leave a review or comment and I hope you all stick around to see what is in store for Rin next, and don't worry Yukio is coming up soon as well.
