Unbreakable Bonds
A Rin Okumura x Yukio Okumura Fan Fiction
Chapter 2: The Funeral Melody
'Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.' - Norman Cousins
What is it like being truly alone? It was a feeling Yukio had never felt before until now. A grinding pain constantly tearing at his heart as if it was stuck between two slow motion gears. It was the worst possible feeling anyone could imagine and then some. And yet, this was all he felt the last three days. His father was dead. The man he inspired to be like. His hero. Gone forever.
As the early morning rain lightly tapped against his window, he glanced over to the bed on the other side of the room. On most days, his brother was sleeping soundly there in some stretched out position with drool rolling down his chin. But, not since their father died. In fact, he hadn't seen Rin since that night. He desperately searched for him the moment he realized it. It was no use. He was nowhere to be found.
Rin's absence was causing this unrelenting pain in his heart. He slowly discovered this as the days dragged on. He had never went a day without his brother. And now, he's gone three. It was torture. The one time he needed him and he ran away. Left him alone with nothing much his own pain and sorrow. Would he ever return?
He had his reasons not to. Unknown to Rin, Yukio knew that his demon nature had been awakened. He saw it the moment he found him the last their father died. Was he trying to protect him by disappearing? Because he was only making it worse. He wanted his brother back. To hold each other and make their shared pain go away, if only for a brief moment.
He finally rose out of bed and sluggishly took off his clothes. He stared at the suit hanging on the door. Today was his father's funeral, an extremely hard pill to swallow. He grabbed it off the hanger and started buttoning up the shirt. Rin had to come back for this. He seriously wouldn't miss something this important, right?
When all the pieces were on, he walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Deep purple bags were under his eyes, etched into ghost white skin. All the stress and worry had caused extreme lack of sleep. It was also making him sick. He was constantly puking these last few days. He looked and felt like the living dead. But, he had to mask all this for everyone today. No one would see him so fragile. He turned on the faucet and splashed his face quickly with cold water. That made it somewhat better. As he turned off the sink, he grabbed his glasses and placed them on his face.
As he walked into the monastery, a rare sound could be heard from the floor. A piano playing, its melody's depressing and heart wrenching. Someone was playing the old instrument in the underground cellar. But who? Yukio ran to the door that led to the cellar and started down the stairs. Who the hell would be down here and why? There was nothing valuable in here.
He gasped once finding out the source. It was Rin, his precious big brother wearing his only suit, whose fingers pushed off this harmony, silent tears falling from his eyes. This imagery was wrong. This wasn't the Rin he loved. Where was the Rinwhose infectious, full toothed smile made his heart flutter? This was another person entirely. And it was breaking his heart. "Nii-san..." he whispered to himself.
It was loud enough for Rin to hear. Fingers reverted from the keys. He turned in panic. Oh God, Yukio looked horrible. So frail, so sickly. Tears were forming in hisaquamarine eyes. He sat there, stunned by the state his little brother was in. "Yukio.."
Emotions of angry and loneliness welled up inside Yukio. He needed to let them out before he exploded. "Where the hell have you been! You can't just run off and disappear like that! Especially not right now! Do you even know what's happening today!"
Yukio never yelled at him, no matter what. It threw Rin for a loop. But, he deserved all of it. "I've been throughout town, sleeping here during the night. And yes, I know what's happening today. And I'm not going."
"You can't not go to your father's funeral!"
"Yes, I can." He couldn't face his father's grave, knowing full and well he had caused his death. He refused to put himself through that. "You should go." His fingers slowly began to play the melody from before.
"Damn it Rin, stop this right now! Loathing isn't helping either of us! You're coming to the funeral and that's final!"
This was accelerating fast. If this kept up, punches might be thrown. But, either of them wanted that. "Yukio, calm down. Sit down beside me. Let's talk." He sounded like he was pleading.
Yukio listened and sat down on the bench beside him. His emotions were draining him of all energy. It was all too much. His head leaned against his. He stared atRin's fingers moving across the keys that composed this beautifully sad melody. "I didn't know you played, Nii-san. You're quite good."
A small smirk appeared on his face. "Thanks. No one knew until now. When I found this old thing years old, I snuck down here in the middle of the night and taught myself to play. I guess you could call it my hidden passion."
"You should go to the funeral, even if for a few moments. Enough to pay your respects to Father. It's what he would want." He was practically begging him at this point. He needed Rin to get through this day.
Rin was silent for a few moments. Could he really do this? Could he really face the damage he's done? But seeing Yukio like this proved to him he had to go. His little brother was hurting. And, it was his job to protect him from pain, physical and emotional. "...I'll go."
The barest of smiles came across Yukio's face as he stood up, taking his brother's hand inside his. A touch of utter support for each other. They would get through this pain together. Because they were the only thing each other had left.
A phone call made. An eccentric man dressed in white. Mephisto Pheles was his name. Options. Be killed, flee, or suicide. Suicide did sound nice but he refused to hurt Yukio any more that he already had. So, he made his own choice. He would become an Exorcist. He would kick Satan's ass.
