Chapter 2: Life at the Monastery
A/N Hey guys! I know it's been way too long since I posted Chapter 1, and I honestly have no excuse for not updating. The nice thing about not posting in so long is that my writing has improved, so hopefully this chapter is an improvement over the first. And since I haven't posted in a while, please read the first chapter before reading this one.
Special thanks to my beta reader/collaborator who helped me write this chapter. He doesn't have an account here, but has helped tremendously so far.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my twins. All other rights belong to Kazue Kato.
Ayumi woke up first the next morning before anyone else, her mind clouded by her restless sleep. She couldn't remember if she had even slept at all. Sleepily, she walked down the stairs to the kitchen, swaying like a drunk person. She had very little sense of direction, so she bumped right into Yukio, only realizing after her head hit against his chest. She blushed furiously.
"S-sorry, Yukio…" she said softly.
"Ayumi…? What are you doing up so early?" He asked, at first not noticing how tired she was.
"Oh...I always get up early…." she answered.
"You were up pretty late….and are you still tired? Go back to bed!" He ordered, putting his hands on her shoulders rougher than intended.
She flinched at the physical contact and instantly cowered, as if expecting him to hurt her. His eyes widened.
"You father didn't….hurt you did he?" he asked gently, releasing his grip.
She turned to leave, ignoring his question. When she pulled away from him, he quickly pulled her around, spinning her like a ballerina and twirled her back into him. He caught her, his hand still holding hers as he placed his hand on her lower back. He looked down into her eyes, his overflowing with concern, wanting to help her, and wanting her to answer him. He attempted to plead with his eyes for her to answer him
"Please allow me to help, and trust me. I will never do something that might make you regret putting your faith in me." He pleaded.
She looked down sadly, a light blush coloring her cheeks. She pulled away from his embrace and left the room without another word. He sighed and inwardly cursed himself for asking such an insensitive question. He had hoped that she'd accept his offer to assist her, but he didn't think she'd pull away from him and leave. He had no idea that he had affected her in any way, even though he was just attempting to console her.
Everyone else (minus Rin, who typically slept late) woke up a few hours later. Shiro took Ayumi and Ayano to begin their training. Yukio followed, curious to see what they could do. The Okada clan was a clan of mainly Arias, talented Arias at that, so he was surprised when Ayano requested to use one of Shiro's old practice guns, which was loaded with blanks.
"Does being a Dragoon interest you?" Shiro asked the silent girl. Ayano just nodded and took the gun.
He watched the young girl and saw her take a few shots, hitting the targets he had set up. He smiled, impressed by what looked to be natural talent.
"Your father would be proud that you decided to go with something that you're passionate about. Is this something that you'd want to meister in?" He asked curiously. Ayano nodded and continued shooting.
Ayumi stood there awkwardly, unsure of what she should do. She saw a Bible sitting on a table in the room, but didn't go to pick it up. She knew the scriptures, so reading them again would be pointless for her. Shiro came over to her.
"Are you thinking of becoming an Aria, Ayumi?" he asked her gently.
"Well….Father wants me to…." she answered quietly.
"I didn't ask what your father wants. I asked what you want." Shiro continued in a gentle tone.
"I...I don't know...I guess I want to be an Aria..." She said, still unsure what to do.
Shiro sighed. Ayumi had no self-confidence. That much was obvious.
What has Tetsurou done? Shiro thought as he watched Ayumi.
He discovered by watching her that she uses Ayano as a shield. He remembered the days when Rin defended Yukio from playground bullies. The two sets of twins that were now under his care were very similar, but he worried about Ayumi. She couldn't always rely on Ayano for protection. Unsure of what he could do for her at present, he resolved to sitting back and watching Ayano continue to train.
After a while, Ayano suddenly pulled out what he recognized as paper for summoning familiars.
Could she have a contract already? He thought, bewildered.
Ayano summoned a single raven, but it didn't resemble any ordinary raven: the familiar was all white except for the red tips on its wings. Ayano stroked it when it landed on her shoulder, calling it Kurasu. Ayumi watched in amazement. Shiro wondered if Ayumi was interested in obtaining a Tamer Meister, so he went over to her.
"Ayumi, would you like to learn how to summon a familiar?" he asked.
She nodded, and he saw it was the most enthusiastic she'd been so far. He smiled and handed her some summoning circle paper.
"Just put a drop of your blood on this paper and say any words that come to mind." He instructed, handing her a needle to prick herself with.
Ayumi nodded, doing as he had instructed.
"C-come forth!" she said nervously.
A bizarre-looking creature appeared on the paper, staring up at her. It had blue scaly skin and looked strangely like a curious child. Its eyes resembled a reptile, having slit pupils, and it had webbed hands and feet. The room suddenly smelled like fish upon the creature's summoning.
Shiro applauded Ayumi for her summoning.
"Looks like you have a sujin, a water-type kappa. They're known for mischief, but can be great allies with proper training. Excellent work, Ayumi." He praised.
Ayumi was taken aback by the praise as she wasn't used to it, but blushed nonetheless. She looked at the sujin before it hopped onto her back, wanting a piggyback. Not wanting to comply, she quickly ripped the paper, forcing the sujin to vanish. Yukio watched with a smile on his face. Ayumi looked away from him shyly, remembering their earlier encounter.
Yukio tilted his head down, feeling like she didn't want him to be able to be happy for her. He was intrigued that she was able to summon so easily, so he decided he was going to study to be able to do something similar.
Ayumi left the room, happy at being able to summon a familiar. Yukio didn't see her for the rest of the day until dinner time. He felt as though she was ignoring him, making him wonder if he should have embraced her the way he did.
Later that night, Ayumi and Ayano went into their room and went to sleep. Although Ayano was in a deep sleep, Ayumi was not. She was suffering from a recurring nightmare.
Ayumi's Nightmare
Ayumi was running left and right, her blue sundress flowing in the wind with her movements. She was five years old again, and in the back of the Okada estate. She was being chased by demons. Her father and other members of the clan worked to fight off the coming horde, but some slipped right past them and came straight for Ayumi, Ayano, and their mother Miyuki.
"Mommy, imouto, where are you?" little Ayumi cried out.
She was so scared that she had no idea what to do. She continued to run as fast as her little legs could carry her, but she couldn't outrun the demons. She got scratched by one, making her bleed. She cried out in pain but continued forward. She soon found her mother laying face down on the ground. Believing her mother was unconscious, Ayumi tried to shake her mother to wake her up.
"Mommy? Wake up, mommy." she pleaded.
When she finally moved her mother onto her back, Ayumi saw her mother's eyes were wide open. She was completely motionless.
"Mommy…? Mommy!" She cried out, shaking her mother vigorously. "Wake up! Please wake up!" she pleaded.
Nightmare end
Yukio could hear the frantic screaming coming from the room the girls were sleeping in, so he moved from his bed and rushed down towards the room. He knocked on the door but heard no answer, so he turned the knob, adjusting it just right so he could open the locked door. When he entered the room he saw Ayumi writhing in her sleep. He moved over to her bed, rubbing her shoulder, attempting to wake her from her slumber. It was futile as he shook her harder, making her body move as he looked at her in a worried state.
"Ayumi, wake up, it's just a dream!" he pleaded with her, attempting to have her see reason, and for her to hopefully wake up from the nightmare.
She continued tossing and turning until she finally opened her eyes. She saw Yukio and blushed, unsure how to explain what he had surely heard.
"Were nightmares the reason you were tired this morning?" He asked her softly.
She nodded a little, looking down. She wasn't really willing to share what her nightmare was about, as she has never told anyone how her mother died.
Yukio moved over a bit closer to her, and sat down on the side of her bed, and placed his hand on her calf, sighing
"Is there any way for you to be able to tell me what it is? You can start slow if you want to. I just want to make sure that you're able to sleep, and not look as drained as you were in the morning." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, a gentle smile on his face as he looked over at her, wanting an explanation, but not wanting to force it from her.
Ayumi looked up at him sadly, and ran her fingers through her snow-colored hair nervously. Doing the gesture seemed to relax her, and she took a deep breath before she answered him.
"I'm sure your dad told you my mother was killed ten years ago, but you probably don't know how she was killed. A whole horde of demons invaded the estate. Though Father and other family members fought most of them back, some broke through. Ayano and I survived the attack with minor wounds, but our mother...didn't. I-I saw her dead... S-since that time I've always seen that scene play over and over in my dreams." she explained tearfully.
Yukio sat there stunned and he sighed, moving his hand up to her knee, and started rubbing it lightly.
"I couldn't imagine your loss. I don't remember my mother, since she died when I was born, but I do remember that she did love Rin and I. There is a way for me to help, but we would have to exorcise the demons inside of you, and for Shiro to possibly help you to gain what you lost. You aren't a bad person, and I do know that you're able to combat the nightmares… we just need a way for us to be able to help you cope with it, and then it will slowly fade.. You won't lose the memory, but you will be able to sleep peacefully." he sighed, trying to make sure that she could relax, and possibly sleep soundly. He kept a calm grin on his face while speaking to her.
She nodded.
"Alright." she said in acknowledgement.
He sighed, standing up, and picked up a water bottle from the side of the room. He opened it, and held the nozzle to her lips.
"Drink, and this should help for you to be able to sleep." he told her. She drank some of the water, and pulled back. He sighed, gently pushing on her shoulder, and pulled the sheets up to cover her some. He had her lay on her side, and rubbed her head as she laid down.
"Sleep well. If you need me, don't hesitate to come and find me." He said.
She released her right arm from beneath the blanket and grabbed the sleeve of his pajama shirt.
"Wait...will you...stay here with me?" She pleaded, not letting go.
Yukio blushed at her request, and he turned his head as he didn't know what to say before he looked back to her. The blush was heating up his face as he leaned down, coming a bit closer to her, rubbing her head as he pulled her hand off his sleeve.
"Alright, I'll stay, and let's hope me spending the night with you will stop those nightmares.. Maybe you'll have good dreams about me." he said, grinning teasingly with a childish giggle.
It was Ayumi's turn to blush, but she soon settled into his arms and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. For once in a long time, she wasn't having a nightmare about her mother's death.
A/N And that finishes that chapter! Both me and my collaborator thought it would be a good idea to add more chemistry for Yukio and Ayumi since they will end up together. I'm still setting up here, but very soon I will be getting to the actual plot. Rin won't play a huge role for a little while, but he will come in.
Explanations of terms used in this chapter:
Imouto: Japanese term meaning "little sister". Ayumi will use this a lot when talking to Ayano.
In regards to the sujin, I took the name and physical description from a wiki page detailing the creature from Japanese folklore. Sujin are known to cause mischief, anywhere from looking up ladies' kimonos to causing disappearances and drownings. So I thought it would be an interesting idea to make that Ayumi's familiar. Expect mischief from the creature in the future.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please feel free to leave me a review and provide constructive criticism if you have any. Until next time!
Next chapter: Facing the Inner Demons
