Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are all to their respective and original owners. I am simply borrowing them for my own amusement. At the end of the day, I own nothing.
Shura's arm unlocked from around Rin's strangled neck as she roughly shoved him into a room made entirely of thick looking concrete.
Rin let out a cry of pain as he landed on the ground, hands and knees skidding across the ground to stop him from slamming face first into the pavement. He rolled over onto his back in a quick, pained motion, jumping up to stare at Shura.
"What the hell is the big idea, lady? Where the hell are we?" Rin yelled this as the woman closed the huge door behind her, the door jam giving an echoing slam and click as the lock shifted into place.
With that click, Rin felt his mind and heart shift into overdrive, even more so once Shura turned around with his sword swung over her shoulder. "Give me my sword!" He ran forward, attempting to grab his sword from her. She quickly evaded his panicked lunge and punched the base of his spin, causing him to curl forward in pain, letting out a small shriek.
"You let the sword get taken awfully easy, kid. It's far too dangerous a weapon for you to handle like that. Chh," She snorted and pulled the sword from its carrier, then from it's holster. Rin's body immediately lit up like a blue lantern. Shura's eyes widened, closing the sword again. Rin's flames disappeared. She did this a few times as the boy attempted to get his breath back after having it knocked out of him. "The sword is a portal for your flames, eh? Well, Shiro had a few tricks up his sleeves, didn't he? Including you."
Rin felt his fury flare as the strange woman mentioned Shiro, talking mockingly as if she knew him. He turned around and punched at her face. "Don't you dare fucking talk about the old man!"
Shura jumped back just in time to avoid the hit. "Hit a nervel huh? You wanna fight, kid?" She pulled out her own sword, sheathing Rin's and letting his flames die. The boy felt a shiver of fear flow through his veins as he watched the woman pull a long, purple sword from her chest.
"Serpent Fang!" She yelled, sending two elongated streaks of wind barreling towards Rin. He leapt out of the way, then back again as he narrowly avoided two more slices of her sword. Her voice and the sound of cracking concrete echoed throughout the room. Rin dodged air current after air current, fear and desperation pushing his already exhausted muscles faster and faster.
Finally, one nicked Rin in the stomach and he was sent flying backwards into the concrete wall. Pebbles and shards of gravelly daggers went flying in every other direction, some cutting his skin as they flew past his injured body.
Shura didn't let up her attack and Rin had to quickly shake off the disorientation in his head after having slammed onto such a hard surface. He rolled away and began dodging again, this time slower, cutting it close to the attack's razor sharp, airy edges.
Shura watched his movements with care after each swipe, noticing the sloppy way he moved and floundering uncertainty in maneuvers. He was unkempt and wild and clearly untrained, she 'chh-ed' at Shiro's complete failure of a weapon. She couldn't believe that at one point the old man had asked her to train this wimp as if there was anything to train. The boy was absolutely pathetic and sloppy. There was no way Shiro had done anything to train Rin, let alone anything to prepare Rin for her type of regimen, her type of teaching, her type of fighting. The boy was in no way a fighter and Shura was disappointed in her old mentor.
"Shiro was a fool. You're weak and he clearly didn't train his weapon to be anything more than a chew toy for other demons. The old man was really an id-" Shura mocked the man she had once idolized before Rin shouted, his voice steely in a way Shura wasn't expecting.
"You shut your damn mouth! You know nothing of him! Of everything he's done!" Rin's eyes were hard as he dragged himself off the ground after a particularly hard hit.
Shura stopped attacking him, her eyes trained on the boy's angry, shaking figure. "He is the greatest man to have ever lived. So, you shut your damn mouth! Don't you dare talk about my father like that, don't you dare! If you ever talk about him like that again..." His flames appeared on his skin for the second time without having unsheathed his sword. He hardly noticed the blue flames as he glared at Shura, his fists balled at his hips. "I'll make you regret it. He was the best exorcist. He was the best man to ever live. So don't you dare insult him." His voice was so low Shura felt a shudder trail up her spine as his flames grew bright and his bangs shifted and fluttered from the sheer strength of them. His rageful eyes stared her down. Her own eyes widened and she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips.
The single chuckle repeated itself until it turned into a full blown fit of laughter. She laughed hard, clutching her exposed stomach and throwing her head back. Rin's flames died as confusion overtook him. He watched the woman laugh and for a moment thought she had possibly gone crazy right in front of him.
Bewilderment was written all across Rin's face, causing Shura to laugh even harder.
When she finally pulled herself together, Shura looked up with her eyes sparkling with an unknown feeling in them. She knew then that Shiro hadn't been raising a weapon like all of the Vatican had thought. This wimpy kid couldn't even dodge. But with the way he had defended Shiro, she knew the old man had never even thought about turning this kid into a weapon of mass destruction. He had been raising a son. And he had done a fine job at make this kid into a son at the way he had just defended the old man.
Shura's mind went back to the time Shiro asked her to train the boy, when she had refused.
Now, she knew she should have trusted Shiro's judgement. A wave of sorrow sobered her laughter and she smiled, somberly. That old man never ceased to amaze her.
"Shiro raised you well, didn't he?" Rin was taken aback by the question.
"What do you mean? You knew the old man?" Rin asked, confused. Shura nodded, smiling.
"I did. He was.. Well, let's just say he was important to me. He saved my life," she trailed off. There was a long moment of silence between the two.
Shura's hand moved to grip the end of the stolen sword on her back. Rin's body tensed automatically, feeling ready to dodge any moment. His body groaned and protested at the tensing, unwilling to move any longer. Rin fought off the pain, attempting to keep his mind and vision sharp.
Shura grinned lopsidedly, humor in her bright eyes. "You want this sword back, kid?" Rin's eyebrows rose, a look crossing his face that clearly said 'duh'. Shura chuckled a bit, "Well then, I suppose you'll need to earn it."
A flat expression smacked itself onto the Satan spawns face, "...what?" He deadpanned, not quite comprehending what the bodacious woman was saying. "What do you mean I have to earn it?!" The boy exclaimed this while he stomped childishly forward. He reached for his sword only to have Shura jump back a few paces. "It's my damn sword! I don't even know who the heck you are, lady! Give me my sword!" Rin hollered this as he attempted to chase after the woman who only evaded his lunges. His moves were sluggish and he knew he would never be able to get it back from her in his current state.
With this in mind, he stopped and as did she. The two looked at each other, one in amusement and one in a mixture of anger and annoyance. Shura cocked her hip out and held the sword over her shoulder.
"I mean that I will keep your sword. Then, I will train you and through my own personal Satan Spawn boot camp, you will earn your sword back and make Shiro proud. Deal?" Shura's grin grew larger and Rin's contempt only deepened despite his growing curiosity toward the woman's offer and her relation to Shiro.
"How.. How did you know the old man?" Rin said after a moment. Shura didn't seem surprised at the question, but her face lost its smile none the less.
"He saved me, like I said. I was lost in Gehenna, only twelve or so. Fighting for my life and he rescued me. From then on, he helped me become a part of the Vatican, gave me a home, and the closest I had ever come to a family. Aside from my snake familiars. He was a good man, a great man," she finished, looking Rin in the eye.
Rin searched her eyes and saw that she was telling the truth. He felt his body loosen and his lips twitched upward.
"He was great, wasn't he?" Shura nodded at this and a silent camaraderie passed between the two.