Chapter 10

When they got to the shop, everything looked fine, on the outside that is. When they entered, they couldn't tell apart the mess from Shiemi and her mom and the possessed woman. They looked for her mom, calling her name every so often. Nothing. Shiemi and Rin decided to look in the garden while Yukio continued to look inside. What Shiemi and Rin found were crushed flowers, dug up and stomped on. Shiemi gasped. "The… Garden"

"Let's keep looking," Rin said, trying to keep Shiemi from thinking about it. He walked over and took Shiemi's to comfort her a little. She gave a faint smile as they approached the small shed to which her grandmother had lived.

"Maybe we should check in here," Rin said. Shiemi nodded. They walked toward the small building as Rin slowly opened the door. Shiemi gasped at the sight inside as Rin stood there silently.

"Go get Yukio," he ordered.

"Okay," said Shiemi, her voice quiet and shaky. Rin looked at her mother, possessed and quite scary looking. He grabbed his sword and pulled it open, unleashing his blue flames. He approached her slowly, until he heard a voice calling in the distance.

"RIN! WAIT!" it was his brother. He looked back to see Yukio and Shiemi racing towards him as he capped the sword, making his flames disappear.

"Hey," Yukio said when he got to him, "You should know to not take that on by yourself," Shiemi cringed at the word that, as in her mother.

"Sorry, I meant Shiemi's mother," Yukio said while looking at Shiemi. She gave a small smile as they returned to the topic.

"Okay, Rin, I think you will need to distract it, which may be tricky. But just… Do your best and I'll take it out," Rin nodded.

"What can I do to help?" Shiemi asked.

"Stay over here and stay safe," Yukio said, wanting no harm done to Shiemi. Rin agreed with him. Shiemi gave a sigh, since it was her own mother who she couldn't help.

"Hey, she'll be fine," Rin said with a reassuring smile.

"Okay" Shiemi smiled back, the words making her feel relief because she knew Rin and Yukio could save her mom from the demon that was possessing her. So she stood back while Rin and Yukio fought, putting their plan into action. Rin ran around, going beside the demon, behind, poking it, tugging on it, and really just annoying it while Yukio shot it multiple times. Nothing was happening, they weren't getting anywhere. Shiemi really wanted to help, but she heard what Yukio said. Stay over here and stay safe. Stay safe. The words echoed through her head multiple times. She watched them run around and try their hardest to defeat the enemy, but time passed and it still seemed unharmed. She couldn't take it anymore, watching the two boys she held closest in her heart risk their lives to bring back her mother, and she couldn't bear seeing her mom like that any longer. She ran out in plain sight as she started shouting.

"MOM! MOM! C'MON! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" she waved her arms around, definitely receiving attention, but not from who she intended.

"Shiemi stop! You're going to get yourself hurt!" Yukio shouted. But then he noticed the tears streaming down her face, and he realized that she really wanted to see her mom again.

"Damn it Shiemi," Rin said as he ran towards her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her right in the eye as he said, "Okay, if you wanna help, then you can," So Rin explained to her a plan as she listen carefully.

"Understand?"

"Yes!" She nodded and smiled.

"Alright, let's go!"

Now, what Rin told Shiemi to do was absurd. But, it worked. He told her to climb on its back and start shaking its head around. Rin got on its front side and started hitting its face, making it completely forget about Yukio. He saw a chance and right as Rin jumped down, he shot its face, sending it mad. He repeatedly shot it until it was lying down, completely vulnerable. He shot almost everywhere, seeing if there was a weak spot. He had no idea if he hit it but then it just disintegrated and her mother was left lying on the floor. Shiemi immediately knelt down and looked at her mother hopefully, waiting for her to wake up. Her eyelids fluttered open and looked up at Shiemi, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Shiemi you silly girl!" she scooped her daughter up in a big hug and Shiemi kept apologizing, and her mom forgave her. Rin and Yukio smiled.

"I wonder what our mom would do if we ever argued with her," Rin said as he grinned.

"Yeah, me too…" Yukio replied.

Shiemi's mom stood up and walked towards Rin and Yukio. She just gave them a thoughtful smile as they both smiled back and then she went back into the shop.

Everyone jumped at the sound of a loud scream that came from the recently exorcised woman. Shiemi gasped, hoping she was okay.

"OH MY LORD!" she shouted. Then Shiemi immediately knew she was referring to the mess that was made between their fight. She gave a small giggle as she thanked Rin and Yukio.

"It's really no problem," Yukio said, while Rin on the other hand said, "You owe me," They all laughed. Shiemi gave Rin a quick kiss on the cheek while she went to go help her mom clean.

"Alright, I need to shower," Rin said, turning to leave when he felt Yukio stop him.

"Rin," Yukio said. "Don't you think we should help them," Rin groaned.

"It's not my fault that they got pissed off at each other!"

"C'mon," Yukio said as he dragged Rin inside the shop.

"But I wanna see Kuro!" Rin complained.

"Excuses, excuses," Yukio said.

"Yukio!" Rin said. They looked around and then started to feel homesick when they realized just how messy the shop really was.