Adumbrate
to clarify, to cast a shadow over
Rin and Yukio stared at their surroundings, blue eyes wide and hands shaking with fear. They shared a nervous glance before turning to Shirou.
"Do we really have to go?" They asked.
Shirou nodded and gave both of them an encouraging pat on the back. "You're big boys already, aren't you? And I know this is a lot of new space and there are so many people, but you two will be fine, I promise. I'll make sure nothing harms you. And if it's too much, we will go back home."
"To Germany?" Yukio asked, sounding a bit hopeful.
"No, back to the house we're staying in now."
"But it's not safe there! That crazy lady could come in without any problems!"
Shirou laughed lightly. Shura certainly had made an impression on Rin. "She could because I trust her. Shura was just a bit confused – like you were. Now come, let's go."
One twin on each hand, Shirou slowly left the church he'd started to help out at. For all the excitement both boys used to have for moving to Japan, they now appeared rather intimidated. Shura's first impression of a new person probably hadn't helped either. Going outside of their new home or the church was always a little fight. Yukio and Rin both were overwhelmed with the new place and all the impressions that came with it. Yukio had taken to wearing as much clothes as possible, his thinning mental shields failing at keeping his empathy from reaching out when he was around so many people. Shirou would have to go out and buy new headache pills soon, Yukio was running out of them again.
Rin was slightly easier to deal with as he didn't need any medication, just a lot of physical contact. Not once before had Shirou seen Rin behave so clingy. If they weren't at home, Rin was constantly holding onto Yukio or Shirou, needing the familiarity as if it were his lifeline. Being taken out of familiar territory really shook the boy more than Shirou had anticipated.
"Papa?"
"Yes, Rin?"
"Who does this place belong to? And can't they tell the people to stop thinking so loud?" At his second question, Rin looked at his brother, worry all over his face.
"This place doesn't really belong to anyone, not like the property back home belonged to you and Mephisto," Shirou began to explain but Rin only showed incomprehension.
"How can something not belong to somebody? You're mine and I protect you. That's how it has to work!"
Shirou really, really wished somebody had written a book on how to explain the concept of freedom in its purest form to a demon child with build in territorial behavior. But since nobody had written a book like that, Shirou had to make do.
"You want to have things so you can protect them, right?"
At this Rin nodded, unconsciously tightening his hold on Shirou's hand.
"Well, that's because you have a big heart. Many humans though prefer not being kept on such a tight leash though and want to watch out for themselves. You can still protect them, but they don't want to be considered yours. And since this town here is for everyone, it also doesn't belong to only one person."
Seeing that Rin wasn't going to let this go, Shirou decided to change the subject quickly instead of keeping up the conversation. At home they could perhaps continue it, but not here on the street where the subject might upset Rin. His sons were already feeling bad enough, he didn't want to put more weight on their shoulders.
"Have I told you about True Cross' underground part?" Shirou asked the twins instead, hoping to distract them.
It worked as Rin and Yukio shook their heads. "No."
"Well, then listen closely. A long time ago this was just a mountain and since war was everywhere, the people living here decided to build their city inside the mountain instead of on the outside. That way they hoped their home would be easier to defend. So right below our feet, there are whole buildings hidden away."
The twins stared at the ground in awe, already forgetting their surroundings. Yukio's expression relaxed, Rin loosed his tight grip on Shirou's hand.
"Because of this incredible idea, the people of this mountain could live in peace and so their number grew until the mountain couldn't contain all of them all. As the battles lessened, the people decided that it was alright to start building at the surface. The longer they stayed outside, the more did they fell in love with the sunlight, the sky, nature, all the things they couldn't have in the mountain. More and more people abandoned their homes in the mountain in favor of living on the surface so that in the end, nobody lived inside the mountain anymore. The city on the outside though had grown so big and beautiful, that more and more people came to it to live there who didn't care about the city's underground so that even the people born below the surface slowly forgot where they came from. Now only ruins can be found below our feet as nobody really tended to the underground in centuries."
"So really nobody lives there anymore?" Yukio asked
"Only some demons. They tend to stick closer to the humans in the lower parts of the city but occasionally they go hide there."
"Eh? Why do they hide?"
"Because this is one base of the True Cross Order – the exorcists. Most of them exorcise every demon they see, excluding Coal Tars since there are too many of them and they are more or less harmless."
The twins who had been in the care of familiars ever since they had been born and found playmates in Hobgoblins and Greenman, couldn't quite comprehend why it should be necessary to get rid of all demons one encountered.
"That's stupid," Rin decided. "Not all demons are evil."
"And you're right but the Order doesn't bother to think about something like that," Shirou said. He'd always thought of it as ironic, given that Tamers used demons to fight or that Mephisto, one of the strongest Ba'al, was the Order's biggest benefactor.
"So a lot of demons are killed here without a reason?" Yukio inquired frowning.
"Yes," Shirou replied. Seemed like the whole distraction tactic wouldn't be working out for him anytime soon.
"Then it is stupid that this town doesn't belong to anyone! I'll take it and protect everyone!" Rin declared. "That's fairness, not what everyone is doing now. Right, Yukio?"
The younger boy slowly nodded but did not appear entirely convinced.
"No taking over the city now though, Rin. You'll have to look and act like a human, remember? Besides, we're home now and if I remember correctly somebody wanted to eat chocolate pudding...!"
"YES!"
And with that the twins let go of Shirou's hands, racing to the front door of their house and telling their father to hurry up.
In the end Yukio and Rin managed to get used to Japan and all its customs, even if they still kept some of their quirks. Nobody died, the twins hadn't been targeted yet and Shirou already knew where they would disappear to the few times when they still needed a break from it all. Rin would hide away in the kitchen and cook a feast or run off to explore the city. As far as Shirou could tell from when he went with Rin, the boy sought out demons, which were more or less friendly, as playmates. He had a hard time dealing with kids his age, them often being too weak to handle Rin or making fun of his cluelessness considering some things.
So instead Rin scouted the surroundings and demons, which were far easier to deal with for him, going further into the lower parts of the city and sometimes even into the underground.
While that did worry Shirou, Rin always came back looking better than before therefore he let it slide – not before reminding Rin though to never give away his heritage or get involved with the demons' frail power balance in the city's lower parts. The last thing Shirou needed on his hands was Rin overthrowing one of the districts' rulers. The demons would question where Rin came from, exorcists would notice something shifting in the city, so all in all it could only end in disaster. Even though Shirou knew that Rin's build in need to have his own territory was probably screaming at him to go out and conquer all the space in front of him, he just had to deny his son.
The real surprise though was Yukio.
He took refuge in churches, especially the one close to where they lived. The first weeks here had been terrible for the boy. Whereas his mental blockades only had to shut out plants and animals back in their own home, Yukio now had to keep away humans' thoughts and emotions too. Headaches, nausea – Yukio had been at his worst. Shrines and churches seemed to help him. Those were holy places and, mass aside, usually rather empty. The one lost soul coming to visit when Yukio was hiding away behind the altar, didn't appear to bother him. So slowly but steadily he built up his shields again, stronger and better than before. The conversations between him and other people became less awkward and Yukio took a liking especially to their church's congregation.
The elder ladies often called him an angel, much to Yukio's embarrassment and Shirou's amusement.
So even if the whole situation wasn't perfect, they'd make do. And if the dangers looming on the horizon would come closer, well, Shirou would find a way to protect his sons. He'd have to.
Writer's ramblings:
Another chapter done and aargh. I don't like this one really. It's too summarizing at the end but alas, I don't have the time to actually write this out (as I said before). The whole mountain/underground thing is made up by me in so far that I got inspired by all the underground buildings in the movie and just had to do something with it! Also this made me realize that there are only 3 chapters left until this arc is done (and I haven't even started writing the next one oh god).
As always, thank you all for your reviews!
A fallen Fate: Codependency is a topic I rather enjoy working with in AnE (as you maybe can tell after reading so much of my stuff holy hell) and especially here it'll be rather interesting as the twins are as dependent on each other as independent they are.
Iheartlife888: The twins were home schooled, yep! By pretty much everyone who dropped by so uhm. Demons, Shirou, Mephisto. Their curriculum was pretty strange.
Kristen Sharpe: I'm sooo glad I got close enough with canon concerning Yuri and Shura's relationship! And you've read the whole chapter? Could you tell me where? I only manage to find pieces of it on tumblr! T^T
Well then, that's it until next Friday! I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter!