.

"I'm going to leave the Myou Dha…!"

Those words still echoed in Ryuuji's head. Even now as he lay in the darkness of his room, he couldn't forget the tone they had been said in, the determination behind them. If Juuzou hadn't intervened…

The frustration in Ryuuji's gut grew.

He turned on his side and tried to calm himself by reciting sutras in his head. Yet, the more he tried to distract himself by doing so, the more thoughts of his father ruined his progress. Ryuuji was… infuriated at him. Disappointed too. Confused. His head throbbed the more he thought about it and he clenched his eyes shut tightly tried to will his frustration away. His head continued to throb painfully, and Ryuuji felt a sharp, wet sting in his eyes that made him bite his lip roughly.

The frustration inside of him felt too big to handle in his tiny little body. He felt lonely too, and guilt dwelled heavily in his heart as he thought of Shima and Konekomaru, whom he'd run away from to come sulk in his room. He'd have to apologize to them. Soon. But he didn't want to see anyone just yet, not when he was feeling so miserable.

He turned on his side again. Through the darkness of his room, he caught sight of the faint outline of his desk, and then the pile of letters that were neatly stacked on top of it. They were Rin's letters. Ryuuji had been rereading them just this morning.

He'd gotten a new one this afternoon, he remembered now. He'd stuffed it in his pocket and had been about to run off to read it when he'd overheard that awful argument.

Ryuuji bit his lip, pushed the memory away, and gingerly sat up. He took out the letter in his pocket and then turned on the small lamp next to his futon. The light made him wince a little but he forced himself to ignore the pain, wiped his face roughly with his sleeve, and began to read the letter.

When he was done, a light spark of happiness burst from his chest, and it spread, relieving some of the distress that had been weighing him down. Emptying the remaining contents of the envelope revealed the bracelet Rin had set him. Ryuuji's fingers closed tightly around it for a moment. A few seconds later, the bracelet was snugly wound around his wrist.

Dear Rin,

Thank you.

The bracelet fit me just fine. I put it on right away. Really… thanks.

To tell ya the truth, I'm having a hard time writin' this letter. Today... More followers from my temple tried to leave. It's frustrating. Everything is all just really frustrating. I'm doin' my best here, but time's just going by too slowly. I can't do anything at all to help. My pop's... isn't makin' things easier either. He's being secretive and I hate it. Every time I try to talk to him about it, he changes the subject and tries to distract me. That ain't any better than lyin', and I hate lyin'. We're not supposed to, ya know. It goes against our teachings.

…I'm sorry if I'm gettin' too serious here.

I'm just… afraid. Aren't we supposed to be like family? Every time someone leaves, it gets lonelier around here. I'm always afraid that one day, Shima and Koneko will leave too... Things are changin' around here though. We're merging with another...

Ryuuji paused for a second, wondering how to explain the True Cross Order. He didn't know much about this organization yet. He decided to find out more about it before he could tell Rin.

...with another organization, so things should be better from now on, I hope.

To answer your questions, no, God isn't like Buddha. Not sure what religion your monastery studies under, but Buddhism is more than just a religion. It's a way of life. We don't believe in any gods. Instead, we follow Buddha's teachings. He was just a man like us, so we don't worship him like a god or pray to him like that. We pay him our respects though as thanks for teachin' us the path to enlightenment.

Not sure if this is all going over your head or not. Sorry if I'm rambling.

About the picture, glad you liked it. I'm the one in the middle. Shima's the one with the stupid expression, and Konekomaru's the one with the short hair. He had to shave it off recently because Shima accidentally got gum on his hair. (We both got him back for that, don't worry.)

What do you and your brother look like anyway?

Hope this letter finds you well, and that I hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Your friend

Your best friend, Ryuuji

P.S. I'm glad you didn't hurt anyone.