"No way! Did he really?" Ryuuji asked wide-eyed, so surprised that the knife he was holding almost slipped out of his hand.

Izumi snickered without a sense of restraint. "Oh, yes. And Rin absolutely loved it! Don't let him convince you otherwise. He always used to get so excited when we were teaching them a new song." The spiky-haired man shook his head, his expression lively with amusement. All of the priests had been in this good mood since Ryuuji had come home and relayed the news of Rin's success. A comfortable, excited atmosphere had taken over the monastery, and everyone had felt so relieved that it had worked out that they decided to make sukiyaki for tonight's dinner.

Currently, they were chopping up the ingredients for it and setting up the table.

"Oh, and you should've seen the cute little uniforms we had them wear too! We've got a few pictures around somewhere, I'm sure. I'll see if I can try to find them before dinner," Izumi promised with a broad grin.

"You don't gotta trouble yerself on my account…" Ryuuji protested a little even though he really wanted to see the pictures of Rin in his choir uniform.

His true feelings must've really shown on his face. Izumi chuckled. "C'mon, Ryuuji-kun. No need to be so reserved with us. Relax," he reminded the teen, nudging his side slightly.

Ryuuji ducked his head and flushed slightly. He opened his mouth to deliver an appropriate response when a small commotion caught his attention.

"Huh? What's going on over there?"

Maruta cautiously glanced outside the kitchen window and winced slightly, in a way that made everyone glance at him curiously. Ryuuji leaned out to see what was going on with his own eyes, and much to his surprise, he spotted Father Fujimoto dealing with an angry redheaded woman—one Ryuuji recognized.

Oh, no…

He couldn't fully hear what the woman was saying. They were too far away, and she was speaking in a fast, angry voice. He got a clear view of the paper she was holding up to Shiro though. A damage report. Ryuuji's breath caught in his throat. He put the knife down.

Gone was the excitement that had been building up over the past two hours. The easy grins everyone had acquired faded away as everyone began to form the same thoughts.

Shit. Don't tell me… Ryuuji thought desperately, praying, hoping that their suspicions were wrong, but the somber face on Father Fujimoto's face as he listened to the redheaded woman said everything that needed to be said.

Ryuuji didn't waste any time considering what to do. He picked up his jacket and began to hurry out of the kitchen.

"Ryuuji-kun?"

Someone called out after him. Ryuuji couldn't even look at any of them, too preoccupied with the knots forming in his stomach. The only words he could manage to say before he left the monastery were:

"…I gotta…'m goin' out to look for him."

It didn't take long to find him. Ryuuji locked on to the most likely location—the only location he knew Rin would go to. He suddenly felt so damn glad that Rin had gotten around showing him the place. His feet took him down the same path they'd walked this morning, and as the playground came into view—

Ryuuji's heart sank to his stomach.

There was Rin.

He was in the same swing he'd sat on this morning, staring down at his feet. He looked dejected, staring glassed-eyed at the fixed point, barely even moving.

Something had happened.

Ryuuji already had idea of what that 'something' was.

"...Rin."

Rin's fingers tightened on the chains as he heard the familiar voice. He felt a well of shame rising up his throat. His eyes stung with tears of frustration as he let his head hang, his gaze shifting to his lap.

"I…" he murmured, his voice barely steady, "I can't…"

Ryuuji's heart clenched at the faint voice. Rin…

He approached his friend with slow, heavy steps until he had carefully closed the distance between them. Standing next to Rin like this only made him want to reach out, throw an arm over his shoulder, let the heavy weight of his hand rest on top of the mussed up hair in comfort.

"Are ya…?" Ryuuji swallowed down the pointless question. "You wanna… talk 'bout it?" he asked instead, the words tumbling out of his lips awkwardly.

Rin shook his head and immediately felt guilt for shutting out his friend. But in reality, what could he say to him? That he saw a tiny monster steal a little girl's scarf and it trashed the store while he was chasing it? Not even Ryuuji would believe him.

"It's…" Rin spoke softly. "I don't know… I don't know what happened, it was too fast…"

Ryuuji's eyebrows knitted together as he frowned. "What was?" he prompted before he could help himself. He wanted to understand. The memory of the how angry Rin's boss had been when she dropped by flashed in his mind. Just what had happened…? Everything had been going well when he had left Rin…

"I'm telling you, I don't know!" Rin shook his head before his shoulders slumped. "There was a girl… I tried to help her but she got hurt…" He shook his head again, remembering the thing that had been responsible. Was he seeing things? Was he going insane? Rin let go of the chains and pressed his hands over his face, his elbows digging into his knees. "I don't know," he repeated again.

Shit… Ryuuji thought as he watched his friend, feeling helpless. What could he do? What could he say?

"Somethin' is gonna go wrong again, isn't it…?"

"Rin…"

Just how many times had this happened now? Rin had always been vague when talking about his part-time jobs. Half of the time, Ryuuji didn't even press his friend about why he got fired, knowing Rin felt bad enough as it is. It certainly wasn't due to lack of effort or willingness. He saw how hard Rin tried.

A little too hard… Ryuujiwinced at his own thoughts, batting them away. He closed the last step between them to put a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to give him all the support that he could.

"Hey. Look," he murmured a little roughly, "let's getcha home. We can talk about it there if ya want... or not. Whatever ya want. But c'mon. 'M sure everyone's worried about where you're." He squeezed the tense shoulder. "Ya oughta eat too," he told him in a quieter voice. "We've got food waitin' for ya," he said, trying to lift Rin's spirit a little.

Rin looked up. The heavy weight of Ryuuji's hand on his shoulder was somewhat of an anchor. His fingers reached up and he squeezed his friend's wrist for a moment before he nodded and stood. He knew he had to go home at some point and going home alone seemed too difficult. At least with Ryuuji there he wouldn't have to face those disappointed faces on his own.

They took their time getting home. The two of them didn't really talk, but Ryuuji made sure to stay by Rin's side the entire time, silently offering him comfort. His urgency had faded now that he had found Rin, but the walk back to the monastery didn't take long. When they finally walked past the gate side by side, Ryuuji looked up and was surprised to see Father Fujimoto standing at the front entrance.

"Who's that?" he muttered, looking at the stranger talking to Rin's dad.

Shiro looked up as he saw the two boys entering the gates. "Welcome back," he called out.

The man turned around. "Are you Okumura Rin?" he asked and Rin looked at him with a curious frown.

"Yeah," he answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm Yui's father." The man stepped aside, revealing a small girl hiding behind his leg. She had a large bandage on her forehead and Rin felt a wave of relief as he saw the small smile on her lips. "Thank you for saving her," he continued, much to Ryuuji's confusion. The tall teen watched quietly as Rin stepped forward, glancing between the man and the little girl.

"Her wounds?" Rin asked even though he could see she was doing alright.

"Thanks to you, just a few scratches," the man answered with a grateful smile.

Rin smiled back, the tension in his body loosening. "That's good." He directed his smile to Yui whose expression brightened in return as she tightened her grip on her father's pants.

"Yui's always been a careless child." Yui's father spoke in a soft but stern tone, much to Yui's dismay. "She has a lot of accidents. Falling from stairs and stuff."

Rin stared at the man for a moment and the words came out of his mouth immediately. "That's not it." He remembered the thing… Was this not the first time? It couldn't be. Had Yui been… "She's not careless!" Rin's tone was surer, more fervent. "She's being bullied! She gets her hair pulled and her stuff taken…"

But his words seemed to affect his own father for when Shiro spoke, his tone was urgent. "Did you see it?"

"What did he look like?" Yui's father cut in immediately, his brow tense.

"It was…" Rin glanced back towards Ryuuji, his nervousness returning. "He was… small. And had a face like a monkey…" he replied in soft words, unsure.

"What?!" Yui's father grimaced. He began walking off towards the gates, holding his daughter's hand tightly.

"Where are you going?" Shiro called after him.

"I'm going to call the school and get them to punish the ones that are bullying Yui!"

"That's not it!" Yui cried out, pulling on her father's arm insistently. "It's not humans who bully me! It's evil ghosts!"

The seemingly childish words had a rippling effect. Though Shiro's face remained completely expressionless, Ryuuji straightened up in surprise. He glanced at Rin, whose face had paled slightly.

Evil ghosts? Rin's brows furrowed. Was that what that monster had been?

Yui's father didn't seem surprised by this however. "Yui has an active imagination. We've heard these tales before," he said in a tired tone.

Rin felt a rush of indignation overcome him and he couldn't control his outburst. "She's not imagining it!"

"Rin!" Shiro hissed warningly but the younger teen plowed forward, not having heard his father's voice or simply ignoring it.

"Why can't you believe her?" Rin clenched his fists and glared. "If not even her parents believe her, who can she depend on!? You have to—AGH!"

Rin let out a grunt as Shiro drove his fist into his hair and walked forward, leaving the teen holding his head and complaining. But Shiro didn't listen. He walked forward and knelt in front of Yui, pulling a small glass bottle from his pocket.

"This is a four-leaf clover charm." He spoke softly and with a gentle smile. "It should protect you."

"Thank you…" Yui took the bottle and held it to her chest.

Shiro's smile softened before he changed his gaze up to her father. His face and voice went stern. "Don't blame her, please. She depends on you, her parents, the most."

After a long silence, the man stared at his daughter and nodded. "Come on, Yui. Let's go home."

Yui nodded softly and the pair walked out the gates.

"…Will that really help her?" Ryuuji blurted out as soon as they were out of sight, unable to help himself. He glanced between Rin and his dad, trying to process together everything that had just happened.

Shiro nodded stiffly but barely spared Ryuuji a glance. He zeroed in on Rin almost immediately. "You're a thousand years too early to be scolding others." His voice rose in irritation as the smaller teen rubbed his injured scalp. "But besides that, Rin. You're forbidden to go out for a while," he continued with a stern glare.

"Huh!?" Rin's eyes widened. "Why?!"

"The boss from that shop came by earlier with this." Shiro pulled a paper out of his coat and held it out for Rin to see. "It's a demand for all the shop equipment and goods you destroyed."

"What!?" Rin backed away from it as if he'd been burned. He'd never seen so many digits…

Ryuuji winced as he caught sight of the number again.

"Dude, how did ya even manage…?" he muttered under his breath.

Rin couldn't help but wince at Ryuuji's comment but Shiro was already continuing.

"This can't go on, Rin!" He pushed the bill back into his coat. "You're skipping dinner! Now go! To your room!"

"What?!" Rin exclaimed again, unable to really come up with anything else. "But—!"

Shiro was staring at him with an intensity that made his protest shrivel up in his throat. Rin scowled and walked back into the monastery, shoving the door open so that the knob broke a hole into the wall when it collided. Rin didn't look back and just headed straight to his room. He felt that familiar anger, frustration, and, most of all, shame filling his chest.

"…That seems… a little harsh, don'tcha think, sir?"

Ryuuji stared at the indent in the wall with unease, but he turned to look at Rin's dad, mustering up all his courage to do so. A frown flickered on his face as he took in the man's harsh expression. A thousand things flashed across his mind. He latched on to the one that bothered him the most. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and hesitant, but he pressed on forward, driven by his desire to get to the bottom of everything. "He can seem them now, can't he? Shouldn't ya…?" he began, but Shiro seemed unwilling to listen. The priest walked into the monastery and pulled the door forward to inspect the hole left in the wood.

"Ryuuji-kun."

Shiro's voice was tense as he beckoned the boy inside so he could close the door. "You don't understand the situation as well as you think you do. You may be his friend, but I am his father. I advise that you do not tell me how I should raise my son."

The harsh words sent a chill down Ryuuji's back and he looked away. His expression twisted as he struggled to swallow down the unease Rin's father caused in him. He wanted to squirm and apologize; his engrained good manners bubbled beneath his skin, threatening to surface—but it was a bout born out of a years-long resentment that colored his next words.

"…I…may not know what's goin' on here…" he muttered, his voice gaining strength, "but I do know this…! Yer supposed ta be family, arent'cha?!" He met Shiro's eyes, and Ryuuji wasn't sure what type of expression he was making this time, but his head felt as full as his heart right now, tight with bitterness and a desire to protect his best friend.

"I… hate people like you the most," he said harshly, not looking away from the priest's eyes for a second. He continued on in the same tone, just as fierce, his fists clenching at his sides. "Rin looks up to ya… He always has. So whatever it is yer hidin', no matter what reason it is, the longer ya keep things secret, the worse it'll be when he finds out."

Staring at the older man right now only made Ryuuji think of that painfully gentle voice, of the fatherly way this man had encouraged Rin to try his best—of the way Rin's unease had faded so easily.

He had a hard time swallowing down his anger. Ryuuji wished he could truly hate this man, wished things weren't as complicated as they seemed. He didn't know what the older man was hiding, but it felt like something big… something bad. Still…

If ya really care about him, don't freakin' lie to him! You'll jus' hurt him…!

He couldn't bring himself to say it. He'd overstepped his bounds enough as it is. But he didn't regret it, not one bit.

Shiro's expression softened into one of understanding… but it was the understanding an adult would give a child. It was that expression of pity and longing. He shook his head lightly. "He's not ready. And neither are you." His voice was calmer now. "You may think that the world is divided into lies and truths but rarely is it ever so black and white. I fear you'll come to understand that sooner than you might think."

There was an air of finality in the Reverend's voice as he turned and walked down the aisle between the rows of pews.

"If you want to help Rin," he spoke without looking back, "stay with him. Starting now."

Shiro disappeared behind a door at the back of the small altar and it clicked shut, the sound punctuating his last sentence.

His order.