a/n: warning for talk of death/afterlife. I wasn't really feeling this prompt much at all, so I really hope it doesn't suck. Reviews are much appreciated. 💙
Fictober Day 11: "It's not usually like this."
Shura studied the way her student sat, eyes closed in concentration as he practiced lighting the flames on the candles placed in front of him. For the past half hour, Rin had not said a word. Just breathed and breathed, body completely still. Her brows quirked in suspicion.
It's not usually like this, she thought with a frown, and that was true. Within minutes of training, Rin would start babbling about something, or he would start moaning in frustration when he couldn't get his flames to do what he wanted them to. He was loud and obnoxious and vibrant, like he trying to enjoy every possible second of his life that he could, all at once.
This silence... it was strange. Almost worrying. It was so not Rin.
Shura marched over to her student. Plopped down beside him, legs sprawled out in front of her with lazy ease. "What's up, kid? Yer quiet."
Rin blinked slowly and exhaled. Opened his eyes but did not look at her. "Just thinkin'."
"Yeah?"
He was silent for several heartbeats. Stared at the candle with an unreadable expression, eyes now unblinking, muscles pulled taut like a puppet awaiting its next command.
Finally, he murmured, "I wonder where I'll go."
"Hmm?" Shura blinked. "Whattya mean?"
"When they kill me," he answered. "The Vatican, I mean. I don't know where I'll go."
There wasn't a lot that surprised Shura. She'd seen so much, all things good and bad. But the suddenness of his words sent her spiraling regardless. Floored her. She knew how to tease and press all of his buttons. She knew how to get him riled up. She wasn't sure what to say to that.
Then again, this boy had been through so much, as well. Way too much. Life had given them both the short end of the stick—and Rin wasn't the type of person to dwell on that type of thing.
"The Vatican isn't gonna kill ya," she said eventually. "Not if I have a say in it."
That caused Rin to look at her, some emotion finally peeking through the haze of indifference. His eyes widened ever-so-slightly, and after a moment, his lips twitched. "Are you admitting that you care about me?"
"What? Noooo," she said instantly. "That's not what I meant."
"You implied it."
"Absolutely not."
"Yeah huh."
"Whatever, kid," she said, rolling her eyes before she stood back up. "Get back to yer training. And don't blow them up," she added for good measure.
She made it about ten feet away before the room burst with blue warmth and she turned around to see Rin wiping hot wax of his cheek.
Shura snorted. Rin whirled around to glare at her and proceeded to wail dramatically about how this wasn't working, that they needed to try something else and—
And that was what Shura was used to.