My poems are invisible
My stanzas unseen
Would Sokka have better luck?
-Alchemyfreak 42
As you can see, I've figured out the third chapter. Read on!
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Bon watches the kid all day, trying to figure him out. He's lanky and thin, with dark hair that falls into his eyes- he doesn't brush it away. Instead, he leans back in his chair, seeming to pay more attention to the people in the class than its subject matter.
He is on edge.
He's been here all day, though, and none of the teachers have said anything since he walked in with Mr. Okumura this morning. Is he new?
Bon allows himself to wonder as he scribbles notes on sacred verses.
"Can you read the passage for us?"
The teacher is asking the new kid, and he blinks at her before shaking his head.
"Sorry." It's as much as he's said all day, and it makes Bon wants to hit him. This is a school, a place for learning. If he doesn't want to learn, he should leave. The teacher frowns, but calls on Shima instead. The boy continues to watch.
Bon grinds his teeth- this kid shouldn't be here, if he won't read a simple passage or even just put on his uniform right. He grudgingly allows that the boy maybe should stay seated- there is a crutch leaning against the table beside the boy- but that shouldn't impair his ability to read or get dressed. He doesn't even have his textbook on the table, let alone open.
When Mr. Okumura comes in, he glances over and seems relieved that the boy is still here. Is the kid here of his own will, then? Bon can't imagine that it is anything else, though, as he doubts anyone would force him to come unwillingly.
Finally, after the kid won't pay attention to the youngest exorcist ever, Bon loses his temper.
"Look," he snarls, "Why the hell are you here? You obviously don't care."
The kid doesn't answer, and at first Bon thinks he is ignoring him and feels his blood begin to boil again. Then he notices how wide the kid's eyes are, how fast and short his breathing.
He backs up a bit, thinking he is simply frightened.
"Woah, man, chill out."
The boy doesn't even turn to look at him, and he is gasping for air now, obviously struggling.
"Sir!" Bon cries, well aware that something is wrong. "Sir, we need some help, here- something's wrong!"
"Shit!"
At first he thinks he has heard wrong- Mr. Okumura has never sworn, not even in their first year when they were ambushed and far from help- but when he looks up, Mr. Okumura's face is open and frightened. He has never seen Mr. Okumura scared before- hardly seen the man express any emotion, but he is an open book and leaping over the desk and bolting across the room.
Several yards away, Mr. Okumura slows to a cautious walk and orders everyone to leave the room in a voice that is as calm and quiet and forced as anything Bon has ever heard.
Bon stays. Whatever this is, he started it, and it is his responsibility to help.
"Is he having a panic attack?" Bon asks. The kid came with Mr. Okumura, so logically the teacher should know something.
"No," Mr. Okumura says as he reaches carefully for the boy's wrist, "No, this one's different."
Bon catches that- this one- the boy has panic attacks, then.
Mr. Okuura is frowning, looks worried, and that is when the boy's eyes roll into his head and he falls sideways out of his seat.
"Rin!" Mr. Okumura cries, catching the boy and lowering him to the floor as he shudders and thrashes- it has escalated to a seizure, and Bon wants to swear, too. "Damnit! You are not dying on me!"
Bon hurries to join them and help hold the boy down so he doesn't hurt himself, but the boy is shockingly strong.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say this were poison," Mr. Okumura says, grunting as Bon loses his grip and one of the boy's arms lashes out.
"An allergic reaction to something?" Bon asks, thinking fast. It's basically the same thing, right?
"He doesn't have any al-" Mr. Okumura's face pales as he realizes something, and he curses again as he begins frantically working at the boy's jacket, "shit, you're right, help me get his clothes off."
Bon nods and they start working to keep the boy from injuring anyone while they get his jacket and shirt unbuttoned- when they do, his chest and arms are covered by an angry rash. It takes another long struggle to get the pants off, and finally Mr. Okumura hurries to grab a cloth and water bottle from his bag before carefully wiping the boy down. It takes only a minute after he finishes for the boy to stop shaking and go limp.
Bon leans against the desk behind him with a relieved sigh. He glances at the boy again- how can someone so thin be so-
His mind goes blank as he stares in horror at the thick mat of scar tissue covering the boy's body. Regardless of the sheer number of scars, they are nearly all old. The boy can't be more than a year or two younger than Bon, and his stomach twists at the implications.
"What- what the hell-?" Bon can't finish his question, he is too horrified.
Mr. Okumura looks at him sympathetically and shakes his head without answering.
"You should go into the hall. Tell the others class is dismissed for today."
Bon forces a nod and obeys robotically, telling Shima to bring a change of clothes before he closes the door again and sits heavily in a chair. He knows he should leave, but he needs to gather himself before he can go out and tell anyone what happened.
'Are you alright?" Mr. Okumura asks, and Bon hesitates before he nods uncertainly. It is like three years ago, when a boy somehow appeared in a summoning circle looking like something out of the World War II section of a history book. He breathes slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth, and doesn't look up until there is a quiet grunt from the unconscious boy.
His eyes flicker beneath their lids at first, and his fingers twitch a bit. Then his eyes snap open and he is the very image of a wary creature checking its surroundings before moving.
When his eyes land on Bon, they narrow and the boy twists to crouch awkwardly on one leg. His eyes are cold and his mouth a grim line as he throws a hand out-
"Rin!" Mr. Okumura barks sharply.
The boy's eyes narrow even farther and his head snaps over to Mr. Okumura.
"Why the hell do you kn-"
"Look around, Rin," Mr. Okumura orders. "You're out; you're safe, here."
"Bull," Rin snarls, "You're both e-"
"Look at me, Rin." Mr. Okumura says, "Look at my face. Think."
The boy watches him warily for a long minute.
"Do you recognize me, yet?"
"Yukio." It's halfway between a statement and a question, and Bon now understands why Mr. Okumura didn't think it was a panic attack earlier. He jerks his head at Bon. "Who's he?"
"One of my students," Mr. Okumura explains, and the boy looks at him warily. "Don't worry, he's alright."
"What happened?"
The boy's questions are brusque, and he still hasn't relaxed, seems to be waiting for something. (Nothing good, Bon thinks).
"An allergic reaction. The uniforms here are infused with silver to help ward off demons. Rather unfortunate for you, and how did you even get one, anyway?"
The boy blinks and shrugs, says one of 'the guys' got it for him, and that is that. Mr. Okumura relaxes a bit and shakes his head, says to tell him next time there's a problem.
"Didn't realize there was one," Rin says with a shrug.
"How the hell do you not realize when you're having a reaction that severe?" Bon demands, and wants to just gag himself. For all his brainpower, the damn thing never manages to stop his mouth.
The boy just looks at him flatly.
"Just felt normal." He says.
Bon's attention slides to the Rin's scars again, and he realizes that with that sort of damage, of course he wouldn't have noticed something like that. His nausea returns abruptly, and he can't make it to the trashcan in the corner of the room before he retches violently.
"What- what kind of bastards-"
He can't finish the question, because he is vomiting again, this time into the trashcan Mr. Okumura has grabbed for him. When he finishes and looks up, Rin is giving him an odd look he can't quite read. Mr. Okumura distracts him from trying by handing him a bottle of water and waiting for him to drink.
"Better?"
Bon nods quietly, and they stand awkwardly for a minute or two before a knock at the door startles them all. Rin is instantly on alert again, and even Mr. Okumura looks wary as Bon crosses to the door.
"Bon?"
It's Shima, with the clothes for Rin, and Bon nods gratefully at his roommate, says they can talk later, and closes the door once more. He tosses them to Rin, who catches them and looks at them curiously.
"Told Shima to bring over a change of clothes," He says, and Rin blinks at him in surprise, then nods his thanks.
When they are leaving, Rin pauses at the door and frowns at him.
"Have we met?" The boy asks, frowning.
"Don't think so," Bon shrugs. He's got a good memory.
Rin shrugs and follows Mr. Okumura away.
That night, Bon dreams of being thrown into a coliseum with demons as a crowd roars in excitement. When Shima asks, he can only shake his head silently.
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Rin doesn't come back.
It is explained that he was just here for the day and was allergic to something in the material of his clothes, and the rest of the class forgets about him and resumes their studies.
Bon, however, can't stop thinking about the kid, wondering what kind of people could do that to a child. To anyone, really. He thinks about the boy's wariness throughout the day and wonders how long it would have taken for anyone to notice if Bon hadn't lost his temper.
Would he have died?
Shima's clothes come back by way of Mr. Okumura, who thanks them for their generosity. Shima just shrugs and heads off to his next class, but Bon lingers, wondering about the boy.
"Um. Do you think it would be alright it I… visited him?" He asks, feeling awkward. He doubts the kid gets out much, if he was so close to losing it in a classroom, and he wants to learn about this boy so he can prevent something like this from happening to anyone else.
Mr. Okumura stares at him for a moment before smiling a little.
"I'll ask him, if you like," He says, "But Rin is pretty wary around new people, so there's a good chance he'll say no."
Bon shrugs and nods. He gets it. With a story like that, it'd be weird if the kid weren't paranoid.
A week later, Mr. Okumura says that Rin has agreed to let Bon come over if Bon will help cook a little. Bon agrees, and they decide that Bon will visit Rin on a weekend.
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"Shouldn't it be 'thime?'? Rin asks, frowning at the cookbook. "That's a 'th.'"
"Yeah," Bon says, "But it's a weird word. It's pronounced 'time.'"
"That doesn't make any sense," Rin says, rubbing his eyes. "I hate this."
"You'll get it," Bon says, "Everyone does eventually. Anyway, it probably comes from a different language. A lot of the weird ones do."
"What's the point of having this language if it just uses words from other languages?" Rin asks, exasperated.
Bon laughs.
"Dunno," he says, "Never really thought about it. Anyway, are we going to actually cook, or just look at the recipe all day?"
Rin scowls, obviously unhappy about the lesson being cut short, but nods. They both know that Bon can't come over on weekdays, so they have a limited time to figure out how the recipes and start cooking. For someone who's only able to cook when he can get help to read recipes and labels, cut and wash the vegetables, Rin is a surprisingly good cook.
Admittedly, he does have a tendency to mix up the spices, but he does alright for someone who can hardly read.
"So what's your shirt?" Rin asks, and Bon glances down.
"It's a band called Skillet," he says, "They have pretty good music. Wanna listen to one of their songs while we make the stew?"
Rin shrugs, so Bon flips through his phone to pull up one of their songs, humming along to the opening bars as he starts washing the carrots. Rin is quiet beside him as the words begin.
The secret side of me, I never let you see
I keep it caged but I can't control it
So stay away from me, the beast is ugly
I feel the rage and I just can't hold it
Bon continues to hum as the song plays, wondering what Rin thinks of it. It's a cool song, he figures Rin'll probably like it. He's working on peeling a potato when the chorus begins.
I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster
He feels Rin go rigid beside him and wonders why, glancing over to make sure the boy isn't having another panic attack. He's learned over the past several weeks that Rin tends to have them, particularly when they're working at the sink.
My secret side I keep hid under lock and key
I keep it caged but I can't control it-
"Are you trying to tell me something?" Rin asks, and his voice is as low and as dangerous as it gets. Bon is in trouble, and he knows it, but he's got no clue how it happened.
"What are you talking about?" he asks, allowing the confusion to show on his face.
"I really don't like mind games," Rin growls, and Bon is well aware that the knife in his hand is used to cut meats.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Bon says, and Rin scowls.
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a-
The phone explodes on the counter, and Bon jerks back in surprise, a cry of surprise escaping him.
"What the hell?"
Bon's attention is stolen and he stares at the phone, bewildered. Had it really just spontaneously combusted?
"That's what I want to know." And his attention is back on Rin. "Did they send you? Tell you to mess with my head?"
"Hold on, what are you talking about?" Bon asks, raising his hands and shaking his head. He has no idea what's going on, can't put the pieces together, but something inside of him does, and it doesn't like it. "Who?"
"Hah!" Rin barks out a laugh, "Why do you people always have to ask that? It's not like it's a secret you exorcists hate demons."
"But you're not-" Understanding dawns, too late, and Bon feels the pieces snap into place. He realizes, with a twinge of discomfort at the idea, that it's true. "You are, aren't you? You're part demon."
"Give the boy a prize," Rin snarls, then says flatly, "I'm not going back."
"Wha-" Bon freezes, suddenly remembers three years and change ago, when Mr. Okumura summoned a boy. Remembers only a couple of months ago when Rin had appeared in class, had begun seizing in class because his clothes had silver in them, and Bon had discovered the scars using his skin like a canvass. Remembers wondering if the little summoning-circle necklace he has never seen come off was a gift.
He stumbles to the trashcan and vomits.
Rin was tortured by the Vatican.
He vomits again.
He thinks Bon wants to take him back.
Bon is dry-heaving now, with nothing left to throw up but feeling sick all the same, because that's not what he's been training for. He's been training so he can protect the people he loves, save his temple. Find the bastards who did this to Rin and take them down.
He finishes and pants for a minute, glancing over to see Rin watching him warily.
"No," he says roughly, "No. Just- just no."
It is all he can say, and Rin seems to understand what it is he is trying to say, because he puts down the knife and pulls out a glass, which he fills with kool-aid from the fridge. Another piece of the puzzle snaps into place, and Bon is doubled over the trashcan again before he can register the urge to throw up.
"Water?" He asks.
Rin nods.
Bon accepts the cup as it is offered to him, gulps it down gratefully as he tries to still the trembling in his limbs.
"Why?" Bon asks. Lots of people have demonic heritage- the Vatican hasn't hunted them down.
Rin shrugs.
"Hell if I know," Rin says bitterly. "I'm just the monster, the demon spawn."
"Shut up!" The words rip their way out of Bon's mouth before he can stop them, not that he would even want to. He has to resist the urge to punch Rin's lights out as he bellows at him, "Don't you dare say that again!"
"You don't care that I'm a demon?" Rin challenges, lifting his chin, "A monster? The 'Son of Satan?'"
That is why the Vatican took him, he thinks. Bon stills as the rage within him turns into the calm in the middle of a storm. Storm- a fire tornado, more like. He scowls.
He is going to kick someone's ass for this.
"Bloodline means shit," he says quietly, "Doesn't give them the right to torture anyone. Don't talk shit about my friends, got it?"
Rin doesn't answer, just looks at him again, and they go back to preparing the stew. It ends up being overcooked and underflavored, but still not as bad as the last attempt was.
The entire thing is tense, and Bon is scowling because he can't stop thinking about what he wants to do about the fact that the Vatican is clearly a great deal more corrupt than he'd ever thought.
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I'm gonna keep saying this- I have no idea if another chapter's going to come to me. I thought it was going to be a one-shot, for crying out loud. Now I have an idea for an actual plot?- BLASPHEMY! (Thanks to FlightfootKeyseeker for that). Until further posts, this story is fine as it is.
If there does end up being another chapter, which I really want because it would be awesome, it will likely include Mephisto and a seriously pissed off Shiro Fujimoto revealing to the Vatican exactly why they should not continue their 'experiments.'
再见 我的读人!