Walk me through the Valley
Disclaimer: Characters and premise are the property of Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
Chapter Four: Providing Support
Bon and Rin arrived at the gym for Rin's Knight practice and found the room empty. Bon opened up his bag and started digging out homework while Rin traded Kurikara for a practice sword. Several minutes later Angel walked in. "Put up your books and put on your gun," he told Bon.
He turned to Rin. "The last lesson was surprisingly successful, let's see if you can manage to repeat it. Your goal will be to prevent me from reaching your Aria. If I get past you I will hold back exactly as much as I've been holding back against you."
Rin glanced from the Paladin to Bon and the blood drained out of his face.
Angel turned back to Bon, "You are his partner, not an observer. Remember that and fight to the best of your ability as both Aria and Dragoon. Your bruises won't fade as quickly as his if the two of you fail."
With every word Angel said the faint blue haze around Rin grew stronger. When the Paladin took his stance opposite Rin he paused for a moment to watch the blue flames flickering on the edge of the visible spectrum. "Begin!"
Rin lunged forward, taking the offensive to try to drive Angel away from his Aria. Bon bit his lip, he raised his gun and waited for Angel and Rin to separate enough for him to risk a shot. After several minutes he sighed and lowered the gun. Both Rin and Angel were aiming for a close quarters fight. Angel knew Bon wouldn't risk a shot while Rin was so close. Rin knew his strength and ability to take punishment worked more to his advantage when Angel didn't have the range to evade.
Bon winced every time Angel's bokken hit home with a crack like thunder as it met Rin's shoulders or ribs. Rin raised his hand and caught Angel's bokken, for a moment all three of them froze; from the sound Bon was certain that Rin had to have broken bones. Then, still grasping Angel's sword, Rin lashed out with his weapon. Angel leaned away from Rin's attack and kicked the much smaller knight-hopeful in the solar plexus sending Rin flying across the room. Bon quickly cast a barrier around Rin and then himself.
"Protect yourself first," Angel ordered. "In a real fight you wouldn't know whether or not your knight's alive right now. Even if he is, he's down hard and if you die he'll follow you before he recovers."
"Don't count on it," Rin said raggedly as he staggered back to his feet. "I'm not done."
Angel nodded and lunged at him. Rin got his sword up in time to block but the strength of the blow drove him back to his knees. Rin snarled and shoved back. Angel kicked him under the chin snapping his head back viciously.
Bon raised his gun, almost ready to take a shot, but Angel was behind him. He cringed in anticipation of pain. Rin, wreathed in flames, grabbed the bokken and reduced it to ash. Angel spun around, grabbed Rin by the back of the neck and slammed his head into the wall with a resounding thud. Angel released Rin and he slid bonelessly to the ground.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Bon demanded shoving past Angel. "You could have broken his neck!"
"Not unless I chose to," Angel stated as Bon knelt beside Rin. "If he were human I'd concern myself with the concussion, but he's not."
Carefully Bon rolled Rin on to his back and started checking him for injuries.
"I told you, he's fine," Angel said frowning.
"And I don't trust you," Bon replied, not bothering to look at Angel.
After a few moments Rin started blinking. He groaned and sat up clutching his head. "Ow," he announced. "You okay?" he asked Bon, still cradling his head.
"Yeah, he stopped after you went down," Bon admitted. He helped Rin off the floor.
"You were bluffing about hurting Bon?" Rin asked squinting at Angel.
"I don't understand you," Angel declared, giving Rin a dark look. "I've never seen you access your powers past the seal in defense of yourself, but you were burning at nothing more than a verbal threat against your Aria."
"That's because you're a cold hearted bastard," Rin informed him. "I don't let people hurt my friends."
"You're a demon," Angel stated. "You're not supposed to care about anyone but yourself."
Rin's shoulders drew in and his gaze dropped to the floor.
"I'm sick of people telling Rin what demons are," Bon growled. "If you'd opened your damn eyes it'd be obvious that your idea of what a demon is isn't him. Don't any of you realize Rin should be able to defend himself?" He glared at Angel accusingly. "When some jerk keeps hitting him with a stick, he's got a right to get mad! But all you morons with your stupid notions about what he's supposed to be because of who sired him made it so Rin doesn't protect himself the way he'd protect a human. It ain't right!" Bon exclaimed. He steered Rin toward the door. "Come on, I've had enough of this jackass for today."
By the time they made it out of the building Rin had mostly recovered from the blows to the head and was walking on his own. Rin started to say something then broke off several times as they crossed the campus. Then he finally said, "I did once, back before I even knew I was a demon."
"Did what?" Bon asked.
"The first time my flames got out, it was before I ever drew the Koma Sword, before I even knew it existed," Rin explained. "This creep from my old school… Well actually he goes here but I haven't seen him since I started. I'd gotten in fights with his gang before, but then he got possessed by a demon. I thought he was really gonna kill me, I freaked and my flames broke free."
"Good. Everything that's happened since then, everything that's got you thinking that you don't got the right to take care of yourself, it's all crap," Bon declared.
"I don't think the Vatican would see it that way," Rin said quietly.
"If you don't take care of yourself how are you supposed to take care of your friends?" Bon asked. "I'm not looking for a replacement knight, ever. When we go on a mission, either both of us come back or neither of us do."
Rin smiled a bit at him and started thinking about how he could work around Bon's resolution if it ever came down to it. Knowing that his friends wanted wanted him to be alright gave Rin a sense of warmth he hadn't felt since Shiro's death, for their sakes he wouldn't sell his life cheaply. Still, Rin was utterly determined that he would die before losing anyone else.
"So how is your homework assignment going?" Nagatomo asked Izumo Wednesday night as they walked toward the park behind the dorm. The dry grass crunched beneath their feet and their breath was visible in the cold air.
"The Byakko are more versatile than most demons," Izumo said. "They can handle most physical attacks. So I thought I should start by making contracts with a demon from the Kingdom of Time or the Kingdom of Light."
"That sounds sensible," Nagatomo agreed.
"So what are we doing out here?" Izumo asked.
"I thought we'd have a little game of capture the flag between our familiars," Nagatomo said.
"Two to one, you won't have a chance," Izumo stated.
"Then you won't mind if I use one of my summons as well as Malkin?" the priest asked.
"What sort of demon?" Izumo asked.
Nagatomo shrugged. "A Dard named Cheshire. I've promised him opportunities to play if he'd assist me on occasion and harassing canines would definitely fit his notion of playing."
Izumo nodded as she accepted a flag from Nagatomo. "That's fair enough. Mike! Uke!"
The two Byakko appeared, they stared at Izumo challengingly as Nagatomo summoned Malkin and Cheshire. "You're to keep this scarf away from those two while trying to take their scarf," Izumo told them holding out the flag. "Don't do too much damage to Father Nagatomo's familiars."
Mike and Uke gave the scrap of cloth a dubious look. "It looks nasty, I don't want to touch it," Mike complained. "If I can't tear the straw-man apart why would I want to bother?" Uke said, then added. "And I don't play with cat-lizard things."
Izumo glowered at the pair. "You'll do it because I say so!" she exclaimed. "This isn't just a game it's a class and you're making me look bad!"
The pair looked at her with blank expressions. Izumo stamped her foot. "No more argument!"
Uke sniffed but walked over to Izumo and took the scarf.
"I'll use the statue of Johann Faust the 2nd as my homebase, you can take the 4th," Nagatomo suggested. He shook his head and said to himself, "Mephisto get way too much entertainment out of putting up statues of himself."
The four demons faced off as their tamers settled themselves near the center of the field. "Begin!" Nagatomo commanded.
Malkin bounced all over the field like a pogo-stick, her poncho flapping in the wind as she jumped unpredictably from offense to defense. Cheshire raced about with the speed of a race-horse, the predatory instincts of a cat and the sinuous movement of a snake. Uke and Mike worked together flawlessly, never needing more than a glance to to tell what the other intended. But as the game progressed the two Byakko began to lag. On the sidelines Izumo paced back and forth, Nagatomo was sweating heavily, crouched on the grass. In the end Cheshire managed to heckle the two Byakko into chasing after him while Malkin made a dash for their flag. The Byakko realized their mistake but they didn't have the reserve to catch up to Malkin.
"Good game, all of you," Nagatomo said as he pushed himself to his feet. Once the demons dispersed he turned to the sulking Izumo. "Do you know why you lost?" he asked.
"Because they weren't trying," Izumo snapped. "They shouldn't have been beaten by a couple of low level demons."
"Look at you and look at me," Nagatomo said. "Cheshire and I have a contract, he's not drawing on my energy directly. I was only supporting Malkin and yet which of us is more tired?"
Izumo looked startled.
"The circles we use to summon our familiars only allow a trickle of energy from Gehenna to reach them, for the most part they draw their strength from us," Nagatomo explained. "If you don't give yourself to your familiars their efforts on your behalf are handicapped."
"I don't like feeling them pull on me," Izumo said grudgingly.
"As a Tamer you have to support your familiars if you want them to succeed," Nagatomo advised.
"Off you go!" Tsuzo announced as she and Paku shoved her very reluctant little brother out of the lobby nearest the haunted toilet. Shima was wearing a white button down shirt and the short navy skirt and scarf from the girl's school uniform with high, pink stockings. His pink hair had been pulled into pigtails and matching hair extensions had been added to give them some length, a navy blue bow decorated the left pigtail. He'd been made up with delicately applied lip-gloss, blush, eyeliner and mascara.
Konekomaru managed to maintain decorum but Bon snorted and Izumo smirked. "So cute!" Rin managed to exclaim between gasps of laughter.
"I really hate you all," Shima informed them as he stalked over to Shiemi. "I have a thing or two to say to this ghost," he said as they headed off to the toilet.
"I'll back them up," Izumo said following after the other team.
Tsuzo and Paku looked at the remaining three boys. "You aren't planning on leaving Shiemi-chan and my little brother with just Izumo for back-up are you?" Tsuzo asked.
Bon grimaced, Rin bit his lip guiltily. There was a thump from the bathroom. "Okay do us too," Bon sighed in defeat. Paku grinned broadly, she grabbed his arm and dragged Bon into the lobby. Tsuzo herded Rin and Konekomaru in after them. There was a dressing screen set up in one corner of the room and three sacks of girl's clothing, each with a name, waiting for them.
"If you can't figure out the bras just come out topless and we'll help," Paku informed them with a sweet smile and a devious glint in her eyes.
"Hurry," Tsuzo instructed. "Who knows what's happening to Shiemi-chan, Little Brother and Izumo-chan. And we still have to do your hair and make-up!"
Konekomaru was the first to emerge from behind the screen. On him the standard skirt hung just past his knees and the jacket Tsuzo had found for him was almost as over-sized as his normal jacket. "I think the bra is fairly pointless with the jacket," he stated firmly.
"Alright, you're off the hook," Tsuzo decreed as she dropped a dark wig on his head and started applying make-up.
Bon came out next, wearing the skirt and tights while holding up the button down shirt sweater vest and bra. "I give up," he said, his face was brightly flushed.
Paku grinned, Bon had a very nice chest she noted. "Put it on and I'll do up the back," she said. After latching the bra she helped stuff it while Bon turned even more red. Once he was finished dressing Paku sat him down and started pulling bows and ribbons out of a basket to hold up by his face, eyeing each selection critically. She ended up settling on a headband that would pull back Bon's bangs and make the longer strip of dyed blond hair to lay flat and blend in more with the rest of his hair.
As Paku stretched up to arrange his hair Bon's blush became steadily brighter. He closed his eyes tried not to think about how close that put her breasts to his face.
Paku stepped back to examine the effect. "Well, I think we skip blush on you," she informed him with a dimpled grin. "Totally unnecessary, just some eyeshadow and lipstick."
"How can you look so cute when you're clearly evil?" Bon asked her.
Paku giggled.
A frustrated shout came from behind the screen followed by a mangled bra. Tsuzo picked up the bra and sighed. "Well Rin-kun, looks like you're going to be a flat-chested girl. You killed that bra dead."
"Good!" Rin huffed. "It deserved it!" He emerged a moment later wearing the skirt, shirt and a pout.
Paku pulled a section of his hair into a short ponytail on the side of his head and adorned it with a bow while Tsuzo started on his make-up. "Your eyes are gorgeous," she informed him as she applied eyeliner, mascara and a hint of eye-shadow that made Rin's electric blue eyes even more attention catching.
"Just what I always wanted to hear," Rin muttered.
"Alright, you guys are all ready to rush to the rescue," Tsuzo declared. She and Paku trailed behind as the three cross-dressed boys rushed the restroom.
They arrived just in time to see Shima and Sheimi walk out. "Girls are scary," Shima declared looking shaken.
Izumo and Shiemi stared at Rin, Bon and Konekomaru, then they traded a look and exploded into laughter. Shima joined them after a moment. "Sis, everything I've said about you?" Shima said. "I take it back, you're great!"
The desk lamp created a small pool of light in Rin and Bon's otherwise darken dorm room. Bon hunched over his book, trying to concentrate on the scriptures he was memorizing and not anticipate problems. There were some nights when Rin didn't have nightmares.
"Yuki? Yuki?" Rin called.
Bon set aside his book and went to sit on the edge of Rin's bed. "It's okay," Bon murmured as he put a hand on Rin's shoulder. "He's not here, he can't hurt you."
Rin continued stirring restlessly and calling out in distress for several more minutes. Tears leaked out from behind Rin's closed eyelids, glittering in the low light. Eventually he settled back into a more peaceful sleep.
Bon sighed in relief. 'Not a bad one then.' He was almost certain that Rin had slept through the nightmare rather than just faking it to avoid having to talk about the dreams plaguing his sleep.
After a few more minutes to make sure the nightmare had truly passed then Bon turned out the light and went to sleep himself.
Shortly before dawn Rin's sleep turned restless again. "Yuki? Daddy, where's Yuki?" he pled.