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 me through the Valley.
Chapter Eighteen: Fire and Water
Rin woke up with a feeling of deep dread. It was Monday.
He collected his clothes and slipped out of the dorm room without waking Bon. He scrubbed up quickly, the dorm bathes had an empty echoing quality so early in the morning when no one else was awake. Rin heard the stairs creak and shivered; no one else should be awake at this time. He strained his hearing and was rewarded with more creaks, definitely something coming his way.
He reached for the faucet then stopped. Turning off the water might alert them, he left the water running and grabbed Kurikara and his robe instead. Rin took a deep breath, closed his eyes and focused on releasing his power then tugged on Kurikara's hilt, the sword remained rooted in it's sheath. His shoulders slumped.
Rin pulled on the robe then tip-toed to the door, holding the sheathed sword like a baseball bat. The footsteps, paused just outside the door, Rin pressed himself against the wall and waited. The door swung open and Rin swung his sword.
Amaimon caught the sheathed weapon as it descended. The Earth King grinned and punched Rin. The younger demon leapt back, dissipating the strength of the blow. "Amaimon, why are you awake?" Rin exclaimed.
"Sleep is boring," Amaimon replied blandly. "Shiemi-chan didn't mention fighting in bathrooms, they're getting more interesting."
"I wouldn't have attacked you if you hadn't snuck up on me and sc- surprised me!" Rin exclaimed. Then he groaned when Amaimon cocked his head to the side curiously. "You're going to be ambushing me all the time now, aren't you."
"Hmm, maybe. When I'm bored."
Rin sighed and turned back to his shower. After a few moments the feel of being stared at became impossible to ignore. He grabbed Amaimon's arm, shoved the Earth King out of the bathroom and firmly shut the door. "Find something else to entertain you!" he ordered. "Gah, it's like living with a toddler."
Ten minutes later Rin was jogging down the path toward the school kitchens. Itamae put him to work chopping vegetables. Several minutes later the chef came back, he watched Rin for a moment, one eyebrow raised. "Kid, you got a big test today or something?" he asked.
Rin looked at him in surprise.
"You seem sort of tense," Itamae explained. He pointed to the minced pile of vegetable matter and the heavily scarred cutting board.
Rin flushed. "Sorry, I didn't notice."
Itamae shrugged. "We've got plenty. Start again when you feel settled."
Ukobach herded Rin to a chair and pressed a mug of hot chocolate into his hands.
"Thanks. Sorry about the trouble," Rin said.
"Everyone has an off-day," Itamae said. "If you want to talk about it…"
Rin shook his head. He took a sip of the coco, "Just give me a minute. I'll do it right," he insisted.
"Don't worry about it," Itamae said. Regardless, five minutes later, Rin had collected a fresh batch of vegetables and was slicing them into perfect, even pieces, his expression fixed with a look of deep concentration. Itamae sighed and left him to it.
When the lunch bell rang the Godain and Mana headed toward the cafeteria. Several of the Exwires were already waiting for Rin at the kitchen door. Izumo sent a dirty look their way and the two Pages hesitated on the outskirts of the group; they saw Ito Sora, one of two Bon had recommended as a Page, doing the same.
Because of Rin's friendship with Godain, Aiko and Mana, and Ito and Maki knowing Bon, the Pages had gotten in the habit of joining the Exwires for lunch. But after the previous week's revelations about Rin they'd been divided between the ones who didn't want to associate with him anymore and the one who weren't sure of their welcome anymore. Godain was glad to see Ito there, looking for a sign that the Exwires might forgive him his initial reaction.
Bon glanced through the kitchen door and saw that Rin was still busy gathering up stuff and out of earshot. Then he headed over to the three Pages. "Let's get a few things straight," Bon said in a low voice. "We all know, we don't care. Yeah, Rin probably should have told you instead of letting it come out like that but he was scared of how you might react and people just keep on proving that he's right not to trust us. Give him a couple hundred years of being treated like a pariah and maybe he'll be as friendly as your average demon."
"We're sorry," Mana said contritely.
Yeah- well, just don't hurt him again," Bon sighed. "Rin's our friend, our teammate and he's my knight. You're in the middle of the Order's teamwork push so you should know what that means. You won't make Exwire if you can't function in a team. It ticks me off that the Order's so big on team work then it turns out the main thing I've gotta protect my teammate from is them."
Briefly Godain wondered if the Pages' ability to work as a team would be hurt now that they'd basically settled into two camps: those who saw Okumura Rin, their fellow Exorcist and those who only saw Satan's son. But then Rin joined them and Godain saw him flinch when he noticed that half the Page class wasn't eating with them. Godain realized he didn't care about his ability to work with people who couldn't or wouldn't see Rin for himself.
A few minutes later Shiemi and her strange friend, maybe boyfriend, joined the group. Godain wasn't quite sure what to make of Amaimon. As far as Godain knew he wasn't an Exwire or even a cram-school student despite sharing the old dorm with the Exwires. From his dress and odd manners, Godain assumed he must be some sort of foreign exchange student. The way he glared at everyone Godain was afraid to try to talk to him, but he was clearly devoted to Sheimi, Godain didn't think he'd ever seen Amaimon more than three feet from Shiemi's side.
"Are we going to get moved into your dorm if we pass the Exwire Exam at the end of the term?" Mana asked once everyone had eaten enough to take the edge was off their hunger.
"It depends on whether or not you mind living with Rin," Konekomaru challenged. "We moved there because we decided that the way the Order was keeping Rin isolated was disgusting."
"We'd love to have you," Shiemi said. She swatted Amaimon's hand as he reached for thirds of the dessert cakes Mana had brought. He pouted at her and she pointed him toward some healthier foods.
Shima grinned mischieviously. "But if you do want to move in you'd better hurry before Shiemi-chan's plants take over every spare room. Somehow her greenhouse just keeps expanding."
"I can trim it back a bit if needed," Shiemi assured the Pages.
"So who do we ask about moving?" Godain asked. It seemed moving in to the old dorm was a declaration of loyalty to Rin in the Exwires'; and possibly the Order's; eyes.
"Rin, what do you think?" Bon asked.
"Hm?" Rin turned toward Bon with a blank expression.
"More roommates, what do you think?" Bon repeated with a frown.
Rin blinked then smiled. "You guys are moving in? That's great." But his smile quickly faded as he went back to shredding his rice balls. Godain's shoulders slumped, he wondered if Rin was having a harder time bouncing back then he'd implied when Godain had made his apologies.
After lunch Rin walked Izumo to her class then hurried back to his homeroom, sliding into the seat beside Godain with only moments to spare. Godain had long since realized that Rin had a horrible time paying attention in class, but that generally meant discreetly kicking the other boy's chair when he started to doze off, not Rin worriedly staring off into space while absently scratching the back of his wrist raw.
When the bell rang announcing the first break Godain turned to Rin. "Okumura-kun, is- can I?" Godain gave up on trying to figure out if he should be apologizing again or asking Rin if he could help and just pointed at Rin's hand.
"Damn," Rin blinked at his wrist in surprise. "I thought I was over that."
"Are you okay? Is it me?" Godain asked.
Rin shook his head. "We're good," he said quickly. When Godain didn't look convinced Rin added, "I've got a lesson with Angel tonight, he was sort of mad at me the last time we talked."
Godain sighed in relief and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sure it'll work out," he offered weakly.
Bon glared at his Trigonometry teacher then looked at the clock pointedly. The final bell had rung ten minutes ago but the teacher was still prattling on as if his students didn't have anywhere else to be. Ten minutes was a new record for the long winded professor.
Another minute passed. Bon stood up, "Walking out of your class before you excuse us may indicate a lack of respect," Bon interrupted the instructor. "But walking in to my next class late also indicates a lack of respect. And frankly I'd rather respect the guy who's not holding me over." As he walked out he muttered, "Not to mention Angel spends his class trying to hit us, don't need to motivate him too much."
When he made it too the gym Bon was surprised to see Rin still outside staring at the door as if it were an insurmountable barrier. "We didn't both need to be late," Bon commented as he let himself in. Rin followed after him. The gym was deserted. "No teacher, I guess we aren't late after all. Did Angel mention anything? He's been getting better about stuff like that."
"He didn't say anything, not really," Rin said quietly.
"What did he say?" Bon asked.
Rin started one of his drills, he didn't elaborate.
Bon waited a moment then sat down and took out his books. After another fifteen minutes he glanced over at Rin. "We might as well go. He must have gotten a mission."
"Yeah, must have," Rin echoed without conviction.
On Wednesday Angel didn't show up either.
Rin stared at the empty gym, looking miserable but unsurprised.
"What is going on?" Bon demanded. "Why's Angel suddenly reverted to being a dick?"
"I talk too much," Rin said with bitterly.
Bon waited.
After a few minutes Rin explained. "Angel thinks the Grigori's going to order him to kill me someday. He doesn't want to but he'll do it. I asked him why he bothers teaching me, I guess this is my answer."
Bon made an inarticulate sound of aggravation, then threw up his hands, "Just when I start to think maybe he's not such a bad guy!" he exclaimed. Bon turned to Rin. "Okay, first: The Grigori is NOT going to kill you. Mephisto's busy convincing them that they absolutely need you and if he fails… Well, we'll just figure something else out, but they're not killing you, I won't let them."
Rin smiled a little. He wasn't sure if Bon could manage it, but he didn't doubt the other boy's determination in the slightest. Quietly he resolved to make sure that Bon and his other friends wouldn't get hurt if it came down to it.
"Second: If Angel's going to go and get selective about which orders he follows he can damn well decide not to kill you instead of deciding not to teach you," Bon declared. "And I'm gonna go tell him so."
"No!" Rin exclaimed.
Bon sighed. "You're too easy on people," he said. "Come on, let's get back to the dorm. No point in hanging around here."
Monday, when Rin made no move to leave for the gym Izumo waved him over. "Come spar with Shima and I," she said.
Rin hesitated, "Won't I mess up your practice?" he said.
"No," Izumo insisted grabbing his arm and dragging him after her. "We're all happy to have Rin practice with us right?" she told Shima and Tsuzo in a threatening tone.
Shima shrugged.
"It would be good practice for all of you to get used to sparring against someone who uses a different weapon," Tsuzo agreed. "But before I turn you loose on each other, I need to get an idea of where Rin's at." She smiled at him. "Warm up with me, while those two get started," she said.
"Okay," Rin agreed. He chewed on his lip for a moment. "Angel has me switch to blunted blades this term, but I should probably go back to bokkens for this," he decided.
"Sounds good to me," Tsuzo agreed and Rin went upstairs to get a weapon.
As they squared off, Tsuzo gave Rin an appraising look. They were of a height, but with her staff she had reach. Rin was unquestionably stronger and he'd survived better than a term of sparring with Angel, she doubted he was particularly slow. Warily she grasped her staff and slid into a defensive stance.
Rin lunged forward, Tsuzo raised her staff and caught his attack between her hands. "Damn!" she swore hopping back and shaking out her stinging palms. Rin flushed, "I should have pulled it more," he said.
"Let me guess, you switched to steel when you started breaking bokkens regularly?" Tsuzo asked.
Rin gave her an embarrassed half smile, half grimace and nodded.
"Okay, lets try this again," Tsuzo said.
This time Rin waited for her to make the first move. He blocked her strike just above the hilt of his sword, then let her staff slide down the blade while he launched a punch with his free hand. He stopped just short of contact. Tsuzo eyed him warily, "And you generally have a wakizashi in your off-hand don't you?" she said.
"I didn't have a short bokken here," Rin said with a shrug.
Tsuzo turned to Shima and Izumo. "Here's how we're going to do this, two on one and if you work together- Well, Rin here might have a fight on his hands," she said.
While Rin sparred with Shima and Izumo, Bon headed for Angel's office. "If he knows what's good for him he better be on a mission," Bon muttered as he stalked through the halls. The light was on in the office. Bon slammed the door open, marched in and announced "Just when I start to think you're not a complete asshole, you do something like this!"
Angel glanced up, unimpressed. "I suppose I shouldn't be shocked at your lack of respect for your superiors… or your lack of basic manners?"
"You're one to talk about manners, leaving Rin hanging like that," Bon snorted. "Or did ya forget what day it was for the last week?"
Angel frowned. "I suppose I should have informed Okumura that our lessons had been discontinued, but I assumed it was understood after our last conversation."
"Why?" Bon demanded slamming his palms on the desk. "Why are you doing this to Rin?"
"I cannot, in good conscious, continue to teach him," Angel stated.
"Why not? What's changed? We were starting to think we could count on you."
"Don't," Angel said. He grabbed Bon by the shoulder and steered him out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
Bon kicked the closed door in frustration then turned and stomped away.
Bon spent most of the week trying to think up some way of cheering Rin up after Angel's defection. He arrived at the shooting Range in a distracted mood, until he caught sight of the Range Master's diabolical grin. "Suguro, not bad scores last week," the old woman said. "Maybe you're ready for something a bit closer to field conditions."
"Sounds good Tama-sensei," Bon replied.
"Let's take a look at your ammo belt first," Tama said and Bon handed over the item in question. "You've got the standard holy water shot plus you've been requisitioning clips with a sacred soil payload."
"My knight has some association with the Fire Kingdom," Bon said. "I figured it would be a good precaution to have ammo that specifically targets the demons he's weak against."
Tama nodded her approval, her snowy braid swaying with the movement. "How do you know which is which?"
Bon's shoulders tightened, he had a feeling that he was about to screw up the pop-quiz he'd stumbled into. "The clips are labeled, that's how you give them to me."
Tama snorted. "You got time to read a label while you're in the grips of a Jubokko?" she asked. "Holy water shot's easy to get and versatile; Loads nice, disperses nice and it's strong cause Egyn hates all his brothers as much if not more than he hates humans. But it'll do jack-squat against an Earth demon. Might as well be watering any of the plant types, they'll just lap it up. "
"I know," Bon replied. "Like I said my knight uses flames. I know about the various strengths and weaknesses between the Eight Kingdoms of Hell."
"So organize your belt," Tama retorted. "You gotta know what's in a clip without looking at it. I don't want to overwhelm you on your first try, so I'm only giving you one new type of shot… We'll add a clip with blessed ashes to your sacred soil and holy water shot." She handed Bon back his ammo belt and three clips of the blessed ashes bullets.
After a moment Bon arranged them so that the sacred soil was on his left, the holy water on the right and the blessed ashes at the small of his back.
Tama opened the door to the shooting range and ushered Bon inside. "Pictures of a demon will pop up at the end of the ally. Shoot them with best choice of ammo and you get full points… assuming your shot's on target. Shoot them with the worst choice of ammo and you get nothing even if you get a bulls-eye. The second best… or second worst choice of ammo gets you half credit. Got all that?"
"Yeah: Blessed Ashes for Rot and Time and. Holy Water for Flame and Insects. Sacred Soil for Water and Spirit. None of my ammo matches well for Light or Earth. Earth's primary weakness is Light and it's secondary is Spirit, Light's are Time then Rot. Given my choices I'd use Holy Water for Light and Blessed Ashes for Earth," Bon answered.
Tama grinned. "Easy to say boy-o. Let's see if you can keep that straight while you're shooting." She shut the door and few moments later a timer began counting down from three. When it hit zero Bon started shooting.
At first the demons came in batches, he got off maybe five shots before needing to switch out ammo. As the session continued the switches became more random, sometimes a single demon would pop up to break a run of on one type of shot.
When the middle of a run composed of Time and Rot demons was broken by the appearance of a single Spirit Demon, it hit Bon that he'd missed both the Ghost and the Ghoul because he'd had to hurry his shots too much after reloading. 'Would have been better off taking half-credit for the Ghost,' Bon thought in disgust. But trying to estimate when it would be best to take the half-credit was just one more thing to keep in mind while still trying to aim, fire and reload as quickly as possible. Bon realized he'd need a lot more practice before he could optimize his scores.
Then an ifirit popped up closely followed by a dragon. And Bon froze. A giant spider flashed by then a jiangshi.
"You asleep in there?" Tama called crossly.
"Sorry!" Bon shouted. He tried to regain focus but his score plunged after that point.
Several minutes later Tama ended the session. "You weren't doing half bad for a newbie, then you fell apart," she said.
"I just realized that I'm an idiot." Bon sighed.
Tama laughed. "You certainly are a prodigy; most people don't realize that until they're at least thirty."
"Holy Water draws it's power from Egyn right?" Bon asked. "Mephisto told us that the Eldest God; that's the Christian God right? Is too powerful to act on Assiah without destroying it, so there's got to be an intermediary."
Tama nodded, "Ancient Gehenna-Assiah contracts like that one get passed down to younger generations as the Elder Gods move away from Assiah," she confirmed.
"And the Kingdom of Flames is weak against water," Bon said. "I've got to talk to Rin, all this time we've been letting him think that it's his God that hated him but it's actually Egyn."
Nagatomo stood in the lobby of the old dorm looking between Rin and Bon. The two boys had barely let him through the door before they'd pounced on him with Bon's epiphany. And now they were both staring at him hopefully, expectantly. His gut instinct was to reject the whole notion out of hand, as a priest he was taught that holy water, sacred soil, blessed ashes, communion wine and bread and the like derived their power directly from God. As a tamer, he knew there were intermediaries, but Church Doctrine asserted that they were compelled by God to act as conduit for His will; that the demon intermediaries had no free will. And the that such intermediaries existed was discussed as little as possible even among the True Cross' Tamers.
"I know it's too late for Ash Wednesday," Rin pled. "But there's a few days left in Lent, it'd be sort of okay right?"
Nagatomo cringed at the thought of rubbing blessed ashes onto Rin's forehead in the hopes that they wouldn't harm him because Rin's demonic alignment was most likely the Kingdom of Flames and ashes were associated with fire. "I don't know."
"Please?" Rin begged. "Just try it."
Nagatomo thought about trying it and failing, reaffirming Rin's fear that God hated him. He felt a flash of irritation with Bon for raising Rin's hopes without any proof. He thought about trying it and succeeding, proving just how distance God was in comparison to the demons they fought. He realized if he didn't do it, Rin would find a way to try on his own and knew that he really didn't have a choice. "I think I have some ashes in my kit," he said. "I'll go them."
Rin practically tread on his heels following Nagatomo upstairs as if afraid that the priest would change his mind. Nagatomo retrieved a box of ashes from his gear then went downstairs and got olive oil and a small plate from the kitchen.
"I'm ready," Rin said, hopping up on one of the bar stool.
"I'm not," Nagatomo replied. He went to a the sink and wetted a towel. "In case it doesn't work."
A startled look crossed Bon's face. The glance he snuck at Rin held a mix of guilt and worry.
Nagatomo set the rag to one side then mixed the ashes and oil in the plate. Then he took Rin's hand and dabbed a bit of the mixture on the back of his wrist. Bon held his breath.
"It doesn't hurt!" Rin exclaimed.
"Doesn't hurt as bad or doesn't hurt at all?" Nagatomo checked. He examined Rin's hand closely looking for any signs of damage.
"Not at all," Rin said excitedly. "Now do it right!" he ordered.
Bon sighed in relief. "'Bout time you caught a break," he muttered.
Nagatomo chuckled. "It worked. Okay, a little belated but," he used the ashes to draw a cross on Rin's forehead. "Remember that your are dust, and to dust you shall return."
"It tingles a little," Rin said. A huge smile broke across his face. "It feels nice."
Notes: Sorry for the delay, chapters where the main theme is something not happening are a pain to write.