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 Twenty-two: Unwelcome
"Why am I doing this again?" Rin wailed plucking at the hem of the pleated skirt he was wearing. He was glad they hadn't gotten word until the last minute and no one had the chance to dress him up before hand; it would have been humiliating to take the train while dressed as a girl.
An unremarkable knight in his mid-twenties fought to maintain a serious expression as he put a bow in Rin's hair and brought out a makeup kit. "The demon only attacks school girls. Now sit still. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, I took theatre in high school."
"But why does it have to me?" Rin whined.
A small smile snuck onto the Exorcist's face, "Well, you have to admit you make a better girl than your partner."
Rin crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "I do not!"
The Exorcist glanced superstitiously across the room toward where his teammates were debriefing Bon. Then as he leaned close to Rin to apply eyeliner, he whispered urgently "There are two of them. It's killed once already, so there are two now. They're Kin of Azazel, but the scythe will stay solid."
"Thanks," Rin said. "It shouldn't take long right? Your aria already knows what it is."
"Just be careful," the young man said with another quick glance at his teammates. He finished up Rin's lipstick and called, "We're ready."
Rin started to buckle his swords on over the fuku. The unit's leader, a stern woman with cropped grey hair, stopped him. "You have to be convincing," she said. Rin grimaced, he tucked his wakizashi into the waistband of his skirt, then rolled up the katana and harness and set them on top of his normal clothes. Bon frowned and adjusted Kurikara to be able to unseal Rin's heart faster if need be.
"Okumura, the front doors are open. We need you to wander the halls and draw it out. The rest of us will be nearby." Rin nodded and started off. The school they'd been sent to exorcise was a mecca of right angles and regularly spaced intervals, it couldn't have been further from the True Cross Academy's fantastic architecture although the two facilities served the same purpose. Bon and the rest of the team made their way to a small entrance by the gym.
The main door creaked loudly as Rin let himself into the building. He looked between the banks of empty shoe lockers then turned toward the classrooms. The rooms on the east side of the hall were stacked high with desks while those on the west stood empty, the floors ready for waxing. The stacked desks filled eastern rooms with odd shadows, blind alleys and restricted spaces.
In the locker room the unit leader informed Bon, "You're with me.." She popped off a ceiling tile and gestured to the crawl space between floors in the school, The other members of the team divided up and also started discreetly making their way toward Rin. "The teke teke won't be expecting anyone from this direction. We should catch it by surprise when it goes after Okumura."
They heard the sound of fighting above them. Bon crawled as fast as he could, the commander just behind him.
Rin heard the sound of a blade parting the air and threw himself forward. A massive scythe passed over him. He rolled and came to his feet, wakizashi in hand. The upper body of a girl wearing a uniform very similar to the one Rin had been dressed in floated before him, a scythe in her hands, phantom blood dripping from her severed waist.
She pouted and took another swipe at him. Rin lunged into her and grabbed the scythe just below the blade. He tried to yank the weapon out of her hands but it seemed as if it were welded in place. After a brief tug of war the teke teke dove into the floor. Rin yelped as his fingers were caught between the weapons' haft and the floor.
The instant he let go she attacked. Rin hopped back, parrying with his short sword, but the light weapon lacked the power to do more than deflect the scythe.
Bon saw Rin giving ground and started to draw Kurikara. The grey-haired exorcist put her hand over the sword's hilt. "Not yet," she said quietly.
"Rin's in trouble," Bon protested.
"Wait until the second one's been drawn out."
"Second one?" Bon hissed.
Rin sighed and settled himself to play a waiting game. 'Just a being a knight,' he reminded himself; holding a line while waiting for his aria to come up with a finishing move was the job description.
The girl swiped at him again and Rin let the wakizashi slide along her weapon drawing sparks. She flinched as the short sword passed through her intangible fingers. 'Not so long a spirit,' Rin thought a bit sadly.
"You weren't always like this," Rin said. "Try to remember."
Her eyes shifted to something behind Rin and a vindictive smile split her face.
Bon elbowed his team leader and drew kurikara as the second teke teke attacked Rin from behind. "Rin!" he shouted as he threw the flaming sword at Rin's attacker. The second teke teke, the original, ignored the sword as it passed through her and sank into the floor. But Rin's strength was also increased with his heart unsealed. He dragged the first's scythe around, ghost and all, to block the second. Then Rin snatched up Kurikara.
With his sword in hand, flames burning high, Rin faced the two vengeful ghosts with a fierce smile. He launched a flurry of attacks, driving both ghosts across the hall and into one of the empty rooms. Rin stood in the doorway. "You're not going anywhere," he said.
Bon started chanting sutra known to be effective against the Kin of Azazel while the rest of the Exorcist team assembled. Two of the other knights drew their swords but rather than joining Rin, they stationed themselves between Rin and their partners. The senior arias started chanting in unison, when they completed the verse, the pair of vengeful spirits vanished into the ether. A pair of brooms clattered to the floor, all that was left of the scythes.
Bon tossed Rin Kurikara's sheathe and he sealed the sword, quenching his flames. He turned to the older knight who'd made him up with a grin. "I did it."
The man eyed Rin warily, never lowering his sword. Rin's smile faded.
"Check the premises, make sure there's nothing else," the unit leader ordered, looking past Rin as if he wasn't there.
"I'll just go change," Rin muttered. He turned and shambled away. Bon gave the rest of the team a dirty look and ran after Rin.
"We don't have to wait for them," Bon said once Rin was dressed. "Lets just go home."
Several days later Izumo and Konekomaru came back from their most recent mission late, looking hot, sweaty, sunburned and in Izumo's case generally disgruntled. Rin watched her throw her Order jacket on the floor and stomp up stairs, he chewed on his lip for a moment then ran into the kitchen. For a few moments those in the lounge heard the sounds of water running and cabinet doors being opened and closed in rapid succession. Then Rin raced back out of the kitchen, he threw open the door and stopped cold. "Stupid wards! Stupid curfew!" he exclaimed.
"What do you need?" Bon asked.
Rin turned on him with a desperate, pleading look. "Straws, run down to the Convenience Store and get a box, the big ones! Hurry."
"Oh, that is brilliant," Paku declared. She took Bon's arm. "I know exactly what you're looking for. We'll be back before Izumo-chan's out of the bath, I promise."
"Thanks," Rin said. He went back to the kitchen and started slicing cucumbers while he waited for the water he'd put on to boil.
When Rin emerged from the kitchen with a large tray balanced on his hand Shima commented, "That's a lot of food, so are we all invited? It's not a date?"
Rin flushed. "I thought it would be nice to just kick back a little, catch up with each other after being on different missions, especially with the first years out on their camping trip… But don't touch any of the food 'til Izumo-chan sees."
Shima snickered as he stood and got a better look at the tray, "Ahhh, you made it pretty."
"Shut up," Rin muttered.
"Here, I'll get the pitchers," Shima said. "Don't want you to spilling tea on your cute little tea sandwiches."
They took the food up to the fourth floor garden, then after a bit of consideration Rin ran back downstairs and swiped an end table from the third floor lounge and found a tablecloth. Paku and Bon returned with a box of brightly colored straws. Rin dumped them in an empty pitcher then arranged the rest of the food around them as if they were a centerpiece.
"I'll make sure Izumo-chan's decent, then you can bring her up," Paku told Rin.
"I've got that old shogi board in my trunk," Bon suggested to Konekomaru.
"It's been awhile," the smaller boy replied.
Shiemi brought up a basket of herbs she had been preparing for drying downstairs, Shima plopped down nearby ready to resume his task of supplying an extra hand when Shiemi needed one to get the bundles neatly tied off.
"Go on," Paku gave Rin a small push toward the stairwell. Then she went to sit down beside Bon and Konekomaru. After the door closed behind Rin she grinned. "You've all got something to do, good. If it gets date-like we can all just fade into the background. I don't know what is taking Rin so long. Boys aren't supposed to be the shy ones."
"Blame Yukio," Bon replied bitterly. "I don't think I ever remember Rin initiating so much as pat on the shoulder. Somewhere in his head he's still thinking he's toxic or something."
A few moments later Rin returned with Izumo. She took in the pitchers of milk and tea, sweat beading up on them, the delicately cut sandwiches and the bowl of tapioca pearls. "You made me bubble tea?" Izumo exclaimed. Impulsively she leaned over and kissed Rin on the cheek then blushed and glared at the other Exwires, daring them to comment.
Rin grinned, "You like?" he asked as he served her.
"This is great, especially after today," Izumo replied.
They found a spot near the edge of the garden where they could lean back against one of the wall fragments and look out at the emerging stars. Izumo leaned her head back on Rin's shoulder.
Once they were settled the rest of the Exwires helped themselves to the food.
"So what was your mission anyway," Bon asked. "You were out all day."
"A cargo plane with a gremlin infestation," Konekomaru was explained as he carried his plate back to where he and Bon had set up their game.
Izumo scrunched up her sun-burned nose. "We stood on the tarmac for five hours with fifteen other Exorcists holding a containment line while the point team searched every plane," she complained.
"It was an important mission," Konekomaru disagreed seriously. "One of the Arch Knights directed it. The last thing anyone needs is a bunch of gremlins loose in the Narita International Airport."
"I stood in the sun, in an Order coat, for hours while nothing happened," Izumo stated. "We couldn't even see the team that was actually doing the exorcism."
Shima smirked. "Shiemi-chan ruled our mission. We were supposed to be on support; her fixing up any injuries and me making sure nothing attacked her while she was working; but the demon took one look at her and started bowing and scraping. He apologized for causing trouble returned everything he'd stolen and even cleaned up the mess." Shima laughed. "The senior Order members just stood there with their jaws hanging open. It was great."
Shiemi flushed, "He was a spriggan and he kept calling me 'Lady Priestess', I think he must have been a friend of Amaimon's."
"Yeah? Well, I got the kill shot on our demon," Bon bragged. "Our team leader gave Rin the point position. He used one of the maneuvers Angel taught us; lined up the shot for me and I took it; everything just fell right into place."
"Rin, weren't you point on your last couple of missions too?" Konekomaru asked.
"Well, the one with the hair only went after young guys, so it had to be me or Bon and I'm the knight," Rin said. "Besides I'm just tough."
Izumo sat up, frowning worriedly.
"They know we can handle it," Bon said. "We get to do stuff on our missions."
"We're Exwires, we're supposed to be mostly observing our seniors," Konekomaru argued.
"Yeah, well it sounds like you didn't even get to do that," Bon groused with a nod toward Izumo.
"Come on, we all had good missions, lets enjoy it," Rin said and Shiemi nodded.
"So any progress on your promise to help me or are you really as stupid as our teachers say?" Suzuki asked after checking that Rin was the only one in the bathroom.
Rin gritted his teeth, Suzuki hadn't even been back from the Exwire camp for twelve hours and Rin had already gotten tired of him.
"I mean you're a whole year ahead of me, you should be able to figure out at least one problem right?" the junior Exwire continued.
"I'm not studying to be a doctor, but if you ever want any help with knight stuff…" Rin gave Suzuki a smile that only served to show his fangs. "I'd be more than happy have a friendly little spar with you. I bet you'd learn tons."
"No thanks," Suzuki replied. "But if you could tell me which demon temptaints can be treated with Ravensara Oil? Problem 6, page 9..." he added in a syrupy tone.
Ito backed through the door with a double armful of bleach, hair-dye and accoutrements. "Do you guys think I'd look better with green hair or purple?" he asked.
Rin and Suzuki both turned to stare at the third boy. They let the subject of Rin's promise drop without another word.
Ito looked at himself in the mirror for a moment. "Really I'd look good with anything. I've got 'em both, I should use 'em. Maybe half and half, or a streak like Suguro's. Hmmm, green with a purple streak or purple with a green streak? Nah, I think half and half 'll be best."
Rin and Bon pulled another mission later that day.
As soon as they saw the demon Rin stopped. He looked the demon up and down then turned to Bon and asked. "Think he's a relative?"
"Just shut up and skewer the damn chicken," Bon huffed. He drew his gun and started to line up a shot only to end up diving behind a planter as the eight-foot rooster belched a fireball at him.
This time they'd been teamed with a more experienced aria-knight pair. The knight was a bear of a man who handled his broadsword like it was a matchstick and the aria was his younger brother. The aria had his brother's height and his nose but was skinny as reed.
Once again Bon hadn't gotten word of the mission until the last moment and Rin hadn't heard at all until Bon chased him down. They'd ended up barely catching the senior Exorcists on their way out and had only received the sketchiest of briefings before being thrown into battle; against a giant, fire-breathing chicken; which Rin found hilarious, much to Bon's consternation.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Rin shouted. He took a swing at the chicken's scaly leg. His katana didn't do anything but irritate the over-sized bird. Still that was enough to turn it away from Bon. The chicken pecked at Rin, he jumped aside and it's beak punched into the sidewalk like a jack-hammer. "Whoa," Rin exclaimed.
Bon stood up and tried for a second time to get a shot. The chicken immediately forgot Rin went after the Myodha boy again. Rin darted between them, drawing a cloak of flames past Kurikara's seal as the chicken spat another fireball at Bon.
Orange flames against blue. For a moment time seemed to stop. The fire-ball's descent was arrested as it contacted Rin's aura. Then Rin's flames reached out and it was consumed.
"This guy really doesn't like you," Rin commented. "Maybe your hair's an insult to chickens everywhere."
"Did your flames just burn that fireball to nothing?" Bon asked. 'Not the time,' he thought as he ducked back behind the planter and traded his gun for prayer beads. "If it wants me…"
Rin nodded and backed off as he heard Bon start to chant.
Bon stepped out into the open, his hands steepled before him, the beads looped around them. The chicken spread it's wings and hissed. More fireballs rained down to splatter on Bon's barrier.
Rin took a running leap, his body and sword lined in blue flames, only a shadow of his unsealed heart, but enough. He brought the sword down; all his weight and momentum behind the slash; and beheaded the chicken.
Great gouts of flame erupted from the stump of the demon's neck as it's body ran about aimlessly. The wind from it's flapping wings knocked both Rin and Bon flat.
"Contain it!" the older knight shouted. His brother started chanting. After a moment Bon pulled himself to his knees and joined the other aria, strengthening and reinforcing his shields.
With each burst of flames the chicken shrank until, after a final puff of smoke, all that was left was a common barnyard fowl.
As the arias dropped their barrier Rin walked over and poked at the carcass. "Anyone for fried chicken? Itamae-san alway says fresh food's the best."
Bon groaned and shook his head in disgust. "Don't even joke about eating that thing."
As the four of them walked back to the nearest gate point the other aria pulled Bon aside. "You did well today. Your barrier spells are quick and still strong."
Bon straightened proudly.
"You should join Bruce and I for dinner later." He glanced at Rin significantly.
Bon's expression hardened. "You mean Rin and I, right?" he asked.
"You seem like a talented kid," the older aria said. "Someone with a bright future, but you're going to need connections to get anywhere and you won't make them cleaving to that demon spawn."
"I don't need the sort of connections you're talking about," Bon stated. "Rin's an Exwire, same as me, and if you assholes can't figure that out then screw you."
The older aria shook his head sadly. "It's your own grave that you're digging, Suguro."
Bon took a few long steps to catch up with Rin and threw an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "You heard?" he said softly.
"Yeah, every word. Demon hearing is a joy." Rin grimaced, "The first day of class Yukio warned me that it would be like this. You can go, don't mess yourself up for me."
"You know what they say: Better a demon chicken with love than a fatted calf with hatred. I'll work with jerks like them if you will, but there's no way I'm socializing with them."
Rin walked down the steps of the library, several books on demon pharmacology weighing down his bag. Bon spotted from from across the quad and jogged over. "You're okay!" he exclaimed. "What were you doing in the library? We missed a mission."
"Shit!" Rin swore. "Why didn't you text me?"
As if on cue, Rin's cell beeped. "I did," Bon said dryly. "There's no coverage in the library; thing's built like a bunker."
"Oh," Rin flushed. "No way to catch up?"
Bon shook his head. "We're forty minutes late already. Heck I've even got the first years out looking for you. I thought it might be another scheme of Mephisto's."
"Naw, I'm fine, just studying."
Bon eyed Rin critically. "You're sure you're not sick or something?" he asked reaching out to check Rin's temperature.
Rin swatted his hand away. "I can study if I want to," he snapped.
Bon held up his hands in surrender. "Just giving you a hard time."
"I know," Rin sighed.
"So what are you studying anyway?" Bon asked, trying to make amends.
"Nothing important," Rin said, not wanting Bon to know about the promise he'd foolishly given Suzuki.
Notes: Bon was referring to Proverbs 15:17, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred." NKJV