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 Twenty-Three: Core of a Dispute
Bon sent out a text calling off the search and he and Rin headed back to the dorm. The first years were already back when they arrived.
Mana gave Rin a quick hug and a smile. "Where were you?" Godain asked. "We looked everywhere."
"You didn't check the library," Bon replied. "But I didn't think of it either. I just happened to be passing by when he came out."
"The library huh?" Suzuki asked with a smirk. "Did it do you any good?"
Ueno glance up sharply at Suzuki's tone.
Rin scowled, "Buzz off, asshole."
"So everything's good, we can get back to whatever?" Ito asked.
Bon nodded. "Thanks for looking guys."
Ueno dragged Suzuki off, she didn't quite reach over and twist his ear-lobe but it wasn't hard to see the thought crossing her mind.
"I didn't get that we had a choice," Maki complained.
The door shut behind Ueno and Suzuki but it wasn't enough to block Rin's inhumanly hearing. "What did you do?" Ueno hissed.
"Oh come on, why are you always making baseless accusations, Michi-chan? You ought to be nice to me," Suzuki cajoled.
"It's not baseless when I can see that look, the ones that just screams you did something moronic, on your face," Ueno accused.
"It's just a little joke," Suzuki protested. There was a demanding silence. "I tricked Okumura into making a demon oath to help with my homework. He couldn't manage my homework without a brain transplant, it's got be driving him up the wall."
Ueno made a disgusted sound, "Moron isn't strong enough! That guy has the same flames Satan used to kill hundreds of Exorcists all over the world in a single night, and you want to play tricks on him? Sadao-aho, sometimes I truly despair of you."
On the other side of the door Rin's shoulders slumped.
"Oh, while I was checking that Okumura-kun hadn't shown up for your mission late one of the Exorcists told me to give this to you," Ito said as he paused to produced a formal looking letter.
Bon opened it and read. For a moment he just started at it in shock. "I'm being reprimanded for failing to report to an assigned mission," he said.
"What!" Rin exclaimed. "But you only missed the mission because your were looking for me."
Bon scowled. "I missed the mission because the dispatcher didn't give me adequate time to respond and he didn't give my knight-partner any notification. And that bastard has the nerve to reprimand me! We'll just see about that!" He barged through the door and practically knocked Tsuzo down as she was coming up the steps.
"Where are you going in such an all fired hurry?" she asked. Seeing Rin standing behind Bon she spared him a quick "Glad to see you're okay."
"I'm being reprimanded because the damned dispatcher can't do his job right!" Bon exclaimed, stomping down the steps. "By the dispatcher! I'm going to take this reprimand and shove it down his throat."
"Wait a minute," Tsuzo said. Bon didn't. The Myodhan girl and Rin ended up running after Bon as Tsuzo continued trying to reason with him. "Bon! Think! There are channels for this."
"To hell with that," Bon called back not pausing. "This'll be much more satisfying."
Tsuzo ran in front of him. "You don't want to just rush in and start cussing people out," she said.
"You're right, I want to knock his teeth out," Bon replied pushing past her. Rin trailed after him in a state of guilty shock.
They arrived at the admin building, Tsuzo still arguing prudence and Bon still ignoring her. He marched up to the dispatcher's desk and slammed the letter down on it. "What sort bullshit is this?" he demanded.
"You were contacted for a mission, then failed to report in a timely manner," the man replied primly.
"Bon was looking for me," Rin protested. "If anyone should get in trouble-"
The man spared Rin a brief disdainful glance. "We weren't able to get ahold of you, you had no orders to report."
"Like always. If you weren't a complete incompetent I wouldn't have been trying to do your job for you and I wouldn't have been late." Bon shouted.
Then he stopped and glared darkly at the older man. "Of course that's not it is it? It's no accident that you never get my orders to me on time, or that you never get Rin's to him at all," he accused. "It's not an accident that we're out in the field over and over again without the time for a proper briefing." He paused to include the whole room, by inference the whole of the Order, in his disdainful, accusing stare. "It's not an accident that Rin always gets the most dangerous positions, even when we don't have full information because of one excuse or another."
"You have no right to talk to me like that you insolent brat!" the dispatcher exclaimed.
"It's the truth, it doesn't change because of who says it!" Bon roared back. "You're either incompetent or you're scum, so which is it?"
"I'm beginning to see that a simple reprimand is wholly insufficient," the dispatcher snapped. "Lets see if we can find something more suitable."
"Okay now this getting a little past disciplining an Exwire," Tsuzo broke in. "The Myodhan high council will have to be informed before this goes any further. So maybe we can all just take a deep breath here and settle down."
"...So that's why Bon couldn't find me, why we missed that mission. It wasn't his fault at all and now it's turning into this huge mess for Bon but it's my fault," Rin explained to Mephisto once he'd slipped away from the hall where Tsuzo was still playing peacemaker and trying postpone any hasty action on either Bon's part or the orders.
"I got myself tied up in this stupid oath and I'm the idiot who can't figure a way out. But I don't know why. As stupid as I am I wasn't so completely moronic as to promise to do his homework for him or anything," Rin lambasted himself. "Why is this thing still bugging me?"
"Not stupid," Mephisto disagreed. "You are... helpful."
"I've seen you twist promises until they're nothing, why can't I?" Rin asked, his tone raising to a whine.
"Nothing but words," Mephisto corrected. He let his typical dramatic flare drop away. "I enter into oaths holding them as lightly as possible, a habit that has become fixed through long and painful experience. Even when I give my word to those I truly esteem, it has little sincerity. My free will is my most precious possession but it is not my birthright and so I guard it with a miser's fervor."
Mephisto stared pensively out his window. For a moment Rin thought he saw an after-image of dark wings spreading from his shoulders covered in feathers of a deep shimmering purple shading into black. Rin's eyes widened, it was one thing to know in the back of his mind that Mephisto was a fallen angel, just like in the bible, but seeing evidence of his original nature, that was something else again.
When Mephisto started speaking it was in the tones of a storyteller. "Once there was only the Eldest, alone in the void. He created Assiah as a garden for human souls to grow in. But as time went on His power grew too great for Assiah to bear, so he created Messengers to serve as his voice and hands, as his ears and eyes. In time some of those Messengers, Angels, became resentful, 'Why should humans be treasured where they were only servants?' Even after the human went against His will they were still treasured. And those resentful Angels asked why could they not also go against His will. Where they had once served joyously and unquestioningly now they began to scheme, even against their own innate nature. Demon Oaths are a relic of our design, what was left of our original nature after we'd torn ourselves apart to become something new; we were never meant to have free will.
Rin shivered; if Demon Oaths where only a remnant he would hate to be subject to the full package. Humans and Angels both God's creation but one feeling lesser than the other, Rin could relate that. He'd never doubted Shiro's love for him, but his dad had never been proud of him the way he had been proud of Yukio. Finding himself sympathizing with the reasons that led to rebellion against God himself was deeply disconcerting to Rin.
"Meanwhile the humans flourished and grew numerous. And the Angels' work grew ever more with the burgeoning human population. Your father and mine convinced his fellow Angels that it would be wise to follow the human's example and procreate simply to keep up with their ever expanding list of chores. Also that it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission, another lesson learned from human example. And so the third generation was born, born to serve but born with the seed of disobedience planted in us. We existed to help but we did not wish to be taken for granted. Resentment continued to grow and the third generation was never so bound by the Eldest's will as the second; it was not so hard for us to learn free will. We were not so difficult to persuade to rebellion either.
"In the war that followed both the second and third generations were decimated and the first Assiah was laid to waste. And then the Eldest stepped in and those of us who had risen up in rebellion were cast into the void. When those few of us who survived both the war and the void finally made our way back, we returned to a different world. Figuratively as well as literally.
"We may have been defeated but our caused thrived in our absence. Even the children of those who had stood against us in the rebellion carried the same seed of disobedience in their hearts. And the Eldest had continued to grow more powerful, more distant and more calcified; well before our return He had grown to the point where he needed intermediaries even to recreate Assiah. Grown so powerful that even to cast his eyes on his former creation would bring devastation.
"The generations that came after us no longer called themselves Messengers, they called themselves gods. Assiah was the labor of their hands was it not? Their playground recrafted time and time again from the scrapes of the previous Assiahs. As with us, their Oaths were still absolutely binding, but from birth they were taught to do what we had torn ourselves to shreds to learn: To lie with the truth. To make promises that were only empty words, cleansed of intent lest they be used to enslave us."
Mephisto turned back to stare at Rin. "It has been so long; I'd all but forgotten. You are… a very graceful mix. A child of the third generation, but bequeathed your mother's free will. You can chose to give freely of yourself. You lack the bitterness of those of us who had to fight for to be able to chose or the indoctrinated cynicism that protects choice in those who came after us. Unfortunately, now that you've lost the blood right bestowed by your mother, you've been left vulnerable."
He dusted off his hands, the impression of wings vanished as his sharks' smile returned. "I've given you to tools to protect yourself. All you need is practice. And a dorm-mate who's idea of hazing involves forcing you to study… Well, it could be worse."
"But I got Bon in trouble, I gotta fix that," Rin protested.
"I could intervene," Mephisto offered. "I could certainly put an end to them failing to notify you of missions. I could put an end to their assigning you to positions that are beyond what should be expected of an Exwire. But it won't change that Suguro-san did fail to report for a mission. I can stop them from acting on their hatred of you, but I cannot change their feelings. In truth, Suguro-san's reprimand is more about punishing him for his loyalty to you than it is about the mission he missed. And, in truth, my forbidding them from acting on their feelings against you will only drive those feeling into the dark and cause them to fester. It will increase their determination to see Suguro-san punished as severely as possible."
"So what do I do?" Rin asked.
"Your friends would want me to intervene," Mephisto pointed out. "In fact, they would be quite put out with me should they learn that I had been made aware of the situation and had not intervened."
"They won't find out from me," Rin said with determination.
Mephisto grinned slyly. "We could allow the conspirators enough rope to hang themselves with," he said and Rin looked hopeful. "Little brother, I warn you, this is a dangerous game to play; Suguro-san is right to call them out on the risks they subject you to. Suzuki-san is a mean-spirited child, playing a child's game, but this... Make no mistake, the Tokyo branch's mid-ranks are scheming to cause you grave harm. No one will be surprised when their plot succeeds, what will surprise them is the fallout from their success."
"But you must be careful," Mephisto stressed. "Suguro-san is much like you. If your injuries are too severe he will act rashly, and then it would have been better for him if you had asked me to intervene."
When Rin got back to the dorm Suzuki was waiting with a put-upon expression on his face. Ueno stood in the background her arms crossed over her chest, glaring daggers at her long-time friend. "Look, Okumura, I have to say you've done a lot to help with my homework," he sighed then glanced back at Ueno. "That good? I can't honestly say he's been a lot of help."
"Okumura?" Ueno asked. "Is the oath satisfied?"
Rin thought about it for a moment and about the conversation he'd overheard. "Yeah, the oath's resolved," he said. Then started upstairs to his room "And you're a bigger moron than even he is; being afraid of someone like me." Rin nodded toward Suzuki, "He's a jerk, no question about it, but at least he's seeing me, Okumura Rin. You? Well, I might have the same flames as Satan, but I'm not him."
He turned and walked up stairs not sparing either of them a second look.
Rin found Bon and Konekomaru upstairs putting their heads together. "Rin," Bon called. "You're back, we've got plans to make."
When his alarm went off the next Monday Rin quickly shut it off and rolled out of bed. He glanced at the time and wondered what Shiro would think of seeing him out of bed at 4:30am. Bakers hours were early, but Rin had discovered that it wasn't so hard to get out of bed when he enjoyed what he was doing.
Bon sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Wait up, I'm coming too," he mumbled.
"You sure?" Rin asked. "You don't look awake."
"I'm awake, gotta stick to the plan." Bon stumbled out of bed. "Stayed up late studying last night."
Rin looked slightly guilty. A month into his internship with Itamae-san he'd started going to bed earlier than he had since he pested Shiro into moving his bedtime back when he'd been ten. "Do you really need to come?" he asked Bon as they grabbed their stuff and headed for the bathroom. "I thought school was supposed to come before missions as long as we're Exwires."
"You can't get a meister without a hundred hours in the field," Bon replied after splashing cold water on his face to help himself wake up. "So, technically you can pass the Exorcist Exam and still not be qualified as an Exorcist because you don't have the practical. I wouldn't put it past the Order to start giving me a bunch of dawn missions after you're at your internship in hopes that I'd go on the mission without you because you're sort of in school."
"I'm your knight, I don't want you going on missions without me," Rin stated, he couldn't think of a reason for it but he felt a deep conviction that he shouldn't ever let Bon go on a mission without him. "But, well, as much as I hate the idea of it, would it be all bad if you got to know some of the Exorcists without me around ticking them off? Maybe if they knew you they'd take your word for it that I'm not so horrible."
"They'll make sure I've got the hundred hours I need before I take the Exorcist Exam next winter," Bon said. "The Myodhan would have a fit if they didn't. But there aren't enough people looking out for you and I don't trust the Grigori farther than I can throw 'em. I wouldn't put it past them to not give you the time then claim you didn't really pass the Exorcist Exam because of that. So you and I are joined at the hip when I'm not in class until they give up and start giving you missions."
"Thanks," Rin said. "But what about your jogging? And if you're getting up with me you won't be able to study late."
Bon shrugged, "I'll bring my books to the cafeteria and learn to study early. We can run right before bed," he grinned. "And I do mean 'we', I've been meaning to make you join Koneko, Shima and I for our runs."
"Why?" Rin asked wrinkling his nose. "I'm too fast and too strong to be human anyway."
"Angel's faster than you and he's human," Bon pointed out. "You've got room to improve and working out can't hurt you any."
Rin stuck out his tongue at the other boy. Bon laughed at him. They finished getting ready and headed for the Academy kitchens.
When they arrived Itamae raised an eyebrow at the extra teenager in his kitchen and Ukobach grimaced. "Just point me to an out of the way corner, you won't even know I'm here," Bon promised. Five minutes later he yawned, stretched and knocked over a rack of baking pans. "Err, sorry," Bon said shamefaced as Itamae and Ukobach cringed. Rin just sighed.
A few minutes later Rin's phone buzzed. "Hey, they actually called me. We have a mission," Rin reported. "Itamae-san, I have to go. The Order actually told me we've got a mission."
Itamae glanced at Bon, a worried question in his eyes. Bon shook his head, "They didn't call me. Normally I'd be in middle of my run right now, I don't carry my phone with me. I don't like this."
The enthusiasm drained out of Rin's expression and for a moment Bon felt guilty about putting a damper on his optimism. Then Rin's smile returned with a harder edge. "Yeah, but you're here so you got the call," he said. "So lets go surprise them."
Bon nodded, "You're right. They're getting both of us whether they want us or not."
As they headed toward the Admin Building to rendezvous with the Order team Rin felt a squirming anticipation building in his stomach. Bon's worries had reminded that the Order was out to get him. That they'd wanted him to come and come alone probably meant something bad. 'Which works for us,' Rin thought. 'That's Mephisto's plan isn't? To let them hurt me, but not too much. To prove what Bon's saying about them is true, to drag it out in the open, so they'll get in trouble instead of him.' Rin grimaced, 'It's like Shiratori and the puppy back in grade school, only I'm the puppy this time.'
Rin glanced at Bon. The other boy stomped toward the rendezvous with a determined, angry stride. In retrospect Rin wished he hadn't told Bon about the summons, if Bon wasn't there he wouldn't have to worry about Bon overreacting when he got hurt. Rin bit his lip, Mephisto hadn't actually said he should get hurt on purpose but he wanted this all over with and resolved. He didn't like the reprimand hanging over Bon.
Rin really wished he hadn't told Bon. His aria watched him spar all the time, the only person who'd catch on quicker if he deliberately dropped his guard was Angel. Rin rubbed his temples, 'Angel's right,' he decided. 'These stupid games are a pain. I've gotta fight bad on purpose and Bon'll have a fit if he catches me. It might even tip him off in time to stop me from getting hurt. Shit, the more I think about this stuff the worse it gets, but I've gotta do it to get Bon out of trouble. There's gotta be a reason why I'd leave myself open.'
Rin thought back to the last few missions. "Bon, I- I'm not going to use my flames this time," he said.
Bon stopped and turned back to face Rin. "What?"
"My flames remind 'em of why they hate me. I'm not going to use them," Rin repeated. "That time with the half-girl, one of the knights was being sort of friendly before the mission, but after you unsealed my heart he was acting like I was the threat."
Bon chewed on the inside of his lip, "It's not a bad idea, but don't take risks," he said. "And you're still giving me Kurikara, if things start looking dire I'll draw it whether or not it bothers them; they need to get over themselves anyway." Bon sighed, "And you need to figure out what's blocking you from drawing Kurikara for yourself, you can't just leave things like this forever. I mean, I don't mind being your work around but one of the Exorcists got in the way of me drawing the sword against the Teke-teke because she cared more about her trap than you. And even with the sword drawn you're more powerful once it's in your hands so you're still handicapped when I draw it until I can get the sword to you."
"Tell me how," Rin groused and Bon's shoulders slumped. Rin gave Bon a tired smile, "For today, just don't be too quick to set my flames loose okay?"
"Okay," Bon agreed reluctantly as they reached their destination.
Rin opened the door to one of the smaller conference rooms on the basement level of the admin building and walked into the briefing. At the front of the room Shiku glanced toward the door. "You're late Okumura," she said.
Rin held up his phone. "Got the message ten minutes ago, you try getting across campus any faster."
Shiku sniffed disdainfully. Then Bon came through the door behind Rin and she frowned. "Ah-hem, well, you're here," she said then apparently decided to ignore Bon. She turned back to Rin, "Since we've already begun, I'll summarize quickly for you: Recently a group of earlier morning hikers were attacked on the slopes of Mount Jinba. The hikers only suffered minor burns but have remained comatosed since the attack. You were brought into this mission specifically because I have reason to believe that you would be immune to the attack used by the demon. You will draw it out into the open, then we will exorcise it."
Rin sighed, he turned to Bon, "Do I have 'bait' stamped on my forehead or something?" he asked then turned back to Shiku. "I'm guessing we're already late or something?"
"Quite true," Shiku replied.
Fifteen minutes and two gates later Rin found himself hiking up a lonely mountain trail. He was shadowed by a group of Exorcists whose efforts to render themselves invisible made them seem like little more than ghosts haunting the woods. He'd almost reached the summit when Rin heard the rumble of a single wheel trundling down the path. A moment later he realized that the glow on the horizon wasn't the early morning sun peaking through the trees but a burning cart wheel rolling toward him, a man's disembodied head at the hub.
Rin drew his sword, 'Let's get it over with quick,' he thought as the wheel thundered toward him. He leapt to the side as if to dodge but waited a moment too long and took a glazing blow as the wheel barreled by. Rin stood back up, his left arm burned and broken, but already healing. 'Not enough,' Rin thought. Then he felt a tug. The pull seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. There was no physical attachment, but Rin could feel it reaching deep inside and stretching him like taffy. He stumbled back, away from the demon but the pulling only got worse.
The demon laughed as if it had won, even as it was surrounded by the other Exorcists. The clearing where Rin had been attacked had become a beehive of activity and at the center of it all Rin and the demon wheel remained locked in a staring contest. Barriers sprung up to trap it, several dragoons positioned themselves to cover any avenues of escape it might attempt. The arias organized themselves for the most efficient process of elimination to find the fatal verse that would send it back to Gehenna.
Rin found himself observing the activity from the outside. It was all muted and oddly distant from his point of view. His body was just standing there but he was being stretched as if on a rack. From his new perspective, Rin saw that the demon wasn't just a single wheel, it was a funeral cart being dragged along by a giant oni. The cart was constantly burning but never consumed. A bit of his soul was wrapped around the axle and with each turn of the cart's wheels he was being pulled farther from his body.
Rin squirmed like a fish on a hook, he tried to pull himself back into his body, but was momentarily distracted by the sight of a heavy grey chain wrapped around his ghostly arms, weighing him down, and realized it was the oath he'd given to Ueno. Then something stretched too far and Rin screamed as his soul began to tear. His body collapsed like a puppet with it's strings cut.
Bon drew Kurikara as he broke ranks and ran to Rin's side. He planted the flaming sword near his fallen knight's hand. But instead of wreathing his body as they normally did Rin's flames were being drawn toward the demon wheel, illuminated the path along which Rin's soul was being dragged.
Rin shook off his distractions and dug in his heels, trying to rip himself free of the demon's cart.
The oni's eyes widened. "You're kin!" he exclaimed. He glanced toward the True Cross Exorcists, "Rebellious kin. Iblis will be pleased when I drag your captured soul before him." It threw itself against the cart's harness, pulling with with fanatical determination.
Rin gasped as the tear between his body and soul widened. Then he noticed a second bond, not chains dragging at him, but a bright ribbon connecting him to Bon. It anchored him to Assiah even as the demon wheel strained to pull him out of his body. A promise given so casually, kept without the slightest hesitation so it didn't weigh on him in the slightest, it had almost been forgotten but when Rin looked at the ribbon he remembered: "How about you protect me from demons and I'll protect you from humans?" "It's a deal!" Rin grabbed it, using using the ribbon to take some of the strain off his soul's connection to his body.
In the physical world Bon had drawn his gun. He targeted the point where Rin's elongated flames ended and started firing.
"Interfering pest," the Oni muttered turning his attention to Bon.
The ribbon tugged at Rin as the demon glared at Bon, trying to help him find the means to keep his promise. Rin pulled himself along the ribbon and back into his body. The tear was still present and Rin's body felt like an alien thing, an ill-fitting costume hindering his every move. Clumsily Rin's hand closed around Kurikara's hilt.
Bon dropped an empty clip out of his gun and slammed in a fresh one, but Rin could see he was aiming at the wrong place, at the cart instead of the oni pulling it. The oni lunged at Bon. Rin dragged his sluggish body upright. Grabbing Bon's shoulder he yanked the larger boy behind him and met the oni with his raised sword.
The demon impaled itself on Kurikara.
Rin bared his teeth in a feral snarl. His flames erupted wildly as they consumed the demon. The cart wheel toppled into the path, as a charred hulk. Rin's knees hit the ground a moment later.
"The blue flames, they're out of control!" Shiku shrieked.
Bon grabbed Rin and threw them both to the ground as a several bullets split the air above them.
Half unconscious, his soul slipping away from his body as he lost his grip on it, Rin still smiled as he felt the warmth of a promise kept flowing into the bond he shared with Bon.
Bon chanted a quick passage, raising a barrier around himself and Rin. He put a hand on Rin's shoulder, keeping him on the ground as he glared furiously at the other Exorcists. Shiku started a counter-chant to disrupt Bon's barrier. He fired into the ground. The bullet kicked up small cloud of dust a few inches from her foot. Shiku shrieked and hopped back. Bon aimed the gun squarely at her, his narrowed eyes promising that the next shot wouldn't be a warning if she continued to threaten his knight.