“Yes, you baka! I said I’d tell you, didn’t I?” Bon grumbled, and stifled a chuckle with a ‘tch’ before crossing his arms, looking to the side. I pouted, and huffed, poking Bon’s cheek.
“N-No need to be mean, Bonnie!” I protest, and he smiles faintly, a laugh rumbling in his throat. I smile more, and let my finger retract before I look back at Koko, who tugged on my sleeve, trying to get my attention.
“So where do we go now?” Koko asks, her arms being flexed, looking over at Bon. Bon then scowls, something dark in his eyes as he looks down. I gently touch his forearm, and he looks at me with a hint of a smile, and looks back at everyone, his frown appearing again, and his figure stiffening.
“Follow me.” Bon finally mumbled, turning on his heel and starting towards the exit.
Obeying I fell in line with Konkemaru. “You okay?” I asked him, and glanced over at the younger boy, observing him, reading his aura. My parents did this while training an animal, reading its emotions. I rarely use it now, only to try and help a friend. He nodded, a shy smile on his face.
“Uhuh, it’s just that I’m not too glad on going back to my home. There isn’t much to look forward to.” He explained, and so I nodded, a sad smile no my face.
“I know how that feels like.” I whisper back to him, though it seemed like I didn’t say anything. We then stopped after a few moments of silence, arriving at the door of a compound of houses.
“This is huge!” Koko and Rin cheer and laugh, looking around the front yard. I sigh a little, amused but embarrassed.
“G-Gomen!” I yelp, seeing someone hit Rin on the head in a scolding, along with Koko. I pulled them back by the collar of their shirts, and then chastised them myself.
“Look who came back, Pa!” A loud voice bellowed, and so I turned around to get bumped into by a blonde, with a smirk and mischievous eyes. “Dammit, she turned around before I could examine~” He whined, and my cheeks flushed before I got pulled into a woman with dark hair and familiar eyes.
“Baka!” She scolds, grabbing the boy by the ear and smacking him. “I’m so sorry about him, Nat-can.” She smiles, and wraps her arms around my figure. A name resurfaced in my head, along with faint images of her figure- younger, probably by a decade or so- bringing a few young children cookies, smiling and cleaning up after them after a few chides of disapproval but playful teasing.
“M-Mrs.Suguro…” I murmur, and smile.
“Now, Ryuuji Suguro, why did you pierce your ears and dye your hair?! You’re more like a girl than a man!” She grabs his ear, making him yelp and try to get out of her grip. I giggle, and she turns back to me. “I have something to give to you.” She smiles as she pulls something out of a box, and hands me a golden chain with a locket that had my clan’s symbol; a flower in bloom. With trembling fingers, I took it, and placed it over my head. “A-Arigatou, Mrs.Suguro.”
“I’m hungry!” Rin exclaims and smiles cheekily, looking around for a kitchen now. I giggle and follow everyone into the house, helping with unpacking and finding the kitchen.
“I’m gonna defeat Satan, not you!” Bon’s voice blared through the room like a siren. Rin and Bon have been arguing about it ever since Rin had been asked why he had become an Exorcist.
“No, I am!” Rin protested, and I bit my lip, picking at the shrimps in my curry, trying to not let this affect me. I was trying so hard not to let this get to me; their dream-though innocent and ambitious- would bring such a horrible fate to them.
“I am, no matter what!” That sentence snapped through my self-control, and I had broken down in my calmness, erupting into my emotions headfirst. The two argued, until a noise silenced everyone. I had stood up and slammed my hands on the table.
“Nat…” Rin started softly, his voice soft, as if he was trying to tame me, the Tamer.
“No. You listen to me. You both listen to me. Don’t say you’ll defeat Satan. Don’t ever say that! If you became too powerful, you would deem as a threat to him. He’ll hurt you. He’ll hurt everyone you love and care about. He’ll give you pain! So...so much...pain. Right here!” I clench my fist as I hold it against my chest, and stare down at my curry. “And no one will be able to fix it. No one. No matter how hard they will try, they’ll never be able to take off that armor, never able to heal the broken bits and pieces. And...And I don’t want you-I don’t want anyone to feel that!” Tears filled my eyes, and I looked up, bowing as everyone stared at me. “Gomenasai.” I whisper, and ran out of the room, out of the house, away. Just away from Rin, away from Bon. Away from Yukio, Shima, Konkemaru. Away from Shura, Izumo, Shiemi, Koko. Away from everyone.
Rin's POV:
"Nat!" I yelled after her, before frowning and punching the wall. Shiemi yelped and tried to stop me, but I felt too out of control to care. I was supposed to protect her, not hurt her. I looked over at Yukio, who had sighed and gotten up from his seat, bowing.
“Sumimasen, I have to take my leave to do some work.” He smiles sheepishly, and bows again before towards the door, sliding it open and striding out. My fists clenched even tighter, and I ran out of the room along with him, grabbing him by the collar.
“Why aren’t you helping Nat?!” I growl at him, anger in my eyes and stomach. He looked at me, wearily and tired.
“Because you need to comfort her. You said the thing that hurt her. You know her better than anyone else, better than me.” He answered calmly, and pried my hands off his collar, smoothing it and closing the door to his room behind him.
I slumped against the wall, and looked up at the ceiling, listening to the soft patter of the droplets of rain on the roof. “I’m sorry, Nat.” I mumbled, and got up, before heading back to the dining room.
The Suguro Compound, and an Argument that Leads to Sadness
Start from the beginning
