Sweet Like Candy

Prison or Mechanic's Reject Pile?

There was no sun, no sky, and the ground was metal scraps. It hurt her bare feet to walk on them, so she'd sat down and leaned against a particularly big piece of scrap metal forlornly. Of al the times to flare up, she did it in front of the whole God damned Branch Office because Suguro was being an idiot and it pissed her off. She'd had perfect control over her flames ten minutes before that, when she'd lit the candles.

Rin wished her luck wasn't so shitty. She was tired of shitty luck. Things always going wrong, people always leaving, finding out the cold blooded truth about people she thought loved her. She was sick of it all. Maybe she could just stay here, in this prison. If she fell asleep, she'd be alone with no one to wake her up. Maybe she could just sleep forever so she didn't have to struggle so much anymore.

Why didn't Shiro just kill her when she was born? Things would've been so much simpler for everyone then. Everyone could live on and learn to recover from the Blue Night and never have to be reminded of it whenever Rin came around. And Rin wouldn't have to fight so hard just to live, and Yukio could've just been a normal kid. Maybe he would've been put into an adoption center, or an orphanage, or Foster Care, or someone might have taken him in from the start when their mom died and grown up like a normal human kid. It was Rin's fault he was an Exorcist with so much on his shoulders.

She was deep in those depressing thoughts when she heard a familiar voice.

"Rin!" Shiemi called, running towards the girl unsteadily over the scrap metal.

"What are you doing here?! And be careful, you'll fall and get cuts everywhere!" Rin scolded her.

"That doesn't matter right now! I'm here to save you!" Shiemi told her. "Ms. Kirigakure told us everything. She said you wanted to help, so we came here to save you! Now come with me so I can get you out of here!"

She stepped forward, but a spike of fear stabbed through Rin and she leaned away. "Stay back! Don't come any closer!"

"But why?" Shiemi wondered.

"I....I can't control these flames. Even if I want to, the control only lasts for a short while." Rin shook her head with a deep frown. "I thought that I could learn to control these flames, but they're so strong! They leave pain wherever they go, whether it's physical or emotional from the damage my father has caused in the past. What's the point in leaving this place? It's the only place I can be what I am without hurting anyone." She leaned back up against the scrap metal, closing her eyes.

"Dying like this would solve everyone's problems. Go back out there and help everyone defeat the Impure King. I won't be around much longer anyways, so maybe I can have some peace in here until I get executed."

Shiemi stared at the girl before her. This wasn't Rin! Rin never gave up, never stopped. Rin inspired confidence in everyone else to do better. Rin was amazing, and sweet, and cool, and strong, and funny. Rin was an amazing person! Why did she think she was the opposite? Why did she think she needed to die to solve everyone's problems?

"Rin, I want to solve my problems with you by my side. You always help people overcome things. You don't needlessly judge them for things. You love to help people! So what if you have Satan's flames! You've only just gotten them, it will take longer than a few months to control them! I believe you can do it, so come back with me!" Shiemi cried, stepping forward.

"NO!" Rin burst into bright blue flames. "This...." Tears welled up and blurred her vision, spilling down her cheeks and leaving burning trails behind. "This is what I am....just a monster."

Shiemi, instead of backing away, rushed forward and dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around the hurting half-demon girl.

"We can do this together. All of us! The whole Cram School came to rescue you, but that strange door said only someone who wasn't a threat could come in! But we're all here, Rin! We all care about you and we want to help you defeat the Impure King to show that you're not a monster! So come back with me, please!" Shiemi pleaded.