Fandom Protectors of the Innocent (w/Berries)

[Berries]

Swearing profusely, Shoji was rapidly firing and reloading his gun in an attempt to distract the akuma and get it to target him instead of Ritsuko. However the creature seemed fixated on Ritsuko, and the exorcist was becoming panicked that one of the bullets would hit her soon. One eye fixed on Ritsuko and the other on the akuma, Shoji was trying to track the movements of both. He had defaulted to earth bullets again to try and power the akuma backwards at the force of the shot, but before any of that could be successful the smaller gun was panning across to hit Ritsuko. About to dive in and see if he could block the bullets, Ritsuko's eyes suddenly started glowing green in the darkness. Immediately, the akuma started screeching and flailing around. Dumbfounded, Shoji stared at Ritsuko for a moment before he put all the pieces together.

"So it was your innocence," he muttered to himself as he jolted back into action. Seeing that the akuma was briefly immobilized, Shoji fired two ice bullets at each of its arms to freeze them up to prevent them from firing. The bullets made contact quickly but the ice effect took awhile to solidify and by then bullets had already hit Ritsuko's shoulder.

Leaping off the building to finish off the flailing and partially immobilized akuma, Shoji fired two bullets close range into its head which caused a small final explosion as the akuma was destroyed. He wasn't sure what Ritsuko's innocence had been, or if she had been aware of it, but he took a few seconds to look at the corpse and regain his breath. He had been doing a lot of sprinting to make it here and that had only just dawned on him. Looking around frantically for Ritsuko to make sure she was okay, Shoji recalled seeing her jump behind a wall a few seconds earlier. Locating the small wall, he ran towards it and threw himself over it to find Ritsuko on the ground holding her shoulder. Immediately casting his shotgun to the side and falling to his knees beside her, Shoji reached out to see her shoulder before seeing the dark star markings. "I'm so sorry," he said immediately with horror in his voice. "I should've gotten there sooner. I knew I should have walked you home, dammit." The exorcist swore, placing his head on one of his hands.

Taking a deep breath, Shoji watched the marks for a few moments before sighing in relief. "Luckily it looks like you'll recover." He told Ritsuko, pulling her into a sitting position by her hands while being careful to avoid touching the star marks. The akuma poison could be contracted by touch and he didn't fancy dying now that the enemy was dead. "Turns out you're the innocence I was looking for." The exorcist said with a characteristic grin, though his face was obviously still shaken from his failure to protect her.

"The marks will heal after a little while; you'll be in pain for a bit longer but they won't leave a mark." He told her before letting go of her hands and sitting back on his heels. Scanning Ritsuko in the growing darkness to try and see if she was injured anywhere else, he retrieved his shotgun after a moment and placed it back in its holster. "Are you alright? I've got some bandages and medical equipment if you need it." Shoji asked, rummaging around in his bag to retrieve the medical equipment he carried with him on all his solo missions. He was still bitter at the fact that Ritsuko was hurt but greatly relieved that she was going to be safe. He had already concluded that she must be a parasitic type: for one, the glowing eyes he had seen earlier were innocence without a doubt, and the fact that the akuma poison hadn't killed her yet was a clear indication of the fact that she was a parasite type.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Laying back against the ground as she clutched her shoulder, which had this burning sensation coursing through it, she cursed a bit to herself as she shut her eyes tight. The poison from the akuma, while it wouldn't kill her, certainly still hurt, along with the fact that her innocence having activated more aggressively, along with having been passively in constant use on her father/akuma, and the fact that the innocence in her body was now working on nullifying the poison from the bullets that hit her and getting rid of it, she felt numb in exhaustion and pain. Letting out a few shaky breaths, she opened her eyes and pulled the sleeve of her shoulder down slightly to see the marks forming on her skin, though, they seemed to only be contained to that area. She didn't know what that meant, as she didn't know that an attack from akuma were poisonous to humans, but she figured, or at least hoped anyways, that the fact it was remaining contained to her shoulder directly where the bullets it that it was a good sign.

After a minute she heard another explosion and then silence, figuring that Shoji had managed to kill the akuma. Thankfully, otherwise she wasn't sure what else she would do, she wasn't sure she had the strength to get up and run again right now. Hearing the silence fall over the area, she let out a shaky sigh of relief, before lifting her gaze as Shoji had found her and knelt by her side, helping her sit up. She shifted a bit, moving to lean back against the wall as she sat back against it, glancing to him as he apologized. Despite her exhaustion and pain, she offered him a forgiving smile, shaking her head a bit "It's alright. Hey, you still protected me right? So there's nothing to apologize for" She assured him, not wanting him to feel guilty or bad. Especially now with the explanation that it seemed she would be fine with just some time to recover.

While that was all wonderful news, something else caught her attention more that he had said. "I'm...the innocence? How is that possible?" she asked with furrowed brows in confusion. While she'd been talking with Shoki about exorcists, akuma, and innocence throughout the day, she still didn't know everything, of course, and there was still a lot to learn. One of those many things being parasite type innocence users, which it would seem that she was, though she still didn't understand all that much, looking to him in confusion "How could I have not known?" she asked curiously while watching him rummage through his bag for medical supplies and she smiled a bit "I think I'm fine. I scraped my hands a bit when I fell but its really nothing" she assured him.

 

[Berries]

Managing to relax a little as Ritsuko forgave him, Shoji sighed once more. "I could've gotten there faster," he grumbled, but seemed to be willing to let the topic rest. Later on he would most likely contemplate a lot on how he was late so many times today but for now he let it go. Worrying and getting upset with himself wouldn't help Ritsuko at all. Shifting from his heels to properly sitting down, Shoji considered how to explain to Ritsuko what she was. He had already gathered that she didn't really have any idea what she was, and would have been pretty insulted if she had known all along without telling him anything, and he tried to figure out where a good place to start would be.

Hearing that she was fine aside from the shot and scrapes on her hands, he stopped rummaging around for his medical kit in relief and instead focused on figuring out what he was going to say in response to her other questions. Seeing that she still seemed pretty exhausted and was in pain, Shoji decided that a long-winded explanation wouldn't do much harm until she was good enough to get up and moving again. The night was getting darker and colder, but none of that particularly mattered if she couldn't move around. It was unlikely that another akuma would be popping out nearby, so this might be the safest place for the time being anyway. It was highly unlikely there would have been more than four akuma in the area, so the exorcist was ready to fight one more but after that he would be confident saying that the village was safe.

"Earlier today I explained to you how I'm an equipment type, right? That's because I myself am not innocence, but I happened to be compatible with this particular innocence that allows me to use it," he began, going back over what he had already told her, "but there are more types. What you are is a parasitic-type, which means you were born with innocence in your body." Shoji explained, crossing his arms a little as he thought. "Parasitic types are pretty rare because innocence rarely picks a human host, but in your case it did. In particular it seems to be in your eyes. I'm not sure if you realized it earlier, but during the fight back there your eyes started glowing and the akuma began acting strangely. Every case is different so I can't tell you exactly what your innocence does, but I can guarantee you that it is there." The exorcist explained before pausing for a little bit.

"Parasitic types don't often notice that they have innocence until they confront an akuma, in which case the innocence will automatically manifest itself in order to protect its host. That's what happened just there, and I couldn't say if you might have used it before now," he concluded, "is there anything that is still confusing?" Shoji asked. It was becoming hard to see in the darkness, but from what he could tell Ritsuko's marks were fading slowly.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Asking about how she could possibly have innocence within her, and not even know about it, she listened to him explain what a parasitic type user was, and how that was what she was. She nodded her head slowly, trying to take in all the information but her head was still throbbing from the unfamiliar use of the innocence and without control. She vaguely understood what he was saying, while it was all still weird and new to her, she understood the concept to her, and she supposed it made as much sense as anything could in that moment. It was still weird, to think that all of this that she had learned of today, that she had actually been closer to all of it all this time than she had realized, with the innocence in her and everything.

She thought about his words when he explained why she wasn't aware of it until now, and how parasitic innocence often was dormant unless it activated on it's own to protect its host. "I guess that makes sense..." she agreed lightly "I had no idea" she then added as she glanced down at her shoulder, seeing a few of the star markings had started to disappear, and the pain dulled a little bit. "I guess that would probably explain the headaches and blurry vision I've been having lately then?" she asked, putting some pieces of what she knew together, remembering how she felt a familiar, though stronger pain in her head earlier when the akuma was attacking her, when Shoji said he saw her innocence activating to protect her. But then, if that was true it only brought up a further question. "But, I haven't met an akuma until today. So why did the pain associated with the activation of it start a few weeks ago? Was is just because there were akuma in the area?" she asked curiously.

Now that she had regained a bit of her energy, she shifted a bit to move and get up from where she was seated on the ground. Putting a hand against the stone wall she'd been leaning against, she staggered a bit as she managed to stand up on her feet, though the effort was certainly draining. Letting out a soft sigh, she spoke again "I should probably be getting home now. Officially this time. My dad is probably worried." Taking a moment to steady herself and be sure she wouldn't fall over, she smiled a bit in thought as she glanced to Shoji "I guess I ended up helping you find the innocence then" she joked lightly, since in an unexpected way, she had.

 

[Berries]

Watching Ritsuko as she put the pieces in her head together, Shoji nodded at her question. "Maybe. Innocence tends to react to the presence of akumas, though I couldn't tell you what your specific symptoms might have been. Though if akumas have been in town for a few weeks, the death toll may have been higher, this carnage was just for the last week or so I thought," the exorcist contemplated for a little bit, "though your headaches may have just been caused by your stress but the nearby akuma probably just added to it." He concluded. At the back of his mind his skepticism of Ritsuko's dad kept popping up, but he was pretty certain that if an akuma had been living right alongside innocence it definitely would have attacked. Concluding, once again, that it was unlikely that Ritsuko's dad was one of the suspects, Shoji kept all of his skepticism to himself.

Getting up slowly as Ritsuko started to move, Shoji watched as she precariously got to her feet. He nodded at her desire to get home, though seeing that they still had a few blocks to walk he wasn't sure how far she was going to make it alone. "Here, let me help you out." He said, stepping forward and pulling one of her arms over his shoulder so that she could lean on him as she walked. He made sure to avoid contact with the akuma poison and positioned himself on the opposite side of her body. Smiling a little at her remark about finding the innocence, he nodded a few times. "Not exactly in the way I expected, I'll admit." He replied with a small laugh. He wasn't sure what to do with Ritsuko now that he had found she was a holder of innocence. If he left her here, she would most likely be attacked again by akuma, and seeing that she wasn't currently able to control her innocence that would be extremely dangerous.

On the other hand, if he took her back to the order she would have to leave her dad and that in itself may cause the formation of another akuma if the grieving dad was deprived of the only support he had. For now Shoji kept his thoughts to himself, though as he began slowly walking back towards Ritsuko's house he did try to figure out what to do. The Order, if they knew about this, would mandate him to bring Ritsuko back to headquarters: not only was innocence incredibly valuable, but they were also severely understaffed and in need of more exorcists. However, looking sideways at Ritsuko for a moment, Shoji knew that if it came to it and she didn't want to go he wouldn't be able to make himself force her. Forcing his mind off the subject since he could figure out possible solutions to the problem later, Shoji refocused his attention on walking. "Let me know if you think you can walk by yourself," he told her since he had essentially barged in on her personal space without asking.

"Hopefully there is only one or no akuma left in the area, so I think we should be safe, but tell me if you feel that something is off." He added, his eyes wandering around in the ever-growing darkness to make sure they wouldn't get ambushed.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Listening to him explain how the symptoms she'd been having may not have necessarily been caused by the akuma, she nodded her head lightly. She didn't really argue, even though she felt weird about the whole thing since the way she felt when he said he saw her innocence activate during the fight with that akuma earlier was almost identical to how she'd been feeling for the past few weeks, only more intensified, she wasn't too sure what to make of it. She didn't comment on it though, he was the expert after all and more familiar with how innocence worked and what it was, so she figured she was maybe just overthinking some things. She had been through quite a lot that day, after all. Not only learning of all of this in general, about innocence, exorcists, akuma and the Black Order. But also being attacked by one, and then finding out she was a holder of innocence.

Shaking all the thoughts from her head for the time being, she figured she really just needed a good nights rest. Part of her did wonder what this meant now though, that she had innocence. Shoji had already mentioned before that it was rare to begin with. She didn't know how the Order worked or that they essentially forced those compatible with innocence to fight as exorcists, however, the thought did occur to her about the fact she held a rare ability to be able to fight these akuma. Would she....should she, fight them? Shaking her head, she tried to dispell all those thought for now. She could consider everything more tomorrow, after she had some rest and had her strength and energy back.

Appreciating Shoji's help, she let him aid her in walking, her arm wrapped around his shoulder as he helped her walk while she got her energy back. She smiled a bit and nodded to him "I will...but I think for now I'll let you help me, so thank you" she commented lightly, genuinely appreciating his help. They continued walking for a few more minutes, and the silence helped her to realize just how close she had been to death, and how lucky her odds had been, not only to have Shoji show up in time but also her own innocence activating. "I don't think I properly thanked you, by the way" she commented, breaking the momentary silence "You know, for saving my life. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been around...even now knowing I have innocence, I probably still would have died. Like you saw, I have no control over it. I didn't even know what happened when it did...I sort of just blacked out in that moment. So really, I can't thank you enough."

Making sure she got her gratitude across to him, she continued to hold onto him for support as they neared her house, glancing to it and seeing the lights were out, as expected. She figured her dad might have gone to sleep by now. Or was still huddled away in his room trying to cope with his sorrow. As they neared closer to the door, she slipped her arm off of Shoji, thanking him again for the support and help as she turned the handle "Thanks again, for everything. If I see or hear anything about any other akuma or anything I'll be sure to let you know" she assured him just as she opened her front door.

Unexpectedly though, her father was standing right there, a look in his eyes that she didn't quite recognize as he spoke her name in broken syllables.

"Ri..tsu...ko..."

 

[Berries]

Blinking a few times as Ritsuko thanked him, Shoji wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He was still angry at himself from not preventing her from getting hurt, but in the end he supposed he had saved her? "You're welcome, I guess," he ended up saying with a smile. "But no need to thank me, it's my job after all." He concluded with a small shrug. He found it interesting that she claimed she blacked out in the moment that she used her innocence, but he supposed that side effect would be negated after some practice. Otherwise that wouldn't be a very effective innocence, if she had to relinquish control every time she used it. Stopping himself as he realized he was thinking about Ritsuko's options as an exorcist, Shoji once again shoved that thought off until later. He was glad that she was letting him help her walk seeing that she seemed to have been tired at the very beginning of the day, and now he had dragged her all about the town and into a fight which was a lot more than she had initially signed up for.

Regardless of how he ended up finishing this job, he figured he would have a lot of stories to tell once he got back to headquarters. A lot of the other exorcists were also out on assignments at the moment but if he recalled correctly a few of them were due to return around tomorrow. Shoji was on good terms with the majority of the exorcists on the ward seeing that he was generally pretty amiable, and he couldn't help but wonder how Ritsuko might get along with the others. From what he could tell, she was quick-witted and caring, which was always a good combination. Shaking himself out of it, Shoji refocused on scanning the area to make sure there weren't any other last-minute surprises lurking about. When they reached her house, he nodded as she thanked him again, and was about to say something when she opened the door and the figure of her father was right in the doorway.

Initially surprised to see the man for the first time, Shoji didn't immediately realize what he was in the darkness. However, when the raspy voice started saying the syllables in Ritsuko's name the exorcist immediately realized that his fears were confirmed. "Shit..." he muttered as the shape of the akuma began to emerge from the man's body. Sprinting forward and tackling Ritsuko to the ground away from the akuma, Shoji slammed the door shut to lock the creature inside. Trapping the akuma inside the house allowed him a few more seconds of time before it broke through the door and wall, and with those seconds he looked at Ritsuko with sad eyes. "I'm sorry." He told her, unsure if she had seen the beginning of the transformation yet. Even if she hadn't, the akuma started firing bullets through the wall and Shoji quickly pushed Ritsuko away from the line of fire before drawing his shotgun and loading it.

Sitting outside the house waiting for the akuma to burst through the wall so that he could get a clear shot, Shoji's gun was glowing brightly in the dark which allowed him some extra visibility. "Air," he murmured to the weapon. He wanted the fast air bullets in this case to get this killing over with as soon as possible.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

It was hard to tell if Shoji was being humble, or simply didn't think much of his actions to help her because it was so normal for him and something typical in his line of work. Either way though, regardless of the reason or how he felt about it, she felt that he still deserved recognition for it and she smiled at him. "So, just because it's part of your job means you can't be shown gratitude for it?" she questioned him with a small smile, shaking her head "Either way, whether it's normal for you to do or not you still deserve appreciate and recognition for it" she commented, though didn't say much else about it since he seemed either humble about it, or perhaps still mad at himself for not having gotten there sooner before she'd gotten hurt. The way she saw it though, in the end it all worked out, didn't it? Everyone was okay...and had he been there sooner, Ritsu's innocence might not have activated to protect her, and neither of them would have a clue that the innocence he was looking for was her.

Before long, they had arrived at her house, and just as she thought his meant the night was over and everything had calmed down, that's when things got so much worse.

She was confused by her fathers reception of her arrival, however, she didn't realize right away what had become of the situation, even though a sickening feeling started to turn in her gut, telling her something wasn't right. "Dad-?" she questioned, confused, the logical part of her mind shutting down and likely not wanting to have the chance to process what it had already slowly started to realize. Then, moments later to her horror, his face started to morph and rip apart in the dark of the house, though before she could see much more Shoji had tackled her to the ground and shut the door. She'd already seen enough though, her mind blank in horror as she just stared wide eyes at the shut door "What...." she breathed, her mind half processing what was happening, but also half trying not to, wanting to erase what she'd just seen, to deny the possibility that was becoming more and more of a reality with each passing second.

She hardly registered the sad look that Shoji gave her, or the apology for the reality of this situation. She hardly register the sound of the door and wall breaking though as the now newly fledged level 1 akuma emerged from the dust and rubble. It was as though it was some unreal, outer-body experience. Everything happening so fast, yet so slow at the same time. The sound of the wall of the house crumbling, to the gunshot, all of it sounded like it was far away, even though it was only a few feet away.

She could hardly do a thing as she just stared, mostly in disbelief at the akuma that had shredded through her fathers body to emerge, and letting Shoji do his job, killing her father. No...she supposed it wasn't actually her father. It hadn't been for a long time. And she supposed it was that realization that hit her the hardest. That her father whom had been so depressed, that she had been putting first to care for and do everything she could to care and protect him...he'd already died a while ago. She had failed in protecting him.

"H-he....all this time...he was already....?" she spoke, choking on her own words as her voice cracked with this revelation, silent, quite tears escaping her eyes as she stared in the space that the akuma had once been. It was gone already....somehow she'd missed it, but at some point Shoji had killed it. The level one akuma which had yet to kill a single person - other than for Ritsu's father for when it was born/created - was extremely weak, even for a level one. It was as though it had just been created, leaving it an easy target and kill.

 

[Berries]

Having tackled Ritsuko to the ground right after she had said the word dad, Shoji grimaced as he couldn't help but feel sorry for this whole situation. This was the one thing that he couldn't have controlled today, this akuma had existed for a few weeks already, but the guilt was gnawing away at his heart regardless. Quickly refocusing his mind on the task at hand, knowing that no matter who this akuma had previously been it was still a deadly weapon, the exorcist prepared his shotgun for fire.

Waiting outside for the akuma to emerge, as soon as the misshapen head came through the doorway Shoji fired once and reloaded before firing again. He was surprised at how weak the akuma was - even weaker than other level one akuma he had fought in the past - and after two bullets the akuma was destroyed. For a few moments he didn't turn back to Ritsuko, feeling somehow guilty for the situation even though he knew logically he had done nothing to cause it. He didn't want to face her and see whatever feelings she must be having, but when she started to speak he turned towards her and moved to sit beside her. He had dropped his gun after killing the akuma, and left it lying there for the time being. Crossing his legs as he sat beside Ritsuko, Shoji was at a loss for words. He had been hoping this entire time that her dad would be in the clear, but now he regretted that decision. Maybe if he had warned her of the possibility, her shock wouldn't have been so bad.

Knowing that anything he said would likely be forgotten in her emotional state, Shoji simply put an arm around Ritsuko and sat there silently for a few moments. "I'm sorry." He repeated with a lack of anything better to say before lapsing back into silence. The door to the house was still hanging open, but Shoji determined that it would probably be best to stay outside for now where there wasn't as many memories of her father or her mother. "It probably happened soon after your mother's death." He said, though he knew saying so wouldn't make the situation any better. "It was probably the cause of your headaches." He continued, trying to fill the silence a bit and not particularly caring if Ritsuko was listening. Realizing something that may make Ritsuko feel better, Shoji turned to her with an attempted smile. "Though your mother's soul was trapped in there, she was probably happy that she could spend a few more days with you." He commented before looking at the sky. "But now her soul can rest properly in peace."

It was properly night time now, and the moon and stars were fully visible. Shoji let out a long breath to release some of the stress from the long day before turning back to Ritsuko to see how she was coping.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

It was a hard fact to swallow; that her father was already dead, had been for a week or so now. Part of her mind had come to accept this realization as facts, the unfortunate truth. The other part of her mind was still in shock and disbelief though. She didn't understand how something like this could happen. Well, logically, she did, because Shoji had been explaining it to her earlier, how akuma were created, and by whom. And while she experienced those facts first hand today, seeing Shoji battling akuma, and coming directly face to face with one as well, it just didn't seem like something that could happen to her, to her family.

She started mulling over in her head how she might have been able to prevent this. She knew her mothers death had been inevitable, they knew that when she was diagnosed. But that's where it all started. It was her mothers death that triggered her father to mourn so greatly that he was tricked by the Millennium Earl, and to wish his dead wife back upon the living. Biting her lip, she moved to hug her knees to her chest. Could she have helped her dad - did she not help him enough? Was she not strong enough for him? Maybe she hadn't said the right things, or done the right things. Maybe she could have tried harder. Maybe, maybe, maybe...

Would she have been able to talk to him differently if she'd known about all this, akuma, the Millennium Earl, everything, beforehand? Maybe if she'd known she would have been able to better prepare for the possibility, and to stop her dad from falling into such a cruel trick in the case the Earl did visit him, as they now knew had turned out to be the case. As she sat there, she vaguely felt Shinji's arm around her, and his quiet voice gently speaking. She could hear his words, but wasn't entirely sure what he was saying. She was too swallowed up in her own thoughts, her own guilt, blaming herself several times over. Surely there could have been a way to prevent this. Surely.

When it all boiled down to it though, she knew there was one person for sure she could blame. It all came down to the Millennium Earl. Maybe she still blamed herself and thought herself at fault, but in the end, it was all his doing. Sniffling a bit, she finally realized she had been crying, reaching a hand up to her face and feeling the wet trails of tears from her eyes "I'm sorry...." she mumbled incoherently. She knew she hadn't actually had anything to apologize to him for, but she felt like she should anyways. This probably wasn't particularly how he planned or wanted to spend his time, consoling a crying girl. She wiped at her tears with the back of her hand, but they still wouldn't stop, as she couldn't stop thinking about her father, about if she did things differently with him he might still be alive and okay.

Through her emotional and pained state however, she was able to come to a certain resolve. It had been a thought that crossed her mind earlier, when she first found out she had innocence. About her being an exorcist. Now, if anything, that random thought was turned into determination. She always was caring, and did try to help people out - for example that entire day, she had no clue who Shoji was, and had to grasp all this new information and concepts he explained to her, but she still spent her day helping him, even despite knowing in reality there wasn't actually much she could do. But now, now there was something.

"I want to become an exorcist" she finally found her voice, it not shaking quite as much with her newfound resolve. There were still pained tears in her eyes, but as she looked up at Shoji, her gaze was completely serious "That would be possible, right? Because I have innocence?" she asked, wanting to be sure she wasn't confused about how it worked or anything. Sure, she knew it was probably going to be hard. But if she had the ability to help and stop the Earl one day, she wanted to. After the way he tore apart the remainder of her family, along with what he did not only to her father but trapping her mothers soul too, if she had the ability to do something, she couldn't sit back and not do anything about it. She still blamed herself, but this way, maybe she could cope with that blame by doing something about it, and not only for herself and her family, but to help others as well, so it wouldn't have to happen to other people.

 

[Berries]

It took Shoji a few seconds to decipher what Ritsuko mumbled while wiping her tears, but he soon shook his head a few times and squeezed her shoulder. "No need to be sorry," he said firmly before lapsing back into silence for a little while. There wasn't much for him to do except wait this out a bit longer, but at some point they would have to go inside because the night was getting colder. Preoccupying himself by staring at the stars, Shoji thought back to the first time he had encountered an akuma. He had been coming home at night to find his sister cowering in fear before this massive, metallic monster. Instinctively he had dove in among all the bullets to drag his sister to safety, though the fact that he hadn't gotten hit was frankly a miracle. After that he had tried to distract the monster as much as he could, but at some point he had gotten hit once. Running out onto the street, he had bumped into a man in a black coat as the akuma poison started to fester and grow along his body.

The man turned out to be an exorcist, and after killing the akuma he had taken Shoji back to the Order where he had been medically treated with innocence to purify the poison. It had been a small enough dose that it hadn't spread and killed him immediately, but on that day he had been very close to the verge of death and was lucky that the Order had been near his home. During the treatment they had discovered he was an accommodator, and after that he had not been allowed to leave the Order again and was only permitted to write a letter to his sister. At first he had resented the exorcists for taking him away from his family, but once he learned that he could use innocence to protect people the rest was essentially history. Now that he was a more seasoned exorcist he was given a lot more leeway in leaving the Order, but he still felt guilty about not being able to provide for his sister better. Their parents had died when they were both young, so Shoji was her main support, though now she had grown to have a career and support herself which Shoji was proud of.

Drawn out of his thoughts as Ritsuko began to talk again, Shoji was once again surprised at how resilient and quick-thinking she was. "Yeah," he said immediately without fully registering his words. "Yeah, you can be." He repeated once he had digested what she said and nodded a few times. "If I reported you they were probably going to order me to bring you back anyway," the exorcist said with a small smile, "so if you're willing that helps a lot. We can teach you how to control your innocence and use it to defeat akuma." He said, looking back up at the stars. It was a lot nicer for him that Ritsuko wanted to become an exorcist because he wold have felt bad having to drag her in against her will. It would also make her integration into the Order a lot more simple if she wasn't fighting them the whole way. "We're always on a shortage of exorcists so you're more than welcome." Shoji finished before getting on his feet.

"It's getting cold. Do you want to go inside?" He asked, extending his hand to help her get up.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

It wasn't a surprise when Shoji told her she didn't need to be apologizing. She already knew herself too that she didn't really have a reason to apologize, but she still felt the need to say it nonetheless. After that they fell back into a short silence, Ritsuko taking a few more minutes to gather her emotions and calm herself down a bit. Not that she could particularly be blamed, after all....not only had she just lost her father, and the remainder of her family, but in one of the most cruel ways too. She certainly wasn't about to get over it anytime soon...and she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to un-see that image of the akuma tearing through her fathers flesh as it emerged, but she was strong, and she would bear through it. With that image in mind though....she shut her eyes, mentally shaking her head to herself as if trying to rid the image. That wasn't how she wanted to remember him. And she was sure that wasn't how he would want to be remembered either.

Eventually, after a short while longer she managed to make her tears stop. By this point in the night, she was beyond drained, physically, emotionally, mentally...in every way possible. She was glad to hear she could become an exorcist though...she still had more questions, but her mind was already made up, and she was sure she could ask Shoji more later. For now, she knew he was right and that it was cold and late, so she took his offered hand and stood up, brushing herself off a bit as she nodded to him "Yeah....I um...thank you, again. For everything. I'll be alright now, so you can go back to where you're staying" she assured him. Despite everything that happened - or maybe because of everything that had happened - she really felt the need to be alone for a while. Part of her didn't want to be alone in her house after what just happened with her father, but at the same time, she felt being alone for a while to herself and her thoughts would be good after everything that had happened from the start of that day. She was still sure on her decision to become an exorcist, but she needed to think over everything that had happened to properly process and digest all the information and things that had happened.

After she assured Shoji that she would be fine and she simply wanted to be alone for a while now, the two of the parted ways for the second time that day, thankfully, with no looming danger around the town anymore. It seemed likely that all of the akuma in the village were now taken care of, and if nothing else happened that night then Ritsu figured it would be confirmed cleared and safe. Which she was hopeful for, as this town had seen enough death for a while now, and could certainly use some peace. That night, Ritsu didn't want to sleep. But her mind and body were too exhausted particularly from the use of her innocence without her knowing how to control it or anything, therefore she couldn't help but fall asleep. She was restless the entire night though, haunting images of akuma, like the one emerging from her father keeping her restless throughout the night as she slept.

 

[Berries]

Shoji was a bit reluctant to leave Ritsuko alone, but seeing that she had recovered quickly and there was virtue in time spent individually grieving he left without marking an argument. After saying the second goodbye of the day, the exorcist took to the rooftops again. He strongly doubted that there would be yet another akuma around the area, but there was no harm in making sure. Besides, earlier today he hadn't thought he would be staying the night and hadn't booked himself into a local hostel, and he had been busy all day. Now it was too late at night for any of the small town's hostels or hotels to be open. They probably rarely got visitors around here, and especially with all the paranoia he was doubtful that anybody would open their door if he came knocking in the middle of the night. Settling on top of a building a couple blocks away from Ritsuko's house, Shoji prepared to spend the night on surveillance duty. His tiredness from the morning had caught up to him, but his willpower was strong enough to ensure that he would stay awake for the night. The cold also helped him stay alert, and luckily for the exorcist it wasn't going to get that freezing.

His eyes slowly revolved around the village, looking for the slightest shadow or sense of disturbance. He especially made sure to keep an eye on Ritsuko's house seeing that now he had figured out she had innocence, she was especially at risk. To keep himself awake he cleaned his gun and sorted through his ammunition, but morning seemed to come fairly quickly. Once the sun started to rise the town started coming back to life, though notably the residents in the houses near the fight last night seemed reluctant to venture outside. However, once they did, a small crowd started to form around the massive explosion marks in the ground. It was doubtless that there had been a great conflict there, but none of them had dared look outside to see what it was while it was happening. The witnesses from Shoji's fight with the akuma in Sherrie's house did seem to be dispensing information on violence and creatures called akuma.

The exorcist didn't particularly fancy going down to explain the whole situation, and knew that he would be easily recognizable as the outsider that had come and gotten into a gunfight in Sherrie's house. None of the townspeople had seen the actual conflict, but it seemed they had been sufficiently impressed with the amount of gunfire that had gone down at Sherrie's house, not to mention the explosion marks all over the street from the second akuma. Leaving the curious and distressed villagers alone, Shoji made sure he stayed on the rooftops to avoid being spotted as he navigated back to Ritsuko's home. The front wall was entirely shot out, and any of the villagers that past it had scurried away to later return in numbers to see if Ritsuko and her father were alright. By then Shoji planned to be well out of the village, but that would depend on how quickly Ritsuko might be willing to leave.

Dropping down to the doorway, Shoji couldn't exactly knock on the decimated door so he stepped inside quickly to avoid being seen and sat himself down at Ritsuko's kitchen table. He wasn't sure if she was awake or not so he didn't want to call out and wake her up, but at the same time he wasn't entirely sure how she would react to him suddenly appearing in the kitchen. Shrugging it off, Shoji placed his shotgun on the table and reclined against the chair with closed eyes. He was pretty tired now that he had pulled an all-nighter, but he would be able to deal with it. Just a few minutes' rest would be good enough for him.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

The second that the sun had started to rise and peered in through her window, Ritsuko was wide awake. She hardly needed any influence to wake up, as she had a restless sleep all throughout the night. It was like an internal conflict in her body, which was physically exhausted and drained from the use of innocence, as well as the fact of it healing her shoulder from the toxic bullets from the akuma. Which, thankfully by now was fully cleared up and healed. She did feel better, since while it was restless, it was still needed. Aside from the fact of the events over the past day, the past few weeks in general had been taxing on her physically and mentally with the passing of her mother and taking on responsibilities so her father didn't need to worry about anything. She again couldn't help but wonder back to her own actions and what she could have done, if anything, to have prevented her dad being tricked by the Earl. Maybe she had babied him too much? Would having him move around and occupy himself with work and things have helped distract him and move on with life?

Thoughts like those had haunted her mind throughout the entire night. Mentally she was still tired, but physically she was feeling better. Even though she'd been awake since the sun had been, she continued to lay in bed for another hour or two, tossing an turning, half just letting her mind be restless, and half trying to fall back asleep. It wasn't particularly a good combination, though she couldn't exactly help it. After another half hour of it, she finally gave up, letting out a heavy sigh as she sat up in bed, running a hand over her face. Giving up at any more attempts of rest, she got ready for the day, dressing in some fresh clothes, her usual outfit, and she brushed out her long black locks, for the time being leaving them loose and hanging freely, unlike the the typical pigtail sort of style she usually put it in.

Her house was only a single floored building, and she just had to walk down the hall out of her room towards the kitchen which was across from the living room. Entering the kitchen, she wasn't sure which she noticed first. The blasted door and edges of the wall of her front door, or Shoji sitting in a chair at the table. She blinked a bit - though of course the damage to the house wasn't new or surprising, it certainly hadn't been something she had forgotten about. Though she was surprised to see Shoji there. Smiling a bit, she stepped further into the kitchen, glancing to him and seeing him not moving in response to her presence. Had he fallen asleep?

For the moment she let him rest, not purposely disturbing him as she went about making breakfast. She was beyond starving - a trait that was normal for her, though she had no clue it had to do with the fact she was a parasitic type innocence user. She'd always had a large appetite since she could remember, so she never thought anything of it. Taking the groceries from the other day, she smiled a bit remembering that was when she first met Shoji just after her shopping. It was weird, thinking it was only yesterday. So much had happened that it felt like it was more than just a day ago.

She set to work cooking, making a rather large breakfast, even with having made enough for Shoji too, it certainly was more food than two average people could eat. Setting it all down on the table, she smiled a bit as she finally walked up beside Shoji where he sat, poking his forehead lightly "Hey" she spoke up finally, offering him a smile when his eyes started to open "Were you there all night?" she asked curiously "You could have slept on the couch in the living room or something. I wouldn't have minded" she told him before she moved to sit down across from him at the table "I don't know if you're hungry, but help yourself if you want" she offered, grabbing her own plate.

 

[Berries]

Thinking that he only needed a few moments of rest, Shoji was totally unaware when his tired body took over and he fell fast asleep while still sitting upright in his chair. While he was usually a light sleeper, sleep deprivation combined with all the previous day's activity had taken a toll on him and he slept straight through Ritsuko's entry and cooking. The exorcist's hands had fallen by his sides, though his fingers had taken to occasionally twitching since he seemed to be having a dream about shooting his shotgun, but otherwise he was peaceful and his few minutes of sleep went undisturbed. At some point he began smelling food, and in his subconscious he began dreaming about a full course meal: when was the last time he had sat down to eat a proper breakfast? He wasn't awake enough to register what was going on around him, but a vague sense of hunger began growing in his stomach soon after Ritsuko started cooking.

He didn't register any noise, but when something poked his forehead Shoji bolted upright in his chair with his eyes wide open. He had instinctively reached for his weapon, sensing danger, and after a few seconds of wildly looking around his eyes settled first upon Ritsuko, and secondly upon food. Calming down and grinning sheepishly at his overreaction, Shoji took a few seconds to register what Ritsuko had said. Moving his shotgun off of the table and placing it on the floor so that she could use more space on the table, Shoji rubbed at his eyes before yawning. "No... I was up doing surveillance for most of the night..." He mumbled, obviously not a morning person and taking quite a few minutes to wake back up. Stretching his arms, Shoji cracked his neck once accompanied by another yawn. "I must've gotten here... what, half an hour ago?" The groggy exorcist said uncertainly, glancing to see what time it was before nodding to confirm his estimation.

"Good morning, by the way!" He added with a smile, starting to regain his usual energy level despite his red eyes and tired expression. Looking at all the food, Shoji raised an eyebrow. "Do you usually eat this much?" He questioned, grabbing a plate and starting to take some of the food off the table. He would normally have constrained himself from taking too much food, but he was fairly certain there was no way Ritsuko could eat all of this until a few seconds later and he remembered she was a parasite type. At the Japan branch, they only had one other parasite-type exorcist, but Shoji suddenly remembered how big of an appetite the man had. Thinking that it was no wonder that Ritsuko had been bargaining with the vendor the first time he had met her if she always needed so much food, Shoji limited his plate a little but still ended up taking a full portion.

"Thanks for the meal." He said across to Ritsuko happily before starting to dig into his breakfast.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

When Shoji had jolted away, Ritsu had taken a step back as he seemed on alert with his gun, before he had relaxed and come to recognized his surroundings. She gave him a small smile, before moving to sit at the table with him while asking about if he'd been there the whole night. She was a bit relieved to hear he hadn't been, though at the same time she figured he must be exhausted if he had remained awake most of the night just to be sure that all the akuma were gone in the village. Knowing that and looking at him now, she could clearly see the deprived sleep in his eyes, despite his energy seeming to return to him the longer that he remained awake. She did have to respect him though for his dedication to his work and how thorough he was, it was admirable. It made her feel better that she was able to cook him a meal, since she had a feeling his quality of meals was the same as his sleep lately.

Seeing him seem to almost fully wake up by now, she smiled a bit at his delayed greeting and nodded back to him "Good morning" she repeated back, finding it amusing his groggy state of waking up, to now seemingly chipper and back to full energy. As she sat with him to eat, she smiled and shook her head "No need to thank me. It's the least I could do for you" she commented, before she filled her own plate with food to eat, which surely would be filled several more times over. Though at his comment to how much there was and that she would eat, she blushed a bit in embarrassment "Uh, yeah....I've always had an oddly large appetite" she smiled a bit shyly, before she began eating. Due to the fact that she always ate a lot, she learned how to cook from a young age and so was pretty good at it. It particularly came in handy over the past year when her mother had fallen ill, and she had taken up a lot of the house hold chores and responsibilities.

While eating her breakfast, she started to think of what was next exactly. She decided to become an exorcist - though by what Shoji said the other night it seemed the Order would have made her become one anyways, which, was a little off-putting honestly. Though it didn't change her mind or anything. And now it seemed that the village was safe, that Shoji had completed his job and task assigned here. It had her wondering what was next now, and she saw no problem in asking so she voiced her curiosities "So..." she spoke up a few minutes of silence of them just enjoying the food and eating up "What happens now? Do I go with you back to headquarters?" she asked curious, glancing up at him as she voiced her question. She didn't know how any of it worked really. Maybe Shoji had another assignment, and he was going somewhere else right away, and she'd travel alone to HQ. Or maybe she had to wait here for someone? She had no clue what the procedures or process was or anything like that.