Distorted

Apprehension

Shiro POV:

Aqua colored eyes stared off into space after the conference met its end. Everyone that has been attending was long since gone with only me and Yukio left. He seemed to be caught in his thoughts as his pupils looked right past me despite my movements and attempts to get his attention.

I do understand his mental absences. The recent developments are indeed concerning and it would be hard not to occasionally not be completely engulfed in one's thoughts. I myself experience that phenomenon a lot recently. With all that has been going on I just can't shrug off the foul feeling building up in my stomach from time to time.

Ever since Rin's kidnapping, we only got notice of his condition after receiving Mephistos cryptic message of his 'death'. No further sightings. I just cannot believe such a truth. It would have caused much more unrest and agitation among the demons and with the recent rise of certain demons activity, the whole situation sure does seem off. I do believe we haven't seen the last of Rin, and once i receive a chance in meeting him, i need to ask him a few things and more importantly take him back into safety.

Ever since that day, ever since I took in the rooms condition and gathered the bloodied knife, which as we now know was hovered in Rin's own blood, it just doesn't want to let go of me that there was a matter at hand with Rin we never knew about. I'm over 50 years old and I'm no fool to things such as depression or anxiety. I know the consequences of these phenomena.
The time before Rin's disappearance I was continuously assigned to new time-consuming missions by the Vatican, so I had very little time left to watch after my boys. But if my suspicions were to be revealed true, it probably would turn out difficult to cope with the responsibility and consequences, especially for the whole of Assiah.

Finally I managed to receive Yukio's attention and he started to accompany me on our way out. We had just finished planning our preparations about future teaching methods against the upcoming dangers of the uprise of shadow demons, when an uncomfortable unnerving ring filled the silence. The vibration of a phone made itself noticeable, before I reached into my coat's right pocket and rose the receiver on ear-level.

"Fujimoto-san! We require immediate assistance beyond the outer southeast borders of True Cross. We are around 20 minutes away from the borders and are in need of at least 30 more exorcists. The coordinates are on the way. An emergency call to the headquarter is already in progress. The demonic energy concentration has suddenly surpassed the critical limit, as it was already before laboured as highly dangerous territory. A variety of demons started appearing about two hours ago and seem to increase in number. Please hurry up, we are in need of every available men, especially yours!"

That was when the call broke up. Realisation dawned in my face and Yukio's shocked expression appeared in my field of vision. It seems he heard what was just transferred on the line. Even better as I have not to explain anything to him right now. Without waiting a second longer, Yukio and I rushed towards the transportation vehicles as the universal key wouldn't work in this particular situation with the incidents surrounding area.

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After roughly 25 minutes we arrived at the scene. It was an old stronghold of the Vatican that was not in use anymore. However the familiar aura of demonic spirits could clearly be noticed. The dark-grey, abandoned concrete structure created monstrous shadows that seemed to stretch awfully far beyond its original state. A mixture of noises filled the area, as gunshots and screams clearly consumed the majority of them. The rather low, dim ceiling created claustrophobic takes as the duo kept on running towards their destination. The moment they entered the facilities main area, an eerie sight was offered to them.

Shattered rotten furniture, burn and claw marks of various size's, wide bright crimson blood splatters of probably both demons and exorcists and in the middle of all that, a complete mess of fighting creatures. Both exorcists and demons mercilessly aiming at each others throats, not daring to turn their gazes away for a moment.
A moving swirl of greys and blacks with streaks of dark crimson of both sides integrating.