Duality (DxD) (Part 1)

Ch 27 - I'm Okay

Aikas eyes gently flickered as she heard gentle sniffling. Holding Jin close as it was early in the morning. Gently she stroked Jins hair as she held him close, lying on the bed they slept in.

Aika: It's okay. It's going to be okay.

Jin: What are you doing?

Aika heard Jin ask as she looked down at him sniffing, yet he wasn't crying. Suddenly she smiled with a blush as she held him closely. The hug even tighter than before.

Aika: We can stay like this a little bit longer. My parents don't usually come to my room to wake me up. So you can keep going.

Aika smiled with a blush as Jin kept on sniffing. But it wasn't what she thought. She knew Jin wasn't crying, but thought he was doing something completely different. Yet it wasn't that. Jin didn't know what it was, but he must have sniffed on some dust as his nose was relentlessly itchy. His natural reaction was to sniff more to try and stop it.

So as Aika finally decided she was hungry enough. Aika and Jin went down to have breakfast. Giving Jin the opportunity to clear his nose. Finally able to breathe properly again. While walking down the wooden stairs, they were different from the ones in the dojo. Smoother, more aesthetic, one stair wasn't a different wood. The whole house was different. Much more homely. It was small, not a spare bedroom to the terrace house, but it was a family house.

Walking down the stairs and into the dining room, there were already boxes of cereal and milk out on a table Mr and Mrs Kiryuu were sitting at, drinking a coffee they made for themselves.

Jin: Good morning Mr and Mrs Kiryuu. Thank you for letting me into your home.

Jin said formally, walking to a chair as everyone looked at him worried. One week he was suffering, unspoken and completely out of it, the next he looked completely fine. Indifferent to life around him. Pouring his cereal into a white ceramic bowl and then pouring in the milk. Before Ban would tell him all the importance of protein for muscle synthesis. There wasn't a meal without some form of protein. So as he looked at the milk, he poured it into his glass. Downing the glass and refilling it again.

A growing body practising martial arts needed its protein.

Aika sat next to Jin and smiled. Jin seemed much better. In her eyes, there was nothing wrong with this. Even happy that Jin woke up the way he did. With an itchy nose, she didn't know about. But to her parents, Jin's behaviour was unusual for a child who went through trauma.

Mrs Kiryuu: That's okay Jin. We were more than happy to take care of Aikas best friend. Me and my husband were even discussing how we should transfer you to the same school Aika goes to. Doesn't it sound fun to spend more time with her?

Jin: I don't go to school. I was home-schooled.

Mrs and Mr Kiryuu then understood as they had often heard Aika saying Jin would spend every day playing chess for hours with an old man and now by himself. They wondered how he did that, but also studied. But being homeschooled it all made sense now.

Mrs Kiryuu: Oh! Then this will be a great new experience. You will get to go to school, make new friends, and spend more time with Aika. It will be great!

Jin: I'm not going to school. {I have too many things to think about despite what Ban asked me. I need money. *sigh* But no one would give a job to a child. So I need to think of a plan to make money. I'll fulfil Bans request later. Maybe I'll go to university.}

Jin said eating his cereal as he thought. No child could so easily make money enough to pay for general utilities. No child could take care of themselves. That wasn't something any normal child could do. But he did need to fulfil Ban's request. It was just now wasn't the time to be distracted and busy with school. Yet when Jin said this, when he said he wasn't going to school, it confused Mr and Mrs Kiryuu.

Mrs Kiryuu: Sweetie, school is important. It will help you learn and develop. Besides, think of all the friends you can make.

Jin: I'm very busy though. It will only get in the way. Besides I have Aika, I didn't go to school to meet her or my other friend, so I'm sure others will come along the way.

Slowly Mr Kiryuu shuffled over to his wife as he whispered into her ear.

Mr Kiryuu: I think he's grieving. School may be too much for him to handle right now. He's a kid but I believe that's what he's trying to say. Give him a week or two. He'll need to ease himself into this new life. We'll bring up school again later. For now, let's just make him comfortable.

Mrs Kiryuu listened as it made sense. They believed that Jin was scared, and while the death of Ban would permanently remain in Jin's mind and heart. While it had permanently changed him. Jin wasn't a broken flower that needed time to heal. He was an organism adapting and overcoming new obstacles. This current obstacle was in him finding a way back home.

Mrs Kiryuu: Then we'll put a pin in it. You'll get to stay and just relax at home for two weeks. We want you to know you can treat this like home.

Jin: Thank you, but no thank you. I wouldn't want to destroy your home practising martial arts. Now if you would excuse me, I have a lot of thinking to do and a morning run. {Though I never normally eat first. I'll go lighter to day as Ban said. I could be sick otherwise.}

Jin stood up from the table and ran upstairs. Soon he quickly came down in clothes they brought from his home. Walking out of the door and away. Mr and Mrs Kiryuu looked confused until they suddenly panicked and ran after him. But in his light-paced cardio, he was already gone.

When he came back they told him about leaving home without asking. But he expressed how he would continue to leave without permission. A bluntness they were all shocked by.

So while the Kiryuu's house was comfortable for normal people and homely, Jin was going to leave. Each time they said this was home, they were wrong. His home was the dojo, a home he planned to return to. Strong enough to carry all of his burdens alone.