Fearless

Chapter 29

Later that night after grabbing dinner and juice from Shura, Kiara sat against a tree in the court yard near the edge of the inn's property. She was still reeling from what Torako had said, not only did she learn more about her mom, but Torako also called her her daughter-in-law.

"I guess I can't put it past a mom to know, but I mean... we haven't even talked much since we got here." She muttered, opening the box and shoveling some rice into her mouth. The tip of her tail flicked back and fourth as she silently ate her dinner. She looked up when she felt a trace of fear, seeing Konekomaru heading her way. No matter what, the poor kid seemed to be scared all the time ever since it was revealed that not only was the Son of Satan in their cram school class, but so was the Daughter of The Crow demon of Fear.

He finally looked up from the ground and spotted Kiara, stopping in his tracks as his fear spiked, weighing heavy on Kiara's shoulders.

Kiara sighed, standing up, wincing a bit as her ribs shouted in protest. "Don't worry. I'll go." She said, "Don't want to make you more scared than you already are, right Miwa?" She asked as she started to walk away.

"More...? How did you know?" He asked.

"Simple. My dad apparently thought it was necessary to allow me to feel other people's fear, and ever since you found out about what we are, every time you got near Rin or me your fear surrounds you like a dark cloud and weighs heavy in the air." She glanced over her shoulder at him, "Honestly, it's just better for us to avoid each other until you can sort yourself out." With that, she continued to walk away.

Kiara found a rock to sit on, and she perched herself on top of it, her tail hanging limply over the side. She quickly finished her dinner and opened the can of juice and downed it. Immediately she felt her cheeks warm up and her head get a bit foggy.

Looking at the can, Kiara managed to discover that the juice wasn't actually juice and instead Shura accidentally mixed up the bags and gave them booze. "Damn, I wouldn't of pegged myself to be a lightweight." She muttered, "Eh... probably a demon thing."

She too a deep breath to try to clear the fog in her head, to no avail. Leaning back a bit, she stared up at the sky, taking in the sight of all the stars twinkling above her. Her mind wondered to the past few months, and everything that had happened. Her mind wondered to the time after the forest incident, when she revealed herself to the cram class.

"Hm? Kiara?" Someone asked, and Kiara looked behind her to see Bon standing not too far away from her. "You alright?"

Kiara tiled her head in slight confusion, "Alright? Why wouldn't I be alright? I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm drunk— thanks Shura— but other than that I'm fine."

"You're crying."

Kiara paused and reached her hand up to her cheek, pulling away and seeing that her fingers that had brushed against her cheek wet. "I... I am crying." She said, her voice barely a whisper. A smile appeared on her face, "I'm fine, the booze is just getting to me I think."

"You want someone to talk to?"

"Didn't you want to be alone earlier or something? Or like, heading to bed?" Kiara asked, remembering how he had walked away from the group in anger after Shura denied his request to go up to the temple.

"Yeah, well, turns out I wasn't tired." He said as he walked up to her. "Now, what's bothering you?"

Kiara looked at him, "I guess... it's the fact that everyone's scared." She said, unable to keep her mouth shut despite her not wanting to say anything to him. That damned booze. She thought.

"Scared?"

"Yes. Scared. You, Miwa, Shima, Sheimi— everyone. It weighs around all of you and damn is it hard to breath when any of you get close to me or Rin. Miwa's the worst though. His fear is so thick I feel like I'm going to drown in it."

"You're talking like you know when we're scared or something."

"I do know. My asshole of a dad made sure of that. I can feel the fear almost like it's my own— only it's not because I can't feel fear but like— like you guys are so fucking scared." She wiped at her eyes with her wrists, before looking at Bon, "You and Kamiki are the only two who don't show much fear around the two of us. Though honestly, I don't pick up a lot of fear from you." She giggled, "You're more angry than anything."

An annoyed expression appeared on Bon's face as he raised his fist, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kiara started giggling even more, her tail waving back and fourth, "See, you just proved my point." She stood up on top of the rock and looked down at Bon with a grin on her face. "Remember when you guys asked my why I wanted to be an exorcist earlier this year?"

Bon just nodded, a slight look of confusion on his face.

"Well, I wasn't completely honest. I want to work to prove that people with the blood of a demon running through them can be trusts, no matter the demon they're related to. I want to prove that people don't have to fear every demon that's out there!" She looked up towards the moon, "When I told Mephisto that, he started laughing. He told me that my goal was impossible, but... you and Rin want to kick Satan's ass, and if you guys can stay true to your goals, then, I know I'll be able to accomplish mine!"

"You know what, I think that's a good reason to become an exorcist." Bon said.

Kiara looked from the moon to him, her grin widening and her eyes glowing ever so slightly in the pale moonlight. "Thanks, Ryuji."