Of Glass and Hellfire

Rin Okumura has never liked glass.

    Why? Because it's just so uselessly fragile. As a kid, he lost count of two things-how many glass objects he broke and how much broken glass he was blamed for. All it takes is one throw, one push, one little slip and.....all of a sudden....it doesn't exist anymore. Rin knows glass has it's uses. Glass has helped younger brother see after all. But Rin can't forget that awful, horrific feeling of breaking glass. That feeling of destroying something to the point where it no longer exists. The eldest Okumura knows that he can go out of control sometimes, and it is because of those sometimes that he doesn't want to be anywhere near glass. He doesn't want to be near something so fragile. Because he knows, he knows very well that he'll end that something's existence. Which is the one thing he doesn't want to do. Ever again.

So, in short, Rin Okumura does not like glass.

    Then he met a girl. And no. This girl wasn't bubbly or unfailingly supportive or a little ray of sunshine. If anything, this girl was like a starry night. Quiet, serene, wondrous. But what stuck the young man the most were her eyes.

Or should he say her Hellfire?

    Oh! And like Hellfire they were! Rin never saw eyes like her's. Never saw eyes that burned like her's. Oh God did they burn! But, unlike his fire that burned destructively, her eyes burned beautifully. How was this possible? Rin didn't know nor cared. But God, he loved that Hellfire of her's.

He loved it as much as he hated it.

    Why? Her eyes were determined. So much so that, in the mist of her eye's Hellfire, you could see her goal. As if looking through a mirror only to find another world staring back at you. Rin admired her determination. She was such a tiny, beautiful girl, yet her resolve, her feelings made her far stronger than anyone her knew. He loved that strength, and hated it to. Hated it because Rin knew that he could never be so strong. He could never start a revolution, inspire an army, and love all his enemies like she did. 

Her Hellfire was just that strong.

    And he hated it. Not only because he couldn't surpass her, but because she.....would never depend on him. Rin knows it sounds stupid and sexist, but he can't help it. He wants her to lean on his shoulder and pour her mysterious heart out to him. He wants to be the only one to listen to her sing softly in the dead of night. Her love. Her prince. Her knight in shining armor........Rin just wants to be her everything. 

She is his everything after all.

    But, alas, he could only wish. I suppose that's what happens when you love a strong woman. He realized this, and tried to let go of her Hellfire. Yeah, 'tried', but burns always leave a scar. So instead he cherished those burns, he cherished her. She, her eyes and her entire body, heart, and soul, was the pure personification of Hellfire. Wild, free, and beautiful. And that was never going to change.

But it did.

It did change.

    At first, Rin thought of her isolated, nightly walks as nothing more than a way for her to relax. Oh, how wrong he was. The girl walked at night, not to relax....but to escape her nightmares.
    Flashes of checkerboard landscapes. Huge rumbles of giant, floating green skulls crashing into the ground. A long-haired blonde head rolling on the floor. Giant hands splitting the ground in two. Falling thousands of feet. The gray sky overrun with a giant red eye, watching, always watching, her. All these figures....demonic girls from her past.....she couldn't hate them, she couldn't kill them. Yet there they were.....fighting her....siding with the enemy.
    They loved her like a sister, broke her in two, left that scar on her midriff, only to appear years later......thirsty for her blood. It was that moment, that time, on top of a random roof, that the Hellfire was extinguished. 

Then he noticed.

    They were fighting one of the demonic girls from the girl's past. A green one. The girl couldn't move. She took every hit that the green girl lashed out on her. Every hit that Rin couldn't block. When he turned to yell some sense into her....he saw it. The determination, always so clear in her eyes, was gone. Gone was the Hellfire and the strength it gave her. Then, after narrowly escaping the green macabre queen, Rin and the girl-covered in all sorts of blood-collasped. The girl stared ahead. He stared at her. She spoke.

" So this is my legacy?" Her voice, as always was soft, gentle, but this time it held such a fragile quality........Rin's breath caught. He dared not interrupt.

" A stupid, foolish bird who spent her entire life flying from cage to stupid cage? Whose life amounted to nothing but...but..." The girl stopped there. She just kept staring in front of her. But not looking at anything. Not the Doctors tending to them. Not the friends that came too late. And especially not at the young man on the bloody floor next to her. Rin couldn't tear his eyes away. Here, lying next to Rin like a corpse.....was the girl he loved. He wanted to say something. He wanted to do something. But he didn't.

He didn't do anything.

    A few days later, Rin, the lesser injured, saw the girl again. In her hospital room, though she acknowledged no one. Had it not been for her heart monitor, voicing out life, Rin would've thought she was a doll. She certainly looked like one, staring out of the window, but not looking at anything. Her long, choppy hair loose and flowing freely over her shoulders. Her body language void of any emotion. Rin wondered what was wrong, but he dared not act. He just watched the beautiful girl, as was the usual. 

The girl he loved.

    The girl whose Hellfire was gone. Silently, as if not to disturb her, he moved closer to the girl. She never moved. She never responded. She just gazed. Lifelessly.

Then he saw it.

    The one thing he never, ever liked. Glass. Uselessly fragile glass. Rin never wanted to cry more in his entire life. What had reduced the girl, so strong that her very eyes burned, to this? What extinguished that beautiful Hellfire so easily? He wanted to cry. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to curse at God and Fate, whoever was responsible, for doing this to her. Her of all people! The girl he loved. The girl made of Hellfire so strong he could hardly look at her.
    But in a cruel twist of irony.....Rin had gotten what he wanted. He was stronger than her now, not that it mattered to him anymore. What was the point of being her everything if she was made of.........Heh, Rin thought, now what is she made of?

Oh right!

Glass.

    Fragile. Fragile glass. And Rin Okumura knew, better than anybody, how easily glass broke. So what is this lovestruck young man to do? When one mere touch could destroy the dazzling creature before him? When one mere slip of the tongue could send her falling toward the ground? When one mere look could shatter her to pieces? He never felt so filthy, so dangerous before this moment. He feared tainting her. He feared destroying her.

Just like glass.

    So what did this young man do? In the end? He stayed as far away from her as possible. He didn't want to take the chance, the gamble. He didn't want to shatter her glass. Because that's all that's left of her. Glass. That's all that's left after the people she loved, the people she would have died for in order to protect, beat her to death with her own heart and left her for dead.
    He never stopped loving her though. Sometimes he would even talk to her. But no matter what the pair talked about, it always ended the same way. The girl looking at Rin with her glassy gaze, a gaze so clear and empty it unnerved you to no end, and Rin looking away. 

But that changed one day.

    Rin always knew that the girl had admirers. But he never knew his own brother was one. So when Rin saw his brother hold her hand, ever so lightly, and press his lips to her forehead one day.......he exploded in his brother's face-once they were alone of course. Harsh word were exchanged that day. Some of them stuck with Rin for a long time.

" She's been in limbo for ages! And, obviously, you're to busy not giving damn to help her! If you care about her so much, help her damn it!"

    These words especially. 'Not giving a damn'? Rin loved her so much.......so much he refused to be near her! For he knew something that fragile should never, ever be near him. But......was that really for the best?

He didn't know.

    He came to her then. In the dead of night. On an abandoned roof. She was staring at the stars. He was staring at the star in the form of the girl he loved. So sad. So beautiful. 

He poured his heart out to her.

    Thoughts he had never told. Words he had never spoken. Feelings he had never shared. He gave them all to her. Then there he stood. On top of a roof, shaking from all his revelations, and in front of his everything. The girl said nothing. She blinked once, twice.

And kissed him.

    A soft kiss with soft lips. Though he was too shocked to respond. It was his first kiss after all. She pulled back, but only slightly. Rin couldn't help but love the way her cool breath mingled with his hot one and how the combined air stroked his lips. And he certainly couldn't resist the seductive look of her half-lidded eyes, the slight tickle of her eyelashes in his cheek.

" You....You're the one person who hasn't ripped my heart open." The night fell silent at the sound of her voice. His hands twitched with the urge to pull her close, to kiss her senseless. But he forced them to stay limp at his sides. Slowly, she slipped her cool, tiny hands into his, as if sensing his torment. Before he could stop himself, he held those hands like a lifesaver. But they didn't break like he thought they would've. And.....was that.....strength in her eyes, in her hands?

" Instead you ripped you're own heart open.....for my sake." Rin eyes, forever locked on her's, widened. Not because of her words, but because of what he saw in those eyes. Empty, clear eyes became warm, gentle.........something he never, ever saw before. Even when she had her Hellfire. They had never been so kind, so loving. 

" Thank you." This time, it was Rin that kissed her. She responded in kind. But he pulled away to look at her.

" I'll protect you. I promise i will." As those very words left Rin lips like a sigh, he saw the girl's eyes cloud. The glass nearly surfacing once more. He knew why of course. Every other person who said those words has stabbed her in the heart. But like hell he'd do that. Rin would rather use his sword to impale his own heart, then lay even a finger on her in betrayal. So he took the girl's hands and placed them above his heart. Gently pressing them close, so she could feel his heart, his life on her finger tips. 

" Don't believe me? Then kill me." He whispered, letting his breath hover above her lips. The girl's eyes widened, as she attempted to pull her cool hands away from his hot ones. But he held her firmly.

" What are you saying?" She hissed, looking up at him. Pure fear and shock etched on her pale, white face. Rin looked at her calmly.

" I love you." He whispered.....the girl stopped struggling. She said nothing. She just looked at him.

" I'd rather die than hurt you. If you think i would hurt you, then you have every right to kill me. Here and now." The second these words left his lips. Anger, pure raw, hot anger, flooded her eyes. She dug her nails into his chest, over his heart, drawing drops of blood. Rin couldn't help but yelp and release her, stumbling a few feet in the process. The girl stood her ground, glaring hot daggers at him.

" What are yo-"

" You....You...BASTARD! Kill you?! Kill you?! If you really love me, don't you dare say that!" She screamed like a banshee. Her calm, quiet voice long gone. Her eyes livid, wild, and sad all at the same time. Then, out of no where, she was in front of him. Pummeling him with her fist. Leaving slight scratches on Rin exposed skin. Trying to trip him with her long, thin legs. All while Rin could only take it all, and hold her shoulders to prevent her from tripping (Mind you, they were on a roof). He hadn't seen her tears. Not yet. 

" If you really love me.....live for me! That's all i ask! That's all......nothing more....please!" He saw he tears now. Rin felt hot as his face flushed with shame. What had he done? All he wanted was to let her know that he would always stay by her side. But look at what that caused! 

Rin made her cry.

    He should've stayed away. Still, he couldn't leave her. Not like this. He had to stop those tears. No matter how pretty they were. Slowly, he released her small shoulders from his grasp. Then gently cupped her face. She looked at him then. Eyelashes glistening with tears. Knuckles white and hands grasping at his shirt. Cheeks cold and wet. He had to do this. Partially because he knew it might comfort her, and partially because it was the only thing he could think of. He is only a teenage boy after all. Still, all he could to to the sad, crying girl.......was kiss her.

She froze.

Then tried to fight.

    But he held he firmly, gently. In the end, she gave in to his persistence. Rin had no control whatsoever as his tail bound itself around her waist. Pulling her so very close. But he loved the sound she made as she was pressed against him. Hell, he could even feel her heart against his. Beating against his chest like the ticks of a clock. A very precious clock. The gentle kiss soon turned more protective. Tongues raged. Lips were bitten. The girl pushed his shoulders away lightly. She needed to breathe.

Now.

" You.......you....." She gasped as she lowered her head to his chest. Breathing heavily. Eyes drifting close. Slowly he let go of her face, hands quickly accompanying his tail in favoring her tiny waist. Rin tried not to think of how she could now tell just how fast his heart was beating. Instead, he just prayed.....to whoever would listen.....in hopes that the words in his head would make her finally understand. Him. His feelings. His love.

" You want my life? Years and all?" Rin whispered, rather huskily on account of the hard kiss earlier." It's yours."

She kissed him again.

" Mine." She hissed, lip to lip with Rin. She was still angry, but it was completely overwhelmed by the love in her eyes. An exact mirror of his own. Rin grinned in triumph, only to proceed to kiss her once more.

" Mine." She whispered after a series of hard, addicting kisses. Rin decided not to push further. Holding this girl, this amazing girl in his arms was more than enough. Knowing that she would give him more strength now, than she ever would've before. Knowing that he would give her the strength she needs. In a sort of endless cycle. So when the tiny blue-eyed girl started to cry and scream, Rin just held her tighter. She needed him. Whether she would admit it or not. And that was just fine with him. She needed him ether way. Not to protect her in battle, she could do plenty on her own after all, but to protect her heart. To keep all the night's monsters away. To support her, no matter how insane she sounded. To keep her on the right path. The path that led to the stars she loved.

...

Rin Okumura has never liked glass.

    But it's for a different reason now. He doesn't give a fuck about how fragile glass is. Because he met a girl who proved him wrong. Glass isn't really that fragile. Oh sure, it breaks, but guess what? It can be melted. It can be reshaped into what is was, or something much, much better. So Rin Okumura doesn't hate glass because it's fragile.

He hates it 'cause its just so hard to melt!

    But he always does it with a smile. He melts the girl he loves's glass, then gives it to her. It her choice. Repeat her past or create something new from the remains? Huh? What does he melt the glass with? Why, Hellfire of course! Yup. Rin's destructive Hellfire actually comes in handy. But he now realizes all Hellfire is the same. Pure, complete, and beautiful. And that's just what they are. Both he and his love. Sure, the girl's glass shatters with each horrific reminder from her past, but ya know what? Rin's always there to pick up the pieces. And melt them of course. And with each shattering and melting......the glass becomes more and more impossible to break. Until it shatters...for good.

Only to become beautiful Hellfire.

    Far stronger than before. Almost like a butterfly coming out of it's cocoon. What? Glass turning into Hellfire doesn't make any sense? Screw you. This is their story. Anyway...here they were. A boy and girl surrounded in blazing blue Hellfire. Rin began walking away, knowing that she definitely didn't need him anymore. Her Hellfire was back. A million times stronger than before. Nothing could stop it. Nothing could stop her. Except for him. He'd get in her way. By always being there, always wanting her sweet love. He'd distract her. He'd stop her. Rin couldn't live with himself if he knew he stopped her from flying to the stars she loved. 

But she wouldn't let him walk away so easily. 

" Oh hell no." She stated simply as she pulled on his retreating jacket's sleeve. He stared at her, utterly in shock. Didn't she know he was no good for her futr-

" You said it yourself. Your life is mine." She reminded him. Rin's jaw fell open as his handsome features swam in disbelief. She.....she remembered? His confession so very long ago?

" I'm not letting you go. Not now, not ever Rin Okumura." She sang, a beautiful smile on her face. A laugh threatening to escape her pink lips. " Deal with it!" 

"....R-"

" Just like you did for me. I love you. I love your stubbornness. Your stupidity. Your amazing cooking. Your laugh. Your tears. Your hands. Your eyes. Your smile. Your fangs. Your tail. Your ears. Yours claws. Your everything!" She declared happily, laughter ringing with every word. Rin was numb. Who....who was this? This beautiful woman before him. Long, choppy black hair. Pale ivory skin. Rich, tempting lips. Long, long legs. Thin arms. Delicate chest. Slender frame. Long, sweeping black eyelashes. Starry, clear blue eyes. This wasn't the fragile, crying girl he knew. What had changed her into such a strong, laughing woman? He didn't know the answer.

Until she kissed him, that is.

    Like her new Hellfire, her lips burned, yet they moved slowly, gently. As if to comfort. And comfort they did. Rin soon replied, kissing her in the same gentle manner. Her scent, rosemary, mint, and pure innocence, surrounded him like a smokey drug. His sneaky tail pulled them close. The girl gasped at the contact. Rin hands tipped her neck up, giving his tongue more access to the tiny girl's mouth. Her cool hands wrapped around his hot neck. Rin could only groan slightly at the contrasting temperatures. It was that moment, that time that Rin realized what happened to the glass girl. 

She fell in love.

With him.

    And there you have it. The boy who always destroyed glass, broke the glass girl. Only to find the jewel inside. The boy with no strength, gave the girl he loved strength. The girl who lost her strength, gave strength to the boy who loved her, the boy she would come to love. Huh? Why did all this happen? Simple!

Love's a bitch like that.

..........

But at least Rin Okumura and Black Rock Shooter got their happy ending.

Right?