Blue Jay

Chapter 03: Of Brothers

It was raining.

The funeral was a quiet affair- most of the people who came Rin didn't recognize. They offered all of their condolences to Yukio, because she wasn't going out her way to friendly. Mourners had umbrellas, socializing solemnly far away from her, as she looked down at her father's grave stone. She traced it's cold stone with her fingers as the light rain made her hair tangle. The longer she stood around, it stuck to her neck and cheeks, raindrops disguising anything that might have fallen from her eyes.

Kurikara was slung over her shoulder. She gripped it lightly, shifting its weight back and forth as the wind blew her black dress pants open and around her ankles.

After what seemed like hours of standing- deciding, reflecting, whatever- the fifteen year-old withdrew a cell phone from her pocket, and flicked it open. There was only one number.

Rin took a deep breath, dialed it and held the receiver to her ear. It rang four times and-

In a flash, she was surrounded. Men in familiar black coats and face masks stood tense around her, anxiousness and hatred present in all their eyes. Some had guns drawn. Others swords and daggers.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Okumura Rin-chan," a ringing voice answered in her ear- and behind her.

She turned, slowly, to face probably the strangest man she'd ever set eyes on. He looked like something out of a circus- a ringmaster- dressed in white and patchwork patterns, carrying an umbrella in one hand and overly-charmed cell phone in his other. Rin caught sight of pointed ears just below his top heat, signaling that he was much more than just some random, teleporting weirdo.

"My name is Mephisto Pheles," he said with a bit of flare, smirking. "A friend of Father Fujimoto. You have my upmost sympathies for what's happened."

The lie was thinner than wet tissue paper in Rin's ears, but she couldn't work up the energy to get angry. She looked at him dead on. "Are you people exorcists?"

"Of course," he replied, leaning against a headstone. "We're known as the True Cross Order."

Rin glanced down at her father's grave. "…he said you'd offer me protection."

"Ah, yes," Mephisto hummed casually, shrugging a bit. "Well, I'm afraid that as my position as an honorary knight, I can't afford to mix business with person interests. My hands are tied."

Rin clutched Kurikara's grip a little tighter. Mephisto smirked.

"You're a child of Satan, and therefore must be killed before you can become a threat to humanity," he said simply, as if talking about the weather. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the only known daughter of Satan to ever exist. So you have that."

He pushed himself off the headstone and held two fingers in the air. "From where you're standing, Rin-chan, you have two options. One, allow us to kill you…"

The men in black coats tensed.

"…or two, you can kill us and flee," he paused. "Though you always have option three: suicide. I'm sure any of my associates would be willing to share a bullet or two. So…what would you prefer?"

Mephisto looked at her, clearly expected her to choke or run- maybe even plea for mercy. But instead she looked him dead in the eyes and said, in a very clear tone,

"Let me join you," Rin brushed any hair from her eyes so he could see she was serious. "I don't care why you people say- I only have one father, and he sure as hell wasn't Satan. There's no way I'm related to that demon!"

Mephisto's eyes widened- and then he smiled. The man stepped toward her, closing the distance between them. "And what would you do? What would you do if you became an exorcist?"

She stepped forward, demonic nature sharpening her features for a split second. "Kick Satan's ass!"

There was a moment of silence, Rin waiting for some kind of reaction- and Mephisto broke out laughing. Hysterically.

"W-What the hell are you laughing at?!"

"GRAHAHAH…AHaha…ahahhah…" the odd man wiped tears from his eyes. "Oh, I haven't laughed like that in ages."

"What's so damn funny?!" Rin blushed, furious. "If anyone here should be laughed at, i-it's you and your stupid outfit!"

Mephisto twirled his umbrella, looking down at her. "You must be joking, Rin-chan."

"Oh, I'm not," she challenged.

"Well then…" he looked around at the exorcists surrounding the area, opened his mouth- and everyone tensed, Rin knowing he was probably about to sick them on her, and the exorcists gearing up to fight, when-

"Okay! I like it!"

"What?!"

Rin and everyone else nearly fell flat on their faces.

"S-Sir Pheles, you can't be serious-!"

"Really-?" Rin asked dumbly.

"Really," he said, stepping way too close in her personal bubble. "Though becoming an exorcist won't be easy. You're going to have a harder time than anyone. In fact, you're more than likely to be killed trying," he smiled. "Do you really want to go through with it?"

She refused to back away. "I'm not a demon or human anymore. An exorcist is the one thing I can be. I will be an exorcist and I will defeat Satan if it's the last thing I do."

And that was that. Two days later, and Rin Okumura was officially enrolled in True Cross Academy.

She packed up everything she owned and stood outside Southern Cross Monastery- the warm morning sun tanning her arms, wearing just a t-shirt and jeans- waiting for Mephisto to pick her up. She hadn't slept the night before; her hair was mess, so she wrestled it into a low pony tail that brushed the back of her neck. Bits of her bangs that always refused to cooperate hung in her eyes. Her pointed ears were in full view- not that she cared. Apparently, they were a common trait. Mephisto had said her teeth and ears weren't a big deal- it was her flames she had to worry about.

Satan's flames. She closed her eyes. Everything was so crazy compared to just about a week ago. She wasn't ever going to come home, late or beat up from a fight, and get an earful from her old man ever again. There weren't going to be anymore family dinners with all the priests. Getting a job was now so far down on her priority list it threatened to hit the center of the earth. Rin was still reeling.

"My, what a pleasant day!" Rin's eyes snapped out and she jumped back, Mephstio suddenly by her side, looking up at the clear sky. "A bright blue sky is a fitting sendoff for the start of your new life, isn't it?"

"Don't do that!" Rin snapped, clutching her chest. "Haven't you ever heard of a simple 'hello'?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"It's not about-" Rin stopped, knowing a wasted effort when she saw one. "How did you get here? Are we walking, or- AH!"

A limousine- a bright, florescent pink limousine- swerved around the corner and parked directly in front of them, the driver honking twice for them to get in.

I'm going to die of a heart-attack before any demons get the chance, she thought numbly, her heart pounding in her chest. "You're kidding, right?"

He peered down at her. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

A few of the priests from Southern Cross helped her load things into the truck, one giving Mephisto a look before returning inside. "You better take care of her, Faust-san."

Mephisto chuckled. "Of course."

Rin blinked. "Faust? I thought your name was Mephisto."

"Oh, it is. But in public, I'm better known as Johann Faust the Fifth…" he replied. "…chairmen of True Cross Private Academy."

"Wait a sec- that's the same place Yukio-"

"Good morning!" Rin spun around to her little brother, carrying his own assortments of luggage walking toward them. "I guess I'm a little late, aren't I?"

"Y-Yukio?" Rin blinked rapidly, brushing her bangs from her face, looking between Mephisto and Yukio. "What are you-? What's going on?"

"It's weird seeing you up so early," her brother smiled. "Apparently, father arranged for the chairmen to care for us if anything happened to him. Isn't that strange? I never thought I'd be able to attend the same school as you, Onee-san."

"Y-Yeah, definitely weird," Rin's face twitched. More like me never attend the same school as you, she though numbly- whist glaring at Mephisto, who's smirk clearly said he'd known about this.

She then grabbed the ringmaster-creep by the collar and wheeled him around, pulling him down to her level, and whispered rather loudly, "What the hell is going on? I said I wanted to be an exorcist- I never agreed to go to some school!"

"Shhh, keep it down," Mephisto put a finger to his lips. "You can't reach the top without a little studying first. Besides, aren't you happy you get spend more time with your brother?"

She snarled. "Well, yeah, of course, but-"

"Moving right along!" Mephisto twirled her back around and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "True Cross is a boarding school, so you two won't be able to leave without express permission once you enter. Have you both said your goodbyes to this place?"

Yukio nodded, moving to put his things and get in the car, not giving Rin a second glance. She looked at him for a moment, and then nodded as well, before piling in behind Mephisto.

The ride to True Cross had Rin agonizing in her seat.

Her brother sat no less than a few feet away, and she couldn't work up the nerve to talk to him. The instant they started driving, he'd withdrawn a book and started reading.

Rin hadn't spoken two words to Yukio about what happened- about their old man, about her new…features, or anything. Hell, she would have loved for him to snap and just interrogate her already- or ask some basic questions- or- or something.

Ever since Fugimoto died, there was suddenly this thick slab of tension between them- and it was killing her. Their only family was each other now. They'd never not spoken to each other for so long. Sure, they'd gotten in fights when they were little, but usually they'd make-up within a day, tops. This barrier between them…it was all kind of wrong.

She resolved to do something about it once they were settled in- or hell, as soon as they were out of Mephisto's earshot; the guy kind of crept her out. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she felt like he was watching her.

Rin scowled at Yukio's book, as if it and its inky pages were responsible for her communication issues.

"We're about to arrive," Mephisto said lightly, looking out the window. Rin followed his gaze, and immediately had all but her face pressed up against the window.

True Cross Academy was huge. No, Rin thought, there is no way this place is school. It was practically a whole other town by itself! The buildings were huge, and stacked on top of each other in what accumulated into one giant, tall, island-like structure.

"Wow," Rin breathed, grinning.

"The Academy possesses all the academic facilities you could possibly dream of," Mephisto explained. "And forms the center of True Cross Campus Town."

They pulled into the massive structure and parked close to one of the front entrance buildings. "Just go straight ahead into the main auditorium for the matriculation ceremony- if you get lost, just follow everyone else."

Yukio got out first, "Thank you very much."

Rin slung Kurikara over her shoulder and tried to follow suit, but Mephisto grabbed the sword in question and tugged her back inside.

"One moment," Mephisto said. "You're forgetting your uniform, Rin-chan."

Rin scowled. "I'll change inside."

The chairman looked horrified. "You can't set foot on campus looking like that- we have a reputation to uphold."

"And what's that suppose to mean?!"

"She'll meet you inside, Yukio-san," Mephisto waved to her brother, the door slowly shutting. Said brother only sighed and nodded. Rin looked scandalized.

"Yukio- don't you dare-!"

-Slam.

If looks could kill, the weirdo chairmen would have been chopped to pieces and thrown into a ditch. On Mars. And then spontaneously combusted.

"I'm turning around," Mephisto said, looking all too amused by her, before looking out the opposite window.

Rin almost strangled the man. Almost.

Instead, she let out a low breath and, as quickly as possible, slipped off her outfit and into the True Cross uniform he'd given her a day earlier- which included a skirt. Rin hated skirts. Oh, she thought they looked pretty, and she enjoyed dressing up once and a while, but now she was stuck wearing one every day for the rest of her foreseeable future during her schooling. She. Was not. Happy about it.

"Once the ceremony is over," Mephisto said to her, facing the window. "Wait for me and I'll find you. We'll talk more then."

Rin grunted in reply and left the car.

When she was gone, Mephisto's gaze darkened, his hand covering most of his face. Yes. He had much to prepare for- more than anyone realized.

She met up with Yukio again just before the ceremony, all her things in hand. He said annoyingly little to her, just pointing out where they could drop off their belongings to be put in their rooms, and commenting he felt a little nervous.

It was only when they got to the main auditorium did she learn why.

"And now, we'd like to invite one of your fellow peers on stage," one of the protractors announced. "Your First-Class Representative, Okumura Yukio!"

"Of course," Yukio replied, getting up from his seat beside her and walking down on stage, again not even looking at her. She would have been upset at her little brother if not for the fact that she was freaking out.

"First Rep?" someone beside her whispered to their neighbor. "That's the guy who placed first on the entrance exams, right?"

"Whoa," another person said. "Just how smart is that guy?"

A girl behind Rin giggled to her friend. "Doesn't he look kind of cool?"

"I thought he was going to look really nerdy," her friend said. "We should try talking to him later!"

"No way, I'd be too embarrassed!"

Rin sunk in her seat, dizzy. Her little brother was now not only leagues above her in the smarts department, but a total ladykiller! AH! What kind of bizarre parallel universe had she entered?

"This is going to end up being the most awkward year ever," she grimaced, but sat up to listen to his speech. And despite whatever was driving a wedge between them at the moment, she stood up tall and clapped when he was finished, a warm sense of pride overcoming her senses. However she looked at it, that was her little brother up there, top of their class, ready to become whatever he wanted.

It made her happy. Yukio, at least, could live a normal life away from all the demons and exorcist business she was hip-deep in. He deserved to be happy.

Once everyone filtered out of the auditorium, Rin left Yukio alone, letting him get swamped by a group of glowing fangirls who were just dying to ask what classes he was in and what his schedule was. Finding a spot free of other students, she sat down awkwardly on a bench, Kurikara over her shoulder, and let her herself rela-

"Sorry for keeping you waiting~!"

"AH!" Rin jumped a good three feet in the air. Mephisto was suddenly seated next to her, and her heart was trying to force its way up her throat. "Don't do that!"

Mephisto laughed. "You can't afford to let your guard down, Rin-chan."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to notice," she snapped, and faced him. "So what happens now? How do I become an exorcist?"

"Right to the point, I see. Good to see you're still so enthusiastic," he said. "Unfortunately, things must follow proper procedure. So you're going to be attending a cram school."

"Cram school?"

"An exorcist cram school," he clarified, winking at her. "Where you'll begin as a Page, and learn the art of exorcism. Starting the day after tomorrow, you'll begin attending normal academic classes as well. However, exorcism classes begin today. I'll show you the way."

"Okay…" Rin said slowly.

"However!" Mephisto said so suddenly she flinched. "I cannot stress enough how important it is you keep your flames hidden. Under absolutely no circumstances can you reveal yourself- if you do, there will be nothing I can do to save you from whatever punishment might befall your pretty little head."

Rin nodded stiffly.

"I see you've already learned to keep your tail hidden well enough," he continued. "Your ears and teeth are easy enough to explain away- but your flames are not. You must keep them under strict control. Understand?"

"I'll do my best," Rin felt her tail, currently wrapped around her chest, quiver slightly at the warning.

"Excellent. Then we can be on our way," he snapped his fingers. "Truthfully, I'm still a little worried about you, so I'll shadow you during your first lesson. Alright? Eins~ Zwei~ Drei~!"

And then he turned into a dog.

Right in front of her.

Poof.

"E-Exorcists can do that?" Rin was beyond freaking out anymore.

"No, just me," Mephisto- a freaking dog- said. "Oh- and let me give you this 'key to the school.'"

Rin leaned down, spotting, what else, but a tiny key in Mephisto's mouth, which she took. "A key?"

"Use it in any door and you'll be able to enter the exorcist wing of True Cross. Don't loose it," he added, as an afterthought.

Rin would have been mad about the implication of the statement, but she was a little distracted by how…cute…the creep was as a dog. She was sucker for adorable animals. She felt the overwhelming urge to pet him.

"Use it over there," Mephisto pointed a paw to a nearby groundskeeper shack. Curious, Rin turned the key in the lock, and opened the door-

And inside the tiny shack was a humungous hallway that Rin couldn't even see the end of.

"Whoa," she walked inside, looking up at the high ceiling in awe, Mephisto at her heels. He directed her to room 1106, where first-year students were, and she paused outside the door, nerves setting in, before she swallowed thickly, opened the door-

-and was very underwhelmed. The room was large and messy, the wallpaper torn in places and in bad need of a new coat of paint. The room looked neglected, for lack of a better term.

"This way," Mephisto trotted over to a desk and hopped up on the table. Rin followed, doing a quick headcount of her fellow classmates: two girls, and five guys.

"Why the heck are there only eight of us here?" she asked the dog by her side, not noticing how crazy she looked to everyone in the room.

"There aren't very many people who want to be exorcists these days," he explained. "This is actually a relatively large class…"

"I'd hate so see what a normal one looks like- probably a ghost town…" she mumbled, letting Kurikara drop off her shoulder and onto her lap. "So…when's our teacher supposed to-?"

Before she could finish, the door opened. "All right everyone, quiet down."

"That's him now," Mehisto supplemented.

"Take your seats and we can get started," their teacher said with perfect authority. "Our first lesson is about to begin."

Rin blinked.

Then blinked again.

Then pinched the inside of her arm. She must have fallen asleep in the limo and was dreaming; because the "teacher" that just walked in and set down his things down in front of the room looked suspiciously like a certain younger sibling she knew of. A certain younger sibling she knew had no evil twins, because last time she checked, her karma level was firmly in the green.

Alas, she didn't seem to waking up any time soon.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said with a smile. "I will be your teacher in ant-demon pharmacology, Okumura Yukio."

"Yukio?!" Rin was on her feet and had her hands slammed down on her desk.

"Yes, that would be me," he replied lamely, giving her a level look. In fact, it was a near perfect imitation of her I-don't-know-what-you're-looking-at look. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, you mean other than the fact that you're acting like a teacher?" She had to- absolutely had to be dreaming. "What wrong with you?!"

Yukio gave her a very patient smile that Rin could now see was…fake. Really fake. "I assure you nothing's wrong with me. Now, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from further disruptions for the rest of class."

Rin scowled and looked to the dog- which was now sitting in her lap. "Mephisto, do you know what he's-?"

"Ah, ah, ah," the chairman-turned-dog sniffed. "Using my name without an honorific? I am your superior, you know."

"Ugh!" Rin gave up on the creep. She looked pleadingly at her brother. What's going on, Yukio? What are you doing?

"Now," Yukio addressed the class as a whole, which up to that point had been watching the siblings' conversation with mild interest. "As you all can see, I'm the same age as all of you. This is also my first year lecturing. However, I have been studying exorcism for more than two years. As such, while in class, I would prefer if you refereed to me as your teacher."

T-Two years? Rin ran her fingers through her hair, feeling lightheaded. The implications of that comment…she didn't even want to think about.

"So, how many of you have already received a mashou?"

Rin was beginning to hate not knowing anything and about anything that was going on. Defeated, she turned to Mephisto, who looked very comfortable in her lap, paws on her desk. She gave into temptation and scratched him behind the ears, which he seemed to appreciate. "What's a mashou?"

He glanced at her. "Mashou refers to an injury or illness sustained from contact with a demon. It allows them to see demons for the rest of their life- they're a natural pre-requisite for any up-and-coming exorcist. Of course…in your case, there's no need. Seeing as you're a demon yourself."

"Yeah, I got that much," she sighed, and watched as more than half the class still needed a mashou.

"Okumura-sensei over there," he continued. "Is the youngest qualified exorcist in the world. He's a genius anti-demon pharmacologist."

Rin felt something in her chest sink. Her brother…her baby brother…she really didn't know anything about him, did she. It was like seeing a stranger across the room.

"As you all probably noticed, this is not a normal classroom- in fact, its home to demons known as goblins. Now there's no need to panic," he added, seeing one of the girls frantically whisper to her friend. "Goblins tend to avoid bright and populated areas. Typically, they're harmless and only cause minor mischief. However," he withdrew a vial from his bag. "When they catch the scent of rotten animal blood, they become agitated and aggressive. I'm going to dilute this and use it to drawn them to us, so everyone can receive their mashou safely. Any questions?"

Any questions?

That made something in Rin snap. Any questions? Any questions? Oh, she had more than a few goddamn questions-

"Now, if everyone will please be patient while I set everything up-"

Rin was out of her seat, across the room and slamming her hands on Yukio's desk in a flash. This fakey-teacher-polite crap was ending, and ending now.

"Hey!" she snapped, looking him dead in the eyes.

He looked at her over his glasses, the antithesis of calm- and it pissed her off.

"…Yes? What wrong?" he asked. "I'm in the middle of a lesson. Return to your seat, Okumura-san."

O…Okumura-san? That. Was. It.

"Quit screwing around!" she practically shouted. "What the hell is up you?!"

Yukio, very deliberately, put down the blood he was working with, and said, in a flat tone, "As I said, I became an exorcist two years ago."

Rin watched him, hoping for some sort of emotion to show on his face, but there was nothing.

"I began my training when I was seven," he said, softer, so only they could hear. "I've been able to see demons ever since I can remember- because I received my mashou from you the day we were born."

Rin couldn't breathe.

"I've always known about demons. You're the only one who never knew," Yukio picked up the blood and walked past her. "Now, will you return to your seat?"

"Then why…" Rin wheeled around and grabbed his arm. "Why didn't you ever tell me anything?!"

Yukio flinched and dropped the vial in his hand, splattering the ground in blood. A foul stench filled the air and Rin instantly covered her nose.

"Ah! Demons!" One of the girls cried.

"Demons? Where?"

"Right there!"

Rin saw them- round, sharp-teethed little monsters were instantly upon them, some small, others huge. Yukio acted quick, withdrawing a gun (a freaking gun!) out of his coat and shot three demons dead, right before they almost attacked the two girls.

"Everyone, get out of the room!" He yelled over the commotion. "Get into the hallway until I say its safe- they're weak, but trouble in numbers. I'm sorry- this is my mistake."

Everyone filed out of the door quickly, and Yukio turned to Rin. "You too."

"Like hell!" she slammed the door shut, "We are not done talking yet- and that was my fault!" she added offhandedly. "Sorry."

"I have nothing more to say to you," Yukio sighed and effortless shot a few hobgoblins behind him. "Besides, I have a mess to clean up. You're going to have to wait."

"Will you shut up and listen?!"

Rin felt a bestial edge to her voice erupt from her throat. Blue flames exploded from her being, incinerating all the goblins close to her in an instant.

"I know we haven't talked since Dad died- and I know we've both been avoided it," she snarled, swiping her clawed hand across the body of goblin getting too close. "And I hate it! If you knew about- everything all this time, then how did you feel? What do you think about me?"

"What do I think about you?" Yukio shot a demon mere inches to Rin's head, the air rippling by her ear. "That's obvious, Onee-san. You're a demon- and danger to all of humanity."

"Yukio," Rin's flames surged.

"You're such an idiot," he said, reloading. "What did you think you're doing, becoming an exorcist? What are you after? Revenge? Some sort of sick atonement toward father? If that's the case," he shot a dozen other demons in quick succession, before looking away. "Then you should give yourself to headquarters. Or just die, please."

"Atonment? Revenge?"

Rin snarled, burning a dozen demons to her right. "Don't tell me…don't tell you think it's my fault he died, do you?"

"Do you deny it?" Yukio challenged, cutting down a row of goblins above them. "Onee-san, he spent his whole life protecting you! I should know- I watched him, all these years! Father was the only one who was strong enough to sustain procession by Satan himself, so naturally, he wanted his body!"

"For fifteen years, he fought off Satan through sheer willpower," Yukio took a step toward her, and Rin grit her teeth. "He would have never allowed Satan to overtake his body like that- not without some sort of fatal blow to his mind."

("Don't you ever act like you're my father ever again!")

"…you said something to him, didn't you?"

"I…" Rin's heart dropped in to her stomach. "I didn't…"

"If father ever had any weakness," Yukio leveled his pistol directly at her forehead. "It was you, Onee-san."

"You killed him."

Rin clenched her teeth. She had had enough. "I-I'm and idiot, yeah. Yukio, you can say whatever the hell you want…"

A hobgoblin, bigger a small car, was charging toward Yukio from behind.

"But don't you ever-!" she unsheathed Kurikara and a familiar sense of power coursed through her veins, painting the room blue. "Don't you ever point a gun at your goddamn sister!"

Yukio flinched, eyes wide. Rin took a step toward him. "Listen to me. I wasn't the one who killed dad- and I understand if won't ever forgive me. But is that really a reason to point that at me?"

"Onee-san," Yukio stepped back.

"Well?! If you're going to point that at me, then pull the trigger if it'll make you feel better!"

The huge goblin was mere feet away from him. Rin charged forward, Kurikara bathed in flames,

"SHOOT ME!"

Rin passed him and cut down the demon in a single swing. Yukio didn't move, still as stone, his gun still pointed where his sister had been.

Rin put her sword away and stood, flames receding. "You might think I'm some sort of monster, but I'm not low enough to fight my little brother."

There was a moment of silence. Rin slung Kurikara back over her shoulder, sharp ears dulling enlarged, canines returning to normal. Her tail slipped back under her shirt.

Yukio let his arm fall and stared at the ground. "Father's last moments. What was he like?"

"He was amazing," Rin said softly. "He died keeping me safe. I'm not out for revenge. I don't want to ever see anyone else get hurt trying to protect me. I want to become an exorcist…to be strong."

Yukio smiled- a real smile. "Then I guess we're the same- I only decided to become an exorcist to become stronger as well."

Rin grinned, finally feeling the tension between them thaw. "We're quite the pair, aren't we?"

A knock on the door broke up moment. "Sensei? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Yukio surveyed the room, which was mostly on fire- normal fire- or covered in bullet holes. "I can't say much for this classroom though."

"Ah! When the heck did this happen?" Rin jumped back from the charred remains of what had been Yukio's desk.

"Onee-san, you need to be more careful." Yukio sighed.

Rin sputtered. "I-I just need to learn control, alright?"

"Nevertheless," he added, now serious. "If you really want to be an exorcist, you're going to come across people who say the same words I did: just die, please. You need to be prepared to face them."

"When was the last time I took orders from anyone?" Rin smirked. "I'm ready for anything, Yukio."

He smiled and opened the door, greeting the somewhat worried faces of rest of the class. "I apologize for the accident. We're going to have to move to another classroom…"

After cram school, Rin finally managed to work through the maze that was True Cross Campus and find her dorm.

"Room 602…" she mumbled, flicking on the lights. "Looks like no one-"

"Good to see you finally found the place," Yukio greeted her from the middle of the room, where he was unpacking. "I was about to send out a search party. Surprised to see me?"

Truthfully, she was. But compared to everything else she'd went through that day, this was small potatoes. "Kind of. What are you doing here?"

"Ordinarily, first-year students have to share four-person room, but I pulled some strings so we could share. Usually co-ed roommates aren't allowed, but Sir Pheles deemed us a special case. You are dangerous, after all, and needed someone to look after you. I volunteered."

"So this is like a jail cell?" She supplied lamely.

"Pretty much. I'm your jailer!" Yukio smirked. "If you're going to be an exorcist, you're going to have to put up with a few incontinences."

"Bring 'em on," Rin grinned, collapsing on her bed in a heap.

"Excellent. You can start on the assignment I gave today."

"…what assignment?"

"…"

(A/N) *headdesk*

Fuck. Pardon my French, but fuck. I tried guys- I really did. I seriously tried to somehow make this chapter at least a little different fromthe canon, but I couldn't. I'm sorry if this was uberboring- but I can't seriously change things or write in more funny stuff until the other characters (Shiemi, Bon, Izumo, Amaimon, Shura…) are introduced. THEN, and I swear to god, THEN I'll let myself go nuts.

All I gotta say: thank goodness Shiemi is in the next chapter. Oh, and it looks like things are gunna be Bon/Rin. I'll put it to poll next chapter, but it looks like tides are turning in that direction.