Author's Note:
Hey there, everyone. As promised, I put up the first chapter of this fiction – I'm still waiting to be able to access my data after my computer crashed, to be able to continue "Water and Ice" and my other fictions. I'm really grateful for your patience – and I promise, I'll be back with new chapters as soon as I can. I've already got most of the story planned out, you know? I just need to confirm with what I've already written and with the plans I originally had. So in the meantime I hope you enjoy this fiction.
Here I took the liberty to use a few Japanese Phrases in this story – because firstly there is no English dub for "Ao no Exorcist" as of yet, and secondly I've seen a lot of people do that, and I thought I'd try it out. So in future I'll be putting the translations up here in my author's note. For this chapter that would be:
"ne" is a Japanese particle hung at the end of a sentence to express uncertainty or to ask for the approval/opinion of the conversational partner, kind of like "right?" or "alright?" or "okay?"
"wakatta" means "I understand".
"-nee" is a suffix that means "big sister" (while "-nii" means big brother)
"-san" is a suffix that is used to address people politely, like teachers or people you don't know well. (In Japan it's also normal to address people by their last names if you're not close friends)
"-sensei" is a suffix that means "professor" or "teacher" or "master".
Alright – I hope you like this, please feel free to review or PM me with your opinion and/or suggestions.
~ZoeTsunami~
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ao no Exorcist, the only thing that belongs to me is my OC, Kaya Matsumoto
Oh, and by the way: I'm not so sure about the title. Once you know more about my OC, I'd really like to know what you prefer… I chose "Shot through the heart" over "Like a bullet", "Demonslayer" and a few others…
Chapter 1
The car drove up to the entrance of the courtyard framing the huge building that was the True Cross Academy. The school which would, from now on, be her school.
The girl looked out at the tall, impressive building from behind the window of the family car, her green eyes full of interest. Her gaze was cool and analyzing as she watched the students milling around the entrance.
Someone tapped on her shoulder, pulling her back out of her thoughts. She turned to look at the face of her little brother, who was sitting beside her in the back of the car and who was gripping her arm tightly with his small fingers.
"I'm gonna miss you, Kaya-nee…"
Her gaze met his sad expression and she smiled reassuringly.
"I'll miss you, too, Sota-chan. But you'll see, I'll be back before you know it. Vacation will come quickly, and then I'll come home to see you, ne?"
The little boy didn't look quite convinced, but seemed to have understood that there was nothing he could do about it.
In the driver's seat her father turned to look at her.
"Well, have fun then, Kaya. And you can keep in touch by writing letters."
Her mother, on the passenger seat, turned to face her as well and smiled warmly.
"Have fun, dear. And I hope you make lots of new friends. And take care – don't get into unnecessary trouble, ne?"
Kaya nodded almost exasperatedly.
"Wakatta" she said, sighing, opened the back door of the car and got out. Then she pulled her suitcase from the boot and set it down on the pavement. She closed the car and watched her family drive away, waving.
Seeing them go did cause a bit of sadness in her heart – but it wasn't like she would never see them again, after all.
She turned to face her new home for the next few weeks and as she did so the wind whipped her long ponytail around her, also causing her clothes to rustle.
Kaya wondered whether this school was much different from the ones she had been to before. In a letter from the headmaster she had been told that she would attend normal high school classes here as well as the cram school for exorcists with a few other students.
She didn't mind the high school part – she had been to one before, and apart from that she had had a home tutor, because her family travelled a lot. This was due to her parents' jobs – they were exorcists, the kind that were sent as messengers and temporary helpers by the Vatican and ended up travelling most of the time, across the whole world – so neither Kaya nor her brother Sota had been to the same school for more than a year.
But now that Paladin Fujimoto had died, this particular district of Japan lacked enough exorcists, so Kaya's parents had been moved there – more or less – permanently. That was the reason they had enrolled her at True Cross Academy.
Before going to this school her parents had taught her most of the skill she held now for being an exorcist, and her home tutor had worked at her own personal pace – and so since she was a fast learner she was already ahead of other students her age.
Despite this fact, however, she had not objected to being enrolled. She wasn't quite sure why – perhaps she just wanted to know what it was like to go to school normally. And True Cross Academy was the only school in Japan that combined normal education and exorcism training, so naturally she would be sent here.
She forced herself out of her thoughts and started moving towards the entrance of the big building, pulling her suitcase behind her.
She did not get very far, however, because a small white dog crossed her path, forcing her to stop walking.
Usually she would have ignored this and passed it off as someone's pet – but this dog did not look like it belonged to a student. It had a pink ribbon around its neck, and a perculiar way of walking – it knew its way around, almost as though it was in charge – which was almost human.
Kaya narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously. She wasn't particularly fond of dogs – she considered herself more a cat-person – but she couldn't shake the feeling that this animal just wasn't an animal at all.
So when it looked at her – almost indignantly – and then walked purposefully into the trees framing the courtyard, she automatically followed it, partly through interest and plain curiosity, and partly because she found it extremely suspicious.
The dog looked over its shoulder at her as if to check whether she was still there or not, then walked on until they were out of sight and earshot of the students walking towards the building.
Then, abruptly, the dog stopped in its tracks.
There was a tiny popping sound, and a could of white smoke surrounded the animal – which quickly vanished to reveal a very strange looking man with purple hair and a wide grin, wearing a tall white hat and a white coat and holding a walking stick. There were purple gloves on his hands and he wore a pink tie with white dots on it, as well as the symbol of the exorcists pinned to his coat.
Kaya successfully hid her surprise at the dog turning into a human – and, on top of that, a man she had seen before.
He must have noticed the recognition on her face, for his smile widened.
"Kaya Matsumoto. Welcome to True Cross Academy. I take it you remember me?"
She nodded shortly.
"Mephisto Pheles, was it not? The headmaster of the academy, if I'm not mistaken?"
Mephisto nodded his head, causing his hat to tip forward slightly.
"Excellent memory you have there, even though it's been a long time since I last saw you. You were just a little girl, then."
She refrained from saying what came to her mind at that moment – how could one forget a man as… unique as Mephisto was? She recalled their last meeting in her mind, but brushed the memory away for the moment – she had other matters to handle right now.
"So why is it you brought me here, sir?" she asked. Her voice had, without her really meaning it to, a cold ring to it. A tone that wasn't missed by the headmaster.
"Why, to show you the school, obviously."
She cocked her head to one side, eyeing him with a mildly interested expression on her face.
"But sir – I beg your pardon, it's just that I don't understand why you didn't approach me in human form and saved the energy of transforming into a dog and making me follow. Why would you go to the trouble of doing that?"
"Ah." Mephisto's smile never left his face, and Kaya remembered feeling slightly intimidated by the man at their previous meeting – she had felt he was kind of creepy at the time, but since her parents had seemed to trust him she had let it slide.
"Well, you see", he explained, "it is a bit weird for the headmaster of the school to be walking around and randomly greeting people to show them the building – especially since this is not the first day of school but simply your first day at True Cross. Apart from that, most people don't know of the cram school's existence and the… somewhat exceptional treatment of its students. Therefore I chose to approach you thusly."
"I see", she said, understanding. "Well, then – I'd be glad if you could show me around, sir. I thank you."
Overhead a bell rang, signalling the beginning of lessons. Mephisto did not seem phased by this, and he didn't lead her to the front entrance of the building, either. Instead they took a left turn and arrived at a small side door.
The headmaster produced a key from his coat pocket and unlocked the door, opening it, to Kaya's surprise, to a large hallway.
"Welcome", Mephisto said, "To the cram school."
He strode into the building, not waiting for her to follow. Kaya quickened her pace in order to keep up. She entered the corridor, which, as she noticed, was decorated in a very colourful way. The ceiling was pretty high, and it seemed strange to her that this hallway had been built thusly and in this particular part of the school, to be entered by a side door.
Abruptly, as if he had sensed her confusion, the headmaster turned around and held out the key to her, with which he had opened the door.
"Take this" he said. "The key will allow you to open this corridor from anywhere within the city, as long as there is a door."
Kaya frowned as she reached out to take it.
"Does that mean… this hallway isn't really here?"
Mephisto just grinned and ignored her question, turned away and started walking again.
She hurried to catch up with him, by now irritated that he had avoided answering her.
But just as she was about to open her mouth and repeat her question, she noticed that at the end of the corridor there was someone waiting for them.
It was a rather tall man clad in an Exorcist's uniform and wearing glasses. His hair was brown and he had bright turquoise eyes which were watching them approach.
Mephisto came to a halt in front of him, turning to Kaya and saying, with a gesture: "This is Okumura-sensei. He will be one of your teachers here at the cram school. Okumura-sensei, this is Kaya Matsumoto. She's joining your classes today."
The professor – who, she couldn't help but notice, looked no older than herself – nodded at her. Then he said to the headmaster:
"Are you showing her the building, sir? If you're busy, I could take over and show her around after class. That way she wouldn't miss anything."
Mephisto considered him for a second, then his ever-present grin widened.
"That's a good idea", he agreed. "Then, I'll take my leave now. I hope you enjoy your stay at my academy, Matsumoto-san."
"It was an honour meeting you again", Kaya replied.
Mephisto nodded to her and the professor, then raised his staff and said:
"Eins, zwei, drei!"
Kaya frowned, wondering for a second why he was counting to three in German – then there was another burst of smoke, and when it vanished she found herself looking down at the small white dog again.
She was impressed that, even in that form, the headmaster managed to look somewhat superior.
He turned around and walked away – and this time it was obvious that he was a human. That was probably because she knew, now, but still she wondered how anyone could ever believe him to be a dog.
As the headmaster vanished around the corner at the end of the hallway, the professor turned and smiled at her.
"Well, then – let's introduce you to the class."
She nodded as he opened the door they were standing in front of. The murmurs of the students inside died away as Professor Okumura entered.
"Good morning", he said. "Today I'll introduce a new student to you."
He beckoned to Kaya, still standing in the doorway.
"Come in."
She walked up to the teacher's desk and turned to face the class, her fellow student exorcists.
There were only six of them – a relatively small group of five boys and two girls. In the front row, directly before the teacher's desk, sat a black haired boy with dark blue eyes, and next to him a blonde girl with green eyes, on whose head sat a small green plant-demon. She had to be, as Kaya realized, a Tamer. The boy, on the other hand, had a sword lying on the table before him – he was a Knight.
Three boys in the back – a small boy with a monk's haircut and glasses, a taller boy with pink hair and one with brown hair, through which a blonde streak ran from the front to the back, who had a small goatee and a very stern expression – had the utensils of a monk or priest on them: beads, a staff, books of demon-vanquishing spells and holy water, from which Kaya concluded them to be Aria.
There were only two people whose chosen paths were unclear to her at the moment: a small boy with blonde hair holding a pink rabbit-shaped hand puppet, and a girl with dark red eyes and purple hair tied up into twintails, who was eyeing Kaya with apprehension and something like resentment in her expression.
Kaya faced the whole class and said:
"I'm Kaya Matsumoto. Nice to meet you."