"Hello class, it's my pleasure to introduce you to your new classmate, Ruby Gale," Mr. Okumura said to the students sitting before him, motioning to me.

I bowed politely, my long blonde pony tail falling in front of my shoulder. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet all of you." I surveyed the class, looking for the one that may be why I'm here, but none of them seem overly conspicuous. There's a young blonde girl in a yukata sitting next to a dark haired boy with strange ears, a tired looking boy with brown hair and a rabbit shaped puppet and another girl with long purple hair and shrewd eyes. Towards the back sit three boys; one with pink hair, another with no hair and a kind smile, and another with lots of metal in his ears. Someone else sat in the back, but I couldn't see any of his features.

"Ms. Gale, you may sit anywhere you like," Mr. Okumura said politely.

"Thank you sir," I say and look around for a seat. I decide on an empty table towards the front and sit down quietly, in fact I'm silent for the entire class. The teacher had a calming voice, and looked very young to be an exorcist, but according to others he's extremely capable as well as brilliant. I sigh.

Maybe coming here was a bad decision.

"Ms. Gale?" I jump, and look up at Mr. Okumura who smiles kindly at me. "Class is over, are you alright?"

I nod. "Yes sir, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

He laughs a little. "You know, saying you weren't paying attention to the teacher doesn't sound well, especially when telling the teacher."

Realization dawns and I flush crimson. "I'm so sorry sir! I didn't mean it like that, I just-"

I'm cut off when he chuckles at me. "Don't worry about it, from what I've heard about you you're incredibly capable and this class is merely a formality."

I swallow thickly before replying, my voice a bit shaky. "Wh-what have you heard?"

He tilts his head a bit. "Just that you're extremely strong, and incredibly capable. You've had field experience, yes?"

I nod and try to clear my head of my so-called "field experience". Being an exorcist wasn't something I chose for myself, but something that got chosen for me.

"Well, from what I've heard you did extremely well," he says. "Oh my, I nearly forgot I still have more classes to teach."

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir," I grab my things quickly. "I should get going."

"Oh wait a moment, Ms. Gale," he says. I stop and turn to him, and he hands me a form. "You missed this yesterday but there will be a boot camp to help with your Exwire exam and everyone is invited to attend. It's not mandatory but I figured you might like to do it."

I bow and mumble a quick "thank you" before rushing out of the class with my long hair blowing behind me. My first day and I'd already messed up. What next?

The sky was painted deep shades of orange and pink as the sun began falling over the horizon and I walked swiftly to my dormitory. I had just left Sir Pheles' office with my head held high as the demon spoke with me about where I'd be staying and why. Wind blew harshly and I walked faster, wanting to get inside quickly.

I stopped in front of the gates for the old male dormitory and sighed. Apparently, with me being who I was I had to stay here, with only two dorm-mates. The special circumstances of my birth always kept me from having any friends, always kept me from being normal.

I quietly opened the front door and looked around, greeted only by silence. The door softly clicked behind me and I walked up a set of stairs to find room 610 to get settled.

Stopping at the top of the stairs I noticed Mr. Okumura laughing with the boy from class with strange ears. It took them a few seconds before noticing me and when they did they were silent for several more.

"Oh, hello Ruby," Mr. Okumura said politely. "I'd heard you'd be staying here. How are you?"

I bow and smile. "I'm fine sir, how are you?"

He laughs a bit. "You don't need to call me sir if we aren't in class. Here I am Yukio."

I nod and look to the other boy, who right now seemed pretty flabbergasted.

So this is him. He doesn't seem so bad.

He looked at me and bowed slightly. "H-hello, I'm uh...I'm Rin," he said.

I walk up to him and hold out my hand. "Hello, I'm Ruby."

He takes my hand in a warm grip and grins, flashing sharp canines. My eyes widen slightly but he doesn't seem to notice.

"It will be a pleasure to have you living here," Yukio says. "Do you need any help getting settled?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine."

"Are you hungry?" Rin asks.

"Oh sure, I suppose I could eat," I respond.

"Sweet," he laughs and loops his arm through mine, leading me toward a set of metal doors. "The food here's always great."

"Oh, do you need any help cooking?" I ask. "I'm not bad."

"Oh, well y'see," Rin says, rubbing the back of his head. "Umm...let's see, how to put this.."

"The familiar who cooks our meals isn't fond of sharing his kitchen," Yukio laughs.

"Hey," Rin shouts. "I could've said that!"

Yukio looked at him amused. "But you didn't."

I giggle a bit and they look at me surprised. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," I say quickly, raising my hands up in defense. "You two are just so comfortable around each other here, it's refreshing."

Rin clears his throat and looks away, and Yukio smiles at me.

"Well, let's go eat," Yukio says. "It should be done now."

We all walk in to see three spots set up for us to eat, the layout perfect. We all sit down and place our hands together in thanks. Picking up my bowl of rice I lift it to my nose and sniff.

"Oh you don't have to worry," Rin says. "All of Ukobach's cooking is great!"

I nod and smile politely, lifting my chopsticks with a small bite of rice to my mouth. Placing the food on my tongue, flavor explodes in my mouth. Rin's looking at me so expectedly, I have to say something.

"Its delicious," I exclaim, smiling widely. He grins happily.

"Yeah? I made it, so you can thank me for how good it is," he says, grinning widely. A fork suddenly flies at him narrowly missing his cheek and sticking into the wall. "I-I meant.." he starts, looking at the kitchen. "I helped make it."

I turn towards the direction the fork flew from and see a small satyr-creature standing on the counter, its arms folded as if annoyed.

"Is this Ukobach?" I ask.

"Yes," Yukio says. "He makes all of our meals, and occasionally Rin helps him."

I look back at the small creature and smile. "The food is delicious." He squeaks happily and jumps back into the kitchen.

I turn back to Rin and see him happily wolfing down his food and I continue to eat mine. As we eat, we engage in polite small talk.

"You started class awful late in the year, why is that?" Rin asks me.

"I hadn't been told when the school year started, and I need to become an exorcist. So I figured that this is better than nothing," I respond, and he looks confused.

"Are you attending True Cross Academy as well as cram school?" Yukio asked me, stopping Rin before he asks another question.

"Oh yes, I start tomorrow. I'm in the advanced classes," I say.

"Oh, then we'll be going to class together. This should be interesting."

"As well as kind of weird," I say, laughing. "You'll be a classmate one minute and a teacher another."

He laughs a bit. "It shouldn't be too much to handle right? I'll do my best not to bother you."

"Oh no, it's alright," I say. "I enjoy your company. You're an interesting person."

"So where do you come from Ruby?" Yukio asks, coughing into his hand and blushing a bit.

"I've lived in a temple for my entire life," I say. "What about you?"

"Me and Rin grew up in a monastery with our father before coming here."

"You've been an exorcist for a couple years now, right Yukio?" He nods. "You were the youngest in history, that's incredible."

"Thank you," he says, smiling. "I appreciate it."

"So, Rin," I begin. "Why do you want to be one?"

The past few minutes, he'd sat with us just smiling at our exchange but now his grin fell off his face and he glares down at the table, angrily. "Satan took away something important to me. And I'm going to kill him for it."

My eyes flash, and I place my chopsticks down quietly. I'm silent for a few seconds before rising, "Excuse me," I say. "Its getting late. I should probably get to bed." I walk out of the dining room and hear Yukio call "good night" to me.

"What do you think her deal was?" Rin asked his younger brother, tilting his chair back.

"I'm not sure. You are a bit of a handful though," Yukio responds affectionately. "Or she could just be tired."

Rin growls a bit. "Yeah whatever."

"She's right though, we should get to bed," he says, smiling as he stands. They walk out of the dining room, calling "good night" to Ukobach and receiving a small squeak in response.

Walking into their dorm room, they begin changing out of their school uniforms and Rin sets his sword against the wall gently.

"Why do you think Mephisto has her staying in this dorm?" he asked.

Yukio stared down at the ground for a moment as he loosened his tie. "I'm not sure, there has to be a good reason though."

Rin scoffs and sighs. "I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Alright but don't stay out too long," Yukio says to Rin as he opens the door and walks out.

The halls were dark with nothing but moonlight illuminating them, but Rin was able to find his way to the front door pretty easily. Opening it, he stepped out into the cold night and breathed deeply, the chilled air tingling his nose. He walked away from the building before hearing a rhythmic humming coming a bit farther away, and his curiosity got the better of him. Following the sound, he saw Ruby standing under the moon with her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Faith of our Fathers! Living still in spite of dungeon, fire and sword: oh how our hearts beat hard with joy…" she sang, and he became enraptured.

She lifted her hands up to the sky and her body was bathed in a gentle yellow glow, her voice becoming sweeter as the song progressed. "Whene'er we hear that glorious word. Faith of our Fathers! Holy faith! We will be true to thee till death…"

He couldn't move, her soft voice finding its way to the core of him and shaking him. He stared as she finished her hymn and the light vanished. She lowered her arms and placed her head in her hands, he could hear her sobbing. He walked forward a step and raised his hand toward her.

"Uh.." he began. She turned to him suddenly, her pale hair swinging around her and tears shining in the moonlight. She turned back quickly, hiding her face from him.

"I-I'm sorry t-to have...disturbed you," she said softly. "P-please excuse m-m-me." She moves to try running away but he grabs her arm.

"Wait, I...what was that?" he asked softly. She looked away from him and sniffled. "Ruby, what did you do?" She shakes her head and tries to get him to release his grasp, to no avail. "Ruby, what the hell?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Please excuse me."

His brow furrowed and he slowly loosened his hand, feeling her slim arm fall from his grasp. She stood still for almost a full minute, the silence nearly deafening.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," she said softly.

She ran away quickly, her long hair trailing behind her. He looked down at his palm and noticed how warm it felt, clenching it into a fist he looked in the direction she ran off in.

It took him awhile before he could find his way back to his room, but when he did it was dark. A lump on the bed across from his told him Yukio was laying down.

"Mm what happened Rin?" Yukio asked, shifting a bit. "You were outside for awhile."

"Sorry Lil bro," he whispered. "I lost track of time. Go to sleep."

Yukio softly sighed and fell asleep. Rin lied down and stared at the ceiling, before closing his eyes thinking about the golden glow and soft words.