Rin took one last look at the picture of himself and Yukio before he packed it into his grey duffle bag, heaving a sigh. He was glad that he wasn't going to end up like his brother, but he felt emptier now that he realized that it all would've been easier on him if he had his younger brother there to share the pain with him. But he wasn't here anymore, not since that day. And that was something Rin had to deal with. Though Shiro had already implied that it was a lost cause, Rin wasn't going to give up. He was going to find his brother.
But first, he had to go to school. Yes, that's right; the boy who had gone to multiple interviews expecting to work after he got out of middle school was now going to the best high school in the country. And it was all because of what happened last night.
Last night, when Rin finally got an explaination and what he was and where he brother had went. At first when Rin found out about what he was from Shiro he was distressed but he didn't really care about that. The thing that he wanted to know about the most was how it affected Yukio. Shiro had told him that it was no use but before he was done explaining why Rin couldn't do that, Rin had already made a self-oath to go and find his brother.
But there was a time for everything, and now wasn't the time to look for his brother. Now he sat in a long, pink limonene, sitting uncomfortably next to Shiro and across from a rather flamboyant demon who wouldn't stop from smirking in Rin's direction.
"Would ya stop it with that disgusting face, Mephisto? It's giving both me and Rin the creeps." Shiro said matter-of-factly.
Rin couldn't tell if Shiro was playfully teasing Mephisto as a friend or insulting him as a rival or enemy. Rin secretly hoped the for the latter.
Mephisto waved his hand with a chuckle, "You must excuse me, Shiro, I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Shiro furrowed his brows, "This doesn't count, Mephisto."
Mephisto's sickening grin widened a bit, "Of course not, it doesn't count unless it is opened."
Rin didn't really have any idea what they were talking about so he tried to entertain himself by looking out the window behind his head. What he saw nearly made his eyes pop out of their socket.
A giant hill, no a pile, of academic buildings showed up. Rin couldn't tell if he was feeling dread or excitement toward the obvious importance of education this place showed off but he had a feeling that he was going to have to work the hardest he had ever in his life.
It wasn't long before Rin could feel his father's eyes on the back of his gaze. He turned to meet Shiro's gaze, creating an awkward silence. Rin was, understandingly, still pissed off with Shiro and how he was now forced to enter a world he had known little about, even one he thought didn't exist. Rin broke off the eye contact and started idly playing with his tie…the one he had done himself. Rin caught a sad look from Shiro and almost smiled to himself, almost.
"We're almost there!" Mephisto announced, almost a tad too loudly for the situation. That demon sure loves to be the center of attention, Rin realized.
Rin allowed himself to think a little about Yukio. What would it be like if he was here right now? Would he be supportive, frustrated, excited? Would he have tried to break the uncomfortable silence that separated their father from Rin? Would he be in the same class as Rin?
Before Rin could get too sad the obnoxiously colored limo stopped in front of the gates.
Once they had all stepped out of the pink vehicle Shiro attempted to comfort Rin with a pat on the back, "I need to run some errands," He chuckled trying to erase the tension between the two, "I trust that you won't cause too much trouble on the first day." He smiled with a wink.
Rin merely nodded as he realized that, even though he was angry with his father, he didn't want him to go. But then Rin realized that Shiro was doing it for his own pride. He couldn't hold his daddy's hand into the first day of highschool as if it was his first day of kinder garden. For the first time in a long time, Rin felt truly alone, though he was now surrounded by crowds of gathering freshmen awaiting the tour. Rin was miles away from the temple that he been raised for 15 years. He wasn't sure when the next time would be when he saw Shiro again and he defantily didn't feel the tiniest bit safe with that purple haired headmaster.
Rin sighed and looked up at the sky, losing himself in his rather gloomy thoughts…untill something, or more like someone bumped into him.
"Oi! Watch it, the tour's already starting!" an angry classmate with a yellow streak of hair bellowed at Rin before trying to catch up to the group of incoming students, him and his two companions, who merely glanced at Rin, were obviously late. But that didn't mean they could just push me aside, thought Rin as he himself tried to rejoin the group who was now being herded into an auditorium.
Most of the time that was spent in the aditorium was the yammering of the teachers and various staff, even the flameboyant headmaster came up, promising that it was going to be a great year and that everyone of them was welcomed here. Yeah right, Rin thought, I doubt if they knew they would've closed the gates to the school before I could even figure out what happened. And that's not the only reason they wouldn't want me here, has anyone seen my middle school report card? How in the world did I get here with my grades? I guess the old man had better connection than I originally thought. Rin Shivered as he thought of Mephisto. Because I wouldn't really call that a good connection.
"And now for your class representative, Ryuji Suguro." That caught Rin's attention. He always thought that those who did care about others would get what was coming to them, but apparently that wasn't really the case here. But on the other hand this punk-looking guy was probably just in a rush because it would look super bad if the representative, the person who was supposed to set an example for the rest of us, was late for his own introduction.
Taking another look at the pierced, hair dyed teen Rin thought about how looks were deceiving. He looked around at his other classmates sitting in the auditorium and wondered how many of them would be in the exorcist cram school with him, feeling slightly jealous toward those who ignorant to the very purpose of the school they went too. If only Rin could be ignorant and human again, if only he could still question the existence of demons…and even God and Satan. But there was no doubt now, no turning back. Whatever happened he would just have to accept it.
After the boring speeches ended the freshmen started piling out of the auditorium and tour the rest of the school on there own. Rin was, yet again, left on his own.
The school seemed so huge, so impossibly big, that Rin's head started to spin. The school wasn't just big, it was lavishly furnished and decorated. Rin took a sercret joy in all the smells, sounds, and sights. He had noticed a slight increase in the sensitivity of his senses ever since he had awoken, and it was not something that was completely unwelcomed, either.
But he was so mezmorized by the interior of the school buildings that he didn't even notice the small, white dog following him until it bit his leg. "Ow! What was that…" He trailed off when he realized that it was a dog who was pinching his leg, "…for?"
The dog released his grip and started walking away, looking over his shoulder at Rin, implying that he should follow him.
Rin shrugged and followed, realizing that it wasn't the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him.
After a little while the white dog transformed into…guess who…none other than the purple headmaster himself. "Why hello there~ Enjoying yourself?" he brightly asked with a half-charming-half-creepy wink.
Rin was in no mood to play games, "What do you want?" he muttered blankly.
Mephisto pouted and put his hands on his hips, "Well if you're going to be that why, then I won't help you!"
"You have to help me, you made a promise with Shiro." Rin pointed out matter-of-factly.
The headmaster raised a purple eyebrow, "How did you know that?"
"What? You didn't think that I was listening on yours and Shiro's conversations? I may still be a kid but don't act like I'm not even there," Rin growled, irritated, at the obnoxious demon.
Mephisto smiled mockingly, "Oh, right, I should consider who I'm dealing with before I slip out useless information to a child." His voice dripped with more and more sarcasm with every word. The demon smirked at Rin's red face. How easily the son of Satan was ticked off, he would make a most interesting toy. "Now then," he mused while jumping down from the bridge next to a pair of double doors, "Use the key Shiro gave you earlier on these doors."
Rin jumped down next to Mephisto, holding the mysterious key in his hand. Shiro had vaguely mentioned to him that Mephisto would explain to him what the key was used for. Rin took the key out of his pocket and stuck it in the keyhole to the door. A strange light shone through the crack inbetween the door as Rin pulled it open. Rin walked in, followed by Mephisto, with a look of wonderment.
"This," Mephisto gestured to the entire hallway, lavished in a red carpet and wall decorations that resembled stained glass, "Is the exorcist cram school!"
"It's so big!" Rin said in idle amazement. Why was he still saying this? Everything here is big!
Mephisto merely chuckled at the boy's childishness, "You will be studying as an exorcist as if it were a cram school, you'll have to come here using the key, which can be used on any door."
"Wait a minute…" Rin furrowed his eyebrows toward Mephisto, "If it can be used on any door, why'd we go all the way to the bridge?"
The demon chuckled once again, "Well…I'm the headmaster, I just can't freely walk around the school!"
Rin stared at him with an incredulious look, "Oh, so, it's weird to see the headmaster walking around the school, but not a white lap dog? Pets aren't even allowed here!"
Mephisto thought about this for a little before realizing that Rin was right, "Well, it's a bit more fun knowing that few people can even realize that it's you. It's fun being secretive."
"I thought you just loved being the center of attention…" Rin spoke his mind before he realized that he was a bit too blunt.
Mephisto could almost feel an arrow go through his heart with that comment, "You know what? Go find your own class!"
"What?" Rin's eyes widen, "But I don't even know my room number!" This place was way too big to for Rin to try to find his room on his own.
Mephisto wanted to tell him that he didn't always try to be the center of attention, that he also liked operating from the shadows, but he valued his pride too much to try to argue with an idiot…even if the idiot was right! He continued walking away.
Rin sighed in irritation, "Fine! Go ahead and be jerk! I'll just find my room by myself, you demon!"
Mephisto grinned at the nickname before exiting out the door.
Rin started walking down the hallway, sulking, not paying attention when he was bumped into for the second time today, landing on his butt, "What the…" The devil's son rubbed his head, where he had been bumped, as he looked up to see a fimilar face. "Oh…you again."
The multi-colored haired teen looked at him with a confused expression, "Do I know you?"
Rin stood up, infuriated, "Not really but that was the second time you landed me on my ass! Watch where you're going would ya?"
"Watch where I'm going? Both times it had happened because you were off in idiot world! Pay attention to your own surroundings!" The pierced teen argued as he remembered what had happened earlier today.
Rin held up his fists in anger, "You shouldn't push people around just because you're late for something! Try to give a damn once in a while!"
"Alright, alright," a teen, this time with hair dyed pink, stepped out from behind the one with pirceing and stepped inbetween him and Rin, "We shouldn't start a fight with other student, especially on the first day." He turned toward Rin, "Hey, I'm Shima. The short-tempered and competitive one is Bon and the small one is Konekomaru." He trusted a thumb behind his shoulder, pointing at his companions.
"Hey!" Bon and Konekomaru protested in union.
Rin let out a pent up breath and relaxed his hands, he grinned and pointed to himself, "I'm Rin!"
Bon gave Rin an incredulous look. How could this person's entire attitude turn from anger to pure ditsiness? He was probably just a complete moron, he defiantly won't last long in exorcist school, no need to make friends with him. Exorcists needed to be smart a clever, like Bon, to be able to spot the trickery of demons and be able to deal with them, we might as well all kiss Rin goodbye.
"By the way…" Rin started to speak.
"Yeah?" Shima asked.
"Since we're all freshmen, we all have the same classes, right?" Rin asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah." Shima answered with a shrug.
Rin looked down and sighed, "What our classroom number?" He was defiantly forking over some pride by asking them this but at least this was less embarrassing than frantically searching each room for his class.
The Kyoto group stared at him, "Seriously?" Konekomaru asked, "You're here and you don't even know our room number?"
Rin scratched the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face, "Uh…no…I kinda got here unexpectedly, at the last minute…"
Shima nodded, "Our room is # 1116."
"Arigato!" Rin smiled and waved as he ran off to find his classroom.
"That moron…" Bon muttered, "…he's going to wrong way…"