Chapter One: In Which Izumo Needs To Vent

"You should come to our temple sometime! I'm sure you'd like it!"

This excited suggestion was met with the bored nod of Kamiki Izumo and the sparkling interesting of Moriyama Shiemi, who contrary to the latter seemed a lot more interested in befriending the new student, a late arrival that had joined the cram school. Shiemi was as usual happy to make friends and thus devoted her attention exclusively to the rose-haired girl with her hair neatly arranged in a ponytail. To Shiemi who had spent most her life hiding away in her garden hearing Komura Megumi talking about her temple and the people in it was truly fascinating.

Kamiki Izumo disagreed. She still missed Paku, the only person that had ever truly understood her and was willing to accept some of her less than pleasant character traits, and because of that wasn't at all in the mood to listen to a stranger. Namely because said stranger would not shut up about her temple, which as far as Izumo knew wasn't even that great. At least it wasn't famous like Bon's, though admittedly part of the fame from Bon's temple came from all the wrong reasons.

Deciding that she no longer felt like listening to more stories, and cursing her decision to have lunch with her two female classmates in the cram school; Izumo stood up ignoring the look of surprise on Megumi's face. "Ah sorry, I have things to do." Izumo knew that probably didn't sound convincing, but she also knew she didn't much care. "Ah—Kamiki-san where are you going?"

For a mere second Izumo considered how to answer to this. She could just flat out ignore the 'weed' or refuse to answer, but somehow she found herself giving an honest answer. "I'm going back to my classroom. There's work I need to finish." And before anyone else could say anything, Izumo walked away. At the table now occupied by Komura Megumi and Moriyama Shiemi, Megumi huffed. "Well she's a treat."

"Kamiki-san's a nice person, she just…has a different way of showing it, yeah, that's it!" Shiemi cheerfully replied, happy with her wording of her answer. She completely missed Megumi's uninterested look. Silence fell among them, the only sound being that of Megumi sipping on her drink. Megumi didn't seem at all bothered by the silence, but Shiemi really wanted to keep the conversation going so she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "So what are you going to be?"

She practically shouted which startled Megumi quite a bit.

What's wrong with her?

"What exactly do you mean Moriyama-san?" She asked, making a smile appear on her features. "Ah…the class you know…" Shiemi tried to explain, murmuring now that she was aware of her initial and very loud outburst. "Aria and Dragoon, Knight and so forth…"

"Ooooh!" For the first time since Izumo had left a look of excitement fixated itself on Megumi's face originating a wide grin with just a hint of smugness that was of course lost on the naïve Shiemi. "I'm thinking Aria for a starters. I'm very good at reciting you know? Best in my family!" she proudly announced with a nod of her head as if to give her words more emphasis. "But then we'll see, I might try my hand at Doctor or Knight, maybe even Dragoon. Ah I don't know, I just want to add something else to make my 'curriculum' look better you know?"

"Uau, you're so amazing Komura-san!" Shiemi exclaimed, a glow of admiration in her green eyes. "I'm thinking of Tamer…I have the talent apparently…But I don't think I'd be good at anything else…"

For a split second envy actually crossed of Megumi's baby blue eyes. It was an irrational feeling of course. Megumi quickly reminded herself that it was useless to feel envy just because she didn't possess the natural talent to be a Tamer, since she was going to be an excellent Aria and would likely rise to the top of the 'food chain' much faster than a weak-willed person like Shiemi would. Smiling, Megumi shook her head reassuringly, patting Shiemi's hand in a somewhat condescending manner; not the girl noticed. "That's okay, Tamer's are very important in combat you know? Even you don't get another title not everyone can go even try to be a Tamer, you either have it or you don't."

The sad smile that had been on Shiemi's face soon turned into a full blown one. She removed her hand from beneath Megumi's and trapped her between both of hers. "Thank you, you're a really nice person Komura-san!"

Chuckling Megumi shook her head again, this time as if to say 'It's no big deal'. "I know what Moriyama-san, since we're now friends why don't we use our first names?"

Shiemi was too stunned with happiness at the word 'friends' to be capable of forming words or coherent sentences. With a giddy look on her face she nodded several times. "That sounds great! I'll go first! Umm…mmm ah—thank you for being my friend Me-Me-Megumi-san!"

To Kamiki Izumo the regular classes could be both a bother and an amazing way to relax depending on the day. Cram school was much more demanding so the regular classes could either only serve to annoy her or they were easy enough that she could take it easy. This time around Izumo figured that she'd get some work done for the regular classes and save her brains for the cram school subjects after class. She expected to find the classroom empty but found out there was someone else there already. A black haired girl, whose face Izumo couldn't recognize since she was looking so intently at her notebook, yet the Exwire chose to ignore this presence and went to sit at her desk; in the front row by the window.

The girl, seated on the third row but still next to the window, finally looked up having apparently woken up from whatever daydream she was in. As Izumo turned around to secure the straps of her backpack on the back of her chair she finally caught a look of the black haired girl's face. She recognized it, but typical of her didn't know the name to associate the face with. Still Izumo couldn't help but make a face when she noticed that the black haired girl hadn't been diligently studying but had probably fallen asleep while looking at her notes as evidenced by the dazed look in her eyes and the tiny bit of drool at the corner of her mouth.

Izumo could swear she heard the girl mutter 'Crap' before hastily wiping her mouth with sleeve. Fearing that this would lead to an awkward conversation Izumo simply whirled around and picked up her notebook. "I didn't say anything." She stated, the hidden message loud and clear: 'Don't disturb me.'

The unnamed girl got the message, she too didn't look like the talkative type. Several minutes went by and Izumo was quickly absorbed by the homework so she had forgotten all about the girl; until the moment where she spoke up. "Ummm you wouldn't happen to be doing your English homework would you?"

Eyebrow twitching, Izumo drew a small breath before turning around. "Do you have a problem or something?"

Smiling a bit in an embarrassed fashion, the black haired girl nodded. "Kinda. I guess you could say so. The teacher's going to ask me to correct the homework in front of class on our next lesson, but I'm having some trouble with one of the questions. I really don't want to make a fool of myself so I was wondering if you'd help me."

At first sight Izumo was ready to put this girl in the same class as Shiemi, both quiet, soft-spoken people that seemed to need help for the simplest of tasks; but upon closer inspection Izumo realized that the two were different. Shiemi was quiet and soft-spoken but mostly out of shyness and because she had never really had any friends before, this girl was humble, but there was a laid-back vibe about her and the way she had approached Izumo was a lot different than anything Shiemi would have tried. Sighing, Izumo nodded her head, which the girl took as an acceptance, a sign that she would indeed help. "Questions 3, 4, 5.2 and 6."

Eyebrow twitching again, Izumo turned from the book where the questions where and faced the girl. "Is there any questions that you did do on your own?"

Laughing, the girl stood up and sat in the vacant desk next to Izumo. "I did question 1, 2, 5.1 and 5.3. That's like, half."

"Those are the easy, straight-forward ones."

"Still half."

Frowning slightly, Izumo decided to drop the subject before her temper flared up as she read over the text. "Is the text the problem? Any words you don't understand?"

"Well…yeah…it's kind of complicated." The girl admitted, sighing a bit resting her cheek against her fist. "I hope you don't expect me to do the work for you." Izumo flatly pointed out. "Of course, I would never ask that of you. Well, maybe if we knew each other and were friends I would have the nerve to do that. But since we don't know each other, not even by name, I don't think it would be very polite of me."

"Precisely, I won't be giving you my name then."

The girl took this as a joke and laughed, but the seriousness in Izumo's expression told her the pigtail haired girl didn't mean it as a laughing matter. "Riiight then…"

For the remainder of lunch Kamiki Izumo gave her orientations to the unnamed girl. It was odd for her, seeing as the only person she had ever done homework with was Paku but she had yet to return to class after the attack of the Ghoul. Izumo was a bit unsure of how she should go about helping someone do their homework, but apparently the other girl didn't mind as she heard Izumo's advice quietly and proceeded to diligently try to do things in her own way.

When there were only five minutes left for class to resume, the girl leaned back in the chair closing the notebook with a satisfied smile. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver. Really. I know you don't want to tell me your name for fear that I'll start leeching off of your knowledge, but I'll give you mine. That way if you ever need me to do you a favor, you can just ask."

"I wouldn't need a favor from you."

Ignoring this, the girl smiled and good-naturedly said: "I'm Komura Kameko. Feel free to call me by my first name, I don't really like formality." Though I don't particularly like my first name either…, she mentally added.

For once though Izumo was interested. "Komura? A relative of Komura Megumi?"

For the first time Kameko looked surprised as her grey eyes widened, a look of realization very clear on her features. "Oh."

"You failed to answer my question."

Shaking her head Komura Kameko stood up, grabbing her things from the desk. "Uh yeah, Komura Megumi is my sister." She hurriedly replied, so quickly that it all came out sounding like one very big word.

"Ah?" Izumo's eyes followed Shinako as she retreated back to her desk. The change in behavior was highly amusing to her. It peeked her interest. "You don't look alike at all. Neither in looks or behavior."

"Yeah well…relatives don't always have to look like each other." Kameko mumbled, slouching in her seat. Izumo couldn't help but noticed how true her previous statement had been. Komura Megumi carried herself with poise, there was a certain arrogance in her walk and the way she presented herself was the way of someone who valued appearances for she looked very neat and prim. Komura Kameko on the other hand didn't really look like she cared what anyone thought of her. Her black hair was messy, Izumo wondered if she even knew how to use a brush, her tie was very loose and the uniform overall wasn't looking all that neat. Not that it was dirty it just wasn't looking very orderly. "I guess they don't."

When Komura Kameko woke up the next morning her sister was already gone from their bedroom. Typical, she figured and slowly dragged herself out of bed, going on with her morning routine in her usual sluggish manner. Komura Kameko didn't indeed waste a lot of time combing her hair, as she had come to realize that because her hair was so thin and light whenever she stepped outside the wind would royally mess it up again and thus the way she saw it there was no point in wasting a lot of time in the morning. She had tried to use berets and various other hair ornaments but they were too distracting and she didn't think she looked good in a ponytail or pigtails. Plus she was lazy and arranging her hair like that took work and time, time that she could spent catching a few more minutes of sleep.

After getting up and eating breakfast in a hurry, as per usual, Kameko jogged to class. The whole morning was a blur and despite spotting Izumo in her classes she didn't attempt to approach her again. Izumo was in her class, so it there was only another way through which Izumo could have known Megumi, at least Kameko assumed so seeing as Izumo didn't seem like the social type.

I wonder if they really met in cram school…

By lunch time though, while Kameko was quietly eating on a bench outside alone with her thoughts, Izumo was the one to approach her. "You have a weird name."

Blinking, Kameko looked up, mouth still full with pieces of tuna sandwich. Quickly she chewed the food in her mouth, swallowing it all down with water from her bottle, before looking back up at Izumo with a blank look. "You have weird eyebrows. Point?"

"I don't remember you being this snappy yesterday." Izumo deadpanned, seating herself next to Kameko, though keeping a space open between them.

After a moment of silence, Kameko started to feel bad about her own comeback so she tried to mend things. "Sorry, I woke up feeling lousy. One of those days, you know?"

Izumo just shrugged so Kameko continued to eat her sandwich. Midway through though curiosity took over. "Any particular reason why you sat here?"

"Your sister annoys me. That's about the only reason. Komura Temple this, 'I'm going to become the greatest Aria ever' that, it's like a broken record."

"I listen to that tune all the time." Kameko pointed out with a small laugh. She was rather amused at Izumo's annoyance with her sister. "She likes to be the best, I guess."

"No, this is beyond just wanting to be the best. This, I mean her, it's—I don't even have a word." Kameko guessed Izumo still had more to say so she remained quiet, nibbling on her sandwich as she watched Izumo glaring at nothing it seemed. "After what happened with Paku I've been making an effort to be more patient, but there's only so much I'm capable of."

Now, Kameko had no idea who Paku was nor did she know what had happened with her, but by now it was obvious Izumo wasn't really talking to her, she was just venting and so Kameko felt it was only right for her to be quiet and listen. "I can only take stupidity in small doses, but everything in that class infuriates me. It's not just the Komura girl, the weed keeps trying to get me to be friends with the Komura girl, and she's absolutely shameless. Crying and blurting out everything that crosses her mind. Who does that anymore? And the perverted monk. There's also the perverted monk. And the delinquent that thinks he can beat Satan. Who the hell does he think he is? He thinks he's so much better than me just because he can recite more than I can, well I'm a Tamer let's see him trying to summon a familiar! The only one out of that trio that doesn't make me—ugh, it's the little one, with the glasses. He's okay I suppose. He knows his place. But then, there's the former new kid that carries around a sword all the time. So damn loud and always arguing with the delinquent. I just can't seem to catch a moment of peace."

There was a pause and then Izumo turned to Kameko with such an intense gaze that made Kameko shudder a bit. She was started to grow uncomfortable but all that was went away once Izumo spoke up. "And you have a weird name."

"…Are you equating my name with the rest of your problems?..."

Suddenly, it was as if Izumo finally became aware of everything she had said up until then. She blushed a fierce red color and turned her head away from Kameko. "You heard nothing!"

"Okay…"

Another moment of silence. Kameko had expected Izumo to stand up and leave but since she didn't Kameko decide to take a stab at trying to make conversation. "So…-"

"I'm not talking to you about my life anymore."

"Hmm okay then. I was just wondering if you felt lonely, that's all."

Izumo first looked surprised, then angry. "Who gave you the right to make those assumptions?" she snapped, this time standing up and pointing a menacing finger at Kameko. "You do NOT know me, don't assume you do just because I happened to share some things!" Izumo stormed off afterwards and Kameko didn't think she should follow, so she stayed put. Insisting probably wouldn't help with anything.

"Hey, Megumi, what are the people at cram school like?"

Megumi, who had been finishing her notes for Okumura-sensei's class looked up from her notebook and to Kameko who was lying in bed, already in her PJ's with little ladybugs on them. "Why the sudden question? I thought you didn't want to hear anything about what went on there."

"If you don't want to answer then don't." Kameko mumbled, the words barely audible as she rolled over and faced the pillow. That ended the conversation with her sister.

Friday night had arrived. Kameko had tried to approach Izumo, but Izumo had simply ignored and acted like she didn't know her. Which, truth be told she didn't. Megumi was also getting increasingly busy with the tasks and homework from cram school and so it had become consistently harder for Kameko to avoid the subject of Exorcists and fighting demons. Megumi liked to practice her reciting and since she was apparently in some sort of competition with someone named Suguro, her practice sessions had become longer and more frequent. Kameko wanted to keep her distance from that world, which now meant she had to learn to keep her distance from her own bedroom.

Tonight, Megumi had mentioned that she'd be pulling an all-nighter because first thing in the morning she was going to 'dazzle' with her 'magnificent' reciting skills and so Kameko was determined to stay out of bedroom for as long as possible. So she figured that today was as good as any day to go blow some money in the cafeteria meals. It's not like she was poor or anything. Unexpectedly though, there was a line. No matter, I've got time, she told herself, rocking on back and forth on her heels. It surprised her that even at this time of night there were people still wearing their uniform. She figured most would be quick to change into more comfortable clothes as soon as the opportunity arouse, just like she had. As soon as classes were over for the day she traded her uniform for baggy jeans and an even baggier low-sleeved, navy blue sweater.

Kameko was pretty much oblivious to who was in line with her, she didn't really recognize anyone, but her attention was brought to the pair of boys in front of her because of the incessant whining of one of them.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Why is it so expensive Yukio?"

"Nii-san, why do you insist on coming here?"

Tearfully eyeing the different meals, the smaller boy turned to the taller one. "I keep hoping they prices will change!"

The taller one only sighed. Kameko knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop, but the whole discussion was just too funny for her to ignore.

"LOOK! That lobster is looking at me!"

"Nii-san. It's dead."

It looked like the smaller boy was ready to argue against that, but before he could Kameko beat him to it. Not by arguing for him but simply by outstretching her arm and buying the lobster meal. "There you go." She said, smiling and gesturing towards the slip of paper that came out from the machine. Both boys were stunned into silence for a split second and predictably, the more energetic boy was the first to break it. With a serious and hopeful look, he questioned: "Are you serious?"

"Uh…yeah…I mean, I don't really like lobster…but you seem to like it." She blinked. "I have a lot of money that I don't know how to spend." She added. This seemed to clarify some confusion.

"That's a very kind gift, but we can't accept it." The taller, bespectacled boy spoke. Kameko blinked again and pressed the button corresponding to the lobster meal once more. "Here, have one too."

Now the shorter boy was positively beaming. "This is THE single most great thing anyone has ever done for me! Right Yukio, right?"

The boy whose name Kameko now knew was Yukio spoke up, eyeing the slip of paper Kameko had given him with a mix of curiosity and embarrassment. "I really can't accept this…the meals are expensive."

"YUKIO! It's rude to turn down such a kind offer!"

Kameko nodded her head a bit, pressing another button at random and collecting her slip. "Just think of it this way, now you're not holding up the line anymore." She suggested, at which point the two siblings finally realized the length of the line stretching behind them and carefully moved to the side. "My parents give me a substantial amount of money every week for meals, I prefer to save it so I usually eat the cheaper sandwiches. This is actually my first time in the canteen." Kameko explained, again with the sole intent of making Yukio feel less guilty about accepting a free meal.

Eventually, Kameko learned that the other boy's name was Rin and by his insistence they ended up collecting their meals and having dinner together. Kameko was curious about what it was that Rin was carrying around, it looked like a sword but there was no way she could really know. For a second though, she remembered Izumo's rant. "It's pretty amazing that you got a scholarship, I heard they're hard to get." Kameko murmured, nodding her head a bit as she took small bites and then turned to Rin. "Does that mean you got one too?"

"Uh…ye-yeah!"

"Nii-san's not the same though," Yukio spoke up, clearing his throat as he did so. "I got in through academics, Nii-san got in thanks to his athletic skills."

"Oooh. I see. You did seem like the more studious type, no offense or anything." Kameko quickly added, deciding to stuff her mouth to keep her from saying something that might sound wrong again. Neither Yukio nor Rin took it the wrong way though, much to her relief.

"You know, your last name sounds familiar." Rin eventually blurted out in between chewing large morsels of bread and lobster. Upon hearing this Kameko could feel herself grow uneasy again, just like when Izumo had mentioned knowing her sister.

Impossible. What are the odds that they know Megumi too?

"Ah…there's lots of names that sound similar to that…maybe it's not what you're thinking it is…"

Rin was quick to accept this, though Yukio only pretended to go along with it after seeing the way Kameko reacted. Soon he was raising from his seat. "This has been delightful, but Nii-san and I need to get going. We have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yeah, we're going to an amusement park!"

Chuckling, Kameko nodded her head. "Sounds busy. Hope you guys have fun then." She said smiling at them, she herself was only little more than halfway with her food. "It was very nice to meet you Komura-san."

"Ah, first name please." Kameko requested with an uneasy smile. "I don't do well with formalities."

Yukio smiled his polite, pleasant smile and nodded. "I understand. Then, we'll see you later Kameko-san." And with that he turned away to put the tray away, though Rin lingered by with a wide grin that inspired confidence. "If you ever need something just look for Okumura Rin, I'll be forever indebted because of that meal!" he exclaimed, doing a thumbs up. "So don't hesitate to ask!" And with that he ran off.

Kameko was happy to have had such entertaining company for dinner, but now she had no idea how she was going to spend her time. She didn't feel like going to her room just yet. So for the longest time she just settled for wandering outside the school building, enjoying the bizarre architecture and the gardens. "I figured out what was annoying about you."

Surprised, Kameko looked around at Izumo. "It wasn't the name after all." She stated matter-of-factly, to which Kameko smiled a bit. "You seem like the type of person that wants to find something annoying about others, you know, just to have an excuse to dislike and avoid them. I don't mean that as an insult or anything, just saying."

Rolling her eyes, Izumo closed the distance between them. "Why aren't you in cram school?"

Stunned, Kameko took a couple of steps back, resuming the distance between them. "Your sister is in it. You clearly know about the job classes, so?"

"I…didn't realize I was obligated to join just because I knew about it."

"You aren't, I just thought it was weird." Izumo said, shrugging right after. "I don't expect you to answer me."

"That's smart of you."

"I know."

Kameko glanced around, but there was no one else in sight. "Sooo…what do you do outside?"

"That's none of your business." Izumo replied curtly, huffing a bit. Scratching the back of her head Kameko shrugged. "I guess it isn't. But then, is it going to become a common thing?"

Confused, Izumo arched an eyebrow. "What 'thing'?"

"This. You showing up out of nowhere to talk to me saying random things that I'm just supposed to go with." For the first time it seemed like Kameko had succeeded in leaving Izumo speechless. "I mean, it's not like I mind or anything. It's okay to vent and I can understand why you'd want to vent with someone that's a stranger but not completely a stranger at the same time. I can't really explain it, maybe you can't either, but I understand it."

Because it was dark Kameko couldn't really tell, but she did think Izumo was blushing again. "If you understand it then don't talk about it!"

"Okay, okay…not talking then." Kameko murmured, smiling a bit.

"Annoying."

[Well…this turned out longer than I expected o.o To those that follow my KHR stories I just want to say that I'll be getting back to those as soon as I can, life has made it impossible for me to update them and I am SO sorry x_x As for this story the romance will come, but I like to make it well paced and just wanted to introduce my OC. Also since I like to create OCs for more than romance I wanted to show my OC's interactions with other characters, particularly Izumo as you might have noticed, since I really like her xD Anyway, hope you enjoyed reviews and constructive criticism are very much welcomed ^^]