Blue Exorcist (c) Kazue Kato

Irene Marquez y Luna (c) Myheartstillbleedsforyou

...

There were whispers about the new girl with the shocking green hair even before she walked into the cram school classroom with a large ram's skull in her hand, draped with a blue rosary that shook with a loud rattling noise as the beads and the silver crucifix knocked against the yellowed bone. She was a foreigner, coming from a distant country. Maybe American? Some said she didn't know a word of Japanese. Others even speculated she was some rich kid who would have a translator in the room with her. The fact remained, no one had seen her in the daytime classes of True Cross Academy, so tonight at cram school would be the first time anyone ever laid eyes on her.

She walked into the classroom half an hour late with a teacher in tow, looking relaxed while holding up the trembling ram's skull as though it wanted to see everyone. A phlegmy cough interrupted Yukio Okamura's lesson on the proper uses of plant solutions, but there was hardly any need for that. All the eyes of the students were already focused directly on the new kid and the teacher. "Yes Mr. Neuhaus, what can I help you with?" Yukio asked, somewhat annoyed that his lesson had been interrupted. Bon gave a loud snort from where he sat, while Rin and Shiemi were fixated on the rattling skull. The teacher pushed the new girl forward to the front of the room, looking as though he would rather be anywhere but next to this weird kid.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new addition to the True Cross Academy Cram School. Please welcome your new classmate, Irene Marquez. She is a forgeiner and this is her first time coming to Japan, so I expect you all to treat her kindly and show her how things are done here at True Cross Academy. Irene, have you anything to say?"

All eyes were on the girl now and her rather odd appearance. The standard girl's uniform the girl wore was obscured by a gray woolen cardigan with firey geometric patters all over it, contrasting greatly with her emerald colored green hair and her long, pink skirt which went right passed her knees. Red horned rimmed glasses lay on top of her school tie and were held by a silver chain, with two large turquoise rocks on either side of the chain. Her skull rattled faster and the beads clacked together even louder now that it seemed she was about to speak, but apparently it didn't worry her as much as it did everyone else. She simply pulled a strand of green hair out of her face and knocked once on the skull before clearing her throat and smiling at everyone, her worn penny loafter shoes digging slightly into the floor.

"Buenos noches a todos, ah... G-good evening everyone. My name is Irene Marquez y Luna and it is very, very nice to meet all of you. I... I hope you can forgive my terrible Japanese, por que um... Espanol, er... Spanish is my first language. Eh... I eh hope we can all be friends."

It would have been an understatement to say that the new girl, Irene (to everyone it sounded like she had said Ee-reh-neh), had very poor speaking skills. In fact, her Japanese was so confusing it had left even Yukio wondering to himself if he would need a translater just to get this girl through the semester. But seeing her bright, eager face gave him some hope that perhaps she would understand him and not be a completely hopeless case. He prayed to God that she was a quick learner. Yukio smiled uneasily and patted Irene's shoulder kindly. "Uh... Thank you Irene, for... introducing yourself. Please have a seat next to Kamiki-san and Paku-san in the second row. Thank you Mr. Neuhaus, I'll see to it personally that Irene settles in nicely."

Mr. Neuhaus gave a final glance at Irene as she sat next to Izumo Kamiki, the skull was going berserk on the desk and threatened to fall until she finally grabbed and looped it through her belt, pulling her rough wool cardigan over it. Only a faint sound of beads clicking against bone could be heard. Irene smiled good naturedly at the two girls and Mr. Neuhaus, mouthing a quick thanks to him and waving. The exorcist only rolled his eyes and exited the room, murmuring something about foreigners before leaving the room. Yukio looked on apprehensively at his new student.

"Uh, alright Marquez-san... We are discussing the proper way to cure temptant from ghouls and other useful herbs in a medical emergency, I assume you have the proper reading materials assigned to my class?"

"Uh... um... que chinga... Eh... Yes!" she battled with the worn leather satchel and produced the battered, old books which had been cramed inside it. The skull clattered against the chair for a moment before she sat upright again.

"Alright," Yukio sighed with relief and walked to the blackboard, "Now, let us continue our discussion of temptant and the proper medicines used to counteract it. As I was saying before and as it is written in your books, aloe is most commonly used for-"

...

"Hey, Marquez-san!"

The ram skull shook violently as Konekomaru, Shima, and Bon came towards the young Hispanic girl after class. Izumo and Paku stayed behind to watch on the pretense of orginizing their school books, but at least they were less obvious than Rin and Shiemi who were openly staring slack jawed at Irene from across the room.

"Eh... ah... Suguro-san right?" she asked, rolling the r somewhat strangely. Her hesitation was not of nervousness, but rather the uncertainty of how to pronounce the boy's name. She wore a contemplative look on her face for only a moment before looking up at Bon for approval. Bon narrowed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide if she was mocking him. He had apparently decided she meant no harm by it, for the scowl disappeared from his face and he spoke gain. "Yeah... That's correct. Anyways, what's your deal? Where are you from? Why the hell are you carrying that creepy vibrating skull around anyway?"

Irene said nothing and looked down. She listened intently and mulled over each word he spoke over in her head. Finally, after what seemed careful consideration, she looked up and smiled almost like a child.

"I come from America, pero I'm from Nuevo Mexico... Uh... New Mexico, like you say in Japanese. I'm from Ojo Caliente, Nuevo Mexico. Y mi craneo, huh? Oh! Excuse me, my skull, is there for protection. Is an excellent judge of character. Mira, look..." Irene took the large object with the long, curled horns and placed it on the desk near Bon. It rattled slightly while she removed the beads, but then violently shook and jumped off the desk and onto the floor once the rosary was completely removed. The large skull rattled farther and farther from Bon and the others until Irene grabbed it by the horn and placed the rosary on it where it resumed its clacking hum. The others must have looked horrified, for Irene quickly put up her hands. "Is a good thing if it jumps away from you! I promise! See this skull is cursed, es maldito, you know? My skull can tell me if a person is good by rattling, so when I walk into a room and it rattles, the room is filled with good people since the skull does not like good spirits. Is a very good sign if it tries to jump away from you!" Irene grinned and laughed, and indeed a few of the other students laughed in relief. "Pero, watch out if it does not move. That is a sure sign of evil!"

When she said this, Irene immediately made the sign of the cross murmuring, "En nombre de Padre, de Hijo, y de Espiritu Santo.". She crossed the skull too, and it tried to jerk out of her hands as she looped it back through her belt.

Bon raised an eyebrow, looking very skeptical and somewhat annoyed. "Ok... Well, I will give you this piece of advice while you're here at the cram school, Irene. Leave that distracting piece of crap in your dorm and don't bring it to class ever again. It irritates me while I'm trying to study. If there's too many good people here and no way to shut it up during school time I don't want it here, and I'm sure the teacher doesn't either. Let's go, guys."

The smile on Irene's face faded quickly as she watched Bon exit the classroom. He was followed by a sheepish looking Konekomaru who began to apologize profusely, while Shima grinned like a fool and gave Irene a wink before going out the door. With a small sigh, Irene gathered her things and began to walk to her next class some distance away from the boys. Izumo and Paku, who had not spoken a word to her at all, giggled as they passed her, looking her up and down before bursting into hysterics at her rather conservative, yet ragged appearance. Irene pretended to be occupied with holding up her books and adjusting her knobby socks, but her face was red with shame. Rin caught up with her before she left, stopping her at the door and grinning widely.

"Hey, don't be down, I think your skull is pretty cool! Don't pay any attention to Suguro-san, he's a total grump and doesn't really get along with anyone. He's also kind of a jerk... I'm Rin Okamura by the way, it's nice to meet you. Let's be friends!" he held out his hand for her to shake it. However, Irene only looked at his hand and back at his face in horror before taking her books up closer to her body and running past him out the door, quickly crossing herself again and murmuring a prayer before calling out to him in reply.

"Ah... um! Dios mio! I am late. Good to meet you, senor Okamura, adios!"

Irene's poor Japanese echoed through the halls along with the clattering of her penny loafer shoes as she took off into the hallway. Various notebooks, texts and pens thumped against each other in her worn satchel and the rosary beads clinked together madly. Everything about her was noisy and distracting, all but the ram skull which stood stark stiff, pointing straight at Rin Okamura as Irene ran for dear life to the next class.