Summary: "I wonder if Rokudo-kun ever feels angry about his situation. Being that poor, unable to go to the dance with the girl you like, that's harsh." Throw in jealous rivals and a spirit who just might have to kill you for buying a dress, and its chaos. RxS.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rin-ne/Kyokai no Rinne. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.

Note: Spoilers up to Chapter 51 of the manga. This story veers away from canon after that point.


Today's teachers' meeting was at its usual low. The air conditioner was broken, meaning there was nothing to fight off the sluggish gel of hot air that wiggled around them like a fat and disgusting worm. Even with the spacious room for the staff, fitting several adult bodies into one stiflingly humid cage increased the degree of temperature and the power of the heat upon them. Even the strictest of teachers could not keep up the farce of perfect attention, occasionally lulling off into a depressing state of exhaustion or trying vainly to fan him or herself with their papers.

Though the principal tried to appear cool and collected, it was now apparent from the slouching in his posture and the shaking of his hand as he pointed to the board (which had detailed new lesson plans) that he was beginning to feel the passive attacks of the summer air. Not even the whirling of the electric fans could lessen the burden. Its comforting sounds were now garbled into a peculiar language of gibberish that no one could hope to comprehend, or even want to.

There was one who still retained his positive aura, his younger years a major contrast between him and the older teachers. Suzuki-sensei, the gym teacher, had been excited for this meeting all year. They were planning the budget for new physical activities and maybe even a fund for financially-deprived children such as that Rinne-kun. He was determined to fight for the fund, so that maybe Rinne-kun could get a new track suit. He still recalled the look on Rinne-kun's face when he had discovered that he couldn't keep the old track suit that Suzuki-sensei had tried to give him.

In all honesty, that look now haunted him whenever he spotted the red-haired boy in the halls, so much so that he would run in the other direction once encountered him. But no more! Suzuki-sensei would solve all of this!

"...Alright, so we are now brought to the issue of school events. Once again, we will be having a sports festival later in the year..." The principal trailed off, for that news never changed and it was generally self-explanatory. He moved on to the next topic. "The student council has approached us, for about the fortieth time, about our school hosting a midnight masquerade dance in a month. Though we have told them time and time again that our school no longer hosts—"

"Wait, why not?" Suzuki-sensei demanded as all thoughts of a private fund gone from his mind as soon as a new altruistic mission came to mind. "There should be no problems with organizing such an event if we arrange the proper chaperones and security. I'll even chaperone!"

The principal looked up at him dully, while some of the female teachers seemed to be more awed by what he said. They were interested in seeing their students dressed up nicely in beautiful clothing. It would be a nice change of atmosphere. The other teachers looked as if they couldn't care less—they just wanted to be out of this room and take refuge in their air-conditioned homes.

"Suzuki-san," said the principal slowly, "the last time we tried to organize an event such as this...," he paused, as if wondering if it were safe for him to continue on with his words, "...someone died."

Worried murmurs broke out in the room. They all remembered the news articles, for they had been young children then. It had been a great scandal because the girl had been found, mutilated, in the school gym. As young dancers had entered the gym, they screamed to find the mangled corpse hanging from the disco ball up above, and blood dripping on the floor. The pictures were extremely graphic, and induced nightmares on many, even now.

"You don't honestly believe there's a curse, do you? It's been more than twenty years! We don't need to be superstitious that someone might die just because there's a dance," Suzuki-sensei waved it off. "You remember the results of the investigation, don't you? The police determined that she killed herself. No one murdered her. I doubt there are any murderers or ghosts at our school."

"Yes, Suzuki-san is right," a female teacher, Ogata-san stood up along with him, shining a great smile, "We should organize this dance! It'll create a great morale for the students, and in the night air, well; it won't be so darned hot now, will it?"

"We shouldn't be held back by pure superstition."

Enthusiastically, all of the other female teachers agreed with them, while the rest of the teachers just went along with it. The sooner they settled this matter, the better. Besides, Suzuki-sensei's logic made sense. There was nothing supernatural about a simple dance.

The principal, as he watched the unanimous vote for the dance to proceed, tried to suppress the shiver he felt in his stomach as the teachers began planning...

For a minute, he thought something else had been in the meeting room with them.

A Shinigami Ballad

-1- Frivolous Trivialities

When Sakura arrived at school, she did not see Rinne at his weather hutch, or in the classroom. His absence nagged at her, but she decided to keep the tugging feeling to herself. Perhaps he was just late, out putting another spirit to rest. Maybe he had a rough night and was sleeping in. Later, after school, Sakura decided she would check up on him.

The school day went by without a hint of the whereabouts of Rinne. Sakura copied her notes obediently, and listened to Tsubasa's ongoing chatter. He had apparently gotten some new exorcising equipment which he was convinced would prove that he was the better man than Rokudo, or something to that effect. She hid a smile whenever he said something rather amusing, not wanting to insult her childhood friend. Tsubasa, who had gleefully taken note of Rinne's absence, sat in his desk instead, taking great joy in lending Sakura his eraser, though she already one.

Her friends Miho and Rika had noticed Rinne's absence as well, and nudged Sakura with winks, asking if she was going to come over to Rinne's place to check up on him. As usual, Sakura didn't pay their insinuations much mind; after all, there was nothing romantic between Rinne and herself.

She went about her day in her usual carefree and calm daze, only breaking out of it once, in the middle of class, when she realized that she should be copying some notes for Rinne. The lessons had been somewhat complex today, and he would probably appreciate not having to copy the day's notes on his own if he was still exhausted from his latest exorcisms. Carefully, Sakura rewrote her notes during lunch with an excuse to her friends that she was busy doing an errand for a teacher. Every stroke of kanji, on the set of papers intended for Rinne, was legible and clear.

Sakura smiled to herself when she finished. It ended up taking more time than she thought, so Sakura only had the leisure of eating about half of her lunch. The girl didn't mind at all, for she hadn't had much appetite anyways. Besides, she knew that Rinne would appreciate the extra food she gave him.

It was when lunch ended and the bell rang, signalling the return to class, that Rinne showed up.

Nearly every student had sat down at their desks, when the sort-of shinigami inconspicuously stumbled into the room, breathing loudly as if he had been out of breath beforehand. In alarm, Sakura noted the drops of sweat dripping against the shinigami's tanned skin and his glazed red eyes. His normally shiny red hair seemed as dull and dreary as he looked. A number of their classmates began to whisper in light gossip, as they usually did when anything strange concerned the odd Rokudo-kun.

Immediately, Sakura walked up to him with a determined look. Rinne, holding himself up against the chalkboard, blinked warily at her before his face softened and he recognized her. It was clear that he was having difficulty with his vision. But as Sakura came closer than usual, and she reached out a hand, Rinne blinked in confusion about to protest when she checked his forehead. The shinigami's face coloured light pink (It must be a fever, thought Sakura in concern) as her tiny hand settled quickly against his warm skin and her violet eyes furrowed in worry.

"…Sakura Mamiya…?" His voice was raspy, as if he were having difficulty speaking. She took note of it, and looked at him again, this time memorizing the glaze in his eyes, and the indecipherable emotions in it. Once again, Rinne's breath hitched. Sakura frowned; her classmate and friend seemed to be having difficulty breathing.

He must be very sick! Sakura Mamiya concluded quietly. Why did he bother coming, anyways?

When Sakura removed her hand, she viewed the sweat on it and frowned at him, "Rokudo-kun, if you're feeling ill, you should go home right away. I'll bring your homework to you later. You don't need worry about missing more school—"

Though, when Sakura thought about it, Rinne had missed the first month of school at the beginning of the year. Maybe it wasn't school that he was worried about.

"—Sakura Mamiya," Rinne sounded disgruntled as he spoke to her, turning his head away with that usual thoughtful gaze directed to the floor. His face was definitely flushed light red. But Sakura couldn't recall a warm fever, maybe she should've checked again. "I'm fine. It's just the heat, that's all. The abandoned school building is smouldering in this season... I couldn't even get up this morning."

With his regretful tone, the sort-of shinigami succeeded in looking quite forlorn.

"Oh, well, you could borrow one of our old electric fans. I'll even give you some batteries. My mom and I don't use it anymore, since we live in a smaller house and the heat doesn't really bother us," Sakura suggested, brightening up considerably. She was relieved that the shinigami wasn't actually sick, just suffering from the mundane heat like everyone else.

Rinne nearly fell over in shock, his gratitude glowing like the rising sun, "Are you quite certain that you would be able to lend me one of those magnificent machines? I would understand if you changed your mind. It does get rather hot this season."

"Of course, I'm sure!" Sakura insisted. She couldn't just sit and let her friend suffer from the summer's heat, her mind reeled in worry just thinking of it. The black track suit Rinne wore all the time probably made it worse, as black was most absorbent of heat. "Come on, let's go sit down."

Together they made their way to their respective seats with Rinne thanking Sakura repeatedly along the way in different variations. He was practically skipping with a rare joy that Sakura was sad to say, didn't happen unless he was blessed with, what he called, a luxury. But his happiness was infectious, and Sakura found herself smiling calmly along with him.

"You don't know how much this means to me, Sakura Mamiya. You are truly a wonderful woman, I offer you my greatest and more sincere thanks," Rinne paused, and then looked away his cheeks becoming slightly pink as he realized he was rambling.

"It really isn't any trouble," Sakura assured him. "It was the least I could do."

"Ah… but it must be," Rinne reminisced quietly, most likely thinking of his past. Sometimes Sakura wanted to just put a hand on his shoulder and tell him it would be ok… But her classmate was so aloof and often blasé that Sakura doubted it would be the right course of action to take. There was so much she still didn't know about him, and Sakura doubted he would ever open up to her—a rather insignificant part of his life.

"I wish I could repay you somehow, Sakura Mamiya…," said the sort-of shinigami in a whisper.

Sakura blinked, interrupted from her musings. She looked at Rinne to see if he was talking to her, but his gaze was fixated to the teacher up front, who was now standing up to begin the day's lesson. It seemed that he hadn't said anything after all—it must've been her imagination again.

Behind them, Tsubasa glared daggers at Rinne's head. I saw you two talking! You won't win the war for Mamiya-san's heart, Rokudo! I swear it!

"Does he realize that he's speaking out loud?" whispered one of the boys beside him to the other.

"Nope. He's kind of an idiot, so I doubt that," the other shook his head. "Poor guy."

"May I ask for your attention, class?" said their teacher Ogata-san. She was their Mathematics teacher and fairly younger than most of the staff at the school. Many upperclassmen had small crushes on her, for she was very kind, with long brownish black hair and soft chocolate eyes. Rumour had it that she fancied Suzuki-sensei, but it was yet to be confirmed.

The mild chatter and gossip which had been echoing through the mouths and ears of the teenaged students dyed down to an attentive quiet. All pairs of eyes turned to the Mathematics teachers with a few exceptions that were looking out the window to the school yard below. Satisfied with the quiet, Ogata-sensei dusted off her plaid skirt and fixed the collar on her white dress-shirt.

"I have an important announcement for you, which I can guess, will especially thrill the female population of the class," Ogata-sensei winked at them. "The teachers and school board have finally approved the student council's request for a formal dance to be held in approximately one month's time."

She paused for effect—smiling widely when the entire class seemed to burst into excited chatter. Girls were now fussing over what they would wear, what to buy and when, their make-up and what boy to ask to the dance. The more popular males smirked, knowing that they'd be able to find a date and look good while doing it. Some boys were looking shyly at their crushes, wondering if they should swallow their pride and just ask.

If one paid attention, they would see that a certain exorcist was staring dreamily at the ceiling, caught up in a fantasy involving a fairy tale waltz between himself and his Mamiya-san. In his daydream, they were laughing and having a good time, while Tsubasa remained sauvé, cool and princely. God thank the student council, thought Tsubasa.

Everyone seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea—except for a certain pair. Sakura seemed entirely indifferent to the whole affair. The idea of a dance intrigued her a little bit, but in the end, Sakura didn't care too much for it. Dancing was fun and all, so was dressing up, but Sakura didn't think this merited so much uproar and excitement. Was it really necessary to go to so much trouble?

Looking for another opinion, Sakura snuck a glance at her seating partner.

Rinne had gone entirely pale.

Sakura's eyes widened, scenarios of how much a tuxedo, flowers, shoes, a ticket and food would cost for such an event. No wonder her classmate seemed like the world had ended! Imagine how much it would take from his wallet if the event was mandatory!

"Rokudo-kun…," Sakura whispered quietly, "it'll be alright. Don't worry… I'm sure we can explain the situation…"

He snapped out of his depressive state, locked eyes with hers and then nodded slowly. "Thank you, Sakura Mamiya. You're correct."

She flashed him an encouraging smile, and then turned her attention to the teacher once more.

"The theme of the dance is a midnight masquerade. The dance will take place outside and in the school auditorium. There will be teacher chaperones, so please refrain from coming to the dance drunk or we will kick you off the premises. There will be a breathalyser and security to prevent any smuggling of drugs or alcohol. We expect you to be on your best behaviour during the dance, and masks are a requirement after security checks. It will be a formal dance, so ladies, feel free to dress as extravagantly as you feel! Gentlemen, dress sharp and treat your date as if she were a princess for that evening! The dance will last till an hour after midnight. At midnight there will be fireworks and a special surprise…," Ogata-sensei smiled at them. "Tickets will go on sale next week. They will be six thousand five hundred yen each—"

A loud choking sound could be heard as Rinne fell over in his seat at the sound of the price. His head would've hit the floor in an awful splat if it weren't for the fact that Sakura's desk was so close to his. Instead, Rinne's head ended up landing on Sakura's lap, as the sort-of shinigami's body gave light twitches. He was crying tears of blood again.

"Six… thousand… five hundred… yen…," Rinne mumbled—delusional—as his hands made uncontrolled spasms. His nose and face dug into Sakura's stomach, as if trying to hide from the world.

"Rokudo-kun! Are you alright?" Ogata-sensei asked in alarm, while many students stood up to try and get a look at the scene.

"AH! Rokudo! You're defiling Mamiya-san with your presence! I demand you get off of her this instant!" Tsubasa yelled indignantly, while shouting more obscenities about Sakura's innocence. He reached for his sacred ashes instinctively—causing the collective student population in the class to cringe, for they had been witness to Tsubasa's unprovoked attacks of ashes many times before. It wasn't fun.

"No, Tsubasa-kun," Sakura put up a hand to stop him. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it," she told him reassuringly when he asked her if she was sure. Then Sakura looked apologetically to the teacher, "I'm sorry, sensei… but it seems Rokudo-kun is feeling sick today. May I take him to the infirmary?"

"Yes, yes, of course. You have my permission to stay with him for the rest of the period too. I'll send up one of your classmates to inform you of what you've missed, later," said Ogata-sensei, looking quite worried.

"Thank you very much, sensei," Sakura bowed politely.

Then, she propped Rinne against her shoulder and moved with the shocked sort-of shinigami out of the classroom.

("Wait!" Tsubasa had shouted then, "Let me come with them!"

"Jumonji-san, please sit down and take down your notes on Trigonometry," Ogata-sensei responded blandly.

"Poor guy… I feel for you, man," said another random classmate.

Tsubasa pouted for the entire period, like a sulking puppy.)


"He doesn't seem to have a temperature. It must just be shock, as you said, then," said the school nurse, Hiromu-sensei. She smiled sympathetically at Sakura, who was sitting patiently at Rinne's bedside. "Your friend just needs some rest and relaxation. Maybe you should take him home early."

"Yes, I'll tell him that when he wakes up," Sakura nodded, her brows still creased in obvious concern. "Thank you very much for your help, Hiromu-sensei."

The school nurse moved and drew the curtains, thinking of how cute it was to see a young couple being so attentive to each other's health. The curtains would give them some privacy, Hiromu-sensei thought with a devious smirk. "Ah, teenaged romance," she sung to herself as she skipped away to help another ill student.

Sakura sighed, leaning her elbows against the edge of the soft mattress, to stare quietly at the pale face of her friend. His eyes were wide, as if he couldn't see her. In his shock, he had not been very receptive to anything that Sakura had said to him, and it worried her greatly.

"…Rokudo-kun…," she murmured, rubbing circles on his hand.

She hadn't really thought about it, as she placed her two palms around Rinne's shaking one and tried to soothe him with her gentle touch. She recalled her mother and father doing this for her when she felt scared or alone, sick or injured. They would hold her hand, rub comforting circles against her skin and hum a gentle song.

For Sakura, this came as naturally as taking breath. The song, a lullaby she remembered from her grandmother's house, flowed out as soft as a lulling wave of the sea and tranquil as a sleep against a hammock. It was just a comforting and soothing melody, which beckoned the listeners into its world of soft calm and untroubled skies.

Several minutes of humming later, with Sakura lost to the calm movements of her hands, Rinne's hand squeezed hers tightly, and she found that red eyes were staring at her intently.

"Ah…," Sakura dropped her hands away, ignoring the odd quirk in her stomach as she did so and the frown on Rinne's lips. "Rokudo-kun. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, much better. Thank you for taking me to the infirmary," he told her politely.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura told him, "You don't need to be so formal around me. We're friends."

"…if you say so," he smiled—for they had been over this many times.

"So what are you going to do about the dance?" Sakura asked him. He smiled in relief when she didn't mention his fainting spell. "It's a lot of money for a ticket, and even more for a tuxedo."

"I'm not going," Rinne said adamantly.

Sakura laughed at his answer.

Rinne frowned, "Why are you laughing?"

"Ah, sorry. It's just the very answer I would expect from you," Sakura smiled, good-naturedly.

He looked away from her. "…Are you going to the dance with anybody?"

The girl blinked at him. "No—"The shinigami's posture seemed to strengthen from this answer. "—not unless someone asks me."

Instantly, his posture slumped.

She noticed.

"Rokudo-kun… are you… upset…?"

"No," he answered briskly, "of course not. I'm not interested in these events. They're just frivolous trivialities compared to staying alive."

That answer was uncharacteristically cold of him. Sakura leaned in closer, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Sakura Mamiya," he paused, as if deliberating if he should say something or not. And then, after Sakura gave him a small encouraging smile, he opened his mouth and—

The curtains were flung open with such force that the curtain rack fell over on top of Rinne and then Sakura was engulfed in a blanket of curtain.

"Alright, Mamiya-san, don't worry, I'm here!" Tsubasa declared boldly, hands in the air.

He blinked as soon as he realized what he had done, watching as a simmering Rinne glared at him from under the curtain rack.

"Wow, Rokudo. What happened to you?"


They walked out of school together as always, parting when Rinne needed to return to the abandoned school building. Waiting patiently by the weather hutch was a certain black cat who jumped into Sakura's arms with joy.

"Sakura-sama, how are you?" Rokumon chirped, purring as she stoked his shiny black fur.

"I'm fine, thank you," Sakura grinned at him.

"I heard about the electric fan! That is very generous of you, Sakura-sama. Rinne-sama is so lucky to have you as his companion," Rokumon said dramatically.

"Oy, don't going around saying stuff like that," Rinne muttered at him.

"Electric fan?" Tsubasa frowned, his Rinne-and-Sakura-must-be-getting-closer radar running again, "What fan? What's he talking about?"

"Oh, I'm lending it to Rokudo-kun and Rokumon-chan to cool down their room," said Sakura. "We wouldn't want them to get seriously ill."

"No… of course not…," Tsubasa agreed grudgingly, while glowering at the nonchalant Rinne.

I know you're up to something! But you won't win, I'll ask her first!

"Aw! Sakura-sama, only someone who cares about my master so much would say that," Rokumon grinned at Tsubasa.

Rinne chose that moment to look very interested in a blade of grass as Tsubasa spluttered in jealous rage. Darn you Rokudo! He thought.

"Anything new?" Sakura asked Rinne as he checked the weather hutch.

He shook his head, "Not really."

"Oh, that reminds me! I wasn't feeling too hungry today, so I didn't eat my lunch. I thought you might like it," Sakura pulled out a bento box and a stack of notes, "and this is the homework that I missed."

Rinne's face became touched once more, his indifferent mask melting into gratitude. "Sakura Mamiya… you didn't have to…"

"Ah… like I said… it isn't any trouble."

"Alright then! Let's go home, Mamiya-san," Tsubasa cut in between them. "I wanted to walk you there… and ask a very important question."

"Oh, yes. Of course," Sakura nodded while Rinne's eyes narrowed at Tsubasa's smug figure. "Bye Rokumon-chan, Rokudo-kun!"

They walked away.

Rokumon jumped on to Rinne's shoulder, a paw on his lips, "You don't think that he'll take Sakura-sama away from you, do you?"

Rinne was indifferent again, clutching the bento box and stack of notes in his hands tightly, "…It's not my business. Besides, what Sakura Mamiya does in her spare time, is not business of mine. Let's go back to the building, Rokumon."

"Hm…," Rokumon gave a sly smirk. "…If you insist, Rinne-sama. But don't blame me if Jumonji and Sakura-sama get attacked by a rapist on the way there and the rapist kills Jumonji and then kidnaps Sakura Mamiya…"

"On second thought, let's go patrolling for lone spirits, Rokumon," his master turned abruptly, putting on his haori of the underworld.

Rokumon silently chuckled to himself.

His master was so easy to manipulate.


"What is it you wanted to ask me, Tsubasa-kun?"

The exorcist jumped slightly, feeling a bit shy. Butterflies flew around in his stomach and his hands were beginning to get sweaty.

You can do this… you can do this… He told himself.

"Mamiya-san… you know about the dance… right?" He kicked himself mentally. Of course she knew about the dance! She was there when Ogata-sensei announced it! "Uh… I was wondering… if you… would come… with me… to the dance, that is."

Sakura stopped in her tracks.

He gulped and repeated himself, sounding more confident. "Please come to the dance with me, Mamiya-san. I promise, you won't regret it."

On a roof across from them, Rinne fell promptly into the bushes.

"Ah! Rinne-sama!" Rokumon cried from above.

"Rokudo-kun?" Sakura and Tsubasa both turned around.

Well, this would be interesting.


Within the school, as teachers and students conversed more and more about the dance… a certain sleeping figure stirred from her many decades long slumber.

"Did someone say… 'dance'?"

Green orbs flickered eerily in the shadows of the school gym.

-End Chapter 1-

Ms. Notebook: Another multi-chaptered Rin-ne/Kyokai No Rinne story! This one should be interesting. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Please note that Ogata-sensei and Hiromu-sensei are original characters, inserted in to make the story more plausible.