Chapter Two:

The impromptu kiss did not last long, yet it seemed to convey the message loud and clear once Yukio pulled away from Adelyne.

"I missed you too," she said with a smile on her face, blushing slightly from the sudden display of affection.

For a rare moment, Yukio smiled in return. "What are you doing here? Obviously not exorcist business," he said, ushering her back towards the bench that she had been previously sitting on.

"Says who? Mephisto needed someone to teach the exwires about shields. I didn't like my boarding school in France, so I put in a transfer request."

"And the Vatican approved this?"

"I'm here aren't I?"

Yukio couldn't believe it. Either his luck was beginning to change or Mephisto was plotting something. But whatever it was, he'd accept it – for now at least.

Adelyne – his Addie – had found a way back to him. Just like they had done time and time again…

…8 years ago…

Yukio listened to the hushed whispers all around him.

Father Fujimoto had been called to a secluded residence outside of Tokyo. Since he had just begun his exorcist training, Fujimoto had decided that Yukio should be brought along on this mission – simply because of the nature of the victim involved.

Yet as soon as they had arrived at the house, Fujimoto was ushered into a study, leaving Yukio to sit in the hallway by himself. From his perch on the chair, Yukio could hear various pieces of the conversation that was taking place behind closed doors.

'…Illuminati…burns…sacrifice…fallen…'

Those were the only words he could catch before something else caught his attention. Down the hallway from where he was sitting came a tiny whimper – much like a child's. Making sure that his father and whomever he was talking to were still secluded, Yukio slowly and quietly got up from the chair that he was sitting in and made his way towards the whimpering, which seemed to be coming from the third room down the hallway, where the door was slightly ajar.

Peering through the crack in the doorway, Yukio could see a small figure curled up tightly in a bed, whimpering. All around the figure, coal tars bobbed up and down – yet none physically bothering whomever was on the bed.

"These coal tars aren't going to bother you," Yukio calmly said, moving into the room once he noticed that the coal tars had the green eyes and not the menacing purple ones. "The dust probably caused them to appear."

The whimpering figure slowly turned towards him in the bed. Bright blue eyes that belonged to a girl starred back at him. "You can see them too?" she whispered.

Yukio nodded as he moved closer to the bed, flicking a coal tar away as he walked. "I've been able to see them all my life."

He watched as a fresh set of tears began to weld up in the eyes of the girl. "I've only started to see them," she whispered.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I just turned 8," she answered. "You?"

"I'm almost 8." Yukio said as he sat in the chair that was next to the girl's bed. "I'm Yukio. What's your name?"

"My name is Adelyne," she said, sitting up in the bed. "But mama called me Addie…"

Fresh tears finally began to roll down Addie's cheeks as she sniffled and wiped them away. Feeling the need to comfort her, Yukio reached out and took ahold of one of her hands that were now resting on the comforter of the bed. Addie looked up at him in surprise. He simply smiled. "Don't worry. Father Fujimoto is the best exorcist! He can take care of all of these coal tars instantly!" Yukio said, reassuringly.

Addie didn't say anything as she returned his smile. That was when Yukio felt a rush of warmth travel down his arm and throughout his body. He noticed at the same time all the coal tars in the room suddenly vanished. What had just happened?

"Thank you," she softly whispered, before he noticed that her eyes were getting heavy with sleep.

He dropped her hand and watched as she settled back down against the pillow and closed her eyes. Within mere seconds she was fast asleep.

Yukio sat there, in puzzlement for a moment longer, before Father Fujimoto appeared in the doorway, flanked by a taller man with long blond hair. "I see she finally let herself go," the taller man said. "Good. She needed to release her pent up energy."

"Has she been given much training?" Fujimoto asked, turning to look at the taller man.

"It has just begun. I was hoping that you would train her to become an exorcist at the same time. Then she can choose which path to follow later in life and hopefully shewill not turn out like her father."

"That I can do. Will you still provide her with guidance?"

"As often as I can," the tall man answered.

Yukio watched as Father Fujimoto moved into the room and easily scooped the sleeping form of Addie into his arms before turning to leave. "Come Yukio. We must hurry."

Without saying a word, Yukio followed his father's figure out of the house and into the darkness. Yet taking one quick look back at the secluded house, he swore that the tall man who they had met there disappeared in a flash of light.

What on Earth was going on?

Yukio absent mindedly tapped his pencil against the notepad as he listened to his teacher lecture the class, yet his eyes were immediately drawn to the back of Addie's head from her position in the front row. His mind had trailed off as he thought about
the first time he and Addie met. It had definitely been one of his more memorable nights learning to become an exorcist. And now here they both were – full-fledged exorcists.

After that night, Addie had taken up residence at a local girl's home that was connected through church services to the monastery where he and Rin grew up. Not only was that easier for exorcist training but also for attending lower grades and junior high
school. While they each had formed their own group of friends through school when they were growing up, they always seemed to feel at ease with each other. Perhaps that was why they made excellent partners during missions for the Vatican. Yet nothing
lasts forever and with mounting pressure from her guardian, Addie had decided that for high school she was going to return to her father's native land of France instead of attending True Cross Academy with Yukio since her mother was from Japan.

It had been less than a year ago when that decision had been made. And now things were reversed and she was back in Japan and even teaching like he was. Perhaps now they could finally have the relationship both of them craved for, but were too hesitant
to move on until it had been too late.

Hopefully.

But there still was the issue with his eye. What if his true demon form finally emerged after lying dormant for so long? Even though Addie knew about his past, he worried that it might catch up with him someday.

What would happen then? Would Addie follow suit if he took the path of darkness? He'd like to think that he would always stay on the side of thelight, but even he knew that the boundary was often blurred.

Yet all of this was neither here nor there. Instead he should be focusing on making sure that Rin and his fellow exwires were ready for their upcoming exorcist exams.

AN: I know that I didn't reveal much about Addie – but I will over time! Happy reading!