Disclaimer: I own only Fujiwara Yurin. Katou Kazue-sensei owns Ao no Exorcist.
Reviews: A small thanks to all the previous reviews!
Suicide Forest - I'm glad you loved it! I will try to update as soon as I can!
Author's Note:
This fanfiction was written back when the author (I) had yet to catch up with the manga, and had only watched the anime, therefore the actual timeline of this story is very unsure. A simple way to put is by saying: "It's based on the anime, but episode 22 to 25 are counted as null."
To sum up everything: this story takes place a year later after Rin has enrolled into the Academy, erasing everything that happened after episode 21 of the anime. I'm really sorry about this, it means that I will be trashing all the character development in the manga but I will try my best.
Enjoy yourselves!
2. Friends in a new world
Class ended quickly without anything big happening, only Rin and Suguro's constant bickering. It was a wonder how they could argue that much and not get tired, and apparently it was something that happened always so Yurin made a mental note to just stay out of it.
Naturally everyone went to change into their uniforms, for them right now it was like a small lunch break in between two hours of lessons.
Yurin found herself wondering around the school grounds, she had waited for the other two girls to change before changing, as a result she had no idea where she was supposed to go.
"Izumo-chan! Why don't you eat with us?" she heard someone shout. The voice sounded awfully familiar.
"Why the hell should I eat with you guys?! Stop asking me already!" was the irritated reply.
'Wait, those are.. Shima-san and Kamiki-san!' Yurin concluded as she was now able to see them too.
Not far from where Shima and Izumo were arguing was the rest of the class, minus Shiemi and Takara, whose name she found out later through the weird puppet on his hand, sitting under the shade of a tree eating lunch.
"You're your usual sweet self today too, Izumo-chan!" Shima cheered happily, trying to hug the girl but ending up on the ground when the girl avoided the attack.
"How many times does he repeat that?" she heard Konekomaru mumble.
"I don't call him an optimist, but a masochist." Suguro added. Everyone laughed at that, even the brunette couldn't help but chuckle.
Yurin walked closer to the group, meanwhile Izumo walked away when she saw her chance. She practically ran for it.
"You guys are really strange," she involuntarily said out loud.
Heads turned in her direction and eyes stared at her. The sudden pressure on her was almost unbearable, and she felt like running away as fast as she could but, instead, stayed rooted to the place and waited for them to say something.
"If it isn't the new girl, Yurin-chan!" exclaimed Shima, immediately standing next to her while putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Shima-san?" the girl asked confused, looking at him. She was not a fan of skinship.
"Why don't we go out on a date?" he asked, a grin on his face.
"No, thank you."
The answer was short, flat and enough to crush Shima's hopes of ever having a date, this was the 51st girl who rejected his offer. He was beginning to think he was better off becoming a monk... Thinking carefully, that's what he should have been doing from the beginning.
Everyone laughed, some more openly than others. The fact that she seemed a bit naïve was not going to help Shima get to her.
Yurin was about to apologize, thinking she had said something rude but stopped when her stomach growled in hunger. It was loud and ferocious, it demanded food and immediately.
'Now that I think about it, I didn't eat breakfast this morning,' she thought, rubbing her growling belly.
"Want some?" offered Rin, holding out his lunch box. It had been carefully prepared by the boy himself the night before. The content was simple: white rice, rolled fried eggs, fried chicken, octopus-shaped wieners, and salad.
Yurin didn't think twice about it and answered, "Thank you!" She sat next to him, all the while beaming cheerfully.
The dark haired boy took out from his bag a fork and gave it to her, which she took without hesitation.
"So you were a nice guy in reality..." she mumbled, always loud enough for everyone to hear. She had this really bad habit of talking before thinking, and it always brought her problems.
"What? Did you think I was some delinquent, mean guy?!" Rin shouted angrily, moving the lunch box closer to himself.
"I never said that and... I was about to start eating!"
Yurin scouted closer to the boy, so she could try to steal some food but the guy, in response, held the box away from her reach. It became a very interesting game of cat and mouse.
"I'm a very nice guy, ya know!?" the boy argued, looking for the first time into the girl's eyes. They were a strange teal color. 'The color... it's like the sea,' he thought, but quickly dismissed it, they were just eyes.
The two didn't realize but they had somehow ended in a very awkward position, with Yurin sitting in between Rin's legs while trying to reach with her hand the lunch box the boy was holding as far away as he could.
"Ahem!" Suguro cleared his throat, trying to snap the two back to the world of the living. Everyone else had decided to ignore the sight.
The two turned towards him at the same time. "Something wrong?" they asked in perfect synch.
"The position you are in," he answered irritated, pointing at them.
Rin and Yurin looked at themselves to see in what kind of position they had ended up in during their fight. Seconds later, they came apart as they realized how embarrassing it was, now they sat quiet far from each other.
Shima laughed and so did Konekomaru, in a more reserved way, while Suguro sighed, he couldn't even eat in peace.
"Here, you can have it," Rin offered, passing the box to the brunette, still not daring to look at her.
The girl smiled and accepted the food. She mumbled a small 'thanks' before digging in. Her eyes brightened with the first bite.
"What's this? Super good!" she exclaimed, forgetting all formalities, a blissful smile painted her face.
The chef blushed at the compliment and smiled bashfully, he wasn't very used to being complimented, especially by girls, it was his secret fantasy though. "That's good," he mumbled, scratching his cheek with a sheepish grin.
Shima tried to steal some food but the brunette didn't let him, she defended her lunch as if it were a precious treasure.
All in all, they were getting along just fine and Yurin was glad for that. She never thought she would be able to fit in right away but, seeing how things were going, she was glad to be part of the class.
A while later and the bell rang, signaling the end of their small lunch break and the beginning of whatever activity the normal course students had.
Fortunately the next period was also the last, the cram school students could finally return to the dorms and relax, or study more. The subject was demon studies, fairly simply, if you studied.
"Which is one of the most docile demons under the domain of Amaimon, the King of Earth?" asked the teacher.
Looking up from his book, he scanned the classroom for someone to answer his easy question, until his eyes fell on one student and he glared full-force at him, it was none other than Okumura Rin!
"OKUMURA!" he shouted angrily, banging his book on the desk.
"Huh?!" gasped Rin startled, he was dreaming of being an Exorcist and going on cool missions. Unfortunately he didn't know that, if he continued like that, it would really just remain a dream.
Yurin sighed, she couldn't believe he wanted to become an Exorcist with that attitude. She could give him points for begin a good cook, but subtract a hundred for being a horrible student. She mentally slapped herself for judging the boy once again without fully knowing him.
She raised her hand to answer the question, but didn't wait to be called on to answer, "It's Greenman. They are of different sizes but most of the time they are small. Among demons, they are known to be the most friendly."
"Correct. Now..." the teacher said and restarted his lesson. There were a lot of smartass students in the class, adding another one to the bunch made his job less enjoyable, he couldn't pick on the deadlast.
Rin sighed in relief, he had been saved again. He pulled his fringe back and clipped it with clips.
"You should be paying attention in class," the brunette whispered to him, going back to taking notes in her notebook. "You cannot expect someone to save you every time."
"I only closed my eyes for a second," the boy mumbled back with an angry pout.
"Sure."
Time passed fast and class was already finished, everyone was free to go wherever they wanted to go now. Obviously most of them chose to return to the dorms, it wasn't like they had anywhere else to go.
"Bon, let's go somewhere!" Shima proposed enthusiastically.
"I have to study for tomorrow's test," Suguro replied, passing past him and out the door.
Konekomaru followed him, he too ignoring everything the pink haired boy was saying. He resembled the Buddha, reflecting away negativity. Negativity being everything the pinkette said.
Shima sighed and followed after them, still trying to convince them ‒in vain‒ to go hang out somewhere.
'They must be close friends,' Yurin concluded, staring at them as they went ahead.
"F-Fujiwara-san," called a timid voice behind the brunette, almost startling the girl. When was the last time that someone had successfully sneaked behind her back without her noticing?
Turning around, she saw the very shy Moriyama Shiemi, whom she hadn't seen during lunch break.
"Shiemi-san, is something wrong?" she asked in a gentle tone, trying to once again reassure the girl that she was not going to bite her.
The blonde shook her head a couple of times before she stared intensely at the brunette, thing which made the girl being stared at nervous.
"D-d-do y-you... doyouwanttobefriends?!" Shiemi said, the last part so fast that the other wasn't so sure she heard it right, even though she took a lot of pride in her sharp hears.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you asked if I wanted to be friends with you?" asked Yurin, making sure she heard it correctly.
A shy nod was her only answer, but it was enough to make the message go across. "Alright! I never had any friends."
'Not human at least,' she added mentally, remembering precious childhood memories of wild outings.
Shiemi smiled happily, she took the other girl's hands into hers and held them tightly, as if doing so would make the brunette understand how much it meant to her. "F-from now on, we will be the b-best of friends... Yurin-chan!" she exclaimed happily.
Yurin could only smile at her as they walked together out of the classroom, the girl radiating happiness in the form of small colorful flowers. 'Flowers? It does suit her, but... Am I goin' crazy?' the brunette wondered, blinking her eyes.
"Ne, Yurin-chan, do you live in the dorms?" Shiemi asked, walking next to her new friend.
"Yes, I've been placed in the old boys' dormitory..." the girl explained, reading her schedule, which stated where she would be staying from then on. "Eh? Boys? Why?"
"That's where Rin and Yuki-chan live!"
The brunette stopped and looked at the blonde, they were already outside and under the setting sun. Her confused face was made more dramatic due to the game of light and shadow the sun was playing on her face.
"Yuki-chan? Wait... Could it be Okumura-sensei?" she asked, hoping she was not wrong.
Shiemi nodded as if it was an obvious answer, which it kind of was but wasn't at the same time.
"And they both live in the old dormitory?"
The blonde nodded once again, her smile widening the slightest bit.
'Why's such a thing happening? Is Mephisto behind this?' Yurin wondered, trying to figure out in what kind of situation she had gotten herself into when she had agreed to coming to this school. 'Aunt was right, that man's dangerous and... strange.'
The two friends chatted all the way to the old dorm, talking about random things, such as things they like or what they like to do in their free time. Private things had yet to come out but it was surely because one of them was trying to keep them from coming up.
"I just noticed something. You and Rin are very alike," Shiemi commented as they stopped in front of the dorm's entrance.
"How so?" Yurin asked confused, her face the portrait of confusion.
"Well, your personalities are similar, you seem a little aloof but in reality you are really friendly and open. Also, think about your name! It has the same ring!"
'That's right... Coincidences are always so funny,' the brunette girl thought, smiling a little bit at the discovery.
"But I am not a good cook!" Yurin suddenly exclaimed, pointing out one of the biggest differences between them. She was going to add that she was better at studying, but refrained as it would indirectly offend the boy.
"Then Rin will be the one cooking for the two of you. You help him study and he cooks you food," the blonde joked but she didn't know that the other took her joke quite seriously.
Yurin smiled to herself, 'Food in exchange of something as simple as studying. It could work," the girl concluded. She didn't have to worry about dying of hunger, or having to eat disgusting food.
"Yurin-chan?" questioned Shiemi confused, why was the girl smiling evilly to herself? She really was like Rin.
"Shiemi?" asked someone from behind them, causing the girls to turn around at the same time.