Author's Note: Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, please R&R since this is my first story! Feedback is so welcome! Feel free to message me if you have any suggestions on improvement!
'Thoughts'
Ambience
"Dialogue"
Dreams
"Dream Dialogue"
Sera slipped off her short sleeveless top and black pants replacing them with a sports bra and shorts. The bed was ice cold, but she barely noticed, her mind was racing too much. She ran her hand along her collection of necklaces and her fingers rested on the small bone on the very first necklace. Normally this bone was hidden under her clothes or other jewelry. Her fingers traced the lines and cracks in the bone, her last memento of her youngest sister- or that's what Lord Astaroth told her when she first asked. The lost sister. Sera could barely remember her sister's name and face now. Sera sighed and let the bone go, resigning to sleep.
Messy brown hair soaked in dirt and sweat.
Scared sapphire eyes tremble, filling with tears.
"Sister, what...what are you doing?!"
A little girl, no older than five stares up at a figure cloaked in darkness.
The figure laughs evilly and turns to face the little girl as black hair whips around in the hot wind.
Hungry violet eyes reflect the scared little girl as she cries out while hands covered in rings begin to be covered in fresh blood. The screaming becomes more desperate as the little girl cries out.
"Sister, please stop! This isn't you! Stop please-"
The cries are cut short by a burst of black rotten smoke and vile laughter flooding the area.
"Now take the power! Grow stronger!" A deep voice boomed into her skull. Slamming into her harder than the nails in her sister's coffin.
"No...no! It wasn't me! No! No-"
"Hey! Hey, Sera wake up!"
Sera cracked her eyes open and jumped back a bit when she saw Rin holding onto her shoulders.
She rubbed her eyes and tried to disguise the tears that were running down her face.
'I hope he didn't know I was crying. Damn nightmares, the one memory I want to escape is the one I always see at night.'
"Are you okay, Sera? Sounded like a horrible nightmare."
Rin kneeled next to her bed, his bright blue eyes filled with concern.
Sera stayed silent, not because she didn't want to answer, more because she was still trying to control her breaths and didn't know how her voice would have sounded.
"I heard you screaming and came as fast as I could. Do you need me to get you anything?"
"I'm fine… thanks though."
Rin rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at her.
"I'll go get you some breakfast then we can head to class. How does that sound?"
"That sounds great… thanks."
Sera weakly smiled at Rin and watched him as he left.
'So he is genuinely sweet. How Yukio and he are related is beyond me, they seem like two completely different people.'
Sera jumped out of bed and rushed through a shower to erase any trace of the nightmare.
'I haven't thought of my little sister in so long… but I know I could never hurt her. I loved her. I protected her. That's what big sisters do. I wasn't me...it can't be me…'
She repeated those last few words to herself over and over again. They had to be true, if she said them enough they had to be. She stared at her reflection in the floor-length mirror. Sera fixed the short skirt and the shirt a bit, sighing. It was such a change from her normal all black attire, though the skirt looked really good against her skin.
"Hey, if you're ready-"
Rin's voice stopped suddenly when he saw Sera in the uniform.
'She looks pretty good in that. Kinda cute actually.'
Sera turned as Rin shook the blush off his face.
"Oh Rin, I didn't see you there. Mmm that food smells amazing!"
She grabbed his arm and headed downstairs eager to start her day and get her mind off the horrendous nightmare.
Rin slid up next to Sera who was nose deep in a tattered notebook. Every so often she would quickly write something in the margins then go back to reading. She looked so invested in those notes, like nothing else existed around her, like they were her life's work or something. Rin cleared his throat twice before she snapped out of her trance and glanced up at him with a shy smile.
"Soooo, you said you would tell me about your rings. They are really nice."
"Oh thanks, they are, well, family heirlooms. Each ring is passed down through the family, the design is based off what their job in the clan was."
'Or so I've heard...'
Rin looked genuinely curious as he poked each the rings carefully examining the details.
"Who did this ring belong to?" He asked as he pointed to a slender gold band with silver lines intertwining on the top.
"My little sister…"
Rin looked into Sera's downcast eyes picking up on the sadness in her voice.
"Oh I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"No, no it's okay. I've never told anyone about my rings before."
'It wouldn't hurt to tell him. he doesn't seem the type to use that information against me, he honestly doesn't seem like a dangerous type at all.'
"Her ring was made to be small and delicate, just like she was. She was always happy and eager to learn new things, so thats why there are silver lines intertwining. Against all my other rings, it's pretty basic, but it's my favorite. I miss her everyday, but I know that she is still happy out there."
Rin smiled softly feeling special to hear this privileged information. He stood up to change seats, but Yukio walked in and he quickly sat back down.
"Good morning class, we will be starting shortly, please get your books out. Oh, and welcome our new student Sera Kanemoto. Let's get started quickly though, we have a lot to do."
Sera looked at Rin shocked, she tried to keep her jaw shut and off the floor.
"He is the youngest exorcist, your twin brother, and our teacher?"
"Yep."
"Well I'll be damned."
"You're here aren't you?"
Sera couldn't help but laugh, though it quickly died when Yukio glared at her.
"He's kinda scary when he is in teacher mode." Sera whispered under her breath.
Rin nodded, trying to stay under his brother's radar.
Sera glanced around the room at the other students. A girl with purple pigtails and the funkiest eyebrows ever, they honestly looked like little dots on her face, and that scowl seemed permanently etched into her face, was sitting next to a plain looking brunette who was watching a blonde girl wearing a kimono.
'Who in their right mind is wearing a kimono to class in this weather? or at all? Didn't they go out of fashion like back in feudal era?'
Then in the back was a hooded kid playing video games on a handheld and a very creepy and unsettling ventriloquist whose bunny puppet was almost staring through Sera's soul- or lack there of. Finally, a group of three boys, one with faded pink hair, a nearly bald kid with glasses, and the punk wannabe with a blond and brown faux-hawk huddled on the far side of the room, the punk wannabe had a disapproving look that if looks really could kill, Rin may as well have been dead four times over. Not many in this class she would normally associate with. Sera sighed and leaned into her hand zoning out for a moment.
'Mephisto was right… this is the worst punishment ever.'
Sera focused back into reality as Yukio droned on about treating wounds with this and that. Her eyes lingered over to Rin who seemed to be in his own world. His bangs were lazily laying in his face as his eyes sparkled during his apparent daydream, Sera felt a small heat in her cheeks. She couldn't resist it, this kid seemed so damn happy in his own world that it was kinda cute.
'What's he thinking about?'
"Mmm...sukiyaki." He muttered in a trancelike state.
'Well, there's my answer.'
Sera focused back on her book still open to the page about Satan and the Blue Night. She felt Rin glance over once or twice (when he wasn't daydreaming about sukiyaki) and stare at the page. She just shrugged and zoned back out waiting for the bell. She swore she wasn't claustrophobic, but this classroom felt like it was getting smaller with each damn page Yukio turned. Plus the stares she was getting from the group of boys across the room wasn't helping.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Finally!"
Sera grabbed her bag and rushed out of class accidently leaving her notebook on the table. Her footsteps echoed down the hall as she rushed out to the main yard by the fountain. Once outside, Sera took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt the sunshine on her skin. All of the jitters and awkwardness she felt in class melted away in the sunlight.
"Freedom from Hell!" Sera cheered as she sat by the fountain and pulled out a small white book to begin furiously writing. The white book was were she kept all the notes concerning her thoughts and random poetry. It sounded geeky but poetry was a habit she picked up on a job a few years back, it helped clear her mind and calm herself down, also she tended to indulge in some story-telling (though she never finished a single one). The outside was always the best place for her to write, she could never really write inside, especially not in Yukio's class.
"Hey, new girl."
Sera looked up to see the two toned hair kid and his crew standing before her. She rolled her eyes and closed her book. They interrupted her in the middle of a great poem too, this better be good.
"Is there something you want?"
"Saw you with Okumura today in class, you should stay away from him. It's not in your best interest, he will only bring trouble. They call him a 'special case'."
Sera couldn't help but laugh at the notion of Rin being more trouble than her. She knew that she should keep up the quiet and innocent charade, but this opportunity was golden.
"What? You have got to be kidding, Rin can't cause half as much trouble as I do. If I were any other girl, I'd say you're jealous, but I'm not, so instead I'll warn you. I'm more trouble than Rin could ever be, and don't tell me what's in my best interest."
Sera grabbed her bag and walked off leaving the boys in shock. Their jaws dropped as they watched her leave. The only thing on Sera's mind was finishing her damn poem before she lost the thought, it was so good.
"Whoa, I didn't see that coming. She's feisty." Said the pink haired boy as he tried to get the group to focus back on reality. The utter silence that followed for a few minutes would've been perfect for tumbleweed to blow past.
"Hey guys, have you seen Sera?" Rin asked as he jogged up to the boys holding her tattered notebook in his hand. They simply pointed towards the gates.
"Thanks, bye!" He waved as he headed off.
