Another late update :S sorry. Exam season just ended however so I should be updating more, (should).
To the guest reviewer who may or may not be reading this,
I agree with some of your points, mainly how it's unrealistic. But, I have to respectfully disagree with some of your others, firstly, yes I am reading the manga, I will read it while writing to adhere to canon as much as possible. Secondly, I acknowledge this is 'unrealistic', but, to be fair, if all Blue Exorcist FF stories, strictly adhered to canon, many wouldn't exist. For this reason, I am going to leave it the way it is, this isn't going to be a long story after all.
Her history will be slightly more clarified in the new couple of chapters, as the nine tails didn't just poof out of the stone. I am also going to clarify that 'Akari' is much older than she seems, it's also worth noting that the Inari shrine where the stone is kept, isn't just tended by Izumo's immediate family, I was under the impression there were many other people there too, (although related).
Much of Akari's past and details are going to be scattered throughout the story, I didn't want to bombared readers with her entire life story straight away, to me when writers do that, it's somewhat boring, I want her charater to have some mystery.
Anyway, hopefully this cleared up my intentions and meanings in this story for not only you but questioning readers too!
thanks to everyone who followed/faved! Thanks for reading please enjoy!
Rin had awoken early that day much to his brother's surprise, it was usually him who had to drag his older brother out of bed after all. Today was unlike any other to the half demon, the day he returned to class after the incident. During the two week long break he had no contact from classmates, he didn't need to be a genius to notice they purposely avoided him.
The conversations lately with Yukio had be short and awkward, Rin hoped it was the stress that changed him. As result he spent a majority of his time sitting on the roof of the dormitory, walking around the grounds, or training with Shura, which aside from training wanted little to do with him either.
Which led him to the point he had been silently dreading for weeks, returning to class. He stood silently infront of the large classroom door, a sense of dread building within, 'what will they do?' he wondered, 'will they even look at me? Or will I be a monster to them?'
Rin had expressed his fears to his younger brother on several occasions, he offered very little helpful advice, it following the lines of how he should focus on studying instead of socializing. He didn't understand and never would.
The half demon took a deep breath before delicately opening the door, slipping inside and quietly shutting it again.
"How is- oh" he looked around the class room to see only Izumo glaring at him and Shiemi averting her gaze awkwardly. "Oh you aren't still scared of me?" he asked, a nervous laugh stuttering his voice.
"N-no" she stammered, turning away from him as tears pooled in her eyes, "I just can't.."
"Can't what?" he pursued,
before he could get an answer, Yukio alongside another teacher he had never seen before, flew into the room in a flurry before he grabbing the boy by the sleeve and dragging him from the room.
"From now on Rin will be in another class" he announced before dragging his brother from the room and disappearing with little explanation.
Shiemi watched him leave from the corner of her eye, she didn't feel saddened by his departure as she used to but rather, relieved.
XxX
Akari scanned over the crossword, a majority of it had been filled easily, but there were always a few that only Mephisto could solve, something that annoyed her immensely. It was a pastime he had introduced her to while she spent a majority of the morning and evening, at the Oak desk in the building's foyer. In between taking calls, messages, dealing with small issues he deemed beneath him, and occasionally being summoned to his office to fetch him something, she took solace in the puzzles.
Another new addition to her life sat on the tip of her nose, small rectangular glasses. Mephisto insisted, much to her dismay, that she wore a pair ever since he discovered her poor eyesight. In her opinion, they made her look ridiculous.
Suddenly the elevator door flung open and Mephisto rushed out, a collection of papers in one hand and very sweet coffee in the other. "Any new messages?" He asked hurriedly,
"A couple from parents, and a exorcist named, ahhh Yukio I think? Would like a meeting this afternoon" she listed off quickly before running over to the coat rack to hand the demon a white jacket.
"Ah I see, well I am late for lunch so it will have to be tomorrow" he explained buttoning up the coat,
"The exorcist was very persistent" she replied anxiously, "said it was urgent".
Letting out a sigh Mephisto leaned over the desk, "listen, he's going to drop by eventually, just take a message" he shrugged.
"A message?"
"It's been two weeks Akari, surely you have to know!" He replied frustrated fiddling with the last button on the coat.
"Sorry sorry" she replied, scrambling for a notepad and pen, before showing the items to him.
"Good girl" he praised, "now I really must be of-"
"Wait I need to ask you something!"
Mephisto glanced at his watch before letting out an exasperated sigh, "Hmm what is it?"
"It's just ah well" the fox begun slowly fiddling with her kimono, "it's been some time and well, I haven't learned much-"
"Ridiculous!" He chimed, "you can make coffee, take phone calls, schedule meetings, I'd say you've learnt a lot dear".
"Well yes, but there was mention of you training me, teaching me how to be a proper demon and such" she rambled.
"Was there?"
"Y-yes there was, and I thought maybe the earth king would be back by now" she noted.
Mephisto looked up from his phone to shoot her a stare, "Amaimon? No, after I rescued him he took a vacation, he'll be back soon" he lied.
Akari looked away from his stern glare, his usual carefree attitude replaced with a tenseness, she wanted to glare back but hated the awkward eye contact. It annoyed her that he kept pushing back the date of his arrival, she was beginning to think he was lying, not that she would confront him about it. "Oh uh right but I just thought I would be doing more than fetching you breakfast and such".
The director let out another sigh and glanced at his watch once again, "we will discuss this when I get back, perhaps we can come to an agreement yes?"
"Oh uh thank you!" She chirped,
"Outstanding, so can I go now?" He asked.
Akari glanced at the schedule book, "Yeah, oh wait, what should I do about the exorcist?"
"You've met with exorcists before" he replied shortly, eager to meet his already late appointment.
"But you were there! What if he knows?!"
"I won't be gone long, you'll be fine" he sung, rushing out the door before Akari had the chance to ask more irritating questions.
She watched him climb into the pristine white limo outside, the tinted windows hiding the driver, although she was almost positive it was demon by the way it drove.
XxX
"I can hear you muttering from here" Yukio called over his shoulder as he led Rin down the schools vast network of stairs to the basement.
"Well yeah! Why'd you take me away! I was going to explain everything, and talk to them!" He barked, reluctantly following behind.
The younger brother frowned and turned to shoot a look at his fuming sibling, "Do you think you are the best person to do that? Wouldn't they trust a teacher more at this point?"
"Well...I wouldn't know because you didn't give me a chance!"
Yukio continued to lead his brother down the various staircases, not particularly listening to his ranting and rambling anymore. "We're here" he announced.
"And another thing...wait...here where?" He asked looking around the room, eventually spotting the rows of batting cages. "Are you giving up on me being an exorcist?"
"No, this is your new curriculum, we've reserved this training room for you" he replied "Shura will arrive soon, so please be patient".
"batting cages?" Rin scoffed ignoring Yukio's explanation, he entered a cage and fiddled with the control box, eventually selecting easy mode, "this will be to easy!"
The machine whirred to life, preparing to warm up. "You've been pissed for awhile haven't you?" Rin asked suddenly trying to force conversation,
Yukio shook his head in reply, "I'm...not".
"Nice try but I can tell", suddenly the machine begun to spit out baseballs at high speeds, Rin waved the wooden sword around widely trying to hit the balls, but was mostly unsuccessful. After dodging the projectiles for several long minutes, the machine ran out and Rin sighed in exhaustion, "harder than I thought...But seriously...Yukio..why are you so upset?"
"how long will it take for you to understand that your actions have consequences" he replied suddenly, a tense frustration in his tone. "Just straighten up for once and think about how your actions effect others!"
Rin threw the wooden sword aside, still painting from the earlier round, "well brooding about it isn't gonna solve anything, worrying about it for a day is more than enough, I ain't gonna sit around when I've got fighting to do".
Yukio grunted in reply, annoyed that he practically ignored his comment,
"wow, ya got a relaxed attitude don't yer?" Shura remarked slyly.
"When'd you get here!" Rin barked, suddenly embarrassed by his outburst, "and what are you wearing!?"
Shura tugged at the tiny Kimono that barley covered her body, "I'm comfortable in this" she shrugged, "good for training".
Yukio thought on commented how inappropriate it was, but thought better, he just made sure not to look in her direction too long, lest she get the wrong idea.
"got yer tail hanging out like a monkey" She guffawed eyeing the appendage, "suits an idiot like ya".
"I felt restricted when I was hiding it, it feels more natural like this" he admitted, "plus it looks cool!"
Yukio eyed it with disdain as it waved around lazily, "natural? Hardly..." he scoffed bitterly to himself.
"If another demon heard ya say that" she tisked, "a tail is a weakness, I'd expect it to be hidden if yer fighting someone...now let's get ya set up".
XxX
"Behemoth no!" Akari yapped nudging the demon away from her tail with her foot, the end coated in thick green saliva. He'd been chewing on the fur for awhile, but his teeth found their way to bone. She scowled at the beast who meekly grinned at her, "stop chewing on it! It's gross!"
She wiped it on the end of her kimono, before tucking it back inside the clothing, making a mental not to wash it later. The hobgoblin had a habit of biting and gnawing on the end of it, or anything she owned for that matter, she assumed the fur or scent would be the cause of the behavior.
Despite his tendency to chew anything and everything, something that drove Mephisto insane, she was rather attached to the demon. Ever since she brought him back to the manor she was charged with his care until Amaimon returned, while he showed a gratefulness at being rescued, it didn't prevent his disobedience.
Most days, he was found underneath her desk, in a deep sleep, only awakening at the end of the day or to beg for food. She appreciated his company through the long days and short nights.
XxX
"this is impossible!" Rin groaned looking at the melted mess of wax in front of him, "what about my sword!?"
"yer sword? Stop bein' so impatient, yer being sloppy. Do this every day, fer the rest of the time, focus on schoolwork and yer muscle strength" Shura replied casually.
"But we are running out of time!" Rin barked impatiently "I can't be messing around with candles!",
"Yer gotta get used to the flames control em, then increase yer confidence from there, then you draw yer sword" she replied firmly.
Rin glanced back at the growing pile of melted candles and wax, shame weighed his conscious down, she had a point, he couldn't control his power. Not that she would understand what it was like, no one would. He didn't particularly want to argue any longer, especially with his brother lurking nearby. He chose to focus,
"Understood"
XxX
"Let's see..." Akari flicked through the pages of a book Mephisto had lent her, a collection of all known demons and their known history. "Aha found it!" She shouting in joy jumping from her seat and waking behemoth below.
"Look! I found him!" She chirped shoving the book in his face, to which he glanced at before rolling over and returning to sleep. "My father" she mumbled staring at the pages intently, a large inked image of a nine tailed fox covering a page. "Hmmm... Unknown age, sealed in the life taking stone...attempted release half a century ago...what?" Reading through the small amount of information, most of which she already knew. An attempt to break the life taking stone occurred, however while it didn't break completely, it allowed some of the nine tails power to escape before possessing the man who attempted to break it.
"The fragment as it's referred to, was allegedly encountered by a member of the Kamiki bloodline, not much else is known except for the allegations there may be offspring from the pair. However, this cannot be proven since the source was untrustworthy..." Akari reached the end of the page and trailed off before flicking to the next one only to find it had been torn out. "Damn" She cursed snapping the book shut. Every time it seemed she came close to finding out her origins, the final piece was missing.
Moko knew nothing either, she arrived to her while she was a young woman, only knowing what she was nothing more. Akari watched her age much faster than she did, watching her die as an old woman while she remained young. Moko hypothesized that one day Akari would stop ageing altogether.
On multiple occasions she tried to coax information from the foxes at the shrine, since they always taunted her with it, claiming they knew everything she didn't. It was only before she left, Akio admitted they knew little at all, and only did it to tease her.
She hadn't learnt much new information except for the fact her father hasn't fully left the life taking stone since his capture.
Looking down at the crimson leather bound cover she traced the occult symbols with a nail, thoughts of home filled her head, she missed it terribly. Every day she ached to return. But to return without completing her mission would label her as a disgrace.
"Excuse me" someone tapped on the desk roughly,
Snapping out of her thoughts Akari snapped her head up to look at the boy. She quickly noticed the instructors pin, "ah you must be Yukio" she smiled nervously standing up shakily. His eyes were cold and his jaw tense, everything about his body language suggested rigid frustration. He had previously left Rin's training early, the results of his first class weren't promising and only made the exorcist more nervous.
"And you are the receptionist I talked to earlier" he noted, "miss?"
"Uh haruka" she replied, repeating the alias name Mephisto had given her, Akari haruka".
"I see, nice to meet you, is Sir Pheles around?"
Akari noted the sharpness in his tone, an anger not directed at her however. "Hmm no sorry, he is out for the day, I was instructed to take the meeting" she replied collecting a notepad and pen. "Follow me"
XxX
"Sit down" the fox instructed with unintentional rudeness, "I can trust this won't take too long?"
"As Sir Phele's personal assistant I'm sure you are very busy" he replied dryly.
"Uh well yes, it isn't like he will teach me anything else" she muttered, unintentional bitterness in her tone,
The exorcist raised an eyebrow, "meaning?"
Akari snapped her mouth shut, "ah nothing just that I am very busy" she laughed nervously.
"As I said" he replied, "now, I don't mean to be rude, but this information I can only trust with Sir Pheles".
"I can assure you, that this information can be shared with me. He has personally entrusted me with this meeting" she replied pushing up her glasses.
"I haven't see you around before" he commented suddenly, "are you new here?"
Akari scrambled through her memories for the backstory Mephisto had entrusted her with, "yes, I have been here for little over a couple of weeks".
"I see, and what rank are you?" He asked, "I don't see any pins".
She cleared her throat roughly, "ah yes well I am not an exorcist",
Yukio leant back in his chair, staring at her through a light frown, "that is quite unusual isn't it?"
"No, I would not say that, I mostly deal with the normal school affairs, the cram school, exorcists and such he has primary control over" she replied clearly, keeping the waver from her voice.
He seemed satisfied with her answer, "you know about the cram school then?"
"As I said, he trusts me with such sensitive information" she smiled slyly, "now about that message".
XxX
Akari held the robe around her body tightly, her tail swaying in irritation, she had just fallen asleep when Mephisto summoned the fox from her bed to discuss the days events. It was late at night, too late. The pair where in the dining hall, Behemoth lent against her leg tiredly, while she struggled to flatten messy white hair.
Mephisto sat crossed legged in the head dining chair, although it's ridiculous amount of ornamentation, made it resemble more of a throne. Several empty ramen cups littered the desk and he was currently feeding a stream of noodles into his mouth. He was in his pajamas, hideously colored silk garments with flowers covering the surface.
Seeing Akari eyeing the cup he offered her some, "what some? This brand is my favorite".
"No thank you...I know it's your favorite, you send me to the lunch hall twice a day to fetch it."
"For good reason" he noted, "how was the meeting?"
"He was very reluctant at first, he kept asking me questions-"
Mephisto frowned thoughtfully, "Like what?"
"My qualifications, where I came from, things such as that" she listed, "he was suspicious I believe".
"I see... continue" he prompted,
"Well... he didn't tell me much, I assume he's still withholding information, he asked me to schedule a meeting for the two of you privately".
The demon let out a long sigh and pushed the ramen aside, "There is no getting out of it then",
"No, you were right about the persistence" she noted. Her eyes ached for sleep and she wondered how he still had so much energy, 'most likely the sugar' she mused.
"What did he say?"
Reading off her notes she cleared her throat, "his brother Rin, has not been going so well with his training, the exorcist-"
"Yukio" he corrected, "you'll be seeing more of him, it is rude not to use his name".
With a sigh she continued, "Yukio, is concerned time is running out, he said that you would know what that means."
"Hmm, well this isn't good" he replied lowly, before looking over to see the fox's disinterested face. "Don't... you want to know what is going on?"
"No"
"No? Why not?" Mephisto raised a brow, genuinely surprised she had no interest, "are you that tired?" he asked before noticing the flicking of her white tail, "or annoyed?"
"I am tired yes" she admitted, "but it is not my business unless you make it, I have no interest in helping exorcists".
"I see..." the demon muttered, annoyed by her answer he changed the subject, "you wanted to discuss something earlier?"
Akari was thankful he finally took her request seriously, although too tired to be excited she explained her goal, "I was wondering if I could do other things, learn new skills and such..."
"Like my laundry?" he quipped, a sly smile on his face.
The fox was thankful that he din't act so goofy around her as he did others, it was an act she found embarrassing to witness, although he did occasionally bring it behind closed doors. "No, like visit different places, maybe look around, get my pipe back" she replied flatly,
"You, a demon, want to look around a school full of exorcists?"
"it's just, being an assistant is... boring, it is the same activities everyday...".
"I knew this day would come" he sighed leaning in his chair, "you've been relatively obedient, I will grant you this freedom"
"Really?" she replied, taken aback by his agreement.
"On... a couple of conditions" he grinned slyly, "firstly, your duties as a assistant come first. Second, you may only roam after the students 9pm curfew, thirdly, you are only permitted to do so in that absolutely adorable fox form of yours" he chirped.
She resisted an eye roll, the obsession with her fox form was concerning. "Okay... I accept these conditions, but as I told you.. I can't control when I change".
"Well until I find the time to fix that I had this specially made just for you~" he replied cheerfully before digging through his pocket, eventually pulling out a chain of dark stone beads and placing in on the table.
Akari walked over and picked up the item turning it over in her hands to see intricate symbols carved into the stone, 'he's been planning this for awhile' she noted. "How does it work?"
"Once activated, and worn you will be in this form, when off you will be in the other" he explained, "make sense?"
"I suppose, how do I activate it?" She examined the item, easy to pull on and off overhead, 'he thought this through too well'.
Mephisto grinned wickedly, "Put it on".
XxX
Akari fiddled with the item around her neck, thinking of last nights events. It worked exactly as planned, and the demon stressed that they must be kept hidden at all times, which was easily achieved with her kimono.
She was drumming her clawed fingers on the desk boredly, lazily flicking through the notebook below. Behemoth took his place at her feet as always, she gazed down at the beast affectionately, 'if only my familiar was this way' she thought grimly.
Suddenly the door was flung open and a very distressed exorcist rushed inside, "I need to see sir Pheles, now" he demanded.
Looking up from her book she saw Yukio staring at her with frustrated glare, "he is out" she replied. "I can take a message-"
"No!" The exorcist snapped, "I've been turned away enough"
The fox let out a long sigh before picking up the phones receiver, tapping in several numbers before allowing it to ring. After several rings Mephisto finally picked up,
"What is it Akari? I told you I wasn't to be disturbed" he reminded her, annoyance in his tone.
Akari scowled before glancing to the exorcist, "Yukio demands a meeting" she explained flatly.
"Hold on a minute" he sighed putting the line on hold,
Yukio glared at the girl with frustration, "You said he was busy".
Akari shrugged in reply, "for everyone else yes".
"Surely he would allow me to see him-"
"Why?" Akari asked flatly, "what is it that makes you exempt?"
Yukio opened his mouth to answer but quickly snapped in shut, frustration evident in his expression. "You are just his assistant, nothing more" he replied coldly.
Akari brushed off his comment, "for now" she muttured.
"Are you two playing nice?~" Mephisto sung over the line, obviously in a better mood.
"We were talking not playing" Akari replied quickly,
"Right right, forgot how literal you were" he muttured. "Anyway~I have a twenty minute slot before dinner, he can see me then".
"He has a twenty-"
"I heard" Yukio snapped,
Ignoring his attitude she wrote the details on a slip of paper, "five thirty, do not be late".
He snatched it from her clawed hand before stomping out the door, "I could hear his teeth grinding from here" Mephisto chirped walking down the staircase,
" I am gathering the impression he doesn't like me" Akari muttured,
"Does that bother you?" He replied slyly.
"No, not particularly" she replied casually much to Mephisto's disappointment, "why should I?"
"He is most likely jelous you know~"
"Of what? He can fetch your dinner if he likes"
Mephisto scowled as he lent over the desk, "no, not of that. I am surprised how rude you are being"
"am I?" she asked flatly, "I did not notice", it was times like this she was increasingly annoyed, when people were upset at her for reasons she didn't know.
The demon gestured to the door, he wasn't about to lecture her, she never learnt anyway, "You are dismissed".
With little more than a nod she gathered her things before calling Behemoth, "you know where to find me" she called, slamming the door behind her.
Feel free to leave a positive/constructive comment! Thanks for reading!