"Finally out of the hospital!" Allen exclaimed, stretching her arms as she exited said building. "You really don't mind picking me up, Yukio?"
"Not at all," he smiled - fakely.
"Stop doing that," Allen sighed. "That… fake-smile-thing. It pisses me off."
"Besides getting you from the hospital, there's the whole thing about going to True Cross," Yukio said, ignoring Allen's previous statement. "Are you going to be attending?"
"Yeah, sure. The monks will take care of the monastery while I attend both True Cross and cram school," the white-haired girl replied. "After I become an exorcist, I might take over the monastery for Shiro, let him do all of his paladin things."
Yukio put a gentle hand on her head. "Thanks for being with me and Rin. Thank you for listening to me when I needed to rant, and for keeping Rin out of trouble when I couldn't."
"What big sister would I be if I didn't?" Allen responded, placing her hand on Yukio's with a smile.
"I got all your stuff packed, Allen!" Rin called as he saw his siblings walking down the sidewalk.
Allen jogged over to him. "Everything? Even that special jacket of mine?"
"Yes, even the jacket," the younger of the two replied. "What's with that jacket anyways? Does it have something to do with your… uh… arm?"
"Yeah, but I don't really know why," Allen responded. "I remember some things, but it all went by so fast that I barely got any of it."
Rin opened his mouth to respond, but in a poof of purple smoke, Mephisto Pheles appeared out of nowhere. Allen felt Neah bristle in what felt like a mix of anger and distrust.
'Neah? What's wrong?'
'N-nothing. It's just… keep an eye on that guy.'
"My, my… What a pleasant day," Mephisto sighed. "A bright blue sky fitting for a brand new departure."
"Oi," Rin said rather dully from where he stood next to the Demon King. "We are going to be okay tagging along with you, right? With that stupid clown outfit and all."
Rin looked down the road, which he was idiotically standing in the middle of, to see a pink limo heading in their direction - rather quickly, at that. Allen barely missed grabbing him and pulling him to the sidewalk, though the fact that Rin had also jumped away helped.
"WAAGH! What the hell?!" Rin exclaimed, heart pounding. "That's one incredibly long car!"
"It's pink, too?" Allen muttered, rather disdainful.
"Please take care of them, Faust-san" Kyodo said, shaking Mephisto's hand.
"You can count on me!" Mephisto exclaimed. "I will also be assisting in helping run the monastery, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Huh? I thought your name was Mephisto..?" Rin said in confusion.
"Truthfully, I go by John Faust the Fifth in public, chairman of the eminent True Cross Academy," Mephisto replied.
"True Cross? As in where Yukio is going to attend?" Rin asked.
"That's the one!" Allen affirmed. "Truth be told, you and I will be attending, too. Since Mephisto is our temporary guardian until Shiro awakens from his coma, he thought it'd be easier to keep an eye on us if we went to school there."
Rin then got really pissed, and started yelling at Mephisto. Allen tuned plugged her ears with a deadpan expression, waiting until Rin's temper died off for the moment. She then pulled her fingers out of her ears to hear what Mephisto was saying.
"...True Cross is a boarding academy. Once you enter, you cannot leave without express permission," Mephisto clarified. "You will not be able to return here for quite some time. Have you finished saying your goodbyes?"
Rin got a faraway look in his eyes and Allen speculated that he was thinking back over the years. Allen wished that she was able to have spent more time here with these people, but regardless of how she felt, it was time to move on. Time to start a new chapter of her life.
Allen let out a deep sigh at the female uniform Mephisto had given her. "Hey, Faust. Can I get the male uniform?"
"Huh? But I think you would look perfect in the girl uniform!" Mephisto exclaimed.
"Don't care," Allen glared at him.
"Ah, fine," Mephisto sighed, giving both her and Rin a male uniform. "By the way, we're about to arrive."
Allen looked over to Rin and Yukio to see Rin with a half-glare, half-pout on his face. He was directing it at both her and Yukio. Allen decided not to comment, as Yukio had a few moments earlier.
"This academy possesses all academic facilities you could dream of and forms the center of True Cross Campus Town," Mephisto said. "Welcome to True Cross Academy. The matriculation ceremony will begin shortly. Simply head along to the main auditorium with everyone else."
"Thanks for the info," Allen said, staring out the window as the car came to a stop.
"Okumura-kun, you don't mind changing into the uniform in the car, do you?" Mephisto asked. Rin nodded and Mephisto turned to Yukio. "Show Allen-chan to the facilities so that she - I mean he - can get changed."
"Of course, Mr. Faust," Yukio replied. He and Allen got out of the car while Rin stayed inside.
"So, what's the story behind him?" Allen asked as Yukio led her into the school building.
"He's the headmaster here," Yukio said, glancing at her with a look saying 'I'll tell you later'.
"Ah, okay," Allen replied, shooting back, 'You better'.
"Here we are," Yukio said, pushing the male restroom door open.
"Wow, such a gentleman," Allen smirked, entering the room. She entered one of the stalls, unperturbed by all the guys doing their business.
Though the smell wasn't the best, she'd dealt with worse. Quickly, she changed into the male uniform, remembering to bind her chest - just in case. She wasn't necessarily 'busty,' but she wasn't gonna take any chances. After that was done, she unlocked the stall and stepped out, resecuring her beanie to hide her hair. She had already gotten enough crap from middle school kids for her hair. There was no need to subject herself to high school teasing, too.
"Done?" Yukio asked as Allen exited the washroom.
"Mhm," Allen nodded. "We should probably meet up with Rin, then head to the entrance ceremony."
"I suppose," Yukio responded, though he seemed distant. Allen sighed, telling herself that she'd talk to both of her brothers later.
"First-year student representative, Okumura Yukio," the teacher up on stage called.
"Yes!" Yukio responded, standing from his seat between Rin and Allen. A lot of the students around Allen started whispering about him, and Allen smiled at Rin's bewildered expression. His expression slowly morphed to one of pride - pride for a younger brother who had come so far.
I wish it didn't have to be like this, Allen mentally sighed, already knowing what was going through Rin's head. I can't do anything to help them.
"Now Allen, that was good, but do it like this," a tall man with a clouded face and soothing voice said. Allen's brown-red hair fell into her eyes as she attempted to balance on a large ball.
"It's too hard XXXX! I can't do it!" The voice of a young child came from her mouth.
"Sure you can, you just have to believe enough," the man seemed to be smiling.
Who is he?
"Hey Allen, do you know why it's hard?"
"'Cause I suck at this?" Allen's voice was hard, thick with an old English accent. Both her and this man were speaking English.
"No, because you don't think you can do it," the man replied. "It's the same in everything, even in life. If you don't think you can do something about it, then you won't be able to. But if you believe in yourself, you can do anything your heart desires!"
"That's just a bunch o' hooey!" Allen exclaimed, falling backwards off of the ball.
"Only if you think it is," the man crouched down next to her as she stubbornly wiped tears from her eyes. "Do you want to try again?"
She took a deep breath, calming her frustration. "Okay. But only one more time!"
"That's the spirit, Allen!"
"Allen?"
Allen was jolted from the vision by Rin shaking her shoulder. She looked over to him, feeling like she was in a daze. With a few blinks, she focused on Rin, half-forcing a smile.
"Yeah, I'm coming. Just got a little caught up in my thoughts," she told him, standing from her seat as Yukio approached.
"Alright, we have some free time now," Yukio said as he got into hearing range. "Do whatever you want but be in the dorm room before eight o'clock tonight."
"Of course," Allen nodded. With that, the three exited the auditorium and made their way to the courtyard. There, Yukio was stopped by a few of their fellow first years wanting to know about him. Allen glanced over at Rin and saw a dark expression on his face.
"Hey, don't worry about Yukio and the whole 'exorcist' thing," Allen said, elbowing his ribs gently. "If you do, you're in for a big surprise. Let's go find Mr. Faust."
Seemingly pulled away from his brooding, Rin nodded and Allen led the way to where Mephisto was supposed to meet them.
When they arrived, Mephisto had yet to show up, so they resigned themselves to waiting. After a few minutes, there was a poof sound behind them. They turned and Mephisto was sitting on a lamp post.
"So, how do we become exorcists?" Rin asked almost immediately.
"It's nice to see that you're so enthusiastic, Okumura-kun," Mephisto smirked. "However, there is a specific procedure to be followed. At the moment, the both of you will be attending a cram school."
"Cram school?!" Rin exclaimed.
"Agh, I forgot to tell him," Allen sighed, facepalming. "It's an Exorcist cram school. You begin as a page to learn how to be an exorcist."
"Precisely, Allen-chan - or should I say, Allen-kun?" Mephisto said before clearing his throat. "Anywho, your regular lessons do not begin until tomorrow, but your exorcist classes start today. However, I must give you one warning, Okumura-kun!"
Mephisto pointed a finger at Rin. "No one is to find out that you are the Son of Satan. It seems that your tail is hidden nicely and the ears and teeth can be explained away. Your flames, however, are a different matter. You must keep them under strict control."
"I'll do my best," Rin nodded. "Allen can help keep me in check."
"Mhm," Allen nodded.
"Very well," Mephisto replied. "Though, to tell you the truth, I'm still a little concerned, so I'll be keeping an eye one you during this first lesson." He turned away and started counting to three in German. He snapped when he reached drei then turned into a dog. "Shall we go, then?"
"E-exorcists can transform?!" Rin exclaimed in shock.
"Just him," Allen sweatdropped while Neah muttered, 'Show-off.'
'Play nice, Neah.'
'Yeah, yeah, whatever.'
Allen sighed through her nose, knowing full well that Neah wasn't planning on backing down. There was something going on between him and Mephisto while Allen was ignorant and caught in the middle of it.
"This is a key to the school," Mephisto said, pulling Allen away from her musings. She bent down to grab one of the two keys Mephisto offered. "This key will allow you to access the cram school from any door at any point in time. Try it out with that random door under us."
"Door-ex-machina," Allen muttered to herself while Rin jumped down to open the door. She followed a moment later, eying a human-shaped figure that quickly vanished when it realized she was looking at it.
Rin had opened the door and let out an exclamation of wonder as Mephisto led both him and Allen inside.
"First-years have class in room 1106," the demon-king said, then started walking to the left. After a few minutes, they reached a door. "Here we are!"
"I'm getting kind of nervous," Rin said.
"It's okay," Allen smiled reassuringly. "We'll be fine."
Rin nodded, then opened the door. They looked inside and Allen counted ten people. Three of them looked vaguely familiar. One of those three was probably a couple years younger than the rest while the other two looked about a year older.
The older girl had shoulder-length dark hair that looked green-ish and violet eyes accompanied it. The older guy had long, midnight blue hair pulled into a ponytail with eyes the same color. The one that was younger had amber eyes and light brown hair that was cut pretty short. Allen didn't think it looked good on him.
Allen sat down next to Rin and faced the front, feeling eyes on her back, though she was unaware of whose.
"There are quite a few more pages than usual," Mephisto noted. "I'm glad they accepted. That means there are twelve pages this year and that will be a big help in the long run."
"Alright, quiet down," the teacher said as he entered. "Take your seats everyone. The lesson is about to begin."
Lo and behold, there stood Yukio at the teacher podium. Allen sighed as she read Rin's facial expression. He was about to embarrass himself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Yukio greeted with a slightly strained smile. "I'll be your teacher in anti-demon pharmacology, Okumura Yukio."
"Yukio?!" Rin shouted, standing abruptly.
"That would be me," Yukio said, obviously prepared for this. "Is there something you need?"
"No- I- Wha- Whaddaya mean 'is there somethin- Ow!" Rin exclaimed as Allen grabbed his ear roughly.
"I recommend that you sit down Okumura," Allen said, mouth in an agitated smirk and an irk mark on her forehead. "Before I make you."
Yukio seemed to get a bit paler at that, but Rin seemed terrified and sat down. Allen gave him a look, as if to say 'I'll explain later.'
"Thank you, Walker-san," Yukio nodded at Allen before turning his attention to the entire class. "As I'm sure you already know, I'm around the same age as you. This will be my first year lecturing, though I've been an exorcist for two years now. As such, in the context of your exorcism studies, you should address me as 'sensei.'
"Now then," Yukio continued. "How many of you have never sustained a mashou, please raise your hand."
Rin seemed confused by what a mashou was, but Allen decided to let Mephisto. She ignored their conversation in favor of listen to what Yukio had to say. He was her teacher in this instance.
"Three of you?" Yukio stated as he looked at the raised hands. "If that's so, I believe we should begin our first lesson by covering the mashou rite. Gaining a mashou is fairly simple. All you have to do is be hurt by a demon, though if you have demon blood in your family, you were probably born with one.
"Now, this classroom that we're using is not actually in general use," Yukio said. "It is currently the home of a type of demon called 'goblins.'"
"Is that safe?" A female student with short brown hair had raised her hand.
"We should be fine. Goblins tend to stay away from bright areas populated by humans," Yukio reassured her. "They are a low level demon with only enough magic to cause mischief, thus they're easy to handle. However, if they catch the scent of rotten animal blood, they become agitated and ferocious.
"Today, we are going to be using a mixture diluted with milk, which goblins are fond of," Yukio continued. "I will dilute them with ten parts milk, then use a few drops of the mixture to lure out a goblin or two in order to aid us with our rite. If you could all wait a moment while I set this up, that would be great."
Allen sighed yet again as Rin stood from his seat rather aggressively. He stormed over to Yukio and essentially shouted in the younger twin's face.
'He doesn't make very smart decisions, does he?'
Allen mentally rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her brothers. This was going to be a long argument. Not the simple ones they would have over Rin taking the last cookie, or the ones where Allen would be mad at Rin for getting into a fight again, not even the ones about Yukio risking his life on a mission. This was going to be one of the arguments where somebody says something they don't mean to and one of them gets hurt. Allen would make sure they apologized later.
'Isn't this the type of argument they should be having - oh, I don't know - not in the middle of a class?!'
'Huh?'
'You're not even paying attention, are you?'
'No, sorry.'
Allen felt Neah sigh before he redirected her attention to the twins fighting at the front of the room.
"...received a mashou from you on the day I was born," Yukio was saying, and Allen could tell it was devastating for Rin to listen to. "I've been able to see demons for as long as I can remember. I knew all along, and you were the only one who didn't. Now would you move aside?"
Rin was quiet for a few moments before grabbing Yukio's coat in a fist, unknowningly making Yukio drop the vial of blood. "Why did you never tell me anything?!"
Allen knew that was for her as much as it was for Yukio, but she made a silent vow to tell him everything as soon as this was resolved. Currently, there were more pressing matters. Such as the swarm of hobgoblins invading the classroom.
Yukio ordered for the students to evacuate the room after explaining why the hobgoblins were so dangerous at the moment and apologizing for dropping the vial. Allen made her way to the back of the room, making sure everyone got out. As she neared the middle desk, she made eye contact with Lenalee.
"We'll talk later, Allen," the slightly older girl said. Allen nodded then pushed the two of them out of the room. She did a quick glance-over of the room. Nobody left but her and the twins.
"You two should leave, too," Yukio said. "I need to cleanse the room."
Allen nodded and moved to leave, but Rin kicked the door shut before she could get there.
"We're not done talking yet, Yukio!" Rin shouted. "Besides, it's my fault you dropped the blood, so sorry."
"You are clumsy," Yukio sighed before shooting a demon behind him. "Besides, I have nothing more to say to you about this."
"Then Allen!" Rin said, turning to their sister. "What do you have to say? You knew?"
"I- Yes," Allen responded, watching Yukio shoot down more of the hobgoblins. "Shiro swore me to secrecy. There were so many times that I wanted to tell you, just so you wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you anything."
"Fair enough," Rin said, then looked back to Yukio. "Listen to what I have to say to you, Yukio!"
"You do realize you're being eaten, right?" Allen and Yukio deadpanned at the same time.
"Just listen!" Rin exclaimed, bursting into flame and burning the hobgoblins surrounding him. "I haven't been able to talk to you since Satan attacked and Dad was put in a coma! If you knew, what did you think? How did you feel about me?"
"How I felt?" Yukio asked rhetorically, shooting more goblins and reloading his guns. "You're a demon, Nii-san. I consider you a danger to us all."
"You-!" Rin started, and Allen realized that this wasn't going to be a normal fight. Yukio was getting rid of built up stress and anger, Rin was confused, frustrated and just wanted to protect his younger twin, and Allen was caught in the middle of it. This was a fight between the twins, not the three of them as siblings. Still though, she had to be there for them in the aftermath. They were family, and family stayed together.
"You're a fool Nii-san," Yukio said. "Why did you come up with this idea of being an exorcist? Revenge? Some kind of twisted atonement towards Father? If you truly have the nerve to feel that way, then you should give yourself up to headquarters, or even just die, please."
Allen could see from Yukio body language that those words weren't the ones he meant, but they were the ones that came out.
"What?!" Rin exclaimed. "Don't tell me you actually- You think it was my fault that Dad got put in a coma?"
"Do you deny it?" Yukio asked. "Father spent all these years protecting you. He was the only one who could stand up to Satan's possession in the entire world, so naturally, Satan was out to possess him. For fifteen years, Father fought that off. He was the ultimate exorcist. Father would never allow Satan in like that. His mind must have been weakened."
Rin was silent, probably thinking about the conversation between him and Shiro a few days prior. The conversation turned argument that led Shiro to slapping Rin while Allen had to watch.
"You said something, didn't you?" Yukio said.
"I- I-" Rin stammered, and Allen could sympathize, if only a little.
"If Father could ever be said to have a weakness, then that weakness is you," Yukio stated, pointing his gun at Rin. Allen felt her breath hitch, stomach sinking. He wouldn't… would he? "You, Nii-san, were the one who hurt Father."
Rin's expression became dark again. "I-I'm an idiot, and I don't deny it, so say whatever you want..! But let me say one thing." He then began to draw Kurikara. "Don't you ever point your goddamn gun at your brother! We're family, dammit!"
"Nii-san," Yukio muttered.
"Listen, it wasn't me who hurt the old man!" Rin shouted. "I understand if you feel like you can't forgive me. But it that a reason to point that thing at me? Is it?!"
Yukio pulled his guard back up as Rin ran right at Yukio. Rin continued. "If shooting me is going to make you feel better, then pull that trigger! Shoot me!"
Just as Rin reached the younger twin, he leapt up and cut the large hobgoblin behind Yukio in half. As Rin landed on the ground, he sheathed his sword. Allen took a step closer, listening to Mephisto's sound of awe. Or was that delight?
'Probably both.'
'Shush. Rin and Yukio are having a moment here.'
'Okay, okay.'
"I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not low enough to fight my own brother," Rin growled as the sword was fully sheathed and his flames disappeared.
"I'll leave you two to talk it out," Allen smiled at them, approaching the door.
"Wait," Rin said. "I want to know why you didn't get very involved, Allen."
"Why?" Allen responded. "I suppose I assumed it was something the two of you needed to resolve without me. Anywho, I'll see ya at the dorm tonight."
As Allen exited the classroom, she was bombarded by a bunch of questions from the other students.
"What happened?"
"Is everything okay?"
"There was some shouting, is somebody hurt?"
"Don't worry. They're just having a brotherly argument, I got caught in the crossfire," Allen told her classmates. "But I think class is canceled for today. The classroom is a mess."
'Why did you lie to Rin and Yukio about why you didn't get involved?'
'They're already worried enough. They don't need to add my problems to the mix.'
After Allen filled them in, the other students went on their own ways. Two of the people Allen found familiar gave her a few lingering glances, but weren't able to stay from long.
"Oi, Lenalee, Kanda!" The guy with pink hair from their class waved at them from down the hall. "It's time to get going!"
"Be right there, Shima!" Kanda called back.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Lenalee said to the white haired girl. Allen nodded, then watched the two walk away. They had just left Allen's range of sight when Yukio and Rin exited the classroom.
"Let's go, you two," Allen smiled, ruffling both boys' hair. "We have some sight-seeing to do! And, no Yukio, you can't come up with some stupid excuse to get out of it."
"Okay, fine," Yukio tried to seem exasperated, but utterly failed as a grin - a real one - broke out on his face.
"Woohoo!" Rin cheered, and the three were off to look around the town.
That night, after they got settled into their dormitory, Allen confronted Rin when she caught him alone.
"What's up?" Allen asked.
"I just- I dunno," Rin sighed. "Everything had been happening so fast and I don't know how to handle it."
"I'm not handling it the best either," Allen responded. "On top of the whole 'becoming exorcists' thing, I've recovered some of my memories about my life before I met you guys and I think I've come into contact with some people from before."
"That's rough," Rin said.
"Hey, I just wanted you to know that you're not alone in this," Allen told him, turning around. "I'm here for you, and Yukio is, too. Just trust us, okay? Because we care - a lot."
Allen heard him hum in affirmation, probably nodding, then stepped out of the room, letting him know she was in the next room over if he needed anything.
'They sort of solved the aftermath of the fight without you, huh?'
'I suppose so. Neah, who are they? Those people in the cram school, I mean.'
'Ah, you haven't fully recovered your memories, have you? Well, that girl is Lenalee Lee. You and her were close friends when you were in your original world. Then there's Kanda Yuu - the both of you were rivals but also friends, I suppose. Finally, Timothy Hearst. He looked up to you like an older sister before. I don't know if any of them have unlocked their memories, but I guess only time will tell.'
'Yeah, I guess.'
Allen entered her dorm room, then got ready for bed. She laid on the bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling and contemplating Neah's information. Letting out a sigh, she resigned herself to sleep. It'd be easier to think in the morning.
Again, that was super long, but I hope all of you enjoyed it! Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, concerns or criticisms in a review. Flames will be ignored, though I'm sure all of you lovely people would never make any flame about my writing. Anywho, I'll see you all later!