Chapter 4. Cram School.
The silence was thick enough to cut with a blade as the two of them stood, eyes locked. Johann finally grinned and cackled, shattering the tenseness of the situation. "Clever girl, you are. Exactly why I invited you to my school in the first place!" he boasted. However, her expression did not waver, and he could tell that she demanded a true response. His nose crinkled as the smile left his face for a moment, and then his expression softened. "To answer your question, I merely wanted to spend some time with you, finally. I've watched your school career through the years, and you were such a promising student, I couldn't wait to meet you." He smiled coyly, with a glint in his eye. "As I do with all of my students, naturally."
The girl's expression still didn't change for some time after Johann finished explaining himself as she mulled over his response, skeptical. There was something about him that was off, but she couldn't place it, and perhaps she was just facing too many trust issues. Brushing the feeling aside as best as she could, she sighed heavily, supposing that in some way or another it made sense for the commissioner of an exorcist school to meet the new recruits face-to-face on the first day.
Sensing her acceptance, Johann extended an arm down into the dim cram school hall once more. "Please," he spoke softly, in such a gentlemanly manner, that it made her second guess her distrust even more so. She gripped her things tightly to her chest, and proceeded down the hall, the man in white following closely behind.
"First year students will be through this door here," he said, speaking close to her left ear while pointing over her right shoulder. She had decided to pay him no mind, and worry most about getting to her class and beginning her official studies. Placing her hand on the knob, her entrance was interrupted by the headmaster once again.
"This is unfortunately where I take my leave of you, little flower."
Gasping, she turned back to him abruptly, gasping. "Well then, I would like to at least thank you, sir Faust!" A feeling of guilt had balled in the pit of her belly.
He smiled modestly. "Whatever for?"
"For giving me this most gracious opportunity to attend your University and for escorting me to my exorcist-in-training classes!" she cried, bowing. Perhaps she had been too rude, she thought; it needed to be known how grateful she actually was. She didn't want to risk ever losing the scholarship that he had given her.
His hand rested lightly on her head for a moment, and she felt his fingers dive into the sea of her hair on their way down her locks. "No need to thank me, my dear girl. Besides…" The hand moved down along her cheek, her soft hair still slipping out from between lavender fingers, only to find her chin. His thumb grazed her bottom lip as it moved to caress her chin, and then brought her head up until she was looking at her headmaster once more. "You will see me again quite shortly, I'm sure," he spoke smoothly.
And with that, he headed back down the hall; she watched him carefully until he was out of sight. Looking him over, she was a little surprised that this man was the director of the University, and of True Cross Town. There had been rumors that he was indeed an odd man, but she never would have imagined her first time meeting him would be as strange as it had just been. The first day on campus, before her first class had even started, left her hoping it couldn't get any stranger. Turning back to the class door, she drew in a deep breath to prepare herself for whatever would be next, and entered.
Inside the classroom, there were only a couple students sitting at the desks, and the room was noiseless. The walls were dirty, with cobwebs tracing the corners of the ceiling; the room was disorganized, and the furniture was nearly as ancient as the craftsmanship of the building. Deciding not to draw any unnecessary attention to herself, the girl made her way to the back of the room and sat at a desk near the wall the door was located on. A small group of boys were in the room at the time, two of which smiled and waved slightly as she walked through the rows of worn desks to her chosen spot. In the back was someone in a black hoodie, feet propped up, playing a portable gaming system.
Setting her things down, she scooted her chair close to the wall and leaned against it. It was surprising to her how few people were in the oversized storage room, and she sincerely hoped there would be more recruits than just the current handful. She decided to finally open her textbooks and familiarize herself with them before class started, perhaps even get a jump on studying. Over time, a couple more students entered the room, but she really only noticed when a couple of chatty girls drew her attention away from her books, otherwise, it was very hushed.
She wasn't sure how long of a wait it had been before the sound of the door opening came again. However, she didn't particularly care unless it was the teacher, so she kept her eyes on the pages before her – real, true, exorcist books. Nothing between these covers was speculation, these were official books of the True Cross Order, and she soaked up every single black letter printed on that paper like a sponge tasting its first bit of water. It wasn't until a familiar name bounced off of the lonely walls that she looked up.
By the door stood Rin Okumura, the boy she had met just hours before. A slight smile bore down in her cheeks, happy that she would know one person even just slightly. She waved silently from her corner, and he beamed excitedly in response before he sat down at another desk in the middle of the room. A small white Scottish terrier with a pink polka dot bow around its neck followed closely behind, and she couldn't help but to giggle quietly to herself when it jumped onto Rin's lap. She wouldn't have guessed him to be an animal person.
The door clicked open once more and a young man in a long dark coat entered the room – Rin's brother. Instead of sitting at a desk like a normal student, Yukio marched to the front of the room and placed a briefcase on the teachers' desk. Turning to the quaint audience before him, he introduced himself as the instructor. The girl watched keenly ad Rin flew from his seat and cried out in disbelief of who the instructor was, and she was taken aback a bit at how two brothers so close of age could know so little of one another. Yukio went on, seemingly ignoring his fiery brother, and spoke about how he had studied demons, and exorcism since a very young age.
She smiled warmly, as she wasn't alone. Someone was very similar to herself, she thought; although, he must have had much better connections to have finished his studies at such a young age, and earned the title of teacher by the time she was to begin her courses. If only, she sighed. But at least she had this opportunity, and that she was thankful for. She had made it this far without any help, and there was no turning back after this.
"Is there anyone who still has not received a Temptaint?" Yukio asked. The girl looked around the room to see how many hands went up before raising her own hand bashfully. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the white terrier had looked back at her; perhaps it was because she moved. "In that case, we'll start with the Temptaint Ritual."
The young teacher began describing how the room was left vacant for so long, that it had become infested with hobgoblings, a type of low level demon. He mentioned how he would use them for the ritual by drawing them out, and inflicting wounds onto those who have yet to obtain a temptaint. A nibble, a scratch, a bite; just a small wound to inflict enough damage to the physical being, to awaken the spiritual being within, and allow the future exorcist to be able to see demons even when they didn't wish to be seen.
All of a sudden Rin exploded from his seat and yelled at his brother once more. Yukio tried to brush him off yet again, telling Rin to have a seat, but that didn't stop Rin from demanding some sort of explanation.
What a hothead, the girl thought to herself, resting her chin in her hand.
Finally, Yukio addressed Rin, letting him know he would give him a thorough explanation. The teacher decided to put the class on hold and in turn, asked everyone to step outside for the time being. While other students whined or cursed angrily at Rin, the girl sighed a bit, but obediently collected her belongings.
As she walked past the rows of desks, she felt something alarmingly familiar; it was if something was watching her, like eyes on the back of her head, burning into her very soul. This was a feeling she had become all too accustomed to, as she had been experiencing it from the time she was very little. Despite the frequency and the duration, each time it happened it still shook her nerves. It was as if something was in the room with her, watching her, perhaps right behind her. At times she could nearly feel the body lingering just out of reach, or feel the breath of something swirl over her skin. Her heart would be beating so hard, pumping fight or flight instincts through her veins in the form of pure adrenaline; she would turn sharply to try to catch sight of it, but it was always nothing. And then it would vanish as if it was never there before.
This feeling that plagued her throughout her entire lifetime was one of the propelling factors that led her to start collecting old texts on demons, spirits, and mythology, which sparked her interests in demonology and becoming an exorcist. There were things, beings, which she could feel, that she could not see. And she wished more than anything to know what they were.
She stopped dead in her tracks, the hair rising on the back of her neck. Slowly, she turned her head, of course not expecting to see anything. No other classmates were left besides Rin, who was by the teachers' desk in the front of the room. Perhaps it was one of these hobgoblins, she thought – but it felt precisely the same as it always did. It was specific, like the same presence most of the time.
Looking back at her was the little white terrier sitting atop the desk she had just passed.
The girl furrowed her brow, then continued on her way out of the room.