"Arthur Auguste Angel present," the paladin called from the back of the room, striding forward. All the cram school students were wide eyed, Rin was childishly pulling on an unimpressed Shura's sleeve as she watched and listened intently to the proceedings.

"Arthur Auguste Angel? What's that bastard doing here? He hates Yukio!" Rin said fearfully.

'Alright four eyes, I got you this far. I just hope it will be enough,' She thought.

"Angel you damn well know Yukio is not an evil person."

"He is a demon."

"So?"

"He and Satan nearly destroyed Assiah."

"He was possessed you dumbass!"

"He and Egin created a Gehenna Gate that allowed Satan, not only access to Assiah, but a vessel as well Shura."

"He thought they could end Gehenna and you know it!" Shura screamed at the dense paladin in the close quarters of the office, her shrill voice echoing in his ears.

"He acted against the Knights of the True Cross."

"Egin told you they were trying to bomb Gehenna!"

"That demon and his brother are a danger."

"He saved your life baldy! He was doing what you were too scared to do."

"Why do you insist on pointlessly mocking my hairstyle?"

"You're going to let a child die because of your prejudice. At least Shiro admitted he didn't know how everything was supposed to be, you won't even consider things might not be quite so black and white!"

"Demons are evil. Exorcists get rid of them. We do not protect them."

"Hell part of your power comes from a fucking demon sword! Tamers fight using demons. Mephisto has turned his back on his demonic family and is helping us whether you trust his intentions or not. Demon blood does not inherently make a person evil!"

"You sound like the older twin," Arthur said. Shura scoffed at him.

"It ain't a damn bad thing," she said to him hostilely. Bursting out laughing she added, "at least the kid has some original thoughts. You just follow everything you're told like a puppet. You know I'm a better fighter but I can't be controlled like you can. That's the only reason you're above me."

"Shura you can't be relied upon. That's why I'm above than you."

"You're just saying that because I didn't turn Rin in." She whined, waving off his complaint.

"I'm saying that because Assiah would be safer if you had exterminated the satanic spawn."

"Assiah wouldn't exist if I'd killed them!" She pulled his tousled hair off his face, examining his ears. "Can you not hear a damn word I've said? Maybe you should clean out your ears, baldy."

"Shura, how can you be sure he's not a threat?" Shura smiled, he was actually considering her point of view for once.

"How can you be sure anyone isn't a threat," she shrugged. "You have to have some faith."

"Coming from the woman who hasn't had faith in God her whole life." She walked up to where the paladin was sitting and put her hands on his desk and stared into his blue eyes, her face inches from his.

"God hasn't given me any reason to have faith in him. That boy, the boy you are going to let die for no other reason than that his father is a demon, has shown me I can have faith in him." Angel stared at the confident and sincere woman, her eyes not giving away even a ghost of fear that she was wrong about the boy.

"This isn't a discussion about your religious views Shura, though I do very much disagree with you."

"And I disagree with you about Yukio. That fifteen year old was ready to shoot himself in the head to put Satan back in Gehenna." Arthur studied her eyes, boring into them to read her soul, trying to get her to falter, to show him she wasn't as sure of Yukio as she pretended to be, but she clung headfast to the words she said.

"You love him."

"What the hell are you talking about baldy!"

"Admit it and I will consider testifying positively for the Okumura."

"Angel, what evidence have you brought forth to us?"

"I would like to add my own account to the night of November 27th."

"Proceed."

"As I have heard, the main argument against Yukio Okumura is that it cannot be determined if he aided Satan or was possessed by Satan, therefore he is considered a threat to Assiah."

"That is a prioritizing concern," one of the masked grigori said.

"I, Arthur Auguste Angel, was on the roof of True Cross when Satan ventured into Assiah."

"State your, for the official record, your reason for being there Angel," the head of the trial spoke.

"I was ordered to ensure no one disrupted Egin and Okumura's proceedings on the roof." A whisper went throughout the crowd and Shura's jaw tightened.

'Well shit, that sounds bad,' Shura thought.

"What the hell is he doing?" Rin asked her. Shura tilted her head sideways.

"Why would I know?"

"Don't fuck with me Shura."

"That's Miss Shura to you kid." She thrust her hand over the boys mouth when order was called and the orderly spoke again.

"Could you explain for everyone, your understanding of these proceedings?"

"Egin planned to launch a missile he called the Messiah into Gehenna. He was certain it would destroy the demonic realm, Satan himself included."

"Why were you not to be at Egin's side enacting his plan? As acting paladin that should have been your first duty."

"He relieved me of my post as Paladin, awarding it instead to the younger Okumura brother."

"Do you believe Okumura and Egin were conspiring together to fuse Assiah?" Rin jerked, this is about to go very, very bad, he thought. He crouched, putting himself in position to spring forward at the paladin when Shura smashed his face into the cement wall.

"Calm the hell down Rin!" She whispered urgently into his ear. "What good will it do for you to go out in a fiery fit and scare everybody? You'll seal both your fates." Clenching his fists Rin calmed his anger, hoping Shura knew what she was doing. She had too much faith in Angel for his liking.

"No. Okumura was told Egin could destroy Gehenna. While his acts may have been against the Grigori he was trying to benefit Assiah." The conversations flared like fire on gasoline when the Paladin defended the spawn of satan. "He was willing to end his own life before Satan could destroy Assiah."

"You witnessed this Angel?"

"Yes." He said firmly, his eye glancing right and making contact with the bright pink eyes holding down Rin. "The Okumura twins are the sole reason Assiah still stands. Without them, we could never have closed the gate."

"This is a very interesting turn of events." The orderly said. "We shall reconvene in fifteen minutes and allow the Grigori to deliberate." Two burly exorcists took hold of Yukio and led him below. Shura released her grip on Rin and ran out of the room.

"Did she do that?" Koneko asked.

"Do what?" Shima said.

"Arthur. He said anything that called itself a demon had a right to be killed that night, but he's defending Okumura now. I think Ms. Shura had something to do with that," Koneko explained.

"Well, Ms. Shura is a very attractive woman," Shima fawned, his eyes popping like big pink hearts.

"She's respectable Shima," Bon said, knocking his friend on the head.

"And she likes Yuki," Shiemi said.

"I can't believe the guy that wanted to kill me is defending Mr. Okumura," Izumo complained.

"What do you guys think is going to happen?" Koneko asked.

"Hell if I know," Bon said. Rin suddenly perked up and ran out of the room the same direction Shura had gone.

"What's with him?" Shima asked. The other exwires simply shrugged. Rin always had odd behavior. The trial began to fill again and Rin and Shura had not returned. Yukio was delivered back to the podium and the orderly stood.

"The Grigori have decided to uphold their decision," he said.

"Yuki!" Shiemi cried, Bon putting his arms around her protectively.