Seconds felt like minutes then. I couldn't take my eyes away from him—it was as if his very existence was drawing me towards him. My heart fluttered when he leaned closer, his breath fanning my cheeks.

My eyes fluttered shut. He was about to—

"OKUMURA…! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE…!" I heard a boy shout, pushing Rin off of me and grabbing him by the collar.

My whole body felt numb, as I watched the scene unfold.

Rin was lifted off the ground by a larger, delinquent-looking boy. The boy growled, slamming him against the blackboard. "What were you trying to do to our teacher….?! HUH?!" He shouted at the male.

"B-BON! WHAT ARE Y—YOU….!"

"Don't call me that! Why are you always causing trouble for everyone?! Why can't you take everything seriously for once?!"

"What are you talking about?! I am serious—

"Hey guys! Calm down….! It's alright!" I shouted, getting up to my feet. Quickly, I got between the boys and tried to break up the fight. "It was just an accident."

"Accident, yeah right." The delinquent snorted, narrowing his eyes dangerously at Rin.

The other male was about to fight back when I stood between them. Crossing my arms and raising my voice, I ordered "Stop fighting…! Go back to your seats now! Or I'll make you clean up this class room!"

Immediately, everyone's face went pale, including the girls'. Reluctantly, both of them did as they were told—well, not before sending a death glare to each other and huffing as they went. Rin sat alone at the back while the other boy returned to his group of friends.

"Okay now, everyone. Shall we begin? Today I'm going to go through with you the different classes of demons. They are divided into a few classes and sub-classes. Some of them which—

I was grateful that I had no more lessons with them for the rest of the day. Throughout the whole lesson today, out of embarrassment, I couldn't look at Rin. He probably felt the same. This made things much more awkward than it already was. He was fully engrossed in his textbook, which was propped upright, shielding his face—trying to ignore me completely. After the class ended, he stormed out of the classroom without saying a word.

After splashing my face with water, I looked into the bathroom mirror. There was still a light tint of pink on my cheeks. Overall, I looked like a flustered schoolgirl.

"What the hell am I doing?" Those words left my throat, as I buried my head in my palms. "I'm supposed to be a teacher for god's sake, Hell, I'm an Upper First Class exorcist…..I shouldn't be acting like this."

But in the first place…Why was Rin here?

He can't possibly want to become an exorcist, right?

There is no way the Vatican would allow the son of Satan to live if they found out about him…

How did he even get into True Cross the first place? If my memory serves me right, Rin wasn't the best in his studies...and I doubt he knew much about exorcists in the first place.

Someone was definitely pulling strings—and it was completely obvious who it was—

"Samael!" I seethed, tugging my locks of hair. "I knew he was up to something…! He's scheming something again! I should have known! He was way too nice to me yesterday…!"

With all those thoughts swimming in my head, I had barely registered hearing my familiar call my name.

"Kaira~!" Inugami called, nibbling my ear.

"H-Hey stop that!" I hissed, making a shooing motion with my hand.

"It's important. I smell Satan's spawn outside. He's waiting for you, I think. KehehehHEEHhehehH"

Again, it feels as though my heart was about to leap out of my throat.

"Inugami…don't call him that…. But wait. W-Why is he waiting outside?"

"Seems like he's waiting for you to come out~Keh!"

"B-But why?"

"Awww…keehehHEehhhe…you look soooo cute when you're nervous, Kaira~ That was a nice show you put up this morning. I wonder what would have happened if he actually kissed youuu..? I might've gotten jealous and ripped out his throat," the demon said, crackling with laughter.

"S-Shut up. You idiot! Arghh….Let's go outside. You're coming with me, Inugami and you better not say anything!"

Indeed, like what Inugami said, Rin was waiting down the corridor. Leaning against the wall, his arms were crossed and his body was stiff. His eyes were rapidly darting left and right.

"Umm….hey," I began, unsure what to say.

Rin jumped, probably not noticing me before. "K-Kaira! H-Hey….!" His voice came out at a slightly higher pitch than usual. "C-Can we talk for a moment…?"

"Sure…I want to say something as well. Can we talk outside? Somewhere quiet, maybe…"

"Yeah, okay…"

We walked in silence, with him following me from behind—as if he was trying to keep his distance away from me. From time to time, I would glance back at him but quickly look away when he caught my gaze. Only now did I realise how much he has grown over the past few years. He was probably half a head taller than me now.

I remember him being so small in my arms that I could carry him and bring him for piggy back rides. Those were the days. He, along with Yukio would always beg me to take them to the park. Fujimoto, being the Paladin, was busy most of the time—so he'll have me take care of them whenever he's away. Unlike Rin, Yukio knew about demons from a young age—due to the demon wound he received from his brother. So when he found out that I was part demon, he became more detached from the both of us. This was the same even after he started his duties as an exorcist—he would avoid me, especially if we had missions together. But thankfully it was just one or two of them, considering we were of different ranks.

Yukio had become more and more independent as he grew older—always studying and reading books whenever he could. Because of his hard work, he had become a fine exorcist—and most likely a great doctor in the future.

Rin, on the other hand, was ignorant of the world of demons till now. Like Fujimoto, I thought it was best for him to live a normal life—at least while he could.

Who'd knew things would turn out like this?

I'm his guardian now—not that I didn't want to be but….

What right do I have to be his guardian? I murdered his father. I made him and Yukio orphans….

This wasn't right.

Once we got out of the building, I led him to the courtyard, which was devoid of students, considering it was late evening now and most of them had gone home by now. I stopped when we reached the school fountain.

"What was it did you want to talk about…?" I asked, looking at him now. My stomach felt even more uneasy than before.

As if embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze stuck on the ground. "It's about today. I want to apologize to you more properly…I realised that what I did was impropriate! I'm really sorry!" He said, bowing quickly in apology.

I raised a brow. "Hey…It's no big deal. Accidents happen…"

"But still…."

"Look. I'm fine. So don't look so down about it," I said, trying to flash him a smile.

That's right.

I was trying. There was an aching pain in my heart—I was still consumed with guilt after what I did to Fujimoto. Whenever I looked at Rin, this feeling would return.

I didn't deserve to be his teacher.

I didn't deserve to be his guardian.

"Right…." He trailed off, unsure what to say.

"Rin."

"Huh..?"

"I'm sorry….. for your dad…" Those words were caught in my throat. The smile I had before was replaced with a frown.

His reaction to my words were immediate—hurt flashed across is eyes. His trembling hands clenched the hem of his shirt. It was as if he was trying his best not to break down.

"….but it's not your fault," he said—it sounded a little forced.

I let out a bitter smile, and said, "That's what everyone keeps saying…But you can't look away from the truth. I killed Father Fujimoto with these hands—you saw them…I'm his murderer."

Rin was obviously trembling now.

Despite this, I continued. He needed to hear this. I have waited weeks to tell him this—there was no going back now. I unsheathed my sword and handed the hilt of it over to him.

Surprise was evident on his face, as well as confusion.

"W-Wait. What are you doing…?"

"Take it."

"B-But why—

"Why are you afraid? Aren't you the Son of Satan? " I asked in a threatening tone. Eyes narrowed dangerously into slits.

"…Don't call me that…!"

"But it's the truth. You can't look away from this…You're a demon. Just like me…"

Rin's scared expression quickly morphed to one of rage, his pupils slowly turning into slits. There was a flash of blue across his onyx eyes. "Call me what you want….but inside, I'm still human! And no one is going to change that…!"

"Tell me then…why did you choose to become an exorcist?"

"I'm going to defeat Satan!"

"Why…?"

"Because…."

"You want revenge, isn't it? You want avenge your dad. That's why you're trying so hard to become an exorcist…But let me tell you," I said, taking a step forward. "Satan didn't kill your dad. I did."

"Y-You…"

"So why are you holding back? Take my sword. Take it and drive it into my heart."

When he did nothing, I shoved the hilt into his hand, before taking a step back. "I've given you my sword as a form of my consent. No one would blame you for my death, so you shouldn't hesitate."

Rin's POV (3rd PERSON)

Was this how she saw it?

He chose to become an exorcist for revenge?

No. She's wrong. That was not how she and dad brought him up. He would never let hatred consume his heart—he wasn't a demon. He was different!

"Y-You're wrong…! It's because I want to protect everyone. I won't let anyone die because of Satan! And that includes you…!" He shouted, stabbing the sword onto the ground and taking a step towards Kaira.

She jumped when he suddenly raised his voice and just then, he thought he saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes.

"B-But why…? I—

"Because…you raised me. You protected me all this while…! And I will never forget that!"

Just then, she pushed him away, snarling. "What do you know, Rin?! You don't even know how I'm really am…! I'm not who you think I am…! I'm a cruel, evil—

"Kaira," he cut me off, his hands grasping her shoulders.

"W-What are you doing…?!" She sounded frantic and at the same time, afraid. The complete opposite of the person she was seconds ago. He may not be the brightest person on the earth, but it was obvious she was genuine sorry and all the guilt was eating her alive. It hurts to see her like this.

"Idiot. We're both the same. We didn't choose to be born as demons. Appearances doesn't matter to me...! Like I said, I didn't choose to become an exorcist to kill. I chose to become an exorcist to protect people important to me….I know you long enough to know that you're a good person! And I want to protect you…!"

He noticed her bottom lip quivered. His hand patted her back, as he pulled her into a hug—which was very uncharacteristic of him. Usually he'd be embarrassed around girls, especially when it comes to physical contact. But it was different this time. He needed to set things right and tell her how he felt.

"These claws. They didn't kill my dad. They saved him. They saved me."

Her reaction was instantaneous. She tried to draw back, but he stopped her from doing so. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she screamed at him, "I don't understand! Why won't you hate me?! I did something unforgivable and yet…."

"I can never hate you."

"….what…?"

"When I was a kid, everyone hated and feared me—but not you. You were always there. You never judged me like everybody else…...I found that you're the only person that I could relate to, even till now…What had happened is all in the past now. I don't want our relationship to change."

The blush on his face intensified. He was never one to be forward.

"…Rin."

"…..so promise me…Kaira, that you'll stay by my side."

Her eyes were slightly reddish now from all the crying. Only now did Rin realise that he was still holding her wrist, which probably was bruised by now.

"Ah…! Sorry I hadn't realised! Does it hurt?!"

"Idiot." she said, with a small smile on her lips.

That little smile was enough to make Rin's heart flutter.