A special thanks to (you know who you are) for helping me get through this chapter! I couldn't have done it without you!

As per always, lightly edited.

I do not own Blue Exorcist.

"My brain is divided into two butterflies, and both are in love with your rose-shaped heart. If you've got the garden, I've got my whole life."

~ Jarod Kintz

Flower Garden

For as long as I can remember, I've always loved flowers. I thought them beautiful, amazing, peculiar, and confounding. How could such a wonderful, colorful, and perfumed thing arise from a little seed and dirt, basically nothing? Why did they so often bring joy to people? Why would we leave such simple things on graves as tokens of memories we will never forget – especially when flowers themselves don't last forever? What made a flower so special that they could serve as symbols of our passions – when they themselves are so fleeting? And why do I love them? I've often wondered these things.

I never really asked anyone, rather I preferred to spend time musing to myself. It never seemed an appropriate time to ask anyone. Or I worried I would seem exceedingly strange if I did. Plus, whom would I ask anyway? Who would really know the answer?

Whatever my thoughts, I always had one desire. I wanted a flower garden. Many times in my life I had tried to raise a few potted plants, but I always found that the color of my thumbs was a charcoal black and without fail, my small garden died.

Over and over again, I planted seed after seed, but never once did I see a single bloom.

It was disheartening. I didn't know the reason they consistently died; I thought I had done well tending to them. I showed them care and love, I remember once I even tried singing to them like I had seen in a movie. Yet, always they wilted and faded long before they reached maturity.

Until finally I gave up.

From afar, I would gaze enviously at the beautiful gardens others could grow and would get to leave behind when they're gone, and I'd often walk to the park and admire the diverse florae there. But never did I ever have a flower garden of my own.

I remember once, my mother told me there were many different kinds of flowers though. Some don't look like flowers and can't be admired in the same way, let's say, a rose could. But she told me that those flowers are the most valuable and longest lasting.

I'd like to grow a garden of flowers like that one day.

Though, I'm not sure where I can find seeds for such a flower, and she never told me the name since she's so fond of riddles and secrets, but I'll figure it out one day and that's the garden I'll leave behind.

For now, however, I'll simply continue to admire the gardens in front of me – even though they aren't mine.

Kneeling before the greenery, my hand carefully brushed the little blue Iris that stood tall amongst its companions. I didn't want to risk accidently tapping my black thumb against its petals, lest I kill the striking thing.

Of course, as I gently pulled away from the flower with a content and gentle smile it was promptly knocked to the ground and trampled on. I squeaked in surprised shock and drooped my head as a result of the depressing occurrence I had just witnessed. Then with a sad sigh, but without raising my head, I waved a greeting to the demon in front of me.

"Hi Behemoth."

Actually, this greeting wasn't a result of meeting him at the normal exchange place at the park. Now that I was visited by the two demons basically every day, that entire custody agreement had all but been forgotten. I didn't even bother bringing Amaimon cherry flavored lollipops anymore since he usually just raided my candy pantry (although I still occasionally have a few on me, but not necessarily for him – I also like them). Rather, this particular greeting was a result of him having disappeared for about an hour while we were in a nearby public garden.

I had searched for the hobgoblin for a good forty-five minutes before giving up and assuming he'd return when he felt like it.

Clearly, I was right.

Or at least I had thought I'd be right. But when I did look up, I was quite surprised to see a hobgoblin that was not Behemoth sitting in front of me. I blink once, twice, and three times while the unknown goblin stared at me. Then, though delayed, he roared in my face. I was close enough that the fiend's spit landed on my cheek as it roared, and as a result I squealed in surprise and proceeded to crawl a safe distance away before turning back to look at the creature.

I couldn't understand why in the world it would feel it was necessary to do that, or ruin a perfectly good flowerbed for that matter (as it was still stomping around in the florae). I stared at the beast, gauging whether or not I could run away safely when suddenly I had a startling realization.

I had seen this goblin before.

Though for the life of me, I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen it. But I knew it looked familiar. I also realized it was snickering while it leered at me. Rude much? "Now you, don't laugh at people after you scare them. It's mean!"

The familiar red goblin stopped laughing, rather it stopped smiling all together and growled at me. Admittedly, I was slightly unnerved by the rather bipolar behavior the beast was demonstrating and I shuffled backwards ever so slightly in response to the clear threat. However, once again the little demon resumed its goofy sounding giggles.

Okay, now I was getting irritated.

On another note, where was Behemoth when I needed him? I bet this goblin, whoever it was, wouldn't be so unpleasant if Behemoth were here. Knowing him, he'd show up with Amaimon sometime later…

That's the usual sequence of events. He leaves for a little while, and then returns in the company of the Demon King.

Of course, that's also not of much importance at this very moment. Especially not at this very moment. At this very moment, I should probably consider running or at least doing something akin to defending myself since the hobgoblin was now charging at me.

My reaction was rather delayed and as a result I didn't have time to get to my feet and run away, but I did managed to raise my arms and shield the main part of my body (or at least the part with vital organs) from the oncoming demon, all the while squealing in hopes someone was nearby or my scream would somehow deter the beast.

I felt the creature collide with me, but fortunately, except for the bruises I'd get from the initial collision, I was totally unscathed. But at the same time, I felt the purse on my shoulder slide off as the little demon made off with it. I tried to grab it before it got out of reach, knowing full well from past experiences with Behemoth there was no way I'd catch the creature if he got away, but alas, my bag quite literally slipped through my fingers.

"Hey!" I called after the beast as I scrambled to my feet. Knowing I'd probably not catch the hobgoblin wasn't reason enough not to try to, so the moment my feet were firmly established on the ground I took off after the creature.

What would follow would be a chaotic mess of tripping over my own feet, crashing into shrubbery, leaping forward, jumping over flowerbeds (which the goblin generally just barreled right through), always missing my target when I'd get close enough to reach for my bag, and barely making it around the many sharp turns of the garden as I trailed after the speedy thing.

This was ridiculous, and I failed to understand why I recently always seem to be chasing some supernatural creature around. And as sweat began to form on my forehead, annoyed mutterings began to leak from my lips between my desperate gasps for air.

By this point, I was fairly certain my hair, which had been a rather neat ponytail before this entire fiasco, was a total bird's nest complete with twigs, grass, and leaves. And let's not even talk about the state of my jeans and shirt, which both had bits of dirt and grass everywhere. Man, when I got my hands on that little red demon, I'd pummel him. Of course, at the rate I was going I was more likely to inadvertently pummel myself simply by trying to keep up with the hobgoblin.

"Ack!" Yet another yelp of surprise and discomfort as my foot caught on a slight obstruction and I fell forward, landing, this time, in a flowerbed I had been attempting to jump over and subsequently crushing the flowers that grew there. I sat up slightly, "Ah! No! I'm so sorry! Please be okay!"

Quickly, I sat fully up and made a rather sad and pathetic attempt at lifting the irreparable greenery up in hopes it might recover, but unsurprisingly my attempts at fixing the damage was pointless.

With a vengeful glean in my eye; I set my sights on the crimson hobgoblin in front of me. It stood three paces away and stared me down, clearly amused and daring me to give up the chase and admit defeat. "You!" I roared as I pounced forward, landing on my hands and knees once again in the process. I didn't even come close to catching my target as it leapt out of the way long before I got there and took off around yet another corner. But I wasn't planning on letting it get away that easily. Rather, I wasn't planning on letting it get away at all. By golly, I was going to catch that little bastard if it was the last thing I did.

Well, that's not entirely true; I'd likely give up before it reached the point where it would actually be the last thing I did. I wasn't that stupid, although, I have often been told that I don't pay enough attention to my surroundings or myself so the possibility that it could, in fact, be the last thing I do wasn't totally ridiculous. Just partly.

Nevertheless, whilst ignoring the throb of my foot and the sting of my knees, vainly brushing off the grass stains, and promising my fallen floral friend vengeance, I stood to my feet once more.

My eyes set sternly on the path the beast took only moments earlier. I should probably try and be smart about this because I knew I could outrun it, but maybe I could try and cut him off somewhere. Of course, that required a spatial sense that I likely did not possess. I didn't have this park memorized. And I wasn't entirely sure where the paths lead, so the chance I could successfully cut the demon off was not very high.

No, unfortunately I found myself recklessly running after the fiend once more as opposed to taking the wiser road. It wasn't that I wanted to, but rather it was that I knew if I didn't start after him again soon I'd lose all sight of him and never get my bag back.

And it was imperative I get that bag back. It had my house key, my phone, my ID, my money, and the cherry flavored lollipops I kept on me at all times (recently at least).

I get told this often, but I probably should consider paying more attention to my surroundings. Especially, noise. Why noise of all things? Well, noise can often forewarn you to impending collisions when rounding a blind corner.

As I turned said blind corner I lost almost no speed, and initially I thought that a good thing – I figured the less speed I lost the more likely I was to catch up to the thief. Unfortunately, it didn't help much at all. If anything it made the entire resulting ordeal worse. It would be my luck that around this corner was a person. A comparatively large, and somewhat intimidating person, who was also running at full speed towards the very same corner.

We cried our shock simultaneously, "GAH!" I tried, unsuccessfully, to dig my heels into the ground and come to a halt, but even though I had managed to stop my feet, the rest of my body had other plans and I ended up crashing headlong into the boy.

CRASH!


"At this point I think we need to embrace the weird. High-five it. Give it our phone number."

~ Jim Zub, Wayward, Vol. 1: String Theory


"Ow…" I cringed while I rubbed my nose with one hand and my lower back with the other.

"Che…That really hurt, damn it." My eyes flitted forward, toward the sound of the deeper voice only to lay eyes on the young man I had run into. Perhaps a little too quickly I grew quite nervous and noticeably concerned for my future well being.

He looked uncannily like a delinquent. He had a blonde mohawk, offset by brown hair, a rather large build, and a very unapproachable air. With a twitch and blink, I swallowed the growing lump in my throat as he turned to look at me. He was frowning deeply while also rubbing the sore parts of his body and when he opened his mouth to speak I cringed with slight fear and in preparation for what was sure to be a violent, delinquent-worthy reprimand. "Hey. You ok?" He spoke with such a stern and almost harsh tone that I was left momentarily confused by whether he was concerned for me or not.

"Uh…um…"

As I stuttered for a response two more boys came up behind him, a shorter one with a buzz cut and glasses and a boy with bright pink hair and a somewhat lazy smile.

The shorter boy ran up to the delinquent, "Bon! Are you alright?"

"Huh…oh yeah. I'm fine." He replied as he climbed to his feet. I paused in thought for a very short moment while I considered the idea that the delinquent was likely named Bon, though the sinking suspicion that it might be a nickname was there. I blinked once more and before I knew it there was a much too friendly smile and a hand being extended towards me, both of which belonged to the boy with the bright pink hair.

"I hope you aren't hurt." He spoke brightly while continuing to offer his hand to me, and the combination of his care-free smile and kind words led me to drop my guard and take his hand, "If you'd like, I'd be happy to thoroughly check you over for injuries!" Of course, then he kept talking and his dubious phrasing sent a shiver crawling down my spine as I snatched my hand away and stood to my feet without his assistance.

"Err…no thanks. I'm fine." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"That came out wrong…"

I smiled uncomfortably at him, "Did it?"

The short one with glasses soon came up behind the taller boy, "Renzo…you really shouldn't say things like that."

"I was just expressing concern for this nice…" Phasing the conversation out of conscious thought, I slowly began backing away, all too ready to make my escape and catch up to that almost forgotten thief from earlier.

"Hey! Where are you sneaking off to?" I flinched and flushed when the delinquent, earlier referred to as Bon, reprimanded me for trying to 'sneak off'. Mainly, because that was, in fact, what I was trying to do and there was nothing quite as embarrassing as being so terribly overt that you're caught while trying to be covert. Plus, he's big and scary.

"Uh…"

"Don't you know, it's rude to run away before apologizing for running into someone?" He scowled at me as he spoke clearly annoyed by my admittedly rude behavior; yet somehow, even though his face was such that it should have been terrifying, the feeling that was coursing through my veins was not fear. Rather it was a besetting irritation.

"…Well, I am sorry." I spoke sincerely, despite the fact the words had basically wriggled their way through my clenched teeth, "Are you alright."

"I'm fine. But what kind of idiot runs around in a flower garden in the first place?"

"Excuse me?" Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. "Why don't you tell me? After all, you're clearly just as much an idiot as I am."

The speed that this boy went from mildly intimidating but calm to terrifying and enraged as he fumed from the insult was truly quite remarkable, and I might have been tempted to giggle if I wasn't stewing myself, "Who you calling an idiot!?"

I didn't miss a beat as I indignantly maneuvered my hands to my hips and responded, "You."

"You…" The boy's nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed while his body momentarily tensed before the coming pyre. Then when finally he released his rage he did so in an eruption of fury that was somehow stained with the pain of a past I couldn't possible know, "Don't you dare look down on me!"

How he had managed to make the leap from my being angry at being called an idiot and spitefully firing back to my thinking myself better than him and snootily looking down on him I wasn't entirely sure, but I was quick to correct his thinking. "How could I be looking down on you?" I asked incredulously, while waving my hands in a motion meant to depict the absurdity of the question. "I know nothing about you. I'm angry with you for insulting me. So I'm insulting you back. But I am not looking down on you."

After I finished my tirade, he stopped for a moment; it was almost like he was processing my words. Well, not almost. I'm fairly certain he was processing my words. After a few seconds his expression lost its earlier ire, though the ingrained intimidation couldn't fade, and he grumbled.

The short boy with glasses, who had been approaching during mine and the angry boy's entire exchange, smiled a little. "I think we might all be at fault in some way."

"Eh? I didn't do anything. I don't even want to be here." I glanced skeptically at the pink-haired boy; feeling like the only one here that hadn't done anything questionable was the short boy trying to make peace – not the one with questionable intent.

"In your case, it's not what you've done at fault, but what you've thought." In an attempt not to laugh at what the shorter boy said, I snorted. Immediately after, my hands flew to my mouth as I tried to hide my slip up, but alas, by then, it was too late. Although, one could hardly blame me for finding his statement humorous, after all, he had said basically what I was thinking.

The pink haired boy listlessly rubbed the back of his head and glanced back at me, "Anyway…" he began, clearly attempting to change the subject, "I don't think we caught your name. I'm Renzo Shima, you can call me Renzo."

"And I'm Konekomaru Miwa," the shorter boy quickly followed, then motioning towards the angry delinquent, "and this is Ryuji Suguro – we call him Bon."

So it was a nickname after all. Cordially, I allowed a well-mannered smile to light my face as I greeted them, "It's nice to meet you all; again, I apologize for the part I played in the earlier commotion. I'm Kotori Ueda." My smile faltered, however, as I remembered that I didn't really have time to be dillydallying here if I ever wanted to see my purse again. "But, um...if you could excuse me, I really need to go find someone. Actually, that's why I was running around."

The pink haired boy, Renzo, looked unusually devastated as I spoke, but before he could get a word in Bon spoke up, "Whatever, we should be on our own way anyways."

Konekomaru nodded, "That's true. Well, it was nice to meet you again Ms. Ueda."

I grimaced. Ms. Ueda? That made me feel like an old lady, "Just Kotori is fine."

With little to no hesitation, Renzo had sidled up to me and queried all too flirtatiously, "Then until we meet again, Kotori?"

"On second thought," I quipped, "Ms. Ueda works too."

Renzo looked as if I had stabbed him straight through the heart and seemed as though he was about to say something else, however, he was interrupted by loud rustling, some growling and a red monster carrying a purse I most certainly recognized jumping out of the bushes, promptly knocking him to the ground, and taking off again.

For a moment, everyone stood stunned – with the exception of Renzo who lay on the ground groaning in pain – but soon all hell broke loose. "Hey! YOU! Get back here with my purse!" I screamed after the hobgoblin.

Simultaneously, Bon yelled out, "There it is! Don't let it get away!"

"Yeah!" Konekomaru affirmed.

"Huh?" I paused and regarded them quizzically.

Bon met my questioning gaze with one of his own, "Wait…what?"

Then Konekomaru too turned his eyes to me, "You mean…?"

Realization struck all three of us as we stared at each other and simultaneously revealed what we all now knew, "You (guys) can see it!?"

Still on the ground, Renzo moaned, "Ugh~ it hurts…" but he was basically ignored.

"Of course we can see it! How can you see it?" The delinquent-like boy, Bon, basically shouted at me.

And of course, I shouted right back, though I wasn't entirely sure why anyone was shouting, "I've always been able to see stuff like that! And what about you! What do you mean 'of course we can'?" My question would go unanswered, however, as coarse snickers rudely interrupted the chaotic moment and therefore our conversation. These were the kind of snickers I could easily identify as belonging to some species of goblin, and immediately I snapped to attention. I wasn't the only one, all four of us (yes, that includes the pink haired boy) set our sights on the source of the sound and when we did, we found ourselves staring down the hobgoblin that had caused this entire commotion.

And, yes, it still had my purse.

Peeved, I picked up my foot, ready to rush forward and tackle it. Unfortunately, I was not destined to do any successful tackling today as I was instead knocked to the ground. I had heard the rustling behind me and did turn to look at its source, but I was too slow and didn't see the quickly approaching figure before it was too late to dodge it. I did manage to release a measly, "Eh!?" though.

"Huh? Oh sh-!"

SLAM!

Admittedly, the initial collision hurt since the boy's shoulder had crashed clumsily into mine and caused it and the rest of by body to twist at a decidedly uncomfortable angle. Moreover, I tumbled backwards in a highly awkward way and with a surprising degree of force, which was aided by the weight of the boy who had come flying out of the bushes. Even if I had been thinking straight, I really don't think I would have been able to catch myself.

As it were. I didn't. And the last things I heard was a snarl, a couple of shocked gasps, and a decisive crack that echoed through my skull as a shooting pain shot through the back of my head and everything went black.


"What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. ... In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the coloring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them."

~ John Lubbock


In the distance I could hear something. It was muffled, whatever it was, but it was a strange sound. Natural, yet manufactured. It kept resounding over and over again, but not in equal intervals; sometimes it sounded again immediately, while occasionally a few seconds would go by before I could hear it again.

Light filtered into my dark vision, first as needlepoint then as a flash that covered my entire vision. I realized at this point that there was an omnipresent compressing yet still dull ache in my skull. The noise seemed to grow closer and began to sound less and less muted as my awareness grew clear. Soon the light began dissipating and I was able to discern the outline of unfocused colorless figures. All the while, the sound that I could not identify became recognizable as a voice, though for the moment, I was not lucid enough to tell you what they were saying.

It also would be the case that the pervasive dull ache became a sharp throbbing that honestly made me think my brain was being crushed by my shrinking skull.

In hopes I could alleviate the pressure and therefore the pain, I tried to move, but I found that either I couldn't sense that I was moving or I wasn't actually moving; strangely, I didn't feel panicked. Yet. The heaviness that blanketed me only seemed to suppress such things as emotions and my self-awareness.

For that moment at least. Another second would go by and the fuzzy outlines would come into focus and fill in and finally the voice and words would begin to make sense to me.

"Miss?...Hey, miss? Are you okay?...Miss?" My eyes moved slowly towards the source of the voice. That motion alone seemed to take an overwhelming amount of energy. Nonetheless, I still tried to marshal what energy I did have into a response. At that point, I realized once again that I didn't have proper control of my physiological capabilities.

This time panic did set in, and it was made more awful by the sudden realization that I was lying on my back and I could not remember why I was doing so or how I had gotten in this position. But despite my panic, I still couldn't move or at least not enough to make an impact – I could sort of move my head but the required effort to do so was unrealistically astronomical. Which made the panic worse and made my heart rate completely erratic.

"Miss? Can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

My eyes flickered towards the voice. It wasn't too hard to find it as the source hovered above me, along with another figure. As my eyes refocused I became able to discern their appearances – two boys. Both with blue eyes, though of slightly different shades. One had brown hair and glasses as well as a few moles dotting his face and the other was a vaguely familiar boy with bluish black messy hair. Though they were hugely different from one another, they seemed rather similar too.

A panicked voice emerged from one of them – the latter boy with the dark hair. "Oh man, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to!" In a usual situation I might have been able to make deductions from that statement, but as for the moment my cognitive processes weren't at full faculty and any thoughts that may have arisen were smothered by the pressure and pounding in my head. Nonetheless, despite lacking a full understanding of the situation at hand and despite not knowing who they were, simply hearing their sympathetic voices soothed my panic.

"Rin, give her some space."

"Oh, right."

"Excuse me miss, can you speak?" The boy with glasses asked. Experimentally, I moved my mouth and tongue and shoved air through my vocal tract in a pathetic whimpering 'yes' that ended up sounding a lot more like an incomprehensible moan than a word, which was shortly followed by a shooting pain in the back of my head and a stronger throb throughout my skull.

His questions continued, "Can you tell me your name?"

Again I forced words through my lips, "Kotori." I probably could have given him my full name, but that took too much effort. That being said, the weight that had been making my body feel so heavy and impossible to move was starting to lift and I found that, despite my splitting headache, talking and even moving was starting to get easier.

"Okay, Kotori. Do you remember where you are?"

I tried to nod but instantly regretted it, as even the slightest movement of my head made the ache worse. Wincing, I managed to respond with a "Mmhmm."

"Can you tell me?"

Seriously? I wish he'd just stop asking me all these questions, "the flower gardens." Despite my internal complaint I still responded. I also tested my motor functions. I felt heavy and lethargic but I think I could sit up if I tried. So I tried.

Unfortunately, while I could awkwardly lift my torso and legs, my head was too heavy for my neck to lift, and even if that weren't the case the shooting pain kept me from want to move it. After failing in my attempt I collapsed back to the ground, except the collision I was expecting didn't occur due to two pairs of hands that took firm grip of my arms. "Rin, cradle her head and help her up. Be careful not to press against the back too much."

"Got it." Immediately, I felt one pair of hand move to support my head while the other pair helped sit me up.

Even after I managed to sit upright, neither pair of hands moved from their position, for which I was grateful, as I was still a little unsteady as a result of weakness and my pulsing head. Although, now that I was moving around, I found my strength starting to return at an even faster rate than before. I looked at the two boys and murmured, "Thank you." I was happy to hear that my speaking ability had returned in its former glory and my speech no longer sounded like a series of ghastly moans.

"How are you feeling?" The brown haired boy questioned me.

"My head hurts and I feel a little weak but I think I'm okay."

The other boy came around from behind me, without releasing my head however, and dramatically bowed his head, "I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't mean to!" I looked at the dark haired boy and furrowed my brows in subtle confusion. I was having a hard time recalling what had happened so I couldn't really remember what he'd done. The last thing I remembered was talking to Bon, Konekomaru, and Renzo about being able to see demons and then hearing the hobgoblin's snickers. After that, I couldn't really remember anything. However, I assumed this boy probably had something to do with my present situation and it was obvious he was authentically apologizing so I smiled.

"It's fine. I'm sure it was an accident." He looked up at me and smiled. When he did, my eyes widened. I knew this boy. I had met him before. What was his name? Okimaru? Okimura? Okumura That's it. "Rin Okumura!" I declared. He looked a little surprised for a moment but as he stared at my face – and then quite obviously at my hair - his face lit up.

"Kotiro Uda!"

"Kotori Ueda."

He froze and stared at me for a millisecond before drooping in disappointment and shame. "Oh." As for myself, I giggled. I didn't blame him for forgetting my name (even if I had just said the first part of it a few moment ago). After all, we had only met once.

"You two know each other?" Not to be forgotten, the other boy, who I still think seemed a little similar to Rin in some form though I couldn't put my finger on why that was, questioned us.

Rin brightened up fairly quickly and replied, "Yep! We met a while ago."

"We ran into each other, literally." I finished the answer.

"I guess he didn't learn to be more careful the first time." I frowned at the unnamed boy's remark. The first time? Had he done it again? That would explain how I ended up on the ground and why Rin had been apologizing to me. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Rin pouted in a rather guilty manner, and looked quite adorable doing it I will admit, after the other boy spoke. "I do pay attention."

"Clearly not." Sitting between them soon became an awkward experience, since I was quite literally situated right in the middle of what quickly became a session of bickering between the two boys. The boy with glasses reminded me of an older brother strictly reprimanding his younger brother, while Rin acted a lot like the guilty brother who didn't really want to admit to being guilty.

After a moment that was much too long, I cleared my throat and reminded them I was there. They turned their attention back to me; Rin embarrassedly rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, while the other boy smiled coolly at me and apologized.

"Do you think you can sit up on your own now?" As a response to his question I gave the brown haired boy a tentative nod and he and Rin slowly released me. I was quite happy and proud to see that I could in fact hold myself up and a smile crept onto my face as a result. "I'm glad to see you are feeling better, Kotori."

"Me too!" Rin added.

I looked up at the nameless boy and finally inquired, "I don't believe I got your name."

"Oh, right. I'm Yukio Okumura." Upon hearing his family name I glanced between the to boys. No wonder they seemed similar to me – and they bickered the way they do.

"You're brothers!" My voice echoed in the clearing with my unnecessarily loud exclamation, which was soon follow by a far quieter, "That makes sense actually."

"Oh?" Met with Yukio's rather uniquely intimidating yet still gentle smile I flushed a little.

"Y-yeah…" I looked around and realized that I was alone with these two, which triggered my next question, "Where did Bon, Konekomaru, and that boy with pink hair go?"

Rin was the first to speak up, "They went chasing after the hobg-" he did not get to finish his statement, however, as Yukio interrupted him with an unusually loud clearing of the throat.

"I sent them to finish the job we came here for."

I stared suspiciously at Yukio, who was wearing a True Cross Order uniform. Who did he think he was fooling? I didn't know a lot about exorcists but I at least knew what they dressed like. I cocked my head, "You're here to exorcise something, aren't you?"

Yukio looked a little surprised, but his shock faded back into his friendly and pleasant smile almost immediately. "We are. But it's nothing to worry about – we have it all under control."

What were they here to exorcise? Was it some sort of evil demon? I shivered slightly at the thought. "What is it?" I found myself asking.

Rin answered this time, "What's what?"

"The demon you're here to exorcise."

"Oh! It's a hobgoblin." My eyes widened and I stared at Rin. A hobgoblin? Like Behemoth? Was it the one that stole my purse? But why? They weren't evil – just mischievous, nothing worth killing them over. My mouth opened; I wanted to tell them that it wasn't just to do such a thing, but nothing came out. I realized why. This wasn't my world. I knew almost nothing about it – yes I could see demons, I could for as long as I could remember, but beyond that I had no real interaction save one. I was partial to a hobgoblin and even a demon king. Yes. True. So of course I'd feel this way, but beyond that – what did I know, who was I to claim justice and injustice in these demonic matters. I bit my tongue and closed my mouth.

Yukio broke the momentary silence, "May I take a look at your head?"

I looked to him; a sharp pain reminded me of how I got into this situation and I reached up to grab my head. "Ow…" Gently, my fingers brushed the back of my skull; I flinched due to the throbbing and when I pulled away I noticed there was something red smeared on my fingers.

"Be careful; I kind of did a number on y-"

Rin was interrupted but this time it wasn't by his brother. It was by a foot belonging to an unknown person. I hadn't even noticed anyone approach and apparently neither had the brothers. Honestly, I never really even saw the foot move past me; instead I felt the air rustle my hair and brush my cheeks as it rushed by me at a speed I could never hope to match. My eyes widened in shock and I flinched away in fear as I watched the boy I had recently run into fly away from me and collide with a nearby tree in an explosion of wood chips.

My voice poured out of my lips before I could do anything to stop myself, "Rin!" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Yukio reach out to me with one hand and reach for an object at his waist, I glanced at him and saw his gaze set on someone or something behind me. But within seconds, Yukio was no longer in my field of vision as he too was kicked away, though not quite with the same degree of force. My arm shot out after him and a screech flew through my lips while my eyes watered.

Fear flooded through me and instinctually I began to crawl away. The terror tempted me with desire to turn around and glimpse the attacker behind me, and for a moment I resisted the temptation. But eventually, my curiosity forced my hand and my head turned.

I froze in shock. Standing before me with his normal deadpan expression was none other than my own green-haired friend. I wasn't sure what to think, or really even what to say. I couldn't move; all I could do was stare up at him, horrified.

It wasn't until he looked at me that my muscles loosened back up only to tense once again as I recoiled from his stare and began trembling.

"Argh. Damn it!" My eyes shot back towards where Rin had landed, to my surprise he was standing back up, although admittedly he looked like he was in a lot of pain. Nonetheless, the boy glared at Amaimon with incredible ferocity and he reached for the object he kept strapped to his back. He paused however when his gaze fell on me, and his features took on a conflicted appearance. Eventually, his hand came to rest on whatever it was, but he made no move after that, instead he opened his mouth and called out in obvious anger, "what are you doing here!?"

The green-haired demon stared at Rin, and cocked his head very slightly, "Ah…? I'm just here to have some fun."

Fun? Was that what Amaimon considered fun? I looked at the Demon King through blurry vision and tried desperately to erase the fearful and confused thoughts from my head.

Rin's frown darkened and he shouted back at the demon, "Fun!? This isn't fun!?"

"I agree."

Huh? For a moment, I just watched him unwrap a lollipop and lazily put it in his mouth before he turned around and jumped into the trees leaving me to stare blankly at the space in front of me.

"Yukio!" Rin's voice broke me out of my stupor and I turned towards the brown-haired boy. He was just starting to come out of the daze he had been in after hitting his head against the tree. I wanted to move towards him and make sure he was okay, but somehow I couldn't really bring myself to move.

"…Rin? Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Of course I am! Are you okay?!"

I stared at Rin dumbfounded for a second. Of course he was? He hit that tree hard enough to splinter it…he really shouldn't be okay. My lips quivered. Why? Why had Amaimon attacked them like that?

I couldn't understand.


"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it."

C. JoyBell C.


I stared at the spare key in my hands. It had been a long day, and not a day I wanted to repeat. It had started off innocent enough. Normal even. Then a hobgoblin stole my purse, which I never did manage to get back. I ran into some new people, some weird new people who were apparently exorcists. Afterwards, I was knocked out by Rin only to wake up and meet his brother.

Up until that point, everything was fine – weird, yes – but fine.

Then Amaimon had shown up. Normally, that would be the highlight of my day. We usually have so much fun when he's around but today…today it had been the worst part of it. I wished he had never appeared because now I was afraid.

I was afraid I'd be afraid the next time I saw him.

After the incident, the other three boys returned and Yukio and Rin were taken to get medical attention, while I was left with Bon. They had tried to convince me to come with them, but I was adamant about just wanting to go home. Yukio didn't think I had a concussion since my head had stopped hurting by that point, though occasionally the scab on the back of my head stung, and furthermore I hadn't had a hair on my head touched by Amaimon, so he consented to my return as long as I promised to see a doctor tomorrow and have my head checked. I also had to agree to being walked home; after all it was the twilight hours. So after being given a phone number to call if I run into trouble and saying farewell, Bon and I walked to my apartment.

The delinquent-like boy was surprisingly kind as we walked. He didn't try to force me to talk and though his speech was a little rough around the edges when he did speak, I realized after a short while he was trying to be nice in his own way.

As a result the walk home had been quiet, but comforting.

He left me outside my apartment building – I don't think he felt comfortable walking all the way to my front door and frankly I don't blame him.

Since I still didn't have my purse, and therefore my keys I contacted the manager of the building and explained to him that I had had my purse stolen (which wasn't a lie) and that I didn't have my house keys. I had to wait for a short time but eventually he brought me the spare key, and now here I was in front of my door staring at the key.

I opened the apartment door, walked in, locked the door, kicked off my shoes, and walked to my bedroom. I just wanted to go to sleep and start anew tomorrow. With my head hanging, I lethargically entered my dark room and was unexpectedly greeted by a hobgoblin I quickly recognized.

As he jumped on me, knocking me slightly into the door behind me I squealed, "Behemoth!?" Trying to calm his energetic greeting my hands attempted to soothingly rub the top of his head. As he slowly calmed down, I wrinkled my brows, "How did you get in h-?"

I froze as the purse I lost earlier today hung in my field of vision. It was suspended in the air by a familiar figure, silhouetted by the moonlight trickling in through my window. Instinctual fear pulsed through me while I recalled the events that took place at the flower garden and I recoiled away from the bag and hand that held it. "Amaimon."

"…" My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and vaguely I could make out his face as he cocked his head ever so slightly and a faint frown carved itself into his normal stony mask. Then he spoke again, "You're scared."

I flinched, though this time it wasn't because of him, rather it was due to the honesty of his words. I looked away and lifted my hands from Behemoth to my chest causing the hobgoblin to whimper in disappointment; I felt ashamed. Amaimon was one I had said I trusted, a friend, yet I was trembling.

I looked back up at the teenage demon and met his gaze, "Yes. I am."

"…Why?"

Why was I scared? What was I scared of? Was I really scared of Amaimon? I stared at him. No I don't think I was scared of him per say. He's never harmed me before, and he didn't harm me this time around. What I think I was scared of is not who he is or even what he is, but what he could do and what he did. What I saw happen today was a harsh wake up call to the world I had stumbled into that night I found Behemoth. And I was ill prepared to face it.

Moreover, I was confused. Amaimon had only ever seemed violent twice in the time I had known him and neither time was without some kind of cause (and it comes as no surprise that he was a tad-bit trigger happy, but he was a demon.) The first was when we first met and he thought I was going to try and keep Behemoth from him. The second time was when he protected me from those creatures. This time, however, he had no cause except boredom.

I wasn't raised under a rock. I had seen a boxing match; I understood that sometimes a fight was a way to relieve boredom. But boxing matches were held in controlled environments and no one fought with the intention of killing someone else. Moreover, both parties had consented to the fight. What Amaimon had done was no boxing match.

"Because, Amaimon, you attacked someone just for fun…"

"I didn't." His voice was deadpan and firm while he denied my accusation. My eyes narrowed in confusion and my fist clenched. I had been there! I had seen what he did! Why was he trying to lie about it?

Unintentionally, I raised my voice as I rebutted him (which I noticed startled the hobgoblin at my feet sending him running in circles around my room before he landed on my bed), "I saw you! I know you attacked them!"

"I did." Now I was starting to get angry and I opened my mouth to argue with him but he spoke first, "But you were bleeding." I froze.

"What?"

He seemed thoughtful for a moment, "Ah…and I guess I don't really like him."

Now, that sounded more like Amaimon.

"Brother will probably be mad, though." It felt like Amaimon was starting to have this conversation with himself. "I'm not supposed to fight Rin anymore."

Wait, what? Anymore? He and Rin had fought before? When?

"But…I don't like losing."

And he lost? How was that possible?

"And he hurt my friend, so brother should understand."

The questions running marathons in my head came to a screeching halt. Friend. He'd called me his friend. No vague words that merely implied I was his friend. He had openly stated it in clear terms. I was his friend.

And that breakthrough bulldozed my fears. Though pieces of that terror still remained here and there; I understood now more than ever that continuing this relationship would mean difficulty in the future, especially for me. I was stepping into a world I had no business stepping into. I really didn't have the power to protect myself if I ever needed to. I didn't really understand the system or the natural relationship between Demons and Humans or more specifically exorcists. This was unchartered territory and it wasn't safe territory. After all, I had no guarantee that Amaimon wouldn't get bored of me, nor did I have any guarantee that he'd continue to keep me safe. Frankly, he might end up inadvertently being the cause of injury. I knew I should back out of my strange relationship with this strange demon.

But, I didn't really want to.

And doing what you want is often easier than doing what you should.

So, one more time: I'd put my trust in my friend. My friend who happens to be a Demon King. My friend who is far too easily bribed with candy. My friend whose behavior is strange but entertaining. My friend who learns something new everyday and teaches me something new as well. Amaimon.

Here's hoping I don't regret it.

"…Thank you Amaimon."

The demon, who had turned away from me during his self-musings refocused his stony, though still somehow confused (I'm always fascinated by his ability to be emotionless and fully emotional at the same time) gaze on me. "…huh?"

"But…" I continued, "I'm still mad at you for attacking those two today."

"Ahh~ annoying." I glowered at the demon and crossing my arms in annoyance.

I flipped the light switch on, finally illuminating my room in the orange toned artificial light before I continue to speak, "they were helping me, Amaimon. There was no reason to attack them."

The Demon King quickly resorted to pouting in his usual manner when he sensed he wasn't getting his way, but I didn't back down, "You should apologize."

"No."

"Why not!?"

"They're exorcists." Okay…so I could see where that might be a problem, I recalled my earlier conversation with Yukio and Rin and remembered their willingness to exorcise a hobgoblin for goofing off. Which, reminds me…

"How did you get my purse back?" Amaimon blinked once before glancing down at his hand, almost as though he had forgotten he had the bag.

"Oh…I asked for it." I deadpanned ever so slightly before sighing in resignation; he made my struggle and ultimate failure at regaining it seem so unnecessary. "I don't want to hold it anymore – take it."

He held his hand and the bag out to me again, but this time I didn't flinch away – rather I almost felt comfortable as I reached out for the bag. "Okay. I can do that."


"The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead."

~ Ralph Ellison


Wow, I'm so sorry for the delay everyone – I do hope you can forgive me and that this chapter was good enough to make it all better. ^^

Also, I know Yukio is younger (I realized I mentioned that he seemed older earlier, but to me and therefore Kotori he does seem that way and since no one explicitly told Kotori otherwise she'll probably continue to believe it. ^^).

Thanks for sticking with me,

~Cheru