Disclaimer: I own nothing in Blue Exorcist except this fic's storyline and the OCs
Welcome back faithful readers! As always, I would like to thank you for your generous reviews as well, thank you so very very much! :3
And regarding the previous chapter, actually I am quite sad to see that there were so few comments about the battle scene (I'd cried blood while writing it, well not really, but still...) Um.. Just wanna ask if you enjoy the descriptive fighting scene or just brief indications that let you know that there's a fight occuring would be enough?
Warning: No Yukio in this chap, this whole chap is dedicated to Rin. A little tedious perhaps? Poor attempts on description.
Without further ado, enjoy the chap~
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LoveLess
Chapter 7 : the Big Bang
It was the prime hour of the day. The sun was perched at its highest peak of cloudless territory, glaring its mighty blaze to the picturesque landscapes below.
A striped-blue mass was seen gliding in the expanse of the mildly cool air. The butterfly, it seemed to be, beat its colorful wings rhythmically and slowly descended from the background of the boundless blue sky down to the sanctuary of greenery below. It swayed down past a scarce canopy, the fluttering top of leaves were near and obstructing but didn't hinder the creature's flight.
Sounds of various bugs buzzed throughout the neat rows of trees which lined up along a dirt-path, betraying any slightest existence of humanity. Except for one.
"Damn...", a grumpy voice muttered, "This just sucks, am I actually being pranked?"
Rin scratched his not-so-itchy head while trying to confirm the aunthenticity of the map, a small scribbled paper in his hand, by analyzing his surroundings for the umpteenth times since half-an-hour ago.
But sighed miserably. He really had no idea where was this 'special' place the clown wanted to show him.
His steps were light, despite his annoyance, the cool breeze felt really like heaven stroking his skin after all. The scene was dazzling as well. At that very moment, Rin had a sudden wish that his brother was here to admire this view with him.
Don't get him wrong, he wasn't happy at all at about this point. He was here only in account of a mysterious baby-pink envelope that was neatly decorated and placed in his school-private-locker. It was weird because the lockers had keys which obviously were given to each of the student, for private convenience, so it must be someone that had a direct connection with the school. Upon reading it, it was revealed that the writer asked him to go someplace (location provided by map) as soon as the cram class finished, alone. Then a signature that shaped suspiciously like a tall classic hat was given below, along with a generous amount of pink glitters. Clues being: Had direct connection with True Cross + pink + know the cram class + lame autograph + (another pink) glitters = Mephisto.
He ran a hand through his raven hair, lips pursed in silent thought. What did Mephisto want anyway? Being an untalented liar, he even had to lie to his brother with such a vague reason like 'having to take care of some business'. He hated seeing that worried stare his brother had given him before he left in urgent.
Before he was able to contemplate further, a sudden strong rush of air billowed on his face accentuated with a nauseous stimulation as if content of his stomach had been spurned brutally. He let out a yelp of surprise. After he recovered from the shock, he opened his wary blue eyes. Blinking the swirls out, his vision slowly cleared at the sight of... the trees that were somehow floating on the air... upside down?
It's funny to see that the dispatched dead leaves were gliding slowly upwards. Half a second later... a tick mark slowly assimilated on his forehead.
He was upside down! The half-demon sizzled in anger as he glanced upwards to find that indeed, his ancle was bound with a rope of some kind tightly to a tree.
"Look look! We caught it, Maki!"
"*Sugoi! We caught a human boy!"
(Translation: similar to 'cool!' or 'wow!')
In alarm to the sudden exclamation, Rin's eyes automatically swiped the clearing and found two small figures. The red hooded short figures were grinning widely while examining him with mocking eyes as if he was a deer caught in their hunter trap.
Rin frowned, human boy? Why were they referring him with that appellation? His quick look-over determined the criminals to be small girls, possible not more than eight, with blonde bangs covering either part of their face, partly hidden in their large hoods. No further details could be attempted by Rin's brain as the half-demon let his anger to be blared out of the confines of his thin-veiled patience.
"*Gaki!", he growled out harshly, "Let me fucking down you rapunzel-wanna-be freaks!". In his anger, he blindly addressed the girls with what conspicuous feature he could see, which were long braids that descended down their shoulders, unusually, until the point of their ankles.
(Translation : brat)
The girls stopped bouncing in glee at last, slightly shocked to hear the boy they captured to yell resentful titles at them. They glanced towards each other in wonder. Then they returned their one-eyed aquamarine gazes towards their victim and snickered mischievously.
"Oh? And if we refuse?"
"What could a human like you do to us?"
The 'human' boy didn't immediately answer. Instead, he gave them this stare which was neither a smile nor a glare. The girls unconsciously stopped their smiles, seeming a little 'put off' with the sudden change of attitude.
"Heh... What could I do?", Rin smirked, eyes hinted the gleam of a sadist in the pools of the dark blue ocean, "There are so many things which I want to do though, till it's hard to choose just one~ let's pick it together, shall we? First, I want to yank out your pretty blonde hair one by one till's there's none left, then roll them to nice balls for my cat's toy", the hooded girls gasped while instinctively clutched their heads, "Or I could drown you mongrels to death into the darkest depth of the Atlantic ocean. Of course... after letting the polar bears to claw on you alive", they shivered from the heinous tone and hugged their petite bodies.
"But here's my favorite... I've done this to several naughty children before~ you wanna know?"
The left one gulped, "Wh-what?"
"I took them to this scaaary~ cave far far away inside a dark forest where voices of the death whisper day and night. Then, I left them inside and sealed the entrance with a giant rock so they can't escape... so the monsters inside would tear and eat 'em up!", Rin finished with a dramatic made up 'monster' sound. His slightly animalistic feature of sharp gleaming fangs only further highlighting the figure of the 'monster' in his frightening story of torture, which was of course, a faux.
"Kyaaaaah!", the girls screamed their lungs out as streams of tears spurted out like waterfalls. They dashed away in sheer fright and were gone from sight in mere seconds.
"He-hey wait! Don't ya dare leave me hanging- hey!", Rin tried to locate the escaping pranksters but couldn't turn his neck further due to his current restriction. He growled in annoyance before heaving his body upwards to his bound foot. He examined the rope briefly and sighed in relief when he confirmed that the rope was still within his league to break. Grabbing both the branch and the rope, he yanked them apart with his bare hands. Within two seconds, the rope groaned and snapped, leaving loose strands of golden threads fluttering in the air. With a simple flip, the half-demon landed gracefully on the ground, unharmed but annoyed.
"Geez.. Brats these days..", he scowled before picking up his forgotten map due to his involuntary shock before from the leaves-pile. Glancing at the direction where the imbeciles left just a moment ago, his eyes widened in surprise to see a small house. It fitted nicely among the trees, as if it was a part of the vegetation itself, and was hidden from view by the trunks. That explained why he didn't see it before.
Rin stood up from his crouched position and headed towards the vine-twined broken-white-painted house you normally saw only in child's fairytale. The strips of golden light from the sun seemed to cast an ancient radiant glowing from the deserted house.
'Why would there be a house in the middle of a forest anyway?'
'...'
'Fine, keep being a silent jerk. I'll check it out myself then... stupid Shiki'
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(In the cram class)
"Koneko! Pass that pastel scrap-paper here would ya! Glue and double-tape as well!"
"Um... How to tie a dead-knot Izumo chan? Do I need to tuck this here or-"
"Mayday mayday! We've run out of golden foil and fake leather fabric! I swear if no one-"
"Ck! The nail can't fucking get in! Shima! Where did ya put that screw dri-"
A tick mark produced at the corner of Shura's forehead, the noise was overwhelming and she seriously couldn't comprehend a single word in her magazine. It was truly generous of her to even agree in being the substitute chaperone for the stupid drama preparation, but now she couldn't even relax while being at the boring job!
"Quiet ya parrots! Stop jumping 'round like goddamn rabbits-in-heat already and get on with yer freaking works!", she yelled furiously and threw her rolled-up magazine in contempt. The projectile soared like a bullet before connecting to the nearest unfortunate object, which was Bon's head.
"Ouch! What the hell was that for Kirigakure-sensei!", Bon rubbed his abused head and glared back defiantly at the fuming woman.
"Hmmph! It's yer fault for being so noisy so my hand unfortunately 'slipped'. Besides, pray tell, why the hell am I stuck here for yer babysitters anyway? Oooh right...", Shura rolled her eyes, "That's because that insolent moley-four-eyed decided to be a jerk and ran off from his duty to take care some student council's work, isn't it?"
Shima bent down to retrieve the magazine and walked over to Shura. He put it into the woman's lap and gave her a sheepish smile, "Um, sorry if we are disturbing you Kirigakure-sensei. It's just there are so many things that needs to be done for the play's setting preparations and we are so short on hands. Plus there's no Rin-kun to help out with the heavy stuffs"
"That asshole Okumura", Bon chimed in while heaving a couple long blocks of wood across the room, "After cram class he weaseled off to do this 'important business' and left us to do the troublesome preparations! What a bastard..."
Shiemi carefully traced the marked-line of the fabric with her scissors while listening quietly. Truthfully, she didn't like to hear someone accusing Rin that he abandoned his work to laze around, "Rin won't do that. He must have had something urgent he needs to do that he can't tell us about.. *minna-san...", she said in a quiet tone to defend her dear friend from false accusations.
(Translation : formal way of addressing everybody)
Shura clicked her tongue then focused back on the task of reading her magazine, "Like blondie has said, stop dumping everything on Okumura. I don't give a shit 'bout your pitiful life testimony or annoying whines about whatever ya need to do here. Just fuckin' tone down yer volume a little yer foo... fools...
Shura lost her ability of speech as her attention was caught on to a certain peculiar section in her magazine. Then she widened her eyes and read once more, vehemently, seeming to not believe her own eyes.
'Thi-this... can't be...! No, calm down... I'd better confirm this in a more reliable source...'
She abruptly stood up, "Sorry brats! I have to go do some grown-up's business. Neko! I leave ya in charge!"
Konekomaru pointed at himself, "E-eh meee?", flabbergasted.
But the curvaceous figure had left the room before the newly appointed person-in-charge could utter a word.
On her chair, the deserted magazine dangled innocently at the edge. It was open, particularly on the page of 'supernatural corner' regarding a special interesting prediction of the year. It featured a rough drawing of a full round moon. Painted red in color.
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Rin stood in front of the chapped intricately-sculpted door. Two twin pillars, which white surface was marred with spots off flourishing moss, loomed archaically on the unkempt house porch. The wooden floorboards were cracked and liana vines slithered out of the crevices caused by time-worn age.
If he didn't know any better, he assumed that the house had already been abandoned for years. It wasn't likely that the brats disappeared here but his instinct nagged him to give the house a try. There's something... familiar, of which he couldn't acutely pinpoint.
Hesitantly he placed a hand on the smudged golden door handle. The steel felt slightly warm, further fueling up his decision.
Rin sighed, "*Kami-sama, please don't let it be a house of a pedophile psychotic grandpa or a flesh-eating hag…", he whimpered. Looking at his hazy concrete understanding of the situation, it wasn't weird that Rin suspected such thing.
(Translation: A respectful way of calling God)
As the door cracked open, with an eerie creak, a force of chilling air rushed past him and compelling him to protectively close his sensitive moist eyes. As the last wave died out, Rin blinked his eyes open and literally went 'awed' with the sight that greeted him.
He stepped in as if being seduced by an invisible temptation as the door closed behind him. The house... no, the door seemed to be the entrance leading to an enormous garden of which luscious orderly blades of green grass stretched far and wide across the clearing, fluttering in rhythm with the delightful breeze. Across of him, a grandiose four-level fountain spurted out dome-shaped glistening water to a polished jade-shade marble tub, a statue of scarcely-clad Adonis was frozen on the top level. It led directly to a mistifying pillar-enclosed pavilion where streams of sunlight rained down kaleidoscopic glints on the marble floor, setting myriad of colors to reflect such an enthralling ethereal glimmer... like thousands of tiny marbles of diamonds.
Twin semi-circle stairways stretched down on either side of the pavilion of which ends formed smooth red winding paths decorated by pink flower beds. They branched in two for each, one leading towards him and the other circling either side of the pavilion to some complicated structures behind.
"You...", a smooth voice intoned in mild disbelief, "How can you get here, human?"
Startled, Rin quickly whipped his head to stare at the newcomer who had accosted him, though in a not so friendly manner. It was a male, with ebony short hair and cold silver eyes. He seemed to be slighter younger than him, probably twelve to thirteen years old, and there's a distinct red jagged symbol on his forehead. But, his most peculiar feature was...
"A-animal ears!", Rin sputtered disbelievingly, "You ain't human!", while pointing a rude forefinger at him. At the place where human ears were supposedly located, there were instead two black dog-like ears facing slightly downward. They blended nicely with his hair color, as if they were a part of his dark-charcoal locks.
The boy narrowed his eyes, "No, I am certainly not. Humans are not supposed to wander here, I shall wipe out your memories and return you back to the mundane world", the dog-eared male stated monotonously and stepped closer to the shock-stricken half-demon.
Rin quickly held up his hands in defense, "No no no hold on a sec!", he rummaged his pocket and offered a wrinkled pink envelope. He grimaced, "Um, it might not be in its best state but the clo- ,Mephisto sent me here. Here's the proof"
The boy eyed Rin suspiciously before reaching for the envelope. Rin gulped inwardly when he saw that the teen's lean fingers were equipped with long lethal claws, before the thin digits closed around the envelope elegantly. He brought it closer to his nose and sniffed tentatively. Then the stern line of his face visibly softened.
"Sorry for my impudence earlier, I shall lead you to him right away"
"*U-un... Pardon me for intruding..."
(Translation : yes)
As Rin turned to leave, he glanced back behind to observe his means of entry, only as a makeshift form of reassurance. Surprise flooded his widened eyes as he saw that the door wasn't attached to any form of building, it simply was there, standing on the grassy land. The material seemed brand new and unscratched as well, plus the wood was solid and no trivial cracks could be spotted. It was like a graphic illusion, although the reality seemed to speak otherwise.
The half-demon stared at the sight for several moments, before directing his gaze back to the teen's back. They walked in silence, the mysterious suspected-to-be-demon boy preferred to fix his gaze dutifully forward. While Rin continued to marvel at the exquisite view of his surroundings. Beautiful multiple species of trees, flowers of any kinds, and the subtle chirps of delightful birds...
'If Amahara garden really exists, it must look something like this Shiemi...', Rin mused inwardly. Although he still couldn't understand why an old door of a house could lead to some magical place, he still appreciated the beauty it provided. Even the warm strokes of sunlight on his back felt really great.
"Perhaps you are wondering as of what this place is and why can you end up here, hm?"
Rin jerked his head in surprise and looked at the boy wonderingly, "You will tell me?"
The boy nodded and slowed his pace to match with Rin's. His silver orbs gazed half-uninterestedly at Rin's curious blue ones, aloof and cold like metal plates that had been exposed to the most freezing winter, "This place is located separately from Assiah, particularly in a special section of Gehenna where the miasma is most scarce and the demonic particles are more adaptive to alteration. That door over there was built in order to greet a certain human friend, Mephisto-sama has once said. I assumed it to be you"
Rin's eyes widened into saucer-size. So this place was in Gehenna? It's a wonder how such an evil place could house a first-grade holy sanctuary like this.
"Mephisto-sama casted a barrier which separates pure Gehenna from here, so he could shelter us without being extremely cautious towards other ill-mannered demons"
"Wa-wait, so there are more of you?"
"Yes", the demon answered curtly, "If you have any inquiries feel free to ask me"
"Oooh", the silence was back. Rin contemplated for a moment before asking the first question which crossed his mind.
"So... What's your name?"
The demon widened his eyes slightly before directing his questioning silver orbs at Rin. Rin raised an eyebrow, "What?"
The boy continued to stare at Rin in wonder before setting his gaze back forward, "Nothing. It is just that no one has ever asked me that before. Why do you not inquire other more crucial information, and instead ask for my name?"
Rin was confused, "What do you mean by more 'crucial' informations? True I have a lot of other questions, believe me, but isn't the most important one is knowing the name of someone you're talking to? Besides, among other things, I am also curious about you"
The demon was silent and Rin wondered if he had struck a nerve somewhere because of his kinda 'normal' speech. But the boy finally answered, "Q'ortywaal Luka"
"Eh? Q'o-q'orvy… Q'ooo- whaaat?"
"Q'ortywaal is my demon name. I have adopted Luka as my human name as an alternative for my real one in demon-tongue, which could be difficult to be enunciated by humans. Just address me with what fits your preference"
Upon hearing that, Rin quickly gave up from his attempt to pronounce his last name and decided, "Luka then. I'm Okumura Rin! You can also call me Rin, nice to meet you Luka!"
Luka blinked his silver eyes, "Rin...", he seemed to test how the name flowed in his tongue, "Nice to meet you too... Rin", Luka murmured while he smiled, so softly, as his right black ear flicked a little.
Rin stared at him in astonishment, 'He smiled! Am I imagining it or does an actual puppy somehow feature as his background?'
Before he could mull over his inner thought further, suddenly a strong wind along with a fleeting shadow assaulted him, clearly indicating an enormous object was flying pass. He instinctively casted an arm over his face before searching the sky. The 'object' turned out to be a bird, a monster-size green bird that was flying low over the land. It screeched a long melodious tone before disappearing beyond the tower of which a gigantic bronze bell dangled. It rang once, courtesy of the strong wind the bird brought along.
"Wo-woah!", Rin pointed a shaky finger towards the sky, "What the hell was with that big bird!?"
Luka, who acted as if nothing extraordinary had happened, merely replied, "That is Urpin. One of the residents of this place"
"What?! Resident? That giant bird?"
Luka stayed silent before his ears perked up and his silver eyes adopted a look of recognition, "Ah, Hashiyama-san..."
Rin abandoned his task to futilely spot the majestic bird and traced the line of Luka's gaze. Inside a small roofed but open shelter, a teen sat there on the white marble floor. He seemed to be meditating, the reflection of the small koi pond situated in front of it danced on the serene structure of his face. His lilac hair fluttered along the breeze and his eyes were close. A leaf gently swayed down from a tall tree shadowing the hut, hovering close to the teen's head, before halting slightly in speed and continued its dance in a peculiarly slow sway near the line of his jaw.
'Eh?', Rin blinked his eyes off the leaf when the teen opened his eyes, revealing moss-colored dark orbs.
"*Ara? A human?", he inquired in mild surprise, "Luka why do you bring a human here?", he asked the quiet teen, but there's no hint of malice or accusation behind his smooth voice. His stare was even and the clear genuine orbs somehow reminded Rin of a doe he often saw in the small rectangular confine of his TV's screen.
(Translation : Similar to 'huh?')
"Mephisto-sama invited him here"
The teen's mouth went 'o' before giving Rin a gentle smile, "Aaah you must be the human Mephisto-sama often talks about. Okumura Rin-kun right? My name is Hashiyama Kaga, it's a pleasure to meet you"
Rin nodded hesitantly, a little perturbed at the peculiar physical feature the seemingly gentle teen possessed, "Hai. Nice to meet you too, Hashiyama" He decided to call the boy by his last name despite the fact that the teen looked about the same age as him, his reason being his aura seemed to radiate a more mature feeling.
"*Kaa-chan! Have you finished meditating?", a child voice chirped in delight.
(Translation : Informal way of addressing a mother)
"Let's play~ let's play together with Maki and Mako!"
Out of nowhere, two hyperactive balls seemed to latch themselves at either side of his legs. They tugged the teen at opposite directions while beaming and whining cutely at the older teen. Hashiyama merely put his hands gently at both of their blonde top and smiled fondly.
Wait blonde hair?
"AAAH! You are those brats from earlier!", Rin yelled in recognition. The fury that had nearly dissipated, resurfaced back as sizzling as it was before at the mere sight of the perpetrators.
The girls gasped when they saw who had yelled, seeming to recognize the scary big brother that had said all those evil threats at them. Upon closer inspection, Rin finally realized that the girls are a pair of identical twins and the- 'No! that wasn't important at all now!'
"C'mere yer naughty girls! Let onii-chan gives you a proper punishment!", Rin rolled up his sleeve in an intimidating manner while marching forward with half of his face shrouded in threatening shadow.
Before he was able to execute his personal murder on the underage kids, a puff of pink mist blocked his path. As the waves of pink particles dissipated, a grinning flamboyant man stood at its wake.
"Mephisto!", the half-demon exclaimed in irritation.
Mephisto grinned mischievously at him, his puffy umbrella was at his hand, shrouding what small part of his body it could protect from the golden rays.
"The one and only!", he winked and a small anime-star fell out of his closed eye, "Now Luka-kun, Kaga-kun, Maki and Mako-chan, can you please leave us? I need to discuss something with dear Rin-kun here", Mephisto said while smiling brightly at the children.
They bowed slightly in salutation before obediently walked away, granting the much-needed privacy for the school principal and his favorite disciple.
"So", the taller man started, "What were you about to do to little Maki and Mako-chan?"
Rin's eyes quickly turned furious once more, "I am itching to spank their asses fucking red and throw 'em lot into a lion's de-... Hey! Don't try to direct the conversation away!", Rin searched his pocket and threw down the poorly-drawn map to the ground in palpable anger, "Why do you bring me here? What's with this place?!"
"Hm?", Mephisto raised a questioning brow, "Hasn't Luka-kun told you?"
"He has but that doesn't explain a shit about why you want me here!"
Mephisto regarded the teen a one-eyed leer before popping a candy to his mouth, "As you probably have suspected, those children back then are, unlike you, full-fledged demons"
Feeling an upcoming long story that would certainly be recited, he proceeded to walk to one of the shaded smooth-gravel path. And Rin automatically fell in steps beside him.
"I gathered them here because of two reasons, either their parents had died early or simply abandoned them, which forced them to fend for themselves alone in the harsh world of Gehenna. I don't want these children to meet an unfortunate fate before they are even able to know the way of the world. So I took the initiative to raise them here properly, secretly, without the acknowledgement of the Vatican order", Mephisto briefly glanced down towards the sapphire eyes of Rin and the half-demon knew right away that Mephisto wanted him to not breath a word about this to outsiders.
"I altered a part of Gehenna where the yoki is most weak to house them. I named it Ei no Sumai"
"Ei no Sumai?"
"House A. I encourage them to train while being here, so they can face Gehenna world later when they come of age. And why 'A'? 'A' is the first alphabet in English, as you probably have known. I chose this particular name because I wish them to grow into first-grade independent demons that will be durable enough to survive in Gehenna later"
Rin was silent, processing the information quietly in his head. He then stared back at Mephisto suspiciously, "Somehow this saint-like setting of a kind man who house the orphans seems absurd to be played by you Mephisto. Is this another one of your games?"
Mephisto's face fell in mock hurt, "That's mean of you Rin-kun. Not every of my actions is done solely for my personal amusement, I simply feel the need to rescue helpless kids"
Rin still wasn't convinced but decided to drop the subject, "Then why did you bring me here? Do you want me to be their babysitter or something?"
Mephisto chuckled, "Sharp aren't you, but not quite Rin-kun. Can't you see the ironic connection? One similarity that connects you all is your lack of power to prevail in the unforgiving tainted world", the flamboyant man smirked impassively at Rin, "To put it simply", he gestured a hand towards the enchanting view presented at their left side, "I am offering you a chance to train yourself in the way of demons in this sanctuary I've conserved"
Rin stopped suddenly and gave Mephisto a wide-eyed disbelieving stare.
The school principal laughed out loud, "What an interesting face you make there Rin-kun! I wish I've brought a camera along to preserve this priceless moment!"
Rin snapped off from his chaotic thought, "Stop joking ya damn clown! Why would I want to train myself in the way of demons? I'm human!"
"Half", Mephisto reminded solemnly, "And I'm not joking about my offer. I personally think it as a rare privilege Rin-kun, considering you can train your inner demon to be of assistance to you at will at any given moment, plus automatically endow you with such a vital ability to control it. Or perhaps…", Mephisto leered down at the half-demon in cruel sympathy, "you've already forgotten about a certain unfortunate event that happened to your dear brother about a year ago from now? Or do you simply want to dismiss it as a mere case of bad luck?"
Mephisto's word jabbed at Rin's chest, obviously bringing forth some dark memory he had desperately wished to bury to nothingness. From the deepest part of his heart, he knew that his principal's words were right. No matter how hard he tried to scrub the cruel reality off, the stain would forever be there... even in the expanse of eternity. He knew that the only way to turn it right... was to prevent such thing from happening again. A sliver of doubt started to swirl in the depth of the conflicted sapphire orbs.
Mephisto smirked, his fluffy umbrella acted as a shade which concealed the upper part of his face, leaving only violet orbs which glared eerily at the confused half-demon, like a predator, "You don't have to give your answer now Rin-kun. If you are interested, just come here at whatever time that fits nicely with your schedule tomorrow. I'll be expecting you..."
"Ein Zwei Drei!"
With that, the school principal poofed out of existence. Small star papers of all colors glimmered in the pink haze of the mist surrounding a teenage demon, who was deep in a turmoil of thoughts in the empty clearing.
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He stepped out of the door and closed the aging wooden material which rang a high-pitched groan. His sapphire eyes regarded the silent seemingly deserted door grimly, and briefly wondered how could a run-down piece of old wooden board be the entrance to such an absurdly magical place.
He sighed before turning his heels around and stepped down to the dusty traditional path.
Rin was immersed in his thought as the sounds of the forest buzzed lively at either side of him. He realized, after battling for a while in his mind's turmoil, that he couldn't possibly sort out all of these frustrating thought in his head alone considering his slight-intelligence-deprived state.
He stared at the sky and spoke out, "Hey, what do you think about the offer, hm? Should I take it?"
If one didn't know any better, an innocent bystander would definitely regard him as a man that was out of his mind because he literally talked to thin air. But, of course, the reality somehow had its own way of distorting the common fact, and this was no longer extraordinary to the half-demon.
"Are you seriously asking me that?", a voice rang in the demon's head, sarcasm laced at every word, "About what I think towards the offer of literally letting you gaining control over me?"
Rin smiled, satisfied that 'he' decided to respond at last, "Took you a while to finally join the company. And don't be too defensive about it, I am not talking about taking full control over you dummy"
A white rabbit scurried out and sniffed curiously among a jumble of jutted root. A flowery bush rustled, revealing another rabbit with black fur which hopped closer to the first one, and together they leaped out of view. Rin smiled, "Don't you see it Shiki? You polishing our demonic power and me getting to train my physical and mental power to make the best out of it! We can get stronger... together!", Rin declared in enthusiasm, his clear blue eyes were shining and he unconsciously had spread his arms wide to emphasize his point.
Yes, he and Shiki were one. They originated from a single soul and shared a body together. Rin was their human representation while Shiki existed as a consciousness of Rin's inner demon. At first, Rin denied his red-eyed existence, thinking it as his bestial and homicidal desire of his darker 'cursed' nature of which he loathed and feared since his grieving discovery, a demon. And he despised it even more when that 'mistake' happened a year ago. Yet, little by little, as time flowed like a gentle river which slowly cleansed his initial contradiction of darker self, he was able to accept his other half. They were one, and each was nothing without the other. Together they were 'Rin'
Shiki scowled and leaned back with his hands behind his head, "Still, I don't think that Mephisto did it solely out of good heart, there must be something behind it"
"Hm I do think that too..", Rin nodded dutifully, "but who cares anyway! As long as it tastes sweet, the clown's hidden plan or something doesn't fucking matter to me!", Rin shouted while laughing heartily in child-like exuberance, before he abruptly felt his mouth was clamped shut on its own accord.
"Sssh sssh you idiot!", Shiki yelled in a hasty reprimanding tone, "Don't talk out loud like that baka! Don't you fucking realize that we're outside of the forest already?"
True, the forest were now far behind him, as Rin just had realized a moment ago, that the modern infrastructure of the prestigious True Cross academy began to litter around them. Rin smiled sheepishly at the students who gave him weird stares, courtesy for his uncalled-for earlier outburst.
'Sorry', Rin winced a little.
"Geez...', the voice inside his head seemed to have just entered his trademark chastising mode, "it's better for you to speak to me mentally even when we're alone, otherwise that annoying apathetic nature of yours will only decrete your already pitiful sense of self-consciousness. Please be a little considerate, you're already so stupid that you've surpassed the world's common understanding of that very word", he chirped in a mock chatty-old-grandma like tone.
Rin scowled, 'Shut up! If I do that, it would feel as if I'm talking to myself!'
"You are currently doing that, airhead"
The half-demon just closed his eyes in exasperation. Really, this was what he hated the most about his other half. Shiki seemed to possess such brilliant intelligence which surpassed that of his. And the red-eyed knew that, and used it to win every of his arguments effortlessly against Rin. For the love of kami, he still couldn't comprehend how it was possible that his inner thought could be superior than him in the term of intelligence when they were literally the same person.
He continued chatting mentally with his inner self as his steps automatically took him heading towards his dorm room, thinking that the cram class activity must have had finished considering how long he had been out. But somehow, the sun was still considerably high on the sky, indicating it was still around two or three by max. Weird... he was fairly sure that he spent quite some time inside the newly-discovered Ei no Sumai earlier inside the Eastern grand forest. Did all those stressful brain-killing events make him actually lose count of the time?
Suddenly, his acute hearing caught on to a cacophony of noise occuring ahead of him. He was initially about to dismiss it as some students gathering somewhere after school, but the noise was somehow... a bit too rough.
Of course, Rin couldn't leave it just at that and decided to come closer. As he got near, the noise grew louder in volume and intensity, further building on his suspicion.
As he went around a porcelain angel statue, ahead of him, where a decorated garden bench stood near a white-lily flower-bed, there seemed to be some white-clad students with tall stature laughing while gathering around something. The Karate club. And it turned out that it wasn't something that they circled around, but rather someone, a small spectacled teenager that was cowering in the middle of them.
"What's the matter kiddo? Suddenly gettin' so quiet after daring to collide into our Oyabun? Cat has gotten your tongue?", a bulky teenager taunted with a mocking smirk intacted on his face.
"So-sorry", the little brunette whimpered, "I didn't see-
His word was stopped short as another dark-haired Karate club member kicked him, "You didn't see? Then what those eyes are for, you dumbass? If you don't need yer eyes then just gouge 'em out already!"
Rin had seen enough to be able to grasp the situation and without much thought, advanced on the circle of people. He punched one of them square on his back. The male's mouth opened in a silent scream and then dropped down into a twitching heap. His friends seemed to notice this as they quickly fixed their furious attention to the intruder.
"How dare you attack a respectable member of the Karate club! Do you wanna die teme?"
Rin gave them a disgusted gaze, "Heh respectable? Don't flatter yourself with such a big word like that you trash. In my eyes, you are no more than cancer-diagnosed old lions which prey on helpless young deer and couldn't pick someone their own size"
The said 'cancer-diagnosed old lion' fumed up even more but before he was able to assault Rin, a muscular hand stopped him. It belonged to an even bulkier-built man who had an intimidating face, moreover with the piercings that adorned his nose and ears.
'The leader', Rin knew right away.
"Don't waste your strength on a mere oral-fight Tetsuo", he smirked arrogantly, brown eyes regarded Rin mockingly, "Prepare yourself. I will beat you half-dead in no time to teach a much-needed lesson for assholes like you.. shorty"
A tick mark appeared on Rin's forehead when he heard the added nickname, his piercing glare seemed merely cold but in the inside he was boiling with raw fury. Adrenaline pumped at every vein of his body to prepare for the upcoming fight, the fight of which he would surely win.
The leader attacked, striking Rin with sharp blows and precise kicks from years of intensive martial-art training, infusing each strike with mind-blowing power. However, Rin avoided every of the strike fluidly with minimal body movement, in ease, his hard eyes dutifully continued to follow his enemy's movement in patience.
The bulky man seemed to become more agitated from Rin's continuous dodging, "Hey don't just dodge away you coward! Fight me back!"
Rin smirked suddenly when he saw an opening at the enemy's unguarded left torso. Without wasting the golden opportunity, he rushed forward, closing the distance between them in a mere blink with a terrifying speed. The man widened his eyes in shock but it's too late as Rin had already landed a sharp punch to his chest, sending him reeling back several metres behind... before collapsing down to a stationary slump.
Rin 'hmmph'ed and then walked towards the gawking circle. They backed away instinctively as Rin got nearer. All white-clad teens shared a single line of thinking; the short slightly-skinny-built weak-looking *kouhai single-handedly beat their strongest club member, that was their Oyabun, without handicap! The blue-haired teen stopped in front of the kneeling brunette and stared at him concernedly, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
(Translation : what upperclassmen use for addressing their younger juniors)
The bespectacled boy shook his head timidly, "Only a little sore.."
Rin smiled a little and offered his hand. The chocolate-haired nerd-like male took it shyly as Rin pulled him to his feet. The boy was slightly shorter than Rin and his uniform revealed that he belonged to the same year as well.
"Arigato", he spoke quietly in a distinct accent, his honey-suckle colored eyed which seemed unusual for a Japanese looked up at him gratefully, "...for helping me. Many people just went past by and didn't try to help. You're the only kind one who did", he smiled in gratitude.
Rin's chest swelled up at the feeling that he was able to help someone. His monstrous strength was at least could be useful at times like this.
"*OYABUN!", a loud chorus was suddenly heard. Rin was startled and looked towards the source of the voice. There, the Karate club members were on their knees with their heads bowed down respectfully.
(Translation : A respectful way of calling the leader of Yakuza/Japanese-mafia)
Rin produced a dumbfounded look while pointing at himself incredulously, "Ya talkin' to me?"
One of them lifted his head and shouted in a loud voice, "You've shown such great strength and admirable heart to us all, Karate club members. It is a charismatic person like you who is so passionate about fighting, oh great sleeping dragon, that is yearned to be a part of Japanese traditional martial-arts! Therefore, with all due respect, we humbly ask you to become the respectable leader of True Cross Karate club!"
Rin sweatdropped at the unbelievable turn of event. First he was offered to train himself as a demon and now was appointed the position of some Karate club leader?
"We beg you OYABUN!"
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Phew, that's a lot... 7000 words? I really should learn the skill of shortening the length of words... although I've made it as to-the-point as I can o.0
And now the OCs, I don't know if any of you like the idea of it or not but to be honest, I don't really like using OCs. But it is quite necessary for the plot line because there is a definite lack in the number of the characters for Blue Exorcist anime, I dunno about the manga though because I haven't read it very far. Please be considerate and let me hear what's your opinions about 'em!
By using this chap, I'm trying to expand Rin's world by adding some new elements which will be necessary in later chapters. The discovery of his demon is something I've been itching to write and show it to you dear readers~ his other-half's character is quite a hard one to write because he must share a definite characteristics as Rin but also has a defining distinguished one as well... :D
Shiki(kanji: 指揮) means command/direction. Think it by yourself why I deem it as fitting for 'him' from here and later chapters.
Review~ Let me know what you think because I take every review into account when I start developing the turn of events for every next chap:)
~Golden Mist Fox
