Now that I have some free time, I want to say THANK YOU for the awesome reviews (though there are eight, they are still amazing!) And to match, here is Chapter Eight!

~EmmyTheTurtle


Chapter Eight

~ Blue Flicker and Summer Days ~

"Kamiki, are you sure this… kind of clothing… is suitable for today?"

"It's almost the end of summer; we're making the most of it. And you didn't buy that bikini so you wouldn't wear it. And if Shima's serious about you, he won't be a complete pervert and attempt to flirt with you with every chance he gets." Kamiki walked into their bedroom, wearing her purple bikini and cute denim shorts and a loose-fitting shirt. "How do I look?"

"Awesome. What about me?"

"The bikini you chose last week is perfect. And you even got a matching skirt and top!"

Tempus had found the small white sarong and crop-top in the bargain bin where she'd bought three more sarongs. They were pretty things… complimented her hourglass figure. "So, we going to Shiemi's?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

Unlocking the door to Shiemi's, the two walked into her room, where Shiemi was admiring her figure in the mirror. She wore a green, blue and pink bikini, matched with a pair of green board shorts and a white shirt. "Why do we have to dress up?"

"We're not dressing up," Kamiki insisted and fluffed up Tempus' hair. "We're preparing for the attention."

"I don't dress to impress," Tempus muttered, flattening her hair again. It was the first time she'd worn it down since being in Assiah. "It feels weird having my hair down again, it was always too hot until now." She wrapped a hair-tie around her wrist just in case. Her necklace sat evenly on her chest, rising up and down with her breathing.

For some reason… I'm really looking forward to this…


It took a half-hour drive to get to the beach. Tempus, Kamiki, Shiemi, Rin and Yukio had taken the subway… Yukio had replaced his usual bland, black glasses strange goggles on that were like his glasses… so he'd be able to see clearly. It baffled Tempus that he and Konekomaru had terrible eyesight, mostly because Tempus had never had any difficulty with anything to do with her health.

From what she'd gathered, Rin hadn't either. Benefit of being Satan's child apparently.

"We're here! Everyone out before Shura gets here!"

"Shura?"

"Big-boob lady," Kamiki said simply. "Disguised herself as a student before we met her and then later became Rin's teacher… gave Yukio his nickname–"

"Scaredy Four-Eyes!" a high, happy voice called. A tall woman ran towards them, wearing nothing but a tiny itty-bitty bikini and holding a bright orange towel and sunglasses. "I knew you'd be here!"

"She found us," Yukio gasped. "Damn it… I was so careful…"

"No, Rin told me at his training session Shima and Owari-chan had organized a trip to the beach today. So here I am!" She winked and glanced over at Tempus, smiling. "Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise." That red hair… she must have been the same woman Tempus had crashed into on her first day. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"'Fraid not, honey. I'm just Rin's teacher and all. And also–" Shura leaned in to whisper in Tempus' ear "– I know all about you, Satan's daughter."

"Glad you know," Tempus muttered, frowning. She hadn't expected Mephisto to tell her… the tattoo-like mark on Shura's chest could only mean she had a sword hidden there in-between those E-cup boulders. She waited patiently for a death threat, but nothing was dished out, which relieved Tempus slightly.

"Where are the Three Musketeers?" Kamiki asked. "Shima would never let the opportunity to see a girl in a bikini slide. Rin, you know where they are?"

"Nope. Maybe they're getting some lunch?"

"It's only eleven, we still have an hour of swimming to do."

"There you all are!" Suguro shouted from across the road. "We were waiting for half an hour! Konekomaru and Shima went to get some hotdogs. Shima wanted to know if you ate onion, Tempus."

"Sure."

"Reminds me, he doesn't stop wondering what kind of food you like. I think he's going to give you some chocolate… are you two a thing or something?"

"I'm… not sure yet…" Tempus stammered, blushing slightly. Why am I blushing?

Everyone rolled their eyes and glanced over the road to see Konekomaru and Shima avoiding the increasing traffic, carrying several hot dogs and ice-cream. "Okay. Who wants tomato sauce?" Konekomaru asked, holding up an entire bottle of tomato sauce. "I knew that some of you had to have some. So, dig in!"

The day progressed along slowly. The sun beat down on everyone and the waters were crystal-clear. The boys found that tackling each other was a fun task, though Yukio avoided the game. Not bothering with hiding his tail, Rin flicked it about, splashing everyone and laughing when Kamiki got angry and splashed him. She didn't want her hair to get wet. Tempus was hesitant to get into the water at first; the sudden chill shocked her. After all, Tempus had never seen the ocean before. The vast blue world spreading out before her shook her. But she was curious. Such a huge blue place and not even half of it had been explored.

I thought humans knew everything about their world, like demons know everything about Gehenna. I guess I was wrong.

It had taken the drastic measures of Rin and Shima picking Tempus up and throwing her into the water. Rin and grabbed her ankles, Shima had grabbed her wrist. They sang a funny song and literally threw Tempus into the ocean. It was cold at first, before she got used to the temperature. Kamiki and Rin decided it would be fun to challenge Shima and Tempus to a game of piggy-back wrestling. Kamiki sat on Rin's shoulders and Tempus was forced to sit on Shima's shoulders.

Tempus' stomach had felt strange. She'd never felt the light, fluttering feeling she felt in her stomach then. Shima held tightly to her kneecaps, making sure she didn't fall. "You weigh absolutely nothing," he exclaimed, glancing up to look at Tempus.

"Thank you?"

Shima chuckled. "You're welcome!"

"Hey! We're charging!" Rin called and bolted through the water, holding onto Kamiki while she struggled to balance. Tempus braced herself when Shima began to run towards them. When the two collided, Kamiki and Tempus held onto each other's elbows, trying to wrestle each other down to the water. Tempus lost and fell into the water, taking Shima down with her. Her hair appeared in front of her face and Tempus moved it all back, shocked with how much weight it seemed to gain once it was completely soaked.

Shima parted her hair and laughed. "You look like a dork with your hair like that."

"You don't know what it's like having hair like this."

"Looks heavy."

"It is."

With a brief flick of his wrist, Shima flicked Tempus' hair back and smiled. "There. Now you can see properly."

"Yep. Pretty much."

"You wanna challenge us again?" Rin shouted, fisting the air and laughing. "Come on! We'll let you win!"

"You liar, Okumura-kun!" Shima shouted, laughing. He turned back to Tempus. "You wanna grab an ice-cream?"

"Sure." I wonder what they taste like…

Tempus wrapped her little sarong around her waist and followed Shima up to the hotdog stand. He handed her a couple of yen, and pointed to the sign. "Owari-chan, which one do you want?"

"Um…" Tempus read some of the names. Vanilla, chocolate-chip, strawberry, banana and mint. Mint sounded interesting. "Mint."

"Sweet." He glanced at the girl behind the counter and smiled. "One vanilla and mint, please."

"Sure thing. You two on a date?" The way the girl asked it made Tempus feel strange. A date… yeah. It's a date.

"Mm-hm. First one," Tempus said, smiling as sweetly as she could manage. Shima's eyes widened slightly and in response, he tied his fingers around hers and grasped her hand gently.

"Daww," the girl giggled. "You two are cute already! Here, on the house."

"Thanks," Shima said and they grabbed their ice-creams before turning and walking away down to their beach towels. Tempus sat down and Shima sat beside her. "So. Owari-chan. Tell me about yourself. Like, you dreams and ambitions and stuff."

"I already have. My parents are protective, my brother is humorous and–"

"No, not about your family. I want to know about you, Owari-chan."

"Me… well… I'm a boring person, Shima-san. My ambitions are average. To be a successful exorcist… that's all really…"

"Something personal then. A secret!"

"Can I trust you with a secret?"

"Of course!" Shima laughed. "Come on, tell me."

Tempus lifted her head and blushed. "This is the first time I've eaten ice-cream, seen the ocean and gone on a date."

"What kind of a childhood did you have?"

"A lonely one, I guess. Now tell me something about you."

"My older brother is the lead singer in a band and likes to beat my backside into the dirt. My hair is naturally brown."

"Why'd you dye it pink, then?"

"Looks better, I thought. What do you think?"

"I think it looks… cute."

Shima's cheeks turned pink and Tempus smiled. "T-Thanks…"


That night, Tempus stood at the door of Mephisto's office, preparing to knock when it once again opened for her. Yukio was already inside, tending to Amaimon who was awake and sitting up. His wounds had begun to heal, though at the pace of a human. He couldn't sit up without the bed moving up for him.

"So your wounds are healing well, though not at the pace you're used to," Yukio was saying, renewing his bandages.

Amaimon remained silent. It didn't look like he'd been sleeping at all. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Why wouldn't I be thanking my doctor, Mr. Okumura?"

"A look of confusion swept over Yukio's face. "Amaimon. You're furious with me, I get it."

"Not just furious. Confused. I would have expected Rin to be attacking me… if I provoked him. But you, you would have stepped in to protect him. You wouldn't have attacked me out of nowhere, Yukio." Puzzlement came over his face, but he shook his head and looked up to Tempus. "Evening…"

"I see you're alive. At least your host body is."

"Yep. Wouldn't want another to die on me."

Yukio lowered Amaimon's pale blue shirt and walked away. "Well, he's doing well. Sure to heal up in a few weeks and he'll be up and walking. I'm off to bed… so, goodnight."

"Goodnight…"

Mephisto was out, which gave Tempus and her brother a moment to talk. When Yukio had shut the door, Amaimon stared at Tempus with a curious look in his eyes. "You had gun today, I'm guessing? You're all sunburnt."

Tempus glanced down at her skin; it was red. "Wow… I guess I did."

He chuckled. "Have fun with your boyfriend today?"

"Huh? Boyfriend…?"

"Renzo Shima. I broke his ribs?"

"Oh, yeah. Um… we had… a good time, I guess."

"Come on. What happened? I'm interested!"

"You're interested in my love life?"

"You've never had a boyfriend before. I'm making sure he won't leave you broken."

"Amaimon, I don't feel very much."

"I'll break his ribs if he hurts you."

"You've already done that. And you broke Konekomaru's arm, and strangled Suguro."

"… So?"

Tempus laughed. "If you wanna win Shiemi's heart, they'll be no eye-poking this time."

"Aww… I thought she liked that."

"No, Amaimon, she was infected by your fun-filled moth demon parasite… thingy."

"Right… I forgot about that."

She laughed and kissed her brother's forehead. "You get better soon, okay?"

"Okay. Night, little sister."

"Goodnight."


Tempus was dreaming for the first time in… her life (wow) when a slight noise at her window woke her. Tempus sat up slowly and drowsily gazed out the window. On the ground, a boy was running down the fire escape and sprinting into the forest. Tempus rubbed her eyes and opened the window, quietly climbing out, making sure not to wake Paku or Kamiki.

She followed the figure through the forest until they came to a clearing. By this point, she was wide awake and knew precisely who it was.

"Rin," she exhaled. "What are you doing?"

"Hm? Oh… I just wanted to talk."

His stance was far too relaxed to even match Rin's ready-to-go attitude. Tempus stiffened slightly, but he noticed.

"What is it? You raring for a fight?"

"It depends," Tempus hissed. "On whether it's really Rin I'm speaking to."

His smile disappeared. "Damn. You're a quick one, aren't you? I would've thought you'd be like Rin. All bark and no bite."

"I'm not Rin. And neither are you, it seems."

A sneer crawled up his face and he unsheathed his sword. "Well then, I won't have to go easy on you, will I?"

He sprang towards her and swung the sword around, cutting through Tempus' back. She gasped and leapt away, removing her necklace. Not-Rin's eyes widened in surprise. "Removing your necklace without hesitation? That's a little too rash, isn't it?"

"Self-defense doesn't require rationality," Tempus eyes narrowed and she smiled. "Come at me."

He charged towards her and brought the sword down. Tempus caught the blade with her hands and flicked it back, flicking her body around so she was able to kick him into a nearby tree. The demon grunted and came towards her again, grunting when Tempus burnt his arm upon grabbing it. She sneered and flicked her finger, moving the flames up Rin's arm. His eyes widened. "You're not hesitating to hurt Rin."

"This isn't even a scratch compared to what I can do to you. Let him go."

His sneer grew, but he shrugged. "Fine then. See what happens."

A millisecond later, Rin's eyes seemed to shift slightly and his expression changed from weariness to fear when he saw Tempus holding onto his arm. "T-T-Tempus? What are you… Where am I…"

His face contorted with pain and sank to his knees. "Let me go!"

Tempus released his arm and gazed down at him with caution. "You don't remember anything…?"

"No! I woke up and we were here and you… you…" his head snapped up to her. "You're… burning… Am I doing that? Are you… Are you possessed?"

She smirked. "No. I'm not burning, and I'm not possessed."

She lowered the necklace over her neck and the exhilaration left her body slowly. "I… I'm… like you, Rin. I'm Satan's daughter."

He stood up slowly and looked down at his arm; the wound has healing steadily. "Are you… kidding me…?"

"No. I'm dead serious. And I didn't drag you here in your sleep. You came to my window and led me here before attacking me."

Rin peered down to her lower back, where blood and burning skin could be seen through the tear in her nightgown. "Oh, God… Like… Yukio…"

"Yes."

"That won't heal normally, you need to–"

"I don't want my brother seeing me in this state."

"Your… brother… That's why you were so worried about Amaimon! He's your brother!"

"Half-brother, really. And when you think about it… so are you."


So yeah. Now Rin knows that Tempus is no different to him (besides the obvious fact she's a girl and has lived in Gehenna her whole life...) I'm still writing Chapter Nine, but it will be up as soon as possible, otay? Otay! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed yourselves and have a lovely day/night/morning/evening.

~EmmyTheTurtle