Time was running out. Her training so far had been deemed adequate, which proved how little he thought of the Order. It had been only two weeks of training, although it was very taxing. Her mentor, a man who'd apparently been in the Order before her, had told her that everything else relied on experience- which should have meant Maira didn't stand a chance.

Regardless, Lucifer didn't have many options left. With all his spies in the Order gone, Maira was the only one they'd suspect the least. She was their pet project after all.

But she was still held prisoner in her own room. And while it meant that she wasn't going to run into Castillo, seeing the same boring walls day in and day out drove her crazy. The fact that Shima had been dropping by a lot more often than she expected only served to put her even more on edge. Their past was still a sore subject and, when put into perspective, there was nothing else to really talk about. It didn't take long for her to realise that even hanging out with him was better than solitude.

He seemed to prefer her company over Leah's too. Apparently, the older woman had been freaking out, second guessing her own plans in case smething went wrong. Shima had guessed that she had been stressed since the begining and that was only showing now. Lucifer and Castillo hadn't noticed anything in her facade though. Maira would rather they didn't talk about it anymore than they had to, and he's been more than happy to stop.

And start eating her food.

"What does cafeteria food taste like?" She wandered out loud as he gulped down a mouthfull of salad.

"I doubt it's food." He said with a semi-apologetic grin.

He was sitting at her desk, the tray spread in front of him. Maira, on the other hand, was sitting cross legged on her bed. That was about the most distance she could put between them.

"How come you don't eat?" he asked suddenly, fork hovering over spaghetti.

"No appetite." She replied, looking down at her ever- slimming form. "I feel like I'm eating rocks."

He nodded, wiping bread crumbs from his mouth hastily. "I know what you mean. I-" He stopped momentarily and looked up at her . "You know."

Truth be told, Maira didn't know. It was obvious he was referring to the time before he left the Academy, but they had become distant a week before he did. And other that bomb he'd dropped on her, he hadn't done or said anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, a little thought sparked in the back of her mind.

"You knew. About Leah. You knew she was alive." It was more of a statement rather than a question and she thought she ought to be more angry at him than she really was.

"I- Well, it's not like I could have told you, you know. Besides, I hadn't spoken with her once before meeting you!" He said quickly, as if panic was slowly taking over.

"Then... who told you to infiltrate the Illuminati?" She wasn't afraid of being heard; hardly anyone ever walked in these halls, and the walls were think enough to block out her voice. Also, Shima had borrowed the registration card of the guy responsible for the video footage. So no one even knew where Shima was.

"Lightning." He answered, as if it were obvious. "He's actually the one behind this. Lucifer wouldn't be as quick to trust him though, so we went with Leah and myself."

A small wave of relief washed over her. But, Maira had become determined to find out whatever he and Leah were hiding from her. She felt drawn to his answers like a moth to a flame.

"The Illuminati approached me before I left for the Academy. Lightning was... keeping tabs on the agents that talked to me, and he came for me himself."

Maira allowed herself to lean back, somewhat more comfortable. In the back of her mind though, she was wondering about the teeny, tiny pause he gave before answering.

Bon stared at the messy room, only now realising how long it'd been since the last time he was in it. Shima's room was a totall mess, and it's last occupant was partly to blame.

Maira's phone, the reason he'd even bothered coming in in the first place, was sitting on top of the unmade bed, ringing furiously like it had been for the last two hours. He took it gingerly, as if it might come alive in his hand.

The picture of a blonde girl was the first thing he noticed. Under it was the name Felix. Maira didn't have any European friends on campus and, if his short acquaintace with her was of any value, she generally didn't have any friends outside of the Exwires. Bon concluded that the person calling was the sister she's lost the night Shima kidnapped Izumo.

With a heavy sigh he dropped the phone back on the bed, not bothering to hang up on her or at least silence it. He had better things to do than act as Maira's secretary- like the extra classes Okumura had imposed on them.

Despite the Exorcist Exams being postponed indefinitely, the young teacher had been working them to the bone. It had gotten so ridiculous that no one had managed above an eighty on the last test, hence the extra classes.

While Bon himself didn't exactly care why Okumura was so stressed, Rin had been worrying himself sick. Between the twins and Shima clawing at the back of his mind, Bon had not been the happiest person lately. His own phone buzzed in his pocket but instead of a very insistent caller, he was faced with a class reminder.

Okumura was standing outside the classroom when Bon and Konekomaru arrived. With him was professor Tsubaki, and the two were speaking in hushed, yet vivid, whispers.

"Are you sure? We haven't heard from them since deployment." Okumura argued, crossing his arms against his chest.

"That's what they're worried about. I heard they're giving it another week before calling it a failure." Tsubaki shook his head in dismay.

"And the Paladin? What's he saying?"

Tsubaki was about to answer when he noticed them standing in the hallway. With a heavy shrug, he whispered somethign to Okumura and left, nodding at the two boys.

When Okumure truned to face them, Bon realised what had Rin worrying about. There were black rings slowly appearing under his eyes and even they were dulled with exhaustion. How come he hadn't noticed earlier?

"Something wrong?" He hated asking the obvious but, judging by how they were talking about whatever it was, he probably needed to.

"No. Not at all." Yukio ushered them inside, putting on a fake reassuring smile.

Something was wrong, all right.

This was gonna be at least 1.500 words originally. I really struggled with it though, and I haven't had a lot of free time to work on it either. Other than that... well, Shima and Maira are on speaking terms. Again.

In the earliest chapters I was completely inexperienced and uncomfortable with writing romance. I still am, obviously, but I wanted them to have a reason to be together this time around, instead of just announcing it out of nowhere. So for now, they'll be chatting. About other things than their pasts, that is.