"I can't believe she even had these on the train," said Shima. "Feels a bit like déjà vu, doesn't it?"

The baryon on Yuma's lap felt even heavier than the last time, but there was an ironic sense of comfort in it. "Yes," he said. "Déjà vu. We really haven't changed at all, have we?"

Shima chuckled. "Wasn't last time caused by a fight with Bon and Izumo-chan, too?"

Suguro huffed in response. Izumo muttered something under her breath at him. Both were fuming mad, just like last time.

"But more importantly," said Miwa. "Why did Sensei just leave Okumura-kun like that. I mean, if anything happened it would be dangerous."

"Konekomaru…" Rin started. But before anyone could say anything, a deep moan came from the baryon in Miwa's lap. It suddenly launched itself into the air, hitting the ceiling of the carriage before shooting back down, straight towards Moriyama. As she tried to move out of the way, the baryon came down onto her lower back, pinning her to the floor. Her own baryon had come off her legs landing on the floor in front of her.

"Shiemi!" cried Rin at the same time as Miwa yelled "Moriyama-san."

"Damn. Something old and powerful was still in there," said Shima.

Yuma tilted his body, allowing his baryon to roll onto the floor. Shima and Suguro had already mobilised, attempting to lift the baryon off Moriyama's back.

"It's no good," said Suguro.

"We have to call Kirigakure-sensei," said Miwa.

"She said not to wake her, though."

"What do we do, then?"

"The way to deal with baryons is to shatter them at high heat," said Shima. He had taken his staff and poked it into the top of the baryon. "God, it's too hard. I can't get through."

"Leave it to me," said Rin. He went to Moriyama, attempting to lift the baryon from her back. But even with his demonic strength, he couldn't do it. Before anyone knew it, the area was shrouded in his blue flames.

Miwa shrieked. "Moriyama-san!"

"Stop it!" Suguro yelled, pulling Rin away from Moriyama. The flames misdirected, engulfing the rows of seats nearby.

"Fire!" Shima yelled. "Now we should call the Exorcists."

"Wait, no!" said Moriyama. "Let's not make a fuss. Rin didn't go berserk, and… these flames…"

"We don't need to call them," said Yuma. "We are Exorcists. If we can't deal with this, then what help will we be to anyone in Kyoto? Now, does anyone have Holy Water? We need to put out these flames."

"My familiars can create a sacred wine," said Izumo. "It's not Holy Water, but it should work."

"Do it," said Yuma. "The rest of you, keep out of the way."

Izumo summoned one of her white fox familiars, and the class watched as she performed her ritual. Her sacred wine doused the flames, though the seats were unsalvageable.

"The baryons," said Miwa. "They've completely disappeared."

Yuma sprang into action, heading straight to Moriyama. "Are you hurt?" he asked. "Let me see."

Moriyama lifted her blouse just enough to reveal the spot where the baryon had landed. The area was starting to bruise slightly, but there was no sign of anything more serious. He pressed into the spot with his thumbs, and while she flinched slightly, she didn't complain of any severe pain. "You'll be okay," he told her.

"Yuma-chan," she rasped, turning to look at him. "Rin's flames… they didn't burn me at all…"

Yuma gave her a tired smile. "Moriyama-san," he said. "Don't you know yet that Rin would never hurt you?"

Moriyama's expression was doubtful. She still had her reservations even now. Yuma knew he would never convince her. Only Rin could do that.

"Why did you get in my way?" Rin was demanding of Suguro. "I had everything under control!"

"Really? This is under control?" Suguro shot back, indicating the ashes of the train seats.

"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't pulled me away! Have some faith in me!"

"…Faith?" Suguro glared at Rin. "How could I have faith…" His expression changed to one of pain. "Those blue flames can kill people," he said. "My grandfather, Shima's grandfather and brother, Konekomaru's father, the followers of the temple… they were family to me. How could I have faith after what those flames did to my family?"

Rin gritted his teeth. "That must have been horrible, but…" Yuma noticed his fists clenched in frustration. "But that has nothing to do with me! I'm not Satan!"

The two boys stared at one another for a long moment. "That's right," Suguro said. "You said you were going to defeat Satan, didn't you?"

"That's right," said Rin. "Don't go lumping us together‒"

"Stop!" Miwa grabbed at Rin's shirt. "Get away from Bon!" He turned to Suguro. "You too, Bon. If you still see us as family, then stop acting all on your own… If anything happened to you…"

"Bon!" Shima screeched. "Above you."

One of the baryon's hurtled towards Suguro's head. Before any of them could react, though, it was shattered to pieces by the swing of a sword. Kirigakure stood on the seats, glaring at her class disapprovingly. "Jeez…" she muttered. Raising her voice, she added "you guys can't even take on small fry like this? Do you plan on hampering each other like this when you're faced with the real deal? You'll die!"

The whole class stared at their teacher, dumbfounded. She was absolutely right. If they couldn't pull together as a team, they would be killed before any of them could become qualified exorcists.

The announcement came over the loudspeaker that they would be soon arriving in Kyoto. Nobody spoke as they grabbed together their things, preparing to disembark. Alighting at Kyoto station, the first thing Yuma did was find Izumo.

"That was good work you did back there," he told her.

She gave him a small smile. "You too," she replied. "I always thought you were the smart one."

Suguro was the centre of attention when the reinforcement squad arrived at the ryokan. He got quite the tongue-lashing from his mother about the blonde strip he had dyed into his hair. After the exchange of pleasantries, the Exwires, with the exception of Suguro, Miwa and Shima, were put to work straight away helping the Doctor-class Exorcists treat the sick and injured.

Yuma knelt beside one of the patients, helping them to sit up and drink a cup of the medicinal tea that had been prepared. "Thank you, young one," she said graciously. "Ah, your uniform. You're a student, then?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Yuma. "An Exwire."

"Ah, that takes me back to my days training at the True Cross Academy…" she gave him a weak smile. "What class are you training to be?"

"A Dragoon," he said. "And a Doctor."

"Multiclassing, hey? Good for you. I'm a Dragoon-class myself, yes…" She took another sip of tea. "You do have a healer's touch, young one. You'll make a fine Doctor, I think."

If I make it that far, Yuma thought bitterly. "That's kind of you to say." The Exorcist took in the rest of the tea as he spoke.

"Child," she said. "You can see around you why the Order needs good healers. Keep up with your studies, and you will surely succeed."

Yuma laid the woman back down. "Thank you."

"No, young one. Thank you."

After her, Yuma made his way to more patients, administering tea and replacing the bags on the IV drips that were running low. At one point he saw that Ayame was also helping out. That's right, he thought as she waved cheerily at him. My role here is much like hers was as a nurse in the oncology unit. A wave of sadness came over him. I would've made a good nurse, if being an Exorcist hadn't worked out… or even a doctor. I could have been an oncologist, helped other kids like me… maybe even saved a few.

Yuma laid his current patient down, watching him settle into a peaceful sleep. Wordlessly, he stepped out of the room, wandering down the halls of the ryokan until he felt he was far enough from everyone.

"I could've been so much," he said to no-one. In his frustration, he slammed his fist against the hard wood of a doorway frame. It hurt, but not as much as the anguish that filled his heart. Alone and without reservations, he dropped to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably.