Category: Friendship Fluff

Characters: Rin Okumura

Requested By: kyobasu (FanFiction)

Rin raised a hand to his mouth as he yawned loudly and unabashedly, his face crunched up from its intensity as he eased himself down onto the stone rim of the campus' fountain where he so often perched after an afternoon in Exorcist Cram School. Now that most of the student body had vacated the school campus to return to their dorms or take the public transit to the nearby city for an evening of mild revelry, he lazily pulled his demon tail out from under his uniform shirt, which he had untucked as soon as he had passed through the threshold of the exit, to let it flicker around behind him like Kuro's tail so often did. He ought to return to the dorm himself and do some studying. Yeah, screw that! He thought with a devilish sneer. He propped his elbow on his knee to lean his cheek in his hand, his tail continuing to sway side-to-side behind him as he pondered what he could get up to besides hitting the books. After all the business in Kyoto, Rin was on significantly better terms with all of his classmates, so asking one of them to hang out with him wouldn't be unreasonable; the question was discerning who was free.

Rin was usually the first one out of the building, making a mad dash for fresh air and sunlight like he was allergic to the academic environment, and so the rest of the exorcists-in-training often lagged behind. He saw them approaching in the near distance, strolling over the neatly arranged cobblestones towards the fountain that bubbled pleasantly behind him. Rin wasn't sure where the rest of them wandered off to, but Shima and Suguro were currently walking in his direction, Suguro with his bag slung over his shoulder and looking ever the rebellious degenerate, while Shima plodded along beside him looking completely innocent but probably in the process of plotting at least ten schemes. Yukio was strolling along behind them, his nose in a book that just by observing its thickness Rin knew he didn't want to even touch it.

"Rin, you shouldn't have your tail out. What if someone sees?" Yukio scolded him as he came within earshot. Rin responded by childishly puffing out his cheeks.

"Don't be such a stiff. No one's gonna see. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to keep it wrapped around me all day? It gets itchy after a while," he whined as he stretched out on his belly on the stone fountain. The tip of his tail traced patterns in the rippling water's surface, then lashed like a whip, splattering droplets of water all over his brother's face. Rin giggled as Yukio exhaled deeply and pulled off his glasses to clean them off on his uniform, obviously unappreciative of the playful banter. "Where's Konekomaru? I figured he would be with you two," he asked Shima and Suguro.

"He had to run an errand. He'll be back later," Suguro reported casually.

"What're you doing today, Okumura?" Shima asked in that polite yet somehow disinterested way of his. He really was an odd guy but Rin liked that about him.

"I dunno yet. Are you guys free?"

"You should be studying," his younger twin interjected with a scoff, to which Rin replied with a dour frown.

"Dun wanna."

"You're never gonna stomp Satan with that attitude," Suguro sneered while crossing his arms. Suguro could say anything and get under Rin's skin, but insulting him directly always got him fired up; he jumped to his feet while grating his teeth, fists already up to grapple and his tail lashing about furiously like a coiled cobra.

"You wanna go? Do ya? I'll stomp you first!"

"Just try it! I'll beat the shit outta you!" Suguro snapped back and, while still smiling in that peculiar fashion so characteristic of him, Shima promptly locked Suguro's arms behind his back and let him stamp his feet and curse out all the violent energy that Rin had stirred up in him. Irritated, Rin squatted down on the stone fountain and settled for teasing the fact that Suguro couldn't square up while he was being held, highly amused that he could only make him angrier. It was all in good fun, though; Suguro could definitely get him going, but he really liked the guy and thought him capable. One couldn't tell it by the way they were constantly at each other's throats, though, like a couple of rabid dogs quarreling over some scraps.

"Okay, guys, that's enough now." Shima, ever the diplomat. It's not like he actually cared if Suguro and Rin scrapped, though; he was just tired of expending the energy to keep Suguro at bay. He released the aforementioned boy's arms. Suguro shot him an acidic glare before managing to compose himself. "Anyway, if you're looking for something to do, I have just the idea." The pink-haired boy grinned to himself as he plopped down onto the fountain next to Rin and began digging in his school bag, looking mischievous. Rin liked mischievous.

"Oh, shit, not those," Suguro groaned as Shima procured a package of some ordinary-looking chocolate bon-bons from the depths of his schoolbag, which he casually tossed to the side after securing his prize. Rin, very interested in the chocolate simply for being food, leaning over his shoulder as he stripped away the packaging.

"What's so special about 'em?"

"He bought 'em in some random shop in the city. Apparently, they've got some kind of love potion in 'em."

"And we're gonna make Shiemi and Izumo eat them~!" Shima squealed with delight and happily held the box of chocolates above his head. Rin's dark eyebrows approached the roots of his hair as his eyes widened. The chocolates certainly didn't look any different than regular chocolates, but looks could certainly be deceiving. The box did have a "use with caution" notice printed on the top.

"Surely you don't believe that nonsense," Yukio sighed while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Come on, have a little fun, wouldja?" Shima's true colors were showing now; a grin with devilish intent that could rival Satan himself painted his fine features as he lowered the unassuming box of candies. "You can't deny that you would be overjoyed to have Shiemi doting on you a little~"

"S-stop that! That's ludicrous!" Yukio sputtered with a face ablaze with blush. Shima one, Yukio zero. "I'll prove it right now. This stupid candy is just a scam you wasted your money on," he huffed, and while Shima squirmed and alarm and tried to prevent it, Yukio jumped forward to rip open the plastic covering, pluck one of the bon-bons from its place, and pop it into his mouth. His shoulders were hunched up to his ears as he chewed on the confection. Shima yelped and jumped behind Rin to ensure as little as him was visible to Yukio as possible, not wishing to become the stiff young teacher's object of affections even if temporarily.

"Asshole, you're stepping on my tail, stop!" Rin whined and yanked it out from under his tennis shoe. When he looked back, Yukio was gazing at him blankly. "Um… Yukio, you all right, dude?"

"I feel odd."

"Odd?"

"Yeah… My heart is beating really fast all of a sudden."

"Ho-ly shit, it worked!" Suguro howled and promptly doubled over in a fit of hysterical laughter. A shiver traveled from the tips of Rin's toes to the ends of his hair at the alarming prospect.

"Wh-what? That's preposterous! He's my brother! That's disgusting!" Yukio shouted at the still cackling Suguro, who now had tears brewing in the corners of his eyes. His brother's cheeks were apparently permanently dyed a shade of carnation, because every time his gaze flickered to him, it would appear. "I-it's obviously just a side effect of whatever stupid 'love potion' this guy put into these chocolates! I totally don't think my little brother is adorable and cute and I want to hug him!" Suguro's laughed abruptly hitched in his throat as he looked at Yukio incredulously. The boy apparently realized what he had said and clapped his hands over his mouth in horror, and Rin held his breath as his face turned a slight shade of green from the nausea swirling around in his stomach. Shima released a snort of laughter that he had been trying to contain behind his laced fingers over his lips, and this was the catalyst for Suguro to release a hoarse wheeze and begin howling with laughter all over again.

"Oh my God!"

"How do we get rid of it?!" Rin shouted and whirled around to shake Shima, who was now blue from holding in his breath, violently by the shoulders. He exploded into a giggling fit too, and held his stomach as the package of bon-bons slipped out of his lap to fall onto the ground.

"Ahhhhhh, this is hysterical! Much better than I imagined!" the pink-haired boy sighed after calming down and wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. Suguro was squatted down holding his aching ribs, still quivering as snorts slipped out from time to time, and Yukio was just standing there with his fists balled up and his face redder than a tomato. "But we know they work! We gotta get Izumo and Shiemi to eat them!" he beamed, hand diving down to snatch the fallen package from the ground, before jumping up with sparkling eyes.

"Wait, wait! Don'tcha think we should invite Paku, too? Y'know, so there's one girl for each of us!" Rin suggested.

"Oh, you're right. Good thinking, Okumura."

"Yeah, okay, but now we have to figure out who gets who," Suguro sighed from where he was now sitting on the ground, breathless from laughing so much but seemingly recovered.

"Aren't you forgetting about me?" Yukio snapped, irate.

"Shut up, you don't count, you're in love with your brother!" Shima cried much too giddily, and even though Rin was kind of uncomfortable with it at first it was now absurdly comical, and he joined the two guys in howling at Yukio's expense. Yukio fumed so hot that an egg could fry on his head in ten seconds flat.

"Wait, you're gonna play along?" Rin asked Suguro when he was done laughing. Suguro wasn't one he pinned to go along with their playful antics; normally he was much more content to study and tout that he was better than Rin for it.

"Someone has to make sure that Renzo doesn't do something that lands him in jail."

"Don't say that! I'm a gentleman! A gentleman!"

"You're a pervert and you know it."

"He's kinda right, you know," Rin snickered and jabbed him repeatedly in the side with his elbow. Shima deflated like a balloon.

"You guys suck… Anyway… How about this? Rin can have Shiemi, because he's in love with her already," -Rin proceeded to choke on air- "I'll take Izumo," -he paused to put a hand over his heart and sigh endearingly- "and Bon can have Pazu."

"I don't even know Pazu."

"You can have Izumo, then! They're all beautiful 3"

"Pervert." Rin was too busy discreetly gushing about the fact that the gentle, adorable Shiemi would be his partner. Wait, but for how long? His brother seemingly read his mind.

"Hello? Are you forgetting about something? Is this permanent?!" his brother continued to pout.

"Nah, it only lasts a couple hours. Just tough it out," Shima mused while rattling the box of magical chocolates. Yukio huffed and crossed his arms to look away, but his gaze crept back to Rin no matter how much he seemed to try to prevent it. It just so happened that the girls meandered to the fountain, just in time for Shima to put his plan into play.

"Rin! Yuki! Hello!" Shiemi called jovially with a wave of her arm. Rin sighed in contentment as her pretty blonde hair bobbed alongside her kind, round face. She's so cute… "What are you up to?" she asked as she momentarily left Kamiki and Pazu's side to prance over.

"Go time," Shima whispered in his ear, stirring him into action.

"Oh, hey! Shima was just sharing these awesome candies with us, ya want one?" he grinned and plucked one from the box to hold it out to her. He tried to keep his hand from trembling as his heart thundered in his ribcage like a tumultuous symphony; sweat crawled down the side of his head as he threaded his hand back and forth through his already messy hair, trying to seem nonchalant as he flashed her a toothy grin. Shiemi blinked, tilting her head as she inspected the round little bon-bon.

"Su-" Before she could even get the word out of her mouth, Yukio shouldered past her to snatch the chocolate from Rin's hand, jerk him aside so that he landed in the fountain with a frantic splash, grab a very alarmed Shima by the front of his shirt, and shove the candy into his mouth. He then shook him about so he was forced to swallow it lest he choke to death. As Rin sat up in the cold fountain water, droplets streaming down his face and dripping from the hair that was plastered there, Shima was holding his throat and coughing violently while facing him, eyes closed.

"Ah! Shima, don't open your-" Too late.

"Okumura, control your twin, would you?" he growled as he shot him a glare. The panic must have been clear on Rin's face, because no sooner had their gazes locked had Shima's face morph into the visage of terrible realization. "Oh no." His face then proceeded to turn the shade of his dyed hair, and he curled up on the fountain rim while covering his face. "Ohhhhh noooooo…"

"What's the big deal?" Kamiki asked with a hand on her hip. Pazu was laughing lightly while scratching the side of her face, and Shiemi was still shell-shocked, her hand lingering in the air where she had intended to take the chocolate.

"The chocolates are apparently laced with a love potion," Yukio answered gruffly.

"Yeah, so what the hell is your problem, Yukio?! Why didja push me into the water and why did you give it to Shima?!" Rin shouted as he surged out of the fountain, scattering the water like rain as he grabbed Yukio by the front of his collar to jerk him forward and get in his face. Yukio's eyes went wide and his face red at the close contact, reminding Rin that he too was under the effects of the potion, and he hastily shoved him away before squatting down on the fountain rim with his face in his hands. "What the hell…"

"You were going to feed me a love potion?!" Shiemi gasped at him, sounding utterly betrayed, and he looked up in alarm.

"I- no- well, technically yes, but- it was just a joke! We were gonna give 'em to Kamiki and Pazu too!"

"What?!" the purple-haired girl instantly screeched in anger.

"Shut up! You're making it worse!" Suguro snapped at him. Rin obediently clammed up. Shiemi just continued to stand there looking absolutely concerned, her lips pressed tight together with that worried-sad look she often wore. Her gaze slid to Shima, who was sitting up beside Rin now to clap his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Okumura, wanna leave these clowns and go hang out together~?"

"What the hell?!" Rin yowled and leaped from the fountain to run over to Suguro, ducking behind his broad frame as he suffered under the shameless Shima's advances.

"What? No, don't hide behind me!" he cried. This gave Kamiki the perfect opportunity to force one of the bon-bons down his throat.

"That'll teach you morons," she laughed evilly as Suguro failed to cough the candy up. Rin tried to escape Suguro's field of vision before the effects of the love potion activated, but to no avail. Suguro stared at him for a second, then whirled around holding his chest like he was having a heart attack and his eyes shaking.

"Kamiki… I will kill you…"

"Why is it just me?" Rin wailed as he jerked his head back to tug violently at his head. "Yukio, Shima, and now him?! I just wanted to do something instead of study! I promise I'll be a good student from now on, just make it end!" he wailed to the unforgiving blue sky. Kamiki and Pazu were giggling, quite pleased at how it turned out. Shiemi had leaned down to pick up the box of chocolates and was inspecting the ingredients.

"If it's a natural ingredient, maybe Nee can produce an antidote," she reasoned. The little Greenman had already been summoned and was sitting on her shoulder, leaned over like it too was reading the packaging, but Rin was quite unsure if the little garden familiar could read.

"Yes, please, Shiemi…" he sighed wearily, drooping from head to tail. He then stiffened when he realized that Suguro was standing practically right next to him. "Dude, back off!"

"Shaddup, I'm standing here because I like it, not because I wanna be close to you or nothin'…"

"He's a tsundere!" Kamiki screeched in laughter. Her pigtails flopped around her shaking shoulders as she cocked her head back and pointed at him, cackling like the witch she was.

"Shaddup, Kamiki, this is all your fault!" he snapped back with his shoulders bristling like a cat's. Rin jumped as Shima popped up over his other shoulder, batting his lazy eyes at him.

"Go away!" Rin shoved him away by the face.

"Uwaaaaaaah, Rin doesn't like me…" Shima pouted and squatted down on the pavement while hugging his knees.

"Damn right! This is all your fault, Shima! I shoulda never gone along with your stupid prank!" he agreed hotly while stamping his feet repeatedly against the ground, making his sword clang around on his back. He whirled on his feet to Shiemi as he eyed his brother staring silently at him. "Shiemi, please tell me you found something!" he begged, nearly at his breaking point.

"Got it! Nee!" The little Greenman jumped up from her shoulder and an herb Rin did not recognize sprouted from his leafy green belly. Shiemi plucked a few sprigs off before distributing them to the affected individuals. "Here, this should work." Yukio and Suguro swallowed it gratefully, but Shima waved it around in his hand, lips pursed.

"But if I don't eat it, I'll be the only one in love with Rin now~"

"Eat it or I'll make you!" Seeing Rin's thunderous expression was enough to make him do as bid. The three of them coughed for a few seconds at the bitterness of the herbs before finally looking back up at Rin. "Well?"

"Never speak of this again," Yukio ordered while again adjusting his glasses, clearly perturbed.

"Agreed," Suguro nodded, then whirled around shaking his fist at Kamiki. "What the hell were you thinking, you crazy bitch?! I could kill you for that stunt!" Kamiki just sneered while Paku held a hand to her mouth, giggling.

"Why's everyone so on edge? I thought it was fun!" Shima chuckled. He reached for the box of chocolates, only to find it had been depleted of its contents. They all simultaneously glanced up to seen none other than the Headmaster perched on the fountain, pushing the last of the bon-bons into his mouth.

"What's all the fuss?"

"Run!" they all screamed in unison and took off, leaving him in their wake and not even curious as to whom he spied first. They all blasted past Konekomaru as he was arriving back onto campus, knocking the grocery bag from his hand and sending its contents spilling across the cobblestone.

"You guys! What was that for?" Rin heard his whine rapidly fade into the distance, drowned out by the rush of the wind in his pointed ears and the sound of his laughter spilling from his grinning mouth.

"That actually was kinda fun, wasn't it?"

"Shut up!" came the resounding reply.