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Chapter 14
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"Hey, guys! What's up?" Rin clearly didn't see the thick fog of awkwardness in the air as he started to talk. Miyuki felt a lump form in her throat as she looked up and found every eye in the room to be on them.
"You know what...Maybe I'll just go..." Miyuki mumbled as she turned to leave. She was prevented from doing so by Rin, who was still holding her hand. She looked back at him with a frown.
"We're in this together," he stold her via their telepathic link. She sighed in defeat as she stopped struggling.
"I hate you," she spat under her breath before settling down. She blankly stared forward as Rin began to talk.
"So...we're exterminating Coal Tars? Man, they love sticking us with these lame jobs. Anyone got an extra dust rag?" he asked. Miyuki facepalmed.
"There might be one over there," Shima pointed to a desk behind Konekomaru.
"I'll...take out the trash," the small boy mumbled, quickly moving out of Rin's way.
"You want some help with that?" the oblivious halfbreed asked enthusiastically.
"No! I-I can do it myself," Konekomaru answered rather quickly. Miyuki noticed how uncomfortable he seemed. She felt more or less the same.
"Hey, wait up man!" Rin called, a little confused.
"Oh, he's being a chicken because you're the child of a demon. Not just any demon, but Satan, who in one night slaughtered exorcists the world over," Kamiki said in her usual mocking tone. Miyuki narrowed her eyes. She was getting really tired of the girl.
"It's just a matter of time before you expose your true nature and become a threat," Kamiki added. Miyuki clicked her tongue.
"Cold, Kamiki," she muttered.
"You're one to talk about being cold. That Mika girl, or whatever her name was, told us how you murdered her sister. You're just as bad-if not worse," the ill-mannered girl before her shrugged.
Miyuki widened her eyes a bit, jaw dropping. She scanned the room. When no one objected with what Kamiki said, Miyuki furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists.
"Miyuki..." Rin tugged on her sleeve. He was telling her to calm down. She bit her lip.
"I'm not a murderer if that's what you think," she spat. Kamiki shrugged.
"Still doesn't change how people see you," she put simply. Rin clenched his jaw before walking over to the wall and punching it.
"Damn it!"
As his fist came in contact with the wall, a bunch of Coal Tars fell from the ceiling, surrounding Shiemi. Miyuki and the others went on high alert. Before anyone could do anything, Rin acted upon his own instincts.
"Get the hell away from her!" he shouted, activating his demon powers. He used his blue flames to kill the Coal Tars that surrounded the girl.
"Shiemi!" Miyuki ran up to the blonde that was still covered in the flames.
"It's...not hot...?" Shiemi mumbled. Miyuki nodded as she put an arm around the teen's shoulder.
"If Rin wishes it, the flames won't hurt some things in its path," she explained. Shiemi's confused face stared at Rin.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You tring to burn her alive or something?! Those flames of yours kill people, you know?!"
'Suguro...'
The boy with two-toned hair grabbed Rin by his shoulder and turned him around.
"My grandpa, Shima's oldest brother, Konekomaru's mom and dad...They were all killed the same way, by your father, Satan!" Suguro shouted. Miyuki unconsciously tightened her grip on Shiemi's shoulders as Suguro made direct eye contact with Rin.
"I don't know what the Vatican decided to do with you...but as of now, we're not your friends anymore," he said, clenching his fists. Miyuki became alert, sensing the hostility in the air.
"I'm warning you...If you go nuts and hurt even one of my friends..."
"I'll kill you."
A wall of ice shot up, creating a barrier between the two boys. Everyone in the room had been startled Rin, however, was the first to look back at Miyuki.
"You're not the only ones with families who were killed by Satan, you know..." everyone's attention turned to the raven-haired teen.
She had heard enough. Rin gave her a concerned look. Miyuki narrowed her eyes that were now overflowing with tears. She was very upset with this whole situation.
"My parents were also killed on the Blue Night. My mother was a demon. She died protecting those she loved, so you can't use her lineage as an excuse to justify her murder," she began to shake.
She let go of Shiemi, afraid she might accidentally hurt her. She moved from one tabletop to another, now standing between Rin and Suguro. The ice wall slowly started to retreat, disappearing into Miyuki's hand.
"I'll answer your threat with another..." she looked up to Suguro with her glowing, scarlet, eyes. Her horns had grown out and her tail swished behind her. The air in the room had declined noticeably.
"I can't tell you what to feel or who to hate...But, like hell, am I going to let your opinion of me and my friends get in the way of the happiness that my deceased loved ones and I have fought so hard to achieve for me," Miyuki said with a deadly tone.
The table she stood on top of was slowly freezing over as a fire roaring with emotions ignited in her eyes. Suguro was silent for a moment, intimidated by Miyuki's red-hot gaze.
"I'm not gonna be like Satan, you have to trust me!" Rin argued from behind her.
"I could care less about your stupid rivalry but God as my witness I will freeze this entire room of one more person-" Alright, that's enough!" a familiar voice called from the door, drawing all the attention to its owner.
"Okumura, Hayami, you two are coming with me. You're starting a new curriculum, today. The rest of you get back to work," Yukio ordered. Miyuki hopped off the table but not before shooting Suguro a look and sending a chill down his spine. Both demons followed Yukio out of the room.
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Elsewhere in True Cross Academy...
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Miyuki, Yukio, and Rin were in what looked like a training area. Miyuki, still trying to calm down, silently observed the conversation between Yukio and Rin.
"Why do we have to take these stupid extra classes?" the younger of the brothers whined.
"You don't have time to screw around, anymore. Until you qualify as an exorcist, you're going to be in serious training mode. Get used to it," Yukio instructed. Rin entered one of the batting cages that he had noticed when he first walked in. Miyuki watched him take his sword out of its bag.
"You have selected beginners mode," a machine-like voice said.
"You have six months to pass the exorcist authorization exam," Yukio sat on the bench closest to the batting cage Rin was in. His back was to his brother, his hands were folded, and his eyes were closed.
"Or they'll kill me. Yeah, I know," Rin sighed. As the machine in front of him began to throw baseballs at him, Rin did his best to deflect each one. Miyuki crossed her arms as she examined him.
"Don't worry about me. I bet I can pass this exam without all this extra training crap, anyway. I've already annihilated a boatload of demons, so I'm set," Rin said confidently. Miyuki couldn't help but smile.
"Oh, yeah? Wasn't that just dumb luck?" Yukio turned to face his brother.
"Dumb L-?!" Rin was cut off by a baseball hitting him in the back of his head.
"You told Suguro to trust you, right? Well, if you want someone to trust you then you have to prove yourself to them. The way things are right now, you have a lot left to prove to everyone," Yukio said sincerely. Miyuki's eyes widened. She was reminded of how she left things off with Mika.
She had told her she talked to her dead sister then asked her to trust her. She couldn't just expect to win over Mika's trust and forgiveness that easily...
"Prove myself...?" she mumbled.
"What was that?" Yukio looked over to her. Miyuki gave him a small smile.
"You might have just given me the answer to a question that I should have thought of long ago," she said. Yukio raised an eyebrow.
"The four-eyed-chicken's right, you know?"
Miyuki closed her eyes and sighed.
"Shura?"
The Yuki-Onna turned around and watched as Shura approached. She was wearing a kimono that, after the swordswoman described it as 'eco-friendly', was thought to be her pajamas.
"Since you're the spawn of Satan and all, you're like a demonic thoroughbred. The only reason you managed to get by until now is because of all that untapped potential," Shura said.
"Even with all that potential, you still gotta figure out how to harness it," she added with a shrug before turning to Miyuki.
"Don't think you're off the hook, Little Miss. Mephisto may have saved your ass with that whole trial stunt of his, but you killed someone. While no charges have been made yet, that's still gonna be hard to see past when you take your exam," she said. Miyuki nodded, eyes narrowed.
"Now, let's get down to business."
Shura dropped the big bag that she was carrying. Miyuki raised an eyebrow, silently wondering what the contents were.
"Four-eyes, manage Frosty and her training while I deal with your brother," the swordswoman ordered. Yukio nodded.
'Frosty...?' Miyuki felt a bead of sweat roll off her brow.
"Wait, why separate training?" Rin raised an eyebrow and gave Shura a confused look.
"You two have different powers and come from different demonic bloodlines. If you trained together, your fire would negate her ice. Plus, she discovered her powers at a younger age. She's already got a head start on you, Fireboy," the older woman teased.
Rin frowned. He watched Miyuki as she walked away with his brother. It disappointed him that he wouldn't have her there to talk to, but he knew he couldn't start complaining. She was more skilled, after all.
When Miyuki and Yukio made it to the other side of the room, they both sat on the floor. The Yuki-Onna, sensing Yukio's tension, decided to address it.
"I take it you'd rather work with your brother?" she asked. Yukio looked past her, watching his brother talk to Shura. He narrowed his eyes.
"Rin and his training are more important to me than you," he put blatantly. Miyuki's soft smile somehow gave Yukio the chills.
"Is there something else on your mind, Okumura?" she asked. Yukio was silent for a moment. He adjusted his glasses so that his eyes were hidden behind their glare.
"I've read your file and I've talked to Mephisto. You escaped from the orphanage you were put into after you killed that girl's sister. Records show that you just disappeared off the map for years," he said. Miyuki narrowed her eyes.
'Where is he going with this?'
"After disappearing, you just showed up one day and asked Mephisto to put you into his school. On top of that, you convinced him to let you join the Cram School classes; conveniently at the same time as Rin, too," Yukio's menacing-yet-calm glare was now visible to Miyuki.
"I know that you didn't come to True Cross to be an exorcist."
Miyuki paused.
"You think you've got me all figured out, don't you, Okumura?" she smiled with her eyes narrowed.
"I know that this isn't a coincidence," Yukio sat his elbows on his knees so that his hands rested in front of him.
"So...what? You think I'm going to kill Rin or something?" Miyuki's smirk never faltered as if to mock the boy before her. Yukio sighed.
"I'm not ruling it out. I still don't know enough about your personality to make any assumptions. I do know that you attached yourself to my brother fairly quickly," the brunette pointed out.
"You speak as if I'm some sort of parasite or disease," Miyuki rested her chin in the palm of her right hand with her arm propped up on her leg.
"I'm watching you, Hayami. If you so much as hurt a hair on my brother's head, I will be forced to act upon what I think is right," Yukio frowned. He looked down, noticing ice slowly forming around the girl before him.
"Is that a threat, Mister Okumura?"
"Maybe it is."
"Now that I know you can and have, in fact, killed an innocent, I think you should stay away from my brother. He doesn't need your influence. Follow my orders and everything will he fine. Don't and I will get the vatican involved," Yukio stood up, fixing his glasses once he did so.
Miyuki was silent. She knew he wasn't wrong. It's exactly why she hadn't gotten close to anyone in years. She didn't want them to think she was a monster and they didn't need her "influence". She knew that distancing herself from Rin was for the best...
But why did it hurt so much to hear it?
