Ray was feeling very stupid as he stood in the large entrance hall of True Cross Academy as he struggled to read the stupidly fancy directory, which really just looked like a bunch of gibberish to him.
Fortunately, the school term was only going to begin in a couple of days, so that meant no one was around to laugh at him for his lack of Japanese reading skills.
While he had a basic grasp of how to speak the Japanese language, reading was another thing altogether.
Looking down to his book -Learning the Japanese language for dummies- a few more times, Ray was finally able to figure out where the Director's office was.
His footsteps echoed with each step he took, making him realise how empty the place was. The whole place was void of humans and those weird fuzzy creatures he usually saw floating around.
For the first time in Ray's entire life, he heard total silence. No buzzing, no hissing, nothing.
Honestly, Ray didn't know if he should be happy, or worried.
When he finally arrived at the Director's office, a feeling of nostalgia came over him. Frowning slightly, Ray shook his head before knocking.
"Come in!" An over exuberant voice announced from the inside the office, and when he did, Ray wondered briefly whether or not he could back out of the student exchange programme.
"Welcome!" Ray did a double take. The eccentric looking man was dressed as what he could only describe as a clown. He was not afraid to voice this aloud.
The man's eye twitched slightly at this, although there was a glint in his eye for reasons unknown to Ray.
"How rude! I am the Academy's director, Johann Faust." Fortunately, he wasn't speaking in Japanese, so Ray understood him perfectly.
Ray shot him a blank look, which the man ignored.
The man folded his arms in front of him, the green hamster on his desk making a racket as it ran on its exercise wheel. "Ray Owens, as you know, you'll be here for the next three months, so here's the key to your dorm."
He threw Ray a silver key that looked vaguely familiar to the teenager.
"You'll be staying at the old boy's dorm where one of our teacher's is currently staying. I can't leave a student unsupervised, and since that teacher was already there..." He gave a shrug of his shoulders.
"Well, that's that, now off you go! I have anime to wa- I mean, work to do." Then he shoved Ray out of his office and slammed the door shut. Moments later, the sound of anime music was muffled by the door, but was definitely there.
Ray blinked, staring at the shut door before he shrugged and turned away. Some things were better off left unquestioned.
0o0
Kuro had been devastated when he had finally caught wind of Rin's suicide. He had wailed with grief for an entire day, only briefly switching to soft sniffling during the funeral, and after that, refused to move from Rin's grave for the subsequent three days.
Kuro only returned to the old dorm to quietly mourn once Yukio put his foot down and brought the cat sidth back.
He hadn't wanted to believe Rin was gone, just like Shiro.
But he was. Kuro had to face the facts about a year later. Rin was never coming back. He was dead, and no amount of wishing would being him back.
Or so he thought.
Fiftteen years after Rin died, Kuro was padding down the hallways of the old boy's dorm, waiting for Yukio.
Yukio had just left without a word, but Kuro did have a vague idea as to where he had gone.
On normal days, the cat sidth would have wanted to follow Yukio, but for today, especially today, the man needed his space, and Kuro was willing to give him that.
When the front door of the dorms clicked open, the cat sidth's ears perked up. His paws tapped against the ground softly as he went to go greet Yukio.
But it wasn't Yukio who had arrived at the dorm.
Yukio didn't have messy dark bluish hair.
Kuro felt his eyes widen, his eyes shining with moisture.
"Rin...?" This came out as a meow, which caught the attention of the teenager, who turned to face Kuro's direction, allowing the cat sidth to have a complete view of his face.
"Rin!" Kuro darted forward, his claws gripping the teenager's pant leg as the cat wailed loudly.
"Woah!" The teenager exclaimed, feeling Kuro barrel into his leg, stumbling back from the force before he caught sight of the cat sidth.
"A cat?" The teenager voiced aloud, much to Kuro's confusion. Why didn't Rin recognise him?
"Rin! Rin, it's me! Kuro!" Kuro meowed desperately, pushing at the teenager's leg with his nose. But the teenager didn't even appear to have heard Kuro's voice as anything more than simple meowing.
"Rin..." Kuro's ears drooped with sadness. The teenager's scent was just like Rin's, so how could he not be Rin? He looked the same too!
"I wonder who's cat is this?" The teenager carefully detached Kuro from his jeans, holding the cat up at eye level before he blinked.
"Are those horns?" From where he was being held up, Kuro noticed some things. How... more human his friend looked. His ears were no longer pointed, his fangs were like a human's, and his eyes seemed less... demonic.
Kuro felt himself being placed back down on the ground, and after being given a scratch behind the ears (Much like how Rin used to do it), the teenager smiled.
"See you around, little guy."
Kuro gave a sad meow as he sat down, watching the other pick up a duffel bag and grab the handle of a wheelie bag before he fumbled with a piece of paper.
"Room... 600? Okay..." He mumbled before he trudged out of sight, leaving Kuro sitting on the floor staring after him.
Minutes after the teenager was gone, Kuro gave a soft cry.
0o0
Ray pushed the door of his room for the next three months open, nose wrinkling at the musty smell.
"When was the last time someone even dusted?" He wondered, dragging his luggage into the room before leaving it in the corner.
He sneezed, rubbing his nose which was beginning to get choked up from the dust.
"I need air!" Ray groaned, trudging over to the window before he pulled the drapes aside and flung it open, gasping as fresh air filled his lungs and the room.
Looking around the room now that it wasn't so bright, it was actually quite a decent room, even if the dust was a minus point.
As Ray's eyes trailed over the bed, he only then realised how damn tired he was, no thanks to the stupid jetlag.
Although he probably should have been unpacking his things to get ready for the school term, Ray's tired mind opted to switch off as soon as possible.
Carelessly fluffing the mattress and pillow to clear it of some dust, Ray then flopped down on the bed, still fully clothed, falling asleep mere seconds after his head hit the pillow.
0o0
When Yukio returned to the old dorm in the evening, he was greeted with the most peculiar sight of Kuro meowing softly, looking ready to burst into tears.
"What's wrong, Kuro?" Yukio asked, still baffled by the cat sidth's behaviour. The last time Kuro had behaved this was when Rin-
He shook his head. No. Stop. Don't think about it. Yukio was certain he wouldn't be able to prevent the tears from streaking down his face if he dwelled on the past for too long a time.
Kuro meowed out a response, and at times like these did Yukio wish he could understand Kuro so he didn't have to play guessing games.
"Is it about the exchange student who's staying here that Sir Pheles told me about?"
A meow giving affirmation.
"Did something happen?"
Kuro shook his head.
"Then I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Yukio said, giving Kuro a reassuring scratch behind the ears, before pausing.
"He's not allergic to cats, is he?"
Kuro gave a meow of protest, before stalking off, obviously frustrated about Yukio's lack of understanding, leaving the man feeling rather confused at the cat sidth's behaviour.
Walking down the hallway to his room, Yukio remembered that the exchange student, Ray Owens if he remembered correctly, was staying in Room 600, just a couple of doors away from his own room.
He barely gave Room 600 a glance as he strode past, knowing that the student must have been exhausted from his trip. Yukio had experienced the jetlag between Japan and Singapore a few years back, and while it wasn't the worst thing in the world, it still was pretty bad.
Entering his room, Yukio's chest panged with longing as he caught sight of a framed photograph that he and Rin had taken sixteen years ago.
Yukio placed it face down towards the table.
0o0
It was still early when Ray woke up the next morning, maybe around six.
Since he obviously couldn't get back to sleep (stupid jetlag), he decided to wander around for a bit. Since he was going to stay here for the next three months, he'd better get familiar with the place.
The little black cat from the previous day kept following him around for some reason, meowing at him and looking up at him with hopeful eyes, as thought hoping that Ray would understand whatever it was he was trying to say.
Unfortunately, Ray didn't speak cat.
Eventually, the teenager found himself on the roof of the dorm, feeling slightly... hurt, for some reason. He didn't know why he felt this way, he just felt the throbbing feeling of hurt in his chest.
The black cat meowed at Ray, before quietly moving to the side of the roof, pawing at the ledge while looking at the teenager with expectant eyes.
Still feeling slightly puzzled, Ray walked forward, able to make out something on the ground next to the cat. As he neared, he found that the object next to the cat was actually a white lily.
Ray stopped directly in front off th ledge the cat was pawing at, before he knelt down finally noticed the words that had been snatched into the concrete who knows how many years ago.
Never forget Rin Okumura.
"Who couldn't fly," Ray dryly thought before he paused. Why did he think that?
Shaking his head, Ray turned around and left the vicinity.
Ray didn't know why a tear slid down his cheek.
0o0
When Yukio woke up, Kuro was no where to be found, and the exchange student had already left the dorm, most likely to explore.
He didn't mind it too much. He needed the peace and quiet to look over his lesson plans for regular school and Cram school. He'd see the exchange student in his regular school class, so it really didn't matter whether or not Yukio saw the student at the dorm.
Looking back down at his lesson plans, Yukio sighed. After Rin had... passed on... Yukio had just buried himself in his exorcist duties, carrying out missions day after day, week after week.
He pushed himself to his limits, always coming home exhausted and sore.
He always told himself and anyone who asked that all his work was to try and forget his grief.
He lied.
He knew, deep down, he was punishing himself.
What kind of brother was he, to not notice how much his twin, his twin for God's sake, was hurting?
Yukio just couldn't forgive himself.
[A/N So... guess who decided to write this chapter out even thought it was something like four in the morning?
Anyway, as I read in a PM, I thought I'd address something which I think some people want to know. Which was basically why Rin/Ray is in America instead Japan.
For starters, reincarnation is random. What are the chances that you end up in the exact same country as your first birth? Pretty low actually, if you look at all the countries in the world. And why I chose America? No reason, really. I was picking at random, and I just so happened to get America. (Not America anymore. Now Singapore.)
The reasons behind Rin/Ray's reincarnation will come out soon.
Thanks for reading!
~ Gwntan12]