Disclaimer: I don't own Ao No Exorcist

A/N: Hohoho! Early Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/etc. present for you all! Some of you probably thought I had forgotten about this fic but that is definitely not the case. This fic is important to me and I will complete it. More importantly though, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED/FAVOURITED/FOLLOWED! Especially those who love and want more Mamushi and Juuzou fics like me. Sorry for the delay but school's just been a pain in the ass but that is something we probably all know so I won't get into it. My god was this chapter killer to write and I'm not even happy with the final result. I just wanted to get something out there and move on to the other chapters. I have some stuff written out for the next few chapters or at least some ideas.

For those who are wanting like a schedule for when to expect chapters or are worried that I won't finish, I'M GOING TO PROMISE AT LEAST TWO MORE CHAPTERS OVER WINTER BREAK.

Okay that's it for now. Enjoy!

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iii.

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The first thing Mamushi becomes aware of is his arms wrapped tightly around her. One of his big hands pressing her head into the safe juncture between his neck, shoulder, and chest. The other wrapped securely around her waist, their legs a tangled mess.

The second thing she notices is the searing pain coming from her left hand that is desperately clutching the back of his shirt, holding him to her. His breath tickles her ear. It is then that she is finally aware of the various shouting voices, the acrid smell of smoke in the air that fills her lungs, and the sounds of a fire extinguisher.

They are lying a little bit aways from the commotion being made by their fellow students and cram teacher. Both of them on their sides, arms wrapped around each other tightly, hearts beating loudly. Then he is pulling away, disentangling, and getting up. Mamushi's arms feel like noodles after having held on so tightly. They're useless but she is able to prop herself up into a sitting position and admire her new wound. She hisses in pain.

His dark eyes are cold and narrowed as he looks down on her. "You are such an idiot." He's mad. Practically furious.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear that from you." Well so is she. He doesn't look back when he limps away but Mamushi doesn't really care.

The autumn sun is only just beginning to set yet it seems that the school festival is already in full swing. Mamushi wouldn't know for sure, however, because she isn't attending the festival herself. In fact, she's heading the opposite way entirely. The deeper into the school she goes, the less she can hear the excited voices and laughter of students. The less people she encounters who have stars in their eyes and an excited flush to their cheeks. Deeper into the school until the only noise is coming from her echoing footsteps. She turns into a hallway that is quickly darkening and stops in front of the designated door.

"Ah, come in Houjou-san."

Mamushi was instantly relieved to see that Toudou-sensei would be the one overseeing their punishment. After getting thoroughly scolded and threatened by the teacher who had been in charge of the practical exam, Mamushi didn't feel like she could stand any more of his glaring.

The classroom looked like a tornado of paint had gone through it. All the desks and chairs had been pushed against the walls and in the clearing that was made was a mess of paint stains. Nearby were mops and buckets ready to be put to use. But Mamushi didn't pay much attention to any of that, clearly understanding what their punishment was going to be, instead her breath was almost taken away by the view that the large classroom window provided.

Unconsciously, she moved away from the door and across the room to look out the window. From the classroom they were given a perfect view of the setting sun, which bathed the classroom in orange, and the festival happening beneath them. She was still gazing out the window when the quiet calm was disrupted by voices coming from the hallway. "It looks like Shima-san has come as well," Toudou-sensei said pleasantly from behind the desk. Mamushi tensed but did not turn around from the window. She began absent mindedly picking at the bandage around her injured hand.

"I can't believe you're missing the festival," one of his friends was saying. "We've been looking forward to this forever."

"Yeah. I know. But we have next year too, right?" Juuzou's easygoing voice could be clearly heard.

Mamushi peeked over her shoulder to see Juuzou and his regular monkey posse standing by the door. One girl stepped away from the others and Juuzou turned his attention to her. "I feel really bad about this Ayame-san. I'm sorry that this was so last minute. I'll make it up to you."

The girl blushed and quickly nodded. "It's no problem Shima-san. I'm just thankful that you agreed to go with me."

The friends began to depart but the girl shot a look over to where Mamushi stood before leaving. It wasn't so much a glare as it was one that was filled with conflict and concern. Juuzou, on the other hand, didn't even look her way.

"Well, now that you are both here, we can get started," Toudou-sensei said as he got up from the desk and clasped his hands together. "Houjou Mamushi and Shima Juuzou, do both of you know why you are here?"

They both nodded in confirmation. "Really? Well then Shima-san, please explain to me why you believe you deserve to be punished."

"Right. Uh, well both Mamushi and I ignored orders during the practical exam. We were instructed not to approach the demon unless we were in our selected teams of four. Both Mamushi and I broke away from our teams and approached the demon alone. The demon caught us off guard and attacked us with its flames. Though neither of us were severely injured, we could have been."

"Indeed. Due to your actions during the practical exam earlier today you are to both be punished. Apparently, your actions were so reckless and dangerous to yourselves and your fellow classmates that your sensei refused to postpone your punishment to a later date." With that Toudou-sensei shot them an apologetic smile. Neither Juuzou nor Mamushi gave a reaction.

"So your duties for tonight include cleaning up this mess made by the students in charge of posters for the festival. Apparently they got into a bit of mischief while they were at it. Afterwards you are to write a 700 word essay on the benefits of cooperation and why it is important to acknowledge your own strengths and weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. If there aren't any questions, you may begin."

Without a word, they both made their way to the waiting mops and buckets and silently got to work. The only sounds were the swishing of the mops, the ticking of the clock, and the occasional flip of paper as Toudou marked his students' work. Neither of them looked up from what they were doing.

It didn't take much time for them to shed their uniform blazers and roll up their sleeves, both wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. Without either of them noticing, the sun had set, changing the orange sky into a deep navy blue. The classroom light had been turned on but outside the dark was cut through by the lights and lanterns of the festival.

Mamushi and Juuzou were able to clear away the mess without having to even speak to each other. They were just finishing up putting the desks and chairs back in place when the lights of the classroom flickered off. This was the first time that they noticed how dark it had gotten.

"What's this? I guess they forgot about us," Toudou-sensei let out a nervous chuckle. "Err, I suppose I'll have to fix this so that we can continue." He got up from the desk and moved to the door before pausing. He hesitated and turned back. "It won't be a problem if I left you two alone right?" Again, there was no reaction. "Just to let you know that if there are any problems, I'll have to double your punishments according to my judgement." With an uncharacteristic edge to his smile, he left the room.

That left Mamushi and Juuzou awkwardly standing in the dark, the only light coming from the lanterns outside. Rather than stay like that, Mamushi moved towards the window again, staring at the lanterns in the sky. She heard rather than saw Juuzou sit down on one of the desks.

The silence seemed so loud at first but eventually Mamushi was able to tune it out as she gazed out the window. She thought it might even last for the entire time they were there and was completely fine with that. She should have known better.

"Sad about missing out on the festival? It's your own fault though," he threw out casually, though Mamushi could hear a certain amount of tension in his voice.

She didn't really want to start a conversation with him but couldn't contain the urge to correct him. Without turning to face him, she said, "I had no intention of going to that festival. But the view is quite nice."

"Hmmm. Maybe. But if you never go, you'll never know what it's really like."

She didn't bother granting that a response. Juuzou blew out a sigh. "So. Mamushi. Mind telling me what's been up with you lately?"

Mamushi bristled but didn't make a move to look at him. "Afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really?" The desk creaked from under him as he shifted his weight. "Well let me spell it out for you then. You've been acting like there's an even bigger stick up your ass than usual."

Mamushi snorted unattractively. "Real nice Juuzou. You never seem to talk like that in front of the others. What if your brothers heard you speak like that." It was enough, however, to get her to turn her back on the window and face him.

Juuzou shrugged while scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, nobody else seems to piss me off like you do Mamushi."

"It's a gift," was the dry reply.

There was a short silence that was much lighter than the ones previous but it ended when Juuzou looked up and stared straight into Mamushi's eyes. Any relaxed expression that had been on his face before, gone. "You know, we could have been really hurt out there." There was no accusation in his voice, it sounded like a simple observation, but Mamushi felt herself going on the defensive.

"Lucky for me you were there to save the day. My hero," her tone seemed light on the surface but there was a hidden toxicity to it that would make one mistake it for a snarl.

For a moment, Juuzou shot her a glare. But then he stood up and suddenly he was dangerous. Or at least that was what it felt like to Mamushi. The way he walked towards her, never taking his eyes off hers, all screamed danger. It made Mamushi try to subtly take a step back only to feel the coolness of the window glass go straight through her thin shirt as her back pressed against it.

"You're absolutely right Mamushi,"he said as he moved towards her. "You are incredibly lucky that I was there to save your ass." His voice was lower and had a rumbly quality that hadn't been there just a year –or was it two?- ago. Mamushi took this moment to mentally state that she did not appreciate its newfound qualities. At all.

As he entered her space and came into the light of the window, the moonlight reflected off his skin to make him look paler than usual. This contrasted with his ink black hair and dark dark eyes. At this proximity, he seemed to tower over Mamushi, another relatively recent, and totally unnecessary in her opinion, development. "I don't think it is an exaggeration to think of me as your hero. Because, considering what could have happened, I did essentially save your life." His gaze was unrelenting but even with his intimidating presence, Mamushi refused to look away. Just because he had changed in a few ways did not mean that he wasn't still the snivelling kid she used to best throughout their childhood on the inside.

"And it was you Mamushi who provided me the opportunity of doing so. It was all you. So how about you show some appreciation for your hero and direct your anger to someone who really deserves it." The icy look he was giving her now was also new, Juuzou wasn't normally the type to look like that, and it was almost enough to get her to look away. There was certainly a small flush creeping up at the back of her neck that seemed something like shame. But Mamushi did not feel it because of the way she was treating Juuzou. Of course not. That's not the sort of thing she felt ashamed about. Rather, it was because Juuzou was, for once, correct. It was shame from her own stupid actions that put her in this position.

She knew that what she did was stupid and Mamushi couldn't even come up with a proper excuse for why she did it. Something had just seized up inside of her. As if being the one to defeat this demon single-handedly and having the physical proof of her superiority as an exorcist would be enough to get her out of this funk she was in, to make her feel better. And she knew exactly why she had seemed, as Juuzou put it, as if there was "an even bigger stick up her ass" recently. But it was the most ridiculous thing and Mamushi refused it consider it a legitimate excuse for anything. Yet, it seemed like the only possible explanation for her behaviour, for her so-called funk.

Homesickness. At her age! Mamushi wasn't completely unreasonable. She understood that in her position of having to go to school in a city that seemed much farther from home than it really was, plus her already very strong bonds to her family and heritage it would be natural to feel a little out of place here at True Cross. But she was here to become an exorcist. For her family and for her temple. It was incredibly important to her to do well here and yet she had let visions of the temple and her sisters and home cooked meals distract her from studies. So much so that Juuzou had actually done better than her on the past two exams. And for Mamushi that was just not acceptable. And maybe that had created a sense of inferiority in Mamushi that pushed her into thinking that she had to prove herself. Especially with the only excuse being the hardly excusable feeling of 'homesickness'. But it was true. Mamushi missed home so much sometimes it made some days here almost not worth it.

However, she could not, would not, let Juuzou know. Not in this lifetime. Simply because she refused to let him have the power over her by knowing this. Mamushi did not like feeling weak but that was multiplied by 100 when it came to Juuzou. No way could he know that she was experiencing homesickness. Especially since Juuzou did not seem to have that problem.

Juuzou was popular wherever he went. That was just fact at this point. And it wasn't really a bother to Mamushi unless people came up to her just to talk about him which she just wouldn't do. But it made him adaptable in a way that she was not. It hadn't posed a problem until now though. Because Juuzou would never feel the same way as her.

Still stuck in a staredown with Juuzou, Mamushi inhaled deeply before continuing, "You're right." Juuzou's eyes widened in surprise. "I shouldn't be mad that you interfered when it was stupid of me to even do what I did and it was your interference that stopped me from getting hurt even worse. Okay? Happy now?"

Eyes still wide, Juuzou subconsciously backed a little out of Mamushi's space. "So, why did you?"

Mamushi made a face. She gave up a little of her pride to say that but she wasn't going to chuck it all away. "None of your business. But trust me, it wasn't worth it and I won't do anything like it again." Surely this unfortunate incident would be enough to put an end to any distractions caused by her longing for home.

Juuzou looked at her curiously but before he had a chance to say anything, a frazzled looking Toudou-sensei suddenly reappeared at the door and made both of them jump. Juuzou subtly moved even further away. Toudou-sensei let out a nervous chuckle. "I guess I've failed as a teacher once again. It seems I couldn't find anyone to help fix this problem for us. However, I suppose missing the festival was punishment enough, right? Besides you're both bright kids who'll learn from your mistakes, I'm sure of it."

"Yes sensei," they responded obediently.

"Good. Well then. I suppose you are dismissed for the night."

Mamushi and Juuzou grabbed their things and walked out into the completely darkened hallway. They quickly made their way through the school with the only sound being their ringing footsteps. They only stopped once they had stepped out into the cool fall air. Neither had wanted to admit to the other that being in the school at night freaked them out.

From the spot where they had exited the school they were given another view of the festival. Juuzou paused to stare at it, a wistful expression on his face. He even let out a sigh. Mamushi felt a pang…a pang of something. Something that seemed oddly similar to guilt. Like maybe she felt guilty that Juuzou had missed the festival because of her.

"If you hurry you could still make it you know," Mamushi threw over her shoulder as she began making her way to the dorms.

Juuzou easily caught up to her. "Yeah, I guess. But it wasn't exactly this festival I had wanted to go to. Remember the ones we used to have back home? We're missing it this year." Mamushi felt a different kind of pang go through her. "It's basically why I was so excited to go to this one. So that I wouldn't feel like I was missing out. But it was pointless. Home and here are way too different."

When Mamushi closed her eyes she could clearly remember the festival from last year back home. It wasn't as big as the one here but she could still taste the cotton candy on her lips, the rush of excitement from winning a game at a stall, and still remember the firework show that ended the night.

She opened her eyes and stared at Juuzou discreetly. She couldn't help but be a little surprised to hear Juuzou say that though. She had assumed that his apparent excitement for the festival was because of how elaborate the one at True Cross was. She had no idea that he had been missing home just like she had. Mamushi tried to stop herself but couldn't help it. "Do you miss home a lot Juuzou?" She tried to ask as casually as possible.

"Well, yeah, of course. All the time. It's home. Don't you miss it?" Juuzou turned to ask with a teasing glint in his eye but before Mamushi could respond he was already saying, "Actually, there is no way you can even say you don't. Not even you're that heartless." He chuckled.

Mamushi was mildly irritated by the insult but she was more distracted by the way an opportunity had presented itself. Not once had she admitted it out loud and here was her chance and maybe it was just what she needed. "Yes," she said, a little louder than the volume during their conversation had been previously. It startled Juuzou enough to look at her again. "I do miss home. A lot," she confessed to the one person she promised she wouldn't.

She could feel his eyes on her face as she looked ahead and she had to remind herself she had nothing to be embarrassed about (he had admitted it first) and keep any sign of a blush to a minimum. But then he grinned, and rather excitedly said, "You'll never guess what I miss most about home. It's not the festivals and it's not my friends. It's not even the temple or my family."

He paused for affect before saying something that Mamushi could never have predicted. "It's ice cream. But no. Not regular ice cream. It's the one that we use to buy at that convenience store near the ryokan. Do you remember?" There was an excited gleam in his eye.

Mamushi, however, had an incredulous look on her face. "Are you being serious? You can buy that shitty ice cream at any convenience store around the country. Hell, you could even get it at the convenience store on campus. What are you even talking about?"

"Oh no. This ice cream was special. It tasted different." Before Mamushi could counter that, he continued. "We used to buy it to eat while watching the fireworks. And remember when we got it for the first time after our first swimming lesson. It was a treat from my dad for successfully learning how to float on our backs. Or after we graduated elementary and middle school? Or when you dared me to eat it in less than ten seconds that one time in winter? There was even snow on the ground! Or how about the countless times we had to buy it for your sisters and Bon, Konekomaru, and Renzou? Or all those times after training? When we thought we wouldn't be able to move again. Do you remember?"

The poignant feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed Mamushi. She opened her mouth. Yes. All of it. But paused. And then, "No. I have no idea what you're talking about." Stupid, she internally scolded herself. She never made it easy.

But Juuzou did not look disappointed. He stopped walking and looked around as if to determine where they were before seeming to come to a decision. At the moment they had been cutting through a courtyard lit by dim streetlamps as a shortcut to the dorms. "Wait here," Juuzou emphasized, putting both hands up as if she was some kind of animal or child. "I'll be right back." Before Mamushi even had a chance to respond, he went off running in another direction.

"I'm not a dog!" Mamushi angrily called towards his retreating form but he didn't look back. She grumbled and made a fuss even though no one was there to see it but eventually took a seat on one of the benches.

It was another eight minutes before he came running back, out of breath and two ice creams in hand. Mamushi was unimpressed. "I told you you could buy that shitty ice cream on campus," was her response after seeing him. Apparently, there was nothing that could kill Juuzou's buzz at the moment because he did not rise to the bait and simply handed her one and took the seat next to her.

It was just their luck that it was at this point in time that a distant boom and whistle could be heard as the sky filled with fireworks. Blues, reds, pinks, greens, all danced brightly above them as they enjoyed their evening treat.

From the corner of her eye, Mamushi saw Juuzou adjust in his seat. Their arms rested against each other in his new position and after some deliberation, Mamushi decided it really wasn't worth moving her arm away for, so they sat like that together, both getting warmth from the contact. It reminded her of the fireworks from the festivals of her past. Eating ice cream bought by their parents from the convenience store nearby and having Juuzou annoyingly close against her as they watched the colours burst in the night sky.

Juuzou did not look away from the fireworks when he murmured, "You know, I said that you could only get our ice cream back home and that there was nothing like it, but I have to admit, this ice cream isn't so bad."

Mamushi hummed in agreement. "It's actually quite good," she said honestly. To Mamushi it tasted so familiar that it brought on a surge of old memories that she hadn't thought about since forever. What she didn't admit was that being here with Juuzou was the most at home she had felt since actually being home.

She argued with herself for a while before finally deciding to just do it. "Thanks Juuzou."

The arm against her moved as Juuzou shrugged in response. "It was no problem. I actually kind of did it for myself. Besides," at this he turned to give her a grin that others might have described as 'charming'. "I'm your hero aren't I?" The hero found himself getting smacked over the head.

After that night, Mamushi found herself surprisingly back to her old self. Or maybe not so surprisingly. Her energy and focus were back and she was able to apply herself rigorously to her studies once again. Without the distractions and without the need to prove herself on her own.

However, whenever a slump seemed to be around the corner neither of them said anything when the other happened to appear before them with an ice cream in hand just when they needed it. Nope, neither of them felt a need to mention this.

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A/N: Is it bad that I already have a sequel planned out for 7 times? Not like a sequel sequel but something similar from Juuzou's pov which would have much shorter and compact chapters because holy crap this is long. -.- it also wasn't very good. But don't give up on this yet. I promise the next chapters will be better and less all over the place.

Also I have this au fic in my head for Renzou and Izumo but maybe it's too soon to want to write fics about them? Izumo reminds me a lot of Mamushi though…