Ki Master

Chapter 22

Author Notes: We are back ladies and gents and it's time for a bit of change in perspective. Time to bring in some testosterone...rivalry and drama~ Or you know...high school boys. I do not own Blue Exorcist.

3rd P.O.V

Anger seemed to be Ryuji Sugoro's default expression. "I don't like him." At least whenever Rin Okumura came up in conversations. "Oh come on Bon, you're being judgmental again. He's not a bad guy. Actually he's pretty cool when you talk to him." Like hell he was going to do that.

"Spare me. I don't know why he's here, but he shouldn't be." As someone on scholarship, the dual haired teen took his studies seriously, desperately so if he wanted to not worry about paying for his schooling. He was so dedicated to learning that his friends had to literally drag him out his dorm just so he can relax.

He was already months ahead in several of his subjects. "Why are you so harsh on the guy? He hasn't done anything to you." Oh yes he has. His very existence was irritating. "It's a wonder he's here with how little he knows. The moron is braindead with how crappy his grades are."

His friend Konekomaru gave a small frown. "We don't know his story Ryuji, we shouldn't judge him on his test grades." Immediately his face scrunched up. "He doesn't even try! In any other class but Fujimotos and Xias he sleeps or doesn't pay attention." It frustrated him to no end.

They were on the complete opposite sections of the spectrum. Rin was an idiotic, lazy slacker, and his test scores were proof of that. The only ones he seemed to be doing decent was-again the two he actually pays attention to.

Although the Paladin was a strict teacher and had no problem tossing chalk or whatever he had on hand to make sure that attention stayed. Though he couldn't understand why or how he paid attention to the mysterious Ming Xia.

Out of all the classes for exorcists, hers was the most bizarre. There were no textbooks to study from, she didn't assign essays-hell she never gave out homework. And when they weren't in that crappy shed, listening to her go on and on about the theories her dead husband apparently made, they were just meditating outside.

The class seemed like a waste of time. There was nothing to learn in his eyes despite what she said on their first day of class. But his work ethic and perfectionist tendencies were what kept him going every time lessons start.

And every single time Rin was there ahead of time, always there ready to get started. "Out of curiosity-did either of you guys see the bruises on him?" The question caught both Konekomaru and Suguro off guard, they look towards their friends' way.

"What bruises?" Together the three eye the boy in question, Rin was already asleep with his head cushioned on his arms. Completely unaware of the gossip about him. Shima's mouth twitches for a moment with narrowed eyes.

A somewhat serious expression that looked wrong on the pink haired teen. "I wasn't sure if I was just seeing things, but sometimes during gym or even after Ms. Xia's lessons when he stretched his shirt would ride up. Revealing dark blue and black bruises." It was certainly a shock to hear.

And out of Shima no less, but immediately Suguro waved it off. Not wanting to find any excuse to pity the moron. "He probably got it from tripping over his two left feet or by picking a fight with some classmates. Lord knows i'd like to give him a piece of my mind."

In general the scholarship student was massively disappointed with the cram school. Nearly all the rooms were full of cracks in the walls or were just a cluttered mess. The teachers were decent, but none of the lessons weren't anything to write home about.

Not that he'd even write home-but they were so generic that he would be better off just learning from a book in the library. And though he griped the most about Rin-none of his other classmates really looked promising.

The exception being that Yukio boy who seemed nice on top of being smart. Though with rumors of him being the Paladin's son it was no surprise. "R-Rin! It's time to get up!" How he got along with the idiot along with that shy new student Shieme Suguro would never know.

"Come on we gotta get our stuff for the sleepover at the abandon dorms~ Should be fun!" With a roll of his eyes, the Aria in training stood up. "More like a pain in the ass." He was starting to regret coming here more the longer he stays. At the rate he's going-he's never going to be able to defeat Satan...

XxXxXxXxxXxXxXXXxXxXxxXXxXxX

"The hell are you doing?" There was no denying that Suguro looked absolutely baffled with what he was seeing. "Um...cooking? What else man." Of all the people he had expected to be here early, he most certainly didn't expect Rin-fucking Okumura.

Yet sure enough here he was, in the kitchen cooking like he owns the place. "Wha-how'd you get here so fast?" It didn't even take Suguro ten minutes to pack his belongings for the little after school get together. Hell he even ditched his friends just so he could scope the place out.

So his pride was taking a bit of a sting, seeing the laziest slacker in his class beat him to the punch. "I packed the night before...duh. You know it may come as a shock to you but I'm not as stupid as you make me out to be." Blue eyes didn't even bother looking in his direction as he takes a taste test of the meal he was preparing.

It reigniting the deep anger burning within the taller teen. "Well if you're so smart why the hell are you even in this school? Least you could do is pretend to care or pay attention." In all points-Suguro was a perfectionist.

Everything had to be in order, to the point where it downright irritated him if even something was slightly off. Borderline control freak. "I don't think i'm gonna bother explaining why i'm here to a guy that has too much of a stick up his ass. Not like you even care."

Anything else was unacceptable. He was dedicated to accomplishing his goals, and doing it properly. "What was that!?" Which is why the desire to punch his classmate in the face grew the more he saw him. Even now he took harsh stomps towards the raven haired boy.

His deep eyes looked on coolly, unconcerned even as Suguro grew closer with his arm raised. Only to freeze in place as someone cleared their throat. "I sincerely hope I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing..." Of course Ming Xia was there just in time to catch the conversation.

And just how close a scuffle that Suguro was ready to start. "Get your ass away from him and find a room to settle in Suguro. I don't care whatever it is going on with you two-but there'll be no fighting capice?" Gritting his teeth, the scholarship student nodded his head.

Leaving in frustration and shame. Ming Xia waited a few moments, using her strong sense of hearing to listen to his footsteps growing fainter and fainter before turning to her son. "You just can't seem to stay out of trouble can you Rin?"

The boy in question snorts as he returns to his dish, doing quite a good job in hiding his temper. Seemed like Yukio was rubbing off him quite well. "Don't pretend like you weren't listening in on it ma. You know he started it." She could only sigh as she approached, giving her son a slight kiss on the cheek.

"Try to make nice alright? Last thing I need is for our temporary home to be reduced to more rubble." All he could do was grunt, acknowledging her request. He knew he had to play nice. Didn't mean he had to like it. It's been a few months now, and it felt no different than his middle school days.

Stupid teachers, asshole kids, and stuff he didn't even need to learn about. Only difference is he actually had friends. If he can count his brother and his brother's obvious-it's so sad-crush as friends. In the end-Rin wasn't happy dealing with this...especially since it was what the clown wanted.

He cursed Mephesto each and every day when he wakes up for classes. "He starts insulting you-all bets are off. Bad enough the place is going to be packed with everyone complaining left and right about the place." This broken down building was nothing compared to their old house in the forest.

But home is what you had and made. As temporary as the abandoned dorms was, Rin found small things to get attached to, like the bookshelves filled to the brim with his mother's old recipes and journals inherited from her grandmother. Or the incense with sweet, refreshing herbs that would linger through the night.

Again they were small, nothing too special, but it made it just a bit more tolerable to endure. "How about we do a training session after dinner? No doubt the priest will be here by then to play babysitter. We can see how far you can manipulate your aura again-see if you can shape it at will?"

She always knew what to do to perk up her little demon spawn, she could see him grin at the prospect. "You mean it?" For weeks now-as soon as he saw her craft the ki-sword for him he's been wanting to see if he could actually manipulate his own aura.

He could already feel and to an extent(if he really focused) see it. But it was going to be a completely different experience extracting it as an outside force. "Let's not go too crazy now. Especially since you're going to be doing classes first thing in the morning-but yes." He pumped his fist into the air, absolutely excited.

"Awesome! Thanks M-Miss. Ming!" He caught himself just in time as other students entered the room. Glancing all around before stumbling onto Rin rechecking his pot. "Whoa that smells so good! Didn't know we had a chef in class." Ming Xia couldn't help smiling as her child blushed.

The other students couldn't see with his back facing them, but at the angle she was positioned, she got a nice look into cherry cheeks. "Alright children-while Rin here is making the finishing touches on dinner, let's see if we can find some room for you guys to settle for the night."

She was about to step forward, ready to herd the children like lambs before she paused. "Rin...make sure you take your 'medicine' alright?" She didn't like the fact that she put the attention back on him, but this wasn't something either of them could forget.

"Y-yeah. Don't worry i'll go grab it as soon as I set up plates." And it seemed like it was a good call to remind him as he shot her a grateful look. The two of them had been so used to being on their own for so long or surrounded by people that were well aware of what they were to not worry about their...heritage.

Usually the two of them would only need to hold up their glamour during the day, and release it when they came home. But with the fact that the entire exorcist class was going to be bunking with them for about a week...it was unfortunately back to the damned potions that sealed their demonic powers.

Something neither of them were looking forward to. At least the potion didn't affect their use of Ki. That would've soured Rin's mood right then and there. "Medicine?" And now Ming Xia had to try and distract them again.

"Nothing any of you need to worry about. Come-there's much to do!" With a warning look, the Ki Manipulation teacher marches forward, successfully getting the rest of the students save for Yukio out of the room.

The taller brother unable to stop himself from growing concerned. "Is everything ok? This is the first i've heard of you taking medication." With sagging shoulders Rin stops stirring the chow mein. Reaching his hands up he grabs the many bowls off the cabinet.

Setting them off to the side before answering. Making sure to keep an ear out for anyone walking around. "Its...not medicine per say. It's like a drinkable glamour to seal my powers. Back where we lived I used to take it along with casting an illusion spell over me so I looked more human."

He wouldn't say he looked ugly with his demonic image, but he could certainly scare someone with the fangs, pointy ears and fricking bushy tail. "Is that why no one bothered you and your mom back then?" Yukio always wondered how they had managed to hide right underneath his and Shiro's noses.

There were two powerful demons living there for almost two decades and they were none the wiser. None of them probably would've never known if the Tengu demon didn't attack Ming Xia that fated night.

"Well yeah. Remember mom was weak due to her nearly starving herself. So her demonic energy was low-typical to that of an average wicked human. But she always made sure I had enough potions on me."

Even in her weakened state she always made sure to brew the concoction as much as she could. It was actually how she managed to help Rin with harnessing his powers when he got too overwhelmed with training or randomly acted up.

It didn't take him long to start memorizing the process and make it himself as he got older. It was no different than taking some gross supplement-especially when he went out into town. But he had to confess that as much as he knew he needed it...he didn't miss the taste.

"I never knew. But that makes sense now that I think about it. Need any help?" Already he was moving, taking the already filled bowls to put on the table, not missing the wry smile form on his lips.

His answer almost immediate. "You really wanna help then figure out how the hell to make ma's potions taste better. Been trying for years with no luck. I don't know how her or her grandma survived drinking that nasty shit." At that his twin laughed, honestly surprised with the request.

He wasn't sure what he could do since he wasn't a cook or anything that knew flavors. "Sure but only if you start teaching me the ancient Chinese I see in Ming Xia's books. Been wanting to figure out how to read it for ages now." But he would try, if anything than to make it easier on his sibling. "Deal."

to be continued.

Author Notes: So yeah...time for some more torture! Medicine time Rin and Ming-open wide lol. The plot thickens with our demon family staying on their toes now more than ever. But that is it everyone! For now at least.

As per usual my good friends thank you all so much for reading. If you like how the series is going so far please feel free to fav/follow/review as it would mean the absolute world to me and i'll see all of you next time! Tchao for now~