A.N/: Hey! Here is the third chapter, there's some action in that one (because it's always better with a bit monster slaying stuff ;-)) but no worries, the romance is still there!

I want to thank everyone who reads/favorited/follows/reviewed this story again, and especially ComelyEpicure who wrote that awesome review. I was so happy, you can't imagine!^^

Anyway, on with the story! And as always, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

About an hour later the whole exorcism class was walking in the forest south of the Academy in the beating sun of the afternoon much to their dismay. Rin's enthusiasm was long gone. Yukio had explained earlier in class that they would be taking care of some leapers that seemed to get too numerous in the woods. They were now headed towards the pond were most of these demons were located.

"Why do we have to take care of these stupid frogs? Isn't there anything cooler to beat up?" Rin grumbled monotonously.

"It's your problem if you think 2 feet tall demon possessed frogs are uncool." Yukio replied as professional as ever.

"We always get the most boring missions…" Rin sighed, flicking his tail back and forth lazily.

Yukio didn't pay attention to his comment as he announced "We're there."

The teens regrouped around Yukio to have a better look at the situation. In front of them was a large pond of dirty, miry water where no more than two leapers lied lazily, probably napping.

"Professor, there are only two leapers here…" Konekomaru timidly raised his hand.

"It's because the others are in there." Yukio pointed to a cave in the distance. It was too dark in the shade of the large trees surrounding it to see anything past its entrance.

"How many are there?" Izumo raised her hand as well.

"About twenty."

"That many!" Renzo whisper-shouted.

"Now things get interesting…" Rin smirked gripping his Kurikara sheathed on his back.

"I'll let you proceed and won't intervene unless you are in danger. Let's get started!" Yukio signaled the start of the mission and then walked to lean against a nearby tree to observe his students.

"Let's do this!" Rin exclaimed excited again.

"We should prepare a plan first." Ryuji gripped his rival's shoulder as he was about to draw out his sword. "We wouldn't want you to burn the forest down along with us and the leapers."

"I can control my flames now!" Rin retorted.

"Ryuji's right, we can't head into a cave full of demons unprepared." Konekomaru interrupted.

"So what do you wanna do? Have a sutra up your sleeve or somethin'?"Rin inquired crossing his arms.

"We should take care of these two first," He pointed to the leapers napping in the pound. "Then we'll think of something for the others inside the cave."

"But Koneko!" Renzo cut in shakily, his face already paling at the thought. "We can't go in the pond! What if there are some…Bugs in the water?" He said it as if even saying the word scared the heck out of him.

"There's already a fly on your shoulder idiot." Izumo smirked meanly.

"WHAT! WHERE IS IT!?" The pink haired boy freaked out and took out his anti-insect spray. Izumo started laughing quietly.

"There is some truth in what Renzo said, we can't go into the water it would be too dangerous." Konekomaru thought aloud, stroking an imaginary beard. "We have to lure them to us so we can take them down on firm ground."

"I think I may have something for that." Shiemi suddenly jumped up. "There is that plant that frogs love, we could attract them with it."

"That could work but who would carry them close enough to the leapers?" Koneko asked.

"Uke! Mike!" Izumo summoned her twin white demon foxes and they appeared with a swish of wind. "They'll carry the plants." She told her comrades placidly.

"What? You want to use us as a vulgar BAIT woman!?" One of the foxes complained.

"How dare…" The other started.

"Shut up!"Izumo shouted and the hairs on two demon's skin shot up in surprise and fear. They didn't complain anymore after that.

"Good. Renzo, Bon," Konekomaru turned to Ryuji on his right. "You know the fatal verse for leapers?"

"Sure, let's do this." The tall teen nodded.

"And what do I do in all that!?" Rin interrupted offended that he was left out.

"You'll be there for back up, if anything goes wrong you slay the leapers yourself." Konekomaru explained as he got in line beside Ryuji and Renzo to psalmody their sutra.

"Right. That I can do!" Rin winked enthusiastic once again. It's true his demon powers and especially his satanic blue flames gave him a strong advantage against any kind of enemy. Since he easily overpowered his fellow classmates he often had to stay on the sidelines and be there for back up just in case. It kind of annoyed him to never get to fight but he knew leapers weren't up to his league.

Shiemi summoned her little greenman and asked for the correct plant. She then gave it to Izumo so that her foxes would carry it to the leapers and back to the shore. Everything was going according to plan as the giant demon frogs leaped out of the water and with a great jump, landed on the ground in front of the three Arias psalmodying their sutra.

"…The everlasting Bouddha pities you!" The three finished in perfect synchronization and the two leapers fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Woohoo! We did it guys!" Renzo cheered.

"I almost broke a sweat." Joked Rin behind them.

They all laughed at that, only Shiemi who stared in the distance stood still.

"Err guys…We have a problem!" She shouted to get their attention.

"What…Wow!" Rin exclaimed.

Numerous leapers appeared at the entrance of the cave. They noticed the young Exwires as soon as they got out of the shadow and started leaping their way.

"I'll handle it!"Rin unsheathed Kurikara and blue demonic flames appeared all over his body. The tip of his tail took fire while his already pointy ears as well as his fangs grew longer. His eyes shone an eerie blue and his irises got bloody red.

He jumped up into the air and dived back down at one of the numerous demons. He crashed his sword into the giant frog's body and it soon took fire. The closest leapers as well as the one Rin had attacked were consumed in a wave of blue flames. The half demon jumped off the burnt leaper's back and dodged another's attack before slashing it in its open mouth. He was glad the blade was engulfed in blue flames otherwise he would have had to wash the leaper's saliva away…

"…Yura Yura To Furue! Momochi Yorozu! Surrender your soul to oblivion!"

Izumo's twin foxes suddenly appeared behind Rin and encircled a leaper that was about to attack him in a wave of white smoke. It gave Rin enough time to turn and burn the demon to death.

"Thanks!" He flashed her a grin. She simply lifted her chin proudly in response before reciting other formulas.

Two other leapers later Rin saw that Renzo, Ryuji and Konekomaru were still reciting sutras with Shiemi protecting them with a shield of tangled wood and leaves. He smirked seeing he wasn't needed there and continued battling the overflowing mass of demons.

He dodged one leaper that was about to bite him and counterattacked the unbalanced monster but couldn't evade the next blow coming from his left and was sent flying into the air several meters away. Another leaper was about to jump and squash him under his weight but Rin managed to roll on the side just in time and used his position to cut the demon's exposed abdomen in a backhand blow.

He got up to his feet in a swift movement and just had time to notice a rather large leaper charging at him. He quickly jumped and landed onto its back. It took him a few seconds to find his balance again as he gripped tightly onto the giant frog's squishy neck like in a rodeo. The beast tried to get him of its back but Rin held on and they ran and jumped through the mass of feral leapers and even managed to take some of them down from his spot on his new trusted steed. At some point he held his sword above his head and quickly brought it down to the leaper's spine before somersaulting off it and landing gracefully on the ground.

"See rooster, told ya I was more agile than you!" Rin boasted proudly even though Ryuji probably didn't pay any attention to his comment since he was still in full concentration reciting his sutra.

There weren't any more leapers around Rin so he turned to see how the three Arias and Shiemi were doing and was shocked to see they were surrounded with the other half of the leapers he and Izumo hadn't manage to take down…Yet.

Rin lunged at full speed in their direction as Izumo directed her attention to them too and sent her inari foxes to fight. With a monumental battle cry, Rin sliced one leaper's back so that its whole body burst into flames. Only that leaper had been way to close to Shiemi's wooden barrier and her shield took fire. Rin cursed under his breath as the others' eyes widened in mortification. He concentrated hard. His flames started shining more brightly, a circle of blue flames surrounded his comrades to protect them from the leapers' attacks. He grinned proudly at his work and turned to the many leapers he still had to take care of.

He saw one getting much too close to Izumo and quickly jumped into the air to take it down. The pigtail girl seemed surprised but didn't flinch. He then went back to the others and killed another two before he heard someone screaming. A leaper had bounced inside the circle of flames and was now advancing threateningly towards the other Exwires. Renzo freaked out and stopped reciting the sutra with Koneko and Ryuji to try to fight the demon off instead with his bonze stick. The leaper didn't seem interested in the stick and focused its attention on Shiemi. She didn't have time to ask her summon for any means of protection before the leaper dived her way.

Rin ran at an unnatural speed through his wall of flames and interposed himself between the leaper and Shiemi. He managed to counter its attack with a slice of Kurikara and the leaper fell a few feet away. Rin just had to jump and give it the finishing blow.

Just as he did so the two remaining Arias finished their sutra and all the leapers around them fell to the ground, dead. The Exwires all sighed in relief.

"Dammit Shima! What were you thinking!?"Ryuji roared, tiny sweat drops dripping from his forehead.

"I couldn't let it jump at us!" The pink haired boy defended himself.

"Calm down Bon…" Konekomaru tried to ease tension between his friends.

Rin smiled at his mates as they argued and looked over at Izumo who was dusting herself off. 'They're all ok. That was harder than I thought…' He was glad he was able to control his flames properly now. It helped them a lot during missions and they trusted him. He couldn't be happier about that.

A tug on his sleeve brought him out of his thoughts and he turned to face Shiemi. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it was a piece of cake!" He bragged. He took a minute to inspect her for any trace of injury but besides a little dirt on her uniform she was unscathed.

"Thanks for earlier." She smiled sweetly up at him and he felt his cheeks go red.

"It was nothing really…" He scratched the back of his head bashfully.

"You're sure you're okay though? You took a rough blow earlier…" She said touching his shoulder.

Rin jumped just like earlier in the hallway when she touched his tail. Back then he blamed it on his oversensitive demon tail but if the slightest touch from her made him jump like that…

"Rin…?"

He focused his eyes back to hers and that was his final mistake. For a minute they were all alone. Shiemi stared deeply into his eyes, as if reading his soul and the worst was that…He let her do it… She gripped on his shoulder a bit tighter but he didn't notice nor mind as he was subconsciously inching slowly closer to her. She was frozen but didn't seem scared, he too could see it in her eyes. She let her hand linger on his shoulder for one more second before it fell to her side. Rin blinked in surprise as she broke contact but didn't have time to do anything about it as…

"Off you go!"

Rin felt something –or rather someone- push him strongly on his side. He lost his balance and the next thing he knew, he was soaking wet and half covered in mud.

"WHAT THE HELL! RENZO!" The raven-haired teen shouted as he struggled to get up with all the dirt around him.

Everyone besides Shiemi and Rin was laughing, even Yukio who had joined them after the last of the leapers had been exterminated. Rin finally managed to get out of the pond and tried brushing some mud off with his hands, it was far from successful.

"Why the hell did you do that!?" Rin glared dangerously at Renzo but he didn't flinch.

"That was for staring too long at my adorable girlfriend."

The others were still laughing but to Rin it felt like time just stopped. He thought he had misunderstood or something but sure enough the arm Renzo draped around the blushing Shiemi's waist indicated he had heard it right.

"I…I'm sorry I didn't tell you Rin, I wanted to but my shyness got in the way…" Shiemi apologized, fidgeting and blushing slightly.

Rin was thunderstruck. The others stopped laughing and looked over at the couple casually. 'They knew? Since when are they…?'

"You okay man?" Renzo asked.

Rin stared back at him and Shiemi with wide eyes but quickly recovered and put on his mask. "Yeah, congrats."

His tone sounded off to Shiemi, she knew him well enough. But before she could say a word Rin stormed past them and to his brother.

"So, we're going back?"

"The mission is complete so yes, we're headed back to the academy."

"Let's go." Rin walked into the woods through the path they had taken earlier.

The others stared after him in silence but soon followed. After a while Renzo broke the silence as he whispered:

"What's got into him?"

"You're sure it was the right moment to tell him?" Ryuji sighed.

"Is it really that much of a shock!?" Renzo exclaimed way too loud. Ryuji had to nudge him in the ribs to which the pink haired boy let out a small yelp. Thankfully, Rin either hadn't heard or didn't care as he was still walking ahead of them with Yukio close behind.

"I don't understand…" Shiemi whispered beside Renzo as she gave his hand a small squeeze. "…Is he mad?"

Izumo sighed from behind them and the others turned to her in surprise. "What? Isn't it obvious?" The others remained silent so she sighed again. "You guys are idiots." And with that she jogged to catch up with the Okumura brothers and followed them in queue, leaving the others behind.

A.N/:Thanks for reading this chapter!As usual, reviews are appreciated and welcome (even if you didn't like it).

Next chapter will include Kuro so pet pals, stay tuned!