A.N/:Hey! Sorry for the wait!^^"

Now things are going to get interesting (hopefully), so go ahead and read, it's right below!

Chapter 7

A week. It had been a week since Renzo and Shiemi started dating. To Rin it felt like several centuries… A week of seeing them flirt, hold hands, hug and kiss (never on the lips, thank god) had been enough to almost make him explode. He had already imagined the worst scenarios. His favorite –and most hated- was by far the one where Shiemi ended up marrying Shima and he had to see it all, as her best friend. Then the Vatican would have him killed because of whatever crap he would have done at the wedding… Thinking back to it, it would be far worse if he had to stand his whole demon life without Shiemi…

This state of frustration couldn't be called jealousy anymore, it was much worse. Rin was tired of keeping that façade in front of her all the time. He was sore, drained and half depressed. He had discovered he had had a crush on Shiemi for some time and fallen even deeper in love with her, had built his hopes too high and fallen painfully numerous times, had treasured all her smiles more than he ever did before… And all that had happened only in the span of a week.

'Dang, I am so lovesick…' He grumbled tiredly at the thought, ruffling his hair and sitting down at his desk in the exorcism classroom.

For once, he was the first there. He surprised himself sometimes… But being alone in the classroom also meant being assaulted by his thoughts of Shiemi. He groaned in annoyance again and just then the door opened to reveal the Kyoto gang and Shiemi –holding Shima's hand- as well as Izumo, walking a few paces away from the others.

"Mornin' man!" Shima greeted cheerfully.

"Hello Rin." Shiemi saluted. The other two just waved.

Rin didn't react so they thought he hadn't heard them. In fact, he was still deep in thoughts. Shiemi hadn't spent much time with him these days and he missed her presence badly even though he had a hard time admitting it. 'She probably prefers spending time with her dear boyfriend' he gritted his teeth as the thought crossed his mind. He barely talked to Shima anymore. Not because he hated him, not exactly, but because every time he saw him he couldn't help imagining Shiemi smiling lovingly in his arms, happy…He couldn't stand it.

"Rin, can I have a word with you please?"

The half demon lifted his head up to meet Shiemi's gaze. It was obvious judging by the fists she clenched on the fabric of her uniform skirt, the slight blush on her cheeks and the look on her face that she was nervous. He couldn't help but wonder why as he nodded casually.

"Go ahead."

"I…I mean privately." She stuttered as the others looked suspiciously their way.

Rin got up without a word and followed her outside the classroom. The other Exwires stared after them but remained silent for a while as the large wooden door closed behind Rin.

"Tch…" Izumo sighed, propping her chin on her hand.

"What's wrong Izumo-chan?" Renzo asked, curious.

"This situation is so ridiculous." She stared at the wall next to her as not to meet the idiot's gaze.

"What do you mean…?"

"You know perfectly well what she means." Ryuji spat in a harsh and low voice. Since Renzo was staring confusedly between his childhood friend and Izumo, Konekomaru decided to enlighten him.

"You know Rin likes Shiemi as well as we do, so why did you ask her out last week?"

"Really? He likes her? I hadn't noticed…" He said rubbing his chin though his tone wasn't all that serious.

"You're blind or something!? He's head over heels in love with her!" Ryuji interrupted, slamming his hand on his desk and standing up.

Renzo sighed deeply. "Ok, ok…I know he likes her but I kinda like Shiemi too and…" He lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned down to his two childhood friends. "…I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone by dating a cute girl and making Izumo jealous…"

"WHAT!?" Ryuji shouted completely scandalized.

He got his voice back to a normal level. "I know it's against the 'bro rules' to steal a friend's girl but I was running out of solutions to get little miss over there AND Shiemi's particularly cute." He defended himself, emphasizing the part about Shiemi.

"Excuse me!?" Izumo yelled from across the room, her temper already rising.

"But Rin's been acting weird these days and I think it has a lot to do with you hooking up with Shiemi…" Konekomaru argued.

Everyone became silent when people screaming could be heard from outside. Ryuji, Konekomaru and Izumo exchanged puzzled looks.

"Seems the little talk didn't go as planned." Renzo muttered, staring at the door like all the others.

"They're arguing?" Konekomaru was shocked. He had never heard Shiemi yell at someone before.

They couldn't make out the words but it seemed like they were having a serious row. No one said a word in the classroom as silence engulfed them again. But this time, they didn't hear any screams. About a minute later, entered the room with a red eyed Shiemi.

"Babe, what happened!?" Shima went to take Shiemi in his arms but she pushed him away weakly. She sat next to him nonetheless but kept sniffling and didn't say a word.

"Well…Let's begin today's lesson." said discretely as always.

Ryuji grumbled something under his breath. Konekomaru looked over at his friend inquisitively. The tall teen sighed.

"I'll be the first to tell you not to mind other people's business but this is really getting annoying."

Rin closed the door after him and turned to Shiemi who was leaning against the wall.

"What did you wanna talk about?" He inquired casually, trying to rid himself of his earlier thoughts.

"I…"

She was embarrassed, he could tell. But he honestly found nothing to do to make her feel better so he just leant on the wall beside her. He thought he saw her jump slightly even though he had been careful to leave a fair distance between the two of them. He kept his eyes on the paved floor, feeling too awkward to do anything. Soon his thoughts assaulted him again. 'What is she thinking about? Did she break up with Shima? No, she was holding his hand when she came in class…Then why is she so embarrassed? Crap, this must be bad news. Brace yourself Rin…'

"Rin, I'm sorry I didn't spend much time with you these days…" She started shyly, still not looking at him.

He turned to look at her face, she wasn't completely red like he had expected but instead had a rosy blush on her cheeks. Though what was most noticeable was that she looked sad somehow …

"Shiemi, you okay?" He asked without thinking, sounding worried.

She turned to him for a brief second then averted her gaze again when she saw the honest look in his beautiful cobalt eyes. She nodded quickly.

"Yeah, but I'm sorry…"

Rin couldn't possibly start about how he had missed her presence by his side so he decided to reassure her instead. "It's okay, I'm not mad…" He even managed to add a small smirk.

She gave him a sad smile 'He won't like it…' she thought. "I'm sorry I can't hang out with you more often."

"I said it's okay, you…"

"You don't understand, I mean I won't be spending more time with you!" She blurted out, shutting her eyes tightly.

She remembered Renzo's words yesterday. 'Why do you stay with Rin so much? I'm your boyfriend you know, you should start hanging out with me more or I'll start thinking you're cheating on me!' He had said that in a joking tone but she had taken it really seriously. She was sure he was reproaching her with not behaving well as his girlfriend and wanted to make things right. She didn't know anything about relationships but was determined to be a good girlfriend and for that, she needed to make sacrifices and see Rin a bit less even though he was such a precious friend to her. She hoped he would understand.

Rin's eyes widened. 'She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore?' His heart started to ache more and more until it felt like it bled. No more Shiemi, no more laughter, no more fun times, no more smiles…

"What…?" He let out in a small voice.

"I'm sorry but Renzo…" She cut in not hearing him.

He didn't hear whatever she said after that as he drowned in thoughts again. 'Renzo what? Of course he's much better than me: he's handsome, funny, gallant…What else could you ask for? You love him.' He lowered his head and his eyes darkened. He got off the wall and clenched his fists to try and calm himself but even if he clenched them until his hands bled it wouldn't be enough to ease the pain.

"Rin?"

He kept thinking about all the things Shima had that he didn't. About all the times he saw them laughing and smiling at each other. He clenched his teeth. 'What could a demon like me possibly offer?'

"Rin are you okay…?"

It hurt. It hurt so bad he wanted to scream. Only a week and he already felt so much pain… He had had enough 'She wants to let me go? Fine whatever, I'll be better off without her…' That was what he wanted to think but he knew he wasn't being honest with himself. He wanted her by his side. He couldn't stand it if she left him, he never would. What he really wanted deep inside his heart was to have her for himself. No Renzo, no one else, just him. He knew it was a selfish thought but that was what he truly wished. And he could never have it… 'I'm Satan's son, she'll never love me.'

"Rin…" Shiemi was confused by his silence. She tried to touch his arm but he briskly jerked it away. "Rin I'm sorry, it's just…"

"SHUT UP!"

His outburst made her silent. He still wouldn't look at her but she could see his wild eyes behind his messy raven bangs.

"You don't need me anymore, right? What are you still doing here then?" He spat callously.

"No, Rin you don't get it! I…"

"You what!? You found better so now you let me go? Go ahead! I don't care!"

She knew he didn't mean that but couldn't help but be shaken by his harsh tone.

"Just let me explain you idiot!" She yelled back.

"I don't care about your explanation! I don't care about you anymore!" He immediately regretted these words when he saw the broken look on her face. It was all a lie, he couldn't help caring about her but he was far too frustrated to stop himself. "I've had enough Shiemi! I can't take it anymore!" He roared.

"Listen to me! I…" She extended her hand to touch his shoulder so he would turn to face her but it was the last straw for him.

Before she knew it, she was pinned against the wall and speechless. The last thing he had said was true contrary to the rest. He really couldn't take it anymore. She was right there, as beautiful as always and he couldn't have her just because he was her best friend. After all he had said he doubted she would consider him like that anymore. He didn't have anything to lose.

She looked up at him with her gorgeous emerald eyes wide open in shock. He held her wrists above her head with his strong hands. Her skin was as soft as he had imagined. Shiemi was utterly confused by his actions but couldn't do anything since he cornered her completely. She searched his gaze behind his dark bangs and was stunned to see all the anger from earlier gone. He looked sad, lost, and almost desperate to find something by looking back intensely into her eyes.

She felt her heart beat wildly into her chest. She had never felt like that in her whole life, even with Renzo. But she couldn't place the name of this feeling, she was way too confused. Rin's heart went crazy as well. His brain didn't respond as he slowly leaned down closer to Shiemi's face.

'What is he doing? Is he…?' She started panicking and blushing more than ever. 'He's going to kiss me!? I've never kissed anyone! What am I going to do?"She shut her watery eyes tightly and felt a small tear roll down her right cheek.

Rin was so close now that he felt her soft breath on his skin. Mere inches separated their lips, mere inches between him and the one person he really desired… He wanted to do this so bad. 'She's gonna leave me anyway…' He thought even though his mind was a bit foggy. 'Just do it. Do it!'

He couldn't. Not when he saw the crystal tears falling from her tightly closed eyes.

He took a deep breath- she smelled of flowers, naturally- before leaning away from her. She slowly opened her eyes and just had time to see him reaching out his hand to wipe away one of her tears with his thumb before he walked away from her, the opposite way of the classroom.

"Rin…" She murmured his name then called louder. "Rin!"

He didn't turn around, if he did he would never be able to face her again. Not that she would want to. She'd never let him close to her after what he had done. He turned around the corner and exited the exorcism school as appeared in the corridor.

A.N/: I know, I know...I make Rin suffer quite a lot but there would be no story if everything was just rainbows and ponies!

Oh, and that chapter clarifies stuff for the Shiemi/Shima/Izumo thing.

As always, thanks to every single one of you who reviewed/favorited/follows/reads this! I couldn't be any happier!^^

~If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know in a tiny little review. It's nothing but it makes me so happy~