A.N/: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had a lot of tests these days and couldn't post anything!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who isn't going to bite my head off for that (and the others too, just don't hurt me too bad please... 'kay?^^") and who reads/follows/reviewed/favorited this story! Even though there's not much action in this chapter, I hope you'll still like it.

Izumo is back in the spotlight! You have been warned...

Chapter 10

The last days had been the most tiring in all of Shiemi's life. She had been trying to get a hold of Rin for almost a week now but he seemed to avoid her like plague.

On Monday (the day she had realized she may have had a tiny little crush on Rin) he had exited the classroom so fast no one had even noticed him. Maybe it had something to do with Shiemi kissing Renzo on the cheek…

On Tuesday, (the day with the most boring classes) there had been so many written tests she couldn't even try to say a word to him. What surprised her and her fellow Exwires though, was that Rin finished his tests almost first every time, followed closely by Izumo & Ryuji.

Wednesday (the day Shiemi had realized she may have more than a tiny crush on Rin) was the day when Yukio gave back their surprise tests. He had been so wide eyed when he gave Rin his, he got a 74/100. Considering Rin's grades never usually exceeded 15 points, Yukio had even clapped and given his brother a pat on the back proudly. After the school day was over Rin had stormed out of the classroom his textbook still in hand, studying non-stop. Therefore Shiemi couldn't go and talk to him.

On Thursday (the day she realized she was really desperate to talk to Rin), she had even followed him to the high-school in the morning. She had been so embarrassed, walking around in her kimono on the high school grounds (her mother would have been way too suspicious if she had gone out in her uniform). She had asked everywhere for where Rin was but no one seemed to really know. Shiemi hadn't given up and had spent the rest of the day either waiting outside doing homework during high school classes or running around looking for Rin during breaks. When she did spot him was when he entered the exorcism classroom right after the teacher. She couldn't talk to him as the lesson began immediately afterwards.

On Friday (the day when she realized she was truly in love with Rin) she had prepared a plan that would enable her to talk to him. She would go to the Okumura brothers' dorm and walk with them to school, pretending she got lost in the maze that the Academy was. Only when she got there Yukio was alone and told her that Rin had gone early to revise some more before classes started. She had been so disappointed she had almost cried her eyes out in front of Yukio but thankfully she had managed to run away right before she broke down.

Today was Saturday and she was on edge. They only had exorcism class in the morning, meaning it was only then that she would see Rin. Her mother had asked her to keep the supply shop this afternoon so she barely had half an hour after class to catch him.

It could be either during a break or after class, it didn't matter. She had to get her message through. She bit her thumb as she walked in a brisk pace through the corridors. If she didn't succeed, she would give up. She was almost sure Rin hated her and didn't want to talk to her so if this time she didn't manage to catch him, she would let him be, no matter how painful that was. She had made up her mind.

Shiemi didn't lift her head up so engulfed in her thoughts as she was, and kept on walking for a while with her eyes glued to the floor before she heard footsteps in front of her.

She looked up and saw Izumo turning to enter the classroom on her own. What a letdown. She had expected Rin to be there, walking casually with a hand in his pants' pocket and the other holding a book. She sighed deeply and the pigtailed girl turned around at the sound.

Shiemi lifted her head up again and gave a small forced smile. "Good morning Izumo."

"Don't bother smiling if it's a fake." Izumo let the hand that used to hold the door's handle fall to her side and turned to face the blonde standing a few steps away.

"Wh…What?" Shiemi gasped.

"Tch…" Izumo knew when she saw the look on the kimono clad girl that she had to give an explanation. She sighed "…Don't think you can fool anyone with that pitiful façade, that's all I'm saying."

Shiemi remained stunned on her spot for a moment. Izumo took it as her cue to leave but the blonde immediately looked up at the sound of her footsteps.

"Wait, Izumo!"

"What?" She turned around again, slightly annoyed.

Shiemi lowered her head and brought her hands to her chest. 'Now what?...I mustn't depend on others like that, I'm only a bother when I act that way but…'

"I don't know what to do…" She let out weakly.

Izumo tilted her head in confusion. "Whatever you have to say, do it quickly. I have other things to do."

"I don't know…" Shiemi whispered. She wouldn't be able to get out of this situation on her own, she needed help or advice. Today was her last chance, she had to succeed. "Rin has been avoiding me all week but, I really need to talk to him! I don't know what to do! If I don't do anything he's going to keep running and I will never be able to clarify anything! I don't know what to do…"

Izumo narrowed her eyes, these pathetic friendship issues didn't interest her in the least. "Is that all? Tch…"

She was about to walk away but Shiemi quickly interrupted her.

"I need to tell him how I feel!" She blushed crimson red. She didn't think she would have to tell Izumo that to convince her. But she had to try, even though she doubted this argument would have any effect on…

"You what!?"

In the mere second Shiemi had closed her eyes during her confession, the dark haired girl had literally appeared in front of her, staring intently at her with wide crimson eyes and a light pink blush on her cheeks.

"I…I have to tell Rin…How much I care about him…" She shut her eyes closed once more in embarrassment, her face now completely red and her voice barely above a whisper.

What Shiemi didn't expect after that was Izumo scanning the hallway for anyone who might be watching them then taking her hands in hers and looking back into her eyes determinedly.

"What can I do?" She asked seriously.

The least to be said was that Shiemi was shocked. It was so uncharacteristic of Izumo to offer her help on such a 'futile' situation as she'd usually call it. The blonde was left staring wide eyed into her friend's own wine colored orbs.

"C'mon, I don't have all day!" Izumo scolded, frowning a bit and obviously frustrated not to get to know more about 'the plan' she thought Shiemi had.

A small smile appeared on Shiemi's lips. That was the Izumo she knew. She remembered Renzo's note the other day *…you should ask Izumo-chan! Apparently she likes shojo mangas!* Maybe that was why she was so intent on helping Shiemi with her love life… Another thought occurred to her. How was she going to talk to Rin? She didn't have any plan!

"I…" She started timidly. She couldn't say she didn't know, Izumo would probably go away.

The silence that soon engulfed them told Izumo the truth though. The dark haired girl cursed under her breath. Shiemi didn't have a plan but that wasn't going to stop them! This was her first chance to help someone confess (since she would never let her best friend Paku date any stupid guy), and as shojo addict as she was, she wasn't going to let it pass so easily. So she thought and thought until she finally came to a conclusion.

"Look, you have two possibilities: either you try talking to him during P.E. if the teacher doesn't have us running until we die, that is…" She cringed at the thought. "…Or we trap Rin after class so you can confess."

Shiemi stared curiously at her. "…Trap?"

Izumo sighed. 'Geez…Why do I always have to explain everything…' She then leaned closer to the blonde and whispered "Here's the plan…"

A.N/: YES, I had to end it there, otherwise this chapter would have been way too long (trust me)

As always let me know what you thought wether you liked this or not and stay tuned for the next chapter! Reviews always make my day.^^

Next chapter will have more Rin/Shiemi action (*insert suspense music track here*) and the plan will more or less start!

See you guys next time!~