A/N: Hello lovelies, here's an update after quite a while. Sorry, I was busy with my other stories and life. And I was also outlining this story before I wrote the next (this) chapter. Anyway, let's waste no more time and proceed to the 3rd chapter of DBM!

P.S. I'm sorry for any mistakes you may spot in this chapter. I'll look at this again once I find the time.

Devil Beside Me

#03

A Quarter to One

The morning sky still looked dull and sleepy, even with the feeble sunrays from the rising sun.

Somewhere in Eastern Kyoto, on the 25th floor of The Grand Oriental Suites, a pair of blue eyes belonging to a dark-haired boy drowsily peeked out at the rest of the world from behind the curtains of a ceiling-to-floor window.

A lazy yawn escaped from him as he stole another glance at the digital clock sitting on the bedside table. 7:05AM. Rin read grumpily and drew the curtains close.

So much for waking up earlier, the boy thought irritably as he turned around and plodded toward the bathroom.

Last night, he had set the alarm for 6:00AM so that he would have enough time to hit the gym and after that, eat his breakfast provided by the hotel before making his way to 'school'. This was a daily routine he had been following since he arrived in Kyoto…well, except for today because he had hit the snooze button for god knows how many times!

But again, he couldn't really fall asleep yesterday no thanks to the demon that had appeared and disappeared at Seiko High. He had spent the nearly whole night tossing and turning.

Rin was dead beat tired when he came back after his last night's adventure but his brain seemed to think that he was not sleep-deprived enough and decided it should set him on a meaningless, endless train of thoughts about practically…nothing.

Staring tiredly at his reflection in the mirror through sleepy-looking squinted eyes, Rin pinned his fringe securely to the crown of his head with a crocodile hairclip and broke into a grin as a thought struck him,

At least it's gonna be Eyebrow's turn to deal with those stupid pests!

"Class, we have a new project."

Groans and protests arose almost immediately in the classroom of 3-B. Clearly no students of that class could stand the idea of another project. Being the next batch to graduate from high school, projects from various subjects were already piling and the year had barely started!

Tsubaki let her forehead hit her desk, puffing out a big sigh. She was already exhausted from yesterday's night patrol and somehow just hearing about this project made her even more so.

"Quiet down, class, you should know what to expect when you enter your last year. Bear with it." Tsubaki breathed out another sigh at her history teacher's not-so-encouraging words, "Anyway, I'd divided you all into teams of four so please come take a look at this list to see who your teammates are."

Tsubaki raised her head with a scowl as groans and protests arose once again. She joined them, voicing her disagreement as well.

But their teacher wouldn't budge. "It's been finalized so that I don't want to see any of you messing up the arrangement, understand?" That being said, their teacher pinned the paper in his hand to the noticeboard with a tack. "Waste no more time and get into your groups."

Realizing there wasn't a room for negotiation from the finality in their teacher's voice, the students rose from their seats.

Once everyone had learnt who their project mates were, each teams had pushed two desks together and settled around them. Their history teacher had gone straight into the details of the project after he had made sure that every students was in their respective team.

But Tsubaki barely paid attention to the instructions. Her attention were on her two project mates across her – a loud mouth supernatural-obsessed geek and the strange boy who carries a sword wherever he went.

Why? She let out a silent sigh. Why the hell does it have to be these two out of the whole class?

Glancing between the two boys, something made Tsubaki's eyes stop on Rin who was sitting on the other side of the desk they shared.

Tsubaki eyed the dark-haired boy who didn't seem to care one bit about the project. With a propped elbow under his head, his head was tilted toward the window beside him. The usually intense blue eyes of his carried an apathetic gleam in them.

There was something about Rin that she couldn't quite place a finger on. The strange feeling of distrust and at the same time, curiosity that she couldn't shake off toward him ever since she saw him last night. And she couldn't figure out why.

"…Tsu-chan?"

"Huh?" Tsubaki snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Mei beside her with eyebrows rose. "What is it, Mei?" Good thing I have Mei with me, she thought and felt something lift at the back of her mind and felt relief sink in. At least she had someone on her side!

Snickering behind a hand, Mei leaned in with a sly look and said in a voice only audible to her. "Why are you staring at Okumura-kun like this?"

Or maybe not.

Tsubaki returned an unimpressed look. "It's not what you're thinking, silly, I'm just annoyed how he doesn't give a single care about this project," She shrugged and a sly smile of her own appeared on her face. "Hmm, in case you've forgotten, Mei-chan, who was the excited one just now?"

The sly smile on Tsubaki's face widened as she recalled how Mei had looked over to her with an excited look and whispered, "I've always wanted to work with Okumura-kun!"

Mei turned red and spluttered, "B-but that was-"

"Matsuoka-sensei, I need to use the washroom!" The abrupt sharp feminine voice nearly made Tsubaki jump.

Blinking at each other, Tsubaki and Mei glanced over their shoulders in time to watch Kamiki Izumo dash to the front of the classroom, past their bewildered teacher and threw opened the door.

"Hold on, Kamiki-san, I haven't allowed you-"

The door slid closed with a loud slam before their teacher could finish his sentence, leaving the class staring at the door in stunned silence.

Tsubaki frowned as a sense of déjà vu came rushing in her. Kamiki-san too..?

Then a snort sounding as if someone was trying to force back a laugh which came from behind her drew her thoughts away from whatever just happened. Tsubaki turned her head to where it came from and quickly realize it was Rin when her eyes landed on him.

Leaning his chin heavily on his hand, Rin grinned at the door, his blue eyes bright with amusement.

He could barely contain his grin. It was refreshing to be watching someone else rushing out to do his job. He shifted his gaze away from the door and back to the front, absentmindedly fiddled with his phone under his desk which he had used to text Izumo about the demon and its whereabout.

It was only then when Rin sensed eyes on him.

Lowering his gaze to where he had sensed them from, Rin jerked back when he found the girl before him staring at him. "Err…What?" Rin blurted out, quirking an eyebrow at her.

Tsubaki hadn't realize she was staring and turned red when she was pulled out of her thoughts and found herself on the receiving end of the strange look Rin threw her. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something and I didn't realize..." She shot Rin a sheepish smile.

"Erm yeah," Rin's face lit up with a grin. "No problem…"

This caught the two other members' attentions.

"Hey Okumura," Kenichi nudged the boy with his elbow, "Now that I think about it, did you and Kamiki transferred from the same school? Or is she…" The copper-haired boy wagged his eyebrows suggestively and curled his hand into a fist, leaving his little finger sticking out.

Tsubaki instantly understood what Kenichi meant and saw Mei perked up at the question from the sides of her eyes. "Yeah yeah, Okumura-kun, is she?" Mei leaned in, her eyes wide and curious.

Tsubaki thought Rin looked confused for a while.

She was about to explain the meaning behind Kenichi's gesture when Rin's face lit up with understanding. "Why the heck are you asking such a weird question?"

When Rin laughed, similar thoughts ran through their heads.

Mei looked slightly hopeful, Kenichi suddenly looked bored and Tsubaki nodded to herself as she processed whatever she had interpreted.

"You'd better not let her hear you say that," Rin then snickered to himself as his teammate looked on in confusion. "Yeah I totally agree that she's a midget, but you really shouldn't comment on her height, or lack of hahaha. You should see what she did to the last guy that called her that!"

Tsubaki nearly fell off her chair. Did he really not get that reference...?

"Huh…?" She saw Kenichi give him a flat look.

Mei giggled at his answer. "Oh you're funny, Okumura-kun! Nakazawa-kun is trying to ask you whether or not Kamiki-chan is your girlfriend."

Rin suddenly looked horrified. "Wha-NO!" He blushed when he realized that his shout had attracted the attention of their classmates from other tables, and Matsuoka-sensei shot him a warning glare. "I mean, we're just friends... Kinda?"

Tsubaki and Mei looked at each other. But Tsubaki couldn't resist doing it without shooting Mei a teasing smirk. "Stop it, Tsu-chan!" Mei admonished in a hushed voice. Cheeks turning pink, Mei hastily returned her attention back to the boys.

"Huh," Kenichi gave him a disbelieving look, "But did you seriously not understand what the little finger represents? Man, you need to hang out more!"

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, Rin let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah I should..."

The sudden appearance of a looming shadow over their table made them look up to find their history teacher glaring down at them irritably. All four of them wilted under his intimidating gaze.

"Team 6, who said you could use my lesson to engage in meaningless talks?!"

The night was calm. An almost silent rustling of the leaves, the gentle caress of the wind, the sound of her footsteps. She felt… peaceful.

Tugging her windbreaker closer to her body to combat the chilly wind, she continued jogging down the familiar path that she had ventured many times before.

There was no one in the park with her, since most people wouldn't even be awake at this time of the night. But this was why she loved her night jogs. Having a whole park to yourself was rare in the busy city of Kyoto, especially in the day.

And today had been a bad day. She had gone home after school as usual, and the first thing she heard upon her return was her parents arguing. They barely noticed when she muttered a quiet 'I'm home', too engrossed in their latest argument that was probably as stupid and pointless as the last. They ate in stony silence during dinner, and she had excused herself to do her homework when her parents started raising their voices at each other again. Not that they noticed. She had slipped out of the house a little after midnight to go for her run, and to be rid of the stifling tension at home. She was just so tired.

Raising her right arm toward herself, she glanced down to look at the time on the red watch around her wrist. The needle hands showed that it was a quarter to one. Another fifteen minutes before she had to be home.

She let out a sigh and pumped her legs to move faster so that she could reach home in time. She was too engrossed in her thoughts, so she missed the first sign that something was not right.

It was only when the wind picked up enough speed to whip her ponytail wildly around that she stopped. How strange. The trees in the distance were not shaking in the wind. In fact, the tree that was about 20 metres in front of her wasn't moving at all. She glanced down at the ground and saw that the leaves around her feet were trembling. Where was this strange wind coming from?

She felt a sudden chill run down her spine. There… there was something there. She wasn't alone in the park.

She ran. Ran blindly in the direction of her house, where she would be safe. In her panic, she ran headfast into something that was not there before.

Blue… flames?

.

.

.

Tsubaki woke up with a start. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, as if she had really been running like in her dream.

What was that strangely intense dream?

Raising a hand to her forehead to wipe away the rivulets of sweat, her eyes flitted over to the window as she tried to calm herself down. The blue curtains were thin enough for her to tell that the dark sky was just starting to light up.

A groggy yawn escaped her as she rolled over on her stomach.

5:40.

The neon green digits of her clock met her eyes and made her realize she had woken up an hour earlier than usual. With nothing else to do, she breathed out a sigh and tried to go back to sleep.

Tsubaki sneaked a glance at Rin from the sides of her eyes. Somehow they had managed to land up doing cleaning duties together. She wasn't sure how she felt about this.

The dark-haired boy was nice enough though he was a little weird, but there was something about him that rubbed her wrong. He was like a mystery, a puzzle she couldn't figure out. All she knew about him was his name, the region he came from, and the fact that he was a year older than her.

The other transfer student, Kamiki Izumo, however, seemed normal. They had spoken a couple of times and she found out that Kamiki was from a shrine like her, though she had refused to reveal anything else about her shrine, ending their conversation abruptly with 'Don't be a busybody' before walking off. Despite her standoffish attitude, nothing about Kamiki set off any bells.

Rin on the other hand… Tsubaki's gut instincts told her that there was something off about him, and her instincts rarely proved her wrong. She decided in the end to remain polite and relatively friendly with him while still keeping her guard up.

"So where do we bring all these to?"

Rin's voice pulled Tsubaki out of her thoughts. Glancing over at him, she tried to act like she hadn't just been assessing him in her head. Fortunately, his gaze was still fixed to the front as he tried to juggle holding the three cardboard boxes in his arms without them toppling off.

"Oh erm, just past these tennis courts." Tsubaki watched his eyes follow her finger. "The main garbage bin is right at the back."

They fell into silence again, though not exactly an uncomfortable one. It was more of a silence where they could walk together without feeling the need to talk. Besides, she couldn't think of any topic to start a conversation with him anyway.

Tsubaki adjusted the garbage bags in her hands and grimaced at their weight, silently wondering why it was so heavy. Heaving them higher, she looked over to check how Rin was doing and sighed in envy when she realized how at ease Rin looked even with the three boxes stacked on top of each other in his arms. She knew they were full of unwanted books and files so they were definitely heavy.

Tsubaki looked up at Rin, finally deciding to voice her question. "Aren't they heavy?" She realized she only came up to his shoulders when he walked over, leaving only a small distance between them.

"Nah, not at all." Rin glanced down at the bags in her hands. "But you can give me one of those to carry if you want." He freed a hand from underneath the boxes and reached out to the bag closest to him.

Before she could pull the bag away or even protest, Rin had already added it to the stack in his arms.

Tsubaki looked up at the bag and to Rin in bewilderment. "It's okay, I can carry it myself. It's not-"

"I don't mind," Rin let out a laugh and grinned. "It doesn't really make a difference to me. Heheh, these are so damn light!" He puffed out his chest beamingly.

Tsubaki blinked, watching him keep up with her so easily while carrying enough stuff for two people was starting to convince her that it really made no difference to him. "…Thanks, I guess. You can pass that back to me when your arms feel tired." Her eyes then drifted to the red sash on his back as she eyed it curiously. That sword again…

Rin noticed her gaze and flickered his eyes to his sword before turning his gaze back to her.

"I've always wanted to ask you this…" Tsubaki peeled her gaze away to look at Rin and was startled when she found him gazing at her rather thoughtfully. Just like the time when she caught him sneaking into the classroom.

But the thoughtful look barely lasted a second before being replaced with a questioning look. "What did you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh erm…" Tsubaki averted her eyes away again. Those blue eyes were starting to unnerve her for some unknown reason. "That sword on your back…" Tsubaki forced herself to look at him again. "You seem to carry it around with you all the time."

"Oh that," A shadow appeared over Rin's eyes when his dark hair fell forward into his face. Tsubaki watched a flicker of storm came and went on his face. "It's just..." Rin then glanced over with a stiff smile. The sight of it made Tsubaki wonder whether he was remembering something unhappy from the past. "I made a promise to my old man to bring this everywhere I go."

Tsubaki nodded her head in silent understanding and looked back to the front, diffusing the tension in the air that had somehow built up during the last part of their conversation. For a couple minutes, they just stood there and watched a group of soccer boys practising in the field near them.

Rin looked over at the auburn-haired girl as he suddenly thought back to the night he bumped into her in school while she was on her prefect evening patrol. "So…did you manage to see that bat that we saw the other night when you went on your patrols again?" He tried to give off an air of nonchalance as he waited for her reply.

Tsubaki shook her head. "Not even a glimpse."

Thoughts of the evening patrols made her sigh out loud.

Apparently, they were a waste of time. During the few nights of patrol, they had only managed to catch only one or two students loitering in the school when they had expected more like usual. She had figured that parents had grown more paranoid after the second kidnapping case. The increase in the number of parents driving into the school or waiting outside to pick up their kids were a given. It was an unspoken Code-Red period now.

Her sigh made Rin raise an eyebrow. "You seem disappointed."

"Disappointed? Not at all," Tsubaki looked at him incredulously. "I just hope it doesn't appear again, I don't want to spend the night picking up fallen shelves again." She shrugged.

Rin gave a snort of laughter. "And that friend of yours? Erm…Hiro?"

"Oh, still going around sprouting that demon nonsense." Tsubaki rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "That rumour's getting out of control, I swear."

Blinking at her statement, Rin let out a nervous laugh. "Y-Yeah it is, huh."

She knew where she was. And as she looked at the lone figure jogging on the path, she realized with a sinking feeling what this was.

A dream; not just any dream, but the very same dream she had a week ago. She knew because she recognized the impalpable tension in the air, the way the shadows seemed to encroach upon the lone figure who was still blissfully unaware of the danger he or she was in.

Even though she knew this was just a dream, she tried to warn the unknown person.

Tsubaki ran forward, and as she drew closer, she realized that she knew who it was.

No, nonononono-

It was Mei.

And just like in her first dream, she saw Mei glance at the watch. It was a quarter to one. A small voice inside her remarked on the strangeness of the whole situation. Weren't watches not supposed to work properly in dreams?

Mei didn't notice, too lost in her thoughts, but Tsubaki saw how the shadows seem to gather in a particular spot some distance behind Mei.

A strange breeze picked up, and Tsubaki saw the moment Mei noticed that something was off.

Run, Mei! Tsubaki tried to shout, but she realised that no noise was coming out of her mouth.

Mei smartly chose to run but just like in her first dream, she ran into something.

Or someone. With the benefit of being a third party in the dream this time, Tsubaki finally saw who the other person in the dream was.

It was Okumura Rin, and with a sense of bewilderment, she saw that his head was on fire. Blue flames to be exact.

A second look showed that it wasn't his whole head that was in flames, just the front part of his head, and the twin blue flames were shaped to resemble some form of horns…? His ears were also strangely pointy and elongated. And oh god, was that a tail and fangs? Why did she make Dream-Okumura out to be some sort of mutated fire monkey?

He was saying something to Mei "…doing out so late at night? Go home, it's not safe here!"

Mei, whose face changed from shocked to incredulity was about to point to him about his apparent hypocrisy about being here so late at night when a strong gust of wind blew out of nowhere and enveloped them.

When the wind died down, Tsubaki noticed that Rin had shifted until he stood almost protectively in front of Mei with an unsheathed sword held up in front of him, and was glaring at a seemingly empty patch of air in front of them.

To her utmost bewilderment, a black hole opened up at the spot and out stepped through two familiar figures.

Kizuma Saaya and Sugimoto Daichi looked exactly as they did when they disappeared, with the former dressed in the Seiko High school uniform and the latter in the home clothes he disappeared in.

The only difference was the vacant look in their eyes.

"Wha-what's going on? Kizuma-chan! Sugimoto-san!" Mei tried to go towards them, but Rin grabbed onto her arm. "No! Don't go over, they're possessed."

Both Tsubaki and Mei shot him looks of disbelief, but he ignored it and murmured under his breath. "Shit, stupid four-eye never said anything about what to do in this case."

Both the missing students opened their mouths and said together in an emotionless voice, "Come. Come with us, Matsumoto Mei."

"Like hell she is!" Rin gritted out with clenched teeth, and placed a warning hand on his sword.

The two of them turned towards him and said again in unison "Stay out of this, exorcist. You can't stop us."

Before Rin could retort, a strange haunting melody filled the air. Tsubaki cringed and covered her ears with both hands. What was that horrible sound?

Rin was also cringing but he stood steadfast. A sudden movement next to him drew both Tsubaki and his attention, as Mei made to move her way towards the black hole.

"Hey wha- I told you to stay behind me!" Rin tried to grab her shoulder but she slapped his arm away with a surprising amount of force.

She turned vacant eyes over to him and said in an emotionless voice. "I must go… he is waiting for me…"

Rin made another grab for Mei but was intercepted by Kizuma-san who appeared out of nowhere with lightning speed. He sheathed his sword, effectively sealing up the flames that enveloped him, and tried to maneuver his way past Kizuma-san.

In one swift move, Kizuma-san punched him in the stomach and sent Rin flying back into a tree. He fell hard against the tree and collapsed on the ground.

Kizuma-san went back to the edge of the portal and stood there with Mei and Sugimoto-san. Together they said, "Interesting, exorcist, how you didn't fall under my spell. I'll keep my eye on you, and we'll meet again someday."

Tsubaki could only stare in horror as the trio turned and stepped into the portal. Right before Sugimoto stepped in, he turned his head sharply to look straight into her eyes.

His eyes turned red and his feral grin revealed sharp fangs. "I'll see you soon as well, little bird."

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.

.

Eyes flying open, Tsubaki sat up with a loud gasp. The strange, sudden urge to check the time made her look over at her alarm clock, but what greeted her sent a chill down her spine.

On the display of the digital clock, the neon green digits glowed eerily in the dark.

12:45.

A/N: Things are getting scarier, aye? I feel so too, hahaha. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm really sorry about the long interval between this and the previous chapter. My main focus is my Kuroshitsuji fanfic which is coming to a close soon and also because I'm in my final year AKA a heck load of workload and exams. Urghhhh.

Before you go, leave me a review yeah? Reviews are a writer's fuel.