"Is there anything wrong, Yuurito-san
"Is there anything wrong, Yuurito-san?" Orihime's soft voice popped through Moeko's thoughts, returning her mind from the clouds.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Nothing's wrong, I was just spacing out." Moeko replied; her mind still slightly hazed with her previous thoughts. You could say she was nervous. It was her first case and she knew of no way to exorcise any demon or ghost, no matter how weak they were. Moeko had this feeling of guilt pulling at her, guilt that she was leaving all the work to Orihime.
She felt bad felt useless. Really, to her it seemed as though Orihime would do all the work and all she would do is tremble in the sidelines. After all, what could she do, that would be of any use in exorcism? Nothing. She was just a girl that was meant to be staring in the sidelines, fearing for her life while she wasn't even fighting!
Sighing, Moeko massaged her temples. Even though she knew she was being harsh she couldn't help it. She had always been more of a negative thinker than positive. Ever since she was young, Moeko had hated raising her hopes only for them to be shattered later.
The black haired girl's eyes trailed towards the teen beside her. At the moment both she and Orihime were flying all the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They were assigned a case practically on the other side of the globe! How the school managed to pay for the tickets, she didn't know.
"Inoue-senpai, what are the details of the case again?" The younger of the two high school girls asked, her eyes focusing on the elder teen intently.
"Well, it appears there is a spirit possessing the bodies of children in Rio, mainly on the poor neighborhoods called 'favelas'." Orihime read off the manila envelope once more. Once done reviewing all the details again, the sophomore's eyes wandered towards the teacher who was to accompany both of them.
The teacher was a dark skinned man, his even darker brown hair braided into miniature braids. He wore a pair of all white glasses; those glasses that most people thought only existed in movies. His black tux was neatly worn, seemingly flawless.
"Uh, Tousen-sensei, aren't we supposed to wear regular clothes as to not seem like business-men?" Orihime asked, staring at the dark skinned teacher curiously.
"These are my casual clothes" Began Tousen, voice monotone and void of any emotions "Is there a problem, Inoue-san?"
Shifting nervously at their teacher's answer Orihime dismissed his question, replying that she was just curious. She had never been fond of Tousen-sensei. He would always dismiss his students' questions or answer questions with more questions. When students complained that he was being unfair he would give a lecture about justice for the rest of the class. Nether less, he was not popular among the school population.
Moeko, oblivious to her elders who were sitting a few inches away from her, was floating in her thoughts. She couldn't help but denigrate herself mentally. Each unspoken comment piercing through her deeper than the last one.
Sensing the freshman's masochistic aura, Orihime's eyes trailed towards the black haired girl. Noting how her eyes darkened every second the sophomore set a gentle pale hand on the other's shoulder, her gray eyes tainted with worry.
"Yuurito-san no need to hurt yourself. If it's about feeling useless for not being an exorcist, please do not feel that way." The older student said gently, her consoling words breaking Moeko's trail of thought. Turning to face the orange haired sophomore the freshman's eyes soften. Somehow, even though the older girl had only known her for one day, she had managed to uncover her greatest insecurity.
Smiling softly Moeko placed her hand on the elder's shoulder, assuring the sophomore she would try to exit the abyss of negative thoughts. Just as Moeko pulled a book from her handbag the speakers went on, announcing their arrival at the airport in Rio de Janeiro.
"Finally," Moeko began while stretching in her seat "I could never sleep well on airplanes." Orihime nodded to the spoken opinion, her eyes silently agreeing that the seats of the airplane were uncomfortable.
As they grabbed they're baggage Tousen wrote some notes on a notebook, most likely evaluating the exorcists-in-training. As they walked towards the taxis located outside the airport's exit Orihime proved to be a fluent speaker of Portuguese.
"I didn't know you also spoke other languages, Orihime-senpai!" Moeko stated surprise coating each word that slipped through her tanned lips. Orihime smiled at the comment, somehow happy about the freshman's surprise.
While on the taxi towards the center of the city, the assigned teacher continued to scribble words on the notebook in his hands. While their teacher was busy both high school students admired the people that walked on the busy streets.
The streets were crowded with people, all of different ethnic groups. Students walked about with their backpacks strapped onto their backs. Some paupers even entertained the people inside cars with various types of juggles and tricks; sometimes even a few of them cleaned the windows of cars.
Awed by the unique city Moeko didn't realize the taxi stop. Grasping onto the student's arm Tousen dragged the girl over to the hotel, his free hand still holding onto the notebook.
Exiting the forest of thoughts inside her mind Moeko began walking by herself, releasing her teacher's hand from her arm. Walking towards Orihime, the black haired freshman tried to not admire the hotel. She definitely needed to get out more, she concluded silently in her head.
Once both girls entered the hotel's room the younger finally asked the question that kept lingering inside both her mouth and mind. "When are we going to the favelas?"
"Well, the ghost attacks at night and it's currently only mid-day. Since we're both tired we should sleep until dusk, then we'll head there for sure." The orange haired sophomore answered, busy with the task of unpacking.
At the mention of sleep Moeko suddenly felt the weight her eyelids were sustaining up. Walking towards the bathroom, the black haired girl made sure to grab an overgrown gray shirt from her baggage. Before entering the bathroom Moeko locked the door connecting her's and Orihime's room to Tousen's.
"Yuurito-san, wake up. It's time we head for the favelas." Orihime said with a commanding tone as she shook the small lump on the white-sheeted bed. Raising her head from underneath the covers Moeko rubbed her sleep glazed blue eyes.
Walking clumsily towards the big brown bag on the floor the drowsy girl pulled out a simple small jean short with a plain white shirt; it was unsurprisingly hot outside the hotel, even though it was dusk already.
As both girls walked out of their bedroom they met the sight of their dark skinned teacher. He was wearing yet another tux, this one being a midnight blue one and somehow simpler than the other.
Again, while the three exorcists were in the car the eldest of them all only wrote on the notebook, not even allowing one second to glance at the scenery that was Rio de Janeiro. Both girls were staring out the window, spotting a few parents ushering their children inside the house. So they're already taking precautions even though they don't know what's happening to the children, Moeko thought as she stared as a particular little boy refused to return to the house.
"Seems like they're already shielding the children, or at least trying." Mused Orihime quietly as her eyes also landed on the same little boy. The boy was now being pulled by the ear by a very furiously irritated mother, her worry and fear probably reaching its peak.
"It's rather sad, isn't it?" Tousen mused as his eyes finally abandoned the notebook. Both girls nodded, their eyes never leaving the small boy as he desperately begged his mom to stay and play soccer.
"We need to help these people" Orihime murmured, her tone scented with determination. She felt bad for these people, they lived in non-painted, brick, one room housed and they still had a ghost haunting them? She just couldn't help but feel it was her responsibility to help these people. In reality, these sorts of things would and really are her responsibility. These sorts of things were things exorcists encountered and fought for many times. It was their duty to protect the regular humans from the supernatural.
This one took forever! I'm sorry! And the information about Rio de Janeiro was taken from pure experience, since I live in Brazil I couldn't help but include one of my fave cities there! Also Giovanna and I really do know each other, and I'm glad you like the story Gigi! Anyway please review, and thank you for taking your valuable time in reading this!