Wow, I'm really surprised how much attention this story is getting! To be honest I thought this would be a complete failure since I originally did this out of pure boredom when I was babysitting. XD

Anyhow, I really appreciate all the reviews so thank you very much! :D

I'll try to get more chapters up soon but it might be a while since I have to take the SATs and write a book report for my English III Honors class.

~NiteMareB4XMAS

CLANG! CHING! CAL-CLANG!

This was the only sound other than mine and Shura's heavy breathing as our swords clashed with one another. She went to swipe at my lower leg but I intercepted it with Kurikara, once I did this I used my blade to twist her sword into an awkward angle for her arm, the pain of it making her release her weapon. Then in one swift movement, I kicked the blade while it was still falling, sending it flying across the room, and had the tip of my flaming sword an inch away from her throat. "That's game." I said with a triumphant smirk but it was wiped off when I felt some of her snake familiars slithering up my legs and quickly moving to my throat. "Fuck, I thought I killed these things." I said softly as I willed my body to remain calm. Shura just laughed. "Ya did, but ya forgot to burn them. They will keep comin' back if ya don't. So the game's still on." With that she made a mad dash for her sword while I commanded my flames to engulf my body, completely killing the serpents. I then let out a curse as she used her Dabo attack on me but thankfully I have gotten faster to dodge them due to my P.E. class (yeah, giant frog demons tend to do that to a person) so I was able to miss them with only a slight scratch on my leg. Shit she's fast! I thought when I barely managed to block her sword from slicing into my skull. "Yer gettin' good kid, I'm actually breakin' a sweat." She said with a chuckle as the two of us tried to make the other back down as we pushed our weight against our interlocked blades. "Heh, 'bout time I did something to you." I replied as I used my demonic strength making her feet leave track marks as she slowly skid backwards. The tension in our blades was so bad that they were practically vibrating as we continued to test each others' will through them.

"I'm also finally proud of you." She said out of the blue before gaining leverage and pushing me back a few inches. "For what?" I asked from clenched teeth as I drove her back again. Almost, just a little more. I thought with excitement when I saw her knees begin to buckle. "That yer finally opening up to me and not hiding behind that stupid gimmick that ya give everyone else." "What?" I blurted out with wide eyes, but instead of answering me, Shura took my temporary shock and used it against me by forcing all her strength to knock Kurikara out of my hands. "That's game." She said as she picked it up and put back in its sheath, making my true form disappear once more, but I was too stunned to do anything. "H-How? W-When?" Was all I could manage to spit out once I found my voice again. "Shiro told me when he asked me to teach you, I didn't believe him at first but after awhile I started to see it, but I give you props kid, if he hadn't had told me I would never have guessed." She explained while handing me my blade. "The one thing I don't understand is why though. I mean if ya quit the "I'm-a-retard" act, you could probably surpass a lot of people in no time, including me! Ya just nearly whooped my ass a second ago!" She had a point, if I would drop my act I would probably become an exorcist a lot faster, especially if I only want to have a Meister in Knight, but lately I was thinking about getting a Meister in Doctor or Aria, or at least expanding my knowledge on them if I wanted to become Paladin. But…

"I can't." I said finally. "If I did it now things would only get worse for me."

"How so?"

"Think about it Shura, if people already fear me now when they think I'm an idiot, they're going to be even more terrified when they realized that I am actually stronger then I let on and that I actually know how to wield this strength."

"He's got a point you know, most humans find bliss in ignorance, once that ignorance is shattered there's no telling what they would do." Mephisto added as he casually entered the room we were training in. "And that is one of the reasons I'm here actually. Many of your teachers from both high school and Cram school have brought it to my attention that you haven't failed a single test or have been late in the past three weeks. Now why is that, hmmm~?" As he told me all of this I could feel the color from my face begin to drain as my horror grew with each passing word. Yes it is true I haven't cared about keeping my act up school-wise for a while but being so happy about playing at Lost Souls Café, that I've been making up excuses about my behavior for weeks. Then I remembered the time that Bon and I actually held a decent conversation about group battle strategies without killing each other. Not to mention I've been so giddy since apparently "Dusk" has gotten so popular when two days ago one of the academy's biggest gossip queens and her friends came one night and told everyone to go see him. With all these thoughts, my face grew paler."Shit, I'm screwed."

~BlueExorcist~

"Has anyone else noticed the way Okumura has been acting lately?" Bon blurted out when he couldn't focus on his book anymore. He has become aware of it ever since that Friday when he had seen the weird flicker of emotions in the demon boy's eyes; lately he started to see more strange things about the older Okumura twin. One time when he sat up front next to Rin's desk, Bon saw when Rin would put his head down to sleep, Bon would notice that the boy would subtly shift his head up when the teacher was either drawing or writing on the board and his writing hand would move so slightly to copy whatever was up there. Then Bon would see the same flicker of emotions of self-loathing when Rin would look at his brother's demon attributes or when one of the other exorcists would give him a nasty glare even though he would just keep on smiling as if nothing was wrong. There was also the fact that lately Rin has also been passing tests left and right with flying colors as if it was a piece of cake. And what about the other day? He and Bon actually had a conversation without it coming to fists ad blows! "What do you mean Bon?" Konekomaru asked with confusion. "He's been his usual self."

"But he's been on time all week for weeks."

"So? Maybe Okumura-sensei finally threaten to shoot him for being so late all the time." Shima suggested with a chuckle. "He and I haven't gotten into a single disagreement for almost a month." Bon pointed out. "Maybe he's just tired of fighting with you all the time. You don't seem to mind since you two get along much better now." Konekomaru commented. "Anything else or are you just trying to find a way to pick a fight with him again?" Shima joked but sobered up when he saw the scared look on his friend's face. "Then what about that look in his eyes? I swear every time I look at them I see a glimpse of such agony, such loneliness, such self-hatred, I just don't know what to think." Bon confessed as his hands started to tremble. "All I know is that I just want to see something, anything, other than that dark look." Silence then took over the room as the three monks from Kyoto thought about it. "Man, I think you're just seeing things Bon. Rin is like the happiest guy we know." Shima said after awhile. "I think Shima's right Bon. Maybe it's a trick of the light." Said Konekomaru. For some reason I highly doubt that. The blonde streaked boy thought as his frown grew deeper. "Awww you look like you truly care for his well-being. I didn't know you were actually capable of such a feat. Ow!" The pink hair boy yelped when a book hit his head. "S-Shut up!" Bon stammered as a bright pink blush appeared on his cheeks. Shima though just laughed. "Don't be ashamed of caring about a friend Bon, that's what friends do." Konekomaru said with a smile. This coming from the guy who treats Okumura like he has the plague. Bon thought with an eye roll. "Or maaaybe he just really "likes" likes him." Shima said while wiggling his eyebrows before dodging the other book Bon threw at him. "Shima how many times do I have to tell you I'm not gay! And who the hell uses "like" like these days you dipshit?" Bon growled.

"Only when you get a girlfriend and I see you kiss her will you convince me you're not gay or until you prove me otherwise. Until then you are so deal with it."

"So says the kid who dies his hair pink!"

"Hey at least I didn't blush like you when I said you like Rin that way! See! I told you!" Shima said while pointing a finger at him as Bon's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. "Um Shima, I just think that's because you're making him more mad." Konekomaru pointed out quietly but he was ignored. "Shima, drop the subject now or I will put you in a coma." Bon warned, the pink haired boy just rolled his eyes. "Fine, but one day I will get you out of denial. But until then how about we go to Lost Souls Café? I've been hearing all the girls make a fuss about this guitar guy from there about how he's "soooooo dreamy~!"" He said while making his voice all high pitch while pretending to swoon. He then made a gagging face. "Oh, I heard about that too! Isn't he called "Dusk" or something?" Konekomaru asked. "If we go we should invite the rest of our friends." "Yeah let's do that! I'll go see who can go!" With that, Shima left. Oh this should be good. Bon thought sarcastically before going back to studying.

~BlueExorcist~

"Rin, aren't you nervous? I mean I heard a lot of people at school today say they were coming." I heard Izumo say behind me as I got dressed (don't worry she and Paku are looking the other way), but I could tell that wasn't what was truly bothering her. Apparently Shima talked to her earlier and according to Paku, she has been like this ever since. I figure I wouldn't bother her about it since she is crushing on the guy. Today I have to be really sneaky since my brother is home too but thankfully he's in our room that is on the other side of the building from where the three of us are. However, that doesn't mean I want to chance it and get caught. "Ready to go?" I asked while pulling out the key to the Cram School. The three of us decided to go through there so we wouldn't get caught by Yukio. Once we were in the hallway, Izumo used her key and opened the door to reveal the abandon shop that was down the street from the café. "Holy shit that's a lot of people!" I gasped when I saw the groups of kids pouring into the place. "C'mon you're going to be late Ri-I mean Dusk!" Izumo corrected herself before the three of us ran across the street into the back alleyway. After knocking on the back door rapidly, one of the guys who waiters here opened it up for us and let us into the kitchen. "Thanks Kyo." Paku said with a smile. He just nodded his head before helping a group of girls who were preparing drinks of all kinds. "There you are Dusk! Let's get you on stage!" Mrs. Laurens said once we left the kitchen before dragging me to the back stage. Looking back I could see Izumo and Paku give me thumbs up before getting a seat themselves.

~BlueExorcist~

The real reason why Izumo was so nervous was the fact that Shima came up to her and Paku earlier that day and asked if the both of them would like to join him and his friends to see Dusk tonight. He said he already asked Shiemi and Okumura-sensei, who the latter flat-out said no, and tried to asked Rin but he couldn't find the demon boy anywhere. "Whatever, Paku and I go there a lot anyway." Was what she told him at the time but now she kind of regretted saying that as her pink haired crush waved them over. Please say that they didn't see us come in with Rin. She kept chanting in her head as her and Paku joined the three Kyoto boys and the flower-loving girl. Konekomaru seemed to be confused and a little frighten about sitting in a room with this many people, Shiemi was full of anticipation as her and Nii-chan watched the stage, Bon looked absolutely bored on the outside but she could tell that he was thinking about something, and Shima was eying every girl that walked by which made her blood boil. "Hey idiot, the stage is over there and not that girl's ass." She said loud enough that said girl who Shima was staring at turned around and smacked him across the face. "Pervert!" The girl hissed before walking away, leaving Shima who was rubbing a sore cheek and a smug Izumo. That's what you get jerk. She thought as Paku pulled out her video camera. "Why do you have that?" Shima asked once he saw it, making Paku freeze. "Umm…" "She just got it from her aunt and wanted to test it out." Izumo said smoothly as her best friend gave her a thankful look. "Oh, cool." Shima commented before going back to staring at girls again.

He's such a dumbass. Bon thought as he watched his pink haired friend and Izumo at the corner of his eye. Shima had a thing for the byakko tamer and Bon could tell the feelings were mutual but with Shima and his obliviousness, she is going to lose interest fast, especially if he kept hitting on other girls. Why am I here again? His mental question was answered when the owner of the place hopped up on stage. "Hey everyone! Thanks for coming out tonight and boy do we have a treat for you! Tonight Final Hope is playing along with Dusk as their guest guitarist and singer! I hope you enjoy the show!" As she got off stage the whole room erupted with screams and cheers as the lights went out. Suddenly the sound of a piano playing was heard as a single spot light shone upon a girl with snow-white blonde hair and silver-blue eyes playing it; her fingers gracefully gliding across the keyboard. A second light came on showing a boy with shaggy brown hair and green eyes as he began to sing (1):

~Despite the lies that you're making

Your love is mine for the taking

My love is just waiting

To turn your tears to roses~

Then out of nowhere, the rest of the stage lights up to reveal a redhead boy playing the drums, a brown haired girl playing a neon green bass guitar, and a boy with a fedora and a dark trench coat playing a black guitar who was ripping it up with the opening transition. "Holy shit." Bon faintly heard Konekomaru say with awe; he would have laughed at his friend's rare use of curse words but he himself was simply too stunned at the playing of the lead guitarists. "Which one is Dusk?" Shiemi somewhat shouted so their group could hear her. "He's the one with the hat!" Paku shouted back as she videotaped. That's Dusk? The two-tone haired teen thought, astonished as the band continued to play. "How do you know that?" Shima yelled as Izumo and Paku shared a look as if they were talking telepathically. "We've been to every show he's played so far. Why jealous?" Izumo teased; her smirk just growing as Shima's mood turned slightly sour. "No!" He denied before turning to glare at the lead guitarist. You had that coming idiot. Bon thought as his eyes slowly went back to the teen with the fedora. As he watched the teen's fingers strum the guitar's strings with such speed and skill, he couldn't help but find the guy to be badass. Not to mention he's not that bad looking either… A voice that sounded suspiciously like Shima whispered at the back of his mind. "Great even in my mind, Shima is calling me gay." He muttered to himself a few songs later.

"Thank you everyone and welcome to Lost Souls Café!" Said the lead singer after chugging water from his water bottle, Dusk however, was nursing his as he took small sips. "My name is Kenji, that's my sister Mariko on the guitar, and my girl Tsukiko and our friend Arata on the piano and drums! Like Mrs. Laurens said we are Final Hope. I would also like thank Dusk here for letting us play with him tonight. Even though he's the new guy here, the lot of us can tell he's been playing guitar for quite awhile! So man, do you have anything to say before we play the last song?" While Kenji was saying this, the other boy was shrugging off his trench coat. That's when all thoughts in Bon's mind were derailed. The guy was wearing a skin-tight, black v-neck tank top that was slightly riding up his stomach while revealing a subtle six-pack underneath. He also wore a pair of faded black jean with holes in the knees that was also held up by chains; the waist band hung lowly on his hips. He wore black high-tops and a rainbow wristband on his left arm too. Dusk's blue-black hair was covered by his black fedora that had multiple silver rings pierced into the left side of the rim while a silver skull and cross bones was pinned above it. What really caught Bon's eye though was the sunglasses that the guy was wearing; they were like a normal pair of glasses but instead of clear lenses they were orange, so when he got a glimpse at the guitarist eyes when his glasses weren't gleaming, they seemed to be a brownish color. At that instance they both seemed to lock eyes and for a split second Bon thought he saw pure terror flash behind those lenses and a slight blush on his cheeks but the connection was broken when the guitarist looked at Kenji.

"How about another love song for your girlfriend Tsukiko there eh~?" Dusk teased, a low smooth voice pouring from his lips sending shiver after shiver down Bon's spin from how dark and mischievous it sounded. However, a blushing Kenji just punched the guitarist in the arm before getting an evil glint in his green eyes. "Uh oh." Dusk said with mock horror before taking another sip of his water as the crowd laughed."How about you sing one for the guy you like?" Kenji suggested with a smug grin as the hat-wearing guitarist did a spit take. Once he managed to stop choking, he sent a playful glare at the lead singer. "Sheesh, you tell a guy you're bi and they automatically assume you're liking a guy." "Actually your two gal-pals told me when I thought you were hitting on my girl the other day." Kenji admitted as the guitarist rolled his eyes. "Those two are so going to get it later." Dusk said jokingly. The entire time as the two were talking the whole audience was cracking up with laughter. "Okay then, I guess I dedicate this next song to my crush, hoping that he finds me one day. Here we go." Dusk then began strumming his guitar (2):

~I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

Oh God it feels like forever

And no one ever tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head~

For some odd reason, Bon felt that this song was directed towards him but shook it off as his mind playing tricks on him again. He was so busy watching Dusk play that he failed to notice the shared looks of shock from Izumo and Paku. When they saw Bon and Rin locked eyes earlier they instantly knew that their friend knew his crush was here. They were amazed however that Rin was taking such a step to reveal not only his crush on the older boy but how he feels about being locked up inside his own mind and not being able to be who he really is to Bon.

~How do you feel?

That is the question

But I forget you don't expect an easy answer

When something like a soul

Becomes initialized and folded up

Like paper dolls and little notes

You can't expect a bit of folks

So while you're outside looking in

Describing what you see

Remember what you're staring at is me~

By this point Izumo was 75% sure that Bon was close to figuring out this song was directed at him by the fact that the brown, blonde streaked haired boy's face was slowly heating up as he and Rin kept eye contact as the latter continued to sing. Shima seemed to see this too as he grinned ear to ear. What worried her was if he knew who Dusk really was or not and if he did know, would he accept Rin?

~Cause I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

All I know is that it feels like forever

But no one ever tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head

How much is real?

So much to question

An epidemic of the mannequins

Contaminating everything

We thought came from the heart

But never did right from the start

Just listen to the noises

Kenji: (Null and void instead of voices)

Before you tell yourself

It's just a different scene

Remember it's just different

From what you've seen~

Bon was dying to know if Dusk was singing to him or not so he finally mustered up the courage to do it. Making sure that the guitarist's eyes were still on him, Bon finally mouthed the question to the other boy that has been bugging him since the song began. 'Are you singing this for me?' When the mysterious boy slightly nodded his head before looking away Bon felt like his face was on fire.

~I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

And all I know is

That it feels like forever

And no one ever tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head

Cause I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

And all I know is

That it feels like forever

And no one ever tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head

And it's the stars

The stars that shine for you

And it's the stars

The stars that lie to you yeah, yeah

I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

Oh God it feels like forever

And no one ever tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head

Cause I'm looking at you through the glass

Don't know how much time has passed

All I know is that it feels like forever

And no one tells you that

Forever feels like home

Sitting all alone inside your head

And it's the stars

The stars that shine for you yeah, yeah

And it's the stars

The stars that lie to you yeah, yeah

And it's the stars

The stars that shine for you yeah, yeah

And it's the stars

The stars that lie to you yeah, yeah

Who are the stars?

Who are the stars that lie?~

After the song came to an end the audience gave a round of applause for the band and guest guitarist before leaving. Soon it was just Bon and his group along with the band as they packed up their instruments. "Well are you going to go talk to him?" Hissed Izumo when she saw Bon sit there staring at the guy as he folded his trench coat in his arm while swinging his guitar case onto his back. Rolling her eyes, the tamer grabbed him by the back of his shirt, lifted him up and pushed him towards Dusk. "Men are such idiots." She huffed as Bon stumbled a bit. Yet before he could say hello, Dusk turned around and planted a kiss on his lips. Shit I'm gay. Was Bon's only thought before melting into the kiss. The blonde streaked teen almost whimpered in protest when the guitarist pulled away. "Who are you?" Came out of his mouth instead. This simple question made the musically talented teen pause a bit before he leaned close to Bon. "That's for me to know and up to you to find out, Ryuji Suguro." He whispered in that sinful smooth voice, practically purring Bon's real name. "See ya around, I hope you enjoyed the show!" Dusk said casually before heading out the back door. "He's gone!" Shiemi gasped after she came back from looking for the mysterious teen a couple minutes later. Bon though, was completely out of it. "Wow did not see that coming." Shima said with wide eyes after a moment of silence. He then turned to Bon with an evil smile. "At least someone has the balls to admit he likes guys."

"Shima."

"Yes Bon?"

"Shut the fuck up."

~BlueExorcist~

As soon as I walked out that back door, I knew that Shiemi was going to attempt to follow me, so before she could even spot me I walked up to the closest door and used my key to get to the Cram School. Thankfully I was just shutting the door behind me when she made it around the corner. Using that same key again, I now found myself on the other side of the door building that Yukio and I share. After getting dressed into my normal clothes and hiding all of my rock star stuff away and grabbed my sword, I numbly made my way to our room. The entire time my mind was in a state of complete chaos as it went over what happened tonight over and over again. "How was training with Kuro, Nii-san?" My twin asked once I entered the room. "It was good, but now I'm exhausted. Night Yukio." I managed to say while yawning. "Well that's good, and the good thing is that tomorrow is a day off so you can sleep in. Good night Rin." As I rolled over and closed my eyes, I couldn't help but touch my lips with my hand to make sure all of this was real. Once I was satisfied that it was, I fell into deep slumber.

This is just a little challenge for my readers: What is the name of the song and the band for (1) and (2) of this chapter? :3