Tale of a Tail
Tale 2: A Studytime Tail

Well, Tale of a Tail was originally supposed to be just a drabble, then morphed into a longer fic, and now I've come up with an idea that adds even more to it. This will have at least one more chapter after this one because one of my little plot ideas is better off not being revealed quite so soon. I've still not been able to pester any of my friends into beta reading my Blue Exorcist fanfics so if you see anything that could be improved I'd love to know.

Rin hated it when Yukio had to go out on a mission. He was kept on a short enough leash when Yukio was around that it was frustrating enough as it was, but when Yukio was out on a mission and he couldn't work out a way to tag along that short leash became short enough he felt he may as well be under house arrest. Since he was the type who thrived on being physically active this kind of situation drove him batty.

His attempts to study and train had both fallen flat, as his forced confinement in his dorm made him stir crazy enough he couldn't focus one bit. His inability to even pass the time that way just made him feel even more irritable than he was already. He sat down at the window and glowered at the world outside his dorm, wishing he just had a little more freedom.

"Rin! Hey, Rin!" The sound of someone calling to him from down below jarred him out of his moping.

"Shiemi!" he called back down, sticking his head out the window to get a better look at her while she waved at him enthusiastically. "What brings you over here?"

"Well, I was having a little trouble studying and thought maybe it would be easier with some company," she said, smiling and showing off the study materials she'd carried along with her. "And I thought maybe if you needed some help studying some stuff I could try to give you a hand, too."

"S... sure!" he called down to her. "Come right on in, I'll meet you partway in!" Pulling his head back in he glanced around the room quickly to make sure nothing embarrassing was lying about he quickly tucked a few things into various places to get them out of view then ran down to meet her. He could hardly believe his luck, this being the second time in a row that he got left behind while his younger twin was called out on a mission that he'd get to spend time with Shiemi!

Rin rushed down the hallway barely managing to skid to a stop before running into her. "Hey," he greeted with a slightly awkward smile and a hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Let me carry that stuff for you the rest of the way, it's probably a little heavy..."

"Thanks," she smiled as he took them from her, blushing a bit as their hands touched for a moment in the process. His hint of a blush deepened a bit as well, and as he turned quickly trying to hide it his tail started swishing happily through the air. She covered her mouth to hide the slightest little giggle at the sight of that.

"So," Rin started awkwardly, trying to fill the silence as they walked back to the room he shared with his twin. "What... eh... what parts were you having trouble with?"

"I've been trying to memorize the proper names for various plants," she answered with a sigh. " And it's not going so well. It just doesn't make sense to me, none of those names seem to fit them properly."

Rin smiled slightly, still facing away from her, his tail wagging slightly more than it was. She was the only person he'd known who could come up with the oddest names for plants yet still find their normal names as odd as everyone found her names for them. Not that he'd even met anyone else who did that, but he imagined they wouldn't make the kind of adorably baffled and frustrated face he could imagine she was making behind him right now while fretting over trying to get their proper names down. In fact, he was sure it was physically impossible.

"Well," she said, bringing his thoughts back into focus. "I've made up some flash cards and hopefully those will do me some good!"

He could almost hear her grinning with hopeful enthusiasm behind him and looked over his shoulder for a moment to catch a quick glimpse of it. He really wanted to say something helpful, but he really couldn't think of any good advice, it wasn't like he was any good at studying. He decided to say the first encouraging thing that came to mind, "Don't worry, you'll probably get them down long before I do."

They stopped by the door to the room and he pushed it open and waved her in, putting her books and stuff on the table in front of the windows. He pulled out one chair for her and sat down on the other, staring at the pile of books he had to study from.

"Rin," she said suddenly, grabbing one of his hands. "If we study my flash cards together maybe we can both get that stuff memorized!"

His tail shot out straight behind him and his eyes widened at the sudden suggestion. He really wanted to focus on the kind of stuff he thought would likely be the most use to him – not that he really was sure what all that stuff was – but looking at the large grin on her face and knowing how much she really wanted to be helpful he really didn't have the heart to tell her no.

"Uh... okay..." he said with a smile of chagrin and his tail curling one way then the other nervously.

Letting go of his hand she got out one of the flash card sets, her huge grin never leaving her face. "Here! I'll use this set to quiz you with what each plant is good for, then you can use the other to quiz me on the proper names!"

The time seemed to go on forever while they were studying with those flash cards and Rin alternately felt like his brain was trying to melt or burst as the litany of names and uses continued, but he kept at it stubbornly. His tail, which had been held high with determination at first slowly lowered as the time passed and his frustration grew and focus faded. Now and then it would make a swift swish of irritation when he messed up something or a slight wag when Shiemi grinned triumphantly when she remembered the proper name for this or that plant or if he himself got something right, but all in all it was falling as steadily as his ability to concentrate.

Just a little before it had lowered enough to brush the ground Shiemi yawned. "Why don't we work on some other stuff now?" she suggested. "We both have other subjects to work on as well and it won't do if we focus too much on just one."

Rin stretched, his tail going straight out behind him as he did so. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He'd have rather just stopped studying all together, but he could tell Shiemi was still totally gung-ho about her whole study time for two idea and didn't want to let her down, so he grabbed a book with a sigh.

Shiemi also grabbed a book from her pile and with a look of determination she set about trying to get down as much of its contents as possible. She was so focused that she wasn't even sure how long she'd been studying when a sudden noise next to her startled her, almost causing her to drop the book she'd been holding. Quickly looking over to the side she saw Rin with his head on the open book in front of him with his eyes closed and heard him let out another snore. She couldn't help but giggle softly at the sight, his expression so unguarded as he snoozed away she couldn't help but find it adorable.

She looked around the room for a moment and walked over to the bed she assumed was his – after all, she doubted Yukio would leave his bed in such a messy state – and picked up a small throw blanket that was bunched up at one end. Carefully walking back over to where Rin snoozed she put it around his shoulders then prepared to move to gather her study materials together but was stopped by Rin's tail curling around her legs as he slept. Slowly she reached down to gently move it so that she was free. He made a soft noise as she freed herself from it and she thought she may have disturbed him, but then he let out another soft snore and his tail lazily started wagging side to side.

With a smile she gathered up her stuff and carefully exited the room and started back home. She really hoped she had been able to be at least a little help to her friend this day. As she exited the dorm Rin was still sleeping, but mumbling something about sage, cleansing, cuts, and burns in his sleep, with a slightly annoyed expression appearing on his face before he started snoring again.