Tale of a Tail
Tale 3: A Celebratory Tail

notes:
And it turns out chapter 3 still isn't the right spot to end this. Ah, well... I'm having fun writing this (and hopefully you all are having fun reading this) so it's all good. Again, no beta reader still, so I'd positively ADORE some input on this.

Rin stared at the paper in front of him, completely incredulous at the score he saw on his test. Sure, he was sure his score wasn't the highest in the class by far, but it was enough higher than what he'd been averaging he started grinning as soon as he picked his jaw off the floor and his tail wouldn't stop moving.

Sitting next to him Shiemi watched with a smile. "Rin, how'd you do on this test?" she asked.

"Just look!" he beamed, sliding the test paper over to her.

"Wow!" she said, noticing the fact that the score was much better than some of his other tests, with scores in the single digit range. "Those flashcards must have payed off!"

His grin suddenly turned very slightly wary and his tail slowed slightly. "Yeah..." He hated to admit it, but they probably HAD been why he did better this time and he worried about some of what those bothersome things actually working may entail. "Uh... how'd you do?"

"Just look," she smiled, handing him her test.

"Wow, looks like they helped you, too. You got a lot of those plant names right this time!"

"Yeah," she beamed. "I'll have to make flashcards for more stuff if they work this well. Oh! And we can study with them together again!" She clapped her hands together enthusiastically as she voiced the idea, her grin widening even more.

Rin's tail flagged a bit in the face of her enthusiasm, but he managed to smile back somehow. "Sure..." Rin's tail rose again as he got his own idea about what they deserved for their good test scores, something MUCH better than more tedious studying. He almost couldn't keep his mouth shut, but he knew it would be better if he didn't say anything for now...

Shiemi thought it odd the next day when she saw a poorly concealed bag with something in it on the floor by Rin as she came in to her classes the next day. She noticed his tail squirming through the air far more than was normal for him, too. She didn't even need to look around to know that more than one of their classmates were finding its near constant erratic movements more that a little distracting.

"Rin?" she asked carefully. It was obvious to anyone something was up with him, especially with that tail and the grin that kept trying to sneak onto his face giving him away.

"Eh?" he responded, somehow managing, for the moment at least, to appear the very face of innocence.

Sitting down she smiled and sighed, "Nothing..."

He started muttering under his breath just soft enough she couldn't make out what he was saying then attempted and succeeded, for a short while, to remain reasonably composed, holding his tail unnaturally still and stuff behind him until he couldn't hold back anymore and it started fidgeting behind him yet again. It was clear to the girl that somehow sometime today something interesting was going to happen... even if it was just him antagonizing a certain classmate to violence with his inability to keep perfectly composed in class.

Shiemi had been slightly surprised when at the beginning of a break between their exorcism classes Rin had asked her to follow him out to the fountain with a wide grin and a slight blush and his face and a happily wagging tail behind him. The moment she said okay he'd grabbed that mysterious bag and headed out in such a hurry he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. She could tell he was trying not to go too fast for her sake, but he was still in such a hurry she was slightly out of breath by the time they got there.

She was still catching her breath as he sat the bag next to him and reached inside pulling out two boxes. "I thought since we did so well on that last test we deserved a little treat," he told her, a grin still on his face and his tail still moving behind as he handed one of the boxes to her.

She took the box and blushed slightly. "I probably wouldn't have done so well if you hadn't helped me..."

"And my scores wouldn't have gone up so much without your help. I never would have thought to use flashcards, you know," he interrupted, neglecting to mention he never really wanted to think of using them and that he found them annoying. But for her sake, and the fact they actually DID appear to have helped, he'd put up with them. Especially if it meant more excuses to come up with treats for the two of them after getting better grades.

Shiemi nodded and started to open the box. Rin sat by watching her, not even bothering to open his yet, he wanted to see the look on her face when she opened it. With it finally open she saw a small selection of sweet snacks inside. "Oh, this all looks so good!" she exclaimed.

He laughed slightly, "Now try one, it's the taste that's the most important you know!"

She looked at the various snacks in the box and picked one up, putting it into her mouth carefully and ate it, obviously savoring the flavor. "They taste even better than they look!" she told him excitedly, grinning as she decided which one to eat next

He grinned wide enough at that compliment that anyone who didn't know him well would more than likely be unnerved by his fang-filled grin while his tail made wide swishes behind him. He watched her put another one in her mouth and blushed slightly as her face showed just how much she was enjoying the taste of them. He took a moment to hastily open the other box and start eating his share, he had to admit he'd done a damn good job cooking this batch of snacks up.

As he ate he only paid partial attention to the snacks before him, half of his attention on watching Shiemi enjoy her share out of the corner of his eye. Definitely, he decided, this was worth putting up with studying, flashcards, and all those types of boring things he'd typically rather avoid.

"That was wonderful! Thanks, Rin!" she said after finishing her last bite.

He smiled, looking at her beaming face, "It's just a little treat for us both for doing so well and a little thank you for you helping me study..." He paused and leaned slightly closer to her. "Uh, you've got some of it on your chin."

She blushed and rubbed her chin embarrassedly. "Is it gone now?"

"Still there," he told her, watching her try yet again. "You missed it again," he told her before she could even ask again.

With another valiant effort she tried again, certain she'd get it this time. "Now?"

He sighed and shook his head, "Let me give it a try." He quickly rubbed his hand against his pants to clean the crumbs off then leaned towards her, tail intently still behind him, brushing the offending bit of food away with his fingers. "There, now it's gone."

He leaned back and looked at her, noticing how red faced she'd become and wondered at that reaction for a moment before realizing what caused it. In less than a heartbeat his face was blushing just as red and his tail was swaying anxiously behind him.

"We," Shiemi started, trying not to stutter. "We should be getting back to class now..."

"Eh, yeah... it's probably about time for that now," he agreed.

Even by the time they made it back to class, barely in time, they were still blushing enough most of their classmates looked at them oddly. They were quite grateful of the fact there wasn't enough time for anyone to ask questions about it and Rin found himself looking forward to their next study session far more than he thought he would EVER be looking forward to studying.