~Yukio's POV~

The next couple of weeks came and went, and we were back at Friday. This was the final weekend before summer break, but Rin was worrying me again slightly. Normally, he would be jumping for joy when summer came, but his mood seemed to dull and he seemed slightly more solemn. Maybe it was the heat? I don't know. Today, in class, he hardly moved and his expression was either a death glare or a solemn frown. I sighed as I remembered the day's events, setting my briefcase on the desk on my side of the room. I opened it and began to start the lesson plans for Monday, since I had no homework in normal school today.

I don't know how long I was doing it until Rin came into the room, looking flushed and tired. He stalked over to his bed and simply collapsed, releasing an exaggeratedly long 'ugh'.

I smirked, looking up at him. "And what has you so flustered?" I felt myself smirk.

He just looked at me with his death glare and I sighed, going back to my lesson plans. A few minutes later, he rolled over on the bed and did a few cat stretches, his tail working its way out of his shirt and doing its own stretches. At one point while he was facing me, he froze, a slight frown on his face. A few minutes later I noticed, but didn't bother to look at him. "What're you looking at me like that for, Nii-Chan?"

He huffed before speaking. "We're in the dorm and it's hot out."

"So?" I smirked again. "If you're hot, go get the fan."

"That's not what I meant."

I was slightly taken aback by his answer, and after finding words, I replied. "Then what do you mean?"

"I mean you're tail. It's still up your shirt. Isn't it uncomfortable?"

I blinked. Now that I thought about it, there was an uncomfortable feeling in my spine. "Now that you mention it, it is." I finally sighed.

"Then let it out." He was still staring me.

"Let what out?"

"Let your tail out of your shirt."

I blinked again. "It's still hot in the room, so it'll still be uncomfortable, even if I do."

He huffed again. "It'll get cramped if you let it stay up there too long. I'm gonna go buy a Popsicle..." He rolled out of bed and stretched towards the ceiling once he stood up, heading towards the door.

"Get me a mineral water from the fridge on your way back."

" 'K, four-eyes."

He nearly slammed the door behind him.

I sighed at the nickname, but he didn't seem to notice and simply left the room.

Rin had been right about the tail thing. After a while, the uncomfortable feeling in my spine slowly became painful. I looked around the room, even though I knew that there was no one else in the room with me, and I lifted up my shirt a little bit and my tail uncoiled from around my chest, and did its own stretches, like Rin had, and began to sway back and forth behind me.

It felt like heaven for my spine, as the pain stopped and it felt comfortable. It felt natural.

I shook my head slightly and concentrated on my work again, my neck aching after awhile from craning it. I sighed and decided to take a short break, and as I turned the chair around, Rin was standing directly in front of me, a mineral water in one hand and a Popsicle stick in the other.

He startled me, and I jumped backwards, falling out of the chair and onto the floor.

He blinked. "You okay, four-eyes?" His expression remained as solemn as ever.

"You startled me." I said breathlessly, getting onto my feet. "How long have you been there?"

"Hmm." He tapped his chin with the Popsicle stick. "About half an hour, why?"

I blinked. "Why didn't you get my attention to tell me you were back?"

"You seemed so concentrated, that I didn't want to break your focus." He blinked. "Here's your mineral water." He held out the bottle.

"Um... Thanks." I took it and sat down, sipping on it.

He tossed the Popsicle stick into the trashcan and flopped onto his bed again, his tail laying out flat behind him. Occasionally, it would flop and hit the bed a few times, but for the most part remained still.

I sighed, inwardly this time, as I went back to the lesson plans. I only had a few more pages to do, and then I would be free for the weekend. I was curious as to why Rin was being so stiff recently, but I didn't want to pry. Last time I pried, he only gave me excuses.

Well, I may as well not worry about it now. It is what it is. I went back to work and after about another half hour I packed my briefcase and (neatly) put it away. I sat down on my own bed, staring at Rin.

Even though he had his back to me when I stared at him, he turned around almost as soon as I began to, staring me down for about 2 minutes. His gaze was piercing and harsh, and it felt like his gaze was ripping me apart. Finally, he spoke. "Why're you staring at me?" His tail flopped around directly after he said it, like a call-and-response type of thing.

I blinked. "No reason, just bored. Don't you have homework?"

He shook his head, a few drops of sweat on his forehead gleaming as he did so. "No, you?"

I shook my head. Something golden flashed from under his hair, on the left side of his head.

"Did you get another piercing?" I tilted my head, looking at him curiously.

He nodded, moving his hair to reveal a white rose with chains and a cuff.

I blinked. "And you... like it?"

He shrugged. "The cuff seemed pretty cool." He replied blandly, resting his head on the pillow, but still looking at me. He wasn't glaring at me like he was before, though, but it still felt a lot hotter in the room as he did so.

"And the rose?"

"The rose is kinda cool, I guess, but the main reason I got it was still the cuff."

"Ah." I nodded. A few more minutes passed of awkward silence. "Do you want to go outside?" I finally spoke again.

"Sure, we could visit Shiemi's garden."

I was slightly surprised at this, but quickly recovered. "Sure, I'll go call her."

"Mm'kay, four-eyes." He closed his eyes and fell still, but I could see his chest rising and falling gently as he turned over in his bed.

I took out my phone and called Shiemi.

'Hello. Who is this?' The voice on the other end of the receiver asked.

"It's me, Shiemi."

'Oh, hi Yuki-Chan! Is something wrong?'

"No. Me and Rin just wanted to know if we could come and visit you and your lovely garden today." I kept my voice as polite as possible.

'Oh, okay! That's not a problem. See you there!'

"Alright, goodbye Shiemi."

'Goodbye, Yuki-Chan.'

I hung up. "Rin, she said we can go."

He mumbled something. "Are you going to put your tail up your shirt or keep it out?" He mumbled sleepily as he sat up. Even like this, he was frowning and his eyes looked cold, harsh, monotone, and dead all at the same time.

"I don't think she's used to seeing me with a tail, so I think I'll put it up my shirt."

"Okay." He got up and stretched as I coiled my tail around my torso.

"Alright, let's go." I sighed after saying this putting the key to the Exorcist Shop in our door and heading through. Rin followed close behind with the Kurikara on his back.

(Line Skip)

"The garden looks different, Shiemi. Did you plant anything new?" I stood next to the blonde in the middle of the garden, looking at everything around me. It seemed as though she were planting everything in a sort of pattern so that the garden was like a picture.

"I did, Yuki-Chan! Thank you for noticing." She said happily, clasping her hands together, but then frowned slightly as she looked over at Rin. "Rin-sama looks really interested with the roses, but mostly the reds and the whites." She mumbled. It was true. He stood in front of them, looking at them. His expression remained a solemn frown, but he did seem mostly interested in them.

"Yeah. And it turns out he got a piercing in his left ear, and it's a rose earring."

She looked at me for a few moments before looking back at Rin. There was a circle of flower beds towards the outermost part of the garden, and each had interchanging colors. For example, one flower bed would have a checkered pattern of yellow and blue roses, and in the center would be specially bred green roses around the center. The flower bed that Rin happened to be looking at had white and red, with pink in the middle.

"How's your familiar doing?" I turned to look at Shiemi again, and she seemed pleasantly happy when I asked. "He's fine, right Nii?" The greenman poked its way out of her hair, smiling. I smiled back at it.

We chatted for awhile, and it was pleasant. The garden itself almost had its own atmosphere, as the air was pleasantly cool and fresh. At one point, Rin straightened up and finally spoke, which surprised us both.

"Shiemi?"

The blonde seemed slightly surprised as she turned to face him, even though he hadn't even turned his head to look at us, much less Shiemi.

"Yes, Rin-sama?"

"Do you like roses a lot?"

"They're not my favorite, but I do believe they are quite beautiful."

"Alright." He nodded. A moment later, he spoke again.

"Do you get visitors often?"

She shook her head. "I don't recall anyone else from class every-"

"Excuse me." He said, interrupting. "Sorry for interrupting, but that's not what I meant."

She blinked. "Then what did you mean?"

"I meant things like bugs and lower level demons."

"Um... Yes. Not the demons, the bugs. A lot of ladybugs and butterflies come in and out."

He nodded. "What about spiders?"

"Spiders?" She thought to herself for a moment. "Not often, but they do come by."

"Alright, then one last question."

"O-Okay." I could tell that Shiemi was a little bit uncomfortable with Rin's monotone voice. I squeezed her hand, and she mouthed a 'Thank you' at me. I nodded wordlessly.

"Do you think that I could have a rose?"

She blinked, and sighed breathlessly with relief. "Of course. Which color?"

"Red or white would be fine."

"Alright, I'l give you 2 of both, then!" She exclaimed, which lightened the mood a little bit.

"Thank you Shiemi, that's awfully generous of you."

"No problem, Rin-sama!" She went and got a flower pot and gently uprooted 4 roses, careful not to detach the roots from the stem.

Rin watched wordlessly, but I was mostly looking at Rin. It wasn't even solemn anymore, it was as if he were in a bad mood but remained expressionless.

After a few more minutes, Shiemi handed Rin the pot with the roses, and he nodded to her as he accepted it. "Thanks again, Shiemi." I could have sworn that he gave a small smile, but it seemed sat and only lasted a split second.

He turned his head and began to fish through his pocket. "How much for them?"

She shook her head. "Take them for free, as an apology."

He turned his head to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you after the training camp. Will you forgive me?" Her head was hung low but I could see her straining her eyes up to see Rin.

"Of course you're forgiven, Shiemi." He gave another small smile, and I could have sworn I saw his eyes shine for a moment, as though they were watering, but they stopped after a few seconds.

"Are we still friends?" She looked up at him, anticipating an answer.

"Of course we are."

She jumped to her feet with happiness and hugged him. Rin froze for a moment but patted her back affectionately. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.

For the second time, Rin was utterly and completely confusing me.

What was going through his head this time?

Ahhh...This took soooo long...

Well, there's chapter 16. I still think this sounded a bit desperate, but it's getting back on track. And yes, spiders are kind of a big part of this story, for those of you that don't remember the spiderwebs in the cracks.

I hope this was enjoyable, and I am quite satisfied with the length.

Das vedania!