"I'm stepping outside for a moment to take a call. Please finish reading the assigned pages," Yukio Okumura declared, eyeing his younger brother, who was using his book as an unfortunately drool-drenched pillow.
"Yes, Okumura-sensai," Bon, Konekomaru, and Shima answered dutifully before Yukio shut the door, sighing wearily. No matter how hard Yukio tried, it was impossible to turn Rin into a model student. Turning his mind away from that depressing thought, he instead focused on the problem at hand. Whenever Mephisto called, there was sure to be trouble.
"Yes? This is Okumura."
"A demon just infiltrated the school - we haven't pinned down its location yet; we just know it's fast, and it's on the move."
"What? How did a demon get in?"
"We don't know. Be on guard and contact us when you find it."
"Yes sir," Yukio nodded and snapped the phone shut, suddenly very wary of the long, dimly lit corridor in which he found himself. Standing still as a statue, he slowly scanned the hallway, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. After several moments of shallow breathing and heavy heartbeats, he slid his fingers away from his holster and turned back towards the classroom.
There!
He whirled around, gun instantly in hand as he advanced toward the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere within the shadows.
"You there! Stop!"
A hulking, bearded man had stepped into the light, nostrils flared in disgust as if smelling some terrible stench. At the sight of Yukio he chuckled a bit and shrugged his hands in the air.
"What are you? A glorified hall monitor?"
The man looked human - but so did Rin. Yukio tightened his grip and addressed the intruder in English.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The stranger was growing impatient, "Look, kid, I'm kind of busy here."
"I'm not letting you pass until you answer my questions."
"Whatever. Let's finish this conversation later," the man grunted, staring over Yukio's shoulder with a strange expression. He was about to glance behind him to see what had caught the stranger's attention when he suddenly noticed a metallic glint in the stranger's hand. At first he thought he was holding knives, but at second look he saw three long, silver claws had grown out of the stranger's fists, sharp and deadly as any sword.
Without hesitation, Yukio shot.
The man - or rather, the demon - grunted but hardly seemed perturbed - instead he pushed past Yukio and began sprinting down the hall - towards the cram school.
"Stop!" Yukio ordered, firing off three more shots. The demon jolted with each bullet but didn't slow down. Whipping out his phone, he smashed the redial button while keeping his revolver trained on the intruder.
"I've located the demon, it's at the cram school. I'm in pursuit, but it seems to be invulnerable to my bullets. Be careful, it looks like a human."
"Wonderful! We're on our way. Please hold him off as long as you can. And Okumura -don't let your brother get involved. I rather like my school in one piece."
"Yes sir," Yukio obliged. Easier said than done.
"Rin, wake up! This is an important lesson!" Rin blearily opened his eyes, lazily wiping a string of drool from his chin.
"Huh?"
Shiemi had her stern face on - but she was just too cute to be intimidating. Still, she slammed one delicate fist into her palm and fixed a green-eyed scowl on Rin.
"If you want to become an exorcist, you have to study hard, like Yuki-chan!"
Rin snorted, "They should just make us exorcists already. We know how to fight demons, isn't that enough?"
"Baka!"
Rin spun around on his stool to see Bon with his arms crossed and a familiar fury gleaming in his eyes, "Being an exorcist is way more than simply waving that thing around and hoping you hit something!" he nodded, indicating the sword on Rin's back.
Tail twitching, Rin jumped to his feet and prepared to deliver a stunningly clever retort when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a gunshot, then three more. Everyone stared at the door in wide-eyed suspense.
"Yuki-chan!" Shiemi cried, jolting everyone into action.
"Come on!" Rin shouted, shrugging the Kurikara from its red silk case and charging towards the door, the rest of the class at his heels. As soon as his fingers brushed the doorknob, though, the wall seemed to explode. Splintered wood and debris burst forward like a popped balloon, throwing the students to the floor. He was still blinking sawdust out of his eyes when the demon revealed itself - some sort of terrible worm-like creature with razor sharp teeth. It crashed into the room and flailed on the floor for a moment before righting itself and scampering onto the teacher's desk, hissing and flicking its tongue in each of their directions.
"Is everyone okay?" Konekomaru called, clutching his cracked glasses to his face.
"No - I think I bruised my tail bone," Shima moaned.
"What is that thing?" Izumo demanded, looking on with disgust.
Bon clenched his fists, "A demon - that's all that matters. We need to take it out."
Rin would have grinned at the prospect of a good fight, but he couldn't help but be worried. Yukio should have been here by now. Still, he gripped his sheath and snarled, "Leave it to me!"
However, before he could draw his sword, someone else came leaping through the gaping hole in the wall. At first he thought it might be Yukio, but no - it was some burly guy with a beard and..claws? The growling, blood-spattered stranger caught them all off guard - especially when he waved his claws in their direction and shouted, "Get out of here! It's not safe!"
The demon shrieked and leaped towards the stranger, who roared and met it mid-air, digging his long, silver claws into its hide. They crashed to the ground, the demon's tongue snaking around the stranger's arm and chomping down on his arm. He slashed its jaw and left the mouth hanging open, unhinged. In the next moment he jabbed his fist into the roof of its mouth, driving his claws into its brain. The creature let out a moan, then disintegrated to dust.
Panting, glazed with sweat and blood, the stranger stood and stared back at them, brow furrowed in either anger or confusion. His claws retracted into his hands, and he raised a finger to point at all the students, who were still staring.
"Am I the only one who saw that?"