Author's note; I do not own Ao No Exorcist, or any of the characters. Reviews and/or ideas are loved. Ah, I know that these chapters have come one after another… but I'll chalk that up to inspiration. Don't get used to it. ;D
"Well played Mephi-chan. Well played." She smirked, replacing her fallen lollipop with a new, vibrant orange, one.
The only reply the raven-haired female received was a smile.
Deciding she was well enough to leave the sterile room and hospital smelling building Naoki quickly found her clothes, sitting neatly folded in the opposite corner, and picked them up. She glanced at Mephisto and motioned for him to leave. He just chuckled and drank a cup of tea that seemed to appear out of thin air. Growling, Naoki took a firm stance and pointed at the door; her free hand clutching her dress and planted on her hip. "Damnit Mephi. Get out before I call the cops!"
His smirk grew bigger but he knew that this was about as far as this 'joke' could go before Naoki, or any girl for that matter, got him arrested. Teacup in hand, Mephisto strolled out the door of the small room, giving the seventeen-year-old female the privacy she deserved.
"This'll be interesting… Or so I hope. Mephi hasn't lied to me yet. But I suppose there's always a first for everything." The female mused to herself. Quickly she pulled on the kimono, thigh-high socks, black geta (typical of Japanese culture), and pulled her rather messy hair into a bun. She hoped that she looked presentable, as there was no mirror in sight, and she headed for the door.
She took two steps outside before she spotted Mephisto leaning up against a wall; obviously waiting for her. Naoki could only imagine that he had more to tell her about her new school.
"Ah, now that you have decided to become a student of our wonderful and colorful academy, a place where many a-"
"The basics, Mephi-chan. Just the basics." Naoki cut off the purple haired male. She wasn't interested in the history or flamboyant wording the male had to offer. She merely wanted to know what she needed to do, where to go, and just what she was getting herself into. Such froufrou information could wait until a later date.
"Such a kill-joy today, Nao-san! But the basics it'll be." Mephisto critiqued in a playful manner. "You'll go to normal, everyday-civilian, classes in the morning. Once those are over, you'll head to the exorcist classroom using this…" He dug around in his pocket for a moment, finally fishing out a key. "… key. You can use it in any door on school grounds. It'll open to where you need to be. But be careful not to let any… mundane student catch you. I'd hate to have to expel you ~."
Naoki laughed lightly.
"That's about all you really need to know. You'll be staying in the girls' dorms during this year as well. I suppose that's all! How about I show you to your classroom? My little exorcist ~." Mephisto quickly took a hold of Naoki's wrist and pulled her lightly towards a door out of the way of the people walking to and fro. Curious as to what he meant, but worried for his mental state should he 'fail', Naoki watched silently as he placed the key into a random door and pushed it open.
The female was shocked when they were met with an elegantly designed hallway instead of a janitor's closet. It wasn't until Mephisto pulled her through the door that Naoki woke from her shocked state. Shaking her head, she gazed in bewilderment at the male walking away. As fast as she could, she picked up her own feet and trailed after him. They made there way to a simple door, much to Naoki's dismay, before which the older male came to a stop.
"Here we are!" He chimed.
Naoki just waited for even more oddity to appear. She expected something along the lines of rainbows and mystery to emanate from the classroom door they stood before. Instead she merely heard screams and cusses. She gave Mephisto a puzzled look before he laughed, rather loudly, and pushed the door open. Making a grand entrance that was extremely in character for him.
"Hello my students! Today you get a new classmate!"
There were around nine people in the room. Two seemed to be ready to tear one another's head off, while two seemed to be trying to keep them apart. One of the females in the room looked worried, while the other seemed uncaring. The rest of the room was sitting in various spots in the classroom; not paying much attention to, what looked like, a soon-to-be-fight. Mephisto paid little attention to the atmosphere, shocked expressions on many of the students' faces, and overall bad timing he had had.
"Everyone, meet Naoki Nakamura! From now on she'll be a part of your little family!" His booming voice echoed back to him.
No one said anything, no one moved a muscle, and no one seemed to even blink. Which made Naoki have doubts about her sudden choice. But she wasn't about to back down now. Not when this was all still interesting and enjoyable to her. With a smile she poked Mephisto in the side; causing him to move, and smiled at the group.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." She smiled and cocked her head to the right, hoping that at least one of the people in the room had manners.
It was a moment before life swept over the floor and everyone began to move. The first person to speak up was a pink haired male with a grin stretching ear to ear. "Welcome to our class, Nao-chan! Renzo Shima at your service."
He seemed to break the seal and the rest of the room introduced themselves.
"Yo! I'm Rin Okumura. Heh, our last names are similar." His greeting was accompanied by a dorky half-grin.
"Tch, Izumo Kamiki." The purple haired female muttered.
"Ryuji Suguro-" an enthusiastic Rin cut him off. "Most people call him Bon."
Of course, that initiated a meaningless argument between the two, to which Naoki merely giggled lightly. "Obviously… not the best of friends. But they aren't enemies either. What with the way they argue…"
"Ah, Sh-shiemi Moriyama." The second female in the room introduced herself. Naoki swore she was going to fall over if she looked at her for too long.
"Konekomaru Miwa… It's nice to meet you." Naoki nearly missed the male with his immense height difference in the group. But once she noticed him she smiled just as brightly.
"That's Takara over in the corner, and I'm Yukio Okumura, your teacher." The last male finally introduced himself. Naoki took a good look at him, attempting to figure out just what kind of person he happened to be. But she couldn't really figure it out. While he had on glasses, held a friendly aura, and didn't seem to be very out-there, like the rest of the group, there was something that told her he wasn't one to be messed with... plus, she knew better than to judge based on appearances.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." She chimed.
As soon as she had finished her sentence, Mr. Okumura turned on Rin and began to lecture him about starting fights in the middle of class. Figuring it would be wise to take a seat, Naoki looked around for an open one. As soon as it was located, she made her way to the empty chair next to Takara. She figured it'd be an okay place to sit… until he lifted his hand and the pink rabbit puppet turned to look at her. In an instant she felt a shiver race up her spine and she stifled a scream. Wheeling on her heel she headed to the other available spot; the chair by Izumo.
The girl looked at her with a slight judgmental expression, but Naoki ignored it. Puppets had always scared her shitless… why? She had no idea. They just did. The way their lifeless eyes, expressionless faces, and missing bottom-halves contradicted the idea that they were 'alive' terrified her. It was a no brainer that she would be steering clear of Takara from now on.
Nothing else was said to the female. The lesson was resumed and the rest of the day went by fairly quickly. It wasn't until the end of it all that Naoki realized that the bag of candy she had had with her before her attack had not been in the pile of items at the hospital. "He better not have taken it…" Naoki groaned in her mind.
When they were dismissed, Naoki picked up her things and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Rin and Shima at the door. Both were grinning ear to ear and Naoki sighed.
"Can… I help you with something?" She questioned them, hoping that they just wanted to walk with her back to the dorm, instead of some awkward and possibly life-threatening question. Not for her of course, for them.
She would never know.
Before either could open their mouths, their names were called. Rin's by Mr. Okumura, Shima's by Bon. Both males sighed in defeat before hollering back at their colleagues. Naoki sighed in relief and slipped out before they could stop her again. As soon as she was in the hallway, she bolted for a door that would get her to Mephisto's office.
She had a candy thief to deal with.
It had taken an hour for the female to locate the well-hidden office. Huffing lightly at the massive amount of energy she had spent searching, Naoki lifted her hand and knocked on the door.
She heard something along the lines of 'one minute' then the sound of another door opening and shutting before Mephisto's voice called out 'come in'. Curious, but not enough to distract her from her mission, Naoki pushed open the door and stomped towards the 'head master's' desk.
"Mephi-chan~ I have a problem. When I was attacked I had a bag of candy my uncle gave me. I don't have it anymore. I don't suppose you'd know where it went?" She raised an accusing eyebrow at the male.
He laughed. "I'm afraid I don't. It wasn't in the hospital with you? Perhaps a child wandered by and took it! Children these days…" The only hint that he was lying was the smirk on his face and light twinkle in his eye.
Naoki sighed. "I see you won't admit it. I guess I'll just have to tell my uncle not to serve you next time he sees you. We wouldn't want to have a candy thief in our store!" She cooed, well informed in how to play his game.
A small vein popped on his forehead and Naoki cheered in her head; 'victory', it looked as though she was the champion. Not that she expected him to admit it.
A light cough from the male proved her suspicions, on both counts, right. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean. But seeing as I understand the horrors of a candy-less world, I'll give you a few for now…" Mephisto reached into his desk and pulled out a bag.
Naoki could have sworn she heard someone sigh, but when she was offered a handful of yellow-covered lollipops, she brushed the thought off.
"That's rather generous of you Mephi-chan!" She laughed, popping on of the banana lollipops into her mouth.
Having achieved what she came for, Naoki turned around to leave.
She was too distracted by her victory to hear that same door open, close, and someone she didn't know speak to Mephisto.
"She's the candy girl you talk about, aniki?"