THAT'S THE REAL ME!

"I'm not afraid."

Shiemi?

"Rin, I swear if you let those flames take over again I'll kill you myself!"

Utsukushi.

"See I'm completely unhurt!" Shiemi's voice said again. "And it's because you made it so."

That's right! You all trusted me, I want to live up to your faith!

A blast of blue flame was growing a an alarming rate with Rin at the center controlling it.

I woke up just in time to see daylight and Rin's receding flames. Bon was waking up right beside me and he held me close.

"Utsukushi?" he hugged me hard and I whimpered in pain.

"B-bon, my back." he pulled his hands off to find them covered in blood.

"S-sorry." he sat up with me in his lap then held me in his arms as he stood up. "Okumura." he said as we walked toward Rin.

"Shura, Suguro, Kushi..." he said weakly. But once he turned his head I knew that he was weak with excitement, "I did it, I controlled my flames! Sure there's still a lot of fine tuning to be done but I did it!"

I sighed and clung closer to Bon's chest as the others ran up the mountain.

"Okumura-kun, Okumura-chan, Bon!" Konekomaru stopped once he saw Bon carrying me. I smirked against his chest.

"Tell them I'm dead." I whispered.

"Eh?! What do you mean?! I'm not going to worry them like that!" Bon shouted. "I'll drop you!"

"But then I really will be dead." I pouted.

"Bon, what happened?" I heard Shima ask. I turned my head around and saw that everyone was staring at me.

"She protected me from most of the damage, while Rin did the real slicing."

"Oh yeah, Kushi, how are you feeling?" Rin walked over to me just as Bon was setting me back on the ground.

"Numb mainly, I can't feel my legs, but I can still move them." I moved my foot a bit to prove the point.

The high priest had me in a sitting position and was examining my wounds when Yukio decided to come around, "Nii-san, Nee-chan."

Everyone's attention turned to Yukio, Rin and me.

"Yukio! you're ok too!"

Yukio glared at Shura, "How did they get out of confinement?"

"Well, ya see, they apologized!" Shura said reluctantly.

"Yukio! I saved all these people here! I bet you're so shocked that your jaws about ta hit the ground ain't it! The day I'm gonna surpass you is getting closer!"

Yukio was silent until he ran over and punched Rin in the face, "DON'T BE A FOOL! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION!? NOT ONLY WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN EXECUTED, UTSUKUSHI WOULD HAVE AS WELL!"

I gasped slightly, Yukio was never this angry, he was the quiet one, that did as he was told. I stood up quickly to retort but fell back down when Rin did anyway. "I do, I finally understand, I'm Satan's son, and I can't run away from this power. Kushi can't either, but she knew that long before I did. I've always been scared to accept it while she's out using it to help people. But that wasn't... good." and with that he passed out.

I stared at Rin's body as he fell, once it finally hit the ground I glared at Yukio.

"Sometimes you're both fucking idiots." that was it and I passed out from blood loss.

"Tou-san, what if the kids here don't like me?" I asked Father Fujimoto.

"Hm? It won't matter, just be your self and once someone comes to accept the entire you, good and bad, then that's a true friend worth having." he ruffled my hair and held my hand to lead me into school.

A true friend. Ryuji-kun.

Rin woke up next to Shiemi and they talked for a bit, that left him blushing and sad. 'I'll be your friend forever and ever'

That broke him slightly.

Shima laughed and he saw that almost everyone else was there, except one.

"Where's Kushi!?"

Shima looked at him disdainfully, "She was in really bad shape, burns, broken limbs, extreme blood loss, her entire back had no skin on it and had bits of rock in it from when the sporangium exploded."

Rin and Shiemi's faces dropped, Izumo paled from behind the screen. The room was silent.

Until they heard a scream. Rin jumped up and ran towards it to find Utsukushi in a white room cowering in a corner.

This time when I woke up I was in a room that was mainly white everywhere. Sure there was some browns and greens here and there, but the light that shone in made everything reflect white.

My memory flashed back to the courtroom with Angel, I swore I could feel my foot being cut off again, so I screamed and ran straight for a corner. I cowered there for a while with my hands over my head and tears running down my cheeks.

Rin appeared in the doorway first, then Bon, Shura, and Yukio.

"What's wrong Nee-san?!" Yukio asked me.

I paused and I remembered where I was, this is not a courtroom. I looked at my leg and found my foot still attached.

"N-nothing, god I hate white." I curled in on myself and they just shook their heads.

"Is it because of what happened that day in court?" Shura asked, "I noticed that you checked to see if you still had your leg."

I nodded.

"What happened?" Bon asked as he kneeled in front of me.

"Let her explain, I've got a meeting." Shura said.

"I have something I need to do." Yukio said as he walked out of the room with Shura.

"I'm hungry." Rin walked in the opposite direction towards the kitchen. That left me and Bon alone. I groaned at my luck as Shima, Leo, and Konkomaru came panting into the room.

"What's going on?" Shima saw Bon leaning towards me and me cowering in the corner. His mouth dropped, "BON! I never took you for the forceful type!"

Bon looked at me and blushed. "I wasn't doing anything to her!"

"Why'd she scream then?"

"I have a slight fear of white rooms..." I said nervously.

"... Oh, mind explaining?" Shima said as he sat cross-legged next to Bon. Konekomaru sighed and joined with Leo right behind him.

"Maybe?"

"Please!" Leo begged.

I sighed, "Fine, remember when Rin first showed off his flames? We got pulled away into a courtroom as evidence?" Bon looked away in shame. "Well, it was a huge white room, Me and Rin had our feet cut off so we wouldn't run. It hurt because Angel's demon sword happened to be made of holy silver. I don't remember much past the conditions on which we are allowed to live."

"What are they?" Leo asked.

"... We have to become full fledged exorcists. If we fail the first time we'll be exorcised."

"I can see how you'd attach this to a bad memory." Leo said nervously.

I nodded. "Sorry about that."

"About what?" I asked.

"Calling you a demon."

"You've already apologized just let it go." I waved him off.

"Hey did you hear? We have a free day today!" Shima said excitedly.

I smiled, "Wanna go swimming?"

Leo and the others just frowned, "But Kushi you-"

"I'm fine dammit!" I stood up, turned around and pulled up my shirt. Once my hand touched the end of the bandage they started to panic, "Don't do it you need to heal!" "I know you heal quickly and all but THAT fast is ridiculous!" I ignored them and stripped the bandage. There was no pain, and no more protests. "See?"

Bon frowned as he stood up. He gripped my arm angrily, "Don't you EVER do that again or I'll- I'll- I'll rip off your tail and beat you with it!"

I just stared in shock as a blush crept up on my face, "Is it weird that I like it when you yell at me?" I asked.

Shima and Leo burst into laughter as Bon blushed as well and let me go. "Whatever I'm gonna go find Pops."

"I'm coming with!" I said excitedly, "But I'm gonna get dressed first, Kay?" I turned on my heel and picked up my clothes. As I walked over to go through my bag I was removing the top of my yukata.

"KUSHI!" Bon ran over and pulled the sides back up. "What are you doing?!"

I stared at him like he was the crazy one. "changing clothes. Why?"

His face turned an interesting cherry color, "A young lady doesn't change in front of men!"

"I don't mind Bon, I'd like to see what's under there." Shima said pervertedly. Konekomaru pushed Shima out of the room while also dragging Leo.

"Ugh, what's wrong with you!" he groaned once they were out of the door.

"Nothing, I'm healed and I'm somewhat mentally stable." I said as I turned and pulled the sides down again. Bon pulled them back up. I glared at him, "What's with you?"

"At least wait until I'm out of the room too!"

"Dun wanna." I pulled the sides down again, and he stopped them, again.

"Do you normally strip in front of people?" he seethed?

"No." he groaned as he attached a grip to my shoulders. "Is there something wrong," I bit my lip to make myself say the next words, "R-ryuji-kun?"

His head flung up to look me in the eyes. I grimaced thinking I did something wrong. He smiled, "It's nice to hear you say my name." I sighed in relief, "But still, wait until I'm out."

I smirked and slipped one side down just to irk him. He glared at me as he walked out. I smiled as I changed into my swimsuit with my uniform over it.