Ehehe *laughs sheepishly* I guess sorry isn't really enough to compensate for all the tiring wait, so here it is! A chap! *finally!*
'Coz it's been a long time, today's chap is supeeeer long, the longest I've written so far! :3 it is actually longer, but I decided to cut it since it is way too long +.+ expect the next chap soon!
Oh! I decided to put the drama chap later since I still want to fill in some events into the story before it :)
Thank you for all the generous reviews! They really fuel up such a lazy author like me, once again forgive me for all the wait! +.+
LoveLess
Chapter 12: Mission
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"Aw~ Rin-chan you look so cute~", Shima cooed with an annoyingly high-pitched tone that seemed to grate at Rin's already mortified nerves.
"Shut your trap pinkie", the blue-haired teen grumbled, the slight blush painting his cheeks deepened visibly. His lean body was donned in a sleeveless white simple T-shirt with rips littering all over the cotton material. A grey scarf flipped over his neck and both long ends were left to dangle. For his lower-half body, he wore a pair of dark grey long pants with horizontal rips on each kneecap. A pair of black tufty ears were perched on his head, the shade blending nicely with the strands of his own short tresses. The added animal-characteristic fitted perfectly with his own naturally-attached tail, creating an image of an unruly werewolf.
"Ck, do I really have to wear this? I look even more ridiculous", he grumbled, one hand grasping at the twin triangular shapes situated on his head, "You made this Shiemi?"
Shiemi nodded vigorously like an overly-excited puppy, "Yes! It looks really cute on you Rin-kun! You look perfectly like the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood!", she bubbly commented with anime-pink-flowers visibly radiating off her suddenly vibrant background.
Rin sweatdropped, 'She didn't make this costume based on what she imagined as the wolf in that children-fairytale right?'
"Just suck it up. Frankly this appearance adds up to your manly points", Bon snickered, ruffling Rin's hair but still mindful of the fake ears.
The poor teen smacked Bon's hand and groaned, "Not you too". Normally he would jump at the chance of bickering with this particular friend with a mean mouth, but then not any sum of his complaining would fix his pitiful situation anyway.
Yukio smiled reassuringly at his brother, "Don't worry nii-san", he placed a hand on his shoulder, "You really do look cute"
Rin leered at him with a pout on his lips, "Stop associating me with the word 'cute'. I've had enough coming from these lucky bunch. They all have nice roles with pretty costumes and I get fake ears to play as an uncouth beast?"
Yukio furrowed his eyebrows, "The lycanthrope in the story isn't exactly uncouth, he is just a little awkward around people"
"It's the same idiot", Rin mumbled, too small to be audible.
"Ok then!", Konekomaru chimed in with a clap to gain everyone's attention, "Let's go practice the play once more!"
Soon they were immersed in the play practice. Despite the fact that most of the members felt reluctant to perform, they couldn't deny that the story was quite enchanting. The fantasy mixed with a twist of angst would undeniably and profoundly tweak on the sentiments of the spectators and win them over with a galore of passionate lines.
After two-hours of intense practice, they excused themselves out of the serious atmosphere for a relaxing break in the spacious library. Luckily, in the innermost corner of the secluded room, there was a comfortable set of beige embroided couches which they happily used for soothing their fatigue.
"Demon sightings?", Bon repeated, quite surprised at the little break news.
Yukio nodded in confirmation, "Recently the number of demons prowling around the True Cross premise has increased dramatically. Eventhough they don't exactly display violent traits, the higher ups still call for tightening the security and increasing vigilance"
"Ooh", Shima said, "So that's why the curfew hour for students was recently set earlier without a clear reason"
"And the reason for the weird rule about being with a male companion or at least three girls together when walking at night. I even heard on the grapevine that some unidentified rapist is on the loose, guess that's nothing but a baseless rumor then..", Izumo nodded slowly in understanding.
Konekomaru joined the small discussion, "But", his eyebrows were creased in worry, "What is exactly the factor that causes the increase in the number? Could it be that-"
"That is", Yukio cut in before apprehension could start building on the exorcists' hearts, "still remain unconfirmed. I strongly suggest to abide that particular rule for your own safety. The reason why I share that information is because I think you ought to know as you are exorcists, not to frighten you with some imaginary malevolent reasons"
Shiemi lowered her head, softly mumbled in a worried tone, "I hope nothing bad happens..."
Soon, the tension-inducing-topic dissolved to nothingness as the resting exorcists steered the conversation to more harmless ones. They chatted away with random conversing partners about nothing in particular, it served a double purpose actually, consciously it's for easing their minds, unconsciously it's for giving them another element of teenager normalcy.
"You want some?", Shima slid an intricatedly-carved wooden chair close to the couch, then momentously sit on it. A bright flower-themed candy box was offered to a close party.
Bon scrutinized the neon-red cylindrical candy like it was poison-infused, "What the hell is that?"
"Strawberry candy, duh! It's the new product of Islink"
Konekomaru raised two brows in interest, it was a very well-known brand that had been in business from decades ago, "The True Cross confectionary?"
"Yep, the one and only"
All doubt drained dry, Konekomaru swiftly took one then popped the sweet candy inside his mouth. Bon followed suit. Then Shima directed his gaze towards the silent teacher sitting in a lone armchair near the giant rectangular glass windows.
"You want some teach?"
Yukio abandoned his deep engrossment of the play script, and looked at his student/friend. He smiled and leaned forward.
"Thank you", he said, taking a quick scan of the red pearly ball, then inserting it in his mouth.
"Oi gimme one Shima", Rin sauntered close approaching them, staring at the candy box with a curious gaze. His fake neko ears accompanied with a twitching black tufty tail truly completed the image of a curious cat. Shima gave an apologetic smile as he shook the candy box which produced no expected clattering sound, "Sorry mate, Okumura-sensei took the last one"
Rin's face fell in exaggerated sadness, "Oooooow~"
Yukio examined the scene in contemplation, silently weighing his options, "Nii-san", he called out softly, causing Rin to regarded him his attention. Yukio pointed a forefinger to his mouth, "Do you want a taste?"
At that point, the noise in the library toned down considerably, the cram class students ceased their current topic of conversation for a new one, eyes locked curiously to the two brothers.
Rin perked up at that, a grin blossomed on his face. He strided with enthusiastic gait towards his twin, his tail were wagging from side to side serving as an outlet for his exuberance.
"You don't mind? Sure!"
Izumo had a blank look plastered on her face, "Is he seriously..."
Rin stopped in front of his twin before leisurely climbed on the soft couch Yukio occupied. His lean legs slided to straddle the taller male, closing the distance between them with ease, without the slightest worry that they were currently exposed to public eyes. Rin leaned his body closer, hands went to cupping themselves securely on his jaws, prompting Yukio to tilt his head upwards. The younger twin snaked his arms on the back of a slim waist, almost subsconciously.
Rin leaned his face close to his twin's, in response, Yukio slid his tongue out with the candy situated at the tip of the pink appendage. Rin eyed the pearl-like delicacy whispering "Itadakimasu", before his opened lips casually descended upon it, engulfing both the candy and his sibling's tongue. Yukio seemed surprised for a while but then relaxed and let his older sibling tasted him.
Although they were already quite familiar with the touchy-feely way the pair of brothers liked to treat the other with, this rare scene had definitely pierced through their normalcy chart. The girls immediately averted their gazes away and the boys seemed to have been consumed in a trance, with gaping mouths they absorbed the lewd scene.
The brothers continued on with their supposedly-not-be-made-public ministration, oblivious whatsoever of their vicinity. Rin hummed in appreciation of the sensation that flooded his tongue, it was delightful sweetness mixed with delicate sourness. To reap more of the flavor, he undeliberately pushed their battling tongues gently into his twin's mouth. And Rin gave himself the privilege of twisting and swiveling the candy around the private cavern of his twin's mouth.
As to Yukio's response to the probing tongue that was relentless in its attack, he merely widened his mouth generously to grant his twin's eager treatment to the pearly-sweet-red marble better easeness.
At last, when Rin deemed the tasting session as satisfactory, he withdrew his tongue with a quiet 'slosh', revealing his happy and sated-expression. Yukio seemed a little dazed, a light blush coloring his cheeks, but still his lips was crooked in a subtle smile.
"Was that really necessary nii-san?", he murmured in subtle amusement, his glazed green eyes gazed up at his brother's expressive ones in mild curiosity.
"Hm?", Rin blinked down at his younger sibling innocently. He seemed to think about it for a moment and then answered cheerfully, "It's not exactly 'necessary', as you put it, I just thought it would give me a better access at tasting the candy"
The 'also you' part wasn't mentioned, but Yukio couldn't confirm whether his brother possessed that kind of ulterior motive. He didn't mean to accuse him of anything, but this kind of thinking fleeted over his mind due to the fact that his elder sibling was, after all, extremely clingy to begin with. The amount of public and private physical affections was a fitting testimony for his analysis.
Yukio leaned back, planting his back more comfortably to the soft material of the chair, "Uh huh", he replied softly, closing his eyes, "So how's the candy?"
"It was quite good", Rin commented as he lowered his body and planted it firmly on the cushion of his twin's lap. His tail was swinging in sedated lethargy.
Yukio nodded, "Indeed, the strawberry flavor was quite sour, but underneath the primary taste, there is sweetness underlaying it accompanied with rich milky sensation. It truly is an excellent confection"
Rin chuckled, "You really are passionate 'bout this kinda stuff. Tell you what, how 'bout we visit this Islink store and buy some for ya?"
Yukio's smile became a little bit brighter, "That would be great"
Shiemi giggled heartily, "Yuki-chan and Rin-kun sure are very close hm?"
Konekomaru sweatdropped and laughed uneasily, "That's a mild way of putting it"
"Ugh you lovebirds", Bon snapped at the two chatting brothers who seemed oblivious to their surrounding, "Stop it with the PDA, are ya trying to blind our eyes by your lovey-dovey session or what, get some room would ya!"
Rin leered menacingly at his forever-claimed enemy, "Mind your own business chicken butt"
Despite the obvious fact that the petname had been overused and supposed to have lost the element to irk somebody, the ever temperamental guy still fumed up at that, "What did ya yap again midget?", he made a move to approach the brothers. Shima quickly stood up and barricated Bon's furious strides, "Ma ma", he tried suppresing his long-time friend's temper with his trademark soothing voice, "Let them be. You know how this is a normal thing for them that they absolutely like doing on a regular basis"
Izumo piped into the conversation, feeling that she had to point out an obvious thing that seemed to escape her friend's understanding, "You know Okumura", she fought from blushing at the intimate closeness she was forced to see given the etiquette of looking at someone directly when talking, "when sensei has a girlfriend, you won't be able to hog him up for yourself"
Rin didn't seem to like the idea as he frowned, "No way", he possessively wrapped his arms around Yukio's neck and clutched him against his chest tightly, "It definitely won't be like that. He's mine"
His classmates looked at Rin as if he had just grown his second tail then at their teacher, expectantly waiting for his response.
Especially Bon, "Well sensei?"
Yukio gave a little content smile and placed one of his two hands on his brother's small back, "It is what nii-san decides"
Izumo huffed, throwing her gaze away from the scene, and muttered, "Idiotic pair of brothers"
Rin tensed up. He was itching to confront both the nosy commentators and yell out profanities on their faces. Thankfully Yukio noticed that so he tightened his hold, not to cause pain but to prevent his brother from jumping off and let his anger got the best of him. It worked. The firm arms which were securely wrapped around Rin's lean form seemed to effectively douse his fiery intention. So the older Okumura merely leered darkly at them above his shoulders, growling out, "I can hear that just fine Eyebrows. And I may be an idiot in memorizing theories and analyzing text-based situations. But..." Rin's deep blue eyes glared past the tall windows of the libraries up to the roof of a neighboring taller building, connecting with surprised grey ones, "I am certainly not an idiot in other department..."
'He is able to spot me?'
Blazing blue fire blared threateningly on a specific spot on the otherwise barren roof, if not for a figure that jumped barely in time to avoid the fire from scorching him to crisp. The figure quickly darted towards a safer area that was hidden from the watchful view of the half demon. He glared coldly at the rim of the skyline as he meticulously fixed his rich-golden tie.
The demon had a nice tall-stature build clad suitably with raven-colored apparel of an expensive business suit. Mid-back length white tresses bound in a low ponytail with a simple red hair-tie was neatly tucked behind a pair of elf-like ears. Icy metallic grey eyes were fixed far ahead, silently working out kinks of unknown mysteries.
"Hn", a deep rumble reverberated off his chest, "Quite impressive"
"Does it not fit with your shallow prediction?"
The only indication that the demon acknowledged the extra presence was the slight rigidness accumulated on the set of his shoulders. A hint of nonchalant condescending glint infiltrated the hue of his eyes.
"Heh Mephisto.. The demon that has since long ago abandoned the Gehenna for the mundane Assiah. Do you still find it entertaining to associate yourself with these filthy humans?"
Mephisto smirked, his slanted eyes sized the demon up with amused arrogance, "Oh please don't mind me. I am more curious in your penchant for stalking others' private lives, yours doesn't live up to your expectation? The king of greed sure does set up high standards, eh Mammon?"
A generous blow of wind brushed past the two standing demons, staging a rather hostile atmosphere befitting for both lethal gentlemen, "Don't tempt me Mephisto", the deep voice was laced with a warning growl, "As to erase your false impression upon my person, I am here to deliver a special message for the half demon. Otherwise I won't even consider stepping foot on this worthless Assiah"
Mephisto quirked an interested brow, "Certainly rare. A message?"
Mammon harrumphed in confirmation, his steely grey eyes glinted in gleeful menace although his outer countenance betrayed the excitement bubbling within, "from Satan-sama"
The clown-like principal's countenance fell in degree of the generous mirth he was displaying earlier. The usually jovial facial muscles contorted to a slight forlorn look, "That is unfortunate", he whispered.
Mammon leered at the purple-eyed demon. In a mere span of half a second his facade faltered slightly, showing deep resentment, before the emotion was quickly quenched for a disinterested scowl instead, "For a brief moment, I was convinced of the notion that you may worry for the half-demon. But then..", Mammon turned his head back, his eyes once again settled in a cold uncaring glare, "..that smirk when you are engaged in a twisted game you invented yourself gave you away"
A light disturbance of the wind occurred in the vicinity before the greed demon was nowhere to be seen. The True Cross principal stood alone on the quiet roof as he mulled over his latest encounter with a particularly interesting
being. A strangely beatific smile was pronounced in his thin lips.
Night had fallen, the exorcists had long since returned to their chambers to rest for the day.
The Okumura brothers were also in their joined room, in the bed one of them was leisurely enjoying a shoujo manga lying on his stomach and the other was busy in dressing himself in his complicated exorcist garment.
Rin, noticing the shuffle going on in the room, looked up from his manga, "Hm? You going out for a mission?"
Yukio didn't pause to look at Rin's way and gave him a brief answer, "Yes, a patrolling duty"
Rin stole a look at the clock, "At this hour? It's waaay past curfew!"
"The principal is the one who ordered it, so I presume it doesn't matter if we breach a rule of his"
Almost instantly the half demon tensed up. The recently unveiled fact about the increasing number of demonic sightings caused a surge of protectiveness to sprout out from his elder brother's instinct. He knew his brother could more than take care for himself but his heart was still drenched with persistent worry.
He sat up, "I'll go with you"
Yukio's uneasy eyes flicked over his twin, "You're never interested in patrolling duty before", he pointed out.
"Well I am now, got a problem with that?"
"Nii-san.."
"Don't 'nii-san' me, I did nothing wrong, I'm just tagging along to hone my 'exorcist-ness'. You're the one who's been nagging me 'bout boosting up my 'poorly-executed' group cooperation skill", Rin smirked, obviously recalling a past event that surely was humorous in nature, but his eyes were of unyielding force that challenged his calculative sibling daringly.
Yukio eyed his brother, his mind worked on shifting over possible counter-remarks to discourage his brother from coming along, but sighed dejectedly when coming upon none that could possibly win over his brother's adamant reasoning.
"Hn"
Rin flashed him a Cheshire grin and with polished agility, had already teleported to his little brother's side, full-geared with Kurikara securely tied across his shoulders.
"I immensely appreciate your well-versed decision, little brother", Rin mused with a side-glance to his taller sibling. A particularly wayward hand teasingly reached down as to grope a lump of round flesh, eliciting a surprised yelp from the younger Okumura.
"Hey!", Yukio let loose of a rare shout out of embarrassment, his hand automatically clamped over his violated buttocks.
Rin nonchalantly went past his flustered twin as if nothing had happened, "Come on Yukio", he called out over his shoulder, a satisfied teasing look was defined on his face, "I'm sure some naughty demons would be pleased to make acquaintances with us today~"
Yukio could only put on a dead-panned look as Rin swiftly trudged down the wood-stairs. He shook his head in defeat at his sibling's occasionally questionable act before following him down with a quieter gait.
Rin placed a foot out of the doorway as he craned his neck to stare at the lounging black lump spreaded on the counter.
"Take care of the house for us will ya?"
A pair of triangular shapes perked up before the cat yawned lazily. Bulged eyes gazed back at the half-demon as he meowed in response, "Leave it to me Rin!"
Rin smiled, "Counting on ya Kuro"
They left after Yukio had double-locked their apartment, they certainly didn't need late-night visitors who self-indulged themselves in the old-fashioned courage test of infiltrating an 'abandoned' mansion, and made it a habit to force their way in by any means necessary. Even though their living place was far away from the students dormitories, it never hurt to take precaution measures.
The night air felt cool against their welcoming skins and crickets sang their special melodies to the sleeping world around them. A few steps down the road Rin spoke up, "So where to? The entire True Cross?"
Rin inwardly grimaced, as much as he loved an exorcist job, night-time wandering in the humongous expanse of the 'school' failed to appeal to his magnanimous side.
"No", Yukio answered, "Basically we start from the North-West wing, where the school dormitory is located, then moving south passing by the True Cross Entrance gate. After that we will enter the Southern Woods where we'll be conducting a thorough scaling of the ground"
Rin nodded in understanding, "Sounds good" 'Thankfully it's not the entire area' "so what's up with the Southern Woods anyway?"
"It is where the demonic energy has been building up gradually, enough to drive some local animals to flee away in fright"
The half-demon absorbed the new-found information with interest, he raised another question, "But I thought that the Southern Woods is a forest specifically-conserved for research means?"
"It's been made off-the-limits to students and teachers alike at the moment"
"Ho I see, all the more reason to kick these demons' asses eh?", Rin slapped his knuckles to his palm, excited anticipation filled his expression as well as his body gesture.
Yukio glared reprimandingly at his brother. They had arrived to the Eastern-most faculty area in which it was impregnated with the first network of intricate Ancient-styled buildings. Even in the vicinity of this area, there was no a single soul strutting about, even the public trams which run around the clock on a series of rails encompassing the entire True Cross premise, was astonishingly remained pretty empty at this relatively early hour.
"Please refrain from jumping to reckless decision, nii-san", Yukio reminded his brother with a stern expression. They had arrived to a tram-stop, barren of any other waiting passengers, with thankfully an approaching tram in sight.
"Don't worry, I'll behave", Rin purred, he moved closer until their bodies touched. Slipping smoothly under Yukio's arm, he rubbed his cheeks against his brother's hard side, "like a good puppy you want me to be~"
Yukio shifted his arm, draping it comfortably across Rin's back, "I hope you will", he chuckled, striding forward towards the stopping tram and gently pulling along his hooked twin, "And I also hope you didn't forget to bring your tram card?"
"Nawh~ you wound me. I'm not that careless", Rin grinned, hopping up the door with his twin close following behind. There was only 2 other passengers in the tram, so the other unoccupied seats were within their liberty to choose. Rin claimed the one furthest away from them and Yukio took the one beside him. The passengers, judging from their clothes were probably teachers, stole a couple of glances at them, probably wondering where the two male teenagers were going to past curfew time. But since one of them wore the uniform of the mysterious unit with covert objectives approved by the principal himself, they didn't dare to scold them about abiding the curfew.
The journey took about 10 minutes since they were crossing to the Western side. They left the tram at the dormitory stop.
"Quite a big number eh?", Rin commented, referring to the 5 people clad with the designated dark exorcist over-coats in front of the silver lofty entrance gate.
"Even though the demons are relatively civil, there is no guarantee they will remain that way. A capable team is absolutely mandatory.."
The exorcists standing outside the dormitory gate acknowledged the brothers' presence almost as soon as they boarded off. Curiosity and apathy were the nature of the gazes that fell on Rin's unexpected addition to the group. Seeing that these stoic mix of exorcists addressed their assigned mission with rigid seriousness, Rin straightened his posture as the silent brothers trudged closer to the group.
The oldest of them, a male adult with a cold gaze stepped in front to greet Yukio, "Good night Okumura-san, it's nice that you could join us here", then he directed his gaze at Rin, "And who might this young man be?"
Rin quickly perceived that the tall exorcist obviously had a higher ranking than the rest of the exorcists huddling behind him. So he wore his promise with his twin and presented him with his best harmless smile, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance. I am Okumura-sensei's brother, Okumura Rin, a Lower First Class", he offered his hand for a greeting handshake.
Almost immediately the older exorcist countenance darkened, but he still stiffly accepted Rin's hand, "I am Kurosawa Touda of Upper Second Class rank"
Rin smiled before releasing his hand.
'So he's the same rank as our dear brother eh? They must serve as the double leaders of this group'
'Without doubt. He dislikes us though'
'Then it's best for us to stay in his good graces'
'You actually come up with something I can agree with for a change'
The group quickly departed with their first destination in the picture, the dormitory. Touda swiped a card and the giant metal double-gate of the dormitory slid open without resistance.
It didn't elude Yukio's acute perception that the unexpected and most likely unwelcomed presence he brought put all the exorcists on edge, but he still understood the need for him to lead the group's trek with Touda in front. So he immediately engaged himself with a formal conversation with the older male as to serve his unwritten duty to accompany him, but then noted to himself to be with his brother pronto.
Rin walked alone in the middle of the small group, his curious eyes wandered around his surrounding taking in all the tall apartments of the dormitories.
'Ah so this is where Bon and the others live. It's quite fancy'
'Not like ours you imply?'
'Yes I think, but not in a bad way'
'Anywhere is fine for you if there's him'
Rin huffed quietly, 'No shit. Yukio is my whole freaking world and I always radiate moe moe flowers while riding a rainbow unicorn with him everyday. Is that what you want me to say?'
A humorous scoff was his answer.
The inner link was severed abruptly when Rin noticed an exorcist approached him. A brunette boy with a winning height gave Rin a smile that didn't quite reach his chocolate eyes, "Good evening, Okumura Rin-kun I presume? I am Hariyama Noel, Middle Second Class, it is a pleasure to meet you"
Rin accepted his offered hand with a warm grin, simply for the sake of contrasting the placid attitude, "A pleasure to meet you too" He used the brief moment to deduce a short profile on this suspiciously friendly male. He was dressed with the exorcist uniform without any conspicuous feature which could indicate which Meister he belong to. Judging from his facial structure, he was probably 20 something and was tremendously tall, to the short half-demon's chagrin. He seemed to have a shortage of available facial expressions from his lack of wearing a courtesy-kinda-mandatory cheeriness right now when greeting a new guy.
"You are quite the celebrity Okumura-kun", he stated suddenly, "Exorcists often entertain notions about you in their conversations"
The monotone voice made it hard to decipher this teen's level of hostility to him so Rin kept his tone neutral for his next sentence.
"I bet it is full of degrading remarks"
"No", the answer followed his last syllable smoothly as if it was a part of the previous sentence, "I can assure you it is not. They are mostly fleeting ideas that just happen to cross the conversations so of course, they don't hint on any ill intentions. Although, some of us find ourselves wonder more than the others", the inquisitive chocolate eyes flicked over the teen who had his hands nonchalantly in his pockets with growing interest, "about the rumor of your.. status"
Rin gave a humorless chuckle, "It's not a rumor, and you know it. And if what you want is confirmation then yeah, I'm a half demon and also, sadly, that bastard's Satan son"
Rin met Noel's eyes. He could see that the taller exorcist didn't seem to take his words as a clearance of his doubt about his 'status'.
"Still not convinced?"
Noel's lips crooked into a rigid smile , "You look human. You don't share any resemblance with that of a demon", he curtly pointed out.
"Hmm..." Rin ran a hand through his wild mane, 'I hope I don't regret this later... Well it's getting quite uncomfortable anyway... and he already knows that I'm not exactly human'
Without further ado, he uncoiled his neatly convoluted tail from around his chest and abdomen, causing spiraling ripples to generate beneath his black school uniform. Then like a snake, the dark appendage slithered out of the confines of his clothes as it swung with cat-like-grace against the cool night air.
Rin grinned devilishly so that his sharp fangs were displayed for clearer view, "Do I look like one yet?"
The respond he got was really priceless, the non-emotional facade the male wore broke slightly to reveal pure surprise. It seemed the guy had very rare encounters with demons who bore humanoid appearances.
Noel continued his wondering gaze on Rin wordlessly before the tip of his fingers twitched. Half a second later, his hand shot out with purpose towards the swinging tail which garnered the alarm on the young demonic teen's head to blare out.
Rin swiftly swung his tail just out of reach of the taller male and angled his body to shield the precious appendage.
"Ah ah no touching. This one is off-limit", he cupped a careful hand around the pure-black length and ran a tender palm along it smoothly, a grin was perched on his lips although his eyes shone with a warning glint. Noel's facial muscle visibly fell in disappointment, but he quickly void his face of the said emotion, "I apologize Okumura-kun. It's just... an inclination on the spur of the moment I suppose"
Rin nonchalantly waved his hand, "Nah it's ok, most people usually wanna grab it the first time they see it. Don't be offended, I just don't like people touchin' it, it's quite sensitive you know", the tail twirled around Rin's torso and bristled as if to prove the point.
Noel nodded, "Yes I understand"
The little chat was suspended with the brief response and Rin could feel the awkwardness was gradually building up. He couldn't help but wonder why this guy approached him only to comment the identity of his 'species' and then went silent all of a sudden.
'This is getting kinda awkward..'
'Well speak to him then! Why don't you put some good use to that flappy mouth of yours?'
'=.=" '
"So", Rin chirped in with a totally friendly smile he usually didn't display for public use, "have you ever been to the Southern Woods?"
Noel glanced briefly at his walking companion before fixing his gaze forward again, "Yes, a few times actually. Since my major is Botanical Science I frequently visit the Southern Forest"
"Ooh... then you must have a guess on how it can be suddenly infested with demons? I mean it is a research area, so lots of people like you will visit it regularly, it's strange why demons would choose such place to prowl around"
"I am not certain either. Its aura lacks any malevolent nature and there's no record of killings so far. So I suspect the area is to the demons' liking simply because of the crowded vegetations"
"But then.. Wouldn't the Eastern Grand Forest be the more preferable choice? Based from its outer view, it's obviously denser than the Southern one"
Noel seemed to contemplate the notion, "Yes that might be a plausible opinion. But then, it is the sole property of our Principal, Mephisto Pheles, so utmost security of the area is guaranteed, no demons should be able to trespass"
"You've never been there?"
"The area is off-limit"
'Well, that huge-ass forest turns out to belong exclusively to that clown, no wonder he got the guts to build something so suspiciously obvious like an old mansion that is far away from the general humans' buildings, no one will ever see it anyway. Who knows what other things he had hidden there..'
The peculiarity of that mysterious house still plagued his mind sometimes, that he couldn't help but be overly aware of it. Yukio had already made clear of his objection in prolonging Rin's involvement with the rather shady place, every time he left for Ei no Sumai, his little brother's face would contort with heavy worry it seemed as if he had to hold himself back from forcefully stopping him. Yet, his conviction wouldn't allow him to back down. Another thing to add on the long list of his worry-wart little brother's burdens... that was caused by him.
'Heh, some elder brother I am'
Noel's chocolate eyes leered at the half demon's uncharacteristically brooding face with an undecipherable attitude which unfortunately escaped the occupied Rin's notice.
"Hariyama Noel", a deep voice suddenly called out. Noel glanced up before wordlessly quickened his pace to reach the older exorcist in front, but still took time to bide a brief farewell to Rin, "It's nice talking to you Okumura-kun, if you'll excuse me.."
Rin smiled in acknowledgement with a lift of his hand in good-natured response. His blue eyes swept over the back of the striding teen's back to connect with ones belonging to the aloof old exorcist. Touda stared impassively at the young half-demon before he caught sight of Rin's tail-bone's elongation swaying niftily in perfect harmony with the gentle breeze. Disdain filled the murky grey orbs before the owner of said hostile eyes broke contact to converse with young Kuga.
'Hmph', Rin sneered before throwing his gaze away, choosing to use his sight to properly admire the under-appreciated beauty of his surroundings rather than trying to laser-eyed the back of the elder's skull, 'Typical..'
The little group had finished their brief sweep of the dormitory ground, thankfully without anything out-of-the-ordinary that was worth mentioning, as Touda and Yukio led them out from the smaller side gate, dutifully proceeding Northern. The decibel had significantly fallen in intensity as they shared a common relaxing inclination to enjoy the rare scene of the humongous True Cross at night-time.
It truly was a magnificent school which lived up to its concept of a city. Pristine colored tiles were embroidered meticulously throughout the school roads serving as connecting accesses to various buildings which served miscellaneous purposes. Even in the period of cessation of activities, adequate lights still illuminated the roads and buildings alike intensifying the artistic touch engraved at every polished nook. The elevating structure of the school caused the entire area to be perfectly viewable from every spot, and Rin still found it fascinating even though he had resided in there for quite a long time.
After a few minutes of peaceful walking, Rin noticed in his peripheral vision that Yukio had slowed his pace until it matched with his own. The edge of his brother's face promoted rigidness equivalent to that of polished proficiency but when he properly looked at him, it visibly softened as a small smile blossomed in his lips.
"You done with the professional talk?"
"I guess so. It's nothing professional actually, we only had idle chats of that held little importance"
"Uhuh.. I bet the little idle chat you had could give a dictionary a run of its money. Anyway, about that Touda guy, I'm pretty sure he wakes up at the wrong side of the bed all his life doesn't he?"
Yukio stiffened at hearing the rude out-loud description his brother dared to declare to accommodate the literal translation of what he think of the high-ranking exorcist in his mind, over-bearingly honest at that, "Sssh nii-san, someone could have heard you!"
"Naah, you jest. So what's the story?"
Yukio shifted his eyes to stare at the male's back, mulling over the question his twin inquired and correlating it with his own understanding, "I presume it's because he has an unfortunate loss during the Blue Night so he might have developed a prejudice against you, although irrelevantly. But don't worry about it nii-san, he is someone who won't involve personal feelings with work", Yukio concluded with an assuring tone.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Touda-san is also a preacher that often shares his strong views about Christianity in the Grand Chapel. Many people respect him"
"Hm.. I bet he's also sore on the fact that you've got the same rank as him even though he beat you by a high notch in term of 'senile-ness' ", he smirked at his brother, earning an expected scolding glare.
"Nii-san-"
"So, this Grand Chapel", he cut in before a string of preaching could be insinuated by the brunette, "I felt I've heard about it before, is it near?"
Yukio swallowed the urge to sigh, instead opting to shake his head subtly, "You've been living here for more than a year yet you still don't have a general understanding of special places here?"
Rin shrugged nonchalantly, " 's not like I can memorize every pretty building in here, honestly, it's like they're all 'special' with how big and complicated they look"
Yukio resisted the urge to twitch his eyebrow, "It's situated in the heart of the True Cross Town Square. See there?" Yukio gestured a hand towards his left, particularly pinpointing a distant construction with a bell attached under the roof peeking above the ragged lines of all the buildings, "that's the one"
Rin nodded in an intellectual manner, "I see I see, quite a work of art indeed with all the paintings drawn on its walls. Hm, the top ones there, baby Jesus in Maria's arms?"
Yukio's face slipped in surprised bewilderment. Truthfully, he was only able to barely pinpoint the distant Grand Chapel that was shrouded in pitch darkness by the humongous bell hanging from its uppermost part. And yet how could his elder brother able to infer some minuscule descriptions about the far and dark building?
"Hey hey is that the Islink store Shima talked about?", Rin elatedly exclaimed while pointing to a well-garishly-lit shop sandwiched neatly by some eye-catching others which appeared to have terminated their opening hours earlier than usual courtesy of the recent law.
Yukio removed his eyes from the distant area to look at the shop Rin's pointing at, "Ah yes you're right", he agreed after seeing the classic monogram of the confectionery above the closed double-door, "So it is in the west-wing Little Village.."
"Ha! Ya don't know a 'special' place too!"
"Is not. It's only a candy store"
"Is too"
"Is not"
"Is too"
Time really flies, they say, this was proven true with how the lengthy distance between the dorm and their final destination, The Southern Woods, was accomplished without any slightest hindering thought popping in their minds. But it's not because of the replenishing effect of having an enjoyable time, but rather the vigorous training each individual had undergone that the supposedly fatigue-inducing long walk didn't even reduce their efficient gaits.
Now the looming dignity of the Southern Woods stood majestically in front of the exorcists.
Touda halted and faced the 6 others behind, prompting them to do just the same and waited patiently for what he might have to inform them.
Touda swept his eyes over the group to ascertain their attentions were solely on him, then raised his voice in a commanding tone, "Attention! We're now in front of our main designated patrolling area, the Southern Woods. As all info of this place has been handed out to you, I'll keep this short. The utmost important thing to keep in mind is to remain vigilant at all times, even though forest demons normally avoid humans, there's no guarantee they will maintain such civil demeanor for a minute longer. Keep your senses alert for any slightest change and don't desert off from the group. And lastly, prepare for possible combat"
His gnarly eyebrows were furrowed intimidatingly as if he'd like to personally drill in his latest commands in the lower ranking exorcists' minds (except Yukio). The consequences would certainly be dire if they didn't uphold these commands as they came from both the fruit of the worst scenario and from the strict leader's ends.
"I'll be walking in front, Yamada Mai and Uno Yariko in the second line. Hariyama Noel and Uno Atsushi in the third line. And Okumura-sensei along with Okumura Rin in the last line, should anything come up from behind I believe Okumura-sensei will assist best in countering the threat won't he?", Touda deduced while meeting the exorcist's eyes in question.
Yukio gave a saluting smile, "Hai, Touda-san"
The man with graying hair nodded in acknowledgement then his hand sank into his inner pocket and pulled out what appeared to be mini lantern with mobile straight metal stick to act as its handle. His other hand lit a fire and swiftly turned on the lantern which surprisingly gave of strong beam of illumination around its small body. Without further ado, he turned around to commence the mission into the dense woods.
Rin cocked a questioning brow at the choice of lighting tool and his other brow lifted too when his twin pulled out a similar looking tool from his coat and lit it up swiftly with nimble fingers.
"A lantern in this day and age? Really?"
Yukio shrugged in his own professional way, "Well, Pheles-san is rather insistent about embodying the orthodox culture in the True Cross"
"Stuck-up clown", Rin rolled his eyes as the last light which was held by Yukio diminished gradually into the dark shadows of The Southern Woods.
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Hehe Chapter 12 Done! I've finished the next chapter already, but it still needs a last finishing touch so expect it to be posted in just under a week! :3
Please Review :D the reviews from the last chapter really keeps me going after abandoning this fic for quite some time *'It's 10 months you slimy jerk!', somewhere someone threw a shoe* but please believe me, I will finish it no matter what! REVIEW! ^.^
~Golden Mist Fox