Chapter Three
Noriko's day mostly consisted of Rin and her walking, her trying on clothes, and spending the money that Mephisto had given her for supplies. She felt really bad for Rin, he had to be patient and wait for Noriko to try on clothes and carry her bags. When she was trying on clothes, she felt the gun escaped her pants, though everything, she somehow forgot about it. So once she agreed to the clothes, she secretly hid the gun at the bottom of the heap of clothes and continued on. Hours had past and now the sun was setting so they decided that they were done, now Noriko finally had clothes that fit her and shoes that didn't fall off . Now they were walking back to Okumura's place with a lot of bags in hand and exhausted looks on their faces. Noriko was starting to get to know Rin more and she enjoyed his company. Once they were at the front of the huge building, Rin opened the door and let Noriko in.
"Oh geez, I'm so ready for bed! Shopping really wipes you out huh?" Rin said as they walked up the stairs.
Noriko nodded and continued with Rin. Once they were at the kitchen, they set their things down and collapsed on the chairs. As Noriko sat on the chair she began to rub her neck and sighed, all of a sudden she heard the sound of plates hit a counter. She looked up to see a little demon, with a pitchfork as a tail, big purple ears and nose, yellow eyes, tiny horns on it's head and big hands for it's small body, putting the last specialties on whatever it had just cooked. Noriko reached for her gun that was supposed to be in the back of her pants, but didn't feel anything there, then she remembered she put it in one of the thousand bags she had. She looked at Rin and saw him petting the demon and smiling.
"This here is the buildings chef, well besides me, his name is Ukobach. Don't worry, he's very kind and brilliant in cooking. Oh, and this here is Kuro, my familiar." Rin said as a black cat jumped up on Rin's shoulder and started to nudge his face. The cat looked normal except for it's two tail and a set of tiny horns on it's head.
Noriko looked at the scene and took it all in, "Um... It's nice to meet you both." she said as she got up and bowed to them. The cat looked at Rin and then back at the girl, Ukobach clapped his hands and disappeared in the kitchen. She heard Rin laugh and saw him carrying the three plates back to the table with the cat still on his shoulder.
"What's so funny?" Noriko asked as she was handed her plate of curry.
"Well Kuro says you have a funny sent and that he's just curious so he's asking a bunch of questions." Rin said as he set down his plate and one for Kuro, who jumped off of Rin's shoulders, meowed as a thank you, and dove into his food.
Noriko shrugged it off, said thanks, and dove in. Her taste buds went nuts, it was so delicious that she didn't realize that she was moaning and Rin was blushing. She finally realized what she was doing and she quickly dropped her spoon and made a small squeak.
"I'm so sorry! It's just that there's such amazing flavor and-" she said in a haste and started to blush from embarrassment.
"Haha, it's ok, that was the same reaction I had when I tasted his cooking." Rin said as he continued to eat.
Noriko looked down at her food and started to slowly eat again, the atmosphere was now really awkward. As they finished their food, Rin politely took the plates and set them in the sink. Noriko sighed and then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, it was Yukio back from work. He looked at all the bags and then to Noriko.
"I see you got what you needed."
"And a bit more. I still have some left over for food later on."
"Wow. Alright then, shall we show you to your room?" Yukio asked as he started to grab some bags.
Noriko got up and collected what she could, and the rest was collected by Rin. They headed upstairs while Yukio explained the room arrangement.
"Since you are a female, I suspect you will want your privacy, so you will have your own room and bathroom to yourself."
"Wow, is that really necessary? I really appreciate it though, so thank you very much." Noriko said as they finally hit the next floor. They walked to her room and opened the door to see that it had been furnished and the bed had sheets on them with a set of pillows. They set down the bags while Noriko looked around the room. There were some books on the bookshelf and the desk had been supplied with notebooks and other essentials.
"Looks like Mephisto had someone furnish and supply you with the essentials." Yukio said as he looked around as well.
"If you get scared of the dark, you can come to our room if you want." Rin said in a perverted voice.
"Ya sure, don't hold your breath though." Noriko said as she sat on the comfy bed.
"Well we will let you get situated. The bathroom is a few doors down to your right. Since you have already completed high school courses, your main objective will just be cram school. It starts at 2pm and your schedule is the same as Rin's, so just follow him and I hope you both will be there on time." said Yukio, with Rin at his side.
As they were about to leave Noriko asked in a shy voice, "Um... I'm sorry to ask you this but I have two questions."
They looked at her and waited for the questions.
"Um, don't I need a uniform?"
As Yukio was about to speak, there was a puff of pink smoke on her desk and they all looked to see the school attire on laying there in a neat fold.
"Ok, well then, is there a radio somewhere? I kinda need music to stay alive."
Another puff of pink smoke was on her desk that had a radio and an iPod with a charger and earphones. Noriko was about to say something else when there was a pink puff that had a laptop.
"Come on Mephisto! This is totally unfair!" Rin yelled into the air.
"Well I wanted to stop by and see how she was doing and I wanted to surprise her." Mephisto said behind Yukio and Rin, which made both of them jump.
Noriko got up from the bed and asked, "Why are you doing this for me? We are enemies right? You should be making my life a living hell, not give me gifts. You should be doing that for these two." she said as she pointed at the brothers.
Mephisto smiled and said, "Well they don't have to work directly for me like you do darling, and I'm going to enjoy you working for me so why not give my pet here some stuff."
He walked over to her in his same creepy attire and smile and put an arm around her shoulder. The boys stood there in helplessness for her, Yukio waved and walked away, while Rin did the same.
"Guys! Don't leave me here with him!" she said as she reached out for their shadows.
Mephisto laughed and said, "Well my darling, do you like what I've done for you? It's not quite my taste but I assumed it was what you liked, since you pretty much bought all black and blue clothing", all while making himself a chair in the air and having a disappointing look on his face, "But you are working for me so I guess we are even right now."
Noriko looked at him and then at the room, he was right. He was giving all of this as a trade for her working for him.
"Thank you so much Mephisto. I will repay you when I work for you, I promise." Noriko said with all honesty.
When he smiled his creepy smile, he bid her adieu and left her to her room alone. She turned on the radio that he had given her, blasting the music, she started to unpack her clothes and fold them into the drawers. She bought two packages of underwear, three bras of her size, pajamas and socks. When she was done with that, she hung up her black clothing in the closet. She had bought two light black long sleeve shirts, eight black t-shirts, four with a design on them and four with nothing. Her pants consisted of five black pants, four blue jeans, and two shorts, and two belts. Now she was able to put her new pair of black combat boots on the floor of the closet along with a pair of converse. While dancing to the beat, she was putting her accessories in a neat pile in a small box that she found in the bedroom. She had bought some silver studs and hanging earrings, along with a small bracelet that had lyrics and a wing on the side, and finally a few pairs of fingerless gloves next to the jewlery.
She had made a pretty big pile of garbage from the packaging, so she decided to go find a trash can, she grabbed the pile and stuffed all of it in one bag. Noriko walked down stairs to see Rin playing with Kuro on the floor.
"Hey guys, where is the trash can?"
"It's outside on the side. I will show you." Rin said as he got up and lead her to the trash can, with Kuro following them.
Once Rin showed her the location of the big dumpster, she threw her bag of garbage in and sighed.
Noriko thanked Rin and they started to walk back to the building's entrance, he smiled at her and asked, "So, are you almost done with getting everything situated?"
"Yep, I just need to situate my bathroom supplies and then I'm done." Noriko said as she stretched her arms over her head and sighed.
When it came time to separate, Noriko looked back at Rin and hugged him out of nowhere. Rin stood there in shock and then hugged her back.
"I can't thank your family and Mephisto enough. I would be wandering the streets... or worse, if you guys didn't come when you did. And for that I thank you Rin." she said as she pulled away from the hug.
Rin smiled and blushed, nervously scratching behind his neck he said, "It's no problem really... and I know what you are going through. You've been so strong, and if you need anyone to talk to, you can come to me." He put a hand on her shoulder for reassurance and smiled.
Noriko started to tear up and she nodded, "Thanks Rin... It is tough, but I know my... our parents... went out strong to save us so we can continue our lives." she said as she wiped away her tears.
They said their goodnights and went to their separate floors. Noriko took the radio into the bathroom, as well as her supplies, and decided to take a shower. Once she situated her supplies, she turned on the water and sighed as the hot water hit her skin and seemed to wash all her problems away. When she was done, she got dressed in her new pajamas and headed back to her room while toweling off her hair. Sitting on the bed and brushing out the knots in her hair, her mind went a hundred miles an hour and thought about her parents, what tomorrow was going to be like, if she was going to meet any new friends, the list went on and on. She looked at the clock and saw that it was already late, so she decided to go to bed. Even with all of the things running through her mind, sleep seemed to have more power over her.
The next morning she woke up to an unfamiliar surrounding. There was an annoying buzzing sound that woke her up, the sun was shining bright through the blinds, and the smell of freshly cooked breakfast ran through her nostrils. She got out of bed, turned off the alarm on the radio, put her hair in a ponytail and walked downstairs to see who was cooking the delicious smelling food. When she was finally at the kitchen, it seemed like she was the first one up because there was no one at the table and Kuro looked lonely, until Noriko came in. She looked at the cat who was laying on the floor and saw it come towards her.
Kneeling down, she looked at the cat's big eyes and asked, "Morning Kuro."
Kuro sniffed the hand that she put out and started to rub his face in her hands, making Noriko smile. She continued to pet Kuro and decided to pick him up and see who was cooking in the kitchen. Kuro happily meowed as he layed in her arms like a baby. When she saw the little demon cooking she wondered if Rin got up and left for school already, it was already 8am. Noriko walked out of the kitchen and decided to go see if the boys had left, with Kuro still in her arms purring away. She walked down the hallway and wondered which was Rin's. Kuro seemed to have heard a noise and decided to jump out of Noriko's arms and walk towards a room. When Kuro finally sat at a door and began meowing, she took that as a hint that Rin was still in there.
Knocking on the door she asked, "Rin, are you in there? Ukobach is making breakfast."
When she didn't hear an answer, she found it was unlocked and slowly opened the door. Kuro ran in and she followed, only to hear a light snoring of Rin sleeping. Kuro jumped up on Rin and started hitting him in the face. Noriko was about to take the cat away when all of a sudden he woke up.
"Damn it Kuro! I was having an awesome dream and you ruined it at the best part!" Rin said in annoyance as he rubbed his eyes. Kuro seemed to be talking to Rin because he yelled, "WHAT!?" and saw Noriko standing there.
"Um, morning. I wasn't sure if you had already left for school and-" she was cut off when Rin started going crazy and trying to get dressed.
Noriko quickly left the room with a little blush on her face and went back to the kitchen so see that the food had been done. She took her plate, said thanks, and began to eat. About three minutes later, Rin came barging out of the room with his school uniform somewhat on. He had one arm in the black coat and his white shirt was half way buttoned up, and to top it off, he still had bed hair and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Noriko was surprised by his attire and started to giggle, he didn't hear it though because he was so occupied on collecting his bag and sword together. Once he left the building, Noriko saw Kuro walk into the kitchen and began to eat what Ukoback had made him.
Noriko was lucky not to be Rin at that moment, and lucky that she had finished high school before everything started to go wrong. Once she was done with her food, she decided to wash her plate and go to her room and read one of the books that were on the bookshelf. Once she got comfortable and started reading, the hours passed by and she was now getting ready for her exorcist classes. Noriko looked at the school uniform and sneered at the skirt. She never wore skirts or dresses for that matter, but then she remembered that she had to deal with Mephisto after she got settled in. Sighing, she grabbed her black pants, the white shirt similar to what Rin was wearing before he left, and the bow that resembled part of the girls uniform. Looking in the mirror, she put her earrings in, put on her bracelet and converse on. Letting her long silver hair down and fixing her bangs so they swooped to the side of her face. Putting on a little mascara and chapstick, deodorant and a little squirt of perfume, she looked over herself and was ready. Collecting her bag, she headed out the door and started to walk to the building of the school.
The walk there was pretty far but she enjoyed it, the breeze felt good and there was a small amount of clouds in the sky. When she got to the school, she wondered where she would met Rin, and now she was panicking a little, they had never discussed where they were going to meet up. Noriko groaned, having some kids look at her strangely, and started to walk to Mephisto's office to ask where the classes were. To others, she looked like a lost student trying to find her classes, and they were correct.
As Noriko was heading up the stairs, she felt and hand on her shoulder and Rin saying, "Class is the other way, Noriko."
She looked back at him and sighed in relief, "Oh thank God it's you Rin! You saved me from having to go to Mephisto's office for directions."
Rin smiled and started to lead her out of the building. She didn't question him on making sure they were going the right way because she trusted him... and prayed that he had a good memory. She was walking besides Rin when he asked, "What's with your uniform? I thought all females were supposed to wear the skirts."
Noriko sighed and replied, "Well I'm not a fan of skirts, and who knows what he's going to dress me up as. So I thought that my pants would be better for me... plus I feel more comfortable in these than that God awful skirt."
Rin laughed and before they knew it, they were on a road.
"Um Rin, are you sure you're going the right way?" Noriko asked.
He nodded and all of a sudden, a white dog was sitting between two of the light poles. She had a bad feeling about this. And her feelings were correct, because the dog turned into the one person she didn't want to see today at all.
"What are you wearing my dear? I wanted to see you in that cute school girl outfit." Mephisto said in a disappointed tone.
"Well I thought that since I'm your maid, that I could make a few adjustments."
Mephisto sighed and said, "Very well, here", he tossed her a key and continued, "This key is the same as Rin's, it will take you to this location for your cram school. All you have to do is put it in a random door and poof, you arrive here. And I almost forgot, you are going to need this when I beckon for you," he tossed her a cell phone and smiled, "Well my dear, I do hope you have a... wonderful day. Chou!" And with that he disappeared with his pink smoke.
Rin walked to the ledge and jumped over it, Noriko put the cell phone and key in her pocket and ran to the edge and looked over to see Rin holding open a green door and looking up at her.
"Come on! Class is starting!"
Noriko jumped down and walked through the door, following Rin once he closed the cellar door.
Soon they were standing in front of a colorful door and Noriko took a deep breath and nodded to Rin who was looking at her for reassurance. When he opened the door and they walked in, she saw Yukio writing stuff on the board, looking at them as they walked in.
"Ah, I see you finally arrived. Rin, you're lucky that you have our new student today or else I would have given you detention for being late." Yukio said as he set his stuff down and gave Rin a stern look.
Noriko looked at Rin and then down at the ground. Once Rin was seated next to a small girl with blonde hair and green eyes, Yukio turned to the class and said, "Ok class, as you can see we have a new student today. Her name is Noriko Hitomi, treat her well", he patted Noriko's back and said, "You can have a seat wherever you would like."
Noriko bowed to the class and looked up. The class consisted of six kids, not including herself, Rin, and Yukio for that matter. There was a kid with blonde hair in the back who had a puppet on his hand. A bald kid with glasses, a kid who had pink hair and looking at her with hearts in his eyes, and then a kid with a blonde streak in his dark hair looking at his book and not caring for the new kid. Then a girl with weird eyebrows and dark purple hair was sitting behind the blonde and Rin. Noriko saw a seat in the far back and walked to her destination without looking at anyone else. Once she was settled, class continued and she was already familiar with what Yukio was teaching. She sighed and decided to pull out her notebook and sketch, taking some notes here and there when she wanted to look busy or to remind herself about the lesson's objective.
Before she knew it, the students were starting to leave, collected her stuff and saw Rin talking to the blonde. Noriko got up and walked towards them, only to be stopped by the pink haired kid.
"Hey there gorgeous, you're so beautiful that you made me forget my pickup line."
Noriko laughed and was about to reply when all of a sudden, a deep voice came from the side and she saw that it was the blonde streak guy. Getting a better look at him, he was actually very handsome, despite the rugged bad boy look. He looked at the pink haired kid with a pissed off look.
"Shima! Leave her alone, and quit it with the cheesy pickup lines."
The bald kid stood next to the skunk kid and replied, "He's right Shima, give her some space, she just got here. And you are a monk, you need to work on your practices rather than women."
Noriko noticed the skunk boy looking at her from head to toe, making her feel uncomfortable. To answer her prayers, Rin came to the group and said, "Hey guys! You seemed to have met my friend here Noriko. Noriko this is Renzō Shima," he said pointing to the pink haired kid, "Ryuji 'Bon' Suguro", pointing to the skunk kid, who looked pissed off, "and Konekomaru Miwa."
Noriko bowed and said, "It's nice to meet you, my name is Noriko Hitomi."
Konekomaru bowed back and said, "It's nice to meet you as well. And we are sorry for our friend here, he has a bad habit of hitting on women rather that hitting the books."
Noriko giggled and nodded.
"Wow! Even her voice is beautiful!" Shima said with big hearts in his eyes and drool dripping from the side of his mouth.
"Damn it Shima! Quit it!", Ryuji said while smacking the back of Shima's head.
"Um, excuse me", said a small voice beside Rin, "my name is Shiemi Moriyama." the girl bowed to Noriko, who bowed back replying, "Nice to meet you."
"Ok now that we are done with the greetings, let's head to class." Ryuji said while dragging Shima away by the back of his collar with Konekomaru following them. They all went off to their next class and it was right across the hall. As everyone got situated, Noriko took the seat in the back again and sighed. When the teacher came in, the class had began. Halfway through, Rin was asleep and Ryuji looked pissed off, which amused Noriko who was watching it in the back.
'This is going to be an interesting experience.' Noriko thought as she took some notes