Chapter Four
The next day Noriko and Rin were outside the classroom with the rest of the students, wondering where their instructor was. Noriko was resting against the wall while listening to Rin and Shiemi talk about the homework that they had to do last night, and of course Rin didn't know that they had homework. Noriko smiled and looked around to see Shima wink at her. She rolled her eyes and then looked down at the ground, wondering what they were going to be doing today. After ten minutes of waiting, Yukio had walked in the building.
"Sorry class, we have an emergency disturbance at the graveyard. There has been a few ghosts that have been harassing the living and we need to put them at peace. I will split you into groups of two.
Okumura and Moriyama. Kamiki and Shima. Miwa and Nemu. and Suguro and Hitomi. Now let's head out quickly."
Everyone was lead to the outside of the building to see a small bus waiting for them. Once everyone got in the bus, they all sat with their partner that they were assigned. Noriko was looking outside the window when she felt the seat get heavier next to her. She looked to see Ryuji Suguro folding his arms and sighing.
"Um... hey." she said shyly.
Ryuji turned to her and replied, "Hey."
Once the bus started to take off, Yukio said to the class that it was going to take them about forty five minutes to get their, everyone groaned. Noriko looked out the window and sighed, 'I wish I had my iPod with me right now.'
"So... How are you settling in at True Cross?" He asked.
Noriko shrugged and replied, "It's fine I guess."
There was an awkward silence and she started to fidget with her fingernails.
Ryuji looked at the girl next to him and saw that she seemed nervous, and then something caught his eye, she had tattoos on both the insides of her wrist.
"What do those mean?"
She looked at him and saw how close they were, and was also able to get a closer look at his face. He had a nice looking goatee starting to grow out, his eyes were dark brown and he his face had a sense of strength, with the skin that was kissed by the sun.
Ryuji too was able to see Noriko's face, since she would always hide it with her hair in her face or looking down at the ground. She had a scar on the side of her right cheek, her eyes were a stunning silver that felt like she could see into his soul and heart. A light blush on her cheeks seemed to make her more alive with her pale skin.
'Wow... She's actually really stunning...Wait! I can't be thinking about that! We are on a mission.' Ryuji thought as he scratched the back of his neck and cleared his throat.
Noriko blushed as well and said, "Well... the one on my left represents... power, while the other one represents protection."
Ryuji looked at the tattoo's and never saw anything like it, all the shapes and different language seemed like it was a seal for something.
"Did they hurt?" he asked.
"A little, but it was worth it. So what's with your hair?" she said to him with a smile on her face.
Ryuji blinked and started to blush, "Well, um, I needed change and wanted to be like a bad boy I guess."
Noriko giggled, making him blush more.
"Why are you laughing!?" he asked.
"Well for a bad boy, you seem to be the teachers pet."
Ryuji folded his arms and huffed, "Ya so what? I'm serious about being an exorcist. And what about you miss dark and mysterious, what's with your hair?"
Noriko stared at him and turned her body so that it was facing his.
"Well unlike you it's natural, I was born with this hair and..." Noriko drifted off and memories started to flow about her being bullied for the color.
Ryuji saw her face go from anger to sadness in a split second, instantly making him feel bad.
"Hey, look... I'm sorry if it's bringing up bad memories. Truce?" he said while holding out his hand.
Noriko smiled up at him and shook his hand. All of a sudden, the driver took a hard right turn, making Noriko and Ryuji crash into each other, and next thing they knew, both of them were on the bus floor. Noriko was inches from his face and the both blushed like crazy. Her hands were on his toned chest and his arms were around her shoulder and waist. Quickly getting up and sitting back down, they saw that some of the other students were also recovering from the hard turn.
After that, the rest of the way was quiet. If Noriko glanced at him, she would blush, and the same for him if he looked at her. Once they finally arrived at the graveyard, they were told to put the spirit at peace and come back to the bus when completed. And with that, collecting some supplies, everyone went their separate ways. The sun was just starting to set and the wind was starting to stop.
Ryuji was looking around to see if he could see anything, and Noriko the same. When they looked at each other, they would quickly look away.
Noriko thought that this would be a distraction to the mission, so she decided to be the first one to talk.
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened back there."
"It's alright, we should be blaming the driver and not each other. So what do you think these ghost's would be doing haunting people in broad daylight?" he said to get their thought together.
Noriko shrugged and said, "It could be anything really, wether they never got to say their goodbyes to not knowing that they are dead."
It started to get darker and walking around the gravestones was becoming a task, trying not to run into them. Ryuji received text messages from his friends and they too haven't found anything. After walking for awhile, they decided to stop and see if any activity would happen. Noriko looked around and saw that it was going to be difficult to find these ghosts.
She sighed and sat on the ground, "This is going to take forever."
Ryuji crossed his arms and looked around, "We just need to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious."
Noriko cracked her neck and looked at the tombstone in front of her. She ran her hand across the words and frowned. The mother had past away from a disease at such a young age, leaving a husband and child behind. Noriko got up and listened carefully for anything, but it was dead silent.
Then an idea popped in her head. She quickly grabbed chalk and started to write a spell to lure ghosts in. Ryuji watched her in wonder of what she was doing.
"Um... What are you doing?" he asked while looking at her work.
"It's a spell that will lure ghosts in. Once it does that, we chant a chapter from the Bible to put the restless spirits at rest. I can't believe I forgot this!" Noriko said as she was finishing up the spell.
Ryuji was about to reply, but then a strong wind started to form around the spell.
"Alright, once we get some ghosts in the spell, follow me if you know the chapter."
All of a sudden, ghosts were appearing in the circle with angry looks on their faces. The wind was increasing and seemed to be sucking everything in it's path. Ryuji watched in amazement as the ghost stood there and didn't move. He listened to Noriko and surprisingly didn't know what chapter she was reciting from. Ryuji stood there and watched as she did all the work, making him pissed off that she knew something so advanced when she was a new student.
As she finished the recitation, a bright light was emanating from the ghosts and then they slowly disappeared with smiles on their faces. Noriko smiled and opened her eyes to see Ryuji standing there with a very pissed off look. Ignoring him, she brushed the chalk away with her foot, making sure that it wasn't on the ground anymore. When she was done, Ryuji grabbed her shoulder and spun her around quickly. Their faces were inches apart, making her blush and look away.
"What the hell was that!?" he yelled in her face.
"A spell to-"
"I know that! But that is way too advanced for us! Who taught you how to do that!?" he said while his hold on her shoulder increased.
Noriko grabbed his wrist and pressed on the pressure points that made you lose feeling in your hand. He grunted and took hold of his hand in pain, "What the fuck was that for you bitch!?"
Noriko didn't answer him and walked towards where they entered. He screamed in frustration and ran his hands through his hair to try and calm him down. She ignored his fit and left him behind, she was very lucky that her secret didn't come out or else they would all be in trouble.
When she returned to base, she saw Shiemi and Rin sitting on the ground chatting. When Rin saw Noriko, he smiled and waved her over, but was stopped when Yukio came in front of her.
"Where is Mr. Suguro?" he asked.
"Having a temper tantrum." she said casually.
"You're supposed to arrive with your partner Ms. Hitomi. Now go back to go and find him." he said while giving her a stern look.
She looked at him in bewilderment and was about to speak when all of a sudden, Ryuji came through the gate with a scowl on his face.
"There, happy?" Noriko asked.
She didn't wait for a reply and walked over to Rin and Shiemi.
"Ok. How the hell did you two manage to finish before anyone else?"
"Well, I used a plant that lures spirits with a light. Then released them when we found our way back to base." Shiemi said with a smile.
Rin sat back and smiled, "Yep, that's Shiemi for ya. She knows her plant stuff like the back of her hand." his comment made her blush like crazy.
Noriko smirked at the two and said, "Oh, so she did all the work while you picked your nose?"
"Hey! I did not! I helped her find our way back while she held the plant!" Rin said in defense.
Noriko nodded and laid on her back, now all they had to do was wait for the others. She put her hands behind her head and looked over to see Ryuji glaring at her. Noriko quickly looked away and then closed her eyes to get rid of the stress that she had encountered when Suguro was interrogating her.
Meanwhile, Ryuji walked to Yukio and asked to talk to him in private, which Yukio accepted. When they were away from the group, Ryuji told Yukio about what he had encountered with Ms. Hitomi. Yukio's expression changed for a split second and then back to normal.
"I understand Mr. Suguro. I will speak with her and ask whom she is being taught by. That sort of spell is for high ranked exorcists only." Yukio said while he cleaned his glasses off with a cloth.
Ryuji bowed and then went back to the group keeping his distance from Noriko.
As the rest of the group was coming back with completing the mission, everyone boarded the bus and headed back to the campus. Noriko was in the far back again, she enjoyed the empty seats around her, no one dared to disturb her. Rin sat with Shiemi and Ryuji with his two friends. Shima sat in front of Ryuji and Konekomaru, turning around in his seat and resting his arms on the seat.
"Soo, Bon... how was it working with Hitomi? Did she hold onto your arm for protection from the ghosts? Or-" he was cut off when Ryuji glared at him.
"Shut up Shima. I can't stand that chick, she's all full of secrets. And I didn't ask you about your mission with Izumo, so sit down and shut up!" he said in anger.
Shima blushed at his comment and sat down. Ryuji looked back at Noriko and saw that she was resting her head against the window.
'Freak', he thought while he looked back and enjoyed the ride.
When it was over, everyone collected their stuff and exited the bus. When Yukio gave them homework to do for tonight, Rin groaned. After that, everyone went their separate ways to their dorms.
Noriko was quiet the whole way to their building, making Rin nervous.
"So... how was it working with Ryuji?"
"Don't care.", she said in a monotone voice, then she remembered something, "How was it working with Shimei? Since she is your crush and all."
Rin tripped and fell on his face at Noriko's comment.
"What! How... But...-"
"Rin, I sit in the back. It gives me a better look at the whole class. And how you flirt with her a lot. Why don't you just ask her out?"
Rin got up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes and continued to walk with her with a blush on his face.
"Well... I don't know. I mean, she likes Yukio too..." Rin frowned.
Noriko slapped his back, making him jump and yelp in pain.
"She likes you Rin, trust me. She doesn't look at Yukio with the way she looks at you. It's like you take her to cloud nine when you just sit next to her or talk to her."
Rin smiled and blushed, he didn't say anything the whole way back.
When they finally got back to the building, they ate dinner served by Ukobach. Rin attempted the homework, while Noriko finished it. She took a shower and then went to bed.