Hey, Fallen Ones, I'm back! Woo! I'm going to be honest with you all that this chapter was done back in June, but as usual, things happened. I, being my unlucky self, had an ovary literally explode, or a 4 cm cyst on my ovary rather that caused 4 bags worth of internal bleeding. ^_^; Heh, and my stubborn ass was going to try to sleep it off and go to Warped Tour. Nope! Anyway, I'm all fixed up now, but then got distracted by Sanders Sides Appreciation Month on Tumblr and ended up drawing Sanders Sides comics for a month (vampyrsarah if you want to check any of those out with the tag). Then when I was better, I had to start on my Chat Noir from Miraculous Ladybug cosplay for Ramencon in double time before Fall Semester started up. Then Fall Semester started, and this typed chapter is brought to you by my Bio class that bores me to death. Its 4034 words long! Enjoy!
Disclaimer:I do not own Blue Exorcist. Thank God right?
Warning:Slight manga spoilers. Some self-deprecation from Rin.
"Talking" 'Thinking' Satan/Demon/Familiar Talking"
"Animal Transformation/Demon Side Talking" [Texting]
~ Everyone's POV~
It had probably been a week since Rin had attacked. No one really knew anymore, too caught up in their own thoughts as all but Konekomaru and Shiemi sat gathered in their temporary classroom waiting for their teacher.
"I still don't think we should trust them," Bon grumbled, still pissed after all that had happened, "either of them."
Everyone still just looked generally uncomfortable about the topic being discussed, having been avoiding that one all week. Izumo was fidgeting with a book, Bon was brooding, and Shima was just awkwardly glancing between them as he brought Konekomaru up on video chat so he wouldn't miss class; a compromise he had come to with the teachers so he could stay with Shiemi.
The pinkette had had just about enough of the tension at this point, too, as he forced a laugh to try to break it. "Bon, come on. They didn't know this would actually happen, and Rin didn't even know about it. Let's at least give them a chance to explain." Shima laughed again light-heartedly. He hated tension, it was too bothersome.
Just then, Konekomaru finally connected, looking like he'd just been dragged through hell in a mixture of nerves and exhaustion. "Hey guys, what am I missing?" the monk sighed.
"Damn, you look like hell. Have you been sleeping?" Shima asked him, some worry evident in his otherwise carefree tone.
"Yeah," Konekomaru yawned, "Sort of. I was having nightmares for the first few days so I was just thinking over everything that happened."
"So what do you think, then?" Izumo spoke up.
"I assume Bon is for not trusting them?"
"They lied and put our lives in danger!" The studded monk growled.
"I heard Shima wanting to give them a chance? Probably to avoid awkward conflict?"
A guilty laugh from the pinkette, "Holding a grudge is too much work."
Konekomaru sighed again, "I agree with both of them to a degree. Sensei and Kimiko should have told us anything- and definitely should have warned Okumara-, but Okumara didn't know so I think we should be wary like Bon says, but give them a chance now that we've had time to calm down and think like Shima said," he proposed before saying more quietly, "I think Shiemi will be sad if we don't."
That last part is what cut off whatever argument Bon was about to give, and returned the class to silence. After what seemed like forever, it was Izumo that broke this silence. "I was the first to try to talk to Okumara again the first time he went crazy because I grew up with demons and watched my mother be consumed by them. I understood how hard it is to control demons, and can't imagine how much harder it is when that demon is a part of you and conscious of itself nonetheless as a separate entity...Okumara hasn't betrayed us yet, so I want to continue to believe he won't. I do agree we should have been warned, though, so I agree with Konekomaru's idea."
There were a few moments of shocked silence, Izumo not being one to share her personal business before Shima gave a lazy smile. "Always the one with the plan. Heh...man, being wary is a pain, but I have to agree with them. It's gonna be awkward either way."
Some tension left the air as they agreed on a plan before they all turned to Bon. He looked between them all before huffing, "...I'll try not to be hostile."
Konekomaru gave a small smile. "Thank you."
'He's not gonna last the class period,' was what they were really thinking, though.
"So how should we act when he comes back?" Izumo asked.
"Natural," Shima shrugged.
Izumo rolled her eyes at him. "You do know that never works, right?"
"Actually, Izumo," Konekomaru spoke up again, "I think he means not just acting natural, but actually be natural. Even without the mind-reading that Sensei mentioned, I think even Okumara would be able to tell if we were simply "acting" natural. If he's still Okumara, he probably feels incredibly guilty, and it will most likely make him feel even worse so be natural. Is that what you were getting at, Shima?"
The pinkette grinned, "I'm not as stupid as you guys think."
Everyone simply rolled their eyes at the playboy before turning their eyes to the door as it opened to their teacher literally dragging an obviously distressed Rin by his tail as the older clawed the floor.
"I'm not ready!" Rin yelled, frozen stiff from his tail being dragged.
"I don't care! Stand up, Okumara! Stop being a child!" Yukio growled at his brother, obviously done with everything before class even started. "And put your claws away! I don't want to pay for another floor!"
Rin seemed to just now realize where he was and sent a terrified look to his classmates before staring at the floor. 'Konekomaru isn't even attending class because of me, and Bon is giving me a look to kill. They should let him,' he thought.
On the other hand, however, his classmates' first thought was: 'He looks terrified,' only for it to be confirmed when they saw his face.
'What the hell? He has no right to be terrified,' was the rest of Bon's thought.
"You can let go now," Rin finally spoke again, "I won't run." 'I have nowhere to run,' he thought as Yukio let go of his tail, and he stood up slowly with his head still bowed.
No one said anything for a few minutes so Shima had to be the one to break the silence out of complete awkwardness yet again. "So...uh...you can see soulmates, huh? Any in this class?" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
The rest of the class face-palmed at their pink-haired friend as Rin tapped the ground with his toe. 'Am I allowed to tell them? 'Like should I?' Rin was asking Ren.
'That's up to you. Since things are tense you should ask the more shy person of the pairing if it's okay or if they just want you to whisper the answer or something.'
'Okay.' "...If you want to know, but don't want it announced to the class you can come up here, and I'll whisper their name to you if they're in the class rather than announcing it to the rest of the class…" Rin offered to his classmates.
They looked honestly shocked, none of them having actually thought this was a legitimate power, but even Bon looked intrigued by the prospect.
Konekomaru was surprisingly the one to break the silence this time. "Who is mine?" The bald monk asked, all the while silently praying it was the small blonde girl he was currently watching over.
Rin smiled a little at him. "You know the answer to that, Konekomaru. We all know you wouldn't be missing class for someone who is 'just a friend'."
Shima burst out laughing while Izumo tried to hide her own laughter as the small monk flushed red, but smiled nonetheless.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he whispered.
Rin gave an empty smile in return before nodding, "Anyone else?"
There was a moment before Izumo—face tinted pink, but exuding her normal air of confidence and fearlessness—walked up to Rin like nothing had happened, just as she had done after the Amaimon incident.
"Who is mine?" She mumbled, too quietly for human ears, but knowing from her own demon experience that Rin would be able to hear her.
"...Am I allowed to be close enough to whisper the answer in your ear?" Rin asked her nervously.
Izumo opened her mouth for a snappy response, but upon looking at the fear and anguish in his eyes, simply nodded and moved a pig-tail away from her ear to expose her neck as a way of saying she knows he won't hurt her.
Rin appreciated the act but was still hesitant as he leaned in and whispered to her before laughing when she turned bright red. "Shima" was the whispered name.
"Don't tell him," she immediately whispered as she went back to her seat.
Shima walked up to Rin now with a shit-eating grin on his face. "So what lucky lady is destined to spend the rest of their life with me?" he asked dramatically.
Rin remembered Izumo's request, so he asked in return, "Am I allowed in your head?"
Shima hesitated, but nodded his permission, "Do what you gotta do."
Rin nodded, staring Shima in the eye to strengthen the connection, and was surprised when he saw more than just Izumo now. "Shima, you're…" he hesitated, not wanting to label the pinkette, "...not entirely straight and...not trying to label, poly?" Rin whispered to him in order to not out him if he wasn't ready as he put extra question on the word poly in case he was incorrect.
Shima tilted his head in confusion before his eyes widened. "Say what?" he breathed out.
"You have two people…" Rin whispered. "I didn't see the other before...the power must not have been strong enough. One is a girl that you know. I can tell by the light purple string braided with the white string that means friendship which is then intertwined with the pink and red strings. The other is a boy... I think...who you haven't met yet, but based on the red-orange string, there will be some-eh…sexual tension for a bit until one of you makes a move."
Shima blinked, shell-shocked as he suddenly sidestepped between Rin and Bon. "I...I didn't see that coming," he admitted, "Alright, uh thanks."
Rin nodded, "Sorry?" he gave a questioning apology.
"No, you're fine. I had suspicions, but I just thought I was overly hor- that sounds bad, doesn't it? Well, thanks. I got some thinking to do I guess, and Rin?"
"Yeah?"
"Your eyes are going red. You might want to fix that before Bon sees...you can imagine he's suspicious."
Rin's head dropped once more, "I thought so."
"Come on, Rin," Shima grinned, clapping him on the back, causing the smaller to jump. "You haven't hurt us on purpose yet." He leaned in and whispered now, "We talked before class. Obviously we're going to stay wary, but for the most part, we've decided to trust you, okay?" He grinned before now walking back to his seat, "Relax."
Rin sighed, nodding and making sure he was calm before glancing up. "Bon...?" He left the question in the air.
Bon glared at him but huffed, "Tch, just say it."
Rin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before nodding as he focused. "...You haven't met her yet...but I know you'll like her. The pink string, the one that means friendship, is small compared to the white and light red strings. Ren says this means the connection will be instant and is the closest thing to love at first sight to exist."
Bon blinked before pink dusted his cheeks, and he looked away. "...Thanks, I guess. Good to know…"
"Yeah, of course," he mumbled, reaverting his gaze.
"You mentioned a Ren?" Izumo cut in now. "Sensei said that is what you were calling your demon side."
Rin winced now. "...Yeah," he nodded hesitantly.
"Can we meet him?" Shima asked.
Izumo, Konekomaru, and the aforementioned pinkette couldn't contain their obvious curiosity, and, as much as he tried to hide it, even Bon looked intrigued.
"If he's safe, of course," Konekomaru added.
"We already met Sensei's. Yours can't be nearly as much of a dick," Shima laughed, "No offense, teach."
Yukio glared at the pink monk in a way that meant death, all the while Rin was looking to him as though asking permission.
Yukio thought for a moment, but sighed, "He needs to explain some things anyway. Just don't give him complete control. You need to hear some of this, too." As petty as it sounded, but to be perfectly honest, Yukio didn't care for how calm his class was being about the whole ordeal so he loaded a tranquilizer into his gun and internally smirked at the nerves that crossed his students' eyes.
Meanwhile, Rin sighed at the consent before closing his eyes. "Ren. Can you come out? My fr-..." 'Am I allowed to call them that?' "...They want to meet you."
'You sure?'
'They'll have to eventually, I don't want them thinking we're horrible...the fear in their eyes hurts,' Rin whimpered, unaware of the fear tactic Yukio was doing behind him.
'Alright, move over a little,' Ren sighed.
When Rin reopened his eyes, one was his normal blue, but the other was now a deep crimson.
"Hello humans," Ren's huskier voice purred jokingly as it came out of Rin's mouth, and his classmates—minus the currently electronic Konekomaru—looked transfixed. "Oops, sorry about that." Ren let out a low chuckle, and as the red lessened, the others in the room shook their heads as though waking up. "I'm still gaining control of things myself."
"Heh. I can see why he was the ruler of Lust. You could do that with just your voice? Dude, you've got to teach me that-Ow!" Shima was still grinning even as Izumo whacked him upside the head.
"Stupid pervert," she grumbled as Ren laughed.
"I like this kid. You sure you want to be an exorcist? I think you'd do a lot better in our clan," Ren smirked. "Oh, and Rinny here will be able to do that little trick himself with practice." Rin turned red at the reveal.
Izumo was still on the first part of that sentence, though, as her eyes widened in fascination. "In your clan? So you can actually 'turn' people like in the vampire myths?"
"The only clan that can without some weird, boring, and/or painful ritual," Ren smirks with a bow.
"Fascinating," Konekomaru admitted.
"Why thank you," he grinned before switching to a more serious expression. "That brings something up though, Rin here can wake up and even slightly to almost completely heal your blonde friend there."
"What?!" everyone, including Rin, but minus Yukio exclaimed.
"I can?!" Rin grinned, hope in his blue eye.
Ren nodded Rin's head. "Yes. That's one of the things to talk about that Four-Eyes over there was talking about," he said, hitching a thumb at Yukio.
"Konekomaru!" Rin grinned, "Did you hear that?! I can help Shi-"
"What's the catch?" Bon cut off the excited half-demon with a growl, sufficiently deflating his hope.
'Right. There's always a catch with demons,' Rin whimpered as Ren looked at Bon rather coldly for a moment.
"Damn. You may be a bigger stick in the mud than Yukio," Ren sighed, ignoring the growls the offended gave. "You are correct though, there's a small catch, but easily fixable. The healing agent is in our blood. Since we have to inflict harm to feed, we are also able to heal. An adaptation from the many millennia before the discovery and invention of disinfectants and antibiotics. The catch is, though, this is also how we change people. If a person dies with Lust blood in their system, they become one of us and come back hungry for blood. If they don't feed in the first 24 hours, they will die permanently. During the Black Plague War, we had a synthetic blood that our witc—wait they don't go by that anymore—that our sorcerers crafted to keep our numbers under control and help any mortals that were accidentally caught in the crosshairs so they could prolong the turning and remained basically superhuman. We were in the process of offering the synthetic to your human doctors, but your priests thought the synthetics gave us too much power so they raided and killed the sorcerers who knew how to make it before destroying the research; so it's your organization's fault that there's a catch in the first place." Ren glared slightly now as he continued, "The amount of blood it would take to help her and mostly heal her without causing a repeat incident and the catch would require about 2 weeks quarantine to be on the safe side. Since we're clan leader, it will take less blood, and, if I'm present or in control, even less."
As Ren explained, the class fell back into wary silence, and Rin was ready to flee again, looking to the window and wondering if he could pull an Amaimon. When the silence stretched too long for Ren's liking, however, he groaned. "And if you're worried about that consent that is so important to humans, we can go in her head and ask her! She's already caught up on what's going on. Pinhead for some reason specially requested for Anri to give her dreams of what has been going on all week so she's capable of making her own decisions. Hell, she can even take the test from Tuesday with how thorough Anri's been."
The class was, of course, shocked at the information, but it definitely put them more at ease. Still, though, no one spoke up.
"Ugh, this is why we don't give humans info like thi-...ew I sound like Pride. Reign in those pheromones Four-Eyes." Ren snickered at the growl he got before looking to the phone propped in Konekomaru's spot, "Soulmate boy...Konekomoro?"
The monk had been in thought but yelped a little as he sat straighter in the frame. "Konekomaru. Yes."
"Maru. Right. Anyway, you're her soulmate. Whether she wakes up or not affects you too, and will hurt you the most. What do you want to do?"
Konekomaru stared at him wide-eyed before looking down, fidgeting. 'Can I make such an important decision?'
"You don't have to if you're uncomfortable," Rin whimpered, not wanting to scare them again or make them angrier.
'I have to.' "No," he gulped, "I'm alright." He sighed before staring Rin and Ren in the eyes, "Go ahead and get her consent."
"You can't be serious, Koneko!" Bon roars. "That power is what started this mess! You're signing her up to become a monster! How can you trust— "
"Shut up, Bon!" Konekomaru yelled. "For once in your life just shut up!" He got quieter now. "Realize that your opinion isn't the only thing that matters."
Even Ren was shocked speechless by the small monk's outburst and he could barely even remember the kid's name. "...Alright," he finally nodded.
Konekomaru sighed as he looked down. "I'm sorry, Bon. I just really want her to wake up, and I'm scared enough. I want it to be on her own terms, and I don't need your mouth for once. She can at least choose this way. Anyway," he could feel everyone's unease and tension, but chose to ignore it as he looked back to the Lust leader at the front of the room, "is there anything else we should know?"
Ren blinked but nodded slowly. 'What a strange bunch.' "Alright then. We can do that after class, I guess. There is one more thing to talk about though, yes." Ren looked to Yukio now, mouthing, "I'm gonna move Rin out," he warned before the blue leaves the other eye.
"Try anything and I will tranquilize you," Yukio glared with a cock of his gun.
Ren rolled his now fully red eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I know." He sighed before looking back at the class, who gasped. "No one look me in the eyes, you all need to listen to this." Everyone noticed then that they had been hazily staring at him, and quickly averted their eyes.
"Damn demon," Bon growled.
Ren smirked this time, "Hey, I can't help that I'm sexy. No need to be jealous," he winked.
"Geez, it feels good to not be sugar-coated by his humanity butting in. Anyway," he clapped, "I need to talk to you guys about preventing a repeat of this mess. Rin is Lust Clan. These," he shows his fangs, "are here for a reason. Rin is going to need blood every two weeks, and after missions and strenuous training." He let that sink for a second until he saw Bon about to rage again. "I'm not asking for donors, either, before you make an even bigger ass of yourself than you already have. I'm just letting you know not to be borrowing his water bottle unless you like the copper taste. We're having trouble getting him to choose a permanent solution, but one of his options is a…blood donor. Yeah, we'll go with that word. This is someone from a Lust human village who will willingly donate blood. This would be the best option, and if it happens, you'll have a new classmate. I wanted to tell you guys this so you wouldn't judge him for something he can't help," Ren said, looking at Bon pointedly, "and maybe help the stubborn dumbass pick an option so this won't happen again and I don't have to listen to his whining anymore. His damn human morals are gonna get someone killed so knock some damn sense into him," he sighed.
The class went back to an awkward silence as this sunk in.
"…What is he going to do after helping Shiemi if he ends up doing so?" Konekomaru decided to ask.
"We're using blood bags to make smoothies right now," Yukio admitted, pointing to the bottle strapped to Rin's belt loop.
"He'll probably have to drink a few normal blood bags after helping her, though, so they're not diluted," Ren added.
Konekomaru's frame shifted momentarily before Rin's phone buzzed and Konekomaru stared at Ren to read it.
Ren raised an eyebrow at the action, but shrugged, skimming the texts.
K: [I'll donate after as thanks for saving her.]
R: [You don't have to, but if you insist. He'll have to drink less if it's fresh from the source, but you do know Rin's gonna throw a shit fit, right?]
K: [I couldn't help her, and I still haven't been able to help her at all. I want to help in some way if I can. I'm sick of being the scared weak link.]
R: [Okay...try to talk them into letting me be in control then so he won't whine about it. You seriously have no clue how annoying it gets.]
As Ren was answering Konekomaru, he continued talking to the class. "If you feel the desire to help, feel free. Any questions?" When no one said anything, Ren nodded, forwarding the messages to Yukio before deleting them and putting the phone away. "Alright. Well, I guess it was alright talking to you all. I hope we can start moving past this. If you have a pressing question that you didn't want to share with the class, Rin has a phone. Just address it to me. I'll give you Rin back now, and let you get back to class then." With this, Ren smirked as he gave a cheeky wave with a wink, "Bye, bye~!"
Ren's red eyes faded back to Rin's blue, who blinked in confusion before he yawned.
"Man, he takes a lot of energy," Rin mumbled, reaching for his water bottle before wincing and dropping his hands to his sides instead, looking at his classmates in fear.
"Alright everyone, to your seats. Let's start class," Yukio spoke, unloading his gun now and holstering it before turning to the board.
Everyone moved where they belonged now as Yukio started teaching. Rin made his way to his seat as well only for a shrine fox to peek their head out from under and leave a straw on his desk.
The master said, 'Just drink, idiot.' The fox snickered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Rin blinked before allowing a small smile. "Thank you," he mouthed to the purple-haired Tamer as he sat down.
Her only response was a little huff as she flipped her hair, and turned to the board. It may have seemed snooty, but anyone who knew her knew that was her way of saying, "Yeah, you're welcome," so with that, Rin smiled as he put the straw in the bottle, and turned to pay attention, sipping at his drink and feeling at least a little less guilty than before.
Yay~! Another chapter done! Wooo! I hope you enjoyed! What do you guys think I should do with Shiemi? I have a few route options that could happen so help me decide in the comments! Until next time! Bye~!
~VampyrSarah
P.S. Guys! My name change went through! I am now legally Sutton! Ahhh! I cried and did a happy dance when I got back to my car! I'm so happy you have no idea! Okay, now bye.
~VampyrSarah
VampyrSutton
