Sweet Like Candy

The Audacity

Rin when Shima shows up to class: The Lion, The Witch, and The Audacity of This Bitch–Are you kidding me???

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Going back to school and trying to act like everything was normal was hard for the Cram group.

At lunch they didn't speak much. In Cram School they didn't speak much. Even Yukio seemed like he didn't know what to do with himself while he taught the class. They didn't have Shima making stupid and sarcastic remarks as comedy relief anymore.

Rin didn't know how everyone else felt, but to her, it was like an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, close to anxiety, but not quite. It was the kind of feeling that made her want to curl up and just sit under the hot water in the shower until it ran cold.

She was tired of thinking so much, but she didn't know what else to do when everyone else was in the same funk she was.

"Wow, it's hard to breathe in here. How're you kids holding up?" Shiro walked in, back from his short vacation with Tatsuma and Torako. He'd actually been helping them out around the Inn, but getting to be around his boyfriend and his best friend was all he'd wanted. He was the only person a good mood right now.

"Look, I know it sucks to be backstabbed, but he did tell us his reason and it's not you guys, so that's something, right?" Shiro tried. Rin blinked. She'd kind of forgotten about that.

"It's not just that. Everything we've learned in the past two days was just.....so much messed up shit in so little time." Suguro tried to explain.

Rin, who'd taken to sitting in Shima's spot, nodded in agreement. Shiemi had moved to sit next to Izumo where Paku used to sit.

Shiro's expression softened and he sat at the teachers' desk. Yukio leaned on the end of it.

"I know. I'm sorry you kids have to deal with all this shit, but it seems that you're the 'chosen ones.' As trainees, you shouldn't have to go through any of this, and I know how much it sucks to be congratulated on doing things you hated having to do, so I won't." He began.

"But, Mephisto really likes you and that means he'll use you until he can't anymore. Off the record, I'll advise you to get out as soon as you can because this place sucks and it'd be better to live as hermits in the woods until you die. I know you won't take that advice because you're all determined to defeat Satan, but if you get that done by the time you've graduated, you still have a shot at leaving the Order and living the rest of your lives normally. Even you, Rin." He looked to his adoptive daughter.

She shook her head, not seeing any way the Order would just let her walk away free. No matter what she did for them, they'd always see her as a threat, because they knew she could burn them to the ground with a flick of her wrist.

"Yes." Shiro insisted. "Disappearing isn't as hard as you might think. You never liked the city anyways, so it'll be a good fit for you to live out in the country, away from everything. And no one ever said you had to be alone. You can all disappear and no one would be bothered after a few years because they'll be busy trying and failing like always to take care of the world." He encouraged them.

"Never thought the Paladin would be telling me to get out." Suguro grumbled.

"Ex-Paladin. For a good reason, too. That wasn't Rin's fault, that was the Order's fault. They could've prevented all of this, but they're greedy. They'll be their own downfall one day." Shiro retorted.

"Is this a bad time to make my entrance, cuz this sounds like a serious conversation." Shima stood in the doorway, sporting his usual jovial smile.

Rin couldn't believe the audacity of this guy. The whole classroom stared at him for a moment before Rin got up, ready to deck the spy, only to be pulled back down by Suguro. She looked at him questioningly.

"No point, he's waiting for you to hit him. We'll all do it when he least expects it." He told her.

"Maybe more than once." Konekomeru agreed.

Shiro laughed. "Kids these days are great!" And class resumed, a little more lively than it had been before despite the spy once again in their midst.

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Over the course of Cram School, Shima was continuously attacked out of nowhere.

First was Suguro, who faked a punch at Shima first. The spy shrieked and covered his face with his arms, but when it didn't come, he opened his eyes to see Suguro grinning.

"How could you–OW!" Suguro landed the real punch on Shima's nose and flat out broke it. Shiro had to set it back and splint it.

Next was Konekomeru, who tripped Shima at least four times at random and swiped his phone, changing the password.

Izumo kept "accidentally" stepping on his heels as they walked through a greenhouse full of herbs for the pharmacology class to examine and identify.

Shiemi "accidentally" flicked a beetle that was crawling across a plant onto Shima's shoulder and the boy's soul just about left his body as he flailed around, shrieking like the beetle was eating him alive. In reality, it was a peaceful bug and it flew away as soon as he started moving around, but no one told Shima that.

Even Yukio chipped in, flat out dropping a handful of caterpillars down the back of Shima's shirt with no remorse and no words. Silent but deadly as always.

Izumo filled the hood of Shima's hoodie with soil and then they double teamed him. A lot of screaming, near-crying, and flailing as if he was on fire later, Shima was terrified to be near any of his friends except for Rin, who hadn't struck yet.

She suddenly realized what her friends had set up for her and bit her tongue to keep from grinning as they walked back to class, Shima clinging into her arm as he trembled, on guard for any more attacks.

Outside of the Cram School classroom, Rin grabbed one of Shima's arms, pulled him away from her so she could grab his shoulders, and kneed him between the legs–The Final Blow. What an honor.

He collapsed in spasms of pain to the floor. The other guys winced in sympathy. Shiemi didn't seem too worried and Izumo was grinning like an evil witch. Man, that girl was sadistic (Rin thought that fondly).

"Don't worry, I didn't hit you hard enough to ruin your reproduction chances. The goal was only to lessen them." Rin said as she walked back into class.

"Jesus Christ, this is borderline assault." Shiro muttered sympathetically as he helped Shima up from the floor and into the classroom. No one bothered Shima after that, but he flinched everytime they got close to him. At the end of the day, Shima left seperate from Suguro and Konekomeru, wary of everyone else.

Rin placed a hand on his shoulder lightly–she figured grabbing his arm would scare him–and turned him towards her.

"Listen, Shima. You can't just skate by through life without consequences. So do your best not to get caught again, okay? Don't let your guard down anymore. Don't get sloppy. Despite what happened today, we do still care about you. We just don't trust you anymore. You have to earn that back, but that's your choice." She said softly. Shima scanned her face for any trace of a joke or cruelty, but he found none, as expected. Rin really did just want the best for everyone, didn't she?

He sighed and nodded. He knew what she was telling him: get better at being a spy so what happens today didn't have to happen again with other people. He left for the dorm with his heart lighter than it had felt all through class.

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Listen guys, I know I skipped over a lot in this chapter, including the meeting where they discuss how trustworthy Shima is and how they can use him, and the part where they try to turn the interrogation around on Mephisto, but I'll probably switch up the timing of that and put it in the next chapter after this one instead, because it's a lot in one chapter.