Middle Finger

Entertainment

Y'all, I skipped the Kraken Arc that takes place directly after Kyoto because that Arc was mainly used to give Rin and Yukio a reason to argue and try(and fail) to understand their differences in canon. It's not needed in this story, so I skipped it. We'll just say the operation to get rid of the squid went smoothly and move on with life.

DEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONS

Rin stared across the classroom at the guy freaking out at his desk.

There was a demon waltzing around the room who'd been there since the beginning of the school year, and this guy could apparently see it now.

He tried not to snicker as the guy shrieked and stood up, alarmed, then realized he'd drawn everyone's attention. The teacher asked if he was okay and he said it was just a dream, but Rin knew.

The class laughed at the teacher's comment about waking up because summer break was over and the boy sat back down, embarrassed. But he still cringed away from the demon. He shoved his face into his arms when it passed by his desk.

After class, the end of school bell rang and the students rushed out. Rin walked up to the guy from earlier–Godaiin was his name–and grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Godaiin." He called. His classmate looked to see who'd grabbed him and whimpered at the sight of Rin's emotionless stare. "O-Okumura? Did you w-want something?" He squeaked. Rin let out a huff of amusement.

"Don't be so scared. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you." He waved his hand dismissively.

"O-Oh. About what?"

"You can see the creepy critters crawling around the classroom too." It wasn't a question.

"Y-you can see them too?! I'm not going crazy?" Godaiin cried, desperate to know he wasn't the only one who saw the creatures.

Rin gave a wicked smirk and Godaiin backed away quickly. Something wrapped around his wrist and he screamed, stumbling forward when it pulled him closer to the teen.

He looked down to see a slim appendage with sleek, silky fur against the bare skin of his wrist. "Calm down, I'm not hurting you." Rin rolled his eyes

"M-monster! Monster! You're one of them!" Godaiin yelled, trying to get away.

"That's just rude." Rin's comment didn't really have any effect since he was still smirking like the Devil on Sabbath.

"I swear I won't do anything. Just don't freak out. You'll draw too much attention." The half-demon held his hands up in surrender, the tail doing the same, retracting from the boy's wrist and wrapping back around Rin's waist.

"Why are you talking to me then?" Godaiin watched the tail suspiciously. "Figured you should know it's not just you. The world you see, the demons you run away from. This is the world I live in." Rin looked at the coaltars. Only a few lurked around the school thanks to the barriers. Sometimes they came to to Rin, calling him Prince or Your Majesty. Other times they just swarmed around him and stuck to his clothes, chirping happily.

He figured it was because everyone else was either too happy or too malevolent for them to cling to without getting rejected or absorbed, so they stuck with someone who was always neutral emotion-wise. They didn't bother him, so he let them stay.

"Y-You see this every day?" Godaiin stammered. Rin nodded. "S'not so bad. You get used to them. This entire school has barriers around it." He motioned to the borders of the Campus Town. "So only the small fry get in. We're safe."

The teen looked a lot more reassured now. "O-Oh. Thank you." He bowed slightly. The ExWire raised a brow.

"Why?"

Godaiin smiled at him feebly. "You told me I'm safe. And made sure I didn't think I was crazy." Rin rolled his eyes.

"I just didn't want you disrupting class anymore. If my grades slip, my brother'll get on my ass." Rin turned away.

"I thought you were a delinquent. Everyone tells stories about you. You're really not one for mercy, are you, Okumura-kun?" Godaiin laughed. Rin's frown twitched.

"Don't have any." He said after a moment.

"Oh come on, everyone has Mercy to give!" Godaiin insisted.

Rin growled, fangs glinting in the light of the slowly setting sun and Godaiin backed up again.

"Trust me. There's no mercy to give. If you wanna know why, ask someone who knows me. I'm sick of explaining this over and over." With that final statement, the half-demon was on his way to Cram School.

§~•~§~•~§

"Hey Okumura, did you hear about the Festival?" Shima popped up to latch onto his arm as soon as he walked through the door. Suguro yelled at him for it, but the pink haired boy didn't relent.

"No, why?" Rin asked.

"It's gonna have a dance! But only couples can get in." Shima's continued. "And there'll be good food and a haunted house and all kinds of booths!"

"And why do I care?" Rin questioned.

"Because maybe going on a date with a girl will help you see the joys of life?" The ExWire shrugged. Rin snorted and sat down. Shima didn't stop pestering him until Shiemi walked in.

"Maybe you should ask her. Good luck man!" Shima suggested, patting Rin's shoulder and going back to his own seat, only to be chewed out by Suguro and Konekomeru.

"Hello, Rin! What were you and Shima talking about?" Shiemi greeted politely.

"The Festival." Rin answered.

"Oh! I'm going to be helping in the haunted house! What are you doing?" She asked excitedly.

"Dunno. We'll probably talk about it tomorrow in homeroom. Hopefully it won't be something involving socializing." The teen responded. Shiemi laughed and Yukio walked in.

§~•~§~•~§

"Not going either, Eyebrows?" Rin assumed. Izumo shook her head.

"I'm aiming to pass the exam in the first try." She huffed.

"Yeah, me too." Rin said, grinning at his own joke. Izumo didn't get it until she remembered what Okumura- sensei had told them about the deal Rin made with the Vatican about Rin having only one chance to pass. She let out a short laugh.

"Guess we'll see who makes the cut in a few months." She said, walking away.