Makoto Taniya's Story

Mavis always woke up early, which is why she was at her class so early. She looked upon the few students in front of her class, either slacking off, sleeping, or talking. Rarely any of them were studying, and the ones that were well... It wasn't surprising to her though. She wasn't given that much respect as a teacher because of her age and being a student also. The only respect she was given was for being serious and strict in some way, no one looked her beyond that.

It's not as if she really minded though. This was daily, this was life. As a teacher, she had to deal with these things, always being the calmest and most accepting one, no matter the circumstances, which was why she was so open to letting people sleep in her class, 'It'll affect their lives if they don't pay attention in class the next time we all go on a mission...' She thought with a sigh but shook off this unpleasant feeling and glanced at her papers she had to grade and sat up straight in her chair before grabbing a pen and beginning to write.

---

---

Yuen woke up early, and by accident because his alarm was on and he didn't turn it off the night before, seeing how he'd always do that, but just because he hated waking up early. Usually, he'd wake up late, leaving behind first, second, third, maybe even his fourth period if he felt like it. The first year, his teachers were always angry at him for skipping his classes, but after him staying for so long and constantly repeating all his mistakes, all the teachers got used to such habit.

Slowly, he rolled off his bed, hitting the ground with such force it probably woke up the other heavy sleepers the floor below him. And yet his hand missed the alarm clock, leaving it still to ring as he brought himself off the ground, the blankets along with him. He brought his hand forcefully down onto the clock and stood up with a wrathful look on his face before heading for the door, partially dressed and undressed. He went on a mission a day before, and got really tired while trying to change out of his school uniform. He didn't care about the weird looks he got from his dorm, so he just headed straight for class, not knowing what time it was and that school wasn't even about to begin just yet.

---

---

Xepher lit a smoke before putting the lighter back into his pocket and looking up at the sky from outside the academy. He wasn't the type of principal to be lying around and doing nothing, so what he did in the mean time was talk to a few of the kids or just simply welcome the freshmen or newcomers, since there were people of many ages.

It wasn't creepy or anything. He was the principal, sure, but he was so young. Even a few students and teachers were older than him, but that didn't really matter to anyone apparently. Xepher was the type of man that was easy to talk to, the type of man who anyone could open up to, no matter the age or gender. It was the same both ways since he felt mutual.

He looked down at his watch to check the time and noticed that it was 7:45, "Seven forty-five kids! Make sure not to be late, alright?" He laughed and watched the few students he talked to walk off and run into the distance, 'Really... these kids are so interesting and funny to me...' Xepher told himself, taking a breath of fresh air for himself.

---

---

Jitsue was sitting underneath a tree, holding a book up to his eye level and scanning it quickly. To most people, it looked like a regular book, but he was studying human emotions, since he's a demon himself. Although people suspected him to be a human, he was most definitely not. He, along with three others, were the people causing so much trouble for the school, and yet no one knew, other than perhaps one; the principal.

He always had his eyes on him, being wary, but around the students, he knew they never suspected a thing, so he was able to read these books and be normal around them without any worries. Still, he acted normal, just in case.

There, underneath that tree, he waited for three other people who were just like him; demons. But they were demons who also caused trouble and stood undercover in the academy to learn weak spots so they could attack when needed. Instead of takling to the students who passed, he waited for the other three of his kind to talk to. He never liked humans. In fact, he hated them with all his life, 'Just to get rid of them would be a long life well spent...' He though with a small smile while his eyes switched from the book to the passing students, still searching for the three he was waiting for.

Eira tore down the path that ran through the school grounds, once again she was running late for her meeting with Jitsue - Her most favourite time, a time that she could share with him, without Jitsue telling her to leave him alone.
There was no way in Hell that she had a crush on Jitsue, no, she could never and would never allow herself to let that happen.
No, she felt something much stronger, like a completely and utterly devoted, um, 'companion'?
Yes that's right, she was looked up to everything he did and would do anything for him.

Ramming into many people along the way, Eira did little but laugh as they fell over or yelled at her - What did she care? They were scum to her, completely beneath her so quite frankly, they deserved it and she couldn't wait until their little world soon started to come crashing down around them, which she knew would happen in good time, Jitsue promised her that.

Turning a corner, she can to a stop by the tree he had chosen and sure enough, saw him sitting quite beautifully and patiently underneath.
"Oh Jitsue," Eira begins, feigning not to know that he would be waiting for her, "What a coincidence seeing you here.." She continues and then realises that they are, indeed, alone.

Finally, none of the others were here yet; She had Jitsue all to herself.

"Mind if I sit with you?" She purrs, letting the words drip off of her tongue, Eira rather liked to think of herself as the master of seduction - Despite her manic appearance.
Dumping her bag onto the ground, she lets her eyes wander around the expansive school, wondering what was taking the other so long, not that she minded being alone with Jitsue.

---

---

Sonny let his hand slam hard - Well, as hard as a puny fourteen year old, that looked around nine - down on that annoying alarm clock of his.
Why had he let his mother coax him into thinking it was a good idea?
Rolling over and snuggling deeper into his covers, Sonny managed to yet again let himself fall into Dreamland, forgetting all about class.

Until he woke up half an hour later, panicking and bolted to get everything ready.
He still had yet to do his homework and now he was very late for class! He really was useless.
What was he thinking, going back to sleep like that: He'd put the alarm on much later than he should have anyway, but now, now he was well and truly 'screwed'.

"C'mon Sonny," He hisses to himself, "keep yourself together."
Before exiting his room and slinging his blue backpack with small ducks on, onto his back.

Rushing out the door, he quickly grabs a handful of candy from the small bowl he keeps hidden behind the hall table and runs all the way to class, bursting in tired and out of breath he manages to get out a small "Good morning Miss, sorry I'm late" before collapsing in his seat.

Miki awoke that morning to the sweet, sweet sound of enraged shouting.

"-KI YOU LITTLE RAT GET YOUR GODDAM ASS OUTTA BED RIGHT FUCKING NOW BEFORE I REND YOU LIMB FROM FUCKING LIMB DO YOU HEAR ME?!? WE GOT PLACES TO BE YOU LITTLE SHIT, AND I'M NOT GONNA BE LATE BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Her sister's screeches tore her from her slumber slower than they could have, the volume seeming to increase with each passing moment as she drew more and more into the world of the waking. Her senses gradually came to life, and she made a small noise of not-quite-protest in the back of her throat, half-heartedly attempting to inform her sister that she was awake and (somewhat) aware. When the hollering failed to cease, Miki groaned as loud as she dared and rolled over onto her back. She really was trying to sit up, afraid that if she remained inactive any longer her sister would just lose it. After about thirty seconds of her struggle, she succeeded in her small endeavor and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest to keep from falling back over. As she blinked sleep from her eyes, Miki was surprised to find that her sister wasn't in the room with her, as she had previously assumed. Just as she noticed this, the yelling ceased, and Miki decided that the noise had come from Makoto's own room instead, probably so that she could get ready and yell at Miki at the same time. Leave it to her sis to be efficient.

Slowly, the girl dragged herself from her bed, removed the outfit she'd selected the night before from her closet (a habit of hers), donned it, and set about brushing her hair. As she did so, she heard a voice whispering quietly from the opposite corner of her small room. Miki-tan... Miki-tan the high-pitched, breathy, feminine voice murmured. Good... morning, Miki-tan.

Delighted at the presence of her friend, Miki cracked a smile in the mirror, continuing to brush her hair. "Good morning, Chiyo-chan!" she chirped, fitting a clip into her dark locks, to keep them out of her eyes. "Today, Big Sis and I are going to cram school! Oh, you can come too, of course. It's going to be really, really fun!" The girl set the brush down and rose from her seat in front of the vanity. She whirled around to face the corner, beaming brightly. Her friend was curled up in her little niche, red dress in tatters and long, dark hair unruly. Chiyo-chan hardly ever seemed to change, and Miki liked that about her not-so-imaginary friend.

"I... I don't want you to... go there... Miki-ta-"

"MIKI!" Makoto's yelling cut off Chiyo-chan, and before Miki could do anything, her friend vanished into thin air. Dismayed, the girl grabbed her schoolbag from by the door, her sister's voice penetrating the thin walls. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE, NOW! WE HAVE TO GO!"

"I'm coming, Sis!" she shouted, desperate to stave off her sister's frustration while she could. No sooner had she slipped out of her room and into the hallway of the small apartment than her sister appeared at the other end, bag slung over her shoulder and eyes narrowed in a terrifying scowl. Makoto's hair was in partial disarray, showing that she'd only woken up a little bit earlier than Miki herself, and had obviously taken much less care in getting ready. Miki held back a sigh. Her sister was not a morning person.

"Jesus, there you are! Let's go already." Makoto growled, hands on her hips, weight shifted to one leg. Miki did her best to smile in an attempt to spread some cheer to her angry older sister.

"Okay!" she agreed, and followed her sister out of the hallway. On her way out, she grabbed a leftover biscuit from the kitchen to eat on the way to school. The sisters left the building, Miki trailing a few feet behind Makoto (as specified prior to the start of the school year), munching on her biscuit as she went.

The walk to school took about fifteen minutes at most; the two girls lived rather close to True Cross. Their parents had found for them a living space close by for the very reason of convenience (provided that Makoto would be a suitable guardian and adult of the house in the absence of their parents). Once they'd arrived at the massive campus, much to Miki's dismay, she... she lost her sister, who had disappeared in the crowd of people. Once she realized that she could no longer see Makoto, she stopped in her tracks, looking around as though she were lost. Actually, she kind of was. Makoto was the one who knew where everything was, and she was gone now.

Slowly, she started walking again, brows raised in confusion, wishing more than ever than her friend was with her then.

Christ, she was glad to be rid of that little brat. For the time being, anyways. She had things to do. At least, she thought she did. Something told her that she had to be somewhere. She did have somewhere to be. She knew she did. Somewhere where her damned half-sister couldn't be following her to, which was why she deliberately and smoothly lost the girl in the crowd, weaving through the throng of students. It had been all too easy.

It was just sheer bad luck that she happened to (quite literally) run into her goddam cousin. They bumped into each other, and Makoto stumbled back a few steps before straightening up and glaring at him. He'd been reading his Bible instead of watching where the hell he was going. Stupid fucking Jesus-freak. God, she hated him. He regarded her evenly, which only pissed her off all the more.

"Good morning," he bid her, monotonous as ever. "Where is your sister?"

Makoto cracked a mischievous grin. Oh, she'd been waiting for him to ask that. She'd prepared a response that would piss off this Jesus-freak real good. "I don't know." She shrugged. "Am I my sister's keeper?" His reaction was all she had hoped for. He looked like he'd gotten bitten by something, it was priceless. He scowled at her and moved along, saying nothing more to her. Perfect. Adios, Jesus-freak. Good riddance to him.

Makoto walked for a time, not quite aimlessly. She had hoped that, if she walked through enough places, she'd remember where the hell she was supposed to be. It took her about five or so minutes to lay eyes on such a place: a tree. A tree with two figures sitting beneath it. She narrowed her eyes, getting a longer, better look. Yep. That was the place. She started for it, fingertips worrying the strap of her bag slung over her shoulder. It didn't take her long to reach the tree and the two sitting by it. There was that white-haired kid, whose name she really should have remembered but hadn't quite stuck, and then there was that other weird-looking chick.

She came to a stop by the two of them, eyes narrowed more out of unconscious habit than anything else. "Hey," she said, simply. She decided not to sit. Standing felt much more comfortable. "What's up?"

He really did not like his cousin. His older one, of course. Makoto. There was something wrong with that girl. It gave Haru a feeling of undying unease. He shook his head as he removed himself from her discomforting presence, clutching his Bible to his chest as he continued his search for Miki. It was ridiculous that the two were related; he'd never met two people whose personalities were at such contrast to each other. It didn't make any kind of sense. When he was younger, he used to fantasize that Makoto was adopted, and thus not related to him by blood at all. Alas, he'd long since put away such childish thoughts, and had resigned himself to the fact that he and Makoto were, for most intents and purposes, family.

That didn't mean he had to like her, though, and that was one thing that made him happy.

He wandered for a bit, keeping his eyes peeled for his younger cousin as he did so, but for the most part, he was letting his mind wander as much as his feet did. At last, he came to rest on some stairs that were less crowded than they could have been. Haru sat down over to one side, against the wall, sitting on the top step. He opened his bible to a random page and began to do a little reading before school began.

Jora had woken up no later than 3:52 that morning. He was a natural early riser. He was unsure if that was true for all demons, or just him in particular, but he had no problems with it. It gave him more time to make himself presentable to his adoring masses. Not that he needed that much time to begin with, though. A few extra hours never hurt, though.

At 7:50, he deigned to leave his dorm room, after he'd made sure that his hair was perfect, styled just the way he liked it, that his smile was striking, and his clothes were sharp and immaculate. He'd also dabbed a bit of cologne on before he'd departed, as well. Not only did it smell absolutely fabulous, but it also helped taint his demon scent. Not that he was worried about anything like being discovered or some such nonsense. But it was an indisputable perk.

He took a deep breath and exhaled soundly, starting an upbeat sort of saunter as he headed for class. He'd wink or raise a brow or even wave at any dames he caught the eye of (if she was cute enough, of course- he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Not that he could help how damn smoking he was). Jora tapped his pocket, and sighed in relief. His comb was in there. Just in case the need arose for some hair-adjustment. All was well. He never went anywhere without it.

When he arrived at the door of the appropriate class, he checked his watch. Damn. He was early. There was no such thing as "fashionably early", dammit. He had an image to keep. Rather than to show up awkwardly before class began, Jora strategically positioned himself across the hallway from the door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, one leg crossed over the other. He started whistling a tune, eyes scanning around for anyone whom he could take an interest in.

"Good morning Miss, sorry I'm late"

Mavis looked up from her paper work to see little Sonny, one of her youngest students she has, and has ever had before. She found him a such a kind hearted little boy, but knew he was capable of many things. She judged people well, and she could tell such easy things with just a glance. But she was the teacher, of many classes actually, so she actually knew most of the students by that year. Most of them.

"It's fine." Mavis answered, turning back towards her paper and putting the whole stack to the side since class was just about starting. She didn't mind students coming late either. If they were late, then they were late. Unlike most teachers, whether they were in high school, or an adult, Mavis had little care if they came late. Perhaps it was because they were her age? Or maybe it was just because she left it up to them? She didn't really know herself, but that was fine leaving it that way.

Just as she was about to get up and tell the class what they were going to do for the day, she heard another voice, this one being a little less familiar.

"Excuse me miss"

Mavis turned from her desk and saw a white haired young man, someone she didn't recall seeing, "Yes?"

"I've been granted allowance to attend to classes as a spectator, So I was wondering if you would allow me to stay in the background for this class?"

The black-haired young woman stared at him for a while, wondering if he was a new student, or just someone passing by who could see demons. She didn't know, but wasn't exactly willing to ask any personal questions, so she simply nodded and nudged towards the classroom where students began to seat themselves, "Go ahead." Mavis got up to the front of the class room, but then said, "But I'm not exactly allowed to let any random person enter the room. May I ask your name?"

---

---

Yuen Tatabana

Yuen, while walking to his class, let out this loud and obnoxious yawn as he walked through the hallways. A bunch of students moved away from each other. One even ran away, pushing through the crowds and rushing into some classroom, most likely not his first period. Yuen was already used to this though, but he was quite angry at the thought of all the poverty in this school between demons and humans, despite some being alright and average, such as him.

Still, it was natural. He was probably the one and only demon who exclaimed his race out loud, without even caring about what other people thought. Well... maybe it did get to him once or twice... but it's not as if he really cared that much.

Finally, he made it to his class, walking to the door and seeming to glare at his teacher, even though she was talking to someone else at the moment. He knew her hatred for demons, and he was certain she, too, knew about him, so he growled and walked away to one of the back seats, since he barely tried at all anyways.

Yuen kicked back in his chair, feeling a slight pain from his past mission and twitching a bit because it was a bit painful, but ignored it. He wanted to push himself to the limit, so the only thing that would make him pay attention in class today would be the teacher announcing them getting out so they could go kill more demons, as always.

---

---

"Oh Jitsue. What a coincidence seeing you here... Mind if I sit with you?"

Jitsue didn't hear the girl in front of him at first, just reading on until he heard her ask to sit down next to him. He so lost in thought that he thought it was another one of those filthy exorcists again, about to shut the book and try his best to force a smile towards them until he looked up and saw it was Eira.

She wasn't 'normal' like any other exorcist, or even demon. They were close, perhaps you could say, but not in a sort of friendship. It was confusing, he'd think to himself. It's more like they shared a common goal, in some way. After all, the reason the two joined was to get rid of all the exorcists, every. single. last. one, "No problem, Eira. Glad to see you so early in the morning. That's some surprise."

But it wasn't just those two, there were two others as well, the other female who had just arrived, "Hey, What's up?"

Next came Makoto, another young woman who shared the same goal the other few people had. Unlike usual, when he needed to force a terrible smile and do some acting he always hated, he now put on a new smile, though it wasn't one that looked normal you could say. In some way, it sort of looked mischievous, or sadistic while he answered, "Nothing much. I'm just thinking about how much I've grown tired of seeing all these kids wander around with such high goals, like exterminating all demons or killing Satan. It's silly really. They can't even notice me in their school." He seemed to have chuckled a bit.

Miki had just started to resign herself to the possibility that she was going to have to make it to the cram school on her own somehow. She really didn't like the idea. She really, really didn't like the idea. Not a bit. Now, Miki was completely okay with being by herself. Normally, in any case. But this was a completely different situation than normal. She was in a place she wasn't all that acquainted with, and her sister, the only one of the two who knew where anything was (and who, for the record, had the Key, so really, Miki couldn't get to the cram school without her regardless of whether or not she could find a secluded door). She sighed in her growing despondence, and continued walking only because the flow of the crowd demanded it, taking very small steps as she looked around for someone she knew. Like her cousin, for instance. She could always just enter with him. Her cousin was nice. She liked him. Not only was he one of her best (and only) friends, but he was good for sparring too, even if he did complain a lot about it being "inappropriate for a proper child of the Lord" and whatnot. He was kind of a nut sometimes. But that was okay, because it would've been weird if he wasn't.

If she couldn't find her cousin, she decided, then perhaps she would have to actually venture out of her comfort zone and find someone else in the cram school. But she didn't want to. Chiyo-chan had always warned her against strangers, and Miki was wont to take the advice of her close companion. What if she got weird looks? Or what about rude responses? She wasn't sure how she would handle those, and she didn't want to have to find out. People weren't her thing, and that was the way she liked it.

She continued her weird little shuffle-steps, both praying she didn't run into anyone (klutz problems) and thoroughly pondering her options at that point at the same time. Miki wrung her hands nervously and bit her lip. This was not going the way she had envisioned it at all. Not only that, but class was going to start any minute now. She had to get there, and fast. Along with her dejection, frustration was starting to rear its ugly head and add itself to the mix as well. Just what she needed: irked jitters to go along with her forlorn wandering. Perfect.

And, as if things couldn't have gotten any better, it was about a few seconds later when she was so shockingly run into from behind. The force would have been enough to knock her face-first into the ground, but she managed to reach out and steady herself on a nearby wall just in time to keep herself from doing just that. In her relief, she remained still for a good moment or two, breathing deeply, before she remembered that she'd been knocked into by someone. Wondering if they were even still there, Miki straightened herself up and turned around to check.

The person was still there, and on the ground no less; it appeared as if the collision had done them worse than it had her. He looked like he was around her age, she guessed. His face looked a tad blank for someone who'd just run into another person, not that she was judging or anything.

"Pink?"

Her eyes widened a fraction when he actually spoke to her. Most people she ran into in public places didn't do that. However, it took her a moment or so to register what he'd actually said. Pink? she thought, wondering what he was referring to, or if she'd just misheard the boy. Pink? Pink what? Was he talking about her? Probably. But what about her? The trim and skirt of her uniform was pink. Was that it? But all the other girls had uniforms with the same trim and skirt, too, so that probably hadn't been it. Idly, she tugged at the hem of her skirt, pulling the edge closer to her kneecaps. Gee, what else am I wearing that's pink? I don't think I am- Oh.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.

Miki made a sound that appeared to be a mix of a yelp and a gasp and clamped her hands over her mouth at the same time, her face turning bright cherry as she did so. She was quiet for a few heartbeats afterwards, trying to collect her thoughts through her embarrassment. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to react? This had never really happened before!

Strike him, Miki-tan...

Without thinking, her hand flew out and slapped the boy right across the cheek. "Pervert!" she squealed, and hit him again, this time with the other hand. "Filthy filthy filthy filthy pervy creep!" She moved her hands to cover her face, which was glowing red as a tomato. "What's the matter with you? Oh my... Oh my gosh..." She'd not felt this ashamed in a very long time. From then on, she swore that she would start wearing shorts under these damned skirts. How indecent! Some strange boy had seen under her skirt! And... he'd deserved to get slapped! Yeah! He really had!

But maybe it had been a bit much?

She peeked down at the boy from between her fingers. She was very, very displeased with him at the moment, but she couldn't help but feel bad for hitting him. So, against her better judgement, and the voice in the back of her head telling her to high-tail it out of there pronto, she cautiously knelt down in front of him and took her hands from her face to get a better look. "Hey..." she said in that small voice of hers. "That didn't hurt, did it? You're alright, aren't you? Gosh, I'm sorry... Sorry for freaking out..." She trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.

Makoto leaned up against the base of the tree as the boy answered, crossing her arms as she looked down at the two of them. "Nothing much. I'm just thinking about how much I've grown tired of seeing all these kids wander around with such high goals, like exterminating all demons or killing Satan. It's silly really. They can't even notice me in their school." The young man's voice carried an edge of laughter to it, a dark sort of humor that Makoto found herself rather satisfied that she could relate to. Maybe these people weren't so bad after all. Maybe they weren't complete wastes of time. Maybe they had potential, and weren't completely useless to her.

She grinned right back at him, a tight, almost-smirk that conveyed in it only a fraction of the red-hot anger she was really feeling, as she always felt when she thought of damned exorcists. She couldn't wait to be rid of them. Closed-minded Jesusfreaks, the lot of them. Just like her damn cousin. He'd be one of the first to go, she decided. Makoto snickered quietly to herself, then replied to the white-haired potential cohort of hers before she could have stopped herself. "Ah, yeah. Ridiculous. Stupid little shits, the lot of 'em." Another chuckle. "Demons right under their goddam noses, jeez!" She gladly continued, something that she didn't get to do a lot with the people she normally surrounded herself with. "Don't even get me started on their stupid lifelong dreams. I'll bet you they'll all be horribly killed before they could do anything they really wanted to. Mortality's a bitch."