Chapter Text
It had been a completely normal day at school, the same old boring classes, with the same old isolated lunch in the courtyard under the stairs. Besides nicking myself during Home Ec with a knife I don't usually use, that was the only interruption to my otherwise boring, lonely day.
That is until a grotesque looking creature made itself appear before me during Algebra. And I thought math was the only scary thing in that class.
I grip onto the corners off my desk, every muscle fiber in me tensing up, the only noise to escape me being a small squeak.
It hovered over me, seeming to smell my fear. It loomed in silence, just... staring. Before it reached a slender, shriveled hand towards me. Can nobody else see this thing!? Am I going crazy!?
I remember to breathe, and I honestly breathe too much. Shit, am I hyperventilating? My body is frozen in place, my only response being my quick, short breaths.
Suddenly, I feel a warm hand on my shoulder, making me squeak in fear again. My eyes inch ever so slightly to see, though I dont want to tear my gaze away from the creature providing me such panic.
"You okay?" A boy in my class asks, someone I never really talked to, as if I talked to anyone here. He then looks directly at the creature with an intense gaze, something so fierce it causes me to shrink further in on myself.
Just then, the creature runs away. Did he scare it off? Does that mean he can see it too?
My head whips back over to him, I finally remembered his name. Okumura Rin.
I'm finally aware of my surroundings after being locked into such a fearful state for what felt like hours. Class had just ended, students no longer filled this classroom and the afternoon sun seemed to pour through the windows in a honey colored light that soothed my fried nerves just a bit.
"That was a demon." Okumura says.
My head whips back over to him again. "A demon?" I ask, exasperated, finally taking deep and controlled breaths.
He nods, his whole demeanor completely different from when he was scaring off that... demon?
"Regular people can't see them." He explains. "So they don't believe that they exist." He shrugs.
"But... why can I see it?" I shiver a bit, still shaken.
"Have you been hurt by something recently?" He asks.
"I..." I pause to think. "I accidentally cut myself earlier with a knife in cooking class but... what does that have to do with it?" I wonder, still looking up at him from my desk.
"Here, show me that knife." He grabs my wrist, pulling me out of my chair and onto my feet, dragging me out of the classroom.
I lead him to the now empty Home Ec classroom. I search the drawers a bit and finally find the knife, which was not like any of the others, it had a unique ornate pattern on the hilt made out of a deep colored wood and stained purple, very out of place compared to the simple and modern designs of the regular kitchen knives in class.
"You start seeing demons after receiving something called a temptaint. You have to be hurt by something effected by a demon." Okumura explains, his voice sounds clear and his tone of speaking is concise, which is seemingly out of character from what I've seen of him. He usually looks like your average dimwitted slacker.
"How do you know so much about this?" I question.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" His character suddenly shifts, he rubs the back of his neck with an anxious smile on his face. "I'm Rin Okumura!" He grabs my hand and shakes it.
I can feel my lips growing into a wobbly and unsure smile. "I know. You're in my class, remember?" I say before introducing myself as well.
"Oh... I forgot" He chuckles, seemingly unbothered. "And to answer your question, I'm an Exorcist in training. I take cram classes, learning to fight demons!" He gives me a thumbs up and a cheeky smile.
"I... didn't know there was such a thing." I chuckle nervously.
"Most people don't." He shrugs. "Anyways, I'll see what to do with this knife."
"I was..." I begin, clutching my fist by my side. "So scared." I look down at the floor, tears brimming in my eyes. "I felt like I was going to die, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there." I hold back a small hiccup.
He sets a hand on my shoulder, rubbing his thumb back and forth. "Well it's a good thing I was then. Listen, if you keep on seeing those demons you let me know, okay?" I look back up at him, wiping my eyes with a sleeve. "I'll figure out some way to keep you from seeing them, you can count on me!" He points a thumb to himself.
I nod and pull myself together, taking a couple deep breaths, you're braver than this (Y/N)! You'll be fine!
"Make it back to your dorm safe, alright? Just know that most of the demons around here are low-level and pretty much harmless so don't worry too much, 'kay?" Okumura smiles, letting go of my shoulder and beginning to walk away.
"See ya later, (Y/N)!" He waves and runs off, leaving me to my thoughts.
Okay... so demons and Exorcists are real, and that's... totally normal? Okumura goes to an Exorcist cram school that specializes in teaching their students how to.... what? Kill demons? The demons in which I didn't know actually existed until like... 10 minutes ago? My whole world is being turned on its axis and all because of an accident in chopping up carrots...
I sigh before coming to a realization;
Okumura never gave me any way of contacting him. How am I supposed to let him know if I've seen another one of those... freaky things if I only see him in one class period at the end of the day?