Black flames and blue fire

Chapter One

The alarm on my bedside table beeps incessantly as I fumble for the small button on the top to turn it off and groan, remembering where I am. True Cross Academy. It really sucks coming to a school halfway through first term you know? Much less have your over-bearing uncle watching your every move. I absentmindedly  flick off a tiny black locust-demon that has landed on my leg and sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I look over at the empty bed on the other side of the dorm room, half wishing I had a roommate. I'm one of the few people staying in this dorm, so I have my own room. I look around the sparse room again, both sides mirrors of each other, with twin desks, beds, and storage spaces, though only my side looks lived in. It's almost as if a line were drawn down the center of the room, One side messy and full of my stuff, the other side barren, empty.  I pull on a dark red sweatshirt and trudge over to the desk. A wrinkled onvelope labeled as a class schedule sits on it, along with three keys on a ring.One is tiny, Silver, and marked with an ornate crucifix, the next is a normal house-key looking one with a red number that matches my dorm's denomination. The third is a heavy brass key tarnished with age but well polished on the hilt, assumably from the hands of other students.  I pop the tape on the schedule and glance over the classes.  Classical Lit. Algebra 2. Biology. 

This is going to be a long year. I'm way past this junk.  Just as I'm about to put it down, I see the last class of the day. Cram School? what is that? Does my father really expect me to need extra help in my classes?? Ones that I've already passed?  He and I are going to have a chat once I get my hands on his pudgy little neck. I messily folded up the paper and put it in my book bag, shovimg the keyring into the bag's side pouch with a protesting jingle, and finished getting dressed. 

 I was just about to head out of the dorm building to be early my first class when my stomach growled. Dang, I forgot about breakfast. I hurry out of my dorm room, dragging my bag behind me and quickly locking the door behind me with the key marked with the number of my room. I could smell the warm scent of food wafting up from the small dining hall on the floor below. Was someone cooking this early? It was nearly two hours before classes started for the day. I hurried down the stairs and burst through the doors of the cafeteria to see two steaming plates of food set out on one of the tables and the kitchen empty. Huh. I turned towards the kitchen to look to see if anyone was in there hiding, and jumped as a rattling noise sounded behind me. I saw a flash of red and green as I spun back to look at the food to see another place had been set out. For me? I stared at the food for a long moment. It looked fine, and it smelled like regular old breakfast food. I decided to trust it. Not much can poison me anyway, if it was poisoned. I sat facing the kitchen though, to watch if anything else strange happened.

I was just about halfway through my breakfast when a guy about my age pushed determinedly through the door at the end of the cafeteria and strode purposefully over to the table where I sat. He faltered slightly as he noticed me, than seemed to remember something and sat down at one of the plates, the one diagonal from my place at the table. I looked him over quickly. Dark brown hair, green-blue eyes and slightly pointed ears and canines. My eyes narrowed for a second before he noticed and spoke.

"You must be the transfer student Mephisto said would be staying in the dorm with us?" he implored.

"Yeah,"That would be me."

"Im Yukio Okumura, second year student at the academy." he stated, looking me in the eye. "Who are you?" He asked politely.

"Im Hikura,  I started my year overseas,and  I'm also a second year."

"Nice to meet you Hikura, It's a pleasure to have you here at True Cross Academy."

Huh. For a second there he sounded like a teacher. I internally role my eyes, if this guy was going to be patronizing he chose the wring person. He seemed nice enough anyway. I glanced across the table to see Yukio methodically cutting his breakfast into strips and and matching equal-sized bits of food in each mouthful. I started to focus back on my own breakfast when another boy hurtled through the door to the cafeteria with his shirt untucked and looking like he might have woken up moments before. A tail? swished around his legs before he stuffed it hastily in his pants.

Well that could raise some eyebrows. I gave him a once over as he flew into the seat across from me  and dug into his food so ferociously it appeared he hadn't eaten in a week.

He looked like the other boy enough to be his brother, but with darker navy blue eyes and black hair.  I got the feeling his disheveled appearance was one that wasn't just a morning thing. The last thing I noticed gave me pause. The pointed ears and teeth found on his counterpart were grossly exaggerated on him. his ears stuck out slightly and his teeth were pointed on the top and bottom. he also seemed to be carrying a long thin package on his back. could that be a sword? I didn't realize I was staring until he commented on my gaze.

"Where ya staring into? Gehenna? he asked, slightly annoyed , my chest tightening slightly at the thought of the  treacherous place.

"Just admiring the view, Demon." I replied darkly, watching his eyes for a reaction.

His pupils grew red and elongated for a second as he leaned over the table snarling right into my face and half-yelled "HEY who are you calling a demon??

I laughed and pushed his forehead back to his side of the table, where he now sat growling at me. His brother shot him a look that I got the feeling was practiced often, one that threatened and pleaded at the same time. Rin himself glared threateningly across the table, ignoring his brother's glance. I returned his stare contentedly and chewed my breakfast slow enough to be mocking. Finally, unable to match my stare any longer, he settled down and devoured his breakfast in half the time of his brother, who was now typing data into a cell-phone looking communicator with the True Cross logo emblazoned on the back.

"I want to apologize for my brother's impoliteness" Yukio spoke up, still staring into his phone. "He gets standoffish in the morning." this drew a growl from the Demon. " How did you know what he was, anyway?" he asked looking up, his glasses flashing for a moment. "No one can tell Rin from a normal human usually, unless they're trained Exorcists."

I laughed at this, causing Rin to glance up from his food sharply and Yukio to regard me with a probing stare "Not many? I found it obvious! the fangs are a dead giveaway Demon.". I smiled,  and smoothly gathered my things into my book-bag, stopping by the counter window to the kitchen to place my dishes in a neat pile. Turning back to the Okumuras, I yelled as I walked out the door,

"See ya later boys, don't have too much fun without me!" i yelled, winking at Rin, causing him to blush and glare and Yukio to chuckle softly.

As I walked out the door, I wondered again why my father had chosen to send me here, of all places. Disbanding these thoughts, I headed out of the dorm, to the location of my first class.