Rin's Disaster

Partners

As I opened the door, the overall chatter in the room went dead silent. All of their eyes turned in my direction. You could hear the Coal Tar demons flying in the air.

One flew right in front of my face. My eyes trailed for a moment before I awkwardly tried to fill the deafening silence. "So, hey guys. What's up? Heh heh." I scratched the back of my head, doing my best to seem absolutely sincere.

"Just sit down already, Okumara. You're holding up our class," Bon was unimpressed with my efforts.

Stupid rooster haired punk.

I wasn't exactly happy with his comment, but I obliged anyways. "Right, heh heh. Sorry guys." I continued to do my best to be completely oblivious to their behaviors.

The silence had returned. Hell, it was almost as uncomfortable as someone standing on my tail. Fucking rooster haired freak. A few years ago I'd have punched you straight in the face for what you did.

The sound of a conversation- well, one side of a conversation- cut the silence like Kurikara through Amaimon's ugly face.

"But Kitty Kat, I'm working right now. ... Okay. Yes, Kitty Kat.... I love you, too." Mr. Tsubaki walked in, talking into his cell phone. You know, the usual. "Yes, Kitty Kat. ... I've got to go now.... ooooo you know I'll be there. ... bye bye!"

"Eh?" Escaped from my mouth before I could stop it.

Of course, Mr. Tsubaki didn't care and kept trucking right along with his lesson. Placing his arms akimbo, he said, "Alright class, today we're doing a drill with ghouls. Pair up and get ready to go."

Great. Pairs.

I don't have any friends now, either.

What could possibly go wrong, am I right?

Everyone found their pairs quickly. Honestly, I didn't even try. What was the point? I knew they didn't want me around. Not even Shiemi, and she was my saving grace in this whole son of Satan mess. No, she paired with Izumi. Ban of course paired with Konekomaru, who didn't seem to want anyone else to be his partner. Especially not me.

"Aw, come on guys! You're gonna make me pair with this creepy sock puppet guy?!?"

I guess Shima found his partner.

Mr. Tsubaki was distracted (as per usual) when he hollered out to us, "Alright class, does everybody have s partner?"

No. "Yep. We're all good, Mr. Tsubaki. But do I have to be with him?" Shima pointed at puppet guy.

Man I was pissed. He could've partnered with me if he didn't want to be with Takara. What kind of bull shit was this? What the hell?

"Alright then, everybody. Now that everyone has a partner-"

I lost my shit. "NO! NOT EVERYONE HAS A PARTNER! BECAUSE I DON'T!"

I panted as Mr. Tsubaki considered my words. Shiemi seemed struck, like I had personally beaten her with my anger.

Finally, he sighed. "Did your brother not tell you this morning?"

"Tell me what?!" I spat, hardly trying to keep anger in check. I could feel my fury coursing through my veins. I was furious.

"About today's training exercise. That we had something... ergh... special planned just for you."

Are you kidding me? It was for this class?? "Maybe he did. So what?"

"So, Mr. Okumara, you will not be participating in the same exercise as the rest of the exwires. Instead, you'll be dealing with a special demon we found. HQ decided to save it just for you?

Special demon? What the hell? What kind of demon is special, anyway? "Eh?" What's that supposed to mean? What the hell is going on here?

"You heard me, Okumara. We had to have Shura hunt it down, but once she found it, we decided it was best to let you handle this one."

So, I'm finally getting some respect around here. "Well, it's about time you guys realized how awesome I am."

"Not like that, Okumara. My god, it didn't take long at all for this to go straight to your head." He seemed unimpressed as ever. His face appeared blank, though it wasn't. It was hard to read.... dissapointment? Disgust?

Curiosity?

I deflated at his words. Hardly took anytime at all for home to shoot me down.

"Actually, we'd rather have let Yukio handle this one, but he's going to be out for a while doing a few other missions that required more extensive traveling. So, naturally, the only one we had left to turn to was you."

You're kidding me. They'd rather have called Yukio? My little brother? That moley four eyed kid. What the hell? He's traveling? Why didn't he tell me?

"What the hell? Couldn't he have told me?"

"Actually, Mr. Okumara, this one was a shock to us at HQ as well. None of us were expecting such a sudden call, least of all Yukio. But don't you worry. He told Shura and I to look after you, and we intend on doing just that"

The other exwires snickered at my misfortune. Damn. I forgot they were even there.

I was silent. I felt struck, defeated. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to feel. Let alone what to say.

I stared at the floor.  Am I supposed to say something here?

Mr. Tsubaki looked at me a moment longer, an expression of concern on his face.

His composure changed entirely from somber to upbeat. "Well class, let's get going!"

And so he led them out of the room with the spin of his heel. First Shiemi and Izumi, then Shima and Takara. Bon and Konekomaru were the last to leave.

More accurately, Ban was the last to leave. But not before giving me another piece of his mind. "There's no room for a son of Satan in a class full of exorcists, so just leave," he spat. Every word was another dagger in the chest. "We don't need you here, and we sure as hell don't want you here, either." His glare could've melted rock from a mile away. The hatred seemed to come off of him in waves. It was heavy, I could feel myself shrink in spirit.

He left the room, the door closing heavily behind him. The sound of its closing seemed to ring in the air, magnifying the ominous solitude I'd been left to.

I'm alone.

Again.

Why does everyone always leave me?