Fearless

Chapter 10

"Mole face said exorcists work in teams of two or more. I can't let Rin go out there all alone now, can I?" She asked as she slipped out of his grip. "Don't worry about me, Bonny, I'll be just fine~" she gave him a wink and turned around, going through the same space Rin did and crawling through the barrier.

"H-Hey, Okumura! Kiara! Come back!" Bon shouted, the others following suite.

Kiara just chuckled and jumped out on the other side of the barricade, seeing that the ghoul and Rin had already gotten out of the room. "Aw man, I got through a bit too late." She said, "Guess I'll just have to catch up to them~" She walked out of the room, listening as there was a loud stomping down the hallway to her right. With a grin appearing on her face, she started sprinting down the hallways.

As she was running, everything around her started melting into darkness, a dark smoke starting to surround her feet. She slowed to a stop and looked around, her hand tightening around her staff as she got into a defensive pose. She stood still as the sound of footstep slowly got louder.

"My my, you've grown." A voice said, and out of the fog a tall, lanky, winged man appeared. "The last time I saw you, you were just an infant in your mother's arms."

Studying the man, Kiara took in the man's entire appearance. His features were sharp, and his nose curved down slightly almost as if it were a bird's beak. Feathers framed his face and were mixed in with his spiked back black hair. He was smiling, his sharp teeth in clear view. Though what got Kiara the most was his eyes. They had no pupils and seemed to glow a deep red color, they bore into her intensely, it was almost like he was studying Kiara as much as she was studying him.

"Who the fuck are you and why are you here?" Kiara asked.

The man grinned and Kiara saw his form waver ever so slightly within the smoke, "I am known by many as the Demon Crow of Fear. But to others I am called Irajah. As to why I'm here, that will have to come at a later date, I'm afraid."

"What kind of answer is that?" She asked, "You can't just suddenly put me into a void like this and then leave." She lunged forwards, swinging her staff at the man, only to watch his form waver more and start to fade slowly away.

"I'll come for you later. Once I've recovered my strength." The man said before vanishing, and suddenly she was back in the hallway, blinking at the sudden light.

"Hey! Kiara! You okay!" Someone called, and Kiara looked up to see Rin running up to her, his sheathed sword in his hand. "There a demon or something?"

Kiara looked at Rin, then realized she was still in holding her staff ready to attack. She relaxed a bit, and placed a hand on the back of her neck. "I guess I thought I heard something outside." She lied with a shrug. "Let's just get back to the others."

Rin looked at her for a second before nodding. "Right."

Kiara never noticed the dim flash of gold in his eyes when she told him the lie.

***

Back in the room, Kiara was glad to see that everyone was alive— though a bit injured.

"Kiara, Okumura!" Bon shouted once he saw them. "What the hell were you two thinking?"

"Aw, was Bonny boy worried 'bout me?" Kiara teased, watching as Bon's expression twisted into annoyance.

"Hey, where did the other half of the ghoul go?" Rin asked as he looked around, interrupting their conversation before Bon could answer, instead he looked at Rin with a dumbstruck expression, as if just remembering that the boy had chased after half of a ghoul.

"But... your ghoul... what happened?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, I killed it. I guess you killed yours too, huh? Awesome." Rin said, not even a second later he was kicked to the ground by Bon.

He angrily walked up to Rin, Konekomaru and Shima starting to move to try to hold him back, "What's wrong with you? You could of gotten yourself and Kiara killed! You have a death wish or somethin'?"

"H-Hey! Wait, stop! Why do you wanna kill me? Besides Kiara went after me, I had no control over that!" He got up just as Bon was about to stomp on him and the two ended up running around the room, Bon chasing Rin with the intent to kill. After a bit of time Shima and Konekomaru finally grabbed onto Bon and held him back.

Kiara looked towards the door as it slid open and Kiara looked over to see Yukio looking into the room, a calm expression on his face. "Hey teach."

"What happened?" He asked, looking around at the destroyed room. While most of the students were unharmed, the same couldn't be said about the room they were in.

"Yukio!" Rin said, turning to look at his brother, "Where the hell have you been we've ah-!" He took a small step back as someone else walked in from behind Yukio— Mr. Neuhaus. Immediately a panicked look appeared on Rin's face, "Yukio... that guy, he's our—" before he could finish his statement a familiar clown appeared behind him from the panels in the ceiling kicking Rin in the back of the head as he did so.

"A-Ah! Mephisto!" Rin shouted, recovering from the sudden kick.

"Hola my young paiges!" He greeted, his cape billowing out behind him dramatically and Kiara swore right then and there that she was going to burn one manga issue for each time he managed to piss her off. She was going to start with the ones he didn't read as much, then slowly work her way up. "Many thanks for all your hard work."

"The director." Bon said under his breath.

"W-What's going on here?" Shima asked.

Mephisto turned around and looked at the class, a smirk on his face as he addressed them. "You didn't think I'd let an upper level demon just waltz onto my campus, did you?" He asked as he snapped his fingers. All around them exorcists— some unknown to Kiara others she knew as her teachers— appeared. From the floor, from the ceiling, walls— they were everywhere.

"I knew it." Kiara sighed.

"Instructors with Doctor credentials tend to the wounded." Mephisto said as the exorcists age their way to the students.

"You guys where- this was all planned?" Bon asked, pointing at Mephisto.

"Surprise!" Mephisto sang out as he started to clap his hands. "This wasn't just any boot camp kids! In fact, you've all just completed your Exwire Authorization exam! It's rather sneaky, I know. This whole time I had a team of instructors hidden throughout the building in places where they could observe your every move! After I have a chance to review the reports, I'll be the one to determine who passed and who failed." He smirked and his gaze brushed over the group of students. "I'm sure you're as anxious as I am to see how you all did." He glanced at Kiara, his smirk seeming to widen just a bit when they made eye contact.

Kiara sent a glare his way as she leaned back onto the wall. If there weren't other kids here she would of made a move to try to hit Mephisto where it hurt the most— his limited edition anime merchandise. He seemed to sense what she was thinking because he nervously cleared his throat and adjusted his hat.

"Now then! Instructors, please lead the students to the infirmary so they can get any help they need! Ta ta~" With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Kiara and her classmates standing in the classroom with no other choice but to follow the exorcists to the cram school infirmary.