Domino Effect (Yukio)

9. Three To One

"You teach students here in this very classroom, don't you?" Yuri asked me.

Walking over to my desk in the front of the room, I gently slid my hand over the familiar wooden surface. I recognized everything in the room, a few things were different colors or moved around somewhat but it still had the same familiar feeling.

"Yeah, it's just, I mean... Why does it feel like it's been so long since I've been here? I guess it could be because, well, I haven't felt like myself for what seems like the longest time." I said out loud mostly to myself, realizing how much I was distancing myself from everybody and everything. "I've been running on auto-pilot ever since..." I trailed off, recalling the burning forest.

Yuri jumped up to sit on the surface of the same desk, looking around the room for a moment, and then looked back at me.

"For me, it seems like forever and a day since I've sat in this classroom. The room was full of all my classmates, I even still remember the way the teacher got mad at me if I dozed off in their lesson again." She laughed as she told me. "I don't think that I was a bad student, just bad at keeping track of time and sleeping way too late, in my defense." She said as she waved a hand in the air.

"Oh right, you're an exorcist too. I wonder, what made you do it?" I asked her.

Thinking to herself for a moment, she hopped off the desk to walk towards the window and look at the lively campus grounds outside filled with students in uniform.

"Everyone has their own personal reasons to become an exorcist, mine in the beginning was a means of survival. My parents and the rest of my family had died... There was a terrible fire one day and that's what started everything for me. After that, I mean, how else is a child raised in the slums supposed to survive in the 'Real World' like that?" Her voice had a tone of sadness when she spoke.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you remember anything you don't want to. You don't have to tell me." I apologized quickly.

She turned around and shook her head, looking up at me before she continued.

"No, that's not it. You could say that I had no choice, but in all reality it became so much more than that. Training to become an exorcist became one of the best decisions of my life, I'd never take that away. Even if you asked me, I don't remember anything about my parents. Is it bad to say that even though I love them for protecting me, I don't exactly miss them? I can't miss someone I never met. What do you think?" She looked at me, waiting to see what I would say to something like that.

Running a hand through my hair, I didn't respond right away. For a moment, I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say at first. But then, the face of my dad crossed through my mind for a split second and made me think about my own situation.

"I can't tell you if it's right or wrong because it's the same for me..." I began with, leaning on one of the student's desk. "I never knew my parents, well my mother I'd rather say, but I had a father who raised Rin and I. So, in a way, I'm happy someone understands what it's like to be in my situation.

"O-oh, I see. I'm so sorry." Yuri said, looking at the floor.

Her reaction and sudden apology confused me.

"What are you apologizing for?" I asked, curious.

She froze for a moment and looked back up at me.

"It's just-" Yuri started but was cut off.

The familiar sound of the school bell rang, signaling the beginning the start of class. There was movement outside as students were walking through the hallway to get to their next class, some eventually to this very room.