Magnanimous (Blue Exorcist ~ Yukio Okumura)

Chapter 3

I sighed as I walked next to Okumura along the hallway. "Did you hear anything the professor said?"

Okumura chuckled. "After his hour-long introduction, I suppose so. I'm sure the class will be more difficult as the year progresses."

"I sure hope so. What class do you have next?"

"I'm going to Calculus, how about you?"

"I have History next. So I guess I'll see you later, then." I gave him a small smile.

"Do you know where it is?"

"I do, I saw it on our way to Chemistry."

"Okay, I'll see you later, then," Yukio smiled and waved as we turned our separate ways.

Two more class periods went by until I checked my schedule. My first Cram School course was scheduled next, Demon Pharmaceutics. I recognized the room number as the room I had traveled to with Okumura this morning and unlocked a hallway with my Master Key. My shoes clicked lightly on the marble floor as I stepped down the corridor and into the hallway.

At the door, I could hear chattering and talking inside the room. The door creaked open once I pushed it, and I could see a group of high school students scattered across the desks. It was a small class, it seemed only half the students had shown up so far, unless it was a very small class.

I walked past a blond girl and a boy with messy black hair, and I stepped carefully to sit in the back of the room. A pink-haired boy wearing a t-shirt under his uniform shirt stood up and addressed me.

"Hi! Shima. You can call me Renzo." The boy winked at me. "What's your name?"

The energetic and flirty boy came across as a surprise to me, causing me to hesitate. "Katai. Akilina Katai."

"Nice to meet you!" He stuck his hand out. I looked down at the pale boy's bony hand. He held a business-card sized paper. I took the paper before he turned and walked back to his chair with a bounce in his step.

I gazed down at the small white paper. The only thing on the card was a hand-scrawled phone number. I sighed with a small smile and shook my head, crumpling the paper and shoving it in my bag.

"All right, class, let's begin."

I looked up at the familiar voice. Yukio held his bag in his hand as he came into the classroom, and he stood behind the teacher's desk.

"Wah?" There was a loud noise of surprise from the black-haired boy. "Yukio?"

"In the class, I'd like to ask you to refer to me as Mister Okumura, please."

"You're our teacher?"

"Yes, I am your Demon Pharmaceutics professor."

"Since when did you-ah, huh?"

"Please take a seat, Rin."

I assumed that the black-haired boy, Rin, was the brother that Okumura had spoken about.

But how could Okumura be the professor? He seems as old as me, and we're in some of the same classes.

"I started uhm, a few years ago," a small smile stretched his mouth.

My mouth made a small 'o' shape as I realized what he had meant. Okumura was not just a student here, he was already a certified exorcist and a teacher. If he's teaching Demon Pharmaceutics, he must have chosen to be at least a Doctor as his Meister.

"Now then, as I said, my name is Mister Okumura. Although I am approximately the same age as you all, I finished my training when I was fourteen. I will be teaching you your Demon Pharmaceutics class this year, and I ask that you treat me as any other teacher."

Okumura began making an introduction to what he would be teaching. He summarized the year in a friendly matter-of-fact tone as he presented his curriculum. It wasn't long before he assigned a small reading assignment from our textbooks.

Once the bell rang, Okumura left the room with his bag and the class readied themselves for the next class. I looked down at the paper in my hand, my schedule staring back at me through the creases in the folds.

Demon Anatomy. Professor Sinn Natara.

The next two classes were even more boring and drawn out than Okumura's. I found no new knowledge in the classes that I hadn't already learned, and the teachers spoke with a certain tone that told me they had made these introduction speeches a hundred times. However, Professor Neuhaus had caught my attention. His introductions were the same, but his eyepatch and cut up arms added to his strange attitude. He acted suspicious of everyone, eying the entire class.

I stared back down at my schedule. Literature. Professor Tematius Yoshi.

I had to scan every room and wander around what seemed like the entire True Cross campus until I found Professor Yoshi's classroom, and I carefully stepped inside. Just like many of the other classrooms, Yoshi's room was filled with tables meant for two students and had a single long desk in the front. A few students gathered in small groups around the classroom, talking. A few sat alone in their desks, and some with friends.

I walked farther into the middle of the class until a familiar face caught my eye in the back of the room. Okumura sat bent over a book, gazing through the lenses of his glasses to read the thick book.

"Hey, is it okay if I sit here?"

Okumura looked up from his book and fixed his glasses. "Oh, of course. Please do."

"Thanks," I replied softly, sitting in the chair next to Okumura's. I placed my bag on the floor and removed my literature textbook for the class, leaving it to sit on its hard cover on the desk.

"It's good to see you again," Okumura stated once he finished his page and slid his book back into his bag.

"Good to see you, too. Although I can say I didn't expect you to be teaching one of my classes and be my classmate in another," I chuckled lightly.

Okumura smiled gently. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that before," he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Some girls, er.... You've seen it. Sometimes it becomes worse when they hear I'm also a certified exorcist at my age." Okumura gave another small smile. "Not that I was trying to assume anything about you, of course."

"Oh, it's okay, I understand." I nodded. "I used to get hounded a lot in most of my old schools. Not in the good way, though." I made a small laugh.

Okumura smiled and gazed down with a nod. "I understand that, too."

"So, is there any other special secret you're keeping from me, Okumura?" I joked with a grin. "Are you gonna tell me you're the son of Satan, next?"

Okumura tensed up.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized, realizing I had hit some type of soft spot. "I didn't mean- I just..."

"No, it's okay," Okumura looked up at me with a chuckle. "And just Yukio is okay outside of class."

"Okay, Yukio."