Magnanimous (Blue Exorcist ~ Yukio Okumura)

Chapter 13

I said good-bye to Yukio before we parted ways in the corridor full of other students. I pushed my way through the barricade of other people as I reached my last classroom, then pulled myself inside.

I sat in the back of the classroom as the professor began her lecture, and I skimmed along the words of the textbook as I read through. She continued on the thereoms of Calculus to the half-asleep class, ready to be finished with their last class of the day.

My phone vibrated. A text from Yukio shined on the screen as I pulled the device from my pocket. Emergency: All Cram School students to the classroom immediately. Email has been sent to your teachers to let you leave.
-Professor Okumura

I watched as the professor checked her phone and continued teaching, waving at me as I quickly picked up my bag and left. I hovered my hand over the front pocket of my bag, checking for the handgun inside.

What counts as an emergency in the Cram School?

I hadn't picked up the gun in my bag since I had gotten to the school, and I wasn't sure if the situation would call for it. I unlocked the door with my Master Key, jogging down the hallway. I opened the classroom to see most of the class standing around inside. Yukio stood expressionless with the gym teacher at the front of the class.

I silently shut the door. I gazed around, seeing only the rooster-headed boy and his friends, along with the purple haired girl- Izumo Kamiki, I believed her name was. The boy and his two friends stood in a small circle talking as Kamiki sat at her desk with her phone.

"Hey, you guys know what's going on?" I approached the three boys. Shima and the rooster boy were taller than me, but a bald boy with glasses stood only an inch or two shorter.

Rooster Boy shrugged. "Think I know?"

"I'm guessing some mission," Shima said. "They haven't called us out of class before, though."

I hummed. "Oh, I'm Katai. Akilina Katai... Just Akilina works, though," I introduced myself to the other two boys who I hadn't yet spoken to. I knew Shima had remembered my name.

"Ryuji Suguro," Rooster Boy replied, running one hand through his thick hair.

"Konekomaru Miwa," the shorter boy introduced himself with a gentle smile. 

"Do you think they'll really make us go against a demon?" Shima asked. "We're only Pages."

"You guys are Pages?"

The three boys looked at me. "Yeah," Suguro replied questioningly. "What are you?"

"Well," my voice went quiet as I felt a wave of awkwardness, "When I took the entrance exam, they told me they were gonna place me as an Exwire, I figured everyone did."

The three boys continued staring at me in confusion. "Did you get help or have you been taught before?" Miwa asked.

"Yeah, I was taught a bit before I came here, from a priest down here. Didn't all of you learn about exorcism beforehand?"

The boys shook their heads.

"Oh," I breathed out, "Sorry."

"I mean, that's pretty impressive, though," Shima laughed, "We've got an upperclassmen in our class!"

I laughed nervously. "I wouldn't say it's exactly upperclassmen-ship."

"Everyone, silence please," the gym teacher called out once Rin came in, the last student in the class. "Welcome to your first proper mission."

There were some mumbles and nods.

"We wouldn't have called you out of class had it not been important," he continued, "I am sure you have all studied at least briefly upon jikininkis?"

There were more mumbles, slightly louder than before with some desperate whispers. I sat my bag on the desk near me, secretly sliding my hand into the front pocket. I enveloped my hand over my silver gun, wrapping my fingers around cold metal to hide it before I slipped it into the back waistband of my skirt. I looked up again, seeing Yukio watching me. He gave me a slightly confused expression, but I only replied with a soft smile.

"This is why we had to pull you all out of class," the gym teacher explained, "A jinkininki is usually a hermit, hides in dark and secluded places. However, sometimes one goes rogue. This one is causing terror just off campus, and it can pose as a threat to any type of breach in the barricade of the campus. If it enters the school, it will continue to prosper off of people. It is our mission to stop that. Can anyone tell me how to kill a jinkininki?"

Nobody raised their hand, so I slowly held mine up. "Yes, Katai?"

"The jinkininki is related to the vampire. It must be beheaded in order to kill, but silver can hurt it." I exhaled as the wave of anxiety left me once I finished speaking.

"Very good. All of you are to follow Professor Okumura or myself. Ordinarily, we would allow you to search on your own for the demon. However, this still remains your first proper mission, and a jinkininki is not to be messed with. Are there any questions?"

I raised my hand. "How are we supposed to behead it? Most of us don't have proper weapons for it."

"You will be supplied a proper weapon to defend yourself and ideally kill the jinkininki once we arrive at the park where it hunts. Any other questions?"

There was a pause of silence. "All right. Leave your belonging sin the classroom. Split into two groups. One group will go with me, the other will follow Professor Okumura."