Shuku slowly regained her senses as she was roused from her... nap. She cracked open her good eye to see Yukio injecting a yellow solution into her arm through a hairline needle in the crook of her elbow. He removed the needle from her skin as Shuku silently glared at the aspect of the needle, and let out a ragged sigh.

"Do you know when Shuku's gonna wake up? I got hurt badly, but she seems ok now." Another voice out of her gaze whined. That was Rin. Shuku closed her eye once more and remained motionless, she didn't yet have the will to say hello to the world.

"Who knows, she could wake up in an hour, or a day, she got it much worse than Paku, but she's healing faster, actually, much faster. In a few days at the rate she's healing, it should be like it never happened." Yukio hypothesized, and Shuku mentally sighed. Everything hurt.

"So, what the fuck made me feel like shit again?" Shuku groaned, her voice weak and raspy as she opened her one eye again to see the early morning light, and then the Okumura brothers standing in the corner of her dorm room.

Yukio blinked in surprise. He'd been changing her bandages and making sure she was still stable but hadn't expected her to wake up so soon. She yawned wearily, then the pulled the sheets off of her and threw them lazily over the side of the bed.

Then, she noticed she didn't have a shirt on. "Glasses, where the fuck is my shirt and hoodie?" Shuku grumbled, glaring daggers at Yukio accusingly.

"Oh, I put it over on the other bed. Your knives are on your desk, and the shirt you were wearing was all torn up. Yesterday, you kicked ass like a badass!" Rin answered instead, and Shuku sighed again.

Using her own momentum, Shuku pushed herself to an upright position and sat up.

"Shuku! You shouldn't get up... yet?" Yukio started to object but trailed off as Shuku began casually removing the bandages from around her torso. The skin underneath was still red and agitated but completely healed over.

"These are agitating and tight. Next time Glasses, don't bother unless I'm bleeding heavily." Shuku complained

Shuku dropped the bandages on a pile next to her and grabbed her vapor pen, then blew the smoke off to the side. Rin remembered what Shuku had done with that smoke, and frantically waved it away from him. Yukio was busy staring at Shuku's healed stomach.

While Yukio had been bandaging Shuku, he had seen so many of the various scars that covered her body, some which had permanently harmed her either physically or mentally. Each held a memory that must have been terrifying. Some were demon made, the others looked like they were made with something manmade, like a blade.

"Wow. Shuku, the only other person I've seen heal that fast is Rin, it shouldn't be possible!" Yukio exclaimed, dragging his thought away from Shuku's scars.

"I've always healed fast , impossibly fast. Used to say it was because I was special. I just believe it has something to do with my abilities and who I am now." Shuku shrugged off the compliment and pointed sternly at the door. "Now you two, out! I'm going to change." Shuku ordered, then managed to get up and clumsily push the two out.

Letting out a sigh, Shuku looked down. Red marks covered her skin and would most likely leave new scars. Yeah, she healed fast, but it still scared no matter what.

Wrapping the bandages over her chest, Shuku threw on boys uniform, this time the top and tie included, snatched her pen, and walked out of her room. For once leaving her knives and hoodie behind on the desk in her room.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Shuku half-paid attention in class as the teacher dragged over the bible verses once again. She called on Izumo to recite them, but the purple-haired girl only got half way through the lines before she trailed off, lost in her own mind.After her failure and a good chiding from the teacher, the teacher called on Skunk to recite the lines instead. Ryuji had been sending her weird looks the entire day and Shuku was getting full of it. She didn't like that type of attention, it made her skirmish

Ryuji recited the verses perfectly and everyone else gawked. Shuku just watched, unimpressed. It was to be expected. Shuku didn't underestimate the Skunk, just disliked him. The teacher highly praised Ryuji and Rin and Shiemi clapped in amazement.

The bell tolled a few seconds after and the teacher left the room as their next teacher was sent to the room. Rin said something Rin-like(also known as stupid or idiotic), and the two started their quarrel again. Izumo budded in then, in the heart of their quarrel in front of Rin's desk.

"Whatever, memorizing is something anyone can do." Izumo said, a bored look on her face.

"You want to repeat what you said?!" Ryuji shouted over to her, "Big talk coming from someone who can't memorize three sentences."

"Oh yeah! It's not that I couldn't memorize them, I chose not to. Arias are completely defenseless when they're reciting, their party has to protect them. There nothing but a burden." Izumo retaliated with a smug look written all over her face. Shuku didn't like where this was going.

"What the hell!" Skunk growled, "You know I want to be one and you dis me like that!" He got up and so did Polka-brow. Shuku took out a pencil and examined it's sharpened the point. She'd sharpened it a few days prior with her kunai.

"I'm so scared. What? you gonna beat me up?" She said cockily, a hand on her hip.

"You got nerve. Making fun of people's dreams. Hell, the first day of class I knew you sucked!" Ryuji slammed his hand down on Rin's desk, and Shuku signed for probably the fifth time that day before aligning the tip of the pencil with the idiots arguing a few desks ahead of her.

"Dreams? You mean that thing about defeating Satan? Ha, I don't know about you, but when I hear a joke like that, I laugh."

"Well then, how about you? let's have it, why do you want to be an exorcist?! Well!" Bon shouted in anger.

A pained look went over Izumo's face before vanishing into her snarky one again, "I don't go around telling people why I do what I do. Because I'm not out to get everyone's attention like you!" She accused

Skunk grabbed Izumo's collar, and Shuku flicked the pencil towards the duo, and it flew like a dart. It flashed between them then shattered point first from impact against the wall. The two looked bewildered over at Shuku silent who held a deadly calm gaze that chilled the room.

"I've had enough of this bullshit bickering so shut the fuck up and sit your asses down!" Shuku ordered in a calm demeanor, only making it much more threatening. Skunk hooded his eyes and SHuku's gaze was drawn to him.

"Hey, Shuku, when were you going to tell everyone that you're a girl?" Shuku shut up, shocked.

"Wh... Ho... " Unable to say anything, Shuku head snapped towards Rin and shot an enraged death glare at Rin so hard he squeaked in terror.

"Ididn'ttellanyoneIswear!ItwasYukio!" Rin said quickly, the words melding together into one. (Translation: I didn't tell anyone I swear! It was Yukio!)

"Yukio had to take your shirt off to bandage you up and treat your wounds. He just so happened to do it while we were in there." Skunk stated, and Shuku's face went slack, feeling a mixture of emotions but betrayed nothing that was inside.

Not only had Yukio taken her shirt off, but he'd done it while there were other people in the room, which meant... Shuku crossed her arms, covering her chest unconsciously, heat rushed to her face in embarrassment and anger.

"Wait? Shuku's a girl?" Izumo looked over at a very embarrassed and pissed Shuku and blinked, completely dumbfounded. Now that she knew, Shuku definitely looked at least a little bit feminine. Izumo flushed in shock.

"That Glasses...," Shuku growled, almost literally, "He's dead."

Just at that moment, Yukio walked in. Shuku's gaze landed on him with an enormous amount of rage it heated the room. Yukio, unconscious of the situation in the room, continued for his desk. In a split second decision, Shuku jumped to her feet in a rage filled grace, like a panther. She then decided to unleash her rage on their teacher, no matter the consequence for violating her privacy.

Shuku removed her pen from her pocket and took a deep breath from it for the span of a few seconds. At the sight of the pen, Rin jumped underneath a desk close to the edge of the room. Shuku was seriously going to fight Yukio! This was bad. Shuku removed the pen from her lips and small wisps of vapor escaped from her nose, like a dragon that was about to breathe fire. In a single breath, Shuku releases a large plume of smoke around a befuddled Yukio. then, The class watched as she ignited it, setting their teacher on fire.

<><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}{([])}

A very pissed and crispy Yukio glared disapprovingly at the students in front of him. A weird rock with a face had been placed on everyone's lap, Shuku being the only exception. In place of it, a massive one had been placed on her back, pinning her to the ground as she struggled to get to a sitting position. She had only been awake for a few minutes and seemed completely fine, angry, but physically fine after the incident.

After Yukio had been attacked by a rampaging Shuku, he had been forced to shoot her with a tranquilizer to calm her down. In the end, it had taken a tranquilizer strong enough to knock out a middle-level demon... three of them. Only then had Shuku slowed to a stop and slumped to the floor, unconscious and completely uninjured. Seconds later, other exorcist had barged in and started asking questions about the demon that was attacking but were startled when they found out it had been a student instead. Only Shuku would cause this amount of trouble.

In a matter of minutes, Shuku had not only injured Yukio with second to third-degree burns, but she had wrecked the entire classroom with the force of a small hurricane. The classroom now had several sharp objects implanted in the walls and blackened scorch marks as well as a few holes in the wall. He'd confiscated the vapor pen turned weapon and now held it as he watched, tapping it against his leg. He had examined it thoroughly but found no way to ignite the vapor from the pen. That fact utterly and completely confused him.

"What the hell's with this damn rock? It's getting heavier by the second." Rin whined from his spot on the floor, in pain from the rock sitting on his lap.

"It's a demon, one of the lower level ones. The longer it sits on you the gets heavier!" Konekomaru cried.

"You don't know what a berion is? You really are pathetic!" Ryuji commented.

"Well, it's your fault we're here... wait, no that would be Shuku... she did Yukio on fire. That was funny!" Rin chuckled, and Shuku attempted to get the Berion off her back again, only to fall back to the ground with a heavy slam that the floor shook for a moment with only a grunt in response from her.

"It's everyone's fault. One of the objectives of this boot camp is to strengthen your academic skills, the other is to get you to start becoming closer as a team. And it is not funny when your teacher is set on fire!" Yukio exclaimed, and Shuku grumbled something that sounded rude and pissy.

"What was that Shuku? I could quite here you?" Yukio glared at Shuku, which she returned.

"I want my fucking pen back! I NEED it to calm my nerves. Okay! I'm sorry not sorry Glasses now may I please get my pen back!" Shuku shouted in response, clearly still in a foul mood.

Yukio tossed the pen at her head, and she caught in in her mouth like a freaking dog. After that, she gladly breathed in the vanilla vapor, and it soothed her nerves and improved her mood.

"I'd rather die than become friends with these losers," Izumo said, her nose up in the air.

"That could be arranged if Master would allow me," Hebimaru offered from his corner where he had been sleeping before.

"You need to get along!" Yukio shouted, "Exorcist do not go into battle alone!" After a moment of silence and Shuku's struggling, he continued, "We fight in groups of two or more, that's basic procedure. It covers your weak spots and enhances your strengths. In a real combat situation, this ridiculous infighting could get you or someone else killed. You keep that in mind." Yukio checked his watch.

"Ok, I have to leave on a mission and I won't be back for about three hours. Now then, because of that attack yesterday, I have to take extra measures. I'll be locking all the entrances and placing a powerful demon warding charm on the building." Yukio explained,

Shuku stopped struggling for a heartbeat, her eyes widened, aw hell no!

"Locking us in? Then how we supposed to get out of here if we need to?" Ryuji asked, slightly panicked.

"Through a window," Shuku said tiredly, worn out after fighting to knock the fucking rock off. It had become hard to fight it after pausing for a moment. The drugs hadn't completely worn off yet and left her slightly more fatigued than usual.

"Shuku, that's not funny," Yukio said, casting yet another glare at Shuku.

"It wasn't a joke." She responded seriously, giving a glare in return.

"You're not going anywhere, and no climbing out windows either Shuku. I'll only be gone three hours so cool off and get along until I get back." Yukio gave everyone but Shuku a closed-eyed smile and left.

"Three hours..." Shima sighed, "He's evil"

"Someone kill me," Skunk groaned, "You know, I find it hard to believe you and that teacher are related!"

"But he's a good guy, I know he is. Really." Rin mumbled.

"I want to burn him again," Shuku grumbled, half asleep.

"I feel ya," Shima responded.

"Anyways, we're stuck here thanks to a certain someone" Bon scoffed.

"Huh?! I didn't go up and grab you by the collar, did I?" Izumo argued.

"You're the one who picks a fight with me in the first place!" Bon shouted.

"Would you guys quit fighting with me in the middle again?!" Rin shouted.

"You're really one twisted witch, you know that?" Bon grumbled.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, anything else?" She said smugly.

"With a personality like that, no wonder you're all alone" That quitted the room, except for a quiet snoring.

"Did Shuku just fall asleep?" Shima sighed. Just then, the lights flickered out.

"What the?" Someone screamed as the lights went out. The students moved the baryons off on them and took the one off Shuku. Hebimaru slithered over and curled up on her back in its place and being the 8-foot snake he was, he covered half her body like a blanket.

There was a crashing sound then a yelp from Rin, "Ow, I dropped the berion on my foot"

"You gotta be kidding me, did he turn the lights off on the way out? And someone, wake up Shuku!" Ryuji asked.

"No way!"

"Is it a black out?" Izumo asked. Rin turned around and shook Shuku to wake her up, and was zapped by an unhappy Hebimaru.

"No, there's still light on the outside."Shima pointed out.

"Uh... waz goin' on? What are you all freaking out about anyways? Of course, there are lights on outside." Shuku yawned tiredly, receiving blank stares.

"Shuku, the lights are out, can't you tell?" Konekomaru asked, and Shuku shook her head.

"Nope. Everything looks the same to me." Shuku replied, and then moved her bangs out of her scarred eye, revealing it to everyone. In the dark, it definitely seemed to glow. "That's better, my other eye can't see shit at the moment."

"Shuku, your other eye is practically glowing. It's kinda freaky and cool at the moment. If you didn't notice it was dark you must have like, night vision or something" Shima said, pointing at Shuku's lavender eye.

"Pointing is rude." Was her only response. Shuku got up off the floor and leaned against the wall, not yet able to completely support herself.

"You mean our building's the only one without power?" Rin asked.

"I'm going outside" Shima got up. "Shima?! Be careful" Konekomaru asked, fear laced in his tone. "hm hm, I love stuff like this, it's like a real-life test of courage." Shima said as he walked over to the door and opened it, then quickly closed it with a slight slam.

"My eyes must be playing tricks on me. It's either that or we got a de-" A mutated hand shot through the glass of the door, scaring the shit out of Shima.

Shuku went to grab her blades, but they weren't there. The one fucking time she didn't have them! The demon growled and showed itself. "Not again" Everyone, but Shuku seemed to recognize that demon. It was ugly and missing a hand.

"The ghoul came back!" Izumo shrieked.

"What about the demon warding charm?" Konekomaru asked, frightened. The stitchings on the ghouls second head snapped, spraying black stuff everywhere, the revealed a second face shaped like a flower.

"Everyone, watch yourself!" Shuku raised his smoke pen to his mouth, the held it in front of his face and whispered an incantation.

"With the power of the sun let my flames roar to life and vanquish the darkness." Shuku recited then breathed out a powerful stream of smoke, that caught fire when it went across the glowing tip of the pen, turning it into a flame thrower. The demon became enveloped in the glowing burst of orange flames and let out an anguished cry of pain