A/N: Hello and welcome to chapter 2 of this story!^^ I wish you a lot of fun reading.

Chapter 2

Did you know that she is the only case a Kegare ochi was reverted?

Of course he'd known. They had discussed the event, that lead to the first appearance of Ijika Yuuto and the following fight between Seigen and him in a meeting of the founder families. But somehow he had never connected the Mayura, who suffered being a Kegare ochi to the Mayura he got acquainted with. For him Mayura was the embodiment of innocence and purity since the day they have met. Some people might call her faith and her honesty naive but he recognized it as strength. How could he imagine her as something essentially impure?

As he went to the hospital the day after his talk to Arima-san he tried to remember signs of her behaving any different after waking up. Being spell power depleted, she might be exposed to negative auras...

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"... Besides we have no knowledge on people who suffered an Kegare ochi. There might be traces left."

"Arima-san, did the oracle show you Otomi's fate?"

"The oracle does not show the path, it just tells me about certain events. We can't expect the future to write itself. We have to make certain that Otomi-chan won't fall into impurity again."

"Hai."

"As her partner you know her the best and I want you to keep an eye on her. She was exposed to a high rate of miasma."

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Kegare ochi. If he could, he would try to protect Otomi from this fate. He just hoped he wouldn't have to relieve her if it ever came to this point...

When Shimon arrived at the hospital, he was feeling nervous. Although he had overcome his self-consciousness and timidity in the past, some things still made him nervous. How was he supposed to act normal while keeping an eye on her?

As he reached the door of her hospital room, he heard genuine laughter from inside. He instantly frowned before he knocked on the door being suddenly unnerved.

Her cheerful voice invited him. "Come in!"

When he entered the room, Rokuro and Mayura both grinned at him. Rokuro stood at the side of Mayura's bed, where she was sitting on. "Oi, Shimon. What is it with that cold face you're wearing?"

"Rokuro! That's not a polite thing to say to Shimon!" Mayura complained.

Shimon crossed his arms. "Typical, he has no manners and no respect for his seniors."

As always Rokuro exploded, yelling: "Hey, it is not easy to talk to you. You're like a wall."

"Totally immature."

"And you're just cold."

Suddenly Mayura intervened. "Stop quarreling, you two! Jeez... You're both imperturbable nuisance sellers."

Rokuro chuckled about Mayura's odd expression while Shimon couldn't hold back a smile. He and Rokuro liked to bicker but since the day Rokuro helped him save his cousin ,who was like a sister to him, he was grateful and came to accept Rokuro's abilities as an exorcists. Although he had no manners, Shimon had grown to be grateful for the unlikely companionship. That what irked him the most were the moments he saw Rokuro with Otomi. At some point Shimon noticed the blush she would get speaking to Rokuro or her glazy eyes. It was very irritating. Just thinking about it made him feel cranky.

Rokuro looked at him again with a warm smile. "Anyway, thank you, Shimon, I heard you saved Mayura in Magano."

Shimon shrugged and turned his head when he saw her heartfelt smile that made him feel uncomfortable. "Otomi is one of the Heavenly Commanders. We cannot afford the twelfth seat to be vacant again."

In the corner of his eyes he noticed, how she suddenly turned her head away. Regret filled him. He had been to harsh this time and hated himself for it. Even Rokuro gave him a cold stare. "I mean..." He coughed trying to cover his embarrassment. "She is important – not only to you."

Seconds passed that felt like an eternity ,while he waited for her reaction clenching his hands to fists within his pockets. To his luck, there was a knock on the door before anyone did say anything else.

After a moment, or two, Mayura invited the person at the door with a less cheerful voice. "Come in."

A nurse entered the room smiling at Mayura. "I see, our patient is very popular."

A blush appeared on Mayura's cheeks.

"You are going to be released soon. I just need to give you a small parting gift." With that the nurse giggled mischievously and pulled out a syringe from behind her back. "To make sure your immune system works correctly."

Shimon didn't understand the sudden heavy mood as both Mayura and Rokuro seemed to be clearly disturbed by the sight of the syringe.

All of a sudden Rokuro seemed to be in a rush. "Well, I gotta go. Good to see you're well and healthy, Mayura. Later!" As he passed Shimon, he grabbed hard onto Shimon's shoulder. What the hell was going on? "You better hold Mayura's hand through this. See ya!" And in a flash he was gone.

"Rokuro? Hey, where are you going?" Mayura seemed to be scared of something. Could it be she was afraid of syringes? Her eyes searched his in desperation. She grabbed tightly onto the bed linen with one hand, the other was pressed to her chest in a fist. "Shimon, c-could you please hold my hand?"

He felt like he wouldn't have said no to anything she would have asked with the gaze she was currently giving him. "Un." He nodded and walked to the bed, she was still sitting on.

With a blush of embarrassment on her face, the blue eyed girl grabbed his hand and hold tightly on to it.

He could feel her raging heart beat and wondered about the depth of her phobia, as her hold became tighter. Just as the needle nearly reached her skin, she suddenly shrieked and pulled his hand. He had a problem to maintain his balance and fell towards her. Luckily he managed to catch his weight with his free hand on her other side before crushing her under him. A moment later he noticed the position they were in. While he was able to prevent their bodies being pressed to each other, he was suddenly very aware that his stretched arm was touching her breast.

Ashamed and flustered he sprang into the other direction. Trying to control the heat, that rose to his face, he looked at the nurse who stood there smiling. "Well, that is one way to make things easier." She laughed at her own joke. "Otomi-san, you are released now. Just remember, if you're feeling uncomfortable or dizzy don't hesitate to come back."

The nurse left the room while Shimon was fighting to ignore the tingling in his arm or the resurfacing memory of her chest being pressed against him, when she and Rokuro entered Megano on the isle for the first time. Coming to think of it, many of his problems started on that day.

"Shimon?" Mayura looked at him a blush powdering her cheeks lovely, her eyes were shining with many emotions which he wasn't able to read entirely. "Arigato, Shimon."

He smiled about her kindness even in this stupid situation. "Don't bother. It just surprised me a little bit that you are afraid of syringes."

"That's not what I meant. I just realized, I never thanked you for saving me yesterday. So thank you, Shimon." Her smile brightened the whole room. Shimon was rooted to the ground and finally came to understand something. He was already skin deep.

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Having lived on Tsuchimikado island for a few months, to Mayura it still felt like nothing had changed. In comparison to the other eleven Heavenly Commanders or Rokuro and Adashino-san she was weak. Yesterday had been her first mission as solo Heavenly Commander in a squad and although the squad was a large one with many respected exorcists from the noble families, she failed. It was supposed to be an easy mission but she still lacked so many things. With only little confidence in herself, how was she supposed to lead a squad and how could the members of said squad take her seriously? Captain Otomi, wasn't that a funny expression? Hopefully Amawaka-san wasn't going to be mad. Mayura had put shame on her father's house. It wasn't like they had treated her like one of them from the beginning anyway, well except for Amawaka Yuzuru (1). For everyone else she was an outsider, a mainlander, not even an Amawaka. She had no experience and not a title like Rokuro whom half of the isle admired. But now...

And then there was him. She looked up as she walked with Shimon in silence to the Amawaka estate. With twelve he had become platoon leader and by the age of fourteen he had already been a Heavenly Commander. He was an idol in every way. He always kept his cool, he was a good companion, a competent leader and kind in his heart. Although they were partners under the rank of the Heavenly Commanders they were far from being equals. How many exorcists have died under her command yesterday?

As if he felt her gaze, he looked at her over his shoulder with his typically stern expressin and a raised eyebrow. "Something the matter?"

No matter how uncaring he seemed to be on the first sight, he was a very compassionate person with a high level of empathy. When Rokuro's and Adashino-san's worth to go to Tsuchimikado was tested, she felt worthless. It was Shimon who helped her get back on her feet. Ultimately he and the trust of her father led her to travel to the island with Rokuro. She was lucky to have them both as teachers and seniors. She held her fists to her chest, readying herself for what came next. "Actually I wanted to ask you about my mission yesterday. I know I am supposed to give the official report but since I did not know how the battle turned out, I thought I might ask you."

He stopped walking and turned to her with his hands in his pockets. "I've already told you, you did the best you could even if you were to reckless with your own safety."

She shook her head. She needed to hear the truth, no protection from it, even if it might hurt. "How many people died?"

Shimon mustered her for a while unblinking. "As for casu-"

"Don't call them that, please." She clenched her fists. She never wanted to adopt the notion that people dying were nothing more than casualities. Never.

His tone changed into something smooth and gentle, when he replied, "My apologies. Nobody died yesterday. Although some are still on the verge of death due to large wounds or a strong miasma intake, there is a good chance everyone will survive. As I said you did your job well, Otomi."

Tears sprang to her eyes feeling relieved and she smiled. "I am glad." Suddenly the anxiety she felt since yesterday was lifted from her like veil and the rush of emotions broke down her walls. Wailing she put her arms around her and went down to her knees.

She felt hands on her shoulder. Warmth spread through her, as she lifted her head and saw Shimon kneeling on one knee in front of her. Sincerity was written on his face. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I've seen many battlefields where the many people died and they weren't surprised by a mass of impurities."

Death. The idea of someone dying she'd known was hard to understand. She didn't even want to imagine how it felt to have seen so many deaths. Shimon must have been very young when he saw people falling. No wonder he put up high walls around his feelings. The children of Tsuchikado. What did they have to endure? And here she was crying like a baby. Complaining about a possibility when it was the unmasked truth to someone like him. She brushed her tears away. "I'm sorry, Shimon. You must think of me to be very weak."

"Actually-" Rising he held his hand to her. Grabbing it, she let herself be pulled into a standing position. "I understand what you're feeling. Your will to protect people doesn't make you weak but strong. On my first mission as captain three men were lost. I still remember their faces."

She pressed his hand she was still holding in condolence. "That must be hard."

His gaze shifted from her face to their intertwined hands. He pulled his hand away and stuck both of his hands again into the pockets of his trousers. "You did very well on your first mission. Just promise me, you will save as many as you can, without risking your own life again."

"I'll do my best." She raised her hand to a "V"-sign and smiled.

His responding smile made her last doubts melt away and finally feel easy.

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"Nii nii-sama!" Chiiko came running down the staircase, when he entered the estate of the Ikagura-clan with a bright smile on her face and threw herself on him.

He spun around with her laughing before placing her on the ground. "Chiiko, you shouldn't run like this. You could hurt yourself. Why are you in this awfully happy mood anyway?"

She grinned and took the hand that Mayura had held a few hours ago. Dragging him into the gardens she said, "Roku came by today."

Smiling about her adoration for that boy, he felt grateful for his help rescuing his sister. He just wanted her to be happy. "Is that so? Is he still there?"

Chiiko shook her head as she sank on a bench motioning for him to sit next to her. "No, he had to go off to some training with Ioroi-san (2). Although he didn't seem that thrilled, he had to leave."

Shimon chuckled, imagining just what the training with Ioroi-san looked like. "I see." Rokuro had in fact improved his skill in the last few months, he adapted very fast to the high level of miasma on Megano. But training for battle with Narumi-san was a totally different thing. That guy had a will of steal, the stamina of a whole stall of horses and an unwavering positive attitude. Shimon was glad his sensei was different. Then again, he figured, Narumi was probably a better teacher than Tenma (3).

"I'm glad, he doesn't blame me for what happened with Beni." Sayo said out of nowhere.

Shimon looked at his cousin, who had a large burden to carry since her birth. Her head was bend but she was wearing a smile. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. "It's not your fault." In fact it wasn't her fault for believing Benio's guardian would be as pure as Rokuro's since they were the Twin Exorcists. No one had seen that coming. 'No one except that guy.', Shimon thought, as an image of Arima popped up. Shimon didn't understand Arima's scheme but since the life of his little sister, his cousin by blood, had been threatened in the last act of Arima's play, Shimon swore to be more careful around that guy.

After Chiiko and he sat for a while peacefully next to each other Sayo gave him a sideways glance. "Roku told me you were visiting Mayu in the hospital."

He nodded, slowly and carefully. Out of habit he crossed his arms. He hoped he wouldn't have to think about her in the last hours of the day. "Of course, we are partners. She is a Heavenly Commander now, remember? Also she is still my pupil."

Chiiko flashed a grin at him. "Mhmm."

Unsure of its meaning Shimon mustered his little sister. "Why are you grinning like that?"

"It's nothing. I was just thinking that it would be nice, if she could come to visit me sometime, too."

"I'll ask her, next time I see her." Having said that he pushed Mayura out of his head for the rest of the evening.

Later when he was preparing for bed, his phone vibrated. Meeting of the Heavenly Commanders, 9 am. 'So much for not thinking about her, huh."

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(1) Amawaka Yuzuru appeared in the specials of chapter 33 and in chapter 34 at the central office of the Head Exorcist Union. She might have been become the head of the Amawaka clan after Seigen left the island which would make her the tenth head. But actually I am not even sure if there are any other family members of the Amawaka clan because she was the only one shown so far in the present time. Has someone read the Light Novel about Seigen's story? I would love to have more insight into the Amawaka clan.

(2) Ioroi Narumi is the Heavenly Commander who controls the earth and was presented in the 35th chapter.

(3) Unomiya Tenma is the strongest Heavenly Commander. It's the one who does not need talismans and has two differently colored eyes, presented in chapter 34 and 35.

A/N: How did you like it? I thought it would be nice to have a cute start on this.^^

Don't forget to vote and/or comment, if you liked it. ;)