"You have two missions. First, you'll be overseeing a mission with your Brother and Shura for the ExWire class. There's a Kraken getting too close to land around Shizuoka. Only help if you have to." Angel examined.

"And second, There's a pack of Hellhounds to the west in a small town called Iwaki. They weren't much of a problem until now. It seems they've hunted all the food in the small forest near the town and now are hunting the townfolk." He finished. Rin nodded and took the file from the Paladin.

"But first, I must take you to see Shemihaza's representative. She wants to talk with you."

They arrived in a huge greenhouse. A heavily vegetated dome with sunlight streaming through the many glass panes. A giant Mansion sat in the center of the place. The air was warm and humid and permeated with the scents of all the plants around them. It made Rin want to sneeze. The humidity was very heavy. If someone stood in this place long enough, they could probably lose 50 pounds in water weight alone, Rin mused.

They entered the Mansion, where it was much easier to breathe. Shemihaza's representative sat weaving a crown of little periwinkle-colored flowers. She looked up when they entered. "Please, sit." She gestured to the chair across from hers with a small smile. Rin obeyed and sat in the plush red chair.

She finished the grown and stood up, delivering the crown upon Rin's head. He sighed. She'd made this tradition when he'd first become the Weapon of the Order. She'd choose a flower that oy she knew the meaning of and she'd weave a crown for him.

"You cannot take your throne in Gehenna, nor can your Kingdom love you because of that, so I hope this somewhat makes up for that loss, Rin." She'd told him when he'd asked why she did it. Shemihaza's representative was a very tender woman. Sweet like honey-suckle. And yet, still heartless enough to force Rin to fight for the Order. She seemed to be the only one of the Grigori that acknowledged the fact that he was a person with feelings, at least.

"I heard your secret got out to this year's ExWires." She started. Rin nodded in affirmation. "How did that go?" She wondered. "Only one of them knew during the actual incident. He took it well. I was actually comatose when the rest were informed. They all took it well except for one, but I believe he'll come around with a little help from his friends." Rin answered.

"They are a unique bunch, eh?" She smiled serenely. "Maybe you can finally get yourself a few friends. Won't be such a lonely soul before you graduate high school." The woman mused. Rin blinked. Sometimes, he forgot he was still a student. Yes, he went to school everyday unless a mission called for missing classes, but normal highschool was such a small part of his life that sometimes he forgot he was only seventeen and not an adult already.

"Yes, I forget sometimes too. The life you have is so hectic that it's difficult to remember you are still a child." Shemihaza's representative sighed. Rin scowled, but she only smiled wider and reached forward to ruffle his hair. He grumbled about it, but let her. He wasn't allowed to stop her anyways. The last time he'd caught her hand to stop her from touching him, about half a dozen guns had immediately been trained on him.

Rin hated being touched, no matter the person. He'd gotten used to Shura hanging on him while extremely drunk and Shemihaza's representative occasionally trying to show affection. He still didn't trust her, even after these past two years. She was too kind to him to not be suspicious. And there was the fact that if she really truly cared about him, she would've helped break him out of this place a long time ago. She was a politician and those couldn't be trusted. Especially the Grigori.

She finally let him leave to attend to his duties and he packed a small bag for the two missions. He didn't have a bathing suit, but knowing Shura, she'd make him get one when he got there.

§~•~§~•~§

He was right about Shura making him get a bathing suit. He didn't expect the ExWires to need to get some too though, and got stuck with Shima, who was more indecisive than a Sphinx(don't ask). Finally, he ditched the teen at the dressing rooms and ran straight into Shiemi. She was red faced and flustered and he knew Shura had something to do with it.

"Sh-She wants me to wear really skimpy bikinis!" The blonde complained and Rin snorted. "Come on, I'll help you find one you're less self-conscious about." He led her to a section of one pieces. Rin got a plain pair of dark green swim trunks and Shiemi got a cute mint-green one-piece that had a halter top and little flutters of fabric around the deep V-neck and the waist, like a skirt. The back was open, with a clip near mid-back. She was very grateful and nearly hugged the life out of him before going to show Kamiki what she was getting. Rin followed because he didn't trust her not to make it sound like he'd helped her change into it or something like that. Shiemi wasn't just a klutz physically. Poor girl couldn't speak very fluently when she was excited.

Rin had seen the under armor shirts for swimming and debated whether or not to get one. But then, he realized that the only way he'd ever conquer his insecurity over the scars was to expose them. If people reacted badly, it would suck and his emotional health might plummet, but it already wasn't that great, so he didn't have much to lose. People already looked at him like he was a living mistake (they weren't wrong, he was literally the Antichrist), so who cared what they thought about the scars he'd gotten fighting for these humans who hated him do much? He could throw it back in their faces if needed.

He passed the rack of underarmor and didn't grab any.

Izumo also seemed to be having trouble finding a bathing suit, but her problem was the opposite of Shiemi's. She wanted something more revealing, but didn't have the attributes or confidence to back up any of the bikinis she found. "You could just get a strappy one piece. One pieces get a bad rep, but they can be just as revealing as a bikini if you find the right one. You have a good figure for one." Rin told her. She stared at him, then demanded he take her to the one pieces.

He spent the rest of his time in the store helping Izumo find a good bathing suit. In the end, she got a black backless one piece with a V that went almost to her belly button. It had two thin straps across the V near her breasts to keep it down in the water while she swam. There was a lacing detail all along the V as well that made it stand out. Izumo hugging him quickly and then running away to buy the bathing suit was a bigger surprise than running into Shiemi had been.

§~•~§~•~§

"So you helped the girls with their bathing suits, eh? You're such a softy." Shura snickered when she saw him on the beach. "Ooh, there's Yukio. Imma go mess with him." She set off in the direction of his twin and after a moment, Rin decided he follow and mess with Yukio a bit too. He was serious all the time, what was a little fun?

"Hey, Chicken! Would you mind rubbing sunscreen on my back?" Shura requested, slinging an arm around the teen, who looked uncomfortable at the prospect of touching the woman.

"Yuki, you should lighten up, take all this stuff off. All you really need is the sniper, and even that probably won't be needed since I'm here." Rin unclipped the vest his brother had on and Shura joined him in pulling it off. "Great, now how do we expose him? He desperately needs a tan." Shura shook her head and Rin smirked. With a flick of his fingers, Yukio's underarmor was burnt off and he glared at the two. "Aw, look at him. He thinks he can still intimidate us with just a look." Rin snorted. "He's pissed!" Shura cackled, still hanging on the now- shirtless Yukio. Yukio sighed tiredly. Rin didn't feel one bit of sympathy. After spending the entirety of First Year letting Yukio bully them and scare them with even just a glare, this was payback. It didn't pay to hurt everyone around you, especially if you were stuck with them due to your job.

"I hate both of you." Yukio muttered. "Oh we know." Shura started. "We just don't care." Rin finished. They high-fived and then left to oversee the rest of the operation.

"Check out Rin-Senpai! He always wears so many layers, it's kinda wierd to see him in just swim trunks." Shima pointed out. "Yeah, I never even knew he had tattoos." Suguro agreed.

Rin had a tattoo sleeve on his left arm that went from his shoulder to the back of his hand. It was a colorful dragon, with camellia blossoms here and there accenting it. Just above his right hip, he had the outlines of two roses in bold black. It stood out against his pale skin. The only other marks on his skin besides the ink were two long, jagged scars that reached from his collar bone and ended above the hip without the tattoo. They'd definitely been there a while and had healed as best they would. Suguro did his best not to stare. By the way Rin stood and crossed his arms over the scars, it was difficult enough for him to display it like this without people staring.

"Woah, check out the girls!" Shima shook Suguro's arm excitedly until he yanked it away.

Shiemi came out in her mint one piece that went nicely with her eyes and blonde hair, which was up in a ponytail.

Izumo came out in something more scandalous. It showed a lot of her skin and Shima was drooling at the V of the suit.

"Pull yourself together, man. You're a monk for Christ's sake!" Suguro groaned. "All do respect, but I don't think he'll be a monk past his early twenties, maybe even earlier." Rin appeared next to them. "Jesus! How do you just pop up next to people?!" Suguro demanded. Rin shrugged. "I don't. I'm just quiet. I can walk next to Shura for twenty minutes while she rants to some poor sap stuck in the conversation before either of them notice me." He answered.

"Were you trained to be like that? Silent?" Konekomeru wondered. "Yes. Sneaking up on demons is tricky. They have enhanced senses. Mine are better than theirs, though, so I just had to learn how to be silent. Since I'm on call at all times, I just got into the habit of doing it all the time. Usually scares people." Rin replied. "I thought you were still scared of me?" He cocked his head at the shorter teen.

"I was, but you look really lonely. I can't stay scared of you when you look that sad." Koneko admitted. "Damn, Koneko. You could've been a little less stone fucking cold!" Suguro looked at his best friend incredulously. The shorter boy was about to respond, but stopped. Rin was actually laughing. Not a sarcastic laugh, or a bitter one, just a happy laugh. It was only the second time they'd heard the sound. This time, Suguro could appreciate how nice it sounded. Not that he was counting how many times Rin laughed.....

"It's okay. The truth is what it is. I totally get it." Rin told them when he was done, still smiling. Suguro was sad to see it disappear when an alarm was sounded. They all turned towards Shura, who was now shouting into a megaphone.

Rin frowned and turned back to the three boys. "Alright, listen up. You gotta come up with your own plan. I'm here if things go south, but I'm gonna tell you now: I'm not saving your asses. You either sink or swim. I'll come and get you only when you're about to die. Go!" He told them seriously.

"Well that's reassuring!" Shima complained. "He's right, it's sink or swim! We need to prove we can handle situations like this and work as a team!" Suguro agreed with what their senpai had said.

§~•~§~•~§

The kids were doing well until the helicopters got involved. The Kraken split and took down the copters quick. Rin cursed. He wasn't going to step in yet, but it looked like he might have to in the end.

Izumo had used a sort of chant to get her Byakko to bind the original Kraken. Konekomeru was chanting verses and mantras, weakening the thing. That was good. Shima was taking careful aim with his staff. Rin wondered what he was doing until he nailed the thing right in the eye. Damn. Color Rin impressed.

Bon chanted something with Konekomeru and suddenly, the whole thing vaporized. It was a gross sight, but the ExWires cheered. Rin was proud of them. They hadn't even needed to find that Sea God that could've fought the Kraken for them. He decided not to mention that little fact.

He went out to help with search and rescue and pulled people in from the copter wreckage. Shiemi made some very helpful rafts for him to pull people up on with her familiar.

When he came back ashore, the ExWires stared at him in either awe or shock. He raised an eyebrow before realizing they must be staring at the scales. Rin's body was able to shapeshift to cater to his needs. He'd gotten so used to it that he didn't even notice when he did it.

If he needed to be able to breathe underwater, scales and gills would form on his body. The gills went away as soon as he needed to breathe air again, but the scales took a little longer if he was still wet.

The scales were in random little patches of black and deep blue and purple. They shimmered gold in the right light. He knew there were two along his cheeks and a few scattered along his arms and legs. "They're so pretty!!" Shiemi cried, running forward to look at them closer.

Of course, she was a huge klutz, so she almost immediately tripped, but Rin had quick reflexes and caught her. She thanked him repeatedly, red faced. He just shrugged and showed her his arms, where dark scales glittered in the sun. She grabbed his arm to look at it and squeaked. "They shimmer if you turn them in the sun!"

Rin looked up at Izumo. "You wanna see too?" He guessed. The girl looked like she was fighting with herself before giving in and grabbing Rin's other arm and turning it in the sunlight, gasping at how the sun glinted off of them.

"Don't you get this kind of attention in regular school, senpai?" Shima wondered. "Nope. All the girls in my year just kinda see me as the quiet depressed guy in the back corner of the classroom. And then the underclassmen just stare at me from a distance." He admitted. "Wouldn't really care for the attention if I had it, though. None of them know who I am or could ever know, so there would be no point in going out with them anyways...." Rin explained.

"That sounds really lonely." Suguro observed. Rin shrugged again. "You get used to it. Can't say it's a pleasant experience, but it's nothing I haven't felt before, so it won't ever surprise me when I die alone." Rin said. He focused his attention back on the girls, who were asking questions about the scales. He said that so nonchalant, it hurt Suguro on the inside a little. This guy was prepared to die with nothing.

"He needs friends." Suguro decided quietly. "At least friends." Konekomeru sighed. "Hopefully a woman if he's lucky." Shima added.

Bon and Koneko looked at him with deadpan exoressions. "What?"

"I don't think Rin is really interested in women." Konekomeru shook his head. "Yeah. And if he was, they'd have to be someone like Shura– headstrong, stubborn, and understanding of both Rin and the way he works. Rin is a complex person hidden under his mask of simplicity." Suguro mused. Both his friends stared at him.

"What?"

"Dude," Shima snickered. "Chill with your man crush before he notices."

Suguro's cheeks flared red. "Oh, fuck off!"

DEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONS

So, what we've learned is that Rin is a ninja and has a great fashion sense lol.