Inadvertent Confessions
by: RoyaleDeuce

Disclaimer: Ao no Exorcist is not mine.

It has almost been a month since Shiemi had taken the habit of dropping by their rundown dormitory. Her visits weren't particularly pointless, considering that she never failed to carry a bunch of ingredients with her from the Exorcist shop, in which Yukio was ever so grateful for since he was saved the hassle. Not that they ever minded seeing her. In fact, life in the dormitory could turn out to be pretty dull that her visits were something they greatly looked forward to (even if Rin would try to act otherwise). In any case, Shiemi's presence had become a regular occurrence that a week wouldn't have gone by without her knocking on their front door with a parcel or a bag of merchandise under her arms and that ridiculously childish grin on her face.

That particular afternoon, as soon as Rin opened the bedroom door, he was greeted with the sight of Shiemi sitting contentedly on Yukio's bed, a large book propped open on her lap. She looked up and offered him a smile before returning to what she was reading. Rin dropped his schoolbag and katana on his bed before taking a seat by his study table and began sucking on the Gorigori Popsicle he bought on his way home.

When Shiemi glanced at him, he asked, "You want some?"

She blushed while shaking her head, "Are you going to do your homework, Rin?"

"Mnmph," he replied while clipping his hair, the popsicle wedged in his mouth. It was pulled out not long after. "We have a test coming up."

"Ah," Shiemi shut the book and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Rin's eyes trailed after her as she headed towards the door.

"I want Rin to do his best in studying. I don't want to be a bother," she looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"You're not bothering me," he said, his eyebrows raised. "And we didn't even have dinner yet… s-so stay."

He blushed when Shiemi grinned and brightened considerably.

"Alright," she conceded, taking her previous spot.

For several minutes, Rin tried to absorb the texts from his Literature notes. He shifted restlessly on his chair, sucked on his third Gorigori and hummed a tune, but all was in vain. It turned out Shiemi's presence was far too distracting than he anticipated. What recurred over and over in his mind was the fact that they were alone in his bedroom and that she was on Yukio's bed.

"What are you reading?" he asked out of the blue.

Shiemi looked at Rin curiously. "Have you finished studying?"

"Ngh," was his non-committal response.

Shiemi's eyebrows shot upward.

"How did you get in here?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Rin didn't know if his eyes were deceiving him, but there was a spark in her eyes.

"I delivered a box of sancho to Yuki-chan. He let me in and lent me his book," she replied all too happily.

He twitched at the mention of Yukio. "You know, Yukio's a nasty nagger. He won't be too happy to see his bed messed up."

"I'm sorry!" she got off the bed immediately and smoothed out the sheets. "But he didn't seem to mind a while ago…"

"He was just too polite to voice his concern." He tried to sound nonchalant. "You can stay on mine if you want. I don't mind."

"Thank you," Shiemi crossed the room and plopped on his bed. She opened the book to the page where she left off, but before proceeding, she looked at Rin, "Are you sure you're able to study with me here imposing on you?"

Rin waved it off. "Yeah, yeah." He was about to return to his notes, but decided against it, knowing that he was only fooling himself. "I already studied this the other day. I'm bored," he stretched his arms upward and turned to Shiemi, "So what are you reading? You didn't answer me awhile ago."

"A fairytale." Her eyes were all sparkly again. "Wouldn't it be nice to be a princess?" she said dreamily.

Rin laughed.

Shiemi reddened, ignoring his laughter, "I particularly love the idea of living in a castle and having that much space to make a garden. And with a little magic, I can probably build my very own Amahara Garden," she gushed, a faraway look on her face. "A prince charming would be nice, too... handsome, kind, intelligent, strong and chivalrous…" she giggled a bit at this.

Rin stopped laughing. "People like that don't exist," he muttered, feeling strangely upset.

The door flung open.

"Yuki-chan!" she greeted, her mood significantly brighter, much to Rin's inner chagrin.

"I need the Aloe Vera," Yukio replied, rushing straight towards the cabinet on the far-end. It wasn't long before he was headed out again, the box secured in his hands. "Don't forget that your mid-terms are on Monday, Rin," he said sternly, "And Shiemi, stay for dinner," he smiled at her before disappearing behind the door.

Rin noted Shiemi's goofy grin and muttered, "Prince charming my ass."

"Did you say something, Rin?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

Shiemi looked at Rin inquisitively.

"Just so you know, I like hot, sexy girls with killer legs," he explained, his gaze on the ceiling. "The ones who wouldn't trip all the time," he expounded hastily. "And big breasts aren't that appealing," he dared to say.

"O-Oh."

Rin attempted to return to studying and pretended to be oblivious to the heavy atmosphere. But the guilt for his indirect verbal attack was clawing at his chest that he couldn't concentrate on anything at all. Why was he so stupid when it came to these things? He can only rely on Shiemi's denseness to spare her from the thorns of his pettiness.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

She was frowning.

"Ah, Shiemi…" he began, uncertain of what to say. "D-Do you want a Gorigori?"

She wordlessly shook her head and did not look his way.

"W-What would you like for dinner? Tempura? Curry?" he persisted and was relieved when she finally looked up to acknowledge him. But his alarm only heightened when he saw her trembling mouth and teary eyes.

"Rin, you idiot!" she exclaimed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono.

"WHY ARE YOU CRYING?"

"I don't know!" Shiemi hiccuped as she tried to hide her face in embarrassment.

Rin was at a loss. "S-Shiemi…"

"What?" Her face was still buried on her sleeve.

"Are you crying because I said I like non-tripping hot, sexy girls with small breasts?" Rin's gaze pierced her. He was deadly serious.

"D-Don't casually blurt out stuff like 'breasts'," she murmured and removed her arm from her face, which still looked blotchy and wet.

To her astonishment, Rin was smiling and blushing at the same time.

"I'm actually fond of clumsy cry-babies," he murmured, looking painfully awkward.

Shiemi sniffed, but nonetheless gave a watery smile. "What a lousy taste."

"…And big breasts aren't too bad."

"W-Wha—R-Rin, you pervert!"

A/N: LOL. Inadvertent confessions indeed. I hope they weren't too OOC. Review?