Title: Rescue
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: April 2, 2019
Rating: K
Warnings: Potential spoilers for manga chapters in the 90's and up.
Continuity: Mangaverse, speculative story set after the flashback arc begun in Chapter 100.
Disclaimer: “Ao no Exorcist/Blue Exorcist” belongs to Kazue Katou, Shueisha, Aniplex, and various other parties.

              By the time Rin got back from his whirlwind tour of the past he felt like he’d been scraped raw, ripped apart, and quickly put back together again.  He would heal, was already healing.  And, the broken pieces were somehow stronger than they had been before.

            But, he still wanted to collapse in bed for a week.

             He'd almost made it to his dorm when Eyebrows found him.

             “Moriyama!” she panted.  “They took her!”

             Shiemi.

             He let himself be pulled along as Eyebrows offered a broken, gasping explanation.  Some white-coated weirdoes from the exorcists’ headquarters had come for Shiemi, talking about the Grigori Agency and chaos gripping the world.  And, Shiemi had smiled through tears and thanked Eyebrows like they’d never see each other again.

             Exorcists and white coats and labs.

             Bits and pieces he’d seen in the past swirled through Rin’s mind and settled in his stomach like a rock.   

             He forgot how tired he was.  Suddenly, he was the one pulling Eyebrows along, shouting for directions.

             Somehow, they reached Shiemi’s house.  But, the door was locked and there was a “Closed” sign on the shop door.  Shiemi’s mother was gone, and, without a key to headquarters, she was their only lead.

             “Excuse me, is the supply shop open?”

             Rin turned to see a black-coated exorcist looking at them curiously.  He grabbed the man by the front of the shirt.

             “I need your keys!”

             His flames must have been escaping again because the man’s eyes were suddenly white with terror.

             “Bl-Blue—!”

             “Flames.  We know.”  Eyebrows gave the man her best disdainful sniff as she fished out his keys.

             “Thanks.”  Rin let the man scramble away as Eyebrows slid a likely key into the shop door. 

             There was an immediate rumble, and he shoved Eyebrows clear as the door burst open in an explosion of plant-life.  It sent Rin tumbling.  Landing, he looked up.  And stared as Shiemi rode a wave of green out into the sunlight.

             Her face was a mask of concentration.  Then, she saw him, and it brightened into a beautiful smile.

             “Rin!”

             People were shouting and screaming, and Rin realized there were exorcists caught up in the vines around Shiemi with more spilling through the doorway.

             “Are you okay?” he asked, running to get between her and the guys after her.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Eyebrows pulling out her summoning papers.  They were going to be in so much trouble, but he didn’t care.

             “I’m fine.  Now.”  Vines lowered Shiemi toward him.  “I wasn’t sure what to do before.  Or what I really wanted.  But then,” she looked down, voice going so quiet he could barely hear it over the chaos, “then I thought of you.”

             “M—me?”  His face was hot as he absently punched some guy in a white coat that was trying to get close to Shiemi.

             She nodded, then looked up at him with another blinding smile.  “I just thought about what Rin would do.”

Author's Note: More wishful thinking for what's coming in future chapters.