Chapter 8

Black Cat (黒猫) is the 8th chapter of Kazue Katō's Ao no Exorcist.

Shiro Fujimoto's old familiar Kuro learns of his death and goes on a rampage, denying that such a thing could occur. Rin, following Yukio to the scene, overhears Kuro's thoughts due them both being demonic in origin and takes the situation under his control and befriends Kuro, consoling him on the loss of his master and friend. In light of the situation, Yukio ensures that Kuro is made Rin's familiar, thus saving his life.

Summary
At the entrance to True Cross Academy, a guard walks past a black cat and greets him before turning to his coworker and asking about the cat, citing that it ignores their attempts to give it food, and wonders whether or not it's smartness is the reason, as well as whether it has realized if its master has died. Being yelled at by his coworker, the guard apologizes and states that in its current state it poses no threat, however the cat hears him and looks mortified.

Concurrently, Rin complains about the heat, as well as his melting popsicle, as he walks back into his dorm after forgetting to buy Yukio water. Continuing to complain, this time about homework on Sundays and that even as an Exwire, he is still an underling; asking Yukio what his rank is, Yukio replies that he is a Middle First Class Exorcist. Hearing Rin talk about wanting to be Paladin, Yukio tells him that Paladin is only awarded to one person at a time who is deemed to be the strongest and admonishes him for even thinking about trying to be one, as well as for relying too much on his blue flames. Rin, however, takes offense to this and picks at Yukio for speaking like Shiro would; Yukio defends himself by telling Rin to grow up, but Rin merely picks at Yukio for his crush on Shiemi. Yukio instead reverts to Rin's lack of fighting prowess and knowledge which prompts Rin to smack Yukio's glasses and break them; he merely pulls out a spare pair as he gets a call to leave on a mission, which Rin inquires about.

An annoyed Yukio later arrives at the mission site accompanied by Rin, and after they hear a roar from through the tunnel they go inside to see a Cat Sídhe rampaging; Rin hears the thoughts of the Demon, which state that everyone is lying, while Yukio questions the guards, who inform him that the cat, Kuro, heard them talking about Shiro's death. When Rin questions what the cat has to do with Shiro, Yukio tells him that it was their father's familiar. The group of Exorcists then attacks Kuro but yields no results; Yukio is given the rundown of the situation: they've tranquilized Kuro and tried to exorcise him, but have yet to be successful. Confirming that he has a trump card given to him by Shiro in case he ever died and Kuro rampaged, Yukio speculates that it's poison to kill Kuro and asks to give it to the Demon alone, as its capabilities are unknown. Another Exorcist then asks Yukio if he has strong feelings about his father and the first mission he went on as an Exwire; after everyone remembers the day that Paladin Shiro Fujimoto tamed Kuro, who had rampaged over the destruction of temple of worship, Rin thinks about his father being the Paladin and, upon hearing and understanding Kuro's thoughts of denial, approaches Yukio, asking if he plans on killing Kuro. When Yukio says yes, Rin tells him that Kuro is merely lonely, which he affirms to be knowledgeable about due to demonic telepathy. Saying that he's going to persuade him with his head and not with his flames, Rin dismisses Yukio and heads to Kuro.

Appearing in front of the large cat, Rin introduces himself as Shiro's son and confirms that the man died, which Kuro repeatedly states is a lie before running at Rin; Rin headbutts Kuro, which leaves Yukio dumbfounded, and asks Kuro to resolve their differences because they both loved Shiro. With both Yukio and Kuro likening Rin's method to Shiro's, Kuro breaks down in tears upon realizing that Shiro is actually gone and reverts to his original size. A little later, Yukio approaches both Kuro and Rin and explains that Kuro is listed as Rin's familiar for now but that another Demon might be used as gatekeeper; Kuro spots the bottle Shiro left him and grabs it from him. Yukio opens the canister and realizes that it's catnip wine, which Rin drinks with Kuro as a show of politeness.

From afar, Mephisto asks Amaimon what he thinks of Rin, which he doesn't answer as he hasn't seen Rin fight all out. Mephisto agrees, calling it annoying, and asks Amaimon to fight him at full strength, however Amaimon expresses his desire to sight-see Japan. As Amaimon leaves, Igor, in the back of the room, asks Mephisto if everything went okay, to which Mephisto says yes as Amaimon had expressed enough interest in Rin to make a difference. Meanwhile, Yukio joins Rin in his drinking of catnip wine with Kuro.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Kuro
 * 2) Rin Okumura
 * 3) Yukio Okumura
 * 4) Kinoshita
 * 5) Susumu Yunokawa
 * 6) Shiro Fujimoto (flashback)
 * 7) Seishiro Nagatomo (flashback)
 * 8) Mephisto Pheles
 * 9) Amaimon
 * 10) Behemoth
 * 11) Igor Neuhaus

Demons in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Cat Sídhe
 * 2) Goblin

Battles & Events

 * The Taming of Kuro (started & concluded)

Meister used

 * Dragoon

Weapons used

 * Various Firearms
 * Grenade

Abilities used

 * Cat Sídhe Transformation

Techniques used

 * None

Items used

 * Silver Vine Sake
 * Key of Eternity

Navigation
Capítulo 08