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By the time he finishes his mission the snow has piled up, spiraling down from the sky in light, clumped flurries. True Cross Academy is silent at this hour, and its countless windows harbor a warm, golden sheen.
His breath fogs as he stops in the street for a moment.
It’s only been a couple of days since they returned, yet those few weeks they spent in the Arctic feel so far away now. He misses that closeness lately.
The lights in their dorm are still on. Yukio shuffles inside, scuffing snow off his boots when he sees a familiar assortment of shoes at the entrance.
“Hey, you’re back!” Rin beams, rushing down the stairs. “Come on, we’ve been waiting for you. We’re having a last-minute hotpot study party.”
Yukio lifts an eyebrow in amusement. “Shouldn’t you party after passing?”
“Yeah?” Rin laughs, elbowing him in the ribs as he opens the door. “We’ll just party after too.”
Shima and Suguro are running through a set of flashcards while Kamiki and Miwa have huddled around the kotatsu to set up the hotpot stove.
“Welcome back,” Suguro greets. “Was it cold outside?”
“Just a little,” Yukio replies as he hangs his coat up.
“Sit down, sit down.” Shima grabs him a cushion. “Sensei, it’s the night before the exam. You have to know something, right?”
“It’s two nights before the exam,” Kamiki huffs.
“Close enough,” Shima insists.
“You can ask, but I won’t tell you,” Yukio manages to reply, and by then Rin has already sat down next to Shima, patting the space beside him urgently. Miwa hands him a bowl, Kamiki passes him chopsticks, and the little gas stove flares to life with delicate, blue-tinted flames.
It’s warm, and he feels swept back to the time they spent together huddled in tents and around campfires to ward off the cold.
“It’s been pretty busy, right?” Suguro asks. “I’m surprised they managed to put the whole exam together so soon.”
Yukio nods. “Most of the preparations were completed before the holiday. All that was left was finding a different venue.”
“What happens if someone fails?” Kamiki prompts, glancing at Shima. “Is it for life?”
Shima shoots her a wounded look. “Why’d you look at me when…”
He grimaces when she snatches the piece of meat he was reaching for.
“I’m pretty sure if Kinzou-san could pass,” Miwa says, busy setting a bowl out for Kuro, “you could too, Shima-san.”
Shima sniffs. “I don’t know why, but that doesn’t sound like a compliment, Koneko-san.”
Yukio pushes his glasses up. “You can take the exam up to seven times. After that, they suggest you consider a different career.”
“So, you can fail six times,” Rin tells Shima, very seriously.
“No way, Okumura-kun, even you—”
“When do we receive our titles?” Kamiki asks.
“They’re typically announced a few weeks later,” Yukio says. “You’ll be knighted by the Shemihaza in a formal ceremony to join our ranks.”
There’s a collective moment of processing.
“Whoa, what?” Rin pumps a fist. “Shiemi’s going to knight us? That’s so awesome! There’s a sword, right? I’ve seen it before—”
“Hey, watch your tail,” Suguro warns, holding his bowl away. “You saw what before?”
“I saw it when I went to the past,” Rin gushes. “You go up on the stage and kneel on a little chair. Then, there’s this cool sword they tap your shoulders with.”
Suguro furrows his eyebrows. “Why would they tap your shoulders? Isn’t that a western thing?”
“It’s called the accolade or dubbing,” Miwa explains as he scrolls on his phone, “for conferring knighthood, such as in a rite of passage ceremony…”
Rin sighs. “That’s so cool.”
Yukio hides a smile behind his hand, watching as they crowd around Miwa’s phone. Perhaps he should tell Shiemi.
The rest of the night trickles along with some studying interspersed by a couple of stories Yukio tells them about his own exam.
He’d been so nervous back then, and looking back on it now, he wonders if he’d been a little lonely.
Perhaps that’s why being here with them now, even after so many years, is so much warmer. It feels obvious now, but he hadn’t realized before. He’s really proud of all of them.
“Hey, what’s this one?” Rin nudges his elbow.
Yukio glances over as Rin jabs his pencil at the red marks on his practice test. “Your team is the first to arrive on orders to suppress an Upper Level Demon,” he reads. “Rank the following actions in order of highest priority and explain your reasoning: surround the demon, have your Aria begin reciting, evacuate civilians, or call for backup.”
He rubs his thumb along the wrinkled corner of the page. “This one is more challenging. You brought up good points though. Think about it a bit more.”
Rin makes a disgusted face when he takes the test back. “You’re so evil.”
Yukio pushes his glasses up to make them gleam. “Of course.”
“Stop it.” Rin laughs as he knocks his knee against Yukio’s. “Why are you so good at that?”
“Which page is it?” Miwa asks as he flips through his test.
“That one.” Suguro points at Miwa’s answer, giving him a thumbs-up as he pulls the bag of potato chips closer. “I like these ones. They’re spicy.”
Rin stuffs a handful of chips into his mouth and munches. “I suck at these ones. Why can’t we just do everything at once?”
Kamiki crosses her arms. “I think you’re going to fail.”
“You should’ve guessed ‘C’ like me,” Shima says, motioning for the chips.
“Huh? It was the essay question,” Rin scoffs, lunging across the table to snatch his test. “What the… How’d you get full points?”
Shima smirks as he reaches for the chips, but Kamiki jerks them away.
“Ah, come on, Izumo-chan!”
Yukio glances down when he feels his phone vibrate. It’s a reply from Shiemi.
If it’s the day after tomorrow, I can make it in time. A few seconds later, another message pops up. I’m so excited for them!
There will be a parade that night too, for a delayed celebration of the new year. It would be nice if she could stay for that.
Yukio smiles, texting a reply back.
I’m excited too.
“It’s so early,” Shura mumbles when she leans out of the minivan. “Is everyone here yet?”
Takara is already sitting in the passenger seat, and everyone else has piled into the back. Snow has blanketed the courtyard like a thick quilt, disrupted by intersecting lines of icy footprints.
“Nii-san is coming down now.” Yukio glances at his phone. “Also—”
“I’m here!” Rin yells, keeping one hand on his unraveling scarf as he thumps down the stairs. His hair is still a mess, and he barely manages to avoid slipping on a patch of ice.
“It’s fine. We still have time.” Yukio tosses his scarf back over his shoulder for him and opens the van door. “Do you have your ID?”
“Uh.” Rin pats his bag. “No. Wait, yeah. I brought my thermos too.”
“Wait!” Muffled footsteps rush over. “Rin! Yuki-chan!”
Rin whirls around. “What? Shiemi! How come you’re here?”
“Shiemi?” Kamiki shoves her way out of the van.
“Yuki-chan told me,” Shiemi explains, laughing when Kamiki pulls her into a hug. She’s bundled in a thick winter coat, and her hair has begun to spiral out of its bun. Perhaps she ran here. Her cheeks are flushed. “I’m here to wish everyone good luck!”
This, it appears, means hugging everyone, including Yukio, and soon enough, the anxious chill of the morning evaporates in the face of her sunshine.
“Well, we have to do well now,” Shima says as he receives his hug.
Suguro smiles. “It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah!” Rin says, nearly whacking Yukio in the head with his sword when Shiemi pulls him close.
“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Miwa insists, patting her back as he smiles. “We’ve all missed you.”
Shiemi beams. “Me too. I’m cheering for all of you.”
“Aw.” Shura leans out the window. “Looks like we’re good to head out now that our good luck charm has given her blessings. Am I right?”
“Yeah.” Shiemi giggles as she waves. “Good luck everyone!” The van engine starts, and her eyes brighten when she turns to Yukio. “Should we go now?”
Yukio smiles as he pulls out his list.
The sky warms to a faint pink as the sun rises. They head to the bakery for the cake first, at Shiemi’s insistence, stopping by the supermarket to purchase the rest of their groceries.
“I thought it would be a while before you came back,” Yukio tells her, pushing their squeaky grocery cart along.
The store is busy with shoppers even this early in the morning. It’s nostalgic and a bit of a novelty at the same time. He hasn’t spent the new year with friends before.
“Me too,” Shiemi says as they pass a rack of new year’s decorations. The zodiac animal is the tiger this year. He hadn’t realized that. “It’s really busy there, but I can make time when I really want to.”
Yukio watches her expression for a moment.
“I’m glad,” he whispers.
Shiemi’s eyes soften when she smiles, as though she’d known he would worry.
As they’re decorating the old male dormitory, sometime close to noon, his phone chirps from a notification.
“Oh.” He steps down from his stool, and Shiemi leans closer to read the message.
“It’s a mission assignment,” Yukio explains as he scrolls down to the team list.
Lead: Okumura Yukio
Assigned: Suguro Ryuuji, Kamiki Izumo, Shima Renzou, Miwa Konekomaru, Okumura Rin
“They—”
“They passed!” Shiemi exclaims, grabbing his hands in excitement. “Oh, I’m so relieved! I mean, I knew everyone would be okay, but I was so worried too!”
Yukio laughs, squeezing her hands back as she rambles.
They passed. They all passed.
It’s strange, but his cheeks ache from smiling.
“It seems we’ve been assigned,” Yukio reads after they’ve both calmed down, “to groom a tiger for tonight’s parade.”
“The fluffy ones who helped us in the Arctic?”
Yukio glances up, stifling a laugh when he sees her eyes gleam with anticipation. “Yes,” he realizes, and then, “would you like to come along?”
Shiemi nods, of course, very adamantly.
“Where’s Takara?” Kamiki asks, busy staring in envy as Shiemi cuddles with the tiger. Her fingers keep twitching.
The garage they’re in is bustling with exorcists organizing floats for the parade. It’s cold. The air smells like a mix of dust, spray paint, and winter frost, buzzing with rushed static energy.
“He passed the exam too.” Yukio moves to brush the tiger’s back. “He’s just allergic to cats.”
“That’s so sad.” Miwa sighs, perking up when the tiger gives his cat toy a lazy swat.
The tiger is unexpectedly well behaved, as massive as he is. He had been taking a nap earlier, and since he woke up, all he’s done is curl up on the rug his tamer left him on.
Even so, there’s a reason six of them were assigned to this mission. The tiger’s fur is thick and white, with impressive black stripes. There is also, to put it simply, a lot of it.
“My hands were sweating so badly,” Rin says, patting the tiger’s ears, “and the first question was total—”
“Yeah!” Suguro interrupts, squishing his ice pack against the bruise on his jaw. “What was that chart? There were typos everywhere too.”
“It was awkward that the grader was in the room with us during the practical portion,” Miwa mutters. “I said hi, and he just stared.”
“Yeah?” Shima grimaces. “Mine laughed at me.”
“Seriously?” Suguro pats his back. “That’s rough.”
Rin looks up from the patch of knotted fur he was brushing. “Really? What’d you do?”
“Nothing!” Shima protests.
Miwa leans against the ladder he’s standing on, rubbing a cloth diligently along the tiger’s horn. “She was just laughing at your whole existence.”
“Or your hair,” Suguro says.
Shima grumbles something indecipherable as he smushes his face against the tiger’s flank.
Yukio taps his head with the brush. “You’re in the way.”
“But Sensei—”
“Aw! Look, Izumo-chan!” Shiemi coos. “He’s yawning.”
“H-he’s like… a big housecat.” Izumo’s fingers twitch again.
“You should hug him,” Shiemi insists. “He smells like sunshine.”
“Hey,” Rin whispers, nudging Yukio’s shoulder. “That tiger totally likes her. I saw him bite the head off a golem before. It was cool.”
Yukio arches an eyebrow. “That’s… impressive.”
Rin shrugs. “You know,” he begins, “I’ve wanted to ask for a while. What rank did the old man start out with?”
“Upper first class.”
“That’s cool.” Rin sighs. “Man, I hope I get a good rank. I tried to pick the room with the meanest looking demon.”
Yukio picks a wad of white fluff off his brush. “I think you will. You deserve at least my rank or higher.”
Rin blinks as his hands pause, but all he says is a small, quiet, “Oh.”
Yukio nods, diverting his attention to brush out another tangle. It’s repetitive, but this tiger has pleasantly soft fur, and he can hear Suguro and Miwa commiserating under the sound of Shiemi’s giggling.
“Do you really think so?”
Yukio glances up.
“Uh.” Rin makes a confusing hand gesture, but there’s a pleased grin beginning to lift the corners of his lips. “That means we can go on missions together now, right?”
Yukio wants to point out that the tiger is a mission too, but…
It feels like so long ago, and he can’t remember what they were talking about or when it was exactly.
That’s only if you manage to become an exorcist.
“Of course,” Yukio says, and when Rin smiles, this time he can’t help but mirror the expression. “You’re an exorcist now, Nii-san.”
“Right?” Rin throws an arm over his shoulders. “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if I made Paladin on the first try?”
Yukio resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Please. Keep that kind of joke to yourself.”
Rin laughs, messing up Yukio’s hair as he lets go. The warmth of his delight is resonant and endearing all at once. It feels like a weight lifted off both of them somehow, green and tentative the way new beginnings so often are.
“Come on! Let’s hurry and brush this tiger so we can eat!”
“Huh?” Suguro glares. “You’re the one who’s been slacking off!”
“Yeah, yeah—”
It’s dusk by the time they return from the parade. As they crowd into the old dorm together, Yukio stops for a moment outside.
“I’m starving. What’d you two buy?” The rustle of paper bags carries from the hallway. “What’s with this huge radish?”
“Oh, I brought it from my garden!”
“Wait, that giant palace—”
“Yeah!”
His breath fogs as he smiles.