The five of them arrived at the Tokyo compound with the specific exhaustion of people who have spent too long in a place that had no intention of letting them out easily.
Kagami Ryo stopped at the entrance and looked at the four of them with his usual brevity.
"I'm going to speak with Kato," he said. "Stay here."
And he left without adding anything more, which was exactly what he always did.
The four of them stayed in the garden. Tsukino sat on the grass with the axe in her lap. Shirogane sat beside her. Yūta dropped onto his back with his arms spread, looking at the sky with the expression of someone who needs a moment to process that they are still alive. Ishida remained standing a little apart, arms crossed, eyes on nothing in particular.
"I can't believe we didn't run into anything," said Tsukino, with a grumbling tone.
Shirogane looked at her.
"You already said that in the car."
"And I'll keep saying it because it's still true." Tsukino gestured vaguely towards where they had come from. "Ishida almost died, Amane fought a horde of giant cockroaches and on top of that managed to use mana, Kagami had the hardest fight of all." She paused for dramatic effect. "And we walked. In the dark. For two hours. Without running into absolutely anything."
"We were separated on our own," said Shirogane.
"That doesn't make it any less frustrating."
"No," admitted Shirogane. "But look at Ishida."
Tsukino looked at Ishida.
Ishida was still looking at that point on the compound wall that was apparently more interesting than this conversation.
"She's right," said Yūta from the ground, without moving. "I'd rather have walked for two hours."
"You almost died twice," said Tsukino.
"Exactly. I'd rather have walked for two hours."
Shirogane let out a short laugh she tried to contain and could not quite manage. Tsukino looked at her. Then at Yūta. Then she made a sound that was not exactly a smile, but came fairly close.
"It's not funny," she said.
"A little bit it is," said Yūta.
Ishida said nothing. But something in his posture suggested that, had he wanted to contribute to the conversation, he would have chosen silence anyway.
Kato Ginjiro walked through the interior corridors of the compound with his hands in his pockets and a smile with no specific recipient.
What will Kagami have to tell me? he thought, as his footsteps echoed against the wooden floor.
He reached the classroom door.
Kagami Ryo was leaning against the wall beside the door, a cigarette between his fingers and the expression of someone who has been waiting a while and has no problem with it, because he never has any problem with anything.
Kato saw him and the smile widened.
"It's been a while!" he said.
"Five minutes late," said Kagami, without moving the cigarette from where it was. "I sent you a message."
"I'm very sorry, it's just that—"
"Come in."
Kato opened his mouth to finish the sentence. Kagami stubbed out the cigarette against the wall, opened the classroom door and went in. Kato looked at him for a moment.
"Don't you want to hear my incredible story of how I got here?"
The door closed from the inside.
Kato sighed with the specific resignation of someone who is not really resigned, and went in.
The closed classroom door did not quite manage to silence the voices entirely, but it reduced them to a murmur that had no shape from outside.
Inside, Kagami spoke in his usual direct tone.
"There were two remnants in the temple. Thinking ones, though not entirely. One repeated words — kill, they will die, that sort of thing. No real coherence, but with clear intent." He paused. "The other copied voices. Of people it had killed. It used it to distract Ishida during the fight."
Kato listened without interrupting. Which, for someone who interrupted as frequently as Kato, was in itself a signal that something had changed in his expression.
"The students?" he said when Kagami finished.
"They're fine. The one who came off worst was Ishida — he fought alone against the one that copied voices. Strong, more than expected for that type of remnant." Kagami crossed his arms. "Shirogane and Tsukino didn't encounter any. And Amane—"
"Amane," repeated Kato, with something in his voice.
"It turns out he can already use mana. A few seconds, nothing more, but he used it in the fight."
Kato smiled and pointed at himself with his thumb.
"Thanks to me," he said.
"I don't think so — he mentioned it was Kaito who helped him."
"Either way." Kato waved a hand. "The result is that they were able to win."
"Yes."
"Good." Kato stood from the chair where he had sat without anyone asking him to, and settled his hands in his pockets. "Now I need to speak with Kana and Yuna. Thank you, Kagami. Truly."
Kagami nodded.
"One thing," he said, before Kato reached the door. "Don't talk about these remnants for now. Not yet."
Kato looked at him.
"You're asking me to lie to Kana?"
Kagami sighed.
"Fine, you must have something in mind."
Then he smiled and raised his thumb.
Kato opened the door. Then stopped with one hand on the frame.
"Why don't you think about becoming more active again?" he said, without turning fully. "It would do you good."
Kagami did not respond immediately. When he spoke it was without looking at him.
"Better to leave things as they are," he said. "They work better that way."
And he went off down the corridor in the opposite direction.
Kato stood looking at the space where he had been for a second. Then the smile returned — quieter, more inward — and he went towards where he needed to go.
So, thinking remnants, he thought again, as he walked.
The thought did not get to finish itself because Yuna appeared in the corridor from the opposite corner and looked at him with that expression of hers that was somewhere between assessment and anticipated resignation.
"It seems you won't be late this time," she said.
Kato looked at her with complete conviction.
"I don't know why you'd say that."
Yuna opened her mouth. She closed it. She kept walking beside him.
Tatsu greeted them at the door with his usual precise bow, let them through and entered behind them, closing it without a sound.
Punctual, thought Tatsu. Both of them. This doesn't happen often.
Kana was behind the desk with her hands folded and that presence that required no announcement.
"Ma'am," said Yuna, with a bow.
"Would you like to hear about the missions?" said Kato, directly.
Yuna's elbow found Kato's stomach with a precision that was not accidental.
"Please forgive him," said Yuna.
Kana looked at them both.
"In these cases," she said, with the patience of someone who has said this before, "the mission report is written up and handed to Tatsu so that I may read it afterwards. Miss Yuna has already provided hers." She paused. "Have you brought yours in writing, Kato?"
Kato said nothing for a moment.
He smiled. He brought a hand to his head.
"The thing is—"
"I'm not interested in your excuses," said Kana.
Kato simply smiled.
"You have not come to speak about the missions," Kana continued. "Please sit down."
The two sat. Tatsu positioned himself to Kana's right with his hands behind his back.
Kato without the report, thought Tatsu. As always. At least he arrived on time. That's something.
"Tatsu has a proposal," said Kana, "which I have approved."
Tatsu gave a slight bow.
"Forgive the interruption," he said, in his usual formal tone. "The proposal is a tournament between the first and second-year students."
A tournament? thought Yuna.
"That's right," replied Tatsu. "Teams of two, mixing one student from each year. The exception is that second year has two more students than first, so there will be one team made up of two second-year students."
Yuna considered it.
"It could be a good idea," she said. "Mixing the groups forces them to adapt to different styles. It's a kind of training that can't be replicated on missions."
"Exactly," said Tatsu.
Kato looked at Kana.
"Is that why you asked me to—"
"Yes," said Kana.
"Now that you know," said Kana, with her usual quiet firmness, "you may go and speak with your students."
"Yes, ma'am," said Yuna, with a bow.
Kato simply sighed and left.
The four of them were still in the garden when the figures appeared along the corridor of the east wing.
Shirogane saw them first.
"Are those the second-years?" she said.
"Kaito!"
Yūta's shout came before the question had finished. Mura Kaito raised a hand in greeting while the rest of the second-year group followed behind him with varying degrees of enthusiasm — which in some cases meant none visible.
Yūta went over to Kaito and held out the dagger with the handle towards him.
"Returning this. It helped more than I expected."
Kaito looked at it. Then at Yūta.
"Keep it," he said. "It's no problem."
Yūta looked at it for a second. Then he smiled.
"Thank you, Kaito."
"Miss Yuna asked us to come over," said Kaito, looking at the first-year group. "But first, introductions." He turned to his group. "Arimoto Kenta."
Arimoto Kenta raised a hand with the energy of someone who gets on well with everyone by default.
"How's it going," he said, with a smile that observed no particular protocol. "I heard you had a mission. Tell me about it."
"Harada Jin."
Harada Jin looked at the four of them. One second.
"Harada," he said. And nothing more.
Hearing Harada, Yūta said quietly to the others, "He reminds me of Ishida."
Tsukino and Shirogane nodded, while Ishida simply looked the other way.
"Takashima Yui," Kaito continued.
Takashima Yui looked at them with the direct assessment of someone who makes decisions quickly.
"Don't interfere in our affairs," she said, "and there won't be any problems."
Tsukino looked at her. Not with hostility — with the specific recognition of someone who understands that kind of statement because they have made it themselves more than once.
"Sendai Hana."
Sendai Hana gave a small bow and a genuine smile that had something slightly shy about it for a second-year.
"Hello," she said.
"Wada Chiho."
Wada Chiho looked in another direction.
Not with specific hostility. Simply as someone who does not consider a greeting an obligation.
The four first-years looked at each other.
"Hello," said Yūta, on behalf of the group, because someone had to say it.
"We are—" Yūta began, but was cut off by Kenta.
"Kaito already told us about you, don't worry."
Yūta nodded in understanding.
"Kaito," said Yūta, turning to him, "I wanted to tell you what happened on the mission. In the temple there was—"
The corridor door opened.
Kana appeared first, with Tatsu immediately behind her. Yuna came in beside Kato, who had his hands in his pockets with the expression of someone who has just remembered he was supposed to write a report and did not.
The second-years saw Kana and the bow arrived simultaneously, synchronised with the naturalness of something practised. The first-years saw them and followed half a second later, with the slightly less perfect synchrony of people who are learning when and how.
Kato looked at them all.
"We have something to tell you," he said. "There will be a tournament between first and second years."
The students looked at one another.
"There will be teams of two," said Yuna, "and it will be everyone against everyone. There will also be a points system, but we'll explain that in two days' time, when the tournament begins."
Yūta raised his hand.
"Yes, Amane," said Kato.
"Will the teams be mixed between first and second year?"
"Exactly," replied Kato.
Something in the second-year group shifted in a subtle way. Chiho looked away. Jin crossed his arms. Yui fixed her gaze on a point above the first-years' heads with the expression of someone assessing a situation they are not entirely comfortable with.
"Won't this slow our progress?" said Chiho, without modulating. "Fighting with first-years wouldn't help us at all."
Tsukino clicked her tongue as though containing her irritation. Shirogane placed a hand on her shoulder from behind, with her usual calm, without saying anything.
Yūta, Ishida and Shirogane did not react in any particular way. It was an opinion, and opinions that did not involve them directly could exist without their needing to intervene.
"It will be best for everyone," said Kana, with that quiet authority that did not need to raise itself to reach every corner of the garden. "You will see unique abilities in one another. That is what makes you improve. All of you, without exception."
Nobody responded to Kana.
"Tatsu," said Kana.
Tatsu stepped forward.
"The teams are as follows," he said, with the clarity of someone who has prepared this. "Tsukino Hina and Harada Jin. Amane Yūta and Mura Kaito. Ishida Taro and Takashima Yui. Shirogane Mei and Sendai Hana. Arimoto Kenta and Wada Chiho."
As the names came out, glances crossed. Kenta smiled at Chiho with the energy of someone genuinely pleased with their luck. Chiho looked away. Tsukino and Harada Jin assessed each other with the speed of two people who already know this is going to be interesting. Yui looked at Ishida with something that was not exactly approval but was not disapproval either. Hana smiled at Shirogane with that warmth of hers that made no distinction between acquaintances and strangers.
Yūta looked at Kaito and gave him a thumbs up.
Kaito nodded with his usual calm.
"Get to know each other," said Kato, looking at the full group with that smile that was more genuine than it usually appeared. "The tournament begins in two days."