#bluewindfall writes stuff

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“Will your father come pick you up?” the woman typing at the computer repeats. 

“No,” Yukio finally manages to say. His hands clench in the heavy fabric of his winter coat as he tries to breathe through the familiar tightness in his chest. “No. I’m sorry. He won’t be. I’ll be fine on my own.”

The woman frowns. Yukio missed her name and role when she introduced herself yesterday. Inconveniently enough, her long, dark hair has covered the badge clipped to her scrubs.

“He signed your forms last night, but we haven’t been able to reach him since this morning.”

Yukio looks down at the form. Johann Faust V. The name is printed in dark ink. Of course. She must have assumed.

Rain strikes the window with a harsh cadence like hail. Outside, the sky has grown darker, laden with heavy storm clouds. It’ll be difficult to carry his belongings and an umbrella back to his dorm on his own. 

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Yukio says with a smile. “Thank you for trying to reach out to him.”

The woman nods and moves on with the remaining discharge paperwork. She must be busy, glancing at her watch repeatedly as Yukio reads and fills forms.

Yukio grips the cheap ballpoint pen carefully and signs his name beside the curled, elegant signature Sir Pheles penned as his legal guardian. Of course, he didn’t tell anyone at home he was injured. Rin has class at this time. It’d be too much of a hassle to bother any of them. 

No one will come pick him up, but he can manage on his own.

A low roll of thunder swells in the distance. He has a feeling this rain will continue for the rest of the day.

By the time he leaves the hospital, first period is over. He still needs to change, so he heads to the old male dormitory. At this point, he’s already missed several classes. Making up the work will take up time he doesn’t have. He needs to hurry before he misses all of second period too.

This broken arm is wearing on him, but it’s manageable. As he sets the bulging folder of discharge instructions aside, his phone vibrates.

This is the monastery’s number. Did Sir Pheles tell them he was being discharged? That seems unlikely. He grabs his bag, holding his phone with his shoulder as he reaches for the door. “Hello?”

“Yukio,” Nagatomo begins, somber and weary. “You should come home tonight.”

Fear climbs up Yukio’s throat. The window rattles with low tremors as a furious gust of rain splatters on the glass. Lightning cracks across the dark sky stained deep blue and grey. 

Months ago, Nagatomo called him as well, in this manner. His voice was harsher then, scarred by the touch of fire. 

Yukio. Come home as soon as you can. It’s Father Fujimoto. He’s—

Yukio clenches his jaw. “What happened?”

“Misumi-san passed away this morning.” Nagatomo draws a pained breath in and sighs. “It… was acute heart failure. With his age,” he whispers, “it couldn’t be helped.”

Misumi?

Yukio’s bag slips slowly from his grasp, slumping with a dull thump to the floor. He shuts his eyes, lowering his head. How long had it been since he spoke with Misumi? He hasn’t been home since starting school.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “Thank you for telling me.”

For a breath, neither of them speaks.

“The funeral,” Nagatomo says, “the funeral is tonight.” 

Yukio nods. “Then we’ll come back. I can let Nii-san know.”

Nagatomo hesitates. “No, I can call Rin. You shouldn’t have to…”

“It’s fine. I’ll see him during lunch.” He can barely recognize his own voice, pale with gentleness and asymmetric calm. “I’m sure he’d rather know sooner than later, and he won’t have his phone in class.”

“Yukio, if you’d rather take the day off…”

Yukio reaches down to pick up his bag. “I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry about me. I’m sure this is far more difficult for you and everyone else,” he says. “Please take good care of yourself, Nagatomo-san.”

Nagatomo sighs. “Of course. Thanks, Yukio,” he says with a tremulous breath, “for always being so reliable. You take care as well. Look out for Rin.”

The call ends abruptly.

Yukio adjusts the sling on his arm, swallowing as he takes a deep breath in and back out. As he gathers his composure, pattering rain taps the window with an impatient rhythm. 

He’ll tell Rin at lunch. It won’t be as difficult for him as it is for Nagatomo. 

He raises his umbrella and steps out into the rain. His thoughts are slow and blunt at the corners, submerged beneath still depths. If he goes back to the monastery tonight, he won’t have as much time to catch up on work. It can’t be helped, but he’s already behind. 

Yukio. Come home as soon as you can.

Home?

His breath fogs in short, scattered puffs as he stops across a bridge toward the academy. 

When his eyes throb, he rests his elbows on the rough stone ledge and takes a deep breath. Bits of moss and lichen cling in the thin cracks. He grits his teeth and shuts his eyes, waiting for the warm ache to subside. 

Wind trails through his uniform sweater, rippling across the tall bridge with a whispered promise of snow. 

What use is there in going home at this point? The one he misses is already gone. 

Those words fall from his tongue one by one like scattering dice. As he leaves, their echo swells in the empty hallway, spoken as if they were particularly clever. 

Yukio’s lip curls when he catches sight of his own silhouette in the tall row of windows beside him. He’s cold and sheer. Do his motives appear as simple to see through?

“Of course,” he says, “you of all people wouldn’t be fooled so easily.” 

Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Shima won’t be enough to stop him, and it’s clear he has no intentions to do so in the first place. 

The soft hum of warm air vents switches on when he steps near the windows. It’s never completely silent here. Blinking specks of red lights line the ship’s massive steel wings. In spite of the darkness, no stars are visible. All he can see are layered clouds in the distance. 

This fortress is undeniably impressive from a technological perspective. It’s clear it was designed with both comfort and safety in mind. He hadn’t expected that after seeing their lab in Shimane. 

Yukio turns away and strides down the hallway with measured, even steps. 

He’s been given a weapon. All that’s left is to weigh how best to use it. 

“Well, he said something about a missing person, but they kicked him out because he kept swearing.” Someone else’s voice filters through, not quite clear enough for him to decipher. “He’s been here all morning.” 

Yukio holds his phone with his shoulder as he sets three bottles of green tea into his basket. There are several guards in the confinement tower where Rin is being held. Since he’s been visiting often, it’s better to bring something. “Why can’t you talk to him?” 

“Huh? Delinquents love you. Also, you’re just a junior inspector. I outrank you.” 

Yukio’s eyelid twitches. “I’m not good with delinquents.” He doesn’t manage to smile as politely as he’d like when the cashier bags his tea and sodas. 

“That’s too bad. I’m busy chasing the airport demon. It’s a huge pain.” 

“Really?” Yukio shifts his phone to his other shoulder as he leaves the convenience store. “I thought its leg was injured.” 

“Yeah, but it’s still fast. We don’t know what it wants, so we’re just chasing it around the city.” 

“That sounds unfortunate.”

“So, anyway, go talk to that delinquent. Mina at the front desk said he shouted something about the airport. He probably doesn’t know anything, but you might as well go scare some respect into him.” 

Yukio sighs when she hangs up. 

The streets are full of people near the shopping center. He picks up his pace as he heads down a set of stairs beneath a flowering wisteria tree. Its pale blossoms have scattered along the cracks in the cement, fluttering when he passes by. 

Only a day has passed. A demon that strong shouldn’t be capable of leaving this town once it’s inside. True Cross had its wards checked only a month ago. There should be no weak points. 

The question is, how did it enter undetected in the first place? 

He crams all of his things into the trash bag, signs a bunch of forms, and jogs over to headquarters. One of the new inspectors, Takeda, briefs him on what was done yesterday on a case tracking a phantom taxi. Rin really doesn’t remember anything about that. 

“What about that case with Ishikawa Fumi?” Rin asks as they head upstairs. 

Takeda flips a few pages on her clipboard. “I’m not sure. I believe it’s been assigned to someone else.” 

“Okay. Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Rin says. “I’ll go check in with my other teams. Thanks for briefing me.” 

Takeda smiles and nods. 

Still, the day goes on, and no one comes to talk to him about Ishikawa’s case. He’s busy trying to supervise two teams cleaning up the airport, the phantom taxi, and something about a mansion infested with coal tars that the owner refuses to get cleaned. 

It kind of sucks. When he was working mostly out of the Vatican, he got to go on cool missions. Being the only Arc Knight based in Japan leaves him with all these supervising tasks. The only good thing about it is that he can stay close to home. 

Rin. Rin? Kuro winds circles around his legs as Rin reads a report. Let’s eat lunch. Isn’t it lunchtime?

“Oh, okay.” Rin smiles, reaching down to pick him up. It’s already past noon. He hadn’t even realized. 

The cafeteria is crowded, so he hunches at his desk as he eats and manages to look into what has been going on with Ishikawa’s case. 

For some reason, the page for exorcists assigned to the case is blank. Maybe they haven’t updated it yet. If nothing changes by the end of today, he’ll check with the admin staff.

The last report says they asked the family a few more questions about who knew they were going to the charity concert. The police have been running background checks and things. None of the traffic cameras in the area showed Ishikawa leaving the hall. 

Also, a lady went missing at the airport, like those victims in the portal case. Somehow, Yukio was the one who ended up interviewing the witness, even though today is his first official day back. Weird.

Rin should probably be doing a better job supervising who is working on the case and when, but he was locked up for a whole day and a half, so it’s been messy.

Still, somehow, that lady who went missing at the airport wasn’t an exorcist. That has to be important. 

Where is Yukio anyway? Rin hasn’t seen or heard from him all day.