Anatomy of a Return

The room was quiet.

The kind of quiet Naomi had become used to. And that was her worst fear..

With a tray of freshly baked cookies carefully balanced in her hands, she nudged the door to Eiji’s room open. The scent of vanilla and chocolate chips drifted in with her, warm and hopeful.

She smiled. Or at least tried to.

“Hey, senpai. I made some cookies for Ishii-san. You better wake up soon or she’ll—”

A groan. Her breath hitched. Her whole body froze.

There, slowly sitting up in bed with messy hair and half-lidded eyes, was her upperclassman, Eiji.

“Eh—?!”

The tray slipped from her hands. Cookies bounced across the floor like startled animals. Naomi didn’t care. She didn’t even blink.

She bolted toward him.

“Senpai!!”

Her entire body launched into his chest.. His eyes widened, but he didn’t speak. Naomi clung to him like her life depended on it—her voice crumbling under the weight of every emotion she’d buried for the past two weeks.

“You’re awake! You’re really, really awake! I was gonna bring cookies— I mean I did, but now they’re on the floor and I was gonna make tea too but you’re awake now and I can’t I—! I-I thought… BAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The dam burst. Her voice cracked, her shoulders trembled, and fat, warm tears spilled down her cheeks in heavy streams. She cried into his shirt like she hadn’t cried in years bawling her eyes out. Messy, raw, and utterly Naomi.

Eiji blinked slowly.

Then, with a hand that still felt heavier than usual, he gently patted her back.

“…Sorry I’m late… Naomi.”

She stopped moving.

Her breath caught again, but this time for a different reason. She slowly pulled back, just enough to stare at him with big, watery eyes, and a snotty nose.

“You… You said my name…”

Eiji raised a brow.

“You never say my name!” Her voice cracked into a half-sob, half-laugh. “You always say ‘Oi’ or ‘you’ or just grunt at me!”

And then she lunged again, sucking her nose.

“Senpaaai…!!”

He sighed.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

Naomi buried her face into his chest again with a joyful squeak.

“That’s even more like you!”

“Get off.”

Then the door creaked.

A hard smack landed against Eiji’s head..

Tsubaki stood there, cigarette loosely hanging off her lips, a rolled-up newspaper in hand, and a cold, deadpan look on her face.

“Took you long enough, dumbass.”

Eiji squinted at her, “...You’re here…”

“Damn right I’m here, that’s my house.”

Eiji looked around, sighing.

“And I thought the blackened ceiling looked familiar.”

“Why you—“

She prepared to smack him again, but stopped midway.

“What did I tell you about the Covenant? Or did you forget that too?”

Eiji wasn’t the kind you often saw reprimanded. But his demeanor didn’t change much because of it either. He simply looked contemplative.

“I had no other choice.” Eiji simply stated.

Tsubaki exhaled smoke and blew it to the side. “Is that so?”

She clicked her tongue and motioned with her head.

“Living room. Now. We’re checking your spiritual state before you keel over again.”

Naomi sat up from where she had tackled him and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan. “B-But he just woke up Ishii-san!”

“And he’s staying awake,” Tsubaki said firmly. “If I find even one curse mark or lingering malevolence, I’m locking him up in a talisman circle for a week.”

⌁◉⌁

The living room was quiet as Naomi helped Eiji settle onto the floor with his back propped against the couch. Tsubaki crouched nearby, arms crossed as she looked him over.

Then she snapped her fingers.

“Gero..”

With a puff of violet smoke, a small, grumpy-looking frog with tiny horns and golden markings appeared mid-air, floating like a smug little balloon.

“Damn, it’s the toad.” Eiji muttered.

Naomi gasped. “W-What is that… green blob?!”

The frog flared up like he’d been personally insulted.

“Blob you say? Younglings and their lack of respect!”

Tsubaki sighed. “That’s Gero. My Shikigami. Been around since I was your age. Old man in a frog’s body.”

Gero huffed, adjusting his tiny monocle. “I am not old. I am merely too experienced for your mere mortal mind to comprehend.”

Eiji looked unimpressed. “He’s a relic.”

“And yet I didn’t faint like a dramatic maiden after one technique,” Gero fired back.

“Shut it, toad.”

“Frog!”

Naomi blinked back and forth between them. “Wait… so you’ve had a Shikigami this whole time, Tsubaki-san?”

Tsubaki nodded, “All exorcists do. Mine is just not as hyperactive as that floating eyeball.”

“Speaking of which… where’s Meh-chan?” Naomi asked, looking around.

“Eiji’s still weak from the comatose state. He can’t channel Meh just yet. By tomorrow that annoying eyeball will probably be back.”

“Meh is not THAT annoying…” Naomi muttered, contemplative.

Gero hopped forward, his small hands glowing softly with a golden hue. “Hold still, brat.”

Eiji rolled his eyes but complied.

Gero placed a hand against Eiji’s forehead. The glow spread slowly, scanning down to his chest and along his limbs. Naomi watched, nervous, holding her breath.

After a long silence, Gero huffed again and sat back.

“He’s fine. Channels are stable, no lingering malevolence. Somehow. No thanks to his recklessness.”

Tsubaki rubbed her temples. “Well, guess you’re not dying again today.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Eiji said, as he rose to his full height.

Naomi gave a relieved little sigh and leaned back against the couch.

“Thank goodness…”

Tsubaki put out her cigarette, “His arm’s healed too. I had to call in a few contacts to help, so maybe thank them later. You still need a blood test though. Tomorrow morning. Before school. I’ll book the appointment ASAP.”

Eiji narrowed his eyes.

“Look at me like that again and I’ll draw the blood myself. With a rusty nail.”

“Fine.” Eiji grunted,

“Now out. Both of you. I have to file a false death report, call the exorcist council, and explain to my coworkers that this dumbass didn’t actually die.”

The two kids agreed and got ready to head out as soon as possible.

Naomi fussed with Eiji’s jacket like a mother hen, muttering about keeping warm and not pushing himself much to his dismay.

Naomi left the spare key Tsubaki had given her on the counter, thanked her over and over again and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

Tsubaki followed Eiji to the door in silence. Just before he stepped out, she reached forward and pulled him into a hug so tight it stole the air from his lungs.

“Glad to see you back,” she said against his shoulder.

Eiji closed his eyes.

“Of course.”

When she finally let go, she flicked his forehead.

“Idiot.”

He clicked his tongue, but then nodded.

“Glad to be back..”

They stood there a moment longer before Naomi returned from the bathroom and skipped back to his side.

“Alright! Time to head home, sleepyhead exorcist!”

As the two left down the hallway, Tsubaki stood in the now-empty apartment.

Her cigarette burned low. The silence settled.

She exhaled a long breath and slowly bent down to sit against the wall.

And then, quietly, she exhaled

“…You had us worried there, kid,”

⌁◉⌁

The early morning sun filtered through the clouds like soft silk, casting faint streaks of gold over the sleepy streets of Shina District. Commuters ambled past in slow waves, some clutching half-eaten melon bread, others still half-asleep. The city, always groggy before noon, murmured back to life one bus stop at a time.

Down one of those narrow sidewalks walked Naomi Mizuno, practically skipping with a spring in her step and the brightness of a thousand fireflies in her grin. Her school blazer sleeves flailed behind her as she bounced along beside the figure walking next to her like a sluggish shadow.

Kanzaki Eiji.

With his hands jammed in his pockets and a scowl so deep it could erode mountains, Eiji looked like a delinquent being marched to his own execution.

“Senpaaai!” Naomi chimed, leaning closer with a sideways hop. “You should be grateful, you know! I woke up at 6 a.m. just to escort you! That’s some undisputed wife material right there!”

“I never asked you to come…”

“Still counts!”

Floating beside them was a familiar small, eyeball-shaped creature that blinked in amusement.

“Indeed, indeed!” Meh announced, his voice as pompous as a tea-sipping aristocrat at a ghost convention. “Meh too is being productive at this ungodly hour—without even a single glance at today’s news, mind you! What a cruel world!”

“Oi,” Eiji grunted, side-eyeing him. “Go float into traffic.”

“Meh has missed you, Eiji-dono!” Meh twirled dramatically midair. “For days Meh has awaited your glorious return! Why, Meh even considered haunting Mizuno Naomi instead—”

“Eh?! You were going to possess me?!”

“A jest! A jest, of course!” Meh twirled playfully. “Though… Mizuno Naomi does emit a most curious aura of sugary chaos…”

“Haha… am I pastry now?” Naomi smiled wryly.

They reached the quiet glass door of the private clinic tucked between a bakery and a hair salon. It looked deceptively cozy—like a place that should smell like lavender, not antiseptic.

Inside, the air was too clean, the pastel colors too cheerful. Naomi hummed as she took a seat by the waiting room’s potted plant, while Meh floated like a chandelier no one asked for. Eiji sat with his arms crossed, glaring at a poster about balanced diets.

After a few minutes, the sliding door to the exam area hissed open.

“Number 17, Kanzaki Eiji-san?”

Eiji stood. The nurse waiting in the doorway had tied her long hair back into a neat ponytail, and her pristine white coat matched her sparkling, suspiciously perfect smile.

As the young man strode in, took off his blazer and rolled up his right sleeve, the nurse’s pristine smile followed him to the chair.

“Good morning! I’m Nadeshiko Karen, twenty-four years old!”

Eiji looked up at her, suspicious at her eager tone.

“...Okay?”

“I’d advise you not to look,” Karen said, prepping the needle. “The human brain has a tendency to activate anxiety when exposed to visual stimuli of its own blood—”

“Don’t worry.”

“Oh my, so brave. Are you here for a school checkup?”

“No. Forced into it.”

“I… see. Do you have any past illnesses?”

“No.”

“Do you smoke?”

“From time to time.”

Karen paused. Her cheeks colored ever so slightly.

“Do you, uh… work out often?”

Eiji furrowed his brows,

“When the situation dictates it.”

She cleared her throat. “O-oh my…Do you perhaps have a girlfriend?”

The pause that followed was thick and heavy.

Eiji stared blankly at her.

“No…?”

Before Karen could continue her clearly professional line of questioning—

“Seeeeenpai?”

Naomi’s head slowly peeked in through the curtain. Her expression was still gentle, yet her smile had something… rather off about it.

Karen blinked, startled. “Ah—sorry, this is a restricted space—”

Naomi smiled wider, “It’s okay. I just wanted to make sure Senpai’s blood didn’t try to run away without him! Or someone tried to run away with him…”

The nurse laughed, a little too loud, “Oh there was nothing like that happening…”

“Oh I know it would never happen.”

“Huh.” Karen’s face straightened.

“Huh.” Naomi still smiled.

From the side, Meh watched with glee, whispering loud enough only for Naomi to hear.

“Such passive-aggression! Such a silent battle for affection! Meh is utterly captivated!”

Soon the exam was over. Thankfully for Eiji and the bystanders.

“All done here. The results will be ready tomorrow after 5 p.m. I’ll personally handle them—so do swing by!” Karen adjusted her glasses as she wrote down on her clipboard.

“Of course we will! We’ll swing by after school together!” Naomi replied before Eiji could.

“Tch.” The nurse clicked her tongue.

“Tch!” Naomi very begrudgingly clicked back.

⌁◉⌁

The hallway echoed with the soft squeak of Naomi’s sneakers and Eiji’s slow, steady footsteps. The school was still half-asleep, with the first bell a good while away.

They passed by sleepy-eyed students, broom-wielding janitors, and the scent of cheap instant coffee wafting from the faculty lounge.

Eiji paused at the clubroom door.

“…You didn’t forget the key, did you?”

Naomi puffed her cheeks. “Rude! I’m the one who locked it yesterday, you know? Plus, Takenaka-senpai is probably already here.”

The door slid open with a soft clack.

A gentle aroma of tea greeted them.

Inside, Takenaka Honoka sat by the window, her long braid draped neatly over her shoulder. Steam curled from the porcelain teacup in her hands, and a light novel lay open on the desk before her. She looked peaceful. Serene. Like the heart of the room itself.

But then her eyes landed on the doorway.

Her breath caught.

She stood at once—graceful and fluid.

“Eiji-kun!”

Her voice was like a warm breeze. Her smile even warmer.

“You’re back.”

Eiji gave a short nod, stepping inside. “I am. Sorry for the wait.”

She exhaled softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The room felt much too quiet without you.”

Eiji’s eyes swept the room. His gaze locked onto something—or someone—in the far corner.

Shiratori Hatsue.

Arms crossed, eyes sharp, brow twitching.

Eiji’s mouth twitched into a barely-there smirk.

“Feels more cramped than quiet now.”

“Wha—!?”

STOMP STOMP STOMP

Hatsue marched over with the fire of a thousand suns.

“You!! Where have you been?! Fourteen days! Fourteen! Do you think colds last that long? Did you catch some kind of rare Himalayan flu? Huh?! Did you go fight a bear?!”

Eiji blinked.

“He was sick!” Naomi jumped in, sweatdropping hard. “Really! Like, deathly! I mean—uh—not actually dead—just really, really under the weather!”

“I was told cold.”

“It was an inner kind of… spiritual cold,” Naomi added with a peace sign.

Eiji sighed and turned to Naomi. “Oi… what is she even doing here?”

Naomi clasped her hands behind her back, leaning toward him with a playful grin. “Ah. Forgot to mention—while you were snoozing, Kurotori-senpai joined the occult club!”

“SHIRA-tori damn it!” Hatsue huffed.

“You joined…?” Eiji narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, you lot seem like you need some serious supervision!”

Honoka raised her head with a sigh, her teacup still in hand.

“Does my tea need supervision? Because that’s all we’ve been doing for the past two weeks.”

Eiji looked between Naomi—grinning—and Hatsue—still glaring.

He exhaled slowly.

“…Just my luck.”