A/N: Surprise! It's only been... 339 days since I updated this.
Whoops.
You'll have seen I've recently been posting like crazy on my other fic, Fire Emblem - Realms (which you should check out)! My recent productivity is due to some recent changes I've made to my life that means that I finally, finally, have time to write, and write a lot!
So! Here's a short chapter to get back into the swing of it. Let's see if I can't get this fic done, once and for all.
Welcome back to Thawing Permafrost!
Ikko slumped on the canteen table, emptying his lungs in a soul-lifting sigh. He stared through the blurred shapes of his food tray, past the table and the building, past the bounds of Yokai Academy itself and into the unformed fog of the summer holidays. "All done."
"Speak for yourself," Kia slurped loudly on her drink, "What's it like, being confident in your results?"
"It's not so bad. You worried?"
"No point fretting. Can you sit up? I'm hurting my neck trying to look at you."
He did so, taking to his lunch. "Etsuko? How about you?"
"I passed," she declared, with a confident flick of her hair, "No way I'm missing this trip."
"Eh?"
"You said the Newspaper Club was meeting you, right? That means Morioka is gonna be there."
"What's so special about him?" Ikko arched a brow.
"He's the editor of Under Moonlight! Not a chance I'm passing that opportunity up."
"They still haven't told us where we're going," Kia grumbled, "How are we supposed to pack?"
"We'll find out soon – results won't take that long, right?"
"Can't you just ask Miss Shirayuki?"
"I've already tried, and she's not budging."
"Not even if you ask what we should be packing?" Etsuko asked. "Seems like we should know that, if you ask me."
"Yeah!" chirped Kia, pumping her fist, "What if we pack swimsuits to a ski slope?"
"Hmm..." Ikko reached for his phone, thinking. "I guess a text won't hurt."
"You have her number?" Kia arched an eyebrow.
"Y-yeah, she's my guardian. One of. What with the whole, uh... Guise troubles... I have to keep in touch."
"Huh."
Ikko typed out a quick text, focussing on their material requirements, rather than their geographical curiosities.
It didn't take long for Mizore to respond.
Mizore S.: it's gonna be hot
Relaying this, Etsuko grinned, and Kia squeaked. "Hot!? I didn't pack for hot!"
"We'll hit Preternatural Street tonight. Ikko, you coming?" Etsuko suggested.
"Sure, I can come. I didn't pack much for the heat."
"D'you think there'll be a beach?" Kia asked, "Oh, god, I'm not going out in my school swimsuit…"
"Going out where?"
Ikko jolted. Naoko beamed as she welcomed herself to the table, Nori sidling in just behind her. His phone was already out. "Did you see the latest banner?" he asked, not caring for Naoko's questioning.
"Oh, uh, no." Ikko checked it. "Exams all day, not had a chance."
"Hey!" Naoko trilled, "Where are you going? Tell me!"
"We have a summer trip planned," Etsuko said, earning a panicked look from Ikko, "Kia's dad is putting us up for the week, last minute."
This part of her statement drew a similarly shocked glance from Kia, who was now forced to weigh in. "Y-yeah! He thought he'd try and make up from pulling me out over Golden Week, get us a beach cabin. Three beds."
"Hey, that's awesome!" Naoko bought it hook, line, and sinker. "Your dad must be loaded."
"What are your plans?" Kia inquired, moving swiftly on before they had to conjure any more details.
"School," Naoko pouted, "We're stuck here for the week."
"Didn't you pass?" asked Ikko.
"Oh, yeah, but our folks are always super busy."
"Ah…" his heart sank, guilt rising.
"It's fine, though! We get together at Christmas, and it's huge. You guys should come!"
"It's not that huge," Nori murmured.
"Are your families close?"
Naoko beamed, grabbing Nori by the arm. "Yep! His mom is my mom's adoptive sister-in-law. They grew up together in the orphanage."
"No way!" Etsuko lit up. "That's so sweet. So, you two grew up together?"
As the girls carried on their conversation, Nori leaned across to whisper to Ikko. "The beach?"
"Yeah," he sighed, trying to find it in him to lament. Bright sun and extreme heat were normally the worst, but for the first time Ikko could only find excitement when he dug for a reaction, "Should be fun."
"I'll let you know if anything good comes up," Nori said, "Wish I could go."
Ikko blinked. "Really?"
"Are you kidding? Anything to get away from this place."
This was more emotion than Ikko had come to expect from the stone-faced Nori Aiba, and it knocked him off-guard. He stammered. "M-maybe next time? If her dad's up for it again. We'll let him know you guys want to come."
His heart wrenched when the offer seemed to genuinely cheer him up. Fortunately, they returned to their common ground of games for the moment, enjoying their own corner of the little world that span around them.
It didn't matter if it was eleven at night or four in the morning; Yokai Academy's regulated sky never shifted. Miserable greys roiled overhead whatever the hour.
The observation brought Ikko little comfort as he closed the lid on his suitcase, looking outside. His phone didn't need to tell him it was closer to midnight than not; his heavy eyes and frequent, all-consuming yawns were evidence enough.
He held his hand out, but his shikigami didn't respond, snoozing on top of his games console. "C'mon," he grunted, nudging her into wakefulness, "I don't wanna be up either, but we gotta go."
She roused with a bleary blinking and stomped onto his hand, her spindly legs tiny pinpricks on his skin. "Ow! Hey, okay, I get it. I'm sorry."
Her bracelet form secured on his wrist, Ikko wrenched his suitcase from his bed and began the arduous trip downstairs. For the first time since arriving, he took the elevator. The cage doors scraped shut and the box rattled and juddered in its descent, doing more to wake him up than any coffee or energy drink could have. By the time it reached the ground floor, Ikko's heart raced, and his breath shortened to keep rhythm with the beats.
To his astonishment, he was not the first to arrive. Etsuko waved him over, in doing so dislodging Kia, who sat on her suitcase and used her friend as a pillar to nap against. She snorted awake, groaning. "Morn'n Ikko."
"Is this morning?" Ikko yawned. "Does this count?"
"No, it…" Kia covered her mouth. "Ugh… No, it doesn't. It shouldn't. It's illegal."
"You got everything?" Etsuko asked, "All ready?"
"I think so," Ikko looked down at his suitcase, "I didn't realise I'd need so much stuff."
"We are gone for the week," she noted, "I'd be surprised if there was any less. Anyway, shall we?"
"Carry me," Kia whined, holding out her arms.
"Not a chance," Ikko scoffed, laughing.
"Noooo…"
Together they trudged from the dormitories, following specific instructions delivered by Mizore after their exam results arrived. Meet at the cliffs beyond the campus, at 03:00AM sharp, to catch the bus to their destination. They encountered no students, no staff—even the scant wildlife that peppered the world just beyond Yokai Academy seemed to avoid these ungodly hours, leaving their drowsy chatter as the only noise on still winds.
At the cliffside, they found five people waiting for them. Mizore and Ruby, Ikko recognised; Yukari, too, holding her hat to her head, and Su, waving a gloved hand in their direction. The fifth, a chestnut-haired woman in a short skirt, vest and cropped jacket, he didn't.
"Shuzen!" Etsuko gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Yanase?" she replied, similarly surprised, "I'm gonna ask you the same?"
"Oh, right," Mizore said, "I didn't tell you, huh."
"This is the first time I've spoken to you in at least a year," Shuzen quipped, "So yeah, this is news."
"Well, we've got Ikko here," Mizore pointed his way, "You know about him. He's bringing Yanase and Tayama here to help out."
Shuzen looked his way, eyes of blood sweeping up and down. Appraising. Evaluating. Ikko folded his arms. "Uh…"
"Yep," Shuzen sniffed, "You're human, alright."
"What?"
"You're just like him," she grinned, "A bit more of a wuss, but you'll get there."
He drew a blank. "Thanks…?"
"Koko Shuzen," she said, sweeping her twin-tailed hair in the same motion as she extended her hand in greeting, "I'm head of the newspaper club, which is why Yanase is so surprised to see me."
"Ikko Akada," he said, shaking her hand.
"I know."
"Right—you do."
Silence. Shuzen looked down at his hand. "Whenever you're ready."
"Ah!" Ikko apologised, breaking their shake and busying himself with his suitcase. She laughed.
"I think that's everyone," Ruby announced, "All that's left is…"
The honking of a bus horn cut her off. Appearing from the dark of the tunnel nearby, a Yokai Academy bus trundled along, stopping just shy of the group. True to his expectations, the cigar-smoking driver greeting them all in his usual gravelly tone. "Said your goodbyes?"
"Ah." Ruby smiled. "All aboard, everyone! We've stops to make and not much time to make them. We're checking in early to dodge the rush!"
"Rush? What rush?" Kia asked. "I still don't know where we're going!"
"You'll find out," Mizore assured, lugging her suitcase on first, "C'mon."
They filed on, one by one, and filled the back of the bus first, abandoning their suitcases to the front. Kia returned to her napping on Etsuko's shoulder, cuddling up. Ruby, Yukari, and the third years settled in a small group on the right side. Ikko sidled in next to Mizore, finding that she'd brought a second backpack tucked in by her feet. "Sleep well?" she asked.
"Sleep? What sleep?" Ikko complained, "I've not had a chance."
"You should have gotten an earlier night. Fortunately, I came ready."
She extracted two cans of coffee from her backpack and handed one over. The snap sang in his ears. "How long are we on the road for?" he sighed, feeling the caffeine take its first swim in his brain. It felt like pipes being cleared.
"A little while. We've got a few people to pick up."
"Oh?"
"Mhm. Gin's already there with Haiji, so that leaves Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu in Japan, then it's off to pick up the Huangs from their ancestral estate."
"The Huangs?"
"Fangfang and Lingling, brother and sister," Mizore explained, "Fangfang used to attend Yokai—he'd be a third year now, like Koko, but family business forced him to return to the family."
"The family?"
"Don't worry about it," Mizore shook her head, "They're cool. Once we're all together, we're off to the beach."
"That's a lot of people…!"
"Yep. Gonna be a tight squeeze to fit us all into our rooms. You'll be sharing with the boys."
Ikko frowned into his coffee, but it was short-lived, for another thought came to him. "Hang on. You're a yuki-onna. How do you cope in the heat?"
"Terribly, thank you for asking," she laughed, "It's okay, though. This isn't my first rodeo."
"I didn't think you'd be a lazing in the sun type."
"You'd be surprised," Mizore returned, "The sun makes me exceptionally lazy."
"Really?"
"Have you tried to do anything when it's four times a comfortable temperature?"
"Ah."
"Exactly."
"I'll keep my distance, then."
"Not too far," she warned, "This is a break, sure, but you've work to do."
"Right. Work." Ikko's shoulders slumped. "What is it I'll be doing?"
"Tsukune has the details. We'll talk about it when we're all settled."
"Your first duties as Yokai's human ambassador!" exclaimed Ruby, catching wind of their conversation and smiling across the aisles. "Excited?"
It felt strange to have those words out in the open. Human. For the first time since arriving, his nature wasn't a secret that needed to be kept, and he delighted in it. "You could say that," he replied, careful, "Jury's out 'till I know what I need to do."
They plunged into darkness as their trip began, vanishing into the magical corridors Yokai Academy staff used to navigate the world. Ikko took out his phone for a light source, delighted to find he had signal. "Hey, Mizore, check this out—"
"Careful," she shook her head, icy hair shimmering in the half-light, "Can you imagine what the roaming bill would be like?"
His heart stopped. "Good point," he said, stowing his phone.
"Just try to relax. Take a leaf out of Kia's book." She nodded to the silhouettes of his friends, Kia's head on Etsuko's shoulder, Etsuko's head resting on her hair. "What's the deal with those two, anyway?"
"Deal?"
"Oh, Ikko. Never mind."
"What? What d'you mean, deal?" Ikko blurted.
"Shh! You'll wake them." Mizore giggled, uncharacteristically girlish. "I'll tell you when you're older."
"I—" He began to protest, but the bus began to shudder to a stop. He'd expected a burst of light to blind him, but instead they arrived at a city where dawn had yet to break. Streetlamps shone like stars in mist, they glow obfuscated by the grime of the bus windows.
"Aichi University!" yelled the driver, cackling, "Hop on, lovebirds!"
In the dim, Ikko could not make out the two people who trudged aboard, but it wasn't hard to guess.
Tsukune Aono and Moka Akashiya, in the flesh. They deposited their cases with the rest and hurried over to the back, welcomed by bright smiles and cheery greetings. Each beamed and waved, hugged and embraced, and eventually, finally, made their way to Ikko and Mizore.
Moka dealt with Mizore first, the latter jumping from her seat to nervously, stiffly hug the silver-haired woman. Ikko looked to Tsukune, who proffered a hand. "Nice to meet you in the flesh."
"Likewise," Ikko murmured, accepting the gesture. He couldn't get a read on Tsukune in the half-light. He'd expected some kind of… familiarity. A connection. Something that bound them together as humans.
He recalled, with a shock, that Tsukune used to be human. Whatever he was now, he was one of his kind no longer.
Moka broke from her reunion with Mizore and swapped places, leaning across the aisle to shake his hand. Her every movement sent chills down his spine, so full they were with certitude, with power, with authority. A vampire, in the flesh. Power incarnate, or so he'd heard from his friends.
Thusly introduced, they settled alongside Ruby and Yukari. As he returned to his seat, he noticed Etsuko stirring, eyes alight with curiosity. She gawped at Moka. "She's gorgeous…"
"She can probably hear you," he quipped.
She yelped. "D-did I say that out loud?"
They settled back in for the next leg of the trip, and repeated the ritual twice more. First with Kurumu, who joined them just as the morning sun crested the horizon, making her much more easily to recognise. Every aspect of her, from ocean hair and violet eyes to fulsome curves and winning smile, seemed designed to draw his eyes. She greeted them happily, Tsukune most of all, and seemed excited to meet the three newest additions to the group. Kia, who had finally woken from groggy nap, woke fully charged and threw herself into the meeting and greeting, following Kurumu around the bus.
Then again with the Huang siblings, who struck Ikko as the strangest pair he'd ever met, exacerbated by the revelation that the elder sister, Lingling, was a walking corpse, and no they weren't joking, yes really. To his horror, she was more than delighted to prove this fact, separating her head from her body with the ease that Ikko might tear out a page from a book.
Avoiding her eyes for the rest of the trip, he focussed on the formless nothing outside, counting the seconds until they made their final stop. He'd expected them to be a lively bunch. They filled the bus with such noise and life that he struggled to believe it was still only four in the morning.
"It's been so long," he heard Mizore exhale. Ikko looked across to her, seeing a tiny smile warming her face as she looked out on the gathered crowd.
It spread to him, too. He leaned a little closer and whispered. "Glad you're going?"
"I am," she replied, "I truly am. It's been… gods, how long has it been?"
"Let's make the most of it."
Mizore tore herself away from the sight, bringing the full warmth of her smile to him. A chill on his hand signalled that they touched, ever so gently. "It's because of you that I'm here."
"You make it sound like it's my fault or somethin'," he murmured.
"And if it is?" she asked, low, "Are you gonna take responsibility, Ikko?"
His cheeks caught fire. He looked out of the window, where the dark only served to sharpen his reflection. Incoherent stammering was all he could muster. "W-well, I… uh…"
"Relax," she laughed, sliding her fingers over the back of his hand to give it a squeeze, "I'm kidding. I'm just… grateful, I guess."
"I didn't do anything special."
"Maybe not," said she, "But we're here all the same."
He found a smile, though he couldn't meet her eyes. In the distance, the bus driver called out. "Next stop—the human world!"
And the light engulfed them once more.
