Two days later, as soon as Shiro received a clean bill of health from the doctors, Rin and Daphne took their children home. Father Michael—who would be staying with them—and Shiemi had seen to their house while they were away, made sure everything was in place for the twins' arrival. Even so, as they got out of the taxis and struggled to free to car seats from the back, the one thing they'd forgotten became immediately clear.
Every last one of Shiro's familiars manifested on the street.
"Good god!" Father Michael shouted, dropping the potted plant some of the teachers at True Cross had sent to Daphne. He caught it before it landed on the street. "What on—"
Daphne gave a weary sigh. "They're Shiro's, Michael. It's fine."
She hadn't slept much at the hospital between feedings and bonding and lessons from the nurses and generally being in a lot of pain herself. She looked at Rin, who had Easter's car seat, and traded him for Shiro.
"Will you find Komori and talk to them?" she asked.
Rin nodded. Daphne gave him a grateful kiss on the cheek, then took Easter inside. Father Michael glanced at Rin, his expression alarmed and eyebrows raised. Rin gave him a smile and a thumbs up. The priest went inside, but looked incredibly uncertain. Rin caught him peeking through the front window.
"Hey—uh…bat…guy," Rin called into the throng of demons. Daphne had just said the damn thing's name and he'd already forgotten. "Where are you?"
The demons parted to allow the big bat-shaped one through. Rin couldn't remember how many demons there had been at the hospital, but there were definitely more now. They filled up the entire street in front of his and Daphne's house, and even leaked into their neighbors' areas a bit. The bat gave Rin a respectful bow as Rin juggled Shiro's car seat and diaper bag.
Greetings, Wayward Prince, it said.
"Yeah, hi. Um… Jesus, there are a lot of you." He glanced around the gathering of demons. It was unnerving to see so many of them being so well-behaved.
More have been called, and still more shall be called, it replied. We have come to attend the Newborn Prince. Our numbers shall—
"That's great. Could you, like…not take up the whole street?"
The bat waved one of its wings at the mass of demons and they skittered off the road, some of them taking to the air, others scrambling into neighbors' yards or up the sides of their houses. Rin sighed. That wasn't really what he'd meant.
"Did Shiro call you?" Rin asked.
Yes, the bat replied.
"Do you know why?"
It is not our place to question our master, only to do as he bids.
"Okay, dude—remind me your name?"
Komori.
"Komori. He's a baby. He doesn't have a bidding. He can barely see. We can't have a whole throng of demons showing up every time he gets hungry or goes to a new place or needs his diaper changed." Rin raised his eyebrows for emphasis, but Komori didn't seem to understand. "Do you all have to be here?"
We come when he calls.
"Jesus…"
Rin juggled the car seat into his other hand. His arm was getting sore. He glanced down at Shiro when he did. The baby's eyes were shut and he was dozing peacefully.
"He's asleep!" Rin said to Komori.
We were still summoned.
"Well, can you un-summon? Could you maybe set up a rotation or something? You can't all be here all the time, we'll go crazy." He glanced at the demons again. Most of them had shifted or craned their necks to get a better look at Shiro in his car seat when Rin had traded hands. Every last one watched his son with keen, devoted eyes. "One at a time?"
Like a watch? Komori tilted his head.
"Exactly like a watch. One of you can keep an eye on Shiro and report back to the others and trade. This—" He gestured at the gathering. "—is totally unnecessary."
We wish to ensure his safety, Komori said, looking skeptical.
"Yeah, no shit," Rin replied. He switched the car seat from hand to hand again, getting antsy. Again, the demons shifted to keep their eyes on Shiro. "I don't know if you've noticed, bat guy, but Shiro's surrounded by exorcists. Between me, Daphne, and the rest of his family, we've kind of got that covered."
Komori hummed. Yes. The prince's mother is formidable.
Rin glowered. "Uh-huh."
We will consider a watch. The bat smiled—as much as a demon could smile—but Rin just glared at him. May we pay our respects to the Newborn Prince before we take our leave?
"Sure," Rin sighed.
Agreeing turned out to be a big mistake, as the demons wanted to come up individually and bow to the car seat. Shiro slept through the whole damn thing, and Rin had to stand outside while a parade of demons formed a line like a bunch of Disneyland patrons at a character meet-and-greet. It took like half an hour. Komori was last.
I will return with a decision about watches, he said after finishing his bow.
"Great," Rin replied through his teeth.
The bat demon disappeared and Rin grumbled inside. Almost the instant he crossed the threshold, Shiro woke up and wailed. Daphne rushed over to take the car seat so Rin could take his shoes off. As he did, the windows went black as all of Shiro's familiars reappeared. Komori pressed right against the glass of the front window.
We cannot come inside, he said. His eyes were red and panicked. All the demons scratched their claws on the outside of the house, trying to get in.
"Of course you can't!" Rin replied, exasperated. "Exorcists live here. You think we don't have barrier spells coming out our asses?!"
"What the hell is going on?" Daphne asked. She unbuckled Shiro and tried to soothe him.
We cannot protect the prince if we cannot come inside!
"They want to come in," Rin said, looking back at Daphne.
She frowned, regarding the crazed demons through the window. Shiro cried and cried and cried and cried. Daphne continued to bounce him, but it didn't do any good.
"Do you think that's why he's crying?" she asked.
Rin threw up his arms in a massive shrug. "Hell if I know!"
"Komori!" Daphne shouted, stern and fierce. Even just the tone of her voice made the demon shrink. His eyes stayed red, but he stopped foaming at the mouth as much. "The barrier spells on this house protect us. Do you understand that?"
The demon nodded.
"If we let you in, will Shiro stop crying?"
The prince does not want to be separated from us. We do not want to be separated from the prince.
Rin relayed the message to Daphne. She nodded.
"We can make exceptions in the spells so that some of you can come in, but I will not make that exception for all of you. Not until you've proved yourselves. Is that understood?"
Again, the bat nodded.
"Good. Making those exceptions will take some time. I need you to relax. Nothing in this house is going to harm Shiro. All right?"
As he nodded a third time, some of the red light waned from Komori's eyes. The other demons also began to calm. They ceased scratching on the outside of the house. Rin hadn't noticed until he stopped doing it, but Father Michael had been muttering scripture under his breath that whole time, searching for fatal verses. He held a whimpering Easter in his arms. Rin gave him an appreciative nod.
"Michael, we'll need to get to work on resetting my barrier spells," Daphne said, looking to the priest. "Some of Shiro's familiars will need to be given permission to enter."
Michael nodded. "Perhaps Shura could help as well."
"I'll call her. Komori."
The demon snapped to attention. "You and five others will be granted exceptions first."
Yes, Leda.
Daphne couldn't hear him, but she kept talking anyway. "You can choose among yourselves, I don't care, but Father Michael and I will place bonds on you until we're certain you're trustworthy. If you cannot agree to that, you cannot come inside."
Yes, Leda. We will agree.
"They're fine with it," Rin supplied.
Brow furrowed, Daphne nodded. She seemed to be processing their willingness to be bound without question or protest. Shiro had not stopped crying, but his tears had settled a little as the demons had. Rin stepped into his house slippers and went to take Shiro from Daphne.
"You get started," he said. "I'll watch the babies."
Daphne retrieved her phone and called Shura immediately. Rin took Shiro over to the window so he could look out at a group of chuchi who had swarmed the glass but now skittered across the pane like ordinary bugs. Shiro watched their movements with unnatural acuity for a newborn, his bright blue eyes big and wide.
"Rin."
He looked at Daphne.
"I think you should draw Kurikara," she said. "We're going to have to take the spells down and reset them. I don't want any extra risk."
"For sure."
The three of them moved quickly about their duties, then. Rin took charge of both babies, setting Easter and Shiro up in a pair of swing chairs in the middle of the room. Daphne brought him food and water and baby supplies and Aokaze and more than he could possibly need, then set up a barrier spell around the three of them specifically. Father Michael prepped the house. Rin drew Kurikara and his blue flames sprang to life. At his feet, Aokaze purred. Rin hesitated, but did eventually pick up the blade. He unsheathed it. Easter's little flames lit up as well.
When Shura arrived, her cursing was audible even from the street. She knocked on the door, so Daphne let her in, and the first thing she said was, "You know you've got a hoard of demons on your house?"
Daphne stepped aside to let her in. "Exactly why I want to be careful when we take the barriers down. We don't know if all of them are actually Shiro's familiars. There could be hostiles in the mix."
Shura nodded, then looked to Father Michael. "Let's get going, priest boy."
Rin settled in to wait and keep an eye on the babies as the Arias got to work. Daphne ordered all the demons to move away from the house, and they obeyed. She drew in a deep breath, regarded Shura and Michael, then gave a firm nod.
Together, the three of them started chanting.
Across the city, in the girls' locker room on the top floor of the gym building at True Cross Academy, another barrier finally began to dissolve.