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———— TWELVE WEEKS IS A LONG TIME.
[y/n] spent the last twelve weeks recovering and training. she obviously got to celebrate her birthday, despite it not being a leap year, but it was still nice to be home. her clan lived roughly forty minutes from sapporo, so it was nice to be able to also go into the city every now and then. she did miss the bustle of tokyo, though.
her clan ran things a bit differently than the big three families. for starters, they all liked each other. secondly, their clan was much bigger, since members of the clan were permitted to marry outside of it. they also had a different approach to leadership. yes, there was a clan head, but there were supporting positions as well. those in support positions were grade one sorcerers. her father was considered to be a special grade one, which made sense, seeing as he was the head of the clan.
the clan members had finally recommended her for promotion about two weeks into her training. due to her current outstanding circumstances, [y/n] had to submit her promotion to yoshinobu gakuganji, who almost didn't accept it, but figured it was for the better. the higher ups knew of her circumstances and kept her promotion a secret. she went on several missions over the remaining ten weeks, and, at the end, she was granted semi-grade one. this last week of being home, she now had to exorcise a grade one alone.
"should've been a straight dub, considering i exorcised three special grades, but no. had to follow the damn rules," [y/n] angrily grumbled as she trudged through the woods, waiting for the curse to appear. "god, can this thing hurry up? i'm hungry." she felt a sudden chill and turned her head in the direction she felt it coming from, and, low and behold, a curse was sitting pretty in the tree. "this is a grade one? i'm almost offended."
the curse snarled at her before launching off its spot, heading straight for her. she quickly formed a lightning bolt and ran towards the curse, launching herself up in the air as she sliced its arm with the bolt, watching the arm dissipate as she landed on her feet. she watched carefully as it slowly began regenerating its arm, but she moved quicker. this time, she formed a naginata, the electricity crackling around its blade. she let out a huff before running towards the curse once more, swinging the weapon swiftly and efficiently, going in twice for a hit. she slid against the ground, catching herself as she looked back at the curse, seeing it dissolve.
"i did it? oh my god, i did it. i did that! holy shit," she cheered, jumping in place as she grinned, looking over to where her father and gakuganji were sitting. "well, old man? am i a freaking god or what?"
"[y/n]!" her father scolded, but gakuganji just started laughing. "yoshinobu?"
"she reminds me of that bastard, gojo. much easier to put up with, though," gakuganji smiled.
"you've loosened up quite a bit, haven't you?" her father raised a brow.
"eh, you learn to when you're on the verge of dying."
"that you are," [y/n] muttered.
"congratulations, [y/n] [l/n]. you have been granted grade one status," gakuganji said.
"i'm going to pass out," [y/n] stated, but her father quickly rushed to her side, patting her shoulder.
"i'm very proud of you, little pixie."
"ew, you haven't called me that since i was, like, nine."
"i'm going to miss you."
"why'd you say it like that? i'll still come and visit."
"i know, but it's not that. it's just... your older brothers. i think of them a lot, and i'm sure you do, too. they wanted to be great, and they were. but, i fear they were trying too hard to please me. they weren't doing things for themselves. that's why we delayed your promotion. it felt like that all over again. i didn't want you to feel like you had to overwork yourself to prove a point to me. your brothers risked and lost their lives so they could show me that they could be great, but i already knew they were. i don't want you to do the same.
so, if you could please promise, for the sake of your old man; don't feel like you have to prove yourself to the world. i'm proud of you as you are," he quietly said, patting her head gently. [y/n]'s lip quivered as she pulled him in for a hug, burying her face in his chest as she held onto him.
