Periwinkle - Life in shades of blue (part 1)

Coat

Deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow
Privately divided by a world so undecided
And there's nowhere to go

Snow (Hey Oh) by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Today is a great day. Suguru has been finally promoted to special grade, like me, and we're currently heading out to our first mission together. I knew he would eventually make it, he beat me up pretty good the first day I met him, after all.

The news came together with the new year, right after we went to the shrine with Shoko. If I think back of that day, I instantly smile. It's been so fun to watch him act like a child at a carnival, he's never been to a shrine for new year's and he was eager to know how it felt like. I lent him one of my traditional kimonos, it was easy to find one that fit him. I even let him keep it when I noticed how he'd continuously steal glances in every window to smile at his own reflection. It looks so much better on him, anyways.

I steal side glances at him while we're walking across the empty garden, the statues covered by ivy following us with their dead stare. It's hard to contain my excitement, I've been daydreaming about working with him ever since we first fought in the school courtyard.

"Earth to Satoru? Hello?"

I shake my head to look at him. I'm always shocked by how he seems to know when I'm stuck in my thoughts. "What? Give me a break, we did a great job at exorcising that stupid pond spirit," I scoff. It's been an easy task, but I should've expected it considering we're both special grades and the curse definitely wasn't. Maybe the higher-ups are trying to test just how far Suguru can go.

"What if there's more?" He turns a corner behind a bush of wild roses and watches me from there. He looks so pretty, he'd fit well amongst those marble statues.

"Ha!" I smile cocking my head to the side and pointing to my sunglasses, "trust me, it was the only curse here."

He clicks his tongue, gesturing for me to follow him. "Let's talk with the gardener then, I bet he'll be scared."

I roll my eyes. I already knew Suguru puts much more effort than me in trying to please the non-sorcerers, but I seriously don't see the point. We did our job, why isn't that enough?

I remember to let the veil vanish before we reach the huge greenhouse by the pond. This is where we found the curse when it had already taken hostage of the gardener. It's not like he was wounded or anything, though, so I'm sure he'll get over it soon.

When we enter the glass building, I keep my distance from the man, feeling awkward as I bury my hands in my pockets and lazily look around to check the various plants around us. Suguru swiftly clears the distance to greet him, instead, and I distantly catch bits of conversation about how he's concerned for his psychological wellbeing.

I take off my jacket to let it drop on one stool, the air inside this place is warm and sticky, but I guess it should be expected from greenhouses. I'm just about to venture deeper among the orange trees, when a sudden movement on the leaves to my right catches my attention. I immediately turn the six eyes back on, and sure enough I recognize it as a curse. It doesn't seem dangerous, though, so I don't know if I should exorcise it or not. While I'm still considering pros and cons, the curse has already felt my presence and is moving from one branch to another, trying to escape me. From its movements it looks like a squirrel, but of course it's deformed and its fur is a cold greenish yellow. I choose to watch over it, it shouldn't be hard to exorcise it if it tries anything dangerous. I can't even finish my own thought and it's disappeared from the tree.