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He’d lost count of how many times that day his hand had drifted, almost without thinking, to the side pocket of his bag. Inside was the future-path survey Suo had gotten from school. It had been sitting in his bag for days now.
The box for “Intention to Enroll in High School” was already ticked. Only the guardian signature line was still blank. At the very bottom, a line of small print read: “Please bring this form to the three-way conference.”
Suo was waiting for the master to come home.
The master’s return had been delayed for a long time by now. But today was different. Today was Mid-Autumn Festival.
No matter how busy he was, the master had always made time to come home and have the reunion dinner with them.
His pace quickened. It had been so long since he’d last seen the master. He wanted to hear all about the trip, and he wanted to talk over next year’s high school plans with him.
But when he reached the gate of the Crimson Whirl, he stopped. The orderly sound of the children’s training drifted out from the courtyard, no different from yesterday. If the master were home, the laughter inside would have reached the street corner by now.
Suo pushed open the courtyard gate. Sure enough, the rattan chair the master always sat in beneath the veranda was empty. He let out a quiet sigh. Without disturbing the children, he slipped up to the attic.
“Oh? Rakta, Bacchus, you’re both here.”
Suo set down his bag and looked at the two of them, a little surprised, as they rummaged through things.
“Yeah. It’s Mid-Autumn today, so the kids wrote some lantern riddles. I wanted to find the festive lanterns and hang them up.” Rakta opened a crate in the storage closet. “I think the ones we made back then are still around somewhere.”
“They are. I remember they’re in that crate over there.”
Bacchus, standing by, saw that Suo asked him nothing about their master. Instead he said, in a deliberately offhand way, "Oh, right. The master called today. He said things over there aren't finished yet, so he'll be a few more days."
“Mm… I see.” Suo murmured in reply, keeping his head down as he took the lanterns out of the crate.
“Ah, though…” Bacchus paused on purpose.
Just as expected, Suo looked up. The fingers holding the lantern tightened a little without his meaning them to.
“He sent a gift. It’s on the table.”
Suo’s eyes lit up. As he stood, he knocked his bag off the chair, but he didn’t stop to pick it up. He hurried to the table, where a beautiful box lay waiting.
Suo opened the box, surprise lighting up his face.
“Yeah. The master sent them specially, since he knows you love pastries.”
Watching his back, Bacchus curved his lips into a smile and raised an eyebrow at Rakta.
Of course, the mooncakes were for all three of them. But chances to play the big brother in front of Suo were rare these days, and Bacchus wasn’t about to let one slip by.
Rakta shook his head with a soft laugh and picked up Suo’s bag from the floor. He caught sight of the future-path survey that had slipped out of the side pocket, and his movements paused for a moment.
“He still remembers…” Suo murmured, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
“Want to try one?” Rakta set the bag back down without mentioning the survey.
“No, that’s okay…” Suo closed the lid and gave a gentle smile. “Let’s all have them together at dinner. The kids will be happy, too.”
This time it was Rakta’s turn to give Bacchus that “see, I told you so” look.
Right. Suo wasn’t just their little brother anymore. He was a big brother to others now, too.
“Ahh, those kids are going to love it.” Bacchus laced his hands behind his head and laughed a little helplessly.
Rakta handed them the lanterns he’d found. “Then let’s decorate a little more, so everyone has an even better time.”
Once night fell, the courtyard of the Crimson Whirl grew lively in a way it rarely did.
Festive lanterns made by the Crimson Whirl’s apprentices over the years hung all around the yard, swaying one by one in the night breeze, the candlelight leaping inside them and lighting up the darkness.
The children's dinner had even been moved out into the yard. Every child, whether apprentice or outsider, received half a mooncake. To go with the sweets, worried that the children would dislike the bitter taste of plain tea, Suo had thoughtfully prepared honey osmanthus tea.
Such a rare treat of sweets had the children overjoyed. Those who lived on their own were even allowed to stay a little longer tonight. Children who had never known each other sat together sharing tea and pastries, gathered around a single lantern to guess riddles, and made a few new friends along the way. They tilted their heads up to read the riddle slips tied to the lanterns, cheering when someone guessed right and bursting into laughter when someone got it wrong. The laughter mixed with the scent of osmanthus in the yard and drifted far, far away.
Suo walked over to Bacchus and Rakta, carrying a pot of freshly brewed tea.
“Oh, that smells wonderful.” Bacchus took a light sniff of the tea’s fragrance. “Is that osmanthus oolong for us?”
“Mm. Good tea is saved for moments like this.” Suo handed Bacchus a cup, then poured one for Rakta.
“It’s nice to have moments like this once in a while.” Rakta watched the osmanthus petals floating in his cup, his usually taut expression relaxing quite a bit.
After pouring himself a cup, Suo produced a small plate from beside him as if by sleight of hand. On it sat a mooncake cut into three pieces.
“Whoa! We get some too. Awesome!” Bacchus snatched up a piece without waiting and tossed it into his mouth, chewing away in big bites.
“You never did learn what it means to eat slowly and savor your food…” Rakta shook his head in exasperation.
“Mmm! Lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk. It’s so good!” Bacchus ignored Rakta’s remark entirely, too busy swallowing his mooncake.
Suo sat down between them and took a sip of tea. “That’s really good to hear.” A trace of nostalgia in his eyes, he looked up at the sky. “The master has always known exactly what we like.”
“Yeah. He’s always been that way.” Rakta spoke softly, watching the ripples in his cup. “He couldn’t make it back this time, but somewhere out there, the master must be looking at the same full moon as us.”
The other two set down their cups as well and murmured, gazing up at the bright moon in the night sky. “Yeah. He must be.”
Thinking this way, the distance between them and the master somehow no longer felt so vast, and the loneliness inside them eased a little.
A sudden burst of laughter from the far end of the yard pulled them back. It seemed another one of the children had guessed a riddle.
“Hey, Sun Fei, isn’t that crow lantern one you made when you were little?”
“Mm… actually, I made an eagle.” A little embarrassed, Suo raised his cup to hide his face. “Don’t bring that up again.”
“Speaking of which, Sun Fei.” Rakta, still thinking of the survey in Suo’s bag, asked in a deliberately casual tone, “Have you decided on your first-choice high school for next year?”
“Yeah. I’m planning to go to Furin High in Makochi.”
“Huh? A place like that, brawling every day, underlings toppling their bosses. You’re actually interested?”
“But… I heard it’s changed recently.” Suo took a sip from his cup and said unhurriedly, “Apparently someone called Umemiya brought the whole place together. Now it’s become a shield protecting the neighborhood, known as ‘Bofurin’.”
“Sounds a bit like us.” Rakta shrugged.
“Put that way, it does sound interesting.” Bacchus laced his hands behind his head, a knowing look on his face.
“Right? So I’m looking forward to it, too.” Suo looked up at the sky once more.
“I wonder what it’ll be like this time next year…”
Ding-a-ling —
The door of the Pothos café swung open, and Furin students filed out one after another.
“Oh, boy. It's cold!”
“The nights are getting colder now.” Someone complained, pulling their coat tighter.
Kotoha brought in the sign from outside the shop and reminded the boys, “Be careful on your way home! And don't get sick!”
“thanks for the coffee!”
“thank you for having us!”
After thanking Kotoha one by one, the group gradually split up at the intersection, waving goodbye to one another. In the end, the only one left by Suo’s side was Nirei.
“Wow, things got heated today!”
“True.”
“I think it's great, though! That everyone can be so passionate about serious stuff like that.”Nirei’s eyes were shining as he spoke of the scene of everyone gathered today, his voice full of fervor.
“I realized again today… how happy I am that I could be a part of this generation.”He clenched his fist, his voice rising. “I'm sure we'll leave behind an epic legacy! Actually! We'll make it happen!”
“So, Suo-san!” He spun around and grabbed Suo by the shoulders. “Let's keep up the great work! together!”
Looking at the boy’s bright smile before him, Suo was dazed for a moment. He had seen that expression many times. Once, it had been on his own face, too.
But soon he was back to his usual smile. “You have a really important role then, nirekun! you better train harder!”
“Pplease go easy on me.”
Before long, the two of them reached the corner where they had to part.
“Suo-san! See you tomorrow, then! ”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow!”
Watching Nirei walk away, Suo looked up. A bright moon hung high in the sky, drifting through the thin clouds.
A full moon today, too.
“How beautiful.”
He remembered last year, before he had come to Furin, and how he had longed for life at Furin High on that Mid-Autumn night.
“How happy I am that I can be a part of this generation!” That was what he thought now, too.
Suo looked ahead once more, set off, and walked toward Bankokugai.
Only, back then he didn’t yet know that where one fullness ends is exactly where another begins to break, just as the moon waxes and wanes, and people meet and part.
That “see you tomorrow” never came true in the end, and it became a regret in his heart…