End of the Selection

A few days had gone by and it was time for the examinees to head towards the orientation grounds. Shin could be seen walking leisurely through the dense wisteria forest with a calm Makomo smiling by his side. 

"I think it's over there."  Makomo said, pointing towards an area with a few people around.

Shin nodded his head looking at her, after saving Makomo he had to protect her at times due to her sword breaking thanks to the blob, she was calm and energetic the entire time.

They finally returned to the orientation grounds from where they had left off. As they stepped in they could clearly tell that many didn't make it back.

Shin walked off to the side where he once was before the exam began with Makomo following behind, he didn't pay anyone any attention like before. Makomo noticed someone staring at them so she looked around until she found the suspects.

They were two girls that were currently looking at Shin with a surprised look on their face. One had blue hair and eyes while the other had pink hair and red eyes. For some reason the blue haired one had tears streaming down her face.

"What is it Makomo?" Shin asked.

Makomo took one last look at them before hurriedly walking towards Shin. "Master those girls seem to be looking at you." 

"I know that, I don't know why though. Could you tell me what they look like?" Shin would be lying if he said he wasn't interested, he knew no one there other than Makomo so there really was no reason to get anyone's attention.

"Of course, they seem to be twins. One has blue hair and the other has pink." Makomo answered.

Shin's eye slightly twitched hearing that and remembered something he didn't want to. 'If you ever see those twins again please take care of them..' 

'Still pushing his ideals on me even after death, I'll do it, but not now. It's already enough that I'm bringing Makomo with me to get converted.' Shin thought with Shin.

"Just ignore them for now." He simply said before leaning against a tree. He would have to get stronger if he wanted to take them with him or he would just help them once and send them on their way.

"Yes, Master." Makomo stood next to him.

Sometime later the twins with black and white hair walked into the grounds and announced the end of the Final Selection. Shin assumed that there were more casualties this year because of the giant demon.

"Welcome back. Congratulations on coming back safe and sound, that's better than anything else." The white haired one said.

"You must first pay for the cost of the uniform. Then you must get your body measured and have your rank engraved." 

The black haired one chimed in perfectly and began to explain the ranks. "There are ten ranks in total. Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe, Mizunoto. Currently, you all are at the lowest, Mizunoto." 

"But first.. *clap* clap*" The white haired one clapped their hands. Not long after five crows came down towards the group.

A crow perched itself on Shin's shoulder and looked at him curiously. "Is this even a crow?" Shin asked himself. The bird was a bit darker than the others with crimson eyes unlike the others, still it was nothing important.

"We will be assigning you each your own Kasugai Crow." The white haired one said.

"Excuse me, what are these for?" A girl who Shin assumed to be Ram asked.

"The Kasugai Crows can be used primarily for communication." The black haired one answered her.

"Understood." Ram nodded her head.

"Come, we will let you choose your ore for your sword." They both said together while removing a purple cloth from a table revealing ore of various sizes. "Your swords will take up to ten days before being completed." 

"Makomo, you can go first if you'd like." Shin looked at the girl standing next to him. She was looking at a certain ore at the end of the table. It was the smallest out of them all and had a blue hue to it.

"Are you sure master?" Makomo saw Shin nod his head and her calm smile slowly brightened.

Shin only nodded his head once more. He watched as Makomo walked up towards the table and grabbed the ore he saw her staring at.

Not long after she came back from choosing the ore she wanted, she did a small bow to Shin. "Thank you for letting me go first." 

"No need for that, you don't need to bow over things like this." Shin made Makomo lift her head before going towards the table and looking over the ore. After taking a look at them all he picked up one of the biggest ones.

He saw something in it that reminded him of his relatives sword. "I choose this one."

The twins only smiled towards Shin and nodded their heads. Shin walked back towards Makomo while the others went up to the table to choose their ore.

…

[The foot of Mt. Fujikasane]

"Do you have any place to return to, Makomo?" Shin was walking down a path heading towards the closest village with Makomo behind.

"If possible I would like to head back to Mt. Sagiri." She answered.

"Any reason why?" Shin looked back towards her. She had what he assumed a gloomy look on her face and was looking at something in her hand from time to time, it was the first time Shin saw her from being calm and smiling.

"Just family." She answered.

Shin nodded. "You need to give that up, it may sound harsh but you may never be seeing them again."

Makomo began to slightly tremble, clutching whatever was in her hand. Shin sighed before placing his hand on her head. "It's for the best, remember what you agreed to. Now let's go."

She nodded her head and wiped her tears away. "Thank you master."

"Mn, now let's go." He said before moving ahead.

'He seems kind.., maybe this won't be so bad. I can't waste this new chance at life. My life belongs to him whether I like it or not.'  Makomo went back to her trademark smile looking at Shin's fading figure before running after him.

Shin was unaware of what Makomo was thinking but he would have been glad if he did, she was already accepting her fate instead of making things difficult. He looked at the sky thinking of his teacher, his only family. He still didn't believe it but he would hopefully get his answer soon.