The clearing held the last tremor of steel and sound. Rin slid Tetsuba into place with a clean click, the red glow of his Viatra dimming to an ember. He didn't blink until Si Lung tossed the scroll.
"Keep it," Si said—calm, taut. "We settle it in Janoah. Trial by Mercy."
Urahara smoothed a charm-bound sleeve. The lazy smirk was thinner now. "Enjoy your win here. Don't expect the board to look the same when the world is watching."
It wasn't venom. It was a soldier's nod.
Vonn let a low chk-chk-boom roll under his breath and grinned. "Y'all good. Scary good. But the dance ain't done."
Sidney, released from Genmugan's grip, rubbed her temples. She didn't meet Aria's eyes. "Round two. Later."
Kai watched them fade into the trees. Si looked back once—just a flick, just a smirk. Outcast to outcast.
The pressure broke.
Lila sprang out from her root-hide, arms windmilling. "Okay—Rin went ghost-eye shing-shing-shing, Kai went monk-mode WA-TAH, and Aria was all zap-zap, except then she kinda—" She cut herself off, glanced at Aria, and shrugged. "—blinked."
"It wasn't a nap," Aria said. She scrubbed the corner of one eye with her sleeve before anyone could see the red. "Aura dip. Don't read into it."
Kai nodded once. Rin said nothing, but his eye-ring flickered—seeing more than Aria wanted to admit.
A cough rasped from the ground. Minerva rolled onto an elbow, gaze unfocused until Kai filled it. Tears welled before she could stop them.
"I... saw the end," she whispered. "You were all—" Her voice cracked, pride split wide. "I wasn't even worth saving."
Kai eased her against a root. Lila leaned in, tone soft for once. "Hey. Alive beats ninety percent in this forest. Don't toss that away."
Minerva pressed her palms to her face and sobbed. "Thank you... for not leaving me."
No one mocked her. Rin looked away on purpose. Aria stood guard and pretended the wet on her own lashes was sweat. The forest creaked; a distant howl reminded them the test wasn't over.
Kai set his staff across his back. "We move. Together."
They moved.
The trees thinned to pale morning. Light spilled across scuffed boots and ripped hems as they broke the last bramble line. The Black Forest gates rose ahead—carved stone wrapped in humming wards.
Horns blared. Guards shouted.
The plaza erupted.
Seekers, citizens, foreign sponsors—days of waiting combusted into a roar. Team after team had failed to emerge. They were the third out—three of a hundred.
Banners snapped—guild crests, national colors, sponsor sigils—color raining from balconies. Children climbed shoulders and screamed names they barely knew. Older men bowed toward Rin when they saw the red ring.
"They have the scroll!" a Chun officer called, voice riding a gem's amplification.
The roar somehow found another gear.
Lila edged closer to Kai, stage-whispered, "So, uh, no pressure—but we're celebrities." She struck a heroic pose and almost tripped over a cobble.
Aria side-eyed her and couldn't hide a smirk. Rin didn't look left or right. "Stay sharp," he murmured. "They're watching."
They were. Sponsor boxes brimmed with silks and steel; veterans leaned on rails; scribes scrawled with aura-ink; ministers in veils whispered into spirit-scrolls. Eyes measured aura signatures, footwork, wounds, the way a boy with a staff carried weight like it belonged to him.
The crowd's love hit Kai like a second wind and a test in the same breath. For once, no one looked through him. They looked at him.
He clenched his fists and lifted his chin.
A ribbon of light unfurled from the gatekeepers, parting the crush. Kai stepped onto it first with Minerva on his back; Rin matched pace; Aria took the right; Lila trotted backward, waving at everyone and no one.
White cloth cut through the press. William Lockhart was suddenly there—sun in his hair, a Gold Seeker's calm wrapped tight around a small smile.
"Welcome back," he said. "You did well."
Aria elbowed Lila, whispering way too loudly. "That's him."
Lila squeaked. "The White Knight. I am breathing so normally right now."
William's gaze flicked to the dried blood on Rin's eye. "Med bay first." His eyes slid to Kai's torn gi. "Keep the staff slung. Cameras love silhouette."
Kai nodded. "Yes, sir."
Medics flowed in. Kai lowered Minerva to a stretcher. She snatched Lila's sleeve, eyes glassy but transparent.
"Y'all were incredible. Thank you for not leaving me." Pride softened. "I'll cheer you. Win the next one."
Lila squeezed her hand. "Deal. Nap aggressively. Healers hate me calling it that."
They lifted Minerva away. The cheer climbed again, a tide under their feet.
The balcony murmurs sharpened:
"Viatra confirmation."
"Lightning girl's control is real."
"Bodhi-flame boy reads older than his age."
"Water healer with field offense—Janoah will bid."
William raised a palm, and the plaza fell to a tense hum.
"By decree of the Chun exam committee," he said, voice carrying clean, "you are provisionally Iron. Ceremony tomorrow. Two days' recovery. Then we depart for Janoah. Trial by Mercy will set your place in the world. Tonight, you are home."
Aria and Lila actually hopped. Rin didn't smile, but his shoulders fell like a blade sheathed. A quiet breath walked down Kai's spine.
They followed the light path as petals drifted from upper tiers. Vendors thrust skewers and sweet buns; kids shouted names; a scribe jogged alongside and somehow wrote while sprinting.
Above the din, the world bled in through crystal and rumor:
—In a jade apothecary, Captain Darius tipped a flask. "Too sober for this," he told Alex, then grinned when the gem said Kai Xander. Alice pushed in with a crate, smelled the herbs, and smiled into the radio. "He did it."
—Behind an inn, Mushi cut once and let the blade rest on his shoulder. "Good," he said to no one. "Keep time."
—In Rajir, Sheva heard it at a stall and laughed into her scarf. "Don't make me wait."
—High in the Bodhira, Elder Xander closed a listening bead in his hand. "Show them," he murmured. "All of it."
Back at the gate, William set a hand on Kai's shoulder and another on Rin's. "Food. Baths. Medics. Sleep. Debrief at noon. Cameras at dusk. You earned the noise."
Aria wiped her face fast and pretended it was sweat. Lila flashed double peace signs at a knot of kids and nearly ate pavement. Rin glanced once at the sponsor boxes and looked away. Kai lifted the scroll—not high, just enough.
The roar answered like a promise.
They cleared the last knot of admirers and stepped into the cooling corridor behind the gate. Stone breathed back the day's heat. For a dozen paces, they were only themselves again.
"Names recorded," the announcer gem had said out there, rolling like thunder. "Kairo. Xander. Flamehart. Butters."
It lingered now in the hush.
Aria bumped Lila with a shoulder. "Celebrities, huh?"
Lila wiggled her fingers. "I'm signing noodles later. With water. Very hygienic."
Kai huffed a laugh he didn't know he needed. Rin walked a step ahead—habit—and paused at a junction where the corridor forked toward med bay and barracks.
"I'll get my eye sealed," he said without turning. "Then debrief."
Aria tilted her head. "You could try 'I'm fine.'"
Rin almost smiled. "I'm fine."
"Good job," Lila said, entirely sincere and entirely Lila.
He nodded once and went left with the medics.
William fell in beside Kai and Aria. "Tomorrow," he said, voice lower now that the plaza was behind them, "the cameras will ask the wrong questions. Answer with your feet. Let the record show you walk straight."
Kai thought of the gates, of the roar, of Elder Xander's quiet show them. He wrapped one hand tighter around Sun's worn wood.
"We will," he said.
The plaza's roar rolled on without them. Sponsor balconies leaned in; jade tablets glowed brighter; guild notaries finished their pages. Urahara's squad threaded a quieter exit lane across the square.
Vonn flexed his bandaged forearm and chuckled like a man who'd already written a chorus about the fight. "Metronome with a razor," he said. "Respect."
Urahara adjusted his glasses. Numbers were still moving behind his eyes. "Mark the eye," he told no one and everyone. "Mark the monk."
Sidney walked in silence between them, the soft-human tremble back in her hands, and didn't look over at the corridor where Aria had gone.
Si did. Just once.
"Next time," he said to the air, and meant it.
Night would bring baths, real food, and a bed. Morning would bring the provisional Iron ceremony. Two days would deliver them to Janoah lights, judgment, an arena with a name like a prayer and a threat: Trial by Mercy.
For now, there was only the aftertaste of the forest and the feel of a scroll's weight balanced against four sets of footsteps that, for the first time since the trees closed in, matched.
They hadn't looked back when they left the clearing.
They didn't know.
Morning slid through paper screens, thin and gold.
Kai lay on a cot, arms bandaged from shoulder to wrist. Every muscle in his back spoke. He tried to sit, breathed through the spin, and let it pass.
Aria was propped on pillows, hair loose. Her eyes were clear but rimmed red. She caught him looking and tucked a strand behind her ear like nothing was wrong.
Rin stood at the window with the curtain open a finger's width. His scarf hid his mouth. When light found his right eye, he blinked slowly, forced it to focus, and said nothing.
Lila had bullied two cots together. One knee up, she scribbled in a waterproof notebook, fingers stained tonic blue. She kept glancing at Aria, then at Kai, counting without noticing.
Footsteps. Voices in the hall. The man in white from yesterday stepped in, smiling warm enough to raise the room a degree.
William Lockhart.
Out in the plaza, he'd been all gold-rank pressure and clean lines. Indoors, the stories fit the face.
Aria straightened, failed to play it cool. "No way. The White Knight."
Lila's notebook slid off her knee. "I am normal. I am fine. That is actually him."
Kai blinked. "We met yesterday, right? Sorry. I did not know you were... you."
William's mouth twitched. "I remember you, Kai. The staff. The stare. And yes, that would be me."
Rin's eyebrow rose a fraction. "Figures."
Kai scratched his cheek. "The monastery is far. We don't get much news. Except once. Master Elric."
William's eyes sharpened. "You met Elric?"
"He visited when I was small." Kai sat, winced, settled. "Elder Xander said he was the strongest man alive."
"He still is," William said, setting a lacquered case on the table. "Listen up. You passed Trial by Combat. You walked out with the altar scroll. As of sunrise, you're Iron Seekers."
Lila whooped, then clapped a hand over her mouth when the nurse in the door glared death.
"There are seven ranks," William went on. "Stray, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Grand, Sage. You just left the ground. From here, life gets loud."
Aria managed a grin. "It wasn't loud already?"
"Now they pay you for it." He opened the case. Four stamped plates gleamed sun-gold on ink-jade cords. "Seeker passes. Restricted districts, guild halls, armories, archives. Access scales with rank."
He laid folded black bundles at each bed, Seeker mark stitched high on the collar. "Uniforms. Wear what you like, but this mark opens doors."
Lila ran a thumb over the crest. "We match now. Team photo later. No one argues."
Four thin books followed. "Seeker codex. Heavily censored. The children's guide to things you will eventually bleed to know."
Rin scanned the edges without touching. "Cost for the kindness, Lockhart?"
"Direct." William approved. "Tonight is the Rising Moon—citywide celebration for the top teams. Stand in front of half of Chun, bow, and avoid sparring with foreign ministers. Then two days of rest. After that, we travel to Janoah for the Trial by Mercy."
Aria's fingers tightened on her blanket. "Real stage."
"The largest," William said. "Sponsors, wagers, politics. Win, and the world writes your names. Lose with grace and you still leave with careers."
Kai touched his bandages. "And squads?"
"Five to a team," William said, pointing lazily around the room. "Captain at the top. Squad leader under them, Silver or higher. The other three are Bronze or Iron, sometimes Stray if the risk is worth it. The captain picks missions, signs contracts, and takes the blame. The leader runs the field and keeps you breathing."
Lila raised a hand. "Who led you before you captained?"
"Master Elric." William's smile went quiet. "He made us hate him and love him in the same sentence. We survived."
Aria leaned forward despite the ache. "What was he like?"
"Honest steel." William glanced at Kai. "You already know."
Images came back to Kai: calm eyes at the gate, scarred hands, the sound of a stick hitting water until dawn thinned.
"Prizes," William said, clapping once. "Fifty thousand Tola each, already in your guild accounts. Permanent accommodations in the capital are modest and secure. Access to training halls, libraries, and clinics fit for an Iron. Your name's posted at noon."
Lila's jaw dropped. Fifty thousand. I am buying tea. Bandages. Maybe a little cake."
Aria failed to hide a smile. "I like the cake plan."
Rin didn't react, already pricing a safe room in the Inner Petal and a blade commission in his head.
"One more," William added. "This year's champion team earns mentorship from one of the five of Elric's protégés. Rage, whose output can contest his master. Laila Butters, the Water Demon." His eyes flicked to Lila, an amused expression crossing his face. "You may have heard of her."
Lila studied her blanket like it had become a puzzle. "Once. Or twice. In passing."
"William Lockhart, whom the Guild already takes," he continued. A beat. "A fourth I will not name." Another beat. "And Jeremiah Abel."
Aria clocked the unnamed one and didn't press. Rin filed the silence under problems later.
"Questions?" William asked.
Kai lifted a hand. "Two. What is Sage?"
"The top," William said. "Where the world stops arguing with you."
"Second. Rising Moon. Loud?"
"Every drum you've ever heard," William said. "You'll hate it until you don't."
The nurse swept in with tinctures and a look that could level stone. "Five minutes, Commander. Then out."
"Of course." William set a small packet on Kai's blanket. "Muscle paste. Use little or you'll nap through your own ceremony."
Kai bowed—small, sincere. "Thank you."
William reached the door and paused. "Aria."
She looked up. "Yeah?"
"You'll face that dream again. Make sure it's you who opens the door next time."
Her throat worked. She nodded.
"Rin." William's gaze lingered on the red ring in Rin's iris. "Don't burn your sight for pride. I need you to see me tomorrow."
Rin's mouth almost curved. "Then stop making yourself a target."
"Never," William said, and left.
Silence pooled. Courtyard noise seeped back in—a low tide of voices and far drums.
Lila exhaled like she'd held it all night. "I kept it together. I did not scream. That is growth."
Aria huffed a laugh. "Barely."
Kai turned his pass in his hands, feeling the weight. "Stray to Iron in a month," he said, softer. "Feels fast."
Rin closed the curtain a finger's width and finally sat. "It always feels fast. It slows when you bleed."
Kai glanced over. "Is your eye okay?"
Rin wrapped the scarf a little higher. "Perfect."
Lila leaned toward Aria. "Not prying, but. You good?"
Aria stared at her hands. Sparks ticked over her knuckles and faded. "I will be."
"Good," Lila said, bright again. "We have a party to survive. I need you two to look dangerous in formal wear. Kai, we are fixing your hair."
"My hair is fine," Kai said.
"It is monk hair," Lila said. "We are in a capital."
"Monk hair has survived worse," he said, and almost smiled.
A bell tolled noon.
They drank the tinctures. Ache eased. Breathing evened. Lila's hands stopped shaking. Rin's gaze cleared, then cooled.
Outside, banners climbed palace walls. Lantern strings stretched across boulevards. The city's heart quickened for the Rising Moon.
Kai closed the codex and set it aside. "We really did it."
Aria watched the light crawl across the floorboards. "We did."
Rin tucked his pass into his coat, palm resting on Tetsuba's hilt. "Next test is the one that counts."
Lila bumped Kai's foot. "Strongest Seeker, right?"
He looked at her, then at the ceiling, and let out a breath that ran the length of his spine.
"Right."