“Who's the one next to Professor Mine?”

“Another Karawaga?”

“Look, the Golden Professor is walking with the newbie.”

“Who's that newbie?”

Breathe in… Breathe out… Mine murmured to himself while walking among the crowd at the university. His cousin Mashitsu walked beside him, sometimes absent-minded, sometimes gasping at each detail along the way.

Mine looked at every single person's whispering lips, judging eyes, and twisted mouth. Without classes that afternoon, the young professor decided to make company to his cousin to the Practices Arena. While Mine was the embodiment of “busy agenda,” Mashitsu was a walking “Carpe Diem” flag. The fiery-haired young man worked at Mine’s neighbors’ gardens and studied in the end of the day. Once yardwork wasn’t a hurdle for Mashitsu, he spent the mornings and afternoons much joyfully – and earning some cash, of course.

Now, Mashitsu’s mind, as he walked, was as empty as the birds’ who hit their head on the building’ glass. He contrasted with his cousin Mine, who seemed to be thinking like a lagging computer with full RAM memory. However, his lagging cousin didn’t crash because his eyes, surveying the whispering people, found that each candidate had something in their hands.

It was a lucky charm. A colored pencil, a bracelet, an earring, a stuffed toy, a coat, a blouse… there were many items being held by the candidates. Turning to the side, Mine found Mashitsu also carrying something in hands: a little bag of herbs. Mine recalled his cousin telling him his mother made that little pouch – that fit in the palm of his hand – and his father had painted a lucky charm on it with red ink.

Viewing from a different perspective, the candidates at times appeared like a group prepared for battle and at other times like a group ready for defeat.

Snapping from being frozen again, Mine looked at Mashitsu as they walked. “Cousin, aren’t you nervous?” he asked, now noticing how positively relaxed Mashitsu was.

"Nah, I'm at ease!" Mashitsu beamed. "I've studied enough, and Zuroke helped me with a few things yesterday. So, I'm confident enough!"

Mine let out a relief sigh as a shy smile sketched his lips. “Well, I wish I had your eyes.”

Mashitsu faintly chuckled and something grabbed his attention behind Mine. It was the candidates’ papers! A gasp from him was enough for Mine to turn as well and notice the paper too.

“The candidates’ papers…” Mine muttered, approaching the enchanted wall near the arena.

Mashitsu frowned, something was odd. “There’s… fewer candidates…?”

Some names were crossed out in red in a very rough way. Originally, there were five columns with about ten students in each, but the candidates were able to be summarized in just two columns.

“I know the practical test isn’t easy… but this evasion is absurd,” Mine muttered, rubbing his chin.

“It means I need to work hard here too,” Mashitsu cheered himself and his name tag on the chest glowed. “Oh, they’re about to call my name.”

Mine gasped and grabbed his cousin’s hand. “Let me give you some tips!” He dragged him to the nearest bench.

They weren’t the only ones to review a few topics before the test. More candidates did the same, some in groups, others alone and others even talking to the birds or their luck charms. A minority waited, doing nothing, and, of course, there were the ones who prayed with their amulets in hand.

“Next, candidate nº 12930.”

Mashitsu began to feel his hands getting colder.

“Next, candidate nº 30942 and candidate nº 09348.”

The other candidates felt the jolt of shock in their stomachs.

“Next, candidate nº 30494.”

Mashitsu began to disperse in the reviews until they finished the last topic.

“Next, candidate nº 2033-”

Both Mashitsu and Mine froze.

“Sorry, it was candidate nº 39485.”

They sighed in relief, but Mashitsu couldn’t review anything anymore.

“Oh cousin, I’m so nervous I could shit my pants,” Mashitsu cold-sweated, hands telling his nervousness was present.

Mine chuckled and took one of his cousin’s hands. "Don't fret. Let's do what my sister taught me once. C’mon," he said and took Mashitsu’s other hand. “Breathe in… hold a sec… then breathe out.”

Mashitsu followed Mine's instructions, half trembling and half tense, but he tried anyway. His hands were larger than Mine's and more calloused from days in the fields and gnome-hunting nights with his father. Mine, with his smaller, slender hands warmed his cousin’s cold and damp hands, just as he used to do when they were kids.

Taking care of his youngest cousin reminded him of the nights when the noises of owls scared the toddler Mashitsu. He ran to his older cousin's bed on the floor, hiding in the sheets and disturbing the sleep of his other cousin, Zuroke. Mine tucked him into the sheets and stroked his hair while Zuroke grumbled, trying to go back to sleep.

While Zuroke was the first to fall asleep again, Mashitsu was still trembling with the noise of the owls and whispered to Mine that he was scared to death. Mine would smile, half-asleep and half-awake, and say soothing words to distract his cousin from outside noises. Then, he'd illuminate the ceiling with Mana stars Zuroke taught him. So, the little boy with fiery hair would slowly close his eyes until he fell asleep.

Footsteps on the gravel nearby made Mine look back to the noise source, but there was nothing there, and another sound filled in and drowned out the other people's chatter.

“Next, candidate nº 20335.”

“Ah! It’s me!” Mashitsu gasped.

“Good luck, cousin!” Mine beamed. “And keep calm. Mrs. Hera and Lydia are cool teachers,” he cheered.

Mashitsu faintly chuckled and opened a sheepish smile. “Thank you, cousin,” he grinned.

And there went Mashitsu. A bit wobbly, a bit confident and a bit awkward. A tall kid made of many “bits” Mine couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of his cousin giving Mrs. Hera his admission before entering the arena. Mine let out a sigh of relief and sat on the bench again. He felt a bit tense for his cousin’s test, but all he could do was cheer and think positively.

While Mine pondered about the possible tests Mashitsu would face, something approached and dropped a paper bag on his feet. Not only the noise, but the sudden texture made Mine jump, startled.

“Meow!” A dark furred cat brought Mine’s eyes to the odd courier.

Mine blinked, disbelieved. “Umbra?!!” He gasped, confused. Umbra puffed and nudged the paper bag with her nose, indicating that Mine had to take it anyway. Mine sighed and took it. “All right… I’ll take it…”

It was small, the size of a regular notebook, and it was full, so much so that whatever was inside had partially deformed its original rectangular shape. Mine lightly shook the bag, and there seemed to be more than one item inside it. Whatever was inside, it was small. No bigger than a glass's lid or something like that. Intrigued, Mine placed the package on the lap while Umbra watched him eagerly as if waiting for something.

Opening the paper bag, Mine spotted what was inside and voiced an “oh.”

Biscuits. From different sizes, scents and colors. Some had sprinkles on top, others had none, and an ambitious attempt to put strawberry jam on one seemed to have worked.

The smell of flour baked with butter and sugar permeated Mine’s nostrils and soon made his taste buds receive the message that he wanted to eat. He took one of the cookies and removed it from the packaging, taking a bite immediately after the chosen flavor: chocolate with salted caramel on top.

The flavor was intriguing, but whoever made it knew what they were doing. The bitterness of the chocolate, the sweetness of the few grains of crystal sugar sprinkled on top, and the light saltiness of the caramel placed in a thread on top of the whole complemented each other. Still, Umbra watched him with the same expression, and her whiskers twitched.

“I can’t give you these,” Mine chuckled, “they’re poisonous for cats,” he caressed Umbra’s ears.

Then, Mine took the next flavor to taste. It wasn’t as fancy as the previous one, but it was perfect. Honey with sprinkles on top. The crunch of the sprinkles complemented the softness and velvety of the dough. The taste was as expected, so Mine was very satisfied with the mysterious pastry chef's result.

Mine couldn’t believe they were so delicious… but something felt off because… “wait, Umbra… did you steal it?!!” He cold sweated, swallowing the last crumbs of the cookie with difficulty.

“Me…ow,” Umbra meowed in a certain direction, not too far and kind of very close. To a particular sapling beside a grown tree.

Umbra’s whiskers twitched and her ears dropped. From the direction Umbra was looking at, Mine saw a man come out from a mist out.of.nowhere!!!

When Mine’s eyes got accustomed to the mist, he gasped when he identified the man’s voice. “I finally found you!” The man grumbled, taking Umbra and lifting the cat as they looked at each other eye-to-eye level. “I swear! You love giving me trouble because- no! First, look at my arms!! Look how much you scratched me today!!”

Indeed, the man’s arms were scratched all over made by a feline blade. Despite being sweaty, the man smelled the same biscuits in the paper bag. That fuzzy, dark hair and grumbling personality Mine could identify from miles away. How could that man not recognize Mine?

“Addai?” Mine called, almost in a whisper.

Addai froze. Slowly turning his gaze to Mine, his face gradually lost color.

Their eyes finally met. Pink gems from one met the golden and ocean blue gems of the other.

But all Addai could think of was a long and heartfelt “Shiiiiiiiiiit”.