Shion leaned against the rusted railing outside the onsen like it was the only thing holding her together. The wind stirred her hair just enough to remind me she was real, but she looked miles away.
I realized she was thinking.
Heck, I was glad she could. Ever since our "fight" in the park I felt like I'd been on a whiskey binge.
Cheap stuff too by the feel of it.
"My best guess?" she said, voice flat. "Your senses are catching up with whatever the hell your 'black dragon spirit' thing is. You're not used to it… yet."
She didn't look at me when she said it—just stared off at the moonlight bouncing off the ocean like she was trying to decode a riddle no one had written down.
I looked up from where I was sitting on the grass beside her, head in my hands. I would've spent the rest of the yen in my wallet to stop the world from spinning so quickly.
"You can't control it, so it's screwing with you," she added.
Yuki perked up. "Ohhh, I know what that means."
Yeah, me too.
I was going to have to work and practice controlling it.
"I bet there's someone at the onsen who can help with that," Yuki teased.
I groaned. "Yeah, and I bet she'll just be thrilled to train me."
"Oh my god. Blondie, you've just got to record it!" said Shion. "Please! I can't miss this for the world! If this were a story in a magazine, I'd subscribe just to see what happens to you."
She grinned at me. "But seriously, what you're doing—it's all instinct. Happens when your adrenaline spikes, like when I tossed that love tap at you."
She pushed off the rail and crossed her arms, the motion stiff, guarded.
"I don't think it's my bite," she said after a beat.
I heard Yuki sniff. "You wouldn't. You've always said it's not you."
Shion just rolled her eyes. "I mean… it happened after I bit you. But that's not the same thing. It wasn't the bite, okay?"
Yuki tilted her head skeptically.
"Just hear me out for a second before we point any more fingers, Yuki. It was the way you felt about the bite. The fear. The tension. The..." She trailed off, eyes narrowing. "It was traumatic."
Then she looked away, taking a breath. "I'm… sorry about that."
No joke. No eye roll. Just that.
She crossed her arms tighter, like she was trying to wrap herself in armor.
Headache or not, I stepped forward before I could talk myself out of it and reached forward. My fingers closed gently around her arm.
She looked back at me, startled. Not scared. She was surprised I touched her like that. Like I meant it.
"Thanks," I said quietly. "For everything tonight. For calling me out when I was acting stupid—"
"Acting?"
I ignored her and continued. "For showing me Dick's Discotheque and… you know."
She smirked. "…do you thank every girl who shows you Dick's?"
Yuki's mouth dropped open, but I just laughed.
And I looked back at Shion, and a hint of a smile pulled at her mouth.
She didn't say anything.
"I'll see you at clubs tomorrow," I said.
I began walking toward the onsen, Yuki floating by my side.
Shion scoffed as she swung her leg over her bike. "No you won't," she muttered. "You'll see me tomorrow morning, Blondie. Don't even try to get me to skip breakfast. I'll be outside the onsen like always."
I turned around in time to catch a haughty look on her face.
"Don't keep me waiting, either. I'll be hungry," she smiled, flashing the tips of her fangs.
Then she pedaled off toward Crescent Moon Academy, fading into the dim streetlight glow like some punk-rock vampire courier with better things to do than explain herself.
I grinned as I watched her ride away, half amused, half unnerved.
Shion's version of "breakfast" was basically the 1700s version of bloodletting. Like those old-timey doctors who thought sticking leeches on someone would fix their cough. Except in this case, the leech had fishnets and trust issues.
"She has a dainty butt," said Yuki, right beside me.
I jumped.
She floated closer, looking smug. "You were watching it."
"I wasn't."
"You were." She folded her arms. "I saw what you were looking at."
"I guess, but I didn't mean to. I was just watching her ride away and…"
She giggled and floated a loop around me, but I didn't miss the way her eyes followed the path Shion took down the road.
Then I heard her sigh. "Shion's cute, but she's too bony. That British boy might like her, but she acts like she's prettier than she is."
I grinned as we neared Shin'yume-sou. "You're prettier. Especially with the way Azuki did your hair. But… the point is, Yuki, you're kind."
I heard her breathe in sharply, surprised. "You-you mean it?"
We stopped on the stone path outside the swinging front doors. "Of course I mean it. I like Shion, but everything she says, everything feels like it cuts. I know she's trying to help but…"
I remembered Ivan's blood, juices dripping off her nails onto the forest floor.
I remembered her, cold, motionless, lying in the dark.
Then I remembered how she felt, clinging to me, afraid of herself.
"I'll always be there for you, Ryu," said Yuki.
For just a second, I felt her hand on my shoulder before it faded.
"I know," I said.
Back inside Shin'yume-sou, the air smelled like salt, mold, and old tatami mats that had too many stories to tell and no one left to listen. I made a quick sweep through the building, doing my half-assed janitor duties like I knew Hibana would grade me for it later.
Which… yeah, she would.
Cleaning here was like trying to sweep sand off the beach with a hand fan. Pipes moaned. Walls wept. Of course it was the upstairs pipes that perpetually leaked onto the ceilings below. I spent most of my time ducking corners and dodging Hibana.
When I didn't see her at supper, I got my hopes up.
And that was my own fault.
Because when Yuki and I went upstairs…
She was already waiting by my door.
She leaned against the wall beside my room, arms folded across her chest. But her usual flame wasn't burning. Her head was tilted down, long ponytail casting shadows across her face.
"I'm here for two reasons," she said without looking up. "So I'll do the easy one first."
I took a long, tense breath. She didn't call me baka.
She was serious.
I didn't move. "Okay…"
She looked up. Dead center. "Where's the rent money?"
I flinched. "Rinko paid me this morning, yeah, but—"
"Yeah. I know. She paid everyone. Now I want rent for the owner."
I coughed. "I… used it."
Her eyes narrowed. "Baka… of course you did. On what?"
I swallowed. "A cellphone?"
She raised one of her eyebrows. "Are you asking me, you complete ingrate?"
I felt my hands tighten into fists.
"Ryu, it's fine," I heard Yuki say.
"I'll get it to you," I promised. "Tomorrow. Swear."
"You will," she said calmly. "Because I know where you sleep."
The worst part? She didn't say it like a threat. She said it like a weather forecast. Just a known, unchanging fact.
Then her eyes drifted to Yuki, who hovered nearby, still glowing faintly and looking like a walking art project from a candy shop explosion.
"Her hair," Hibana said to me flatly. "What the hell happened?"
"Azuki," I said.
Hibana exhaled, long and slow. "I wish you'd leave Yuki alone."
I blinked. "Why won't you even talk to her? She's right here, you know. You can see her too, just like I can."
Hibana stuck her chin forward. "You're not helping her."
That one hit. No heat in the voice. Just weight.
Then she stepped in closer. I was about to open my mouth when she met my eyes—really met them.
"I saw you," she said. "With Shion."
My chest tightened.
Hibana suddenly stepped back.
And I could feel her through the floorboards.
She shifted her weight to her back foot and put all her power into her fist. She stepped in like she was going to throw a punch.
And I reacted. Instantly. I dropped my center of gravity, shoulders tensed, ready to block or duck or something—
But her fist never came.
She leaned in instead, just enough that I felt her body heat radiating off her.
I could see her muscles, tense, under her soft red yukata.
She was strong. Solid. Her frame was lean muscle, toned and coiled like a spring. I noticed. Everything. Her buxom figure beneath the loose fabric around her frame.
The way her breath brushed my cheek. The sheer closeness of her amber eyes, green swirling with brown hues, like a hidden autumn forest.
Oh hell no. NOT Hibana.
Then she leaned closer. Her breath against my cheek like a cold blade.
"Snake eyes," she hissed. It burned her throat just to say it.
I flinched.
She pulled back slowly, her eyes locked on mine. Unblinking.
"You're going to need help if you're going to control that 'dragon spirit' crap. I saw what it did to you afterwards. Worthless. And none of your girlfriends seem to know what they're doing…"
She poked a finger into my chest, right over my heart. "Especially Inego…"
"...you're stuck with me. NO. Gods, NO. I'm stuck with you. Ugh!"
I swallowed hard.
"Get some rest," she said. "Training starts tomorrow."
Then she turned and walked down the hall like nothing had happened.
"Training!" Yuki squealed behind me, spinning in a circle. "Ryu, that's so great! You're finally getting help!"
I didn't answer. I just stared down the hall, fists clenched at my sides.
She was right.
But I wasn't happy.
Not even a little.
"American-jin," I heard a whiny, feline voice as soon as I opened the door to mine and Yuki's room.
"Give Natsumi love."