I jerked awake to the murmuring of voices, soft but edged in anxiety.
Shion's voice was low and measured, the calm forced. I could hear her speaking, but couldn't make out what she was saying.
Yuki's was sharper, tinged with urgency. "Is he okay?"
My vision rippled like water before finally settling.
I was still sitting on the curb outside the konbini, arm suspended awkwardly in midair, Shion's fingertips dug into my wrist.
But I could tell, something had shifted. Something subtle but undeniable—like the air before a storm.
Shion wasn't smirking. She wasn't rolling her eyes or wearing her usual mask of predatory amusement. Instead, her face looked taut, uneasy. Wary.
I blinked, the haze in my mind slowly thinning. "What…what just happened?" My voice sounded hoarse, cracked. like I'd gone days without using it.
Shion released my wrist abruptly and folded her arms tight, pulling inward like she was guarding herself.
"You spaced out for a minute," she said, forcing her voice into casual detachment. "Stared off into nowhere, completely blank."
I knitted my brow in confusion. "Blacked out?"
Yuki drifted closer, her faded form emanating a strangely comforting chill that still made my skin prickle. She narrowed her eyes at Shion. "Tell him the rest."
Shion's shoulders dropped slightly, and a flicker of frustration crossed her face. She took a slow breath.
"Yeah, that's not all, Blondie." Her eyes searched mine for a second before she finally spoke.
"…It was your eyes."
The way she said it forced an uncomfortable prickle up my spine. "What about them?"
She hesitated, fingers twitching as if debating whether to demonstrate, then stopped herself. "They... changed. Narrowed."
I shook my head, not understanding what she meant. "Like I was squinting?"
Shion shook her head. After a tense silence, she murmured, "Your pupils—they narrowed. Not like squinting. Narrowed vertically. Like a snake."
Her words hung in the humid air, oppressive and heavy, smothering whatever comfort I'd been clinging to.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. I opened my mouth but closed it a second later.
What the hell could I say?
Snake eyes.
My hands trembled slightly as panic stirred in my gut. I felt my insides slither. I stared blankly down at the pavement, the silence stretching painfully between the three of us.
I stared so long I felt my eyes drying out.
I blinked. Several times.
Imagining my pupils stretching themselves in the center of my eye made me want to squirm.
Shion shifted her weight, tapping her fingers against her elbow in agitation, until suddenly her eyes sparked with determination.
She snapped her fingers. "This is getting us nowhere. I've got an idea."
I blinked, barely registering her words. "Sure. At this point, I'll try anything."
She smirked at me for just a second. "Why don't you just go to the office and check your school records."
I blinked. It couldn't be that easy, right? "Just check my records?"
Shion stared at me with exaggerated disbelief. "Please, Ryu, are you really this dense? It'll be on your admission records in the main office. They have to list exactly what you are, idiot. Human, youkai—something else."
"How's Ryu supposed to know something like that?" Yuki sprang to my defense.
Shion just rolled her eyes, not delighted about being questioned by a ghost.
I felt like Crescent Moon Academy was more cage than school. Somewhere, locked in that cold bureaucratic reality, was the truth about me.
And no matter what, I needed to know.
If I were a dragon, would that help me against Ken?
Or would it end up destroying me for good?
Walking back through the gates of Crescent Moon Academy felt different now.
It wasn't just that the air felt heavier, or that my body still tingled with the aftershock of whatever was happening to me. This felt external—like stepping across an invisible line I hadn't realized was there before.
Like the moment you enter a place and know you're not leaving the same.
Yuki hovered beside me, quiet but present, her winter-chilled presence brushing my shoulder like a soft breeze.
Shion strode ahead of us, her usual lazy, confident gait making it look like she owned the place. Which, I could tell, from her perspective—she kind of did.
Then Inego appeared, heading straight for us.
For a second, I thought he was walking toward me, but no—his eyes flicked to Shion, then back to me, then back to her again, like he was weighing the risk of approaching. His steps faltered just slightly before he closed the distance, stuffing his hands in his pockets like he was trying to look casual.
Shion noticed, of course.
She let out an exaggerated sigh and turned to me. Then, with all the dramatic flair of a stage actress announcing her retirement, she threw up her arms.
"Yes, Blondie, before you even ask—I actually apologized to Inego last night. Of my own free will. Without coercion. Mark it in the history books."
Inego blinked, then nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Well, yes. That's true. She did… and, uh, I feel better knowing I have a new room now. Safe from being completely drained dry in my sleep, as it were."
Shion smirked, her fangs just barely peeking out.
"Oh, sweetheart," she purred, tilting her head slightly, the way only a predator can. "If you ever want another date with me, you just have to invite me over again. We could... neck."
For all his handsome, easy-going British charm, all Inego could do was stand there while the color drained from his face.
Yuki let out a groan. "That is so lame."
Shion shot her a "like-you-could-do-better" look before glancing back at Inego, clearly delighting in the way he stiffened.
Inego cleared his throat. Loudly. "Yeah. No thanks."
"Your loss," Shion said breezily, flipping her hair over her shoulder like she hadn't just traumatized the poor guy all over again.
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.
It was too damn early for this.
Inego sighed, shifting the strap of his bag. "So, uh… bad news."
Shion raised an eyebrow. "A vampire-hunter transferred in?"
Inego actually chuckled. "Ha! Yeah, and he's going to be my new roommate."
Shion shot him a dangerous look. He rolled his eyes.
"Fine. No. Not a vampire-hunter. We've got to join a club. It's mandatory, and no one's happy about it."
Silence.
A horrible, suffocating silence.
"So, that just killed the conversation, eh?" said Inego.
Yuki was the first to react. "What?"
Shion's smirk vanished. "Hold on. Back up."
Inego shook his head. "You heard me, Fang. Clubs. Are. Mandatory."
I watched, delighted, as Shion's head drooped. "…did you just call me 'Fang'?" she asked.
But then I realized what Inego was saying, and I swore under my breath. That was the last thing I needed. Between trying to keep my head down, figuring out why I was turning into a damn reptile, and preparing for Ken's inevitable murder-Ryu-in-a-public-spectacle moment, I barely had time to breathe, let alone deal with some forced extracurricular nonsense.
"This is such crap," I muttered.
"Right?" Inego agreed. "As you Americans are so fond of saying, it's a load of 'crap.' But it's also non-negotiable. We all have to sign up by the end of the day, or they'll assign us randomly."
Perfect. Just perfect. On top of everything else, now I had to worry about joining a damn club.
And I still hadn't copied Shion's homework.
I groaned. "Fine, whatever. I'll deal with that later. Right now, I need your homework before first period."
Shion's lips curled into a grin. Way too fast. Without hesitation, she reached into her bag and slapped a stack of stapled papers on my palm.
"Here, Blondie. Feel free to copy it."
Suspicious, I looked down and felt my heart sink.
Written in the middle of the page, in bold, careless handwriting, were the words:
"Homework is for nerds."
I heard Yuki gasp. "Shion! Ryu let you drink his blood in exchange for copying his homework!"
Shion just shrugged. "Yeah, and I said he could copy it, if he wanted to."
Yuki was incredulous. She floated in a small, angry circle. "You were up all night! You don't even sleep."
Shion put her hands behind her head in mock-consideration. "And yet I still didn't bother to do it."
I tossed Shion's homework back to her. "Here. What the hell were you doing all night instead?" I asked.
Shion just playfully grinned. "Whatever I want."
I clenched my jaw. "Are you—" I inhaled sharply. "Shion."
Inego sighed. "You bring this on yourself, Ryu."
Before I could strangle Shion, Azuki appeared out of nowhere, bouncing into the group like she'd just had six cups of coffee.
"Good morning, everyone!" she sang, practically vibrating.
Yuki's head whipped around. "Azuki! Can Ryu copy your homework?"
Azuki beamed. "Of course!" She happily handed me crumpled sheets of paper covered in… something.
I stared.
It was just random drawings, spirals, and what I could only describe as eldritch hieroglyphics. Lovecraft's doodles. Modern art on a cocaine binge. I turned the paper sideways. Then upside down.
"…What the hell am I looking at?"
Azuki tilted her head, smiling innocently. "Oh! It's written in the language of dreams."
I closed my eyes, inhaled. I felt Yuki float closer and I pretended that helped.
Inego sighed and pulled his own homework out of his bag. "Here. But don't make a habit of this. It's not my responsibility, and I'm not bailing you out every time."
"You're a saint," I said, grabbing it before he could change his mind.
With one last glare at Shion and her useless 'nerds' homework, I quickly copied Inego's answers and stuffed my notebook away.
Then I slung my bag over my shoulder and turned toward the main office.
Time to find out what the hell I actually am.