I barely had time to get my thoughts together before stepping into first period. The moment I crossed the threshold, Inego's eyes were on me. Not just a glance—he was watching me, his usual relaxed expression gone.
Fushineko-sensei, tail flicking lazily behind her as she lounged at the front of the class, barely looked up from her lesson plan.
"Kazeyama," she said. "Take your usual seat."
I was about to step forward when I felt it. Disturbing, disgusting, crawling vibrations scuttling across the floor by my feet. I hesitated, not wanting to move...
Something skittered from beneath Fushineko-sensei's desk out the door.
My eyes caught it—one of Hina's spider-things slipping out of the classroom. Its too-many legs moved like ink bleeding across a page, twisting, vanishing into the hallway before anyone else noticed.
Fushineko-sensei coughed. Clearly, she didn't care that I saw something crawl from her desk; she just wanted order in her classroom.
I clenched my jaw and sat down.
Fushineko-sensei lazily rolled her head, tilting it like a cat, debating whether or not to pounce. "Oh, and the office sent a note. Apparently, you were running late."
The words hung in the air, heavier than they should've been.
Oh. Was that the thing I saw crawling out of class?
"As many of you already know," Fushineko-sensei's voice had the same, grating feline whine her daughter, Natsumi, had.
I rolled my eyes. The rest of the class let out a collective groan.
The nekomata narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "Nnnnyyyaa, well, no one said you had to like it, but you've got to deal with it. I'm just letting you know."
She looked over the brim of her cat-eye glasses. "There's a reason the school's making you join a club, got it? It's not just because we like picking on you."
I watched as her upper lip split all the way up to her nose as she smirked.
"Even though we do," she said.
I had to suppress a shudder. She acted exactly like her daughter. I was glad she wasn't yawning and stretching in front of first period.
"Being in a club means you're forced to confront social dynamics. Just like you will be in the human world. You'll have to learn how to get along with each other… just like you would—"
"—in the human world," the class finished.
I watched Fushineko's tail twitch in frustration. "Nnnnyyyaahhh, that's right. But next time, raise your hand if you have something to say. Now… get out your literature books."
I exhaled through my nose and forced myself to focus on my notebook.
I had bigger things to worry about than Edo-period courtesan literature, so I started to scribble as she spoke.
Somewhere, out there, I wondered if my old high school friends would recognize me if I showed up, looking fifteen again. I wondered if there was another me out there.
My handwriting was a mess of half-written class notes, broken kanji, and—guitar chords, a habit I couldn't shake. My fingers moved instinctively when I was bored, mapping out songs I knew by muscle memory.
I heard Yuki gasp. "Oh no, it's her!"
Then—a hand on my shoulder.
Soft. Warm.
I turned, and Violet-Eyes was sitting right there in the desk behind me.
The girl from the nurse's office. The one who'd guarded Inego like he was a prize she refused to share.
And now, she was looking at me.
I saw a grin pull at the corner of her mouth as he moved her hand from my shoulder.
She hadn't been sitting behind me yesterday. I would have noticed.
She was beautiful, but on the other end of the spectrum from Yuki's beauty.
Yuki's was pretty the same way an untouched winter's day is beautiful: it simply exists. This girl was beautiful like a fashion magazine: calculated for maximum appeal.
She blushed. "I don't believe we've been introduced." Her voice was light, playful—like she already knew me and was just humoring the formalities.
"I'm Murasaki Kagehime." Her voice practically sang.
I stared for a second longer than I should have before answering. Something about her presence made my brain slow down.
She noticed. I could tell the way her eyes flashed for a second.
She wasn't just introducing herself. She was learning, absorbing every piece of information about me like a sponge.
"…Ryu-san."
She giggled. "Ryu-kun, huh?"
That giggle—too perfect. Smooth, practiced. Like she'd spent time getting it right.
From behind me, I heard Inego coughing.
Murasaki looked over my shoulder to my notebook, scanning the pages like they were hers to read.
She saw the guitar chords and her red lips smiled, showing off her perfectly white teeth.
"You play?" she asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Then, before I could stop her, she grabbed my left hand.
Her fingers were delicate. Her touch light, teasing. Soft as a mosquito just before the sting.
She turned my hands over, tracing the calluses.
And I immediately noticed her lemon-ginger perfume.
"Oh, yeah." A small smile. "You've got rough fingers from playing guitar."
I stiffened.
The way her fingers just seemed to effortlessly glide across my skin was like a warm bath inside my brain. It felt wonderful. Like a dream. I could let her hold my hand all day.
And that just wasn't right.
Something in the way she spoke felt too familiar. Too… personal.
Before I could respond, Yuki's voice slid in like ice water down my back.
"Ryu," she whispered, floating just behind me, her voice sharp. "I don't like this."
She shifted, hovering closer to my ear.
"Inego's been trying to get your attention this whole time."
I blinked.
Then, slowly, I turned toward him.
Inego was staring—his eyes as wide as saucers.
His gaze flicked to Murasaki, then back to me.
He shook his head. "No. Bad move."
Mouth slightly open, barely breathing, he shook his head again.
No.
Something about that made my stomach twist.
Murasaki leaned in.
Too close.
Her breath brushed my ear, her voice like silk curling around my brain.
"Don't you think Inego is kind of a jerk?"
And before I even had time to think—
I nodded.
Yeah. Inego was a jerk. Why hadn't I noticed before?
NO.
What?
The thought slid in so easily, so naturally, like it had always been there. But that wasn't right.
I shook my head slightly, trying to clear it.
Why the hell would I think that?
I will not have my thoughts toyed with!
Something in my brain fought back, hard.
I clamped my jaw shut and sat up suddenly enough to make Murasaki jump back in her seat.
Inego wasn't a jerk. Inego was one of the only people here I actually trusted.
So why—
I felt my pulse in my throat.
Slowly, I turned back to Murasaki.
She was still smiling.
And her fingers were still resting on my hand.