I Fell In Love With A Girl Who Died Before I Was Even Born

My first mistake had been believing that this would be a normal class trip.

Normal for Crescent Moon Academy, that is, which is pretty far from normal anyway, but there were a few minutes where I'd been hopeful.

And things only got worse from there.

We boarded the bus. I quickly made my way to the back, but I didn't move fast enough to avoid Azuki.

As soon as she got on the bus, she saw me sitting in the back, and her eyes lit up.

"Ryu-sama! You saved me a seat!" she said, making her way to the back.

I tried to mutter an excuse.

"Um, actually, Yuki was going to—"

She snorted a laugh.

"Yuki?" she said, sitting beside me. "You're teasing me, right? It's not like Yuki's going to take up any space."

It was then that Yuki floated through the bus wall and beside me.

She looked at where Azuki was seated and shrugged, sitting through my lap.

"There," she said, getting comfortable. At least as comfortable as someone without a body can get.

Then she looked like she was about to giggle.

"Azuki, what was that funny phrase you taught me the other day?" she asked.

Azuki brought her hands up to her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Ohhhh, I know the one!" Azuki said between snickering. "If I fits, I sits!"

Yuki smiled pleasantly looking at me.

"Yes, that's the one."

A few minutes later, the rest of the students got on the bus. Then I saw someone who'd never been in our class before. She stepped onto the bus. Kurogane-sensei nodded like she'd been expecting her. Then the girl spotted Azuki and made a beeline for the seat in front of us, like a missile locked on target.

"Konami Azuki-kun!" she said as she skipped to the empty seat.

Then Azuki saw her and squealed.

"Asuka Hotaru-kun! Oh my gosh! This is going to be the best bus ride ever!"

The look of shock and horror on Kurogane-sensei's face mirrored my own, only she was sitting all the way in the front of the bus beside Larry, the driver.

Me?

I was ground zero between the tag team chaos gremlin twins: Hotaru and Azuki.

And the field trip was only beginning.

"Hotaru-san, what are you doing on this bus?" Azuki asked. "You don't have Cultural Appreciation with me and Ryu-sama."

Hotaru turned and sat sideways, legs dangling, grinning like she knew something we didn't. Her pink and green striped shoes hung off the end.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Well, duh," she said with a grin. "I'm coming along to make sure all you rambunctious yokai behave. I'm the Asuka insurance policy."

Azuki scrunched up her face, like the idea of Hotaru, a five-foot-two Crescent Moon cheerleader and part-time shinobi, serving as muscle to keep tengu, oni, and kappa in line was just too hilarious to take seriously.

I couldn't argue with that.

I agreed with her.

"So, like, what're you gonna do if one of the big yokai does step out of line?" Azuki asked.

I leaned in too. I was curious.

Hotaru's eyes lit up.

"Oh, now wouldn't that be something?" she asked. "Azuki, I'd totally have to go full-ninja on them."

She whispered this as seriously as if she'd been making a pinkie promise.

And I almost giggled as I saw Azuki's eyes grow wide with wonder.

"Wow… have you ever had to go full-ninja?" she asked reverently.

Hotaru shook her head.

"No. Not yet."

Hotaru glanced around, then leaned close. Azuki mirrored her, tilting her head to listen like a spy in training.

"But I'm ready at a moment's notice if it does," she whispered. "I've brought my lucky throwing star."

Then she opened her palm and showed Azuki a metallic ninja star with hot pink paint and bright green accents.

Azuki stared at it like she was watching the sun rise for the first time.

"Oh that's legit awesome."

Yuki leaned over to see what Hotaru was holding, and her mouth dropped open when she saw the weapon.

"Hotaru! How could you?" she asked, her voice strained with disbelief.

Hotaru cocked an eyebrow.

"Huh? What'd I do?"

Yuki crossed her arms incredulously.

"You brought an actual weapon to school," Yuki said in a hushed tone.

Hotaru and Azuki looked as though they might burst laughing.

"Yuki, it's okay," Azuki said.

Hotaru nodded.

"Yeah," she said, gesturing around the bus. "We're not in school at all."

Yuki's shoulders grew tense for a moment, then I saw her relax.

"Oh, well, yes. You're right about that. I suppose I over-reacted. Just make sure you don't throw it at anyone important."

I shook my head, exasperated.

Then the bus started up and we began to pull out of Crescent Moon Academy's front gates.

"What?" I asked. "We haven't even left the school yet?"

Yuki looked at me, her eyes full of sympathy.

"Oh, dear, you poor sweet young boy. I don't think you're ever going to be the same after this."

Kurogane-sensei turned around and began counting the students.

At least, I think that's what she was doing.

She had a paper in her hand, and she seemed to be either pointing at each student or conducting an imaginary symphony, and Kurogane-sensei looked a little old to be playing pretend.

Then she turned towards Larry the bus driver.

"Larry! Stop the bus," she said. "We're missing Yugazumi Sorane-san!"

Immediately, Fushineko-sensei sat up in the seat beside her.

I hadn't even noticed the nekomata get on the bus.

"Oh, do we really need to stop for Yugazumi Sorane-san?" she asked.

Kurogane-sensei looked like she could skin Fushineko-sensei.

"Mayumi," she said, addressing the nekomata by her first name. "Are you suggesting that we leave a student behind?"

Fushineko-sensei narrowed her eyes and didn't back down an inch.

"Nyaaaa," she said, gesturing toward us students on the bus. "The rest of the students made it. That's like, what? Ninety percent of them. You're good. Do we really need—"

Kurogane-sensei's face turned blood red.

"I'm NOT leaving one of my students behind!" she bellowed.

Fushineko-sensei rolled her eyes and sat back down.

"Yeah, well that didn't work out so well for President Bush," she muttered.

The bus came to a stop and a moment later a red-headed girl climbed on board.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she said.

The bus broke out into laughter.

Kurogane-sensei simply nodded and told Sorane to find a seat.

Fushineko-sensei suggested sitting on her couch in her dorm, but Sorane ignored her.

Or maybe she just didn't hear. She looked spaced out.

Then Sorane saw an empty seat beside Hotaru.

Azuki inhaled sharply.

"Oh no!" she said. "It looks like the space cadet is going to land on the same planet as us, Hotaru. Don't let her sit down."

Yuki huffed out her nose.

"Azuki, I'm ashamed of you. That poor girl just needs a seat."

Hotaru moved her legs and let Sorane sit down, but I saw the look she gave us.

"You don't know yet," Hotaru whispered.

Sorane's short, red hair bounced a little as she plopped down next to Hotaru. She was slimmer than the cheerleader and the tanuki, but not much taller. While Azuki was cute, and shaped a little like a bell, Hotaru was built like a well-rounded martial artist (because she was), Sorane reminded me of a willow tree.

She smiled politely at Hotaru.

"Hello," she said. "Would you like to hear some interesting facts about Inari and stained glass?"

Then she turned around in her seat and looked straight into my eyes.

"It's fascinating," she promised.

I heard my soul screaming.