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

First period was a nekomata-filled nightmare.

We were studying more Edo-era literature, on top of the Fitzgerald stuff Fushineko-sensei seemed weirdly obsessed with.

But none of that mattered.

Not when I could feel Murasaki's judgment burning the back of my neck like a sunburn.

"She's looking at you," Yuki whispered.

I sighed and stared out the window.

Grey clouds hovered above the Northern Pacific. A few cars came and went from Shin'yume. Birds drifted in and out of the blossoming sakura trees like they had somewhere better to be.

Then I felt a single finger trace down my spine. Cool. Smooth. Goosebumps raised in its wake.

"Outside earlier. That was unkind, darling," Murasaki whispered in my ear.

I turned just enough to glance at her, only to wish I hadn't.

She looked like she'd been crying.

Not a fake cry. No dramatic flair. Just raw streaks of mascara on pale cheeks and red-rimmed eyes.

Everything about Murasaki's appearance was usually rehearsed. Every word. Every glance was magazine-ready perfect.

But this wasn't performance.

This was real.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, not even sure what I was apologizing for.

She leaned back in her seat, eyes closed.

"You are?"

Yuki leaned closer, her voice low but firm.

"Ryu," she said. "Please. For your sake. And hers. Be careful but be honest."

My throat felt dry.

"Yeah. I grabbed your hand, didn't I?"

I winced. Why were these things always so hard?

"You did," she said, leaning forward a little.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. And she raised one of her eyebrows.

"Why?"

That's the $64,000 dollar question, isn't it?

"Um… because I didn't want you to…"

Her eyes lit up, and she allowed herself to smile.

"You didn't want me to leave?" she asked, as though she'd just found a sacred treasure.

No question, Andy would've gone for it, consequences be damned.

I remember that he, I always needed reassurance. Needed to know his decisions, right or wrong, were justified by at least one other person.

Like that somehow made it okay.

But me? Ryu?

I wanted to bring Murasaki into the group.

Not because I needed her to matter, but because she needed to believe she did.

And I thought that might be possible until I heard Inego make a "tsk" sound from across the room.

The look of pain on his face was palatable.

"Mate," Inego said as I walked out of Literature. "You know you're sticking your head in a lion's mouth."

Then he paused, like he was considering something.

"Unless you've got something that makes you immune to charms?"

I shook my head.

"Ah," he said, looking genuinely sad. "Yeah. No one does."

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Then I felt it. Through the floor, through the rhythm of my own heartbeat.

Murasaki was behind me.

"Hey," she said, looping her arm through mine like it had always belonged there.

Inego rolled his eyes.

"You're impossible to please, so hush," Murasaki teased.

I heard Yuki scoff beside us.

"I heard you're just plain easy," she said.

And I wished, more than anything, that I could stop falling somewhere in the middle of everything happening around me.

"Listen," I said, but I had no clue what I was about to say next.

Turned out I didn't have to worry because a sudden commotion broke out at the other end of the hallway.

"You get back here, you black-haired little nightmare!"

All four of us turned at once.

At the far end of Withers Hall, right next to the Anton LaVey Appreciation Auditorium, was Shion.

She wore a wicked grin.

Ivan stormed after her, one thick finger extended, missing the entire tip. Blood sprayed across the school's grungy linoleum as he pointed.

Shion kept walking, cool as hell, pretending like she hadn't noticed.

She spotted me, grinned, and started to skip.

"Come here and give me the rest of my finger!" Ivan shouted.

She tossed something behind her without looking.

"Here," she said, bored. "You dropped this earlier."

Something soft and pink hit Ivan's chest, leaving a little wet mark as it rolled to the floor.

He froze, stared at the stain.

Then bent down to grab it.

Just before he reached the severed tip of his finger, Obie the Bitter Dwarf shoved past him and snatched it up.

"I'll be takin' that, lad," he said gruffly.

Ivan stared at him, seething with impotent rage.

"Neh," Obie snorted. "I'm the janitor. Don't like it? Take it up with Suiren-sensei."

He crossed his arms. Ivan's posture deflated like a kicked sack of flour.

"Yeah, I thought as much."

Ivan looked up and locked eyes with Shion, now standing beside me.

But he didn't point at her.

He jabbed the bloody stump in my direction.

"This is on you, Kazeyama!" he bellowed.

I stepped forward.

"Good," I said. "Why don't you give yourself a hand?"

Shion laughed beside me.

Inego actually stepped by my side, his wand already in his hand.

Then, to my surprise, Murasaki moved to my side.

She glanced at me, made eye contact, then turned back toward Ivan with her hands on her hips, solid and unbothered.

Ivan just grinned.

"You gonna make the little purple princess fight for you this time?" he asked.

Obie laughed at that one.

Before anyone could answer, Fushineko-sensei stepped forward.

"Come on, everyone," she said, sounding like she'd rather be anywhere else. "You know the routine. Head to the gym. Then we can see the dragon fight the troll."

She pinched the bridge of her nose as students lined up to walk to the gym.

"Oh boy. It must be Friday," she said with an exasperated sigh.

We started walking toward the gym with the rest of the class, moving like a herd on auto-pilot. I stayed in step with Shion, who had her hands shoved into the pockets of her black and silver Crescent Moon Academy jacket and looked entirely too pleased with herself.

Murasaki clung to my other side, refusing to leave.

Shion ignored her, and she ignored Shion, which was a relief.

I turned to the vampire, keeping my voice low.

"What the hell did you just get me into?"

She shrugged.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Ivan took that entirely too personally."

Yuki floated in front of Shion, arms crossed and angry.

"Did you cut off his finger?" she asked.

Shion gave her a look like she'd just asked if she ate drywall.

"Is that what you think?" she asked. "No! Gross. He did that himself in shop class. Band saw incident."

That made Murasaki blink. "What a brute. He cut off his own finger?"

"Yeah," she said, almost cheerfully. "He's a troll. So what? Everyone knows his finger'll grow back in a few minutes. He's just bitchin' because I picked up the bloody end. The wuss."

I winced. "Jesus."

"Right? I wasn't even in the class. I was just walking by when I saw him yell and chuck a wrench at the ceiling."

She took a breath and giggled. No shame.

Inego gave me a long-suffering look.

"And you decided that it was your duty to pick it up?" he asked, amazed.

Shion nodded, totally unfazed.

"He didn't need it anymore. He was pissed, already yelling about 'blood oaths' and 'vengeance' or whatever. Thought it'd be funny."

"You kept his fingertip to mess with him."

"Well," she said, dragging the word out, "I didn't not keep it to mess with him."

I stared at her.

Inego scoffed under his breath. "That shouldn't be hot."

Shion smirked. She'd heard him.

"Besides," she said. "He didn't even want it back until he saw me holding it. So really, I was doing him a favor."

"Yeah, you're a saint," I muttered.

"Thank you," she said brightly.

Then I felt Murasaki's fingers wrap around my arm, gently pulling herself beside me.

"Darling," she began, soft but urgent. "Listen. There's so much more you need to know, and we don't have time for it."

I nodded. I knew what she meant: my dragon abilities.

She looked up at me, concern lining her violet eyes.

"Don't let yourself get overwhelmed out there," she said.

Then she stopped walking, and I stopped with her.

The group paused a beat later, but Murasaki already had her other hand on my neck, gently pulling me closer.

I didn't resist and somehow, I wasn't afraid.

I knew she wasn't going to kiss me, even though I didn't know what she was going to do.

She rested her forehead against my chest and leaned into me until I felt the warmth of her body and she hugged me a little.

And almost instantly, I felt better.

Like some weight I hadn't realized I'd been carrying had just been lifted.

"There," she said, stepping back and smiling at me.

Yuki floated in close, panicked.

"Ryu! Something happened. She did something… supernatural! Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I feel great," I muttered.

Murasaki beamed.

"You do? Good. You shouldn't have to carry your burdens alone, Ryu-kun."

Shion stepped forward beside her.

"What'd you do to him?"

Murasaki's smile faltered. She took a step back as Shion loomed.

"Shion," I said, but she didn't stop.

"Well?" she snapped. Her voice was sharp, too high.

Somehow, in that moment, I felt Murasaki's panic like ice water down my spine.

"N-nothing!" she said, backing off. "I just wanted to help!"

Inego stepped beside Shion.

"I'm afraid I'm on Fang's side with this one."

Murasaki turned to me, eyes pleading.

"Hey," I said.

Everyone turned.

"Guys. I'm fine."

And I was. Or…

I felt fine, even though I was about to get into another fight at Crescent Moon Academy.

Actually, I felt about ten thousand things, and all of them were uncomfortable.

But whatever Murasaki did a moment ago… it helped.

And I wasn't about to lie.