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

The John St. John Long Wellness Center was way too quiet when I walked in.

And dark.

Hospitals, wellness centers, clinics are bright, white, and clean.

The nurse's office here was dark, lit with dingy 40 watt, at best, fluorescent bulbs that looked like they were trying to spew their light though a layer of dust.

The entire place smelled slightly acidic, and it burnt.

Walking in, I saw a boy lying on a cot. Wires were hooked up to a machine and I had no clue what it did. Then I saw the wires ran under his skin and through his body.

"They itch," he said when he saw that I was looking. "But the nurse says I can't scratch them.
I quickly walked away.

Inego was on a bed, his uniform coat lying beside him. A bandage covered his neck. His face was pale, but his breathing was steady.

He was asleep.

Violet-eyes sat beside him, arms crossed tight, her nails digging into her sleeves.

Her entire posture screamed possessive. Not just watching over him—guarding him, making sure no one got close.

"Don't touch him. He's mine!" I remembered her saying.

Shion was in the next room.

On a separate bed.

Alone.

She wasn't restrained.

She wasn't moving or talking either.

Just sitting there, her head turned toward the window, her eyes unfocused.

The nurse, an older woman with a hunched back and heavy-lidded eyes, glanced at me over her glasses.

"She's stable. So is he. But they both need rest."

She croaked, her voice dry and inhuman.

Calm. Detached. I could tell she was watching everything.

She was a good nurse.

Behing me, Inego let out a small, pained groan.

Violet-eyes immediately turned to him, her hand gently brushed his forehead, her face softened for just a second before snapping back to its usual scowl.

"You shouldn't be moving, darling."

Inego squinted at me, his lips parted like he wanted to say something.

Wand.

He mouthed it to me: silent plea for help.

His eyes darted to the violet-eyed girl beside him.

And something in his face changed.

Fear.

I nodded to Inego.

I'd get his wand, but I needed to check on Shion first, and a slight wink from him told me he understood.

I stepped into her room.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window.

Her fingers twitched. Slow. Deliberate. Like she was holding onto something invisible.

She only paused for a second before continuing. Her way of acknowledging my presence.

"Shion?"

Nothing.

"Are you—"

No movement. "I'm fine."

Her voice was flat. Too even, tight.

"Are you, though?"

She turned slowly. "I said I'm fine."

Same tone. Same hollow response.

I hovered at the doorway for a moment.

No. That was selfish.

I was ashamed of myself. I took a step forward, further into her room.

And her fingers froze just inches above the bed, waiting for me.

"Inego—" I said.

She flinched at his name.

"…he needs me to go to his room to grab his wand. I'll be back in a few."

I turned to leave.

"No."

She got up.

"I'm coming with you."

I tried to suppress a shiver.

What was Shion capable of?

As soon as we stepped into the main room with Inego, Violet-Eye's voice cut through the air like a whip.

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"YOU."

The way Shion's hair hung flat over her face told me she was in no mood.

"You nearly drained him!"

Shion did that thing where she stood perfectly still.

Her fingers stopped twitching, and she turned her head with an unnerving, robotic smoothness.

Only a second or two passed, but the weight in the room seemed to hang overhead like a planet.

"…I left some for you," Shion whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Her nails pressed into her palms. For a second, I thought she might turn, might say something else. But then she just walked straight out of the room and I barely had time to follow.

"Shion… that was golden," said Yuki as she floated by my side.

Shion said nothing but walked ahead, unblinking, unshaken.

I had to jog to keep up.

If I hadn't been there… would Inego still be alive?

No. Now wasn't the time.

I already knew.

The boys' dorms were across from the Black Hall.

But when we got there, Inego's room had already been moved.

"Oh, that makes sense," said Yuki. "They would have moved him to a different room so that Shion—"

She turned to me—too quickly. "Now what the hell are we going to do, Blondie?" Shion interrupted.

I sighed. I could see the intensity behind her dry eyes. She wanted to fix this now.

First we'd have to find Inego's new room and then we'd have to spend hours searching through his stuff trying to find his wand.

And I didn't even know what that girl wanted with him in the first place.

"We can't just search room to room…" Then I turned toward Yuki.

"Yuki, I need your help," I said.

I could barely see it, but her eyes lit up.

"Really? You need my help?" she asked.

She was so happy that we needed her, she floated in a circle.

"Oh, okay, Ryu! What do you need me to do?"

"Oh my god…" I heard Shion mutter.

"Yuki, float through the walls. Try to find a room where there's nothing unpacked. I bet they just boxed his stuff up, brought it to a new room, and dropped it."

"I can do that! Thank you, Ryu! I'll be back."

And with that, she floated through the wall towards the boys dorms.

I looked over at Shion.

Her dead, waterless eyes were as unreadable as ever. And she was standing perfectly still again.

Never a good sign.

"Shion, are –"

"Am I ever?" she interrupted.

Then she uncharacteristically blinked.

"…sorry," she said.

I bristled when she apologized.

"I hate this feeling. …"

Her voice strained.

"…I hate it. It's… embarrassing," she hissed.

I had no idea what I was supposed to say to her.

But I needed to say something. I couldn't just leave her standing there like that.

"It wasn't your fault," I said.

She looked at me, head tilted slightly.

"Not my fault? I knew… once I heard him say I could… but I didn't know that it'd be so soon, and the hunger…"

Her voice was tight. I could see her hands, tense as barbed wire.

"It was Inego. He didn't realize what he was doing, and that was out of line from him anyway. I mean, he'd just met you and was already inviting you back to his room. What was he thi—"

I heard her take a breath and scoff at me.

"You're jealous, aren't you?"

She cut me off again. Damn her.

No I wasn't.

I think.

She narrowed her eyes, studying me as I tried to lean casually against the wall.

"And the way you threw yourself between me and Inego," she said it like she was trying to solve a riddle.

Then she deflected.

"Did you really just send your ghost girlfriend to look through a bunch of guys' dorm rooms?"

Shion crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me sharply.

"You've just turned Yuki into a Peeping Tom," she said.

But I'd caught something, and I used it.

"And you just called her by her name."

She opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Her shoulders tensed, like she wanted to argue—but she had nothing.

I could feel the attitude radiating off of her.

A few minutes later, Yuki floated back through the wall, beaming.

"I found it! I found it!" she chirped, spinning in the air like a kid who just won a gold star.

Shion and I exchanged a look.

"Where?" I asked.

"It's on his desk! Just sitting there! All we have to do is go in and grab it," Yuki said.

Yuki led us through the stairwell to Inego's room on the second floor.

Shion cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "Oh great. That's so easy. Let's just waltz right in and—"

I checked the door.

Locked.

Shion crossed her arms. "I'm not going to go in there to get it. You got any other bright ideas?"

I let out a breath. "Alright. New plan."

When I was in college, back in West Virginia, I had a friend who was a Resident Assistant, and he had a master key to all the dorms. Crescent Moon Academy wasn't a college, but it did have dorms.

We turned to leave, but before we could step outside, we passed the commons room—and there, sitting on the couch, was Namazu, the kappa.

He looked up, blinking slow and lazy, before grinning. "Oh. Hey, Ryu-san! I didn't think you were staying in the dorms. Why are you doing here?"

I grinned, glad to find him alone, and being friendly. "Hey, Namazu. I'm trying to help my friend, Inego. He's in the nurse's office, but he forgot his wand. I need to get into his room."

I saw a look of recognition flash across the kappa's broad face.

"The English guy? Yeah. I had to help carry some of his stuff to his new room. You're really lucky. Just finished a few minutes ago. There's a guy, a Betobeto, should still be around here somewhere. Check the stairs. If you hear footsteps, you've found him."

He looked up and saw Shion and his eyes grew wide.

"Um, you're trying to help Inego-san, right?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah… he gave me some advice and I owe him."

He gestured towards Shion. "What about her?"

Shion scowled and almost turned away but stopped.

"I'm… I'm just trying to fix this somehow," she muttered.

He got up from the couch.

"I tell you what. I can find him for you. Give me a minute."

A few minutes later, we had the wand.

Shion studied it as we walked across the campus.

Light, brown wood: cherry blossom with soft pink hues.

Cool to the touch, but she looked disgusted.

"I hate magic. This thing feels like it's squirming in my hand." she muttered. "It makes my skin crawl. Can we just ditch it?"

I shot her a look.

She sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go."

We were halfway to the John St. John Long Wellness Center when we saw Azuki.

She was walking towards the Black-Withers Hall, the main building on campus, her usual bouncy energy barely restrained. She spotted us and perked up.

"Heyyy! What are you three up to?" she asked.

"Azuki! Hello!" said Yuki, glad that Asuki grinned at her.

"We're headed to go see Inego," Shion spoke over Yuki.

Azuki pushed her glasses back on the ridge of her nose as she pixelated. "Me too! Apparently I have to wait until night to go dance with the other tanuki in the moonlight."

That gave me an idea.

I held up the wand. "Azuki, I need your help with something very important."

Azuki gasped. Her smile stretched across her face and her eyes grew wide. "Ryu! Do you need me to do a favor for you?"

I heard Shion draw a breath just so she could scoff.

"Yes. Inego needs this wand, and we're supposed to get it to him. But…"

I cast a glance back at Shion.

"We can't go back in the wellness center though. That girl with the purple eyes is a problem. Think you can slip this to Inego without her noticing?"

Azuki bit her low lip and nodded. "Ryu, do even know who you're talking to? I am a master of subterfuge."

Shion snorted. "Alright, Master of Subterfuge, don't get caught."

Azuki huffed. "Pfft. Please. Inego won't even know how he got it back, and she won't see a thing."

I handed her the wand, and she tucked it into her sleeve with a dramatic flourish, then bowed.

"You can count on me, Ryu," she said solemnly.

We watched as she bounced towards the nurse's office.

I raised an eyebrow. "You think he'll get the wand?"

Shion waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, he's doomed." Shion was already walking ahead.

And then—she laughed for the first time that day.

I wasn't sure if it made me feel better or worse.