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

"What?" I asked automatically.

I'd heard what they said, but my brain refused to process it.

"Are you deaf? No. I can tell by the look on your face that you're just stupid," Kanae said.

Fushineko-sensei spoke up.

"Fudehara-san," the nekomata whined. "I'll remind you that you endorsed Kazeyama-san for president. If you're going to call him stupid, at least address him with the respect his title deserves."

I didn't know if I should thank the teacher or not.

Kanae endorsed me for president?

Kanae rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she spat. "President-san, I move to eject Kurozawa-san from the club."

Shion raised her hand.

"I'll second that just for the hell of it," she said.

Oh my god, Shion, you're going to kill me.

"Vetoed," I said flatly.

Fushineko-sensei leaned back and laughed.

"Ohhhh my, you kids. This is the best, nyyyaaa!" she said, slapping her desk.

Kanae looked at me like she wanted to crucify me.

I quit standing in the doorway like an idiot and scooted a chair beside Shion, who casually leaned back and propped her combat boots on the desk before I even had a chance to put my notebook on it.

"Ryu Kazeyama," she said, ignoring the look I was giving her. "Look at you, sticking up for me."

I gestured to her combat boots, clearly in my way.

"It's almost like you want me to be here," she said.

She didn't move her boots.

Instead, she put her hands behind her head and grinned, showing off her damn fangs.

"How can you stand her?" Kanae asked from my right side.

Shion shrugged.

"I put up with a lot of things," she said. "You're not so bad, Kanae."

Suddenly, the room filled with the scent of grape-flavored smoke. When I looked over at Fushineko-sensei she was actively vaping in the middle of the meeting.

She looked at me and her eyes narrowed to cat-like slits.

"Deal with the meeting, President-san," she said.

Then she coughed.

The girl beside her looked embarrassed to be seen in the same room as the nekomata.

"Kanae," I said, darkly. "Why the hell'd you endorse me for president?"

She crossed her arms.

"Figures," she said. "I knew you wouldn't get it. I figured that you'd be suspicious even though I backed you for president."

Shion grinned.

"Why don't you ask her who you were running against?"

My jaw went completely slack.

"Was I running against you?" I asked.

Shion's face scrunched up as she laughed.

"Yeah, maybe… but I only ran because I knew Kanae wouldn't run against me."

I blinked, confused.

"Oh, she'd never risk actually losing a competition against me. So she nominated you instead."

"Bitch," Kanae muttered.

Fushineko-sensei spoke up again.

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"Fudehara-san," she began. "Did you just call Kurozawa-san a bitch?"

The nekomata took another hit from her vape.

"In my classroom?"

Kanae crossed her arms. To her credit, she didn't back down an inch.

"Yes, sensei. I did and she is."

I waited for Fushineko-sensei to apply any kind of discipline.

"Classic Kanae," she whined with her feline voice. "You're my favorite. Don't tell the others."

I scoffed at the teacher.

"You know we can hear you."

She stretched and yawned. Then she put her hands behind her head.

"But I still don't care. You know… this is beginning to get boring. We don't have any books. We've elected our esteemed president—"

"Against his will," I interjected.

The nekomata chuckled.

"Ah, yes, that was the best part."

That was it.

"Fushineko-sensei," I said, leaning over my desk. "Yesterday you said that I wouldn't ever be good at anything. And today, you're, like, totally fine with me being the president of your Literature club?"

She rubbed her chin for a moment, as if she were thinking.

Then, she grinned at me, like a cat, and I suppressed a shudder as her upper lip split in two halves.

"Kazeyama-san, it's the fact that you're not good at anything that means you're going to make a fantastic president."

Goddamn it. I couldn't argue with that.

Fushineko-sensei pointed at Kanae.

"You're the treasurer," she said.

Then she pointed at Shion.

"And you're the secretary, since you're so eager to prove yourself to Kazeyama-san," the nekomata whined.

Shion's face dropped.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

But Fushineko-sensei just shrugged.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "It's just that you two argue like you're some kind of married couple."

Shion's mouth dropped open.

But Fushineko-sensei didn't back down at all.

"Believe me, I know. I was, once. Regrettably."

Shion rolled her eyes, but she didn't move her boots from my desk.

And I could feel Kanae's eyes boring holes into my skull.

"So, what?" I said to Fushineko-sensei. "You're just going to appoint the other club representatives?"

She nodded like it was no big deal.

"If you can just appoint us, then what's the purpose of the election in the first place?" I asked.

But Fushineko-sensei just rolled her eyes.

"Look," she said, annoyed. "I tried to do this the right way, but the presidential election and the drama afterwards is just taking up too much of my damn Friday evening. Now, you kids and your petty arguing and spellcasting on each other is fun and all, but I've got my limits."

She stood up, took another hit from her vape, and started stuffing everything on her desk into a beat-up old carrying bag.

"Unless anyone has anything else to add?"

She looked up for about half a second.

Before anyone could answer—

"No? Good. Get out of here. I'll see you kids on Monday."

The nekomata began walking towards the classroom door.

"Fushineko-sensei?" Shion said.

She stopped by the door, released an annoyed sigh, and cast a long side-eye at Shion.

"What, Kurozawa-san?" she asked.

Shion grinned.

"I might not be your favorite student, but you're still my favorite teacher. Like, by far. This school is so lucky to have you."

Fushineko-sensei didn't even turn around.

"Nnnyyyyyaaaaa, I know."

She walked out of the classroom, leaving us alone.

Kanae turned to face Shion and me the instant Fushineko-sensei was gone.

"Oh, that's just perfect," she spat. "I've got to deal with the two of you now, not just in Literature Club, but afterwards to help run the damn thing."

Shion, casual as ever, just shrugged.

"You snide little bitch," she said, cold as ice.

Kanae's face twisted in rage.

"Oh no. You don't get to be pissed off," Shion said, suddenly on her feet.

Shion's eyes narrowed into slits, and I wondered if I was going to have to step in front of her.

I wondered if I even could. Dragon and everything, chances were she'd cut though me like I was aluminum foil, scales and all.

"Stop it, you two," I said.

Of course, they both suddenly turned to me.

Kanae wasted no time grabbing her calligraphy pen and a fresh sheet of parchment paper.

She licked her lips as she kept her eyes locked with mine.

Shion, on the other hand, simply tilted her head.

"Damn it, Blondie," she said. "Why you gotta make me all hot and bothered when you suddenly take control like that?"

Kanae scoffed.

"You? Shion? Hot? Don't make me gag. Ryu'd have to stick your narrow ass in an oven to get you hot."

I slammed my fist on the desk.

Kanae, and the rest of the Literature Club that hadn't left yet, jumped.

"I said knock it off, you two!"

Suddenly, Kanae's two backup girls appeared on either side of her.

She smirked, raising an eyebrow over her dark blue glasses.

"You going to challenge me to a fight next?"

Shion laughed.

"Oh, please," she said, leaning forward. "Don't tease me."

I wrapped my fingers into a fist.

"We're being played," I said.

They both stopped bickering for a moment.

"I mean, come on. You two have got to see that, right? The nekomata sits at her desk, openly vaping, and egging us on."

I looked from Shion to Kanae.

"That's the reason she put the three of us in charge of the Literature Club. She wants the chaos. It's like…"

"Catnip," Kanae suggested.

Shion laughed.

"Oh my god, that's purrfect," she said.

Kanae looked up, anger flashed in her eyes for a second.

Then her face scrunched up and she blurted out a laugh.

"Oh, that's terrible," she said, covering her mouth with her hand.

Then she looked up.

A thick, black line of ink ran down the right side of her face as she looked into her hand, realizing she was still holding her calligraphy brush.

The look of horror on her face was all too real.

"No," she said, embarrassed.

I expected Shion to explode into laughter. Instead, she put her hands on her sides.

"Blondie," she said, looking at me. "That's totally something I'd expect you to do."

Kanae's two friends immediately sprang into action. One reached into her purse, grabbing a tissue, while the other stepped in front of Kanae and offered to take her to the bathroom.

Kanae stopped right at the classroom door and turned with a glare towards Shion.

"Don't think this means we're friends or anything," she said, the ink obscuring the whole side of her face.

Shion rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Tell it to Harvey Dent."