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

"You've got to go after her," said Yuki.

I raised an eyebrow. "Huh? After what she just said about you?"

She paused a moment.

I stared at her chalk outline—barely visible, like waves above hot asphalt.

"This isn't about me, and… Shion's right. About people and ghosts, but… this is different."

I could feel Shion rolling her eyes at that line.

"How so?" I asked.

I watched Yuki as she floated. Her feet hovered an inch above the road as I walked up the hill towards Crescent Moon Academy, and I wasn't alone.

Yuki and I were joined by a few more students walking, and I remembered that a few of them could probably see her too; I wasn't sure if that was comforting or not.

"I'm just trying to help you," she said. "I'm already worried about what Shion's bite is doing to you, Ryu… but never mind now. You need her help."

I sighed knowing she was right.

"Fine," I said, picking up the pace. "Yuki, if you want to be helpful, what should I say to Shion when I catch up with her?"

I heard Yuki gasp. "Oh! You think I'm being helpful? Why, you should just tell her you're sorry."

I scoffed. "Me? Apologize to her after everything—"

Yuki floated in front of me. "She was trying to help you too. She just doesn't understand what the two of us mean to one another."

Yeah.

And Shion wasn't the only one.

"So, what are we, Yuki?" I asked.

She was quiet for a moment.

I felt a cool wind as we continued to walk together, and I wasn't sure if it was from the crisp morning or the ghost girl at my side.

"We're just two people trying to help one another."

I almost stopped walking then and there.

Yuki referred to herself as a person even though everyone else was fighting so hard to tell her she wasn't.

And I wanted her to be a person.

She felt real to me.

I don't know if I would have caught up with Shion if she hadn't been pushing her bike.

She heard me coming long before I was near her, and she just casually turned her head to cast her dead, waterless gaze at me.

And she slightly grinned, flashing her fangs.

I bit my lip; she knew exactly what she was doing.

"You come to your senses?" Shion asked, teasing.

I opened my mouth, hesitating before I apologized.

"I wanted to say—"

She interrupted me with a sharp breath.

"Can it, Blondie. We've got bigger things to deal with. Literally."

Sometimes I didn't know if I wanted to hug Shion or throw a punch.

Even if I were a vampire, and spent a lifetime learning power and manipulation, I wouldn't be half as good as Shion.

"Azuki agreed to help too, oh 'Dragon of the Windy Mountain.'"

"Really? That's nice of her, but how is she going to be helpful in a fight?"

Shion stopped pushing her bike and looked at me like I was a child.

"Are you daft? She's a tanuki. Not only can she shapeshift, but she knows the most powerful illusion magic that ever existed."

"Right. Illusions. Mirages. Not real. But those orc's fists are."

And suddenly, Shion disappeared from my sight.

I spun around in a full circle looking for her, but she was nowhere. Vanished.

I cupped my hands to call out—

The next second, I was on the ground, staring into Shion's waterless eyes.

"Bet you thought I was gone, huh, Blondie? Illusions can be very useful in a fight, can't they?"

She ruffled my hair and then helped me off the ground.

"You could've just explained that you know."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh, but Ryu, the first rule is show: don't tell."

Two heavy, wooden doors opened to the main hall of Crescent Moon academy.

The hall to the left held the sciences.

The Black Hall, named after an Alexander Black, one of the founders of Crescent Moon Academy.

The hall to the right housed the humanities.

Withers Hall, named after Eliza Withers, who had formed the "Academy of Skulls" which taught necromancy until folding into Crescent Moon Academy nearly seventy years ago.

But right now, I was more concerned about the looks I was getting from my fellow "classmates" as I walked down the hall towards my first period.

"Ryu," I heard Yuki at my side. "How are you going to blend in?"

I knew exactly what she meant.

Blond. Tall. American.

Sticking out in school was bad enough.

But now?

I was sticking out in a school.

Of monsters.

I saw Azuki as I was putting my shoes in the locker.

"Please don't bow," I said, but it was already too late.

"It's an honor, Dragon of the Windy Mountain, to stand at your side in this battle," she said, bowing low.

I heard a few students chuckle darkly as they walked past.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing.

"Azuki, listen, I know you're trying to help," I muttered.

"No, Ryu-sama," she interrupted. "Don't you get it? Shion told me you needed help because she thinks you're just human. It's not about your blood."

Azuki stood up.

Her eyes flashed behind her glasses, the same way a power button does on a computer.

I felt a shiver creep up my spine.

"What are you talking about?"

Her mouth dropped open, and for a full second she just stared at me.

It felt like an eternity before she spoke again.

"I can see you," she whispered.

I hate this place so much.

First period: Literature

I sit in the second to the last row beside the window.

For half a second I swore Natsumi was teaching the class because when our teacher walked in she moved exactly like the nekomata.

Yuki told me that it wasn't Natsumi, but I wasn't crazy for thinking it was.

Because it was Natsumi's mom.

"She's a teacher here?" I wrote on the edge of my paper, pretending to take notes.

"Yes. That's why Natsumi stays at the onsen instead of at Crescent Moon Academy with the other yokai. She's basically harmless," Yuki whispered.

I glanced to my left at the chalk outline of the ghost girl.

Damn it, I could already tell that she was pretty.

Yuki wasn't making it easy to ignore her, and I wasn't sure I wanted to anyway especially since I had someone to talk to.

"And now I need to take a minute to review the school's rules on fighting. Make sure you're paying attention," Sensei Fushineko said.

I sat up, ready for anything becauseI had this fight in my pocket.

Terrifying vampire girl.

Reality warping tanuki.

And feeding me information in real time, my ghost girl.

There was no way I could lose.

"All fights in Crescent Moon Academy are one-on-one. They happen in a space where outside influence is not allowed."

Oh hell.

To make things worse, she continued, her voice as grating as her daughter's.

"This prevents cheap shots from friends, students ganging up, and it stops battles from becoming chaotic brawls. Nyyya."

I watched as her lip twitched a little, and I saw that it was split into two parts below her nose, like a cat.

"Fights go on for as long as they need. I want you to understand, mrrow. These fights are to settle problems, okay? And both fighters have to agree before the fight can even start. Once they agree, then no one else can interfere until the fight is over."

She looked around the classroom.

"Has anyone ever been badly hurt during one of these fights?" a boy near the front asked.

His accent was crisp. English

Fushineko-sensei's ears twitched.

She kneaded her claws against the desk before answering.

"Mrew, yes. It's rare, but students have died."

The classroom was silent.

"But that's why both have to agree before the fight. Nyya… And don't even think about fighting off school grounds! I don't think I have to explain what happens if we find out you've been getting into fights outside of the school."

My throat felt dry.

People had died during these fights.

One look around the classroom and I could see how serious the others were treating this at Crescent Moon Academy.

Everyone was writing the rules down.

Even the older students had their pencils out. No one giggled or whispered insults at was so different from how I remember school in America.

My friends and I would have been having a field day if our English teacher suddenly began explaining the school's official fight policy.

"What happens if you fight outside of school?" I asked, remembering how close I had come yesterday.

Sensei Fushineko turned to me and narrowed her eyes.

"Expulsion is a possibility. And good luck finding another school that'll take you after you've been expelled from Crescent Moon Academy, nya."

First period ended.

I stepped into the hallway.

"Hey, I'm sure glad you asked that question," I said to the English boy.

He turned around and flashed a grin.

"You're Ryu-san, aren't you?"

He didn't ask so much as outright accuse.

"Yeah. I guess my reputation precedes me."

He gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, you'd better be careful. Ken Musashiba's been looking for you all morning. You're not planning on fighting him are you?"

"No, but he seems to want to fight me pretty badly," I said.

He nodded. "I heard that last year he got into a fight with a nurikabe."

He leaned towards me, like he was sharing a secret. "Apparently, he broke the poor chap's arm."

I inhaled sharply.

"Hey, my name's Inego," he said.

"Inego?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah? I'm English with a Spanish name. So? You look more like a John or a Bill to me, Ryu."

The way he was grinning, with his dimples that would be making any schoolgirl blush, I knew there was no malice in him.

He raised on of his eyebrows. "Now, didn't I see you walk in this morning with a very pretty girl with black hair and green eyes?"

I felt something cold in the pit of my stomach.

Inego casually shrugged, loose as an untied shoe.

"You're not dating her, are you, chap? Forgive me if she's your girlfriend," he said.

"She'll forgive you if you ask," Shion said.

Inego spun around.

"I'm right here." Shion stood behind him, arms crossed.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, Ryu," she said.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I need to figure out what to do about the orc."

"Challenge him," said Inego.

I looked at him as though he were mad.

Inego leaned in. "He might back down if you challenge him first. He's an orc. He's used to being intimidating. If you're the intimidating one, though… He might not account for that."

Shion grinned. "And that's something a windbag dragon would do."

I nodded.

They weren't wrong.

"Say, you're a sharp lass. I'm Inego Fallensworth, and you're welcome to stop by my place anytime," said Inego.

I couldn't stop him from inviting her to his place. I was too slow.

A hungry smile slowly crept across Shion's face.

"Oh? I like the sound of that."