CHAPTER FIFTEEN: RULES OF THE GAME

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

 "What? 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 could see her floating just above the road at my side as I walked up the hill towards Crescent Moon Academy.

 A few other students filled up the path behind me, and for a moment I wondered if I looked like a madman talking to himself.

 Then I remembered that a few of the other students could probably see Yuki.

 I wasn't sure if that was comforting or not.

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

 Damn. She was right.

 I hurried up the road trying to catch up with Shion.

 "Yuki, if you want to be helpful, what should I say to Shion when I catch up with her?"

 "Just tell her you're sorry."

 "Me? Apologize to her after everything-"

 "She was trying to help you too. She just doesn't understand what we are."

 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 who are trying to help one another."

 I almost stopped walking then and there because I knew 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 her 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, cast her dead, waterless gaze at me from over her shoulder.

 And she slightly grinned, revealing just a flash of her fangs.

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

 "You come to your senses?" Shion asked.

 Her voice was light, but her eyes watched me carefully.

 I opened my mouth, hesitating for just a second.

 "I wanted to say – "

 She took a sharp breath, interrupting me.

 "Can it. It's fine. We've got bigger things to deal with. Literally."

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

 She probably did that on purpose too.

 Even if I were a vampire, and I had more than a lifetime to learn power and subtle manipulation, I don't think I'd be half as good at it as her.

 "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 has access to some of the most powerful illusion magic that ever existed."

 "Right. Illusions. Mirages. Not real. That orcs fists are very real."

 And suddenly, Shion vanished from my sight.

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

 "Bet you thought I was gone. Illusions can be very useful in a fight."

 She grinned at me and helped me off the ground.

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

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

 Two 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 as they walked past.

 Darkly.

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

 "No, Ryu-sama," she interrupted. "Don't you get it? It's not about your blood."

 Azuki stood up.

 Her eyes flashed behind her glasses.

 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 youkai. 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 this any easier to ignore her.

 And I wasn't even sure I wanted to anyway.

 "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.

 Eyes forward.

 I had this fight in my pocket.

 Terrifying vampire girl.

 Reality warping tanuki.

 And at my side, 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 there is no outside interference."

 Oh hell.

 To make things worse, she continued.

 Her voice sounded just as whiny and 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 left lip twitched a little.

 She scratched it with her hand, and I saw that her upper lip was split into two parts just 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 in the back asked.

 His accent was crisp. English

 Sensei Fushineko'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 fighting was at Crescent Moon Academy.

 Everyone was writing these down.

 Even some of the older students were taking notes, and that was unsettling because it was so different from how I remember school in America.

 Me and my friends would have been having a field day if our English teacher suddenly began explaining how fights in the school were to be handled.

 "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 a moment.

 "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."

 "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.

 "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 school girl blush, I knew there was no malice in what he was saying.

 "Now, didn't I see you walking 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 raised an eyebrow at me.

 "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.

 "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."

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

 I nodded.

 They weren't wrong.

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

 I couldn't stop him. I was too slow.

 I stood there, listening to him invite Shion over.

 A hungry smile slowly crept across her face.

 "Oh? I like the sound of that."