CHAPTER NINETEEN: WEAPON OF CHOICE

They took Shion to the nurse's office too.

 I hoped they kept her far away from Inego.

 Not that I didn't trust her.

 ...Okay, no. That was a lie.

 I didn't trust her.

 Not after what I'd just seen.

 Not after the way she looked right through me while she was drinking him dry.

 I wanted to believe that pulling her back meant something—that it proved Shion was still Shion.

 But that moment—the way her eyes had gone flat, empty, lost in something deeper than hunger—I couldn't unsee it.

 And the worst part?

 I wasn't sure if she could either.

 If there was one thing I'd learned about Crescent Moon Academy, it was that nothing made sense.

 So when I walked into Cultural Appreciation—my last class of the day—I wasn't surprised that it looked completely normal.

 No floating desks. No glowing sigils. No looming shadows whispering ancient curses.

 Just desks. A dry-erase board. A quiet hum as students settled in.

 It was the most human-looking classroom in the whole school. I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting… something, anything, but there was nothing.

 "Ryu-sama! Is this seat taken?"

 Azuki sat down in the seat beside me.

 "We've got a class together! How cool is that?" she asked.

 "It's awesome. Hey, I need to ask you what you meant earlier," I said.

 But Azuki didn't get to answer.

 I heard someone cough.

 Standing at the front, leaning on a wooden cane, was the only fully human teacher I had seen so far.

 An old woman.

 Her white hair was neatly tied back, and deep wrinkles lined her face, but her eyes?

 Her eyes were sharp. Too sharp.

 Like she'd already sized up every student in the room and had made a decision about them long before they even sat down.

 But human.

 "Alright, everyone, settle down."

 She didn't have to raise her voice.

 The room went silent instantly.

 "I'm Kurogane-sensei. My name means "Black Iron", and if you're lucky, then you'll never have to learn why. I'm the only human teacher at Crescent Moon Academy. My parents don't have a drop of youkai lineage, and I'm not a spellcaster."

 It didn't matter.

 She didn't have to be.

 No one dare spoke.

 "Let's start with something simple," she said, tapping her cane against the floor.

 "I don't care if you are a tengu, an oni, a kitsune, or a god's bastard child. If you live among humans, you will play by human rules. That means understanding them."

 She paced slowly across the room, her cane tapping with each step.

 "Some of you believe you are above humans because you have power."

 She looked slowly around the room, daring anyone to speak out of turn.

 "So what?"

 Her voice was calm, but something heavy lurked beneath it.

 "If you haven't noticed yet, power—no matter what kind—always comes with rules. Limitations. A price."

 She turned to face the class fully.

 "If you dance, you'd better pay admission."

 I heard a low murmur ripple through the students. Some nodded, others looked confused.

 I sat up a little straighter.

 I wasn't sure why, but… something about what she said sent a chill down my spine.

 "You're all here to learn how to survive in the human world," she continued.

 "Let me tell you how I became the only human teacher at this school."

 The way she said it implied that the academy wasn't interested in her credentials.

 The class went dead silent.

 Even the youkai seemed interested.

 She leaned on her cane.

 "When I was young, I was just a simple teacher's aide in Shin'yume. Back then, the town was… different. Humans could come and go without an invitation."

 Beside me, I heard Yuki sigh nostalgically.

 "I needed extra money. My family ran a small noodle shop, and I took a job at Crescent Moon Academy to help out."

 "I wonder if I ever ate there with my parents," I heard Yuki whisper.

 "I had no idea what I was walking into."

 Kurogane-sensei's lips curled slightly.

 "One day, I got into a fight with one of the teachers—an oni."

 That got the class's full attention.

 Even the oni students in the room perked up.

 She continued.

 "The oni assumed I would back down."

 "I didn't."

 "Instead, I used its own arrogance against it, and pretended that I was scared. I asked if I could bring one weapon to the fight, since I was, after all, fighting an oni."

 A few students snickered.

 The teacher ignored them.

 "I told the oni the weapon would be small. Small enough to fit in my hand."

 Now the students perked up and listened again.

 "The oni laughed and agreed. The day of the fight, the oni—smug, overconfident—told me to surrender, and I wouldn't get hurt."

 She snorted.

 "Instead, I told him to come closer. I said, 'Come see the weapon I brought.'"

 She tapped her cane against the floor once.

 "The oni leaned down. And I blew salt into his face."

 The room erupted in gasps, laughter, and muffled shock.

 The teacher's expression didn't change.

 "A handful of simple, pure salt. The oni was blinded, humiliated. I clubbed him over the head while he was coughing and rubbing tears out of his eyes. And I won the fight."

 Her voice turned sharp as steel.

 "DO NOT assume that just because you have magic, because you have abilities, because you have power—that humans are weak. Strength means nothing if you can be outwitted."

 Her eyes swept the room.

 "No matter what powers you have, your mind will always be your most powerful weapon. If you forget that, you will lose."

 Her gaze lingered on me just a little too long.

 "And never make the mistake of thinking you're the smartest person in the room. I wasn't smart because I beat that ogre."

 The students shifted in their seats, confused.

 "I was an idiot with a handful of salt who got lucky! But I learned. Everyone can teach you something! Even if it's just how not to do something."

 Her eyes landed on me.

 I wasn't sure if that meant anything.

 But the way she looked at me—like she'd already figured me out—made my stomach twist. Did she know? And if she did, what the hell did she see?

 "I don't care if you like me. I don't care if you hate me. But I will teach you how to think. Because once you leave this school, once you step beyond these walls…"

 She paused.

 For the first time since the lesson started, something softened in her face.

 "You're all you'll have to rely on… and we care about you."

 The bell rang.

 No one moved.

 "Class dismissed," said Kurogane-sensei.

 The students filed out, murmuring to each other—some impressed, some annoyed.

 I sat there for a second longer, trying to process what I'd just heard.

 This school was sinister, right?

 Faceless ones.

 Tengu gym teachers.

 Students dying in fights.

 Yet…

 "...and we care about you."

 That's what she said.

 Was it what she believed?

 Was it true?

 I wasn't sure what to think.

 "Ryu-sama?" Azuki asked.

 "I'm fine, sorry. Sometimes I'm not sure what to think about this place, Azuki," I said, gathering my things and walking out the door.

 "I wanted to ask you what you meant earlier," I said. "About saving you?"

 Her face turned a slight shade of pink.

 Then a neon shade of pink.

 "Azuki, you're glitching again," Yuki said flatly.

 "Oh! Sorry! It's a little embarrassing" Azuki adjusted her glasses, and she returned to normal.

 As normal as a tanuki with problems staying tethered to reality could be.

 "Tell me about it. I'll walk you to your dorm, unless you want to come with me to see Shion and Inego."

 "I'd love to! But… I've got to meet with the other tanuki first. Walk me to my dorm, okay?"

 We took a few steps before she turned to me again.

 "You know, the first time I met you, I thought you were a real jerk," she said.

 "Really? Why's that?"

 She scrunched up her nose.

 "Remember? You screamed and asked what I was!"

 She playfully shoved my arm.

 "But then, Yuki told you where my glasses were, and you got them for me… and I realized that you might be kinda nice… I didn't realize how frightening it must have been to see me when I was fading in and out of reality."

 I nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting that."

 "Of course not! I mean… you're a dragon from a windswept mountain!"

 Her voice was full of awe.

 "It's my fault. I shouldn't expect you to know what a tanuki is, or much about us. After all, I bet powerful storms sweep through your mountain all the time! And… wind… and there's probably not a lot of trees on top of your mountain… it's probably above the tree line…"

 I tilted my head, confused.

 And realized I was picking up on one of Shion's habits, so I stopped.

 "What are you getting at?"

 "I need your help because I'm tied to my sacred tree. I don't know if you're aware, but a tanuki's life is connected to their tree."

 For once, her voice lacked its usual cheerful enthusiasm.

 "My tree is on a section of land that's been planned to be developed into a housing project. They're going to cut down my sacred tree… that's why I'm here at Crescent Moon Academy. I'm going to learn how to interact with humans so I can explain why they can't cut down my tree!"

 She was speaking very quickly.

 We stopped walking and stood outside her dorm.

 "But it's going to be okay now that I've met you, Ryu-sama!" she said.

 "You're a dragon, and you – you can do anything! You can tell the lumber company that my tree's sacred and they have to listen to you because… you're… you're a dragon!"

 And she looked up at me with eyes as wide as a full moon, bright with hopefulness.

 "That's why… I'm so…"

 She suddenly threw her arms around me and hugged me.

 She was shaking.

 That was when it hit me.

 She wasn't just thanking me.

 She clung to me as though I were stopping her from being swept into oblivion.

 "Thank you, Ryu-sama. Thank you for saving my life."

 I watched Azuki walk away, almost skipping down the hall.

 The way she bounced each time she took a step.

 She was only happy because she believed the Mighty Dragon of the Windy Mountain could save her.

 How could I save anyone when I wasn't even sure who was in control of my life?

 Whose life was I even living?

 Whoever I was before I left Crescent Moon Academy, I wanted to see my friends.

 "No Yuki," I said as I turned around and started walking towards the nurses' office. "I don't have a clue what I'm going to do."

 I felt her familiar cold presence and saw her faint outline at my side. She floated along effortlessly beside me.

 "You'll think of something. I'll help you. Azuki's depending on us."

 As we walked, I wondered if what she said was true.

 Was there an us? And if so… what did that mean?