The walk to Kusuri Kōbō wasn't long, but it felt longer when my brain decided to treat Inego like a free therapist.

"I'm conflicted," I admitted, kicking at a loose stone on the path. "Between Shion and Yuki. I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore."

Inego adjusted his glasses, face deadly serious for once.

Then he dropped the bomb, or rather, a buxom bombshell.

"What about the succubus, Murasaki?"

My eyes went wide.

"Oh hell… dude. That's a whole other can of worms."

He nodded like a man reading my obituary.

"Can of worms? Oi, I'm not about to take it upon myself to introduce you yanks to the concept of metaphors. But, listen, they don't make a prescription for a succubus mark, mate."

I stared, jaw slack.

He wasn't wrong, and that was the worst part.

He kept going, because of course he did.

"But, going back to your original problem between Yuki and Shion. Mate… that's a doozy."

I laughed.

"A doozy? Really, Inego? If that's the best you can come up with, you've no right making fun of my analogies."

He ran a hand though his wavy brown hair.

"Touche', I suppose for a turn of phrase, it was hardly the bees knees. But listen, this is what I'm trying to say. Yuki's body's temporary, you know. Eventually, Azuki will need to be whole again, and the longer Yuki stays like this, the more it drains her. She's not built for it."

For once, I couldn't argue.

"Thanks," I muttered. "Really. I appreciate your advice. You're more knowledgeable about this stuff, and it's not like anyone else is bothering to explain."

Inego barked a laugh.

"Glad to help but, let me make one thing clear. You think my advice is free? Mate, I need your help with my issues. What am I supposed to do about Azuki, eh?"

That broke me.

I giggled, as in actually, giggled, because the image of Inego trying to outmaneuver Azuki was too good.

"There's no help for her, bud. You're doomed. She's not gonna let go, man. You might as well roll over and just let her start wearing your hoodies."

He threw his head back and groaned.

"What? No! I'm not hopeless," he muttered, shaking his head.

But he was smiling, damn him.

Then, he looked over at me with a sly smiled on the corner of his mouth.

"Funny thing, though, if I remember correctly, it wasn't all that long ago Azuki had a crush on you. In fact…"

He glanced sideways at me, eyes glinting.

"I'm pretty sure she still does. But she won't move an inch since you're with Shion."

I swallowed, not liking the way that landed in my chest.

Then the neon cross of the Kusuri Kōbō lit up ahead, and we finally had something better to do than dissect my love life.

The pharmacy on Shin'yume didn't look like much, just another squat little building squeezed between a pachinko joint and some neon sign promising "miracle slimming socks."

But Kusuri Kōbō smelled like camphor and clean tile, which was a nice change after zombie stank in the library.

Louise turned out to be a tired-looking pharmacist with messy hair and readers sliding off her nose.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

She handed me a small bag with all the enthusiasm of a DMV clerk on a Monday.

While she was not exactly anime love-interest material, she was capable, and that was a plus considering the way most things worked on the island.

I muttered a thank-you anyway and shoved the cream into my bag before Inego could make a joke about ointments and dragon scales.

Outside, the air smelled like sakura, the unpleasant odor of car exhaust and… grapes?

We hadn't even stepped off the curb when I spotted her: Natsumi, lounging across the street like she owned it.

She was high as a kite and rocking those cheap yellow novelty sunglasses even though the sky was overcast.

Next to her stood a short tanuki with a vape pen glowing like some cursed jewel.

The shop behind them had a tacky sign: Get Graped Vape Shop.

Of course it would be a hangout spot for both Natsumi and her mom, Fushineko-sensei.

The tanuki I recognized instantly but wasn't sure of his name.

He was one of Azuki's crew.

Last time I'd seen him, he'd been half-passed out in the back of the tanuki meeting outside Crescent Moon Academy, laughing at his own reflection in the bottom of a sake bottle.

They noticed us at the same time.

Natsumi grinned wide enough to split her face and waved both arms like she was calling in a plane.

The tanuki leaned down as she whispered something to him.

Then he cupped his paws around his mouth and shouted across traffic, "Catch you later, pops! Lookin' forward to it."

My stomach dropped like I'd swallowed gravel.

Pops?

Before I could unpack that existential nightmare, Natsumi bounded across the street, narrowly dodging a scooter.

She landed beside us with all the grace of a cat that had definitely smoked too much weed but still pretended it hadn't.

"Amerikajin!" she sang, hands on her hips. "Glad to see you alive. Natsumi wondered what happened after vampire girl was with you earlier this morning."

Inego tilted his head.

"Alive is… debatable, but Ryu's here anyway."

I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it," I muttered. "We're headed back to Shin'yume though if you want to come with us."

Her grin sharpened.

"Nyaa… Perfect! Natsumi will tag along for now. Then, can hit the konbini for snacks, desu ne? Amerikajin can explain everything on the way."

The way she said it made it clear that it wasn't really a request.

Natsumi slipped between us like she'd always been there, the smell of grapes and cigarette smoke clinging to her hair, and I realized this walk back to Shin'yume was about to be a lot less quiet than I'd hoped.

The konbini's neon sign glowed in the distance like salvation in the form of canned coffee and fried chicken skewers.

Natsumi had wedged herself between me and Inego on the walk, humming a tune I'm ninety percent sure she made up on the spot, and her breath smelled like cheap grape THC and tuna.

But something had been bothering me, so I cleared my throat.

"You know… that tanuki back there. Why'd he call me pops?"

Natsumi tilted her head like a confused cat, then shrugged with exaggerated flair.

"Oh? Daigo Taramura-san?"

Her eyes blinked, twice, with her strange cat-eyelids.

"Dunno. Tanuki say dumb things sometimes. Maybe he was high. Maybe he saw future. Maybe he was trolling. Who cares?"

I was certain he was high.

If he was hanging out with Natsumi, then he was probably high as a kite.

"I care," I muttered. "Because that's not exactly the kind of nickname you just—"

"Pops!" she interrupted in a mock-bass voice, throwing her arms wide like she was announcing me to a crowd. "Father of the Year! Amerikajin has child two years older than he is!"

Then she laughed and smacked my arm.

"Relax, Amerikajin. If tanuki wanted to be serious, he'd call you something worse. Daigo was messing with you. Tanuki pranksters, desu ne?"

That did not make me feel better.

Natsumi squinted at me then sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling.

"Okay, what really going on? Amerikajin and British boy smell like death. And not in the fun way."

Inego raised his hand like he was about to defend his honor.

"For the record, this cologne comes from Egypt and is damn expensive!"

She looked at him like he was dumb.

"Shut it," Natsumi said, waving him off.

Her eyes fixed on me.

"What happened with you and Shion? Did vampire leave curse on you?"

I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Nothing. We were in the library when that gross bastard Skuzz showed up."

Natsumi's expression went from catlike curiosity to flat-out annoyance. "Ew. Zombie-boy is weird rotting corpse. Smells like old death."

"He gave us an invitation," I said, lowering my voice. "We're trying to start a night school for ghosts, but we need an experienced teacher. He gave us this to get to the bus tunnel."

That got her attention.

Her grin slid right off her face, and for once she wasn't playing.

Her amber eyes narrowed, glowing faintly like hot coals.

"Let Natsumi smell it," she said.

I hesitated, but pulled the envelope from my bag anyway.

She leaned close, took one sniff, and jerked back like I'd waved rotten fish in her face.

"Gross," she spat. "That thing's bad news. Should ditch it in woods and be done."

"Ditch it?" I asked. "I'm supposed to be helping Yuki, not stashing kindling in a dead forest."

She didn't look like she particularly cared.

"Ditch it," she repeated, already walking again, arms crossed tight like she was done debating.

Inego tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"What if we split the difference? After we grab snacks, we chuck the bloody thing in the woods. We'll hide it somewhere off the path where no one'll find it. Our problem would be totally solved."

I glared at him.

"No, the problem is very much not solved. Yuki's counting on me to help out with an experienced teacher and that means figuring the invitation out. Not ditching it."

Natsumi shook her head, annoyed.

"Mate," Inego said.

He adjusted his glasses like the smug wizard he was.

"It's a hell of a lot easier to get an envelope through a tunnel than a person. Don't overcomplicate things for me. I could probably do it since it's just an envelope."

My stomach, which had been knotting, actually felt a sense of relief.

We'd reached the konbini, its neon sign fading in the growing light of late morning.

Natsumi stepped forward, throwing her arms back in a dramatic stretch before sauntering past the automatic door and inside.

"Finally!" she said, eying the colorful displays along the aisles.

Her eyes lit up and she scanned the mass-produced pastries, energy drinks, and thousand other questionable choices that made the konbini a magical place.

"It's time for Natsumi to break her fast. Very important decisions."

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