I could still taste Skuzz's rotten stench in my throat when I had Kurogane-sensei's Cultural Appreciation class with Azuki.

I was already in Kurogane-sensei's room when the bell tolled—or maybe it wasn't a bell, maybe it was a haunted glockenspiel they used in the Withers Hall side of the school. Hard to tell. Every room sounded like an accidental séance lately.

Her classroom was normal enough, and I needed that right now. Regular chalkboards, normal desks. No undead, stapled-together flesh-bags crawling out of the vent. Yet.

I sat near the middle of the room, in my usual seat beside Azuki, but I was early. I kept glancing at the door every few seconds like I was expecting it to bite me.

"Relax," said Yuki.

I felt her usual reassuring coolness beside me, and I sighed.

"Yuki, I feel like I'm being pulled in a thousand different directions. I want to help you, because you've no idea how nice it is having someone here."

I shifted in my chair.

"Stop worrying about me, Ryu. I refuse to become your burden," she said. "You've got enough on your mind already without picking up absolute nonsense from that… Skuzz thing."

She shook her head after saying his name.

Like it left a bad taste in her mouth too.

"You don't want me to ask Suiren-sensei, do you?"

"I do. And I don't." Her voice was soft now. "I want… to belong here. I want something that's real. Someplace where I'm treated like I belong. Something I didn't have to beg for."

It was the most honest thing I'd ever heard her say.

She reached towards the windowpane. Frost danced across the glass as her finger brushed through it. She closed her eyes as she pulled her hand back.

"But… between Hina and Skuzz? I think Hina's being a realist. Skuzz's idea feels so… slimy and rotten somehow. He reminds me of one of those door-to-door salesmen, Ryu, with the fake plastic flower in their hat. Phony."

I nodded, thinking it over.

Then several students began filling the classroom, and I knew I was running out of time.

And I wanted Yuki's opinion on something.

"Yuki, I read that a long time ago, there was an orc named 'Thornfang,' and his kind considered him a traitor. To this day, the orcs are still divided on him. Some see him as a visionary, others as a traitor."

Yuki turned away from the window.

"He sounds like a divisive person. What did he do?"

"It just says 'before humans recorded their history.' Back then, Thornfang saw the human population growing faster than his own people. Even though the orcs were bigger and stronger, the humans still learned how to tame animals, grow crops, and plan cities.."

The class was almost full. Azuki would be here any second.

"Well, then what happened?"

I shifted in my seat, getting my notebook out.

"Well, Thornfang wanted to learn from the humans. He suggested that, despite their superior strength and speed, the humans saw something the orcs didn't. Maybe, they didn't even need to fight."

Yuki chuckled to herself.

"I don't think he was the only person to suggest that. It probably didn't go very well for him, did it?"

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Does it ever?

Then I looked up and saw Azuki as she bounded into class. Her oversized cord sweater and bookbag orbited around her like planets as she strode through the door.

"Ryu-sama! It's the last class of the day, and then it's movie time for this tanuki!"

She grinned from ear to ear as she took her seat beside me.

The two of us stayed after class to talk with Kurogane-sensei again.

Kurogane-sensei took my number without blinking. Just thanked me like it was normal.

She didn't even blink at how weird it was—just tapped it into her old flip phone like we were exchanging coupons. Azuki stood beside me, fidgeting like she wanted to ask if she could decorate the phone with stickers. I didn't stop her.

Kurogane-sensei laughed. "Stickers, huh? I used to have a booklet of scratch and sniff stickers I'd put on students' papers when they did well on an assignment."

Azuki's ears perked up. "That's what I'm talkin' about! Do you still have them?"

The older teacher shook her head sadly. "No, they smelled like sulfur. Made the students' gag, so I got rid of them."

Azuki looked betrayed. Then Kurogane-sensei turned serious.

"I've reached out to the Inari temples in Aomori Prefecture," Kurogane-sensei said.

"Most of them are aware of the situation now. Taki-no-Inari-jinja hasn't responded yet, but several ecology groups have. And, thanks to their help, we've managed to put a temporary halt on the lumber company's operations."

I took a sharp breath. "So we did it? We saved her tree?"

She shook her head like a middle-school teacher giving bad news gently. "Not entirely, but we've stopped it for now," she added. "There's still more work to do, as always. Take care, you two, and remember my lessons, okay? I'll be in touch."

She dismissed us with a nod, turned, and walked back into her office like the conversation was already far behind her.

Out in the hallway, Azuki bounced. Like, actual bounced. Her gold eyes caught the light, and she spun once on her heel, clutching her bookbag like she couldn't wait to tell it the good news.

"Can you believe it? They stopped the company! Just like that!" she grinned. "That's huge!"

I nodded, but it felt hollow. "It's good," I said. "But it's not definite. I want to know that your tree is safe."

Yuki floated to my side. "Ryu's got a point, Azuki."

Azuki's smile cracked at the edges a little. She lowered her head, her bangs shifting just enough to hide the moment.

"You two don't have to worry about me," she said quietly. "That's the thing with people who are, um, stuck. In time, I mean. I have trouble with, like, seeing where they're coming from sometimes. But I know this much."

She looked up again. Her eyes were soft. "You already saved me, Ryu. No matter what happens to that tree, I'm going to be okay. So… I'm okay with whatever."

She reached out and touched my sleeve. "I just wish you were okay too."

I didn't know what to say to that, so of course, she kept talking.

"Oh! Hey, I talked to the other tanuki," she said, brightening again. "They're thrilled a dragon's helping them. Like, really thrilled."

I raised an eyebrow. "They know I'm doing this for the money, right?"

"Kinpachi Goma-san wants your help personally," she added, ignoring me. "Local kids keep peeing on his sacred tree. He says only a dragon can scare them off."

I blinked. "They're peeing on his sacred tree?"

Yuki made a face. "Gracious, that's gross."

Azuki nodded seriously. "It's a very sacred tree. He's upset about it, so he wants a dragon to show up and scare the kids."

I laughed, imagining myself jumping from behind the tree, growling like a dragon and scaring a bunch of kids who were in the middle of a piss.

That's when Yuki floated up behind her and tilted her head.

"Did you remember that Ryu needs money?"

Azuki's face changed colors like someone turning a dial on a broken TV. "I—I—well, I forgot to ask, exactly, but tanuki are supposed to bring prosperity, so there's a chance—"

"'A chance,'" I repeated.

She winced. "A good one?"

I sighed. "I'll remind them I don't work for free. I kinda can't. Not with Hibana breathing down my neck about the rent."

She pouted, puffing out her cheeks. "I said I was sorry!"

"I know. It's fine." I slung my own bookbag over my shoulder. "I need to get to Literature Club."

Azuki stepped back like I'd told her I was leaving for war. "I'll miss you," she said with a grin. "Movie Club today. Yuki, wanna come with me?"

Yuki turned, surprised. "Me?"

"Yeah. Come on," Azuki said. "It'll be fun."

I laughed, because, damn, that meant something. I was glad Yuki had a friend besides me.

"That sounds awesome. You should go," I said.

Yuki's eyes brightened. "Really?" She turned to Azuki. "I'd love to."

Then, Yuki hugged me.

For a second, a flutter. Like the memory of being touched. Cold, light, but real. She passed through me, and I felt her sigh. Not just heard it—felt it.

"Ryu!" she said.

I grinned. "We did. For a second again."

She smiled at me. "I'll see you soon."

She followed Azuki down the hall, but a few steps later, she looked back.

I saw her pause. Her cheeks flushed.

And she looked away, fast.

I stood there, holding that one second like it might shatter if I moved.

Maybe next time, we'll get more than a second.

But just before I stepped through the doorway to Fushineko-sensei's classroom, I swore I smelled the faint scent of lemon and ginger and realized that Murasaki's soft body reminded me of Yuki.

And I didn't like where that was headed at all.

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