I expected Natsumi's room to be disgusting.

Like, I don't know: floor tiles peeled up, dirty ramen bowls stacked on every flat surface, incense burning to cover the smell of weed and cat piss.

Maybe a feral cat passed out in the corner beside a pair of cheap sunglasses.

But no.

It was weirdly clean.

Not sterile, but intentional. Like every chaotic impulse was filed away with purpose. The walls were covered in bold stickers—skate brands, rave posters, punk zines—and around her desk was the most pristine army of Hello Kitty Gashapon capsules I'd ever seen. Lined up like soldiers.

Dozens of them, little plastic bubbles of sanity in the mess of her aesthetic.

Her bookbag sat untouched on the chair, still zipped.

But across the room, by the open patio door, several full-grown marijuana plants swayed gently in the morning air like they were doing slow tai chi.

Of course.

I turned and there she was.

Natsumi stepped in behind me, still nude. Not a drop of concern on her face. No towel. No pretense. Twin-tails swaying casually behind her behind.

Just bare skin, wild black hair, vape pen in one hand, Ramune bottle in the other.

She didn't rub against me like she usually did.

Instead, she just padded across the wooden floor, climbed onto her mattress like a lazy housecat, and offered me the vape.

I looked at the label. Man-Go-Dz-Nuts.

Of course it was called that.

I took it. "This isn't nicotine."

"Nope," she said, stretching her arms over her head and letting out a squeaky little yawn. "Natsumi doesn't do things halfway. Natsumi likes vapes with as many deltas as the Nile."

I shrugged and took a slow hit. Getting high before school wasn't exactly foreign territory.

Yuki, of course, freaked the hell out.

"Ryu!" she whisper-hissed from behind me. "You're not going to... to... sleep with her, are you?"

Natsumi glanced over at the ghost girl like she was a bad dream that smelled like lavender soap.

"Natsumi doesn't want love right now," she said flatly. "Natsumi just woke up. Natsumi wants company."

She took the vape back and hit it like it owed her money.

"No," I answered Yuki.

She looked relieved.

"Apparently," I said, sitting down beside the naked nekomata, "Natsumi also doesn't want to get dressed."

I suppressed a grin as Yuki's mouth dropped open in shock.

Natsumi snorted a cloud of mango-scented vape-smoke from her nose and laughed, low and amused. "It's Natsumi's room, American-jin. Clothes are optional."

I raised an eyebrow, trying to keep my gaze at eye-level. "Why do you refer to yourself in third person anyway?"

She rolled onto her side, propping her head on her hand, grinning like a cat who'd just pulled a prank on God.

Then she handed me her vape cart, and I took another hit.

"Natsumi didn't used to," she said. "But when Natsumi realized it bothered people, she started doing it all the time."

Shame on me for expecting a straight answer.

I tossed her the vape cart and she caught it with one hand.

She hit the vape again and exhaled a perfect little ring. It floated right past my ear.

"You're coming to the konbini with Natsumi today," she announced suddenly. "We'll get snacks. Come back here. Maybe after snacks Natsumi can love the American-jin. Natsumi doesn't mind. If it's okay with you. Then we can get high again."

I blinked, letting the entire scenario play out in my mind.

Then I looked at Yuki who shook her head no as if I didn't know that already.

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"That's not a bad idea… for the weekend," I said. "But I think you should go to school with me and Yuki."

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "American-jin is no fun."

I glanced toward the patio plants. "Natsumi's gonna get in trouble. I don't want to see my friend get in trouble."

She sat up a little straighter.

"Friend?" she asked.

I nodded, and immediately realized what I'd just said. I was sitting in a room with a naked woman and a ghost, getting high before homeroom, and I was worried about friendship.

No. I was bringing us together.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I'm getting high with my friends before school."

Natsumi burst out laughing. "Natsumi thinks you're stoned already. American-jin's friends with a naked Natsumi and ghost."

She reached for a hoodie—finally—and slipped it over her head without zipping it. Then she shimmied into a Crescent Moon Academy skirt, letting it ride just below her twin tails. Her bare legs stayed bare. That was as far as her modesty stretched.

"Natsumi will go to school with the American-jin," she said. "But only because she wants to hear what you'll say next."

Yuki stared at me like I'd just summoned Satan with a friendship bracelet.

"What?" she asked. "You actually got Natsumi to go to school?"

I shrugged.

I couldn't believe she agreed. Neither could Yuki.

But deep down, under the anxiety and the THC haze and the scent of peach-scented hair products, I was just… glad.

Because for the first time in a long time, I was getting high with my friends before school.

And it felt like home.

I took a final hit from the Man-Go-Dz-Nuts vape and headed downstairs with Natsumi and Yuki.

Just to bump into Hibana.

"Hey, I was on my way to get you," she said. "I didn't want you to be late for practice."

Then, we all watched in silent horror as she sniffed the air and her mood turned sour in real time.

We didn't even make it off the stairs.

Hibana stood at the bottom like some kind of disciplinary goddess, arms crossed, nostrils flaring like she'd just caught a scent she didn't like. Which, given the smell of mango vape and bare nekomata, was probably accurate.

Her eyes flicked from me to Natsumi. Then to Yuki. Then back to me.

"You're high," she said.

It wasn't a question.

I opened my mouth to argue, but it was too late.

"Are you kidding me?! I came to get you for training and you're high?" Her voice was rising now. "You said you wanted to get better! You said you were ready to be responsible!"

I winced.

Natsumi made a sound like a bored cat watching a dog get scolded.

Then, to my surprise, Yuki floated forward like she'd been yanked on a string.

"Stop it," she said flatly. "You don't have any right to yell at him."

Hibana blinked. "Excuse me?"

Hibana didn't turn towards Yuki. She tried to ignore her, but Yuki continued.

"Stop. Yelling at him," Yuki said, louder now, cheeks flushed. "You don't know what he's going through right now."

That did it. Hibana finally turned towards Yuki and addressed her like she was a person.

"And you do?" the exorcist asked.

"I pushed him to train with you," Yuki snapped. "I thought it'd help. But Ryu's not just dealing with training. He's dealing with… everything. Crescent Moon Academy. These powers. He's not used to all of this."

She gestured to herself, then to Natsumi.

"He doesn't need a drill sergeant right now. He needs space to breathe before he falls apart."

Silence.

Then Hibana's jaw clenched. She looked at Natsumi—still half-dressed and entirely unconcerned. Then back at Yuki, who didn't budge. And finally, back to me.

When she spoke again, her voice was low. Measured. Like she was holding back the fire through sheer will.

"Ryu," she said slowly. "I promised myself I wouldn't talk to Yuki after I offered to help her pass."

Yuki gasped, surprised.

Hibana took a slow breath.

"For the first time, ever, I think I get why you let her anchor herself onto you."

I felt the full weight of Hibana's expectant gaze.

"Don't make me regret it, okay? Now, did you look at the Shin'yume-sou POS computer like I asked yesterday?"

I nodded. I'd never seen Hibana this calm and steady.

"It's… mostly working. I'll check it again. I promise."

She took another breath. I recognized it as meditative breathing, like Yuki taught me. I wondered if she'd learned if from Hibana or the Asuka clan.

"Thank you," Hibana said.

And I could tell she meant it.

"Listen, Ryu, this is important," she said. "I need you to train tomorrow. It's essential, okay? Please… don't let me down."

"I won't," I said.

She turned to leave. Got a few steps down the hallway. Then stopped.

Classic Hibana.

"I still think you shouldn't have bothered Yuki," she said. "But… I need your help. There's a yokai. A dangerous one. And I want to investigate it. But I can't do that with someone who doesn't know how to fight. Not for real."

She looked over her shoulder, voice soft but sharp.

"Eat something. Go to school. Be ready."

And just like that, she was gone.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I heard Natsumi slurp the last bit of juice from her Ramune bottle.

"You're cute when you're in trouble," she said.

"Don't start."

We made breakfast in the dining commons of the onsen. Technically. Natsumi microwaved something unidentifiable, shoved it into a bun, and added pickles.

I ate my usual miso, eggs, and fried fish.

When Natsumi sat across from me I could smell the fumes coming from her improvised "burrito".

It was awful.

"Natsumi likes it boiling hot on the outside but frozen in the middle. It makes it crunchy, American-jin."

It was perfect.

After we ate, the three of us went into the Shin'yume-sou lobby.

The window by the desk was filthy, like it hadn't been washed since George W. Bush was president. The curtains were cracked, though. Light streamed in through the curtains. There was the same, everlasting scent of old cigarette smoke. Everything felt… weirdly okay.

Like maybe today wouldn't be a total disaster.

That's when I saw the ancient POS computer.

Discolored keyboard and flickering monitor, check.

It was on.

The screen glowed a dull green.

Black background.

Old-school command prompt, blinking slow and steady like a heartbeat.

Just one line of text.

Have you seen H. P.?

"What the hell?"

I heard Yuki behind me.

"Gracious, I've never understood that accursed box. It just seems to make everyone angry."

I looked over my shoulder.

"Yeah, I agree," I said. "Natsumi, you ever read any Lovecraft?"

She didn't even turn her head.

Instead, she just released a cloud of mango-scented smoke as she spoke.

"Natsumi's read enough to know not to mess with eldritch horror. American-jin is about to go mad messing with that stuff. Natsumi thinks it will be amusing. Natsumi will watch."

Of course she would.

"Great," I muttered, sitting down in front of the screen. "A lot of help you'll be."

The cursor blinked, waiting.

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