The morning air was crisp with the promise of autumn's final days before winter truly settled in. Hiro walked his usual route to Seika Academy, hands in his pockets, lost in thought. He'd spent the entire weekend rehearsing how to tell Luna about Lolo,
*Option A: "Hey Luna, so a rich girl is being forced to hang around me because her dad is blackmailing my dad."*
*Option B: "Don't freak out, but another girl is going to be really interested in me starting today."*
*Option C: Run away and join a monastery.*
Option C was looking increasingly appealing.
The purr of an expensive engine pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. A sleek black luxury car—something German and probably worth more than his family's apartment—slowed to match his walking pace. The back window rolled down with a soft electronic whir.
"Good morning, Hiro!"
The voice was cheerful, melodic, and completely unfamiliar.
Hiro stopped walking and turned to face the car. The girl in the backseat was beautiful in that carefully cultivated way that spoke of expensive salons and designer everything. Her long black hair fell in perfect waves over her shoulders, and her Seika Academy uniform—the same one everyone wore—somehow looked couture on her. But it was her eyes that caught him. They were bright, almost desperately hopeful, like someone who'd been searching for something and finally found it.
"Uh... good morning?" Hiro tried to place her face and failed. "Do I know you?"
The girl's smile faltered slightly, then recovered with admirable speed. "Oh! Of course, how rude of me. I'm Lolo. Lolo Takamura."
*Oh no.*
"I'm starting at Seika today," she continued, seemingly oblivious to Hiro's internal panic. "Your father told my father which route you take to school. I hope you don't mind that I... well, I wanted to meet you properly. Away from all the pressure."
The driver—an older man in a professional suit—kept his eyes forward, but Hiro could sense his attention on the conversation.
"Right. Takamura. I... my parents mentioned you might be starting at school."
"Did they?" Lolo's expression was impossible to read. "What else did they mention?"
"That your father works with my dad." Hiro chose his words carefully. "And that you wanted to meet me."
"Would you like a ride?" Lolo gestured to the empty seat beside her. "It's awfully far to walk, isn't it?"
The car's interior was pristine leather and probably had more safety features than a small airplane. It would be comfortable. Warm. Easy.
It would also be a terrible idea.
"I'm fine walking, thanks. I like the exercise."
Lolo's face fell for just a moment before she brightened again. "Then I'll walk with you!"
Before Hiro could protest, she was opening the door and stepping out onto the sidewalk. She wore expensive-looking designer shoes that were definitely not meant for a twenty-minute walk.
"Lolo-sama," the driver protested. "Your father said—"
"Thank you, Tanaka-san. I'll be fine. You can pick me up after school." She closed the door with a decisive click and turned to Hiro with a radiant smile. "Shall we?"
The driver looked like he wanted to object further, but Lolo waved him away. The car pulled into traffic, leaving them alone on the sidewalk.
"You really don't have to—" Hiro started.
Lolo linked her arm through his before he could finish the sentence. "I want to! Besides, if we're going to be classmates, we should get to know each other, right?"
Her grip was gentle but firm, and breaking away would cause a scene. People were already staring—a girl who looked like she'd stepped out of a fashion magazine hanging onto an average-looking guy in a standard uniform. They made an odd pair.
"Uh, sure. I guess."
They walked in awkward silence for half a block. Hiro was acutely aware of every point of contact between them—her hand on his arm, her shoulder occasionally brushing his. She smelled expensive, like some perfume he couldn't identify but that probably cost more per ounce than gold.
"I saw you on the news," Lolo said suddenly. "Three weeks ago. The press conference."
Hiro tensed. "Yeah?"
"It was incredible. The way you stood up for that girl—Luna, right? The way you transformed in front of everyone without fear. I've never seen anything like it."
"I was terrified," Hiro admitted before he could stop himself.
Lolo looked up at him, surprised. "Really?"
"Terrified. I thought I'd ruin everything. That I'd make things worse for Luna, for all demi-humans. That people would think I was a monster."
"But you did it anyway."
"Because it was the right thing to do." Hiro's voice came out firmer than intended. "Because Luna needed someone to stand with her, and I wasn't going to let her face that alone."
Lolo was quiet for a moment, her grip on his arm tightening slightly. "That's why I wanted to meet you. Everyone else I've ever met... they do the right thing when it's easy. When it benefits them. But you did it when it cost you everything."
"It didn't cost me everything. Luna and I are still together. We're happy."
"I know. I'm not trying to—" Lolo stopped walking, forcing Hiro to stop too. When he looked down at her, her expression was serious, vulnerable in a way that made her look younger than seventeen. "I'm not trying to come between you. I know you love her. My father explained the... situation. With your dad's job. With the pressure."
Hiro felt something loosen in his chest. "You know about that?"
"Of course I know. Do you think I wanted this?" Her laugh was bitter. "My father has been parading 'suitable matches' in front of me since I turned fifteen. Rich boys from good families. 'Perfect' matches on paper."
"And?"
"And they were monsters." The words came out flat, matter-of-fact. "Psychopaths who knew how to smile for cameras. Cheaters who saw women as trophies. Abusers who hid behind family names and expensive suits."
Hiro stared at her, seeing past the perfect hair and designer clothes to the girl underneath. The one who looked tired. Scared.
"When I saw you on TV," Lolo continued, "standing there without any armor except your love for someone else... I knew you were different. So I told my father I wanted to meet you. I thought if I had to be forced into meeting someone, at least let it be someone decent."
"Your father agreed to that?"
"My father wants me to marry into a 'good family.'" Lolo's voice took on a sharp edge. "Preferably one that will enhance the Takamura business interests. But after the last... incident... even he recognized that I needed a break. Someone kind, to help me remember that not all men are—"
She cut herself off, looking away.
"What happened?" Hiro asked gently.
"The last 'suitable match' my father arranged." Lolo's hands clenched at her sides. "He seemed perfect. Said all the right things. Then I discovered he had three other girlfriends and liked to use his fists when he drank."
"Jesus."
"My father had him... removed... from consideration. But the experience left me a bit... cautious." She met Hiro's eyes again. "So yes, I know I'm being pushy. I know you love Luna. I'm not expecting you to fall in love with me or abandon her or anything dramatic like that. I just... I want to be around someone good for a while. Is that selfish?"
Hiro thought about Luna. About how she'd react to this conversation. But he also thought about Lolo—clearly wounded, clearly desperate for something authentic in a world of carefully constructed lies.
"It's not selfish," he said finally. "But you should know—I can't promise anything beyond friendship. Luna is... she's everything to me."
"I know." Lolo's smile was genuine this time, touched with relief. "Friendship is more than I usually get."
They resumed walking, her arm still linked through his but somehow less presumptuous now. More like she was holding on for support rather than staking a claim.
As they approached the school gates, Hiro spotted a familiar figure waiting near the entrance. His heart sank.
Luna.
Her wolf ears were perked up, scanning the crowd—probably looking for him like she did every morning. Then her golden eyes locked onto them, and Hiro watched her entire posture change. Her ears flattened against her head. Her tail, usually wagging happily when she saw him, drooped.
"Is that her?" Lolo asked quietly.
"Yeah. That's Luna."
"She's beautiful."
Hiro glanced at Lolo, surprised by the genuine admiration in her voice. "She is."
"I should let go, shouldn't I? I'm making this worse."
"Probably."
But Lolo's grip tightened almost imperceptibly. "I'm sorry. I... I need the armor a little longer. Just until we get through the gates."
Hiro understood. The school entrance was crowded with students, all of whom were now staring at them. Whispers rippled through the crowd like wind through grass. Letting go now would be like admitting defeat, like confirming that Luna had some claim that Lolo didn't.
Which was true, but Hiro understood the instinct to not show weakness in front of an audience.
They walked through the gates together. Luna stood frozen near her best friend Yuki—a rabbit demi-human with expressive ears and a talent for reading social situations. Yuki's ears were practically vibrating with anxiety as she watched them approach.
"Good morning, Luna!" Lolo called out, her voice cheerful but slightly strained. She waved with her free hand.
Luna forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Good morning."
Hiro tried to pull away from Lolo subtly, but her grip held firm. He gave Luna an apologetic look, hoping she could read the *I'll explain later* in his expression.
Luna's forced smile tightened.
"I'm Lolo Takamura," Lolo continued, seemingly unaware of—or choosing to ignore—the tension crackling in the air. "It's so nice to meet you properly. Hiro's told me so much about you."
"Has he?" Luna's voice was carefully neutral. "That's funny, because he hasn't mentioned you at all."
The barb landed. Hiro winced. Lolo's smile faltered.
"Luna—" Hiro started.
"I'm sorry," Luna interrupted, her composure cracking slightly. "I need to get to class. See you at lunch, Hiro."
She turned and walked away, her tail tucked low. Yuki shot Hiro a look that clearly communicated *you're an idiot* before following her friend.
Lolo finally released Hiro's arm. "I made that worse, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Hiro said honestly. "You really did."
"I'm sorry. I just—" She took a breath. "I'll try to do better. I promise."
Hiro watched Luna's retreating figure disappear into the school building. His stomach churned with guilt and frustration and a growing sense that this situation was spiraling out of his control.
"Come on," he said to Lolo. "Let's get you to the office. They'll need to give you your schedule and class assignments."
As they walked into the building, Hiro was unaware of the two other sets of eyes watching from different vantage points.
From a second-floor window, a teacher with cold blue eyes and silver-white hair observed the scene. Io—the assassin pretending to be a school counselor—felt something unpleasant twist in her chest as she watched Hiro with not one but two girls now vying for his attention.
*This is getting complicated*, she thought. *More complicated than I anticipated.*
And from the rooftop, hidden behind the utility shed, another girl watched through telephoto lenses. Ayaka—Hiro's former childhood friend turned obsessive stalker—zoomed in on Lolo's face, committing every feature to memory.
"Who are you?" Ayaka muttered to herself. "And why do you think you have any right to him?"
She pulled out her phone, snapping several photos of Lolo before the girl disappeared into the building with Hiro.
"Don't worry," Ayaka whispered to the empty rooftop. "I'll find out everything about you. And then..."
She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.
The battle for Hiro's heart had just gained a new player.
And not everyone was going to play fair.
Lunch period at Seika Academy was always chaotic, but the rooftop was supposed to be a sanctuary. It was where Hiro's friend group gathered away from the cafeteria's noise and the judgmental stares that followed demi-humans through the halls.
Today, that sanctuary felt more like a powder keg.
Hiro pushed open the rooftop door to find his usual crew already assembled: Yuki sprawled against the railing with her lunch bento, her rabbit ears twitching nervously; Kaede sitting cross-legged with his fox tail wrapped around his waist for warmth; Takeshi—Hiro's best friend since middle school—unpacking an impressive array of convenience store snacks; and Luna...
Luna sat apart from the others, her lunch untouched beside her, staring out at the Tokyo skyline with studied indifference.
"Hey guys," Hiro said, trying for casual and landing somewhere around awkward.
"Took you long enough," Takeshi said, tossing him a can of iced coffee. "We were about to send a search party."
"Sorry, I had to help the new student get settled in homeroom."
"The new student," Yuki repeated, her tone making it clear exactly which new student she meant. "You mean the girl who was hanging all over you this morning?"
"Yuki," Kaede warned softly.
"What? I'm just stating facts!"
Hiro opened his mouth to respond, but the rooftop door opened again behind him. He turned to find Lolo stepping through, her designer bento box held in both hands, looking uncertain for the first time since he'd met her.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I asked around and they said you usually ate lunch here. I can go if—"
"No!" The word burst out of Hiro before he could think better of it. Everyone turned to stare at him. "I mean... it's fine. The more the merrier, right guys?"
Takeshi shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Kaede nodded agreeably. Yuki's ears flattened, but she didn't object.
Luna said nothing.
Lolo moved to sit down, and Hiro watched in slow-motion horror as she chose the spot directly next to him—the spot that Luna usually occupied. Luna's ears twitched, her tail went rigid, but she still didn't speak.
The atmosphere could have been cut with a knife.
"So," Takeshi said with forced cheer. "Lolo, right? What brings you to Seika Academy?"
"My father thought a change would be good for me," Lolo answered, opening her bento to reveal food that looked like it had been prepared by a professional chef. "I was at an all-girls school before this."
"Must be nice," Yuki muttered. "Having a dad who can just transfer you wherever you want."
"Yuki!" Kaede hissed.
"It's fine," Lolo said quietly. "I know how it looks. Rich girl shows up and disrupts everything. I get it."
"Then why are you here?" Luna spoke for the first time since Hiro had arrived. Her voice was steady, but Hiro could hear the hurt underneath. "Why Seika? Why this rooftop? Why..." She gestured between Lolo and Hiro. "Why all of this?"
Lolo set down her chopsticks carefully. "Because I wanted to meet someone genuine. And when I saw Hiro on the news, standing up for you without caring what anyone thought... I knew he was different from the others."
"Others?" Kaede asked, his fox ears perking with curiosity.
"The 'suitable matches' my father keeps presenting." Lolo's voice took on that bitter edge Hiro had heard before. "Rich boys from good families who turned out to be anything but good."
Luna's expression softened slightly, just for a moment. "I'm sorry about that. But Hiro and I are together. We love each other."
"I know."
"Then what do you want from him?"
The question hung in the air like smoke. Hiro held his breath, suddenly aware that whatever Lolo said next would determine whether this group survived the day intact.
Lolo looked down at her lunch, her perfect composure cracking. "I want... I want to be near someone kind. Someone real. I'm not expecting him to love me back. I'm not trying to steal him from you. I just..." She looked up, meeting Luna's eyes. "I just want to be part of something good for once. Is that allowed?"
Luna stared at her for a long moment. Hiro couldn't read her expression, couldn't guess what she was thinking. Then, slowly, Luna's ears lifted from their flattened position.
"That's up to Hiro," Luna said finally. "Not me. I trust him to make his own choices about who he spends time with."
"Really?" Hope flickered across Lolo's face.
"Really." Luna finally picked up her lunch, taking a deliberate bite of her rice. "But if you hurt him, you'll have to answer to me."
The threat was delivered with such calm certainty that it sent a shiver down Hiro's spine. He'd seen Luna in her wolf form before—all teeth and fury when someone she loved was threatened. He did not want to be on the receiving end of that.
Apparently neither did Lolo, who nodded quickly. "I understand."
"Good." Luna turned to Hiro, her expression softening. "So are you going to sit down or stand there all day like a statue?"
Hiro realized he'd been frozen near the door, watching the exchange like a spectator at a tennis match. He moved to sit down, but the only remaining space was between Luna and Lolo.
Of course it was. He sat, hyperaware of the girls on either side of him. Luna immediately shifted closer, a possessive gesture that was gentle but unmistakable. Lolo, to her credit, kept a respectful distance.
"So," Takeshi said, clearly desperate to change the subject. "Anyone else think Coach Yamamoto is going insane with these pre-winter conditioning drills?"
"Oh my god, yes!" Yuki jumped on the new topic with enthusiasm. "Yesterday he made us run laps until Kenji actually threw up!"
"That's because Kenji ate four curry buns before practice," Kaede pointed out.
"Still counts!"
The conversation flowed around them, slowly returning to normalcy. Hiro felt the tension in his shoulders ease slightly. Maybe this would work. Maybe they could all figure out how to coexist without destroying each other.
Then he caught movement in his peripheral vision—a flash of white hair in a third-floor window.
Io.
She was watching them, her expression unreadable from this distance. When she noticed Hiro looking back, she didn't look away. They stared at each other for a long moment before she finally turned and disappeared from view.
"Who's that?" Lolo asked, following his gaze.
"Ms. Nakamura," Yuki answered before Hiro could. "The new counselor. She's kind of weird. Really intense."
"She's probably just dedicated to her job," Kaede said charitably.
"She watches Hiro like a hawk," Yuki countered. "It's creepy."
"She does not—" Hiro started.
"She totally does!" Yuki's ears stood straight up. "I've seen her. She tracks you in the hallways, shows up near your classes. It's like she's constantly monitoring you."
Hiro couldn't deny it. Io had been shadowing him ever since she'd arrived at the school three weeks ago, claiming to be a counselor but behaving more like... well, like exactly what she was. An assassin gathering intelligence on a target.
The fact that she hadn't killed him yet was either a good sign or a terrifying one. He hadn't decided which.
"Maybe she's just worried about me," Hiro said weakly. "After the whole public transformation thing, the school probably assigned someone to keep an eye on me. Make sure I wasn't going to, I don't know, go berserk or something."
"That's discriminatory," Luna said flatly.
"I know, but—"
"No buts. If they're monitoring you because you're part demi-human, that's wrong."
"I'll add it to the list of things that are wrong but we can't do anything about," Hiro muttered.
Luna squeezed his hand under the table. Her touch was warm, familiar, grounding. It reminded him why he'd gone through everything in the first place—why he'd revealed himself, why he'd faced the cameras and the questions and the fear.
For this. For her.
Lolo noticed the gesture, and something flickered across her face—longing, maybe, or sadness. But when she caught Hiro looking, she smiled.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For letting me sit with you all. I know I'm intruding."
"You're not intruding," Luna said, surprising everyone. "You're just... new. That's different."
It was an olive branch, small but genuine. Lolo took it gratefully.
The rest of lunch passed without incident. They talked about classes, about the upcoming winter festival, about Takeshi's ongoing battle with his math homework. Normal things. Easy things.
But as the bell rang and they gathered their trash, Hiro couldn't shake the feeling that they were standing in the eye of a hurricane. That calm as things seemed right now, chaos was building on all sides.
He just didn't know where the storm would hit first.
The bathroom on the third floor was usually deserted during fifth period—most students were in class, and the cleaning staff didn't come until after school. It was as private as anywhere in Seika Academy could be.
Luna stood at the sink, washing her hands for the third time, not because they were dirty but because she needed something to do with them. Something to keep her from screaming or crying or both.
The bathroom door opened behind her.
Luna's ears perked automatically, identifying the newcomer by the sound of expensive shoes on tile floor and the faint scent of that designer perfume.
Lolo.
Of course it was.
"Luna," Lolo said softly. "Can we talk? Alone?"
Luna met Lolo's eyes in the mirror. Every instinct screamed at her to refuse, to walk away, to protect her territory like the wolf she was. But something in Lolo's expression stopped her—a vulnerability that seemed at odds with the confident heiress who'd walked through the school gates that morning.
"Talk," Luna said, keeping her voice neutral.
Lolo moved to stand beside her at the sinks, maintaining a careful distance. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the slow drip of a leaky faucet.
"I know you like Hiro," Lolo said finally.
Luna's breath caught. Her hands gripped the edge of the sink. "I—"
"It's obvious," Lolo continued gently. "The way you look at him. How protective you are. How you sit close and touch him like you're afraid someone might take him away."
Luna wanted to deny it, to play it cool, but what was the point? "I love him," she said instead, meeting Lolo's eyes in the mirror. "I'm in love with him. Completely. He's the first person who ever saw me as more than just a demi-human. More than just a beast."
"I know," Lolo whispered.
"Then why are you here? Why are you doing this?"
Lolo turned away from the mirror, leaning against the sink to face Luna directly. "Because despite how it looks, I'm not trying to steal him from you. I know I don't have a chance. I know I'm number four or five in his heart, if I'm in there at all."
Luna blinked. "Then what—"
"I just want to be near him." The words came out in a rush, desperate and honest. "I want to be around someone good for once. Someone who won't lie to me or use me or hurt me when no one's looking."
Luna studied her—really looked at her for the first time since that morning. Past the designer clothes and perfect hair to the girl underneath. The one whose hands were shaking slightly. The one whose eyes held the kind of wariness that came from being hurt too many times.
"What happened to you?" Luna asked softly.
Lolo laughed, but there was no humor in it. "What didn't happen? Do you know what it's like growing up as the Takamura heiress? Every friend might be using you for connections. Every boyfriend is probably after your money or your family's influence. Every smile could be fake."
"That sounds lonely."
"It is." Lolo's voice cracked. "And then my father started arranging these meetings. 'Suitable matches,' he called them. Sons of business partners. Heirs to other fortunes. They came to dinner, said all the right things, played the perfect gentleman."
"But they weren't?"
"The first one I dated for three months before I discovered he had two other girlfriends. He was 'hedging his bets,' he said. Seeing which relationship would benefit his family most."
Luna winced.
"The second one was charming. Funny. Attentive. Until I disagreed with him about something small—I can't even remember what. He grabbed my wrist so hard it bruised. Told me I needed to learn my place. When I told my father, he... handled it. But the damage was done."
"Jesus."
"The third one was the worst." Lolo's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "He seemed perfect. Six months of courtship. My father approved. Our families started discussing engagement contracts."
"What happened?"
"I found out he liked to hurt people. Animals, mostly, when he thought no one was watching. He'd adopted a puppy—told everyone how much he loved it. But I saw him... I saw what he did when he was angry."
Luna felt her stomach turn. "What did you do?"
"I broke it off immediately.
Told my father everything. He believed me, thank god. Had the guy investigated. Turned out the puppy wasn't the first animal to 'mysteriously' get injured in his care." Lolo wrapped her arms around herself. "My father made sure he could never hurt anything again. Had him... removed from society. Quietly."
"That's..." Luna didn't have words.
"After that, I told my father I was done. No more arranged meetings. No more 'suitable matches.' I'd rather die alone than go through that again."
"But?"
"But my father is... persistent. He kept showing me profiles. Setting up 'coincidental' meetings. He wants me married into a good family. Someone who will enhance the Takamura legacy." Lolo's hands clenched. "Then three weeks ago, I saw Hiro on the news."
Luna remembered that day vividly. The press conference. Hiro transforming in front of everyone. Declaring his love for her without hesitation or shame.
"He was different," Lolo continued. "The way he stood up for you. How he didn't care what anyone thought. He transformed into this massive beast and the only thing in his eyes was... love. Pure, honest love for you."
Luna felt tears prickling at her eyes.
"I told my father I wanted to meet him. Expected him to say no—Hiro's family isn't influential, they don't have money or connections. But my father surprised me. He said okay. One condition: if I gave Hiro a chance, he'd stop with the arranged meetings for a year."
"So you're using Hiro," Luna said, her voice hardening.
"No!" Lolo looked stricken. "I mean... yes, technically the arrangement exists, but that's not why I'm here. When I met him this morning, when we talked... he's exactly what I hoped he'd be. Kind. Genuine. He looked me in the eyes like I was a person, not a trophy or a business asset."
Luna's ears flattened. "He's mine."
"I know that!" Lolo's composure finally cracked. "Don't you think I know that? I saw the way he looked at you on the rooftop. The way he held your hand. The way his entire face lights up when you smile."
"Then why—"
"Because I'm selfish!" The words echoed off the bathroom tiles. "Because I want to be around that goodness even if I can never have it for myself. Because for once in my miserable, lonely life, I want to be near someone real."
Lolo's voice broke on the last word, and suddenly she was crying—not delicate tears but deep, wrenching sobs that shook her whole body. She covered her face with her hands, trying to muffle the sound.
Luna stood frozen for a moment, every territorial instinct warring with something softer. Something that recognized pain when it saw it.
She moved before she could talk herself out of it, pulling Lolo into an awkward hug.
Lolo stiffened in surprise, then collapsed against Luna's shoulder, crying harder.
"I'm sorry," Lolo gasped between sobs. "I'm so sorry. I don't want to ruin anything. I just... I just want to be around him. Even if he never loves me. Even if I'm just a friend. Please don't hate me."
Luna held her, one hand awkwardly patting her back, completely out of her depth. She'd expected a rival—someone confident and aggressive, someone she'd have to fight. Not this broken girl who smelled like expensive perfume and tasted like desperation.
"I don't hate you," Luna heard herself say. "I don't like this situation, but I don't hate you."
Lolo pulled back slightly, her mascara running, her perfect composure completely shattered. "Really?"
"Really." Luna grabbed paper towels from the dispenser, handing them to Lolo. "But you need to understand something. Hiro is... he's everything to me. He's the first person who saw past the ears and the tail. Who treated me like a person before he ever knew about his own heritage."
"I know—"
"Let me finish." Luna's voice was firm but not unkind. "I've been bullied my entire life. Called 'beast.' Called 'monster.' Had food thrown at me, been tripped in hallways, had my desk vandalized with slurs. Every single day was survival. And then Hiro showed up."
Lolo wiped her eyes, listening.
"He didn't just stand up for me once and move on. He stayed. Every day. Every insult. Every fight. He was there." Luna's voice softened. "When he revealed his own heritage, when he transformed in front of everyone... it wasn't for publicity or attention. It was because I needed him to. Because I needed to know I wasn't alone."
"That's beautiful."
"It's terrifying," Luna corrected. "Because now I have something to lose. And you showing up, being perfect and rich and human-passing... it terrifies me."
Lolo's eyes widened. "You think I'm a threat?"
"Of course you're a threat! Look at you!" Luna gestured at Lolo's designer uniform, her perfect hair despite the tears. "You're beautiful and wealthy and you don't have to hide what you are. You're exactly the kind of girl parents dream about for their sons."
"Hiro's parents know about us," Lolo said quietly. "The arrangement. They didn't want to do it, but my father... he applied pressure. Hiro agreed to meet me to protect his father's job. To help with his mother's medical bills."
Luna felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I thought you knew. I thought Hiro would have told you."
"He didn't." Luna's voice came out hollow. "He didn't say anything."
"Luna—"
"Why wouldn't he tell me?" Luna backed up until she hit the wall, sliding down to sit on the cold tile floor. "We tell each other everything."
Lolo sat down beside her, maintaining a respectful distance. "Maybe he was trying to protect you? Or maybe he was ashamed. This isn't exactly a situation anyone would be proud of."
Luna pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her tail around herself—a self-comforting gesture she'd done since childhood. "I should be angry. I should hate you for this."
"You should," Lolo agreed.
"But I don't." Luna looked at her. "I see you and I see... someone who's been hurt as much as I have. Just in different ways."
"Different circumstances," Lolo said. "Same loneliness."
They sat in silence for a moment, two girls from completely different worlds, united by their connection
to the same boy.
"Can I ask you something?" Luna said finally.
"Anything."
"When you look at Hiro... what do you see?"
Lolo considered the question carefully. "I see someone who chose love over fear.
Someone who transformed into a beast in front of the entire country just to prove a point. Someone who holds your hand like you're the most precious thing in the world." She smiled sadly. "I see everything I've been looking for and can never have."
"And if he... if he did have feelings for you?" Luna forced the words out. "What would you want from him?"
"Honestly?" Lolo met her eyes. "I don't know. I've spent so long protecting myself from being hurt that I never let myself think about what I actually want. Maybe just... to be seen. Really seen. The way he sees you."
Luna understood that. God, did she understand that.
"Okay," Luna said slowly, the words feeling both heavy and right. "Here's what's going to happen. You can be around Hiro. You can be his friend. But—" She held up a finger. "—there are rules."
Lolo straightened, listening intently.
"One: You don't lie to him. Ever. About anything. Hiro values honesty above everything else."
"I can do that."
"Two: You don't manipulate the situation with your father's money or influence. What happens between you and Hiro happens naturally, or it doesn't happen at all."
"Agreed."
"Three: You respect what we have. You don't try to come between us or make him choose. If he develops feelings for you, it has to be real. Not because you wore him down or played games."
"I wouldn't—"
"And four." Luna's voice turned serious. "If you hurt him—if you break his heart or betray his trust or use him like all those other guys used you—I will personally make sure you regret it. I don't care how much money your father has. Understood?"
Lolo nodded quickly. "Understood."
"Good." Luna stood, offering her hand to help Lolo up. "Now let's fix your face. You look like a raccoon."
Lolo laughed, accepting the hand. "A raccoon?"
"Your mascara is everywhere."
They moved back to the sinks, and Luna watched as Lolo tried to repair her makeup with shaking hands.
"Here," Luna said, taking the makeup wipe from her. "Let me."
Gently, carefully, Luna cleaned the smudged mascara from Lolo's face. It was intimate in a strange way—one girl helping another, enemies becoming something else.
"Thank you," Lolo whispered.
"Don't thank me yet. This is going to be complicated."
"I know."
"And Hiro..." Luna paused. "Hiro has the biggest heart of anyone I know. He saves stray cats. He helps elderly people cross the street. He can't walk past someone in trouble without stopping. So yes, he might develop feelings for you. And if he does..."
"If he does?" Lolo held her breath.
Luna met her eyes in the mirror. "If he does, and if you're genuine, and if you follow the rules... I'll try to be okay with it. I won't promise I'll succeed, but I'll try."
"You'd do that? Even though it could mean losing him?"
"I learned something from Hiro," Luna said quietly. "Love isn't about ownership. It's about wanting the other person to be happy, even if that happiness doesn't include you." She smiled sadly. "I hate that lesson, by the way. Hate it with every fiber of my being. But it's true."
Lolo turned to face her properly. "I don't want to take him from you."
"Good. Because I'm not giving him up without a fight." Luna's smile turned sharp, showing teeth. "But I'm also not going to be the jealous girlfriend who controls who he talks to. That's not love. That's fear."
"You're amazing," Lolo said with genuine admiration. "I mean that. Hiro is lucky to have you."
"I know." Luna's grin turned playful. "So are you going to keep crying, or are we going to fix your face and get back to class?"
"Fix my face. Definitely fix my face."
As they worked together to repair Lolo's makeup, something shifted between them. Not quite friendship—it was too new, too fragile for that.
But understanding. Maybe even the beginning of respect.
"Can I ask you something?" Lolo said as Luna applied fresh mascara.
"Sure."
"How do you do it? Trust him so completely?"
Luna thought about all the times Hiro had stood beside her. All the moments he could have walked away but didn't.
The way he'd risked everything to prove she wasn't alone.
"Because he's never given me a reason not to," Luna said simply. "And until he does, I'm going to believe in him. That's what love is, right? Believing in someone even when it's scary."
"I hope I find that someday."
"Maybe you already have," Luna said, stepping back to admire her work. "Maybe you just need to be patient."
Lolo studied her reflection, then impulsively hugged Luna. "Thank you. For not hating me. For giving me a chance."
Luna hugged her back, awkward but genuine. "Just don't make me regret it."
"I won't. I promise."
As they left the bathroom together, heading back to class, neither of them noticed the figure watching from around the corner. Io stood in the shadows, her enhanced hearing having caught every word of their conversation.
The assassin's expression was unreadable as she watched the two girls walk away together, laughing about something.
This was unexpected.
The wolf and the heiress, forming an alliance instead of tearing each other apart. It changed the calculations. Changed the approach she'd need to take.
Io pulled out her phone, typing a quick message to her handler:
Target's emotional bonds are stronger and more complex than anticipated. Original timeline may need adjustment. Awaiting further instructions.
She hit send and slipped back into the shadows, her mind already working through new scenarios. New possibilities.
This job was supposed to be simple: observe, evaluate, eliminate if necessary.
But nothing about Hiro was turning out to be simple.
And as Io watched him through the classroom window—laughing with his friends, oblivious to the forces moving around him—she felt that unfamiliar twist in her chest again.
The one that felt suspiciously like jealousy.
The one that made her wonder if she'd lost her objectivity entirely.
The one that made her question everything she'd been sent here to do.
Twenty Minutes Earlier
The sports teacher, Coach Yamamoto, was a bull demi-human—literally. His horns curved impressively from his temples, and his muscular build made him look like he could lift a car if properly motivated. He was also notoriously bad at reading social cues, which explained why he thought asking students to clean the pool on a Friday afternoon was a reasonable request.
"Tanaka! Sato!" His voice boomed across the empty gymnasium. "Need a favor!"
Hiro and Takeshi, who'd been heading toward their last class, exchanged glances.
"Is it too late to run?" Takeshi muttered.
"Way too late. He's seen us."
Coach Yamamoto beckoned them over with a hand the size of a dinner plate. "Pool needs cleaning before we close it for winter maintenance. Leaves, debris, the usual. Need two strong backs. You boys free?"
Technically they had chemistry next period, but Mr. Sato—no relation to Takeshi—was notoriously lenient about students missing class for school activities.
"Sure, Coach," Hiro said, earning a betrayed look from Takeshi.
"Excellent! Equipment's in the storage shed. Should only take an hour or so." Coach Yamamoto clapped them both on the shoulders hard enough to rattle their teeth. "Appreciate it, boys!"
He thundered off, leaving them standing in the hallway.
"An hour," Takeshi said flatly. "He said an hour."
"It won't be that bad."
"You know what happens every time someone says that?"
"What?"
"It's always that bad."
The pool area was enclosed by glass walls that let in the afternoon sunlight, making the water shimmer like liquid crystal. In summer it was packed with students, but now—with winter approaching—it was eerily quiet. The water was still heated, steam rising gently from the surface.
Hiro and Takeshi changed into gym shorts and t-shirts, then grabbed the long-handled nets from the storage shed.
"This isn't so bad," Hiro said, skimming leaves from the surface. "Kind of peaceful, actually."
"Don't jinx it."
They worked in comfortable silence for about ten minutes, gradually clearing the surface of debris. Hiro found himself relaxing, the repetitive motion almost meditative. After the stress of the morning—Lolo, Luna, the rooftop lunch—it was nice to do something simple and physical.
Then he heard voices approaching.
"I told you they'd be here!" Yuki's voice carried through the hallway outside.
"And I told you this was a terrible idea," Kaede responded.
The pool doors burst open. Yuki bounced in, her rabbit ears practically vibrating with excitement. Behind her, Kaede followed more cautiously, his fox tail swishing with anxiety.
"Surprise!" Yuki announced. "We're here to help!"
"Help?" Takeshi eyed the Super Soaker water guns they were both carrying. "With those?"
"We thought we'd make it fun!" Yuki grinned. "Pool cleaning is boring. Water gun fights are not boring."
"We're supposed to be cleaning," Hiro pointed out.
"We can do both!" Yuki was already pumping her water gun. "Clean and play. Multi-tasking!"
Kaede at least had the decency to look apologetic. "I tried to stop her. For the record, I tried very hard."
"Not hard enough," Takeshi muttered.
Yuki aimed her water gun at him. "What was that?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all!"
"That's what I thought." She fired anyway, nailing him in the chest with a stream of pool water.
Takeshi stood there, dripping, his expression shifting from shock to something dangerous. "Oh, it's on now."
He dropped his net and grabbed the pool hose, turning it on with ominous intent.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Yuki backed up, laughing. "I was just kidding!"
"Too late!" Takeshi chased her around the pool, spraying water in wide arcs.
Kaede looked at Hiro. "This is going to get out of hand, isn't it?"
"Oh yeah." Hiro picked up his own water gun—Yuki had brought extras. "Might as well join in."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
What followed was chaos in its purest form.
Takeshi had the advantage of the pool hose, which had better range and pressure than the water guns.
But Yuki had rabbit agility, bouncing around obstacles with ease. Kaede used his fox cunning to flank and ambush. And Hiro... Hiro just tried to survive.
"Behind you!" Kaede shouted.
Hiro spun, but too late. Yuki nailed him with a perfect shot to the face.
"Head shot!" she crowed. "Ten points!"
"We're not keeping score!" Hiro sputtered, wiping water from his eyes.
"We are now!"
The battle raged across the pool deck. They used lounge chairs as cover, pool equipment as shields. Water was everywhere—on the floor, in the air, soaking into their clothes and dripping from their hair.
Hiro dove behind a stack of kickboards, breathing hard, his shirt clinging to his chest. This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
He was having the time of his life.
"Tanaka!" Takeshi called from across the pool. "Flanking maneuver! On my mark!"
"You can't do military tactics in a water gun fight!"
"Watch me!"
But before they could coordinate, the pool doors opened again.
Everyone froze.
Luna and Lolo stood in the doorway, both in their school swimsuits. Luna's was the standard dark blue one-piece, while Lolo's looked designer despite being regulation. They stared at the scene: four soaking wet teenagers, water guns and hoses scattered everywhere, the pool deck transformed into a combat zone.
"Um," Hiro said intelligently.
Luna's expression was unreadable for a moment. Then, slowly, a grin spread across her face. "You started without us?"
"We didn't—" Hiro started.
"That's so rude." Luna grabbed one of the spare water guns. "Lolo, you ready?"
Lolo's eyes sparkled with mischief. "I haven't had a water gun fight since I was eight."
"Then you're overdue." Luna tossed her a weapon. "Boys versus girls?"
"Hey!" Yuki protested. "I'm already on a team!"
"Then switch! Girl power!"
"...okay, I'm in."
Kaede looked at the three girls, then at Hiro and Takeshi. "Gentleman, I believe we're in trouble."
"Agreed," Takeshi said.
"Strategically speaking," Hiro added, "we should probably retreat."
"Where's the fun in that?" Luna pumped her water gun, her tail wagging with excitement. "What's wrong, boys? Scared?"
"Terrified," Hiro admitted.
"Good." Luna's grin was all teeth. "You should be."
What had been chaos before became utter pandemonium. The girls coordinated with frightening efficiency—Yuki's speed, Kaede's tactics (apparently fox loyalty meant nothing in water warfare), Lolo's surprising accuracy, and Luna's relentless aggression.
The boys never stood a chance.
"Fall back!" Takeshi shouted, retreating behind the diving board.
"Where?!" Hiro was already pinned down by covering fire from three directions.
"I don't know! Just fall back!"
Kaede popped up from behind a bench, firing wildly. "Every man for himself!"
"You're supposed to be on our side!" Hiro yelled.
"I chose life!"
Lolo flanked them with military precision, her expensive shoes discarded somewhere, moving barefoot across the wet deck. For someone who'd grown up with servants and private everything, she adapted to water warfare remarkably quickly.
"Got you!" She nailed Hiro square in the back.
He spun, returning fire, but she'd already ducked behind the lifeguard chair.
Luna appeared from the other direction, firing from the hip. "Surrender!"
"Never!" Hiro dove, rolled, came up shooting.
He missed. Luna didn't.
"That's what you get for leaving me this morning!" she called, laughing.
"That was a strategic conversation!"
"It was you being awkward!" Another shot, another hit. "Now suffer!"
Yuki rabbit-hopped over a bench, firing mid-air. "AERIAL ASSAULT!"
"That's not fair!" Takeshi protested. "Demi-humans have an unfair advantage!"
"So do you!" Yuki countered. "Hiro can transform!"
"Not in a water gun fight!"
"Why not?"
"Because... because..." Takeshi had no good answer.
The battle raged on. At some point, someone knocked over a stack of pool noodles. Someone else slipped and went sliding across the wet deck like a baseball player stealing home. Kaede's fox tail got soaked and drooped comically. Yuki's rabbit ears got plastered to her head.
It was perfect chaos. Pure, joyful insanity.
Finally, inevitably, the boys were cornered at one end of the pool, completely surrounded, out of ammunition, and thoroughly soaked.
"Surrender!" Luna demanded, leading the girls' advance.
"We could jump in the pool," Hiro suggested to Takeshi.
"And then what? They'll just wait us out."
"Maybe we could—"
"No," Kaede interrupted. "It's over. We lost. Honorably, but we lost."
Hiro looked at his two comrades, then at the approaching girls. Luna was grinning like she'd won the lottery. Lolo looked happier than he'd seen her all day. Even Yuki was practically glowing with victory.
"Okay," Hiro said, raising his hands. "We surrender."
"Unconditional surrender?" Luna pressed.
"Do we have a choice?"
"Nope!"
"Then yes. Unconditional."
The girls cheered, jumping and hugging each other in celebration. Hiro couldn't help but smile at Luna's joy, even though he was soaked to the bone and thoroughly defeated.
"Best three out of five?" Takeshi suggested weakly.
"Absolutely not," Lolo said, still smiling. "We're quitting while we're ahead."
They all collapsed around the pool's edge, feet dangling in the warm water, breathing hard and laughing. The sun was starting to set, casting golden light through the glass walls. Everything sparkled—the water, the wet floor, even their soaked clothes.
"This was amazing," Kaede said, wringing out his tail.
"This was stupid," Takeshi countered, but he was grinning. "Amazing and stupid."
"The best things usually are," Yuki agreed.
Hiro found himself sitting between Luna and Lolo again, like some cosmic joke was being played on him. But this time it felt different. Less tense. More... natural.
Luna leaned against his shoulder, comfortable and confident. Lolo sat at a more respectful distance but was smiling genuinely, not the practiced smile he'd seen that morning.
"Thank you," Lolo said quietly, so only he could hear. "For letting me be part of this."
"You earned it," Hiro said. "That flanking maneuver was brutal."
"My father made me take tactical training courses. I thought they were useless." She laughed. "Turns out they're great for water gun fights."
Luna looked past Hiro to Lolo. "You're surprisingly good at this."
"Beginner's luck," Lolo said modestly.
"Luck, nothing. You pinned Hiro down like a pro."
"Well, he's a big target."
"Hey!" Hiro protested.
Both girls laughed, and something in Hiro's chest loosened. Maybe this would work. Maybe they could all figure out how to exist in the same space without destroying each other.
"We should probably clean up," Kaede said, looking at the disaster zone around them. "Before Coach sees this."
"Or we could just tell him there was a freak storm," Yuki suggested.
"In an indoor pool?"
"A very localized storm."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Takeshi said.
"You have a better idea?"
They didn't, so they spent the next twenty minutes actually cleaning—picking up water guns, righting overturned furniture, mopping up the worst of the water.
They worked together easily, the earlier battle having somehow bonded them into a cohesive unit.
As Hiro squeezed water from his shirt for the third time, he caught Luna watching him with a soft expression.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing. Just... happy."
"Because you won?"
"Because of this." She gestured to the group. "All of us. Together. It feels right."
Hiro looked around at his friends—Takeshi arguing with Yuki about who scored the most hits, Kaede helping Lolo reach a water gun that had ended up on top of a locker somehow. Even after all the drama and tension of the day, they were laughing. Having fun.
"Yeah," he agreed. "It does."
But as they finished cleaning and headed to the changing rooms, Hiro couldn't shake the feeling that this moment of peace was temporary. That forces were moving in the shadows, watching, waiting.
He just didn't know how right he was.
On the roof, three floors above Io's observation point, Ayaka lowered her camera.
She'd gotten perfect shots. Hiro in the water fight. Hiro with Luna. Hiro with Lolo. Every angle, every moment, captured in high resolution.
Her phone was full of images now. Hundreds of photos taken over three weeks, organized into folders: "Hiro Alone," "Hiro and Luna," "Hiro at School," "Hiro with Others."
She'd started a new folder today: "Hiro and Lolo."
It already had forty-three images.
Ayaka scrolled through them obsessively, zooming in on Lolo's face, memorizing every feature. The way she smiled at Hiro. The way she sat close but not too close. The calculated casualness of it all.
"Who are you?" Ayaka muttered to herself. "What makes you think you have any right to him?"
She'd already run a preliminary search—Lolo Takamura, seventeen, heiress to Takamura Industries, net worth in the billions. Formerly attended St. Catherine's Academy for Girls, recently transferred to Seika.
But those were just facts. Ayaka needed more. She needed leverage.
She pulled up her contacts, scrolling to a name she'd hoped never to use: Kenji Sato, a classmate whose older brother worked in corporate espionage. For the right price, he could get information on anyone.
The call connected on the second ring.
"Ayaka?" Kenji sounded surprised. "Haven't heard from you in forever."
"I need your brother's help."
"He's expensive."
"I know. I can pay."
A pause. "This must be important."
"It is." Ayaka looked at Lolo's image on her screen. "I need everything on someone. Family, friends, history, secrets. Everything."
"Name?"
"Lolo Takamura."
Kenji whistled low. "The Takamura heiress? Ayaka, that's... that's dangerous territory. Those people have serious security."
"Can he do it or not?"
Another pause, longer this time. "He can. But it'll cost you. And if this blows back—"
"It won't. Tell him I need it within three days."
"Three days for a full workup on someone that protected? Ayaka—"
"Three days. I'll transfer the money tonight."
She hung up before he could argue further.
Her phone immediately buzzed with a text from Kenji: You're playing with fire.
Ayaka smiled, though there was no warmth in it. I'm counting on it.