Skuzz leaned back in his chair like he'd just dropped the biggest truth bomb in the world.

His stapled jaw clicked as he muttered, "That's a good question, Ryu, yeah. So… there's one little snag. I don't actually know how to get the invitation through the tunnel short of… you know, taking the bus."

The air around him smelled like garbage stew left out in the sun, but his words still managed to stick like tar.

I rubbed the back of my neck, remembering Larry the bus driver's words about leaving the tunnel alone.

"Yeah, about that. Unless this is some kind of official school function, I doubt the bus is going to just… let us cruise through the tunnel like it's a Taco Bell drive-thru."

Yuki perked up beside me, her borrowed body trembling with her restless spiritual energy.

Her pale hair brushed her shoulders as she turned toward me, folding her hands primly.

"Do you think there's any way we could hurry along?" she asked, trying not to wrinkle her nose.

"If I'm going to a dance this evening, I'd better start getting ready. Don't you think?"

The matter-of-fact way she said it made my chest tighten.

She wasn't asking, she was declaring.

Yuki was going to that dance whether or not the world burned down around us.

Or, her re-discovered sense of smell had gotten the better of her and she desperately wanted to get as far away from Skuzz as possible.

Skuzz smacked the table with one rotted hand, leaving another smear behind like someone had spilled weak coffee.

"Exactly! Listen to your little ghost girlfriend."

I wanted to tell him that the vampire was my girlfriend, but he spoke over me.

"You just be careful with that invitation, Ryu, buddy. It's already filled out, so all you need to do is make sure it goes through the tunnel entrance. The rest should take care of itself. Easy as corpse pie."

Skuzz made a sound that reminded me of dead leaves being ground to dust, and I realized that he was laughing.

Inego muttered under his breath.

"Corpse pie? That's not a real saying."

Skuzz ignored him. His milky eyes rolled in two different directions before he finally stood.

"Anyway, don't lose it. In case you can't tell, I went through hell to get that damn invitation. It's… not exactly the freshest body in the morgue, if you catch my drift."

Azuki shook her head.

"What's that mean?" she asked.

I was glad she did. I had no clue what he meant.

"I mean I got that invitation sometime around nineteen eighty-seven," Skuzz said. "It don't matter though. What matters is that the damn thing's filled out at all. So, don't worry about how decrepit the envelope of the invitation is! Just… get it through the tunnel."

The chair creaked under his weight in the most dramatic possible way before he lurched toward the back shelves.

He didn't even say goodbye, instead he just shuffled off like a bad smell with legs.

Which was fine with everyone at our table.

"Gracious, I believe it'll be at least half an hour before the smell goes away," Yuki said as soon as Skuzz was out of earshot.

Good riddance.

The four of us didn't need to say anything, we were already rising from our seats, scraping chairs back.

I slipped the invitation into my bag as carefully as though it might explode.

For all I knew, it could.

We headed toward the exit, and the library's heavy double doors groaned open again.

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The second we stepped outside, the air felt lighter, as though we'd just left a dusty room with stagnant air.

It felt like I'd been breathing through a damp rag the whole time we were in there and someone finally wrung it out.

Sunlight hit my face.

The sakura blossoms swayed lazily in the morning breeze, and I actually took a real breath, letting the library's shadows cling to my shoulders for a second before finally peeling away.

"Much better," I muttered.

Azuki stretched both arms above her head, melon-bread bag still clutched in one hand.

"Ahhh! I thought my boobs were going to mildew in there."

Inego's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Gods, Azuki. You don't have to say everything that crosses your mind."

She just winked at him and bumped her hip against his.

"Ryu-sama," she said, looking up at me. "You're awfully quiet. Don't you have anything to say?"

My cheeks turned red.

"About your… boobs?"

Azuki blushed furiously and erupted into giggles.

Yuki shoved my shoulder.

"Really, Ryu? That's where your mind went?"

I looked from Azuki, the chaos gremlin, to Yuki, the ghostly snowstorm, wondering if I'd been set up.

"But… Azuki was just talking about…"

Azuki stopped giggling for a moment.

"About what, Ryu-sama? Aren't you gonna finish your thought?"

Inego rolled his eyes at the tanuki.

"Oi, lass, leave the guy alone, eh?"

Meanwhile, Yuki dusted off the pleats of her borrowed skirt and looked up at me with that soft, stubborn brightness in her eyes.

"Ryu, Azuki and I really should get ready for tonight. You know how long it takes girls to prep for a dance."

She sighed wistfully.

"I wish I had just been saying that to get us out of there."

Azuki sighed too, sliding her round glasses up her nose.

"Yeah, and let's be real, Ryu-sama, if you're already dating Shion, I doubt you're going to be the one picking me up."

Yuki turned her head sharply, ice-blue eyes flashing.

"Careful, tanuki. That's a good way to end up in serious trouble with a vampire."

Azuki stuck her tongue out, but her feet shuffled like she was suddenly nervous.

"So, um… that means no one's going to escort me to the dance."

She rocked from one side to the other, sneaking glances at Inego as if waiting for him to make a move.

She puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms.

"Yo! That's a tragedy! I need someone to go to the dance with!"

Her entire body flickered with static.

Yuki giggled at Inego.

He finally stopped walking and turned to face Azuki.

Then, he rolled his eyes with exaggerated patience and muttered.

"Sheesh, we're both going there. But… if you insist. Azu—"

"Yes!" Azuki squealed before he could finish. She jumped up, wrapping both arms around him so tightly his glasses nearly fell off his nose. "Yeeee!!"

The sound echoed across the courtyard like a delighted seagull.

Inego's face burned pink.

He glanced at me over her shoulder, helpless, before letting his arms circle around her in a stiff hug.

It took him about a second before his shoulders relaxed, and suddenly their hug became genuinely affectionate.

"Fine," he muttered. "We'll go."

Azuki squeezed tighter, giggling like she'd just won the lottery.

Yuki clapped her hands together, clearly thrilled at the chaos blooming around her.

I felt her arm, cool and smooth, bump into mine, and my heart began beating a little faster.

But then, she turned back to me with that same careful grace that made her seem older and younger all at once.

"Don't forget to stop at the pharmacy," she said.

My head tilted, and I realized that I'd started to adopt Shion's questioning posture.

"Pharmacy?"

Yuki grinned and nodded, as though she knew I'd forget.

"For your prescription. The topical cream," she said. "That the doctor in the wellness center prescribed for your… um… dragon scales."

Relief hit me like cool water after a fever.

"Holy crap. Thank you. I almost forgot."

She looked so proud of herself, like reminding me was her way of keeping me tethered.

She folded her hands neatly in front of her again, cheeks pink.

"Crap," Inego muttered, finding the word amusing. "Bollocks, you yanks have the strangest slang."

Azuki, never content to let anything stay wholesome, shoved her forward.

"Go on, Yu-chan. Hug him!"

Yuki's blush deepened, but she didn't argue.

She leaned in, sliding her arms carefully around me like I might break if she held too tightly.

Her hair brushed my cheek, and she smelled faintly like the strawberry soap Azuki used.

It wasn't fair how natural it felt.

Shion was out there, fighting in the Nightlands, and here I was wanting to wrap my arms around Yuki.

"I'll see you later," I told her.

Her voice was muffled against my shoulder.

"You'd better."

Azuki snorted, leaning against Inego again.

"You two look like a… Ryu-sama, are you sure you're dating Shion?" she teased, her grin wide enough to split her cheeks.

I laughed, but the sound came out a little too brittle.

My friends all heard it.

Because under the laughter, the tension was impossible to ignore.

Yuki had a body now, even if it wasn't hers.

And with every hug, every look, every small kindness, it was getting harder to pretend that nothing between us had changed.

Even the sunlight seemed sharper as the four of us stood there, the weight of Shion's absence pressing down on me, Skuzz's invitation burning a hole in my bag, and Yuki's warmth lingering on my chest like a question I didn't want to answer.

Inego waved goodbye to Azuki, and he stepped towards me.

"We still on for playing guitar at your flat?"

I laughed.

"You know, I don't keep my guitar in my pocket, limey."

He smirked, his eyes flashing from behind his glasses.

"You're just jealous, mate."

I furrowed my brow, then I realized I hadn't told Inego that I'd learned how to cast spells too.

"You know, bud, you're not the only wizard around here anymore," I said.

I expected him to look shocked, or at least surprised.

Instead, he just chuckled as though the two of us shared a private joke.

"About time. Now, if you'd work on that abysmal American accent of yours. Oi, you know what Azuki told me the other day? You called a shopping cart a 'buggy.' Really? Who does that?"

I laughed.

That happened.

"Hey, do you know which direction the pharmacy is?" I asked.

The bastard winked at me again.

"Oi, you're hopeless, aren't you?"

I scoffed loudly.

"Hopeless?" I asked. "Hardly. I've got you."

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