Chapter 9: Congratulations, You’re All Weirdos

For a long, terrible second, nobody moved.

Lunaria just kept nibbling her rice ball, oblivious to the death laser being aimed at her by a possibly red-haired witch with trust issues.

I gripped my chopsticks so tightly they creaked.

Okay. Think, Mio.
Best case scenario: Reina just has very sharp instincts and bad social skills.
Worst case: She’s about to accuse Lunaria of being a supernatural creature in the middle of the school rooftop.

Neither sounded great.

Finally, Reina leaned back slightly, her eyes narrowing in a way that made my stomach twist into a whole new shape.

"You," she said, pointing her finger directly at Lunaria like she was a character from the video game of ace attorney.
"...You're not human, right?"

I almost died on the spot.

Lunaria blinked, tilting her head, a crumb stuck to her cheek.

"Huh?" she said, full, innocent wolf-puppy confusion.

I opened my mouth, ready to spew whatever half-truth or full-blown lie it took to salvage this disaster.
But Reina beat me to it.

"Relax," she said, popping the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and chewing lazily. "I'm not either."

I froze.

Lunaria froze.

Even the wind seemed to freeze.

There was a beat of stunned silence.

Then Lunaria gasped, clutching her half-eaten rice ball like it was a sacred relic.

"You're a wolf too?!" she cried, eyes sparkling.

Reina actually snorted in laughter.

"Not even close," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm a witch. A genius apprentice, if we're being specific."

A witch.
Not the broomstick-halloween kind, judging by the way she said it, it's like she expected me to know exactly what that meant.

"I’ve trained under one of the top covenants," Reina added, flashing a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "So trust me. I can sniff out weirdos from a mile away."

Lunaria's ears, thankfully hidden under her messy hair, probably would have twitched if she had any control over her reactions.
Instead, she just tilted her head again, looking even more confused.

Still, a part of me stayed on high alert.
Because even if Reina was smiling now, there was a sharp glint behind it.
She was thinking. Calculating.
Sizing us up.

Her next words confirmed it.

"I was about two seconds away from turning you into cinders, y'know. A new supernatural creature is popping up where they shouldn't? Normally, I wouldn't even blink."

My stomach twisted.

"But..." She smiled like she wasn’t taking anything seriously, yet her eyes said otherwise. "You're harmless. Cute, even. And honestly?" She shot me a sly, sideways glance. "I’m kinda curious what your deal is, ice queen."

I flinched.
Did she just?

"You knew, right?" she said, tilting her head, all fake innocence. "That she’s not human."

I nearly dropped my entire lunchbox.

"Wh-what?!" I stammered, way too loudly.

Reina raised an eyebrow. "Come on. You’re obviously involved with her somehow."

I scrambled for a believable excuse. Anything.

"I'm just..." I said, voice cracking under the weight of my own panic, "a very... charitable person?"

Reina gave me the flattest, most unimpressed look I'd ever seen in my life.

"Right," she said dryly.

Lunaria, ever the helpful disaster, chimed in cheerfully, "Mio is super nice! She even let me live with her after I broke into her apartment!"

I nearly face-planted onto the concrete.

There was a pause.

Then Reina blinked.

"...Wait," she said slowly, like the words were physically painful to process. "You own an apartment?"

"It's not like that—" I tried to say, but Reina barreled right over me.

"You’re telling me you’ve got an actual place, with walls and plumbing and everything, and you let her stay there?!" She pointed at Lunaria, who was busy picking grains of rice off her uniform with single-minded determination.

"I mean..." I mumbled. "It’s complicated."

Reina leaned in, practically vibrating with intensity.

"Do you have... extra rooms?"

"Technically," I admitted warily.

Her eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, and she just unwrapped a pony.

"I’m moving in," she declared, jabbing a thumb at her chest.

"Wha—no—you can't just—" I sputtered.

"Too late. You already let one weirdo in," Reina nodded seriously, like she was making it law or something. "One weirdo allowed. Two won’t kill you."

My head was spinning. "Don’t you live somewhere already?"

Reina grimaced, like just thinking about it physically hurt. "If you call a cheap hotel room with moldy walls and a bed that feels like a grave a place to live."

She flopped dramatically onto the floor, arms outstretched. "It’s tragic. Absolutely inhumane. I can't believe you’d let a cute girl suffer like this, Mio-chan."

"That sounds like a you problem," I said stiffly, but my resistance was already crumbling.

"And before you say anything," Reina added quickly, holding up a finger, "I’m technically broke. Human money is the worst. I tried to pay with magic crystals, and the hotel guy almost called the cops."

She rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small, glowing shard of amethyst.

"I have plenty of these, though!" she said brightly, like she was offering a basket of homemade cookies instead of illegal magical contraband.

I stared at the crystal. Then at her. Then back at the crystal.

"You can't just wave around something that looks like alien tech and expect people not to freak out," I said, pressing my hands against my forehead.

Reina pouted. "It's not alien tech. It's perfectly natural. It's just... infused with a little bit of world-bending energy. Totally harmless! Mostly."

Lunaria leaned in, eyes sparkling. "Oooh, it's so pretty! Can I eat it?"

"NO," Reina and I said at the same time.

Lunaria flinched back, clutching her rice ball like it would protect her from our wrath.

Reina sighed dramatically. "Anyway. Since you’re already running a charity for strays, I volunteer as your next charity case."

She clasped her hands together and gave me the most exaggerated puppy-dog eyes I'd ever seen. If she had a tail, it would’ve been wagging.

"I don't run a charity," I muttered.

"Please?" Reina pressed, scooting closer on her knees like a kid begging for candy. "I promise I’ll pay rent! Someday! In, uh... vibes. And affection."

I buried my face in my hands.

How did my life turn into this?

xXx

By some miracle, I survived lunch without major catastrophe.

And by an even greater miracle, I found myself walking down the hill from school with not one, but two supernatural weirdos flanking me like bodyguards.

Well. Goofy, unpredictable, snack-obsessed bodyguards.

“Wait, wait—let me get this straight,” Reina said, skipping a little as she walked backwards in front of us. “You crashed through her balcony… did a full cannonball into her pool… soaked her and her phone… and she still let you stay?”

Lunaria crossed her arms, huffing. “It was an emergency landing! Besides, I said sorry!”

Reina smirked. “Was that before or after you wagged your tail and gave her a second shower?”

“That was a reflex! I was excited!”

“I was already drenched,” I said flatly. “You made it worse.”

Lunaria pouted. “Okay, but getting extra wet isn’t that bad!”

Reina cackled. “This is better than soap operas. No wonder you didn’t freak out when I dropped the witch bomb.”

“I did freak out. Internally.”

“You hide it well, Ice Queen,” she said, giving me a thumbs-up. “Very stoic. Very mysterious. I love that for you.”

I let out a long, tired sigh. “Let’s just get your stuff.”

xXx

Reina’s motel turned out to be exactly as depressing as she’d described.

The sign flickered. The building tilted slightly, like it had given up on standing straight a decade ago. And the room… oh, gods.

“Oh no,” Lunaria whispered, peeking in. “It smells like socks and sadness.”

“I think something’s growing on that pillow,” I said.

Reina shoved the door open with her foot and gestured grandly. “Home sweet dump.”

She gathered her things into a lopsided pile. Mostly books, weird trinkets, an electric kettle, and a bag full of loose tea leaves labeled 'Do Not Inhale Unless You Want to See Colors That Don’t Exist'.

“I can carry that,” Lunaria offered.

Reina shook her head. “Nah, watch this.”

She twirled her fingers in the air, muttered something in what sounded suspiciously like Latin spoken by someone who had never studied Latin, and...

The pile lifted.

Just floated there. Glowing faintly violet. It even gave a polite little spin like it was showing off.

Lunaria’s jaw dropped. “WOAH! Is that—? Are you—? Can I do that?!”

“Nope,” Reina said smugly. “Witch perks.”

“That was so cool,” I admitted. “Do you always use magic for moving stuff?”

“I use it for everything,” Reina said proudly. “Why suffer when you can sparkle?”

xXx

The moment we stepped through the gates of my apartment complex, Reina stopped cold.

Her floating luggage clunked to the ground with a thud.

She stared up at my pristine ten-story apartment tower like it had personally insulted her by existing.

"...OH MY GOD," she shrieked. “You didn’t tell me you were literally a queen!”

“I’m not—”

“Is this your castle? Is there a throne? Do you bathe in diamond dust? Do you adopt witches?! Because I am available, I come with magic and sunshine!”

Before I could respond, two voices could be heard from ahead.

"Welcome back, Little Mistress," Zach and Randy said together, giving a polite nod like it was part of their daily routine.

Reina blinked. “Did they just—?”

"Welcome back, Little Mistress," Chester said smoothly, stepping forward with a graceful bow that somehow made the air feel colder around him. His silver tray, inexplicably, had tea that hadn’t spilled a drop.

Lunaria waved cheerfully. “Hi, Chester! I brought a new friend!”

Chester offered a faint nod to the werewolf and then to Reina, who was now half-hiding behind me, her fingers clutching the back of my shirt with a quiet, trembling grip.

Reina blinked up at him.

And then she stopped smiling.

Her gaze lingered. Brows furrowed. Shoulders tensed. Something in her expression flickered, too brief to catch unless you were looking for it.

She stepped closer to me, so close our arms brushed. Then she reached out and lightly tugged the hem of my sleeve.

I glanced down, confused.

Reina didn’t look at me. She kept her eyes locked on Chester, her voice dropping into a whisper that barely reached my ears.

“…Mio,” she murmured, her usual cheeky tone gone, replaced by something quieter. Tighter. Uneasy.
“There’s something off about him. I—I don’t know what exactly, but…” She swallowed, eyes narrowing slightly. “The magic around him—it's old. Wrong, heavy, like fog, but sharper. Ancient.”

My heart skipped.

Reina’s fingers curled tighter around my sleeve.
“I’ve felt this kind of presence before. Maybe a true vampire. Or a tengu. Or even a djinn. It’s... it’s hard to pin down. But Mio—”
She leaned in closer, voice nearly trembling.
“Whatever he is, he’s not human. And I don’t think he’s the kind of creature that just serves tea for fun.”

“Oh, pardon me,” Chester said politely, his voice calm as ever. “It seems our Little Mistress’s friend is a bit more… sensitive than most when it comes to abnormalities.”

Then, just for a second, I felt it.
The air shifted. Subtle, like the difference between a warm room and a cool draft. Whatever weight had been pressing on us—on Reina—eased.

Reina’s shoulders sagged. She took a shaky breath, then let it out with a soft sigh, like she’d been holding it in without realizing.

I leaned toward her, keeping my voice low. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, still a little pale. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

But then she leaned in just a bit more, her mouth near my ear.

“…You felt that, right?” she whispered. “His magic’s gone. Completely. Like it’s been wiped clean. I’ve never seen that before.” Her brows pulled together, eyes still locked on Chester’s back. “Whatever he is... yeah, he’s not human. Not even close.”

Chester’s lips curled into a subtle smile, a small, almost amused expression that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He motioned gracefully toward the hallway, his tone as smooth as ever.

“If you’ll follow me,” he said with a slight bow. “I’ve prepared dinner and warm baths for you all. I’m sure you’ll find them quite… rejuvenating.”

Lunaria, who had been eerily quiet up until that point, suddenly perked up, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Did you say dinner? And baths? Oh, I’m in!” She bounded forward with far more enthusiasm than anyone would expect from a werewolf who had just nearly drenched the entire room. “Lead the way, Chester! Lead the way!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her energy. It was hard not to get swept up in Lunaria’s enthusiasm, even if the situation still felt heavy with questions.

Turning toward Reina, I lowered my voice. “I trust him, Reina. Strange as he is... Chester’s been with the Akiyama family for years. He’s always looked out for us, and he’s never steered us wrong. He’s... reliable.”

Reina glanced between me and Chester, her brow still furrowed but the tension in her shoulders loosening. “I still don’t like it. But... I’ll take your word for it.” She gave me a sidelong look. “For now.”

“Good,” I said, offering a reassuring smile. “Let’s just get through this night, okay?”

Reina exhaled slowly, nodding once, before the two of us followed Chester down the hall, Lunaria already skipping ahead, eagerly awaiting the dinner and warm bath that Chester had prepared for us.