I woke up and before I even got out of the futon I looked around for Yuki.

And I breathed a huge sigh when I saw her floating in the corner of the room beside my ugly wooden desk. She'd taken the charms and candy cane out of her hair sometime during the night. Now it was back to its long, silver/white ghostly floating… I couldn't call it normal.

It was too beautiful.

"Good morning, Yuki," I said, my voice still a bit shaky.

This time I knew my conversation with Lana was not another weird dream. My nerves felt like someone had run sandpaper over them all night.

She turned to me with a smile. "Hey, you're awake."

Then she pointed to my cellphone. "That weird plastic thing lit up earlier. I suppose it's something of a new type of alarm clock. Very modern, Ryu. Did you have a nice dream?"

I shook my head. "I didn't have time for a dream, Yuki. I was too busy catching up on sleep. I just hope I got enough."

I tossed a loose yukata on. Black, of course. Judging from Ryu's clothing, it was his go-to color as well.

Then I carefully put my uniform into my book bag so it wouldn't get wrinkled later.

I had almost walked out the door when I stopped, remembering Natsumi. I carefully placed my hand on the onsen's wooden floor and tried to sense her.

"Gracious, not this again," said Yuki.

She gave me an idea. "Yuki, could you pop your head through the wall and see if Natsumi's out there waiting for me?"

I suppressed a grin as her ice blue eyes widened. "You need me again? Yes! I can do that! She'd better not be out there, waiting to pounce on you. Really. A girl should know how to behave."

Yuki stuck her head through the wall. After a few seconds, she floated back into the room, shaking her head gently. "Nope, no sign of Natsumi. My guess is she's probably still asleep."

I nodded and gave her a thankful smile. "Thanks, Yuki."

Stepping out of my room, I carefully crept down the creaky wooden hallway, doing my best to avoid making unnecessary noise. Once downstairs, I ducked into the dining area, quickly grabbing a breakfast of eggs, fried fish, and miso soup.

As I sipped the green tea, I found myself appreciating its calming bitterness more and more, surprised that it was gradually overtaking coffee in my morning ritual.

Andy never would've tried green tea, stubbornly holding onto his stale coffee instead.

Just as I was about to leave, Rinko waved at me from across the room. I walked over to her table.

"Good morning, Ryu-kun!" she said warmly.

"Good morning, Rinko-san," I replied, trying to remember the gorgeous, buxom lady with the golden-pink hair and scarred forehead was my boss. "About that extra work you mentioned yesterday, um, I realized I could actually use the money. Can we still talk about it?"

Her eyes lit up, and she smiled brightly. "Of course! Come see me this evening, and we'll discuss it. I tell you what I'll do! Come over and I'll pour us some sake."

Sake? Andy would love that, but I'm fifteen now.

But I still needed the money, and I didn't want to seem ungracious.

I thanked her and made my way outside, but Yuki floated next to me with a serious look. "Ryu…be careful with Rinko and the sake, okay? She's sweet, but she can be a bit forward sometimes."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I took a breath, wanting to say that I'd be careful and brush her off.

But she was concerned.

Shion would've slapped my back and told me to go for it. Yuki was kind enough to warn me.

I nodded earnestly. "Thanks, Yuki. I appreciate you looking out for me. Honestly, I wish I didn't have to do this, but I owe Hibana rent."

Yuki smiled gently. "She didn't have to pay you with-with… money from her… brassiere! The nerve of her! And now wanting to drink sake with you… Be mindful."

I spotted Hibana standing near the onsen. She scowled immediately when she saw me.

"It's about time you got here. I've already finished my warmup routine, and you haven't even begun."

I sighed, biting my tongue. "Good morning to you too," I managed.

She narrowed her eyes. "Morning? Fine, but only barely. I've already been up for an hour… Care to guess what I was doing?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes and settled for a resigned sigh instead. "Something wonderful I bet. Saving the onsen from an attacking kobold horde?"

She gave me a look that would've made Shion blink. "Hardly, baka. The POS computer crashed. I need you to fix it when we're finished here."

I winced. Hard. "Oh, give me a break! Can't Rinko look at it?"

Hibana's shoulders dropped. "Ryu, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're not as stupid as you look. You can't be. No one's that stupid. Rinko? Look at the computer?"

The way she said it implied that Rinko was a bad suggestion.

"You want her to do, what, exactly? Upload her 'modeling' pictures to our POS computer?"

My fifteen-year-old brain immediately bookmarked that for later.

She scoffed. "Of all the people…" Then she took a long breath. "But… you're here. And I see that you don't have snake eyes all the time. So… that tells me they come out when you're using whatever your abilities. Whatever those are."

Yeah. That's tonight's Daily Double question, isn't it?

"Well, you're not getting anywhere standing around." she muttered, folding her arms tightly. "Alright, start stretching."

I watched her shift effortlessly into various yoga poses, stretching her legs and back with grace. "I thought I was supposed to be training my dragon abilities," I said hesitantly.

She paused mid-stretch, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Are you serious about learning, or do you just want to argue and look like an ass?"

Before I could reply, Yuki quickly floated over toward Hibana, hands raised in apology. "Hibana-san, I'm really sorry about Ryu. Please, help him out. He needs to learn, and I'm sorry he's a difficult student."

I blinked, suddenly feeling guilty. "Hey," I interjected. "I'm sorry. Really. This is all new to me, and I realize that's probably a lame excuse, but… I'm trying."

Hibana exhaled slowly, seeming to weigh my words.

Finally, she looked away, crossing her arms. "Look, it's not easy being the one responsible for everyone's safety…"

Then she turned and her amber eyes stared into mine. I could sense she was weighing how much to tell me. "There's a reason I stay at the onsen, you know. It's not like I enjoy picking up wet towels because Rinko's too 'busy' or Natsumi's getting high somewhere."

Suddenly, I saw Hibana and how much she was carrying on her shoulders. Ever since I'd come here, I'd been focused on myself.

Hibana was tired of trying to take care of everyone else, and it was fraying every nerve she had.

She hated me because I'd been too blind to realize that I'd been affecting other people as soon as I'd set foot off the bus.

Her stubborn jaw was thrust forward, and I saw her shoulders were tensed. "So, you going to do anything?"

Grateful for her patience, I moved so my feet were shoulder-width apart and began rolling my arms in wide circles, feeling the tension slowly loosen.

After a quick stretch, she told me we'd start with calisthenics.

Twenty hellish minutes later, my lungs burned, and my legs felt like jelly beneath me. Hibana was breathing hard, sweat beading her brow—but somehow, she still looked ready to keep going. It amazed me.

Finally, she crossed her arms and sighed, seeing I had reached my limit.

I expected a tongue lashing, but she didn't scold me.

"I'm going to finish my workout," she said with impressive restraint. "You should hit the showers before class starts."

Then she turned. "Hey, Hibana," I said.

I saw her shoulders tense as she turned towards me.

"Thank you."

A slight nod. "Don't forget the computer!"

Damn her.

Just when I thought she might be okay.

I turned around and was surprised to see a fresh towel hanging by the rail. Through the drifting steam, I noticed someone in the water, thinking it was strange that anyone would be here this early. I squinted through the haze.

And jumped when I saw a pair of violet eyes smiling at me though the rising stream.

"Oh no, Ryu. It's her," Yuki whispered sharply.

It was Murasaki. Her violet eyes shimmered softly through the mist, and she wore a bikini so tiny it could barely be called clothing. She sat up slowly as I approached, deliberately showing off every graceful curve.

"Good morning, Ryu-kun!" she purred, giving me a mischievous grin. "I thought I'd come by and take a quick soak before class."

She tilted her head playfully, eyes sparkling with playful intent. "Care to join me?"

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