The final bell of the day rang with the particular, soul-deep relief that only a Monday afternoon could provide. Across the classrooms of Toyama High, chairs scraped, bags were shouldered, and students poured into the corridors like water finding every available crack. The weekend was a distant memory. The freedom of the evening was just beginning.

Kama had survived her first day of school in over a hundred and fifty years. She had been introduced, mocked, threatened with acid, had rice thrown at a boy (accidentally), had her ear pulled by a giant in a kimono, rejected three separate romantic propositions with escalating brutality, and received the keys to her new life from a thousand-year-old patriarch dressed like a politician. All in all, she reflected, it had been a productive Monday.

The four of them convened at the school gates as the last stragglers drifted past. Mizuki was already tugging at the hem of her skirt, still unhappy with the length. Sato had retrieved his motorbike and was wheeling it toward the street, his helmet dangling from one hand. Ezume had his bag slung over one shoulder, his blazer still hanging open over his Umbrella Man t-shirt, his expression thoughtful and distant. He'd been quiet ever since lunch. Quieter than usual.

"There's a smoothie place near the station," Sato announced, swinging a leg over his bike. "I'm going. Anyone else want to come ?"

"It's a Monday," Mizuki said. "We have homework."

"It's a Monday," Sato replied, "and I will have a smoothie. These things are not mutually exclusive."

Mizuki sighed, but she didn't argue. She was learning that arguing with Sato about food was a losing battle.

They walked together through the late afternoon streets, a loose, comfortable formation of four. Sato pushed his bike along the pavement rather than riding it, keeping pace with the rest. Kama walked beside him, her ponytail swishing with every step, her pink sweater now covered by a light jacket she'd pulled from her bag. Mizuki walked on Sato's other side, her posture still perfect despite the long day. Ezume trailed a half-step behind, his hands in his pockets.

The smoothie place was a small, cheerful shop wedged between a bookshop and a pharmacy, its windows plastered with pictures of brightly colored fruit. Sato ordered something green that looked like it had been blended with actual grass. Mizuki ordered strawberry, because strawberry was predictable and safe. Ezume ordered mango. Kama ordered the largest size available, a monstrosity of blended pineapple, coconut, and something purple that the menu called "secret fruit," which she consumed in approximately ninety seconds.

"How," Ezume said, watching her, "do you eat so much and stay so thin ?"

"Fast metabolism," Kama said around her straw.

"You've said that before. I don't believe you."

"You don't have to believe me. You just have to accept it."

They walked on through the quieting streets, the late afternoon sun slanting long shadows across the pavement. Mizuki was the first to peel off, pausing at the corner where her street branched away from theirs.

"I have to get home," she said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. "My mother will want to know about the new transfer student. She probably already knows. She knows everything." She turned to Kama with an expression that was still slightly suspicious but no longer actively hostile. "You're still strange. But you're not... completely terrible."

Kama put a hand over her heart. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"It felt like one, darling."

Mizuki made a small 'hmph' sound, but the corner of her mouth twitched. She turned and walked away, her footsteps precise and measured on the pavement.

Sato was the next to go. They'd reached the junction where his apartment stood in one direction and Ezume's in the other. He swung his leg over his bike, settled the helmet on his head, and gave them a lazy salute.

"I've got to get home before Hana starts texting me. She's got a whole system of escalating emoji." 

He kick-started the engine, which coughed twice before catching. 

"See you tomorrow. Kama, try not to get your ear pulled again."

"I told you, I make no promises."

Sato grinned and pulled away, the sound of his motorbike fading gradually into the distance.

And then it was just the two of them.

Kama and Ezume. Alone on the sidewalk with the sun sinking toward the rooftops and the streetlamps beginning to flicker on one by one. They walked in silence for half a block. Kama was still sipping the dregs of her smoothie, the straw making a faint slurping sound against the bottom of the cup. Ezume was very aware of the space between them - about two feet of pavement and a tension he couldn't quite name.

"So," Kama said, breaking the silence. "Just you and me again."

"Just you and me," Ezume repeated.

"Seems to be happening a lot lately."

"It's not deliberate."

"Isn't it ?" She grinned at him, that sharp, teasing grin that made him feel like she knew something he didn't. "Maybe the universe wants us to spend time together."

"The universe doesn't want anything. The universe is a random collection of physical phenomena."

"That's a very boring way to look at the universe. And you sound like Sato, by the way. Where is my wittle conspiwacy theorist ?"

"It's an accurate way to look at the universe. I know things, that does not mean I disagree with everybody about everything..."

She stepped closer to him as they walked, her shoulder brushing his. He moved slightly to the left. She moved with him.

"Why do you do that ?" he asked, exasperated.

"Do what ?"

"Invade my personal space."

"Personal space is a social construct."

"It's a very important and convenient social construct."

She laughed - that genuine laugh that wasn't the social one or the teasing one, the one that seemed to bubble up from somewhere real. "You're so easy to wind up. It's like turning a crank."

"Glad to be entertaining."

They walked a little further. Kama finished her smoothie and tossed the cup into a recycling bin with a practiced, one-handed arc. Then, without warning, she reached over and plucked Ezume's smoothie from his hand.

"Hey-"

"I just want to try it." She took a long sip from his straw, her lips closing around the plastic. Ezume watched this happen with the frozen horror of someone witnessing a minor crime. She pulled back, smacked her lips thoughtfully, and handed the cup back. "Mango. Good choice. Very tropical."

"You could have asked."

"Where's the fun in that ?"

He took the cup back, staring at the straw as if it had been contaminated. Which, technically, it had. "You're unbelievable."

"I've been called worse."

They rounded a corner, and Ezume's street stretched out before them. The cherry tree was still shedding its blossoms in the evening breeze. The streetlamps were on now, casting their usual pools of yellow light. His apartment building stood at the far end of the block, familiar and unremarkable.

Ezume stopped walking. "Shouldn't you be heading to your hotel ?"

Kama didn't stop. She kept walking, her sneakers padding softly on the pavement, her ponytail swaying. "Oh, I checked out. Returned the room this morning."

Ezume stared after her. "You- what ?"

"Returned the room. The hotel. I'm not staying there anymore." She turned back to face him, walking backward now, a grin spreading across her face. "Found somewhere better."

"You found a place ? Already ? In one day ?"

"Told you. I'm efficient."

"Well- where ?" He hurried to catch up with her. "Where exactly ?"

She didn't answer. She just turned back around, her ponytail flicking, and began to skip. Actually skip. Like a child. Like someone who was enjoying a private joke immensely.

"Kama."

"Kama."

"Kama !"

She kept skipping, her pink sweater bouncing, her sneakers slapping the pavement. She turned onto his street, past the cherry tree, past the row of mailboxes. She stopped directly in front of his apartment building, planted her feet, and spun around to face him with her arms spread wide.

Ezume stopped too. He looked at the building. He looked at her. "What ? Are we neighbors ? Did you find a place in this building ?"

Kama's grin widened. She reached out, took his hand - his actual hand, her fingers warm and startlingly soft against his palm - and turned it over. Then, with deliberate, theatrical slowness, she placed something cold and metallic into his open palm.

Ezume looked down. It was a key. A duplicate of the key that was currently in his own pocket. He knew it instantly, the shape of it, the weight of it, the slight scratch on the side where he'd dropped it once.

His brain refused to process what he was seeing.

"What," he said. "What is this... ?"

Kama took the key back and dangled it in front of his face, her eyes bright with unholy amusement. Then she burst out laughing, the sound echoing off the buildings.

"Better than neighbors," she said, her voice cracking with glee. "We're roommates !"

Ezume stared at the key between his fingers, the keys that he just got out of his left pocket. He stared at the key in her hand. He stared at her face, at the grin that was threatening to split it in half, at the absolute, chaotic, maddening delight radiating from every inch of her being.

"You-" His voice came out strangled. "You're moving in... ? With me... ? Into my apartment... ?"

"Your mom already said yes ! She's expecting me this evening. She sounds really nice, by the way. Very welcoming. I think we're going to get along."

"My mom already- you talked to my- how did you even-"

"I have my ways."

"WHAT WAYS ?"

Kama was laughing too hard to answer. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, her ponytail shaking. "Your face," she managed. "Your FACE. I wish I had taken a photo."

Ezume looked at the key again. The duplicate of his key. The key to his apartment. The key that meant a boogeywoman - a real, actual, possibly-a-monster girl - was about to become his roommate.

"Roommates," he repeated, the word feeling foreign in his mouth.

"Roommates," Kama confirmed, straightening up and wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. "You, me, and your mom. One big happy family."

She turned and skipped up the steps to the building entrance, still laughing. "Come on, roomie ! I'll let you show me around !"

Ezume stood frozen on the pavement for a long moment, the key cold in his palm, the evening breeze stirring the cherry blossoms around him. Then, very slowly, he closed his fingers around the key and followed her inside.

This is fine, he told himself. This is absolutely fine. A possible supernatural creature is moving into my apartment. This is a completely normal Monday.

He was going to need more conspiracy files.

SEE YOU FOR CHAPTER 20...