Third-person POV

Towa saw herself leaping into the air, attempting to cut through the monster with a broken shinai, when all of a sudden, her view was redirected to a guy with flowing bluish hair that flows beside his head. Towa was able to make out the boy's face and it was as though his icy blue eyes were boring into her entire being.

With that, the silver-haired girl was shocked awake. Towa took deep breaths as though her lungs couldn't possibly hold any more oxygen. At that point, she became aware of the bandage that was wrapped around her legs.

"It's not a dream..."

Towa combed her hair behind her ears with her fingers while a thin stream of ice-cold sweat ran down her forehead.

She couldn't wrap her head around how she got home or how her feet were dressed so carefully, but the thing that baffled her the most was how on earth she managed to get dressed in her pajamas?!

That guy better not be the one to change her clothes!

The mere thought of it causes her cheeks to become flushed.

In any case, as soon as Towa unwrapped the bandage, the ghastly wound was gone.

'Well, it's not surprising. Back in elementary school, I got into a traffic accident and while the truck was totaled, all my injuries healed in three days!'

Towa then made an effort to remember what had transpired that day. That was a very strange run-in with someone. For someone who has never encountered a yokai before, hearing the news from a mysterious boy that she, too, was one, really dropped a bombshell on her.

Yet, Towa was quite curious about the boy whose appearance changes during the day and night. That guy appears and disappears like a brisk winter breeze and Towa wondered if she could ever meet Nura Riei again.

✲'*。.❄¨¯'*✲。❄。*。¨¯'*✲

To think that her wish had been granted sooner than expected caused Towa to be rooted in her seat, not even a typhoon could push her off.

The last thing she expected was to go into class and see the person she's been dying to talk to wearing her school uniform and standing next to her homeroom teacher!

"Alright class, we'll be having a new transfer student joining us today."

As the new transfer student stood in front of the class, the teacher greeted him and welcomed him. His features were devoid of emotion, and his expression seemed to be saying, "If you talk to me, you're going to die."

Even though his presence caused the students in the class to break out in a cold sweat, they were unable to deny that he possessed some rather attractive features.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Just as Riei was about to open his mouth, Towa sprang up from her chair, crimson eyes enlarged and mouth gaping.

"You're Nura Riei!" Towa shouted for the whole class to hear.

All eyes were on her, and a murmur began to spread around the classroom.

"Eh? Are they familiar with one another?"

"Hey, isn't that the guy from the Kendo Tournament?"

Although the other students were whispering amongst themselves and Towa was being scolded by the teacher, Riei maintained his focus on her as he examined the baffled expression on her face.

At that moment, the corner of his mouth curved up in a smirk.

✲'*。.❄¨¯'*✲。❄。*。¨¯'*✲

It would be strange for someone not to feel anxious in a circumstance like this one. Towa couldn't help but sneak peeks at the new student who was situated in the far back of the classroom. The new kid in class was the only one with his back to the rest of the room as his eyes fixed on the window.

Now, she even wondered why he came to school when he was not even interested in the lessons. Well, she's one to talk!

"Higurashi! Pay attention!" The mathematics teacher struck the table with his long ruler.

Wait— why was she being reprimanded?! Nura Riei had been staring out of the window the entire time!

DING DONG DING DONG

As soon as the bell rang, every student was prepared to go outside for recess. Now that's a cue for Towa to talk to the new boy but as soon as she turned around, he was nowhere in sight!

"Hey, you!" Towa banged the table close to where Riei was sitting, causing the girl to shriek in fear.

"Ahhhh!"

"Do you know where he went?" Towa pointed out at Riei's table.

"Eh? Uh... U-Umm... he was here just now but—"

Knowing she couldn't get an answer out of her, Towa dashed out of the classroom. Her nose was already sniffing the air.

'I'm not mistaken! It's his scent... He's still here.'

Towa had followed Riei's trail of scent all the way up to the roof of the school. She opened the door to the rooftop with a resounding Bang as she slammed it.

'Huf'

'Huf'

Her gaze darted across the area, looking for the boy with dark hair when a voice startled her.

"Don't be so anxious. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"...?!" Towa suddenly whipped her head around and noticed that the boy had been lying on his back on the rooftop of the storage room.

"Y-you..."

After propping himself up with his hands on the ground, he leaped down from the storage shed's roof and landed directly in front of Towa.

"You saved me from having to introduce myself to those humans, so I owe you one."

"What the hell are you doing here in my school?!" Towa exclaimed.

It seemed as though all of the pent-up feelings she had been suppressing were let loose in that one explosive moment.

"Heh, and here I was assuming you'd be relieved to see me," In doing so, Riei flashed her a sly grin and crossed his arms.

"...!" His words suddenly dawned on her.

That was not the real question she wanted to ask.

"Last night was real, wasn't it? There was a monster and I was fighting it, and then you appeared in a different form, and you... you said something about me being a half-demon... It wasn't a dream, was it?" She gazed directly into his eyes, but he remained expressionless.

"If you'd like it to be a dream, then, let's leave it as a dream."

"But it wasn't a dream!"

"There you have it."

Towa was not satisfied with his response in any way. And he is aware of that.

"I imagine that you have a lot of questions about the yokai blood that you carry..." Riei pointed out.

"How can you be so sure, that I'm a half-demon?" Towa had her eyes on her feet, still refusing to belief what he said.

"That's because I'm a half-demon myself."

At that precise moment, she snapped her head around to gaze directly into his eyes. Her red eyes opened in surprise as she stared at him.

"...!"

Seeing her reaction, Riei let out a ghostly smile.

"You're curious, aren't you? About the world you belonged to." His focus went away from her and onto the vastness of the blue sky.

As he watched the gentle breeze of autumn pass by, he started to focus his attention once again on the girl with silver hair.

"When you're ready, I will show it to you... a whole new world."

Just like that, he began walking away.

"W-wait—"

"What do you mean by that? How will I know if I'm ready?"

He didn't pause but instead stared at Towa out of the corner of his eye, giving her a sidelong glance.

"When you stop lying to yourself."

DING DONG DING DONG

As the school bell resounded, Towa was left dumbfounded by his answer.

✲'*。.❄¨¯'*✲。❄。*。¨¯'*✲

A/N

Hey guys, I'm back again. Well, I already had the plot detailed out so it's just about time for me to write it. Initially I thought about making this story into 3 arcs, the first one being the serial killing arc, another would be revolved around Riei's past regarding the kidnapping, and the last part about Towa in the Sengoku era. But lets' just complete part one before anything else. Part 1 will be roughly around 25 chapters. So, I'll try my best to complete this story before my next semester starts.