The apartment was still.

  Rin’s door was closed.

  Aurenya’s room was dark.

  And in the small guest room — now full of blankets, clothes, and Suzu’s scattered chaos — two quiet voices drifted in the dark.

  Mika lay on her side, staring at the ceiling. The faint light from Suzu’s phone flickered against the wall — some meme she wasn’t really watching.

  Neither of them had spoken for a long time.

  Finally, Mika broke the silence.

  “You really think she’s safe to be around?”

  Suzu didn’t look up. “Aurenya?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah,” Suzu said simply. “I do.”

  Mika sighed, pulling the blanket higher over her shoulder.

  “You sound pretty sure for someone who watched her fangs pop out last night.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Hey, those were elegant fangs,” Suzu said, half-grinning. “Classy. Ten out of ten dental symmetry.”

  Mika snorted despite herself. “You’re impossible.”

  “That’s what makes me loveable.”

  Silence again — softer this time.

  Mika rolled onto her back, her voice quieter.

  “I talked to Rin earlier. Before bed. I told her I understood why she didn’t tell me… about what happened in the alley. I do. But I still feel like I lost her for a bit. Like she crossed into something I couldn’t follow.”

  Suzu locked her phone and tossed it aside, sitting up cross-legged.

  “You didn’t lose her. You just—” she gestured vaguely, “—paused on different chapters.”

  “You make it sound simple.”

  “It’s not. But it’s okay that it’s not.”

  Suzu reached out, plucked at the edge of Mika’s blanket like a cat tugging a sleeve.

  “Look, I’ve noticed stuff too. The way Aurenya looks at her. The way Rin softens when she’s near. It’s weird, but it’s not bad. She’s not like… some monster from the dark corners of the internet. She’s just lonely. Trying to live. Like all of us.”

  Mika watched her for a long moment. “You like her.”

  “Yeah. Don’t you?”

  Mika hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”

  “Then try,” Suzu said gently. “You don’t have to understand her. Just… don’t close the door before you knock.”

  Mika laughed under her breath.

  “You’re surprisingly good at this, you know.”

  “At what?”

  “Being kind.”

  Suzu blinked. “Ew.”

  “No, seriously.”

  “Yeah, well…” Suzu flopped down beside her, wrapping herself in a blanket cocoon. “Maybe chaos is just how I cope. But she’s trying. Rin’s trying. So I will too.”

  She turned her head toward Mika, grinning in the dim light.

  “Besides, somebody’s gotta make sure the vampire apocalypse has decent snacks.”

  Mika smiled — really smiled this time.

  “You’re ridiculous.”

  “You love it.”

  “Unfortunately, I do.”

  A pause.

  Then Suzu, softer now:

  “We’ll be okay, right?”

  “Yeah,” Mika said. “We’ll be okay.”

  If something in it stayed with you — a moment, a line, or even just the mood — I’d love to hear what.

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