Fwaaah~...
Mochi let out a huge yawn the moment she set foot in the university. The night before, she had gotten home late; after taking a shower, she went to bed, but it was already past midnight.
She blinked slowly, feeling her eyelids as heavy as lead.
"Ugh... I'm so sleepy..." she murmured, swaying a little as she walked down the hallway.
Suddenly, she gave her cheeks a couple of quick slaps.
Smack!
"Wake up!" she ordered herself firmly. "You have a mission to accomplish!"
The night before, Zeke had given her an important task: get close to Ami and coax information out of her about Professor Shūen. After all, Ami studied performing arts and had been in the program for at least two years, so she had to know him well. On top of that, she was also part of a small theater company where none other than Professor Shūen himself was in charge. If anyone could provide something useful, it was Ami.
"Hehehe... I already have a plan to ask her," she told herself with a confident smile.
With renewed determination, Mochi entered the campus. She headed to her first class and, as soon as she opened the classroom door, she saw Ami and Sam waving at her from the front row. Both of them gestured for her to come over.
Mochi hesitated for a moment; sitting there meant being right in front of the professor. She risked him seeing her yawn... or worse, asking her a question she obviously wouldn't be able to answer. But if she wanted to accomplish her goal, she had to take that risk.
With determined steps, she walked over and sat next to Ami. They exchanged a few meaningless words until the professor entered the room.
When the class ended, Mochi seized the chance. She leaned toward Ami and whispered mischievously in her ear:
"Hey, how was your date yesterday?"
Ami let out a shy giggle as her cheeks turned slightly pink.
"Hehehe... after dinner, Sam took me for a walk in the city park... and there... he confessed to me."
Her voice gradually faded into an almost inaudible murmur, but Mochi caught every word.
She blushed a little too, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"And what did you say to him?" she asked eagerly, leaning in even closer.
Mochi rarely had the chance to talk about things like this. In truth, she hardly had anyone she could call a friend. Up until now, it had only been Haruka and Miyu; with Zeke, she still wasn't sure if she considered him a friend or just a teammate. That was why she had remained so distant from the topic of romance. Not because she wasn't interested, but because she had never had anyone to talk about it with. Her mother was always absent due to work, and neither Haruka nor Miyu showed any interest in those matters.
"It's a secret," Ami replied with a faint smile.
"What are you two waiting for?... let's go have lunch, I'm starving," Sam interrupted, rubbing his stomach.
"Come on, Noa," Ami said, quickening her pace as if to escape the conversation.
Mochi didn't need a direct answer; just by seeing them walk shoulder to shoulder, closer than the day before, she already knew.
She hurried a few steps forward until she was walking right beside her.
"Ami, I heard you're part of the theater group. I'd love to join, do you think there's room?"
Ami's light eyes lit up with surprise before curving into enthusiasm.
"Of course! With how cute you are, you'd be perfect for important roles..." her voice trailed off suddenly, and her smile faded. "Although, well... since what happened, all activities are suspended."
Mochi noticed how Ami's fingers clutched her coat so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Really? That's such a shame..." she faked a dramatic sigh, letting her shoulders slump in disappointment. "Just when I wanted to distract myself from the upcoming exams..."
Ami glanced around, making sure the hallway was empty, and leaned closer as if sharing a secret.
"But... if you want, I can introduce you to the professor now. Since it's lunchtime and there are no classes, he's probably in his office."
Bingo. Mochi held back the triumphant smile struggling to escape. Instead, she placed a hand on her chest with an exaggerated gesture of gratitude.
"That would be amazing!"
Ami asked Sam to go ahead to the cafeteria and save them a spot. Meanwhile, the two of them headed toward the professor's office.
When they reached the door, Ami paused with her hand raised to knock. Her lips curved into a strained smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Shūen-sensei is... special. Don't be scared if he seems cold at first," she warned softly.
Mochi nodded calmly, adjusting in her mind the mask of an "innocent student." Behind that door could be the anomaly responsible for several deaths.
Ami knocked and, without waiting for an answer, pushed the door open.
From the threshold, Mochi saw Professor Shūen sitting behind his desk. He looked up at them, and in a matter of seconds his expression shifted from surprise to a warm smile.
"Ami!" he exclaimed, with a warm, almost familiar tone.
"What brings you here?"
"I brought you a new recruit," Ami replied in a sing-song voice, motioning to Mochi to step inside. "Noa wants to join the theater."
Shūen looked at her kindly for a second, but as soon as his eyes landed on Mochi, the warmth vanished instantly, as if he had switched masks. His gaze turned cold and calculating.
"The theater is not for just anyone," he said, leaning back in his chair with a rehearsed air of superiority. "It takes dedication… talent…" He paused, scanning her from head to toe like someone evaluating a stage prop. "But since Ami is recommending you, when activities resume, I'll give you an audition."
Mochi clasped her hands in front of her chest and feigned an enthusiastic sparkle in her eyes, like an excited student.
"Thank you very much, professor!"
The atmosphere eased a little, and they chatted about trivialities for a few more minutes until the subject seemed closed. Ami smiled, satisfied, and both of them turned toward the door. But just before crossing it, Mochi stopped with a casual gesture, as if she had suddenly remembered something unimportant.
"Oh, professor…" she turned back with an innocent smile. "Just a quick question, nothing serious. Were you at the university last night? It's just that I had dinner nearby and I could swear I saw you leaving here very late."
The silence that followed lasted far too long.
Shūen blinked, and for an instant, Mochi caught something in his gaze: a flicker of nervousness.
"You're mistaken," he said at last, in a tone that tried to sound firm, but on the edge of his voice there was a restrained sharpness. "The university is closed at night. Since… that terrible incident."
Mochi noticed how his fingers barely tensed over the desk, as if clinging to not giving himself away.
"Oh, of course…" she nodded softly, tilting her head. "I must have mistaken you for someone else. Sorry for bringing up that subject, it must be very painful… that one of your students resorted to something like that."
Shūen's expression hardened.
"Of course it is. I always told them they could trust me, that they could tell me about any problem, any difficulty. I encouraged them to be open and ask for help… but in the end it wasn't enough."
He cleared his throat, avoiding Mochi's gaze, and abruptly concluded:
—I have work to do. You may leave now.
Ami, visibly uncomfortable, nodded quickly and grabbed Mochi by the arm, practically dragging her out of the office.
The rest of the day passed between classes and trivial conversations, but Mochi couldn't shake the professor's words from her mind. Not only had he lied about being at the university the previous night; there was also something strange about the way he spoke of his students. By the time evening came and the final bell rang, Mochi sought out Miyu and Zeke to bring them up to speed on everything she had discovered.
After leaving, just a few meters away, Zeke was leaning against a bench, talking with a woman. It didn't seem like a casual conversation: she was handing him a folder with papers while her tentacles moved calmly, as if accompanying her every gesture.
Mochi stood watching for a few seconds. The woman couldn't have been older than twenty. Her violet hair fell in shiny locks over her shoulders, and from her lower back emerged four dark tentacles with a soft bluish tint, firm yet fluid in their movements. She was a Demi-Human Krakenid, the kind Mochi had only seen a couple of times in her whole life.
—Thank you —Zeke said in a low but clear voice. The woman bowed her head toward him before turning to leave.
When the krakenid disappeared down the street, Mochi ran over to Zeke.
[Author's note: Hello everyone, starting from this chapter I've changed the way I refer to all non-human people. From now on, I'll call them Demi-Humans.]