Rei Kanzaki noticed her because she moved wrong.
Not strange.Not creepy.
Just… wrong.
While everyone else walked upright, careless, dragging their feet across the pavement, the girl near the alley stayed low. Her posture bent forward slightly, shoulders tense, steps light—too light for someone her size.
As if she was ready to run.
Or hide.
It was raining that night.
Neon signs flickered above puddles, painting the alley in broken colors. Rei had taken this shortcut every day after school. Nothing ever happened here.
Until he saw her.
She was crouched near a vending machine, fingers wrapped around a piece of bread she'd clearly stolen or found. She ate fast. Too fast. No hesitation. No shame.
Like someone who didn't know when her next meal would come.
Their eyes met.
Gray.
Sharp.
Alert.
The girl froze.
For a second, Rei thought she might bite him.
"I'm not gonna tell anyone," Rei said instinctively.
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
The girl stared at him, unmoving. Then—slowly—she lowered herself even further, almost on all fours, ready to bolt.
That was when Rei saw it.
A flick of movement behind her.
Thin.
Long.
Gone in a blink.
His breath caught.
"Hey," he said quietly. "You're gonna get soaked like that."
Silence.
Rain tapped against metal and concrete. Somewhere, a train passed.
Finally, the girl spoke.
"…Are you afraid?"
Her voice was soft. Too soft. Like she wasn't used to using it.
Rei swallowed. "I should be. But I'm not."
The girl studied him the way an animal studies a trap—careful, suspicious, calculating risk.
Then she stood.
That's when Rei saw her properly.
Short hair, damp and clinging to her face. Pale skin. Slender frame. Almost normal.
Almost.
From beneath her hood, something twitched.
Two small shapes pressed against the fabric.
Ears.
"My name is Mitsuki," she said.
Her hand hovered near her side, fingers twitching as if resisting the urge to drop back to the ground.
Rei nodded. "Rei."
A pause.
"…You're not running," Mitsuki said.
"I don't think I should," Rei replied.
She tilted her head.
Curious.
Dangerously curious.
They stood there longer than necessary.
Two people in a city full of strangers.
One pretending to be human.
The other pretending not to notice.
Rei didn't know it yet, but this was the moment his life split in two.
Before he loved her.
And after he stopped being human.