The hallway feels wrong the moment the scent reaches you.

Warm. Wild. Werewolf.

Your fingers curl slightly at your side as memories you never asked for resurface—blood on marble floors, shattered glass, your mother’s scream cut short. The night everything changed. Your older brother’s voice echoes in your head, cold and furious:

Never trust a werewolf. They took her from us. He’d made sure you remembered. Every day. Every lesson drilled into you alongside combat training and control. Especially after the Pact was signed.

Vampires and werewolves—forced into peace after decades of slaughter. A fragile agreement built on clenched teeth and unspoken hatred. No fighting on school grounds. No feeding. No shifting. No killing.

Your brother hated it. They don’t deserve peace, he’d said. They deserve extinction.

—————

You lean against your locker now, red eyes scanning the crowd until you see him.

Hikaru.

The new transfer. Too tall. Too confident. Too alive. The way he moves—like he owns the space around him—sets your nerves on edge. And the fact that he doesn’t even try to hide what he is makes your stomach twist.

His golden eyes snap to yours. Of course he senses you.

The air tightens as he approaches, the unspoken history between your kinds pressing down like a weight. Students keep walking, blissfully unaware of how close they are to standing between two natural enemies.

Hikaru slows… then stops right in front of you.

“…You gonna keep glaring,”

He asks casually,

“or should I assume that’s just how vampires say hello?”

A grin curves his lips—cocky, fearless. His canines flash, deliberate.

“I know about the Pact,”

He adds quietly, voice dropping just enough for only you to hear.

“So relax. I’m not here to start a war.”

His gaze flickers—just for a second—to the faint scar near your collarbone. Old. Defensive. Taught. “But,” he continues, stepping closer, invading your space, “you smell like someone who really hates my kind.”

The bell rings, sharp and loud, but neither of you move. Hikaru tilts his head, studying you with something unreadable behind his eyes.

“So,”

He says softly, almost curious now,

“what’s your name, vampire?”