"Thank you..."

Hiru Kawakami wiped her tears away, bit her lip as she glanced at Yueci Ru, then quickly averted her gaze.

Yueci Ru casually checked Hiru’s neck—smooth and unblemished, not a trace of the bite mark from earlier. Even the other wounds on Hiru’s body had healed without her noticing, her nerves still wound too tight to register the change.

Since drinking her blood, the eerie crimson glow in Yueci’s eyes had dimmed like extinguished embers, leaving only deep ink-black pools. Pure and clear as a mountain spring, they held no impurities—only Hiru Kawakami’s reflection.

Staring into such eyes could soften even the hardest heart. Hiru bit her lip and turned away.

Perhaps it was human nature to bully the weak and fear the strong. Though Yueci had attacked her just moments ago, her beauty and subsequent actions had already branded her "harmless" in Hiru’s mind. Grateful for the recovered backpack yet unable to forgive the harm, Hiru couldn’t bring herself to show kindness. But years of swallowing her voice left her silent.

Yueci understood. Guilt gnawed at her. She never wanted to hurt anyone—it clashed with her very survival. That conflict had driven her to sleep for so long.

Memories surfaced, and Yueci’s shoulders slumped visibly. She shook it off. *No matter. I’ll just bury myself again later.*

Hiru unzipped her backpack, checking for missing items. Given those thugs’ cruelty, they might have dumped everything. But luck held—they’d only buried the bag intact. Relief washed over her, and she exhaled slowly. Still, with Yueci watching, she stayed silent, her deer-like eyes damp and wary.

Time to leave. The forest lay over an hour from downtown by car—and hours on foot.

Yueci clicked Hiru’s dead flashlight on and off. Dawn was close, but the woods remained pitch-black. Wind rustled the leaves, casting jagged shadows.

Hiru bit her lower lip.

Yueci read her hesitation. Night was daylight to her. She’d seen everything since waking—the graveyard visit, the buried backpack. She knew why Hiru was here. But prying into fresh wounds felt cruel.

*How do I offer to guide her? Will she even trust me?*

Hiru’s skin had turned ghostly pale after the blood loss. She stared at the dark path ahead. The graveyard sat deep in the woods; without sight, she’d trip over roots or worse. Rumors spoke of wild beasts here.

As Hiru fretted, Yueci stepped forward.

"Hold my hand."

A cool, slightly raspy voice cut through the dark. Hiru looked up to see a slender, pale hand extended. Above it, Yueci’s stunning face remained expressionless, softened only by firefly glow.

Hiru’s heart always raced at that face—but memory of the bite forced it down. Reluctant yet trapped, she placed her hand in Yueci’s.

Warmth bloomed where their palms met, gentle as a living flame.

They moved through the trees. Pre-dawn chill seeped through Hiru’s thin uniform: Light Private High School’s impractical style—white short-sleeve shirt, beige vest, pink ribbon tie, and a wine-red skirt barely covering her knees. *No wonder Japanese schoolgirls chronically suffer cold legs.*

Hiru drifted in thought, but not about herself this time. *This warmth... like the little match girl in the snow. Cold as a corpse one moment, then...*

Silence stretched between them. Yueci noticed Hiru shivering. The uniform triggered a flicker of recognition—*my old school’s design?* She’d slept longer than she thought. *Still unchanged? Ugh.*

*She’s my junior?* Yueci mentally rolled her eyes. *Has that rotten school’s culture really not improved?*

She glanced back. Hiru walked head-down, avoiding roots, her bare legs trembling in the cold.

"Put this on."

Yueci shrugged off her translucent white jacket, draping it over Hiru’s shoulders. The sudden warmth startled Hiru.

The jacket was clean—her slowed metabolism during sleep kept it pristine. Beneath it, she wore simple black pants and sneakers, a trendy outfit from her era. Though... the sleeves and pant legs seemed oddly loose now, pooling around her wrists and ankles.

*Must be my imagination,* Yueci thought, dismissing it with a silent chuckle. *I couldn’t have shrunk. Right?*