The welcome ceremony was held in the main auditorium of the academy's main building.
Students from both academies sat facing one another in a spacious tatami-floored hall. Paper lanterns hung in rows from the ceiling, casting a soft glow. A tiny yokai inhabited each one. Lantern yokai. Lee Ha-eun narrowed her eyes slightly when she realized it.
"Aren't we more free-range?" Red said, puffing up with pride.
"Cultural difference," Blue said.
Akane stepped onto the stage. Her voice echoed throughout the hall even without a microphone.
"Welcome. Tonight is a chance for us to get to know one another. Please relax and enjoy yourselves."
Lee Ha-eun claimed a seat in the corner. Kang Iseo sat beside her and sighed.
"Why do you always sit in the corner?"
"It's comfortable."
Just then, someone sat across from them. Pure-white hair, pale skin. Her eyes were a light blue. The air around them grew slightly colder.
"May I sit here?"
She had spoken in Japanese. Strangely, though, the meaning came through. Kang Iseo answered for her.
"Sure, sit down."
Lee Ha-eun looked at Kang Iseo. "You speak Japanese?"
"No. But I understood it."
The white-haired girl smiled faintly. "There's a language barrier inside the academy. It lets everyone understand one another."
"I'm Miyuki. A yuki-onna."
"Kang Iseo. Half-human, half-yokai."
"Lee Ha-eun."
Miyuki looked at Lee Ha-eun. "A sealkeeper?" The rumor had spread throughout the entire academy.
The performances began onstage. Kitsune students danced as they sent foxfire soaring into the air. The flames formed foxes overhead before scattering.
"We can do that, too," Red grumbled.
"You can't even hold a shape for three seconds," Blue said firmly.
As she watched the performance, Lee Ha-eun was looking somewhere else. Beyond the auditorium windows, a shrine stood in the darkness. A shrine surrounded by warding rope. Whenever the foxfire blazed, something seemed to react faintly from the direction of the shrine.
Miyuki spoke quietly.
"You were watching that shrine, weren't you?"
Lee Ha-eun looked at Miyuki.
"You shouldn't go there. It's a restricted area, even within the academy."
"What's there?"
Miyuki hesitated for a moment. Then she shook her head.
"I can't tell you yet."
The lanterns in the hall swayed. It wasn't the wind. Lee Ha-eun knew that.
*Something was trying to wake up. And it knew Lee Ha-eun had arrived.*