I made my way through the mostly deserted streets, following the selfsame route I took yesterday evening. Luckily the local grocery store was also on this route, so I didn’t really have to make a big detour to get my milk. It took only a couple of minutes for me to step inside and make my way towards the dairy aisle, an aisle in the store I haven’t really visited that many times before, apart from occasionally buying some ice-cream for Ria-chan when she wasn’t feeling well. She’s very much a strawberry and vanilla kind of girl. Passing by her favourite brand made me smile a little before my thoughts went back to the dreaded milk I’d have to buy.

“I wonder if there’s a difference between full milk or half-skimmed milk when it comes to suppressing thirstiness.” I asked myself, holding two small bottles of milk in my hands. “I guess I could try both and find out...” I put four bottles in my bag, hoping it would get me through the day without many issues, before moving to the cash register and continuing towards Ria-chan’s house. The sun was already getting to that annoying point in the day where it was still hanging low but just high enough to completely blind you when you are walking to the East. At least Viktor didn’t lie about the ‘being burned to a crisp’-part, otherwise I’d already have been reduced to a heap of ash and dust, and thank the Goddess I’m not one of those sparkly vampires either.

A bend in the road delivered me from being blinded and gave me a clear view of my goal, Ria’s house. I could see from where I was standing that she was already waiting for me at her gate. And it looks like my turn to vampirism also greatly enhanced my eyesight because I saw the smile on her face clear as day when she noticed me from that far away. Almost smiting my heart asunder with pure bliss as she came hopping down the slightly sloped street towards me, like the cute little bunny she is.

“Rora!” She called out to me when she got a bit closer, waving at the same time.

I obviously waved back at her with a big smile on my face. Ria-chan has this gift of making your worries melt away, and this time was not different. When she got to me she made a final hop and jumped into my embrace.

“Hey, Ria-chan, I hope you weren’t waiting for too long.” Having her in my arms calmed me down even more.

“No, I just got outside when I saw you walking down the road.” She smiled up to me.

“That’s good to hear.” I enjoyed her hug for a while longer, letting me get enveloped by her warmth.

“Are you alright, Rora?” Her smile turned into a look of concern.

“I’m pretty okay, why are you asking? Am I squeezing you too tight?”

She giggled nervously. “No, it’s not that… I can’t really put a finger on it though.” The gaze in her eyes grabbed my complete attention. Apart from nuking my worries from orbit she also had the distinct talent to tell if something was bothering me.

“Hmm, well I had a pretty rough night and I woke up with a killer headache.” Technically not a lie, even though I withheld the entire vampire dealio.

“Oh… Do you want me to get some medicine for you?”

“I’m fine, really. The worst has passed already so I’d rather not. I think it’ll be better once I drink something. Thank you for always caring about me.” -Let’s just hope the milk works-

Her signature smile returned. “That’s what your best friend is for.”

I hugged her just a tiny bit tighter. “I guess that’s true. Should we head for school?”

She nodded. “We should. Then I can tutor you a bit more before the lesson starts.”

“Thank you, Ria-sensei.” I patted her on the head.

“Mow, just wait until I grow taller than you.” she pouted so cutely I almost died.

“We’ll see about that.” I smiled and released her from my embrace. “Let’s go?”

“Yes!” She hopped right next to me as we started heading to school.

“How is Shima doing?” She asked after we talked about English class for a while.

“She is doing pretty well, I think she misses you a bit though.”

“It’s been a while since I visited…” An air of sadness filled her voice.

“You can always come over, you know?”

She sighed. “My parents told me to…”

“Told you to...?”

“They told me to stop hanging out with you…”

“Oh…” That stung even though Ria had been my friend since elementary school, her parents never really liked me. They were what you would call elitists. And me hanging out with their daughter while being from a working class family was just completely not-done according to them. But usually they did stay pretty quiet about it. Although I would have liked to have seen their faces when Ria-chan told them I got into St. Katherine’s.

“...They saw me looking at anime on my phone and immediately started yelling at me. How you are a bad influence and all that...”

-Ah, that explains it.- “Like their daughter couldn’t possibly like something by herself.” I sighed. Her parents were also the reason why I had such a vast manga collection at home - to create a space for Ria to feel comfortable being herself in. Even Shima lived at my place because her parents wouldn’t allow any animals in their home. So occasionally she’d come over to read some manga, watch anime together or just to play with Shima. I don’t mind because I very much enjoy her company, and even though I’m not really into otaku culture, I do enjoy dabbling in it from time to time.

“And what do you want to do?” I asked her.

“Hang out with you of course!” She pulled the sleeve of my uniform.

“Want me to go and talk to them?”

She shook her head. “I think that would only make it worse…”

I suddenly remembered how I acted towards Viktor. “You are probably right…”

Ria was silent for a while before speaking again. “I could just hang out with you in secret, at least until they calmed down a bit.”

“Oh?”

“I could say I’m hanging out with Karin, I don’t think she would mind lying for me.”

“We can ask her to be sure, otherwise we will figure something out.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed it a tiny bit.

She nodded and finally smiled back at me. “Mhm!”

-I just need to make sure I can get Viktor out of my house when she comes to visit-

After 15 minutes we reached the entrance of our prestigious school, St.-Katherine’s Academy for Girls. The gate has been swung open, revealing the majestic front garden, with a cobbled road leading to the Baroque main building. It’s grandiose architecture revealing the massive wealth the school possesed. St.-Katherine’s had been the foremost educational institute when it came to educating the most influential women in recent history, even though I’d most probably not join their ranks. It accepted students from all over Europe which was clear by the two big dormitories that flanked the main building. Me and Ria-chan were one of the few students who didn’t live on site, although there were a couple other lucky girls from our city that got in as well.

“Miss Beaumont, how many times do I have to tell you to button up your jacket and put on your tie correctly?” Miss Hill, one of the school’s monitors, reprimanded me when we walked through the main gate. “Take an example of your friend, Miss Du Bellay, please.”

“I know Miss Hill, but my jacket sits so tightly around my chest lately, I think I’ve grown a bit.”

I heard Ria-chan suppress a giggle while Miss Hill was getting pretty flustered. “W-well, w-why don’t you get a bigger one at the school administration…”

“Thank you for your guidance Miss Hill, I definitely will.” I made a small bow towards her.

Still flustered she quickly waved us in.

“Poor Miss Hill.” Ria-chan started giggling when we were outside of the hearing range of our flustered monitor.

“I wasn’t even lying, it did really get tighter.” I gave her a sly smirk in return.

“Then you should’ve come with me when I got a new uniform.”

“You got a new uniform, when?”

“Two weeks ago, you aren’t the only one who’s growing, you know.”

I scanned her body real fast with my eyes. “Now that you mention it…”

Ria’s started blushing and shyly looked away from me, putting her neck in full view. “Mow, stop it Rora, it’s embarrassing.”

The sight of her neck made my brain go tilt for a second, pulling me towards it like it had me completely in trance. The slight thirst I’d been feeling being magnified exponentially.

“Rora? Are you okay?”

I snapped out of it and saw that Ria-chan had turned back around and was looking pretty concerned.

“Uh, sorry, I was spacing out. I really need to drink something.”

“I can go and buy you a drink, what do you want?”

“Thanks, but I’ve got it covered,” and tapped my bag.

“If you say so.” She didn’t appear to be completely convinced but decided to trust my word.

-I hope I got it covered-