Chapter 2: Until the Next Full Moon

The next morning, I found a piece of paper stuck in the door of my room.

I had a bad feeling even before I opened it. Sure enough, the word "stray" was written there in messy handwriting. I tried to tell myself it was just graffiti, but I couldn't stop my hands from trembling.

At breakfast time, the moment I entered the dining hall, the conversation stopped. After a few seconds of silence, someone deliberately got up and moved to a different spot. I stood there, tray in hand, unsure where to sit.

"Please come this way."

The one who spoke to me was a small girl wearing glasses. I later learned her name was Hatori. She was the only one who sat across from me, seemingly unconcerned about the stares of those around us.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone's just being cowardly."

"Cowardly?"

"They're afraid of wolves that aren't part of a pack. Many of them think that if they get involved with them, their own social standing will be lowered."

Hatori's words finally made me begin to grasp the situation a little. Here, belonging to a group is taken for granted, and simply not belonging to one is enough to make one's very existence seem insignificant. All I wanted was to quietly graduate as a human being.

That afternoon, I was summoned by the headmaster. I was led into a small room, and as he placed some documents on the desk, he said in an emotionless voice:

"Saotome-san, here at this academy, we call wolves like you, who don't have the mark of a pack, 'strays'."

"I know that. I was told about it clearly yesterday."

I said it sarcastically, but the headmaster didn't even flinch.

"Stray wolves are not protected. A wolf that does not belong to any pack is considered a disruption of order within the academy. If you do not find the protection of a pack by the next full moon, you will be expelled from this academy."

"Does 'expulsion' mean being dropped from school?"

"This isn't expulsion. It's expulsion from wolf society. It means you'll have no place to belong in either the human world or the wolf world."

Before I could fully grasp the meaning of those words, my mind went blank. There are less than three weeks until the next full moon. Who would protect someone like me? Judging from what I saw yesterday, everyone is avoiding me.

"Is there any other way besides seeking protection?

"there is no"

The answer was so concise that I couldn't say anything in return. After leaving the headmaster's office, I leaned against the corridor wall and couldn't move for a while. I tried to call my mother, but stopped halfway. I didn't know what to say. "Mom, I think I was a wolf. And now I'm about to be expelled." There was no way I could say something like that over the phone.

I heard footsteps from down the corridor and instinctively looked up. It was Ren.

He stopped in front of me. His eyes were the same as yesterday, unreadable. But something was different. There was a pause, as if he was choosing his words carefully, about to say something.

"Did you ask the headmaster?"

"That's none of your business."

"It's irrelevant, isn't it?"

He murmured this and let out a small sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if to confirm his own words. Then, he said clearly, in a voice loud enough for everyone around to hear.

"Headmaster, I will be her protector."

Several students in the hallway all looked at me at once. The door to the principal's office opened again, and even the principal himself was looking at me with a surprised expression.

I was just as surprised as he was.

"What? Don't just decide that on your own."

"You have no choice."

"You have no reason to do something like this either. You're the one who called me a 'stray' and abandoned me yesterday."

Ren was speechless for a moment. He averted his gaze as if trying to hide something, and then spoke in a low voice.

"I'll explain the reason later."

"Tell me now."

"I can't talk about it yet."

His tone was so stubborn and so earnest that I was left speechless. The headmaster cleared his throat in an embarrassed manner and began flipping through the documents.

"If the offer comes from the successor of the Kujo family, we cannot refuse it according to the rules."

It seems my life is about to be decided by someone else again. That hasn't changed, whether I was human or now that I know I'm a wolf. A burning sensation spread through my throat from the frustration.

But if I refused, I would be banished. If I didn't refuse, I would have to live under that person's protection. No matter which I chose, I felt like I wasn't making any choice of my own free will.

"Understood"

When I answered that way, Ren nodded slightly. His expression was complex, appearing both relieved and nervous.

That night, as I gazed at the moon from my dorm window, I kept thinking. Why had he rushed to protect me so desperately? It wasn't kindness. His eyes were more desperate, as if he were being driven by something.

There are less than three weeks until the next full moon.

There was still so much I didn't know.