Scarlet

“He totally just checked you out,” Tar comments from his place on my shoulder, but I just let out a short huff of air at that, not wanting to respond.

Instead I nod my head towards Anthony and politely answer, “It’s been okay. You?”

“Good here too,” he answers before glancing at the seat next to me and asking, “Mind if I sit?”

“Sure,” I mutter as I begin to smell my food, bringing my gaze over towards the kitchen. And at the same time I hear them saying my name, mentioning where to bring it.

I really wish I could reach Class V faster, because eating so much food is a hassle. It’ll be so much easier when I become Class V and don’t have to eat anymore. At least, not unless I need regenerating.

Which I guess means I’ll still have to eat a bit, but not anywhere near as much. At least, if I don’t want to end up struggling to regenerate as quickly as I would’ve otherwise in the middle of a fight. Or grow anemic.

Neither of which sound like very pleasant options.

I glance back at the table when all of Necro’s group begin taking their own seats around it. And the one person I recognize from their group aside from Necro is the girl I know who is friends with Belle.

Although I still can’t remember her name.

Her stare is creeping me out though. Because it’s very starry eyed. To the point that I wouldn’t be surprised if she asked for an autograph.

I blink as I remember something just like that happening before. But where do I remember it from…

Oh, right! This girl asked me for her autograph a while back!

Maybe that means she won’t ask now?

The girl tries to talk to me only to fail rather miserably and end up a stuttering mess instead, so I just kinda ignore her to focus on my food that is currently arriving. Food that ends up taking nearly half the table to hold, making the others appear more than a little awkward.

They’re the ones who moved over here though, so not my problem.

I begin to dig into the food in silence for several minutes, trying to rush the process a little so I can go back to hunting. But then Necro finally speaks up, bringing my attention to him.

“Did you always have wolf ears? Or was it just after your reality warp like everyone thought?” he asks with a genuinely curious look on his face.

That has me pausing for a moment, and I can’t help but notice the dozens of eyes on me as the majority of the cafeteria, all people who can easily hear a conversation from across the room thanks to their Classes being at least II, listen in, clearly waiting for my answer.

So I let out a sight and put down the food I was about to eat before focusing on him and answering, “I didn’t awaken to my demon genes until after I contracted. Before then, I was just a regular human with dormant blood lycan genes.”

Whispered conversations immediately erupt from all around the room while Necro and the others at my table look surprised without saying anything.

“Did you hear that?! She wasn’t always a demon!” “No, she was. She just… wasn’t awake.” “Does that mean there could be other part demons living dormant amongst us?” “How did-”

I decide to nip that in the bud right away by saying, “It’s not possible for another part demon child to be born. Not without a royal demon or the White Knight of Humanity there to put the demon genes into a dormant state so that they don’t eat the human genes. And even then, if the child were to enter a Fracture at all, they would die unless they contracted then and there.”

That shuts them all up right away.

Only for Necro to bring my attention back to him as he asks, “Does that mean… you were dying in your first Fracture?”

A tense silence fills the cafeteria. One that makes me feel incredibly awkward, because I can tell most of them genuinely seem worried for some reason. Which is weird to know.

Although the tiny minority of people against me here just seem curious.

“Yes, I was,” I answer before picking up my food again, “until I formed a contract which safely awakened me, using some of the reality energy to pacify my demon genes.”

I begin eating as they all go back to whispering amongst themselves.

This feels… strange. I’m not used to being so open about everything that’s happened to me over the last year or so.

“Yeah, it feels weird to me too just seeing it,” Tar says while patting my neck once with his paw. “But not bad?”

That has me smiling ever so slightly as I reach for another sandwich.

Not bad.

Then a flash goes off, making my head snap to the side to find someone having just taken a picture of me. But they just smile and wave before turning to their friends and whispering, “I got a picture of her smiling! This might just be the first picture of the Apex Predator smiling in history!”

I grimace at that and turn back to my food again, deciding that I’m better off acting like that didn’t just happen.

“Well, considering that he’s happy about getting a picture of you smiling, it at least means he still cares about you and isn’t disgusted by what you are,” Tar comments, sounding more amused than he should be despite his words. “Right?”

Yes, you’re right. But you’re still enjoying this too much right now.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tar says, his voice full of snark.

I almost snort but stop myself after considering where I am.

Yeah. Sure you don’t.

“Can you tell me what it’s like to be part demon?” Necro asks, making the whispers clear up again.

I glance at him, then at the rest of the people in this room. Many of whom are actually recording this right now.

This is just going to be like an interview, isn’t it?

After a few seconds of silence, I decide why the heck not.

Guess I’m spending the next couple hours answering questions instead of hunting.