Hino asks patiently, “But is that where you are really from?”

“Yeah, that’s a damn good question.” Akki squints at me. “How the fuck did you end up all the way out there?”

“I don’t …” I trail off, helpless. What the hell are they asking me?

“Forgive me,” Hino relaxes. “I understand; some of our kind are more concerned with privacy than others. I will not push further. May I ask instead, what brought you to our land?”

Our kind? Our land? “The food?”

When Hino smiles, I understand why she scares me. The movements of her face are just as frightening as Akki’s but for different reasons. She looks like a perfectly normal teenage girl, but at the same time I can tell what her incisors would feel like if she were to sink them into my skin. They’d pierce through human flesh like a knife through soft butter. “Ah, now I see.”

“What the hell is goin’ on with you tonight?” Akki chuckles at her.

“Like you will ever understand. It was nice to finally meet you, Cybelle-sama. I hope Japan is to your satisfaction. We should all be honoured to have your kind here.” She bows as low as she can despite the Formica table in her face, then turns to Akki. “I am leaving now. Excuse me.”

“But we just got here —”

“Move.”

With the agility of a startled spider, Akki scoots out of the booth for her to leave. At the last second, I get the bright idea to say I’d like to go with her, something about girls going to the restroom in groups. But I’m too slow. Akki blocks me a second time as she disappears into the crowd. He watches the girl almost forlorn before he finally sits back down.

“My, my, the effect you have on others, Sigh-belle,” the man snickers. He seems to be the only one amused by all this. “Anyway, I think we got off on the wrong foot — least, that’s what Hino thinks. She thinks we ought to be friends. Makes sense, ’cuz I ain’t got any, ’cept for maybe Zaniel-kun here. So, I thought, let’s get drunk and get to know each other! Ain’t never met one of your kind before. Thought it’d be interestin’.”

“Sorry, but I gotta leave. Zaniel, how much do I …?” Zaniel gives me a sad puppy-dog look. Shit. Not the puppy eyes. I want to go home. Or at least far away from this rando.

“Ah, don’t worry about the tab, kids! It’s on me.” The giant man yanks a golden ring off his finger and flings it onto the table. “I’ll even cover the gaijin crap. I’m that nice. But like I was sayin’, showin’ up on my territory and all that really threw me for a loop. Can’t blame me for overreactin’, right? But hey, don’t mean we can’t still be friends. We can be … if you’re smart about it.”