She sighed in front of the mirror as she combed her hair carefully, now pretty used to the daily routine. Setting it on the counter when she was satisfied with her appearance, proceeded to grab a brush and bringing the tip of her dark tail she began to dutifully scrub making her scales shine under the light.

Yes, it might seem tedious at first, but she always had a responsibility to look impeccable, coming from a wealthy family and from one as strict and respected as hers she had to maintain a presentable appearance at all times. Finishing up with all her daily chores she took a long look at the mirror. Her silver hair flowed freely and straight a bit below her shoulders, her yellow eyes were monotonous and her stare cold. She had an impeccable body, with curves and more than enough breasts to show off, she wore a white blouse with a pink sweater on top, and what could be considered a cute pink skirt, and below that her tail, along with gray and black patterns coiled around the floor shining against the artificial light.

This was the first day of school in this new world, to elaborate a bit, with the exchange bill getting accepted after a successful introduction in Japan, more and more countries decided to participate in the integration of liminials, although each country decided to set their own rules towards their interaction and freedom. For her case, a private and prestigious university allied with the government allowing liminials to study and live inside the school's facilities, effectively eliminating the need of a personal host family but none the less being under the care of the university staff and the exchange program coordinators. This was an effort to increase their freedom and not attach them to a family, leaving the huge campus ground unsupervised was still prohibited.

*Ring *Ring

Her phone rang taking her cold glare out from the mirror to the screen, making her frown her eyebrows before relaxing her face again and answering the phone.

Kat: "Yes"

Lilith: "Are you finished fixing yourself?"

Kat: "Yes all done"

Lilith: "Very well, you better put on a good image Katherine, many of our plans depend on the public opinion, so don't mess this up, you know what to do"

.

She stood there for a couple of seconds looking at the mirror with the same blank face for it to suddenly change to an angry frown as her fist slammed against the table. Quick breaths followed as she regained her composure and she took a long breath, and with one final look at the mirror, a smile appeared on her face as her eyes softened to give a much more approachable aura.

Things had been harder than she initially thought, "God this is so exhausting" she exclaimed as her final class for the day was about to finish, every class the same,

Kat: "Hi my is Katherine, you can call me Kat, I love reading and music, I'm not good at sports and I'm a lamia"

Rinse and repeat, worst of all was the attention, those eyes wanting more and more from her. She could withstand most of the girls, although many of them were quite loud she could see herself like some of them to even considering being friends, but men were another thing. She could smell their intentions, she could see their eyes drifting away from her face, as those who dared to approach her got increasingly close and she could say flirty with their comments. Worst of all she had to answer them politely, follow them on their conversations, make questions and withstand the constant teasing and approaches.

Kat: "I can't let them trap me after school, once the bell rings I'll go straight to the dorms"

She might give an innocent and carefree aura, but she was cunning, that's why in this class she took the seat nearest from the door. Once the bell rang she slid as fast as she could ignoring a few calls from her classmates as she quickly navigated the still empty halls towards the exchange dorm.

It wasn't until she was away from the class building that she allowed herself to lower her speed, then a sudden thought made her turn around frantically as she realized her backpack was missing.

Kat: "NOOOOOOOO! Why you idiot! Now I have to walk back again and talk to everyone!"

Her head began to ache, as the concept of walking back again between all the students became more unbearable by the second, her mind was clouded with racing thoughts and as such she didn't realize someone was approaching her.

Cole: "Hey"

Kat: "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT!"

She screamed without thought as the man who called her stood there unfazed just lifting an eyebrow not even showing confusion just a calculating glare which made her well aware of what she just did.

Kat: "Oh, hahaha, sorry about that I was just lost in thought for a moment there, I can yell the strangest things when I get surprised"

She lied as cutely as she could while showing a big smile, only to be met with a blank gaze and a silence that followed for a couple of seconds.

Kat: "Hey are you ok?" she asked trying to get rid of the awkward situation.

Cole: "I could ask you the same question" he said firmly without taking his eyes off her.

Kat: "Of course I'm fine, why would you ask such a thing?"

Cole: "Well you dropped your mask for a second there"

A pang of fear shot through her heart at those words, as her eyes widened, and her breathing stopped, and she froze in place looking at him.

Cole: "Relax ok? Just breathe it out everything's fine"

He said then proceeded to extend his hand forward presenting her a very familiar school bag, one she took still quite shocked.

Cole: "I… hmmm… don't be scared, no one would believe me anyway"

Kat: "How did you…"

Cole: "Hmm I had a feeling, just took my chances. Look I know you might be a tired right now, but I would like you to join me at the coffee shop, I can give you some tips."

She was still speechless questions raised inside her head, but more importantly the figure in front of her radiated something special, if there was a way to describe it would be wisdom, as his brown eyes were soft, always focused on hers, he had brown and messy hair, an average physic, wore a pair of headphones on his neck over a plain black t-shirt and jeans, and he was holding a big sketching book, on his free hand.

Kat: "Tips about what?"

Cole: "Well… more than tips, I guess I would like to talk to you about something, come on I'll treat you whatever you want"

She couldn't lie to herself, she was now more curious than scared about this mysterious person so she decided to take on his offer and they both began to walk towards a coffee shop.

Cole: "I'm Cole, nice to meet you Kat"

Kat: "Who told you…"

Cole: "We have two classes together, I thought I'll take your word and call you Kat but I can stop if you want."

Kat: "No, it's fine, it's just… I don't remember you introducing yourself in any of my classes"

Cole: "Ohh that… yeah, I don't really like that, so I just go out of class and come back when everyone is done.

She was getting a bit worried at this moment, not only were they walking toward the campus she just escaped but now the students around her began to talk and look at her direction. She was getting more and more annoyed by the second until a voice took her out of her train of thought.

Cole: " I would enjoy having more trees and shade on the pathway. This heat is killing me, hey if it's fine to ask, can the ground get too hot for you to.. uhh slide I guess?"

Kat: "I, it… can actually, a few days a year in my hometown the ground would be so hot that in just minutes you could burn your tail if you didn't find a shade"

Cole: "Is it hot right now? We could travel through the grass if that's ok with you"

Kat: "Ok let's do that"

In all honesty, the pathway wasn't all that hot but she complied with the kind suggestion for the sake of it. Something that struck her as a surprise though, was how freely he could ask her about common activities and how they are done by being a lamia. For a second, behind all the questions he was launching a thought of getting mad appeared on her head, but it all vanished as no malice or teasing could be heard or felt from his words, genuine curiosity as you could say showed on his eyes every time she tried to answer one of his questions, until before she knew it they were already seated at a table on the cafe, Kat grabbing a sofa on one side of the table and Cole on the other across her.

Cole: "So what would you like? My treat"

Kat: "I… hmmm Cappuccino, on ice please"

Cole: "Coming right up, ohh by the way here put this on, and hold these, don't take them off please it's important"

At that Cole handed her a notebook from his backpack, started writing something on his big sketchbook, proceeded to lay it behind where he was seating pointing towards the rest of the store, then went to the cashier to get their drinks. That's when she started to notice the looks of many of the students, many of them with seemingly clear intentions to talk to her.

Kat: "Ahhh not again please"

She was dreading again the interaction she just wanted the day to be over, so she could relax, then it hit her. The realization that no one took any step towards her and after a couple of seconds took their eyes off her and resumed their day. Perplexed she couldn't hide her shocked expression when Cole arrived with her drink, an orange juice, and two muffins.

Cole: "You look like a chocolate chip, but I also brought blueberry if you want to switch"

Kat: "Yes, I'll take chocolate"

Cole: "Perfect"

Cole continued to unwrap his muffin and began eating it while her eyes darted from every possible place around her.

Cole: "Hey listen, no one is going to charge in here and disturb you, as long as you keep those on, so please just relax a bit and enjoy the muffin"

She didn't hesitate to follow his advice, all day she had been on constant alert and on point to keep up her appearance, so the moment her shoulders slumped against the cushion and she took a big breath in, she could feel her intense fatigue coming at full force to her. She took with a bit of effort her muffin and started eating all while looking at the calm figure before her, he seemed to be focused on his food as such she didn't mention anything, not even after he finished eating, for twenty minutes had already passed without him saying anything.

Kat: "Hey, what is this?"

Cole: "What do you mean?"

Kat: "I mean you are just sitting there doing nothing"

Cole: "Well let me ask you this then, should I be required to keep talking to enjoy others company?"

Kat: "No… I mean like…."

Cole: "Sorry that.. might have come a little too strong, then how about this. Were you enjoying yourself eating that muffin and sipping on your coffee?"

Kat: "Yes I did"

Cole: "Do you think it would have been better if I had bombarded you with questions and talking about nonsense? I do think you looked pretty relaxed there"

She was taking her time processing what he was saying, she indeed for the first time today had a chance to relax, and not be bothered by anyone, not even him. She started to wonder how did he do it, why isn't anyone approaching her like the rest of the day.

Kat: "What did you do?"

Cole: "About what exactly?"

Kat: "This, I mean, no one has even dared to take a step toward this place"

Cole: "Heh, that's easy, I lied"

She was pretty perplexed at the answer, how was that even an answer? She had to know, that's when she saw the sketchbook still standing and facing the rest of the shop on Cole's back. She couldn't hide a bit of her excited tone as she continued.

Kat: "Show me that notebook"

Cole: "Are you sure? That might be the only line of defense you have against a mob of students"

Kat: "I'll take my chances, just let me take a quick look"

Complying to her demands Cole picked up the sketchbook and allowed her to read what it said before setting it up in the same place again.

*Undergoing Exam / Don't Disturb*

For a strange reason Kat wasn't surprised, but instead remained calm as a wide smile and a cute snicker.

Cole: "Hahaha, believe me, many groups wanted to approach you from inside the store, it's amazing what a couple of letters can do"

Kat: "I can't believe that's all it took, haha, was that the tip you had for me? Lying is a bad thing, didn't your parents told you that?"

With that comment, she could see that Cole although still smiling a bit leaned closer to her gazing at her with soft eyes.

Cole: "I don't think lying is bad, I mean, you do it all the time don't you?

Kat: "..."

Stunned again she was for a second petrified, then again she managed to calm herself as those eyes showed compassion and understanding.

Kat: "Did you also do it?"

Cole: "Yeah, not anymore tho, I'm past that point, I also stopped judging a while ago, so you can relax I'm not thinking any less of you.

She was now on a point past pretending, hell she had met him only an hour ago, but the opportunity to find someone who could at least listen to her wasn't something she could let pass.

Kat: "How did you find out? Did anyone saw me acting weird?"

Cole: "Well, I think it's not about seeing but feeling, although I could say that one needs to know suffering to understand it"

Kat: "It's not my choice, I have to..."

Cole: "I know it's not yours, it never is, most of the time we live under a big shadow I would like to call it, and we have to carry it around hoping someday we will be big enough to call it ours. Play - Pretend until you can make it real or fall under its weight, maybe you can relate to these words"

She could only nod at those words, surprised, speechless her lips quivered slightly as she tried to get some words out.

Kat: "How do you stop it?"

Cole: "Well… I can't give you an answer to that question, I don't want to put pressure on you but I believe only one can make the decision of who he wants to be and how he wants to feel. So let me put this into perspective if you lie to others and that makes you feel bad, is it wrong to lie for you to feel good?

Kat: "I don't…. know"

Cole: "That's perfectly fine, listen I'm not here to save you, to show you how to conquer your shadow, I'm here to show you that it's not just you, many others have to go on about their lives with something like this on their shoulders, but a decision has to be made at some point, you might delay it all you can, but at some point it's going to catch up to you, so I think it's best to at least think in what you want your life to be like, and maybe take a decision that will lead you toward that path.

Kat: "Was it easy?"

Cole: "I don't think I'm at that point yet, to be honest, but at least I can say it's fulfilling being able to choose"

Not much was said after that other than a casual chat, she knew she had found something and her heart flutter a bit when he agreed to sit with her on their classes together. But all that thinking came to a stop as her chest tightened when a group of people approached her.

Kat: "No! I was so close, I …"

Then a sudden idea popped into her head, as everyone was still quite invested in continuing the talk.

Kat: "I'm sorry guys! I have to take some copies to a teacher and I'm running late, I'll see you later ok?"

Just like that the crowd dispersed and she was able to continue on her way, although this time she had a smile on her face, and a strange to see a certain someone.