Tsuki was relieved to find her room to be clean and with modern appliances. Unlike the building's outside the interior was in good repair. There was a main area with a bed, desk, and closet. Connected to it was a kitchenette equipped with a sink, electric stove, oven, microwave and refrigerator. A door to the left opened to a bathroom that included a ceramic bath tub with shower head. It was tiny, but she was glad to have her own bath. Overall her new room was slightly bigger than the one she'd had at home.

Undressing she took a hot shower and tried to forget all the weirdness of her day so far. Now that she was actually here things should settle down. She would try to relax and find a comfortable routine.

XXX

The opening ceremony was about what you would expect… mostly.

There were students sitting in fold out chairs in the gym facing a temporary stage where the Principal spoke to them about hard work and following the rules. It was a fairly ordinary speech as far as the subject matter went. What made it odd was she was dressed in white robes like some sort of priest. Just as with the bus driver it also seemed the Principal's eyes were glowing.

Tsuki wondered if this was some sort of religious institution. There were Christian based High Schools in Japan; many of them being private and having very high standards. Tsuki supposed that might partially explain the gothic architecture and all the nearby cemeteries. There was no mention of God or worship in the Principal's speech though, Tsuki was also sure that the rulebook would have gone into the school's religious affiliation if that were the case.

The most disturbing part though was near the end when the Principal said…

"Try not to be too upset by the occasional deaths of classmates, even if they are friends. We are what we are and these things do happen when so many of our kind gather together. Follow the rules and be aware of your circumstances and you have an excellent chance of living to see graduation."

She waited for the joke but it never came. The other students merely nodded as if it were serious advice.

After they were dismissed everyone headed to their designated homeroom.

XXX

When Tsuki arrived she spotted Mizo sitting in the back. She sent him a smile and a quick wave before sitting down in an open seat. His face went very red and he managed a half wave in response.

The other students were chatting and getting to know one another. There was a stir in the air and people were excited. Being in a classroom again with regular classmates gave Tsuki some hope that the next three years wouldn't be a complete disaster.

Sitting next to her was a blonde girl with messy uncombed shoulder length hair. It was the very first day but her uniform was wrinkled and a complete mess. Her lower lip was pierced and her eyes had black eyeliner surrounding them. The girl's appearance pretty much screamed 'Yankee.'

I wonder if this is what the school would call looking like a monster, Tsuki wondered.

Not much later the teacher arrived.

He appeared to be in his twenties and was dressed in a tweed sweater and beige slacks. His blonde hair had a couple weird tufts that reminded Tsuki of cat's ears. As he entered he accidentally bumped into the desk which drew a laugh.

The teacher didn't take offense and smiled good naturedly.

"Hello class. I will be your homeroom teacher this year. If you need help or have any questions please feel free to talk to me, I am always available to help. Refer to me as Mr. Nekonome or as Nekonome-sensei."

Turning to the blackboard he picked up a piece of chalk and wrote out the word 'Coexistence.'

"Coexistence is the core philosophy behind this academy and everything it stands for. Now as you all know the Earth in under the control and domination of the humans. In order to survive we monsters must learn to adapt to human society."

We monsters? Tsuki's brow curled.

"We are all monsters here." The teacher said. "All the students and faculty; this school is located within a magical barrier that separates it from the normal world. No human knows of its existence; and if by some chance one did stumble on to it he wouldn't get to ever leave."

That brought out some laughs.

Tsuki glanced about the class room. Everyone was taking what the teacher was saying at face value.

"Hey teacher." The girl across from her spoke. "Why do we have to waste time coexisting with weak humans anyway? We should just eat them if they get in our way."

That drew laughs and made Tsuki's blood run cold.

Just what sort of people have I gotten mixed up with?

The teacher merely shook his head. "There are six billion humans and they have an industrialized society. No matter how weak they may appear individually as a race there is no denying they are more powerful than all others combined. There is a reason why we call it the human world after all. Why we are the ones who have to hide in the shadows while humanity does as it pleases. Any human who is discovered here will be killed on sight, but that won't work outside this hidden world."

Human world?

Monsters hiding themselves?

Killed on sight?

Tsuki kept waiting for the joke but it didn't come. The students just nodded their heads. The girl across from her gave a sour grunt.

"Given that human control of the world is unlikely to change coexistence becomes the only real option. This school will teach you the skills you need to pass for human and to succeed within their society. Youkai Academy is run just as a real Japanese high school is. When you graduate from here you will be able to attend a human university or else find employment among them. We teach through total submersion, that is why you are not to reveal your true forms even away from class. You must learn to maintain your disguises and behave as a human would at all times. Anything less would put you in danger when you are among them."

Tsuki felt the mounting urge to panic and just run away from these crazy people. This teacher was talking about monsters and killing and everyone else was just going along with it! What kind of insane asylum had her parents sent her to?

She didn't dare react for fear of drawing attention to herself.

Tsuki couldn't keep her hands from trembling a little though. The girl sitting across from her noticed and glanced in her direction. Tsuki didn't like the curiosity in the other girl's eyes. This Yankee had been talking about eating people just a minute ago; Tsuki did not want to draw her interest.

The door to the classroom opened.

"Excuse me, I got lost following the Opening Ceremony."

"That's quite all right," the teacher said. "Please come in."

A cute boy with bubble gum colored hair and big green eyes entered. "Hello," he said with and embarrassed bow.

The girls in the class got one look at him and began to giggle and whisper to one another. The blonde Yankee grinned hungrily.

Tsuki's reaction was instinctive and came out before she could consider it. "You!" She jumped to her feet and pointed at him.

Tsuki immediately regretted her action as she was suddenly the center of attention for the entire class.

Unnoticed Mizo was looking at the pink haired boy through narrowed eyes.

"You two know each other?" The teacher commented pleasantly. "How nice. Feel free to sit together during class."

Cappuccino was at first caught off guard, but then smiled at her while rubbing the back of his head. "Oh Tsuki! I'm so glad we ran into each other." He bowed to her. "I want to apologize for what I did to you on the road earlier. I had no right to take advantage of you like that. I really am sorry; I just couldn't resist my instincts."

Tsuki could feel the eyes of every girl in class boring into her. A couple of them mouthed 'take advantage' and 'couldn't resist.' The Yankee girl was staring at her with blatant hostility.

"Ah, since you're apologizing I forgive you." Tsuki quickly sat back down. "Let's just forget it ever happened."

"Actually I was hoping we could become friends." Cappuccino said eagerly. He was almost drooling. "All this time I've been thinking about how delicious you taste. I'm hoping you'd be okay with us doing it again! It was so amazing I want to keep doing it with you as much as I can!"

"Public displays of affection are against the rules." Mr. Nekonome announced with a shake of his finger. "Please be sure to do those sorts of things in private. Oh, and free contraception is available in the infirmary."

It might have just been her imagination but Tsuki was certain she could feel murderous intent being directed at her from all over the room.

The blonde Yankee put a finger to the side of her throat and slashed it from ear to ear.

"Please stop talking now." Tsuki begged and tried her best to disappear from sight.