Amidst the chaos with Ur, Jenny, and the rose, I nearly forgot about Kagura. As soon as Jenny and I stepped into the dance hall, I scanned the room for her, eagerly awaiting her arrival. When she finally appeared, she wore a black and purple dress that looked like it belonged in a gothic horror story.
"Hey, where's your ticket?" one of the ticket-taking drones asked her.
"I was looking for someone," she replied.
I caught a fleeting look of pity on the ticket taker's face, as if she understood the unspoken drama unfolding between us. But she simply said, "Sorry, I can't let you in without a ticket."
"I'm waiting for my date," Kagura insisted.
Another pitying glance followed. "Okay," the volunteer said, "Just stand back a little."
"Fine."
I turned to Jenny and pointed at where Kagura stood. "Showtime." That was when Kagura finally noticed me.
Jenny knew exactly what to do. She grabbed me and planted a passionate kiss on my lips. "I love you, Glen."
I kissed her back but didn't echo her words. When we broke apart, I saw Kagura staring at us, her expression unreadable.
"What are you looking at, Ugly?" I taunted.
Jenny erupted into laughter, and soon others joined in, mocking Kagura for thinking I would ever be interested in her. The only ones who didn't laugh were Lucy Heartfilia, the likely candidate for Spring Princess, and her friend Cana. They exchanged the same pitying look the ticket drone had given Kagura.
I half-expected Kagura to cry. It was always fun to kick the nerds when they were down, to make them weep before delivering another blow. I had been anticipating this night for a while, and it almost made up for the corsage nonsense. But she didn't cry. She didn't even look angry. She stood there, blank-faced, yet I could see a flicker of expectancy in her eyes.
"So you're actually doing this, then?" she said. "You really invited me to a dance just to make me look stupid?"
I laughed again. "You thought someone like me would take someone like you to a dance?"
"No, I didn't," she replied. "I knew you were rotten to the core, but Erza insisted I give you a chance. She said your kind isn't so skin-deep."
"My kind? You mean human beings?" I chuckled, implying she was of a different species altogether.
"Yes, exactly," she nodded. "I know your kind isn't complex; you're just as awful as you appear. But I had hoped you wouldn't make my decision so easy."
"What decision?"
"You'll see, Gray."
At that moment, I froze. She had called me Gray—my real name. Nobody knew my real name, not even Lyon. How did she find out? I wanted to ask, but before I could, she vanished as if she had never been there.
"Where did she go?" I muttered, but no one answered. Jenny pulled me onto the dance floor, and for the rest of the evening, I tried to focus on the music and trying to get Jenny to go to third base with me. Yet, Kagura's words echoed incessantly in my mind.
"You'll see, Gray. You'll see, Gray. You'll see, Gray."
I didn't know what bothered me more: what she meant by "You'll see," or how she discovered my real name. I couldn't even enjoy the moment when I was announced Spring Prince or when I shared a dance with the Spring Princess, Lucy.
"Did you really have to do that?" Lucy whispered as we danced.
"Do what?" I replied, feeling sweat bead on my brow.
"What you did to that girl. Was that really necessary?"
I shrugged, trying to brush it off. "Just having a little fun, you know?"
Lucy shot me a look that pierced through my facade. "It didn't seem like she was having fun."
I had no response. I kept dancing, desperately trying to push Kagura's words from my mind.
As the night wore on, an unsettling feeling settled in my gut. Kagura's calm demeanor and cryptic words haunted me. Later, as Jenny and I left the dance, I spotted Kagura outside, her expression inscrutable. I hesitated, wanting to confront her and demand answers, but ultimately chose to walk away. I didn't need her ruining my night any further.
Yet, as I walked away, her words echoed in my mind, a constant reminder that perhaps I wasn't as invincible as I thought. Maybe there was more to Kagura than met the eye. And maybe, just maybe, I had underestimated her.
Jenny invited me back to her place, but I wasn't feeling well. I needed to go home and sleep it off. She bitched and whined, but I didn't care anymore. I dropped her off and headed straight back to the penthouse.
As I stepped into my room, there she was—Kagura. She looked vastly different from before. Gone was the awkwardness; she now radiated confidence. Her weight had shifted, her eyes sparkled and become mesmerizing, like an owl's, her hair was a lustrous brown, and her features were sculpted. She was undeniably attractive.
"How are you feeling, Gray? Or do you prefer I call you Glen like everyone else?" she asked.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
She opened her mouth and began to chant.
"Retribution. Poetic justice. Just desserts. Comeuppance."
"What?" I stammered.
"Handsome face but a cold heart. Head and claws of a mountain lion. Body and fur of a bear. Ears, fangs, and legs of a wolf. Leave only the eyes, voice, and heart of a man."
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting?!" I demanded.
"Only release he gives love to she whose beauty is a rose true, and she returns his love."
"Get out of here! Or I'll call the cops!"
Finally, she stopped her chanting and began to explain.
"Glen Grisham. It's a known fact that everyone is blessed with a gift. Yours was beauty, but such gifts are a privilege, not a right. For the last four years, you've abused that gift terribly, using your beauty to hurt others just because you can."
"That's not true!"
"In sixth grade, you stopped being friends with Natsu Dragneel, whom you had known since kindergarten, just because he wasn't popular enough, and you joined in teasing him about his father being a shoemaker."
"Well, my uncle made me stop being friends with him! He said he was a loser!"
"In eighth grade, you told everyone that Willy Conner couldn't get a date because he had fleas. No one would go near him for three years."
"Well, you never saw his hair; he looked like he had fleas."
"This afternoon, just before you left for the dance, you accused your maid of lying about having a child to gain sympathy. Do you have any idea how cruel that was?"
"How did you know about that?!"
"I've been watching you for a long time, Glen. Long enough to learn that despite your beauty and charm, you are truly just a beast. A beast with no love in his heart, only ice. And I think it's time the world sees that."
"Look, I'm sorry about tonight! It was just a prank! But you're right! I went too far! I should be nicer! I will be nicer!"
"I don't believe you. You've spent years building a facade of charm and beauty while hiding the cruelty beneath. Apologies come too easily from someone like you, and I don't think you truly understand what it means to be kind. You think you can just say you're sorry and everything will be fine, that you can go back to being the same person who hurt so many."
A knot tightened in my stomach. Kagura's words were daggers, each piercing through my defenses.
"But we'll see how truly sorry you are after two years of looking like this."
"Looking like what?"
Suddenly, my muscles tightened and bulged beneath my skin, as if sculpted by an unseen force. A surge of strength coursed through me, but it was accompanied by an overwhelming sense of fear. I looked down at my hands, horrified as jet-black fur sprouted and claws extended from my fingertips.
"Stop! What are you doing to me?" I shouted, my voice trembling as it deepened and became guttural. Kagura stood there, unwavering, her gaze steady and filled with a mix of determination and pity.
"This is your reckoning, Glen. You've hurt others for too long, and now you will understand the pain you've inflicted."
I stumbled backward, feeling the weight of my new form pressing down on me. My legs transformed into powerful limbs, but I felt trapped in a body that no longer felt like my own. I wanted to scream, to beg her to reverse whatever curse she was casting upon me. "Why are you doing this?" I managed to choke out, my voice barely recognizable.
"Because you need to learn," she replied softly, her voice unexpectedly gentle. "You've used your beauty as a weapon, and now you will experience life from a different perspective. You'll see how it feels to be judged not by your appearance but by your actions."
In a frenzy, I clawed at my face, feeling my features twist and contort. My once-smooth skin was now covered in coarse black fur. I could feel my teeth sharpening, my ears growing larger and changing shape, and my senses heightening—the scents of the room flooding my nostrils, the sounds of the city outside echoing in my ears. The room spun, and I fell to the floor, thinking I might pass out. It all hurt so much.
At last, it stopped. I slowly pulled myself up from the floor, looking at my reflection in the bedroom mirror. One glance at my new form made me want to scream, but what escaped my lips was a howl.
I was a beast.
