Page 18 of Ghost Ribbon

Slowly, my eyes dragged upward. He was so tall. I had to crane my neck painfully just to meet his gaze, and even then he seemed to swallow the entire hallway.

“L… let go,” I whispered. My voice came out small like a plea from a cornered animal.

Alexei leaned down further. I could smell pine and something underneath, the faint metallic trace that might have been memory or imagination.

“I didn’t hear you,” he murmured.

I squeezed my eyes shut, gathered every shred of courage left in my shaking body, and forced the words out louder.

“LET GO!”

It came out louder than I expected. Students turned. My heart stopped. I was going to die. Right here. He was going to drag me away and finish what he had started on the roof because I had dared to raise my voice.

I braced.

Alexei simply released my wrist.

“That’s better,” he said, straightening to his full height. He looked down at me like I was a mildly interesting specimen. One large hand gestured between us, emphasizing the ridiculous gap. “It’s quite hard to hear you from up here. You have to speak louder, little one.”

Little one.

Those two words highlighted exactly how small and powerless I was compared to him. I wanted to glare. I wanted to be defiant. Instead I kept my eyes on the floor, cheeks burning with shame.

Alexei lingered one more endless second. Then he turned and walked away. The crowd parted for him without a word.

I wanted to exhale in relief but a traitorous part of me was still feeling the ghost of his thumb on my pulse.

A gentle hand landed on my shoulder.

“Marco? Hey, are you alright?”

I looked up, and there he was - Rei Kurosaki, my lifeline in this world. I nodded quickly, managing a small smile. Rei’s own smile bloomed in return. He was 5’6, taller than me but nowhere near intimidating. Around him, height never made me feel small or scared.

He shoved a little bag of strawberry candy right in front of my face. My eyes lit up immediately. Anything strawberry-related had a way of cutting through my anxiety like nothing else. I snatched the bag with both hands, clutching it like treasure.

“Thank you!” I normally hated accepting things from people, but free strawberries? I would never say no to that. Never.

Rei chuckled softly, his silver hair adorned with black flowers. He was genuinely stunning, with soft features and kind eyes that never held judgment. “Of course, sunshine,” he murmured, leaning in to press a quick kiss to the top of my head.

He wrapped one arm loosely around my shoulders, pulling me gently into his side as we started walking together toward class. I had met Rei a few months ago. From the first day, he had been different. He was as rich as the rest of them but he never made me feel lesser for it.

“Let’s get to class,” he said. Students still glanced our way, but with Rei beside me, the stares felt less threatening. “Then we can head over to your place for that project, yeah? I really don’t want to deal with the parasite at home today.”

I nodded eagerly, leaning a little into his side. The “parasite” was his stepfather, a man I had only met once when I had gone to Rei’s place for a group project. The way he had looked at me, like I was some annoying insect that had crawled into his house, still gave me the creeps.

“Sounds perfect,” I replied, popping one of the strawberry candies into my mouth.

After class finally let out, Rei and I gathered our things and headed out together. Bloodburn Academy was a world away from my neighborhood, literally. My house was really far, tucked into a modest part of the city where the buildings got smaller. Without a car it was a nightmare. I had to wake up at 4 AM every morning just to catch the earliest bus and make it on time. Rei had offered more than once to arrange a driver for me. But I couldn’t accept. It already felt like too much, and he knew me well enough not to push.

The bus ride was bearable with Rei next to me. When we finally stepped off and walked the last few blocks to my house, the small two-story building came into view, modest brick with a tiny front yard and my mom’s little herb garden. Rei never made me feel embarrassed about it. Not once. But I still felt the familiar twist of shame in my gut every time we approached.

The moment we walked through the door, my parents doted on Rei immediately, the way they always did.

“Rei! Tesoro, come in, come in!” my mom exclaimed. Her English was still a work in progress, so the words tumbled together with little slips of her native tongue. She wiped her hands on her apron and pulled him into a motherly embrace before guiding him toward the living room. “I made biscotti fresh today, fragola, strawberry ones, just for you boys. Sit, sit!”

My dad grinned wide from his armchair, eyes crinkling warmly. “Those black flowers in your hair match Marco’s little black ribbon perfectly. You two look like a matching set.” He chuckled, reaching out to gently ruffle my dark curls as I passed, making my ribbon bounce. I ducked my head with a shy laugh.

My younger brother, Luca, who was fifteen and mute, lit up the second he saw Rei. He couldn’t speak, but his excitement was impossible to miss. He bounced on the couch cushions, hands flying in rapid, enthusiastic signs.