Page 14 of The Jorogumo

"It's nice to meet you, Haruto. Have you known Liam long?"

"Two months or so. I'm hoping to know him for much longer."

My cheeks heated up at his sincere words, and Dawn's smile softened. "I think you two will get along just fine. Have you decided what you want to order? The usual for you, Liam?"

'The usual' meant letting Dawn decide what she wanted to feed me, and I nodded, knowing she would never steer me wrong.

"I'll have a latte and a slice of the chocolate cake," Haruto said, shooting me a curious look.

"You got it. Go take a seat and I'll bring it over when it's ready."

Haruto and I took up a table in the corner so people wouldn't keep bumping into Haruto's wheelchair—seriously, Diego navigated better than half these people, andhe couldn't see—and as we started talking, the bakery around us all but disappeared.

Our conversation flowed as easily as it had before today, and while I couldn't ask him any more questions about the supernatural world—I didn't want to risk anyone overhearing—there was still a lot I had yet to discover about Haruto.

Like how he hated movies or stories with insta-love or lust because he couldn't for the life of him understand how people could fall in love at first sight.

"I think it's more likely that there's a physical attraction and they realize there's a potential for romance. Like they can see themselves falling in love someday," I thought aloud, and Haruto hummed.

"I guess I can see that. I understand seeing someone and knowing you could spend your whole life with them if given the chance." The way he looked at me when he said that had me swallowing hard, and I took a grateful sip of the coffee Dawn placed in front of me and almost burned my tongue. Even that didn't stop my heart from thudding unevenly in my chest.

Dawn didn't linger to chat, which I was glad for, but it still took me a moment to speak. It wasn't that the thought scared me. No, I was surprised by how much I liked the idea.

We'd only known each other for two months, and this was our first freaking date. It was far too soon to be talking about forever, even hypothetically.

So I did the only thing I could think of: I changed the subject.

Glancing around, I lowered my voice as I asked, "So are they all real? Dragons, vampires, werewolves?Unicorns?"

Haruto smiled softly, then moved his wheelchair closer so we could talk without being overheard. "Yes, yes, yes, and maybe. I heard of one ages ago, but I'm not sure if he's still alive. If he is, he's the last of his kind."

"That sucks," I murmured, easily imagining how lonely it must be. I hoped he had good friends, like Haruto seemed to.

"Most supes can easily mix in with the humans. You may have even met a few without realizing," Haruto said, and I blinked. I hadn't thought of that before. I wondered if one of the regulars at the store was a supe? Well, other than the people Haruto knew.

"Damn, that's so cool. I feel like I've been thrust into a whole new world," I said with a grin, and Haruto smiled before growing serious.

"And it doesn't freak you out or scare you?"

"Hell no. It's just making me more and more curious. I want to know everything."

Haruto blinked, then smiled widely before giving me a thoughtful look. "Would you like to come visit the Sanctuary then? Meet the others?"

My eyes widened, and I leaned closer to him. "Can I really?"

He nodded, then amended, "I'll need to inform the headmaster. Er, Zephyr Morrigan. He's the sorcerer who created the Sanctuary, and he keeps it running on a daily basis. We treat him as a guardian of sorts, since many of the others came to live at the Sanctuary as a kid."

"That makes sense. So if he says yes, I can visit?"

"He won't say no, but yeah, once I talk to him, we can set up a date. Um, you should also know that some of the supes have...well, eaten humans in the past."

I blinked at that, then shrugged. "Dustin and Touya live there?" Haruto nodded, and I smiled. "Then it's safe for me to be there too. Right?"

"Right," Haruto agreed with a smile, and I almost wriggled in my seat with excitement. I was going to get to see Haruto's homeandmeet more supes. It was going to be great.

Six

Haruto

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