Page 49 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
And then she was gone.
TWENTY-THREE
Unsettling News
Kimiko’s steps lagged on her way to school the morning after the Star Festival. New Saga’s play had drawn large crowds and thunderous applause, and curiosity-seekers remained thick around the school’s booths even after they ran out of items to sell.
Following the launch of hundreds of starry lanterns, Suuzu had wanted a quieter view of the sky. So she’d invited him and Akira back to Kikusawa Shrine, which was on the city’s fringe. Without her family ever realizing, they scaled the shrine roof and put Keishi’s lights at their back. Long past curfew, she’d stared at the patterns made by winking stars without a thought in her head.
Only after Akira had dozed off, curled comfortably against his nestmate, did Suuzu remark on her quietness. But she had no words yet. Her betrothal to Eloquence was too new to believe, too strange to tell.
At her helpless gesture, he’d beckoned her close and drawn her down. Pillowed on Suuzu’s other shoulder, she’d taken comfort from his calm. The boys spent the night locked away in the archive, and they’d stopped to buy piping hot croquettes and steamed sweet potatoes on the way in to school.
“Uh-oh,” whispered Kimiko. Because Sentinel Skybellow was stationed at the gate, thick arms folded across his chest.
Akira ventured, “Are we in trouble?”
The burly, bluff head of security eyed them narrowly. “Wereyou in any trouble?”
“Not at all! But I guess we sorta slept off campus last night.”
“I know.”
Akira fidgeted. “Is there a rule against that?”
Sentinel blandly asked, “Are you acquainted with the student handbook?”
“I am,” Suuzu said quietly. “The responsibility was mine.”
“I know,” repeated the dog clansman.
Kimiko didn’t know exactly how Sentinel was attached to the Starmark compound. Probably not born to the Keishi pack, given his shock of silver-tipped brown hair and pale gray eyes. Married in, then? Or would that bebondedin. Like she would be.
Kimiko offered a weak apology. “Akira and Suuzu walked me home and stayed over.”
“I gathered as much from your trail.”
So he had tracked them to the shrine. “Sorry for the bother,” she mumbled.
Sentinel brushed his shoulder. “You remained on good paths; you chose a safe den. All things considered, I have no complaints.”
Kimiko was glad enough to be forgiven, but she couldn’t decide why the dog sounded so … glum.
The whole mood inside the school was off, but Kimiko couldn’t put a label on the undercurrent running through the hallways. Except that the Amaranthine all seemed to know something the humans didn’t.
In their classroom, Ms. Reeves’ smile was fixed in place. Her measured tones betrayed very little, but Kimiko found signs of uneasiness in her posture. Yet her Amaranthine classmates betrayed nothing but respectful attentiveness.
She called the class to order. “This morning, we have some prestigious guests who’ve offered to visit our classes. A contingent of Elderboughs are currently in Keishi, along with several reavers who’ve trained with Kith companions.”
An excited murmur went through the room.
The Elderbough pack was one of the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the wolf packs, in large part because Adoona-soh Elderbough, spokesperson for the wolves, was one of the Five.
Ms. Reeves continued. “Teams will be visiting each classroom in turn. As a few of you have already mentioned an interest in working closely with Kith, I’ve requested that Reaver Armstrong be the one to address our class.”
Yoota and Ploom began signaling wildly to each other across the room, and the sway in Hanoo’s tail increased to a swing.
Akira asked, “What sort of Kith does he belong to?”
