A month later.
[Tonight is March 7th, 2025 AD. It’s been 29 days since I started school, and a month has allowed me to get used to St. Antiona University, meet many colleagues, and have some interesting experiences.]
[For some reason, the students particularly like me. I’m clearly taking the dean of students approach, which is terrible. Teacher-student relationships can’t happen to me. I’ve decided that apart from class time, I will never show my face in front of students again.]
[In short, this is a big step towards embracing human society. The human world is beautiful.]
[Observation Notes – Important Person 1: Principal Farrow is trustworthy; she’s truly good to me.]
[Observation Notes – Important Person 2: Professor Lu Xiaoxi’s submissive personality doesn’t seem to be an act; she’s largely ruled out as a threat. However, it looks like she’s always being bullied by a certain female student. It’s hard to imagine, is this a new type of play in human relationships? Teacher-student romance plus a younger dominant partner!]
[Observation Notes – Important Person 3: The librarian is responsible for campus night order, with extremely dangerous authority. I was almost discovered last night when meeting He Xiaoxin. I must be wary.]
…
[Observation Notes – Most Important Person: An Xiaoxin, also known as He Xiaoxin, head of the information center, but in reality a very high-level bloodkin. She calls herself my older sister, my primary target for vigilance.]
[Tonight will be my sixth ‘date’ with her. Since our transactional cooperation, she tells me, in my professor identity, the next meeting’s location and time, and I, in turn, have to go as the bloodkin sister. Honestly, my head is spinning; I actually agreed to help her pursue myself.]
[Fortunately, she doesn’t know that the ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are the same person. During our dates, I constantly use my advantages to extract information, feeling quite like a double agent. It doesn’t feel bad to deceive her?]
[I really don’t know what will happen when she finds out she’s been deceived. I hope that day never comes, and I won’t fall for her. I have no reason to like a woman who inexplicusedly and forcefully kissed me.]
[Conclusion at the end of tonight’s diary entry: He Xiaoxin poses no threat and can be safely approached in my true form.]
An Xiaoxue put down her pen and looked up at the study.
The neat wooden bookshelves were filled with books with gilded titles.
A spacious, smooth, unidentifiable expensive desk had a green desk lamp and a guestbook, which contained many cute drawings and stickers.
And between the lines, ambiguity overflowed: “I miss you,” “Don’t forget me again,” “Xiaoxin and Xiaoxue”…
This was a gift she received yesterday when she met the woman.
That night they watched a movie outside school, only exchanging a few simple words, just like their previous meetings, deliberately maintaining distance.
What a deeply affectionate yet foolish woman, unaware that she was being played.
Looking at that diary, An Xiaoxue smiled.
She always had a habit of writing a diary, and it was very girlish, with fragmented and trivial content.
While getting used to the school, she was also observing it.
It had been almost a month since she came to St. Antiona.
Professors weren’t a rarity at St. Antiona University, as there were an abundance of them here.
Just assistant professors alone numbered over two hundred, most of whom were power users.
Even the school staff, seemingly ordinary people, were highly skilled agents proficient with guns.
In comparison, An Xiaoyi was too mediocre.
All possessed non-natural abilities called ‘powers,’ akin to the strength of bloodkin.
Hence, St. Antiona University was brimming with geniuses, and elites were only fit to be subordinates.
Any bloodkin who dared to approach would only be tied to a stake for burning, and being discovered would be unimaginable.
Thus, on her first day, An Xiaoyi wrote in his diary, using a very data-driven method to analyze the possibilities of identity exposure and prepare necessary countermeasures to maintain his disguise long-term.
An Xiaoxue came to this city not just to find her parents’ whereabouts.
She had always hoped to fully integrate into human society.
In her eyes, this world was worth longing for.
Until that woman appeared.
Or rather, on the very first day she appeared, she became an insurmountable obstacle.
He Xiaoxin was quite a thorny problem. If she didn’t handle the situation with caution, she could easily be ruined.
Even lose her body.
During the previous five meetings, He Xiaoxin unilaterally declared them ‘dates,’ but she was the one who ended up more embarrassed.
An Xiaoxue played it like she didn’t know anything, merely stating that her brother had asked her to accompany her because he said she was a bit lonely and solitary, and she shouldn’t think too much into it…
This kind of rhetoric was seamless, and He Xiaoxin couldn’t take further action.
She only said she wanted An Xiaoyi to figure out a way to get her sister to come over, not that she couldn’t prepare her beforehand.
Each time they parted, the woman would fall into thoughtful silence.
Thinking this, she turned to the last page of her diary, filled with records.
Date Records:
- February 8th: That was a kiss, unforgettable.
- February 17th: First meeting. She actually got nervous too, not daring to speak to me. We sat in silence in the park outside school for almost ten minutes.
- February 20th: Second meeting. She finally stated her purpose. I firmly denied everything. Seeing her sad eyes, for some reason, I also felt very sad.
- February 25th: Third meeting, at a coffee shop on campus. We were strangers, friends. She still hadn’t gained my trust. I could see she was very anxious. That night we had a cup of coffee; she was truly too slow!
- March 2nd: Fourth meeting. She tried to hold my hand. I vigilantly refused. To play the long game for clues, I didn’t question it, still acting like I didn’t understand her.
- March 6th: Fifth meeting. We watched a movie, said nothing.
- March 7th: Sixth meeting. I decided to continue to string her along.
An Xiaoxue wrote neatly, pre-writing half of tonight’s entry, then put away her diary.
She took a deep breath.
Tonight’s meeting with He Xiaoxin was on the back mountain.
When An Xiaoyi asked what they were doing there, she calmly replied, “watching the stars,” her voice so peaceful it… made one feel sad.
Is it worth it?
Why won’t she give up after hitting a wall? The girl she longs for doesn’t even know her.
Her supposed five dates were just a few words, sitting together in silence, then a few more words, and then leaving.
Anyone who didn’t know would truly think it was a lonely person seeking comfort.
Finally, she sent a small booklet, just filled with warm words?
If she wants trust, if she wants to awaken memories, if she wants to retrieve the past, then she should take action and say it! An Xiaoxue, as a girl… she thought that if she were a girl, she wouldn’t like this inexplicable way of interacting either.
Actually, An Xiaoxue really wanted to refuse, to end this absurd, never-ending pursuit. Besides, she was worried she might actually be won over by the woman.
But if she ended it directly, what about He Xiaoxin? What would happen to He Xiaoxin? She was so sad, so sad that it made An Xiaoxue sad too. What if this woman actually did know her, and she really had lost her memory?
That familiar feeling she’d had before made her very hesitant; she couldn’t bear to see the woman so sorrowful.
Suddenly,
“Boom—” Brilliant fireworks erupted outside the window.
An Xiaoxue jumped, turning to see the dazzling colors in the sky, wave after wave, brightening her eyes and eliciting gasps of amazement.
Below, students and professors walked towards the auditorium, in groups, all wearing custom-tailored formal wear.
The restaurant closed early, and the last batch of chefs and volunteer servers changed into their clothes, pushing dining carts as they rushed over.
“Today is the once-a-semester school anniversary banquet, isn’t it?” An Xiaoxue suddenly remembered.
Oh no.
An Xiaoxue paced back and forth, even stepping on her skirt and almost falling.
For her date with the woman today, she had specifically asked the principal for leave, meaning she wouldn’t attend any evening activities and wouldn’t be on the banquet guest list.
Even worse, today was her birthday: March 7th.
A bloodkin’s birthday is called a “Blood Rite.” On this day, a bloodkin is at their most powerful, with enhanced strength and abilities, but their bloodlust also magnifies infinitely, necessitating a blood feast.
As long as An Xiaoxue could remember, she had never held a Blood Rite for her own birthday, living a plain birthday, enduring pain and torment by relying on meager amounts of blood.
As her grandmother used to say, she was special, evident from her dual human and bloodkin identity caused by her power.
An Xiaoxue couldn’t perform the Blood Rite.
For other bloodkin, the Blood Rite was a feast of blood, the most luxurious and fulfilling satisfaction of the year.
But for An Xiaoxue, the Blood Rite wouldn’t satisfy her desires; it would only infinitely magnify her craving for blood until it was unending.
And every year on this night, An Xiaoxue’s power was also strengthened, but due to its unique nature, the enhancement came with a side effect—she couldn’t revert from her bloodkin true form, remaining in her maiden body.
An Xiaoxue paced frantically around the room.
She really wanted to attend the school anniversary banquet, but it had to be at this exact time.
Her phone “beeped,” signaling a new text message. An Xiaoxue looked at it, surprised.
It was Principal Farrow’s number.
“Not planning to come to the anniversary banquet tonight? You usually look forward to such occasions, where you can eat and drink to your heart’s content. Remember to wear your colored contacts; they’re in your bedside table. Happy Birthday, I’ve prepared a cup of fresh blood for you.”
An Xiaoxue was stunned for a long time; the principal even knew when her birthday was.
After hesitating for a while, she looked up, waiting for nearly ten more minutes.
With the dorm hotel almost completely empty, He Xiaoxin ultimately didn’t knock on her door as before. Had she given up?
An Xiaoxue had been waiting for almost an hour since she started writing her diary.
“I’m going to be stood up… Oh well.”