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The wind in Edmonton did not care about family legacies, expensive haircuts, or the fact that Riri Timurov’s winter coat cost more than a used Honda Civic. It just blew bitter and sharp across the courtyard of St. Dominic University, biting right through her tailored wool layers and freezing the top layer of her skin.
Beside her, Kira walked with a rigid, terrifying symmetry. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail so tight it looked like it was actively pulling her eyebrows into her hairline. To anyone looking out a classroom window, they looked like matching marble statues. They were the Timurov sisters, daughters of the Board President, and the objects of equal parts intense fear and deep dislike across the campus.
"Father called twice this morning," Kira said. Her voice dropped into that flat, deadpan, boardroom cadence she always used when she was secretly stressed out and caffeinated. "He expects the mid-term audit reports before the weekend. And he reminded me that my public speaking engagement at the alumni dinner is mandatory. He used his 'I am disappointed in your tone' voice."
"He called me too," Riri replied, shoving her hands so deep into her pockets she thought she might rip the lining. "Mainly to remind me that a 3.9 GPA is technically a downward spiral from last semester. He asked if I was experiencing a cognitive decline."
Kira gave a single, stiff nod, not even blinking against the freezing wind. "We adapt. We don't give them a reason to talk. If you need to study more, sleep less. It is a simple math equation."
"Right. Because who needs cells that regenerate anyway?" Riri muttered.
To the rest of the student body, they were the undisputed ice queens of St. Dominic. Cold, distant, and entirely untouchable. People literally stepped off the sidewalk to let them pass. But as they neared the student center, the heavy, calculated silence they wore like armor was utterly shattered by a burst of loud, wheezing laughter that sounded like a dying vacuum cleaner.
"I’m telling you, it’s a spiritual connection! We are practically dating!"
Yumeko Jabami was vibrating with so much energy she looked like she might glitch out of reality. Her long black hair tossed wildly as she leaned over a freezing wooden bench, pointing a finger dramatically into the air.
"Domz looked right at me today during the rally. He did the little ear twitch. That means we’re engaged in at least three Canadian provinces, Mary. It's common law now."
Sitting next to her, looking thoroughly exhausted but mildly amused, was Mary Davis. Mary’s brown curls were a chaotic, frizzy halo around her face, resisting the damp Canadian air with pure, stubborn defiance. She was nursing a massive, dented metal travel mug of tea like it was a lifeline.
"Yumeko, it’s a six-foot-tall synthetic blue wolf," Mary said, her voice drier than a stale cracker. "The poor person inside that suit is probably sweating through three layers of thermals and trying not to pass out from the smell of old foam and teenage despair. They weren't flirting with you. They were probably hallucinating from heatstroke."
"You don't know that! You’re never even there to see our love bloom!" Yumeko pouted, throwing her arms around Mary’s shoulders and nearly knocking the hot tea straight into her lap. "Seriously, Mary, it’s the third hockey game this month you’ve skipped. Are you secretly boycotting school spirit, or do you just hate fun? Is it an anti-wolf thing?"
"I have a life, Yumeko. And a job at the library where people don't yell at me. And a severe, medically documented allergy to freezing my face off in an unheated arena," Mary countered smoothly. She quickly took a long, aggressive sip of her tea, but her eyes darted away toward the ground for a fraction of a second.
Riri slowed her pace. Her eyes locked onto Mary. She noticed the slight pink flush on Mary’s cheeks from the cold, the way her mitten-covered fingers curled around the warm mug, and the sharp, quick wit that always seemed to cut right through the boring campus noise. Riri felt a familiar, heavy ache in her chest. It was a stupid, annoying feeling. She wanted to step closer. She wanted to say something, anything, even a dumb joke, just to make Mary look at her with that same easy warmth she showed Yumeko.
Instead, Kira stopped dead in her tracks right in front of the bench. The temperature around them seemed to drop an extra five degrees.
"Jabami," Kira said, her voice stiffening into full hall-monitor mode. "The noise level in this specific quadrant of the courtyard is supposed to be maintained for studying and quiet reflection. Your screaming is echoing off the science building."
Yumeko looked up, and in an instant, her dramatic pout melted into a brilliant, completely shameless smile. She stood up, stepping right into Kira’s personal space. She didn't have an ounce of the fear that everyone else in the university harbored. She was close enough that Kira could probably smell her strawberry lip balm.
"Oh, Kira," Yumeko purred, tilting her head like a cat watching a bird. "Are you scolding me? Because you know that only makes me want to be louder. I can go get a megaphone if you want to do this properly."
Kira’s jaw tightened so hard a little muscle twitched in her cheek. A faint, almost imperceptible pink hue started creeping up her neck, right out of her collar. "I am simply reminding you of university guidelines. Section four, paragraph two."
"Right, guidelines. My favorite." Yumeko reached out, her fingers brushing a stray piece of white coat-lint off Kira’s lapel with agonizing slowness. "Are you coming to the hockey game tonight? Domz promised he’d do a flip off the boards if we score a goal. You could be my plus-one. I'll share my popcorn."
"I have absolutely no interest in costumed theatrics or greasy snacks," Kira said, though Riri noticed her sister didn't take a single step back from Yumeko’s touch. She just stood there, paralyzed like a deer in expensive headlights.
Mary watched the whole exchange with a single raised eyebrow, looking highly entertained, but then she caught Riri looking. For a brief, agonizing moment, blue eyes met gray.
Riri’s breath hitched. Panic flared in her throat. She immediately pulled her mask of total indifference back into place, tightening her jaw and looking as snobbish as humanly possible to hide the fact that her heart was suddenly hammering against her ribs.
"We need to get to the administration building, Kira," Riri said, her tone clipping through the air, sounding completely distant and bored. "We are already three minutes behind schedule."
Mary’s expression cooled instantly at Riri's sharp tone. The warmth in her eyes vanished, replaced by a wall of sarcasm. She set her travel mug down on the bench with a loud clink.
"Right. Of course," Mary said, rolling her eyes. "Don't let us peasants keep you from your royal duties, Timurov. Go run the world or whatever."
The words stung, poking right through Riri's expensive coat and hitting her chest, but she couldn't show it. She merely gave a cold, dismissive tilt of her head. "Have a good afternoon, Davis."
As Riri walked away, her boots clicking sharply against the concrete, Kira trailed a step behind her. Kira had to take one last, lingering look back at Yumeko before she caught up.
Riri kept her eyes glued straight ahead, feeling the familiar, heavy weight of her own golden cage. She wanted to turn back so badly her legs ached. She wanted to run back to the bench, grab Mary by the mittens, and tell her that she didn't think she was a peasant at all. She wanted to ask why Mary always missed the games, and if she could sit next to her in the library while she worked.
But daughters of the Board President didn't do things like that. They didn't hang out on benches in the freezing wind, and they didn't ask normal students questions. They just watched the world happen from the safety of the heated skyboxes.
The arena was absolutely deafening, a chaotic soup of screaming students, squeaking skates, and a horn that sounded like a dying foghorn every time St. Dominic scored. The hockey team was up by two, and the student section was a chaotic sea of navy and white.
High up in the private VIP box, safely trapped behind soundproof glass, Riri sat next to her father. He was currently aggressively lecturing a terrified-looking dean about endowment allocations and why the sociology department didn't need new chairs. Riri wasn't listening. She had tuned him out roughly forty minutes ago. Her eyes were fixed entirely on the ice below.
Down by the player boxes, Domz the Blue Wolf was causing absolute, unhinged chaos.
The mascot was a total campus legend. Nobody knew who was actually stuffed inside the heavy, custom-molded wolf head with the goofy, permanent smirk and the bright white paws. The university administration kept the identity locked away like a state secret, a tradition spanning over two decades. Domz was energetic, incredibly athletic, and possessed a bizarre, chaotic charm that had the entire student body completely obsessed.
Right now, Domz was leading a chant, aggressively banging a plastic drum with furious energy, then suddenly dropping into a flawless, shockingly agile breakdance routine right on the rubber mats.
Riri scanned the student section, searching through the crowd. She spotted Yumeko immediately. Yumeko was waving a giant foam finger so violently she was risking giving the people around her concussions, screaming at the top of her lungs.
But the seat next to Yumeko was totally empty.
Riri frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. Where is she? Mary had said she was working at the library, but Riri knew for a fact the library closed early at eight on game nights. It didn't make any sense. Riri felt a strange, nagging curiosity twist in her stomach. Mary was always suspiciously missing whenever the mascot was around.
Then again, Yumeko was always right in the front row, practically throwing herself at the blue wolf like a crazed fan. Was Yumeko the one hiding something? Did Yumeko know who it was? Or... was Yumeko trying to act as a distraction to cover for someone else?
The game ended with a spectacular, buzzer-beating goal. The crowd erupted into absolute madness. Domz did a dramatic, theatrical dive straight onto the ice, sliding across the blue line on his belly while the cheerleaders cheered and the pep band blew their trumpets.
An hour later, the arena had finally emptied out, leaving behind only the lonely smell of stale popcorn, spilled soda, and melted ice. Riri excused herself from her father’s side, claiming she needed to retrieve a forgotten textbook from her locker in the athletic wing. It was a total lie, of course. It was just an excuse to walk, to clear the suffocating, corporate pressure of her father's expectations out of her head before she lost her mind.
The corridor near the auxiliary locker rooms was dimly lit, smelling faintly of sweat and floor wax. Riri walked silently, her expensive leather boots clicking softly on the concrete.
Suddenly, a heavy metal door down the hall creaked open with a loud, rusty groan.
Riri froze, quickly stepping backward into the dark shadow of a giant vending machine selling overpriced sports drinks.
A figure slipped out of the prep room. It was dark, but Riri could easily make out the silhouette. Long, straight black hair. The person was carrying a massive, heavy-duty black duffel bag that looked big enough to hold a dead body or a giant, synthetic wolf suit. The figure turned quickly, hauling the heavy bag and heading toward the back exit that led straight to the student residence halls.
Yumeko? Riri thought, her brow furrowing. It definitely looked like her hair from behind, but it was hard to tell for sure in the dim, flickering fluorescent light.
Before Riri could take a step to investigate further, a dry, sarcastic voice spoke up from right behind her ear.
"Looking for contraband, Timurov, or do you just really like staring at vending machines?"
Riri jumped a mile, her heart leaping into her throat. She spun around, trying to look like she hadn't just been startled out of her skin.
Mary was standing there. She was wearing an oversized, slightly fuzzy thrift-store sweater that looked three sizes too big for her, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans. Her curly hair was a bit damp at the edges, and she looked thoroughly exhausted, with faint dark circles under her eyes.
"Davis," Riri breathed, her hands clutching her coat as she desperately tried to pull her icy, unbothered composure back into place. "What are you doing down here? The building is locked to the public."
"I could ask you the exact same thing," Mary said, stepping closer. She leaned her shoulder against the vending machine, looking at Riri with a weird, unreadable expression. "I was dropping off some reference textbooks for the athletic department's mandatory study hall. The coach is a stickler for curfew. What's your excuse? Running a surprise inventory on the school property?"
"I don't need an excuse to be on my father's campus," Riri said. The words came out way sharper and more snobbish than she actually intended. She instantly cursed herself inside her head. She absolutely hated how her stupid defense mechanism always kicked in around Mary, throwing up giant brick walls when she desperately wanted to pull the other girl closer.
Mary flinched slightly, the playful spark in her gaze hardening into something cold. "Right. Silly me. I forgot you basically own the place. My apologies, Your Highness."
"That's not what I meant," Riri said softly. The ice in her voice cracked just a fraction, revealing a hint of actual panic.
Mary looked at her. She really looked at her, searching Riri’s face in the dim, shadowy light of the hallway. The tension between them stretched out, thick and heavy with a million unspoken thoughts. For a second, just a tiny second, Mary looked like she wanted to say something else something softer, maybe even nice but she just let out a heavy sigh, running a tired hand through her messy brown curls.
"Whatever, Riri. Go home. It's way too cold to stand around arguing with you in a creepy hallway."
Mary turned on her heel and walked away, the soles of her sneakers squeaking loudly against the floor. Riri stood frozen, watching her go until she rounded the corner. Her heart was hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She hadn't missed the way Mary had used her first name instead of her last.
The campus coffee shop was suffocatingly crowded, smelling like wet wool, burnt espresso beans, and academic anxiety. A sudden mid-April snowstorm had dumped six inches of fresh slush onto the city, forcing half the university to cram inside for warmth.
Riri and Kira sat at a tiny corner table, a massive, imposing stack of financial spreadsheets spread between them like a defensive wall.
"The budget for the spring gala needs immediate approval," Kira said, her voice a steady drone, though her eyes kept drifting toward the pastry counter every three seconds.
Riri followed her sister's stiff gaze. Yumeko Jabami was currently trying to convince a completely dead-eyed barista to give her a free chocolate croissant by using an elaborate, fast-paced card trick. Standing right behind her, looking like she desperately wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole, was Mary.
"Just pay for the muffin, Yumeko," Mary groaned, forcefully rubbing her temples. "I have a chemistry lab in exactly twenty minutes and I still haven't reviewed my notes on molecular bonds. Please. I am begging you."
"But Mary, it's not about the muffin, it's about the thrill of the gamble!" Yumeko laughed, finally tapping her debit card against the machine when the barista remained completely unmoved by her magic skills.
Yumeko spun around, scanning the packed room like a hawk, and her eyes lit up like Christmas lights when she spotted the Timurov sisters. Without waiting for an invite, she grabbed Mary by the sleeve of her oversized coat and dragged her straight toward their table.
"Mind if we join the royal box?" Yumeko asked, already sliding into the booth next to Kira before anyone could say no. She leaned in absurdly close, her shoulder brushing right against Kira’s stiff blazer. "You look exceptionally terrifying today, Kira. I love the shoulder pads. Very dictatorial."
Kira cleared her throat loudly, her posture instantly going entirely rigid, though Riri noticed she didn't actually move an inch away from Yumeko’s touch. "This table is strictly reserved for academic preparation and administrative oversight."
"Perfect, because Mary is a certified genius and I am an absolute delight," Yumeko said cheerfully, stealing a sip of Kira's untouched black coffee.
Mary let out a defeated sigh, reluctantly sitting down in the empty space next to Riri. The booth was incredibly tight. Riri could feel the literal warmth radiating from Mary’s shoulder, along with the faint, comforting scent of rain, vanilla body spray, and old library paper that always seemed to follow her around.
Riri froze completely, terrified that any sudden movement would give away how deeply affected she was by Mary's sudden proximity. Her heart started doing double-time against her ribs.
"Sorry," Mary muttered under her breath to Riri, keeping her voice low. "I tried to steer her toward the exit. She has the directional force of a loose cannon."
"It's fine," Riri said, though her voice sounded a bit strangled and a pitch higher than usual. She forced herself to stare intently at her laptop screen, even though the numbers were blurring together. "Just... try not to spill any sugar on the audit reports. My father would have a literal stroke."
Mary rolled her eyes, a familiar smirk playing on her lips. "Don't worry, Timurov. I wouldn't dare defile your precious, holy paper with actual flavor."
"So, Mary," Yumeko said, leaning entirely across the table, her eyes gleaming with absolute mischief. "Are you finally coming to the big pep rally on Friday? It's the last one before finals. Domz is supposed to be doing a charity pie-in-the-face segment, and I bought three tickets!"
Mary suddenly choked on her hot tea, coughing violently into a napkin. Riri’s hand instantly flew out on pure instinct, hovering just a millimeter above Mary's back to pat it, before she caught herself and forced her hand to drop back into her lap.
"Are you alright?" Riri asked. For a brief second, her voice completely dropped its cold, aristocratic edge, sounding genuinely panicked.
"Fine, fine, wrong pipe," Mary gasped, her eyes watering as she wiped her mouth. She shot a killer glare across the table at Yumeko. "And no, I absolutely cannot make it on Friday. I have... an online seminar. A synchronous one. With video on. Very important for my thesis. If I miss it, I fail the year."
"You always have a random online thing," Yumeko whined, pouting dramatically. "Honestly, Mary, I'm starting to think you're actually the one inside the wolf suit. Or maybe you're secretly dating whoever is in the suit! Is he your secret hockey boyfriend?"
Mary’s face instantly flushed a deep, violent, unmistakable crimson. "Don't be ridiculous, Yumeko! That's... that is literally the most absurd thing you've ever said. I don't even like sports!"
Riri watched Mary’s explosive reaction closely. The intense blushing, the sudden stuttering panic. Is she covering for Yumeko? Riri thought, her mind racing. Or... is Mary actually dating the mascot?
The sudden, vivid mental image of Mary being with someone else someone anonymous, athletic, and universally beloved by the entire school sent a sharp, agonizing jolt of pure jealousy straight through Riri's chest. It made her feel small, bitter, and angry.
"Why do you care so much about a stupid school mascot anyway, Davis?" Riri asked. Her voice automatically slipped back into a cold, defensive, and incredibly nasty sneer to hide her sudden insecurity. "It's just some random student sweating buckets inside a ridiculous, matted costume, getting cheap applause from people who have nothing better to do."
Mary’s flush vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, freezing anger. She looked directly into Riri's gray eyes, and for the first time since they had met, there wasn't a single hint of humor or teasing in her face.
"Maybe to you, it's just cheap applause," Mary said, her voice incredibly quiet but dangerously steady. "But some people actually care about bringing a little bit of genuine joy to this miserable, freezing campus. Not everyone gets off on looking down on people from a literal glass skybox."
The entire table went dead, brutally silent. Even Yumeko stopped trying to poke Kira's arm, her eyes widening slightly as she looked between them.
Mary stood up abruptly, snagging her heavy backpack off the floor. "I'm going to the lab early. See you later, Yumeko."
She turned and walked straight out into the swirling snowstorm without looking back once. Riri sat completely frozen, staring at the empty, cold space next to her on the vinyl seat. The ghost of Mary's warmth was already fading away. Her heart felt like a lead weight, and a thick, bitter lump of regret settled deep in her throat.
She had ruined it. She had completely ruined it, all because she didn't know how to just be a human being.
Three weeks later, the campus was entirely consumed by the chaotic, high-stress energy of graduation prep. Final exams had mercifully wrapped up, black graduation gowns had been frantically picked up from the campus bookstore, and the only hurdle left standing between the students and freedom was the painfully long commencement ceremony itself.
Riri couldn't sleep. The pressure from her father had finally reached a terrifying boiling point. Earlier that afternoon, he had mapped out her next five years at a soul-crushing corporate law firm in Toronto, completely brushing off her dream of pursuing environmental advocacy as a "cute little phase."
At eleven o’clock at night, she found herself wandering the upper stacks of the main library. It was mostly empty, save for a few desperate souls trying to pay off their overdue book fines. Up here, the silence was heavy, comforting, and blissfully free of corporate spreadsheets.
As she rounded a sharp corner into the Canadian History section, she almost tripped over a figure sitting flat on the carpet between two shelves, absolutely surrounded by a fortress of oversized textbooks.
It was Mary. She wasn't actually studying, though. She was just sitting there with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, staring blankly at a loose thread on her sneaker.
Riri froze. Every instinct told her to turn right around and avoid another disastrous, emotional fight, but her boots felt like they were glued to the library floor.
Mary looked up, blinking against the harsh fluorescent light. Strangely, she didn't look angry this time. She just looked incredibly, profoundly exhausted.
"If you're here to tell me the library is officially closing, I already know," Mary said softly, her voice bouncing faintly off the metal shelves. "I have the keys, Timurov. I'm literally the one who has to lock up."
Riri hesitated, then slowly walked over. Instead of standing over her like an imposing principal, Riri carefully lowered herself to the floor. She smoothed out her skirt as she sat down against the opposite bookshelf, facing Mary in the cramped aisle.
Mary blinked in sheer disbelief, her jaw dropping a fraction. "The ice queen sitting flat on the carpet? Someone call the campus newspaper. This is a historic event."
"Stop it, Mary," Riri said, her voice barely a whisper. "I really don't want to fight with you tonight."
Mary studied her face, her sarcastic smirk fading when she noticed the heavy, dark circles under Riri's gray eyes and the unmistakable slump in her usually perfect posture. "You look like absolute hell, Riri."
"My father finalized my employment contract today," Riri said, staring intently at her own hands. "He left it on my desk. I didn't sign it. He told me if it isn't signed by tomorrow morning, he will personally withdraw his recommendation for my graduate funding. I'll have nothing."
Mary's defensive expression softened entirely. She leaned her head back against the spines of a row of encyclopedias with a soft sigh. "He really runs your life like a hostile business takeover, doesn't he?"
"Yes." Riri swallowed hard, her throat tightening up. "Everyone on this campus thinks Kira and I have everything handed to us. They think we're cold because we enjoy looking down on people. But if we show a single crack, if we aren't absolutely flawless, our entire world falls apart. I'm just... I'm so incredibly tired of being cold, Mary."
Mary watched her, a look of deep, quiet understanding in her blue eyes. "Why are you telling me this right now?"
Riri looked up, her gaze locking directly onto Mary's. The vulnerability was terrifying, like jumping off a cliff into the dark, but she couldn't keep it locked in her chest for another second. "Because when I'm around you, I don't want to be perfect. I don't want to be a Timurov. I just want to be... me. And I utterly hate myself for always pushing you away because I'm terrified of what happens if I actually let someone in."
Mary’s breath hitched. She stared at Riri, her lips parting slightly in total shock. The two feet of space between them across the narrow aisle suddenly felt entirely too wide.
"Riri..." Mary started, her voice thick with a weird emotion Riri couldn't quite figure out. She reached out, her fingers resting on the carpet just inches away from Riri's hand. "I had no idea. I honestly thought you just despised my very existence."
"Never," Riri whispered, her eyes drifting down to Mary's fingers. "I could never despise you."
Before Mary could say another word, the overhead library lights flickered twice the universal, aggressive warning from campus security that the building was going into total lockdown.
Mary jumped, a sudden look of pure panic flitting across her face as she checked her watch. "Shit! I totally forgot what time it was! I have to go, I have to get to the athletic center before midnight or I'm dead."
"Why?" Riri asked, scrambling to her feet as Mary started frantically shoving heavy books into her backpack. "The athletic center closed hours ago."
"I just... I left something in the equipment room. Something insanely important for tomorrow morning," Mary said frantically, her face flushing that familiar, bright crimson. She threw her heavy bag over her shoulder and grabbed her keys. "Riri, please wait for tomorerow. At the graduation ceremony. Just... make sure you watch the main stage."
Before Riri could even think of another question, Mary turned on her heel and sprinted down the aisle, her messy brown curls bouncing wildly as she vanished into the shadows of the library stacks.
The St. Dominic University convocation hall was packed to maximum capacity, smelling like expensive perfume, floral arrangements, and heavy school pride. Thousands of excited students, proud parents, and bored faculty sat in endless rows of velvet seats.
On the main stage, the university board members sat like a panel of judges in high-backed wooden chairs. Riri and Kira sat in the very front row of the graduating class, suffocating in their heavy black gowns and velvet hoods.
Riri’s father sat right at the dead center of the stage, looking incredibly stern and imposing. Riri hadn't signed the contract. She had left it sitting right on his desk that morning, completely blank. Her heart was pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs, but for the first time in her entire life, she felt a strange, intoxicating sense of freedom.
"And now," the Chancellor announced into the microphone, his deep voice booming through the massive auditorium speakers. "Before we begin the official conferral of degrees, we have one final, time-honored St. Dominic tradition to uphold. For the past four years, one extraordinary student has carried the spirit of our university on their shoulders, completely anonymously. Today, we finally reveal the true identity of Domz the Blue Wolf!"
The entire crowd erupted into deafening cheers and stomping feet.
From the curtains at the side of the stage, the giant, fuzzy blue wolf bounded out with unhinged energy. The crowd went wild. Domz did a dramatic, theatrical bow, vigorously waving his oversized white paws at the audience.
Riri quickly scanned the front row. Yumeko was there, practically vibrating out of her seat with pure excitement, holding Kira’s hand tightly under the cover of their graduation gowns. Kira didn't look away from Yumeko for a single second, a soft, genuine smile gracing her lips the kind of look she only ever saved for her girlfriend.
But the seat next to Yumeko was completely empty.
Of course, Riri thought, a sudden, blinding realization washing over her like a massive tidal wave. The constantly missed hockey games. The sudden, violent choking at the coffee shop. The damp hair in the athletic corridor. The frantic rush to the gym last night.
Up on stage, Domz reached up with his large, white-furred paws. He gripped the fuzzy base of the massive blue wolf head.
The student section immediately started a roaring countdown. "Three! Two! One!"
With a dramatic, theatrical flourish, the mascot pulled the heavy foam head straight off.
A heavy cascade of wild, unruly brown curls fell around a deeply flushed, incredibly sweaty, and violently triumphant face.
Mary Davis stood on the center stage of the university, holding the massive wolf head under one arm, casually wiping her dripping brow with a giant white plush paw. She was beaming, her bright blue eyes sparkling brilliantly under the blinding stage lights.
The entire auditorium went absolutely, brutally dead silent for a full three seconds. Nobody on earth had expected the sarcastic, quiet library assistant who hated sports to be the chaotic, breakdancing blue wolf.
Then, Yumeko broke the silence, screaming so incredibly loud it literally echoed off the ceiling rafters. "I KNEW IT! OH MY GOD, MARY, I'M DATING A WOLF BY ASSOCIATION! KIRA, LOOK AT OUR WOLF!"
The rest of the crowd instantly erupted into thunderous, laughing applause.
Riri stood straight up from her seat. She didn't care that her father was currently glaring a hole through her from the board chairs. She didn't care that thousands of strangers were watching. She just looked up at the stage, her gray eyes locked entirely onto Mary.
Mary looked down from the stage, scanning the sea of black gowns until she found Riri. She caught her eye, gave a cheeky, familiar ear-twitch motion with her hand, and let a massive, brilliant smile break across her face.
The post-graduation reception out on the sunny quad was a chaotic blur of popping champagne corks, flying mortarboards, and crying parents. Riri actively dodged her father’s gaze, slipping away from the crowded tent and heading toward the quiet, stone courtyard tucked behind the science building.
She didn't have to wait very long.
"You know, it’s incredibly difficult to walk in these giant foam feet without the head on for balance," a breathless voice called out from the archway.
Riri turned around. Mary was waddling toward her, still wearing the bulky, bright blue mascot bodysuit, though she had zipped the front down to reveal her graduation gown underneath. She carried the heavy wolf head under her left arm, her brown curls sticking to her sweaty forehead in a chaotic mess.
Riri couldn't help it. A genuine, radiant smile broke across her face the kind of completely unbothered smile no one on this campus had ever seen her give.
"You are an absolute maniac, Davis," Riri said, stepping forward.
"I highly prefer the term 'spirited campus leader,'" Mary laughed, stopping just a foot away from her. "So. You figured it out right before the big reveal, didn't you? I saw your face when the head came off."
"The library rush gave it away," Riri said, her voice dropping into that softer, incredibly intimate register. "And the fact that you have a completely terrible poker face whenever Yumeko mentions anything involving school spirit."
Mary groaned loudly, tossing the heavy wolf head onto a nearby concrete bench. "Please never say the words school spirit to me again. I've spent four long years sweating buckets in this synthetic hellhole just to bring a little bit of joy to this frozen campus."
She stepped closer, her playful expression turning serious as her blue eyes searched Riri’s face. "Did you sign the law firm contract?"
"No," Riri said, a wave of pride washing over her. "I left it completely blank on his desk. I'm going to apply for the environmental advocacy program in Vancouver. Even if I have to work three different jobs to afford the tuition."
Mary’s face lit up with a brilliant, incredibly proud smile. "Good for you, Timurov. I always knew you had a real spine hidden under all that expensive wool."
"Riri," Riri corrected gently, taking a small step closer. "Call me Riri."
"Riri," Mary murmured, the name sounding soft and entirely perfect on her lips. She looked down at her giant, oversized white paws, then back up with a sheepish grin. "I really wanted to tell you last night in the stacks. But mascot tradition is serious business. And... I guess I wanted you to see me do something completely ridiculous on stage before you decided if you actually liked the real me."
"Mary, I've liked you since sophomore year when you threw a massive biology textbook at a guy for chewing his gum too loudly," Riri said, a faint, genuine blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Mary let out a loud, beautiful laugh. "Well. In that case, I wasted a lot of time breakdancing."
Mary reached out, managing to awkwardly cup Riri’s jaw with the giant, incredibly fluffy white mascot paw. It was ridiculous, it was entirely un-elegant, and it was the most absolutely perfect thing Riri had ever experienced.
Riri leaned in, completely closing the small distance between them.
The kiss was sweet, warm, and entirely devoid of the cold isolation Riri had lived in for years. Mary tasted faintly of coffee and total victory, and as Riri wrapped her arms around the bulky blue velvet of the mascot suit, she realized she had never felt warmer in the middle of a Canadian spring.
From the stone entrance of the courtyard, a loud, dramatic gasp utterly ruined the moment.
"Oh, come on!" Yumeko’s voice boomed through the quiet air. She was standing there, holding Kira’s hand, a digital camera raised high. "I knew Mary was the wolf, but I didn't think she'd actually snag the vice ice queen! Kira, look, our families are officially merging! We're practically sisters now!"
Kira let out a heavy sigh, though she didn't make a single move to let go of Yumeko’s hand. "Yumeko, put the camera away and give them some actual privacy."
Mary pulled back from the kiss, resting her forehead against Riri’s with a grin, glaring playfully over her shoulder at her best friend. "Yumeko, if you don't turn that camera off in the next three seconds, I am going to form-tackle you in this suit and it will be caught on campus security footage forever."
"Promises, promises!" Yumeko laughed, waving goodbye as she dragged a reluctant, softly smiling Kira back toward the main reception.
Riri looked back at Mary, her fingers tangling in the damp brown curls at the nape of Mary’s neck. "So. A giant blue wolf?"
"Hey, it paid my tuition," Mary winked, pulling Riri back in by her gown for another kiss. "And apparently, it gets the girl."
The courtyard fell back into its quiet rhythm, the distant, muffled roar of the graduation crowd fading into a comfortable, background hum.
Yumeko’s loud, cackling laughter still echoed slightly in the crisp air, but between Riri and Mary, the small stone space felt entirely theirs.
Mary didn't immediately let go. Even with those ridiculous, oversized blue plush paws still resting loosely on Riri’s waist, the warmth grounding them was completely real.
"I honestly can't believe you managed to keep that a secret for four entire years," Riri murmured, her hands still resting against the thick, fuzzy fabric of Mary’s shoulders. "Especially from Yumeko. She literally tells everyone everything the second it pops into her brain."
"Are you kidding? If I told Yumeko, she would have hijacked the suit by sophomore year to try and fight the university mascot from Calgary in a parking lot," Mary said, a breathless laugh escaping her. She looked down at her bulky blue torso, shaking her head. "Do you have any actual idea how hard it is to hide a giant blue wolf head in a standard, tiny dorm closet? I had to tell my roommate it was a very aggressive, custom throw pillow."
Riri let out a rare, genuine laugh that crinkled the corners of her gray eyes. "A throw pillow."
"An orthopedic one," Mary clarified, her blue eyes crinkling with pure mischief. "For my terrible neck alignment. She was too weirded out to ask any follow-up questions after that."
Mary took a clumsy step back, reaching for the heavy-duty plastic zipper of the mascot suit. With a bit of aggressive wrestling and a few muffled grunts, she slid her arms out of the thick, padded sleeves, letting the top half of the blue wolf costume deflate and drop down around her waist. Underneath, her black graduation gown was a bit rumpled and the velvet hood was completely askew, but she looked entirely free.
She reached up, running her fingers through her messy brown curls, trying to tame the chaotic volume that the heavy helmet had left behind. "I probably look like a total disaster right now. Sweaty mascot helmet-hair is not exactly the peak graduation aesthetic."
"You look beautiful," Riri said. The words slipped out of her mouth before her usual, defensive internal filter could even think to stop them.
Mary paused, her hands dropping from her hair. A genuine, soft flush crept up her neck not from the sweltering heat of the foam suit this time, but from the sudden, unshielded sincerity in Riri’s voice. She stepped right back into Riri’s personal space, her normal-sized, human hands finding Riri’s waist this time, slipping comfortably beneath the heavy fabric of her tailored wool coat.
"You're honestly dangerous when you're being this honest, Timurov," Mary whispered, her gaze dropping to Riri’s lips for a fraction of a second before meeting her gray eyes again. "I'm really not used to it."
"Get used to it," Riri replied, her voice remarkably steady despite the frantic flutter in her chest. "I spent way too long saying exactly what I was supposed to say to keep people happy. I am completely done with that."
"Good," Mary murmured. She tilted her head up, closing the tiny bit of distance left between them.
This kiss was much slower, steadier than the frantic one they shared just minutes before. It lacked the sudden, high-stress energy of the stage reveal and the lingering shock of Yumeko’s noisy interruption. It was just a quiet, solid promise in the cold shadow of the science building, the warmth of Mary’s hands burning right through the fabric of Riri’s silk blouse. Riri felt the absolute last remnants of the morning's suffocating anxiety the empty contract, her father's cold, judgmental disappointment melt away into nothing.
When Mary finally pulled back, she kept her forehead resting gently against Riri’s, her breath catching slightly in the cold air. "So. Vancouver, huh?"
"Vancouver," Riri confirmed, a small, hopeful smile playing on her lips. "The rainy weather honestly suits me. And the environmental law program over at UBC is one of the absolute best in the country."
"It's a pretty long way from Edmonton," Mary said softly, her thumb tracing a small, comforting circle against Riri's hip. "But... I hear they happen to have a really great public policy program out there. And their library system is massive. Lots of books to organize."
Riri’s heart gave a distinct, violent thud against her ribs. She pulled back just enough to look directly into Mary's face. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Davis?"
Mary grinned, that familiar, sharp, and comforting wit rushing back into her eyes. "I'm saying that if you think you're getting rid of me just because we crossed the graduation stage, you're deeply mistaken. Besides, someone has to make sure you actually eat real food instead of surviving on black coffee and raw spreadsheet data."
"I can take perfectly good care of myself," Riri countered, though her grip on the fabric of Mary’s gown tightened significantly.
"Sure you can, Your Highness," Mary teased. She reached over and scooped up the heavy, goofy wolf head from the concrete bench, tucking it firmly under her arm like a football. "Come on. If we don't get to the reception tent soon, Yumeko is going to drink every single drop of the free champagne, and Kira is going to have to file a formal, typed complaint with the university police."
Riri looked down at the ridiculous, smirking blue wolf head, then up at the girl holding it with such casual, beautiful confidence. The future ahead of them was completely unwritten, entirely unfunded, and bound to be incredibly chaotic.
She reached out, slipping her hand into Mary's free one, their fingers interlocking perfectly.
"Let's go," Riri said.
The courtyard fell into a warm, comfortable groove as the four of them stood near the edge of the tent. The sun was just starting to dip behind the campus library, casting long, golden shadows across the grass.
"Alright, wolf girl," Mary said, turning her attention to Yumeko with a playful smirk. "If we are doing a toast, you're sharing that champagne. Four years of silent labor deserves at least one high-quality glass of bubbles."
"Mary, for you? I will steal the entire bottle from the VIP tent," Yumeko declared, already looking around like a criminal planning a heist.
Kira immediately placed a firm hand on Yumeko’s shoulder, anchoring her to the spot. "You will do no such thing. The Dean of Finance is currently standing by the catering table, and I am not spending my graduation evening explaining to campus security why my girlfriend is hoarding alcohol in her gown."
"Oh, Kira, you're always thinking ahead," Yumeko sighed happily, leaning back against her.
Mary laughed, the sound easy and light, completely matching the relaxed look on her face. She looked down at Riri, her blue eyes incredibly soft in the fading afternoon light.
"So. Are you ready to get out of here? I think I've had enough school spirit to last me a lifetime, and these boots are starting to feel like actual weights."
"I've been ready for hours," Riri replied, her voice filled with a quiet, solid warmth. She looked away from the noisy reception tent, out toward the open gates of the campus. For the first time in four years, the path ahead didn't look like a calculated prison sentence. It looked entirely like hers.
"Let's go then," Mary murmured.
With one final, dramatic wave from Yumeko and a dignified, silent nod of approval from Kira, Riri and Mary turned away from the crowd. They walked hand in hand out of the main quad, the ridiculous blue wolf boots thudding softly against the pavement with every step, a steady, comforting rhythm guiding them toward whatever came next.