“A woman’s perfume.”
In a place like a Live House, air circulation was poor to begin with, so picking up such scents was inevitable.
As for the perfume, it was likely from Ijichi Seika or Nijika.
“Did you go to… that kind of shop?”
Miko’s grip tightened further.
While her voice trembled, her nails dug through the shirt into Ai’s arm.
“Fujiwara-san… did you go to such an indecent place… behind my back?”
“Even though… even though just having me is enough…”
“Even though my legs… are also…”
Seeing that this girl’s imagination was about to break through the stratosphere and even head toward R-rated territory, Ai knew he couldn’t play dead anymore.
If he kept it up, tonight might turn into a’School Days’ ending.
“Live House.”
Ai explained briefly, his tone remaining calm and flat.
“To fix a guitar.”
“A guitar?”
Miko was stunned for a moment, the madness in her eyes receding slightly.
“Is it… that pink-haired girl from before?”
“Yeah.”
Ai didn’t deny it.
“She’s the guitarist there. I went to help with the tuning.”
Hearing such a proper reason as “helping with tuning,” Miko’s expression softened a bit.
But that sour jealousy was still too thick to dissipate.
She lowered her head, looking at Ai’s rain-drenched collarbone, a flash of determination in her eyes.
“I don’t like it.”
She whispered.
“What?”
“I don’t like Fujiwara-san having someone else’s scent on him.”
Miko suddenly stopped walking.
At this moment, they happened to be walking past a dark alley entrance, with only the pitter-patter of rain surrounding them.
Before Ai could react, Miko suddenly stood on her tiptoes, her hands snapping around his neck as she threw herself recklessly into his arms.
Their soaked uniforms pressed tightly together, cold and warmth intertwining.
The girl murmured, then performed an extremely bold action.
She didn’t kiss his lips—likely lacking the courage for that yet—but instead opened her mouth and bit hard into the side of Ai’s neck.
“Hiss—!!”
Ai sucked in a breath of cold air.
It wasn’t because of pain, but because that moist, warm, soft sensation instantly exploded along his nerve endings.
The girl’s teeth gently ground against his skin, and her tongue even carried a vengeful teasing as it swirled over his carotid artery.
[Warning! Warning!]
[host’s emotional fluctuations are intense! Soul rejection reaction is about to activate!]
[External stimulus detected. Suggestion to the host… endure it!]
“Ugh…”
Ai let out a muffled groan, his face turning pale instantly.
In his mind, it felt as if a saw was tearing at his nerves.
That excruciating pain of a soul splitting, mixed with the tingling pleasure coming from his neck, created an experience enough to drive one mad.
He gritted his teeth hard, his hands instinctively grabbing Miko’s shoulders, wanting to push her away.
But when his palms touched the girl’s slender, trembling back, they stopped as if by some strange coincidence.
He couldn’t push her away.
Or rather…
his body instinctively didn’t want to.
Miko seemed to feel Ai’s stiffness and trembling.
She released her teeth and looked at the slowly emerging red bite mark, a hint of sickly satisfaction in her eyes.
“Now… it’s my scent.”
She extended her tongue and lightly licked the bite mark, as if soothing it, yet also as if stamping a seal.
Ai took several deep breaths, finally managing to suppress the intense pain.
He looked down at the girl in his arms, her face flushed and her eyes hazy.
At this moment, where was the Miko who usually trembled in fear of evil spirits?
She was practically a Succubus that had just had its fill.
“Are you done fooling around?”
Ai’s voice was a bit raspy, which instead of being intimidating, added a touch of magnetic charm.
Miko shrank her neck, seemingly realizing she had gone a bit too far just now.
She let go, took half a step back, and looked down at her toes, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes.
I’m…
I’m sorry, Fujiwara-san.”
“Because… because I was so scared.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“The thought that Fujiwara-san might be snatched away by someone else… I just… I couldn’t control myself…”
As she spoke, large tears mixed with the rain and slid down her cheeks.
Ai looked at her.
Was this the side effect of having too high a level of dependency?
But he didn’t hate it too much.
Or rather, in this world full of danger, this heavy emotion was instead the most real anchor.
Before crossing over, he was just a nobody, and no one had ever valued him this much.
“Don’t let it happen again.”
Ai raised his hand and wiped the tears from the corner of her eye with his thumb.
The movement was still somewhat stiff, but the warmth of his fingertips made Miko stop crying.
“Let’s go, I’ll walk you back.”
Ai picked up the umbrella that had fallen to the ground and opened it.
The black canopy blocked out the sky, also enveloping the two of them in a small, private space.
This time, Miko became much more well-behaved.
She held Ai’s arm tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder with a sweet smile on her face, as if the biting Yandere from moments ago wasn’t her at all…
By the time he walked Miko to her doorstep, the rain had stopped.
“Um… Fujiwara-san.”
Miko stood at the door, pulling on his sleeve somewhat reluctantly.
“Do you want to… come in for a bit? Have some hot tea? Your clothes are wet, you’ll catch a cold…”
This was already a clear invitation.
If this were a typical romance anime, the male lead would surely have gone in with the flow, and then a series of clichéd accidents would occur.
But Ai glanced at the second-floor window of Miko’s house.
There, a pale, long-haired female ghost hanging upside down was staring intently at him, her mouth making a “clack-clack-clack” teeth-grinding sound.
Clearly, that was a “resident” of Miko’s house.
“No thanks.”
Ai decisively refused.
Though he wasn’t afraid of ghosts, his current mental state was poor, and he really didn’t have the energy to deal with this kind of Earthbound spirit.
However…
since he was seeing her home, he might as well finish the job properly.
Ai let go of Miko’s hand but didn’t immediately turn to leave.