Date: Season 127, 5th of Leaf Month (August)

"Nothing today either?"

Abel shook his head, "No. It's been quiet for a while now, maybe the Yōkai moved on?"

The other search party member, Yuto, sighed as he looked at Mystia, who stayed back near the trees. He wanted to say something about the timing of the activity going down, and when Abel started dating Mystia, but he kept it to himself. He didn't want Abel getting angry again, but it still bothered him.

"What about her, has she found anything?" Yuto gestured to Mystia.

"We're working together; anything she finds, I'll know about." Abel stated.

"Well… If that's the case, I guess we came up empty handed tonight as well."

"…Yeah."

"Hey, they're talking about lifting the curfew right now, you know."

"So I've heard."

"We've been searching for disturbances this entire time; we even had that one shrine maiden help us for one night, and yet it's been completely peaceful."

"…"

"You're probably right, that they moved on." Or found something better to do, Yuto continued on in his thoughts as he glanced at Mystia again.

"Do you have something to say?" Abel asked, his tone more threatening when he noticed Yuto was looking at Mystia.

"No. I'm just still not used to working with her, that's all."

"...Fine. Just stop acting that way around her; I'm sure it makes her uncomfortable."

"I'll try, I promise."

Abel looked up at the sky, a very dim blue signalling that the sun would arrive soon.

"Time to call it quits for now." Abel said.

"Yeah, see you tonight." Yuto said, returning to his group.

"…" Abel stood their quietly as Yuto's group began chatting amongst themselves while they returned home. He knew all too well what others were thinking; Mystia stopped eating the villagers when she started dating Abel. That's what it looked like… and he had no proof that said otherwise.

"Hey, are you tired?" Mystia asked, walking up behind Abel.

"Yeah, you?" Abel responded, shaking his doubts out of his head.

"I could sleep." Mystia said, yawning right after finishing her statement.

"My place or yours?"

"Mine… No wait, didn't I say I'm not ready for that yet?" Mystia blushed slightly at Abel's trick question.

"A little joke, but I'm perfectly serious if that answer wasn't a mistake."

"It was a mistake, I was too tired. Geez, you knew I'd mess up."

"That clumsy part of you is cute."

"Shut-up, you're sleeping on the couch."

"I thought we weren't sleeping together?"

"Of course not, but if you… umm… if I want to see you, I need to wait for you to come out to the forest…" Mystia admitted shyly.

"Mystia, you're so adorable." Abel teased.

"Wha- N-no I'm not!"

"Sexy?"

"The description isn't the problem… No wait, I guess I would want to be sexy… Gah, what am I even saying!?"

"It only takes me an hour to get ready and walk to the forest."

"That's too long, I want to be with you more- No wait, what are you making me say!?"

"I'm making you say 'Ahn, that feels so good, do it more, please~'"

"Should I add 'sexual harassment' to the long list of things I hate about you?"

"You know, while we've been bantering this entire time, the sun's started to come up." Abel said, pointing towards the horizon which had begun to turn a dim orange.

"Oh, you're right." Mystia said, her face no longer showing embarrassment.

"…Just how much of that was an act?"

"A lady needs to have her secrets", Mystia stuck out her tongue tauntingly, refusing to tell Abel.

"Anyways, do you really want me to sleep over? There's no guarantee I'll be able to hold myself back-"

"Don't be silly, it's because it's you that I know nothing will happen."

"Why do I feel like I was just insulted?"

"…You don't want to?" Mystia asked, her grey eyes peering into Abel's as she put her arms around his neck.

"Hey, that's not fair." Abel said, his heart beating faster.

"Do-you-want-to~?", Mystia whispered, bringing her mouth close to Abel's ear.

"Please stop saying it so suggestively." Abel pleaded, his face completely red.

Mystia giggled as she twirled her fingers in Abel's hair.

"It's revenge for always teasing me. I'm the older one you know, so you should be the submissive." Mystia argued.

"So I take it you're going to take the lead during our first time?" Abel asked.

"Your first time."

"Wow, I didn't know you already committed adultery in the short time we've been together."

"We're dating, not married. Also, you don't know if I'm-"

"Do you want me to ask?"

"No, that's a surprise for later."

"'A lady needs to have her secrets', right?"

"That's right. Can you answer me now?"

"Absolutely."

"You should have just said so from the start."

"But then you would've moved out of this position." Abel said, Mystia's arms still around his neck and her face close to his.

"Oh, that reminds me."

"What is it?"

Mystia smirked before stealing Abel's lips and invading his mouth with her tongue. Abel reacted by grabbing onto her butt and leaning into the kiss as well, but Mystia took her hands off Abel's neck to raise his hands to her waist. She broke off the kiss and muttered, "Pervert", before intruding inside his mouth yet again.

No matter how many times she kissed him, it always felt like fireworks were going off in her head. It felt even better when he sucked on her tongue, a mind-numbing pleasure coursing throughout her body. She felt tingly, warm, float-y (Like she was in the clouds), and dizzy all at the same time.

When she broke off the kiss, this time for good, she noticed that Abel had lowered his hands to her ass again.

"Geez, stop touching me in weird places." Mystia complained.

"You must've been really into it to not notice where my hands were." Abel smiled slyly.

Mystia flicked his forehead as she blushed, annoyed because Abel was right on the mark. She knew it to be true from the heat emanating from her 'special place'.

"…I might be ready for 'it' soon after all." Mystia muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Abel asked, unable to make out what Mystia said.

"Let's go." Mystia said, implying she muttered something about going to her home.

Abel nodded as he took her hand. Despite her earlier boldness, Mystia still could feel her heart pounding whenever Abel took her hand, remembering the night she confessed. She was surprised with herself whenever she kissed him, but it felt way too good for her to stop…

Oh no, I might be a pervert myself, Mystia thought, looking down at the ground in shame.

"Something wrong?" Abel asked, noticing Mystia's strange behaviour.

"Oh no, I'm just still nervous about you coming over." Mystia lied.

"When you invited me?"

"Of course, am I not allowed to feel nervous?"

"No, I understand. I guess it's the first time we're sharing a roof together, even if it might not be in the same room."

"Y-yeah." Mystia stuttered, thinking about what would happen if they shared a bed together.

They continued on silently until they reached Mystia's house, refusing to let go of each other's hands even as they entered the structure.

"Oh, are you leading me to the bedroom?" Abel teased.

"Shush, you aren't letting go either." Mystia retorted.

"I love you."

"No."

"Umm… I adore you?"

"Not tonight, I said. We should probably go to bed now."

Abel was about to open his mouth before Mystia continued on to say, "By 'bed' I mean couch for you."

"Wait, that couch wasn't a joke?" Abel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't have any extra beds since I never have anyone sleep over… You're my first." Mystia ended the sentence by turning her head away in 'shyness', suggestively speaking softly.

"I'll be gentle." Abel said, chuckling to himself.

"…We really should sleep."

"…Yeah, I guess I'm tired."

Both spoke as though it were the end of the conversation, but neither made it a goal to let go. Abel looked down at their hands, and turned completely red as he thought of something.

"On a scale of one to ten, how much do you trust me?" Abel asked.

"Ten. Even if you tell lies, it's quite obvious." Mystia said.

"Really?"

"I knew that visiting the night stand for the sake of visiting it wasn't your original goal."

"Well what I'm about to suggest is more a matter of trust than one of lying."

"There's a difference?"

Abel breathed in slowly, and when he gathered the courage, he asked, "No sex, but do you want to sleep in the same bed?"

Mystia stiffened as her heart began pounding again, the thought of Abel being in her bed way too tempting for her right now.

"Absolutely not." Mystia spoke sternly, wanting to wait a little while longer before her first time.

"But-"

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep with you in my bed."

"Would you be able to sleep with the knowledge I was in your house?"

"What does that… Oh."

Mystia finally realized what Abel was getting at. As restless as she would be with him sleeping with her, she would be even more bothered by the fact that she was missing a chance to be with him longer. Mystia's face became smothered with heat; Abel could see right through her, as though… well, as though she were naked.

"S-stop looking at me like that." Mystia pleaded.

"What's this all of a sudden, was I thinking too highly of myself?" Abel scratched his head with his free hand.

"N-no, you were right."

"You did say the reason you wanted to stay together was so that you'd see me sooner, but doesn't that also mean you wanted to stay with me longer?"

"I just said you were right…"

"In other words, you want me to lose all control and ravage you in an act of lust?"

"Now that's wrong."

"I'll stop joking now. What do you think?"

Mystia thought about Abel lying next to her under the sheets, his brown eyes peering into her soul as she could feel the warmth slowly crawling from his body to hers. She soon wondered if it was really okay not to do it… 'it' being sex… as she wasn't as opposed to the idea as she originally thought. Still, she wanted to see if Abel really wouldn't do anything. It was silly, but if she was having a hard time holding back, then she wanted to see if Abel would do the same if it was for her sake.

"It's very selfish of me." Mystia muttered to herself.

"If you don't want to feel guilty about it, then we can do it when we wake up." Abel suggested jokingly.

"…" Mystia pondered the thought, as though it were a good idea.

"Mystia?"

"I believe I was leading you to bed?" Mystia spoke softly as she leaned in to Abel.

Caught off guard by the sudden seduction, Abel swallowed hard and retorted dryly, "Please be gentle."

"I know you're trying to be a gentleman, but that's not what it means." Mystia joked, leading Abel towards her room with her arms wrapped around his left arm.

"I can feel your breasts." Abel noted.

"Mhm." Mystia nodded.

"Your right wing is curling around my back."

"Mhm."

"Your hands are warm."

"Mhm"

"Are you feeling alright!?"

"You got the order of statements wrong."

"Did I?"

"You're supposed to start with the smallest situation, then work your way up-"

"Are you really going to explain the joke?"

"-to the largest situation, which I acknowledge without embarrassment. That's when you retort."

"You already know I did that on purpose."

"For all I knew, you could have been dumbfounded by my beauty up close."

"Well, my heart did skip a- Woah!" Abel exclaimed, being thrown onto the bed so suddenly.

Mystia looked down at him mischievously, her finger pressed against her lips suggestively. The term 'nymphomaniac' ran throughout Abel's head, wondering just how much they would do if this was what she was like as a virgin. He immediately noted that it wasn't confirmed whether she was or not, but the way she timidly followed him on the night she confessed suggested she had little experience to none.

Mystia then crawled on top of him, her hands pinning his arms to the bed as she leaned in.

Oh god, is she really a virgin?, Abel asked himself, unsure.

Mystia then inched her head forward closer, Abel closing his eyes in expectation. When he did, he could feel a light peck on his forehead and a weight being lifted off his body. When he looked to his side, he could see Mystia smiling, overjoyed.

"Now I know why you tease me, it's quite fun." Mystia said.

Abel laughed nervously, losing composure as he continued thinking about Mystia continuing what she hinted at.

"Also, you're a pervert." Mystia said, gesturing towards the middle of the bed.

Abel following Mystia's gesture, could see a tent being pitched beneath his pants. Flustered, he hid his lower half underneath the bed sheets and lifted his knees up to hide the bulge.

"Your fault." Abel accused.

"Sorry, I just ended up thinking about how hard you would try to hold back and then, before I knew it, I wanted to make it harder for you." Mystia said.

"You made 'it' harder alright, you sadist."

"You're even joking in that state? I'm impressed."

"That entire statement wasn't even a joke; you made 'it' harder, and you just proved yourself to be a sadist."

"Well then, goodnight!" Mystia exclaimed, pulling the sheets over her and turning her back on Abel.

"Definitely a sadist if you enjoy ignoring me."

Mystia smiled as she faced Abel once more and held his left hand.

"We can sleep like this, right?" Mystia asked.

"Y-yeah." Abel nodded.

Both Mystia and Abel couldn't stop looking at the other as the minutes passed. Mystia gave an awkward smile while Abel gave an exasperated look in response. Finally, Mystia sighed and let go of Abel's hand.

"It's no good, I can't close my eyes like that." Mystia said, giving up.

"Let's just sleep for now." Abel said.

"Mmm" Mystia nodded, before turning her back against the mattress.

Abel did the same, staring up at the ceiling. The room was dim black, curtains blocking out the rising sun. Even as they couldn't stop the awareness that the other was in the bed, both Mystia and Abel's eyes grew heavy in their nervous silence. The sounds of their breathing a reminder of how they were not alone, and the scent of Mystia all around reminding Abel where he was. Eventually, the nervousness became a comfort as they grew too tired to do anything more but sleep.

Abel's entire body felt heavy as he slowly grasped his surroundings, a warm blanket wrapped around him. He felt the need to stretch out his arms, only to find that they were bound by the blanket. When he stubbornly tried to force them to stretch again, however;

"Mmm"

He found that his blanket was a sleepy night sparrow who had attached herself to Abel. Using him as a body pillow, Mystia's arms were wrapped around Abel's chest and her legs were entwined with his right leg, the thighs in a 'precarious' position near Abel's crotch. Her breath was also brushing against Abel's right arm, not helping his growing awareness. Abel became more aroused, his grogginess working against his rational thought as lustful visions ran rampant in his head; Mystia licking his earlobe as she ran her fingers across his chest, her playful smile as she played with his expanding cock… thoughts like that.

When he finally regained all consciousness, his manhood was towering beneath his clothes, the rubbing from Mystia's thighs becoming a catalyst with the combination of his drowsy fantasies. He wondered whether this was a blessing or a curse, the sensation unbearably erotic. Mystia's sleeping face also looked like it was having a 'fun' time, smiling as though she were clinging to Abel's body on purpose.

He then felt a need to relieve himself, and, despite wanting to linger for a bit longer, moved out of Mystia's clutches carefully. He quickly left, took care of business, and found that there were no more bed sheets for him to use, as all had been 'snuggled' by Mystia.

"See, you're even a sadist in your sleep." Abel whispered tauntingly to the unconscious Yōkai.

A loud knock could be heard ringing throughout the house, rousing Mystia, who felt her own drool pressing against her from the stained hem of the bed sheets. Abel was next to her, with another bed sheet he had grabbed from her closet, waking up also.

"Mokou." Abel spoke immediately. He knew that only him, her and Mystia knew where this place was.

The knocking became even louder, a muffled voice yelling beyond the walls.

"Shoo her away." Mystia mumbled in a daze.

"Mystia, if she took the time to come all the way here and knock like there's no tomorrow, then something must be seriously wrong." Abel reasoned, trying to bring Mystia to an alert state.

Immediately, Mystia's eyes grew wide, giving Abel an indication that it had worked. He misunderstood, however, why Mystia was alert. She wondered; if no one knew Abel were here, then why would Mokou come with a furious wake-up call?

Does she know!? Mystia threw her sheets off the bed as she leaped out.

"Wha- Mystia?" Abel asked, confused.

"Stay here. No one knows you're here, so it might be something she wants only me to hear." Mystia reasoned.

Before hearing his response, Mystia was at the front door, opening it for a rather threatening-looking Mokou.

"Where's Abel?" She spoke, her tone hinting at hostility.

When she heard those words, Mystia immediately sighed relief and said, "Calm down, he only stayed over."

Mystia could hear Abel slap himself in the forehead as Mokou's face twitched.

"Wha- What the fuck are you two doing!?" Mokou yelled, aware of Abel's presence from the sound of the slap.

"Mokou, I'm sorry, I know I should've told someone-" Abel started as he walked out of Mystia's room.

"No, dammit, that's not it!" Mokou interrupted.

Both Abel and Mystia stiffened at Mokou's unrelenting emotionally outburst, realizing there was something other than that making her this way.

"You both need to come with me right now." Mokou said, becoming quiet all of a sudden as her expression turned dark.

In a lonely house in the human village, there was once a young man who lived there. He had no family, no loves, and wasn't known for anything in particular. That being said, everyone knew him. He went to the school with your son and daughter, was up to no good when he cheated on that one test, always made friends wherever he went.

Even as Abel and Mystia walked into the house of the young man, they remembered those stories of him, despite the image before their eyes.

Mystia was the most shaken up, however, when she saw it.

Why…Why!?, Mystia thought as she collapsed to her knees.

The killings had to stop. There was no way for them to continue as long as she was with Abel.

So why then, with his entrails exposed and bloody limbs scattered, did Yuto lay unmoving in that house?