It's been a few months since Ren was discharged from the hospital, and he's been living with me since. Although it was hard for his body to adjust after he left the hospital, he's able to move around normally now. But he still had to be in rehab, so we continued with it at home. Things like stretching his arms and legs, going up and down the stairs. At first, he stayed at home for rehab, but once I thought he could move around pretty well, I asked him something.

"Hey, Ren. Think it's time to go outside?"

"Outside?"

"Yeah. Aren't you done being holed up in the house? You can move around pretty well now. I was thinking about taking a small walk down where we usually go for rehab."

"Oh, I guess so."Ren nods.

I had the day off from work today, I'd been sticking to Ren like glue all day. Decided on going out, we head outside.

**

There are a bunch of people on Aoyagi Street as usual. But the sidewalks are so wide that taking a leisurely stroll would be easy enough. And there is never nothing to look at with all the shops around. I used to walk this way with Ren in my bag. But Ren can see it with his own eyes, now that he has a body. The feeling of It must be totally different from when he was an Allmate. I bet everything looks fresh and new to him.

With that expectation, we go to Aoyagi street.
**

Since it was a holiday, shoppers and families crowd Aoyagi. I keep close to Ren, matching his slow pace and looking around at the shops.

"Oh, hey, look at that. Those are the new Allmate expansions!" I latch it up in the store front, picking it up and showing it to Ren.

"It looks really different."

"It's a ribbon type. Allmates are becoming accessories now."

"I see." Ren takes the package from my hands.

"When I first saw them, there were a lot of variations… hey!"

Ren suddenly brings the package in his hands up to his nose and begins to sniff it. What the…!?

"Hey, hey, what are you doing…!?"

Ren quizzically lifts his face from the package.

"Did I do something bad?"

"No, it's… If you do that on a big street like this, people will give you weird looks."

"…I see. I'm sorry. It was a habit as an Allmate. I'll pay attention from now on."

Ren lowers his eyes, looking apologetic. Oh yeah… It's a dog thing to always sniff something first, so it was reflexive. It's natural for Ren to do that, and he doesn't know he shouldn't. it's not such a bad thing, anyway. He was a dog for the longest time, and killing old habits is hard. Besides, it's kind of cute when he does stuff unconsciously.

"Don't be so down."

"But…"

"You're so serious, even if you're this giant guy, you're still just Ren, after all."

I pat Ren's head while smiling, and a small, embarrassed smile tugs at his lips.

"What?"

"No…..I just remembered the past."

"The past? …Oh."

I would always pet his head when he was an Allmate. It was such a natural thing for me to do, so I rarely caught myself doing it. It was an old habit when it came to Ren. Thinking about it makes me giggle a bit.

"Aoba?"

"Nothing. You can't just kill off habits, can you? Before I even caught myself, I went to pet you."

"But that habit of yours isn't something bad. There's no reason to stop it, is there?"

"You think so? Then I'll end up petting you all the time."

I pet his head to tease, and Ren calmly nods.

"I don't mind."

"Oh, you've said it now. C'mere!"

Tit for tat, I rustle up his hair.

"…By the way, Aoba. I just noticed this, but can I ask you something?"

While I fluff up his hair, Ren asks me a question with a serious look on his face.

"Hm?"

"Do you think that you would feel better if you were taller than me?"

"…Ergh." I lose my words. It's not like I care about it that much… Because up until now, I could hold him in two hands. And now that he's taller than me… well honestly, I only find it kind of annoying. I don't care about it that much. Barely. Yeah. Besides, he's a guy and I'm a girl, and guys are supposed to be taller.

"…Nah, forget about me. We were just talking about your old habits. I know there's no helping it. But if you act like you did as an Allmate, we'll get weird looks. So just watch out, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well, since this is a good time to notice, let's just keep trying to fix that."

"I'll do my best."

"Alright."

I pat Ren's head, then grab his arm along and begin walking.

After that, we looked around in some of the stores. Ren kept trying to stop himself, but his old habits as an Allmate still came through a few times. When I went into a store to buy something and asked Ren to hold some of the things I wanted, he held the package in his mouth. Even though he watched it out for it, he still kept bringing things to his nose. But it was pretty amusing watching him do it all the time.

The Ren now and the Ren before.

It's completely impossible for Ren to be here right now… but it happened. Of course, we've been through a lot to get here, and Ren and I both still gripe about it. Not everything's over yet, and there's still time a lot for us to worry about. But that's how we don't regret how things are now. This is what Ren and I chose, no matter what we have to face from here on out. We don't know which way is right or not. There's no one who does, is there?

But still…

The happiness we have now was impossible without Sei's gift to us. The miracle he gave us. It's irreplaceable even now, so I want to treasure it. Besides, it was so different with Ren and me before compared to now, and it's a little strange to share secrets only we know. How Ren came to be is really a wonder, so…

With that in mind, I hold on to the present.

**

Afterward, we walk around when I check the time, it's just past noon.

"What a walk. How're you? Want to take a break? Or go home?"

"No…. I'm still fine."

"How's your body? Does it hurt anywhere?

"Not in particular."

"Really? That's good."

Ren seems fine, so we'll take a small break and then walk around some more.

…And right as I thought that-

"Oh? Aoba-chan?"

A high-pitched squeal calls my name from the side. My entire body stiffens.

That voice…

Is that…

"Oh my, it is you! Aoba-chan!" I hear her footsteps scurry closer…

"Yoshie-san…" I grumble out.

"…"

I could almost see Ren's invisible ears drop. Whenever he sees Yoshie-san, he probably thinks of Clara. That sucks. –Oh wait. She still thinks he's an Allmate… The moment I realized, I reflexively take a step in front of Ren to guard him. I thought about telling Yoshie-san, Haga-san, and the others about Ren, but… I just couldn't find the right timing. I had my hands full with Ren's rehabilitation and all… And even if I were to explain it, I don't think I could say it in a way that they'd understand…

Yoshie-san has never seen Ren in online mode, so she won't know who Ren is even if she sees him like this. I thought about playing dumb and saying that "I stopped using Ren for some reason or another." but… After all, Ren and I are indebted to everyone, and Haga-san and Yoshie-san always adored him. So I don't want to lie about it too much. …Let's just leave it at that, I can't escape this situation. She should have no idea who the person standing behind me is by looking at him. If she asks who it is, I'll just say it's a friend of mine.

…But I really can't seem to calm down.

I'm all over the place…

I feel bad for Yoshie-san, but I try to get the fuck out of there.

"Aoba-chan, are you going out somewhere?"

"Y-Yes, I was just thinking…" Yoshie-san is all grins and smiles, not noticing my conflicted mental state.

"Really~. There's a big sale today at the supermarket, so I was thinking of buying some pasta with mushrooms. Are you making anything for dinner tonight, Aoba-chan?"

"Uh, ah…That's- uh, maybe some yakisoba, maybe…"

"Oh, yakisoba! You use sauce with that, don't you? That really strong sauce that's in the kettle!"

"K-Kettle? No, you probably don't use that, uh…"

"No, Aoba-chan! When it comes to yakisoba, the sauce always makes it taste best! It's really busy during the sales. It's calmed down a little recently, but it always sells out so quickly!"

"Hahaha…Is that so…"

"Hey, wait."

At that moment, a demanding, speaker-like voice interrupts Yoshie-san. Knowing immediately whose it is, I could feel my body stiffen far worse than with Yoshie-san before. It came out of a large bag by Yoshie-san's feet. A toy dog peers its head out.

"Oh my, Clara-chan~!"

Yoshie-san's face turns into one big smile. Clara is her Allmate, and she dotes on her all the time, which has made her so demanding. She likes Ren, and would ask for him sometimes when I visited. Well the Allmate that was Ren is gone now, so…

Clara doesn't even give Yoshie-san even a glance, and looks up at me.

"…" What, why is she giving me that look… I start to itch with guilt, I can feel myself sweating . I'm not really good with Clara either… Clara says what's on her mind, so I feel a little nervous about what she's going to say. When I glance over to Ren, he is obviously stressed too. Well yeah...

Anyway, for Ren's sake, let's get the hell out of here.

"Well then, excuse me, I'm little busy, so…"

"Wait."

When I try to flee, Clara's frigid voice hits me.

"Ah… Sure." She makes me somehow stop in my tracks. She stares at me without a word. It's more like glaring.

No… Did she figure out about Ren?

No, no, that's not possible…

"What's wrong Clara-chan? Oh, I know! You want to see Ren-chan, is that it? You get along so well~~~!"

With Yoshie-san's ever so bouncy personality, the corners of her eyes lower. I could feel my body temperature rapidly drop into sub-zero degrees. I gotta get us outta here…!

"Hey, I haven't seen that blue one around recently."

"Eh…!?"

My stomach turns inside out when she hits the point exactly.

"That's right. I haven't seen him recently. What's happened? Is he sick?"

"Ah, ahahaha, about that-"

"Aren't you always together? Is he gone now?"

"-! Of course not!" I yell, pissed at her words.

"Hmm."

I had honestly replied without catching myself. Clara responds with a suspicious tone, lowering her gaze.

The next thing that catches her eye…

Is Ren standing behind me.

"…"

"…"

She stares at Ren quietly. I didn't think it was that long, but it felt like the minutes just flew by.

"What's wrong, Clara-chan? Are you interested in him over there? "

Yoshie-san picks her up, looking worried, and looks over to Ren as well. And then she puts on a face like she just noticed that he was there.

"…Speaking of which, who is he? A friend of yours?"

"Y-Yes…"

"Hey. That person, is he…"

"…!"

"Eh!?"

Just as I thought she had realized it, Ren suddenly grabs my hand and begins running.

"Hey! Wait right there!"

"Oh, Clara-chan!? Where are you going!?"

She yells worriedly, with the small taps of Clara's paws following behind. Is she going after us…!? And Ren, just running off like that…!

"Oi, Ren…!"

Ren just keeps along silently, skillfully slipping between the people in the crowd, and into a back alley.

**

Going around several corners, Ren stops in a narrow, dimly lit street.

"Hah….."

"Ha, hah…" out of the breath from sprinting, I put my hands on the wall. Ren is also catching his ragged breath. No matter how much his body was used to it now, I bet it took everything in him to run full speed like that. While worried about him, I look out onto the street around the corner. I don't see Clara anywhere. We must've lost her somewhere. Ren hangs over my back and examines the road too.

This alley is narrow, barely fitting two grown people.

"Seems like neither of them are following us anymore."

"Seems so."

"Ren, is your body okay? It really surprised me when you suddenly started running. "

"Yeah, sorry. I'm fine."

"Really?"

I look at Ren's stoic face while asking again.

"Yeah." Ren firmly nods while looking into my eyes. I guess it wasn't too much for him after all. I understand, opening my mouth for another question.

"Hey. Do you really hate Clara that much?"

"…"

"It's not like I hate her enough to just run away."

"… I don't hate her. But how strong-willed she is…"

"…Yeah. Haha. I feel you on that one."

I laugh at Ren's unhappy face, and lean against his chest to look up at his face.

"So, I think we'll have to tell Yoshie-san about this sometime. Besides , I wanna be able to be open about it with everyone sooner or later. "

"That's true." Ren and I calm down in the meantime. We'll go and apologize to Clara and Yoshie-san later…

"Alright, let's go back to Aoyagi. We'll go into some store and take a break… …?"

I take my body off of Ren's, and he suddenly hugs from behind.

"Ren…?"

"…I'm sorry, Aoba." He pushes his face into my shoulder while I'm in his hold. I flinch a bit with the feeling of his breath on my skin.

"Ren, what's wrong…?"

I lightly pat his arm, but he doesn't loosen his hold.

"… I was happy earlier."

"Eh?"

"When we were running and holding hands. "

"…"

"When I was an Allmate, all I could do was watch your back as we ran. I was always just going along with you. I know it was because I was a small dog, but… I have arms that I can hold you with. I have legs to run with you. Things I could only wish for before. I gave up in that sort of wish from the beginning. So now, I'm really happy to be able to be like this."

"Ren…"

Taking him out of my bag and running with him in my arms. It was such an obvious thing I never thought about… Hearing this now, I guess Ren had his frustrated moments. I didn't notice at all…

Ren brings his face to my hair, taking a deep breath. Feeling a little ticklish, I touch Ren's arm.

"I see. But I'm glad too. I'm glad I'm able to run with you."

"Aoba…"

Ren tightens his embrace, breathing into my nape. Reflexively shrugging my shoulders, I feel something soft push onto my nape.

"…!"

Ren kisses it over and over. At the same time, I feel my skin tingle with a small shock wherever he kissed. His kisses gradually rise to my ear, and, flustered, I turn my head around to him.

"…Ren, wait…"

"…I'm sorry, Aoba."

His deep voice resounds in my ear.

"I can usually hold myself back… but it's just that I've always wanted to be with you like this so much."

"Eh…?"

"…I can't hold it in anymore."

"-!" I turn red from his words and I feel something slide into my ear with a faint, wet sound.

"No…! Hey, Ren…! Wait…!"

Ren sticks his tongue into my ear, while licking my earlobe. The sparks start to pulse down my body, my voice rising.

"Ah…Ren…!"

"…"

He holds me tight as I try to escape, teasing my ear so fiercely that it feels like he could be eating it. The wet sounds echo in my eardrum, as if they're invading my head. My thoughts in disarray, I simply concentrate on keeping my voice down.

"Ha…Hrk…ah!"

Ren slides the tip of his tongue down my nape, lightly nibbling on my skin with his canine teeth.

"Ren…!"

A weird feeling sweeping over me, I try to separate from Ren. At that moment, I feel something hard push up against my back.

…Oh shit. That's…

"Aoba…"

While he licks my cheek, his hand reaches down below. His fingers touch me through my clothes.

"Hey, wait…!" I grab his hand and try to pull him away, but I was a little out of whack. Somehow, I actually feel kind of pent up too, becoming horny and all that…

No, no, but we can't, really…

Ren holds me tight with one of his arms.

"…I'm sorry, Aoba, I knew that this human physiological reaction would occur, but- When it's actually happening to me… I don't know what to do."

"…"

My vision goes a little hazy with that feverish confession.

So he's saying…

He's in heat. And outside even…

What now? What do I do…

Trying to make some sense of it, and feeling a little agitated myself, my mind quickly drifts to that direction. I don't even know what to do either, and with Ren clinging to me so desperately like this, my judgment's become cloudy. It's seriously bad if we do it outside, but…

Ren seems to be in pain, and no one will see us in a place like this…

No, but really, in a place like this…

…..

…I guess it'd be fine for a little bit. With that excuse made, I check the surroundings for any people around. Knowing no one's there, I try to soothe Ren by patting his arm, and turn my body around.

Facing Ren, I examine his features. His eyes are anxious, mixed with confusion.

"…Ren. Stand there just like that." My heart beating violently, my hands reach down. I slowly stroke his hard cock through his pants.

"-Aoba…!"

"It's okay."

I push away his hand when he tries to stop me and undo his belt.

"-!?"

But a strong, unexpected, impulse stops me. When I look down, I see Ren's hand touching my vagina again under my shorts.

"Hey, stay still…"

"Not just me, Aoba too…"

"…!"

I try to escape his hands, but I choke up when he rubs it with his fingers. I try to endure but it's too late, and pleasure slowly starts to seep into my hips.

"Hey…!"

Enduring the oncoming pleasure, I stop Ren's hands. Ren looks at me with an uncomfortable, questioning expression.

"Enough about me… I'll do yours first."

"But…"

His fingers impatiently touch me, and I grab his hands to tease him. Ren is definitely different from before. He isn't doing what he's been told like he usually does. It's his turn first…

So I'll have to make it so only I can touch him. Can I pull off that sort of thing?

…Can I? There's only one way.

I've only imagined it but… okay. It's his, so it'll be fine.

"Make sure to stand up."

"…?"

I warn him and drop to my knees. I fully undo his pants and put my hands in his underwear.

"Aoba…!?"

I guess Ren noticed. He tries to pull his hips away. Before he can get away, I pull his hard dick out. And then swiftly stick it in my mouth.

"…!"

"-! …Aoba…"

I push Ren's hips back with my hands as he tries to run away, and move my mouth in deeper.

"Ah…mn…ngh…"

"…..!"

It doesn't feel disgusting at all. But he's big enough in my mouth, even just half-hard. It's going to be tough to put it all in. Frowning a little, I glance up to see how Ren is taking it. I can see just in his expression that he's saying "What do I do? I'm letting Aoba do something awful." Seeing this look on his face… suddenly has this impact on me, and I quietly move my head.

"…..Ha…Ngh…"

"….."

I don't exactly know what to do. Slowly sucking him off while rubbing the base with my fingers just feels like the right thing to do. I can feel Ren's cock swell in my mouth. It's actually really difficult to keep my mouth open enough that my teeth don't touch him. And I don't think I'm all great at this… I wonder if this even feels good to him.

"…"

Swallowing all the spit pooling in my mouth, I look back up to Ren. He definitely looks different as he watches me with blurry eyes and a heated expression. Looks like it feels good…

Feeling a little relief from that thought, I focus on what I'm doing.

"Hff…ungh…mrgh…"

"Hah…..!"

I wonder if it'll feel better doing this. Like this here… somehow, something I knew beforehand pops into my head. I take my mouth off Ren's dick, jerking him off with my drool-covered hand instead, and try just sucking another side of the tip.

"…Hrf…"

Rough breaths fall down on my head. Ren's hands, which had been trying to stop me, are now loosely brushing my hair. His dick is even harder and bigger than before, showing that he is definitely feeling it. As I lick his cock, a weird feeling comes over me. I try to control the impatience in my waist, and bob my head up and down with Ren in my mouth.

"Ah, mn…ngh…..!"

"Hah, ah…..!"

When I swallow the liquid pooling in my mouth, it's a little bitter. It seems like it's his precum and it becomes more bitter the more I suck. I tried not to make too much noise at first, embarrassed by the wet sounds, but I'm done with that now. It comes to mind that the more sound it makes, the more Ren is feeling it.

Wow, I'm pretty pent up too…

"Hff, ha...! Nm…!"

Ren's dick is so big now that it's hard to move. The drool is streaming down from my mouth, but I can't wipe it away.

"…..Aoba….!"

Ren takes in rough gasps, slightly pushing on my head. Guess he's about to come… I just continue and pretend not to notice, and he pushes my head away a little harder than before. I stop moving and take my mouth off of him. The saliva drops with a faint plop.

"Aoba, I'm…"

"Gonna come…? It's okay, just do it."

"Not that…"

With a hazy voice, Ren gently pets my head. And then uses his hands to pull me up.

"…?"

When I stand up, Ren softly hold me against the wall.

"-Ren?"

"Aoba…"

Ren slides his hand onto my cheek. With his middle finger on my lips, he shoves his fingers into my mouth.

"Mn…!"

Opening my mouth for him, I lick his fingers.

"Fwah…..!"

I softly suck on his rambunctious fingers, chasing after and tangling them with my tongue.

"…"

He kisses my cheek while playing around with his fingers, lightly pulling down my shorts with his free hand.

"-! …Hah…!"

I realize what he's doing and, panicked, take his fingers out of my mouth. Just as I thought he would, Ren brings his saliva-drenched fingers behind me.

"Ren…"

"Aoba… I'm sorry… I can't hold myself back."

Ren's hands pass through the small gap between me and my shorts. Pushing away my underwear, I can feel his wet fingers touch my ass.

"…Ngh…!"

I think about stopping him, but… it would be hard to talk any sense into him in this situation. I catch my breath, and close my eyes as I feel Ren pushing his fingers into me. He takes my hand and brings it to his mouth.

"Ah…"

"…"

His tongue glides over my index finger as he looks into my eyes in close proximity, burying his fingers into me.

"Ah, hah…!"

His tongue licks up my finger, sucking on its tip and lightly biting on it. After my index finger is my middle finger. And then after that one… with an unbearably impatient movement , his fingers behind me begin to stretch me out. He carefully adds and subtracts fingers to get me accustomed to it, slowly pulling them out. And at the same time, he stops sucking on my fingers.

"…Aoba, doesn't your back hurt?" Ren whispers with consideration.

It does hurt a bit with my back on the wall. Ren grabs my shoulder and moves me around. Ren turns my body around, making me face the wall. He hangs over me, the warmth over my back covering me.

"Aoba…"

He kisses my cheek, my nape, my hair, while pulling my hips towards him.

And… Positions his dick behind me.

"Ah…! Ha…ah…!"

He slowly pushes in. I hold myself up with my hands on the wall, feeling myself open up. Ren touches my clit to try to relieve the pain. The pleasure starts to boil up in me again as I breathe heavily, waiting for Ren to finish making his way in.

"…..!" a sound echoes from Ren's throat and he stops.

It's all the way in. My head is all fuzzy, filled with a sense of impatience… it's impossible to think calmly when my body is raging with sensation all over. Ren doesn't move for some time, but then he softly bites my ear and slowly starts.

"Ha, ah… Ugh… Hk…"

We can't move a lot, so Ren has to rock his hips while we're stuck together. It's not that rogh, and he's thrusting deeply without a word… it feels really dirty. There is still a small, foreign feeling left in the sweet stimulus now because of Ren touching me ealier.

"Ahhh…Hah…Ahhh…"

"…Hff…"

He breathes into my ear. Even if I can't see his face, I can tell that he's feeling the same from his breathing and his heat.

"Nn… Ah….. Ah…!"

He suddenly starts to focus on hitting my sweet spots. And with that, the foreign feeling dissipates, a terrible indulgence taking its place.

"Ah…Ah! …..!?"

When I raise my voice in response… I swear I hear footsteps. All of the heat of the moment flushes out, leaving me pale.

"…"

Ren stops too, tense. The footsteps come closer. Someone's walking down the road here. Waiting stark still, the loud footsteps slowly walk away. …Thank God. Sounds like they left.

"…..Ah…..!"

Relieved and unprepared, my voice leaks out when Ren suddenly moves. The footsteps aren't all the way gone, and there might be other people too.. since we stopped only half-way, my ass still feels eager anyway.

"Aoba…" Ren exhales with a whisper, putting his fingers in my mouth. …And then slowly starts to move.

"-!? …Ngh! ….Hff….!"

Hey,wait a…! I can't say anything with your fingers in my mouth, but… When he hits my sensitive spots so vigorously, sounds escape my throat.

"Hrk…Ungh…!"

"…!" Trying to hold down my voice as much as I can, I end up biting down on Ren's fingers. The taste of blood tingles in my mouth.

Shit, sorry…!

Since there's no sign of other people now, I frantically take Ren's fingers out of my mouth. His fingers are dripping with saliva and, as I guessed, blood.

"Ren, sorry…! But it's because you moved all of a sudden…!"

"I'm sorry." Sounding apologetic, Ren brings his fingers to my mouth again. His fingertips slightly tickle my lips. Does… he want them back in?

"You…. Ngh!"

Ren slides his fingers into my opened mouth. There's a taste of iron. With his fingers in my mouth, he slowly moves his hips.

"Nmm… Guh…!"

This time, he suddenly pushes me to the end of my wits, and I try my hardest not to bite down on his fingers. It's a little suffocating, not being able to scream out. But I'm left only half-finished, so my body is pleading for this. If he were to take his fingers out right now, I'm sure I'd be grasping for my breath. And as I'm being swallowed by the pleasure of his thrusts, the blood is almost tasty to me, in a way. Rocked to a rhythm, I naturally lick and suck on his fingers.

"Ha…! …Ah…"

His reaction changes a little as he quickens his pace. Even I … want him to know how this feels. A thought pops into my head, and I bring my hand up and touch Ren's lips with my fingers. Ren parts his lips, letting my fingers slowly crawl in. my fingertips are wetted with his lukewarm mouth.

"Unf… Fwah…..!"

"…..Hrk…"

While he thrusts into me, the fingers in my mouth start to move like mine, while Ren's tongue rolling over my fingers. He coils his tongue around my fingers, sometimes biting them. I lick his fingers just like him, lightly pushing down on them with my teeth.

"…Ngh…!"

"Mn, gh…! …Hff…!"

It heats up again now that we're sharing the same seduction of having our fingers sucked on. Ren gradually pushes harder and harder, while sliding his hand up and down my dripping wet vagina.

"Ungh…pwah… Ah, Ren…! I…!"

Reaching my limit, I take Ren's fingers out of my mouth and weakly pant.

"Hrf…..Aoba…together!"

Ren pulls my fingers out of his mouth as well, and whispers into my ear. My thoughts completely driven out by pleasure, all I can manage is a nod. Ren violently jerks me off, giving my ass the same treatment.

"…Hk… Ugah….!"

With involuntary loud gasps, I push my lips against my hands on the wall.

"…Mn…. Ngh…..!"

My body being swayed, roughly pushed against the wall, and pushed deeply into…

"Ah, hah…. Ahhhh… Ahhhh…..!"

Desperately trying to hold my voice down, I let myself go. My cum splashes against Ren's hand. With a number of strong thrusts from Ren at the same time, he stops moving balls-deep.

"…Hrk… Unf…..!"

His entire body shivers, and my insides are filled with a warm liquid.

"Haah… Haah… Ah…!"

"…Ah…! Haah…"

I cling to the wall powerlessly, gasping loudly. Ren lets a little of his body weight fall onto my back.

"…Aoba."

"Mn…"

"I'm sorry… Are you okay…?"

"Ah, yeah. I'm okay…"

Ren slowly takes himself off of me. I feel like I had just run an entire marathon, but somehow get myself up with my hands on the wall. I feel a little wobbly, so I hold onto Ren.

"…Thank you."

"…Aoba."

When I fix my posture, Ren holds me tight.

"…?"

When I look up, I find his eyes staring at me, looking sorry while still a little hot and bothered. His eyes close in on me, our lips meeting.

"Mn…"

"…"

As we separate our lips, I look into Ren's face.

"…What?"

"…Nothing." I sort of get it without him answering. He just doesn't want to let go. I know because I'm like that right now too. Even if just for a little longer, I want to feel his warmth.

…But.

I push out my arms and ruffle up Ren's hair.

"Then let's head out. Jeez, being in heat in a place like this."

"…I'm sorry…"

I pretend to be angry, but Ren casts his eyes down, looking extremely apologetic.

"Well, I got carried away too. After this... …Let's do it at home."

"Aoba…"

Ren looks at me with a face full of emotion. Somehow the embarrassment gets to me, and I look away.

"Hurry up and put on your clothes." I angrily ordered.

"Okay." Ren just smiles at my exclamation.

We sloppily fix our clothes, our sense of reality back. I can feel something sliding down my ass. He did come inside of me. I need to get home quick and take a shower…

…Wait.

I was just going to relieve Ren out of his sudden heat, but then went much farther. That's pretty bad, as Ren's sort-of guardian… but I'm weak when it comes to him. Looking at it seriously, I don't want to hear a word about this. And Ren really spoils me a lot, and I just say what I want sometimes… that's one part of it..

My thoughts jumbled up, I look around our surroundings. Even though this is a narrow alleyway, I'm glad no one saw us…

With that, I feel like we really need to get out of here asap.

"Ren, let's hurry up before anyone comes here."

"Yeah."

I hold out my hand and Ren grasps it, a little bewildered. But he suddenly brings my hand to his face frowning.

"…Aoba. There are marks on your fingers."

"Ah. Well. I bit your fingers too."

"I'm sorry, it's my fault."

"It's totally fi…!" Ren suddenly licks my fingers, stopping me in my tracks. That was a surprise attack…! My face heats up.

"Ren…! You don't have to lick them…!"

"…A habit as a dog, sorry." He's usually gloomy about it, but Ren has a grin on his face this time. Did he just do that on purpose? It's surprising to see him so impish, kind of making me happy, unexpectedly. Because he's usually calm and composed, but really starting to show some emotion little by little. It's fun watching him change, and it makes me happy. I look at Ren with a small grin.

"…That was on purpose, wasn't it?"

"I don't think so."

"Liar. That's such a lie!"

"Haha."

I burst out, and he laughs. It's a first time I hear him laugh, so it's fresh for me. I'm really happy that he's slowly moving upward. Secretly savoring my happiness, I bring Ren's hand to me.

"Aoba?"

Ren shows me a puzzled look. Ren's hands are worse than mine from my bites. Ren had given me away some leeway, but I really wasn't able to. Feeling like I did smething terrible, I lick Ren's fingers like he did mine.

"!"

"That's a payback. Now, let's go."

Ren blinks, blushing a bit, suddenly looking embarrassed. My face heats up seeing that, but I pretend to not notice and take his hand.

**

We leave the alley back onto the main street, back to the normal noise. The tension leaves my body, and I let out a deep sigh.

"…Hah. It's been a long day.

"I'm sorry."

"You've been saying that all day. You can stop that now."

As I walk, I lightly tug Ren's hand to hurry him up.

"Come on, let's go home, I want to take a shower soon."

"Soon?"

"Yeah. It's your fault, for your information. "

"Mine?"

I say it with a malicious tone, and almost can see the question mark above Ren's head.

"We did both sweat quite a lot, but-"

"Not that. Anyway, want to go in together? For. A. Bath."

I tease with a smile, and watch Ren's expression. I thought it'd be fun to see him all stiff and flustered.

…But.

"Sure."

"Just like that?" I slump down with his quick answer.

"Is there a reason I should hesitate?"

"That's not what I meant."

Well I guess it's not always often to hear about guy and girl planning to take a bath together. And how I tried to make him flustered... I guess I'm a little sly? I guess you could think of it that way. But even when two people in love ask each other to take a bath?

...Still no?

...Still no.

...I guess I'm just inappropriate. Ren's still like a baby when it comes to being human, so I'm a little dirtier by comparison...

...

...Whatever. No need to get so deep into it.

"Okay, then we'll take a refreshing bath together. C'mon, let's go home."

"Refreshing?"

"Yeah, refreshing!"

When I squeeze Ren's hand and emphasize the "refreshing" part, Ren squeezes my hand back happily. Happy as well, I walk along with his hand in mine. We'll always walk together like this now. While laughing, surprised, worried, or uneasy at times...

Ren and I will walk along happily at the same pace. I know there's a lot more we'll have to face from now on, but that won't stop us. To stop us from having a happy life, maybe having a family on our own. We already decided to keep on together.

The sun sets as we leave Aoyagi Street, and Ren and I walk together down the usual street to our home.