No sharks or unsuspecting birds were harmed in the making of this fanfiction.
Or at least, you can't prove it in court.
Sharks could smell blood in the water for miles, and Mersharks were no different.
Just like a shark, she began swimming towards the scent as swiftly as she could; where the two species differed was that her main and only concern was saving anyone who might be in danger.
Which is why when she broke the surface of the water to find some sort of frantic melee on the galleon's surface and the scent of blood as thick in the air as in the water, her first thoughts weren't questioning just what could be going on, or if it might be a threat to her own safety.
No, her first thought was the thrashing figure that fell bleeding over the rails and plunged into the water.
The human panicked and flailed, naturally, but every human seemed to do that when they fell into the ocean, and so she just as naturally picked up speed to save him before he drowned.
"It's alright, you're safe now!" She called out as she hooked his arms from behind, her speech not hindered in the least from being thirty feet below surface. "Easy now, you're okay."
She was trying to be as calm and reassuring as she could, but she had grabbed the man from behind because she was well aware that her appearance could be a little… startling if she showed up out of nowhere.
She was also strong though, a lot stronger than the human so his flailing wasn't really something to worry about.
At least, not until he twisted in a way she didn't think should be possible (what was that dull crack she heard?) and sunk his teeth into her bicep.
She gave a startled shout as quite suddenly her blood found its way into the water, but she was too tough to be easily dissuaded, and didn't drop the man she was trying to keep from drowning.
After all, letting him go would make it harder to tear him in two, and she was hungry, so hungry, so she didn't have any time to waste.
… And that was how a growing infection reached the world's oceans.
The start to Rei's morning was infinitely better than it would have sounded if described.
She went from eyes cracking open and mouth yawning, to breath caught in her throat and eyes stinging with tears within the course of less than five seconds.
The reason for her tears was the sensation of arms wrapped maybe a little too tightly around her midsection, of the warm body pressing her head to its ample chest as she laid on her side in the tent.
Arms that tightened a little at her quiet sniffle, and then one fumbled its way higher up her body to pat her awkwardly on the head.
Rei stiffened against the sleeping form as it sleepily grumbled at her that it was early, she should go back to sleep, with at least a few of the syllables involved in the phrase 'shut up' somewhere in there.
The next sniffle gave way to a muffled, happy giggle, and soon to quiet snores as Rei nestled more deeply into the snuggly embrace and obeyed.
Feeling the body in her arms fall comfortably still, Saya gave a sleepy smile and followed suit.
He was happy for Rei.
It had been two days since she'd begun traveling with them, and the difference was already impossible to miss.
The dark circles under her eyes were gone, for one.
He and Saya had avoided commenting on those, but they'd definitely been happy to see them go.
Rei had been barely taking care of herself; just enough to keep herself functional, and so without even knowing it, she'd been burning through her mana.
Probably on a daily basis, Saya had miserably guessed.
The mana of a Hero was primarily geared towards one thing; combat. Oh sure, there were those here and there who weren't really suited for it, legends like Sasha Fullmoon who were more healers than anything else, but even the most passive Hero was naturally kept in peak condition by their own mana.
Kohta had stopped wishing that his 'peak condition' involved abs when he found out how Saya really felt about him.
That meant that for Rei to look, well, almost 'hollow' that her mana had been working overtime to keep her in fighting condition.
… And slowly failing.
Just like how the body of Succubi, even one of the war-like types like the Amazon and Kunoichi, were believed to prioritize seductiveness to the expense of all else, Rei's body had been slowly neglecting anything that didn't help her fight.
But that was the thing with mana, especially that of a Hero.
It was influenced by emotion.
Rei had passed out shortly after she agreed to journey with them, and had slept for what Saya told him was precisely twenty two hours.
She'd woken up with a smile on her lips, and in the three days that had followed, that gorgeous, vibrant enthusiasm that had made Rei the mood-maker of their little group had fallen firmly back into place.
Saya hadn't judged him in the least when he'd later admitted to having his heart skip several beats at first sight, since she'd been the same.
Also, because Saya wasn't the sort to get jealous about him admiring other girls, at least, not anymore, since she was now fully aware that to him she was, and had always been the most beautiful woman in all the world.
… She'd still scolded Rei like a naughty child for making her worry, but some things just couldn't be helped.
What do you call a dream that doesn't end when you awake?
Saeko had settled on calling it 'happiness'.
She was aware that part of her was still very much broken.
That there was a possibility that there might be something about her that couldn't be fixed, because the pieces needed to put her back together were never there in the first place.
Maybe having the chance to heal was all she could expect.
But she had been given that chance, and she didn't intend to waste it.
Because even if it was only the starting line that she had found, she had found something that she had already given up on finding.
And she couldn't have done it without him.
Saeko had found her starting line, the path that led towards healing and becoming whole.
Now, it was time to find his.
Normally, Saeko kept her cards close to her chest, and it made her hard to read, even though she hardly ever covered her face with her mask or scarf anymore unless she was embarrassed.
The usual expression she directed towards him, when she thought he wasn't watching, was a slight smile that managed to convey a depth of tender affection that made him incredibly self-conscious in the best kind of way.
But he always knew when her thoughts shifted towards whatever it was that was bothering her.
That tender smile would shift into a tiny, contemplative frown, one equal parts concern and confusion.
… Wait, if it was that obvious to him, didn't that actually mean Saeko was sorta bad at keeping her cards close to her chest, even though there was plenty of chest to keep those cards against?
Okay, so now he was mostly thinking about Saeko's boobs, but Takashi didn't feel like he could be blamed since they were walking arm in arm, which somehow always seemed to wind up with his arm disappearing between Saeko's breasts.
Well, he supposed he could just ask her about it, but then she'd probably just redirect him with something sexy.
The sexiness almost always worked, truly she possessed the cunning of a true ninja.
… Wait, didn't 'lack of subtlety' and 'cunning' kind of contradict each other?
Oh well.
Saeko might be thinking awfully hard about something, but she still seemed happy.
If she was happy, he was happy.
Couldn't that be enough?
Deep breaths Rei, deep breaths.
Just put one foot forward, one foot forward.
Saya's glaring at you, use it as motivation because you don't want her to scold you, and-
With a deep breath, Rei took one step forward, and off the boat.
To an outside observer, it would have meant very little, but to Rei, it was a monumental moment.
She had taken her first step onto Zipangu's soil in almost fifteen years.
Her first step onto her homeland's southeastern shore, the same port she'd left from all those years ago, when she'd moved to Order lands with her parents, and…
Her first step towards doing what she should have done from the moment he'd vanished; her first step towards finding Takashi.
She was scared, she would admit.
Fighting monsters was a lot easier than trying to make up for the pain she'd caused to the man who had always been there for her.
… If he'd even let her.
It had been almost two years since they'd parted ways.
Plenty of time for him to move on.
She hoped he'd moved on.
She hoped he hadn't forgotten her.
… Maybe she didn't know what she wanted.
She'd thought long and hard about what she'd say, what she'd do when she found Takashi.
And Rei had decided that if he was happy, she would walk away without ever letting him see her face.
She owed him that much.
After all, where had she been when he needed her the most?
With Hisashi, who, coincidentally, she had failed just as spectacularly, even though on his deathbed, he'd admitted that he'd known all along that he wasn't really the man she was looking at.
… Maybe she should just turn around.
This was stupid.
What was she even doing?
Takashi didn't need help from a woman who hurt every man who ever gave her the time of day.
She-
"Deep breaths, Rei." Saya whispered, slipping her arms around her waist. "You're hyperventilating."
A large hand fell gently on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze as Kohta stepped up beside her too.
"It's not gonna be easy, but we owe it to ourselves and him to try." Kohta said.
… Of course they were worried too.
She was being selfish again, thinking of no one but herself and pretending otherwise.
She hadn't considered avoiding Takashi for his sake… she was just afraid to face him.
But so were Kohta and Saya.
"We sure do." She forced an enthusiasm into her voice that she couldn't quite feel. "But we also can't find him if we pass out from hunger along the way. Also, we're home, and I'm pretty sure I can see the marketplace from here. Which means…"
"... Which means?" Saya.
"... Which means?" Kohta.
Rei spun out of their grasp with a grin and caught them by the hands, tugging Saya and Kohta along.
"When was the last time you had real seafood!?"
Saya and Kohta turned to each other, blinking slowly.
Smiles bloomed across their faces in perfect sync, and soon, the trio was grinning at each other like naughty children as Rei put her hand forward.
Saya's hand went on top of hers, and Kohta's hand went on top of Saya's.
They flung their hands up into the air, jumping as they did so.
"We're…. Home!"
… They got more than a few funny looks and knowing chuckles from the many, many people hustling and bustling around them, but that just made the trio giggle.
For now, they were together, and they had finally returned home.
Couldn't that be enough?
Zipangu was a lot more accepting of mamono in general, what were they called around here again…
Yokai, right? That's what Blossom had told her.
The only problem was that the Order lands weren't nearly so accepting, hard to blame them after Lescaitie had fallen, really, and so getting between the two continents was tricky unless you could fly, or swim across the ocean.
Rika couldn't fly, and couldn't really use magic, but she could pump her limbs full of enough mana to let her go paw to paw with an Ogre in short bursts.
If she had wanted to, she could have filled up on mana with a nice boy or eight, and easily made the three day swim to Zipangu.
She didn't though, because three days of salt water was murder on her fur, and Blossom would spend an equal amount of days scolding her when she found out( it was a 'when' not an 'if', Blossom always knew) because apparently that was reckless behavior.
But, she had been able to hitch a ride with Nereid pirates in exchange for serving as extra muscle, both in the event of a fight and in the day to day running of the ship.
Rika hadn't decided whether or not the orgy could be considered part of the arrangement, since that had happened without any negotiations involved.
Though, she'd lucked out when an unusually curious Tritonia that had been drifting along the current had come aboard. Now, according to her copy of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, she just needed to bang an Otohime and then Rika could check off the last species of aquatic mamono.
Deck top sexcapades aside, she'd wound up landing ashore on Zipangu's northeastern corner, and now she was heading south, towards where her senses told her Blossom would be.
It made a lot of sense, according to the map she'd borrowed, that Blossom was probably somewhere in central Zipangu.
Almost two thirds of the island's center was deep, old forest and mountains, the sort of wilderness with enough history to draw Blossom like a beacon.
… She just hoped the infection hadn't made it to the oceans. Rika had feigned sickness to have herself tested by a friendly Hakutaku for any abnormalities, and she was clean and healthy, but, if someone for whom that wasn't true made it out onto the waters…
All it had to do was infect a seagoing mamono, and from there, any continent in the world was at risk.
Even this one.
"I hope you're okay, Blossom." She whispered. "Please, please be okay."
"This is not okay!" She screamed. "I am not okay at all!"
"Rei, you have wings made out of literal Celestial Flame you silly girl!" Saya yelled back, using fire of her own to keep her own attacker at bay. "Use them!"
"... Oh yeah." Slowly, Rei twisted her head to look at the Tentacle that was currently trying to tentacle her.
Rei's warning and what would have been an extremely rushed three count came out as more of a 'kyaa!' as a tentacle successfully wormed its way into the deep V of her blouse, and dangerously close to her nipple, so instead she grit her teeth and immediately summoned Suzaku.
'Suzaku' was known as 'Wings of the Valkyrie' by the Order, but she preferred her homeland's name for it.
With a roar of flame echoed by the distant cry of some great bird, huge vermillion wings composed of pure light erupted from Rei's back, and the Tentacle hastily released her with a panicked cry as golden flame filled the space between them, flicking off Suzaku's feathers.
Rei staggered away from the Tentacle, one hand clutching her tingling breast as she whirled, sweeping the gleaming limbs in a way normal wings couldn't emulate.
This set out another sheet of golden flame at the shrieking, flailing Tentacle, but, angry and flustered though Rei was, the Celestial Flame still answered her intent and seared through mana, rather than the admittedly flammable skin of the plant-based Yokai.
Being a plant-type Yokai, the Tentacle swooned, but was hoisted upright by her quivering tendrils as she attempted to beat a hasty retreat from her natural weakness.
Recognizing the Tentacle's panicked escape as one not likely to end soon, Rei turned back to the bulk of the fight, the one she'd been dragged away from when the Tentacle had snared her.
Certain types of mamono sometimes went 'feral' meaning they'd aggressively attack and attempt to have sex with anyone who took their fancy, male or female.
Sometimes it meant they hadn't been able to feed properly, or sometimes it just meant they were Beast-types in heat.
It was uncommon for a party with a Yokai like Saya in it to get attacked, but the Nekomata pack that had bounced on them didn't seem to care, even though it wasn't going well for the horny kitties.
Kohtat had a half-circle of insensate Nekomata around him, slender forms still sparking with Gjallarhorn's emerald lightning. Clothing a bit torn, but in fine shape otherwise, a grin on his face as he drove the pack-leader, an unusually tall and black haired Nekomata, away.
Saya swept her staff, and a howling gust of wind sent the other odd Yokai out, the Oomukade that had been trying to sting her, end over end across the clearing in a skittering tangle of her long body.
The Oomukade was another Zipangu native, built similar to a Lamia, but an insect rather than a serpent, from the waist down she had the body of an enormous centipede, with venomous pincers at the other end of her body reminiscent of a centipede's jaws.
The Oomukade unwound herself from the heap she'd collapsed in with a stormy scowl, but cringed from the light as she found Rei suddenly in between her and her target, wings flared and a gleaming spear of pure white at the ready.
Looking closer at the weapon, the spear was made of one solid piece of snowy white petrified wood, though no less durable or sharp for it; just like any sacred weapon should be.
In an ancient tongue it was referred to as Dealga Ban; White Thorn. In more modern times it's full title was 'The White Thorn of Exorcism', a Blessing in the form of a Legacy Armament that emerged as a very part of the wielder's soul.
Rei had been five when she manifested her first Blessing, and had promptly dubbed it Shiro because that sounded cuter.
Thus, the White Thorn of Exorcism became known as 'Shiro', which was White in the language of Zipangu.
The White Thorn responding to the name of Shiro meant Rei's affinity with the weapon was high, much to the consternation of the clergy at a Legacy Armament being renamed by a little girl.
… Saya still laughed every time the story was told.
The Oomukade wasn't laughing, however, when Shiro's pale wooden head sank between her snapping pincers, and her ominous purple mana leaked into the air like a siv.
She did smirk when she tore the spear from the Hero's hands and flung it away behind her, not able to recognize that the beautiful warrior had put up a token resistance at best.
Now unarmed, Rei stood smiling with one hand outstretched, and the other on the curve of her hip.
The Oomukade didn't get the chance to process the action as something smashed into the back of her head, leaving the unconscious insect crumpling to the ground with a clatter of her many limbs.
Rei smirked as Shiro twirled back into her outstretched hand, having bounced off the back of the Yokai's head in an attempt to return to its owner's grasp.
Turning back she found the fight already over, and Saya diligently fussing over Kohta to see if any of the rips in his sleeves meant anything serious.
Kohta's patient smile suggested they didn't, and so Rei relaxed with a relieved sigh and let Shiro vanish.
While nearly being tentacled had put a bit of a damper on things, it felt really, really good not to fight all alone.
… Well, the tentacles had felt good too, actually, but it wasn't her fault that she was pent-up; despite how understanding and considerate Saya and Kohta were being, she was still a third wheel, and it had been a long time for her.
Being with Hisashi had made her feel guilty enough, she hadn't so much as flirted with another man since then.
Takashi had been her first, but…
She doubted he'd look at her that way, ever again.
At some point, two pairs of arms had wrapped themselves around her.
But even if it wasn't the kind of love she'd just been thinking of, Rei wouldn't trade this feeling for anything.
She should have known better.
Should have known how everything could go from perfect to disastrous in a single moment.
The rope bridge was old, but seemed sturdy enough, and it wasn't as if they could just go around a chasm they couldn't see either end of.
They'd both underestimated how quickly the weather could shift, in the mountains.
From clear skies to howling winds that tasted like a storm in moments, her and Takashi found themselves exposed and clinging on for dear life as the bridge bucked and groaned in the wind, like the bones of some huge snake.
She'd wrapped her tail around Takashi's waist like a lifeline, and they slowly began to press forward, too far across to turn around.
And then salvation came in the worst possible form.
Saeko froze as she heard a worried call over the wind, and the beating of heavy wings.
She screamed in desperation at the winged shape to fly away while she still could, and the Crow Tengu who had attempted to fly to their aid floundered in the wind, confusion and alarm written across her face as she flapped hard to remain hovering in place.
Saeko saw that flash of vacant eyes and the fearful snarl on Takashi's lips as he stepped between the two of them, heedless of the danger, and felt rather than heard something snap and give way beneath their feet.
She heard the startled shout from the bewildered Tengu as the winds denied her attempts to dive after them, even as the strange hostility brought pause to her flight, and then her and Takashi were falling, and she was holding him tight and twisting in a desperate, attempt to break his fall with her own body.
And then nothing.
"Damn the nets heavy, what in the spirit's name did we pull up!?" The man grunted as he and the crew hauled their fishing net aboard.
They hadn't expected much luck, this close to shore, but the fish had been unusually keen to stick close to the shallows.
"Yokai!" Someone called out, weary, but not particularly alarmed.
Tangled in the net was a struggling Mershark, a big girl by the looks of things, but too tangled out to make out any details just yet.
"Steady miss, we'll get you out of there, just behave yourself, alright?"
The Mershark went still in what they all hoped was acceptance; most of them were married anyways so there wasn't too much risk, and they all knew enough to know that Mersharks were a lot friendlier than they looked.
Pulling the woman up onto the deck, they began untangling her, keeping a bit of distance from jaws and tail, no harm in a little caution.
The Mershark was almost free of the net when they realized that something wasn't right, realized there were open, festering wounds being completely ignored by the one wearing them.
Then she was moving with shocking speed for a girl without legs, and something filled the air as she pounced on the nearest fisherman and bore him to the deck.
No one quite understood that the 'something' that had sprayed high in the air was blood until the woman lifted her gory face from the ruins of the soon-to-be dead man's neck.
A startled shout cut short soon revealed she wasn't the only wrong thing that had found its way up on deck, and by then it was too late.
Perhaps, if they'd anchored farther from shore, the growing infection would not have spread to Zipangu's shores shortly after.
But anyone with the necessary knowledge would have called that wishful thinking.
Saeko awoke with a cough and groan, and the not entirely unfamiliar feeling of everything hurting.
Something was poking her in the stomach, which wasn't an entirely new sensation waking up beside (on top of) Takashi, but…
Falling, falling-
With a sharp gasp, Saeko willed her body to rise in a panic, twisting desperately in an attempt to find-
Her eyes were unbothered by the darkness, and so the first thing she saw was a sharp, dull white.
The thing that had been poking her in the stomach, and Saeko didn't really understand what she was looking at until the hand clutching her side came away wet.
Not, not poking her, but puncturing her, the thing that came from Takashi's-
"Takashi!?" Terror flashed through her as she took in the still, broken thing beneath her.
Takashi's mangled body, so mangled that the thing that had punctured her side was one of his rib bones.
"Takashi!? Takashi!?" She screamed desperately, barely restraining the urge to throw herself atop him. "No no no no no Takashi answer me please!"
Her only answer was the bubbling of frothy pink from Takashi's still lips.
He can't be he can't be no nonononononono-
But Takashi didn't move, didn't breathe.
A heartrending wail filled the air as for the first time, Takashi's response to her voice was nothing at all.
Takashi was- he couldn't be-!
Snap.
Snap.
Saeko went completely still as wet tearing and popping filled the air.
That gory white vanished as bones slid back into Takashi's twitching body with a macabre sort of grace.
Saeko watched in numb disbelief, not daring to move a muscle as Takashi's mangled body snapped and twisted itself back into a proper shape.
Too afraid to even blink, as if looking away for a single second would prove it all a lie.
Takashi rose tattered and bloody from the ground, eyes burning that molten orange from the caverns once more.
Clothing tattered, chest heaving and teeth bared.
But alive.
Takashi was alive, and that was all that-
Saeko's explosive sigh of relief turned into a strangled gasp of pain as minor things like her own wounds belatedly returned to the forefront, and a fine crimson mist decorated her palm as she attempted to muffle her wet cough.
Saeko flinched as quite suddenly, Takashi's vacant gaze was inches from her own.
"... Takashi?" Quite suddenly, she was on her back, a strong hand between the back of her head and the ground, and those burning orbs searing into her eyes from above, accompanied by a beast-like grin.
Takashi pinned her to the cold stone, and Saeko's surprised exclamation was muffled by his lips crashing against hers.
'This is… just like our first night together.'
Her pinned beneath Takashi's body, Takashi fully in the grasp of Berserker, but…
No fear, only ecstasy.
A sudden chill as Takashi ripped the clothing from her body, only to be replaced by warmth as hands began roughly roaming her shivering skin, as if trying to imprint their shape on every inch of her.
Saeko gasped as her breast was squeezed, hard, but she was Yokai; rough play of that level just turned her on even more.
But he was oh so gentle when he sat back between her legs and pulled her upright and into his lap.
She didn't understand what he was doing when he tore off his shirt and jacket, but it felt exquisite when he pulled her against himself, naked skin on naked skin.
To anyone else it might have looked rather grisly; two bloody bodies molded against one another.
To Saeko it was blissful proof of their bond; that their time together was something real and intimate.
After all, they had bled for one another before.
She didn't precisely understand what he wanted when he instead pressed her lips to the side of his neck, though.
She kissed and licked a bit because Takashi was against her lips, obviously, but that seemed to irritate as much as it aroused him.
Takashi pulled her away as she looked at him in confusion, wincing a little as her side throbbed, turning her head just quickly enough not to cough blood on him.
Berserker wasn't exactly eloquent, but she understood it clearly enough when he lifted a small knife- hers- to the side of his neck.
She gently closed her hand around it, shaking her head.
Takashi scowled at her, but let her lower the blade as she lowered her open mouth to the side of his neck.
As gently as she could for something of that nature, Saeko bit down, her whole body shivering blissfully as the blood entered her mouth.
Takashi hugged her gently as she began to drink his blood, and idly, Saeko began to wonder if maybe she had a Vampire somewhere in her family tree.
But she could feel the bones shifting and the tears in her skin closing, and, with an almost uncanny precision, it was when the pain had faded entirely that Berserker struck yet again.
She had broken the kiss and licked her lips, about to tell Takashi she was fine, when he gripped her by the hips and lifted her partially into the air.
A shrill scream of ecstasy tore from her lips as he brought her back down hard; filling her unsurprisingly wet womanhood with his erection in one rough thrust.
She threw her arms around his shoulders as Takashi lifted her again and brought her back down; and Saeko gasped and cried out shamelessly as Takashi pumped his shaft in and out of her using only his arm strength to move her body up and down.
Saeko pulled Takashi into a deep, aggressive kiss, her body shivering and her walls clenching as he nipped at her lower lip.
She came first and came hard, but Takashi didn't let up in the least; he lifted her long legs up above her head, leaving her almost folded up in his arms and his dick still inside her.
Saeko gave a surprised exhale as Takashi shifted and rose into the air, it turned into a low moan as he began thrusting into her.
"S-so rough!" She managed to gasp out, and Takashi stopped thrusting.
Blinking bleary eyes, Saeko found him smirking at her, eyes clear and hazel as he stared at her.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"Don't you dare."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Saeko idly noted that he was probably trying to distract her from the terrifying experience; the rest of her mind screamed at her that if he wanted to try and fuck the trauma out of her, she should stop being an idiot and let him.
Then Takashi picked up the pace, and coherent thoughts were put on hold until further notice.
He let her reciprocate, eventually, and both their voices echoed through the chasm as she bounced atop him, but eventually, the desperate sex had to come to an end, and they lay sweaty, naked and entangled on the battered bedroll that neither of them knew who had taken out.
Pressing her head against Takashi's chest, Saeko just laid there for a while, reassuring herself of Takashi's heartbeat.
Loathe though she was to ruin the moment, she decided it was time.
They had been lucky, very lucky, and while she'd cheerfully die before blaming Takashi out loud, it was true that his trauma had put them both in danger.
"Berserker is more tenacious than I thought." Saeko whispered, her breath still a little ragged.
"Yeah." The arm around her gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"... But let's not test it again, if we can help it." She hated the faint trace of pleading that leaked into her voice.
"Sure."
Too easy.
He wasn't taking this as seriously as she was, was he?
… Unless?
"Takashi…" She began slowly. "Did you know you'd survive?"
He was silent for a long while, but the way he tensed was an answer loud enough to seem like screaming to her.
"... It scared me when you tried to get beneath me like that." He settled on eventually. "I knew I could handle the fall, but I definitely didn't know if you could."
"Even if you're tougher than I am, that doesn't mean I'm willing to let you get hurt."
"... Sorry. Didn't mean it that way." Takashi replied softly. "It was terrifying, having someone willing to get hurt for my sake like that. But it felt kind of good, too."
"I understand."
They were silent for a while, and he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when he thought the conversation would end there, but-
"But Takashi, why did you know you could survive?"
The breath caught in his throat and refused to move.
"Does it have something to do with that day?"
How did she know?
"Takashi, please." Saeko said, pushing herself up off his chest so she could meet his widened eyes properly. "I know it was almost too late for me to learn this lesson, but now that I have, I can see the way the past is weighing down your every step."
She took a deep breath.
"And there are some wounds that I don't think even Berserker can heal."
Takashi shivered, and his eyes took on that dim, vacant look as his Blessing responded, his breath coming in in harsh, slow gasps.
"I think that's the first time I've seen Berserker activate out of fear." Saeko whispered, and Takashi's eyes snapped back into focus with a pained grimace.
"I think you were a little preoccupied, the last time it happened."
Saeko cringed as she realized what he was talking about, and, for a moment, she could almost feel the coils around her waist once more.
"... You're probably wondering why wing beats set me off, right?" Takashi began eventually.
"I can kind of guess there was a Yokai of some kind involved."
"Griffin." Takashi muttered. "Wasn't even her fault, really. Just the wrong place, wrong time for everyone involved."
A long, reluctant sigh.
"We Heroes investigate a lot of ruins, you know? They can be dangerous, not just for us but for anyone else, and it's considered a priority to recover anything of importance for us, or to lock away or destroy anything of importance to mamono." Takashi explained.
"It was just after we'd graduated from the academy. Typically we work in pairs, but they try to work those pairs into a group of four, when they can. Takuzo, with Naomi, together with Niki and Ichijou, for example. They were tasked with investigating the rumor of a small temple, high in the southern mountains." Takashi continued.
"Naomi got jumped by a stray Alraune in the forest a few days before, so she was undergoing purification. The mission wasn't expected to be a big one, and since I was alone at the time, they asked me to fill in for her."
It had been more sympathy for him than help for them, to be honest. He and Rei had… parted, and Kohta had tagged along with Saya when she'd been called home for something or another.
"Well, we found it. One of those really old temples, looked more Grecian than anything else, according to Ichijou." Takashi recounted. "Thing is, we didn't find it first."
"... The Griffin was guarding the ruins, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, no sign of her until she was practically on top of us, and she caught us inside, rather than out." Takashi nodded. "High ceilings, one of those open air sort of temples with the pillars and stuff."
Saeko tried to imagine it. Griffins were ferocious guardians of ancient ruins and temples, and if she'd caught intruders, it would have been a vicious fight, if a nonlethal one.
So then, what went wrong-?
"... They collapsed, didn't they?"
"Yep." Takashi agreed. "Don't know what did it, but things got out of control, fast. Ichijou went down and that sent Niki into a panic, Takuzo was more used to relying on Naomi than he thought and we couldn't coordinate, I went through one half-broken pillar when things got really nasty, and then I put the Griffin through another undamaged one without meaning to."
Takashi laughed, and Saeko was struck by the unpleasant novelty of hating that sound for perhaps the first time.
It was so… tired, defeated.
She hated anything that could make Takashi feel or sound that way.
"It was like we pissed off the whole mountain by fighting on sacred ground. The mountain roared, the Griffin screeched, and someone, maybe several someones, started screaming." Takashi told her.
"Next thing I know, I'm lying on my back, surrounded by rubble and corpses." Takashi said frankly. "Everyone, even the Griffin, lying all around me, limbs twisted and snapped like what happens when a child decides to break all his toys. I'm drenched in blood and feathers, but I can't remember a damn thing otherwise, still can't."
"... Then why are you so certain that it's your fault?" She didn't actually want to hear the answer, but it was necessary to know, wasn't it?
"Because even if I didn't lose control and kill anyone on purpose or even directly, what does it matter?" Takashi asked. "Maybe the Griffin could have brought the ruins down on everyone's heads by herself, but would she have?"
A Griffin willfully destroying the territory or treasure she'd taken it upon herself to protect?
That was like a Dragon discarding her hoard.
It just didn't happen.
… In the end, there was nothing Saeko could say back to him.
"Yeah." Takashi sighed. "Odds are just fantastic that if I hadn't been there, no one at all would have died. After that, I ran. Just ran, too afraid to face those living or dead. I don't even know how long it took them, or took Naomi to find out what I'd done. The reason I ended up in Zipangu was just fear, the fear that when I opened my eyes, the living would be there to see what I'd become."
Saeko tried several times to say something, anything.
She had just wanted to help him.
… Just like he'd done for her, but how naive was that?
The only thing she'd ever been good at was causing pain.
What kind of fresh insanity suggested she had any business attempting the opposite?
No, it was true she wanted to help Takashi, but she also wanted to know more about him.
… Tearing open old wounds out of curiosity, then?
… That sounded more like her.
"I don't believe you."
Huh?
Who had… had she said that?
"... What do you mean, Saeko?"
'It was me! What are you saying, you stupid girl!? Shut up, just shut up, don't-'
"There's quite a few things you say that I don't believe, actually." Saeko replied, speaking without understanding what it was she was trying to say, as if discovering her own opinion by speaking it.
"I don't believe that casual tone of yours, as if what happened is something you've accepted." She began to list in a matter-of-fact tone, staring down at Takashi. "I don't believe you when you say you don't feel any pain, because I know full well that pain is more than just physical. I also don't believe that you'd do anything to put the people you care for in danger, no matter how tightly Berserker grips you."
"..."
Something in the way his gaze had shifted told her the last observation was the most important.
"Don't you understand, Takashi?" She asked gently. "I've never once felt threatened by your Blessing. Oh sure, you've startled me, and the idea of you being angry certainly was unpleasant, but an actual, physical sense of danger? Not even once. Not even when my Charm backfired and you had your hand around my throat, not even when you were ploughing me into the ground hard enough to break cobblestone with my body."
Speaking of choking, it seemed to Saeko that he'd forgotten how to breathe.
Like any good predator, Saeko took the weakness as opportunity and mercilessly cornered her prey.
"I'm not afraid of you, or your Blessing Takashi." She whispered insistently. "And if it can lessen your fear of yourself, even a little, I'll prove it by putting myself in between you and anything you're afraid of hurting."
Takashi's horrified look brought with it a flash of warmth because it told her she was important to him, and made her giggle because he seemed to think that it was a bad idea.
"Because I know I have nothing to fear from you." Saeko smiled. "And because I think you're far, far more gentle than you realize. After all, the greatest anger I've seen from you has never been for your own sake, has it?"
"... You wouldn't have fallen from the bridge if it weren't for me." Takashi tried, and she could tell that the argument seemed just as weak to him as it did to her.
"I also wouldn't have lived long enough to set foot on that bridge, if it wasn't for you." Saeko countered immediately.
And then she rose into a sitting position, straddling him as she spread her arms wide, casually displaying her naked body to the man she loved.
"No, not even that, Takashi." Saeko decided, her lips a thin line. "I would never have started living in the first place if you hadn't reached out your hand to me, that day."
Blue eyes glittering with warmth, Saeko gently took Takashi's hand with both her own, and guided it onto her chest, shivering with delight as his hand pressed against her bare skin, and coincidentally making it easier for him to feel what she wanted him to feel- her heartbeat.
"I told you, didn't I? My heart beats for you and you alone. Maybe it's true that the accident would not have happened if you weren't there." Saeko admitted. "But there's no way to know, and so I'll just stick to what I'm certain of."
Takashi just stared up at her.
"Until you can forgive yourself, until you can love yourself once more, I'll just love you enough for both of us."
Then Saeko giggled once more, a giddy, somewhat embarrassed smile on her lips.
"Well, I say 'until', but it's not like I'm ever going to stop." She said as she leaned back in, her smile widening as her draping herself across Takashi made her tits squish and contort against his much more solid chest. "After all, you said you would never let me go."
A pink tongue ran itself glossy lips.
"So it should come as no surprise that I'm never letting you go, either."
It wasn't as if she'd fixed him.
… It wasn't as if Takashi was a problem to be 'fixed', either.
He just had wounds that hadn't the courtesy to start healing, just yet.
… And so all she'd done was make it clear that she'd never allow such a sorry state to continue.
Saeko didn't really think she'd done all that much, though, if she was being honest.
… But this time, when she woke up just past midnight, it was habit, rather than necessity.
For the first time since they'd begun their journey together, there were no nightmares for her to banish, and Takashi's sleep remained peaceful and undisturbed.
And so Saeko laid her head back upon his chest, and drifted back off to sleep with a smile on her lips.
Takashi's eyes snapped open as the feeling of warmth that greeted his waking moments left him suddenly, accompanied by a throaty, startled scream.
Saeko was sitting up, partially straddling him and gasping raggedly, cheeks flushed and eyes wild.
Takashi's alarm gave way to confusion; he knew what those shudders meant, and it wasn't that strange for Saeko to get started without him.
Just, she usually involved him, and didn't look so bewildered when she had a squirting orgasm like that.
"... Errr… you okay?" He asked hesitantly, not really knowing what else to ask.
The wind picked up again, and Saeko shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the chill, looking more confused than ever as her knees clamped involuntarily around his leg.
"I-I… I don't… I…" Saeko tried to speak.
The wind picked up again, and Saeko gave a girlish little scream and folded in on herself.
"S-s-so sensitive! W-what's going on!?" The poor girl grit out.
Takashi slid out from under her, immediately wrapping the bedroll around her as he glanced around with sharp eyes, and began inching his hand towards Titan.
'Unusually sensitive' usually meant 'Yokai magic', Saya had once told him that the claim that Yokai had a hundred ways to force arousal was in no way an exaggeration.
Saeko seemed to have the same thought, eyes casting wildly around to find…
Nothing.
They were still just as alone, no sign of even the poor Tengu they'd frightened off the day before.
Saeko was huddled rigid with the bedding wrapped around her, trying not to move overly much.
"I-I don't understand what's going on- I'm just so- it's like I woke up as one big erogenous zone!" Saeko cried out plaintively.
"S-so you're just uh… really, really sensitive?" Takashi scratched his head, just as baffled as she was. "Did we uh… overdo it maybe?"
There had been a lot of sex yesterday, but Saeko wasn't just a Yokai, she was a Succubus, there wasn't supposed to be such a thing as too much sex!
"I'm a Succubus! A painful orgasm should literally be imposs-" Saeko grit her teeth with a moan as the agitated swish of her tail made the blanket rub against her lower back. "I kn-know I'm strange for a Yokai but this is too much!"
"Strange for a…" Takashi blinked. "Wait, maybe you're not the strange one."
"W-what do you-!?" Saeko stopped. "Oh. Ohhhh…"
It wasn't as if Saeko looked unhealthy, what pale skin was visible past the cotton cocoon was vibrant, overflowing with vitality, her blue eyes gleaming with mana and her dark unbound hair glossy, almost as if it had been polished strand-by-strand.
Even the flush of her cheeks and the shiver of her body was more erotic than anything else, Saeko was practically oozing in sex appeal without even trying.
A Yokai became stronger, healthier and sexier the more sex they had.
That was simply how they were built, there was no such thing as too much sex, but sex involved mana, so maybe…?
"Mana… overflow? Overload?" Takashi tried to remember.
"I think it… it was the blood." Saeko ventured quietly, slowly. "You used your blood to heal me, right? It's kind of hard to say, but I don't think I took in less blood than… than the other time." She suggested hesitantly. "But my wounds this time weren't life-threatening; it would have taken me quite some time to recover, but recovering on my own was possible."
"And Berserker makes my blood a lot more effective than… other methods, for passing along mana." Takashi admitted.
"... It's true, I don't feel like I can control my strength very well; I can't even control how tightly I'm holding the covers. So I might just be… overstimulated." Saeko suggested, speaking slowly.
Which both led them to the same question.
"So… what do we do?"
"I don't know… I don't even think I can handle getting dressed like this if a stiff breeze is too much stimulation." Saeko admitted. "I should return to normal as I burn through the excess mana, but I don't think I'll be able to handle working it off so it may take a while."
"Alright, so we wrap you up as much as we can to keep you covered, and I'll carry you somewhere less… exposed so we can wait this out." Takashi planned. "The food in my pack is totalled, but yours is fine-ish so we should be good for a few days."
Saeko wanted to tell Takashi that carrying her wasn't necessary (not that she wouldn't enjoy it), but she also recognized how unsteady on her feet she was, not to mention once again, feeling like her entire body was an erogenous zone.
The uncomfortable mental image of her orgasming from a stubbed toe and Takashi giving her a funny look put any objections to rest.
Also, she really liked being carried in Takashi's arms, and it wasn't like it was a strenuous activity for her exceptionally strong lover- what was she planning to object about again?
Takashi had been carrying Saeko for almost half an hour before something changed, and it became quite obvious that something, or rather someone, was steering them in a particular direction.
They'd made their way from the deep ravine, and into a lush green forest, the growth high and untainted by the touch of civilization.
So untouched to the point that there was no trail to follow, not even the tiniest game trail worn into the grass.
It was just that despite there being no trail, there most certainly was a pathway.
… If Takashi had to describe it, it was almost as if the trees and the brush had grown in such a way as to create a gently winding corridor, softly enclosed by the forest canopy.
And flowers.
It had been a long time since Takashi had seen so many flowers in one place, and certainly not growing wild like this.
Saeko had noticed it too, but it wasn't as if she could really prepare herself for any trouble; her katana was currently strapped to his back, and she was cocooned so tightly in the bedroll that she could barely move.
The way she'd nestled against him was sure flattering, though, because it was impossible to miss what that meant; she was relying on him.
Being relied on was kind of scary, if Takashi was being honest, but also strangely freeing.
He wasn't afraid. He would keep Saeko safe from… whoever it was, if there did turn out to be danger at the end of the path, and that was all there was to it.
So he'd decided, but…
Okay, so they were probably dealing with an Alraune of some kind, maybe a Dryad; manipulating the forest and guiding them to a cozy little glade, centered around a clear, crystalline pond of water, fed by a small brook that sounded almost cheerful in the way it trickled into the pool.
Dominating the surface of the pond was the biggest lotus blossom Takashi had ever seen, Saeko too if the way she stared in unabashed wonder was any indication.
The trees surrounding the little glade were almost totally covered in flowers, not in a gaudy or crowded way, no, it almost felt like the flowers had simply spread out and cuddled up to the surrounding trees.
Like some primeval garden, a woodland paradise unspoiled by the march of civilization or the ravages of time.
Someone gulped, audibly, and the garden stirred with a gentle, languid rustle, shifting to offer lazy greeting towards its new guests.
The massive blossom began to bloom, one petal at a time, and the shelter of the petals slowly revealed the garden's mistress.
Takashi and Saeko collectively breathed a sigh of relief; both relied heavily on instinct, and that instinct told them that there was no danger to be found here.
It wasn't the seductively enforced calm and languor that the strongest of Yokai brought with them; it was simple tranquility, a rejection of the chaos and conflict of the outside world.
And then she was rising with a languid yawn from the petally pink bed that she'd draped herself decadently across, every motion effortlessly sensual in a way that no magic could imitate.
Shimmering amber eyes, framed by soft golden hair tucked, blinked sleepily with a flutter of long lashes, before settling into a droopy, heavy-lidded gaze that still managed to overflow with warmth and welcome.
… Speaking of overflowing, both Takashi and Saeko thought it, and neither felt guilty nor would have blamed the other for thinking so.
Because they bounced as the woman stretched, not in a ridiculous or absurd way despite how huge they were, but with a healthy jiggle that naturally and unapologetically drew the gaze of anyone with working eyes.
The woman gave a low, tinkling giggle, not minding in the least that they'd been blatantly staring at her breasts, and the young lovers flushed like naughty children as the direction of their gazes became decent once more.
She rose into a sitting position, daintily crossing one long leg over the other, their shapely lengths sheathed in form-fitting silk of rich purple, but her delicate feet left bare.
A tiny dress of wispy, almost translucent pink hugged her curvy form, subtly revealing the scant inches of creamy thigh they covered, and leaving a wide, appealing center strip of her trim stomach bare. It ended at her chest in a way that could only be magic; intricate silken flowers of pink and green cupped her breasts in a way that whimsically teased at further exposure without seeming wanton or shameless.
Hanging from the flowery bodice was a drape of sheer, diaphanous pink, one that framed her wide hips and pooled around her seated body, almost as if a fine pink mist had been woven into cloth.
Despite her sensual air, there was something regal and composed about the otherworldly beauty; an undeniable something that weighed down upon their legs; a subtle, but unforced desire to bend a knee and pay proper respect, just as the forest itself seemed to bend and bow in willing fealty.
It was undeniable that she wasn't human, but neither of them could make out more than that until the woman gave another pleasant, effortlessly graceful stretch of her supple form, and great wings emerged silently from her back to mirror the motion.
Calling them 'butterfly wings' seemed a gross injustice, but that was the best comparison either Takashi or Saeko could make; great voluminous things woven of intermingling rainbows of gossamer color that seemed to capture the gentle morning light.
One of them, maybe both of them managed but one word;
"Titania."
Titania, the Fairy Queens.
Mistresses of the hidden forest kingdoms, lordly, lovely stewards and guardians of the Fairy race.
At the single word, the Titania gave another tinkling, bewitching little giggle and winked, as if deigning to share some secret little amusement with the young lovers.
The timeless quality of the hidden garden meant it could have been seconds, could have been hours or even days before one of them managed to recover their voice, and the gently smiling Titania patiently awaited their return to awareness with a welcoming silence.
"Forgive me… Your Majesty? Are w-we-" Saeko's hesitantly polite greeting died in her throat.
Whatever she had said, it had been the wrong thing to say; both her and Takashi felt their hearts plummet in their chest as the regal creatures' smiles curled into a tiny frown.
They watched in tense, chastised silence as the regal creatures' pouty pink lips pursed, her delicate cheekbones swelled, and she turned her gaze away with a huff; even the way she crossed her arms beneath her abundant chest came across as elegant rather than petulant.
And then she shattered her regal air to pieces with a single phrase, even as her words drifted lyrically upon the wind;
"Don't wanna."
…
…
…
""... Huh?"" One, or both of them managed to vocalize.
The Titania gave another, larger huff.
"I said I don't wanna!" The Titania pouted, yes, pouted. "Just because I'm bigger than the other Fairies, they all expect me to make all the boring decisions and do all the hard work!"
… They both wondered what kind of 'bigger' she was referring to as the Titania's bust bounced and jiggled with each huff of breath.
"Errrr… ah… sorry?" Takashi managed to apologize on her behalf, as the bewildered and ill Kunoichi's sense of the right and proper quietly fell apart all around her.
"I forgive you!" The Titania chirped brightly, her long pointed ears fluttering cutely as her earlier displeasure evaporated like mist.
"But, er, that is, I don't wanna be rude or anything, but my… girlfriend is kinda having a rough day, so standing here probably isn't… the best…?" Takashi trailed off with a cringe as the Titania's eyes briefly opened to their fullest extent, before blinking rapidly, as if seeing the two for the first time.
Something in her expression shifted, and the two of them went very, very still.
Saeko was feeling awfully pathetic right now, bundled up like an invalid while making her first appearance in what was, to her delirious mind, the court of a Fairy Queen.
The careful scrutiny of those amber eyes swept over her, before they softened, and a gentle, almost maternal smile spread across her lips, and made their breath catch in their throats for reasons neither could quite explain.
"Someone's had a bit of a stressful day, hasn't she?" The Titania observed with a gentle, honest sort of sympathy. "What you're experiencing is more common amongst our kind than you might think, but it's nothing I can't help ease you through, if you'll allow me?"
It took them a moment to realize that such a regal beauty was earnestly asking for permission to help, but when they did, Takashi had a ready answer.
"Please."
With an understanding smile, the Titania lifted one slender palm beneath her lips and gently blew across it in their direction.
The soft breeze colored with a hint of pink as it wafted across Saeko's huddling, blanket-swaddled form, and the Kunoichi shuddered with a low, sharp gasp.
Takashi's eyes widened in alarm and his shoulders tensed, but Saeko's eyes blinked in slow confusion, before a long, relieved sigh accompanied the draining of tension from her form.
"You can put me down now." Saeko smiled up at him, voice steady for the first time since they'd woken that morning.
After a moment of hesitation, Takashi did just that, easing his lover feet-first to the forest floor, and helping her loosen the blanket so that it was covering rather than constraining before carefully supporting her.
Her bare feet had sunk into the soft loam with barely a sound, but Takashi caught glimpses of long swathes of bare skin and thankfully remembered that the blankets were the only thing Saeko was currently wearing.
Yokai in general might have little to no taboos about nudity (at best), but that didn't mean Takashi was going to strip Saeko in front of a stranger, even a sexy mysterious stranger.
Especially not a sexy mysterious stranger who was kind of, well, strange.
The Titania giggled, her slender bare shoulders and ample chest shaking with mirth.
"I don't feel… well, much of anything really." Saeko puzzled out. "Which is kind of nice right about now, to be honest."
"Mhm, just a simple spell to dull sensations." The Titania confirmed. "Kind of like a sleeping spell, but I've only really put your sense of touch to sleep. Should take off the worst of the feeling, for now."
Saeko, numb though she was, apparently wasn't numb enough not to blush as she put two and two together, a rosy flush coloring her pale cheeks.
"You… ah… figured it out?" Saeko guessed hesitantly.
"Yep, mana overflow is less out of the ordinary than we girls like to pretend." The Titania confided with a sly wink. "Usually it's not this… pronounced, but it's actually what's happening when everything feels good after a long night with their hubby, usually after the honeymoon."
The Titania's smile made their breaths hitch once again, there was an honest pride and happy approval contained within that made both of them feel suddenly rather self-conscious.
"I'm not sure if you're aware, but the exchange of mana between a mamono and her husband isn't all that efficient." The blonde began, taking on a lecturing tone. "At least at first; over time, the woman's body becomes more acclimated to her partner's mana, and thus is able to absorb it more efficiently."
The Titania paused then, tilting her head to one side and tapping a long, slender finger against her chin.
"Isn't that kind of weird, actually?" She mused absentmindedly. "The more sex you have, the less sex you need, but the more sex you want."
The Titania pondered that for a moment, before giving a careless shrug.
"Well anyways, the other thing it means is what happened to you, young lady, which is super duper cute and romantic!" She said, happily pointing her finger at Saeko.
The Kunoichi blushed, she wasn't used to compliments from someone as ridiculously beautiful as a Fairy Queen.
… She probably would have fainted if Takashi were to tell her how well she stacked up in comparison.
Giggling, the Titania continued with her explanation.
"Given how strongly it's affecting you, it means that means that the two of you are so compatible that you might very well have been made for each other."
Takashi carefully pulled Saeko against him as she went rigid, eyes watery and wide.
"All it is is that your compatibility with your partner's mana is so high that your body wasn't prepared to deal with it. It really is just overstimulation in the best possible way."
And then she smiled one of those soft smiles that made both Takashi and Saeko feel like their breath was catching in their throat, accompanied by an ache in their heart and a stinging at the corner of their eyes.
"Well done, both of you." She whispered.
… And they couldn't say it was a bad feeling at all.
"Well done, for finding one another."
… It took a moment for Takashi to make sense of the silvery trails running down Saeko's cheeks, and she herself didn't notice until he rubbed them away with his thumb.
Saeko seemed more confused than anything else, as she realized what was happening, but the way she smiled fondly at Takashi suggested that sadness had nothing at all to do with her tears.
Unnoticed by the two young lovers, lost in their own little world, the concerned Titania gave a tiny sigh of relief, before her smile returned as if it had never left.
… It took some time for Saeko to regain her composure, but the Titania didn't seem to mind.
"... Forgive me." Saeko began after a while, giving a quiet not-quite sniffle from where she sat, with Takashi's arms wrapped comfortingly around her.
"There's nothing to forgive, Miss…" The Titania went still. "Err, don't be mad, but I might have forgotten your names?" She suggested with a guilty smile. "Wait… did I ask them?"
Saeko chuckled at the embarrassed admittance; it was strange, but she felt… light? At peace.
… It wasn't a feeling she was much accustomed to, yet.
"We never did introduce ourselves, did we? I'm Busujima Saeko, a Kunoichi." Saeko offered with a small bow of her head, the blanket rustling against bare skin.
"Oh yeah, my bad." Takashi said, scratching his head. "Komura Takashi, not-quite Hero at your service." He grinned.
Something about the Titania's demeanor encouraged him to be upfront with her, and the way the woman giggled suggested he wasn't wrong to think that way.
"A pleasure to meet you, Saeko, Takashi. I'm…" The Titania stopped, and her lips pursed as she tapped a finger against them.
The look she gave them for a moment brought with it the feeling that they were supposed to be revealing her name, not the other way around.
"Hmm, are we still in Zipangu?" She asked, looking around.
"Uhh… yeah?" Takashi replied, sharing a confused look with Saeko.
"Oh, great, I love Zipangu!" The Titania said with an excited clap of her hands. "Hrmmm… oh! You can call me Shizuka, that was one of my favorite names around here!"
"... 'One of'?" Saeko repeated quietly.
"Yep!" The Titania confirmed cheerfully, as if that explained everything.
"Nice to meet you too then, Shizuka." Takashi said, bravely steering the conversation back on topic. "And thanks for helping out Saeko. We owe you one."
"You're welcome, of course, but we're not quite done yet." Shizuka held up two fingers. "You have two options, it all depends on what you two are comfortable with as a couple."
"Alright then, wait, what was that bit at the end there?" Takashi asked.
"See, the longer way is to just let your mana reduce itself back to normal on it's own." Shizuka explained. "Bed rest, basically."
The Titania pursed her lips in thought.
"In a pretty forest like this, I can keep a little spell like the one I cast going for… well pretty much as long as I want, as long as I don't have to work too hard at anything else." She admitted causally.
It was hard to tell at first, but as if her words broke a different kind of spell; for the first time the two got an inkling of how powerful she really was.
A Titania was classified by the Order as a 'Queen-class Monster', categorized by not just their role, but their ability.
… Admittedly, Takashi was hard pressed to imagine the ditzy blonde as a 'dangerous' monster, but that didn't change the fact that she probably had enough mana to rival a Dragon, and could likely draw on the entire forest if she wanted to.
"Well, it'll only take a few days to do it that way." The Titania continued, just as innocently friendly as ever- which was why things like threat levels didn't worry Takashi in the least.
"But I don't mind if you stay here; I mean, I kinda guided you here cuz you seemed like you were having trouble so it would be weird if I wasn't okay with having you here?"
Saeko chuckled.
"The other way is the fun way!" Shizuka confidently declared. "You just have to have sex with someone who can take mana instead of giving it!"
"... Huh?"
"Yep, yep! The fastest way to get rid of extra mana is to have sex with another monster." Shizuka confirmed cheerily. "But if you did that, Takashi might get lonely- unless he was really enjoying the show- but that's okay, because I can make the threesome work!"
"W-wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" The flustered Saeko managed to ask, as Takashi gulped, loudly.
"Uh huh!" Shizuka nodded. "The fast and easy way is for all three of us to have sex!"
… Slowly, Takashi and Saeko turned to each other to find that yes, they were both red in the face, and yes, they were both considering it.
A pair of amber eyes smoldered as the Titania licked her lips with a sultry smile.
Is Whimsy the kind of asshole that would leave you on a cliffhanger right before the threesome?
You're goddamn right he is.
No but seriously, there's more set-up needed and the chapter would have dragged on like crazy.
This way will work out better in the end.
The chapter was busy as hell, we finally get to see 'some' of what's wrong with Takashi, and both the cast and the infection have made it to the same landmass.
Totally not ominous at all.
Also; Shizuka, been waiting to introduce her for so long now. Hope you guys like her so far, though I'm sure you'll like her more next chapter where she gets into the sex.
If it wasn't clear enough, a 'Queen-class Monster' is basically a boss-fight waiting to happen. Don't expect Shizuka to kick a lot of ass since she's, you know, Shizuka, but this version of her is certainly less helpless than her canon counterpart.
And Rei probably doesn't get tentacled. Maybe. Honestly that whole side bit was just a whim, but now it's too late to turn back.
PS: anyone figure out why Shizuka being kind in a specific way triggers a reaction from both our protagonists? Be prepared to get hit in the feels if you do. Shizuka is kind of soothing to be around in general, so I hope it shows.