I don't think I have ever felt it before: hunger without being hungry. But now that I have experienced it, it's a sensation that is not easily sated, not easy to ignore. The hunger that I feel stops me from leaving her that night. It makes the lie about sleeping at a friend's house slip out with too much ease. Makes the guilt from the lie I feed Yuzu fade so quickly. It makes me wrap my arms around Inoue as she washes dishes, surprising her enough that she drops the dish in the soapy water. It makes my lips latch onto her neck. Makes everything begin again. Makes stopping difficult. Impossible, even.

But when the morning wakes us, I know I have to leave as she does. But that hunger is there, bubbling under my skin. Still, after a kiss that lasts long but not nearly long enough, we part. I head home, and she stays.

I leave with that hunger clinging to me.

It doesn't go away, either. That hunger stays with me all day until Monday. And when I see her, I feel it more than ever. And the urge to steal her away, lock her and I in a room, a bush if I can't find a room, is so strong that I close my eyes harshly and take a deep breath.

Of course, she doesn't quite understand what is happening with me because she hugs me, pressing her body against mine, conjuring vivid flashbacks of the night we spent together to gather in the forefront of my mind.

With gritted teeth, I force my arms around her, trying to stay cool even though I am not. With stilted breath, I let her go, grab her hand, and walk her to her class.

We are quiet as we walk. I can feel she has questions for me, that she is worried about why I am tense, but she doesn't ask, and I am grateful for it. What would I say? That I want her so much that it's nearly driving me insane?!

She wouldn't understand, and I don't want her to know what she's brought out in me. She already knows the monster I can become. I don't want her to know the monster that I am because of this hunger. I don't want her to know that part of me.

But she's always been able to see through me. It's uncanny, but with one glance, she can see straight through the façade I try to put on, straight thorough mask I wear, and this time, it's no different as she stares into my eyes right outside of her class. She gets this distant look, and then she's pulling my hand, leading me outside the school, leading me back to her apartment. And once we are inside, she's pressing her lips to mine, and she's running her tongue against mine, and she's…she's only fueling the hunger. She's only making this lustful monster that I've become take control over me. She's only making it harder to hide that part of me from her.

She pulls back, just a little, but it's enough for me to collect my thoughts, enough for me to make a choice. Push her away and take her back to school or take her against this wall. But it's not much of a choice as her hand tugs me down by my neck, making her lips meet mine again.

I'd like to say I resisted. That I made an attempt to suppress the monster, but I can't say that I did. Couldn't even say that I tried. With her, I let all my inhibitions go, let my passion take lead, and let the monster win.

And I'd like to say that that is the only time I would let the monster win, but as the days pass and turn into weeks, as we near graduation, I can honestly admit, shamefully so, that I've let the monster come out to play too often, and yet, not often enough. I've let the hunger get the best of me.

But the blame doesn't just fall on me; it falls on her as well. Did she have to be so alluring? So beautiful? So funny? So weird? So kind? So tempting? So extraordinary? Did she have to leave the cage unlocked for the monster to escape? Did she have to entice me?

But the blame is not because of that hunger nor the monster. I learn this soon.

It's about two weeks from graduation. She and I have been nearly inseparable since that Saturday. If I'm not with her at her apartment, she's spending time with me and my family or we are hanging out with our friends. But almost every night, we find time to be alone together. Just she and me and the beast.

But it's not just the intimacy that I've come to crave; it's her. I find that I want to be with her. That I need to be with her. It calms me as much as riles me up to have her so near me. I haven't quite found out what that means exactly, but I chalk it up to another type of hunger that she evoked.

Which brings me to this one moment. This one moment when I find why this hunger is so strong, why I can't seem to be apart from her for too long.

She's walking in front me. Her hands are behind her back as she walks, and she's talking about something that's been on her mind. And it's when she mentions something about her being scared is when I stop walking, alert and on guard.

She stops, too.

"You're scared of what?"

She turns slightly toward me. She's smiling.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! Always the worry-wart!"

"Inoue," I state out calmly.

She turns to face forward again, and she takes little steps away. I follow her.

"You know, Tatsuki-chan said that if I feel it, that I should just say it, regardless if it'll make things awkward or not, but I hope that it won't because I like the ways things are. I don't want things to change, you know? Because being with you is so wonderful, and I am so happy, but, but…"

My feet and heart stops as she trails off.

"But?" I whisper out. Nothing good can come after that word. Nothing.

I hear her take a deep breath.

"I love you," she whispers as she turns to me. "I love you," she says a bit louder. "I do. I have for a long time, but you don't have to say it back. I don't want you to feel pressured or trapped because I'm not expecting anything. I just wanted to say it because I feel it. And you might not feel it and that's okay! Really! And I didn't say it because I want to hear it from you. Not that I don't want to hear it, but again, no pressure! I ju-"

While she's rambling, I stride over to her. I cup her face in my hands, I bend down, and I kiss her with so much fervor that she would collapse if it weren't for my grip. And when I pull back, I finally understand what my hunger actually is.

"I love you."

I gaze into her eyes as I see her try to process my words, and just like I expected, the denial flashes in her eyes before tears start to gather.

"You love me?" She chokes out.

I smile as I release an exasperated breath.

"In what world wouldn't I be in love with you, you dummy?"

"You love me?" She repeats before her tears spill over.

I press my forehead against hers.

"Yeah. I love you."

She pulls slightly back, and with tears running down her face, she graces me with biggest smile I've seen. In that moment, she's never looked more beautiful.

And in the end, with her sobs being smothered in my chest, I learn something important. That it wasn't hunger or lust or want creating this need to have her by my side, to have her in my life. It was something so simple: love.