rabustars

Pinned on the fluffy, overtly feminine sheets, lithe legs astride her petite hips as a hand cups around her throat, Noeri parted her lips and yielded to the tantalizing rhythm of Izumi’s tongue swirling against her own.

White-hot adoration and fervor coalesced within their chests, amalgamating into a consonance of bliss belonging only to the two of them. Izumi felt his heart swoon as he retracted back from Noeri’s sweet mouth, the thin trail of their melded saliva imbuing a rapturous satisfaction deep within the seams of his body, and scrutinized how flushed her visage had become.

“You’re such a needy princess,” Izumi relinquished a dulcet laugh, so breathy and heady with affection as he continued to examine how her eyes were clouded over with an irresistible sense of desperation, “so easy to please with just the barest of touches.”

Those dewy beads of pleasure converging along her lashes in an erotic display made Izumi squeeze her neck tenderly, thumb smoothing underneath her chin to tilt her gaze back onto his dazzlingly titillated countenance. 

Intertwining their fingers together, Natsume began to lead her across the campus; exploiting the limitations of paths and how devoid of idols they were. Not that any of them would be audacious enough to snitch in the first place, honestly.

As they made their way to the third floor, Reine felt themselves being pulled into Natsume’s shared dorm room—and she definitely took note of how eagerly he shut the door behind the two of them.

“It’s bigger than I thought,” Reine observed under her breath as she swept her gaze across the room, scrutinising the surplus of music sheets pooling over one of the beds whilst the other two remained tactfully organised—it made her furrow her brows. “What about your roommates?”

“They both have jobs today. Which is why I was extremely Happy when you said Switch had a rest day,” Natsume clarified smoothly, lithe fingers dancing across their cheek with melodic taps to the beat of ‘Temptation Magic’, “because it meant I could invite you over and have you all to myself, my little bunny.”

Heat inundated their cheeks as they listened to Natsume’s reasonings, and Reine gently pushed off Natsume to saunter across the capacious room. “We could’ve gone over to my apartment. We wouldn’t have had to sneak around either.”

“I think you’re missing the point,” Natsume began, feet airily and in an undertone of poise creeping up behind their petite frame, “I wanted to see what you look like in my bed.”

And without squandering another second, Natsume confined Reine into his arms and hoisted them up into the air, promptly tossing them onto his bed and subsequently pinning her down onto it.

“N-Natsume-kun?!”

Descrying the flustered mien Reine garbed made Natsume’s heart palpitate; the way her eyes glossed over in embarrassment magnified the allure of the situation, bestowing his soul with a vulnerable ache. And he was incredibly relieved he didn’t waste any time.

“It feels like a dream♪” Natsume whispered as he leaned down, pressing a feathery kiss against her ear, continuing as he started to suck softly, “You’re so cute⋯”

The onslaught on their ear left Reine in a gooey, chaotic mess of pleasure—the warmth permeating throughout the seams of her body from each kiss making her writhe. “Wh-Why do you always start with my ears?” Reine stammered over their words, breaths coming out in short, feverish bursts as the anticipation burrowed itself into her depths of her body.

“Because your ears are sensitive,” Natsume laughed mirthfully, the sound euphonious and yet sultry in spite of how much fun he was clearly having, “Just like a bunny’s. Isn’t it fitting? The faces you make when I suck like this⋯ I love them.”

“Let me give this side attention too,” Natsume murmured as he brought his mouth to the other war, cupping his lips around the shell as he kissed and sucked down on it, “They brighten up to a cute red colour. You really love it when I give your ears lots of love⋯”

Reine couldn’t suppress the quivery, the syrupy, moan from overflowing from her lips, “Mmh⋯!”

Just the sound of her noises bristled white-hot yearning along the fissures of Natsume’s nerves, each gasp exacerbating the voracity skulking beneath his exterior as a playful, gentle boyfriend. “Little bunny, god, you’re too much⋯ Every curse you lay upon me only makes my desire for you stronger,” he puffed, as if Reine’s moans were filling him with an iniquitous neediness only a witch could give him.

“I-I’m not trying to—nngh!” Reine refuted, but their own voice was sundered by a rasp of sensual gratification as Natsume bit down onto their ear; and her fingers curved into the fabric of his shirt, each digit trembling from the sensations.

Laughing breathily, Natsume retracted from their ear—luxuriating in the thin trail of saliva that connected his lips to their reddened skin. “I know, and that’s the problem,” each syllable that dripped from his vocals glimmered with hues of lust and unbridled adoration, “but it’s okay, I never want you to stop♪”

Within their clouded, fuzzy mind, Reine couldn’t even begin to fathom what Natsume had planned—but it didn’t matter as he bestraw kisses along the hot skin of their face, leaving behind little vestiges of wetness.

Until Natsume succumbed to the thrumming of hunger brewing in his stomach like a potion of love and affixed his lips onto Reine’s. And their fingers immediately delved into his hair, tugging on the locks and evoking a groan from his throat.

At first, Natsume was slow and keen as his mouth rounded with hers; making sure they felt the profundity of his wishes and covet for them. “Open your mouth, little bunny,” he commanded, the acute pulsating of heat inside him desperate for a taste of her.

“Nnh⋯” Reine did as her lover instructed, parting her cute lips for him so his tongue could roll into the crevice and savour the faint palate of chocolate lingering on her own tongue.

Pressing his weight against theirs, Natsume brought a hand down to her thigh and spread it sideways in order to slot himself between their slender legs; leaving them both astride his hips, hopelessly wanting to get as close to their heat as possible.

Their mouths moved in congruence, with ardour and need, tongues swirling together—and Natsume brushed his hand beneath Reine’s skirt, fingertips so deliciously close to her panties.

Bang!

“Wahaha! Anzu will be so impressed when I show her this☆ ⋯⋯ Huh? Nacchan, you’re home? Oh, and Reipyon too! Hey, hey!”

Natsume’s complexion blanched at the sight of Leo intruding on his private moment with Reine—albeit he shouldn’t call it ‘intruding’ when Leo lives here just as much as he does.

Unable to conjure up a rejoinder, Natsume felt Reine’s fists pounding against his chest as their entire visage was coated in lurid hues of mortification;

“Y-You stupid magician! Your spell didn’t work!”

Shaking her head in disappointment, Reine’s vexation towards herself bypassed the way the tips of her ears brightened up from the propinquity between her and Natsume. “I can’t seem to figure out the timing between the third set and the chorus⋯ No matter how many times I adjust it, it’s always off somehow⋯”

The noise of the booth’s door creaking open resonated within the compact space, galvanizing the pair into leering over at Anzu who had just timorously stepped inside, her voice meek yet filled with benignity as she asked, “Do you two need some help?”

“Ah, Kitten♪” Natsume’s eyes appeared to twinkle as soon as Anzu padded in, those elusive and charming sparkles making Reine’s heart ache. “Little bunny and I are trying to rearrange the lights for Switch’s upcoming Live.”

“I don’t mind taking a look at it,” Anzu proffered her expertise, glancing between Reine and Natsume as they made way for her to examine the panel, “Switch always has elaborate light shows during their performances. It can be pretty tricky.”

The way Natsume and Anzu talked to each other⋯ it was cordial, familiar.

“Thank you; you’re already familiar with how we like them to be. And I want the lights to be perfect, because 「I want my special someone to look at me and fall for me」,” Natsume sent a wink towards Anzu as he beamed.

Reine didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all; and yet, she still wanted to see that twinkle in Natsume’s eyes forever.

“Um⋯ I-I’ll leave you two to it here,” Reine stammered out before she could even make sense of the entanglement of harrow and pain twisting in the pit of her stomach, “I should go check on Sora-kun⋯!”

And before Natsume or Anzu could even bid her goodbye, Reine rushed from the booth—all while ignoring the pair of eyes that followed her figure.

✧.

In the palm of her hands, Reine gaped at the stars scintillating there—wanting to stop them from slipping through her fingers, yet slowly cleaving her hands apart in order to fulfill their true potential.

Ever since she bound herself to a personal contract, Reine had been making subtle (or at least in her eyes) efforts to garner opportunities for Natsume and Anzu to be alone together; or to have them think of the other.

Unfortunately, each attempt, no matter how little, exacerbated the queasiness coating the seams of Reine’s body.

Why did she have to feel so sick all the time? So tired? So exhausted in a way that only leaves her feeling worse?

Asleep in the sunshine, with her silhouette still standing, Reine was incognizant to the boisterous and spirited presence approaching from behind her.

“Ta-da!☆” Copious doves went flying around Reine as Wataru popped up next to her head, cheek almost pressing against hers. He only ascertained she was startled awake when she relinquished a panicked squeak. “Oya? You were asleep, Usagi-chan?”

“Y-Yeah⋯” Reine heaved an anxious exhale as a yawn soon followed, her glossy lips parting cutely.

“No wonder my birdies were reluctant to pop out! My apologies,” Wataru expressed his contrite with a sigh of his own, his hands promptly gripping her waist as he guided her to the nearby benches, “Still, it’s dangerous to sleep in the middle of the walkways!”

That’s when Reine realized her location outside Yumenosaki, small body being nestled down by the ever-eccentric senpai. Even she knew she never would’ve done that normally—falling asleep in the open? Without hiding?—and she had no choice but to blame it on the pulsating pain searing her core.

Was she allowed to feel jealous when she’s the one trying to pair two people up? When she’s the one stabbing herself over and over again?

“I know, I’m sorry,” Reine apologized to Wataru, albeit she could tell her own tone was disheartened and gloomy when she hadn’t meant to sound so execrable.

“You seem trouble, Usagi-chan,” Wataru observed smoothly as he sat himself down beside her, silvery locks descending over his shoulders as his head tilted towards her, “I’m a pretty good listener; I’ll hear what’s plaguing your heart with sadness♪”

Wataru talked even funnier than Natsume, but Reine supposed that’s because he is the one who taught Natsume a lot of his magical tricks. Could she even trust Wataru with her own feelings like this? They hadn’t really interacted much before⋯

“I-I’m not sad,” Reine corrected, strained voice and half-lidded gaze betraying her want to stay calm-and-collected, “I’m disappointed all my efforts aren’t being seen.”

“Your efforts? You aren’t talking about your work as a producer, are you?” Wataru hummed, his shrewdness once again bursting forth like confetti from a true magic show.

“No⋯ I’m talking about Natsume-kun and Anzu-chan,” Reine elucidated, trembling fingers playing with the hem of her skirt as she gathered her hands in her lap, “I’ve been trying to help them get closer, but it just hasn’t been working.”

Reine wanted them to hurry up and realize their feelings so that she can start to stitch together her broken heart; start to pick up the shattered pieces and heal. Because she was in love with Natsume.

“Oh, Usagi-chan, you’re trying to play cupid?” Wataru suspired with sympathy in his words, reaching his hand forward to tilt her head up with his fingers, “It’s not working because you’re pulling the arrow from your own body.”

Perplexity suffused through the aperture leading to her thoughts, and Reine couldn’t fathom the unorthodox articulation. “What do you mean, Wataru-senpai?”

“You’re trying to make the vestiges reach somewhere they were never supposed to be,” Wataru further said, only magnifying her confusion as his finger pokes over her chest, “the magic you’re looking for is already long gone.”

Wataru was definitely an even weirder wizard than Natsume.

✧.

Reine couldn’t understand what Wataru was talking about, the equivocations behind his remarks feeling more akin to a curse than a spell, and she continued to be left alone with her thoughts as she rested her head upon an abundance of towels whilst curling herself into a ball.

Images of Natsume’s enthralling visage coruscated in her head as her eyes fluttered shut, the way he looked at Anzu—the way they talked and laughed together. It hurt.

Natsume was the one who pulled her from burying herself completely, who’s dazzling smile and spells saved her time and time again. And here she was again, trying to conceal herself after all the protests she’s lived through.

Squeezing her eyes shut with more force, as if her negative thoughts impelled her to do so, Reine bawled as the door to her nesting spot was ripped open.

“Found you~♪ You were in here, little bunny,” it was Natsume’s countenance that enveloped her vision as her blue irises blinked rapidly, lashes flitting, “You sure love this broom closet.”

“H-How⋯?” Reine faltered in her words as his appearance before her obfuscated her mind, nearly causing her to blank out, “No, what are you doing⋯ Were you looking for me?”

Crouching down onto his knees, Natsume bowed himself down to her diminutive height as she remained laying on the closet flooring; cleaning towels and rags cushioning her body. “Why did you run away earlier?” he questioned, squinting his eyes to evince an iota of tetchiness.

“Run away?” Reine swallowed thickly, perceiving that faint annoyance in Natsume and wanting to cringe away from it. She knew what he was alluding to, yet she was too bewildered to properly talk with him.

“As if you have any business with Noeri-senpai. You’re so obvious,” Natsume in spite of the festering defeatism felt his lips curving into a unbridled half-grin, “You always have the same excuse when leaving. Are you trying to be subtle?”

“What.”

This conversation was happening too fast for Reine to unravel and register—and yet, Natsume continued.

“So, tell me⋯ what are you doing here instead of by my side?” Natsume asked softly, the melodic power his voice retains gripping her as another frown overturns his mouth. “I have fun playing with Kitten, but I miss you too much to enjoy myself to the fullest.”

They say rabbits can die of loneliness.

Dewy tears coalesced in Reine’s eyes as she fixated on Natsume, the pain that’s been besetting her spilling over in the form of a choked sob, “I’m trying to help you find happiness.”

The stress of losing a beloved companion or partner can be all too much to bear.

“Haah, I already found my happiness,” Natsume reassured her, bringing his hand forward, “I found it in this closet a long time ago.”

It’s time to stop hiding—the brightness she yearned to belong to her is right in front of her. Sliding her hand into Natsume’s, Reine felt herself being pulled from the darkness once again.

Not able to squander another moment, Natsume pressed Reine’s body up against his and brought his lips to her cheeks; kissing away each and every glistening tear.

It’s been inside her all along.

It's difficult to ignore the unease I feel when eyes bore into me, staring at me as if burning a hole straight through me. It almost hurts, and I don't know how to remedy the unnerving silence other than clearing my throat and filling it myself. I don't know if it would help, doing such a thing, but I felt it was needed.

I could only be glad that she was willing to listen about the war I had started, to listen here in the comfort of my bed as she sits beside me. To hear about the Eccentrics, how I had mercilessly killed each one, how I had so heartlessly climbed my way up.

"I understand if you decide to distance yourself after I've shared all of this with you," I begin, and I try to ignore the way my heart rolls unpleasantly in my chest. "I would prefer if you stayed, though." Those words were ones that came out on their own, and they belonged to a needy child.

I couldn't stop my dear Vivian if she changed her mind on how she felt about me, but I desperately wish I could. I wish I could have her light all to myself to fill my own loneliness. Yet, she still stared at me, eyebrows drawn together in an expression I was unable to discern.

I was terrified of losing her. It's odd to be unable to read her as she always wore her heart on her sleeve, yet right now it was obscured. I wanted to fill the silence again, and my chest began to hurt the more nervous I became.

"Okay." Her reply is so simple that I thought I misheard her at first, and when she nodded along I couldn't help the bewilderment that sprang up.

"Alright. I really don't care. Uh, well," She shook her head, almost pouting as she tried to sort out her thoughts into words. "I care, thank you for telling me, but I mean — Eichi, it's not really my place to have an opinion or really judge you?"

"Ah...?" I was clueless as to what I could say.

Vivian continued on, leaning forward, planting her hands on either side of my face where I lay. "I mean, I appreciate it, y'know? Sharing this stuff isn't easy. It was hard when I shared all of mine with you." That expression was back, the one that I'm beginning to dread. Unreadable and uncharacteristically solemn.

"I love you, Eichi. Okay? No matter what y'do, I don't think that'll ever change, okay?" My heart jumped into my throat at her words, choking me. I begin to reply, but the frown that crosses her face is enough to silence me.

"Always. I chose you, okay? And I like you a lot, so... please. I don't want you to ever think I hate you or anything." My dear Vivian leans down, close enough that I can smell the sweets she had eaten earlier, feel the warmth her blushing face radiated. "You mean the world to me, okay? You're a lot better than you think."

The tears that scorch my eyes make me ashamed — I always have disliked crying in front of others, but I suppose it's not such a bad thing to do in front of my little love. After all, she cries so freely around me.

Her hand is soft against my cheek as she holds my face, and I can't stop myself from leaning into her warmth, turning and pressing a kiss to her palm. Her breath hitches, and I hold her hand even closer when she tries to move away.

"Please stay like this with me a while longer," I felt childish again to plead with her like this once more, chasing after her affection like I was starved for it. Which I suppose I was, but how could I be blamed when it was such a precious gift?

"Okay. I'll stay like this with you forever." Slowly, almost unsurely — as if she thought she would hurt me somehow — my dear Vivian lowered herself onto her elbows as her other hand came up, and I felt her fingers trace along my cheek. "You're always so pretty. I like you no matter what."

She's spoiling me so sweetly, something so rare that I want to plead for more, yet she's giving it so freely regardless.

"No matter what, I choose you, okay? You can have me whenever cause I..." She faltered, and I put my hands over hers, pressing both of them against my cheeks to convince her against pulling back.

Surely she wouldn't mind if I kept her light for myself like this, no? If she's saying such things, I can't help but find myself yearn even more for something I already have in my hands. Something I didn't even ask for, yet desired so deeply anyways. She truly is my salvation, isn't she? My own miracle. My little angel.

She doesn't need to finish her words, for I already know. I know the depth of her feelings, something much too difficult for her to vocalize, but she's trying to share those feelings with me anyways.

"Thank you." Is it true? Will it always be true? Vivian, if I betray you, will that still be true? Of course, I could never bring myself to do such things, and yet I'm worried I will anyways.

I'm scared she'll begin to hate me as well. Who else will I have here to cuddle with at night? Who else will come by so often, leaving my room a mess with my bedsheets askew without a care in the morning? I couldn't bear to imagine my room without the things she's left scattered about or hung on the walls.

It would feel lifeless without her.

"Always stay with me, my little love," I close my eyes, letting out a shaky breath as I try to compose myself. "I'd be lost without you. You're so precious to me, and I need you."

She didn't reply, her thumb brushing away a stray tear from my cheek before she sighed. It was a slightly awkward position as she lay down on my chest while I refused to release her hands, but she didn't complain. It was purely for my sake, and for that I'm glad.

"You're absolutely ethereal." I can't stop the words as they spill out, and I want my dear Vivian to listen to as much as her sensitive heart will allow her. "You're an angel just for me, no? I'm truly blessed. My adorable angel."

She grumbles, her face hidden in the crook of my neck so I'm unable to see the sight of her cute blush, but I can still feel how warm her face is.

I continue on, slowly pulling her sensitive hand away from my face and tracing the scar on the back with my thumb. "You have such a pure heart." And it's — how my beloved Wataru says — truly amazing.

"Thank you for always entertaining me." Thank you for being my best friend. For giving me everything I was unable to experience. For your neverending love and support, your eternal companionship.

It took everything in Vivian not to squeal from his praise. And for Eichi, it took everything in him not to let his lips curve into a self-satisfied simper from having discerned the corsage he gifted her attached to her wrist.

As the limoscene pulled away and more throngs of people arrived in a panoply they’re surely accustomed to, the couple ambled up the stairs into the capacious-looking building where the hosts are holding the party—something the eminent, prolific Tenshouin family is invited to yearly.

Something about charities and an auction, if she recalled correctly.

Encased in opulence and splendour, the hall appeared straight out of a fairytale and Vivian was mesmerised. Eichi adored how the resplendent lights reflected in her eyes, the gloss overlapping her giddy irises and shimmering in a way that made his soul fill with yearning.

With her arm roped around his, Eichi gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t worry, I won’t let go of you,” he whispered into her ear, sending a frisson of excitement down the column of her spine, “not even once.”

“Thank you! There’s so many people. Is everyone here from wealthy and influential families—or companies?” Vivian asked, albeit she was unsure of her own wording. That slight reticence in her voice was too adorable, Eichi thought as he admired how lost she appeared.

“Mm, for the most part. These sort of charity balls happen every so often, and I don’t typically go out of my way to attend them⋯ but this is a rare case, you see,” Eichi elucidated, the two of them departing further into the grandiose hall.

Eichi was going to elaborate on top of that, yet stopped himself as he felt it wasn’t necessary. Vivian was already aware of his unfortunate health issues and how much he prioritised his idol work above all else right now; and that wasn’t even including his monitoring of ES with a meticulous and hardworking zeal.

So he decided to tease her, omitting the importance of tonight’s event. That wasn’t needed either, was it? Not when he had successfully monopolized her time like this and he simply wanted to enjoy being by her side without fretting about things unrelated to her.

“Perhaps the real reason I decided to come was because I wanted to see you all dressed up for me♪” Eichi hummed smoothly, tilting his head enough so that a lock of pale blond hair descended across his countenance in a tantalizing display.

Warmth clustered into the apple of Vivian’s cheeks at Eichi’s playful teasing, spreading across her visage. “I already know it’s because you have to fulfill your duties as the Tenshouin’s heir~” she retorted, taking his banter in stride with a beaming grin, “I would dress up for you anytime you ask, you know.”

“Oh, don’t say that. I’ll grow spoiled,” Eichi chortled, his eyes flitting around at the congregation of people filling up around them. He took a step away from Vivian, only to extend his hand back out, cupping hers confidently and kissing her knuckles, “but before anyone comes, may I—”

As if the finale had come too soon, a pair of donors who’ve known the Tenshouin family for decades interrupted the couple’s moment before it even came. Then another came along. And another.

Eichi knew that once he began to exchange pleasantries with the fellow guests, there would never be an end of them—which was precisely why he wanted to dance with her at least once before this happened.

Even Vivian, who stood next to her lover with a practiced genteel for this particular occurrence, found herself growing unbearable fatigued by the time over an hour had passed.

She could only imagine how Eichi was feeling beneath that urbane veneer he put forth, the beads of sweat accumulating on the nape of his neck only noticeable to her as she peered up at him.

They still hadn’t even had an opportunity for a single dance together; rather, other people were constantly thieving him away for dances under the guise of talking business and catching up.

In a small lull where they weren’t inundated by others, Vivian pulled on Eichi’s sleeve. “Are you tired, Eichi? Why don’t we take a break, find somewhere quiet?” she suggested softly, attempting to beguile him into trailing away for a much needed moment of respite.

“No, I should push through⋯ Mrs. Sumeragi said she was going to be right back,” he sighed, shaking his head in dismissal, “I know this is a lot for you, too. I don’t mind if you’d prefer to take it easy by the buffet tables.”

Who was Sumeragi again? Vivian had heard so many names, she couldn’t keep track of who was who.

Well, whoever she was, clearly she hadn’t considered how Eichi must be feeling with his slightly blanched complexion and semi-droopy eyes. “I think I’ll go,” Vivian abruptly spoke up, knowing that the way she phrased her words sounded deplorable and misleading, “Come find me when you’re ready.”

“⋯⋯ What?” Left dumbfounded and incredulous by her articulation, Eichi froze as soon as Vivian turned around and began to disappear among the crowd with swift, hurried movements.

Eichi’s own body moved on its own in order to chase after her—mind reeling, abandoning the thoughts of his obligations.

“Vivian, don’t leave!”

As he rushed out the lofty doors and down the steps, Eichi’s heart pounded with guilt. Had he pushed her too much? It was awfully inconsiderate of him to suggest his date go wait by the buffet tables on her lonesome, wasn’t it?

Pursuing her frame as it vanished into the garden, Eichi watched as Vivian plopped herself down onto a contrived, wooden bench; her silhouette surrounded by the beauteous flowers, their colors muted by the darkness of the night.

Standing in front of her, cheeks adorned with rosy hues of exertion, Eichi relinquished a shaky exhale. “Are you trying to be like Cinderella?” He looked almost like a saddened puppy with how his lips smiled in a subdued relief, and he added, “Well, you are my princess.”

Giggling, Vivian patted the seat next to her, urging him to sit as she said, “Maybe a little. I knew you’d follow after me, though.”

“Are you not upset with me?” Eichi questioned as he nestled himself beside her, their legs brushing together as it was hard for him not to want to be close to her.

With an exaggerated, fatuous pout, she chided him, “Only for not taking appropriate breaks!”

“Vivian⋯” Even if he had just sat down, a heat still searing his lungs, Eichi stood up once more and reached for Vivian’s hands. “My lady, may I please have a dance? I feel it’s well overdue.”

“A dance?” Vivian parroted in surprise, her lips parting as she brought herself up and nodded; desperately trying to suppress the rapturous grin from spreading on her mein. But with how brilliant and pretty Eichi looked, she was destined to fail from the start. “I would be honored, my liege.”

In the quiet garden, Eichi placed his hand onto her hip as hers settled on his shoulder, and their intertwined fingers felt heavenly.

It made Eichi wish he endeavored harder to sneak away—and much sooner. After all, from the beginning, he wanted to have a romantic, whimsical night with Vivian.

The faint sound of the classical music from within the faraway mansion melded with the noise of their own feet against stone, and Vivian knew she was a few steps behind, yet Eichi never scolded or corrected her on it.

From the bottom of his heart, he looked as if he was having fun. There was no symphony more extraordinary than this moment right here with his beloved.

The twinkling stars speckled around Eichi’s reflection in Vivian’s eyes, and he thought with an unbridled smile,

“Ah, I love it when her eyes shine from beautiful things, but⋯ I really do love it best when the only thing she sees she is me. I’ll have to continue to work harder as an idol, as her partner, to make sure she never takes her eyes off me.”

“My family has more wealth than they know what to do with. Please don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need or want♪” Eichi had told her when he first brought her home, exalted to indulge her in opulence at every turn.

Even if she didn’t ask for it.

Skipping down the cobblestone path as she looped back around to the front of the palace, protrusions of grass sashaying in the spring breeze and tickling her ankles when she twirled, Vivian giggled; but found herself halting the moment she espied Eichi on the veranda.

Garbing a solemn mien, Eichi’s luscious hair became vesper-kissed from the skeins of sunset beguiling his sylphlike frame. Vivian didn’t like the look on his face—but the familiar thrall of captivation and security entangled around her. Just seeing him was enough to do that for her⋯ even though it was supposed to be the other way around.

“Oh, princess, are you finished your daily patrol?”

Eichi’s comforting voice made her ears twitch in joy.

Nodding her head exuberantly, Vivian chirped, “Yep! There’s nothing out of the ordinary!”

“There usually isn’t, is there? Hardly anyone would dare to attack the Tenshouin estate, unless they had a death wish,” Eichi commented, deliberately enforcing a lighthearted tone as a chortle overflowed from his thin lips.

Gesticulating for Vivian to come closer to him, Eichi was pleased as she obliged—her lively feet springing over to his side in a rush—only to hear her squeal as he circled his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap.

In an instant, Vivian’s instincts kicked in and her teeth chomped right down onto Eichi’s cheek, the plushness squishing beneath her incisors. It left a lurid blemish, reddened hues flourishing against that pale complexion of his.

“Ow—!” Eichi let out a yelp of his own, and yet, even as the shooting sting surged through him, his arms didn’t move. Keeping Vivian ensnared within his arms, grasping onto her with a desperation he scarcely displays. “Haha, that hurt♪”

With a pout of guilt twisting on her mien, Vivian murmured, “S-Sorry⋯”

“No, I needed it⋯” Eichi suspired onto the crook of her neck as his head sunk into her shoulder, lips feathery against the skin as he nuzzled impossibly closer, “I needed you.”

“⋯ Another rough day, Eichi-sama?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me ‘-sama’? Just Eichi is fine⋯ please,” he began, kissing along the slope of her sensitive neck, “I can’t bear it when you treat me like everyone else.”

All the other servants and workers relentlessly chastised Vivian whenever she addressed Eichi without an honorific—without “the utmost reverence”. And yet Eichi thought so highly of her that he practically begged for her to call him less formally.

Vivian was just a weretiger with no eminent ties. Eichi was the one who saved her from her demise.

The streets are dangerous and unforgiving no matter who you are—but when you’re a weretiger who can’t properly transform, shift between forms, it’s even worse.

Heavy torrents of rain drenched the corners of the earth, filling the crevices and ineluctably waterlogging each space, and Vivian, without a place of belonging or shelter to hide under, dipped into a grotty alleyway in an inefficacious attempt to escape it. 

She was so hungry it’s nauseating, each pelt of rain against her skin only amplifying the cravings in her stomach, and as she pressed her back against the wall, she was unaware that someone had caught eye of her.

“Aren’t you a poor little one,” a disembodied voice resonated with the drops tarnishing the ground. “What are you doing, hiding here of all places?”

Panicked eyes peered up, espying an umbrella encasing a divine-looking man, and Vivian hissed as she bared her fangs to him, “Get away!”

Unstirred by her disposition of acrimony and hostility, he brought his umbrella forward to cover her beneath it; but the innocent gesture was viewed as minacious to Vivian’s primal, fierce instincts. In the blink of an eye, she scratched at his hand with her claws and caused him to drop the umbrella altogether.

The umbrella bounced off the ground as he cradled his hand, blood oozing from the laceration while the both of them were becoming soddened by the rain. “Your nails are quite sharp, aren’t they?” he laughed, almost airily—as if the throbbing pain meant nothing to him. 

“You don’t have a home.”

Those simple words cut deep into Vivian’s chest, carving out her defenses and perfusing a hurt all of its own. This man standing before her⋯ he was fearless, she thought, eyes glistening with a tenderness unbeknownst to her.

She shook her head wordlessly, not knowing how else to answer him.

“If you have nowhere else to go, why don’t you come with me?”

Once more, Vivian’s eyes widened—lips rounded in an ‘o’ shape that reflected how her fangs still protruded in anxiety.

The downpour made his skin even more pallid, and Vivian could tell that standing defenseless in the rain like this was worsening the weak constitution he possessed. She could smell that he was sick, yet he remained in front of her like this without conveying that to her.

“What’s⋯ who are you?”

“Eichi. Tenshouin Eichi.”

Extending his hand out to Vivian once more, taking that confident chance in case she rejected him and hurt him again, Eichi still had that soft, endearing smile on his face.

Before she knew it, Vivian was kissing and giving kitten-like licks onto the mark on Eichi’s cheek from where she bit him. Eichi was always so kind, forgiving her no matter what she did (or didn’t)⋯ and she wanted to be the one to comfort him this time.

Squeezing her waist a little tauter as he propped her legs astride his body, their hips pressed flush together, Eichi brought his mouth up to her ear and whispered, “Vivian, call my name.”

A plea spoken with hidden neediness.

“Eichi,” Vivian said his name as her tail flickered back and forth behind her, the longing in her voice palpitating his heart and imbuing a heat surpassing heaven, “Eichi, I love you! I’m here for you, so don’t look so sad⋯ okay?”

Incapable of resisting the temptation any longer, Eichi cupped Vivian’s chin and tilted her head up before attaching his lips against hers. “Haah, you’re incredible,” he drawled, kissing her sweetly again and again. “Just you saying that makes all my troubles feel so far away⋯”

It’d be nice if Vivian could make all his troubles vanish forever. She’d eat them every last one if she could, storing them inside her and harboring the pain for herself. Anything to spare him heartache.

“I do want a few more kisses, though,” Eichi playfully teased as he noticed her expression falling ever so slightly, bringing his mouth over hers and sucking in the air she breathed like he needed that oxygen to survive. Like she was his lifeline.

And, unknowingly to her, Eichi did feel that way. That day, when he found her⋯ to him, it was her who saved him.

“Mmh⋯” Vivian relinquished a soft, muffled moan as their lips rounded with each other’s, luxuriating in the pleasure and bliss that seeped into their entities with every motion. Intrinsically, as her nerves bristled with an untamable warmth, her tail wrapped around Eichi’s arm in an effort to settle it down.

She was being awfully pliant right now, even purring cutely in his arms, and it made Eichi hum and smile into the kisses. In order to rile her up even more, Eichi took her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged.

“Mmph?!” Squirming in Eichi’s lap, the fingers that were curved around his shoulders pushing him away, Vivian huffed. Her lips parted in retaliation, falling to his lips and giving him yet another bite tonight.

“Nn! Alright, alright, I’ll stop playing around,” Eichi conceded with a breathy laugh, “I don’t want any swollen lips again.”

Eichi had an important meeting to attend to tomorrow, and he can’t exactly show up with bitten, puffy lips, can he? At least not if he wanted to appear professional; he’s already had an incident in the past that aroused far too many questions for his liking.

Can’t a man enjoy his princess giving him bites in peace?

Lifting his gaze up to the darkening sky, the clouds dotting the horizon now streaked with shade, Eichi suggested, “Why don’t we take a bath together? The sun’s about gone now.”

Vivian stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Oh, come now, you have that reaction every time, princess,” Eichi chided lightly, the two of them untangling themselves from each other as they stood up. Eichi seized Vivian's hand to occlude any thoughts of running away she might’ve had, “Let me pamper you tonight. It’ll help rejuvenate me. And then, we can snuggle in bed.”

Intertwining their fingers together, Vivian fervently nodded her head and sung, “Mhm! If you promise to give me lots of cuddles, I’ll be a good girl in the bath~♪”

Eichi didn’t believe that for a second, and it only made his heart ache hotly. He loved her. He loved her so much.