Akira yelped at the sudden sensation. He immediately realized Erika was biting his ear again.
"H-Hey! Why are you biting me there again? Stop, it's—!"
His protest cut off as Erika continued teasing him, the bite drawing a small trace of blood. The warm brush of her tongue only made the sensation worse.
Akira squirmed.
"Yee—!"
He tried to struggle free, but Erika held him tightly in a hug, refusing to let him escape.
After a moment she pulled back slightly, still leaning close to his ear.
"It's your punishment," she whispered softly.
Akira shivered.
"For what!?"
"Because of you," Erika replied calmly, "everyone thought I was cosplaying as myself."
She gently blew into his ear.
Akira immediately squirmed again.
"Yeeekkk!"
But Erika only smiled mischievously.
"Now be a good boy and accept your punishment."
Before he could protest again, she leaned in and bit his earlobe once more, this time nibbling lightly.
Akira made a strange sound and squirmed in her arms.
His ears were simply too sensitive to handle this.
"Hey—! Don't do that!—Stop"
Erika whispered again,
"Nope."
And continued.
With a teasing smirk, Erika leaned closer and continued her punishment by exploring further.
Akira immediately flinched.
"H-Hey! Stop—!"
Whatever she was doing made that strange tingling sensation spread through his ear again, causing him to yelp helplessly.
Akira squirmed again.
"H-Hey… you don't have to use that…" he protested weakly.
"That's not how you normally drink blood… stop…"
"I know," Erika whispered with a mischievous smile.
"That's why it's a punishment."
Erika's teasing didn't stop. If anything, she seemed to explore that weakness even further.
Akira struggled helplessly. A strange sensation he had never felt before began to build, making it hard for him to think clearly.
"S-stop…" he protested weakly. "You're making me… feel weird…"
But despite his complaint, Erika showed no intention of stopping.
After a moment, Akira managed to force out another threat.
"If… if you won't stop… I'll bite you back."
Erika ignored his threats and continued her teasing.
Akira finally made up his mind.
"Fine then," he muttered. "Don't blame me."
He suddenly leaned toward her ear, trying to take his revenge.
But Erika reacted faster.
Before he could reach her, she pushed him down onto the bed, rolled behind him, and locked him in a rear naked choke.
She was far better than him at close combat.
Leaning close to his ear, she whispered teasingly,
"And how exactly are you going to bite me now?"
Then she bit his ear again.
This time not just the lobe, but a little deeper.
"—!"
Akira struggled, but he couldn't break free.
Erika was physically stronger than him as a dhampir, and he couldn't exactly use magic against her.
He was completely trapped.
But Akira refused to give up.
His eyes darted around, searching for an opening.
Then he noticed something.
Her fingers were close to his face.
If he couldn't bite her ear…
Then her fingers would do.
"I… have my own ways," he said.
Using all his strength, he pulled her hand closer and opened his mouth.
But just before he bit down, he hesitated.
What if he hurt her?
He didn't want that.
In the end, he simply clamped her fingers in his mouth without biting too hard.
Erika chuckled softly in his ear.
"What's wrong?" she whispered.
"You didn't even bite me properly."
Akira immediately became annoyed.
Fine.
If biting wasn't enough—
He had other ways.
Without warning, he launched his counterattack.
"W-Wait— what are you doing!?" Erika suddenly said.
Akira spoke with her fingers still in his mouth, his voice slightly muffled.
"Exactly what you did to me."
And continued.
Now it was Erika's turn to squirm.
"H-Hey! Stop that!"
But Akira refused to give up.
Soon the two of them started rolling across the bed, trying to overpower each other like they had done countless times as children.
"You're not escaping!" Akira declared.
"No, you're the one who's not escaping!" Erika shot back.
They continued wrestling and laughing as they struggled for control.
Eventually Erika gained the advantage again.
With a quick movement she pinned Akira down onto the bed.
She leaned over him, locking him in place as she caught her breath.
Despite the heavy breathing, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"I got you now."
Akira was about to argue back—
But then he stopped.
Erika stopped too.
Both of them suddenly realized what they were doing.
For some reason, neither of them moved.
The playful struggle that had filled the room a moment ago faded into silence.
Only their breathing remained.
Erika realized how close they actually were.
Too close.
She was practically lying on top of him, her body pressed firmly against his.
Akira also became aware that he could clearly feel the warmth and softness of her body, which only made him more conscious of her.
Erika, pressed against him, could also feel the changes to his body and the warmth rising from him. It made her even more nervous.
Her own heartbeat began to race—loud and fast in her ears.
So loud that Akira could feel the rhythm of it against him.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
They simply looked at each other.
The atmosphere slowly changed.
The playful mood from before was gone, replaced by something far more tense.
It felt like a fuse had been lit.
Neither of them knew who would move first.
Yet both of them were too nervous to make the first move.
Then—
A light cough.
Both of them startled.
Selena's calm voice echoed in their minds.
"Well, if you two are finished playing around, I have something important to report."
Hearing her voice, both of them immediately jumped apart.
They instinctively pushed away from each other, ending up at opposite corners of the bed as they tried to put as much distance between them as possible.
For a few seconds neither of them spoke.
Both of them simply focused on breathing and trying to calm themselves down.
Once Akira finally managed to gather his thoughts, he spoke telepathically.
"What the hell, sister?"
Selena replied calmly.
"What?"
Akira narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You did that on purpose."
Selena answered without hesitation.
"Yes, I did."
Then she added bluntly,
"And I will do it again."
Akira frowned.
"Why?"
Selena replied calmly,
"You already know why. Did you forget what state you are in right now?"
Akira fell silent.
He remembered how confused and volatile he had been before. For a brief moment back then, he had even thought about locking Erika up.
But he felt completely fine now.
He argued back telepathically,
"Just so you know, I haven't had those thoughts since I confessed to her. I'm completely fine now."
Selena's voice echoed again.
"Oh really? Then tell me… what do you want to do to her right now?"
Akira froze.
Slowly, he turned to look at Erika.
She was still sitting on the other side of the bed, trying to calm her breathing.
Seeing her like that…
Some dangerous thoughts suddenly crossed his mind.
Akira immediately shook his head hard, forcing the thought away.
He cleared his throat loudly.
"So, sister," he said aloud, trying to sound normal, "what was the important thing you wanted to talk about?"
Selena sighed slightly but followed his lead, speaking telepathically to both of them.
"Well, it's about the fate-gathering array. I found out what happened to it."
Akira frowned.
"What happened?"
Selena's voice turned more serious.
"It's bad."
"A lot worse than I expected."
"If we don't do something… we might lose the ability to travel to other worlds altogether."
Her words shocked both Akira and Erika.