The frantic beating of Aoshi's heart echoes in his ears like violent cannon fire.
He's pinned to the ground by Eliss, completely immobilized, her body pressed firmly against his in the middle of nowhere — any attempt to free himself proves utterly useless against her overwhelming strength.
«A-Aoshi… I tried to hold back… but… I can't anymore… forgive me…» she pants. Thin strings of saliva dripping from her hanging tongue like that of an animal in heat, falling onto Aoshi's face.
She grinds her hips against his faster and faster, and with every movement — every desperate rub of her intimate parts against his — her arousal surges exponentially.
Eliss leans forward — her face, her lips, her tongue just a breath away from his, so close that Aoshi can feel her hot, ragged breath tickling the tip of his nose.
«Aoshi… aaah… am I not attractive enough for you? Is that why you keep rejecting me…?» she whispers, her words breaking into gasps.
«Y-You know that's not the reason…» Aoshi murmurs, turning his face away to avoid meeting her eyes — to keep their lips as far apart as possible. «I've told you a thousand times that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met. You're kind, intelligent, funny, caring—so many wonderful things that it would take me all night to list them… and that's exactly why…»
Aoshi clenches his fists — his nails dig into the dirt beneath them, still pinned down by her strength. «…That's exactly why I'm struggling so damn hard not to lose control and do to you everything every cell in my body is screaming for! Eliss, I know myself too well — if we had sex right now, here in this forest under the moonlight, it wouldn't just be about satisfying a desire, or bragging to my friends that my first time was with the most beautiful girl to ever walk this world. It would become so much more! We'd start doing it every night, then fall asleep and wake up in each other's arms!»
His voice rises, trembling on the edge of desperation. «The first thing I'd see when I wake up would be your beautiful face — so sweet, still half-asleep, bathed in the rosy light of dawn. It would give me the strength to face even the hardest day of study and work! And then… I'd greet you with a kiss the moment your gorgeous, sleepy emerald eyes meet mine, and we'd stay in the futon for ten minutes more, cuddling before starting the day! It would be the perfect life — something I'd pray day and night to be blessed with… but also my greatest fear! The higher you climb, the harder you fall — and a life with you would take me to the top of the highest mountain in the world. So imagine the pain I'd feel the day it all ends! If only I could… if only I could be sure it would never end… then I could finally start thinking of us as something more than two housemates bound by a ridiculous magical bond…»
At those words, the uncontrollable excitement on Eliss's face fades, replaced by a faint veil of melancholy.
«Tell me something, Aoshi…» she murmurs, her voice softer now, filled with unexpected understanding. «When you started dating that bitch Miori, did you honestly believe she was the woman you'd spend the rest of your life with?»
«W-Well, that's what I hoped for. It's normal, right? When you start dating someone, you want it to last forever…» Aoshi replies with a touch of calm, slowly turning his gaze back toward her.
«And yet it didn't, did it? She used you and tossed you aside after just one month!» Eliss fires back firmly. «Relationships aren't supermarket goods — you can't just check an expiration date to know when they'll go bad and decide in advance whether or not to buy them! Everyone knows that when people fall in love, the odds of breaking up are far higher than those of staying together forever — and yet that's never stopped humans, demons, vampires, or any other race from trying! Someday—neither of us knows when — the magic binding me to you will break, and I'll stop feeling anything for you. But isn't that what happens all the time anyway Husbands leave their wives, wives leave their husbands, simply because, after a while, they realize they don't feel anything anymore. I believe love should be lived one day at a time — embracing the present without fearing the future. Because thinking like that, fearing the end before it comes, only means living alone forever. As someone once said: not loving for fear of suffering is like not living for fear of dying.»
«You don't understand…» Aoshi mutters through clenched teeth. «…You can't possibly understand what it feels like to be abandoned by someone you truly believed was special. Like I just told you, when I was with Miori, I imagined a whole life together — growing up together, growing old together. You're right: most couples break up, that's just how it is. But if there's one thing they all have in common, it's hope—the hope of not being one of the many who fall apart, but one of the few who make it to the end of their lives together. That's something I can't have with you. I'd be living our relationship already counting down to the day it ends, knowing it will come no matter what I do — without even a shred of hope that we'd grow into two cranky old folks who spend their days bickering, only to end up crying together as they look back on their youth. I'm not afraid of suffering, Eliss. I'm afraid of having nothing left to hope for.»
«And who says you have to hope for anything at all?» Eliss grumbles. «You're not obligated to return my feelings. You could just… go along with them, right? In this world, you call it "friends with benefits" I think — two people who have fun together, no strings attached. We could try something like that. Or at least, that's how it could be for you. One step at a time: start with simple kisses and see how it goes. If nothing blooms on your side, then we move on to sleeping in the same futon, and then… everything else. It's the best compromise I could come up with between my desperate need for you and your refusal to get emotionally involved. What do you think?»
«Y-Yeah, I guess that could work, but… what happens once the charm spell breaks? Won't the Eliss who's no longer in love with me want payback — accusing me of taking advantage of the situation? I mean, it'd be like sleeping with a drunk girl who's all over you at night and then accuses you of assault the next morning! You read about those stories in the papers, you know? And I'm definitely not the kind of guy who takes advantage of a girl who isn't fully in control of herself — especially if she's a demon!» Aoshi says — paranoia personified. But honestly, who in their right mind would risk the wrath of a demon princess?
«Ugh… Aoshi, you're so complicated!» Eliss blurts out, trembling with impatience to jump straight into the first phase of their "step-by-step fake relationship". «It's my feelings that are affected by the charm, not my memory! I'll remember every single word I've said and how stubborn you were about not giving in to me — so why on earth would I hold it against you?»
«Y-Yeah… in that case, I guess there shouldn't be a problem…» Aoshi mutters. «But the moment I realize I'm starting to develop feelings for you, we take not one but eighteen steps back and go right back to being almost complete strangers, got it?»
Eliss places her hands on Aoshi's cheeks, gently guiding his face until it's perfectly aligned with hers. Then she parts her lips slightly, and her small, moist tongue slips out, aiming straight for his like a serpent ready to strike its prey.
«Deal, my sweet, beloved Aoshi.»
Without another word, Eliss's tongue finally slides into Aoshi's mouth.