Something heavy is on top of my body.
That's the first thing I notice when I open my eyes. The second thing I notice is a pair of purple eyes staring at me from above.
"..."
"..."
Rize is sitting on my waist. Her hands are braced on either side of my head, and her long purple hair falls freely around my face.
Slowly, I raise my right hand and bring it to her cheek. My thumb caresses her gently.
Her purple eyes open a bit wider, surprised by my action. Maybe she expected me to be scared? Maybe she wanted to make me believe she was about to attack me and eat me while I slept.
How naive.
Then a smile draws on her lips. The edges of her mouth curve upward showing all her teeth. It's a distorted smile. A smile that could scare. But for me it's a smile that's too cute.
I can feel the warmth of her skin under my fingers as her breathing becomes faster.
"What are you doing?"
While asking that, I laugh at her expression.
"I'm hungry."
Why am I not surprised to hear that answer?
"...And that's why you're sitting on top of me?"
"Mm. You weren't waking up."
And her solution to that was to sit on top of me? Makes sense.
I move my hand from her cheek downward, to my wrist. With a quick movement, my nails tear the skin and a thin line of blood gushes out.
I extend my arm, offering her breakfast.
"Drink."
Her eyes fix on the drop of blood sliding down my wrist. Her breathing becomes heavier, and without hesitating a second, she leans in and catches my wrist with her hands. Her tongue comes out and licks the blood avidly.
"Mmm..."
Her body trembles with pleasure as she drinks. While I feel the blood flowing from my body to her mouth, Rize's eyes close and the blush on her cheeks deepens.
Rize drinks for a while in silence, being totally concentrated on her meal.
By the time she releases my hand, about five minutes have passed. Fortunately my body can regenerate blood, or else I would've been weakened.
With half-closed eyes, a satisfied smile appears on her face.
"Mm~ Delicious."
She licks her lips, cleaning the rest of the blood.
"I'm glad."
"Aren't you going to ask me if I had weird visions this time?"
"Did you?"
"No."
"Then there's nothing to ask."
That's normal, after all, I've recovered a lot, and apart from my slightly damaged soul, I don't have anything else.
Rize smiles and leans toward me.
"By the way... Good morning, Arata."
"Good morning, Rize."
She's still in my lap. And now that her hunger has disappeared, her presence is more comfortable.
"Uh... Would you mind getting off now?"
"I don't feel like it."
She snuggles closer against me and rests her head on my chest.
"Wow..."
Normal people don't behave like this, especially with someone they just met. But Rize isn't normal, and honestly, neither am I.
So instead of insisting, I let her be.
"Mm~ How peaceful."
With her eyes closed, Rize looks like a cat that's found a sunny spot to sleep.
However, we have to get up since it's dawn.
"Let's get up."
I try to push her gently, but she clings to me, refusing to move.
"Don't go yet. I'm still enjoying this."
Sighing, I wrap one arm around her back and pass the other under her knees.
Then I stand up with her in my arms.
"Ah!"
Rize screams surprised at suddenly finding herself in the air. Instinctively, she wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around mine to avoid falling.
"What are you doing!"
"Getting up."
I lower her gently to the floor.
Once her feet touch the ground, Rize stares at me. Her purple hair is a bit messy, and her cheeks are still flushed.
"Haha~"
She pats my chest.
"You know? I like this new dynamic."
"Ah? Yeah? Let's go downstairs. Grandpa probably already opened the café."
"Bah, boring."
We leave the room and go down the stairs to the first floor.
As we approach, we're able to enjoy the delicious aroma of freshly made coffee. There are already some customers seated at tables. I see they're all ghouls this time.
When I come out, I see their eyes are drawn to me and Rize.
"Arata-kun, good morning!"
A cheerful voice resonates as soon as we set foot on the main floor.
It's a girl with a bob haircut and a waitress uniform. She smiles at me kindly.
"Good morning, Iwako."
Her eyes drift toward Rize, who's beside me.
"Ah. And this is?"
"She's a friend."
Rize, for her part, observes the scene with a raised eyebrow. She seems to say, "and who's this bitch?"
"Arata!"
Another voice, this time a guy seated at a nearby table. He raises his coffee cup in my direction.
"Welcome back!"
"Hey, kid! Did you change your look? It suits you!"
Another ghoul from the corner of the café smiles at me and nods.
In a few seconds, almost all the ghouls in the café have turned around to greet me.
Rize approaches me and whispers in my ear.
"Are you famous or something?"
"Not exactly. I've just scared off the CCG a couple times when they tried to make trouble around here. Seems they're grateful for that."
"Ooh~ So you're the local hero?"
"Not even close."
Yoshimura at that moment comes out of the kitchen and positions himself behind the counter.
"Good morning, Arata-kun. Rize-san."
"Good morning, grandpa."
"Hello~"
I'm about to approach the counter when I finally pay attention to something that's been bothering me.
There's someone else in the café who's been looking at me without saying anything. A young man seated at one of the back tables. He has purple hair combed to one side, dressed in elegant clothes with colors mixed between blue and gold, accompanied by a cup of coffee in front of him.
He looks about 18, or maybe a bit older.
Since I came down to the first floor, I've noticed his eyes were always on us, or more specifically, on me.
"Oh..."
Seeing that I've noticed his gaze, the man gets up from his seat with an elegant movement before walking toward us with a gentle smile. But being honest, that smile that would seem pleasant and refreshing to someone, makes me uncomfortable.
"What an... exquisite fragrance."
"Huh?"
"I've never smelled anything like it before. It's... magnifique."
Can you stop talking like that, please? I'm not the one pronouncing those words, or acting so dramatic, but just seeing him and hearing him is giving me cringe.
"Mm... thanks?"
Honestly? I don't know how to respond to those words.
The man comes closer, leaning slightly toward me. Does he want to smell me better?
Umu. Maybe I'll let him smell the floor.
"Tell me, what's your name? I'd like to know the owner of such a marvelous essence."
At that moment, while I open my mouth to respond, I feel something sinister manifesting around.
×××
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